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Chapter 20: Cuddle, Pillows and two Worms
~Shinji's POV~
When I returned from my unexpected visit with what was left of the Matou family in this universe, I had been quite eager to enjoy some relative quiet and peace from any other escalations ready to implode on my face.
At least those that I wasn't aware of since the large majority of the issues lingering in the Prillyaverse were either away from happening here at this time and place, leaving me with plenty of time to either prepare or elaborate my next steps with my own individual plans.
Sadly, there is no peace in a world as this one, especially with the quirky characters I had been mingling with about the multiple problems that required proper attention and intervention.
When I returned at the castle, ready to go for a quiet nap over the ordeal I had just finished to deal with the Matou family, I wasn't prepared to take in the little shock which I was granted right as a curious group of homunculi greeted me inside.
Artoria was a little tense, irritated by the unusual behavior of the doll-like maids, yet she wasn't enough to truly feel threatened by this approach.
The reason behind such an odd development was… an even odder development.
I was given some papers, a thick stack of reports that had been compiled in the last two hours, almost since after I had left for my little visit at the former family mansion, and the content within it was more than enough to bring another rounds of headaches over it all.
And that's why I was now lying on some comfy couch in one of the various living rooms of the fortress, left alone as I groaned and whined over the insanity that just ensued while I was away from the castle.
The first few pages of the big report were fairly normal, the data was a copy of the readings from the seals I had ordered to be placed in Sakura's and Pandora's rooms, to keep a constant inner watch about the happenings in both places.
I had these specific runes set up as a precautionary step and I actually hadn't expected of having to make use of any of those for this curious circumstance.
I was glad to have been wrong about overestimating the issue at hand.
The 'magical' ink transcribed down by the special runes and then processed by the maids assigned to keep an eye for any unusual activity, giving them a close seat to two strange phenomena happening in the span of mere moments.
The first one was a dual distortion of the space-time starting from a certain blonde-haired girl that was supposedly unable of using her full magical potential, two trips had been registered, with the first beginning right from the blonde's room and concluding into Sakura's room while the final one was used to make a return back to her confinements.
Rather odd for a prisoner to avoid escaping their captor if they have the means to do so, especially if said individual was a pseudo demi-goddess with a troublesome affinity with the magic of old and a strong affiliation with a certain Magus family trying to create the 'best' world ruled by them… or the better men that they considered themselves to be.
I was confused, incredibly so by this lack of attempts from Pandora's part to try and evade her captivity, yet I was quick to also remember a specific issue.
The girl didn't want to die, that was what had stopped her from opening the box the first time around.
Fear had dictated her from opposing the completion of her main purpose, her original reason to be and… now she was here, without her creators' iron-like rule and free from pursuing anything that she wanted to.
Sadly, freedom is not something that sat well with Pandora, especially since she wasn't human to begin with.
Considering her a mere homunculus would be a serious mistake, especially since the pseudo-humanoids in question had a very limited lifespan attached to their creation, with only just some few types (the Einzbern maids being the prime example) capable of sustain themselves for longer times, even longer than human lives, with proper reparations and careful maintenance.
She was less than a proper human, but her main flaw was her lack of 'general sense of life directions'.
Smart she might be and capable of creating immense anomalies with her top notch Magic Core, Pandora wasn't provided with the means of conceiving complex independent thoughts.
She could go for a walk in the park one day, she could decide to eat ice cream during a sunny day, but she couldn't exactly make grand plans on the go without the capacity of 'dreaming and establishing a future for herself'.
It wasn't her function, it wasn't the reason that saw her created. Her purpose was to die to fuel that blasted cube of hers and cause the Earthly corruption and sins to reach all over the world and introduce a major shock effect against Gaia.
Which right now would seriously speed up the process of the destruction of Earth in the Miyuverse.
Really bad, but not terribly so since that world was meant to die anyway with how little time was left to it.
Yet this very detail about 'Erika' wasn't something that I was just going to put away yet, especially since it added a curious clue over the second phenomenon she had caused.
The Einzbern Clan had registered just a handful of cases about transmutation and all of those were old depictions of the Age of Fairies that left them with some records over theories born from those recollections.
Nothing truly exhaustive, but it was still enough material to recognize the happening of a transmutation with some of the reports here and the object that was used for such a process was…
Sakura.
The girl was now normal and no longer a Doll. She didn't have any Crest Worms, nothing that would confirm any residue of pollution within her body and the final proof was her Element.
My mind had to reboot when it was confirmed that her current Element was Hollow.
Imaginary Numbers, the definition it was commonly known as, was the original affinity of the plum-haired girl and her Magical Circuits, the original ones, were healthy and perfectly-working.
