Chapter 8: A Painful Past
The colors adorning the backdrop were rich and heavy.
Sakura watched this scene from behind the screen.
Her heart trembled with restless agitation as she recalled fragments of her life.
She first met Shirou at school.
Witnessed his pole-vaulting prowess at dusk.
Those memories were especially beautiful.
In the days that followed, she would often linger at the Emiya household.
Even her once desperate and difficult life began to glow with newfound radiance.
The morning dew, washing dishes after meals—everything before her eyes felt dreamily wonderful.
But...
Please don't...
Don't show those things too.
Recalling the past, Sakura felt her heart being twisted and shattered.
No matter how much one conceals or disguises it, even the sunlit flower must eventually wither.
Just like cherry blossoms, their decay evokes sighs of sorrow.
Unearthing deeply buried memories was the most despairing mockery for a girl toyed with by fate.
The video's melody was peculiarly warm.
But in an instant, it began to darken.
A voiceover spoke.
"The following segment has been edited to protect the privacy of the individuals involved."
"In the Type-Moon World, the audience for this edited version will be limited to Sakura Matou's close companions and Magi from other parallel worlds."
"The girl's experiences are not suitable for all viewers. Even renewing VIP membership will not grant access."
After this.
Many viewers' screens displayed a "404" message.
["Please wait a moment. The Top 9 Protagonists countdown will begin shortly."]
This message confused many who were locked out of the video.
Since when did watching videos have such preferential treatment?
Why?
Those who could continue watching listened to the narration with heavy hearts.
The first person to appear on screen.
Was neither Sakura nor Shirou.
But an ordinary-looking young man.
As the camera pulled back, a twin-tailed girl in the park and a gentle, virtuous wife came into view.
Kariya Matou and Tohsaka Aoi.
Sitting side by side, they made a perfectly matched couple.
Their laughter and conversation seemed to overturn the gloomy setting from the beginning.
"What qualifications does this man have to appear in the video?" Tokiomi frowned with displeasure. He wanted to see his daughter, not the loser who coveted his wife.
"Kariya Matou... this man." During the Fifth Holy Grail War, Rin witnessed this scene and recalled the news of her father's death, her eyes blazing with hatred. Their past friendship had long vanished like smoke.
And Sakura, seeing Kariya.
Recalled fragments from the time of the Fourth War.
Heartache and guilt intertwined within her.
Uncle Kariya...
The story progressed with a warmth incomprehensible to ordinary people.
Kariya's interactions with Aoi.
Then giving a gift to Rin.
"If only Sakura could see this too..."
Rin went from cherishing the gift to becoming like a puppet in less than two minutes.
All sound abruptly ceased.
Suddenly, only dead silence remained.
"Little Sakura... she was adopted into the Matou family."
"...If you see her, please say hello for me, and I hope you'll treat that child well... after all..."
"She... used to cling to you the most."
The words of his childhood friend reached the young man's ears, her cold demeanor leaving him speechless.
Despair spread through Kariya's eyes.
[Clang—!]
The sound of an iron gate opening.
An abrupt scene change.
Without any transition, the scene switched to that very night.
Kariya, face full of rage, pushed open the gate and entered the demon's den known as the Matou residence.
During the conversation between the Matou father and son.
The young Rin had also woken up and was brought along by Tokiomi.
She couldn't understand why someone as gentle as Uncle Kariya would fly into such a rage.
"Because of inheritance," Tokiomi replied naturally, watching the screen unmoved. "Precisely because he abandoned the path of Magecraft, I had Sakura adopted into the Matou family, hoping she would inherit Old Man Matou's talents. Kariya, being an ordinary person, probably cannot comprehend my well-intentioned plans."
In the world of Magecraft, mediocrity is the cruelest punishment.
Even without a complete childhood, he wanted his children to excel.
And this was something Kariya could never understand.
Holding such thoughts, Tokiomi witnessed the confrontation between the Matou father and son.
But gradually... the conversation turned to places he found difficult to comprehend.
"Don't tell me you put Sakura in the worm pit!?"
"Hmph... She screamed at first, but after three days and nights, she should have grown accustomed to it."
A mocking, scornful voice rang out.
Then, an unsettling sound of crawling insects filled the headphones.
Dark, damp.
The girl swallowed by a sea of insects lay among them like a broken doll.
Her hollow eyes stared at the sky, or perhaps at the people before the screen, devoid of any childish vitality or mischief.
"Eww... that's disgusting. Is this like Shino's bugs?" In the Hokage world, Naruto couldn't help but click his tongue. The spine-chilling scene filled his heart with gloom.
