40 - Reunion

Sunny's eye twitched at the ridiculous scene in front of him. The two siblings were ranting to each other about completely different topics, speaking over each other during this strange conversation.

Sunny and Nephis were negotiating with Morgan from Valor. Cassie couldn't come along with them since she was too busy trying to find a way to reach Shirou, who was separated from them by the Hollow Mountains. However, negotiations had to be postponed when there were signs of a fire starting in Shirou's room. Morgan seemed quite startled by the situation, and muttered about 'seeing him' and 'not ready'.

Sunny had absolutely no idea about what she was talking about, but ignored it as he used [Shadow Step] to immediately teleport to the room. There was no fire, but a completely different scene, which caused his eye to twitch.

It was quite ominous, as Sunny wondered why she was so worried about meeting Shirou.

However, he only ended up with the peculiar sight of Shirou and Miyu going on about a whole list of things. He didn't even know if they were actively listening each other.

At some point, Sunny heard Shirou say something about 'killing two Great Titans', and almost choked on the air itself. He decided that this has gone on long enough, and brought attention to himself. He loudly coughed, causing the siblings to look at him. Shirou analyzed him for a second before nodding to himself.

"The height matches up."

A vein threatened to burst within Sunny's forehead.

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Don't worry about it. Onto more important matters, you haven't stolen my sister or anything, right?"

Sunny was absolutely perplexed by what he said.

"…I don't think so? Why?"

Shirou sighed in relief.

"That's good. I would have had to kill you. There can only be one, you know?"

Strangely enough, Sunny actually agreed with him.

"Yes, of course."

As Miyu kept ranting about random topics, Sunny heard footsteps approaching down the hall. He used his [Shadow Control] to see who it was, and saw Nephis heading in this direction. She must have been wondering what was taking them so long.

Once she had arrived, she peaked over Sunny's head and froze. This did not last long however as she went back to normal almost immediately.

"Hello, Shirou."

"Hello to you as well, Neph. Now that I've got a good look, you two really have a long-distance relationship."

Sunny and Nephis both tilted their heads in confusion.

What a random thing to say to people you haven't seen in over a year.

Shirou looked at the two of them as if reminiscing about something. He gave Sunny a somber look, and clasped his hands in respect.

"I wish you the best of luck, Master Sunless. May you one day grasp the twin suns above your head."

Huh? How did he know I was a Master.

Sunny looked up to see what he meant, and immediately went red.

It seemed that Nephis hadn't grasped the meaning behind the words yet.

"Did… did you grow perverted after not seeing a woman for over a year?!"

Miyu suddenly seemed very interested in the conversation.

Nephis still hadn't grasped what they were talking about.

"Huh? Actually, I'll have you know that it was the opposite."

"Are you telling me that not seeing any women for over a year turned you into a monk?! After what you just said, I don't believe that!"

Shirou shook his head before giving Sunny a smug look.

"You've got it all wrong, Sunny. Who said that I have never seen a woman during the past year. On the contrary, I have seen much more of a woman than I have ever had. Felt it as well!"

Nephis covered her chest as she slowly walked away.

Miyu was looking towards Shirou with stars in her eyes.

Sunny started to feel a pressure press down on him.

Is this… the power of one who has reached a place where all men desire to reach?

"Have you ever heard of a mere Sleeper seducing a Saint? Well, now you have. Rejoice, Master Sunless. I shall teach you my ways!"

…How has his pelvis not been turned to dust yet?!

————————————————————

Heh. You can never beat me, Sunny.

Shirou and Sunny had a strange rivalry. They constantly competed on who could achieve the craziest things. However, at this moment, Shirou had the bastard child of fate completely beat.

He had accomplished feats not even heard of in legends.

Seducing a Saint.

As a Sleeper.

Killing two Great Titans.

As a Sleeper.

Having a Multiple Titans under his command. One of which was Corrupted.

As a Sleeper.

"…And that's how I got another Glorious appraisal."

Sunny was not pouting.

"Well, the faculty was probably already alerted that you were awake, so you're going to be hounded with questions for a while."

"Oh…"

Shirou didn't like being asked questions.

————————————————————

After an entire interview in which Shirou threw around vague answers, he was finally free to go home. They had tried to offer him therapy session, but Shirou knew that those kinds of things would only do more harm than good.

They were designed to fix people after all.

If Shirou had taken up their offer, he might have become "normal". If that occurred, he would have most likely lost [Mind of Steel], and they may have deemed his dream as an unhealthy obsession.

