[ops just remember tsukasa hair is brown, my bad G]
The scene shifted.
A gray room appeared, empty and silent.
The walls were plain and colorless, almost lifeless, as if the space itself had been stripped of anything resembling warmth or personality. The air felt still, heavy with an unnatural quiet.
Three boys stood inside the room.
Behind each of them sat a simple metal chair.
Above them, a single light bulb hung loosely from the ceiling.
The bulb flickered occasionally, casting uneven light across the room and creating shifting shadows that crawled across the gray walls.
One of the boys had auburn hair.
In his left hand, he held a bowl of rice topped with pan-seared salmon. The fish glistened slightly under the weak light, its surface lightly crisped from the pan. In his other hand was a pair of chopsticks, currently holding a small portion of rice and salmon.
His mouth was already open wide, clearly about to take a bite.
The other two boys stared at him with strange expressions.
All three of them appeared to be around the same age.
One of them possessed the unmistakable dead-fish eyes of someone who had long since lost faith in humanity.
The other had brown-black hair and a magenta camera hanging casually around his neck.
"You two want some?"
The auburn-haired boy spoke casually, extending the bowl toward them as if offering food to strangers in a mysterious gray void was the most normal thing in the world.
"Um... sure."
The dead-fish-eyed boy carefully took the bowl from his hands using both of his own. He then looked down at the food in silence.
Being suddenly transported into a dull, doorless room was already confusing enough.
Now a random stranger had casually handed him a bowl of food.
What kind of situation is this...
"Hey, that's actually a nice smile."
The boy beside him commented, sounding genuinely surprised.
He seemed almost fascinated that his so-called "friend" had accepted food from a stranger without hesitation.
The death fish eyes then also gave the food a small sniff.
Oh?
It actually smells pretty good...
"So... do either of you know where we are?"
Shirou looked around the room as he spoke, his eyes scanning every corner of the space.
There were no windows.
No doors.
No visible entrance or exit.
Just blank gray walls surrounding them on all sides.
No matter how he thought about it, this situation was completely abnormal.
Well... I guess today can barely be called normal.
He had just died.
Then somehow woke up in another world.
Then a floating blue screen appeared in front of him.
And now he was standing in a mysterious gray room with two strangers.
At this point, Shirou honestly just wanted to know what kind of mage craft could possibly cause something like this.
"Not really," the brown-black-haired boy replied.
"We just got here after pressing a floating blue screen."
The dead-fish-eyed boy nodded silently in agreement.
[Welcome, Heroes!]
A sudden female voice echoed throughout the room.
All three boys immediately stiffened in surprise.
They quickly looked around in every direction.
Yet no one else was there.
Then the blue screen appeared again.
This time, however, it displayed something new.
A face.
It looked almost like a video call interface, though the image did not move naturally like a real person. Instead, it resembled an animated avatar of a girl with long blue hair.
[Hikigaya Hachiman, Tsukasa Kadoya, and finally Shirou Emiya.]
[My name is Lucia. I am your AI assistant, here to guide you toward your future journey.]
"Future..."
"Journey?"
The boys muttered almost simultaneously.
[Indeed.]
[The Council of Outergods has selected all of you to protect the Observational Multiverse of Linear-04.]
[The decision was reached through a majority vote of two-thirds of the council.]
What the hell? Protect the multiverse? Are you serious?
Hikigaya Hachiman thought internally.
[I apologize if you are feeling anger or confusion.]
[However, the moment each of you agreed, your fate was sealed as protectors of this multiverse.]
Hikigaya's eyes widened.
He hadn't spoken a word.
Yet she responded directly to his thoughts.
"Protect the multiverse?"
Tsukasa asked calmly.
"From who?"
Unlike the others, he didn't stutter or panic.
After all, this wasn't the first time he had heard the term multiverse.
He had traveled between worlds before.
There was a reason people once called him the Destroyer of Worlds—even if what happened back then had mostly been accidental.
[Ah. As expected from Kamen Rider Decade.]
[Asking such a question is not strange at all.]
Tsukasa's eyes widened slightly at that statement.
It wasn't exactly a secret that he was Decade.
But it definitely wasn't something random entities should casually know.
"Oh?"
A small smirk slowly appeared on his face.
"Am I that popular? For you to know something like that?"
[Not necessarily.]
[While you are both famous and infamous across your multiverse's timeline, I merely know each of you through the information provided by the council.]
Hikigaya, who was quite literally the only normal person in the room, began to realize something.
Kamen Rider?
Multiverse?
Are you kidding me?
His brain struggled to process the situation.
This basically meant that the person standing beside him—his new classmate—wasn't a normal person at all.The odds of something like this happening were about as likely as King Gilgamesh suddenly caring enough to invest in the Japanese stock market.
