Chiffon Cake and Little Sister
Moonlight illuminated the quiet earth, and all the lights around had gone out.
Only the dim clouds in the sky shifted shapes. The weather was gradually getting colder.
A boy walked alone on his way home; the silence made the journey feel unusually long.
In his past life, he had spent long periods walking home alone at night just like this. Back then, the surroundings were pitch black, accompanied only by the night sky and the shadows cast by street lamps.
Sometimes while walking, he would suddenly forget why he was even going home, because even if he returned to that large mansion, no one would be there waiting for him.
But this world was different. He had plenty of reasons to return to this home.
Even though the house was smaller, it was much warmer.
Sure enough, when the boy rounded the corner and reached the alley leading up to his house, he saw that the light in front of the door was on. The glow from the lamp created a pale yellow path on the ground, glowing softly as if welcoming him home.
The boy felt like his steps became lighter. He pushed open the fence gate and went in. Through the window, he saw that the lights in the living room were also on. Just as he pulled out his keys and opened the door, a thud thud thud! sound came from inside.
Little Komachi came running over in a rush.
"Yo, Komachi," Shirou raised a hand and greeted his sister.
"'Yo' my butt!" Komachi pouted, clearly displeased. "Big brother! Why are you back so late? Were you out fooling around?!"
"You're my sister, right?" Shirou turned his head, throwing out a snarky remark.
Though he had mentally prepared himself, he hadn't expected to be jumped on the moment he walked in the door.
"Ah! Your clothes are still dirty. Don't tell me you were fighting with delinquents? Seriously, grow up a bit! You're not a kid anymore. Isn't the Tokyo archery competition coming up soon? What if you hurt your hand?!"
"No, I had my reasons for what I was doing." Shirou defended himself.
"What? Was it a heroic rescue of a damsel in distress? Come on, spill the details!" Komachi asked with keen interest.
"No, more like the opposite? Komachi, aren't you a test taker? Go study already." Shirou walked into the house, nudging his sister back toward her room.
"Tch... Stingy! And here Komachi was worried about you and waited up!" Komachi grumbled as she headed toward her room.
"Go study for now. I'll bring you a late-night snack in a bit," Shirou said.
"Komachi wants black tea and baked cake! Thanks, Onii-chan! Your 'Big Brother Points' are off the charts tonight! Haha!" Komachi's expression immediately turned from gloomy to cheerful, and she happily ran off to her room.
"What are you, some kind of noble lady?" Shirou muttered helplessly.
The Hikigaya parents were always busy with work.
Sometimes during especially hectic periods, they wouldn't come home until late at night and would leave again early in the morning. They might not even exchange a single word with their children in an entire day.
Because of that, Komachi often felt neglected by her parents. Back in elementary school, she had even run away from home once because of it.
At that time, Shirou had searched all around the neighborhood, running several laps, until he finally found her and brought her back home.
Everyone gets lonely sometimes.
Just knowing there's someone at home waiting for you—that's actually really important.
Although Komachi and Shirou had never explicitly said so, they shared a mutual understanding. Whoever got home first would always wait in the living room for the other to return.
After washing up, Shirou returned to the kitchen and began making a chiffon cake.
He'd made it often, so it wasn't hard. He separated egg whites and yolks, added sugar, flour, oil, and other ingredients, poured in honey and mixed it evenly, then whipped the egg whites into foam. Finally, he combined the mixtures, poured it into a mold, and placed it in the oven, adjusting the temperature for each stage.
Then came the 40-minute wait. During this time, Shirou pulled out his textbooks and began finishing the day's homework.
In this life, because he didn't have any magical power, he couldn't even do his usual nighttime magic practice. So he focused on schoolwork, and his grades weren't bad—he occasionally ranked in the top three of his year.
When he finished his homework, the oven let out a ding. As he opened it, a sweet aroma filled the kitchen.
The golden-yellow cylindrical chiffon cake was done.
Soon after, Shirou brought the sliced cake and tea, knocked on Komachi's door, and walked into her room.
Komachi immediately ran over with a big grin, took the tea Shirou handed her, and beamed as she looked at the shiny golden cake.
"Thanks! Maybe Onii-chan would make a great butler," Komachi said admiringly.
