February 3rd, Sunday, 9:59 a.m.
At the entrance of Spring Sakura Amusement Park in Shinto.
"Shirou, he's here! Matou-nii-san is here!"
Illya excitedly tugged on Shirou's arm, her face beaming with excitement as she waved enthusiastically at the yawning and sluggish Shinji who was walking toward them.
"Over here!"
Seeing Illya standing next to Shirou with a delighted expression, Shinji raised his hand in a casual wave. He could tell the siblings had already introduced themselves and had a brief chat before his arrival.
"You were almost late by a minute, Matou-nii-san. If you were late, Illya would have been angry."
With her hands on her hips, Illya's tone was playful. Shinji simply smiled and said, "Matou Shinji. That's my name."
"Shinji. Shinji. Got it!"
"Shinji, why do you look so tired?" Shirou suddenly asked.
"I went home and only got half an hour of sleep. How could I be energetic?"
Shinji complained, recalling the phone call he had received from Kotomine Church right after he had fallen asleep.
Apparently, there had been a massive explosion on a street in Shinto, with gas pipes blowing up and leaving a ten-meter-deep crater. The entire street was filled with gas, and if someone had lit a cigarette, they would have been blown to pieces.
After the call, Shinji remotely directed his company to handle the aftermath.
The news had already broadcast it that morning—
"Gas pipe explosion due to construction issues reveals a ten-meter-deep hole, exposing substandard road work. The involved construction team and the road have been sealed off for reconstruction. Traffic authorities have held an emergency press conference, sincerely (kneeling) apologizing to the public for the poor road quality."
After dealing with that, it was already seven o'clock. Shinji had just fallen back asleep when he felt something was wrong. Turning around, he saw Rider, who had snuck back after taking Bazett home and, under the pretext of patrolling, had spent the night exhausting his supplies.
Despite having something to do later, he couldn't resist Rider's persuasion and ended up working overtime for two hours.
Damn capitalist! Always exploiting the working class!
(For context, Sakura had gone to school before seven, even though it was the weekend, as the archery club's training never stopped.)
After finishing his "overtime" at nine, Shinji glanced at the somewhat satisfied yet exhausted Rider and, remembering his promise to the magical girl, patted her on the butt and headed out the door...
"Emiya, do you think blood and milk are really that similar?"
"Huh?" Shirou, who was standing in line, was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing," Shinji shook his head.
...
Illya was truly a child at heart, her eyes lighting up at the sight of all the rides and attractions in the amusement park.
By 1 p.m., she hadn't given Shinji and Shirou any time to rest, running around energetically without showing any signs of fatigue, completely engrossed in all the rides.
Shinji compared Shirou, who looked pale and wobbly after coming down from the drop tower, with Illya, who was still full of excitement.
"Seriously, Emiya, you can't even keep up with a little girl?"
"Someone who didn't even go on the ride has no right to say that! Shinji, did you deliberately run away?"
"What are you talking about? I just went to buy ice cream," Shinji said, handing them the ice creams he had bought. "You two didn't wait for me and went on without me."
"Let's go again! All three of us this time!"
"Go again?!" Shirou looked like he was questioning his life choices.
"Aren't you guys hungry? It's way past lunchtime."
In an open area, after finishing their lunch (bento brought by Shirou), Shinji lay on the grass with his hands behind his head, relaxing and occasionally chiming in on the conversation between Shirou and Illya.
Their conversation was casual and ordinary, talking about insignificant topics like what they had for breakfast, but Illya listened attentively and happily.
Shirou got to know Illya better through their conversation and felt sympathy for such a young and innocent child being dragged into a battle among magi.
"So, Illya, you came all the way from Germany for the Holy Grail War."
"Yes, that's right!" Illya nodded.
"Germany..." Shinji interjected. "Speaking of which, I'm planning to take Sakura abroad for a trip soon."
"Really?" Shirou looked surprised.
"Yeah, really."
"Fuji-nee is going to be upset again. Didn't you skip school for over two months last year in January to travel? You even missed the final exams. Sakura told me you came back just two days before spring break ended."
Shinji chuckled and sat up on the grass. "Emiya, if you ever get the chance, you should travel and see the world. Only when you see how vast the world is will your perspectives change, and you'll realize how naive some of your ideas are."
"You haven't changed at all, Shinji. Sometimes you say things that are hard to understand." Shirou sighed.
"Well, take a lesson from your father," Shinji shrugged. "Didn't you tell me your father often traveled abroad for long periods? Until he almost died, that is..."
Listening to Shinji's casual mention, Illya suddenly froze.
Kiritsugu often traveled abroad? Where did he go?
"That's true," Shirou mused, looking up at the sky. "I always hoped Kiritsugu would take me with him, but he never did. He kept traveling abroad tirelessly until his body couldn't take it anymore. I don't even know which countries he visited or what his goal was."
Shinji was surprised. "Really? You don't know which countries he went to?"
"Fuji-nee might know, but I don't," Shirou scratched his head and then remembered something. "Ah! Germany! I remember now. Although he never mentioned where he went, once, while eating my steak, Kiritsugu compared it to a German steak. He must have been to Germany!"
"I see... Maybe he had the same destination each time but never achieved his goal."
Hearing this, Illya, with her quick wit, pieced together a possibility, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Could it be...
Could it really be...
Thump! Thump! Thump...
Her heartbeat finally slowed a beat.
"That's possible. But from Kiritsugu's behavior, it seems he never accomplished that goal."
Shirou sighed, looking up at the sky with his hands supporting his back. "I thought about helping him achieve that goal, but he never told me what it was. Kiritsugu was really..."