"Shirou I'm here for breakfast!"

Life was peaceful for one Emiya Shirou. The occasional hiccups that came in the form of club activities and feeding a childish guardian came up here and there making things a little bit bumpy for him, but he was proud to say that he was used to them at this point. How could he not? At this point, he'd technically been living all by himself in the huge mansion his adoptive father had left behind for him to inherit. It got to a point where things got a little bit too peaceful...

"Ah, senpai, please let me deal with Fujimura-sensei." The gentle but half-done smile his underclassmen gave him managed to reassure him. "Please watch over the miso so that it wouldn't boil over."

"Un." He returned her smile with his own. "Tell Fuji-nee that we're making her favorite, that'll make her less noisy when waiting."

"That it will."

Having Sakura over to help him with breakfast was not always a privilege he possessed. While he never asked the demure girl for it, she offered to help him with the standard affairs; making breakfast, cleaning, and even dinner occasionally. So Shirou was not a stranger having to make breakfast for more than one. In fact, he had to make enough food for five. Taiga's stomach counted for two.

The other one...

"Ah, Fuji-nee," he called out to his guardian who had turned on the television to watch the morning news broadcast, "please set up the table. Sakura, can you help me bring the food to the table please?"

And just like that, breakfast began. It was a quick affair setting up the table. How could it not when the English teacher of the local high school did so with such zeal and anticipation at having to partake in her favorite type of foodstuffs: namely Shirou's cooking. The junior of the residence's owner herself did good in helping out her senior with bringing the dishes to the table. All that's left at this point is to bring the rice cooker over to the table and portion out the rice there.

"Oh yeah!" The only legal adult in the room cheered when her charge and his junior brought the sole – one of the reasons why she was here in the first place out. "Karaage, agedashi tofu, potato salad and miso soup! Shirou, you're a man after my own stomach!"

The man in question sighed, if not for the fact that he had heard the exact same words the day before. And he was serving her a different set of food altogether. "That means anyone who works at your favorite take-out place is good enough for you, Fuji-nee..."

"Uh huh! Yours is different, it's like, heaven and earth different!"

Again, the adoptive son of Emiya Kiritsugu sighed. "Let's just get breakfast started already. You need to be in school before us students, Fuji-nee, and you don't want to be late again!"

Taiga blanched at the verbal reminder of her previous case of tardiness. "Ugh... please don't remind me, Shirou, Kuzuki-sensei scolded me enough for that one time already! I don't need to be hearing about it from my little brother too!"

"Maa, Fujimura-sensei," Sakura approached in a mediating manner. "I'm sure senpai and Kuzuki-sensei mean well. You can't be setting a bad example for the student body now can you?"

"Uuh... you're right Sakura."

"Just eat, Fuji-nee."

Although Taiga could be a pain to deal with, Shirou was happy that she managed to find time to join him and Sakura for breakfast. On a good day, she would only be able to join them for either breakfast or dinner but not both. On a great day, Taiga's there both for breakfast and dinner. Sakura too. When she was not preoccupied with her club, classroom duties, or family-related business, she would find time to join him and Taiga, thus making life in the Emiya residence a lot less bleak.

As they partake in the delicious affair that was breakfast, the house descended into a calm and quiet mood. The main building of the residence was large on its own, with it comprising several rooms and multiple hallways, so the quietness and peaceful mood were made even more so coupled with the cozy yet elegant Japanese aesthetic. Shirou had wondered for a long time why his adoptive father decided to purchase a Japanese styled mansion as opposed to a normal house. But he couldn't say he's complaining. His current dwelling was a nice place to live in, after all.

"Ah, Sakura, can you fetch me the obento I placed on the counter?" He was stuck bringing out the laundry to air them out on the clotheslines outside while his junior was doing the dishes inside. Taiga left as soon as she finished her second serving of food. Typical Tiger.

