It had been three days since Illya last saw Sakura, and this thought didn't leave her mind.

The two had an incredible night and parted on good terms; Illya expected to see Sakura around the dojo the next day, willing and eager to spend some time with her friend. However, Sakura was nowhere to be found. At first, Illya wondered if her friend simply fell ill and decided not to pay any mind to this. However, Sakura didn't come on the day after, and on the next one…Illya was starting to become suspicious. She would have to spend three days in a house with that monster; who knew what kind of horrors Zouken would unleash on her this time.

Eventually, this worry began to bother Illya even more, right to the point she considered breaking into the Matou household and finding out for herself. Whatever Illya did during the day felt empty without Sakura at her side. Today was no different. Illya came to the park in the evening and decided to play around, slide, and swing in an attempt to take her mind away from her fears. However, she couldn't stop thinking about Sakura, imagining her pain and watching Zouken's gross body…

This fear brought back the pain.

"Aaarh!" Illya shouted and put her hand to her heart. It happened again. Another circuit in her body was torn apart. One more spell to pierce her heart and make Illya clench her teeth. This time, the pain lasted even longer than last time, immobilizing Illya and forcing her to shake while on her knees. It hurt so much that Illya wanted to fall down and weep.

No, she couldn't go yet. Illya took a deep breath and focused on the present, looking at the blossoming trees around her and trying to grasp as much oxygen as possible. She might have been alone here, struggling under the night's veil, but there were other people who were worth pushing through this endless struggle. There was Shirou, who had gone on a quest of discovery; she had to find and tell the truth about who Kiritsugu was to her. She still had Sakura, a girl who suffered because of the magi's cruel ambitions, a girl who was...

Illya saw her standing at the edge of the park, looking at her friend with cold snd slightly worried eyes. Yet Illya did not pay attention to it, all that mattered was the joy, the beat that her heart skipped a beat when she saw her friend safe and sound, here to take her away from the darkness and offer Illya much-needed company.

"Sakura!" Illya shouted with joy and rushed towards the girl, embracing Sakura in a warm hug.

"Hi…Illya." Sakura said meekly and returned the embrace, putting her slightly shaking hands around Illya. She should've suspected that something was wrong at that very moment, but she was too blinded by the joy of seeing her friend again.

"You just knew you could find me here, right?" Illya chuckled.

"I thought I could, yes…Though it's probably a bad idea to stay outside in the evening, it can be very dangerous."

"Relax, the city is very safe, the last time it was actually dangerous to walk outside at night was the Grail War but we're long past that. Come on, let's play!"

"Sure…"

Illya shipped towards the swings while Sakura followed her slowly. The purple-haired girl barely had any energy; it was as if life energy itself was drained from her, leaving her weak and in pain. Illya should've known that this would not go well; all the signs were there, but all she did was ignore the obvious in her naivety.

"How are you, Sakura? I haven't seen you around for days. I was worried, you know!"

"I was just very busy helping grandfather around the home; I have to most of the now that Nii-san is not with us," Sakura said, her voice gradually getting quieter and more pained. She avoided eye contact with Illya, staring at the ground with eyes filled with pain and misery, and at this point, the white-haired girl simply could not deny that something had gone horribly wrong.

"Sakura, are you…Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course, I just…Can I ask you something?" She said with a tone so faint and trembling that Illya felt her heart race in emerging fear.

"Of course!"

"Did you…Did you kill Shinji?" Sakura spoke, making Illya freeze on the spot with her eyes wide open. The grave silence fell over the park as the two girls stared at each other in sheer disbelief and pain; both were on the brink of letting their tears flow, yet they desperately tried to remain strong even when the world around them was crumbling.

"I…Why do you think that?!" Illya said in a visibly accusatory tone that she could try her best to hide her shame with its mask.

"My grandfather said that if you were at the skyscraper hunting Shirou, you would've seen Shinji. He was fighting on that skyscraper that night, and this is where they found Shinji's body…I know Shirou would not kill anyone, especially not his friend, but you…You said that you don't have a problem with killing." Sakura shook as her voice grew very close to breaking, and all Illya could do was stand and watch the consequences of her lies manifest before her.

"Zouken is a liar…He would do anything to keep you away from me! He probably thinks I am a von Einzbern spy, don't you see?" Illya almost begged Sakura to 'see reason' and ignore the obvious facts in front of her.

"It's not about grandfather!" Sakura spoke up. "He just pointed it out…You said it yourself that you were there and almost caught Shirou. Shinji was there all this time…"

"Wait, how did your grandfather know what I said? Did you tell him or…" Illya wondered if Zouken put some kind of spell on Sakura which allowed him to see through her eyes, that meant that he looked at her even at this moment.

"Don't change the topic!" Sakura said defensively. "You hid things from me; you didn't tell me you were a master of the vessel for the grail…Why should I trust you?" She said coldly, words that made Illya's heart skip a beat and shrivel in shame.

"I just didn't want to force painful memories to the surface…"

"Why? Do you know how much Nii-san meant to me? Because you wouldn't admit what you…What did you do?" A few tears fell from Sakura's eyes, and she let out a nervous chuckle. "Maybe that's only fair…You know, I lied to you, too. Well, at least I didn't tell you the whole truth. The grail never chose Shinji to be a master…It chose me." Sakura admitted, much to Illya's surprise. "I was the master of Rider, but I didn't want to fight when Shinji did…I allowed him to command her and act as a master instead of me. I should've been the one on that skyscraper fighting Shirou; I'm sure that's what Grandfather would want…But I was too cowardly! I endangered my brother even when it was not his battle, and I got him killed!" She said with tears falling down her eyes. "It was my fault…" Illya's heart broke from seeing Sakura still blames herself even though, according to her story, Shinji made his own decisions that led him to this path. "So please…Just tell the truth! Just admit it!" Sakura begged, and at this exact moment, Illya realized that she could not take it anymore, deciding to finally give in.

"Yes…I killed him." She said, once again enforcing the aura of deafening silence on the entire playground. Even Sakura recoiled in horror, as if in disbelief that Illya had said those words. "You're right…I can't lie anymore. It's much harder than I could ever imagine." Illya admitted.

"You…Why?!" Sakura said, almost screaming due to the betrayal she must have experienced.

"I didn't have much of a reason…Just felt like it." Illya admitted, realizing just how disgusting and monstrous this sounded. She was a cold-blooded killer, a ruthless murderer. "By the time I saw him, he was running away from Shirou, and without his servant, he was beaten and tried to escape like some coward…I found his fear very pathetic but amusing at the same time."

"And that's…That's why you killed him?"

"Yes. I just felt like it." Illya said, watching Sakura shake and clench her fists, barely able to stand on her legs. "You wanted the truth, well…Here it is. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Sakura said in disbelief. "You killed him when he was defenseless just for the fun of it, you…You are a monster!" Sakura screamed. "I thought that you killed him in battle along with Rider, that you at least had some reason…I should've known better. Grandfather was right about you!"

"Sakura, you don't have to forgive me, but your grandfather is…"

"SHUT UP AND GET AWAY FROM ME!" Sakura recoiled the moment Illya stepped forward. "You liar, you…You evil monster!" Sakura ran into the darkness as Illya reached out for her.

"W-wait…Come back…" The girl said with a broken voice, yet Sakura was already gone. Illya could barely process this thought, yet deep, she knew the truth.

Their friendship was over.