"What's wrong, Shirou... You look pale. Was traveling through time and space too exhausting?"
Amid the bustling crowd, Tiamat spoke while holding Shirou's hand.
"......I-I'm back. My Fuyuki."
For a moment, Shirou had hoped that Tiamat might have brought him to a Fuyuki in a parallel world, or perhaps one on a different timeline...
Unfortunately, the Goddess of Creation was hardly going to mistake her husband's birthplace, and "Independent Manifestation" had done its job perfectly.
Passersby had been casting curious glances their way for a while now.
Tiamat's enormous dragon horns were simply too conspicuous.
Fortunately, this was modern-day Japan. Even a woman in an eccentric outfit walking down the street on a weekday wasn't enough to cause a commotion.
For now, Shirou cast Magecraft on Tiamat's dragon horns, making sure that ordinary people at least wouldn't find their existence strange.
And then...
"Mother has somewhere she wants to go... Shirou? Why do you look like that?"
Tiamat stared in surprise at the boy beside her. With sunglasses and a mask covering his face, he looked suspicious enough to be fully prepared for a crime.
"Well... there's actually a reason for this."
"A reason?"
"I only just came back to the modern world after spending so long in Mesopotamia, so I'm still having a little trouble adjusting."
"I see... Mm, taking precautions against the flu is important."
Tiamat believed Shirou's lie without the slightest hesitation, leaving him with a faint pang of guilt.
Of course, the real reason Shirou had put on sunglasses and a mask was that he didn't want anyone he knew to recognize him.
He still hadn't figured out how he was supposed to face everyone, much less explain the fact that he suddenly had a newlywed wife.
Incidentally, it was currently the afternoon of the very same day Shirou had left Fuyuki and been taken by Merlin to the Seventh Singularity.
He had spent half a year living in Uruk, followed by another stretch of time with Tiamat in the Abyss, but from Fuyuki's perspective, Shirou had essentially just taken an afternoon nap.
At least Iri and the others wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. But that left him with a new problem: how was he supposed to explain Tiamat?
Maybe he really shouldn't go home tonight after all...
Shirou chose to run away from the problem.
He would call home in the evening and say he was spending the night out with Shinji.
As for Shinji, Shirou would tell him not to go home tonight either. In exchange, he would go with Shinji to a mixer with girls from the West School next time.
Tiamat had been going on for a while about somewhere she wanted to visit.
Seeing how eager she was, even Shirou couldn't help wondering what kind of place had caught her interest.
Then they climbed the hill.
"Wait, this is..."
An elegant, luxurious church stood quietly atop the hill, as though waiting to welcome them.
"This is where Shirou lived when he was little, right? The orphanage?"
"Oh, so that's what this is about."
Shirou breathed a sigh of relief. "Mother, this place really did used to be an orphanage, but it shut down a few years ago. Everything was relocated somewhere else..."
"Mm-hmm. It's open and operating normally," Tiamat said.
"How is that possible!?"
Shirou's eyes widened in shock.
The orphanage that should have closed after the Fourth Holy Grail War was now operating as usual.
From beyond the wall Shirou had climbed over eight years ago came the lively voices of children.
Shirou checked the date again.
There was no mistake. It was indeed 2002, eight years after that ritual.
Still in a daze, Shirou let Tiamat take his hand and lead him into the orphanage.
Half an hour later...
"Hehehe. Mother's coming for you."
"You're not catching me... Whoa!?"
"Huhu. That's what you get for underestimating Mother. Now you know how good I am, don't you?"
"Tia-nee, you're totally cheating!"
Inside the orphanage beside the church, the Goddess of Creation was playing tag with the children.
Shirou watched the scene with a speechless expression as one of the female staff members approached him.
"I see. So you grew up in this orphanage, Amamiya-san?"
"I'm sorry... All the records from eight years ago were destroyed, so if you came here hoping to look into something, I'm afraid I really can't help you."
"Mm, that's all right. I understand."
Of course Shirou knew. He had personally destroyed those records as part of the effort to conceal the truth of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"Still, I never expected the orphanage to reopen after being closed for so long."
"That's all thanks to Sister Caren. If she hadn't kept insisting on it, this place definitely would never have reopened."
"Huh...?"
It was a name Shirou hadn't expected to hear.
Then again, perhaps it wasn't all that surprising.
