Rewritten (8/25/17)

The morning sunlight filtered into the dull, empty room.

He opened his glazed over eyes and got up.

He went outside his room and found an empty apartment.

He bathed, brushed his teeth and dressed himself in his uniform.

He prepared breakfast, ate it, and then washed the dishes.

He grabbed the spare keys left to him by Maiya, went ou—!

"Shirou, why have you put on your uniform?"

The redhead stopped with one foot out of the apartment. He turned around, looking back in surprise at Maiya. The cold expression on the woman's face was the same as ever, as her eyes locked with his. Shirou squirmed under her gaze and gave her a confused stare.

"Um—I'm going to school…?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "It's Sunday, Shirou."

Golden brown eyes widened at the statement, and he suddenly found himself looking down in embarrassment, as a blush appeared on his cheeks.

"…oh... right."

Maiya turned away from him. "Today is your free day, go on and do whatever you wish. I have other business to attend to."

The young man sighed at the response and stepped back into the apartment. He scratched the back of his head, as he looked around the apartment. He saw the TV was playing the news, where the reporter was talking about the rise in homeless people scattered throughout Shibuya.

"Well, I guess this would be a good opportunity to explore the city."

4/10 Morning

Yesterday had been a rather monotonous school day. He woke up, performed the routine that he was starting to get used to, went to school, answered the questions asked of him and then went home. The only things different now was that Sakamoto now tended to glare at him for whatever reason and the rumors had evolved from 'him being a dangerous bully' to him 'sucking up to Kamoshida like Takamaki does'—and he didn't even know who this Takamaki person was.

But none of those bothered him as he was already used to the bad publicity and could handle it. Whether it came from a single individual who was labeled a 'thug' like him, or from the masses at school. Though, there was one thing that made him leave school sulking and incredibly disappointed—he hadn't been able to talk with Shiho yesterday.

He had seen her before he left school, but she was so far away and accompanied by a few schoolmates. They were obviously heading towards their volleyball practice and he didn't want to intrude. It still left him disappointed that he had missed his chance to talk with a friendly face in the hostile school.

But that was yesterday, and for now he wanted to focus on exploring Shibuya and learn what activities he could partake in during his free days.

And so, he walked among the sea of pedestrians, their faces barely registering in his mind. He got lost a couple of times, but found a few small stores nearby. In the Station Square, he found several oddballs, including a man preaching about a 'sun god', to reporters who were interviewing people in an overbearing manner. It was all so... odd.

At least there was an honest politician that had said some very wise and honest words.

He made his way into Central Street and was surrounded by a variety of shops, ranging from convenient stores, restaurants, a book store, DVDs rentals, an arcade and even an airsoft shop behind said arcade.

By lunchtime, he noticed that his long walk had left him tired and hungry. He rubbed his demanding stomach, looking at the Big Bang Burger restaurant and tilted his head.

'I'm not that much of a fan for these types of food, but I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to eat here…hmm, maybe I should go for takeout and eat on the train. I want to see if it's true that Akihabara has all that anime merchandise.' He thought as he rubbed his chin with curiosity. 'Maiya-san's apartment could definitely use some redecorating…or at least my room does. Its starting to wear on me, waking up every morning in that lifeless room…'

Shirou looked down and sighed. "Ugh… I really miss my old room… Illya was always getting in and gluing all kinds of posters on the walls…"

"Emiya-kun?"

The redhead's eyes widened in surprise at the familiar female voice and turned back to look behind him. His face lightened up at the sight of the dark haired girl.

"Suzui-san, I'm surprise to see you here." Shriou took a good look at her and noticed her attire. She was dressed in the school's red gym outfit. He also noticed that the bruise on her cheek was slowly fading away. He titled his head at the sight of her clothing. "…uh, why are you wearing your school outfit? I mean today is Sunday…"

Shiho smiled at his words and looked off to the side with a tired look. "It's for volleyball practice. We have practice on Sundays as well."

