Thankfully, the situation Illya feared most didn't happen.
Rin had lost it, but not completely.
As the explosion's smoke dissipated, her expression instantly shifted from overjoyed to utter mortification.
"You guys are the worst!" Rin angrily flung the magical staff in her hand and, mimicking Shinji's old habit, yelled, "Shinji! Are you picking on me on purpose?!"
Perhaps worried about breaking the equipment and having to pay extra, Rin's throw was more symbolic than serious, and the prop staff landed harmlessly on the ground.
Shinji, however, simply grinned mischievously. "Rin, breaking props costs money too, you know~. Are you really so eager to add another expense to your already bloated bill?"
"Don't underestimate me, Shinji! I can afford the cost of a PVC pipe!" Rin folded her arms, complaining with disdain. "Is your hobby watching me humiliate myself endlessly? Didn't we agree you wouldn't assign me work that would ruin my reputation, defame me, or involve any kind of insult? What is this?!"
Shinji smirked coldly. "This is nothing more than the standard fare over at our friendly rival Tsuburaya Productions. You can't handle this?"
Rin's hands clenched at her skirt in frustration. "Don't think I haven't watched tokusatsu shows before! Those suit actors never show their faces during embarrassing poses!"
"Do the leads ever avoid posing?"
"Not as outrageously as this! And making me lift my leg to show off my stockings? Are you out of your mind?!"
"It's because I am a normal man that I'm asking you to do it!" Shinji responded with absolute conviction.
Rin pointed at Illya, who had just entered the room. "Then why don't you make Illya do it?!"
Illya was immediately dumbfounded. "Excuse me, what?!"
Shinji glanced at the little girl, then turned back to Rin. "If Illya did something like that, the show would be pulled off the air immediately. What are you plotting, Miss Tohsaka Rin?"
"Shinji, you—!"
Rin was about ready to explode from anger.
If Shinji were simply clueless, that would've been one thing. But no, Shinji knew exactly where the boundaries of a tokusatsu show lay, and he danced on that line with flamenco flair.
That's what frustrated Rin the most.
Seeing Rin on the verge of a meltdown, Shinji finally explained the reason behind his request for such humiliating actions.
"It's because the versions of [Tohsaka Rin] you've played before were too serious. The Rin I need for Prisma Illya is far more uninhibited."
He didn't mince words. "While MagI Rin has a similar personality to her FSN counterpart, she's supposed to fully embrace her magical girl persona—albeit with some post-battle embarrassment."
"But when she's in magical girl mode, she's all in. It shows she has an inner magical girl. But you don't."
"..."
Rin was left speechless.
Deep down, she only had one thought: What a brutally honest assessment.
Unlike Shinji, who was a die-hard tokusatsu fan, Rin held no particular affection for the genre or the magical girl archetype.
Rin Tohsaka had aspired to be a magus since she was a child. How could she possibly admire the sparkly antics of magical girls?
"And yet here I am, forced to play a glittering magical girl... What is my life?" Rin muttered under her breath.
Hearing her complaint, Shinji gave it some thought.
"It's hard to make someone without nostalgia appreciate magical girls... Alright, Rin!"
Shinji clapped her on the shoulder.
"Huh?"
Rin reflexively turned around, and in that instant, as she met Shinji's gaze, her mind wandered.
"Shinji, you—"
<+>
When Rin Tohsaka was seven years old, she had a favorite toy:
A magical girl staff that could spin, light up, and even play transformation music.
As the little angel of the Tohsaka family, young Rin loved nothing more than running around the yard with her magical staff.
But one day, her joy was interrupted.
That day, while Rin was gleefully waving her staff in the yard, a blond-haired, red-eyed young man appeared before her.
"Wow, how interesting! What is this? It spins, lights up, and plays music. Fascinating," he said.
Showing no respect for children, the man snatched the toy from Rin's hands.
"My treasury has never contained a treasure like this. Excellent! This is mine now!"
Before little Rin could react, the man walked away with her magical staff, leaving the Tohsaka estate.
Young Rin had never seen this man before and knew nothing about him. Her most cherished toy had disappeared just like that.
"Waaah... Give me back my toy! Waaah..."
That day, Rin cried for a very long time. Even when her eyes turned red and puffy, she didn't stop.
But her staff never returned.
This incident left a deep impression on Rin Tohsaka. Even as she grew older, she often remembered her lost magical girl staff and felt a tinge of sadness.
Ten years later...
