Chapter 24: Reunion with Rin at School
Nothing happened on Sunday. Shirou stayed home, spending time with Sakura, and started to consider when to let her attend school with him.
There was no need to do so during the Holy Grail War, which would last at most a little over a week. He could simply let the Orihara couple handle the arrangements afterward.
And so, time moved on to Monday.
Last night, a heavy rain fell over the city outside. The gloomy sky poured down dense rain as if venting its emotions, only gradually stopping early in the morning.
When the first ray of light shone into the room through a gap in the curtains in the morning, Shirou, lying in bed, opened his eyes.
A girl was nestled beside Shirou. Her long hair spread across the pillow, and a subtle fragrance filled the air.
'There's no way to avoid exposing my identity. I suppose the reason those guys didn't show up yesterday was because they were frantically gathering information.'
Muttering this, Shirou sat up from the bed.
His slight movement woke up the sleeping Sakura.
"Shirou... are you leaving?" Sakura reluctantly rubbed her head against Shirou's chest.
Although Shirou always went to sleep on the other side of the bed every night, he would wake up in the morning to find that Sakura had somehow burrowed her way next to him under the covers.
"Yes, I have to go to school. You stay home and be a good girl, okay, Sakura?" Shirou instructed.
"I know, Shirou~"
Sakura nodded obediently, curling up in the covers like a kitten, and hugged Shirou for a moment, still showing reluctance to let him go.
For Sakura, Shirou, who had brought light into her life that should have become dark, was now her sole motivation for living.
After eating breakfast, Shirou left the house with the bento prepared by Mrs. Orihara.
However, before heading to the Elementary School, Shirou first instructed Karna to remain on guard.
"Master, are you sure you're alright on your own?" Karna was still a bit worried.
"Don't worry, even if I can't beat them, I can still escape," Shirou replied.
With his current strength, he could at least exchange blows with any Servant.
Though defeating them might be a bit troublesome.
After giving the order to Karna, Shirou set off for school.
"I have to face a bunch of elementary school students again today..." Shirou, walking along the path to school, couldn't help but sigh softly.
However, thinking of seeing Rin immediately after, Shirou felt that going to school might actually be a little interesting.
.
.
.
Upon arriving at school, Shirou went to his classroom. After sliding the door open, what greeted him was the usual scene of elementary school students chattering noisily.
Since class hadn't started yet, these students were discussing various topics in their small cliques.
In this era, small groups were probably not as serious as they would become later; at least Shirou didn't see any severe exclusion.
It seems this phenomenon gradually became more agitated and aggressive with the changing times.
Shirou walked straight to his seat and leaned back in his chair, contemplating the Holy Grail War.
A subtle aura he unconsciously emitted made him stand out among the surrounding elementary school students.
"Although I now possess the power of the Heroic Spirit EMIYA, that doesn't mean I can easily win this Holy Grail War."
In the Holy Grail War, even with significantly more information than others, strength is always the primary criterion for victory.
Against absolute power, complex strategies are meaningless.
Therefore, if he is to face Gilgamesh and Iskandar, he must find a way to preemptively strike.
This is the Fourth War. Gilgamesh is unlikely to be counter-killed due to underestimating his enemy as he was in the Fifth War.
If he foolishly tried to challenge Gilgamesh one-on-one, the King of Heroes might not even give him time to activate Unlimited Blade Works before instantly finishing him off with EA.
"It looks like I still need to think of other methods..."
.
.
.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling—!
As the bell signaling the end of class rang, the teacher at the podium immediately gathered their books and left the classroom, showing no intention of lingering.
The students either ate in the school cafeteria or brought their own bento boxes.
Shirou belonged to the latter. He took out the meticulously prepared bento from Mrs. Orihara, just about to start lunch.
At that moment, a certain gaze was cast from the corridor outside the classroom window, followed by the classroom door being pushed open from the back.
"Orihara~!"
An excited, lively shout came from the back door of the classroom.
Not just Shirou, but all the students in the classroom heard it and looked over curiously.
Standing there was a girl with twin tails. Even at this age, it was clear she was destined to be a beauty.
Her twin tails were tied with black ribbons, and she wore the standard brown school uniform of Shiradaidai Elementary School. Below her knee-length black skirt were a pair of slender legs encased in black stockings.
The girl's sapphire-like eyes sparkled with excitement.
It wasn't until this moment that Rin suddenly realized the curious gazes of the other students in the classroom directed at her.
Following this, murmurs of discussion began to spread.
"Wow, isn't that Tohsaka?"
"I heard she's a wealthy young lady!"
"She actually knows Orihara? Isn't that guy usually really inconspicuous?"
"How strange! What exactly happened between them? I can't help but let my imagination run wild!"
The girls, in particular, despite their young age, were influenced by anime like Sailor Moon and couldn't help but start fantasizing.
It seemed that any connection between Shirou and this young lady from the next class was now impossible to deny.
Shirou didn't mind this, but it seemed to make Rin a little shy.
A blush immediately appeared on the girl's cheeks, and her head felt hot as she slightly lowered her gaze.
Despite this, Rin remained standing at the doorway, stubbornly looking at Shirou again.
Seeing the girl's eager gaze, Shirou could only sigh helplessly at this persistent young lady.
Then, he stood up and walked over.
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