#say nothing about how i managed to draw the same face differently each time. say nothing

[butchhansolo]

some vode from clone oc requests a couple weeks back!

joyride and volts are mine, muffin - @mysticalgalaxysalad, miles - @thecoffeelorian, ripoff - @girlzrok-99, foggy - @thattripleabattery

++timelapse

[nahoney22]

Congratulations on the followers!

Can I please request a fluffy enemies to lovers with a clone of your choice with the prompt “Did you just call me cute?”

Would love to see any! Female reader if possible. Thanks! 💓

Up Close and Personal 🌊

🫧 Pairings: Commander Fox X Female!Reader

word count: 3.9k

prompt:

• “Did just call me cute?”

Plot: When you accidentally let slip you thought Fox was cute, he grows curious and wonders if you still think the same under the helmet.

Warnings: Safe for work, grumpy/sunshine trope, teasing, awkward moments, flirting, kissing, mutual pining, accidental confessions.

You’ve been working alongside the Coruscant Guard for a while now, handling everything from delivering reports to managing routine tasks that help keep the operation running smoothly. Most of the clones greet you with a warm smile and friendly chatter when you drop by.

You were cheerful and always had a smile on your face, nothing ever seeming to phase you.

But when it comes to Commander Fox, he doesn’t seem to match your enthusiasm. Where others find a moment to chat or joke around, Fox’s response is always the same: curt and dismissive.

You remember one time when you entered the office, probably a fortnight ago, laughing with Thire and Stone as you handed them their files. “You’re a lifesaver,” Thire had said with a sigh of relief and grin after his had miraculously gone missing. You of course always had extra, just in case.

Stone chuckled and added, “You’re the only reason we stay organised.”

Before you could reply, however, Fox cut in. His tone like durasteel. “Can you just leave the files and go? Some of us are trying to work.” He hadn’t even looked up, but the chill in his voice was unmistakable. You forced a smile, and rolled your eyes at his attitude when you left the office that day. It didn’t bother you as you were used to his moods but you couldn’t help wondering what it would take to get past that fickle exterior.

And despite his attitude, you had noticed Fox’s subtle care for his brothers; something you found rather endearing. You’ve caught him running silent armour checks, making sure everyone’s gear is spotless and in perfect order. Of course, it’s not about vanity but simply about keeping his men safe.

It’s those types of moments that make you think there’s more to him beneath the mask. Or helmet in this case.

Today, you decide to do something different. Rumors have been swirling that the Guard’s workload has been overwhelming lately. Crime in the lower levels is on the rise, and the boys are sadly running themselves ragged. So, you arrive at their station with a special treat: caf orders, each customised exactly how you know they like it.

You start with Commander Thire, who breaks into a grin as you hand him his cup. “You’re too good to us,” he says, taking a sip. “Thanks.”

Next is Stone, who raises an eyebrow in surprise. “Didn’t expect this today,” he says, taking the steaming cup. “But I’m not complaining.” He shoots you a wink. “You really know how to keep morale up.”

Sergeant Hound, busy tinkering with his gear with Grizzer snoozing at his feet looks up with a smile when you hand him his drink. “You actually remembered mine,” he says, sounding almost impressed. He takes a long sip before giving you a small nod. “Cheers. Really needed this.”

Finally, you approach Fox. He’s leaning back in his chair, arms folded across his chest, watching you carefully through his visor. “I’ll assume you didn’t get me anything,” he says, voice as flat as ever.

You fight back a smirk and meet his gaze behind the visor. “You assume wrong, Commander.” You slide the cup across his desk. It’s strong, with a hint of sweetness—your best guess based on what you’ve observed. Alongside it, you place a small sweet treat and the stack of data devices you’ve been carrying. Oh, and you also could help but draw a small smiley face on the lid to his cup.

Fox doesn’t touch the drink. Instead, he gives a sharp nod. “Just leave it and go.”

You swallow your disappointment, trying to keep your smile from faltering. “Of course, sir.” You turn to leave, the brief flash of hurt lingering despite your best efforts to shrug it off. Huh, maybe it did get to you.

As you exit, you catch a glimpse of Thire, Stone, and Hound exchanging looks before Thire’s voice cuts through the room. “You know, Fox, a ‘thank you’ wouldn’t kill you.”

Fox remains silent, but you don’t stay long enough to see or hear his reaction. The door closes behind you, and you let out a quiet sigh.

Moments later, you hear quick footsteps behind you. “Hey, wait up!”

You turn to see Thire jogging to catch up. “Don’t take it personally,” he says, offering a sympathetic smile. “Fox is… well, Fox. If he didn’t like you at least a little, he wouldn’t let you stick around.”

You laugh softly, though the sting hasn’t fully faded. “Doesn’t feel like it sometimes. I know he’s under a lot of stress, but still…”

Thire nods, understanding in his eyes. “He’s got a funny way of showing appreciation. But trust me, we all see what you do for us, even if he doesn’t say it. You’re a bright spot in this whole mess.”

Your smile this time is more genuine, though still a bit weak. “Thanks, Thire. I just wish I could get through to him, you know?”

“Give it time,” Thire says, clapping a hand on your shoulder. “He’ll come around. Until then, we’ve got your back.”

A few days later, you arrive with—surprise, surprise—yet another stack of files. You expect to find the usual group in the office, and sure enough, Thire, Stone, and Hound are all at their stations, busy with their tasks. But there’s one notable absence: Commander Fox. You glance around, scanning the room in curiosity.

Before you can ask, Stone notices the way you’re searching and smirks. “Looking for someone?”

Your cheeks warm slightly, realising you’ve been caught. “Nope,” you reply, a little too quickly. “Just… making sure I don’t miss anyone.”

Thire chimes in, an amused glint in his eye. “Sure, that’s what you’re doing.”

You roll your eyes playfully, trying to play it off. “Honestly, you guys are worse than all those gossiping cadets and shinies.”

“Did Fox ever apologise for the other day?” Hound asks as you stand nearby, shifting through some flimsi. His question surprised you a little since you hadn’t truly thought about it until now. But, you shake your head with a dismissive wave. “Nah, but it’s fine. I’m used to him being a grump. Besides,” you add with a smile, “you lot make it worth coming around.”

But then Stone started to dig a little deeper as he leans back in his chair. “Did you think about what Thire said? About Fox not minding you hanging around?”

You bite your lip, remembering Thire’s words all too well. Now that did have you wondering for most of that night. For someone who always wanted you to go, he never actually told you to fully leave.

“Yeah, actually. It got me thinking… maybe he’s not as bothered by me as he pretends.” You pause, considering your next question. “Hey, have any of you actually seen him without his helmet?”

The three of them exchange glances before Thire nods, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips. “How do you think he downed that caf you brought him the other day?”

You lean back against the wall, arms crossed as you think it over but also a little smug knowing that Fox clearly liked your drink choice for him. “I always wondered what he looks like under there. Maybe he’s got some cool tattoos, or, like, bright red hair or something; to match the gear.”

Stone shrugs, pretending to be nonchalant. “Could do. But we’re not spilling anything.”

You narrow your eyes at them playfully, but before you can push further, you find yourself blurting out, “I mean, I bet he’s kinda cute.”

There’s a beat of silence before all three of them break into laughter. Hound gives you a teasing nudge. “So, you’ve got a crush on the boss now, huh?”

You wave them off, feeling your face flush. “No, I mean—well, no, yes, kinda? I don’t know!” You fumble with your words, realising you’ve put yourself in an awkward spot. You wouldn’t say it was much of a crush but you did admire him.

“It’s not like that. He’s just interesting, I guess. Annoying, but in a weird way, it’s kind of… cute?”

The boys exchange amused glances, and you’re about to defend yourself further when you notice all of their gazes suddenly lock onto something—or someone—behind you. The laughter dies down, and your stomach drops.

Before you can even turn around, a deep voice rumbles from directly behind you. “Did you just call me cute?”

You freeze, feeling your blood run cold. Slowly, you turn to face Fox, who’s standing there with his arms crossed, his helmeted visor trained directly on you. You can’t tell what expression he’s wearing underneath, but the deadpan delivery of his question makes you want to disappear into the nearest ventilation system.

“I—uh…” you stammer, utterly at a loss. “Well, you see—”

Thire, Stone, and Hound are barely holding in their snickers, clearly enjoying your discomfort. Fox’s posture remains unyielding as he waits for you to say something. Anything.

You finally manage a weak shrug. “I mean sure, why not?”

For a long moment, there’s nothing but silence, and you’re certain you’ll never live this down. But then, just when you think it couldn’t get worse, Fox turns his helmet slightly as if considering your words. “Interesting,” is all he says before he strides past you, not giving anything away.

The room erupts in laughter as soon as he’s out of earshot, leaving you standing there, cheeks burning, as Thire claps you on the back. “Well, if that’s not a confession, I don’t know what is.”

“I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”

Stone grins. “Nope. But hey, at least now you’ve got him wondering.”

You playfully slap Stone’s arm with the thick stack of flimsi you were holding. “You’re impossible, you know that?” you tease, but there’s a grin on your face despite your embarrassment.

Stone just chuckles, dodging away from your reach. “You make it too easy, kid.”

Shaking your head, you wave the guys off. “Okay, I’m leaving before I say anything else stupid. You’ll just have to survive without me for a bit.”

As you walk away, you can still hear their laughter, and although your cheeks are still warm, you can’t help but smile.

Over the next week or two, you notice that Fox isn’t in his office as much. You’re not one to pry, but eventually, Thire lets it slip that it’s the Supreme Chancellor who’s been keeping him busy, not the fact that he might be avoiding you. “He’s been running all over the place on Palpatine’s orders,” Thire had said. “Trust me, it’s not about feeling awkward with you around.”

You nod, but you can’t help the nagging thoughts that linger. Still, you push them aside, deciding it’s better not to dwell on it.

One afternoon, you arrive at the office, balancing a tray with the usual caf orders and some sweet treats. It’s become a bit of a weekly ritual now, something the guys seem to look forward to. But today, when you step inside, the office is eerily quiet—no Thire, no Stone, no Hound. And non-surprisingly, no Fox.

You frown, setting the tray down on the nearest desk. “Hello?” you call out, but the only response is the hum of the overhead lights.

Shrugging, you decide to leave everything on their desks for when they return. You place each clone’s drink down, making sure their reports are organised alongside them.

When you reach Fox’s desk, you pause. It’s a bit messier than usual, the clutter showing signs of someone who’s been overworked and stretched thin. Your brows furrow in concern as you instinctively start tidying up, sorting the files and stacking the more urgent ones on top.

As you organise his drawers, you’re about to close one when something catches your eye. An empty caf cup, tucked away almost like it’s been hidden. You pull it out and recognise it immediately—it’s the cup you gave Fox the other week, the one with the little smiley face you drew on the lid. Your heart skips a beat. He kept it.

For a moment, all you can do is stare at the cup, a small, unexpected warmth blooming in your chest. Maybe there’s more to his gruff exterior than you first thought. Maybe he does have a soft spot for you, even if he won’t admit it.

“Can I help you?”

You jump, nearly dropping the cup as you whirl around to face the door. There stands Fox, his arms tucked behind his back, his gaze unreadable behind his helmet.

“Fox—Commander!” you stammer, hastily shoving the cup back into the drawer and closing it. “I was just… fixing things.” Your voice trails off as you awkwardly step away from his desk, suddenly finding it difficult to meet his gaze.

He takes a slow, deliberate step forward, and you feel your pulse quicken. “I’ve been meaning to speak to you.”

“Oh! Sure, of course!” You’re flustered now, your mind racing. “Is it about the reports? Or maybe the supply request? Or—”

“No.”

You clamp your mouth shut, cheeks burning as you mentally curse yourself for rambling. You stand there in silence, waiting for him to continue, while he circles around you with the careful precision of someone used to keeping others off balance. His presence is commanding (oh the irony), making the room feel smaller as he closes the distance between you.

“I had overheard something the other day,” he says, his voice low, almost conversational. “You were wondering what I looked like. Wondering if I had tattoos, colorful hair…” He trails off, his tone giving nothing away.

“I—uh—well, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious, you know? I hope you didn’t take offense, Commander. It wasn’t—”

He stops in front of you, so close now that you can see your own reflection in the dark visor of his helmet as you crane your neck to look at him. “Why not?” he asks, cutting off your nervous rambling. “Do you not want to know if I’m ‘cute’ or not?”

The words hang in the air between you, and you feel your breath catch in your throat. His tone isn’t mocking, but there’s a subtle challenge in his voice, as if daring you to admit something you haven’t even fully acknowledged to yourself.

You try to swallow the lump in your throat, searching for a response. “I—I mean… maybe?”

His head tilts slightly, as if studying you. “You know, I rarely remove my helmet. It’s part of who I am, part of the uniform. Most people never see what’s underneath.”

“I get it,” you say quickly, eager to reassure him. “It’s not like I need to know. You’re still you, helmet or not.”

But as you speak, he moves closer, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. “And yet, you’re curious.”

Your gaze flicks up to meet his visor, the tension thick enough to cut through. “Maybe a little,” you admit, barely above a whisper.

You think he’s about it leave, a small stagger in his step. But instead of stepping back as you expect, he reaches up and, with a slow and deliberate motion, removes his helmet.

Your breath catches in your throat. You were expecting him to look like the other clones but nothing prepared you for this.

His hair, salt and peppered with a few streaks of silver, is slightly messy but still shows a hint of soft curls. Framing his face in a way that’s both rugged and refined. But it’s his eyes that catch your immediate attention.

A deep, rich brown, just like his brothers but darkened by exhaustion. Yet somehow still smolder with an intensity that makes your heart stop. They’re striking, alive with an alluring warmth that makes it hard to look away.

You’re utterly speechless, barely registering that your mouth has gone dry. He’s not just cute; he’s absolutely gorgeous. His lips curve into a knowing smirk as he tilts his head at you, clearly gauging your reaction.

“So, tell me…” he drawls, his tone soft and low as he notices your gaze drifting to his lips, “how ‘cute’ am I?”

Your mouth opens, but the words you want to say get stuck somewhere in your throat. You feel a sudden heat rising to your cheeks and creeping down your neck, making you feel warm under the collar. For months, you had wondered what it would be like to be this close to him, to hear his voice without the filter of that helmet, to feel his presence in an almost tangible way. Now, with his breath fanning your face, it’s almost overwhelming.

“You’re… you’re…” You struggle to find the right words, but everything comes out in stutters as your brain short-circuits under the intensity of his gaze.

Fox leans in closer, his eyes never leaving yours, his lips still curved in that teasing smirk. “Mhmm? I’m what?” There’s a playful and teasing lilt in his voice as he inches nearer, clearly enjoying how flustered you’ve become.

Before you know it, you’ve backed up until you’re nearly pressed against the edge of his desk; close enough that you can feel the warmth radiating from him, and it’s impossible to think straight. Your pulse feels like it’s pounding in your ears. Especially as he leans in even further, the distance between you shrinking until it’s nearly nonexistent.

His breath is warm against your skin as he adds, “Come on, I’m waiting. You were so curious before. For someone so chatty, you have gone awfully quiet. Why’s that?”

Your mind is a whirlwind of thoughts, but the only thing you can focus on is how close he is, how those deep brown eyes are watching your every reaction, and how his lips look infuriatingly soft. Finally, you manage to stammer out a broken, barely coherent, “You’re… more than cute.”

Fox chuckles as he straightens slightly, clearly pleased with your reaction. “Good answer.”

You let out a nervous chuckle, brushing a hand through your hair, thinking this is the end of it. But he barely budges before asking, “Do you want to know what I think about you?”

Breath shaky, you avoid his eyes. “Let me guess… annoying… too talkative…”

“Distracting,” he cuts you off.

Before you can respond, his hands lift, gently cupping your face. You’re caught off guard as his thumbs brush tenderly over your cheeks. A soft gasp escapes your lips at the unexpected warmth of his touch, your eyes fluttering closed as you lean into it. His presence is all-consuming, his closeness dizzying as his nose lightly brushes against yours, sending sparks dancing down your spine.

His voice is low, rich with a sincerity that makes your heart race even faster. “I find you distracting. Beautiful and distracting.”

Before you can fully process his words, his lips capture yours in a kiss that’s impossibly gentle and utterly intoxicating.

It’s slow and unhurried, his lips moving against yours in a way that feels both tender and deliberate. Your eyes widen in surprise at first, hands raised but unsure where to place them.

Fox was kissing you. the Commander Fox was kissing you. You didn’t even know what this meant fully. Had he been harbouring feelings for you after all this time?

The initial shock soon melts away, your body relaxing into the kiss as your arms instinctively wrap around the back of his neck, pulling him closer. The feeling of the warmth of his mouth on yours, the soft press of his lips sending a sweet sent an addictive thrill through your veins. He’s steady and confident, guiding the kiss with a gentleness.

His hands remain on your face, anchoring you to the moment until one slides back to cradle the back of your head, his fingers threading through your hair that makes you gasp against his lips.

You can’t help but chase after his lips, the slow and tender rhythm of the kiss drawing you in deeper. He’s all you can think about—the taste of him, the feel of him, the way he’s holding you as though you’re something precious.

Fox finally pulls back just enough to look at you, his forehead resting gently against yours, his breath mingling with yours in the small space between you. His eyes, those deep, mesmerising brown orbs, search yours as if he’s looking for something—confirmation, maybe, or understanding. You’re not sure, but whatever he sees in your gaze seems to settle something inside him.

His thumb sweeps over your cheek again, a soft, almost absent-minded caress as he holds you there, still so close. “You have no idea how distracting you are,” he murmurs, his voice hushed.

You’re left breathless, your heart racing in your chest as you blink up at him, dazed by it all. “You… you kissed me,” you whisper, your body still flushed against his as you try to piece things together.

“I did,” he replies softly, his hands now moving to rest on your waist, grounding you in the moment. “Is it okay that I did?”

“I mean, yeah, I guess it’s just… I thought you didn’t like me.” You pull back slightly, leaning against the desk this time. He looks down at you, his gaze unexpectedly soft.

“I’ll admit I haven’t been the kindest to you,” he says, a touch of regret in his tone. “The lads gave me an earful the other day.”

“So, was it a guilt kind of kiss or…?” you mumble, sincerely hoping it wasn’t.

Fox’s eyes widen slightly, and he quickly shakes his head. “No, it’s nothing like that,” he exclaims, his voice firm but gentle. “I’m not great at showing how I feel, and hearing you call me ‘cute’… it pushed me in the right direction. Made me realise I couldn’t keep pretending I didn’t care.”

His sincerity catches you off guard. “Oh,” you say, your voice small but relieved.

He offers you a small smile, the kind that’s rare for him, and it makes your heart skip a beat. “So, would you consider going for drinks with me tonight?” he asks, his tone hopeful but tinged with the same guardedness that’s always been there.

The hesitation in his voice makes you understand how much this moment means to him, and you can’t help but smile back with a genuine, warm smile. “Yeah, I’d like that,” you reply softly.

Fox’s shoulders visibly relax, the tension you hadn’t even noticed finally easing as he nods. “Good,” he says, his voice low and a little rough around the edges. But there’s a warmth there now, something new that you hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing before. “I, uh, have to get back to the Chancellor. I knew the others wouldn’t be here today, and I know your routine, so I figured I’d have time to speak to you before heading back.”

You raise an eyebrow in surprise. “So, you’re not supposed to be here?”

“No, I’m not,” he admits with a somewhat sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck. “I may or may not have told the Chancellor I had an important matter to tend to.”

You laugh, shaking your head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you did that.”

Fox joins in with a chuckle, the sound rich and surprisingly pleasant, before he takes a final step toward you and presses a soft kiss to your cheek. “It was worth it,” he murmurs, his breath warm against your skin.

Your heart skips a beat as he pulls back, his gaze lingering on yours for a moment longer. “I’ll see you tonight?” he asks, a hint of uncertainty in his tone.

“Definitely.”

🌊 Masterlist is pinned 🌊

Tags: @lulalovez @the-bad-batch-baroness @photogirl894 @whore4rex @imperialclaw801 @temple-elder @mysticalgalaxysalad @yunggoblin @imalovernotahater @sithstrings @tech-aficionado @grizabellasolo @therealnekomari @tech-depression-inventory @brynhildrmimi @greaser-wolf @kaminocasey @marvel-starwars-nerd @ladytano420 @ladyzirkonia @thesith @raevulsix @cw80831 @knightprincess @crosshairlovebot @littlefeatherr @kaitou2417 @eyecandyeoz @jesseeka @theroguesully @ladykatakuri @arctrooper69 @padawancat97 @staycalmandhugaclone @ko-neko-san @echos-girlfriend @fiveshelmet @dangraccoon @plushymiku-blog @pb-jellybeans @nunanuggets @sleepycreativewriter @erellenora @zippingstars87 @ezras-left-thumb @the-rain-on-kamino @lamiliani @tentakelspektakel

[shadowdaddies]

Hello hello pretty girly I hope you are drinking water and eating well

Feed me and my exhausted workaholic ass some possessive angsty manon x reader to help me sleep (whenever you can pretty girl)

(Happy ending)

hey my love, for you ofc 💜 I hope your week gets better and you get some good rest

Balance

Manon x Reader angst → fluff

Rubbing your sweaty palms against your leathers did nothing to soothe the stress as you looked out over the room of witches from where you stood on the dais. It was your first time accompanying Manon to address her new kingdom as Crochan Queen, as you were overwhelmed to say the least. 

Exhausted from your own work, all you wanted was time alone with Manon - to hold her and find comfort in her presence - but this meeting was important, and you knew it was important to her to have you by her side. Eyes everywhere tracked your fidgeting movements, so in an effort to seek your own calm and appear more collected, you reached for Manon’s hand, moving to curl into her side for support. 

Eyes widened in the crowd as they observed your arm wrapped around Manon, who quickly sidestepped you, pulling your arm away from her side, causing more whispers to break out amongst the crowd. You tried your best to mask your hurt, but tears threatened as you clenched your fists, nails digging into the skin of your palms. You zoned out for the rest of Manon’s speech, unable to focus on anything except escaping to a room by yourself where you could finally relax without constant scrutiny.

As soon as the meeting adjourned, you shoved your way through the crowd as subtly as you could manage, practically running up to your room where you could finally let out your emotions. You swung the door hard as you fell to your knees and sobbed, but the slamming sound of the heavy wood closing never came. You looked up to see Manon, who had caught the door before it closed. She looked down at you with an indiscernible expression as she softly closed and locked the door behind her.

Refusing to look at her, you moved to sit up on the bed as you folded into yourself, hiding your tear-stained face against your knees. You could see the shadows of Manon’s boots as she paced back and forth in front of you, clearly at a loss for words herself. Finally, she stopped and stood in front of you with her arms crossed over her chest. “What was that? Back there - you must know how weak that makes me look when you curl up to me like that. Many witches see that as a sign of weakness. You brought my authority into question.”

Anger filled your veins as you slowly raised your head, the look in your eye causing Manon to draw back slightly. “I’m a sign of weakness for you? Manon, I was weak and I needed you to help me be strong. I sacrificed the rest that I needed to be there to support you, and I can’t get the same from you because your image matters more than my well-being.” You stared at her for a long moment before taking a deep breath. “I think maybe we’re too different.”

Manon’s face entirely softened at your words, and for the first time in your life, she cried. Not just a few tears - Manon fell to the floor in front of you, and wept. You stared, frozen in shock as Manon looked up at you with a heart-wrenching expression. She lifted her hands to reach for yours before halting, nervously folding them in her lap as she looked up to you, biting her lip. She wiped away her tears, and took a long breath. “I needed you up there with me - I want everyone to know how proud I am that you are mine. You mean so much to me because we’re different. You are the perfect balance for me - a light in my life that I didn’t know I was missing before. Your kind heart and sensitivity is what I love most about you.” 

Your eyes widened, entire body stiffening at those words. You had never said ‘I love you’ to each other before. Manon noticed your shock, and simply nodded, a soft smile on her lips. “I love you. I mean that. I think I have loved you since the day I met you. You are everything to me - you help me be the person I want to be. I want to work with you, to learn how to be there for you. You are more important to me than my role as Queen, and I should have understood why you needed me in that moment. I shouldn’t have let their expectations of me control my actions - I want everyone to know you are mine, because I am proud to be yours.”

You sniffled, bringing a hand to cup Manon’s cheek. “I’m sorry that I didn’t communicate what I was feeling. I wasn’t thinking about how my public affection would be perceived.” You sighed, stroking your thumb along Manon’s cheek as she brought her hand up to yours. “It might be hard, but we can find a way to be there for each other how we both need, because I love you too, Manon.”

At those last words, Manon smiled brightly as she jumped up, hands weaving in your hair as she laid you back on the bed. You giggled, wrapping your legs around her waist to pull her closer to you for a kiss, the two of you whispering “I love you”s back and forth for the rest of the evening, enchanted by the feeling of being with your person.

[dominicdelagol2]

Planning to try out Auctober again this October! Feel free to join in and draw for each prompt! List of prompts and their context below:

1: Red Instead - Instead of the blue puzzle piece as displayed by Autism $peaks, we light it up red instead!

2: Special Interests - Anything you love the most in your life!

3: Music - Music is always nice to listen to, especially video game music!

4: Comfort Food - Food is yummy. Fast food is even yummier because why wouldn't it be?

5: Stim / Verbal Stims - Stims include making mouth noises and waving your arms back and forth for comfort!

6: Stim Toys - Fidget cubes, spinners, squeezable toys, etc. -- they can be fun to use!

7: Sensory Euphoria - Some things can make you most happy, whether it's eating chicken with queso dip, seeing a light-filed city during night time, store candles with a good food-like smell, you name it!

8: Hyperfixation - One particular thing you're focused on so much! It can be the periodic table, a video game series, painting, anything you can think of!

9: Info Dumping - Wanna know what one thing is? Then you'll wanna be ready for a detailed explanation going at least 200-pages long!

10: Neurotypical Expectations - Neurotypicals expect an awful lot from autistic people. For all we know, some random guy might expect you to know how to build an aircraft carrier! Of course, that's just me haha

11: Jobs...? Where? - Obviously, there are TONS of open jobs available, but whatever jobs ARE open, workers and its managers expect you to work, and work, and work, and work, and work, and work...without considering your overall health at all, nor giving you a long-enough break to help you catch your breath physically and mentally.

12: The Outside World - Outside is scary. No matter how safe you are, there's a tiny chance something bad or worse will happen. Society can even expect you to be "normal".

13: Social Anxiety - It's hard enough making friends, let alone be an extrovert. Chances are, one could have sociophobia!

14: Self-Advocacy - Nothing about us without us! Seriously, neurotypical adults have talked about autism and didn't include autistics in the conversation. (got that from one of my Auctober 2023 drawings)

15: Self-Care - Self-care is important! Make sure to brush your teeth, eat and drink healthy, exercise and whatnot!

16: LGBTQIA+ - Autistic people are more likely to be LGBTQIA+!

17: Rainbow Infinity - Rainbows are a whole spectrum of colors! Same with the autistic spectrum--all sorts of different experiences!

18: Au-DHD - ADHD, but "A" is replaced with "Au" as in aurum, which is Gold in Latin. ADHD can mean one is hyperactive!

19: Too Much Energy - The energy builds up too fast and you just have to exercise to tone it down! Of course, the energy could vary, sometimes being suddenly energetic when you just need to sleep.

20: Out-of-Nowhere Info/Fact - Say you're doing a simple job like vacuuming. All you have to do is move the vacuum on the floor as you hold the handle, thus cleaning the floor. Simple, yes? Well, surprise -- some guy sucker punches you with random information such as "Hey buddy! Vacuums use more electricity when you turn the vacuum on and off rather than letting it stay on!" (I've actually been told that one time, and the info sounding unconfirmed to me, it just left me in a long mental stasis of confusion) Like, when did anyone ask for a detailed fact about something that's SUPPOSED TO BE SIMPLE? I don't have time to comprehend an entire page of info, I just like to keep things SIMPLE as you neurotypicals tell me to my face.

21: School Experience - Experience can include elementary school, middle school, high school, college -- You can explain a particular event or two during any of these time periods!

22: Routine - A little something every day or now and then to stay consistent! Daily tasks can included 3 meals a day, staying productive or such!

23: Unmasking - Unmasking is not easy. Defending yourself from the unpredictable world, trying to blend in with society -- it's exhausting! Let the autistic community just be what they wish to be already.

24: Autistic Viewpoint - How do you view the world as an autistic?

25: America (Derogatory) - This one might not need an introduction -- America, the "Land of the Free" and the "Land of Opportunities", sure likes to screw us all over! Police are too paranoid, justice is a load of baloney, daily gun violence anywhere and everywhere, dangerous bigots normalizing the R-slur, then you have big and popular figures here smearing the autistic community into a negative light...and the list of bad things never stops growing! A very cruel country, like not even cartoon villains are this mean-spirited! How is the autistic community supposed to exist in peace when the USA is basically nothing but trouble? Happy 4th of July, I guess...

26: Comfort Media/Games - A TV show or video game is always nice to play and keep calm when times get tough out there!

27: Fancy Wording - A series of five-dollar words can arrive rather than a simple "yes" or "not" to suffice. Sometimes, fancy words such as Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis can be fun to learn about!

28: Gold - Gold is part of the periodic table, atomic number 79! Light it up gold instead of blue for Autism Acceptance! 'Au' as in Aurum, and autism!

29: Neurodivergent Community - There's all sorts of Neurodivergent people worth seeing! They all have different experiences!

30: Autistic Pride - Autistic and proud!

31: FREE SPACE -- Explain any topic you wish!

[zmayadw]

Foolish Fears || Duskwood Jake x Fem!Mc Oneshot ||

Genre: mix of hurt/comfort/fluff/humor (I suppose😅)

A/N: Hello, hello! 😊 Sooo, uhm, have I kinda said that I won't be writing for Duskwood any more? Yup, yes I have. Have I just written a Duskwood oneshot? Again - yup, yes I have 😅 The point is - when after very long time of not writing anything you suddenly get hit with inspiration, you don't ask unnecessary questions, you just write! So here we are! Hope you will somehow find this likeable! Take care! 💚

Ofc, as always, don't pay much attention to my crappy title 😅 And please don't mind any mistakes you might stumble upon! Happy reading! 😊💚

The piercing blue eyes stared back at him in the mirror with doubt and fear in them. He pinch himself on the arm, expecting to wake up from this dream the moment he did so, but nothing happens. He was still here, standing in Mc's bedrom, staring at his reflection.

It's been two months since the Ironsplinter Mine events, and although Hannah was found alive, not all ended well. And for most of it he only learned about yesterday when he showed up at her door, after making absolutely sure no one was on his track and it was safe for her.

But the fear and doubt in the eyes staring back at him wasn't because of it - at this point he didn't really care anymore about his safety. If he only had a day, or even just a few hours of freedom left, there would be no other place he'd rather be right now than here with her.

No, his fear was something else entierly.

Not taking his eyes away from their mirror self, he slowly take off his shirt, exposing to the mirror his naked torso.

Even in the dim light of her bedroom, the numerous tattoo's adorning his body weren't enough to draw away the attention from all the hideous scars covering him.

Being on the run didn't really give him much opportunities for proper medical attention to any possible injuries most of the time, be them small cuts or something much severe. He took care of himself with what he had, not giving much thought about aftermath, as long as he healed.

But now, as his eyes slowly moved from one hideous scar to the other, he was afraid.

Afraid of her reaction.

Will she be scared at seeing all those scars? When she finally realise how dangerous it really is to be around him, will she flinch away from his touch, repulsed, after seeing him, the whole of him, and think of him differently? Will she still be able to repeat those same words to him, the words that gave him strenght and made him determined to keep his promise and come back to her?

After so many years spent in solitude, he found the courage to let someone in, to trust someone again, he let himself feel again. He found a reason that gave his life a meaning again, and she was the one responsible for it all.

So , yes, he wasn't just afraid - he was terrified.

"Eh, sorry it took me so long, but I made us something to eat, too!"

Her cheerful voice make his head jerk up, and when their eyes lock in the mirror he tense watching her expression change.

Quickly putting his shirt back on, he turns around facing her. She just stood there motionless by the doors, mouth half open, but no words came out.

His heart sank more with each beat it made as he contine to watch her. She didn't need to say anything, her expression was more than enough for him to know his fears were just. But the pain he felt at that moment was even more excrutiating than he expected, he barely managed to keep himslef from falling apart completely.

"I shou..." he start to say, but his voice betrays him. Taking a few deep breaths, he turns away from her stare, clears his throath and with shaky hand goes for the hoodie lying on the bed "I sould go."

"What? Go? What are you talking about, Jake?"

The genuine surprise in her voice felt like a knife to his heart. Why would she do that, when he perfectly understood the look of horror on her face. She didn't want him, so why is she doing this now?!?

"Jake?"

Her voice came from right behind him this time, almost as a whisper, but when her hand touched him lightly on the arm he jerked it away like being burned "Don't!"

His unexpected reaction make her back up a few steps. Confused and concerned, she tries once more "Jake, what is going on?"

"Like you don't already know." he scoffs still keeping his back to her.

"No, I don't know." Mc grits through her teeth clearly annoyed "So, care to explain what the hell happened while I was gone, because I sure as hell can't figue it out!"

"You're really going to continue with this charade?!" he almost yells and turns to face her now.

But this time she didn't back off, instead she take a step closer, defiant to get to the bottom of this and raise her voice at him "What charade? What the hell are you talking about?!?"

"I saw the way you were looking at me, Mc!" he scream desperate at her, no longer able to control his emotions "The shock and fear in your eyes - I learned long ago the meaning of those looks. I know damn well what they mean!"

"No, Jake," she sigh after a short moment shaking her head, taking another step closer to him "you really know nothing."

"Mc, please, just - just let..." but she didn't let him finish, she kept advancing towards him, and not a second later she push him down to sit on the bed and kneel in front of him.

"Now, you shush it and listen to me, all right?" But when she didn't get any response from him she once again asks firmer "All right!?"

