Part 122: Dojo scenery / Brownie chocolate cake

Rebirth - After revealing suspiciously Shiki-like origins, Shirou gets woken up by Sakura. He emerges from his cluttered shed and ponders what to do for the morning, but since we helped Sakura last time, this time we're going to the dojo.

Music: In the Sunlight



It was built when the house was built.
It was only intended as a hobby, so the dojo wasn't built for any particular purpose.

"Well."
I'll warm up a bit before breakfast.
I'm not really studying martial arts, but since Father told me "if you want to be like me, you'll have to train your body first", it became my daily routine to work out.

"…Ninety-nine, one hundred…"
I finish my routine sit-ups and change out of my gi into my uniform.
I slept in this morning, so I cut short of my workout.
Some sit-ups with no stretching should be enough.
I'm not the kind to build up a lot of muscle, and it's not like I want to get into a fight.

All I need is enough athletic ability to handle sudden accidents, and to move as I wish when I have to.
After all, the thing I want to become is the complete opposite of an athlete.

"…Oh, this late already?"
I put the sweaty gi into the laundry basket.
It's 6:20.
In our house, even this is a late time for breakfast.





"Yeah, thanks… sorry, you had to do more work because I slept in."


"No, it's no work at all. Besides, you didn't sleep in. This is early for you since you're not in any clubs."

"Clubs have nothing to do with it. When you bring clubs into it, you have to wake up early to come here when you have morning practice."


"Ah… no, I'm doing this because I want to, so please don't worry about my club."

"Yeah, you always say that.
Well, that's why I wake up early, clubs or not. It's rude for me to sleep in if you're going to be here."

For me, waking up early is waking up before Sakura gets here, and sleeping in is making Sakura prepare breakfast on her ownlike today.
Though, this has only been a habit for a year and a half or so.


"Heehee. Senpai, you always put too much weight on these things. Mitsuzuri-Senpai always says you're so honest that it's annoying."
Sakura smiles, as if remembering it.
Mitsuzuri is the captain of the archery club Sakura is in, and someone I have a lot of acquaintance with.




"Yes. She's working hard every day to beat you in archery before she graduates."

"…Geez, she must be better than me by now. Is she just glorifying the memories? I don't mind people thinking highly of me, but I guess it depends on who they are."


"Mitsuzuri-Senpai hates losing, so she probably thinks of you as a rival."



It's almost six thirty.
The archery club's morning practice starts at seven.
It's not mandatory, but she can't afford to take it easy.

"Fuji-Nee… will be here soon, I guess. Well, it's her fault for not getting here on time. Well, Sakura, let's go ahead and start eating."


"Yes. Here you go, Senpai."
Sakura hands me the bowl with a smile.
""
…Then.
I'm used to this every morning, but her white fingers catch my eye.

"!!"
…How can I put this… it's troubling.
She must be maturing as she seems really feminine these days.
Her casual movements are beautiful and she often takes my breath away.
Perhaps it's a reaction to not feeling anything for her until now, but I'm noticing more and more feminine characteristics in her…



"No, it's nothing. Don't worry, it's nothing."


"Hm?"
…Honestly.
Why am I feeling tense around my friend's sister?
She's a good underclassman and a junior I need to take care of.

First of all, the relationship between me and Matou Sakura is just that of a Senpai and a junior.
She's the sister of a close friend of mine, but since she's a grade below me, we weren't that close.

It all changed a year and a half ago into this cooperative kind of relationship.
Sakura came to cook when I was injured, and after that, I think we just ended up like this.

…I think we intended to do it until my injury healed, but some trivial thing came up to make her stay with it.

Anyways, Sakura is a good cook, and perfect at cleaning and doing the laundry.
It's a big help to have her helping around here in the mornings, but it's been a bit troubling recently.
The problem is not in Sakura, but me.


