"Thank you for saving us, Shirou-san." Maria, who was sitting at the dining table, thanked Shirou, who was currently busy making drinks for the two of them in the kitchen.
"You don't need to thank me. I'm only doing what I think is right, anyway." Shirou replied to Maria's words while pouring hot water into the two teacups in front of him.
The night was getting late at Shirou's residence. After he returned to his house together with Maria and Mio after he helped them from the wild demon attack that occurred in the abandoned old factory building earlier, he and Maria took Mio who was injured and unconscious to one of the available empty rooms.
There he and Maria together cleaned and treated the wound on Mio's shoulder. And after they finished treating Mio and letting her rest, they moved to the dining room so that the two of them could chat privately.
"Here...drink this. This will help you regain some of your stamina back." Shirou said as he handed Maria a cup of hot tea.
"Oh! Thanks. I'll drink it." Maria then took the cup of tea that Shirou had given her and took a little sip of the tea to make sure its not too hot.
When Shirou saw the silver-haired girl recoiled after taking a sip of her tea, Shirou starting to get slightly worried that he might've make the tea a little too hot for her, or maybe the tea that he made doesn't exactly matched with her taste.
"What's wrong? Is it too hot? Or does the tea is not to your liking?" Shirou asked Maria with a slightly worried expression.
"No, that's not it." The silverette quickly denied. "I'm just slightly surprised at how good this tea is. I've never taste something like this before."
"You're exaggerating." Shirou snorted humorously. "It's just a simple lemon tea." Shirou said while taking a sip of his own tea. He wasn't lying when he said that what he made was a simple lemon tea, he simply change the sugar with honey, that's all.
"Oh, I see." Maria muttered while taking another sip of her lemon-honey tea.
Putting her teacup onto the table with a sigh, Maria decided that now it's time for the two of them to get straight to the point of their conversation.
"Anyway, you said that you have some questions that you wanted to ask, isn't that right Shirou-san?" Maria asked with her eyes closed briefly before turning her attention to the white-haired young man who confirmed her question by nodding his head in respond.
"That's right. I know that you're probably tired from the previous fight, but don't worry, I won't take too much of your time. There's just a few things that I need to know, and after that you are free to rest." After reassuring the little silver-haired girl that he wouldn't keep her here long, Shirou asked his first question.
"So, first thing first, can you tell me just who the hell are you guys?"
"Oh...well, we are devils an-"
"I already know that you and your young charge are devils." Shirou claimed after he interrupted Maria who tried to answer his question.
"What I want to know is what kind of devils you two are, because from the magical energy that I sensed from the two of you and those demons that we just fought, you guys felt different from one another. Why is that?" Shirou said while clarifying the meaning of the question earlier.
"Oh, that's an easy question for Shirou-san to answer. Just as humankind was born from various races, we devil kinds are also like that." Maria explained. "For example like me, I'm a devil, but I was born from the Succubus race."
Shirou almost choked on his tea in surprise when he heard Maria claimed that she's a succubus. "W-what ?! Succubus? You mean a devil who likes to do perverted things?"
Hearing Shirou's surprised exclamation, Maria nodded and smiles benevolently.
"That's right!" Maria chirped cheerfully. "So, if you're looking forward to be pleasured by a Succubus. Don't hesitate to ask me, okay. It's the least that I can do to repay you for saving us." Maria finished her sentences with a wink.
"If you're trying to seduced me, you're doing a terrible job as a Succubus right now, you know that." Shirou gave Maria his most honest opinion of her as he gave her a blank stare.
Meanwhile, Maria looks utterly shocked to see Shirou didn't fall for her seduction technique. "Eeeh?! No way!" Maria exclaimed in shock while crying crocodile tears.
Shirou can only chuckle lightly seeing Maria's pride as a Succubus got wounded by his previous remarks. Who knows trolling a Succubus would be this funny.
"Anyway..." Shirou cleared his throat. "If you're a Succubus, then what about Mio? Her magical energy doesn't feel entirely demonic. Unlike yours and those demons we just fought earlier. Mio's magical energy felt mixed. Why is that?"
"Well...Mio-sama has a rather complicated status as a devil." Maria begin her explaination while internally pondering the best way to explain her charge's complex situation.
"You see Shirou-san...Mio-sama is not a pure-blooded devil. She's a half-blood." Maria said, hoping that Shirou would immediately understand what she's trying to convey.
Shirou rose an eyebrow, "A half-blood? So, basically you're saying that she's a half-devil?" Shirou asked and Maria simply nodded in return.
'I see, well that's explain why her magical energy doesn't felt purely tainted.' Shirou thought with a nod.
