17—"Normal"

The shed echoes with both girl's uninhibited, persistent laughter for a few more moments, and is followed by a few slight and more restrained laughs, punctuated by deep, gasping breaths as they finally compose themselves. Opposite them, holding his arms folded across his chest, wearing a small, resigned frown while he waits for them to finish laughing at his expense, sits Taiasu.

To prove his story to Tohsaka, that he's not from their world, he'd shared a brief, cordial greeting in his mother tongue, Lalaspeak, knowing full well the reaction it would garner.

Unreserved hysterical laughter.

"Taruko-kun, that was…" Lost for words, Sakura wipes her face, smearing away the streaks running down from her eyes. "That was—!" Just trying to give it words nearly has her rolling again, and she forcefully shakes her head to restrain herself.

"I know… I thought I was gonna…" Beside her, Tohsaka is leaning into her sister's shoulder while she vigorously rubs both of her eyes. "I've never heard anything like that before."

"Yeah, I'm aware," Taiasu says despondently. "Every time someone hears it for the first time, it gets that kind of response."

"Well, I have to say it definitely suits your look," Tohsaka says, trying to choke back another laugh as she looks him over.

"N-Nee san, don't be…! Don't… be—!"

Sakura fails in her attempt to chide, and to withhold another fit of laughter, which in turn breaks Tohsaka's resolve, and soon both are again collapsed over one another in a heap, trying to get ahold of themselves.

A few more seconds of that, and they sit upright, sighing heavily as they try to catch their breath again.

"So is that good enough?" Taiasu mutters, frowning to one side, his face still red from the small indignation. "I mean, can you accept what I've told you now?" More to Tohsaka than Sakura, he directs his question as he turns his attention toward her, trying to force some of the red out of his face.

Sakura takes in a deep breath, trying to get the last of her laughs out as she leans toward Tohsaka, whispering. "What do you think now, Nee-san? I know this is all hard to accept…"

"Yeah," Tohsaka mutters, nodding. "Even with that, I'm still trying to rationalize this. I mean, he could've just been babbling incoherently, for all we know. I want to take him at his word, but without something tangible, I just…" She lets out a deep sigh, recalling her obligations to make sure things in Fuyuki are kept safe and sane.

"But what choice do we have?" Sakura says, sighing and casting down her gaze. "Your geas failed, right? But even though it did, he was still open and honest about everything. About it failing, why it failed, and if he was going to make up a language just for the sake of proving his story, why would he make up something that sounds so ridiculous?"

Tohsaka nods again, then stops, staring at the floor and ruminating on the question.

'What choice do we have'…? I can't just be letting some anomaly run around my town if I want to be taken seriously as a magus. That goes without saying. What if—?

"Hey, Sakura…" She raises her stare and looks over now. "What if I kept an eye on him for today?"

"Huh? You keep an eye on him?" Sakura looks over, blinking a few times in surprise. "But for what reason?"

"Well…" She looks down again. "I mean, I need something tangible. If I'm watching him for today, I might get that, right? At the very least, I can get a better sense of who and what he is, and if I'm comfortable enough, I can leave him in your care at the end of the day." She grins, chuckling.

"I mean, if you want him back."

Sakura looks down and away, wearing a small frown. "Well… Shouldn't you ask him about that?"

"I don't know how much of a say he gets, Sakura. It's that, or I lock him here in this shed for the day."

"N-Nee-san!" Sakura looks up, startled by her casual sister's tone. "That's terrible! You can't be serious!"

Tohsaka chuckles, smirking. "No, I was kidding. Well, mostly kidding." She taps her chin a few times, then turns toward Taiasu, who sits staring vacantly at the ceiling. "Besides that, if I were to be completely honest, I'm kind of curious about this other world business. I mean, what if he is telling the truth? That would be huge!" She rubs her hands together, grinning. "Clocktower'd take me in a second, with that sort of—"

"Nee-san!" Sakura's mouth drops open. "You can't just leverage him for something like that!"

Again, she chuckles, then sighs, nodding. "I know. It was… mostly… a joke. Well, maybe more than half. If he is telling the truth, they'd probably try to dissect him to figure out how he works…" She looks from Taiasu back over to Sakura now, seeing her breathing out a relieved sigh. "But it's like you said, I can't just force him."

"So what do you think, bite-sized?" She speaks louder now, directing her question toward Taiasu and shaking him from his absent daze. He looks over at her, his expression calm and neutral.

"Huh? Think about what?"

