#guys I'm going crazy. I'm going insane. I'm going berserk

[uppercase-disgrace]

augh.

[raphael-angele]

Nico Protection Squad

WARNING: Use of hateful slur

Nico, coming home from school with Percy: Hey, Reyna. Hey, Jason.

Reyna: Hey, Nico.

Jason: Hey, Buddy

Percy: Hey, guys. Uh, Nico, why don't you go to your room and rest. We need to talk.

Nico: Mkay. *leaves*

Percy: Make sure to do your homework, alright?

Nici: Uh huh!

Reyna: What happened?

Jason: Is he okay?

Percy: ...we need to call the team

---Later---

At one of their rooms:

Percy: Good day, everyone. I know it's late and it's unusual for me to call a meeting at this time but this is an emergency

Annabeth: But first, an attendance check. Annabeth? Here. Bianca?

Hazel: Oh, she comes back next week

Annabeth: Ok. Jason? Here. Thalia? Here. Percy? Here. Hazel? Here. Piper? Here. Reyna? Here. Will? Here. Grover? Here. Leo? Here. Frank? Here. And Mr. D? Present! Ok, that should be everyone. Take it away Percy

Percy, clearing his throat: Okay, I need you guys to swear that you will not go berserk right after this and you will remain seated until we have a plan.

Everyone:

Percy: So, I was picking up Nico from class. On the drive back, he...

Hazel: He what?

Percy: He...asked me what a faggot was.

Everyone:

Thalia: WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

Will: Is he okay?!

Hazel: Where did he even learn that from?!

Jason: Did someone call him that?!?!?

Reyna: WHO THE HELL WOULD CALL HIM THAT?!?!?

Leo: Every single douchebag in school, of course!

Piper: You think they'd learn their lesson after the first time

Percy: *gavels* Order! Order!

Grover: I think we're all missing the point here. How's Nico doing?

Percy: He's fine. I asked him where he knew the word from. He said someone was calling him that, a couple of students a year above him apparently.

Frank: What happened then?

Percy: I asked him if he knew their names. He didn't and he asked me again what it meant.

Will: What did you say?

Percy: I didn't answer. There was a McDonalds right there and I went for it. He took the bait and has been quiet for the whole car ride.

Grover: So...what do we do?

Leo: OH! *raises his hand* WE'LL SET THEIR LOCKERS ON FIRE!

Thalia: I think what Grover meant was what do we do for now? We don't know these guys, and we don't know how much it's affecting Nico.

Reyna: Thalia's right. We need to have a plan to protect Nico and catch these bastards.

Annabeth: Percy and I already thought about it.

Percy: Introducing the Pick up/Drop off Nico Chart. We each get a schedule of when to pick him up, and when to drop him off

Annabeth: And to make sure we catch these guys, we think it would be best to see Nico off to his classrooms or at least the building.

Thalia, raising her hand: Uhm-

Percy: Don't worry. We adjusted it for times you guys are away. Which is why we used magnets to represent us. See? I'm the water droplet, Annabeth's the owl, Grover's the goat, Leo's the fire, you're the tree, Hazel's the-

Annabeth: They get it, Percy. All in favor of the chart say aye

Everyone, raises their hand: Aye!

Leo: So how are we gonna get back at these guys?

Jason: We could tell them off to the dean

Percy: You'd suggest that, wouldn't you, Mr. Goody Two Shoes?

Piper: I can charmspeak them to do embarassing stuff

Percy: Eh, we need something more

Annabeth: I'm writing that one down, it sounds funny

Mr D.: I am the God of Insanity. I can just drive them crazy.

Annabeth: Mr. D, no.

Percy: Not a bad idea though. I'm writing it down.

Will: Wait. I think I figured out another problem

Percy: What is it, Will?

Will: Who tells Bianca?

Everyone:

Percy: ...all in favor of keeping this a secret from Bianca, say aye?

Everyone, terrified: Aye!

Will: Whu- Percy, no. Remember that time you didn't tell her about how you accidentally destoryed Nico's mythomagic cards and made him sad for nearly a month?

Percy: *shivers* I still get nightmares from that.

Annabeth: Fine. Who tells her?

Everyone: *looks at Reyna and Thalia*

Reyna: No

Thalia: Absolutely not.

Mr. D: Hang on. If Bianca is so terrifying, why not just give the guys to her?

Percy: Mr. D, although that's a tempting plan, there is no telling what Bianca will do to those guys if we let her get near them.

Mr. D: She can't be THAT scary.

Everyone: Yes, she can.

Percy: With what she did to me? She might as well have sent me to Tartarus!

Frank: Gods, what did she do to him?

Annabeth: She took away all the blue in our apartment and replaced them with orange.

Percy: It took a month before she put them back! There was no blue food for a month!

[dan-from-onami]

Messmer Theory Time Because I'm Going Insane

Okay I got some wacky Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree theories I was discussing with @honey-ink, specifically about Messmer. She helped a lot with putting this all together and finding evidence. So here's a big post and I apologise, I am going to sound insane.

So what can we safely guess about Messmer the Impaler? He's likely a child of Marika and Radagon. The red hair seems to fit, but it also explains which demigod the Kindling Butterfly belongs too. In the open world there are three kinds of butterfly you can stumble upon and two had demigods associated with them. Nascent was tied to Miquella, Rot was tied to Malenia, but the Kindling Butterfly had no associated demigod. I think it's pretty likely at this point it'll be Messmer. Also the Impaler Catacombs ghost talking about an unwanted child of Marika. And just as a little note I did find it odd that all the god pairings had three kids except for Radagon and Marika, but now with the addition of Messmer that's been fixed. Plus the name beginning with M to match Miquella and Malenia.

But what's he doing here? My best guess with the little bit of info we know is that he was banished to the Land of Shadows. Why? Not entirely sure but I've got a slight feeling Messmer decided to side against the Erdtree. But with who?

I'll tell you who. The Crucible baby. The dlc has already shown a fair few Crucible related things like the Omen boss fight but Messmer has a few things too like the wings. On top of that the dlc is said to be exploring the origins of Queen Marika, the goddess who ended the Age of the Crucible. I have no clue why but perhaps Messmer decided to swap sides from the gods to the Crucible and for it he was punished with banishment.

This is the first of my wacky theories but the man's name is The Impaler and I just wanna point out that I've always found it weird that there was a random lance sticking through Marika's side that disappeared when she dropped from the rune prison. Radagon never uses it and the red fire it's made of doesn't match the golden runic magic of the prison or the Elden Beast. But perhaps at a stretch it does match the dark fire magic Messmer the Impaler is seen using.

So for whatever reason, this man sided with the Crucible, but what does that mean?

If this becomes true I'm saving this and I'm aware I sound crazy. The Souls games have a habit of having a dragon boss fight for the dlc. Kalameet, Midir, Sinh. The Crucible is also closely tied to dragons. What happens if you start doing dragon things as a Tarnished. New eyes.

Specifically if you spec into dragon magic you get yellow eyes with slit pupils. Now I've seen some guesses that Messmer has Frenzy eyes but I don't think this is the case. Frenzy doesn't give you slit pupils, dragon magic does.

Big stretch of a theory for this one, I believe Messmer might be an Empyrean also, would make sense since both Malenia and Miquella were too. But if that's the case and he's a dragon Empyrean, then there is a Dragon Elden Lord missing two heads waiting for his demigod to return.

One of the biggest mysteries revolving around Placidusax is where his two missing heads went. As far as I'm aware we don't have a concrete answer for that. If you're willing to let me take a wild guess, they're right here.

Messmer has two little snakes with dragon wings attached to them. Perhaps Placidusax is keeping an eye on his demigod.

Alright, one last thing to wrap up this rambling. Miyazaki likes his Berserk references, and the closest thing I can find to Messmer is Grunbeld.

Red hair, similar helmet. Definitely a different physique HOWEVER...

Grunbeld has the ability to take on a draconic apostle form. So perhaps Messmer might be able to do the same.

Or maybe Messmer won't turn into a dragon. Maybe he'll just be a guy with some crucible connections. Maybe he has no crucible connections and I'm reading into this too much, who knows. But I'm putting this all down just in case one day I find out I'm correct.

[randomnameless]

As someone who loves both Grima and Anankos I don't think Grima took Anankos's backstory at all, Grima's view if anything was stolen from Mewtwo. Lab creation, used in some matter, screw humanity. I would not be shocked if that ended up being the inspiration for the backstory FEH made up (because yeah they made it up but it's a canon property so it's canon backstory now) Mewtwo is one of the most popular Pokemon of all time and you can't deny making a god vs making the world's most powerful Pokemon doesn't have some parallels. And even so while I could see them inspired by Anankos betrayal compared to him nothing about Grima is tragic, he's just bitter. He's fully aware and lucid of everything (despite lacking ancient memories) he's pissed and wants everyone to suffer and it's also fun for him. Nothing much more to him despite how much my fellow Grima fans would like to argue; lab created angry betrayed murder dragon is all there is canonically. But as Grima was once meant to be a Loptous expy before he became FE Mewtwo there is now a lot in Awakening that doesn't make sense due to these retcons.

Anankos though! Oh Anankos is hella tragic following the theme of Fates really. A really good guy. Cared about his people did everything for them, loved them stayed longer than he should have and fell to degeneration. Basically got so old he got dragon dementia nothing like who he used to be due to this disease and since his functions are now failing he's full of rage all the time memories are warped he loses sight of who is around him and more, this rage causes him to go berserk and he's unable to understand why those he loved turned on him then he kills his best friend he keeps spiraling, going mad following and giving into his delusions about being betrayed, I wouldn't be shocked if he made up events that didn't happen in his messed up state of mind. Unlike Grima he is not lucid, it's true he also has a hatred of humanity because he was betrayed and his goal, like Grima is complete world annihilation but his betrayal wasn't a true betrayal either, and technically he betrayed humanity first but unknowingly because he is no longer the same person he was. Anankos is so far gone he's insane. Grima is perfectly sane and still wants complete world annihilation, either because he's angry or because he's just that bored (one of his lines also mentions wanting to start a war because he's bored) because of his betrayal he sees everyone as beneath him mere playthings. Anankos can't see anything he's gone *gone* all that matters is fulfilling his goal.

Sorry for rambling I just really love both of them and feel like calling one a rip off of the other isn't fully correct. Anankos is a crazy deep character (non corrupt Anankos when FEH it'd be a great mythic) and that's why I love him and I love Grima because of how little there is and it's fun to give him more with the little we have, I uh don't like the girl version because she's lets make her sexy and sell to horny men don't we have enough of those!! but the boy version is nifty

Hi!

FEH's canonicity is always going to be questionned, like, I'm the loser who will claim to the world Rhea bakes cookies because her FEH alt bakes them when her Fodlan iteration doesn't bake sweets - but it's all about the thin line, imo, between what in a fanfiction would be called IIC and OC.

Grima claiming that humans only worship him to later turn against him is... backed up by nothing, let it be in FE13 or FE15. Hell, in FE13, his human followers are, uh, sort of brainwashed to come to the dragon's tarble, and end up as his own snacks (he consumes their lifeforce à la Medeus?) - they didn't even had the occasion/chance to ask him something and then backstab him, no, they ended up in his stomach.

(something Loptry doesn't do at all, so what was the point of having this mentionned? "Remember Medeus? Here is the copy of what he did to those 4 ladies!")

In FE15 we got his backstory - where I agree with your mewtwo parallel (even if the franchise had no qualms stomping the "strongest pokemon ever" nonsense which had them release two megas for him - and even then, M-Ray, U-Necrozma and the later legendaries wreck him in half!) which is why they could have used this as a backstory : Grima was rejected by his creator who sought to end him because he "couldn't control him", he was rejected by the dragons (and maybe FEH could canonise the fact that Duma's visit of Thabes happening when Grima was conceived was just not a coincidence!) so in a traditional mindset, if the world hates him, he'll hate the world but with a special hatred for humans (GG Forneus) who "condemned him to live a life of hatred and despair"...

That's where the bitterness angle would come, but where I call this backstory the Anankos expy, it's because Grima's trusted and fellow humans never... turned their blades at him? Unless we're only talking about his Creator Forneus?

FE13's worldbuilding is wonky, but I thought Plegia was a nation where people worshipped him (which led Chrom's dad to war against them!) - so unless Grima suggests the First Exalt (Chrom's descendant) was one of his BFF who turned against them when he tried to do Grima-things which are, in FE13's canon, destroy the world and kill everyone, I really wonder where this "betrayed by humans" angle comes.

As you pointed it out, Anankos's story is more "tragic" because the man had been benevolent, but refused to "move to the astral plane" so he was degenerating, and humans being their human selves turned against him.

And doubly agree, maybe FEH's writers slapped this story on Grima to have someone, who still has some agency and isn't fully consumed by madness (not Anankos then) explain this backstory... FEH most likely didn't came up with Ascended!Heroes already - aka Heroes who are in the best versions of themselves (Idunn becoming a chicken again!) so they couldn't come up with an Anankos who, after being defeated by Corn and somehow surviving, explains his past and stresses the importance of bonds.

Instead, they had to craft something about Grima's backstory because between FE13!Grima wanting to destroy the world and its people in angry red capslocks and FE15!Grima being an eldritch abomination that was rejected by his creator at birth there was a gap they needed to fill and Doylist wise, since Anankos couldn't be released (what would be his lines if he's his insane self? - 2018!FEH couldn't have came up with kid!Soren as a unit lol) it was "okay" to copy part of his background and give to Grima - even if it doesn't make sense at all given FE13 - to explain the behaviour he has in FE13, since the mainline games didn't bother.

But doing so, as you said, retcons FE13.

Rhea baking cookies doesn't retcon FE16 or Nopes because the games (more Nopes than FE16 but that's player pandering for you!) showed/depicted her as someone who cares about people/plays with children when she can, but Grima blaming humans for shunning him when the humans who worship him got what they desired? What is he even talking about? He is the one who devoured his followers in FE13, as they were mindlessly marching to their doom, what/who is the talking about? Forneus? But Forneus never asked him anything, but he tried to get rid of him while he was still in his test tube.

At this point, I realise FEH!Grima is basically, especially as he is retcon to his canon games, a FEH OC lol.

Don't apologise for rambling lol, I always ramble!

I get the appeal of coming up with backstories and writing about characters who have no background, I spent years connecting dots between multiverse about Saias lol and Willy's basically became my OC since canon!Willy is just a name and a statue lol

But yeah, it's a damn shame FEH pretended to care enough about Grima to give them a new background/reasons/plot, but now only sees them as occasions to sell horny alts (Halloween!M!Grima had the same T&A pose than his female counterpart!) even if F!Grima has it the worst (my fwend @crushednugget made a beautiful edit of Rearmed Grima but with Valdar instead!).

But we know what FEH prioritises : horny > plot and relevance, remember Karla and her 3 alts?

[votestaynight]

4th day "Partner"/5th day "New life" (Scene 1)

I'm worried about Saber's body, after she was wounded so much.

"More importantly, Saber. …Um, are you all right? The wound you took from Berserker was pretty bad." "…? My body is just as it appears. That wound was certainly one that would have led to my defeat, but it was not fatal. I finished healing it about an hour after Berserker left."

"Huh… then, you're completely healed now…?" "Of course. But I am not back up to my normal condition yet. Berserker's hit was a simple one, so it could be healed easily, but the wound made by Lancer's Noble Phantasm is different. That lance must bear a special curse as the wound from him is not completely healed yet."

"―――――" …Not completely healed, huh? It doesn't look that way, but Saber isn't one to talk about her pain. As long as I am fighting alongside Saber, I should pay attention and worry about her body.

And then. I hear the sound of something heavy falling at the door. "Huh?" I turn around, wondering what it was.

There… is Tohsaka with a big bag at her feet.

"Huh―――?" My mind freezes. Tohsaka, who supposedly went home, is at my dojo, and she's wearing normal clothes for some reason, and why does she have that big bag―――?

"…Huh? What are you here for, Tohsaka?" "I just went to go get my stuff from my house. It's natural, since I'll be living here from now on."

"Wha…!!!!? L-Live… you mean you, living in my house…!!!?"

"That's what cooperation means. …What did you think our talk was about earlier?" "Uh―――――Uh." I'm so surprised I can't speak. Something. I have to say something back, or something terrible is going to happen, but my head will not function.

"Where is my room? If you don't have one prepared, I'll choose one myself." Still, the unexpected invader mercilessly continues the discussion. "Ah――― hold on, that's―――" Isn't this bad, morally?

Look, Tohsaka is the idol at my school. Just having her in my house will cause a panic, so having her live here would be crazy and Fuji-Nee would kill me. Or maybe she's planning to drive me insane to reduce the number of Masters…!?

"Oh, why don't you prepare a room for her as well? Your Servant takes up space unlike my Archer, so you should give her a place to sleep. Well, I wouldn't mind if you guys shared the same bed." Sharing the bed… that means sleeping in the same bed, right?