Without looking at her he nods slightly, and for her that was enough to continue.

She takes a deep breath "For someone who says he has problems reading emotions, you were quite right back there. When I stepped back into the room and saw you like that, I was shocked, yes. But not because of the reasons you think.

I was shocked by a realization, as my eyes continued to jump from one scar to another, of how much pain a person can take and still keep going, and how much suffering one can endure without falling apart or giving up. But I was shocked, and scared, too, when I realized how you have done all of that, for all these years, and alone.

You said it to me yourself not that long ago, how all these years on the run you got so used to loneliness, and I got scared, that after all that time, and even though you said that changed when I stepped into your life, you would still prefere to do everything all by yourself, and eventually decide to leave me out of your life completely. And I don't want for that to heppen. Ever.

So you see, Jake, even though you were kinda right, you were also completely wrong. And I know that this, us, must be some scarry shit for you, but news flash dummy - it's the same for me, too! And it seemes to me that we both share similar fears. But if you are willing to take this new and unexplored path with me, than rest assure, I will always, ALWAYS be here for you, no matter what."

When she finished, her heart was beating so fast, and she didn't even realise her face was wet from silent tears. She was just extremely nervous, waiting for any kind of reaction from him.

And as more time passed, and the awkward silence around them only grew, she almost screamed in fright when he suddenly threw his hands around her embracing her tightly, almost knocking her down from the impact.

Her hands instantly wrapped around him gently stroking his back, and this time he didn't flinch at her touch. This time, he felt relaxed and at peace, realizing how much he missed this - to genuinely feel wanted by someone.

"I - I don't know what to say, really. I feel like such a fool right now."

His warm breath on her neck sent goosebumps all over her body, inciting a sly smile forming on her lips as she remembered what else she felt when she saw him in front of the mirror before "Just promise me one thig."

"And what's that?" he ask, sounding genuinely interested.

"Well, next time, can I please be the one that takes your shirt off? I mean, don't get me wrong, that was a sight and a half! But, I really want to be prepared for it next time, my legs almost gave up on me!"

"Seriously?" he questions, moving from her embrace to look at her with a raised eyebrow "You're gonna joke about it? Right now?"

"What? It's no joke! I mean it! You almost gave me a heart attack! I mean, really, do you even know how hot you looked back there?!"

Shaking his head he chuckles "You are impossible!"

"Yeah, yeah," she grins placing her hands around his neck "but you love me, nonetheless."

Wrapping his hands around her waist and keeping his piercing blue eyes firmly focused on her green ones, he slowly leans towards her, stopping just close enough so that his lips only teasingly brush hers as he whispers "You have no idea how much."

[keiffeine]

so ahahhsjahehahhe about the nsfw scara reqs 👉👈 may I get scara (subby if that's possible hehe) with a male reader who's known him since he was kuni, has cared and still cares about him deeply despite everything that's happened n has managed to have such a close bond to him that their relationship kinda turned into a,,,, friends with benefits kind of thing <3 js some really fluffy smut about the reader having so many pent up feelings that he confesses to scara in a,, different way

(take your time with this one! I really love your works and writing style a LOT and was pretty nervous about requesting this,, but you're an amazing writer and are doing great! <3 I hope ur having a wonderful day!!)

with male reader.

genre: fwb, fluff, nsfw.

a/n: i sort of wrote a lot for this. like, there’s basically a whole mini fic. i hope you don’t mind, this req was really good and it made me inspired. (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡ i hope this is to your liking.

© all rights reserved to keiffeine. reposting, plagiarizing, modifying, and translating is not allowed.

• there was nothing about scaramouche you couldn’t love. he was just so beautiful, like he was truly sent from heaven with a radiant glow to him. he was hard to resist, but you were afraid to ruin what you already had.

• you’ve been there with him since quite literally forever, when he was still kunikuzushi. you’d been the only one thus far who had stayed, and sometimes scaramouche would tell you that you would still be the one who would stay with him until the end.

• you didn’t quite know when you started to develop such a strong affection towards him, but at some point, your attraction floated in the grey area of simply admiring him as a friend and wanting a relationship that was beyond friends.

• scaramouche made your heart swell, and it was so often that you thought your heart might literally explode out of your chest. you just needed him to know, to make him understand that you needed him as much as he needed you.

• with each passing day, the thought of this grew stronger and stronger and—

• one day you just kissed him, and with no given thought. it was sudden, fleeting, and impulsive.

• for a split second, you thought you ruined everything. this crossed the line. but—he kissed you back, pressing further into you and opening his mouth to welcome it.

• this was how your relationship escalated—you weren’t together together, but you weren’t only just friends. for a while, you just simply were.

• it gradually started from slow and gentle kisses to your bodies exposed under the stars, hips rolling into each other as you called each other’s names with a sense of strong desire behind it.

• in moments like these, scaramouche was the most beautiful. he would stare up at you with glittering eyes, rosy lips calling for you to “move faster” and “that he needs you so bad” as his nails would scratch into your back.

• sometimes, the urgency to say those four simple words—“i love you, scara”—would be on the edge of your tongue, but you could never bring yourself to say it.

๑՞.

“fuck—y/n, please,” scaramouche moans, eyes fluttering closed and back arching off the bed, hands searching for purchase all over your body and digging his nails anywhere he can grab hold. you can feel him trembling beneath you as you keep thrusting into him, pressing your cock against his prostate.

“i know, baby…feels good, yeah?” you murmur, squeezing the flesh of his hips and latching your lips to his neck, sucking on his skin there. you felt warm all over, every inch of your body tingling.

“kiss me—please…nngh…” he begs, cupping your face and bringing you down to his lips. you rolled your hips into him again, drawing another whine out of scaramouche as you kissed.

you loved this—you loved him so much. would it really be so wrong to confess that, right now? did you want to take that risk of ruining what you had? just to find out if he felt the same way, too.

you kept moving, bringing scaramouche to his release first before your own. as you finished, slowly coming down from both of your highs, you hesitantly kissed him again, the words on the tip of your tongue.

“scara, i…” you swallowed thickly, voice wavering slightly. “i love you,” you murmured against his lips. you moved away from him slowly, not daring to look at his eyes. you were scared.

“what?” scaramouche asks.

“i said i love you,” you repeat, feeling warmth rising to your cheeks. “i’ve loved you for—for ages now. i felt like i should tell you.”

silence. it was quiet; so quiet you can just hear the intense beating of your heart.

you spoke after a beat, “of course, if you don’t feel the same it’s fine—i just don’t want to lose you—”

“i love you, too,” scaramouche interrupted, his words ringing in your head. you turned, to finally look at him. he’d pushed himself to sit up on the bed, eyes looking at you carefully and intently. scaramouche inched closer to you, cupping your face again. “i love you, too,” he says again, “so much.”

there it goes—your heart was swelling again. you felt yourself smiling, and you couldn’t help but bring him into another kiss.

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[arenabreadandbiscuits]

Naruto x Fem Reader || New Year's Present ✨

-

Scenario - Sfw, New Year's has come once more and you celebrate it with the village and more importantly your husband.

Word Count: 3k continues below the cut. ;3

-

It's a festival night; a year has come and passed and the people of the village were ready and happy to bring forth a new year full of blessings and gifts. 

You and Naruto had ran into each other years ago, having watched him after all these years and the amount of growth somehow managed to be enough to draw you in and as silly as he could be Naruto was just as brave, and strong, and loving and it didn't take you long to fall in love with the man. 

You zone in as Naruto calls out to you, looking down at your face with the sweetest of smiles as fireworks fill the skies above. They burst with various colors, forming different shapes and designs and you slowly look into his cobalt eyes as your own sparkle like the millions of lights and stars above. 

Who would have thought that you, someone just from some poor family could have fallen in love with someone like him? And even after all the years of competition and rivalry something had managed to pull the two of you together like this was… familiar. You and him. 

“Did you hear me?” He asks curiously and the question manages to pull you from your thoughts, a light blush coloring your cheeks as Naruto chuckles a little at how distracted you e become but oh you were so lovely to look at as the lights bounced off of your smooth skin so he didn't fully mind. 

You shake your head, a little grin falling onto your own soft and lush lips. 

“I'm sorry, I wasn't.” You reply and Naruto gives a little huff even though he expected such an answer and honestly you're happy that even with all the attention he has now, with all the duties and responsibilities, he is still the same old Naruto you've always known and grown up with. 

You can see it in that little smile of his, in the little pout that forms on his lips, in the twinkling of his blue eyes and even the flush that layers his cheek and you wonder if you were ever meant to fall in love with anyone but him. Because if you were then you refused because you didn't want to spend the rest of your life with anyone but Naruto at this point and after everything both of you had been through together. 

He chuckles, calling you a ‘baka’ right after which effectively makes you snort softly because even now you couldn't resist pressing his buttons just for a laugh.

“I was saying that…” He starts off after a moment, looking down to his feet like some small boy confessing to a crush. “I'm happy to spend my life beside you. I'm happy to be your husband.” He says and though you've been with him for years and been through so much you still can't stop the way you perk like a puppy and how your cheeks slowly but surely grow warm. 

There's a moment of silence and then you chuckle softly, reaching a hand over and gently sliding it under his chin. He twitches a little at the touch but as you slowly turn his face back to you, he allows it, following your lead until he's looking back at you, his eyes connecting with your own. 

“I'm sorry?” You hum softly, a playful smile forming on your lips as you look at him while your thumb gently caresses circles into his cheek. “Could you say that again? I don't think I heard you right.” You say and there's that cheeky smile on your lips that he knows well after all these years. He feels his lil tremble though you were almost positive he'd practically leap out his skin like he had done so many times in your youth when you did these things to him. 

Naruto doesn't even care enough about the citizens around the two of you, especially because so many are busy playing with kids, selling knick knacks and food, and whatever else. He takes a moment to look you in your eyes and as playful as you were you couldn't ignore the way your heart seemed to skip a beat, as if he saw you as nothing but his whole world. 

He gently pulls away from your hand in order to wrap his own around your wrist. His hands are so much bigger, covered in a few scars from how ever many battles of the past and they're warm, awfully warm. He carefully runs his digits over your knuckles, rubbing the skin softly and slowly looking down at your hand before returning his gaze to you. 

“I love you.” He says this time and you blink because you had been so prepared for him to say anything else but that right now and yet it makes so much sense. It makes your cheeks feel even warmer, makes your chest tighten and the way he's looking you in the eyes right now lets you know he's not joking. He's serious as he's always been when it comes to love and affection and there's nothing in his eyes, in the way he's holding you, that tells you his words are anything but sincere. 

It means so much more because you know just how big your husband's heart is, knows that saying these kinds of things isn't something that many people got to know about and see when it came to him and you feel special. You feel like genuinely he couldn't care enough to look at anyone else like he's looking at you right now. 

He'd do anything for you, you've seen it enough and had many examples of such and you can only be grateful, grateful knowing that no other man could love you as honestly and wholeheartedly as Naruto did. 

You've always been seen differently from your other classmates, not as differently as your partner per se but enough so to be made fun of. To be avoided and ignored and seen as someone who didn't fit in which was the only reason you and him had managed to grow so close.

You remember all the times of going to his home just to keep him company when no one else dared to, or sparing with him even though you managed to have a better time at putting him on his ass then the other way around per usual, or even moments like…this one right now, where the two of you would run away in the middle of the night just to get away from everything and anything while spending the night under the millions of vast stars. 

You remembered moments like running through the fields together, or finding buried treasure, or even the first time you had came to his home, sniffling and sobbing because just like him you had nowhere else to go and Naruto, just like he had always done before, didn't waste any time welcoming you in, cooking you a little meal and even cleaning his bed just so the two of you could have somewhere nice and clean to rest. That night you had stayed up for at least an hour longer than he had just wondered why a beast being planted in him was enough for other kids and adults as well… to treat him like a monster who didn't have a heart as well. 

There had been many times when the two of you had gotten in trouble because of your righteous heart and never once had you ever regretted it. 

“You do?” You reply with a smile even though it's clear you just want to hear him say it and Naruto has played this game so many times now with you that the look of unimpress that runs over his features makes you snort. A giggle falling from your lips as he rolls his eyes and grows closer. 

“You know I do.” He replies and there's a tone of playfulness in his voice as well as a bit of annoyance because of course you'd play like that, acting as if you didn't know he'd give his very life if it meant saying your own and if neither one of you could be saved then Naruto was just as happy to die by your side. A mutual feeling you've come to understand. “Now, say it back..” he huffs lightly, lifting a brow as he awaits and you simply smile at him like the cheeky little thing you were. 

Even now, after all this time you were still going to make him force and beg you to admit such things? 

He waits for a second or two before the look of annoyance grows as he continues to wait. Just as he opens his mouth to respond with something like calling you an idiot or something along the lines, you burst out in a fit of giggles. 

He huffs and leans in, running his nose over your ticklish neck and you laugh more, your hands moving to his shoulders to hold him in close as he seems to take this time breathing in your scent. 

“I love you too!” You giggle, squeaking a little when he seems to take out some of his frustrations on you by lightly nipping your skin. 

“I love you so much Naruto!” You continue to laugh and as that seems to satisfy him he slowly pulls away but not fully without you reaching up to take hold of his cheeks now. Your hands are warm, soft and the second they take hold of him Naruto seems to let his eyes slowly shut as a hum comes from him. It's as if he's one big cat who craves nothing but love and attention and his face softens as you hold him with so much care. His face softens as you continue to hold him, carefully pulling him in. 

“I love you more than anyone else here could bother to know or understand.” You continue and this time as your laughs have dialed down the weight of your worlds seems to shake the both of you, making both of you know just how real this all was as laughter and music filled the air and a sense of carefree wonder filled the village and people like a spirit possessing them. 

If anyone has come to you all those years ago and told you that you'd be standing here today and this happy you probably would have scoffed and yet ever since Naruto first ran into you everything simply seemed to change. And not just one little thing or two but big things that you never thought you'd have the privilege of being freed from and you knew he felt the same but even so, even you didn't know just how in love Naruto was with you. Even with everything that the two of you shared, loved, and so on and so forth, Naruto just never felt like he was doing enough to let you know just how amazing you were or how happy he was for finding you even though he gave so much. 

“Enough to…share a kiss with me?” He asks softly now as he leans in close and closer until there seemed to only be a sliver of space between the two of you and even though you've been this close to him many times before something about it always seemed to make your heart race in your chest. His words hang in the air but not without the two of you looking at each as if you weren't in the middle of a festival but instead in the comforts of your home where only you and he seemed to exist. Even with the villagers being around nothing else seemed to matter but you, him and the space between your lips which was growing shorter and shorter. 

“Enough to share a kiss and the rest of my life with you and you know that.” You retorted with a little hum and Naruto gives a cheeky smile at that reply because there's nothing else he'd be happier hearing right now. The look on his face is like seeing a kid in the middle of a candy store and interestingly enough, you make the look with a matching grin of your own which he always loved seeing. 

“I do…” he chuckles before leaning even closer and now you can slightly feel his breath running over your own lips and it's getting harder and harder not to do exactly what you're thinking as you glance down at his lips before slowly returning your gaze back up to connect them with his eyes again. 

“I love knowing how much you love me.” He hums, his hands moving down to gently take hold of your hips before his thumbs move and rubbed soothing circles on your sides. “I love knowing that I'm enough for you and hopefully I'll stay as such.” He says with only a sweet tone that he's happy to have you hear coming from him. 

“Of course you're enough.” You huff now like a wife scolding her husband. Oh wait… “you've always been enough, always have been and always will be my love.” You retort and it's so loving and honest that you can swear for a moment that you feel the ground tremble beneath your feet as if the love between you two was enough to make the tectonic plates shift. He's always been enough and sure you didn't immediately pick up on it when you were younger but you had always been in love with him. 

There had been many times where the facts were in your face, from buying him snacks and meals to erratically searching for him when he'd have one of his heartfelt moments and ran away from home knowing that no one else would go looking for him. For a while it was because you said that everyone deserved such care but never had you wanted to care for someone else like you wanted to care for Naruto and it wasn't until the two of you had gotten older that the realization came smacking you in the face like the reality check that it was. 

You loved Naruto, always had and always would and you wanted, no… needed him to know that in every way possible. 

So of course you two had gotten married and you had to say that it was quite literally the best day of your life, the second being this one right now as you held each other in your arms as if the two of you worried the other would disappear if you didn't. 

A moment passes with you two embracing until Naruto speaks again, well… more so clear his throat as if waiting for something and for a second it felt like it slipped your mind up until your eyes connected again and before you knew it your cheeks were growing pink and hot again because you could tell he was impatient again and you'd be a liar if you tried to sit here and lie and say that your weren't. 

If anything you were just as eager, if not, more so to finally taste him, to finally feel his lips on your own right where they rightfully belonged. 

His touch is gentle, the way he leans in and finally closes the space between you two. His lips are just a little chapped but soft nonetheless and with a little hum you eagerly return the kiss, slowly moving your fingers to lace in his hair and they pressed together. He was just as hungry for her as she was for him and he was just as happy to feel her pressing against him, holding him, running her fingers and nails over his scalp until he was shivering against her. 

It was as though nothing else could possibly taste better to them but each other and after a moment or two they slowly pulled away, carefully as if had it not been for the lack of air then they wouldn't have even considered it. They would have continued to kiss and smooch until the sun came up but sadly that couldn't be, at least not now as you breathe in and out. 

It's the first kiss you've officially had with him since what seemed to be the marriage and as both of your eyes twinkle, there's a look of longing and before either one of you can stop yourselves, you dive back in, your hands in his hair and his on your waist as you kiss passionately under the colorful lights and carefree music. It feels normal, it feels right… it feels like home and you were sure that Naruto shared your passion when it came to the fact that neither one of you wanted to be without this or each other. 

Neither one of you wanted to be or feel alone like the two of you had been forced to feel while growing up, you wanted to help him grow and be the best chief he could ever be and Naruto wanted you to be by his side every waking and sleeping moment of said journey. He always wanted to be with you and the feeling wasutual because after everything you couldn't bear to imagine living your life without him to live it with you. 

You wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to hug and caress him and you wanted to do it until neither one of you could seem to control yourselves. You wanted him and he of course wanted you and just like he vowed to when you two had met at the altar that day, he always promised to love and protect you until death did you both part. 

And even then, even when the two of you took your final breaths on this plane he wished and begged the stars above that even in the afterlife you'd be together. 

Forever. 

[aebi12]

"Sinful Desires" - Epilogue

Previous chapters - Masterlist

“Do you find everything terribly strange?”

Aegon jumps at hearing Alyssa's voice.

“I am sorry, darling, I didn't mean to scare you,” she apologizes walking slowly towards her brother, who is leaning on the balcony watching the new soldiers training in one of the castle courtyards.

"You just caught me by surprise," he replies, reassuring her with a smile and offering his arm for support, “Should you be out of bed? Your maid said that you weren't feeling well this morning."

"It's nothing," Alyssa rolls her eyes and looks at her brother, "You seem worried."

Her green eyes scan the young prince’s face, his brow furrowed slightly and his violet eyes tired. When their gazes meet, Aegon shrugs, and Alyssa, for an instant, sees again the little boy he once was. A nostalgic smile is born on her lips while her hand caresses Aegon's face feeling a stubble that manages to draw a sigh.

“Sometimes I still can't believe how much you've grown in these years,” she says

Now it is Aegon's turn to roll his eyes, though he then takes Alyssa's hand and places a kiss on her knuckles, "While you, mother, look more radiant and beautiful than ever."

The princess can't help but smile at his compliment, "Did they also instructed you in gallantries in Riverrun?"

Aegon chuckles and shakes his head, his gaze drifting once more to the soldiers for an instant.

“Talk to me, Egg. You may be a man now, but I can still tell when something is bothering you, what is it?

There is a moment of silence before he speaks, “I don't know if I am ready. I don't know if I can do it"

She doesn't need to ask what he is referring to.

“You have prepared your whole life for this moment, Aegon, yet it is normal to have doubts. I'd be amazed if you didn't."

“I don't know,” he shakes his head, “Everything suddenly feels real now that I am here again. I feel like I wasted a lot of time living in the Riverlands when I could be here, doing more for the realm. Learning more about my duties."

"You weren't wasting time. You were Lord Kermit's squire and it was an honor for him to receive you these last few years in his ancestral home. The visits you made to the other lords of the Trident were necessary. You were too young to remember much about the war, but you know how important it is to keep the peace. That part of the realm was hit the hardest when our family bled, spending this time with them is a way for the Crown to make amends for what happened."

“I know, I know you are right, it's just…” he trails off, clearly measuring his words, “It's weird to be back. Everything looks the same, but feels different. And suddenly I have all these responsibilities. I understand the burden that weighs on my shoulders, and for that very reason I fear that I am not capable enough”

“This is your birthright,” Alyssa assures him, “I know you will make a fine king because you are a good boy.”

“You say that because you are my mother,” he retorts, dismissing her comment.

Alyssa just smiles.

At some point after her wedding to Aemond, Aegon had begun referring to her as his mother. At first, Alyssa had thought he was doing it by mistake, but when he began calling Aemond father, she knew her little brother was doing it knowingly. It had taken her a while to get used to him referring to her that way, but she hadn't tried to correct him. She hadn't pushed aside the memory of Rhaenyra, either.

No. Actually, the biggest challenge she and Aemond had had over the years was being honest with the children. As much as they tried to isolate them from the bloodiest facts of the war, the rumors and whispers were always there. So, after much discussion, they had explained to Aegon and Jaehaera what had happened, the terrible way their family had split into two factions and fought each other almost to extinction.

“We survived because we understood that House Targaryen must stick together,” she had told nine-year-old Aegon and Jaehaera. Aemond had been mostly silent throughout the entire conversation. He didn't say it, but Alyssa knew that he feared Aegon's reaction to knowing that he had killed his father, “We did many things to keep you both safe and protected, that was always the priority for both of us. For you to be happy, having a better future than ours."

As always, it had been Aegon who had asked the questions. Many of them. And they had responded as sincerely as they could. Jaehaera, on her side, had remained almost silent, her blue eyes more wistful than ever. Alyssa knew that, from time to time, she still had nightmares. And she also knew that the girl, unlike her brother, had experienced firsthand the horrors of war.

In the end, when they had been told everything, Aegon had remained tremendously close to Aemond, assuring that he was the only father he knew and loved.

“I'm saying this because it's the truth,” Alyssa assures him, “Besides, you won't be alone. The small council will help you to rule. As king, it is your duty to listen to them and theirs to advise you in the best way possible. You can trust them. Lord Tyland is a loyal man and I know he loves you well."

"Lord Tyland is a good friend," a soft smile appears on her little brother's handsome face.

"You don't sound convinced"

It takes Aegon another minute to reply.

“I don't want to disappoint you,” he finally admits, “Father has taken good care of the kingdom all these years. I would hate to see all his efforts come to naught on my own."

“Aegon, you could never disappoint us,” she assures him, “We are both very proud of you and your sister. We know that now that we will return to Dragonstone, you both will assume your duties with the best possible disposition and sense of responsibility. The realm is in good hands."

"Do you really have to go?" he asks, his voice denoting for the first time all the nervousness he feels, his face clearly anxious about the task he will have to take on shortly.

“My beloved boy,” she replies with a sigh, taking his hand, “I don't like leaving when you came back so recently, either. But the news was so unexpected and took us so by surprise that we just want…”

"Privacy?" he smiles, “It is fine, mother, I understand. Don't listen to me, I'm being selfish keeping you here when I should have insisted that you leave long ago. You deserve to live this moment as you choose."

Alyssa can't help but feel her tears well up in her eyes as she places her hand on her swollen belly, the baby moving inside her, perhaps sensing how emotional she feels.

"Is something wrong? Should I call Alys?" Aegon asks, noticing a wince on her face.

“No, no, I'm fine, it's normal to be this sore when the moment is so close,” she assures him, “I'm fine,” she repeats, noticing her brother's anxious expression.

And she is.

Discovering that she was with child had been a tremendous surprise. After her last loss in Harrenhal, her moon blood hadn't returned for months. And it hadn't flowed regularly until barely a year ago, though Alyssa had long ago given up hope of being a mother, so she hadn't even taken that fact into account. That was why, upon discovering her pregnancy, she had tried not to get her hopes up too much. But, as the months passed and the baby grew inside her, Alyssa had sent for Alys, immediately entrusting her old friend with the task of taking care of her during her miraculous pregnancy.

"I thought it was impossible," she had said with tears of happiness in her eyes upon seeing the woman after so many years.

"I told you that your body could heal," she had replied, examining her.

Aemond had not left her side for an instant since that moment. And she had had a hard time convincing him that she was fine and that she could carry on with her regular activities since Alys and Jaehaera would keep her company. He had reluctantly agreed, returning to his work with the Small Council.

“We should go to Dragonstone for a while after the baby is born,” he had told her one night a few weeks ago.

"Why?"

“We've waited so long for this,” Aemond had replied, “No, we didn't even imagine it could happen, but now that we'll have our baby after so many years, I want these moments to belong to just the two of us. Or the three of us. At least for a time"

Alyssa hadn't responded immediately.

"You do not like the idea?"

“I like it,” she admits, “But the kids…”

“They are already adults. Aegon is almost eighteen years old. It is time for him to assume his place as king. Besides, we won't be that far. If they need us, they can fly to the island without problem.”

"I guess," she nods.

The idea seems a bit selfish, yes, but the truth is that Alyssa can't wait any longer to meet the baby she's carrying inside. And to imagine that she could get away from the court, from her duties, from the whispers that followed her after so many years of infertility, and simply dedicate herself to watching her little one grow, together with Aemond, is too tempting an idea to pass.

"Let’s go then, for a time," she finally says, "the baby will need its siblings eventually."

"Of course," he smiles, "Besides, knowing those two, they'll surely visit us as soon as they can and we don't even have time to miss them."

Alyssa laughs, "You said the same thing when we sent Egg to Riverrun and he barely writes to us."

"He's young, my love, he must have other things on his mind," the prince kisses her forehead and places his hands on her belly, caressing it and smiling as he feels the baby move under his touch, "Besides, you could have flown with me when I offered it to you”

Alyssa rolls her eyes and doesn't respond. Dragon riding would never be an activity she would choose more than as a last resort. More than once Jaehaera had invited her to ride Morghul, but she had declined.

“I just hope they are okay once we are gone,” she sighs, “they haven't seen each other in years.”

The roar of a dragon and the shadow that casts over them tears Alyssa from her memories, bringing her to the present in the balcony with Aegon.

"Morghul," he says quietly, raising his violet eyes to the sky.

"Why didn't you go fly with Jaehaera?"

Aegon grimaces before shrugging again, "Lord Corlys wanted to talk to me about the situation of the royal fleet”

“Don't drown in your duties just yet, Egg. Aemond is still here, and it won't be long before we return from Dragonstone, you know he likes to feel useful to the realm," they both smile at her affirmation. “You could use some rest. You should take advantage of these days, and spend time with Jaehaera. When you were kids you couldn't wait to mount your dragons. And now that you are both riders, I haven't seen you fly together yet."

"Yes, I might do that"

Aegon sighs and Alyssa watches his expression, which seems to be lost for a few seconds. The princess wonders if her little brother is also worried about staying with Jaehaera in the castle. They had been very close as children, but learning about the war had created a kind of distance between them that Alyssa had thought they had managed to overcome over time. Until Aegon had had to go serve as squire and Jaehaera had resented being left behind.

"You don't have to marry Jaehaera if you don't want to"

"What?" Aegon watches her with wonder in his eyes, his shoulders tense and his brows furrowed once more.

“It's okay if you don't love her that way,” Alyssa explains, “I know it was expected for you to get married and carry on the tradition of our house, but we won't force a union that would make you both unhappy. If there's someone else, perhaps someone you met in the Riverlands,” Alyssa proposes tentatively, “If she's a noble young lady, you could easily make her your queen. Any maiden would be more than happy to marry you."

“And what would happen to Jaehaera?”

“She is a princess, she has royal blood, it would not be difficult to find a husband for her. I think there was talk at one time of betrothing her to the heir of Winterfell. She could… "

"No, no," Aegon cut her off sharply, "Jaehaera will be my wife, my queen."

Alyssa raises her eyebrows, amazed at the possessive, frightened tone she detects in Aegon's voice, "I just thought that…"

“Our feelings are not in question, mother. At least not mine,” he assures her, “It's just that meeting again has cost us a little more than I thought”

Alyssa nods and doesn't answer because suddenly the hooves of a horse hurtling through the castle gate catches her attention. Aegon averts his gaze from the princess, his eyes focusing on Jaehaera, who skillfully climbs down from the animal and adjusts her riding clothes.

The girl seems to sense their scrutiny because her gaze lifts to them, a half smile appearing on her face at the sight of Alyssa.

"Aunt!" she greets a moment later, after almost running to where they were, “What are you doing here? Alys said you should rest. You shouldn't have let her come up here, it could be dangerous,” her last sentence directed at Aegon, an impatient expression on her face as she crosses her arms.

"I didn't know she would get out of bed, I thought she was resting"

"How was your flight?" Alyssa interrupts when she notices that her niece wants to answer

“You know me, I'm always happy when I ride my dragon,” she replies with a genuine smile and Alyssa is amazed, once again, at how beautiful her little girl has become. Her eyes, as blue and long as her mother's, yet her face a feminine version of her father's, "I wasn't far from Dragonstone today."

“Sweetheart, try not to stray too far from the castle next time, it worries me in this weather…”

“No, auntie, please don't start scolding me,” she asks pouting and taking Alyssa’s hands, “Flying is my only refuge these days. I can't be embroidering and reading forever, and not all of us have obligations as noble and important as running a kingdom to keep our days busy."

“I never expressed myself that way,” Aegon replies, sighing.

“I'll go take a bath, I reek of dragon,” Jaehaera says, clearly ignoring him, “I'll see you at lunch.”

The girl kisses her aunt and quickly walks away from them.

***

"I'm frankly worried about those two"

Alyssa is sitting, like every night, on the windowsill. The sea breeze is her best ally now that labor is so close and her body seems to burn from the inside.

"We have to give them time"

Aemond, sitting across from her, strokes her belly gently.

"They don't seem to get along"

"Aegon is crazy about her," Aemond smiles, "He just doesn't know how to approach her."

“And what about Jaehaera? She seems upset every time I see her with him. I will not urge her to do her duty if she is not in love with him."

"Neither would I," her husband assures her, moving closer to Alyssa, "They deserve to know the joy of being married to someone they love, as we have known for almost fourteen years."

Alyssa smiles and reaches out to caress his face. Aemond closes his eye, and presses his face into her hand, a smile playing on his lips.

“It will be fine, being alone is going to force them to confront what they feel”

"Maybe, but..."

Alyssa stops talking as a sharp pain shoots up in her belly. Releasing a gasp of astonishment, she takes her hand to her lower back, trying to massage the area, but another pain as intense as the previous one seizes her again.

"Are you okay?"

“I think… I think you should call Alys. The baby is coming," she replies as she feels a liquid drip between her legs.

There is a moment of absolute silence between the two of them, who only look at each other, half surprised and nervous, before Aemond stands up and calls for the healer.

"Yes, the baby is coming," Alys pronounces a few minutes later, "It won't take long now, princess."

Alyssa clings to Aemond's arm to try to walk, too sore to just lie in bed. Her sweat drenches her nightgown and her messy hair falls down her back and clumps to her face, making her remember the scene so many years ago in Dragonstone, when she was assisting her mother during her labors.

"Is it true? Is the baby to be born tonight?"

Jaehaera is the first to enter the room, still dressed in her dinner clothes. Aegon enters after her a few seconds later.

"Mother, are you okay? They said that…"

He trails off as he watches Alyssa panting, one hand on her belly and one on Aemond's arm.

“Everything is fine,” it is Aemond who answers

“I wish to stay,” Jaehaera says, “I can help.”

“How would you help? You wouldn't know what to do,” Aegon replies.

“I am a woman, we know about these issues by instinct”

Aegon chuckles, “You're not even married, you'd be more of a nuisance. Come, let Alys and her midwives take care of it."

"No, I'll stay," and adds, "You're not the king yet, you don't have any authority over me."

"Enough!" Alyssa almost growls, “Jaehaera, my love, maybe it wouldn't do for you to stay. Births are not always easy. Aegon, take your sister outside and wait there. We'll call you once the baby is born."

Fortunately, they don't protest and leave the room. When they are alone again, Alyssa looks up at Aemond, with an I told you so look on her face, “See now what I mean?”

“It's just banter,” the prince replies, “They'll figure it out.”

"You'd better go to bed, princess," Alys urges her

And she's right because, a few minutes later, Alyssa is in more pain than she's ever known in her life before complete relief and hearing the most beautiful sound she could imagine, her baby crying.

“A girl,” Alys says, picking up a newborn who won't stop screaming and moving her arms and legs.

"Is she healthy?" asks Alyssa

"Is Alyssa alright?" asks Aemond in turn

“They are both very well,” Alys nods, handing the baby into the arms of the princess, who receives her too carefully, her hands slippery with her sweat and blood. The baby stops crying when she feels the contact with her mother’s skin, her eyes remaining open enough to notice her green eyes.

A sound of adoration escapes her throat before tears of happiness roll down her face, her fingers caressing the soft skin of her little girl. Alyssa raises her face to Aemond, who looks enthralled at the little girl, his face serious, but his eye denoting all the emotion he feels.

“Daena,” he whispers close to Alyssa's ear.

“Daena,” the princess confirms, repeating the name they had decided to give her baby just a few days ago, in case it was a girl.

"She is beautiful," Aemond sighs, "She is perfect, just like you."

Alyssa smiles and kisses the little girl's cheek before handing her over to one of her midwives to wash and wrap her up.

Aemond, unable to take his eye off the baby, waits impatiently until the little one is ready and receives her in his arms, cradling her as Alys helps his wife to her feet so the maids can change the bloodied sheets.

“You did a great job, princess,” the woman finally says, “You should rest now.”

