"Emiya. What the hell was that?" Chifuyu-nee asked me. That's certainly one way to start a conversation.
"It was only my first match… did I do something wrong? I'm pretty sure I followed all the rules correctly." I wasn't sure which part of the battle I just had with Cecilia that she was objecting to, and her usual sharp glare revealed nothing, which left me at a complete loss. Was forcing opponents to surrender seen as dishonorable or something?
"Don't play dumb. Where did you learn to fight? Nobody has used a style like that in the entire history of the IS Academy. You certainly didn't learn that from Taiga. So where did you?" She kept her eyes locked onto mine during her whole speech, studying every minute detail of my face. Oh boy, this wasn't looking good. Chifuyu-nee would be able to see through any lie I tried to come up with and there was no way I could tell her the truth.
"Shirou!" I saw Houki running up to me, looking even grumpier than usual. Good job Houki, distract this conversation while I try to think up an acceptable excuse. "Where did you learn to fight like that, Shirou? That wasn't kendo at all!" the normally stoic girl accused me, joining Chifuyu-nee's side instead of mine. Not good. With Houki joining my adversary the slim chance of victory I had just envisioned was quickly replaced with overwhelming defeat. The two females were intensely staring at me, waiting for an answer. I gave the only answer I could.
"I can't tell you."
Houki looked taken aback by my abrupt response, but Chifuyu-nee just nodded slowly. "Emiya. There are some things I should tell you about your IS." I was rather surprised that the warrior woman had just given up, but then I realized she was more likely just switching tactics after my absolute refusal. "When you asked for a machine that had 'the fastest possible weapon materialization and dematerialization,' the engineers took that as a challenge. Most IS have a delay of about a second before the weapon is brought into real space so that the pilot doesn't call weapons by accident, but for you that doesn't apply. The time lag between you thinking about a weapon and it materializing is close enough to zero that we can't tell the difference."
I nodded as she explained. I had noticed the lack of delay as soon as I had called for Rho Aias the first time and used that information during the rest of the match. Still, it looked like she was going to continue her explanation, so I hoped she would tell me some new information as well.
"Which means that you never once thought about a weapon you didn't intend to immediately use. You called dozens of different weapons you'd never seen before at the same time. You were able to stop thinking about a weapon and dematerialize it the second it wasn't of use to you. Despite knowing exactly which weapon you would use at the end of the match you never once summoned it by accident."
My mind went blank. Just how sharp was this woman? How had she made all those conclusions with so little information? Not only that, but after watching the match just once? I felt myself begin to sweat. Still, there was no way she could make the connection between my displayed abilities and my magecraft. She could tell I was abnormal, yes, but nothing beyond that. I forced myself to relax, realizing I had tensed up considerably during her deconstruction of my mental capabilities. I tried to reply but found my throat too dry to even utter a word. As I swallowed, she concluded her lengthy speech. "That's not something an amateur who's never used an IS can do."
Silence. Chifuyu-nee was once again fixing her entire attention on me while Houki looked back and forth between us, not quite sure what was going on but not liking it at all. What could I say? Nothing I could think of would get me out of this situation. I realized I had unconsciously taken a step back, preparing myself to bolt out the door and just run the hell away before I could do anything even worse. That really was my best option. Anything I said to her was likely to reveal ten times the information I wanted it to, so just physically ending this conversation and coming up with a defense later was my only choice.
Before I could actually enact my plan to strategically run away, Chifuyu-nee sighed and started rubbing her forehead in an exasperated manner. "I'm not going to eat you, idiot. Stop acting like a rabbit." Her posture switched from threatening to casual in an instant. I looked at her in shock before I realized what a mess I probably looked right now, which must have caused her to ease up on her pressuring. I blew out a breath in relief and tried not to tremble too much as I smiled weakly at her. She sighed again and apparently decided to drop the conversation. "Get some rest," she commanded. As she turned to walk away, almost as an afterthought, she glanced once more in my direction. "Don't worry about the swords. They'll all be replaced."
I only allowed myself to relax when she had completely left the hanger. Even then I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation I just had and how dangerous it was. I resolved to never let my guard down in front of her again. Still, at least the conversation was over for now.
"Shirou." Damn. I forgot about Houki. "Shirou… are you okay? Do you need to go to the infirmary?" she asked, clearly distressed.
"No. I'm fine, Houki. I'm just going to walk around for a bit and relax." I tried to comfort her but my mind was just swirling too much right now. I needed to be alone, needed to think. I set out on a random path to the spacious grounds of the school where I could wander and think for a while.
