Shinji's Paradox

by GreenEyesOrigamiDragon

Shinji is tempted by a long-forsaken dream, and Illyasviel is confronted by a shrouded figure. This fateful night occurred, and therefore, it did not. An impossible journey featuring an unlikely pair. A Fate/stay night back-in-time narrative set after (and before) Unlimited Blade Works. Also posted on AO3. Contains original characters.

15. The Second Month of Spring

Shinji's Paradox

Chapter 15

The Second Month of Spring

April 2nd, 1990, 9:09 AM, A Bus Stop near the Matou Residence

The morning air was nice and crisp, dewdrops could still be seen glistening in the sunlight where they perched on the ridges of leaves and twigs if one squinted at them, and cherry trees all over Japan were in full bloom. Well, the ones in Fuyuki were, at least.

The new school year was starting, and many young children were about to have their first experiences with classroom learning. Since I was three years old, that included me. During the old causality, my education had started in elementary school, so I hadn't gone to a kindergarten.

It wouldn't be too different from nursery school, save for maybe a bit more of a rigid routine. The high-vis yellow hat was a little demeaning, but the worst thing to come out of this so far was the deep navy uniform with the colossal collar, which had the itchiness that new clothes always seemed to carry.

At least the book bag wasn't heavy.

"Notebooks?" Hinode said.

"In the bag," I said.

"Pencilcase?"

"In the bag."

"Water bottle?"

"… In the bag."

"Ginseng?"

"In, the, bag. Please, Hinode-san, we've done this three times already."

"… Maybe we should do it one more time?"

"You're doing this on purpose," I accused.

"Making sure that my adorable stepson-to-be is ready for his big day? Of course I am!"

"Old hag."

"Foolish child."

"Wrinkly crone."

"Dumb brat."

"Can you two stop this? People are watching." Dad interjected as he glanced around at the other parents and children nearby.

None of them was Rin and her father, which was a relief. I didn't know where she'd start her education, but as long as I didn't have to catch a bus with her, there was no chance I'd meet the Tohsaka head on the commute to school. I already had one potentially dangerous magus in my life, and he was bad enough.

"They're just jealous," Hinode said before she nodded sagely.

Dad knelt down in front of me. "Sorry we can't be there for the entrance ceremony," he apologised.

I smiled. "It's okay. I'll tell you all about it when I get back, but I'm pretty sure it won't be too interesting."

He patted my head, despite my objections, and I was left grumbling and readjusting my hat as he grinned down at me.

Then something rounded the corner. It was a hideous white and blue thing decorated with the visages of characters from some cartoon that must have been popular with ankle-biters at some point. There was even a pair of what might be fox ears adorning the vehicle's roof, and the headlights were painted up to look like glistening eyes.

"Okay, that's… probably the bus," I said as it approached. "I'd better get on with the others."

"One more check?" Hinode whined.

Wow, she's unbearable today.

"I swear if you—"

I was cut off when Hinode knelt in front of me. She patted me down, adjusted my collar, dusted my shoulders and put a hand on my chin to lift my head. "Almost done. Just one more thing…" she said.

And she kissed my forehead.

Shinji-kun experienced a critical error. Cooling systems failed. Primary processing unit overheated.

"E-Eh…?" was my response.

"There. Perfect," Hinode added with a smile.

Dad sighed. "I think you may have gone too far, Wakumi."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," she said, waving her hand. "It's my prerogative as the most awesome future stepmum ever to embarrass Shinji-kun as much as possible!"

… Oh. Okay. I see how it is. In that case, I'll be playing my own games, too.

The bus pulled up beside us.

"Be good, Shinji-kun. Make some friends like I said you should— and say hello to Kane-chan and Asami-san for me," Hinode said.

I didn't respond.

"Shinji-kun?"

"See you later, Dad," I said as I lined up at the bus doors with the other three children.

"… Shinji-kun?"

"I think he's pretending you don't exist," Dad added helpfully.

"Oh really?" Hinode deadpanned. "Byakuya, tell him I'm sorry."

"Wakumi says she's sorry," he sighed.

I looked him dead in the eyes and, as earnestly as I could, said, "Who?"

Hinode glared at me. "I hope you get bullied."

Dad elbowed her in the arm, and she pouted at him playfully. It took just about every bit of self-control I had not to laugh as I boarded the bus.

"Have fun, Shinji," Dad said. "Stay safe."

"Thanks, Dad," I said. "And… I guess I'll see you later, weird ugly lady."

"Begone, runt!" Hinode huffed.

I quickly turned and nodded before I found a free seat halfway down the bus. When I'd sat down, one of the kids at the front was making a fuss about being separated from his parents.

Another kid eventually sat in the seat across the aisle and began to stare at me. He looked like an older kid, maybe four or five years old, probably in his second or third year of kindergarten. I supposed there was no harm in a greeting, so I offered a wave.

"You're mummy is weird," he said.

It took a moment for me to realise that he meant Hinode, but I agreed and said as much.

Then he said, "You're weird too."

… You have no idea, kid.

I saw Dad and Hinode waving at me through the window and rolled my eyes before I waved back. I wouldn't see them again for at least six hours.

The troublemaker at the front was ushered into a seat, and her parents tried to talk some confidence into her. The driver eventually reminded them that they were on a schedule as politely as he could.

The bus ride should only take fifteen minutes or so to visit all its assigned stops. It would be going clockwise around this area of Miyama and even passing by Ryuudou Temple.

Maybe Ryuudou-san would get on the bus?

… Nah. What were the odds of that?

The bus started to move, and I waved at Dad and Hinode again. They both gave me a thumbs up.

A few moments later, it was just the other kids and me. I settled into my seat and was prepared to block out the chatter. There was surprisingly little of it, even though there were already twelve of us on board. Only a pair of boys and a trio of girls were actually talking. The girls had decided to include the troublemaker from earlier, and she seemed a little calmer than before. Better that than for her to cry for the whole bus ride.

The boy across the aisle was still staring at me.

"You wanna chat or something?" I said.

He shook his head. Kept staring, too.

I shrugged and took a book out of my bag— The Red Star of Cadiz. Not exactly something appropriate for my current age. Apparently, it was a good one for getting into crime fiction, but I just needed something to keep my mind occupied on the bus and perhaps during breaks if Kane wasn't enough of a distraction.

… I'll probably only be reading until she gets on the bus. I nodded at my internal admission.

The bus stopped again, and two similar-looking girls boarded and sat down together before it took off again. We were getting closer to the temple now. I could see the mountainside getting closer.

We were close to Homurahara Academy, and if the bus kept going down this road, it would pass by. It didn't, of course, instead taking a right turn as soon as the high school campus came into view.

… I didn't know why I was getting nostalgic for that place.

I peeked across the aisle. The boy was still staring, but not at me. The paperback in my hands was apparently more interesting than I was.

Ignoring him again, I made it only a few pages further before the bus stopped again. I peered down the aisle at whoever was—

… It would appear the odds were pretty good.

He didn't have his glasses yet, but I recognised him. Stepping onto the bus by himself, Ryuudou Issei was the very image of nervousness. He looked back at his parents and gave them a tender wave before he marched down the aisle with his head hung, passed me without a glance, and sat three seats behind me.

I had no reason to interact with him, so I returned to my book and read steadily, looking up whenever the bus stopped to see who was getting on.

It wasn't long before I had to put the book away.

"Hi, Shinji-kun!"

"Hey, Kane-chan."

"Shinji-kun!"

"Kane."

"Shinji!"

"Okay"— I gestured to the empty space between myself and the window— "maybe you should sit down before the bus starts moving again?"

She energetically seated herself before taking a moment to wave at her parents outside. They seemed okay. Her mother had pride plastered all over her face, obviously overjoyed to see Kane so pleased to be going to kindergarten.

On the other hand, her father looked at me with some concern, so I raised a hand and nodded once in greeting. It seemed to placate him a little, and he smiled at Kane before returning her wave.

"Dad still doesn't like you!" Kane said unnecessarily loud with a massive grin on her face.

"I'm glad you think that's funny," I retorted.

"Dad is funny," she said, nodding in misplaced agreement before frowning. "And annoying."

"How is he annoying?"

"He keeps asking if I have other friends yet."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you have other friends yet?"

"I only need Shinji-kun!" She grabbed my hand and made a show of it to her parents. She didn't let go after that, either.

My immediate reaction was to roll my eyes, and at the end of the motion, I caught sight of the Himuros staring at us as the bus began to move again.

The gossip queen of Fuyuki— I remembered that was her moniker— wore an expression of joyous glee, but the mayor's bearing could only be described as a dire warning. I wasn't intimidated by the mayor by any means, as disturbing as his glower was, but I also didn't think that upsetting the Second Owner's friend was a good idea.

It wasn't hard to conclude that I should probably help Kane socialise. I couldn't be her only friend if my crusade against Zouken ended poorly and I inconveniently disappeared. I didn't want to damage Kane's life more than I had already.

I shook the dark thought away. "You know, Hinode-san asked me to make more friends too," I said.

And then Kane— sweet, pure, innocent, guiltless Kane— said, "Who?"

Oh, no.

Hinode was not going to like that.

I had to— no, I needed to remind Kane who I was talking about. She would probably recognise my soon-to-be stepmother's given name.

… But that meant losing the bet.

Hinode might not be here right now, but the she-devil could also be listening. You could never be too careful with her.

"Uh… you know…" I stalled until I could think of something Hinode-like that might identify her. "The one that wears the white ribbon."

Kane blinked a few times. "… Do you mean Wakumi-sensei?"

Safe!

I nodded. "Yeah, her. She asked me to make friends too."

Kane pointed across the aisle. "Can he be your friend?"

"Nope."

"But he's looking at you."

"I know. He won't stop."

"… Does that mean he's your friend already?"

"No," I said as resolutely as possible. "Why don't we try making friends after we get off the bus?"