"Of course I won't! What are you saying while I'm not saying anything!? I wouldn't do such a thing, Saber is a girl…!" "―――You're missing the point, but oh well. That's what Shirou says, Saber. He says he doesn't like to be in the same room with a girl."

"……" Not moving, Saber makes a difficult face.

"That is not good, Shirou. Servants are to protect their Masters. The hours of sleep are the most crucial time for protecting you, so I cannot protect you unless I am in the same room." "I'm in more trouble even if you say that! What are you thinking, are you two really girls!?"

"……" "……" Why? Why are you two looking silently at me like that?

"…Hmm. Servants are Servants, so there's no need to treat them as humans. But I guess it's useless to tell Shirou that."

"――――" My mouth, about to protest, stops. The weird feeling I had when talking with Tohsaka in the living room returns. ―――Actually. I've figured out the cause of this feeling.

"…Hold on, Tohsaka. Since when did you start calling me by my name?" "Oh, am I? I wasn't really conscious of it, so it must have been a while ago." "…It was. I think you've been calling me that for a while."

"I see. I'll be careful if you don't like that, but don't you like it?" Tohsaka says so plainly, without realizing what I'm feeling. …Geez, it's just like you said, Issei. I think Tohsaka Rin is a real devil.

"…Fine. Call me whatever you like. I don't care, whichever you prefer is fine." "Really? Then I'll do that." "Rin, please do not end the conversation. We have not come up with a solution to the matter of the room for Shirou and I."

"Oh, of course, of course. But it'll be hard to stay in the same room with Shirou acting like that. There's no point in treating a Servant like a human, but why don't you give up since Shirou doesn't want it?" "That is incorrect. Shirou only said it would trouble him, and he did not say he did not want it." "Well then. What do you say, Shirou?"

"―――――" Hold on. Why, after only a day, does she keep on calling me Shirou like I'm a cat she found? …No, that's not the problem, but Saber's room is.

"Shirou, I will ask you again. It is a Servant's duty to guard you while you sleep. I believe you understand your position as a Master." Uh… even if you glare at me like that, I can't do it.

"…No. I'll prepare a separate room for Saber. Um, I'll try to prepare one as close to mine as possible, so please be happy with that." "―――――" "S-Scaring me won't work! As a man, I won't surrender to you on this. Saber, you should understand your situation better…!"

"Huh? That is why I am trying to protect my Master as a Servant―――" "No, I mean about yourself…! Geez, if you don't understand, that's fine! If you say any more, I'll make you obey using my Command Spell…!" I breathe out hard and intimidate Saber.

"…It is troubling if you use your Command Spell for such a thing. Our future is doomed if you use one of the three rights to order me not to protect you."

"Yeah. I'm sure Shirou would be the first and the last Master to do that." Don't be stupid. I don't want to use it for this either.

"…I understand, I will follow my Master's plan. But what will you do when you are attacked by an enemy? Servants such as Assassin will close in without letting their presence become known. In such cases, will you be able to protect yourself until I arrive?"

"Well―――" I can't claim I'll manage. I was able to against Lancer, but that luck won't repeat itself.

"That would be impossible. This house has a boundary field that alerts us if an enemy enters. We won't be able to avoid a raid, but we should be able to detect a surprise attack. In that case, you would be able to protect him before he was attacked, so you can just go ahead and stay in a room you like."

"…That is certainly true, but…" "How about next to Shirou's room? You're fine if she's not in your room, right, Emiya-kun?" She pronounces the "Emiya-kun" ostentatiously.

"Tohsaka, that's just sophistry, you know?" "It's a sound argument because I'm making it for your sake. Well, which room should I choose?" Tohsaka walks to the house with her bag, as if telling us the conversation is over. She looks cheerful like a student picking her room on a field trip.

"……" "―――" Perhaps because her actions are so selfish. Saber and I just see her off with blank amazement.

We return to the main building. First of all, I should show her around the house so she can choose her own room.

"This is the Japanese-style room. The back side has common rooms like the living room and the bathroom. And if you follow the open corridor to the outbuilding, you reach the guest rooms… It looks like Tohsaka went that way."

I explain as I walk. Saber follows me silently without nodding. I'm not sure if she's listening or not.

"The map of the house is fine. Where is Shirou's room?" "My room is this way. It's somewhat back there."

"Then please guide me that way. I must talk to you privately." "Talk to me privately……?" So she doesn't want Tohsaka to hear it? Tohsaka is in the outbuilding, so I think this place is okay, but she is a Master after all. Someone could overhear us, so the open corridor is no place to talk secretly.

"Here. This is my room." "Wha―――this is Shirou's room?" "Hm?" Saber is surprised the moment she walks in.

"What? I don't think there's anything here that should be too surprising." "No, there is nothing here to surprise me, as there is nothing here. Is this really your room, Shirou?"

"There's no point lying to you. I only come here to sleep, so it's natural there's nothing here." "…I see. I was surprised. I thought you were a more assorted person."

Saber enters the Japanese-style room and touches the wall to check the feel of it. It is a soft gesture, as if she understands the object's memory just by touching it.

"…I'm relieved. This is a desolate room, but that does not mean it is treated badly. This is a simple but warm place." "Warm? …Well, I guess so. I don't know if it's how the house is built, but this place is cool during the summer and warm during the winter. My father always said I took the good room."

"Yes, the room is the reflection of its owner, so I was worried about your spirit. But this will not change my impression of you now." Saber says this with relief, but I don't understand what she wants to say.

"So? What did you want to talk privately about?" "I have two things. Both are something I would like to keep a secret between us."

"Well, I don't mind if you say so, but tell me what it's about. I can't tell if it's something good or bad."

"They are both bad. At the very least, it is something I do not want other Masters finding out." "Hm." Judging by her expression, the bad thing must be our weakness.

"…… I see. I see what you mean. I'll listen seriously, so go ahead." "Yes. First of all, I would like you to forgive me for not being able to accomplish the first obligation of a Servant." "Hm? The first obligation of a Servant?" "To tell you of my identity. Have you not heard about it from Rin?" "Tell me your identity―――oh, you mean your real name."

Servants are heroic spirits. Their identities are heroes, famous in every age. They hide their identities and the scope of their power with their class names. A Servant's real name is something that should be kept hidden.

But it is also something the Master must know. Because if one does not know which hero the Servant is, he does not know the Servant's potential. Master and Servant are one. They won't be able to fight fully if one keeps a secret from the other.

―――Well, that's just how it would be if I were a normal Master. Even if I knew Saber's real name, I wouldn't be able to come up with an effective plan. Most of all, I don't care about it.

"Hm. I'm fine with that, but why?" "This is what I believe is for the best. No matter how hard you try to hide my name, there are many ways to take the information from you. Since your magic resistance is not high, mental intervention would be simple if the enemy was a superior magus. I would like to prepare for that, and not have my real name within your knowledge."

"Oh, I see. That's right. I would give it right away if they used suggestion on me. All right, keep it a secret in that case."

"It helps me if you say that. …But then, I am not someone that famous. I should be a few ranks below Berserker, and it would not do too much even if my name were revealed…."

Saber murmurs in regret. …That's bit unexpected. Saber has some human characteristics, and she regrets being inferior to Berserker.

"Isn't that alright? A trump is a trump because it's hidden. Your Master is weak like this, so I understand that you have to try everything. …And Berserker, he's unfair. There's nothing to be ashamed of. And―――from my point of view, you aren't inferior. You had that big wound, yet you were exchanging blows straight on."

"You are right. I suffered defeat last night, but the result should be different once my wound heals."

"Right? Okay then, that's the end of the first matter. What's the second one about?"

"Yes, about that… this probably is not something we can solve. We Servants maintain our body using the magical energy transferred from our Masters. That is why Servants require a Master. But―――"

"…I'm an incomplete Master, so I don't have enough magical energy for you to maintain your body?"

"No. It is not a problem if I receive even a small amount of magical energy from you. But I am not receiving any magical energy from you. The spiritual connection we ought to have is not present."

"―――" So that means… I, as the gasoline, am not sending any fuel for Saber to work as an engine?

"Saber, that's…" "It is not your fault. I believe something happened during my summoning. Some fault occurred, and the line that should have connected was not connected."

"―――Some problem during the summoning…" When Saber appeared, it wasn't anything like a summoning. It was just an accident. Since she was summoned like that, it'd be strange if there weren't anything wrong with her.

"…Hold on. Then what's going to happen? Since you can't replenish your magical energy, will you disappear?" "Yes. If I use up the magical energy I have, I will not be able to stay in this world."

"I have battled three times already since my summoning. My healing ability is a regeneration magic, so magical energy consumption will increase if I take damage. …Let me see, I used about ten mature magi's worth of magical energy last night."

"―――" I'm astonished. Magical energy is reduced every time she fights and there's no way to restore it. If she already used up that much magical energy, how much longer can she stay in this world―――?

"Do you understand, Master? So I must try to use my magical energy as little as possible. If no magical energy is provided, I must sleep and suppress my magical energy usage." "Sleep… um, will your magical energy replenish if you sleep?"

"…I do not know. But at the very least, I will not consume any magical energy while I am asleep. So I wish for you to allow me to sleep as much as possible. I will not be able to constantly protect you, but I would like you to understand that this is a measure necessary for us to win."

"Oh―――" I sigh with relief. …Thank God. If that's all it is, I'll accept all she wants.

"Of course that's all right. You can rest when you get tired. If that allows you to stay longer, that's so much better."

"Then I will sleep often from now on, so please do not leave the house while I am doing so. If you are attacked somewhere far from here, I will not be able to come and protect you immediately."

"It would be a different story if I could leap through space, but Servants with such an ability are rare. To call me from a distant place would require backup from the Command Spell, so I would like for you to try to stay near me."

"…Hm." As much as I'd like to do that, I can't nod. I can't imagine living with Saber, and most of all, I have my own life as well.

"…I'll try. But are you sure that's all? If you sleep, you―――" "It should not be a problem. I cannot be certain since this has never happened to me, but I did not fight even seven times last time. Even if I do not defeat them, other Servants defeat other Servants."

"I see. So not everyone has to fight all the other Servants. If all goes well, we can end this war pretty easily."

The only people I am going to fight are those with inhuman attitudes. I'm sure that not all of the seven Masters are like that. Tohsaka is ready to fight, but she would follow the rules of the magi.

So the five remaining Masters―――if they all have humane attitudes, I won't have to fight. Saber said she didn't even fight seven times last time, so this time―――

"Huh?" Hold on. Even fight… seven times… last time?

"Hold on, Saber. Um, was it Saber too last time? No, I mean, were you in the last Holy Grail War as well…!?"

"This is the second time I have participated in the Holy Grail War. I was Saber too at that time. There are heroic spirits that attribute to several classes, but I only correspond to the class of Saber."

"―――――" Tohsaka mentioned… That out of the seven, Saber is the most powerful Servant. And this girl is saying she has become that twice in a row.

"Then… did you remain until the end last time?" "Of course. I had no constraints last time, so I did not fall to any Servants."

Saber says this as if it's just something natural. That makes me realize even more, that I have been given a sword I do not deserve.

"…Geez. Then you must be full of complaints with someone like me as your Master." "I only fulfill the duties given to me. If I can obtain the Holy Grail, I have no complaints about my Master."

"I see. That's a relief, but still―――" She was undefeated last time, but she has already suffered two wounds this time.

In her condition, unable to replenish magical energy, she always has to think about her remaining magical energy. The result of a battle with such a burden was… …That image of her covered in blood.

"―――――" That image is engraved in my mind. The image of a girl smaller than me, covered miserably in blood.

"Shirou, such regret is useless." "Huh―――?" Saber's voice brings me back. When I raise my head, Saber's expression is serious.

"It is not as if I suffered no defeat. I am your Servant now because I did not fully win. I am used to taking wounds, so it is not something you should mourn over."

"Used to…? Even wounds close to fatal?" "Yes. To wield a sword means to take injury as well. That should be the same for you too. There is no reason for just me to avoid harm."

"That's―――true. But are you saying that you don't mind getting hurt?" "If it does not result in death. If I die, I will not be able to protect my Master." "…What is that? So you're saying you don't mind getting hurt to protect your Master?"

"That is the role of the Servant. …Rin's words are certainly correct. There is no need to treat Servants as humans. We are a tool to protect our Master. You must understand that."

Saying so, Saber walks to the sliding screen. Beyond it is the side room. This room was enough for me, so I never used it.

"I will be getting some sleep. I will wake up at dinnertime, so please let me know if you are going outside." She quietly opens and closes the sliding door.

――We are a tool to protect our Master. You must understand that―――

"…What is that?" That pisses me off. But I can't call out to her, so I just consider her words in my mind.

I sit on the porch and look up at the blue sky absent-mindedly. I'm not like Saber who went to bed already during the day, but I need rest too.

Even though my nausea has gone away, I still feel terrible. And on top of that, my shoulders are heavy from all the unexpected developments.

"―――――Phew." I take a deep breath and look over the yard. I've heard what I needed to hear, but the fact that I still don't know anything doesn't change. My Senpai as a magus, and an official Master, Tohsaka is…

"Hey, do you have an extra cushion? And a beaker and a protractor?" …Is intently searching my house for things.

"…You can take the cushion in the next room. But a normal household doesn't have beakers nor protractors." "Huh? I can't believe it. A magus should always keep experimental tools around." Leaving that complaint, she goes back to the outbuilding busily.

"…I guess she's serious." I take another deep breath. I guess it has already been decided that Tohsaka is going to stay at my place. When I went over there earlier, there was a sign that said, "Remodeling in progress: Do not enter" on the door of the best room in there.

"…Yeah. The outbuilding's pretty far away, so there's no problem." Just having Saber around causes some tension, so if Tohsaka was near me too, I wouldn't get any peace.

Anyways, there's some distance between us. Even if we are connected by a hallway, it's just like a house next door, so nothing should happen unless I go there myself.

…Oh, but we'll see each other at meals. And we only have the one bath, so we'll have to decide how to use it. No, thinking about that, Saber is a girl, too, so――― "Idiot, what am I thinking…!?" Shaking my head, I lie down in the corridor.

"―――Phew." I sigh once again and stare up at the sky. Maybe I'm tired, but doing all this makes me sleepy. "Man, just―――" …Do what you like. Becoming desperate, I close my eyes.

…Maybe that comment helped. I fall asleep the moment I close my eyes.

Later, Saber, Tohsaka, and I are in the living room. I just woke up. Saber was in this living room, and Tohsaka just finished her remodeling.

By the way… This was the guest room a few hours ago. And now… "Shirou, how do you use the air conditioner?" The scene I saw when I was called was… …This.

"…Man." How can I put this… I think I may have allied with a terrible person.

"……" I can't calm down. These two are complete outsiders. I rarely have guests at this house, so that must make the situation even stranger.

No, first of all. The appearances of these two don't really fit this Japanese-style house.

"……" Well, it's about seven o'clock now. Even though we're all in the living room, all of us staying quiet like this is not good for my mental well-being.

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to talk about what to do from now on." "Hold on. I want to decide on something before that. All right?"

"Uh―――sure. What is it?" "About dinner. Shirou, you live alone, right?" "…? Well, yeah." "Then you have cooked for yourself, right?" "Of course. I'll get hungry if I don't eat."

"I see. Then I have a proposal. How about we take turns preparing dinner? We'll be living together for a while, so that should be helpful, right?" "…Hmm. You're right. I was thinking of continuing as usual, but if you're going to be living here, you're just like family. It's normal for you to cook, and it'll be easier on me too."

"Then it's decided. So, let's say it's Shirou's turn today. It's late already, so let's have our meeting after dinner." "Huh? Well, I don't mind taking turns for dinner, but what are we going to do about breakfast? Will we be taking turns too?"

"Oh, breakfast's fine. I don't eat breakfast." "―――What's that? Don't be ridiculous. You won't grow if you don't eat breakfast."

"Mind your own business. Don't cut into my lifestyle. …Anyways, you'll be preparing dinner! I won't talk unless you cook something good, okay?" Tohsaka glares at me irritatedly.

"…All right. I'll make something… Saber, you're eating too, right?" "Certainly, if you will prepare some for me. Food is an important source of energy." "All right. Then be good, you two."

I grab the apron and go to the kitchen. Fortunately, there's about three people's worth of ingredients in the refrigerator. I started cooking rice when I woke up, so it should be done in about half an hour.

I glance at Tohsaka and Saber from the kitchen. "…Hm." They look like they'd prefer western meals over Japanese food. It's unlikely that Saber, let alone Tohsaka, will understand the tastes of tofu and natto.

"No, more importantly, Saber might not be able to use chopsticks." I ponder this for a second, but I can't help it. There's only a limited range of dishes I can make with what's in the fridge.

Anyways, there's some tofu. After thinking for a bit, I decide to make some deep-fried tofu. For soup, I'll make miso soup with seaweed and tofu. I have some chicken, so I'll make teriyaki out of it and make that the main dish.

