C99

The Holy Church and the Mage's Association had taken action, and many magi were collaborating secretly. As the forces of the magi world began to gather in Miyama town, many construction projects in the area came to a halt. The workers, with permission from their superiors, began to evacuate the town.

Some intelligent individuals or those who had nearly perished in the Holy Grail War also noticed something was amiss and immediately withdrew to Shinto. The storm clouds were gathering, but the impending battle couldn't quell the students' enthusiasm.

There was a tense rivalry between the students of Tsukimou Elementary School and the Hachigata students who attended classes there. Both groups were eager to demonstrate their superior athletic abilities during the upcoming sports festival.

Perhaps this was the unique competitive spirit of the Japanese people. After all, even holding a school festival required comparing oneself to a school a few streets away, and now that the students of the two schools were studying together, it naturally sparked a sense of competition between them.

The senior student council members volunteered to assist the teachers in registering and recording the scores at each competition venue. Parents sat on the sidelines, treating their children with lunch boxes while pointing and laughing at the participating children. Families were happy, and everything was harmonious.

At the school gate, the Matou family had set up a stall and were competing with other vendors, shouting and selling their products. They even put up a sign that read "buy one drink, get the second at 20% off," attracting many students to make a purchase.

Matou Shinji wandered around the competition venue, delivering tea and water to his classmates who had just finished running. He took care of them and subtly promoted his own products. During the brief moments of downtime, he would pull out his memo from his pocket and review the words and mathematical formulas he had diligently memorized the night before.

The entire venue was filled with the sound of chatter and laughter. In a world where the internet had not yet gained popularity, everything seemed warm, albeit punctuated by the occasional awkward moment. One such moment occurred when Fujimaru Chiyo, who was accompanying Sakura, crossed paths with Tohsaka Aoi, who was with Rin.

As the parent with children approached, both Mrs. Fujimaru and Tohsaka Aoi felt a sense of embarrassment, though the latter experienced a particularly strong pang of guilt towards Sakura. After all, Aoi had never defied Tokiomi's will, first arranging for Sakura's adoption into the Matou family and later personally transferring her to the Fujimaru family. The extent of Sakura's resentment towards Aoi could only be imagined, but the fact that it had not affected her relationship with Rin was a stroke of luck for Aoi.

Despite the awkwardness, Aoi felt compelled to resolve the tension, so she shook the cake in her hand and asked, "Mrs. Fujimaru, Sakura, would you like to have some cake together?"

Sakura responded with a polite, "Sure. Thank you, Mom."

Aoi froze in shock, her body trembling involuntarily.

Rin quickly pulled Sakura aside and whispered, "Do you forgive Mom, Sakura?"

"I don't know if I forgive her, but I feel happy now. Because Sakura is loved by three moms, two dads, an older brother, and an older sister. That makes me very happy," Sakura smiled.

Rin murmured under her breath, "Where did the third mother come from?"

Despite the prior tension, Sakura didn't show any discomfort, and both sides came together amicably. Mrs. Fujimaru didn't have a strong desire to monopolize Sakura, but rather, as someone who had been abandoned by her parents from a young age, she was overjoyed to see Sakura untangle her heart and find happiness in the love of multiple parents.

The two formerly harmonious families were later joined by Luvia, who brought her butler Auguste along, but this only served to ignite a heated argument between Rin and Luvia that seemed to span every topic under the sun. Sakura could only mediate the conflict with a cold sweat, hoping to bring the two sides to a peaceful resolution.

The adults watched with nostalgic smiles, recalling their own youthful vigor and the occasional disagreements that came with it.

In the midst of the argument, Sakura learned that Rin would be leaving Fuyuki City soon to go to Finland. At first, Sakura felt a pang of sadness at the prospect of their impending separation, but after Rin promised to keep in touch, her spirits lifted.

The three girls continued chatting and inevitably, the conversation turned to Shirou.

"Huh? That scoundrel didn't go home yesterday? You still haven't seen him? Are you kidding me? His pole vault is waiting for him!" Rin said with annoyance. "Is he scared that he won't be able to jump higher than Hachigata, so he ran away? Even with his sudden growth spurt, has he turned into a coward?"

