Proof of Our Friendship

That was a fact acknowledged by both Kiritsugu and her.

The sudden disappearance of the Tsukishiro family's barrier and the inexplicable annihilation of the Sakutsuki Clan had definitely been the result of someone acting deliberately. Another reason was those two strange people from that day. Their goal might have been to obtain Miyu, an existence comparable to the Cauldron of All Wishes.

The thought of being able to grant any wish without distinction was terrifying.

As she headed toward the shopping district, a touch of spring gradually entered Ritsuka's sight. A park-like area covered in lush greenery stood at the boundary between the residential district and the commercial district. Beyond it lay the New Capital.

—Fuyuki Park.

It had once been engulfed by a great fire. Aside from the previous Black Mud incident, that fire had caused Fuyuki City's greatest disaster, killing countless people.

Ritsuka had nearly died in that fire too.

Fuyuki Park, once burned bare, had now been renovated and seemed to have regained its former vitality.

"What's that?"

Looking at a rather conspicuous installation in the park, Ritsuka fell into confusion.

It was something like a high-jump setup, with a large foam mat behind it. It had been placed strangely in the middle of the park, despite the fact that hardly anyone would use it.

The height appeared adjustable by hand. Even children could try jumping without the bar—though they would definitely crawl under it from below. Jumping over it was impossible. No matter how outrageous Fuyuki's children were, they could not fly over it.

After hesitating for a moment, Ritsuka stuffed all the notes into her pocket and ran into the park, azure patterns slowly climbing up her legs.

After a running start, she leaped. Boosted by Reinforcement Magic, Ritsuka soared over the bar—then promptly slammed headfirst into the plastic pole.

The pole went flying from the impact of her head. Ritsuka landed face-first on the mat, and the air suddenly turned awkward. She lay there silently, not daring to raise her head.

So embarrassing. Her first attempt at showing off in this new life had ended in failure. Thankfully, nobody had seen it...

"...Senpai?"

A soft voice sounded beside her ear, like a faintly warm breeze brushing past it. It should have been a pleasant call, but at that moment it felt like hell made manifest, filling her with unease.

"..."

An illusion. It had to be an illusion. The overwhelming embarrassment enveloping her body and mind had surely made her imagine that someone had passed by and witnessed this.

The voice sounded so much like Sakura. It was probably only because she had not seen her in a while and missed her. There was no way it could be such a coincidence...

"Senpai, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

The auditory hallucination sounded again beside her ear, now carrying a trace of anxiety. Then came the sound of something being set down, followed by a pair of small hands gently shaking her body.

This was gradually becoming bad.

Honestly, if Sakura beside her really was real, then her behavior—like an ostrich burying its head in the grass when danger came—looked unbelievably stupid.

Supporting herself with both hands, Ritsuka raised her head and looked beside her. Purple hair entered her vision. Little Sakura stood there with a tranquil smile.

"I'm fine. I just underestimated the height and overestimated myself."

Ritsuka stared with dead-fish eyes, feeling like she might as well die. Being seen failing at showing off by someone she knew was just too embarrassing. It felt like both body and soul had been humiliated.

She could never face anyone again...

After pulling herself together and dusting off her clothes, Ritsuka stood up from the mat and looked at Sakura beside her. "Sakura, what a coincidence. Just seeing you has made me feel better."

"Yes, I'm happy to see you too, Senpai."

To be fair, Sakura's smile was explosively cute, and it carried such a healing feeling—even if there was a faint trace of something else within it.

"Sakura, what are you doing out here alone? It wouldn't be good if you ran into danger without an adult around."

A girl as cute as Sakura, so small and slender... certain dangerous people would definitely not mind taking the risk. They might even think spending the rest of their lives in prison was worth it.

She wore a small purple jacket and a pleated skirt. A red ribbon tied up a lock of hair at one side of her head. The only flaw was that her somewhat long bangs slightly covered her eyes, adding a gloomy air to the cute-looking Sakura.

"I came out for a walk. Besides, aren't you alone too, Senpai?"

Not minding Ritsuka's gaze sweeping over her like a scanner, Sakura merely wore a slightly troubled smile.

Being admired was a good thing, but being so blatant about it was not ideal either. Still, she did not have the courage to refuse...

Sakura suddenly widened her eyes. Ritsuka had reached out and gently stroked her head, speaking slowly in a somewhat worried tone. "You need to learn how to refuse. It's too foolish to keep enduring something you can't stand."

