The next morning—
When Nono woke Xia Mi up again, she was surprised to find her expression even more off than the day before. If yesterday's face held only traces of fatigue, today's carried something deeper: an undercurrent of indignation, injustice… and humiliation.
It wasn't obvious—this was Nono's quick read based on her profiling instincts, and those instincts rarely failed.
Something had definitely happened!
As she guided the perpetually-late Xia Mi to breakfast, Nono went over the past two days of them living together. Realistically, the only time Xia Mi was out of her sight was when she was sleeping or during the day, when she and Shirou were doing their solo magic research.
Which meant… if something had happened, it had to be during that alone time with Shirou.
But Xia Mi's current emotional cocktail—shame, anger, humiliation—what could've caused that? Did Shirou… force something?
Nono's heart raced. That couldn't be. Shirou wasn't that kind of guy. Or was he? Xia Mi was ridiculously pretty, after all, even if she was flat as a board…
Ugh, men. No matter how decent they seem, who really knows what's in their hearts?
Nono's thoughts went on a wild rollercoaster, bouncing between suspicion and confusion. By the time she returned to her room, her mind was a mess.
As she passed Melusine's room, her sharp eyes caught a glimpse of something: a dragon tail peeking out from the sliding door's crack—black, pointed, gently rising and falling with her breathing.
It looked like some weird hard gadget at first glance.
"Wake up, you lazy cousin!"
Nono kicked the sliding door open and slapped Melusine's peaceful, sleepy face.
"Mm…?"
"No more lazing around. Starting today, your morning breaks are canceled! You'll be doing human etiquette classes with me!"
"What…?" Melusine looked like she'd been struck by lightning. The words "no more sleeping in" echoed like a death sentence in her mind.
Nono, of course, had her reasons. Now that Xia Mi was also staying here, she couldn't risk Melusine accidentally showing her tail. What was she supposed to say then—that it was a cosplay toy!?
"This is for your own good!" Nono declared, full-on stern Chinese parent mode.
And no, she definitely wasn't venting her own weird frustrations about Shirou and Xia Mi. Not even a little bit.
——
Later that day—
"Alright, about today's topic…"
Shirou entered the study room as usual.
Inside, four eyes turned to him.
"…?"
He instinctively slid the door shut. Took a breath. Opened it again.
Yup. Still four eyes staring.
Shirou blinked in confusion. Sitting across from each other were Xia Mi and—wait—Nono? And she was sitting in his usual spot?
"Nono, you're in my seat."
"Yup. Come sit, Shirou."
"…Huh?"
Shirou had no idea what game this girl was playing now. He sighed and sat down beside her, squeezed at the table.
Nono's long, pale legs stretched casually under the table, brushing up against him through the thin fabric of their clothes. Warm and soft.
"…Nono, I'm trying to do magic research with Xia Mi. Are you really planning to stay?"
He tried to focus on organizing materials with Xia Mi while gently prying her off.
Nono, lounging casually, gently tapped her toes on the wooden floor, that smooth skin lightly brushing his side with every movement.
"Why can't I be here as an observer? I won't interrupt you—unless, of course, there's something… you don't want me to see?"
Her eyes flitted between him and Xia Mi, sharp and full of suspicion. After all, Xia Mi's mood had magically lifted the moment Shirou walked in. What kind of shady secrets were they hiding?
"…What do you mean 'can't be seen'? What kind of nonsense—fine, stay if you want."
Shirou gave up. So long as she didn't start tearing up his papers, she could stay. He turned back to Xia Mi and continued their topic: the real historical appearances of legendary figures.
He explained how distortions occurred due to time gaps, author bias, political revisions, etc. For example, Alexander the Great wasn't short—he was a 2-meter-tall powerhouse. Darius III was even taller. Napoleon, though? Yeah, he was short.
FGO's version of Napoleon being nearly 190 cm tall? That's because his Spirit Origin included parts of Napoleon III and speculative myths from later generations.
Xia Mi was fascinated. If legendary figures' appearances could be that flexible… couldn't she tweak some of her own attributes?
Like, say, chest size?
A devilish whisper entered her mind. You're the dev, right? You can slip in some personal tweaks…
But logic fought back. No, fake is fake. You're better than that. Don't chase illusions.
She sighed, brushing the temptation away and setting her sights on the next goal—designing illustrations for each Heroic Spirit. Call it the "original concept art" for her creation project.
"Illustrations… you want to make a Spirit Catalog?" Shirou blinked, then his face twitched in alarm.
FGO had tons of different artists. The result? Inconsistent art styles. Some Servants looked completely abstract—like Tezcatlipoca, the Aztec god of the first sun.
(Tezcatlipoca: "Play FGO, they said. It'll be fun, they said…")
"Xia Mi, are you sure your drawing skills are up to this?"
"Hm? Drawing? I mean, I'm not a master artist, but I did take some art classes! I'm decent at sketching portraits. If you don't believe me, I'll show you!"
She grabbed some charcoal and pencils and began sketching. Her strokes were steady, confident, full of rhythm—almost like the pencil was part of her body. It was practically machine-like in precision.
For someone who could master complex alchemical symbols and diagrams, a simple portrait was child's play.
"…Is this… King Arthur?"
Shirou was stunned. She had sketched a girl with ribbon-tied hair, dressed in knight's armor with a skirted design. A few wind-blown strands stood up naturally—perfectly capturing the "Artoria" from his earlier description.
Nono, who had been listening with zero context, was completely lost.
This was King Arthur?
Wasn't King Arthur supposed to be a man? She'd read Le Morte d'Arthur! What was with this girl-drawing nonsense?
Still, she held her tongue, respecting their magic discussion agreement.
Shirou, meanwhile, looked like he'd just been hit with a thousand memories.
"…Xia Mi, adding illustrations to your thesis is a bold idea. But you're sure you can maintain consistency? FGO had real problems with that."
"Shirou-senpai, what are you talking about? I'm not rich enough to hire multiple artists! I'm doing all the drawing myself—so of course the style will be consistent!"
She grinned brightly, her ponytail bouncing, her voice teasing:
"Besides, I'm really fast, you know. After a while, drawing these will be like assembly-line work. Who knows… maybe all the faces will start looking a little similar~"
Shirou: "…"
Takeuchi Face, huh? Change the hair, tweak a detail, and boom—same face on every character.
Whatever. As long as she didn't give them Tezcatlipoca Face, he'd allow it.
(End of Chapter)
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