"Ha! Where is this..."
When I came to, I was standing in a familiar place. It was my home, for the first time in a long time. It was just as it was before I was sent back in time by the Time Belt, and the time displayed on my phone was about five minutes after I had last checked my emails.
Those intense few days were only a few minutes here. Looking at it this way, I'm starting to wonder if it really happened, or if it was all a dream.
To calm down, I take off my shoes and step into the quiet house.
Yukina, Chloe, Asuna, Aria, and Akari are all hospitalized from the fight with Vlad. So, the only ones home should be Riko, Tina, and Kurumi... I'm not sure if Yami is here or not.
Riko and Kurumi were supposed to be on cooking duty today.
I hope those two didn't do anything. I hope they don't think they can do whatever they want just because their chaperone isn't here.
I'm anxious. But maybe I'm also a little excited.
For now, I just want some comfort. I've been in a brutal world for too long, and my body is craving some peace.
I hear voices from the kitchen. They seem to be getting along.
"I'm home."
"Welcome back, Sho-san."
"Welcome home~"
"Welcome home, Big Brother."
Just as I expected, everyone was happily preparing dinner together.
Riko was wearing an apron with frills and a heart on the chest, which suited her image. She was surprisingly good with a knife, probably because she's used to handling weapons. Kurumi was wearing a simple black one, and she was slowly stirring something in a pot with a ladle. Tina hadn't learned to cook yet, so she was setting the table.
"...Huh?"
My eyes were drawn to a figure that was more striking than the heartwarming scene. Another girl was stir-frying between Kurumi and Riko. The way she was lightly tossing the pan showed that she was very used to cooking.
"Sakura-chan...?"
There's no way I could be mistaken. But there's no way she should be here. The moment I realized that, I ran towards her. I couldn't help myself.
"Eh? Sho-kun—"
"Sakura-chan! It's really you, Sakura-chan! Why are you here?! Wait, before that... what happened after I disappeared?!"
Sakura-chan was surprised by my outburst, but tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Ah, um..."
I've lost my composure out of sheer surprise. If I thought about it calmly, I would have realized that she used my last words as a clue to find me and arrived at this house.
All I, a fool, could do was hug the sobbing Sakura-chan and stroke her head.
"I finally, finally get to see you again...!"
"Sorry I kept you waiting."
Sakura-chan hugged me with all her might. In response, I also tightened my embrace—
"So, do you have an explanation for this?"
Ah, right.
---------
" " " " " " "Bon appétit!" " " " " " "
I couldn't just leave the food to explain things, so I helped with the preparation and we quickly got dinner on the table. All the dishes laid out on the table looked delicious.
However, everyone's attention was no longer on the food.
"So, what's going on?"
"Hugging each other so suddenly, that's not normal at all, is it?"
"You never acted like this before~. Though Sakura-chan has always been giving off a 'likey-likey' aura."
"D-did I really give off that kind of aura?"
I knew it, but Sakura-chan is already quite used to this place. She must have found me a long time ago.
"Oh, absolutely. I've seen you just standing there holding Sho-san's underwear on laundry day."
"You were totally sniffing it then, weren't you? Riko knows everything."
"You were always glancing at Big Brother... sniffing?"
Tina, it's too early for you to know about that.
"I didn't do that! Please stop saying things that give people the wrong idea! I mean, it's true I was glancing at him, but..."
"Besides, there's no way someone in real life would do something like 'sniffing,' right?"
I laugh off their jokes. Huh, why are they both looking away?
"Ah~, it might be better if you think that way..."
"The world of women is darker than gentlemen think it is..."
"No, no, that's a joke, right?"
Right? It has to be.
" " "..." " "
This time, they didn't say anything. And even Sakura-chan is looking away now. Don't you all have something you need to report to me, just like I do?
"Let's get back to the topic, everyone."
"Y-yeah! I have a lot of things I want to ask, too!"
"I'll study this topic later."
"Don't study it!"
Pure Tina will be corrupted! Wait, didn't Chloe once ask her to do things to my "thingy"? Oh no, I've already corrupted Tina!
"Anyway, let's get back to the topic! The truth is—"
I explained about the Holy Grail War. The battles, Sakura-chan, and the possibility that my actions had changed history.
"History has indeed changed. Sakura-chan wasn't at my house before I went to the past."
"There's no reason for Sho-san to lie, so it must be true."
"Yesterday you were just saying 'Sakura,' but now it's suddenly 'Sakura-chan.' I thought you guys might have done some sort of role-play."
Don't you dare go straight to dirty jokes. You're too out of control without a chaperone.
"I feel weird calling her Sakura-chan too, so I'll just call her Sakura from now on. Is that okay?"
"Yes. Of course."
"Hmm. So, how many girls did you win over, Sho-kun?"
"Didn't you listen? That wasn't a simple battle."
"But you definitely won over Sakura-chan~. I can't trust you when you say things like that~. And besides, Sakura-chan was 5 years old back then, right? You're a loli-killer! A loli-killer!"