It was, but that wasn't important right now.

Plus, they would also try to get information out of him that way as well, so it was definitely not a good choice.

As Shirou, Sunny, Nephis, and Miyu walked exited the academy, Shirou thought about what had just happened.

When he entered the cafeteria, all the female Sleepers looked at him with red faces. He recalled what Miyu had once said to him before he he had went to the Dream Realm.

He had indeed seduced every Sleeper in the academy.

He looked down at his little sister, who walked happily while holding onto his hand.

…Does she have a Divine Aspect that has to do with divinations?

Shirou shivered at the thought that Miyu might have had such abilities from the start.

After a couple of hours of hopping between trains, the four of them had finally arrived at Shirou's place.

Sunny and Nephis set up an anchor at his house, as they left to inform the others about his return.

"Big bro, did you really kill two Great Titans?"

"Well, I had the help of a royal tomboy, but I did."

Miyu nodded her head, deep in thought.

"I see. Obtaining the tomboy, yandere, and princess archetype in the same package is quite efficient."

"Where did you even learn some of those words?"

Shirou made Miyu go to bed, as he left the mansion in order to go to the shed. Shirou used to use it to fix things, but he now had a much better use for it.

He placed the [Daemonic Forge], and felt his parameters skyrocket. He has reached the power of a Transcendent Titan.

Of course, if he were to exit the shed, he would go back to being an Ascended Titan, but it was still quite useful.

Shirou was now cooking within his kitchen, using the few ingredients he had left. Miyu seemed to have mostly bought fast food and candy, which left him with almost nothing left. He clenched his hand in betrayal.

No sister of mine should be eating fast food. How could she?!

By the time that he was finished Sunny and Nephis had returned. They had strange expressions on their faces as they looked towards him.

"…Shirou, prepare yourself."

"…Sunny, would you mind explaining what I'm going to have to prepare myself for?"

Sunny and Nephis glanced at each other, before nodding in perfect harmony.

…Seriously, why are they so in sync?!

"…People are coming."

"…Did you give my address out to strangers?"

"Of course not! Cassie is coming!"

Shirou was completely perplexed.

"Why should I prepare for that?"

"…Let's just say, that if you say anything about what happened with the Transcendent, you might die."

…Well, that sounds ominous.

"Um… if you say so?"

"Seriously, don't say anything."

"I get it! I won't say anything about that."

"Oh, the others will be here too."

"…Which others are you talking about?"

"Effie and Kai of course."

Shirou shuddered at those two names.

"First off, that barbaric woman cannot be inside my house. I must protect my father's place after all. Second, if Miyu catches sight of Kai, it'll be over for my career as an older brother."

Surprisingly, Sunny seemed to have made some countermeasures.

From experience?

"You can downplay Kai in front of your sister. Well, she's asleep, so it shouldn't matter too much. But if she wakes up, just make him look lame. He'll understand."

Oh, Sunny. Have I told you how much I love you?

Shirou imagined a timeline where Sunny was a woman, and almost cried about not being in that timeline.

Sunny shivered as he felt something repulsive try to change him.

"Also, you can't do anything about Effie. I'll make her pay for anything she breaks."

…I'm sorry old man…

Shirou fell to his hands and knees as someone knocked on the door. He heard either Sunny or Nephis opening it, but he couldn't care less.

I have failed.

He felt somebody wrap their arms around him, and something soft press against his head, but he ignored it as he reminisced about the time he had spent here.

It was nice while it lasted.

He finally snapped out of it when he felt something wet fall on his head. He looked up to see a certain blind oracle hugging his head against her chest.

…Nice…wait, no!

He quickly released himself from her grip. He pulled her up before attempting to cheer Cassie up.

"Hello there, Casserole. Is it just me, or do you seem more refined than usual today? Ah, it seems that you have gained some vertical length. Is your hair silkier than usual? Oh my, it looks like your bre- I mean, face has gotten smoother."

Shirou patted her head for good measure.

…Why is she looking at me like that?

Cassie had a soft smile on her face, not reacting even slightly at what he had said.

"It is good to see you again, Shirou. It seems that you have gained some height. Did you get more handsome as well?"

She was feeling him up.

Shirou looked towards Sunny, who walked away slowly.

"…This is what you created, Forged In Hell."

…No.

Shirou fell to his knees once more. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't accept it.

I can't live in a world where Cassie doesn't blush!

[End of Volume Two: The Daemon Blacksmith.]