From Shinjuku to Shinjuku / Gudako and Shirou ...

"Ah, senpai, you look so beautiful. It suits you perfectly," Mash praised as well.

"R-Really...? Thank you." Yukino lowered her head, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"Hello, could you please wrap this up for me?" Asuna, having changed back into her own clothes, called over a sales clerk.

"Please wait a moment, I need mine wrapped too," Yukino said.

"Ah, mine too," Mash echoed her.

"Shirou!" Yuihama finally had enough. She walked up to the Youth, stood on tiptoe, stared straight at his face, and pressed him, "Explain yourself properly! Why does it feel like you were so casual only when judging me?"

"Alright, alright, I was joking earlier. Yuihama, you're naturally very cute, with the lively feel of a youthful girl, so I think this outfit suits you very well." Shirou raised a hand before his face as he soothed her.

"Is that so..." Only after hearing the Youth's words did Yuihama, who had leaned in so close that her nose was nearly touching his face, finally calm down. She lowered her raised heels, turned her head aside, fiddled with the buns in her hair, and quietly agreed.

"Um, miss, would you also like to buy the clothes you're wearing?" the sales clerk asked Yuihama with a professional smile.

"I'll buy them!!!" Yuihama turned back and answered without hesitation.

Image: "Mash Who Loves Dressing Up," location: "Images/1523895589-100062415-101832896.jpg"

From Shinjuku to Shinjuku

The white of Mount Fuji was dyed orange-red. As the sun gradually set, the surroundings fell into darkness at a pace noticeable with every blink. The streetlights along both sides of Shinjuku and the shops around them had long since lit up. Neon lights flashed as pink, purple, and red lights spun, as though telling the visitors that this place's true splendor had only just begun.

Having finally shopped to their hearts' content, the girls decided to head toward the subway station.

Shirou carried more than ten shopping bags in both hands and held another four or five shoe boxes in his arms. Relying on the stamina he had trained, he stubbornly followed behind the girls. At first, he had only said that he could help carry things if they were too heavy, but they had ended up stuffing everything into his hands.

"Shirou-senpai, let me help after all," Mash said, turning back.

"Mash, let him carry them. Shirou himself said every outfit looked good, so we bought them all," Yuihama said.

Who was it that grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go just because my answer had been a little too casual...?

"Shirou, being able to carry girls' luggage is a privilege reserved for popular boys," Asuna said with a smile.

That's a privilege I really don't want.

"I think female should be more independent. Mm, but Shirou is an exception, so there's no problem," Yukino said.

No, Yukino, once things like equality and fairness start having exceptions, they've already changed for the worse.

After walking for quite a while, they finally entered the subway and set down the bags and boxes.

"Hehe, good work." Yuihama kneaded the Youth's shoulders and pounded his back.

"You really are... Well, everyone did put a lot of thought into helping me choose clothes. Thanks, everyone." Shirou looked at his companions.

"Don't worry about it. Other than that first place being a little unpleasant, I had a lot of fun afterward," Asuna said with a smile.

"I agree," Yukino said with a nod. She had begun to wonder whether her father had chosen that shop for some other reason.

"Let's go shopping together again next time! Mash, you too!" Yuihama hugged the pink-haired girl beside her and asked.

"Yes, I think I understand the fun of buying clothes and dressing up now, Senpai Yuigahama." Mash smiled and agreed. Today, as the one who had changed outfits the most in Chaldea, she felt as though she had already reached the pinnacle, whether as a Servant or as a human!

"Mash, I think you need to know moderation in all things," Shirou advised.

After returning to Chiba, Shirou said goodbye to the girls one by one and transferred to the subway lines that would take each of them home.

Just as Mash returned to the small villa where she lived, her phone suddenly began vibrating violently. She took it out and looked at it.

"Mash, there's an emergency. We're transferring you back to Chaldea immediately," Da Vinci said gravely.

Alarms were sounding throughout Chaldea. Red lights flashed in every corridor, and a Singularity had been detected in Chaldea's control room.

"We can't determine the Singularity's location! It seems to be confined within a very small area!"

"Conduct a comparative analysis. Search for wavelengths similar to the previous Singularities."

"Sheba's observation results are in! The location is Shinjuku, Tokyo, and the year is 1999!"

"We must find a Master to go resolve it!" Da Vinci said urgently.

This time, Da Vinci was speaking with a red-haired girl with a side ponytail. She wore a red high-collared tunic patterned with crosses and was currently lounging on a sofa while playing with her phone.

When she saw Da Vinci's holographic image, she waved in greeting.

"Yo, Da Vinci."

"Gudako, why do you look so relaxed? Has the situation in your world been resolved?" Da Vinci asked.

"Eh... It's been resolved, but it seems there are still some things to handle. And I'm currently persuading a powerful ally to help us in Chaldea," Gudako reported.

"What exactly is going on? Does this ally mean the girl you're assisting right now?" Da Vinci asked.

"That's right. Ishtar, mother, is lunch ready?" Gudako turned and called toward the other end of the hall.

