[Kariya Matou's pov]
I sat in the cold, ash-filled basement for nearly an hour, waiting patiently in the wooden chair with Berserker standing silently behind me. Finally, Byakuya groaned, his head lolling to the side as his eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked, groggily taking in the sight of me sitting directly across from him.
"K-Kariya...?" he rasped, struggling against his own sluggishness. "What are you—"
I didn't let him finish. I looked down at the piece of paper in my hand, keeping my expression as deadpan and imposing as the Doctor had instructed.
"I'm just a messenger, Byakuya," I read aloud, my voice echoing coldly in the dead workshop. I looked up, locking my good eye with his terrified gaze. "And the message is that I have to snap your neck."
Byakuya's eyes blew wide in sheer panic. "Wait, Kariya, please! We're blood—!"
I didn't even blink. I just raised two fingers and pointed at him. "Berserker."
Before Byakuya could even scream, the Sith Lord moved. She stepped forward, grabbed his head with both hands, and gave it a sharp, effortless twist. A loud, sickening crack echoed through the basement. Byakuya went completely limp, his eyes rolling back as he slumped lifelessly in his chair.
I sat there for a moment, waiting for the immense, overwhelming surge of magical energy the Doctor had promised would come from this bizarre ritual.
...Nothing happened.
I frowned, folding the paper and putting it back in my pocket. 'Perhaps the energy is subtle, and the Doctor will harvest it later,' I reasoned. I stood up, adjusting my coat.
A sudden thought crossed my mind. What was I going to do about Shinji? My nephew was still somewhere in the house, fast asleep. I considered it for a few seconds before shaking my head.
'It's no big deal,' I decided. Shinji didn't have magical circuits, and he wasn't a part of Zouken's twisted games yet. 'Just leave the kid alone. Without Zouken or Byakuya around to poison his mind, maybe he'll actually grow up to be a decent person.'
I turned my back on the basement, grabbed the stack of heavy Makiri grimoires I had collected from the study, and walked out of the estate with Berserker right behind me.
[Kenji Sato (MC) POV]
"So, what's your absolute favorite snack?" I asked, gently running a comb through Sakura's soft hair.
"Mmm..." Sakura hummed thoughtfully, leaning back happily against my chest. She was sitting comfortably on my lap, swinging her legs slightly. "I like pancakes! Oh, and... and strawberry crepes! With lots of syrup!"
"Strawberry crepes, huh?" I smiled, deftly weaving a section of her hair into a neat little braid. "That's a top-tier choice. I can definitely make those for you tomorrow morning."
"Really?!" She turned her head slightly, her purple eyes sparkling with an excitement that made my heart melt. She was so expressive and cheerful now, a complete 180 from the hollow, broken girl I had rescued earlier tonight.
"Absolutely," I promised, tying off the braid with a small hairband. "All done. How does it feel?"
Sakura reached up, feeling the braid with her small fingers, a massive, bright smile spreading across her face.
Just then, the front door clicked open. Kariya walked in, his arms loaded with several thick, ancient-looking books. He stopped in the entryway, taking in the sight of Sakura sitting happily on my lap with her newly braided hair. The hardened, cold look he had carried out the door vanished entirely, replaced by a soft, incredibly relieved smile.
He set the books down on the kitchen counter and walked over to the living room. "She looks like she's having a good time."
"She's a natural critic," I joked, gently patting Sakura's head. "We're already discussing breakfast menus."
Kariya chuckled softly, leaning against the back of the armchair. He looked at me for a moment, a sudden curiosity crossing his face. "You know, Doctor... considering everything you've done—the alchemy, the healing, your knowledge of the Holy Grail War—I realize I never actually asked. How old are you?"
I opened my mouth to give him my actual mental age, but the words caught in my throat.
Ahh, forgot this body was sixteen. "I'm sixteen years old," I answered truthfully.
Kariya completely froze. His jaw dropped slightly, his good eye going wide as he processed the fact that a sixteen-year-old kid had just dismantled the Matou patriarch, cured an incurable curse, and was casually ordering around a Servant.
"Sixteen..." Kariya muttered, running a hand down his face before letting out a defeated sigh. "You know what? Fine. I'm just going to go with it."
Before I could reply, a sudden, soft weight bumped into my shoulder.