But the greatest mystery was her lack of memories over her current whereabouts.
One of the maids had ultimately gone and checked on the girl after a thorough distanced-test occurred and gave them the opportunity to study the case closely.
It would be a massive understatement to say that Sakura was confused and incredibly afraid when she was confronted by the maid sent to get some answers out from the 'specimen' in the room.
The plum-haired girl freaked out incredibly and legitimately as she hadn't expected this situation to unfold, her mind seemingly stuck to a more easy-going nature compared to her previous encounters in this universe.
She didn't have to lie her emotions for some mission ordained by her senpai and thus there was no reason to appear secretive.
And some answers had indeed come out from such a situation, some of those were quick to cement the actual suspect that…
Pandora had reversed Sakura to a state of humanity and liveliness that was way-beyond what the strongest Magus could ever hope to achieve.
It was an effort that was eagerly defying Gaia's rules, it was… transcending mere magic as that level of transmutation, provided so effortlessly, couldn't be achieved by any Magician.
Yep, I had a pseudo-deity in captivity and… her reasons to commit such a morally-good action had to have something that I was failing to see.
Something simple, something that had to be inherently bad for her to accept as a viable action.
But what could it be?
My brain was burning at the immensely complicated mystery I had to get solved before the blonde managed to do something even more messy and somewhat good for my plans.
I groaned, drowning my face even more onto the soft pillow I had been resting it onto.
Why were things being this incredibly complicated and crudely annoying even now that I had the upper hand?!
"Because the universe as a funny way to show its care over its children," A familiar masculine voice mirthfully replied, causing my entire body to tense up and my face to slowly shift to look at the origin of the voice.
Gilgamesh smiled, the child version of the King of Heroes was currently crouching down near to my face and holding quite the amused posture as I frowned my tired eyes at him.
"Gil," I greeted curtly, feeling far too irritated by the world itself to grant him with a frightened reaction to such a close up. "I hope you weren't getting bored while we were away."
Red eyes widened just a little and his smile deepened in a genuine curve of happiness.
"A little, but now you are back," He admitted with a soft hum stuck in his throat. "The maids are fair to easy to prank and their reactions is lacking."
The homunculus weren't meant to show panic about some simple jokes and pranks, but I was mostly surprised that Gil would still try to get that kind of reaction despite the fact it wasn't just possible.
I nodded. "I'm sorry if I don't appear too susceptible to anything you are saying but… I'm facing quite the conundrum with-"
"The little puppet becoming a real girl?" The blond interjected with fake surprise, then his tone turned back to his previous amused state. "I suppose it had to have been a shocker that she is no longer an enemy to us."
"She is a scared young woman that possibly think that was kidnapped by the Ainsworth and…" I paused a moment, slowly turning my body belly up to stare at the ceiling. "She thinks that her senpai is on his way to save her from our clutches."
The boy nodded at my words and soon accepted the silent gesture to take a seat by the free space on the couch.
"Shirou Emiya… I don't know what to truly say about him," Gilgamesh commented with a certain fascination in his tone. "I've seen many variations, some in his youthful and more idealistic state, his feats reaching a legendary degree in this phase of his life, others where he is just that dull-edged watchdog that can't even accept the unfairness of every single job."
I blinked at that last bit.
"You aren't much of a model individual yourself," I mused softly, drawing a surprised look from his red eyes. "You overworked yourself to death-"
"Because in my last few days of mourning I found no reason to continue with that perfect life," The blond replied with a hint of annoyance. "Imagine being bestowed with everything since my birth, to have the respect, either out of awe or fear, and being forced to find something meaningful in this life."
There was some silence, my eyes still staring at the ceiling.
"It was Enkidu that brought you out of that loop, wasn't he?" I asked quietly, my voice faltering a little as I felt like there was no need for answers after what he just said. Yet I found myself urged to ask him about it all.
"He was odd; so odd that even before his impertinence, I wasn't able to do anything about him as he would so bluntly state his opinion over the world around me," He narrated with a certain nostalgic voice. "He was annoying, but funnily enough I couldn't bear to have him stop being that much troublesome. He was a pest, but one that challenged me with his own simple and strong mind and body."
"He was your milestone," I continued for him, feeling quite detached from the current issues for that very moment and right into this conversation. "Someone that would keep you on your toes and-"
"Then a sad excuse for a goddess took slight of being politely refused."
I would have questioned him a little more over the 'politeness' in that fairly brutal response to Ishtar's advances, but he seemed to be annoyed by the topic itself so I kept quiet just enough to come up with some other topics.
