Chapter 338: Three Women, One Stage
"Ah..."
In front of the set, under the studio lights, Hinako Akuta—who was playing Asagami Fujino—let out a soft sigh and reached up to touch her black hair. The strands on the left side of her head were uneven, as if they'd been crudely sliced off with a knife.
The jagged cut reminded Hinako of something—something she couldn't quite grasp. Her gaze drifted slowly across the scene around her.
They were in a bar built underground.
It had been abandoned half a year ago after going bankrupt, and ever since then, it'd become a haunt for lowlifes.
Everything you could imagine about a place like this—dirty, chaotic, reeking of stale alcohol—was all there.
In the corner, bar stools were tossed in a heap. In the middle, a dusty pool table stood like a forgotten relic, covered with random junk: crumpled food wrappers, leftover convenience store meals scattered across the floor, takeout boxes piled on a chair like a miniature mountain.
Hinako wrinkled her brow slightly. The stale, sour air made her stomach twist.
But honestly—who wouldn't feel uncomfortable standing in a dump like this?
If there was anything here that could be called "normal," it was probably the flickering alcohol lamps used for lighting. Though even that—using alcohol lamps in a place like this—felt disturbingly out of place.
"This..."
Still in character, Hinako looked around with a dazed, unfocused expression.
She knew that the girl she was playing hadn't fully regained her senses yet. She needed to act out that fragile, dreamlike confusion—someone who couldn't quite tell what was real.
"Hmm..."
Hinako picked up the severed wrist prop that had fallen by her feet. From the broken limb's still-ticking watch, she read the time.
"July 20th... eight o'clock... huh? Ugh—!"
Hinako suddenly let out a pained moan, bracing herself against the table with one hand and clutching her stomach with the other.
Imagine it. Imagine that searing pain in your gut, twisting your insides.
Her lips pressed tight, Hinako stumbled, half-collapsing against the table leg—her body trembling as if she could barely stand under the pain.
"Cut!"
Shinji's voice cut through the air. From behind the monitor, he stood and waved her over.
The lack of a smile on his face made Hinako's heart sink. She walked toward him, hesitant.
"I... messed up, didn't I?" she asked carefully.
"Control your expressions," Shinji said bluntly. "Fujino's the kind of character who doesn't show emotion easily. Even when she's not 'triggered,' she's supposed to look calm and unreadable. You're letting too much show—it breaks her image."
Hinako nodded quickly, already knowing this was one of her weak spots. "Got it. I'll fix it."
"Good. Go let makeup touch you up. We'll redo the shot in five minutes."
The bar set had been built with painstaking detail, every inch matching the abandoned atmosphere from the script. After Hinako's little tumble, fake blood had smeared across her costume in several places.
Since they'd be reshooting, everything had to be reset—right back to the moment before she "woke up."
"Understood," Hinako said, bowing slightly before heading toward the makeup corner.
Shinji sank back into his director's chair, reviewing the last take on the monitor.
If you don't really delve deeper into the FGO storyline, most people would only know Hinako Akuta from that iconic still of her reading a book—a quiet, intellectual girl.
And sure, "bookish girl" didn't necessarily mean emotionless, but most would imagine someone reserved, composed, subtle.
The reality, however, was the exact opposite.
Don't be fooled by her "literary girl" persona. Even when she wasn't in "Servant mode" (Yu Mei-ren form with the black lingerie that she calls a dress), Hinako's expressions were full of life—sometimes too much so. For fans expecting a cool, silent Fujino, seeing her in person could shatter that illusion completely.
That cold impression people got from her? It wasn't real indifference—just a wall she put up with strangers.
Once she let that wall down... her expressions could be as vivid, as human, and as endearing as anyone's. Maybe not quite manga-comic exaggerated, but definitely, unmistakably alive.
From a girl's perspective, that "elderly maiden pretending to be shy" kind of gap was actually kind of… cute.
But when it came to acting out Asagami Fujino—especially during the parts before Fujino completely lost it—that wasn't exactly ideal.
Still, Shinji wasn't the kind of director to throw everything out over something that small.
As long as she reined in those extra expressions, with Hinako's current skill—and that natural yandere energy simmering under the surface—playing Fujino, a role practically made for her, wouldn't be hard at all.
After two more takes, Shinji finally called it good. Then came the scene change—to the first meeting between Shiki Ryougi and Asagami Fujino.
"Camera?"
"OK!"
"Lighting?"
"OK!"
. . .
Shinji went down the usual checklist, then gave the cue.
The clapperboard snapped.
The set had been rearranged into a German-style café.
Shiki walked in, face blank, eyes sweeping toward the table on the left—where two girls sat: Tohsaka Rin playing Azaka Kokutou, and Hinako Akuta as Asagami Fujino.
Yes—Rin, the same Rin who'd been tagging along as Shinji's maid recently, was the one playing Azaka.
Actually, in Shinji's original plan, he'd wanted Sakura to take that role.
