Beta read by Shigiya and GamerCrusher55
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-Sainan-
There had been only one thing occupying Rito's thoughts since the morning, and it refused to leave him alone: the news that he would be accompanying his brother to go visit Haruna and her sister at their home later that day. It had settled deep in his mind the moment he heard it. Every class afterward had become little more than a blur. Teachers spoke, classmates answered questions, and lessons carried on as usual, yet almost none of it stayed with him. Instead, his imagination kept running ahead of reality, wondering how the visit would go, what they would talk about, and whether he would embarrass himself before even making it through the front door. By the time physical education came around, he was so distracted that even changing activities failed to clear his head.
Classes had already resumed by the time he returned to the locker room. Most of the students had changed long ago and hurried back to their next classrooms, leaving the space unusually quiet. Pushing open the locker room door, he found rows of empty benches and lockers waiting for him. The only sounds were the faint hum of the fluorescent lights overhead and the rustle of his own clothes as he pulled off his physical education uniform. Letting out a long sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck.
"This is seriously going to drive me insane."
The words escaped him almost automatically as he reached for his locker, still thinking about the visit later that afternoon, only for his musing to be brought to an abrupt halt by a sudden crash that shattered the silence.
"Bwah!"
The boy nearly jumped out of his skin.
His entire body jerked toward the source of the noise, heart pounding from the unexpected bang that echoed through the empty locker room. 'A Ghost? Wait, no, ghosts don't exi... um, never mind.'
Aliens roamed the world, and of course Oshizu existed, so his earlier attempt at calming himself just backfired. The sound had come from the adjoining locker room on the opposite side of the dividing wall. Frowning, curiosity slowly replaced his initial surprise. Keeping his footsteps light, he cautiously walked toward the connecting entrance and leaned just enough to peek around the corner.
Clothes, bags, and personal belongings were scattered across the floor as though an entire locker had been emptied in one go. Kneeling in the middle of the mess was a pink-haired girl hurriedly gathering everything with both hands, trying to shove shirts, skirts, towels, and notebooks back into place before anything else could fall over.
"Momo?"
The sudden call made the girl give a startled yelp.
"Eek!"
Her shoulders shot upward as she nearly lost her balance, spinning around so quickly that a folded gym uniform slipped from her hands and landed on the floor. Only after seeing who had spoken did the tension immediately drain from her expression. One hand came to rest against her chest while she exhaled the breath she had apparently been holding.
"Oh... It's just you, Rito."
Relief quickly replaced the panic, though a hint of embarrassment remained as her eyes drifted toward the pile of belongings surrounding her. She let out a small, awkward laugh before picking up the clothes she had dropped once again.
"You scared me, Rito. For a moment, I thought someone else had found me."
"What do you mean 'it's just me'?" Rito asked dryly. "What are you doing in the boys' locker room? Actually... isn't that my brother's locker that you were snooping in?"
Momo, who was quickly putting the things back and trying to organize his stuff, nodded without a hint of shame. "Yes, this is his locker, and I was just checking some things out. Nothing unusual. Forget what you saw."
"It's kind of hard to forget. What are you even doing?"
"I'm just trying to find a little something I may or may not have experimented on yesterday with my sister's help," Momo said. "And it may or may not have attached itself to your brother's clothes, so now I'm checking it out to see if it had any results."
Rito narrowed his eyes at the third Devilukean princess, suspicion spreading across his face as he glanced at the scattered clothes around her feet that she was still hastily folding and placing back inside the locker. After everything he had witnessed since meeting Momo, it was difficult to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"...You're not trying to sniff his clothes, are you?"
The accusation made Momo freeze. A heartbeat later, her cheeks puffed out in indignation as she pointed an accusing finger back at him. "Who do you take me for!? I'm not that kind of pervert! I am a refined and sophisticated love enthusiast!"
Rito simply stared.
Without realizing how little it helped her case, Momo folded her arms and continued with complete confidence. "Besides, if I really wanted to sniff his worn clothes, it'd be much easier to ask Mea to steal a set for me, or retrieve something from the laundry room at home before he puts it in the washing machine."
Of course, she said that. "Hah... That somehow made it worse."
The princess blinked innocently before deciding it would be wiser to abandon that subject entirely. Tilting her head, she looked at him with growing curiosity. "More importantly... Are you planning to confess or something?"
The question struck him like a bolt from the blue.
"W-What!?"
'How does she know about that?'
The alien girl's own eyes became just as wide, her golden pupils practically sparkling. "Wait... are you actually planning to confess? To Haruna!?"
"N-No!" He answered so quickly that his voice almost cracked. Both hands waved frantically in front of him. "I'm not confessing anything! It's just... we're visiting Haruna's house later today. She invited Nii-san and me over to meet her family, so I've been feeling nervous ever since I heard about it."
To his complete confusion, Momo clasped both hands together.
"That's amazing news!"
Rito looked at her as though she had completely missed the point. "How is that amazing? It's just a normal visit."
Rather than answering immediately, Momo sat down on one of the wooden benches lining the locker room. Her tail lazily swayed behind her as she patted the empty space beside her.
"Come sit."
"...Do I have to?"
"Yes."
After a moment of hesitation, Rito reluctantly walked over and sat beside her, leaving a respectful distance between them.
For several seconds, neither spoke. The silence only made him more restless until he finally rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the floor.
"...Can I ask you something?" Hesitation formed within his heart, but he still pushed through as soon as she nodded her head. "If... and I mean if... I actually confessed to Haruna someday... would that be a bad idea?"
Instead of answering immediately, Momo rested a finger against her chin and hummed thoughtfully. "Hmm... I actually imagined someone else confessing first to another someone else."
That answer immediately caught his attention.
"...Someone else?"
"But no," she continued before elaborating. "I don't think confessing would be a bad thing. If you genuinely love Haruna, then telling her how you feel isn't wrong."
The reassurance lasted only a moment.
"But what if she rejects me?" Rito asked quietly, finally giving voice to the part that worried him the most. "What if... she doesn't even see me that way?"
For once, Momo didn't reply with one of her usual teasing remarks.
"I'm honestly not sure," she answered while looking above at the ceiling. "Out of everyone I've met since coming to Earth, Haruna is one of the hardest people to read. Usually, I can get a decent idea of someone's feelings after watching them for a while, but she's different. Kind-hearted as she is, she keeps a lot of her thoughts to herself."
Those words did absolutely nothing to calm him.
Instead, Rito's complexion gradually lost its color.
"Does she..." His voice grew quieter with every word. "...Does she have feelings for my brother?"
Momo blinked.
"Maybe."
His shoulders immediately slumped.
"Or..." she continued before he could sink completely into despair. "Maybe they're simply good friends."
"Heh, good friends... hah." Rito let out a weak laugh that sounded closer to surrender than amusement. "If that's all I've got to work with, then what's even the point of confessing? I'd just be wasting my time..."
A sharp smack landed against the back of his head.
"Ow!"
Rito immediately grabbed the sore spot and turned toward her.
"What was that for!?"
Momo's tail was still extended behind him, gently swaying after delivering the blow. She pointed firmly at his face.