Hearing her senpai's voice coming from the yard outside through one of the windows left open in the kitchen, Sakura responded, "Okay! Do you think he'll like what you make this time? Today's breakfast was better than usual, even if it's just Fujimura-sensei's favorites! I'm pretty sure he liked what you made for him last time and was just saying that because he wanted to tease you!"

"I know!" Shirou huffed in reply, raising his voice slightly so that Sakura could hear him from the kitchen. "I made sure to go all out preparing today's breakfast, just in case!" Even from where he was, he could hear Sakura's gentle giggling coming all the way from the kitchen.

The senior and junior duo made sure that they have everything prepared to bring with them to school. The stoves were off and the gas valve was locked as an extra precaution, Sakura also turned off the lights in the house and he made sure that the shed was locked tight. All in all, they were ready to start their walk to school.

Not before doing a little detour.

Shirou hated idleness. While most of his classmates revel in the action – or inaction in this case – of delaying and postponing things ranging from their assignments and tasks, he hated not being able to do anything. This was something he figured he had early on in life. As early as he could remember his life, at least. When his foster father passed, he left behind quite a hefty amount of inheritance that was left for him under his guardian's discretion. Coupled with the house, he was pretty well off.

And what do well off people have in abundance? Time. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. It's nice to have time for himself every now and then, but he just felt like he could've done something more… more worthy in those free time. This led him to join several clubs in middle school just so that he could fill in those empty slots. That was also the moment when he started to take an interest in fixing things and doing mechanical work. He's far from a professional, but with the help of Structural Grasp magecraft he'd fixed a few broken air conditioners and heaters for the people in the neighborhood.

This reputation for being a handyman stuck with him all the way to high school today. Hell, he'd even go as far as to say that it made him even more 'famous'.

Homurahara's brownie… they called him. Mister Fake Janitor and the school's resident gopher were also nicknames he'd earned. It didn't bother hearing people refer to him with those names. As long as people needed help, he'd try his best to give all the help he could.

And what he was doing currently could be considered helping too in a way.

Sakura and Shirou did not have to walk that long to reach their destination. It was good that the place was not too far from Shirou's house and in the same direction towards his and Sakura's school, so they didn't have to rush to make it before the bell. The pair of students stopped in front of a wooden gate, not unlike the one leading into Shirou's house. It had a different plaque stamped on it, however, one that read 'Hyuuga'. With casual grace, the two pushed the gates over and entered the complex. They walked on the paved concrete pathway leading through the courtyard.

Potted plants and trees were lined up along the pathway, giving life to an otherwise barren front yard. There were hedges and trees planted along the walls surrounding the complex to provide greenery and shade, but aside from the paved concrete path, the front yard was pretty much barren with little to no grass growing. The two students reached the door to the main building and they did not hesitate to slide the reinforced modernized shoji door open so that they could make entry into the house.

Already, similarities could be made with his own house. But he never really thought about it, seeing as there are quite a few Japanese styled mansions like his and this one in the area. It'd be strange to see a house like this and his further South, where the Western-styled houses were.

After taking off their shoes, Sakura and Shirou made their way to the hall and further into the house. Shirou took it a step further by making his way into the kitchen of this house and placing the lunch box he was carrying on the counter.

...at least that's what he would've done if not for the person who had fallen asleep on the table in the living room.

"Haaa… he fell asleep outside again."

Surprisingly, this came from Sakura. The young girl watched, her eyes showing a rare glimpse of worry, as she approached the figure who had the upper half of their body flat and spread across the dining table.

She turned to her senpai, giving him a look, saying, "I'll wake him up, senpai. You can brew the tea in the meantime…"

Her eyes trailed over to the pile of crumpled paper balls strewn and stacked on one corner of the living-dining room hybrid. "Looks like he'd had a busy night…" She knelt beside the person, who was still fast asleep, and gently shook their kimono covered form. "Hyuuga-san, wake up. Hyuuga-san."

