Chapter 4: Day 1: And A Normal Everyday School Life
By the time Taiga and Shirou reached Homurahara Academy, the morning rush had already settled into its usual rhythm.
Students streamed through the gates in clumps, shoes clicking against pavement, voices rising and overlapping in the crisp air. The school grounds were already alive.
A few boys were still trying to finish convenience store bread before the bell. Some girls stood in loose circles near the entrance, chatting with the sort of urgency only morning gossip could inspire. Club members moved with purpose, while everyone else drifted in with varying levels of despair.
In other words, a perfectly normal school morning.
Which meant, of course, that the woman driving like a maniac beside him had somehow still managed to be late.
Taiga Fujimura yanked the handles gracelessly and swung the motorcycle into the employee parking lot. The tires made a protesting squeal as it stopped at an angle that suggested the parking space had been more of a suggestion than a rule.
Shirou stared blankly ahead for a second, then slowly turned to look at her.
She was already halfway through unbuckling her helmet.
"Alright!" Taiga declared, hopping off before he could even respond. "I have to go or I'll be late!"
Shirou climbed off more slowly, with a care Taiga had clearly never once felt in her life. He adjusted the strap of his school bag over his shoulder and watched as his teacher, guardian, occasional menace, and full-time disaster of a pseudo-older-sister began jogging away at surprising speed.
"Fuji-nee, wait, your parking is terrible."
"I know!" she called back cheerfully, as though that were a point of pride.
'Her self confidence is as awe-inspiring as usual…'
He was about to sigh and head toward the main entrance when he saw her veer straight toward one of the lower windows along the side of the building.
Shirou stopped dead and stared at her blankly.
Taiga glanced over her shoulder, gave him a frantic little wave, then grabbed the edge of the window frame and started climbing inside like some kind of burglar who had accidentally gotten a teaching license.
"Be responsible and go to class!" She hissed over her shoulder.
Shirou just stared at her, gobsmacked.
"...Y-You're telling me to be responsible while climbing in a window?!" He shot back with a whisper-shout sharp enough to cut glass.
Taiga froze before turning and frantically waving both hands at him to keep it down.
"Shhh! Shh! Shirou, not so loud!"
"You are literally breaking into your own workplace!" He barked indignantly.
"It doesn't count if I work here!"
She gave him one last desperate glare, then hauled herself through the window with the practiced speed of someone who had definitely done this before.
Shirou watched her disappear into the building in silence.
He stared at the window for a moment, then at the sky for a few more. As if he might find answers there.
Predictably enough, he found nothing. Only then did he let out a long, tired sigh.
With that, Shirou adjusted his bag again and started toward the school building on foot like a normal human being.
As he entered the hallways, his pace shifted just slightly.
Without consciously deciding to, he took the long route.
It wasn't like he got lost, or had suddenly developed a deep love for extra stairs and unnecessary corridor turns. No, this was strategic and deliberate. A time-tested maneuver refined through painful experience.
It was the usual path he took specifically to avoid going near Class 2-A. Or, more specifically, to avoid her.
'Not that I'm avoiding her.' He lied to himself immediately. 'I'm just... being efficient.'
That thought was so stupid that even in his own head it sounded pathetic.
He ignored it and kept walking.
The hallways were full enough that he could disappear into the flow of students without much trouble. Shoes squeaked against polished floors. Sliding doors opened and shut. Someone laughed too loudly at the far end of the corridor. The air smelled faintly of paper, chalk, detergent, and the remains of somebody's aggressively fish-based breakfast.
And it was far better than running into her first thing in the morning and having his entire emotional balance ruined before the first period.
He turned another corner, only to find a familiar figure heading the other way.
Ryudou Issei.
He was tall for his age, with neat dark hair, composed features, and the kind of upright posture that made it look like he had been born already disapproving of half the world.
Everything about him screamed proper. His uniform was immaculate, his expression restrained, and his whole air suggested that if you left a crooked picture frame in a room with him, he would fix it on principle before continuing the conversation.
Shirou and Issei had been good friends long enough that Shirou could read him almost on instinct now.
Which was why, when Issei slowed slightly and inclined his head, Shirou immediately recognized the gesture for what it really was.