"That was for being unnecessarily pessimistic."
"I-I was just being realistic!"
"No, you were assuming the worst before anything had even happened." She folded her arms, giving him a glare that lacked any bite. "Emiya has made it perfectly clear to everyone that he isn't looking for romance, least of all when it comes to Haruna of all people. Even if he ever changed his mind, he's already completely smitten with Lala, and he knows all too well how you feel about her. He wouldn't do that to you, and you know it."
She lightly jabbed a finger into his chest.
"So stop deciding you've already lost before Haruna has even had the chance to answer! If you truly care about someone, then at least have enough courage to let them hear your feelings first. Worrying about rejection before you've even confessed only guarantees one outcome - you'll never know what her answer would have been."
Rito gave her a frowning stare. "This is quite big coming from you, given you haven't made it a secret that you're planning on making a harem for him."
"It's different," Momo argued back. "He made his point clear, and so did she. My job is merely to convince him that my idea is better, given it would make everyone happy, and he's just not giving it a chance out of fear that it might not work. But that's besides the point; the more important topic is what you should say to Haruna tonight."
"I would try to have a nice conversation with her?" Rito replied with some uncertainty. "Every other time I had tried to approach her, something bad always happened, the most frequent being me falling on her, making things embarrassing. I just... I just want a regular and normal conversation with her for once."
"It's not a bad idea," Momo murmured while tapping her chin. "You can try that and try to make it a regular thing, and then perhaps things will get clearer, and Haruna's feelings will bloom more for you."
The boy looked at her strangely. "Doesn't this kind of ruin your harem plan if Haruna is not available to be part of it?"
"The harem plan won't fail just because one of the girls is not interested," she argued back. "And technically, it also means I can add someone else to the list since Haruna being with you leaves an open spot."
"Heh, you're quite ambitious with your plan."
"I know," Momo smiled. "But I also know that Emiya loves everyone and is just being stubborn."
"What should I do then?" Rito asked genuinely.
"Exactly what you said earlier," Momo replied. "Stick with your original plan and just have a normal conversation with Haruna. Don't overthink it. If you feel that little spark, then go for it. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Even if there's only a ten percent chance she'll say yes, that's still a chance, isn't it? That's a lot better than giving up before you've even tried."
Rito let out a slow breath before nodding. "You're right. I'll just talk to her normally and show Haruna that I'm not just some perverted idiot who keeps ending up in embarrassing situations."
"I'll support you all the way!" she declared enthusiastically, pumping a fist into the air. "You can definitely do it!"
A smile finally appeared on his face. "Thanks, Momo. I really appreciate it."
She returned a cheerful thumbs-up. "Anything for my future brother-in-law."
"...Your 'what'?"
Before he could even process what she had just said, Momo was already walking away. Waving over her shoulder without the slightest intention of explaining herself, she slipped through the locker room door and called back, "Good luck!"
The door swung shut behind her, leaving Rito standing there in confused silence. Several seconds passed before another realization slowly crept into his mind.
"...Wait a minute."
His eyes widened.
"...She took all of Nii-san's clothes, didn't she?"
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By the time Rito arrived outside Haruna's house, every bit of confidence Momo had managed to build up in him had almost completely disappeared. Standing before the entrance with both hands nervously fidgeting at his sides, he stared at the front door as though it were the entrance to some impossible trial. His heartbeat refused to slow down, palms had become damp with sweat, and every possible way the visit could go horribly wrong kept replaying inside his head. Beside him, Emiya noticed the growing anxiety without needing Rito to say a single word.
"Relax," Emiya advised. "We're only visiting someone's home, not walking into a battlefield. The more you worry about every little detail, the more likely you are to make the very mistakes you're trying to avoid. Just be yourself, answer honestly, and stop trying to rehearse every sentence before you say it."
Rito nodded repeatedly, more to convince himself than anything else. "Right... stay calm. Just like Momo said. Act normal. Have a normal conversation. That's all I have to do."
He took one final deep breath before the front door opened.
His plan immediately fell apart.
Before either brother could react, a figure rushed out from inside the house at remarkable speed. Arms wrapped around Emiya without warning, and the older boy was practically dragged away before Rito even understood what had happened.
"Wait-Nii-san!?"
His brother barely had enough time to glance back before disappearing around the corner with the unexpected visitor, leaving Rito standing alone at the entrance with his mouth slightly open.
"He got kidnapped..."
The quiet remark had barely left his lips when another pair of footsteps approached. Haruna's parents appeared at the doorway, both wearing warm smiles as soon as they recognized him.
"Oh my," her mother said pleasantly. "Aren't you Shirou's younger brother? Rito?"
"Y-Yes," he answered with a polite bow. "It's nice to meet you."
"My, you've grown so much since the last time we saw you," her father remarked with an approving smile. "You look much more mature now. Please, don't just stand outside. Come in."
"T-Thank you very much."
Trying not to stumble over his own feet, Rito followed them into the house. The familiar scent of freshly prepared food filled the air, while the neatly arranged living room somehow made him even more conscious of every movement he made. Then his eyes found Haruna.
The moment their gazes met, every encouraging speech Momo had given him, every piece of advice Emiya had offered, and every sentence he had carefully prepared, all vanished from his mind.
"H-Hello..."
That was all he managed to say.
Taking a seat before his legs gave out completely, Rito quietly gripped the edge of the chair beneath him. Every muscle in his body felt tense as he fought the overwhelming urge to panic, determined not to embarrass himself within the first few minutes. For now, simply remaining calm without blurting out something ridiculous already felt like the hardest challenge he had ever faced.
'She looks beautiful,' Only then was he once again reminded that the girl in her regular outfit looked more stunning than in her uniform. But aside from a hello and a simple answer like yes or no whenever he was asked a question by the parents, Rito realized that he was unable to have any sort of conversation with Haruna, and his initial goal of looking normal started to go down the drain. Especially when his brother came back along with an adult woman who seemed to be getting along with him quite well.
Rito observed his brother as the latter was able to accomplish something he could not converse normally with Haruna's parents and even her sister, as if it were the most casual thing in the world. He started to become a bit envious of how his brother was, thinking, 'Why can't I be like that?'
He thought this for the entire time until they were outside, and once again he found himself walking side by side with Haruna.
He was broken out of his musing when Haruna asked if he was doing okay today. This made him stutter and say that he was fine, privately wondering why she would feel the need to ask that. Was he doing something wrong?
"Alright, it's just... you haven't said a single word after saying hello to me earlier," Haruna gently explained.
Rito chuckled awkwardly and said that he was just thinking about other things and had gotten distracted. This made Haruna look at him with her head tilted, and the boy felt himself get a bit flustered, doing all he could to not scream about how she looked so cute! Especially when wearing a sweater and a scarf around her neck.
Then he let out a yelp as he stepped on a puddle and slipped, feeling the world go into slow motion as he realized he was slowly falling toward Haruna. The girl's eyes widened as she tried to catch him, and he realized this was going to end up once again with him ending up in a precarious position over her, and then her punching him, and once again ruining his chance. Gritting his teeth, Rito punched himself hard enough that he changed his trajectory and fell to the side.
