Fate/Infinity Shuffle

Chapter 263 – Hearts:

Three against one. Most would think that there would be a side with a clear advantage.

Turns out, that wasn't always the case.

Two Alter Egos in white and an Archer of Gold against an Otherworldly Ruler. The four were waiting for a signal of sorts to give a start to it.

Sakura let out an annoyed sighed and took a single step forward. That was the signal for the three. Rin raised in altitude, while Mimi rushed in fast towards the purple-haired girl.

Mimi's knee-spike heated up to the point of turning bright orange and raised it to stab Sakura's stomach again. The Ruler tapped the spike with her pointer, completely freezing Mimi in placed, as if invisible chains held her stationary and in place. Ignoring the girl's gritting of the teeth, Sakura approached the taller opponent, due to the artificial legs, and raised her hand, flicking her forehead with a finger. Mimi flew across the area, head whipped back.

The back section of Rin's weapon began to spin, creating a golden orb in front of the front section. Then, six beams of golden light emerged from the orb in a hexagonal pattern, all of which dove towards Sakura.

Keeping the stoic face, the Ruler snapped her fingers and a white bed from a school nursery appeared above her, getting in the way of the beams and protecting her. Rin flipped forward and dove towards her sister, the sapphire bow spinning like a wheel, a golden glow creating a saw-effect. It cut through the bed, but the moment the mattress and sheets split apart, Rin's eyes widened, for Sakura was no longer there. Without warning, a hard kick was delivered to her back, sending her against the floor. The hit was so hard that the Archer slid over the ground as a result, away from the area.

Sakura landed gently, looking towards the floor her feet touched. And then turned her head, the corner of her eyes spotting a giant fist hurled back from an approaching Rumi, ready to crush Sakura. The golden punch moved forward with great speed, and the impact made the ground shake. Sakura had stopped it simply by placing her hand in front of it though. Rumi grew anxious.

"How can you…?"

"That's none of your concern." Sakura moved her hand slightly upwards. Rumi's arm whipped upwards despite how light the movement was. It felt like a highspeed car had struck her arm from beneath. As the Alter Ego took a step back to compensate the weight of her limbs.

Sakura's hand gathered a pink light.

"!" Rumi gritted her teeth and, for once, ignored her hard-beating heart. The giant hand by her side moved to stand in front of her body and she dug her heels in.

The pink beam shot, and ignoring what had happened before, Rumi withstood the hit! Her feet dragged over the ground, slightly, and sparks flew when the golden metal slid over the concrete, but nonetheless, she stood her ground. Sakura was visibly surprised by this, and Rumi took the opportunity: with the talons of her left hand just above Sakura, she swung her arm down to shred her opponent.

However, her arm was stopped. The pointer had been raised to keep the palm from lowering any further. Rumi's eyes went wide.

"Don't do that again." Sakura requested, aiming her free palm at Rumi and repeating the attack. But this time, instead of targeting her hidden body, it was har face. The pink beam hit and the heavy Alter Ego was sent flying, hitting a wall being what stopped her from moving.

Sakura lowered her arms. And suddenly got stuck in the back!

"GAH!" She managed to not fall by quickly stepping forward. A large Mana Projectile, a blue arrow, was the culprit. The angered girl turned around, spotting Rin far away, pointing an index finger at her and breathing rather heavily.

"That's what you get… for hitting your big sis… in the back."

"Tch." Sakura imitated the gesture, a little pink dot appearing in front of her finger. But before firing, her arm was pushed upwards. By a kick of metal. "?!"

Mimi looked rather angry. "Did you seriously…" The right foot drew back. "just hurt my sister?!" And then spun over the left, kicking Sakura in the stomach and pushing her away. It was mostly due to the surprise of the attack that she even moved to begin with.

She recovered and glared at the skating Alter Ego. Mimi moved in close and jumped backwards with her legs stretched out, to cut through the opponent with the blades of her feet, but Sakura used the pointer to defend herself from the slashes.

Just then, her eyes noticed the five arrows of yellow light that had travelled from far away to attack her. The collision let out golden sparks that flew one way, while Sakura flew the other. The Ruler flipped over and landed on her two feet, narrowing her eyes on the approaching Archer.