A girl's voice came from within. If Shirou had been there, he would have found it very familiar.

"Gudako! Don't call me Ishtar! Remember my name—and the goddess's name—properly! Chinese seafood fried rice is almost ready for dinner, so sit quietly!"

"Yes~" Gudako obediently answered. She had originally been grinding FGO on the side, cursing the damned operators, and waiting for dinner.

"Then get back here! There's important work to do!" Da Vinci shouted.

"Eh, wait! Da Vinci, I have important things to do here! Don't dump those odd jobs on me, and I haven't even eaten dinner yet." Gudako waved her hands.

"This is no time for jokes. A Singularity has appeared!" Da Vinci said sternly.

"Eh? But Goetia was destroyed, wasn't he?" Gudako cried in surprise.

"Goetia was indeed destroyed, and the Human Order has already been restored. But the appearance of the seven Singularities caused massive distortions of time and space. This small Singularity may have been affected, causing history to change and producing it," Da Vinci explained.

"I understand! I can come back anytime!" Gudako's flippant attitude vanished as she nodded seriously.

"Good! Then prepare for Spiritron Transfer immediately," Da Vinci instructed the staff.

"Ishtar, mother, I'm going back to Chaldea. Bye!" Gudako called to the people in the kitchen.

The Spiritron Transfer device activated, and the girl turned into fluorescent light as she was sent back inside Chaldea.

The black-haired, twin-tailed girl who had just brought out a large plate of fried rice and set it on the table pursed her lips. "Leaving just like that? Then I won't be able to finish all this! Why is she so much like someone else in this regard?"

"Well, if you want to see her, you can see her anytime. I can guarantee that," a figure said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Forget it. Maybe one day she'll come running back shamelessly. After all, she's a lot like someone," the twin-tailed girl said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Shirou, who had just returned home, also received news from Xiao Da.

Xiao Da relayed Da Vinci's request: A Singularity has been discovered. Under the current circumstances, she hoped Shirou could help resolve it.

"Da Vinci, I request permission to join the operation! With the power of the FGO system, I can fight too!" Mash said seriously.

"Mash, unfortunately, this isn't a protected alternate world this time, but a Singularity. Even if it's small in scale, you'll be facing violent Servants. Until your physical condition stabilizes, I won't let you take part in such dangerous combat." Da Vinci sternly rejected Mash's request.

"Yes..." Mash clenched the corner of her clothes unwillingly.

"Besides, Shirou has agreed to help as a substitute, so that makes up for the combat strength. Don't worry, Mash," Da Vinci said.

Gudako and Shirou

Within a deep blue-black space, a vortex spun at high speed. Bathed in white light, a girl appeared inside Chaldea's transfer device.

Shortly afterward, Shirou was transferred to Chaldea as well, accompanied by Xiao Da.

Gudako, who had returned to Chaldea before Shirou, saw the Youth suddenly appear in the transfer device and cried out in delight.

"Ah! Shirou, mother! You came here too?"

Wait! I don't remember ever having a daughter like you. Shirou looked at the orange-red-haired girl, whose appearance seemed vaguely familiar and whose red clothes looked especially familiar, then asked in confusion, "Have we met somewhere before?"

"Hm? I see. So for Shirou-senpai as he is now, this is actually our first meeting?" Gudako said, resting her chin on her hand.

"What's going on?" Shirou asked in confusion.

"Well, senpai, you'll find out eventually. Nice to meet you, I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru, Shirou-senpai! You can just call me Gudako. I'll respect you as though you were my parent!" Gudako hugged Shirou's arm and spoke intimately.

Parent? Shirou, whose arm was being hugged, froze for a moment. So before eight o'clock, he had somehow gained a daughter?

At that moment, the pink-haired girl walked over.

"Gudako-senpai! Gudako-senpai, you're back?" Mash asked excitedly.

"Ah! Mash, I'm back too!" Gudako happily ran over and embraced the pink-haired girl.

"Gudako-senpai! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Mash!"

The two girls held each other tightly.

"Let me see whether you've grown at all." Gudako skillfully reached out her hand.

"Senpai..." Mash's face turned red.

Meanwhile, Shirou was asking Da Vinci about the details of this incident.

"Mash can't participate in this battle?" If Mash, who possessed such powerful defensive abilities, were there, she would be a great help.

Da Vinci shook her head. "Mash's current state isn't suitable for going to that world. In fact, although she can fight in the world where you are through the FGO system created with the Holy Grail—

in truth, she has lost contact with the Servant inside her body. For the time being, she can't transform into a Sub-Servant. Her Magic Circuits are like they've rusted over, and for some reason they can't be opened. She isn't suited to taking part in Singularity combat right now."

"The Servant Possession summons performed through the phone's FGO system are, in the end, merely weakened versions of Divine Possession. At the cost of weakening a Servant's power, they use another person's body to meet the conditions required to descend into this world, while being limited by factors such as magical energy output and duration.

