A long moment passed.
Shirou lowered his face, expression now composed, though he leaned forward, eyes landing on my face. "By the way Kamukura-san, what is your relation with the old man? And why is my si—sister with you?"
He glanced sideways at Illyasviel, then held up the folder still in his grip. "This document says that she grew up in an aristocratic family overseas."
"There is no relation between Kiritsugu Emiya and me, just consider it a light connection because I have something of his." I tilted my head slightly, that motion revealing the ouroboros magic crest on my nape beneath the collar.
"So, you like owe the old man for something? Taiga-nee did say that quite a bunch of people owed him favours, though she didn't exactly specify whom." Rubbing the back of his neck, Shirou's face broke into a sheepish smile.
"But senpai, we should go and check their authenticity officially just to be sure." Sakura warned with narrowed eyes, her voice firm. "After all, suddenly having a new sister would affect our lives quite heavily."
He shook his head at her words and replied gently. "There is no need for that, Kamukura-san and I are well past acquaintances, and I trust him. Besides, I can identify that it is my old man in those pictures with a single glance."
Lips dropping down, Sakura gave him a flat stare. "Even that one picture in the Bahamas where he's surrounded by ten different women on a beach?"
Shirou's smile cramped, the fingers scratching his neck freezing. "Ahahaha... He was quite famous in his younger days from how it looks."
I shifted my gaze toward Medea, asking through our connection. Did you edit those documents on your own? There should be no pictures of a beach anywhere.
She turned from her banter toward me, and then winked, flashing her tongue my way. Your original backstory was too bland, Master, and certainly unsuitable for someone as famous as Kiritsugu.
So... you turned him from a magus-killer into a lady-killer. I replied in an even tone, eyes still fixed on her.
Tehee~
Medea resumed her verbal sparring after that, putting her focus back into taking jabs at Artoria.
Meanwhile, Sakura had risen from her seated position and walked over to Medusa's curled form, stopping right before her. "Rider-san... I want to talk to you alone, would that be possible?"
Face lifting from her knees, Medusa looked at Sakura, then glanced left and right before bringing a finger up to point at herself. "... Me?"
"Yes." Nodding at her, Sakura gestured toward the sliding glass doors leading out into the garden. "Come on, please."
Holding her gaze a moment longer, Sakura's brows drew together, silently willing her to come. Then she turned and slid one of the glass doors open, moonlight spilling inside to color the wood beneath her feet in a dark shade, and she stepped through without looking back.
After remaining seated for three more seconds, Medusa unfolded to her full height and shuffled from her chair to the open glass door, passing through into the night.
I watched her go and turned to Shirou, who was facing me after observing their exchange, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "Do they know each other, Kamukura-san?"
"They're familiar with each other, Sakura has known Rider even before I did." I said, reclining against the wall, closing my eyes.
"I see, that explains it..." Dropping his hand down, he trailed off, our conversation concluding from there.
My eyes remained closed, while his darted to Illyasviel and then to the quarreling duo of Medea and Artoria.
"They seem to like one another quite a lot." He commented while tapping a finger to his cheek, mouth twisting like he didn't quite believe his own words.
"Absolutely not, I will never like a shameless and venomous witch."
"Don't lump me with a knight who irons her face every morning."
Shirou flinched like he'd been caught in crossfire, scrambling on his knees to duck behind me, using my body as a human shield from their glares. "Kamukura-san, the women around you, they're terrifying!"
"Hmph." Two snorts followed before Artoria and Medea went back to their usual.
I gazed at him, sighed, and rose to my feet, walking over to Illyasviel and bending down to lift her into a carry. "Show me the way to a room, let's get her to lie in a comfortable bed."
Perking up like someone had just shown him a way out, Shirou stumbled forward, rushing out of the room, hand pointed toward the stairs leading to the first floor. "This way, Kamukura-san."
I strode out of the room and in the direction he pointed.
...
Sakura stopped some distance away in the garden, arms clasped behind her back, neck craned up, moonlight illuminating the contours of her face.
Coming to stand behind her, Medusa waited with a held breath, resting there in a shadow cast by the house beside them.
Five seconds of quiet passed.
Then Sakura turned and closed in on Medusa, her palms extending to clutch Medusa's hands in hers. "Rider-san, I—I—"
Medusa didn't reply, her shoulders rigid, body locked in place, blinking at their joined hands.
Her chin sinking down, Sakura continued. "I know it was you, who got me out of the Matou house..."
One sharp inhale.
"This peace and happiness I have now, it's because of you, no one else would have even tried to help."
A sob slipped from her throat as she brought Medusa's hands up, looking at her with a bright smile as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
"So... Thank you. Rider-san."
Medusa's jaw fell open, and she closed it, opened it, closed it again, yet no word came out. She couldn't even react as Sakura's arms wrapped around her, tight.
"Thank you. Really."
...
Putting Illyasviel down on a bed on the first floor, I withdrew my arms from beneath her knees, and straightened.
Shirou hovered by the doorway, murmuring to himself about fetching water, then left.
I turned to go as well, footsteps already carrying me outside, when a small tremor caught my eye, Illyasviel's shoulders were shivering faintly in the room's cold, her fingers curling on the bed-sheet.
A pause.
Backtracking to the bed, I picked up a folded blanket resting there and laid it over her, tucking its edges in around her shoulders with one hand.
Her shivering eased within seconds, breathing settling back into its earlier rhythm, small huffs of air stirring the strands of hair against her cheek.
Unruffled, I turned again and made my way to the door, hand already twisting its handle.
"...Who are you?"
That voice arrived slurred, heavy with deep sleep, but I didn't look back.
Illyasviel's eyes were barely open, lashes still heavy, gaze unfocused as it drifted above my shoulder.
I answered after stepping out, the door behind me closing shut with a click.
"... Ultimate Hope."
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[15 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Author's Thoughts]
Did Illya actually hear him? No idea. Genuinely don't know. That's the bit, and I'm keeping it that way.
Every dramatic slow-mo goodbye starts blurring together after a while, you know the template, wind picking up right on cue, a single tear, hero walks off into the sunset like the credits are about to roll. Wanted to try the opposite this time: quiet, a little unresolved, maybe she remembers him, maybe she wakes up tomorrow and it's already gone. Honestly? More fun not knowing.
Also, this is it, second last chapter in this world. Next stop: Grand Order. And I'm not gonna oversell it, I'm just gonna say this straight up: our entrance into that world is going to be one of a kind. Nobody's done it like this before. Screenshot this, hold me to it.