Can a monster act like a hero?

by davido747

"May you find happiness in the next life." That was easier said than done, even more so for a horrible villain like him. Or so Yuuki Shirou thought before meeting a certain pink-haired alien and being introduced to a bizarre world filled with aliens, servants, and absurd situations. But maybe this time, he will achieve that beautiful dream he threw aside a long time ago.

6. Chapter 5: Trouble on the beach

Hello, everyone! Yeah... I know I said that the next update wouldn't take long since I wasn't planning to write such a long chapter... but well, you know those times when things don't end up as you planned? I ended up writing quite a lot of character interactions for the sake of bonding, and when I realized, the chapter ended up almost 80 pages long, so I had to cut it in two. This is actually the first double update for this story.

Now, while this is the beach episode, which means lots of swimsuits, I went more for the comedy side. That doesn't mean there isn't any fan service; this is a "To Love Ru" crossover, after all, and it definitely doesn't mean this is filler. While this first part of the chapter could be considered a pure beach episode, things definitely get intense in the second part. Both parts, however, constitute Alice's episode, with the payoff of her identity reveal being the climax.

It might seem kind of unfair to give her such a long chapter, but given that this has been brewing since basically her first appearance back in chapter one, and that she's a really important character for Alter's backstory and development, I thought it's only natural.

Now, without further ado, let's get to the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights over Type-Moon, the Fate Franchise, or To Love Ru.

---

"Ave, Caesar morituri te salutant." A famous quote said to be used by delinquents forced to engage in naval combat in front of emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. It is debated if that was actually said or if it was something writers came up with later, but one thing was absolutely certain.

The face those delinquents had to be making as they marched to their almost certain death was most likely the same Yuuki Shirou was making as he walked towards the shopping mall.

"Stop making that face, Shirou. Don't act as if a simple shopping trip is that big of a deal. You're the one who mostly buys the groceries." The one who admonished him with a tone laced with annoyance was none other than Mikan.

It had been a surprise when she said she wanted to come to Luvia's villa instead of staying with her friends. It was... concerning. Not in the sense that she would come with a bunch of magnets for trouble since she would actually be safer around them, but... well...

Saying that most of them had their perception of reality warped would be an understatement. They weren't the best of influences.

But here she was, coming to buy herself new swimsuits just like Lala. He couldn't just say no when she used the puppy eyes.

"Buying groceries and accompanying girls about my age to buy swimsuits are two different matters, Mikan. You don't need me there in the least."

"Going for the surprise factor instead of having your input while buying is a valid option, but you do have to buy swimsuits as well, so we're killing two birds with one stone here."

His sister answered matter-of-factually, and Shirou couldn't help but narrow his eyes. The way she spoke reminded him of someone who played too many eroges. Could she have been playing that kind of game as an attempt to play matchmaker for him and Lala?

That mere thought already gave him chills. Of course, she would try to support him, but she was utterly wrong, he didn't want to develop their relationship further.

Speaking of which, the pink-haired princess, surprisingly, wasn't the one closest to him as they walked through the streets. That was a certain black-haired girl who allegedly didn't have swimsuits for the trip either.

"C'mon, Shirou-kun, you're gonna see us in swimsuits tomorrow anyway. A little preview can't hurt." The red-eyed beauty chimed in teasingly, barely holding back a giggle.

It was kind of amusing to see Mikan throwing glances between him, Lala, and Alice. Shirou could only hope she didn't arrive at the horrendous conclusion of him trying to build a harem. The unknown stalker, who was still following him around to this day, was already enough of a headache.

"So, is this your first time going to the beach, Lala?"

"Pretty much. Back in Deviluke, I didn't leave the palace that much."

Fortunately, Alice decided to chitchat with Lala, but his thoughts didn't drift that far.

All the crazy stuff that had happened lately had made him ignore a very important issue. The fact that he had been having way clearer dreams about his past ever since they started to interact more often. Specifically, his final moments, which involved both that girl who looked just like her and the Primate Murder.

The name "Brunestud" popped into his mind, and damn, those weren't good news.

Brunestud of the Crimson Moon, the Ultimate One of Earth's closest celestial body. Of course, he knew that girl wasn't the space vampire monster that was used as a template to create the True Ancestors, but only a particularly powerful one among them could inherit that name. And the only one he had some recollection of that fit that criteria was the True Ancestor, specifically created to serve as the Crimson Moon's vessel for his resurrection.

However, he knew what Arcueid Brunestud looked like. She was on the list of beings he had to obliterate on sight, even if she wasn't related to whatever Alaya summoned him to blow up.

His contractor didn't like that gal holding the position of Archetype: Earth, and he had to agree.

Counter Guardian shenanigans aside, the only thing Arcueid and Alice had in common were the red eyes and the long fangs, a trait shared among all vampiric beings.

So, who in the world was that girl who seemed to be ordering around the Primate Murder, of all things, and how was she related to Alice?

Well, the answer to the second question was most likely them being the same person from different timelines, but as for the first one... The only clue that he had to go around was her method of fighting, and she didn't reveal that much. He seemed to have parameters above the norm, used unorthodox movements that looked more like she was trying to imitate those old martial arts movies, and there were those chains she summoned.

He could tell those were the product of a Marble Phantasm, but it felt... wrong. It was hard to put into words, but she didn't strike him as an elemental powerful enough to bend the world around her to her will, much less to produce a human invention instead of a natural phenomenon. If anything, it seemed more like she was borrowing that power.

Kind of like how the heroic spirit Kriemhild was often summoned with Balmung as her noble phantasm despite her never wielding it properly and only using it to behead one man. It could be argued that it's her noble phantasm by association with his husband Siegfried, the one whose legend was properly intertwined with it, rather than it being a small part of her legend.

Once again, the only one he knew had such a powerful Marble Phantasm was Arcueid Brunestud, so, were those two somehow related enough for Alice to be able to borrow it after becoming a heroic spirit?

"Shirou, look here!" Lala's voice brought him out of autopilot, making him realize that, not only were they already in one of the clothes stores of the shopping mall, but that Lala was already holding a swimsuit in front of him.

A two-piece, emerald-themed bikini that matched her eyes. His cheeks started to redden as the image of Lala wearing it formed in his mind. It was too detailed for his liking, and the bikini was... quite skimpy.

"You'd look amazing in it, Lala... but are you sure you want to show so much skin?"

His appraisal got a satisfied giggle from her. "Hehe, I only care about you looking at me. Besides, Luvia said the beach we'll be visiting won't be that crowded."

Having said that, she casually added it to her pile of swimsuits to try, and from the looks of it, it was going to be a challenge to keep a straight face if they decided to show him how they looked with the swimsuits on.

His golden eyes drifted in search of a possible culprit behind Lala's choice, but when he spotted Alice, she was actually picking less showy swimsuits. They were still two-pieced, but the upper part tended to cover more and the lower part included clothes akin to skirts.

However, he could tell those wouldn't diminish her beautiful figure at all. In fact, covering more of her porcelain-like skin would only make it more enticing. Those kinds of swimsuits were actually the ones favored for beach models after all-

Damn it, he was letting his hormones run rampant too much. But that was precisely why he didn't want to be here in the first place.

He looked up, and his eyes met with crimson ones. At that moment, she sent him a warm smile.

That... was odd. He had been expecting a teasing remark, no doubt she realized what he had been thinking, but that smile... Why did it look so familiar-

"Kuh!" A pang of pain assailed his head, forcing him to grab his temple with one hand.

Memories shouldn't cause a migraine, but the one she elicited was painful in all senses. The image of a certain Empress of Roses had popped into his mind.

It wasn't the one he knew. The Nero Claudius he knew during his life, despite never looking at him with horror or repulsion despite all the atrocities he did in her empire, always looked at him with feelings akin to pity. So it was most likely a residual memory of his other self, although that still seemed strange.

That look of fondness was undoubtedly born from deep affection or even love...

It made him want to puke. No one should harbor feelings for a monster like him.

After some minutes of deliberation, the three finally entered the changers and one by one showed their swimsuits.

"What do you think, Shirou?"

"That one fits you really well."

"Fufu, what about me, Shirou-kun?"

"You look gorgeous in that."

"Well, how do I look?"

"Yeah, that suits you really well."

"Shirou, what time is it?"

"That one looks really good on you."

"Shirou!"

Damn it, they noticed. Not that he wasn't putting any effort at all into not sounding like a broken record. At least Mikan was the only one who took offense, while Lala and Alice giggled. Once again, her frown was really cute.

"Stop messing around, Shirou. What kind of boyfriend acts like that?"

Upon hearing that, the auburn-haired boy looked around dramatically until his eyes landed on his sister again, and he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't see any boyfriend around?"

"Don't try to cling to technicalities. Being engaged is pretty much a step beyond dating."

Well, he had to concede just this time. The fact that he was only keeping up with that farce only to get a clear shot at Lala's father was something he would keep buried until that day. It was something he didn't want to think much either, if anything, because he would most likely have to use that attack.

"Fine, I'll try to put some thought into it. But even if you insist, it's not like my fashion sense will magically improve. For now..." He looked at the three girls one more time before speaking again. "I think the pink one is the best suited for you, Lala. It not only matches your hair but somehow brings out more of your beauty. Mikan, the orange swimsuit is perfect. It draws your natural beauty flawlessly. As for you, Alice... why haven't you tried a white swimsuit? I think it will emphasize the beauty of your pale skin."

While Lala and Mikan were blushing, Alice's reaction to his shameless compliments was mixed... for lack of a better term.

"I appreciate your compliment, Shirou-kun... but it's just... the color white and I have a complicated relationship."

"Okay..." Shirou dragged that word as he narrowed his eyes. Having an aversion to a specific color wasn't that weird, but taking into account his theory about her possible relationship with Arcueid Brunestud, the White Princess of the True Ancestors, it took on a whole different meaning.

But before he could say anything else, the black-haired beauty had closed the distance and invaded his personal space, her face now mere inches from his.

"Well, if it's you who is asking, I might make an exception, Shirou-kun."

The auburn-haired boy refused to give her the reaction she wanted and remained calm. "That should be your own decision. If you ask me, though, giving it a try wouldn't hurt. Whether you decide to buy it or not is up to you."

Now it was Alice who narrowed her eyes for a second. "I guess we shouldn't let the past drag us down."

That was a not-so-subtle jab if he ever saw one. It wasn't that hard to guess he had a lot of baggage from his past life, but again, she acted too familiar around him. Almost as if she knew him personally rather than just having heard about him.

With Alice back in the dressing room to put on a white bikini and both Lala and Mikan changing back to their clothes, Shirou was left alone. Unfortunately, that was only an illusion, as he immediately spotted the presence of two familiar figures.

The first one, to the surprise of no one, was a certain mop of blue hair that mistakenly thought he couldn't see her peeking from the last dressing room. That notion was completely shaken when she finally realized those golden eyes were staring right at her blue eyes, completely unblinking.

"O-oh! What a coincidence! I didn't expect to meet you here, Yuuki-kun! Are you accompanying Lala to buy a swimsuit?"

It took a considerable effort not to crack a laugh at her horrible attempt at sounding as if she hadn't been stalking them from the moment she spotted them instead of coming to say hi like a normal person. But at least she wasn't lying about her presence here being a coincidence.

"Pretty much. Well? Do you want my inexpert opinion on your swimsuit, too, Sairenji-san?" He cut to the chase, not wanting to extend this torture even more.

Haruna's cheeks took on a healthy pink as she finally stepped out to reveal a green, leaf-themed bikini accompanied by a hoody of a darker green. He had to admit, it caught him unprepared, which, in turn, made her regain her confidence as she approached him with a playful smile.

"What do you think, Yuuki-kun? I've spent all morning carefully choosing this swimsuit just for you~"

"Color me impressed. I would have never thought of picking something green for you, but you look gorgeous."

"Oh, if it isn't Haruna! And where did you get that bikini!? It's so pretty!" Before the conversation could continue further, Lala crashed between the two.

The blue-haired girl's eyebrows trembled, but it seemed her small victory put her in a good enough mood for her to entertain Lala. A small gap Shirou immediately capitalized to take some steps back and think about what to do with the blonde mop of hair trying to hide among the store's clothes.