"Okay!" Kane nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, Shinji! Mum got me some pencils!"

"… Are they nice pencils?" I asked.

"Yeah! They're all the colours!" Kane opened her bag and rummaged through it briefly before producing the tin of coloured pencils. "There's black, and brown, and orange, and red, and yellow, and green, and blue, and purple, and pink, and white, and there's different kinds of the colours!"

"That's quite a lot of colours."

"Yeah! Do you want to share?"

---

April 2nd, 1990, 9:24 AM, West Fuyuki Private Kindergarten

When the bus finally pulled up to our destination, I was greeted by a group of excessively ostentatious buildings. Nothing was made of gold, but low walls surrounded the complex and were even painted in bright pastel murals, and what I assumed was the administration building was the only double-storied structure. It stood in the centre of the small campus like a palace, complete with a fenced koi pond just before the doors.

It might have looked like a temple, but it was a kindergarten.

… Apparently.

Everyone was directed to the gymnasium, where the entrance ceremony would be held. It was an ordered thing; short, to the point, and not very theatrical, but the stage had been abundantly decorated, and a small number of the faculty were dressed a little… too well.

Not many parents were in attendance, which wasn't very surprising. Just about every one of the few kids here likely had some kind of wealthy background. Their parents were possibly absent from their lives to varying degrees, either dragged away by their work or as examples of the stereotypical negligence upper-class families were known for.

New and returning students were sorted into groups— likely by class— around a select few adults arranging them by name and gender.

Ah, there's Onishi.

Hinode's coworker from nursery school had managed to land herself a job here with the turn of the new school semester. She looked to be content and in her element as she recited names from a list and made sure that all the children that were to be in her care were present.

"Himuro Kane?" she called out, searching the small gathering of children for her.

I turned to Kane and said, "Sounds like you're in Asami-sensei's class."

"Oh!" Kane sounded, spotting the familiar face, "Let's go!"

"I haven't heard my name yet," I said.

"We can ask Asami-sensei if we can be in the same one!" she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward Onishi-sensei.

When the teacher spotted us walking over, she smiled slightly before adjusting her glasses, as she did whenever she wanted to suppress any signs of her own mirth.

"Hello, Kane-chan, Shinji-Kun."

"Hi, Asami-sensei!" Kane cheered. "Is Shinji in the same class as me?"

"You're both with me," the teacher said with a nod before she knelt down and handed us some name tags. "I need you two to stand… ah, Kane-chan, stand there, next to Hironaka-chan. And Shinji-kun, there, next to Matsumoto-kun."

I affixed the adhesive name tag to the front of my shirt and turned to try and find Matsumoto. I spotted his name tag— the boy was standing comfortably in line with the others, and there was a space between him and another that was probably meant for me.

"But I wanna stand next to Shinji!" Kane screeched all of a sudden.

I winced as it rang out and covered my right ear.

"Kane-chan, everyone has a place to stand for the ceremony," Onishi said, kneeling to speak at eye level with the girl.

"No! I wanna stand there!"

"That's where all the boys are going to stand."

"That's dumb!"

"Kane-chan, please—"

"No, no, no!" Kane cried, stomping her foot dramatically at each word.

A sigh broke through my lips. The teacher was doing her best, but Kane was far too stubborn. It was worrying enough that Kane refused to make other friends, but it was increasingly clear that she was becoming the clingy sort. I didn't want to always have her at my heels. Once I inevitably became more involved in the arcane side of the world, it would be too dangerous for her.

As Kane continued to argue with Onishi, I caught sight of another adult making his way over. He was one of the better-dressed ones, in a suit and tie, complete with the school's emblem pinned to his chest and shiny shoes that clicked on the wooden flooring. His dark hair was tidy and had a natural shine to it. Add to that his commanding posture and concerned expression, and he might as well have had a sign attached to his head that read "important person".

"Is something the matter, Onishi-sensei?" He said as he came close.

Onishi looked at the man and immediately stood up as straight as possible. "N-Nakatomi-sama!" She said with a bow.

"I'm Kouchou-sensei when students are present."

"O-Of course! My mistake, Kouchou-sensei."

Okay. This man is the principal. Good to know.

The man glanced at Kane and me. "What is this commotion, then? The ceremony will be starting soon."

"Um… you see, Kane-chan and Shinji-kun have known each other for a very long time, and Kane-would be more comfortable standing next to him during the ceremony," Onishi explained.

"Everyone already has their assigned places," Nakatomi said with a dark tone.

"Yes, I explained that to her as best I could."

"Hm. I see."

The principal knelt to speak to Kane, and I could already see this ending badly. I didn't want Kane to be punished for something so trivial, but I couldn't really see a way to convince her to take her place any better than the adults might try.

As Nakatomi spoke with Kane, I spotted the clipboard Onishi was holding at her side. It was facing me, and the list of students was upright and easy to read, accompanied by lots of other information, including the seating arrangement for Onishi's classroom. I studied it momentarily and couldn't help smiling as I saw that Kane and I had been placed next to each other in the same row.

How considerate of you, Onishi-sensei.

"If you aren't going to stand where we need you to during the ceremony, we will be telling your parents." I heard Nakatomi say.

If this continued, the adults might think separating us would correct Kane's behaviour. Her father would probably agree with that, even if it was for the wrong reasons. We might even be moved to different seats, and Kane wouldn't like it if we were made to stay apart for the entirety of kindergarten.

It would probably be worse if she knew about the seating arrangements. Perhaps it was good that Onishi would only tell us once classes started.

… And that gave me an idea.

I glanced at the clipboard once more before I tapped on it to get Onishi's attention and beckoned her to kneel so I could talk to her. Once she came low enough to hear, I asked her, "Have you told anyone else about the seating arrangements yet?"

She blinked at me and shook her head.

Okay. This might work, then.

"Hey, I have an idea," I announced during a lull in the argument.

Kane looked like she was about to start crying, and Nakatomi still wore the stoic mask he had put on to endure the girl's demands.

"If Kane-chan stands with the girls during the ceremony, then can Onishi-sensei adjust the seating arrangement so that Kane-chan and I can sit next to each other during class?" I suggested. "What do you think of that, Kane-chan?"

"Sit next to you?" Kane asked.

"Everyone already has a seat ready for them in the classrooms. If you stand with the girls during the ceremony then Onishi-sensei can make it so that we can sit next to each other all year!"

Kane's eyes lit up. "Really?!"

I wouldn't even try to convince myself she wasn't cute right now. "Yeah."

Kane immediately turned around and searched the group of girls already standing in line. She pointed at an empty spot and looked at Onishi. "I have to stand there?"

The teacher adjusted her glasses before she nodded. "That's right."

Kane immediately jogged over and planted her feet before giving me the most enthusiastic thumbs-up I'd ever seen.

"The seating arrangements for classes should have already been finalised," Nakatomi quietly said as he stood. "I imagine young Kane-chan will be disappointed when she finds out. How are you going to handle this?"

"Actually, Kouchou-sensei… the thing is…" Onishi said before holding her clipboard out towards him. "Well, see for yourself."

Nakatomi stared at the proffered item and then tentatively took it into his own hands. After looking over it, he glanced at me— or my name tag— and asked, "… Did Matou-kun see this beforehand?"

"Yes, he pointed it out to me just before he spoke to you and Kane-chan," Onishi said.

He looked at me again with an expression suggesting appraisal and expectation.

"I assume there won't be any problems with the seating arrangement, Kouchou?" I said.

He blinked in surprise and then smiled. "None at all, seeing as though nothing even needs to be changed." He handed the clipboard back to Onishi. "Did you place these two beside each other intentionally?"

Onishi cleared her throat. "Yes, I did. I know them both from my previous position at Miyama City Nursery School. Matou-kun is Kane-chan's only friend."

"And they won't be too distracted near each other?"

"She focuses better with him nearby, and Matou-kun is very well behaved."

"Is that so?" he said, looking in my direction. "And you're clever enough to bribe your friend with something they already have?"

I laughed nervously. "Well, no one was harmed so it's okay, right?"

"I suppose so," he said as he smiled again. "Welcome to West Fuyuki Private Kindergarten, Matou-kun. I hope you enjoy the ceremony."

And with that, the principal returned the clipboard to Onishi, gave her one final nod, and left to return to the stage with his hands clasped behind his back and shoes clicking away on the polished wood floor.

Movement from Onishi caught my eye. She looked over the clipboard again, scrutinising it like it had been painted green.

"Hinode-san says hi, by the way," I said.

Onishi didn't bother adjusting her glasses and smiled at me instead. "Get to your place now, Shinji-kun," she said, pointing near Matsumoto. "All of your classmates are waiting for you."

I gave her a two-finger salute before making a beeline to the empty space next to Matsumoto. A quick look towards Kane showed me she was fiddling with the hem of her uniform shirt and glancing at me carefully. I gave her a thumbs-up, and she happily returned it.

Once all the students and faculty members were in position, the entrance ceremony finally started.

---

April 15th, 1990, 11:46 AM, Matou Residence Courtyard

I put the chilled bottle of water on the grass.

"Thanks, Shinji," Dad said, scooping up another load of mulch.

"Yeah, no problem," I said, watching him replace the soil surrounding the cherry tree with fresh earth.

We were already well into April, and the cherry trees weren't in bloom. They hadn't bloomed in the old causality either. Sakura never spoke to me about caring for them or any plants at all after the greenhouse failed to recover, so we'd never tried.

Dad had been looking at them strangely yesterday before he started taking soil samples. Then as soon as the sun rose this morning, he roped Hinode into whatever fever had taken him, and they drove away in the car. When they came back, they had several bags of stinky loam with them, and Dad had since spent the rest of the day replacing the dirt around the trees with it.

I knew that Dad had been getting more into gardening, but I'd also been confident that he was only interested in maintaining the greenhouse. The trees out the front hadn't ever received any kind of attention from him until now, despite the lack of flowers year after year.