"Do you think that-"
"She would feel a little better to see a familiar face," The blond-haired boy interjected blankly. "She might be displeased that it's yours as she does assocites it to the pathetic scumbag that was her brother."
I flinched at the murderous tone at the end of it and I nodded slowly.
"Still, she would be afraid of me, wouldn't she?"
He shrugged. "What if she is? I think immediate fear gives people the chance of mustering some courage faster than letting them suffer a slower but more lenient fright."
But would it be convenient for me to approach Sakura this early on, especially with how distressed she was?
I was quite sure that Gil wasn't saying anything wrong by pointing out how it would eventually conclude in something more acceptable, the initial panic would be troublesome but not impossible to curb down to an easier level to try and get some conversation going with her.
Before I could say something more, I felt a pair of arms pressing on my legs and I stared down to see Gilgamesh slowly crawling over my chest and stopping to lie his head on there, red eyes carefully staring onto mine and… he smiled.
"I saw Chloe do something like this, to try and show affection in your regards and… is this how cuddles work?" His inquiry was somewhat stomping, my brain failing to register the scene until it was far too unraveled for me to avoid. I was embarrassed, enough to hesitate to give him an answer and ultimately I conceded a sigh.
"Something similar, but yes, this is the basis."
He hummed, nuzzling closer and almost melting his body in that position, letting go of the last bits of tension he had over his arms and legs.
"It's… similar to what Enkidu used to try to do after every spar, hugging and trying to tackle me down on the floor to nestle his head on my chest," He muttered quietly, eyelids almost dropping and ready to succumb to the tiredness. "It was draining, but in the good way. It felt endearing and… warm. Like it's now."
He yawned, giving a final nuzzle before finally… snore.
It was soft, very unusual to see someone- him sleep so suddenly and without any major warning.
I was shocked by the scene, my brain scrambling to recover some sense or lucidity but… I really needed that nap.
I had been dealing with ordeals after ordeals, two hours of rest would make me better-prepared to face what was going to be quite the troublesome encounter with Sakura.
So I yawned myself, adjusting my head on the pillow as my descent to sleep began and concluded with my own snoring.
Silence reigned in that room for at least an hour…
Then a certain giggling Kaleidostick decided to finally leave her hideout, preparing her camera feature and- SNAP – take a picture of that high-level blackmail situation.
Maybe Kuro would reward her handsomely if she showed her those… maybe she would be eager to try out some of the magical girl clothes that she sadly couldn't use on Shinji-sama.
~Sakura's POV~
In her mind, she was chiding herself for having failed to see the signs that things were far from good ever since waking up in this spacious room.
Sakura was a smart individual.
A little shy and reserved, but still capable of deducing simple issues from little clues that were so visible from her little fortress of pillows.
The bed had become her sanctuary after she had realized that this wasn't part of Senpai's plans.
Quite the opposite considering how expensive everything looked to be in that unknown place and her beliefs were further cemented when she was introduced to one of the servants working in this building.
The pale woman had some of the most unsettling red eyes the girl had ever seen, quite similar to the ominous sensation conceptualized by the form of her late grandfather during the little time she spent under his 'mentorship'.
But it wasn't malicious, nor it was sporting any positive emotion as it just offered some neutral coldness with the lack of expressions in her face.
The woman merely demanded some questions, her tone firm but not overly-commanding, and Sakura slowly but surely conceded to reply to the sudden interrogation she was subjected with.
There was no major reaction from this maid, the only noise coming from her being the scribbling of the pen she had on her hand over some papers, copying her verbal answers down on the documents.
Most of the queries were simple ones that were easy to answer, about her age, her height and other measures; then the questioning moved up right to topics related to her current state of being.
She felt healthy- She was healthy and that was quite a perplexing self-discovery as her body shouldn't be feeling this much well-accustomed to the world as a whole.
While Zouken had died after the Ainsworth had decided to eradicate the Matou clan, the Crest Worms that had been there in her body had been 'neutered' of the chances of resurrect her grandfather, but they had been left there in her body both as a sadistic 'punishment' and as a mean to cripple her means to make use of her magecraft.
Yet now she felt an unfamiliar sense of vitality running in her limbs and torso, as if she was finally breathing cleanly and away from some poisonous gas around her.
It was liberating and somehow horrifying as it meant just a sole thing.
This wasn't some hideout planned by her senpai, nor it was the Ainsworth's castle…
This was a completely different place altogether!
And so she was completely clueless about whom had decided to capture her and confine her in this room.
She was still receiving some decent food and she couldn't feel anything odd coming from the fruits she had requested from the surprisingly lenient maid.