“Thank you, Alys, for everything”

The healer nods and leaves the room with the midwives.

“I still can't believe it's real,” Alyssa comments as she feels Aemond sit next to her on the bed.

“She's our miracle baby,” Aemond says, stroking the baby's silver hair with his fingers, “Thank you, my love, you couldn't have given me a better gift.”

“I feel the same to you,” Alyssa replies, kissing her baby, feeling filled of love and adoration.

The noise of a couple of voices starting to get excited outside the door reach them, so they look at each other and sigh.

 “I just hope she's not as a handful as that pair,” Aemond says, half amusement and half seriousness in his voice.

“Well, it will be many years before we get to know that,” Alyssa replies, “Now go, let them get in here before they kill each other. I want them to meet their sister."

Aemond places a soft kiss on both of their foreheads before opening the door and allowing the two kids to enter.

"Oh! She is adorable!" Jaehaera carefully climbs onto the bed, moving closer to Alyssa.

"Congratulations, mother," Aegon smiles as he watches the baby, "and you, father, of course."

Aemond smiles at Aegon and places his hand on his shoulder, patting it, “This is Daena. Your sister"

“Daena,” they almost chant, though Jaehaera smiles, “A beautiful name. I like it"

“I think so too,” Aegon turns away from the prince and stands behind Jaehaera, “I'll take good care of you, little Daena. And I will take you to explore the realm in Stormcloud’s back”

“Yes, but she will ride Morghul first,” Jaehaera replies.

"No, her first ride will be on the king's mount," Aegon looks at her with a smirk.

Jaehaera rolls her eyes, "My dragon is faster."

Aemond clears his throat, "Her first flight will be with her father, and Vhagar."

Alyssa sighs. She had agreed to fly to Dragonstone as it was faster and safer than crossing the sea during the storms they were experiencing. Besides, it was Aemond's dream to fly with his baby like his grandmother had done with his father, and she was not going to take away that illusion.

“You're right,” Jaehaera asserts, a blush rising on her cheeks, embarrassed, “I'm sorry, we're arguing like fools at this happy time. Can I hold her?”

"Of course," Alyssa places the baby carefully in her arms, "Be careful with her head”

“Hi Daena,” Jaehaera says, standing up and cradling her, her nose delighting in the baby scent emanating from her little sister, “I can't wait to have one of my own.”

Alyssa sees that Aemond frowns and wants to comment on his niece's words, so she takes his hand and shakes his head before pointing to Aegon, who has once approached Jaehaera and looks at her, entranced. Jaehaera, feeling her eyes, looks at him and smiles back, pulling Daena closer to the future king.

“You were right,” Alyssa says quietly when her husband returns to her side, “I think they'll figure it out on their own”

“Everything will be fine, my love.” Aemond hugs her and turns his gaze to her daughter. Alyssa rests her head on his shoulder and sighs, filled with relief and happiness to see her family reunited once more.

Yes, everything would be fine.

Because it had been for her and Aemond, and it would be for Jaehaera and Aegon.

And for Daena.

Everything would be just fine.

I have received such support from you guys this past few days!! Thank you so much for reading and giving me your impressions of my story <3

[aubreysheadspace]

Hi!!!

Could I get some platonic headcanons about how reader got into white space and started looking through Omori’s sketchbook? Like, what’s reader’s reaction to the drawings and Omori’s reaction to reader looking through the sketchbook?

-🧋

(PLATONIC) OMORI’S REACTION TO READER LOOKING THROUGH HIS SKETCHBOOK

FINALLY AN OMORI REQUEST LOL !! omori needs some love and attention too (platonically)! thanks for requesting, i hope you enjoy!

OMORI

despite sometimes daydreaming and his head in the clouds, OMORI is a very cautious person when it comes to his personal stuff. i don’t believe he’d just randomly forget to close the door to WHITE SPACE in order for you to sneak in and randomly go through his stuff, OMORI has a really good memory

so let’s just say hypothetically you’re the only person allowed in WHITE SPACE, the reason is up to your interpretation. maybe you were really good friends with SUNNY before the incident

while OMORI and friends go out to look for the missing BASIL, you decide to relax in WHITE SPACE when your eyes wander off and look directly at OMORI’S SKETCHBOOK

your interest piqued, you have never once seen what lies in the SKETCHBOOK nor have seen OMORI himself draw anything from the time you spent here.

you walk over and kneel in front of the SKETCHBOOK, your hand already starting to reach for the cover of it. the cover was pitch black of course, just like everything else in here. meanwhile, MEWO watches you with those round and cute eyes she had. she stared a lot, she and OMORI had that in common.

you stopped just when you’re about to turn the cover over. should you really be doing this? this was an invasion of privacy after all. you could only manage how upset OMORI would be if he find out.. well, he probably wouldn’t look any different.

when you turn the cover over and see the first page.. what even was that thing? it’s nothing you’ve seen before.. did something like that exist? curious, you turn the page again, and again, and again

each page was.. more disturbing than the last, your face either scrunches up from how much you’re creeped out or you visibly don’t even mind the drawings, depends on who’s reading.

right before you could even see the very last drawing, OMORI suddenly takes the SKETCHBOOK away from you and closes it. he was looking at you with the same stoic expression he always wore, no matter the situation. it was hard to tell if he was mad at you or not

well, it doesn’t matter anyway, it all feels like a blur now. you.. actually don’t remember anything from that moment. did that moment even happen? you didn’t really care though, but it felt weird looking at the door that OMORI always came out of, it’s as if you remembered being allowed to go inside.. but you’re not.

[jazminetoad]

Crying and Pain aren't the Same

TW: Insecurities, toxic friendships, and anxiety for making people feel pain

"I wasn't always like this..."

"You weren't?"

"No... I used to live in a village with people, I had many friends, in fact, people used to say I had the biggest and most loving heart of all. Many call me their best friend, but over the years I started seeing it was because I was their only true friend.

It was fine when I was kid, friendships are easier to maintain as a kid. Then I got older and it was starting to get hard to make time for all those friendships, I tried grouping them up together, but even then it was hard to give time to each group, I had to pick and choose, but I also had a bad habit. You see I love seeing mortals squirm and react to things, I pull pranks such as hiding behind doors to jump out to scare 'em or made-up stories where the characters always ended in tragedy, always amused by their faces becoming squeamish or turning to despair afterwards, I liked pulling their strings of emotions but... one friend I pulled a string too hard and they felt pain... I despised that, after all, I become friends with people so they wouldn't be in pain yet I caused that... you might wonder how that's different from me enjoying them squirm, for a while I couldn't tell myself so I stopped doing those things. 

If you're wondering that wasn't the first friend that cut their ties with me, there was another before but I was the one who cut that tie because they didn't agree with something I said and scolded me heavily, even threatening to send their dad who is in the royal army to kill me. His eyes filled with so much rage and hatred towards me. I never wanted to feel that again or have others feel that, that's why I befriended everyone I could. I never expressed anger or hate, and even if they did things I disagreed with, I never judged them for it, after all, I didn't want them to have the same pain I felt, I wanted to prevent them from pain. So when I pulled a string too hard on that other friend, I tried to stop my habit.

It stayed suppressed for years, until I started writing books and the feeling came back, I wanted all who read my books to feel the despair written inside, I shared it with my friends and it was fine, they saw it only as a story. I was happy, I was able to pull strings to make them feel emotions without causing any pain. I had nothing to worry about until they... my friends who I couldn't fit into groups and were lonely until I showed up... they started to fall in love with me... I was terrified. You see how I managed to keep the bad habit away was because I kept a safe distance from them, I couldn't hurt them if I kept my distance, but with lovers, lovers are supposed to draw closer and attach themselves to the other. I feared I would hurt them, that I might pull a string too hard or they would curse me once they see what I am. I tried drawing away, saying we could be friends, acting as if I was in love with another, but one by one, their hearts broke, I caused them pain despite my efforts to prevent that. Some friends tried to reassure me it wasn't my fault, but even if it wasn't I hated seeing them in pain and suffering, I befriended them to prevent that, but in the end, it was for nothing. For a while, I thought I was cursed, to make friendships that ended with one side or both hurt. Then I was actually cursed, by a cleric in service of the king's royal army of all people.

I thought he was different, the arguments didn't break us like they did with others, so I put my trust in him. He too confessed his sins of the past, so I thought there would be no judgement, and indeed there wasn't. However, like the others who fell in love, I never felt the same but wanted the companionship to continue, I tried keeping it as friends and he put the illusion he agreed. Disaster brewed from it, first envious leaves sprouted when he saw me with other friends, and then he tried convincing me to run away and live in the woods with him, and while I was clueless about his manipulation, his spells had no effect on me. His last tactic was to read me a story about two friends who supposedly resembled us falling in love and then declaring their feelings for the other, but I was the kind who always separated fiction from reality, and as someone who pulled people's emotions in fun I always made it a point that it wasn't actually harmful to them.

You see, the difference between making someone feel despair by a story or squirm from a prank, and making from cry from pain and suffering, is that stories and pranks are meant to be light-hearted and fun, they are never to be taken seriously, they're meant to make someone's emotions for a moment in time, they have no ill intentions to scar a person forever. Making someone cry from pain and suffering, causes the person pain and forever remains as a chip at their heart, their mind permanently changed.

And during that time I argued with the man, that's when I came to that realization, specifically when he called me a demon.

I knew what I was. I was someone who befriended people because I wanted to prevent them from feeling the pain I felt when someone hated me and yelled at me with rage, and I adored making them cry over a story because if they had emotions they were afraid to show they now had a healthy way to cry it out, just like how I cried reading stories.

However, he didn't see that, all he saw was a demon.

So instantly I cut ties.

However, the damage was done, I now began to worry that no matter what I did they'd see me as a monster that toyed with hearts until they were broken. Then a curse was cast upon me, turning to appear as this creature, scaring away people before I could help them.

I was driven away by the people and well... took shelter in the forest. Eventually, I built this place... forever to reside.

While I have been alone, and there have been days where madness took over my mind due to isolation, in the end, I think this is for the best. If I'm here, no one will have to suffer from pain I cause, in turn, I don't have to worry about causing someone else pain."

[jacquelinemerritt]

Dragon Ball Z: Abridged Episode 46 Review

Originally posted May 20th, 2016

Back to action-comedy at last.

“Percussive Maintenance” is a fairly straightforward episode of Dragonball Z: Abridged; it focuses on a single battle while cutting between various “B-stories” happening simultaneously, and it’s a prime example of just how entertaining Team Four Star’s work is when they’re in their comfort zone. There’s never a dull moment in this episode, and that’s because even the cutaway gags play to the strengths of the creators, as each involves some form of bickering, which Team Four Star has been excellent at since the beginning.

Their ability to balance all four stories in “Percussive Maintenance” shows how much they’ve grown as creators too; when compared to the fifth episode, “Vegeta: Kills Bugs Dead,” which I described as “too disjointed to clearly follow” and having “no real thematic or tonal connection” between its stories, “Percussive Maintenance” manages to keep a consistent tone throughout the entire episode and connect each story to a singular goal.

The consistent tone is achieved through the constant presence of bickering,1 and the stories each are all connected by a desire to stop the Androids and Cell: Bulma develops the remote detonator to destroy the Androids, Krillin and Yamcha argue against Tien, who wants to join Piccolo in the fight against Android 17, and Goku chooses to wait at the Hyperbolic Time Chamber so he can jump in and train as soon as Vegeta and Trunks are finished (to be able to defeat the Androids).

This episode also engages in a bit of meta-criticism as well, subtle though it may be, during Piccolo’s fight with Android 17. As he and the Android lock arms and scream into each other’s faces we cut back to Android 18, who complains about how useless their posturing is, and later, when the two of them are trading blows to the chest, she laments how much stupider their battle has become as we see them making anatomically impossible indentations in each other’s chests.

18’s comments are pretty clearly a criticism of the original series, which is notorious for including way too much screaming, posturing, and ridiculous/pointless violence, but it also serves the actual story too, as Cell shortly shows up and proves that Piccolo and 17 have done nothing more than waste their stamina on each other.

Rating: 4/5

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Stray Observations

1Fun fact: a lot of screenwriting books and teachers would tell you that leaving your characters to bicker is a terrible decision that isn’t going to help your story at all, but it works incredibly here because the bickering is not only entertaining dialogue on its own, but also rooted in character. Team Four Star also proved, way back in the eighth episode, that bickering can be an effective way to establish character too; we learned a hell of a lot more about our cast as Vegeta and Nappa argued with our heroes than we did from most anything in the seven preceding episodes. Take note, aspiring screenwriters.

This episode contains a number of clever cuts where one character will say something in one scene and have their thought continued by a different character in another scene, and I have to wonder if Team Four Star was drawing on Archer for inspiration here, as that’s a technique that that show has basically perfected.

Android 16: “I have spotted a pelican. So maje-*squawk* So majes-*squawk* Majesti-*squawk* That is a big bird.”

Goku: “We have to wait for Trunks and Vegeta to come out of the Hypertonic Lion Tamer.” Mr. Popo: “That one was on purpose.”

Dr. Briefs: “You can’t kidnap an orphan; they weren’t wanted in the first place.”

Dr. Briefs: “Gero puts explosives in strangers and that’s fine, but I want to do it to my children and your mother gets all uppity!”

Yamcha: “I’ve been stabbed and blown up, and left by the only girlfriend I ever had!” Krillin: “Same, but when my girlfriend left me, she took all of my money. When yours left, she took all her money.” Roshi: “Gonna need a Senzu for that one.”

Nail: “Why are you back-flipping?” Piccolo: “To gain some distance.” Kami: “You can fly!”

Yajirobe: “Why are you mad, the eggs weren’t even that good!” Dr. Briefs: “Most of those weren’t meant to be eaten that way!” Okay, so if those eggs are clones of his wife, how did he mean for them to be eaten? I am rather disturbed by the implications here (in a good way).

[pxgeturner]

can i have a sweet linny fic for my birthday? <3 just something soft, i’m not particular. thank u sm ily ily!!

alright here it is, a public/muggle school!linny for you in which ginny (she/her) is a star volleyball player and luna (she/they) is an art kid. wc: 1.14k

the poem excerpt is taken from logan duane’s things i didn’t say in therapy

If ginny didn’t need art credit; she never would have stepped foot in this hallway. bulletin boards and glass cases filled with stitches, painting, and pottery. she would rather use the time in the weight room, or running. all the girls on the team already took care of their art credits, so she’d be all alone, in a class full of freshmen.

she entered the room, walls filled with posters and canvas. six large paint-splattered tables sat in a grid with eight seats each. so she slips onto a random stool, across a random girl. a curly-haired blonde girl with pink eighties glasses, a rainbow shirt and overalls covered in pins and patches. vaguely, she recognizes them as someone who a few kids call “loony” lovegood. the first few days ginny focuses on not staring at the cute, rumored-to-be-crazy girl. but someone transfers into the class and steals her spot across from the pretty girl. now she can’t just glance up to scratch the itch to see her face. now she blocks her board from luna (ginny caught her name during roll one day when she managed to come in on time), shielding away the shitty drawings, and shitty technique from their eyes.

“you’re not using enough water.” a soft voice points out. Ginny looks to see lovegood leaning over her board, peering at her work in progress. “That’s why you have such harsh lines and patchiness.” she taps on the edge of the board and smiles, “soak your brush in water and go over what you’ve already painted. watercolor is very forgiving.”

ginny places the board onto the table, giving luna a clearer view. the blonde girl picks up a brush of her own and demonstrates how to smooth out the the background on a small corner of the piece. ginny was shocked at how luna was able to fix the blotchy mess into a sunset in seconds. when she attempted to do it herself however, nothing changed.

“dammit! why am i so fucking bad at this?”

“this is your first painting. don’t be so hard on yourself, ginerva.” no one uses her real name. “I’ll take care of this, so you can move on faster, yes?”

“Thanks, loo—na” what the actual hell? Why did she almost call her loony? Why do people even call them that? She’s pretty, and smart, has a really cute voice, and is an amazing artist.

“here you go,” luna returns the board to her.

holy crap she was staring the entire time.

when class ended that day ginny stopped luna.

“hey thank for, uh, fixing my crappy painting, and sorry about, uh,”

luna lifts her canvas satchel with a soft smile. “no worries, it’s just introductory painting. lots of the others are in the same boat as you. i’ve had lots of practice.”

“sorryforstaringatyouearlieritotallydidn’tmeanto.”

luna smiles that gentle smile, “lots of kids stare,” and walks away. ginny thought of how others stare at them for all the wrong reasons.

…

ever since luna first talked to ginny, the two were constantly chatting in class. ginny finally knows what it feels like to have breathing room. luna is fresh air, completely different from all her other friends. Inside that painting classroom, ginny can put her life, and all the expectations that come with it, on pause. She can just sit there, painting with the cutest girl in the world.

leaning against a locker, listening to a teammate talk about her sleazy boyfriend, ginny spots luna. they see her too, but continue walking. ginny pushes off the cold metal, making some excuse of needing to go to the office.

she pushes through the crowds, following her outside onto the walkway of the second building. She dashes toward luna, “hey! lovegood!”

they stop, miraculously. “what are you doing for lunch?”

Luna blinks.

“let’s get out of here.” luna blinks again, “meet me outside, in the back lot,”

“alright,” she looks so far away.

for the next hour of class, ginny was vibrating in her seat, desperately waiting to be with luna. as the lunch bell rang, she jumped out of her seat, and raced over to her car. she slides into her seat and tosses her bag into the back, and pulls out of the spot to wait by the curve. She drums on the wheel, scanning the moving crowds.

after a while, ginny turned the key. she let out a huff, staring at the ceiling, slumped against her seat.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

ginny looks out the passenger window to see luna peering into the car. she scrambles outside, over to luna. she leans on the side of the car awkwardly, taking a breath before speaking, “i started to think you weren’t coming.”

“here i am.” ginny wished luna would let her poker face down.

ginny opens the door for luna, “i thought we could just go to my place, grab some lunch and hang out for a bit.”

“sounds lovely,” she fastens her seat belt.

a short drive later, the two of them were in the weasley’s driveway. once the two girls make it through the door, ginny grabs luna’s hand. she guides the blonde through mess and around invasive brothers (who should be at uni). they fumble down the stairs, and into ginny’s bedroom. they slump behind the door.

“oh, shit, are you hungry, lu?” ginny scrambles to get uo, but a hand rests on her knee and blue eyes look up at her.

“I’m alright ginny. we can stay right here.”

ginny’s breath is shaky as she suggests the bed to sit.

luna takes a place on the foot of the bed, and scans the room curiously. band posters are scattered on the walls, a volleyball is pushed into a corner, smashed monster cams litter the floor, a used shaker bottle sits on the desk next to a poetry book. noticing luna’s eyes wandering, ginny collects bits of trash, dumping them in the bin. Luna goes over to the desk, and picks up the book. she flips to a random page, reading a highlighted section

“let’s share a kiss

and watch as people stop and stare

because our love burns brighter

than the flames that surround us.” she smiles, rubbing a doodle scribbled next to the word ‘kiss’ and looks at ginny. She looks back, unsure. “there’s a moon,” luna says.

ginny closes the distance between them, bruising her thumb against luna’s cheek. ginny presses her to theirs. The kiss is soft, and sweet, but fleeting, like honey melting in your mouth. The two part, and ginny whispers “i want to do that with you.”

luna runs her fingers through ginny’s hair. Ginny blurts out “be my girlfriend?”

luna looks up for a second, pretending to think, to tease her.

“ok,” she goes on her tip-toes, and kisses her redhead on the nose.

[lmelodie]

This is just an idea that i had, that i couldn't stop thinking about. This WHOLE THING was basically just getting it on paper: What if powerswap? What if Crystal Springs powerswap? With a hint of clone shenanigans.

I didn’t think too hard about plot or anything, i just had an idea and I RAN with it. So if you don’t know who my own character is (Killian) or who Dani’s character is (Jacqueline) this will be whole bunch of nonsense.

And I did put off quality control for these most basic of preliminary drawings just so I can get a general idea of what they look like. When I say i cranked this whole thing OUT i meant it!

Enjoy!

Honestly, walking through the door he didn't know what to expect. The Boogeyman wasn't even halfway through the doorway, when the one who opened it for him ran off back into the house.

“Hey! You four need to go outside to do that!” a familiar voice distanced as he entered.

What greeted him on the inside of the home, took the top spot of the weirdest things he’s seen. When he got a very concerning very vague emergency message from Jack, he thought it was just another scheme that got out of hand. Or he needed to reach something on a very high shelf. Either way he figured this time was gonna be like all those other times. He’ll humor him in whatever situation he's in and maybe even get a good laugh out of it.

This particular scene, admittedly, had the potential to be humorous. But now isn't really the time.

Quietly closing the door behind him, the dingy spirit saw a struggle take place between six different people in the house. Jack and Jaqueline were easy to point out. Jack was hovering on the outskirts of the magical scuffle trying to gauge if and when he can help diffuse the situation. Jacqueline was working with a very warm looking individual. And was corralling the cartoonish looking dust cloud of magic blasts toward an open door. Holding open the door to the backyard was a very familiar looking heat sprite also surveying the chaos.

As he got closer he could now see that the center of the disarray that was being motioned out of the house were the twins, Fino and Fiera. Along with another pair of white haired kids of the same age. Both parties were hurling magical attacks of ice and fire at each other. Snowballs went flying, flamethrower-like spouts of fire were summoned.

Everybody was shouting over each other as they tried to avoid the missed and dogged attacks. Until eventually, the two young women of the group managed to usher the fight outside. A greatly appreciated hush fell over the group as they gathered themselves.

“Sooooo, is anyone gonna tell me what's going on?” Killian asked.

Without a word, two sets of identical faces came to look at him.

There was nothing unusual looking about Jack and Jacqueline, but the two other fire sprites in the room were the spitting image of the siblings.

The Jack lookalike sported basically the same suit but just in the opposite color scheme of reds and oranges. Anywhere where they're would've been frost on the clothing, was instead replaced by dark singe marks and cracking details. And if he weren't mistaken, the edges of the jacket lapel were lightly burning with small flames. The most noticeable difference however, was the presence of fire for hair, instead of the usual icicles.

Noticing it now with this weird doppelgänger, Killian took note of just how similar Jack and Blaise looked.

Jaqueline also got the same treatment. With the regular icy version he knows, also came with a fiery lookalike. Her hair, while contained with a ponytail, was also just a pile of flames on her head. Where the icicles usually are on Jacqueline's dress, was now a layer of lava rock. It was cracked and fissured to show the actual streams of molten magma underneath.

None of them however answered his question. Probably too stumped on where to even start.

Killian sat in silence for a beat before speaking, “...Well. This seems more like a family issue than anything else. I think I should go.”

“No! Don't, this is still an emergency,” Iced Jack remarked.

“Then tell me what this is all about,” Killian widely motioned to the two heat sprites. “And what that whole fight was about just now. What was that?”

“That first part is a long story,” Iced Jaqueline voiced, “But that whole scuffle just now was the two sets of twins going at each other.”

Burned Jack across the way piped up, “They saw each other and immediately decided that they had to see who could beat who in a fight”

“Fair enough. Now someones gotta tell me what's going on with the matching set,” Killian said, taking a few steps forward.

Before either Jacqueline could launch into their story, the two Jacks shared a look with each other from across the room. First a wide eyed look of gesture, then a confirming glance before they both turned their eyes onto the shadow spirit. Each having the exact same thought, with the same exact evil smiles

They both swiftly saddled up on either side of Killian. The red head's face fell as he realized what they were thinking.

“Doesn't matter how this happened really. We're just glad you're here now.  We desperately need another opinion on this,” Burned Jack hinted as he took one of Killian’s arms in his own.

Iced Jack copied the action on the other side, “We need another pair of eyes, you could say”

“And what better pair of eyes.”

“Jack!” Both Jacquelines exclaimed.

“What?” The two Jacks said in unison.

“Please try and stay focused for a single second before we both simultaneously barf,” Iced Jacqueline remarked.

The Boogeyman was honestly very grateful for the intervention. He was cornered on both sides with two Jacks and was just a little too flustered to think clearly about the situation. And the red flush on his face clearly gave it away.

‘I think I might be getting thermal shock,’ he thought to himself.

“Jacqueline, can-could you please pick your brothers up off the floor?” Killian asked.

Both Jacks looked at each other in confusion, “The floor?”

In a series of quick motions, Killian pulled both his arms free from the two sprites. Both of which felt a pair of shadow hands coming up from the floor and grabbing their ankles. Killian took a few steps back from the pair, the hands pulled their feet away in opposite directions and they both landed face first into the floor in front of him.

Both of the Jacquelines tried their best to not to laugh, as Killian regained composure. In a burst of black and red magic, kills teleported to the other side of the room where the girls were sitting.

“I'm just gonna stand all the way over there. Not because I don't love you,” Gesturing to Iced Jack, “but because I can't trust you,” gesturing to Burned Jack.

“It's true, you're not very trustworthy,” Ice Jack chimed in.

“What do you mean? I'm you, blizzard brain. The only difference is that I got cooler powers.”

“You want to test that theory?”

The Jacks continued to argue as the ice/fire/shadow trio tried to ignore them.

“They've been like this the whole time,” Burned Jacqueline commented, “It's been one or the other all day. Either they get caught up in a pissing contest or they get along too well with themselves.

Both of the Jacks continued to bicker in the background.

“Hey!” Killian shouts grabbing both their attention, “Can you not start fighting yourself.”

…..

“Yet. Just wait until I get some popcorn first,” Killian starts making his way through the kitchen for the bit.

“Killian!” Iced Jacqueline reprimands.

“What! It was a joke! Mostly….”

Without waiting for anything else, Iced Jaqueline quickly launches into their story to try and get Killian up to speed.

Everyone sat down at the island or leaned against the counter to listen to the tale. Apparently, her and Jack have been tasked with tracking down and capturing a piece of fractured time. A bunch of wibbly wobbly timey wimey nonsense from Father Time's realm that went haywire. And upon chasing it through multiple different timelines, a big struggle ensued in the Burned timeline. And in the struggle the Iced duo accidentally dragged the Fire sprite Frost kids into their original timeline: here and now.

“Does that make any sense? Time stuff was never really my forte,” Iced Jacqueline explained.

“No no. I think I get it. So you guys just need to go back to your original timeline then?”

“Yes,” Burned Jacqueline responded “Blaise and Winter, the ones in this universe, left to go see father time and see what can be done. Both about us and the fractured timepiece.”

“We decided to stay here and try brainstorming another plan ourselves,” Burned Jack said, igniting and extinguishing a small flame on the tip of his finger.

Killian sat on this thought for a moment, “I think you guys should stay,” he said motioning toward the warm front.

“What?” asked Iced Jack

“Not permanently. I'm just thinking that you all could put your collective brains together to try and pin down that fractured piece of time. Four heads are gonna be better than two if you’re all working together. And with fire magic at your disposal that isn't being controlled by two twelve hundred year olds, I think you guys got this in the bag.”

The four sprites, after a beat, quietly agreed with overlapping voices.

“So all four of us, we go out and find that fractured piece of time, so that everything can be fixed. And so you guys can get back to your proper timeline?” Iced Jack confirmed.

“Ah i’m just seeing one problem though,” Iced Jacqueline expressed, “We don't know when mom and dad are coming back. They haven’t been gone for too long, but who knows when they'll be coming back here.”

Burned Jack finished the sentiment, “Ohh, I see. I get where you're coming from. If all four of us are out tracking this thing down, what are we gonna do with the twins?”

The rest of the group's faces fell in thought. They hadn't thought about that.

“Do we just bring them along with us?” asked Iced Jack.

“No way! That thing is super dangerous. And I'm not gonna share blame for another one of your terrible ideas,” Iced Jacqueline iterated.

“They melted a frozen volcano! I think they can handle themselves.”

“Do I have to remind you who froze that volcano in the first place!”

“Do you have any better ideas of what to do with them?”

Killian broke up the sibling squabbling, “I do”

The cold front paused their bickering to listen to The Boogeyman's suggestion.

“I'll stay here with the twins. Just until either Blaise or Winter show up again, so that you guys can go and do what you need to do.”

“Are you sure, Killian?” Burned Jacqueline asked, “There's twice as many of them than before.”

“I'm sure. I've entertained them before, what's another set added to the mix?” Killian responded with a little bit of a cocky tambor.

“I say let him go for it,” Iced Jack stood up straight away from the counter, “If nothing else to see how close he is to going insane by the end of this.”

“Your encouragement for my downfall is what's gonna keep me going,” Killian responded with a smile.

“Only if you really want to Kills, You don't have to do it, “ Iced Jacqueline voiced.

“I do want to. You guys need to go out there and fix the bigger problem at hand.”

With an exchange of approving looks all around, everybody was in agreement.

“Alright then, it's settled,” Burned Jack confirmed, “Now we should probably hea-”

He was cut off by a loud crash coming from outside. It felt as though a large force of impact hit the side of the house, causing a very small tremor for the occupants inside.

With mounting concern, the group of five quickly escaped through the backdoor and into the yard to where they left the two sets of twins. Of which the white haired duo, clad in blue were both crouching on the ground with their arms over their ducked heads.

The fiery pair both lay flat on the ground opposite from their counterparts, their flames in their heads dancing high and glowing bright. They gathered themselves to see the rest of the group watching on in concern.

The side of the house just above the icy twins heads, was scorched in a large black circle.

Iced Fiera excitedly called out to her counterpart, “Was that a combo move!?”

“I didn't even know we could do that!” Embering Fino exclaimed.

“Did you guys see what just happened!?” Fiery Fiera called out the others looking out onto the yard.

To say it was a wreck would be the understatement of the century. To add to the giant burn mark on the side of the house, the whole yard was slushed and semi frozen over. Where there weren't open patches of soggy grass and mud, there were snowdrifts and half formed snowballs scattered on the ground. Ice ramps and little flame monsters dotted the area as well.

“We just pulled off the ultimate team up power move!” Fiera shouted, “That was so sick! Did you see it, it looked like a burning star! It looked like a giant fireball straight from the volcano!”

“Do you think we can do something like that?” Iced Fiera asked her equally chilly twin.

As the two sets of twins started planning their next attack on each other, the group of adults watching them quickly turned their eyes to Killian in pity.

The man himself could do nothing but stare at the carnage caused by the four kids.

“Welp. Have fun with that Kills,” Burned Jack clapped a hand on his shoulder before returning back inside. Followed suit by everyone else, before they took their leave from Frost manor.

Ok so he may have been a little too over confident when he said he could handle it. But mark his words, if nothing else he is gonna prove Jack wrong!

[votestaynight2]

14th Day - Knight stay night (Scene 2)/ 15th Day - After image (Scene 1)

――――If I can save him… Is it wrong to want to prevent his death if I can? I don't care if I'm called soft-hearted. I know it's just hypocrisy.

To defeat another Master means killing them. We fought, prepared to kill each other. I know how unfair it is to stop them now.

But still. I decided to fight so that I could save people. I can't ignore a life that can be saved.

"――――Stop. The match is settled. You guys don't…" I suppress my headache and try to stop them. At that instant. Kuzuki moves.

"Wha――――" Kuzuki must have taken my voice as a signal, as he rushes Archer in a flash and lashes out at his temple.

Any ordinary man would have his skull crushed, but Archer does not dodge it. His head moves from the impact. The knight in red takes Kuzuki's blow, and pierces Kuzuki Souichirou's chest at the same time.

There's only silence. Nobody says anything, and I have nothing to say in any case. Kuzuki Souichirou died. He was silent until the very end, and he died on the path he chose without showing regret or hope.

…I have a headache. Is my Magic Circuit compressing my nerves? Or can I not forgive Archer for killing Kuzuki? Or am I pissed at myself for not having the right to say anything to him? I can't tell, and my headache only gets worse.

"――――――――" I turn around at the sound. With Caster's disappearance, the bonds must have broken. Saber is on the floor in front of the altar.

"Ah… Hm…" Saber painfully breathes on the floor. That makes me forget about my headache.

"Saber……!" I run to her. Even this short distance is an annoyance.

"―――Shirou." She raises her head. Saber sighs in relief as she sees me run to her and――――

"――――!" "Huh?" She tackles me with her shoulders and pushes me away.

She pushes me forcefully to the side. My body flies for a few meters and lands on the ground.

"Gah……!" I land on my back. "Ku――――" I shake my confused head and look up. At that instant―――― I hear steel hitting steel.

"Wha――――" Saber is there, fully armored. …And… Numerous swords lie on the floor, right where I was standing before Saber tackled me.

"―――Damn, I missed." He… Says in a bored voice, facing Saber.

"――――――――" Saber, who can barely keep her body standing, glares at Archer.

"―――――You…" I don't even need to ask why she's glaring at him. He shot those swords from behind to kill me. Saber saw that and instantly pushed me away.

"……" Tohsaka watches him in astonishment, and Saber readies her sword while breathing heavily. Their situations are different, but they both have wonder in their eyes. Why is Archer trying to kill Emiya Shirou when Caster's dead already?

"――――――――" The only calm ones are Archer and I. …It's not that surprising. We hated each other from the start. We opposed each other, unable to get along. I don't know why, but I just cannot approve of him.

…The reason behind it… If "that" is really the reason for us not being able to approve of each other… It is natural for him to want to kill me.

"Ku――――" I get up. Saber must have been desperate. She tackled me without holding back, so I can't breathe properly.

―――That just makes me more determined. This is all she could manage when she tackled me with all her might. She doesn't have enough power left in her to even fight me. It's suicidal for her to confront Archer in such a state.

"Archer, what are you doing…!?" Tohsaka draws near Archer. …It's natural. Archer switched to Caster's side to attack her by surprise. Now that it succeeded, there's no reason for him to attack me.

"The acting's over, right? We beat Caster, so I won't let you do anything selfish now…!" "Let me…? I do not get it. Why do I have to ask for your permission? You're not my Master or anything."

"Eh… Archer…?" "Our contract has ended. I am free now. Do you think I will subject myself to human control?"

