Suladan hadn't had to use his sword even once, and now that they stood before the last door, with the last remaining Magi inside, Suladan decided to just sheath it and keep his hands free.
"Let's see what they have to say for themselves." The redheaded Magus suggested, and when Suladan nodded, he tore the door off its hinges.
"Kyaah! P-Please don't hurt us!"
"Have mercy!"
Apparently, they had nothing particularly unique or special to say. Just more pathetic grovelling.
It was a bit harsh for Shirou to think such a thing, but it irritated him beyond bounds that people who had committed such cruel acts without a shred of hesitation began begging for mercy once events turned against them.
It was cowardly and spineless in the extreme. Pure, distilled hypocrisy. Everyone who did such a thing was wretched in Shirou's eyes.
And these two brunette girls were no exception.
"Please! We didn't even want to be here!" One of them pleaded, having fallen to her knees. "W-We were forced to be here! I swear! O-Our families made us come here! T-They wanted to get rid of us, so t-they banished us to this terrible place!"
"Y-Yes!" The other girl agreed, nodding so quickly her neck gave an audible crack. "I-I am Cindy Brishisan, a-and she is Lilith Trambellio. I-If you let us live, o-our families will compensate you. They'll pay you a lot!"
"We never wanted to hurt anyone! They made us!" The first girl continued again, tears of fear now streaming over her cheeks. "W-We couldn't say no! Ch-Charlotte said no and they killed her! We had to do research for Head Professor Edokas!"
"W-We can give you the research." The other girl, Cindy, took the word again, crawling closer to Shirou and Suladan on her hands and knees. "I-I promise y-you won't be disappointed by it!"
So, they were forced by their loveless families to come here, 'banished from their homes', but those very same families would pay a lot of money for their return?
And these girls had only participated in the atrocities under threat, but their research was amazing?
They couldn't even keep their stories straight. Though even if they had been able to do so, then the fact that Shirou could tell they were lying through their teeth and could even see the metaphorical blood on their hands was enough of a clue that they were talking nonsense.
The redhead made eye-contact with Suladan, and the Egyptian, seeing that Shirou was just as unconvinced by the pleading as he, huffed, before stepping forward and kicking first Cindy Brishisan and then Lillith Trambelio in the face, sending them to dreamland.
"They weren't even trying." The grim man sneered down at the girls. "Do they think this is all a game? That crying loudly and shouting about their families will make every bad thing go away? Pathetic!"
"Quite so." Shirou nodded. "Quite so."
"Hm. Give me a hand securing them, would you?"
"Of course." Shirou nodded, Projecting a length of rope, before using it to bind their prisoners. He then loaded the two of them onto the trolley he had Projected earlier, together with the other unconscious Magi they had found in the living quarters.
"Shall we go?" Suladan asked, grabbing the trolley's handlebar to start pushing it down the hall. "We better join the others before they start throwing fire around."
"Not yet." The redhead shook his head though. "Go on ahead, I wish to search the rooms some more."
"Suit yourself. I'll tell Gideon not to start burning this place down until you're back."
"Much appreciated."
The Egyptian man then walked away, pushing the trolley out ahead of him, leaving Shirou to his self-appointed job of searching the rooms.
The rooms themselves didn't contain much of interest. They were fairly luxurious, but there was nothing in there that was worth taking out before the hideout went up in flames.
The same didn't go however for the many hidden panels, secret compartments, and concealed vaults spread around throughout the living quarters, most of which had been filled to the brim with valuables that certainly were worth saving.
Not the precious metals, gems, or the Magecraft-research though. Those could burn for all that Shirou cared. He meant the artwork. The very much authentic artwork that had somehow found its way into the hands of these Magi.
Not only did he find numerous paintings from old masters such as Monet, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Rafael, Kahlo, Delacroix, and many more, but there were also statues, drawings, poems, letters, and even personal possessions of famous people throughout history.
In other words, things of great cultural and historical value, pretty much irreplaceable, that belonged in a museum, where all of mankind would be able to view them.
For now, Shirou put them in his Vault, but he had every intention of donating them to the nearest museum at the earliest opportunity.
Once he had found and stored everything, Shirou decided it was time to go. They were going to burn the place down soon, and although he was reasonably fireproof, he'd rather not test his luck against Magical fire.
He'd had enough of that for the rest of his life.
Before he could leave the living quarters however, he suddenly found his way blocked by a very unexpected person.
"Miss Ortensia?" He asked in surprise when the white-haired nun suddenly stepped out of a side-room, her customary wide smile on her face, wearing a large, brown coat that reached almost to her ankles. "What are you doing here? And why are you wearing that?"
"I'm here because of your challenge." She explained, though it didn't really explain anything, before she took his hand. "Please follow me into this room for a moment, mister Fujimaru."
Lifting an eyebrow, Shirou did as he was asked and followed the nun into the room where she'd just come out from. It was a standard dormitory, with a bed, a table, a chair, and a door leading to the bathroom.
Alarm bells started to go off inside his head when he saw miss Ortensia's robes lying on the bed, but he, foolishly, took just two seconds too long to realise what that meant, and by then miss Ortensia had already taken off the coat…
"M-Miss Orten-!"
…To reveal that she was wearing a red-and-gold coloured cheerleader outfit underneath, complete with pompoms.