"You coming with me for the rest of the day," she says, staring at him now. "So I can keep both eyes on you. I need to make sure it's okay for you to be running around, and I can't say with just the little time we've spent here cooped up in this stuffy shed."

"Ah—" He looks over toward Sakura, who sits nodding with a calm smile. "I mean, I don't—" Looking back toward Tohsaka, his eyes settle on hers, and his heart skips again. Forcefully, he looks away, scratching at his nose, and Sakura lets out a soft giggle as he goes a sudden, brief shade of red.

"I don't mind," he mutters.

Tohsaka nods her approval. "We should go now, then. I imagine explaining this to Kuzuki-sensei will take what little time we have left. I'll watch him through school, and if I see nothing—" She pauses, reconsidering her words. "—well, nothing MORE suspicious, then just knowing about him should be fine, and he can do whatever he likes as long as he's not causing trouble."

Sakura nods as well, showing a smile of relief. "Thanks, Nee-san. I thought you should know about him. I was also hoping maybe we could figure out what's wrong, why he can't return home, but this should be enough for now."

Looking her sister in the eye, she lightly bows forward and repeats herself.

"Truly, thank you."

"Sakura…" Tohsaka blinks a few times, swiftly turning a shade of red as she scratches beside her eye. "I mean… It's fine, I promise. Besides that…" She smiles as well, returning her sister's gaze. "I mean, as weird and absurd as this has been, it's also been kind of nice."

Her smile warms.

"I mean, hearing you call me that again. It's been kind of nice."

Sakura blushes, turning her gaze away and at the floor.


"Sorry, Emiya!" Issei shouts behind him as they sprint through the halls. "It's my fault we're going to be late!"

"Don't fret, Issei! We're not—?"

Shirou stops mid-sentence, spotting something odd. The young woman with long, brown hair, of course, but what makes it odd is who's walking with her as they enter one of the classrooms.

Huh? Tohsaka? But why—?

The familiar face of a small person clad in red.

Why is he with her?

For losing his focus, he nearly plows into Issei in front of him, and has to skid to a stop, shaking his head.

Kh. Damn it, forget it. It's not my concern. Guess I was just curious.


It takes them a few more minutes, but Issei and Shirou both make it into class before the first bell, huffing as they catch their breath.

"Made it… Barely. I would've been a failure as a friend if I'd caused you to be late." Issei stands upright, wearing a small frown and stretching toward the ceiling as he takes in a deep breath to settle his racing heart. "Thanks for all your help, Emiya."

Shirou nods, taking a few more breaths as well, before replying with a small smile and clapping his friend on the back. "Don't worry about me. I think it would be a bigger deal for you if you were late, anyway."

"Yes, well, fortunately it wasn't the case for either of us."

After voicing his relief, Issei moves toward his seat. Shirou looks up, seeing the time: eight on the nose. Just as he does, the school's bell rings, signaling the start of class.

For every other classroom.

Knowing Fuji-nee, she'll be here in about five minutes.

Shirou breathes out another deep sigh as he moves to his seat, still out of breath for how fast they had to run once he finished helping Issei.

"Quite noisy this morning, aren't we, Emiya?"

As he takes a moment to rest his eyes, a haughty voice cuts into his brief respite, and he turns to see who's talking. A young man with dark blue hair and eyes standing in front of him, wearing a smug smirk as he rests his hand against his side.

"And here I was wondering what you'd been doing since you quit the club. Come to find out, you've been spending all your free time as Ryuudou's toady?" As he goes on, Shirou simply waits calmly and patiently for him to finish whatever it is he's saying. "Of course, what you do is no concern of mine, as long as it doesn't bring the club into disrepute."

The boy, Matou Shinji, and he have been friends since middle school. Their relationship has changed, becoming more complex, somehow vitriolic, while still maintaining a level of cordialness.

But only for Shirou's lack of knowledge about the extent of Shinji's less than kind behavior toward his sister.

"Morning, Shinji," Shirou says politely, disregarding his goading. "Archery club doing well?"

"O-of course—!" Immediately irritated, Shinji stands upright, folding his arms. "Not that there's any reason for me to be telling this to an outsider, but things have been quite peaceful since that outsider left. We're certain to do well in the next exhibition!"

Shirou smiles, nodding. "I see. Mitsuzuri must be working hard, then."

"Huh?" Shinji unfolds his arms as he glares with a hard smirk. "What nonsense are you saying? The only reason the archery club is doing so well is because of the effort I've put in. Listen, Emiya. You're just an outsider now, so if you talk about things without understanding at least that much, you're only going to embarrass yourself!"

