“Crap.”
Shirou glanced at the front gate.
“Senpai? It’s a bit early, but I’m coming in!”
Shirou scanned the floor. Then he looked at his clothes.
Saber frowned. “Should I distract her for you, Shirou?”
“Please.” He quickly ran calculations in his head. “Five minutes should be all I need. Tell her and Fuji-nee if she’s there that I’m training in the dojo.”
Saber nodded and walked off. “Then, good luck to you.”
After Saber left, Shirou quickly projected a mop and bucket. “Dammit. Stupid limited body.”
If he could just use all the elements like Rin… hold on. He had a bit of her prana inside of him when she analyzed him, didn’t he?
…While that sounded weird, his body should remember it. Although he didn’t quite understand the reasoning yet, it seemed that his abilities allowed him to mimic a bit more than just swords, so if he focused…
“Aha!”
A curse of reversal… which didn’t help him at all. He could conjure elements and use elemental magic, but it wouldn’t help with the current situation.
“Hm? You’re not Senpai.”
Sakura’s voice echoed from beyond the dojo’s shut doors.
“Gah, screw it.”
Old fashioned cleaning it was.
Shirou filled the bucket with soap and water and then quickly scrubbed the dojo floor down. He used invisible air to dry it.
“I apologize. Shirou is training in the dojo at the moment. He asked me to greet you in his stead.”
“And you are?”
That was Fuji-nee’s voice.
Panic gripped Shirou’s heart. “All or nothing,” he muttered.
Time was short. And if they found him like he was at the moment, there would be a lot of questions. Questions he couldn’t answer, at least not without making things worse.
“Trace, on!”
Reinforcement of his body, senses, nerves. Shirou amplified his stats beyond human levels… and then performed superhuman cleaning. At the same time, he erased the grime from his body with a blast of water and fixed up his clothes with reinforcement.
The dojo door opened.
Shirou turned around to see Sakura and Fuji-nee walk in. Saber trailed behind them, an apologetic look on her face.
“Shirou!” Fuji-nee called out first. “What do you think you’re doing letting a foreign woman stay in your house like this?”
“Morning to you too, Fuji-nee.”
“Don’t ‘Fuji-nee’ me, Mister!” Taiga marched into the dojo and jabbed Shirou’s chest. “What do you think Sakura feels about all of this? Didn’t you just say that she was part of your household the other day?”
Shirou glanced over at Sakura.
She did look crestfallen, especially when she glanced at Saber. However, Shirou felt that it was more to do with the fact that Saber was a Servant rather than being a woman.
But Shirou didn’t have time to address that. Instead, he stood his ground and stared at Taiga. “I know that it might seem bad, but what was I supposed to do? Miss Saber came all the way from Britain here to meet Dad. She arrived late last night at the gate from her flight and was expecting him to greet her like he did in the past.”
“WHAT?!” Taiga turned to stare at Saber. She glanced at the Servant of the Sword, giving her a onceover and said, “You’re Kerry’s mistress?!”
Shirou facepalmed.
Saber, fortunately enough, didn’t break character or act stunned. Instead, she gave a polite smile and said, “I apologize, but Kiritsugu was my business associate, not my lover. That role of Kiritsugu’s lover belonged to miss Maiya.”
Taiga’s face froze. “Kerry had a lover? But what about Miss…. Urgh.” Taiga clutched her forehead.
Shirou frowned. Did Kiritsugu hypnotize her to forget about the previous war? Either way, it looked like Fuji-nee was in pain, so he changed the topic.
“Sorry to miss you at the gate, Sakura. But good morning.” He smiled and waved at her.
That must have been enough for Sakura. After glancing at Saber one more time, she smiled. “Good morning to you as well, Senpai.”
Fuji-nee shook her head and then pointed at Shirou. “Wait a minute! Don’t think we’re done here yet, Shirou!”
“We will be if you want breakfast before Archery Practice this morning.”
“Kuh-“ Taiga frowned. “…You’re lucky you cook so well.”
Shirou shrugged it off and started walking to the kitchen. “Could you come help me, Sakura?”
The violet-haired young woman flitted her gaze between Shirou and Saber for a few moments before nodding. “Yes, Senpai.”
