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It was a thrust like lightning.

A spearhead thrust to pierce my heart.

"— I ask of you. Are you my Master?"

I'm sure I'll remember this scene vividly even when I've gone to hell.

DAY 2

"Huh?"

"Matou Zouken. It is wrong for me to not name myself when you have done so."

"More importantly, Emiya Shirou. Is the daughter of the Einzberns doing well?"

DAY 3

"I'll leave it to you, then. The key's in the usual place, so go ahead. You don't mind, right Emiya?"

"— I ask of you. Are you my Master?"

Saber runs at the man in red without hesitation, takes his guard down with one blow, and…

…Easily slashes the man in red.

"Rejoice, young man. Your wish will finally come true."

"Nice to meet you, Rin. I am Illya. You should work it out if I make that 'Illyasviel von Einzbern'."

DAY 4

"Huh…? Oh, no. I'm just wondering why she's after us.

"And that wasn't the first time I met her. I've met her once before, and I've heard the name Einzbern before as well."

"…"

"Saber? Do you also know the name Einzbern?"

"I was Kiritsugu's Servant."

"— It's about my father. Why didn't you tell me that Emiya Kiritsugu was a Master in the previous Holy Grail War?"

Kotomine smiles.

"—No way."

The match is decided in an instant.

Saber's sword cuts Rider's body, and the Servant in black is blown away.

DAY 5

School's over and the commotion is dying down.

"…All right. I have to go home and get ready."

Even if Sakura is going to stay over, I need to mentally prepare myself.

I should go buy groceries and wait for her to come after her club activities.

I leave the supermarket with bags full of food.

"…?"

Someone's pulling at my shirt from behind.

"I'm glad you're alive, Onii-chan."

She looks at me with a big smile.

My talk with Illya lasts for about an hour.

"— Illya. Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Do you recognize the name Emiya Kiritsugu?"

…I have to ask her this question.

"—"

The air freezes.

"No. I don't know anyone like that."

…Her silver hair flutters.

Fairy-like, she gets up from the bench and turns around.

"It's getting late. Berserker's going to wake up at night, so I have to get going now."

Illya waves goodbye.

I —

1) Should go home too.

2) Stop her.

2) Stop her.

"…Wait."

Before I can think through my actions properly, I have already reached out to grab Illya's arm.

"…Shirou? Ah!"

Her carefully neutral expression is replaced by one with confusion, and a slight tinge of pain. I blink and look down at my outstretched arm, and then at my death grip on her left arm.

Another moment passes and suddenly my mind finally puts itself back together again.

"S-sorry…! I didn't mean to! I just wanted to!" I stammer as I shrink back and slump onto the park bench.

What was I thinking, reaching out to her like this? Risking her displeasure would be equal to risking my life, especially without Saber near me. Sure, I could use my Command Seals, but I could hear Tohsaka lecturing me for wasting it on something so reckless…

On the other hand, Illya has regained her composure and is now peering curiously at me, hands behind her back. My eyes meet her red, inquisitive gaze, and I gulp down a natural instinct to get up and run.

No, I stopped her leaving for a reason. Something inside me screamed at me to do so.

I couldn't let our conversation end like this.

It wouldn't be right.

"Illya," I finally speak after a moment. "There's a bit of time before the sun sets, right? I don't mind if you just listen, but could you stay here for just a little longer?"

I continue to meet her gaze. The heir to the Einzberns. The greatest Master, the carrier of a thousand years of history. Part of the family once betrayed by Kiritsugu.

"I don't mind if you just pretend I'm speaking to myself. Ah, I'm probably going to end up doing that anyway, since it's something you might not want to talk about."

But what I saw was an innocent girl with a lack of fear and a sadness hidden just beneath her childlike facade.

"I want to talk about the old man for a bit. What Emiya Kiritsugu was to me, how he lived…"

So I want to reach out to her.

"…And how he passed on that night."

And tell her everything I know about the old man.

In place of Kiritsugu, I owe her that much at least.

"If there was an Illya route, there would be an additional choice on Day 9 Sakura Route, where you would choose to neither be an ally of justice or an ally of Sakura, but instead choose to be Illya's ally."

- Fate/Side Material, excerpt from the "Discarded Routes" section paraphrased and translated from Japanese

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Fate/Other Night

The Illya route between UBW and HF that never was.