Recalling how barren they had always been made a part of me wonder if there had once been cherry blossoms scattered around the front yard at some point, and I couldn't help asking, "Have these things ever bloomed?"

"Nope," Dad replied. "The original soil was absolutely horrendous. If I'd known I might have changed the soil sooner. This one was planted by your grandmother, so it's been struggling for a long time."

"Yeah, I think you've told me that before. Where'd the other one come from?"

"It's"— he paused and stared at the other tree closer to the front door— "newer? Or I think it's newer."

"It is smaller," I hummed, "so it's probably the younger one."

"I don't…" he started, but he continued to stare at the barren tree. "I'm not sure when it was planted. But it was… definitely after this one. I think?"

It took me a second to realise he was doing that thing again. I wasn't sure if it would be fitting to call it a thousand-yard stare as much as a glossy-eyed confusion, but it was just as haunting. It did give me a pretty good guess as to who planted that second tree, though.

"Hey. Dad."

"Hm?" His head swivelled towards me and went wide-eyed for a moment. "Uh… what… were we talking about?"

"… You just told me that these trees haven't ever bloomed."

"Ah, right. I mentioned that to Wakumi yesterday, and she said she'd like to see them in bloom someday. So I tested the soil and… let's just say that it wasn't anywhere near adequate. I thought I'd fix that."

"You mean she coerced you into doing something by flashing a pout in your general direction."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to."

He glared at me.

I grinned back.

He let his head droop and sighed. "Am I really that easy to read?"

"What can I say? She has you on puppet strings."

Dad stepped towards me and sat down, plucking the water bottle off the ground before he took a few gulps. When the bottle was finally pulled away from his lips, he said, "Ah… thank you, Shinji."

When neither of us said anything after, I sat on the grass next to him and looked up at the sky. Only a few clouds sailed overhead, leaving the rest a bright blue and allowing the sun complete dominion over the sky.

A faint breeze sailed past, and the little foliage growing around and on the house shifted as the air passed through it. I felt my hair billow a little, too.

"She's been acting strange," Dad said

The sudden words derailed my thoughts. "Who?"

He took a deep breath. "Wakumi. Ever since the day she told me she was pregnant."

That made me frown. "That's… not really that weird, though? For a pregnant woman to develop a few quirks?"

"Well, sure, she's been getting cravings, strange bouts of emotions, and all the other anxieties and things you'd expect from a pregnant woman."

"… So?"

"I think there's something else bothering her," he said. "She's been acting differently sometimes."

And then I was just confused. I hadn't seen Hinode do anything too far out of the ordinary recently. "What do you mean?"

"Well she's been far more doting and playful with you, for one."

I frowned at him. "She has?"

"Mm. Remember what happened at the bus stop on your first day of kindergarten?"

"Eugh," I shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"That's new, right? Have you noticed any other time that she's being far more lively around you? Perhaps in an overbearing way?"

He'd said it as though it was strange, but "overbearing" was just the right word when describing Hinode. Was Dad only just now noticing how Hinode behaved around me? After she'd been living here for six months?

"It could be that she's stopped holding back, but I'm pretty sure that's just Hinode being Hinode," I said, trying to think of an example. "Have I ever told you why I tried to hypnotise her back in nursery school?"

"Uh… no. You haven't."

"It was just after we noticed that the hair on the back on my head was going pale, right? Kane noticed and decided she wanted to fix it, so she found some blue paint and started using the back of my head as a canvas."

"Really?" Dad smiled at that. "That's adorable."

"Yeah, it was. Then I went to Hinode for help and she would twist everything I said into a game. I was still acting out the infant mentality at that point— short sentences, no complicated words. I pointed out the mess to her and all she did was agree. Then I asked for help, so she asked me what I needed help with. When she finally got around to cleaning it up she had the nerve to ask me to say 'the magic word'."

Dad laughed. "And that's when you used the spell."

"Yeah, she was always teasing me. Even before she knew that I was from a magi family. I haven't got the slightest idea why she singled me out, but it was like that from day one."

"So… she's still the same, but just more… her?"

I shrugged. "I guess that one way to put it. She's found her comfort zone and stopped holding back."

Dad frowned at the bottle of water he was holding before he put the bottle down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not the only thing I was worried about."

I said nothing but leaned forward a little to indicate I was listening.

"I went into that room she's converted into a workshop while you were at kindergarten. On Thursday," he said.

I gave him a look. "And?"

"I forgot to knock."

Huh. That probably hadn't gone over well. Hinode was a magus, technically. Even if she'd tried to leave that lifestyle behind her, the ingrained habits probably were still there.

"She was working on something," He continued. "Some sort of… gyroscope? There was a few of them scattered about her desk, and some open boxes along the wall had more of them inside. She turned around in a frenzy and shut the door behind me before she made me promise to remember to knock before going in there again. She wouldn't tell me what they were for."

"A gyroscope…?" The word tickled a memory. "She used something like that in our demonstration for the Himuros. Maybe she got caught up in an old project she remembered after that?"

"The gyroscopes were covered in blades."

Blades? So they were weapons of some sort. If they flew like the one from before, they were probably flying whirling blenders, which sounded pretty scary. Not the kind of scary I would have expected from Hinode, but still frightening.

Who would she be planning to fight, though? If she had been acting odd ever since she told Dad she was pregnant… then what changed that day?

"Did anything else happen that day?" I asked.

"When I forgot to knock?"

"When she told you that she was pregnant," I clarified.

Dad took a breath and scanned the sky briefly before he said, "I think that was the day you spoke to the Himuros about the world of magecraft."

That was back in February. What else happened in—?

Ah.

"I… um, that day when she and I were coming home," I said carefully, "I… told her about the Holy Grail War."

Dad looked like he'd been slapped. "How did you find out about that?"

"Library," I lied.

"In the— oh, of course. There's books about it in there."

"Yeah, a few." I paused for a second as I took in his expectant stare. "Oh! No. No. I'm never going to get myself involved in that death game if I can help it. Nothing about it looks safe. No, thanks."

The breath Dad had been holding came out quickly. "Well, that's a relief, but I'd really like to know why you thought telling Wakumi about that was a good idea."

I raised a brow at that. "Because she's living in Fuyuki City and marrying into one of the families that are most involved in it."

Dad looked like he wanted to argue with that, but after a moment, he simply put the half-empty bottle down and rested his forehead on his hands. He muttered something inaudible under his breath before standing up and returning to the hole beneath the cherry tree.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." he said, dumping black earth into the gaping hole beside him. "Just… processing."

From his tone, I could tell he wanted some time to himself.

Bothering him wouldn't do me any good anyway, and watching Dad shovel damp mulch into a hole would be very engaging. Boring and smelly.

I looked at the sky again before thinking about what else I could do today. I had a lot of free time on the weekends, as usual. More so after I'd finished translating those books from Zouken's study. I still had to give the notes to Hinode— they were just wasting space in the bottom of my desk drawer.

… Well, it wasn't like I had anything better to do.

"I'm gonna head back inside," I announced.

I heard Dad grunt, but whether he was acknowledging my words or just straining from the effort of lifting the shovel wasn't clear, so I stepped off the grass to go up the steps.

As I reached the doorway a few seconds later, Dad suddenly called, "Shinji!"

I spun on my heel to look back at him.

"Take a look in the fridge today when you get a chance."

Um… what? "The fridge?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I was confused about what he meant before I said, "Oka-ay, sure."

He grinned at me strangely.

I followed that up with, "Did you have anything you wanted me to tell Hinode?"

"You could call her by her given name, perhaps?"

"She's not allowed to hypnotise you for that!"

He raised his hands defensively. "All she did was pout in my general direction."

I moaned in dramatic exasperation as I turned to go inside.

---

April 15th, 1990, 11:53 AM, Matou Residence

I passed Imai just after the stairwell on my way to the Library. She looked livid. She didn't even notice me as she stormed past. I watched her hurry down the stairs until she disappeared from view, but even as I continued towards the library, I could still hear the echo of her footwear on the wooden flooring.

The library door was shut, so I reached for the handle and pushed the door open.

I heard a groan from the bookshelves, followed by, "What is it now?!" A moment of heavy footsteps later, Hinode peered around one of the double-sided shelves in the centre of the room. "Oh. It's just you, Shinji-kun."

She looked just as irritated as Imai had…

"Did you have a… fight with Imai-san just now?" I asked.

Hinode jerked in her seat as she focused on me. "What did she do to you?" she said gravely.

What did she do…?

"To me? Nothing. She didn't even seem to notice me before she went downstairs," I said, lifting a hand and pointing down. "She looked pretty agitated though."

Hinode stared at me, unmoving for a few seconds before she sighed. "It's probably best we don't talk about Sadashi-chan for the time being."

" 'Sadashi-chan'?" I repeated. "Is that what you're calling her now?"

"It is her name."

"… I know she's the housekeeper, but she's an adult and a professional, too. Addressing her that way is a little disrespectful. Even if she is slightly younger than you."

"I… that— wait. No. This— aargh…" Hinode groaned and rubbed her forehead. "This is something I shouldn't talk about with children your age, but so much of that is flipped on its head by you being smarter than most adults."

"Is it a pecking order thing?"

Hinode narrowed her eyes at me. "I'm… not sure if I can take that to mean you understand the situation already or not."

"You're the lady of the house and she's just an employee, so your talking down to her to establish authority?" I guessed.

"Uh…" she slowly tilted he head to the side, "sort of but not really?"

I shook my head. "You probably shouldn't bully her. Zouken seems to like her for some reason."

"That makes sense. They're both greedy parasites."

Whoa.

I didn't know what puddle of contempt these two had dropped their relationship in, but if it brought Hinode to compare Imai to Zouken, then I was not going to drown myself in it anytime soon.

"Okay, changing the topic; what brought you to the library?" I said as I started walking to my desk.

"I'm just reading," she said in a low tone, watching me cross the room.

