Holding ingredients needed for breakfast, Ritsuka, who had woken up early, moved about the kitchen, her gaze drifting slightly.
Whenever she glanced toward the doorway, she could see that child named Miyu standing there, clutching a toy ball and watching her quietly. This had been going on for quite some time.
Her red eyes were incredibly clear, with a frightening innocence.
After her usual morning exercise, she was naturally covered in sweat and needed a bath. However, when she returned to the room to get a change of clothes, she startled Miyu awake. Ritsuka then had a brief conversation with her to explain a few things.
She mentioned simple things, like her own name and the name of the uncle who had helped her save Miyu.
—From that point on, things spiraled out of control.
When she took a bath, someone was standing outside the door watching.
When she cleaned up the cherry blossom petals scattered across the yard, little Miyu'supervised' from the corridor.
Even when she went to the toilet midway, Miyu watched from a distance, as if she wanted to monitor her every move.
And now, as she prepared breakfast in the kitchen, Miyu was peeking silently from the doorway... With an unconscious sigh, Ritsuka took out some snacks from the fridge. She had made these in her spare time on the night of the housewarming party; their sweetness should appeal to children.
"Miyu, come here for a second."
With a pitter-patter of small feet, Miyu trotted over to Ritsuka and looked up at her with those slightly inorganic red eyes.
She's so pure it's almost unbelievable, Ritsuka sighed inwardly.
"These are some snacks I made earlier. It'll be a while before breakfast is ready, so Miyu can have these to tide you over."
Hearing this, the taciturn Miyu didn't speak; she just nodded gently and reached for the snacks on the table, but Ritsuka quickly caught her hand.
With a look of confusion, Miyu tilted her head at Ritsuka, making a sense of guilt sprout in Ritsuka's heart for no reason.
"Th-that, Miyu, you have to wash your hands before eating."
"Wash hands."
Miyu nodded thoughtfully and stopped reaching for the snacks, standing calmly in place. Ritsuka realized and led her to the sink.
Left, right, front, back, and between the fingers—it took a full fifteen seconds to wash the little hands that had touched the toy ball until they were clean and white. Using her own towel to dry Miyu's hands, Ritsuka placed the plate directly into Miyu's hands.
Smiling, Ritsuka pointed to the sofa not far away. "Go on, wait for me there for a bit."
Watching Miyu's little feet pitter-patter across the floor toward the sofa, Ritsuka picked up the toy ball from the floor and placed it in a corner.
This Little girl forgot all about her toy as soon as she got food.
Using a familiar breakfast recipe, Ritsuka took out the clean leftover rice from yesterday, fried three eggs, and began making Seafood Risotto with the leftovers.
There was still a small portion of kichiji fish left. After trimming the edges, Ritsuka put the raw fish into the pan.
"It doesn't seem like enough." Looking at the amount of food in the pot and accounting for Miyu's mouth, Ritsuka found the food was still a bit insufficient and needed more volume.
She took out vacuum-packed chicken nuggets and started a simple deep-fry. This kind of thing, called junk food in her past life, was quite popular in the Emiya household. Both Ritsuka and Kiritsugu craved these somewhat unhealthy fried foods... Once breakfast was ready, she arranged the portions on a large tray and went to Kiritsugu's room, pushing the door open without knocking.
"Kiritsugu, breakfast is ready." Ritsuka scanned the room; the desk area was covered in sticky notes, and a closer look revealed they all contained the word'Sakuya'.
Kiritsugu looked exhausted, likely from staying up all night... Hearing the sound, Kiritsugu closed his book and looked at Ritsuka as she entered, pointing to a small low table nearby. "Put it there."
"Remember to eat it before it gets cold."
She set out the food and covered it to prevent too much heat loss, which should provide some insulation.
After handling Kiritsugu's breakfast, Ritsuka turned to leave the room.
"Ritsuka, do you think my choice is right or wrong?"
The voice came from behind her, raspy and filled with fatigue, making Ritsuka realize one fact—
Kiritsugu hadn't drunk any water all night!
??
Ritsuka probably knew what Kiritsugu meant. She exited the room directly, slowly pulling the door shut.
"The benevolent see benevolence, and the wise see wisdom. No one can say for sure..."
"Though personally, I feel that a world that needs to sacrifice a Little girl to be saved is truly broken."
No one knew the price behind that power. Kiritsugu couldn't fully decipher the secrets of the New Moon clan—whether this ability to indiscriminately grant the wishes of others required some sacrifice.
Nothing happens without a reason; to gain something, one must lose something. Perhaps the price for saving this world was Miyu's own sacrifice.
Trading one person for the whole world—
It couldn't be called great at all; it was just uncomfortable.
"Sister?"
Standing outside Kiritsugu's room, Ritsuka was silent for a moment before preparing to leave, but Miyu's sudden appearance at the end of the corridor startled her.
