Beta read by Shigiya, Paragon of Awesomeness and FabledLife
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-Sainan, Yuuki Household-
In Yui's eyes, this right here was a true battlefield.
There were far more people at this Christmas party than she ever expected. Several of them were people she knew from school, while the rest she had never met before. Furthermore, they all clearly had a close relationship with Emiya!
Feeling overwhelmed by the overall atmosphere, the girl decided to retreat somewhere a bit less chaotic and thus went outside to the backyard garden. Taking a seat on the porch, Yui let out a deep sigh and tried to calm down.
"This was a mistake… I should just go back home after… an hour should be long enough."
If she were to leave right now, then it would send the wrong message and have Emiya misunderstand her. How could the girl even explain to him that she came here under the expectation of it just being a small party where it was going to be his family, the alien princesses, and herself, with perhaps two or three other people joining them?
"Planning to go home so soon? That's a bad idea, you'll miss out on so much."
"Ah!"
Startled by the voice coming from beside her, Yui looked to the side and realized that she had completely missed this person who'd sat down right beside her! Looking over at them, the first thing she saw was dark blonde hair, along with the girl it was attached to, sucking on a lollipop.
"R-Risa?"
"Yep, surprised to see me, Yui?" she replied with a mischievous tone. Unlike her school uniform, the dark-haired girl was used to seeing, Yui's schoolmate now wore something more casual yet quite provocative. A simple tank top that exposed her midriff and some short jean shorts, which left her legs bare from ankle to mid-thigh. Before she could even shout at how shameless Risa looked, another thought filled Yui's mind, and she decided to switch tracks.
"Aren't you cold?"
It was well into the winter season, and the temperature continued to drop every passing day.
"Eh? You didn't notice? Lala added a device of hers to the house that regulates the temperature in the backyard so that it stays warm enough to still be comfortable, no matter what you wear. That's why it's not freezing out here."
Now that she mentioned it, Yui did take notice of how different the temperature outside was compared to when she'd been coming over with Momo.
'She really is quite amazing to be able to make such things. And I can barely keep those idiot perverts at school under control even on my best days.'
The difference between them was just not fair, even aside from this little tidbit. One just happened to be an alien princess who they recently discovered was part of a royal family that controlled basically the entire galaxy. As for herself… Well, she was as normal a girl as they came.
"Are you suddenly thinking that it's unfair how amazing Lala is and how you can't compete with her?" Risa asked with a soft, knowing smile, those words stunning Yui, who felt goosebumps spread across her skin as she immediately backed away from the girl. "Yep, your reaction just confirmed it."
"Y-You tricked me!"
Risa shrugged. "Hey now, you're the one who is easy to read. Your expression alone says everything. And don't worry, I won't blab to anyone. I recognize that look all too well; I see it every time I look in the mirror," she paused and cringed at herself a bit. "Shit, that sounded more corny, and then I wanted it to. Let me take that back and come up with something less cheesy."
She said it so casually, yet it completely shook the young woman next to her, who just stared at her for several seconds, wondering if she heard her correctly or not.
"Risa… you…"
Seeing her stunned face, the blonde chuckled awkwardly, scratching her cheeks and looking up at the sky. "Yeah, I won't try to hide it from you."
Yui wanted to believe this came to her as a shock, a revelation she was not expecting to hear. But the more Yui thought about it, the more sense it made. Risa was known to spend quite a bit of time around Emiya at school, and would frequently receive his home-cooked bentos for lunch. If one were to look for that guy, then there was a fifty percent chance that a certain rambunctious girl would be beside him, munching on his food. But given how the former kept being extremely friendly and touching everyone's breasts if they were big enough, Yui herself had been a victim of her gropes several times in the past.
'I'm basically admitting that I have feelings for him to a person who is also in love with him. This couldn't get any more awkward.' Forget about waiting an hour; at this moment, she just wanted to run on the other side of town this very minute and lock herself up in her room for several months before ever showing her face at school again!
But while Yui's thoughts were all over the place, Risa spoke.
"I don't know why you feel the need to overthink things so much. We both like him, and that's all there is to it. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Or is the president of the disciplinary committee supposed to be someone who is not allowed to have feelings for another person? Pretty strict, I gotta say."
"No, no, no! I just… I just feel overwhelmed by this entire thing." Finally, she was able to speak to someone about what was in her heart, yet Yui felt like her face couldn't get any redder.
Meanwhile, Risa remained completely unaffected. "That's okay. But since we both like him and we're here, I feel like it's worth talking about."
Yui took a deep breath. "S-So, how long have you… l-liked him? Knowing how close you two have been, I suppose it's… been a long time?"
A pondering look came upon the blonde. "Not really, surprisingly enough. Honestly, though, I only truly fell for him very recently, like at the beginning of this month. Before that, sure, I was plenty friendly with him and thought he was hot, and I was teasing the guy trying to break that overly strict and unfazed expression he makes every day. And he provides me with damn good food for free whenever I ask; it's hard to say no to that. There have been times when I was genuinely flustered, but that's because he has a silver tongue. That guy… I tell ya, Yui, if he ever tried, then I guarantee you he'd be a serial heartbreaker."
The surprises just kept on flooding in, and Yui was at a complete loss. Fortunately, Risa continued to talk. "I got sick, not that long ago."
"Oh, the day you were absent?"