"This probably isn't just a simple insect bath," Chopper from the One Piece world said, his face pale as he saw the black blood vessels pulsing beneath Sakura's tender skin. "Perhaps they're cultivating insects inside her body. How cruel, to do such things to such a young child!"
Even bystanders felt this way.
Reliving this scene, Kariya gritted his teeth until they nearly shattered.
Filled with rage—both toward whoever sent the video exposing Sakura's suffering and toward the mastermind behind it all.
"This is all Tokiomi's fault..."
And that damned Matou Zouken...
"They all deserve to die!!"
[CRASH—!]
The expensive jewels on the table were shattered to pieces.
Tokiomi, who always prided himself on elegance, instantly stood upright, his eyes bloodshot, the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
His daughter... the daughter he had sent away for adoption a year ago...
No wonder Kariya had entered the competition.
All of this...
"Matou Zouken..."
Realizing he had been deceived, Tokiomi could barely contain his fury.
"Dad..." Rin wore a troubled expression, pleading after seeing her sister's miserable state. "Can we bring Sakura back?"
A parent's heart is made of flesh.
Especially when faced with a child's plea, it's even harder to refuse.
"I will... I will." Tokiomi's heart bled, but he maintained a facade of rationality before his daughter.
He asked his wife to take their daughter away, then abruptly stood up.
Though he knew his request might be futile, this Magus, who had always been obedient to his Servant, did something he would never have considered before.
He bowed his head, the crimson Command Seal glowing even more vividly.
A voice choked with barely suppressed rage forced its way from his throat.
"By the power of this Command Seal, I beseech you—destroy the Matou family and save my daughter."
The moment the Command Seal took effect...
Although Gilgamesh claimed he could resist this Command Seal, he couldn't help but chuckle in amusement: "Well played, Tokiomi... Finally showing some humanity when faced with something utterly intolerable, you dull man? Very well, this king shall make an exception and assist you once, foolish subject."
In a fleeting moment,
As Gilgamesh's laughter faded from the harbor, the scene shifted to Kariya offering himself as bargaining chip in a transaction with Zouken.
He was willing to sacrifice himself to save Sakura.
"Isn't this what a real father should be?"
"Exactly! Was her biological father out of his mind? Handing over such a young child to be modified!"
"This is... unbelievable. How could such parents exist in this world?"
Across countless realms, criticism toward the Tohsaka and Matou families continued unabated.
Meanwhile, at the Fifth Holy Grail War site, Sakura watched these past events.
Realizing her parents would also witness this scene.
Amid her sorrow, a hidden sense of vindictive satisfaction stirred within her...
She felt grateful this video prevented those close to her from seeing her past.
Yet also thankful it thoroughly reflected her suffering back to her parents and Rin.
The editing followed the same pattern as before.
After explaining the preceding causes, it transitioned to Sakura's meeting and growing acquaintance with Shirou.
She knew nothing about cooking, so he taught her.
His house was chaotic, so she cleaned it.
The misery seemed to fade away.
Their warm daily life continued steadily.
While he cooked, Sakura would prepare tea and wait.
When he got caught in the rain, Sakura would stand at the school gate holding an umbrella.
As the boy who dreamed of becoming a Hero of Justice stepped onto his idealized path, the girl who believed herself superfluous would quietly withdraw without leaving a trace.
What is Sakura's Dream?
This simple, ordinary romance was the deepest yearning of a girl implanted with dark magic and trapped in magical addiction.
A soft murmur unconsciously filled with anticipation.
"And so, Sakura's Dream..."
"For such a tragic girl, it is both an extravagant wish and the last warmth in this world."
"If Shirou continued relentlessly pursuing the path of a Hero of Justice, Rin—who recognized his pure self-sacrificing nature—would notice the dissonance and spend her life correcting this flawed pursuit."
"If Shirou could notice the daily departures, nightly returns, and all the warm moments shared with the one beside him, he would understand that everything precious around him is what truly matters. When ideals clash with reality, oh Hero of Justice... what choice will you make?"
Following this reflective narration, the visuals gradually advanced,
Returning once more to the Holy Grail War.
But the beginning and progression were completely different this time.
A world devoid of warmth unfolded before their eyes, painted in gloomy cold tones.
Caster and Assassin died immediately after appearing, while teacher Souichirou Kuzuki was brutally slaughtered.
The route had diverged by entering the Sakura path.
Shirou, who had previously solidified his resolve after watching his own video, now felt lost and confused.
What else could this edited video possibly show?
Yet hearing the narrator's description, his justice-driven heart seemed to pause, recalling the daily life he had consistently overlooked.
During this moment of reflection,
The scene arrived at a certain night.
Shirou, who had brought Saber along, encountered Shinji with his Servant preying on human life force in the wilderness.
The branching path of the storyline... began here.