"Don't you dare say that anywhere else or you'll regret it...!"
I'll literally be socially dead.
"Is it okay for you to be dating so many women?"
Tina's right. My senses might have gone haywire.
"I want to know more about you, a hero from an eroge game~. Come on, tell me~."
"The fact that you didn't deny it right away confirms that there's at least one other person. Please tell us, I won't get angry."
"In the first place, if I got angry about something like that, I wouldn't be able to stay with you."
W-well, that's right. They've already given me their approval!
"Um, one person... or, maybe two?"
"You're not being clear."
Well, I mean, Saber's one thing, but Alter started calling me her partner the first time we met.
"It's Saber, right? The King who fell for you so easily."
"W-well, you're not wrong, but..."
"Right? I'm not wrong, am I? That she fell for you so easily after you comforted her when she was down."
S-so dark...! She's gotten so much stronger. Her words are so sharp. Maybe she has some kind of negative feelings towards Saber.
"S-so? What do you mean by 'maybe two'?"
"Oh, right. In the final battle, I used an item of mine to split into two people."
Even Kurumi looks a little taken aback. I try to answer as calmly as possible.
"An item? Hmmm... I see."
"Split into two? Is it something like my Class Card?"
Riko looks like she understands everything now. Speaking of which, does Sakura know about my abilities? Since she's been with me for a long time, it wouldn't be surprising if she'd figured it out.
"Anyway, that's the end of my story. Now it's my turn to ask questions. What did you do after that, Sakura?"
"Yes. After that, I went to the Clock Tower with Waver-san and the others. I studied magic while my body was being treated."
She really did learn magic from Waver. I just said that as a joke...
"My magic circuits were apparently very rare, so it was a lot of trouble. But now, I'm good enough to be scouted by an amazing department in the Bureau."
"An amazing department?"
"Yes! It's a department called Section 6 of Special Missions. Have you heard of it? All the members are top-notch and famous people."
Section 6 of Special Missions?! I'm connected to them now?!
"S-so, did you accept the scout?"
"Of course! I was scouted when I was about to go to high school. The place of its establishment was just in Academy City."
"It sounds like you accepted the scout just to meet me..."
"That's right! It was a unit that was going to be established exactly ten years after you told me. I thought it was fate. Waver-san also aimed for this timing and moved to the Clock Tower branch here."
"He's here too?!"
"He calls himself Lord El-Melloi II now, though."
So he and Kayneth are getting along well. If he was given the El-Melloi name, their connection must be more than just a passing one.
I'll go see him sometime. Wait, if he's a big shot now, do I need to make an appointment? It's kind of complicated. It feels like seeing a classmate from school who's now working a more important job than you are.
"The Holy Grail was also properly dismantled. The Servants all returned to the Throne of Heroes, though."
That's good. I didn't get to do anything about the Holy Grail in the end. It was a huge help that I was able to leave it to the experts.
"I'm sorry. I have so much I want to talk about... my story isn't very coherent. But I have to tell you this too..."
With that, Sakura operates a device. She shows me the screen. There's a picture on it. A few people are in it. It looks like a family photo.
The Einzbern family, dressed in Japanese clothes. It's probably what Iri-san wanted.
"This is Kiritsugu and the others, right?"
"It seems they didn't have a formal wedding. Iri-san looks beautiful, doesn't she?"
Everything's been taken care of. I think it's a good thing to have a celebration like this to mark the beginning of a new life. I think so, but... there's something I just can't accept.
"It looks like you've added a kid to the family..."
Besides Illya, there's another child. A child I've never seen before.
"Yes. As you can see, it's a boy, and he's Maiya-san's child. I used to see them a few times a year when I was at the Clock Tower."
Those two had a kid, too...? One with a different woman. I can't say anything, Kiritsugu-san.
"Kiritsugu-san and Maiya-san have become Butei and are doing their best. I've already told them about you, so I think they'll come here when they're ready."
"You didn't have to go that far..."
"Everyone wants to see you."
When did I become so popular?
But it's good that everyone is doing well.
"But I was so surprised when I came here! You're always surrounded by women, Sho-kun! I'm used to it now, though!"
What kind of face did the past me have when he welcomed Sakura? Given that a local girl suddenly showed up with 100% affection, it wouldn't be a surprise if he fainted.
"But from today, I'll do my best too. Be prepared, Sho-kun?"
"Please go easy on me."
I give a wry smile. All my anxieties have vanished, and I feel a sudden loss of strength.
As if to scold me, the device on my arm vibrates.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, sorry for interrupting dinner!"
It's an email. I have a bad feeling about this. Just in time, Sakura also gets a phone call.
But I can't not open it. I steel myself and check the sender. The sender is...
"Tatenashi-san."
"Is that a woman?"
"Don't worry about it. Let's see..."
"Thank you for your hard work! Ah, yes... yes... yes, it's fine! Yes, I understand. The day after tomorrow at 1 p.m., at [location]? Yes, excuse me."
The day after tomorrow at 1 p.m., huh? I guess I'll be going with Sakura.
"To his place."
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