"Good morning, Emiya."
It was a warm greeting. Or at the very least, it was Issei's version of one.
"Morning, Issei."
They fell into step beside each other with the easy familiarity of people who had done this a hundred times before.
Issei glanced at him once, calm and observant as ever. "You are late."
Shirou let out a sigh through his nose.
"Yeah. Fuji-nee."
That was explanation enough for the both of them.
He noted that Issei's expression did not change much, but Shirou could practically hear the internal sigh anyway.
"I see…" He said with evident dignified resignation. "Then I suppose Fujimura-sensei was once again overcome by her inability to function as a proper adult in the morning."
Shirou snorted.
"That is one way to put it."
They continued down the hall together.
Issei folded his arms into his sleeves with measured calm. "I will have a word with Fujimura-sensei later. She should be more mindful and reasonable. As your teacher, and as someone who is very involved in your daily life, she ought to be a better influence on you and not make you late."
Shirou practically sweatdropped.
The man clearly meant it. Which also meant that he obviously underestimated the Tiger of Fuyuki's will.
"Thanks for trying, even though I seriously doubt it'll work." Shirou said with a weary smile.
Issei nodded once like a monk accepting the inevitability of human failure.
"That does not mean I should refrain from saying it."
'Yeah, that's just like you buddy. I shall pray for your success and sanity.'
As they walked, something else happened that neither of them commented on, mostly because it had happened so many times by now that it had become instinct.
Without either of them consciously acknowledging it, Issei shifted positions. He moved to the side closest to the corridor that would have given a clear line of sight toward Class 2-A. It wasn't entirely deliberate, or even noticeable by any onlookers.
However, if anyone happened to glance out from there, Shirou would be partly obscured by Issei's taller frame and steady presence.
It was enough that one particular girl would have a much harder time accidentally noticing him.
Shirou realized it only after it had already happened, again.
'...He really does this every time.'
He did not mention it partly because it would be embarrassing. And also partly because if he acknowledged it, Issei would probably deny any intention and say it was simply the proper way to walk in a hallway.
Which, to be fair, was exactly the kind of thing Issei would say. Even if they both knew the real reason why he did it.
When they finally reached Shirou's classroom, Issei came to a stop.
"Well then, do try not to be dragged into any avoidable nonsense before lunch."
"That sounds like a really targeted thing to say."
"It is."
"Pfft… See you later, Issei." Shirou laughed under his breath.
"Mm."
Issei gave him a small nod, then continued down the corridor without another word.
Shirou watched him go for a second, then turned and slid open the classroom door.
He was the last one there. Well, the last student, at any rate.
That would have been awkward if Fujimura Taiga had already arrived, but thankfully, or perhaps predictably, their homeroom teacher was also late.
The moment he stepped inside, a few heads turned.
"Sorry, I'm late." Shirou said automatically.
He got a few polite greetings in return, but no real fuss. That was about normal. People noticed him, sure, but not in the dramatic way some students got noticed. Shirou was just... there. Reliable. Familiar. Hard to dislike, and easy to leave alone.
He preferred it that way.
He made his way toward his desk by the window.
Then, just as he set his bag down and sat, the person in front of him turned around and planted one hand on the desk with practiced casualness.
Matou Shinji.
Shirou gave him a polite smile on instinct.
Honestly, their relationship was hard to define these days. The word 'Friend' felt both accurate and not at the same time.
They had certainly been closer once. Somewhere back there, in the blurry stretch of years before everything became slightly complicated and then stayed that way. They had drifted apart a few years ago, or maybe even before that?
Shirou was not entirely sure when it had started. Maybe when Sakura began visiting more often. Maybe before that. Maybe the drift had just been gradual enough that he had only noticed when he was already on the other side of it.
Still.
They still smiled, talked, and they occupied that strange half-familiar space that was not friendship the way it used to be, but not quite the absence of it either.
"Morning, Shinji."
Shinji smiled back.
His smile was polished and handsome in the way it always was, but it had that same faint sleaziness beneath it that made even his polite expressions feel like they were wearing cologne. His blue hair was immaculate, his posture perfect, and if you knew absolutely nothing about him at all, you might even mistake him for a charming young gentleman.
