Beta read by Shigiya, Paragon of Awesomeness and FabledLife
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-Sainan-
"He definitely is a unique case."
These were the first lines that crossed Nemesis' mind upon her first actual meeting with her estranged… 'brother'. A bio-engineered weapon that should have ended up just like her, living as a human of all things. But no, he was more than just that; the man ended up proving himself to be beyond what her initial expectations of him had been. The first time she arrived on Earth and first found the other members of the Yuuki family, including Rito and Mikan, she'd kind of expected him to be similar to the brown-haired boy.
The only difference she'd been able to discern had to do with their physical builds, but how wrong she turned out to be!
There was nothing similar about them, and he had an acute mastery over his ability already, showing no significant hesitation in using them.
He was everything she'd hoped for… if only he were willing to join her.
Nemesis did not know which project he was from specifically; at one point, Solgam had been working on hundreds of different entities at once, according to certain records she'd been able to dig up, Darkness and Mea being the few that succeeded, while it was initially also considered a failure. A success rate in the decimals, no wonder they were so desperate to find Lunatique and Mikado. Regardless, all other records had long since been reduced to ashes, and what little she could gather from the ruins did little to mention anything about another project where the entity could create dozens, if not hundreds, of swords using dark matter or another form of energy.
He did not seem to possess shapeshifting abilities, but she was not certain if it was only due to his not having explored his overall abilities or if he was a failure who miraculously survived.
Even though she could not find anything, the more the woman looked at him, the more certain she became that there was an extremely high likelihood that he was one of Solgam's creations. Such powers just could not be explained otherwise; his abilities were completely unique to him, rather than being a magic spell as he claimed to others. And she remained suspicious of the mastery he possessed over his powers despite never being put into an environment that necessitated reaching such a level… Just how she'd already mastered her own powers from the get-go.
'Those weapons are also not made of actual metal; they are all energy constructs like mine.'
The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that perhaps there was a fourth weapon, one many had missed. Perhaps the fourth had emerged from his tank as a baby rather than being grown to at least physical adolescence before being allowed to taste air for the first time.
As for the timing… that also remained an ambiguous matter she still remained uncertain about. Why abandon such a creation as a baby on this backwater planet? Was there another scientist like Tearju who took pity on the boy and fostered him away in secret?
"All in all, these are just mere speculations and guesswork," Nemesis said as her feet swung back and forth while she sat on top of a tree branch and sipped some juice, waiting for her redhead companion to give her the signal to bring her back. All of these speculations would eventually be put to rest after Mea got all the necessary information.
"I can create hypotheses all I want, but without concrete evidence to back them up, I can't treat them as anything more. Hopefully, Mea can get the answers I seek."
The young one had a unique ability, very useful when it came to gathering information. Rather than forcing it out of someone's mouth through several different kinds of torture and without even needing to guess if that person was telling the truth, Mea had an ability that could read people's minds and memories from just a mere touch of her hair. With it, she could go through years of memories in a mere second without the target even noticing, and if necessary, even manipulate their dreams.
Nemesis was not blind to the way Mea had been behaving when it came to Emiya; the girl was conflicted, confused, and just did not know how to behave when dealing with information that had to do with her only brother. Even more so upon finding out that Yuuki Emiya Shirou had been raised in a family, and that the man himself knew nothing about them. It would be wrong to say that she was angry. Rather, the closest emotion she could associate her behavior with would be jealousy.
Just looking at it from the side amused Nemesis, and she never saw fit to try and change that mindset. Mea was jealous of the humans whom her brother had called his siblings, who had received his trust and affection. To whom he had given kindness and love. A treatment that, in the redhead's mind, should have been hers to begin with, not some random human — all of this despite her having no notion what love even was.
Even so, to Mea's mind, it was akin to having a gift she had desired for her entire life stolen right when it was at her fingertips, and now here she was watching the thief enjoy what was rightfully hers.
As for Nemesis herself, she did not particularly care. In fact, all she was curious about was how his powers worked. Clearly, they followed a similar pattern to her own: energy manipulation of some sort, which created those bladed weapons.
"Is she not done yet?" she said aloud, realizing that quite some time had passed since Mea had been sent to his residence in order to peruse through his memories. She had sent her with a portal and expected an extraction request in about five minutes, but time continued to tick by, and not so much as a peep came. Soon enough, a full hour had elapsed, with dawn soon being on the horizon.
"She can't be messing around with his dreams, right?" The tanned dark-haired woman wouldn't put it past Mea to do something like that — to indulge in her mischievous side and have the boy dream of various things involving her. But the girl was also not someone who would ignore her orders and make her wait for so long.
Yet Nemesis only grew less confident in this as the time continued to tick by, and by now another ten minutes had passed. She began to grow seriously worried, and decided she could no longer sit by and do nothing, and would just check up on Mea herself.
As a black portal formed in front of her, she walked through it and stepped into a dark room belonging to none other than Emiya. Quite spartan to say the least, mostly empty with no decorations whatsoever aside from a bed, a desk, and a single lamp.
"Eh?"
But what she expected to find was completely out from what she actually met with. It was not the sight of Mea using her powers to mess with his mind by making him see various dreams, but instead the young girl was on the floor unconscious, while the man himself was sleeping soundly without a care in the world.
"What the hell happened here?"
The sudden shock of expectations meeting reality had been such a surprise that she wondered if this was a trap, that he had sensed her arrival and knocked the young one out. But with how he still kept sleeping and there being no signs of any physical bruises on the girl or any altercation, it became evident that that was very unlikely.
"Shit," she muttered under her breath, moving to grab Mea and teleport her somewhere safe where she could wake up and tell her what the hell happened. The redhead's body disappeared through the portal, after which Nemesis let out a mild hum of curiosity as she turned her attention to the boy. "What did she see in you?"
