Beta read by Paragon of Awesomeness, Shigiya and FabledLife
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-Sainan-
Having been both a Counter Guardian and a Heroic Spirit summoned across countless instances, whether the reason for such being a Holy Grail War or a deployment from Alaya, it wouldn't be false to assume that Emiya had encountered so many scenarios to the point that very little could actually surprise him.
In this case, this wasn't the first time allies had been turned against him. He'd fought through wars where friends were twisted by curses, where Masters betrayed their Servants, where mind control magecraft turned comrades into enemies. While not exactly a rarity, it still remained an annoying problem to deal with. But this was different, for in this particular case, his enemies weren't hardened warriors or magi; they were his friends, his classmates, people who were not made to fight at all, aside from possibly Ren.
It didn't help that the one pulling the strings was doing it with a cruel, mocking flair.
"A pathetic human like you gave so much trouble to Golden Darkness. You defeated her, and so when I defeat you, it will mean I'm stronger than her, right? Already you are brought to your knees, my victory is already assured," Azenda's voice dripped with smug satisfaction. "I know your reputation and your prior actions against the deceased Prince of Gaama, Lacospo. But you won't harm your own friends, will you? Left alone, kill them. You're too soft for that."
"…"
Emiya's answer was silence. He simply stood there, his gaze sweeping over the faces of Oshizu, Ren, Nana, and Haruna. Their eyes were vacant, making it hard to tell what was going through their mind or if they were even aware of their surroundings. The lack of a response seemed to infuriate Azenda more than any retort could have.
"Humph, silence? Fine!" she screamed.
The first to move was Haruna, the closest to him. She lunged forward, her fist flying toward his face in a straightforward punch. Emiya moved to block, his plan simple: catch her arm, restrain her without causing unnecessary pain, and try to wake her from this trance.
"—!"
But the moment his forearm met hers, a shock of pain shot up his arm.
'Reinforcement!?'
He was pushed backwards, his feet skidding across the dirt from the force of the impact. What he'd expected to be a simple yet deceptively strong punch ended up being far more powerful than Haruna should ever be capable of.
'Can't be reinforcement, Haruna doesn't even possess inert Circuits, much less the ability to use magecraft. Doesn't seem like it's Azenda pushing her body alone to use so much strength, or else her arm would have snapped from that kind of strain—!' That flicker of surprise was all the others needed. He felt a gust of wind and then a sharp impact as Oshizu's foot connected with the side of his head. The world spun for a second before his body crashed through the trunk of a nearby tree, splintering wood and sending leaves flying.
"Did you really think I would have them fight you with their normal human strength?" Azenda's laugh echoed through the clearing. "My telekinesis power isn't just to take control. It's to enhance. I've turned them into the perfect weapons, and you have no way of winning!"
Her triumphant laughter was cut short. A figure emerged from the dust cloud. "Hn!" Emiya walked out, his clothes dirty and torn, but his body otherwise unharmed. "I see, so it's your doing after all. I know Haruna is strong with her punches, but nothing that crazy. Still, using telekinesis to control and make someone stronger and more creative. No way Oshizu can move that fast; she can't even run away with such speed with a dog nearby," he said while casually brushing the dirt from his shoulders.
If Azenda's powers made them stronger, then it most definitely made them more durable as well, so that her own pawns' blows wouldn't hurt them and render them useless to her.
"Still, using others to fight your battles is a rather cowardly move, especially with how you talked yourself up as being one of the deadliest assassins in the galaxy to the point that you claim to be a challenger to Yami," he said, his voice calm. "But I suppose talk was really all I should have expected from you."
Azenda's eyebrows twitched with irritation. "You won't be saying such clever lines after I'm done with you!"
This time, Haruna charged again. Emiya was ready. He didn't try to meet her head on, for that was never his goal. Instead, he flowed around her, his movements smoother now that he understood what he was facing. He dodged a haymaker, deflected a kick, and sidestepped another punch. There was no struggle keeping up with her.
"Haruna, can you hear me?" he said, blocking another strike. Her face remained a blank mask. "No reaction, I see. Pure hypnosis? No… That still wouldn't explain the physical control. Maybe you can still hear and understand me, but cannot show it physically? Let's see… You punch with the force of a silverback gorilla even before Azenda enhanced you. With the way you toss Rito around anytime he stumbles into you, I'm amazed our whole school hasn't been calling you Miss Gorilla, but that's probably because they're afraid you'll do the same to them."
For a split second, the faintest hint of red colored her cheeks. It was gone in an instant, but he saw it. "So they aren't completely gone." They were all very much aware, trapped inside their own bodies.
Oshizu joined the fray, her movements a blur of speed. The two of them came at him from opposite sides. He ducked under Haruna's swing while simultaneously using his other arm to parry Oshizu's kick. He spun, using the momentum to avoid a follow-up punch from Haruna and create space.
"Sorry about this," he said to the bluenette just as she launched herself at him again. Instead of dodging, he caught her. In one smooth motion, he pivoted and threw her directly at Oshizu. As Haruna flew through the air, he went through the motions of Tracing, preparing to strike the woman responsible for all this down directly with an arrow. But before Haruna could land or before he even created an arrow to fire — Nana moved, standing in front of Azenda as a human shield.
"Tch," Emiya stopped, the Projection fading immediately. He raised an eyebrow. "Just how dirty can you play?"
"This isn't the first time I've seen you fight," Azenda shot back from behind Nana. "I know you'd go for my throat with long-range attacks the moment you got the chance. I'd be a fool to let you get close or give you room to fire an arrow after seeing what you were capable of doing against Nemesis. In a fight, the victor decides the story. So don't try to use words against me."
Crash!
He was pulled back into the fight as Haruna's punch, again backed by Azenda's power, blasted through a tree trunk where his head had been a second before. Oshizu was a phantom, her attacks too fast to follow easily.
'This is quite tricky,' he thought, ducking and weaving. 'Should I strike them with enough force to just render them unconscious? But they're regular people. An attack like that from me would be incredibly painful. I don't want to put them through that.'
His mind raced, trying to piece together the nature of her ability. 'It's not absolute hypnosis. It's not absolute control. The person being controlled is still in there, aware but unable to act. Like a puppet on a string, and she's the puppet master. I need to find a way to cut those strings. Saying embarrassing things does draw a reaction, but it doesn't affect their state more than that, unfortunately. I can't exactly call Rito here and have him get entangled with Haruna in order to restrain her.'
He briefly wondered if Rule Breaker would work, but he had a feeling that Azenda's powers were not based on magecraft, given the lack of any magical abilities in this world so far. Alien abilities somehow did not make them thaumaturgy in nature. He ran through dozens of plans in his mind, discarding them one by one. Finally, he settled on one that had the highest chance of success and would be the least painful… in theory.
Bursting forth with Reinforcement, he closed the distance between himself and Haruna faster than she could react, even in her enhanced state. Grabbing hold of her, he pulled the girl close.
"I'll be gentle," he whispered into her ear. "I'll make sure you don't get hurt." He placed his hand on her back, right between her shoulder blades, and released a very small, controlled burst of his own magical energy, intending it to be a jolt that would sever Azenda's control.
"Waah!"
But the next thing he heard was a loud, high-pitched scream. A fist, moving with even more force than before, came flying back at him. He blocked it, but the impact sent his body sliding several meters back. He felt frustrated that it didn't work until he saw Haruna on the ground. Her face was beet red, and she looked up at him with wide, teary eyes.
It wasn't an attack directed by Azenda. It was pure, unadulterated embarrassment.
Emiya smirked. "I see. You really do have naturally superhuman strength."
"W-Watch out!" Haruna exclaimed as a shadow appeared behind him. With him already being on the move, Emiya jumped away right in time as a fist came crashing onto the spot he had stood a second ago.
He landed lightly a few meters away, turning to see the source of the attack and seeing a certain pink-haired Devilukean girl with her fist still buried in the ground where he'd been standing, the impact creating a small crater, dirt and grass kicked up around her arm. The sheer force behind the blow is enough to easily turn a normal person's bones into powder.
