Tohsaka Rin wanted—more than anything—to return home.
In her own timeline, her parents were long gone.
They died in the disaster of the Fourth Holy Grail War, leaving her alone with nothing but regrets and burdens she never asked for.
But now?
She stood in the past.
Ten years before everything fell apart.
A chance to see her parents again.
A chance to hear their voices—to tell them she was okay.
Tampering with the future?
Butterfly effect?
Timeline destruction?
Rin couldn't bring herself to care.
If the future changed, then so be it.
A future without tragedy sounded wonderful.
Izumi was equally unconcerned.
In fact, he suspected that the moment they entered this timeline, the world automatically branched into a parallel one.
That was simply how the Nasuverse worked.
Worldline divergence prevention.
Parallel timelines.
Individual histories.
Even so, Izumi could feel something—two faint but constant gazes fixed upon him like distant stars.
Gaia.
Alaya.
He didn't worry about them either.
Those two wouldn't dare show up in front of him.
But Sakura did not want to go home.
Not now.
Not after everything.
To her, her suffering had been caused by one man—
Tohsaka Tokiomi.
He sent her away.
He gave her to the Matou family.
He abandoned her to the worms and darkness.
Sakura walked up to Izumi, wrapped her tiny arms around his leg, and whispered with trembling lips:
"Izumi-oniichan… can we not go back?
I don't want to go home."
Her voice cracked.
Rin froze.
Izumi blinked, momentarily speechless.
Sakura's small head hung low; even at her age, she understood perfectly what had been done to her.
Rin stepped forward, her voice shaking.
"Why, Sakura?
Why don't you want to go home?"
Sakura snapped.
"You don't understand at all, Sister!"
"If they hadn't sent me away, I wouldn't have ended up in that horrible place!"
"I don't want it—I don't want to go back!"
She clung to Izumi even tighter, breaking into sobs.
Rin stood frozen, struck silent.
Memories collided in her mind:
Sakura's suffering, the basement full of worms, Zouken's twisted experiments—
And her father's signature at the adoption.
Her chest tightened painfully.
For the first time, she understood Sakura's resentment.
Silence fell over the park.
Izumi sighed softly.
He crouched and stroked Sakura's head.
"All right.
If you don't want to go, then we won't force you."
"But," he continued with a helpless smile, "I still need to accompany your sister. She owes me a few things."
"And if your dumb sister rushes home and tells Tokiomi she's from ten years in the future, they'll probably start fighting."
"Your sister is kind of an idiot, after all."
Rin's face turned green.
"Hey! Who are you calling an idiot!?"
"You're the idiot! Your whole family is made of idiots!"
"And I wouldn't pick a fight with my dad—probably!"
Izumi ignored her gracefully.
Instead, his eyes remained on Sakura.
The little girl slowly looked up at him.
Her next words were fragile—terrifyingly earnest.
"Oniichan… please don't throw me away."
"Sakura will listen.
Sakura can cook, wash clothes, do cleaning—anything."
"As long as you don't abandon me, Sakura will do whatever you want."
"If you stay, I'll stay.
If you go, I go.
Just don't… don't leave me."
Rin's heart twisted painfully.
Sakura had been hurt too deeply.
Abandoned too early.
Of course she reacted this way.
Of course she attached herself to the only warm light she had ever met.
Rin clenched her fists.
She would confront her father.
She would demand answers.
Izumi smiled gently.
"Don't worry.
I won't abandon you."
"When all this is over, I'll take you somewhere safe—somewhere no one will ever hurt you again."
He already made up his mind.
He would take this child away.
Train her.
Protect her.
Raise her power properly.
Sakura, relieved at last, threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go.
Izumi patted her back.
"For now, stay with Le Fay-oneechan for a bit, okay? I'll get you two a hotel room. After I go with your sister to see your parents, I'll come right back."
But Sakura shook her head violently.
"No.
Where Oniichan goes, Sakura goes."
"I don't want to be apart!"
Izumi stared at her, exhausted.
This kid is really clingy…
"You're sure?
You really want to go with us?"
Sakura nodded fiercely.
"As long as Oniichan is here, Sakura isn't scared!"
…Her affection meter had clearly maxed out.
Izumi sighed and stood up, carrying her in his arms.
"Fine, fine.
Let's go."
"We'll take your sister home first. Then we'll decide the rest."
Rin didn't say a word.
She simply turned and started walking.
Her expression was cold, dark, and determined.
She wanted answers.
From the man who called himself her father.
Izumi chuckled softly and followed with Le Fay in tow.
Le Fay herself was wide-eyed with curiosity.
The 1990s streets of Fuyuki were entirely different from the world she knew—
old signs, dim yellow streetlights, sparse pedestrians.
The air carried faint traces of prana.
She absorbed everything eagerly.
The group moved toward the Tohsaka residence.
Before long, the distant wail of police sirens echoed through the night.
No doubt the authorities—and the Church—were flocking to investigate the giant crater that used to be the Matou estate.
Risei Kotomine must be tearing his hair out.
A crater that size?
No gas explosion would fool anyone.
Meteor strike?
Impossible—the shape was too perfectly circular.
The supervisor of Fuyuki was, at that moment, silently cursing whichever insane magus caused this disaster.
He had no idea the perpetrator was strolling along with a girl in his arms.
Izumi paid no attention to any of that.
He and the others finally arrived—
Before the imposing gates of the Tohsaka residence.