Zero No Tsukaima Crossover Fics Thread

It's been a year since you disappeared. Right now, where are you?

Your father and I have been searching everywhere, have asked many people to help us find you, but you are still missing.

Against all logic, I am hoping that, somehow, this mail can reach you.

Today, I made your favorite, hamburgers. I was thinking of eating some with your father, you see? But right as I was cutting an onion, tears flowed. I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t keep cooking like this, so I let the hamburgers and went to the computer to write this mail. It would have been wasted anyway, each day, your father eats less and less. I am the same as well.

Do you eat well? Are you in a safe place, do you have a roof over your head, are you trying to reach us too?

Are you well?

Saito, where are you?

I'm so worried just thinking about it. I can't think of anything else. Whatever you do, I couldn't care less. But please, please come back. Please let me see your face again.

Saito Hiraga had been drifting in the darkness, in a soft, gentle sea of oblivion, like being returned to the warm embrace of his mother's womb. The darkness was welcoming, inviting him to stay, to stay here forever, to never have to return to the waking world again, and if he were honest, he would like to stay.

"...ner."

The other world so fills him with dread, he doesn't want to leave this welcomed oblivion. He doesn't want to go face the world that will make him exist again, make him face what life entails.

"...artner."

But there was no choice.

"Partner!"

"...Derf?" Saito finally aknowledged the voice. He didn't exactly "talk" when he replied, if he had to describe it, it was more like his thoughts echoing out into the void.

"Partner, the darkness is fading. We're exiting the portal," Derf replied, its tone relieved, not unlike the one adopted after particularly long travels.

True enough, the dark void around Saito had changed, becoming clearer, turning its pitch black infinity into a dark grey hue, then a lighter grey like the sky before sunrise. Saito could vaguely make out...before him, above him, below him...a light piercing the darkness, towards which his body was inexorably dragged.

Why can't I stay? Why do I have to go there?

Rays of light flashed through the dark space. Rainbows quickly spread out in all directions.

I...can’t go back. Not yet. Not when...

For one moment, he clings fast and hard to his solitary world, but then, the light split the world like lightning and shattered it like brittle glass. An intense shock assailed his senses, similar to a high voltage electric current passing through his body.

Nothing can stand against light forever, the quiet truth says.

Honestly...

I should have just died.

With great effort, the wind stroking his cheek, he opened his eyes.

The past few days there had been a continuous downpour, creating large puddles on the sidewalks and keeping people away from the outdoor benches. The surrounding buildings looked all the more dilapidated due to the dimness of the rainy days. However, thanks to a downpour earlier that day, the blinking stars littered upon the night sky were brighter than usual.

On a quiet street illuminated by dim street lights, a shrill high pitched noise suddenly resounded, echoing all around. On the sidewalk, space fluctuated, distorted on itself, before a gentle green light gathered, illuminating the surroundings. The light condensed further, merging into a blinding brilliance while the high pitched noise attained its paroxysm. Then the noise abruptly cut off. The dazzling light gradually faded, and a person’s silhouette slowly appeared.

"Ah…"

He slowly shook his head, trying to gather his scattered thoughts. Tall, about average build, the hood of his blue and white parka was pushed front so his features cannot be seen. Over his back hung on a black strap a katana in a red sleeve, with a hilt carved from ivory.

"I'm back..." Saito muttered to no one as he looked up at the one moon floating in the sky.

He checked the time displayed on a department store’s electronic billboard. It was exactly 11 PM. He thought about walking to the nearest station before remembering that he didn’t have a single yen on him, and he doubted a bus driver would let him embark with an unregistered sword as per the Sword and Firearms Law. Ending up at the police station sounded less than appealing, as such, he had less chances to be questioned on the streets if he used the obscurity in his favor and stuck to the dark alleys.

So walking it was then.

Saito strode somberly through the streets, the dark streets he was wandering feeling familiar to him, like an old acquaintance whose face remained etched in his memory but whose name faded with time. And to say that it all started here, more than one year ago, on his way home after having his notebook computer repaired, and only thinking of the potential girlfriend he might meet online.

Come to think of it, he didn’t get to bring back his PC with him, did he? Whatever, it didn’t matter anymore. On the streets late at night with the artificial light of urban life keeping him company, Saito walked down the street idly, not conscious of much of anything by that point, not even noticing that he was checking around and above him frequently. He also subconsciously kept himself alert for any sudden tremors, vibrations, or changes in the ambient sounds and temperature of the area.

Most likely noticing his tension, Derflinger spoke up. "So this is what your world looks like, huh, partner? You weren’t exaggerating, it is very different from Halkeginia," rattled the katana, its voice muffled by the cloth it was wrapped in. "All these tall towers, everywhere iron and glass, all of these lights..."

When Saito didn’t answer, Derflinger continued, its voice now solemn. "Are you nervous?"

