Beta read by Shigiya, Paragon of Awesomeness and FabledLife
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-Guyana, Secret Hunting Grounds-
Rito had seen his brother fight many times before, whether it be against the Anti-Emiya Alliance members, in Lala's games, or in his more recent and serious battles. In truth, his earliest memory of his brother was the sight of Shirou doing basic exercises every morning without fail. Back then, Rito had been nothing more than a small boy. He remembered trying to mimic his brother's routine, only to give up when the strain made his body ache. Pain, he had quickly learned, did not suit him. The exercise routines were monotonous and difficult, and his young mind sought distractions far more colorful than doing push-ups or jogging laps.
Yet, whenever the mood struck him, he would tag along on his brother's runs through the neighborhood. On rare occasions, even Mikan asked to join them — though halfway through, she would end up needing to be carried by one of them.
Back then, Rito simply assumed his brother was one of those health fanatics, people who believed sweat was the currency of a good life. Someone determined to keep his body sharp for no reason beyond the simple desire to remain healthy and fit.
But as the years slipped by, Rito began to notice things he hadn't before. The redhead was also quite gifted with the sword. The ease with which he handled himself with such weapons, even though he had never actually seen him use a bokken in the past before. The first true glimpse of that came during the duel against Rin. One-on-one during a club event where the kendo club sought to get more members—where he was the one who wanted to give it a try and had dragged Emiya along.
Somehow, one thing after another led to him wielding a shinai and facing Rin of all people in a duel. Now he knew it was because she approached him first and outright demanded a match. He won, and with such ease it not only surprised the others but also the girl he'd fought, who since then never stopped following him, always looking for a rematch.
And then came Lala. Her sudden arrival brought with it pure chaos to say the least, some parts fun and others dangerous in equal measure. Through her, Rito saw even more of his brother's… talents. Someone who could fight against superhuman aliens as though the laws that bound ordinary people simply didn't apply to him. He possessed magic too… somehow, and was also quite good at it according to others.
Now that he remembered all of these, it made the boy curious.
'How has Nii-san become this powerful?' The question slipped into Rito's thoughts as he stood frozen, eyes locked on the scene before him. He barely had time to process the Amazon chieftess' voice as it thundered across the field.
"Ginga Kong, catch this man for us, and we will provide you a year's supply of your favorite fruits and meats!"
The words left her mouth, and then it moved. The gigantic hairy figure — which for some reason wore a metal helmet — surged forward, towering higher than most of the trees on this resort. Its colossal arms swung low as it lunged for Emiya, its fingers like steel girders closing in to crush.
"Nii-san!" Rito's voice cracked under the weight of his fear. His chest tightened as guilt clawed at him, feeling responsible for leading them into this situation in the first place. The Amazonesses had captured him first, and now his brother was about to fight a whole tribe of warrior women and a giant gorilla that was wearing a helmet. Even if he could conjure up swords, what good would they be against a creature that big?
But the moment Rito dreaded never came. Emiya slipped free of those monstrous fingers by a hairsbreadth, pivoting at just the right moment and letting those swords he held sink deep within the flesh of Kong's fingers. Cutting through the thick skin as if it were butter. Scarlet lines bloomed across its palm, recoiling it backwards and holding its hand.
"What are you doing here, you idiot? Go somewhere safe!" Emiya's voice cut through the chaos, dragging Rito back from the edge of shock. "If you stay, Haruna might get hurt!"
Haruna… The thought of her in danger snapped Rito's body into motion. Fear still clung to him like a second skin, but it was nothing compared to the thought of Emiya having to guard them both while fighting this nightmare.
'If I stay, I'll only hold him back. I have to trust him.'
He hated the truth in that thought. Hated the way it made him feel small and useless. But this was no time for pride. Rito seized Haruna's wrist without hesitation; the usual shyness that plagued him whenever he so much as looked at her was nowhere to be seen.
Haruna, on the other hand, hesitated at first, visibly worried about Emiya and not liking the idea of leaving him behind. "Wait, what about—"
"My brother can take care of himself! We just have to make sure he doesn't have to worry about us, too!"
Rito forced himself to put some distance between them and the chaos, even though every instinct screamed at him to flee entirely. He had been told to run, to escape while he still could, yet his legs refused to carry him further. His eyes stayed locked on the fight ahead, unable to pull away. The colossal creature, Ginga Kong, had grown wilder, its movements fraying into raw violence like a rage-filled beast. Its massive arms, thick as ancient trees, curled into fists and hammered down in a storm of strikes — similar to a child throwing a tantrum. Each blow landed like a siege weapon crashing into the ground, the earth quaking hard enough for cracks to split open and spread beneath Rito's feet. Dust clouds were created with every impact, and the air thrummed.
"Hn!" Even when just seeking shelter, the duo barely managed to evade some of the stray stones flying at them.
Yet within the chaos itself, the young man whose hair was going prematurely white managed not to get crushed into meat paste. He moved between each strike smoothly and precisely, with an ease that made no sense to onlookers, for it appeared like he would know when and where the next strike would occur — always a fraction ahead of the blow. There was no fear in his face, no flicker of hesitation, only focus trained on Kong. His body shifted just before every strike, slipping out of reach and leaving more and more cuts on the giant ape's hands with his swords.
By now, the air itself stunk of pungent iron from droplets of blood being sent everywhere.
Ginga Kong, to Rito at least, continued to attack not out of pure rage but rather fear. Like a human trying to swat away or crush an insect that terrorised them.
"That's… so cool," Rito murmured, the words falling out before he could stop them.
Despite all the chaos, part of him was in pure awe. The boy, currently turned girl, just couldn't help but find himself mesmerized by the scene. It reminded him of the many action movies he would see with his brother and father whenever they all hung out together.
Every movement Emiya made was clean, sharp, and fluid, like a blade cutting through still water. There was no wasted motion, no strain showing in his limbs. Rito had read manga where fighters were described as moving like air or flowing like rivers. He used to think it was just a flashy description, something that only looked good on a page, with his father trying to showcase that with his drawing. But now, watching his brother, those words made sense. Even when the monster's fists crashed close enough for the rush of air to sting his face, Emiya slipped past, so near that the beast's rough hide brushed against his hair, yet not once did he even flinch.
"Rito, look out!" Haruna's voice cut across his thoughts. His head snapped toward her, eyes widening just in time to catch a blur — a pair of arms lunging for them. Instinct kicked in. He shoved Haruna aside, barely fast enough, before several women surged in and drove him to the ground. They were strong, ridiculously strong for people who looked no different from the girls in his school, but just with a tan and tribal marks. Their weight pressed him down and locked his limbs in place.
"You're not going anywhere, woman," one of them hissed near his ear. "You and this other girl clearly matter to that man; he won't leave without you."
Rito's heart hammered, frustration knotting tight in his chest. He shoved and twisted, muscles straining, jaw locked, but it was like wrestling steel cables—they didn't budge. Even if he managed to break loose, even if by some miracle he drove them back, protecting Haruna with that hulking ape looming over everything was a different nightmare. The truth pressed cold and sharp against him: he couldn't win. Not like this.
"Um, sisters? Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is the man actually keeping pace with Ginga Kong?" one of the women said, her voice thick with disbelief as her gaze flicked over to the clash between man and ape.
"He is… Even the chieftess never managed such a thing. Are all men like this?" another whispered, awe bleeding through her tone.
No. That wasn't it. This definitely wasn't something all men could do. His brother was just an anomaly, simple as that.