"Yuuki-kun!" Haruna screamed. "Is everything all right?"
The younger brother felt the side of his face burning from that punch, but just smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "It's nothing, I was just a bit clumsy, that's all."
"Why did you punch yourself?" Haruna asked.
"Oh, I-I just felt a mosquito on my face," he said, realizing how lame an excuse it was. But then hearing her chuckle and seeing her laugh momentarily mesmerized him.
"You're quite funny," she said, wiping her eyes.
This made a warm feeling inside him bloom, giving him the courage to get up. "It happens from time to time."
By the time they reached the neighbourhood park, most of Rito's nervousness had faded. Haruna slowed her pace, her eyes wandering across the surroundings before a smile gradually appeared on her face.
"Isn't this the place where we first met?"
The question caught him off guard. Following her gaze, he looked around the park once more, searching every corner for something that might awaken the memory she was talking about. But nothing came back clearly enough for him to be certain.
"You don't remember?" Thankfully, there was no disappointment in her voice, only mild surprise.
Rito scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed laugh. "N-Not really."
"My sister and I used to come here all the time when we were little. Spending hours playing around the park," she continued, lost in nostalgia. "This is where I first met you and your brother. My sister had approached Emiya first, and they got along well, with her feeling bored and asking if she could borrow him for a bit... I now realize how weird that sounds. Somehow, those two, not even thirty minutes later, were already starting to bicker. I honestly don't even remember what it was about anymore."
Fragments of the scene surfaced inside his mind, blurry and incomplete, more like a sense of deja vu than actual memories. Still, it impressed him that she could remember something from so long ago.
"You two both left a big impression on her, but it wasn't until school that we met again and were properly introduced." The blue-haired girl mentioned.
Rito nodded as they took a seat on a nearby bench.
"A lot has happened this year. From aliens being real to intergalactic empires, alien princesses... It's like a whole new world has been opened up to me, and rather than feeling worried about it, I feel excited... Do you feel the same?"
The orange-haired boy scratched his head, thinking that he did kind of feel the same. "It feels like our house is more crowded than ever, but I like it, as it means there is no moment where I feel bored."
This made Haruna chuckle. "Your brother would most likely argue against that and say it's more stressful than ever."
He couldn't argue against that. "My brother does say that, but on the inside, he loves it just as much. He would be the first one to object to any changes if someone in the house were to try and leave-he would be the first one to go out and bring them back."
"That does sound like him."
"Not that long ago, I even saw my brother window shopping for a baby stroller and those backpacks where you put babies inside in order to bring Celine outside, given he's scared of leaving her alone or losing sight of her." Given that Plantas child could cast an aphrodisiac mist across an entire neighborhood by just drinking some soda, he understood why his brother wanted to keep such a close eye on him in the first place.
Haruna covered her mouth, trying to suppress another laugh. "He really has become apparent."
"He always was. Raising Mikan and me since we were babies." He looked down at his hands with a sheepish smile. "Even though technically I should be almost the same age as him, it was often really hard not to feel like a child next to him."
The conversation gradually slowed again, but another thought had already begun taking shape in the back of his mind. It had been bothering him ever since speaking with Momo earlier, and the longer he stayed silent, the more impossible it became to ignore.
"...Sairenji."
"Hm?"
"If..." he hesitated, wanting to carefully choose his following words. "If your sister and my brother really do have something going on... How would you feel about it?"
"Eh?" This surprised her as she genuinely started pondering. "It does feel like that at times, and whenever I try asking my sister if she actually likes Emiya-kun, she's just evasive or says that it's nothing."
That answer made a seed of worry germinate within Rito as he remembered what he told Momo about Haruna possibly liking his brother. He then asked, "How would you feel if there was a possibility that Nii-san and your sister liked each other?"
"...I wouldn't like that," Haruna said, her answer making his heart freeze on the spot.
The awkward silence lingered for a few seconds before Rito forced a small laugh. "Is... Is that so?"
Haruna gave a gentle nod. "I'd honestly feel terrible if that happened. Lala is already in love with your brother, isn't she? If the two of them were separated because of something like that, I'd only feel guilty." She smiled faintly while looking toward the garden. "She's such a cheerful person. It's almost impossible not to like her. We've become really close friends, and I don't want someone I care about to be the reason she loses someone important to her."
"...Eh?"
The unexpected answer completely caught him off guard.
Until that moment, he had convinced himself that Haruna's hesitation had something to do with feelings she might still have for his brother. Instead, the concern in her voice had been entirely directed toward Lala. The realization hit him almost immediately, making him feel both relieved and embarrassed. All that worrying... all those assumptions... they had existed only inside his own head. Watching her quietly admire the flowers growing beside the porch, he realized he had been creating problems that were never there to begin with.
"No..." he muttered to himself while clenching his fists within his jacket. 'I can't keep sitting here doing nothing.'
Before doubt could creep back in again, he pushed himself to his feet.
"Haruna, I... I have something important I want to tell you."
The sudden seriousness in his voice made Haruna blink in surprise. "Something important?" Tilting her head slightly, she looked at him with open curiosity. "What is it?"
His throat suddenly felt dry.
This was it.
Now or never.
Taking one slow breath after another, the brown-haired boy tried to steady himself before finally speaking. "We've known each other for a really long time now."
A puzzled look briefly crossed her face before melting into a warm smile.
"You're right," she replied softly. "Time really does fly."
An awkward chuckle escaped him as one hand instinctively reached behind his neck. "Actually... I was going to say I do remember the first time we met." He laughed again, this time at himself. "But after you reminded me about meeting at the park, that opening doesn't really sound all that impressive anymore."
Haruna giggled, shaking her head.
"I don't think that's a problem."
"Maybe not." His shoulders relaxed ever so slightly before continuing. "Still... ever since I've known you, you've never really changed. You've always been the same, Sairenji. You're kind to everyone around you, even when you don't have to be." Looking directly into her eyes, he continued more earnestly. "Whenever I felt like nobody outside my family would ever take my side, you always did. Even after all the embarrassing accidents... after all the times I ended up falling on you or getting blamed for things that weren't intentional... you still treated me kindly."
A faint blush appeared on Haruna's cheeks as she quietly lowered her gaze.
"To be honest... I never really thought you were a pervert."
"...You didn't?"
The admission left him completely speechless. Momentarily, he wondered if she was just lying to him in order to avoid having him be saddened.
She shook her head.
"I always knew those accidents weren't your fault." A guilty smile replaced the earlier warmth. "If anything... I'm the one who should apologize. I hit you so many times, even though I knew you didn't actually mean for those things to happen. Most of the time..." She rubbed one arm awkwardly. "...I just reacted without thinking."
Rito could only stare.
"I... uh..."
Heat rushed to his face.
His heart was pounding harder than ever, but there was no turning back anymore. Every encouraging word Momo had given him echoed inside his mind. 'Just say it. Stop hesitating. Tell her how you feel.'
"S-Sairenji... I-I actually-hm?" Then something in the distance caught his eye. Across the street, a familiar figure walked casually along the sidewalk, completely focused on the phone in her hands. "...Run?"