'So, Nana is next,' he thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'She may not be Lala, but she's still a Devilukean and a daughter of Gid and Sephie at that. So it makes sense that they all possess that incredible superhuman strength, probably. But why has she never used it like this before? Was she always holding back, or is this another enhancement from Azenda's power?'
"Stand still!" Azenda growled, using Nana's body by having her pull her fist from the ground and lunging at him again.
She threw a series of wild, powerful punches. Each one was strong enough to shatter a boulder, but they were very telegraphed, their paths easy to predict. Emiya weaved between them, the wind from her attacks whipping at his hair. A kick from her missed, slamming into a large tree and snapping the trunk in half.
'In any case, it doesn't matter how much power she has,' he reasoned. 'If her speed is the same, it's just putting a bigger engine in a car with bad handling. The attacks are many times stronger, but that won't change the outcome if she can't hit me.'
Frustration boiled over in Azenda's eyes on the other side. She let out a yell and had Nana throw herself forward in a final, desperate lunge, aiming a punch directly at his chest. He simply dropped down, ducking under the attack and watching her fly over his head, her momentum carrying her past him. In that split second as she was exposed, he acted.
"A-Ah~!?'
From the beginning, he figured this would work. His hand shot out and grabbed hold of the second princess's tail.
Nana froze instantly, a strangled gasp escaping her lips. Her entire body went rigid, and she stopped mid-air and let him hold her up like a kitten being held from the scruff of its neck by its mother.
"At least her weakness hasn't changed," the redhead noted, standing beside her. "Though I suppose that one is universal for her race."
Just as he had with Haruna, he placed his hand on her back. "Don't worry, this won't hurt." He sent another precise pulse of magical energy into her. Nana shuddered, and the vacant look in her eyes vanished, clarity returning almost instantly. He then casually tossed her to where Haruna was still sitting.
"You two, get out of here. We can't be sure if she can retake control of you."
"H-Hey! Why did you have to grab me by the tail of all places?!" Nana complained, rubbing her lower back as she tried to stand. "And… my legs won't move! They feel like jelly!"
"Sorry about going for your tail. It was the quickest way," Emiya replied, not even looking at her as he sidestepped the next attacker. "I had other things to worry about." He had to dodge again as both Oshizu and Ren came at him at the same time. Oshizu was a blur of speed from one side, while Ren charged like a bull from the other. Instead of backing away, he stepped forward, planting a foot and dropping his center of gravity, letting Ren's charge slide past his shoulder while simultaneously leaning back to let Oshizu's kick sail over his head. The two attackers collided with each other in a heap of limbs behind him.
"No!" Azenda screamed, her voice shrill with fury. "I won't let you do that again! I won't give you the opportunity to break my control over the last two!"
On queue, Ren ran at him from one side, and so did Oshizu from the other. Now knowing his method worked, he did not need to create much distance between them and Traced a Black Key to immobilize Oshizu on the spot and turned his attention to Ren, who came in with a straight punch as always, something which he caught and used his opponent's momentum to throw him on the ground with a resounding thud.
A bit of dust flew in the air, irritating Ren's nose right as Emiya's hands were moving to send another pulse of magical energy through him.
"Achoo!"
Poof!
Only for his opponent to let out a loud sneeze and his hands to immediately rest upon a soft mound of flesh. The person before him turned into his sister, who just stared right back at him with a stunned face, while he felt his eyes twitch at the timing of it all. "E-Emiya…?"
Run muttered his name, leading him to at least be relieved that she was not under Azenda's control, too. Seeing her face grow beet-red at his hand placement that lasted for less than a second before he took it away. The man immediately let out an awkward cough while averting eye contact. "So, um… I was just trying to break the control. Didn't think you would change right at that moment… Sorry."
Worst of all, given Ren's clothes had been damaged because of the battle, she had practically appeared nude right under him. Their position only served to make the otherwise tense moment even more precarious.
"Please kill me…" she whispered pathetically, hiding her face behind her hands out of pure embarrassment.
Poor girl, now he felt like the bad guy. Without wasting a moment, he covered her up with a dark cloak and gave her some modesty. "If it's of any consolation, I made sure to shield my eyes."
But surprisingly, the Memorze princess shook her head. "No… It's not about that. I don't care if you see me naked… "
At least she hadn't changed, still as weird as ever.
"Why is it that every time that we meet, something happens to make things awkward or messy between us?" she whispered quietly, almost on the verge of tears. "I just wanted to have a single moment where I can hang out with you without anything stupid getting in between us. Even Ren has spent more time with you than me."
"I'm not sure this is a good moment to discuss such things." He tried to calm her down and have this conversation happen another time, but it seemed to only make her sadder.
She let out a despair-filled chuckle. "When is it ever the right time with you and me?" Run said. "I feel like I'm at the end of a long line, behind everyone in some way, shape, or form. Even other boys! And when I am trying to come up with a plan for our next meeting. The next thing I know, I'm fighting you! This is so unfair!"
Her shouts were turning into something more of a cry than anything else, with genuine sadness showing on her face. He couldn't help but sigh before getting up on his feet, pulling her up gently while keeping an eye on the others. "You know that this is not a competition, right? Rather than trying to plan out the perfect meeting where everything goes your way, just approach me in class without any plans. We'll make a day out of it, and you may find that life can be full of pleasant surprises."
"..."
"Stop trying to make everything a competition, too, just like it was with Ren in the beginning. You should learn to get along with Lala; she can help you out as well."
A sour expression appeared on her face. "I can never win against her…"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows, Lala is gifted, but she's not perfect. You won't know how to deal with her if you never hang out with the girl. So, give it a try." Hopefully, that would take her mind off of him as well.
The girl reluctantly nodded her head. "Sorry… for trying to attack you."
"That was Ren, not you. Just make sure you get out of here before—!"
A chill crawled up his spine at that moment, his arm moving quickly, and he grabbed the Memorzorian princess right as a white flash lit up the area.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust of air, followed by a deep gash onto the ground, formed in an instant, leading Run to go completely pale while Emiya watched in disbelief, for he barely even managed to catch that in time. 'An ambush? It wasn't aimed at me, but Ren? Above.'
Steel gray eyes looked up at the sky right in time to spot a single figure floating above, not Mea, who he knew was watching him without interfering the entire time. But instead, someone else.
"Yami?"
He almost did not recognize the blonde former assassin, for multiple reasons. First, there were the jet black angelic wings that stood in contrast to the clear blue sky. Then there was her choice of clothing, which was less… conservative compared to her usual set, with it being no different from a black lingerie dress with several areas of her body being left completely exposed and her chest barely hidden. Another noticeable change is the two pointed horns emerging from her head and the red metallic claws affixed to the ends of her fingers.
The next moment, she vanished.
"Aaah!"
And a pained scream echoed from where Azenda stood. The assassin's face scrunching up as blood splashed across the ground, watching as a deep gash appeared across her forearm, which she'd raised to protect her face while jumping away. Deep enough to nearly go all the way to the bone and possibly sever her limb had she not acted quickly. But in this state, it was already useless.
"Multiple threats detected. Assessing… Azenda the Tyrant identified."
"So you finally showed yourself, Golden Darkness!" Azenda screamed, using her non-injured hand to grab her still intact whip and use it against the newcomer. The weapon flew against Yami, reaching her in less than a second and intending to grab onto its target.
Something it never managed to accomplish, as several strands of blonde hair transformed into blades and lashed out so fast that they were nothing but a blur.
The result of this saw the whip fall to the ground, slashed into several pieces with only the hilt still intact.
"Tch!" Irritation filled Azenda's eyes, but her actions of creating some distance between them also failed, for Yami already stood just a short distance from her, her crimson eyes staring into the assassin with no emotions betraying her mental state… at first.
"You were trying to hurt him, weren't you?"
"Eh?" Caught off guard by the question, Azenda dumbly stood there as Yami finally showed a change in her expression.