Yet just as she was about to go through the portal herself, a shadow at the corner of her vision moved quickly, and before she knew it, a hand had immediately latched onto her arm with great strength to the point she could not easily break free. Her head snapped to the side, only for yellow-golden eyes to stare back at golden-brown with a hint of silver.
Well, that certainly was a scary face he made. Even then, it was strangely cute — reminding her of Mea during her killing spree.
"Hello~ Did I wake you up from your pleasant dream?" she whispered quietly, a grin stretching on her face, having not expected to face the boy this early on after their first meeting, given it hadn't even been twenty-four hours. But oh well, things happen, and best to just adapt to the situation. "Sorry, I can't talk with you muc—!"
Her words came to an abrupt halt when a flash of silver streaked across her vision, the cold sensation of steel meeting her skin and forcing her instincts to take over entirely and render her body into pure dark matter. Nemesis watched in almost slow motion as the once sleeping Emiya now stood before her, holding a black blade that had already been swung halfway from her right shoulder to her waist.
'Fast, and directly aimed at disabling the main arm before slicing the heart.'
Rather than blood spewing into the air, dark smoke filled the gaps between her open flesh, which knit itself back together before his attack had even ended. Something her assailant noticed and continued by piercing a white blade right in the middle of her throat, but this attack was even less effective, as she'd already made herself intangible.
Her hair moved with blades forming at the end of them, slicing through the air. She aimed for his waist, which he swiftly blocked using the white sword. She knew he would, having seen his reaction speed before, but wounding him was not her goal.
Crash!
The windows of the room shattered as his body was sent flying outside. This created enough distance between them for her to attempt to teleport away before more guests were drawn in by the commotion. While she did not fear the Devilukean princesses, even the eldest, who was said to have inherited her father's strength… she did not want to get the attention of the figure standing behind them yet.
"Hm?"
Strange.
Her movements came to a halt, and only after glancing around did it come to her attention that several swords were piercing the ground around her, which for some reason had rendered her immobilized. 'Dark matter manipulation as well? No, that can't be. I would have known dark matter itself would have no effect on me, even if he possessed a similar power. First swords possess extreme cutting properties; these ones… restraints of some kind. How does that even work? They aren't even touching me…'
Her attention went back to Emiya, who had crashed through the wooden fence in the courtyard, though he'd already gotten back up and was rushing back to engage her again. Despite this little reconnaissance mission having gone completely awry, she couldn't help but smirk eagerly.
"Hehehe, playing around a bit wouldn't hurt!"
Dark matter propagated the area, filling the room entirely and the outside in an instant. This momentarily caused the redhead to pause in his tracks and raise his blades defensively.
"Cute."
With a single mental command, a giant slab of iron shaped like a sword took form from the matter around him, piercing straight towards his stomach.
"Hoh~?"
She watched with slight amazement as he used both swords as a shield, crisscrossing them to take in the brunt of the force, but this pushed him back to where he'd landed before. She sent several more attacks his way, this time with not just a single weapon forming but several, just like he did against her.
All the while, she observed each movement with a raised eyebrow.
'He is able to dodge and block all of them, interesting. Doesn't seem like it's just an enhanced perception of his surroundings; he is somehow capable of sensing when the next attack is about to form… A form of future sight? It could also be him just being highly sensitive to dark matter; he sensed me, but not Mea… ah, I am getting too excited. I want to fight him for real.'
Shaking her head, strands of black hair coalesced into several hands, picking up the blades around her and giving her back the freedom of movement. Looking at one of them closely, the girl just tilted her head in confusion. "It's not made of dark matter after all, huh… But it's not true steel either."
With some effort, one of the swords snapped and broke into shards. Each of the pieces soon turned into some kind of mote of blue light floating in the air in front of her eyes. Her fingers, coated in dark matter, were casually trying to grab some of it, and just like a snowflake, the light slowly died out as if dispersing back into the air around her.
'So it is some kind of energy after all, but not dark matter.'
Woosh!
This was just getting more and more interesting.
"Unfortunately, my dear brother, as much as I would like to continue to have this conversation, given this is our first time meeting face to face… I should be leaving to check up on Mea," she said, watching him being forced to dodge, black and even counter her by firing several swords of his own — all of which ended up getting caught by several small dark portals around her and reopened while aiming at him. However, that tactic also ended up failing as the weapons would just end up dispersing when not even halfway there.
'So he can also control his constructs through mental command. He also noticed my regeneration and fired those weapons to keep me in place rather than hurting me.' She wanted to keep some of them as a souvenir, but did not bother knowing he would just dismiss them. 'If I remember correctly, his constructs can also alter their shapes, the black and white ones have an attraction effect, and finally, another one has the restraining effect. He most definitely possesses other kinds of weapons since I haven't seen him use the arrow he used to destroy Lacospo. Is that his power? To create weapons with different effects? If that is the case, then no wonder Golden Darkness lost, he can create the perfect counter with enough time.'
Just like she was observing him and analysing his ability, the same was also happening on the other end; she knew that. Most likely trying to understand what the dark fog was, how to counter it, and render her greatest advantage useless.
Nemesis had to admit, she was curious to see what he would come up with to counter dark matter. But granting him the opportunity on a silver platter felt boring, not to mention this was not the ideal scenario she had in mind for their second meeting.
"Now, shoo." With a flick of her hand, a wall several times the thickness of a human formed in between them before being hurled straight toward the redhead. Even if his swords could cut her constructs, she did not care, for it served its purpose by buying her time and distracting the boy long enough for her to pass through the portal at last.
This once rather chaotic scenery had now changed to the rooftop of a hotel in the middle of Sainan, where the Yuuki household was several miles away to the east. A great distance away for anyone to be capable of even tracking her down… eh?
The sound of chains ringing reached her ears, and Nemesis looked down to find a spike attached to a long chain encircling her heel, and it had come from the other side of the portal that was just about to close.