"Yep, I shouldn't be surprised that you knew, but never mind that. That day, I was in a rough spot, completely bedridden, and everything hurt. I felt like shit, and of course, my parents were way too busy being at work to spend any effort looking after their daughter — seriously, not even something left in the fridge or a cup of water at my bedside! But then, a certain someone just came through the front door uninvited and just had to change his personality from a grouchy mom to a goody-two-shoes mom who treated me like practically a child." Risa rested her chin on a propped-up hand and got a faraway look in her eyes. "And I won't lie, at that moment, I started to understand that I wanted to be treated like that more often. Specifically by him. And that's when I became certain about how I felt."
"Wow…"
It would be a lie to say Yui wasn't moved by the story. It sounded beautiful and unexpectedly sweet, coming from a girl like Risa — almost innocently romantic. As for herself, she had no such defining memory of any special encounter with the same boy. There was no single moment where everything clicked for her. When she tried to trace where those feelings began, she found only a series of small moments, piling up one after another, until they became too obvious to ignore. If it weren't for Momo, then she wouldn't have even entertained the idea of coming here in the first place, much less with Christmas gifts only for him.
'I should be happy for her… But all of this is just making me feel more miserable.' Even thinking about it, just letting those words repeat in her head, was enough to make her eyes sting, and she honestly had no clue why; or maybe she did know, but it was just way too much to even handle right now.
At the end of the day, she started to wonder if this was just a nonsensical first-time crush she had that would just go unfulfilled, given that it held no substance at all. She never tried to work on their relationship as anything more than a school disciplinarian and occasional helper. They rarely spoke to one another compared to the other girls he was close with, and to make things worse for her, she needed the help of others to even be part of this evening.
Yet right at that moment, Risa's arm slipped around her shoulders, drawing Yui's head to rest against her.
The other girl patted her head while showing her a beautiful smile. "Remember how we were talking about Lala earlier? Well, I too sometimes feel that I'm just wasting my time and trying to compete against that is pointless. But you know what? I don't really care anymore. He is technically engaged against his will, from what I learned recently, and he said it himself, that he is not looking for a relationship at this point. That sounds to me like I still have time."
"Risa…"
"What's the point of being gloomy over this for so long? If things don't work out, then so be it. It's not like we will stop being friends, and his food is too good to let him get away. Even after a decade or two, I'll be crashing into his house most likely, demanding free food, and crashing on his couch to watch TV after I'm done with my job. And if by some miracle he and I do end up together, then that's a bonus I'm more than happy to accept."
It was at this moment that Yui finally saw Risa in front of her in a completely different light. Or rather, it was like she was facing someone else entirely. The young girl always gave an impression of being a laidback and easygoing individual who rarely took anything seriously. Someone who never put much thought into her future and education. But hearing her now, it finally dawned on her that in the end… Risa had everything already figured out.
'I also want to be like that… I want to have that same confidence, too. The same kind of confidence she has, along with Momo and the others.' If earlier the world had seemed dark and cold, right now a fire ignited within to offset that. Small but persistent.
"R-Right! I can't give up! Whether it be Lala, Saki, Momo, or even Mikado-sensei! Oh, and you too, Risa. I won't go easy even if it's you." Yui then awkwardly began scratching her cheek. "Sorry…"
That only earned her a mischievous grin from the blonde, who just waved her hand dismissively. "It's all fine, it would be no fun if there were no competition for a catch as great as his, don't you think? But then again, I also found a few books in one of the rooms here that were all about the practicality and viability of a harem, so imagine it could easily be the case that rather than competing with me, we and the others could all end up in bed with him together."
"Risa!" That completely threw her off and shattered the beautiful moment. Her mind conjured up an image of what Risa just said, and she felt embarrassment flood into her at the mere thought of being involved in such a shameless future!
"Hahaha! Just kidding! Just kidding… Oh, by the way, did you get a gift for him? I'm kind of curious as to what it is. Do you mind telling me, or is it a secret?"
"Y-You can't just say that and change subjects so suddenly… But fine, I-I did get something for him with Momo's help, b-but I'm not sure if it's appropriate for me to give it to him with so many people around."
"Eh? Now I'm curious."
"It's just this thing I found with—eh?" Right as she tried to reach over to get the bag, the girl realized that it was no longer there. "W-Where is it? Did it fall? Eh-eeeeh? N-No, I definitely brought it with me!"
Panic started to settle in, for the possibility of someone else discovering its contents brought a level of shame that would be enough to knock her out for several days.
Unbeknownst to either of the young women, a certain green-haired Plantas child was waddling back inside the house at that very moment, dragging along a small bag that had several holiday-themed floral patterns on it that she'd taken a liking to.
{Break}
(Around the same time)
In the end, his adoptive parents couldn't make it.
With a disappointed sigh, Emiya watched absent-mindedly as the water in front of him continued to boil and cook the pasta inside, along with making a variety of dishes for the party, while his thoughts simmered. He neither felt happy nor saddened. 'I should have known that this would happen. As much as they care about their family, those two both put far more of their effort and time into their work.'
With the clock ticking by and most of the guests already present, the chances of them stopping by kept getting lower by the minute. Worst of all, calling either one of them had already failed, for their phones were busy for some reason.
'Should I just kidnap them after all?'
Saibai was nearby, most likely still in his office, drawing away to respect a deadline. As for Ringo… that would be a bit trickier to even catch her, given how often she flew around to different countries.
