At the edge of the storehouse, small snowmen and castles were gradually being built; Taiga's excited voice could be heard even from inside the house.
In the reopened kotatsu, Ritsuka put her legs in and sat by the edge wiping the Origin Bullets; every single bullet could cause massive damage to an existence known as a Magician.
This was also why Kiritsugu used to be called the 'Magus Killer'.
After wiping the bullets and the Mystic Code clean and storing them in the crystal dice, the crystal-clear gadget flew into her palm and vanished as a point of light.
Alcides' power couldn't be used for now because the synchronization rate was too low; at this stage, she seemed to have nothing to do.
She was suddenly idle.
Holding a steaming teacup, Ritsuka took a small sip of black tea, the warm sweetness circulating in her mouth.
Footsteps sounded, the door was pushed open, and Miyu walked in, shaking off the snowflakes on her body.
She saw Ritsuka sitting by the kotatsu and was slightly stunned, "Sister, aren't you going to come play?"
"No, I'm not very interested in snow; this stuff always gives me a bad feeling."
Ritsuka shook her head, an inexplicable doubt rising in her heart.
She couldn't say why, but this heavy snow made her heart feel heavy, as if something was weighing on her, like something bad was about to happen.
"Sister?"
Miyu sat down beside Ritsuka and reached out to grab her sleeve.
This action reminded Ritsuka of when they were younger; back then, Miyu, whose eyes and heart were completely hollow, would also follow her every day, holding onto her sleeve.
Reaching out to pat Miyu's small head, Ritsuka smiled slightly, "It's nothing, maybe I just haven't rested well lately, my brain is a bit fuzzy."
"As long as you're okay."
Miyu breathed a sigh of relief; Ritsuka's solemn expression had made her mood quite oppressed as well.
Stretching her legs out, Miyu, who also didn't want to continue playing in the snow, sat next to Ritsuka by the kotatsu, the warmth wrapping around her lower body.
"Mm—"
Letting out a comfortable hum, Miyu took out the book she had just bought and placed it on the table, continuing the study that Taiga had interrupted; for a time, the entire room fell silent.
Ritsuka silently took a sip of black tea.
"By the way, if you have time, Miyu, do you want to go out and play?"
"...Sister?"
Suddenly thinking of something, Ritsuka gently put the cup back and turned her head slightly.
Miyu stared with wide eyes, a hint of excitement and confusion rising in her heart; the routine of the Emiya family was usually just school and the Emiya Residence.
Because Miyu's identity was too special.
Unable to satisfy the needs of a normal child and having to work part-time to earn money, Ritsuka actually always felt apologetic toward Miyu.
But remembering the enemies who could even suppress Kiritsugu, she could never make up her mind; even though Miyu's power as a Divine Child had disappeared long ago, she didn't dare let Miyu stay outside for too long.
Seeing the fleeting excitement on Miyu's face, Ritsuka was speechless.
"I feel like it's very unfair to Miyu; children should be able to play freely."
"Sorry for saying this so suddenly, you must be troubled, since it's always just school or home..."
"I want to see the sea."
Ritsuka's voice came to an abrupt halt as the enthusiastic Miyu interrupted her.
The excitement on the little girl's face couldn't be suppressed at all, like a child who successfully asked for a gift after working hard to get good grades.
Surely, the wish to see the sea had been rooted in Miyu's heart for a long time... "Okay, then we'll go see the sea; it's not far from here anyway."
Getting up to go to the TV, Ritsuka took out a map of Fuyuki City and returned to the kotatsu.
Spreading it out on the table, the blue representing the sea captured Miyu's attention; Fuyuki City was coastal, and the ocean could be seen from both the docks and the harbor; Ritsuka and Kiritsugu had returned to Fuyuki City from the docks.
Crossing the Fuyuki Bridge, it was a distance that could truly be reached on foot.
"Let's make a promise."
Sitting opposite Miyu, Ritsuka held out her right hand, her pinky finger extended.
"When exams are over and vacation starts, let's go see the sea together, okay?"
Two pinky fingers hooked together; in the warmth of the kotatsu, Miyu's cheeks turned slightly red.
Her slender right hand rested on Miyu's hair as Ritsuka gently stroked it, then she took out a Pocky and handed it to Miyu... "Hey hey, are you guys going to come play? You should move more..."
Taiga burst into the room, jumping forward to make an entrance in a rather amusing way.
But in the next moment, a biscuit stick was flicked by Ritsuka and hit her hard on the forehead, and the energetic Tiger of Fuyuki fell to the floor on the spot.
Sakura followed closely behind, looking at the teary-eyed Taiga on the floor and then at Ritsuka, she couldn't help but smile bitterly—
"Taiga-sensei really is the same as always."
Because of Taiga's noisy entrance, the sleeping Miyu's eyebrows furrowed.
Ritsuka took another Pocky from the box and held it in her mouth, reaching out to gently stroke Miyu, who had fallen asleep on her lap.
Eyelashes trembling, Miyu, with her legs curled up in the kotatsu, rubbed her cheek against Ritsuka's soft thigh.
"Ritsuka..."
"Shh, Taiga, be quiet."
"Tch, sis-con."
Taiga curled her lip, the tear tracks on her face having already vanished; being hit by a mere Pocky couldn't possibly hurt.
Ritsuka wasn't the Demigod, after all.
One could only say Taiga loved to cause a ruckus, just like a Husky.
"By the way, Taiga, remember to wake Shinji up tomorrow morning, otherwise that guy will definitely be late."
———
———
"Mm... so sleepy, why hasn't he come yet?"
On a snowy night, Matou Shinji sat by the window and sighed, lamenting in the quiet room.
The girlfriend who had agreed to stay the night at the Matou Family residence hadn't shown up, standing him up directly. This made the wealthy and spoiled Shinji feel quite displeased.
While he was decent to his friends, he had no patience at all for this new girlfriend, with whom his relationship was purely physical and not emotional.
"Whatever, I'll just break up with her at school tomorrow."
He turned off the lights to sleep; it was only eight o'clock in the evening, but with nothing to do, he had no choice but to sleep.
An hour past the appointed time, there was no point in waiting any longer. He had definitely been stood up by a woman he had just met... Outside the Matou Residence, a gap was opened in the invisible magical barrier, and a man wearing the Honnoubara Academy uniform rubbed the dark circles under his eyes.
Behind him, a blonde girl with twin tails carried the person she had ambushed and knocked unconscious on her shoulder. They hadn't come here for indiscriminate slaughter; it was more reliable to just knock out a passerby like this and send them away.
"Beatrice, you take this woman back."
"Yes."
Receiving the order, the red-haired little loli took the unconscious girl and then turned to disappear into the snowy night.
The gloomy man's blue pupils suddenly changed as a crimson light shot out. He stepped forward, walking slowly toward the Matou Residence, with a black mist rolling in his hand.