Now the head of the Tohsaka family, Rin participated in the Holy Grail War. Standing before her was an invincible enemy.
"Ha ha ha! Die under the grace of this king, you mongrel!"
Golden armor, an arrogant expression, piercing eyes, countless Noble Phantasms filling her vision, and…
Her childhood magical girl staff!
"So it was you all along!!!!"
<+>
"Ah!"
Rin woke up drenched in sweat, realizing she was sitting on a chair on set, with Gilgamesh and Shinji seated nearby.
"Why did I dream about using Bajiquan to beat up Gilgamesh?!"
"Because I made you dream it," Shinji said, his face suddenly appearing beside her like a ghost.
"Shinji! What are you playing at?!"
Rin immediately used the same move from her dream against Shinji.
Unfortunately, after being beaten up so many times, Shinji had become more agile. He dodged easily with a quick backstep.
"Heh heh, dear Rin~"
Shinji chuckled smugly.
"I'm not who I used to be. After all those beatings, I've improved a lot— Ow!"
Rin threw a pillow straight at his face.
"What's wrong with you, using magecraft to hypnotize me?!"
Faced with her angry accusations, Shinji remained completely unbothered.
"You said you don't have any emotional connection to magical girls, right? This was a dream-based immersion experience to help you relive the feelings of a magical girl from your childhood."
At this moment, Gilgamesh grabbed Shinji by the neck.
"Shinji! You brat! How dare you make this king act in such a humiliating manner in your little dream!!"
To make the scene more realistic, Shinji had brought the actual Gilgamesh into the dream as the antagonist.
This was one of Shinji's tricks, leveraging the sensory link between Master and Servant. It wasn't particularly useful—mostly just a way for everyone to share the same dream.
Of course, since Shinji was hosting the dream, Gilgamesh had no control over the storyline and had to follow Shinji's script.
Naturally, Gilgamesh was furious.
He roared angrily, "Do you think this king is the kind of person who would snatch a child's toy?!"
"Well... it's hard to say," EMIYA chimed in, casting his vote for Shinji.
"What?!"
"Honestly, given Gil's childish temper, it wouldn't be surprising if he did something like that."
"Enkidu, not you too..."
As Enkidu delivered another cutting remark, Gilgamesh froze in shock. Seizing the moment, Shinji fled.
"Come on, Illya. Let's head to your screen test and figure out which outfit looks best on you. Illya?"
Shinji noticed Illya hiding far away. Every time he took a step toward her, she stepped back.
Having witnessed Shinji "toy" with Rin throughout, Illya now harbored a deep fear of Shinji.
"Stay away from me!"
However, her resistance was futile. With Rin and Arturia's help, Illya was quickly cornered and captured.
Unable to fight back, Illya had no choice but to try on one magical girl outfit after another at Shinji's insistence.
According to Shinji, "These days, how can a tokusatsu protagonist sell toys without changing skins?"
"Rin-onee-san, was Shinji-nii like this before I joined the production?"
Having been made to change into more than twenty outfits in a single day, Illya, now thoroughly exasperated, sought comfort in Rin, who seemed to share her misery.
The four magical girls of Prisma Illya were still in various stages of preparation: Miyu's actress was auditioning, and Luvia was undergoing basic training. With no one else to talk to, Illya approached Rin.
"It's not exactly torment."
Rin shrugged. "Shinji pays special attention to the characters' on-screen image design, especially since Prisma Illya is going to feature tons of collectible costumes. He takes it seriously."
Despite all their bickering, Rin didn't go out of her way to badmouth Shinji.
While his antics could be infuriating, every decision he made was ultimately for the sake of creating the best production possible.
"I just wish his methods were a bit less chaotic," Rin thought with a sigh.
Illya still seemed confused. "But why has he never done this to me before?"
"Because before, all you had to do was wear the Einzbern family's signature outfits."
"Oh, I see!"
Illya nodded in sudden understanding.
"So this means Shinji-nii has my best interests at heart?"
"No, he's just doing it for himself—and for his own twisted sense of fun."
The twin-tailed girl snorted coldly.
"...What do you mean?"
"Knowing Shinji, he's probably planning to use your costume tests as bonus features for the DVD and Blu-ray releases. I can already imagine the title: From Castle Princess to Magical Girl or something like that."
Grinning mischievously, Rin added, "Oh, and Illya, don't forget to smile more. Otherwise, your sulky face is going to be seen by kids all over the country."
"..."
For the first time, Illya truly felt like she had boarded a pirate ship she couldn't escape.
<+>
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