"To think even Yami would be here..."

Now, how to handle her? The same tactics he used on Haruna wouldn't work. It was a wonder why she even agreed to get roped into the trip in the first place, let alone why she "coincidentally" came to the same clothes store as... apparently everyone.

It was then that an idea crossed his mind. One quite ridiculous, he had to admit, but at this point, he was open to trying such approaches.

"Hey, Mikan." He walked up to his little sister, positioning himself so his back was turned to Yami. She could immediately tell he had something in mind just by his tone, but she remained quiet, waiting for him to say it. "Do you recognize that blonde girl of your age over there?"

It took her a moment, furrowing her brows as she tried to remember where she had seen that emotionless face until it finally clicked in her mind.

"Oh! She was with you that day you all suddenly decided to have lunch at a restaurant."

"Good. It's not her actual name, but everyone calls her Yami. As you can see, she needs some help choosing a swimsuit as well, preferably from someone her age."

Mikan's golden eyes darted back to her brother, giving him a quizzical look. "Even if she's of my age, she's still one of your "foreigner" friends, right? Why don't just invite her over here?"

"Once again, calling her "friend" is too much of a stretch. It doesn't take a genius to see she's an introvert. It's already mind-blowing that she actually agreed to tag along for the trip. So I think it's better if she were to interact more with people of her age and without so many screws loose."

Even if what he said made a lot of sense, Mikan could still tell Shirou was just dumping a hassle on her. However, given the description he gave of the blonde girl, she couldn't help but draw some parallels.

"So she's pretty much like you."

"You could say." She had no idea how right she was in a lot of senses. He could only give a vague answer, even if he knew deep down it was only a matter of time for the cat to be out of the bag.

"Ugh, fine, I'll go help her." Maybe if she managed to help Yami, it would, in turn, help her brother with his own issues.

---

If Yami was being honest, she herself didn't know what was she doing there trying to pick a swimsuit.

If she had to make a guess, it would be that she "got caught in their flow". She could hardly see any point in all of this, aside from continuing to observe Yuuki Shirou, but the boy himself also considered this a waste of time.

She didn't need enhanced perception to see how badly he wanted to get out of this place. Yet, at the same time... there was a nagging feeling in her heart that begged her to join them. If anything, the reactions they were getting out of Shirou were... fun.

Fun. That was a word that hadn't crossed her mind since... ever. Or at least since she can remember.

Unfortunately, she was still caught in her indecision of what swimsuit to pick... and she was too embarrassed to ask Shirou directly. Seriously, how could Lala and Alice parade in front of him while exposing so much of their skin?

It was so inappropriate if you asked her. Not to mention the other new feeling arising in her. A sense of having been utterly defeated in the "asset" department.

She could easily change that with her morphing ability, but she felt it would be the same as admitting defeat, as well as a waste of energy. The fact that such an unnecessary thought even crossed her mind was concerning.

"Hello there! You're Yami, right? Nice to meet you. I'm Yuuki Mikan."

A mostly unfamiliar voice almost startled her. If it wasn't because she had been hearing it in the distance ever since coming here, she would have answered with lethal force.

Her red eyes drifted to the direction the voice came from, almost as if trying to dismiss something she had imagined, but much to her surprise, the golden-eyed girl was now standing in front of her with a big, disarming smile.

"You are... Yuuki Shirou's sister." She said that as a fact, but she couldn't stop some doubt from making its way into her tone.

Yeah, the way they acted around each other could only lead to that conclusion. They even had the same eyes, at least in the physical department. When it came to what those eyes reflected, though, they were the complete opposite.

The man who utterly defeated her had eyes so devoid of life most of the time that even she would get uncomfortable after staring at them for too long. On the other side of the spectrum, the girl in front of her had eyes full of life and innocence that would give even Lala a run for her money. In this case, it flipped back to being uncomfortable as well.

Couldn't it be that Shirou didn't tell his sister about her occupation? Or maybe he did, and the girl was just confident in his ability to keep her face. She wasn't even sure it was one of those options.

"Why?" There were so many questions in her mind that she wasn't able to get past that single word.

And that alone got Mikan frowning. "Gosh, you're just like him. Is it really that hard for you guys to socialize?"

Yami's lips flapped, but no voice came out. She spoke with so much familiarity that one would think they were sisters.

"Yuuki Mikan, you are aware of the kind of person I am, aren't you? I don't know why your brother allowed you to come near, but-"

"I can only guess you have a troublesome past, just like Onii-chan. But that doesn't change the fact that you could use some help right now. Maybe even a friend, even if that's putting the cart before the horse. So, why don't we start choosing swimsuits?"

The disarming smile came in full force as Mikan closed the remaining distance between them to start examining the swimsuits Yami had been looking.

"This black bikini is a really good option. Why didn't you try it already? And this one with purple borders as well."

The blonde girl suddenly found herself getting pushed towards the with several bikinis in her hands.

"W-wait! You want me to change here in front of so many people!?"

"What's the matter? You're gonna be wearing them on the beach anyway. Besides, there's nothing to be ashamed of. You're already pretty despite the gloomy outfit."

"H-huh?"

These two siblings... despite their differences, both of them know how to disarm her. But Yami found herself not having the strength to push Mikan away. She had been truly caught in their flow.

Go shopping with friends, or at least people willing to become so... was a dream she had never even fathomed accomplishing.

Seeing how the events unfolded, the ghost of a smile appeared on Shirou's face. Trusting Mikan to handle Yami had been the right call. If there was anyone who knew how to deal with introverts, it was her.

"Ta-da!" Just in time, Alice decided to burst out of the dressing room rocking the white bikini and even striking some alluring poses. "Well, did I fulfill one of your deepest urges, Shirou-kun?"

"I won't deny that was quite effective." Shirou blurted out those words while trying to keep his hormones in check, which was a losing battle.

Alice's beauty right then was just out of this world. He supposed that came with being an Elemental, but still...

"Fufu. If you show me that kind of reaction, I won't be able to stop myself from buying this bikini."

"Just do it." The auburn-haired boy pinched his nose's bridge, a gesture that had the purpose of allowing him to tear his eyes from her mesmerizing figure rather than showing true discomfort. It only made her giggle more.

"Now that we're alone, I'll buy the bullet and ask. How is it you're the only one who came?"

The question actually managed to stop her full-on assault. "About that, Luvia-sama is still working with Mikado-sensei on Oshizu-san's artificial body. She wants to get it done today, but even then, Oshizu-san won't be able to join us since she will still need some time to adapt to it. Tomoe-san is the only one of us who has a proper swimsuit Spirit Origin, so she decided to stay to help, and as for X-san... she only said, and I quote: "I can feel I'll have a fated encounter soon. I must prepare.""

Those words gave him chills, and the amused smile on Alice's face wasn't helping.

"I see...This vacation just gets better by the moment."

"Talking about things getting better, I can't help but notice that you've created the perfect opening."

Upon hearing that, Shirou's expression turned serious. "So you noticed her."

"It's hard not to. It's not like she's even trying to hide her presence." She then showed him a knowing smile. "I'll buy you some time to handle her. I hardly doubt she means harm, so don't be too aggressive."

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He had a feeling that was a favor she would hold for later, but right now, he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He also wanted to take care of this issue before the trip.

The moment Alice joined the conversation between Lala and Haruna, Shirou's entire demeanor shifted. What might have looked like a quiet teenager was now a stalking predator. Even if he agreed there was no reason to approach his stalker guns blasting, the element of surprise was still a good advantage.

With that in mind, he approached the target stealthily. The fact that she too was picking a swimsuit played to his advantage. Without her full attention on him, he was able to close the distance before she could react.

"Kya!?" When the emerald-haired alien turned her ruby eyes to look at him, Shirou was already at arm's length, startling her.

"I couldn't help but notice you looking at me. Is there something you need from me, miss?" The auburn-haired boy spoke in the most polite way he could, almost as if he were her butler. The smile he set on his face was halfway between natural and forced, enough to start triggering the uncanny valley but not enough to set off alarms.

However, after the initial surprise, the girl seemed... actually happy, and smiled back at him before speaking.

"You surprised me there, Shirou-sama. But I'm happy you finally noticed me! I honestly haven't been able to think of a way to approach you, but this works better for me~"

"Huh?" Her warm greeting threw him for a loop. He guessed that having so many people come for his head in the last few days made him even more pessimistic than he already was, but her demeanor just made no sense.

"So... you didn't come here for Lala..."

His words put a deep frown on her beautiful face. "Of course not! What would I want to do with that vix- unpleasant woman!? You're the one who undoubtedly stole my heart, Shirou-sama."

"Wat?"

His mental sanity was plummeting with each word that came out of this girl. Not only was she plainly hostile to Lala, but she went and dropped a confession on him. It wasn't just that he got a confession from someone he had only met less than a minute ago. He was the monster that had been pummeling every moron who came and tried to take Lala by force, more than half of them being six feet under.

This went beyond making no sense!

"Miss... I believe you got the wrong person, miss. Haven't you been paying attention to the news lately?"

She shook her head without missing a beat. "I don't care what others might believe of you, Shirou-sama. "Just do whatever you consider appropriate to court Lala, and meanwhile, I'll continue to deal with the other pieces of shit that might try to hurt her." Those genuine words made me immediately fall head-over-hills for you!"

Those words actually rang a bell, but he couldn't put a finger on it. However, he was absolutely sure he had never spoken to this girl before, not even before the Yuuki family adopted him.

He was so stunned by the whole situation that he didn't even react when the green-haired girl grabbed both his hands.

"Don't worry, Shirou-sama. Lala's affection might be a temporary infatuation, but I'm completely serious here. I'll work hard to win over your heart!"

After leaving behind that corny declaration, the mysterious girl slipped away with a pair of swimsuits. Unlike Haruna when she was influenced by Kama, this girl's forwardness was completely honest, which made things more confusing.

If he was being honest, he preferred it the other way around. Yuuki Shirou had no idea how to deal with this situation.

---

After that incident, Shirou pretty much went over the rest of the day on autopilot. Having to add to his growing pile of problems a girl that stalked him out of genuine love, love at first sight at that, left him a lot to think.

The sun set before he even realized it. His suitcase was already neatly prepared, not that he had a lot to pack anyway. Trusting that Mikan would have hers prepared before going to bed, he decided to check on Lala instead, just in case.

Not that he didn't trust her to handle herself, but she often let things slide whenever she focused her mind on something else, usually one of her new gadgets. And he also wanted to ask her if she knew that mysterious girl.

"Come in!" Her voice came just a beat after he knocked on his closet's secret door leading to her room.

Upon entering the room, he took in the scenery around him before finally landing eyes on the pink-haired princess. The room was a far cry from the mess it had been during the first day. There were no gadgets piled up on the floor, and the few he could see were on a stand.

That didn't eliminate the chances of an accident, but it at least reduced them. As for Lala, she was finishing packing her things. It was a wonder why she wanted to use a suitcase when she had the D-Dial, but maybe she just wanted to follow Earth's tradition.

Unfortunately, just looking in her direction already triggered his hormones. Her long hair, which she usually just kept cascading over her back, was now tied in two low pigtails that cascaded over her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of shorts that barely covered her thighs and a loose tank top that, more often than not, let him see her underwear.

It was a comfy, indoor outfit, but Shirou doubted no amount of time living together would help him get accustomed to such a sight. Depending on who you ask, they can even tell you that getup was more alluring than any swimsuit.

"And there." She finally closed the suitcase, which surprisingly wasn't about to burst, and finally addressed him with her usual smile. "What's up, Shirou? Don't tell me you came to help me pack. I might regret having done it already."

"No, there are some things a boy shouldn't see." He immediately denied it with a straight face and asked the question in his mind without missing a beat. "I wanted to ask you something. Have you ever met a girl around our age with green hair and red eyes?"

The way she had to stop to think was within his expectations. Those two must have some kind of relationship.

"Maybe you ran into Run-chan?"

"Run-chan?" He parroted. That name rang a bell, but once again, he couldn't remember why no matter how much effort he put.

"She's a princess from a planet called Memorze who sometimes came with her parents to Deviluke for diplomatic meetings. You could say she's a childhood friend, but I haven't seen her in a while. If it was her, why didn't she come say hi?"

