Beta read by Opal
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-Earth-
Everything felt off.
The sensation of leaving that strange place refused to disappear. Even after finding himself back inside the spaceship, Shirou could still feel the difference lingering throughout his body.
'My head hurts…'
Wherever Zelretch had taken him, it had felt unlike any place he had ever experienced. The air itself seemed lighter, every ache had vanished, and even the blow Rin had given him no longer hurt within seconds. The constant pressure that had quietly settled over his thoughts during the past few weeks had simply ceased to exist while he was there. Yet the instant he had been pushed back into reality, the feeling had reversed so abruptly that it nearly made him lose his footing. Every breath became heavier, his limbs felt sluggish, and even thinking seemed more taxing than it had moments earlier, as though he had been dropped into thick mud after spending hours floating on calm water. The unpleasant sensation gradually faded after several seconds, but the memory of it refused to leave him. Before he could properly make sense of what had happened, another question immediately forced its way to the front of his mind.
'What did he mean... that I was already dealing with that monster?'
The old magician's final words continued to echo inside his head no matter how much he tried to dismiss them. There had to be some hidden meaning behind that warning, but every possibility only made him more confused than the last. He was certain he had never encountered that monstrous presence before, one that even made people like Zouken look no different from a normal human. If he truly had, surviving such an encounter seemed impossible. The Greater Grail briefly crossed his mind, only for him to reject the idea almost immediately. Associating the two only created more questions than answers, leaving him with no clear place to begin untangling the mystery. His thoughts kept circling the same possibilities until familiar voices gradually pulled him away from them.
"Shirou?"
"Ah."
Another call followed almost immediately.
"You're spacing out again."
Blinking several times, he finally focused on the person sitting beside him. Lutecia was quietly sipping from a plastic cup filled with juice and floating pieces of ice she had apparently bought from one of the local stores before they departed. After having lunch with the old woman, Nanoha and Fate joined them for the meal, and everyone returned to the ship to continue their journey. Somehow, he had completely failed to notice when they boarded due to being so sucked into his own little world.
Light brown eyes studied him for a few quiet seconds before she lowered the drink from her lips. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"
"Thinking about who?"
"The girl you were with earlier. Who pushed you out of that portal… the one with the extremely short skirt?"
"She does have an unusually short skirt, doesn't she?" For someone like Rin, who did not have a taste for promiscuous clothing, she sure did keep insisting on wearing that. Though he supposed the long stocking did help, he supposed. Ah, he nearly got distracted. "Um, yes, I am."
There was no point denying it.
"It had been so long since we last met." He decided to elaborate while a small smile appeared almost unconsciously. "We talked about a lot of things... things I hadn't thought about in months. Seeing that she was doing well made me happier than I expected." He paused, looking absentmindedly toward the floor before letting out a quiet laugh. "I don't think I even realized how much I missed her until today. I must've buried those feelings somewhere without noticing, and I couldn't hold it back the moment she showed up."
"..."
A weird silence settled between them for several moments. Rather than answering immediately, Lutecia simply watched him, the straw resting between her fingers as though she were trying to decide what to say. Eventually, she let out a quiet hum before taking another sip.
"...That's not the answer I expected."
Shirou looked back at her, raising an eyebrow at that statement. Did she believe he would say something negative about Rin or think they weren't that close?
"But it's a much better one. I'm not sure the others are going to be that understanding, though." She continued with narrow eyes, staring at him as if trying to gouge him for any lies.
"The others?"
Instead of replying directly, she simply raised a finger and pointed toward the opposite side of the cabin.
Following the gesture, his eyes landed on Nanoha and Fate. The two girls had apparently been talking to each other in hushed whispers only moments earlier, but both had stopped without him noticing. They were now looking directly at him in complete silence.
Neither smiled nor waved at him.
They simply stared, briefly behaving as if he were a complete stranger for some reason.
Feeling the awkwardness settle over the cabin, Shirou was the first to break eye contact. Slowly turning back toward her, he leaned over just enough to lower his voice.
"...Are they angry?"
"Not angry, just wondering if they have competition," Lutecia said. "And something else too."
"Competition for what?"
"If you haven't figured it out by now, then there's no point in me saying it." The purple-haired girl shook her head in disappointment.
Earning an exasperated sigh, Shirou just shook his head, then quickly remembered something and asked, "Speaking of which, why were Nanoha and Fate with her when I reappeared back in London? Did something happen?"
It crossed his mind now of what happened back then, with so much going on, it got harder to keep track of such things.
Lutecia gave him a weird stare. "You suddenly disappeared out of the blue, and they could not even get in contact or connect with your device at all to locate your location. A device that would have tracked your location even if you were on a completely different planet on the edge of the galaxy — but we couldn't. When they tried to do so, it was as if it did not exist or perhaps had been destroyed. Everyone got worried, and we even began to believe that your device had gotten destroyed."
"Ah, I see," Shirou said while scratching the back of his head. "Sorry for worrying you all, but I didn't know I was about to meet Zeltrech and Rin. Much less that he was going to pull me into a completely different dimension for all I know."
The redhead turned his attention toward the large window lining the side of the spaceship. Beyond the glass, the endless ocean stretched toward the horizon while the vessel glided above it, heading for Japan. More specifically, it was following the route that would eventually bring them to where Fuyuki should have been. There was little reason to make the trip anymore by now; in fact, he even asked Hayate to cancel it and just have them go back to Midchilda.
"Are you sure? We might not be able to return here for a while, so best not to regret your decision." She said that it was enough to sprout doubts in his mind at the very last second. Not like anyone in that spaceship was short on time, and he was as well.
So a short visit would not be a bad idea.
