26 – When the Girl and Boy First Met
Through his conversation with the heroic spirit, Shirou gained a deeper understanding of the summoning system. He also felt that his compatibility with Saint George had somewhat increased.
"Hey!" A girl suddenly appeared and slapped the boy on the back. "Really now, what are you doing standing alone outside a lingerie store and smiling? Let's go, next shop!"
"Huh? You're already done?" Shirou asked in surprise. He thought girls wouldn't be done picking clothes in under half an hour.
"Well, I've already done my research. If needed, I can just use transformation magic to make it. What? You want to see it?" The fox-eared girl blinked her golden eyes at the boy, asking teasingly.
Walking backwards while facing him with her hands behind her back, the girl smiled playfully and meaningfully as she said:
"Nope, Shirou-kun. My winning lingerie is only for my boyfriend to see. Or… do you want to be my boyfriend?"
"That so? Well, what a shame. Let's head to the next shop." Shirou walked forward to lead the way, speaking casually.
"Tch…" The fox-eared girl pouted and quickly followed him.
The girl and boy walked, one in front and one behind, continuing to wander aimlessly through the streets.
"Ah! That! I want to take pictures with that!" The fox-eared girl suddenly pointed at a pink, small house-like machine nearby.
Shirou frowned as he saw the machine. "A purikura booth?"
It was a pink machine decorated with all kinds of colorful stickers. A sign on it clearly stated that unaccompanied males were not allowed — essentially: "No singles or dogs allowed."
The so-called purikura booth was practically a forbidden zone for single people.
Though, to be fair, there had been multiple incidents of suspicious men installing hidden cameras in the booth ceiling to secretly film people. Because of such vile incidents, purikura booths now clearly stated that men could only enter if accompanied by a woman.
"Stop spacing out, let's go!" The fox-eared girl dragged the boy inside.
It was Shirou's first time entering such a purikura booth. He looked around curiously, finding everything quite novel.
"Shirou, look at the screen and strike this pose! It's starting!" Yuigahama urged him, shaking his arm.
"Uh… okay." Shirou came to his senses, mimicked the girl's pose, and formed half of a heart with his hand.
It felt a bit embarrassing. Was it really necessary to be this close just to take a photo?
The large screen flashed, and the photo appeared — a smiling girl hugging the boy sweetly, their hands forming a heart with pink love symbols bouncing inside.
The moment they saw the photo, both Shirou and the heroic spirit inside Yuigahama felt satisfied.
Shirou's armor faded away, and the girl seemed to return to her normal, self-controlled state.
Seeing she was back to normal, Shirou explained the nature of the world and made a promise:
"Yuigahama, I'm really sorry for dragging you into this. If you don't want to keep facing these monsters, I won't force you."
"No, I'm actually really glad I can help. Actually, I feel like I have to. This was what you and Yukino were talking about earlier, right?" Yuigahama shook her head.
"Yeah. It's not that I wanted to hide it from you — I just didn't know how to explain it."
"I understand. You guys didn't want me to be in danger, right? But Shirou, being able to help out because you summoned me… I'm really happy about that! Now the three of us are teammates again.
Back then, I saw you two talking about things I couldn't understand.
I was worried… What if I got left out all alone…" Yuigahama squinted her eyes, smiling with heartfelt relief.
"Yuigahama…" Shirou looked at the girl and realized that more than the danger of facing monsters or the mystery of heroic spirits, what truly mattered to her was the bond between the three of them.
"Shirou, do you remember? The first time we met on the first day of school?" Yuigahama asked softly.
"When we went into the classroom based on our class placements?" Shirou asked, confused.
"No! It was the near-accident! You stopped the car, didn't you? With magic?" Yuigahama had always thought it was a miracle — the car had suddenly malfunctioned and stopped.
But now, with the knowledge of heroic spirits, she finally understood the truth.
"Oh! That time the little dog almost got hit." Shirou remembered — if he hadn't used his Mystic Eyes to calculate a safe way and forcibly fix the car's brake, that dachshund might really have been hurt.
The girl's first encounter with Shirou had been on the morning of their high school entrance ceremony.
She was out walking her dog and seemed in a rush, so she was running. At a crosswalk, she lost her grip, and Sabre bolted ahead.
At that moment, a black luxury car happened to be driving by — it was about to hit the dog.
With a screech of emergency brakes, the car miraculously stopped right before impact. No one was hurt.
The car had a silver emblem shaped like a winged goddess leaning forward — clearly expensive.
She thought the driver would come out and scold her harshly — but instead, the boy appeared.
"Need help? I work part-time at an auto repair shop. If it's nothing serious, I can fix it right away," the boy said confidently.
"Really? I'm in a rush to school. If you can fix it, that'd be amazing," the anxious driver replied, grateful.
"Then let the girl go for now. The dog suddenly ran out — it's not entirely her fault," the boy suggested.
"Ah, of course. You, be more careful next time. Whether it's a person or a dog, an accident would be terrible," the driver warned.
"Yes, I'm truly sorry!" she apologized and was let off the hook.
It was because of the boy's help that she wasn't reprimanded. And now, realizing he even saved Sabre… it really felt like fate — like a prince saving a princess.
The boy probably forgot those little details by now. After all, he was the type who would always help anyone in need.
But the girl remembered it clearly: how the boy calmly talked with adults and then swiftly repaired the car — he was really cool.
After that, she wanted to change her indecisive personality that always just went along with others.
Using baking cookies as a start, she joined the Service Club under Hiratsuka-sensei's recommendation, where she met Shirou and Yukino, and the three became good friends.
At first, she only thought of Shirou as a good friend, but eventually, she came to like him — and everything changed.
In truth, Suzuka Gozen had already returned control of the body to her a while ago — but Yuigahama Yui would never say that out loud.
"Going on a date with someone you like" — that was the wish of the heroic spirit possessing her, and it was also her own wish.
Yuigahama Yui had imagined countless times going shopping and playing with the boy she liked.
But doing this felt a bit sneaky — like jumping the line, something that might hurt the people around her who mattered.
But now, if it's just for today… maybe it's okay.
It was the heroic spirit's request after all. So maybe it's fine.
If possible, she would have liked to hold hands while walking, then have dinner together in a stylish restaurant — but that wasn't going to happen this time.
Still… this is enough.
Someday, she would definitely say those words. Until then, she just wanted to happily enjoy high school life with everyone.
"I can't figure out complicated things either, but no matter what happens, the three of us shouldn't hide things from each other…" Yuigahama said, her brows lowering.
After a moment of silence, she raised her head, patted her cheeks, and smiled her usual cute smile.
"Even though I say that, there are still things I can't say after all. Sorry, I guess I said something weird, huh? Hehe."
"Looks like I need to go now. See you tomorrow, and don't forget to bring the photos, okay?" Yuigahama waved at the boy from within the glow.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow," Shirou nodded.
The glowing light around the girl intensified, and a magical circle of white light enveloped her.
Watching the girl vanish into the white light, Shirou picked up the two purikura sheets.
Besides the group photo, they'd also taken several funny little ones.
The girl had edited them so dramatically — pink blush, eyes enlarged like ping-pong balls, and his skin so pale under the beauty filter that he looked like a vampire.
"As expected… this is really weird," Shirou laughed and tucked the photos into his pocket.
"Ah!" Shirou suddenly realized a serious problem — now he was alone in a place that prohibited men. How was he supposed to get out of here?!