16—Rosetta's Jest

A flash of light, a gust of wind, and the bladed rings at Taiasu's side are no more. The green leathers he'd worn briefly now shine red in the dimly lit shed. Still standing on her freshly healed feet, Sakura blinks again, rubbing the spots from her eyes as Tohsaka presses her forehead deeply into her knees.

So much has happened, and so fast, that she's not had time to process. First, her suspicion that there was something… suspicious… about the crimson-clad child. Then, her befuddlement at his complete non-reaction to her use of magic. And just recently, what she's seen with her own eyes. Vorpal bladed rings appearing as if from nowhere. Him doing some strange… dance… Then the color of his clothes changing. First from red to green, then back again. And alongside all of it, eye-catching, ephemeral flashes of light, wind, and sounds unlike any she's ever heard.

And all within a few minutes. Anyone would be left reeling, and Tohsaka's head, her mind, practically spins and swims for the concentrated deluge of happenings having transpired in such short order.

In that last flash of light, Sakura had sensed something as well. The warm, crimson glow that had washed over her, leaving her calm and comforted. The feeling had persisted until the bladed rings at Taiasu's side vanished in that second flash of blue light. Now, only being able to recall the pleasant warmth that had embraced her, she sighs, her smile weakening.

With what he wanted to do now finished, and his weapons away, Taiasu, still standing in the center of the small metal shed, turns toward its back wall.

"Sorry to have—!"

As he makes his way back to where he was sitting, apologizing again for some perceived slight, he stops and stumbles forward, dropping to one knee and seizing his head with one hand, the other supporting him as he holds it against the wall.

Wh-what…?!

Beset upon by a sudden spell of dizziness, and from his peripheries, the darkness from that morning quickly closes inward, reducing his vision to mere pinpoints of light, as a wave of crippling fatigue slams into him, nearly knocking him to the ground. What he'd felt that morning, nearly losing consciousness, had been aggressive and intense.

Somehow, what he now contends with is even more so.

D-Damn it! I didn't… think! Stupid…! If I'd known, I'd have just given her a gods… damned potion!

He slams his fist into the wall, then bites down hard on his lip, forcing the tunnel back. As he digs into his pack, searching, his vision wavers. Behind him, not understanding what's happening, Tohsaka and Sakura can only watch in concerned silence as he pulls from his pack a large hexagonal crystal prism.

One which glows with an otherworldly, fiery red light.

I suppose… Now's as good a time as any to try one of these! Right? Hope they… work—!

As he stares down at the crystal, the tunnel again encroaches, and he holds it at bay with his will, stomping his foot down, causing the shed to rattle lightly. Valuable seconds are lost, and the crystal in his hand keeps its glow. He draws in a desperate, stuttered gasp.

It's not! The crystals aren't…! Why?!

With time at a premium, he drops the glowing red crystal, reaching into his pack again and pulling out three small, glowing, round crystal shards. One crackling purple, one frigid blue, and one sandy amber. Immediately, each flashes and dims, and he shudders at the combined frigid, grating tingle that pours over his entire body. The darkening tunnel at his periphery weakens, becoming less incessant, and he drops the three dull crystal shards, bringing out three more. One aqueous blue, one fiery red, and one wispy green, exhaling sharply as the warm, wet, windy feeling whips around his body.

Gasping for air, he slips the three spent shards into his pack. He then moves to collect the other three from the floor, returning them as well.

"Gh… That was almost bad…" he mutters.

"Taruko… kun?"

Still unsure of what's just happened, all Sakura can do is speak out hesitantly, wearing a small, concerned frown. For everything being so new, Tohsaka is completely uncertain what she should think or feel about what she's just witnessed. Just another strange occurrence heaped upon a pile of strange occurrences. Now steady, Taiasu glares down at the larger, red crystal on the ground as he kneels down to pick it up.

Why? Why didn't it drain like the others? Is it just shards? And only when it's almost too late? That's no good…

With nothing to go on, he lets out a frustrated sigh as he returns the large crystal to his pack. Looking back toward Sakura, he shows an unsteady smile as some of his color returns.