"-sia…? Wait, is that outfit-?"
"The one you Projected for me and challenged me to wear? Indeed." The white-haired nun nodded enthusiastically, giving him a smile that was much more energetic than her usual one. "I accepted that challenge, and I'm here to make good on my word."
"But that was a joke!" Shirou spluttered in protest, unsure what to think about the extremely brief skirt and the very tight shirt, both of them created by him and now being worn by a very attractive girl who was only a few years older than him. "I was just joking!"
"I wasn't." The minx grinned, narrowing her eyes to slits, making her look like a cat on the prowl. "Now, let's see what I can remember from watching those cute cheerleaders at the football-matches."
Miss Ortensia lifted her pompoms, placed her feet down like a dancer, bent her knees ever so slightly, and then began her routine.
"Shirou, Shirou, he's our man, if he can't do it, no one can!" She sang the classic cheerleader-lines in a sweet, clear voice, hopping in place as she enthusiastically swung the pompoms up and down, before she leapt high up in the air and did a perfect backflip from a standing position.
"Go Shirou! Go Shirou! What do we do? We'll say it loud, because we're proud, S-H-I-R-O-U!"
She wasn't nearly done yet however, and also performed several somersaults, a three-sixty twist in the air, a handstand, and a few other elaborate cheerleading moves that normally took years of training to master to such a degree.
While she was doing this, Shirou realised two things.
One; despite her appearance of a small, frail nun who had probably never really exercised in her life and would be exhausted after ten metres of running, Caren Ortensia turned out to be an incredibly athletic and flexible woman who wasn't even breathing hard after performing an extensive and elaborate cheerleader routine.
Two; that skirt she wore, the skirt Shirou had Projected for her as a joke, was so short and granted him so many panty shots during her show that she might as well not have worn it at all. The redhead could only be grateful that she had decided to wear conservative, white underwear that day.
That didn't stop every drop of blood in his veins from rushing to his face though, and his entire body twitched as his proper Japanese upbringing, that demanded he look away from the nun with a nosebleed or pass out from the stimulation, warred with his increasingly Asgardian side, which roared in approval and ordered him to keep looking and enjoy the show.
For a while, the Asgardian side was in control, but in a blistering counterattack, the Japanese side won out in the end.
"M-M-Miss Ortensia!" Shirou screamed in a voice that he wasn't too proud to admit was outright shrill, scrambling backwards in shock. "Please stop that!"
"Ha?" The devilish minx cocked her head to the side as she came to a halt, landing gracefully on the ground, allowing gravity to pull her skirt down enough to make her somewhat decent again. "Stop? But it was just going so nicely. D-Did I make a mistake? D-Do you not like what you see?"
She knew perfectly well of course what was bothering Shirou, as the twitching corners of her lips clearly indicated, but she nevertheless pretended not to, giving him a look that would have been perfectly confused if it hadn't been for the aforementioned twitching.
"That skirt is entirely inappropriate!" Shirou hissed back, his blush lessening now that her decency had been somewhat restored.
"But you created it for me." She struck right at Shirou's weak spot in the matter, making use of the fact that he had been the one to create the outfit, even if he'd never thought she'd actually wear it.
As such, Shirou didn't bother giving her an answer, as it would only provide her with more ammunition to use against him. Instead, he grabbed the long overcoat she'd taken off earlier and wordlessly handed it back to her.
Miss Ortensia seemed taken aback for a split second, before she smiled wryly.
"Ah, mister Fujimaru. Couldn't you have let me enjoy this for a few moments longer?" She sighed, before obediently putting on the coat. "I was going to do the whole 'Oh, if you don't like the skirt, I'll take it off'-routine, and then indeed take it off, but now I can't anymore."
Shirou flinched again, as his proper Japanese upbringing, which rejoiced in euphoria about the nun's lithe body being covered by a coat now, again fought with his Asgardian side, which grieved at the lost opportunity of seeing more of those smooth white thighs.
…He'd been away from his girlfriends for too long, he was getting inappropriate thoughts about strange women. He clearly needed to increase his mental discipline at once.
"Does this mean I have won the bet though?" The nun asked innocently.
"Yes, sure." Shirou agreed immediately, too embarrassed and distracted to really think about what he'd just said.
"Great. I'll be calling in my favour soon."
It was a sentence Shirou probably would have responded to a bit stronger if he'd been entirely present of mind, but his healthy appreciation for a lithe, female body, as well as the guilt and concern about said appreciation, made it difficult for the redhead to really think straight at that moment.
What a conniving woman, that Caren Ortensia.
"Urgh, this thing is way too heavy!"
Mitsuzuri Chiaki, wife of Mitsuzuri Ryozo and mother of Mitsuzuri Ayako and Mitsuzuri Minori, elegantly rolled her beautiful eyes when she heard her husband complain yet again, and sighed out loud when her son let out a whining groan in agreement with his father.
They were lifting a large suitcase together, trying to carry it from the living room to the car, and they were struggling mightily with it, to the point where their faces were turning bright red from exertion.
Granted, it was full of clothes and other personal articles, which weren't exactly light, and neither Ryozo nor Minori were particularly strong men, but Chiaki still thought they could at least make an attempt to man up and not complain every few seconds.
Ryozo was fortunate that he was sweet, reliable, competent, romantic, and a great father, for his body was nothing special among men.
