The preparations for parting had dragged on forever, but the parting itself lasted only an instant.
Fou vanished into the hole in a single bound.
And in the place where Fou had stood, someone new appeared.
It was a figure I knew all too well.
A black dress wrapped around an enormous chest and wide hips.
A skirt slit open on one side, leaving her entire leg exposed.
The exact same appearance I had seen in the game.
The exact same Dubai BB I had seen in reality.
"Senior...♡"
But then that BB came toward me, her eyes shining with desperate emotion, and threw her arms around me.
Pressing her massive breasts against me with enough force to rival any other Servant.
"I'm so, so glad you're alive."
BB rubbed her face against my chest like an affectionate dog, openly delighted.
Her voice was so sweet it felt like it could melt straight through my ears.
It had been a long time since I'd heard it.
The voice that had been there since the very first Fate anime. The voice that had carried so many Sakura-faces. Hearing it again hit me with a wave of nostalgia.
Still, even if BB was friendly by nature, she wasn't usually the type to cling this tightly.
This felt a little unfamiliar.
"It's been a while."
I hugged her back for the moment and lightly patted her on the back.
She looked happy enough to cry, and at that point it was hard to push her away.
With BB, though, there was always the chance this was some absurdly elaborate prank.
Or that she was waiting to see my reaction so she could tease me for it.
So I couldn't let my guard down, but the joy she was showing at seeing me again looked genuine enough.
Well, of course it would. A man who should have been dead had just shown up.
After holding her for a while, I took a step back.
Or at least, I tried to.
"Please don't go."
BB tightened her arms around me and refused to let go.
Every time I retreated a step, she closed the distance by one of her own.
In the end, I had no choice but to keep talking while meeting the eyes of a BB looking up at me from point-blank range.
The angle was a little overwhelming.
Not that I was complaining.
"By the way... your current state is...?"
"[Golden BB], of course. If we're talking in terms of Saint Graph ascension, I'm in my fully completed final stage. A perfect AI built to support all of humanity."
So in other words, she was [Golden BB]. Got it. Perfectly understood.
"Then you're just BB."
"Yes. I'm BB. But why did you specifically call for me? The letter Mr. Fou had me ghostwrite didn't explain the details."
BB asked the question with glittering eyes.
She looked like she was expecting something.
This was a trap.
A chill slid down my spine in an instant.
If I answered this wrong, I was dead.
I had no idea why Chaldea's BB was showing this much raw emotion, but...
It felt like I needed to mix in at least a few emotionally loaded words.
"I did miss you sometimes. But more than that, there was something I absolutely needed BB for."
"Hmm...? Is that so? I don't know what it is you need me for, but hearing that you missed me does make me happy. I'll give you a passing grade."
BB smiled with her eyes and finally slipped out of my arms.
Judging by her expression, she seemed satisfied.
"All right, then. Tell me the full story."
Since she'd opened the floor for me, I gave her the shortest explanation I could manage of the current situation.
What kind of world this was.
Everything, right down to Sukuna's existence inside Itadori Yuji.
Thankfully, Tengen kept pretending not to notice us all the way to the end.
Because of that, the flow of the conversation never broke.
"Ah. So that's why this strange space exists. And the person over there is the owner of it?"
"That's right."
BB nodded as she looked toward Tengen, seated apart from us.
So she'd only just noticed Tengen now.
"Then I should introduce myself, even if it's late. I'm BB. I look forward to working with you from here on."
"Ah, um... yes. Likewise."
Tengen only turned his head slightly and gave a small nod.
Maybe his mind had reached some plantlike state of tranquility, but he was absurdly calm.
Or maybe he had simply grown used to my Servants a long time ago.
Hard to tell.
"Senior, since we have a guest here, shall we head outside for now? If possible, I'd prefer somewhere the two of us can be alone...♡"
BB slipped her arm around mine and turned on the charm.
With my arm wedged right against the exposed valley of her chest, there was no way I could refuse.
Partly because I wanted to comfort BB after seeing her again.
Partly because of more selfish reasons.
"All right. Let's get out of here for now. We should also say hello to the ones waiting outside."
"Huh? The ones? Don't tell me they're all gathered here?"
BB's eyes went wide.
Well, I'd told her in the letter there were six Servants here, so hearing "everyone" probably made her imagine the full lineup.
And with an Avenger mixed in, it wasn't strange for her to be surprised.
