Pain and Regret / Homurahara Academy in Fuyuki City

Just as Ritsuka hesitated, worried that this news might upset Kiritsugu, he suddenly grinned.

"Ritsuka, you're a good big sister, but not a good warrior. I secretly watched you and Miyu together every day. I was prepared for this long ago."

The unresolved knot in his heart, the twisted fantasy born after a certain incident—it had left the old man covered in wounds. Yet he smiled from the bottom of his heart, albeit somewhat forlornly.

"I wanted to save the world, save everyone in it, but I took far too many detours. Then, just before the final step toward success, I hesitated."

"I might... not be able to hold on much longer."

Kiritsugu suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood. The strange substance within it, like Black Mud, stuck to the floor and gave off an eerie smell.

Before Ritsuka could react, Kiritsugu collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.

In the blink of an eye, the moon hung bright amid sparse stars. Ritsuka carried Kiritsugu to the hospital, and once he had regained consciousness, the two returned to the residence.

After dinner, once she had coaxed Miyu to sleep, Ritsuka walked along the wooden hallway into the courtyard and found Kiritsugu by the veranda.

Kiritsugu heard her approach but did not turn around. He merely lowered his head to look at the puddle left by the rain, using it as a mirror to see himself and the bright moon hanging at the edge of the sky.

His chin was covered in stubble. Compared to the spirited man he had once been, Kiritsugu could not help but lament that he had grown old after all...

"Kiritsugu, how are you feeling?"

Running a hand through his messy hair, Kiritsugu gave a low laugh. "Not bad. Ever since that time, hasn't it always been like this?"

Ever since that encounter with the Black Mud that devoured everything, Kiritsugu's condition had worsened by the day.

That thing had triggered something.

Holding a bowl of brewed medicine, Ritsuka gently set it beside Kiritsugu, then sat cross-legged some distance away and began admiring the night scenery as well.

"—I kept making mistakes for what I believed was right."

"And in order to correct those mistakes, I kept making even more. In the end, I became what I am now."

Kiritsugu drained the bitter medicine in one gulp. His chest felt tight, so he took a deep breath and put a Pocky stick between his lips, using snacks to suppress his cigarette cravings as he once had.

"Maybe I had neither the right nor the ability to make choices for humanity?"

"After everything I did failed, I began pursuing those easy, convenient miracles. But there aren't that many miracles in this world."

Kiritsugu placed the bowl back between them, chewing the faintly sweet biscuit stick to ease the bitterness in his mouth.

His eyelids lowered as he looked at the moon reflected in the water, and he slowly spoke. "I, chasing miracles, am like a monkey trying to scoop the moon from the water... journeying through a night as dark as one without light—chasing that invisible moon."

Crunching through the biscuit stick, Kiritsugu seemed to be lamenting his life, as though mocking his own weakness.

"Don't say things like that, like you're seeing your life flash before your eyes."

Ritsuka felt a little panicked, but she forced herself to remain calm and smiled. "Someone who believes in miracles is as amazing as a miracle itself!"

"Yeah. Maybe that really is true."

Kiritsugu turned slightly to look at Ritsuka's profile, smiling sincerely. It was a smile full of relief and peace.

"I don't have much time left."

"Nonsense. There has to be a way to deal with that thing inside you. Just give me a little more time—I'll find a miracle."

A flawless, exquisitely beautiful Crystal Dice slowly floated upward. Kiritsugu could not see it, but it was Ritsuka's only hope now—her hope of curing him.

She did not understand how it worked, but it was what she relied on to grow stronger. Maybe it could grant her abilities like a doctor's?!

Whether she could draw power from it to heal Kiritsugu, Ritsuka thought of it every day. Yet half a month quietly passed, and aside from Emiya Shirou's Synchronization Value increasing by 0.5%, the thing had not changed at all. Miyu's power was also becoming less and less noticeable.

The moon reflected in her eyes as tears gathered and slipped from their corners. Ritsuka closed her eyes.

"I made too many mistakes. Maybe the only thing I ever did right was saving you from those ruins."

"Ritsuka, you're right. I've always been a terrible person. I hope you won't follow my old path."

Kiritsugu took a handgun from his coat—the Noble Phantasm he had always used, a large-caliber hunting pistol: Thompson/Center Arms.