"What are you waiting for? Assist Ginga Kong! Bring him down with arrows!" A shout split the air, filled with urgency upon realising their target was actually gaining the upper hand against their trump card, and Rito's stomach dropped. His head jerked up to see a line of archers on the far side of the field, bows already drawn. Dozens of arrows were angled skyward, their points glinting sharply under the dim light. Then the sky darkened as they rose and curved toward Emiya like a storm of iron.
The sound was sharp and cold, like rain pelting on stone. Rito's breath was locked in his chest. There were too many, far too many. Dodging them wasn't possible. "No…"
But Emiya just gave the projectiles in the sky a passing glance at best.
He moved calmly, without hurry, his hand waving across the air in a smooth, almost casual arc. Shields appeared from coalescing blue motes or light, great slabs of iron and steel rising in a wall, stacking tightly against one another until they towered like a gate. Arrows hammered into them in a harsh rattle of wood and metal, splintering on impact, breaking into fragments that fell like dead leaves. Not one passed through. Not even a scratch marked the barrier. His brother didn't so much as bother to glance their way after that, fully confident that his shields would hold. His focus stayed fixed on Kong.
Crash!
He sprang back, boots striking the ground lightly, clearing the crater where the beast's fist had slammed down hard enough to make Rito and Haruna flinch even from far away. Then, in one breath, he ran along its massive forearm like it was solid earth, both swords flashing in his grip. He hurled them skyward, and for a heartbeat, they spun above him like silver arcs of light. Then they veered, not toward Kong, but toward the archers.
"Watch out!"
The warning tore the air, but it came a moment too late. The blades moved as if alive, spinning so fast they almost looked like razor frisbees. Arrows hissed up to meet them, but every projectile shattered on contact or was even splintered into dust. The swords tore forward in an unbroken surge, forcing the archers to scatter, abandoning their weapons and scrambling for cover. The swords that Rito learned were named Kanshou and Bakuya, twisting in midair, and in a handful of seconds, even sliced through the trees as if they were not even there.
Several archers who were a bit too slow cried out in pain when their armor was unable to fully protect their backs.
"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"
The pained sound ripped through the clearing. On the other side of the battlefield, Emiya had already closed the distance between him and the giant gorilla's face. Having run up the arm and now standing on Kong's massive shoulders, both combatants locked eyes for a brief moment.
"Hn-ah!" Twisting his torso with a loud grunt, Emiya unleashed a wide-arched kick, striking the creature squarely across a part of the gorilla's temple that his helmet didn't fully cover.
Despite his much smaller build, the blow landed with heavy impact. Kong's massive head jerked to the side, his enormous frame staggering as if someone had ripped the earth from under him. Pain flashed in the monster's confused eyes, unable to comprehend just why it had hurt so much in the first place. For an ordinary man, that kind of strike would have shattered bone, left a leg dangling uselessly from Rito's understanding. But his brother landed back on the ground with little trouble, his breathing steady and turning his attention back to the Amazons.
"He should be tired now, and he has no weapons!" The Amazoness Chieftess barked, her voice laced with excitement rather than caution. "Go! Surround him! Overwhelm him before he gets another chance to use his witchcraft!"
After seeing a gorilla bigger than a house get kicked off-balance by his brother, Rito very much expected to see some level of fear in their eyes. But unfortunately, if anything, the savage women looked even more animated, as though the challenge only stoked their wild hunger.
'What… the hell is wrong with these people !?' Rito stared dumbly from where he was pinned, disbelief etched across his features as the warrior women advanced. Their faces were flushed, their eyes alight with a feverish glint that made his jaw hang open. Every lingering glance toward Emiya carried a dangerous mix of awe and lust, like predators circling prey they were desperate to claim.
"He's mine!" one cried out, her voice raw and fierce.
"The first child goes to me!" another shouted, baring her teeth in something that resembled a grin.
"Pin him down! I just need a turn!"
The air vibrated with their crazed declarations, voices blending into a cacophony that made Rito's skin crawl. Haruna, who was held in place next to him by a pair of Amazons who looked desperate to join the fray, most likely felt the same, since she looked over and whispered. "Um… It's probably a good thing you're like this… hehehe…" she awkwardly forced a chuckle.
"I don't know if I should be happy or just sad hearing that, Sairenji."
What hurt the most was that a small part of him, afraid of these people, agreed. They thought he was just another outsider, just another woman like them. If they ever found out the truth that he was a boy, he didn't even want to imagine the horrors that would follow.
"Nii-san! Watch out!"
His warning might as well have been lost in the wind. In the heartbeat that followed, Emiya had already shifted his stance. Where empty air had been moments ago, a big dark bow now materialized in his grip, as tall as a full-grown man.
"O-Oh, right… He's also good at archery…" At this point, what was the point of being surprised any longer?
Without a word, Emiya pulled the string taut, his fingers glowing faintly with power. Then the arrows came pouring out at the Amazons.
"Ugh!"
"Argh!"
"Ngh!"
The first volley tore through the crowd, blunt steel-tipped shafts splitting the air with a howl. A rain of iron and wood cascaded down, relentless as a tempest. The projectiles struck their targets with barely any of them missing, finding their marks in flesh and armor alike. The force behind them wasn't merely enough to wound; it was enough to hurl bodies backward as if they'd been rammed by a charging bull.
One by one, the Amazons fell. Those clutching spears dropped them with some of the projectiles shattering their weapons before they could even be aimed, forcing many to curse out loud but still continue to advance, their broken weapons clattering against the dirt. Even the ones who had managed to keep their spears intact and forced their way past the hail of arrows and lunged closest to him through sheer grit were still flung aside like broken dolls, with him just firing another wave. Their knees, shoulders, even the crests of their helmets were all targeted, their strength sapped in an instant.
Yet in spite of their ferocity, in spite of sheer numbers, none of Emiya's arrows so much as grazed Rito or Haruna. All around them, Amazon bodies thudded against the earth, the prior war cries now reduced to strangled groans, including the small group that had been holding Rito and Haruna in place.
From his spot, Rito, noticing what the remaining women were doing, decided to just risk it all, given that no one cared about him and Haruna anymore. "Look out! They are using their fallen allies as a wall to get closer to you!"
"I see them, just stay behind cover!"
Grabbing one of the discarded weapons with a kick of his foot, Emiya blocked two warriors at once. The spearhead forced a sword down into the dirt, grinding metal against earth, while the other end of the shaft swept upward to catch a blade mid-swing, wrenching it from the hands of its wielder. With a quick pivot, he clamped a calloused hand around the throat of the disarmed Amazoness and hurled her bodily into her nearest ally. The two collided with a thud and crumpled to the ground in a heap of limbs.
Rito, despite not knowing anything about using a weapon or any fighting style, noticed how his brother fought differently when using a spear compared to swords, where he moved around nimbly — now he barely moved from his chosen ground. There was no circling, no weaving, just deflecting, disarming, and counter-attacking any incoming foes.
Seconds turned into minutes, the air rang with the sound of metal on metal, sharp impacts echoing through the clearing as sparks flashed like fireflies. A sweeping arc from the spear's shaft struck against two skulls in one motion. Before either could hit the earth, a sharp kick was driven into the gut of another opponent, folding her over with a strangled gasp while the woman also coughed up saliva and bile. Emiya followed instantly with a driving knee to her jaw that snapped her head back violently.
The scene made both Rito and Haruna wince, genuinely feeling bad for these people to some degree.
"Emiya… is kinda scary, isn't he?"