"Okay, now that I understand what you girls are. Can you tell me why those demons are attacking the two of you?" Shirou asked as he gave the child-like Succubus a serious look. "And don't bother telling me that it was just a random demon attack. Those demons might have not that smart, but they're definitely not a simpleton. I know for a fact that those demons were hired hands and they were ordered to capture the both of you. The question is 'why'?"
"H-how do you know that?!" Maria asked with a shocked face. She can't believe that the young man in front of her knows that the demons that have attacked both her and her charge were ordered to capture the two of them.
How did he found out about it?
"I have the ability to see the past by analysing certain objects, that's all you need to know." Shirou stated with finality in his tone. Though, the reason why he's able to found out that the demons that have attacked both Mio and Maria earlier were mercenaries, was by analysing the weapons that those demons brought with them.
Maria sighed, to be honest she didn't want to tell Shirou about the situation they're in because she doesn't want him to get involve further into their problem. However, since he have been so kind to them by saving their lives and provide them with a temporary sanctuary, perhaps he did have the right to know a bit about the situation they're facing.
"If I'm supposed to explain everything in details, it would take us a whole night. So, I'll make it simple." Maria took a sip of her tea and prepare herself to explain the situation that both her and her young charge are currently facing.
Shirou listen intently to Maria who begin her explaination starting from Mio's birth, the family where she came from, her growing up in the human world without knowing about the demonic power that she's born with, and until to the point where Mio's parents were murdered right in front of her by a powerful devil who calls himself Zolgear Asmodeus, and he wants to confiscate Mio's hidden power that enables her to control the force of gravity. But, luckily Maria managed to arrive in time to take Mio away with her before that devil could take her away.
"And since then...we both lived on the run and often moved places to survive and escape Zolgear's chase." Maria finished her story with a sigh, feeling glad that it was finally over. Although, she intended to make the story short and simple, she ended telling him almost the whole thing. Either because she was too tired to summarize her story or maybe because she trust him that much. She didn't know, she was too tired to care anyway.
Meanwhile, after listening to Mio's tragic story from Maria, Shirou really felt sorry for the misfortune that befell the red-haired girl who is currently recovering from her wounds.
Shirou sympathized with Maria and Mio, but he wasn't sure what to do in response to this.
Should he help them or let the two of them solve their problems on their own?
A part of him tells himself to help Mio and Maria. However, another part of him said that he shouldn't interfere with their business.
He knew that the right decision for him to make was to allow Mio and Maria to sort things out on their own. It was the right decision because ever since he was stranded in this world, he absolutely had the intention of getting involved in all kinds of problems in this world, because if he was involved then the only thing he would get was unwanted attention. And that will only hamper his efforts to find a way so that he can reunite with his little sister again
However, he really didn't have the heart to let the two girls who were currently taking shelter in his residence to face problems that they might not be able to solve on their own. So far, they have been able to escape from Zolgear's pursuit by luck, but they can't always depend on luck alone.
He didn't want to say this, but he could see with certainty that these two girls were still not strong enough to fight Zolgear alone. They would need help if they had to confront Zolgear in the near future.
"I feel sorry for what has happened to you all. So, what are your plans next?" Shirou asked wondering what they're going to do once they recovered from their sleep deprive and injuries.
"I don't know. Move to somewhere else and try to lay low I guess." Maria said with uncertainty. She simply stares blankly into the place while circling her finger on her tea cup.
"So, she doesn't really have any plans for the future yet, huh?" Shirou thought before sighing. "I see."
Shirou then looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already ten o'clock in the evening. He did not expect that time would pass this fast.
"It's already late. You better go to bed soon, you need to rest too, you know. You can think of your next plan with a fresh mind after resting." Shirou said to Maria who then nodded her head.
"Yes ... I guess you're right." Said Maria as she got up from her seat. "Good evening, Shirou-san. And thank you for the tea."
"Yeah Goodnight." Shirou replied to Maria's greeting with a smile while watching the little Succubus leave the dining room to sleep in the same room as Mio.
After Maria left, Shirou lean his back on his chair. He stares towards the ceiling while pondering whether he should help Mio and Maria with their problem or just leave them be.
"What should I do with those two?" Shirou said with a sigh.
That night, Shirou found himself wondering what to do with Mio and Maria's situation.
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As a member of the Hero Tribe, Yuki was trained to deal with all kinds of situations that most ordinary people couldn't face. However, even so there were some situations that could bothered her.
Among those situations were when she had to see the corpses of the dead in large numbers. And that was the situation Yuki Nonaka was in at the moment.