"I see, I'll be careful then." Shirou says, nodding. "But it's pretty much like you said. What happens there isn't my business." He sets his bag on his desk, then pulls out his chair as Shinji continues to glare at him.

"What was that? You're saying you have no interest in my archery club?"

"I said business, not interest. It'd be weird for me to go there as an outsider, right?" Trying to keep the situation from escalating, he shows him a simple, casual smile. "But let me know if something comes up, and I'll help if I can. I mean, if I recall, you weren't good at maintaining the bows, right?"

The smile Shinji shows conveys neither warmth nor friendliness. Simply a thin veneer, ill-concealing hostile intent and feelings, contrary to his words. Despite his feelings, there's no valid reason to just throw away such a generous offer out of hand, just to be petty.

"Sure, thanks. I'll take you up on that, if there's any work to be done," he says stiffly "I think that's unlikely, though."

"Yeah, that's fine. You're not good captain material if you leave work that needs to be done. And definitely don't give Fujimura-sensei a hard time. She's scary when you make her angry."

Shirou tacks a bit of friendly advice on to the end of his reply, which only seems to make his friend angry, causing him to snap back.

"Mind your own business! You're just an outsider, so keep away from the dojo!" he yells, shaking and aiming his finger at him before storming back to his seat and slamming himself into it.

Shirou blinks at his wake a few times, frowning thoughtfully.

Huh. He seems more irritated than usual today. Wonder what happened?

"Some nerve." Behind him, Issei, who's been listening quietly, speaks up. "How can he talk like that when he's the one who made you quit?"

"You were still here, Issei?" Shirou turns around, toward his other, truer friend, who frowns indignantly, holding his arms folded across his chest.

"What do you mean!? That's a cold thing to say to a friend who was listening in out of concern!" Still frowning, he lets his arms relax and slips one into his side pocket as Shirou leans his head, pondering his words.

"Hm? Why would you be concerned? I'm not doing anything that should cause you to worry."

"Idiot. Of course I'd worry about you, dealing with him. You know how quickly you lose your temper. I'm sure some people would cheer if you smacked some sense into that guy, but every girl in the school would condemn you. I couldn't let you get into that kind of situation!"

With his mouth narrowing into a small circle, Shirou nods his understanding. "I see. You're right, now that you mention it. Thanks, Issei. I don't think it'll be a problem, but I appreciate you looking out for me like that."

"Yes, well, it's fine as long as you understand…" Issei says, nodding as well. Then he stops, turning his gaze down. "But it's strange. You get upset easily, yet you're tolerant of Matou."

Shirou shrugs. "I guess I've just been around him long enough to get used to it. Like, it's just his style, you know?"

"Hm. So that's how it is, then…" Issei mutters, nodding.

"Pretty much. You might want to get back to your seat. Fujimura-sensei will probably come flying in any second now."

Issei laughs. "Well, it'd be more like her to come in floating rather than flying."

Still, at his friend's advice, Issei finds his seat, and the rest of the class waits patiently and quietly for a few minutes for their teacher to arrive.

As they wait, Shirou's mind drifts to what he'd seen as he was running after Issei, when they both thought they'd be late for class.

But what was Tohsaka doing with that little guy?

He sighs, shaking his head.

"Why am I even thinking about that?" he mutters his thought out loud, resting his chin in his hand.

Just curiosity, I guess. I mean, it is Tohsaka. She's the school's idol for a reason. Even I find her interesting, and that kid sticks out like a sore thumb. Only natural, I guess.


As they enter, Tohsaka and Taiasu draw no small amount of stares as excited and curious whispers permeate the air. Regardless of how small he is, Taiasu continues to draw interested stares no matter where he goes from students and teachers alike. They both wait by the door and Tohsaka tries to keep him tucked out of sight, though it proves futile for his bright red attire acting as a magnet for the eye of every student entering the classroom.

Tohsaka sighs through a small frown.

I knew he was going to be drawing a lot of attention, but this is still getting to be a bit much.

Finally, a tall, stone-faced man with glasses, dressed in a dark green suit with ashen grey hair and eyes, steps through the doorway into the classroom, and Tohsaka lets out another sigh.

Though of relief this time.

"Ah, Kuzuki-sensei!"

Tohsaka smiles, looking up at him. He nods at her, then stops, turning his stare toward her, then to the corner of the room near the door where stands behind her a small person in strange, red clothing, shifting his feet uncomfortably.