In the kitchen, Shirou started prepping the ingredients for breakfast. Although he could remember the recipes that Shirou used, he decided to make a Western breakfast. Eggs, toast, pancakes… just something familiar to him instead of Japanese cuisine.
Sakura noticed his choice and said, “You’re quite considerate, Senpai.”
“Hm? Ah.”
He didn’t even realize the implications. “Well, Saber has come a long way, so I thought I might as well play a good host.”
“I see…”
“Do you think you can mix the batter for me? I’ll work on scrambling the eggs.”
“Yes, Senpai.”
After that, Sakura stepped to the side to do as Shirou asked.
He found it odd. She wasn’t being too talkative. It seemed that Saber’s presence was affecting her more than he thought.
For a while, there was only the sound of pots and pans clattering, along with running water. Fuji-nee and Saber were out in the dojo. After hearing that Saber was skilled at swordsmanship, Fuji-nee wanted to spar with her.
That meant that Shirou was alone with Sakura.
While scrambling the eggs, Shirou glanced at Sakura from the corner of his eyes.
She was focused on mixing the batter. She wore a pink apron over her school uniform and was focused on stirring the pancake batter in a steel mixing bowl with a whisk. A calm and tranquil atmosphere seemed to emanate from her.
Was it Shirou’s feelings, or was it the lingering sentiment of the one who took over Shirou’s body.
Either way, glancing at Sakura caused his heart to race. At the same time, he felt a surge of regret, guilt, and rage.
Sakura noticed Shirou staring and turned towards him. “Senpai?”
“…You’re beautiful.”
“E-Eh?” Sakura blushed and looked away. “Y-You shouldn’t say things that could be misunderstood, Senpai.”
“I don’t. You really are beautiful, Sakura. I just felt like telling you that.”
“Senpai-“
The sound of sizzling eggs caught Shirou’s attention. He turned back to the frying pan just in time to see that the eggs were about to burn. He quickly stirred them and then tossed them into a nearby bowl.
“Whew. That was close.”
Sakura smiled. “You should be more careful, Senpai!”
“Yeah. I’ll remember.” Shirou walked around to clean up the pan. “How’s the batter coming along?”
“It’s done, Senpai. Should I start making them?”
“If you would. I’ll start on the toast.”
Sakura nodded and the two shifted places.
Shirou popped a few slices of bread in the toaster and then covered the scrambled eggs. All that was left to do was wait. Because of that, he stared at Sakura again.
She noticed his gaze and glanced at him. “Senpai. You’re distracting me.”
“Sorry.”
He shifted his gaze. However, that glance was enough for him to get what he wanted.
Matou Zouken…
His core crest worm was embedded in Sakura’s heart. As long as that was true, it would be impossible… no, it would be hard to kill him. Shirou still could, but…
“Alright. I’m finished, Senpai.”
Sakura had a stack of pancakes on a plate. It seemed that she had finished sometime during his thoughts.
Shirou smiled. “Thanks, Sakura.”
The young woman smiled and wiped her hands against her apron. “It’s nothing, Senpai.”
He stared at her for a moment, gazing into her eyes.
…Should he?
“Senpai?”
“…Sakura.”
He made a decision. “After Archery Club, could you meet me back here? I have something to ask you. It’s important.”
Sakura stared at him and then fiddled with her hair. “I don’t-“
“Please.” Shirou lowered his head.
Sakura was silent and then walked close to Shirou and lifted his head. “Alright, Senpai.”
He smiled.
At that time, the door to the kitchen slammed open. “Shiiirrou! You didn’t tell me that Miss Saber was a professional!”
Shirou turned towards them.
Taiga was pouting, her eyes watery.
Saber stood behind her, an apologetic look in her eyes.
Shirou sighed. “You didn’t ask. But just take a seat. Everything’s finished.”
Taiga looked like she wanted to say more, but nodded and took a seat.
Shirou and Sakura laid out the food on the table and then took a seat as well. After a brief ‘Itadakimasu’, breakfast was served.
Shirou munched on some toast and turned on the television to check the news. Nothing exciting was playing since it was still morning, and a weekend at that, but it helped to give some atmosphere.
That let Shirou contemplate his actions. Sakura, the holy grail war, Rin, Ilya… If he wanted to resolve everything, he had to take care of things in order and in the right way.