"I don't like you," she said dryly, raising her hand as it turned into a blade, held above Azenda like a guillotine with her suddenly fearful eyes reflecting off the flat of the blade. "Disappear."
In the moment that Yami brought her blade down, Azenda's survival instincts screamed. She tried to leap away, to dodge, to do anything to escape the imminent death descending upon her. "Ugh, damn it!" But her efforts proved to be futile, for the woman soon discovered that she couldn't move. Axenda looked down in horror to see that Yami's hair, like golden serpents, had already wrapped around her ankles, pinning her in place. Her life flashed before her eyes, but the fatal blow never landed. Instead, a high-pitched sound echoed through the clearing.
Clang!
She opened her eyes and became stunned to see Emiya standing in front of her with Kanshou in hand, blocking Yami's attack. "Why are you…" Confusion warred with terror on her face. Why had he saved her?
He ignored her completely, his gaze fixed on the girl before him. "Yami, what are you doing?" he asked, his voice a bit strained from the effort he had put into blocking that attack. "I already have this handled. There's no reason for you to get involved."
The blonde stopped, her blade hovering in the air. She looked back at him, and as he was trying to figure out just what had caused this sudden change in her, the next thing he knew, she had dismissed her weapon and… jumped towards him, wrapping her arms around his torso in a tight hug.
"—?"
He was so unprepared for this particular action that his mind momentarily went blank.
"Onii-chan~!" she gushed, her voice cheerful and light, a stark contrast to her usual monotone. "I was so worried about you! I sensed a huge battle happening over here and came as fast as I could! Are you doing well? Did you get hurt?"
Completely caught off guard by this uncharacteristic behavior, Emiya was momentarily left speechless. He stood there, stiff as a board, with the former assassin clinging to him like a child, her tone even sounding like one.
"Hehehehe~! Onii-chan, Onii-chan!" Golden Darkness continued while rubbing her face against his chest, looking up at his face with a bright, innocent smile he had never seen on her before. "I managed to wound your opponent and push her into a corner! Did you see?" She made a face, her eyes wide and sparkling, that made it seem like she was expecting a reward.
"Onii… what?"
Not sure what else to do, he just hesitantly raised a hand and started patting her head, gently stroking her hair. It seemed to be what she wanted, maybe?
"Hehe," she laughed, a light, happy sound. "That feels nice. I hope we can stay like this forever and ever!"
He let out an awkward chuckle. "You seem… more… uh, more expressive than usual."
"It's because I get to spend time with my wonderful big brother!" she chirped, snuggling closer, her hair entangling around his limbs and body, though without it being painful at all.
"Brother?" Emiya repeated, utterly lost.
"Yes!" she said happily. "And I'm happy because I got to help you, too!"
"That's… nice of you," he managed to squeeze out with a forced smile, "but I already had it handled. Yami, were you planning on killing Azenda back there?"
"Yes," she answered without a single shred of hesitation.
"I'm pretty sure you wanted to move past that point in your life," he said. "Not that I am against killing her, given how dangerous her power is and who she might end up using it on if petty enough, but Zastin can always handle her."
"Really?" Her eyes lit up even more, if that was possible. "You were thinking about me? Hehehe!" She let out a weird but adorable laugh that really stood in contrast to her regular self. It felt like he was dealing with a little Mikan from years ago… but this clingy little girl was more dangerous in every way possible.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Despite her cute and friendly behavior, a chill crept up his spine just from being in her presence. "You haven't answered my question," he pressed. "Why did you try to kill Azenda?"
"Because I want to kill her," she stated simply, her smile still as bright as ever, saying it as if it were the most logical answer out there. "No, I need to kill her. She was being a threat to you." She hugged him tighter. "Any threats to my big brother will be eliminated from this world!" she happily declared with a cute smile, continuing to snuggle into his embrace.
"You… you don't need to kill anyone," he said gently. "I can handle myself. You can just relax and let me take care of things." He thought to himself that, despite knowing Yami's past as an assassin, there was something profoundly wrong with her current self. He couldn't let her continue like this; he felt something terrible would happen if he did. Not to mention, the others were still around.
But rather than listening, the look on her face turned strange, almost bone-chilling. "I can't do that," she said, her voice dropping slightly, though the smile remained. "Not until every person who is a threat to you and my family is gone," she continued. "Just sit tight and relax, Onii-chan. I've got this handled."
The girl moved away from him, her eyes scanning for her target, only to see that Azenda had taken advantage of their conversation to get as far away as she could.
Yami just chuckled. "Eeh, already running away? That's no fun! I'm not a big fan of hide-and-seek or tag, but it doesn't matter," she said aloud. "No matter how fast you run, you won't get away~!" She extended several strands of her hair, which morphed into sharp spearheads, which she then sent flying towards the fleeing Azenda.
Clang!
Clang!
But before the assassin could be skewered, Emiya rushed ahead, his blades a blur of motion as he deflected every single projectile.
This confused both Yami and Azenda once again.
He glanced back at the stunned woman behind him. "Before you come up with any sort of explanation, know that I'm not saving you for any personal reasons," he said quickly. "Something is not right with her. Yami, I'll say it again, you don't need to kill anyone. You don't need to keep me safe. All I want is for you to live a peaceful life, not be forced back into your old shell again."
"But we can't have a peaceful life, and you can't stay safe as long as any threat exists!" she argued, her voice rising with a strange conviction. "As your little sister, I have to protect my family!"
'What the hell happened to her!?'
Nothing about what she was doing made sense. He wondered if this had something to do with Azenda, given the timing, but clearly even the latter was surprised by this turn of events.
While Emiya was trying to figure out what the hell happened to her, Yami continued to talk. "No matter how hard you try, Onii-chan, there's always something or someone out to get you," she said, her arms crossed. "It's so frustrating! I hate it! So rather than always seeing you suffer, I'll just end every problem and resolve it all in a single day! Then we can all be together and be a family forever! So let me take care of the nuisances first. I'll make sure to end them quickly; they won't even know what hit them~!"
Her eyes then scanned the area and landed on Run, who was still trying to help Haruna and Nana to their feet, only to freeze when she felt Yami's gaze on her. "Me?" Run squeaked, pointing at herself in panic and glancing around in confusion.
"Yes, you," Yami said, her gaze unwavering. "You attacked him today. That means you've proven yourself to be a threat. In fact," she continued, her voice growing colder, "everyone currently here is a threat. You've all tried to harm him in the past in some way, shape, or form. So I'll make all of you disappear!"
Her hair split into several sections, each one aiming at a different person — Run, Haruna, Nana, and even Oshizu.
"Get back to your senses, Yami!" Emiya roared. He Projected several swords around him, firing them in rapid succession. Each one accurately targeted one of her hair spearheads, deflecting them harmlessly into the ground and protecting the others. "If you're going to continue to act this way, then I will have no choice but to use force against you and snap you back to reality!" he said while pointing one of his remaining blades directly at her. If the circumstances required him to take drastic action, then so be it.
Yami's eyes widened, a look of genuine confusion on her face. "Why would you do that? I'm just trying to protect you… and them."
"I'm trying to protect you from yourself!" he shot back. "From your own actions! I know you'll regret this after you come back to your senses!"
"But I am in my right state of mind!" she argued, stamping her foot slightly. "I've never felt more clear-headed than I do at this moment!"
"Doesn't matter. Whatever your reasons might be, you're not in the proper state of mind."
Yami's hair shadow obscured her eyes for a moment. "Fine," she said, her voice dropping to a low tone. "You might not understand my actions, but I'm doing this for your sake. You'll thank me later." She looked up, her eyes visible again. "But for now… Forgive me for this, Onii-chan." With that, she flew forward, continuing her assault on Azenda.
Just like before, he moved to intercept her, but this time she used violence against him. Her hair morphed into a giant fist as big as a human body and smacked him away. He groaned in pain at the blow but recovered mid-air, Tracing a bow and firing an arrow at her. It smacked Yami away just as her blade was inches from Azenda.
