2000, I'm 10 and I have 2 years for preparation for preparation! Well, not so bad. Only the housing question is acute. In the sense it's a million-plus city—easy to get lost, but finding where to live not so much.
If I kill someone and occupy their apartment or house—well maybe the first week will work, but that someone surely has friends or relatives, yes and don't forget grannies next door. And I'm ignoring the elementary utilities. They'll catch me very quickly… hmm… in the forest? From a year to 2 years?
Damn. And I still have to somehow organize a sectarian hideout with a ritual circle—already see myself dragging bodies to my temporary home—they'll come for me in an hour with local cops. Okay, suppose it'll be a house with a garage! I can probably even hijack a van—together with the driver as the first victim. And then on it catch new victims. Damn, feel like I'll be that very maniac luring people with candy…
Nervous laughter broke through me. Obstacles start even at the planning stage! Well the car question suppose solved for now, luckily I can drive—over 10 years practice, true only in the previous world, but think I'll manage. But the house question no.
Hmmmm. I'm 10, already in middle school and my classmates are 13-14. Our class is already 8th. Okay, suppose I didn't show off as a fucking genius and skip grades for nothing. High school starts from 10th grade and on average there are 15-16 year olds.
If I do nothing, then in exactly 2 years by the start of planned preparation I should enter 10th. In another school. High school. Hmm, possibly through scandal and hysteria I can somehow convince them to send me exactly to Fukuoka. Exactly in 2003, a year for on-site preparation, though more like half a year because studies here also start from summer.
Hmm, or I can push and skip right away 1 class and enter high school in 2002! 2 years on site for preparation, better than 1! And all this is of course awesome, but I need to somehow explain choosing exactly this city.
Hmm, interesting, are there any landmarks or elite schools there? Need to search for books… though no, better guidebooks to this city. Yes, that's what I'll do.
Finding a guidebook in local libraries I buried myself in it, and in the end if we throw out all the trash—like parks, museums and everything that's everywhere. Then about 4 things remain—an insanely tall observation tower, ruins of a destroyed castle, a Shinto shrine—which is the official religion of Japan with worship of NEH and suddenly a Buddhist temple Sefuku—don't know who Sefuku is, but didn't expect to meet Buddhists here. From interesting it's written that the basics of tea ceremonies were born in it. Surely lying, though maybe not.
The only thing that made me look closer at the photo—was that this temple is on a mountain. Okay, got it. Mostly in anime, and possibly my imagination already added epic battles with the elf-magician happened in a temple on a mountain! And seems the local teacher-killer lived there too.
Who and how let some random shady guy live in a temple—an interesting question. And at the same time it gives an approximate search circle for where Caster will appear, still between just "forest around the city" and "forest around the temple" there's a big difference in search radius! And yes, I still hope to catch myself an elf!
Well, all this already looks like a plan! Only need to bring it to life! For some reason a picture flashed in my head of a guy with the caption—Die or Die!
Half a year later.
I did it! I finished 8th grade and closed 9th externally! Who's the genius? I'm the genius! Now the beginning of summer 2001, and I happily eat cake. But that was only from the outside, inside I wasn't so joyful.
Reason is simple, I looked at the situation unbiased and understanding that I'm already mentally over 30, everything doesn't look so amazing. In terms of difficulty learning one and a half middle school classes in half a year isn't that hard, provided you have no personal life and information hunger!
Previously I could at any moment go to the phone and check the feed for fresh news, read something interesting and all that. Now the limit of information supply is the local newspaper with the level, a dog shat in the city and that's all the news!
And of course TV in the evening—from which I managed to wean off in previous life. No, seriously who even watched TV in 2030? Well maybe in the kitchen while cooking or to create background noise…
And I watch exactly the news, local movies caused… mixed feelings in me. And from anime either some stoned nonsense like Teletubbies or Sailor Moon. No, in childhood at 8-10 it was straight fire! Now again doesn't click.
So for the goal—I dropped all school clubs, and the computer with games hasn't been imported to this world yet. Maximum we have some console with Mario and a couple more games. For a couple evenings okay to play, but let's say doesn't hook after all the abundance I had before.
And I had tougher experience—closing university correspondence in a month, with debts for 3 years, and managing to moonlight night shifts. Yes that was hell, and I quit that job then. So now it was a light innocent walk—for me personally. A normal child probably would've caught a lot of unpleasant psychological stuff. Having thought all this up, I comforted myself that my achievements aren't really achievements.
But nevertheless the plan must be executed and now the hardest stage comes—to again bring up the conversation that I want to study in Fukuoka. Yes again, throughout this half year I periodically raised this topic, on average once every 2-3 weeks, maintaining a thin line when the topic itself doesn't start causing irritation, but also didn't let it be forgotten.
This time surprisingly there was no protest or attempts to talk me out of such independent life. Possibly because I already hinted to parents that I'm quite goal-oriented, stubborn and quite smart guy and will achieve my own anyway. So got assurance they already did so-called recon and in a month we'll go to this city.
Of course the word "WE" tensed me, but probably should've expected—one me they wouldn't let go. Well, hope everything works out, otherwise I'll have to go to extreme measures—that is run away and try to somehow survive independently.
A month later, station in Fukuoka.
"Hey-hey, Yamagi! I'm here!" Shouted and waved a flag with our surname some unfamiliar girl.
From which I caught light stupor, well you know, when you see for example some ad on TV or a movie where there's such a trick with a flag or sign with surname, it seems funny, but you understand it's so-called exaggeration and semi-humor. The fact that the girl is ginger I then missed—well whatever the deck dealt, happens.
The situation itself surprised me more. And not only me caught stupor, many people around also glanced at her. Wellll, what can I say—apparently this is an extremely positive and… bold? Initiative? Well in general, yeah.
Under interested glances of passersby we reached the girl, and parents performed the standard bow with words. "Taiga-san, glad you volunteered to meet and help us."
"Um, yes. Nice to meet you, Taiga-san. I'm Akihiro Yamagi." Though I don't like it, also had to bow.
"Oooo, you're such a cutie Akihi-kun, you can call me big sis Fuji." And I was grabbed in a hug pressing to her chest.
"…." I had no words and my eye started twitching.
The entire way to the conditional "temporary housing I rent to my ward", and also "luxurious big house" and many other flattering epithets with which Taiga praised the place where I with parents will live a couple weeks while choosing me an already permanent residence in this city—I only gave polite short answers. Inside melting and starting to understand the situation—she wants to make money off me and rent her housing.
Well, in principle okay—true bothers me that apparently someone already lives there. On the other hand, 2-story countryside house with 6 living rooms and 2 showers, well not bad—in such a house the only moment I'll see a housemate is morning and evening in the kitchen, the rest of the time not crossing paths. Not ideal variant, but tolerable. Though I wanted separate housing, possibly even a simple studio in some building.
On the other hand, in my plans there was a moment that arranging sectarian sacrifices in the place where you live—bad idea. In any case I'll have to find a separate hideout. And I dreamed too much that they'd leave me completely without supervision. After weighing all pros and cons a bit more, almost resigned to living apparently in Taiga's house. Which we were just approaching, well what to say—looks good.
In the yard we were met by some ginger kid, to which Taiga declared. "Meet, my ward Shirou Emiya! He's 15, currently in 9th grade. Shirou, and this is the Yamagi family, and Akihi-kun, your future senpai!"
And my eye twitched. In my head an old Lord of the Rings joke surfaced.
"You know what the dwarf in Moria said when he dug to the Balrog?
No.
He said "fuuuuck."
And in my head the word OVERKILL surfaced. Seems I overdid it.