Looking at Ritsuka's incomparably gentle movements and cheerful smile, Sakura's body trembled. She lowered her head slightly, and her eyes grew moist.

—The first time... This was the first time someone had placed a hand on her head... Her hair did not hurt...

"Senpai, did you come out alone to do something?"

Secretly wiping the corner of her eye, Sakura tried her best to reveal a genuine smile.

At least, it looked utterly genuine to Ritsuka—a smile that could only appear from heartfelt happiness.

"My purpose? I can tell Sakura, but you can't tell anyone else, okay~?"

Ritsuka raised her right fist beside her face and struck a cute pose. Her mysterious manner stirred Sakura's curiosity.

"My foster father, Uncle Kiritsugu—Golden-Haired Lion King slash that—adopted another child. I now have a little sister named Emiya Miyu."

"I came out this time to buy her some daily necessities and clothes."

Looking at the thoughtful Sakura standing close to her, Ritsuka broke into a bright smile.

"A little sister... What an enviable word."

Sakura smiled somewhat forlornly. There was nothing unusual about her, but that smile was a little heartbreaking. Ritsuka had no idea what she had said wrong.

There was nothing she could do if she could not figure it out. Ritsuka could only take another path and change the subject—

"By the way, Sakura, do you want to go shopping with me?"

"No."

She had been rejected cleanly and decisively!!

Ritsuka blankly dropped to her knees, utterly unable to believe it. What had she done to upset Sakura? That answer had been far too final.

"Well, I was only joking with you, Senpai. Refusing someone for the first time feels pretty nice."

Her smile bloomed like a flower. A breeze lifted Sakura's bangs from her eyes, and Ritsuka's figure reflected in her sapphire-like pupils. Playfully, she raised her right fist to her cheek and struck a cute pose.

Meow~

Ritsuka clutched her chest, nearly fainting from happiness.

Fuyuki Park was not far from the shopping street. After all, Fuyuki Park itself was the dividing point between the residential and commercial districts of Miyamachi.

After leaving the sparsely populated residential district, the whole atmosphere changed completely. Snack stalls lined the streets, all kinds of shops adorned the shopping district with their own distinct colors, and the place was lively without being noisy.

The two little girls entering this area were as inconspicuous as tiny splashes falling into the sea, yet they could feel the vastness of that sea together. Shopping became more interesting with someone by their side.

They kept buying street snacks like cotton candy and taiyaki. Seeing Sakura's smile grow more frequent, Ritsuka's mood, which had not been great because of Miyu and Kiritsugu, improved as well.

PS: I was playing ARK: Survival Evolved and forgot to update. Sorry.

As Proof of Friendship

Most of the buildings in the shopping district were not Japanese-style structures, but Western-style building complexes, making the whole of Fuyuki City look somewhat different.

With the Miyuen River as the dividing line, the east side was the heavily developed and highly modernized New Capital. Miyamachi on the west side remained a cluster of Japanese-style buildings as always. The Emiya Residence was included among them, with its distinctly Japanese architectural style.

The New Capital always gave people the feeling that it had developed too quickly. Since the fire several years ago, it had changed beyond recognition.

Looking at the New Capital near the shopping district, whose scenery differed greatly from her vague memories, Ritsuka sighed. "It really is... kind of incredible."

The area where she had once lived was the New Capital. It had changed from a style identical to Miyamachi's into a highly advanced city. Time was far too miraculous a thing; it could always quietly smooth over certain wounds.

"Senpai?"

Sakura tilted her head, unable to quite understand what Ritsuka meant.

She did not know Ritsuka's past, so naturally she could not understand the reason for her sentiment. No one would have imagined that the place where she had once lived could change so drastically in just a few years after an extraordinary disaster.

"Sakura, when I was little, I actually lived in Fuyuki the whole time. Those were memories that were overly ordinary and mundane, but still wonderful."

Back then, she had lived alone in the world, sleeping in the basement of a rented room that cost a few hundred yen a month. Until the very end, no one had cared. She had merely been one person among the vast sea of people.

Being able to regain a complete family after that had been something beyond imagination, something deeply satisfying.

Ritsuka showed a carefree smile and turned to look at Sakura beside her.

"Do you know about the great fire in Fuyuki City around four or five years ago?"

Sakura nodded. The fire that had burned through half the city had been terrifying. Almost no local residents of Fuyuki City could forget it—though there were not many of them left.

