“Sakura, what’s wrong?
Are you all right?”
Aoi Zenjou also noticed something strange about her younger daughter.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly asked.
“I… uwaah…”
Young Sakura could not hold it in.
The half-chewed piece of apple still in her mouth fell out, and she threw herself directly into her mother’s arms, crying.
Then, just as she had poured out her grievances to her father, she began telling her mother about the miserable experiences she had suffered after being sent to the Matou family.
Aoi Zenjou listened as her younger daughter described being pushed into a basement filled with insects, being covered by swarms of bugs, and the pain and fear she had felt throughout the process.
Only now, after learning what her younger daughter had truly experienced in the Matou family, did she suddenly cover her mouth.
Looking heartbrokenly at her crying daughter in her arms, tears also flowed from her eyes.
“Sakura, don’t be afraid.
It’s all over now.
From now on, Mom, Dad, and I will protect you.”
Listening to her sister’s experience, Tohsaka Rin also clenched her little fists.
Her mature, little-adult mindset caused a strong protective desire toward her sister to rise within her anger.
She patted her small chest and guaranteed it.
“Really?”
Young Sakura raised her head from her mother’s arms.
Her little face looked like that of a small, tear-stained kitten as she looked toward her older sister and asked.
“Really.
Truer than pearls.
If you don’t believe me, ask Mom.
She definitely means the same thing.”
Tohsaka Rin answered with a very reliable expression, even pulling her mother in as a guarantor.
“Mom…”
Young Sakura looked up, gazing at her mother with expectation.
“Sakura, you’ll be all right.”
Aoi Zenjou did not dare answer her younger daughter’s question directly.
Sending Sakura to the Matou family had been her husband’s decision, and as that man’s wife, she was supposed to be mentally prepared to support him unconditionally.
This time, Sakura had been sent to her side precisely because her husband—Sakura’s biological father—wanted her to persuade the girl to return to the Matou family.
If she spoke of such an arrangement now, her younger daughter would certainly break down and would no longer be willing to trust her as a mother.
Aoi Zenjou felt terrible inside and hugged her younger daughter even tighter.
As for young Sakura, because of that embrace, her emotions gradually calmed down, and her happiness value began to rise again.
In young Sakura’s heart, she believed her family would definitely protect her and would never again let her fall into the fate of lying inside a pile of worms.
…
Late at night, at the Tohsaka residence, Tokiomi Tohsaka had not yet gone to rest.
“Kirei, how is the situation?”
He sat in front of a gramophone.
This was a magical communication tool.
Compared to the telephone invented in modern times, it was far more secretive and much harder to eavesdrop on.
“Caster was repelled by Saber and Lancer working together.
Lancer’s Master was heavily injured and was rescued by his own Servant…”
At the Fuyuki branch of the Holy Church, Kirei Kotomine also stood before a matching gramophone and reported the situation.
“That is the situation at the Einzbern castle tonight.
“As for this evening, Rider and his Master discovered Caster’s magecraft workshop in the sewers.
“There was a group of children from Fuyuki City who had been abducted and gone missing.
Their internal organs had been hollowed out and turned into human instruments.
Due to the effects of magecraft, they were still in a half-dead, half-alive state.
“Upon seeing that scene, Rider’s Master vomited on the spot.
At the time, I judged that it was an opportunity to assassinate him, so I ordered Assassin, who had been following them, to act.
“Unfortunately, Rider discovered him in advance, and Assassin’s assassination failed.
My apologies, Teacher.
I exposed the fact that Assassin is still alive.”
“Do not mind it, Kirei.
Although exposing the fact that Assassin is still alive before we fully understood Rider’s trump card is indeed a great loss, through this incident, learning that Rider’s Master is a third-rate magus is already a sufficient gain.
“Continue monitoring the other Masters and Servants.
If there is any movement, report it to me.”
After ending the communication, Tokiomi Tohsaka leaned back in his chair.
The chaotic battle situation outside was precisely what he had hoped to see.
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
With the calmness and elegance of one sitting firmly at the fishing terrace, Tokiomi Tohsaka believed that he would move toward victory and obtain the final reward of the ritual—the Holy Grail.
“Magecraft, oh magecraft…”
Even he could not help but indulge in certain fanciful yearnings for the scene that would unfold after transcending the world and reaching the Root.
But soon, the ringing of a telephone outside interrupted his daydream.
“Who could it be at this hour?”
Tokiomi Tohsaka frowned and went out to answer the phone, only to discover that it was his wife calling.
“Aoi, what is it?
Calling me at this hour—are you here to tell me the good news that you’ve already helped Sakura regain her spirit?”
His wife, Aoi Zenjou, was an exceptionally outstanding woman.
She had already given birth to two children with excellent magical aptitude for the Tohsaka family.
Tokiomi Tohsaka had never once doubted her qualifications as a wife.
“Tokiomi, can we not send Sakura away?