Shirou had to repress a sigh. Lala was speaking fondly about a girl who seemed to despise her with all her heart and even seemed disappointed and worried about Run not greeting her. There was the possibility that the girl who unilaterally confessed her feelings to him was someone else, but the odds of that being the case were minimal.

"Given that she was also buying swimsuits, chances are we'll run into her during the trip."

"That would be nice."

The conversation seemed to die there, and while Lala was usually the one who would try to keep it alive, this time, it was Shirou who had another topic in mind as he looked at her work table.

A certain black cube lay disassembled, and the ominous crystal was now placed inside several layers of containment glass. As Lala put it, it would take her some time to reverse engineer the nano-machines that formed it given how advanced they were, so it was better to put the crystal inside another form of containment while she tried to repair the cube.

It was just in case. The Yuuki residence wasn't built on a leyline, and even after a couple of weeks, that thing had yet to show signs of rebooting itself.

"How is your research on that thing going?"

Lala's cheerful smile widened even further. "I haven't made much progress with the cube, but after analyzing the traces of radiation in everyone's clothes and the faint readings from the source, I think I've found some materials that can work to create protective suits and another containment cube."

"Just for curiosity's sake, what materials are you talking about?"

"Well, it turns out the ones I used to make my D-Dial can naturally handle all kinds of radiation, this one included. I would say they even work for cosmic rays. Do you know of the Oort Cloud? I got them there."

At that moment, Lala had to do a double take when Shirou almost choked on his own tongue. It was actually the first time she saw him showing surprise and concern so openly, so she herself couldn't help but widen her eyes.

"Did I say something weird?"

"No, it's just..." He paused, not even sure if he should reveal something like that, but in the end, he decided to tell her. "I'm not sure it's the case for this Earth, but back in the one I lived in, a space monster coming from that region of the Solar System landed on the planet before the Common Era. Since then, it has been hibernating in South America. The Mages Association named it ORT and pretty much declared taboo the mere act of approaching it."

"For you to get so serious, I take it this isn't your average space monster."

"That's an understatement. That thing is an Ultimate One, the strongest being of the Oort Cloud, and a planet-devouring monster at that. Human technology can't make heads or tails of it in the current era. It looks like a giant spider with a flying saucer attached to its back; its "skin" is said to be hard, soft, cold, and hot at the same time, and it's speculated that it generates energy via nuclear fusion. One of the morons that tried to get close and survived enough to leave a message outright stated that we should put our hopes on whatever species evolve after we go extinct to defeat it."

Lala swallowed loudly. That sounded more like a horror story used to scare kids than an actual living being.

"So... even you wouldn't be able to defeat it, Shirou?"

"Putting it really gently, the odds aren't in my favor. The authority that allows me to become stronger than the opponent heavily depends on whether humanity can understand and fight it, and as of now... let's say I'm far from my strongest. I direct, one-on-one confrontation would be suicidal, and even counting everyone in this city, we would still be screwed. We can just hope that situation doesn't come to pass."

"Y-yeah..." Lala had to rack her brain in search of a way to lighten up the mood after such a somber conversation. "Well, let's not give it too much thought and focus instead on tomorrow's trip. Just in case, I'll leave the crystal inside a vault made from the material I mentioned. Here..."

She pressed a button on her desk, and the vault she mentioned emerged from the wall to encase the glass case. It had a small part made of glass to allow them to check the crystal, and a keypad on one of its sides seemed to be the way to open it.

"It seems you already put a lot of effort into it..." Shirou's golden eyes then drifted to the other device resting on her desk, which, oddly enough, resembled a video game console. "And what's that?"

"Oh, that? Remember when I said I wanted to try my hand at creating video games? Well, that was my best attempt. Unfortunately, I went too overboard with the open world, and the console didn't have enough energy and processing power to run it. I'll have to start from scratch, hehe."

"I see. Let me know when you have something then." Hearing that, Shirou felt a bad omen. He couldn't tell why, it didn't completely click in his head, but a part of his mind told him this situation was akin to putting a lighter near several butane cylinders. But he let it slide as he was too tired to think about it.

"Are you calling it a night already?" The pink-haired princess asked while closing the already short distance between them.

"Yeah, we should get a good night's sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a long day."

"Well..." She hesitated for a moment, fidgeting before finally speaking. "Why don't we sleep together then!"

At that moment, Shirou's sleepiness was blown away, replaced by a healthy blush. "No! I've already told you, that's something only actual couples should do."

Even putting that aside, he would not be able to sleep at all if she were to sneak into his bed. But much to his surprise, she didn't just resign herself with a pout like all the other occasions and instead proceeded to eliminate all remaining distance between them.

Her slender arms slid over his shoulders while she pressed her chest against his, her face stopping mere inches from his. Her smell started to assail his nose, and he could feel her breath against his skin.

"Lala?"

"Shirou, it's already been more than a month. I was thinking... maybe it would be okay to finally become a couple."

She said those words with firm resolve and a bit of an alluring tone. Those emerald eyes were staring at his eyes without blinking, almost praying for him to say "yes".

It wasn't as if he hadn't considered the option. Had he been a regular servant with a body made of ether, he wouldn't bat an eye, but in a flesh body, there were some natural impulses one couldn't completely suppress.

Finding a partner, settling with them, and forming a family. That was what all humans strove for, and something he had long since forsaken on his road to hell. There was no real reason he shouldn't be able to accomplish it in this second life...

But...

This wasn't about what he desired. It was about doing the right thing. No one should harbor romantic feelings for a monster.

"No... I don't think... we're ready for that." He uttered a vague rejection, and he could immediately see the disappointment in her eyes.

"I see..." She tried to force a smile as she pulled back her hands. "I'll keep waiting for you then, Shirou. As long as it takes."

That shouldn't be the case. And if it was... well, he could only hope for that bastard to come to Earth sooner.

---

The next day...

"We're here, everyone!" The Goddess of Justice proudly announced as everyone stepped out of the limo.

The contrast between the vehicle's air conditioning and the beach's scorching sun was just as big as the mansion in front of them. The limo itself had already been quite long to accommodate ten people

For Mikan, who had never experienced such things reserved for the world's elite, her astonishment was understandable. Although it came more from the thought of how her brother befriended someone of that status.

Ignoring the look she was giving him, Shirou took another look at their group. If they were already a colorful bunch, having them all in beach clothes and most of them with sunglasses made it look like they were going to an American music festival. Half of them would actually pass as locals, even he with his reddish hair.

Fortunately, Luvia picked this beach because it was a popular spot for aliens in disguise... and, disturbingly enough, it was the closest one to their city. He shouldn't even be surprised at this point.

"Are we really staying at a mansion? It's almost as big as the one in our city." Mikan couldn't help but seek confirmation of what her eyes were seeing, causing some of them to chuckle.

"Of course! I won't treat my guests to anything below the best. Especially if those include Shero and his darling little sister." Luvia completed her not-so-subtle attempt to get on Mikan's good side with a warm smile Shirou hoped his sister wouldn't fall for.

The cold war between the three Goddesses to see who would leave a better impression on his sister was one of the reasons he had been adamant about letting her come. Funny enough, Yami had been staying close to her, almost like a cat throwing glares at whoever came close to their food.

"Oh, I see you and your guests have finally arrived, Tenjoin-sama." An unfamiliar voice cut into the conversation, and everyone turned to look at an old man who had just walked out of the mansion's entrance.

A man of gray hair and an affable expression. Judging by his clothes and mannerisms, he was a butler, but Shirou was sure Luvia had no other employees aside from her usual chauffeur, Alice, and X.

Sensing everyone's questioning stares, the blonde Goddess immediately answered. "Everyone, this is Arashiyama-san. A butler who worked for the villa's former owners and got recommended. He will be tending to our needs during our stay."

The man in question vowed silently and walked back into the mansion. The auburn-haired boy found himself narrowing his eyes.

Something about that butler rubbed him the wrong way. It wasn't that he didn't offer to carry their luggage. That was understandable. Unless that man had superhuman strength, he'd end up in the hospital with a broken back after carrying just Luvia and Tomoe's luggage.

Seriously, what did they even bring to require such a pile of suitcases, bags, and purses? Even X, with her B-rank strength, was sweating looking at it.

Back on topic, that man's presence felt somewhat... artificial. He once again looked around to gauge everyone's reaction, and to his surprise, Alice returned his gaze with a knowing smile. That alone was enough for him not to rule it out as his usual paranoia.

Not that he had time to dwell on it. A way bigger problem hit him in the face just seconds after entering the mansion.

"Now, before we do anything, we need to decide which rooms we'll be staying at. Since there aren't enough rooms to accommodate each of us individually, we'll have to share them in pairs."

That... was bullshit. Why did she choose a villa that didn't have more than five rooms in the first place?

But he found himself unable to voice those thoughts as all the eyes fell on the elephant in the room.

Yuuki Shirou was the only boy in a group of ten. And, well, he wasn't dense enough not to see that some of them were hoping to take the opportunity to be alone in a room with him.

His eyes subtly looked at Mikan, but she immediately looked away, throwing him under the bus without a second thought. Damn it, she was taking her role as a matchmaker too seriously.

""I'll share the room with Yuuki-kun/Shero/Shirou!""

Talk about sharing a brain cell. Having Lala, Haruna, and Luvia make that declaration was within his expectations. X's joining them was unexpected, but trying to predict what she was about to do was just not feasible. However, Kotegawa Yui, Sainan High's Public Morals President, who upheld the moral code with an iron fist, saying that definitely threw him for a loop.

If anything, she should have been on his side...

"Huh? I offered myself because we sleep in adjacent rooms, but..."

"Precisely because of that, I'm pretty sure Yuuki-kun will prefer sharing a room with someone else for once." Haruna countered Lala with an argument that definitely sounded better in her head, but somehow, Luvia nodded in agreement.

"And that, of course, should be me. It's been a while since Shero and I have been alone."

"Hey, none of you have a score to settle with him. It should be me!" What was even planning that blonde schizo?

"I don't know what degenerate plans you all have, but I won't let them come to fruition. I'll be the one to share the room with Yuuki-kun to make sure neither you nor he don't do anything inappropriate. Especially since Mikan-chan and Yami-chan are here."

The small hitman was torn between agreeing with her or scowling at her for treating her like a child, but her expression ended up lining toward the second option.

On the other hand, Luvia's lips formed a teasing smile. "Hoh? Is that so? Because that sounds more like an excuse to be the one getting intimate with Shero."

"Huh? W-who do you take me for!? W-why would I even want to do something like that with him!?"

"Heh, your stuttering isn't helping, Kotegawa-san. You can't fool someone with a Goddess of Love inside them." Haruna joined the teasing in a surprising tag team maneuver to corner Kotegawa.

Lala watched the entire thing with surprise, as if all of it were something new to her. And Shirou was the one getting called "dense" all the time. X surpassed them by a mile when she joined the discussion, thinking "getting intimate with him" was the same as "fighting him".

Tomoe was making everything she could not to get involved in the discussion, but surprisingly, she wasn't looking at him as if he were the lowest scum on Earth. It seemed her opinion of him had improved a little after the recent events.

Not that it was necessary. Yami and Mikan were already giving him a disgusted look, most likely thinking he was some kind of Don Juan who hit on every girl he came across despite being engaged.

And, of course, Alice was looking at the spectacle with a hand covering her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her laughter. Her body was trembling to the point it must have been painful to hold it in.

"Okay, enough! I'm not sharing a room with anyone. I'll sleep on a couch if need be." He finally spoke up with a firm tone and was immediately met with resistance.

"That simply won't do, Shero. I cannot allow a guest to sleep in such conditions. Putting jokes aside, is it really that much of an inconvenience to share a room with any of us? It's not like we'll actually try something like that."

Luvia tried to get serious, but while Shirou might have believed that if this was just about her, there was no way Haruna and X would stick to their word. It was written all over their faces. But before he could say something else, the black-haired maid stepped into the spotlight, cell phone in hand.

"Luvia-sama, if you allow me, I have a suggestion. Why don't we just leave it to fate? I have a roulette app prepared. We just need to put our names and spin it to get an order."

