"Sakura, what's wrong? Are you all right?"
Aoi Zenjou immediately noticed her younger daughter's change in expression. Her heart skipped a beat as she hurriedly asked.
"I… uuwaa…"
Little Sakura could not hold it in any longer. The half-eaten piece of apple in her mouth fell out as she threw herself into her mother's arms and burst into tears.
Then, just as she had poured out her woes to her father, she began telling her mother about the misery she had suffered after being sent to the Matou family.
Aoi listened to how her daughter had been pushed into a basement full of bugs, how those bugs had crawled all over her body, how much pain and terror she had felt in that process.
Only now did she finally understand what Sakura had really gone through at the Matou house. She clapped a hand over her mouth, gazing with aching heart at the girl sobbing in her arms, tears running down her own face as well.
"Sakura, don't be afraid. It's all over now. From now on, Mom and Dad and I will protect you."
Rin, listening to her sister's story, clenched her small fists. Her mature-little-adult mindset, mixed with anger, stirred a powerful protective instinct toward her younger sister. She patted her own little chest as she made the promise.
"Really?"
Sakura lifted her head from her mother's arms, her face streaked like a little kitten, and looked at her sister.
"Really. Truer than pearls. If you don't believe me, ask Mom. She definitely thinks the same."
Rin answered with a very reliable air and roped her mother in as guarantor.
"Mom…"
Sakura turned her head up, looking at her mother with hopeful eyes.
"Sakura, you'll be fine."
Aoi did not dare answer her daughter's question directly. Sending Sakura to the Matou family had been her husband's decision, and as his wife, she had prepared herself mentally to support him unconditionally.
This time, Sakura's return to her side was her husband—Sakura's father—wanting her to encourage the girl and persuade her to go back to the Matou family.
If she mentioned that plan now, her little girl would break completely and refuse to believe in her as a mother ever again.
Aoi's heart ached as she held her daughter tighter. Sakura, soothed by her mother's embrace, slowly calmed down, and her Happiness Value began to rise again.
In Sakura's heart, she believed her family would protect her and never again let her end up lying in a pile of worms.
….
Late at night at the Tohsaka residence, Tokiomi had not yet gone to bed.
"Kirei, what is the situation?"
He sat before a gramophone—a magical communication device. Compared to the modern invention of the telephone, it was far more secretive and difficult to eavesdrop on.
"Caster was repelled by Saber and Lancer fighting together. Lancer's Master was gravely injured and was carried off by his Servant…"
In the Fuyuki Church, Kirei stood before an identical gramophone and reported. "That was the situation at the Einzbern castle tonight.
"And earlier in the evening, Rider and his Master found Caster's workshop in the sewers.
"A number of the children who had recently gone missing in Fuyuki were there. Their organs had been removed and they were turned into human instruments, kept half-alive by magecraft.
"Rider's Master threw up on the spot at the sight. I thought it was a perfect chance to assassinate them, so I ordered the Assassin shadowing them to strike.
"Unfortunately, Rider noticed him in advance, and the attempt failed. I'm sorry, teacher. I ended up revealing that Assassin is still alive."
"Do not dwell on it, Kirei. It is indeed a loss to reveal that Assassin still lives before we fully understand Rider's hand.
"But we did gain something by learning that Rider's Master is a third-rate magus. That is more than enough for now. Continue to monitor the other Masters and Servants. Report back if anything happens."
Ending the communication, Tokiomi leaned back in his chair. The chaotic situation outside was exactly what he wanted to see.
As mantis catches cicada and the oriole waits behind, he intended to sit calmly and elegantly on the fishing platform, confident that he would win in the end and obtain the prize of the ritual: the Holy Grail.
"Ah, magecraft…"
Even he had his dreams of transcending the world, of reaching the Root.
But the shrill ring of the outside telephone quickly shattered that daydream.
"Who could it be at this hour?"
Frowning, he went to answer it, only to find his wife on the line.