"Sorry for interrupting before. Did you guys get figured out what you needed to? I'm guessing it has something to do with me, right?"

Stunned into silence after the past few minutes, especially the past few seconds, Sakura blinks heavily, trying to remember what had even happened before the sudden interruption. She and Tohsaka had been talking, and she'd been trying to convince her that Taiasu was not some wayward heir to a house of insane mages capable of sorcerous spatial transportation.

She'd just been successful. Then the enormous distraction came.

Right. That's what he's asking about… But what just happened? He looked like he was about to collapse!

"Wait, Taruko-kun… Before that, are you alright?"

Slowly, she sits back down, wringing her hands, and Taiasu steadies his smile and nods.

"Yeah… Something similar happened earlier today."

In brief, he explains the fatigue and the tunnel he experienced soon after his arrival. Sakura nods along, grasping some of it for having an idea about aether, after he'd explained it to her. Tohsaka listens raptly as well, soaking in the new knowledge, and drawing a similar conclusion.

He calls it something different… No. They are different. But it sounds similar to magical energy.

Again sighing, Taiasu leans his head forward.

"I just have to be careful and pay better attention, is all."

Still unsure, Sakura can only nod before she turns toward Tohsaka to confirm her answer to Taiasu's question from before.

"Well, that aside, what do you think, Nee-san? Have we got this figured out?"

Tohsaka sighs, staring at the floor where she absently traces abstract symbols in the thin layer of dirt as she tries to form an answer to their question. All that she knows now is that Taiasu is an incredibly strange entity. Whether he's from another world, or some runaway successor, she can't say.

Even what he did before, when he healed the cut on Sakura's foot… I've never seen or heard of anything like that! But there's plenty of undiscovered magic, so it proves nothing! This is so… FRUSTRATING! Without hard evidence, I can't give any sort of answer! Damn it!

Finally, she settles on a sort of medium-baked answer.

"Not entirely…"

Concerned, Sakura arches her brow.

"Nee-san? You still don't believe—"

Tohsaka holds up her finger as she lets out another sigh.

"Just… let me explain it to him, Sakura."

Quietly, she nods, and Tohsaka turns her vexed stare toward Taiasu now.

"You're right in that what we were trying to figure out involves you." Wearing a light frown, she presses her head into her folded hands before going on. "We were trying to figure out if you were telling the truth. I had a few ideas of my own, but Sakura…" She eyes her from the side, smiling. "Let's just say she surprised me. But I still can't say I believe you. Not one hundred percent, anyway."

"Huh?" Taiasu blinks a few times, surprised as well. "You thought…? You think I'm lying?"

Immediately, Sakura is shaking her head. "Not intentionally! Taruko-kun, we don't—"

"Sakura, please let me." Tohsaka again holds out her hand, and Sakura sighs, nodding and going quiet. "It's not as simple as that. I won't go into detail about what I thought." She raises her eyes up from behind her hands, wearing a small frown. "Mostly because of how embarrassed I am by it in hindsight. But even without that, what you've said is just—"

"Hard to believe?" She and Sakura both gasp lightly, turning to his face to see him nodding, wearing a simple, understanding smile. "No, I get it. I didn't believe it right away, either. Not at first, when Sakura explained it to me. And if it was my first time on another world,—" At this, Sakura's eyes expand subtly, recalling what he'd said earlier that morning. "—I still don't think I could have believed her."

Tohsaka sighs again, but smiles and nods. "Right. But for us…" Her voice trails for a moment, her eyes widening as his words sink in.

Wait… Not his first time on—no!

She shakes her head.

Focus, damn it!

"Without some sort of hard proof, it's just not something we can accept."

Taiasu nods again. "Yeah, that's fair. But I can't just open a portal and show you my world." He frowns, then chuckles. "Sure, I mean why should things be that easy. Without that, I don't think there's anything I could do that would convince you, right? I mean, magic is a thing in this world that could probably explain everything I can do, after all."

In unison, all three of them sigh, frowning and nodding in agreement. With her arms folded across her chest, Tohsaka's head-nod slows, her eyes gradually widening as some thought occurs to her.