The Goddess of Justice didn't seem surprised by Alice having been prepared for the situation. "I wanted to save that for a last resort, but I guess there's no choice. Is everyone okay with this arrangement?"

While there was some reticence, they all ended up agreeing it was the most efficient way to get things sorted out. Not the fairest way, because Shirou had a rock-bottom luck stat while all the others had above B-rank, aside from X. In theory, he should have better luck than non-servants, but he severely doubted it.

The roulette was spun eight times, removing the resulting name from the pool before the next spin, and the final arrangements were...

"You have to be kidding..."

"Can't we spin that thing again?"

Luvia immediately regretted her choice, while Haruna's smile became the most forced thing Shirou had ever seen. At least they didn't crash out immediately.

Fate must have had a field trip with the choices. Those two being in the same room was like trying to mix oil and water. Putting aside Kama and how her depravity clashed directly with Astraea's justice, those two have been clashing over being the school's idol ever since they met. Even if Haruna has mellowed out, that kind of relationship doesn't disappear just like that.

"It seems we'll be sleeping together, Yami-san."

"Hnn... "

At least Mikan being paired with Yami wasn't the worst option. The latter seemed to be happy about the result as well, or at least that's what he could make out of her hum.

"Well, this is an opportunity to get to know each other better, Yui."

"Hmph, at least you and Yuuki-kun won't be doing questionable stuff... And quit calling me by my name so casually."

Lala and Kotegawa were an okay pair, at least for everyone but Kotegawa herself. For someone as uptight as her, dealing with the alien princess's antics might be too much.

And speaking about antics...

"Damn it, I shouldn't have neglected my luck stat. I guess this is another sign this beach episode will go back to the main plot..." He really dodged a bullet there. The poor soul who ended up shackled to the Assassin with a completely warped perception of reality was Tomoe.

"I hope you're ready, X-san. Because I'm not going to hold back these upcoming nights." However, somehow, the Inferno Archer managed to make it sound like X was trapped with her instead of the other way around.

And by virtue of being the only two left without having been elected, his roommate turned out to be the girl holding the phone.

Golden eyes met red eyes again, and she gave him her trademark, mysterious smile. The possibility of her rigging the app was there, but the notion of an Elemental having the knowledge to do that seemed outright absurd. And Luvia would have called her out immediately.

"I guess we'll be stuck for this vacation, Alice." He made sure to let his suspicion be present in his tone, to which the black-haired beauty offered a dramatic reaction.

"Oh my, I thought this result was within your preference, Shirou-kun."

"It's not the worst outcome... but should I take that as you rigging the app?"

"Of course not. You could say that we were fated to run into each other."

That was a weird choice of words to express that, which only increased his suspicion about her identity.

"Well, there's no sense in crying over spilled milk. Let's unpack our things and meet here in half an hour."

With that said, the newly made couples dispersed to look for their rooms. And to keep the coincidences coming, the room assigned to the Pretender and the Moon Cancer was more separated from the rest. They weren't isolated, but the positioning of the room at the front of the building and not in the same hallway as the others made it harder for run-ins to occur.

The room itself wasn't far from what one would expect from a near-beach villa. Spacious, with several massive closets with a dresser included, a bathroom directly connected, and a large window that led to a balcony with sights to the sea.

But more importantly... a big double bed. Yes... they ended up in the room reserved for the marriage while the others were staying in actual guest rooms.

Alice tried once again not to bust out laughing when the auburn-haired boy suddenly froze upon entering the room, his eyes fixed on the marriage bed with his right eyebrow trembling uncontrollably.

"Oh, come on, Shirou-sama. There's hardly any difference between sharing a bed and sleeping in beds next to each other." The black-haired beauty rested her hand on his shoulder and got her lips close to his ear to say that.

Getting an Elemental with possible ties to Brunestud so close would normally cause him to lash out with lethal force. But such impulse never came to be. Even if they had an amicable relationship, it was still weird why he never found himself capable of being outright hostile to her.

"Yeah, there is! There would be a much necessary gap preventing uncomfortable situations!"

"Hoh? So you think something like that might happen between us~ I guess I can't blame you. Heroic spirit or not, you're still a healthy teenager."

"That's not what I said... Just... forget it. We should start unpacking and getting changed. At least you didn't bring that much luggage."

"I don't have that many possessions as Luvia-sama and Tomoe-san, but even then, it seems a lot compared to yours, Shirou-kun. Did you even bring more than one set of clothes per day?"

"No, I only brought the essentials." His curt answer got her torn between laughing and pitying him.

Not that he minded. He knew he would be the one getting dragged by their antics, so he left the preparations for them. Although he was the one using the kitchen during this vacation, even if he had to kick- politely ask that shady butler away.

For no one's surprise, by the time Alice had already unpacked her luggage and came out of the bathroom, Shirou was more than ready, wearing a black swimsuit with red patterns, a matching Hawaiian shirt, and carrying a big bag with the usual, like towels and an umbrella on one arm, and a folding chair on his other arm.

She was wearing the black bathing suit she picked first yesterday, apparently a conscious choice to match his.

Her hair, usually tied in a regular ponytail, was now tied in a high ponytail, letting it flow over her back, and on top of that, she was wearing some light makeup. If she had already been gorgeous back at the store, now she was straight-up ravishing.

"Let's get going then." He wanted to cease being trapped in a room with her ASAP, but Alice held him up while showing him a plastic bottle.

"Wait, we should apply some sunscreen over our body first, don't you think?"

That was a horrendous proposal made with the most innocent smile. If just looking at her was already causing such a reaction from his hormones, who knew what might happen if he touched her directly.

However, all concerns were blown away when he took a look at her pale skin and ran those words in his mind again. A chance had come, and his lips moved almost on their own.

"I guess a vampire can't casually walk under the summer sun."

There was little to no surprise in her expression. She must have expected him to have figured it out by now, or maybe she didn't mind it at all. Instead, she shook her face with a playful smile.

"No, I'm the kind of vampire who doesn't get weakened under the sun. Nor do I need to actively drink blood for sustenance, by the way. Thanks to being a servant now, the vampiric impulses I once had are now just a skill to acquire magical energy."

"Figures. A True Ancestor then. So, you want to keep your skin pale? I doubt servants can naturally get tan, let alone sunburns."

At that, she pouted, throwing away the mature image she always kept. "Don't be such a spoilsport, Shirou-kun. Applying sunscreen to each other is a staple of all beach episodes."

Shirou had to repress his urge to massage his temples. "I'll do it, but please, don't start saying the same nonsense as X."

"Thanks. I'll let you start then~"

And after pushing the bottle into his hand, she proceeded to lay on the bed and even went the extra mile, untying her bikini to leave her entire back exposed.

The auburn-haired boy gulped. For teenagers of his physical age, that would have been enough stimulation to either fry their brains or send too much blood to their sticks. He couldn't be blamed for not being able to keep his breathing and heart rate stable...

No, there must have been something at play here. Even if it wasn't a direct charm, since he could handle those well, hormones or not, something was making him react intensely to her.

Shaking his head and fortifying his mind, he poured some on his right hand and knelt beside her.

His rough hands carefully landed on her smooth skin and slowly started to spread the cream over her back. That, and the fact that he wasn't a masseur by any means, should have made this an unpleasant experience, but to make things even weirder, she started moaning with pleasure.

And he didn't even get close to touching a sensible place...

"Are you sure you don't want to massage those places? With your technique, I wouldn't mind~" As if reading his thoughts, she turned her head slightly to drop those words on him with a seductive smile

Wow... That was like firing a rocket launcher and calling it a bluff. Did she make messing with him her purpose for the trip? She was doing a really good job, if his burning cheeks were a sign.

"No. You're perfectly capable of applying the sunscreen there. You should be good to go anyway."

"Fine. It's my turn then."

Now came arguably the worst part. He had control over what he touched, but now that he was the one being touched...

Shirou stood upright instead of lying down at her request, and without much wait, a pair of delicate hands covered in lotion came from behind and started to carefully slide across both his back and chest. She wasn't making a sound, fully focused on the task. No, it looked more like she was feeling every inch of his body.

But then, she decided to break the silence with a soft tone. "To have this kind of musculature despite your age, you certainly had a life filled with strife."

She wasn't wrong. Even if he was using a physical vessel he had to properly maintain, it still mostly reflected his appearance when he had been alive. However, it wasn't that weird for a heroic spirit to have had a life full of conflict, so why was she using such a soothing tone?

"All the other servants here have recognizable true names, but you said you are a nameless hero... Would you tell me more about how you ended up like that, Shirou-kun?"

She asked almost shyly, as if to make the conversation more intimate. The black-haired beauty was more than aware that the question was a loaded one for all servants.

But maybe as a way to keep his head distracted from the situation, he decided to humor her just a little.

"I lived around the First Century. The apex of the Roman Empire. However, what should have been a peaceful era was turned into hell by a massive infestation of dead apostles and even some True Ancestors."

"So you took it upon yourself to fight them... Why? Did they take away someone precious to you?"

"Pretty much everything. The tragedy in which I lost everyone and even a part of myself was caused by them. And after the man who saved me from that hell died as well, they just kept showing up, all caution thrown to the wind. However, I didn't go on a journey for revenge or anything like that. I just wanted to prevent another tragedy like that. To make the world a better place. But in the end, I became an even worse murderer."

She was already done when she finished the really abridged version of his journey. She had walked in front of him, and although there was some pity in her eyes, it was overshadowed by her apparent excitement to learn about him.

"I see. I guess having to constantly fight beings that are by nature superior predators would turn you into that."

"What about you? "Alice" isn't exactly a recognizable true name, you know?" He shot back, and fortunately, she accepted to make things even.

"Well, that's because I was a kind of princess among vampires. While the name I inherited had a really important weight in the world of magecraft, I didn't really do anything noteworthy. However, one day, a knight in shining armor barged into my castle, guns blazing, and defeated a big, mean monster. Since that moment, you could say my entire world was thrown upside down."

A chill ran down his spine. Even if it was an oversimplified version of the events, it fit one-to-one his last stand. That and what she said about having a really important name...

In that case, were that girl and Alice truly the same person?

"Are you perhaps-"

"Oi, what are you two waiting for!? C'mon on, everyone's already waiting!" At the worst possible timing, X's loud voice interrupted him. Shirou had to repress the urge to just swing his white claw at the door, but his rational side won.

"Well, I guess we'll have to leave the conversation for later, Shirou-kun." And Alice jumped at it as if it were a life-saving rope.

"Yeah..."

There was still time, though. He could get to the bottom of this before the trip was over.

---

Most of the swimsuits he had already seen the day prior. But that didn't mean there were any surprises in store for Shirou when he entered the main hall alongside Alice.

X, who came with them, was wearing a two-piece bikini that seemed custom-made for her. The same blue as her usual tracksuit and 'X' patterns over it. However, she kept her baseball cap for some reason.

Did she intend to swim with that still on? He wouldn't even be surprised.

The public morals club's president was wearing a one-piece swimsuit, separated into two parts of different colors by rippling fabric. The bottom one was sky blue, while the top one was white. Despite her earlier intentions, it was swimwear that looked innocent rather than seeking allure.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Goddess of Justice seemed to have forgotten that she was a Goddess of purity as well, rocking a daring bikini with a combination of blues and gold that didn't leave much to the imagination.

And finally, Tomoe was wearing a skin-tight, white and blue sports swimsuit, covered by a blue jacket. She even changed the usual red ribbon she used to tie her hair to a blue one. It was swimwear almost as bold as Luvia's, but what left him a little bit confused was the two handles she was carrying.

They looked like katana handles without a blade, but just with a glance, he could tell those were electronic devices. Then, there was the fact that X immediately threw a stinky look at her, but the albino ignored her. She looked in a way better mood than usual, at least when he was around.

"That's Tomoe-san's swimsuit Spirit Origin. It's not only aesthetic. Her class changed from Archer to Saber." Alice's explanation came in handy, but she didn't need to whisper it into his ear. Despite what had happened just minutes ago, feeling her warm breath against his ear almost startled him.

"Then, why is she the only servant around with one of those?"

"In my case, that would be a spoiler. As for the others, I guess it hasn't been released yet." X's answer had the same coherence as always, but the lack of another explanation from the black-haired beauty meant that's how it was.

