Bab 174: Why Had Things Turned Out This Way?
The reason why Zouken Matou didn't immediately flee after realizing he couldn't match Akino Yukinoshita in strength was to deceive her, buying time for his real body to escape. The body made of engraving worms was disposable for him. What he didn't know was that both Akino Yukinoshita and Sakura Tohsaka already knew the destroyed form wasn't his real body, and they also knew exactly where his real body was hidden.
For both the Chat Group and Akino's System companion, pinpointing the location of an old worm like him was a trivial matter. The reason they didn't immediately go after him to destroy his real body was simply for the fun of toying with him.
The pitiful Zouken Matou was still under the impression that he had narrowly escaped death. Little did he know that he was nothing but a plaything for them, though he brought this upon himself.
Hiding deep underground, Zouken Matou felt utterly confused. He had witnessed firsthand that the attack which destroyed his body hadn't come from the one he loathed—Akino Yukinoshita—but rather from Sakura Tohsaka, whom he had always seen as a mere tool.
One moment, she was a helpless plaything under his control, but the next, she displayed a power capable of annihilating everything. Could anything be more absurd than this?
If Zouken Matou still didn't realize that Sakura Tohsaka had been acting all along, he would truly be an idiot.
Who would have thought that Zolgen Makiri, a centuries-old schemer, would one day be reduced to a clown?
But no matter how furious he was, he didn't dare expose himself. He had no choice but to bury his hatred deep within.
"Akino-neesan, let me handle the final blow. I want to personally kill that old worm," Sakura said as she glanced down toward a specific location. The Chat Group's exploration system had already easily identified where Zouken Matou's real body was hidden.
With the Chat Group's pinpointing, Zouken Matou was doomed.
"Of course, go ahead. I don't mind at all." Akino Yukinoshita smiled nonchalantly.
To her, it didn't matter who finished off the disgusting old worm, as long as he was dead.
"By the way, Sakura, can you find where the old worm's true body is hidden? If not, I can tell you."
"I know, Akino-neesan. But there's no need for that. Follow me," Sakura responded.
Sakura then flew into the air, with Akino Yukinoshita following closely behind.
Seeing their movement, Akino quickly guessed what Sakura was about to do.
Sakura raised her fist and, with one powerful punch, unleashed a tremendous surge of energy. The shockwave from her strike obliterated the entire area where the Matou mansion once stood, leaving nothing but a crater dozens of meters deep.
At the center of the attack, Zouken Matou, the evil mastermind, had no time to resist. He was instantly vaporized, and his vile soul was obliterated as well.
Through her time in the Chat Group's combat arena, Sakura had fully adapted to her newfound power. Her perfect control over her abilities ensured that her attack didn't extend beyond the intended area; otherwise, with just one careless punch, she could have wiped the entire city of Fuyuki off the map.
With the exception of Matou Kariya, who wasn't at home, the Matou family had now been completely wiped out.
The moment Zouken Matou died, the Chat Group burst into excitement. A wave of rewards and gifts flooded in, celebrating the event.
...
After witnessing the destruction Sakura had wrought, Akino Yukinoshita wasn't particularly surprised. Even though her system couldn't gauge Sakura's exact strength, it was clear from her first attack that she was no pushover.
Just as Akino was about to ask Sakura more about her power, a sudden round of applause echoed from behind her, causing her to flinch in surprise.
"System, it looks like you were right. There really was a hidden powerhouse watching from the sidelines…" Akino muttered to her system companion, feeling a bit helpless.
Even with her peak-Level 5 strength, she couldn't sense the presence of the person behind her. Although she could hear the clapping, her senses told her there was no one there.
Unlike with Sakura, Akino and her system companion could at least sense her life force, even if they couldn't measure her power. But this presence was completely undetectable.
Turning around, Akino saw two stunningly beautiful figures hovering a few meters away. The clapping stopped, and the girl with the iconic twin-tails smiled as a sweet, melodious voice emerged from her soft lips.
"Well done, Sakura. Your performance was excellent."
"Wow! Such a beauty… She's just too stunning. Oh, I'm in love," the voice of Akino's system companion gushed inside her mind, clearly overwhelmed by the sight.