And that's when she was caught. "Ah!" She yelped once two golden hands surrounded her torso, keeping her in place despite the struggle.

"Now, sis!" Rumi yelled, making Sakura glance at the Alter Ego that was being brought down by gravity. A single foot landed on Rin's raised, large bow, and she used it as a platform to jump again. Once high in the air, she descended towards Sakura, one leg stretched forward, and spinning wildly, resembling a drill as a result.

Heading straight for Sakura's chest, Mimi had a clear shot. But the moment she made contact, Sakura disappeared. The two sisters gasped as they cashed into each other, landing on the floor, Mimi on top of Rumi.

"Gah! What the…?" Mimi turned her head around, spotting Sakura in mid-air, gently landing on the floor a few seconds. "That damn…!"

"I'm… sorry."

"Huh?" Mimi quickly turned to Rumi again.

"I should've… crushed her." The younger sister felt pressure like she never had before. And made a face that Mimi knew too well.

"Come on, don't cry." Mimi tapped her sister's forehead. "You'll get her next time. And besides: we're not fighting alone."

The moment Sakura's feet touched the concreate, Rin yelled "Install!" And a golden light surrounded her. Sakura's eyes saw her older sister no longer in little clothing and a large hovering bow, but rather wearing a nearly complete black dress, with a silver chain around the skirt and golden decoration. Her new weapon was a large and thick double-headed spear with large blades, and a ring connecting the two portions, with spikes sticking out of it. Rin's twin-tails got blonde highlights as a result, a strong contrast with the black.

The Lancer landed on her feet and imeaditely struck one of the tips of her weapon into the floor, making a line of skewering cages burst out of the ground, about to stab through Sakura's body once they reached her. The Ruler leapt over the cages with ease, evading the attack. She looked down at Rin and was surprised to see her sister make the face she has always done when she succeeded at something. And that was when a cage taller than all others burst of the ground, wide open and shutting above her.

"Wha-!?" Sakura was stuck inside the narrow container and struggled about.

"Okay, I got her to stay." Rin cleared the sweat on her forehead. "Hey, you two!" She communicated with the twins from afar. "I managed to trap her. Mind giving me a minute to talk with my little sis?"

Mimi spoke for the two. "Be our guest. I need to cheer up my sis anyway."

"M-Mimi!"

Rin snapped her fingers and the cages withdrew back into the underground, and the tallest once that contained Sakura inside brough the sisters to the same level.

The older brunette tried to make a strong face, but it was hard. "…Sakura, why are you doing any of this?"

"…"

"Don't play the silence game for once. You helped whoever that person is jumpstart the end of the world, and you've apparently been helping her for long enough to tell her about the Golden Archer Cards. And I want to know why my little sister did that at all. Because the Sakura I know is kind, shy, has difficulty socializing at first, but then is very talkative and fun to be with." Rin took a step forward, making Sakura glare. "So… what happened?"

"…" She let out a sigh with annoyance. "…Maybe because she gave me comfort after everything bad that happened to me."

"Everything bad?" Rin raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

A deep breath. She had only said those words once before, and it wasn't nearly as hard because she said them to a stranger at a time. There's always more pressure when saying it to someone close…

"…Shinji raped me."

Rin almost gasped, stepping back with wide eyes. Sakura could see the shock, but… little else?

"…F-For how long?"

"…The first time was about four years ago."

As Sakura's body shook, Rin's fist tightened. She tried her best to disguise the gritting of her teeth, but it was hard. But just like her sister before, Rin took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Hm. I see." She didn't want to say it, but Rin felt she needed to. "So you're throwing a tantrum."

"…" Sakura's eyes widened as much as they could. "…Eh?"

"Something bad happened to you, so everybody else has to go. I get it. But honestly, I thought my sister was more mature than that."

"…" Despite everything that had happened to her before in her life, that was probably the first time that she felt only, without the aid of any other emotion, pure hatred towards someone. "…What did you…" Her face intimidated Rin enough to make her step further back. She didn't know if she was capable from doing it right from the start, but Sakura's body broke free from the cage. Bursting out of the metal with a strong and fast motion, Sakura leapt up, taking position to swing a particular weapon. A long pole formed in her hands, and a pink blade sprouted from the very top. In another life of the Heroic Spirit, that scythe would've been red instead, but they weren't the same weapon to begin with. Glaring down with sheer hatred, Sakura completed her question. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!" And she swung it.