"Well, now that everyone's ready, let's get going. Arashiyama-san, we'll leave the villa in your care!"

They didn't even wait for the butler's response before heading out. He failed to notice it, but the excitement for spending the day at the beach was high despite the hostilities among some of them.

The colorful group found a spot with barely any people around, and they quickly set up a pair of umbrellas and stretched their towels over the scorching sand. With noon around the corner, the sunbeams were coming in a straight line from a sky with no clouds at all, so...

""Yuuki-kun/Shero! Would you help me apply sunscreen on my back!?""

"Oh, for god's sake..." This was becoming ridiculous. Did everyone come here with the exact same plan?

"Absolutely not! Yuuki-kun isn't touching your bodies on my watch! I'll do it myself if I have to!" Thanks to the heavens, Kotegawa actually volunteered herself to be the one made fun of instead.

"Are you really gonna unilaterally declare to be the only one to get sunscreen from Shero?"

"Do you want to claim Kama's authority over depravity?" Those two, once again, decided to launch a coordinated attack. A viper and a fox working together to take down a mutual enemy.

Conversely, this was the closest they were to being a regular teenage group.

"Don't put words in my mouth! Lala and I have already done it to each other before leaving the villa!"

"Yeah, it was the first time I've done something like that, and it was really fun! I wish I could do it with Shirou, too..."

"You don't have to worry about that. I already helped Shirou-kun with it. Do you need me to do it for you, too, Luvia-sama?" And just for the laughs, Alice decided to throw a gas tank into the fire to watch it explode.

"HUH!? Since when did you become so forward, Alice!?"

"Why didn't you deny her, Yuuki-kun!?"

"There wasn't a safe option anyway, so I decided to get it out of the way." He answered flatly while drifting his eyes to his sister, who seemed to have ignored the scene in favor of speaking with her new friend.

"Yami-san, do you need sunscreen?"

"No... While I can't survive in the void of space, my body can handle this level of radiation... But it sounds interesting..." She whispered that last part, but it was loud enough for Mikan to hear it.

"In that case, let's apply it to each other quickly so we can get in the water."

Seeing no problem there, Shirou then turned to look at a certain blonde Assassin who had been awfully quiet ever since they got here. She seemed to be staring into the distance, the ahoge that always pierced through her cap completely rigid and pointing in the same direction.

"They are close. I have a bad feeling about this- eh?" Her "profound reflection" was cut when the new Saber in the group started to drag her into the sea.

"What are you doing, X? Don't forget you promised we would test my VR games together!"

"I promised that before knowing you were also a Saber in disguise! Now I have to defeat Shirou and you to end this spin-off!"

"The more reason to fight it out in a game!"

And thus began their chaotic day on the beach. They didn't go too overboard, though. It was a silent agreement to save the best activities for the later days, so they stuck to playing in the water. They even had an inflatable ball, but that started to escalate quickly when the game consisted of hitting the others with the ball to eliminate them.

But that was pretty much par for the course when aliens, servants, and Goddess vessels were involved.

Despite participating in the activities, the auburn-haired boy still ended up going through them as if they were chores. He would be lying if he said he wasn't having fun, but he couldn't tell if he was directly deriving that feeling from the activity itself or the good mood around him.

"DIE, SABER!" Well, the term "good mood" was relative, as well as "holding back".

Because the beach ball coming at him might as well have been a meteor. It even caught on fire due to the friction with the air. It had been reinforced just in case, but Shirou was pretty sure it was going to explode on impact anyway.

"Woah!" Golden eyes widened, realizing Mikan was right beside him. She was the whole reason they decided to get things toned down, both for her safety and so she wouldn't feel left out.

With that said, dodging or catching the ball so X was the one disqualified from the round instead were no longer options. The only remaining option was...

"Clench your teeth, Mikan!" He pulled her into a hug and spun so the ball hit his back directly.

The explosion was louder than it was powerful since the ball managed to hold itself together quite well rather than falling apart in tiny bits, but it was still too much for a regular person. He could feel his sister's tiny body starting to tremble.

"It's safe now. Are you okay, Mikan?"

"Y-yes... what about you, Onii-chan?" She answered as she quickly broke the hug, her face a mixture of embarrassment and uneasiness.

"Don't worry, I'm tough enough to take on worse than that."

"What are you doing, X!? You almost hurt Mikan-chan!"

"Hey! It was a calculated risk to eliminate him!"

"That's downright low. This isn't even a competition."

"That's rich coming from you, Astraea! Don't think I haven't noticed the spell you used to reinforce the ball makes it lose speed when it comes at you!"

"That's baseless slander! On the contrary, Sairenji-san is using her Ananga skill to dodge!"

"That was uncalled for! Besides, Kujo-san is using her Oni flames to dodge!"

While the others were admonishing X and uncovering everyone's cheats, Yami also approached them with a worried expression.

"Sorry, I wasn't able to react in time. But I'll protect Yuuki Mikan in your stead, Yuuki Shirou."

It put a smile on his face seeing the growing bond between the two, but at the same time... "You're taking this too seriously... Besides, isn't it too much of a mouthful to call us both by our full name?"

"I thought calling people by their name carelessly in your culture was rude, but if Yuuki Mikan doesn't mind..."

Her adorable social awkwardness seemed to help Mikan recover from the shock, and she nodded without hesitation. "Of course I don't mind. Especially if Shirou is around. But why are you only asking me?"

The golden-haired girl narrowed her eyes as she looked back at Shirou. "Yuuki Shirou is still my target. Don't ever forget that."

He didn't know if he should consider her insistence on that matter annoying or endearing. Her attempt at sounding serious was dwarfed even more by the sound of her belly rumbling. And his sister followed after, much to her embarrassment.

"We lost track of time. I guess it's almost lunchtime... Since I'm disqualified, I'll go for some food."

"About that, we also brought home-cooked lunch in the portable coolers, Shirou-kun." Alice decided to chime in, seeing as the others were still arguing. "But you could go for some ice creams. A day at the beach will feel lacking without one, don't you think?"

Maybe he was letting his paranoid side take over too much, but there had to be a catch to that seemingly innocent request.

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit."

After making it out of the water and getting back his flip-flops, sunglasses, and wallet, he began wandering in search of a beach snack bar. Fortunately, he found one not too far, or else he would have had to run all the way back to prevent the ice creams from melting.

The process of buying them was smooth. No aliens in the vicinity, nor any remarkable event. But he couldn't put aside the feeling that something was about to happen. A part of him was starting to think he was truly going insane due to all the nonsense happening around him in just one month, but the other still wanted to think his gut feelings could be trusted.

"...?" But then, as he was making his way back...

He saw her.

She was there lying face down on a towel, without a care in the world. The moment his golden eyes landed on her, Yuuki Shirou couldn't get them off of her. A slender body covered in a black, quite skimpy bikini that seemed to have a draconian motif. On top of it was a black jacket with a blue interior and intricate patterns that looked religious and barely reached below her chest. There was a blue collar wrapped around her thin neck, a red gem at its front with a floral pattern carved on it. Her snow-white hair, which ended in black tips, was tied in a ponytail.

He couldn't tell why, but after inspecting her from head to toe, he could only reach one conclusion.

She was just... too beautiful. Overwhelmingly so.

And then, she tilted her head slightly, her golden eyes staring back at his. Her gorgeous face turned into a seductive smile, inviting him to go with her. And for a moment, he forgot what he had been doing, who he had been returning to with the ice creams, and even who he was.

At that moment, ****** only had eyes for her-

"Eh?" Before his right foot even took a step to walk in that direction, his Beast Authority finally overpowered the charm enough for him to notice something.

That girl was undeniably beautiful... but she looked to be around Mikan's age.

"Yeah, no. I don't want to get arrested." After saying that, Shirou turned around and resumed walking in the direction he came from. He then failed to notice how the girl froze with a mortified expression, seemingly forgetting how to breathe.

Not that he had a chance to, since he ran into another suspicious girl just some meters after. And this one... well, just the way she looked like X but with an Alter color pallet, even her bikini, was enough to put him on guard. Her personality seemed to be the complete opposite, though, as she just stood there silently, her yellow eyes staring intently at the bag of ice creams he was carrying.

Both stood there, staring at each other silently for some seconds that felt like an eternity. The boy didn't know what to expect, while the girl didn't even blink.

"Umm... Do you want one?" He ventured to ask, his voice coming as awkward as it could get. He didn't mind giving up the ice cream he bought for himself if it meant avoiding the ensuing mess that these two mysterious servants meant.

"Can I? Yay." She let out what would have been a cute voice if it hadn't come out in a completely flat tone. But the energy her voice lacked was very present in her movements if the speed at which she snatched an ice cream from his bag was anything to go by.

The poor snack was devoured in seconds. It was a wonder if she even felt its flavor before it was forced down her throat.

"Tasty... This planet's sweets aren't that bad. Do you have other kinds of sweets on you?"

"No, but you can buy some over there-"

"WAIT A MOMENT! That's not fair! Why are you indulging Sir Pendragon and not me, my destined one!?"

Before he could see if that was enough to divert her attention, very unfortunately, the girl from before crashed into the conversation, invading his personal space to grab his free arm and yell at him. It took a monumental effort not to snap back violently, for the only reason of neither of these two showing ill intent.

Besides, there was another glaring issue that had him freeze for a moment. It wasn't how she called the blonde girl, since no one there was oblivious to X's actual true name, but how she called him.

"Hold on a second. What did you just call me?"

The albino's annoyed pout was replaced with the same smile from earlier. "Oh, silly. I know you can see the threads of fate tying us. It's only natural for the strongest to attract the strongest."

His golden eyes widened. It was a thing if she had caught wind of his growing reputation as the boogeyman of this sector of the universe, but she using the word "strongest" specifically meant she was aware of his Beast authority. Something he hadn't been showing around and could only be inferred after fighting him directly. That and the way she spoke about threads of fate made him think she must have some sort of clairvoyance.

So that made her go from just another weirdo to a possible threat.

"You aren't making any sense. First of all, I don't even know who you are. How do you know me, and why are you acting so familiar?"

His harsh words didn't diminish her confidence at all, and she, in turn, coughed before starting an actual introduction.

"Ah, maybe I got a little bit ahead of myself. Some call me Lancelot V2 or Space Albion, but you can call me Melusine. As the strongest dragon, I can instinctively peer into the future to know who will be my soulmate. All our battles and struggles together. All the bumps in the road, as well as all the precious moments. But even then, I'm willing to take it step by step, my darling Shirou~"

After her enthusiastic explanation, which from his point of view felt like a twisted mixture of a love confession and a resume given by a young adult fresh out of university, the golden-eyed boy could tell some of his brain cells were giving up and shutting down.

Why was this universe's counterpart to the last true dragon that failed to make it back to the Reverse Side of the World a little girl? And why did she turn out to be another mentally deranged stalker?

This had to be a really bad joke.

"Oh? She finally came." "Sir Pendragon's" sudden comment sent chills down his spine.

He slowly turned around, leaving Melusine hanging there, just in time to see the original blonde Assassin running at them like a mad woman.

"I was right! You actually had the gall to come here, my fated rival Ex-chan!"

"Did you have to announce it as if you were a narrator?"

"Shirou here doesn't know you. But that's beside the point!" X pointed at her lookalike, almost recreating a famous picture of two men in red and blue, skin-tight suits. "Why did you crash into this spin-off!? And in a beach episode at that! This is hardly the time for our grandiose battle!"

"I just came to say hi while accompanying Lancelot V2 here. You could say this is more of a foreshadowing than anything." Much to Shirou's horror, Ex-chan answered using the same absurd terms as if they were all in a TV series.

"Foreshadowing what? Our battle is something written in stone from the very first season! You were literally created to be my nemesis!"

"This is a spin-off, remember. There might be a new audience with no context. And you don't even seem to be the main character here."

"Wh-what did you just say!?" X's expression contorted in pure rage. That was something everyone had in mind every time she said she was the protagonist, but they were sensible enough not to carelessly burst her bubble.

"AAARGH! Screw it! I'm beating your ass now!"

"Hmph. Even low on sugar, you're no match for me."

