The following days passed in peaceful routine, with nothing particularly noteworthy happening.
Life for Leo and Yukino had settled into a steady rhythm—students by day, devils by night. Quiet, efficient, and strangely fulfilling.
At school, not much had changed. Though their habit of arriving and leaving together had sparked endless gossip and rumors, neither of them cared enough to pay attention. They just went about their days as usual.
At night, Leo trained relentlessly, honing his control over his Sacred Gear. Meanwhile, Yukino gradually grew accustomed to her new duties, her early unease fading away as her performance improved with each task.
Eventually, Leo decided she no longer needed to hand out flyers and began letting her take on real contracts.
Every night, Yukino would sense a summoning through the magic circle, teleport to her contractor's location, and grant their wish.
At first, though, it didn't go smoothly. Yukino's blunt personality and lack of social grace were a poor match for clients driven by greed or twisted desires. As someone who spoke her mind without filter, she found it nearly impossible to tolerate such people.
If their desires were simple or harmless, it wasn't so bad. But some humans' wishes were so depraved that even a devil would find them disgusting. For someone like Yukino, dealing with that was unbearable.
So naturally, her early attempts as a working devil were... disastrous. There was even one incident where she outright attacked a summoner, leaving Leo both exasperated and amused.
But Leo wasn't the kind of devil to scold her. He himself had never been a traditional one. He'd had his share of conflicts with summoners before—some humans' desires truly were revolting beyond imagination—and his way of handling them had been far more extreme than Yukino's. "Merciful" was not the word anyone would use for him.
So rather than blaming her, he encouraged her.
"Don't overthink it. We're devils. Our goal is to claim their souls, not to please them. Just follow your instincts and do what feels right to you. Everything else is irrelevant."
That simple reassurance made Yukino realize—maybe being a devil wasn't such a terrible thing after all.
Of course, this attitude meant that their results as devils were... less than stellar. Their "performance records" weren't impressive, which would likely affect how the higher-ups viewed them and slow their promotion prospects.
But neither of them cared. Not Yukino, and certainly not Leo.
He'd always worked this way, and it hadn't stopped him from becoming a High-Class Devil.
After all, performance was just one factor in advancement. Strength and potential mattered far more.
And it wasn't like they had no accomplishments. They still completed a fair number of contracts—just the ones worth their time.
Like Yukino's latest one: a female student from Sobu High had summoned her with a rather innocent wish—she wanted to learn how to bake cookies as a thank-you for someone who'd helped her.
"A student from Sobu High?" Leo asked curiously. "What kind of person is she?"
"…A flashy girl," Yukino said after a pause. "Annoying, timid, and quick to give up whenever things don't go her way. Honestly, she's exhausting to watch."
Still, Yukino didn't dislike her.
The girl never took offense at Yukino's blunt remarks. In fact, she said she liked Yukino's straightforwardness—something she herself could never achieve. She admitted that she always overthought others' feelings and prioritized the mood around her.
So she said she envied Yukino.
Remembering the look of admiration in the girl's eyes, Yukino pressed her lips together faintly.
"In any case, she's unreliable," she said quietly. "But since I accepted her contract, I'll see it through."
She had been devoting all her recent nights to that simple request, even turning down several more important ones.
Leo only chuckled when he noticed.
"Make sure you get along with her, okay~~?"
Outside of devil work, Yukino still read constantly and practiced controlling her Sacred Gear.
Her progress was impressive—within a month, she could already manipulate its power almost freely. Not perfectly yet, but close enough that it moved like an extension of her will.
If nothing went wrong, things would have continued peacefully like this.
At least, that's what Yukino believed.
She had completely forgotten that while she'd adapted to her devil life, she had also drifted far from her human one.
For example, she had been living in Leo's mansion for quite some time now—and hadn't returned to her apartment in weeks.
And coupled with the spreading rumors at school, it was only a matter of time before everything came crashing down.
The moment of exposure had arrived.
That day, Yukino entered the Service Club room as usual and took her seat.
Classes had ended some time ago, and the school was lively with the sounds of laughter and chatter echoing through the halls. The noise filtered in through the windows as she sat quietly by herself.
Outside, students played in the sunlight. Yukino's elegant face was calm now, her usual fatigue nowhere to be seen.
"Looks like I've gotten completely used to daylight."
She raised a hand to shield her eyes, squinting at the bright blue sky.
"That guy… still isn't here?"
After waiting a while, her patience started to fray.
She had never minded being alone before—but lately, whenever her master didn't show up at the usual time to meet her and walk back to the mansion, she found herself growing restless.
"He's probably chatting it up with that pretty senpai again."
Remembering some of the rumors she'd overheard, Yukino felt irritation rise.
"Forget it. I'll just read."
She shook her head and forced herself to focus, pulling out a book to calm her mood.
These days, she mostly read from the collection in Leo's mansion—esoteric texts rather than her old literary novels. Leo allowed her to borrow from his study, but only one book at a time, and under strict conditions: she could never show them to anyone else.
Yukino had no intention of showing such books to others anyway, so she didn't read them in class. The Service Club room was her private sanctuary for that.
Today, her book detailed the culture and geography of the Underworld, helping her gradually form an understanding of the unseen world.
"Once I was promoted to High-Class Devil, the Eligos family's territory was restored to my name," Leo had once told her. "When I get the chance, I'll take you to see it."
He had even said he'd grant her part of that land—a statement so unreal that Yukino hadn't known how to respond.
Never in her life had she imagined becoming something like a feudal lord, gifted territory by a noble.
Leo had explained that it was customary for a High-Class Devil to bestow land upon their servants. He would treat all his servants equally in that regard.
But the idea still felt too far removed from reality for Yukino to take seriously.
As she was engrossed in reading, the clubroom door opened.
"You're late," she said flatly without looking up.
No reply came.
Instead, a voice far too familiar—and infinitely more terrifying—reached her ears.
"Little Yukino, who are you waiting for? It can't be your big sister, can it?"
The teasing tone froze her in place. Her body went rigid, and her expression stiffened as dread crawled up her spine.
Slowly, she lifted her head toward the doorway.
Standing there was the one person she absolutely did not want to see right now.
A woman in her early twenties, maybe two or three years older than Yukino.
Her face resembled Yukino's—delicate and beautiful—but unlike Yukino's cold, composed demeanor, hers was warm and expressive, almost dazzling. On her, the elegance of the Winter Flower turned radiant and summery.
Her figure was taller, curvier—mature and self-assured, reminiscent of Shinra Tsubaki's allure.
Yukino's hand tightened around her book. Her voice came out strained.
"...Onee-san."
Yes. Her sister.
The person whose shadow she had lived under for years—the sister she both admired and resented.
"Long time no see, Yukino."
With a faint, knowing smile, Yukinoshita Haruno—eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family—stood at the door, her gaze locked on her sister.
That playful expression never once faded.
And as Yukino met her eyes, her heart sank deep into silence.