The alarm clock read another half-hour until seven, but Miyu stirred early out of pure habit. Her free arm had gone numb during the night, so she shifted upon the futon as carefully as she could so as not to disturb the magnificent man still asleep in her embrace. The attempt proved to be futile.
"Miyu?" he mumbled. "What are you doing in my bed?"
She buried her face into his back to hide her blush. Without thought, she reached for his hand and squeezed. "I haven't seen my big brother in many, many months. I don't know how much longer it was for you because you keep refusing to tell me. But I've missed my brother dearly. Every single day that we've been apart."
Shirou chuckled through a yawn. "Is that so?" he asked. "Well, then Big Brother doesn't mind you being here. Although, I have a feeling some of your friends would. Especially that Illyasviel girl. She's quite the character."
"Yes. She is. But I know she would understand. You remember, don't you? From her story last night after you told ours." She moved to rest her chin on his shoulder. From where she could see, her brother's eyes remained closed. She couldn't blame him. She was still half-asleep, herself.
"That's right," Shirou said. "She's got an older brother, too. And her parents, and her cousin, but her cousin came with her. Or is she her sister? Illyasviel's story was kind of confusing about that part."
Miyu skirted that last question. She didn't have the desire to clarify those two's real situation. Instead, she replied with, "Plus a pair of maids whom she's quite close to." Miyu sighed. "It couldn't have been more than a few days since she's seen them all, but there's already a deep longing in her eyes. It's unmistakable. And recognizable."
"Your situations have been reversed."
"They have." She gently traced a finger along one of the alien lines that further sullied his magically discolored cheek. Before they'd been separated, those lines were still fresh and bloody; cuts sustained from his nonstop crusade of battle after battle to save her from the Ainsworths. Those cuts were scars now. Just how long had she been gone?
Miyu held back her tears for her brother's sake. It was too early to make him hear her cry yet again. It was too early in the morning, and too early in their reunion. He had gone through the deepest circles of hell long before she'd went through her own versions during her imprisonment under Darius, as well as through her trials to collect those accursed cards in Illya's world, and she hadn't been there to be with him for any of it. Her heart told her that she never wanted to leave Shirou Emiya alone. Ever again.
Miyu loved Illya, of course. She loved Luvia, and Kuro, and had even come to appreciate the quirky camaraderie she shared with some of her classmates at school; that circle of loud ones whom she would never admit to liking to tease with distance and indifference. Even enduring Tatsuko's abnormality was something she missed, as much as the thought surprised her. She was certain that Illya would feel the same. But in Illya's world, Miyu could never bring herself to behave like she wanted to below the surface. Without her brother, the world — any world — was empty to her. It didn't matter who filled the void left behind. Her emotions rarely came out as anything other than flat, and she had no motivation to articulate them any further than that. At least, not without Shirou. Her Shirou. Not Illya's. It had to be hers to do it.
Miyu had already been resting her head on the pillow when Shirou said, "Since Illyasviel is now the one who's in your shoes, it may be best for her not to see you here. I can tell how she feels about you. And you towards her."
Miyu tightened her embrace and whined, "No. Just a little longer. At least until the alarm goes off." Her brother's protest never came, which put a sleepy grin on her face. "Besides," she continued, "I think I know Illya well enough that she won't be up until it's almost lunch time. Not without a reason to, anyway."
"If you say so," Shirou said, chuckling. "Then, feel free to stay as long as you like. I've missed you, too, my little sister."
That was what did Miyu in. She slapped Shirou to stop his laughing at her uncontrollable sobs, but silence eventually reclaimed the room in a comforting wave. With that, they slowly drifted back into slumber together. That is, until a very, very unsettling realization hit them extremely hard at the exact, same time. Namely, the fact that, beneath the covers, there was most definitely an extra pair of legs tangled between theirs. And an extra arm wrapped around them both.
The Emiya siblings gulped, shrieked, and shot straight up to their feet into each other's hug. The covers flew across the room in the process, revealing the mysterious set of limbs who'd been snuggling Miyu snuggling Shirou for who knows how long.
Miyu went absolutely blue in the face. "K-K . . . Kuro?"
"Morning." Her drowsy smile was the epitome of soft and sweet. It was as if her intrusion into the private reunion of a girl with her long-lost brother was nothing to be offended at in the slightest. "You two are so adorable together," Kuro said. "Who knew you guys could top last night's bear pajamas performance?"
"What the hell is your friend doing here, Miyu?" screamed Shirou. "And why is she completely naked?"
The door to the room suddenly slid open with the fury of a dying star. There stood Illyasviel von Einzbern; hair surging upwards amidst crackles of feverish dark magic. Her fangs grew something like three sizes that day, and her eyes glazed over at the pitiful sight of her dear brother's doppelganger feeling confused and violated out of his wits.
Miyu — and Miyu's tongue — could be said to be accustomed to this level of Kuro by now, but Other Shirou was thoroughly a noncombatant, so to speak. Illya's usual, obligated compulsion to slap her "brother" for formality's sake was overridden by protectiveness first and foremost. He wasn't really the Shirou she knew, anyway, but the actual, solemn bewilderment in his face was heart-wrenching, nonetheless.
Kuro, now wide awake, scoffed as she phased her house clothes back on. "And here comes Big Sis to save the day once again. God, you're such a party pooper, Illya, you know that? I was just spending some quality time with —" These would become her last words of sass until later that day.
Illya pounced without remorse and unleashed all she had. Despite this, the damage to that beautiful home was surprisingly kept to a minimum, as both warring "sisters" still respected their places as guests deep down. Such a contradictory consideration, however, did little to calm the other pair of siblings cowering together in the corner of the room.
Some things never change.