"――――――――" After staring up at the knight in astonishment, Tohsaka gasps in sudden realization. "No way, Archer…"

"I will act to achieve my objective. But it is troublesome to have you around." "――――!"

Tohsaka jumps back. She gets away from Archer, tries to run towards me, who is still on my knees, and… Her movement is stopped cold.

A swarm of swords about two meters high. They pierce the ground, drawing a circle, and become a circular prison.

"――――!" It's a circle big enough for one person to fit in, and Tohsaka is trapped inside.

"I will not let you interfere after I've come this far. Our contract has ended, so the binding of the Command Spell does not exist anymore. That is the only reason I sided with Caster. I needed to break the contract to nullify that Command Spell."

Turning his back to the imprisoned Tohsaka, Archer starts to walk. Not towards Saber, but towards me, still on my knees.

"I thought so―――but why, Archer!? Do you still want to kill Shirou…!?" "―――Yes, I will kill Emiya Shirou with my own hands. This is the only wish I have after being reduced to a guardian."

"Wh――――at?" Power returns to Saber's body. She musters her strength and moves between Archer and me.

"Archer. Do not tell me you are…"

"…Yes. You asked me once, right? Whether I had pride as a hero or not. Of course not. I cannot have such a thing. Only regret fills my mind. ―――Saber, I shouldn't have become a hero."

"――――――――" The aggression fades from Saber. …What did she figure out? Her enmity towards Archer is gone.

"That's it. Step back, king of knights. You'll disappear right away if you act recklessly when you don't have a Master. Emiya Shirou does not have his rights as a Master. Your wish cannot be granted even if you support him."

"―――I cannot do that. Even if he is not a Master, our contract will not go away. I have sworn to protect him and to be his sword. …He knew nothing about the Holy Grail War, but he responded to my oath. I cannot betray his trust." She readies her invisible sword. But I don't see the usual valor or strength in her stance.

"―――I see. Then you can die here along with the fake master." Twin swords appear in Archer's hands. "――――!" …! Saber can't even take those swords right now…!

"――――You idiot. Run, Saber…!!" I get up and reach for Saber. Did she do it to get away from my reach? "Hah――――!" Saber pulls herself together, kicks the ground, and charges at Archer.

――――The battle ends after a few blows. Saber, the one who overwhelmed Archer before, falls to her knees, unable to stand for even a few seconds.

…The sword isn't even in Saber's hands now. After resisting Caster's Command Spell for so long, she has no magical energy left. Unable even to breathe, she puts her hands on the floor, desperately trying to hold her disappearing body together.

"――――――――" Archer raises his swords. The twin swords are swung down onto Saber. And… "AHHHHHHHHHHHH――――――――!" I jump in from the side and stop them using all my might.

"――――!" I ready my twin swords. I hold the instantly-projected weapons and glare at the knight in red.

"…Hm. I thought you would stay quiet for a bit longer. But I guess you cannot bear having a woman killed in front of you."

"―――Shut up. I'm the one you want to kill. Fight the right opponent." I confront him. We both have twin swords in our hands. Our physiques are different, but our stances are the same in every regard.

"It is real if imitation goes that far. But―――can your body withstand that magic?" A sneering voice. …My limit is near, as he says. My headache does not stop and my Magic Circuit has its limiter full from all the projection magic. …My brain will explode before I get slashed if I fight him while retaining the image of the twin swords.

"――――Kuh." "I warned you before. I told you that you cannot use projection. A magic beyond your powers will destroy your body. You are now paying the price of the magic that has kept you alive, Emiya Shirou." Archer charges in.

"Ku――――shut up, dammit――――!" To that. I frantically move my swords as if slashing my headache away.

――――I swing my arms. My techniques are all a copy of my enemy's. My weapon is copied and my technique is copied. Therefore, I cannot match him. I couldn't match him even if I were in top condition.

An imitation can get close to the original, but never surpass it. I could not match this man from the start.

The man told me to drown in my ideals and die. The man said that my life is a false life. I could not object to those words because he was my ideal. A power to make the impossible possible. An existence that saved many people and became a heroic spirit. It was I who wanted to become such a person.

That's why I can't match him. The man in front of me is the end of that road. He is my ideal, becoming strong to save people, so――――

"Ah――――guh……!" My swords shatter. I was able to block his attacks, but my twin swords disappear.

…I can't stay conscious. My body isn't hurt, but my insides are bleeding and about to give out――――

"Do you understand now? That is the limit of Emiya Shirou. It is an appropriate end for a guy who kept pushing himself, right?" He raises his sword. "――――――――" As I try to figure out with my dazed mind if the sword will come down from the right or the left…

"I announce! Thy body shall be under my command, my fate shall be determined by thy sword! Follow the call of the Holy Grail. If thou wouldst obey this mind and this reason―――"

Tohsaka's gallant voice echoes through the temple.

"――――!" That must have caught his attention. The sword slows down a bit. If that's the case―――― "Kuh, ah――――" I can dodge it even with a body like this…!

I roll on the floor and get away. "Damn――――!" Archer clenches his teeth, but looks at Saber instead of pursuing me.

"―――Obey me! Then I shall entrust my fate to your sword…!" Tohsaka reaches out towards Saber from within the prison of swords. Saber runs to her using her last power and…

"I will accept your oath under the name of Saber…! I shall accept you as my master, Rin―――!" A contract that should have originally been made… Saber finally obtains a Master that is appropriate for her.

Violent wind rages. She must have gotten back her true powers by obtaining a true Master. Saber is unlike anything she was before.

"――――――, Wha-" I'm not the only one that gasped. Even Archer is fascinated. Rising swirls of magical energy and armor that can never be damaged. There seems to be no end to this overwhelming power. ―――This is Saber. The heroic spirit of the sword said to be the strongest Servant―――!

"―――Damn. I was going to let her make a contract with Rin, but the order is getting mixed up." Archer murmurs while looking at Saber. He must not have enough to spare to pay attention to me now.

"So, what will you do now, Saber? Since you have made a contract with Rin, you truly have no connection with Emiya Shirou now――――" "I believe I told you, Archer. My oath with Shirou will never go away." Saber is firm. Archer clucks his tongue and grips his twin swords again.

"Rather, what are you going to be doing now, Archer? I will stop you with all my might if you try to kill Shirou. Now will be the time to rethink. You do not think you have a chance to win against me now, right?"

Saber's warning is true. Saber would not lose even to Berserker now. No matter who he may be, Archer cannot match Saber. He should know that more than anyone, but…

"―――Hah. How can you be so confident when all you got back is some magical energy…!" Archer charges.

Their weapons clash. Archer charges in at Saber like a red bullet and attacks her with all his might.

"―――――――Hah!" Saber receives the blow like nothing. Neither the size difference nor Archer's momentum matter. Saber repels Archer's swords without flinching.

Archer, the one who attacked, is the one who retreats. The attack made with all his strength, a blow that should not need to be repeated, is――― "Guh……!!!!" ―――Not only is it blocked, but his body loses balance as well.

"Mm――――!" Archer steps back. There… Saber's sword attacks him like surging waves of raging fire――――!

Archer can only defend against her attacks. Saber's sword will kill him if he tries to counter.

No, first of all, he does not have anything to spare for a counterattack. The only resistance Archer is allowed is to block Saber's attacks until he runs out of energy.

And that should not take long. The magical energy in Saber's sword scrapes away Kanshou and Bakuya with each attack. The twin swords cannot take any more, and Archer's arms should be powerless by now.

The match is settled rather quickly. Archer falls to one knee, unable to stand against Saber's assault. Saber swings down her sword as if to finish him off.

Archer blocks it by crossing his twin swords in front of him. The battle is at an end. Even though he blocked Saber's blow, Archer cannot move. Saber's sword will split his head in two if he loosens his power on the twin swords.

"Nu――――hm……!" Archer puts power into his arms to stop Saber's blow. Sweat forms on his forehead and he's breathing hard.

"――――――――" In contrast, Saber's breathing is normal. It is impossible for Archer to beat Saber in hand-to-hand combat.

"―――This is it, Archer. It might have been different if you were in perfect condition, but you cannot fight on with your depleted strength."

"You were worried about me earlier, but that goes the same for you. You should have no magical energy left since you used that many Noble Phantasms to defeat Caster. Furthermore, you do not have a Master to keep you in this world. What can you do when you have no supply of magical energy?"

"Hah―――that is needless worry, Saber. Servant Archer has the ability to remain even after the Master is gone. I should be able to stay in this world for two days even without a Master. That is enough time for me to kill that kid."

"Ridiculous. Are you still talking about such a thing…!? Are you saying your wish is not the Holy Grail, but to kill Shirou…!?" "――――――――" Archer doesn't answer. His cold eyes stare at the troubled Saber.

"…How can it be? Archer, your wish is a mistake. Why―――Why do you wish for such an end? Even if you do so, you…" ――Will not be saved. Saber bites her lips and stops herself from saying so.

"…Heh. I'm mistaken, huh?" The muscles on Archer's arms bulge. He looks at Saber once, "That is my line, Saber. How long are you going to hold on to that foolish wish of yours?" He says so with eyes staring far away.

"―――――Archer." Saber's sword loosens up. "Fu――――!" Using that opening, Archer gets up and kicks Saber with his freed leg…!

"――――!" Even though she's knocked back, Saber lands gracefully. The situation hasn't changed at all. Saber is protecting me and facing Archer, who has Tohsaka trapped within a cage of swords behind him. The distance between them is five meters again.

"…Phew. I knew it, but I cannot match you in sword techniques, huh?" With that, Archer empties his hands. The twin swords disappear and he confronts Saber unarmed.

"…Archer. Does that mean you will give up now――――?" "Of course not. You're misunderstanding me. I'm Archer. I'm not someone who fights using a sword to begin with." With those words…

"I am the bone of my sword."

He begins this spell in a voice I can't hear.

"Stop, Archer! I do not――――" "Saber. Someone will eventually appear to release you. It does not seem like it is this time―――and I will probably have a connection with you again next time."

"Unknown to Death. Nor known to Life."

His spell echoes through the temple. …There's no change. A long spell like that should affect the surroundings. Magic influences the world. But his spell does not affect the world, but instead―――

"But that is still far off. Right now, my objective is to kill Emiya Shirou. If you are going to try to stop me――――I will not hold back against you even in this world."

He raises his left arm. Does that complete his spell?

"[block len=3]―――unlimited blade works."

He clearly speaks out and changes the world.

――――Fire runs. It runs across the floor and looks like a white line. Is the surrounding fire a boundary line? The color of fire fills my vision and paints the temple. After that, my surroundings are replaced by [wrap̠text="this"]this strange world.

"――――――――" Pain fills my brain.

―――I can tell. I understand what this magic is, what this absurdity is. I shouldn't be able to understand, but I can tell what this is whether I want to or not. And that―――― …Makes my brain boil.

In short, this is a steel manufacturing factory. Burning fire and turning cogwheels. A field of swords without owners extends to the horizon of the desert. All the swords in the ground are famous. Kanshou and Bakuya originally came from this world. An almost infinite projection of weapons. Innumerable weapons make this place seem like a wasteyard. The knight in red reigns at the center of this kingdom of rubble.

"This is――――" The confused voice is Saber's. Inside the illusionary fire that is not even hot, she watches the knight in blank amazement.

"―――Reality Marble. A great forbidden magic that puts form to the user's mind and violates reality. So you're not a swordsman nor an archer, but…"

"Yes. I was a magus before I became a heroic spirit." Tohsaka sounds disinterested. …Could it be? Did she… already know… Archer's true identity?

"―――Then Archer. Your Noble Phantasm is…"

"I have no such thing. I did not wield any holy swords nor demonic swords. The only thing I have is this world. If a Noble Phantasm is the symbol of a heroic spirit, this Reality Marble is my Noble Phantasm. I can reproduce and store any weapon that I see the original of. This is my ability as a heroic spirit."

"――――――――" Saber gasps. She looks with blank amazement at the extending graveyard of swords in the desert. The ashen sky and steel wasteland, devoid of all life.

"This is… your world, Archer?" "Yes. I do not mind if you would like to test it out. I shall reproduce that holy sword of yours."

"My holy sword…? Are you saying that, knowing its true identity, Archer?" "Of course. A weapon of such rank cannot be perfectly reproduced, but I can get it close. What will happen in that case? Will the people around us survive when the two holy swords clash?"

"Wha――――Archer, you…!" "Yes. Do not use your holy sword, Saber. I will have to oppose you if you do. In that case, the ones to disappear would not be us, but the people around us. …Knowing you, you would protect that kid at the cost of your own life. Even I will die if I project the holy sword. In that case, only Emiya Shirou would survive. That would be pointless."

Archer raises his left arm. The swords behind him float up one by one.

"―――Do not oppose it. You should not die instantly if you are lucky. You can have your Master heal you after it is all over." Archer points to Saber. The numerous swords point towards Saber. All of these weapons are sure to kill.

"―――You can dodge them, but in that case, give up on the kid behind you." And he gives the command.

"……!" The numerous swords are shot. Saber does not move. She confronts them, intending to deflect all the weapons using her sword, even prepared for her own death――――

"―――――Trace, on." I can't think because of my headache. My Magic Circuit can only handle one more projection. My insides are burned up and almost melted. But such concerns vanished when I saw this world. Before I realize it, I have jumped up, run to Saber, and am glaring at the annoying swords.

"Shirou!? No, quickly――――"

I don't care. For now, the oncoming 18 swords. Analysis of all of them cannot be completed with my eyes alone, so my senses run wild and… Go past the fastest speed, go faster and faster and faster…

They approach. Something like a cocking hammer goes down in my head.

"Don't――――" I stick out my left arm. I have no doubts. I've copied him so many times. If there is nothing wrong with the theory… "―――Be ridiculous, dammit…――――!!!!" …There is no way I can't reproduce the rain of swords in front of me――――!

…Broken pieces fly around. When I open my eyes, his Reality Marble has disappeared. The only things there are the broken pieces of swords and… "Haa――――ah――――, ah, ha――――!" …A hellish nausea as if my organs have come up to my throat.

"――――――――" After glaring at me in disgust… "Hey―――Archer, you――――!?" He takes out Tohsaka from the cage of swords and restrains her.

"……! …………!" Tohsaka struggles to get away from Archer. "Ah――――huh……?" What did he do? Archer places his hand on Tohsaka's neck and renders her unconscious.

…And he leaves the temple. With Tohsaka in his arms, Archer jumps to the stairs leading up.

"…Where are you going, Archer?" "To a place where there won't be any intrusions. I am out of magical energy as well. I do not have enough power to defeat both of you."

"――――Are you taking Rin as a hostage?" "No, she is an exchange. As long as I have her, that kid has to come after me. But more importantly, Rin is your Master now. Even if you want to protect that kid, you should not be able to put his life over your Master's."

"――――――――" I bear my nausea. I strain my fainting mind and listen to what he has to say. "――――The… outskirts." And. I say so with a shaking throat, not even able to look up.

"What?" "―――I said the forest in the outskirts of the town. There's an empty castle there. We won't cause trouble for anyone there." "Shirou…!?"

"You want to complain to me, right? Fine, I'll listen. I also have complaints against you." My vision flickers. Even as I speak, I feel sick, as if in another dimension.

"The forest outside the city… I see, the Einzbern castle is there. There certainly should be no interruptions there. ―――Hah, that is good determination, Emiya Shirou." "…Shut up. But…" I don't want to hear meaningless things. If I do hear them, I won't be able to hold this nausea in and I might vomit out my organs.

"―――Do something to Tohsaka before then. And I'll kill you with Saber for sure." I make this oath. I violently scratch my forehead, tearing off the skin in an attempt to silence my headache.

"All right. I shall guarantee a day of her safety in deference to the specification of the place. ―――But hurry. I don't have time, as I have no Master. My body should not last two more days. I might kill my hostage out of anger if I cannot kill you in that time."

…Leaving an annoying laugh, Archer disappears.

"――――――――" I slump to the floor, unable to keep my eyes on him.

"Shirou…! It is too early for you to use the same projection as Archer…!" An arm comes and supports me as I start to fall.

"……I'm sorry, Saber. He got Tohsaka." I suppress my headache and manage to get up.

"Shirou… that is fine. Rin is safe. Archer should not do anything to Rin. You are in more of a danger right now. You should leave Rin to me and rest at your place."

"……No. I don't have such time…" I try to finish, but I start to faint. …Damn. I can't even complain, huh?

"I will listen to you later. I will take you to your house for now. That is fine, right?" "――――Hey――――wai-" …I don't even get to object. Saber supports me and starts to walk to the stairs.

The sky is still gray. We leave the now-empty church.

"Oh. So you guys are done, huh?" …Then. I see a familiar spearman in front of me.

"――――――!" Saber glares at him while supporting me. She's so tense that she might slash him if he takes another step.

"…No, you're mistaken, Saber. He helped us." "Huh…? Did Lancer help you, Shirou?"

"…Yeah. …Don't fight him now if possible." Saber stares at Lancer in astonishment. …It seems he's enjoying Saber's reaction.

"I understand… but why, Lancer? Are you conspiring?"

"Huh? Oh, are you stupid? Of course I'm conspiring. I won't help someone unless I'm plotting something secretly." Lancer's words are blunt.

"…Ha." I knew he was that kind of guy, but he's thorough as he's making fun of Saber as well.

"Hm. What is so funny, Shirou?" "Eh…? Was I laughing…?"

"Yes, you were. I guess I was mistaken. It seems I do not need to support you if you are well enough to laugh." Saber is mad. …It's bad, but I'm relieved.

Saber is just like before. Our connection is lost, but she's here just like before. Then――――what's there to regret?

"…Sorry. I guess I let my guard down. Now's not the time, right?"

"―――No. We should rest for now even if we are to rescue Rin. …Lancer, I do not know what your intention is, but your job should be over. Leave now. I will not fight you here." With this, Saber goes down into the clearing.

"……? Hey, everything went well―――or I guess not. What happened, kid?" "Archer took Tohsaka. We're going to go rescue her." Suppressing my dizziness, I meet his gaze and answer him.

"…What? Hold on, what's going on?" "――――――――" …I'm sorry, but I don't have any energy left. I'm not able to explain such a long story, I should go home and――――

"Archer's objective is to kill Shirou. He has abducted my Master, Rin, and requested a one-on-one fight with Shirou if we want her back. Her life will not be guaranteed unless we go to him within a day."

……Well. It helps me out if you can do the explaining, but it does nothing to explain the situation to Lancer.

"――――Damn, he really did it this time." …Then. He takes off his friendly face and grits his teeth.

"…Lancer?" "So, what? He betrayed that young lady not only once, but twice?" "Uh… yes, that would be the case. What about it…?"

"―――This isn't the time for that. …Damn, I've changed my mind. This was the only help I was going to offer, but let me help you a bit longer. I won't be able to have peace of mind like this." Having said this, Lancer starts walking.

"――――――――" Saber watches Lancer silently. …I understand how she feels. He's saying that he'll come with us.

"…I say. What kind of magic did you two use to get him on our side?"

Saber sounds more shocked than amazed. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to reply, as my wounds are starting to hurt again. …No, first of all… I'm the one who wants to ask that question.

Interlude 14-3

――――And I recall his dream.

The memory of the guy that was set up as a hero. The story of a knight whose end came at a place I can't reach.

This hill is his world. This desolate land is what the man who kept on fighting for others obtained. I guess he smiled and died in satisfaction in this place.

"――――He's seriously stupid." …That's right. It just makes me mad. He tried his best, worked hard even though he's an ordinary person, and finally obtained a miracle with his blood. Then it'll be a lie unless he becomes happy. If he made many people happy, he should become happier than all of those people combined.

But he did not receive such a reward. What he obtained in its place was the fate to be summoned as a "guardian" after his death.

"――――――――" That's right. Why didn't I realize that simple fact? The guardians are summoned into every age. Doesn't that conversely mean that they are summoned from every age? From the present and the past. Heroic spirits can even be summoned from the future.

Since guardians are pushed into a "seat" away from the time axis, the concept of time does not exist for them. As soon as one becomes a heroic spirit, they sublimate into something other that what they used to be when they were human. Then―――― It is possible for a guardian to be summoned into the place and age they lived in when they were alive.

"――――――――" It's vexing when I think about it. It's because neither of them is saved. The one that watches his previous self… The one that watches his eventual self… They will both be hurt by the gulf between them.

I know the end of this big idiot who tried to be of help to others. He became a guardian by choice. He thought that it would be great if he could keep saving people even after he died. He could not save people when he was alive because he was powerless. But he believed he could avert every tragedy as a heroic spirit.

Thinking so, he made a contract with the world, gave his body after his death, and saved a hundred or so people. He believed that he would be able to save more, tens of thousands of people, after his death.

――――But such hope was betrayed. Heroic spirits are summoned only into hell. They appear only when the world is about to be destroyed by people. Humans are beings that will perish from their own doings. So the process of destruction must always be the same.

He was summoned only into these "hells". In the land of death where the ones he wanted to save were already dead, he killed even more humans. The boy who stated he just doesn't want to see anyone cry… …Could only see crying humans forever.

There's only one thing I can say. He has been betrayed by many things. And in the end, he was betrayed by the only thing he believed in, his ideal.

―――I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body, and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to Death. Nor known to Life. Have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything. So as I pray, unlimited blade works.

…That is the only spell given to him. What is that? I'm so mad that I want to hit him and scold him.

I, Tohsaka Rin, have never had any hardships in my life. So I might not have the right to say it, but I believe in working hard and going through pain. It's wrong not to be compensated for your fights. That's why I'm angry at his uncompensated life, and most of all―――I can't leave him be because he ended up cursing his life.

'You're my Servant, so I'm only going to do what I believe is right. I'm not as loose as Emiya Shirou, but I do have some things I cannot give up. I won't give it up no matter who's telling me so―――'

…That's right. That's why I decided… That as long as I'm his Master, I will believe in my path like he used to do.

That's about all I can show to him. That's the only way I can repay him. It might have been meaningless, but still… I do it so that Archer, the one who lost his own past, can realize that his life was something he can be proud of――――

"Ah…… Hm……" The first things I notice after I wake up are the sensations in my limbs. They hurt and I can't move them. "……I'm tied up." I'm sitting on a chair and slept in a bad position.

"――――――――" …I don't want to admit it, but this is the worst possible situation. I can't do anything. My hands are behind the chair and restrained by something like handcuffs. It goes the same for my legs, and I can't even stand up. The handcuffs and the shackles are magic resistant, and my Magic Circuit is so messed up that I can't even create magical energy.

"――――――――" Now that I've checked my situation, I survey my surroundings. …It's cold. This room made of stone has no heater, and it is a ruin that hasn't been used in a while. It's dark outside the window. …From the looks of it, I think it's around ten o'clock at night.

"So. What do you intend to do, Archer?" I glare into the darkness. …By the pillar… The knight in red is sitting on a pile of rubble.

"It's nothing. You're just bait to lure out Emiya Shirou. You should know that." "…Heh. Shirou would come even if I'm not here. You should know that."

"―――You're right. But it would be inconvenient if you're there with us. I'll have you stay quiet here until the matter is settled." Archer says so without appearing in front of me. There's no sign of his previous friendliness. He is a calm "cleaner" now.

"I see. So you will kill Shirou no matter what?" "Yes. Such a soft person should die." He answers as a matter of course. I can only see the shadowed side of his face from here. His expression is cold, and he looks like he has a mask on. That――――makes me seriously angry.

"…Heh. I know without being told that Shirou's soft." I breathe in. It'll end once I say this. My Archer will never return once I say this. I take a breath and glare at the guy in the shadows.

"But I love that soft part of him. He should be like that. I'm saved by having a guy like him."

"But what about you? You went so far, but you think that holding a selfish ideal is wrong? You fought over and over for other people, you got betrayed over and over, and you were forced to clean up after them over and over―――! Were you disgusted with humans after that, Archer…!?"

I get even more angry as I speak, and I'm screaming it out now. "――――――――" …Archer doesn't answer. The face in the shadow is a face I've never seen before.

End of Interlude

'―――You cannot save everyone.'

When I heard this from the man I believed could save anyone, I felt resistance.

'―――Look, Shirou. A superhero can only save the people he has sided with.'

I didn't like those words either. I didn't want the superhero himself to say these things.

…Since that time, Emiya Shirou's whole life may have been focused on overturning those words. There's no need for sacrifices. Nobody will get hurt if you work hard and do your best. My father should have yearned for that as well. So…

'Yeah――――I'm relieved.'

…I cannot look away from his last moment.

Tohsaka told me such a life is unnatural. …I know. I realized that a long time ago.

There's no world where nobody gets hurt, nor can one seek happiness without hurting others. Such a utopia does not exist anywhere in this world. Emiya Shirou's search for superheroism is just hypocrisy.

'There is nothing at the end of helping people.'

So… I know that without being told.

'It is a false life that can save neither yourself nor others.'

…Yeah. Even if it may be true, I won't let you say it.

I don't care if anyone other than him denies it. But I won't let him say it. We have the same beginnings, and even if I may eventually become like him―――no, all the more if that is the case. That is why I have to deny him. As he does not approve of the former Emiya Shirou… I will not approve of him as long as I exist.

…Even if this dream may be a distorted one. If I have believed in it and if I am going to believe in it, I――――

"――――――――" I wake up. I look at the clock right away and see it's eleven o'clock right now.

"Are you awake, Shirou?" Sitting Japanese-style, Saber greets me in a calm voice. …It's been half a day since I came home from the church. She must have watched over me ever since I fainted.

"Yeah, I'm awake. My body's fine. I'm not tired and my headache's gone." I get up from the futon. My limbs are fine now. The Magic Circuit I overused is still exhausted, but it hasn't burned up.

"――――Are you going, Shirou?" Saber suddenly asks. The answer's obvious, so I silently nod back.

"…I see. Then I shall go with you. But, Shirou. Rin is my Master. It is my role to save her. I will stop Archer, so…"

"No, you got it backwards, Saber. I'll fight Archer." I interrupt Saber. She looks at me uneasily. "…No, Shirou. Archer is your―――" She hesitates to finish her sentence.

"I know. I've probably known who he was from the first time I met him." I've opposed him without reason from the first time we met. I stubbornly hated him, thinking that I could not approve of him.

…It's natural. People can only look away when faced with their own mistakes.

"…Yeah. But that's why I can't approve of him. I have to settle my score with him."

I stand up. My body feels great. There's only half a day left until the deadline. …I can't spend any more time resting.

"Shirou." "…I don't have any right to say this, but please, Saber. I'll fight Archer. Don't help me, no matter what happens." I bow as I ask Saber.

"―――There is no need to act like that, Shirou. I shall obey if that is your wish. I have sworn to be your shield. I shall observe your fate until the very end."

"――――――――" Her answer is perfect. Her clear voice sweeps away the uneasiness within me.

"Thank you. It's reassuring to know that you'll be watching me." "Yes. I am glad you are like that, Shirou." She smiles back. We're prepared for departure now.

We leave my house. Who would have thought I would go to that castle again?

"―――Hey. You guys aren't listening to me, right?" "Huh?" "Huh?" We both turn around.

…Oh. Come to think of it, Lancer was still here.

"…Oh. You have more free time than I thought, huh?" It just slips out.

"……" He must be self-conscious, as he doesn't try to retort.

"Lancer. I do not know what you are planning, but there is nothing to gain from following us. Archer is a Servant without a Master. I do not think your Master would want to defeat such a person."

"I know, I know. I have no intention of fighting Archer. You can rest assured that I won't butt in on the fight."

"…Then why are you going to come with us? If you want to settle the match with me, I can do it right here." "No, I'll pass on that. I have no intention of fighting against your Master. Rather, I want to sell her some favors. I want her to be in debt to me."

"………" Saber glares at Lancer, and Lancer ignores her.

"―――Okay, do as you wish. We can use all the help we can get in saving Tohsaka." "Shirou…! Lancer is an enemy. You cannot make such a rash decision――――"

"That should be all right. He's twisted, but he won't lie. First of all, he's not the sneaky type. He'd come fight us straight on before he would try to trick us." "Hm… That is true, but…"

"Well, I'll turn him down if you don't want to. But he'll follow us even if we let him be. So isn't it easier for us to have him near us where we can keep watch?"

"Hm―――you are getting better at making excuses, Shirou." "Well, a lot has happened. Well, that's it, Lancer. We won't concern ourselves with you, and you don't bother us. Let's go together if that's fine with you."

I say to the guy that's watching us with a smile.

"Good enough. Wow, you guys are a great combination. Saber's stubborn, so I'm glad you're more mature now."

"T-That is not true! Shirou is the stubborn one. You do not know how much trouble I have been through!"

"What? Are you going to tell me if I ask? Fine, we have some time until we get to the castle. Let's entertain ourselves on the road with your stories."

"――――! W-Why do I need to explain such a thing to you? You have nothing to do with this!" Saber roars at Lancer.

"……Wow." I guess Saber doesn't get along well with Lancer. But I never thought Saber would get angry like Tohsaka.

"――――Oh well. Let's get going. We don't have time to be playing around. We have to get to the castle as quickly as possible." I leave the two and start walking.

"S-Shirou…! I am not playing around!" She must still be mad, as she yells at me. Lancer follows us from a distance.

It's midnight right now. I know how far the castle is from here. We should make it in time.

――――We'll probably get there around dawn. We start to walk to the masterless old castle.

15th Day - After image

Interlude 15-1

It is daybreak. The knight in red is leaning against a pillar and staring at his arm. Putting strength into his fingers, he makes a fist. His body is only half responding. Even heroic spirits cannot maintain their existence in this world without their Masters. He still exists because of the special class ability of Archer, but he's almost at his limits.

His remaining strength is not even a tenth of his original powers. His muscles are weak, and his body will slowly disappear if he loses focus.

"――――――――" But there's no problem. Even if he has less than a tenth of his original power, it is enough to kill Emiya Shirou. Considering the difference in their abilities, this isn't even a handicap. Therefore, it will end once they fight. His one and only objective will be accomplished here.

"――――――――" …That's right. He has waited for this time. He has endured the endless repetition hoping for this chance. He has awaited a miracle that would not occur, a miracle with a probability close to zero.

And his wish was granted. No, it is about to be granted. …He does not care what awaits him afterwards. He will kill his own self with his own hands. The hopeless, futureless wish is what kept him going after he wore out.

"―――Was it long? Or was it an instant?" He is an existence that disappears after each summoning. His memory does not remain, no matter how many times he repeats the cycle. It only stays in his body as knowledge. Heroic spirits recognize other heroic spirits because of these accumulated facts.

It's just like a book. Every time a heroic spirit is summoned, the book with its story is sent to its home. The heroic spirit itself remains in the house, reading those books. The trouble is that the one at the house does not know when those books arrived.

Past or future do not matter. All the "books" are already in his room. His only way of measuring time is to read the records of his "cleaning" that he will accomplish.

It makes no difference if it's eternal or instantaneous. Eternity is instantaneous, and an instant is eternal. Therefore, he does not know how rare this miracle is. He does not know if this is the first time or the thousandth time since he obtained this hope. …All he has is unordered knowledge. Past, present, and future are meaningless for heroic spirits.

"…A guest, huh? I chose this place because I was told there would be no interruptions here." The knight in red suddenly gets up. Did his ears hear the sound of the intruder? Footsteps echo through the silent castle.

"―――Wow. I'm surprised, Tohsaka. I was dubious, but you really are here." A voice echoes. The rude intruder is a boy called Matou Shinji.

"Oh, don't do anything violent, okay? I don't have any business with you. You have no business with Tohsaka either, right? Then isn't it meaningless for us to fight here?" Matou Shinji walks forward with light steps. He is looking at Tohsaka, who is tied up. The girl glares silently at the intruder. That must delight him. He licks his lips in satisfaction and walks to the girl.

"――――――――" "What?" Stared down by the knight, Matou Shinji looks up in annoyance. "What, you want to fight me? Are you serious? You'd be no match for me!" He smiles and turns back to the entrance.

There stands a man with golden hair―――the eighth Servant, Gilgamesh. He is, literally, a disaster. The golden Servant looks at the knight with cool eyes. ――――But within them… The red eyes only show the intent to brutally kill the enemy in front of him.

"――――――――" The knight in red is still silent. It makes no difference even if Matou Shinji appears or if the strongest Servant is ready to attack him. The knight calmly stares at the uninvited enemies.

"Haha. You're scared, right? It's nothing to be ashamed of. He even killed Berserker. It's natural for you to be scar――――" "―――Do you want Rin, Matou Shinji?" "Huh…? Y-Yeah, of course. There's no other reason for me to come to this castle."

"I see. Then wait until this is over. I will give her to you after I kill Emiya Shirou. She is mine until then. It cannot be helped if you cannot compromise on that. ―――It will be regrettable, but you will die here, Gilgamesh." The knight's eyes remain on the golden Servant as he speaks.

"Very funny, you fool." Were those words reason enough for the man to kill Archer? The golden Servant identifies the knight in front of him as a target he must kill.

"Oh. Hold on, Gilgamesh. Don't be rash, and let's be smart. Come on, he says he's going to give her to me, so I'll let him. Archer doesn't have a Master. I'm sure no Master would make a contract with a Servant that betrayed so many people, so he'll disappear if we let him be. I can take Tohsaka after that."

Matou Shinji smiles and stares at the knight in red. It looks as if he is enjoying the fate of the one who is about to disappear.

"You're smart, Matou Shinji. That's an intelligent decision. You are a most fitting Master, in a sense." "Oh, you show promise! How wasteful! I would've made a contract with you if you came to me!" Stepping away from the knight, Matou Shinji claps his hands happily.

"But I'm sorry. I don't need any more Servants. It's unfortunate, but you'll have to disappear." "You do not need to tell me. So what will you do? Will you fight me, or wait until I disappear?"

"Yeah, I'll wait. You're pretty decent, so we'll protect Tohsaka until you kill Emiya. But, yeah. That thing is mine already, right? Then I can do anything to her, right?"

