"Um… could you examine me?"
Fujino Asagami paused, then asked almost without thinking.
"Yes. I have the relevant professional qualifications."
As he spoke, Shirou took out the therapist's license bearing his name.
It was something he had prepared when he went to work at the hospital in Touko Aozaki's place. A forged document.
Since he had gotten into the hospital through suggestion in the first place, it had only been meant as a precaution. He had not expected it to come in handy somewhere like this.
"Shirou-kun, you're amazing. You're so young, but you already have medical qualifications…"
Fujino Asagami only glanced at the forged document before readily believing Shirou's lie.
I only just started middle school. How could that possibly be true?
She really was a sheltered young lady who knew nothing of the world. Shirou could not help thinking of Irisviel when she had first come to Japan.
Of course, Shirou had not offered to examine Fujino Asagami out of pure kindness.
He quietly studied the girl in front of him. Although she wore the conservative uniform of a Catholic girls' school, the black fabric could not hide her unusually mature figure.
Her full curves and slender waist formed a striking silhouette… Don't misunderstand. That was not the point!
The point was the power hidden inside this girl's body, something Shirou had never seen before.
Something other than Magecraft?
The source of that power was not in her Magic Circuits. It was concentrated in her brain.
Shirou wanted to know what it was, so he offered to give Fujino a full physical examination.
"Um…"
Fujino Asagami seemed hesitant. Her lowered face flushed faintly.
A full physical examination. That meant she would have to take everything off, didn't it… Ugh.
Ever since she was young, she had longed to become a modest woman like her mother, and she had never exposed her skin in front of anyone before.
Being asked to show her body to someone else so suddenly was hard to accept. Especially when the other person was a boy even younger than her.
Seeing this, Shirou quickly said, "It's all right, Fujino-san. Have you ever had an examination like this before?"
"No."
Shirou asked, puzzled, "Then what about your attending physician when you were little?"
Fujino answered, "The doctor was only responsible for providing medicine. He never asked about my analgesia… My father arranged everything himself."
"After my father passed away, my mother remarried, and my stepfather changed my doctor… But the new doctor still never asked about my condition. He only gives me medicine regularly."
"…"
That was suspicious, just as he thought.
"Can I see your medicine?"
"Yes."
Fujino Asagami took several kinds of medicine from the bag she carried with her, including aspirin, steroids, and indomethacin.
Shirou was startled. They were all painkillers, or drugs with analgesic effects.
His guess had been right.
She was not suffering from analgesia. Her sense of pain had been removed after birth.
Most likely, it was related to the abnormality Fujino Asagami had been born with.
Fujino's father had sealed off her abilities by shutting away her sense of pain, removing her "Curse."
And it had indeed worked quite well.
However, her father had never considered that this only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. If anything, it might have strengthened his daughter's abnormality.
By now, some kind of abnormality had probably been building up inside Fujino Asagami for more than ten years. It had even grown strong enough to repel low-level suggestion Magecraft.
"My analgesia is actually caused by these medicines…"
"Yes. At this point, we can be sure that there is some kind of abnormality in your body, Fujino-san. But it has been suppressed and hidden by medicine all this time."
After Shirou explained it to her, the girl was visibly shaken.
"How could that be… So I really am the Child of the Curse…"
"That can only be determined after a full physical examination."
"Ugh…"
The girl bit her lip.
Shirou could understand her unease.
Not everyone had the courage to face the truth. Maybe he had pushed her too hard…
How unlike him. Had Touko rubbed off on him?
Shirou sighed.
"I'm sorry. I got too involved. Just pretend I never said any of that."
As he said this, Shirou stood up, only for Fujino to grip his wrist tightly.
The girl looked up at him with pleading, pitiful eyes, and Shirou swallowed without thinking.
"What's wrong?"
"Shirou-kun… can I trust you?"
Without a doubt.
Shirou answered immediately, "Please trust me, Fujino-san."
"...All right."
After hearing his answer, the girl gave him a pure, innocent smile, as guileless as a child's.
For as long as she could remember, Fujino Asagami's understanding of "being alive" had always been vague.
At first, she simply could not share in her mother's pain or sorrow.