"Actually… There might be one thing."

Sakura looks over, leaning her head to see Tohsaka showing a deep frown as she glares hard at the floor.

"Nee-san? What are you thinking?"

She draws in a deep, unsettled breath. What it is, she doesn't want to say. Even if it's certain to provide guaranteed answers, it's still less than an ideal solution. Finally, she lets her breath out and looks toward Sakura, still frowning.

"I could put him under a geas."

Silence prevails for a moment. Stunned from Sakura, frustration steals Tohsaka's words, and lack of understanding keeps Taiasu from speaking.

For a moment.

"A geas? What's—"

"A geas! N-Nee san, you want to coerce—!?"

Sakura speaks over his question, and Tohsaka holds her head in her hands as she grinds her teeth.

"I know! But it's all I can think of, right?! It's that or we just take him at his word! Do you honestly expect me to just do that?!" She punches the cement floor in frustration. "If I did that without hard proof, and got dragged before a tribunal, they'd… THEY'D CRUCIFY ME!"

With another deep breath, she settles herself, rubbing her knuckles.

The mage's association doesn't play around with things like this! If they found out I just accepted what he said because he seemed honest, they'd strip me and my family of our position and title so fast it might break causality!

"Sorry, what's a geas?" There being a moment of silence, Taiasu takes advantage to repeat his question. Sakura looks over at him, shaking her head.

"Taruko-kun, you don't have to—"

"Sakura, it's fine…" Tohsaka says, holding her hand out again. "I'll explain it to him. And we know the particulars. If he doesn't accept, it won't work. Simple as—"

"Why wouldn't I accept?" His head tilted, he prods his chin as he asks his question. "I mean, whatever it is, it sounds like it might help you accept what I'm saying, right?"

Tohsaka and Sakura both blink heavily in disbelief.

"Um…" Sakura goes first. "Taruko-kun, it's not as simple as that."

"She's right," Tohsaka says, following up. "You might rethink your willingness once you understand what this actually entails."

Quietly, Taiasu listens, holding a fairly relaxed, neutral expression as Tohsaka explains. In brief, she tells him that what he's so willing to undergo is basically a complex form of brainwashing, hypnosis, or mind control.

"So while you maintain your sense of self, you'll still have to unquestioningly obey any of my commands for the duration of the… effects." She hesitates in calling it what it actually is: a curse of coercion. "But like I said, it only works if you're willing to accept it, and only for as long a time as we both agree to. Knowing all that, are you still so willing, little man?"

Another uncomfortable silence echoes through the shed as he frowns, turning his stare to the floor and mulling it over.

Mind control? It sounds like that's what she was describing. Well, maybe not. It sounds complicated. And we did just meet, right? Is this really such a good idea? Besides that, I'm not even sure it would work! Not with—!

"So what's your answer?"

Impatiently, Tohsaka interjects into his thoughts, and he looks up to see her tapping her finger against her arm as she gazes at him. To her side, Sakura leans back against the shed wall, pulling her legs to her chest.

A geas… Nee-san, does it have to be something so extreme?

Taiasu sighs, turning his stare back to the floor. "I don't know. I'm fine talking about this stuff, you know, magic and other worlds and what not, but that's only because you know about it already. But letting you control my mind?" He grinds the tip of his glove between his teeth, as if it were her question. "It might be the fastest way, but…"

He contemplates his understanding of everything.

What all she said… Limited time, I'd still be me, and only if I agree. I should at least make sure I get it.

With his brow furrowing inward, he looks back up, pulling his hand away from his mouth as he meets her gaze. "Let me just make sure I understand. It's not permanent?"

"I hadn't planned on it, no," she says, shaking her head. "I figured it only needs to last for as long as we're in this shed."

"Okay… But I still have to do everything you say, right?"

She nods, and he frowns hard, looking back down.

"Obviously. That's the part that bothers me…" he mutters. "I'm fine with answering questions, but—!" His eyes snap wide, and he looks up, his frown turning up for a moment before falling into a plain line. "Okay. I'll accept this but only on the condition you promise just to make me answer your questions." As he states his terms, he holds up his index finger toward the ceiling. "I don't want you making me do anything weird."