As he landed, a new voice spoke from behind him. "It's useless for you to do anything."
"What?" He turned and was surprised to see Mea.
"The real Yami has awakened."
"What nonsense is this?" he demanded.
"It's exactly what my Master was telling you from the beginning," Mea said.
As if on cue, a black swirl of energy formed beside the redhead, and Nemesis appeared with a playful smirk on her face. "Sorry, I arrived a bit late. I never expected this transformation to happen this early, but hey, it works out. Golden Darkness has finally reached her perfect state, as planned from the start."
Hearing her laid-back words, Emiya's patience snapped. Hands reaching over to the black-haired woman, he grabbed Nemesis by the collar and slammed her against the ground, his other hand holding a blade to her throat. "What did you do to Yami!?"
Strangely enough, Nemesis didn't fight back. She just chuckled, even as she was being held down, and looked back at him with a dry look that went past his eyes. "It's still amusing that you're using such weapons against me. They have no effect, and you know it. Also, I literally did nothing. It was all because of you. From the beginning, it was all your fault that she ended up like this."
His fault? He almost called her bluff and treated this as another attempt at taunting him. It seemed like she figured this idea to be floating in his mind, though.
"If you think I'm lying, then so be it. But just know that I have never once lied to you."
As much as he wanted to deny that, Emiya had to acknowledge that she had a point.
"What the hell do you mean by this being my fault…" he muttered, removing Kanshou from her throat but still not letting go of her clothes.
"It's quite simple. Golden Darkness was always designed to be a weapon of mass destruction," Nemesis explained calmly. "Her creators — not just Tearju, mind you — had long since programmed a failsafe in place to make sure their weapon of war would never become useless once her creation was complete." Yami tried to attack again in the middle of their conversation, but Emiya intercepted her by firing a volley of swords, buying him a few precious seconds.
"What is it? Get on with it!" he snarled at Nemesis.
"The failsafe is a mental one," Nemesis finally said. "It activates her Darkness form whenever it senses that she has achieved peace. It has happened before, but the transformation was only partial, thus reverting back to her regular self after a brief period of time. Now? I would count this as a full transformation, so there is no timer for you to take advantage of."
Emiya looked at her with an incredulous expression. A failsafe that only activated the moment she felt peace? It sounded convoluted beyond all reason. "Stop bullshitting me."
"Again, I'm not lying," she insisted. "You created such a perfect, peaceful environment for Yami that she truly let down her guard for the first time in many years. That caused her to be forcefully transformed into this weapon of mass destruction." She paused, then added with a thoughtful look, "I'll admit, I didn't expect her personality to be altered in such a way… For her to become this… protective, but also destructive kind of person."
"How do I reverse it?" Emiya demanded, his grip tightening on Nemesis's collar.
Nemesis just scoffed. "Reverse it? There's no reversing what she is. It doesn't work like that."
Just as his frustration hit its peak, he saw Golden Darkness in the distance, heading straight for Azenda and the others again. Cursing, he let go of Nemesis and rushed over. He fired more arrows, but this time Yami was ready, her hair forming a shield to block them. The force behind the arrows was still enough to push her back and force her to focus on him.
'I have no other choice but to push her back, away from the others,' he thought to himself. He continued his assault with a relentless barrage of arrows, pinning her to the ground with a volley of projectiles. One of the arrows exploded, releasing a thick cloud of smoke. Using the cover, he managed to create more distance between the two of them and the rest of the group, successfully drawing Golden Darkness away.
But as the dust cleared, he discovered she was nowhere to be seen. His eyes widened as a sudden, bad premonition engulfed him. He jumped away, twisting in mid-air to look behind him. He saw the air itself warp and shimmer, opening up a tear in space like a dark portal.
"She can teleport?" he exclaimed.
But that was a feint.
Another teleportation warp opened right next to him. "—!" Faster than he could move, a bunch of hair tendrils shot out, tangling themselves around his limbs. Yami emerged, once again embracing him before pushing him down to the ground with enough force to crack the earth beneath them.
"Hngh!"
That amount of force forced every bit of air out of his lungs, pushing him to gasp and hear a ringing noise in his ears for the next few seconds. His vision momentarily blurry despite having used Reinforcement to tank the damage, the amount of force still left him rattled. 'She's much stronger than when we first fought.'
Not even her strength, even her speed, had reached a level beyond what she showed previously.
"It's not fair," Yami said with a pout on her face, her hair pinning him down. "I'm doing this for your sake, for Mikan, and for Rito. Why are you protecting them? What's the point in keeping them around when they'll just keep causing more trouble again and again, Onii-chan! You know it's effective to end a threat once and for all, just like when you killed the others!"
"Because you're not in your right mind to make those decisions!" he grunted, struggling against her hair. "And you don't seem to be able to discern who is actually a threat or ally. I need to bring you back to your senses, one way or another!"
Knowing full well he wouldn't be able to overpower her with his strength alone, Emiya took a different approach and figured it would be easier to distract her for a short period of time. Tracing several massive greatswords right above them, they hovered like the Sword of Damocles, casting a shadow over the duo, with the blonde staring up curiously.
"Eeeh, don't tell me you're…" As if to confirm her thoughts, he let them fall from the sky. "Ah, what are you doing, Onii-chan!"
The shock of it made Golden Darkness gasp, her hair instantly letting go of his limbs to create a shield above them both.
'Now!'
In that moment of freedom, light flashed around Yami. Blue motes of light coalesced in the shape of several thin and simply designed short swords, which immediately pierced her shadow upon forming. Rendering the girl immobile, an equally sized weapon whose blade gleamed within an ocean blue hue was engraved upon the metal itself.
"Ha!" He clutched the sword in his hand before plunging it straight into her chest, before she could block or teleport away.
"Ah!"
Very little pain came, for the weapon did not pierce her chest any deeper than the first few layers of skin. Its effect took hold, and a thin layer of ice grew upon contact, surrounding her body as if it had a mind of its own until a large part of her got trapped in a frozen prison.
A flash of light enveloped them. As the light died down, Yami looked back at him with the same crimson eyes as before, her expression one of confusion. Without even so much as a movement or a word, several smaller portals opened on the ground where the Black Keys were summoned. Getting rid of them as soon as they were formed. "Ooooh, I knew something about those swords felt weird." The ice itself shattered with the hair doing most of the work.
He clicked his tongue. "It didn't work after all." There were doubts about it working even before, but he had to give it a shot just in case. "Guess I'll have to just try to force you to wake up through other means."
The girl just chuckled. "Hehehe, like always, Onii-chan has lots of amazing weapons. Were you trying to kill me?"
A sigh escaped his lips. "I can say the same for you. I didn't know you could teleport."
She giggled, a cute, innocent sound. "I can do much more! I can show it all to you, and we can do stuff like this together forever!"
He smiled sadly. "Was what we had before not satisfactory for you? Is that why you're going so far?"
"No!" she said quickly. "It's because it was so satisfying that I don't want anything or anybody to ruin it! But now… There is nothing between us; we can be together like a true family! In fact, let's fight one another right now, holding nothing back!"
The bright look in her eyes slowly started to get more twisted and darker.
"We let our true selves out, we become the weapons we were always meant to be, and become one! What stronger bond is there aside from this? Siblings? Family? We can become something beyond that! Just us… the two of us! Foreve—Oof!"
Whatever she was about to say next never came, for suddenly, two white boots appeared in his vision, kicking Yami away with tremendous force, strong enough to cause a small shockwave. Emiya watched in shock as a certain pink-haired princess appeared, wearing her ridiculous Peke dress, which he hadn't seen her wear in a long time.
"Lala?" he called out.
The girl just gave him a goofy grin. "Hi, Shirou! Rito told me something strange had happened to Yami, so I came over to check!"
He smiled with amusement. "That was… quite an entrance."