That was an understatement. "Well, uh… hard to argue with that," admitted Rito
"Do you think he got this good at fighting because of the Anti-Emiya Alliance acting as a punching bag?" Haruna asked a question to which he had no answer to unfortunately. "Maybe I should ask him to teach me something…"
"…"
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Without turning, Emiya ducked low. A heavy club swung through empty space where his skull had been a second earlier. It was almost uncanny, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. They kept coming, a relentless tide of bodies, each lunging in desperate bursts, but it changed nothing. One after another fell, some spinning away from spear thrusts, others collapsing when their strikes met another kick or punch to the gut.
A ragged laugh cut through the din of combat. "Hahaha, you are a gem!"
The voice came from the side, catching everyone's attention. Against all odds, the chieftess, whose head he'd slammed her own helmet against, pushed herself upright, her bare chest in full view with her prior armor destroyed. She spat onto the ground before lifting her head. Her grin was wide, her gaze wild, every tooth flashing.
"You will be the perfect warrior too," she rasped, her tone disturbingly sweet despite the mania in her eyes. "The man to give us the finest children. If our future daughters even hold a fragment of your strength, this land will belong to us alone. Not even Ginga Kong would dare challenge us!"
Emiya turned toward her slowly. In one hand, the remnants of a shattered spear dangled loosely. In the other, he held an unconscious Amazoness by the throat as if she weighed no more than a sack of grain. He flung her aside without effort, her body tumbling onto the growing mound of the defeated.
"You are quite a—hm?!" His comment broke off mid-syllable.
A shadow stretched and swallowed over him, the chieftess, and Rito, in sudden darkness. All of them froze, necks snapping upward in unison. A boulder, massive as a house, hurtled toward them. Behind it, Ginga Kong's roar thundered like a cannon blast.
"You…!" Emiya's face hardened. With something that big coming at them, not only was it going to hit him, but also Rito and Haruna.
Nearby, battered Amazons screamed hoarsely, panic rising as they realized they couldn't even crawl away in time.
"Ah…"
It never came.
The world split with a metallic shriek as dozens of greatswords ripped into existence high above, their blades glinting cold silver against the sky. They plunged forward faster than bullets, slamming into the boulder with bone-jarring force. Stone shattered in an ear-splitting explosion, chunks scattering like shrapnel. But before a single fragment could strike flesh, even those shards were obliterated, impaled, and pulverized by a fresh storm of blades until nothing remained but dust and pebbles.
Ginga Kong froze mid-roar. His enormous head tilted, mouth hanging open, shock etched into features that for a brief moment seemed almost human. The defiance in his eyes wavered, first slipping into doubt, then into raw fear as he registered the silhouette rushing towards him.
Emiya had already closed the distance. In his hands rested a giant weapon, a club-like weapon with small metal studs all along its body. It was big enough to deliver a solid blow to the giant's face while manageable enough for him to hold. A Mystic Code used for ceremonial purposes at best and never used by any grand figure, or on the level of a Noble Phantasm.
"A kanabo?" He heard Rito exclaim in the distance and smirked, remembering seeing the boy use one of these in a video game they played a few days ago.
The weapon reached Ginga Kong's face, the metal studs biting into Kong's flesh with a crack like a gunshot, though amplified a hundredfold. The metal helmet it wore gave way, shattering into hundreds of fragments, showcasing a bald spot large enough to reflect the sunlight all over. The impact hurled the ape backward, tumbling through trees that splintered like twigs.
When the echoes of the crashing impact died, Emiya winced and looked at his arm, his kanabo resting against the ground as he steadied his weight. "That helmet was not made here…"
Its material was hard enough that the first impact did not cause it to break immediately; rather, the intense reverberations had ultimately been its undoing. The initial resistance had traveled up his arms and left behind some minor injuries. Nothing debilitating, just a minor inconvenience at best.
"Where were we?" he said while turning his attention back to the chieftess and the few of her warriors still on their feet. The latter only laughed — soft at first, then louder, until it broke into a full-blown guttural laughter that lasted an entire minute.
"Thank you," she said calmly, meeting his eyes with what was possibly the first genuinely nice-looking smile without any hints of her prior craziness. "For protecting my people. And me."
"Gratitude would be better shown by not turning me into a breeding stallion," he said, balancing his kanabo across his shoulders. He ran his gaze over the Amazon queen standing before him, her bare chest rising and falling with the strain of battle. "Let's be honest. You're no fool. We both know how this fight ends. It's a miracle you're still conscious after taking that many blows to the head. I'm surprised, honestly, on how much you were able to take. Impressed, even."
"I wouldn't have been chosen as queen of my people if a few love taps were enough to put me down."
"You call those strikes love taps?" His brow arched at her tone, the corners of his lips twitching despite himself. At least now he knew she had a sense of humor. "You're quite funny, I'll give you that."
"Funny enough for you to take me as your mate?"
Emiya gave a small shake of his head, his expression firming. "Unfortunately for you, I don't plan on having kids until I've at least dealt with my problems first."
"Then let us help you," the queen said suddenly, her voice taking on an almost coaxing edge that caught him off guard. "With your strength, and the combined might of my warriors at your back, nothing in this land — nothing in this entire world — could oppose us. Your problems would vanish in an instant, just like that." She snapped her fingers sharply for emphasis, the sound cutting through the heavy air. "Then we can have all the daughters we want, minimum eight… no, the last chieftess had eight… Sixteen!"
A short laugh left him as he shook his head. If only it were that simple. This woman… If his issues could be solved as quickly as a finger snap just because he had enough muscle backing him, he wouldn't be in this mess to begin with.
"You're like a frog staring up from the bottom of a well," he said, voice low but edged with blunt truth. "This isolated area is your entire world. That damned monkey was the biggest threat you've ever faced. But harsh as your home may be, beyond this patch of jungle is a world filled with things so strong that even a hundred thousand of your best fighters wouldn't stand a chance." His grip on the broken spear tightened as his words settled like stones in the silence. "There are beings out there who make that monster look like an insect. Gid alone could crush this entire jungle and every creature in it without effort, including your tribe. The man could wipe out a planet, so what chance do you think a few hundred warriors have? Compared to that, you're an ant biting at the skin of a giant."
His gaze shifted for a moment, softening slightly. "And right now, my priority is finding a way to cure my brother. To turn him back to normal."
"Your brother?" The Amazon chieftess tilted her head, studying him with a strange look. Her eyes flicked toward Rito and Haruna before settling back on him with an expression that carried a trace of pity. "It seems you're confused, outsider. Maybe it falls to me to correct that. As your mate, I'll take it upon myself to teach you the difference between a man and a woman. Thoroughly, so that you never make such a mistake again. Don't worry, I'll let you explore my body as much as you want!"
Emiya immediately found himself at a loss for words. "What? No! This is a misunderstanding! Rito isn't supposed to be a girl, he's normally a ma—"
"Kya!"
The sharp cry shattered the tense exchange. All heads turned toward the forest just as Ginga Kong's massive frame hurtled skyward, his roar of pain ripping through the canopy. Strands of golden hair snaked together midair, coiling into the shape of an enormous fist that slammed into the beast's torso with bone-cracking force, driving him back to the same shattered spot Emiya had struck earlier.
The ground quaked when Ginga Kong crashed down, the impact tearing through roots and soil in a violent ripple. Before the dust could settle, a figure was launched upward like a spear of white light, wings spread wide against the green sky. Yami hovered above, her expression cold, the giant fist comprised of her hair unraveling into hundreds of smaller fists that rained down like a storm of hammers. They pounded the fallen creature in a relentless barrage, every strike punctuated by the crunch of breaking flesh and the dull thud of this force meeting the earth.
