Part 147: Master identified / Fuji-Nee's three minute ducking

"……I guess I'll go home."
I turn around and head to the gate.
And between me and the gate…



…Stands Matou Shinji, as if to block my way.

"Hey, you're going home this late? Weren't all students supposed to go home immediately since it's getting dangerous recently?"
""
I don't think I can be calm facing Shinji here.
I ignore him and keep walking.

"I see. You're so tired that you can't even greet your friend, huh?
You're tired because you're doing meddlesome things like destroying the spells."
His voice sounds delighted.
"!"
I jump back and ready myself.

Music: Footsteps of Destruction

"Spellif you're using that word, then…"
I glare at Shinji.


"Yup, that's right. The boundary field that you thoroughly eliminated is a security measure I set up.
If you destroy it like that, I'll be so scared that I won't be able to come to school anymore."

He looks terrified.



Some things never change.

I knew about it when I saw Shinji in the woods, but I rejected the idea because I was unprepared for the truth.


"Hold on. Don't be on guard like that. Since that annoying Tohsaka's gone, let's talk things over as men. As you know, I don't like fighting."
"Talk things over…? You don't want to fight me?"



I'm guessing you were forced to be this Master thing as well, right?
It happened to me too. I was forced to be a Master even though I'm not a magus, nor do I have a will to fight."


"I'm trying to find a way to get through this without fighting anybody. So that's why I have no intention of fighting you."

"…I see. Then what's up with that boundary field? You're saying you don't want to fight even though you have such a thing set up?"


"Are you stupid? That's for my protection. There's a pure magus named Tohsaka in this school.
She won't hesitate to fight. Since I'm not a magus, I have to set up protection for myself.


That boundary field is set up for that purpose alone. I won't activate it as long as I don't get attacked."

""
…He's making sense.
I don't know if Shinji is really a Master or not, or how he became one.
But I can trust his story.
If Shinji says so, I should believe him.

Shirou is a fucking idiot.

But before that

"Shinji. Are you the one that attacked the female student yesterday?"
I have to get this question answered.





My Servant's unmanageable, and she attacks people if I let her be.
I'm just a normal person. I'm not a magus like Tohsaka, so it's hard for me to get her to obey me."

"Then what happened yesterday is an accident? Your Servant did it herself?"


"Yeah, I'll be careful from now on. I don't want anything happening here either. I'll make sure the only thing she does is to protect me."

"You swear that's true, Shinji?"



You were getting suspicious of me, right? I'll have to fight back if you attack me, so I came out with it before that happened.
I don't want to fight anybody."

…I can't trust everything he says.


But if Shinji really thinks soeverything would work out.

"All right, I'll believe you. If you're not going to do anything, I won't do anything to you either. That's fine, right, Shinji?"



But that's not good enough. Can't you tell why I came here to talk?"

Shinji holds out his hand.
So that means…

"Do you want to cooperate with me, Emiya? I'm sure you don't know, but the Matou family is a family of magi.


…Well, magic died out in my father's generation, but we still have the knowledge. How does it sound? I'll be helpful to an inexperienced Master like you, right?"

""
The Matou line is a family of magi…?
Tohsaka didn't say such a thing.
No, she must have excluded him since magic died out in his father's generation, like he said.


"So, what do you say? We can survive through the Holy Grail War if we cooperate. You shouldn't even need to think about it."

""
His hand is held out.
…Shinji's proposal isn't bad.
It makes sense, and it's a viable option.
But

"…Shinji. Does Sakura know that you're a Master?"



Listen, a family of magi only teaches its secrets to the eldest son. Other children are just spare organs.
It's meaningless to teach magic to such a thing, and it's a waste of time.


…Geez. A slow woman like her wouldn't be able to use magic.
I'm the only one that inherited the secret."

""
I see.
That's really good.
Sakura shouldn't be involved in all this.
I want her to be smiling happily all the time.

"Shinji. If you won't do anything to me, I won't do anything to you. That's good enough, right?"



"We don't need to, right? If we're not going to fight, cooperation's meaningless.
If you only want to protect yourself, have the church take care of you until the Holy Grail War ends. You know that, right?"


"…Oh. What is this? Are you trying to win this war?"

""
…I have no intention of fighting.
But I'll fight anyone that attacks me, and I can't just ignore people that'll bring disaster to this town.
And

"…I won't kill people. But I have to see what the Holy Grail really is. To do so, I have to survive until the end, right?"
I turn my back to Shinji.

"I see. So you're going to fight no matter what, huh?
It has nothing to do with me, but you're not intending to involve Sakura in this, are you?"

"There's no way I'll let her get involved. You're going to hide this from her too, right?"


"Of course. But as her brother, I can't let her stay at a house with a guy who's going to fight.
If you're going to fight, I won't let Sakura out of my place until the Holy Grail War ends. That's fine, right, Emiya?"

""
…Shinji does have a point.
As long as I'll be fighting, my house is in danger.

"All right, I'll tell Sakura. Is that good for you, Shinji?"



To be honest, I was scared if you were going to hold her hostage. Well, my problem is solved for now."
I don't know what's funny, but Shinji laughs.

"That's all I have to say. I'm going home."


"Go ahead. Oh, but you know that this is our secret, right? I came out with this secret since you're my friend. I don't know what I'll do if you go and tell somebody about this."

That must mean he'll activate the boundary field if I tell Tohsaka about this.

"Yeah, I won't tell anyone. But it's a different story if she finds out herself. I'm going to help her as much as I can. I won't stop her from fighting you if she finds out about you.
…So if you don't want to be found, don't do anything."



Music: Tender Scenery



""



I go through the hallway with quick steps.

As I expected, Sakura isn't in the living room.
Moreover, there's a person that looks like Fuji-Nee doing something like cooking.



She must've been mixing flour, as she puts a bowl she's been mixing onto the table.

"YeahI am surprised.
Um, everything's so different."
Actually, I don't remember how many years it's been since I last saw her doing something like cooking.



She went home. Someone from her house called her and she had to go home."

"…I see. So Shinji must've called here."
It's needless help, but I guess he wanted to take care of it as quickly as possible.


"Shinji-kun? Hm, oh well."
After tilting her head in question, Fuji-Nee goes back to the kitchen.

Music: Stop