That was, until he opened his mouth.
"Let me guess, Fujimura-sensei made you late again?" Shinji said with an amused little tilt of his head.
Shirou chuckled.
"Yeah. Something like that."
Shinji laughed too, leaning one elbow on the back of his chair. "That woman really is unbelievable. Honestly, how she's still employed is one of the great mysteries of modern education."
Shirou's smile faltered just slightly. It was small enough that most people would have missed it. But Shinji did not.
Still, Shirou replied evenly. "She's not that bad."
Shinji raised both hands in surrender almost immediately.
"Hey, hey, relax. It was a joke. Don't take it so seriously." His grin sharpened. "You shouldn't be such a drag."
One of the girls sitting next to Shinji leaned in toward him just then and whispered something in his ear. Her voice was too low to catch, but whatever it was, it pulled his attention away instantly.
Shinji glanced at her, then back at Shirou.
"Sorry, hold that thought."
He turned away to speak with her, and Shirou let out a quiet breath of relief before leaning back in his seat and looking out the window.
'That could've gone worse.'
His eyes drifted toward the school grounds, though he was not really looking at anything in particular.
Sakura had not shown up for breakfast that morning.
That alone had already put him slightly on edge. It was unlike her to miss it without saying anything ahead of time. Then again, she had seemed a little off lately. She had seemed more tired, and retreated inwards as she sometimes does.
He had noticed it in the little things. The kind of details most people missed because Sakura was so good at smiling through them.
And now he had not seen her anywhere at school either.
'Maybe she's absent.' Shirou frowned slightly.
If that was it, he would ask Shinji about it after class. Sakura was his sister, after all. If anyone knew what was going on, it would be him.
A few moments later, the homeroom bell rang.
The class collectively looked toward the door, and collectively noted the present lack of a homeroom teacher.
"...She's late again." One of the students muttered, carrying the clear exhausted certainty of a seasoned veteran.
That exact moment, the door slammed open.
"I'M NOT LATE!"
Fujimura Taiga burst into the room, her hair was slightly disheveled, and her expression indignant. Shirou had just enough time to notice there was dust on one sleeve before the entire class responded in one flat, perfectly synchronized chorus.
""""You were late.""""
There was amusement buried in their voices that made Taiga freeze.
"GRK...! S-Shit...!"
The class went silent for exactly half a second, before several students jumped on it all at the same time.
"You cursed!"
"She said shit!"
"Sensei, language!"
Cornered by her own failure, the Tiger of Fuyuki visibly deflated for one tragic instant, stunned by the sudden loss of all momentum.
Shirou sat there and watched the scene unfold with quiet amusement.
'Yup…' He thought. 'This is gonna be a completely normal day, as usual.'
After class ended and the bell for recess rang, Shirou slipped out into the hall a few steps behind Shinji.
He saw that Shinji was already walking off with a couple of girls orbiting around him.
"Shinji, wait up." Shirou called out.
Shinji stopped and turned to him inquisitively, one brow lifting. "Hm? What do you need, Emiya?"
For some reason Shirou felt a flicker of apprehension. It came and went fast enough that he almost dismissed it, but it was there. He swallowed it down anyway.
"Do you know where Sakura is? She didn't come by for breakfast today, and I haven't seen her at school either."
For a moment, Shinji looked caught off guard. Just for a moment.
His expression tightened into a brief grimace in a way Shirou did not entirely understand. Something complicated, maybe irritated, or even uncomfortable, crossed his face before he smoothed it away beneath the usual smug smile.
"Don't worry so much just because your personal maid didn't come in to work today." Shinji said lightly.
Shirou frowned immediately.
"What does that mean?"
Shinji sighed as though Shirou were being difficult on purpose, but he backed off.
"She came down with a bit of a cold, so she's taking the day off while Grandpa... takes care of her."
Something about the way he said those last four words made Shirou's stomach tighten.
It was subtle, but Shirou picked up on his change of tone. Those words had a strange edge in them.
Shinji did not let him sit with it long enough to pin down.