The orphanage had originally belonged to the Church, and there was only one reason it could have reopened. Caren Hortensia, the person in charge of the Fuyuki Church, had pushed for it.
Shirou fell silent.
Had Caren been taking all those shady part-time jobs and scrambling to raise money everywhere because of this?
Shirou hadn't known a thing.
Or rather, he had refused to know.
He had visited the church several times this year to see Caren, yet he had never once paid attention to what was happening at the orphanage.
Deep down, Shirou saw himself as a child who had escaped from this place.
Now that he had found a happy life of his own, he felt he had no right to involve himself with it anymore.
"If you ever have the chance, please come visit us more often, Amamiya-san."
"Yeah. I will."
The suspicious-looking man in sunglasses and a mask nodded solemnly.
By evening, Shirou and Tiamat left the orphanage.
Tiamat looked thoroughly satisfied.
For her, playing games with human children was probably a completely new experience.
"Did you have fun?"
"Mm~ It's just that Shirou refused to join us for hide-and-seek the whole time... Mother's feelings were a little hurt."
Shirou gave a wry smile.
Evening had already arrived, and the sun was sinking toward the western horizon.
It was about time he started thinking about where he and Tia were going to stay tonight.
"Can't we go to Shirou's house?"
"This all happened so suddenly, so there are still a few things I need to prepare first."
Mainly, I need to prepare myself mentally, Shirou thought.
"I see... I understand. Mother will wait patiently."
"!"
Those words sent a powerful wave of guilt through Shirou.
He had proposed to her, yet he couldn't even bring her home to meet his family. Shirou felt utterly hopeless.
"Tia..."
He suddenly looked up and found the Goddess of Creation smiling at him with boundless warmth.
Her graceful features were bathed in the light of the setting sun, so beautiful that Shirou forgot to breathe.
"...I'll do it as soon as I can."
"Mm."
Tiamat gently stroked Shirou's hair.
"Mother was at fault too. I suddenly forced Shirou back into this era without warning..."
"You must feel uneasy, right? Mother is reflecting on what she did."
"It's fine. Let's go."
"Mm. I'll leave everything from here to Shirou."
Shirou led Tiamat toward Shinto.
Tiamat clung to his arm as they crossed the bridge over the Mion River and entered the bustling city streets.
Although Shirou had used Magecraft on Tiamat's dragon horns and tail so that the people around them wouldn't notice them, his own sunglasses-and-mask disguise looked extremely suspicious and still attracted plenty of attention.
Combined with Tiamat's peerless beauty and noble bearing, there was simply no way the two of them wouldn't draw stares.
Every so often, Shirou noticed people sneaking glances at them or whispering among themselves.
Tiamat seemed completely unconcerned, simply enjoying having Shirou all to herself.
Then they stopped in front of a love hotel.
We'll spend the night here together...
Sure, it's not exactly a respectable hotel, but Tiamat and I really are husband and wife now...
Bringing her somewhere like this is just my way of making it up to her. I definitely don't have any ulterior motives.
Standing in front of the love hotel, Shirou was just about to go inside when...
"Ah, it's Ishtar."
"Huh?"
The name Tiamat suddenly uttered immediately set alarm bells ringing in Shirou's head.
He turned around and saw a black-haired girl in a school uniform.
Rin Tohsaka, the number one beauty at Homurahara High, was standing at a nearby street corner.
Why did I have to run into her of all people...?
Shirou hurriedly grabbed Tiamat and prepared to retreat, but...
"Amamiya-kun?"
A crisp female voice called out from behind him.
Ignoring Tiamat's comment of, "She's calling you," Shirou picked up his pace and tried to flee the scene.
"That is you, Amamiya-kun, isn't it? Why are you running away?"
Rin Tohsaka caught up with him and grabbed him by the shoulder.
Shirou fell silent.
Why?
I'm wearing sunglasses and a mask. How did she recognize me?
Rin Tohsaka planted one hand on her hip and looked down at him smugly.
"So it really is you."
"Sorry, but a lousy disguise like that isn't going to fool me."
"Who do you think has been staring at your back ever since she was little... Ngh!"
Only after the words left her mouth did she seem to realize how embarrassing they sounded, and her cheeks promptly turned red.
Tiamat gazed happily at the girl in front of her.