The two identical servants started throwing hands out of nowhere. They at least didn't unsheathe their Holy Swords, but the mana burst-powered punches and kicks were creating shockwaves enough to make people think a small earthquake was happening.

"Forget about those two, Shirou. Let's enjoy our first of many dates." The albino dragon decided to take the chance to bring back that topic, trying to pull his arm while giving him an innocent smile.

However, he sunk his feet in the sand and threw a squinted stare at her. "No, I gotta go. There's people waiting for me."

"That's no problem. I never said a date meant leaving your friends behind."

"That's not what I mean. I'm not exactly looking for that kind of relationship."

"I know. Your mental condition is not a secret to me. Your past is holding you back. But that's precisely why I decided to come here."

He was trying to be subtle for once since the warmth in her voice was genuine, but he guessed he would have to repeat himself.

"This has nothing to do with my past or mental conditions. I'm just not into little girls who seem underage."

He could see the exact moment her heart skipped a beat. Melusine's expression, and entire body for that matter, froze for a second. But she managed to pull through and answer calmly.

"Ah... Don't worry about that. I'm way older than I look, you know? You do know the Dragon of Albion, don't you? As a ghost liner that derived directly from it, I'm pretty much as old as this planet. Besides, flat is justice."

"Sorry, but I can't turn off my brain and accept that. Especially when you look around my sister's age. Maybe if you could grow a little..."

He was gambling there on her not having a shape-shifting skill, but seeing her pout, it seemed he had won. Maybe she would finally desist-

"Shirou-sama! Help me!"

As if the very universe around him wanted to prevent him from escaping the chaos, the green-haired girl from yesterday decided to show up. She seemed to be in distress and grabbed his other arm, no questions asked. But before he could utter a word...

"There you are, little lady."

"C'mon on, come to play with us. You're gonna have the time of your life."

"Look! She brought us to even more chicks!"

"She's definitely into it."

What Shirou could only describe as a group of stereotypical beach playboys approached them, and they weren't even trying to sound like they didn't want to do something nefarious.

But aside from that, Shirou could tell most of them were aliens in disguise. He didn't know if that made it worse. They could either be trying to adapt to the local culture in the worst possible way, or actually be trying to abduct them.

Before he could release some of his presence as a Beast to scare them off, though, someone beat him to the punch.

"I have no choice then..." A really murderous aura started to fill the place as Melusine took a step back and summoned a pair of... golden knuckle-dusters?

His structural grasp revealed them to be actually sword handles that had yet to materialize a blade, not unlike black keys. And if that wasn't enough intimidating, a pair of blue wings and a tail sprouted from her back while her dragon reactor core started to emanate a massive amount of magical energy.

"In that case, I'll just kill everyone and make you mine!"

Crap, she crashed out. He could even see some tears in her betrayed expression as she howled like a Berserker.

"Tch! This isn't getting anywhere. Draw your Holy Sword! We're settling this right here, right now!"

"We do agree for once. Be ready to feel true despair!"

At the same time, the two battle junkies a distance from them finally brought out the big guns into their catfight.

Things didn't look good. The beach hooligans were starting to realize the warzone they got themselves into, and Run beside him was sporting a horrified expression that pretty much told him she was starting to regret her choices in life.

"Clench your teeth."

"Wha-" The green-haired girl barely could get a sound out of her lips before she found herself soaring through the sky, wrapped by Shirou's arm.

Just a beat later, the blades of the blue Secret Calibur and the red Necro Calibur clashed, releasing a massive shock wave that blew away the beach playboys alongside a good chunk of sand. Run felt the shock wave rattle her bones even from a considerable distance, but that was the least of her concerns.

Her eardrums were assaulted by metallic clashes, and sparks showered her exposed skin. But she could barely make out what was happening. Shirou's other hand had abandoned the bag with ice creams in favor of wielding his iconic white sword, and he was using it to block and deflect something just in front of her.

It was then that one of the attacks was stopped inches from her face that she was able to discern it was the albino girl from before, frantically swinging her golden knuckle-dusters.

With a harrowing sound, the Yin sword fell apart under the immense strain. It was hard to tell just how many attacks it had to block in that short span of time, but Shirou seemed completely unfazed by it. In fact, given his stance, it looked more like he swung the sword with all his might as if to counterattack, something proven when she saw the albino girl tumbling in the opposite direction.

That was short-lived, however. The little girl suddenly stopped in the middle of the air, her momentum completely disappearing. It wasn't just that. Gravity seemed to have stopped working on her, leaving her floating.

The next instant, she disappeared in a burst of speed. There was seemingly no acceleration. She went from zero to an aircraft's speed so fast and without causing a sonic boom. How could those tiny wings let her fly like that?

Run's brain was getting so overloaded that she only realized Shirou had thrown her away when her body hit the scorching sand. Fortunately, they had already been on the ground, so she didn't get hurt, but that was the least of her concerns.

"AAAAAHH!" Her body moved on its own to release a desperate scream when Melusine suddenly appeared in front of her with her entire body positioned to deliver a devastating punch.

"Huh?" But shortly after, Run realized she was able to see the dragon girl because she had been stopped in midair. Melusine's face lost its fury, shifting to surprise when she realized Shirou was holding her by her ankle. "Woaahh!"

The auburn-haired boy pivoted, redirecting her momentum to throw her in the opposite direction, right at the two mysterious heroines. The two were so absorbed in their brawl that they failed to notice the dragon hurled at them until the last second.

The impact created a sand curtain that, upon dispersing, revealed the three servants in a limb entanglement that put a momentary end to all the nonsense.

"Hey! What was that for!? Have you fallen so low as to bring your henchmen into our fight, Ex!?"

"No, I don't know why she suddenly attacked us. I thought she would let us be while she tried to seduce that Shirou fellow."

"What!? Another rival!?"

"Bold of you to think of me as a rival. I am the Dragon of Albion, while you just have some of my essence. There's just no contest, be it power or beauty."

"You..."

"Stop fighting for a damn minute, you idiots!" A voice filled with frustration and straight-up anger put an end to the conversation. It wasn't just the tone, but the sinister presence that filled the place.

The three froze as they looked at the auburn-haired boy, getting almost physically hit by the overwhelming presence of Beast IV as his golden eyes pierced holes into them.

"This has nothing to do with you, Shi-"

"Zip it!" X tried to bark back, but she was immediately silenced. "This isn't a deserted place! You could have killed someone in your recklessness! And also, you ruined the food!"

He said that last part while pointing at the now burned and destroyed bag that had contained the ice creams, and much to his annoyance, it was the only thing that caused an actual reaction from the two blondes.

""NOOOOOOOO!""

On the other hand, Melusine finally managed to get out of the entanglement and returned Shirou's glare with a... desiring look coupled with a deep fluster.

"Aah~ That was so cool... We really are made for each other. Let's go to a hotel already, Dar- ouch!"

The albino servant threw herself at Shirou with her lips pursed, trying to steal a kiss from him, but a chop to the head stopped her on her tracks.

"Knock it out. I don't know if you're in the middle of dragon's mating season or what, but I'm not gonna play along with your love-struck act."

His words once again caused her to pout, a sight that was just too cute. "Geez, I'm only being a little forward while that girl over there literally prepared the whole situation with the playboys to get close to you, and she's the one getting the princess carry?"

"You forced me to do it. At any rate..." He turned around and walked to who he assumed was Lala's childhood friend, Run's side, who was still very much in shock. "Are you okay, miss?"

No response. Maybe that was too much for her. She might lack a lot of common sense as an alien, but not on Lala's level to not come out traumatized after a servant tried to kill her.

"Aah... Achuu!" When it seemed like she would finally say something, she sneezed.

Normally, that wouldn't have been something remarkable. There was some dust in the air due to the fight that had unfolded. But what his eyes witnessed then definitely left him baffled. Her body suddenly shape-shifted, taking on a completely different appearance, only retaining the same eye color. In fact, she even turned into a he-

Wait a moment... he recognized this white-haired boy.

"You're... what was your name again?"

"How can you have forgotten my name! It's Ren!" The white-haired prince shouted with a mixture of disbelief and embarrassment.

After all, while his body had changed, the skimpy swimsuit Run had been wearing remained the only clothes preserving his chastity.

"So... Care to explain why you were disguised and acting as a love-struck girl? Did your speech about being a true man somehow swing right back around to being a girl?"

"That's not it! That wasn't me! Run and I share this body, but for some reason, she refused to let me take the wheel ever since we met!"

"I see..." He didn't. How and why a race could develop that kind of parasitic relationship was beyond him. But he had more pressing matters at hand. Namely being famished.

"Well, that was something even I didn't expect." Instead of the three servants, the one who spoke up was the girl who set this all up.

He should have known better. As a True Ancestor, her presence detection must be exceptional due to their ability to connect their senses to the planet. She knew Melusine and Ex were there and most likely sent X shortly after to shake things up.

"Your ability to run into this kind of absurd situations continuously baffles me, Shero."

Unfortunately, he couldn't berate her as she had brought everyone else as well.

"Oh, if it isn't Ren! You should have told us if you wanted to tag along!" Lala ran to his side excitedly, ignoring completely the fuming craters around. "Also, why are you wearing a bikini? I often told you you looked cute in girl's clothes, but this..."

"Not you too, Lala! It was Run who was wearing this!"

"What kind of excuse is that? You not only disappeared from school after attending only one day, but now we find you cross-dressing in such a shameless way." Kotegawa didn't miss the opportunity to drill him. It was honestly a really mortifying situation.

"Um, and who are those other two girls, Yuuki-kun?" Sairenji ventured to ask, her eyes on the albino girl and X's lost sister, but Shirou decided to leave them to introduce themselves.

"Fufu. I guess I should introduce myself now that all my rivals are here." Melusine pretended nothing embarrassing had happened moments ago and confidently addressed the new arrivals with her chest puffed. "I am Melusine, also known as Space Albion, and a member of the Villain Alliance. I'm crashing this beach episode to steal Shirou's heart!"

Looking at the baffled expressions around him, Shirou was thankful he wasn't the only one who reacted like that to that proclamation out of nowhere.

"I'm Mysterious Heroine X Alter, but you can call me Ex. And I'm her boss as a Dark Lord of the Villain Alliance." Ex blurted that out, still without an ounce of emotion in her voice, before looking at Melusine. "If you're going to use you're true name so brazenly, what was the point of assuming Lancelot's name?"

"I had to drop it to rock this Swimsuit Spirit Origin. That alone puts me on a different dimension already than all these servants who had to rely on regular swimsuits."

"Sorry to rain on your parade, but you aren't the only one with a Swimsuit Spirit Origin around."

Melusine's bravado had to be put on hold as she stared at her fellow albino, but just a beat later, she smirked mischievously at Tomoe.

"Why should I even be worried when you aren't even in the competition? Or are you?"

That left the former Archer of Inferno not knowing how to answer, and that in and of itself was already disturbing, but the next event was something Shirou would have never expected.

"Wait! Why are you acting so casually!? You guys should be on guard! These two are pretty much end-of-the-season bosses! Why hasn't the name "Villain Alliance" even caused a reaction!?" Of all the people, X was calling for common sense.

Putting aside that half of the people here had no idea what she was talking about, and Shirou himself had only heard some passing mentions, the other three servants hailing from the Blue Shining Galaxy raised their eyebrows.

"Isn't that organization on the brink of being dismantled?"

"Last I heard, the Galactic Police arrested one of its top dogs."

"I mean, if you compare them to the Space Shinkage-ryu plots, those guys have barely done anything noteworthy in quite some time."

"Oh, c'mon! That can't be right! I know I've spent this last season exterminating Sabers, but there's no way you guys fell off so hard." The blue Assassin looked at her counterpart and the albino dragon, but they just shrugged.

"I only joined the organization waiting for this moment anyway."

"What can I say? No one agreed on what to do, and some had outright grudges against each other. In terms of criminality, everyone present here is on the same level, since this place is a taboo for the Galactic Police."

"Don't compare all the crimes you have to answer for to just entering the Forbidden Zone, Ex-chan!"

"Well said, X. Besides, Alice's previous incarnation took part in the battle against the primordial Goddess almost two thousand years ago. We more or less have the authority to be here."