He turned abruptly, hooking an arm around one girl's shoulder and waving the other hand dismissively as he started walking again.
"Just chill out, Emiya. She'll probably be fine tomorrow and come back to school." He glanced back over his shoulder. "If you're that worried, why don't you just visit her at home?"
He then kept walking without waiting for an answer, pulling the two girls along with him like a prince leaving a scene that no longer entertained him.
Shirou watched him go as a faint grimace tugged at his mouth.
He supposed he had no choice but to believe him. Or at least, there was nothing else he could do right now.
So he turned around and started toward the Student Body office to have lunch with Issei.
Maybe he really would go visit Sakura later. Though he had to admit, the thought was not especially comforting.
The Matou house always creeped him out.
No, creeped out was putting it too lightly. Just approaching it made his nose itch and his shoulders tighten. It smelled wrong. If it was just the house being old, that would have been fine. But it was never the smell of stale air or dust that creeped him out.
It smelled like Rot. Like rot and decay.
He had never really understood it. And when he asked his old man about it, he didn't have much to say about it either. Stating that he had investigated the manor once during the 4th Holy Grail War, but hadn't found anything of note.
Even then, it had bothered him.
Even more so later on, as Sakura had smelled faintly of the same thing too when they first met. It had been even stronger then, sharper. Like something hidden beneath layers of perfume, soap, and politeness.
Every time Shirou had asked about it in those early days, Sakura had withdrawn into herself so hard it was like watching a flower close up against winter.
Eventually, he had stopped asking. Eventually, he had learned to ignore it, or at least pretend to.
Still, the idea of walking into that mansion again made his skin crawl a little.
'But if she's sick, I should probably check on her. She'd definitely do the same thing for me.'
That was the reasonable answer. Whether his instincts liked it or not was another problem.
Lost in thought, Shirou did not notice the oncoming figure until he bumped into someone at the turn of a hallway.
"Ah, Sorry!" He stepped back immediately, and helped her stand up.
"That was my fault. I wasn't looking..."
The girl in front of him straightened as well and answered just as quickly.
"No, I wasn't paying attention either, so..."
Both of them trailed off mid-sentence as they looked up and realized exactly who they had just walked into.
"...Oh. It's you, Emiya-kun."
Shirou pursed his lips. Of course it had to be her.
Rin Tohsaka stood there with her arms crossed, already giving him the sort of look that could peel paint off walls.
Her long dark hair framed a face so refined it bordered on unfair, it had elegant lines that complemented her perfect posture, and sharp blue eyes that somehow managed to look both beautiful and deeply judgmental at the same time. Even in a plain school uniform she carried herself like someone born for a more dramatic setting.
She was, after all, the most popular girl in school.
…And his former best friend.
Shirou let out a quiet sigh through his nose.
'And there it is... Completely normal day my ass.'
…
Many years ago, Shirou had been taken to the park on Taiga's insistence.
Kiritsugu had allowed it. That alone had been surprising enough.
The man had stood at the doorway with his hands in his coat pockets and that usual tired look in his eyes, listening to Taiga demand that "children needed sunlight and social interaction and stuff", before eventually giving in. Shirou could tell it was the kind of sigh that meant he already regretted the decision.
He had not come with them, though.
That part had stung a little, though it was not enough for Shirou to say anything, of course. He was used to it by then.
Kiritsugu was around, but never quite in the ordinary way other fathers seemed to be around. He would teach Shirou strange things, fix strange things, say strange things, and smile sadly whenever Shirou got too excited about any of it. Then he would disappear into his own thoughts like somebody walking into fog.
Still, he had let Taiga take Shirou out.
So there Shirou was. At the park. Not learning magecraft.
Which was, frankly, kind of a scam.
"Go play with the other kids!" Taiga had said, pushing him lightly between the shoulders. It seems like she ahd already decided what kind of fun he was supposed to have.
Shirou had looked over at the other children with deep suspicion.
They were loud. There was running. And one of them had already fallen over and started crying.
It all looked very inefficient. As he thought Kiritsugu would think.
"I'll be back in a bit!" Taiga had declared, already backing away. "I'm gonna get us ice cream, so don't be weird!"