"If you wanted to pick out a novella to pass the time, Hinode, you would have gone to the downstairs library," I said. "Everything on these shelves is involved with either magecraft or a few tangential topics. Like history."

"Well, maybe I am reading history."

I gave her a sly, lopsided smirk as I opened my desk drawer. "I don't believe a word you're saying," I said with a playful derisive chuckle.

She folded her arms with a loud humph and dramatically pouted before she said, "You wanna make another bet?"

I plucked the pair of notebooks with the translations out of the desk drawer before I nudged it to close with a soft click. "Are you actually reading history?" I asked sceptically.

"Come take a look, and you'll see!" she energetically asserted before she made off for the far corner of the room. A couch was set comfortably in the bend of the wall, accompanied by a small reading table covered in Hinode's journals and some other books I didn't recognise.

I followed her over, endured her theatrical gesturing to investigate the books, and picked up one of the thin hardcovers to read the title.

Popular Slavic Folktales…?

"Hinode," I said.

"Yes?" she hummed.

"These aren't history books. They're fairytales."

She scoffed. "Says you."

"They're just stories for kids, Hinode."

"Oh, really?" She put her hand on her hips and leaned forward to loom over me cockily. "Then why are they in the library that's only concerned with magecraft and a few tangential topics? Hmm?"

I withheld my response for a second before I returned the hardback to the table and said, "Touché."

She grinned playfully and raised a fist in victory.

"Anyway"— I tucked the hardback under my arm and offered my notebooks to her— "these are done."

She took them gingerly before she flipped them open to random pages to see what I'd given her. Her mouth went O-shaped briefly, and she quietly placed the notebooks neatly underneath her own before sitting on the couch. "Thanks, Shinji-kun."

"Don't mention it," I said sternly, the words weightier than an onlooker might have assumed.

The books from Zouken's study. They hadn't been a fun read by any means, but I did learn a lot about the mysteries within the worms as I translated them. They primarily concerned operating the worms themselves as familiars or triggering a rapid metamorphosis into a much more aggressive-looking wasp-like creature aptly named a blade wing worm.

Understanding the basics of the crest worms was an excellent start to countering them, but I hadn't learned anything regarding how Zouken used them. The method to turn himself into a mass of the things wasn't something the books had covered either, so if his body had some kind of weakness, I'd have to look elsewhere.

I'd… also learned some disturbing things regarding how the crest worms fed on male hosts if they couldn't get the magical energy they needed from them. After barely providing for these things for the past year, I'm lucky I can still walk.

I had a nightmare the night after learning what they would have done, and I could remember it vividly. Writhing. Twisting…

Carving into… into my brain and bones.

"… How long until you're done calibrating the tools?" I asked.

"Should be done before the end of the month," Hinode said.

Less than two weeks. Good. I'd have the things out of me an entire month before the deadline if everything went to plan.

Focus on something else.

"So what's with the fairytales?" I asked, retrieving the hardcover from my armpit and waving it.

Hinode adopted a more severe expression. "I've been browsing old legends since you told me about the Holy Grail War."

"… So you're looking for a Heroic Spirit to summon already." I narrowed my eyes at the book again. "And you started with Slavic fairytales?"

"I started with Arthurian literature, actually."

"Uh… don't Heroic Spirits need to have been real people?"

"Yes."

"You telling me that King Arthur was real?"

"Again; yes. It was my first choice because we have a piece of the Round Table in the vault upstairs."

Okay, that was kind of cool. "Are there any other allegedly fictitious histories that are true?"

"Well, I know that the whole thing with Hua Mulan was real. History probably doesn't remember it the way it actually played out, but if she is anywhere near as capable as how the legends portray her she'd probably be a good Servant." Hinode hummed at her own words. "Would she be an Archer…?"

"Wouldn't matter," I said dismissively. "She's an eastern figure, and the Holy Grail only summons western Heroic Spirits."

"Not a big loss. I don't even think we have access to a catalyst that would call her. The Round Table fragment will probably summon a Saber anyway, and they're supposedly the strongest."

I nodded and hummed at that. It was no small relief that we had an artefact as valuable as the round table available. If the knights of the round table were as chivalrous as popular culture claimed they were, then one of them would probably go above and beyond to keep Hinode safe.

"Although, some of these Slavic characters are equally impressive," Hinode continued before she plucked one of her notebooks off the table and showed me a list of strange names. "Most of them are part of what are basically epic poems. There's a bunch of bogatyrs, which are sort of like you're run-of-the-mill knights. A few of them have some kind of feats or divine blessings attributed to them; one guy used an evil dragon as a plow before he drowned it in an ocean. And then there's a bunch of other non-warriors, like musicians, sorcerers, and thieves."

I raised an eyebrow and opened the book I was holding, flipping to a random story in the book. "I don't know if there would be very many powerful Heroic Spirits among them, even if any of these stories are based on actual history. What about this Koschei guy?"

"He's actually always the villain in his… stories…"

"And the Holy Grail will only summon beings that are considered heroes to some degree," I finished before I closed the book and put it down. "I guess that's useless, then."

Hinode didn't respond and remained silent, but after a slight pause, she reached over and picked up the book I'd just dropped before flipping through it.

"Did you think of something?" I prodded.

She turned the pages in front of her one after the other fairly rapidly until she found what she was looking for and started to read.

"Hinode?"

The awkward hush hung over us for another few moments.

"Hinode, are you listening?"

"Hm?" she said, obviously not paying attention but looking rather pleased with herself.

"Is this payback for what happened at the bus stop a fews weeks ago?"

"Huh? What? Oh, um… no. Nothing," she said as an odd look of realisation crept over her face.

Okay, that's a little weird, I thought. "You staying to read up on… bogglers?"

"Bogatyrs," Hinode corrected.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, them."

"And what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

It was a good question. Dad probably still wanted to be left alone with his dirt, and I'd only really come up here because I remembered that I had to give Hinode the translations. I did the minuscule amount of homework I'd had yesterday too, so I didn't have any specific responsibilities.

It had also been a while since I last touched the mana potion recipe. I could mess around with it again if I felt like it. Other than that, what could I do?

I scanned the library briefly, trying to recall if I'd planned anything before Hinode tasked me with the translations, and I remembered planning to go over the research I'd done on the Slavic pagan myths again so I could choose names for the worms. The decision probably wasn't too important, but I had two weeks until the surgery. I could come up with something appropriate for them by then.

Thinking so hard about the future forced a yawn out of me.

"I might take a nap until lunchtime," I announced. "Then I might come back and do some review."

"Oh? More magecraft study?"

I shook my head. "Trying to find names for the crest worms, actually."

Hinode gave me a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you already know that Dad named his worms after Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro," I said. "I wanted to tie mine into our Slavic background, though."

"Ah, yes. One of the great privileges of early childhood; giving names of historical significance to parasitic phantasmal beasts," Hinode said, nodding sagely to punctuate her sarcasm.

"It's not like it's weird or anything," I said. "Lots of kids name their pets."

"Maybe you should've got a cat instead."

That just made me think about Panda, and I spared a look over to the bookshelf he'd felled and the unharmed floor in front of it. Even four years after being thrust into the paradox, that last day in the old causality was easy to remember. I missed that little rascal.

"I would have liked a cat…" I said glumly. "I don't think Zouken would let us keep one, though. It would pick a fight with a worm and lose."

"Mm, probably," Hinode said sourly.

I turned to leave the library and said, "Good luck picking out a hero."

Her grin was practically audible. "Thanks, Shinji-kun."

I waved my hand in my departure.

And then a moment later, only a few steps away from the door, Hinode suddenly called out to me. "Oh, Shinji-kun!"

I looked her way again. "Yeah?"

"Take a look in the fridge before you nod off!" she said, smiling like a dumbass.

… This again? "Dad said the same thing earlier. What did you two do?"

"I'll never say," she said with a grin that rivalled those of madmen.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, I'll stop at the kitchen beforehand."

"You won't regret it."

The library door closed behind me, and I groaned. I may as well see what this is all about.

Two hallways and a flight of stairs later, I stood in front of the fridge in the kitchenette. All that really brought me here was a flicker of curiosity. Hinode probably drew Dad into some sort of prank.

There was a small step in the room. Byakuya had bought it when he started trying to get me involved in cooking meals. It had wheels and was light enough for me to push around, so I grabbed it and dragged it over to the fridge before I put its brakes down.

After standing on it, I stared at the fridge handle for a second before I pulled the door open.

Ah… yeah. That's today, isn't it?

I suspected they would do something like this, so it made sense. Still made me feel a little weird, and I couldn't help the lopsided smirk.

… One or two couldn't hurt.

Before returning to my room, I plucked a pair of chocolate eggs from the basket.

---

April 27th, 1990, 9:21 AM, Matou Residence, Temporary Surgery Room

I leaned back in the plain chair we'd acquired for today. The surgical light was above me, casting bright beams that painted a white glare on what was beneath it and on every reflective object in the room to some extent.

The worms had gathered in the upper part of my left arm, just as I'd asked. Taking the cue for what it was, I injected the localised anaesthetic there. I was ready for the sensation to start vanishing from my limb a few minutes later, but all the worms had squirmed in varying degrees of surprise. Number Two was the only one that became vocal about it, though.

'What? What? Don't understand,' it said. 'Feel strange.'

"We just discussed this," I said.

'Feel strange,' it repeated. 'No feeling.'

"It'll pass."

'Worried.'

"Don't worry. Calm down," I instructed. "It won't last forever."

Number Two didn't respond, but I could tell it was still squirming anxiously inside my arm. If I hadn't known any better, I would have assumed it was going into a panic, and I started getting a little worried after five more minutes.

"Hey, Dad?" I asked. "Your worms were affected by the anaesthetic too, right?"

Sitting beside me in his own chair, Dad looked up from the book he'd been reading. "Yes. Kojiro and Musashi both commented on the anaesthetic," he said, folding his arms. "All they did was report the change, though. What are yours doing?"