Only for a strong force to pull on it, and nearly make her trip on the spot. From the portal, a bare foot flew out and kicked the girl right in the face. Emiya showed his face with the chain wrapped around his forearm and gave her a frustrated frown.
"Can you please stop calling yourself my sister?"
This attack actually made her fly against a wall with enough force to make cracks appear on the surface from the impact.
That… sucked. When was the last time she got attacked in such a way? Even Mea wore boots…
"Shame, I was about to say, how could you strike your big sister in such a shameful way?"
Landing on the rooftop and surveying his surroundings a bit, he looked back at her and had the audacity to scoff. "You can still say that without needing to act the sister part. Also, you're the one who came into my room in the middle of the night."
"I don't see how that even equated to me getting bisected on the spot like that. I could have died, you know?"
"Pretty sure you survived getting impaled by several swords just yesterday morning, that last attack wouldn't have been nearly as dangerous for you."
"I can still feel pain."
"Too bad you don't feel any sense of shame by just wearing a night gown and nothing else during a fight…"
"Hey, this is comfortable~!" she said while playfully lifting up the black fabric, briefly showcasing her nude body underneath with an ounce of embarrassment. How and why their rather intense confrontation ended up in this back-and-forth was anyone's guess. But it was in the middle of all that she remembered something rather important. "Hold on, did I ever introduce myself to you, or did Mea tell you about me? Never mind, I'll just say it myself, my name is Nemesis~!"
She expected some kind of dismissal on his end and then a series of boring questions. This was always the case with every other target where she and Mea had a small game going on between them, where they guessed each of their targets' speech.
She won every time, of course.
"Emiya Shirou or Yuuki Emiya Shirou. Pick your favourite." But surprisingly, he answered back calmly, neither shouting nor threatening her. She laughed at the outcome, finding herself finding the boy more and more adorable.
"Emi… I like the sound of that."
He crossed his arms, "Kind of weird to choose that as a nickname, makes it sound like a girl's name."
"Well, the princess and Yuuki Mikan call you Shirou, the nurse calls you Emiya, and another human with the sword calls you Yuuki Emiya Shirou. All of the interesting ones are already taken, so I might as well come up with something more… unique." Nemesis explained, the sound of the wind was more intense at such a height, along with the noise of cars honking down on the busy street. "Emi or Shirou. Depending on my mood, I'll call you one of those. You can call me Nee-chan, Onee-sama, Master, or Teacher."
He shook his head, "I'll stick with Nemesis, since, again, we are not related."
She shrugged, "Maybe not by blood, but we do have a lot in common. I doubt you will believe anything I will say, but you have to admit that there is at least something. The way you used your powers tonight certainly gave me a lot to think about."
"I feel like I said this several times before, but that is only my Magecraft. It's something I've been born… with… it since…" his voice trailed down after noticing the dry look she was giving him.
Smiling awkwardly, he coughed slightly, "Okay, maybe not the best way to explain it. Given that it does not help clarify the misunderstanding. But I am pretty sure I was not bio-engineered inside a lab, nor do I have hair or flesh that can transform into weapons. Not to mention how I am human physically." The irony over the last part about his flesh not transforming into weapons was not lost to Emiya, but he was rarely ever forced in a scenario where he needed to use that, and best not to give this person more ammunition.
"So you say, but so far, there has not been another human like you anywhere on this planet. Even the details of your birth are vague at best."
Scratching the back of his head, the redhead did not even bother to counter her words and instead went with something else entirely. "Who are you really? Another assassin like Yami sent here by another fiancée candidate? …No, your nature is similar to hers, but something tells me that is not the reason you are here."
The tanned girl found herself smiling even further as if the answer she carried had been waiting on her tongue from the very beginning. "You already know the answer to that. Why bother even asking the obvious, little brother?" She looked at him for a brief moment before breaking her gaze, though the unamused look he gave her made it clear he did not intend to accept anything vague. That simple expression placed her in a spot where she had to keep going, so she let her voice take on a mirthful tone that softened the tension between them.
"I just find it funny how you are trying to make Golden Darkness live out a boring, peaceful life."
"Is she not allowed? You are in no position to decide that for her."
How curious, never would have Nemesis so much as imagined someone else actually being protective of Golden Darkness of all people in such a way. But then again, for it to be this person in particular, maybe that actually made sense in a very particular way.
"That was not my point; I am merely stating that what you are seeking is impossible. Golden Darkness, by her very nature, cannot achieve a peaceful life; she was not made with that purpose in mind. She is a weapon. She knows her true nature better than anyone, yet here she is, trying to run away from a fate she knows cannot be changed. Sooner or later, her true purpose will resurface, and you will be powerless to do anything about it."
He did not provide her with an immediate answer, merely looking back with a peculiar expression she could not put into words. "…I'll take my chances."
"You are far too stubborn for your own good, Emi."
The grip on his weapon tightened. "If you've been observing me for as long as you implied, then you would already know that I made that aspect of myself very apparent a long time ago."
"Hmph, that you have." With a scoff similar to his earlier one, Nemesis practically saw the next movement that came in the form of him throwing his weapon at her. The black blade was spinning in the air, creating an arc heading straight for her head, which she did not even bother to dodge or evade, knowing its properties. She opened another of her portals that were intended to throw the weapon right back at him.
But at that moment, that weapon simply broke apart by itself and disappeared into shards of light. "Oh?" Rather than just go for the same tactic as earlier, his figure blurred for a short moment, with great speed closing the distance from them from a different angle. Dodging and jumping back to evade her own dark matter weapons, his movements were suddenly more fluid than before, and so was his prediction of her attacks.
'He already memorized my pattern, huh? That was quick.'
The distance between them was less than a handful of meters, and both stared at each other with one grinning while the other one remained focused. His raised left hand holding the white sword was coming slashing horizontally, a mistake since it would just pass through like before.
