The air felt as if it had frozen solid.
No—more precisely, Sion's surging emotions had caused the density of ether around her to undergo an actual, physical change.
Her body temperature rose. Her heart pounded like a drum. All thought processes in her brain came to a halt, and only a single idea occupied her entire memory—
He came even closer.
Steve's forehead touched her own. In his deep eyes, Sion saw her own frightened face reflected back.
His large hand twined around her fingers, at once reassuring and yet carrying a strangely chilling warmth.
His breath was so close, carrying a faint, refreshing scent—like stardust scattered across the universe.
His words were like some high-grade magical incantation, instantly piercing through the rational defenses that the alchemists of the Atlas Academy prided themselves on.
The scene from last night's dream resurfaced in her mind.
In that parallel world, Steve had also drawn near her like this, had gazed at her with the same, deep affection, and then…
"…Hmm…"
A tiny whimper—like that of a small animal—escaped from Sion's throat.
Her trembling gradually ceased and her body stiffened, but that stiffness carried with it a strange, expectant softness.
Her eyelashes fluttered several times like a butterfly's wings, and then…
She slowly, instinctively, closed her eyes.
She waited.
Waited for that time-defying kiss that had already come to pass in the world of dreams, but had not yet been fulfilled in reality.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
The gentle brush of lips she was waiting for never came.
Instead, the warmth at her forehead vanished, and the arms that had been holding her so firmly relaxed their grip.
"…?"
Sion opened her eyes in a daze.
Steve had already stepped back, returning to his usual composed, elegant posture.
Looking down at the still-stunned Sion, he wore a faintly apologetic expression and a slightly offhand smile. Seeing that smile, Sion wanted nothing more than to sink into a crack in the floor.
"…Sorry, Sion."
His voice was as gentle as ever, but that suffocating, ambiguous pressure from before had almost completely faded. "I was a bit out of line just now. It's just… once I realized how much you care about Illya, I… couldn't resist teasing you a little."
"Because, you know—jealous Masters are just too adorable."
"T-Teasing…?"
Sion's mind went blank. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.
Could it be… that everything that had just happened was all one of his teasing?
And I… really closed my eyes and waited for him?!
Humiliation.
From the soles of her feet to the top of her head, an overwhelming wave of shame surged up, strong enough to burn a person to cinders.
Sion felt like her face was so hot she could probably fry an egg on it.
"As for what happened last night…"
Steve seemed completely unaware of Sion's frantic internal monologue. He simply stroked his chin, speaking in a slightly more serious tone. "It seems the contractual bond between us is far stronger than I initially assumed."
"Memories flowing across parallel worlds like this is proof of how deep that bond runs. But if it occurs too frequently, it will certainly interfere with your normal rest and work."
He paused briefly, then began to speak in the careful tone of a technician discussing a system fault.
"If you find this troublesome, I can also adjust the contract spell."
"On my Saint Graph side, I can construct a memory firewall to prevent what you might call personal memories relating to other worlds from leaking out."
"That way, you'll never have to see those embarrassing images again."
"So? Do you want me to block them?"
"Block… them?"
Those two words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the blazing fires of shame in Sion's heart, leaving behind only a strange panic and emptiness.
Block them?
Cut off that connection?
From then on… would she never see him again in that other world? Never again feel that soul-shaking emotion?
And yet… those images were undeniably embarrassing. Every time she woke up her heart would hammer in her chest, and she knew it wasn't something that was truly happening in this world…
But that was the only proof.
Proof that they weren't just an ordinary Master and Servant. Proof that, across countless possible worlds, they had once been intimately close companions.
If she refused this… did that mean she was actively rejecting this special possibility?
"N-No… I don't want that!"
Her body reacted before her brain could. Sion suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Steve's sleeve, and spoke in a sharp, urgent voice.
"Why not?"
Steve raised his eyebrows slightly, looking genuinely surprised.
"There's no need to block it! Absolutely no need!"
Sion gripped his sleeve so tightly that her knuckles went a little white.
She lifted her face. In her violet eyes burned a stubbornness and tenacity she herself was barely aware of.
"I… I don't hate it."
The instant the words left her mouth, she realized just how dangerously she'd phrased that.
"Uh—that is…"
Her face flushed red again. Her gaze darted everywhere as she frantically tried to patch the gaping hole in that statement using Atlas Academy logic. "I mean… this memory-reversal phenomenon is… extremely valuable… um… research material! Yes, research material!"
"By observing causal laws in parallel worlds, I can… further refine the Trismegistus II calculation model! And… it's also a crucial way of understanding a Servant's past!"
"As a Master, it's my duty to have full information about my Servant!"
"Y-Yes… that's right…"
Her voice grew smaller and smaller, until it was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz. "So… let's just leave it as it is."
"There's no need… to go out of our way to block it…"
Steve quietly watched her.
He watched this girl who was so embarrassed she seemed ready to faint, yet was still clinging firmly to him.
The smile in his eyes deepened, turning into a tranquil, fathomless pool.
"Mm."
He didn't call out her flimsy excuse, nor did he mention the near-kiss from moments ago.
