"Where… am I?"
Sakai Yuuji opened his eyes groggily, feeling the ache radiating through his body as he struggled to remember what had happened earlier.
His entire being exuded an aura of weakness.
Yet, rather than the white sheets of a hospital bed, a crimson cloak had been carefully placed over his body.
This confusion didn't last long. Before Emiya Shirou could say anything, Sakai Yuuji suddenly clutched his stomach in terror, recoiling desperately on the bed despite the endless agony.
As though the horrifying scenes had flooded back into his mind, he began trembling uncontrollably and let out a frightened scream—
"Shh!"
Emiya Shirou hurriedly covered Sakai Yuuji's mouth. Now wasn't the time to scream. He himself was fine—just a guy without proper identification.
But if ordinary people saw the wound on Sakai Yuuji's body, still burning with flames, he'd be facing difficult days ahead.
"Everything's alright now," Shirou quietly reassured him, hand still over his mouth.
Sakai Yuuji seemed to realize that he'd escaped from that hellish world. Staring at the unfamiliar young man in front of him, he quickly nodded.
Seeing the other person—a boy around his age with striking white-streaked red hair, wearing a simple red-and-white shirt—Yuuji gradually relaxed, no longer as tense as before.
If the person sitting in front of him had been an adult, perhaps Sakai Yuuji wouldn't have calmed down so quickly.
Of course, if Emiya Shirou had been a beautiful girl, he might have calmed down even faster.
Unfortunately, he was male.
But Yuuji didn't dwell on that. Being able to survive from that nightmare was already extraordinarily fortunate. He dared not ask for anything more.
"Thank you…"
Emiya Shirou slowly withdrew his hand, and Sakai Yuuji expressed his gratitude sincerely from his seat on the bed.
He understood that he'd likely been saved by this person, and naturally felt immense gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
Cicada cries echoed repeatedly outside the window.
From the time Emiya Shirou had brought Sakai Yuuji to the infirmary until he woke, a considerable period had passed.
Now it was already deep into the night. A round, full moon hung in the sky, its bright glow illuminating the dark infirmary.
After all, Emiya Shirou had sneaked in; he couldn't risk turning on the lights. Schools usually had security patrols at night. Lighting the room was tantamount to announcing their presence to the guards.
"Is it already this late…?"
Seeing the moon hanging outside, Sakai Yuuji realized his mother must be terribly worried—but the pain radiating through his body made it clear he couldn't move at all.
He was merely a normal high schooler. Unlike Emiya Shirou, even mild pain could paralyze him, never mind injuries as severe as these.
"What exactly happened to you?" Shirou asked softly, watching Yuuji stare blankly out the window.
With his superior physical abilities, Shirou had carried Yuuji here undetected. Of course, more importantly, he'd used the Incursio Armor to conceal himself, making it easier to sneak the injured Sakai Yuuji into the infirmary unnoticed.
Thankfully, the school lacked surveillance equipment. Had there been cameras, Shirou's presence would have quickly become a terrifying ghost story—the sight of Sakai Yuuji floating invisibly through hallways would have sent security into chaos.
The guard at the school gate hadn't stopped Emiya Shirou and Sakai Yuuji from entering—not because he didn't notice them, but because the dolls had already drained him dry of his Power of Existence beforehand.
Now, the guard was merely a Torch, indifferent to their sudden entry.
After carefully bandaging Yuuji's wounds, Shirou had done everything he could. He had no idea how to treat a Torch like Sakai Yuuji medically; he'd simply done his best to help.
Thus, Shirou had placed the red Holy Shroud, gifted to him by Jeanne d'Arc, over Sakai Yuuji's body.
He couldn't lend the thing inside his own body to someone else for healing. The most he could offer was this external Holy Shroud.
The Holy Shroud did hold some healing properties. Though incomparable to the Avalon inside Shirou himself, it was the greatest assistance Shirou could provide.
He neither knew healing Magecraft nor whether it would even work on Yuuji. Of course, he wasn't certain the Holy Shroud would be effective either—but doing something was better than doing nothing at all.
Seeing Yuuji's breathing gradually stabilize, Shirou then activated the Incursio Armor again, concealing himself to leave the infirmary.
However, the blue-green flames at Yuuji's side had remained blazing—indeed, the Holy Shroud appeared ineffective.
Yet Shirou didn't retrieve the relic, thoughtfully locking the infirmary door behind him and placing a sign reading "Teacher temporarily away."
Though why the infirmary had remained teacher-less for so long was another mystery Shirou didn't quite understand.
Having finished these tasks, Shirou went back into the school to investigate.
By then, Sakai Yuuji's classmates were already panicking due to his sudden disappearance.
A student vanishing into thin air was no trivial matter.
Combined with that enormous hole punched through the floor, the incident wouldn't be something the school could easily cover up. Shirou soon found his way to Sakai Yuuji's classroom.
Aside from a few newly made Torches scattered throughout the school, Shirou found no other clues about what exactly had occurred earlier.
Of course, while invisible, Shirou had quietly tidied up various messy areas in the school, and even secretly intervened when certain delinquents were bullying other students…
Well, that was just Shirou being completely unable to control himself, meddling unnecessarily in various minor matters.
Although, for Shirou himself, he never considered such interventions unnecessary at all.
But now, the only reliable source of information was the injured Sakai Yuuji, who had reached out desperately for help earlier.
Emiya Shirou naturally possessed a reassuring air, and combined with his role as savior, Sakai Yuuji felt comfortable enough to pour out the terrifying events he had witnessed.
Without concealing anything, Sakai Yuuji recounted his entire horrific experience in detail to Emiya Shirou.
"Dolls…?"
Shirou fell into deep thought. He had no reason to doubt Yuuji's words.
Because if Yuuji's explanation was true, it would perfectly explain why he had suddenly felt as if countless cars had smashed into him simultaneously.
But now, the most pressing concern was—
If such a space appeared again, how could they handle it?
The dolls themselves weren't terribly powerful, but Shirou had no way to retaliate. Sooner or later, he would be killed.
Just as back then—had he been unable to break free from Esdeath's Mahapadma, the one lying dead would've certainly been him.
He could only feel thankful these dolls didn't possess Esdeath's strength.
Whoosh—!
A sound resembling the rekindling of a flame suddenly echoed. Emiya Shirou abruptly felt the presence of Sakai Yuuji in front of him grow even more intensely vibrant than moments before.
---
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