I Was Kept by the Heaven and the Curse

When Zenin Toji was young, a girl from the prestigious Tohsaka family, famous in the world of magecraft, came to visit.

The girl's name was Tohsaka Rin, and he disliked her at first sight.

But after hearing some rumor or other, the girl repeatedly used her status as a guest of the Zenin family to challenge him, a "loser," to a fight.

What annoyed Toji was that no matter how many times she lost, Tohsaka Rin never cried.

As an adult, Toji abandoned the Zenin name and became a delinquent, using his "talents" to make money, gamble, and act as a kept man.

He figured he would probably end up dying in the street of starvation or getting killed on a job.

As the old saying goes, if you walk the night road often enough, you'll eventually run into a ghost.

The "ghost" Toji meets after being badly injured is Tohsaka Rin.

Toji: Ah... so this is karma. I was hoping some busty housewife would take me home instead.

Tohsaka Rin: Shut up! Karma, my foot. Do you have any idea how many gems it took to save you? You're the one who's my karma.

■ Zenin Toji abandoned his self-respect and chose to live in this world without respecting others or himself.

■ On the surface, it seems he was the one who abandoned the world, but wasn't he also abandoned by it?

■ That idea makes Tohsaka Rin furious.

■ As he listens to the young lady rant in anger and takes a punch from her, Toji knows he won't let her slip away this time.

Reader's guide:

1. Rin's Spring's Return ending on the HF route x Toji, who never married into the Fushiguro family and doesn't have the Fushiguro surname.

2. A predatory man and his tsundere young lady.

3. An alternate-universe idea, adjusted timeline, crack pairing, and Megumi might appear too (let me figure out how to make that work).

4. Probably a medium-length story... maybe. (The idea was archived on 2021-07-16.)

Theme: The differences in this world aren't enough reason to give up on yourself