The white-haired Memorze girl looked up at the sight of the duo. A bright smile immediately spread across her face, and she enthusiastically waved both hands.
Even from a distance, he could practically read her lips calling out his name. Worst of all, without a second thought, she started walking toward them. Passing by an unremarkable dark alleyway, where, just as he fully focused on her, two oddly familiar hands suddenly shot out from the darkness. One arm wrapped tightly around Run's waist while the other clamped firmly over her mouth.
"Mmph-!"
Her eyes widened in shock.
The phone slipped from her fingers, striking the pavement. Within the span of a heartbeat, the girl vanished into the alley, dragged backward so quickly that only the brief scrape of shoes against concrete remained before the passage fell silent once again.
"Eh?" He briefly wondered if he had imagined things and shook his head, rubbing his eyes, wondering if he was just imagining things due to distress. Upon observing the area again, he saw that no one was walking out, and all seemed normal.
"Is something wrong?" Haruna asked.
"No... It's nothing."
The words left his mouth almost automatically, though even Rito knew they sounded unconvincing. His thoughts had become a complete mess. Ever since entering the Sairenji house, everything had gone wrong. He had rehearsed countless conversations in his head, prepared answers to imaginary questions, and promised himself he would remain calm. Instead, every prepared sentence seemed to disappear from his tongue the moment he looked at Haruna.
Taking a slow breath, he clenched his fists at his sides before forcing himself to move. There was no point delaying it any longer. If he kept running away, nothing would ever change.
With one determined step forward, he bowed deeply and extended a trembling hand toward her.
"Sa-Saiirenji... would you please go out with me and be my girlfriend!"
The world seemed to freeze.
His arm remained stretched forward while his head stayed lowered, unable to gather the courage to look up. Every beat of his heart echoed loudly inside his ears. Sweat rolled down the side of his face despite the pleasant weather, fingers trembling so badly that he almost pulled his hand back several times. Only stubborn determination stopped him. A few seconds passed, yet to him they felt impossibly long, each one stretching into what seemed like an entire hour.
"...What?"
The quiet response finally reached him.
Eyes remained tightly shut, relying entirely on his hearing while desperately trying to judge her reaction. Amidst the suffocating silence, another sound briefly reached him. There was faint rustling somewhere nearby, followed by several muffled thumps as though something had fallen into a bush. The noise disappeared almost as quickly as it had begun, making him wonder if stress was starting to affect his imagination again.
Finally forcing himself to look up, he found Haruna staring back with wide eyes, her cheeks slightly flushed, the surprise on her face impossible to mistake. The sight made his stomach tighten even further. There was no escaping now. Pretending it had all been a joke would only make things worse.
While desperately searching for something, anything, to say, movement at the edge of his vision caught his attention. A tiny pink drone drifted through the air above the garden, hovering carefully as if trying not to be noticed.
"What is th-"
Before the sentence could leave his mouth, a streak of light shot upward from below like a metal chain. It struck the drone with pinpoint accuracy, sending the little machine tumbling out of the sky before it vanished behind the trees with a distant crash.
His eye twitched; this definitely was not his imagination.
"Yuuki-kun?"
"A-Ah, sorry, I got... um, distracted by something." His attention immediately returned to her, only for his confidence to collapse the moment he noticed the uncertainty in her expression. She looked as though she wanted to answer, but couldn't find the words. That single hesitation was enough for every negative possibility to flood his mind at once. Panic quickly took over.
"You don't have to answer right away!" he blurted out, waving both hands frantically. "I-I mean, forget what I just said. It was way too sudden. You shouldn't feel pressured because of something like this. I know this came out of nowhere, and I probably picked the worst possible timing. It's just... it just slipped out because of everything that's happened recently!"
The words refused to stop.
"I don't want to make things awkward between us. Really. Just pretend I never said anything. Maybe it was all the stress lately. I wasn't thinking straight and-" His explanation gradually dissolved into nervous mumbling as sentences began tripping over one another. Every attempt to fix the situation only made it worse until even he no longer knew what he was trying to say. Defeated, the young man lowered his head with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry... Just forget about it."
Turning away seemed like the only option left.
"Wait."
The single word immediately stopped him. Slowly looking back over his shoulder, Rito found Haruna standing exactly where she had been before. There was still uncertainty in her eyes, but she had taken a small step closer.
"When you asked me to go out with you and be your girlfriend... were you being serious?"
"Y-Yes!"
There were jittery nerves still, but no hesitation any longer. She remained silent for several moments before asking another question.
"How long have you been feeling this way?"
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before letting out a small laugh.
"For... quite a while, honestly. Probably ever since we first met." His cheeks turned red again. "It's going to sound really cheesy, but I think it all just kind of... became real for me that day in the garden. Back then, everyone was blaming Emiya and me for causing trouble, but you didn't just go along with everyone else. You stood up for us even though you barely knew us. I still remember that. After that, every time we spent together just made those feelings grow stronger."
Haruna blinked several times before lowering her eyes.
"...Oh." A faint smile appeared on her face as she looked back at him. "I... never realized that."
"I didn't do a good job at honestly showing my emotions and intentions a lot of the time, and so I don't blame you for not noticing," Rito said, looking at her, waiting for her answer.
Haruna lowered her gaze to the table, fingers absentmindedly tracing the rim of her cup as she searched for an answer. Several quiet seconds passed before she finally spoke. "Honestly... I'm not sure myself."
The uncertainty in her voice caused the smile on Rito's face to slowly fade. "Oh..." The reply escaped almost automatically. Silence settled between them again, and before he could stop himself, another question slipped out. "Is... is there someone else?" He immediately regretted asking it, but his nerves kept pushing him forward. "Does it... have something to do with my brother?"
The girl blinked in surprise. "Emiya?" Genuine confusion spread across her face, making Rito realize how strange the question must have sounded. He mentally cursed himself. It almost sounded as though he were accusing her of secretly being in love with Emiya. Before he could hurriedly explain himself, she gently shook her head. "Why would I be in love with your brother after I just told you I didn't want anyone to interfere with what he and Lala have? If I respected their relationship enough to stay out of it, why would I secretly wish for the opposite?"
Embarrassment crept across his face, yet another thought refused to stay buried. "Then... if Lala wasn't in the picture... would you have..." Even he couldn't finish the sentence.
Rather than answering immediately, Haruna took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I care a lot about both Emiya and you. You've both been important people in my life for a long time, and I'm really grateful we became friends." A faint smile crossed her lips before she continued. "But... um, we just... get along naturally from the beginning, so much so that I never even asked myself anything else. Talking to him never feels awkward, and that's honestly rare. Most boys either become nervous around me or end up doing something strange, even when they don't mean to. Emiya just treats me normally, so talking with him has always been easy."
"Urgh." Those words struck him harder than he expected. Every embarrassing accident, every misunderstanding, every moment where something ridiculous happened between them came rushing back into his mind. Compared to his brother, he really was one of those boys she had just described.
