Yukino was currently staring blankly.
To say she was staring blankly wasn't entirely correct either; judging solely from the book spread open across her lap, her behavior at this moment ought to be considered reading.
It was just that the book chosen this time was perhaps far too uninteresting, to the point where after the young girl read for a little while, her thoughts drifted off to who-knows-where.
Suddenly, the ringtone of her phone resting on the coffee table rang out, interrupting the girl's mind which had wandered beyond the heavens.
"Hello?"
[Yahallo, Yukinon~]
"..."
[Eh, is Yukinon not happy to hear my voice?]
Clack ← The sound of the young girl hanging up the phone without a shred of hesitation
Ring ← The ringtone of the phone ringing out once again
Shhh ← The sound of Yukino continuing to flip through pages while pretending not to hear it
However, after finally enduring until the ringing reached its end, it only remained quiet for a brief moment before the phone started clamoring noisily once more.
It appeared that if she didn't pick up, the person on the other end was simply not going to let the matter rest.
The young girl let out a helpless sigh, connecting the phone once again.
[How cruel! If Yukinon is always this cold, even I will cry, you know~]
"Sister, please do not mimic Yui's tone to say that kind of thing."
Yukino let out another vexed sigh.
If it really were Yui calling over, she felt it would actually be a bit better; after all, aside from being lively and talkative, that child wasn't particularly annoying in herself.
[Fine, what are you doing, Yukinon?]
"Enriching myself," Yukino replied coldly.
[From above or below?]
Although she didn't know what the other party meant, Yukino still relied on her instinct and intuition to sense that her older sister was eighty percent likely saying nothing good, so she spoke without a moment's hesitation.
"I am going to hang up."
[Ah, ah, ah, wait a second, I was just kidding. It's studying, right? Yukinon, you must definitely be studying, right? As expected of my younger sister, being this diligent even when it has reached vacation time.]
"I am merely looking at a book at random, there is no need to praise me so highly."
[Speaking of which, inside the nightstand of the guest bedroom where I slept a couple of days ago, there are materials related to health and physical education, you know.]
"...Why specifically limit it to health and physical education?"
[Because aside from that one requiring hands-on practice, you've already achieved nearly perfect scores in the purely theoretical aspects of all other subjects, right, Yukinon?]
"If you are calling just to say this kind of substance-less trash—"
[Don't hang up, don't hang up! Actually, it's like this: haven't you been completely idle at home these past two days, Yukinon?]
"I have been reading," Yukino protested.
[I would have actually believed that if I hadn't stayed over at your place a couple of days ago.]
Haruno's tone over the phone sounded quite worried: [If you continue wasting time like this, Yukinon, you will never be able to reach the truth of the world!]
"This bizarre way of speaking... what sort of absurd thing have you been watching again?"
[An anime recommended by a friend (unmarried); she said boys all love that kind of stuff. In order to build a good relationship with that gentleman in the future, I've recently learned quite a bit of knowledge in this field, you know.]
"..."
[Why has Yukinon stopped talking?]
"I just feel that you really don't have to be so..." Yukino hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she still chose to tell the plain truth: "so fawning."
[The weak depending on the strong—that is an unalterable principle, you know.] Haruno said.
Yukino let out a sigh.
However, unlike her previous sighs which were born of helplessness, this one was pure disappointment.
After all, in her eyes, the Haruno of the past had also been a "strong person."
[Compared to that kind of thing, since you don't have anything to do these next two days anyway, Yukinon, you might as well go participate in the volunteer activity organized by my friend (unmarried).]
"A volunteer activity..."
Yukino was somewhat hesitant.
If it were her past self, she probably wouldn't have hesitated much before accepting the task; after all, this kind of thing fell right within the scope of the Service Club's club activities.
But after having supernatural experiences, her behavioral patterns had become much more conservative.
In fact, it wasn't just her; even Haruno was the same. At least lately, she hadn't really heard Haruno mention wanting to go on business trips to places too far away—Yukino felt that she was probably afraid of running into supernatural dangers by going too far, which would result in Asakura Takuma spending too much time on the road and failing to arrive in time to save her, or something along those lines...
However, after her hesitation passed, Yukino still made a decision very quickly.
"I understand. I'll go."
[Oh, aren't we looking quite energetic. Then as a reward, big sister will tell you some good news.]
"Good news?"
[Your school's 'Magic Club' is also within the scope of the volunteer activity requested by my friend (unmarried), you know. By the way, you are participating under the name of the 'Service Club.']
"Even if you say that... I heard that Asakura-kun went on a trip, so it will probably be very difficult to contact him." Yukino frowned and said, "Taking a step back, even if we really could contact him, it's highly unlikely that someone would put their trip on hold just to rush over and do some volunteer activity... That guy is super egoistic."
[On that point, should we call it luck, or does it feel kind of like 'fate'~] Haruno giggled on the other end of the phone. [Actually, earlier when my friend (unmarried) was getting the people from the Tennis Club to participate in the volunteer activity, that gentleman just happened to be right beside a Tennis Club member. After being invited along with the momentum, he agreed quite easily, you know.]
"Let me guess, that 'Tennis Club member' must be a beautiful girl," Yukino said flatly in a voice devoid of any emotion. "Maybe even a pink-haired one."
[Ah, no, I heard it's a dead-fish-eyed boy.]
Yukino: ?
[The location of the volunteer activity is in Gunma Prefecture. It's quite close to nature, so have fun playing~]
"Wait a moment, then you, Sister..." Yukino couldn't help but feel a bit surprised.
[Don't worry. I have to go on a business trip anyway; after all, there are some gatherings for political and business syndicates partnering with our family that I simply can't decline.]
"Are you going to Gunma too?"
[No, I'm going to Osaka.]
Yukino: ¿
Isn't that over five hundred kilometers away from Gunma Prefecture—a remarkably distant place?
[I know what you're worried about, Yukino, which is why I said don't worry. Although that gentleman won't be able to accompany me on this trip, big sister has, at any rate, managed to invite a reliable master to act as a consultant and move together with me, you know.]
"...I never expected that a day would come where I would actually feel worried about you being scammed, Sister."
[How rude... Ah, my flight is boarding over here, let's chat again later~]
"Hello? Sister? Hello, hello?"
Yukino frowned as she looked at the call-ended screen displayed on her phone, a few more drops of worry involuntarily building up inside her: "Always like a typhoon, suddenly popping up and then suddenly vanishing, honestly..."
☆
Haneda Airport.
Haruno was currently waving at the "master" who had just passed through the ticket gate and clearly had very little experience flying on planes.
"Over here, over here! We'll be troubling you as our consultant this time~" she said with a flower-like smile.
"...It is a mere trifle." A hint of the anxiety that comes with flying for the first time leaked through Ruri's wine-red eyes, but she still forced herself to maintain a composed demeanor as she spoke: "Leave it to this one's all-powerful self, the Kuroneko."