The Divine Twins

I'm Home

Stefin went silent as he stared at her.

For a second, he thought he had misheard. But then her words replayed in his head, and he realized he had heard her perfectly.

His mouth trembled as he tried to hold back the laughter forcing its way out. He really tried.

But after a few seconds of struggling, he failed and burst out laughing.

“You?” he said between laughs. “Lost?”

He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, still grinning.

“Of all the things I expected you to say... that wasn’t even on the list.”

The girl remained completely still, watching him with the same unreadable expression. She didn’t say a word.

Stefin’s laughter gradually died down.

That was when he realized it.

She wasn’t joking.

For a fleeting moment, they stood there in the narrow alley, facing each other at the exact spot where the fracture zone had appeared earlier.

They locked eyes.

Neither of them blinked.

An eerie silence settled between them—thick and uncomfortable. Even the sounds of the city beyond the alley seemed distant, almost muted.

Stefin was the first to give in.

He blinked rapidly, groaning as he rubbed his eyes.

“Are you even human?” he muttered.

As always, she remained silent.

Not a single word left her mouth.

When Stefin finally composed himself, he looked back at her.

She was still standing there, unchanged. Her usual calm expression remained fixed in place as she stared at him as though she could see straight through him.

That was what irritated him the most.

He gritted his teeth but said nothing—at least, not yet.

Finally, he exhaled sharply.

“Alright,” he said, breaking the silence. “Let’s get one thing straight.”

He met her gaze again, this time refusing to look away.

“If you’re lost, I’ll help you find your way back,” Stefin said calmly, raising his index finger. “But under one condition.”

He paused.

“You’re going to tell me your name... and where you came from.”

The girl tilted her head slightly, her sharp eyes studying him as if weighing his words. For a long moment, she said nothing, letting the silence stretch between them like a taut wire.

Finally, she spoke, her voice low, calm, and measured.

“My name is Anna,” she said, each syllable deliberate. “I’m from the Warden ranks in Chicago, and I’m here looking for my brother.”

Stefin raised an eyebrow.

“Your brother?” he repeated. “And you came all the way here... alone?”

Anna gave a small nod, her expression remaining calm.

“He gave me this address. I was trying to locate it when I noticed a fracture zone nearby, and I couldn’t ignore it.”

She extended a folded piece of paper toward him.

Stefin hesitated for a few seconds before reaching out and taking it. After reading it several times, he raised an eyebrow as he processed what was written.

“Anna, huh?” he muttered, shaking his head slightly. “Well, Anna, it looks like we’re stuck with each other for now.”

She didn’t smile or react. She simply gave a faint nod before stepping toward the alley's exit and motioning for him to follow.

Stefin glanced at her, then at the path ahead.

Without another word, he fell into step beside her, wondering just how much trouble he had gotten himself into.

With a quiet sigh, he pushed the thought aside and flagged down a taxi.

They both got inside, and Stefin gave the driver their destination.

Moments later, the engine roared to life, and the taxi pulled away into the evening traffic.

Stefin leaned back against his seat, his eyes drifting toward the window as the city lights slid past.

He knew almost nothing about her, and he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to ask—or even how to. She was the first girl who had ever genuinely asked him for help. The others usually did it just to make a joke out of him in front of everyone else.

After a moment, he shifted slightly and turned toward her.

“So... this brother of yours,” Stefin said, breaking the silence. “What’s his name?”

Anna remained quiet and didn’t even glance in his direction.

Stefin waited a few seconds, expecting an answer.

When none came, he sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“You’re doing that thing again,” he muttered.

Still, she said nothing.

He frowned slightly and leaned forward in his seat.

“Seriously,” he continued, glancing at her. “You asked me for help, remember? The least you could do is answer a simple question.”

But even after that, she remained silent.

She wasn’t even looking at him.

It was as though he hadn’t spoken at all.

With no response forthcoming, Stefin sank back into his seat.

Silence settled between them for the remainder of the ride.

About two hours later, the cab finally came to a stop.

“I guess this is where you would—”

His words were cut off by the sound of the door shutting.

Before he could even process what had happened, Anna was already out of the car.

But before leaving, she crouched slightly and looked at him through the window.

“Thank you,” she said, her tone calm—almost cold and nonchalant.

Stefin blinked, caught off guard.

“…That’s it?” he asked, leaning slightly toward the window. “You spend two hours with me, barely say a word, and all I get is a ‘thank you’?”

Anna didn’t reply.

She simply straightened up and turned away, already walking toward the building ahead.

Stefin watched her leave, shaking his head with a faint scoff.

“…Weirdest girl I’ve ever met.”

After a few moments of silence, Stefin finally told the driver where to drop him off.

The engine roared to life once more, and the cab pulled back onto the road.

As the city lights slid past the window, Stefin rubbed his face with both hands and leaned back, his eyes narrowing in thought.

An hour later, the cab finally pulled to a stop in front of a house near the road.

It was a two-story home with cream-colored walls and a red, sloped tile roof. The upper floor featured a wide window with sliding glass panes, partially covered by a yellow shutter. Below it, another large window faced the street.

A low concrete wall lined the front of the property, decorated with small diamond-shaped cutouts. Inside the yard, neatly trimmed shrubs and small trees gave the house a calm, lived-in feel.

On the right side stood a wooden front door with a small frosted-glass panel beside a metal gate.

The entire place felt peaceful, warm, and familiar—the kind of home where ordinary but meaningful moments happened.

The driver cleared his throat.

“That’ll be two hundred yen.”

Stefin’s eyes widened.

“Two hundred yen?” he repeated.

The driver didn’t respond. He simply stared at Stefin with an unreadable expression.

Stefin sighed deeply and reached into his pocket, only to remember he wasn’t carrying any money.

“Just a second,” he muttered.

Without wasting any time, he hurried into the house and returned moments later with the cash.

He handed the money through the window.

“Here,” Stefin said tiredly. “Keep the change.”

The driver nodded once, took the money, and drove off without another word.

As he watched the cab disappear down the road, Stefin frowned.

“All this because I decided to help a girl I don’t even know,” he muttered to himself.

The sound of the engine gradually faded into the distance.

Stefin stood there for a moment, staring at the empty street.

“…Today just keeps getting better,” he said dryly.

He turned toward his house and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

“I’m home,” Stefin sighed weakly as he dragged himself toward his room.

Just then, a female voice called out from deeper inside the house—old, faint, and distant.

“What took you so long... huh?”

Stefin stopped in front of his bedroom door.

For a moment, he said nothing.