Lala's eyes began to sparkle. "Did you like it? I saw it in an anime and always wanted to try it out myself! Oh, how are you? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," he said, taking Lala's hands as she offered to help him up. "Worry more about Yami. With that kind of strength behind your attack, even I wouldn't guarantee being able to keep my head attached, or not have it burst into pieces."
"It's okay~! I made sure not to use too much strength!"
At this point, he was not surprised, given he had gotten a taste of how ridiculously powerful she could be. Still, part of him worried about the now transformed former assassin.
On the other side, Golden Darkness got up from the rubble, having no visible wounds on her body whatsoever, but still groaning angrily. "Geez, why do people always have to come and ruin my private moments with Onii-chan again and again!?" She then looked at Lala, and her gaze sharpened. "You!"
"Hi, Yami!" Lala waved cheerfully. "By the way, why are you suddenly evil?"
"It's some sort of forced transformation from Solgam's conditioning of her," Emiya explained, rubbing his shoulders and already feeling soreness from getting slammed into the ground. Not having a Servant's body sure did limit him in several ways. "According to Nemesis, this is a forceful transformation that activates whenever she is living a peaceful life, made to revert her back into acting as a weapon of war."
"Oh," Lala said, her expression turning genuinely worried. "Can it be reversed?"
"There has to be a way," Emiya said with a complicated expression, "but I haven't found it yet."
"Get away from him!" On the other side, Yami glared at them, more specifically, Lala. "She's also part of the problem. She needs to be eliminated."
Lala looked surprised by those words. "Why? I would never cause Shirou any problems!"
"Because of your existence!" Yami shot back. "You're the entire reason he has to deal with all these aliens that come after him! Had you not appeared, all of this nonsense with fiancé candidates and other assassins wouldn't exist!"
Her hair transformed into a giant blade the size of a house that swept down upon them, cleaving the land.
"Hold on!" They managed to evade just in time as Lala grabbed him and carried them up into the sky.
With the wind rushing across his face, Emiya stared back to see Yami staring up at them. "Careful, she can use teleportation and can attack you from anywhere at any time!"
"Really? That's amazing! I had no idea she could do that?"
At the exact same moment, several portals around them opened at once, with thick strands of hair transformed into weapons and swords shooting out of them, each one aimed at the princess, who somehow managed to evade most of them, though a few managed to cut through her armor. Though for some reason, the areas that got hit just happened to be only the chest and her lower region, immediately turning the previously silly-looking armor into something rather erotic, much to his dismay.
"L-Lala-sama! Please forgive me! I tried to increase my durability, but it did not work!"
"Don't talk, Peke! I'm trying to focus on evading here!"
Not wanting to leave her open to any dangerous attacks, Emiya used the same method as earlier by using his own Traced weapons to counter anything that came out of those portals. At some point, several dozen of them were created around them, with Yami shooting hundreds of strikes from her hair from a variety of different angles. Some of them had been transformed into swords or spears, and the others were shaped into fists, trying to grab hold of and immobilize them.
Seeing this, the former Counter Guardian couldn't help but feel a strange sense of familiarity. As if he were back in Fuyuki, dealing with a certain King of Heroes, except that one had never chased him down while screaming at Lala to give her brother back while trying to kill her.
"Just continue flying, get us as far away from the town as you can!"
"Are you sure? I think Rito also went to inform Zastin and the others."
Zastin? As powerful as that guy was, Emiya did not hold that much confidence in his chances against Yami. "No, it won't change the outcome, and I am not trying to harm her. I'm trying to snap her out of this transformation. And even if I have to use force, I'd rather not do it somewhere populated."
After flying quite a distance away from Sainan, another portal appeared in the sky before them. From there, Yami emerged, her expression a mixture of frustration and anger.
"I'm getting tired of this game of tag!" she yelled. "I just want to play with my big brother alone, but other people keep getting in the way and ruining everything! You should all disappear!"
She rushed forward again, both her arms transforming into swords.
"Oh no, you don't!" Lala, however, was prepared. She took out one of her inventions, a device shaped like a grenade but covered in pink frills and cute animal designs. She threw it at Yami, and it exploded — not with force, but with a cloud of fluffy plush toys that enveloped the assassin.
"Go-go, Fluffy-Fluffy-Puffy-Cloud-Kun!" Lala cheered. "The more you struggle against it, the fluffier and more resistant it becomes!"
Truly, there was never a day that went by when he wasn't astonished by her inventions. From migraine-inducing inconvenience to now ridiculously convoluted but somehow convenient, it was just hard to have a good read on them. "At least this one worked… Hm?" Just then, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen — Ryouko.
He picked it up and immediately heard Tearju's frantic voice on the other end rather than the nurse's. "Emiya-kun, did Yami transform!?"
He wasn't surprised that she knew. "Is there a way to stop this?" he asked immediately.
"There shouldn't be," Tearju began, "it was a failsafe—"
"I don't need the explanation, Nemesis already told me!" he interrupted, still getting a headache from that ridiculous idea these people from Solgam had. "I just want answers!"
Whoosh!
"Aaaah, annoying!"
As he said this, Yami managed to set herself free from the plush toys and flew towards him, but Lala intercepted her with another invention. A large koala bear-like robot, the size of a house, was summoned in the air and fell on top of Yami, slamming down on her and sending them both to the ground with the velocity of a comet.
"Take this! Super-Cuddly-Koala-King-Z!" Lala shouted, doing a peace sign.
This time, Emiya helped out. Yami cut the robot in two in a matter of seconds and flew towards Lala, but he shot an arrow at her, forcing her to dodge and briefly diverting her attention. He continued speaking on the phone. "There has to be some way to reverse this. You're still her creator; you can think of something!"
The woman on the other end fell silent for a moment. "They are... mostly just hypotheses, not concrete solutions," she admitted.
Meanwhile, several portals opened around him, which he dodged as Yami started getting angrier. "Why are you avoiding me, Onii-chan~!?" she screamed. "Don't you care about your sister who just wants to be with you and protect you? Are you not having fun, or is it because of her?"
He ignored her and yelled into the phone, "Tearju!"
His shout jolted the woman. "Okay! If you can manage to subdue and restrain Yami for a short amount of time, I can come over there and work on her body to suppress that Darkness Transformation! I-I can create a function that will cut off the trigger in her mind and rewrite its original command into something else!"
At the same time, the sky suddenly went dark. Both Lala and Emiya watched in disbelief as Yami's hair formed into a single sword the size of a mountain, dwarfing everything in sight.
Yami screamed. "I will make sure to destroy everything that poses any sort of threat to you! Even if that means destroying this city and the planet itself!"
"L-Lala-sama, t-that kind of energy…" Even Peke began to panic.
Emiya felt a very rare kind of dread he had only previously experienced when faced against a very few kinds of Noble Phantasms. Those who possessed the power to easily reshape landscapes or destroy entire countries with a single use. Or in this case, cleaving the entire planet in half. This kind of power was now radiating off of that giant blade that continued to grow in size and gather more energy to the point it started to illuminate the sky and overpower the light from the sun itself.
"...Restraining her will be a difficult task," he told Tearju. "What's the second option?"
"This is just guesswork," Tearju said with an uncertain voice, "but the original Yami should still be somewhere inside. What you're seeing is just the Darkness protocol overwhelming her normal self and taking control; it's not overwriting anything. You need to somehow create a shock big enough to bring her back, to technically awaken her from this state. But the chances of it succeeding are ludicrously low, and I'm not sure what you could do specifically to cause such a shock."
Lala, next to him, spoke up confidently. "Don't worry, Shirou. I'll handle the attack! You get as far away as possible!" Her tail started to glow.
"I don't think you have the power to take on something like that," Emiya said with a shake of his head. If he still had Avalon… no, wouldn't work, blocking that without its original user would have been impossible. But then again, Lala's creations were ridiculous to the point of ignoring every rule from his own world. "Um… what is your plan, if you don't mind me asking? Got any inventions prepared for something like that?"
"Nope~! Just trust me! I will use all the power of my love for you and gather it up into a love-love beam to fire against that! It will surpass anything she could throw at us!" She said those words with so much certainty that he almost believed her.
