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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 18: Understanding and Solving

"Sensei, Sai-kun is so weird!"

To be told this kind of matter by Illya at the end of the lesson just the first school day after getting Sigma brought to the Emiya Household told me much on how things were unfolding for him and the rest of that house's occupants. Illya was still an honest child to heart, and to have someone like Tatsuko and now Nanaki to provide her with a confidence boost just cemented that sort of truthfulness to a chilling level.

"Hmm, Illya-chan you should not be so direct about someone's flaws."

"But he behaves so strangely," She half-whined. "He always stops to look around the corner, asks Sella about all details of the food he eats and then spends most of his time in his room."

I slowly nodded at this, currently dealing with some paperwork as that conversation unfolded. I needed to get this stuff sorted out before the date as I knew I couldn't afford any distraction in that regard. Still, the fact the girl brought it up to me was... confusing. Why me?

"If I may ask, why do you want to bring this up to me, Illya-chan?"

"B-Because you are the one that brought him to us. That's what mama told me."

"Sensei, why did you even do that? Did you know him before that point?" Tatsuko pressed on the questions while Nanaki hummed.

"Maybe sensei has other reasons and he just wanted to help."

I smiled. "That's actually it. I found Sai wandering the streets and being quite pushy in asking people wandering the streets about a 'Emiya Kiritsugu', so I remembered that's Illya-chan's father. I asked what it was all about and took him to talk with Irisviel-san."

"So, you don't know much of him before that point, right?" The little blonde inquired and I shook my head.

"I did not. So, if there's any sort of behavior he is showing, I can just assume what could be behind it."

Two of the trio nodded in dismay at the lack of answers in that front, yet the quiet pinkette that had just tagged along recently seemed to be far from 'beaten'.

"And what do you... think about it, sensei?"

I blinked, offering a little praise with a nod as Nanaki had picked up the wording I used about it. While I couldn't exactly tell them the entire story since it would create some troubles to my current alibi, I could still provide something else. And that was an 'idea' on what could be wrong with Sigma.

"I think Sai's attitude is the one a victim of abuse may show around a normal environment," I reasoned calmly, the girls' eyes widening. "We don't know the form of pain he went through in the past, however we can make an educated guess that it was quite severe. He looks around the corner because he expects potential pain coming through that, he checks the food he eats because it was either poisoned or it was expired and thus dangerous to his stomach, and he seeks to be alone because he feels unaccustomed with new people and thus prefers to be quite distant from those before making a move towards befriending others."

"That's- that's horrible," Nanaki squeaked and Tatsuko nodded, while Illya looked mortified.

"T-Then I am bad for being so upset about this, sensei? Does that make me a bad person?"

I huffed. "None of that, Illya-chan. You were unaware of this matter and created an assumption, but rather than act on it you sought for someone that could give you a reason on why Sai reacts this way. If you had reacted on this guess, then you would have been in the wrong, however you sought clarification before acting on it."

She slowly nodded and I reached out to head pat her. "The three of you are quite silly. You have been incredibly polite and fairly well-behaved. And yes, Tatsuko-chan, that goes to you too."

The blonde cheered at that matter, knowing it meant her grade was improving on that front. But where that seemed to be enough to get Nanaki and Tatsuko out of the way... Illya remained behind. It seemed to be an agreed situation as the little Einzbern's friends didn't seem surprised by this development. Illya's mood was still down at this point, but I could tell it was for something else. And that guess proved to be correct.

"Sensei, do you think that... that Sai is papa's son from another woman?" The girl delivered the question with a lot of reluctance.

I frowned hard at that as I found the idea of Sigma being Kiritsugu's child quite ridiculous from a timeline-based standpoint. Kiritsugu would have never done that but... I sighed, knowing that it was possible Irisviel had yet to bring this bit up due to how difficult it is to explain such a heavy topic to someone like Illya. I could use the words 'Abuse' and 'Pain' without going into details as Illya was aware of those bad words and could just generalize those as 'something bad happened to the subject of this topic', but going into how Hisau Maiya had to go through to end up birthing Sigma was... more tedious. And clearly upsetting.