Walking forward, Ritsuka crouched down to be at the same height as the Little girl, their eyes meeting. "Miyu, why did you come over?"
"Eat."
"...Okay, let's go eat."
Taking Miyu's small hand, Ritsuka glanced back at Kiritsugu's closed door before leading Miyu back to the dining table.
After placing the Little girl on a chair that was a bit high, Ritsuka ran into the kitchen and divided the still-warm, covered food into two portions on plates.
Fried eggs, chicken nuggets, and Seafood Risotto—and the seafood used was the expensive kichiji fish. As a breakfast, it was perfectly adequate.
After all, a certain philosopher named Lu once said—eat well in the morning, eat full at noon, and eat little at night.
By keeping this life secret in mind, one could maintain decent health. Ritsuka considered this breakfast good enough; she didn't have the money to buy even higher-end ingredients. Not everyone had the power of money.
Ritsuka pressed her hands together in prayer. "Itadakimasu."
Miyu watched Ritsuka's movements quietly, then sat up straight and pressed her hands together. "...Itadakimasu."
...Laundry time. While Miyu played quietly with her toys and Kiritsugu was holed up in his room doing research, Ritsuka brought a basin into the yard.
Entering the pitch-black shed, Ritsuka turned on the light, started the washing machine tucked in the corner, sorted the clothes she had prepared, and tossed them inside, pouring in an average amount of laundry powder.
"Eh? Why isn't it moving?"
To her surprise, the seemingly new washing machine didn't react when the button was pressed. It didn't budge at all; it seemed broken.
Ritsuka thought for a moment, then reached out and gave the top of the washing machine a firm slap.
Hummm—!!
It moved. As expected, the direct approach is the most effective way to repair things; the ancients did not deceive me.
Just as the great philosopher Old Man Lu said—when a machine won't move, it's just asking for a beating; a slap will fix it!
...The above was purely a joke. Doing that might actually make a machine break faster, so Ritsuka had only 'gently' patted it.
Since she was already in the shed, she grabbed a toolbox from a shelf and crouched in front of the washing machine, preparing for her restoration project.
She placed her hand on the machine's casing. From the machine that had just stopped running again, azure patterns covered the surface and began to penetrate deep into the washing machine, investigating the abnormality within.
"Structural Analysis."
Holding the manual for this washing machine in her free right hand, she performed a careful comparison—
"Seems like a circuit is broken in one place."
"There's also an issue with the drum..."
"Yoshi, it's confirmed."
Taking a screwdriver and other tools from the toolbox and setting them aside, Ritsuka first took the clothes out of the machine to soak in water, then prepared to repair the machine.
However, things didn't go as planned. Just as she aimed the screwdriver to begin, a small figure appeared at the shed door.
"Sister, let's play."
Miyu, clutching her toy ball, trotted up to Ritsuka and gently grabbed her sleeve. This behavior put Ritsuka in a difficult position, and she didn't know whether to put down the screwdriver.
Weighing her options, the moment she met those ethereal eyes, Ritsuka decisively gave up her resistance.
Repairing a washing machine is nowhere near as good as playing with a Little girl!
"Alright, Miyu, go wait for me outside obediently while I tidy up here."
Ritsuka waved the screwdriver in her hand helplessly, indicating she had to clean up the scene.
Miyu nodded and left the shed. With a sigh, Ritsuka began to tidy the mess at her feet.
She put all the tools back in their places, took the clothes out to soak in a basin, marked the issues on the manual with a marker, and then tossed everything aside.
In the yard, after a quick sweep of the fallen flowers on the ground, Ritsuka stood not far away, watching Miyu across from her throw the toy ball, which traced an arc through the air.
She raised a hand to block and stop the ball, then used her foot to give it a slight flick, sending the ball flying back the way it came.
Over and over, the two in the courtyard played happily, unaware that at the end of the corridor not far away, a man in a kimono watched silently, surrounded by a haze of smoke.
Kiritsugu smoked, gazing at Ritsuka, who was showing a rare, happy smile, wondering what he was thinking.
That kind of carefree laughter was rare during the travels they had shared over the past few years; at most, she would show such a joyful expression when she caught him smoking and forced a Pocky into his mouth.
The cigarette burned out. Kiritsugu removed the butt and held it between his fingers, suddenly coughing violently. He quickly covered his mouth with his right hand to muffle the sound so the two girls in the yard wouldn't notice.
He opened his hand to see blackened blood stains on it, like dark mud, emitting a terrifying sensation.
Hiding his right hand behind his back, Kiritsugu pulled out a Pocky, stuck it in his mouth, and retreated silently.
"A miracle... well, perhaps Ritsuka's appearance was a miracle for me in the first place..."
"Since I already possess such a precious miracle, how can I ask for more?"