I let my feet take me in random directions through the Academy grounds as I replayed that conversation in my mind. Chifuyu-nee was an experienced fighter, but the way she instantly took apart my entire fighting style was beyond anything I had expected of these IS pilots. Was I looking down on them so much just because nobody died in their matches? Calling this brutal competition a sport seemed like a bad joke now. These women, at least the professional ones, were warriors. Of course they would recognize when someone who should be a complete amateur did things he shouldn't have been able to.
It's not like they could just pull up footage of the Grail War and say 'oh, that's how he learned to fight.' There are no records of me fighting anywhere since I never did competitions in either kendo or archery, and Fuji-nee, who was my adviser for both activities, would know nothing about this. The end result is that I have no excuse. I have skills that I shouldn't have ever learned. In hindsight this was such a glaring, obvious thing that I wanted to kick myself for not realizing it earlier. I had been treating this whole excursion as an annoyance instead of a serious problem and that had just come back to bite me in the ass.
Enough grousing. I needed to come up with a solution, not focus more on the problem. What would Tohsaka do in this situation? Oh. Duh.
I took out my cell phone and dialed her number. If I'm too much of an idiot to figure out the solution myself then I'll just call for help. I counted the number of rings and sagged when it went to the answering machine. It looked like she wasn't home. Oh, right, it's still actually the middle of a school day so she'll be at school. I left her a quick message with details as vague as I could, just in case the IS I was wearing was listening in to all my conversations. Having just witnessed the results of my carelessness I wasn't eager to repeat the experience.
With that done I headed back to class. Just knowing that Tohsaka would be able to call me back and help me out took a load of my chest, since I had always valued the more experienced mage's advice. Hiding your magical abilities is the first thing a proper magus would learn so I knew she'd have a solution for me, or at least something I could work with. Plus, with a little time to cool my head I realized I wasn't in as bad a position as I initially thought. The school wouldn't be able to find out anything about the Grail War and they couldn't find out about my magic unless I actually used some. Even though I had messed up it wasn't a fatal mistake. I'd just have to be more careful in the future.
A lot more time had passed in my inner monologue than I had thought but I could still catch the tail end of class if I hurried back. If anyone asked about my absence I'd just respond that I was stressed out after my first match and needed a breath of fresh air. It was true, of course, just not for the reason they'd be thinking.
*break
The next day at breakfast I was quickly surrounded by all the girls in my class and dragged over to a large booth they had apparently set up. At first I was confused, but then I saw the large sign hanging over the table reading 'Congratulations on your first victory, Class Rep!' This was obviously a celebration. Did they do this after every successful match? And besides, the loser of the match is here too, isn't this in bad taste?
"Congratulations on becoming the class representative, Shirou-san." Rather than being offended Cecilia looked happier than just about anyone else. Wait, when did she start calling me by my first name? Is she less formal now because we fought each other? "Uh.. thanks?" I managed. The beaming faces of twenty-odd girls were starting the make me nervous. "Well, don't you look happy?" Houki comments. She seems to be the only one here who doesn't feel like celebrating. Was it because of what she heard yesterday?
"Hi hi, this is the newspaper club! Can we get a shot of you, Mr. 'I don't like hitting girls?' Preferably with Alcott-san as well," a girl I had never seen before suddenly demands. That was strange. How did she know what I said during the match? "Your face is asking how I know about what you said!" the girl exclaimed, causing me to rock back in surprise. "Your IS has speakers built into it, you know? Anything you say can be heard by your opponent and the spectators. That was quite a passionate speech you made, and the school is going crazy! Some girls think it's romantic, others think it's chauvinistic! Would you like to comment?"
Whoa whoa, this girl was talking so fast I barely had time to register what she was saying. Before I could even form a response Cecilia butted in, positioning herself between the excited reporter and myself. "Shirou-san is just a gentleman! Sure, his ideas might be laughably outdated and completely unnecessary but his heart is in the right place! Why, I'm positive that he wouldn't hesitate to fight seriously if his opponent asked! He only wouldn't hit me because... well... you know..." she started fidgeting. After the passionate start to her speech it looked like she became embarrassed by her own outburst, darting a quick glance at me before letting her eyes drift to the floor.
"Is that true, Emiya-san? Would you fight seriously if your opponent asked for it?" the reporter asked, seizing on Cecilia's comment. This question was a trap. Even I could tell that. To an Academy full of strong girls who considered themselves warriors my attitude was most likely offensive. I knew this because that's exactly what Saber had thought, and she had no reservations about telling me so.
Still, these were my ideals. "The thought of hitting a girl makes me sick to my stomach," I reply, causing some of the girls around me to gasp. Still, I hadn't spared with Saber and Fuji-nee for nothing. "But that is not my decision to make. If a woman wants to consider herself a warrior then I will deal with her like a warrior. I will not look down on IS pilots."