"What's going on here?" Yuki said with confusion and horror.
Currently, Yuki is in an office building in the downtown district of Kuoh. All around her she can see blood and human body parts scattered on the floor.
It was a bizarre sights to see.
Who would've done something like this?
Yuki walks deeper into the building to investigate the malicious aura that she's currently sensing. As she goes deeper into the office the malicious aura become stronger and stronger.
Yuki finally arrived at a very dark room with moonlight being the only source of lighting in the room. He could smell something fishy and putrid when he entered the room.
And when she had only taken a few steps into the dark room, Yuki was startled by a severed head of a man that suddenly rolled right under her feet.
"Looks like I got myself another prey, khakhakha!" said a voice from the darkness ending with a strange laugh. From within the darkness came out a large creature with the body of a human and with the head of a bull and carrying a double-sided axe on its back.
"You ... you did all this?" Yuki asked while holding back his emotions.
"So what if I did? I was hungry and I have to eat. These humans are nothing but a pretty tasty snack for me." The bull-headed monster replied casually. And this only makes her rage towards the stray-devil increasing.
"So you want to be eaten slowly or what, hm?" asked the stray-devil with disdain.
"You want to eat me? Try it if you can!" Yuki challenged with a defiant tone while taking out her magic sword called Sakuya from her pocket dimension.
"Oh, the little girl wants to play huh. Okay, I'll play along!" replied the stray-devil in a mocking tone. The monster then took the axe on its back, held it with both hands and ran towards Yuki, when it arrived in front of her the bull-headed monster slashed his axe vertically.
"GOT YOU!" shouted the monster. Unfortunately the monster's slash could easily be avoided by Yuki by moving sideways so that the monster's axe stuck in the office floor.
"You sure are slow for a big demon." Yuki said in a mocking tone to provoke the bull-headed monster.
The bull-headed monster growled angrily at Yuki's words which sounded like he was belittling him. "Ggrrrr ..., YOU! DEAD YOU HUMAN!" The half-human, half-bull monster released its grip from its ax and tried to hit Yuki with its right fist. Unfortunately again Yuki was able to avoid it easily by lowering her head and preparing her counterattack.
"Now it's my turn." Yuki muttered, suddenly Yuki's Katana sword was covered with yellowish green magic energy.
"Take this!" Yuki said as she swung her sword at the bull-headed monster's right arm.
"Arrrrggh ... Damn you Human!" The monster groaned in pain as its right arm was severed from its body by the attack Yuki had just executed.
The bull-headed stray devil then forcefully pull the axe out of the office floor with his remaining hand and deliver a horizontal slash powered with demonic energy at the young Hero.
Yuki try to block the attack by rising her sword in front of her, but the force from the devil's powerful swing proved to be a little bit too much for her to handle and she pushed thirty feets away to the back.
"I GOT YOU NOW LITTLE GIRL!" The monster roared while charging towards Yuki with his giant axe raised in the air.
"Time to end this." said Yuki muttering. She also prepared her stances to launch the finishing attack.
When the bull-headed monster almost reached her, Yuki immediately launched herself at the monster. And with a speed that the monster couldn't keep up with, Yuki cut the stray-devil's body into three pieces.
Just like that, the battle was over.
The stray-devil's corpse disappear into the air as Yuki sheathed her magical Katana back into her pocket dimension. And at that very moment, Yuki heard her cell phone suddenly ring.
Yuki took her cellphone from her pocket and she saw that she had received a message from her accomplice stating that the last descendants of the original devil king Lucifer had been sighted in Kuoh Town, the city where Yuki was currently assigned.
In addition to the message, Yuki's accomplice has also sent her a picture where in the picture it is shown that the target of her observation is with a young man with white hair and tan skin who looks familiar to hrr.
Yuki narrowed her eyes when she saw that her target of observation was with her new classmate. The same person that have swore to her he's no threat to the people of this town when she confronted him earlier this afternoon.
She couldn't believe this. It's barely a day and Shirou Emiya already has the balls to betray the trust she gave him.
Now, she no longer can bring herself to believe that Shirou is not a threat to humanity since he's been proven to be affiliating with a very dangerous person according to this picture her accomplice has sent her.
"So, you lied to me Shirou Emiya." Yuki mumbled. She stared at the picture of Shirou Emiya coldly before turning her phone off and put it back inside her pocket.
It looks like she's gonna have to confront her new classmate once again tomorrow.
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The next morning, Shirou woke up from his sleep with his body soaked in sweat.