I drain the water off the tofu, season the chicken, and cut the Japanese white radish while I'm at it to make salad. I grate the white radish, cook some green peppers―――

"Are your plans from now on determined, Rin?" "Who knows? I can't say much since I don't have any information, but I think it's most important to find out about the other Masters. There are four more Masters. I want to search for them without them realizing I'm a Master, but it probably won't go perfectly."

…Hm. I told them to be good, so what's with that dangerous conversation? Can't they see that I'm busy making dinner for the three of u―――no, they aren't even looking.

"Tohsaka! Not four, five! The only Masters we know are you and me!" I yell, holding the big pot for the deep-fried tofu.

"What are you talking about? You, me, and Ilyasviel makes three. Did you already forget about Berserker?" "―――Oh."

…Oh yeah, that girl is a Master too. Berserker was so strong that I forgot, but still―――I can't believe a girl that small is a Master who mercilessly tried to kill us.

"I understand. You're you, so I bet you didn't see her as an enemy. It's fine, so concentrate on the cooking. It'll be a problem if I can't judge how good you are."

"Uh?" I don't know how my cooking skill affects her, but what she says is correct. The preparation will be done soon, so I should concentrate on finishing dinner now.

"Ilyasviel… you must mean Berserker's Master. "Rin, you seemed to know her." "…Yeah, I know her name. Einzbern is a magus family lineage that has almost made it to the Holy Grail a few times."

"…So they are well-accustomed to the Holy Grail War?" "I would think so. I don't know about the others yet, but I can't be wrong in saying that Ilyasviel is our biggest obstacle. Usually, Berserker is a class chosen to strengthen a weak hero. It takes sanity away as compensation for strengthening the hero, but to control such an 'insane Servant' requires enormous amounts of magical energy. For example, if you became Berserker―――"

"I would not be able to talk like I am doing now. Removing all roles as a collaborator and specializing in battle is how Berserker is. But that is like subduing a wounded lion. A normal magus will not be able to control it."

"I'll bet. A normal magus cannot control Berserker even when some minor hero becomes it. But Ilyasviel summoned a top-grade hero, made him Berserker, and controlled him completely. …It's irritating, but her ability as a Master is on a completely different level."

"…I feel the same way. Our current problem is that this exact Master is after us." "Yeah. My Archer hasn't healed enough to return to battle. How about you, Saber? Is your injury okay now?"

"…It will not be a problem if I am to fight normally, but I am not healed enough to fight Berserker. The injury from the battle against Berserker is healed, but it seems it will take longer to heal the wound I received from Lancer."

"I see. Then I guess all we can do is wait and see for now." "I have a suggestion about that. I hear Archer has sharp eyes. Would it be wise to have him keep watch around the house?"

"That's what I've been planning to do. I'll have him keep watch on the roof, so we should know right away if anyone strange is approaching this place. This house has a boundary field that warns of intruders, so our defenses are perfect. …Though, if Berserker comes and attacks us, all we can do is run."

The two are continuing on without me. "―――" I'm a bit annoyed. I'm making dinner, so why are they talking without me?

First of all, Tohsaka is too friendly with Saber. …Well, it's true that Tohsaka isn't that friendly with me, so it helps if Saber talks to her, but――――

"―――Hm?" The face reflected in the glass of the kitchen cabinet looks disappointed. …That's weird. Why am I angry?

"―――All right." I prepare the dishes for the three of us and put the prepared dinner on the tray. I move to the living room. "Geez, don't talk about dangerous stuff during dinnertime." I put the tray in front of Tohsaka.

"Huh? What are you angry about, Shirou? Oh, should I have at least helped carrying it out?" "I'm not angry. But weren't you not going to be friendly?" I glare at her.

Tohsaka goes "huh?", and after that… …Makes a frightening smile.

"We were just deciding on the structure for cooperation. Don't worry, I won't steal your Saber." "―――!" I can tell my face is blushing. I can tell what I'm angry about after Tohsaka tells me.

"Y-Y-You―――" "Oh, was I mistaken? Then I'm sorry, Emiya-kun." "Guh, you…… oh, just keep talking!" I retreat to the kitchen to get the rest of the food.

…Uhh, she really got me. Tohsaka is still smiling and Saber is expressionless as always. …Man. I'm really worried about whether we can continue with this member…

In that way, dinner starts. "―――――" I'm silent. With what happened earlier, it annoys me to talk to Tohsaka, and I'm too embarrassed to even look at Saber.

"……" Saber eats dinner silently. Her gestures are elegant, and I can't possibly imagine she was swinging around a sword.

And, well, how should I put this…. "…Hmm. …Hmm, hmm." She nods every time she eats something she hasn't eaten before. Her gestures are strange. It must be her way of expressing that it's good. By the way, she is able to use the chopsticks.

On the other hand, Tohsaka is… "All right, I'll win…!" She clenches her fist after taking a bite.

"Fufu, wait until tomorrow, Emiya Shirou…!" She shakes her clenched fist. "―――――" God. Have I done something bad?

"Um, about what you guys were talking about." "Hm?" The two both raise their heads.

"―――" Hold on. Hold on hold on hold on hold on. Even one of them is enough to tense me up, so they shouldn't both react.

"What are you referring to?" "…About what to do from now on. You guys were talking about it while I was cooking." "About searching for other Masters for now?" "Yeah, that. I was wondering what exactly you were going to do?"

"Well… we can only look for them slowly. Oh, yeah. Can you at least sense other magi's presence? It'll be easy if that's the case."

"No. I went to the same school as you for two years and I still didn't realize you were a magus, Tohsaka." "Just as I thought…. Well, that's fine. The others would be hiding their presence, so it should be impossible to find them from their traces anyways. How about you, Saber? I hear Servants can detect other Servants."

"I can somewhat, but only when they are using their abilities nearby. In my case, I can only detect them within about a two hundred meter radius." "I see. Then we'll have to wait for their actions or find some place where it seems strange. If a Master acts, their traces should remain. So that means we are going to try to find those."

"―――So, are you saying we should search throughout the town?" "No, you shouldn't do that. They'll be searching too, so that'll tell them right away that you're a Master."

"For now, we shouldn't take the initiative until we are prepared. Go through life as you were and don't let them know that you're a Master. Hide the Command Spell so no one will see it. Try not to go to desolate places. Come home before dark. And, what else…"

"Please try to take your Servant with you when you go outside. Can Archer guard you, Rin?" "I guess he can do that much. I'll have him ready in spirit form, so it should be okay. The problem is―――" "My Master."

"Right. Are you listening, Shirou? Take Saber with you when you go anywhere. It's our rule to stay out of people's sight, but some idiot might attack us in the middle of the day. Have Saber with you in case of things like that."

"―――All right. I'll try." I respond without interest. I understand what she's saying, but I'm resistant to being with Saber all the time.

I feel nervous talking to Tohsaka, but Saber makes me even more nervous. …No, it's wrong to say I'm nervous. I'm just bad at talking with Saber.

"What is it?" "―――Nothing. I'll give you more, so give me your bowl." "No, I am fine. It was very good, Shirou."

"―――!" I look away before I realize. …I can't even look at her normally, so how can I stay with her all the time?

"Oh, it's no good, though. Saber can't become a spirit, so she won't be able to follow you to school." "School…? Are you a student, Shirou?"

"That's right… Oh, Saber isn't a student, so she can't enter the school…. She'll just have to stay here while I go to school." "…Can't you not go to school, Shirou?"

"I can't. If you want me to live normally, I have to go to school. And there's no danger at school. There aren't many places with that many people." "But…"

"It's all right, Saber. I'll be at school too, so I'll back him up in case of emergencies." "I'm saying there won't be any emergencies." So I declare.

"…I understand. If Master says so, I will obey." Saber nods, though she looks discontent.

The night wears on. It seems Tohsaka has prepared and taken her bath while I was cleaning up after dinner. Geez, it seems she's really selfish from her first day here.

"…I should seize the initiative from now on…" I know that, but seizing the initiative from her seems really difficult.

"…Man. On the subject of difficulties, there's one more that's giving me trouble…" No, rather, the main problem. Tohsaka will understand if I talk to her, but this person doesn't seem to understand however much I talk to her.

"…Saber, huh? I know she's not a bad person but…" Saber is back in her room. Tohsaka should be resting in her room in the outbuilding.

I'm the only one in the living room. There's still time until bedtime, so I should talk to Saber. …Honestly, I have to get over my inability to talk to her, or I'm worried about our future.

First of all, ignoring her being a Servant and all, she is a girl from a younger age. There are a lot of things I'll find out from talking to her, and most of all…

"…I have to get used to her, or Tohsaka will constantly make fun of me…" Yeah, that's troubling. It's troubling, so I should be able to talk to her more lightheartedly.

I return to my room. Next door, past this one small sheet, is Saber's room.

"…Saber, are you awake?" "I am awake. Is something wrong, Master?" Opening the sliding screen silently, Saber enters.

"―――Uh." I hold onto my heart, pounding from having her actually in front of me. …Calm down. I'm just going to talk to her as a Master.

"Shirou? You do not look so well. Have your wounds opened up?" "Uh―――no, that's not it. I'm fine already. Are you fine?"

"Yes, there is no problem. With my current condition, it should take some time to fully heal, but I am still above my average. I should be able to match anyone other than Berserker."

Saber declares so. It's not confidence or boasting. She is probably just telling the truth.

"―――――" I have no response. Saber's statement should be encouraging to a Master, but I―――I don't want such a slender girl to fight.

"Um… I'll ask you something. Don't you have any other objective other than fighting? You're in this time, so don't you have anything else you want to do?"

"Other objectives…? I do not have any such things. Servants are only summoned to fight. Any other objectives are useless. Your statements are misdirected."

I thought so. I'm pretty much asking one who was summoned to fight, not to fight. It's not that I want to tell her that. Well, how should I put this―――Saber is lacking in humanity. It would be fine if she were only going to fight, but she's in front of me as an actual person.

So I can't allow her to just fight. If Saber is actually here, I have to have her do something she enjoys.

"Hey, Saber. Servants are heroes from the past, right? So―――" I stop myself before I ask her what she was like before.

'―――I cannot tell you my real name.' Saber said that before as a secret between us. So even if I asked her about her past, she wouldn't answer.

"Shirou? It is not good to stop what you have begun to say. I shall answer if it is necessary." "―――No, forget about it. I was just about to say something stupid."

I say that, averting my gaze. …It really was something stupid. I shouldn't have been interested in Saber's true identity, and she refused because she couldn't tell me. If I bring it up again, it will only prove that I'm a no-good Master, repeating a useless question.

"……" But what else is there to talk about besides that? If I can't ask about Saber, the only thing that remains is about me. …That would be even more meaningless though.

"―――Hm." Now, I'm just gonna do what I want. If I can't ask about her true identity, I'll get ready to have her look at me strangely, and I'll ask about things such as what she likes and what she wants for breakfast and―――

"Shirou. If you do not have any questions, may I ask you?" "Huh―――you can, but what?"

"About yesterday. You were cut by Berserker while trying to save me. You remember that, is that correct?"

"I remember… what? You want to continue this morning's conversation? I know it was a thoughtless action, so don't remind me about it. It makes me feel sick."

"I feel the same way. But I feel that I must ask you to understand. Why did you stand up to Berserker? Did you not understand what might happen to you if you approached us?"

"That's―――" I knew that. I understood that I'd be killed if I approached. But I didn't try to save Saber out of optimism that I'd be safe while doing so.

…Back then, all I thought about was saving Saber. I didn't care about what would happen afterwards. At that time, the most important thing for me was saving Saber.

…Probably, it was just that my fear of not being able to save Saber was greater than my fear of getting killed.

"…Sorry, I've forgotten. It happened in an instant, so I don't know what I was thinking. I was probably confused. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do something so suicidal."

Perhaps because Saber's eyes were so serious. I don't tell her the truth. I just say something to get out of this situation.

"…So in other words, you automatically tried to save me?" "――It wasn't automatic. I told you, I was confused. If something like that happens again, I'll probably be trembling."

"I see. That is normal for a human. No human would try to save another while ignoring their own life. Even heroes should be no exception to that."

"So―――if someone like that exists, they would be lacking something. If he continued with that missing thing, only tragedy would await." "―――――" Her deep green eyes are trying to tell me something.

…I take that and… "―――You're persistent, Saber. I told you I was just confused. I'm scared of death too. I can't be a saint. …If something like that happens again, I'll save myself before you." …I deflect it with heartless words.

"That is good. It should be no problem if it was just a misinterpretation on my part. Yes, you certainly are a coward. If you do not make any mistakes, you will become a proper magus." "Hey. What's with that? Do I look like a coward?"

"Yes, very much so. Mostly the part where you try your best to accept the situation you are in. Such wisdom is sometimes called as cowardice. It is the same as saying that a man without fear cannot be wise."

She must be relieved. Saber says this, smiling a bit.

"―――――" That gesture is so lovely and elegant. Because of it, I cannot think of anything else to say, and we end up staying in the room together a while.

…And night falls. It's not like I need to talk to Saber or Tohsaka, so bedtime comes as usual.

It's eleven o'clock. The lights in the house are turned off, and the people in it sleep to prepare for tomorrow.

…… ………… ……………… "―――――I can't sleep."

I open my eyes, still on my side. It's the room I've grown accustomed to sleeping in, but it's different today.

"…Geez. Why can I―――" It's so quiet, so why can I hear Saber's breathing in the next room? No, I know. If it's so quiet, it's only natural for me to be able to hear what's going on in the next room, and being able to hear her sleeping makes me imagine her sleeping.

"…Ugh, dammit…! I can't sleep like this…!" I'm tired of this hell. I climb out of the futon trying not to wake Saber, and I retreat to my usual place.

"…Thank God. I thought Saber would notice, but she must be pretty dull." Or maybe she just sleeps deeply. I wonder for a moment whether she can really protect her Master like that, but there's no danger now. If Servants are connected to their Masters, she should wake up when her Master is in danger.

"Tohsaka… seems to be asleep." The lights there are off. She must be defiant, or just adaptable. Tohsaka must have gotten used to this place in just a day.

"…Well, it really does help having her around and all." Yeah, it helps, even if it's troubling sometimes. For example, the bandage wrapped around my hand.

"Hide the Command Spell, huh? I didn't realize until she told me." The Command Spell a Master bears appears somewhere on their arm. In my case, it is on the back of my left hand. I can't hide it with my clothes, so I'm hiding it with a bandage, even though it looks unnatural.

"…It's winter, so I'll wear something long over it." Tohsaka has hers around the middle of her right hand, or somewhere like that. They say the Command Spell is different for each Master, but I don't think I'll ever see Tohsaka's Command Spell.

The shed is silent. This is the place where Lancer cornered me yesterday. And where Saber appeared. The door is still open and the inside is dark as if denying anyone's entry.

But this darkness is familiar to me. The old building that I used to play in, the place you could call my real room, stands silently in the cold winter night.

…I enter. I close the door to shut out the outside air, and turn on the old stove.

"Yeah, I considered skipping it just for today, but I shouldn't. Father would get mad at me if I skipped it two days in a row." I sit in the middle of the shed and take a deep breath. …Training should be continued without rest. Magic is mental training for me, so I shouldn't neglect it for minor reasons.

"Phew―――huh." …I adjust my breathing and begin my training. Inside my head is the usual image. The image of the sword that appears in my empty head.

"―――――" I ignore it and clear my mind. Once I let magical energy flow through me, it's the usual practice of "strengthening".

The strengthening magic, which I succeeded at for the first time in a few years after being attacked by Lancer. I have to repeat it before I forget it, and make sure I master it, or it'll be a waste. "―――Trace, on." I half-close my eyes and release the contents of my lungs.

―――Right now, this is all. Everything goes away once I'm concentrating on this. The Holy Grail War, Saber, Tohsaka… If I empty my mind and forget all the doubts I have, I should be able to sleep tonight―――

I feel the white sunlight upon me. There must be a draft. I feel a cold wind and slowly wake up.

"Huh… it's the shed―――" I pick my body up and shake my sleepy head. "I see, I fell asleep here yesterday." After yesterday's routine―――after the training to create another sensation within me, I must have been too lazy to return to my room.

"It must still be before six. …Damn, I should prepare breakfast." I fold up the blanket, straighten up the things I failed to "strengthen" yesterday, and head back to the house to wash my face.

"―――It's cold." When I leave the shed, it's really cold outside. Fuyuki City is warm during the winter, but the top of the mountain on this side has the chill of a normal winter.

"Oh, there's some frost… I should do something about the lawn soon." The sound of breaking ice. There is frost on the ground and footprints are formed as I walk.

So. I wash my face with freezing water and pull myself together.

"――――All right." I'm wide awake now. Now that I'm awake, all the things I don't want to think about, like the situation I'm in, come straight to mind.

"…Oh yeah. I shouldn't be washing my face so calmly……" It's five to six. There are a ton of things I have to do, but I should return to my room and check on Saber first.

"…Yeah. I guess I left the room without saying anything, so I should explain things to her." I'll be troubled if Saber misunderstands things. …It's my daily routine to go out to the shed at night, so she should understand if I explain.