Not even being able to lift one suitcase… Come on now.
"UUUrrggghhh!"
That sound came from both her husband and son, as they let out a mighty roar together while lifting the suitcase into the trunk of the car at last, before stepping back and theatrically rubbing their backs, as if they'd spontaneously developed hernias.
Really, Chiaki loved them, more than anything else in life, but sometimes, she just wanted to smack them over the head. Not very hard, just hard enough to make them stop acting like drama queens every time she had them do something that required the slightest bit of physical exertion.
Not that Chiaki wanted to suggest she could do it any better herself!
There was a reason she had the men carry the suitcase. She too was not exactly blessed with an overabundance of physical strength.
In fact, the only one in their family of four who could be described as physically strong was Ayako. Embarrassing as it was for the men to admit, she was generally the one who carried the suitcases, on her own, often twice as fast as the men had managed now.
But alas, the fourth member of the Mitsuzuri-family wasn't present at the moment, or perhaps it was more accurate to say she hadn't been present for quite a while now, since the beginning of the summer holiday.
She wasn't staying away because of any arguments or fights or something like that, perish the thought. Ayako's relationship with her family was as good as ever. It was just that she was hanging out with her 'best friend' these days and often 'forgot' to return home.
Of course, Chiaki knew perfectly well that that explanation was pretty much nonsense. She knew that 'best friend' was Ayako's euphemism for 'girlfriend', and that 'forgot to return home' meant 'I like snuggling with Sakura too much to leave'.
Chiaki was the only one who knew that though. She hadn't said anything to her husband and son about it, as she had promised to Sakura and Ayako to stay silent on the matter. As such, Ryozo and Minori had no idea that Shirou, Sakura, and Ayako were in a three-way relationship.
And if it was up to Chiaki, then Ryozo and Minori would remain clueless about that for a long time to come, at least until Shirou was back.
"Come on, son! Lift!"
"I am lifting, father!"
The renewed cries of her husband and son broke Chiaki out of her contemplative state, and she watched as the men carried the second suitcase to the car.
She tried to give them an encouraging look, but her sadistic side was definitely being tickled by the knowledge that she had been able to fill four suitcases in total, which all had to be loaded into the car. In other words, Ryozo and Minori weren't even halfway done yet.
"Why does Nee-san have so much stuff anyway?" Minori whined after the second suitcase had been transferred safely. "And why do we have to move it?"
"We told you already, Minori. We are bringing all this 'stuff' to Ayako, so she doesn't have to wear the same two outfits all the time." Chiaki explained again, giving her son a patient smile. "That matters to girls, you know?"
"Then why can't she come home more often to change?"
"Because she's keeping Sakura company while Shirou is away." Ryozo replied, shaking his arms to restore the blood flow that had been cut off by the weight of the suitcase. "After what happened, we can hardly leave her alone all the time."
Yes, that was the excuse Chiaki and Ayako had gone with. Shirou was gone, and since it wasn't wise for a girl to live alone, and since it was twice as bad for Sakura, who still had nightmares and panic attacks after what she'd gone through at the hands of her grandfather, Ayako had decided to stay over as much as she could.
Of course, the part about the nightmares and panic attacks had been completely made up, but it had been good enough a reason to get Ryozo and Minori to nod and accept the fact that Ayako was spending the holiday somewhere else.
Until now, apparently, as Minori began asking difficult questions again.
"If Sakura needs someone to stay with her, I could do that." Minori suggested eagerly, missing how his parents winced at his suggestion. "Then Ayako can come home, and Sakura is still not alone. She'll have me."
"No, Minori." Ryozo was prompt to forbid it. "I can accept it if two girls stay together unsupervised, but I will not have a girl and a boy under one roof without any adults present."
"But-"
"No buts!"
"…Yes, father." Minori grumbled, accepting his father's rebuke. "At least that bastard won't be with Sakura-chan either."
The last sentence had been too soft for Ryozo to hear, but Chiaki did pick up on it, and she tiredly rubbed her face with her hand, sighing as it was confirmed that her son still very much had a crush on Sakura.
It was yet another thing she'd have to deal with at some point.
It took several more minutes to load the other two suitcases into the trunk, but once that was done and the men had recovered a bit from the exertion, they jumped into the car and drove straight to the Emiya-estate.
They arrived perfectly on time, and found Sakura already waiting for them in front of the house.
"Good morning, Ryozo-san, Chiaki-san, Minori-kun." She greeted them one by one in her characteristically sweet voice once the car had been parked and they had stepped out. "How are you today?"
"We are well, Sakura-chan." Chiaki grinned at the plum-haired girl, while Ryozo walked to the trunk of the car. "What about you?"
"I am well too." The smile impossibly became ever more blinding, before Sakura looked in askance at Ryozo. "You brought suitcases?"
"They got Ayako's stuff in them." Ryozo explained shortly, his eye twitching when he realised he had to carry them inside now. "We thought that she might appreciate it if we brought it over, considering she's staying here and all."
"Oh!?" Sakura's eyes shone in delight, and Chiaki, who hadn't been prepared for it, was almost blown away by the 'good-daughter-energy' that was emitting from the girl. "That is so kind of you."
"It was no problem at all, Sakura-chan." Minori quickly piped up, stepping forward while flexing his right arm. "Dad and I carried all the suitcases to the car. It was really heavy, but we didn't drop them even once."
