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Gain courage through… drugs?!

Ganbatte, Miyu-chan!

Obligatory cherry blossom scene.

Chapter 07 – Autumn(?)/Family

Ritsuka sighed once more for the nth time. Miyu couldn't help but feel that she was disappointed in her.

"Miyu-chan, until when are you going to remain indecisive? It's been months now." Miyu could only look down as her onee-chan chastised her. "I mean, you are already used to calling me onee-chan. So why are you having trouble with this?" Ritsuka could only rub her head at Miyu's hesitation.

"B-because it's different from onee-chan!" Miyu exclaimed. "Onee-chan was the one who approached me and asked! And Shirou might…" She reasoned.

Ritsuka found the problem it seems. She would have thought that the bond between Shirou and Miyu would've made it easier, but it seems that the opposite happened. Miyu was too scared to shake the status quo and change their relationship because it might result in being rejected and less loved afterwards.

Miyu watched as her onee-chan got into a contemplative pose. She could practically see the veins in her head throb to pump more power into her brain.

Minutes passed as Miyu also devoted her brainpower to get around her problem. She had many plans laid out before her attempts, but she always gets cold feet whenever it was time to enact her plans.

"Miyu-chan, I'm going to get something from the shed. I think it will be the solution to your problem." Her onee-chan left for the shed as she said those words.

Miyu chose to believe in her. After all, she has never failed her before.

"Here Miyu-chan." Ritsuka returned with a white container of some sort.

Miyu opened it up and saw dozens of identical tablets inside. "This is?" She questioned.

"Drink one up before trying to tell Shirou. It will give you the courage, vitamins, and minerals you need." Ritsuka advertised.

"Will it really work?" Miyu doubtfully asked.

"It will! Believe in your onee-chan!" Ritsuka strongly assured. "Ah, and don't take another pill for about two days after ingesting one alright?" She warned as she went back to the shed.

Miyu silently considered her options for a few minutes. Her courage was simply not enough, an external aid will definitely increase her success rate. In the end, she took a single pill and swallowed it. She could already feel her confidence rise rapidly after a few minutes. Her onee-chan's medicine is super effective. With this, she will definitely succeed!

Miyu prepares herself for the greatest turning point of her life.

The onee-chan in question. 'It's just a multivitamin, but I didn't lie on the part about getting courage. I just never said where that the courage would come from the Placebo Effect. [1] It should give Miyu-chan enough confidence… I think. Ahhh, these two are really troublesome, one is not honest to his own feelings, and the other is too scared to express them.'

Emiya Shirou panted lightly from the sprint he did to get home quickly. With his hand above his chest, he took deep breaths to prepare himself. His mind was already made up, Ritsuka's nudging, Miyu's adoration, and Sakura's answer, all of them were factors that led to his decision today. The only thing left was to tell Miyu everything. He would tell Miyu everything. Then they will start over, this time, as family.

"Tadaima." He called out. But instead of Miyu who always welcome him back, Ritsuka was the one who greeted him.

"Ah, Shirou, Miyu-chan is kind of… how do I say this… very motivated today." She said with a sheepish smile.

"Motivated?" Shirou was confused. 'What in the world is happening?'

"It's easier to understand after you see it for yourself." Ritsuka took off, expecting Shirou to follow her.

Shirou, seeking answers, followed right after.

Clothing, an ornate yukata she chose herself, check.

Food, a feast that she made with her best dishes, check.

Hair done by onee-chan, Miyu ran her hand through her hair. She felt smooth and silky strands and saw them sparkle too, the strange things that onee-chan did with her hair were very effective. Check.

Newly trimmed nails, brushed teeth, freshly bathed, and some lotion that onee-chan lent to make her skin smooth and glossy, check.

The medicine is still in effect, Miyu didn't feel any loss of courage, check.

It seems that everything is ready. Now, only Shirou is missing for th— 'Oh, he's here now.'

Shirou was surprised. Food littered the entire table, looking closely, he could see that these were dishes that he praised highly when evaluating Miyu.

"Okaerinasai, Shirou." Miyu entered the room.

Shirou was stunned. Miyu looked, for a lack of better words, shiny. He has never seen Miyu this lovely before, but the one that took his attention the most are her eyes. They held flames that displayed her resolve. For what reason he did not know. It seems that he will have to postpone the talk he would have with Miyu and let her go through with whatever she is planning.

Dinner was slow today. Not only were there a lot of food, Miyu also fed him her dishes by taking it to his mouth. She sent determined looks his way every now and then while eating more gracefully than usual. He tried sending questioning looks to Ritsuka to gather information, but she only looked away with a somewhat guilty expression.

These state of affairs continued until every single dish in the table was empty.