That last part was true. I still had absolutely no desire to hurt any of these girls, but I could no longer dismiss them either. Chifuyu-nee had shown me that yesterday. Surprisingly all the girls around me nodded their heads in approval as the reporter hastily scribbled down my comments on some high-tech looking thing. I never could tell what girls wanted to hear. At least this interview seemed to be over, the girls of my class casually shooting 'we're trying to have a party here' looks at the still unnamed reporter. Taking the hint she asked for a picture before she left, the whole group of girls cramming as close to me as they could before she finally took the damn thing.
"Ahem. Now then, Shirou-san. Perhaps you could tell us what fighting style you use? I've never seen an IS use a bow, let alone a wooden spear or steel shield." Cecilia, why do you always say things that get me in deeper trouble? Houki bit her lip and stared at the table, letting me know exactly what she thought of this conversation. I was much calmer than I was last time, though. Although it wasn't perfect I had worked out a solution with Tohsaka's help for this very dilemma. Having a chance to use this excuse before my inevitable follow-up conversation with Chifuyu-nee might actually be a good thing. I took in a deep breath and attempted to look as calm and casual as I could.
"I learned it from a television game," I said with a nonchalant smile.
Tohsaka had assured me that young people these days played violent television games, so picking up an odd fighting style from one of them wouldn't be unusual at all. In addition there were so many games on the market that they wouldn't be able to track them all down and disprove me. It wasn't perfect, but it was something nobody would be able to dispute, which was the main thing.
"Um... Emiya-kun. Did you mean a video game?" a tentative voice asked from the crowd. Uh-oh. I was pretty sure Tohsaka had called them television games, but I was getting strange looks from all the girls. Was there a difference between a television game and a video game? Steady, Shirou.
"It could have been a video game, come to think of it. I played both when I was a kid, so I might have gotten them confused." Good job, play it safe and pretend like you're uninterested instead of uneducated.
"...Shirou. If you don't want to say, that's fine. Don't lie to me," Houki said. She was glaring at me, clearly angry. She wasn't the only one, either. Nearly every girl there had an expression of mild annoyance or confusion, letting me know quite clearly how badly my excuse had gone over. Cecilia and Houki seemed especially angry, probably because Houki had seen me dodge the same question earlier and Cecilia because I had just attempted to lie about the skills she had faced directly.
I thanked every god that might possibly exist that I hadn't tried to use this excuse on Chifuyu-nee first.
"Sorry everyone. I don't want to talk about it right now." My apology seemed to mollify the crowd somewhat but I had no doubts at least some of them would continue prying later. My life was apparently interesting enough to warrant a newspaper article, after all.
The mood of the party quickly bounced back with twenty energetic young girls asking me questions about my life, eating the well-prepared cafeteria food and just generally chatting with each other. After the small party ended classes continued like normal, and despite my fears Chifuyu-nee didn't treat me any differently than she had before. I even managed to concentrate on my studies despite the worried voice in the back of my head urging me to get a hold of Tohsaka and figure out a better excuse as soon as possible.
Finally the last class of the day rolled around. This was a practical lesson, held in one of the many arena-like spaces in the Academy's grounds, and as a personal IS holder I was roped into giving demonstrations with Cecilia. Chifuyu-nee barked orders at us to perform various aerial maneuvers, showing our less experienced classmates what they would be doing once they were deemed eligible to actually pilot an IS themselves. I was quite a bit slower and less sure of my movements than Cecilia was, though that was pretty natural. She had been a pilot far longer than I had, and this was only the second time I had used Senken as well.
"Emiya. Why don't you show everyone what your first shift looks like?" Chifuyu-nee suggested. Well, the term 'suggested' implies I had any way of refusing her, so that might be misleading. It was more like she demanded it of me while somehow still putting a question mark at the end of her sentence. Not like I had any real reason to refuse. I was curious myself to see what shape my IS would take, so I brought up the command and activated my first shift.
The first thing I noticed was that nothing had changed. My suit was still the dull gray it had arrived in, with no changes to the overall design or structure itself. I was about to check if the suit was even in first shift when a new message popped up, informing me of something called 'unlimited replacement.' Curious, I started scrolling through the text, reading with increased amazement just what my machine was now capable of. After my first match had destroyed a significant portion of my armaments it seemed someone was determined that I never run out of swords again. Each and every weapon I had previously asked to have included in my list now had a number next to it, signifying how many copies of that weapon were ready to be accessed.
In other words my IS would independently swap out damaged weapons for their whole counterparts without any input from me. I was startled for a second when I actually saw one of those numbers increase as I was scrolling through the list. Someone really wanted to make sure I'd never run out of swords.
"Shirou-san. Aren't you going to activate your first shift?" Cecilia asked, hovering off to my right. "I did. The appearance didn't change but I got a new ability. My specs seem to have improved a bit as well, mostly in stability and balance," I respond. Most of my classmates look disappointed with the lack of impressive visuals that the other IS seemed to possess, but I was happy with the design. It was practical, functional, and the dull color wouldn't stand out against the stadium background. Exactly what I was looking for in my machine.