Such thoughts continued to dwell in his mind until a cold sensation pressed against the back of his neck, jolted him back to the present. He quickly turned around to find a certain brunette nurse standing there, holding a cold can of beer.
"If you keep thinking so much like that, you'll lose what remains of your red hair and become an old man. Not that I'd mind the change, but as a nurse, it is my responsibility to look after your health."
"It's nothing, just trying to plan out how things will go tonight."
In response, Ryouko just rolled her eyes. "This is not some sort of mission or battle; the only thing that needs to be planned out is the food we would make for the others, and that was already done. Rather than planning, you should be loosening yourself up a bit more and have fun. The others are enjoying themselves too… but they'd likely enjoy themselves more if you were involved in the party. Many of them are only here because they're friends with you, after all."
She had a point, he admitted. Rito could be seen in the living room playing games with Nana. Mikan was talking with Haruna, Oshizu, and a few others. Even Yami had started to have a conversation with Tearju, with the latter occasionally glancing towards the kitchen as if signaling him that she was not doing anything bad. He figured the rest were perhaps outside or on the second floor. Rather than focusing on being in the kitchen all night, it would be best to just move on and engage with people. He doubted the atmosphere would be any better if his siblings' parents were forcefully brought along.
"Just grab a drink, didn't Tearju bring some soju?" She mentioned, to which he shook his head.
"I am not that good with alcohol, and it's not my taste." Not to mention, he was not allowed to drink, given his physical age — but both of them long since stopped applying such rules to him. He just genuinely did not see the point of drinking. "Alright, I just need to make a quick stop at the nearby convenience store to get more snacks first. Can you keep an eye on the food for me?"
"I don't mind, but are we really that close to running out already?"
He shrugged. "Strangely enough, it looks like it. I thought I told Rito to get far more just in case, but it's not worth making a big deal over."
"Heh, better hurry then. Wouldn't want you to miss your own Christmas party."
Ryouko waved him off with a smile, but as he left, he didn't notice that more than a few sets of eyes were on his back as he closed the door.
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The streets were empty, and upon walking a couple of steps away from his house, Emiya felt the temperature plummet even further, with the warmth from Lala's device vanishing. He had on only a simple jacket for warmth as he continued to walk along in silence.
There was no one else around, and the quiet ran for a long period of time; the only sounds were running water and the faint buzz of nearby lampposts. Some might have called the atmosphere creepy, but he found a serene comfort in it. It gave him a kind of peace he hadn't known in months… Was it years at this point? The cold wind felt pleasant, the thin layer of snow crunching beneath his boots was satisfying, and for the first time in a long while, Emiya walked on with a clear mind.
Unfortunately, at times like these, he tended to become his very own worst enemy.
'Should I ask Lala for help?'
In the wake of the incident that occurred during the VR gaming session, the revelation at the end was not something that occupied his mind all that much. Emiya had shelved it in the deepest corner of his memories and just treated it as a strange one-off incident. It made no sense for her device to be able to read his old Servant parameters since he was not even one. He figured it had to be some lingering part of his memories that somehow were read when the device scanned him and interpreted the information as in-game data.
The girl did say that the machine was capable of reading one's entire body down to the very last atom in order to create a perfect replica, and even scan the player's mind on the surface, but nothing too intrusive. Just enough so that they could control their characters without needing to move their hands in the real world.
But even long after such events, during the Amazon tribe hunt, he'd begun to have several doubts about how perfectly everything just lined up. He had to at least be fully certain of what was going on, whether it be bad news or good news, just to give himself peace of mind.
"Hm?" In the middle of his walk, the young man came to a sudden halt as his ears detected a sound from nearby. It did not take an expert to realize what was going on.
"Oi, how long are you planning on following me like that?"
"Kya!"
A startled yelp came from behind the lamp post, followed by the sound of trash bins being knocked aside from someone falling to the ground with an audible thump. A sigh escaped his lips, and he retracted his steps by a couple of paces to see who this mysterious stalker was, and he raised an eyebrow upon discovering the culprit's identity.
"Shizu?"
He called out the name of the spirit, the latter living inside an artificial body that Ryouko grew for her to possess at will in order to live a normal life.
"Weren't you with Mikan? Why are you following me? And trying to be secretive about it? I'd rather not call the police on you," he said jokingly, though she may have taken that seriously, her face going pale and with tears threatening to stream down her face.
"Uuuuuw! Please don't do that! I don't want to cause any trouble for Mikado-sensei! I was just… I was ju-just… uhm… I-I just saw you leaving and hoped that I could help you?" She managed to finish her words after stuttering nonstop, an answer that took him by surprise since he was not expecting her to take the initiative to go out of her way and actually do this. Not that long ago, the ghost girl was literally terrified of him, and even after apologizing for what happened, he figured her fear would not disappear so easily.
"Did Ryouko send you after me?" he asked out of curiosity, only to get a quick head shake from her. "…Is it because you actually wanted to stay away from that dog that passed through our garden?"
"…"
"That's the reason, isn't it?" concluded the man dryly. At least this explanation made more sense, strangely enough. "I don't know if I should be amused or aggrieved that a hound makes you feel more fear than my own magecraft."
"So… is that a no?"
Looking past her at the empty road, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Fine. I wasn't going to buy much in the first place, but I don't mind having you along."
"Thank you!" She instantly recovered and got back to her feet, following him while humming a tune.
"How's it been going for you at school lately?" Emiya asked, wanting to have some conversation going rather than the entire trip to be in awkward silence. "As an old spirit who hasn't lived a normal life for what sounds like centuries, are you experiencing any troubles I can help you with?"
