Since Okita and Nobu had already kicked the door open, Jaden and Akasha figured there was no point in knocking anymore and simply walked right in.
Unlike the luxurious and flashy exterior, the inside of the villa was surprisingly modest… well, calling it modest might not be quite right — its interior décor still far surpassed that of most homes. But compared to the ornate exterior built during its construction, Hoshino had clearly prioritized comfort over extravagance.
Jaden stopped in his tracks, looking lost. "Uh… is this a maze or something? There are so many rooms! How are we supposed to find Sensei like this?"
Akasha, however, didn't seem worried. Even before entering, she had already heard plenty of familiar, noisy voices from inside — confirming her guess. Hoshino probably wasn't living here alone; several Heroic Spirits must have been staying here too.
"What's the problem? We can just ask one of Hoshino-nee's Spirits where she is~"
The doors were surprisingly soundproof, but Akasha easily found one with clear noise coming from inside — definitely occupied.
Nero: "Then let's settle this, Red Lancer! The curtains rise on our fateful concert! Witness the fruits of my tireless vocal training!"
Elizabeth: "Fufufu, just what I was hoping for, Saber! Let's use this new karaoke machine to judge our performance! It even has a feature to upload recordings online afterward!"
Nero: "Oho~ That's wonderful! Very well — let this be my debut challenge against the new generation of online idols!"
SLAM!
Akasha shut the door in an instant, clutching her chest and breathing heavily from the shock.
Seeing her pale face, Jaden tilted his head. "What did you see, Akasha? You look like you just witnessed the end of the world."
"It's not what I saw… it's what I foresee. The tragic future awaiting innocent internet users…"
That day, humanity remembered — the fear of being dominated by the Bloody Witch during the KC Grand Prix.
"Looks like we can't just walk into random rooms," Jaden sighed. "These Spirits really do have… unique personalities."
Learning from her mistake, Akasha scanned the nearby doors until she spotted one decorated with a chubby sticker of Musashi's smiling face.
"Miss Musashi's gentle and cheerful — this one should be safe."
With that hopeful thought, she carefully opened the door. The next instant, a sharp gust of sword wind sliced through the air — a few strands of her golden hair drifted down, neatly cut. Akasha froze, staring blankly into the room with lifeless eyes.
Musashi: "This is the essence of Niten Ichi-ryu! Please, Yagyū-dono — allow me to demonstrate!"
Yagyū: "Not bad at all, Musashi-dono. A good sparring match before dinner is always refreshing!"
The two exchanged dazzling sword strikes, their blades clashing in bursts of blinding sparks. Despite the room's normal-looking door, the inside resembled a full dojo.
Jaden leaned close to the dazed Akasha and muttered, "Yikes… yeah, that's way too dangerous. Best to stay back."
"I can tell that, thank you!" Akasha puffed her cheeks in irritation, shutting the door a little harder than necessary.
"It's totally unfair! I'm always the one checking every room. I'm a girl, y'know — you could at least pretend to be a gentleman!"
Scratching his head with an awkward grin, Jaden replied, "Hey, you're the one who keeps charging ahead before I can stop you! But fine, fine… I'll do the next one."
He glanced at the room next to Musashi's, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.
Osakabehime: "Hold on, Princess, you can do this! Just hang in there! Tonight's the final deadline — if we miss it, we'll fall into the same update hell!"
Sitting at her drawing tablet, Osakabehime's eyes were ringed with dark circles, her face pale and hollow. It was painfully clear she hadn't slept in days.
"Uh, excuse me—"
"Wait, wait, Jaden! You can feel the mood in there, right? That's definitely not the kind of place you interrupt!"
Akasha quickly covered his mouth, dragged him out of the room, and closed the door as quietly as possible.
"Mmph—what was that for, Akasha? You were the one who said to ask someone!"
"Jaden… you're still too young," Akasha sighed, hands on her hips.
Who would've thought finding a single Servant to talk to would be this difficult?
Just as the two were stuck wondering what to do next, a familiar figure appeared in front of them — wearing a pink frilly apron and carrying a tray.
"Ah, Jaden, Akasha — what brings you two here? Looking for Master?" said Emiya with his usual calm smile.
"Emiya, thank goodness!" Akasha exclaimed in relief, as if she'd just found a savior.
Seriously, she'd only come here to hang out — how had she already burned through so much energy before even seeing Hoshino-nee?
Noticing their plight, Emiya chuckled. "Master should be upstairs in the main bedroom on the third floor. Oh, and… I'd avoid opening any more doors on the first floor. Most of the people staying here are… eccentric, to say the least."
"Yeah… we kind of learned that the hard way," Akasha admitted sheepishly.
Unlike the first and second floors, which were designed like apartment suites, the entire third floor belonged solely to Hoshino. Her master bedroom alone took up nearly half the floor.
"Hoshino-Nee (or, uh, Sensei), we came to visit~!"
Sitting cross-legged in a chair, a Pocky stick between her lips and a game controller in hand, Hoshino had just finished slaying Nergigante in Monster Hunter. She removed her oversized headset and turned around with a puzzled look at the two exhausted kids.
"Why do you both look so worn out? Don't tell me Academy classes are already that tough?"
"No, not at all," Akasha replied. "Today's lesson was just about Duel basics — super easy."
As a fairly diligent student, she could at least focus through material she already knew.
Jaden, on the other hand, had spent the latter half of class napping beside Minazuki, so he couldn't quite meet Hoshino's eyes.
"Hehe~ if anything, Sensei, you're the one working hard — having to deal with so many Spirits with… unique personalities every day."
"'Deal with'?" Hoshino tilted her head, chewing on her Pocky thoughtfully. "I wouldn't call it dealing with… more like I've gotten used to it. Life's pretty relaxed once you do."
"Yeah, that's easy to see," Akasha said, stretching as she sat on the edge of Hoshino's big bed. She took a deep breath and smiled. "As expected of Hoshino-nee's room — it smells so nice~ I wanna move in here too!"
"…Huh?"
Right after she said that, Akasha felt something — a faint vibration beneath the mattress. Just for an instant… and then it was gone.
"(・_・?) Uh… was that my imagination?"