"After explaining things to Saber, I should make breakfast. …It seems Tohsaka won't be eating, so I should just add Saber's share." Oh. In that case, I should go and buy more ingredients for the additional people. I should note that before I forget.

"…Hm? I'm sure I'm forgetting something…" What could it be? It feels like I'm forgetting something really important―――

"Gah, it's six. I have to hurry or I won't make it." Well, if I can't remember, it can't be anything important.

"―――――" I quietly open the door. The room is just like it was yesterday. There's no sign of Saber waking up in the middle of the night and searching this room. I guess she didn't realize that I escaped the room last night.

"…That's kind of a letdown. I thought Saber might notice." Or did she need sleep so much that she couldn't notice?

"…I see. That must be what she means when she said she needs to sleep frequently." That must be why she's sleeping as close to me as she can, so she can come to me in case something does happen.

"……" Either way, it won't make much difference where I go if it's within the house. I can detect intruders from the boundary field. I should be able to protect myself for about a minute with that, and Saber should be able to come save me in a minute wherever I may be in this house.

"…That's right. And if it's the shed, there'll be plenty of places to hide." Anyways, I shouldn't be scolded at for what I did last night. I was considering explaining this to Saber, but it seems there's no need for that. And I don't think I should wake her up either if she's asleep.

"Saber, I'm going to prepare breakfast. I'll prepare some for you, but you don't have to get up if you're tired. I'll come get you later, so rest until then." I call out to her and quietly leave the room.

There's no one in the living room. I open the refrigerator and consider what I should make for breakfast.

And then. "―――Mornin'. You're up pretty early." Tohsaka comes in, looking like she's in a really bad mood.

"T-Tohsaka…? What, did something happen…!?" "Nothing. I'm always like this in the mornings, so don't worry." Tohsaka crosses the living room like a ghost.

"Hey, are you all right? You don't look all right." "I'm telling you, don't worry, I'll wake up when I wash my face. …Uh, how do I get to the bathroom from here?"

"You can take that hallway. There's a bathroom in the hallway by the entrance if you're going to wash your face." "Oh yeah, there was one there, wasn't there?" I'm not sure how much she heard, but Tohsaka waves her hand and leaves.

And then. Just as Tohsaka disappears into the hallway, I hear a bell informing me of a visitor.

"Shirou―――? Someone's here―――?" I hear Tohsaka's voice from the hallway. "Oh, don't worry about it! Only my friends come at this time!" It'll be Sakura arriving at this time. Sakura has a spare key, so I shouldn't need to go to the door.

"…Geez. She never listens, even though I keep telling her she doesn't need to ring the bell." Sakura is like a member of the family, so she can come in when she wants. But she's polite, and she only comes in after saying "excuse me". That must be one of Sakura's good points, but if she's considerate all the time, she'll―――

"――――" Hold on. Sakura… is… at my house…?

"…!!!" I run through the hallway. Scolding myself for my stupidity comes later. I have to get to the entrance and make her go home before she sees Tohsaka―――!

"Haa… haa…!" I reach the entrance, out of breath. But it's too late. There…

"―――――" …Is Tohsaka, greeting the guest, even though I didn't ask her to, "――――Huh?" and Sakura, just standing there, surprised.

Sakura is at the door, and Tohsaka is in the hallway. With an indescribable tension, the two look at each other.

"Good morning, Matou-san. Are you surprised to see me here?" Tohsaka asks, as if looking down on Sakura from the hallway.

"―――Tohsaka… Senpai." Her face asks why. Sakura looks up at Tohsaka with fear in her eyes.

"―――" Damn it. I can't call out to them. They are ignoring me and staring at each other. There's no room for me to say anything.

All I can do is to think how to explain things to Sakura, but before I can think up a good explanation…. "Senpai… what is this…?" Sakura looks at me as if asking for help.

"Yeah. Well, it's a long story――" "It's not long. I'm just staying over here." Clearly. She cuts off my sentence and just states the point.

"…Senpai, is that true?" "The short answer is yes. There are circumstances, so I have her staying here now. …Sorry, I forgot to tell you and surprised you."

"P-Please don't apologize, Senpai. …Um, I was certainly surprised, but that's fine. But what you said, you really―――" "Yes, this is what Shirou and I have decided. The head of the household, Shirou, decided, so that's how it is. You understand what this means, right, Matou-san?"

"…Understand what?" "It seems you have been taking care of Shirou up to now, but this means he doesn't need that anymore. It'll be a bother if you come here, and it's for your sake not to come here."

"―――――" Sakura looks down and falls silent. After a brief moment of silence… Suddenly, "…I don't understand." Sakura states so in a clear, small voice.

"Uh―――huh?" "…I said, I have no idea what Tohsaka-Senpai is talking about."

"H-Hey Sakura―――" "Excuse me. Senpai, I'll be using the kitchen. Sakura enters the house with a bow and goes into the living room, ignoring Tohsaka.

"Wha――――" Tohsaka is standing there, astonished. The same goes for me too. This is the first time I've seen Sakura act like that, so I don't know what to say. …No, that is surprising, but something else was unexpected too.

"Hey, Tohsaka. How did you know Sakura was coming over to my house? I don't remember telling you about it."

"Huh―――? Oh, I heard about it before somewhere. It's just a coincidence. But I'm surprised. Is she always so energetic here? She's totally different from when she's at school."

It must have been really unexpected, as Tohsaka says this with disappointment. That must mean Tohsaka knows Sakura pretty well.

Sakura seems to have known Tohsaka, so they must have had a friendship I didn't know about. …Well, that aside.

"No, I'm surprised as well. That's the first time I've seen Sakura be so snappy. She's just the way she is at school when she comes to help around here. I'd say this is a special case." "―――Hmmm, I see… this is bad, I never knew Sakura was so perverse. I should have let you explain things."

She's right. I would have been able to explain things better than the merciless Tohsaka.

"What's done is done. But what's bad about it?"

"Of course it's bad. This place might turn into a battlefield. I warned Sakura so we can keep unrelated people away from here, but it seems it'll be harder to get her out now." "You were warning her? I thought you were tormenting her."

"Hey! Did you say something!?" "Just an honest opinion. Anyways, about Sakura. What should we do? I don't think she'll go home now. …I'll make it clear now. I won't allow Sakura to get involved."

"We'll just have to do something. So, does Sakura only come in the mornings? Or are you using her during the evenings too?" "Don't word it to be misinterpreted. She always comes in the mornings, but not so much for dinner."

"I see. Then it would be every day from now on." "Huh? Every day? What is?" Tohsaka sighs at my response.

After that. Tohsaka remains in the living room and Sakura begins to prepare breakfast in the kitchen. I feel uneasy about leaving Sakura and Tohsaka together in the living room, but I'm not stupid enough to forget about Saber.

It seems Sakura is angry about Tohsaka being here, so things will only get worse if Saber comes out now. Because of that, I decide to explain the situation to Saber.

"…So, that's the situation. Sakura―――oh, the person here right now is called Sakura. She's not a magus and she's just a normal girl, so we can't have her involved in the Holy Grail War. If I can help it, I want her to stay away from this place without learning anything―――" No, I didn't come here to consult her on how to get Sakura away from here!

"Well, Sakura is acting strangely this morning. Tohsaka is the reason, but I don't want to shock her even more. Well, Sakura is already surprised that a stranger's here. I think it will get worse if you come out, so… wait, I'm not insulting you, am I, Saber…?"

"No, I understand what you are saying. So I should remain here, yes?" "―――! Yes, that would really help! I'll come back as soon as I see Sakura out, so let's have breakfast then." Saber nods silently. Wow, thank God Saber is so understanding.

All right. I'm worried about the living room too, so I should hurry back there. "―――Shirou." "What is it, Saber?"

"You do not need to explain such things to me, but you should calm down a bit. Your actions are a bit strange." "Huh―――am I panicking?"

"Yes. If you are to return to the living room, you should calm down beforehand." Saber advises me in her usual tone.

So. The everyday breakfast begins as if nothing has happened.

"Here you go, Senpai. How about you, Tohsaka-Senpai?" Sakura is handing out the rice bowls, just like her usual self. I don't know what happened while I was gone, but the tension between the two has disappeared. Well, at least on the surface.

"…Okay. I'll have some." After pondering for a moment, she takes the bowl from Sakura. Sakura smiles and starts to set up the miso soup and other things like the fried eggs. Tohsaka watches her with a complex expression.

"Tohsaka. I thought you weren't one to eat breakfast?" "I'll eat whatever's prepared. That's only polite, you know." I don't know what's bothering her, but she glares at me and picks up her chopsticks.

"…Well, I guess it's good for you. Itadakimasu. And sorry to make you prepare breakfast, Sakura." "No, this is my job, so please don't worry about it. Then I'll have some too."

"What a wonderful position you are in. What kind of king are you, making your junior prepare your breakfast? Well, I'll ask about that later and just eat breakfast for now."

―― ―――― ―――――― ――――――――Gah. No conversation.

"―――――" It's not that terrible a mood, and anyway, it's always like this during breakfast. Sakura and I aren't talkative, so it's natural for our meals to be quiet. So, why is it that our breakfasts are always loud?

"…?" Hold on. Something's clicking in my head……

"Senpai? Um, was the fish seasoned too strongly…?" "No, it's fine. But I feel like I'm forgetting something."

What is it? I try to conclude that if I can't remember it, it can't be important. But I feel like that would be a terrible mistake. I feel uneasy, as if I'm ignoring a disease that could kill me if left untreated.

"―――Oh well. It probably isn't important." I forcefully make myself understand. ―――And then… "Morning. Man, I slept in." Fuji-Nee enters with loud footsteps.

"―――――" I see. It's not that I couldn't remember. I just wanted to postpone the problem by forgetting about it.

"Shirou, food." Fuji-Nee sits Japanese-style in her usual seat. The two's greetings are in strange unison.

"Here you go, Sensei. It's not much, but please have some." Sakura gives her a bowl with her usual smile.

"Mm?" She receives the bowl from Sakura and tilts her head. She knows something is wrong, but she can't tell what it is. Fuji-Nee quietly starts to eat. And after finishing one bowl of rice, she quietly whispers in my ear.

"…Hey, Shirou. Why is Tohsaka-san here?" "That's because she's staying here now." I explain things to her truthfully.

"Oh, I see. Tohsaka-san sure does some strange things." "Yeah, she's a weirdo. She keeps a mask on at school."

"I see, so she's staying here, huh?" She understands and takes a sip of her miso soup.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'STAYING HERE', SHIROU!!!!?"

The table is thrown up. Fortunately, Sakura is on the other side and Tohsaka has already moved out of the way, so it seems I'm the only victim.

"Ahhhhh! W-W-W-W-What are you doing, Fuji-Nee!? This is miso soup, cooked rice, and food cooked in pot! It'll be hot if you spill that on me―――hey, why are we having food in a pot for breakfast anyway…!?"

"Shut up! What are you thinking, Shirou!? What kind of love-comedy are you in, letting a girl stay over? No, it's not even funny!"

"I'm not trying to make anyone laugh…! No, more importantly, this is hot! I'll get burned! Sakura, get me a towel!" "Here you go. I've prepared a cold towel, Senpai." "Thanks…! Whoa, a piece of chicken fell in my shirt, and a hot one too―――!?"

"The towel comes later. Listen up, Shirou. Are you saying this seriously!?" "Of course. You know I'm not one to joke like this. Anyways, I'm letting Tohsaka stay here. I'll listen to complaints, but I won't change my mind."

"I object! I don't know what you're up to, but I can't allow it! Onee-chan won't allow you to live with a girl your age!" Fuji-Nee roars.

…Well, I guessed it. Fuji-Nee is my guardian and a school teacher. I don't think I can escape such a situation with merely a hundred beatings from the shinai, or even from a real sword. But I guess you could say it's ill fortune that I have to push through with this.

"You have to. I don't have any bad intentions, and we're not like that. I could just say we got into an accident, and I ended up letting her use a room here as a result."

"SHUT UP! I CAN'T ALLOW IT!!!! I won't allow her to stay here! I don't know Tohsaka-san's circumstances, but make her go home at once!" Damn, she won't even listen. Crap, I guess she isn't someone I can convince…!

"Sensei. You say you would not allow me to stay here, but I have already spent a night here." And then. Tohsaka says those words, like pouring cold water on Fuji-Nee.

"―――Huh?" "I said, I was allowed to stay here yesterday. No, I stayed here from Saturday evening, so I have stayed here for two nights, to be accurate. I have borrowed the room in the outbuilding, and my luggage is already there. How about it, Sensei? Looking at things objectively, it seems that I am already staying here."

"―――――" Fuji-Nee's face goes pale.

"S-S-Shirou, what have you done…!? Do you know what would happen if Kiritsugu-san found out about this!?" "I bet he'd be happy. He'd say something about a man's resourcefulness or whatnot."

"Ugh… I feel the same way. Kiritsugu-san was really indulgent with girls… I see, so you inherited that, you idiot!" Fuji-Nee grabs my collar and shakes me around. …Well, the inheritance aside, it was Father's belief that girls should be protected. I don't go around telling people that like Father did, but I do believe he was right.

But… "What? Do you need help?" I think a man would have to be tough to recognize that cold-hearted person as a girl.

"…Please. I can't do anything about the situation. I have high expectations of your political skills." I say, while being shaken. "Okay. Then I'll settle this immediately." Tohsaka, who was only watching from a distance, comes to stand directly beside Fuji-Nee.

"Fujimura-Sensei. Only screams will come out of Emiya-kun even if you shake him, so please stop. Well, breakfast might come out too." "Hmph… what, that serious face doesn't scare me, Tohsaka-san. As a teacher and as Shirou's guardian, I can't allow you to stay."

Fuji-Nee lets go of me and confronts Tohsaka. It must be her natural instincts. She must have thought Tohsaka would get her if she kept concentrating on me.

"Why is that? There are many students that are boarding at our school. Is it not our school policy to encourage the students' independence?"

"What, even if you use difficult words, you still can't stay. You can't get independence from staying in a place like this. This place is a dream house. It prepares meals for you, prepares baths for you, and is always clean without you doing anything. You'll be corrupted if you stay in a place like this." "…Fuji-Nee." That statement is problematic, coming from a teacher.

"And as a rule, only students living far away can board at someone's house. Tohsaka-san's house is farther from school than here, but it's not like you can't go to school from there, right? Even Sakura-chan commutes from that area, so there's no need to stay here."

"But my house is undergoing complete remodeling right now. It is an old building, so it's getting a bit unsteady. I was thinking of staying at a hotel until the remodeling is done, but when I explained the situation to Emiya-kun as he happened to pass by, he said I could use his house rather than waste money."

"Hm… that does sound like something Shirou would say." "Yes. I was surprised by the idea coming from Emiya-kun, with whom I am not too well acquainted. But staying at a hotel is indeed costly, and most of all, unstudent-like. So I thought it would be more beneficial for me to stay at Emiya-kun's house instead."

"Hm… Hmmmm." Fuji-Nee groans. Since Tohsaka's answer and attitude are so student-like, it seems that as a teacher supposedly, Fuji-Nee cannot object.

"I understand your situation. But isn't there a problem? You are a girl and Shirou is a boy, so I don't know what could happen if the two of you stay under one roof." "What do you mean by that, Sensei?"

"Uh… um, well, Tohsaka-san is pretty, and Shirou is a guy, so I thought I wouldn't like it if a mistake got made…" "There won't be any. My room is on the edge of the outbuilding, and Emiya-kun's room is the room by the shed. It's more than thirty meters away. I believe there won't be any problems with this much distance between us."

"Y-Yeah, the outbuilding can be locked, so it's like a separate house, but…"

"Right? Or are you saying you don't trust Emiya-kun? You said earlier that you are Shirou's teacher. Then, I believe you know his personality better than I do. If he was the type to make that sort of mistake, I would not stay here."

"How dare you, Shirou is a gentleman! He wouldn't make a girl cry!" "Then it should be fine. I trust Emiya-kun too. I knew I could stay here safely." "Hmmmmmm."

The intensity in Fuji-Nee disappears. …I guess it's decided now. There are lots of things to follow up, but I bet Tohsaka can get through those. So I guess Tohsaka officially has citizenship in my house now….

―――And so breakfast ends. As expected, Fuji-Nee gave in after being talked down by Tohsaka. In conclusion, we decided to try to keep it a secret at school, and to have Fuji-Nee look after us at home. With that decided and with more people around the house, Fuji-Nee happily goes to school.

We finish breakfast, and I go to talk to Saber before I leave. Saber, as expected, calmly says, "Please obey Rin at school. Please consider me necessary when you are in danger. That will allow me to feel Master's danger." And she goes back to her room.

And it's time to go to school.

"Let's go, then. I'm not used to this area, so show me the shortest way to school." Beside me is Tohsaka Rin in her school uniform.