"Oh." Shirou blinked at her, scratched the back of his head and furrowed his brows in thought. "But even on a Sunday? Don't you have a day off?"

"Unfortunately, no…" She said in a tired tone. "Kamoshida-sensei takes his volleyball practices very seriously… if you can't meet his standards, then you are kicked out of the team at worst… or he punishes the entire team for the fault of any one member."

The redhead shook his head at her words and looked to the side with narrowed eyes. "That's way too much. No offence Suzui-san, but you're just a high school team. Even the archery practices back in Homurahara Academy weren't like that."

"Archery…?" She murmured in amazement and looked at him with a tilted head.

"Uh…yeah, I was once a member at my old school, but I left it after getting too busy with school work. I wanted to return, but…" Shirou trailed off as he gestured towards himself. He shook his head and gave Shiho a firm look. "But enough about me, I still think it's a little too much to make you guys practice every day of the week without a day to relax. That's abuse."

Shiho flinched at his words, the young man looked at her with worry when her expression settled into a pained one. Before he had the chance to try and ask her if she was all right, she shook her head and just gave him a forced smile.

"Don't worry about it… it's just like I told you. The practices are on the n-nationalist level. We can't complain…we're—w-we are very fortunate to have a teacher like Kamoshida with us…"

"…" Shirou just stared at her with an incredulous look. He didn't believe a word that had come out of her mouth—and that worried him. It made him feel as if he was missing something, but he didn't know what.

He didn't like it at all—especially when she looked at him with such a downtrodden expression.

Shiho had caught his look and shook her head. "Please it's… it's nothing, really! Anyways, I'll just get out of your way… I was just looking for some lunch and all I did was disturb your Sunday. I'll—!"

"Wait!" Shirou called out loudly when the girl took a step back and was ready to turn away from him. Shiho flinched and looked at him in surprise. "I'm sorry, but you're not a bother, I could never call you that—really, I was just curious, that's all. If you don't want me to talk about it, then I won't."

If it meant not letting the girl before him look at him with that pained expression of hers—

"Onii-chan… I'm sorry…!"

—Then he would keep his mouth shut… but if he could find a way to help her with whatever problem she was dealing with, he would do his best to do so.

And this time he would make sure that it didn't end like last time.

Shiho looked at him in surprise, then gave a small smile and shook her head. "I don't really want to be a bothe—"

"Hey back off old man!"

The sudden angry shout made the two teens looked towards their right, where they saw a couple and an elderly man in a dark green jacket in front of the bookstore. The old man backed off in surprise, while the young man with the woman firmly grasped his arms glared at the man.

"Ugh, honey! Like get away from him! He's like a homeless guy and smells disgusting! Like seriously!" The woman screamed dramatically with a shrill voice. The homeless man winced at the words and backed off even more. He gestured towards the Big Bang Burger bag on the younger man's hands.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm… I'm so very hungry. I only wanted to ask for som—!"

"Humph, as if I'd give you something I worked my ass for. Why don't you just scavenge a dumpster or something. Com'on babe, let's get out of here!" The young man said with a sneer and dragged his girlfriend with him.

"Like you better make it up to me honey! That was like, the worst experience ever!"

The homeless man sighed he looked around and saw that the pedestrian on the road all looked at him. They muttered among themselves, Shirou and Shiho heard every word.

"Homeless people, ugh… they're spread all throughout the city…"

"Seriously it's like they take to the streets as if it were their homes or something."

"People like them must have done something to disgrace themselves. I mean why else would they end up in the streets?"

"Every corner I take, I always see those guys on the floor, loitering around. I just wish they would disappear or something…"

Shirou's fist clenched at the words as the old man grabbed the tip of his cap and pulled it down to hide his face. Beside him, Shiho felt the man's embarrassment and frustration from where she stood as the crowd muttered amongst themselves. Her face gained a steel edge as she looked at the people around her with a glare.

The redhead gritted his teeth, looked back at the Big Band Burger restaurant, and stormed towards it. Shiho snapped out of her own anger at the sudden strong, and angry steps from the redhead.

