Prompt: "Shirou gives Taiga a hug." — Eteru
The first thing that clued Shirou in that something was wrong was that Fuji-nee did not yell "I'M HOME!" at the top of her lungs when she arrived that evening. The second thing was that her smile was dimmed, like a flickering lightbulb ready to go out. The third was that she was picking at her food rather than eating it.
He was not a busybody who liked to interfere in other people's business, but Shirou did not stand aside idly while one of the most important people in his life was not feeling well.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She looked up at him with tired eyes. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"Fuji-nee, you told me not to lie to you every time I came back from a fight. Please don't do the same."
Finally, her smile grew a little larger than it had stayed the whole night. "You were such a punk kid."
"I had a bad role model." The comment was meant to incite her to try to smack him over the head with torashinai. But instead she sighed and slumped a little further.
"Yeah... yeah, I guess you did."
Shirou frowned and went to take the dishes to the sink. She made no effort to stop him. Once he had rinsed everything and filled them with water to fully wash later, he came back and sat by her side.
"Fuji-nee, please talk to me."
"Really, Shirou, it's nothing."
"You didn't eat anything. Can I make you some soup?"
"No, I'm fine."
He was stumped. Shirou was not a physical-contact type person, but this had been nice for him when he was a kid, so he thought he'd pay back the favor. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
"I don't know what's going on, and you don't have to tell me. But I'm here."
She was silent for a few moments, then laughed quietly and hugged him back.
"Yeah. I guess you are."
Her hug grew tighter momentarily before she let go.
"Thank you, Shirou," she said quietly. "Thank you. For... everything."
He smiled at her, even though he didn't know why. "Any time."