Noble Phantasms were divided into auxiliary Mystic Codes and limited-function Mystic Codes. The first helped a Magus supply magical energy when using magecraft, while the second had preset effects that activated when used.

Kiritsugu's gun was undoubtedly the second kind, and it was also the source of his title as the Magus Killer—a devastating weapon aimed at the ordinary Magi of the Moon World.

Along with it came thirty specially made bullets, Kiritsugu's prized possessions: Origin Bullets.

"...Kiritsugu?"

He did not answer. After loading the bullets and the gun, he simply placed them in Ritsuka's hands.

"Don't look down on them. They might not help as much as your abilities do, but they're still better than nothing, right?"

"Put them away in your Crystal Dice. Along with my share, protect Miyu."

The conversation was over. Watching the Mystic Code and bullets vanish from Ritsuka's hands, Kiritsugu smiled in satisfaction and reached out to pat her head.

Kiritsugu slowly pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and began smoking. The choking smoke made him cough, but Ritsuka did not stop him. The two tacitly remained like that.

In the end, the two of them—

Spent the entire night watching the stars together.

Pain and Regret

After their conversation beneath the night sky, Kiritsugu sat at the dining table again the next day for the first time in a long while. Smiling, he ate with Ritsuka and Miyu, then even joined them for a thorough cleaning.

Because of Kiritsugu's health, Ritsuka had originally refused to let him exert himself too much. But Kiritsugu was cheerfully lively for the first time in ages, and the wholehearted joy in his smile made Ritsuka fall silent before it.

Miyu remained in high spirits all day. Kiritsugu spent the entire day playing with the two girls, only peacefully falling asleep once night arrived.

He never woke up again.

Miyu and Ritsuka buried Kiritsugu, who had died of illness. The rain fell endlessly from the sky; Fuyuki City's rain likely would not stop anytime soon.

It soaked Ritsuka from head to toe. The water running down her face could have been rain or tears. She stood blankly before Kiritsugu's grave, her back looking lonely amid the rain.

After saying goodbye to Kiritsugu, Ritsuka returned to the Emiya Residence. In an instant, the entire world seemed much quieter. As always, she acted as Miyu's big sister.

She heated bathwater, dried Miyu's hair to keep her from catching cold, then took her to bathe and washed away the sticky feeling left by the rain.

Nothing about what she did had changed, but there was far less conversation between them. The laughter that had recently begun to appear between the sisters vanished without a trace. Miyu stayed silent too, perhaps not knowing what to say.

The world was cruel. Miyu and Kiritsugu had resolved to get along well and spent a day together, after which everything changed. Kiritsugu vanished from the world—

Vanished from Ritsuka's world.

For the next several days, conversation between them ceased entirely. They merely maintained their household mechanically, pale grief shrouding the Emiya Residence. Only when Miyu's birthday arrived did Ritsuka regain a little spirit.

"Big Sis, what should we have for lunch today?"

"Hamburger steak. We have the ingredients ready."

In the living room, Ritsuka was tidying dishes in the open kitchen. She looked at Miyu, who had come up beside her, forced out a smile, and rubbed her head. The gloom in her eyes lessened slightly.

At the familiar gesture of being gently patted, Miyu froze for a moment before smiling. She reached out and grabbed Ritsuka's clothes. "Big Sis, I'll help too."

At last, their conversation began again. Amid the crisp sounds of a kitchen knife striking the cutting board, Miyu and Ritsuka began chatting on and off.

Onions, carrots, eggs, and everything else became topics of conversation. Smiles gradually returned to their faces. Though those smiles carried helplessness and bitterness, things were improving. Perhaps it would not be long before they could leave their sorrow behind together.

Deep down, Ritsuka still carried the loneliness she had grown accustomed to for more than a decade, but she also had someone by her side now.

Time quietly slipped through their fingers. Soon, two plates of hamburger steak were ready, a delicious lunch born from Ritsuka and Miyu's hands. Ritsuka also brought out the cake and candles she had prepared in advance.

It was a very different birthday. It brought the two sisters, unrelated by blood, closer together and helped them set aside their grief.

Night fell, and all things grew quiet.