He stares at the knight and Tohsaka Rin with snake-like eyes. His words are to test the loyalty of the knight. To that… "―――I have promised Emiya Shirou that she will not be harmed. But that promise is over at dawn. You can do as you wish when the time comes." The knight in red replies in an emotionless voice.

"Ha――――Haha, hahahahahahahahahaha! Did you hear that, Tohsaka!? Your Servant is selling off his Master!" Sneering laughter echoes in the dirty room. The knight exits as if he's not interested.

"――――――――" "――――――――" Archer passes by Gilgamesh. Archer ignores his mocking gaze and walks into the hallway. At that instant…

"――――――――Faker." The king of heroes says so as if despising him.

End of Interlude

It's daybreak. There is less conversation as we make our way through the forest, and the silence gets heavier. I, Emiya Shirou, must fight that man when we get to the castle. There is no chance of victory, and a certain loss awaits. I know I'll just be killed once we start fighting.

"――――――――" I'm not scared, but it's not because I'm prepared for it. If you talk about dying, that man is already dead. It is equivalent for Emiya Shirou to be dead the moment I figured that out. That being the case, I have no reason to worry.

We go through the castle gate. Saber looks gloomy, maybe because she knows what kind of a fight awaits us.

What's troubling her is him and me. No matter who gets killed and who survives, the one to be eliminated is the same. Her desire to stop this ridiculous fight is causing her pain. Her eyes stare at the sky sharply, and maybe she's angry at the meaningless battle.

The hall is a ruin now. This place, covered with the morning mist, will become our place of death. "You're finally here. You're late, Emiya Shirou." A cold voice echoes. The familiar voice comes from the second floor. The man is standing at the top of the stairs which are lit by the morning sun.

His red outfit is far away and his figure is hazy in the white glare. But I can see him. I can see my enemy in detail. That should be the same for the man with the hawk-eyes.

The Servant with the role of Archer given to him. He is an archer, but not an archer, and he is a contradictory existence that has many Noble Phantasms, yet carelessly destroys them. All his Noble Phantasms are duplications, and the fact that he's able to produce swords in infinite number is his Noble Phantasm.

…I was the only one who did not realize his true identity. Heroic spirits are summoned from every age. If nobody from the past corresponds to him, then the heroic spirit must be from the future.

"…I finally realize now. There shouldn't be two of that pendant. That pendant is…" "Yes. That is the pendant you held on to throughout your life after you were saved. It is the one and only memento of Tohsaka Rin's father."

It is impossible that two such pendants should exist. If Emiya Shirou held on to the pendant throughout his life as he says, then…

"―――A catalyst is always needed to summon a heroic spirit. As when you summoned Saber, there has to be a connection between the summoner and the one summoned."

"Tohsaka Rin did not have a catalyst to summon a heroic spirit. Therefore, she thought that she had no connection with the Servant she summoned. ―――But no heroic spirit is summoned by chance. A physical connection is absolutely necessary between the summoner and the heroic spirit."

"――――――――" If he's right, there can only be one answer. If Tohsaka did not have a catalyst connected to Archer, then――――

"Yes. It is when the heroic spirit has a catalyst connected to the summoner." "――――――――!"

The jewel is the only one of its kind. My life was saved, but I did not know who saved me. So I held on to the pendant which I thought belonged to my savior. …That's the answer. If he has Tohsaka's pendant, then there is only one person who he can be.

――――Heroic spirit Emiya. The future me. The heroic spirit before me is Emiya Shirou, who perfected his skills and made his ideal come true.

The knight in red―――Archer looks down at me from the top of the stairs. There's no one around him. He is standing alone in this vast hall.

"Archer. Where's Tohsaka?" "I have left her somewhere in this castle. You should hurry if you are worried about her. You were late, so I gave her to Matou Shinji, since he came earlier."

"Wh――――at?" "I kept my promise with you. I will not harm her. But it does not concern me what other people do to her."

"But, the result is pretty obvious. Matou Shinji feels hatred and lust towards Tohsaka Rin. One does not need to think what he will do to her. He might not be able to restrain himself if she provokes him, so he might be killing and raping her right now."

"――――――――!" I get pissed off. How can he say such a thing so calmly――――!?

"Oh, don't get impatient, kid. Leave that girl to me. I'll go save her." "Eh… Lancer?"

"It's an order from my Master. My entire reason for joining you was to keep that girl from dying. …Still, this was rather comfortable. I didn't feel bad yesterday. It's rare for me to like my job."

With those words, Lancer ignores Archer and heads to the west terrace.

"Lancer." "Don't worry about it. I'm doing this out of my own interest. …Well, I've been given many disgusting orders up to now, so I'll at least follow through on this. You can concentrate on your own affairs."

"――――Okay. I'm leaving Tohsaka to you." He lightheartedly replies with a "yes". Then. Lancer stops and turns around as if he remembered something.

"Hey. What are you doing, Saber? You're coming too." "――――――――" Saber lowers her eyes painfully. "No. I will stay here, Lancer." She stands next to me and replies unlike a Servant.

"Are you serious? That girl's your Master now, right? You should be protecting your Master." "I understand that. But I still would like to stay here. …I need to watch over this fight." "―――――Fine. Do as you wish."

Lancer leaves. He easily jumps up to the terrace and disappears into the passageway.

Archer does not do anything. It's as if he's saying Tohsaka is useless now.

"――――――――" I step over the rubble and walk forward. I'm heading to the center of the room, at the foot of the stairs. Forcing down her emotions, Saber stands still to watch over our battle.

"You won't do anything, huh? That's good. If Saber interrupts me right now, I'll have broken my contract with Rin for nothing."

"――――――――" I can hear Saber's hesitation. Saber takes a quick breath and replies to the man at the top of the stairs.

"I will not interfere. I will not do anything during your battle with Shirou." "Very good. I can kill him at ease." "…Yes. But please answer me before that. Why are you trying to kill Shirou?"

"―――There's nothing to explain. Just as he cannot approve of me, I too cannot approve of him."

"That cannot be true…! You are Shirou. You are the ideal of Emiya Shirou, the one who became a hero. S-So why are you trying to kill yourself…!?"

"Why do you think? The hero called Emiya and the inexperienced Emiya Shirou are two separate beings. We cannot exist at the same time unless that is the case."

"That is because you became a Servant. I heard that guardians can be summoned into the age in which they lived, since they are not bound to the time axis…! You are Shirou. You should be the personification of his ideal, the person he became after much hard work. So why――――" She finishes in a broken voice, "Why are you so different?"

"――――――" Not responding, he starts down the stairs. "……" He cannot answer that question. If he were able to, we would not be fighting here.

"Archer…!" Saber steps forward to confront Archer. "―――It's fine, Saber. Just step back." I stop her with my hand and keep her at the entrance.

"But Shirou…!" "I appreciate it. But talking's useless. From the very beginning, his objective has been to kill me." "……!"

Saber bites her lip in frustration. Saber stares at me, then at Archer.

"…Why, Archer? I do not understand. I heard that guardians are ones who become heroic spirits after their deaths in order to protect people. So why are you trying to kill yourself?"

"―――――Guardian?" Maybe something she said got through to him. He stops and looks down at Saber without emotion.

"You're wrong, Saber. Guardians are not ones that protect the people. They are only cleaners. They are definitely not the heroes I once wished to become." His voice sounds different. Hatred and scorn fill it now.

"Archer…?" "I did become a hero. I became a superhero, just as Emiya Shirou had wanted."

――――A superhero. Someone who will not harm anyone. Someone who will not retreat no matter what disaster he may face, someone who can save everyone, someone Emiya Shirou wanted to become. And… That man became such a person?

"Ar… cher…?" "Yes, I certainly did save some people. I have made many ideals come true, and I have saved the world from danger several times. ―――A hero… I did reach the place I had dreamed of for so long."

"You became a hero―――then Shirou was rewarded, right…? At the very least, you made Emiya Shirou's ideal come true. Then you should not have any regrets. Shirou was able to make his wish come true."

There's no conviction in her voice. …She already knows. She knows that she is only voicing her own wish.

"'Make his wish come true', huh? I certainly did become a superhero, just like in my ideal. But all I obtained in the end were regrets. All that was left was death."

"I killed and killed and killed. I killed many people to act on my ideal. I killed so many that I stopped caring about innocent people, and I saved a thousand times as many as I killed."

"――――――――" Saber stares at Archer, speechless. She looks like someone who saw her own mirror image.

"―――Yes, I don't know how many times I've repeated the cycle. I fought as often as requested, and I fought with my life in danger whenever I knew there was a conflict. I fought many times. So many times that I can't even remember now."

"It can't be helped, right? No matter who I save, there are always people who will perish. No matter how many conflicts I resolve, new conflicts are always created. A superhero has to keep existing as long as conflict exists."

Who did he direct that to? The knight slowly descends the stairs and recounts his past.

"That's why I killed. I trampled on dozens of wishes to save one person. I ignored even more people to save those I trampled over. I killed scores of people, rescued only those in front of me, and destroyed many more wishes. I kept being stubborn, saying that it will end this time, that everyone would become happy."

"―――But it never ended. Conflicts come into my view as long as I'm alive. It was endless. I didn't dream of a world without conflicts. I just wanted people in my view not to cry."

―――That is… …Definitely my own wish.

"My vision expands after I save one. Ten after one. A hundred after ten. How many was it after a hundred? At that time, I finally realized that Emiya Shirou's ideal was just a convenient fantasy." "…Why is that?"

"Don't ask for the obvious, Saber. You should have experienced the same thing many times already. You cannot save everyone. I assume it was a daily routine for you to sacrifice a few people to save the country."

"……" The quiet voice is rendered powerless to object. The words of the red knight are Saber's darkness as well.

"Yes, the seats are limited. There are always fewer seats called happiness than there are people to fill them. Since you cannot save everyone, someone will have to be sacrificed. ―――And… I quickly killed the ones that would eventually fall out to minimize the damage. This is what it means to be that boy's vision of the ideal superhero."

The wish for nobody to become sad. The desire to save as many people as possible. When the two coexist and contradict each other, there is only one solution.

The only people a superhero can save are the people he sides with.

If one is to lose everything by trying to save everything…

It is correct to sacrifice one to save more.

"A superhero should save many people, right? That's why I killed. I prayed for no one to die, but I killed one to save many. I said I would not have anyone sad, but I brought despair to a few in the dark."

"And in time, I got used to it. To protect my ideal, I kept going against it. I only saved the people I tried to save and quickly killed the people who opposed me. I allowed 'someone' to be sacrificed to keep protecting my ideal."

"That is the true identity of the hero Emiya. ―――See. Don't you think such a guy should die?"

That's right. The only ones a superhero can save are people he sides with. …But. Who was it that defied those words?

"…That is a lie. Even if that happened, you would have protected your ideal by choosing yourself to be that 'someone'." "――――――" The knight stops for a second. A frown crosses his face.

"You did not go against your ideal. You only lost your path because you were betrayed by the ideal you protected. You would not think of killing yourself to atone for the sins unless that were the case."

"――――――" His ironic smile disappears. After coldly staring at Saber… "――――Ha. Haha, hahahahaha!!" …He starts laughing like a madman. …As if it's the funniest thing he's heard.

"Kuku, hahahahahahaha! Wow, that is great. Atone for my sins? Don't be stupid, Saber. I have no sins to atone for, nor have I forced such a meaningless concept on anyone." The knight calmly goes mad. He spoke in a small voice, but his laughter echoes through the hall.

"Yeah, you're right, Saber. I was certainly betrayed and deceived many times. I have been accused by the exact person I saved. After giving my all to stop a conflict, I was accused of being its cause, and was executed in the end. See? If I had any sins to atone for, I have already done so, right?"

"What――――impossible, Archer. You cannot mean your end is…"

"…Heh. So that was it. But I didn't care about that. From the start, I didn't do these things to be appreciated. I had no intention of being praised as a hero. I just wanted a result where everybody would be happy. ―――But such a wish never came true. Not within my lifetime, nor after my death."

He has stopped laughing. There's only hatred in his voice now.

"Guardians are a colorless force that places humanity's survival before anything. The powers are in the heavens, and the guardians appear in this world only when there's a chance of human extinction. …I knew they were just slaves. I knew that people who become guardians are removed from the circle of reincarnation and become like nothingness."

"But I did not care, so long as I could save people. Emiya Shirou could not fulfill his oath. So――――I thought it would be fine if I could become a guardian to take part in stopping humanity's destruction."

"――――But it's actually different. Guardians do not save people. All they do is clean up after humans. They take what has been done and nullify it with their powers."

"They do not save people. All they do is eliminate harmful people, without distinction of good or evil. They do not save people in despair. Instead, they eliminate people in despair in order to save others who are enjoying life. ―――It's so ridiculous. How am I different from before?"

―――There's no difference. There was just more despair. He relied on a greater power since his powers alone were not enough. But it ended up being the same. He thought the power would make his wish come true, but it only made him do the same things on a greater scale.

"…Archer. You have repeated such a thing forever…?" "I got used to it. Humans repeat things. The strong feed on the weak, regardless of what age we're talking about. And I came to realize that it is the most efficient way to prosper."

"―――Yes, I watched it over and over. Meaningless massacres, meaningless equality, meaningless happiness…! I was forced to look at them even when I refused to. As a guardian, I have no free will. I am called by the people only to take care of the crime people have created."

That is where he ended up. A being that repairs the damage caused by human desire. Guardians do not save people. Rather, they eliminate those who cannot be saved as if they never existed.

Over and over. For many times, he saw people nearly destroy themselves through their own actions, and he burned them down like trash each time. "Save as many people as possible". The man became a hero with that one wish―――but in the end, he could not make it come true even once.

"―――That's right. This is wrong. This is not what I wished for. I did not become a guardian for this…!!!!"

His anger is probably directed at himself. What is standing there is a worn-out corpse. The hero Emiya is doomed to always see the ugliness of those he wanted to save.

He grew to hate them in the end. He grew to hate humans for repeating conflicts. He grew to hate himself for thinking that humans are sacred.

"I don't want to clean up after people. But as long as I'm a guardian, there's no way for me to escape this cycle. ―――Save one exception."

Murderous intent flares in his cold eyes. He isn't looking at Saber. There is only one objective for Archer: to kill his own self. But even if he dies, the real body of Emiya, who is in the "place" outside of the cycle and not bound by time, will not disappear. There is no elimination for guardians.

They are "nothing" to start with. It is meaningless to kill something that is not part of the real world. …But. There is one way for him to disappear. If someone who is to become a hero is killed before he becomes a hero, that hero will never come into existence. Therefore――――

"Are you going to kill Shirou here with your own hands?"

"Yes. I kept waiting for this chance. It was a possibility close to zero. But I staked everything on it. I could not contain myself unless I believed in it. While I acted as a guardian, this was the one hope that kept me going."

"…That is meaningless, Archer. You have already become a guardian. So it is too late. Even if you kill Emiya Shirou, who has yet to become a hero, you yourself will not disappear."

"That may be true. But there's still a chance, however small. Just altering the past might not be enough, but the paradox will be even greater if I am the one to do it. If the distortion is large enough―――a hero called Emiya will disappear here."

"And Saber. This is what I've been waiting for. I am not looking for results now. ―――I'm just taking my anger out on a kid called Emiya Shirou, the one who will become a clown as a result of his stupid ideal."

And the knight in red comes down to the hall. Only Archer and I stand in the hall filled with rubble.

There's nothing separating us. The reason is simple. He wants to kill me, and I just want to beat him up because I don't like him.

"――――――――" I walk [wrap̠text="to"]to the center of the hall. I won't be able to back out once I take a few more steps. But before that… "Archer. Do you regret your actions?" …There's one thing I have to ask him.

"Of course. I… no, you should not have become a superhero." He spits those words out. And that dispels my last doubts.

"―――I see. Then we are two different people." "What?" "I will never regret my path. I won't regret it, no matter what may happen. So―――I will never approve of you. If you say you're my ideal, I'll destroy such an incorrect ideal with my own hands."

That's how I've been living up to now. I've always believed that I am right. As he says, I'm sure it's full of false courage and distortion. I've lost more than I've gained. But that's all the more reason why. I cannot withdraw for the sake of the things I've lost.

I walk forward. My circuit has already started sketching the blueprint in my mind.

"…That way of thinking is the cause of all this. There will come a time when you will reach me." "There won't be such a time. It will never come." "Oh. Does that mean you will be killed here before that happens?"

"――――――――" I take a step towards my enemy. We're close enough to strike at each other. We don't have any weapons. We confront each other empty-handed. Emiya Shirou is not a swordsman. We are beings that create swords. Then――――

"So it seems you understand. Yes, to fight against me is to compete in projection." The twin swords appear in his hands. …That night… The simple twin swords I admired in the Ryudou Temple. Rare swords that a legendary craftsman made at the price of his wife.

"――――Trace, on." I activate the completed blueprint and reproduce the twin swords using my image.

…What a bad job. The twin swords I once thought were perfect are too unprecise compared to his. An inferior illusion will become a delusion. Probably… My swords will shatter and disappear when they crash against his.

"――――――――" I take another step. Crunch. The rubble crunches under my foot. ―――That serves as the signal.

"Will you be able to keep up with my projection? You will die once your swords lose their precision…!"

―――The opposing swords sweep through the air. They are drawn together like magnets and clash into each other.

Interlude 15-2

The search ends rather quickly. Lancer is thought to be specialized in battle, but he is actually skilled in magic. Gae Bolg is not the only thing he obtained in the Country of Shadows. He is the hero who obtained all eighteen of the Runes of Origin. But since he prefers to battle using his lance, the magic rarely gets used. And now is one of the rare times.

"――――All right." The thing that flies above the floor suddenly drops. The Berkana Rune finishes its search and turns back into a stone.

"W-Who are you…!?" An unfamiliar boy stands up in confusion. "――――――――" Lancer realizes that he knows the voice and recalls who he is.

"You're Rider's Master. Oh, I thought you were dead alre――――" He stops halfway. He sees Tohsaka Rin behind the boy. She's tied to a chair. That's fine. That's to be expected since she's captured. But there's a bit more to the girl.

First of all, the chair is on the ground. She's tied to the chair, so Tohsaka Rin is also on the ground. Her long black hair is covered in sand and something red can be seen on her mouth. She must have cut her lip. There is also a slight bruise by her mouth.

"You're Lancer…!? What, who allowed you to come in here!? You're―――gah!" The fist smashes into Matou Shinji's cheek. The light backfist blows the boy to the wall.

"Oh―――sorry, kid. I guess I let my hand do the talking." He didn't kill the boy since it was unconscious. But it would not have been unconscious if Tohsaka Rin looked paler and her clothes were more disordered. He would have consciously tried to blow the boy's head off if that were the case. Actually, Lancer does not care how a captive is treated. But he will not tolerate having his spoils snatched by someone else. Spoils for him are enemies he has to kill and women he favors.

"Lancer…?" Tohsaka Rin groans, still tied up to the chair. She must have been unconscious as her voice is not too much different from when she wakes up. "Yo. It's morning. Wake up, you lazybones." Lancer gives an out-of-place greeting and walks to Tohsaka Rin.

"Eh―――w-why? This is the Einzbern castle." "I know. Oh, don't move. I'll cut your hands free. Do as you wish after that. You can go to the hall and stop the fighting idiots, or you can go home from the back door." The red lance appears.

"T-That's helpful, but―――behind you, Lancer…!" "――――――――" Lancer turns around at Rin's warning. "Wh――――at?" …The one appearing there is unexpected even for him.

The corner of the room… The one walking past Matou Shinji is… "Stop right there, Lancer. I ordered you to help them, but not to get this deeply involved." …Kotomine Kirei, the one assumed to have been killed by Caster.

"――――Kirei!?" Rin lets out a surprised voice. Lancer glares suspiciously at the priest.

"…Hey. When did you change your religion? Wasn't it my Master's belief not to come out into the open?" "I have no religion to change. You are going against my order, Lancer. I thought I told you to kill Archer. Did you fail, Lancer?"

"―――Heh. He'll disappear even if I ignore him. I just came to finish up an unfinished job―――but if you're here, does that mean that kid is a pawn of yours?" "Do not say it like that. We are cooperating. We work together in order to obtain the Holy Grail." The priest says so without looking at the boy moaning in the rubble.

"―――I see. I knew you wouldn't die so easily. Not only were you still alive, but you were doing things behind our backs, huh? …You have really bad taste. What are you doing, controlling that harmless Shinji?"

"Hm――――I see, so you see him as harmless, huh? You are the same as always, even in this situation. I would not be so reluctant to do this if you weren't so smart." The priest laughs. He looks and sounds as though he's giving a benediction to the dying.

"――――――――" A chill runs up the girl's spine. At that moment, she realizes her fate. With a saintly smile, the priest gazes upon the sacrifice, who had been his pupil for the past ten years.

"…Hold on, Kotomine. What are you going to do with her? Did you tell me a lie when you said you wanted to save your pupil?" Lancer glares at his Master while standing in front of the girl. "It is not a lie. I have raised her to be my tool. I have deceived her for ten years, so it would be boring if she retired so easily. That is why I ordered her protection. I have prolonged her life for only two days, but isn't that more than enough to show my love?"

"――――――――" The priest walks past Lancer and looks down at the girl on the ground. The girl glares at her former instructor.

"You fraud. I knew it was possible, but you really are a Master, huh? How unfair for a supervisor to take part in the game." "You are rather calm, Rin. So you did know, huh?"

"Of course. I didn't show you my Servant because I suspected you. …But I didn't think I was deceived from the start." "――――From… the start?" Then. The priest frowns as if the words are unexpected.

"…What? Do you have something to complain about, Kirei?" "――――No. You said 'from the start', so I was merely wondering when you meant by that." The priest grins. He looks down at the girl with utmost pleasure.

"――――Hold on. Kirei, you don't mean…" "Are you talking about the start of this Holy Grail War? Or do you mean the previous one?" "――――――――" With that, the girl understands everything. Her face turns pale, and she looks up at the man she studied under for ten years in disbelief.

"…I see. So you killed him, huh?" "Of course. He was my beloved teacher, so it was easy to attack him by surprise." "……" A grinding sound. The girl hangs her head and grits her teeth.

"Y―――ou, get lost in your afterlife, you damn priest…!! You have no place to be, okay!? Even hell wouldn't take a bastard like you! An impotent guy like you should lay on needles in hell…!!!!!" The girl keeps on cursing him.

Of course, the priest does not care about such things. But the boy is overawed by her change. Matou Shinji never thought Tohsaka Rin would show this much emotion.

"Kotomine. You know Tohsaka's mine, right? Only I have business with her. You can go to the church and wait for this to be over." "I do have business with her. I need her to become the Holy Grail here." Matou Shinji does not understand what the priest is saying. The only ones who understand are the priest and the sacrifice, Tohsaka Rin.

"It should be about the right time once Saber and Archer disappear. I don't want her to struggle and waste magical energy. Let's quickly get this over with." The priest walks away from the girl with those words. The only one in front of Tohsaka Rin is Lancer.

"Kotomine, you…" "Finish off that trash, Lancer. The vessel does not require a heart." Only Matou Shinji reacts to those words.

Tohsaka Rin glares at the priest, but bites her lip without speaking. The priest's smile already told her that she was going to be killed here. She understands that she will not be saved and that she won't be heard even if she begs for her life. That's why she doesn't complain. That is the only way she can resist and that is her will of opposition.

She won't give up until the very last second. Help might arrive even at this moment, and she might be the only one that survives after this room miraculously crumbles. "……Well, it won't happen." She won't give up, but she also understands it's impossible.

That's why she has no fear. Except for one thing. She imagines that boy's expression when he finds her dead after coming to save her. She doesn't want him to cry. It angers her that she's the cause of his tears, and she doesn't know how she can apologize to him.

No, she can't apologize if she dies, but she still doesn't want him to cry. "―――Sorry, Emiya-kun. I'm retiring first." So she decides to apologize ahead of time. It does no good, but it calms her down.

"What's wrong, Lancer? It's just a girl. It should be easy to pierce her." The priest shows no mercy. To that… "I refuse. I can't obey that order. Use the Command Spell if you want me to do it." Lancer replies while looking at the priest as if he is an enemy.

"What――――?" The priest narrows his eyes. The master and the slave. The air inside the room freezes as they stare at each other.

"…I see. I guess it cannot be helped. I do not like wasting a Command Spell on something I can do myself…" He raises his left arm. The priest activates the Command Spell on his arm.

"Then I will command you. ――――Kill yourself, Lancer."

"Gah――――" He vomits up blood. But that is nothing compared to the blood spilling from his chest.

"Kotomine, you――――" His voice is a whisper now. The spearman―――Lancer's chest and heart are pierced by his own lance.

"Farewell. Your duties are already at an end." "――――! [line12]" The man in blue armor falls to the floor. "Ah――――Ah." Redness permeates the floor. …There's no sign of him getting back up. The spearman in blue has been defeated by his own lance at the command of his own master.

"――――――――" The priest moves. He walks over to the girl and crouches down. …Her heart. He stoops so that he can easily pull out Tohsaka Rin's heart.

"Wha…! Kotomine, that's not what you promised! You said you'd give me Tohsaka!" "――――――" The priest gives the boy a wordless glance.

"N-No, you can't have Tohsaka! I have so much to pay her back for, so she has to be alive…!" Matou Shinji protests, his teeth chattering at the sight of Lancer's corpse.

"――――――――" "Ah――――Ah, uh――――" But he stops. The boy slowly retreats, unable to take the priest's stare. The priest looks from the boy back to the girl.

"Is there anything you would like to say in the end? I shall at least hear out your will." His words are simple. "…Humph. You should know what I'm thinking in a situation like this." Tohsaka Rin answers in her normal manner.

"You're right. You never give up until the very last second, Rin. At the very same time, you have this wonderful side of you that admits reality. ―――Yes. This contradiction is very mellow."

He shows no hesitation. The priest grabs the girl's breast―――right on top of her heart. "Hm……" The girl closes her eyes at the sensation.

A pierce. The heart is pierced and blood gushes out. Even after being abandoned, the room is still used as a disposal for corpses.

"――――――!" The one to gasp is Tohsaka Rin. Blood drips onto the floor. The dripping sound is made by something above her. From the chest of the priest who is looking down at the girl.

"――――――――Guh." Blood pours from his mouth. The wound on his chest is fatal. The weapon protruding from his back is the cursed lance that always strikes its target.

"――――――――" The priest shows no emotion. With his lips covered in blood, he turns to Lancer.

"Lancer. You…" "…Too bad, Kotomine. I wouldn't be a hero if I instantly died from a wound like this." Anyone can tell that the ironic voice is bluffing. Lancer has no vitality. He has no heart, and his body is about to disappear.

The demonic lance is pulled out. The priest, having nothing to show for his departure, falls and dies. No matter how great his mastery of magic or how powerful his divine protection, he is still a mere human. There is no way for him to be alive after being stabbed in his heart by the demonic lance.

"Heh――――so it did end like I imagined, huh?" The knight leans against the wall and tries to hold up his disappearing body. But it's only temporary. Lancer will disappear once he falls to the ground. He lost his heart and his Master. He is still able to maintain his body because of his "dirty survival tricks".

"Ha… haha, ahahahahaha! This is great, all the idiots can just kill each other!" "Eh――――Shinji?" The girl, who was staring at the dead priest, is brought back to reality by the laughing voice.

"What about the Holy Grail being mine? A useless guy stayed useless, huh?" Matou Shinji kicks the priest's corpse. The dead man does not move. That must have pleased him, as the boy kicks the priest's head with all his might. A heavy smacking sound echoes in the room. The sensation and the sound excite Matou Shinji more than he expected.

"But I won't complain. I'm not holding any grudges, and it's pitiful to keep talking to a corpse." He laughs. The boy, whose sanity is almost gone, walks toward Tohsaka Rin with staggering steps.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tohsaka. There was a lot of interference, but we're finally alone. There are only three more Servants. I'm sure everything will be over by the time you get tired of crying here."

He literally goes on all fours to get on top of Tohsaka Rin like a lizard. "But it's all good. I had some business with you as well. It'd really trouble me if you died too easily. That'd be very rude, since I've been waiting so long for this."

"―――Come on, beg me, Tohsaka. I might save you depending on how you act. The Holy Grail is going to be mine. I might consider sharing it with you if you're going to be mine――――" "I'm utterly amazed. Are you really that stupid?" Then. Even while she's tied up and being licked on her cheek by the boy, Tohsaka Rin speaks up.

"W-What…?" "I'm asking you if you've learned your lesson yet. You were just used by Kirei. …Listen. That Servant isn't one that can be handled. You should know that, since you've been near him. You should wake up and run away. You might still have time. You should run away as fast as possible if you don't want to die."

"Hah――――! You're just begging for your life! You're the idiot, Tohsaka. Kotomine died. Who would get in my way now?" Matou Shinji runs his fingers along the girl's body. At that instant… "――――Hey." Matou Shinji is punched away once again.

"Gi――――!" He is flung to the wall. "Stop it, kid. You're not worthy to touch that woman." Lancer glances at the boy and walks lazily to the girl.

"What? You're going to object to me when you're almost dead?" "――――――――" The spearman stops. He now turns to Matou Shinji.

"―――H-Heh. You would've died in peace if you'd kept quiet. Fine, I won't kill you so easily. …Come on, Gilgamesh. He wants to die in style!"

He raises his voice. Matou Shinji's Servant, the one who can kill any heroic spirit, is summoned by his master and――――

"…Hey. Damn, what's he doing…!? Can't you hear me!? I'm telling you to come here…!" His voice sheepishly echoes through the room. The golden Servant does not appear. The spearman covered in blood takes another step towards the annoying boy.

"Hi―――da―――damn, damndamndamn…! What's with you!? Why are you trying to be cool when you're almost dead…!? Die already! Don't you know you're just in my way, you mons――――" The lance is thrust. "Ah――――"

The quick thrust pierces Matou Shinji through his right shoulder. "Hi――――? Hi, hia, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!??????" His scream tears through the room. Lancer pulls out the lance with an almost bored expression and points it at Matou Shinji's temple.

"――――Get lost. I might be almost dead, but I could still easily kill a thousand of you." "Hi――――ha, haa, haa, hi――――" Retreating to the wall and shivering, Matou Shinji runs away.

"…Man. He made me waste energy." Letting out a big sigh, he walks over to the girl. The lance cuts away the girl's bonds like paper.

"―――Thanks. You really helped me out, Lancer." She thanks him as soon as she's freed. Unmindful of the dirt that covers her, she bows to Lancer.

"…Heh. Well, it just turned out this way. You don't need to thank me." At that instant, he falls.

"L-Lancer…!?" She tries to catch him, but does not make it. Lancer, who was leaning against a wall, crumples onto the ground. His legs won't move. Lancer's limbs are already dead. The fact that he still got up, killed his master, and freed her is unbelievable.

"Gah……!" Gushing blood stains his blue armor red. "……! Hold on, I'll heal your wound right away―――!" Rin runs to the bloody spearman. But Lancer stops her by raising his hand.

"It's useless. A heart pierced by my lance won't heal easily. And besides, you don't have magical energy to spare." "…But―――" "Don't worry about it. I'm used to this kind of thing. Heroes always die because of unreasonable orders." His casual talk is like always. The blue spearman does not change his tone, even on the verge of his death.

"……" The girl stands there speechless. Looking up at her, Lancer sighs as if the weight is lifted off his shoulders.

"―――Man. I guess we both ended up with boring partners." "…Yeah. But he was just hard to handle in my case." "You're right. I would've had no complaints if a woman like you were my partner―――but I never had luck with women. Man, this never changes." He laughs in self-derision. Then…

"…Well, get going. I'll take him with me. ―――You go back to your partner." The spearman in blue urges the girl. Lancer is holding the Ansuz Rune. The rune containing his remaining magical energy will burn this room to ashes.

"――――――――" Understanding his determination, the girl turns her back to Lancer.

"―――Goodbye, Lancer. I only knew you for a short while, but I also like you." She runs to the entrance hall. "―――Hah. Whatever, young girl. Come back when you're older." He sounds happy.

The room erupts in flames. The blaze burns Lancer's body and his master's corpse. Without leaving a trace. The red lance and the blue armor disappear in the flames like empty illusions.

End of Interlude

"――――!" The same swords, the same techniques clash. My attack and his attack are the same. But still, the blades chip away and my body is wounded the more we fight.

The attack that I blocked breaks through. Kanshou in my left hand is destroyed by his Kanshou and his weapon sweeps at me from the side.

"Ha――――guhhh…!!" I twist my body to dodge it, but it still slashes me. Although not immediately fatal, the wound will eventually overcome me.

"Da―――mn……!" I bear the pain by cursing and swing Bakuya at the close enemy…!

"Wha――――" It's blocked and destroyed as well. We have the same swords and the same techniques, but there is a gap that I cannot fill.

"―――Did you think my Kanshou and yours are equal? Your assumptions of the basic structure are too weak. Even if you get the appearance and the composition materials down, it is a matter of course for it to be destroyed if the structure is not reasoned out. Even an image falters if it is illogical."

My temple and my side. He attacks both my vital spots at once. "――――Ah――――!" I immediately "project" the twin swords and parry the attacks――――!

"――――――――!" My head hurts to the point of blurring my sight. It's not because of the strain of immediate projection. This is that headache. The instinct I felt when I was searching for Tohsaka. The slight fever I got every time I faced him. That strain now threatens to drive me mad――――

"Ha――――ah, ah――――!" I parry his attacks. I step in and slash at his body. ――――The red headache burns my eyes every time I do so. Is it because of the contradiction that Emiya Shirou and heroic spirit Emiya are existing at the same time? Ever since we recognized each other's identities, my body breaks every time we touch each other.

I traced his sword technique and even his reproduction ability. It's natural for them to suit me. His abilities are Emiya Shirou's optimal technique, perfected over many years of training.

There's no way it would not suit me. In trying to match his skill, I allowed myself to learn too much about my future self.