The forest shook with the assault, each blow echoing like a drumbeat of war. Kong's roars broke apart under the crushing rhythm until even his cries were drowned out by the sound of devastation. The earth split open beneath him, and by the time the assault ended, the beast was gone from sight, buried so deep it looked as though the ground had claimed him for a grave.
"Shirou!"
The surprises didn't end there. From the trees, Lala appeared, sprinting at blistering speed. But the smile that usually accompanied her boundless energy was nowhere to be found.
Whoosh!
She shot past him like a pink blur. For a split second, he braced himself, expecting the usual tackle-hug that left him breathless. Instead, she bypassed him entirely, crashing into the Amazon chieftess who had barely managed to rise to her feet. Lala flipped the woman over her shoulder and slammed her into the ground in what could be best described as a perfect judo shoulder throw, though performed by a superhuman girl.
He spotted the pale figure of the chieftess lying sprawled on the ground, her chest rising faintly with uneven breaths. Foam clung to the corners of her lips, and her eyes were glassy, barely focused. The sight made him pause for a moment.
"She's still alive after that? People here are tougher than I expected," he muttered under his breath.
The thought pulled him back to his earlier encounters, where he had laid into several of the local fighters using Torashinai. That weapon was never meant to cripple anyone, let alone kill. Yet the sheer weight of each strike should have been enough to knock out an ordinary person after one or two hits. Instead, these opponents took more than a handful of blows before collapsing. Some even forced him to push harder than he intended just to make sure they stayed down.
"Don't try to force him into marrying you! He doesn't want to!" The words broke the tense silence, sharp and heated.
He almost replied that if she truly believed in her own advice, she should learn to follow it herself before throwing it at others. His mind formed the thought even as another outburst from Lala cut through his concentration.
"He's already engaged to me, and he would never want to marry anyone who tried to harm his family!"
A short laugh escaped him. "I doubt she can hear you now, or anyone else here for that matter," he said quietly, glancing toward the rest of the Amazons strewn across the clearing. Most of them lay unconscious from his earlier strikes, their bodies sprawled in awkward angles on the cracked earth. A handful still clung to awareness, but exhaustion and deep bruises had pinned them down, leaving them unable to rise.
"Shirou!"
That cry came just before impact. Arms wrapped around him without hesitation, pulling him into a fierce embrace. She buried her face against him with unrestrained relief. "I missed you! We've been searching everywhere, and I was starting to think you'd finish the hunt without me!"
"Well, judging from the scene here, you and the others handled yourselves pretty well," he replied with a small, knowing smile. If Lala and Yami were working together, nothing in this jungle could realistically pose a threat to them. Add Momo and Nana into the mix, and they had enough strength to level a fortress. The reassurance left his chest lighter, though his attention drifted briefly to the figure beside him.
"Yes! We hunted down so many scary-looking monsters across the island! Look, I even caught us dinner for the next month!"
She spun on her heel, pointing eagerly toward the treeline. His gaze followed, only to settle on a sight that almost got a laugh out of him. In the distance, her sisters were struggling to drag something massive through the dirt with trembling arms and gritted teeth. It took him a second to recognize what it was: the corpse of an actual Tyrannosaurus rex. The sheer absurdity of it drew a sigh from his lips, paired with reluctant acceptance.
"Let me show you!"
Before he could react, she darted away from his side, covering the distance in moments. With a casual grip, she seized the dinosaur's tail, lifted it clean off the ground, and began hauling it back with ease, its enormous bulk sliding across the soil like an abandoned suitcase. The contrast in strength between her and her sisters was staggering, enough to make him question how anyone could share the same bloodline yet differ so much in raw power.
"I also caught this huge cat, I think it's called a sabertooth! And then a really big bear, a giant bird with a beak bigger than its whole body, and a fish larger than a car! Oh, and we killed plenty of big worms, but they looked so gross that we didn't bother bringing them along. So what do you think? Amazing, right?"
"I honestly can't say. Never tried cooking a dinosaur before, so I can't promise it'll taste any good," he said dryly, giving her words some actual serious thought. "I have heard speculations that some dinosaurs would be just like chickens. This one looks like it has red meat, though, so… maybe it'll taste like beef or lamb?"
"That's fine! I trust you to make anything delicious!" she chimed back, flashing him a grin that could outshine the midday sun.
"The problem is where we're even going to store all this meat. This isn't just a month's worth. It looks like enough to last a whole year. We don't have that kind of space."
"Did you forget about the expanded pantry? I can always enlarge it! It could fit an entire supermarket if you wanted!"
"Fair, but unless I turn it all into jerky, this much meat won't keep very well in a pantry."
"Got it, I'll do the same to your fridge and freezer too!"
Her tone made him exhale slowly. This girl and her technology were ridiculous, yet a part of him couldn't deny his own curiosity about the taste. "So… doesn't this mean we technically won the challenge? The hunt's over now, right?"
His eyes shifted from the giant theropod at their feet to the distant silhouette of a fallen creature, something massive that looked suspiciously like a dead Kong. Whatever else the other contestants had brought back, it was hard to imagine they had managed to bring down anything quite as impressive as this.
{Break}
"Congratulations on winning the hunt! Never in my life would I have imagined that a legendary creature like Ginga Kong would be reduced to such a sorry state!"
Well, it turned out he was worrying for nothing, for Prince Carter easily accepted the outcome of the hunt. The only part that caught him off guard was that his congratulations were not actually being aimed at him in the first place.
"Then again, I should have expected this outcome for one of the galaxy's most feared assassins!"
Indeed, it turned out that the winner of the hunt itself had been Yami. Even removing the points Kong represented, there were just so many creatures she killed that it made up for it. But one did have to wonder why they had the celebratory feast occur in the Amazoness village of all places?
"Please drink up. You've earned that right more than enough, Chieftess," Prince Carter said, lifting his goblet in a toast-like gesture. Across from him, the Amazon leader mirrored the motion, though her body was wrapped in layers of bandages, making her movements a bit stiff. "To your health, and to the glory of a successful hunt!"
"Yeah!"
"Wah!"
"Let's go!"
The gathered warriors erupted into cheers, voices ringing in brief unity before a chorus of groans quickly followed. Every sharp movement punished their battered bodies. Just like their leader, most of them were swathed in bandages, wounds hidden beneath linen strips. For every arm raised in celebration, pain flared through cracked ribs and bruised muscles. The scene almost looked like a feast of victors, yet anyone watching closely could see that even sitting upright seemed to test their limits.
Their condition was one of the many reasons Emiya decided not to refuse when the idea was raised to conclude everything in the village instead of somewhere else. The risk of them trying something underhanded had crossed his mind, but looking at them now, the thought felt absurd. They could barely walk without wincing. Yet, even that wasn't enough to make him completely relax. They were Amazons — stubbornness came as naturally as breathing. And if he knew anything about them, it was that broken bones wouldn't always keep a warrior from chasing prey when it was still in their sights.
Somehow, Momo had managed to change all that. After everything was done, she went to speak with them alone. He still didn't know what passed between her and the tribe, only that when she returned, the tension hanging in the air had disappeared as if it never existed. It made him curious… curious enough to ask.
"Are you sure you can't share your methods with me?" the man finally asked, his tone carrying interest rather than demanding the answer forcefully. "I'm certain I hit them hard enough to keep them bedridden for a month, and definitely fractured a lot of their bones along the way. Yet, even after that, they were set on dragging me back to their beds. What did you say to make them change their minds?"