Peaceful Fuyuki City sank into darkness. Most lights in the residential district had gone out, yet one room in the relatively luxurious Emiya Residence remained lit. Inside, the two girls, one older and one younger, had changed into pajamas and were ready to turn in.

After coaxing Miyu to sleep, Ritsuka sat cross-legged on the tatami, not particularly tired. She began wiping down the Noble Phantasm she had taken from the Crystal Dice.

Most of its twenty faces held miscellaneous items. There were not many things that were truly useful. Apart from one face representing a character's abilities, she had treated the rest as storage and put various objects into them.

After wiping the weapon clean with a clean towel and lining up the bullets one by one, Ritsuka returned them all to the Crystal Dice.

"Phew... It's really useless. In the end, it couldn't do anything meaningful."

What exactly was this thing for? Did it manifest the power of some fictional character and replicate it onto her?

Ever since Kiritsugu's body began failing, she had continuously prayed to the Crystal Dice for a way to heal him. But it had not responded at all—not even a single hair had appeared.

Lightly pinching the sturdy-looking Crystal Dice, Ritsuka felt that it was indestructible. Her instincts told her so...

"I still don't understand how this thing works."

A Golden Finger was something every transmigrator should have, a standard system or some other kind of enhancement. Ritsuka considered this strange thing of hers to be a Golden Finger too.

But what kind of Golden Finger was this damn useless? Whenever she needed it, it gave no response at all, and she even had to figure out how to use it herself.

With no customer service to rely on, Ritsuka could only sigh as she turned the small, exquisite Crystal Dice over in her hand. She checked the contents on each of its twenty faces, enlarging them one at a time, but only one had any practical significance.

Emiya Shirou

Synchronization Value (32%)

Aside from the white-haired, brown-eyed man and the red-haired, brown-eyed man, there were only some convenient items.

Did it require some sort of trigger?

Or was it just a handy storage tool?

But if that were true, how could she explain the guy named Emiya Shirou in the display?

Ritsuka fell into an unprecedented state of confusion. Kiritsugu had left rather suddenly, though in some ways, she had expected it...

As Ritsuka's thoughts unknowingly wandered off course, a voice woke her.

"Big Sis?"

Miyu opened her eyes and looked blearily at Ritsuka sitting beside her. The light that had not yet been switched off made it hard for her to open her eyes.

Realizing the problem, Ritsuka quickly reached out and switched off the light. Then she slipped into the futon and pinched Miyu's nose, making the little girl pout instinctively.

"Big Sis, you're mean."

"Well, get some rest. When I have time, I'll take you out to have fun."

Holding Miyu in her arms, Ritsuka listened to the pattering rain outside and made a promise that brought an unconscious smile to Miyu's face.

"Big Sis is the best."

Miyu rubbed against Ritsuka's chest, then closed her eyes again and gently fell asleep. Her steady breathing brushed Ritsuka's chest, and the warm air tickled her a little, though she had grown used to it over time.

Come to think of it, Miyu had not seen the outside world for nearly a month. The last time had been when she and Kiritsugu brought her out of the Sakutsuki Clan's home...

Kiritsugu had a reason for not letting Miyu leave the house. The hooded man who had fought them that day was living proof that the Divine Child was being watched. Those people had the same goal as Kiritsugu and Ritsuka initially had.

Logically, Ritsuka should not take Miyu outside either. Yet she had still made that promise. Rather than keeping Miyu as a bird in a cage, she hoped Miyu could experience more of the outside world.

Still, this would need careful consideration. Simply changing her surname would not be of much use. Miyu was, after all, the orphan of the Sakutsuki Clan. Changing her surname to Emiya did not mean she was no longer the Divine Child.

"Forget it. I should sleep."

Her mind grew more and more tired. Ritsuka closed her eyes and drifted into dreams, a tear quietly slipping from the corner of her eye.

PS: This update is very late, but I still got it out. I had a few things going on, so I really didn't have much time.

Fuyuki City's Hogwarts Academy

The morning's light rain washed over the whole city. Raindrops hung from the branches and slowly fell, while the fresh air naturally soothed the mind.

Ritsuka arrived at school early in the morning. She was on cleaning duty today, so she planned to clean up ahead of time. That way, she could finish more quickly after school and conveniently pick up Miyu to go home together.