"..."
Then, upon realizing what she truly said while continuing to wave her glowing tail so proudly around his face, the man started to regret asking that question.
'Every single part of me is screaming to not trust such a ridiculous claim. Hah…'
Still, even if she was right, Emiya had another thought in mind. Looking at Yami in the distance and closing his eyes in frustration, he tried to think of a solution until a particular one crossed his mind. He raised a hand to stop Lala.
"We'll keep that option open as our backup plan. For now, I have something else in mind to wake Yami up while causing minimal damage, but it will be risky." He spoke into the phone again. "Tearju, get here as quickly as possible and don't come alone, bring Ryouko with you."
The woman on the other end sounded surprised. "Ryouko? Sure—ah, wait! You've managed to restrain her?"
"Not yet," he said. "But… I have a plan that might work and technically accomplish both options at the same time. But you need to make it quick." He cut the call before she could ask more questions. He looked at Lala. "What I'm about to do might be considered extremely stupid, but I need you to trust me and not intervene."
Lala didn't even waste a second. "I trust you," she said firmly, without a single shred of doubt.
He smiled. "Stay behind me."
He rushed over to Yami, who was charging up her massive attack. She saw him coming alone as he traced both Kanshou and Bakuya. "Enough is enough," he told her. "You want to be bonded to me like family forever? You want to protect me in your own way by killing everyone? I'll accept you, as long as you don't attack this town."
Yami immediately accepted, jumping with joy and finally stopping the attack. The giant blade, the size of a mountain, reverting back to her usual golden strands. "Really, Onii-chan?!" Her arms transformed back into swords. "What kind of game will we play next?"
Emiya raised both swords. "We'll see." His figure turned into a blur as he closed the distance, attacking her with a flurry of slashes, cuts, and thrusts. His blades struck against her hair, which had morphed into swords of its own, sending sparks flying in the air. He figured her hair must be stronger than it was in their first fight; it wouldn't break so easily.
They fought for several minutes, sparks flying everywhere, Yami's laughter echoing in the air. "This is so much fun! Are you having fun too, Onii-chan?"
"Your definition of fun is different from mine," he replied, pouring more power into his strikes, the twin swords singing through the air as they met her hair-blades. Finally, with a final, powerful downward strike, he put all his weight behind the blow.
Crack!
Kanshou and Bakuya hit her hair, which had instantly formed a long, powerful shield to block him. The sound of metal snapping echoed across the sky as his beloved swords shattered, the broken pieces falling away into the void below.
"..."
He wasn't surprised.
It was an expected outcome against this transformed Yami. Without a moment's hesitation, another weapon appeared in his hands. This one was different. It was a single weapon, as long as a person was tall — a spear. Its shaft was colored a deep, blood-red, and from its tip emanated an enormous amount of killing intent and crimson energy, so potent it felt like the air itself was curdling around it. The sheer pressure from the weapon momentarily stunned Yami, her cheerful assault pausing for a fraction of a second as a primal dread coursed through her veins.
Her grin, however, only became bigger, stretching across her face in ecstatic delight. "That's so amazing! Is that a new weapon? Onii-chan is so cool!"
He ignored her praise, his gaze locked onto hers. "You want to be bonded with me and become a family forever by killing me?" he asked, his voice low and serious.
"By killing you, or you killing me, we become forever engraved in each other's hearts! Forever!" she declared, her voice ringing with a terrifying conviction. As she spoke, her hair coalesced, transforming from a defensive shield into a single, massive sword that started to glow with a vibrant, destructive energy.
"Alright then…"
He crouched low, the crimson spear held in a perfect stance. The world seemed to narrow to just the two of them. He pushed off the ground, launching himself forward like a bullet — mimicking the moves of a certain Irishman to perfection. The spear aimed straight for her heart.
One of the most lethal attacks that very few could defend themselves against without either a ridiculously high level of luck or just an immortal body, an attack that could reverse causality itself, ensuring the spear pierced its target the moment the thrust was initiated, a strike that was guaranteed to kill the moment its name was called.
But that factor was never activated.
For he never uttered the spear's name.
Right as the crimson tip was about to reach her heart, he dismissed the weapon. The spear dissolved into motes of red light, leaving him completely open as his eyes stared back at crimson.
And then blood flew in the air.
"—!"
The sensation of her transformed hand entering flesh froze the girl, seeing her own hand now piercing the body of the man standing in front of her. He looked down at her, his own warm blood streaming down her hand and onto the ground.
"E-Eh?" she whispered with a stutter, stunned.
Something… felt wrong.
"Hn," He chuckled, though it sounded difficult with a sword in his chest. "You're quite weird... trying to kill me so we can become one, but now you're behaving like this right when you've achieved it." He paused. "Maybe the original Yami is truly still somewhere in there."
The next second, he got closer, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her head onto his chest before gently caressing her hair. "I'm sorry... for turning you into this monster. Don't worry, everything will be alright."
For the first time since Golden Darkness awakened, she found herself completely speechless.
.
.
.
(Bonus scene)
(Chaotic Party Part 1)
The Christmas party at the Emiya residence was in full swing. The air was filled with laughter and the warm glow of decorations. While opening the small gift bag Celine brought him, Emiya held up a piece of festive wrapping paper, revealing the gift within: a sleek, black Speedo.
"..."
Yui, standing beside him, looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. Her face was already a shade of red that clashed horribly with her hair. Knowing full well that trying to hide it would be dishonest and could make things worse for her, she sucked up her guts and decided to confront the matter head-on!
"I-I just saw it and thought... um... it looked practical..." she mumbled, trailing off into an embarrassed silence.
Expecting to get some weird looks from him, the girl waited for the inevitable reaction with closed eyes. Emiya, however, didn't share her embarrassment and genuinely started observing the gift, turning it over in his hands. "This looks nice," he said, his voice sincere. "I like it."
Yui's head snapped up. She blinked several times, her mind racing. Was that sarcasm? It had to be sarcasm. But looking at his face, she saw no hint of a joke. He was examining the swimwear with the same serious appreciation he'd give a well-forged blade. He was serious.
She was confused by his genuinely happy expression. "A-Are you really not messing with me?" she stammered.
"Why would I be messing with you?" he asked with an amused tone. "The color is great, and the material is high quality. I'll put this in with my collection."
At first, she was relieved to see that he liked it and was not disappointed or weirded out. But then, Yui froze. "Your… collection?"
"Don't be surprised." Suddenly, Mikan leaned in close from her other side. "Shirou is actually a very big fan of Speedos when it comes to his choice of swimwear," she whispered with a dry tone, sharing information that struck her to the core. "He has at least a dozen of these things. He just never wears them at school because I'm the one who stops him from doing so."
Both Momo and Risa, who had been eavesdropping, screamed in unison. "WHY!?" they yelled at Mikan, looking at her as if she had just committed the ultimate act of betrayal.
The brunette rolled her eyes. "Stop being perverts. In fact, you should be grateful to me. If I let him wear something like that to school, this house would be filled with even more women."
This suddenly made several people around the table go quiet as they quietly and individually came to the conclusion that the young girl was right. Even a flustered Yui found herself nodding slightly.
The party continued, the conversation flowing easily. Momo came over to offer Yui a cup of alcohol, which she politely declined. "I'm a lightweight," she explained, "and I'm not a fan of the taste."
Momo didn't press her. "No problem. If you're ever curious, just let me know. It's a gift my mom gave us."
As the party continued, Yui found herself enjoying the moment. She nibbled on the snacks and food that had been made by Emiya, which were — as expected — absolutely delicious. She was so engrossed in a particularly tasty pastry that she almost failed to feel someone's gaze upon her. She turned and saw Emiya looking back at her from across the room, a soft, languid smile on his face. The alcohol his friend had brought was clearly having its effect on him. His gaze made her feel a bit embarrassed, and she couldn't help but ask, "W-What are you looking at?"
