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Illya awoke to a chill in the air, making her curl up tighter under her covers. She pressed her eyes closed and gritted her teeth, unable to fall back asleep nor stop the incessant shaking of her limbs. When had it gotten so cold? It hadn't been this cold when she turned in for the night.
She opened her eyes to nearly pitch-black darkness and frowned. What little she could see told her she wasn't in her bedroom but a room with more traditional furnishings. Tatami mats? Paper Walls? Were they visiting a hot spring or something?
And then she remembered: this was the Japanese mansion that Shirou lived in. Miyu's Shirou, not Illya's brother. The same Shirou they'd found in some cell underneath the Ainsworth estate.
She shook her head free of such thoughts, but not soon enough to prevent that sick feeling in her stomach she always got when she thought about their current situation. She curled up even tighter in a futile attempt to return to her slumber.
"Can't sleep?"
Miyu was sitting against the back porch's door frame when Illya slipped into the hallway. She did not turn when she asked Illya her question, only looking outside wistfully.
Illya wrapped her blanket tighter around herself and sat with Miyu at the door. "It was too cold," she explained quietly. "Aren't you cold too?"
Miyu managed a small smile. "I don't really mind it."
Illya felt a light breeze and flinched, veritably frigid air piercing through layers of fabric like thousands of tiny needles. "At least that makes one of us," she grumbled.
This earned a chuckle from Miyu, who scooted closer and wrapped Illya's blanket around both of them. "Better?"
Upon their shoulders making contact, Illya once again flinched. "Not really. You feel freezing. Are you sure you're alright, Miyu?"
Miyu looked down at her hands, slowly opening and closing them. "I'm not sure. I don't feel any different. I think I'm just used to this kind of cold."
A sigh. "Well, that's good for you, I guess."
There was a moment of silence as the two sat there, leaning against each other, enduring the chilly night air together.
Then Miyu perked up. "I think I've come up with a solution to your problem," she said. "Drinking hot water should increase your core temperature, which would also increase the temperature of your extremities through the body's natural processes of circulation. Let me get the kettle. I'll be right—" she began standing, only to be immediately stopped by Illya grabbing her arm. "Illya?"
"Stay," Illya muttered. "I… The cold isn't the only reason I can't sleep…"
Miyu frowned but capitulated without struggle. "What else is bothering you, Illya?"
A shrug. "A lot of things, I guess?" She pursed her lips. "The thing with Tanaka, learning about your past, you having your own Shirou… and the whole situation with the Ainsworth Grail War." She shook her head. "It's still a little much for me…"
"Give it some time," an unexpected voice said behind them
They both blinked and turned around to see Chloe with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall.
"Chloe. Why are you awake?"
She tapped the curse mark on her belly. "It's a little hard to sleep when you can literally feel your baby sister freezing to death."
Illya pouted. "We're the same age."
Chloe smirked. "Sure we are."
Before an argument could erupt, Miyu cut in with a question. "What did you mean when you said to give it some time?"
Chloe's smug expression faded into something more thoughtful. She looked at Illya seriously.
"You adapted pretty well to suddenly being a magical girl, right?" Illya nodding hesitantly, making Chloe roll her eyes. "Oh don't give me that, you're literally better at using your stick than Miyu is. You adapted amazingly. And you did the same to suddenly having a twin sister."
Illya fidgeted where she sat. "What are you getting at?"
Chloe let out a huff, her breath condensing into an angry cloud of vapor in front of her face. "I'm telling you: give this whole mess some time to sink in and you'll find your resolve again. You'll be able to face this." She gave a rare genuine smile. "You always do."
Illya stared for a moment before looking back outside, curling up tighter. "Thanks," she muttered shakily. "That means a lot to me."
A chuckle. "I'm sure it does. Anyway!" She walked up and yanked the blanket off of them. "Make some room. I'm joining you two in there."
Illya struggled desperately against her sister's superior strength. "Chloe! There isn't enough blanket to cover all three of us! It's gonna get way colder!"
"Nah, not while I'm around."
After Chloe successfully wrestled herself in between Illya and Miyu under the blanket, Illya found herself warmer than she expected. And this was despite the blanket no longer fully covering her.
"Huh? How are you doing that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Chloe replied coyly.
"She's circulating large amounts of her prana through her body to radiate heat," Miyu explained. "From what I understand, this is fairly standard magecraft to keep one's self warm."
Illya blinked. "Oh."
"That's it?" Chloe asked dramatically. "Just an 'Oh'? I'm doing something nice for you and I don't get any thanks at all?"
Illya rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah. Thank you very much for your help, Chloe."
"You can at least try to be sincere about it."
"Well, I am being sincere," Illya snapped. "You already know I was freezing before you came in here. What else do you want me to say?"
"Maybe nothing to say, but to do?"
The two of them shared a look, their wordless communication lasting for a beat. Then Illya groaned.
"Do I have to?"
This earned a grin from Chloe. "Hey, I need prana to live and yet I'm using it up to make you more comfortable. It's only fair, right?"
"Yeah, okay, but right next to Miyu?"
"I don't mind," Miyu chimed in.
Chloe's grin grew wider. "See? She doesn't mind."
"That's not the issue here! Just—!" Illya let out a tired sigh. "I can top you off later. For now, can't you just let me enjoy being here with you two?"
Chloe was silent for a moment before sighing as well. "Alright, fine. C'mere." She pulled Illya into a hug. "You really are such a baby sometimes."
"I'm not a baby," Illya insisted, begrudgingly hugging Chloe back.
"Well, you're my baby sister. That's good enough for me." Chloe shifted slightly as she turned to Miyu. "Well what are you waiting for?"
Miyu blinked. "What do you mean?"
A roll of the eyes. "Oh, for the love of— Get in here and hug us too!" She grabbed Miyu by the shoulder and dragged her into the cuddle pile. After a moment of hesitation, Miyu wrapped her arms around them gently.
"Hmm. This is quite nice," Miyu remarked.
Chloe chuckled. "Tell me about it."
"I—" Illya swallowed a breath. "Thank you… Both of you…"
The two did not reply, simply hugging her tighter.
END