Rin quickly raised her wide weapon to block the attack, which she managed to do. But the sheer force was something she couldn't withstand. Once again, Sakura's sister was sent far away from the force of the hit.

Once she landed, Sakura turned around at the twins, who only heard the very last part of the sentence in the conversation. They both could tell this was bad news.

Sakura moved towards them and swung down her scythe. Rumi blocked by raising one of her hands, stopping it with the back of it, while Mimi slide underneath it and kicked Sakura in the stomach, separating the two.

Sakura landed and Mimi gave chase. Once close, Mimi spun over a foot like a ballerina, the other leg stretched out. The multiple horizontal slashes were blocked by the pole of the weapon. Once Mimi moved back, placing her other foot down to brake completely from the spin and remain close to Sakura, the Ruler was ready to swing her scythe sideways.

"Hm." Mimi almost smirked. With quick and short steps, she moved away just enough for the blade to miss her and then step back forward and spin kick. "Our team has a scythe-user, you know?"

Sakura's eyes continued the same way as they were when the conversation with Rin took a turn to the worse. Her face remained the same as the blade of the foot began to slice into the skin and dig into the neck…

The kick finished, and no blood was shed. "Tch. Not again." Mimi complained to herself. Sakura vanished and reappeared slightly away, no wound to be found on her neck. Both hands raised, about to swing the frightful weapon downwards.

And a golden rocket-fist stopped the attack, striking Sakura just in time. The Ruler flew away from the hit.

Mimi exhaled in relief. "Thanks sis!"

"Any time!" Rumi responded right before hurling her second hand, which gave chase to Sakura just like the other. "Brynhildr Romantia!"

Sakura's black cloak suddenly split apart and turned into bat wings. Gliding around, she tried her best to evade the flying fists, manoeuvring around them and dodging them just in time. She wound up a swing to deflect one with her weapon, but got bashed with the other, which made her drop the scythe that ceased away in the shape of pink sakura petals.

After shaking her head, Sakura focused. She kicked away one first, blocked the other, flew around them. One miscalculated move made both fists strike her and land on the floor beneath, though still at top shape. The sound of Rumi's fists reattaching themselves could be heard and Sakura looked forward.

Ten jewels of random colours in mid-drop shined in front of her, suddenly bursting magical energy at point blank, bright explosions striking her. She skidded over the floor even further, but the wounds begun recovering right away, arms crossed in front of her face. She moved her limbs in order to see what could be approaching.

A dashing Rumi with her hands placed in front of her body, laid out like the open mouth of a beast about to snap its jaws at Sakura, gobbling her up in one bite.

The jaws snapped. And… nothing was heard beyond the sound of clashing metal. Rumi missed her again. Sakura used the teleportation trick to get out of the way before she could be crushed. Then, she kicked the hands upwards, exposing the surprised Alter Ego.

Without warning, a beam of pink was fired out of her palm, striking and shoving Rumi away. Right afterwards, Sakura turned around, spotting her Archer sister approaching for a tackle, the bulky bow of hers spinning like a drill and gleaming light blue.

Sakura pointed at Rin and summoned her teacher's pointer again. Once the bow struck the tip of it, Sakura whipped her arm straight up, throwing Rin over her shoulder, far away into the sky.

"I'm not done yet!" Rin was upside down as a result of the throw, but that didn't bother her. She aimed an index finger at her sister and the bow charged a long and heavy blue arrow, alongside five golden orbs laid out all around her. The blue missile and the golden arrows fired simultaneously.

The hateful Sakura drew a heart with the pointer and flicked the centre of it, which created multiple, smaller hearts to appear around it. One tap, and a similar recreation of Rin's attack, but completely pink in nature, were launched, the small lasers cancelling each other out, but the larger beam of mana pierced through the blue projectile.

Rin frowned and turned upside up, placing a hand in front of her body. Her eyes suddenly flashed red and a jewel from her crown glowed. The pink beam struck an invisible barrier, unable to pierce through, but disappeared shortly after.