Ignoring her system's fangirling, Akino stood there, staring blankly at the girl before her, instinctively swallowing hard. She was indeed gorgeous, but that wasn't why Akino was so stunned—this girl was also incredibly familiar.
The golden twin-tails, the equally petite figure, and the unmistakable school uniform from Toyogasaki Academy... It all pointed to one thing.
"E-Eriri?" Akino asked tentatively, her eyes full of hope.
It made perfect sense. Whether it was Sakura Tohsaka's connection to her, or the mere fact that she had entered the world of Fate/stay night, it was only natural for Eriri from Saekano to be here as well.
Before Eriri could answer, Sakura jumped out and confirmed Akino's suspicions.
"Eriri-neechan!" Sakura called out happily, immediately throwing herself into Eriri's arms, rubbing her face against Eriri's flat chest before proudly saying, "I worked really hard on my acting earlier!"
"Yes, you've improved a lot since the beginning. You didn't disappoint me," Eriri praised as she gently patted Sakura's head.
Watching Sakura act so docile, like a little kitten in Eriri's arms, Akino was at a loss for words. Wasn't Sakura not fond of having her head patted?
However, that wasn't the important issue right now. Akino was far more interested in finally meeting Eriri—her living, breathing idol—face-to-face.
Perhaps it was the influence of some grand cosmic force, but every transmigrator who had crossed paths with Eriri was female, and all of them, without exception, seemed to fall for her—whether it was Arifureta, the yet-unintroduced Yuzuru Hanyu, or now, Akino Yukinoshita.
"Um…" Akino tentatively approached Eriri and the group, though she stopped when she was still about two or three meters away.
"You know me?" Eriri asked, feigning surprise.
"Yes, I… I like… I mean, I know you!" Akino stammered, almost blurting out her true feelings. Her eyes sparkled with adoration, and she was nearly trembling with excitement.
"Hey, hey, Akino. That's the woman I have my eyes on. You trying to steal her?" Akino's system companion teased.
"Shut up! Eriri is my wife!" Akino retorted in her mind, almost pouting.
"Tch, did you get her approval for that?" her system companion mocked.
"I don't care! Eriri will always be my wife! I'll always love her!" Akino protested, snorting at the system's taunts. She ignored it and focused solely on Eriri.
In Akino's mind, this moment felt nothing short of miraculous. After all the worlds she had traveled through, her dreams of meeting Eriri had come true in a completely unexpected way.
Her attraction to Eriri was not typical. Despite having experienced various worlds and meeting countless attractive men and women, none of them stirred any feelings within her. It was only after meeting Eriri that Akino felt truly drawn to someone for the first time.
And now, face-to-face with her idol, Akino was sure of one thing: this was fate.
"Earlier, I overheard your conversation with Sakura. You said your name was Akino Yukinoshita, right?" Eriri asked, breaking Akino's reverie.
"Y-yes, but you can call me Akino or just 'little Akino,'" Akino replied, suddenly feeling bashful.
"Alright." Eriri smiled sweetly, then glanced over at the ruins of the Matou estate. "Well, now that the show's over, why don't we go somewhere more suitable to talk?"
"Absolutely! Wherever you go, I'll follow!" Akino eagerly responded.
Without hesitation, she flew up to Eriri's side, although she noticed that Eriri's other hand was tightly held by Arifureta, causing a small pang of jealousy to rise within her.
In a bold move, Akino tentatively brushed her arm against Eriri's right arm, similar to how someone might awkwardly try to hold their crush's hand for the first time.
Seeing that Eriri didn't seem to mind, Akino took a deep breath and daringly reached out, grasping the hem of Eriri's shirt with her small hand.
Eriri, of course, noticed the shy gesture but chuckled inwardly at how timid Akino was acting. After all, she had expected her to make a bolder move, like grabbing her arm directly. But this? This was just adorably clumsy.
Eriri sighed inwardly. "I guess being too beautiful really is troublesome sometimes," she thought.