"Aoi, what is it? Calling at this time… Have you called to tell me the good news, that you've helped Sakura recover her spirits?"
His wife, Aoi Zenjou, was an exceptionally capable woman who had given the Tohsaka family two daughters with remarkable magical potential. Tokiomi had never doubted her as a competent wife.
"Tokiomi, can we not send Sakura away? Can't we let her stay with us, stay here at the Tohsaka house?"
Her words, however, changed the elegant gentleman's expression.
"What's wrong? Why say this all of a sudden?"
"Sakura told me tonight what happened to her in the Matou house. That's not something a child her age should have to endure. So…"
"So you don't want to send her away. You want to keep her."
"Yes."
Her admission came softly over the line.
"Aoi, you understand how much danger a gifted child will face without the protection of a magecraft family, don't you?"
"I do. But Sakura has her sister, doesn't she? Rin is an exceptional child. She'll inherit your magecraft and become a fine magus. She can protect Sakura in the future."
"So you want to cut off one daughter's path as a magus and let Sakura live as an ordinary person?"
"Tokiomi, Sakura's tears tonight broke my heart. If she can live safely, without ever crying like that again, I can accept it. Let her stay. Let her stay with me and Rin."
Aoi's voice begged him.
She had let her little girl go once already. Now that Sakura had fled back from the terrifying Matou house, she simply could not send her away again.
"I understand how much you love our children. I love them too.
"But you must remember that we are not an ordinary family.
"For a child born into a magus household, having talent is a blessing.
"We cannot let our own doting love make them fall to the level of mere mortals.
"We cannot refuse to let them run just because they might stumble on the path of magecraft…"
The elegant man strained to keep his tone even as he tried to persuade his wife.
"I've already learned the truth about the Matou family's magecraft. They changed their element only to survive.
"The hardships in that house are, for Sakura, a process of breaking her cocoon and becoming a butterfly. Yes, they will make her suffer pain unimaginable for a child her age, but we must trust in her resilience and encourage her to press forward through the hardship…"
"Sakura is still young. There is much she does not understand. As her father, I sincerely hope her future will be spent soaring above the clouds, not stuck in the dust, resentful that we left her as a mere mortal…"
Tokiomi's eloquence gradually made Aoi waver, even with the memory of her daughter's tears still raw.
"If you truly cannot let go of Sakura, then let Rin take her place as the Matou heir."
"What?"
"It is a last resort. It is the only way to keep both our daughters from wasting their talents and let them both walk the path of magecraft."
"I understand. I'll encourage Sakura to be strong again… or I'll talk to Rin."
After a long silence, Aoi accepted the two‑way choice, realizing her husband would not change his mind.
"Aoi, you are an excellent wife and a good mother. I am grateful that you still support my decisions."
Tokiomi said sincerely.
"It's late. You should rest."
"You too."
Hanging up, he sat alone in the moonlit room, and doubt crept into his heart as he thought about how he had arranged his daughters' futures.
He knew well how harsh and difficult the path of magecraft was.
He could not help but think that perhaps Aoi's wish to let Sakura live as a normal person was not necessarily wrong. Maybe that was a way for her to find happiness later in life—not as a magus, but as an ordinary person.
Yes, it would waste her talent. Yes, it would deprive her of the right to see the world as a magus did. But as long as she could be happy…
"Heh. It seems I still have far to go in my training, if I can entertain such notions of common folk. Children of a magus family must strive for the highest reaches of magecraft, no matter how many hardships or dangers, even at the cost of their own lives…"
Pouring himself a glass of red wine, he swirled it, letting it breathe, and once again firmed up his resolve, convincing himself he was not wrong.
"Rin, Sakura…"
Back in the bedroom, Aoi could do only one thing as she looked at her daughters sleeping soundly.
She wrapped her arms around them both.
Before one of them left her side, she would try to sear into her memory the feeling of holding them like this.
….
With just over two days left until his return to Planet Vampa, Broly was once again half-asleep as the scar-faced man drove him to Fukayori No. 1 Elementary.
