“Ugh…”
Ye Xingling’s consciousness gradually cleared. She struggled to open her eyes, and her star-blue eyes, as clear as a young deer’s, dimmed almost imperceptibly for a moment after she saw the familiar ceiling and the two girls—one in black, one in white—by her bedside.
“You’re awake? Is there anywhere that feels uncomfortable? If something hurts, you have to tell me.”
How could Ye Xingyao, who knew her little sister so well, fail to notice her confusion?
“…”
Ye Xingling seriously looked at the girl whose eyes were so similar to her own. There seemed to be countless questions she wanted to ask, but in the end, she just shook her head calmly.
‘Are you my brother or my sister? What did you go through that I don’t know about? What’s with Ye Xing? And why does Sister Shiyue have white hair now, looking just like “Yiwena” from that night?’
There were so many questions that she didn’t even know where to start.
“It’s good that you’re awake. I made some nutritious porridge. After you’ve settled down a bit, drink it and then rest some more.”
Yi Shiyue left these words and fled from Ye Xingling’s room, which was filled with an awkward atmosphere.
‘Hey—! Xiaoyue, how could you leave me here alone and run away!’
Ye Xingyao shouted indignantly in her heart. Of course, none of this showed on her face. Instead, she put on a smile for her little sister.
What should a good older sister do after her beloved little sister gets hurt and passes out?
“Are you… still my brother?”
Before Ye Xingyao could put on a fawning expression and imitate the gentle older sisters from novels and TV shows taking care of a younger sister, her cute little sister hesitated for a moment, barely propped herself up, and asked directly.
“Cough, cough…”
Ye Xingyao was clearly taken aback. She really hadn’t expected her sister to be so direct. But after thinking it over for a bit, she let it go.
That’s her little sister, after all!
“Yeah, as far as Ye Xingyao is concerned, I am.”
Ye Xingyao tried to make her voice sound as gentle as possible. Now she not only had to take care of Ye Xingling’s body and mind, but this was also a key moment for their “sister” relationship to make new progress.
At the very least, she had to leave a good impression of the “older sister” image in her little sister’s heart!
Ye Xingyao silently made up her mind.
“…Then who should I call you now? Brother or sister?”
Ye Xingling still wanted to prop herself up and take a closer look at the face of the “older sister” in front of her, but due to lack of strength, she collapsed again all at once.
She was fine, but this scared Ye Xingyao badly.
“Xingling?! If you don’t have the strength, just lie in bed. Don’t push yourself.”
Ye Xingyao didn’t want to say something more gentle and caring that would befit an older sister, but in her panic, her rough concern was still fully exposed.
“Mm… You still haven’t answered my question.”
“Uh… From a gender standpoint, I’m your older sister now.”
Ye Xingyao couldn’t help sweating. ‘This kid is so hard to coax. Is this really that important?’
What would she say next? That she hated her older brother for turning into a girl? Or that she was angry at being deceived and not being told about their parents’ whereabouts?
Ye Xingyao suddenly felt that, compared to when she couldn’t contact her, she was even more afraid of losing this “little sister” now. Of course, this feeling definitely didn’t come solely from the “sense of responsibility” she felt from promising her parents to protect her.
No matter how bratty this little sister was, no matter how much she disliked her, she was still one of the reasons Ye Xingyao had kept struggling until now, right?
“From… when did it start? The thing about becoming my older sister.”
Ye Xingling’s words rekindled a glimmer of hope in her heart.
‘Good, good. As long as she doesn’t hate me, there’s still room to make things right…’
“That night, after Xiao Yue and I faced the humanoid monster and saw you in your magical girl form.”
Ye Xingyao lowered her head, not daring to meet her sister’s eyes, and answered truthfully.
Her remaining emotional intelligence and reason told her that it was better not to lie to her little sister right now.
“I see… Then, ol… sister, do you still remember the question I asked you before?”
Ye Xingling’s voice seemed to tremble a little, which made her older sister’s heart, which had just relaxed, tense up again.
“…”
Ye Xingyao chose to stay silent. At a time like this, she really wasn’t suited to guessing what the other wanted to ask. What if she guessed wrong?
But she was calling her “sister” in such a pitiful voice… At a time like this, did guessing right or wrong really matter for an older sister?
Maybe she had finally figured out what an older sister should do.
“Is it about the magical girls?”
Ye Xingyao asked carefully. Then she looked up and saw her little sister’s shoulders trembling slightly, with a few crystal tears leaking from her gently closed eyes.
“Huh? Wh-why are you crying…”
Ye Xingyao immediately panicked, stood up, and clumsily wiped her tears with her hand.
“Sister, can I call you that now…”
Ye Xingling felt her hand, grabbed her arm tightly, and forced her to lean down and get closer.
“Of, of course you can.”
Caught off guard by the pull, Ye Xingyao almost lost her balance and fell onto the bed. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and fell beside her instead of directly on top of her.
Then, Ye Xingyao felt the girl crash into her arms. The movement was rough, as if taking revenge for something.
“You… bad sister…”
Ye Xingling couldn’t figure out why she was doing this—clearly an act of dependence on her. But at this moment, she didn’t want to care about so-called rationality anymore.
She buried her head in her sister’s slightly heaving chest, raised her hand, and tapped her shoulder again and again, holding back tears as she poured out her grievances.
As for those so-called questions, after her sister held her like a hero, flames dancing around, tilting her head up and anxiously asking where she had been… they weren’t that important anymore.
Whether brother or sister, she was still her most important family.
“You didn’t tell me about Mom and Dad, you didn’t tell me about Sister Shiyue, you didn’t tell me about all the things you did on your own, and even when I called for help, you came this late…”
For Ye Xingyao, these words didn’t feel like “blame” at all. Instead, they were more like a pure little sister scolding her older sister for being negligent—no different from acting spoiled.
“Alright, alright. I’m a bad sister, I’m a bad sister. Don’t cry, little sister. Your sister is right here with you. Feel at ease.”
Ye Xingyao gently stroked her sister’s back, letting her vent her little girl’s tantrum on her.