"U-Uh? Emiya-kun…?" She called out in confusion as he walked into the fast-food restaurant. He barely paid any mind to her words as she followed him.

Inside the restaurant, the young man stood in line and waited for his turn to order the food. He tapped his foot impatiently and crossed his arm, Shiho entered the fast-food restaurant and walked towards him. She looked at him with surprise, Shirou looked at her and sighed apologetically.

"I'm sorry for running off like that Suzui-san, it's just that hearing people talk so callously about that man just… it just triggered something in me." The redhead shook his head. "Hearing things like that from adults sounds incredibly wrong. Back where I…where I used to live in, Fuyuki, I never really encounter things like that. People here are way too cruel. I just can't stand it. So, I'll buy something for that man to eat. It's the least any decent person would do, right?"

Shiho looked at him, surprised by his words, and the young man stared right back at her brown eyes. He gulped loudly as he took in her delicate features, a blush spread across his face and looked away in time to see that the line before him had emptied out. He went forward for the woman at the cash register, brought out his wallet and placed an order for himself and for the homeless man.

"Ah, wait." The Big Bang Burger employee stopped before she could go and take his order at the sudden call from Shirou, he scratched the back of his head and looked back at Shiho. "Do you want anything to eat? You said you were on your lunch break. I don't mind paying."

The teenage girl's look of surprise vanished as she heard his words, and morphed into a pleasant smile. "No don't worry, I'll buy my own food."

"Ah, but I really don't mind—!"

"And I said not to worry, Emiya-kun." She said with a little bit more force, though her smile was still pleasant. "I'll buy my own food."

Shirou frowned a little at the word, but let it slide. While he didn't mind paying for her food, he noticed that he didn't have a lot of money to spend when he checked his wallet.

A few minutes later, both teenagers came out with their bags of food and looked around the streets. Shirou perked up when he saw the homeless man in the alley beside the crepe store. The man looked gloomy with his head down in defeat. The redhead went to him with determined steps, two bags of food in his hands, and came to a stop once he was in front of him.

"Hey, sir?"

The man looked up in surprise at the call and stared at him with a wary expression. "Yes…?"

Shirou brought one of the bags of food forth and presented it to the older man. "Here's some food for you sir, I hope you like it."

"Uh…? W-What? Why?" The incredulous expression on the man's face made the young man feel sorry for him.

"Because helping someone in need isn't wrong."

The simple response made the man look at Shirou with wide eyes, then he stared at the bag of food in the young man's hand. A harsh laughed escaped from the homeless man, he grabbed the bag of food and his eyes glistened a little with tears.

"Ah, it's been such a long time since anyone has treated me with such kindness young man… I thank you." The man bowed towards Shirou, and looked at Shiho behind him and nodded as well in a show of gratitude. "Truly I had thought that this world had lost the ability to show kindness, but this is just another lesson to learn… much like the one I learned after having my artist career crushed and stomped on, until I could do nothing about it."

Shiho narrowed her eyes at him as she heard this. "Crushed…? Mister, what happened?"

"Ah…" The man smiled bitterly, shaking his head and looking up at the sky. "I was just a fool…a fool who thought that he could make a change. Ah… the only thing I managed to change was my own future as I stepped on the toes of an influential man…but it doesn't matter now. I won't bore you with my sob story. Once more, I thank you. Truly, thank you for this kindness. Now off you go, enjoy your meals. A piece of advice, try not to end up like me. You youngsters still have your entire lives ahead of you."

The man retreated further into the alleyway, as the two teenagers walked out of the alley. The two looked back and saw the man disappear behind the corner. Shirou looked at Shiho and gestured for her to follow him.

"Come on, let's get a seat."

.

.

.

.

"So…why come all the way to Shibuya to get lunch?" Shirou asked from his side of the bench as he swallowed a bunch of fries down. Shiho looked up at him with her lips around her straw, tilting her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean…you're pretty far away from school. You said you were on break, and coming all the way here only to go back towards the school seems like too much of a hassle. So why eat lunch here in Shibuya? I know there are a couple of places that serve good food on the way to Shujin."