Not noticing his reaction, Haruna continued before he could sink further into his thoughts. "I never really stopped to think about my relationship with him. He was simply... there. We became close little by little, and I liked what we already had. The same is true for you. Spending time together just became natural before I even realized it."
His shoulders gradually slumped. "So... you only see me as a friend?"
"Y-Yes? I always thought so with you as well." The answer hurt, yet at the same time it carried a strange sense of relief. Before disappointment could fully settle in, she quietly added, "But... I also don't dislike the idea of seeing whether we could become something more."
Rito's head snapped upward so quickly he almost knocked his chair over.
"W-What...?"
"I'm sorry." She gave an apologetic smile, looking more frustrated with herself than with him. "I know I'm being indecisive. I really am. But when you confessed... I wasn't offended. I didn't want to reject you either. I just... didn't know what I was supposed to feel." A soft sigh escaped her before she continued. "To be honest, I'd always imagined handling romance the same way Emiya did. Finish high school first, then start thinking about relationships afterward. Watching him and my sister juggle everything happening around them only reinforced that idea. Sometimes it looks exhausting, and I kept telling myself I'd avoid all of that until I was older."
She rubbed the back of her neck, unable to meet his eyes anymore. "The truth is... I don't have much experience with any of this. I don't know what the right answer is because I've never seriously thought about it before."
Another silence followed, though this one felt very different from the previous ones. Haruna fidgeted with the sleeve of her uniform before quietly speaking again, almost too softly for him to hear.
"Would you be willing to... give it a try with me?"
For a brief moment, Rito genuinely wondered if he had imagined hearing those words. His heartbeat pounded so loudly that it almost drowned out everything else. The anxiety that had weighed on him since arriving seemed to vanish all at once, replaced by a happiness so overwhelming that he struggled to stay seated. He nodded so quickly it almost looked frantic.
"I'd love that!" A wide smile spread across his face before he hurriedly added, "I mean it! I'm more than happy to take things slowly. However fast or slow you want. I don't mind waiting at all."
The corners of Haruna's lips lifted into a small, relieved smile, the tension in her shoulders easing for the first time since the conversation had begun. Whatever awkwardness remained between them seemed ready to disappear-
A tremendous explosion suddenly shook the neighborhood.
BOOM!
The entire park ground trembled, and both teenagers instinctively turned toward the source of the thunderous sound. Rising above the treelines in the distance, a thick column of dark smoke curled into the sky, immediately wiping away the warmth that had just settled between them.
"Isn't that where my sister and your brother were?"
"...Yeah," Rito nodded, the same thought crossing his mind. Without wasting another second, the pair hurried toward the spot where they had last seen their siblings. Their pace slowed the moment they rounded the corner.
The sight that met them was so unexpected that both instinctively stopped in place. Scattered across the ground were several familiar faces, each thoroughly restrained with ropes and strips of tape. In the middle of the group sat Emiya with his usual composed expression, one arm wrapped tightly around Saruyama's neck in a chokehold. Judging from the foam around the unconscious man's mouth and the fact that he had long since gone limp, the struggle had clearly ended quite some time ago. A short distance away, Akiho remained completely focused on her task of calmly tightening another knot around Yui's wrists before checking that the bindings would not come loose.
"Nee-chan!"
The sudden call made the older girl flinch. Turning around, she froze for a brief moment after noticing both Haruna and Rito staring directly at the scene before them. An awkward smile appeared on her face almost immediately.
"H-Haruna..."
"What are you doing?" Haruna looked from her sister to the growing pile of tied-up students before glancing toward Emiya. "Actually... what are both of you doing with all these people?"
Akiho casually waved one hand as though nothing unusual had happened. "Nothing important. Seriously, don't worry about it. You two should just go back to whatever you were doing and pretend you didn't see any of this."
The answer only made the situation even stranger.
Rito slowly shifted his attention toward his older brother, silently asking the same question with his eyes.
"I'm just taking care of a few distractions," Emiya replied without the slightest hint of embarrassment. His grip around Saruyama loosened just enough to confirm the bodyguard was still unconscious before tightening again. "Don't concern yourselves with this. Go back to enjoying your time together."
For several seconds, complete silence followed. Haruna stared at the scene again, the unconscious students, the ropes, Akiho busily tying another knot, and Emiya sitting in the middle of it all as though this were perfectly ordinary. The absurdity of the entire picture finally broke through, making her cover her mouth only for her laughter to escape anyway.
"Pfft... Hahaha!"
Emiya looked up with the same flat expression.
"What's so funny?"
"You!" she managed between laughs. "You both look absolutely ridiculous!"
"...Why are you taking out your phone?"
Haruna's smile remained perfectly innocent as she calmly pulled it from her pocket.
"Why wouldn't I have my phone with me?" Before anyone could react, the flashlight lit up for a split second.
Click.
The unmistakable sound of a picture being taken echoed through the area.
"...Oops." She lowered the phone ever so slightly. "My finger slipped. Tehe~!"
Emiya stared at her for several long seconds before letting out a quiet sigh. "Don't you 'tehe' me. You aren't planning to blackmail me with that later, are you?"
The smile on Haruna's face only widened. Tilting her head with exaggerated innocence, she placed a hand against her chest.
"Me? Blackmail you?" she asked sweetly. "Come now, why would I ever do something like that?"
Seeing both of them like this, Rito realized that he still had a long way to go.
{Break}
(An hour later)
-Yuuku Residence-
"Rito actually confessed!?" Nana's voice rang through the room, her eyes wide with disbelief as she grabbed her twin sister's arm. "Emiya, tell me this isn't some kind of joke! The same Rito who trips over flat surfaces? The one who turns into a stuttering mess whenever Haruna so much as looks his way? That Rito confessed to Haruna? And succeeded?!" Her hands flew to his shoulders, shaking him slightly as if to verify his existence.
Emiya stood unmoving, his expression flat as he gently removed her hands. "Yes, Nana. That would be the same Rito. I fail to understand why this surprises you so much."
"Are you being deliberately dense right now?" The girl threw her hands up in exasperation. "You of all people know how your brother operates! No matter how you deliver this news, it sounds like something out of a comedy sketch!"
Meanwhile, Momo stood frozen, her mouth slightly agape. "He actually went through with it... I didn't think he'd have the courage." Her eyes drifted toward Emiya, who raised an eyebrow in question.
Eh, what she just said made him immediately catch on, "You had something to do with this, didn't you?"
Her composure faltered for a moment. "I... may have given him some advice in the locker room earlier today, though I'm amazed he genuinely took it to heart."
"Perhaps your 'advice' had more impact than you anticipated," Emiya noted, though his expression shifted from gratitude to suspicion. "Speaking of which, what exactly were you doing in the boys' locker room?"
"Nothing suspicious!" Momo quickly replied, her eyes darting around the room. "I was just looking for some misplaced belongings. But speaking of misplaced things, where's Rito? This calls for a celebration!"
Emiya's narrowed eyes showed he wasn't buying her diversion attempt, but he sighed and let it go. "He went to his room. Said he needed some privacy."
"Privacy?" Nana tilted her head. "That doesn't sound like someone whose confession was accepted. Are you sure Haruna didn't turn him down?"