"Illya-chan, I... I will be a bit in trouble for telling you this since it's quite a difficult subject to treat, and I want you to promise me you will be extremely careful in handling this knowledge. Okay?"

She held a confused look, but nodded out of trust. "What is it?"

"When I was bringing Sai to your home, I had the chance to speak with him. After all, I didn't want him to be trouble for your family and wanted to know if he had more than just your father's name to rely on to find his family. And he mentioned that Kiritsugu is the current boss of his real mother, and he said her name was 'Hisau Maiya'."

Illya's eyes widened. "Oh, I think- I think I saw her a year ago. Yes. She is dad's old friend."

I hummed. "Well, I know only what Sai told me. However he mentioned that he came to this world before Maiya met Kiritsugu. So... no, he is not your half-brother."

"But then, why didn't Maiya keep him if he is her son?"

And that was the question I had been worrying about the most. I knew it was coming because Illya wasn't dumb and was incredibly curious to know everything, so this was going to be the bit of the rollercoaster where I either succeeded in narrate the situation or I would be subjected to some awkward meetings in the future with her parents.

"That's where things get quite awkward, Illya. There are two ways a mother can feel about a pregnancy. The first is the common one, which is happiness as they are able to make a family and expand it through new children," I explained slowly, trying to not rush my words and trip on them. "Then there is when a mother is... upset about being pregnant. That's when this happens without them wanting to, when they are forced to bring a child to this world and then be forced to give those up."

"But that's horrible!" She exclaimed angrily. "Why wouldn't the mommy keep the baby?"

I sighed. "Because the bad people that took the baby are quite horrible and don't care for that. Hence why they are bad people."

She pouted and stared furiously at my desk. "Then- then Sai was hurt because of them, right? He was hurt by them!"

"I can only guess that, but I think so."

"...Do you think I should prepare him a gift then, sensei?" Illya inquired, her mood now morphing that rage into determination. "Like, I want- I want him to be my cousin and I want him to be family!"

"If you want to give him something like that, I believe it should be something he can appreciate without thinking too much about it. How about a letter for him to read?"

She nodded, smiling widely as I could see her brain going nuts in finding the best way to convey her current mood and support to Sigma as earnestly and yet restrained as possible. Illya just bolted from the classroom and now I was no longer dealing with any other issues of that sort. As I was finally left alone, I found myself bashing for giving her this sort of knowledge as generic as it may have been presented. It felt so stupid for a child to be given that sort of information- that it could be a negative influence for her future... but as I self-loathed myself a bit in this regard, I also conceded to the fact that Illya was not a normal girl in her whole self. She may behave as one, but her destiny was going to force her to 'grow up' fast to handle trouble beyond what a girl so young should be subjected to.

She needed this as much as I didn't want her to burn through her childhood like that. I was to give her some preparation, to have some more maturity to handle the chores to save the world and... I was confused about one thing. Would I be enough to face and beat the Ainsworths if I hypothetically went alone to fight them?

The answer to that is no. Even if I Installed the Berserker card on myself and ignored the potential issues of being corrupted by it, Darius would have easily killed me through his tricks. Then there is Angelica and Beatrice, both of which were high-tier issues which I would struggle against even in a fair one-on-one brawl.

It has to be Illya and Miyu.

They both were going to be much stronger than I was in terms of raw magical power, and where I could provide assistance, I doubted I could do much against any of the troublesome individuals of that sort. With that being said, I was finally done with the paperwork and could go back home to get ready for the date.

I had a few ideas in mind to make this a memorable day to be remembered pleasantly by both Taiga and I, and procure a steady pace for the both of us. Still, as I prepared for the event and helped Eli and Setanta with their homework, I found out that something sinister beckoned as I went to check the door as Taiga had finally arrived. And that was how she wasn't alone but had someone standing beside her.

"And we are here~!" The brunette jovially exclaimed.

A very nervous Caren nodded slowly at that, confirming that this date was going to be weird AF.

So, how did we come down to this?

