Who?
[16]
16: Shirou…
Who?
[16]
I stared listlessly out of the passenger seat’s window as the radiant sunlight poured in from the sky, occasionally blotted by the myriad clouds.
It was morning right now and I couldn’t stop cringing as we neared this so-called kindergarten.
To be frank, I wasn’t really looking forward to going to school all over again, but what could I really do?
Playing the role of a delinquent was only understandable starting from middle school.
Before that, you’re basically just an idiot.
Then again, I didn’t really care if people thought I was an idiot since I pretty much was considering my current body, but I wasn’t going to stoop so low as to skip literal kindergarten…
Apparently having interpreted my hesitance as nervousness, Byakuya reassured me with a smile and asked, “Are you scared?
Don’t worry so much, it’ll just be for a couple of hours.”
‘Yeah, a couple of hours with some snotty brats.
Thank you so much, dad!’ I lampooned with a mental sneer.
But of course, I didn’t say this and instead nodded ambiguously, letting him come to his own conclusions.
“You know,” Byakuya started once more as he kept his gaze solidly on the road since he was the one driving the car.
“Children your age need to have some friends.
You can’t just stay inside your room all day, right?”
“Why not?” I inquired.
“Humans are social creatures,” he explained as he continued driving.
“We’re like sheep in a way.
Could you imagine a sheep living alone without a herd?
It would be very lonely.
That’s why it’s important to have friends.”
I can imagine that quite easily though.
After all, was that not where the term ‘black sheep’ originated?
It suited me well enough.
But thinking about it, compared to your average kindergartener, I might as well just be a rainbow unicorn.
“That makes sense, but…”
“Why don’t you have friends yourself, dad?” I asked with feigned innocence as Byakuya appeared to choke after hearing my words.
“I-I have friends!” He shouted in response in a helplessly offended tone.
“Lots of them, actually.”
“Really, could you name five of them?”
“Forget about it.
You don’t know any of them, kid.” Byakuya stated as I remained unconvinced.
Eventually, he pulled over to the parking lot and glanced at me, his blue eyes taking in my own.
“Shinji, you’re a smart kid, smarter than I probably was at your age,” he said as I nodded, readily agreeing to the obvious while holding the retort that I was in fact, smarter than him now.
“But you can’t let that get into your head, okay?”
This might not be a big deal to you, but friends can help you a lot later in life.
You’ll come to learn that sooner or later.”
“Okay, I understand.” I nodded my head as he smiled in return.
“Good, let’s go.” He reached to me with a hand as I took it.
‘I didn’t expect such wisdom from him…’ I thought to myself with a hum.
Inherently, there’s nothing wrong with that sentiment.
All relationships were formed through an exchange of both material and sentimental value.
Let alone friendship, even love was tied to this fact as it was impossible to have a happy marriage should one lack stable finances.
A naive person might be appalled by this way of thinking.
But unfortunately, this was just how it was.
Unconditional love simply did not exist between humans, which was the reason why many sought the answer in worshipping the divine, for only a God, or a being similar in stature, could display such illogical love and affection.
Ah, but who am I to say that?
As if a person like me knew the slightest thing about love…
We reached the kindergarten’s entrance gate as Byakuya held my hand.
The security guard nodded at us and smiled as we went past him without a word.
“Did you notice how this area’s a bit more modern than the one around our home?” Byakuya asked in a probing manner.
“What does modern mean?” I feigned ignorance as we entered the hallway.
“Oh, I’ll explain it later.
Anyhow, it’s because we’re in Shinto Town, different from our Miyama Town that’s on the other side of the Mion river.” He revealed with an easygoing expression.
“These two towns make up our Fuyuki City, but Shinto’s the newer area that was built relatively recently, whereas Miyama has been around for…
like a thousand years or so.
Quite interesting, no?”
I pondered this information with a thoughtful gaze before asking, “A thousand years, how long ago was that?
Isn’t that ten one hundreds?”
“That’s right, you’re pretty talented at math!” Byakuya chuckled and rejoiced.