"It really is Ishtar! You came to Fuyuki too? Mother is so happy~ A loving hug~"
The Goddess of Creation promptly swept Rin Tohsaka into her arms.
"Huh? Huhhh!? What's going on? Y-y-y-you... Who are you!?"
The black-haired girl descended into complete confusion and shot Shirou a pleading look.
"Help me, Amamiya-kun!"
"All right, enough for now. Mother, don't get so affectionate in a place like this."
Shirou hurriedly stepped in and separated them.
Plenty of passersby had already stopped to watch. If this went on much longer, someone they knew might spot them.
"Anyway, let's go somewhere else."
Shirou grabbed the still-shaken Rin Tohsaka with one hand and Tiamat with the other.
In his panic, he walked straight through the entrance of the love hotel.
"Shirou is so forceful, so manly... I love it ♡♡♡"
Tiamat happily followed him inside.
…
The atmosphere inside the love hotel room was decidedly awkward.
Rin Tohsaka sat on the edge of the large bed, which was spacious enough for three people, with her arms folded across her chest.
"All right, can you explain yourself now, Amamiya-kun?"
She wore her trademark "gentle" smile, though her finely shaped eyebrows were twitching slightly.
"Why did you forcibly drag a classmate from school into a love hotel, and just what exactly is your relationship with that woman?"
"Don't be angry with Shirou, Ishtar."
Tiamat tried to placate Rin Tohsaka.
The girl stared at her in exasperation. "I'm not this Ishtar you keep talking about..."
"Ishtar is that goddess from Mesopotamian mythology, right? Inanna in Akkadian?"
"The goddess of beauty who served as the origin of Aphrodite. I suppose that would make a pretty fitting stage name for a hostess... Don't you agree, Amamiya-kun?"
Rin Tohsaka seemed to have mistaken the exceptionally beautiful Tiamat for some hostess Shirou had picked up who knew where.
Having his newlywed wife mistaken for a hostess seriously irritated Shirou.
So, within the limits of what he was able to reveal, he gave Rin Tohsaka the simplest explanation he could of what had happened in the Seventh Singularity of a parallel world.
At first, Rin Tohsaka listened with an amused, easygoing expression, looking like an adult humoring a child's made-up story.
But before long, her expression grew increasingly complicated.
There were no obvious holes in Shirou's story, and it even included specialized terms such as "Singularity."
More importantly...
The enormous dragon horns and tail on this beautiful woman named "Tia" were proof enough that there was something very real behind his story.
Shirou concluded, "And that's what happened. Tia's true identity is Tiamat, the Goddess of Creation from Mesopotamian mythology."
The corner of Rin Tohsaka's mouth twitched. "You're joking, right?"
"I'm serious."
"........."
Rin Tohsaka was left speechless. Finally, she pressed a hand to her forehead with a helpless expression.
"Sorry. Give me a moment to process all of that."
Shirou then turned and explained the situation to Tiamat as well.
The girl in front of them was not Ishtar herself, but the human vessel possessed by Ishtar and Ereshkigal, so Tiamat couldn't simply treat her as Ishtar.
"So that's how it is... Mother actually mistook her own child... Uuu..."
Tiamat promptly sank into depression as well.
Rin Tohsaka stared at them in shock. "I feel like I just heard something incredibly serious..."
"Amamiya-kun, what exactly did you just say about the goddess Ishtar?"
"Nothing. Seriously, don't worry about it."
"...Hmph."
Rin Tohsaka looked somewhat dissatisfied, but at least she stopped pressing him about Ishtar and Ereshkigal.
"So, Amamiya-kun... what are you planning to do now?"
"What do you mean?"
Rin gave him a provocative look. "As for Tia-san over there... for now, I'll take your word for it and accept that she really is the goddess Tiamat."
"Didn't the two of you become husband and wife in that Singularity? Are you really fine with not taking her home with you?"
Shirou fell silent for a moment. "Of course I'm planning to take her home."
Rin Tohsaka glanced around. "While standing in front of a love hotel?"
Shirou had no answer.
"Don't bully Shirou."
Tiamat stepped between the two of them to defend him.
Rin let out an exasperated sigh.
"Listen, at a time like this, shouldn't you be making it clear that you're his lawful wife?"
"If you spoil this guy too much, he'll start treating you like a local wife, you know."
"A local wife?"
Tiamat tilted her head. This was apparently something the Greater Grail had never taught her.