Can we let her stay by our side, here in the Tohsaka family?”
However, the words spoken by his wife on the other end of the phone caused the elegant gentleman’s expression to change.
Why would you suddenly say something like that?”
“Tonight, Sakura told me what she experienced after going to the Matou family.
That isn’t something a child as young as her should have to endure.
So…”
“So, you don’t want to send her away.
You want to keep her.”
“Mm.”
From the other end of the phone came his wife’s admission.
“Aoi, you should understand that if a child with outstanding aptitude does not have the protection of a magecraft family, she will face countless dangers in the future.”
“I know.
But doesn’t Sakura still have her older sister?
Rin is an extremely outstanding child.
In the future, she will inherit your magecraft and become an excellent magus.
She should be able to protect Sakura.”
“So, you want to sever our other daughter’s path of magecraft and let Sakura live as an ordinary person?”
“Tokiomi, the way Sakura cried tonight truly broke my heart.
If she can live safely and peacefully, as long as she no longer has to cry, then I can accept anything.
Let her stay.
Let her stay by my and Rin’s side.”
On the other end of the phone, Aoi Zenjou pleaded.
She had already sent her younger daughter away once.
Now that her younger daughter had escaped back from the Matou family, a place that filled her with fear, she truly could not bring herself to send her back there again.
“I understand your feelings of love for our child, because I also love our children just as you do.
“However, you should also understand that we are not an ordinary family.
“To be born into a magus family and possess talent is something worth being thankful for.
“We cannot allow our love for our children to turn into indulgence and cause them to fall into the lives of ordinary people in the future.
“We cannot stop them from running simply because they may fall on the path of magecraft…”
The elegant man worked hard to maintain a calm and composed attitude as he began persuading his wife.
“I have already learned about the state of the Matou family’s magecraft.
They altered the nature of their magecraft in order to adapt to their environment.
“The suffering in that family is, for Sakura, actually a transformation akin to a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon.
Although it will make Sakura endure unimaginable pain for her age, we should believe in that child’s resilience and encourage her to bravely advance through hardship…”
“Sakura is still young.
There are many things she does not yet understand.
As her father, I sincerely hope her future will be one in which she soars above the sky, rather than remaining in the mundane world—even someday resenting us for allowing her to live only as an ordinary person…”
Tokiomi Tohsaka was eloquent.
His words caused Aoi Zenjou, whose heart had been aching terribly because of her younger daughter’s crying, to waver in her desire to keep Sakura.
“If you truly cannot bear to part with Sakura, then let Rin take her place and become the adopted heir of the Matou family.”
“What?”
“This is an unavoidable choice.
It is the only way for both of our daughters to avoid wasting their talents and walk the path of magecraft together.”
Tokiomi Tohsaka said.
“I understand.
I will encourage Sakura to pull herself together… or persuade Rin.”
There was silence on the other end of the receiver for a while.
Perhaps understanding that Tokiomi Tohsaka would not change his mind, Aoi Zenjou eventually accepted this either-or result.
“Aoi, you are an excellent wife and a good mother.
I am truly grateful that you are still willing to support my decision.”
Tokiomi Tohsaka said this sincerely.
“It’s late.
You should rest.”
“You too.”
After hanging up the phone, Tokiomi Tohsaka sat alone in the room, where only a faint trace of moonlight remained.
Yet in his heart, he also felt hesitation over arranging the futures of his two daughters in such a way.
As someone who had walked the path himself, he knew just how difficult and arduous the path of magecraft was.
Inevitably, he began to wonder whether his wife’s desire to let their younger daughter live peacefully as an ordinary person might not necessarily be wrong.
Perhaps it could allow Sakura to obtain happiness in the future, not as a magus, but as an ordinary person.
Even if that meant wasting her talent as a magus.
Even if that meant she would lose the qualifications to look upon this world as a magus.
As long as she could be happy…
“Heh.
It seems my training is still insufficient.
To think I would actually have such thoughts, the kind only a common person would have.
As children born into a family of magi, they should strive toward a higher path of magecraft.
No matter how many difficulties and dangers there may be along the way, even if it costs them their lives…”
Pouring himself a glass of red wine, Tokiomi Tohsaka once again solidified his thoughts while gently swirling the glass to let the wine breathe.
He believed he was not wrong.
“Rin, Sakura…”
Returning to the room and looking at his two daughters, who had already fallen asleep on the bed, the only thing Aoi Zenjou could do was embrace them.
Before one of them left her side, she would do her best to remember this memory of still being able to hold them.
…
There were a little more than two days left before Broly returned to Planet Vampa.
Once again, he was driven to Miyama Town First Affiliated Elementary School by the scar-faced man while feeling drowsy.
Broly walked over and sat down in his seat, then greeted the girl beside him.
“Tohsaka, good morning.”
This was something Taiga Fujimura had taught him.