'It's time.' Thought Miyu. With the courage she gathered from within herself, she takes action.

She stared directly at Ritsuka's eyes. Staring back, she received Miyu's unsaid signal and nodded back. Ritsuka will take action to assist in Miyu's goals.

"Shirou, can you come with me?" Miyu invited.

"But what about—"

"Leave the dishes to me." Ritsuka interrupted. "Don't worry, I know what I am doing. Go along with Miyu-chan now." She waved her hands as if to shoo them away.

And so, Shirou let Miyu drag him towards wherever she wanted him to be.

Miyu's heart was pounding rapidly, but she didn't waver as she brought Shirou to the place she chose. There it was, a lone cherry blossom that onee-chan provided. Honestly, she didn't think that cherry blossoms could grow that fast, maybe she should ask how it was done the next time she asked advice.

"Eh? Did we have cherry blossoms here before?" Shirou muttered silently. Fortunately, his brain immediately uncovered the culprit. It was Ritsuka, there was simply no other explanation. After all, trees don't grow THAT fast without some sort of mystical means.

Still, he wonders what Miyu wanted from him. She has never actively asked for anything before, so he was curious on what she would like.

Miyu took a deep breath and looked straight into Shirou's eyes.

"Shirou." She started. "Can you, ummm…" She tried to continue, but she kept tripping on her words and was unable to go on.

Shirou, deciding that she needed a little push, he kneeled down to her eye level, wrapped her up in a hug with their heads on each other's shoulders, and stroked her head. After a brief moment, he felt her relax and returned his embrace.

"Do you feel better now?" He asked gently as he continued to comfort her.

"…Thank you." Miyu was quite embarrassed that she couldn't do it right the first time around, but now that she was calmed, she wouldn't let all the effort that she put in for this to go to waste.

She broke her hug and gently pushed herself from Shirou so that she could face him. Shirou, seeing her actions, did the same.

"What did you want to say Miyu?" He asked while still kneeling.

Miyu looked at Shirou once more. She started to reminisce her time with him and each and every single one of them showed how much he cares about her. He never tried to hurt her, he pampered her, he comforted her when she was hurt, and he was by her side all the time. Yes, there were some occasions when he had things to take care of, but he always returned to her side.

'Ah, so that's why onee-chan was confused.' Miyu understood now, her onee-chan's confusion. Miyu was so deep in her self-doubt that she couldn't see Shirou's love for her, but Ritsuka could see it as clear as day. 'Thank you onee-chan, I can finally see it, Shirou's love.'

"Shirou, can I call you onii-chan?!" She shouted with all her feelings. 'I-I did it!' Shirou was left dumbfounded at her words. She eagerly awaited his response, putting her all her faith in the person she loves the most in the entire world.

Shirou was stunned, but he recovered quickly and responded. "Of course! How could I possibly refuse something like that!" Miyu couldn't understand the face that Shirou was making, but she understood that it wasn't anything negative, and so—

"Thank you Shirou—no onii-chan!" She beamed at him with flushed cheeks and a bashful expression. She radiated happiness at the response she received.

None of them noticed Ritsuka taking pictures with her silent camera.

"I'm a bit jealous of you Shirou." Ritsuka said as she and Shirou rode the elevator to the golem factory. "Miyu didn't make that kind of expression when she called me onee-chan." She sulked. "Still, I'm happy for both of you."

"Don't say it like you didn't have a hand in this." Shirou replied as he adjusted his hold on the weapons he made. "After all, you were the one who spurred Miyu didn't you?" Shirou knew that it wasn't in Miyu's nature to be assertive, so the only explanation was an extraneous influence, or more accurately, the only possible influence she could recieve. The assists that she gave didn't help her case. "That's pretty unfair you know, using Miyu make me accept what you said."

"You say that, but when I saw you come through the door, I knew that I got through to you." She smiled victoriously. "Besides, I just gave her some beauty products—"

'Oh, that explains why she was so… shiny.' Shirou thought.

"And bottle of pills." Shirou's gaze sharpened at her admission.

"What kind of pill was it?" He demanded.

"Relax Shirou, the contract is still in effect, besides, I wouldn't give something dangerous to her even if there wasn't one." Shirou relaxed slightly at that and got curious about the pills.

"What kind of pills were they anyways?" He repeated.

"They were just multivitamins." Shirou didn't understand, what could multivitamins possibly do to help Miyu back then? "I just made use of the Placebo Effect to give her courage. Though I think that it was TOO effective." She stated.

"Oh, makes sense." To cast Magecraft, a Magus has to do self-hypnosis, so Shirou knew about the Placebo Effect's concept.

