In reality, Shinji was resting his chin on one hand, tilting his head as he watched her.
In his other hand, he held that slightly ridiculous cup of hot milk, his lips curled into that signature, slightly wicked smirk.
At that moment, reality and the television screen blurred into one.
The arrogant business upstart and this bad boy who teased her at the dining table merged perfectly.
“How is it?
Am I more charming on TV than in person?”
Shinji asked softly, his voice clearly laced with amusement.
Eri Kisaki’s face flushed bright red instantly.
She could even feel her ears burning.
How many years had it been since she felt this flustered?
Even back when she was in the throes of passion with Kogoro Mouri, she didn’t seem to have felt this embarrassed by having her defenses pierced by a single look.
“I… I’m going to the restroom.”
She stood up abruptly, her movements somewhat panicked, nearly knocking over the napkin on the table.
“It must be because I drank too much wine; this place’s red wine has quite a kick.”
She desperately made excuses for herself, not daring to look at Shinji’s soul-captivating eyes again, and walked toward the restroom, her heels clicking in a hurried rhythm.
Watching her slightly disheveled yet still elegant retreating figure, the smirk on Shinji’s lips deepened.
He picked up the cup of milk and took a gentle sip, as if he were savoring the finest Lafite.
“The queen with a hundred percent win rate?
Heh, you’re about to lose, aren’t you?”
Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometers away in Fuyuki City.
The night shrouded the city, which had just emerged from the shadow of the Holy Grail War.
The streets of Miyama Town were quiet and somewhat desolate, with only the occasional passing vehicle breaking the silence.
In the living room of the Emiya residence, the kotatsu radiated a sleep-inducing warmth.
Although the Holy Grail War had ended, that so-called daily life didn’t seem to have fully returned.
At least for the three people in this house, more time was needed to erase the past.
“I’m telling you, that chemistry teacher is a devil!
I was only two points away from passing, and he still made me write a reflection paper!”
Rin sat cross-legged by the kotatsu, peeling a tangerine while complaining about trivial school matters.
She tried to use this rapid-fire complaining to fill the silence in the room and make the atmosphere seem livelier.
“Rin, if you spent the time you spend complaining on studying, you would definitely pass next time.”
Emiya Shirou smiled bitterly as he placed the freshly brewed tea on the table and handed a peeled tangerine to Sakura beside him.
“Sakura, here.
These ones are sweeter.”
“Thank you, Senpai.”
Sakura took the tangerine and offered a gentle smile.
She was wearing her familiar loungewear, her long purple hair falling softly behind her back, looking as obedient as ever.
Ever since that day at the hospital, Shinji seemed to have evaporated from the world.
Just as he had said, there were no phone calls and no letters; the Matou Family mansion was like a tomb.
Sakura had thought she would feel relieved.
After all, the nightmare that had tormented her for years had finally left.
But whenever the night was deep and quiet, and she lay alone on that huge bed in the Matou Family house, her dreams would uncontrollably pull her back to the past.
There was even that strange phantom pain.
It felt as if a piece of her heart had been gouged out, leaving it hollow.
“It’s probably just the aftereffects of being used to being dominated.”
Sakura told herself this in her heart.
It was a physiological habit left by long-term enslavement; it would get better after a while.
“Aaaaah!
So annoying!”
Rin suddenly scratched her hair in frustration and threw the tangerine peel into the trash can.
Emiya Shirou and Sakura exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of helplessness in each other’s eyes.
These days, Rin’s state of mind was clearly not right.
She had become more irritable at school, getting triggered over the smallest things, which caused Emiya Shirou to suffer some undeserved trouble.
And only Rin herself knew that the damned kiss was like a curse.
Whenever she closed her eyes, that cold sensation, that aggressive tongue, and that whisper “I like you very much” would sneak into her mind like a ghost.
What made it even more unacceptable to her was that in her dreams, she actually hadn’t pushed him away.
Even in the depths of her subconscious, she was actually savoring that moment—that dangerous, immoral thrill.
“Damn you, scum Shinji!
I curse you to buy instant noodles without seasoning packets!”
Rin cursed viciously in her heart, as if cursing hard enough could cover up the inexplicable panic in her heart.
Just then, the TV news, which had been playing in the background, suddenly switched scenes.
“Next is a special report from the international finance section.”
That familiar name, that familiar figure, burst into the sight of the three of them without any warning.
“Mr.
Shinji, who has caused a sensation in the Japanese technology industry…”
The room instantly fell into silence.
Another tangerine that Rin had just picked up dropped onto the table with a thud and rolled onto the floor.
Sakura jerked her head up, her purple pupils contracting violently.
Emiya Shirou also stopped drinking his tea, staring at the screen in a daze.
On the screen was that very scene from Akihabara.
The man they thought had run away with the money and should be hiding in some corner squandering it or recovering from his injuries was now standing in the center of the spotlight.
He was wearing a high-end suit, and although his face was pale, the high spirits emanating from his very bones seemed to overflow from the screen.
The female bodyguard beside him was cold and stunning, and the NVIDIA CEO, Kenta, was looking at him with an expression of admiration, as if they were old friends who had known each other for many years.
A large headline flashed on the screen: [Genius young investor splashes out 60 million USD, boldly claims youth is about being daring].
“No, no way, right?”
Rin pointed at the TV, her fingers trembling, “That guy?
Maybe he got scammed, who knows!”
In her mind, Shinji had left Fuyuki with those 20 billion, so he should have been living a decadent life of debauchery.
He should have been hiding in a dark corner, counting money while cursing fate.
But now, he was standing on that bright and glamorous stage.
He spoke eloquently, he commanded the scene, and he smiled so… smugly.
That smile undoubtedly stung Rin’s worldview.
All her previous anger, and even that faint pity, seemed so ridiculous at this moment.
Sakura stared intently at Shinji on the screen.
“So… this wasn’t you giving me freedom, but your own freedom?”
Sakura murmured to herself in her heart.
She had thought Shinji’s departure was an escape, a loser’s exit.
In her heart, without her, Shinji was nothing.
But now it seemed that it was a cicada shedding its skin.
He had shed the heavy shell called Magus, shed that twisted family, and shed his filthy sins.
Looking at the radiant brother on the screen, an extremely complex emotion surged in Sakura’s heart.
There was shock, there was loss, there was a sense of loneliness at being left behind, but beneath these layers of emotions, there was actually a trace of… relief?
The man who used to only vent his pain on her had finally found a place of his own.
He no longer needed to prove his existence by torturing her.
This realization made Sakura feel relieved, yet it was accompanied by a deeper emptiness.