The pink-haired princess sipped on a fresh coconut, her smile stretching wider with every word that left his mouth. When he finished, she tilted her head and let a cheeky grin bloom across her face.
"Sorry, Emiya. Every girl has her secrets," Momo replied, sounding almost playful. "And this one? It's an even bigger secret, a conversation between women that can never be shared with any man."
"You're seriously going to use that excuse on me?" he asked, brows knitting slightly. Her refusal only deepened his curiosity. He wondered, not for the first time, if this same girl could pull off something similar with other groups that caused him trouble at school.
"You'd gain a favor from me if you told me," Emiya continued, his voice steady now. "Anything within my ability. I'll make it happen."
That seemed to catch her off guard. Momo froze mid-sip, blinking once before setting the coconut aside. Her thoughtful expression was genuine, the kind of look that suggested she hadn't expected such an offer from him and now couldn't help but consider it.
"For you to offer something like that," she said slowly, a glint of amusement forming in her eyes, "I can't let that kind of opportunity go to waste."
"Good thinking," he agreed with a nod, validating her words and nudging the girl to spill everything. "I know I can be busy and hard to reach, but just for you, I'd put aside my personal interests. Any kind of favor, you name it… as long as it is not something ridiculous."
"Not enough," she countered without hesitation, surprising him. "I want payment in advance. You fulfill my favor first, and then I'll tell you my secret. I'll even help convince the Anti-Emiya Alliance to leave you alone. That's who you were thinking about, right? I promise it's not going to be anything like asking you to take my hand instead of Onee-sama's or to abandon your pursuit of my dear mother… though the latter does sound pretty good now that I think about it."
Her terms complicated things. A favor in advance, without knowing the price? That was risky. It opened the door for her to ask for something absurd. But curiosity gnawed at him. He wanted that answer, maybe even needed it. And despite her mischievous nature, he knew Momo wasn't reckless. She wouldn't make a demand that crossed the line into hostility.
Without saying a word, he gave a slow nod.
"Great! I'll keep that promise tucked away until the time comes. Have fun, Emiya~!" she sang before spinning on her heel and heading back toward the crowd, leaving him standing there like a statue. He blinked once, then twice, trying to process what just happened before shaking his head.
His gaze drifted to Rito, who stood nearby staring at a small vial in his hands.
"Mind explaining what's keeping you from drinking that and reverting to your regular self?" he asked.
After returning to the village, Prince Carter wasted no time honoring his end of the deal, handing over the rewards they had been promised. With the rule against advanced tech no longer in effect, Lala had immediately crafted a cure, her hands working fast, given that she had no limitations holding her back. Now it was just a matter of Rito swallowing the concoction.
"I'm… just nervous about doing it here," Rito admitted, voice shaky. Looking at the Amazons around them cautiously. "What if they try to capture me?"
"I don't know what kind of tricks or magic Momo used in getting them to back off," Emiya began, tone edged with mild curiosity rather than alarm, his gaze sweeping over the disorganized group of Amazons who were getting drunk on fruit-based alcohol. "But it doesn't look like they're planning to capture any of the boys. Just look at Zastin and Prince Carter over there. They seem pretty welcome, not locked in a cage or tied to a post, so I doubt they'd treat you any differently. Besides, most of these warriors can barely stand straight right now. They're tougher than the boys back at school, sure, but they're still human. A few hits like the ones they took would leave anyone else in a coma."
Around them, the sight spoke for itself. Not a single Amazoness in the clearing was uninjured. Bruises marred strong limbs, cuts ran along arms and shoulders, backs were visibly straining just to sit upright, and yet every one of them was forcing a semblance of hospitality, arranging food and drink as if the battle from earlier had been nothing more than a misunderstanding. It was not out of obligation to some foreign custom. More like an attempt to save face and honor the one who bested them. Emiya let out a small breath, as though the thought amused him.
"Had I known they were this welcoming," he continued, rolling his neck with a casual shrug, "I would've fought them inside the village from the start. Would've saved us the trouble of letting them sound that horn." His lips curled slightly, not in arrogance but in a faint trace of self-satisfaction. "Oh well. What's done is done. At least I got to shake the rust off a few tricks I haven't used in a while. Right, Haruna?"
The question was tossed toward the girl seated a short distance away. She sipped her drink slowly, her posture composed despite the lingering atmosphere in the air. Haruna didn't flinch under his grin. Instead, she met his eyes with a look so dry it could parch the river behind them.
"I refuse to acknowledge what happened back there as real," she said flatly. "These women aren't used to seeing men. That disguise wouldn't have worked anywhere else on this planet."
"You know there's a thing called being a sore loser," he replied, basically taunting her, smirking faintly. "It's not a bad thing to admit when you're wrong. Helps you grow."
Haruna's brow twitched. "Now I understand why my sister says she feels like smashing your head against a wall every time you open your mouth."
Emiya chuckled under his breath, turning away without rising to the bait. His eyes landed on Rito, who stood awkwardly near the center, looking like he wished the ground would swallow him whole. With an easy pat to the transformed boy's shoulder, he said, "Don't worry. Even if they try something, I'll make sure they don't get anywhere near you."
Just as the orange-haired 'girl' was ready to drink the cure, from behind them, a teasing voice cut through the murmurs. "It's a shame," Haruna muttered without a trace of mockery, her eyes gleaming mischievously, "he looks so pretty as a girl."
"Urgh," Rito groaned, dragging his hand down his face. "Yeah, I'd rather deal with that giant gorilla than this…"
"Really? That's disappointing," Haruna replied smoothly, the edge of her lips falling downwards with a light downcast expression. "You look so lovely like this. I was even thinking of inviting you along with my sister next weekend. There's a new hot spring that just opened nearby. We could have spent the evening together, relaxed in the baths, maybe gone shopping afterward. There's a fantastic restaurant down the street, too. There we could've enjoyed a nice dinner to end the night."
Her words hung in the air like a trap laid with precision. Rito froze mid-motion, the vial in his hand just shy of his lips, eyes going wide in something between shock and disbelief. "Wait… are you being serious, a d-dat—umph!"
Whatever answer he was about to get vanished in a choke as Emiya clamped a hand over his jaw and shoved the vial's contents down his throat in one smooth motion. Rito gagged, coughing as smoke erupted around him, curling upward in thick white plumes. The sudden flare of mist startled the Amazons. A few staggered forward on instinct, ready to counter what they assumed was an ambush, only to collapse back when their battered limbs betrayed them.
"Cough—cough! Nii-san!? Why?!" The protest rang out from inside the smoke.
The former Servant of the Bow exhaled slowly, his expression carrying the weary patience of an older brother cleaning up another of his younger sibling's messes. "Because I'm not about to let my youngest brother fall for a mischievous goblin who only wants to play dress-up with her new toy," he said, voice even but firm. His eyes slid to Haruna, sharpening in faint disapproval. She didn't flinch, just stuck out her tongue in an impish gesture, clearly unbothered.
"You're becoming more like your sister," Emiya muttered under his breath, listing names as if ticking off a mental warning. "And Risa… and Mikado…" The further the list went, the heavier the thought pressed on him. A glimpse of what she might become in the future at this rate formed in his mind, and he turned toward Rito with a shade of concern, imagining how this girl could easily lead him by the nose if he stayed like that.
The smoke cleared, and there stood Rito in his original form, shoulders slumping in visible relief. The leopard-print bra he'd been wearing moments ago, which was a size too small in his female form, slid to the ground. His hands darted downward in a hurried check if his jewels were back or not, "They're back! Everything's back to normal! I can finally breathe without worrying about these clothes snapping off!"