He simply took Sion's hand back into his, holding it gently.
"If that's what my Master wants, then I'll obey."
"However… if, next time, you end up seeing something even more extreme, don't blame me for not warning you."
"Ugh…!"
Sion bit her lip and turned her face away. "I'll… I'll handle that sort of thing… rationally!"
The atmosphere between them heated up again. Pink bubbles seemed to fill the air as if they were just about to step into the classic climax of a shoujo manga—
Pi, Pi, Pi.
A shrill, utterly unromantic buzzer went off from the communicator on Steve's wrist.
"Ah, Da Vinci Lily."
Steve only glanced at the comm interface once, and his flirty aura disappeared in an instant, replaced by the reliable air of a supreme commander.
He answered the call. "Hello, this is Steve."
["Steve! We've got a serious problem!"]
On the other end, Da Vinci's anxious voice came through, mixed with the noisy clamor of machinery in the background. "The Shadow Border's Imaginary Submarine Stabilizer is experiencing a repulsive reaction! The energy-conversion valve you designed based on space dust seems to be resonating with the magical wavelengths of Imaginary Space!"
"If we don't adjust it immediately, you can forget about launch. It might even explode!"
"Resonance? Impossible. I ran triple redundant calculations…"
Steve's brows furrowed slightly, his eyes turning razor-sharp in an instant.
Letting go of Sion's hand, he scanned the data stream on the communicator and issued rapid-fire instructions. "Lower the ether compression ratio to fifteen percent. Cut the third auxiliary circuit… I'm coming right over."
"Got it! I'll be waiting!"
The line went dead.
"Sorry, Sion."
Steve turned back and looked at her, offering an apologetic smile.
This time, however, that smile was unambiguously that of a comrade. "There's a technical issue with the Shadow Border, so I have to go deal with it. After all, it's the key to sending Ritsuka and the others off to fight in the lands of the Norse."
"Ah… y-yes, I know."
Sion nodded vaguely, feeling the warmth lingering in her palm fade rapidly.
"Work… really is very important. Go ahead."
"Right. And don't overwork yourself either. Don't forget to rest."
Like a colleague, Steve gave her shoulder a friendly pat. Then he turned, striding away in large, confident steps.
He walked with his back straight, full of confidence; the hem of his black coat swayed with each stride.
He walked into the light, never once looking back, heading toward his own battlefield—his workplace.
Only Sion remained in the corridor.
Silence once more blanketed everything like death, with only the occasional distant murmur of machinery breaking the stillness.
Sion stood there for a long time, completely motionless.
For a very long time.
At last, she slowly raised a hand and gently touched her lips with her fingertips.
Nothing had happened there.
And yet, some illusory, indelible sensation seemed to linger.
"…Just what was I expecting?"
She let out a self-deprecating laugh and leaned weakly against the cold wall.
"I know he's a Heroic Spirit, and I'm only human. I know he came here to save humanity…"
"I know very well that the Sion from that world… is not who I am now."
"But…"
She lowered her head and looked at her own palm.
Just now, when she heard him say he wanted to erase those memories, the terror that gripped her heart had been so real—as if some invisible hand had seized it in a crushing grasp.
It felt so real that she had cast aside even the rationality the Atlas Academy was so proud of, clinging instead to the straw named bonds like a drowning person.
As long as she didn't block him… she could still watch him.
She could watch the past she had never been part of. Watch the him who had once loved her so deeply.
And what did that make her?
A voyeur? Or a pitiful creature basking in a false happiness?
[The emotion module… cannot be detached.]
Sion closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
A faint stardust scent seemed to linger in the air.
…Admit it, Sion Eltnam Sokaris.
She whispered in her heart. The voice was so small that only she could hear it.
You're jealous. Jealous of that other you who exists in a parallel world.
You envy that she can monopolize all of his affection. You envy the way he looks at her with such deep tenderness.
And… you don't want to let go.
Even if it's only a lingering echo of memory. Even if it's nothing more than a side effect of the Master–Servant contract.
"As long as this connection continues… I still have a chance."
Sion's eyes flew open.
The panic and embarrassment that had clouded her violet gaze vanished, replaced by the resolute light of an alchemist who had locked onto a target.
That's right… If the me in that world could do it, then there's no reason this world's me can't.
I'm a genius from the Atlas Academy.
Predicting the future, evading destruction, seizing the one and only chance at victory… that's my specialty.
She straightened her back, tidied her rumpled collar, lightly slapped her flushed cheeks, and forced herself to resume the role of New Chaldea's cool-headed, capable technical advisor.
"Watch closely, Steve."
She looked toward the end of the corridor where he had disappeared, a smile playing at her lips—a smile that mingled pride with determination.
"Since you chose this me to be your Master in this world… don't think you can just run away so easily."
"Whether you call it human order restoration… or something else entirely…"
"I'll calculate the most perfect ending—for you to witness with your own eyes!"
With that, she took a deep breath and started toward the control room.
Her heart was still racing, and her cheeks still burned, but her steps no longer faltered.
Because she knew that beyond that door, on the battlefield of the future—he would be waiting for her.
…
…
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