Shirou watched the sight of his junior waking up the master and only resident of this house with slight amusement. It seemed that only that man could bring out Sakura's rare strict side. It didn't happen often, so, he could not help but watch the scene as he was brewing the tea. Thankfully, he remembered where the man put what little dining utensils he had. He turned on the stove, put water into the kettle, and began brewing the tea leaves before leaving it to simmer until it's done.

Meanwhile, Sakura's attempt at waking up the owner of the mansion had only been that: an attempt. Sighing in exasperation, the daughter of the Matou family shook her head. "He must've pulled an all-nighter and fell asleep sometime this morning for him to be this tired." Curious, she picked up one of the many crumpled pieces of paper that were nearby. She then unfurled it. "What's this… ah."

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

Shirou blinked upon seeing the expression Sakura was making. He didn't want to say that his junior was a cold person. No. Sakura was everything but cold. She's shy, reserved, and generally a quiet person. She kept to herself and was very polite, never wanting to trouble anyone to the point where people couldn't help but feel concerned for her.

She, however, based on his candid observations during recess and after school hours, rarely showed excitement.

So he couldn't help but be transfixed seeing Sakura with a huge eye thinning smile and glimmer.

"Look, senpai!" She eagerly flattened the once was a piece of crumpled paper, flipping it and showing her senior the contents of the paper. "This is a draft for Hyuuga-sensei's manuscript! He's working on a new book, isn't it great?"

If he was curious before, then he was surprised now. Sakura didn't strike him as an easily excitable girl. She was always reserved and quiet. So seeing her this… enthusiastic over something was… overwhelming in its own way.

"Is it?" A smile made way on Shirou's own face. He leaned forward slightly to take a closer look at the piece of paper his junior was holding. "Huh, looks like it is. It's been a while ever since his last book… when was it again? Four… three or so years ago?"

"Three years ago," supplied the purple-haired girl, now noticeably calmer than before. Her eyes remained glued to the wrinkled piece of paper, however. "Even before that, I've always been a huge fan of Hyuuga-sensei's work."

Shirou let out a well-mannered laugh, which caused the girl's face to heat up considerably. "That you were. I still remember the first time we found out that Hyuuga-san's been the famous Jiraiya-sensei all along. You surprised both of us with how loud you screamed. We even had to rush back to your house and sneak back out with a copy of some of his books for him to sign."

"P-Please don't remind me of something so embarrassing in the morning senpai…" If Shirou had as much awareness as the next person, he would've considered the way his junior's face heat up even more along with how red it was as something cute. But, alas, awareness was something the boy lacked.

"Still…" Shirou joined Sakura on the tatami matted floor of the living room, picking up a crumpled ball of paper of his own for him to examine. "It's interesting that out of all the medium he could've used to tell a story, he chose a Light Novel of all things…"

"Well, I'm glad regardless," Sakura said, chuckling. "The reason why I know of Hyuuga-sensei's books in the first place was because of Onii-sama. Don't tell him I tell you, but, he used to have a collection of Hyuuga-sensei's earlier works."

"Eh?" Shirou's reason for surprise was overwritten just like that. "Shinji? Him? Really?"

Sakura could not help but find her senpai's surprise over the knowledge that her brother read Light Novels amusing. "Yes." Her smile dimmed down. "But Ojii-sama… he found out about it one day and threw away all of it, calling them useless scraps that are not worthy of someone from the Matou family. I think it's one of the main reasons why Onii-sama is the way he is now."

Shirou grunted, eyes glancing back at the paper he's holding and his junior. "Maybe…"

"Ohya ohya ohya… 'useless scraps that are not worthy of someone' is it…?"

Catching them by surprise, a third voice joined in their conversation. A deeper, older, and more tired sounding voice. To the two students' surprise and brief shock, the once asleep novelist had woke up in a manner, not unlike a feline. He stretched his hands first and foremost, letting his joints pop in all sorts of places. Although still bleary and dim, his eyes were quickly getting used to the idea of being awake.