The door of the elevator opened and Shirou saw the golem factory once more. It seems that there were more types of golem this time around, but…

"I expected that there would be a lot more golems." Ritsuka was able to build a lot of things in the span of a week, so he kind of expected the numbers to be a few hundred golems after all this time.

"Most of the golems that were made during the first few months were fodder or for utility." She explained. "Right now, quality is being prioritized over quantity." She sat on a chair at the side as Shirou continued towards the 'testing dummy'.

"I see, but can you actually call these golems low quality?" Shirou observed the 'testing dummy' for the weapons he made. It towered over him with its approximately three meters height and width about five times his own body. Made of earth, bronze, and other materials bolstered by Magecraft and weighing about one ton. "You did tell me that they could beat Enforcers."

"Like I said before, it depends on the matchup whether they would win or not. If the opponent is adept at physical destruction, they would probably win. If they specialize in something like the exorcism of spiritual bodies, they will probably lose." She expounded. "Well, ignoring all that, you should test your weapons now."

Shirou silently unfolded the cloth holding the weapons. Picking up a spear, he opened his circuits. "Trace on." He [Reinforced] the spear that has the property of fire embedded in it. With a battle cry, he went into a simple stance and thrust his spear at the center mass of the golem. The Mystic Code shaped like a spear had flames erupt from its tip as it gouged the golem. [2] Looking at the damage, the golem now has a sizable hole, but not one that would impede it sufficiently, never mind actually destroying it.

"That's a pretty big improvement Shirou. Last time, you were only able to scratch the surface." She praised.

"Thanks, but I still have a lot to learn." Shirou looked at the multitude of weapons that he still needed to test. 'This is going to take a while…'

Miyu walked to her room with a skip in her step. She couldn't stop herself from radiating joy with her every move. Shirou has finally become her onii-chan, she is now a part of the family. Last night, after she had completed her mission, she felt her bond with onii-chan become stronger than ever. It also seems that she has gained the ability to understand what onii-chan is thinking or feeling even without talking with him.

Reaching her room to continue studying while both of her 'siblings' were at the shed, she discovered pictures atop her desk. They weren't any of the ones she took. She would know, after all, she memorized each and every single one of them. Looking closer, she realized that it was a photo of her and her onii-chan under the lone cherry blossom.

'Thank you, onee-chan.' Come to think of it, she hasn't properly repaid onee-chan for making all of this possible. She will repay her with the only way she knew, through food.

She should probably ask permission from onii-chan first.

One day passed.

"Woah! Thanks for the cake Miyu-chan!" A multilayered cake is presented to Ritsuka as tribute for her help.

"Please enjoy it, onee-chan." Miyu thought that the cake was too little for compensation, but she didn't have any other option to repay onee-chan right now.

Taking away her gaze from the girl stuffing her face in cake, she cuts a portion of the pudding she made and presented it to her onii-chan. "Onii-chan, say ahhhhh." Onii-chan did this for her when she was younger, so it was only right that she does the same for him.

As Shirou ate the pudding presented to him, he evaluated it. Finding it satisfactory, he silently approved.

The three of them gorged on the desserts prepared by Miyu and after they finished—

"Onii-chan, onee-chan, can we take a picture?" Miyu requested.

As they agree, Ritsuka went to the shed to take the camera stand while Miyu and Shirou took care of the dishes.

After everything else was taken care of, they went to the lone cherry blossom and set up the camera. With a single synchronous shout—

"""Cheese!"""

The camera produced a single photo depicting a happy family under a cherry blossom.

[1] Sometimes a person can have a response to a placebo, both positive and negative. A placebo is anything that is presented as a medication, but it doesn't actually do anything or do what they are told to do. Ex. Empty pills, posing fever medicine as cough medicine, etc.

[2] Mystic Code: A tool that helps perform Magecraft or activates a spell when supplied with Magical Energy.

Ex. Azoth Sword, Dress of Heaven, Jeweled Sword Zelretch, Volumen Hydrargyrum.

AN:

Autumn is represented by the growth of the family's bonds.

Miyu has finally recognized herself as part of the family.

I hope that I did the 'you are family' scene good. That's the scene I wanted to write the most in this chapter.

On an unimportant note, Shirou is improving in Magecraft slowly. He is no genius after all.

The weather pattern in Miyuverse is probably something like this:

Spring → Autumn

Summer → Winter

Autumn → Spring

Winter → Summer

Winter is the only one left. Hehehe, the happy days are coming to an end soon…

The next chapter will be more about the other characters, maybe.

Timeskip to March 3

Shirou – 15, 1 months till 16 April 15

Miyu – 8, 5 months till 9 July 20

Sakura – 15, 12 months till 16 March 2

Also, can anyone help me write a new summary for the story?