IBHJ 1029 (Patreon)

Kiara trudged through the darkness with Ayaka on her back, surrounded by endless waves of miasma. The air boiled around them like an inferno. Despite her strength, Kiara felt herself weakening until she finally collapsed. Sweat ran down her face as her vision began to blur.

She couldn't let herself fall here. If she did, it would all be over.

Ayaka had already passed out, and there was no telling if she'd survive. They had to find a way out of this hell.

But that felt like a distant dream now.

Hope was slipping away.

The dark, sickening miasma turned into poisonous snakes that coiled around her body and limbs, trying to drag her into the depths. They wanted to destroy her, to consume her.

Fighting through bone-deep exhaustion, she forced her body to respond. Her mind screamed in protest as she drew on her Beast skill one more time. The power burned through her veins as she used it to tear away the poisonous miasma snakes. Their flesh came apart in her ghostly hands, dissolving back into corrupt miasma, but for each one she destroyed, two more seemed to take its place.

It felt like she was fighting a losing battle.

Alhough she had some of the Beast's power, she wasn't the Beast herself. She wasn't Demonic Bodhisattva—just a human borrowing her strength.

Her vision dimmed, her thoughts scattered, and she felt consciousness slipping away.

This was it, then. She always thought she would die fighting Demonic Bodhisattva, but instead, she would die here. Still, she was the reason she was dying.

But something was strange. She didn't feel any anger toward her. All she could think about was the sadness in her eyes when she last saw her.

Yes, she was worried about her.

It didn't make sense. She should have hated her. But here, caught between life and death, what filled her heart was just one question.

Why did you do this, my other self?

Maybe this was Kiara's naivete, the same naivete Demonic Bodhisattva always despised and looked down on.

But Kiara felt no hatred or sadness, only questions.

Only regret.

Not for her own life, but for her inability to save Ayaka.

—Is that all you regret?

A voice asked.

Kiara knew it was her own inner sorrow speaking.

"Yes," she answered.

—You think of Ayaka as a friend, but did she ever feel the same? She deceived you with a false identity. Your friendship means nothing.

"I always knew Ayaka had secrets. I saw her hair turn blonde sometimes. But why should that matter? I have my own secrets, my own pain I don't share. Blonde hair or black - she's still her. I was friends with the person, not the name Ayaka, so what difference does it make?" Kiara argued back.

Her sorrow and anger went quiet. Maybe even these dark feelings couldn't stand against Kiara's naivete.

Her consciousness grew increasingly blurry, and she could no longer see clearly.

Then, her inner voice spoke again.

—Kiara, do you really care for Ayaka, care for me that much? it asked.

But Kiara had been wrong.

It wasn't her inner doubts and negativity that had been questioning her, challenging her, and scolding her.

It was something else, something far more frightening.

It was the one she had always considered a friend.

Kiara's eyes fluttered open. Through her blurred vision, she saw a shadowy figure rising from Ayaka's body in the swirling miasma.

The hazy figure gently caressed her cheek, and behind the darkness that obscured its face, Kiara caught a glimpse of crimson lips moving. Those lips spoke words she couldn't hear, but one phrase burned itself into her memory.

—...Ayaka, I'll leave it to you...

Who are you?

Before she could ask, Kiara lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep, lost in the miasma.

"Wake up, wake up... Kiara."

Someone was patting her cheek.

"Mmm. Just five more minutes, mom..."

Still half-asleep, Kiara rolled over and hugged the person calling her, mistaking them for her mother.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You stupid pig, what are you doing?"

A startled cry jolted Kiara awake. She opened her eyes to see Misaya's startled face. She was holding Misaya down, hugging her like she used to hug her mother, and she had been nuzzling her face.

"Ah... ah... sorry, Reiroukan-senpai!" Kiara quickly let go of Misaya and bowed her head apologetically.

Misaya was angry and ready to unleash a furious scolding, but seeing Kiara's sincere apology, she held her tongue. She glared at Kiara, huffed, and stood up.

"Don't worry about it. Calling out for your mother in your sleep... you must have been out of it," Misaya said, brushing herself off as she stood.