""
Frankly, Sakura is beautiful.
She's one of the best looking first years, and I'm sure there are lots of guys who want to date her.
And on top of that, she's been growing in certain places recently and some of her casual gestures have started to catch my eye.





Morning in the Emiya household / Everyday - After a small amount of food porn, Shirou gets tricked by Taiga as revenge for calling her Taiga. Sakura and Shirou leave for school after the news babbles on about strange gas leak accidents. After introducing the reader to the town, Shirou finally heads to school and helps his pocket pool playing pal out with broken heaters in the classrooms. He then heads to class and tries not to punch Shinji. Taiga knocks herself out entering late, the game introduces a teacher with a rod surgically implanted up his ass, and then we get the choice to continue helping our pocket pool playing pal, or to actually go earn some money. We helped last time, so let's go get a paycheck.

Music: Tender Scenery



"No, sorry, Issei. I've got plans, so can we finish it some other time?"


"Plans…? Oh, you must mean your work. Sorry to trouble you. This isn't an urgent matter. Don't worry about me and go to work."

"Sorry. I'll continue first thing tomorrow morning, so can we call it even?"


"Hm? I told you, it's not that important. The urgent stuff was finished this morning. You can finish the rest when you're free, Emiya."
"I see. Then can I finish it when I don't have work?"


"Sure. I'll rely on you again then, Emiya."


Issei says farewell and leaves the classroom.

"Well."
I should hurry off too.
Even though there's no set time to be there, I should head for the neighboring town if I'm going to go to work.

Music: Stop



Music: Madder Red Town



But the boss just said to everyone in his usual tone,
"If you can come and help, please do."
…Completely relaxed about it.

But as it turned out, I was the only one who came, along with the boss and his daughter, Neko-san.

"You idiot! There's no way people will come if you ask like that!"
Neko-san was scolding the boss, but I showed up to be a victim, defying their expectations.
They welcomed me with a cheer, and we decided to clean up the storage area as best we could.



"I'm surprised. Shirou, are you some kind of Brownie or something?"
After work, the boss eats a brown cake while being impressed.

"Not at all. I'm just used to heavy jobs and I've worked here long enough to know where things are. I haven't been working here since I was small for nothing, you know!"

"Oh yeah. Has it been five years already?"
"About that long. You were the only ones that would hire me right after my father died."
"Whoa. No wonder I'm feeling old."

He eats his rum cake.
Neko-san is drinking hot sake next to him.
The family is well balanced, as the boss likes sweet things while his daughter likes spicy things.

So.
"But you really helped us out. I can't just give you a cake for all this work, so here's a token of my appreciation."
He hands me three 10,000 yen bills.
A reward unmatched for the three hours of work I did, much more that I would get for even a week's work.

"Oh, thank you."
I hesitate, but decide to accept what I'm given.

And as I'm leaving Copenhagen…
"…Mmm. Hold on, Emiya-n. Who'd you hear about today from?"
Neko-san stops me while curled up in front of the heater.

"Um, I think it was Furukawa-san."
"…Man, that idiot. Don't push your work onto a student. Well, so you came here today even though you didn't have to?"
"Uh… well, it was like, 'come and help if I wasn't busy'."

"Furukawa's an idiot, but so are you.
Oh well. You never turn down anyone asking for help, do you? You took care of the store when dad and I got sick too."

"Hm? I don't think that's true. I don't take impossible jobs. I only accept things I can do."



Neko-san circles her finger while drinking some hot sake.
She seems to think I'm a firefly or something.

"Okay. …So, just tell Fuji-Nee that?"
"Right. See ya, don't push yourself too hard."

Music: Stop





A white girl / Well done - Shirou gets threatened by Ilya on his way home, but there's nothing too surprising about that. He arrives home and joins Taiga and Sakura for dinner, where Taiga scolds him for being too helpful to people and not worrying enough about himself. After it's all done with, Shirou realizes he's got some time to kill before he can once again insert burning rods into his backside. Last time we walked Sakura home, so this time pick one of the other two.