Thanks to everything Rin and Zelretch had told him, he already possessed the answers he had been searching for. Even so, a small part of him still wanted to see the place with his own eyes. Whether anything remained there or not hardly mattered. After everything that had happened, he simply wanted one last look at the city where so much of his life had begun.
The quiet was eventually broken by the girl seated beside him.
"So..." Lutecia began, lightly swirling the ice around inside her cup. "Who exactly is this Rin? She seemed... pretty close to you."
Shirou blinked in surprise before looking back at her.
"Didn't I tell you about her before?" He frowned slightly, genuinely trying to remember and feeling like this conversation had happened before. But he could not recall if it was with her or someone else. "I can't recall whether I ever brought her up."
A small shrug followed.
"Let's pretend you didn't."
"...That's convenient."
"It is." A faint smile crossed her face before she rested her chin against one hand. "So tell me. What's actually going on between the two of you?"
"I knew Rin for many years, and we went through a lot of hardships together," he explained to the girl, also indulging in those nostalgic memories himself. "If she wasn't in my life, I would have long since been dead by now. She's very dependable, headstrong, and smart—more so than most people I've met."
"She sounds impressive," the purple-haired girl replied in a quieter voice. "And how did she even get here then? And..." Her voice died down, making him wonder what she was about to say, but he answered her first question since he figured she would have been curious herself.
"She is a very powerful mage and a very talented one, able to use all elements and with a high number of magic circuits. She can use a very powerful branch of magecraft that consists of gems that you can use as projectiles and can even store spells within them to use them later without needing to waste time casting them. It's a very diverse branch that I tried to look into a while ago but couldn't get beyond just… recharging a stone at most."
"How does that lead to allowing one to travel through another world?" Lutecia asked curiously.
"It's not exactly jewelcraft that allows her to do that," he clarified. "It's something called the Second Magic. That is something way beyond my understanding that I can't even attempt to grasp or properly explain, for that matter. She's learning under the only person who can use it. It was that teacher who created the portal and took me away to meet her in the first place. She's still learning, and it will take some time for her to master that form of magic, but I trust that she will be able to achieve that sooner rather than later."
For some reason, Lutecia looked even more saddened. "You're surprisingly confident."
"Of course I am! Rin can do anything," he stated firmly.
"The way you speak about it sounds like something powerful, but aside from opening portals, what else can it do?"
Shirou scratched his chin before telling her, "This is nothing more than a story of the past passed down from mage to mage, and I haven't seen it myself, but it was said that Zelretch used the Second Magic to fight against the embodiment of the moon itself. Not just managing to defeat it, but pushing it back when it tried to slam a mirror copy of the moon into the Earth itself. Rin even said that the sword he used during that battle, her family inherited a blueprint, and she had plans on using his craft to create a copy at some point, but we never managed to get to that yet."
Truthfully, he doubted that he had the capabilities of replicating the jewel sword or helping in any way, shape, or form whatsoever.
The young girl put on a horrified face as she repeated, "Slamming the moon onto the Earth!?"
"Copy of the moon."
"As if that makes it any less ridiculous."
An understandable reaction, he had the same a long time ago. Still, he chuckled awkwardly. "That's only the beginning, and it gets weirder as the moon was technically the creature itself, but I don't know. It was just incomprehensible beings fighting one another with incomprehensible magic that could cause incomprehensible damage beyond our understanding. It's not something a third-rate mage like me could even grasp. I have nothing to learn from them, unlike Rin, who is trying to achieve the same thing."
"So your girlfriend is basically someone who can one day destroy a planet by smashing it against another planet-sized thing?" Lutecia asked with wide eyes.
Oi, did she really have to word it like that? It felt a bit deliberate on her end. Shirou put on an uncomfortable face. "Rin would never do anything like that." He went silent, then started genuinely contemplating it before coughing awkwardly. "Well, as long as you don't anger her too much, she definitely won't."
There were moments where her temper flared up quite a bit, but he felt those tended to happen less and less the older they got. Not to mention, he tended to be the cause of those anger bursts.
Lutecia gave him a dry look. "You don't sound very convincing. This girlfriend of yours sounds very scary."
"She's not my girlfriend. Rin is a good friend," Shirou corrected. Lutecia looked at him with disbelief. Noticing this, Shirou responded again, "What? I'm serious."
The purple-haired girl exhaled. "If you say so. The girl who lived with you for more than a year in the same apartment with both of you relying on each other and you cooking for her every day, and someone willing to hug you like that is definitely just a friend."
"Friends can't hug each other or have intimate gestures? Friends can live together," he defended his side vehemently.
She just shrugged her shoulders and agreed with him, though it was clear she did not believe him. Shirou didn't know what else to say. After that, the conversation ended up being quite monotone. Strangely enough, he realized there was something strange in the air with Nanoha and Fate and the other girls being strangely quiet. When he tried to talk to them, they were just giving him curt responses and once again going completely quiet, making the entire atmosphere of their travel from London to Japan a bit awkward.
Thankfully, the flight did not last much longer. Within minutes, the spacecraft had reached the area where Fuyuki should have been.
Hayate stepped beside him and looked through the open view of the city below with an odd gaze, checking the tablet several times as if to confirm she was right. "Are you sure this is the place?"
As the aircraft hovered over a city that carried a surprising resemblance to what he remembered, it began its descent. The doors slid open, and both stepped out onto a clearing near a residential district.
"Yes. In my world, this would have been where Fuyuki was located."
"Here, it's Kobe. I don't remember there being any Fuyuki in Japan, but this is the closest one that resembles your description."
That was enough for him to nod silently before continuing forward. The neighborhood ahead was familiar. The layout of the streets, the slope of the hill, and even the spacing between certain houses reminded him of home. For a brief moment, it felt as though he had somehow stepped back into his own world.
