AN: Grinding, butterflies, and if anyone reads Fate Strange/Fake... well, you might have a good guess that this is the no-hope week. Ultimately, Suzuka, Hakuno, and Tamamo will remain central characters. But so long as they are alive, the weekly Masters and Servants will have a focus unless I never intended for them to live long.

Second Week: Day One END

After exploring the first half of the area and retrieving a Remedy and finding Taiga's Box of Persimmons, we continued on to find some Durable Gym Clothes and the 1st Trigger before we started grinding.

Suzuka thought that since I wasn't the type to cast conventional code casts provided by Formal Wear, she may as well use it for her own purposes.

Apparently, she was temporarily transitioning from the JK Uniform Class to P.E. Uniform Class.

I can understand the practicality of wearing clothes suitable for workouts while farming the enemy programs, but the fact of the matter is…

"Yuha-kun~ Well, am I cute? I think I earned a lot of Moe points right?"

I was so going to prison if a cop saw us interacting.

Thank the Moon Cell that there isn't an Ethics Code in place within this virtual environment.. This way, her outfit was all the more risque and in addition to that, I can't be thrown into a prison. (Important Factor!)

I had no idea how her gym clothes turned out this way, but I chalked it up to the her skill in magic that could allow her to mimic Shapeshifting as a skill back in the manga.

The short-sleeved red outlined white T-shirt hadn't even covered her belly button with just how short it was. Most of the blame lied with her large breasts taking up a lot of fabric. Her red athletic bloomers clung tightly to her hips, and as she moved, I swore I could see a tiny bit of her crotch from the leg holes.

If this was a doujin, we would have been in a gym storage room after school and she would be bent over some gym equipment while I fuck her through pulling the bottom of her bloomers aside.

Walking up to my stunned figure, she pressed her body against me while asking me softly.

"Master, are you there?"

Deep breath.

Must. Not…

I feel one of her hands touching the front bottom of my pants.

"Oh? Is Yuha-kun imagining the same thing I am?"

It took another second until calm finally descended on my mind again.

"It depends on what you are imagining. I'm thinking of the after school gym storeroom scenario. I swear, I almost thought I was under your Mystic Eyes for a moment there."

"Ahaha, those eyes don't work on you Yuha-kun! And since we're on the same page, then maybe we should go see if this school has such a room after this?"

"Oh? I'm sure they do."

After she got herself off me to slice another Swindle enemy program, I turned around so that I could compose myself through some meditation.

Well, it doubled as an energy recovering technique as well as a relaxation one.

Since I was tired from using the incomplete Vollstandig as a limit break, my Reiatsu or mana concentration in my attacks had suffered as a result even through my reserves are as full as ever. Most of my exhaustion was more akin to an overstretched muscle rather than actual lack of energy.

Well, at least I wouldn't have to worry about any reiatsu-like pressure being leaked. I had always needed to keep it under control since normal Magus's don't emit energy at the levels I do.

Suzuka continued to grind while I focused on defence and evasion this time around.

The Paadox programs were basically green Klein's, in other words, Green Floating Boxes of Death.

And also, the weakest enemies of this round.

Insanity is basically a green bee of doom.

The Fishbite pretty much matched it's namesake.

It was basically a severed crocodile head. Chomping away just like Pacman.

It would be kinda cute if it's attack power wasn't so damn high!

Swindle's were just rip-off Green Onix's.

Can the Pokemon Company please sue the Moon Cell already? Get some Spirit Hacker to drop off a complaint to the Serial Phantasm or something.

Even though I couldn't help grind, the very fact that I wasn't defenceless allowed Suzuka to exploit the ridiculous grinding mechanics and triggering the respawns by running around while slaughtering the enemy programs.

It's times like these that I am reminded that as a Celestial Demon Princess, she's pretty battle hungry in the blood thirsty way. Once she starts a fight, she will want something dead at the end.

We spent until the evening grinding that way, gaining many ranks since Suzuka was pretty OP in her own way and we had more time compared with other Master's who are too busy trying to figure out their opponent's servants identity or setting traps.

Several hours of grinding benefited us a lot more than an ordinary pair would gain due to how efficient we were in comparison. Based on my analysis and the memories I had from the other Masters, they were around 8 times more inefficient than us at the very least.

After exiting the Arena, I stopped by the Cafeteria to complete Taiga's side quest while stocking up on many Remedy items for my plan.

As I was walking through the main hallway, I see Hakuno emerging from the Arena right around the corner. It didn't seem like she spent that long in the Arena.

Wondering why, I raised my hand to greet her.

She waved back and begun walking to me when the small glass window in one of the 1st floor's rooms broke as an arrow pierced her side.

All thoughts of secrecy had left my mind as I used Hirenkyaku to instantly reappear at her location.

No.

Why this early!?

"MASTER!" Tamamo materialized instantly and began shaking her furiously as Hakuno fell down to her knees in pain.

How did-

-He was supposed to aim at her if she ran into the courtyard the day after!

Not today.

She was at Death's Door.

Poisoned.

No choice.

All this time I had limited the soul pieces I gave out to not carry out this function, but now is the time for me to reenact what Yhwach was known for without the negative consequences.

With a gentle touch to Hakuno's forehead, I bequeathed a portion of my soul.

The arrow was pushed out of her body at an instant as her wounds healed rapidly.

Sensing something from my left, I raise my left hand and was about to utter my shield spell were it not for Suzuka already moving to intercept.

A slight movement was all she needed to deflect the next arrow with her blade's sheath.

"Poison arrows… does it make you nostalgic of your last days, fox?" Suzuka just had to make that jab at her even in a situation like this.

But Tamamo didn't care one bit as she continued to hug her Master after her miraculous recovery.