"I'm just watching you smile," he said, his voice a low, seductive purr that sent a shiver down her spine. "You look surprisingly cute."
This made her cough, the unexpected words catching her completely off guard. A bit of the food she was chewing got stuck in her throat. She sputtered, trying to clear her airway. Worried, Emiya was by her side in an instant. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and gently dabbed at the corner of her mouth, cleaning a small, imaginary stain.
Even with the concern, though, that same smile was on his face, and up close, its effect was a hundred times stronger. Her heart fluttered wildly.
"You don't need to do that," she managed to say with a weak voice that sounded both shy and tired — she was still feeling exhausted because of the earlier conversation and shopping trip with Momo.
"You're being silly," he chuckled, his voice deep and warm. "I'm just looking out for you. You seem to be stressed lately. I want you to have fun today."
"You're imagining it," Yui insisted, her face growing hotter. "I'm not stressed. It's just... school stuff." Even if she was, she wasn't about to admit it.
The guy just hummed, a low, thoughtful sound. His next action made her freeze. Taking a long sip from a bottle of the alien alcohol, he let out a deep, satisfied breath. "It's getting hot in here," he murmured, his voice husky. He reached up and opened the top few buttons of his shirt, revealing the sharp lines of his collarbone and the defined muscles of his chest, particularly his pecs. He ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back, and looked at her again.
The slightly hazy, intoxicated look in his eyes, combined with his disheveled appearance, made him look somehow different and dangerously attractive. She found she couldn't stop staring.
Suddenly, his hand reached over and gently tilted her chin up. His face was close, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath. Her heartbeat quickened, thumping against her ribs like a trapped bird.
'Eh? Eh? Is this really happening? Right here? In front of everyone? Are we going to...?'
His thumb gently brushed her lower lip. "You were being a bit messy earlier," he whispered, his eyes focused on her mouth. With his other hand, he picked up a single grain of rice from the corner of her lips, his digits touching her skin ever so slightly. He brought the grain of rice to his own mouth and ate it, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. "There."
"..."
That single action was the final straw. It was too much. Yui's brain short-circuited with nothing about what just occurred, making an iota of sense.
"W-Wah!" She frantically scrambled backward on her hands and feet, not stopping until her back smacked hard against the wall with a dull thud. "Hah… hah… hah…!" Her heart was beating like a piston, erratically and incredibly fast, while her haggard breathing grew louder. Her face turned red, a deep, burning crimson that spread from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears.
Across the room, the party had come to a complete standstill. Risa, Momo, Mikan, Lala, and even Rito were all staring at the scene, their mouths wide open with a mixture of disbelief, shock, and, in some cases, open envy. The only sound was Yui's frantic, gasping breaths as she tried to process what had just happened, her entire world tilting on its axis.
The stunned silence was shattered by Risa suddenly shooting her hand into the air. "Me next! Me next!" she yelled, clearly wanting to experience the same heart-stopping moment Yui just went through. She looked around wildly. "Where's the rice? I need some rice! I'll smear some on my cheek... and maybe my chest... Will that work?"
Yui finally recovered, her face still burning. "Risa! You cannot do such a thing! That's... that's shameless!"
Risa just smirked, placing a hand on her hip. "Oh, come on, Kotegawa-san. You clearly enjoyed it yourself, so why can't you let others have a little fun? Or are you... jealous?"
Yui immediately felt targeted. "I am not!" she denied, her voice a little too high. "It is my duty as the disciplinary committee president to make sure students don't do shameless things such as these!"
On the other hand, she saw Emiya start cleaning the table of some of the mess, even arranging the gifts and presents, completely oblivious to the conversation going on about him.
Ring!
Before she could call him over and have him clarify that this was all a misunderstanding and that he wasn't flirting with her, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Emiya said, his voice still holding that smooth, relaxed tone.
Yui wondered who would come this late at night and went over with him, desperate to escape the embarrassing conversation. "Who would come to a party this late?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said as he opened the door. Upon doing so, both gazed with confusion as standing there were two familiar individuals who just stood there in the snow looking very awkward; Rin and Saki, awkwardly waving a bottle of sake.
Rin didn't waste any time. "Yuuki Emiya Shirou… ah, well, it's… I-I mean, sorry for the sudden arrival, but—"
Saki interrupted her. "It's fine, Rin. I'll tell the story. It's my responsibility, after all." She took a small breath. "Long story short, I had a small argument with my parents, and I needed to get out of the house for a bit. I didn't want to see them for the rest of the day if possible. We had nowhere else to go but here, and I was wondering... could we maybe just stay over for an hour or two before we leave for a hotel?"
To be honest, this sudden request came out of nowhere, and even the head of the school disciplinary committee found herself wondering just how bad this argument must have been for Saki of all people to basically run away from her house for the day.
She expected to hear some pushback from the redhead in the face of such a request.
To everyone's surprise, Emiya's smile widened. "Don't be ridiculous," he said warmly. "It's Christmas. Come in, please." He immediately reached for their coats. "Here, let me take those for you." He accepted their jackets with a gentlemanly grace that surprised them both and hung them neatly on the coat hanger. He then looked at Saki, his gaze soft. "You don't need to explain anything. I have more than enough food for everyone." He took the blonde's hand and guided her inside, making her blush and look over the moon with how welcoming and kind he was.
All the while, Yui and Rin remained behind, watching him with a strange gaze. Rin spoke first. "Is that... really Emiya? Or did you hire a polite doppelgänger?"
Yui, still flustered, retorted. "That's such a rude thing to say! Of course, it's Emiya. Why would you even ask something so ridiculous?"
Rin narrowed her eyes. "He's being strangely welcoming tonight. And kind. I expected to see him frown a bit, but he's been smiling since the moment we arrived. It... looks nice."
The brunette agreed mentally, but on the outside, she kept a neutral face. "It's Christmas. He's enjoying the occasion to spend some quality time with his family and others who are important to him. Why would he not be smiling?"
"I guess you have a point," Rin said, only for them both to hear a brief yelp.
"Kya!"
They turned to see Saki, who looked like she had slipped on a stray piece of wrapping paper and was about to fall backward, only to be caught by Emiya at the last second.
His arm was wrapped securely around her waist, pulling her flush against his chest to steady her. He held her close, his other hand coming up to rest gently on the small of her back. Emiya just chuckled, the sound a low rumble in his chest. "You're a bit of a klutz, aren't you?" he murmured, his lips close to her ear. "Be careful, I might not always be around to catch you, Saki."
Even though they were simple words, he said them with such a beautiful, intoxicating smile and in a voice so close that Saki had a similar reaction to Yui, nearly fainting on the spot.
Rin looked at Yui, the former pointing a trembling finger at the scene. "That is not normal. Who is this person, and why does he have the same face as Emiya?"
Yui sighed, defeated. "I have no idea what's wrong with him." She asked them to join the table once again, watching Emiya suspiciously as he started serving others drinks and food with a content smile on his face. He moved around, being helpful and attentive, and even the others started to notice his weirdly happy and charming behavior.
Finally, Ringo raised her voice. "This party needs to go up a notch! Let's play a game!"
Lala's eyes lit up. "Ooh! I know! Let's play the King's Game!" she suggested with enthusiasm.
Ringo accepted immediately. "Wonderful idea!"
All the while, Saibai made a small gesture towards his wife, whispering, "This game brings back memories. Wasn't it a night just like this one that caused us to have Rito?"
Ringo giggled but didn't deny it, shushing him playfully. "Don't say that out loud in front of the kids!"
Soon, everyone gathered around the table: Emiya, Mikan, Rito, Tearju, Ryouko, Risa, Rin, Lala, Nana, Momo, Saki, Yui, and Haruna. Each one picked a stick, drawing it to reveal their number.
"Alright, who's the King?" Ringo asked with a chuckle. She looked at her own stick, and a mischievous glint flashed across her eyes. "Oh, it seems I'm the King."
She tapped her chin thoughtfully, a wicked smile spreading across her face. "Alright... number five," she announced, her voice filled with mischief. "You have to kiss number nine!"