Around [Foreign Object] 2, the Avenger class had already self-evicted after both I and the protagonist chose settlement over revenge.
"Just two. They take turns guarding me in pairs, rotating every month."
"Well, naturally. What Servant would leave their Master completely alone? If something goes wrong, you could disappear."
A Master was the anchor that kept a Servant fixed in the present world.
If that anchor vanished, the Servant would be swept away and erased like driftwood in a storm.
That was why most Servants stayed close to their Master.
Of course, there were always a few exceptions.
"So I've accepted it. I'm grateful for it. And honestly, I enjoy it too."
"I suppose so. A world without Mystery means fewer troublesome complications. What a wonderfully peaceful world this is."
BB smiled and nodded.
Compared to everything we'd been through, this world really did feel peaceful.
I turned to Tengen and bowed.
It was time to say goodbye.
"Lord Tengen, thank you for everything. I've caused you a great deal of trouble as well."
"It was nothing. I got to witness some truly rare sights in return."
"Thank you. If anything ever happens and you need my help, please call for me."
"I shall. Return safely."
"Yes. I'll see you again."
Tengen smiled gently as he saw us off.
He might have seemed like an emotionless plant, but it wasn't that his feelings had been cut away entirely.
He had simply lived so long that he'd transcended most things.
He still had sentiment left in him.
BB and I left the root of Hongseong Palace side by side.
When we climbed the stairs, our eyes met the pair on duty waiting in front of the underground tunnel.
Raiko and Ushi-gozen.
The two assigned to this month smiled warmly the moment they saw BB.
"Welcome."
"We're glad to have you. So you really did come."
Both of them greeted her with composed, courteous ease.
They already knew I was planning to call BB, so they weren't surprised.
"It's been a while for both of you too. You knew I was coming, didn't you?"
"Yes. Our frequent visits to this Hongseong Palace were part of the process of summoning you in the first place."
Raiko answered politely.
Raiko's chest was impressive enough on its own, but BB didn't lose to her in the slightest.
Before Fate/Grand Order had even launched, BB's design roots traced back to Sakura, one of the Type-Moon world's most famously gifted women in that department.
So this was the dignity of the original, huh.
BB herself wasn't the original, but Sakura, the motif behind her, was.
No wonder that sense of pedigree came through.
"Raiko, Ushi-gozen. Could you two head home first? I think I need to spend some time with BB today."
"Oh my? With BB?"
Raiko's eyes widened.
Probably because she knew BB normally wasn't this kind of woman.
The two Koyanskayas had been born into this world and undergone a certain kind of influence here.
You could think of it as a kind of enlightenment.
But BB had come straight over from Chaldea.
So seeing her act this aggressively had to look strange.
"Sorry."
"It's all right. We expected this might happen. And Ushi-gozen...?"
"There is no reason for me to object to a decision made by Master. However, if anything should occur, contact us without delay. I will come running at once."
Ushi-gozen smiled at me.
Both of them looked like they'd expected this from the start, which only made me feel more grateful and more guilty at the same time.
"Then we'll excuse ourselves first."
"Master, please return safely."
The moment the three Servants and I emerged from Hongseong Palace, Raiko and Ushi-gozen dissolved into spirit form and disappeared.
That left only BB and me.
Just the two of us.
Nice and intimate.
What was I supposed to do about BB's outfit?
Her current clothes were excessive, sure, but they were still the kind of thing you occasionally saw in the modern world.
In a sense, they were modern.
BB herself was a Servant from the future.
It was only natural for her to feel contemporary.
Even so, it was equally true that the outfit wasn't exactly everyday wear.
And the exposure was extreme.
"I think we should buy clothes first..."
"Clothes? Is there something wrong with mine?"
"They're pretty, and they suit you. But in the modern world, they stand out too much."
"Ah! Right, this is a normal world, isn't it? I've spent so much time in Chaldea and the Moon Cell that..."
Chaldea was Chaldea.
And the Moon Cell was, put simply, a gigantic cubic supercomputer hidden on the moon.
The inside of the Moon Cell was practically another world entirely.
One of Type-Moon's settings.
Fate/Extra was the classic example of a story set inside that world.
"You're buying them for me, right, Master? That's way too nice."
"Sorry. Yaskaya earned the money. I'm basically just a kept man."
At that, BB smiled with her eyes.