After arriving at school, he needed to properly greet his little friends.
“Mm, Broly, good morning to you too.”
Tohsaka Rin nodded in response, while many of the classmates in the room also greeted her.
Her mature, little-adult demeanor made her the central figure of the class.
Many girls of the same age liked to gather around her.
Although Broly had only joined this class during the last period yesterday, thanks to Tohsaka Rin, quite a few elementary school students took the initiative to greet him.
However, compared to the friendliness from the girls’ side, the boys’ side was not very welcoming toward him.
“A guy who hangs around with girls, and even has a ponytail at the back of his head.
Why don’t you just become a girl already?”
Second-grade elementary school students already had some awareness of the difference between boys and girls.
Boys had their own circles, and girls had their own circles.
After seeing that Broly, this newcomer, got along well with Tohsaka Rin, the central figure of the girls’ circle, Shinjou, the child king who stood at the center of the boys’ circle, felt somewhat unhappy and began speaking sarcastically.
However, boys of this age often disliked girls not because they truly hated them, but merely because they wanted to attract their attention.
Therefore, if the target of bullying was a boy, and the reason was that the boy got along well with a certain girl, then it might simply be due to jealousy.
“I’m telling you now, don’t even think about becoming friends with us boys.”
Tohsaka Rin was cute, cheerful, and willing to help others.
Who would not like a girl like that?
Although her personality was strong, and she always stopped boys from bullying others, many little boys in this class still cared about her.
Even Shinjou, the child king who stood in opposition to her, was no exception.
“If you don’t want to be friends with Broly, then don’t be friends with him.
Do you really think the only people he can be friends with are you boys?”
Faced with this person’s inexplicable attempt to ostracize Broly like a little child, Tohsaka Rin directly stepped forward, stood in front of the boy at her desk, and confronted him.
“Don’t mind that guy Shinjou.
If he doesn’t want to be friends with you, then I’ll introduce my friends to you and let them be friends with you.”
Young Tohsaka Rin’s boyfriend energy was at maximum.
She had many female friends, and under her encouragement, Broly soon experienced the elementary-school-girl version of being surrounded by charming voices and fluttering flowers.
Before Broly could even figure out the classroom or the social circles of elementary school students, he passively came to know many of Tohsaka Rin’s friends.
They were all little girls, each with rosy lips, white teeth, and the soft, bouncy skin unique to children.
However, although there were quite a few of them, not a single one triggered a notification from the Crystal Palace.
Clearly, aside from Tohsaka Rin herself, none of the other little girls he had just met could become his wife.
Still, although he did not fully understand what was happening, Broly was quite happy about suddenly gaining so many little girl friends whose relationship with him felt somewhat similar to Ba’s.
“That’s strange.
Why hasn’t Kotone come?”
After the first class of the morning ended, Tohsaka Rin frowned slightly.
Seeing Broly look over at her with a questioning gaze, she pointed to the empty desk on the other side and explained to the boy:
“Kotone is the girl who sat here yesterday.
She’s my best friend, but I don’t know why she didn’t come today.”
“Oh.”
Broly nodded to show that he understood, but in truth, he did not have much of an impression of the girl who had sat at the neighboring desk yesterday.
“By the way, you don’t seem to know how to read, right?”
Tohsaka Rin asked at this moment.
“I only know five characters.
I learned them yesterday.”
Broly did not hide the fact that he was illiterate.
“Then how about I teach you how to write your own name?”
Tohsaka Rin was very enthusiastic.
“Okay.”
The morning passed very quickly.
Broly was taught how to write his own name, though only in Japanese.
However, the way to write it in Chinese characters also surfaced in his mind at the same time.
It seemed that, because of his studying, some hidden memories of written language deep within his consciousness had emerged.
Broly wrote down even more characters.
Tohsaka Rin did not recognize those characters, so she asked,
“What are these?”
“Chinese characters.”
“You know Chinese characters?”
“I don’t know.
These things suddenly appeared in my head.”
Broly answered honestly.
Because he knew something she did not, Tohsaka Rin developed a bit of admiration for him.
Aside from knowledge related to writing, that morning, some little girls also taught Broly how to play cat’s cradle.
From clumsily fumbling with the string at first to eventually forming a proper five-pointed star, Broly received applause and praise from the little girls.
Meanwhile, under the lead of the child king Shinjou, the little boys became even more disdainful of him.
They even warned the other boys not to talk to Broly.
In particular, they warned the boys who had been interested in Broly’s identity as a Saiyan yesterday not to hang around with him.
Broly had no particular reaction to this.
He was merely somewhat immersed in the process of experiencing, for the first time, what it was like to play with human friends.
This was different from playing with Ba.
The friends around him could talk to him, and they could teach him strange new knowledge and games.
It allowed Broly to feel the purest kind of joy that only a child could experience when playing with companions.
To sum it up in one sentence:
It was a childhood he had never had before.