"Tohsaka-san." Still holding his expression steady, he raises his eyes from the unfamiliar face to the class's model student. "Is there something you'd care to explain?"

Though discomforted for the situation, she still forces a calm, polite smile that the teacher can only respect.

"Yes. Matou Sakura's agreed to look after this person," she says, stepping aside and gesturing toward Taiasu, who remains in the corner, trying to make himself as small as possible. As she speaks, another teacher pops her head into the classroom, glancing around and drawing the stares of some students, as well as Tohsaka, Taiasu, and Kuzuki.

"Ah, Kuzuki-sensei! I was just stopping—? Huh?" She blinks a few times as she spots Taiasu in the corner. "Taruko-kun? You're here now?" She looks up at Tohsaka now. "What happened? I thought Sakura—er, Matou-san was looking after him. Did something happen during your talk?"

Before he can, Tohsaka offers an explanation.

"We had a discussion where I offered her some of my thoughts on the matter. Since she had archery club practice to return to, I thought I'd do my part as her Senpai and look after him for the morning."

"Ah, I see!" Fujimura's smile broadens with unrestrained enthusiasm. "Keep doing things like that, and you'll make yourself completely indispensable, Tohsaka-san!"

"Fujimura-sensei." Atonally, Kuzuki interjects. "Is there something you need?"

"Huh?" She blinks a few times, tilting her head and poking her chin. "Something…? There was, but…?"

"Fujimura-sensei, I was just explaining to Kuzuki-sensei that you said it was okay for Taiasu to be at school today."

"Ah, yes! You must've heard from Sak—um, Matou-san! Yes, I didn't think his being here would be a problem," she says, looking back down with another enthusiastic grin and a firm nod.

"Hmm…" Kuzuki looks down at Taiasu, then back up at Fujimura, folding his arms. "Perhaps, but this is still highly unorthodox."

"Right?" Tohsaka laughs, folding her hands at her waist. "But what's done is done. I was hoping it wouldn't be a problem for him to stay here? At least until lunch?"

The entire room goes silent, every student straining their ears as they listen and watch. Kuzuki looks back down at Taiasu, whose gaze is currently fixed firmly on the floor, then toward Tohsaka, and back to Fujimura who smiles expectantly before letting out a small sigh and nodding.

"As long as he's not causing a disturbance, I see no reason to refuse your request. And Fujimura-sensei has confirmed that what you've said is the case."

The silence is shattered by the small uproar of a celebration among the class, complete with cries of 'Awesome!' and 'Kuzuki-sensei rules!'. The clamor evokes a visceral facial twitch from Tohsaka as she attempts to maintain her calm.

"Thank you very much, Kuzuki-sensei."

"Hmm…" He mutters a subdued reply, looking back down at Taiasu now. "And his name would be?"

"Ah—!" Startled from his anxious stupor, Taiasu turns now, looking up and cutting himself low to the ground with a deep bow. "Taiasu Taruko. Thanks for letting me stay here. I'll try not to be a bother."

"Please see that you do." Pressing up his glasses, he turns back to Fujimura. "Fujimura-sensei."

She looks up at him from Taiasu now, tilting her head, her entire brow raised upward, causing him to let out another small sigh.

"If you cannot recall your reason for being here, might I suggest—"

Before he can complete his suggestion, a bell rings throughout the school, signaling the start of class.

"AH!" Fujimura yelps, spins, and bolts out the door, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.

Kuzuki lets out a third small sigh and a barely perceivable head-shake as he moves behind his desk. Tohsaka grabs Taiasu's gloved hand and guides him along behind her as she moves toward her desk.

"Just do your best to keep out of the way," she says, taking her seat.

He nods, looking around for a place he can sit. On finding a nearby empty desk, he hops up into the seat. Already, he can feel the incessantly curious stares of dozens of eyes boring into him as he rests his forehead against the edge of the desk, his face quickly turning red for the attention.

It feels like that stupid banquet all over again, and his mind drifts back to that time.

The shortest version of this story he'd ever shared was that he'd helped one of those who had been guarding a piece of royal jewelry, the Sultana's crown, to recover said crown after it had been stolen. Once it had been secured, and the report had been made, he'd met the Sultana in person.

For the second time, and along with her, her imposing steward, the statuesque beast of a man, Raubahn Aldynn. During that meeting, the Sultana insisted he be made a guest of honor at some banquet for those of the upper crust of Ul'dahn society.

A despondent sigh slips between his pressed lips as he thinks back on it.