"Please don't call me old!"
"But you are old. Easily the oldest in the group," he commented, seeing her make several faces wanting to dispute his fact, until she realized that he was right and admitted defeat.
"It's been going quite well. I made a few friends, namely Run and Mea, and I have been hanging out with them quite frequently."
"Mea?"
Not seeing the change in his expression, the girl continued. "Yes! Do you know her? I think she spoke about you before, though I can't remember what she said."
"You could say that."
"She has been helping me a lot, even helping Run from time to time, despite being a new student herself. I tried to invite her to join the party today, but she wouldn't pick up her phone."
"That's because poor Mea has been incapacitated and had her mind scrambled by Emi over here."
"—!"
His body acted on instinct, immediately pulling Shizu close to him with a handful of weapons forming above him and firing towards the voice instantly. Shizu, startled by the sudden change, practically glued herself to him and used his body as a shield. Thankfully, no one was present to see the scene, though now he wondered if this was done intentionally.
From the other side of the road, where his weapons had pierced the guardrail and several trees, the dust settled, and a skewered figure could be seen walking through his weapons nonchalantly.
Both her flesh and clothes she wore were mending from the cuts left behind.
"Oh my, who is the actual living weapon here? Can't even get a greeting in without being bombarded by swords every time."
From the dust, an overly despondent Nemesis emerged. She wore a black yukata and held a traditional wagasa above her head that shielded her from the snow. Except now it had been cut by his projectiles and rendered unusable, which further annoyed her.
'It really is ineffective on her…' Their prior battle was not forgotten by the incarnate Heroic Spirit. 'Her clothes reknitted themselves along with her body. It can't be some form of high-speed regeneration, then. Her body's composition shows no signs of any blood, even before I cut her; nothing but those same black wisps of matter came out. Even when attacking, she uses the same thing, similar to Yami and Mea, using her own body as a weapon. Using anti-regeneration Noble Phantasms showed no effect. Even after that little stunt she pulled by changing her appearance, she recovered.'
His mind circulated at a high speed, hundreds and thousands of possibilities and scenarios being played out in a fraction of a moment.
'Hold on… why did she choose that moment to change her appearance, then?' When thinking about their prior battle, the small moment stood out amongst the rest. 'But that doesn't explain if she was indeed in danger from that weapon, and she still managed to heal herself.'
"I can see you're thinking about different ways to kill me." Nemesis saw right through him, and rather than being more cautious, she smiled. "Big sister is so proud of you; you have so much potential."
"Big… what?" Shizu reacted upon hearing that part. He did not even need to look back to know she was most likely gazing at him with several questions brewing in her mind.
"Ignore her, she is just spouting nonsense. I am in no way related to her, nor is she related to me."
"What a mean thing to say to your big sis. Well, I do admit it is hard to get a full story out of Mea's mouth, given that she herself is confused about what exists inside your mind. Seriously, just what did you do to her? Even in her sleep, she tends to get restless, and that's… very unusual for someone like her."
"Treat it as karma for invading someone's privacy. She deserved it." He felt Shizu flinch behind him and quickly added more to his sentence. "Intentionally. If it was not intentional, then I accept it as my fault."
Thankfully, that managed to calm down the ghost and make her feel less guilty.
"Just tell me why you're here," he demanded, bringing his focus back to Nemesis. Everything about this individual rubbed him the wrong way; he could not be fully certain of what was going through her mind or what her plan even was. Without a surefire way to deal with her permanently, he had to keep his distance and carefully consider his every move.
"Oh, don't worry, I didn't come here to attack you or anything like that. Just decided to stop by to wish you a Merry Christmas. That is what's being celebrated, yes? I had to update myself on the kind of holidays celebrated by the locals of this planet."
"What do you want?" His patience was running thin; anything and everything that came out of her mouth was taken with a grain of salt or just outright ignored — especially after that stunt she pulled.
"Nothing," said the woman casually. "I just stopped by to see my wayward brother. I even decided to bring you an actual present."
"No, thank you. But if you really want to give me a present, then I'd really appreciate having some peace and quiet from you."
"How cold~!" Nemesis chuckled, not offended or taking his words badly, instead even daring to approach both of them while several weapons still hovered around him. Each one of them followed her movements, but she held no fear, and he understood that at the moment, she did not need to fear him.
'I can't guarantee that she won't aim to attack Shizu if I go on the offensive. Even if the girl is a ghost and already dead, ghosts can still be eradicated through several means. I can't be certain Nemesis does not have such means at her disposal.'
First of all, he suspected that Nemesis knew he was worrying about this, given the kind of smile she showed when glancing at the girl behind him.
"Oooh, you must be the living ghost? I was always curious about your side of the supernatural. It makes me curious if one day I'll also become a ghost myself, or if I'll have to deal with the ghosts of those I've killed before." Nemesis smiled, her words only making the poor girl feel even more threatened. "I heard from a little bird that you were another one who managed to get a sneak peek of something inside this guy and got really scared because of it. Did you also see his past life's memories this guy keeps hidden involving a wasteland filled with swor—"
Nemesis' words came to a halt when the edge of Kanshou appeared in front of her face. Her own features were barely reflected upon the black surface filled with hexagonal red patterns, with its owner looking down at her with a cold glare.
"This is your last warning. Leave."