The sound of skating alerted Sakura. Mimi moved in close and raised a foot to attack. Sakura casually blocked it with her pointer, making Mimi bounce away in a spin. Almost as if ice-skating, she slid over the floor and glared at Sakura once she stopped.

The Black Blossom summoned a pink tea pot into her hands and gently hurlt it forward. It hit the ground and shattered, spilling its contents everywhere, but the moment the liquid hit the ground, it seeped through. Multiple dimensional holes opened above Mimi and drops of fire, like miniature meteorites, fell through them.

She almost laughed. "Is this supposed to be a challenge?" Mimi resumed her skating, this time towards Sakura. She moved around the flares like an ice-skating performance, dancing around the fire with little difficulty. Sakura summoned a teacup and leapt back once Mimi was close, waving the cup in an arch and sending its contents out like a wave, so they would become a wide cascade of fire that would block Mimi's way. "Bad move." Mimi smirked, her eyes flashing blue. She tapped into the power of her Noble Phantasm, whose power included the ability to manipulate liquids. The strange tea suddenly changed direction, now moving towards Sakura. It hit the floor and a screen of fire poured down.

The Ruler flipped backwards, handstand done in the process, and evaded the fire with ease. The curtain of fire opened at Mimi's command and she delivered a straight-kick towards Sakura's neck, which she stopped with the pointer.

Rin, as a Lancer, approached from the left, while Rumi from the right. Spear ready to be swung, fist ready to strike.A swirl of pink surrounded Sakura's feet.

Mimi knew what was coming. "Stop, you two!"

At her command, Rin and Rumi became static, proceeding no further. A gale of pink winds surrounded Sakura all around. It would've hit Mimi had she not withdrawn her leg. Once the winds vanished, the three attacked in perfect unison. A school nursery bed appeared in front of Sakura's hands, cushioning the impact, but still throwing the Ruler away. Sakura' back hit a door of a random office building and she skidded over the floor of the lobby, placing a hand down to properly do so.

Mimi didn't even hesitate: she followed Sakura inside at top speed.

Rin swapped to the Archer Card again and turned to Rumi. "You and your sister stall her!"

"E-Eh?! What are you going to do?"

"You'll see!" And without warning, Rin flew upwards toward the red sky.

"B-B-But what will I…" Rumi wondered how exactly she would be able to help, taking into account Mimi's approach. She looked at the walls of the building and an idea popped in her hand. "Well… knowing Mimi, she's about to use it." She pointed out to herself, approaching the tall wall.

Inside, in the lobby, a quick combat occurred. The Alter Ego kept delivering kick after kick, while Sakura kept blocking these strikes with the pointer, similar in use to a bow staff.

Mimi kept increasing her speed, more and more, circling around Sakura and attacking from all possible angles.

"Here I go…" Suddenly, a cloak of water spread on the floor and it began to shake and wave, its movement increasing alongside Mimi. "Here I go, here I go here I go here I go here I go here I go here I go here I go!" The multiple strikes became harder to block, and the water erupted into a tall tower, breaking through the roofs of each floor all the way up to the sixth. The water at the very top burst and vanished away, revealing a Sakura with her arms crossed and with multiple cuts across them. Mimi had one leg withdrawn… "Saraswati Meltout!" And her leg snapped forward. "...Tch. I'm getting sick of that thing."

The pointer had blocked the strike again. Though, granted, unlike every single previous moment, Sakura's hand shook while struggling against the blade of Mimi's foot.

With a snap of the fingers, darkness filled the gap of the floor below them and vanished just as quickly, revealing it to be completely restored. Mimi and Sakura both landed and Mimi glared once she saw Sakura's wounds closing.

"Okay, this is starting to become annoying: how the hell do you keep recovering?!"

Sakura remained silent, thinking it meant nothing to answer Mimi. And that's when she was pounded from behind.

"?!"

"Breast Tackle!" Rumi yelled on impact. She had climbed the side of the building with the use of her hands. Even if heavy, she managed to pull herself through and burst through the window, attacking Sakura with her chest by surprise. The Presence Concealment was handy.

The Ruler staggered from the shock, and the name itself was so ridiculous that it took her a second to actually process the fact that Rumi had yelled such a thing.