"Saber…"

"My bad. I just wanted to see her priorities. It's just weird she can care that much yet be so fearful of telling her own story."

"Let it go for now."

Just to be on the safe side, Suzuka and I escorted the pair to the infirmary, meeting up with Sakura once again.

Once Sakura gave us the O-kay, we escorted them back to their private room.

In our case, we also went back to our private room for our own reasons. Albeit, our previous good mood was ruined and as such, we did not get to do some role play in the gym storage room.

Still, Suzuka liked it enough that she kept the gym uniform in her school bag before changing into her own clothes again.

And by that, I meant that she did it in front of me.

"Hey, hey, Yuha-kun. You saw my body right?"

Unfortunately, I was being a decent guy and had immediately turned around to set myself some work.

"U-uh, I was um, tinkering."

"Tch! I'll turn you into a pervert that'll sake his beastly lust on the body of an innocent JK like myself soon enough."

"No need. All men are already perverts. I'm just influenced a lot less by that side of myself. Also, there are so many things wrong with that statement I don't even want to think about it."

"Awww…"

Utilizing Ryuuji Uryu's knack for killing and torture, I synthesized a small piece of equipment that I placed under my Hugo Boss designed uniform that would inject small amounts of liquid Remedy into my body frequently once I have mana sent to activate it.

I already prepared an advanced Blut technique on the fly that would slow down, and even consume the poison this time around. But the spread rate was too much and the technique will only slow it down further.

That was what this equipment was for. Injecting small amounts of poison curing liquid would eliminate the small amount of poison that did go through the Blut.

Essentially, it's Pseudo-immunity of a sorts.

At night, I couldn't sleep as I was distressed enough about Hakuno's attack that I began working on some custom code casts using Shinji's hacking skills that I gained from him. The other Masters had their own specialities that helped contributed to my work, but even now, it was half done.

Before sleeping, I trained some of my spiritual awareness, only to notice that the poison I sensed earlier was currently at the rooftop with another individual.

"Suzuka, we're going to the roof to have a chat with Hassan of Serenity's Master."

I had already explained her backstory to Suzuka, who had some sympathy for a fellow seeker of love.

"Right. Any specific orders?"

"Keep your Blue Vene active for any physical attacks and you'll pretty much be immune to anything she can throw at you. In any battle, there is no chance of her winning against you."

"Ah, hai ha~i! I'll show off my super JK invincibility!"

It's Blut powered not JK powered!

Ah well…

Approaching the rooftop at night through the stairs silently, I masked our presence as much as I could by stilling the spirit particles around the two of us.

Next, I canceled the sound of us opening the door.

We saw two figures sitting at the edge of the rooftop, at slightly more than arms length from each other.

One was clearly a Hassan, and the other was… a little girl.

"Sere-neechan, do you think humans can become stars?"

The diminutive girl asked curiously as she looked up into the virtual night sky.

"I… don't know. I'm sorry for not having an answer. I really am useless."

Serenity, who had her mask off, apologized as such.

"Don't be sorry. And don't call yourself useless… dummy."

"Ah, so sor- I mean, okay Tsubaki."

Tsubaki? I think that may be a name I know… oh, please no, please no…

"Yay!"

"Is there a reason why you asked?"

"Oh! I read a book about stars and the really famous ones get names! It must be nice to be remembered like that so… I wonder if I can become like one of those stars too. It would be nice if I had my own constellation too!"

"A-ah… I'm sure that the Moon Cell may grant your wish."

"Hmm, I don't think so. After all… we're not going to win this round, are we?"

"... I'm…"

It was at this point I made my presence known. Serenity immediately flipped up from the ledge and had a dagger ready to be thrown, only to be shocked that I was the one here.

"Perhaps not. That's why I propose a truce. Here, I come in peace." I had my hands up in the typical fashion expected.

"Why… why must you be here?" Serenity was befuddled, although she seemed to be conflicted about something.

The little girl turned around.

She was a small girl with red hair reaching down to just above her shoulders, wearing a long red dress on her body and a white shawl over her shoulders.

"Oh! Hi Yuha-niisan! That's what neesan said you were called. Did you come to watch the sky?" The girl asked.

Smiling kindly while holding back the stirrings of guilt, I answered. "If you would allow me, I'll be happy to. Here, I brought snacks and a peace offering."

I took out many Bento boxes filled with hot food and sweets that I had just cooked. Serenity made me push it to her before backing off where she tested one for poison before sliding the untouched boxes to her Master using a stick that appeared from nowhere.

"Mmm! Delicious! You cook better than mama and papa!"

"Ah… thank you."

"Hmm, here! Come sit here!"

"Don't mind if I do. Oh, mind if Saber joins us?"

"Nope. The more the merrier."

And so here I was, sitting to the left of the little girl by the rooftop's ledge while Serenity was to the girl's right side. Suzuka was to the right of Serenity, keeping an eye on Serenity who was keeping an eye on me.

Albeit, Serenity had a weird expression as Suzuka made a point to be touching her shoulders with her own.

Magic Resistance and Poison Resistance = No Sell Zabaniya Poison Version

This night could only get stranger, probably.

"So, is Yuha-niichan not going to kill me now?"

I could only smile sadly at a child saying such a thing. "No. I just… is it alright if we play together for the next few days? I'll try my best in making it the best days you will have."

Left unsaid, was the fact that I was going to kill her in the end.

"Hmm… alright. I think… it'll be alright in the end. Just by being here, I got to experience what living was like so… I think I'm okay now."

"Even if it shouldn't be okay?"

"Yeah… thanks for caring for me, nii-chan. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself…

I'm Tsubaki Kuruoka, nice to meet you."