"Ah――――guh――――!" My eyeballs go numb. Every time I swing the sword, every time the sparks fly out, I'm attacked with a flash so strong that it could blind me.

I am no match for him, and my vision fills with red every time we exchange blows. If that's the worst of it, I don't care. My body is already torn apart. My headache is nothing compared to the burning wound in my stomach. The problem is that the headache won't stop because there's something I'm still drawing out from him――――

"――――That's the fifth one. You should be nearing your limits of reproduction using projection. I know your magical energy capacity. You have three more. …Even though I showed THAT to you, you still misunderstand."

His scornful voice contains some disappointment. Misunderstand…? I don't care about that. More than anything, I have to do something about this headache right now. The thing flowing from you――――

"Well, it will be impossible for you even if you arrive at that. It is not enough with the magical energy you can generate right now. Yes, either way――――"

My headache gets worse. He raises his twin swords to finish the match. "―――You had no chance of victory to begin with!" He swings them down in a cross.

"――――!" The swords I blocked them with are destroyed. My body becomes numb as if a hammer had been smashed on it, and the headache finally sears my brain as well as my eyes.

――――It's flowing into me.

So… This is… Scarier… Than the pain.

This is his memory. The reason he changed so much. I can see bits and pieces of what will happen to Emiya Shirou in the future.

I don't know if it was correct or not. Nobody will be able to determine that. The beautiful things were ugly and the ugly things were beautiful. There is nothing disgusting, once you look at it objectively. So why is there such a deviation? Sophistry, falsehood, trickery, vanity. Those are what he saw the most.

; ――――I am the bone of my sword.

…But still. It seems he did not care. There was an ideal and an oath he had to protect. He did not care what he lost to do so.

Even when he was betrayed, he believed there would be a next time if he did not betray himself. He did not show grief or pain.

; ――――Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.

He is like a cold-blooded machine to others.

He was a convenient existence, so he was conveniently used. He was only a tool in other people's eyes. But the machine had an ideal it wanted to protect, so it accepted its role as a convenient tool.

; ――――I have created over a thousand blades. ; Unknown to Death. ; Nor known to Life.

It's not something to go around proclaiming. The more he kills and the more he is unable to save, the less he can talk about his ideal. The only thing left for him is to obstinately protect his ideal until the very end.

And the result… The ideal Emiya Shirou dreamed of has never been accomplished, and he found out that it's just nonsense dreamed by a fool who is only a nuisance to others.

; ――――Have withstood pain to create many weapons.

See, this is his end. See, this is your end.

"――――――――" My mind gives in. I won't feel compassion. I won't feel compassion. I won't feel compassion. I won't feel compassion, but… My mind almost gives in, thinking that I will be following this exact path.

――――Yet, those hands will never hold anything.

What you believed in. What you believe in. You're shown that it is just a fantasy that is covered with lies, and still――――

"――――!" His weapon closes in. A horn-like sword comes to pierce my heart…!

"Guh――――――――!" I get away. I have in my hands the twin swords I quickly projected.

"Ha――――Haa, haa, haa, ha――――!" I force down my nausea. What――――was I seeing? Forget it. Forget what you just saw. You need to defeat him. You should focus everything on that goal……!

"―――I guess it's a miscalculation. I've heard of magic that lets you acquire skills from the past by possessing yourself with a previous self… It seems your skills improve the more you fight me."

"Ha――――a, haa, haa, ha――――" My shoulders heaving, I prepare myself for his attack.

"Then my projection shouldn't be the only thing you got from me. ―――That face. Seeing that nasty face of yours, you saw it too, Emiya Shirou?"

"――――――――" My breathing stops. Don't let me say it. Don't let me recall it. If you say what I just saw, I…

"Then it is simple. It's all true, Emiya Shirou." His red cloak moves. He closes in on me in an instant and thrusts the horned-sword――――!

"……!" It's destroyed in one blow. There's no way a hastily-constructed sword, and a first attempt at that, would match his sword――――!

"Fuh――――!" But. Even though I'm empty-handed, he throws away his sword. He projects Durandal, the renowned sword of the king――――

"Haah――――!" I skip about four steps and quickly reproduce his weapon. But of course, such an imitation is destroyed in one blow――――

"――――――――" I fall. I'm repelled, and I land with my back on the rubble.

"Ah――――kuh." That surprises me. The rubble turns red just by having me fall on top of it. …Oh. I already know, but it seems my body is almost dead, outside and inside.

"―――This is it, Emiya Shirou. Your foolishness for coming here when you know you won't be a match, a mindless imitation, imprisoned by a stupid ideal. Do you understand that those are your true identity?"

"――――――――" His voice echoes. My body is covered with wounds. It's bad how the wounds are so deep that I can reach inside them and take out my bones.

"There is no value in such a life. I'm sure of it. There is no value in Emiya Shirou's life. …It is wrong to save just because you want to save. You are a fake that should have never existed as you are broken as a human being."

"――――――――" My magical energy is almost depleted. Not only that. The Magic Circuit to run the magical energy is burned up. …No. If I talk about it burning up, it burned up yesterday when I used projection. It's just that an almost broken thing completely broke.

"Ha " But my body is telling me I can still fight. My mind bluffs itself, saying that it has not given in. "―――――――Oh." Then… I have to get up and defeat him.

"It's useless. I am your ideal. You should realize that you cannot match me." "Haa――――Haa――――Haa――――" …I focus the last of my will on the Magic Circuit. "!" My split nerves scream. But I carefully put together the eight steps.

"――――Trace, off." I project his twin swords. Kanshou and Bakuya, two great swords named after an ancient swordsmith.

"Fu――――ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!" I swing them. I keep attacking until my remaining energy runs out…! My twin swords are met by twin swords. Archer now holds Kanshou and Bakuya and parries my attacks without retreating. "―――I see. It's natural for you not to accept it. As I am your ideal, Emiya Shirou must not accept me more than anyone."

His calm tone pisses me off. I can't even breathe, but he is calm and composed.

"Damn――――!" I attack with all my energy. "Damn." He does not parry my attacks, but pushes them back. "Ha――――kuh……!" …I'm pushed back along with my twin swords. The difference in our powers is obvious. There's no way for me to win with pure strength――― "Heh―――then let me ask you, Emiya Shirou. Do you really want to be a superhero?" "――――――――" For an instant… My mind blanks out from the surprise attack.

"What―――I don't want to become one. I'm going to become one…!" I glare back at him. Then…

"Yes, you need to become a superhero. Because that is your only emotion. An emotion you can neither betray nor deny. ―――Even if that wish is not born from within you."

He stops me with words that grab my heart.

"Wha―――――" …Not born from within me… I deny them even before I think about what those words mean. I can't let him finish. I can't realize that fact. If I find out, Emiya Shirou's foundation will crumble.

"Oh. It seems you have a vague idea of it. No, you knew it, but you tried your best to keep that fact from yourself. I cannot even remember now."

"St――――――――" I start to say before I stop myself.

I don't want to know. I know that I shouldn't know. But still―――I know that I must know. The contradiction of Emiya Shirou. The answer to what is wrong with me, and how I am distorted.

"I do not have your memory anymore. But I still remember that scene. The flame filling my vision and the smell of death. The request for help and how I felt when it was granted. The look of relief on Emiya Kiritsugu's face when he saved me."

I realized that it is natural to die, and my mind emptied out. I was saved at that time. The man who saved me smiled with tears in his eyes. ―――That… …Is what I thought was beautiful.

"That's right. It's not that you felt guilty for being the only one saved. You just admired Kiritsugu. You wanted to become like him only because he looked so happy when he saved you."

……That's right. It's not me that got saved at that time. It's an assumption I did not even think about. If… if that fire was Kiritsugu's fault, he shouldn't have been able to bear that fact.

A tragedy without any survivors. Kiritsugu, the one who caused it, must have frantically searched for a survivor. And he finally found a survivor that should not have existed. The man found a surviving child that could not be saved. If you talk about miracles, it is…

"――――――――" But I knew about that already. I don't care about his circumstances. It was enough for me that he got me out of that hell. Even if it may have been for himself, it's true that he tried to save me and wished for my survival.

…That's enough. Emiya Kiritsugu saved a boy who had nothing. So――――

"Yes, it's natural for a child to admire his parent. But you went too far. It would have been fine if you just admired what Emiya Kiritsugu wanted to become. But he left you a curse at the very end. I do not even need to say it, right? That is everything for you."

'―――I'll make your dream…'

…That's the answer. Hearing my casual remark, he left the words 'I'm relieved' behind him. And then that man, who was emptier even than me, died. At that moment, Emiya Shirou had to become a superhero.

My will does not matter. For his sake, I simply tried to become what he had admired since he was small. The wish for everyone to be happy… …Is an impossibility dreamed not by me, but by Emiya Kiritsugu――――

"You should know, Shirou. Your ideal is borrowed. You are only imitating what Emiya Kiritsugu wanted to become, what Emiya Kiritsugu thought was right."

"―――――That… is…" I grit my teeth, desperately trying to resist my mind that is about to give in. But…

"A superhero? Do not make me laugh. Over and over, you said you wanted to help people. But that wish is not your own. You are conceited to think that such a man could help anyone―――!"

He attacks with his swords. With the weight of his contempt behind them, the twin swords are swung more strongly than ever before.

"――――――――Oh." Seeing those raging swords… I accept my own death, just as I did ten years ago. The force comes smashing down. There is no elegance in those attacks, and they are executed only using his strength. "Haa――――" My left arm shakes from blocking the attack.

My fingers that held onto the sword break. The sword I made using all my remaining power is bent back by one blow. "――――――――" I'm dead. I'm on the verge of death from the first blow. So there's no way I will be able to block the next attack.

"――――――――Oh." But still… My mind is about to give in, but my body denies it with all its might. It's telling me I'm wrong. It appeals to me, saying it's wrong to give in to his words and to die here.

――――I raise my head. My eyes aren't functioning. They don't see the enemy, but show his memories. …In them… I see myself curling up and desperately trying to live.

…The echoing of the swords isn't all I hear. He… He curses himself every time he attacks.

"That's right! I admired his desire to save people because it is beautiful!"

I block the oncoming attack. Bakuya is destroyed. All I have left is Kanshou in my left hand.

"But none of that feeling is my own. What else can you call it but hypocrisy!?"

Kanshou is bent and its existence is fading. …My heart is hurting. Not because of his attacks. His words slash at my heart.

"I was driven by my obsessive need to help someone. I kept running, neither noticing the pain nor how wrong I was!"

―――He keeps denying himself. My heart tries to give up every time I hear him. My body wants to succumb to the force of his attacks. But still… That same body keeps desperately denying him.

"But it's all a fake. Such hypocrisy cannot save anything. No, first of all, I did not know what I wanted to save―――!"

"Gah――――!" I'm smashed away. An attack as strong as one of Berserker's easily flings away Emiya Shirou's body.

"――――――――" But I still hold my ground. I frantically endure the attack coming down at me. I will not be able to get back up if I fall down. So my body refuses to let me fall.

"Ah――――haa, ah, ge――――uh……!" I thrust the rapidly-fading Kanshou into the ground and lean on it. My body sags forward, and I cannot even stand upright.

"Ha――――ah, haa, ha――――……!!" I use Kanshou as a cane and hold up my falling body with my arms. I must look pitiful. I might look as if I'm kneeling down and begging him.

"―――That ideal is a failure. The idea that everyone else is more important than yourself, the wish for everyone to be happy, is all just fantasy. If you can only live by holding onto that ideal, drown in your ideals."

He says that… There is no value in living, no, in my life itself.

"………" My weapon is about to disappear, and there's little point in trying to keep my body from falling. In contrast, he isn't even scratched. ――――The match is decided. No, the match had been decided from the start. There is no way for Emiya Shirou to beat heroic spirit Emiya.

…But that is a mistake. If the difference in our powers was large, the fight wouldn't have turned out like this.

It is my mind that lost. My mind was weak because I realized that I am wrong and that he is right. That was my only failure. Because――――

"………..Shut up." "What…?"

Because―――my body has been telling me I will not lose to you.

Why? Why did power enter my body every time he cursed my ideal as fake――――? "Shut up, dammit……!!!!"

"――――――――" I'll reach it. I'll definitely reach it. If parts of me are broken, then I just need to use the parts that aren't. If everything I have is broken, then use the parts I don't have. If my body hasn't lost yet, I can just reach out to the part of me that hasn't been used yet――――!

A headache. An instant of a few milliseconds. I see him, probably for the last time. I could not understand him. But I guess I can use his pain as a lesson.

…A hero who used a poem about himself as his spell. Even if I don't understand the meaning behind it… I will accept those words in your place.

"―――――――, I am…" I start the spell so that I can be proud of myself. Emiya's words hurt Emiya. He accepted that fact and chose to kill me. That's the only thing he could wish for in the end.

Then… Just as you deny me… I will defeat you with all my powers――――!

"――――I am the bone of my sword." I murmur the words without realizing it. I raise my head. I pour determination into my dying body. I swallow the blood clotting in my throat. Yang-sword Kanshou regains its image.

"You…" "―――That's right. I already knew that…" …This is just a dream. But I kept on believing in it because I thought it was right. Kiritsugu pursued it because he knew it was an unattainable dream, an impossible ideal.

Even if it may be unattainable… He believed that he would reach his destination if he kept running.

"Her sheath…! Its protection is still there, even though the contract does not exist anymore…!"

I ready my sword. I don't care about that. I… "―――I won't lose to you. I don't mind losing against someone. But I can't lose against myself―――!" I will keep on being Emiya Shirou――――! ―――It is an unbelievable technique.

"Nu――――!?" His attacking body is on the verge of death. His fingers are broken, his limbs are slashed, and his breathing has stopped without him even realizing it. His speed is nothing, and his attack is mediocre. The boy that has absorbed his combat skills to the point where he's able to fight decently, has now returned to fighting without them.

An unskilled, frantic attack. …But still… This blow is heavier than any that came before.

"Wh――――at?" Archer's indifference turns into surprise within a second. The swinging swords are crazy. They clash against his longsword with unimaginable speed.

―――Where is his power coming from? The attacks are unlike before. "You――――!" He cannot go into defense. This attack should cut through the boy's neck. Realizing that he cannot make light of the boy, he swings his sword.

Up and down, left and right. The four attacks are enough to cut off his limbs and to cut up his body to pieces――!

"…………!" The boy blocks them. No, exceeding his four attacks, the sword comes to slash his neck―――!

"――――――――!" Bringing back the longsword, he parries the attack.

"You…!" He intuitively understands that he will be killed unless he attacks. The longsword attacks the enemy that is on the verge of death, and the boy frantically swings his sword. Their swords crash in balance. The space is filled with sparks, and anything entering the space should be cut to pieces.

―――But it should be the last spark that a dying man gives off. The boy loses his breath every time he attacks, almost falls, holds his ground, and attacks again.

"――――――――" The sight reassures him. There is no power left in his enemy. The boy in front of him is literally on the verge of death. So… So why do those arms have seemingly infinite power?

――――I have no consciousness. I can neither tell what the enemy's doing, nor if my attacks are doing anything. My muscles are screaming for oxygen, and the lack of blood keeps ordering my body to stop. I suppress them altogether by force. "………isn't…" That's all that's filling my head. My ideal is fake. He's right. I can't be a superhero. As long as I admire such a thing, I will end up like the man before me. "……It isn't……!" But I felt beauty in it. I know it's just hypocrisy to value everyone else over yourself. ―――But still… I admired it, thinking how great it would be if I could live that way. That's the only thing driving my dying body. "――――――――!" He cannot hear what his enemy is saying. His enemy's voice is weak, yet his attacks are relentless. Looking, the boy's hands are one with the sword's hilt. It must be to keep the sword in place, but that will transfer the impact directly to his body. The boy is covered in blood, and he will fall forward and die if he retreats. Even swinging the sword should come with great pain.

"――――――――" He blocks it in annoyance. His dying enemy gets on his nerves, but… He himself gets on his nerves, because even though he knows it will end once he retreats, he is not able to do so. "――――――――" But how can he retreat?

Straightforward attacks without strategy. If it is a shame to turn his back to such attacks, it is also a disgrace not to block them. His enemy will self-destruct once he retreats. But he has a presentiment that he will lose something important if he does so.

"――――――――" The worries will end soon. His enemy is at his limits. He will fall after two more blows, or three at most.

"――――――――Damn." He clucks his tongue at the stupid thought. He previously thought that his enemy would last two more blows. But he has received over ten blows since then. The boy will not fall. "…………!" He cannot hear the boy's voice. The dying boy frantically opposes the obstacle in front of him. ―――That figure… He stares at the figure with his own eyes for the first time. I keep swinging the sword with arms that are about to tear off. The only thing I have left is this one thing I'm saying with all my might. "………isn't……!" My barrage of strikes are compensation for that scream. …There were people that could not save others, and there was me who could not save them. I swore to myself never to let such a thing happen again, seeing the memories that meaninglessly disappeared. "……It isn't……!" How long has it been since then? There were things I lost, and there were things I dropped. There are always things that will be forgotten. So I swore to myself never to forget this one fact. ――――To become a superhero. I will protect it even if it isn't my wish, or even if it is just sophistry to soften my guilt. It has to come true… The person who saved me died, leaving those words behind. I believe in the wish contained in those words. Even if everyone in this world disagrees with me, and even if I myself curse me, I―――― And so… He realizes that the attacks will not end. His enemy will not stop. He will not stop from his own will. The boy is attacking with all his might, but he is not looking at his opponent. The thing the boy is trying to defeat is his obstacle, his own self that is hindering himself. He is swinging his sword to enforce what he has believed in, what he will keep on believing in.

"――――――――" Realizing that, the man grits his teeth in annoyance. The boy keeps challenging it, knowing that he won't win and that there's no meaning to it. That is the exact mistake he has detested. ―――So why…? Why does he want to see how long the boy can continue?

"……! This is it, disappear――――!" He raises his longsword. His enemy's attacks are something he has to take seriously. He repels the attacks and crushes his enemy's skull for sure.

A clanging sound. The fatal attack is easily deflected. The one who could not block his attacks until now repels a swing made with all his might.

"――――――――" He gasps. He sees his enemy repel his sword and get back into stance. The boy's eyes are… …Looking straight at――――

The impact causes one of my arms and legs to break. My sense of pain hasn't been numbed. I use my fury to clamp down the pain that almost makes me wet my pants. I don't have enough water. I can't release excess things. The left side of the enemy's chest is open. Since half my body has broken, this will be my final blow. But such thoughts do not fill my head. The only thing in my head is… He pulls back his longsword to protect his open left side. He will make it. He will easily make it.

This is my final blow. "……It isn't a mistake……!" That's the only thing in my head. Even if Emiya Shirou is a fake, this is absolutely true. For everyone to be happy… That is an ideal everyone thinks of. So I won't back down. Because this dream is… ―――The unwavering gaze. Faults and lies, shaking off everything, running without stopping―――

"―――It isn't a mistake……!"

Those words are driven into his chest. An attack made at full strength, defense that should have been fast enough… The cogwheels never got into gear and the battle is decided quickly.

"――――――――" He hears the sound of the blade piercing him.

"――――――――" The one surprised is the knight in red. His enemy attacked with determination to defeat him. Then it is natural for his attack to do so. The boy does not need to be surprised, nor does he have anything to spare to be surprised.

"――――――――" That is why the knight is the only one that is surprised. It is a great wonder how he could not block an attack he could have easily blocked.

I support myself with my unbroken right leg. The sword in my hand has pierced Archer's chest.

"Archer, why…?" …Was she watching all this time from that place? Still standing at the entrance, Saber questions Archer.

"――――――――" Archer does not answer. He might not need to answer―――or maybe he doesn't know the answer.

"――――!" My fingers throb. My broken fingers scream at me that they do not want to hold the sword anymore.

"――――――――" …The knight in red does not move. Even with a blade in his chest, a Servant should be able to easily counter-attack. But his hands are lowered and show no sign of moving. I know without being told what that means.

"I won, Archer." I make the declaration while looking at him. The knight in red closes his eyes once, and…

"―――Yes. And I lost." He murmurs while looking off into the distance, as if to convince himself.

―――I pull out the sword. The projected weapon disperses as soon as it touches outside air.

"Ah guh." The tension floods out of me, and I finally take notice of my condition.

"……Ha." It's terrible. The slashed wounds are healing, but lots of places are turning dark red. …Archer said something about Saber's sheath, but what's that power putting priority on? It heals the torn flesh at once, but it seems to be putting off the broken bones until later.

"…?" Then. I hear loud footsteps from the west side, the hallway that Lancer disappeared into.

Someone's coming. She appears in the terrace and jumps down without hesitation. "Ouuuu――――" And she moans in pain at her landing.

"Shirou, are you all righ――― Wait, Archer! What's with that wound…!?" She follows her sudden arrival with a torrent of questions.

It seems Lancer saved Tohsaka as he promised. But―――Tohsaka's energy takes the power out of me. Does she want to check on my safety, or is she angry about Archer's wound?

"……Man, I am really soft-hearted. If she'd been more cruel, I wouldn't have returned to my old self."

He talks sarcastically, but his voice only contains warmth. After looking at Tohsaka once, the knight in red steps back as if to exit the stage.

"Well, the match is settled. A hero called Emiya cannot stay here now that he has approved of you. ――――The loser should leave right away."

"――――――――" Without saying goodbye to Tohsaka, huh? …His wound is deep and he has no Master. He will disappear here, and he will return to the original place as a heroic spirit――――

"Huh――――?" It happens in an instant. It is a fatal attack that takes the opening in me, as I have relaxed after seeing Tohsaka. Several swords are called forth. The rain of swords comes down to pierce Emiya Shirou's body and――――

I fall. I'm pushed back and I fall on my butt.

"―――――――" "Guh……!" I'm pushed back about a meter. In front of me…

…My broken limbs cannot support my body, and I do not have the power to get back up. And so… I can only look up at my self that got skewered in front of me.

"Who is it―――!?" Saber's scream cuts open the silence. She is looking at the second floor―――on top of the crumbled stairs.

"I have enjoyed it. Indeed, it was a pitiful battle, one befitting a pair of fakes."

"Archer……!?" "Ten years, huh, Saber? I was going to go see you earlier, but my plans have changed. Unexpected things kept on happening, and things are going against my will."

Servant Gilgamesh. The one to defeat Berserker, and the one who killed Ilyasviel. …He turns aside Saber's glare and looks down at me and the skewered Archer.

"Well, do you understand now? That is the strength of the real thing. No matter how well you imitate its shape and power, it is still only an imitation. It does not even approach the radiance of the real ones."

―――He raises his hand. It's as if he is ordering his soldiers.

"I cannot even stand to look at a counterfeit that a faker has created. ―――You piece of trash. You have nothing real within you. An imitation made by copying people should be turned into junk." He shoots numerous Noble Phantasms.

The unavoidable rain pours down. There are about thirty of them. I couldn't dodge or block them even if I was in perfect condition.

Clouds of dust spring up. The shower of swords tears apart the already-ruined hall.

―――But even in the midst of the chaos, I see it. The red cloak flies. Still skewered, he runs to me and pushes me once again.

"――――――――" I'm pushed away from the red figure. His eyes are telling me… …"You defeat him". That as long as I defeated Archer and as long as I want to be a superhero, I must defeat him.

The clouds of dust fill my vision. The red cloak sinks inside the rubble. But I see it before he disappears.

His eyes are filled with confidence. ―――That Servant is no match for us, Emiya Shirou. Neither Saber nor Tohsaka will be the one to defeat him. My own self is telling me that Emiya Shirou is the natural enemy of that Servant――――

My vision clears up. Dust is in the air, and the rubble is piled up high. There is nothing else. The knight in red disappeared underneath the rubble.

"Oh, I'm surprised, Archer. You had enough to spare to save someone else in that situation?" His sarcastic words contain some scorn. The man smiles in satisfaction as he looks down at the hall filled with Archer's blood.

"――――――――" Silence falls. Gilgamesh is the most powerful being here. Anyone that moves will follow Archer's fate. Even Saber is silent, wondering how best to attack the enemy. ――――But.

"―――Whose permission did you get to attack my Archer―――!?" With Archer's death, Tohsaka has lost her composure.

Light runs across space. Pure destructive force, magical energy released from the jewel without any processing.

He does not even dodge it. He isn't even scratched. "I was going to kill that dying kid first. But it seems the order has changed, woman." He orders the swords behind him to carry out Tohsaka's execution.

The sword is released at high velocity. Saber runs with surpassing speed and protects her Master.

"S-Saber…!?" "Please step back, Rin…! He is dangerous! He will kill you if you attack him recklessly…!

"Oh, so you are her Master now? ―――Fine. Then I shall overlook your rudeness. I will lose one of my pleasures if Saber disappears." "――――――――" Saber glares at the enemy while readying her invisible sword.

"Why are you here, Archer? You were summoned in the previous Holy Grail War. So why are you here again in this war?" "That is wrong. I merely stayed in this world after the previous war."

"Wha―――ridiculous. Servants should lose connection with this world once the Holy Grail disappears…! There is no way you can stay in this world for ten years…!"

"That is not true. The connection with this world is not the Holy Grail, but the Master. The Holy Grail merely opened up the passage. I can stay in this world as long as a magus provides me with magical energy."

"But then, there aren't that many Masters that can maintain a Servant without help from the Holy Grail. In that regard, my Master did not have enough magical energy."

"……? Then it should not be possible for you to stay in this world. If your Master cannot support a familiar like you, you should be dried up along with your Master."

"That depends on how one does it. Magi make up lack of a Magic Circuit with knowledge. In that regard, my Master was exceptional."

…'Was'? Then his Master is gone now…? No, his Master is Shinji. The fact that he, the man who would not obey anyone, obeyed Shinji is the proof of that.

"…Then your Master did the same thing as Rider's Master…?"

"Yes. It is only natural to take away from others if you cannot supply it yourself. But to be honest, I did not need to do such a thing. I am the only Servant that the Holy Grail poured on. I have already completed the incarnation ten years ago."

"――――――――" Saber stares at the man in astonishment. Saber hangs her head at the words "ten years ago".

"Yes, all thanks to you, Saber. I know what that thing is. I was covered in its intestines and I saw what 'existed' in it."

"――――Then you…" "Yes. I understood the true identity of the Holy Grail. ―――I decided at that time. I will be the only one who will handle it."

Saber. No, looking down at all of us, he declares something that is unbefitting for a Servant.

"You――――will use the Holy Grail?" "That's right. There is no need for me to share it with a parasite like my Master. I will use the Holy Grail for my objective. The biggest obstacle, the summoner, was eliminated. All that's left are pathetic magi that would be completely unsuited to being the vessel. Such failures are suited for my wish. But then―――your flesh might make a perfect Holy Grail."

The man looks at Tohsaka. "Oh……" Tohsaka must feel the danger, as she grows pale and steps back.

…His red eyes are ominous. One would feel uncomfortable under the weight of that gaze. His eyes are so aberrant that even Tohsaka is frightened of them.

"―――Ridiculous. The Holy Grail is what the Master obtains. We Servants cooperate with our Masters because we cannot obtain it ourselves…!"

"That is strange. The Servants are the only ones who can touch the Holy Grail, but Masters are the only ones who can obtain it?"

"Uh――――but…"

"…Heh. It's all ridiculous nonsense. The fight for the Holy Grail by Seven Masters? A ritual where the last Master obtains the Holy Grail? That is only an excuse made for outsiders. The summoning of the Holy Grail is already completed. They always call for the seven Servants after the Holy Grail is prepared. Do you understand, king of knights? They do not want the Holy Grail, but what goes in it."

"Masters are just circuits to summon us. Magi made the Holy Grail, but they could not prepare its contents."

"I told you earlier, right? They are ones that take away from others if they cannot supply it themselves. The purest magical energy to fill the Holy Grail. The 'greatest souls of humanity', the guardians, are what they sought. The seven Servants are sacrifices they prepared."

"――――――――What?" Saber looks up at the man in astonishment. Her eyes are desperately trying to deny his words. …That it isn't possible. She is trying to deny it saying that what she wished for, the Holy Grail, cannot be such a thing.

"You should not be surprised. The Holy Grail is a filtration device that turns the soul into pure magical energy. Yes, it should let you grant any wish. It contains more magical energy than a magus could ever use within his lifetime. That is why it is better with more sacrifices. It should be omnipotent with six Servants as sacrifices. Five Servants have filled the Holy Grail. Only one more is needed for the omnipotent grail they sought."

"―――Then… Then only the Masters can handle the Holy Grail. If it is a repository of pure magical energy, only magi can use it. …Yes. If the Master is an excellent magus, it――――"

"It will grant him any wish? You idiot. Such miracles are not given to mere humans. Humans only destroy themselves, no matter how much power they are given. But―――do not worry, Saber. This Holy Grail is real. If you insert seven Servants in it, it will reach the origin."

"……Origin……? Hold on. Then could the Holy Grail be…?"

"I do not know who it was, but the one who made this rule is a genius. But it does not concern me. I have no interest in such a thing. All I am interested in is the Holy Grail's ability to serve as the 'gate'."

"Wha――――the Holy Grail is a gate――――?" "……Heh. It happened ten years ago. You opposed me right when I was about to obtain the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail was cut by the holy sword and what poured out burned the town. As I was right underneath the Holy Grail, I was showered with it."

"I understood the true identity of the Holy Grail at that time. ―――It is worthless. It is worthless, but it does have its uses. Not many weapons are as specialized in murder as that. The Holy Grail is fine as is. There is no need to turn it into an omnipotent vessel."

"Weapon―――are you saying that a weapon is created out of Servants?"

"We are weapons to begin with. That thing has only perfected that. The Holy Grail is a gate to hell. 5.6 billion curses will flow out from it once it is opened. Kotomine did not tell you about it? The Holy Grail is named 'Angra Manyu', or 'all evils of the world'. It is mud that will consume every human being, like the name states."

……Angra Manyu? I think that's the name of the devil in Zoroastrianism. The leader of evil that opposes God for many thousands of years. It is an embodiment of the evil in all human, and it is depicted as a reflected image of all humanity's good will. ―――But why is the Holy Grail named after the ancient Persian devil?

"――――Then your intention is to…"

"Yes, to sweep the humans away. I have no intention of admiring humanity like Kotomine. I only admire beautiful things. This world is enjoyable, but it is incorrigible at the same time. It is an insult to the king for so many wretches to be enjoying life. I do not want to rule over such a world."

"A―――Are you stupid!? What insult to the king…!? It's meaningless to be the king if all humans are eliminated!"

"I do not care if they die out. There is no point to their lives if they end them through their own crimes. I do not want lowlifes. The only ones worth ruling over are those that can survive even the flames of hell. In that respect, they were an utter failure ten years ago. If such a pitiful blaze will wipe them out, humans truly have become weak."

He grins. For the first time… He looks at me, who he said is a failure.

"I do not know what this 'all evils of the world' is. But it is convenient. It is a reaper that strikes down all humans equally. An endless darkness that is born from humans and kills them. It is an appropriate hound to entrust with the work I should be doing."

Gilgamesh raises his hand. Behind him are Noble Phantasms waiting for the king's order.

"Then let us continue the battle from ten years ago. A boring lowlife got involved last time, but there will be no such interruptions this time. But then―――it seems a worse faker is here…!"

The swords are all pointed at me. "……!" I will my broken legs to stand, but they do not move.

…Damn, I can't even manage to block one of those. So why―――why did Archer leave behind that message…!?

"Hm?" The swords disappear. The golden Servant suddenly lowers his arm. After looking up at the ceiling in discomfort, he brushes away the dust on his shoulder.

"―――The ashes will dirty me. You escaped death this time, child." "Huh……?"

…The castle is burning. I don't know who set the fire, but it must be huge. The third floor is burning down and the second floor has caught as well.

…No, that's not the surprising thing. He really stopped the battle just because he was going to get dirty from the ashes.

"Are you running away, Archer?" "I am only changing the location. I have the Holy Grail. It is my policy to finish matters quickly. I shall quickly construct the Holy Grail and open up the gate to hell."

His golden hair flutters. Gilgamesh walks to the terrace that isn't yet burning.

"You should hurry up if you want to recover it. The Holy Grail this time is a hurriedly-constructed defect. All the contents will spill out if you do not hurry…!"

His stifled laughter echoes through the room. And he leaves the burning castle like that. Sparks are dancing through the room, and the ceiling is tinted red.

…The gorgeous castle shows no traces of what it used to be. The castle without a master crumbles without trace, as if to follow the girl in white.

Interlude 15-3

"Haa, haa, haa, ha――――!" Matou Shinji is running through the forest with beast-like breath. He is actually running along a selected route, but his mentality is that of a wanderer. He is running away without aim, so the word "wandering" is more befitting.

"Damn―――I was so close, and everyone's getting in my way…!" He pushes the branches aside with one hand and runs while scattering wet dirt. Leaving a trail of blood behind him, Matou Shinji heads to the edge of the forest. He has not treated the wound he received from Lancer. He does not feel his right arm anymore. The wound is inflamed, and his arm will not move, as though dead.

"Hah… haa, ha, ah……!" He must not be able to run with only one arm, as he slips and leans against a tree. His dangling right arm is like a piece of trash. As soon as he realizes that a part of his body is a useless piece of trash, Matou Shinji starts laughing. "Hah… haha, ahahahaha." The laughter comes out like a racking cough.

It hurts. It must be because of the wound that his body is burning hot. In a daze, he imagines one of his arms rotting away. After that, he imagines everyone around him rotting away. Not just one of their arms. He has one arm. All the other idiots should lose both of their arms.

"Ku――――" He can't stop laughing. With that decision made, the pain becomes bearable. He has a legitimate purpose now. The first thing he would do is collect every possible arm. There will be no exceptions.

"…Ha, that's great. I know whose arms I'll get first." The girl that did not become his. Since she is his favorite, he cannot allow her to be superior to him. "Yeah, just you wait, Tohsaka. I'll make you inferior." Laughing, Matou Shinji raises his head.

