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Illya and Rob - Monthly Omake
🕑 Added 2023-10-25 13:54:40 +0000 UTCA canon omake that depicts the development of the relationship between Illya and Rob from Illya’s Point of View, with the added bonus of her confrontation with Shirou. This omake was made possible by all of my wonderful patrons, who voted for this on Patreon. I am very thankful for their support.
It was a whirlwind of romance.
Some might have called it unhealthy, saying that it was unnatural for two people to get so close just over the course of two weeks at best. Illya, for her part, didn’t really know if there was any answer she could retort to that with, given her lack of experience in the topic…
Perhaps it really was unhealthy? But how would she know, she was a Homunculus that had been made for one purpose, and one purpose only. The fact that she had just broken free of that label did not matter, when it shaped her experiences in life up until this point.
In the end though… it was not like she would care enough to give a response. Because she really was that happy, and she didn’t care what some random person thought about her finally finding her own happiness from what had been a wretched life up to this point.
And it was her that had found that happiness, contrary to what the target of her affections might say. Because if she hadn’t chased him down onto that park after he’d sicced Lancer on her Berserker, who knows if they’d even be able to meet in a cordial manner again! Not to mention how it was Liz that had (unintentionally) laid the bait for him to come find her in the first place. For someone as lazy as her strongest maid, she really managed to produce some stellar results.
Sure, she’d be generous and say that he was the reason that they were in an Alliance, and it was because they were in an Alliance that he’d chosen to think about her and steal that Philosopher’s Stone and those ancient grimoires that made her salivate just at the thought of getting to translate them.
But she really had to take her victories where she could get them, otherwise she’d be feeling rather useless standing next to him.
That Rob Loxley…
A self-admitted idiot by all accounts, who had butted his nose into affairs that he had no business being involved with, and in doing so, had utterly demolished everything that the Holy Grail War was about in an instant.
An idiot savant that had a repertoire of magics that most Magi would kill to get their hands on, along with a Mystic Code embedded in his body that had the potential of creating untold havoc, had it been at the hands of anyone else.
Had it not been for his desire to be the second coming of Robin Hood, or Ishikawa Goemon as he had called himself numerous times, things might have been a lot different.
Like her, he wasn’t normal, though his abnormality exceeded even hers.
So Illya really didn’t mind becoming closer to him. Laughing at his jokes, accepting his boundless affection, giving him food and shelter in return for endless gratitude that she simply could not get enough of, gratitude which had been returned in spades.
And he didn’t mind it either. Accepting every speck of affection she gave with honest joy that sent thrills up and down her body, became embarrassed whenever she thought to employ her own limited repertoire of flirting, and when she finally used his gift to make it so that they could close the last of the distance that existed between them… he accepted her into his heart in an instant.
There were others in his heart too, of course. Those Servants of his (she didn’t count the nervous Snake as belonging to the Matou girl, even after he’d returned her) Tohsaka Rin, and even her own Maids!
But she didn’t mind, in fact… she welcomed them! For they were also like him. The actions she performed on them were reacted to in a way that sent a flood of thrills, the idea of doing things to them like she planned with him sent her heart aflutter, and though the affection she held for them might never reach the same heights that she felt for Rob Loxley…
And, well, she might also be a bit of a pervert, who would very much enjoy having access to more bodies, and how those bodies might react to a harder, more chiseled form like his… it rather revved her engine, so to say.
In the end, it was all rather simple.
It might have been too much, too soon… but she didn’t care.
She was happy.
So happy that… she had found herself forgetting about the real reason she had decided to participate in this war in the first place. Her revenge on the boy that had stolen her father (who had stolen her mother and never returned) from her.
Emiya Shirou.
Their first confrontation had been rather… empty.
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“Saber!” The boy she’d come here to evaluate shouted in alarm, as his Servant was sent flying at the hands of an opponent many times greater than her. What hope then, did the foolish boy have to stop him, as he looked like he was gearing up to do.
