Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

Yoshiko stroked Miyu's head and couldn't help but laugh as she looked at the picture on the wall.

Thinking about it carefully, I rarely take Mei out for walks. It's mostly Ivia who takes her. No wonder this doodle, which I've been working on for so long, is only being seen by me now.

However, the next second, something happened that Yoshiko had not anticipated—

Finally, her daughter, Sakuzuki Miyu, spoke.

"...Yes, Mom."

A month before Miyu Sakuzuki's sixth birthday, Yoshiko Sakuzuki heard this cry from her own child.

This was the first time Yoshiko had ever heard such a sound as a child, and the first time she had ever seen such a beautiful scene.

Therefore, Yoshiko suddenly felt a sense of nostalgia. As she watched the flocks of birds flying towards the mountains that were dyed red by the setting sun, she thought of her mother and herself, who had spent seven years in this boring yet extremely nostalgic barrier.

This is a barrier that protects or binds the Shuoyue family.

The lush, verdant forest within the barrier, which has stood for hundreds of years, is the guardian forest of the Shuoyue family.

"When is it possible, Miyu?"

After making eye contact with Miyu, Yoshiko asked.

"just."

"Haha, is that so?"

Yoshiko giggled as she hugged Miyu again, saying, "Ivia might be surprised by what Miyu said later. It's kind of funny to think about it that way."

"...No, you can't, tell him now."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Yoshiko frowned in confusion. "Why is that?"

"...Because my birthday is a month from now..."

With a blank expression, Miyu fidgeted with her fingers, trying to come up with an excuse, "A gift..."

"So you're going to speak to Ivia as your birthday present? Miyu, you're so amazing! I can't even compare to you, Mom! But it's okay, it's really great!"

Yoshiko naturally came up with a reason instead of the hesitant Miyu.

"No, it's just that it would be better that way..."

"It's okay! That would be great! Miyu, do your best! Make sure you say something amazing! Mom, I'll film that moment!"

Sakuzuki Yoshiko excitedly clenched her fists and gave Miyu a little encouragement.

Seeing her mother's radiant smile, and thinking about celebrating her birthday in a lively atmosphere a month from now, Miyu was also happy.

Then, the black-haired girl's indifferent expression finally softened, turning into a smile, and she nodded gently.

"Ah."

Then, Miyu turned her back to Yoshiko and faced the sky painted on the graffiti-covered wall.

Summer's end is a little lonely, but a new summer will come anyway.

Even after the new year, I and my mother will probably still be with him, and then we can finally leave this place.

So, this is my birthday wish for next year:

When summer comes, let's go see the real sea together.

……

One month later, on July 20th of that year.

At this very moment, inside the house of Sakuyue, Miyu took a bath in the afternoon to celebrate her birthday.

Inside the bathroom, the girl closed her eyes tightly and let the water from the showerhead flow over her head, torso, and legs.

The feeling of the flowing water reminded her of the past, of herself and Ivia getting soaking wet together in the bathroom.

Even now, when she thinks back to that time, she still feels a little shy. Although it was just a normal bath, like her mother, she still can't help but feel embarrassed when she thinks about it now.

Ivia is a 'thing' similar to herself. From the moment she first saw him in that 'world of destruction' with her mother, Miyu had this thought. Moreover, she could deeply feel that in terms of scale and authority, he was far superior to her.

However, her mother had promised that such a person would take care of her and instructed the two of them to spend time together. At first, she didn't show it, but she was instinctively afraid—

Mingming always felt that she was most relaxed when she was with her mother, and that she didn't feel like herself when she was with other people.

This has always been what Miyu Sakuzuki thought.

But without realizing it, this person, just like my mother, illuminated my world, painted fairy tales by my bedside, became a habit I relied on, the one I ran towards when I played, and whose smile was etched in my memory day and night...

So while swinging on the swings and sitting on the seesaw, Ivy's beautiful singing made me realize that this person had gotten so close to me without me even noticing. If that's the case, why am I still me?

It was hard to understand, so Miyu told herself that she was "similar to someone else," or perhaps, "Miyu is my 'galaxy'."

"Hmm, Miyu, what are you doing? You've been soaking for almost an hour! I've picked up your kimono and turned it over and over a dozen times already."

The bathroom door clicked open, and Yoshiko stood there holding a small kimono.

“…I’m sorry, Mom.”

"Perhaps you're too engrossed in something, Mom? I understand. So hurry up and put on your kimono so Ivia can see that my Miyu is the cutest girl in the world."

Yoshiko stared at Miyu wiping her body with a towel, then jumped up and clenched her fists, looking nothing like an adult.

"Although I made an excuse to send that guy to the forest to look for flowers, so I couldn't see you in a kimono right away, Miyu, don't be sad. There's still plenty of time. I'll be waiting for you outside."

Yoshiko abruptly ended the conversation, closed the bathroom door, and watched her leave. Miyu quickly dried herself off, put on her underwear, came out, and obediently sat down in front of Yoshiko. The floor was cool in the summer due to the temperature difference, so the chill reached the girl's body.

"Has Miyu decided what to say to Ivia as a gift?"

As Yoshiko helped Miyu put on her kimono, she jokingly asked a question.

"...I've thought it through."

"What is it that you want to say? Can you tell my mom?"

"No."

"Could it be something very private that you don't want to tell your mom? But it's okay, I'll record it anyway, hahaha..."

Yoshiko laughed as if it were a matter of course, "I wonder if Miyu will be shy or indifferent when she grows up. I'm really looking forward to it."