Even she was surprised by her own restraint. Normally, Kiara's unintentional offense would have earned a sharp tongue-lashing, but she let it slide.

Kiara apologized again and again before looking around, taking in her surroundings. The suffocating miasma was gone, replaced by a field of flowers. Nearby, Arthur was gently shaking Ayaka awake.

"This is..." Kiara looked confused.

"You mean this field of flowers? It's some kind of Noble Phantasm of Shirou's, I think. But what I want to know is, how did you end up in Manaka's workshop?" Misaya asked, perplexed.

"Huh?" Kiara looked bewildered.

Misaya explained that after the older Manaka had left, she and the others went to Manaka Sajyou's workshop. There, they found Kiara and Ayaka unconscious, along with two adventurers who had been turned into monsters by the younger Manaka. These were clearly the "spoils of war" Shirou had mentioned, the ones the older Manaka Sajyou had spoken of.

"Are you ATM's other kouhai?"

A voice sounded beside her ear. Kiara turned to see a beautiful woman with short golden hair crouching next to her, chin resting on her hands, studying her intently.

"You look exactly the same, but you feel completely different." Arcueid poked Kiara's cheek, her gaze like a scientist examining a rare specimen.

Instead of being offended, Kiara asked curiously, "May I ask who you are?"

"Me?" Arcueid's eyes lit up and she jumped to her feet excitedly. "Perfect question! I'm just a passing Kamen Rider—"

"Don't get her started with that nonsense!" Misaya cut in.

She'd been polite to Arcueid at first because of her power. But after one minute of talking to her, she realized Arcueid might be strong enough not to pick on the weak, but give her the tiniest opening and she'd turn into an unstoppable chuunibyou spouting anime lines.

"Hey, don't interrupt me!" Arcueid pouted.

"Oh yes, I'm so sorry, great Ultimate One. That introduction just doesn't do you justice. It needs a few tweaks," Misaya said.

"Really? What kind of tweaks?" Arcueid's eyes sparkled.

"You need background music, some special effects. Maybe style your hair up really high with a brush - that would look magnificent." Misaya suggested.

"Ooh, that does sound fun..." Arcueid started thinking it over.

Got her, Misaya thought. That nerd wasn't wrong, this was the best way to handle this chuunibyou.

"Where are Mr. Shirou and Master Mordred?"

Kiara glanced around. Now that the Manaka situation was over, where had Mordred gone? And what about Mr. Shirou - hadn't Manaka kidnapped him too?

"Oh, that..." Misaya pointed behind her with a sigh. "They're dealing with... family stuff?" The way she phrased it as a question suggested even she couldn't quite believe the situation.

Kiara looked where she pointed and saw Mr. Shirou sitting in a vast field of flowers, wearing grand silver armor fit for a king.

"Mr. Shirou's back to normal." Kiara felt relieved - now that he was in his own body, maybe that distance she'd felt would finally disappear. But then her expression froze.

If Mr. Shirou was back to normal, then Master Mordred...

Kiara looked closer and couldn't believe her eyes. Mordred was curled up in Shirou's arms, smiling as they chatted. She caught bits of their conversation:

"Shirou, how'd you get to Britain if you're from the future? Was it Second Magic? But shouldn't Quantum Time-Lock stop time travel?" Mordred asked, looking up at Shirou while snuggled in his arms.

"Not exactly Second Magic - it was more like a prototype of the Sixth Law. The Dead Apostle Ancestors Forest of Einnashe and Night of Wallachia attacked Fuyuki City back then. They created this Sixth Law and opened a hole to the Root. Dad tried to seal it by pushing Forest of Einnashe in, but got pulled in as well. He ended up traveling through the Root to the past," he explained, still holding Mordred.

"Oh, got it. But why does everyone here call you Shirou? Back home, all the uncles called you Guinevere. What's that about?" she asked.

"Ah, that was quite an accident. When I first got there, Dad saved Guinevere, but then Vortigern's army was hunting her down. They thought Dad was Guinevere... and the name just stuck."

"Oh!" She clapped in delight. "That explains why Uncle Gawain kept saying you were Britain's greatest beauty!"

Shirou: "..."