He again gets a nightmare which is none other than the vision of one of EMIYA's memories when he was on duty as a Counter Guardian on Alaya's orders where he had to slaughter hundreds of human lives to prevent a war that could wreak a catastrophe that could endanger mankind on a big scale.
It was the worst nightmare he ever had because in that dream, instead of EMIYA, he was the one who's doing the slaughtering.
Shirou might have already prepared to be a villain for his sister's happiness and ready to fight the world, but he could never bring himself to become a killing machine like EMIYA as a Counter Guardian.
That is probably one of the things that he wished he didn't inherited from his Alternate futureself.
'What time is it anyway?' he wondered, turning his attention to the nightstand, only to grimace as the digital clock confirmed that yes, he had well over an hour until he had to get up.
'May as well make the most of it…' he reasoned, tossing aside the sheets with a grunt & rising to his feet to begin his morning routine.
Shirou started his morning routine by doing exercises like push ups and sit ups a hundred times each. After doing sports he went to take a shower and changed his clothes with his school uniform.
When he was about to go to the kitchen to make breakfast, he passed the bedroom that Maria and Mio were currently occupying to rest.
Intrigued by Mio and Maria's situation, Shirou knocked on their bedroom door before slowly opening the door. There he saw Maria sitting on a chair right next to Mio's bed.
Maria was staring at Mio who was still asleep while smiling sadly.
Seeing this, Shirou deliberately made his whereabouts known to Maria by knocking on the door of the room a little louder, causing Maria to turn her gaze towards the source of the sound.
"Good morning, Maria!" Shirou greeted Maria with a gentle smile.
"Ah ... good morning, Shirou-san." Maria replied to Shirou's greeting with a smile of her own.
"How are you? Are you feeling better?" Shirou asked as he walked towards Maria.
"I'm not fully recovered, but I already feel better than last night, thanks for asking." Maria said, answering Shirou's question.
"That's good then." Said Shirou while turning his gaze towards Mio who was still asleep. "How is she?"
"Mio-sama is getting a little bit better, but as you can see, she hasn't woken up from her sleep yet." Maria replied sadly as she looks at her young charge in worry.
"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll wake up soon." Shirou said while trying to reassure Maria. "By the way, are you hungry? I was just about to make breakfast."
"A little actually, but I'm not in the mood to eat." Maria replied. "Besides, I have to stay by Mio-sama's side to look after her."
"Come on, don't be like that, if you're going to look after Mio then you have to eat to build the strength you need to look after her." Shirou said, trying to reasoned with the silvered-haired girl. He then grabs her hand and drag her out of the room gently.
Maria was surprised at first, but then she starts to walk without resisting and follow him towards the dining room.
"Now, take seat and I'll fix you up something quick." After saying that Shirou then went into the kitchen to prepare something for both him and Maria while take her seat on the dining chair.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, since Shirou doesn't have enough time to make something elaborate for breakfast, he decides to make a simple Chinese dish which is fried rice since it's quite easy and don't take too much time to make.
Shirou gathered the ingredients to make the fried rice and begin to work on cooking it. However, since he didn't want to make the fried rice too simple, he decided to improve it by adding some lamb meat and a special mixed spice that he made into the fried rice.
It took him twenty minutes to cook the fried rice until it's finally ready to be served.
"Breakfast ready!" Shirou announced as he returns to the dining room with two plates of hot and steamy fried rice.
"Here you go." Shirou gave one of the plate to Maria.
"Oh...thank you." Maria thanked Shirou as she accepted the plate. She take a spoonful of her fried rice and put it into her mouth. She slowly chew the food in her mouth, savoring the rich flavor of the fried rice that Shirou cooked, and her eyes widened all of the sudden.
"This is good." Maria mumbled before taking another spoonful of the fried rice into her mouth.
"I'm glad you like it." Shirou said, smiling as he saw the silvered-haired girl eagerly devoured the fried rice he made for her before he start eating his own portion.
The two of them ate their breakfast in comfortable silence while enjoying the delicious taste of Shirou's special fried rice. And time quickly passed until it was time for Shirou to go to school.
"Wow, I didn't think it was already this late." Said Shirou while looking at the clock on the wall, which now shows it's 7.30 in the morning.
Shirou, who has now finished eating his breakfast, was about to clean up the tableware for him to wash. However, before he could do this, Maria suddenly volunteered to wash the dishes.
"Wait, Shirou-san, let me wash the dishes." Maria said voluntarily.
"No, it's okay I can do it myself." Said Shirou while trying refuse Maria's offer subtly.
"No, please let me do it, Shirou-san. After all, you have to go to school right away. You don't want to be late, do you?"