"――――Huh?" When did he appear? His Servant is standing right in front of him.

"You――――" He looks at his Servant in surprise. The golden Servant looks down at Matou Shinji as if looking at livestock. "You are wounded. That must hurt." And he says something that he does not mean.

"――――――――!" Matou Shinji's face contorts. Without realizing the true intention of his Servant, he glares at the man before him.

"'That must hurt'!? Whose fault do you think it is!? I got hit by Lancer because you're stupid! Don't talk shit when you can't even be my guard dog…!" With his head on fire, Matou Shinji insults his Servant. "――――Hm." The golden Servant nods, saying "this will do".

"So Lancer inflicted that wound of yours, huh? Then it must have been him that released that Master." "Yeah, Tohsaka ran away because you were such a slowass…! It makes me want to puke, thinking about how I lost her to somebody who was almost dead!" "I see. That is too bad."

"…! Why are you so calm!? We can't obtain the Holy Grail without Tohsaka, right!? Damn, everything's ruined because of you! Do you understand!? What are we going to―――" "Do not worry. Everything is as planned. The Holy Grail can still be created." The Servant's voice contains no emotion. Matou Shinji does not realize that the red eyes aren't looking at him.

"How!? Kotomine said that even if we have the Holy Grail, we can't make it if there's no vessel! That kid's heart is not enough. That won't turn into a Holy Grail unless we connect it to a Magic Circuit, right…!?" Matou Shinji walks up to his Servant and scolds him for his stupidity. The golden Servant nods and…

"There is no problem. There is another Master here that can be a vessel." …He thrusts his arm.

A piercing sound. Matou Shinji never finds out what the sound is.

"――――Huh?" But he feels something funny in his stomach. Looking down, he sees his Servant's arm there. The fist is inside his body. There is neither pain nor blood. The Servant's arm is in his body, like the absurd spiritual operation he saw before.

"You want the Holy Grail, right? Then I shall give it to you. If you want it so much, do not let go of it." "Ah―――Ah, ah?" His blood vessels expand. After feeling the sensation of billions of worms, squirming through his body and trying to get out… "Gi――――Gi, gi?" He becomes something that is not Matou Shinji.

"Gya――――gi, bia, ah, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………………..!!!!!"

It convulses. The swollen object is literally a lump of meat. There is no shape to it. It is composed of exposed meat and blood vessels, quickly forming meat, and quickly decaying meat.

"I――――It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it's growing, it's growing, help, help, help, stop――――" Unable to bear the pain of the repeating growth and decay and the sensation of "something" wriggling inside of him, he loses his sanity. After watching it, the Servant lets him go as if nothing has happened.

"―――This is ugly. A powerful magus should not change form, but I guess it cannot be helped." A chain comes down. Descending from the sky, heaven's chains bind the writhing mass of flesh.

The balance of expansion and decay is about the same right now, but the Holy Grail should figure out its master soon enough. Expansion should overwhelm the decay by then. His Holy Grail should be completed in no time.

"Ugly things are tastier. Most of all―――you shall spit out suitable mud, Shinji." The Servant laughs. And beside him… The piece of meat repeats "help me" in a voice that is no longer human.

End of Interlude

Now, at this point there should be one more scene. However, it isn't in any script I can find for some reason? I will post it later if I can find it.

[crazycrackersworld]

You, the absolute unmitigated subject of my ire. I would say that even a small part of me would hope that whatever tests you had done today come back with good results, but that would be an absolute lie. My disgust, disrespect, and hatred of you, simply grows not by every day not by every hour not by every minute but literally by every second that you continue to draw breath.

The sins that you have accrued are absolutely unforgivable to myself. You have the opportunity to be with an amazing, most of the time, woman and you can't express how you feel about her until you find out that I'm coming back. And then by expressing those feelings basically set my world on fire, although I bounced back pretty quick and pretty well. Or getting on a plane to fly to a different state on her fucking birthday. Being on faithful, but then having the unmitigated gall to accuse her of being out "whoring". Allowing friends of yours to express their disapproval of her directly to her face and I would guess making that disapproval known to you as well and doing nothing about it. Or when I myself was getting out of line and you were asked by this person to tell me to leave her alone and from 1500 miles away you couldn't even send a text or a voicemail or anything to remotely stand up like a man. And then the most recent I mean, I cannot even fathom how it's even possible to say somebody else's name in bed after about 2 and 1/2 years.

And there's more there's so much more there are things I've heard, things that have been told to me, I have eyes and ears that you have no idea of the details about your life that I know you would probably piss yourself. But all told the sins that you have accumulated I cannot even calculate them.

And as I've said before I don't really expect anything to change anytime soon, or more likely ever. But one thing I can say that is not going to change ever is how I feel about you and how when not if, but when the day comes that I smite you down with all of the wrath Of heaven and Hell and Karma behind me I will actually feel righteous in doing so.

I consider your very existence to be an afront against all honest to goodness men everywhere. My ability to tolerate you get smaller and smaller with each passing day and I truly believe that whatever health concerns you have right now are truly Karma and you deserve whatever it is because one reaps what they sow.

All of these thoughts have been swirling through my head for a few days now, and I've had some rough nights as far as sleep goes so I decided to get them off my chest. I am hoping by doing so that perhaps this evening I can get more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep because I have unloaded all of this negativity and I've said it out loud and hopefully that makes it easier to deal with.

My life is honestly and truly so much better now than it was two and a half years ago, but it's also worse at the same time. In the way that it's worse is I have the best friend, and she can be amazing and I've seen her be strong and resourceful and just absolutely radiant in her confidence and just as a person. And you have managed to help my best friend regress into somebody that sometimes I don't even recognize anymore and for that you should pay and pay dearly.

And sometimes it feels like nothing I've ever done or nothing I've ever said or none of it is mattered to that person, and I I know that part of those feelings are just my own head but I also know part of them are because of you and there's only one word that I can use to describe what's going to happen to you someday. There's only one word that can truly encapsulate what I'm looking for.

Justice

[the-letter-horror-lover]

Boruto-kun, even if you use your knife, I don't think it will be enough," he said in a low voice, looking askance at the Zetsus. His skin is still resistant, and if you cut them it will not be enough, since they have a good regeneration.

"I've already come to that conclusion, even so I wanted to bring her with me," he added between a sigh, "but now it's different." You told me those roots that are all over the place are the problem here, right?

She nodded and he smiled.

He positioned the knife in front of him to show off the sheen of its edge. Boruto used one of his fingers that had the knife to point at one of the roots that was close to him.

—Since I can't take care of them, it occurred to me to be the one to cut the roots.

—¿Eh?

—You are better to face them, although it pains me to admit it —he feigned annoyance, while he smiled embarrassed by his skill—. That's why you better take care of those guys.

"So you want me to be the bait?"

"I'd rather you didn't say it that way." Now she felt a little worse about his decision.

That was certainly how Sumire was for the plan, and it was something he wasn't proud to have thought about, but it was what ran through his mind. It's the most sensible thing about the options she had on the table.

"I'm sorry," it took her a while to understand that little joke of hers, making her smile slightly, "but I have no problem with that plan."

—¿Segura?

"Of course, I'll try to buy as much time as it takes for you to cut the roots," his face changed to a more serious and worried one, as he approached the boy's face, "but you must promise one thing."

"W-what?" He felt uncomfortable being close to the girl.

"If you can't get the roots to cut or if something is going to happen, leave me alone."

"No," he answered dryly. We finish this together or nothing.

A small staring duel broke out between the two of them, but Sumire couldn't win as he began to position himself with his knife in hand. That was already a clear sign of determination in the Uzumaki, she couldn't deny him doing her duty as her partner.

She sighed surrendered to his determination, and only resigned herself to moving to one side of him, as she focused on the place taking a few sidelong glances at the boy before giving what may be her last quiet talk.

"Just don't die.

With the same strength in her tone as she said those last words, she propelled herself from the point of her feet until she launched herself at the first two Zetsus in front of her.

By drawing their attention from her left hand, she managed to create a kind of aquatic sphere until she launched it. This caused the shot to split in two until it hit both of her targets, leaving them completely headless from the pressure power they had in the attack.

She ran and ran as far as she could to the right side of the area, drawing the attention of the rest of the Zetsus inside.

Visualizing the terrain, he identified the amount of Zetsus that were there, going into double digits, although what he most assumed was that, he was facing an approximation of 43 that were there. It was already a worrying amount, therefore, she will do what she can to take down each one. However, she was worried that her chakra might not be enough to finish them all off.

He could only trust, that's the only thing he could do now against what was in front of him.

Trust your ability.

Trust the possibilities.

Trust in success.

Trust your luck.

Trust Boruto.

While she was running in his direction, she jumped towards the wall until she was stuck in it, getting up a bit to get a much wider view of the ground.

She took advantage of this opportunity to use the water technique again and throw it, but this time she aimed at a single target until she broke part of her torso to retain it, she did not have time to attack a more fragile point such as the head her. There were another two approaching her, therefore, she couldn't aim well with that pressure.

Between looking at those beside her, she used a kind of water whip that she created until these two who had approached were pushed back, but she took that opportunity to use her other hand to shoot them with a little more force. pressure in the water.

He managed to kill one, but luckily the other survived. He hadn't aimed well at that one, but it still didn't give him time to regenerate. He fired a shot of water from his palm to hit his face.

Four others moved closer, two from each flank of her position, this was much more pressure, but she tried to take it more calmly. Her life was at stake, but so was someone else's who was right here.

Thinking that, he used the same water whip technique that he had done, but this time it was much thicker than the previous one, moving it to the left against the two until they were immobilized, then he jumped in a slip to bring his technique towards the other two until leave them against the ground by the water pressure.

It felt much better to get a few off, though she still did a few, but it wasn't enough yet. It wasn't a sign of having everything completely under control, she was still outnumbered.

He swung both hands forward, pointing at those in front of him. He launched a water attack with more force, he felt how his hands began to weigh a little more due to the weight of the water that was continuously coming out.

As soon as he finished doing the technique, his hands began to go numb, but he could bear it, at least for a couple of half hours, however, that amount of time would not be enough to finish them all, although his plan was not to finish them all . He only had to break all the roots until the heart of his "hive" stopped working and they all died, that was enough.

He looked everywhere in the place, every corner he could inspect with his eyes. She loosened up when she was able to identify the Uzumaki a few meters away, far away from where she and the Zetsus were. It seemed like she was having trouble with one of the roots of her cutting him repeatedly, but he was fine, that's enough for her.

— "That's good, they haven't noticed him."

He breathed a sigh of relief after seeing him in the far back on the other side of the place.

He inhaled and exhaled, raising both hands up, spraying water everywhere making the Zetsus go crazy, being a little more upset than before. He hoped that with that he had gotten more of his attention and hopefully everyone else down there.

Unfortunately she didn't have time to think about it much, since a Zetsu had attacked her from behind her, exiting through the solid wall. She fortunately had had good reflexes to anticipate the attack a second before, but she was not spared being completely unharmed. She received a scratch from her attacker leaving her with a burning sensation on her right arm to make her back up a bit.

He squeezed his wound with his free arm, feeling a little more the burning of the wound until it burned, reaching to feel the arm moist. The scent of blood began to cover her arm, just like in physical form, spilling out to leave a trail all over her arm. He tried to keep his mind from focusing on the pain that shot up the length of his arm, he did what he could to erase that attention and only focus on his attackers.

She raises her arm to launch a water shot, but she didn't have time when I saw how two Zetsus were on both sides of her to attack her, which made her panic. She looked at them as if time was slowing down, seeing on each side the position in which both enemies were.

Using great force in his lungs and chakra he drained water from his mouth downward until it resembled a waterfall, carrying each of the Zetsus away like a river. He was able to clear meters of the area, but it cost him some chakra, putting her on alert.

Soon she was beginning to have a little trouble breathing, that was already saying a lot about her condition, Sumire knew very well, but she wouldn't stop with that. She clenched her fist tightly, giving an effort to stay on her feet, still having what it takes to keep up with the pace of the fight.

As it was already a bit predictable, again the Zetsus attacked her unexpectedly, either coming from the wall or the ground, this made things a bit more complicated. He dodged each of the attacks that they launched at him, having to go back —of course, in the opposite direction from which Boruto was—, but it was also complicated by having roots on the ground that hindered his movements to dodge.

The next step back, another Zetsu took her by surprise, grabbing her leg and digging its claws into her flesh, causing Sumire to cry out in pain. She hastened to shoot water at him with her hand until his head was blown off.

He jumped back again to keep some distance from the others, but this time it was harder to do as one of his legs was injured. She ached like she couldn't imagine, questioning if this is how she lived before she lost her memory.

Did he fight with these things all his days?

Did he always take this kind of damage?

He doubted it, if it was like that, he would already be with many scars. The only one she's had is the one she had on her back, but luckily she's healed from that wound. However, there was one thing that there was clear evidence of as a clue, these combat moves and skills resonate through her mind, just as her body reacts as if all of this is normal, as if she has experienced combat. many times.

— «No, concentrate!» She—she screamed at herself mentally.

That second in which she focused on herself was taken advantage of by a Zetsu, who launched himself from the wall towards her. The most terrifying thing she saw, was in her as her attacker kept her gaze fixed on her and with a wicked smile of hers she opened her mouth until she saw huge fangs. These were other Zetsus, ones that could modify her body.

Sumire had no time to dodge, so from her hand she had created a lance of water with her other healthy hand all the way through his mouth to his throat. Unfortunately that didn't kill him, she just left him immobile for not hitting the exact spot on her body.

He quickly focused on the rest, then continued non-stop to throw water with much more intensity. They were cornering her from every possible angle, not even the ground had been safe, she ran her hand close to his to grab her ankle. Luckily, she jumped up and down before that happened, but she also couldn't do anything against some when she went through the walls.

He jumped towards the wall to keep distance from the Zetsus, thus achieving enough time to have channeled chakra and spit a river of water from his mouth to take them through many parts of the place, but he tried to control himself so that they did not go too far.

—¡Ah!

She screamed when one appeared next to her through the wall until it hit her in the head, throwing her down. Sumire reacted quickly to land on her feet, but the pain made her kneel, having an injured arm, an injured leg, exhaustion from the use of chakra and now her head received a fatal blow, although thanks to the fact that she was with chakra it was no more. beyond dangerous. It was possible that without chakra, she would have cracked his skull or at least given him a concussion.

Her injured leg lost strength until she fell to her knees, it didn't take long for the adrenaline to begin dissipating from her body. She looked in all directions, each Zetsu approaching slowly waiting for her prey to have no more strength to fight.

She was falling and that made her even more upset, trying to corner her among many. He just filled her with helplessness as they got closer to her, and with all the strength she had of hers in her left hand she blasted water at all sides of her until she fell by accident. She had made a bad move on her part, she had screwed up on her at the last moment.

It didn't take long for her to notice the Zetsu that had rushed towards her on her left, seeing how time passed slowly in her eyes, waiting for when it would be time for her to draw her last breath. It doesn't matter anymore anyway, does it?

He felt bad. His life was about to end and he could never know who he really was, besides not being able to do much after so much effort he made against the Zetsus…. At the very least, he was hoping that Boruto could use the time they devour his chakra to escape. At the very least, he hopes that he can get out of there alive and live.

He was the only person he met after having this memory loss. Soon a smile spread across her face as she closed her eyes. She thought of his only savior, the only person she can remember when she took her last breath.

Having that smile on his face, he waited for the Zetsu to end his life, giving Boruto time to run away and hopefully, he can live much longer… However, nothing happened.

The Zetsu had already been only a meter away from her, but never got there.

Slowly Sumire opened her eyes, seeing how everything was the same in her eyes, looking how time seemed to be an eternity, but she no longer had her eyes looking at her attacker who was heading towards her, but at that one, but with the difference of that he had been thrown from the side, while he was seen with a knife close to his shoulder and neck.

Time passed to normal as she fell back to reality, seeing the Zetsu completely pushed back by the force directed by the knife that was near his neck, however it did not move at all. She stood still as she watched in suffocating silence as the Zetsu that had threatened her life began to fade.

He never saw this event with the other Zetsus, among those he had killed that had not happened, there were only their dead corpses. However, it was fading like ash until there was nothing left but the falling knife and where the echo of metal against the floor sounded.

Not just Sumire, all the Zetsus were silent when they saw their partner vanish. His faces were filled with fear, but there were also some that seemed upset, growling like wild animals at the loss of one of their own.

It chilled Sumire, but that didn't stop her from satisfying her curiosity by looking in the same direction the knife had come from.

Her eyes widened in shock. She didn't know very well how to feel, whether happy for having been glad to be saved at the last moment, or scared for Boruto, knowing what she had just done was like an act of suicide.

She wanted to say something, to ask him to get out of the way quickly because he was already the center of attention, but he didn't, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. Her face was shocked when she saw the Uzumaki's face directed towards where she was standing. He looked upset and also scared, her face was too focused on where she was, but that's not what caught Sumire's attention.

" Is that what Boruto-kun has...?" She—she looked at him in complete astonishment— “His eye!”

๑๑๑

As soon as he heard Sumire make that request to him, he kicked off with his feet until he launched himself at the Zetsus in front, specifically the ones closest to her, about two to exact.

He was impressed by how with one hand he managed to create a kind of aquatic sphere until he launched it, but he was more surprised when he saw the shot split in two until it hit his two Zetsus, leaving them completely headless.

—Gosh, I never get tired of seeing how he uses water, it's very cool.

He saw her run to the other end of the area, this was a clear signal, the opportunity to act. Sumire was drawing the attention of the rest of the Zetsus that she was inside, as she will use that to her advantage.

Without further ado, he ran to the opposite side of where she was, stepping over some roots.

Those specifically she couldn't cut, not in the open field, but rather go to where they were the furthest from the commotion that Sumire was managing to do.

Concerned for her, he looked at the amount of Zetsus that were there, he guessed roughly close to the 40 that were there or a little more. That made his worries bigger, as well as putting a lot more pressure on his role in this.

He headed towards the nearest root, no longer caring so much if it was far from the combat or not.

As he approached the root he began to draw the knife. She stood for a while looking at him, looking at him with doubts in her mind, fearing that he might fail, in disappointing Sumire's expectations.

He kept glancing sideways in the direction she was facing, absorbed and impressed by keeping the Zetsu at bay.

Then he started his action, on the root and began to use the edge of the knife against the surface of the strange "wood" that root was made.

Prepared to cut that thing he began to raise the hand with which he was holding the knife and with all his strength he lowered it until it hit the root. However, there was no trace of a cut, she was in the same condition as him before she had used his strength to cut her.

" He didn't do anything to her..."

This made him understand that, even with a knife in hand and with the average strength of a person, it was impossible to cut that thing. This gave the Uzumaki a shiver, who would imagine that this kind of branches could exist in the world? It may not be a big deal, but the fact that it didn't have a scratch on it was saying a lot. Any wood in the world, even a kitchen knife like he had now he could cut wood.

He was no longer involved with common things that every person has seen, this time he was facing a new subject, one of which man has not discovered and would possibly be terrified if this were to come to light, especially the Zetsu.

This time he decided to put to the test the things he had achieved this short time before going into action, this time he would take it upon himself to move to the next level of his ability. Now was the time to make use of his chakra.

As he always did, he concentrated and began to make a "seal" with his hands until all the chakra ran through his body. It still took a long time for it to be completely covered in it and in use. Fortunately it didn't take long for him to start his next attempt to cut the branch.

He did the same as before and with all his strength he raised the knife and slammed it into the root branch.

He felt different, something had changed.

He hurried over and looked at the result; this time there was a cut, but it wasn't deep, more like a simple gash one would normally find on a common log.

He smiled, this made him smile full of pride and also make him very excited about what he had done. He had managed to do some damage. Still, it wasn't deep, there was still more to cut.

He did his same action again in the same place that did that damage, using the force from before over and over again until he did a little more damage, and with luck he might be able to cut the root in a minute... or so. what he thought.

Taking his time to regain strength in his arm, he noticed something that paralyzed him with shock and fear; the cut that was now deep had vanished. He had regenerated, he had seen it with his own eyes, the wood that was damaged was quickly rebuilt.

This made him start the process all over again, but this time he did it with more force. He didn't want to overexert the amount of chakra in his arm, but he would still try to use a little more to cut it, and he did…, but the same thing happened again.

As soon as it did damage, it regenerated again that part that hit with the edge of the knife. He returned to the solid and clean state of him, this frustrated him even more until it made the veins on his forehead stand out a little.

As soon as he stopped making a few cuts that thing would keep regenerating. That was not good, everything he did was something in vain when he regenerates quickly, but between the frustration he went back to cutting the wood, but this time he will be cutting it without stopping.

Again he cut down the root that was at his feet, and although he did not care that it was very thick, he began to cut it without stopping. With each blow she delivered, much more force was put into her grip on the knife, but there was not much change in the surface of the wood.

Things continued to get worse when the period of time in which he stopped felling to return to raising the knife regenerated. He had quickly changed his time span in which he wished to regenerate.

Did you wish?

That word petrified the Uzumaki, taking his time looking out of the corner of his eye at the top of the place, seeing a huge part of a tree, which was where the roots came from, but what scared him the most is the fact that it was thought in which the word "desire" has been used in "this".

The idea that all this had a life of its own clouded his perception, his judgment, his goal. It only left him with a huge doubt that began to shake his bones.

If this thing could think, then it could only have been toying with him, letting him do whatever he wanted until he was out of options.

His anger grew more than he thought, one would even think that the veins would explode in his head if that fury he had inside continued to grow. He concentrated a lot of chakra from his hand, leaving it for that part to cut the root again. However, this time he took a different approach; use the knife to close.

He pressed the edge of the knife against the surface of the wood as hard as he could and began the saw technique, moving up and down consecutively.

He guessed that if he were to cut it like that, it's quite possible that he'd be able to cut the root without giving it time to regenerate. Cut it consecutively until the job is finished.

He was so focused on his slashing ability and his chakra hand that he had forgotten and ignored everything around him.

Passing the same slashing spot over and over again was very tiring for him, even though he was using chakra, but it was also possible that was the reason for his tiredness.

— "Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut...!"

He repeatedly screamed at himself over and over again, while he continued to squeeze the dagger of the knife with much more force. Her mind was only focused on cutting with all her strength, even her hand was starting to hurt a little from the strong grip of the knife.

Still, it was paying off, for as he stared at the part where he was cutting, he had seen step by step the knife sink into the wood. It was much deeper than the root, being nowhere near over half way.

A little more, he continued with much more force, letting his enthusiasm be what gave him much more strength and so he did. He kept cutting more and with each pass he made, the knife dropped at least inches. Sensing that, he pushed much harder and when he least expected it he had reached the end.

The last drop of effort sweat fell at the same time as having cut the root at the end. She gasped in shock and happiness as she automatically began to relax, causing her to fall from behind.

"Luckily..." he took a deep breath, relaxing his muscles a little, "I guess now I have to..."

His words had been cut off like the wind in an overwhelming way, seeing how the part he had cut off was recovering to its initial state. Her form was as if nothing had happened, as if there had never been an attempt to cut that root.

He had seen it, where it was cut it came out of the rest until it formed the piece that it had lost. This made him very desperate.

He came one surprise after another, he never believed that everything was going against him. All his effort had gone to waste for the second time, that was how he felt.

Was the universe now testing him?

Was he playing a joke on him?

Was she making fun of him?

I hated it?

None of the questions he asked himself amused him, or had answers to them, or mattered in the least. Those things were being overshadowed by the frustration he was feeling now, letting go of the blade a bit and clutching his head with both hands in remorse.

— «Why? How am I supposed to cut all these branches if they keep regenerating like this ? She thought, gritting her teeth angrily. "What am I supposed to do?"

His hands were clenched, staring at nothing, his mind was dull and without ideas that he could fall back on. This was all outside of her very capabilities, that's what she thought.

He didn't want to betray his dream and ideals of being a person who can help others, that's what he was doing now. Uzumaki Boruto was helping a girl with matters completely out of her control, but she didn't feel good thinking about it like that again.

He was making things that much more difficult for Sumire. He was told to go away, and maybe she already had this all under control.

Unfortunately, that was not the case either...

—¡Ah!

He heard her scream, turning to watch her get slammed up the wall until she was knocked down. A Zetsu had come out of there and made her fall with the force of her being hit. Luckily, he watched as she managed to land on her feet, but it wasn't enough, since he was obviously in a bad way anyway.

She was starting to get tired, she was already reaching her limit. If she didn't have a lot of pressure with time and the regenerative root, now she had a lot more with seeing her in that state, added to the horrible sight of seeing how a few Zetsu approached her, which put her in a very complicated debate.

He didn't want to think, he just wanted her to use all her strength to get out of that problem. However, she didn't, Sumire was on her knees with one hand holding one of her injured arms.

The sight couldn't be much more unpleasant for Boruto, but she was, watching how that girl who was supposed to be stronger than him and had more experience was smiling while she closed her eyes. Those kinds of actions were those of a person accepting the end of her life.

Was she planning to give up?

No, he didn't want to think about that, nor did he want it to go through his head, but his cowardly brain had the idea of ​​running away to escape. Fear invaded him as he thought of the horrible situation in which all the Zetsu find him.

Everything got worse when he saw how one of the Zetsu that were there decided to be the first to attack her. They were the slowest and most horrible seconds of his life, unable to do anything, since he was so far away from where he was. She wanted to scream, at least give him a chance so she could back away, but it wouldn't be enough to make her want to stop that one Zetsu that was closing in on her.

Useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless...

A voice began to resonate through his head, it began to make him dizzy. It was a voice that was similar to his, of course it was similar to his, after all it was him. Yet he alienated her, insulted him, blamed him, and put him on the ropes of her mind.

His head burned, watching as time passed his eyes slowly, becoming smaller and smaller than before. A final look at the horrible seconds before the end of the Sumire girl.

— "No, I must do something!"

He clenched his teeth and looked like a beast at the guy who was about to end the life of the only girl and person who trusted him and who made him give him a chance to be someone better, someone to be something else, to be the kind of a hero he had sworn to be like his father, to be one he dreamed of being.

-Hey? She froze.

His face was petrified, dumbstruck at what he was seeing across the field of vision of his eyes. Everything around him was completely covered in a transparent gray filter and everything was full of red lines, but more than anything like that they were in the Zetsu, and there was only one that was blue, this one belonged in Sumire, but…

— "What's going on?" He looked askance at each of those who were.

However, he didn't have time to contemplate what he saw or what was affecting his sight, he headed towards where Sumire stood and at her approaching attacker.

In the end he decided to throw the knife in one go, and although he was far away he was confident in his ability with his throw. He had already practiced throwing things in case she had a Quirk that allowed her to manipulate fire, water, etc., but the problem was that he couldn't help her just by removing it.

" Wait... is that it?"

His vision was still weird, but on top of the whole situation he was experiencing, he focused on a specific point he saw on that Zetsu's body. Part of where his shoulder and neck met glowed. It was like it was a flash of red and orange.

He was going to trust his instinct again, and he took with all his strength his kitchen knife that was going to pass through his chakra hand, not knowing how much chakra there would be or would use in his hand…, and he didn't care.

If he had to break his arm and hand to save a person with such an opportunity in front of him, then there was no other way. She focused on his target, and at that specific point of his and with all the force carried without thinking, she threw the knife at high speed.

He could see how the knife had just hit the specific point where it had been shining. Then he would take his time to congratulate himself for such a feat, but he also couldn't stop being stunned by what the sight of him showed him. Everything was full of lines that he couldn't identify or even know what they were, they were like cables that were inside everyone, while a part of that "cable" shines a little more.

His doubts and surprises grew even bigger, hard to process, just like the new thing he had just seen. That same Zetsu had begun to fade like ashes to nothing, dropping the knife he had thrown to the ground.

Sumire looked at the Uzumaki, and he at the Zetsu that ended his life. She had a lot to think about, even with her hand numb from the force she used it didn't stop her from smiling triumphantly. She had managed to vanish one of those things through the cold silence of the wind.

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Guardians of the Ninshū by BSmolerLOL

Anime » Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Rated: T, Spanish, Adventure & Fantasy, Boruto U., Inojin Y., Shikadai N., Sumire K., Words: 97k+, Favs: 2, Follows: 2, Published: May 18 Updated : Sep 2

twoChapter 14: Chapter 13: Core

Chapter 13: Core

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Everything continued in silence, nobody spoke, neither Sumire nor Boruto, just as the Zetsus did nothing but just watch how one of theirs ended up vanishing.

The silence was long, heavy until it even made you dizzy from how uncomfortable it was. Being like this and with things beyond your understanding was an incredibly horrible experience. The Uzumaki felt so much like this that he even wanted to throw up from his nerves. Fortunately, he was resisting such an urge to do so, but the nerves were still there.

His only outlet for those negative emotions was Sumire, who was still a few meters away. She was still alive and that was giving Boruto a pleasure, but unfortunately she couldn't express it, not now that she began to notice how the Zetsu that were around her began to move towards him.

He was completely terrified by two issues that suffocated him; the first of all was to have the attention of many Zetsu and to be in front of them. He made him feel helpless, as well as despair, but he didn't want to give up and do nothing. He will try to run away before that. And the second thing, he had to do with what he was going through now.

He kept seeing everything around him strangely, or rather his sight. His entire field of vision was gray and transparent, too blurry around the edges. The only thing in color that he could see were those orange lines that ran all over the Zetsu's body.

I had no idea what was going on, but this happened because of something he kept doing. He didn't know what it was, but he tried to keep it up as long as he could. He didn't know if it was caused by stress, or by something he did with his hands, no idea.

The best thing that occurred to him is to be as he is, and not alter his thoughts, only then did he think that it was possible to maintain that view that he had, since thanks to that he could see some things that shone in his eyes. they.

When he threw the knife to that same point where it shone the most, it was there that he began to think of a lot of theories, but they all came to an irrefutable conclusion.

I needed to check if I was right or not. If he was, then there was a chance he and Sumire would get out of here alive… but if it didn't work out.

No, he had to, he had to be positive even if things weren't going to turn out in his favor.

"Sumire-san!" she yelled at the girl.

He managed to catch her attention, she had to have her gaze fixed on him. As soon as he got it, she started looking for, or rather, watching for the approaching Zetsus and the closest ones to him were two that were a meter ahead of the rest.

He stared at them, discovering that they had the same thing as the other one that had been erased. One of the two had that shine near the chest on the left and the other had it in the middle of the neck.

-Listen to me please! —She called her back and with her eyes in both places she continued— To the two that are in front of me, try to shoot the one on the left in the middle of the neck and the other one where it is in the left chest!

He watched as the violet-haired girl remained very astonished at his instructions, but fortunately she began to move quickly to launch two water balls with her hand, which she launched towards the two who would already arrive with Boruto.

The first was received and the other the same until he fell to the ground. Boruto waited anxiously for the result, until later finding something that made him ease his breathing more; those two Zetsus having started to fade as it was the first of all.

—I-It worked… —he blurted out while still looking towards where the bodies of the Zetsus were lying before—, “So… it's just as I imagined it.”

They disappeared like the ashes of a charred body until all that was left was the place where the bodies were lying.

The rest of the Zetsus were shocked and scared again, watching as two more of their own disappeared.

There was no doubt, what he was seeing or what he saw were not just ordinary glows on his body, or whatever he could see. The point of it all is that they were precise points where she could completely destroy them.

That meant, they could be completely annihilated until they were attacked at those points that she saw with her strange and sudden vision.

"Boruto-kun, watch out!"

Sumire's voice echoed throughout the room, taking him by surprise when a pair of Zetsus had inadvertently come at him from the right. They had come out from under the ground and they barely managed to grab it.

He managed to dodge one of the two, grazing him near his left arm, but took no damage. It could be said that he was lucky, or maybe not, he didn't care. He just wanted to get out of attack distance from him as soon as possible.

"The one on the right to the head, and the one on the left to the right knee!"

Sumire complied with the Uzumaki's instructions and without questioning or doubting his words, she used her water balls again, while moving to get a better angle. She had a hard time moving a bit, but she was able to have enough time to heal a bit of her legs.

He took aim and fired two powerful water attacks, hitting them in the right places, causing the Zetsus to disintegrate into ashes.

Boruto smiled inside his temple, amazed at the form and power of Sumire's technique. No matter how many times he saw her, he kept giving her a visual spectacle, even though he was supposed to have seen many with that ability in Academy City already, but seeing said ability in combat was unbelievable.

It looks like something out of a manga.

He imagined it and smiled like a child, but still his excitement didn't last long enough as he saw others rushing at him in a heap. Now they were not being cautious or scared to see their own die, but now they were much more savage. His humanoid form had never been as creepy as it is now.

Fortunately, a large waterfall or large amount of water had thrown them to the side until they were shocked.

Sumire managed to get to him, taking advantage of the fact that they were recovering from her attack, so she grabbed Boruto's wrist and quickly carried him away until she kept a distance far enough to prepare against them.

"Boruto-kun, what you have..." he said, but it was difficult for him to speak due to the lack of air, "did you already have it before?"

-What are you talking about? Boruto asks.

“Your eye, it's different.

-My eye? She began to understand what she meant. "Well, I have no idea what's wrong with my sight... but I can see something like the 'ttebasa weak spot."

—Yes, I already imagined it…, but let's leave that for the moment. The important thing now is that we can use that to our advantage. —She comments.

He understood perfectly, this caused a small joy in the Uzumaki. He hadn't been of any help, nor could he because of his inexperienced chakra fighting skills by now, he didn't even know how to fight very well.

He hated not having had the opportunity to practice self-defense… Well, he did learn those kinds of lessons from his mother, but he didn't know self-defense against vampire humanoid white radishes.

Now the thing changed with this kind of Gift that he had acquired, or it is possible that it is another kind of thing that is completely different.

Was this his awakening?

It would be strange if he had gotten his gift to manifest in the form of some kind of vision. No, I shouldn't judge that, now it was to be happy. She had gotten him to wake up and it was an eye ability, though she had no idea how it worked.