Apples tasted much better now that her body wasn't in constant agitation, yet her mind was still failing to accept the fact that this was a safe place just like the servant had admitted to her with quite the genuine reply.
This wasn't a place of bad people, or at least not of cruel ones.
The room she was confined within was a 'precaution' from what the maid had continued to tell her and that her senpai 'was actually alive but captured by the Ainsworth'.
The mere idea that her lover had been ultimately been kidnapped by the family was… worry-inducing but also infuriating.
Without the concerns required about the emotions that would drive the Crest Worms to react on her body, she was given a complete freedom over her emotions.
And with her emotions left unrestrained, she was able to finally explore the height of her overall anger.
The two pillow in her bed were shredded without second thoughts and, while the maids keep pouring more white pillows to replace the ones she was destroying, the more Sakura was eagerly letting the furious sensation of vindication pour in her veins and prompt her to shred more of the little things.
Features were now filling the floor of the room, painting the ground white as she was given the chance of letting go of so much inner frustration and contempt she held over her family and other individuals.
After a few hours of spending her energies in such a destructive activity, her tired body had finally decided that it was more than enough for now and she decided to take refuge under the warm covers of her bed, waiting for whatever next development was prepared for her to witness.
It didn't take too long for the door of the room to open one last time, drawing her attention as this time it wasn't one of the maids to enter the room.
Her focus shifted to a more panicked expression as she realized whom was now standing with an uneasy smile right by the door.
She couldn't never forget her vicious older brother and his unique characteristics, Shinji Matou was here before her and…
He was far shorter than she remember him to be.
The young boy looked quite nervous and squirming under her own uneasy stare, lacking any of the cruelty and deviousness that the young man would display back a few days ago… before getting turned into a puppet.
She gulped, her throat tightening at the sight as horror forced her face to drain much of its color and…
He spoke.
"H-Hi," He said while waving at her, some uncertainty noticeable in the action. "I know that this might look… bad since my face is surely bringing quite the fair share of unpleasant memories but..."
He sighed, his posture easing just a little.
"My name is Shinji Matou, I'm an apprentice to the Wizard Marshal, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg and I'm in the middle of a mission to fix some bad situations involving yours and the one where your senpai's little sister has been sent after the end of the Fifth Holy Grail War," The boy explained with a more serious voice.
Her eyes widened at the mentioning of her senpai and… his sister!
"Y-You are talking about-"
"Miyu," His interruption confirmed his truthfulness over this knowledge. "She is currently a ward of the Edelfelt family as Luviagelita Edelfelt has recently set her residence here in Fuyuki after her own Zelretch had asked her and her fellow apprentice to investigate the situation."
There was a little pause, giving her plenty of time to properly sponge up his words in her brain and… her mind felt like some details just felt odd.
'Her own Zelretch'? Wasn't there just a single Wizard Marshal?
"There are currently three Zelretchs involved over the matter," He continued with a nod, before shrugging a little. "Okay, maybe two since the one from your dimension had yet to speak with any of his counterparts and-"
"I- You are not from… here?"
He nodded with a patient smile on his face.
"That is indeed the case, but my presence here is caused by a little favor I'm trying to get out of that lazy vampire."
She frowned at the strange comment about the supposedly-respectable elder, but for some reason she couldn't exactly defend him.
Yet her attention was drawn to another, more important detail.
"A favor?"
Shinji Matou was still a materialistic individual and surely this good-version of his wasn't actually truly that good with his intentions when-
"I want to destroy the holy grail from my original dimension before the Fourth Holy Grail War begins," The boy replied with some determination. "From there, I will kill Zouken and free my little sister."
…
What?
Her mind exploded with multiple opposing thoughts from that very heated proclamation, her brain almost melting at the weird circumstance unfolding before her eyes.
Three dimensions.
Her Senpai was alive but captured.
Her Senpai's sister was alive and protected by a Magus family in this Fuyuki.
This Shinji Matou was actually good and-
This Shinji Matou was adorable-sized.
A giggle almost left her lips, the bout of insane thoughts finally starting to flow more regularly and making her efforts to keep those from becoming troublesome easier.
Sakura hummed at this, seriousness finally regaining some dominance in her trail of thoughts.
"Does this mean that… you are against the Ainsworth family, Shinji...-san?"
It felt odd to address her brother as such, but the usage of the usual honorifics just felt… wrong.
Tainted.
"Me and a large group, yes," He answered happily. "Julian Ainsworth is trying to achieve the realization of a wish to 'save' humanity by proclaiming his family to some new gods and… he wish to use an artifact that… isn't meant to do that."