For a moment, Tohsaka's mouth narrows into a circle as her eyes widen, then her face relaxes into a calm smile as she nods. "That's fine. I hadn't planned on anything like that, to be honest."

He lets out a deeply relieved sigh. "Then I'll accept this… geas… thing."

A questionable choice, to be sure, him accepting this so willingly, and he's completely aware. Yet there is one thing which makes it less of a difficult decision to make.

"Sakura trusts you, so I will too."

Sakura smiles softly at his words, but somehow they also twist uncomfortably in her chest. Like she's somehow deceiving him, or he doesn't fully understand what's happening. Still, all she can do is nod quietly.

"But what if…" He sighs, looking from Sakura back to Tohsaka. "What if it doesn't work? Have you ever used it before?"

"I haven't, but there's no reason it shouldn't." She narrows her eyes. "Unless you're lying about your willingness."

"N-no!" Quickly, he shakes his head. "I mean, I've got my reservations, but as long as you keep your word! Besides that…" Looking down, he taps his fingers together. "I mean, I kind of picked up on it a bit. It seems like my being here might cause you some problems, so the least I can do is cooperate, right?" He sighs and sets his hands down, then looks up and shows a small smile.

"So if it works, and helps to prove what I'm saying, then I'm okay with it."

Tohsaka's mouth wrinkles down in a half-frown as her eyes narrow further.

'If' it works? Is he doubting me? That irritates me more than it should…

Even if they'd only just met, hearing his small doubt stings her pride.

"Taruko-kun, are you really okay with this? You don't have to."

He looks over at Sakura, wearing a hesitant smile. Somehow, as he nods, that smile also shows a firm resolve.

"No, I'm not. Not really, anyroad. But what other choices do we have?" He folds his arms as his eyes slip closed, and he gives another brief nod. "I mean, we probably could've saved some time if we'd just done this from the start, right?"

As he turns his stare back toward Tohsaka, Sakura's mouth falls partway open, and she shakes her head in disbelief.

Why? Why would he be willing to go this far? Somehow, this feels unfair…

Tohsaka stands and stretches her arms and legs for a moment, then smooths down her red dress coat. "It'll be fine, Sakura. Taruko-kun, stand up and come over here."

As she asks, he nods and stands, walking into the center of the shed. Hesitant, yet still willing, he stands in front of her as she stares down at him with her arms folded, stroking her chin.

She lets out a small, frustrated sigh.

This is definitely not my first choice. But if he isn't telling the truth, even if he's unaware, it's the quickest way to be sure. Still, I really hate this.

"Close your eyes. Stand perfectly still, and try not to even think."

He snickers at the last part of her request, but quickly quiets himself and nods, then closes his eyes and holds himself as still as he's able. Holding her hand out over his head, she closes her eyes and weaves powerful magics with her words.

"Satz.
Beklagter, meine Wörter, werden geglaubt.
Weiß ist schwarz.
Richtige übliche Peitsche.
Die Vergeltung vom Himmel."

But he can't stop the Echo from doing its thing, and it translates her words so he can understand them. In response to it, he can't respect her order to not think.

It was an unreasonable request, anyway.

That's the same language as before. When she did whatever it was with that door.

Within his chest, a heated sensation builds. Not a warm, comfortable sensation, but something imposing. Almost sinister, and it continues to grow as her words woven with power penetrate deep into his mind.

Into his very core.

He trembles.

It's… definitely trying to do something—!


As Tohsaka finishes her spell, Sakura sits in the corner, clenching and unclenching her hands, wearing a worried frown.

Taruko-kun… Is Nee-san right about this? Is this really the best option?

"It's finished," Tohsaka says, breaking the silence. "You can open your eyes now."

Slowly, he nods, then opens his eyes, looking down at his hands, at the floor, then up and into her eyes. Those same eyes, which again catch him off guard, forcing him to turn his gaze away.

D-damn it! Come on, stupid! Focus!

He sighs, then looks back up again.

