On a family trip, no sex.
So after Shuten-douji won our lighthearted little tournament, all I did was hold her and sleep.
Her horns were a little inconvenient, but she was small, slender.
She smelled good, too. Honestly, she felt perfectly built for sleeping in someone's arms.
"...You damn cow. I won fair and square, and you're still trying to interfere?"
"I'm not objecting to the result of a fair match. Please take a proper look at what's in my arms."
"What, did you lose your mind and start doing dawn exercise? What's in your arms—"
As I slowly surfaced from sleep, Shuten-douji, who'd sounded ready to start an argument, clicked her tongue instead.
"Is this the real thing?"
Right as I dragged my heavy eyelids open, the Shuten-douji in my arms asked in a startled voice.
What was she looking at? As my blurred vision sharpened, I saw the thing in Raiko's arms.
No, not a thing. A beast.
And a very familiar furry beast at that.
"...Fou?"
"Yes, Master. He seems to be asleep, but this is definitely Lord Fou."
Raiko let out a sigh, using an oddly respectful form of address for Fou.
Even to me, it looked like the real Fou.
The fluffy white fur, the tail that always made me think of a fox, at least by my standards.
Even that neat little face.
Fou, Chaldea's mascot.
In Grand Order, he was Beast IV, one of the Evils of Humanity—but he had abandoned that path and denied it. He was on our side.
"It really is him."
I could feel it instinctively. It was definitely Fou.
Ever since I'd materialized my soul, my senses had grown sharper, and I could pick up his Magical Energy signature.
If I could sense Magical Energy, that meant he was something that had come from outside this world.
From a different cosmology entirely.
"Never thought I'd pick up Fou in the middle of Osaka."
"We have to take him with us, right?"
"Obviously. For now, can you hold onto him, Raiko?"
"Yes. Understood. But what should we tell the others?"
"Let them sleep for now. We'll gather everyone in the morning and explain it then. Looks like tomorrow morning's schedule is getting replaced with a briefing."
Our plans had been canceled whether we liked it or not, but honestly, I didn't mind.
I was happy to see him.
Normally I would've kicked the blankets aside and caused a full-blown uproar on the spot...
But now, I stayed calm.
More than anything, it was too late.
When it's time to sleep, you sleep.
"I'm sorry for waking you. Sleep well."
"You should get some sleep too, Raiko. Thanks for handling it."
After exchanging those warm goodnights, we drifted back to sleep.
Shuten-douji closed her eyes too.
Usually, waking up in the middle of the night and falling asleep again just leaves you groggy, but this time it meant I slept even longer.
And the extra sleep washed the fatigue out of me.
"My lord. It's been noisy outside for a while now. Looks like that cow Raiko told everyone."
Smack. The moment I opened my eyes, Shuten smiled and pressed a kiss to my lips.
Being that close, looking straight at each other, made my heart kick a little.
"Thanks for telling me. Should we head out too?"
"We should. For better or worse, looks like that tiny beast woke up too."
"Oh? Then we definitely need to go."
I came out holding hands with Shuten-douji.
In the spacious suite living room, every woman except us had already gathered.
By "everyone," I meant everyone except Toji's family.
They should be enjoying their family trip.
"Fo-fou!"
With everyone's eyes turning at once, Fou—sitting on Raiko's lap—perked up his ears the instant he saw me.
I recognized him, and he recognized me.
Yeah. It really was Fou.
Because Fou possessed intelligence on par with a human's.
He could even speak.
Normally he only made little cries instead of talking, but there was always the matter of "special interpretation."
And every now and then, rarely, he really did speak.
The most famous example was "Merlin, die, Fou"—shortened to Meru-juk-fou.
And then there was what he said at the end of Part 1.
"It really is Fou, huh?"
As I stepped closer, Fou leaped into my arms like he'd been waiting for me.
We'd gotten along well enough before, but not to this extent.
Maybe I felt like someone from home after all this time.
That was what it looked like, anyway.
"Well now. What brought this on? Just happy to see me here?"
"Fou, foufou!"
"Guess you really are happy to see me. I'm glad too."