"I'm sure," Emiya confirmed. "Rito has a tendency to overthink everything. He was probably mentally exhausted from the day's events and needed rest."
"It's still surprising that Haruna accepted," Momo murmured, scratching her head. "I always thought she had feelings for you, not Rito. Maybe I misread her completely?"
Emiya chuckled, shaking his head. "That was never in the cards. She's just a good friend. I had a similar misunderstanding myself not too long ago. People can care about others without romantic feelings being involved."
"Was all of that just my imagination then?" Momo whispered to herself.
"Or perhaps, you're disappointed because this ruins your precious harem plan." There was no way for him not to use this opportunity to throw a small jab at the girl's harem plan.
Momo puffed out her cheeks, clearly dissatisfied. "That's not what I meant! I wouldn't have put someone on the list if they didn't genuinely like you. I'm just... surprised that, out of everyone, it ended up being Haruna."
A chuckle escaped Emiya as he reached over and casually ruffled her pink hair, earning an immediate protest. "Life has a habit of doing that. Sometimes people get along well without either of them ever thinking about romance. Feelings aren't always obvious, even to the people involved. You'll understand that eventually."
"I'm not a child!" She huffed, batting his hand away before taking a step back. "I understand relationships perfectly well."
"If that's what you want to believe." The teasing smile never left his face. Letting the subject drop before she became even more worked up, he glanced around the room instead. "By the way, where's Lal-"
"-Emiya!"
Out of the blue, several sounds of banging at the door caught three of them by surprise, followed by the sound of a certain someone he had just encountered at the park. "Don't just kidnap me out of the blue, tie me up before forgetting about my existence!"
"Ah..."
It just dawned on him that after the confession, he had forgotten to free someone from their restraints. Going over to open the door, the man immediately faced an angered Run standing there with her arms still tied up and messy hair. The girl was giving him a deadly glare, which he could not blame her for.
"Before you punch me or slap me, I was just making sure that no one was going to interfere in what was happening between Rito and Haruna." She explained immediately. "And you were heading straight towards him for some reason."
"I was just trying to greet him and apologise to him!" Run exclaimed loudly, sounding extremely frustrated.
"Apologise?"
At those words, Run's irritation faded, replaced by visible hesitation and a hint of embarrassment. She avoided looking directly at him for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"I know what you're going to say," she began, "but I still believe I should make up for what happened a few days ago. You and everyone else were attacked because Azenda controlled both me and my brother."
Emiya immediately shook his head.
"As you said, you were being controlled. It wasn't your decision. Neither of you chose to-"
"Don't."
She raised a hand, stopping him before he could finish. A small, helpless smile appeared on her face.
"See? I told you I already knew what you were going to say." Another sigh escaped her as she lowered her hand. "I know you don't blame us. I know you believe none of it was our fault. But just because you see it that way doesn't mean we do."
Her gaze dropped toward the floor.
"Ren is still incredibly embarrassed over everything that happened. He's been avoiding you because he doesn't know how to face you after what we did. And..." she admitted quietly, "...I'm no different. Every time I think back to that day, I can't help feeling guilty, even if my mind tells me it wasn't really us."
For several moments, silence settled between them before she finally looked back up.
"So... if you truly want us to put this behind us and move forward..." A nervous smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Then accept my apology. Properly."
That left Emiya in a difficult position. He genuinely couldn't understand why she felt the need to earn forgiveness for something she had never consciously done. As far as he was concerned, there had never been anything to forgive in the first place. Still, judging by the determination in her eyes, refusing would only make her feel worse.
"...Fine," he relented with a small smile. "I accept your apology."
"Not yet!"
The response came so quickly that it caught him completely off guard.
She straightened her posture, looking noticeably more serious.
"To us, simply saying 'I'm sorry' doesn't feel like enough given one of us was literally used as a weapon against you. We wanted to do something that actually meant something instead of giving you a generic apology." A faint smile returned to her face. "So Ren and I decided we'd do something a little closer to what our people would normally do. In a few days, we're organizing a dinner party, and everyone will be invited."
Emiya blinked several times.
That... actually sounded perfectly reasonable.
If anything, he had been bracing himself for something bizarre or overly elaborate, considering who was proposing it. Compared to the countless strange customs he had already encountered since arriving here, a dinner party was refreshingly normal. More importantly, if accepting the invitation would finally put the incident to rest and allow both siblings to stop blaming themselves, then he had no reason to refuse.
"In that case..." A faint smile crossed his face. "I accept."
"Really!?" Her eyes sparkled with stars, and she immediately turned around and ran away. "I'll make sure that it's something you will never forget for the rest of your life!"
"..."
Was this really going to be a regular dinner party? At this point, he began to doubt it.
Shaking his head, he closed the door to see the twins giving him a strange look. "Forget about it, I'll explain it later. Also, have you seen Lala? I haven't seen her since this morning."
Nana answered without looking up from what she was doing. "She's locked herself in her room again. Ever since breakfast, she's been working on that VR game."
That was enough to stir his curiosity. Leaving the sisters behind, Emiya headed upstairs and stopped outside Lala's bedroom. After knocking several times without receiving so much as a response, he raised his voice just enough to be heard through the door. "Lala, I'm coming in." Receiving only silence in return, he slowly opened it.
The room was much darker than expected, illuminated almost entirely by glowing holographic displays floating around the bed. Lala sat cross-legged in the middle of the room with a bulky virtual reality headset covering her eyes. Numerous colorful cables extended from the headset into several unfamiliar devices scattered across the floor, while countless streams of rapidly changing data raced across suspended screens. Most of the symbols belonged to a language he had never seen before, changing so quickly that even trying to follow a single line became impossible.
"Don't disturb her! And absolutely don't touch anything!"
The sudden warning made him glance toward the source and spot Peke leave its charging station and hover over to him. The robot struck a pose that resembled someone trying to scold him, though it looked more cute than anything remotely intimidating.
"I wasn't planning to," he replied, raising both hands harmlessly, in no mood whatsoever to argue against this thing. "I was only wondering what's kept her occupied all day."
The little robot pointed an accusing finger straight at him. "Because of you! You corrupted the system! Ever since then, she's been trying to repair everything!"
An awkward smile crept onto Emiya's face as the memory resurfaced. "I really didn't intend to break the game. Next time I'll be a little more careful before I start pressing random buttons."
"It has nothing to do with the buttons!" Peke shot back immediately, sounding even more exasperated than before.
That response only deepened the confusion. Just as Emiya was about to ask what the robot actually meant, the headset suddenly lifted off Lala's face. The moment she noticed who had entered, exhaustion disappeared from her expression as though someone had flipped a switch.
"Shirou~!"
Without the slightest hesitation, she practically launched herself off the bed.
He barely had enough time to open his arms before she collided with him. The impact would have knocked most people over, but he simply caught her around the waist, steadying both of them with practiced ease.
"You looked completely absorbed in your work," he remarked with a small laugh. "Sorry if I interrupted something important."
She shook her head so rapidly that her colorful hair bounced from side to side. "Not at all! I was only playing around with some of the game's data."