The girl looked away and sighed. "I just needed to get away from the school, that's all."

"Even if it meant arriving late to your practices? Isn't that going to get Kamoshida-san in a bad mood?" He asked before he could stop himself. He winced as Shiho flinched at his words.

"I'll deal with it as I get to it…"

Shirou sighed and took another handful of fries. "I'll shut up now…"

"Uh…! No, please don't—!" Shiho looked guilty at his admission, but she was cut off by the easy smile on his face.

"Too late." He said as he shoved the fries into his mouth, his cheeks puffing up comically as he chewed. The dark haired girl stared at him with a raised eyebrow and chuckled at the expression he was making.

"Ah, geez! You look so much like Ann when you do that!"

"Hmm?" Shirou hummed at the comment, he swallowed his food and took a sip from his drink. "Uh…who's Ann?"

"My best friend, I've known her since middle school… she's the sweetest thing ever. I don't know if she got like that because it comes naturally to her, or if it's from all the sweets she eats. Haha, she's got a body to kill for, you know? But I've never even seen her go to the gym or do a single sit-up or squat from all the time I've known her. I've seriously wondered how she hasn't gotten fat or how her teeth are still so white with all the crepes and cakes she stuffs down her gullet." Her words sounded somewhat harsh, but the fond tone and the smile on her face spoke a different tune.

"She sounds like she lucked out in the genetics department if that's the case…" Shirou said with a small smile, Shiho let out a laugh at his words. He chuckled as her good humor was somewhat infectious.

However, the laughter died down and the smile vanished from Shiho's face, replaced by a frown. "She really doesn't deserve all the rumors people spread about her. It just isn't fair to her… and it legitimately makes me mad. She's gotten better over not letting what people say get to her, but I know it still affects her…"

The redhead frown at that. "Seriously…? This school is so immature, Homurahara wasn't like this."

The girl hummed. "I bet you've heard the name Takamaki, right? That's Ann's family name…"

"Oh! Yeah…people were saying that I was like her, sucking up to Kamoshida after helping out with his air conditioner… though, I've heard some pretty mean things too." Shirou shook his head and looked off to the side.

"They treat her badly just because she's different… she's a quarter American and they treat her like some exotic object. Girls are jealous of her and talk behind her back about how much of a slut she is. While the boys all talk about how easy she is…"

"Hrm…" Shirou grunted, he looked as the girl before him frown and glare at her food.

"But the worse rumor of all is the one that started spreading recently. People are now talking about how she and Kamoshida-sensei are a thing, and how she's trying to get better grades by going out with him… it's infuriating."

"…" He stayed silent, not really knowing what to do or say as Shiho vented her frustrations. He decided that it was best for him to remain silent. If he said anything, he knew that she would stop venting and keep all of her feelings bottled in.

He had dealt with this before. He knew what would happen if the dam was held too tightly without release—

"Onii-chan…"

—so, he would let her vent, even if she probably didn't realize what she was doing.

"Her tolerance is being beaten down. She won't say anything to me… she won't admit it—but she's getting frustrated and I can tell…" Shiho's frown vanished and she looked defeated and upset. "I can't do anything to help her… my practices have been getting in the way and keep me from seeing her. I can't tell if Kamoshida is doing it on purpose or not, but I can't be there for her… but I can't miss my volleyball practices either...Humph, I think I've talked to you more times that I have with Ann in the last week, and thinking that makes me really miss her. It's... it's just starting to wear on me too. I want to be there for her, but…!"

"Are the volleyball practices really that important?" Shirou broke his silence as he noticed her distress. She shook her head, then nodded and hunched over.

"They are… they… volleyball… volleyball is all I'm good for. So I can't miss practice… otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" Shirou pushed with a blank expression, though his hands were clenched tightly.

