Shinji Matou at Your Service

A dimly lit room.

A boy lying on the ground.

A girl with vacant eyes.

Intermittent sobbing.

And occasional rises and falls.

Please don't misunderstand, this is not some sort of prison. This is the cargo hold of a plane flying from Romania to East Asia. This isn't some illegal detention role-play either; it's smuggling, although this act is still illegal.

The boy and girl are naturally Shinji and Arcueid, who just escaped from the Millennium Castle. They ended up in the airplane cargo hold because they didn't have Romanian documentation, making them TNT unable to board a plane through regular means.

Originally, Shinji intended to contact Zelretch by phone to have him teleport himself and Arcueid directly to Japan. However, Zelretch had once again disappeared before Shinji could call, saying only, "Shinji is already fine," and then sent Justeaze, Rin Tohsaka, and Illyasviel out of the secret workshop.

When Shinji contacted Justeze, the three were already on a train back to Fuyuki—after all, it's Japan where the Matou, Tohsaka, and Emiya families have much more influence compared to distant Europe, where their reach is limited.

Shinji was displeased with Zelretch's hands-off approach. However, considering the old man's unparalleled ability to escape and their vast difference in power, Shinji could only curse a few times, calling him an old fossil.

Arcueid, on the other hand, didn't mind. Other than showing a slight surprise at the mention of Old Man Jewel, she didn't say much. The two are old acquaintances; Arcueid met this legendary old man shortly after her birth. Despite being a Dead Apostle, the old man is a unique individual not listed on any vampire hunting lists.

With no one to help, Shinji had to find his way home. Having previously traveled to Romania with Artoria, Reika, and Jack, he naturally chose a similar method.

They transferred to Bucharest, confirmed the flight, and sneaked into the cargo hold while the goods were being loaded. Then came the long wait.

Arcueid's personality is innocent and carefree, saying whatever comes to her mind, and she despises boredom. She could endure the day by sleeping, but at night she became energetic, needing something to do. This is also a characteristic of vampires.

Unlike other vampires, who are harmed by sunlight and can only hide during the day, sunlight doesn't cause Arcueid any physical harm. She simply dislikes it and becomes lethargic under it.

Not just sunlight, flowing water, garlic, holy water, and crosses—all typical vampire deterrents—do not affect her. If she didn't have the urge to drink blood, she would be the perfect being, though her current behavior is far from perfect.

"So boring, so boring, Shinji."

"..."

Shinji lay on the ground, eyes closed, and silent.

"Hey, hey, Shinji, let's play."

"..."

"Mm-hm—"

Seeing Shinji ignoring her, Arcueid began to throw a tantrum, flailing her arms and legs like a child, causing the luggage around them to clatter.

Shinji finally opened his eyes, yawning as he got up and grabbed Arcueid's hand.

"My princess, can't you let me sleep peacefully? You slept during the day, and I didn't disturb you. I even carried you to the airport."

"But, but it's boring. Ah, right, what do you do when you're bored?"

"Meditate, train my magical power, review spells, practice runes..."

"I don't seem to know any of that."

"You don't need to. If humans had your abilities, they wouldn't study these things..."

Shinji shook his head and began to doze off again.

"Wait, wait, don't sleep. Talk to me for a while."

"Talk... how long?"

"A day?"

Arcueid suggested tentatively.

"Sigh~"

"Then... half a day?"

"Phew~"

"Until dawn, just until dawn, okay?"

Arcueid pouted, looking greatly aggrieved, but little did she know that Shinji felt even more wronged inside.

"Young lady, if you don't want me to sleep, just say it."

"Okay, I don't want you to sleep; I want you to play with me."

"I'm defeated by you. How do you want to play?"

With Arcueid being this honest, what else could Shinji do but obediently surrender? In the six years since he came here, this was the first time someone made him feel so helpless.

"I don't know."

Still an answer so honest it left one speechless, "Shinji can decide."

"Then accompany me to sleep."

With a thud, Shinji lay back down—sleep, just sleep, doing nothing else.

"You promised not to sleep."

Arcueid grabbed Shinji's shoulders and pulled him back up.

"Alright, alright, I won't sleep. But I don't know what to do either..."

Shinji stared at the ceiling, utterly bored.

"I can't just practice magic while you watch."

Arcueid shook her head repeatedly, "No way, absolutely not."

"Then be quiet for a bit and let me think of something to pass the time..."

"Okay, but hurry up."

"I'm already thinking."

"..."

"..."

"Are you done?"

"No."

"Mm..."

"Almost there, don't rush—answer me a question first."

"What question?"

"How are your injuries?"

"Much better. Except for a headache when using Marble Phantasm, everything else has recovered."

"What about the voices in your head?"

"Sometimes I still hear them, but they're not annoying anymore."

"I see, then it might be worth a try."

Shinji pondered, "The rules of the Mooncell world are entirely new. The Marble Phantasm based on Earth's nature theoretically doesn't work. If I remember correctly, the servant version of Arcueid doesn't have this broken ability either. So... yeah, it's worth a try. If it doesn't work, we can just come back out; it'll be like a first experience... uh, this phrasing sounds terrible."

"What's terrible? Did you think of something fun?"

Arcueid beside him still looked full of anticipation.

"I did have an idea, but it could be a bit dangerous."

"That's okay, I'm not afraid of danger. How do we play?"

"It's too cramped here to do anything. We need to go to a broader world—put your hand down; I didn't mean for you to punch a hole in the cargo hold. Do you want to crash the plane?"

"Then how do we get outside?"

"With a chant, I can send us out. As for you, Gaia will send you up?"

"Gaia? Could it be—"

"You've always wanted to see it, right? Let's go then. But first, we need to secure our bodies and set a return time so no one finds out."

"Leave that to me. I'll deploy a small-scale illusion..."

Pure white spread out, enveloping their bodies. Arcueid grabbed Shinji's wrist and watched him close his eyes, softly chanting:

"Link Start!"