She had then run off before he could object, ponytail swishing behind her violently. Shirou had watched her go, then puffed out a quiet breath through his nose.
He wanted to learn more about magecraft instead.
Kiritsugu had only been teaching him enough so that he would not suffer from his unnatural condition. That was how the man had put it. Shirou remembered the phrasing because Kiritsugu had looked unusually serious when he explained it.
His Magic Circuits were active. Permanently active, or close enough to make no difference.
Something had stabbed him during the fire. Something not meant for a human body. Kiritsugu had called it a "Fragment of the Holy Grail".
Shirou had not believed that part at first. And he would have never believed it had he not felt the truth of it with his own body.
He had felt the spasms. The invisible veins beneath his skin. The bursts of pain that came with no warning and left him shaking and breathless and angry at the world for a reason he could not explain.
And sometimes, when he slept too deeply or thought too long about the wrong things, he remembered more.
A Black Sun spilling dark Mud from sky, and Pain, and Hate, and Hate, and HATE—
Even thinking of it now made his chest tighten for a moment.
Shirou shoved the memory aside with a frown. He did not really understand any of it. If he was being honest, he still didn't really get it. But he understood enough to know one thing.
No normal medicine was going to make him normal again.
So Kiritsugu trained him and Shirou listened intently. Greedily, even.
Because magecraft was incredible. He could make a sword appear from nothing now!
A Sword.
Out of nothing.
That was especially awesome, and nobody on earth was going to convince him otherwise!
Kiritsugu called it Projection. He had also said, in a tone that sounded apologetic for some reason, that it was probably the only magecraft Shirou would ever really be good at.
Shirou had not understood why that was supposed to be bad news.
He could make Swords! That was amazing.
Why was Kiritsugu looking at him like he had just announced some tragic medical diagnosis instead of the coolest ability in the world?!
The man had only smiled that sad smile again and promised to bring him more blades to study later, so Shirou could expand his "indefinite armoury", whatever that meant.
Shirou had been so excited by the idea that he had forgotten to ask why Kiritsugu looked sad at all.
Now, trudging through the park with his hands shoved into his coat pockets, Shirou huffed quietly to himself.
It was also a shame he was not allowed to show his swords to anyone.
Something about a Clock being mad at him if he did.
Shirou did not know who this Clock guy actually was. In his head it had to be some giant evil Clock Wizard-Magican whose job was apparently ruining his fun.
Which was rude.
He wandered away from the noisier parts of the park, ignoring the other kids and their games, until he found a spot by the sandbox.
That seemed better, quieter. More importantly, it gave him a place to think.
He sat down in the sand, picked up a small stick, and began tracing shapes into the ground.
He made Swords first, obviously. Then a spear. Then something halfway between an axe and a polearm that he thought looked especially cool even if he was not entirely sure it made structural sense. He added guards, pommels, hilts, blade curvature, little details in the crossguards.
It was not a real Projection, obviously, but it still scratched the same itch in his head.
And honestly, they looked pretty good, if Shirou would say so himself.
He sat back slightly to admire his work with a quiet, private satisfaction when, as if on que, a group of boys came barreling through the area at full speed, tripped over one another like idiots, and fell directly into his carefully traced weapons.
The sand was obliterated in seconds.
Shirou stared at the ruined designs, then to the immensely rude boys, before standing up with righteous fire burning in his veins.
"Hey!"
The boys looked up.
"That took me a while!" Shirou said, trying very hard to sound calm and failing because he was like seven and genuinely offended. "You should watch where you're going!"
One of the boys scoffed while another pushed himself upright and scowled like Shirou had somehow wronged him personally by objecting to the destruction of his own stuff.
"What, it's just sand!"
Shirou frowned. "It was my sand."
That was not the strongest argument he had ever made, but in his defense, he was absolutely right. The boys still however seemed to decide that his tone was enough to make this worth turning into a problem.
Shirou, unfortunately, also seemed to decide that backing down now would be also deeply lame.
The air shifted in that weird little moment as the children squared their shoulders and collectively agreed that this might become a fight for reasons nobody involved would be able to explain later.
Thankfully, before it could go forward into real violence, a voice cut cleanly through the air.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?"