"… I'm worthless… I'm just good at volleyball…"

Something in those words ignited a small flame in Shirou. His mouth moved before his brain could even catch up and comprehend what was happening. His eyes were sharp and bright with determination as he conveyed his message with absolute honesty.

"You're not just good at volleyball!"

His words made her look up at him with a frown, her eyes narrowed as she gave him an unintentional glare. She leaned forward and looked him straight into his eyes. Her pent up frustration flowed out of her freely, now that the dam was broken.

"And what would you know?! You don't even know me!"

Her harsh words would have made anyone flinch, especially considering that they came from such a soft spoken and gentle looking girl. Shiho herself flinched when her words spilled out of her mouth with so much venom. The realization of her actions made her draw back. She wilted on herself as she winced.

Shirou remained stone faced though, he didn't react to her words other than to look at her and leaned forward. He knew he needed to act quickly as she was closing herself off.

"You're right."

Shiho recoiled at his words and began to grab her bags of food. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that…! I…I just got carried away, please forgive me…I won't bother you agai—!"

She stopped when he placed one of his big hands over her smaller, yet firm and calloused ones. Shiho blushed a little at the contact, both in surprise and at the intimacy of the action. She looked up at him while he continued to stare at her with the same fierce and determined expression.

"You're not just good at volleyball." He repeated once more, then backed off as he tried to find the correct words to use. "And you're not worthless at all… you're… you're a good friend…"

"…" Shiho stared at him in surprise. Shirou scratched the back of his head as his fierce and determined stance crumbled away into a light blush on his cheeks as his words poured out of his mouth.

"I mean, I know it sounds pretentious of me to be calling you a friend since we've only known each other for all of three days really…but I can't help but think of you like that. When I told you that day that you made me smile and that it meant a lot to me, I wasn't lying. I… well I hadn't smiled for weeks since the accident that landed me here. I think I even forgot how to smile while everything around me was crumbling… but then you came and made me do it without even trying. I know, I know, it sounds dumb and it sounds so corny when I say it like that… but…"

"O-Onii-chan…! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"It's a-all my f-fault! I-I…!"

"It's because of me that you can't go to school…isn't it?"

"…Sella-Onee-chan is always glaring at you because I made you do that…I'm sorry…"

"…mama should be punishing me…not you O-Onii-chan…"

"I shouldn't be calling you Onii-chan…should I… i-it's because of me that I ruined your life…!"

Shirou frowned at the memories and sighed. He looked at an expecting Shiho. His words had slightly soothed her negative feelings and now she was more curious than anything about where he was trying to go with his words.

'Even I don't know where the hell I'm going with this, but… I don't think there's any need to hold back. This girl…she's already poured out her own problems to me. Accidentally or not, it's only fair that I don't hide this from her…and maybe I can make a point with this.' He nodded to himself as it did in fact seem fair to tell her the full story of his situation.

Deep down, a part of him didn't want to admit it, but he just wanted to pour out his bottled-up frustrations.

So, he just let the dam he had built since the accident he caused break.

"You know… in the videos of me beating up those guys, there was a little girl there? A girl with white hair, wide red yes and…and crying?"

"Yes…?" Shiho answered uncertainly, Shirou nodded at her words.

"Well, that girl was—is my little sister."

"Little sister…? But she doesn't look anything like yo—!" She cut herself off and recoiled at how disrespectful her words were. The redhead smiled at her and waved her off.

"Yeah, her name is Illyasviel von Einzbern, Illya for short. She really doesn't like it when you call her by her full name. It always makes her think she's going to get scolded. And I'm adopted, I don't remember much from what happened to me before I got adopted. All I know is that my old home crumbled, some construction oversight or something. My original family died, while I survived."

"Oh my god…! Shirou I'm—!" Shiho looked horrified and she leaned forward to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. He just smiled at her, she probably didn't even notice how she had said his name so brazenly. Still, he held her hand in comfort for her sake, as her distraught expression made him uncomfortable.