"Tch, I was just asking a question. But never mind, I'll just give you my gift and be on my way." She actually dared to turn her back towards him, letting herself be completely open without a care, and went back to the place where he fired his swords earlier on. "Someone will be attacking you very soon. This person just happens to be someone who has quite a grudge against Golden Darkness, and she is not the kind to just forget about matters of the past."
"Against Yami?" That caught his attention. Had it just been someone interested in Lala, then he could have chalked it up to being another fiancé candidate too arrogant for his own good and coming over to cause trouble. But someone who was targeting Yami was a bit tricky, for it could be another assassin or mercenary who she'd poached a job from. 'Can't be a target whom she failed to kill. According to Ryouko, she never failed a single mission. It could also be someone related to an old target who is back for revenge.'
Such things were not foreign concepts for him, for at one point, he had also been dealing with a similar scenario back when he still lived his first life.
"Did you do something?" he asked again, having no reason to believe that this person did not have a hand in this matter.
"Yes, I did. Oh, and before you start shooting another barrage of your swords against me, I'll let you know that she would have come here even sooner had it not been for me. What I did was just delay her a tiny bit with a few other missions; that's it. Now, not only did I buy you some time, but I even came over to tell you about her intentions. Isn't my gift quite amazing?"
Emiya kept his cool. Whether or not her words held any truth did not matter. "I'll deal with this person myself."
"I know you will, dear brother. I would be quite disappointed if she proved to be any challenge to you. Ta~ ta~!" With a wave of her hand, she disappeared into the darkness, leaving both of them alone once more. Though this time, Shizu's fear turned into a questioning look upon recalling what Nemesis mentioned earlier.
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After buying a couple of packs of drinks and other snacks just in case, the duo headed back to the Yuuki household in silence.
This time, an awkward atmosphere lingered in the air with Shizu occasionally glancing at him, opening her mouth, clearly wanting to say something, but stopping herself at the last moment and rethinking her choices. This went on several times until he got sick of it.
"If you have something to ask, then just say it. I'll answer to the best of my abilities, and hopefully it does not cause more unnecessary misunderstandings. I'm getting quite sick of those lately," he said exasperatedly. This all started with him wanting to live a peaceful life and not having his past get too involved, especially when it made no sense for it to be even brought back in such a peaceful time. But fate sure had a humorous way of proving him wrong.
"T-That person… she…"
"She's called Nemesis. From my understanding, she's another biological weapon created by Solgam, similar to Yami. She came to Earth on some ridiculous mission to remind Yami of who she wants her to be and have her return to being an assassin once more." He gave her the most important points without missing a beat, leaving out some unnecessary details like powers and so on, for they had no place in this conversation yet.
"W-What!? She wants her to start killing people again? Isn't that bad? We should stop her!"
"Hah, trust me, I share the same opinion as you," he said with a tired huff. "Unfortunately, I don't know what her nature is, but even my weapons have a difficult time wounding her. Sometimes it feels like her body is made out of some form of fog-like substance where you could just phase through everything I throw at her. I'm still trying to work on a permanent solution. For now, hopefully she won't be bothering the others too much."
"But why did she call you brother then? Are you also…"
"No, that's just a misunderstanding on her part." He ended the train of thought before it took root within her mind. "I tried to tell her, but she is too adamant on that version of the story for some reason. My magecraft shares some similarities with their abilities. Superficial ones at that, I might add."
"Oh…" the girl nodded absentmindedly. Just looking at her face told him everything he needed to know; they were just minor inquiries. Something else was plaguing her mind, and she was buying time with these other questions in order to figure out if she should ask the main one or not.
Thankfully, he did not need to wait long before she asked. "A wasteland filled with swords as your past memories?"
At that moment, Emiya knew he was at a crossroads with two options he could choose for his answer.
The first one being to outright lie and say it was all just another misunderstanding with Nemesis and Mea confusing his memories with something else, or just making up facts just to cause rifts between them.
The second option was just to tell the truth.
Given that Shizu already knew Mea and had even befriended the redhead, the first option would just cause more confusion and conflicts to arise between them. And when eventually the memories Mea had seen in his head would get sorted out, there was a possibility for Mea to share that knowledge out of spite and cause even more confusion. Overall, this option promised a momentary period of peace but guaranteed a messier future.
The choice was an easy one to make.
"Remember when I gave you a description of my magecraft? If you're worried that I may have lied to you, then don't; that was the truth." He first assured her of what was already established. Which worked since she let out a sigh of relief. "As for those memories of the past she's talking about? Well, that's a bit trickier to explain. Tell me, do you believe in the concept of reincarnation?"
He asked the question casually, only to get a dry stare from the blue-haired girl. "I am a literal ghost…"
Ah, he should have figured. That realization made him chuckle. "Let's just say that the reason I'm so proficient at using this magic and have so much experience with both the sword and bow is somewhat related to that."
He could see the gears in her head turning until it finally clicked into place, and she stared back at him with widened eyes. "You actually have memories from your past life!?"
Well, not the way he would put it, but close enough.
"I suppose so. I was born with them, and it helped me skip a lot of steps in order to master my craft. That is why I'm capable of fighting against powerful opponents without having fought enemies in the past. Of this life, at least," he said with a shrug, not knowing the kind of reaction she would have, and he could see her become visibly more excited than anything else as he spoke.
"That's amazing!"
"Amazing?"