I was trying to reason how Taiga managed to get me involved in this mess- and why she was this happy about having Caren tag along this date. It was a date, not a friendly hang out. I was rightfully miffed, especially since I knew that the brunette would have gone nuts if I had been the one pulling that stunt. Yet, while I could tell that this wasn't what we had planned, I could say that Taiga was actually the mastermind from the way she led Caren's interactions with me. It was an odd sight for sure as I would have expected the younger woman to be somewhat the dominant one due to her cunning mind, yet that didn't just seem to be the case.

Caren would look at Taiga many times during our trip at the local restaurant, same for the karaoke establishment we visited. In fact, she was quite awkward through the whole 'date' in the sense that she was holding back on purpose. But it wasn't out of ominous reasons, the girl looked incredibly worried about what the 'Tiger of Fuyuki' was going to do to her if she made a mess or two during the date. And the more I saw this curious exchange of emotions since Taiga was actually showing some forceful amusement on her face while seeing this sort of reaction, the more I wanted to understand what was going on. As Caren happily decided to leave as soon as it was possible on her own, having drank no alcoholic beverages during the whole event, I soon found myself talking with Taiga about it.

"Oh Caren? Well, if I have to be honest she approached me and tried to get in on the date so... I allowed her," She mirthfully said, and I could tell that she lied as she breathed. I think Taiga could pick up how my BS detector had caught her in the crappiest act ever and the young woman huffed.

"I suppose there was a bit of a quarrel about it and maybe I hit her a few times with my Tora-Shinai when she tried to threaten me with knives, but she seemed to realize that my argument was stronger and my patience was quite thin."

"...So you beat the crap out of her and yet gave her what she wanted."

"Obviously~," Taiga accepted this as the truth. "Yet, I think you are not satisfied with this."

"I just want to know what you told her," I flatly remarked, not in the mood to go through the 'It is better to not ask' trope. "And I know you told her something."

"Only that she could see but not touch as we were the ones dating and she was tagging along for fun," The brunette conceded, huffing a bit. "Does that satisfy you now?"

"I would say yes and... yet you were confident in having her around and potentially undermine you?"

"John-kun, I trust you to not make any mistakes and actually respect me for not 'cheating' on me. I can tell that's not part of you," She half-praised, half-admitted with confidence. "Plus... it's a bit of a pity in that regard. I can tell Caren is just like me when it comes to romance. Very shy, and finds reliable men attractive."

"I reckon that there are many other men beyond me with that trait-"

"And that do try to understand where we came from with our quirky behaviors, and are kind, and honest, and incredibly handsome and-"

"Taiga-" I half-warned and she huffed.

"Plus, you are Italians. I think I heard somewhere that you are more confident in marrying with people of your own culture than others. So there's that too."

That was actually... true. But I am quite sure it reached other cultures too. Yes, chemistry was easier to build with people that spoke your own language and understood your traditions the best, however it was wrong to expect this to be a 100% confirmed trait for all. After all, there were people that really wanted to 'break from the mold' and become part of other cultures, thus preferring to romance women of different nationalities.

"It's not an element I consider in a relationship," I ultimately answered and Taiga smiled at that.

Still, we came back to my flat and soon another curious dilemma came up. "Also, I know this is a bit of a sudden request but... can I stay the night?"

Before I replied to that as it felt more like an attempt to get in my pants, Taiga revealed that she had a pair of PJs in her bag just in case she needed to. None of that was skimpy and it looked like a comfy set at that.

"I would sleep on the couch?" She also pressed, really trying to sell that point.

Nonetheless, I did invite her, but she didn't go to sleep on the couch. Jerk I could be with people pressuring me around, but she had been behaving nicely and without being a pervert. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and decided to test her commitment by allowing her to sleep in the bed with me. Sounds risky, but we both were dressed just fine to not cause any naughty behavior to unfold during that night and...

Taiga was a lovely cuddler during her slumber.

AN

Illya's cuteness knows no bounds.

Same for Taiga's latent Harem-Planning Skills.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

REVIEW Q&A!

Sugoijack9: I have no plans for the Snowfield Grail War, not when the data the Americans could have used for its creation got destroyed with the end of the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki.

Sultan Asil Arslan-Hiatus: I already used Francesca Prelati in my xover story 'Fate/True Bizarre'.

The embodiment of Weirdness: Maybe.