Yet that outcome never happened, for just like the other weapon, it vanished right as it was about to cut across her body.
'Huh?' Looking at his now empty hand that still remained closed from the place where the handle would have been, Nemesis grew confused about his tactics…
"Ah!?"
Only for the woman failing to spot his other hand quietly shining a faint light where a golden spear had appeared. Hidden by his form and only visible at the very last moment when she spotted a strange glint headed straight for her chest.
The moment the spear pierced her heart, something immediately felt wrong, and Nemesis acted swiftly, her appearance changing right before his eyes and taking a new shape with long brown hair, with much of it tied on top, making it look like a pineapple. Her skin changed to a lighter tone, her eye turning golden-brown — becoming a face that caused Emiya to freeze in place, growing pale with a moment of pure horror flashing across his face.
His irises, shrinking to a pinpoint. Trembling and unsteady.
The world felt like it had come to a complete standstill.
"—!"
And at that moment, that sensation of something going terribly awry grew tenfold for a split second in a way she could not make sense of; goosebumps spreading across Nemesis' skin.
'Not good, I went too far. Something's off.'
Trusting her instincts, she acted quickly, her body morphing again and taking the same form as her original self. But with a few key differences, specifically her black hair turning pure white, a hint of silver now present in those golden brown orbs, and her body matured into that of a woman in her early-twenties or late teens — just a little older than the man in front of her. Admittedly, with very toned muscles and some shapely hips and breasts.
Nemesis now looked exactly the same as he did during the incident involving the gender-changing ray gun, though a bit older.
"Just kidding~!" she said, feeling the strange dread from earlier disperse greatly, though not entirely. "Now I look more like a big sister, don't I? We'll talk more later, my dear little brother." Grabbing onto Emiya directly with a dark fog engulfing him and forcefully chucking the latter into the portal, leading him back to his house.
He did not even resist.
The second exchange had lasted merely seconds, yet turned out to be the most impactful one to date. She looked downwards and pulled the weapon out of her body. Just like before, no blood was present, yet her eyebrows furrowed when the gaping hole took longer to close than it should have. Persisting bit by bit, it stitched itself back up.
As much as she wanted to keep the conversation going, to draw more out of him and learn what kind of person was behind that stern expression, she had a more urgent priority. Mea's condition weighed far heavier than her curiosity ever could.
On the other side of another portal she opened a few seconds later, Nemesis arrived inside the luxurious room she had borrowed for the night. It had been chosen on a whim, simply because she felt like staying somewhere comfortable after a long day. The sight waiting for her was that of Mea still lying crumpled on the bed where she had been tossed earlier, still unconscious. Her skin had turned ghostly pale, and her hands shook in small but uncontrollable tremors, a type of reaction she had never shown before, even in the worst situations involving life and death missions.
"Strange."
Several minutes passed before Mea's eyes slowly opened. Her first response was not to speak, greet her, or even acknowledge the change in scenery. Instead, she rolled to the edge of the bed and vomited onto the soft carpet, which made Nemesis frown.
"I really like that carpet," she muttered while placing a lollipop between her lips, her eyes never leaving the redhead. Mea continued to retch, hyperventilate, and sway weakly back and forth, her mind still caught somewhere between shock and disorientation. She remained that way until several minutes passed and the chaos inside her settled enough for her to sit upright.
Her breathing stayed unsteady for a while, and all the while, Nemesis only waited, observing her with calm and sharp curiosity.
When she judged that the redhead was stable enough, she finally spoke.
"What did you see?" Her tone shifted from curious to strict. Not many things were capable of rattling someone like Mea. She had witnessed blood and violence across more worlds than most people could imagine, read the memories of tyrants, murderers, soldiers, and other people whose minds were darker than any nightmare. Nothing had ever made her react like this, which only deepened her curiosity.
"…S-Swords." That was all Mea said at first, the word leaving her mouth after several silent seconds. The answer surprised Nemesis, mostly because it did not match anything she had expected.
"Swords? Is that seriously all?"
"T-There was fire and… and… this little boy walking through some ruins. And… a-and then… then… too much…" Her words barely made sense except for the boy part.
"Too much?"
Mea nodded with a pained grimace, "Too much. My head felt like it was about to explode…"
The more the girl tried to describe whatever she had seen in their brother's mind, the more confused and uncertain Nemesis became.
'You really are a curious case, Emi.'
{Break}
(Next morning)
The sun rose not long after, and the usual routine began for the Yuuki siblings and the alien sisters. It would soon be time to depart for school, though Emiya did not want Mikan to go alone after everything that happened yesterday… having not been able to even close his eyes for a brief moment, where he genuinely felt a moment of pure dread. He even considered making her stay home for a day or two, just to make sure she remained safe.
Yet she refused his every suggestion. Mikan insisted that she would be better off surrounded by students her age rather than remaining stuck at home alone or inside Sainan High, and she stood firm on that point without wavering.
As for his confrontation against Nemesis, it turned out no one even heard the sound of the window shattering except for Celine, who actually tried to intervene during the fight when he was thrown outside. Thankfully, he managed to keep her from getting involved, with Nemesis not noticing the Plantas child.
"You can't seriously expect me to stay home forever or always have someone constantly monitoring me. I agree that what happened yesterday was unexpected, but I doubt it would occur again, so best you let this matter drop and go about your day as usual," his sister advised him that morning while he stood in the hallway trying to piece together what to do next.
Emiya could not understand why Nemesis's companion had gone after her if he and Yami were their goal. What did they hope to gain? Or were their actions driven by malice or something else entirely? Even without clear answers, he felt uneasy leaving things unresolved and believed it would be safer if Yami stayed close to her.