…The feeling is fading, but having Tohsaka in her uniform makes me tense. I can't stay calm going to school with the prettiest girl in school, and on top of that…

"Senpai. I finished locking up the house." Sakura is with us today. As a member of the archery club, Sakura usually goes to school with Fuji-Nee. But she stayed in the living room today, and was waiting for me to clean up after breakfast and go to school.

"What? You gave Sakura a spare key?" "Yeah. She won't do anything bad, and she's been helping me for a long time too… yeah, when I put it like that, I can't really give you a key. You won't mind, right?"

"…I don't mind, but what is that supposed to mean?" "Because you would do something bad. And I bet you won't have any problems without the key. I'm not crazy enough to do anything unnecessary."

"―――Oh, I see. Yes, as you say, I have no need of such a thing!" Tohsaka looks away.

Maybe I'm just getting used to it, but I'm starting to think this gesture of Tohsaka's is interesting too.

"……" "Hm? What, Sakura? If you're done locking up the house, let's go. Tohsaka is with us today, so I want to leave early." "Yes, you're right. If you say so, I will."

Sakura says so in a dispirited voice and follows after us. …Geez. Sakura has looked somewhat cheerless ever since Fuji-Nee lost to Tohsaka this morning. Fuji-Nee assented, but Sakura must not have.

"…I guess I'll have to talk to her about it…" That's right. I'll need to find an opportunity as quickly as I can, and make Tohsaka and Sakura be friends―――

The hill road is full of students. It's past seven thirty in the morning. This is the time most students go to school. So… It's natural for me to be met with odd stares if I'm walking with people who stand out so much.

"……" Did she forget something? Tohsaka has been quiet like this for a while now.

"What's wrong, Tohsaka? You've been acting weird since around the road on the hill." "Huh…? I thought so, am I weird?"

"No, you're not weird, but that reaction is weird." "Senpai, that explanation is contradictory. I don't think Tohsaka-Senpai is asking about that…" It seems Sakura knows what Tohsaka wants to ask about.

"Hm? What does Tohsaka want to ask about?" "Everyone is staring at Tohsaka-Senpai, so she thinks there might be something wrong with her. Isn't that right?"

"T-That's right, but am I acting weird to your eyes as well? That's strange. I was tired, but I did my hair and there shouldn't be any wrinkles on my uniform. …I slept in a new place, so do I have dark circles around my eyes!?"

"What are you yelling at me for? It's not my fault if you can't sleep in an unfamiliar place, and even if you do get dark circles, they're nothing much. Don't worry about it."

"How dare you! Girls care about their looks from the moment they're born. Geez, I've always tried hard to look perfect at least on the outside, but I guess that came to an end today…!"

"So, what are you yelling at me for? I don't know why you're weird, but it's definitely not my fault. Take it out on something else."

"You're mistaken, Tohsaka-Senpai. You're beautiful today as always. Everybody is staring at you because you're with us today. You have never come to school with anyone else before."

"Huh…? So I'm getting this treatment because of something so small? …I should be more careful. I thought I had this school thing mastered since I've been here for ten years now, but there are still some mysteries to it."

Tohsaka ponders seriously. What kind of a person are you just to ignore praise like "you're beautiful as always"?

"…I don't get you. Of course there'll be a commotion if you go to school with someone. All the more so if it's a male student." "Right. But Tohsaka-Senpai isn't one to care about such matters. That's why there have never been any rumors about men."

"I see… that's good. That means that there's only one victim who got deceived by her looks and got devastated." I talk secretly with Sakura while following Tohsaka, who has a puzzled expression.

We go through the gate, still with people staring at us. We will be going our separate ways once we enter the building, so I only need to endure the stares for a bit longer.

"…Heh. A troublesome guy even shows up in the morning." Tohsaka murmurs. Before her is a familiar face, coming through the students.

"Sakura!" "Uh… Nii-san." Sakura trembles a little. Shinji must not see us, as he goes straight to Sakura.

"Why didn't you come to the dojo!? What are you doing, skipping it without my consent!?" Shinji raises his hand. I… "Yo, Shinji. Working hard in the mornings, huh?" …Catch his hand and greet him.

"E-Emiya…!?" You―――I see, you went to Emiya's house again, Sakura!?" "…Yes. I went to help Senpai. But, that's…"

"Your responsibility as a junior? You're so unrefined. You shouldn't care about a guy who hurt himself. Don't worry and just do as I say."

Shinji lowers his hand. …I have no reason to hold his hand if he's not going to hit Sakura, so I let it go.

"But what about you, Emiya? Is it so much fun to trouble us? Sakura is a member of the archery club, so could you stop forcing her to do things that'll make her skip practice?" "―――Hm."

I can't object against that. Since I haven't stopped Sakura from coming to make breakfast, that does mean I'm restricting Sakura's time in the morning.

"That's not true…! I'm helping Senpai by my choice. Aren't you going a bit far, Nii-san?"

"Too far? That's you, Sakura. So what if Emiya doesn't have parents? He says he's fine alone, so you can leave him alone. Someone like Emiya would feel more comfortable that way."

"Nii-san…! …That's terrible…" "―――Heh, fine. Don't go to Emiya's house from now on. You didn't come to the club when I told you to. You were prepared for this kind of a punishment, right?"

"―――――" Sakura gasps and freezes. Shinji tries to grab Sakura forcefully―――

"Good morning, Matou-kun. Sorry for eavesdropping, but that was a pretty interesting conversation right there." "Huh―――Toh… saka? Why are you with Sakura?"

"It's nothing unusual. Sakura-san is an acquaintance of Emiya-kun, and I'm an acquaintance of Emiya-kun, so we all came together this morning. Didn't you notice?"

"Wha―――a-an acquaintance of Emiya…!?" "Yes. I know him well enough that we'll be coming to school and going home together from now on. So, I'm thinking of making friends with Sakura-san too."

"With Emiya…!!!!!?" Shinji glares at me. …I must be just imagining that I felt more than enmity there. Well, I haven't been doing well with Shinji lately, but I don't remember doing anything to make him resent me that much.

"Ha, that's ridiculous. That's a bad joke, Tohsaka. There's no way you'd be with Emiya. …Oh, I see. You must have a misunderstanding. It's true that I was friends with Emiya a while ago, but we're detached now. So there isn't much point in that approach, you know?"

"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that. I didn't have the slightest interest in you."

"―――Wow." I pity Shinji. If that was me, it would be traumatic enough that I wouldn't recover for a while.

"―――You." "And, Matou-kun? About that conversation earlier. The morning practice of the archery club is open participation. I've never heard that you need permission to be absent. I'm sure Fujimura-Sensei and Ayako don't know of such a rule either."

"Uh―――shut up! An older brother can do whatever he likes with his sister! Don't poke your nose into our family affairs!" "Yes, I feel the same way. So isn't it wrong for you to say such things about Emiya-kun's household? Geez, you're rowdy so early in the day, Matou-kun."

"―――――!" Shinji takes a step back and glares at me and Sakura.

"――All right, I'll forgive you for this morning. But it won't happen again, Sakura. If something happens again, I'll make sure you understand your position." Saying what he wants, Shinji runs away to the school building. Yeah. He definitely ran away after losing to Tohsaka.

"…I'm sorry, Senpai. Nii-san, um… was rather rude." Sakura lowers her head apologetically. She must be apologizing to Tohsaka as well.

"No, it was good exercise. My mind went up a gear, so I'm finally up to par now. I love arguments."

"And I should be the one apologizing. I think I did a bit too much. He has his position to think of, so I shouldn't have done that in front of everybody, you know? If Matou-kun is feeling down, cheer him up. Tell him he doesn't have to learn from experience, and that he can come at me again."

"Ah――yes. If he doesn't learn from experience, please talk to him again, Senpai." Sakura must be relieved, as she smiles cheerfully. Tohsaka is looking away, bashful.

"You too, Senpai. Um, please try not to get mad about it. You're the only friend Nii-san has." "I know. It's impossible not to get mad, but I knew he was that kind of a guy as soon as I got to know him. Well, I know we'll get to know each other better someday, so I'll be patient with him."

"Yes―――please give him your best regards, Senpai." Sakura bows. …Yeah. If I do get really mad at Shinji, it'll be because he's not satisfied with such a wonderful sister.

"Then, Senpai, let's do our best today." Sakura goes to the first year hallway.

We walk up the stairs and enter the second-year hallway, and… "Whoa!?" …Run into the student council president.

"W-Why are you with Tohsaka, Emiya Shirou!?" I see. You are full of enmity too, for a different reason.

"Oh, good morning, Ryudou-kun. What kind of a greeting is 'whoa' supposed to be?" "Guh, I had a bad feeling when I woke up, but I never thought things would go in such an unpropitious direction―――! Ah, come here, Emiya! You'll be poisoned if you stay so close to Tohsaka!"

Issei forcefully pulls on my hand. After looking silently at us, Tohsaka heads to Class 2-A as if nothing has happened.

"Heh, go ahead. No one's going to stop you." "……" Tohsaka silently passes by us. And then… "Shirou, rooftop during lunch." She mutters that so Issei would not be able to hear it.

―――It's lunchtime. Since the events of this morning, Issei has avoided me, treating me like a traitor.

"…I guess I joked around a bit too much." I contemplate my actions for a moment. He asked me why I was with Tohsaka this morning. "We got close during the holidays." Answering like that was bad.

I think the problem is how we became close, but I couldn't explain that, and Issei walked away dizzily.

"…Well, I guess it's fine. I'll have to do a lot of things alone for a while." It's good to have less people involved. Well, what I should do right now is―――

[upvotem]

hiii what are your thoughts on the sinners also have u played lobcorp or ruina?

hii maddie i did finally beat lobcorp a few days ago after MONTHS and i'm planning on playing ruina too! idk if you wanted my opinion on all of the sinners but *smirks*

i'll skip donqi and heath since i already talked about them but as for the other guys

yi sang! i like your funny words magic man. he is a fun autism guy i'll admit i don't have a lot to say about him and he's probably the sinner i'm the least interested in BUT i still like him a lot and he gets really cool fanart on twitter

faust! my friend faustie waustie. i love her to bits i initially thought she would be my favorite because i tend to like the main girls even if this is an ensemble cast and she's still in my top 5 definitely. i think her being super arrogant is cutieful and the "faust only knows what faust knows" line was really funny. i'm definitely looking forward to seeing how much she actually is aware of she is so mysterious and pretty

DON QUIXOTE!!! already said it but the loml

ryoshu! I LOVE HER she's really really awesome i love her sangria thing and she was really funny in hell's chicken. love crazy insane sadistic characters love her design love her fixation with gore she is the best ever

meursalt! i actually didn't care for him much at first, i thought his personality was too similar to yi sang and i didn't really like his design (i like twinks mb) but i've warmed up to him a lot mostly because of the fanart with him and don quixote i think they are a funny duo. and i think he's neat too he's just got that autistic swag

hong lu! well first of all she's a trans woman to me so jot that down. i honestly don't have a ton of thoughts on hong lu yet but she is very cutieful sweetieful and has a sick design and i'm looking forward to learning more about her

HEATHCLIFF!!! also the loml

ishmael! she is so funky i love her hair and her cute little bows and i adore her personality, how she seems down to earth and reasonable but is willing to fight with heathcliff to the death over nothing it's awesome. looking forward to her chapter i love ocean symbolism and imagery GRAHHHH also she has the best egos

rodya! YAY RODYA she is so pretty and such an intriguing character. i really love the dynamics she has with the others especially gregor and sinclair and i love her personality being someone who wants to be something important and i wish she got more focus in canto ii but hopefully she will get more development down the line in future chapters focusing on her

sinclair! she is also a woman to me. like literally her icon is an egg cracking LIKE... one of my faves tbh i forgot to mention her i really love characters who are meek but have berserk buttons where they go crazy violet insane ballistic like it's one of my favorite character tropes and she was awesome in canto iii go queen

outis! she's seriously awesome a queen... i don't have too much to say about her so far unfortunately but she's really pretty and i love that people draw her kind of milfy like so true. i think her being a suck up to dante is really funny and idk i jsut think she's neat

gregor! REALLY awesome guy i love his laidback personality compared to the others and i love his quips and his story so far is really good he's a really interesting and well written character za za za zamuza

idk if you wanted me to talk about dante, vergil and charon but i'm tired so i won't BUT I LOVE THOSE THREE TWO THEYRE AWESOME

[protokirby]

So I had some kind of insane dream

First, a dream I had yesterday but forgot to talk about. It's also an insane one but way shorter.

There was a village of alligator people living in the sewers and at the end of the sewer tunnel the exit led to a beach. The beach was at an angle where it was a downwards hill to get to the ocean.

A giant Piers was rising from the sea about to terrorize the alligator people. Normal sized Piers was trying to fight the giant Piers alongside the alligator people.

Drayton was also there and he put a little effort into defending the alligator people. He picked up an inverted-color version of himself by the arms and spun him around to toss him.

Drayton was intending to make the inverted-color version of himself land on the giant Piers but he couldn't throw him that far and the inverted-color Drayton was just cartoonishly rolling down the hill of the beach.

Now for the recent dream

The dream starts out very self-aware with Carmine going to Drayton. She says the following to him: "You and Crispin are all buddy-buddy with the dreamer, right? Crispin is out somewhere and I need help from someone with experience." Drayton just silently stares at her like she's crazy from where he's sitting. Carmine adds: "Don't act all oblivious. I know all of that exists and you regularly get involved. Kieran fell into some other world and you're the only one I know who might be able to help."

Drayton then grins and stands up and I appear next to him, startling Carmine. Then I teleport us all to the world Kieran was trapped in. It was mostly jungle-like with beautiful plants and stuff but something about it felt like some kind of post-nuclear explosion wasteland somehow. Not really sure how else to describe it.

I don't remember a lot of what happened in between but at some point Carmine was under the spell of something and being aggressive in a vicious monster way because of it and Drayton was walking oddly. Like one foot was broken. I don't remember at all if those two things are connected though. So anyway I was helping Drayton walk for a little while before he just couldn't go on and he had to lie down on the ground. I just kinda stood next to him looking down for a little while having thoughts reminiscent of being an angst enjoyer and then shortly feeling bad about it at because in this case the fictional guy is suffering right in front of me and I'm…. Amused by it??! Like bruh keep that to the daydreams. Not to the actual imaginary friends. Well anyways I did come to my senses in the dream, albeit too many seconds later. I decided to teleport with him to a dream world like a replica of where I live irl.

It was a shed but for some reason the floor was all covered in water. It was still safer than the monster world. But Carmine unexpectedly ran through the portal I opened and the moment she touched water she transformed into a mermaid and I said "What, did you stand in the dang moon pool or somethin?!" I can't recall if I ever referenced something in a dream before like that. But anyhoo it was making a lot of noise and I didn't want my dream family knowing I can travel to other universes so I quickly picked up Drayton bridal style and kicked Carmine into a fresh portal back to the monster world before jumping in the portal myself.

After getting back to the monster world, Carmine was no longer a mermaid but she was still going berserk from whatever got in her head and she sprinted off somewhere out of sight while I was left alone with Drayton again. I regained some almost-awake level smarts long enough to manipulate the dream into restoring Drayton's broken leg but immediately after that I became my usual dumb dream-self again. Instead of going to help Carmine find Kieran, I chose to continue carrying Drayton bridal style while whimsically prancing around the landscape. I think Drayton was having fun lol.

The dream showed me what Carmine got up to after she sprinted away. She made it to where the king of the monsters was. The monsters in that world were all evil, though they could be reasoned with. Carmine snapped out of her trance and demanded that the king tell her where Kieran is. The king thought her boldness was amusing and offered to help her find Kieran.

She was told that he might be with one of his subordinates who all individually rule over something in the monster world. All those monster people who were the king's subordinates had names similar to what they ruled over. The only one I remember is one whose name was Madison who had a mansion. That's where they were checking first. But before that, the king wanted Carmine to dig up a crystal skull out of the ground. It was the king's car keys. They were going to the mansion by car.

I woke up before they got there.

tldr: I bring Drayton on a fun trip around a jungle/wasteland and Carmine gets demon possessed while attempting to de-isekai Kieran

[maguro13-2]

Darkness Reborn ~ Origins of the Ink Demon Final Chapter Finale (5/10) ~

[Kinght's Passage - Jun Senoue, Yutaka Minobe]

*BOOST!*

Tails (via communicator) : Sonic, come in! There's something wrong with this picture! It's a giant tree that is coming from the Earth's core!

Sonic : I know it, it's the legacy belonging to that Chao named Shinra. Where'd have I seen it before! I bet nobody had summoned it like this before!

Knuckles (via communicator) : So that's why Soul Eater existed within the real world, huh? Who knew that it was inside the earth's core?

Shadow (via communicator) : What a bunch of teenage scumbags, the weapons and meisters have been tools to Shotaro the Dokeshi all along, the Men of Shinra's influence had the nerves and his balls to keep the truth out of the public eye. I guess that Shinigami person was nothing more than a faker that I pressumed.