"That is really impressive, Minori-kun." The purple-haired girl praised Chiaki's son, somehow appearing years his senior even though they were the same age. "Then you are probably very hungry now. I have cake, if you want?"
"I-I'd love to!" Minori jumped at the chance of eating something prepared by his crush, eager like a puppy. "I'd eat anything you made for me."
"Haha, that's nice of you to say."
Chiaki pursed her lips at the by-play. Sakura was only being nice to Minori, but it seemed the boy was taking it far too seriously, as always.
It was probably the main reason that he still harboured a crush on her.
"Cake, you say? I would very much like a slice as well." Ryozo laughed, though it was slightly forced, as he had mixed feelings about the scene as well. The man might not know yet that Sakura, Ayako, and Shirou were an item, but he did know that his son had a crush on the purple-haired girl and that she didn't return his feelings in the slightest. "But first, there is a lot of carrying to be done. Minori, get over here and help me."
"Hah?" Minori ripped his gaze from Sakura. "Do I have to? I wanted to go with Sakura."
"Of course you have to. You are a strong man after all." Ryozo huffed with a smirk. "Or was that just grandstanding?"
"What? You old-"
"Ah, please allow me." Sakura interrupted quickly before the situation could devolve into an argument. "You must be tired, so I'll carry the suitcases."
"What?" Ryozo frowned at the offer, and Minori looked aghast that his crush was now offering to do his job, making him look very uncool.
Sakura ignored both of them however, and she rolled up her sleeves and stepped towards the open trunk, reaching out to grab the bottom suitcase.
Was she planning on lifting them all at once? If so, then she'd be unpleasantly surprised in a moment.
Minori clearly agreed, for he immediately took a step forward to try and dissuade her.
"Sakura-chan, wait! Those are too heavy to-"
"And hup!"
"-Liiiiiiiift…"
Minori trailed off when Sakura grabbed the bottom suitcase, slightly bent her legs, and then lifted all four suitcases at once!
"There." The plum-haired nodded happily once she had steadied herself, before turning to look at the Mitsuzuris again, not a single sign of strain present anywhere on her face. "Please follow me. Ayako is waiting in the living room with tea, cookies, and cakes."
Then she walked away, leaving Chiaki, Ryozo, and Minori behind in the garage, gaping at her back and unable to produce a sound.
"…Did she just…?" Ryozo wheezed after several seconds, being the first to find his voice again. "Did she just lift...?"
"Yeah." Chiaki nodded, utterly dumbstruck herself, still staring at the place where Sakura had disappeared from her sight.
"S-Sakura-chan." Minori whined, looking both surprised and deeply depressed by what he had just seen.
Eventually, Chiaki managed to shake the shock off enough for her to start moving again, and she followed Sakura into the Emiya-estate, dragging her husband and her son along with her.
"Heya, mom!" Ayako greeted her happily, sitting in a sofa next to a table that held an ungodly amount of cake, cookies and other delicacies. "Hey dad! Hey little bro! How are you doing?"
"We're doing well, dear." Chiaki smiled as she dragged the other two with her to the couch, first throwing them down before taking place on it herself. "Tell me, did you see Sakura walk past just now?"
"Yes, she was carrying suitcases. She said she would put them away in my room, and that she would join us in a minute or so." The brunette girl nodded, before lifting her arms in a macho position. "She is really strong, isn't she?"
"Very much so." Chiaki nodded emphatically. "Does she often do things like that? Carrying heavy objects like it's nothing?"
"Now and then. We don't move a lot of heavy objects around on a normal day, but when we do, Sakura and Shirou always just handle them like they're feathers or something." Ayako huffed, lowering her arms again as she shook her head in consternation. "It's enough to make a tomboy like me jealous."
"W-Well, that is quite convenient, isn't it?" Ryozo asked, having recovered enough to make an attempt at joining the conversation. "To have three strong people in the house. You never have to hire someone to move your things."
"Oh, it is nice indeed, until you tease them a bit too much and they suddenly lift you into the air, above their heads, and don't let you down until you apologise." Ayako pouted at the memory, and pouted harder when Chiaki giggled at the mental image of Sakura holding Ayako above her head like a WWE-fighter. "But enough about Sakura's muscles. How are you all? Minori, why haven't you said anything yet?"
"Ugh." Minori didn't reply though, as he was still moping with his head held low, cursing fate for making his crush so much stronger than him.
"…Alright, I'll leave you be." Ayako held up her hands in surrender after a few seconds of tense silence, leaning away from her little brother with a perturbed expression.
"Ignore him, Ayako. We're all fine, Minori included." Ryozo replied in lieu of his son, reaching out to ruffle his daughter's hair. "It's the holiday, so we hang around the house mostly, not doing much. It's quite relaxing really, and I've been reading a lot of books that have been on my list for a while."
"Oh? Say, dad, didn't you have a lot of deadlines you have to meet before the end of the holiday? For all your side-jobs?" Ayako asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at her father. "You didn't finish them at all, did you?"
"So little trust!" Ryozo reared back as if Ayako had stabbed him through the heart, and he fell to his knees, pressing his hands against his chest. "Why is there no one who trusts that I know what I am doing?!"