He opened his mouth to argue, but before he could get a word out, Mikan swung her bag over her shoulder and stepped past him. "Did you know she was actually looking forward to becoming a student like you and everyone else in this house? Fine, I'll accept having her accompany me on my walk to school, but that's all. You're the one who pushed her toward having a normal life instead of being an assassin. Don't tell me you're backing out now and trying to turn her job into a permanent bodyguard. That would be very contradictory of you. Right, Shirou?"
The front door clicked shut behind her. Emiya let out a slow breath, his expression tightening with guilt he could not quite hide.
"…Damn it.'
"She got you there," Rito commented casually, still chewing his breakfast as though nothing unusual had just occurred.
"What would you have done in my place then?" Emiya asked, genuinely wanting an answer. Rito paused, thought about it, then shrugged.
"Hm? Me? Uh… I would have given her every option and let her pick. Besides, she kind of had a point. If whoever showed up yesterday really had hostile intentions, they would have acted already. They could have grabbed her or attacked the moment she was alone, but they didn't. And now that same girl suddenly appeared in your room and fainted for no reason? Something about all this is off."
As much as he wanted to deny that, he could not; the boy had a point.
"You don't have to tell me. Everything about this situation is messy." The more he thought about their last conversation, the more it seemed like she had only been taunting him through Mikan. Neither of them had shown a genuine desire to harm anyone.
Aside from the prince, Nemesis killed, of course.
'Why bother to even approach my family if their target is Yami? But if that was the case, the timing made no sense. She left too many questions and not one solid clue.'
"I already gave Zastin her description. He promised he would contact you as soon as they find even a trace of her," Momo said from the far end of the table, watching him with a worried expression. "Are you sure you don't want to go to Ryouko for a check-up? They could have done something to you without you noticing."
"Doesn't seem like it. I already examined myself and found nothing strange. She just fainted." He rubbed the side of his head, replaying the event again before the brief confrontation. He remembered drifting into a dream that felt like pieces of his past quietly resurfacing the way they often did. Then the dream dissolved when a faint, unfamiliar sound reached his ears. When he opened his eyes, Nemesis had already been there.
"Don't worry, Shirou. Tonight I'll install all kinds of security gadgets in your room! From now on, I'll sleep with you every night so nothing gets to you again!" Lala declared with bright enthusiasm. She had been at the top of the list of people shocked by the unexpected intrusion and immediately began designing new methods to strengthen the house's protection. "Maybe I should leave Peke with you…"
"W-What are you saying, Lala-sama!? I can't protect this person! I'm the one who will need to be saved from danger!"
"It's alright, you'll just be like those emergency secret gadgets from those detective movies, where, upon activation, you send me an alert signal! It'll be cool!"
"Lala-sama…"
"It would be best for Peke to remain with you, Lala," he replied, pitying the robot and also not wanting to hear it ramble all night long. "Regardless, I doubt this was the last we'll see of them. Still, you should all stay cautious. There is no telling when something else will happen."
Breakfast wrapped up soon after, and everyone began gathering their things to leave for school. He moved more slowly than the rest, his thoughts caught between questions that refused to settle.
Despite everything he had seen over the conclusion of yesterday's events, he could not fully predict how the students would behave after what they learned about Lala's identity. He expected panic or even fear. He'd be surprised if at least a few students didn't want to keep their distance.
Yet… when he'd returned to the school yesterday to check on Rito after confirming Mikan's condition, he'd found an entirely different reaction. Most of the students had brushed off the entire incident. Their attention had gone straight to making outrageous bets about who would win in a competition between Saki and Lala in a beauty contest, as though potential danger mattered far less than their everyday teenage chaos.
If today played out the same way, then maybe he had less to worry about than he thought. Maybe this strange, unpredictable mindset people had in this world worked in his favor. It was bizarre to be sure, but perhaps it was one of the few advantages he could rely on for now.
He adjusted his bag, stepped out of the doorway, and followed the others down the path in silence.
"Speaking of which, Mom sent a message early this morning. She said she'll be a bit late making it home for Christmas," Rito said on their way to school, his words earning a long and tired sigh from the redhead walking beside him with some strands turning white.
Oh, right, those two… he completely forgot about that. "Hah, I even made sure to inform her several weeks in advance, and she still does this."
Rito panicked and quickly waved his hand while stuttering. "I-It's alright! She mentioned that one of the biggest models in the world recently accepted a job offer from her, and it was not an opportunity she could ignore!"
"I guess she is looking forward to that more than spending time with her children," he said in a dry tone. The offhand thought he had earlier about dragging both parents here himself unexpectedly felt more reasonable with every step they took. Especially with Lala by his side, asking for a teleportation device could actually come in handy, provided it did not malfunction, of course.
"She did not say she was going to be late for certain. She only said it was a possibility. Who knows, she might arrive in time after all," Rito continued.
"At least you are optimistic. I will do my best to be the same, so long as she doesn't disappoint," Emiya replied without much conviction. "At least Saibai will certainly be present. He already finished everything before his deadline for once. Though I notice he's still living at the studio."
"Yeah, Dad's decided to take advantage of the extra time and is getting started on the next volume ahead of schedule."
"…"
Whether Christmas would be celebrated with or without both Yuuki family parents, he had no intention of changing anything about their holiday preparation. He had never put much faith in either of them showing up for any events in the first place, so nothing had truly shifted in his plans. The only real difference this year was the number of additional people who would be present, which made the entire situation much livelier than usual. In a quiet way, that was enough to count as a victory.
The group eventually reached the school grounds as more students gathered in the courtyard. Emiya noticed how nearly every curious eye drifted toward Lala and her sisters. He did not fault anyone for staring, since the trio stood out naturally with their unusual hair colors and bright expressions, and now, with their identity as alien royalty exposed, it just made it worse.
Virtually no attention was paid to him, which made sense from a distance. When someone was standing next to three beautiful alien princesses, he would never be the one to stand out.