But since Sakura was now busy with university, and Shinji didn't want to mess with her studies, he had to settle for someone already in reach.
Sure, Rin was technically a bit old for the role, but with makeup she could still pass for a high-schooler easily enough.
Besides, when Azaka was younger she wore twin tails—and that look was basically a copy-paste of Fate/Zero-era Rin. The resemblance was uncanny, practically "Mini-Rin."
Anyway, Azaka's screen time in the "Remaining Sense of Pain" arc wasn't much more than that of the thug Fujino chased down, so having Rin cameo as her was perfectly fine.
After all, the real focus of this scene wasn't the talkative Azaka, but the quiet tension between Shiki and Fujino.
"Ryougi... Shiki."
Rin muttered the name under her breath, her tone laced with a faint hostility. The once-perfect heiress now looked like little more than background decoration.
"I'm waiting for my brother. I've got nothing to say to you."
She spoke in that sharp, prickly voice of hers—trying to sound calm but clearly bristling underneath.
Honestly, she didn't even have to act for this part. All she needed to do was copy the tone she used whenever she bickered with Shinji.
Shiki replied coolly, "Your brother asked me to tell you he can't make it today. You've been stood up."
"Tch."
Rin clicked her tongue, face twisting with irritation.
Yeah, that was the expression—the one she reserved exclusively for Shinji.
"Shiki, don't tell me this is your doing...!"
Her hand trembled slightly, as though Shiki's message had genuinely shocked her.
In truth, Rin was just venting her annoyance at her "master" Shinji for once again using her as an all-purpose extra.
I'm your maid, not your disposable assistant, okay?
How did I end up playing your actors' stand-in too?!
Watching Rin's face twitch, Shiki—ever so perceptive—caught on immediately. Her usually stoic face betrayed the faintest glimmer of gossiping amusement.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm a victim too," Shiki said in mock resignation. "He practically said 'Since I couldn't meet Azaka today, I figured I'd send you instead'."
Her voice carried that subtle, teasing undertone—half complaint, half provocation.
"All that, just to drag me here? Seriously, that guy—"
Rin shot her a fiery glare.
You're totally gossiping about me and Shinji, aren't you?
Their eyes locked—a brief, silent duel.
No words, just mutual understanding... and mutual contempt.
"..."
Sitting quietly beside them, Hinako couldn't help but feel a little left out.
Wait a second... why do I suddenly feel like the extra here?
Hello? I'm supposed to be the second lead of this scene!
"Kokutou-san, um... you're scaring everyone a little."
With a voice as thin and soft as a thread, Hinako finally spoke—trying to pull the camera's focus back toward herself.
"...Right. You're the one with business today, Fujino. I don't have any reason to be angry."
Rin's reply was genuine—she was actually apologizing to Hinako. During that earlier glare-off with Shiki, Rin had gotten so into it that she nearly forgot who the real heroine of this movie was.
'Honestly, you two... or should I say, it's Shinji's fault for messing everyone up like this?'
Hinako didn't bother looking at Rin's "supporting character" act anymore. Instead, she lifted her gaze toward Shiki Ryougi.
And Shiki was already looking straight at her.
At last, the two leads of The Garden of Sinners: Remaining Sense of Pain met face-to-face.
"You... don't feel pain?"
Shiki asked it casually, almost like a stray thought that slipped from her lips.
"..."
Hinako said nothing. She just looked back at her.
That gaze—utterly flat, cold, detached. Like someone watching scenery they have no interest in. Or like a lifeless creature observing movement without meaning.
Yes—that was Hinako's real look whenever she faced strangers.
No emotions. No feelings.
This is a cockroach. This is Matou Shinji. This is a cockroach. This is Matou Shinji...
She repeated the mantra over and over in her head, forcing herself not to react.
Across from her, Shiki's gaze was sharp, appraising.
Compared to Fujino, whose emotions barely rippled, Shiki's character in this scene carried far more internal tension.
Part of her—the instinctive, sixth-sense part—told her this girl was dangerous. An enemy.
But reason whispered otherwise: There's no way she's the culprit.
After all, no matter how strong she looked, a girl with wrists that slender couldn't possibly rip grown men apart with brute force.
"No... it's not you."
Reason finally won out. Shiki's suspicion softened as she turned her face away from Fujino and back toward Rin.
"It's that simple. Do you have any message you want me to pass on to him?"
Rin's eyes narrowed. With absolute seriousness, she said,
"Then please tell him this one thing—'Brother, please break up with that kind of woman as soon as possible.'"
"Cut! Perfect!"
Shinji's voice rang out from behind the monitor, grinning for the first time in hours. "That was it! Great job, everyone—scene cleared!"
But instead of celebrating, the three girls turned in unison to glare at him.
"Director (Shinji), this is all your fault!" ×3
"Huh?!"
Shinji froze, completely dumbfounded. He had no idea what was going on inside those three women's heads during the take—nor that he had just been unanimously cast as the villain in their private drama.
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