CHAPTER 4.3 - SHINJI'S RESOLVE

Matou Shinji hated his life. His drunkard father spent his days drowning in alcohol. His mother was killed, eaten alive until there was nothing left of her. But, there was nothing he hated more than his grandfather.

Matou Zouken.

His grandfather was the source of all his misery. The one who scared his father so bad, he might as well be dead inside now. The one who fed his mother to the worms in the pit, accused her of birthing a worthless heir. The one who also "adopted" Sakura from her former family and "educated" her in the Matou's own magecraft.

He really loathed that old bastard.

Back then, when his grandfather and father brought Sakura to their family, he also hated the poor girl with all his heart. They said she would be the heir of this family, not him. Shinji didn't know better back then; he lashed out, calling out his grandfather. He was the heir here, not some random girl they just bought. But no matter what he said, nothing would change his grandfather's mind.

The first few weeks Sakura lived with them, he ignored the girl. Despite her attempts to introduce herself to him, to get to know him better, he outright ignored her existence. To his eyes, she was a thief, the one who stole what should be rightfully his.

Then one day, he accidentally stumbled into their family's workshop. After that, he saw it, the pit, the worms crawling inside it, and the expressionless girl who stayed motionless as the worms crawled all over her body. He wanted to puke; he was beyond disgusted.

This... this is wrong!

When he was about to run, he was caught by his grandfather. Shinji was so scared he couldn't even say anything. He was ready to die right there and then, but his grandfather gave him a very disturbing smile. His grandfather held his shoulders and whispered to him,

"Aren't you glad that your sister took your place in that pit?"

Shinji started hyperventilating. He knew that he didn't have any magic circuits in his body; he was crippled by magus family standards. He slowly came to the realization that if he had magic circuits, his grandfather would have thrown him down there. In a sickening way of thinking, he was glad. He was glad that Sakura was here. He was glad that he didn't end up in the worm's pit. He was glad that he didn't have any magic circuits. And he was so disgusted by himself.

"Don't worry, I still have a plan for you later. Your sister... will need your help later."

Those were the last words he heard from his grandfather before he let him go, and he frantically ran away.

The very next day, he went to Sakura's room. After he knocked several times, the door opened, and Shinji's pupils shrank in shock. Sakura, her hair slowly changing in color, the brown strands were slowly turning purplish, a standard for Matou family members. What caught him off guard was how empty her eyes were.

People said eyes are windows to the soul, and from her eyes, Shinji saw nothing. An empty, lifeless stare stared back at him.

"Yes... nii-san?"

His words stuck in his throat, unable to properly say anything. What had they done?!

When Shinji learned a bit about being a magus, he never expected something like this would happen. He balled his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. Trembling, shaking from how guilty he felt and how angry he was at his own family.

He actually hated this girl despite not knowing what happened to her. An innocent girl who was taken from her family without her consent. Welcomed by a monster of an old man, a drunkard as her new father, and a brother who refused to acknowledge her existence.

Guilt, anger, pity.

A turbulence of emotions swirled around in his body. Gathering his willpower, he stared at Sakura.

"...I'm sorry."

But he immediately averted his stare back down; he couldn't do it.

From then on, Shinji tried his best to treat Sakura better. He talked to her a lot more, asked her to play with him, and spent more time with her daily. His father didn't care about his change of attitude, and his grandfather didn't say anything. Deep down, he knew this wouldn't be enough, but what else could he do?

All of his attempts bore fruit as he noticed a glimpse of spark in Sakura's eyes. A small bit of happiness that she deserved.

One day, when he and Sakura were allowed to go to a playground park, he witnessed something mind-blowing. Sakura was smiling, a genuine smile that he had never seen her show back at home. He saw her smiling as she walked side by side with a boy, hand in hand.

Emiya Shirou, a boy who managed to make his sister crack up a smile. Even if he brought along with him a tone-deaf psycho girl, he appreciated him. Although he was still a bit weirded out by how easily Sakura was crushing on this boy.

Well, whatever, as long as she's happy

....

Matou Zouken, formerly known as Makiri Zolgen, was ecstatic. The results of the last war were less than preferable, but the aftermath was an entirely different story. Amidst the flames and curses, he found his benefactor.

Standing in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by an amalgamation of dark red mud stretching across the horizon – a sea of the most potent and evil curses of mankind. Above him hung a black void, a sky of nothingness over this cursed expanse.