Gradually, she began to lose any real sense of being human.
Even when she watched blood run from her own finger, Fujino felt nothing unusual, as though that finger did not belong to her.
Her existence was different from everyone else's.
She was merely playing the role of a girl named Fujino Asagami.
Her mother loved her but could not understand her feelings. Her stepfather saw her as an inconvenient burden and ignored her existence entirely.
Fujino Asagami felt as though the world had abandoned her.
That unbearable, suffocating feeling only tormented her more and more.
I'm not really alive at all.
Fujino Asagami began to think that way.
What did it actually feel like to be alive?
If she could feel pain like an ordinary girl, would she truly be alive?
Compared to the hope of curing her analgesia, exposing her body was nothing. Besides…
Although Fujino Asagami felt embarrassed, she realized she did not seem to dislike the idea of baring her skin in front of Shirou.
This child is absolutely someone I can trust, she thought.
After making up her mind, Fujino Asagami said with a determined expression,
"Please examine me, Shirou-kun."
"All right."
As Shirou stood, Fujino swallowed, looking at him with both shyness and nervousness.
But the boy's hand did not reach for her school uniform. It reached for the tableware on the table.
"I'll wash the dishes first."
"Ah!"
Fujino Asagami hurriedly stood as well. "I-I'll help too!"
...
After washing the dishes in the kitchen, Shirou and Fujino returned to the room next door.
"Well then, I'm going to examine you now, Fujino-san."
"Y-yes, please do."
As Shirou sat down beside her, Fujino clenched her fists and worked up the courage to speak.
"Um... Shirou-kun..."
"What is it?"
"Could you please step out for a moment?"
Step out? What for?
Shirou was puzzled at first, but he quickly caught on.
Even though Fujino had made up her mind to face the abnormalities in her body head-on, deep down she was still terrified, wasn't she?
I hadn't given her feelings any thought at all. If I were a real doctor, I'd be the worst kind there is.
"I understand. Just call me when you're ready."
"Okay."
Shirou stepped out of the room.
After waiting outside for about ten minutes, a voice from inside called out, "I'm ready."
"Coming, coming."
Hearing this, Shirou eagerly pushed open the door.
"Huh?"
Shirou wondered if something was wrong with his eyes.
He blinked, then channeled Mana into his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
In the plain, unadorned room, the sofa now framed a scene of breathtaking, sensual beauty.
The girl Shirou had brought back, Fujino Asagami, had taken off her Reien Academy uniform.
Why!?!?!?
Shirou's head buzzed as if someone had clobbered him with a flowerpot.
At that very moment, the black school uniform, along with her white underwear, lay neatly folded beside her.
Without a stitch on, the girl rested her hands on her lap, sitting up straight despite her obvious embarrassment.
Her fair, soft skin was bared completely; her slender waist had not an ounce of excess flesh, and yet the rest of her was remarkably voluptuous.
Though her face looked innocent and delicate, her figure was full and mature, especially the parts that defined her as a woman.
They were like great ripe fruits swaying on a branch, flaunting their presence to a boy younger than herself.
Shirou stared blankly at the vision before him, struck speechless, able only to swallow mechanically.
"Um..."
"Ugh, please don't stare at me like that..."
Fujino Asagami lowered her faintly flushed cheeks and murmured softly.
"S-sorry!"
Shirou hurriedly turned his head to avoid her gaze, his mind reeling with confusion. Why?
Why had Fujino-san taken off all her clothes!?
Just as the boy was about to ask,
"Ah... I-I didn't mean it like that! I wasn't telling you not to look... Please look at me! Shirou-kun!"
"...No."
Shirou didn't turn his head.
Seeing him keep his eyes locked on the wall, she raised her voice. "Please look at me! Shirou-kun!"
"..."
Shirou turned toward Fujino.
Ngh... it really was too much to take in.
Even through her clothes, he could tell she had a great figure, but he never imagined it would be like this...
"..."
To be honest, this wasn't the first time Shirou had seen a woman's body.
But...
Irisviel and Fuji-nee were family, and Lady Avalon was Shirou's Professor. By now, none of them stirred much of a reaction in him.
As for Aoko and Alice...