"Lala! Momo! Nana!" The cheerful shout came from none other than Risa, the brunette waving both arms as she jogged toward them, her steps light and energetic.
"Risa! How's it going!" Lala returned the greeting with the same cheerful exuberance, her voice carrying across the courtyard. The twins followed with their own greetings, quieter but still warm enough to match the energy.
"Hey, hey, did you know that after the renovation, Saki made the school pool way bigger and added a proper diving board! The gates are open, and a bunch of students are trying it out before the teachers notice!"
"Really!? I want to try that!"
"Then come on! What are you waiting for? We still have almost a full hour left before class starts!" Risa grabbed all three of them without hesitation, pulling Lala and the twins with the same bold confidence she always carried. Before she fully disappeared from sight with the trio, she glanced back over her shoulder. Her eyes met his, and she gave him a quick wink.
"…"
He blinked, caught off guard by the silent gesture, but a small smile found its way onto his face. He knew exactly what she intended. By pulling the alien sisters into something fun and casual, she removed any chance of a tense atmosphere spreading among the other students. If the core friend group acted normally, the rest of the school might just follow their lead. Already, many of the earlier stares had faded. The courtyard felt like it had returned to its usual atmosphere.
Unfortunately for him, this return to normal only lasted a few steps before someone else moved directly into his path and blocked his way.
Looking down, he greeted the interloper.
"Rin."
"Yuuki Emiya Shirou."
He rolled his eyes, having given up any hope of her addressing him like a normal person. "Now, what do I owe this pleasant meeting for? The start of classes may be some time off, but I do have things to do and ways in which I'd like to spend my time."
"Saki-sama wants to speak to you."
Of course she did…
"Not exactly the best time right now." He tried to walk past, only to have his path blocked by the girl who raised her hand in a halting gesture while holding her sword.
"You conveniently forgot to mention matters concerning your… engagement with Lala."
What a scary smile. Rin was not one to smile so widely, almost making her look like she wanted to murder him — which, judging from the killing intent, might well be the case.
"Did I not? Pretty sure I did."
"You told me of your magic," she corrected almost immediately, without missing a beat with the driest tone imaginable. "But not your engagement. Were you hiding it from me?"
"Pretty sure I was more preoccupied with the thought of keeping you safe from Gid at the time rather than wanting to go into detail about this fiancé candidate business. Which, might I add, in my defence, was mostly to keep Lala and the planet safe and to avoid more aliens like the one from yesterday from swarming Earth," he explained quickly, not sure why he even needed to feel guilty about this in the first place. "Her father has made it abundantly clear that if I fail to maintain my status as Lala's fiancé, he'll blow up Earth."
"…So you did not ask Lala's hand in marriage because you love her, but because you were unjustly forced into this affair by a tyrannical emperor without even taking your thoughts and feelings into consideration. Purposefully pushing you into a life of danger where you need to constantly protect yourself, Lala, and your very world from external alien threats while also keeping your powers a secret from the general public because you fear having such knowledge bring more misfortune upon everyone in Sainan and further ruin the peaceful life you sought to create? All in all this means you are tied to Lala but only on paper, that you do not love her and if you were to find someone you do love and wish to be with for the rest of your life, you will be more than willing to part ways with her and start a romantic life together with a minimum of three children, preferably far more. This, on top of taking on the responsibility of managing a large fortune and estate spanning across the entire world, and also taking control of a business empire without running it to the ground, while also staying completely loyal to your wife until death do you part, assuming the technology to achieve immortality has… Next card, please. —not been created yet, but may be possible if aliens have such a thing?"
"…"
He barely caught half of what she said at a rapid tone without any change in her emotions. He'd decided to tune her out mid-speech and just stood there awkwardly, waiting for her to finish. Not missing the fact that her eyes were moving in a way that clearly indicated that she was, in fact, reading from a prompt card, most likely held by a certain bespectacled girl hiding behind him, with a blonde heiress also fidgeting nervously in place.
Saying yes or no, neither felt like a safe answer. Also, he was pretty sure she mentioned something about inheriting some fortune and something about immorality. Whatever it was, best to just smile and take several slow steps away from the swordswoman.
"Walking away?" she said, turning on her phone and showing him a particular image of a woman whose appearance greatly resembled his. One that had been taken while that person was distracted, talking to Ryouko… it was his picture. "I might not delete this if you insist on fleeing."
"Are you blackmailing me?"
"No, I won't share it. It's my secret to keep," she answered with pride, of all things. "But knowing you, having this deleted even if it were to remain private would mean a great deal."
"It doesn't, I can just walk away."
She narrowed her eyes in a challenge. "Then do it."
"…"
He couldn't. All evidence of that cursed period of his life needed to be burned, leaving no trace behind.
"Alright, yes, I am Lala's fiancé, mostly to keep her and by extension the very planet safe, as I said earlier. I did not propose to Lala out of love; in fact, I never intended to propose in the first place. And if in the future I do end up finding someone that I like romantically that is not Lala, then yes, I would prefer to go with whoever that person may be." He said it loud enough for the two people behind him to hear.
And as he hoped, someone finally came out of the foliage.
"Ha! I knew it! That idiot hussy was lying to me!" Saki shouted, her hair covered in leaves, while she screamed confidently. "Hohohoho! Rejoice, dearest Emiya, I have heard your plea and have taken upon myself to save you from this predicament and finally repay this years-long debt of mine towards you!"
"I wasn't exactly pleading but… yeah, sure, go for it." Best to just go along with the conversation. Knowing Saki, she would be far too stubborn to even register his words if he gave a negative response. Or she might try another, more extreme tactic that would land her in trouble.
