leftribbon:
“Y-Yes… I promise I’ll be more careful…!”
So, it would appear she was right. She didn’t need to know how he knew Uncle Kariya - because she had a feeling she already knew what the answer was. The way he looked as she mentioned his name, it was only an obvious guess. This man was her uncle’s servant from the war. She had never seen his servant around him, ever, for obvious reasons. She was too young to truly understand what was going on, to understand why she had to go through the torture she went through.
She understood now. No longer was she the little girl who lived with the Tohsaka’s. Every bit of that was stripped and rubbed away from her.
But, that wasn’t what she was concerned about. Light pink eyes looked up at the male before her. There seemed to be no emotion in there, or at least something that one could detect as any emotion. They were blank, just like they were when she was a child.
“I know Uncle Kariya was a master in the war. He promised he would win, so that I can go home. But he didn’t and I never went home. I knew he wouldn’t win, because..”
“Uncle Kariya died because he defied grandfather.”
Hollow words, spoken so blankly. There was neither warm or cold in her voice. It was just… as it was. Something she had long accepted. Any one who defied Zouken would be granted with death, that’s what she figured out.
“… Did you have an emotional attachment to him, I wonder?”
“Your Uncle died because he was an inexperienced magus who summoned a Servant he could not wield.” The sentence was pointed, but with purpose. His voice felt as though it had dropped into his stomach when her features gained that look. He had been hidden from view, but he knew that look all too well. Despite the swirling insanity in his mind at that time, what remained of him - what remained of him as the shoddy father he was - had broken for the young girl. In the moments where he knew what was happening, it was the one thing that connected him to Kariya Matou, truly.
“Your uncle made his mistakes - tackling targets he could not handle - but the crux of the issue was that he could not supply the mana I needed. And I-” His face fell, hesitation. “I have no control over my absorption. Berserkers are greedy creatures.”
“...A Servant can see his Master’s dreams. My attachment to your Uncle was to help him achieve his own, as futile as it was. But in my state at that time, there was no way I could perceive it as futile.” Bowing his head low, his hair obscured his features.
“I am sorry, Sakura. I am sorry I could not help your Uncle save you.”