Because even America couldn't make that happen.
[Answering your question, the three of you have been appointed to remove, eliminate, and neutralize anomalies that exist within the worlds you will be traveling to.]
"I see..."
Tsukasa placed a hand on his chin as he looked down, seemingly thinking through the information.
Then Shirou spoke up.
"What happens if we fail?"
The moment the question left his mouth, the room grew silent.
The faint buzzing of the flickering light bulb suddenly felt much louder than before.
[Well, a failed mission does not necessarily lead to death… unless you actually die during the mission.]
Hearing that made Hikigaya feel a small wave of relief.
Not a lot.
Just enough for his shoulders to loosen slightly.
Meanwhile, both Shirou and Tsukasa showed almost no reaction at all. Their expressions remained calm, as if the concept of life-threatening missions wasn't particularly shocking to them.
Then Lucia continued.
[However… some mission failures can lead to…]
The blue screen paused for a brief moment.
[The destruction of that particular world.]
"Huh?"
--
This is more serious than I thought…
Shirou thought to himself.
If the situation was truly that dangerous, then he had no real issue becoming this so-called protector.
If people were in danger, he would help.
That much had always been part of him.
However…
There was one condition.
As long as I'm not just cleaning up humanity's own mess.
He had no desire to walk down the same path that cynical Archer had taken.
He wasn't interested in becoming a tool that endlessly fixed the mistakes of others.
Still, another thought suddenly struck him.
"But isn't that a bit of a stretch?"
Shirou said slowly.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"Unless—"
A realization formed in his mind.
"Are you saying these anomalies are actually that strong?"
He looked directly at the screen.
"Strong enough to destroy an entire world?"
[...I'm sorry.]
Lucia answered after a short pause.
[I do not know.]
"You don't know?"
Hikigaya's voice carried genuine disbelief.
Just moments ago she had spoken like an all-knowing guide.
Now she couldn't even answer the most important question they had asked.
[The council only provided me with the danger classification for each world.]
[I do not possess full knowledge regarding the specific capabilities of the anomalies themselve-]
"Then get me out of here."
Hachiman spoke in the most direct tone possible.
He continued before anyone else could interrupt.
"Sure, Tsukasa might be able to help you with whatever powers he has."
He pointed toward Tsukasa.
"That auburn-haired guy probably isn't normal either if some cosmic council chose him."
Then he pointed at Shirou.
"But who the hell am I?"
He spread his hands slightly.
"I'm just a normal guy who barely passes the social standards this world expects from me."
His voice carried clear frustration now.
"Sure, it's my fault that I pressed 'yes' out of curiosity."
"But believe me, you will get zero benefit from me joining whatever job those outer gods want."
He scoffed slightly.
"I don't want to be their instrument"
"Or a hero."
"So I'm out."
"Just go find someone else."
[I'm sorry, Hikigaya.]
Lucia replied calmly.
[But I cannot do that.]
"Why not?"
Hikigaya immediately shot back.
"Just find another normal person in this world."
"I'm sure you'll find someone better than me in every possible way."
Shirou stepped forward slightly.
"Lucia, I have to agree with Hachiman here."
His tone was calm but firm.
"I personally don't mind doing this." Afterall this is his path he choose in the first place.
"But he's just a normal person."
"He shouldn't be dragged into something like this."
The screen remained silent for a moment.
Then Lucia finally answered.
[Hikigaya. Shirou. I understand your concerns.]
[However… the system cannot function without Hikigaya.]
That statement made all three boys pause.
[Each of you has been selected as a required component of the system.]
[The system — and I myself — are bound to the three of you simultaneously.]
[Without Hikigaya, Shirou and Tsukasa cannot be transported to their mission destinations.]
[In other words…]
The blue screen flickered slightly.
[Without Hikigaya Hachiman… the system will not function at all.]
The words lingered in the air for a moment.
Then the screen dimmed briefly, as if the system itself was hesitating.
When Lucia spoke again, her voice sounded quieter.
Almost reluctant.
[I do not technically have the authority to reveal this information.]
A brief pause followed.
[However… for Hikigaya, I will say it.]
All three boys looked at the screen.
Hikigaya narrowed his eyes slightly.
Lucia continued.
[That "Agree" button was never the true reason you ended up here.]
The room fell completely silent.
[As I stated earlier…]
[The gods had already chosen each of you.]
Her voice carried a strange finality.
[The moment the council made that decision…]
[Your fate was already sealed.]
The blue-haired avatar on the screen looked straight at them.
[You were destined to become…]
A brief flicker passed through the screen again.
Then Lucia finished her sentence.
[Heroes.]