"Because every year, you end up stressing yourself to death in the last weeks of the holiday, trying to finish your work in time." Chiaki snipped, giving her husband a kick in the side. "It's the same every single time, without exception."
During those weeks, Ryozo would work pretty much around the clock, only sleeping four hours a day and only pausing to eat. He would become completely unavailable for anything else, and though his side-jobs netted him a massive salary, one that Chiaki was only too happy to spend, she did think it was very unhealthy for him.
"You always only make it just in time, dad." Ayako supported her mother, giving her father a glare that was so much like Chiaki's that Ryozo had to blink twice to make sure there wasn't a time-travelling, younger Chiaki sitting in front of him. "One day, the consequences will catch up to you."
"But they haven't so far, and that is probably the reason I keep doing it this way." Ryozo laughed, actually not offended in the slightest by his daughter's and wife's hard words.
"Keep doing what this way?"
"Ah, Sakura, you're back." Minori perked up when his crush walked into the room again, and he eagerly scooted to one side, creating enough room for the slender girl to sit down next to him.
His expression fell however when she walked past him and sat down in one of the sofas, seemingly without even having noticed his efforts.
"Nothing, nothing. Just my job." Ryozo quickly waved the matter away, not in the mood to discuss work with his daughter's friend, and he sat back down on the couch. "Don't mind me."
"Please have some cake then." Sakura beamed, gesturing towards the numerous platters and plates that had been laid out before them. "Or perhaps a cookie? Take whatever you like."
"Thank you for the food!" Minori bowed his head, before immediately diving at the nearest cake, grabbing himself a slice and a fork, before he began eating it. "Hm! This is delicious!"
"I am glad to hear it." Sakura nodded, watching with pride as Minori demolished the slice of cake in mere seconds.
"Hm, normally I would say something about table manners," Chiaki frowned at her son, before she took a slice of cake herself. "But I'll make an exception this time because Sakura's food is so good."
"Hehe." Sakura's smile became even more self-confident, and Ayako patted her on the back.
For a while, there was only the sound of eating, as the people present enjoyed the fruits of Sakura's labour.
"Awight, lewt's gwet to bufiness." Ryozo eventually began with a mouthful of cake, before flinching and swallowing when his wife gave him a piercing look. "Sorry, dear. Ahem, as I was saying, time for serious business."
"Serious business?" Sakura repeated unsurely.
"Ayako, seeing that you have been spending more time here at the Emiya-estate than at home, we decided to bring your stuff over." Ryozo began. "We brought most of your summer clothes, the toiletries you hadn't taken with you yet, your stuffed animals, and everything else we thought you'd need."
"Really?" Ayako's eyes went wide at her father's words, as if he'd said something completely unexpected. "D-Does that mean I can stay here? For the rest of the holiday?"
"Yes." Ryozo nodded, and he was visibly taken aback when Ayako and Sakura both let out massive sighs in relief.
"Though there are conditions." Chiaki said sharply, ready to lay down the law if the girls really were going to live on their own.
"What conditions?" Ayako asked immediately, a very serious look entering her eyes.
"First of all, food. Do you have enough of it?"
"We do, Chiaki-san." Sakura nodded, glancing at the kitchen for a moment. "We have plenty of food already, and more than enough money to buy more."
"Alright, then what about gas, water, and electricity?"
"The bills for this month have been paid and the money for the coming six months has already been set aside."
"Okay, then lastly, your laundry." Chiaki finished her list with the one item she wasn't sure about. She had never doubted that they had enough food and other necessities, but laundry was something else entirely. "I believe it is quite normal that youngsters who have just moved out still rely on their parents for the laundry."
At least, that was what Chiaki's older friends had told her. The boys especially tended to continue relying on their parents for the laundry for a long time, at least until they'd found themselves steady girlfriends or even wives.
"Oh, there's no need, mom. Sakura takes care of that." Ayako refused the offer though, giving a glance at the plum-haired girl next to her. "She's amazing, you know."
"…Yes, I suppose she is."
Of course, how could Chiaki forget? Sakura was basically the ideal housewife, who wouldn't have any trouble doing the laundry for two.
Ayako had basically skipped past the phase of sending laundry home to be washed and had gone straight to the steady girlfriend phase.
…
'S-Sniff'
"M-Mom!? W-What's wrong?" Ayako cried out in a panic when Chiaki started crying.
"N-Nothing, don't mind me." Chiaki hastily shook her head to Ayako's question. "Just… reflecting on life a bit, and how fast they grow up."
"They?"
"As I said, don't mind me." Chiaki repeated, leaving Ayako, Sakura, and Minori confused. Ryozo wasn't confused though, no, certainly not, he had misty eyes himself for much the same reason as Chiaki.
Their daughter had grown up so fast, and they had barely noticed.
"Riiiiight." Ayako mumbled, before pointedly looking away from her crazy parents and focusing on her little brother instead. "How have you been, Minori?"
"Well enough, I suppose." He replied, also looking away from their weird parents to focus on the girls instead, though mainly on Sakura. "Finished my exams, and I've been chilling since, hanging with the lads and all. You?"
"We have been well too." Sakura gave him an adorable thumbs up, while Ayako silently mouthed the words 'hanging with the lads' with a baffled look in her eyes. "We miss Senpai of course, but we manage to get by pretty well."