He was the picture of youthful maturity. Isolating his face from the rest of his figure alone one could easily mistake him for being someone younger. The mane of blonde hair that framed his face was maintained to look spiky but not unruly, showing an amount of self-care someone younger would normally forego in favor of looking more leisure.

Although it was hard to properly see due to the lights being off, his eyes showed just the right color of blue to further emphasize his youthful countenance. All in all, he wouldn't look out of place in a fashion magazine. The image of a blue-eyed blond-haired foreigner dressed in a traditional Japanese male kimono would certainly play into the intrigue and curiosity of anyone looking.

"Looks like I'll finally need to have a few words with that grandfather of yours, Matou-chan, maybe even introduce him to my works personally so that I could change his opinion on them, hmm?" His voice, like his looks, was a mishmash of two separate generations blending into one. It sounded old, but it carried with it the tenacity and playfulness a much younger soul would possess.

"Hyuuga-san… you scared us. Can you please stop doing that?" The glare Shirou directed at the novelist carried no real heat, but it was more than enough to convey his annoyance at the author's over to the man who was currently chuckling in the aftermath of scaring two kids.

"Sorry," the oldest person in the house managed to say while tittering. "Couldn't resist it. The two of you were practically lost in your own world. You sure you're not dating, the both of you?"

"N-No!" The only girl present was quick to shot down the author's question. "Senpai and I aren't like that."

"Hyuuga-san, please don't tease Sakura too much," scolded the red-haired boy.

"Can't help it, Shirou-bou." The author finally settled on a smile, rather than the teasing smirk he had previously. "The two of you looked so cute huddled up together over there. What were you two doing anyway?"

Shirou gave him one last look of exasperation. He was still getting used to the author's antics, even after a few years of knowing him. It'd be wrong to compare him to Taiga, but, the similarities were there.

"It's this." Sakura handed the novelist one of the wrinkled papers she'd gathered earlier. "You're writing a new book, right? Is it a new volume for the Menma Gaiden series? Or is it a new series entirely?"

Letting out a long yawn, it took several seconds before the man could answer the young girl's question. He got rid of the sleepiness in his system by crinking his limbs awake, cracking his fingers and joints and neck. He let his baby blue eyes roam towards the paper the girl had laid out on the table before him.

"Ah, yes. Sorry for the mess." He said while giving them an apologetic smile. "I had an all-nighter until five this morning. My editors wanted to get the draft earlier than usual because they were planning to film a documentary on how the industry works or something like that."

He then looked at Sakura square in the eyes, smiling. "And, yes, it's for the next issue of the Menma Gaiden series."

Upon hearing the news straight from the horse's mouth, Sakura's reaction was immediate. She lit up like a candle in an otherwise dark living room, where the only source of light was the sunlight seeping in through the frosted glass panels on the roof.

He saw the look on the girl's face, then decided to not let the good news end there.

"Tell you what… if the two of you do a little favor for me fetching a trinket of mine that one of the priests from the temple borrowed after school, I'll see to it that you two receive the first and second edition of my newest work as soon as they finished printing it."

"Really?" Sakura's voice surprised Shirou, but he too would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit excited over what he'd just heard. "Will you really do that?" the girl asked with childlike wonder.

"Sure. It's my book, after all. And naturally, I have a say on what goes when it comes to my work."

Shirou was not as well versed in the Menma Gaiden series as Sakura was, but he had read some of the series' previous installment to appreciate the work.

On the surface, the Menma Gaiden series of Light Novels were just that: literature. Like many in its genre, it played a lot into the usual tropes and cliché and had also produced trends of its own that managed to influence other works similar to it. It was popular ever since it was published, coupled with the increasing demand of creative content, and was well received.

It certainly appealed to his age range. Teenagers. And the genre reflected that too. It told of stories of the protagonist, Menma, as he strived to become the King of his country. He would then go on adventures with his friends, encounter adversaries, and accomplish many things. It was this aspect of the series that appealed to Shirou when he was younger. The story of a boy who helped people and saved the day.

