Part 53: Life guard & safe

Music: In the Sunlight



Fuji-Nee goes to work, waving goodbye.


"I'll get going too. I'll be home a bit later since I'm going by my house, but I'll be home before dinner. Don't do anything careless while I'm gone."
Tohsaka says goodbye with a look and leaves for school.

"Well."
The time is just past 7:30.
I was able to send them off without delay, so there's only one thing to do now.

"Well, let's continue from yesterday. Let's go to the dojo, Saber."


"Are we starting the training immediately? We just ate breakfast, so should we not rest for a while?"

"There's no need to worry. I've trained enough to be able to move right after eating, and we had toast this morning too. I don't live so unhealthily that bread sits heavy in my stomach."


"…Oh. If you say it is fine, I do not mind."
"Then there's no problem. Let's go. I'll show you the results of planning all last night on how to hit you at least once."

Music: Tender Scenery



"Hakuh…"
The hand holding my shinai is numb.
It was a counterattack received after charging into her with all my might trying to overpower her.
Naturally, I'll drop my shinai and fall on my butt.

"Damn. I thought that would work."


"Your judgments are too optimistic.
Please understand that you cannot defeat a Servant even if you put your life at risk in an attack. It is good to have determination, but please consider your opponent first."

"…Hm. You say so, but I'll be beaten eventually if I'm on the defensive. I have to go on the offense if there's a chance."


"That is true, but you do not understand how to make use of such a chance. If you are to attack risking your life, you should wait for an appropriate chance."

"You don't even need to tell me. You looked away for a bit earlier, right? Something like that only happens maybe once a day, so I thought it was a chance."


"It was good that you were able to make that judgment in an instant, but that was an opening I made intentionally.
I averted my gaze to see if you would be agitated by it, but I would never have thought you would come straight for me."

"Ugh. You're mean. It's no good making fun of a beginner."


"I am not making fun of you. Even if it is a plot of mine, as long as it is an opening, I bear some risk as well.
But then, the risk I took averting my gaze and the risk you took coming at me with your life do not even need to be scaled."

"…Hm. So the point is to softly attack the small openings? A large swing will miss the opportunity… no, I bet you want to say that I should act according to the size of the opening, right?"



I'm not even going to go there.


"But you are much clearer than yesterday on the line of death. Once you obtain the skill to sense danger, the decisions of whom to fight and what to do naturally become limited."

Saber comments happily.
If I'm not imagining things, she might be happy that her student has improved a bit.


"It is almost time to take a break. Should I go and get some water, Shirou?"
"Oh, that's fine. I brought a kettle, so I'll drink from that."

I pull my tired body over to the wall.
I wipe my sweat off with the towel I prepared and drink the water out of the kettle.

"Phew."
I exhale.
…For three hours since I saw Fuji-Nee and Tohsaka out, I've been fighting Saber.

As usual, Saber doesn't explain anything and I don't ask anything as we cross swords.
It's a match with pretty much no chance of my victory, but my body moves better the more I fight Saber.

I'm not hoping to improve my fighting techniques.
This is just letting my body, not my mind, get used to battle.
But it's still better than doing nothing, and since I don't have anything, I'll be of no use unless I train this one aspect.
When the time comes for me to face a Master, if I am thinking about how to fight, that'll surely prove fatal.

"…Saber's… not sweating, as I expected."
I feel down, but I won't be able to catch up to her in a day or two.
Saber is resting her body, sitting Japanese-style like yesterday.