"Right, Emiya-teme is gone. T-That is, Emiya-kun." Minori began speaking with a frown, before hastily correcting himself when Ayako gave him a glare. "Ahahaha, a-any idea how long he'll stay away?"
"Until the end of the holiday." Sakura replied promptly, the corners of her mouth turning down as she spoke, until she was outright pouting. "For four more weeks."
"So long!?" Minori was genuinely surprised by the answer. "W-What's he doing then?"
"He's in London. He got a really good offer from a university there, for some kind of arrangement over the summer. He's following their classes now." Ayako replied, giving the standard excuse they'd prepared for people who were not in the know about the Moonlit World. "Really heavy stuff. He's been working day and night since he got there."
"That guy is way too hardcore!" Minori spluttered, feeling the gap between himself and his rival widening. "S-Studying over the summer? You'd have to be mad."
"It will provide great opportunities for later." Sakura protested, frowning when Minori called her Senpai 'mad'. "And it is normal to work in the summer when you have a job. Senpai is just preparing for that."
"That we won't have a summer holiday later in life is exactly why we have to enjoy the summer holiday while we still can." Minori bristled at the thought of already giving up his student-life. "And for the record, I think Emiya will do just fine in life even without 'great opportunities later'. There was no need for him to give up his holiday."
"Probably." Ayako agreed with a careless shrug. "But that's no reason not to aim higher."
"Senpai is amazing after all." Sakura nodded with a calm and loving smile.
"Ugh." Minori discretely pulled a face at Sakura's obvious admiration for his rival, but he refused to throw in the towel yet. He had several weeks now to try and woo his crush, several weeks before his fearsome rival returned, and he had to make the most of them. "S-Sakura-chan, i-if you feel lonely at any time, y-you can always call me, you know?"
"Oh, that's kind of you, Minori-kun, but there is no need." Sakura gently refused the offer. "I have Ayako and Fujimura-Sensei, and I also have Ne- Eh! I mean, Neko, so you can just spend your time with your friends. You don't have to worry about me."
Sakura had almost let it slip that Rin often came over as well, but she'd been able to swap her name for the nickname of the daughter of the owner of the Copenhagen at the last second.
No one outside of their little family knew that Rin was her elder sister, and it was probably best to keep it that way.
"NO! I-I mean, no, you don't have to worry! I'd be glad to spend time with you, the guys will understand." Minori rambled, seeing his chance to get ahead of Emiya slip through his fingers. "J-Just name your time!"
Sakura blinked twice, taken aback by his vehemence, while Ayako frowned at her little brother's suspicious behaviour.
"Oh, well, sure, I guess. I'll let you know." Sakura eventually replied, causing Minori to let out a whoop of joy.
"Will you really?" Ayako mumbled under her breath, to which Sakura gave a pained smile.
"But, now that we are here anyway," Ryozo suddenly spoke up again, as he and Chiaki had finally gotten over their sudden bout of depression. "Where has Shirou actually gone off to? I mean, London, that much I know, but what is he doing there exactly?"
"Studying and preparing for his future." Sakura replied, before giving the man a repeat of what they'd told Minori earlier, and Ryozo nodded with a very impressed expression on his face.
"That boy is going to go very far." He concluded, before reaching out and patting Minori on his back. "But don't you worry, son. I don't think any less of you because you don't have a university-arrangement in London. If you just finish school with good grades and get yourself a well-paying job, I'll be a happy father."
"That much I should be able to do." Minori huffed.
Chiaki beamed at the interaction between father and son, before she cast a glance at Ayako and Sakura.
"Say girls, do you have any plans for the future?" The brown-haired woman asked curiously. "I don't need a fully detailed schedule, but, have you put some thought in at least?"
"O-Oh, I think I'll go for stability." Sakura replied, rubbing the back of her head. "Nothing too difficult, just a steady job where I can earn money."
"Like working at the Copenhagen in a more professional capacity?"
"Sure, I guess. I-It isn't much of a plan, but-"
"Don't worry, Sakura, it's not like my plan for the future is any better. In fact, it's non-existent." Ayako laughed, leaning back into her sofa. "I suppose I'll have to finish school first, and then discover where my interests lie."
"Can you not become a stay-at-home wife?" Sakura asked, smiling impishly, to which the brunette gave a hearty laugh.
"No way! That's your thing. As a tomboy, I have to get a job to earn money for the household, while you can tend to the house and the children."
The remark seemed innocent enough, but for someone in the know, like Chiaki, it was almost a blatant admission of their relationship. Ryozo and Minori didn't even blink at Ayako's words though.
"There is nothing wrong with tending to the house and the children!" Minori was quick to say, smiling reassuringly at Sakura. "I-I think there are many men who would really like to marry a woman like that."
"I suppose. This is Japan after all." Sakura's smile gained a brittle edge, and Chiaki let out a sniff of derision as well.
It just so happened that Chiaki was a working woman herself, and that Ryozo had never made the slightest issue out of that, but that was by no means normal in Japan. Most of the time, women who had married were pressured out of their job, by their husbands or by society, and those who didn't leave employment were seen as greedy or uncaring about family.
All of Chiaki's old friends had lost their jobs once they got married. For most of them, it was voluntary, but some of them had confessed to her that they'd rather still have continued, and that it had been their husbands, or their fathers, or even their bosses who had forced them out.