Illya had thought that this would be… a fateful confrontation.
“Master, fall back!” His Servant shouted, pushing her Master back, even as she confronted the Monster in front of her in the bravest of ways. She might have been outclassed in many aspects, but her skill was undeniable, deftly dodging and parrying blows that should have crumpled her frail looking frame.
Not that Illya was paying all that much attention to that, mind you.
But as she watched Heracles cross swords with that familiar Saber, she found herself disappointed. A hollow feeling emerging from the center of her chest, rather a contrast to all of the things she’d thought she’d feel in the past.
It had started off well too! She’d come here with good cheer, waltzed through that pitiful Boundary Field and into his property, had Berserker burst through the wall of his home and into his garden, and had immediately laid down the gauntlet.
The conversation that had happened afterwards had been the first sign of things going wrong.
Because Emiya Shirou, even when confronted with the full reality of who she was, beyond the cryptic warnings before the War had started, had not shown his true colors--- or the ones she had been hoping he’d show anyway.
The Fake Magus in front of her had feigned(?) ignorance about all sorts of things. Acting like he hadn’t know who she was even after she’d told him her name… He’d even told her that he didn’t want to fight her, in a Holy Grail War where he’d summoned a Servant!
His Saber was even worse, that failure of a Knight who could not even protect Illya’s mother--- but Illya couldn’t even feel good about her being torn to pieces right before her eyes. Because of course Berserker was defeating her, because of course she’d lose in the face of her preparations!
Sure, it was a spectacle for the ages that would rarely be seen. A clash of heroes that would leave many feeling rapture at the mere sight of it all! But all Illya felt as she watched the two clash was a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Because she was rapidly coming to terms with the fact that… the image she’d built up of the two in front of her was deeply flawed.
She didn’t know if she could’ve made a connection like that without meeting Rob, especially considering that she’d gone into this with the express purpose of following his wishes and seeing if her brother was someone worth being ‘Ruined’, but… no, she could not see it.
Was that because she was too inexperienced? Why could she not see past whatever barrier he’d cast over his person, and see the hidden evil beneath his actions? …Did she really need Rob in order to see it?
That more than anything, was the deciding factor.
She left them bleeding but unbroken, so that they could heal up fully and be ready for her return. Not alone, mind you, but with someone that could peer into their hearts, and see if they were people worthy
Only then, would she take enjoyment in tearing them to pieces.
“Take heart, brother, Saber.” She had said, hiding her true feelings. “You were boring enough that I’ve decided to let you live until you grow enough to provide me with some actual entertainment.”
She had left them to it then, trekking back to her Castle while wondering how Rob was faring with the Second Owner of Fuyuki, in their mission to defeat Caster. She hoped that he’d promptly handle her and return to Illya posthaste.
“We will see each other again.” She had told Saber and her brother.
But next time, she would not be alone.
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And then… Rob had turned her life upside down, and she’d really forgotten about even meeting her brother for a bit, luxuriating in the fact that she would get to have a future as she thought about all the things she’d be able to do.
Her life was no longer defined by the Holy Grail War, which meant that her grudge against Emiya Shirou suddenly seemed… pitiful.
Maybe tearing her Grail Heart out had been more than a symbolic gesture, and that she’d gotten rid of the dark clouds plaguing her heart by simply getting a new one. Or maybe, that scar was still there, but seemed all too tiny over her new form, crafted to perfection by her own hands, so that she might satisfy both her own ego… and well, reward the person that had made it all possible in the first place.
Maybe, maybe not… But as her car traveled down the mountain roads of Fuyuki for yet another time, and as she chatted with Rob about the future that they would share following the War, as she once again made the decision to visit Emiya Shirou, Illya chose not to care about what made her sad.
She simply chose to be happy.
Illyasviel's heart was no longer empty, and she could love every second of her life without regrets.