"One of them is a little frightened, I think. The rest don't seem to mind as much."

"Frightened?" He turned the page of his book. "I didn't know the worms could feel fear."

"I get all sort of emotions from mine. One of them is perpetually repentant, even."

Dad hummed as he regarded my words. "Mine never really showed any emotions."

"None at all?"

"Nope. They were always serious and straight. Condescending too. It was like having two little Zouken's in my head at all times," he said.

If that was the case, it made no sense to compare my worms to Musashi and Kojiro. I could have understood my worms imitating Zouken, but they were unlike Zouken in enough ways that I didn't think that was plausible. So unless the elder was repressing habitual apologies and prone to freaking out in the absence of physical sensation, I couldn't see them representing his personality.

And I'd just started to think I better understood the worms not too long ago. Damn.

"I think I already told you that he used them to talk to me," Dad continued. "They were always linked to Zouken. Have you figured out how to sense magical energy yet?"

"I figured that out months ago."

"Oh? What's it like for you?"

"It's like… object permanence for water," I said, and Dad frowned as though he didn't understand. "It's like how you know that the ocean is just over there"— I pointed north— "even though you can' see it. Or if you put a glass of water down and turn around, you still know its there even if you can't see it."

"Interesting." Dad lifted his hand and seemed to be searching the air around my left arm for something only he could perceive. "I always perceived magical energy like a kind of fabric. I can run my hands through it… and feel… textures." After a few moments, he lowered his hand and said, "That's… odd."

"What is?"

"I should be able to feel… some sort of thread-like thing here. I could pick up any kind of magical connection around the worms."

"… Do you mean those lines of magical energy that connect Zouken to his worms?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Mine never had anything like that."

The concern that draped itself over Dad's face was a little worrying. "Shinji, they're Zouken's familiars. He's always connected to them."

I blinked a few times before saying, "Well, mine aren't linked to him at all." As the words passed my lips, I realised their significance. "Um... doesn't that mean they aren't his familiars?"

Dad's gaze jumped between me and the floor a few times as he struggled to find the words to respond. "I don't understand. Musashi and Kojiro always had a link to Zouken. They may have been in my body, but they were his." He ran a hand through his hair. "This doesn't make sense."

It seemed as though Zouken never had any control over the worms in my body. A while ago, that might have been something I might have found some relief in. But now? When it hardly mattered? They wouldn't even be inside me for much longer, so the whole revelation wasn't coming off as significant as Dad's reaction indicated.

I didn't understand why the worms had no link to the elder either, but it wasn't exactly something anyone would hear me complaining about. It wouldn't do me any good to focus on whatever strangeness the worms were going through. I could spend plenty of time talking to the worms and studying their behaviour after I put them in the terrarium with the other one.

Shaking my head, I tried to return my thoughts to the imminent operation. We were just waiting on Hinode at this point. She was supposed to bring the tools here, but she'd already been gone for about ten minutes. Her makeshift workshop wasn't that far away.

"Hinode should've come back by now," I said.

Dad said, looking towards the door. "Hm? Ah, that's… true."

"You think something happened?"

"… We'll wait a little longer," was what he said, but he looked as though he had half a mind to leave the room and look for her.

Fortunately, it was only a few minutes later when the door opened, and Hinode finally stepped into the room and placed a tray on top of the trolley beside me. The gold and jade adorned on its contents sparkled brightly in the light. "Sorry about the delay. Zouken stopped me in the hall," she said.

"What did he… what was it about?" Dad asked.

Hinode waved it off. "We can worry about that later."

I stared at the metal implements, scrutinising the shapes and edges. The odd engravings on them still glittered gold and green. Any blades among them were sharp, clean, sterile, and ready to cut what they needed and only what they needed to. It was difficult to look away from them. "Are they ready?" I asked.

"Yup. They're perfect." She gestured to the objects laid out between us. "They function exactly as I described them before, but I've ironed out all of the little things I noticed during Byakuya's surgery."

Okay, good. There were no problems. There would be no problems. I would use that scalpel to cut open my arm, then pry the cut open and fish the worms out individually. Less than a week short of an entire year with these things living inside me. They would come out today.

This was happening. Soon. Now.

Finally.

"Hey, hey," Hinode said softly. "I know I said they're perfect, and I appreciate the silent admiration, but we kinda need you at a hundred percent right now, buddy."

What? I frowned at her but held my tongue, opting to question her with a titled head instead.

"Do you need anything before we start?" she added.

I blinked a few times. "… I still need another minute or so until the anaesthetic is fully effective."

"Sure. Until the anaesthetic is fully effective," Hinode repeated before she smiled at me. "Take as long as you need, Shinji-kun."

"I'm fine, Hinode."

"I believe you. Totally."

I couldn't hold eye contact and looked away, prompting her to giggle at my expense.

"Annoying," I said. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the support, but Hinode could try to be a little less patronising.

Another two minutes passed, and I pressed my right hand onto my numb limb to test the feeling— or the lack of it. The worms didn't squirm in response to the contact, so they were probably not feeling anything either.

I took a deep breath that I held for a second before exhaling slowly.

"Shinji-kun?" Hinode said.

I met her stoic mask with one of my own. "Could you apply the antiseptic for me?"

"Of course." She picked up the bottle of antiseptic and a swab from the trolley before approaching and wiping the substance over my left arm. "… You'll need a scalpel next, yeah?"

"Yeah."

She returned to the trolley and exchanged the antiseptic for one of the scalpels, which she handed to me carefully. It gleamed in the light as I took it from her, and I held it reverently for a moment before I brought it to my arm.

Here we go…

I pressed the blade to my arm, and beads of blood grew around it before they fell away, leaving red trails behind them. No pain came to me as the blade cut a gash along my arm, no reaction came from the worms, and the scalpel's edge didn't catch on anything, so I assumed that the worms couldn't feel anything either. Once I'd reached an appropriate end for the incision, I held the scalpel out in Hinode's direction. "Retractors, please."

Hinode said nothing but took the scalpel from my hand and replaced it with the retractors. They didn't feel cold in my hand, but I felt a chill crawl up my spine when I placed its prongs into my arm and used them to widen the wound.

I heard Number Four's voice as more of my muscle became visible. 'This?! What?!' it shouted.

"Can you… feel that?" I asked it quietly. "Or can you see it?"

'Sorry! Hole?!' it continued in its normal excited tone.

"Yes, I cut a ho—"

My voice was cut off when one of the worms— I assumed it to be Number Four— protruded its thin head from my arm. It didn't look anything like it had when I'd swallowed it and more like the one that lived in the terrarium; pale green chitin had begun forming around its head, so less of its twisting white flesh was visible. It was also noticeably thicker than before. 'Exit! Sorry! Exit!' it cried.

"Shinji, is everything okay?" Dad said. The sound of his chair shifting over the floor grated on my ears.

"I'm okay," I said as reassuringly as I could. "Hinode could you bring over the forceps? Quickly, please."

'Hole! Exit! Exit!' Number Four continued.

Hinode was handing over the forceps when a wave of vertigo rolled over me. "Gah—!"

Number Four fell to the floor, and Hinode took a wary step backwards as it hit the wooden surface.

The dizziness affected my vision, making everything appear blurry and indistinct, but I couldn't let Number Four escape. "G-Get the jar! Put that in it!" I instructed.

"Right!" someone said, the word ruined and warped in my ear. Other voices started to mix with it into a warbling cacophony. I could hear Dad, Hinode, the worms, even Zouken and…

Einzbern…?

I tried to get a good look at my arm to see if I could continue to operate, but it was pretty clear I couldn't do anything with all the black and white slugs wrapped around it. The room was getting bigger. Much bigger. Big enough to hold the bulbous giants that were stomping their way towards me.

"Wha— go—?" A voice managed to sound through the chaos.

What? It was hard to think.

"—llo?"

I tried to respond, "Ei—?" but lava erupted from my mouth and flowed down the sloping forest into the valley. The trees sizzled in the molten happiness and grew into a girl in a purple blouse and a pink skirt, and then my vision started going white on and off.

I recognised her and tried to send my thoughts like I used to. 'Einz… bern?'

"Shi—?! Whe— yo—?!" the figure was speaking, but my flickering vision seemed to mangle her words, and she disappeared and reappeared over and over, along with the magnificent view of the ocean and the sky beneath it.

'Wh-Where are y-you?' I asked.

"—ji! Wha— penni—? Are— kay?!"

But the flickering stopped, and I was left with only the sight of a gaping maw closing in on me. The glinting teeth passed over me, and the cracked lips pursed around me. I was swallowed by the darkness and could hear only the breathing of whatever horror was threatening to digest me—

I blinked.

Then I fell out of the sky, clouds bursting apart as I collided with their gaseous forms and hurtled towards the infinite blue above me. They shifted and formed a celestial face that grinned feverishly at me, growing closer and closer and faster and faster…

Until there was nothing.

---

April 27th, 1990, 10:02 PM, Matou Residence, Shinji's Bedroom

A pounding headache greeted me when I next woke. My eyelids were heavy, and almost every part of my body didn't want to do what I told it to without protesting. The dull pain in my left arm reminded me of the ordeal I'd just survived, and after testing my throat for moisture, I decided against calling out for help lest I hurt it.

There was no way they'd left me alone, though, so I groaned instead to draw attention from anyone nearby.

"Shinji…?"

I weakly hummed in the affirmative when I heard Dad's voice.

"Oh, thank goodness…"

I forced my eyelids open. Thankfully the room wasn't lit very brightly, and my neck didn't ache enough to make turning my head on the pillow difficult, so I could look around without harming myself. I could barely make out the deep twilight orange through the small opening between the curtains, but it was a late hour. Dad sat beside me and looked haggard, as though he had just run a few marathons.

Worrywart.

I tried to clear my throat to speak, but Dad hushed me. "You've only been out a few hours, but I don't want you to take any chances," he said. "How's your throat? Is it dry?"