The boys froze.
Shirou blinked and looked past them.
A girl stood there, hands on her hips, with the kind of posture that somehow managed to be both childish and incredibly superior.
She looked about his age, maybe a little older, with long dark hair tied into neat twin tails. Her red coat looked a lot nicer than what most kids wore to the park, and the expression on her face made it very clear she was not impressed by anyone present.
Especially not the other boys.
"Well? Are you all deaf now?"
One of them tried to mutter something, prompting her to narrow her eyes. That seemed, surprisingly, to be enough.
Within seconds, the boys looked ashamed of themselves. One mumbled a half-hearted apology. Another rubbed the back of his neck. Then, in the universal language of guilty children everywhere, they fled the scene before any real consequence could come.
Shirou watched them go, before turning to the girl with something dangerously close to stars in his eyes.
"Thank you!"
The girl flicked one of her pigtails back over her shoulder with smug precision.
"It was no problem." She said, in the tone of someone graciously acknowledging praise she absolutely believed she deserved.
"What's your name?" She then asked, tilting her head slightly.
Shirou flinched immediately.
A girl appeared out of nowhere, saved (Read: Avenged) his sand swords from bullies, and he had just stood there gawking at her like an idiot without even introducing himself.
He straightened immediately and gave a hurried little bow.
"I'm Shirou, Shirou Emiya."
The girl's smugness sharpened into visible satisfaction.
Good. That was apparently the correct response.
"I am Tohsaka. Rin Tohsaka."
Shirou looked up at her, smiled and reached up and grabbed her hand without thinking too hard about it.
"It's nice to meet you, Rin!"
The effect on her was immediate.
Her smug little expression faltered enough that the perfect self-assurance slipped for half a second and revealed the girl underneath it. Her cheeks colored faintly. Her fingers twitched in his grip. She looked, very briefly, innocent in a way she probably would have been horrified to know was visible.
Shirou did not notice any of this.
He was too busy being delighted that the cool girl who had just rescued him from an extremely serious sandbox confrontation had introduced herself.
He beamed up at her.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?!" He asked with the blunt sincerity only a child could manage.
He needed to know.
Rin jerked like he had just thrown a rock at her and pulled her hand back immediately.
"D-Dummy!"
Shirou blinked.
That had not gone how he expected.
"Sorry…" He said quickly, smile faltering slightly. "Was that weird?"
Rin turned her face away just slightly, which only made the red at the tips of her ears more obvious.
Shirou, still not really understanding what had just happened, hurried to fix it.
"I'll go first if it makes you feel better?"
That made her glance back at him.
She still looked pouty. Slightly offended, maybe. Mostly embarrassed in a way she was trying very hard to hide behind irritation.
But after a second, she nodded.
"...Fine."
Shirou brightened immediately.
He drew himself up with all the seriousness and dignity his tiny body could hold, then announced his dream like he was declaring it to the world.
"I wanna be a Maᵍgͦiͩcian, like my dad!"
Rin's face contorted into pure shock. For a second she just stared at him before the shock melted into something else. Exasperated amusement, helplessness, and the kind of disbelief that somehow did not seem entirely unpleasant.
She looked down a little and fidgeted with her hands.
"R-Really? Me t-too..."
The grin that came to Shirou's face nearly blinded her.
"Really!?"
Rin flinched at the force of his excitement.
"Yes, really!"
"That's amazing!"
"I know!"
"You're amazing!"
Rin's whole face turned red at that.
"H-Hey, I-I didn't say that!"
"But you wanna be a Magician too!"
Shirou looked so genuinely overjoyed that Rin, despite herself, started smiling too. It was small at first, but it quickly got a little bigger.
The park, the sandbox, the other kids, the ice cream Taiga had promised, all of it faded for a while around the two of them.
Because in that moment, to Shirou, Rin Tohsaka was the coolest girl in the world.
And to Rin, Emiya Shirou was apparently some kind of impossible little idiot who could say things like that with total sincerity and survive.
Looking back much later, Shirou would think that maybe the whole thing had been doomed from the start.
Although, that didn't mean he regretted their time together. Not in the slightest.