But there were many key differences, no burnt-down central parks where life refused to grow due to the remnant of the mud tainting the area.
People passed by as he walked, and old habits surfaced before he could stop them. A few residents received a polite greeting from him, earning confused but friendly nods in return. After spending so long in London and then in this world, the last time he had actually been in Fuyuki felt impossibly distant. Even knowing this was not truly Fuyuki, the sense of nostalgia settled over him with surprising force.
He continued up the hill until the place where his house should have been finally came into view.
Hile stopped.
Where a large estate should have stood, there was instead a modest house with a convenience store attached to the ground floor. The sight made his hands clench involuntarily.
"Why am I disappointed...?" he told himself bitterly. "I already know this isn't my home."
Despite that, he found himself walking toward the entrance and stepping inside.
"Welcome!"
The interior was exactly what one would expect from a neighborhood convenience store. Shelves of snacks, drinks, magazines, and everyday necessities filled the small space. Nothing unusual. Nothing connected to the Emiya estate that should have been here. Without really thinking about it, he picked up several items he recognized from his childhood. His expression remained neutral as he brought them to the counter. Where a middle-aged man was busy cleaning his rounded glasses.
"That'll be nine hundred yen."
He paid using the money, something that had been ironically on him from the day he arrived in this world. Money that he had kept in his wallet as a souvenir now finally became useful. While processing the payment, the clerk studied him for a moment before speaking again.
"You look new to the area. Visiting Kobe?"
A bit unprepared for the question, the redhead momentarily did not know what to say until he gathered his wits. "Something like that. I was actually looking for my old home."
"Oh? Did you live around here before?"
"Something like that. My family's house used to be somewhere in this neighborhood before I moved to study in London."
The clerk nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Unfortunately, a lot of people have moved in and out over the past ten years. It's hard to remember every family that used to live here. So many people choose to leave this place and settle in Tokyo. Ashamed really, this neighbourhood used to be more lively in the past, and I'd say Kobe has more beautiful scenery than any place in Osaka." The man soon stopped and proceeded to let out an awkward laugh. He gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I might be talking too much. Most customers just want to pay and leave, so I'm probably being a little strange."
"No, it's fine. I'm glad you're comfortable enough to talk with me. And I was hesitating to ask you a similar question as well about the place."
"Glad to hear that." The older man chuckled. "Kobe's a beautiful city. I hope you find the place you're looking for. Even if you don't, take some time to look around. A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed exactly the same. Some streets feel frozen in time while others look like they belong in the future. Honestly, my son is usually the one who keeps me updated on all the new things."
Shirou nodded, looking outside the store with a lost gaze. "It definitely is beautiful out here. But perhaps I may have been mistaken and won't find my house."
"It is always sad when one loses something they had grown up with their entire childhood. But don't let that put you down. You can always make new memories with what this place has to offer. If you do decide to move into the neighbourhood, then I'll make sure to invite you for dinner.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."
With the plastic bag in hand, he turned toward the exit. Before he could leave, a loud crashing sound came from upstairs.
"Oh, for the love of… hah." The clerk immediately slapped a hand against his forehead. "Sorry about that. My son's probably playing basketball inside the house again."
Quickly apologizing again, he stepped outside, realizing that he never asked for that man's name or contact in case he were to return here in the future. Just as you began contemplating whether to go back and wait, the man's voice rose behind him.
"I told you not to kick that thing indoors! Go play outside! Look at this. Ah, you broke your superhero action figures, Kerry!"
"..."
His entire body froze.
The bag nearly slipped from his hand as his eyes widened. For a second, his heart hammered so violently that he could hear it. A trembling hand pressed against his chest while he forced himself to breathe.
"No..."
Shaking his head, he slowly turned away and took a few steps before stopping once more. One last glance drifted toward the second floor of the small house. Through the window, he could make out the silhouette of a young boy with spiky hair peering outside curiously.
For a brief moment, curious, innocent dark eyes stared right back at tired golden brown.
The child smiled… somehow that made the heavy sensation within lighten ever so slightly — Shirou returned the gesture. Then the former disappeared back into the house, most likely dealing with the aftermath of his actions and the wrath of his father.
"..."
At the end of the day, this was not Fuyuki. Perhaps some elements remained the same, but interacting with them would bring him no benefit or satisfaction. Some of the things he could just look at from afar, avoiding getting roped into something that had no need of his presence.
…
The walk back to the ship was quiet. Behind him, the city continued with its ordinary atmosphere, people talking, shops still open, and children running through the streets as though nothing unusual had ever happened there. Shirou slowed for a brief moment and looked over his shoulder one last time, silently committing the view to memory. The streets, the rooftops, the distant skyline, all of it deserved to remain exactly as it was. After several seconds, he turned away and continued toward the dock.
Not far from the boarding ramp, Lutecia had completely occupied herself chasing a butterfly drifting lazily through the afternoon air. She crept after it with surprising determination, stretching both hands forward whenever she thought she had closed the distance. Every attempt ended the same way. The butterfly would flutter just out of reach, forcing her to stumble another step before trying again. Watching the normally quiet girl forget herself for a few moments and simply enjoy acting her age brought an unconscious smile to his face. It made him wonder what life might have looked like had they both been able to remain in Fuyuki under ordinary circumstances, where worries about battles and responsibilities never existed, leaving her free to spend days chasing butterflies instead of learning how to survive.
Seeing another opportunity, the girl carefully extended both hands again, trying to cup the butterfly between her palms. Just before she reached it, the tiny creature drifted upward with effortless grace. A single hand reached past her shoulder and gently caught it without harming it in the slightest.
