After finishing breakfast, Taiga dashed out the door at the speed of a tiger pouncing on prey.
"Crap! I'm late, I'm late!"
"Fuji-nee is still the same, huh?", Miyu covered her mouth and chuckled.
"No, I feel like she's even more excited than usual," Shirou cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks on the table. There wasn't time to wash dishes today, he'd have to leave them and wash them later.
After tidying up, the two of them headed out together.
"Finally, I can go to school with Onii-chan."
[A/N: Setting-wise, everyone is 18+ now, so Miyu can be treated as petite, like Illya, someone who never grew up.]
On the way to school, Miyu boldly wrapped her arms around Shirou's.
Shirou looked at her dotingly.
"From now on, we can go to school together for a long time."
"Mm," Miyu nodded with effort, a trace of regret flashing across her delicate little face, "Too bad the cherry blossoms are almost all gone."
"If Miyu likes them, next year we'll go see them together."
This year, with so much going on since the start of term, they hadn't had time to go see the cherry blossoms.
Shirou knew that Miyu had always wanted to see them with him.
"Really?"
Facing Miyu's hopeful gaze, Shirou gave her his promise.
They took the train to the port and walked through a famous photo-spot.
It was the place where Saber and Lancer fought in the anime, the area surrounded by shipping containers. From there, you could see the deep blue sea.
Walking a bit further, they arrived at Chaldea Academy.
The school gate looked like the entrance to a luxurious castle.
In the parking area, you could see all kinds of luxury cars only seen on TV, dropping off young masters and ladies.
Among them were the two sisters of the Tohsaka family.
As the managers of Fuyuki City, the Tohsaka family was undoubtedly an aristocratic powerhouse.
If judgment time could be measured by money, then everyone in the Tohsaka family would get life imprisonment. That's why Tohsaka Rin was completely different from her anime counterpart.
She was a true rich young lady, no shortage of money. She could fill ten rooms with gemstones and not run out.
Sakura, even more refined, had no shortage of gentleness, was patient with everyone, a perfect and flawless beauty.
Unfortunately, these two people who had deep connections with Shirou in the anime were now nothing more than strangers in the same school.
As they stepped through the school gates, two cherry blossom trees nearing the end of their bloom shed petals, like goddesses waving at him.
Disciplinary Committee member Jeanne stood at the gate inspecting students with inappropriate attire and appearances.
Her gaze swept past Shirou's striking red hair.
As the number-one-ranked academy in all of Japan, Chaldea Academy accepted students from all over the world.
So multicolored hair wasn't uncommon. As long as it didn't hang down covering eyebrows and eyes, or was too sloppy, you wouldn't get targeted.
Miyu was a year below Shirou, so they parted ways in the school building.
Shirou went to his own classroom and sat behind the protagonist's seat.
As for the protagonist's seat; same red hair as Shirou, soft features, could be called the feminized version of him, even the eye color was identical.
158 cm tall, dressed in Chaldea Academy's Western-style uniform, her chest bulged as if hiding treasure.
"Good morning, Ritsuka."
Mash greeted her.
"Good morning, Mash."
Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled back. After a moment's hesitation, she turned to Shirou, "Um, good morning, Emiya-san."
"Mm, good morning, Fujimaru-san," Shirou smiled and nodded.
"Did you not sleep well yesterday, Emiya-san?"
Mash sat beside Ritsuka, the two shared a desk.
Shirou froze, "Why do you ask?"
"Because Emiya-san's face looks a little pale," Ritsuka twirled a strand of her hair with her finger. Since the start of the school year, she'd been paying attention to Shirou for quite a while.
Couldn't help it, the two of them looked almost exactly the same except for gender, which made it hard not to care.
She even suspected that Shirou was the long-lost brother she had been separated from.
It wasn't impossible. According to the information she'd gathered, Shirou seemed to be an adopted child.
"It's true, your complexion is a bit pale," Mash leaned in for a closer look.
"That's too close, Mash-san," Shirou leaned back a little.
"Sorry, I didn't wear my glasses today," Mash apologized and sat back down.
"So then, Emiya-san, you still haven't answered my question," Ritsuka, full of energy, tapped his desk with her finger.
Shirou thought carefully and chose to answer honestly, "I suddenly woke up this morning and realized I couldn't waste any more time, so I trained for two hours. Maybe... I'm a bit dehydrated?"
"Trained for two hours! Dehydrated! What exactly did you do?", Mash began brainstorming.
The corners of Shirou's mouth twitched, 'This eggplant...'
"Ah, if it's not convenient to answer, never mind," Ritsuka quickly waved her hand, her face slightly red.
'Shouldn't have asked.'
Then she sneaked a glance at Shirou's expression again.
'Are boys this age all like this?'
She had to admit, she was quite curious.
Resisting the urge to karate chop them both, Shirou said with a straight face, "Nothing inconvenient at all."
Then he described all the training he did that morning, in great detail.
"That's it?", For some reason, the two of them looked a bit disappointed.
"If it's called training, then what else would it be?"
He looked at them suspiciously, "Don't tell me... you two were thinking of something weird?"
"No, no!", The two beautiful girls huddled together, shaking their heads like pounding garlic.
Shirou showed a kind smile, "That's great then. I was worried you'd find it boring."
"No way, Emiya-san, your explanation was really interesting. The training routine makes me want to try it myself. Right, Mash?", Ritsuka looked down guiltily.
"Mm, mm! Ritsuka's right," Mash squeezed her legs together, body squirming uncomfortably.
'L-lied… Ritsuka and I just lied together…'
There was no helping it, what Shirou just said really did sound ambiguous.
'Something like training for two hours... and a bit dehydrated...'
Just then, the warning bell rang.
"Class is starting, Emiya-san. Let's talk later," The two of them, as if granted amnesty, turned around.
Shirou rubbed his chin in silence.
'Why did we suddenly chat so much today?'
Before, even if they communicated, it was always the necessary minimum, never joking around like this.
In the end, Shirou came to a conclusion—
'My skin has gotten thicker.'
'It is all the system's fault!'
———
Three minutes after the warning bell—
"Late! I'm late!"
Taiga's voice came from far and near.
Even though she left earlier than them, she still ended up being late.
'So Fuji-nee, where exactly does your time go?'
"Awooo~", A failed tiger pounce. Taiga fell flat on the podium, and didn't get back up.
"Are you alright, Sensei?", Mash ran over to help her up.
"Should we call an ambulance?", Ritsuka looked ready to leap into action.
Shirou rested his face on his hand and smiled, "At times like this…"
He cupped his hand around his mouth, forming a megaphone shape, and shouted, "Get up, tiger!"
"Roar~"
A one-second chokehold, Taiga drove her fist into Shirou's head with all her strength.
"Don't call me tiger!"
"Hahahaha~"
The class burst into laughter.
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