As Zouken looked up, something rose from the sea of curses. Scales of snakes covered its titanic body, claws of centipedes ran along its sides, and streaks of dark veins pulsed with a disgustingly dim red light. An amalgamation of many animals and human skeletons served as its head, with one red eye staring directly at him.

This was one of his benefactor's creatures – artificially created and born out of countless lives taken across the world. An ultimate anti-thesis designed to combat the world. This was The Beast of Corruption.

The Beast shrieked at him before diving back into the sea of curses.

"You're early..." a voice called out.

Zouken turned around. "Mockery."

Approaching him was an androgynous being wearing a big black robe with long white hair. As it walked closer, Zouken couldn't help but flinch in reflex as he saw it.

The being, Servant's Mockery, was something that shouldn't exist.

They had no roles or rights in the eyes of the world.

Mankind's collective consciousness was offended by their mere existence – once a lump of black shadow, now resembling a human but not quite.

An uncanny valley of everything that should and shouldn't be poured into one being.

Mockery spoke. "The lesser grail, how's the progress?"

"If nothing goes wrong, it will be ready in three years."

"We see, that is sufficient."

"Then..." Zouken asked, "...How long until the grail fixes itself?"

Mockery hummed for a while. "Ten years at the earliest. The land of the ice leylines wasn't very rich in magical energy compared to this city," they answered. "Our other selves around the world are working hard to compensate and provide nourishment for this incubator."

"I see, then in ten years..." Zouken eyed Mockery, "...I will ask for my part of the agreement."

"You've helped us in moving the grail out of this city and contributed to making a lesser grail for us. We will keep our word," Mockery stated.

In the distance, The Beast resurfaced again and let out a deafening howl.

"What a creature," Zouken murmured as he observed The Beast.

"He's still a juvenile, not yet ready to be let out," Mockery explained.

"Hahaha, I've live long enough, but to create an entire pocket world to act as a daycare for a Beast is a first."

"This is necessary, as the meddling of Gaia and Alaya would hinder his growth."

Zouken mused, "I see. Then if my guess is right, you will also use this world to remove our problem?"

Mockery nodded. "This world is disconnected from the rest of the world. One can't force themselves to enter nor be summoned here. A place that cuts any connection from the outside. A perfect place to incubate our Beast and deal with our problem."

"How about the way out?"

"Unless you have the key, then," Mockery turned their gaze towards The Beast, "you need to defeat him first. If you do that, the world will automatically deem you as a threat to our juvenile beast and throw you out."

Zouken smirked. "Good."

...

It was early morning. Zouken and Shinji sat atop the couch in the Matou residence's living room, the former staring coldly at the latter.

"No!" Shinji for the very first time glared at his grandfather.

"And why not?" Zouken's sickening voice reverberated in the room.

Zouken laughed, amused at how Shinji had the audacity to defy him in the first place. The young boy was visibly trembling but he still maintained a refusal towards his grandfather. How far the Makiri had fallen, Zouken fumed, that this boy with no magic circuits dared defy him after everything done to spare his life, unlike his mother.

"Your sister..." Zouken whispered towards Shinji "...took your rightful place, your position as an heir of the old Matou family, she took everything from you even your father's attention and care for you."

Shinji gritted his teeth.

"When she grows up she would have everything, riches, prestige, position," Zouken smirked "Even powerful magecraft at her disposal."

"Keep this in mind boy, I asked you nicely because I want to give you a chance," he continued "The chance for you to remind your sister where she should belong, a small victory for you to have."

Zouken then stood up "I won't force you, but if you don't want to do that then I'll just ask your father to do it instead."

Shinji snapped, he glared at Zouken "Don't you dare!"

His father was a weak spirited drunkard man. One order from his grandfather and he would do it, no questions asked.

"Watch your mouth, boy!" Zouken hissed. "I'll let you decide today. If you still don't want to do it then I'll order your father to do it instead," he then left Shinji alone.

Shinji stayed on the couch for a moment before he stood up and walked towards Sakura's room. As he walked, his mind was a mess, he thought of what his grandfather told him to do and was disgusted by it. He arrived at the front of Sakura's room, he opened the door slowly.

He then saw Sakura laying on her bed writhing, eyes unfocused and a red flush adorned her face. She noticed Shinji entering her room. Sakura then pulled her body up and sat on the side of her bed.

"Nii-san...."

Shinji flinched "S-Sakura..."