"There," he said with a small smile as he slowly opened his palm. "You have to be a little more patient. If you rush, it'll fly away every time. And be careful with the wings. They're delicate enough that even rubbing them too much can damage them."
The girl's eyes widened as she leaned closer, carefully studying the butterfly resting peacefully in his hand. "Wow... it's beautiful." She quickly pulled out her phone, taking a picture before lowering it again. "I've never seen one with patterns like this on Mid-Childa."
"I figured you hadn't. We call it a swallowtail."
Neither of them moved for several seconds, quietly watching until the butterfly spread its wings and lifted itself back into the air. It circled above them once before disappearing toward the nearby trees. Only after it vanished did Shirou gently ruffle the top of her head.
"Come on. Let's head home."
Without hesitation, she slipped her hand into his. "Okay."
Together, they stepped aboard the ship. The quiet lasted only a few moments before she looked up at him again, her expression carrying the same thoughtful look she always wore whenever something seemed out of place.
"...Did something happen?"
He glanced down at her. "No. Why would you ask that?"
"It's nothing specific." Her fingers tightened ever so slightly around his hand. "You just... look sad."
"Heh, do I?" A faint laugh escaped him before he shook his head. "No. It's actually the opposite. I'm happier than I've been in quite a while."
That answer only deepened her confusion.
"...Why?"
"Because I found what I came here looking for."
She blinked slowly, tilting her head adorably with uncertainty. "But... I thought you didn't find anything."
"I found more than enough." His gaze drifted toward the city one last time through the ship's open hatch before returning forward. "I realized something important today. My presence here isn't necessary anymore. The people living in that city already have someone they can rely on. Their future is moving in the right direction without me interfering." A deep sigh escaped him at that moment. "The best thing I can do now is stay as far away from it as possible. I don't want to ruin something that's already working."
The girl frowned, clearly unable to understand his reasoning.
"...Why would you ruin it?"
He hummed, wondering how to tell her without it sounding too depressing. He genuinely had nothing to be saddened about; at best, it could be described as something similar to disappointment.
"It's just a feeling." His eyes drifted toward the shrinking view of the city outside. "If I stayed here any longer, trouble would eventually find me. It always does. Besides... this isn't my home."
Lutecia thought about his answer for a few seconds before giving a small nod.
"Okay."
She did not press him for an explanation after all that. The two of them simply continued aboard the ship together. Once everyone had settled in, the hatch sealed shut behind them with a heavy metallic thud. Moments later, the engines came to life. The vessel lifted smoothly from the ground, climbed through the atmosphere, and left Earth behind until the blue planet slowly shrank beneath it. Waiting inside the bridge was Hayate, who greeted them with an apologetic smile the moment they entered.
"...Sorry. It looks like things did not go that well."
Shirou shook his head before she could continue.
"Eh? Ah, you misunderstand, I'm not sad or anything like that. Plus, I got to meet Rin… though I suspect her teacher could have easily reached me on Midchilda too. Seriously, you don't have anything to apologize for. I got to meet some familiar faces one last time, too." He leaned lightly against the nearby wall, looking far more relaxed than he had been when they first arrived on Earth. "If anything, I should thank you for going so far for more. I found every answer I came here searching for. I'm not wandering around wondering what happened anymore or how I'm going back, and I finally know what I want to do."
"I'm glad to hear that." Relief visibly crossed Hayate's face before an amused smile slowly replaced it. "Although... I also heard quite a few interesting things while you were gone."
He raised an eyebrow.
"...Interesting?"
"Oh, yes." Her smile became noticeably harder to suppress. "Apparently, you have a girlfriend who's strong enough to throw moons at other planets."
That nearly made him choke on air… never mind, he did end up choking on it.
"Cough! Cough!" After several fits of coughing, he stared back at her with disbelief. "...What?"
For the first time that day, Shirou looked genuinely stunned. His head slowly turned toward Lutecia.
Several meters away, the girl continued eating the snacks he had bought from the convenience store with complete composure, quietly chewing another potato chip as though the conversation had absolutely nothing to do with her.
"...Lutecia."
She looked back innocently.
"Yes?"
"What did you tell her?"
"Only what happened."
His eyelid twitched.
"No…, you absolutely did not." He immediately turned back toward Hayate, waving both hands. "Please forget everything she told you. She exaggerated almost all of it."
Hayate tilted her head.
"So... you don't have a third girlfriend you're keeping secret from everyone?"
Shirou stared at her in disbelief.
"...Why is that the part you're questioning instead of the moon being thrown away?"
"Because I've worked alongside Nanoha and Fate for years." The response came without even a second of hesitation. "Ridiculous things happen around us on a weekly basis. Someone throwing a moon doesn't even sound that unbelievable anymore."
"...Fair enough."
What else could he even say in this situation?
{Break}
(A few days later)
The trip back to Midchilda passed without incident. Once the ship docked, everyone gradually dispersed to resume their usual routines. Before anyone could leave completely, Shirou reached into one of his bags and pulled out several small souvenirs he had picked up during their visit to Japan. They were nothing expensive, merely little trinkets that had caught his attention while wandering through a convenience store, but he handed one to Nanoha, another to Fate, followed by Hayate and the rest of the group.
"I brought everyone something."
"Thank you," Fate replied with a gentle smile as she accepted hers.
Nanoha nodded as well.
"Thanks, Shirou."
That was all before both girls walked away. No awkward questions, no teasing, no mention of Rin and what even happened when he was with her.
He remained standing there for several seconds after they walked away, silently waiting for someone to stop, turn around, and ask about everything Lutecia had brought up earlier on back on Earth. He had already prepared himself to explain that Rin was not his girlfriend, that things were nowhere near as dramatic as they sounded, and that several misunderstandings had been blown wildly out of proportion.