Rin Tohsaka explained, "Basically, a wife he keeps tucked away in some other place."
"A convenient woman he only visits whenever he wants his desires satisfied, someone who comes when he calls and leaves when he tells her to."
Shirou frowned in annoyance. "That's a pretty awful way to put it."
"But isn't that basically what you were planning?"
"Of course not! My feelings for Tia are completely sincere!"
Shirou and Rin Tohsaka slipped right back into their usual bickering.
"...That actually sounds rather nice."
"Huh?"
Tiamat cupped her cheeks with both hands and suddenly murmured, "I'm Shirou's Uruk local wife~"
Shirou and Rin both stared at her speechlessly.
"Oh, I know. How about this?"
The moment Rin Tohsaka put on that impish expression again, Shirou immediately became wary. "How about what?"
"Why don't we have Tia-san stay at my house?"
She smiled as she said it and linked arms with Tiamat, who looked pleasantly surprised by the offer.
"What are you plotting?"
Rin Tohsaka gave him a playful smile. "That's awfully hurtful, Amamiya-kun... I really am trying to help you."
Shirou snorted. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Shirou, don't say such mean things to Rin... She's trying to help us."
Tiamat looked torn between the two of them.
Damn it... Even Mother has been fooled by this red devil!
Rin Tohsaka said, "Of course, I'm not doing this entirely for your sake. I'm doing it so Sakura won't get hurt."
"Having an important Senpai suddenly turn out to be married would be a pretty serious shock."
Shirou narrowed his eyes. "Is that really all?"
"O-of course."
"Wouldn't this be a bother for your mother?"
"Mother went back to the Zenjou family home. I've been living by myself these past few days."
"Don't ask Tia anything unnecessary."
"I'm not interested in the intimate details of your married life."
In the end, Shirou accepted her offer.
Of course, it was only a temporary measure.
He planned to bring Tiamat home and introduce her to Iri and Fuji-nee within the next few days.
After all, it wasn't as though this was the first time he had brought a girl home.
It just meant the Amamiya Inn would have one more female resident.
All right~ Tomorrow I'll go back and test the waters with those two.
As for why not tonight?
Naturally, he had to stay by Tiamat's side tonight.
Please, Shinji. Just spend tonight at a manga café.
If Sakura finds out I spent the night at Tohsaka-senpai's house, that'll create an entirely different and much worse disaster... If that happens, I'll curse you even from hell.
"...Excuse us."
Holding hands, Shirou and Tiamat stepped into the entrance hall of the Tohsaka Family mansion.
...
After finishing archery club practice, Sakura Matou walked home from school with her thoughts in turmoil.
According to Mitsuzuri-senpai, Senpai had apparently skipped the entire afternoon without any explanation.
Fujimura-sensei had also complained that Shirou had been getting more and more out of hand lately, and that as both his teacher and his older sister, she absolutely had to give him a proper lecture.
For some reason, Sakura Matou couldn't shake her unease.
Senpai is all right, isn't he?
He hasn't gotten dragged into some strange incident again, has he...?
He hasn't picked up another dangerous woman of unknown origin, has he...?
I wish there were something I could do to help him.
Recently, during breaks between classes, she had often seen Senpai talking with Tohsaka-senpai.
It would have been a lie to say she wasn't jealous of the sight at all.
No matter how hard she tried, she could never become a flawless superhuman like Tohsaka-senpai.
In the end, the only things she could really do for Senpai were cooking and housework...
Lost in self-loathing, the girl eventually realized that she had taken a wrong turn and wandered into a dark alley.
Just as she was about to retrace her steps, she sensed a faint magical reaction coming from deeper within.
It would probably be best to contact Tohsaka-senpai about something like this.
As the administrator of Fuyuki's Leylines, Rin was responsible for dealing with Magecraft incidents that occurred in the city...
No.
I'm the future head of the Matou family.
Someday, I'll become a woman Senpai can rely on too!
"Is someone there?"
Sakura Matou gathered Mana in her hand as she cautiously walked deeper into the darkness.
"...!"
A purple-haired woman was lying there.
She had a shapely figure and long, slender legs. Despite being visibly weakened, she still gave off a bewitching, sensual air.
Most striking of all was her beautiful long hair. For some reason, it made Sakura Matou think of a snake.
***
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