"Water! Give me water! I am going to die without water!"
Inside the restaurant, Exusiai sat beside the table continuously drinking from the cup in her hand.
Shirou could clearly see that the color on her face had already turned as red as her hair just now.
It was… quite terrifying.
Looking at the culprit that had turned Exusiai into this state, Shirou began seriously contemplating an important question in his heart.
Did the Penguin Logistics dormitory have any other bathrooms?
Unlike the worry practically written across Shirou's face, everyone else was still eating quite happily, especially Nian, who had brought everyone here.
After noticing that something was off with Shirou, they did not continue questioning him. Instead, under Nian's suggestion, they dragged him out to eat together.
This was the hotpot restaurant Nian had chosen.
The reason for choosing this place was simple. The spiciness here was genuinely intense.
However, that sincerity only applied to Nian. For ordinary people like Shirou, this was basically hell itself.
No, for the people from Penguin Logistics, it apparently was not hell?
Shirou raised his head and glanced at the group who needed to drink three cups of water after every bite of food. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
Pushing themselves this far just for the sake of such a strange challenge really was very Penguin Logistics.
The one doing slightly better was probably Croissant. For some reason ever since her attempt to prank Shirou with an extra-spicy sandwich failed she had become obsessed with this kind of thing.
If Nian had not bought all the chili seasoning in her hands, then those chili seasonings would probably have become Croissant's side dishes afterward.
As for Nian… she was eating enthusiastically, even commenting while eating that it still was not spicy enough, hoping Shirou would personally make it even hotter.
Shirou rejected such an unreasonable request. Leaving aside the fact that he was not in the mood right now, the restaurant also did not provide additional seasoning this time. If he wanted to do anything, he would have to ask the staff first.
Shirou felt that he simply could not bring himself to do that. In this regard, he still lagged far behind Nian.
Back then, Nian had approached him and even started interacting with him directly just because she thought he looked friendly. That level of social confidence was terrifying.
"Huff… huff…"
Beside them, Sora blew repeatedly in an attempt to get rid of the burning sensation from the spice while silently pushing away the small bowl of water in front of her.
After rinsing meat in it twice, the bowl of water had already turned just as red as the soup in the pot. One glance was enough to tell that it had completely lost its original function.
"Have some juice. It should help a little."
Seeing Sora's flushed face, Shirou poured her a glass of juice and placed it in front of her. Sora did not stand on ceremony either. She immediately grabbed it and gulped it down.
Drinking water while eating spicy food was the worst possible option. Unfortunately, the restaurant did not provide milk, so they could only settle for sugary drinks to ease the burning sensation.
Shirou understood his own limits with spicy food very clearly, and he also knew how to deal with the heat, so he was not nearly as miserable as the others.
After pouring juice for everyone except Nian, Shirou returned to his seat and resumed staring blankly ahead.
Watching the crimson broth rolling inside the pot, Shirou somehow felt that the more he looked at it, the more it resembled the mud flowing out of the Holy Grail.
"Texas! You can do it!"
After noticing Shirou's expression, Exusiai patted Texas on the shoulder and said encouragingly.
"..."
Texas expressionlessly drank the juice Shirou had brought over. She honestly did not really want to bother with Exusiai's words, but after glancing at Shirou's side and sensing the unusually heavy atmosphere there, she ultimately put down her juice and walked over.
"Want to talk?"
Moving from the cheerful side of the table to the low-pressure zone around Shirou, Texas could very clearly feel the difference between the two atmospheres.
Still, she quickly adjusted and casually placed a Pocky stick between her lips.
"Ah… sorry. I was spacing out a little."
Hearing someone speak to him, Shirou finally snapped back to reality while realizing that he had probably ruined everyone else's mood.
"It is fine. We are just chatting."
Texas did not particularly mind. After all, this was something unavoidable in group life. It was just that Penguin Logistics usually dealt with these situations through joking and fooling around.
Sometimes, when she was alone, she also thought too much herself. That probably was the main reason Exusiai had pushed her over here.
After all, Exusiai's usual methods might not have much effect on the current Shirou. They might even backfire and result in him forcibly feeding her vegetables that had been simmered in the broth long enough to absorb all the flavor.