But again, nothing happened, and he genuinely was not sure whether to count himself lucky or not.
The hallway gradually emptied.
"...That's strange."
After blinking a few times, he simply accepted it and figured they must have been tired by the long journey or would bring the matter up later on — thus, he continued on his way. Together with Lutecia, he stopped by a nearby grocery store to restock the apartment before heading home. Both of them carried several shopping bags as they walked through the evening streets, the younger girl quietly matching his pace.
"I want spaghetti."
"That's easy enough."
"And ramen."
"That too."
"I also want to play games."
"You've been making quite a lot of requests today."
She remained completely serious. "And dessert, a lava cake."
He couldn't help letting out a laugh.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden? You can barely finish a single one of those by yourself, and in most cases, I am the one who has to finish it."
She did not say anything for several steps. The grocery bags rustled softly with each footstep before Lutecia finally answered without looking up.
"...I just want to spend more time with you."
The simplicity of the answer caught him slightly off guard.
"Of course." A warm smile spread across his face as he gently adjusted one of the heavier bags in his hand. "I'd like that too. You never have to worry about asking me. If there's something you want to do together, just tell me."
No answer came.
She simply continued walking beside him, her face remaining as expressionless as ever. Even so, the slight tightening of her grip around the grocery bag was enough to tell him she had heard every word.
When they returned to the apartment, Shirou made dinner while his mind was still preoccupied with what happened today. A lot of things had happened, and he thought about how he didn't want Rin to push herself too much, but he wasn't sure how to tell her that. He should have tried to emphasize his point when he was with her, but now it was too late.
If only a week passed over there, and it were to take her maybe another two months or half a year to fix her mistake, how long would that mean in this world? Would he stay here for years? A decade? It was hard to calculate, and he just wasn't sure at what speed she would achieve this.
While cooking and cutting vegetables, a flashback of that creature he saw returned with a vengeance, feeling so scared that he jolted at the image. "Ah!" That moment of distraction made him lose control of the knife, and he ended up cutting his finger. He looked at the blood coming out of his finger with a lost expression, as if lost in his thoughts.
If that monster were to truly get interested and try to get into this world, what chance would he even have? What chance would they have? What was it even doing there? In his current state, he's no different from a small dust that could be destroyed with just a single half without even being acknowledged by that thing. He's here already struggling with a threat like Jail Scaglietti, someone who is just a human scientist capable of creating drones and robots. In comparison, he really had it easy, yet he was still struggling. How could this be acceptable? How could he protect people if, after so much effort, this was all that he could amount to?
Shirou focused on the wound for so long that, as if something came to his mind, from very deep within his flesh, a small glint could be seen, almost visible to the naked eye. Something was pulling the flesh back together, so small and unnoticeable that it was almost invisible, but the glint from the light shining upon it could not be missed as more and more of it appeared until—
"Shirou?"
The quiet voice pulled him away from his thoughts. Shirou blinked once before looking up from the cutting board. Sitting across from him at the kitchen table, the little girl was calmly nibbling on one of the carrot slices he had been preparing. She tilted her head slightly, chewing without any hurry, yet the curiosity in her eyes never left him.
"Is something wrong?"
His gaze briefly drifted toward the small cut across his fingertip before he casually pulled his hand back. "No, it's nothing." After rinsing away the thin streak of blood beneath the tap, he dried his hand with a towel, retrieved a Band-Aid from a nearby drawer, and wrapped it around the finger with practiced ease. "I just wasn't paying attention for a second."
She continued watching him for another moment as if trying to decide whether to believe that answer. Eventually, the suspicion faded, replaced by her usual calm expression. Taking another bite of the carrot, she quietly asked, "Can we eat dinner while watching television today?"
He chuckled. "I don't mind, but aren't you waiting for Fate and Vivio to come over? I thought they were joining us."
"They aren't." She said while shaking her head. "Fate called earlier. She mentioned something important that came up just recently, so she won't be able to make it tonight for dinner. Vivio is staying at Nanoha's apartment tonight."
That answer only deepened the uneasy feeling that had been sitting in the back of his mind all evening. Fate rarely changed plans at the last minute without giving at least a brief explanation. Resting the knife on the cutting board, he looked back at the girl. "Did she tell you what happened?"
A small shrug was all she offered. "No. She just said she'd explain another time."
There was little point in dwelling on it now. Whatever had happened, he could always ask the following day. With dinner finished not long afterward, the two settled in front of the television just as Lutecia had wanted. The movie was one they had already watched together several times before. He knew nearly every scene by memory, yet she never seemed to grow tired of it. Normally, she preferred sitting on the carpet with a blanket wrapped around herself despite the comfortable sofa only a few steps away. Tonight, however, she quietly climbed onto the couch beside him instead, leaning against his shoulder until the side of her head rested there as naturally as if it had always belonged.
The change did not escape his notice.
"Is something bothering you?" he asked after several minutes of silence. "You seem a little different today."
The little summoner gave a faint shake of her head without lifting it from his shoulder. "No... I just want to stay like this for a while."
He studied her for another second before deciding not to press the matter. If she wanted to talk, she would do so when she was ready. The movie continued playing while the room gradually fell quiet again, interrupted only by the voices from the television and the occasional clink of cutlery being moved aside after dinner. Minutes slowly blended into one another until nearly an hour had slipped away. Long before the ending credits arrived, her breathing had settled into a slow, even rhythm.
A faint smile crossed his face.
"So you finally lost the fight."
Careful not to wake her, Shirou slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back before lifting her from the sofa. The child barely stirred as he carried her upstairs and gently lowered her onto the bed. Just as he turned to leave, a small tug stopped him. Looking down, he found her fingers wrapped tightly around the sleeve of his shirt.