Unfortunately he couldn't celebrate as much as he wanted, he was already seeing some Zetsus approaching. They hadn't all recovered from Sumire's last attack, but there were already enough to be able to lower the numbers without problems.

-Here they come! Sumi yelled.

"Yes, I see them now." He focused his gaze forward, having everyone in his field of vision and seeing each one in their weak points. I guide you.

Saying that, Sumire nodded gratefully for those words of encouragement. I don't hesitate to run forward against the Zetsus. There were 7 in total by now, and each one was fixated on the two of them.

Boruto's instructions began to sound around the place and with a smile, Sumire felt a small moment of relaxation that lasted for about 2 seconds. It felt good to have someone backing her up, making her job so much easier.

He was using his water technique to shape a whip and with a horizontal attack he hit the three in front of the others, leaving them a bit stunned until at least the next 3 seconds. However, he with his other hand started shooting water shots at his weak points that Boruto had yelled at him; the first to the central part of the torso, the second to the right arm and the third to the right shoulder. Between those 3 seconds that they were going to be stunned by the water whip attack, was the time that he cleanly eliminated them.

Sumire acted fast, before the other 4 approached. He created a wall of water between them and her, so he could have time to think more patiently, although not as patiently as he would like.

Miraculously for Boruto, the same vision he had was still working, even when the wall of water had been found. She could see through him inexplicably. He wondered how this view worked, but he didn't want to be distracted by such little things now. He concentrated on seeing the weak point in each of them and then made his next directions towards Sumire.

They heard them loud and clear, also noticing that one of the Zetsus on the right was surrounding the wall, that same Sumire was the one he mentioned pointing at him towards the chest, and with a ball of water he shot him as soon as he got out. He saw him until he fell to the ground and disappeared.

As soon as the wall of water was gone, the remaining three ran towards Sumire, but she quickly spewed water from her mouth to knock them off balance, taking this as an opportunity to use her water shots again until landing a hit on them. blow to the head to stun them.

The next shots he gave each one were in the left shoulder, another in the right chest and the last one in the forearm.

The three disappeared without a trace. Making the two of them take time to breathe much better to recover air. However, it only took them 4 seconds, feeling a small tremor between the ground until they saw where the source of that cause came from.

Boruto now with the air much more agitated, he was completely terrified when he saw how a huge Zetsu had appeared that measured about 5.5 meters if he calculated correctly.

He was nauseated when he saw him approach and notice more faces than usual, like a mixture of… Zetsus?

He looked in the direction that the ones who had surrounded Sumire must have been, but he couldn't find any of them. Is it possible that the same ones that were there merged to create that thing en masse? He had all the logic in the world if it was that way, since it was impossible for a big man like that to have appeared without being present before.

"Did they merge into one?" she asked.

"Yeah, they all rolled into one," Sumire said between difficulties as she steadied her breathing. However, that is not the bad thing about it. Don't you notice something different about the place?

Having heard that, he automatically looked around until he saw what he already knew, there was no Zetsu other than the one in front of them, full of many other faces, as well as four huge arms. However, she felt that there was something more, something that was going on under her nose.

He took one last look everywhere, and that's when he noticed; the white roots she was supposed to cut had gone dry, as every sap had been sucked out of them. That itself added to the fact that when she looked up, the "seed" that was the source of life in the place was not there.

His mind began to process it, taking him about 2 seconds to click , taking into account everything he knew until he reached a conclusion...

"Yes, that's exactly what you think." His eyes met Sumire's when she spoke to him. The one we see here is a Zetsu that merged with the rest until it was like that, but doing that is extremely complicated and dangerous even for them.

"And that seed upstairs has something to do with it, right?"

Sumire nodded, but before she even answered, one of the Zetsu's arms reached for her. He took her by surprise, but managed to dodge that attack before he was even a few inches close to her. Jumping back, just like the Uzumaki, she had come to her side to check on her.

Unexpectedly, the "alpha Zetsu", or that's how the Uzumaki gave him the name, passed behind both of them by blinking. He was again focused on directing her attack at the girl, and this time he used her lower left arm to hit her.

Seeing that, Sumire started to move from her spot, unfortunately at the moment of moving, an unexpected pain came as she took a step until she fell to her knees in pain.

"Sumire-san!"

Boruto launched himself at her, using all his strength from his arm to his shoulder and with everything he had he pushed her. She took the hit from the alpha, taking Sumire's place.

For her part, he watched as he began to forcibly launch her blow until he was a few feet away from her and her alpha.

He didn't have time to call out to him, as the Zetsu turned to prepare to strike at Sumire, but this time he used the four arms he now had.

Still aching in his legs, he jumped from side to side to dodge the attacks. He waited for the right angle to attack, but it's on one of the columns part of the spot that he was able to outsmart him to the left. This time he used a water move; straightening the fingers of his right hand, and when he accumulated a quantity of water he threw it vertically until it reached a cut made of water.

He cut off all four of his arms, causing him to start screaming in pain. He used that time in which he was twisting the alpha Zetsu to get away as fast as possible, reaching where Boruto was.

He threw himself to the ground to be at his height, seeing him completely sore, trying to withstand the pain that that blow he received earlier had generated. His gaze froze when he saw the boy's condition.

"Hold on, Boruto-kun stop dealing with... god!" I am sorry!

He hadn't noticed, but when he had been hit he was thrown against one of the columns in the area, hitting his left leg until it was completely broken and on the other hand, there was his right arm, the one that directly received the blow from the Alpha Zetsu , leaving it folded until it hangs.

He greatly admired the Uzumaki's effort not to have to scream or at least pass out from the pain, even though he was just grunting. However, it didn't change the fact that she was suffering and that she didn't have time for things as ridiculous as admiring how a person had received a fatal blow like the one he had received.

She was thankful for teaching Boruto how to control his chakra before this. If she hadn't used the chakra to cushion that Zetsu's attack, if she hadn't, surely that blow would have split him in two… but if her arm received the worst.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she began to repeat over and over again, while tears began to want to come out of her eyes. I should have paid attention.

She was startled when his left hand rested on one of hers. This caught the girl's attention until she saw him. She watched him open the special right eye she had of hers, as she grinned from ear to ear.

He withdrew his hand only to slowly raise it up to form a thumb towards her, one that you could feel the boy's determination not yet fading away from.

"Don't worry about me." He tried to get up until he was sitting level with Sumire. I will try to give you support 'ttebasa.

He wanted to return the Uzumaki's smile, he wanted to do it…, but he couldn't with the guilt squeezing his heart. One carelessness of hers almost took the life of the only person who saved her, owing much more to her list.

She wanted to hug him, apologize to him from the bottom of her heart for getting him into that problem that was his and how it got that way because of him. She had so much of what she wanted to say as she wanted to cling to him, to feel if she was still warm to make sure the fire of her life wasn't going out.

None of that could do, not now. They were still in danger, as she could still hear Alpha Zetsu screaming, but now he had become a bit smaller. A clear sign that he was close to finishing regenerating.

"Boruto-kun, listen to me!" —she wiped away the few tears that had come out— I didn't finish telling you before, but the Zetsus used what is the seed from above as a source of nucleus to glue them and mold them into a new higher life form.

"A core, heh," Boruto smiled, while forming a frown. Something tells me that thing is tougher than the little ones, right?

Sumire nodded, still trembling from the anxiety building inside her.

—Too difficult, it frustrates me a lot that I don't know more than I can because of my amnesia, but what I do know is that the only way to beat him is to destroy that core he made with the seed.

"We just have to find out, right?" Let me look it up and you can…

"No, it's not enough." He looked at his hand for a moment and sighed. Listen carefully, because we don't have time... I have a theory, but I think you'll see more than one weak point in it.

-Hey? Why are you sure of that? she asked.

"I say this because many Zetsus were mixed and all their weak points will be there," he answered without taking his attention off the alpha's cries. You have to know which one is correct. I just want you to find out which is which.

—And isn't it easy to break each of the points to weaken it little by little? She looked at him in disbelief.

—No…, my plan is to want to finish him off, using all the chakra I have left and kill him in one hit along with everyone when I destroy his core.

Boruto's face showed concern and fear as he thought about what could happen to Sumire. As he remembered, the chakra was like the lifeblood of people, so if she ends up using all of it, it is very possible that she will die.

-Why? He could only get that out of his dry mouth due to lack of hydration.

"First of all, I don't have that much chakra left to continue dragging this out..., that's why it's better to finish this quickly," he said between a sigh, while he outlined a smile. And second…, I want to finish quickly so I can go home and try your delicious curry.

It was not the time to make jokes, but Boruto thanked him for softening the atmosphere, he needed it. That last comment was positive enough to make her want to go back and be in his nice bed.

"Leave it to me, I'll make you a delicious curry just the way you like it."

Boruto smiled positively at him, as he used all his strength to get up, although his leg was very bad, so he had to lean on the column that had crashed.

They both turned when they heard the alpha roar intensely, taking in his intimidating height and four regenerated arms. This made the Uzumaki more impatient, he began to be more attached to the column, while he focused on seeing the alpha.

What he saw was what Sumire had said; there were many points on her body that she saw glowing brightly, but there were so many that she couldn't make out what she should be looking for. There would be no problem for him to find it.

Sure, if I had the time, which I didn't have at all.

"Try to find the core," Sumire positioned herself ahead of Boruto. I'm in charge of buying you some time, but I don't know how much I can do.

Boruto accepted the order and without objecting to what Sumire said, he saw her walk away towards where the Alpha Zetsu was.

She went back to looking very flexible as she dodged the attacks of that thing, she moved all four of her arms in each direction as hers were going to lengthen, but luckily they weren't.

Sumire went to the right, then jumping from the ground to the wall dodged the attacks even in the air. She used the same arms as the alpha to propel herself and change direction to run.

He was still impressed by how good she was at such things, but he quickly looked away from her to the Alpha Zetsu. He kept his eyes open at all times to see the weak spots, but still found nothing. They were all the same brightness intensity, but they weren't right. Her intuition told her that.

He was frustrated by the pressure that was carrying his shoulders. If he took more than the matter, Sumire would end up falling before him.

He intensified his gaze to better concentrate on his role, nervously and without taking his eyes off his enemy. He counted from one to thirteen points that he had that Zetsu.

He kept looking back and forth at every possible angle until he noticed something odd about a part of that thing. Among some three orange dots that glowed, there was one that was being blocked by them. The color was a little different, a greenish one.

That must be the core, it showed to be something he didn't want to be revealed about.

"I found the core!" Boruto yelled.

He called out to where Sumire was, seeing her look back at him happily. He was the same as her, but he couldn't afford to waste time on it, so he was going to tell her where the core of her lay.

However, Sumire's face changed to one of utter fear and horror as the alpha Zetsu had completely deflected away from her, heading towards where Boruto was.

Both he and she were dumbfounded by the thing's actions. Is it that she was already aware of the danger that she was showing being Boruto? Most likely, her intelligence was developed by merging.

He made an attempt to move, but he couldn't because of one of his legs that was in bad shape, and he couldn't make a rash action because of his completely shattered right arm.

In that small interval of time he tried to move a little, but due to his carelessness he stumbled until he fell. He felt again the horrible pain of his arm and leg, it burned him in a disastrous way that he even thought they would separate from his body in one blow.

Unfortunately he didn't have the time to get away and Sumire was away. The first thing she saw was nothing more than all four of her arms already close to her to crush him. Possibly the Zetsu didn't want to be careless in leaving him half dead.

Sumire looked around, seriously considering forgetting the original plan and launching an attack with what was left of her chakra. She wouldn't make it in time, so it was the only option she had. She wasn't going to do any good if Boruto dropped dead either because of his ability, but more importantly, she didn't want him to die.

He began to prepare his attack, making a kind of ring of water that floated between his palm, while weighing him down until he had a sensation as if his wrist was being squeezed.

They had both seen death approaching in the Uzumaki, but for a tiny millisecond before the hands crushed him, there was a tiny flicker between that tiny space between him and the Zetsu. In the blink of an eye, they watched as the Zetsu's four hands exploded, knocking him back as he screamed in agony.

Boruto was shocked, looking for a reason for what had just happened, but as soon as he noticed how the roles had changed, he reacted in an instant.

-Now! Boruto yelled. "The core is below his spine between his waist!"

Between the thunder of his voice, Sumire who was still in shock from earlier, immediately managed to compose herself upon hearing it. The attack that she was already charged up she could now launch without any problem. She only had three seconds to kill him.

He raised his hand and with an expression full of annoyance and pain that his hand generated until he expelled an incredible amount of water that Boruto could see.

Everything shot out, he could even feel the incredible power it had just by looking at it, and in a single blink it hit the Zetsu within the area where he had indicated.

It was even more incredible, much more when he was dragging the same body of the alpha, taking him against the wall at the mercy of the water pressure that this technique had. He stayed like that for at least two minutes until he saw how all the water disappeared, ending up in Sumire's hand.

Alpha Zetsu himself had stood still, glued to the wall, and where Boruto could only gape at the sight he had; her enemy had only 60% of her body, and the other 40% had completely disappeared. Specifically it went through the area of ​​where the core was located, leaving that area in a circular shape.

The fading or elimination process was beginning to happen. His trail was being eliminated, but it was taking much longer than usual with the others. Still, now he was much more satisfied, but above all, he was happy.

They had won, they had managed to eliminate the Zetsus and not only that, but also their entire "burrow", seeing how all the roots that were propagated in the place began to dry up until they began to decompose and disappear like dust.

We did it .

Those were the words that repeated in his mind, while he let happiness begin to cloud his mind a little. Fortunately, he was able to remember Sumire as soon as he remembered that this feat was thanks to her.

He went looking for her from where she was, only to see what was lying on the ground. She had passed out from the excessive chakra consumption she did with that last attack.

She must be exhausted by now, and most likely she was going to have to rest again for a full day to recover. However, he couldn't help but care a lot about what she did.

Fearing for her, he made an attempt to recover and walk to where he was, but he couldn't. He was in a much worse condition.

In this attempt to get up he fell again, feeling again the pain that preserved his body. This must have been due to the adrenaline running out, leaving him at the mercy of his body and his weakness.

As his awareness slowly faded from the damage, he made an attempt to stay conscious as he walked over to where Sumire lay.

He couldn't get more than 2 meters to advance to where she was. Her resistance betrayed him, letting himself be pulled from her as she slowly succumbed to the darkness as she closed her eyes.

They won, but if she doesn't wake up again, she'd never forgive herself.

He would never forgive her poor, useless battered body.

I would never forgive her weakness.

And lastly…, he would never forgive himself if another person dies because of him.

Chapter 14: A Hero's Bill

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"I've already reviewed your X-rays." It seems that everything is in order, however I recommend that you rest while you can.

In a hospital room, an albino-haired doctor, looking untrustworthy and also young for one with very adulterous features, began to speak. The circular glasses he wore added a certain intellect to his person.

—Don't worry, even with everything I've told you, you feel very healthy. she assured, making her voice a little nicer.

Maybe the doctor sitting in the swivel chair knows about the suspicious look Sumire had now. She has looked defensive ever since she woke up, also being very indifferent towards the very person who was consulting her with the current state of her body.

He noted that the ID card on his chest has a grinning snake attached to it. Such a childish ornament, but surely very effective that could empathize with a child to trust the doctor.

Sumire wasn't like that, although she didn't distrust people very much either, however, a part of her hates scientists. She gave him a very nonchalant air and only made him tremble with anxiety.

If he had to choose, the Zetsus wouldn't be such bad company compared to the scientists. Although the latter were not as rare as the Zetsus were.

She really doesn't want to be alone with this kind of person, but since she doesn't have any other partners or people she knew in this city, she has no choice.

“Since you're a patient, you can rest as much as you want. We'll release you tomorrow as you didn't have any serious injuries, but like I said; you have to rest.

She nodded with her head lowered. She didn't want to make contact with the doctor, plus she didn't feel like talking to him much.

"Now then, let me ask you one thing first," he spoke this time with a more severe and calm tone, showing a serious look, "Can you tell me how you ended up like this to be in the hospital?"

—There were some guys who wanted to rob me…. The rest must already be able to intuit how things developed. -She said.

He touched the bandaged part of his face, as were his legs. They didn't hurt as much anymore, he was now able to walk well, although from time to time he felt a little pain. He just couldn't have tried too hard.

“Well, I can understand. There are many who have gone far out of the way to commit misdeeds with his gifts...” He sighed dejectedly as he wrote on his desk. Now, I want to ask you the following, and this would be my last question: How did they get to the hospital?

Of course, Sumire herself doesn't know. No one in this place knows.

After he passed out from having used his chakra to the last it could give he passed out losing consciousness. He didn't know anything after that, but when she woke up she was already in a bed in a hospital room.

In a situation like that it was clear that she would feel completely insecure around the people who were from here. Besides, that's not the only thing that's most disturbing of all.

After she was attended to when she woke up from her, they informed her that she had been found along with Boruto at the hospital entrance. There was no trace of a person leaving them there.

Some nurses told her that she was in very bad shape when they found her. They showed her concern and at the same time they were moved to know that she was in trouble because of very bad people and that a boy risked her life to save her until he was very bad. She expected her to be surprised after hearing all that.

Nothing they said was real, but he used that story as a shield to cover all the events that happened last night.

“Speaking of which, there's also the fact that I find it very strange that a girl without an Academy City ID card appears, that really surprised me. Normally that subject must be something very complicated for the members of Lex, huh?

— "Wasn't the previous one the last question?"

Sumire sighed exhausted after hearing the doctor, glancing out the window to distance herself a bit from the situation she was in. She kept having a little discomfort in her stomach, she just wanted to get out of there.

The only thing he thought now was who was the person who left them in the middle of the hospital entrance and how he got there in the sewers. He thought about the possibility that person hadn't discovered something about them, but he doubted it. The normal thing would be to think about what would have happened down there, since both she and the red-haired boy had left that place in a very bad state.

If that person was smart, he was sure he would have taken them with him. If he didn't, it's because he works individually, or at least he wouldn't get in trouble.

What worried him most was one thing: What was a person doing down there? That alerted her even more, thinking of the many things that the mysterious person had thought of to leave them.

"Ah yes, the letter in your hand is for him," the older man pointed out. It's important that he gets it, and even if it's not correct, maybe it's better that you see it. Well, he's within your rights to part. He believed that he must have already woken up.

She nodded, relieved to be able to leave that place and also wanting to see Boruto, although she couldn't help but have a terrible feeling in her body when she remembered how bad she must be.

“Oh, by the way…before I forget.

She turned abruptly, looking at the doctor suspiciously and with an uncomfortable expression. However, she could at least see some sincerity in her expression as she adjusted her glasses.

"There's something else I need to ask you."

๑๑๑

Between the white corridor of the hospital a small tok tok was heard that some could hear if they passed nearby.

Sumire knocks on the patient room door twice. Just this action alone makes her heart pound until it's about to break. Before the other person can reply, Sumire frantically rubs her sweaty hands on her clothes.

-Who?

She was about to reach her hand to lower the door handle, only to suddenly hear "Who is it?". That was the voice of a boy that had been heard from inside.

Should I say "Can I come in please?" and then open the door? But if she did, what if she feels like it's taking too long?

There was no point in thinking about it too much, Sumire was really scared.

Nervously she opens the door in a robotic way. She seeing everything inside, noticing that it is not a room for 6 people, but for one.

Since the walls, floor, and ceiling are all white, there is a difference in the sense of distance, so the room appears wide. On the white colored bed the boy is sitting. The bedside windows are open, the white curtains swaying.

Everything seemed very indifferent to him. She was only interested in the guest in the room.

He is still alive.

Just this makes Sumire want to cry. She begins to get frustrated just seeing him. Seeing how a mess it was.

Should I run into his arms? Or should she punish him for going too far? Anyone seemed reasonable to him, although he, too, was not right now. He had a dangerous mix of emotions to feel about.

“Hehe… Excuse me.

The Uzumaki boy bows his head slightly and begins to say:

-Are you okay? she asked with a grin from ear to ear.

The boy's tone is very friendly, making a friendly expression as well in his voice. It is like a tone used when someone accompanies him when he is very bad. However, this is a situation where he contradicts the side of him. She is fine, but the worst.

She looked at the appearance in which he was; some bandages on his head that covered him up to his right eye, his right arm was with a cast hanging up to his chest. She couldn't see his left leg as it was under the covers.

Sumire slightly gasps, only daring to look at the ground.

-Sorry…

Her voice made the boy worry, letting out a discomfort... no, a heartbreaking guilt that she wanted to release.

For some reason, Sumire can't bear to see the boy in that pale look in front of her anymore. He was seriously injured because of her. If only he hadn't lost focus in the first place. Also, he was someone who didn't have any experience with the Zetsus, and she didn't remember much if he had such experience, but she knew about them and their stuff, but he was the one who had the most opportunity to take control of the situation, and even so…, he was very hurt and because he protected her. Worst of all is that he is now worried about her.

How would it feel?

Sumire takes a breath as if trying to suppress a certain feeling that is rising in her chest.

Shouldn't you be smiling?

He wondered, while the boy's expression is as nonchalant and nonchalant as ever, seemingly forgetting everything about his body.

"W-what's wrong?" Are you okay? Why are you sad?

"Do you think I'm okay?" Sumire asks, exhaling as she says, "Of course I'm not okay."

Boruto looked worriedly at Sumire's face, and after a while, he started to interrupt her to speak.

-Why not? We…didn't we make it out alive last night?

This kind of question hurts Sumire's heart a little more. She agreed with him and she was very grateful to still see the light of day after yesterday. However, that did not take anything away from what happened.

The worst of all was how Boruto was taking it, being in those conditions. Sumire couldn't bear that. This pressure forced her to stand in the middle of the room until she was a couple of steps away from the bed.

"Boruto-kun!" Why don't you worry about yourself a little more? She exploded this time, looking at her face as she held back the tears that threatened to come out. "I'm fine, you're not!"

—…

—I only received hard hits that could easily be recovered thanks to my chakra! You don't deserve to be like this, since it was my fault for being distracted! You do not remember? I don't want... I don't want someone to die because of me...

In a way, Boruto felt a bit identified with her. Certainly, he didn't want someone to die because of her either, so he wouldn't mind sacrificing himself. It is true that earlier in the night he was afraid, he even wanted to run away from the place, taking Sumire's chance to leave. Nothing was as he expected.

However, after experiencing last night, he realized how difficult it must have been for Sumire to go through all of this before meeting him… or so he suspected. She knew a lot about the Zetsus, so this must have been normal to happen, but since she had no memory of before meeting him, she couldn't know for sure if she lived hunting these things.

Turning his gaze towards her, he felt a little guilt for having made her cry with worry, and of course, it was his right to even be normal if you didn't want to see someone perish because of your action.

He smiled a small reassuring smile when he saw her and said:

"Hey...don't you remember what I told you?"

She looked at him puzzled, maintaining the composure not to shed any more tears than she already had in her eyes. Her gaze had connected with his, as she smiled positively again.

"I told you you can count on me for whatever there is." I will never leave you alone against your problems, eh? You're my responsibility since I picked you up, and the fact that I was there is my own choice, so don't blame yourself by saying you dragged me. You just tell me what to do and I'll help, Sumire.

He felt happy, not only because he had managed to make Sumire safe. It means that now he considered himself at least much more useful and helpful, that filled him with pride.

Now he felt that he was a little equal to her, so now he believed that he could speak as equals. He felt like a hero that he liked to be when he was little and that made him very happy. He was in gratitude to her, it was like a star in the vast space that he guided him to her destiny.

Sumire calmed down when she saw him smile in such a carefree way. She couldn't handle him, not when she made a face like that. She admitted that his words were nice and self-assured, and that maybe you speak the truth, but she kept feeling that it was her fault that she had dragged him to a dangerous place.

She wiped away the tears a little and tried to smile, seeing for now the positive of everything. They are both alive, that was the important thing. Although, she will try to know how to improve herself for the next time something like this happens, although she doubted it very much. They have already eliminated all the Zetsus, even her entire hive , there was no trace left if her calculations are very exact.

-Something happens?

She saw him ask Boruto, she instead shook her head in denial and smiled again.

"No, it's nothing," he replied. I'm just thinking about when you're coming out so you can make me the curry you promised.

“Oh, right. Well, it looks like that surprise is going to have to wait. He said sadly. So the important thing now will be to rest and when he leaves we will go buy the ingredients.

He gave Sumire a little click, and pulled out a folded sheet of paper from his shorts.

-Oh by the way. The doctor here gave me this letter. He told me that he could read it, but I preferred to respect privacy. He approached giving her the letter.

Boruto took it from her hands, and began to unfold it to read its content. Sumire looked at him concentrating as she read, but the more you read the more she could see him being pale and with a look of fear that made him sweat.

He stopped short as he squeezed the sheet a little until he saw him break out in a cold sweat, even clicking his teeth together until his eyes were completely blank.

"I-This can't be the bill for our care at the hospital…" she whispered. They are worrying numbers.

"Is it that much?"

-This can not be happening!

Being a hero is certainly a difficult thing... and expensive.

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Epilogue I

—Yakushi-sensei, here I have the two x-rays you asked for.

The older man held the folder that held his assistance, looking at it carefully while sighing somewhat tired.

"Thank you very much," he smiled, "could you go see if his condition hasn't changed?"

"Sure, with permission."

The door to his office closed, leaving him alone and silent as he looked at his watch.

It had been two hours since he had talked to that strange girl with no ID, and he was very worried about her strange appearance. He felt a strange sensation when he first saw her, when she was found last night in her driveway.

She didn't have any serious injuries to worry about, she had only been hit on some parts of her body, although there was also a small scar on her sword, which hinted that she had been stabbed. She believed it if she took the girl's testimony as something "believable".

According to her, she had been robbed. That wound on her back was made a while ago, it only makes one think that she is involved in dangerous things, but he wasn't the one to recriminate a girl who doesn't get into trouble, possibly she wouldn't even listen to him. That is what he came to understand when he met her.

"Well, I'm a doctor. My job is only to heal the wounded, and not ask questions of my patients.

However, what most caught his attention of all her wounds is one in particular.

๑๑๑

"You say you don't remember anything?"

The girl nodded, near the door where she was about to leave. She was clearly retained by the same man and owner of the office. She was very upset when he brought up the subject of her amnesic state.

Now that the man understood him better, he leaned back a little more in his swivel chair, looking out of the window.

He took a bit of his time and refocused on the tired-looking girl with her loose purple hair.

"As soon as they picked you up, I checked both the boy and you," he confessed seriously. And to be honest, I can't call it a state of amnesia or memory loss.

-Nope?

“The correct word for this is memory destruction.

He saw her surprised, looking at him in disbelief. There was a good while when she didn't say anything, just having her eyes on him, but her mind seemed to be outside this room as well.

Her words must keep bouncing around the girl's mind, making her chill even though it's hot season.

—That ending that you "forgot" your memories is not the most appropriate, but rather, all the cells of your brain were "destroyed". In that situation it is impossible to recover a person's memory.

—…!

—Mmm…. In computer terms, you're like a burned out hard drive. Since your brain has no sign of your memories in it, can human memory be stored somewhere else?

Perhaps he is waiting for an inexplicable response from the girl. She was silent like that for a few seconds.

—I don't know very well how your logic works, but in this time I have recovered part of my memories little by little, but the truth is… I don't know how to say it. It's complicated. -she said.

"If so then… No, I think we should leave it at that," he sighed, his head aching a little from thinking about what this girl was. However, there is something I must ask of you.

-What is?

“You'll have to come here every week. I don't know much about your condition yet, but I'll try to find out what it is, okay?

She didn't seem very convinced. Her gaze reflected distrust in him, or perhaps in the entire place. It's the most normal if it was a child who hardly comes to the hospital, but she behaved like one, which inferred that there was something more than just simplistic mistrust in her expressions.

"Don't worry, I won't charge anything. This is something I am determined to do.

๑๑๑

Fortunately, she agreed in the end. Of course that relaxed him, but he didn't take away her concern to know what she would find in the girl. She even gave him her phone number to contact him for anything.

What did seem funny to him is that he did not know how a cell phone works or at least how to enter the number of one. He acted too out of touch with modern times, which also seemed very curious to think about.

He opened one of the X-ray folders, taking one last look at the girl's condition from earlier. She seeing a small but deadly and disturbing difference in her brain to one that she normally should be.

One thing that is clear to him is that something or someone did this to him. It was not by chance or accident that his memory was "destroyed". One of the most delicate parts of the brain was damaged, which showed that he had intentionally damaged that spot, but he still didn't know what he did it with.

"I suppose it will be a very interesting case to deal with..." he exhaled as he put aside the X-rays of the girl, "but now..."

Putting aside the topic of the girl, he opened the other one on where it contained other x-rays. She wasn't as severe as the one he saw from the girl, but she wasn't normal at all either, one that is beyond his ability as a scientist.

There had to be a logical explanation, but when she saw that strange stain on the X-ray of the boy who was with her. She was startled by her right eye. It was not a result that could be explained scientifically.

Is this perhaps an unnatural phenomenon that science cannot understand?

Of course, that is something that an ordinary person would conclude, even being this same city where science is more developed. The good thing for him is that this case seemed strangely familiar to him, and that to this day there has only been one time that he dealt with something related to ocular cases. However, he did not take away from the fact that this is far removed from all scientific reasoning.

—I already knew that the surname was familiar to me. It's very clear that she's his son…” The doctor leaned back in his chair. I'm surprised that he hasn't managed to have an "awakening", but he has found the chakra...

He glanced at his small compartment next to his desk, frowning as he got up from his chair to head for the door.

“No, the truth is that you shouldn't. The same goes for her eye, though… how come she has something like that?

He didn't know how he got those horrible injuries, much less know the current state of this city after these last two patients, but now he had a much clearer idea with those two boys. Knowing that Uzumaki Hinata's son was up to something is very unsettling.

He will report this to her later, knowing how complicated the Academic City board of directors were last night.

This city was slowly changing and no one is noticing. She just hoped that things weren't more troublesome than his brain already guessed.

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Epilogue II

The bright light of the moon illuminated the entire city on that night. One of those that no one could possibly know that a terrible fight had been waged in which two boys participated.

His role was over, dirtying his hands with the dirty work he always did. He never hesitated, questioned and/or compromised on his missions. However, this time he had turned aside to see that match he saw in the sewers. Although, he only got to see the final moments when that violet-haired girl launched that powerful water attack at that Zetsu.

Without a doubt, it was something that shook him when he hit the creature. He wasn't a fool, that wasn't at all an ability that girl got from having the "awakening". There was something much more, she was exactly like him.

Among his clothes wrapped in a black cape, he took out a small communicator that he put on his left ear, although it was complicated by having his hood over it to hide his face, added to his black crow mask.

Pressing the button on the device itself, he waited for the little static he was hearing to end until it soon leveled off until he heard a voice on the other end.

— I'm surprised you're calling now, did something happen with the mission?

The other voice on the other end of the communicator belonged to a slightly older and friendly man. He always swallowed his comments or criticism towards him, it should at least sound a little threatening to his behavior.

—No, I finished the mission without any problem. It's done,” she replied, sitting down on the edge of the roof of the building she was on. Right now I'm just taking my time to see if there isn't a witness to the mission.

— So what is the problem? Normally you don't call… especially with me.

“That problem, the one that has been causing a lot of trouble for the boss and the city, has already been solved. He said dryly.

He heard nothing through the comlink.

She suspected that the news came as a sudden shock to him, but it was also not something he was really affected by. If he was silent, it's because the plans changed with this.

“ I understand…, I guess that's good news. I guess I don't need to worry too much about my daughters.

"From what I understand, Harunoki has a very good security system, so nothing is going to happen to them."

" It's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Okay, I understand." From his pocket he took out a small transparent capsule in which he stared at it carefully. In any case, it's been fixed and I got a sample from the Zetsu. I'll go take it to the boss.

He heard the other man sigh heavily, which was clear he wasn't too happy about the idea of ​​him handing over said sample to his boss.

She couldn't blame him, after all these kinds of things were never safe and more so in the hands of her boss. However, neither he nor the other cares what he will do with the sample. This is just part of his job.

“ I'm glad you killed them, but I don't like that you picked up a piece of one of them. However, when I see the sample I will try to investigate it thoroughly together with Katasuke-sensei .

-Yes. I understand.

— And you just called for that?

-Nope.

-Hey? There is more?

He put his other leg on top of the other, looking out of the corner of his eye at the hospital entrance in front of the building he was in. There was no one in sight anymore.

-I found her.

— What?

“The girl, the one the boss has been looking for. I found her. She reaffirmed without taking her eyes off the hospital.

— What.?! Say…

A small transfer was heard, but more than anything it was because of the other. She had turned it off for a moment, and most likely she made sure no one was listening where he was. Shortly after, the connection between his communicators was fine again.

" Did you really find her?" It was her?

Now he was whispering through the call. She didn't find it necessary, but he decided to spare his comments.

-Yes the same one. A 16-year-old girl, having purple hair, but she didn't have that kimono that was in the description. -She said.

— I see, but the point is that you already found it… Where did you find it? Do you have it with you?

“No, just now I just dropped them off at a hospital.

- I don't think it was a good idea. That she comes into contact with people, there's a good chance they'll find her… Wait, did you say "let them"?

"Yes, there was a citizen with her." Her age was close to hers or equal to hers,' he added between a soft, unconcerned sigh. Also, I forgot to mention it to you, but she was the one who took down the Zetsus, along with that boy. I felt the presence of both.

— That's very serious... Does it mean that she's already regained consciousness?

—I don't know, his brain was already damaged when he was born and according to the boss, it's impossible for him to know anything about anything.

The other's growl could be heard. He was very frustrated, it must be because of the mental load after all the information he was receiving. It's understandable that he feels this way, since in separate opinion, the situation has become a bit complicated after what he ended up seeing in the girl, and although if he had wanted he would have killed the boy who was with her.

He didn't in the end for one simple reason; he would raise suspicions about her disappearance, in addition to the fact that it would not suit him if the girl remembered something about her, so he had to act cautiously.