"Breaking the bracelet Lord Bluebeard gave me and causing me so much trouble… I don't like damaging my materials before I create my art, but naughty kids still need to be taught a lesson. Since you're so good at running and jumping, how about I cut your tendons first?"
With a sea demon in front of her and a child‑kidnapping murderer spouting twisted words behind, Rin Tohsaka fell into a dead end. Fear finally showed on her small face, yet she still shielded her deskmate and backed toward the side of the bar. But it was only a corner; behind them was a wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.
"This time you'd better behave and not resist, or I'll slit your belly open."
The children all huddled to the side. No one dared stand between Rin and Ryunosuke Uryu. But just after he said this to Rin—
"Bang!"
The sea demon at the doorway suddenly exploded. A small figure dropped from above, using the force of the fall to stomp the familiar to death. Purple blood and torn tentacles splattered all over Ryunosuke's face at the entrance.
"Were you trying to hurt my friend?"
Broly still held a paper tray of takoyaki in his hand. The takoyaki balls, which had flown out of the tray due to his high falling speed, were only now dropping back down. He stared at Ryunosuke with a hint of hostility as he questioned him.
This seems bad…
Wiping the familiar's blood from his face, Ryunosuke felt a chill. The boy's entrance was unnervingly abnormal, and he had just crushed the protective familiar Lord Bluebeard had given him.
"No need to be so serious. I was just playing a joke with your friend."
Ryunosuke lied without blinking. His words gave Broly pause.
"There's an opening!"
Seeing the boy freeze for an instant, he seized the chance and drove his knife straight at the boy's temple.
"Watch out!"
Rin's warning came too late. The blade struck—but it did not matter. When the knife hit Broly's temple, it simply would not go in.
The resistance that came up his arm felt like stabbing thick leather. Ryunosuke had not expected that at all.
"What is a joke?"
Broly, on the other hand, only asked curiously, his attention fixed on that.
"This. This is a joke."
Ryunosuke forced a laugh and pulled his knife back.
"No way. He was trying to kill you. He tried to kill us just now too."
Rin shot back at once.
"Shut it, brat. Nobody asked you."
Ryunosuke snapped and reached out to grab Rin's head. Before he could touch her, his body flew backward.
"Crack!"
He smashed through the wooden bar, his entire body hurtling into the stack of crates behind it. The crates splintered under the impact.
"You tried to hurt my friend. You should…"
Broly's angry words trailed off as he saw the man he'd kicked hanging on the shattered crates, skewered through by countless sharp wooden shards, clearly on the verge of death.
Where am I, who am I, it hurts!
That was Ryunosuke's first coherent thought when his mind caught up. His guts had burst the instant the kick landed. The organ that should have been pumping out adrenaline had turned into minced meat before it could do its job.
He was fully conscious now, able to feel the pain and wanting to scream, but only blood spurted from his mouth.
So this is what it feels like to have your guts ripped open… The intestines I've always been looking for were in my belly all along… It hurts… but such a vivid color…
With a twisted expression somewhere between laughter and tears, contorted by agony, Ryunosuke slowly stopped breathing.
In his lifeless eyes was reflected the blank face of a boy. Broly felt only one thing: he had not even used his strength yet, and the man had already fallen. Should he still be angry?
Rin stared, dumbstruck. From being cornered with no way out, to the sudden appearance of her new deskmate, to that deskmate being ambushed and then killing the bad guy with a single kick—everything had happened in less than a minute.
"Kotone, don't look. Come with me."
Glancing once more at the dead man, Rin went a bit pale at the gruesome sight of his nearly bisected body. She called to her old deskmate, then carefully led her around Broly and toward the exit.
Broly followed her with his eyes, looking completely at a loss as to what he should do next.
"You come too."
So after walking past him, Rin stopped.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed Broly's hand and dragged this dangerous new deskmate along as well.
Outside, a patrol car happened to be driving past. Rin sent Kotone to get the police while she took the opportunity to slip away with Broly.
With the missing children found, patrol cars quickly converged on the area, and a cordon went up around the basement bar.
"What exactly is your deal?"
Hiding at the mouth of an alley and watching until her friend was safely brought out, Rin finally had time to question the boy.
"What deal?"
Broly did not understand.
"I mean you suddenly showing up, and then, bam, one kick and you kill the kidnapper."
Rin said.
"I was eating takoyaki. After I finished my share and was waiting for you to come back, I noticed your Happiness Value suddenly dropping, so I brought your takoyaki to come find you."
Broly summarized his actions briefly. His gaze went back to the takoyaki in his hand, and Rin could clearly see how much he wanted to eat them.
"Uh… if you still want them, go ahead."
"But that's your food."
"I don't really have an appetite right now."
She was not lying. The visible octopus tentacles on the takoyaki made her think of the familiar's tentacles. Add the image of Ryunosuke's nearly bisected corpse, and how could she possibly feel like eating?
"Tohsaka, you're a good wife."
Broly suddenly said, looking at her very seriously.
"Eh?!"
Rin's eyes flew wide as he began eating, his face full of satisfaction.
"You really are a strange one."
Even though the man Broly had kicked to death was a kidnapper and murderer, Rin could not help fearing him a bit. It was an instinctive fear of someone who could so easily kill her. But seeing him so utterly content with an ordinary plate of takoyaki, that fear slowly faded.
"Strange?"
Broly was puzzled, but before he could ask what she meant, Rin went on.
"Anyway, thanks a lot for today. If you hadn't been there, I might've been in real trouble."
Rin Tohsaka's Happiness Value is rising.
