Tohsaka Residence — Evening
Inside the elegant Tohsaka Residence, the dining room was unusually quiet.
The long dining table had been carefully prepared, with warm dishes arranged neatly across the surface. The soft glow of the chandelier above cast a gentle light over the room, yet the atmosphere felt far heavier than the peaceful scene suggested.
Seated around the table were the members of the Tohsaka family.
At the head of the table sat Tokiomi Tohsaka, maintaining his usual calm and dignified posture. To his right sat Aoi Tohsaka, who tried her best to maintain a gentle smile despite the faint redness around her eyes.
Across from them sat their two daughters.
Rin Tohsaka and Sakura Tohsaka.
Normally, Rin would be chatting happily during dinner, occasionally boasting about something she had learned during magus training. Tonight, however, the girl remained unusually quiet, her small hands gripping her utensils tightly.
Sakura, sitting beside her, looked even quieter.
Her eyes occasionally drifted toward her father.
Then toward Rin.
Then back to her plate.
No one spoke for a while.
The only sound in the room was the faint clink of utensils against porcelain.
Finally, Tokiomi placed his cup down gently.
"Sakura."
The young girl immediately straightened.
"Yes, Father."
His gaze remained calm, yet there was a weight behind his words.
"Starting today, you will be living with the Matou family."
Sakura lowered her head slightly.
"…Yes."
Tokiomi continued speaking in his composed tone, explaining once again the duty of magus, the importance of inheritance, and the necessity of preserving magic circuits within proper families.
The words were logical.
Reasonable.
The kind of explanation a magus would naturally give.
Yet—
Neither Rin nor Sakura truly understood them.
To them, it simply meant one thing.
They were going to be separated.
Aoi gently placed a hand on Sakura's head, stroking her hair softly.
"You'll be fine, Sakura," she said gently. "The Matou family will take good care of you."
Sakura nodded obediently.
But her small hands tightened under the table.
Across from her, Rin suddenly pushed her chair back.
"…Why does Sakura have to go?" she asked.
Her voice was trembling.
Tokiomi's expression remained composed.
"Because she is a talented child," he answered. "And talent must not be wasted."
Rin bit her lip.
To a magus, that answer was perfectly reasonable.
To a sister—
It wasn't.
Dinner ended not long after.
=============
Outside the residence, a black car waited quietly at the front gate, its engine already running as the cool evening air settled over the Tohsaka estate. Sakura stood near the entrance holding a small suitcase that had been prepared for her, while Rin stood directly in front of her, staring at her younger sister as if trying to memorize every detail.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Rin suddenly stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Sakura, her voice trembling as she whispered, "Sakura… don't go."
Sakura froze for a brief moment before slowly hugging her back, gently returning the embrace as she answered softly, "It's okay, Onee-chan… but I'll miss you."
Rin buried her face into Sakura's shoulder, trying to hold back her tears as she spoke quickly, almost desperately. "I'll visit you, okay? And we'll play together again just like before!"
Sakura nodded obediently, though her eyes had already begun to glisten, and she quietly replied, "Yes."
At that moment, Tokiomi Tohsaka stepped forward and calmly announced that it was time to leave, causing Sakura to hesitate slightly before gently releasing Rin from the hug.
Rin grabbed Sakura's hand one last time, holding onto it tightly as if she could somehow stop her from leaving, but eventually her grip loosened and their hands slowly separated.
Sakura then walked toward the waiting car, her small suitcase held tightly in both hands, and before entering she turned around one last time to look back at the house she had always known as home.
Rin was still standing there, trying her best not to cry as she watched her sister leave.
Seeing this, Sakura smiled—a small, fragile smile meant to reassure her sister—and then she quietly entered the car, after which the door slowly closed.
Moments later, the vehicle began to move, carrying Sakura away from the Tohsaka household and toward the residence of Zouken Matou, a place where her fate was meant to change forever.
The car slowly came to a stop in front of the old and ominous Matou Residence, its iron gates creaking slightly as they opened to allow the vehicle inside. The estate looked far older than the Tohsaka household, its walls dark and weathered, and even the surrounding air seemed heavier, as if the place itself carried a quiet hostility toward anyone who entered.
Inside the car, Sakura Tohsaka sat quietly, her small suitcase resting on her lap as she nervously looked out the window at the unfamiliar mansion, while beside her Tokiomi Tohsaka maintained his usual composed posture, his expression calm despite the weight of the moment.
The front door of the residence slowly opened, and an old man stepped outside to greet them.
It was Zouken Matou.
His frail body leaned slightly on a wooden cane, yet his sunken eyes gleamed with a strange, unsettling interest as they fell upon the young girl stepping out of the car.
"Tokiomi-dono," Zouken greeted with a thin smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
Tokiomi nodded politely before placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder and guiding her forward. "This is Sakura," he said calmly. "From today onward, she will be under the care of the Matou family."
Zouken's gaze lingered on Sakura for several seconds, slowly scanning her as though inspecting a valuable object.
"Indeed… a promising child," he muttered softly.
Sakura lowered her head politely, remembering the manners her parents had taught her.
"Please take care of me," she said quietly.