Silver (via communicator) : So...Not the brightest Idea of hiding a giant tree that was inside the planet just to be spreading the influence from Shinra Kusakabe, not the company from Final Fantasy VII! I don't know how to say this, Maka Albarn had felt like an idiot for being the under the influence to Shinra's will, just a puppet on a string. She must've wasted her own life to be the hero of a crazy manga story that was only made for money!

Knuckles (via communicator) : It's what money comes out of his pocket, that author of their world is such weird man and a complete idiot!

Tails (via communicator) : It's no wonder why the author had to go make up the lies for his own characters, just to be thrown out like garbage!

Sonic : Guess we were all wrong. But Japan isn't stupid enought to make a bunch of crazy stories that were nothing cosmic horrors and make believes!

Amy (communicator) : Just before you know it! There's bunch of heartless and ghosts from the Evershade valley! It's a crazy party for 2013!

Sonic : Ghosts of Evershade Valley? Wait a second, that wouldn't happened to be Luigi's Mansion 2, right?

Amy (communicator) : I'm afraid so. These ghosts we called inhabitants of Evershade Valley were once peceaful ghosts that have a good side due to the powers of the Dark Moon's appearance, until Luigi's arch enemy, King Boo, destroyed the moon into five pieces, causing the Evershade Ghosts to go berserk and turned wickedly insane, making a huge mess on Professor Egadd's science work.

Sonic : Good thing that he made it safely to the bunker, looks like Luigi's gonna have to save Mario instead of Death the Kid.

Espio (via communicator) : Don't worry about that guy, he has nothing to do with anything to do necessarily for his life, not even he can protect the legacy from his grandfather! Guess all people to be needed their lessons learned about monopolizing political power. It's not wonder that the school itself was not created to maintain the public order, just the monopolization of political refugees.

Vector (via communicator) : Now let's give that Ohkubo a piece of his own mind!

Charmy (via communicator) : That's what he get for bringing weridness into our world!

Sonic : Roger that, guys! I won't forget!

Nozomi : Hey, Sonic! Long time no see! Sorry about the delays back there! I heard that you were awesome of saving 2011 from the clutches of Dr. Eggman's wicked schemes back there! Your old friend has came back to see you again!

[Free by Crush 40 plays]

Sonic : Nozomi Kaminashi! (see Nozomi on the original Blue Star board) What's up, old friend? So how was the race of the New Ex World Grand Prix.

Nozomi : About the Ex World Grand Prix? I'm still living it to that dream on saving Keijo about 7 years ago when I first met you during my Age progression while being nine years old. So when I finally realized that I finally get to save Keijo, my friends won the Ex World Grand Prix to find all the prizes locked away and discovered that we found a race of aliens that has the power of colors.

Sonic : race of aliens thas the power of colors? (realizing) The Wisps! Nozomi, you're a genius! We can use the wisp and take down the super baddie once and for all! Think we can handle this, partner?

Nozomi : You betcha!

Sonic : Let's speed things up a notch!

Nozomi : Roger that!

*WHOOSH X2*

"Meanwhile..."

[Navigation - Fumie Kumatani]

Eve : Well, Seto. I was right, guess that Death the Kid fella was not only made by Shotaro the Dokeshi himself, but I know who helped him to create the Death the Kid, the second of the Kusakabe Family tree. Who else but his older brother, gues he's part of the tree as well.

Seto : Hello! Anybody here? I'm Seto the Deathless, the newly elected Shinigami, I came here to find who really modeled Death the Kid, the one who was modeled after his Grandfather. You see, he has been under the influence of his grandfather's legacy and the men of his influence had been hiding the truth.

Cruz/Yamada : I don't know guys. But, there's no one here but besides us.

Shotaro : You wanna know why you guys are here? Well, guess, you finally craked the case, newly elected Shinigami.

Kuchinashi : Hold on, you are...

Seto : Shotaro the Dokeshi, so this is Shinigami's real self. A human form of a yokai called a Kyokotsu?

Eve : Well, I'll be a son of a gun! You're just a kid that eats a lot of bones that are animal-related like drumsticks and of course Roast chicken and Fried turkeys for Thanksgiving! So this is what have you been hidden from the public so that you would be Shinigami!

Shotaro the Dokeshi : You knew that it was me all along! Of course I was the so-called God of Death. Yohei told me that so I would become part of the Shinigami Council. Easy enough for you to be fooled by one individual that is a kid. I'd still get all the glory and I even made fake-money from Shinra's son!

Eve : So you fooled Maka and everyone that easily because you wanted to become Shinigami so that you could get all the glory you wanted to become part of the Shinigami council. Guess what, Skull for brains? Botan, Ichigo, and Ryuk gave Seto this permission after Ichigo heard that Death was actually the man-made son of Shinra and realized that the school you created was about protecting humanity nor peace. It was created about bringing power and monopolization to all of humanity and bringing wars across the globe.

Shotaro the Dokeshi : So what? I said I was sorry! I didn't know that I was fooled by the likes of Shinra Kusakabe, his influence wanted to spread even further and then I got Ashley's people involved to thinking that they were the enemies that wrecked the earth clean with magic, and of course the heartless as well. Soon as I about to overthrow the Kasugatani Family tree and the heartless their selves, I will pay you all to the world!

[Team Chaotx by Gunnar Nelson]

Adam Blade : So, kid. We heard the whole thing. You were so lucky that you tricked a girl for being a stubborn loser. taht you are

Setsuna : You were behind all of this? Heh, what a scumbag you are.

Teruyama : We should've known a kid like you is doing something stupid like this!

Kuchinashi : We've been had it by one of your tricks!

Solva : You can't fool us anymore! It's payback time, motherf**ker!

Shotaro the Dokeshi : Hey, look! I can make this a big deal! We all wanted to open our eyes to the truth and seek for it! All of that was to over Shinra's legacy and not mine. (bumps into someone that is a little pink-haired ribbon, apparently, Mio) What do you want little girl? You got something for me or what? I got no milk, cookies, or have any candy for you.

Mio : I'm not here for the sweets, I'm here to teach you lesson for being so stubborn! So take this, you fake Shinigami! You're gonna be bad to the bones!

Shotaro the Dokeshi : Oh yeah, I am definitely boned.

(sounds of Shotaro get beaten by the Needless Cast while scene goes pitchblack)

Shotaro the Dokeshi : (screams in pain) WHY DID I DESERVE THIIIIIIIS!?!

"Nobody steals the title Shinigami from me, Seto the Deathless."

"A girl who works with a group of seinen superheroes called Needless is what we exist in Real World AU."

"This is a future that I have to protect."

"The Ohkuboverse is nothing compared to Real World AU itself!"

"That is the universe that we truly lived in!"

~ 110th Scene : The True Shinigami ~

[ajentmm]

Desert Mercenaries Theorycraft

Here we go again. It's November 2019. We get another Sacred Stones banner. This time we get a fun 3-4 star dancer dagger lady, a 5 star on the extreme edges of boy to man, and the first and only non-seasonal dou unit, of two guys in the middle of the boy to man spectrum. Two dudes who barely interacted in the game, one being the main villain, but are non-the-less good friends. Just two bros. I can imagine this banner didn't do well just because there's more male characters with the only female character being common, a sight we will never see today. Sorry for being syndical but this is Waifu Emblem after all. It could also be because Gerik and Ewan had meh inheritable weapons. But hey, we are here to fix that today.

But first, you know the rules, dancers don't get new perfs or refines. I'm subbing her out for the 3-4 star off focus unit.

Ross: His Father's Son

5 Star Lvl. 40 47/38/31/32/24 / Max Invest 56/47/39/41/30

Brave Axe+: Mt.8 Inflicts Spd-5. If unit initiates combat, unit attacks twice.

Smite - Fire Boost - Threaten Def

He come the boi. There he is. He is here. While other off focus 3-4 stars from this year were 1 BST gen behind, Ross is a trainee, so he has higher BST at the end, but lower at lvl 1, which means nothing when it's so easy to level up. So he and Gerik are tied in BST, thou Gerik is faster with less Def and Res. This dose make Ross better at enemy phasing. With that Brave Axe and his underdog berserker feel, I wanna make him more risky.

Hand-me-down Hackett: Mt.8 Grants Spd+4 Inflicts Def/Res-5 Unit attacks twice. (Even if foe initiates combat.)

"If foe initiates combat or foe’s HP >75%, grant Special Cooldown charge +1 to unit per foe's attack. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)"

So its a speedy brave weapon, that works both phases, and gives him special charge, akin to his super trainee class having +15 Crit. Now, Ross is still a 3-4 star, I couldn't give him too crazy of a refine like what Ninja Cherche has. I don't however want to give him "Stats". The special refine only gives special charge when foe's hit because giving it when he hits can give insanely high cost Specials constancy, and makes 2 charge trigger on the second hit when insisting. If you want that, get heavy blade. This is just for retaliating on the enemy phase, since he now has lowered defenses. Use this to your advantage and inherit Vantage or Warth, you could be safer and use a Dodge skill, or go Special Spiral for more insane sweeping.

Gerik: Desert Tiger

5 Star Lvl. 40 47/37/36/30/22 / Max Invest 56/46/45/38/28

Firesweep Axe+: Mt.15 Unit and foe cannot counterattack.

Moonbow - Darting Blow 4 - Sudden Panic 3 - Infantry Pulse 3

Gerik is here and he has skills to inherit. He has great HP to use Sudden Panic and Infantry Pulse and great Spd to double. He just needs a perf that give some more stats, and maybe removes the whole "unit can't counterattack".

Desert Tiger Battle-axe: If unit's HP>=25%, inflict Atk/Spd/Def-5 on foe during combat, and also, if unit's Spd > foe's Spd -1, foe cannot counterattack.

There, now he needs to be healthy and out speed the opponent to stop the counterattacks. This could be combined with Smoke skills to make him more useful in applying stats, and then become an enemy phase brawler.

"If unit is within 3 tile radius of an ally, grant Atk/Spd +6 and grants Special cooldown charge +1 and deals damage = 15% of unit's Spd per unit's attack during combat. (Only highest value applied. Does not stack.)"

And because Gerik is all about companionship, he needs to be near allies to get that Special Charge and bonus damage to slay foes. He unfortunately needs 1 charge to use Galeforce, which he can't get from foe's counterattack, so this would just be for taking out one really dangerous foe.

Ewan: Eager Student

5 Star Lvl. 40 38/37/33/23/35 / Max Invest 47/46/41/31/44

Rauðrserpent+: Mt. 12 If foe initiates combat and uses bow, dagger, magic, or staff, grants Def/Res+6 during combat.

Glacies - Swift Stance 3 - Sabotage Spd 3

Ewan is even worse fodder than Gerik but his trainee bonus makes him more well rounded than the average mage. So, making him a stat ball is what I have in mind.

Tome of Anima: If unit has [Bonuses] active or foe has [Penalties] active, grants Atk/Spd/Def/Res+5 during combat, neutralizes penalties to unit's Atk/Res, and neutralizes bonuses on foe's Atk/Res.

This tome's unique condition relies on him fighting foe's affected by Sabotage Spd, or from getting rallied by allies or inflicting penalties on foes. This is suppose to mirror how, in Sacred Stones, he need a lot of help to get him exp in grind maps. He just needs a leg up to beat the baddies. Now the unique refine effect would likley give him more stats like bonus doubler or foe penalty doubler, or maybe give bonuses to himself and allies. But I wanna give him something crazy. This is the Tome of Anima after all.

"If foe uses Magic, Bow, or Daggers, Grants weapon-triangle advantage against and inflicts weapon-triangle disadvantage on red and blue foes, but also, inflicts weapon-triangle disadvantage against and grants weapon-triangle advantage to colorless foes during combat. Neutralizes effects that boost values along with weapon-triangle advantage or reduce values along with weapon-triangle disadvantage (Triangle Adept) on unit and foe."

Remember how the super trainee pupil class gets Light, Dark, and Anima tomes? Remember how Anima got to use Fire, Thunder, and Wind? This tome allows Ewan to get weapon triangle advantage against any colored tome, as if he is swapping tomes inbetween figts. This is a huge offensive and defensive advantage with a key downside, having a weapon triangle disadvantage against colorless ranged units. Now colorless tomes are rare, but they are incredibly powerful anyway. Colored bows and daggers are also rare, you can get the advantage on them too. But colorless bows and daggers are very common and he can die to them with out this refine, a weakness just got weaker, like Triangle Adapt. Speaking of which, I was going to give him just neutral advantage against blue units, until Arvel came around. Now we are just neutralizing Triangle Adept on both units in battle. There, a fun refine, it's nice to get creative sometimes.

Ephraim: Dynamic Duo

5 Star Lvl. 40 41/39/30/37/25 / Max Invest 49/47/37/45/30

Reginleif: Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Grants Atk+3. If unit’s Atk > foe’s Atk and/or 1 extra space of movement granted by another skill is active on unit, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack.

Draconic Aura - Heavy Blade 4 - Lull Atk/Def 3 - Odd Atk Wave 3

Dou Skill: Infantry and armored allies within 2 spaces of unit (including unit) can move 1 extra space. (That turn only. Does not stack.)

These two dudes have been an enigma of sorts. As I mentioned, they are the only Duo unit that isn’t seasonal, but they were also not put in the 5 star pool. They could only be summoned if they were the focus unit, until he was added to the Special-4 Star pool. Additionally, they are kinda lame compared to the other Duo units because they are un-seasonal. That's just Ephraim in his regular attire, same as Lyon. They have a good niece in a lance that's effective against armored and cavalry foes (that Brave Erika took), and they gets follow-ups by having more Atk than the foe, and can give themself and allies 1 movement for 1 turn. That last ability only works once per battle and it uses an action in Summoner Duals. It's not as good as just inheriting Odd/Even Tempest. Well, I am here to guess what refine he is going to get.

Reginleif: Effective against armored and cavalry foes. Grants Atk+3. If unit’s Atk > foe’s Atk or unit has a [Bonus] active (excluding bonuses on stats from Fortify or Rally), grant Atk/Def + 6 to unit during combat, unit makes a guaranteed follow-up attack, and prevent foe from making a follow-up attack.

So, Ephraim now gets omin-breaker and 6 Atk/Def. A far upgrade. But as for the second condition, I changed it from "+1 movement" to "any bonus status effect". This was because I saw Assult Troops didn't work with Amelia's perf and wanted this skill to work with it. Also, if it was all bonuses, just by getting Atk bonuses from Odd Atk Wave, he could trigger the effect without having higher Atk than the foe. I thought, let's just make the Atk check more likely, while also encouraging players to use extra movement.

"If unit or foe initiates combat after moving to a different space, grants bouns to unit's Atk and inflict penalties on foe's Atk during combat = X + 4 and neutralizes effects that inflict "Special cooldown charge -X" on unit during combat. (X = number of spaces from start position to end position of whoever initiated combat; max 4.) If X ≥ 2 and unit deals damage to foe during combat, restores 10 HP to unit. (Triggers even if 0 damage is dealt.)"

Hey wait, is this Sol Brace II?

Maybe a little. This skill is the Clash skill, but raises his Atk by 5-8 and lower the foe's Atk by 5-8. This weapon now gives a 16-24 advantage in the Atk check that triggers Omni-breaker and Heavy Blade 4, alongside his Lull and Odd Wave. And yes, the Null-Guard and 10 HP per hit is just the cherry on top. Not only does the clash condition make him great when using this Duo skill, it also makes him a great counter to armour units with unexpected extra movement (Summer Edelgard) and top tier cavalry threats (Legendary Sigurd, Brave Seliph, Rearmed Lif).

With that, Ephraim and Lyon now should be a real dynamic duo, like Batman and Robin, or Peanut Butter and Chocolate. . . . . Why is Lyon even there? Ephraim is doing all the hard work. I was thinking about giving them "Weapon-triangle advantage against colorless foes," or "damage reduction from AOE Specials" like what Lyon has but reducing the foe's Atk and getting heals was good enough. Oh well.

Anywho, what do you think about this batch? Was my hot takes too spicy? Let me know, in the comments below.

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝚂𝚎𝚡 𝚃𝚊𝚙𝚎 (𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐 & 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚒 𝚂𝚊𝚗) 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍

𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝙺𝚒𝚖 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐 (𝙰𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚣) × 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 (𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎) × 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚒 𝚂𝚊𝚗 (𝙰𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚣)

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝚂𝚖𝚞𝚝, 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏.

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝚆𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐'𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 𝟻𝙺+

𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝚅𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚖, 𝚜𝚎𝚡 𝚝𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝), 𝚎𝚡𝚑𝚒𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚖, 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕 (𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐), 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚙*𝚜𝚜𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚍𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚞𝚗𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚡 (𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗), 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚎, 𝚅𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚞𝚛! 𝙳𝚘𝚖! 𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚓𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚐 × 𝙳𝚘𝚖! 𝚂𝚊𝚗 × 𝚂𝚞𝚋! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝: @seacottons @multidreams-and-desires @yunhofingers @yunhoiseyecandy @little-precious-baby @galaxteez @deja-vux @brie02 @couchpotatoaniki @rvse-miingi @daniblogs164 @a-soft-hornytiny

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The young female looked at the male in front of her in an appalled manner.