A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed…

Still, he accepted, mostly out of politeness, but also partly because the Flame General, Raubahn, made him feel like refusing would be hazardous to his health. Not overtly, of course.

The man just had that sort of presence. Dark-skinned and standing tall, even for a Hyur, with piercing eyes and a face scarred from surviving many battles, strapped with two blades and a shoulder piece styled in the head of a bull, he just carried a sort of imposing air about him that made people think twice about everything they said and did.

Then the dinner, and those dumb protocols. Still…

His mind drifts to the two well crafted amethyst earrings in his pack. He hasn't worn them in an age, since they were purely ornamental, and they'd served their function, acting as a sort of guest pass for anyone invited to the meal. Once inside, he did his best to avoid, well, everyone, except for one familiar face, with whom he conversed for a short time.

Then, after announcing her, the Sultana's Steward hoisted her on his shoulder, high over the crowd. She made some speech about the reason for the gathering, then was lowered to the ground, and Taiasu attempted to make a quiet exit, only for his attempt to be thwarted. Raubahn stopped him to converse some, and spoke at length of the bitter plight of Ul'dah and its citizens, and how it pained the Sultana to see them suffer, despite her stately expression. He pleaded with Taiasu to continue acting for the betterment of their fair city.

There was more to that evening's regal affair. Much, much more. But he puts those thoughts into the back of his mind before they threaten to overwhelm him.


The second bell rings, indicating the start of class. While most normal teachers would arrive about five minutes early, class 2-C's homeroom teacher is anything but normal. For this reason, their class typically starts about one minute after the second bell, and rather than the bell signaling the start of class, it's usually something else.

That something being…

"Late, LATE, LATE, LATE, I'M LATE!"

Shirou turns his absent-minded stare toward the door as the teacher's panicked, desperate yells echo through the halls, alongside the sound of her frantic footsteps a few seconds before she comes flying, not floating, in through the door like a rocket.

"All right! I made it!" she announces triumphantly, with a wide and eager grin as she slides to a halt in front of the lectern. "Good morning, everyo—!"

Everyone's eyes widen, and stunned silence prevails as the teacher's energetic declaration is cut short. For some unknown reason, perhaps over-exertion due to fear of tardiness, Fujimura collapses, striking her head against the lectern's raised platform, causing a sound that makes everyone wince viscerally.

No one dares speak.

Shirou looks over at her motionless form, palming his face.

That's Fuji-nee, the 'Human Jet Coaster'…

He sighs, shaking his head. By now, this sort of thing has become so common that the stunned silence is quite brief, and what concern there is quickly fades.

Most of it. Shirou still has an unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Well… It was a pretty serious hit.

For her head being turned away, it's impossible for anyone to see her face, let alone her expression, so all anyone can do is imagine.

"Hey, front row. Go wake her up."

Finally, someone, a male student with short, brown hair and glasses, speaks out. Despite the disquieting nature of the situation, his tone is strangely calm.

"What? I don't want to! What if she bites me?" Another student, a female student with shoulder-length, light blue hair, protests loudly.

"What, like a Mimic or something?" the first student answers, pushing up his glasses. "She wouldn't go that far. At least, I don't think she would."

"Okay, if you're so confident in that, why don't you wake her up?"

The boy shakes his head, holding out his hands. "I don't think so. I'm still not used to her or this sort of thing."

"Me neither!" the girl says, stomping her foot. "And why would you make a girl do it? A guy should be doing this!"

Quite a commotion stirs among the students in the front row. Those in the rows further back, Shirou among them, are unable to see the condition of their teacher from their current vantage point, so everyone stands up to look.

"She's not moving. Did she knock herself out?" the boy asks.

Shirou sighs, shaking his head.

I hope not. It'd be a problem if she did. How would we get her to the nurse's office?

Most of the students are veterans at dealing with Fujimura's eccentric shenanigans, having done so for the entire school year to this point. This also means many of them have had to handle getting her unconscious body from the classroom to the nurse's room, so it's become a job no one wants to do.

"Fujimura-sensei? Are you all right?" the girl asks hesitantly, standing over her, leaning down.

Still face down on the ground, Fujimura doesn't even flinch as the student calls out to her. The concern that quickly faded returns and permeates the classroom.

The boy scratches his chin, looking down at her. "That was a pretty nasty fall. Her head bounced right off the platform. She'd have to be using cheat codes to be okay after that."

"Hm. Think we could get her for the baseball club?" another of the students, a boy with rough-cut loose black hair, mutters.