"Yes, it explains so much! I even heard Mikado-sensei asking herself whenever she thought I wasn't paying attention to how you could be so capable fighting when you never did anything like that in your past. It all makes sense now!" Shizu exclaimed loudly, as if she had discovered a truth that had been eluding her for years. She was visibly shaking with various emotions, which he found amusing.
"Are you not weirded out?"
"Why would I be?" she said genuinely with a tilt of her head. "Wait, does that mean you were once a ghost too?"
"Uh… I suppose so?" At the end of the day, Heroic Spirits were ghosts, and Servants were that, but given physical form through an abundance of magical energy and an anchor to the physical world.
The girl huffed, smiling from ear to ear at his answer. "Hehehe, so I'm not the only one after all. Wait a second… Does that mean you're also my senpai in more ways than one, Emiya-senpai?"
He waved his hand quickly. "Just call me as you usually would. And I'm not sure if meeting older ghosts or reincarnation means that you need to treat them as your senpai. Right now, I'm just a regular guy who can use magecraft. I'm not a ghost anymore, hopefully."
"Oji-san? Grandpa Emiya? Old man Emiya?"
Each title struck him like a physical blow, making him wince. While he rarely concerned himself with trivial matters, hearing "old man" directed at him for the first time in his life felt unexpectedly painful. "P-Please, just call me Emiya," he managed, his voice strained. " And if you wouldn't mind keeping this between us? I've already shared enough confusing information with everyone else. Adding this would only complicate things further."
In response, Shizu gave him a big thumbs up.
"Don't worry! As a fellow ghost, I will keep your secret for the next few centuries!"
"I am alive now, you know…" The way she worded it sounded like the woman was already labeling him as a dead man.
"C-Can you also change into a ghost form like mine? That would be so awesome! We could both go and explore places I could never take others! It would be so fun!"
It started to dawn on him that perhaps Shizu did not truly understand the concept of reincarnation and being alive once again with memories of the past. Granted, he also had doubts about what he truly was at the moment, but he was pretty certain that he could not turn into a ghostly form.
Seeing her excitement, though, another realization reached his mind.
'She's lonely.'
To become so joyful and excited just because she found what she thought was another ghost, it told him a lot. Unfortunately, he could not perform the same kind of feats as she could.
"I can't say this for everyone. But in my experience, you're quite the odd ones out for a ghost. I don't remember ever being capable of using telekinesis or just flying. In fact, you're quite a powerful ghost."
"But you use that ability when spinning your floating swords around you," she pointed out from the confrontation earlier. "Oh! Oh! If you have memories of your past, how far does it go? Is it only memories of your powers, or who you used to be?"
"Doubt you'd find it interesting, it wasn't that amazing."
"Come on! You can tell me a bit… Please?"
"We should be heading back. The others may start to worry if we take too long." He brushed that question away without providing a yes or a no. Explaining his past to Mea was one thing, but Shizu did not need to know all that. Not to mention, he did not remember much to begin with…
"A-Ah, wait for me! Oji-san!"
"…"
{Break}
(A few minutes later)
After dodging several of Shizu's questions that started from curiosity about his own past to what kind of scary things he did as a ghost and even the kind of place he haunted, both of them finally returned to the house.
"Remember our promise?" he asked, giving her a side glance. Unlike before, even after he asked for forgiveness, there was still some lingering fear within the girl whenever he was close by. But now, after learning about their apparent similar natures, every bit of that fear had dispersed in the air to the point that she was even willing to pull on his arm just so he'd stop ignoring her questions.
Shizu made a zipping gesture over her lips.
Seeing her face, an idea crossed his mind. "As a former ghost, let me tell you a small secret. If a ghost were to break their promise to another spirit, then King Yama would punish them by having the poor soul be trapped in a room filled with their worst fears for the next one thousand years. You wouldn't want to be locked in a room surrounded by dogs, would you?" he asked with a small grin on his face, barely able to contain his satisfaction upon seeing the girl turn pure white from fear, and her soul literally almost left her artificial body.
But then, she quickly recovered and gave him a stern glare. "Of course, I wouldn't reveal such a personal detail. It would only hurt everyone, and I don't want to make your family sad."
"Sad?" That part confused him, and seeing his reaction, Shizu elaborated.
"I mean, even if you are alive now, if I were your sister or brother and I ended up learning that at one point you were alive before and then died, then regardless of what happened afterwards, I would be horrified. It's even worse when you consider that you probably remember your own death… Do you?"
"…"
"I thought so," Shizu said with an understanding smile. "I agree with you, it would be best if we both kept the secret."
Perhaps seeing how accepting people were in this world about every big revelation, he had forgotten that this did not apply to everything and recalled Mikan's despair-filled eyes when he first confronted Yami… He did not want to see that expression again on either of his siblings, and it might happen if they were to learn of his past.
"Some secrets are worth keeping, even from your family."
Family…
Being so preoccupied with these thoughts, Emiya did not notice the commotion inside growing stronger, with a familiar voice belonging to a certain president of the discipline committee apparently panicking over finding something she'd lost. But then others reassured her by 'sharing' their gifts with her.
The moment he opened the door, the former Servant of the Bow came upon a rather chaotic scene.