"Playing around?" His gaze drifted toward the floating screens still filled with incomprehensible symbols. "I hope I didn't end up ruining the project after everything that happened."
Lala dismissed the concern with an energetic wave of her hand. "No way! You couldn't ruin it even if you tried. I was just checking something really strange."
"Strange?" Curiosity immediately replaced the earlier embarrassment. "What exactly did you find?"
She pointed toward one of the holographic displays, where countless unfamiliar characters continued racing across the screen. "Remember when I erased the entire game's data?"
"I do, yes."
"Well..." She leaned forward excitedly. "Everything disappeared exactly like it was supposed to. Every object, every NPC, every saved variable... except one! Your character's data never vanished, and I never could figure out why it happened. Normally, you should have been kicked out of the game like everyone else. So I got curious and tried to look into the matter further over the past few days."
Emiya's breathing stopped for a brief moment.
"But unfortunately," Lala continued while leaning further into his embrace, "I haven't been able to find anything worthwhile yet. So annoying!"
For an instant, the room around him seemed to fade. A memory forced its way back to the surface: the brief glimpse of his old body as a Counter Guardian, the questions he had buried since arriving in this world, and the uneasy feeling that his existence here did not entirely make sense. Until now, those doubts had remained nothing more than scattered pieces without any evidence to support them. Hearing Lala describe data that refused to disappear gave those thoughts a weight they had never possessed before.
Silence settled between them as he stared at the rapidly scrolling symbols. Part of him wanted to tell her to stop digging any deeper and forget she had ever found it. Another part wanted the exact opposite. If the anomaly truly concerned him, then whatever answers existed might already be sitting somewhere inside those endless lines of alien code.
'If for a moment, she saw something else, how could that information be in the game in the first place?'
Lala grabbed a tablet and showed him the data. Emiya recognized it as the parameters that had appeared when he had checked his character profile in the game.
"This is another strange thing I found," Lala mused. "I don't remember ever adding something like this. It should have been numbers, but for some reason, your character's stats appeared as letters with categories that shouldn't even exist. I figure it must be some kind of bug. But when I tried to recreate the same environment that caused the bug, my computer went crazy and exploded!"
So it did explode after all.
"I hope nothing bad happened, like your inventions exploding, your computer exploding, or the house exploding," Emiya said, not sure why he was feeling nervous about the idea of Lala looking deeper into this matter. As far as he was concerned, despite it being alien technology, her creations would not have the capabilities to recognize magical energy or spot something as complicated as a soul. After all, he remembered how in the game the system failed to showcase his full parameters.
Then again, that alone was unnerving by itself.
"It's fine," Lala reassured him as her tail waved around excitedly. "I just had to hook up a few more power sources. If I relied on the city's grid, even all of Earth wouldn't have enough energy. I hooked up something that should be equal to an entire star. Don't worry, it's not actually a star!"
That... did little to soothe his worries! Emiya felt goosebumps crawl all over his skin at the sheer implication. Though this was the same guy who could create a black hole... Only someone like her could joke about using a power generator equal to a star so casually.
"Sure, you can make power grids equal to a star," he mumbled under his breath sarcastically. "But for some reason, that useless robot behind me has to rely on a battery that needs to be charged daily?"
Peke instantly got offended.
"You have no idea what you're talking about! I am the pinnacle of Lala-sama's inventions, and also require more energy than humanity can even dream of supplying to keep me functioning!"
Unfortunately for Peke, its creator wasted no time debunking that. "Eh, you do? I don't remember putting something like that inside you."
"Lala-sama..."
"All that energy just to create clothing that barely resists water and can hardly fly?"
Peke immediately puffed up with indignation. "Why, you-!" The little robot launched herself straight at him, tiny fists swinging wildly. Before she could reach him, a hand calmly extended and caught her by the head. Her limbs continued to flail uselessly through the air while she kicked and twisted with everything she had. "Let go! I'll teach you the manners no human ever bothered teaching you!"
"Peke, stop behaving like a child," she scolded gently, placing both hands on her hips. "And don't try picking fights with Shirou." Turning back toward him, she smiled apologetically before continuing, "You misunderstood how she works. Peke doesn't constantly need that much energy to function. I built her a long time ago, before I had fully developed this technology. The main computer isn't designed to move around, so it can constantly draw enormous amounts of power without worrying about storage. Peke is completely different. Since she's mobile, she has strict limits on how much energy she can safely carry at one time."
"...That makes sense," Emiya admitted after thinking it over. Even so, the explanation only answered one question while creating another. Folding his arms, his attention shifted toward the massive machine dominating the room. "But then what exactly required that amount of power? Creating a virtual environment shouldn't have demanded enough energy to light an entire city. Also, did you just call Peke a she?"
Lala's cheerful expression remained unchanged. "Yes! Peke is a girl. Oh, and I was trying to recreate your avatar."
"My what now?"
Those few words immediately caught his full attention.
"I successfully recreated everyone else's without much trouble," she continued while walking over to one of the glowing monitors. Several holographic windows sprang into existence around her as she casually tapped through them. Showcasing the same characters, Rito and the rest had been inside the game. "Everything was progressing normally until I started working on yours. For some reason, the data size kept increasing. The processing load suddenly spiked, the file became unstable, and then..." She spread her hands helplessly. "...it corrupted itself. One second it was there, and the next it had completely disappeared. I couldn't recover any of it and had to restart the entire process from the beginning."
Silence settled over the room.
"What do you mean by that?"
The pinkette princess happily turned the screen back toward him. "I figured my computer was just being too slow, so I gave it an extra power boost. It should be all good now! Maybe it needed a more realistic environment? I'm not sure, so I tried simulating every possible environment." She proudly gave him a thumbs-up before pressing another button.
The display immediately flooded with information. Countless lines of data streamed across the monitor at tremendous speed, windows opening and closing on their own while strings of symbols, diagrams, and calculations layered over one another. At first, Emiya simply watched, assuming it was another one of Lala's inventions behaving unpredictably. Then, buried among the torrent of information, something familiar flashed past.
"Hm?"
His expression gradually changed. The relaxed look on his face disappeared as his brows slowly knitted together. Leaning closer to the monitor, he watched line after line of data scroll across the screen, following several sequences that felt disturbingly familiar. One passed. Then another. The similarities became harder and harder to dismiss until the possibility of coincidence disappeared entirely. 'No, it can't be possible, her inventions are not connected to...'
A chill ran through him as old memories resurfaced far faster than he wanted them to. Especially that moment right after she reset the game, and for a brief moment, he saw an old familiar face. Whatever the computer was trying to reconstruct, it had already crossed into territory that should be absolutely impossible.
Both were different in every conceivable way, and her technology lacked any mysticism to go that far, nor any connection to the records to pull anything from. Even to access that place would require this thing to cross to another world.
But the more this went on for, the more the bad sensation within him grew.
"Lala... I'd advise you to stop it. Right now."
Lala blinked, startled by the sudden outburst. "Eh? What's wrong?"
What was wrong? Nothing logically, but his instincts screamed at him that it was everything as well.