"Then that settles it. Emiya, I have the perfect solution for your predicament!" Saki declared boldly, making him smirk slightly in amusement, curious to know just what this girl had come up with that he hadn't. And he immediately got an idea upon seeing how red her face started to become with Aya starting to encourage her again and again. Massaging her shoulders as if she was stepping into a boxing ring to take on the world champion, even pumping her up like some hype woman.
All the while, he crossed his arms and waited patiently next to Rin, who watched on with eyes that conveyed her support to the young heiress.
"I take it you're the one who suggested this idea to her, right?"
Rin flinched and swiftly looked away, "I-I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Hm, you really are a bad liar," he said before approaching Saki while she was holding onto a letter with a heart sticker on it. Saki didn't notice, as she was busy arguing with Aya about whether this was the right moment or not, so stressed that the letter was getting crumpled.
Upon seeing him walking toward her, she froze, especially when he stepped right into her personal space. His thumb and forefinger gently grabbed onto her chin and lifted her face up just enough for their eyes to meet, while her face looked like it wanted to cry and scream, and cheer all at once.
"Easy now, Saki… if you're going to hand me a confession letter, at least look me in the eyes while you do it." His thumb brushed her lower lip lightly, his voice dropping just enough to make her breathing hitch. "After all, it'd be a shame if I accepted such a thing without seeing the face of the lovely young lady who's been thinking about me this much." He leaned in, close enough that she could feel his warmth. "Though… if you get any redder, I just might mistake it for a very ripe apple, and want a taste."
"…"
A low thud sounded near the entrance of the school.
Huh, it worked.
"Saki-sama!"
The proud Tenjoin heiress' heartbeat had ascended to a level it had never before, with so much blood rushing to her face that eventually her body could not take it anymore, and she fainted. Fortunately, she was smoothly caught by Aya while Emiya, with the letter in hand, turned to look at Rin staring back at him with her jaw hanging open.
"W-what the hell was that?" she asked while her hands shook so hard she couldn't even grab her sword.
"Oh, just something I figured would work on her after watching some of Nana's favourite romance movies. You wouldn't believe how cheesy some of those lines are. I swear, whoever wrote those scripts has never been on a date with someone who was interested in anything besides his bank account, and she was willing to put up with whatever spewed from his mouth to get it. As for a relationship, tell her when she wakes that I'm grateful for her help, but don't need it right now. I've got this handled," he said while walking past Rin, tapping the letter on her head lightly. "It's best she does not get too involved, for her own safety. I can't protect everyone. So I'm leaving her protection to you as usual; the last thing you'd want is for her to get involved with aliens. Trust me when I say they are willing to kill to get what they want, or they might even want her as a prize."
With that matter dealt with and there still being some time left until class started, Emiya decided to go somewhere quiet.
.
.
.
(A few minutes later)
"Yes, please rest assured, we have gotten the details from Momo and have taken it upon ourselves to scour the entirety of the globe to find these people! You can count on us, Emiya-sama!"
While walking up the stairs, Zastin's voice echoed loudly from the other end of the phone call he was on, as the clumsy bodyguard had been given the task of finding both Nemesis and Mea.
"Just inform me the moment you find them. Don't try to do anything funny like engaging them in combat. I trust your combat skills, but they are not easy opponents in their own right," he warned while pushing open the door leading to the rooftop.
The first thing that came to his attention was another student who was there before him. But more than that was her long red hair stretching all the way from her head to the floor, tied up in a braid. His expression froze while Zastin continued to speak rather loudly over the phone.
"You do not need to worry about anything! We made sure to investigate every single patch of soil at the school and the neighbourhood in general, and found not a trace of the enemy. They must have gotten scared and retreated back to their base, somewhere outside of town, most definitely! My instincts have never failed me! You can trust me!" He said, but Emiya was no longer paying any attention, closing his phone and the door behind him.
Both parties stood there quietly. Time continued to pass by, and seconds turned into minutes, yet the person in front of him did not move or say a thing, but instead continued to stare blankly ahead. He was starting to question if she even realised he was there, and decided to take the risk and walk over.
"Quite bold of you to come to this place, knowing that I would find you after pulling that stunt last night. Anything to say for yourself? Especially as to why you decided to approach my little sister?" he asked calmly, not wanting this to end up in another battle if possible. But once more, he got no answer whatsoever from the girl who just kept staring ahead with a blank expression. This went on for long enough that he was actually starting to wonder if there was something wrong with her.
"Hey, you ok?" he asked while waving his hand in front of her face.
"Ah!"
Thankfully, that finally got a reaction out of her, one that surprised her so much that she actually lost her balance and fell back onto her butt. Her eyes refocused on the here and now, and she stared up at him as she raised her finger and pointed at him.
"E-Emiya…? Counter… Counter? What? Um… Shirou… t-that… There was this grail… uh? Then this sword… Sakura? Eh? Who's Sakura?" She started mumbling without making any sense, saying words and names that only he would have any context for, while also looking like she herself did not know what they meant or who they referred to.
This went on for quite a while, long enough that his previous caution and slight hostility ended up fizzling away and were now replaced with genuine concern. He recalled meeting this girl somewhere else before, back when he didn't know who she truly was, and he figured it would be best to get her mind off of whatever she was thinking about. So with a can of cold sweet tea purchased from the nearest vending machine, he brought it close to her face and gently tapped her forehead with it.
"Ah!"
The cold sensation of the metal against her skin ended up being a shock big enough to bring the girl back to the real world, and for clarity to find me return to her eyes. Looking back at him as he held out the beverage towards her with a visibly confused and concerned expression on his face.
"Hope my guess is wrong, but you appear to have learned about things that you shouldn't have, somehow. Now that's a mess."
{Break}
-Sainan High Infirmary-
Standing in the middle of the infirmary, Yami stood with a steady posture and gave a quiet nod at Mikado Ryouko's question after dropping Mikan off. She had made a brief stop to check on Celine before making her way here, wanting to be certain she was arriving in time for her first day at school. The nurse already understood Yami's intentions without any need for explanation and welcomed her with a calm, professional smile that softened the atmosphere of the room.