After hearing Maria's question, Shirou hesitated a little and once again looked at the clock on the wall. After a while, he finally decided to let Maria wash the dishes.
"In that case, I'll be off." Shirou conceded, rising from his seat, making certain to pick up his packed lunch from the fridge before heading towards the door. "Thanks for the help, Maria."
"No problem, and take care Shirou-san!"
With that Shirou left the house and heading on his way towards Kuoh Academy leaving Maria who start sorting out the dishes.
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Shirou managed to arrive at his school just five minutes before the first school period is started.
It was a good thing that his house was located just several blocks away from Kuoh Academy and it didn't take him more than twenty five minutes to arrive by jogging.
He hurriedly went inside the school building and make his way to the second floor where his class is located.
When he reached the stairwell, he suddenly met Yuki who was about to go up to the second floor as well. Their gaze meet each other and suddenly the atmosphere became really awkward.
For him that is.
Shirou still remembered the confrontation that he had with her yesterday afternoon and to be honest he didn't really have good impression of her due to the hostility that she shown him yesterday.
Even though the tension between them have been settled in the same day, he knew that they still didn't trust each other that well. But even so, they are classmate and there's no harm in trying to get along with her.
"Yo...good morning, Nonaka." Shirou greeted the blue-haired girl while flashing her with his friendly smile. But, instead of greeting him back, Yuki frowned at him and just went up stairs without even saying a word.
'Geez... what's her problem?' Shirou wondered internally while watching Yuki left him.
He don't understand why she was so hostile to him. He thought that whatever matters that she had with him had been settled yesterday. And as far as he can remember, he hasn't done a single thing that might upset her.
Just what is wrong with her?
Why is she so hostile towards him?
Shirou sighed and shooked his head as he tried not to dwell on that thoughts. He then went upstairs to the second floor and continue walking towards his class.
On his way to the class, he passed the student council room. And he stopped when he suddenly heard a conversation from inside the room that caught his attention.
"Geez ... this thing is broken again. And this is already the umpteenth time."
"Maybe it's because this thing is old."
"Yeah ... maybe it's time we replaced this old heater."
Not long after, the door to the student council room opened and two female students came out carrying a heater that looked outdated. And they were surprised when they saw Shirou who was standing right in front of their club room.
Shirou who felt awkward decided to greet the two of them. "Hi good morning."
"Oh, good morning." The two students greeted back in a friendly manner. However, suddenly one of them gave Shirou a strange look that confused him.
"Uh ... what's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Shirou asked as he rubbed his face to see if there was anything stuck on his face.
"Hmm ... you look familiar." Said a student who has shoulder length hair, reddish brown and brown eyes.
"Really? Have we met before?" Shirou asked in a confused tone.
"Not really. But, looks like I've seen you before." The student replied before suddenly clapping her hands as if she had just remembered something. "Oh yeah! If I'm not mistaken, you are that new transfer student right? Hmm ... I have to admit that the rumors they spread are true. Turns out you are quite handsome."
"Ahahaha ..."
Shirou who was speechless could only laugh as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He felt awkward because he was not used to being praised for his looks. And also he didn't feel that he was a good looking person at all.
"Stop that Tomoe! You're making him uncomfortable." Said a girl with long brown hair that ended in two short braids and matching eyes that scolded the reddish-brown-haired student who turned out to be Tomoe.
After scolding her friend for her behavior, the student turned her gaze back towards Shirou.
"Please forgive my friend's behavior. Tomoe can be quite troublesome sometimes." Said the brown-haired student, apologizing as she bowed her body. Meanwhile, Tomoe simply pout as her friend called her troublesome.
"It's okay. No harm done." Shirou respond as he tried to reassure the brown-haired girl.
The student straightened up again and then introduced herself and her friend to Shirou. "My name is Reya Kusaka and this is Tomoe Meguri. We are the members of the Student council of Kuoh Academy. It's nice to meet you."
"My name is Shirou Emiya. It's nice to meet you too, Reya-san, Tomoe-san." Said Shirou while introducing himself back to the two members of the student council.
"By the way, what are you two going to do with that heater?" Shirou asked while pointing at the worn out heater that they're carrying.
"Oh, we're just going to put it in the storage, this heater is already too old to function properly." Reya replied.
"And we're also considering of replacing it with a new one since this old junk breaks down every so often." And Tomoe added while shrugging her shoulders.
"I see. But you know what, I think that old heater can still be fixed." Shirou stated after performing a quick Structural Grasping through his sight to analyze the cause that makes the heater to malfunction. And after he's done analysing the old machine, he found that the reason why the heater tend to breakdown every so often was because some of the hardwares completely obsolete and nearly fried so the heater is often easily broke down and not working properly.