"Turn it off. Now!"
"Okay~!"
The urgency in his voice left no room for questions. She immediately reached for the controls, hurriedly shutting the entire system down. The humming machines gradually fell silent as the monitor flickered twice before fading into complete darkness. "Hah," several long seconds passed before Emiya finally released the breath he had unconsciously been holding, his gaze remaining fixed on the now lifeless screen as though expecting it to come back to life on its own.
"Why did you want to stop, Shirou?"
"It's difficult to explain..." His eyes lingered on the black display a moment longer before finally moving away as he massaged his front temples. "But you shouldn't dig any deeper into this. At least not for now."
The princess tilted her head, curiosity replacing the excitement she had shown moments earlier. "Did you recognize something in the data?"
Instead of answering immediately, he closed the distance between them and gently rested both hands on her shoulders.
"Data? Well, I guess you can call it that, but... no, maybe I was imagining it. Still, Lala... trust me on this." His tone remained calm, though considerably firmer than earlier on. "Whatever your computer was beginning to reconstruct wasn't something you should continue pursuing."
"Really?"
Seeing her skeptical face, the man just began searching for any excuse at the top of his head. "If you'd allowed the process to finish, there's a real possibility it could have damaged your system in ways neither of us would understand, let alone repair. For the time being, stop trying to recreate whatever the machine was searching for. Next time, we'll handle this differently. I'll enter the game myself while you monitor everything from outside, and we can find the bug together. You'll still be able to gather all the information you need without forcing your computer to imitate something it clearly wasn't designed to process."
Confusion lingered across the girl's face for only a brief moment before her usual cheerful enthusiasm returned. "Of course! I'd love to play with you again!" Her earlier disappointment vanished almost instantly, replaced by the excitement of another experiment she could share with him.
A faint smile finally returned to Emiya's face, relieved that she had accepted his explanation without pressing the matter further. "Good. Then let's call it a day and go have dinner." Turning toward the laboratory door, he casually added, "Oh, and while we were busy in here, Rito finally confessed to Haruna."
Her eyes widened.
"What!? He actually did it!?" Without another word, Lala dashed out of the laboratory. "Rito! Tell me everything! Open the door now, I want to see if I can use anything you did with Shirou!"
Her pounding footsteps echoed farther and farther down the corridor until they disappeared entirely.
"That girl..." Left alone in the room, Emiya quietly turned back toward the dark monitor. His gaze lingered there for several long seconds. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it sounded even to someone who had seen plenty of ridiculous things in his life like him.
"I must have imagined it." His eyes narrowed slightly, wondering if he had just become too paranoid lately. "There is no way that thing could have resembled a Saint Graph. Why did I even think that?"
But if he were to go back inside, then...
{Break}
-???-
Far away from the city, hidden within a vast clearing surrounded by dense woodland that did not resemble those found on Earth, the peaceful silence of the forest was gradually broken by a deep mechanical hum. A colossal spacecraft slowly descended through the clouds, its dark metallic hull casting an enormous shadow across the clearing. Numerous engines adjusted their output one after another, releasing controlled bursts of energy that shook the surrounding trees until the ship landed with a resounding thud.
Waiting several dozen meters away stood three figures who had arrived long before the ship. Unlike the two standing on either side of him who were wearing suits, Zastin had his usual bone armor on. The polished plates reflected the evening light as he stepped forward the instant the landing sequence finished and the loading ramp began to lower. Without the slightest hesitation, each member of the trio lowered themselves onto one knee, bowing their heads deeply.
A loud mechanical hiss echoed across the clearing as the massive ramp touched down on the ground.
Gradually, a tall figure stepped forward into the daylight. Draped in an elaborate fur-lined coat that flowed behind him, the man possessed long, spiked hair, narrow slit-like eyes, and a thick tail that looked nothing like the soft, spade-shaped tails of Lala, Momo, or Nana. Every section of it resembled a natural weapon, covered in rigid armored segments that ended in a sharp, blade-like trident shape.
Zastin lowered his head even further. "Welcome, Your Majesty. It is an honor to receive you. Our fleet has quarantined this world as per your command."
No reply came at first until the emperor finally opened his mouth.
"Does Lala know you're here?"
"No, the princesses believe we are still on Earth helping to cover the damages from the prior fight."
The Emperor of Deviluke continued walking until he stopped directly before the kneeling knight. Without uttering a single word, Gid Lucione Deviluke simply looked down at the captain of his royal guard. The silence dragged on for several long moments. Sweat slowly formed beneath Zastin's forehead despite the cool air. His breathing became noticeably shallower as an invisible pressure settled over him.
"The report."
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty."
Zastin immediately produced a tablet from within his cloak and presented it with both hands. Taking it without ceremony, the emperor calmly began reviewing the gathered intelligence.
Several images filled the display. The first showed Yami. The second had clearly been taken from a considerable distance and depicted Nemesis. The third displayed Mea. Each photograph was accompanied by additional notes detailing the sightings and the limited information collected on each individual since the incident.
After studying every file, Gid finally raised his eyes.
"Is this all of them?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Those are all the last confirmed locations we have managed to obtain. Unfortunately, after the incident involving Golden Darkness... both Nemesis and Mea disappeared almost immediately. They have remained hidden ever since, and every attempt to continue tracking them has failed."
A quiet click of the emperor's tongue cut through the clearing.
"What did Solgam call them, weapons of destruction? What a joke," he muttered, his gaze returning briefly to the photographs. "Nothing more than a collection of defective tools, cowards who thought they could barge into my territory and turn it into their playground just because I happened to be focusing my attention elsewhere at the time."
His attention lingered on Yami's picture considerably longer than the others. The expression on his face barely changed, yet Zastin recognized the subtle pause immediately.
"And this one?"
"She is continuing to reside with Yuuki Emiya Shirou and his family in their household, as usual, alongside your daughters, Your Majesty."
The knight hesitated, and after several seconds, he cautiously continued.
"If I may, Sire... I do not believe Golden Darkness bears direct responsibility for what occurred. Everything we have gathered suggests she was acting under circumstances beyond her control. Since then, she appears to carry considerable guilt over her actions-"
"-Hoh, did I ask for your opinion?"
The interruption struck harder than any shout. Zastin immediately lowered his head until it nearly touched the ground.
"No, Your Majesty. Please forgive my insolence."
"Hm."
The emperor continued staring at him for another brief moment before handing the tablet back.
"You've become rather lax with the finer points of your station since arriving on this planet. Actually talking back to me in order to vouch for someone else? That's new." His tone remained calm, though no warmth could be found within it. "I suppose prolonged exposure to Earth's culture has dulled your discipline. I won't hold that against you... Not yet."
A brief cough escaped him before his gaze shifted toward the distant horizon where the city lay beyond the forest.
"Let us see how boldly these fools are willing to conduct themselves now that I have finally recovered my full strength." His fists clenched with lightning crackling around them. The smirk on his face grew, showing his fang-like teeth. "But first, let me have some fun and stretch my limbs with the idiots ruling this planet."
--------------
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Taimanin with 3, Hound having 3 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.