"A man?!" One Amazon lurched upright, voice breaking in disbelief. "What kind of sorcery is this?!"
"That can't be possible! I checked down there when we brought her here earlier! She's definitely a woman!"
"You also checked if the man with the funny red and white hair was a woman or not, and thought she was one of our own sisters!"
"Don't blame me, his disguise was too perfect! Besides, you all fell for it as well until his boobs fell off!"
Mentally, Emiya gave a silent nod of thanks to the unknown Amazon warrior who had spoken, impressed by her amazing deduction and how she spoke pure facts.
"See? I told you he was my brother," he declared proudly to the chieftess, whose expression froze in disbelief. Her eyes drifted to Rito, who now stood in a simple loincloth, bouncing with excitement and completely unbothered by modesty, overjoyed to be back in his own flesh.
"You outsiders are quite strange. Do you also possess the ability to change genders?"
"I do not," Emiya replied flatly. Having the same ability as Ren and Run sounded like a nightmare.
"It's alright, there is no shame in admitting it." The chieftess tilted her head, a sultry smile tugging at her lips. "I would be more than happy to handle both versions of you."
"Sounds to me like you're looking for round two of our fight."
"That would indeed be the second-best possible way to end this night. After all, a warrior does not back down from a fight of any kind~!"
"…"
His brow twitched. This chieftess certainly had a sharp tongue. Guess the beating she took earlier taught her something after all. Namely, that well-chosen words were a better weapon against him than her spear could ever be.
"Oh no, you don't!"
A sudden flash of pink darted to his side, clinging tightly to his arm. Lala stood there, her usual carefree smile gone, replaced with a narrowed look aimed at the Amazoness leader. It wasn't a dangerous glare by any means, but it carried enough stubbornness to make her intent clear.
"Shirou is mine! I won't share him with you! And he doesn't like you, so stop it," she declared, before tugging at his arm and pulling him away without hesitation.
The chieftess, surprisingly, didn't raise a protest. Instead, to Shirou's bewilderment, the woman bowed her head slightly to Lala, her tone solemn and oddly submissive. "As you command. I shall be more than happy with being another of his concubines, Mistress."
He didn't even want to know what all that was about… Rather than correcting them, he found his attention snagged on something else: the way Lala was acting. It was different from her usual bright and cheerful self, and he couldn't help but comment on it.
"Are you actually jealous?" he asked plainly, his voice carrying genuine curiosity.
"Jealous?" Lala blinked in confusion, as if the word had never occurred to her before. Her expression shifted from surprise to a faint frown. "I was being jealous?"
"Well, you did just pull me away from the Amazon chieftess twice now," he pointed out. "You even threw her earlier, hard enough to break what intact bones she had left after our fight. And you've been glaring at her the entire time since we got to this village. So yeah, that counts as jealousy, in my humble opinion at least. Are you afraid I'll accept her proposal or something?"
"Of course not!" she shot back immediately, her voice firm and without a hint of hesitation. "She's clearly not your type, and you said so yourself that you didn't want to become her mate or whatever."
"Then I'll ask you again. Why are you acting like this?"
She fell silent. Her gaze wandered upward as she hummed softly, tapping a finger against her chin in thought. "I… don't know." The tone of her voice didn't carry a single trace of a lie. Lala genuinely sounded lost, unable to explain her own behavior. "After hearing that they wanted to drag you into their village just to use you to give them endless babies, I just got super angry!" she admitted with a puff of frustration, making her look almost like a chipmunk.
"But it's not like they could actually force me," he replied calmly. "They're still human. Sure, their endurance and durability are a bit above normal, but that's about it. I've fought worse."
"You did," Lala answered softly, her words carrying truth without any need for flourish. "I never doubted that you'd win."
After all, she was there when he fought other fiancé candidates who were after her, when he stood against her father briefly — though that wasn't even a fight — and even when he defeated Zastin, the man everyone called one of the strongest champions in the galaxy who served the Emperor.
Her voice faltered slightly as she stared at him, still puzzled by her own feelings.
"I… I don't know why. It's hard to explain," Lala admitted at last. Then, as if brushing aside the confusion, she gave him one of her usual smiles, a wide, bright expression filled with innocence and pure affection, free of malice. "I think I just don't want to see you in a bad situation or surrounded by bad people, even if you're more than capable of handling it. It makes you angry and a bit sad, I don't want that. There's nothing wrong with me worrying about you, right? You always worry about everyone else, too. After all, you're human too."
"And what if I wasn't human?"
The words slipped out before he could stop them. He didn't even know why he said it. Maybe it was a stray thought breaking through, something that bypassed the usual guard he kept up. Or maybe he had let that guard fall too far around her. Nonetheless, his voice stayed calm, but his question lingered between them like a weight.
"So far," he continued after a breath, "I'm the only human you've ever met with abilities anything like mine. Everyone else you've come across either has alien blood somewhere in their family or was born with some kind of minor supernatural quirk, even if they started out as human. The most unusual one, aside from me, is a ghost. But what if, someday, we find out I'm not human at all?"
Lala cutely tilted her head.
"I don't see why that would matter," she said without hesitation. "I like Shirou because you're Shirou. Not because you're human. Not because of magic or anything else. No matter what you are or what you become, I'll always love you. I'll always worry about you, too. Mama told me she feels the same way about Papa. He's by far the strongest person she's ever known, but that doesn't stop her from worrying every time he leaves for work. Do you hate the idea that I care about you?"
Her words lingered, but his mind drifted away from them. The world around him blurred, trees, wind, faint sounds of life, and left him standing alone with thoughts he'd spent years thinking on.
There were nights when he thought back to the beginning. His arrival here had never made sense. Too many questions piled up, each one heavier than the last. A normal reincarnation? He doubted it. The chances of pulling all of the records of a Heroic Spirit within the Throne of Heroes and dropping them here should have been zero. For a long time, he wanted to believe this was just another life, some peaceful afterthought gifted to him. But then the cracks started to show.
He remembered what he saw inside Lala's virtual world, those strange descriptions etched into his stats that served no purpose in the game whatsoever and looked suspiciously familiar. He took notes of them, then pushed them to the back of his mind. But the memory never really left him. The words burned quietly in his thoughts, and the current rate of change to his body only fueled the fire.
'Did I just possess the body of a kid here? Another version of Emiya Shirou? Do I still have my Saint Graph rewriting everything piece by piece? Would I count as a pseudo…'
It wasn't impossible. If it had started early enough, while the body was still in its fetal stage, there'd be no memory clash, and he'd be in full control. That theory made sense in ways he hated to admit. And if it was true, then his life here wasn't a gift. It was a countdown towards a good outcome or a bad one; he could not tell.
He didn't know what waited for him at the end of that timer. Salvation? Damnation? It didn't matter. The real question lingered: who or what put him here? Who made that choice, and why? Was there a purpose behind all this?
A miracle? No. That word didn't belong in his life. Nothing good ever came to him without a cost. He had learned that truth long ago. And as much as he wanted this, this quiet life, this strange paradise with family and peace, he had accepted the truth long ago. Everything ends after a certain point.
"Shirou?"
Her voice cut through his spiraling thoughts. He blinked and found Lala looking at him, her expression soft but laced with worry. She must have noticed how long he'd been silent. Her fingers curled around his arm, gentle but firm, and then her head rested on his shoulder as if anchoring him to the present.