Saito stopped walking, taking moment to answer. He was just on the edge of an alleyway and a well-lit street, glass-paned buildings lining both sides of the street and a small brick convenience store to his right. Now that he was paying attention, he smelled rotting food and other filth permeating the air around him.

He sighed. "Nervous? Yeah, I suppose so. I haven't seen them in over a year, they haven't had an explanation as to why I suddenly disappeared." He paused. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to say to them."

He started to walk again. It took only a few steps before Derflinger found a place to start. "If you want, I can explain for you. Your parents will have an easier time accepting your story if it’s a talking sword recounting it."

Saito shook his head, a faint laugh escaping his lips. "That’s not it. They won’t have any problem believing I crossed over to another world…" He trailed off, hesitating over how to express into words what he felt. "How to put it? I fear...I fear how they will react upon hearing what I have done while I was away."

"Ah," was the immediate sound the sentient sword made in response to Saito’s confession. It hesitated before asking. "What if…what about you lie to them, partner?"

"Not a chance," Saito replied. "I want them to know everything. No lies, just…the whole truth." He smiled bitterly.

"Maybe...just maybe, I might feel forgiven."

It was very early in the morning, around 5AM when he found himself in the middle of suburbia, and realized he was finally in his neighborhood. It was a bright though somewhat damp morning, the streets were covered with muddy puddles thanks to the thundery weather conditions of the previous days. The sounds of the night were lessening slightly and the faint chirp of crickets seemed to die away. Saito looked at the rows of houses that lined the streets. Lights were off in most of the homes, people were no doubt sleeping soundly.

It was a long familiar walk, but it still took him the better part of half an hour to arrive at the gates of his home, a house at the end of the street. It wasn't big, but it was of decent size compared to all the others on the block. He pushed the wooden picket gate open and stepped onto the property. As he did a sort of nervousness began to flood his body, an agitation that made him uneasy. A sort of energy seemed to hang in the air, thick and almost oily. He was finally here, at the front of his home, ready to take the plunge and see the family he missed after all this time. And yet his finger still won't budge or dare to press that doorbell.

Saito inhaled, than exhaled, calming down. He finally rang the doorbell, and waited. Faster than he expected, a woman that looked to be in her late-thirties opened the door. She had dark circles over her eyes and her hair was disheveled. She looked like she hadn't slept in quite a while, and looked much slimmer than he remembered. He idly noticed that tacky heart necklace he remembered buying for her birthday, one that she clearly said never really liked, hanging around her neck.

A deafening silence dominated the air. The woman stood there, frozen. Saito stood in shock as he saw the mother he missed for so long, the same woman who had raised him all his life. She stared at Saito for what seemed like an eternity.

Then…

She hugged him.

She hugged him with all her might. No words, no greeting, just a hug. She spread her arms wide and pulled him close, holding his back with one hand and his head with another and crying— not in sadness, but in joy. She cried in relief, turning softly back and forth, back and forth, not caring at all that she only wore her frail nightgown on this cold morning.

Something clicked into place, deep inside of him, and he realized that he had been hoping for this to happen. Her love crushed him and freed him at the same time, fitting into his soul like a long-lost puzzle piece. For one moment, for the first time in a long while, the images of his friends, burning cities, dead elves, Louise covered in blood, they all retreated to the back of his mind, providing his mind the appeasement needed to stay focused on the present moment. All the tension of the last year flowed out of him like blood from an opened vein, and he saw himself as his mother saw him—not a killer, not a monster, but as a sad, heartbroken boy.

He didn't deserve it, he felt like he didn’t deserve it, he believed he didn’t deserve it, but he hugged her back. He fell against her, and realized that, yes, he still had tears left to cry.

Words were exchanged at some point, but if asked, they wouldn’t be able to recall what was said.

Eventually, woken up by the cold morning air flowing into the house by the open door, his father found them, and silently joined them in their embrace. They stayed there, in silence or sobbing, the Hiraga family finally reunited after over a year of separation.

"Welcome home."

Who said it? He wasn’t sure. And did it even matter at this point?

He was finally home. That was all that mattered.

The following day, Saito would receive a letter (in truth a mandatory order) confirming his enrollment at JPN BABEL, the institution tasked with taking charge of the returnees from other worlds. He would receive his uniforms and textbooks exempted from tuition and fees by post. He would have to leave his parents, and be forced to move the campus situated on the autonomous man-made island in Tokyo Bay. So soon after reuniting with his parents, he would have to leave them again lest BABEL dispatched personnel to forcibly bring him there.

But for now…

For now…

Just for one, brief, fleeting instant, Saito Hiraga was at peace.

Ever since their arrival in Albion proper, Lordgenome’s senses had been on alert. From the part where he discovered Matilda’s unfortunate condition up to now, the former Spiral Knight could only make calculations in his mind as the rented carriages made their way across the floating continent to their destination, the town of Newcastle.