Putting aside those strange reasons, Texas genuinely did want to talk with Shirou a little.
As for why… perhaps because Shirou at this very moment resembled her quite a lot.
Both of them were being haunted by people and events from the past.
The difference was that while Texas feared her past catching up and destroying her current life, Shirou seemed more like he was afraid of his own past itself.
Seeing fear on Shirou's face… this was the first time.
Even when he had first arrived in a completely unfamiliar place, he had never shown such emotions. Even when Rhodes Island brought him news about people he knew, he had never been afraid.
"Mm, is there something you want to ask? I already explained most of the situation regarding my older sister… or are you asking about what happened during the Holy Grail War?"
Looking at Texas, Shirou thought for a moment before agreeing to talk.
"That works."
Hearing Shirou finally relent, Texas nodded immediately.
As for the topic itself, she did not care. As long as he was willing to talk, that was enough.
Moreover, she herself was genuinely curious about this so-called Holy Grail War. After all, Shirou had only briefly mentioned that it was some sort of ritual involving magecraft.
A war involving seven famous heroes from history and seven magus.
It sounded small in scale, but after hearing Shirou say that he himself had only ranked around the average-to-weaker tier within it, everyone realized that it probably really had been a small-scale war.
That was all they knew. Shirou had never explained these matters in detail, and the only thing they knew about the Holy Grail itself was that it had been corrupted by something.
"Hmm… let me think. I do not actually remember much from this side of my memories, but when I first met Illya, she kindly reminded me to hurry up and summon a Servant."
After thinking it over repeatedly, Shirou pieced together his fragmented memories and began speaking.
Although they were not truly his own experiences, the early parts were mostly similar anyway.
As Shirou spoke, Texas and Sora, who had already quietly moved closer, listened in silence. After hearing the topic, Exusiai and Croissant also stopped fooling around.
Nian, meanwhile, did not really understand what this war was about, but she was more than happy to listen to a story.
"Then during our second meeting, I got slashed by her Servant. The kind where your intestines spill out."
When Shirou said this, his tone was incredibly casual, as though the person who had been cut open was not himself.
Everyone else: "..."
The warm atmosphere suddenly turned horrifying so abruptly that several of them failed to react immediately.
Glancing at the braised intestines soaking in flavor between her chopsticks, Nian looked disgusted and moved them aside.
She regretted it a little now. This story was terrible for eating alongside.
"However, with the help of the Noble Phantasm Kiritsugu… my adoptive father… implanted into me, I recovered enough by the next day to move around normally. After that, things become unclear to me…"
At this point, Shirou paused slightly.
After all, this was where the memories diverged. Even in the best-case scenario, Illya had only remained alive for some time after the Holy Grail War ended.
Shirou had no intention of mentioning that part. Talking about himself was one thing, but speaking about someone else in that way felt wrong.
Still, he remembered that in the dream earlier, Illya had helped him tremendously.
"But… the fact that I can stand here now must be because her help and blessings are still with me."
After saying this, Shirou felt considerably more relaxed.
Perhaps it was because he had shared this matter with others, or perhaps because he had worked through something internally himself.
Whatever the reason, he definitely felt better after speaking about it.
Most of what he talked about revolved around Illya. He did not mention anything else.
Things like the Holy Grail War itself, the black mud, the Servants… Shirou brought up none of them.
After all, the role Illya played within the Holy Grail War was far more than merely that of a participating Master.
Thinking of this, Shirou suddenly recalled the image of her wearing that pure white outfit and crown.
As well as the blessing-filled smile upon her face.
"Hmm, hearing you talk about her makes me want to meet her too. She sounds like a very reliable older sister!"
After quietly listening to Shirou's story for a long while, Exusiai finally spoke up.
"Uh… yeah, that is right. She was a very reliable older sister."
After hesitating briefly, Shirou nodded and affirmed Exusiai's words.
In any case, none of them had ever met Illya, and he had no intention of ruining the image.
"..."
Looking at Shirou, Texas originally wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, she abandoned the idea.
She had no interest in reopening someone else's wounds simply to satisfy her own curiosity.