"Lutecia?"
He gently brushed a few loose strands of hair away from her face, thinking she might release him once she realized where she was. Instead, her grip tightened slightly.
"...Can you stay here tonight?"
The words were barely louder than a whisper.
"I had a nightmare."
His first instinct was to tell her she would be fine on her own. The words reached the tip of his tongue before stopping there. Her expression made it obvious this was not an excuse or childish stubbornness. Even asleep, there was tension in the way her fingers refused to let go.
"...All right."
Rather than pulling free, he moved a chair closer to the bedside before deciding it would be simpler to sit on the floor beside the bed instead. Resting one hand gently against her back, he slowly stroked it in a reassuring rhythm.
"Everything's all right now. It was only a nightmare. I'm staying here."
The small grip around his sleeve finally loosened just enough for the tension to leave her shoulders. A quiet nod followed, though her fingers never released the fabric completely. Watching her breathing gradually become calm once more, Shirou remained where he was until the silence of the room, the dim light, and the exhausting day finally caught up to him as well, his own eyelids slowly growing heavier.
…
-???-
Even now, thinking back on it, the distance between them still felt impossible to measure.
A familiar figure stood far away in an endless desert beneath a sky stained by the fading light of dusk. A red cloak drifted behind him with every passing gust while strands of white hair swayed lazily in the same wind. Countless swords jutted from the barren earth around him like weathered gravestones. One side of that wasteland was nothing but ruined steel and cracked ground, a place where abandoned ideals had long since withered away. The other remained illuminated beneath the dying sunlight, not untouched by hardship, but refusing to collapse beneath it. Shirou stared at that lonely silhouette, unable to look away. No matter how many times he imagined taking another step, the gap separating them never seemed to shrink. It made him wonder why he had even begun chasing after that man's back.
There had never been any desire to become him, even now.
Yet somewhere along the way, another thought had quietly taken root. Maybe if he could stand just a little closer to where that man stood, perhaps he would have been strong enough to prevent everything that could happen. Perhaps even get done with his current issue with ease.
Before realizing it, his feet had begun moving. Each step carried him across the endless sea of buried blades toward the solitary figure waiting in the distance. The path felt heavy despite the empty landscape, every stride demanding more effort than the last, but he continued regardless. Then, without turning around, the man finally spoke.
"Hoh."
The single sound brought him to an immediate halt.
Only then did the older man glance over his shoulder. Steel-gray eyes met golden-brown ones, neither carrying anger nor disappointment. There was only quiet certainty in that gaze, as though he had expected this moment long before it happened.
"If you're walking this path because you're filled with doubt," he said calmly, "then you're making a mistake."
Shirou remained silent for several seconds, his fists slowly tightening at his sides.
"I'll never become like you."
The older man held his gaze for another brief moment before letting out a dry cough and looking back toward the endless horizon.
"Good."
The dream shattered.
.
.
.
A groan escaped Shirou as his eyes slowly opened. For several moments, he remained lying there, staring at the ceiling while trying to gather his thoughts. One hand rubbed across his face before pushing himself upright. The conversation lingered vividly in his mind, every word still feeling strangely real despite how little had actually been said.
"...That was weird."
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't remember ever having a dream like that before. Perhaps meeting Zelretch had stirred up old memories. Maybe seeing that train had dragged his thoughts back toward that bastard's face without him realizing it. Whatever the reason, there was no answer waiting for him, and dwelling on it would accomplish nothing. With a quiet sigh, he climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
Not long afterward, Lutecia quietly joined him at the table. The meal passed peacefully for a while before he finally looked across at her.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Of course, I slept well."
The answer came a little too quickly.
"You mentioned having a nightmare yesterday." She paused with her utensils halfway to the plate before setting them down again. "...I'm not sure it was a nightmare." Her gaze lowered slightly. "I hope it was."
That response immediately caught his attention.
"What do you mean?"
For a brief moment, she looked as though she wanted to explain herself. Instead, a small shake of the head dismissed the thought.
"It's nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing." His voice remained calm rather than accusing. "Ever since we came back from Earth, you've been acting differently. Something's clearly bothering you."
Lutecia stared down at the untouched food for several seconds before forcing a faint smile that never quite reached her eyes.
"I'm just a little tired." The explanation did little to convince him. Without giving him another opportunity to press the matter, she rose from her chair and gathered the dishes. "I'm going to get ready. We should arrive at headquarters early for the briefing."
Shirou watched her leave without saying another word. The conversation had ended, but the uneasy feeling left behind had not.
Seeing her go, Shirou wondered just what was going on here. When both got ready, he and Lutecia got out of the apartment.
"Why are the others late?" he asked, hinting at Subaru and Teana, as usually those two tended to meet them, and today they didn't even come for breakfast as they usually did.
"They had some important matters to attend to and immediately went to the headquarters," Lutecia replied.
'Just what is going on? Everyone is behaving so strangely out of the blue.' He thought that to himself. Feeling exasperated and also feeling a mild headache, he figured that something must be stressing them, or he had missed something. He walked towards the headquarters, thinking that he would just ask them directly upon meeting them. He traveled there with Lutecia holding his hand the entire time, noticing that she's been like this when usually she's not.
As they arrived at the headquarters of Riot Force Six, he opened the door and saw that the place looked strangely dark, as if all the lights were turned off. Right as he was about to ask where everyone was, the lights turned on, and a loud pumping sound came with fireworks and glitter marks, the sound that happens when someone is doing a surprise, with several dozens of people shouting "Surprise!" Balloons and ribbons flew everywhere, and a big banner said "Happy Birthday!"
This made Shirou stunned as he stood there, unsure what was going on. He pointed at himself. "Happy birthday to Lutecia?"