Everyone was gathered in the living room, but the atmosphere was entirely different this time, every single one of them dressed in outfits that would have made even the most shameless succubus blush. Erotic reindeer cosplay clung to bodies with obscene tightness, while others flaunted themselves in sexy elf costumes; the twins, Momo in particular, seemed to revel in the way their skimpy uniforms barely covered anything at all. And then there was Ryouko and Tearju: the pair of them forced into Santa outfits so indecently revealing that they left nothing to the imagination, just a red tank top and a scandalously short skirt that barely managed to ride over their asses. Tearju, cheeks burning red, was too mortified to do anything but stand frozen in the corner, arms thrown desperately across her chest and lower half in a feeble attempt at modesty. "This is way too much, Ryouko!" she whimpered, her voice trembling as she complained to her friend, refusing to budge even a single step.
Rito, for some reason, was lying unconscious on the ground with Haruna hiding in the corner, covering her face in embarrassment, but seemed to be peeking through the gaps of her fingers.
"I was gone for maybe fifteen minutes, what the hell is going on here?" he exclaimed with a rapidly growing headache, his voice immediately causing a long silence to fall on the room, with every set eye looking at him with disbelief.
"Oh, right, I forgot to stall for time!" Shizu shouted from behind him, visibly mortified and further clarifying the real reason why she had followed him.
"Um…" Momo, who was wearing an equally skimpy elf costume while clearly in the middle of setting up some sort of device, was the first one to react. But rather than give him an answer, she instead grabbed her D-Dial and whispered something in a panicked tone. "P-Plan B, Onee-sama! Plan B! He got back too quickly!"
"—!"
"Oh, right, I'll try that."
More confused than ever before, he turned to his ever-so-reliable sister, hoping she would just tell him what was going on. But the girl in question was having something whispered into her ear by Momo, and she nodded in agreement. Proceeding to look at him deeply in the eyes, the brunette suddenly got on her feet, holding on to a giggling Celine.
"Distract him!"
Whoosh!
"What the—oof!" His vision was immediately clouded by strands of blonde hair with red tips, topped off by a large flower. The Plantas child launched herself like a missile and aimed for his face, using enough force to knock him off his balance, and it did not end there.
"I'll join too!"
"Hands off him!"
"That's not how you distract someone!"
"Yami, bind him!"
"Order received."
Risa, Yami, and even Ryouko joined in and dogpiled the clueless and slightly terrified Emiya, who got crushed under the weight of all these people. He felt several parts of their bodies squish against him, and Celine was seemingly still on a mission to kill him by making it difficult for him to breathe with how she was clinging to his face!
Feeling his patience growing thin, right as he was just about to forcefully pull himself back up, even if he had to use Reinforcement, the others moved first and, for some reason, got off of him.
"Eh?" Confused by the sudden change, he peeled Celine away from his face, only to see the middle of the living room glowing a bright blue light from the device that had just been installed by Momo.
Right before his eyes, a bright flash of light that nearly blinded everyone appeared, and from that something emerged that was completely absurd.
An entire sleigh crashed into his living room…
And that was just the beginning. The one pulling the sleigh was none other than Peke, who had deer antlers coming from its head. And holding the reins was none other than Lala, wearing a ridiculously large Santa costume complete with a beard and hat, laughing while raising both hands. "Happy Halloween!"
"It's Happy Christmas!" Momo quickly reminded her.
"Oh, what she said!"
Behind Lala were two giant sacks, and both of them opened up together.
This time, it was not just Emiya who was surprised by the sacks' contents. But also Mikan, as well as the now-awakened Rito. All three of them stared in unison and muttered.
"Dad?"
"Mom?"
"You two…"
The two Yuuki parents stood there, with the father grinning widely at their reactions while the mother seemed to enjoy the holiday-themed costume she had put on, as well as admiring the clothes worn by the others.
"Wow, the house has changed so much since the last time I was here! And there are so many people around, too! By the way, aren't there too many girls?"
"Hahaha! You boys really are my kids! They take after their father when it comes to the ladies!"
"Oh, what do you mean by that, dear?"
"Urgh! I-I'm sorry, honey! I love you!"
Staring at those two idiots who had appeared in the living room, Emiya found himself at a complete loss for words. Recalling all the times he tried to have them be present only to get vague noncommittal answers or even none at all, yet here they now were.
"Shirou!" He finally looked at the one behind all this. Lala jumped down from the sleigh, the fake Santa suit looking quite comical on her. She even tried to put on a return belly underneath to sell the image even further, and it frankly worked. "How did you like my gift?"
Her gift?
"Your parents were swamped with deadlines, but I built some helper-bots to speed up their work! They finished everything early, and I whisked them here as a surprise. Now you can all have Christmas together! Isn't that amazing?"
"…"
He was still speechless, staring at the girl for several seconds as she continued to jump around and toss other smaller gifts to others.
'She really went out of her way to do this.' A part of him had already accepted the fact that these two wouldn't have come before the party even started, having grown used to just how focused they both were on their work; it was an outcome to be expected.
Ringo went to hug Mikan and check up on her daughter while Saibai curiously looked at Celine in Rito's arms.
To call this day a roller coaster of emotions would be an understatement. All the ups and downs made him feel a bit dizzy.
"Sorry it took so long. I wanted this to be perfect, but I didn't expect that you would return so soon." Lala said, laughing awkwardly and scratching her fake belly. "Don't worry, next time I'll make it an even bett—"
She did not need to explain any further, nor did he want her to think he was not satisfied with the outcome. So, to make things clear to her, he did the thing he knew would prove this notion by going forward and embracing the eldest Devilukean princess, pulling her towards him right in the middle of her sentence. His face gently caressed her hair as he whispered into her ears.