Though, he might be able to bring those faulty hardwares back to its prime condition by fixing it with his reinforcement magecraft.
"Really? How do you know that?" Reya asked curiously.
"I have the eyes of a mechanic." Shirou said jokingly to Tomoe in casual tone.
"A mechanic, huh? So, you think you can fix this old junk?" Tomoe asked sceptically.
"I think so, if you let me take a look of it." Shirou replied confidently.
"Then, be our guest. Come to the student council room later at lunch break. If you really fix this old junk I'll buy you lunch." Tomoe said while pointing at the old heater with her finger.
"Of course." Shirou replied. "Well, I should head to class now. See you later Reya-san, Tomoe-san."
"See you, Shirou-san."
"Till we meet again."
After saying goodbye to Reya and Tomoe who were members of the student council, Shirou walked back to his class.
When he arrived, he saw that his class was now filled with students who were busy chatting with one another.
Shirou immediately went to his seat and right next to him he saw Yuki who was looking out the window. Judging from the cold expression on his face, Shirou could clearly see that Yuki didn't want to come face to face with him.
Seeing this, Shirou could only sigh and immediately sat himself in his seat without trying to greet Yuki again because he knew that right now maybe Yuki didn't want to be disturbed.
Not long after, Komura-sensei entered the classroom just as the school bell rang which marked the start of the first school learning period.
"Okay students. Now open your math book on page 38. Today we're going to study algebra." Said Komura-sensei who then started the learning activities in his class.
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Lunch break time has arrived. And currently he is in the student council room together with Reya and Tomoe, two of the Kuoh Academy student council members whom he met this morning.
True to his promise, he came to check and repair the old heater that Reya and Tomoe were about to throw away this morning.
"Okay," Shirou grunted, his amber eyes narrowing in concentration as he examined the mess of wires before him, a screwdriver gripped in his free hand "I think I see what the problem is."
"You have found out what causing that heater to malfunction?" Tomoe asked curiously while eyeing the white-haired teen who's currently busy dismantling the old heater.
"Yes, and you are right this thing really is an old junk. Some of its hardwares are old and nearly fried. No wonder this thing tend to broke down so easily." Shirou said as he informed the reddish brown-haired girl.
"But it can still be fixed, right?" Reya, the other member of the student council asked with her voice filled with hope.
Shirou nod, "I'll do what I can, but I can't guarantee a permanent repairment, though."
After saying that, Shirou started working on repairing the old heating machine. Fixing a broken machine like this was not a new thing for him since he used to fix broken appliences in his old school. Which is why it's safe to say that although he couldn't really fixed this old heater permanently, he should be able to get this old machine back to work.
After subtly repairing the parts that has been damaged beyond manual repair with his reinforcement magecraft, Shirou began to work on the minor problem manually so that the two student council members who were accompanying him did not suspect that he had used magecraft to repair some of the damage in this heater.
It was such an unfortunate thing really, even though Reya and Tomoe seems like a really nice person, it turns out that they were one of the few students in this school that he should be aware of.
He had his suspicion when he met them earlier this morning, but it was only this afternoon he found out that the two of them were not actually human.
They both had a demonic scent similar to Akeno and Mio, so he quickly assume that both Reya and Tomoe are devils as well.
The two of them might seems to be a nice and fun person to talk with, but he needs to be careful when using magecraft around them. He didn't want them to discover his status as a magic user.
Who knows what they're going to do with him if they found out about that.
So, he better to be careful.
"Alright... it's done." Shirou informed as he subtly adding the finishing touches to the heater before closing his circuits. "This heater should be able to function again."
"Let's try it out shall we." Reya said while plugging the cable of the heater into the socket. And true to Shirou's words, after the heater is turned on, the old machine starts to function properly again.
"Huh...you actually did it. You actually fixed this old junk to function again. I'm impressed." Tomoe whistled, feeling slightly impressed with Shirou's mechanic skill.
"I guess you weren't lying when you said that you're a mechanic." Reya commented before turning the heater off.
"I said 'I have the eyes of a mechanic', I never said that I was a genuine mechanic in the first place." Shirou said as he tries to corrected Reya statement about him being a mechanic.
"Genuine or not you're still quite a skilled mechanic, though." Tomoe stated. "Anyway, since you actually managed to fix this old junk back to work, I guess I have to fulfill my end of the deal now."
Shirou blinked, at first he was confused about what Tomoe was talking about, but then he remembered the deal that she made with him earlier this morning if he succeed in fixing the heater.