He noticed that several people were here today — in fact, everyone was here today from Subaru, Teana, Erio, and Caro to Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate — all of them present, including several members of the staff clapping their hands together. He saw Teana and Subaru look at the large banner before Subaru smacked her forehead and shouted at one of the staff, "You got the wrong banner! This one just says 'Congratulations'!"
One of the staff members said that it was all that was left inside the store, which made Subaru shout, "How is that possible when you could have just searched for it somewhere here!"
While that was happening, Shirou looked around the place and was stunned to see all the decorations. Something came to his mind.
"I never actually told you when my birthday was," he said. "I'm pretty sure it's not on April fifteenth."
Everyone went awkwardly silent and looked at Fate and Nanoha, with those two getting flustered. "D-Didn't you put this date on your papers that they just used for your official documents?" Nanoha asked with a bit of panic seeping into her tone.
Shirou realized that it was the date he chose randomly to put on his official documents, even in Fuyuki, even though that was not his birthday, given he did not remember and rarely celebrated it, with the only one doing so being Taiga. Not wanting to make this atmosphere awkward, he quickly tried to play it off. "Oh, ha-haha… I, uh, I forgot it was actually my birthday, hahaha," he laughed, which quickly made everyone sigh in relief.
"Let's party!" Subaru shouted.
Shirou was pulled by Nanoha. "The entire building today is technically on vacation to celebrate your birthday. We've prepared loads of activities, and a small eating challenge that Fate will be participating in."
This made Shirou look at the blonde super confused, as the image of her participating in such an event never crossed his mind, only for her to just shrug. "I just wanted to give it a try and see if I can win."
Nanoha said that they even made sure to prepare games with a basketball match, pointing at Signum, who was pulling a basket filled with various sports equipment like basketball uniforms and even a few protections and gear, with the other Wolkenritter helping her.
"For this occasion, they even had everyone prepare a gift for you! And whoever gifted the best gift wins a prize!" Nanoha announced.
"You didn't need to do all of this," Shirou said. "I would have been happy with just a simple cake."
"That is too little. We should celebrate properly!" Fate insisted.
The sight made him laugh. The relief he had been feeling inside finally eased as he realized that nothing had actually happened. For a moment, he had convinced himself that something from yesterday had upset them and that their behavior was because they were angry with him, but now it was obvious that he had simply been overthinking things. With that thought out of the way, he stopped worrying about it and allowed himself to enjoy the time with everyone else.
The first activity they decided on was a small basketball match between teams. He ended up on a side mostly made up of Lutecia, Caro, and Erio, while Signum, with the opposing team, had Vita, Hayate, and Subaru.
"..."
There was no way he could contest that.
"Isn't this a bit unfair?"
Signum only looked at him with complete confidence. "I do not think so. You are described as a one-man army by Subaru and Teana, so I figured you would be more than capable in such a setting."
"That's just cheating!"
From the look in her eyes, it was clear she had no intention of taking it easy.
Whoosh!
The moment the match began, she moved forward with the ball, dribbling past everyone with such speed that he barely had time to react. For she was no different from a gust of wind. Before he could even properly position himself, she was already at the other end of the court and had scored within seconds.
"You can't be serious…"
He stared in disbelief at how quickly it had happened before turning his attention toward Hayate, who was standing on Signum's side. However, the girl did not look like she was preparing to participate at all. She simply waved at him.
"I'm just here to fill in the numbers. I'm not much of a sports player."
He looked back at the court, then at his own team. "There's no way we will win."
"No, we will win. Garyuu!"
Lutecia's confidence did not waver. Before Shirou could question how she planned to accomplish that, she summoned Garyuu. The creature emerged from the summoning circle with an intimidating presence, immediately rushing toward Signum. Even Signum's incredible speed was not enough this time, as Garyuu managed to intercept her, knock the ball away, and score for their side.
His team celebrated the sudden turnaround, but as the match continued, Shirou quickly realized that things were becoming far beyond what he had expected from a simple basketball game. No matter what he tried, he could not keep up. The only ones truly moving around the court were Signum and Garyuu, both of them crossing the field at speeds that made it difficult for anyone else to even participate.
No different from two blurry figures, one black and one white, clashing against one another, each time creating a shock wave.
At some point, the redhead stopped feeling like a player and instead focused entirely on avoiding getting hit by either the ball or the two monsters of speed tearing across the court.
"This is getting a bit ridiculous."
Lutecia did not seem to share his concern. Her focus remained on winning.
"This is to win." She then looked toward Caro. "It's your turn."
Caro nodded and immediately called upon her summon, "Fried! Let's not let everyone down!" Asking it to assist Garyuu. The small dragon resting on her shoulder began growing rapidly, expanding within seconds until its size covered nearly half of the basketball court.
Shirou could only stare at the massive creature now occupying the playing area.
"This is getting a bit too much! The whole room will get destroyed at this rate!"
His complaint went ignored. Garyuu leapt onto the dragon's back, carrying the basketball as they rose above the court. From high above, the creature aimed toward the basket on Signum's side before throwing the ball down with incredible force.
"No, you don't!"
Signum reacted immediately, moving into position and blocking the incoming shot with both arms. "Gah!" However, because she had no stable footing against the force behind the throw, her body was pushed backward as the ball continued forward and went straight through the basket.
Their team gained another point.
Unfortunately, the basketball hoop did not survive.
The force of the impact shattered it, sending pieces of wood and dust throughout the room. When everything finally settled, Shirou found himself covered in dust and surrounded by broken pieces of the destroyed equipment. After spitting out a small piece of wood, he looked around and realized that Lutecia and the others had also ended up caught in the chaos, while Signum was down as well.