"Umm.....what?" She could not believe the words that just came out of his mouth.

Her boyfriend however didn't seem bothered by her reaction nor did the overly enthusiastic smile on his face brush off.

"How do you feel about helping me make a sex tape?" He repeated his previous request.

The girl raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if perhaps he was still drunk from the previous night in which he and some of the other members decided to act like dumb teens and got wasted in their dorm, resulting in him drunk calling his girlfriend and her coming over to help out the oldest and the tallest member control the other 6 men who were going berserk.

"When did you even get an idea like that?" She questioned him.

"Last night actually."

She threw her hands up and huffed.

"That's it. I'm not letting you anywhere near any alchohol for the next year." She swore to herself.

"Awww Y/N, baby, come on, don't be like that. Hear me out."

Taking one of her arms, he pressed her body against his, both of them still warm given it hadn't been long since they got out of the comfort of the bed. With one hand caressing her lower back and the other running itself through her hair, Hongjoong began to lazily press kiss across her jaw, knowing fully well it was a weakness to get her to give in.

"Think about how pretty you'll look. I'll edit it so you look even more beautiful. It'll be like one of those romantic adult films we watch together, and I know for a fact you like watching the explicit scenes."

Y/N let out a soft and shy giggle at being called out like that. She had often wondered, even out loud, how actors could actually go forth with such erotic scenes. She had to admit she admired their courage for doing them so effortlessly.

"Are you sure it's not something you wanna film to take with you whenever you're oversea? Watch a replay of you fucking me dumb?"

Now it was Hongjoong's turn to blush red. Y/N noticed how he swallowed hard, meaning there was something else.

"Hongjoong..... you were suggesting that you film us having sex...right?"

Hongjoong's eyes began to waver nervously.

"Well um...I was actually thinking more along the lines of....... someone else.....fucking you.." He stammered the last parts out.

"Are you serious?!" Y/N pushed him off her in a horrified manner, her hands fanning her face as she felt herself getting hot all of a sudden.

"Come on. You're acting like it's illegal or something. No one else besides us, and I guess the third person, will know about it." He tried to convince her.

"It's not illegal but it is insane. Who did you even think would agree to something like this?" She crossed her arms, waiting to hear what brilliant idea he came up with.

"I was hoping one of the guys would be a willing-"

"No way! That'd be even more embarrassing! It already gets awkward whenever one of them accidentally walks around with no shirt on around me, how could I possibly look at them in the face after we fuck?"

Not willing to listen to her crazy boyfriend, Y/N picked up her bag and reminded him to drink lots of water before sauntering out of his room, waving goodbye to Seonghwa who was in the kitchen and leaving before Hongjoong made things more embarrassing for her. Slumping down on the kitchen table, Hongjoong had a huge pout on his face.

"Lover's quarrels?" His same age friend asked as he began rinsing the dishes.

"Something like that." Hongjoong sighed.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you two will figure it out. One of you ends up giving in sooner or later." He assured him.

Seonghwa was indeed right. Even if either one of you said no at first, you'd always, always, end up giving in just to try something new. That thought made Hongjoong lighten up and he began to think more about how to put his plan in motion. Firstly, he needed to pick one of the members who not only would be comfortable doing something like that, but would match the needed sex appeal.

"Jongho is out of the question. He's never even dated anyone." Hongjoong began thinking, evaluating in his head all his possible candidates.

"Mingi isn't a good choice either, he already has a lot to deal with so I'm not even going to bother with him."

Hongjoong then thought about Yeosang. He was good looking, but the problem was Yeosang was extremely reserved, not to mention he and Y/N weren't very close to each other. It would be bad chemistry. And his roommate and best friend Wooyoung was a strict no.

"I already know that little brat has a little crush on my girlfriend. If anything letting him fuck her would be like giving a little kid a candy shop all to themselves. I need someone who has absolutely no romantic inclinations so afterwards everything can go back to normal."

Turning his head, Hongjoong scanned Seonghwa up and down. He seemed like a possible choice. He was tall, very handsome, he and Y/N got along very well, in fact he was the one closest to her besides him. He knew for a fact Seonghwa was not innocent or pure in the slightest bit. And he'd be very professional about it. It seemed there was no question about Seonghwa being the best candidate.

"Wait! But they're close. What if this plan backfires and I accidentally ruin their friendship?"

Hongjoong groaned as he realized this was proving to be a lot harder than he thought. His mind then thought about Yunho. Yunho would be perfect in the more erotic sense given his size. He was tall, lean but well built and with defined muscles. And it'd be pretty interesting to watch and see if his girlfriend would be able to take a monster cock like that cause Yunho was definitely packing a lot.

Getting up, Hongjoong seemed decided as he walked down the hallway to have a little chat with his favorite donsaeng. Just before he could knock on the door to his room, it actually opened by itself, or more like, someone else came out right at that moment. It was none other than San, whose recently dyed blonde hair was messy. His skin had somewhat of a glow to it even if he was suffering from a major hangover. He was completely shirtless, his honey abs looking amazing as usual. The sweatpants he was wearing were hanging low on him, the V line near his pelvis poking out. And to top off the visual, his nipples were sticking out due to the piercings that he had recently gotten, a naughty secret that he had kept well hidden for a while til Wooyoung ratted him out. Hongjoong had never actually seen them, but now that he did, a light bulb went off in his head.

"Hyung.....my head is killing me." San groaned loudly, one arm weakly holding him steady against the doorframe.

That tiny sound that came out of the younger male's mouth sealed the deal for Hongjoong. San was absolutely perfect.

"Sannie....... when you're feeling better, Hyung wants to talk to you about something."

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"You're looking especially lovely tonight my dear." Hongjoong looked at his girlfriend who was sitting patiently on her bed, wearing a cute off white two piece lingerie set.

"You always say things like that whenever I'm going to suck your dick." She pointed out, although it wasn't meant to be ill intended.

Hongjoong simply continued to have that suspicious smirk plastered on as he finished setting up the last camera, having placed several ones on different parts of the room to capture different angles of the scene that was about to take place in those 4 walls. On a small stand, he had already installed his laptop so he could monitor more closely all the shots being taken and to start or pause anything if needed. Glancing at the time, he knew it was only a matter of time before their guest arrived.

"You're taking awfully long for someone who was aching to get their dick wet." She snorted, wondering how on earth could Hongjoong be so calm and collected.

Hearing a knock on the door, Y/N raised an eyebrow as she was not expecting anyone, but it seemed Hongjoong wasn't fazed at all. He actually sprinted out of his seat in lighting speed to open the door.

"Yeah but it's not my dick that's getting wet." He sent her a wink.

Before she could even ask him what he meant, San was already being dragged inside the room. He too looked puzzled when he saw his older friend's girlfriend on the bed wearing something so daring.

"Wow! Ok! I take it I got here too early?" San asked as he covered up his face with his hands.

"No San, you're not early. You're right on time actually."

Slumping an arm around him, Hongjoong pulled him into the center of the room.

"He's the one getting his dick wet."

Once she realized what was happening, Y/N grabbed a pillow and chucked it at her scheming boyfriend.

"Kim Hongjoong! You liar! You told me that we were going to be filming a sex tape between ourselves!" She exclaimed.

"A what?!" A confused San shouted, now more embarrased than ever.

"I knew that if I told you both what I really wanted you here for neither of you would agree and would probably think I'm weird or something." Hongjoong tried to explain himself.

"Oh I don't think, I know you're weird, wanting one of your members and your girlfriend to fuck each other just so you could make a porn out of it."

San reddened furiously at her words, eyes looking everywhere but at Hongjoong or Y/N. By now he had already opted for just staying quiet as he listened to the couple banter back and forth amongst themselves.

"What made you think San, out of all people, would want to even touch me?"

That caught said man's attention.

"Wait, hold on. What's that supposed to mean?" He squinted at her, eyes narrowing into slits. Y/N could feel the immediate change in his demeanor.

"Well you know just that.....it's you we're talking about San. Do you know how many girls thirst over you? Why would you even bother looking at someone like me when you look like that?" She gestured at his body and face, trying to get her point across.

San felt somewhat offended by her statement. She made it out to be like he was superficial or that he only cared about looks. Moreover, he didn't like hearing her talk about herself in that way. Brushing past his Hyung, San came to stand in front Y/N, eyes peering down at her. Feeling the intensity of his stare bear down on her, especially given her state of near undress contrasting his full dressed self made her feel self conscious. When she tried to cross her arms to cover herself, San was having none of that as he suddenly gripped her wrists and held them in front of her face.

"And do you have any idea how many of us have checked you out even though we know that you belong to Hongjoong? Do you think some of us didn't feel bad when we found out he decided to take you for himself?"

His admittance not only shocked her but her boyfriend behind them, who had thought only one member had been disappointed when they announced that they were dating. Noticing her shocked expression, San leaned in and smiled at her innocently.

"Don't worry too much about me though, I was mostly disappointed at the fact that I might never get a chance to tap that cute ass of yours." He expressed with no hint of shame whatsoever. San drew his gaze down to fully look at her, admire her silhouette for the first time ever since he walked in the room.

"But now that I know Hyung wants someone to fuck his girlfriend...well.... it'd be my pleasure." He let out a low chuckle before pulling her against him, hands caressing the sides of her torso. Taking one of her hands, he brought it up to his face to place kisses on her palm. Turning to the man that was forgotten for a minute, San raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me right now if there's anything you definitely don't want me to do, otherwise I'm going to have my way with her as I like."

Hongjoong thought about it for a second, wondering if there was something he did not want.

"You're absolutely not allowed to leave hickeys on her. I don't mind you leaving red hand prints or even cumming inside her since that can be cleaned up or will fade in a coupe's hours."

Moving back to go sit on the chair next to the laptop, Hongjoong leaned back and stared at San with a warning glare.

"But I want absolutely nothing that will last for days. That's only for me to do."

San scoffed at how silly Hongjoong sounded, but nodded nonetheless. Meanwhile Y/N looked back and forth at their exchange with fascination. It was arousing hearing them talk about her as if she was nothing more than a mere sex object, and she was loving it.

"Oh and San? Remember I'm going to film this. Try to make it as interested as possible. I mean... if you can that is." Hongjoong smiled slyly, sending challenge to the younger member.

"Oh trust me. I'll fuck her like she's famous." San bragged.

Y/N watched as San began pulling his shirt over his head. Raking her eyes over his arms, abs and chest, they widened considerably when they saw the metal piercings on his nipples. One hand actually came to clasp around her open mouth, she was that surprised.

"Remember I told you not to baby him too much cause he's not actually a baby?" Hongjoong snickered at her reaction, actually finding it funny.

"Hey if it diverts attention from you, I don't care."

Pushing her back until they were right next to the bed, San cupped her face and leaned in, lips nearly kissing hers.

"Are you all right with this?" He wanted to get her consent before anything else.

Letting out a hum, Y/N wrapped her hands on the base of his neck.

"Fuck me like I'm famous." She repeated what he said before.

"Ok."

As soon as their bodies and mouths connected, Hongjoong's finger pressed record so as to not miss anything. Sitting back, he decided to enjoy the show, a satisfied smile on his face after seeing that everything had gone according to plan. Their lips molded perfectly against each other's, their makeout session rivaling those of some of the biggest and steamy ones they'd see on tv. Tracing the outline of his lips with her tongue, Y/N successfully managed to get San to allow her access into his mouth. Her tongue settled against his and vice versa, muffled humming adding to the intensity of their kiss. San couldn't keep his hands off her lower back, eventually placing them right on her ass. Hongjoong inwardly patted himself on the back as he had deduced before that San was more of an ass man and now he was getting confirmation of it as he watched his hands cup and harshly squeeze his girlfriend's cheeks.

Not wanting only him to have his fun, Y/N thought it would be a good idea to test just how sensitive his nipples were. Sliding a hand up his torso, it pressed itself onto one of his pecs. She grinned when San emitted a whimper in her mouth when she pinched on his nipple, making sure to twist some of the piercing around.

"Oh my-" San groaned when her mouth detached itself from his in order to give attention to his nipples. He was whining and whimpering each time her tongue flicked around his buds and letting out choked gasps when her teeth would softly tug at them.

"Enjoying your new toy?" Hongjoong piped up, reminding them both that they were being watched.

"Just as much as you're enjoying me wreck your girl." San spat back at him, hissing when he suddenly felt Y/N sucked onto one of his nipples.

"Please. I've barely seen any action yet."

Hearing his taunting words, San pushed Y/N onto her knees, bringing her face close to the tent in his pants. Tilting her chin up, he rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip.

"You have really pretty lips. All plump and pink.... I wonder how they'll look like if they're red, swollen and stuffed with my cock."

Making a quick work of his zipper, San pulled his jeans down along with his underwear, letting out his cock that was thick and well above average in length. Y/N licked her lips when she saw that the tip was glistening with precum that had dripped out when it was freed from its confinement. San was definitely bigger than Hongjoong, she wasn't going to deny that. She began to wonder if she could even fit that entire thing in her mouth, but she for sure wanted to try.

"I think the little cockslut is eager to suck you off San." Hongjoong sat up straighter in his seat, eyes focused on every detail in front of him.

"Is that right?"

Y/N exhaled softly when she felt San slap his cock against her cheek, running the tip on her cupid's bow.

"Go ahead. Just try and see if you can take me." He shot her a cocky grin.

Wanting to wipe that grin off his face, Y/N inserted the tip inside her mouth, keeping eye contact with San the entire time. She first tested the waters by slurping his head, indeed getting a reaction out of him since his thighs involuntarily shuddered. Feeling motivated, she slowly took more of him into her mouth, inch by inch he was slowly stuffing her full. Her cheeks hollowed out to help her fit him better, but still she gagged slightly when she felt him hit the back of her throat. Nevertheless she was proud of herself at being able to stuff his cock in her.

"Holy crap Y/N, are you trying to prove something?" Hongjoong stared in shock and arousal at seeing his significant other with another man's cock down her throat.

"Yeah, prove that she likes my cock better than yours." San gloated as he pulled her off his length only to stuff it back in and causing the female under him to let out a choked out gasp followed by a line of drool spilling onto the floor.

Grabbing her hair and pulling it up into a makeshift ponytail, San used it to keep her head up as he began a pattern of pulling out slowly only to force himself back inside her. He loved watching the messy scene in between his legs. Spit running down Y/N's chin, the corners of her eyes stained with tears, her muffled whines that were muted every time his shaft filled her mouth, the way his leader was sitting just a few feet away watching as his precious girlfriend was getting face fucked by someone else, San was enjoying it too much. His head was thrown back as he kept forcing his cock deep in her mouth, the loud slurping sounds of her swallowing around him complimenting the hisses and groans that were being exuded from his lips.

"Fuck! Oh my- are you ok with me cumming in your mouth?"

Judging by the way Y/N moaned around his organ and her hand cupped his balls to fondle them, San was taking that as a green light. Releasing her hair, he held onto the back of her head and pushed himself forcefully to and fro in her wet cavern, using it as leverage to help him reach his climax. Through shattered breath and clenched teeth, San's cum poured down her throat, hips stuttering and bucking further up to help him ride out his orgasm. When he pulled out, Y/N immediately gasped for air, her hair in complete disarray, lips darkened and wet with saliva.

"If that isn't one of the hottest images I've ever seen." Hongjoong added his input. He always did love seeing what a mess Y/N turned into after getting her pretty and delicate face fucked and abused.

Y/N smiled over at her boyfriend, looking at the tent in his pants before sending him a flirty wink accompanied by a swipe of tongue across her lips.

"You can suck him off after I'm done with you baby, but right now, I want you focused on me." San made her turn her attention back to him as he lifted her off the floor and set her on the edge of the bed. He showed no hesitation as he practically ripped her underwear off her body before tossing it behind him, making sure it landed on Hongjoong's lap.

"Jerk yourself off with that in the meantime cause you're not getting her back for a while."

Toying with the fabric in his hand, Hongjoong sneered at the younger male.

"Trust me, I have more self control than you'd think." He assured him.

"Let's see about that."

Getting down on his knees to be at eye level with her wet and shining folds, San dived in and began consuming her taste. His tongue moved languidly around her slit, savoring her taste on his tongue. Y/N's hands gripped and clutched the blanket underneath her, causing it to wrinkle up from how hard she was tugging at them. Her breath hitched whenever San gave all of his attention to her clit, sucking on the sensitive flesh until it began developing a slightly reddish tint. Her lips were also becoming engorged as San continued his assault on her mound, face practically buried inside her thighs. All throughout it, Hongjoong just took in every sharp intake of breath and every scrunched up expression Y/N made. It gave him joy to know she was definitely enjoying herself, her pleasure always been something he took into consideration.

"Good to see you know how to eat a girl out Sannie. I was afraid I was going to have to step in and show you why rapper are superior." He couldn't help himself but boast, after all, he had pride in being able to get a girl to cum multiple times with just his tongue.