The explanation clicked somehow with her knowledge of the Holy Grail War, the magical construct used was something that caused the Great Fire of Fuyuki, erasing a little more than half of the city.
A terrible disaster and… it had all been prevented from reaching the full annihilation of the town only because of-
Miyu.
Was that why the Ainsworth had wanted her? Did the little girl have some sort of power that-
Her thought collapsed as she felt a slight sense of sickness making her a little nauseating.
At the mere sight of seeing her a little bit tired, Shinji looked incredibly concerned and proceeded to just take two steps closer to the bed. "Is everything alright?"
"My head is… spinning a little."
She lowered herself deeper in her cover, resting the back of her head onto the… mattress.
Oh right, the pillows are all shredded.
A sigh left her mouth.
"I'm- I'm sorry," The young woman apologized out of instincts, only getting a sigh from Shinji.
"You don't have anything to apologize for," The boy calmly stated, his soft gaze putting her at ease just for a little. "I suppose thinking too much about these topics might be getting you to remember some of the stuff you have forgotten."
F-Forgotten?
She could clearly remember everything, from the little plan she had gotten prepared a few days ago to when she confessed her love to senpai and-
…
And then-
Her body tensed up in a seizure-like manner, but it didn't convulse just yet.
"I-I-"
"S-Sakura, that's enough- If you continue to think about the past you might hurt yourself too much and-" It was a blink of an eye, he was already by her side with his small hands grasping at her arm. "S-Stop, I will tell you- not now, your mind isn't ready yet."
But the girl was so close to completely faint under that pressure, the mystery driving her to think more about the strange lack of recollection about what happened after that kiss and-
"D-Don't, please. I-I beg you."
There was a moment of stillness, her mind regaining just some base control over her twitching body as her eyes fixed upon the distress within Shinji's face.
It was so odd, so fascinating, so heart-crushing and-
And so familiar.
That pseudo-sob, that slight of fear that she had let out when her uncle Kariya had gone to fight the Ainsworth to save her, her mind already knowing that they were too strong to oppose and-
And how he became one of their emotionless dolls.
Her breathing was starting to stabilizing a little more, but her body and mind felt too tired to continue any conversation.
Eyelids half-dropping, Sakura gave a tiny smile. "I-I think I got- I got this."
There was a pause, surprise surging from his face and soon he gave a nod back at her.
"O-Okay, do you need anything or-"
"I-I'm tired," She interjected with some whiny tone. "A-And I don't have a-"
"A pillow," He nodded again, this time his attention turning to the door where a certain strange stick was poking its 'head' from.
"Ruby, can you please-"
"A super-fluffy and comfy pillow coming right up!" The strange object exclaimed, giggling afterwards while a strange light propelled from it and created a-
A pillow out of nothing, landing right into Shinji's waiting hands.
The boy approached her closer as to put the pillow under her head and it was incredibly comfortable.
Her eyes widened just a little in awe at how… comfy it was.
Sakura let out a cute, little yawn, her eyelids dropping a little more as she nodded. "Thank you."
He smiled. "You are welcome."
The interaction concluded there, with her mind finally ceding to the growing weight of tiredness and she ultimately closed her eyes and she drifted away in her sleep.
Shinji's smile widened a little more at the pretty sight and, while part of him would have wanted to accept Ruby's offer to take a photo out of that scene, he decided against it.
He wanted this moment to be unique after all.
-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-
AN
You know what would be absurd?
Shinji vs Dio- And I'm not talking about the original characters.
No, no, it would be hilarious to test the might of the protagonist of Crawl like a Warm against the Heaven-Holder from Absolute Divinity.
Can't you feel the WRYYY in that crawling? What an odd sound!
(But yes, I did start a DIO!SI from Ep 1 of Phantom Blood, it's the first Dio SI… ever!)
P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin
k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin
REVIEW Q&A!
Runelt99: The Prillyaverse is a fairly delicate bit of the Multiverse as there are two universes interconnected with each other and almost coming close to collide with one another. With Shinji's and Luvia's presence here now, the count is up to three and the multiverse 'rug' can take just so much before ripples all over it starts to spread. Shinji could potentially destroy the Nasurverse without proper attention with his plans.
Frenzy307: The Akashic Records is another name for the Swirl of the Root and the entity is something only in this fanfic.
Hashirama 1710: He died in the hope of stopping himself from going beyond the atrocities he was committing. Yet, even in death, Alaya used him as a dog to clean up the messes created by humans. His death was peaceful because he thought it would have been over after that, but it wasn't the case.
EVA-Saiyajin: I actually think that Kuro is getting plenty of exposure in this story, Illya a little less but I plan to change that soon.