The warmth of that simple gesture eased something inside him. For a second, he thought about dodging the question. He thought about lying. But in the end, he smiled faintly and spoke the truth he could give.
"No," he said quietly. "I don't mind if you worry about me. I know I can be a handful sometimes."
"Then I'll keep worrying about you forever!" she said, her face lighting up with an energy only she could carry. "Till the end of time! Wait — does that mean you'll be my husband!?"
He let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "Not exactly. Friends, family, even acquaintances all worry about each other."
"Then what does that make me?"
He shrugged, lips curling into something between amusement and resignation. "At this point, I'm just used to having you around. I don't think about whether you need to leave or stay."
It wasn't much of an answer, but to her, it was enough. Her eyes gleamed with joy before she leaned in without a hint of hesitation and pressed her lips against his, her kiss bold and unrestrained, seeming to get better each time.
"I like that answer," she whispered to him, voice bright with certainty. "That's enough for me."
"…Thanks, Lala."
"Eh, sorry to ruin your moment, but can you not flirt so openly in front of everyone here? You're making everyone feel a little depressed for being single, and honestly, it's embarrassing." Mikan's voice cut through the atmosphere like a sharp snap, dragging them back to reality. Emiya blinked, suddenly aware that every single eye in the clearing was on him. The Amazons had turned their heads in curiosity, their gazes sharp and assessing. Momo, on the other hand, seemed starstruck, her lips parting as if she had just stumbled onto the climax of a romantic drama. Beside her, Nana had buried her face in her hands, her fingers trembling slightly as they hid her crimson expression, though she peeked through the gaps as if unable to tear herself away from the unfolding scene. It was the look of someone secretly hooked on a season finale they'd been secretly looking forward to for months.
Haruna sat apart from the others, oddly quiet. Her eyes weren't on anyone in particular, just fixed somewhere distant, a blank expression masking her thoughts. She sipped from her third drink without so much as a twitch of amusement or discomfort, her composure almost unsettling compared to the others' reactions. Yami, in contrast, paid no attention at all. She remained seated on a smooth boulder near the fire, calmly tearing into a piece of meat from one of the beasts they had hunted earlier, her eyes glinting faintly in the light as if the entire conversation was nothing more than background noise.
"What a wonderful relationship you have, Sir Emiya. I can see why the princess chose you!" The deep, hearty voice of the chieftess rang out with unrestrained approval. Her towering presence carried authority, yet there was something genuinely respectful in her tone. "You are also a marvelous hunter in addition to being a peerless warrior, and for that, you have earned the everlasting respect of myself and all my sisters! Now, let us share one last drink before you return to your homeland, so that we may reminisce about this glorious hunt for years to come!"
Her declaration brought a brief silence before the group exchanged awkward glances, the tension softening as they adjusted to the sudden cheer. Laughter and chatter gradually resumed, and for another hour, the gathering lingered in the village. The crackle of the fires, the rhythmic sound of drums from distant huts, and the occasional laughter of Amazons mingled with the jungle breeze. Eventually, it was time to depart. The ship, now disguised as an old wooden boat, bobbed gently at the edge of the river's shore. Its primitive form belied the advanced technology hidden beneath its planks, a deliberate choice to avoid alarming the local inhabitants. Once far from sight, it would revert to its original sleek design and ascend into the skies.
The Amazons assembled near the shoreline, offering their farewells with solemn pride. As Emiya stepped aboard, the chieftess approached once more, her heavy footsteps impacting on the mud and rocks. She stood before him, her expression calm yet carrying an odd weight, as if her next words bore more significance than mere parting pleasantries.
"Will this be our last meeting?" she asked quietly, her dark eyes steady.
"I don't know," he replied with honest simplicity. "But if I can give some advice, regardless of how well things ended between us, you might want to work on how your tribe welcomes guests, especially male ones. Trying to capture people and turn them into breeding stock doesn't exactly make anyone eager to return. Stopping that kind of 'tradition' might make the idea of visiting again a bit more… attractive."
For a moment, she studied his face. Then, to his mild surprise, she nodded with an air of sincerity, as though she truly intended to consider his words.
"About what I asked before," she continued after a pause, "you never gave me an answer."
"Eh?" He blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I asked if, once all your worries, your enemies, and your burdens were gone… would you consider our offer then? Would you be willing to become our husband and give us daughters?"
There it was again. Persistent, wasn't she? Emiya exhaled slowly, meeting her gaze. "Listen, with the kind of people I have to deal with and the trouble that seems to land on my doorstep every other week, I don't think you could handle it. So the chances of that happening are close to zero. That's why your offer will never work."
"We can always try," she countered without hesitation.
"People can dream," he said, his voice calm but firm, "but reality doesn't accept dreams so easily. Still… if you manage to pull off a miracle, then I suppose we'll see from there. At best, I could help you find somewhere less dangerous than this."
The chieftess nodded again, her lips curving faintly in something between determination and serenity. "Plans can change, and so can people. I believe one day our actions will change your mind. Farewell, Emiya." From her back, she drew a wrapped bundle and tossed it toward him. He caught it instinctively, the weight solid in his hand. Pulling the wrapping open, he found a necklace of pale bone fragments strung with coarse black thread.
"…Bones?" he murmured.
"It is made from the carved teeth of Ginga Kong, strung with his own hair," she explained with pride. "I added a fang from a titanoboa I personally slew just last week. That Nana girl said they were extinct in your world. Take it as a gift from me."
The necklace was rough, primitive, yet there was artistry to it. Exotic, unlike anything he had seen before. He accepted it without objection, fingers brushing over the polished ridges of the bone. But as he opened his mouth to thank her, a sudden realization struck him, pulling a hint of embarrassment to his face.
"…A bit late to ask this, but I never actually got your name."
The chieftess chuckled lightly. "The fault for that lies with me as well. I've grown used to being called Chieftess. It slipped my mind." Straightening her posture, she added, "My name is Yara."
"That's a good name," Emiya said with a small nod. "It suits you. Thank you for the gift, Yara."
After everyone gathered, Emiya and the others boarded the ship. Prince Carter stood atop the boarding ramp, counting heads to make sure none of their group had been left behind. His sharp voice rang out in a calm tone, signaling the last check before departure. It was then that Lala suddenly tilted her head, realizing something.
"Wait, where is Momo?" she called out, scanning the deck.
"Here!" The response came from the shoreline. The group turned to see Momo waving energetically from the beach, her hands lightly adorned with a few small trinkets that shimmered under the sun. Judging by their simple yet artistic shapes, they were likely gifts from the Amazons themselves. Momo jogged closer, her expression carrying no sign of guilt, only her usual easy smile.
"Sorry! I was just chatting with them for a bit. They're such fascinating people, you know? I couldn't leave without learning a few things about their customs, and I wanted to give them a small present too," she explained in her usual upbeat tone, the small stones lining the shore crunching beneath her boots as she stepped back onto the boarding platform.
Prince Carter nodded politely, though his posture held the rigid bearing of someone eager to conclude matters. "That was very considerate of you, Princess Momo. Now then, let us be on our way. I have affairs waiting for me on my homeworld that demand my immediate attention."
With that, the vessel began pulling away from the shore. What started as a wooden ship gliding over calm waves soon picked up an unnatural velocity, cutting through the river with almost no resistance. For those who understood sailing, its speed made no sense at all; the sails hung slack with no wind to fill them, yet the bow of the ship sliced ahead as though driven by invisible engines. The Amazons, however, showed no curiosity at the anomaly. They stood along the shoreline, waving their arms until something else also came by from behind the trees.