Shirou shook his head, driving the impure thoughts from his mind.
"Um, Fujino-san... why did you take your clothes off?"
"?"
The girl furrowed her dark brows slightly and tilted her head. "Wasn't Shirou-kun going to examine my body?"
Shirou: "Yeah, I am going to examine... uh."
She didn't actually think she had to strip down to be examined, did she?
Watching the boy hesitate, Fujino Asagami finally realized something.
Her cheeks burning, she asked, "Could it be... that a physical exam doesn't actually require taking off my clothes?"
Shirou nodded. "Well, it is better if you take them off... but it's not like I can't examine you with them on."
"Waaah...!!!"
The girl's cry of shame and indignation rang out through the room.
She frantically threw her arms across her chest, hunched over, and collapsed onto the sofa.
"I-I'm sorry...!"
Fujino started babbling.
"What have I done... how could this happen... I'm sorry, Shirou-kun... I made you see something so awful."
Shirou's mouth twitched. "N-no, no, it wasn't awful at all. If anything, it was quite a sight to behold... heh."
He picked up his jacket from the chair, walked over to the sofa, and draped it across the girl's pale back before turning to leave.
"I'll step out now. Fujino-san, please get dressed."
"Please wait."
The girl's voice stopped him.
"Um... since you're going to examine me, it's better to be thorough... so, um... I'm okay with it."
With Shirou's jacket draped over her shoulders and her arms covering her chest, Fujino Asagami looked him in the eye, her expression serious.
Shirou could read a strong resolve in her gaze.
"Alright, I understand."
Shirou nodded firmly in response and sat back down beside Fujino Asagami.
…
The entire examination took half an hour.
Mystic Eyes were a spell in themselves.
Although Shirou could have completed the examination with his eyes alone, Fujino's lack of pain sensation had to be taken into account. In the end, after obtaining her consent, he... used his hands.
"I don't mind... Please examine me properly."
"Ah, right."
"How about this? Do you feel anything?"
"It tickles a little... Mm♡"
"I see."
And so, Shirou's fingers brushed over every inch of the girl's skin.
"Hmm. There shouldn't be any other abnormalities. Your sense of pain has only been taken away by the medication."
Shirou said, "If you want, Fujino-san, I can cure you right now."
"Really? Please help me, Shirou-kun."
Fujino Asagami looked at him with pleading eyes that no man could easily refuse.
"But before that, I need to explain the truth about the 'Curse' inside your body."
"Yes."
Fujino Asagami sat up straight, just like a student listening attentively in class.
Um... are you not going to put your clothes back on first?
Shirou inwardly retorted.
She did have Shirou's jacket draped over her shoulders, but other than that, she had nothing covering her... Was that really okay?
Forget it. He would explain the situation first.
"I'll get straight to the point, Fujino-san. You were born as a holder of Mystic Eyes."
"Mystic Eyes?" The girl tilted her head.
Shirou explained what Mystic Eyes were, though he had no idea whether Fujino understood him.
"Like the eyes from Greek mythology that can turn people into stone statues?"
"Yes, exactly!"
Shirou nodded approvingly. "In mythology, Mystic Eyes capable of deeply petrifying living beings are a Mystery of the highest rank, even among Mystic Eyes."
"But Fujino-san, the Mystic Eyes you possess are not inferior to the Gorgon's eyes."
"What's unbelievable, however, is that your eyes aren't a talent you have as a Magus, but an ability produced by a mutation in your brain…"
"To be honest, this is the first time I've ever seen anything like it."
"..."
The girl's expression turned complicated.
Of course she would not be happy to hear something like that. More than anything, it would only make her uneasy.
Until now, Fujino Asagami had been an ordinary, normal girl. It was only natural for her to feel afraid.
"But it's all right..."
Shirou took Fujino's hand. "I'll teach you how to control those eyes. Let's cure your analgesia."
Fujino Asagami did not answer. She only stared blankly at Shirou.
After a brief silence, she unexpectedly wrapped her arms around the boy.
"Um, Fujino-san?"
Fujino Asagami said nothing. She simply buried her face in Shirou's chest.
"Thank you... truly... thank you so much..."
With a happy expression on her face, the girl began to sob softly.