"So, you really going to buy me a lunch then?"
"Of course! I did promise you that if you manage to fix the heater, didn't !?" Tomoe said. "So, tell me what do you want for lunch?"
Hearing Tomoe's question, Shirou fell silent and thought. And after a while he finally decided.
"That's okay. You don't have to buy me lunch, Tomoe-san." Said Shirou while declining Tomoe's offer in a subtle manner.
Tomoe blinked, surprised to hear that the new student has declined her generous offer to buy him lunch.
"Huh? Why?" Tomoe asked, feeling rather curious why the white-haired teen declined her offer.
"Nothing in particular. I just don't need you to buy me lunch since I already brought one, you see." Shirou stated as he showed her the lunch box that he's carrying with him. "And besides, you don't have to repay me for fixing that heater, I did it because I just want to help."
"That's all?" Tomoe asked sceptically.
"That's all." And Shirou answered reassuringly with a nod.
"Well...that's very kind of you." Tomoe commented. "But, still I already promised you that I would buy you lunch if you managed to fix this heater, and promises must be kept. So, if you don't want lunch, then how about some tea instead?"
"No, thank you. You really don't have to trouble yourself." Shirou replied as he begin to tidying up his tools. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to do. See you later Tomoe-san, Reya-san."
After saying goodbye, Shirou immediately left the student council room before Reya and Tomoe could say anything. It was better for him to leave before they could offer him anything else to repay him for fixing the old heater.
As he walks in the school corridor, he grabs his cellphone from his pocket and turn it on to check the time. He finds out that- yes, he still have at least seventeen minutes to eat his lunch before the next school period started.
'I think I'll eat my lunch at the rooftop.' Shirou thought as he decided where he wants to eat his lunch and spend the rest of the remaining lunch break time before the next learning session starts.
With that Shirou then change his direction and make his way to the staircase that will lead him to the rooftop.
After walking down the school corridor and climbing the stairs to the top floor, Shirou finally arrived at the place he wanted to go to.
However, when he opened the door to the school rooftop. Shirou was shocked by the presence of Yuki who was standing twenty feet in front of him and stared at him with a cold glare.
Somehow Shirou felt that something was wrong with this situation. However, he still tries to stay friendly and greets his classmates.
"Hey there, Nonaka! Are you here to eat lunch as well?" Shirou asked with a smile as he tried to be friendly even though the atmosphere was tense.
Yuki didn't respond to his greeting just like earlier this morning. All that she did was just stood there in silent while glaring at him coldly.
This silent treatment of hers really makes the situation between them feels even more tense.
Fortunately, not long after that Yuki finally spoke. Though, what she's about to say wasn't really what he's expected.
"You lied, Shirou Emiya." Yuki eventually spoke up, her accusation stated like a fact.
Shirou felt his hackles start to rise at the charge.
"What are you talking about, Nonaka? I didn't lie to you. I haven't done anything wrong here." Shirou retorted, as he tried to defend himself.
"You did, Shirou Emiya. Last night, last night I have found out that you were helping an enemy of my faction. An enemy of the human kind." Yuki stated coldly as her glares towards him intensifies.
"I don't understand what you mean, Nonaka." Shirou retorted. "I don't understand what you mean by me helping an enemy of your faction. The only person that I helped last night was two girls who were attacked by monsters that's all. I don't see that as a wrong a thing."
"Oh? So, helping the descendant of the Satan himself was not a wrong thing to you , Shirou Emiya?" Yuki hissed with her eyes narrowing in anger.
Ah. So that's what this was about.
Maria did told him last night that Mio was indeed a descendant of the Devil King Lucifer himself. Her father, Wilbert was the great grandson of Lucifer himself. And Mio had her Lucifer blood from him.
However, he didn't see the wrong in that.
He don't understand why she was considered dangerous and evil just because she had the Lucifer blood running in her body?
She was just a normal girl before she found out about her demonic lineages. And now she has no choice but to get thrown into this mess because of her bloodline.
Damn, the mess that Mio is facing kinda similar to the situation that Miyu has to faced due to the godly power that she possessed.
The similarities between them makes him even more sympathize with Mio now.
"That is a different matter entirely, she is a girl that needed help and I simply decided to help her in that time of need. Do I need to explain all of my actions to you now, Nonaka?" Shirou asked, slowly becoming more incensed by her words.
Yuki stared at him for a moment before taking a step back.
Shirou widened his eyes for a moment, unsure of what was going on, or how he should take it.
Was she backing off?
"Fight me, Emiya." Yuki demanded with a dark glint in her eye.