"Furthermore, many Servant abilities and fighting methods come with side effects that people cannot endure without making a firm resolve—mental contamination, negative emotions, physical pain. Ordinary humans cannot withstand them.

"To make it easier for the possessed subjects to understand and use Servants' power, I simplified the abilities possessed by Servants, just as in a game, to no more than three skills.

"Even to bring out the strength of a Servant restricted in so many ways, the compatibility must reach one hundred percent, allowing the person and Servant to communicate heart to heart.

"In the previous world, the invading monsters were also restricted in various ways, so the battles had been relatively even. But the place you're going now is an extremely unstable Singularity. It's simply too dangerous," Da Vinci explained.

"Mash never told me about this." Shirou frowned, then asked, "Is there no treatment? She doesn't seem to have any physical illness. Maybe I should prepare a nutritious soup for her every day afterward, something like pork rib and papaya soup to promote physical growth and absorption..."

Da Vinci retorted, "No, isn't that soup for breast enhancement and beauty care? Don't worry. Mash's problem probably just requires some time for her body to recover gradually. Once things settle down, I had planned to let her interact with more people, perhaps send her to school or something."

"That's already happened. Mash is very happy at school. She's enthusiastic about both academic classes and PE," Shirou said.

"Yes. Even a genius like me never expected it to happen in this form. One wave hasn't even settled before another rises," Da Vinci said with a sigh.

"But hasn't Mash already stayed in my world for over a year? Why hasn't her body recovered yet?" Shirou asked in confusion.

"Shirou, time in parallel worlds differs from time here in Chaldea. Even if you drift at sea in another world for hundreds of years, less than a day may have passed when you return to your original world. How long do you think has passed here since Mash left Chaldea?"

Without waiting for the Youth's answer, Da Vinci gave him the answer directly. "Less than two months. In fact, ever since the anomaly occurred, time and space here in Chaldea have become very strange. We've completely lost contact with the outside world, and Sheba can't detect anything either. If the clocks weren't clearly still turning, honestly, I'd suspect that the flow of time had stopped."

"I see." Shirou nodded. Thinking back, when he had returned home after coming to Chaldea last time, it really had not felt as though much time had passed.

"I believe this suddenly appearing Singularity must contain clues related to the world's mutation. So I want to ask you to assist Gudako in resolving this incident. If all goes well, only a few hours will pass by the time you return home, so it won't affect your life in the other world," Da Vinci said.

Shirou nodded. "That would be for the best. I agreed to help from the beginning. This is also about saving the world, so I have no reason to refuse."

Gudako looked at Shirou with admiration from the side. "Just as expected of Shirou-senpai, I'm so moved! Once we get there, let's use our phones to call Rin-senpai over! As long as it isn't a critical moment, she's still very reliable."

"Eh? Rin? You mean Rin Tohsaka?" The nostalgic image of that black-haired girl surfaced in Shirou's mind. Back then, he had chosen to leave her and save the world, and she had kicked him into the Thames. After that, she had continued her studies in England. Before his death, he had asked around about her and heard that she had returned to Fuyuki.

But hearing Gudako call her senpai, the Rin Tohsaka she had met must still be very young. She probably did not have those memories.

"I'm sure that if Rin-senpai hears Shirou-senpai is here, she'll immediately come over and kick you again!" Gudako said, seeming to anticipate it as she took out her phone.

Landing in Demon Realm Shinjuku

"Wait? The Rin on your side is a high school student, right? Does she have memories of me?" Shirou asked in alarm.

"Mm. I don't know the details, but Rin-senpai said that the moment she first sees Shirou-senpai, she has to kick him flying. She even said she had practiced Baji Quan hard since childhood for this very moment!" Gudako said, striking a martial arts pose.

Shirou covered his face. The Rin he knew really could do something like that. After he had dumped her in England, she had kicked him straight into the Thames. After that, whether at gatherings or chance encounters, whenever they met, she would chase after him and beat him up.

That crazy girl... Though I don't know why she would still have memories... It's better not to meet her for now...

"Hehehe, will things really go that smoothly?" Gudako said with a mysterious smile. In her eyes, Shirou-senpai would surely be happier together with Rin-senpai, who ran the household like a father. After all, only once her senpai found happiness and stability could she have the happiest life and receive the most comprehensive care.

Could Rin have been reborn like me? What kind of world is it over there? Shirou thought, full of doubts. Just as he was about to ask Gudako, Da Vinci walked over carrying a golden cup.

"Shirou, equip the Pseudo Spirit Origin here first. We've already repaired it for you. Since this is a Singularity, the combat environment will be much harsher than before. So remember! Don't let your guard down, and absolutely do not act recklessly!" Da Vinci warned. Then she brought out a golden cup containing a crystalline blue, spirit-like sphere that shimmered within it.

This was the miracle created by combining the Youth's Magic Eye, Inherent Domain, Holy Grail, and other powers—a "Pseudo Spirit Origin."

It was a phantom spirit shaped from the Youth's ideals, allowing him to become the Servant his heart envisioned. Each summoning would differ according to changes in Shirou's state of mind.