Tohsaka Aoi didn't press Rin for details. Her gaze shifted instead to the others—only for her breath to catch the moment she noticed the girl in Izumi's arms.
Her eyes widened.
Then, with a trembling spark of joy:
"Sakura? Sakura—! That's Sakura, isn't it?"
"Why are you here? Sakura! You came home?"
Before anyone could stop her, Aoi rushed forward, reaching out as if to sweep Sakura into her arms.
But the moment she got close—
"Don't come any closer!"
Sakura's voice cut through the room, sharp and terrified.
"I don't know you."
Her small hands tightened desperately around Izumi's clothes, clinging to him as though he were her only anchor.
Aoi froze mid-step.
She stared at Sakura in disbelief, lips trembling.
"Sa…kura…?"
The light drained from her expression. Her daughter—her gentle, quiet daughter—did not recognize her. No, worse… she rejected her.
Even Tokiomi's brows knitted into a deep frown.
Before he could speak, Rin grabbed her mother's sleeve and shook her head.
Seeing that subtle, heavy gesture, Aoi's heart dropped with a suffocating sense of dread.
Rin inhaled softly, then recounted everything—how they found Sakura, what Sakura said, and the truth she learned of the Matou family.
By the time she finished speaking, Aoi's legs nearly gave out beneath her.
She collapsed forward, tears spilling unchecked.
In the next instant, she rushed toward Sakura regardless of the rejection and wrapped her in a trembling embrace.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
"Sakura… Sakura… Mother is so sorry…"
"I never should have sent you to the Matou-ke… never…"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…!"
Aoi could no longer form proper words as she cried; her grief poured out like a broken dam.
Izumi gently handed Sakura over before stepping aside.
Watching the sobbing woman holding her, Sakura's expression softened despite herself.
After all—no matter how mature she acted, no matter how deeply she resented the past—
Sakura was still only a child.
A child who once loved her mother.
Tohsaka Tokiomi, meanwhile, stood in rigid silence, face darkening further with every passing moment.
Upon hearing Rin's account, his anger finally reached a breaking point.
Without a single word, he rose from the sofa and turned toward the door.
He was going to the Matou household.
To demand an explanation.
He had thought he was giving Sakura a better future—entrusting her with a place where her talents would flourish.
But instead, he himself had thrown her into a pit of horrors.
No wonder Sakura had refused to acknowledge them.
No wonder she spoke such words the moment she saw Aoi.
No wonder she had been silent before him.
He now understood just how much pain she must have endured.
She must hate him—
her father, who sent her away with his own hands.
A cold voice interrupted his furious stride.
"—If you're planning on picking a fight with the Matou family, don't bother."
Izumi's calm tone brushed past his ear.
"I've already wiped them out. The news will probably break soon."
Tokiomi froze.
He turned around slowly, disbelief etched across his face.
"…Are you serious?"
Izumi shrugged, utterly unconcerned.
"Believe me or not. You can ask Rin if you need proof."
"Oh, right—proper introductions."
"I'm Izumi."
"And yes… I currently possess the Third Magic."
The moment he finished speaking, an unfathomable surge of magical energy erupted from him—deep, endless, like a bottomless abyss.
Tokiomi's eyes widened to their limit.
"That… that is the Third Magic?"
The rumors spoke of limitless magical energy, of the miracle of materialized souls.
And now, before him, he felt a magic power so overwhelming it defied comprehension.
Even as a mediocre magus, he could not mistake this for anything less than the real thing.
Tokiomi's breath hitched.
His legs moved on their own.
He bowed deeply.
"—It is an honor to meet you, Izumi-sama."
Instant transformation into boot-licking mode—completed.
Izumi shot him a flat look.
"Now do you believe me?"
"Izumi-sama's power leaves no room for doubt," Tokiomi replied fervently.
"May I ask what brings someone of your stature to Fuyuki City?"
He glanced slyly between Izumi and Rin.
Could it be—
Rin is… his girl?
If so…
If so, then the Tohsaka family would rise to heights beyond imagination.
The mere thought sent his heart racing.
Izumi didn't even need magecraft to read his mind; the man's thoughts were practically pasted across his face.
Typical Tokiomi.
Always calculating.
Always thinking in terms of family benefit.
Izumi sighed.
"It was an accident coming here."
"But that accident let me meet Sakura."
"And now… yes, you can say I have a purpose."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"From now on, Sakura will stay with me. Any objections?"
A clear warning.
A statement meant to crush any attempt Tokiomi might make to reclaim Sakura.
The Third Magician was speaking—what could Tokiomi possibly say?
As expected, excitement replaced hesitation in an instant.
"No objections at all!"
"If someone of your caliber wishes to take Sakura under your care, it is her greatest fortune."
He nearly trembled with joy.
Even their ancestor—who once studied under a Magician—had only been a nominal disciple.
But Sakura? Sakura was being chosen personally.
How could he refuse?
Rin watched her father's groveling expression with a complicated, vaguely disgusted look.
So her father was…
this much of a boot-licker?
He acted just like those annoying boys at school who crowded around her.
Gross.
Rin was extremely unimpressed.
Of course, Tokiomi remained blissfully unaware that his own daughter now found him detestable.
Meanwhile, Sakura's ears perked up as she held back Aoi's sobbing.
Her heart fluttered—
Izumi wanted her to stay with him.
Her cheeks warmed faintly.
Aoi finally wiped away her tears and stood, bowing deeply toward Izumi.
"Thank you…"
"Thank you for saving Sakura."
"If not for you, we may never have learned what truly happened to her."
"This child… has suffered far too much…"
Tears welled again as she spoke, but she forced herself not to break down completely.
At the same time, resentment toward her husband flickered in her eyes.
If he hadn't insisted…
If he hadn't pushed Sakura into the Matou-ke—
None of this would have happened.
Izumi exhaled softly.
"Call it fate, I guess."
"I certainly didn't expect to fall out of the sky right in front of Sakura."
He shook his head.
Maybe it was destiny.
Maybe all transmigrators in the Nasuverse were doomed to rescue Sakura at some point.
Still, at least now Sakura and Aoi had resolved the worst of their misunderstanding.
Sakura had forgiven her mother—
Not completely, not with the same closeness as before,
but enough for the wounds to finally start healing.