"You're not thinking I'd be your butler, are you? In that case, I refuse," Shirou placed the tray on the small table, sat down, and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Nope! I was thinking like a butler for some rich lady from Finland or something.
Mmm~! So good! As expected of Komachi's big brother—housework pro and still a handsome guy."
Komachi bit into the chiffon cake while cheerfully swinging her legs from the chair and glancing up at Shirou with sparkly eyes.
"Right, right. Just make sure to study properly after eating." Shirou replied casually, wondering why Finland of all places, while pulling out his phone and putting it on silent.
He opened FGO.
"Yes sir..." Komachi replied weakly. She had planned to follow up with "Wanna play FGO together for a bit?" but her strategy to charm her brother had totally failed.
FGO slowly loaded to the login screen. Sure enough, since he hadn't been dragged into an alternate space, the game launched normally.
Just then, a message appeared in the chat group.
Sable Don't Run Around!: "Hey everyone~! Anyone up for some FGO grinding tonight?"
All Little Sisters of the World Come from My Treasury: "I'll pass tonight! Got a date with Sora-chan."
Dances While Doing Laundry: "Same here, I've got to draw tonight."
UMR: "I'm behind on anime—I need to catch up!"
Sable Don't Run Around!: "Ehhh? Is no one gonna play FGO with me tonight?"
"Ah…" Shirou remembered that this person was quite familiar with Yukinya.
Speaking of the name "Sable," he thought of a clingy dachshund named after a cookie brand. He probably figured out who this was.
Emiya: "Good evening. Have you finished studying for today? Failing your exams wouldn't be good."
Sable Don't Run Around!: "Ehh? What's with the sudden mood killer?! That condescending tone feels oddly familiar! So, are you playing or not? Make it clear!"
Emiya: "I'll play, but how do you even play this game together anyway?"
Sable Don't Run Around!: "Hehe! You log in, then invite me as your support. I'll invite you as mine too—that's it!"
Emiya: "I see… But my account is pretty weak. I barely have any gold cards."
Sable Don't Run Around!: "No worries! Just put your strongest characters on your support list. Playing together is more fun anyway!"
So Shirou switched to the support setup in the game and placed his highest-leveled characters for each class, like Professor Georgios for Rider and the 80+ level Merlin for Caster.
Sable Don't Run Around!: "Wait, you have Merlin?! That's more than enough!"
Emiya: "Really? That's good then."
UMR: "Having Merlin or not is like two different games, you whale!"
Emiya: "I don't really get it. Why doesn't this game have a chat feature? Isn't chatting more convenient?"
Sable Don't Run Around!: "No... if it had chat, the experience would get a lot worse. On the internet, when people are unrestrained, they act way too freely…"
Angel Who Saves the World with Money: "Tch… You'd see people flexing their card pulls every day."
All Little Sisters of the World Come from My Treasury: "And annoying people criticizing your support list."
Sable Don't Run Around!: "Right, like for example, Emiya, your account would totally get flamed by strangers. 'Why would you waste a Holy Grail on Georgios?' stuff like that."
Angel Who Saves the World with Money: "And if they saw your Merlin, they'd say you're a whale. 'All men die, but Europeans...' you know how it goes!"
Dances While Doing Laundry: "And they'd say, 'You didn't grail c? No B-sensei, no soul.'"
Sable Don't Run Around!: "Exactly. So annoying!"
Emiya: "I see…"
All Little Sisters of the World Come from My Treasury: "Yeah! Like why are all your supports female characters? What, I can't like that?! Saber Lily is super cute! Illya is the best! Medusa Lily's white tights, slurp slurp slurp!"
Dances While Doing Laundry: "Exactly! What's wrong with liking panties?!"
All Little Sisters of the World Come from My Treasury has been muted for one minute.
Dances While Doing Laundry retracted a message.
Shining Rapier Wielder: "Everyone, please watch your language. Don't go off the rails (lol)."
Dances While Doing Laundry: "Group admin is scary…"
Shirou glanced at that kid's support list and saw it was filled with flashy characters with exposed panties.
Sweat formed on Shirou's forehead.
He realized that even in games, things weren't as simple as they seemed.
All kinds of people with different goals and quirks were playing the same game.