"Hah... hah... damn it... DAMN IT ALL!"
Having fled the academy grounds in a frantic state, Matou Shinji bolted toward the one place where he might find sanctuary: the Fuyuki Church.
As he ran, the image of Tohsaka Rin's eyes burned in his mind. He could still see them looking down upon him, overflowing with cold, unadulterated contempt.
Consumed by the memory of that gaze, Shinji let out a scream of wounded pride.
"Curse it... Curse it all! How dare those insignificant, pathetic nobodies look at me like that...!"
Every fiber of his being was wreathed in resentment, but his instinct for survival outweighed his spite. He pressed on toward the church. To a Master who had lost everything, it was the only refuge remaining.
The heavy doors groaned open as he stumbled into the nave. There, at the far end, the silhouette of a priest stood with his back turned.
Sensing the intruder, the priest turned slowly to face him.
"Six days since the onset of this Holy Grail War... and you are the first to cross this threshold in search of shelter."
"Gah!"
Irritated by the priest's dry observation, Shinji snapped his head up. The priest looked down at the trembling Master with a gaze as placid as a stagnant pond.
"Do you intend to forfeit the struggle, boy?"
"Of course I do! Do you expect me to just stay out there and die?! My Servant is gone—there's no way to kill the others, no way to stay in the race... I'm just an ordinary person!"
He gnashed his teeth, the cruel reality of his situation boiling over into an indignant outburst directed at the man of God.
"In truth, I am the victim here! It is utterly unfair for me to be slaughtered like cattle!"
Rider, his Servant—whose only merit in his eyes had been her gender—had been retired with a single, crushing blow from Berserker without landing a solitary strike in return.
Shinji's hand went instinctively to his throat, recalling the sensation of Berserker's fingers tightening around his windpipe. The memory of his impending death still made his breath hitch.
"...Heh."
"What's that? You got a problem with what I'm saying?"
"Hardly. As the first to concede the war—and the first to seek the protection of this church since its founding—I shall treat you with the proper courtesy."
The priest offered a polite welcome, but Shinji's mind was elsewhere. The weight of his failure began to sink in.
"Wait... you mean I'm the only one who's been eliminated? If that old man finds out..."
If the patriarch of the Matou clan learned of this, Shinji would not escape unscathed. He had seen the horrors visited upon Matou Sakura all his life. To be the first to fall in disgrace... the mere thought of the grandfather's retribution was a nightmare he dared not dwell upon.
Terror gripped his heart, and in his desperation, he lashed out at the priest once more.
"Aggghhh! It's all your fault! Yours and theirs! Giving me a piece of garbage like Rider to work with! Damn it all!"
Thud! Thud!
He hammered his fists against the stone floor, the sound of his inadequacy and festering inferiority echoing through the hollow church. The priest watched him in silence for a long moment before speaking.
"I see... so you believe Rider was of no use to you?"
"Isn't it obvious?! Despite all the support I gave her, she died pathetic and easy! Any other Servant would have been better!"
"Hmm."
"To hell with it! Everything was prepared perfectly, just as the old man said... but they all ganged up on me! Three against one?!"
Shinji struck the floor again. "No one could win that! It's not my fault... I only lost because their Servants were stronger... Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"
The priest looked down at the boy who was being consumed by his own bile. Slowly, the man of God stepped forward and placed a hand upon Shinji's shoulder. Shinji looked up, meeting the priest's dark, knowing eyes.
"Tell me, then... do you still possess the resolve to fight?"
"...What?"
Shinji blinked in confusion. The priest leaned in, his voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial murmur.
"...Heh. You are in luck, boy. As it happens, I have a Servant whose hands are currently idle."
The priest—Kotomine Kirei—let a serpentine smile creep across his lips.
**
"...Where am I?"
"Oh? You're awake, are you?"
Sakura's eyes fluttered open to an unfamiliar ceiling. As she muttered a low question, a voice drifted from her side. She turned her head toward the source.
There, she found a strikingly beautiful woman with pointed ears watching over her with an inscrutable gaze.
"...Who are you?"
"Fufu. I am a magus summoned for this Holy Grail War under the class of Caster, little one."
"...Caster?"
Sakura's mind stalled. Before she could process the revelation, the door to the bedchamber burst open. Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin rushed in, their breathing labored as if they had run a great distance.
"Sakura!"
"Eh...? Ah!"
Sakura barely had time to register the sorrow in their eyes before both Shirou and Rin threw their arms around her, pulling her into a desperate embrace.
"S-Senpai? Sister? What is happening...?"
"I'm sorry, Sakura," Shirou whispered.
"...For what?"
The girl's voice was hollow with confusion. Hearing that fragile tone, Rin could no longer hold back her tears.
"I'm so sorry, Sakura... I had no idea. I didn't know you were living in such agony..."
Sakura's body went rigid. The warmth of the embrace felt like ice as a single, terrifying realization took root in her mind.
"...N-No. Surely you don't..."
"We know," Shirou said softly. "We know the life you led within the House Matou. We know everything they did to you."
"...Ah... ah..."
Sakura began to tremble violently. The one thing she wanted most to hide—the shame she had hoped would never reach her Senpai—was now laid bare. She expected his disgust. She expected him to recoil, to loathe the sight of her.
To her, she was a defiled thing, a creature whose very flesh had been stained a thousand times over in the pursuit of magecraft.
"I... I am a creature of filth. I have no right to be near people as kind and pure as you, Senpai... sister... I am, I am...!"
"No!" Shirou shouted.
"Sakura, listen to me. This was never your fault. This... this is our sin. I spent so much time trying to save strangers while remaining blind to the suffering of the person closest to me."
"He is right. This is our failure, Sakura," Rin added, her voice thick with regret. "I wanted you to be happy. I convinced myself you were doing well because I wanted to believe it. I chose to be a bystander to your pain because it was easier than looking for the truth."
"—Ah, ahhhh..."
A flood of tears finally broke from Sakura's eyes. Sensing her crumbling, Shirou and Rin held her even tighter, as if trying to shield her from the very memories that tormented her.
"...Caster has extracted the Crest Worms and the fragment of the Lesser Grail from your body. You don't have to hurt anymore. You can laugh, and you can be happy. So, please..."
Do not grieve anymore.
"...Uugh... sniff... Sister! Senpai!"
**
Artoria, Illyasviel, and I watched the scene from the doorway in silence.
"...A moving spectacle, wouldn't you say, Eli?"
"It is," I replied with a slow nod. Watching a young girl finally grasp at the salvation she so desperately needed... it had a way of pulling at the heartstrings.
I reached out and gently took Artoria's hand in mine. Surprised by the sudden contact, she turned to me with wide eyes.
"E-Eli?"
"What of it? We are lovers, aren't we? Surely I'm allowed this much."
"U-Uugh..."
Despite my shameless declaration, a deep crimson flush spread across Artoria's cheeks. I couldn't help but smile at her reaction.
"....."
Wrapped up in the moment, I completely missed the look of sheer exasperation Illya was shooting at our backs.
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I genuinely burst out laughing when I saw this image.
Though, knowing the full story behind it, I can't quite bring myself to just laugh.
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