Fate/Zero:Prologue 3

Prologue: 1 year ago

He immediately recognized the woman he was looking for.

In the early holiday afternoon, you can see children playing on the lawn bathed in the peaceful sunlight of the early Autumn, with their parents watching over them, smiling. The plaza around the fountain of the park was overcrowded with the townspeople who brought their family for relaxation.

Even in such a crowd, he didn't lose his track.

No matter how crowded, no matter how far, he was certain he could find her effortlessly. Even though he didn't know if he could even meet her once a month, even though she already had a partner.

Only when he walked up to her, did the woman in the shades of the trees notice his arrival.

"—Hey, long time no see."

"Oh— Kariya-kun."

Showing a modest, courteous smile, she lifted her eyes from the book she was reading.

Worn out— Seeing her like that, Kariya felt seized with a helpless anxiety. Something seemed to be tormenting her.

He immediately wanted to ask about the cause of that trouble, to exert himself to find a solution to this 'something' — but even driven with that impulse, Kariya couldn't bring it up. He wasn't so close that he could devote such an unreserved kindness, that wasn't his place.

"It's been 3 months. This trip has been pretty long this time."

"Ah... Eh, yes."

In his sweet dreams, her smile surely appears. But when he is really in front of her, he doesn't have the courage to face her. It has been so for the past 8 years, and forever after, Kariya will probably never be able to face that smile.

Because she makes him so nervous, he never knows what to talk about after greeting each other, and a subtle blank appears. That too happens everytime.

To break the awkward silence, Kariya looks for the one he can easily talk to.

— There. Playing in the middle of the other kids on the grass, the twintails happily dancing about. Though very young, the girl already shows signs of the beautiful face she has inherited from her mother.

"Rin-chan."

Kariya called, waving a hand. As soon as she notices, the girl he called Rin rushes toward him with a bright smile.

"Welcome back, uncle Kariya! Did you bring me another present?"

"Now, Rin, watch your manners..."

The young girl seems to be oblivious to the voice of her embarrassed mother. Rin's eyes shine with expectation, and Kariya, responding with the same smile, holds out one of the two presents he carries behind his back.

"Waah, beautiful..."

An elaborate brooch made of glass beards of various sizes captures the heart of the girl at the first glance. Though it might seem a bit much for a girl her age, Kariya is well aware that Rin has precocious tastes.

"Uncle, thank you as always. I will take care of it."

"Ha ha, if you like it, uncle is happy too."

Gently strokin Rin's head, Kariya looks for the intended recipient of the other present he brought.

For some reason, she is nowhere to be found in the park..

"Say, so where's Sakura-chan?"

Hearing Kariya's question, Rin’s smile immediately vanished.

Her face looked as if she had stopped thinking at all, the face of a resigned child forced to mindlessly accept reality.

"Sakura, she’s, already gone."

With a blank look, Rin gave a monotonous reply, then as if avoiding Kariya's questions, she ran back to the kids she was playing with earlier.

"..."

Bewildered by Rin's incomprehensible words, Kariya looked at Rin's mother questioningly, suddenly realizing. She turned her eyes away to an empty space with a gloomy look.

"What’s that mean...?"

"Sakura is, neither my daughter, nor Rin's sister, anymore."

Her tone was dry, but more courageous than her daughter Rin's.

'That child, has gone to the Matō family."

Ma¤tō—

The name, sounding deeply familiar yet abominable, violently ripped out Kariya’s heart.

"That can't... What the hell does it mean, Aoi-san!?"

"You shouldn't even need to ask, right? Especially you, Kariya-kun."

Crushing Kariya's heart, Rin's mother— Tōsaka Aoi gave a harsh, cold-hearted reply, never looking at him, as if indifferent.

"Of course you of all people should know why the Matōs need a child with wizard ancestry to succeed them, don’t you?"

"How, could you, accept that?"

"That is what he decided. This is the decision of the head of the Tōsaka family, acceding to a request from the old sworn friends, the Matōs. ... My opinion doesn’t matter."

For that reason, mother and child, older sister and younger sister were separated.

Of course she wouldn’t agree. But both Aoi and even the young Rin know well why they cannot but accept it. That is, because this is what it is to live as a magus. Kariya knew that cruel fate all too well.

"... And that's all?"

Aoi replies with a feeble, bitter smile to Kariya's rock hard voice.

"When I decided to marry into the Tōsaka family, when I decided to become the wife of a magus, I was prepared to something like that. When you enter the bloodline of a wizard, it is a mistake to seek for the normal happiness of a family."

And, facing Kariya who tried to speak again, the magus wife gently, but clearly, stopped him—

"This is a matter between the Tōsakas and the Matōs. This is of no concern to you, who turned your back to the world of the magi."

She finished with a slight nod.

With this, Kariya couldn’t move anymore. As if he had turned into one of the trees of the park, his chest felt choking from weakness and helplessness.

Since long ago when she was a girl, then when she became a wife, and even after she had two children, Aoi's attitude toward Kariya never changed. Three years older than him, friend since infancy, she always attended to Kariya, kindly and without constraint, like a real sister to a brother.

This was the first time that she so clearly pointed out their respective position.

"If you are ever able to see Sakura, please treat her kindly. She has always been fond of you, Kariya-kun."

Aoi watching over her, Rin was playing brightly, full of energy, as if to chase her grief away.

As if Rin's very behavior was the reply, pushing back the speechless Kariya beside her, Tōsaka Aoi showed him only the profile of a peaceful mother in holidays.

But Kariya still didn't miss it. There was no way he could miss it.

The firm, serene Tōsaka Aoi who accepted her fate.

She couldn’t even completely conceal the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes.

                       X                                       X

Kariya hastened through the scenery of the hometown he thought he would never see again.

He definitely never came back to the city of Fuyuki, never crossed the river to Miyama town.

That must have been 10 years. Unlike the new metropolis where business went on everyday, nothing had changed in this neighborhood where time seemed to have stopped.

Quiet streets filled with memories. But not a single pleasant one would come back if he stopped to have a look. Ignoring such a worthless nostalgia, Kariya thought about his dialogue with Aoi from an hour ago.

"... And that's all?"

The thoughtless reprieve Aoi threw at him, turning her eyes. He hadn't used such a sharp tone in several years.

Don't raise your eyes, don't be a bother... That's how he had lived. Anger, hatred, Kariya had left it all in the desolate streets of Miyama town. After throwing away his hometown, Kariya had never made a fuss over anything. Even the foulest, the ugliest matters were nothing compared to what he had hated in this land.

Back to Prologue: 3 years ago

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