The afternoon in Fuyuki City.
As Sakura walked out of the hospital gates, the sunlight happened to pierce through the clouds, and she instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.
Ten billion yen, cutting off all ties; it strangely pried open the lever named freedom.
She didn’t go straight home.
She needed to see someone, or rather, she needed to confirm from that boy with hair the color of a warm hearth fire whether her choice at this moment was correct.
Sakura arrived at Emiya Residence.
In front of the wooden plaque that read “Emiya,” she took a deep breath, calmed her somewhat chaotic breathing, and then pressed the doorbell.
“Coming!”
The gate was pulled open.
Emiya Shirou was wearing loungewear, still holding a rag for wiping his hands, and when he saw Sakura, a smile appeared on his face.
“Oh, it’s Sakura.
How are you feeling?
Come on in.”
“Excuse the intrusion, Senpai.”
Sakura lowered her head, changed her shoes, and walked into the entrance hall.
The familiar creak of the wooden floor instantly made her relax.
This place was different from the Matou Family; it was alive and warm.
However, when she walked into the living room, she unexpectedly saw another figure.
Rin Tohsaka was sitting by the low table, holding a teacup, with several thick magic books and some papers that looked like circuit diagrams spread out in front of her.
Seeing Sakura enter, this twin-tailed young lady was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; she straightened her back abruptly, and two patches of red rapidly bloomed on her cheeks.
“Sakura, Sakura?
Why are you here?”
Rin hurriedly closed the books, her eyes shifting, as if looking for an excuse.
“Um, I was just…
That’s right!
I had some questions about repairing magical artifacts and came specifically to instruct Emiya.
After all, he’s a half-baked amateur, haha, yes, that’s it!”
Emiya Shirou walked in carrying a tea tray, and upon hearing this, he gave a helpless, wry smile.
“Tohsaka, it was clearly you who asked me how to connect the Blu-ray player just a moment ago…”
“Shut up!
Be quiet!
You idiot Shirou!”
Rin glared fiercely at Shirou, but when she turned to Sakura, that aggressive aura instantly vanished, replaced by an awkward yet sincere concern.
She set down her teacup, leaned forward slightly, and her eyes reflected Sakura’s slightly pale face.
“Sakura, you don’t look well.
Did something happen?
Are you not feeling well anywhere?
Or is it…”
Rin’s gaze instantly sharpened.
“Is that bastard Shinji causing trouble again?”
Sakura held the hot tea that Shirou handed to her, the curling steam blurring her vision.
She looked at the tea stalk floating upright in the cup, gently shook her head, and then nodded.
“Sister, Senpai, I have something I want to discuss with you both.”
Sakura’s voice was very soft, but in this quiet room, it sounded exceptionally clear.
She didn’t hold anything back, recounting word for word the strange behavior Shinji had displayed after waking up in the hospital, as well as the deal he had proposed.
From his inexplicable apology to the final demand for a ten-billion-yen cash split.
As Sakura narrated, the atmosphere in the room gradually became heavy.
“Huh?”
Hearing the last sentence, Rin Tohsaka could no longer hold back.
She had always despised Shinji’s behavior at school, or rather, looked down on his character, not to mention that she had recently learned and confirmed the sins he had committed against Sakura.
If not for Emiya’s request, she would never have saved him at the end; that kind of scum should have just died like that.
Now, Rin Tohsaka felt deeply guilty.
She knew there was a profound rift between her and her sister, Sakura.
She wanted to get closer to Sakura, repair their sisterly relationship, and make up for her shortcomings as a sister.
She slammed her teacup down heavily on the table, splashing a few drops of tea.
She stood up abruptly and paced back and forth on the tatami mats, her brows tightly knitted together.
“Ten billion?
What kind of joke is he playing!
Is that loser, that bastard, brain-damaged from the black mud?”
Rin gritted her teeth, her hair swaying violently with her movements.
“Do you know what ten billion represents?
What does he take you for?
What does he take the suffering you’ve endured all these years for?
Buying it off with money?
Does he think he can whitewash all the disgusting things he’s done just like that?”
The more Rin spoke, the angrier she became.
The disgust she had previously deliberately suppressed toward the Matou Family, and especially toward Shinji, erupted all at once.
“That bully who picks on the weak has always targeted Emiya at school and was even more despicable and shameless during the Holy Grail War.
He…
he tortured you, Sakura, to that extent, and now that he sees the situation is bad, he wants to take the money and leave to live a carefree life?
Why should he!
A person like him should spend the rest of his life in prison, or simply be treated as a specimen by the Mages Association.”
“Tohsaka.”
Emiya Shirou suddenly spoke up; his voice was not loud, but it carried a power that made people calm down.
He reached out and gently pressed down on Rin’s trembling shoulders.
Rin froze for a moment and followed Shirou’s gaze.
Sakura was lowering her head, her hands gripping the teacup tightly.
Her body was trembling slightly; the disgusting things and torture that Rin had just mentioned were undoubtedly tearing open her newly scabbed wounds once again.
Rin also realized she had been too agitated just now and had completely ignored Sakura’s feelings.
Those reasons that were just fuel for anger to an onlooker were, for Sakura, the person involved, real and bloody memories of hell.
“I’m sorry, Sakura.”
Rin’s aggressive aura instantly collapsed.
She bit her lip in annoyance and sat back down on the cushion, looking somewhat flustered.
“I was just…
too angry.
That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s okay, Sister.”
Sakura raised her head and managed to force a smile.
“I am happy that you are angry for my sake, Sister.”
Shirou sighed, added some hot water to Rin’s cup, and then looked at Sakura with a serious expression.
“Sakura, what do you think about Shinji’s request?”
Sakura was silent for a moment, her gaze cast toward the courtyard.
“I think agreeing to it is for the best.”
Sakura said softly, her tone carrying a trace of exhaustion.
“Just as he said, if this money can completely sever his connection with the Matou Family and with me, then it is worth it.”
“But that is a full ten billion!”
For a Magus like Rin Tohsaka, that is real, tangible money!
If it were her, she would definitely still feel unwilling.
“Although I have no fondness for that worm pit, why should that guy get the benefit?”
“Tohsaka.”
Shirou shook his head and offered his perspective.
“Although it’s infuriating, this might truly be the best solution for now.”
Shirou rested his hands on his knees, his gaze deep.
“Shinji is indeed unforgivable.
But if we go through legal procedures or the Mages Association’s adjudication, Sakura will inevitably be dragged into endless investigations and disputes.
And…”
He paused, and the scene of the last time he saw Shinji flashed through his mind—that twisted figure struggling in the mountain of flesh.
“Although it’s incredible, listening to Sakura’s description just now, that guy seems to have truly changed.
Not for the better, but…
he has given up.
If he is truly willing to leave Fuyuki completely and never appear before Sakura again, then let this money be the funeral expenses paid to the past.”
Buying off hatred with money, buying off the past, buying off an uncertain factor.
For Shirou, who upholds justice, this is a helpless yet realistic compromise.
Because what he cares about more is Sakura’s peaceful life in the future.
Rin frowned.
As the head of the Tohsaka Family and as Sakura’s sister, she did not want to let Shinji off easily.
But reason told her that Shirou and Sakura were right.
As long as Shinji was in Fuyuki, he would be a thorn in Sakura’s psyche.
Pulling out this thorn was very important for Sakura.
“It’s really too good for him.”