I nodded, and he helped me sit up against the bedhead before he passed me a small cup of water.

"Drink slowly. Small sips."

I already knew that, but I appreciated the reminder. I was so thirsty that I might have gulped it down all at once if Dad hadn't said anything.

"How do you feel?"

"Ugh, sore…" I said after a sip. I coughed a few times as my throat settled.

"Can you still feel your arm?"

I winced and groaned as I tested the limb. It was a weird and dull sensation that came to me. "I… it doesn't hurt, but I kinda wish I couldn't feel it, actually."

Dad looked relieved. "Well if it hurts, then it probably still works."

I drank a few more small mouthfuls of water and tried to get a look at my left arm. They hadn't changed my clothes, so there wasn't anything covering it. The incision I'd made was there… probably. It had been dressed in a bandage and was likely stitched shut underneath with the enchanted thread.

It was… adequately done. The gauze even had a neat little bow. Hinode's work, then.

"What time is it?" I asked.

Dad used a hand to rub the corners of his eyes before he ran it over his face. "Just after ten in the evening," he said.

I'd been unconscious all day? Fuck.

I only had a few days short of a month to get the other three worms out. That was… okay. Perhaps. "We only managed to extract one of the worms, even if it did most of the work itself," I said bitterly. "There's still time… we can try agai—"

"The rest of them came out of your arm while you were out."

… They what?

He obviously picked up on my surprise because he stood from his seat and walked over to the terrarium. "See for yourself," he said, removing the red cloth from it.

I didn't need to get up to catch sight of the five crest worms milling about the enclosure. They were either feeding on pieces of what looked like diced meat of some variety or chasing each other around. And they were… not in my body.

How? I hadn't even used anything beyond the scalpel. I looked Dad in the face and asked, "What happened?"

"After you started…" Dad said, hesitant to speak, "… convulsing, the other three worms started to emerge from your arm. Wakumi and I were stunned for a bit. She pulled herself together first; asked if I could pick all the worms up from the floor and gather them in the container we already prepared. She started stitching your arm while I gathered them up."

"They just… came out? On their own?"

Dad shrugged and nodded.

That was it? Nothing else happened? "But… I didn't take them out properly! Didn't they do anything to my arm on the way out? What about my circuits? If they were damaged then how am I supposed to—?!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Dad knelt beside my bed and seized my flailing hand. "Zouken showed up fairly quickly to investigate what had happened to you. He seemed concerned, but he did say that you would be fine."

I was a little concerned with the idea of Zouken doing anything to me while I was unconscious, but I chose to focus on the last part instead. "… I'll be fine?"

"No side effects, no complications, no damage to your magical circuits, and not even a chance of scarring." There was a faint smile on Dad's face. "Congratulations, Shinji."

… Oh. My head fell, and I stared at the blanket and sheet draped over my knees. Just like that? I lit up my nerves and let some magical energy drip into my circuits. As usual, I felt a calmness drape over me, and the magical energy evaporated and soaked the air around me.

Nothing wriggled against my muscles to get a better vantage point to reach my circuits. Nothing bit into them to suck anything out. Nothing else happened, just the usual pain in the back of my head.

A laugh broke free of me. My right hand caught my head as I trembled. Then I cried. The tears didn't stop while I was laughing. Dad didn't intervene, and I was grateful for that. I must have tittered for a good minute, and after that, I just kept crying until the calm from my own magical energy silenced it.

"Okay," I said, wiping my face. "Done being an emotional little kid."

"Alright," Dad said with a chuckle.

My gaze returned to the tiny creatures that played and ate in the glass tank. "They can still understand me, right?" I asked.

Dad glanced at them. "… I don't see why not. Musashi and Kojiro could still understand me when I spoke to them. They couldn't speak back to me anymore, but I gave them some instructions that they followed."

"Can you help me get over there?"

"… Why?"

I coughed before I said, "I want to give them their names."

It became clear they could still understand me after I said that because the four smaller ones suddenly came wriggling over to the side of the tank and jittered excitedly. The larger one came over as well. Though its movements were sluggish in comparison.

'Name…?'

'Yes. Name.'

And I could still hear them. Different to Musashi and Kojiro again. Good to know.

"They're pretty eager," I said as Dad helped me out of bed. "They're talking to me, by the way."

They twitched and shifted slightly as they watched Dad and I approach. All of them had lined up at the front panel of the tank. Standing at attention like soldiers.

Now which was which? The one I'd vomited up was still the biggest and easily recognisable. The other four were identical.

When I reached the tank, I pointed to the one on the far right. "You. Say something."

'What must say?'

That was Number Three.

I moved my finger to the left and repeated the command.

'… Something…? Name?' Number One said.

"No, no. That's not your name."

I repeated this once more to identify the last two and ordered them to line up numerically, with Number One on the left and Number Four on the right. The fat one didn't know how to speak with me yet, but it understood what I asked. I instructed it to move to the far right, beside Number Four.

"Okay, so…" I looked closely at them all but couldn't find what I was looking for. "Which one is the female?"

Dad was surprised at my question. "You don't know?"

"I'm not exactly an expert on these things," I retorted.

"Do you have a way to find out?"

"It's the one on the far left," Zouken rasped.

We nearly jumped out of our skin as we spun around to see the old magus standing behind us, and pain shot up through my left arm at the sudden movement. I lurched in pain, but Dad caught me before I toppled over. Once I regained my balance, we both stared wide-eyed at him.

"… Don't act so surprised," Zouken said with a frown. And a smirk. "I've already been here at least a minute."

No, he hasn't!

"So. You've finally decided how you're going to name them," the elder continued.

… And now he's going to pretend that didn't just happen.

"I'll admit I don't particularly care for naming them myself. There are far too many down below to merit distinguishing them one from another."

"… Then why are you here?" Dad asked.

"I want to discuss the events of today with Shinji."

I swapped a glance with Dad before I said, to Zouken, "Do you mind waiting?"

Dad took a sharp breath and looked at me in surprise.

"Hoh?" Zouken intoned. "You intend to make me wait?"

"You are interrupting," I reminded him. "Besides, I think you might find this interesting."

Zouken said nothing for a moment.

Neither did Dad.

"… Kahaha," Zouken chuckled. "It's no harm. I have time, and I merely wanted to ask you a few questions. Though I am now curious as to what you chose to name them. You spent an awful long time deciding."

"Well, it wasn't easy," I said. "You said the one on the far left is the female?"

Zouken simply nodded once, and I took that as my cue to turn back around and look at the five creatures that had remained patient during Zouken's brief interference.

As it turned out, Number One was the female. I'd always appreciated its calmer and less grating voice, but I hadn't thought that was indicative of gender. Or was that not indicative of gender?

I pointed at her. "Your name is Mokosh."

The newly dubbed Mokosh went still and hummed it to itself. 'Mok… Mokosh. Name… Mokosh.'

I moved my attention to Number Two. "You are Dazhdbog."

'Yes. Dazhdbog. Good,' it said.

And then Number Three. "Khors."

'Khors. I am Khors,' the worm tested the name. 'I like that name.'

Number Four. "Sigmarl"

'Sigmarl is sorry!'

Finally, the one that had been in the terrarium the longest. "Stribog."

It didn't respond with words… but I thought it was satisfied anyway.

"I am surprised," Zouken said. "I was expecting you to give them Japanese names as your father had done with his own."

In response, I said, "Japanese names wouldn't tie into Slavic magecraft as well as these ones."

The elder hummed in agreement. "No, they would not."

"I don't understand," Dad said. "What are those names?"

"Hmm." Zouken eyed him with some annoyance. "I'm not surprised that you do not know. In the past, Vladimir I Sviatoslavich had six statues erected in the city of Kiev to facilitate the worship of deities that were popular at the time. The names Shinji has given to these worms are the names of five of those six gods." Zouken then turned to face me again. "I find it odd that you chose to not to combine the names of Khors and Dazhdbog for a single worm so that you may possess the entire group. Omitting Perun leaves you one short, and he is arguably the most important deity among them."

"That's where I fit into it," I smirked. "I'm Perun."

Zouken seemed caught off guard. He eyed me for a moment before he sighed and bowed his head. "You are starting to think like a magus, Shinji. You were right; this is interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing where you go with this."

I wasn't sure if I could take that as a compliment or not.

"Now, I believe I said I have some questions," the elder said.

I nodded. "You did."

"Hm. First, do you recall what happened after you made the incision on your arm this morning?"

"Yeah," I said. "One of the worms, I think it was Number Four— or Sigmarl, now— started to crawl out of the wound. I asked Hinode for the forceps so I could remove it, but it dropped from my arm on it's own. Then…" I paused.

"Do you remember or not?" Zouken prompted after a moment.

"… I think I got dizzy? Then… I hallucinated?" I paused again and then nodded. "Yeah, I think I started hallucinating."

"And what did you see?"

I remembered… I think I remembered slugs. There was a forest.

'— you.'

The sky was definitely involved somehow.

'— showed to you.'

What else did I see?

'The girl.'

I turned to the worms. "… What did you just say?"

'We showed. You saw.' said Number Two. No… it was Dazhdbog now.

'Former Master's question. What you saw,' Khors said. 'We showed you.'

I blinked. "Showed me what?"

'Sorry! The girl!' Sigmarl said.

Girl? "… Who do you mean?"

'Gave you nightmares,' Khors said.

That was… Einzbern? The worms showed Einzbern to me?

That's right. I saw her there. I heard her there.

… But it was just a hallucination, wasn't it?

"Shinji? Are you okay?"

Dad's concerned voice pulled me back into reality.

"Ah… sorry. Just, the worms are chattering. It's distracting," I said. "I saw a mixture of things. Slugs, giants, I think I vomited lava into… a forest, and then there was the sky. Landscape scenery and figures slapped together at random."

'The… World…' Mokosh said.

Yeah… parts of the world.