Ignoring the older man's words, San gripped her thighs to hold her down. His tongue sped up as it slurped and slithered all over her heat, applying just enough pressure with his broad strokes across her labia folds. The girl on top of him tried to move his face away from her body as she felt the blood rushing down to her legs, face becoming heated as she knew she would burst any moment. She blamed Hongjoong for this, having spoiled and played around so much with her pussy that she was overly sensitive whenever she received oral sex. The fire pooling in her lower abdomen was about to explode.

"Ah! San- please!"

Muscles tightening and her upper body writhing, Y/N couldn't hold back as she began pumping out her orgasmic juices, her back falling back on the mattress while her mind blocked out anything that wasn't the immense feeling that was taking over her senses at the moment. San lapped up her juices generously, feeling smug about getting her to cum, although he knew it wouldn't be the only time she would be doing that. Sitting up, he allowed her to catch her breath and regain her senses before he continued with what he had in store.

Hongjoong looked with curiosity as San made Y/N sit back up and turned her over on all fours. Hongjoong couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips.

"You're gonna fuck her doggy style? Can't you be more creative?"

San didn't let his words deter him, he simply unclipped Y/N's bra and removed it from her body.

"I told you I was gonna fuck her like she's famous and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

His hands roamed across her body, caressing the curves and dips of her hips as he pressed his erection in between her ass cheeks. Y/N pushed her ass further back, impatient at the thought of having her hole filled up by him.

"See? Even she wants to be fucked like a little bitch in heat."

Y/N couldn't suppress the moan escaping her lips at being degraded like that.

"Wow, you're such a whore." Hongjoong mused when he heard her reaction.

"You offered this whore to your friend now suck it up and watch him pound my pussy." She giggled softly.

"Oh baby, I'm not just going to pound this pussy. I'm aiming to destroy it."

Lining himself against her hole, San slowly sunk his length deep into her walls. He felt as if he was being swallowed by her warmth that it took everything in him not to start fucking her right then. He made sure to give her time to adjust to his size.

"Hyung do you not fuck her enough? She's unbelievably tight and she feels too good." San grunted, dick twitching inside her as it ached for any sort of movement.

Hongjoong did not hide his displeased face.

"I fuck her quite often thank you very much."

San clicked his tongue in a cocky way.

"Whatever you say."

Y/N cried out in a high pitched tone when San suddenly pulled out only to plunge himself back into her. He set a merciless rhythm as his cock tore her walls open, stretching them as far as they could go, a stinging yet delicious burn heating her up. Strangled noises proceeded to spill forward from her throat mixing in perfectly with the sound of their skin smacking against each other. Shifting angles so his dick could hit against her g-spot every time it was shoved inside her, San's skin was already emitting that after sex glow, sweat beads forming on his temples. He looked completely focused, eyes trained on her ass cheeks that bounced with each of his thrusts. Unable to resist the urge, he brought one hand up so it could slap her skin.

"Oh s-shit!" She exclaimed, the force and unexpected smack on her bum nearly had her upper body collapsing on the bed.

"Can you smack her a little harder?" If Y/N wasn't so caught up with San fucking her so harshly, she would have noted the nearly sadistic tone in her boyfriend's voice.

"Just tell me if I can't take it baby." San caressed the patch of skin he had just slapped.

"Trust me, she can. She enjoys a little pain every now and then." Her boyfriend dished on that dirty little secret.

One slap was soon followed by several more. San made sure to alternate between each of her butt cheeks. Y/N's wailing began to get increasingly louder and frantic, her ass stinging every time San's hand smacked it, making a majority of it turn a deep red color. But he made sure that it wouldn't leave any bruising or anything of that sort remembering Hongjoong's previous rule.

"Damn you're so fucking loud."

The shocked gasp coming out her mouth was half muffled when San pushed her head against one of the pillows, effectively burying her loud mouth into the sheets.

"San didn't you said you'd fuck her like she's famous? Then why cover up her screaming?" Hongjoong pondered, one hand rubbing at the top of his thigh.

"Scream? You wanna really hear her scream?"

Yanking her back up from her hair, Y/N only managed to catch her breath for one second before she felt herself flipped onto her back. The intrusion of San's large cock was just as seering as the first one but it was welcomed nonetheless by her walls fluttering around his cock. One of her legs was thrown over his shoulder, his brutal pace heightening the build up in her stomach. Her fleshy mound was extremely swollen and had a pinkish red tint to it. Knowing how vulnerable she was, San licked his fingers before taking them out of his mouth only to have them come down on her clit.

"Oh-oh fuck!" Y/N threw her head back on the pillow, eyes shut tight with tears staining the corners of them as she felt slap after slap on her throbbing and pulsating pussy.

"You like that you little whore? Yes you do, you clench around me every time I do this." San smirked when he placed one final blow on her tender flesh that was responsive to any of his touches.

Y/N was starting to see white flashes of light in her vision, unable to hear or feel anything that wasn't the grazing inside her wetness. With whimpered crying, her arms and upper body writhed uncontrollably as San's hips continued jolting up into her, shaky breaths and pants keeping her from forming any coherent words as her juices poured out of her body. Feeling her heat cover him completely, San trailed not far behind her as his cock twitched and his seed painted her insides.

"Ah fuck!"

He jerked himself until he made sure to fill her to the brim, not satisfied until he had spurted out the last drop of cum he had in him to release. When he pulled out of her hole, he let out a groan of accomplishment as the white and milky like secretion seeped out of her hole, some of it glistening against her folds.

"You capturing that well Hyung?" San turned to Hongjoong.

"Oh trust me, it's all coming out beautifully." He answered as he looked at the computer screen, fingers working unbelievably quick to make sure to save the raw video in his files.

Getting up to go clean himself up on the bathroom, San picked up his clothes that were discarded on the floor. Before he could walk out the door, he was about to ask Y/N if she wanted to join him but she was already busying herself by kneeling in front of her boyfriend.

"Aren't you going to get cleaned up?"

Humming softly as she began undoing Hongjoong's belt, Y/N replied with a mischievous smile.

"Maybe later. Right now I gotta take care of my handsome man, after all, he's been sitting here with a hard ass boner." She chuckled as his dick sprang free.

"God, I love you so much baby."

[mevekagvain]

Chapter 380 - Still interesting that Gechutel was willing to vouch for the Tradio but not the other clans. Was he just unaware of their inner workings compared to the Tradio?

- Berserker mode Gradeus with the cool eyes and mouth,,, big fan.

- Yeah Gradeus' strength is definitely something

- Love how Gradeus straight up has the video game passive ability of an inverse relationship between the attack and hp stat.

- Rozaria just standing in the throne room,,, saying nothing,,, just hanging out with the lord as one does.

Chapter 381 - Okay nevermind Ludis not calling Gradeus sir isn't a him thing, nobody calls him sir. My guess now is that he was like that even as clan leader during mvp lord's time and was just really casual or something.

- ...Wait a fucking moment. Is the lack of sir actually just a mistranslation? The central knight refers to Ludis without a sir once so... This is all from the official transaction which isn't exactly great but hmm. Probably not. Would be a weird constant mistranslation. With Ludis it only happened once after all.

- Idk Lagus, I'm pretty sure exposure to bloodstones did drive you insane actually.

- Your strong ruling the weak speech would be more convincing if you weren't a decrepit looking old man grandpa.

- I'm just saying, if mvp lord didn't enter eternal sleep there probably would be less problems. For one a 'complete' Ragnarok and his experience would likely make beating up the traitors easy.

- Wiping blood away with Garant doesn't seem particularly effective, Kei.

Chapter 382 - Rajak kneeling and formally apologising for not joining RK because he's a lord stan ahjsjsjsj. And Frankenstein having no idea what's going on as Raizel just sips his tea ignoring him 🤣

- Aaaaand then Raizel looking sad as he finishes that flashback. Rip.

- The way Kaiyo (and Kuharu's) lips are drawn are... not good tbh.

- Garant's tiger!

- The manlet on manlet violence is truly sad to witness 😔 Be nicer to your fellow comrade Gradeus.

- Yeah that's cool!! No iris pupil nothing!

- Oh my god his previous skill was a green tech like prison and now he has giant yellow crosses that are glowing! Son boy ily. I'm glad to know you don't actually succeed in taking Gradeus down with you in advance.

- Yup Lagus here to stab Ludis and inadvertently save my son boy!

Chapter 384 - Having flashbacks to Presentable Liberty everytime Lagus refers to Gechutel as friend. Except the Presentable Liberty guy was actually a great guy and Lagus is evil.

Chapter 385 - Grandpa 😥 Stop bullying your fellow grandpa Lagus 😡

Chapter 386 - Oh no the blood's dripping and going all over your breasts, Rozaria.

- Completely ignoring my previous comment... how the fuck is her dress staying up that thing isn't even over the thickest part wtf. It's only flirting with it. Superglued to her skin.

- Ludis being able to make attacks target him... His skills are crazy.

- YEAH

- Raskreia stepping in to save Kei is feminism actually.

Chapter 388 - Once again... what y'all are doing is a bit more than just 'thinking differently'.

Chapter 390 - Frankenstein and Gejutel bullying each other is peak friends behaviour.

Chapter 391 - People need to realise Frankenstein is still the strongest human alive... They're always like "ah the one who used to be the strongest human back in the day" like no he's still better than you.

- Seeing how quiet Edian is the entire time is so damn boring but also pretty good storytelling after you see all her flashbacks because she isn't a quiet doll! She's a drugged woman who straight up half threatened Frankenstein and only wished to help Raizel. It also gets even more interesting when you realise that she was also drugged (though she was likely on a much lower dosage or on something more 'recreative' than the ones Lagus later used to control her) during the entire time Frankenstein was around since she's been manipulated by Lagus ever since Raizel executed his own brother. My guess is she was even more outgoing before that and the combination of the tragedy, her role in it, and the drugs, made her the extremely subdued person she is shown to be rather than her being naturally reserved. Works even with my own hcs where events occur differently and the added factor of her simply being more respectful around the lord and noblesse.

Not to say that her basically being fridged isn't questionable because it is. Would have been better to have this be a male character's motivation (like idk, Zarga) and make her more unique. As it goes, the reserved quiet female character archetype is already very full. And the crush is just the final nail in the coffin.

- Raskreia canonically disliking Frankenstein <3

Chapter 392 - Yeah why Mount he's a five year old :/

- Grandpa shit talking Frankenstein to Raskreia and Rozaria,,, love you too Gejutel.

- Damn Gradeus mentioning Urokai. Good for them.

[dailyarturia]

I apologize for bothering you for your objective opinion so much, my king, but once again I need your objective opinion. This time I need your objective opinion on the Berserkers. I'm severely concerned that I have shit taste in Berserkers, and I know that unlike me you are definitely a man of culture.

very large. back from ye olde days where berserkers generally couldn’t actually communicate so unfortunately a bit lacking in complex characterisation compared to others. lovin the whole ‘made to kill his own children in rage which is what qualifies him as berserker in the first place and now gives his all to keep this singular parentless child safe despite supposedly being made into a mindless raging beast’ thing. 8/10

bucket knight. also an old school zerker who can’t talk outside kariya’s fever dreams but he does scream in french sometimes. an overly loyal knight who nonetheless put his own wishes above what he believed were his king’s once and then spent the rest of his life feeling guilty about it to the point where it straight up drove him crazy because he couldn’t understand that arturia has -15 consideration of her own wants. his kink is getting shamed and he would probably get a heart attack if arturia did that hands on her hips disappointed look pose in his general vicinity. 8/10

get OUT of my HOUSE. ugly and horrifying but could totally beat gilgamesh in a fight and the image of ol gregory getting his nuts kicked in by a metal underpants enthusiast is high quality content so he gets points for that. 3/10

this is what we in the scientific community call a daughter. a good girl who just wants to be loved but has severe trust issues after being abandoned by the person who literally created her. can in fact talk but it takes a lot of effort so she doesn’t bother because like, fuck humans right, why should she put in effort to make herself understood when they’re not gonna want to understand her either way. I’m so blessed & grateful that moriarty is her dad now. 9/10

i’ll be honest I still have no idea what his character is supposed to be like its not like he had a lot of screentime in extra and extella is very bad to its side characters. ?/10

the fucking supreme. pandered to like a dozen of my kinks and gave me a few more. my first 5*. the end of my f2p days and the start of my journey to becoming the monster god. the design. the skillset. the teeth. the c l a w s. a king despite hating kings. a machinelike killer despite living for the thrill of the fight. a man who wants to just die already yet obstinately refuses to. a contradictory mess that denounces every ideal he used to live by yet clings to them harder than ever. a monster whose personal arc after being summoned isn’t how he’s still human at heart or whatever but how he was a monster before he looked like one already so like, don’t even worry about it. his mad enhancement is EX(C ) and his material entry revealed that this weird rank is bc it’s not even actual battle rage, he’s just so fucking stubborn it gets classified as mad enhancement. EX/10 the love of my fucking life

the smile of an angel. seems completely rational at first but is still classified as a berserker with EX rank mad enhancement because of her inhuman determination to save as many lives as possible without any regard for the quality of that saved life. she’d amputate all of a person’s limbs in an instant if that’s what it’d take for them to not die. she has canonically beat people to a pulp to ‘cure’ their mental issues. completely dedicated her life to becoming a healing machine at the cost of her own health and even personhood. her profile says she doesn’t actually listen to others but in her myroom lines she takes an active interest in your hobbies and opinions and she also gets flustered when you call her an angel. i literally cannot fucking wait until ch america hits NA server she’s so fucking good and i want everyone to love her. 15/10

THIS IS WHAT A FRIEND LOOKS LIKE. the actual embodiment of “cool guy has a chill day”. a smile that rivals the sun and an attitude that turns even the most ordinary days into a grand adventure. his mad enhancement is basically just that he’s kind of an idiot. 10/10

OX MOM OX MOM OX MOM her mother got knocked up by an ox demon in a dream and had to raise her in secret, and her human father didn’t accept her until she proved to be really strong and even then only as long as she would exterminate anyone who stood in the way of the clan. so scared of being shunned for her demon origins despite being loved & trusted as leader of the minamoto clan that she straight up exorcised her demon self into a separate personality to kill it (& herself with it) and was only barely stopped by the four heavenly kings. nowadays fiercely protective of anyone who knows about & accepts her demonic side to the point of insanity, which is where her EX mad enhancement comes from. a huge crybaby but gets shit done anyway. 10/10

THIS IS ALSO WHAT A FRIEND LOOKS LIKE. someone who was labeled and locked away as something evil due to being what is by all means called a monster even though he’s got a really gentle personality and likes being helpful. really good example of the whole “heroes and villains are nothing more than the roles individual complex people are forced to take on” theme fate likes to play with. has difficulty talking but it’s easy to come to an understanding with him as long as you call him by his personal name asterios rather than the name of the monster minotaur everyone assumed he’d be and he thus inevitably became. 10/10

the only reason he’s a berserker is because his name and the word “berserker” have the same etymology and the grail had no idea what other class to put him. this is the canon reason. he doesn’t have any mad enhancement to speak of beside being a lil hot blooded and liking to fight. literally only here because he likes to throw punches. got his ass beat by li shuwen in ch america because despite loving to throw a punch he’s not actually a martial artist and can’t win from someone with actual technique. a classic ‘jack of all trades master of none’, he literally sucks at being every single class but can’t not be summoned as a heroic spirit because he’s from the oldest english epic poem and a prototype for many other heroes. a free spirited adventurer who takes things as they come but can be responsible when it matters. 9/10 

once a good & wise ruler but fell into insanity in the last few years of his rule before finally getting assassinated. loved rome with all his heart for its beauty & splendour but got overwhelmed by the conspiracies and other evils that were also a part of it until the goddess of the moon, who he was in love with, made him insane, which he claims saved him in his bond ce. determined from then on to become the ugliest most evil motherfucker in all of rome so that he could take all the nastiest parts of rome with him in his inevitable death and have his dear cousin nero live in happiness, if only for a while. summoned as a hero despite being very close to an anti-hero because the good ruler he was before going insane responded to a call to save the world and still intent to do his part by simply dragging everything evil down with him. 8/10 wouldn’t it be nice if chapter rome had actually paid attention to roman servants other than nero.

looks like a bratty child but talks like an archaic mob boss. has horns and huge claws. easily bribed with chocolate. has a huge sword but just fucking headbuts her enemies instead. 10/10

many berserkers are angry men but only he is anger man. classified as a berserker not just due to his battlefield conduct but also the insane commitment he had to the laws of the shinsengumi, to the point where he would personally execute former comrades who broke them. both the first and last member of the shinsengumi, a man who dedicated his entire life to upholding its values in a rapidly changing japan. surprisingly rational and during gudaguda 2 okita didn’t even realize he’s a berserker because he didn’t become the fanatic that qualified him to be summoned as one until after okita’s death. one of the coolest skillsets in the game and definitely some of the sickest animations. 10/10

NORMALISE

FINDING

AND KILLING

ACHILLES

10/10

my fuckign girlfriend 10/10

the cutest enabler. 10/10

please god let me meet her. 10/10

when will takeuchi die