Berserker had manifested right beside the couch. She stared down at me through her round glasses, completely ignoring Kariya and Sakura.
"Mission accomplished," MHXA announced lazily, pointing a finger at my chest. "The target's neck was snapped. Now, provide the candy."
I sighed, giving her a mild, exasperated look. "Berserker, you're going to have to wait. Can't you see I'm busy playing with Sakura right now?"
Sakura immediately nodded in agreement, looking up at the lethal Sith Lord with complete, innocent confidence to back me up.
"By the way, Doctor," Kariya spoke up, his voice regaining some strength as he looked toward the window. "On the way back, Berserker and I sensed a massive pulse of magical energy near the warehouse district.
It feels like an open challenge from a Servant. Someone wants a fight."
"I felt it," I nodded, settting the comb down. I looked at the space next to the couch.
"Okita."
Okita Soji materialized. She stood with her hand on the hilt of her katana, looking every bit the disciplined Shinsengumi captain, completely ignoring the fact that she'd been a needy, clingy mess under the sheets an hour ago.
"Saber, I want you to go with Kariya and Beserker. Scout the docks. If things get hairy, back them up."
"Master, I refuse!" Okita protested immediately, her eyes wide with genuine concern—and a healthy dose of lingering possessiveness. "Leaving you alone while two of the most dangerous masters are on the prowl? I am your vanguard! My place is—"
I cut her off by simply raising my hand. I caught her gaze and slowly made a very specific, deliberate sign with my fingers: 👉 👌.
Okita's protest died in her throat. Her face didn't just turn red; her entire aura shifted. The "loyal soldier" act evaporated, replaced by that dark, predatory look she'd had in the bedroom. She started "mogging" me right there in the living room—leaning forward, her eyes narrowing with a heavy, intense heat that promised she was going to hold me to that "promise" the second we were alone again. She gave me one last, lingering look of absolute dominance before she turned on her heel.
"Understood, Master," she said, her voice dropping into that dangerously sweet register. "I shall return for my... reward."
With that, she followed Kariya and a very hungry-looking MHXA out the door.
Once the room was quiet, I turned to Sakura. "Alright, kiddo. Ready for a real trip? We're going somewhere no one can find us."
I picked her up and walked over to the full-length mirror. Without a second thought, I stepped through the glass. The world rippled and inverted, the silence of the Mirror Realm swallowing us whole. Sakura gasped, her hands gripping my shirt as she stared at the reversed apartment.
I set her down and pulled out the dark green Advent Deck. I held it to the mirror, and the silver V-Buckle snapped onto my waist.
"Henshin."
I slid the deck home. Mechanical green and silver plating swirled around me, clicking into place until I stood there as Kamen Rider Zolda. I knelt down so my mechanical visor was level with Sakura's eyes. "So? Do I look like a hero?"
Sakura's eyes were like saucers. She nodded so hard I thought her head might pop off.
"Glad you like the suit," I chuckled. I reached into my inventory and pulled out a pulsing, dark purple orb—the Odin Materia. It hummed with the suffocating, god-like mana of Valisthea.
I opened the side chamber of my MagnaVisor. Instead of a card, I pressed the materia into the slot. The mechanical gun hissed as it forced a synchronization between the Rider technology and the Eikonic energy.
A cold, oppressive wind whipped through the reversed living room as a massive, six-legged horse—Sleipnir—emerged from the dark. Sitting atop the beast was Odin. Clad in jagged, obsidian armor and holding the legendary, curved blade Zantetsuken, the Eikon of Darkness loomed over us.
I picked Sakura back up, holding her securely against my armored chest. "Odin. To the docks. And don't be subtle about it."
The Eikon gave a silent nod. In a blur of dark speed, we were gone, galloping through the sky of the Mirror World toward the first major battle of the war.
Sakura sat on my lap, her small hands clutching the edge of my armored thigh plates. Her purple eyes were wide, fixed on the towering, obsidian-clad Eikon and the massive stallion carrying us through the monochrome sky.
"The horse is very pretty," Sakura whispered, her voice tiny against the unnatural silence of the Mirror Realm. "And the tall man is very strong."