"Don't worry about it, that was ten years ago. I don't remember anything from my original family, but I was saved by my adopted dad, Kiritsugu. Not long after the accident, I accepted being adopted by him and my mom, Irisviel. I was introduced to the two 'maids' of the family, Liz and Sella. Although, they are more like family, than just maids. Then I was introduced to Illya. Back then she was so small and so…vulnerable. She stared right at me with those eyes of hers and I just knew that I couldn't let her ever get hurt."

"Shirou…"

He smiled and continued. "I remember dad telling me when he and mom introduced me to my new sister, 'boys who make a girl cry will end in ruin', I understood immediately what he meant back then and I took those words to heart. I wanted nothing more than to make sure she never cried, or if she did cry, I would make sure that whatever caused her to cry would quickly disappear. That was what I had told myself. I would do anything for that little girl—as her older brother, it was my job to alleviate whatever grievances she could ever have. I was clumsy, I screwed up a lot through the years, but I never failed to make her smile…"

At this he looked down and tightened his fist, Shiho looked at him with sympathy.

"But I screwed up big time…what brought me here to this city… that had to be the biggest and stupidest mistake that I've ever made…"

"What happened? Was your little sister in danger? Was that why you got into that fight?" Shiho asked him gently and he nodded simply.

"She had arrived much earlier than usual to my school… always trying her best to get there in time so that we could leave together for home…but this time she was at her earliest. When I had gotten out of the building, I saw her by the entrance. She was waving at me and telling me to hurry up… but, a couple of my classmates who were near her began to bother and harass her…"

"…" The girl inhaled deeply and let the air escape her as she heard this.

"No one… no one seemed to be paying attention… and one of them grabbed her by her skirt, pulled her back…grabbed her by the arms, pulled on her hair and… grabbed her chest… I still remember her looking completely terrified at that. By the time it got to that point, I was running towards her. When she screamed my name I just... everything turned blurry and I don't remember much. It was like my body moved on its own while all I saw was blurred images. When I finally came to—!"

He stared down at his own bloodied hands and did not flinch.

He stared down at the three beaten down students, bleeding and bruising and did not flinch.

He stared down at the blue haired student he had once called a friend, the very same student whose jaw was dislodged and whose teeth were scattered on the floor and did not flinch.

He stared down at the horrified crowd of students and parents as they pointed fingers at him and as a mother of one of the downed student swore revenge on him…and he did not flinch.

He stared down at the horrified and guilt filled expression on Illya's expression. Her big, red round eyes brimming with tears. Her small body shook with nothing, but guilt for something she should've not blamed herself with and…

… he looked away…

"Emiya-kun? Are you all right?" Shiho's concerned voice returned him to reality. He looked towards with confusion. "You don't have to keep going if—!"

"No, no, its fine, just going back into memory lane." Shirou sighed as he leaned back. He stared at the cloudy afternoon sky. "Anyway, everyone saw what had happened, and caught the whole thing on video. Parents were horrified and I got into huge trouble since the fight was on the school grounds. I got awfully close to getting a criminal record since I was sued by one of the parents. Apparently, dad and mom pulled out some favors, to not let that happen and the case was dropped. But it didn't matter. A day after the fight, the footage was brought up on the news and I was used as an example of what students shouldn't be… it didn't matter if I didn't get a criminal record, I was already labeled as pariah."

"That's unfair, didn't anyone see that you were protecting your sister!?" Shiho's outrage made him look at her in surprise. He then shook his head and looked back up at the sky.

"No… it was weird how no one mentioned it, but most of the video was just of the fight and people actually began paying attention to what was happening by the time I threw the first punch. But…weirdly enough, I never cared much about that… I was more horrified by the fact that Illya blamed herself and that she wouldn't stop crying…".

"So, she blamed herself for that…? That's so wrong…it isn't fair to either of you!"