After putting her thoughts in order, and after telling Sakura to close the livestream in the Chat Group, Eriri teleported everyone back to Rin Tohsaka's room.
…
It had been nearly an hour since her sister had left with Zouken Matou, and Rin Tohsaka still sat quietly in her room, waiting for her sister and Eriri to return.
Tokiomi and Aoi assumed Rin was still upset about being separated from her sister, so they left her to her own devices and didn't bother her.
"Ugh, I'm getting so bored. I should've just followed them," Rin muttered to herself, flipping her twin tails out of frustration. "If I hadn't promised Eriri-neesan I'd wait here, I would've gone after them."
Earlier, when Sakura had left with Zouken Matou, Rin had been itching to climb out the window and follow the car all the way to the Matou mansion.
However, Eriri, who had noticed her intentions, had stopped her, asking Rin to stay behind. Although it didn't make much of a difference whether or not Rin tagged along, Eriri had thought it would be amusing to leave her behind.
Rin, who greatly admired Eriri, naturally wouldn't reject her request, so she stayed behind in her room, sulking slightly. If only she knew why she had really been left behind.
Just as Rin was starting to lose patience, Eriri and the others finally returned to the room.
Seeing the pouty expression on Rin's face, Eriri couldn't resist teasing her. "Oh my, who's made our little Rin upset?"
"Eriri-neesan! Sakura! Arifureta-neesan! You're finally back!" Rin's frustration vanished instantly, replaced by joy.
"And this onee-san is?" Rin asked curiously, glancing at Akino Yukinoshita, who was standing close to Eriri.
Noticing Rin's curious gaze, Akino quickly stepped forward and introduced herself. "Hello there, little Rin. My name is Akino Yukinoshita. You can call me Akino-neesan or Akino, just like Sakura does."
Akino, who loved cute things, couldn't resist wanting to pat Rin's head, but just like her previous encounter with Sakura, Rin swiftly dodged the affectionate gesture.
Having both sisters avoid her head-pats left Akino feeling dejected. She remembered that her twin sister, Yukino Yukinoshita, had never minded it when they were younger, and none of the other girls she'd met in different worlds had resisted either. Why was it different here?
"Alright, everyone, take a seat. Akino, I have something I want to ask you," Eriri said, dispelling the awkward atmosphere.
"Of course, Eriri. Ask me anything. I'll tell you everything I know," Akino said confidently, sitting down next to Eriri and thumping her chest in a show of determination.
"Alright, since you're being so open, I won't hold back." Eriri smiled warmly at Akino, causing her heart to skip a beat. She suddenly felt as if she'd been struck by something powerful, and a sweet warmth spread through her chest.
"First, I'd like to know: how old are you? How many siblings do you have? Which world are you from, and which city do you live in?"
"Huh… You knew I was from another world?"
"Of course I did. I also know you have a system in your head."
"Uh…"
Akino froze. How could Eriri possibly know about the system? Up until now, it had been her deepest secret—something only she herself was aware of, not even her sisters knew about it.
How could Eriri figure it out so easily? This was terrifying.
"System! Eriri figured you out! My Eriri is amazing!" Akino gushed to her system companion, overjoyed rather than concerned that her secret had been exposed.
"Yeah, yeah. She's impressive, alright. I've got to admit, she's good. But if she can sense my presence, then either she's got a system stronger than me, or she's got a powerful Chat Group backing her… or she's an almighty Level 9 being," the system said, its usual playful tone turning serious.
Being a high-level system, it was well aware of the pecking order: systems like it could devour one another to evolve. If Eriri were malevolent, Akino's system knew it might not survive.
Actually, the system was already considering escaping, but it hesitated, hoping its judgment of Eriri wasn't wrong.
"Eriri, how did you know I had a system?" Akino asked, choosing to be upfront about it.
"Didn't you tell me yourself?"
"Huh?"
"Remember when you were muttering to yourself earlier? You mentioned your system then."
"Wait, what…?" Akino stood dumbfounded. After all that fuss, she had exposed her own secret by talking to herself?
"See? I told you not to speak to me out loud. Now look what happened," her system companion chastised her, though there was a hint of relief in its voice. At least they hadn't been exposed by another system or Chat Group, which could have spelled real danger.