Cradling Fou carefully, I sat down in the empty seat of honor.
Taking that seat felt far too natural, but it also felt like where I belonged.
"Fou. You can talk now, right? If we're going to figure out what happened, I need to know."
"Yeah."
When I asked while stroking him, Fou opened his mouth immediately.
Maki and Mai, seated beside me, went wide-eyed.
"The animal...?"
"It talked...? I'm not dreaming, right?"
Both of them stared at the speaking Fou in shock.
Even with an explanation beforehand, that reaction was only natural.
"How did you end up here?"
"I don't know. I remember watching over the star until the very end, and then getting caught in the spatial collapse."
In that instant, the story of Grand Order came rushing back.
And with it, the last reality I had lived through.
The final enemy of Part 2's conclusion.
Because of Marisbury Animusphere, I saved the Director after she got caught in it, and I saved Sion and Nemo too, even though they had already resigned themselves to death.
Even in that final moment, when the protagonist had once dropped to their knees, I kept searching for another way.
Some better answer.
But in the end... I decided the best option was for me alone to stay behind and force it through.
At least, for me, it was.
So I never really knew what happened after that, but to think Fou got caught up in it too.
That was way beyond anything I'd expected.
"If it was a spatial collapse, that means the space itself caved in, right?"
"Yeah. Like a painting of a world being consumed by fire. It vanishes without leaving even a trace."
As far as I knew, Fou could have escaped.
But I'd never imagined he would choose to be swallowed up and die instead.
"Was it because of me?"
Maybe Kadoc had changed somehow while he was alive.
Or maybe it had just been a whim. Either way, things had gone differently from the original story.
"You stayed even knowing that?"
"I'm a beast. I couldn't very well run from a peaceful end while gazing at the most beautiful star. There were also a few irritating fellows still around."
"Who?"
"Holmes. And Goetia."
First Sherlock Holmes, and then even Goetia in his Solomon cosplay.
Quite a few had stayed behind.
"Why didn't I know that?"
"Because you were carrying out the final task aboard the collapsing Storm Border."
"Ah. Right."
I nodded without protest.
Come to think of it, back then I'd been too busy and too scared to spare attention for anything else.
The Servants listened quietly to our conversation.
It was hidden history from that moment, so of course it drew their interest.
Maki and Mai looked like they didn't fully understand what we were talking about...
But they seemed to grasp the flow of it, judging by the serious expressions on their faces.
"Still, I never imagined I'd meet you like this after you disappeared. Same goes for me, honestly."
"Same here. Then I suppose you'll need to give me a simple explanation of this world. Or did someone already tell me?"
"You've heard it already. A world with no Magical Energy, and no Root either. I never imagined such a place could exist."
"Put simply, think of it as a completely different cosmology."
A different cosmology.
There probably wasn't any simpler or clearer way to explain it.
The Fate-inclusive Moon Cell side of the Type-Moon universe.
And the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
They were, quite literally, different worlds.
"That really does cut straight to the heart of it."
Fou nodded as he looked at me.
This was the first time I'd held him this long, and it felt strangely unfamiliar.
"I'm glad you get it. But I'm worried whether it's safe for you to stay in a city. We went all the way out to the sticks to avoid exactly that, remember?"
As far as I knew, Fou wasn't supposed to stay in places crowded with humans.
He would keep feeding on their malice and evolve into a Beast.
"Yeah. So I think I need to find a suitable place quickly. Could you recommend somewhere?"
"Give me a second."
I nodded and thought it over.
It was a shame to have to do this the moment we reunited, but it was necessary.
For a friend who had come flying in from the same world as me.
And if I wanted to put it grandly, for world peace too.
"There is one place... but I'll have to go beg a little."
After a brief moment of thought, a good location came to mind.
Close to civilization, but almost completely inaccessible to ordinary humans.
A place where malice could be cut off.
Tengen's Tombs of the Star Corridor.
I'd just have to storm in there and drop to the floor in a full dogeza if necessary.
And now that I'd achieved materialization of the soul, it didn't seem like a bad time to go see the place for myself and pay my respects anyway.