Hearing the Crystal Palace's prompt in his mind, Broly felt his joy returning. If happy water was the equivalent of Happiness Points, then at the moment she thanked him, he had just earned hundreds more bottles.
"Thank you."
Rin held out her hand for a shake. Broly just stared at it, making things awkward.
"Give me your hand."
"What for?"
"Just give it to me."
"Okay."
"Shake hands. That means that from now on, you're my best friend."
"I see."
Broly felt he had learned something new.
"Right, your house…"
Rin started to bring up the matter of getting him home, when the magical compass at her chest reacted again.
"Plop."
Another sea demon dropped from the rooftop into the alley behind Broly.
"L—"
Rin's face changed, but before she could shout, a loud buzzing filled the air. A mass of insects flew past her, swarming the sea demon and devouring it in seconds.
"Rin, are you all right?"
A familiar voice spoke from behind.
"Uncle Kariya."
Rin called out in surprise, then flinched when she turned around.
"Sorry. I look a little scary right now."
Under the streetlight, a man tugged his hood lower, trying to hide half his face. One side was wrinkled like an old man's, and something seemed to be writhing beneath the skin. It was a terrifying sight.
"What happened to you?"
"It's nothing. Just a bit sick. What about you—weren't you and your mother staying at the Zenjou house? Why are you back in Fuyuki?"
"I… came to look for a friend."
Rin hesitated, but still told the uncle who had always treated her kindly why she was here.
"This place is dangerous. You and your friend need to go home, now."
Kariya glanced at Broly, mistaking him for the friend Rin had come to find. He spoke to both of them.
Around seven that evening, after getting Kariya's call, Aoi drove to Fuyuki.
"Rin, how could you run back to Fuyuki by yourself like that?"
At a nearby park, Aoi scolded her daughter as soon as she arrived.
"Mom, my friend disappeared. I was afraid she'd been…"
Rin mumbled an explanation.
"At least you're safe."
Aoi said, then turned to Kariya.
"Kariya, you protected her, didn't you? Thank you."
"And Broly helped me too."
Rin added.
"Hm?"
Following Rin's pointing finger, Aoi saw a little boy.
"This is Broly. He's my best friend now."
Rin introduced him to her mother.
The legacy of Wei Wu.
When Broly saw Aoi, a strange phrase flashed through his mind.
Unable to make sense of it, he quickly ignored it.
Aoi nodded politely to the boy, saying nothing more.
She could hardly reprimand a child for "making" her daughter take risks.
Clearly, she was misunderstanding. Broly was taking the blame for the girl named Kotone.
"Protecting Rin is what I should do."
While the children were ignored, the adults' conversation began.
"Simps don't get a house."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the words that suddenly popped into my head."
The kids had their own exchange.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
Broly shook his head, then pointed at Kariya.
"But I know he's a simp."
"So what is a simp exactly?"
"I don't know."
Rin was speechless. She once again confirmed that Broly was, without a doubt, a weird one.
While the children finished their odd little conversation, the adults' argument grew heated.
The main issue was Kariya's participation in the Grail War, which Aoi could not accept.
She simply could not understand why her childhood friend would suddenly join a deadly war.
"I did it for…"
Kariya trailed off. Past feelings, once hidden away, no longer meant much when spoken aloud.
He could only think that he had misjudged Tokiomi back then, or he never would have handed this woman to him.
"For what? Say it."
Pressed by Aoi's confusion, Kariya could only find an excuse.
"I did it for your daughter. So she wouldn't end up like me."
"What?"
"Don't worry. Zouken only wants the Grail. As long as I get it for him, Sakura will be fine. I'll bring her back to you and Rin."
Aoi: "…"
She seemed torn between speaking and holding back.
"You don't have to worry about me. My Servant is the strongest."
Seeing her expression, Kariya thought she was worried about him and spoke quickly.
"No, I was just going to say that Sakura has already come back. She's at the Zenjou villa now, living with me and Rin."
"What?"
"She ran away from the Matou house, went back to the Tohsaka house, and then Tokiomi sent her to me."
Kariya: "…"
Sakura had already run home. So what had he paid this terrible price for—a life with less than a month left—by entering the Grail War?
His current expression looked a lot like the two highest cards in a deck. But could he blame the white‑moonlight childhood friend before him? Or the sweet girl who called him "Uncle Kariya" with such a gentle smile?
He could not blame either.
That left only one person to blame.
That's right. This is all Tokiomi Tohsaka's fault!
"I see. That's good."
With anger burning in his chest, Kariya still forced a smile for Aoi. After saying this, he turned and left without the slightest hesitation.
His fate had been sealed the day he agreed to be implanted with crest worms. His death was already decided when he entered the Grail War.
Though the goal he had been fighting for was gone, he had found a new one: in what little time he had left, he would trample that bastard Tokiomi Tohsaka into the ground.
Kariya left, but his conversation with Aoi had let Broly learn about Sakura Matou.
So they're sisters. Both good wives. They both gave me food.
Thinking this, Broly noticed Rin move closer.
"I'll ask my mom to drive you home, okay?"
"No need. I can get back myself."
"Let's go, Rin. Time to go home."
Aoi called to her daughter.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow."
Having witnessed what the boy could do, Rin no longer doubted that he could find his way home. She waved goodbye.
After Rin and her mother left, Broly drew in a breath, lifted off the ground, and shot toward the Fujimura estate.
He flew as fast as a starving student sprinting for the cafeteria, shockwaves rippling around him.
Luckily, night had already fallen. Even if someone heard a strange noise, they would have a hard time spotting the boy streaking across the dark sky.