The magus jerked slightly at the demand, needing a second to appreciate what the hell just happened.
In her eyes, no matter how you looked at the current situation as it was, they were enemies. Even if Shirou was just being a nice person for whatever reason, it still didn't change the fact that this boy was aiding an enemy of her faction.
That was all there was to it.
"I thought a 'hero' like you cares about the life of the innocence." Shirou said. "You really going to fight here? In this school? And endanger the lives of the students here?"
Shirou tried to intimidated her in the hopes that she would change her mind. Because if she did tried to fight him here, then he had no choice but to go for the killing despite any possible problems down the road with this so called 'Hero Tribe'.
Too many lives would be at stake if he didn't. Even though, he have decided not to become a Hero of Justice anymore, nonetheless he still care about people's lives.
Yuki widened her eyes in surprise at his words, did he actually care about the lives of the innocent students in this school?
Did he really care about the human lives?
She thought that he would attack her here regardless, since he was helping the devil princess, so she assumed that she would have no other choice...
Maybe Shirou wasn't the trash that she assumed he was.
"I'm surprised to see that you're also cared about the innocent lives, Emiya. I thought you're going to attack me here regardless the students in this building. It seems I was wrong about you." Yuki said, admitting that Shirou wasn't entirely a trash.
"So...does that mean we don't have to fight?" Shirou asked, hoping against hope that she would change her mind. He knew that Yuki is a good person who's just trying to protect the lives of the innocent, which is why he doesn't to fight her. But, he must admit that her way of trying to be a Hero was kinda misguided.
"No, you and me are still going to fight, Emiya! You might've proved yourself not to be entirely bad, but we're are still enemy nonetheless!" Yuki stated sternly before summoning her magical Katana in her hand and without warning, she stabs her sword into the rooftop floor. A green magical energy then emerges from her sword before gradually expanding and spreading into the whole school area.
Shirou felt a little nauseous when the magic energy hit him, and that's when he felt that something had changed with the environment around them. And the most noticable change is that everything around them have turned light green in colours.
The buildings.
The sky.
The ground.
Everything have turned green.
"What did you do?!" Shirou demanded for Yuki to answer while imagining the image of a firing hammer to activate all of his twenty seven magic circuits. He can feel his body heating up as magical energy coursing through his body.
"I just created a boundary field that separate the two of us from the real world. This way our fight won't endanger the lives of the students and the school staffs in this school." Yuki explained curtly. She narrowed her eyes at the white-haired teen when she sensed his magic power begin to build up.
It seems like Shirou have decided to fight.
"You really going to do this aren't you?" Shirou asked in exasperation. "Is there no way we could end this peacefully?"
Despite knowing that a battle between them are going to happen nonetheless, he still wished that there is another way that they could settle the matter peacefully.
He really don't want to fight his own classmate even though he only got to know her for a day.
"Sorry, Emiya...but like I said before. We are enemies now, there is no more diplomacy." Yuki solemnly stated before allowing the green aura from before to overtake her fully.
Shirou narrowed his amber eyes, so she was taking this seriously huh...
Before him, stood Yuki Nonaka in her combat attire.
She wore a form-fitting navy blue leotard with a white skirt. She had metal gauntlets on her arms and legs ,as well as a blue cape that adorned her shoulders.
She then grabs the hilt of her magical sword, Sakuya, pull it from the ground and points it at Shirou again, like last time.
Except this time...
"Shirou Emiya...this time you will face Sakuya's full power! Prepare yourself!" Yuki shouted as she lowered her body to pounce her enemy.
Seeing that there's no going back in this, Shirou closed his eyes and steeled himself for a battle, before opening them again to meet determined yellow with hard amber.
"Very well...if this is really what you want, then I shall entertained you, Yuki Nonaka." Shirou stated coldly before chanting the aria that would connect him with his magecraft.
"Trace On !"
In his hands Shirou projected his primary melee weapons, the married Chinese dao known as Kanshou and Bakuya.
The two combatants staring at one another before charging and deliver their first attack as their respective weapons clashed.
The battle the hero and the magus has begun.
A/N : Finally after two months, I have finally return to writing this story again. Sorry for the long wait, but these past two months has been a really busy time for me and I barely have enough free time to write this story. But anyway, I'm glad to be back.
I seriously hope this chapter would entertain you guys, though I'm a bit worry about the grammars since I'm pretty sure I made some errors while writing this chapter. But hopefully it won't be that bad.
Well, I guess this is it from me. Please don't forget to leave me some reviews so that I know what you guys think of the chapter.
See ya!
Silver Tracker logging out!