"I think that is a good step forward. It would have gotten boring if you spent the whole day wandering the city while everyone else stayed on school grounds. Plus, it gives you a chance to make more friends and to get used to your life on Earth."
"It is fine. I did not choose to be here just to make friends."
"Well, even if you say that, I would still recommend you try and socialize more with some of the students. Sure, they may be quite an eccentric bunch, but overall, they are good people. Both Lala and her sisters have already made plenty of connections, and not a day goes by that I do not see all the girls Emiya is close to talking quite amicably with others."
"I'm not like them." She said it without hesitation. The princesses and these humans were individuals who stood on the opposite end of her world. They had never spent a single day the way she had lived, and their experiences all moved in a completely different direction. Expecting herself to match their ease and warmth after everything she endured felt impossible. Their paths were too different, their upbringing too distant for her to mimic their effortless way of interacting with others.
"Doctor, about Tearju…" Even without finishing the sentence, the brunette already knew where her thoughts were heading and offered a small, gentle smile.
"Were you looking to meet her?"
"I don't know. I was just curious."
"Well, I can tell you that she has been looking forward to seeing you ever since she arrived. But you know how she can be. That woman is awkward at the best of times and tends to overthink every detail. Even after her last conversation with Emiya, she is still hesitating to show her face around you. If she continues to be stubborn, then I will drag her here myself. Not to mention that the woman has been lounging around my place all day without doing any kind of work. Before she turns into a complete slob, I would rather give her a job here. You might get more chances to see her then."
"Understood." She did not have a strong opinion on the matter. While a part of her felt a faint pull toward meeting someone from her past whom she had once believed to be dead, the feeling was muted. There was no burning desire or heavy emotion pushing her toward that meeting. She was content with things as they were and did not intend to force a change through any outside circumstance.
"Alright, before you go and get changed into a uniform and get introduced to your class, I just need you to fill out these forms and choose what name you want to go with. Do not worry about the formalities. Knowing the principal, I only need to flash him a smile, and he will accept having you join the school in a matter of seconds, if that. So we might as well get started." She pushed the form gently across the desk toward the blonde former assassin, who nodded and began filling in the blank spaces with careful strokes.
She hesitated for a moment before writing her details. The room fell into a quiet rhythm of a pen scratching paper, periodically broken by papers rustling lightly and the faint hum of the ventilation filled the space. A few minutes passed in silence until Yami's hand stopped upon reaching the section that asked whether she had any siblings. A wave of uncertainty wrapped around her as she stared at the empty space.
In the past, she would have simply left it blank or crossed it out without giving it a second thought. But now, two faces drifted into her mind, both appearing with a clarity she could not dismiss. One was the familiar redhead who had grown close to her, and the other was… him.
There was no real proof connecting her to him. They did not share any physical resemblance, and nothing about their backgrounds matched. Someone could stare hard enough and claim their abilities were vaguely similar, but even that comparison felt paper-thin. Yet the events of the last few days had planted something in her mind that she could not bring herself to dismiss. After confronting Mea and facing the truth she had run from, the seeds of doubt had taken root deep within her thoughts. Those doubts had only grown stronger, lingering no matter how she tried to brush them aside.
She eventually finished the form and handed it back to Ryouko. The brunette scanned the paper, but then her eyes widened with an immediate flash of surprise before lifting her gaze to the girl seated in front of her.
"Are you sure this is what you want to go with?"
"I asked him this morning. He told me he did not see any issues with it and that it would be easier to fill out the official forms and get me registered. Also, I thought about it too; the name Golden Darkness is bound to attract trouble if I'm not careful. I'm already dealing with one of them lately. I don't want more of them to appear."
The woman started massaging her temples. "Hah, that boy… he is overthinking things again for no reason. Or maybe he is doing it intentionally? It is always hard to figure out what goes on in that head of his. In any case, sure, we will go with this. If this is what you want."
Ryouko set the papers aside with a small nod, while Yami remained still, her expression composed.
"Alright, that should be all. You can go to class and just tell the teacher that you were assigned there as a new student. It should be class 1-B. You may see some familiar faces there, and the teacher is pretty nice."
"Okay." Wasting no time, Yami got up from the chair and walked outside the infirmary, only to find an enormous group of students leaving the room right next door. All of them, weirdly enough, were wearing shirts that were not the standard uniform, holding banners that all had the same drawings that depicted Emiya, but with a large cross over his face, and wearing headbands with the kanji for 'brothers in arms' stitched onto them.
"Alright then, don't forget that the next meeting is in four days. Be sure that you all bring enough money for the club room renovation as well!" The last one to leave the room also happened to be the only girl amongst the group of boys. She had dark hair styled into twintails and wore a pair of glasses.
"Oh? A newcomer?" the girl asked upon noticing Yami, immediately grabbing the armband that had 'leader' written on it before tossing it into the room and shutting the door.
"I'm looking for class 1-B."
Not interested in whatever was going on with this group, Yami just ignored whatever they were up to and asked for directions, which the young girl happily gave. But for some reason, on their way there, she kept trying to get behind her, and Yami would get a bad feeling before changing her pace or trying to stand right beside the strange woman.
Arriving in class, she definitely saw some familiar faces, namely one of the twin alien princesses, being called for attendance. She grabbed a chalk before the teacher even asked her about her name. Scribbling on the whiteboard so that everyone could see it.
She heard some gasps, but ignored them.
Finally, after she had finished writing across the whole whiteboard, she turned around and introduced herself for all in the classroom to hear.
"Hello, my name is Yuuki Emi-... Yuuki Eve… but you can just call me Yami. I will be attending this class from now on. Please take care of me."
------------
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Hound having 3 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.