The Alter Ego with gigantic hands leapt back and placed her cupped hands in front of her body. "Mimi!"

"Gotcha!" The speedster skated across the room, slashing Sakura's stomach for a quick attack. Once in range, Mimi jumped into her sister's hand and closed her legs together, aiming the blades at the recovering Sakura.

The two spoke in unison. "Virgin Laser – Palladion!" Rumi thrust her palms and shot her sister forward like a laser beam, heading straight to Sakura.

The hate consuming Ruler glared while turning and around, summoning a giant syringe into her hands and striking with the momentum. The struggle between the two girls was real, but it only lasted a full second. The syringe shattered, but Mimi was thrown off course just a few degrees, which was enough to miss Sakura. Both feet braked the dash, with pressure that would rip through muscles applied to her metal legs, and Mimi dashed back at Sakura for another slash, but the pointer returned. The collision made Mimi pirouette around Sakura and move towards her sister.

Rumi grabbed her sister in her giant hands and turned around.

"Eh?! Rumi, what are you-!"

"You'll see!" The physically stronger Alter Ego jumped out the window, confusing both Sakura and Mimi. But the latter got her answer once she took a look at the sky.

A giant rift was wide open, with the planet Venus near its border, shinning in brilliant gold. Rin hurled the staff towards the planet above, making it shrink into the small of a small orb above her open palm. The morning star was loaded onto the bow and took the shape of a purple arrow, radiating with beautifully coloured Mana.

The target: the building directly below Rin.

"An Gal Tā Kigal Shē!"

An Gal Tā Kigal Shē 'Mountain Range-Shaking Firewood of Venus': Anti-Mountain A++

The arrow was fired into the shape of a devilish beam that consumed through the building. Once it reached the floor, a golden explosion erupted, its geyser of Mana reaching heights taller than the building to begin with.

The powerful shockwave hurled the twins far away. Even though they weren't directly affected, the attack caught them and threw them far from the area of impact.

Rin hovered downwards once the building collapsed. From amidst the rubble, she found a heavily wounded Sakura. But just as before, her wounds began to recover and the teenager stood up, front to front with her sister.

With a hand passing through her hair., the Archer crossed her legs and then her arms in an invisible seat. "Have you calmed down?"

"…" Sakura's glare wouldn't go away. "…Why would you say something like that?"

"Just because you suffered doesn't mean everyone else has to. Especially in this way."

"Then why did it have to be me? What did I ever do to anyone?!"

"I'm not saying you should suffer either, but Sakura, I don't see why I should offer you my sympathy right now."

"I'm your sister!"

"And my sister is playing part in destroying the city. Is the fact that Shinji raped you supposed to make your guilt in this go away?"

Sakura's hands clenched into fists. "Don't talk about me like you understand what I went through!"

"Am I?" Rin uncrossed her limbs and the bow disappeared from existence in a golden glow, as she let her feet touch the floor. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm just offering my two cents."

"…" The hands clenched so hard that, if not for the Install of a Card, Sakura's hands would draw blood. "…Did you know?"

"How could I? You told me just now tha-"

"Did you know I liked Shirou?!"

Rin became speechless for a moment. "…Are you seriously telling me that you jump started the apocalypse because of a crush?"

Sakura's glare turned death-filled. Rin's demeanour went from serious but relaxed to frightened. "…You didn't say 'no'."

"…Sakura, I-"

"See? This! It's this I can't understand!" The Black Blossom yelled in hatred. "I know I'm weak! I know I'm gullible! I know people can use me for their own personal gain, but… why did it have to be my siblings?!" Rin did her best to keep the same facial expression, even if her heart sank further and further the more she listened to Sakura. "My brother violated me for a petty reason and has been for years! And then my sister goes ahead pretends I'm not there while dating the one person that was able to make me happy throughout these years! The person that gave me friends, a home, a stronger relationship with you! I understand being tricked by other people… but why should I live in a world where my own family betrays me like this when I didn't do anything to them?!"

Rin had difficulty opening her mouth for a moment. "…Shirou doesn't owe you anything just because you like him. And I wasn't aware of your-"

"Why are you throwing excuses at me?! Didn't you listen to anything I said?!"

Something in her speech rang wrong though. "…Sakura, Shinji has been on it for years, right?"