In light of that, Minori's remark was rather insensitive, something the boy himself now also realised, as he winced in embarrassment and regret.
"Well, anyway." Ayako then said loudly, trying to drive out the uncomfortable atmosphere. "I was actually thinking of getting a job myself."
"At the Copenhagen?"
"Ah, no. Sorry, Sakura, but working in a café is not for me. I was actually thinking more about tutoring other students."
"Tutoring?" Chiaki was honestly surprised. Her tomboy-daughter wanted to teach other people?
"Well, my grades have massively improved over the last months, so yeah, why not?"
"I think Homurahara has a system in place through which failing students can find peers who are willing to tutor them." Chiaki mused, before holding up her hands. "Those are only rumours though, I haven't looked into that school quite enough yet."
"Oh, maybe we can ask Issei-kun?" Sakura suggested, bringing up the bespectacled boy who had been friends with Shirou for almost as long as she. "He wants to become the president of the school council. He'll probably have studied every single one of Homurahara's programs and systems quite extensively already."
"Oh, that's a good idea! Let's visit him as soon as we can!" Ayako was getting enthusiastic again, prompting smiles from everyone present.
From there on, the conversation continued, and the five of them covered a variety of subjects, ranging from extracurricular activities and teachers to the local news and the latest gossip in town.
It was a nice afternoon for all involved, and when the Mitsuzuri-family left again, now without the four suitcases in the trunk, Chiaki heaved a breath of relief.
The men still hadn't a clue about the 'unusual' relationship going on in that house.
At the same time, Ryozo clacked his tongue once, thinking deeply on his next course of action even as he kept an eye on the road.
He was of course satisfied that his daughter had found two people she was so deeply happy with, but he wasn't sure how to feel about the whole polyamorous relationship-thing they obviously had going on.
Oh, they thought they'd hidden it, and Chiaki thought she was the only one who knew, but Ryozo wasn't blind. He had seen through their front easily enough.
The question now was what he was going to do about it.
One thing was certain however. Once Shirou returned from London, Ryozo would have to put him through the trials that any father would put the boyfriend of their daughter through.
And in this case, the trials would have to be twice as difficult, symbolising the two girls he was in a relationship with.
He was finally here!
Finally, after years and years of preparation both with and without his father, after countless hours of almost biting off his own fingers in frustration, after a very long, very complicated road, Shirou was now looking straight at the Einzbern castle.
From a safe distance of course, he didn't feel like being caught now, at the last leg of his quest, by being careless.
He was floating in the air, several kilometres above the ground. The Einzbern castle was about a kilometre ahead of him, so he was sufficiently far away that even the sharpest eyes, even Mystic Eyes below the Jewel- or Rainbow rank, would not perceive him.
It was three in the afternoon, several hours after Shirou and the Enforcers had finished clearing out the nest, and about one hour since they had burned it to the ground.
It was safe to say that the mission had been a massive success.
The eventual haul from the nest in terms of captives, information, and freed prisoners had been amazing. There was no other way to express it. Even Lord El-Melloi had almost been beaming at the results.
Shirou himself was especially glad they'd been able to save more than thirty people from that place, all of whom had been delivered to the largest police precinct in Frankfurt. The German authorities would deal with it from there on. Those people were safe now.
The bodies of the deceased victims had been burned along with the rest of the base though. No one had felt particularly enthused about taking body parts and mangled corpses with them, and they wouldn't know where to bring them anyway.
Delivering living abduction-victims to the police was a good thing. Delivering body parts to the police was nothing but harassment and possibly even a dire threat.
They'd been able to capture most of the Magi alive and in relatively good condition. 'Relatively good condition' meaning in this case that they had no lethal wounds. Shirou gave no guarantees beyond that, as it was entirely possible that they had numerous broken bones, bruises, cuts, and lacerations. Naturally, he hadn't Healed them any more than was absolutely necessary to keep them alive.
The final tally stood at thirty-seven Magi captured, and around thirteen dead. That was a good score, especially since the head of the base was among those captured alive.
As for the information about the Meluastea they'd been ordered to obtain, well, they had the file. That was all that needed to be said.
With all that over with and with the nest having been thoroughly searched several times, they had set the place aflame. Shirou had considered offering his services again, as he was rather good at burning things, but it had turned out he wasn't needed.
Ruti had taken a step forward, raised her hands, and had cast a spell that had triggered a massive explosion that had not only burned everything in range but had also collapsed the very roof of the base, creating a sinkhole in the landscape.
It was an explosion that even Shirou would definitely be feeling the next day if he ever got hit with it.
After that, the rest of the group had returned to Frankfurt, while Shirou had gone off on his own.
Now he was here, only a few short kilometres away from the Einzbern-castle, taking his first proper look at it.
The first thing he noticed about it was that it was large, ridiculously so, larger than any other castle Shirou had ever seen before, in real life or in images. It was not a castle as much as it was a castle town, easily big enough to get lost in if you didn't know what you were doing.
It was almost like a mini-Clocktower, now that Shirou was taking a good look at it.
It was also beautiful.
As much as he hated giving the Einzbern any credit, and no matter how well he knew what foulness was present behind the exterior, he couldn't deny that the castle was extremely pretty.
Built out of high-quality stones, with grand arches, smooth corners, intimidating battlements, and large windows, the castle looked like a children's version of the home of a legendary princess.