The formalities were brief, and after a few more words exchanged between the two magi families, Tokiomi turned toward Sakura one last time. Although his expression remained composed, there was a faint softness in his voice as he spoke.
"Be strong, Sakura. This is for your future."
Sakura nodded obediently, though the meaning behind those words still felt distant and unclear to her.
"Goodbye, Father."
Tokiomi gave a final nod before returning to the car, and within moments the vehicle began moving again, its headlights slowly disappearing down the dark road as it carried him away.
The moment the car vanished from sight, the atmosphere around the Matou residence seemed to change.
The brief politeness vanished.
Zouken turned around without another word.
"Come," he said coldly.
Sakura hurried to follow him, clutching her small suitcase as she walked through the unfamiliar halls of the mansion. The interior was dimly lit and strangely silent, and with every step she took the feeling of unease in her chest slowly grew stronger.
They continued walking deeper into the house until Zouken finally stopped in front of a narrow staircase hidden behind a wooden door.
"The basement?" Sakura asked softly, confusion filling her voice.
Zouken did not answer.
Instead, he opened the door and gestured for her to go down.
Sakura hesitated for a moment but eventually obeyed, slowly stepping down the stairs into the dark basement below. The air was damp and cold, and the faint smell of something rotten lingered in the air.
The moment she reached the bottom—
Zouken suddenly pushed her forward.
Sakura stumbled and fell onto the floor.
Behind her, the basement door slammed shut with a loud bang.
"W-Wait—!" Sakura cried as she ran toward the door, pounding on it desperately. "Please open the door!"
But no answer came.
Slowly, her voice faded.
Then she noticed it.
At first, it was just a faint sound.
A soft, unsettling rustling.
Sakura slowly turned around.
And froze.
The basement floor was moving.
No—
It was crawling.
Countless insects and worms covered the ground, writhing and squirming over one another as they slowly began crawling toward her.
For a moment, Sakura could not even scream.
Her mind went blank.
Then the horror finally reached her.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Her scream echoed through the basement as she backed away in terror, tears streaming down her face while the swarm of insects continued to close in from every direction.
In that moment of absolute despair, when fear and hopelessness filled her heart—
Sakura made a wish.
A desperate wish.
Someone…
Please…
Save me…
And then—
The world suddenly distorted.
In the blink of an eye, Sakura's body vanished from the basement.
At the exact moment she disappeared, she felt a burning heat spreading across the back of her right hand.
A faint mark began to form there.
================
Ren was sitting inside his hotel room when the space in front of him suddenly distorted for a brief moment.
A faint ripple passed through the air—
And then a small figure appeared on the floor.
It was a little girl with dark-brown hair.
Her body was curled tightly into a ball, both arms wrapped around her knees as she trembled uncontrollably, as if trying to protect herself from something that no longer existed.
Ren looked at her quietly for a moment before letting out a small sigh of relief.
"…Good. I wasn't late."
If he late even a little, the outcome would have been far worse. Thinking about what could have happened if Sakura had remained in that basement for even a few more minutes made his expression grow slightly colder.
Fortunately, he had acted in time.
To Ren, children were different from adults. Unlike grown-ups who constantly schemed and calculated every move, children were still pure and fragile, and that was exactly why they deserved protection.
Shaking away those thoughts, Ren's expression softened as he walked over and sat down beside the trembling girl.
Without saying anything, he gently placed a hand on her head and began patting her hair softly.
Sakura twitched slightly at the sudden contact, her body stiffening for a moment. However, the warmth of the gentle touch slowly reached her through the overwhelming fear in her heart.
Someone…
Someone was there.
Summoning her courage, Sakura slowly lifted her head and looked up.
What she saw was a young man sitting beside her, someone who looked calm and kind, his expression gentle as he continued to pat her head.
For a brief moment, Sakura simply stared at him.
Then—
As if the dam holding back her emotions had suddenly collapsed, Sakura threw herself forward and tightly hugged him.
"Waaaaah…!"
Her crying burst out all at once, loud and uncontrollable, as if she were trying to release every bit of fear and grief she had been forced to endure.
After all, she was only eight years old.
Being separated from her family, sent away from home, and then thrown into a nightmare-like basement filled with crawling insects—all of it had happened within a single night.
It was far more than a child could bear.
Ren didn't try to stop her.
Instead, he simply allowed Sakura to cling to him while he gently patted her back and softly stroked her hair, silently reassuring her that everything was alright now.
Minutes passed.
Then more minutes.
Sakura's crying slowly grew weaker as exhaustion finally began to overtake her small body.
Eventually, her grip on Ren loosened slightly, and her breathing became slow and steady.
She had fallen asleep.
Ren glanced down at the sleeping girl resting in his arms and sighed quietly.
"…Rough night, huh?"
Carefully, he adjusted his position so Sakura could sleep more comfortably, continuing to gently pat her head as the room slowly fell silent.
====================
Author note: if you are wondering why Sakura had dark-brown hair, here I will take the quotes from Type-Moon Lore Wiki
"Before Sakura was adopted into the Matou family, she resembled her sister, having had short black-brown hair with pigtails and teal eyes. Shortly after her adoption, at most a year after, her hair and eyes took on their violet color, which is a direct result of Zouken's torturous training changing Sakura's body."