"That's quite the leap in logic, Goddess. "Alice" isn't even a name on the list of heroes that gave their life in that battle." Melusine immediately shut down Luvia's fickle attempt to keep her criminal record intact.

"I already told you, Luvia-sama. I pretty much just tagged along on my own for the mission."

"Besides, a previous incarnation can be a completely different aspect of the servant. I was told the previous White Dragon was an old man who proclaimed that humanity should have never relied on technology and decided that going around putting bombs on universities and airports was the best way to make his point."

Shirou honestly didn't know if he should laugh or pity that particular incarnation of Vortigern. As he was thinking that, someone pulled his arm, and he turned his head to look at his sister, who was making an expression that should be reserved for Vietnam veterans.

"Onii-chan... I think I'm starting to understand why you always seem so mentally exhausted."

"You don't say."

Even Yami was having trouble keeping up with all the nonsense thrown around.

"Okay, all that talk about criminals is good and all, but what do you plan to do now? Tag along for this vacation?"

Shirou decided to reroute the conversation to an actually important topic, even if he already knew the answer to that question. Which didn't mean he liked it.

"Of course. I'm going to make this vacation the best time of your life, my darling Shirou."

"I don't have anything better to do meanwhile."

"Run dragged me here, so I guess I have no choice but to stick around..."

Luvia thought about it for a second, but she didn't seem troubled. "The more, the merrier, I guess. I have no problem as long as you guys have a place to stay. We don't have spare rooms at our villa."

"That won't be a problem. We can sleep in our spaceship."

That was also Ren's case, given his nod. This vacation, if it could still be called that, was going to be his end.

---

Lunch wasn't an easy affair. They went from needing a dump truck filled with food to two because, of course, X's lost sisters had the same black hole for a stomach. It was a blessing Melusine wasn't a third because that would have made it impossible for even Luvia to afford.

The afternoon was spent with the usual shenanigans, and after enjoying a dinner prepared by the auburn-haired boy, they were presented with a dilemma.

Tomoe wanted them to try the video games she brought, but there were just too many people, which would result in having to split into small groups for each console. They proposed to have just a pair of them on it while the rest played traditional games. And it was a good idea... until Luvia unpacked the game in question.

"I bet 20."

"I raise that to 80."

X's blue eyes widened when she looked at her former roommate casually throw at the table's center a bunch of chips with her usual flat look.

No cards on the table. They were betting with just the two in their hands. All the other players folded their cards, thinking Ex had something really big in her hand. Therefore, all eyes fell back on X, who had to decide whether to continue or fold and give up her chips.

Yes, of all board games, they decided to play poker.

Now, it didn't sound that bad, taking into account they weren't wagering real money, and both Mikan and Yami were having a fun time with Tomoe playing that VR game about slicing things to a song's beat, away from any potential cause for gambling addiction.

But there was a catch. Putting aside the fact that any game based around chance was extremely unbalanced when servants were involved, just playing poker without any stakes didn't sound fun enough, so they decided to add a little extra rule. No, it wasn't a price for the last remaining player, but something way worse.

X looked at Luvia, who had offered to be an impartial dealer, at her counterpart, and at her cards one last time. A hand was pressed against her temple while she grumbled to herself. She even took off her precious cap. With her, it was hard to tell if this was a hard decision or if she was just doing theatrics.

And after an entire minute of pondering...

"All-in." She declared as she threw her remaining chips forward. Luvia had already counted them, so she knew Ex's stack was just a little bigger. That meant that, even if she wouldn't get kicked out in case of making the call and losing, she would only have enough chips for one last hand.

However, the self-proclaimed dark lord was completely unfazed after such a move. Calling out bluffs here wasn't as easy as one might think. Even if they weren't poker experts by any means, everyone had really good poker faces, the same they used during fights. Because, thanks to the extra rule, everyone was taking the game seriously.

There was no recreation here, just pure gambling between people who had too many screws loose and fun derived from making others miserable.

"I call." It didn't take the Berserker that much to throw in most of her chips.

However, while the norm would be for them to show their cards and decide whether they want to gamble everything on one draw or several, Luvia asked a different question.

"Well, since you both agreed to go all-in, what do you two want to wager?"

Without even thinking twice, X answered with a sinister smile on her face. "If I win, tomorrow's extra rations will all be mine!"

The glasses Ex was now wearing emitted an ominous glint, completely locking in as he nodded. "Deal. The winner will eat everything tomorrow."

That was the extra rule to make things spicy and prevent the game from dragging out too much. Whenever there was an all-in face-off, the players in question would have to wager something else aside from chips.

That was... a horrible idea, but he was the only one who thought that way, so it was implemented. Kotegawa had been the first to fall to Sairenji, now being forced to wear a bunny suit the blue-haired girl had, for some reason, for one day of her choice.

"Well then, show your cards."

X smirked as she showed the hand that made her think it was a good idea to go all-in without seeing even the flop. And actually, she was onto something.

"I have pocket aces. What about you, Ex-chan? What inferior hand do you have?"

"Ace-King suited."

That blew away most of X's confidence. There were too many combinations that could make her lose.

Luvia silently proceeded to draw the cards that would decide their fate, a big, amused grin on her lips.

"...!" X made a choking sound when the flop was revealed. 2, 8, 7. Something that wouldn't have influenced the result, if it wasn't because two of the three cards of the same suit as Ex's cards, leaving her one card away from a flush.

After letting out a giggle, Luvia revealed the turn card, which was another eight, making X dodge the first bullet.

The tension was at an all-time high as the Goddess of Justice slowly revealed the river card, just to make it even more dramatic. And then...

"NOOOOOOOOO!" The blue Assassin lamented, crossing her arms over the table and burying her face on them. The last card did, in fact, complete Ex's flush draw.

Said happily retrieved all remaining chips, a single sweat drop on her forehead the only proof that she had been tense.

With that, they were now down to six in the table. Neither Run nor Ren came, but surprisingly, Lala decided to try her hand at poker rather than video games. While Alice assessed the situation, she saw Shirou's eyebrow trembling uncontrollably while his eyes were staring at a fixed point.

Just out of curiosity, she took a peek at the cards he had folded, and the next moment, she busted out laughing, her refined mask and the stingy glare she received be damned.

An eight and a seven. Had he abandoned all reason and entered the fray, he would have been victorious with a full house. But that was part of having bad luck at poker.

"Let's continue then."

Even when the extra rule made people be more propense to go all-in when they had good hands instead of trying to bait the other players, there were two players that played even more aggressive than the rest.

Barely a couple of rounds after, things got even more intense in a three-way stand-off.

"Well, Lala, Haruna, what do you say if I re-raise it to 180?" Melusine declared with her usual confident smile. Something she kept throughout the game, regardless of what kind of hand she was dealt.

Once again, they didn't even wait for the flop, betting with only their hands. The number of chips in the middle was already considerable after several re-raises.

"I call." Lala didn't hesitate, but she remained passive, leaving the albino dragon to dictate the pacing.

Sairenji, on the other hand, begged to disagree. "You know? I go all-in."

Lala widened her emerald eyes, watching how her friend sitting directly beside her pushed all her chips into the middle with a confident smile that mirrored Melusine's.

"Call." Melusine snap-called, sending enough chips to the center to cover Haruna's bet.

On the other hand, Lala took her time to think whether she wanted to see it through or let those two eliminate each other. Unfortunately, as a passive player, given she only learned the rules around an hour ago, she was the one with the smallest chip pile, so this was a make-it-or-break-it.

"I call." After some meditation, she decided to join, with a small that was a weird mixture of thrill and tension.

The smile on Haruna's face only widened, her blue eyes showing a hint of red as she moved her lips to state her terms.

"If I win, Lala, we'll swap houses for a week. You'll stay at mine, and I'll stay at Yuuki-kun's."

Those must have been her intentions from the very beginning. Luvia couldn't help but whistle in approval, while Kotegawa let out a surprised scream from the sidelines. A drop of sweat ran down Lala's forehead, not liking one bit that arranged, but she kept her cool and nodded.

"As for you, Melusine... well, I guess we can repurpose the bunny suit for you as well."

"Well, if you ask me, that might even be a price rather than a punishment. What about you, Lala?" The albino decided to let the pink-haired princess state her wagger first.

"Hmm..." She didn't seem to have anything in mind, which was a breath of fresh air among people with devious intentions. "Okay, if I win, Haruna, you and I will talk to your friends to clear up your situation."

"Eh?" That caught her off guard, and her cheeks took a slight blush.

"As for Melusine... will you let me take pics of your dragon form? I have a sister that is all for interacting with species from other planets, and she would love to see it."

"Fufu, I don't mind as long as Shirou is around. That said, it's my turn. I'll take a page from your book and say this: if I win, I'll be the one moving to Shirou's place for a week. As for you, Haruna, let's make it double. If I win, we'll wear bunny costumes together."

The blue-haired girl couldn't help but be weirded out by that last request. Was she actually fond of the idea of wearing something like that? She doubted even Kama would be able to do that without blushing.

"With everyone's terms stated, do you want to show your hands before or after I reveal the cards?"

"We show our hands, of course." Haruna spoke just a beat after Luvia finished the question while confidently turning around to reveal pocket aces.

If you asked Shirou, seeing what happened to X, she shouldn't be so assured of her victory, but he guessed Kama gave her a better luck stat than the blonde Assassin.

"What a coincidence... I have these." Lala then revealed a pair of kings, a hand that was hard to fold, especially before even the flop.

"Fufu, this is going to be quite a showdown then." And then, Melusine proceeded to reveal her pocket queens.

Understandably, all eyes flew at Luvia. What kind of shuffle was it that three players ended up with such high pairs in their hands? But the Goddess of Justice ignored the suspicious looks and proceeded to reveal the flop, turn, and river without fanfare.

The game would be decided by either Lala or Melusine making a set, quads, or them hitting a straight just bellow their cards. There was no hope of a flush draw since they actually had the same suits. Anything other than that would be Haruna's win.

The flop, unfortunately, didn't change the situation one bit. Neither did the turn. So, it all came down to the river. Which once again, Luvia made sure to reveal slowly for the drama.

""...!""

"Fufu, fate is putting everything in its place." The albino dragon stated matter-of-factually as she grabbed all the chips in the table. The final card turned out to be the queen she needed, a victory she pretty much clutched from Haruna's hands.

"I guess it can be helped. We have one room to spare, right, Shirou?"

"Even if it's a little too late, do I really not have a say on who comes to my place?"

"Of course not, Shero. We all agreed whatever was wagered was absolute."

Much to everyone's surprise, Haruna just sighed, not letting her frustration out and gracefully accepting her defeat.

"Even if you lost, Lala... would you agree to do what you said anyway?" She asked rather timidly, to which the princess nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course, Haruna! I only resorted to this because I didn't know how to bring out the issue."

"All's well that ends well." Alice said as if she were some kind of narrator, but her solemn demeanor was short-lived as she took the next hand that Luvia dealt them. "This is where the real gambling begins, don't you all agree?"

Those words, said with an innocent smile that gave Shirou chills, were directed at him, who was, of course, her target, and also at Melusine, the indisputable leader of the table after that win.

"Yes. Everything will be decided here." The albino dragon accepted the challenge, and so, the intensity at the table reached the next level.

Ex was defeated shortly after by Alice, her "punishment" being wearing X's maid dress to see how it looked, something the alter servant didn't mind that much.

After some back and forth, it finally happened. Shirou looked at the flop and then at his hand. A high rush of adrenaline flooded his entire system, making it hard to keep his cool. Even someone like him would be surprised, and even excited, in this situation.

Two tens in his hand, and two on the table. The remaining card was an ace that shared suit with one of the tens, but that didn't matter that much. He flopped quads, just like that. The odds of that were abysmal. The thought of him having fallen asleep in the middle of the game and dreaming this crossed his mind, but he quickly discarded it.

With his usual poker face, he moved his hand and tapped the table wordlessly, checking and letting Alice, the only other one who went to the flop with him, decide what to do. The Moon Cancer threw a mischievous smile at him as she tossed a single chip on the table, the one with the maximum value, 100.

She was once again being aggressive. The thing was, with him having the other two tens, the only reason she would have to do that was either having one or even two aces, another pair, or a bluff. While bluffs were really risky due to their all-in rule, they still had the purpose of raising your stacks to prevent being on the losing end of the inevitable all-ins.