'Stop looking at it,' Khors said.

… What the fuck is going on?

"Then it is likely as I hypothesised," Zouken said. "Shinji, the worms inadvertently cast one of the mysteries within them upon you. A disorientation curse that can be used to shift the perception of a target to whatever we want them to perceive. However, the worms likely did not have any purpose in using it on you, so it lacked any proper direction and simply tossed your perception aside. It likely remained in the room."

"You're sure that's the one they used?" I asked.

"Yes."

"And it specifically shifts perception?" I asked. "It doesn't let the caster show things that aren't there?

Zouken frowned but nodded. "… Correct. I'm impressed that you caught that."

Then everything I saw was real?

I turned to Dad and asked, "Did I vomit at any point during all of that?"

"Yes, you did," he said.

Lava in a forest. "And then once I was stable, you carried me down the hallway"— darkness swallowed me— "and when you brought me in here the curtains would have been open"— I blinked and saw the sky— "and… I saw a dark face? Was someone hovering over me at some point?"

"I arrived to stabilise your od and cleanse you of the curse after Byakuya brought you here," Zouken said, gesturing to the bedroom. "And that is exactly what transpired."

Dad stared at me curiously. "How did you know all that?"

"I saw lava," I reiterated. "It came out of my own mouth, and flowed into a forest. If everything I saw was real, the the 'lava' was vomit, and that 'forest' was actually the wooden flooring."

"Yes, a vision such as that would be a plausible result of the curse," Zouken said. "You were able to determine what transpired based on what you saw, then?"

I nodded. After the lava, I had visions of Einzbern. I wasn't going to mention those, though.

I was swallowed by darkness soon after. That would have been me being carried into the hallway. It was always dimly lit in the mornings. I knew my bedroom curtains were open in the morning too, and I'd likely seen the sky through the window.

Everything I saw was real. Incredibly distorted. But real. And since that was the case, perhaps Einzbern simply existed in a way that I couldn't perceive her, but the worms could. If the spell could reveal her, It might be possible to bring her back with it somehow.

I needed to study that spell.

I turned back to Zouken and asked, "That curse. What's it called?"

"Hm… I don't it has a particular name. It's merely a limited but powerful form of mental interference that I perfected over a century ago," Zouken explained before he hummed curiously. "Are you interested in it?"

"Yes."

"Oh? So serious," he said, fiddling with his cane. "Very well, I will procure the texts that details that particular mystery for you. Feel free to browse them at your leisure."

"Thank you."

And then, because it couldn't be that simple, Zouken said, "I still have further questions."

I said nothing and simply waited for him to continue.

"You already know that the curse used on you manipulated perception," Zouken began. "However, I never concerned myself with the after effects of its use. Specifically on the target."

… Some gut instinct told me this would be a pain in the ass. "What kind of after-effects?" I asked.

The response was curt and monotone. "I don't know."

"You… don't know? Why?"

"As I said… I never considered the after effects of the curse on the target. This I because they were never in any state to be questioned afterwards. It…" Zouken hesitated briefly. "… It was always meant to be a small mercy that I would offer to those I needed to… make use of. To distract them from their own pain and death."

Bullshit. You aren't capable of mercy.

"Similar curses were never potent enough, and so I developed this one," he finished. "And even as it is now, human survival instincts often overcome it in the end. Even if it is too late for them when they do."

"… What exactly are you asking me, Zouken?"

"Your senses, Shinji. Are they compromised?"

My senses?

"Can you see properly? Is it difficult to hear what we are saying? Of what nature is the pain in you left arm, and does it feel correct?"

Oh. The old man suspected that the curse might have done something permanent.

I looked around the room. Everything appeared the same way I expected it to. The bed covers were the same shade of blue. The terrarium glass was clear and colourless. The worms… were worms.

"I don't think anything is wrong with my sight, and I don't think I've misheard anything for the past few minutes." I shifted my left arm slightly. "The ache is an ache, too."

"What about smell and taste? And touch?"

"Nothing seems out of the ordinary to me."

Zouken hummed, but he said nothing as he frowned at me.

"Perhaps nothing is wrong now, but maybe something will catch your attention over the next week or so?" Dad speculated. "I think you should get some rest now, Shinji. You've just been through surgery, short as it was."

"Yes, Byakuya is correct," Zouken said. "Focus on recovering."

Well, if they're both insisting… "Okay," I said. "I should still eat at some point, though."

"I can make some instant noodles," Dad said before ushering me back to my bed. "Get in bed— stay in bed. I'll bring it up for you."

"Thanks, Dad."

---

April 27th, 1990, 11:31 PM, Matou Residence, Master Bedroom

Byakuya was tired. He'd been sitting in Shinji's room all day after the incident during the surgery until he'd woken. The dark parts of his mind had offered the idea that Shinji wouldn't wake up any time soon, so seeing his son eat and talk like normal…

He hadn't cried, but he'd been close to doing so all day. Sleep wasn't coming to him quickly, either. Now he sat in his bed, staring at the opposite wall like he expected it to burst open and flood the room with… something.

"You okay?" Wakumi asked.

She was beside him. Reading something— a book with a green cover. He hadn't thought to ask what it was about, and the title hadn't caught his eye yet, but she'd been reading that particular book for a while now. She was probably close to finishing it.

"I'll probably be okay after I get to sleep," Byakuya said.

Wakumi looked him in the eye mischievously. "Need me to sing you a lullaby?"

"Do not start singing."

"Haha! I won't!"

Byakuya sighed. Wakumi was many things, but songstress would never be one of them.

She closed her book and put it on her bedside before she grinned at him. "What's on your mind?"

The dark-haired man grimaced. It wasn't an easy topic to raise. "I love you."

"I already knew that," Wakumi said. "And I love you too."

"But… I'm not sure if you're completely safe here."

She gave him a suspicious look. "What do you mean?"

"I…" he took a few uneasy breaths, "I, I don't mean to sound pessimistic. It's just that… the whole situation with Shinji and the worms was… it was part of the reason that you were brought here."

"Mmm… okay. I see where this is going." Wakumi said. "You think that the Matou won't need a replacement heir since Shinji isn't in mortal peril anymore, making our baby and I expendable as far as the big bad bagworm is concerned."

Byakuya didn't say anything. He didn't have to; she was right. "… I don't know whether or not Zouken has other plans for you yet."

"Yeah… about that."

The hesitant answer was enough to drag Byakuya's morose mood down to rock bottom. He had started to hope that none of his family would get involved in anything too dangerous within the world of magecraft. That, perhaps, he wouldn't need to worry about losing the people he loved at the drop of a hat.

He should have known better.

When Shinji told him he'd spoken to Wakumi about The Holy Grail War, he remembered the next one was expected to be within five years. If the Matou were to put forward someone as a Master this time, then the choice was obvious. Byakuya wasn't capable and never would be, and Shinji's circuits were defective without any known remedy. Zouken might be able to support a Servant, but Byakuya knew how he thought; the elder wouldn't put himself at risk— not against six unknown Heroic Spirits that might possess the means to finish him permanently.

"He asked you to fight in the Holy Grail War," Byakuya said. It wasn't a question.

Wakumi grimaced. The expression didn't look good on her face at all. "He's brought it up with me twice now. You know he intercepted me while I was bringing the scalpels and such to you and Shinji. He asked me if I'd given it much thought."

"… Have you?"

"Tons! I've been in that library reading up on the things Shinji helped me find as well as anything else I thought would help." She rubbed the back of her neck. It was rare that he saw her display any kind of stressed body language. "His position is the same as the first time he asked. He's told me what he wanted, and wants me to consider it."

Byakuya doubted that. "If he's being kind enough to ask politely, it means he thinks there's enough time to threaten you later."

"Yeah. I figured…" Wakumi sighed. "I don't know what to do, Byakuya. I've been trying to find a way to make this work, butI have no idea whether I would be better off fighting against Heroic Spirits or… dealing with the bagworm's inevitable tantrum if I refuse to."

A little apprehension crept up Byakuya's back. "Please don't underestimate Zouken."

"I know, I know!" Wakumi almost yelled. "He's a very old magus, likely knowledgable in magecraft that puts most of the things that I can do to shame. I could tell that much from when I first met him— there were thousands of familiars around my house, and more were piling in by the hundreds while I was talking to him. I wouldn't be able to deal with that without a considerable amount of preparation."

"You don't have to worry about Zouken," Byakuya said. "We still have plenty of time to prepare for the Holy Grail War. Focus on that."

"Even then… I just don't see a way to tackle the whole thing safely."

Byakuya reached for her hand and took it in his own, and she let him entwine his fingers with hers. "There probably isn't one, Wakumi," he said. "All you can do is prepare, and then make the best use of every situation as they come."

She looked at him expectantly.

"When hard choices come your way… minimise the risk. As much as you can anyway," Byakuya said. "Uh… you know? The path of least resistance?"

Wakumi didn't outwardly react to his words, but after a few moments, she let her gaze drift away from him and quietly muttered, with her head hung low, "… The path of least resistance."

"Yeah," he said. "Whatever is least likely to harm you."

She stared at him, keeping eye contact until she gave him a sad nod and gripped his hand firmly. "… It's such a huge risk, Byakuya. And… it's so soon. I want… I want more time. With you and Shinji-kun."

Byakuya nodded. He wanted her to stay safe too, but there was no delaying what was happening in just shy of five years. Once the Holy Grail was ready, they had to be prepared, too. He returned the grip. It felt good. "I'll… be here to help you however I can."

She looked down at their joined hands. "… You say that, but…"

His hand was trembling.

She shifted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she let him put his shaking arm around her.

Byakuya's free hand quickly took her other one and grasped it tightly. His eyes threatened to let everything out. "Promise me you won't… end up like her, Wakumi."

Wakumi's lip trembled for a split second before she bit down on it.

The sight was enough to push Byakuya over the edge, and tears started falling before he could reel them in. "I don't want you to be another broken memory in my head," he whimpered.