"Thank you. I couldn't ask for a better gift."
"Hehehehe," The pink-haired alien princess started to giggle in a silly way, melting in his embrace and wrapping her arms around him as well. "Alright, let's all celebrate! Mama even gave me a few drinks to share with you! She said she specially made them for you as a gift, and this is the perfect occasion!"
His mood couldn't be any better at the moment. Any trace of his old headache, the prior ambush, or even stress was nowhere to be seen. He was now firmly feeling the holiday spirit and so happily accepted whatever gift Sephie sent him. Ryouko then approached him, handing him some juice with a knowing look on her face.
"Finally willing to relax now?"
"You knew?" he asked out of curiosity, glancing over at Saibai and Ringo.
The nurse shook her head. "No, I was not made aware of this little surprise. I knew Lala was preparing something special, but I didn't know what exactly. I'm just glad it turned out to be a success. It's so rare to see you make a face like that, much less such a genuine smile."
"Is it that obvious?"
"Very."
Nemesis' arrival did mess with his mind, not to mention the warning she gave him about someone who would soon attack him to get to Yami. It made him very cautious on his way back, since for all he knew, it could happen at any moment. Yet this surprise by Lala made him forget all about that and actually start enjoying the party.
Lala, who was still by his side, pulled him along to the living room to join the rest. "Come on now, it's time for us to finally start celebrating! Also, I'm super hungry. I heard you made a lot of different dishes with Mikado-sensei? I want to try them all!"
She really had the effect of making the place brighter, regardless of what happened before.
"Alright then… Thanks again, Lala. I'm glad you're here."
After that, the entire group finally started to calm down and enjoy the festive ambience. Some already started out to hand gifts to other people, with Rito giving one to Mikan, and so did he, his gift being a small locket he forged in his spare time. Even Celine got him something.
"Hmm, what's this?"
"Mau!"
"Ah!" From the other side of the table, a certain dark-haired girl yelped in panic upon seeing the gift being given to Emiya. Yui recognized her package but was unfortunately unable to stop him from opening it right in front of everyone.
Revealing the gift, the redhead's curiosity soon turned into disbelief when, rather than a flower or some other similar kind of item, what he retrieved was a black and white Speedo.
"…"
He slowly put it back into the bag while Yui had gone and huddled up in the fetal position out of pure embarrassment. She was not willing to show her face to him at this time, while he decided to just accept it with a smile and move on, though he noticed the likes of Risa and Ryouko eyeing the gift with open approval. The night continued on with a similar atmosphere, with the food finally leaving the kitchen and being enthusiastically shared with everyone, bottles were opened, and several activities were played until late into the night.
.
.
.
Or at least, that was what was supposed to happen.
"Urgh…" Emiya barely managed to open his eyes, mustering what he could to fight against a splitting headache that bombarded him as soon as he regained consciousness.
He was staring up at the ceiling of his room, illuminated by the sunlight, and his ears were greeted by several birds chirping outside. But today, those sounds were no different from ear-screeching noises that only made the throbbing inside his skull even worse.
The sensation… He had not felt it for so long that it might as well be his first time today.
"A hangover?"
How?
He could barely believe it at first. He was certain there had been no alcoholic drinks at the party aside from the two cans of beer Ryouko got for herself and Tearju. Which would not even be enough to make him drunk, despite being somewhat of a lightweight himself… nothing a quick cycle of magical energy wouldn't dissolve. He tried to think back to what happened last night, but his memories stopped becoming clear the moment everyone had finished eating, and he was bringing the plates back to the kitchen while the others continued to have fun.
Everything after that was a complete blur.
'How is this possible? If I were getting drunk, then I should have seen the signs and stopped drinking—ah, that bottle Sephie gave Lala!'
It finally dawned on him what could have been responsible for him ending up like this, but he was sure that he put that bottle back in the fridge! Someone must have gotten it out and given it to him without him even realizing what it was.
Aside from that, there was no other explanation that made sense to him unless he was hit in the head by a surprisingly powerful individual. But given his skull was still intact and there were no lumps, that possibility was quickly ruled out.
"Hm?" Trying to get up from his bed, his left hand came to sink into something soft and supple. Turning his head, he was met with the sight of a naked Lala sleeping right next to him. And that was when he finally noticed another strange thing.
"Where… are my clothes?"
This was getting stranger by the second. Lala was someone he had grown used to seeing naked, someone who never slept with clothes on, even when he told her to do so. But for him to have also removed his clothes while he slept next to her was a completely different issue! Why were his clothes missing!?
"I-I need some fresh air." Wanting to get his mind back in order, he tried to leave from the other side of the bed, but this time, his right hand sank into another mass of flesh that was both soft and supple. Nearly twice as big as Lala's and just as firm.
"Ah~! Eh? What?"
He froze, and so did the second person who had been woken up by his action. Swiftly pulling herself upright, a disheveled Ryouko looked around with a stupefied expression that made it clear she also had no idea how they ended up there.
Her mouth hung open, speechless, just like him.
There was not a trace of clothing to be found on her either…
Both of them just sat there, staring at one another in pure confusion while Lala continued to sleep peacefully, hugging one of his pillows between her supple breasts. The princess then absentmindedly scratched her neck, where several light bruises could be seen.
Looking back at Ryouko, he saw she had a similar set of bruises on her neck as well.
'…Those aren't bruises.'
------------
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Taimanin with 3, Hound having 3 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.