Sleipnir let out a deep, resonant huff, his nostrils flaring as he shook his dark mane. He didn't seem to mind the praise; in fact, the beast seemed to lean into the compliment, his pace steadying just a fraction to make the ride smoother for the little guest on his back. Odin remained a silent, imposing sentinel behind us, his presence a heavy weight of dark mana that kept any Mirror Monsters from even thinking about approaching.
We reached the docks in seconds. I hopped down from the saddle, the heavy mechanical boots of the Zolda suit clanking against the mirrored concrete. Odin and Sleipnir stood as silent sentinels behind me, their shadows stretching long across the docks.
"Alright, Sakura. We're here," I said, my voice echoing slightly inside the helmet. I looked out toward the water. In the reflection of the harbor, I could see the shimmering distortions of the real world—the flashes of light and the tremors of mana. "I need you to stay here, okay? Nobody can reach you in this world. You're completely safe."
Sakura's expression crumbled. She reached out, grabbing the edge of my green gauntlet. "But... I don't want to be alone. What if the bad men find the glass?"
I looked at the fear in her eyes and realized that even with an Eikon guarding her, being alone in a reversed, silent world was a lot to ask of a kid who had just escaped a basement. I looked down at my belt.
Click.
The V-Buckle hissed as I pulled the Advent Deck out, the Zolda armor dissolving into green light until I stood there in my normal clothes. I knelt down and placed the heavy silver buckle and the dark green deck into Sakura's small, shaking hands.
"Listen to me, Sakura. Anyone can hold the Kamen Rider belt," I told her, my voice low and steady. "But only those with the courage to protect others can truly activate it. You hold onto this. If anyone—and I mean anyone—tries to get in here, you just remember that courage."
She hugged the belt to her chest, her small face hardening into a look of tiny, determined bravery. With a final nod to Odin to keep watch, I turned toward the harbor water. I stepped into the rippling surface of the reflection, phasing back into the physical world.
The smell of sea salt and ozone hit me instantly. I was standing on a shipping container, obscured by the shadows, looking down at the main staging area of the docks. The battlefield was already a mess of high-density mana, but it wasn't the fight I expected.
Instead of the blue-clad Artoria and the spearman Diarmuid, I was looking at Artoria Lancer. She stood tall, her radiant spear Rhongomyniad glowing with a terrifying, divine light that felt like the weight of the heavens. She was locked in a fierce one-on-one with Queen Medb, who was wielding a wicked, segmented whip-sword with predatory grace.
Medb laughed, her pink hair whipping around her as she lashed out, the blade of her whip snapping against the divine shaft of the lance. "Come on, King of Storms! Is that all the 'heaviness' you have?"
I scanned the area, desperately looking for the massive chariot of the King of Conquerors. I wanted the booming laugh, the red cape, and the ultimate bromance of the Fourth War. But there was nothing. No Iskandar. A single, lonely tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek as I realized the timeline had robbed me.
"My bromance... stolen," I whispered, mourning the missed opportunity to grab a drink with the King of Conquerors.
Then, I spotted a familiar shock of velvet-clad hair. Near a stack of crates, Waver Velvet was standing completely exposed, eyes wide with terror as the battle raged. Their Servant was nowhere to be seen, leaving the Master wide open.
In the distance, the glint of a sniper scope caught the moonlight from the top of a crane. Kiritsugu.
I didn't think. I kicked off the container, my body blurring with alchemical-enhanced speed. I materialized the Fusion Sword in mid-air, the heavy blade gleaming.
CLANG!
I landed directly behind Waver, the massive blade of the Fusion Sword swinging in a perfect arc to intercept the high-caliber bullet just inches from the back of the Master's head. Sparks flew as the projectile flattened against the cold steel.
"Tch," I clicked my teeth, my eyes scanning the cranes for the hidden Magus Killer. "That was close."
I reached out, grabbing Waver by the waist and pulling them flush against my chest to get us behind the cover of the crates. My intention was purely tactical—to provide a human shield—but as I pulled them close, I froze.
I felt something unmistakably soft and curved pressing firmly against my chest. My gaze dropped, taking in the delicate features, the slender neck, and the very obvious physical traits that the oversized velvet cloak had been hiding.
'Wait a second...' I thought, my brain completely stalling as the "Master of Rider" let out a tiny, feminine squeak of surprise.
'Waver is a girl?!'