"Let's continue with the lesson," was all Chifuyu-nee had to say about it. That suited me just fine. I don't really like being a spectacle, though it seems I couldn't escape that fate as much as I'd like. The rest of the paces Chifuyu-nee put us through weren't very difficult and the class soon came to an end. That was something I was grateful for, since I left my phone in my dorm room and wanted to call Tohsaka as soon as I could. Her last piece of advice was pretty terrible but I was hoping she'd have something better for me this time, since I still had nothing myself.
*break
"Shirou. Would you... like me to make some dinner for you?" Houki asked. I looked around our spacious dorm, wondering what she was talking about. We had a kitchen, sure, but it only came equipped with a refrigerator and a microwave. There wasn't much she could make me with that, right?
She must have sensed my hesitation, as she looked down and started to blush a little. Oh, I get it now. She's worried that I won't like her food, right? As a cook myself I understood just how good it felt to have someone enjoy your cooking, so I wasn't about to take that away from her. "Sure, I'd love something. But how do you expect to cook without a stove or oven?" I ask. Houki was a lot more technically proficient than I was, so maybe she had some way of using a microwave that I was unfamiliar with.
"What do you mean, Shirou? We have those."
I blinked in confusion. "In our kitchen? I looked for those the day I moved in. We only have a microwave."
She shook her head slowly. "It's a fold-out kitchen, Shirou. Weren't you told that during your initiation?"
As a matter of fact, yes. I had no idea what a 'fold-out kitchen' was so I assumed it was code for 'a kitchen that doesn't have the essentials.' My face must have betrayed my current thoughts as Houki gave me yet another of her now common 'why don't you know this, Shirou' looks. It's not my fault. I'm just not good with all this modern stuff.
The younger girl led me into the kitchen and proceeded to take off one of the counter tops. Fascinated, I watched her rearrange a dozen or so pieces of the kitchen until a stove, oven, rice cooker, cutting board, and various utensils were revealed in the small confines of the kitchen. I couldn't believe it. There was a real kitchen hidden here the entire time! I couldn't even contain my enthusiasm, grabbing Houki's hands and looking into her eyes. "Houki. Thank you so much for showing me this."
She immediately turned red, trying to say something but only producing a babble. I continued staring into her eyes and her blush deepened. She really does get embarrassed when people thank her.
I remembered that she had offered to cook for me and felt a twinge of disappointment. While I desperately wanted to start using the kitchen right away I had neither the ingredients nor the familiarity I'd need to properly go about it, so I relinquished the room to Houki. I resolved to stay and watch her so I could see how these high-tech versions of ordinary appliances worked before trying them myself.
….
Houki is a bit clumsier than I thought. She's given herself a few minor cuts and burns making a fairly simple Japanese dinner, though she seemed to know all the steps already. I had to stop her a couple of times as she mixed up condiments and almost added the wrong ingredients as well. That must have embarrassed her a bit, poor girl, since she was almost beet red the entire time. "Sh-Shirou! Do you have to watch me so closely?" she finally demanded over her shoulder.
"Well... it's not that I have to, but I really want to. I'll stop if you want me to." That was only fair. I was used to Fuji-nee and Sakura watching as I cooked but Houki was a pretty shy girl to begin with, so this might be a little too much for her.
If anything Houki turned even redder at that comment, but she stammered out "It-it's f-fine. You can watch if you want," and turned back to the stove.
As I saw her preparations nearing completion I set the table for the two of us. The food itself was well made despite the difficulty Houki seemed to have in preparing it, reaffirming my earlier guess that she was just nervous being watched. "This is delicious," I said. It was always proper to praise people when they offer you their food. Houki blushed a deep crimson, causing me to smile. This girl really had a weakness to being complimented.
"If-if you like it I can do this more."
"Oh, that's a great idea! We can take turns cooking meals for each other. I've got just the thing for tomorrow's dinner."
Houki seemed surprised by my sudden announcement. "You're going to cook, Shirou?" It wasn't that strange of an idea, right?
"I've been living more or less on my own since my foster father died, so I naturally learned how to cook. I really enjoy it now. There's nothing more satisfying than having people enjoy something you made for them."
I expected Houki to agree with me, but her face paled and she looked decidedly uncomfortable. She looked about to say something, paused, and finally shook her head. "If that's what you want to do," she finally answered. I was a little worried by that odd reaction, but my head was already buzzing with excitement. Without any way to really relax I had been building up tension ever since I came to this academy, but now I could finally blow off some steam and make some good food as a bonus! Things were finally starting to look up.
*chapter end