Although Shirou hid it well, Texas still knew that he had not spoken about the part that troubled him the most.
That was probably one of Shirou's flaws as well, was it not?
He always hid away the worst parts of himself.
After Shirou finished his story, the other two resumed fooling around again, playing rock-paper-scissors where the loser had to eat one bite of the heavily simmered ingredients from the pot.
Nian also found it amusing and joined in, even helping them add more ingredients into the hotpot.
Meanwhile, Sora and Texas sat across from Shirou and continued staring directly at him.
Shirou: "..."
He felt increasingly uncomfortable under their gaze.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?"
The corner of Shirou's mouth twitched as he asked the two of them. At the same time, he grabbed a napkin and wiped his face, though he found nothing there.
"It is nothing. You just never talk about your own past, so we got curious."
Seeing Shirou's puzzled expression, Sora answered honestly.
"I never brought it up because it is ordinary. I was just a very ordinary student."
"Ordinary? Are you referring to the mage part, the joining-the-Holy-Grail-War part, or the blowing-up-buildings-with-one-attack part?"
Hearing Shirou's words, Texas twitched at the corner of her mouth, looking especially helpless.
"Well, those are the abnormal parts. Besides, I do not actually remember much myself, so naturally there was not much to talk about. Even the things I mentioned earlier were only the fragments I barely managed to recall."
Faced with Texas's utterly exasperated retort, Shirou raised both hands, declaring himself innocent.
"Stare..."
Watching Shirou pretend to be innocent, the two women narrowed their eyes simultaneously and continued staring at him.
Shirou paid absolutely no attention to the gazes from the two of them and silently picked up his ice water for a sip.
He had already dealt with the two most troublesome people imaginable before. Compared to them, the staring attacks from these two well-behaved girls did not faze him in the slightest.
"Sigh… I know you are hiding something."
After quite a while, Texas finally sighed and gave up on the idea of forcing the truth out of him through sheer staring pressure.
Meanwhile, Sora was still trying her hardest to stare at Shirou.
"You have your own concerns. I understand that very clearly. I also do not know what exactly happened to you before, Shirou, but what I want to say is this: no matter what happens, right here and right now, we will stay by your side."
Texas spoke expressionlessly, using the coldest possible expression to say something embarrassingly heartfelt.
Even Sora froze for a moment after hearing her words.
"...Mm. Thank you."
Shirou was not doing much better himself. After remaining silent for a long time, those three words were all he could manage.
The atmosphere within Penguin Logistics really was wonderful. Even pranksters like Exusiai and Croissant still cared deeply about other people's feelings.
"Yeah, exactly! Texas is right! People cannot keep worrying about the past forever! You have to look toward the future!"
Recovering from her daze, Sora nodded vigorously in agreement with Texas.
"The future?"
Hearing those two words, Shirou froze briefly before closing his eyes and shaking his head.
Within the darkness, he saw two figures of red and black standing directly before him.
They made no movements at all, simply standing there and gazing into the endless abyss ahead.
When he turned around, the black mud of the Holy Grail surged toward him.
And he himself stood trapped in the middle.
He wanted to move forward, but the figures before him caused his footsteps to hesitate.
He wanted to retreat, but the overwhelming black mud threatened to swallow him whole at any moment.
After hesitating for a long time, several somewhat blurry voices finally pulled him back.
"Shirou? Are you okay? Why are you shaking your head like that? Are you trying to shake the water out of it?"
Opening his eyes, Shirou immediately heard Exusiai's voice clearly.
"..."
There were outsiders here right now, so acting against her was inappropriate. He would deal with her after they got back.
"Hah… I know. Things right now are already pretty good."
Looking at the worried expressions on everyone's faces, Shirou let out a soft laugh as he spoke.
Seeing Shirou reveal a smile unlike his usual ones, the others unconsciously responded with equally silly grins of their own.
"Sure enough, blades really do need proper maintenance if you want them to last a long time!"
Nian had been paying attention to Shirou's side the entire time. Sensing that the aura around him related to blades and swords had grown noticeably stronger again, she muttered to herself while casually stuffing a piece of meat that had been simmering for ages into her mouth.