"Ah, that's Kong!" Haruna exclaimed, observing the giant gorilla, who was in a far worse shape than any Amazoness. His face had been rendered unrecognisable, with every square inch pummeled black and blue. His hands and arms were also covered in leaves, clearly meant to act as primitive bandages.
"Surprised he's still alive," Emiya commented, starting to accept the fact that everyone on this island was just unreasonably durable. "He's here for revenge?"
"I… don't think so?" Haruna hesitated at first, but then waved her arm, a gesture it tried to mimic but failed, instead grinning and showing several missing teeth. "He seems sweet."
"I don't see it," said the former Servant next to her, noticing that it tried to hide its bald head with a crudely made tree hat. Soon, the figures were reduced to distant silhouettes against a shimmering horizon.
Before long, the hidden hunting reserve became nothing more than a faint smudge swallowed by the haze of jungle mist, and then they passed through the waterfall, keeping it hidden from prying eyes. At that moment, the ship itself began to shift. Its wooden hull rippled and hardened, transforming into sleek plates of metal that glowed faintly with advanced energy lines. The sound of timber giving way to steel filled the air before the entire structure lifted free from the water with a low hum. Now an interstellar craft, it climbed steadily, the scenery below shrinking to a featureless landscape as the vessel followed the same path it had taken upon arrival.
Seated by one of the viewports, Emiya allowed his eyes to remain fixed on where he knew the Amazoness village was hidden. A subtle breath escaped him, carrying neither regret nor longing. For all the strangeness of this excursion, it had not been as troublesome as he feared.
"Shirou, look!" Mikan's voice cut through the quiet hum of the ship. She was kneeling near one of the benches with a small bundle in her hands. "I got some gifts from the Amazon girls. Want to see what they gave me?"
"Sure," he replied, rising from his seat and walking over, his steps steady against the gentle vibration of the ship's engines. "Let's see what they came up with to give a girl your age."
The others began to gather as well, curiosity pulling them toward the collection of items, their voices mingling in casual chatter.
{Break}
-Sainan-
Night draped itself over the skyline, the city lights flickering against the glass of high-rise buildings. On the roof of one such apartment complex, two terror-filled screams shattered the still air before cutting off into choking silence. Two figures stumbled toward the rooftop's exit, their movements frantic, driven by nothing but fear. Both bore features that marked them as anything but human. One resembled a member of Lacospo's race, a Gaamian. The other was taller, dressed in layers of extravagant cloth and glittering jewelry now stained a deep violet by the slick of their own blood. He looked more human, but with clear scales around his face.
"Please, no!" the taller alien gasped, stumbling as he tried to speak. "We'll never come back to this planet! We'll stay out of this, I swear! Just let us—urk!"
A flash tore across the space between them, silver and swift. It carved through his neck before he could finish his plea. His body convulsed as the wound erupted in a spray that stained the rooftop tiles, the metallic scent of blood cutting into the night air. He clawed at his throat in vain, legs buckling before life drained from his eyes, leaving them glassy and hollow.
A bright voice broke the silence, carrying a juvenile tone that didn't belong in such a scene. "Funny. Just a minute ago, you were talking all big. Acting like you could boss me around because you knew some royal brat from some far-off planet I couldn't care less about." A short laugh followed, light and cutting. "Guess you weren't that tough after all. Still, I gave you a quick end. That's generous, right?"
The remaining alien froze, eyes fixed on the sight before him, the hair. Crimson strands floated in the air like living threads, their ends twisted into a blade that still gleamed with fresh blood. Before his eyes, the weapon unraveled, reforming into loose locks that slid back into the ponytail of the girl standing ahead. She was still dressed in a Sainan High uniform with not a drop of blood on it, her face lit with an innocent smile that clashed horribly with the violence she'd left in her wake.
To him, she was no longer a student, but a monster wearing a school uniform.
"I-I w-was just his bodyguard," he stammered, collapsing to his knees, his entire frame shaking. "Please… let me go. I'll disappear, I swear! I'll leave this system, go to the edge of the galaxy if I have to. You'll never hear from me again. It'll be as if I died here tonight!" Tears streamed unchecked down his cheeks, each word spilling in a frantic rush.
"Eeeeh? Is that so?" Her tone dripped with playful curiosity, though her eyes held no softness. "Sounds tempting… and honestly, your blood reeks. Like sewer water."
"Yes! Yes, it smells awful! It's not worth the trouble!" His voice cracked as panic consumed him. "You'll never see me again, n-not in a hundred years, not in a thousand! I promise!"
"A thousand? That's so long! It's amazing! But… how can I trust you?" the redheaded girl asked, tilting her head slightly, her expression softening with curiosity. A small pout formed on her lips as she considered his words with an almost childlike innocence. "You could be lying. Lying is bad. You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"
"I am not a liar! I have never lied since the day I left my mother's womb!" he shot back, his tone sharp with certainty. "In my world, lying is a crime punishable by death. Lying? I don't even know what that is supposed to mean."
"Wow, so they really do exist… people who can't lie! That's great!" she said, her voice bright with excitement as she moved closer. Each step she took sent a chill crawling up his spine, his heart drumming harder in his chest as dread seeped in.
"Mea, stop toying with the target. The contract only remains valid for another two hours before it expires," a voice called from behind, breaking through the tension.
"Ahhh… that's no fun," Mea replied with a playful sigh, though her eyes gleamed with something far less innocent. "But alright."
He didn't even have time to raise a hand in protest before her long ponytail twisted into a glimmering blade. The weapon shot forward and drove itself through his chest with brutal precision. A sharp gasp escaped his throat as the steel pierced his heart, leaving behind a gaping hole where life had been. His body staggered backward, crumpling beside the other fallen figure, another alien reduced to lifeless flesh. The world dimmed for him before he could even form words, silence consuming his last breath.
"That should be all for today," Mea chirped, retracting the deadly strand of hair as though nothing had happened. Her voice was light, almost cheerful. "Can we go to the mall now and get that ice cream sundae? It looked so sweet and tasty!"
"We will. But first, tell me everything you've learned about him so far," came the distorted voice again, resonating like a whisper from the void.
"Same as usual," she began, swaying on her heels, her tone casual. "Plenty of rumors floating around at school. One guy said he's secretly a gigolo working in a shady night bar, paid to seduce girls so they'll spend all their savings and end up drowning in debt, which is why I needed to stay away from him. Another rumor says he's a vampire who drinks the blood of young virgin girls to become stronger and more handsome. Oh, and then someone else claimed he's planning to dye his hair blonde and make himself even more tan so he can start taking other people's girlfriends into hotels for some reason. Weird stuff, right?"
"You know what I mean," the voice cut in coldly.
Seeing that her partner wasn't in the mood for jokes, the redhead puffed her cheeks out in another pout but continued without protest. "There's actually nothing concrete about him. Records show he had biological parents, but after some digging, it turns out those names were fake. No one knows where he really came from or how he ended up here. The only reason anyone even knows his name is because the Yuki family took him in by pure chance when they found him as a baby, and his birth name was written on a note taped to him."
"…Continue monitoring the target."
"Okay!" she answered brightly, as if the task were a game. But a question sparked in her mind, and she tilted her head toward the black haze forming in the distance. "But can't I just walk up to him and ask everything directly like I did last time? I even tried to match our clothes!"
"No. He will lie, and more likely than not, he does not know the truth himself. But soon enough, we will be a family again."
A slow smile spread across Mea's face, her crimson eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. "I can't wait to be reunited with Yami onee-sama… and Shirou onii-sama."
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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.