"So it's done?"

She nods.

"Okay? So now what happens?"

"Now I'm going to ask you a question. And you'll have to answer it truthfully."

With his mouth pressed into a straight, neutral line, he nods, holding her gaze.

I mean, I already was, but I guess?

Staring down at him, she frowns and pulls at her chin.

Something's not right. I don't know what it is, but something is bothering me about this. I'm not feeling any sort of pull or connection. And then there's what he said before, about it not working.

She sighs and gives a slight nod. "Then let's just confirm that it worked. Like I said, I've never used this before, so all I have to go on is what I've learned about it. There's no reason I can think of that it should've failed, but I have to be sure. So, Taruko-kun, tell me truthfully. Did the spell work?"

He hesitates, looking down and wringing his hands for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

"I don't think it did."

He's not wrong.

He'd felt something. Something like a second will that could override his own at any moment. Just as it finished taking shape, something else, the Echo, reached out and crushed it into fine powder, scattering it like so many loose grains of sand as it cast it from his mind, as it had done before, the first time he was exposed to a primal, when it attempted to temper him into a willing slave.

The very thing about which he was concerned.

Yet unwilling to lie, and seeing no reason to, he simply answers her question honestly.

Satisfied, she nods, smiling.

"That's good. You answered—uh…"

Her smile drops as she stares down at him, blinking heavily. It's not immediate, her understanding of his answer, and the implied contradiction between what he's said and that he said it. When she does understand, her smile fractures like so much fragile porcelain.

Wait… what? If it didn't work… Why would… What?

"What."

For a third time in as many seconds, she repeats the word, though out loud this time, staring down, blinking hard as her mind tries to reconcile what she's heard with the very nature of humans, self-serving creatures who lie when it suits their interest, and what is currently happening now.

"I don't think it did?" he says, answering her question again, causing her already fractured smile to harden as her eye twitches viscerally.

"No, I heard what you said. I'm just… What?" As if a fourth time would somehow resolve the paradox, she asks it again.

It does not, and she shakes her head, palming her face and dragging it, almost stretching it down. "But… If it didn't work… Why would you tell me it didn't work?"

"Huh?" Taiasu blinks up at her, leaning his head. "Because you asked me?"

"What? But… What? Why?!"

Her mouth falls open as she stares down at his perfectly neutral expression, betraying no shred of deceit, and her mind somehow both locks up while also threatening to strip out its gearbox. Finally, she turns as her ears pick up a soft giggle, and she spots Sakura, holding her mouth, trying desperately to hold back as her face turns red, rivulets of tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Finally, she fails. The dam bursts, and her entire body shakes as her unyielding laughing fit echoes through the shed.

"N-Nee-san… He's telling you because—!" Between laughs, she tries to explain as she leans forward, holding her sides. "That's just—! That's just…!"

"Sakura…? What?" She blinks a few times, trying to unstick her mind's gearbox. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because that's just how he is!" She tries to take in a breath, but it bursts out again in another several seconds of laughter. After, she's able to calm herself, and she wipes the laugh-tracks from her eyes. "Before, at breakfast, he almost gave me an anxiety attack when he and Fujimura-sensei were talking! He didn't say a single, dishonest thing! You asked him the question, and he answered it honestly!"

Again, though only for a few seconds, she holds her sides as she leans forward, laughing again as Tohsaka tries to understand. As Sakura laughs and Tohsaka ponders, Taiasu traces a path with his perplexed stare between the two of them. Without additional information, Tohsaka decides all the thinking in the world will yield nothing.

"Wait, so did it work, or didn't it?" She turns her stare from Sakura, who sits up, massaging a stitch out of her side, toward Taiasu now. "I mean, he only said he didn't think it worked, right? Okay, Taruko-kun. If you don't think it worked, tell me why."

He looks back from Sakura to Tohsaka, then down at the floor.

"Um… That's…"

Gods, damn it. Am I really gonna have to explain about the Echo right now? Can't I just gloss over it?

He sighs through a small frown.