Holding Lutecia while looking at the destroyed court, he could only sigh.
"Maybe we should just enjoy the small things and not get carried away."
Surprisingly, Hayate did not see anything wrong with what had happened. Instead, she looked at the ruined court with clear interest.
"The match was just starting to get interesting."
Shirou could only scream at her, "Don't enable Signum or Lutecia with your words!"
After that, the group focused on something less destructive and less dangerous, with him cooking and the others sneaking in alcohol, making sure the younger ones wouldn't drink it. They drank themselves, talking to each other and having fun. Then came the time for the gifts as Hayate announced that she would be the first one to give him a gift. She presented him with a box that he opened to find a key.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It's a new apartment for you! It's going to be bigger and closer to our headquarters, and it also comes with a pool!" Hayate announced.
This stunned him;, this was a bit too much for a gift!
"Anything for the win!"
Fate arrived and gave him a box. Feeling more uncertain, he asked her, "You won't give me something ridiculous like..."
"Why would I do that? I'm not crazy," Fate replied.
Only for him to open the box and then have a dry expression on his face as he found another key, but this one was not a house key, instead a car key. He closed the box back and stared at her with a deadpan face as she continued to smile.
"You said that you weren't crazy," he pointed out.
"It's just a single car. I have several of them," Fate said. Shirou realized then that he never noticed she might be ridiculously rich;, in fact, everyone here might be ridiculously rich.
Then came the others' gifts, and he was starting to dread that it would be too much, but thankfully enough, Caro and Erio gave him something simple, with Caro giving him a bracelet that had ruby-colored gems around them. It was simple, and he quite liked it.
Erio came forward with his own gift, and he opened it to find something quite unexpected. "Oh?" Of all the things, the last one he expected to find was a small, crude dagger resting inside. The blade was clearly imperfect, brittle, and filled with impurities. The craftsmanship was nowhere near the level of a skilled blacksmith or even an average one, but there was something about it that immediately caught his attention.
It resembled a smaller version of Bakuya. He looked up at the boy, who scratched the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed expression.
"I remembered the conversation we had when you told me that you once wanted to try blacksmithing, and I wanted to try it too. My creativity is not that high, and initially I had no idea what kind of dagger I even wanted to make, but then I figured if it was supposed to be a gift, then maybe something you're familiar with. I did it, and this is my first creation."
"You made this in one day? That is impressive!"
"E-Eh? How did you know?"
"Secret."
Despite the flaws in the blade, Shirou found himself genuinely touched by it. This was not something made to impress him or show off skill. It was something created because someone remembered a simple conversation they had shared.
"I'll cherish it."
After that, the others came forward with their own gifts, with Signum and the rest following soon after. For once, the presents were completely ordinary compared to what he had come to expect from them. There were clothes, glasses, a few games, and even someone who had apparently considered giving him an entire warhammer. Yet compared to the dagger Erio had made himself and the meaning behind it, everything else felt surprisingly normal.
The celebration continued for nearly half an hour as everyone returned to drinking, laughing, and talking among themselves. Shirou joined in as well, enjoying the atmosphere more than he expected. As the hours passed, the noise gradually faded. Some of them became too drunk to continue and eventually fell asleep, leaving the apartment in a state that felt strangely familiar, almost like a repeat of what had happened in his own home.
As for the eating challenge, given that most of the contestants were already drunk, Fate did not even need to touch her third bowl of ramen before being declared the victor. But that alone pushed her beyond her limit, and the woman quickly left the scene to probably empty out her guts somewhere.
Eventually, Nanoha approached him with both hands hidden behind her back, a mischievous smile on her face.
"Waiting for my gift?"
"I wouldn't say I wasn't curious." Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked him over. "Did you drink a bit too much?"
"No, just a little. It's nothing like last time. I'm still sober for the most part."
She finally brought her hands forward, revealing a box. The man looked at it for a moment before glancing back at her.
"Please don't let it be something crazy like a house, a car, or even a bike."
Nanoha waved her hand dismissively.
"No, it's nothing like that. You can rest assured."
He opened the box and found an apron inside. At first, he was surprised by how simple the gift was, but when he looked closer, he noticed the embroidery across the fabric. It depicted small chibi versions of three girls. He quickly recognized Nanoha herself, Fate, and Hayate.
A smile formed on his face as he took it out and put it on. He walked over to a nearby mirror, looking at himself wearing it.
"Wow, it's amazing."
He genuinely liked it. The design was simple, but it carried a meaning that made it feel special. Before he could say anything else, the brunette suddenly hugged him from behind, catching him completely off guard. Her arms wrapped around him as she rested her face against his back.
"Who was it that got you the best gift?"
"It's a bit hard to choose. Everyone's gifts were amazing." He said with a slight stutter, a bit caught off guard by the gesture.
"You liked Erio's the most, right? Don't try to hide it from me."
Shirou paused at that. He could have denied it, but there was no point in pretending.
"I'm glad that you're all happy. I'm not saying there weren't some misunderstandings that came from yesterday..."
His words were cut short when he felt her hold tighten around him. The playful expression she had carried moments ago was gone. Instead, she pressed her face against his back, and he could barely hear the words leaving her lips.
"What?"
He turned slightly, trying to understand what she had said. Now realising that she definitely was drunk, perhaps not like last time, but her mind was not fully there in control. Then, without warning, Nanoha spoke again.
"Please don't go back." The weakness in her voice caught him completely off guard. It sounded fragile, almost as if she were struggling to keep herself together. "Please don't go back with her to your world. Can't you... can't you stay here? So that… so that we can have the celebration every year…"
Hearing that, a question popped into his mind. Was this why everyone was being so exaggeratedly jovial today? To change his mind?
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