As soon as class ended, Fujimaru Ritsuka turned her chair around, "Emiya, about yesterday."
"If you're going to apologize, forget it," Shirou closed his English textbook, cutting her off immediately, "I wasn't angry."
"He said it!", Mash leaned close to Ritsuka, speaking knowingly, "Normally, when someone says that, it means they are angry."
"That's right," Ritsuka's big eyes blinked without stopping, nodding in agreement.
"I'm telling you…"
"But, considering Emiya is the type whose words match his feelings, it means he really isn't angry."
"Exactly, exactly."
One line from this girl, one line from that girl. It sounded like they were solving some tightly knit locked-room murder case.
Shirou pressed his lips flat and opened his book again.
"Emiya?"
"Hey, Emiya?"
"Emiya?"
Ritsuka's face twisted bitterly, "Didn't you just say you weren't angry?"
"Yeah, I'm not angry."
"Then…"
"Can't I sulk a little?"
"Emiya," Issei called him.
"Coming, Issei."
Shirou immediately put his book down and stood up.
"——"
Ritsuka and Mash looked at each other, both seeing shock in the other's eyes.
'This isn't right. There's a problem. A huge scoop!'
"What is it, Issei?"
The two walked to the end of the corridor.
Issei adjusted his glasses and sighed, "Sorry about yesterday. Letting things get that out of hand was my responsibility."
"If it's an apology, don't bother."
Shirou smiled, "I didn't mind much. If anything, it was a blessing in disguise."
Without what happened yesterday, he wouldn't have awakened his own Unlimited Blade Works.
And this one was even more convenient than Red A's or Hero-Shirou's.
"But still," Issei couldn't swallow it, grumbling resentfully, "I was planning to crush the gossip club by downgrading them to a hobby group, but the student council thought it was healthy competition. They said the gossip club was doing well and even wanted to reward them with extra funds. Unforgivable!"
"Well…", Shirou really didn't know how to comfort him.
Merlin might be scum, but he wasn't weak. Yesterday's matter, if you connected the dots, you could almost say he'd set the whole thing up with his own body as bait.
From the rumors being spread, to Shirou showing up at the archery club, then chatting with Ritsuka, and then heading to the field… every step could be traced.
When Shirou had no way out, he landed the finishing blow.
Whether it was moral or not, whether it was asking to get beaten up, putting that aside, the way the sequence unfolded, the gossip club not only came back from the dead, their fame skyrocketed.
Looks like from now on the broadcast club's work will all be stolen by the gossip club.
Truly terrifying.
"Ugh~", Issei sighed again, "Forget it, let's not talk about unpleasant things. Want to have lunch together today?"
"Sorry," Shirou scratched his head, "I already promised Miyu."
"Fair enough," Issei had half-expected that, so he wasn't disappointed.
———
At noon, Shirou carried his lunchbox.
"Emiya, want to eat lunch together?", Ritsuka invited.
"No," Shirou politely refused, "I'm eating with my sister today."
'Illya might even be there.'
"With your sister?", Ritsuka froze for a moment, and her bento slipped from her hands.
"Ritsuka!", Mash quickly caught it for her.
But Ritsuka didn't care about her lunch. She only stared after Shirou leaving the classroom, uneasy, "Emiya… could he really be angry after all?"
"This…", Mash had never even considered the possibility. She set down the bento box, looking uncertain, "No, right? Emiya himself said he wasn't angry, so he isn't."
"But he said he can sulk," Ritsuka affirmed.
'Yes, he can sulk.'
Mash had forgotten.
She panicked a little, "He won't sulk and then slowly start ignoring us, will he?"
"I don't know," Ritsuka was worried that's exactly what might happen.
The two looked at each other, fear shining in both pairs of eyes.
———
[The Rooftop]
Clouds drifted lazily.
The sea below glittered in the sunlight.
By the shore, couples were out together, families of three with children, and even a girl on holiday sitting alone on a reef, staring gloomily into the distance (probably).
Right now, Shirou's eyesight was sharp enough to see the ornaments on her ear all the way from here.
He admired the joy, sorrow, and melancholy of others, treating them as a special seasoning to enjoy together with his bento.
When the lunch was finished.
Shirou and Miyu leaned together, enjoying the sea breeze.
The sky was a deep, boundless blue.
Seabirds soared from time to time.
Miyu closed her eyes, leaning against Shirou's shoulder, her face flushed, radiant and colorful, "It's been a long time since I was alone with Onii-chan."
"Yeah, it really has."
Shirou gazed up at the blue sky.
The clouds were endlessly changing, masses clustering together, fluffy and light, like rolling mountain ranges, flying dragons and serpents, rising and falling, swirling and weaving.
By this world's reckoning, not even a week had passed.
Yet in reality, he and Miyu had spent far less time together.
So little that Shirou only now realized. It had really been a long time since he'd been alone with Miyu.
"Surprising you managed to keep Illya quiet."
The two of them eating together couldn't possibly escape the notice of their classmate and close friend Illya.
"This is a secret."
Miyu spoke in the tone of a little girl.
"A secret from Onii-chan too?"
"Mhm. Or rather, because you're Onii-chan, it has to be a secret."
"…I see."
The two whispered, their laughter carried off by the wind.
When lunch break ended, Shirou walked Miyu back to her classroom.
After greeting Illya and her friends, he left.
On the way upstairs, he ran into Tohsaka Rin holding a coffee.
"Looking pretty stylish, eating with your sister," Tohsaka Rin smiled, but not entirely warmly.
"Yeah, it's been a long time since we were alone together," Shirou answered with a smile.
Rin quietly studied him for a moment, then chuckled, "I see. Looks like you're finally in a good mood."
"Why do you say that?"
They naturally fell into step together.
"Before, how to put it… you never seemed as at ease as now, probably overthinking. But when you're shooting arrows, you're great, completely focused."
"Maybe the rooftop is special, cleansing my evil heart."
"Now that's something."
Rin feigned shock, "So you actually have an evil heart? Could it be the 'Nemesis Star' kind of evil?"
"Hey, everyone has dark thoughts sometimes."
"Not necessarily," Rin said with meaning, "someone who almost turned down my charms might just be totally free of desire."
"Too exaggerated. I just know when to hold back, that's all."
"And I've never seen you indulge yourself."
"Sounds like you were watching me before."
Shirou rolled his eyes.
Rin thought for a bit, then laughed to herself, "True. If you weren't outstanding, I wouldn't have noticed you."
"Outstanding?", Shirou was surprised, "What's so outstanding about me that made you pay attention?"
"Plenty," Rin skipped quickly up the stairs, hands behind her back, then looked back at him, "So many I couldn't even count. Of course, your flaws are just as obvious."
"What flaws?", Shirou asked, head tilted upward.
The girl brushed back her hair near her ear and smiled, "You ought to treasure your body more."
This wasn't the first time someone had said it.
So Shirou smiled and promised, "I will."
———
At the stairway corner on the upper floor.
Sakura, who had been searching for him for a long time out of worry, stood still, silently listening to their conversation.
Only her hand gripping the railing tightened harder and harder.
"Senpai… Nee-san!"
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