"Things like that don't work on me. I'm protected from them. I mean, I wasn't sure at first if it would be true here, but the more you described it…" He fidgets with his fingers, trying to be as succinct as possible. "It just reminded me of something similar on my world. And that never affected me either."

"But you accepted—!"

"I know!" Frustrated, frowning, he flops down, then looks up at her. "I did! But I can't control how this thing works!" He looks back down, burying his head in his hands. "Even if I wanted to, I can't shut it off, or I would have!"

"Well, that's a frustratingly convenient thing, isn't it," Tohsaka grumbles, frowning as well.

Conveniently suspicious. But the geas tried to do something. Which means he has to be telling the truth, at least as far as him having accepted it. But why would he just admit that? Why wouldn't he have just—?

"Okay, fine. Since you're being so honest about everything, tell me this." She folds her arms, staring down at him. "If it failed, and you knew it did, why wouldn't you just say it worked?"

At her question, his frustration yields, his frown relaxing now into something more confused as he looks back up at her.

"Why would I do that?"

Tohsaka's mouth falls open again, her hands dropping to her side as she stares down at him unblinkingly. "Wh-why? What? What kind of question—?"

"Nee-san, I told you." Sakura forces back another small laughing fit. "That's just how he is. I'm not sure he could lie, even if he wanted to."

"No, I could. I just don't want to," he says, his arms folded, and shaking his head. "I mean, what would it accomplish, if we're trying to establish some sort of mutual trust here? That makes no sense."

Wordlessly, Tohsaka stares down, her mouth flapping but failing to articulate her thoughts.

What? The hell? That makes no sense? YOU make no sense, you little—!

"Taruko-kun, what is it that protected you from the geas' influence?"

While Tohsaka wrestles in her mind with the fact that such a person like this could exist on any world, Sakura pulls his attention away with her question, and Taiasu looks over at her now, then down at the ground, frowning.

"It's… Urg—!"

He clenches his hands, pressing them into his legs as he leans forward.

Damn it! I guess there's no way around it… But I don't even fully understand it myself! How the hells am I supposed to explain it properly?!

Finally, he lets out a long sigh, folds his arms and nods firmly.

"Alright. I'll explain it as best I can. But I have to warn you, I don't fully understand it myself. There are entire fields dedicated to the study of this thing." He flattens his hands in his lap and looks up between Tohsaka and Sakura who sit, side-by-side, peering at him. Both their mouths are pressed into thin, expectant lines.

"First off, it's called an 'Echo'. It does a few things. One is protecting me from… well, just like you saw." Like before, when he'd been counting them off to the old man, he holds up a finger for each one. "That's not all it does. The second—!" As he raises his next finger, his eyes grow huge and his mouth falls open.

Ah! Maybe that's it! They've been looking for some proof of what I'm saying! Could it be that easy?

He puts his hand away, his mouth turning up in a big grin as he chuckles to himself. He then casts his gaze between both girls.

"The second thing is language. Simply put, it lets me speak every language."

That's not how it had been explained to him, but it's how he chose to interpret it. When it HAD been explained to him, the person explaining it had said it 'lets him know a man's mind', even if he doesn't understand their words.

This just felt simpler.

"Huh?" They speak in unison, exchanging perplexed looks as they tilt their heads.

Still grinning, Taiasu nods. "Sure. It lets me understand and speak every language. You didn't wonder how I could talk with you guys, even though I'm from another world?"

It's with both their mouths slightly agape that they now turn to look at him, and Sakura first fields the question.

"Actually, the thought never crossed my—!"

Suddenly, her eyes bolt open as she remembers.

This morning! When he first spoke, it was something I never heard before! I couldn't understand a word he said, but the moment I said that, he was speaking fluent Japanese! Is that what he's talking about?

"—No! I mean, it makes perfect sense now!"

"Huh? Sakura?" Tohsaka looks at her, seeing her eyes now wide with surprised understanding. "What are you saying? What makes sense?"

In brief, she explains their initial difficulty communicating.

"I thought it was strange at first, but I hadn't given it another thought until he explained it just now."