This shocked Yui. "Ringo-san! That might be a bit too much!" she protested.
But people like Risa and Momo immediately voiced their approval. "Yeah! The mom knows how to create a fun environment!"
Everyone looked around and checked their numbers. "Aw, I'm two," Momo pouted.
"I'm seven," Rin sighed in disappointment.
Only for Emiya to raise his stick calmly. "I'm number five."
Yui's heart skipped a beat. She quickly checked her own stick, a part of her wishing, against all her logical protests, that she was the one. But her number was one. A wave of disappointment washed over her. She wondered who had number nine, only to see Rito go completely pale. Mikan leaned against him, peeking at his stick before a mischievous grin, similar to her mother's, spread across her face.
"It seems," Mikan announced, her voice dripping with amusement, "we have found our number nine."
The entire table went silent.
"This is stupid," Rito whined, his face a mask of awkward dread. "We don't need to go along with this."
"Nonsense!" his mother insisted, wagging a finger. "You can't break the rules of the King's Game!"
Rito looked at her as if she had just handed him a death sentence. He then turned to Emiya, his eyes pleading. "Nii-san, help me out here!"
Emiya, after taking another swig of his sake, just hummed thoughtfully before shrugging. "It's just a kiss. Just get it over with and be done with it."
Rito's mouth hung open with disbelief. Several girls' eyes started to sparkle with wonder. "I'm not going to go along with this! I'm unwilling!" Rito screamed.
Ringo snapped her fingers. "Girls, restrain him."
With a cheerful "Yes, Mother!" both Risa and Momo moved simultaneously, grabbing Rito's arms and holding him fast so he couldn't escape. Emiya got up and walked closer.
Rito started to panic, his voice rising. "Nii-san, come back to your senses! Don't do this! Think about what you're doing!"
But Emiya just got down on one knee, bringing himself eye-level with his struggling brother. "If you're feeling embarrassed," he said softly, "just close your eyes. I'll handle everything." In the background, several girls already had their phones out, taking pictures and recording videos with eager, feral looks in their eyes.
Even Yui could not stop herself from peeking through her fingers, finding herself strangely engrossed with the scene.
He leaned in close, nearly making Rito faint from the sheer shock of the proximity, only to press a gentle kiss to his brother's forehead. He then calmly got up and returned to his seat, leaving everyone stunned. Some were even audibly disappointed.
"Hah?" They all looked at him with confusion.
Emiya just smirked. "The instructions only said 'a kiss'. It didn't say a kiss on the lips. It can be anywhere I want to put it. Besides," he added, a nostalgic glint in his eye, "Rito used to always ask for kisses on the head when he was a kid because he kept getting jealous that I gave the same kisses to Mikan when she was a baby."
This made his mother laugh out loud, clapping her hands together. "I truly have the best sons!"
Rito, on the other hand, who realized he had also been fooled, whined to Emiya. "You could have just said what you were going to do, and I wouldn't have reacted like that!"
Emiya just chuckled. "I was just teasing you... and everyone else at the table."
Something was definitely wrong with this guy!
Now more enthusiastic, Risa yelled, "Let's do another round!" Saki also voiced her excitement.
They all pulled sticks again. This time, the King ended up being Haruna, who got flustered by all the attention. She tried to think of something, and Momo whispered something in her ear, making Haruna go bright red. She finally whispered, "Number two... will sit on number eight's lap."
Many eyes went towards Emiya and Rito, expecting one of them to be one of the numbers, but they were disappointed when both turned to showcase their numbers: three and four.
"So who got the numbers?" asked Nana. Everyone saw Mikan raise her stick, number two, with a completely stoic face. Then, a creepy laughter came from the other side of the table as Saki revealed her own number to be eight.
The rich girl let out an almost maniacal laugh, a look of pure ecstasy on her face. "Finally! I get to cuddle with little Mikan!"
Seeing her creepy behavior, Mikan said, "No," and was about to leave, only to be caught by Rito, who looked her dead in the eyes.
"If I had to suffer through this crap, then so do you," he stated.
Mikan glared back at him, her mouth open and eyes comically wide. "Traitor!" But he didn't let go, and she was forced to go through with her fate. The scene that followed was almost painfully comedic. Mikan sat stiffly on Saki's lap, her expression one of utter suffering, while the blonde was literally fangirling, gushing over how cute she was and trying her best to embrace her and never have to let go.
Several other turns were made, with similar kinds of commands given. Each time, things got weirder and weirder until the seventh round. A drunk Nana was the one who finally got the King stick.
"Hell yeah!" she screamed, only to hiccup because of the alcohol in her system. With a slurry voice, she said, "Number five... will kiss number seven... on the mouth!"
This time, Emiya showed his stick, which happened to be seven. Everyone looked intensely at who would be number five; many were disappointed it wasn't them, and some were intensely relieved, until they heard a small yelp. All turned to see Yui, looking down at her number with trembling hands. Before she could say anything else, she heard Nana say to Momo, "I regret my command. Maybe it's better to just ignore it. Yui would never go through with it; she'll just scream 'shameless'."
As if her inner competitive spirit had been directly attacked, Yui froze. Her mind was a whirlwind of panicked thoughts.
'They all think I won't do it! They think I'm just a coward who hides behind rules! This isn't shameless, it's a game! A command from the King! Following the rules is the opposite of shameless! I have to prove them wrong! I have to... I have to get up...'
But no matter how much she tried to justify it, her body refused to move. She remained frozen in her spot, hating her indecisiveness and her strict, rigid self. She wished, for the first time in her life, that she had accepted that alcohol from Momo earlier. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Emiya kneeling beside her, his face serious.
"Do you want to continue?" he asked with a low voice that made her brain tickle. She could only answer him by nodding her head, a small, jerky motion.
He showed her a kind smile, so gentle and soft that she felt momentarily stunned. She had never seen him make such a face; it had none of his usual sharpness or rigidness, instead making him look like a fluffy, cheerful boy.
"Just leave it to me," he said. "I'll handle it for you so you don't feel pressured. I'll help you." He leaned in a little closer. "Close your eyes."
She obeyed instantly, her eyelids fluttering shut. A new storm of panic erupted in her mind.
'Oh no, oh no, oh no! I just ate that garlic bread! What if my breath smells? And my lips... are they dry? I should have used lip balm! I didn't even research proper kissing techniques! Should I tilt my head? At what angle? What if I'm bad at this!? What if—!'
To her immense surprise, she felt him lean in. But at the last second, something firm and warm pressed between their lips… It was his thumb. His lips pressed against the back of his thumb, while her lips pressed against the front part. He did it at an angle so that, to everyone else in the room, it looked like they were genuinely kissing.
He pulled back, and she opened her eyes, looking at him in confusion. He just winked at her with an amused smile. "That's a secret between us," he whispered. "Don't tell the others. Just go along with it. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Yui. You looked stressed."
Seeing his actions, his consideration for her feelings, something within Yui just snapped.
'Ah… I really… I really do…'
In that moment, her carefully constructed wall of rules and discipline and propriety crumbled into dust. Before she could think, before she could stop herself, the girl's hand shot up, grabbed his face with both hands, and pressed her lips firmly against his.
"—!"
"Eh!?"
"Kotegawa!?"
"Hell yeah!"
It was clumsy, inexperienced, and full of pent-up emotion. It was a real kiss and not whatever fake deception he was trying to pull off in the beginning — she would not let him do that again!
"Cheating in a game… is shameless!"
Emiya's eyes widened in shock, as did everyone else in the room. But that instant, that flame that had been lit within her, instantly burned itself out and was extinguished. All of her embarrassment, her raging emotions, and the sheer weight of what she had just done came crashing back down on her all at once. Her world turned black, and she fainted on the spot.
Emiya caught her at the last second, cradling her in his arms. "Ah," he said to the stunned room. "Maybe she had a bit too much to drink."
(Victim №1: Kotegawa Yui)
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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, Taimanin with 3, 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.