"That's way too much to hope for!" another boy says loudly. "If that happened, she'd take us straight to the regionals!"

"Fujimura-sensei! Fujimura-sensei!" The girl leaning over her gently pushes on her shoulder, then pulls back, shaking her head. "Guys, it's no good! She's not responding!"

"Hey, since you're in front of her, you should try to wake her up," suggests the first boy to have spoken, much to the agitation of the third, who shakes his head.

"What!? No way! What if she's really dead, and she comes back to life and kills me?!"

The first boy sighs, shaking his head.

"Guys, things could get bad if we leave her like this," the girl says, standing upright and backing away.

"But what can we do? No one wants to go near her," the first boy says, still shaking his head.

"Guess there's no helping it," another boy says, folding his arms across his chest. "There's one thing we can try."

Silently, the girl gives a single, solemn nod.

Every other student nods as well. Except for Shinji, who remains at his desk, looking pale as he seems to know what everyone is about to do, and Shirou, who definitely knows what everyone is about to do.

In a chorus so quiet you could probably still hear a pin drop, everyone joins their voices together in a strange, ritualistic chant.

"One, two… wake up, Tiger!"

Quieter words may never have been spoken, and the last word is quieter still. Yet somehow they still send a frightful chill down Shirou's spine, causing him to shudder as he looks toward the only other person in the room with sense enough to refuse to partake in this nonsense. Despite his smug grin, his face is still pale, and he gives a slight shudder as well.

Shirou shakes his head, remaining silent.

Yeah, no way in hell. If I did that again, Sakura'd hate me forever. And I might actually face divine—!

His thoughts stop dead. Despite the class speaking the words so quietly it would require extra-sensitive instruments to detect them, they still evoke a subtle twitch from their silent teacher's still-fallen form.

Shirou swallows hard, finding it difficult for his throat and mouth so suddenly dry.

"Whoa, she moved! It's working, everyone!" a male voice declares excitedly.

"All right!" another male student cheers. "Then continue the treatment!"

Shirou sighs as he returns to his seat, trying to steady himself as he attempts to find some justification for the class's unified insanity.

Maybe everyone is stressed over the coming exams? They should definitely know better than this. It's suicide by stupidity.

A sort of hive-mind mentality takes over as the students repeat their teacher's forbidden nickname while waving their arms about, adding volume to their cries.

"Wake up, Tiger! It's morning!" "Sensei! You're a tiger if you don't wake up!" "Don't give up, Tiger!" "Stand up, Tiger!" "Yeah! Wake up, Sensei! Then you'll be a true Tiger!"

Each student who cries out does so with their own subtle variation or twist, and each time the word reaches her ears, Fujimura's body gives another twitch, shake, or tremble, with each increasing in strength.

"Ta-Ee-Ger! Ta-Ee-Ger! Ta-Ee-Ger! Ta-Ee-Ger! Ta-Ee-Ger! Ta-Ee-Ger!"

Six times, they repeat the word, giving strong, strange emphasis to each syllable as they join their voices together. Finally, her eyes snap open and she springs to her feet, her hands clenched outward at her sides and her mouth open in a feral yell.

"GAHHH! DON'T CALL ME TIGER!"

Somehow, it's as if the past few minutes hadn't happened at all. The fall, her striking her head, none of it, as she stands in the center of the class, roaring her discontent. As hale and hearty as she'd been the second she'd woken up that morning.

"Huh?" As suddenly as she'd sprung up and yelled, she's returned to whatever passes as normal for her, looking around the room with a confused stare as all the students have gathered around her. "What are you all doing? You can't be standing up in the middle of homeroom like this. Everyone to your seats so we can get started."

The students nod and walk toward their seats, some murmuring quietly as they do.

"Seems Tiger doesn't remember what just happened."

"Lucky for us. We were really fortunate this morning."

"Well, I wouldn't call it 'lucky'."

Two of the boys comment on their small blessing, while a third disagrees.

"Huh?" Standing behind the lectern, Fujimura turns her brown-eyed stare around the room, frowning as she holds her hands at her sides. "Did someone just make fun of me?"

"No, we didn't. Maybe you imagined it?" lies one student, shaking his head.

"All right, good," she says, folding her hands at her waist and smiling again. "Then I'll start homeroom, so everyone please listen."

Shirou sighs, palming his face, which bears a small smile of relief.

Jeez, Fuji-nee… I mean, I figured, but still.

He stifles a small yawn as she rattles off the morning announcements, chatting meaninglessly between each one and causing the entire process to proceed at a snail's pace.