Many of Fuyuki City's current residents had only moved here from elsewhere in recent years, and only a small number had even heard of that massive fire.

Then, a few days ago, the towns around Miyamachi had been swallowed by black fog, and Fuyuki City's population had dwindled even further. Now, there was no bustling sight to be found when walking the streets, only quiet desolation.

"Back then, I lost my family in that fire. I was seriously injured myself too. I only managed to survive thanks to Uncle Kiritsugu."

"Want to touch it?"

Ritsuka chuckled as she rolled up her sleeve, exposing the hideous scar on her forearm to the air.

The injury that had nearly ruined her left arm, the viciously twisted scar, made Sakura widen her eyes. The painful-looking marks covered the entire forearm, like a dragon tattoo—except this dragon was far too ugly.

"Senpai... Does it still hurt?"

Sakura reached out and lightly poked it, watching Ritsuka's expression at the same time. Only when she saw no reaction did she sigh in relief.

Those old injuries had been there for too long. Even if they had hurt terribly back then, she had long forgotten. Time was far too miraculous a thing; it could always quietly smooth over many wounds.

Perhaps still not entirely reassured, Sakura held Ritsuka's arm suspended in the air, then gently placed both hands upon it and slowly spread them apart.

"Pain, pain, fly away~"

"...Pfft, Sakura is so cute."

It was clearly a strange thing to do, but Sakura's cuteness made it vivid. Little Sakura's cheeks reddened at Ritsuka's laughter, and she puffed out her lips, yet still insisted on repeating the "incantation" once more.

After completing the inexplicable ritual, Sakura released Ritsuka's arm, crossed her arms over her chest, turned away, and put on an expression that said she would ignore Ritsuka from now on.

"Hmph. Sakura was clearly helping Senpai, yet Senpai laughed at me... You're awful. I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Sakura, don't be angry. It was my fault."

Ritsuka pressed her hands together and lowered her head slightly. Seeing Sakura secretly glance in her direction, she could not help grinning.

She definitely had to coax Sakura in this situation. Changing the subject after apologizing seemed like a good choice. Ritsuka's eyes rolled around as she immediately came up with a good idea. "Sakura, what were you doing just now? Can you tell me?"

"Of course. It was my own 'Pain, Pain, Fly Away Magic.' It's very useful."

She hurriedly introduced it as though presenting a treasure. In truth, Sakura found it difficult to express anger toward anyone. She had done that only because she wanted Senpai to apologize and wanted to see what she looked like while apologizing.

Honestly, Senpai was super cute when sincerely apologizing...

"Pain, Pain, Fly Away Magic... So the incantation is 'Pain, pain, fly away'? Hmm... I've learned it."

Ritsuka gave Sakura a thumbs-up. This "magic" Sakura had created was very similar to something she had heard her mother recite before. It probably really worked, right?

Sakura nodded in satisfaction, turned, and headed first toward the other side of the street. Ritsuka hurried to catch up.

The shopping district was livelier than the residential area of Miyamachi. Customers came and went in front of the shops, and Ritsuka and Sakura blended into the crowd so completely that they were nowhere to be seen. Happily, they enjoyed their first outing together with someone their own age.

Throwing darts, scooping goldfish, eating takoyaki...

The two tried almost everything along the way, and both smiled much more. Sakura, who had initially been somewhat restrained, laughed much more often too.

Of course, there were times when the games beat them senseless—for example, the goldfish-scooping net was so thin that it broke after one use. But in the end, before Ritsuka's Mind's Eye (True): B combined with Reinforcement Magic, it still had no choice but to surrender.

She scooped up every single goldfish in one go, but seeing the shop owner's tearful, grief-stricken expression, the kind-hearted pair returned the goldfish to him.

After bidding farewell to the tearfully grateful shop owner, Ritsuka and Sakura finally arrived at the clothing store in the shopping district. Ritsuka took out the notes she had prepared beforehand, which listed the sizes of clothes Miyu needed.

The dazzling array of Japanese-style clothes and fashionable Western outfits left them overwhelmed. Sakura was at a loss too and looked toward Ritsuka, who had lowered her head to search through the notes.

"Senpai, what's our target?"

"Umm, Sakura, wait a moment. Let me take a look."

Ritsuka pushed aside the notes listing toothbrushes and shampoo, then found the note containing Miyu's body measurements. She had personally measured them under less-than-ideal conditions.

Since Miyu had become her family, she needed to prepare everything properly. The notes might have looked a little excessive.