Wakumi's own tears rolled off her face. "I swear, I'm going to be completely unforgettable," she declared. "No matter what happens."

Byakuya allowed himself to cry for a minute. Today had been rough, but Shinji was okay. Byakuya was okay. Wakumi was okay. He needed to have this moment now to deal with whatever challenged him in the future without the stress weighing him down.

Wakumi waited for Byakuya to wipe his tears before she dealt with her own and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

They both lay down and held each other. And even when sleep came to claim them, they did not separate.

—

April 28th, 1990, 12:02 PM, Matou Residence, Zouken's Bedroom.

The manor became dead silent once everyone else fell asleep. After a few moments of listening to the midnight serenity, Zouken caught his eyelids becoming heavy and his head slowly drooping down against his will. The elder rarely slept, but it was just as necessary for him as it was for anyone else.

So he left the pit and began preparing for bed in his quarters. Despite his age, he had no trouble donning sleeping robes or lowering himself into his bedsheets. Soon enough, he was comfortable.

… But that didn't mean he found rest immediately. His condition— rotting, always rotting— would keep him awake for a while. The only method Zouken had to reach slumber was to think himself to sleep.

Fortunately, there was much to think about recently.

The worms used one of his spells on the boy.

How? Why?

The templates for the Matou clan's spells existed within the worms, but they were there so a Matou magus could draw upon them and perform the associated mysteries. For the creatures to utilise one themselves without the directive of such a magus? It had never happened before.

Once again, Shinji had brought out strange behaviour in the worms, and Zouken had no precedent to fall back on. Unless he'd forgotten some—

I did not forget!

… That line of thinking wouldn't go anywhere. It was all new. Everything involving Shinji was new. The phenomenon occurring with the boy and his worms was an avenue of research Zouken could pursue in the future, so there was no need to dwell on it tonight. Even if the gap in his wisdom bothered him the way it did.

As for the boy himself, he had done what he set out to do. The manner the worms left his body was a surprise, but he had freed himself from phantasmal parasites that threatened to kill him with very little interference on the elder's part. Making them his own familiars without even realising it was confusing but intriguing. And the consideration that he had gone through to choose names for them that held such significance to the clan's foundation…

… Zouken didn't want to call it pride, but nothing else came to mind.

The recent conversation upstairs was something else to contemplate. Byakuya understood that Hinode's presence was initially required so that she would bear Shinji's provisional replacement, and he thought that the changing situation demanded that the elder reevaluate Hinode's worth.

The elder had harrumphed in amusement at the overreaction. The oaf was completely mistaken.

The purpose of birthing the replacement was to maintain the Matou family's arcane potency. Shinji may have freed himself of the worms, but he still could not perform magecraft without utilising his nerves as makeshift circuits. The spare heir was still practical; Shinji's condition was potentially unsalvageable, and if the boy could not perform magecraft to a satisfying degree, his future half-sibling would be next in line.

And if the unborn child displayed the same faulty circuits that Shinji did, Zouken had learned from his mistake almost four years prior. Hinode was young and fertile; there was time for her to simply make another attempt. What was another nine months to the centuries Zouken had lived?

The elder also knew that Hinode was researching Shinji's disability to produce mystic codes to supplement his circuits and make them usable. If the project bore fruit, then the capabilities of Hinode's offspring would be inconsequential, flawed circuits or not.

Zouken frowned. He knew that she would be missing some crucial information concerning the cause of the problem. The elder respected her enough not to browse her notes without permission, but he doubted she would be able to identify the existence of the Inheritor sorcery trait without prior knowledge.

Hinode had already once discussed with Byakuya that the Matou bloodline was the most likely source of the defect and that comparisons between Shinji's circuits and Byakuya's made supported that hypothesis. She also suspected that Shinji's condition had been exacerbated by something else, but her efforts had been inconclusive.

Hm… an idea.

Perhaps, with some luck, there would be trace remains of the deceased woman in the catacombs he could obtain a sample of the pathogen. If it accelerated the research at all, then the potential to develop a solution to the circuit deformity would reveal itself sooner…

Yes. Zouken would find what remained and give it to Hinode. He could admit that she was one of the most competent magi he had met in recent years. If she couldn't resuscitate the Matou lineage by carrying Byakuya's spawn, she would do so through her own brilliance.

Time spent comparing methodologies with her had been some of the most enjoyable in recent memory. He would admit that he had gotten carried away more than once, revealing what would usually have been something he kept secret, only to receive genuine insight and criticism from her.

Ah. And if the end part of Byakuya and Hinode's discussion tonight was of any indication, she would also be aiding Zouken in the Fourth Holy Grail War. He had almost forgotten—

I did not forget!

… Zouken had faith that his plans for the Holy Grail would come to fruition soon. Hinode's victory wasn't guaranteed, but that didn't mean the elder couldn't tip the scales in her favour. Some Masters would be crippled in their efforts to support their Servants. Vulnerable.

Even if she lost the conflict, perhaps Zouken should consider a strategy that would ensure her survival. She is, effectively, a member of his Matou clan now. One worth keeping around. There was no need to waste what was valuable, and Hinode was most assuredly just as vital as Shinji was.

So Byakuya had nothing to fear. There was no reasonable cause to remove Hinode from his life, and far too many reasons demanded she remained with the Matou. Allowing her to stay was the far more tenable course of action.

Oh, but Zouken wouldn't tell anyone that. No. He would let them fret and wallow. Let them dread Zouken's non-existent reproach. Know that the elder was the one who held all the cards. Know the most profound anxiety. Know rot. Know rot. Rot. Rot! Rot! Ro—

Once again, his condition denied him any peace. But he felt sleep claiming him, as it had everyone else.

The future of the Matou was bright.

—

A/N

Happy Easter.

Two big announcements:

One; I've put Shinji's Paradox up on AO3. If you prefer reading over there, then I can accommodate that now. If you have any suggestions for tags that I might want to attach to this story over there, then don't hesitate to mention them.

Two; I published the first chapter of my second story here and on AO3. It's a RWBY fic called RUBIes at DYWN. I would truly appreciate any feedback.

Now it's time for the FINAL Review Responses.

Yep. I'm going to cut down on unnecessary words in the notes, and I can always respond to reviews with PMs. That also means that I'm not going to be able to (or even willing to) respond to guests anymore. If you want to know something, make an account. It's free. It's easy. Do it.

Review Responses:

- giorno -

Good to hear from you again! I'm not going to get too deep into the whys and hows of the stuff going on with the Matou Circuits in this story. They suck, Shinji wants them fixed, and that's as far as this story is going to care.

Also, Wakumi hasn't found the pathogen, and Zouken isn't even 100% certain if it is responsible for Shinji's condition or not. I'm leaving it vague on purpose. (Also, please, make an account. You've been following this story for a while, and I appreciate your presence. I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you.)

- Knightwalker405 (Chapter 5 Review) -

Very passionate. Thank you. And, yeah it would be odd if Illya had a problem with Shinji's past.

Good thing I never said that.

- guest -

I'm glad you like my story.

I haven't actually revealed everything about the Sixth Magic yet. I'm okay with you using it in your stories, but there's more to it that will eventually become relevant as this story progresses and might contradict anything you come up with for your own narratives.

I won't be responding to guest comments after this chapter, so if you have further queries for me about the Sixth Magic, "Paradox", then make an account here and PM me. Be warned; I'm very talkative.

- BlueCore -

Me either!

- regirenka (Chapter 4 Review) -

Honestly, by the time the Shirou even matters in this story, Shinji will probably have already developed his own methods and practices.

- sakii137 -

I'm glad you like the effects events are having on Zouken!

You're going to LOVE Chapter 16.

Shirou might show up at some point. Not sure how yet. The Sixth magic complicates the conditions of his existence, so I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to bring him in.

- BluWendigo -

You made an account! Yay!

I hope you like the focus on the worms in this chapter.

If you have more to say about my interpretation of Zouken, I'd like to hear it. I know it's… unique. He has a lot of potential as a character.

- PSYCongroo -

Welcome to Shinji's Paradox!

- Naruto is Jesus 666 -

I'm not sure what you're trying to say in your first paragraph here.

But Zouken owning one of Da Vinci's paintings is an interesting idea. I'm ashamed that I didn't think of it.

- Doctor Blood -

Wow, thanks for bingeing my fic! Hope you're okay with crazy long waits for updates!

And you like Hinode! Thank you!

Kane. Oh, poor sweet Kane. She has no idea what's in store for her. *evil grin*

I'm glad you like my efforts to mesh my narrative with Nasuverse metaphysics. I'm doing my best not to step on the toes of canonical facts and fit all of my original bits around the edges.

And I'm completely aware of the whole "Prana" and "Moonlit World/World of Magecraft" things. Thanks though.

- JelJurDrog -

Y-YOUR FAVOURITE?!

Aww, shucks!

- Steppe14 -

Thank you for your support as usual.

- DarkBan -

VERY FASCINATING!

- RayDjok -

Is this one long enough for ya?

- NoiceCream -

Did you read it all again for this chapter too? (Sorry)

I'm glad you liked the final scene in the last chapter. It was a tough one to parse out. I don't think Zouken can be redeemed easily, but if anyone pulls it off convincingly, I'll drink to it. We need more old-worm-man stories.

- NoliVerga -

"Yes. Tragedy. That is a thing that exists." - Me, trying to be not ominous

- KisekiMa -

I'm glad you like my style.

- WildlyLaughing -

Thanks!

And now to disappear for another six months!

*Ninja Flash!*

That's all the reviews! And the last of all responses! Ever!

Any further reviews will probably be responded to in PMs. I'm open to back-and-forth conversations, so feel free to attempt to pick my brain.

---

If you're interested, I try to update my profile every so often, and it has all sorts of info on it, like what I'm doing fanfic-wise, future ideas, etcetera, etcetera. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

Peace!

-GEOD.