Chapter 319: Let’s Win!

"I had a feeling... but to think it is you..."

[Ghost] carefully unfolded her hood. What greeted everyone's sight was a white-haired girl. She is on the same age as Sinon.

"Ghost looks like that..."

"I never expected Ghost is a girl..." Lelouch muttered.

"That's more important now?"

Shinji was speechless to Seol. When there was a mission in Lelouch's world, Shinji and Seol were the ones who took care of it along with [Ghost]. Her ability to thoroughly hide her existence had been a huge help to the team. It is even more absurd then Shinji's [Pancosmic Loner]. Instead of having secondary abilities like sensing foreshadowing, her UR-rated ability focused solely on hiding.

Romani looked between Menma and Shiro back and forth. He had the eyes of 'It's something related to you again, yeah?'

"That's why I had that feeling..."

Before he went in this world, he 'sensed' that he would meet someone from a long time ago. It just didn't state the identity of the person.

"We'll be out for a while."

"Um."

He naturally held Menma's hand. Despite not meeting her for thousands of years, the familiarity remained. This was how they did it when they were a child.

"Take care."

The door closed after Shiro nodded to Romani's words.

*****

Shiro's first life isn't as illustrious compared to his two lives. There, he lived a normal life as a half-japanese.

"You're done. Okay."

"Roleplay? Pass."

"So childish."

He was a prodigy back then. He understood many things that normal kids wouldn't. Hence, his words often clashed with the kids around his age. There was only one friend group that stuck to him for good, and the one who introduced him there is none other than Menma—Meiko Honma.

"Uhm..."

"..."

The two of them couldn't find the words to start their conversation.

"...Reincarnation is real?"

"It is."

"I... I see."

Shiro sensed her turmoil beneath her facade.

"Don't blame yourself. It was nobody's fault."

"..."

Menma couldn't find the courage to face him.

"I'm alright. Aren't I alive?"

"Fukkun..."

She started crying uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..!"

Shiro immediately took the initiative to hug her. It was something they had done frequently in the past.

"It's my choice. Don't push yourself too much..."

"I'm sorry..."

Flashes of memories entered his mind.

Granted, his first life was ordinary. He didn't have any encounters with magic or supernatural. He is simply a child prodigy who had his college degree at a young age. When his parents suggested for him to socialize with others, he complied. That was how he ended up in their friend group.

Usually, he was often shunned due to his communication complex. He didn't act similar to the children at his age, thus he was left out. Only Menma took the trouble and stuck with him. Unlike others, her smile shone brightly in his mind.

That was the beginning of his first love.

Soon, he integrated with her group. It is a bunch of social misfits who are even more annoying than the average kids of their age. In a sense, it is a group of misfits. Perhaps due to that trait, every members of that group persistently clung to him. In no time, he accepted their group. he acted as the 'practically smart' kid. He guided the innocent kids in making the 'practically' correct decisions. Though, there are times when these 'practically' correct decisions gave them troubles.

These troubles were the source of their fun.

However, nobody expected for an accident to happen. That day, Menma nearly slipped into the river. It was fortunate that Shiro caught her hand and pulled her hand back. The unfortunate thing was that... this act of pulling her was very abrupt. In exchange for regaining her balance, Shiro was the one who slipped head-front into it.

That marked the end of his first life and the start of his second.

"Hic... Hic... I'm—"

"Please."

Menma's reddish eyes met with his. She was surprised to see concern instead of blame.

"I saved you that day because I wanted to. I want to keep you happy. So please... Stop blaming yourself."

"Fukkun..."

Never had Shiro thought that these memories would be evoked once more. In his long life, this crossed his mind many times. Just as how he died for her, Memna must've been blaming herself. He wanted to say these words since that day. Unfortunately, he was affected with the world's restrictions towards himself.

After she stopped crying, he decided to do something completely unlike his past self.

"You look beautiful when you smile."

"Wha—?"

Her startled face looked just as adorable in the past.