"Yeah, yeah, it was my mistake. I'll be more careful next time."
Akino readily admitted her fault. Even though she often bickered with her system, she was deeply grateful for it. Without the system, she wouldn't have been able to make it this far or meet Eriri.
"You think there'll be a next time?"
"No, no, of course not."
Seeing Akino's shifting expression, Eriri realized she must be conversing with her system. She wondered what kind of dynamic the two had and how it compared to her own relationship with the Chat Group AI, Little Skirt-chan (Kozue).
"Alright, Akino, you can go ahead and answer my questions now."
"Right, right! Ahem… I'm sixteen years old. I have an older sister, Haruno Yukinoshita, who's three years older than me, and a twin sister, Yukino Yukinoshita, who's just a few minutes younger. I'm from a world my system and I call 'OreGairu,' or 'My Youth Romantic Comedy,' and I live in Chiba City, Japan. I'm currently a first-year student at Chiba Sobu High School."
Akino answered truthfully, holding nothing back. It seemed her love for Eriri had turned her into a pure-hearted fool, leaving her without the usual caution she showed in other situations.
But through Akino's introduction, Eriri was now certain of her identity.
"Hmm, so you're a transmigrator, right?"
"Wait… Eriri, how do you know everything?" Akino asked, feeling increasingly puzzled.
"I don't know everything, I just know what I know," Eriri replied with a playful smile.
That response left Akino even more bewildered. How could Eriri make it sound like that made any sense?
"That phrase sounds oddly familiar…" Akino muttered, trying to recall where she had heard it before.
"Here's a hint: 'cat.'"
"Cat… cat…"
Akino repeated the word several times, frowning in concentration as she tried to connect the dots.
But after living in her new world for sixteen years, Akino had forgotten most of the fine details from the anime she had watched in her past life.
She wasn't like Eriri, who had begun evolving automatically at the age of five. Eriri's enhanced memory allowed her to perfectly recall most of the shows she had watched in her previous life.
"I can't figure it out…"
"You want another hint? 'Monogatari.'"
With that clue, Eriri had practically spelled it out for her. If Akino still couldn't figure it out now, it meant she had likely never even watched the Monogatari series, and had only come across the quote by chance online.
But after hearing "Monogatari," Akino's eyes lit up.
"That's it! The line's from Monogatari, isn't it? It's what the class president, Hanekawa Tsubasa, always says!"
"Congratulations, you got it!"
"Yay!" Akino cheered, raising her fists in victory.
But just as quickly, she realized something wasn't right.
"Wait a second, why are we treating this like a quiz game? Also, how do you know about the Monogatari series? Does that mean Saekano exists in the same world as Monogatari?"
"Nope. But since you've told me so much about yourself, I'll let you in on a little secret," Eriri said with a wink. She was deliberately being mysterious, though the truth was already common knowledge among Chat Group members.
"What secret?" Akino asked eagerly. Anything about Eriri was precious to her.
Even though Akino had read all about Eriri in Saekano, she knew reality didn't always mirror fiction. After all, she herself had a twin sister, Yukino, in this life, even though Yukino Yukinoshita had been an only child in the anime. So, who was to say Eriri hadn't changed in some ways as well?
Regardless of any differences, Akino still adored her, simply because she was Eriri.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce someone." Eriri pulled the girl sitting quietly next to her, Arifureta, closer. The two interlaced their fingers. "This is Arifureta. You two should get to know each other. By the way, does Arifureta's appearance remind you of anything? Or have you ever seen the anime with her name?"
"No, I haven't!" Akino responded quickly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at Arifureta. "But what's your relationship with her?"
"Oh, she's one of my most beloved wives," Eriri replied nonchalantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Arifureta smiled warmly and waved at Akino in greeting.
"W-wait… is that the secret you wanted to tell me?" Akino asked, suddenly feeling a wave of disappointment.
Just moments ago, she had been overjoyed to finally meet the real Eriri. And now? She found out Eriri had a wife. It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her feet.
Why had things turned out this way?
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Status Power Mingguan
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