Shirou almost wanted to take it for himself.
He could also see many people milling about in and around the castle. Most of them were Homunculi working on their respective tasks, yet there were also normal Magi present everywhere. There were too many of them to all be of the Einzbern-family, so there had to be a significant number of guests present as well.
The ones Shirou took the most notice of though were the guards standing around at strategic points throughout the castle. Guards he'd had to carefully avoid.
The Magical Defences made those guards seem insignificant however.
Ancient, extremely powerful Bounded Fields surrounded the castle on all sides. Multiple layers of Wards had been installed everywhere, and many nasty traps awaited any intruder who thought himself safely beyond the outer defences.
It would be quite the challenge to safely get past them all, yet Shirou would have to do it perfectly on his first try, for even just getting seen once would spell the end of the entire operation.
If the alarm was sounded before he could make it to Illya, the mission was a failure. The Einzbern would move to transport Illya somewhere safe, or, in the absolute worst-case scenario, would kill her to deny him his goal.
Fortunately, Shirou knew what to do. He had been a bit fearful earlier about the Bounded Fields surrounding the castle, but now that he had met Khamul, the veritable genius and Bounded Field-savant, and had learned his techniques, they could no longer stop him.
Shirou had already extensively studied the Einzbern's Bounded Fields, and he was confident he could disrupt them, at least enough for his entrance to go unnoticed.
Shirou had already planned where to make said entrance too. As he had said before, the castle was big. It was wide, it was long, and it was high. Yet, as if that height wasn't impressive enough yet, there were also several towers, jutting high above the rest. These towers had windows at the top, and it was through one of those windows that he would enter.
Shirou would create a distraction to the North, then he would disrupt the Bounded Fields, and he would fly straight for the window of the left tower.
If all went well, he would be inside with no one the wiser, and then all he had to do was avoid the inhabitants and find Illya.
Considering the size of the castle, it might take a while, but at least he had a good idea of what she looked like.
Kiritsugu had described her as a girl of about ten to twelve years old. She was precocious, curious, and passionate. She was also a Homunculus, and as such had the defining characteristics of one, red eyes, pale skin, and hair as white as Caren Ortensia's.
With all that, recognising her shouldn't be too difficult. She would be the only Homunculus-like person who looked like a child after all.
With his plan made, it was time to begin.
Shirou raised his hammer and pointed it to the North.
There, at a great distance from the Einzbern-castle, the Ozone-layer deformed at his command and scattered the light of the sun, resulting in an incredible spectacle of Arctic Light.
It was sufficiently far away from the castle that even the most paranoid Einzbern wouldn't see it as an attack, yet it was also attention-grabbing enough that just about everyone turned to look at it.
Then Shirou acted.
With three quick spells, the Bounded Fields were disrupted, and he swooped down like a hawk, reaching more than two-hundred kilometres an hour as he raced to the tower's window.
He passed the Bounded Fields without issue, and at the last possible second, slowed down enough to grab the head of the window and flip himself into the room behind it, before he landed in a crouch, having successfully entered the castle.
The cry of surprise from the person inside was expected. He had already accounted for the fact that there might be people in the room. He would just take them down quickly and continue the search. It was only one person after all.
He looked up, rising from his crouch and lifting his hand to deal a quick blow, before he froze.
At the same time, the person across from him, who'd been about to cast a spell, froze as well.
Shirou looked, and she looked back.
She was a Homunculus. White hair, pale skin, and red eyes. She looked like a child of perhaps ten to twelve years old. She wore purple clothing, and her hair had been treated well enough to make it look like silk. She had a typical Homunculus-face, but if one looked better, there were slight traces, in the eyebrows and along the jawline, of the man Shirou called his father.
Could it be…
"Illyasviel von Einzbern?" Shirou asked. "Daughter of Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel von Einzbern?"
"That's me." The girl nodded, curtsying lightly. "Emiya Shirou? Son of Emiya Kiritsugu?"
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Shirou bowed in greeting.
"Are you really here?"
"I am indeed."
"This is not a dream?"
"No, it is not."
There were a few seconds of silence.
Then Illya smiled.
She smiled so widely her face almost tore in two, and happy tears began leaking out of her eyes.
"I-I knew y-you'd come." She spoke through her tears, her voice so happy as to sound delirious. "I knew you'd come, big brother."
"…Of course." Shirou didn't waste any time on wondering what was going on, and instead took a step forward, gently placing his hand on Illya's- on his little sister's head. "There's no way I am going to leave my little sister stuck in here."
"Uwaaaa!" Illya now really burst into tears, and she flung herself at him, crying loudly in a mixture of relief and delight. "Uwaaaa!"
Shirou caught her as softly as he could, and he hugged her back as strongly as he dared, letting her cry into his chest to her heart's content.
He had no idea what was going on, nor why she behaved like that, but he didn't let that bother him. This was not about him. This was about Illya.
She cried and cried and cried, and then, when she'd calmed down a bit, enough to raise her head to look at him, Shirou smiled at her.
"Let's go home, Illya."
The small, doll-like body stilled, before she took a step back, looking at him with eyes wide as saucers.
Then she smiled again, and Shirou suddenly understood why the media always made such a big thing of the protective instincts of big brothers.
Those instincts were strong as hell!
"Y-Yes! P-Please, take me home!"