"I-It feels weird down there..."

He frowned and balled his fists, remembering what his grandfather just told him. The worms inside her messed her up and the only way to treat the symptoms disgusted him.

She needed to have intercourse.

Sakura needed that! She was still six for god's sake!!

His grandfather thought it was a nice gift for him to do...that with Sakura. Forcing her under him and use this to remind her of her place. What disgusted Shinji more was he could see himself doing that if he hadn't stumbled on the worms pit, if he hadn't gotten closer to Sakura, if he didn't know how hurt she was, and if he didn't know how she longed to meet the dense red-haired boy.

In one world, Shinji would have obeyed his grandfather and done what was told.

But this Shinji refused that. He took a deep breath and steeled himself. Time for a Hail Mary moment of his life.

Shinji patted Sakura's head "Sakura, listen...."

...

Zouken came back to his house in the afternoon. He wondered if his foolish grandson just did what he told him to do. It was a miscalculation on his part that he failed to notice how his grandson was rather close to his adopted granddaughter. His plan to manipulate the foolish boy using his hatred for his sister was a mess.

But that was nothing but a small obstacle. Even if he didn't want to do it, then he would just send Byakura to do it instead.

As he entered his house, he immediately went to Shinji's room. He found no one there. Had the boy actually done it? Zouken mused. He then walked towards Sakura's room. If the boy did it, then both of them would be inside. He then opened the door.

CLICK

SWOOOOOOSH

CLICK CLICK CLICK

SWOOOOOOOSH

CLICK

An elaborate wire trigger was activated as Zouken opened the door. He raised his brows when he saw this. Then he noticed several tube-like objects laying on Sakura's desk that were connected to the wire contraption.

Zouken widened his eyes.

BOOOOOMMM

Then a deafening sound followed by an explosion engulfed him and this part of his house.

...

Polymath, by definition, was a person of wide interest, experience, and potential in various fields of expertise, including but not limited to science and arts. Said to be very rare and occurring once in many generations, a Polymath was universally considered a genius. Matou Shinji, the seemingly worthless heir of the Matou family, was one of these Polymaths.

Compared to his peers, he was considered a prodigy and already understood high school-level subjects at his current age. This was arguably a trade-off fate gave him in exchange for nonexistent magic circuits – a genius considered worthless in magus standards.

With his hidden talents, Shinji engaged in many activities during his spare time. Crafting several pipe bombs was just one of those hobbies. Having access to the seemingly bottomless savings of the Matou family also helped him acquire everything he needed.

But why did he build those things? Just in case, and as it turned out, he was proven right.

Both Shinji and Sakura were now running for their lives, carrying only two small backpacks with some clothes. They were panting along the way but continued to desperately move their legs.

"N-Nii-san..." A flustered and panting Sakura called out to her brother.

"W-We're almost there, Sakura. Hang on."

Their destination was the train station. He would take Sakura as far away from this city as possible. It might not have been the greatest plan he ever conceived, but he was limited in both time and options. At first, he considered going to the Tohsaka family and asking for help, but he decided against it, realizing that a family who had already thrown Sakura out wouldn't likely take her back.

"Nice try, boy."

He suddenly stopped, causing Sakura to unceremoniously bump into his back. He stared in horror as Zouken was somehow standing in front of them. He immediately tried to use his body to cover Sakura.

"A good plan for your age, I admit that," Zouken smirked. "But did you honestly think your small fireworks would kill me?"

Shinji whispered to Sakura, "I'll hold him here while you run to the station."

"N-Nii-san?!"

He knew how bold and stupid his statement was, but he honestly couldn't think of any other choices.

Zouken chuckled darkly, "Foolish boy, even if your sister manages to get away from me." He then smirked, "Did you think I didn't already put a tracker in her body?"

"Wherever she goes, I would know immediately," Zouken continued. "As expected of a worthless boy who isn't even capable of doing magecraft, you don't know anything."

Shinji felt despair creeping in. There was no escape. He couldn't think of one.

"Hm? Shinji? Sakura? What are you doing here?" someone called out to him and his sister.

Shinji turned his gaze and saw a red-haired boy standing not far from them, accompanied by a blonde-haired boy with red eyes.

"Shirou?!"

"S-Senpai?"

Emiya Shirou stood silently, carefully assessing the situation before him.

Just like his grandchildren did, Zouken also glanced at the young red-haired boy. "I see, so it's you," he muttered.