As soon as he stepped into the classroom, he saw the new wife he had met yesterday. He went straight to his seat and greeted the girl beside him.
"Tohsaka, good morning."
Taiga had taught him to greet his classmates properly when he got to school.
"Mm. Good morning, Broly."
Rin nodded back. Many classmates were also greeting her.
Her mature-little-adult attitude made her the center of the class.
Many girls their age liked to revolve around her.
Broly had only joined the class for the last period yesterday, but thanks to Rin, quite a few children had already greeted him.
Compared to the girls' friendliness, though, the boys were much less welcoming.
"You hang out with girls, and you've even got a ponytail. Why don't you just be a girl?"
By second grade, kids were already aware of the difference between boys and girls. The boys had their circle, the girls theirs.
Seeing this newcomer getting on well with Rin, the core of the girls' circle, the boys' ringleader, Shinjo, grew sour and started sniping.
Of course, boys that age often "hate" girls not out of real dislike, but as a way to attract their attention.
So when the target of bullying was a boy and the "reason" was that he got along with a certain girl, it was probably just jealousy.
"I'm telling you, don't even think about being friends with us boys."
Rin was cute, cheerful, always ready to help. What boy would not like that sort of girl? Even if her personality was a bit forceful and she always stopped them from picking on others.
Plenty of little boys in the class cared about her, including Shinjo, even if he stood as her rival.
"If you guys don't want to be friends with Broly, then don't. You really think you're the only ones who could be his friends?"
Facing Shinjo's social exclusion tactics, Rin planted herself firmly in front of Broly and pushed back.
"Forget Shinjo. If he doesn't want to be your friend, I'll introduce my friends. They'll be your friends instead."
Young Rin's boyfriend energy was maxed out. She had many girl friends, and under her encouragement, Broly quickly found himself surrounded by a flock of chirping little girls.
Before he even fully understood the class dynamics, he had met quite a number of Rin's friends.
They were all little girls, with rosy lips, white teeth, and the bouncy skin of children. But despite their numbers, not one triggered a prompt from the Crystal Palace.
Clearly, aside from Rin herself, none of these newly met girls qualified as "wives."
Even so, though he did not fully grasp what was happening, Broly was very happy to suddenly have so many new girl friends—friends like Baaya, in a way.
"Strange. Why isn't Kotone here?"
After the first period, Rin frowned. Seeing Broly's questioning look, she pointed at an empty desk and explained, "Kotone sat there yesterday. She's my best friend. I don't know why she didn't come today."
"Oh."
Broly nodded to show he understood, though he did not actually remember much about the girl who had been sitting there.
"By the way, you don't seem to know how to read?"
Rin asked then.
"I only know five characters. I learned them yesterday."
Broly did not hide his illiteracy.
"Then how about I teach you how to write your own name?"
Rin offered eagerly.
"Okay."
By the end of the morning, Broly had learned to write his name—in Japanese.
At the same time, kanji characters surfaced in his mind, as if learning had awakened some buried memories of writing. Soon he had written a number of additional characters.
Rin did not recognize them. "What are these?"
"Kanji."
"You know kanji?"
"I don't know. They just suddenly popped into my head."
Broly said honestly. Rin, for her part, gained a bit of respect for him—he knew something she did not.
Besides writing, some of the girls taught Broly to play cat's cradle.
He went from clumsy fumbling to forming decent five-pointed stars with string, winning applause and praise from his female classmates.
The boys, however, only looked down on him more, especially with Shinjo's lead. Shinjo even warned the other boys to stay away from him.
Especially those who had been intrigued by his claim of being a Saiyan the day before—he told them not to hang out with Broly.
Broly did not react much. He was too immersed in the joy of playing with human friends for the first time.
It was nothing like playing with Baaya. These friends talked to him, taught him new games and bits of knowledge.
For the first time, Broly felt the simple happiness of a child playing with friends.
In a word: a childhood he had never had before.