Silently, I was dumbfounded as my mind remained on what he had revealed.
‘A thousand years ago should be in the Heian era, and it’s still called Miyama to this day…’
I recounted the scenery of Michizane’s noble territory as I remembered the Sugawara Clan Head’s New Year’s Celebration speech.
He clearly referred to that settlement as Miyama, meaning that it was most likely the ancient precursor of modern day Fuyuki City!
Unfortunately, this didn’t change anything for me as Michizane’s life remained fictional.
Life Systems usually had this gimmick where the simulations became reality after the user was finished with them.
This was not applicable to me as I uniquely didn’t have a reality-altering System.
The Simulation Gu could not possibly be capable of doing something like that even as an Immortal Gu.
After all, it was of the Dream Path and had no connection to the Time Path.
A huge shame, really.
I could think of a few ways I could set myself up by retroactively changing the past to affect the present…
“Excuse me, uh…
Uryuu-san,” my father called out to a nearby janitor, whose name was readily displayed upon the nametag on his breast.
“Do you know the way to classroom 1-B?”
The janitor, who wore a nondescript uniform topped with a blue cap, looked up from his broom and nodded with a smile, “Of course, would you like me to take this little one there?”
“How reliable.
“Be a good, diligent kid, alright?
I’ll have to leave you for now.
Your dad has a lot of work to do today and I’m sure you’ll be bored if you were to remain with me, so have fun here.” Byakuya reassured me before he ruffled my hair and left just like that.
I stared at the direction he went in for some time before glancing at the janitor.
He gave a smile and gestured for me to follow, “It’s just right around in this corner.”
When I entered the classroom, I was immediately met with the sight of about 19 children, all of whom were three years old.
As expected, they were as chaotic and unruly as any group of toddlers ought to be.
“Hey, look!
His hair kind of looks like blue seeweed!” A boy with tanned skin called out, not in a mocking tone that a bully would have as he seemed to just have no social awareness.
Perfectly normal considering his age.
“No, no.
It’s called seaweed, not seeweed!
And they are blue, aren’t they?
That’s why they’re called seaweed because they look like the sea!” A girl right next to him admonished the boy as some of the other kids approached me to get a better look.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
“Are you a boy, or just a girl wearing pants?
My older sister likes to wear pants, isn’t that weird?”
“Is your hair really made of seaweed, does it taste like sushi?”
“No, wait, sushi’s made of rice.
Sorry for asking…”
I had an awkward expression as I was met with this sudden burst of questioning.
Luckily, the teacher soon called out to the kids to give me some breathing room.
Nonetheless, I was aggrieved and headed to the quietest corner without hesitation, my eyes appraising the selection of toys that seemed reasonable enough for my dignity.
Soon, I settled for a set of blocks as this kindergarten didn’t have any Lego, which was probably due to the safety hazards.
I had no intentions of socializing like what Byakuya had hoped for me to do.
These dumbass kids were not worth the trouble and I’d rather spend my time cultivating than doing any of the pointless trifles that this institution was likely to push on me.
However, I had to maintain appearances and so used the act of mindlessly stacking blocks as cover as I mentally reached inward and focused on nourishing my Aperture walls.
I would have surely made some progress were it not for the boy that suddenly decided it was a good idea to talk with the one gloomy kid in the corner.
His shadow fell over me as I scowled and looked up at the boy.
He seemed ordinary at first and possessed an unremarkable appearance.
The only thing notable would be his bright orange hair, but such hair wasn’t too rare here in the Type Moon universe.
“What do you want?” I asked with narrowed eyes.
“I want to play with you!” He said with a grin as he sat down before me.
“What’s your name?”
“Shinji.” I said dismissively.
“Cool,” the boy with reddish-orange hair grinned as he actually dared to take one of my blocks.
“I’m Shirou, nice to meet you!”
Extra Chapter later today.
in canon, Kiritsugu gave Shirou both his first and surname, but I decided to change it here to only his surname so that he’s more recognizable.