"It doesn't matter. Illya was crying because of me and I couldn't do anything to change it. No matter how hard I tried, she would always just pull back and keep on blaming herself whenever I tried to approach her… and when I tried to keep my distance at mom's advice and Sella's scolding, she just got worse since she thought I was blaming her… I …"

"Emiya-kun, it's not your fault you know that, right?" The dark hair girl comforted as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Shirou shrugged at her words and shook his head, his eyes started to regain some steel to them. "Whether it was my fault or not, it doesn't change the fact that I failed at what I had promised myself to do… but that wasn't why I told you all of this. I was trying to make a point…"

"A point?" The girl asked, she blinked a couple of times in confusion. "What point were you trying to make?"

"Uh… the point of what I was telling you is… uh…" Shirou sat up straight and then looked at her with an embarrassed blush on his face. "Oh… I guess I don't have much of a point."

Shiho looked at him with a bewildered look for a few moments. Shirou's face burned even redder as she stared him down and he ducked his head. Then, Shiho laughed loudly and wholeheartedly.

"R-Really? You weren't kidding when you said you were clumsy uh?"

"H-Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Shirou asked indignantly, his face turned a few shades redder at her words. "I was trying to come up with a point to help you, but you didn't need to throw it back at my face like that!"

"I actually thought that after all of that heavy and sad backstory you were going to come up with this inspirational speech or something!" Shiho said in good humor, with a smile on her face. "But you just fell completely flat on your face! It actually managed to kill the mood you built up!"

"Ugh…!" Shirou shifted away from her and crossed his arms, a grimace on his face as his ears burned. Shiho's laughter subsided and she looked at him with a genuine smile.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to mock you like that. It was just so… underwhelming after all of that."

"There's no need to keep rubbing it in my face, you know?"

The girl giggled a little at his embarrassment. She leaned back on her side of the bench and looked up at the sky. "I think that in the end what we wanted was just to express our frustrations with all of our problems. I bet you didn't have anyone to talk to right?"

"Yeah." Shirou nodded as he looked numbly at the sky. "It wasn't that no one payed me any mind or that they didn't want to listen to me… it was just tough trying to talk about something everyone knew of. So, I just kept quiet."

Shiho hummed at his words. "I kind of got carried away when we started talking, didn't I? But, I just never got the chance to talk with Ann about my own grievances. I don't want to bother her with my problems…and now that I think about it, neither does she. She always hides her problems behind a smile… something that she must have picked up from the old me, now that I think about it. The difference now... is that I hide my problems by worrying about the issues of others."

Shirou looked away from the sky and down at her, she did the same when she felt his stare. The young man narrowed his eyes and looked at her resolutely.

"I think I found my point."

"Oh? It took a little while, but there's no need, really." Shiho waved him off and looked away. "I'll try and—!"

"Suzui-san."

She stopped, surprise by the determine way he said her name. She stared at his eyes with slightly widened eyes. He leaned towards her, placed a hand on her shoulder and stared right back at her.

"I miss my family back home. I miss those embarrassing moments,and I miss being the butt of mom's jokes…but I especially miss Illya. You're not just good at volleyball and you're not worthless without it. I don't know what volleyball means to you, and I don't know where you got the idea that all you're good for is just some sport, but don't put the sport before your friend. Trust me, it's only been a few days but I already miss home."

Shiho looked at his earnest expression for a moment, then she stared at the floor. She sighed and shook her head.

"I know that I shouldn't be taking a sport over my friendship like that… especially since I'm certain that Kamoshida is purposely taking any free time I have so that I can't be with Ann… but my parents—!"

"What do you want to do?"

"—!" Her eyes went wide at the simple question and she squirmed a little. "I…"

"Because from what I understand, what you really want is to help Ann out with her problems. You want to help her not fall for the pressure of all those immature rumors… and for her to do the same for you, right?"

Shiho looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Hrm, are you naturally this good at reading people? Or did I let slip more than what I wanted to say earlier?"

The redhead gave her a small smile. "I have a little sister, I'm use to this kind of talk. I've picked up a trick or two."