Iseei interjected to clarify the situation. "Let me make it clear that Fujimaru-kun didn't run away. He's actually on his way here."

The sudden appearance of Iseei startled the three little girls. "Who are you?" one of them asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"My name is Ryuudou Issei, and I'm a close friend of Fujimaru-kun's," Issei spoke up, pushing up his glasses. "I just wanted to clarify one thing - Fujimaru-kun is not a scoundrel. His name is Fujimaru Shirou, and I would appreciate it if you didn't give my friend a derogatory nickname."

"The friend of the scoundrel? Hmph! I'll call him scoundrel if I want to. What are you going to do about it?" Rin asked, crossing her arms defiantly.

Issei simply smiled and crossed his legs.

"Well, then I'll just have to recite some sutras," he said, before launching into a recitation of Buddhist scriptures. "As the Buddha once said..."

Rin, Sakura, and Luvia: "..."

Rin pulled the two little girls over and whispered, "This person is so weird!"

Issei overheard her whisper and said, "I am weird, so what?"

As Rin's words reached his ears, Issei couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance. Growing up as the son of the head of Ryuudou Temple, he had been surrounded by the chanting of Buddhist scriptures from a young age. But as he got older, he began to question the concept of what true beauty really was, caught between the teachings of Buddhism and his own conflicting thoughts.

Issei had always felt like an outsider, rejected by those around him whenever he tried to express his ideas. He struggled to fit in with his peers at school and had few friends as a result of his experiences.

His experiences were similar in some ways to Kotomine Kirei's, but there was one key difference: at the age of six, Issei met Shirou. Shirou was the first person who had truly listened to Issei's thoughts and ideas, and as a result, Issei considered him to be his closest friend.

"Hey! Weirdo, do you know where that scoundrel went?" Rin asked.

"He's on his way to becoming a monk," Issei replied with a slight smile.

"What?" Rin was confused.

"I'm sorry, I misspoke," Issei said, correcting himself. "He stayed overnight at my family's temple and should be waking up soon to come here."

"Oh, you're Issei, the one Shirou always speaks so highly of," Mrs. Fujimaru chuckled. "Yesterday, Shirou caused a bit of trouble for your family."

"It's alright. We played Go all night. I had a great time, Auntie."

"Why don't you come and play at our house next time? Shirou will be thrilled to have you over," Mrs. Fujimaru suggested.

"I know," Issei said, smiling. "He's always been very eager to invite me."

"Ah! What are you talking about?" Rin exclaimed, clearly taken aback. "Did he forget today's pole vault because he played Go with you yesterday?" She shook her head, finding the idea ridiculous. "He's probably just afraid of losing to us Hachigata students, right? Shirou always puts on a mature facade and treats me like a little sister, but he's just scared of appearing incompetent in front of me. That's why he doesn't want to reveal his true self to me." Rin crossed her arms, looking unhappy. "Hmph! Scoundrel Fujimaru, just as I expected!"

"Hahaha--" Luvia burst out laughing. "So that's why you were so insistent on staying until the end of the sports festival before going to Finland with me? But it looks like you won't be able to do that anymore." She smirked, finding the situation amusing. "Hmph hmph hmph, this situation is truly befitting of a distant relative from the countryside like you."

"Spiritual compensation, golden drill hair!"

"Curse you!" Luvia bit her handkerchief. "You're just a Tohsaka Repeater!"

As she observed the two bickering individuals, Sakura reached into her pocket and touched the seven black pearls she had collected.

She could gather two more to make nine, which would be a perfect birthday present for her brother. She couldn't wait to see his face when he received them.

Sakura smiled, lost in her thoughts until she suddenly felt a connection with a certain entity, and a nervous and urgent voice echoed in her heart.

"Leave!"

Sakura was taken aback.

"Hurry, my child! It's not safe here!!!"

Sakura was still reeling from shock when she heard a loud boom and felt the ground shaking beneath her feet.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom--!!!"

In the midst of the peaceful festival, the ground ruptured as if it had a life of its own. Suddenly, green vines emerged and rapidly grew with tremendous strength. In the blink of an eye, the vines had ensnared the entire school campus, lifting it up into the air!

...

Next 115 Chapters are up on my Patreon: patreon.com/bcloud