Dark Side of the Moon

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura glared at the construct, annoyed by the dismissive attitude she was taking to her beloved husband. It only enhanced her impression that this was a cheap, knock-off copy of her sister, who would never normally be so rude to Shirou. Further, from the construct's behaviour, she knew that an answer from her would get a much more positive reaction than one from him, so she decided to answer quickly, before Shirou himself could respond.

"This is my husband, Shirou", she said, clearly irritated. "He's a wonderful, kind man and you should treat him with respect."

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura was confused and a little bit irritated by the clueless expression on her sister's face. Had Rin really forgotten who she was? Her own little sister?

Before she could say anything, however, the girl suddenly had a flash of recognition, and began to greet her happily, albeit a little robotically. But, then, things began to get weird, as the girl bowed, apologising profusely and insulting herself in the process. Sakura was surprised, amused and a little embarrassed by the display, wondering what exactly was happening. Shirou, meanwhile, could barely suppress a giggle at the sight, something that he felt might have come straight out of one of Sakura's darker fantasies.

But, before Sakura or Shirou could say anything, the girl's expression and tone changed once more, this time to something far more robotic. Addressing Sakura as "master", she asked what the girl wanted. For a few moments, Sakura looked at her, dumbstruck, before she came to a realisation. The girl's bizarre behaviour, the robotic manner in which she was acting and the weird, shadowy taint all pointed to one thing. This girl was some kind of very advanced shadow familiar. And, given the manner in which she was reacting to Sakura, Sakura's own history with her sister and her knowledge of what she might potentially be capable of, she had no doubt that this girl was the creation of an alternate Sakura. One who, seemingly, had even more issues with her sister than she did.

For a moment, Sakura hesitated. The last version of her that she had met had been completely insane, attempting to kidnap Shirou. And making a shadow maid that looked like Rin and humiliating her hardly pointed to sanity, either. At the same time, though, it wasn't really harmful, and it was something she could maybe have seen herself doing, once, if she had the capability. And finding a potential ally would be useful. So, she addressed the familiar with a smile.

"Excuse me, but can you tell me where the person who created you is?" Sakura asked. "I would like to talk to her."

Sakura and Shirou

12 PM, Nexus Time (following day)

Having returned home from an enjoyable but mostly uneventful dinner, Sakura and Shirou spent the evening together, before finally going to bed. The morning after, Shirou suggested that it might be a good idea to check out the gyms in the nearby Swole City district, which they had heard were exceptional quality, quite possibly even supernaturally-so. Aware of their need to maintain fitness, Sakura agreed with his suggestion and, so, the two of them took a gentle stroll out there, eventually arriving a little before midday.

When they arrived, they wandered around for a while, looking for some advice or a gym that looked interesting. They were in no real hurry, after all, they had plenty of money and no emergency which they needed to help deal with had arisen.

Sakura and Shirou

The couple responded to the greetings by returning their own, waving and smiling as they greeted their neighbours before they found the person they were seeking, the man in charge of the food. They could tell from the look of relief on his face that he had been somewhat worried that they and, more importantly, their food, wouldn't be coming, and they smiled back as he directed them to the serving tables.

"OK, thank you", Sakura said, politely, before heading over towards the tables.

On arrival, Sakura opened a small shadow portal and removed the dishes one by one, as if she was pulling them out of thin air, before placing them on the table as instructed. Then, with that complete, the two of them moved to join the short queue for obtaining a plate and some food. After a few moments, they were able to obtain the plate and moved to collect some food. They both took food from a variety of dishes, some of their own together with some of the dishes cooked by other people which caught their fancy. Then, having loaded their plates up with a reasonable but not excessive amount of food, they looked around the room for a mostly-occupied table with a pair of seemingly free seats. Finding some, they moved over to the table in question.

"Are these seats free?" Shirou asked when he got to the table, smiling kindly.

Sakura and Shirou

Shirou and Sakura watched on curiously as Nanako and Suerte seemingly fought to woo Justice. They didn't know exactly what was happening, of course, but it was obvious that something had happened between him and the two girls previously. Before they could say anything, though, Nanako simply said her goodbyes and left.

"See you later, Nanako", Sakura said with a smile as she wrapped Shirou into a hug once more, relieved that he was safe.

Then, they addressed the remaining two.

"Sure, if that's what you want", Sakura said to the cowgirl.

"Anyway, I guess we'd better get going, and leave you two alone for a while", Shirou added. "Unless you have something else to discuss."

Sakura and Shirou

3:30 PM

Sakura clung onto the horse as it sped towards their destination, anxious to meet her beloved and ensure that he was safe. And, soon enough, they arrived at the Nexus campus area and headed for the clock tower in the centre, where her beloved would be waiting.
As they approached, she desperately looked around for his distinctive red hair. Until, finally, she saw him, standing next to the clock tower as he had promised he would be. Immediately, she shouted out to him.

"Senpai!" she shouted, the joy clear in her voice as the horse ran towards him.

As soon as she got close enough, she jumped off and ran towards him, grabbing him into a firm hug.

"Senpai! I'm so glad you're OK!" she said, hugging him tightly, tears of happiness forming in her eyes. "What did she do to you? Did that bitch hurt you? If she hurt you, I'll...."

Shirou sighed as he returned Sakura's hug, relieved that the whole thing was finally over.

"No, I'm fine, she didn't hurt me", he said, before looking at her companions.

"Are these the people you recruited to rescue me?" he asked.

"Yes, I called Nanako, then I met the other two and I offered them a bounty for helping me rescue you", she said, before turning to the two newcomers. "Would you like to introduce yourselves?"

Sakura

Sakura nodded.

"Yes, that probably makes sense. Whilst I'm reasonably fit and used to travelling long distances, I am still fundamentally human. I am sure all of you can move faster than me and tire out less easily", she said.

Then, she had a thought.

"Hmm.... If I give you all a shadow familiar to carry, then I can teleport myself to you if necessary. And I can see, hear and speak through them, too, so we could all communicate", she said.

With that, she generated three small shadow familiars, each of which walked up to one of the three companions and stood in front of them, waving cutely.

"If you don't mind, could you please pick them up and keep them somewhere, perhaps in a pocket. They're reasonably autonomous, so you shouldn't need to do much with them, as long as they're able to stay in place."