*****

"Ahem. Did the meeting start?"

Shiro entered the room followed by Menma. Seeing her hold his sleeves, everybody knew something happened.

"It hasn't yet. We waited for you two."

"Thanks."

"It's not a problem." Romani replied. "It's fine to have everyone attending this, anyways. It is the first time everyone of us gathered in a single place."

Due to the nature of their worlds, the chat group members are often busy with their own things. That left them with no time to gather like this moment.

"Anyways, the briefing will start. This involves our enemy this time, Goetia."

When King Solomon—Romani—died, his corpse was inhabited by Goetia. It is a sort of 'program' he implemented to watch over humanity after his death. When he saw the future with his [Clairvoyance], everything was alright. Meaning, his plan was a success.

However, everything changed when he turned into a 'human'. He lost his [Clairvoyance], but not without seeing something of grave importance.

The future he saw changed.

"He waited for the moment I became human with the grail's wish. That way, nobody would be able to see through his plans."

"That's the purpose of those corrupted grails..."

Kuroneko recalled her memories with Romani's story. Seven corrupted grails were placed into the seven crucial points for humanity. These historical events turned into 'singularities'. The grail only has purpose: to change the past.

If it succeeds, humanity will crumble. If it fails, the human order would be retained. Then again, there's still the whitening crisis initiated by the alien god.

"Goetia believes that he will succeed once the final master is eliminated. Chaldea would no longer be able to resist in his plan." Romani elaborated, "In my guess, I believe he knows about the coming future. This is why he's planning to eliminate the humans early on."

"That's the extent of [Clairvoyance]?" Touka asked.

"Yes. However, it has a potential weakness."

Romani turned to Shiro who smiled.

"Triple-stacked UR items which secretly shields Chaldea is enough to do the trick."

By fooling Goetia's [Clairvoyance] with three URs set up in Chaldea, it never knew the phenomenon about the foreigners. These are enough to shield the disturbance made by Altera and Euryale. As for Sinon, she was considered as a 'Servant' back when she assisted them during the 7th singularity. Her appearance did not alarm Goetia. With his [nega Summon], he could cancel the servant summoning system used by Chaldea.

His prowess as the fake king of Magecraft reached to every man-made magecraft. The summoning system is considered as such, thus he possessed a trump card against even Divine Spirits.

After some time, the meeting was concluded. Everyone talked about the necessary knowledge and preparations to be done during the battle.

"How about a group cheer? It's a waste if we don't do it." Kouzuki commented.

"Yes! It sets the mood before a decisive battle."

"Seol-san is all about battle, huh."

"It's not surprising. I guess he's letting out his maniac side as of now." Lelouch explained to Sinon.

With his time with Seol, he could already guess his thoughts every once in a while.

"What about the tagline? I suck at that one." (Romani)

"How about 'I came, I saw, I conquered'?" (Seol)

"That sucks..." (Kuroneko)

"How lame. Seol-kun's naming sense is even broken than Romani's." (Kouzuki)

"How about 'Carpe Diem'?" (Meteora)

"There's still something lacking... It's the fierceness..?" (Shinji)

"Right! I think it sounds better with more spirit." (Madoka)

"I suggest to narrow it down to simpler phrases. We might get better results with it." (Cardinal)

"We don't want another one from Seol-kun's naming sense." (Touka)

"I concur." (Kal'tsit)

"Even Kal'tsit, huh... Too bad for Seol-kun, but you have to sit out in this one." (Shiro)

"It's for the best of everyone." (Sinon)

In the midst of their deliberation, somebody finally came up with a proper line.

"How about kattejo..? (Let's Win)" (Menma)

"That... sounds nice." (Romani)

"Yeah..." (Sinon)

"Agreed." (Seol)

"Becoming self-aware now, Seol-nii?" (Shinji)

"Then, that's it!"

Collectively deciding on a phrase, they all stacked their hands on top of one another.

"""Let's Win!"""