Not brightly.
Sharply. Like a beast baring its fangs.
"Hmm... Ms. Koyanskaya, is it? So those two used asset management to make Master's wallet nice and fat?"
"Uh... yeah. Enough for financial freedom, at least."
"Is that so? Even if it couldn't be helped, my pride as the AI who supports Senior simply can't allow it. From now on, I think I'll be managing Master's assets too."
"Do you really have to?"
"Of course I do. I need to show you properly which Servant is more useful, and which one is truly fit to remain by your side. And since this is the modern age, my abilities should shine even more brightly here."
She wasn't wrong.
The two Koyanskayas were career women perfectly suited to the modern world, but BB was no slouch either.
No, in some ways she was even better.
She was an AI. Of course she'd dominate when it came to electronics.
And if you asked whether she lacked the skills of a proper secretary, the answer was no there too.
Again, AI.
Still, when it came to dealing with people directly, Yaskaya was probably better.
Negotiating with humans, reading them, handling them—that felt more like Koyanskaya's field.
Both of them knew exactly how to manipulate and stab at human emotion.
In any case, BB being this motivated was a good thing.
If BB worked, that would lighten Koyanskaya's burden.
And if her burden lightened, she'd have more room to breathe.
"I'm looking forward to it. Anyway, should we head to a department store or something?"
"Huh? Isn't that expensive? I'm cute, so I think I'd look fine even in cheap clothes."
BB asked with wide eyes.
Wait, she was trying to be frugal here?
"It's your first outfit here. I want to buy you something nice. Come on."
"Ugh...! That's so unfair of you to say. Are you seriously trying to seduce me again after you've already cleared my route?"
Even as BB narrowed her eyes at me, she clung tightly to my arm.
Her cheeks were bright red too.
"Yeah. Let's go."
"All right. Even if there are things to do, it makes sense to get my wardrobe in order first. I should also see what the girls working here look like once they're dressed properly."
BB's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
At this rate, I was going to end up buying her anything she wanted.
I immediately pulled out my phone and called Yaga.
I felt bad asking for an Assistant Director for a personal errand, but convenience won out.
"Sorry for calling over something private."
"If your partner stands out that much, it can't be helped. It's fine, so don't worry about it."
Yaga agreed readily and hung up.
He was probably feeling some pressure, all things considered.
At this point, next time I came by, I should buy a gift for Yaga too.
And one for the Assistant Director.
Inside the car, BB looked out over the streets, gauging the level of civilization around her.
Japan. Tokyo, no less.
It wasn't enough to grasp the entire world, but it was more than enough to get a rough sense of the era's overall flow.
The development of the world tended to follow similar patterns.
Especially among advanced nations, there were plenty of structural similarities.
If she connected to the network, she'd know for sure, but there was no need to rush.
For now, enjoying a date with Kadoc came first.
Work could wait until later.
"Thank you for bringing us."
We thanked the Assistant Director who had acted as our driver and got out.
BB's outfit was so flashy that it drew eyes from everywhere.
The man riding the escalator.
The women in the middle of shopping.
Even the children who had come along with their parents and were dying of boredom.
All of them looked at BB.
A violently overwhelming body that awakened and provoked desire.
A face both beautiful and adorable.
And on top of that, an atmosphere that dominated everyone around her.
Together, it made her almost awe-inspiring.
Even Kadoc, walking beside her, couldn't help thinking so.
Still, Kadoc remained calm despite all the attention pouring onto BB.
He'd already had plenty of chances to learn what this looked like through the other Servants.
Thanks to that, we were able to move through several sections of women's clothing and pick things out.
According to my taste.
"Not yours?"
"Nope. Senior should dress me in the clothes you want to see me wear. Doesn't that excite you more?"
BB, being BB, kept provoking Kadoc every chance she got.
Even so, this was still an extremely mild version of her.
"How about this one?"
"Aha. So this is the kind of outfit you wanted to put me in, Senior? All right. I'll try it on, so wait just a moment."
After a brief moment of thought, Kadoc picked out one main outfit for her.
Thankfully, BB seemed genuinely pleased.
"Senior~ Could you come in for a second?"
Kadoc had only been waiting outside the fitting room for a short while when BB pulled the curtain aside from within and called to him.
What now?
Tilting his head, Kadoc lightly drew back the curtain covering the fitting room.
And in the next instant, his eyes went wide.