The dark hair girl snorted at his words and laughed a little. "I don't know how to feel about that…being compared to a little girl. Well, with how I'm acting, it would fit me."

"Please don't ruin my point…" Shirou whined lightly as he sent a light glare to the smiling girl.

"Don't worry about it, I won't." She assured him and looked up. "I guess, I was just hesitant to do something… like I told you, volleyball practices are incredibly tough and…very rough. If you don't have your focus on things, then Kamoshida isn't afraid to cut you off. My problem is… well, my problem is that I'm good at the sport and he wants me to constantly give more and more of myself to practice. My parents are worried about how though practices are, but they aren't exactly telling me to pull back."

"Hrm…"

"…at the end of the day, I think the reason I push myself forward so much is because of Ann."

"Huh, why?"

"Because… because she knows how much I love the sport. Because she knows of that little dream I once told her when we were little. She's always there encouraging me to keep going. Whenever I feel down, she's always there to pick me up." She looked at Shirou and smiled sadly. "But, Emiya-kun, I'll take your words about not putting my sport before Ann to heart. I made the mistake of pushing Ann back and not noticing her problems before it was too late…but I will try and fix that. I know she will appreciate that."

The redhead smiled at her words and nodded. "Yeah…"

"I really need to introduce you two…" She muttered to herself and Shirou looked at her questionably, she noticed the look and smiled. "You and Ann, I know for a fact that you'll like her. She's like this hyperactive bundle of sugar that you can't help but love."

"Ha, I bet I will like her then." Shirou answered with a smile as memories of Illya filtered in... memories from before the accident.

Shiho nodded, happy at the admission. "Yeah, but that will have to come after I have my talk with her. I think we'll have a lot to catch up on and I want to make sure she's all right. It may take few days since volleyball practices will get in the way, of that I'm sure. But, I know it will be worth it."

"Of course."

Shiho nodded at him, before taking out her phone. Suddenly she jumped up startling the young man.

"Oh no! I'll arrive late to school if I keep sitting here! I need to go! Sorry Emiya-kun!" She said rapidly, taking her soda and bag of food, and ran towards the direction of the train station.

Shirou could only blinked in amazement at her and stood up. "Be careful Suzui-san!"

The girl waved back at him, then suddenly stopped. The young man looked at her in confusion as she took out her phone and ran back towards him.

"I totally forgot! Give me your contact info! I really would like to keep in touch with you! And also…" She looked down with a fond smile. "I'll need your number so that we can set up your introduction to Ann."

Shirou let out a small chuckle and nodded. "Yeah, of course."

Once the two had exchanged their contact info, Shiho was off once again.

"Take care Emiya-kun! Enjoy your Sunday!" She said as she ran off, disappearing into the crowd.

"Yeah… you too." Shirou said softly as he looked down at the new number on his phone. He smiled, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment as he went the opposite direction.

When he returned to the empty apartment, he prepared his dinner and sat down. He watched the news as he ate, something about some detective prince that apprehended criminals and of some prosecutor woman who was becoming famous. However, he paid no mind to that, as he stared at the number on his phone.

Then a new story appeared regarding a train derailment that lead to Akihabara and the number of people injured chilled him to the bone.

'I could've been there…!'

He looked at Shiho's number on his phone and sighed as the news of the derailment passed.

Even if it was unintentional, that girl saved him from that…

He smiled and went to bed once he finished everything. He felt content as he stared at the ceiling.

"I hope everything goes well with Takamaki-san, Suzui-san…"

He closed his eyes and dreamed.

"I've been a bad sister…" The small girl declared with tears streaming down her face, her expression broken and rack with guilt as she turned around and ran away before he had the chance to tell her how wrong she was…

… so, he chose to pursue her…

… pursue her until he found that she had disappeared into an abysmal darkness…

… he looked at the darkness with wide eyes and approached it…

… two bright yellow eyes snapped open from within the abyss and glared at him…

... he took a step back as a stoic and cold face glared down at him…

The face of Shirou Emiya sneered at him.

"You are a slave."