"No, no, you can't do that..."

Miyu's face, already warm from soaking in the bath for so long, turned even redder, and she could only unconsciously clench her temari tightly in her hand.

"Which one is that, Miyu?"

Yoshiko continued to tease, but at the same time, her gaze darted around as she looked troubled.

Because in recent days she has sensed a huge fluctuation in the magical energy of Fuyuki City, which is significantly beyond the normal value.

Could it be that the other three companies are doing something else...? Hopefully, it's not too outrageous—

In an instant, Yoshiko saw the crows on the eaves fly away, leaving behind a faint light.

No, that wasn't light.

It was like dark 'mud' emerging from the winterwood, and without warning, it broke through the barrier of the Sakugetsu family.

This caused a look of anxiety to appear on Yoshiko's face. Then, her body acted far faster than her brain could think, and she shoved Miyu aside.

Then, something rose up in waves from the dark abyss.

Like a mermaid leaping from the sea at night.

Like a black cannonball, it instantly enveloped half of the Shuoyue family's ancestral home, along with Yang Daizi's body.

"……Mother?"

Sakuzuki Miyu stared blankly at the now severely damaged house and her suddenly vanished mother, muttering to herself.

At the same time, the dark 'mud' rushed towards her—

Just then, the child of the god who had stepped out of the barrier heard a 'voice' coming from nearby.

"please."

"I don't want to die."

"Who's coming? Who's coming..."

"Eliminate that darkness."

When faced with a great disaster, people's wishes surged like a raging tide to reach Miyu Sakuzuki, and since she has not yet lost the power of the Divine Child, she will do everything in her power to fulfill people's wishes.

And so, the power of desire was like the sun descending.

Vast, distant, boundless sacredness, pure power.

It's a landscape that almost feels infinite—where everything turns white.

Heaven and earth were all one color, which illuminated everything. It was the power of the child of God, who had not yet fallen from God to become man, that dispelled the darkness.

However, for Miyu Sakuzuki, who had unleashed this power, at this moment she was curled up in a ball, in so much pain that she stopped breathing.

"It hurts so much, it ......"

"It's over."

Hearing the voice amidst her pain, Miyu suppressed her own voice. Although cold sweat continued to pour down her forehead, she tried her best to raise her head and smile at the source of the voice. At the same time, she felt Temari, who was originally in her hand, fly away uncontrollably.

"Mom, she..."

"So Miyu, you can talk now? Come to think of it, it's about time. I'm quite happy about that."

At that moment, the silver-haired boy's innocent face was still smiling.

It was a demonic laugh that seemed to suck even the stars into it, a laugh that could not possibly exist in reality.

As they were talking, Ivia caught Temari flying towards her and tossed her back as she usually did, but because of Miyu's current condition, she couldn't reach out to catch her and could only let Temari gently return to her hand as she slumped on the ground.

"Not playing anymore? Well, it's all over."

Ivia sighed, then walked towards Miyu, came up behind her, and reached out to fix the slightly loose tatami knot on the back of her kimono.

"Alright, the deadline for my wish has passed, and I should go now."

After saying that, he got up and walked in another direction, leaving Miyu, whose body was no longer in pain, staring blankly at his back.

A few seconds later, the black-haired girl, belatedly realizing what was happening, finally stood up, maintaining her swaying body, and reached out her hand towards Ivia. However, before she could say anything, Ivia turned around, still smiling.

"I almost forgot to mention, this kimono suits you very well."

And that was Ivia's final answer.

Finally, the girl, her eyes vacant, hugged Temari and sat blankly on the remaining floor.

"……fraud."

……

at the same time.

Deep in the mountains near the Sakugetsu family's residence, Emiya Shirou, who had come to investigate the strange occurrences there, saw a person with long silver hair slowly emerge from within.

That was a silver-haired boy who seemed to be a perfect match for Maosen's bamboo forest.

Even though the bamboo forest would make sounds with just a gust of wind, a rustling and the cicadas chirping during the day, Shirou Emiya almost didn't notice this person. If it weren't for that murmur, he probably wouldn't have noticed him at all.

"Strange, I actually wanted Martha to beat me up, but there's no way I could be beaten up now, and she couldn't possibly beat me..."

In fact, just as the ritual of the New Moon family was to cause the gods to fall into manhood, the years that Novia, who once appeared in Rome, was 'educated' by Martha could also be seen as a similar ritual, to prevent him from being a central air conditioner all day long but failing to handle related matters, etc...

Otherwise, when Martha ran away at the age of fourteen to preach on her own, Paul wouldn't have exclaimed, "It was all thanks to Martha's teachings."

If it were the adult Novia, she probably wouldn't have abandoned Miyu, but for her Lily form, taking care of Miyu was simply a 'mission'. Once the mission was over, she would leave. It was that simple. After all, there were so many people in the world, and to Ivia, they were all the same, with little difference.

Simply put, the change in mindset is due to the shrinking size.

It's possible that Ivia needs to be beaten up by Marda again, or by someone using Marda's power, before she can 'repent'.

"But why would I think that way?"

Emiya Shirou looked in the direction of the sound and saw a boy with extremely rare long silver hair who appeared to be about the same age as him.

However, more than his appearance, what is most immediately noticeable is a sense of calm, an aura of peace that makes one feel relaxed simply by being around him.

"Well, you are..."

Emiya Shirou thought the boy in front of him was the one who had just resolved the crisis in Fuyuki.