“You’ve been thinking pretty heavily, Lordgenome,” Louise said. “And you’ve been on edge ever since we boarded the airship. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at the moment,” the Gandalfr replied. “This carriage ride kind of reminds me of our trip to Tarbes, though.”

Louise sighed.

“A lot of bad things happened there, and they would have been worse things if we hadn’t,” she said as she turned towards the window to see the scenery roll by. “Don’t tell me you have another bad feeling?”

Lordgenome chuckled. “Someone I knew a long time ago told me the big advantage of being a pessimist – you are either proven correct or are pleasantly surprised.”

Louise gave a ladylike laugh of her own back. “Mother would never phrase it that way, but your point is a lot similar to how she deals with things. Except...”

“Look, let’s not get distracted by that. I wouldn’t approve of how she does things, but her heart is in the right place. What kind of parent wouldn’t want her child protected from the world?”

“But... she herself said that...”

Okay, that was not the best choice of words. I’m starting to sound like I sympathize with that woman.

No, you don’t, Derflinger said with an echoing laugh as the Core Drill – a necklace’s pendant worn by Lordgenome – glowed a faint red. Well, it’s par for the course that people judge themselves by their intentions and others by their actions, so...

The former Spiral King just shrugged.

I think you may have something there, Derf.

“I know,” he continued. “I know it doesn’t sound like she does, or if what she does is right, but for once, let’s see things from her point of view. Goodness knows your mother the Duchess didn’t get to where she was by being magnanimous enough to do that, right?”

Louise nodded.

“I knew it,” he replied. “The Duchess probably thinks that doing that’s another form of weakness, or she uses it when maneuvering against her foes – not against family.”

Louise nodded again, and Lordgenome sighed.

“One of these days, I just might end up decking her, out of general principle.”

No further words were spoken as the carriage sped swiftly to Newcastle, the horses’ hooves and the clattering wheels the only sounds it made as it traversed the macadamized roadways.

~~~

Not so far away, a beastman sighed as he leaned over the sink, soaking a set of folded cloth in a basin of water for goodness knows how many times already. After folding it to fit his Master’s forehead, he quickly walked through the halls of the large house that also doubled as an orphanage, only coming to a stop as soon as he entered the room where his Master was currently asleep in.

Two days now. Three tomorrow since this had happened to Tiffania.

He carefully placed the compress on the too-warm forehead of the girl who had given him the Lifdrassil designation, and made up his mind then and there.

Tomorrow he would look for people to operate the orphanage in Tiffania’s state and his absence, and a healer who might be able to find out why his Master hadn’t awoken since impaling her would-be attackers through with black tendrils that erupted from whatever miasma she exuded.

That was the question whose answers he could easily stomach. The questions of what those tendrils were – and why his Master wielded them – made him very uneasy.

As he returned to his room to pick up his set of knives and the list of bounties he needed to complete, Viral had a lot of difficulty admitting to himself that this was an escape from the inevitable, almost as if the peaceful existence he had known with these children and their caretaker Tiffania would soon be irreparably shattered.

~~~

“The healer will arrive here in two days, Mr. Viral,” the caretaker he hired – a woman from the mainland named Jessica – said. “Our budget will not be in any trouble should you be away for around two to four weeks. Maybe five, if the healer says Miss Tiffania’s condition is not so serious.”

“My apologies for having stolen you from your job, Miss Jessica,” Viral said, “but you were the only trustworthy one whose services I could call on in so short a time. I hope your father does not mind so much.”

“It is no big deal, sir,” Jessica replied. “My cousin Reina will cover for me, at least until Miss Tiffania is well enough to go back to work.”

Viral bowed his head.

“Again, my most plentiful thanks. Expect me in a week.”

“Godspeed, Mr. Viral,” the newly-appointed caretaker said as she saw her employer off.

Viral didn’t look back as he dashed away from the orphanage, away from his Master, away from these hard questions that he was too frightened to answer.

Blinking hard to clear eyes that were by no means moistened by his fear and shame, the Lifdrassil surged forward.

Getting bounties was the only thing he could do right now for his Master.

For now.

~~~

"Baka Inu!" Louise growled as she stomped on Saito's head AND whipped his back nonstop. "Baka baka baka baka baka...!"

"Time out!" Saito gestured up with a hand, then said, "You got it wrong!" As Louise paused with a deep frown, he added, "You're saying it in Japanese, Taiga-san, but remember, Louise isn't from Japan. Also, your wig is slipping."

"Oh, geez!" Aisaka Taiga huffed, taking the pink wig off to better settle it on top of her long brown hair. "Subbing for your girlfriend is a pain, Hiraga! She'd better recover from that stupid flu soon!"

The Director sighed. "Okay, then, Take Seven..."