"…Why?"

"…How come you didn't speak with anyone then?" Rin put the pieces together. The first moment was a few years prior but dating Shirou didn't happen until much later. Which would more or less coincide with a timeframe where Sakura could've met Kiara. And something about this… didn't sound right. "You didn't speak with me, Kirei, Rulers, Rankers, the police… I won't deny I understand why you wouldn't go to Shirou, but this is too serious to just stay in the corner." Sakura remained silent, visibly surprised by the question. Sadness took over and she looked away. "…Or did you like to keep you status as 'the victim' going for longer?"

It was hard for Rin to tell what happened next. It hadn't even been within a second that it happened. A Sakura with hatred in her eyes stood right in front of her with an extended arm. The sound of a splashing liquid occurred shortly after. And her body panicked.

Coughing out blood, Rin cover her mouth with widened eyes. It was so uncomfortable to not have anything supporting her tongue. Sakura had punched Rin's lower jaw clean off. The pain of having part of her mouth ripped off from her face didn't hit until a couple seconds later.

On top of painful, it was the worst kind of uncomfortable. It was hard to cough. The tongue hung down in a hideous fashion behind her hands, multiple drops of blood being coughed out in the process. The Archer staggered back, stepping away from the hatred-filled Ruler.

Sakura exhaled a mixture of emotions. "So, Rin? How does it feel?"

"?!"

The Ruler looked her sister dead in the eyes. "How does it feel to be unable to speak even though you want to?" Rin kept attempting to cough and holding her lower face together. "Painful, isn't it? But not in the same way as if someone punches you, breaks one of your bones, or bashes you in… It's hard. It feels so alien. Because the most basic thing we do when we are in pain is yell, to warn others of danger or call for help. But you can't do that." She took a heavy breath and looked at her sister as tears began to shed. "If you can't handle that feeling for a few seconds, IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE LIKE THAT FOR YEARS!"

Rin's heartbeat increased, higher and stronger.

Sakura summoned her pointer again.

"Now, get out of my life!" She wound up a thrust.

"…I don't think I can do it any other way…" A split-second decision… Even though she could not speak, the mental trigger occurred.

Eject.

"…Eh?" Sakura swore she wasn't seeing things right. Rin wasn't hurled away at the highest of speeds, nor did she use a skill to block the attack. She didn't evade, she didn't counter… Sinply put, her clothes change. Red shirt, black skirt. Casual clothing. And the pointer had gone through her abdomen, emerging from the other side, blood staining the red of her clothes into a darker shade. The jaw was back in place. And this time, the blood Rin coughed was… dangerously real.

"Ahh… I-It feels so much stronger when you're not Installed…" Rin admitted, her body gravely injured. And to make things worse, she stepped forward.

"N-No, sis, stop!" Sakura's panic made her twist the pointer, surging a stronger pain within Rin.

"Gh…!" But that didn't stop her. Once close, she hugged the black blossom. The warmth between their bond was matched- or rather, countered by the physical warmth of Rin's blood flowing out into Sakura's frozen hand. With tears streaming down Rin's face, she spoke softly into Sakura's ear. "You should've been repaid for your efforts. I'm sorry… I couldn't see through fake smiles. But you kept the ribbon on… I'm glad." Even if she wanted to say many other things, she wasn't able to, nor did she really know she could speak them to begin with.

The two sisters fell to their knees, still embraced. And the breaths of Rin began to dwindle when close to Sakura's ear… until there was barely any.

The eyes of the Black Blossom shook in sheer fright as her though raced a mile a minute.

"Rin?!OhgodIstabbedRinWhyistherebloodIt'severywhereRINBloodneedstostayinside!She'snotbreathingissheRINWhyamIkillingherShe'smysisterRINIloveherPleasewakeupthisisajokerightRINI'mjustsleepingatShirou'shouserightNoneofthiseverhappenedrightRINWhyamIdestroyingeverythingRINIshould'vetoldherRINIt'snotherfaultShiroulikesherRINIdon'twanthertodiefeelingguiltyRINWhydidnoRINonestopRINmefromRINkillingRINmysisterRIN"

And it all ended with a noise that deafened almost everything else in the are.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


So, things got dark.

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