I gazed into her eyes. She gazed back, the tremor in her lower lip slowly stilling as silence stretched between us.
Our eyes locked for exactly two seconds. After that, I looked away, returning my gaze to the sky. Artoria continued to stare at me, her focus shifting from my eyes to my face.
Silence settled between us, heavy with our separate thoughts.
A moment later, I glanced to my other side.
"What about you? What would you wish for from the Grail?"
Blue particles coalesced beside me, materializing into a new figure—long purple hair, a blindfold over her eyes. Medusa.
She appeared with her back against the wall, mirroring my posture, her blindfold turned toward me.
Artoria reacted by hastily putting distance between us, the flush fading from her cheeks. She had been so absorbed in our earlier conversation that she hadn't noticed Medusa's approach.
"...A wish?" Medusa murmured. Her fingers curled inward, an instinctive motion born from wielding her stake-chains.
Artoria and I remained silent, giving her the space to process my question. Her reaction made it evident she had never given the concept of a wish serious consideration.
A breeze swept through our backyard, ruffling my hair.
Looking down at her hands, Medusa unclenched them, only to squeeze them back into tight fists.
"I..." She slowly lifted her gaze to meet ours.
"Want to look after... Sakura."
Her subconscious reactions, alongside her words, revealed more about her psyche than she herself could.
Sakura had been twisted into a monster by Zouken Matou—a parallel to the myth of Medusa, whether she was cursed by Athena or transformed to protect her sisters. Medusa saw her own reflection in the girl. That was why she wanted to save her; because no one had been there to save Medusa herself.
"And... I will keep my... promise." Medusa snapped her head toward me, her voice firm.
Artoria gave a solemn nod, holding deep respect for those who honored their word, monster or not.
"I see."
That was all I said.
The silence returned, heavier than before.
Artoria lowered her gaze to her lap, still digesting my earlier words, desperately searching for a flaw in my logic or a justification to prove me wrong. Medusa, meanwhile, said nothing, idly trailing her fingers through the grass beneath us.
"What about you?" I asked, staring straight ahead into the empty air.
Particles of light drifted in reverse, coalescing into a slowly materializing figure. She knelt directly in front of me, hugging her knees, her blue eyes locked onto mine.
Medea.
Artoria didn't flinch this time, having already sensed the other magical signature lingering nearby.
"Master... I have finished the runic circle you asked me to engrave. It is ready for your use." Medea reported, shifting her posture to press herself face-first into the grass.
"What would you wish for, Medea?" I ignored her report entirely.
A hint of curiosity surfaced on Artoria's face as she glanced toward Medea. Beside me, the hand trailing through the grass paused—then resumed its silent path.
After a moment of rubbing her cheek against the soft grass, Medea lifted her head, her blue eyes locking onto me.
Only me.
"I want to stay with you, Master. Even after the Grail War ends. I want to talk with you, walk wherever you walk, eat whatever you eat, fight whoever you fight—and move forward with you, hand in hand."
Her words made both Artoria and Medusa freeze.
Artoria's nails dug into her palms, a sudden, stifling tightness gripping her chest.
Medusa's expression remained flat. She brought her closed hand up and opened it, a tuft of torn grass resting in her palm. She tilted her head at it.
"...Hand in hand."
I repeated those words, eyes blank. A breath escaped me, and words left my mouth on their own.
"You speak as if it's simple. As if walking beside me is something worth wanting."
Three gazes snapped toward me simultaneously.
"I cannot offer you stimulation. I cannot promise you that my presence will bring you anything resembling joy. Everything I am is artificial. Everything I feel is apathy."
I paused. My palm opened on its own. Slightly. Imperceptibly.
Medea's eyes widened to their limits, her jaw falling open.
Artoria took a sharp breath, her nails digging further into her skin.
Medusa shifted closer on her own.
"But you already know that, and yet you still speak as if none of it matters."
My expression shifted. Not a smile. I never smiled.
"...I do not understand you. That alone is... not uninteresting."
I watched as Medea's lips curled upward, her smile growing wider and wider.
"Stay, then. I will not stop you. I will not stop any of you."
A strong wind blew, ruffling our hair. My black strands flew in all directions, tangling with Medusa's purple and Artoria's gold as Medea's hood fell back, her own purple-blue hair soon joining the tangle.
Then a girl's voice resounded in my ears.
"It doesn't make a difference whether you have talent or not."
My heartbeat climbed.
The sound was not coming from my surroundings.
"I mean, that isn't the end goal."
It was coming from within.
"You don't have any talent, yet you have greater freedom than others."
My vision blurred for a fraction of a second. The precise, absolute control I held over my own body wavered like a candle in wind.
"As the Ultimate Gamer, all I have are games."
I reached for my Ultimate talents—my safety net—and found nothing. It was as if they had been sealed behind a door inside my mind.
"But you can go anywhere and become anything."
What is... this?
"Master! Your eye!" Medea exclaimed, bringing her hand to her mouth.
"It's... It's..." Artoria stuttered.
Medusa shifted her body.
"Hm?" I snapped out of it, control returning in full force.
"Green!" Both Artoria and Medea spoke at the same time.
A magic circle flashed, and a mirror appeared in Medea's grip. She passed it to me in one fluid motion.
I brought the mirror parallel to my face.
Crimson.
Two blank, crimson eyes stared back at me. Mine. As they always had been.
"Master... your eye had truly turned green. It reverted just a moment before you looked into the mirror." Medea clarified, her voice hushed.
"Yes, Master. It was undoubtedly green." Artoria nodded, her expression unsettled.
I stared back into the mirror.
Crimson. Unchanging.
... Artificial.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
For our friends who haven't watched Danganronpa, The voice is basically Hajime's best friend. The [Ultimate Gamer], Chiaki Nanami.
Soon, this volume will come to an end after the last fight, and with it, our boy Izuru will change too.
For anyone wondering... why did Hajime go through a surgery to gain talents in the first place? It was because he was talentless, basically having no talents of his own. No Ultimates.
So... Izuru Kamukura is what Hajime Hinata become after the surgery. He got every talent in existence, but lost his humanity in return.