Again, Taiasu nods. "Yeah. Until I hear a language, the Echo can't translate for me. I usually let other people talk first for that reason, when I arrive at a new place. But, well…" Awkwardly, he runs his hand over his neck. "I didn't know I was on another world when we met. I even understood those words you said," he says, looking over at Tohsaka now. "I knew it was some other language. Though, if it's one I'm familiar with, I'll have difficulty telling when a person switches."

He frowns, thinking back to his discussion with the old man.

"Huh? You mean, when I was casting the geas?"

The frown on his face lightens into a small grin as he nods again. "I mean, it made no sense to me, what you were saying, but I could understand the words. Something about a whip, and retribution, and Heaven—"

Her eyes widening, Tohsaka's mouth falls open all over again.

"Y-You speak German?"

He tilts his head, blinking at her question.

"What's German?"

"Ugh—!"

She groans, palming her face and leaning forward.

Damn it. He could win every hand of poker if he's feigning ignorance.

"Nevermind." She lets her hand drop and looks back up. "So you're saying you can understand every language?"

He nods again, and she holds her chin, thinking. "Hmm… It's not tangible evidence, but it might help prove his story."

"Nee-san?" She looks over to see Sakura tilting her head, blinking at her. "How do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, if he can speak every language, why couldn't he just speak a language from his home world? For us, right here?"

With eager enthusiasm, Taiasu nods his agreement. "Right? That's exactly what I was thinking—!"

Immediately, his eager grin falls away into a hard frown, his hands dropping to his sides as he lets out a frustrated groan.

Except—!

"Except it's kind of hard if I'm not actually talking to someone speaking the language…"

At his words, Sakura tilts her head, frowning lightly and holding her chin.

That's strange. He had no problem with it this morning, right?

The corners of Tohsaka's mouth dip in a hard frown as she kneads her forehead. "Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be."

Taiasu sighs in agreement, scuffing the ground with his foot. Then he tenses up, his face reddening. "Although… I mean, I can always talk in my native tongue." Before he even finishes stating such, his face turns fully red.

"Huh? Your native language?" Sakura straightens her head, looking over at him now, and he nods.

"Yeah. I don't really like using it though."

"Why's that?"

"Why is irrelevant, Sakura." Before he can answer, Tohsaka raises her head up and looks at him directly. "If he can speak three languages, that's some good evidence to back his story. Especially if one is a language no one has ever heard before. So let's start there."

Taiasu glares hard at the ground, his redness deepening.

Damn it. This is gonna suck. If that old man thought Mooglespeak would give you cavities, this is gonna make their teeth fall right out.

Nodding, he heaves a deep sigh and looks up from the ground. "Alright…"


Taiasu's face is still burning a heated crimson as he glares hard at the floor, like it's the source of all of his problems. He's just finished giving a cordial greeting in his native tongue, and he doesn't even need to look up to know what's happening. He can practically feel it.

But he does. In front of him, both girls are trembling, their faces equally red as they're practically eating their hands, trying their hardest to hold themselves back.

A battle they're seconds from losing.

Taiasu sighs.

"Yeah, I know. Let it out before you—"

Before he's even finished, the shed is echoing loudly with their laughter. The contagious sort of laughter that makes sides ache and comes more freely the harder one tries to control it.

The sort which makes it hard to catch your breath.

Even though he knew it was coming, it still makes his face burn with indignation.

Sakura struggles, her entire body shaking to the point of collapse, her mind reeling between gasps.

Oh my… Oh my god! That was—! It sounded like—! It sounded like… Someone from the Lollipop Guild inhaled all the helium!

The comparison only causes her to roll on her side, redoubling and adding fresh laughter to the inside of the shed, streams of tears rolling down her cheeks.

Tohsaka fairs little better.

I've never even—! It sounded like baby babble but—! But if it were actually a language! I can't—! I'm gonna—!

"Sakura—! I'm gonna—! I'm gonna pass out!"

"I know—! That was—! I can't—!"

They collapse into each other in a fit of unrestrained laughter that goes on for at least another minute. And all Taiasu can do is heave a deep sigh and show a small frown. Both born of resignation.

Thank every god Hydaelyn has a common language.