"Assassin. Come to Tokyo with me. Everyone else can move freely today, and have Foreigner contact Mr. Toji."
"Yes. Understood."
Koyanskaya of Light, Assassin.
And Koyanskaya of Darkness, Foreigner, nodded at the same time.
In situations like this, leaning on Assassin and Foreigner was the right call. Their utility was too good.
The others weren't without utility, but they were fundamentally combat personnel.
"Sorry, Maki, Mai. This is urgent, so I'll be back soon. Just enjoy yourselves today."
"It's fine. We're not kids."
"Please be careful."
Maki and Mai smiled and nodded.
They'd really grown up into reliable people.
"Do you have somewhere in mind?"
Fou asked from my arms.
His cute little face was so close that just looking at him eased my mind.
I smiled and rose from my seat.
"I do."
Assassin and I immediately boarded a flight to Tokyo and landed at Narita Airport.
Then we got into a car prepared in advance by the Assistant Director.
I normally wouldn't go this far, but I was in a hurry.
And in this case, speed genuinely mattered, so I moved fast.
"It's been a while. Are you feeling better?"
The man in the driver's seat asked.
A very familiar face. It was Ijichi Kiyotaka.
Originally, he was supposed to be stabbed and wounded during the Shibuya Incident, but right now he was perfectly fine.
Because the Shibuya Incident had never happened.
And the one who stabbed him, Shigemo Haruta, had become an offering to Choso.
So of course he hadn't been hurt.
"Yeah. I'm glad you look healthy too, Mr. Ijichi."
"Yes. Though... the animal in your arms, is it perhaps a pet?"
Ijichi glanced at Fou in my arms as he asked.
That was the normal assumption, to be fair.
"He's a friend. It's a bit complicated, but we met again by complete chance."
"Ah. I see. My apologies."
Ijichi bowed his head in apology at once.
Even while doing that, he kept his eyes firmly on the road. Reassuring as ever.
"He accepted that fast."
Maybe it was because he lived in a world where bizarre things happened all the time.
He had a remarkable flexibility when it came to accepting the absurd.
"It's fine. Fou doesn't seem to mind much either."
In fact, even after being called a pet, all Fou did was yawn.
He didn't look offended in the slightest.
Thanks to that, the ride stayed surprisingly relaxed.
Only Assassin, seated in the back with us, kept staring at Fou and sighing over and over.
"We've arrived."
"Thank you. I'm in a hurry, so if you see Mr. Gojo or Mr. Geto later, please pass along my regards. Same for Ms. Ieiri."
"Understood. I'll remain on standby, so please take your time with your business."
The car rolled to a stop in front of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The moment it did, Assassin, Fou, and I got out and headed straight for the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
With Magecraft, I could locate the Tombs' coordinates whenever I wanted.
As long as Tengen didn't reject us.
Creak. The door opened, revealing a dry forest and an old storehouse.
And beneath it, the elevator leading down into the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
"How strange. I know this isn't Mystery, and yet it feels like traces of Mystery are hanging in the air."
"The foundations are different, but the result is similar. Probably because of that."
Fou and I talked as we headed for the elevator.
I was the one who said it, but honestly, it sounded pretty convincing.
Thunk. The elevator started, descending smoothly.
It looked ancient, but it ran like it had been built yesterday.
The descending elevator jolted, then the doors opened.
A familiar passage stretched out before us, cave-like and dim.
"Now that we're this far in, what do you think?"
"It's calm. I like it. It feels like some kind of barrier has been set up here. Human malice doesn't seem able to reach this place. Same with whoever's waiting ahead."
Fou murmured as he looked forward.
As expected of something that had lived so long—he picked up on Tengen's presence immediately.
Holding Fou in my arms, I walked through the corridor washed in dull light.
Thankfully, we hadn't been rejected, and soon a scene I'd seen before came into view.
A gigantic tree.
Traditional Japanese buildings encircling it.
And below that, stairs leading down toward the roots.
We'd be meeting them soon.
"I wondered why you had come so suddenly... and yet you've brought with you quite a peculiar specimen."
Just as expected.
When we descended the stairs, Tengen—now in that evolved form—blinked at us.