She knew how bad his luck was, so he was sure the idea of him having quads hadn't even crossed her mind, only considering he had one of the tens at best.

After some theatrics, he made the call, hoping she would buy the idea that he had just a set. Luvia then revealed the turn, which didn't change the situation at all.

Shirou once again checked while sighing, as if he had been hoping to see the fourth ten there, which prompted Alice to bet high, throwing 300 at the table. Shirou faked some agonizing before making the call.

The river card was revealed, turning out to be a king of the same suit as the ace and one of the tens. His sharp golden eyes saw how Alice's red eyes showed an ominous glint, which most likely meant she had actually been going for a straight or a flush, and the river completed it.

Seeing that, Shirou checked for the third time, wishing her to be the one to decide how much would be wagered. A staring contest ensued then while the Moon Cancer played with her chips. She slowly grabbed a stack of her chips and pushed it forward.

"I bet 1000." More than half of her stack was thrown into the center.

A completely disproportionate bet meant to make him back down. Which was weird. Even if she saw through him, why was she so confident? Maybe she thought both of them had a full house or a flush, and hers was higher?

Well, time to test that. "I..." He moved one hand to grab a stack of chips equaling her bet, but before pushing it, he used his other hand to push along the rest of his chips. "... go all-in."

Both Alice and Melusine blinked at that sudden play. He being the one going all-in and not being forced to was mind-blowing. But then, Shirou was the one surprised when the True Ancestor snap-called.

"I call, Shirou-kun. What do you want to wagger then?"

Not letting the surprise last, he immediately adopted a serious demeanor before answering. "If I win, I want us to continue the conversation we were having this morning. And this time, I want you to be completely sincere."

"Oh my..." She brought one hand to her cheek, surprised by his request. However, what else was to be expected? He wasn't going to ask something improper. If anything...

"In that case, if I win, you'll let me use your arm as a pillow tonight." Yeah, they were more likely to ask for something like that.

""WHAT!?"" Everyone's reaction was completely awarded. Having someone stay at his place wasn't immediately translated to "spicy stuff", but what she just asked was under that label beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Even the trio who wasn't playing poker decided to drop their VR goggles and watch the heads-up between Mikan's brother and the black-haired beauty. Kotegawa tried to argue once again, but the shrewd look Luvia threw at her told her she would only get the answer she gave Shirou.

"Let's decide this duel then. Please, show your hands."

Shirou went first, and perhaps out of well-founded confidence, or perhaps due to having been swept in the flow, he went for the dramatic play and only showed one of his cards. Alice eyed it, and her confidence didn't dwindle in the least as she followed along and showed only one of her cards. A jack of the desired suit.

That confirmed that she had a flush, but then, where did that confidence come from? Was she completely convinced he wasn't able to hit higher than trips?

Wait...

Now that he looked at it more closely, there was one combination of cards that would complete a hand capable of beating even his quads. But the odds were even lower...

His heart rate spiked. They were servants, beings that made miracles come true. Even at something as trivial as a recreational poker game, that could still apply. So... could she...

Biting the bullet, Shirou showed the second ten, leaving everyone surprised. As he assumed, everyone must have thought he had a full house at most. Alice herself made a double take at that, but then...

Her red lips curved into an apologetic smile. Those crimson eyes looked at him with pity, which should have confirmed the worst-case scenario. But he wasn't thinking about that or the poker game in general. Because, at that moment, the image of a certain empress of roses replaced Alice in his eyes.

At first glance, that shouldn't have made sense with someone that wasn't one of the Mysterious Heroines, but that expression...

It was the same one Nero Claidus always had during the few and brief encounters they had. He was never able to guess why she looked at him like that, as if she was somehow aware of the possible relationship they could have had, and even had in other timelines, but wasn't meant to be in theirs.

But one thing was certain. He couldn't stand being looked at that way.

"Well, I'm sorry, Shirou-sama. Despite your excellent hand, this is my win."

Her words brought him back to reality just in time to see her reveal her last card. A suited Jack-Queen, completing a royal straight flush, the most unlikely and therefore best possible hand in regular poker.

"Hah... The worst part is... I saw that coming." He didn't even had it in him to be pissed off, and just accepted his fate with dignity.

"Hey, I don't think you two are dimensioning what just happened! We just saw quads lose to a royal straight flush!" X, for the second time in the same day, tried to get a logical reaction from them, but everyone was more focused on what Shirou would have to allow due to his loss rather than how he lost.

"Don't worry, my Darling Shirou! I'll reclaim her outrageous request in now time!" Melusine had intended to cheer him up with that, but that made no difference for him.

"Oho? You want to go that way?" Alice answered the albino's confident claim with a bit of cockiness. "In that case, you won't complain if I claim your right to move to Shirou-sama's place for a week if I win, will you, little dragon?"

"...!" For the first time in the night, the White Dragon lost her cool demeanor, locking in as she and Alice sat on opposite sides for the final heads-up. "Fine. The winner takes all, then. No hard feelings, vampire."

Sparks started flying between the two, promising the ultimate showdown, a grand finale between the two most aggressive players...

Or that's what one would have thought would happen, but what followed was a really dragged-out game, with neither of the two either not connecting a hand they deemed good enough to go all-in or not wanting to play so risky anymore.

It was past 3 am, and the two servants were still at it. Mikan had unwittingly fallen asleep on the couch, with her head on Shirou's lap, and Yami was sitting next, caressing her hair, not unlike someone would do with a cat. The picture of those three Lala managed to snick out with her D-dial was something she would treasure.

Aside from Shirou's sister, everyone else remained awake, stubbornly wanting to see this through and know who would be the victor in the end.

Curiously, though, Yami had been sneaking glances at one of the windows, but he only managed to catch a glimpse of a black cat. Another of her likes to add to the list, he guessed.

"Heh... why don't you just forfeit already, little dragon? Do you think just because you saw one future, you have more right than any of us to pursue Shirou-kun's heart?"

"Right back at you, vampire. You think I'd be afraid just because you have a past connection with him?"

The two opponents were starting to feel the fatigue. Even if it was just a card game, the constant pressure they imposed on themselves by stating their wagers beforehand was slowly draining their stamina and drenching them in sweat.

"Okay, now that we finally have the exact same stack, want to make a blind all-in?" Alice's statement left everyone in shock. Not because it was bold or anything like that...

"Are you kidding!? Did you two just spend the last two hours trying to even your chips!?"

Haruna's reproach went into deaf ears. Melusine was thinking quite hard if she should accept her proposal, and Alice was keeping her predatory smile to keep the pressure on her.

"Hah... I accept your proposal. It's time to bring this game to an end."

"Fine by me, then. Even I'm getting tired. Off you go." The Goddess of Justice dealt them the last hand, which they immediately revealed.

An ace three for Alice and an ace two for Melusine. Both hands weren't suited, so it was going to be a tricky run to decide a winner.

Luvia laid down the flop... which didn't help anyone since it was rainbow middle numbers. Then came a king in the turn... and a six in the river. Neither of their hands connected something, so it came down to...

"What the hell!? I lost to high card three!?"

"It can't be helped. I'll be the one moving to Shirou-kun's place then. Oh, and that also means someone will have to cover my position as Luvia-sama's maid." Alice dropped that last bit of info as she materialized a maid dress while giggling at Melusine, who was physically taken aback.

"Huh!? That's fraudulent! You didn't mention that!"

"You were totally okay wearing a bunny suit, and now you're getting cold feet? You won't even be that far from Shirou-kun's house."

The White Dragon stopped to think about them, and the worst part was, a happy smile formed on her lips.

"Oh, I didn't see it that way! It isn't that bad of a deal! Sorry, Lord Pendragon, but I'll be taking more vacation days then!"

"We don't even have those. I'm pretty sure everyone back at the base is going crazy, unable to locate us."

With that said, everything seemingly turned out well for everyone.

"I think I'll join this poker game next time." Well, Yami's whisper Shirou managed to catch was disturbing, to say the least.

But the real horror started for Shirou when he finally realized how bad the situation was by the time Alice was already hugging his arm, effectively preventing him from catching any sleep.

For someone who had slept on his own for his entire existence, with the only exception being his little sister for a few scarce times, this was too alien for him. The way the black-haired beauty was pressing her body against his side, and the way he could feel her breath against his neck was just too much... stimulating for his teenage body.

Her black hair now cascaded over her back, with some rowdy bands at each side of her head, and rather than a nightgown or pajamas, she had elected to wear a loose tank top and shorts that wouldn't be out of place in a football team's uniform.

It was the fantasy all boys of his age would dream of, but a nightmare for someone who just wanted to have a bare minimum of sleep.

"Fufu..." A slight giggle interrupted the dead of the night, and Shirou craned his neck to look directly at her roommate's face.

She was staring back at him instead of sleeping. However, despite her attempt at making a playful expression, she was mildly flustered.

"I see I'm not the only one who is feeling a bit giddy about this arrangement, Shirou-kun."

He grunted at that. "You're the one who wanted it. If you're uncomfortable enough to not be able to sleep, why don't you let go?"

"Maybe, but I want to enjoy this moment, this warmth, for a little longer. I've been waiting for this ever since I met you."

That almost seemed like a pretty straightforward love confession, especially with the shyness in her tone, but he took it for something else entirely.

"I take that as confirmation that you knew me previously. Was it a previous incarnation?"

"It's a reaaally long story. But you know? I'll let you ask one specific question for today. Take it as thanks for agreeing to this wish of mine."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Do you really need to be so secretive?"

"I promise I'll tell you everything by the end of this trip. It would ruin the fun if I spill the beans this early, don't you think?"

Another grunt escaped his lips before he moved his neck to stare back at the ceiling, carefully thinking about what to ask. In the end, he decided to leave subtleties aside.

"You see, over the last few weeks, I've been dreaming about the few clear memories I have from my past life. Moments before dying, I met a girl who looked strikingly similar to you. I don't remember what we talked about, and I only remember part of her name. Brunestud. Any chance you're remotely related to her?"

She hummed, with some disappointment filtering through her tone. "So you don't remember her name... Well, as you might have guessed, I'm a heroic spirit that embodies some aspects of that True Ancestor. But what happened after you two talked? You said you died shortly after..."

"I was tired from fighting a horde of dead apostles and their minions, so she must have not taken well when I told her to basically "piss off", and threw her pet at me. Which turned out to be the Primate Murder. You know what happened next."

"Just humor me. I want to hear it from you." She sounded almost begging.

"We killed each other. As simple as that. You can't expect a confrontation between Beast candidates to have a different conclusion."

"Beast candidates? I thought you only became a Beast after you died..."

"I only became Beast IV when I killed the Primate Murder just a fraction of a second before he killed me. But I was already becoming a Beast before that. It's just that, well, Cath Palug is the best suited being for that position. It almost seems like the position was created for it and not the other way around. So yeah, rather than two apex predators going at it, it was more about the righteous owner of the title defending it from an usurper."

"Okay, that is understandable. But what I was truly asking about was how in the world were you able to kill the Primate Murder at all? Violence should never be able to defeat it."

Oh... so that's what she was after. Understandable. It was already mind-boggling to the very few that heard about it, but she was, or at least had the memories of the only person who witnessed it.

"It wasn't fully matured, but even then, I guess it was sort of a miracle. I personally don't remember how the fight went that well. The only thing I'm sure is that I threw my very being at it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, a little frustrated, to which he answered with a cheeky smile that mirrored hers.

"Well, don't you think it's unfair for you to be the only one withholding things until the end of the trip?"

Alice's expression softened, letting out a sigh before giving him a knowing smile. "I guess I got that coming for me. Fine, we'll both wait for the end of this trip to pour our hearts out then. Have a good night, Shirou-kun."

Things would have been fine if they ended there, but pretty much out of pettiness, wanting to have the last word, the black-haired beauty decided to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek before releasing him.

That was a way to make sure he wasn't catching any sleep.

---

And let's cut it here. I didn't lie. Aside from Melusine and Ex's introduction, this was quite peaceful. To not make things longer, since there are still another 35 pages for you to read, I'll leave this here and meet you in the next chapter.

See you in a moment... if you want.