"That'd be great," Shirou said.

"I'm glad, then." The author chuckled, shaking his head. "Now, why don't you two run off to school? You got club dontcha' Matou-chan? And Shirou-bou, I heard that you've taken over as the school's custodian or something?"

"I do." Sakura then giggled, hiding her smile behind a dainty hand. "And senpai hasn't taken over as the school's custodian, but he will be helping out the archery club with a few maintenances here and there."

"Yeah, exactly what I just said, school's custodian."

"Haa… let's go Sakura, or else we're gonna be late. I've left the obento on the counter in the kitchen. You can heat up it up in the microwave if you want. I'll grab the lunchbox later after school on the way home."

With one last goodbye, the two students left the Hyuuga residence. The master of the house had walked the two to the door, waving his own goodbye at the disappearing forms of the two high school students. He watched both of them walk with a smile, noticing that even more teenagers wearing uniforms were starting to occupy the street.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his blond hair. "Hm… I think it's about time for me to trim my hair…" then, he shivered when a gust of wind breezed by. "On second thought, I think I'm going to need as much hair as I could with how chilly it's getting." He yawned, hiding it behind the loose sleeve of his kimono. "Gosh, it's not even the season for it yet it's already this cold. Better get the heater running…"

mumbling to himself, he made his way back inside his house. The blond hair blue-eyed owner of the Hyuuga residence walked through the hallway of the main building before stopping to turn on the thermostat. Once he felt the air conditioning unit kicking in, he let out a sigh of pleasure as he felt warm air rising to heat up the entire house.

"Thank the Log for modern technology."

He returned back to the living room and turned on the lights. With Shirou's obento heated up from the microwave, and the freshly brewed tea Shirou made for him filled into a mug next to him, he began to partake in his late breakfast.

"Ohya? The boy had outdone himself."

He picked up a piece of fried chicken with the chopsticks, taking one huge bite that saw to it being consumed.

"Hm… it's good."

"But not as good as hers, right?"

From within his soul, a deep voice rumbled. However, what was once an intimidating and overwhelming feeling, was now merely a husk of its former self. Naruto felt their connection from within him. With the Seal his father placed in him gone, his connection with his tenant was closer than ever.

However, time and several lunar-based circumstances have managed to deteriorate the link with his long time partner.

"I don't think it'd be fair to judge the kid for not being able to compete with her, Kurama." The shadow of a man who was once the hope of his world whispered to the entity he had befriended all those years ago. "She was the only woman who managed to make me eat the stuff I hated. Finished them too."

"Hm." The oldest and most powerful of the Tailed Beasts rumbled in agreement. "Even so, I can tell you enjoy the boy's cooking. It's done your body a lot of good, as far as I can tell. You're less tired than you usually are and you don't have to gather as much chakra as before."

The long and forgotten hero snorted. "I think that's just one of the way this world is trying to shaft us. I hadn't forgotten the first time I was actually low on chakra in this world. How was I supposed to know that this reality operated on a different set of rules as the one back home? Not being able to gather the ambient chakra from the atmosphere easily to restore the amount I've used? What kind of shitty world is this?"

"Don't tempt it, you fool." The Nine Tailed Demonic Fox reproached, making his host feel that he meant every word he said by sending a sensation through their link. "Need I also remind you of what happened the last time you temp whatever forces that governed this world? That ice berg it sent sunk the boat you were on was very real and deadly, seeing as it sunk more than a thousand souls just so that it could stop you from getting to New York. They even made a damn movie out of it. A movie you watched and got kicked out of because you wouldn't stop complaining about how 'inaccurate' and how much of a 'bullshit' it was."

"Sheesh, you don't have to remind me…" The most unpredictable ninja of his time had the decency to look embarrassed at the memory his friend made him recall. "Besides, I wasn't just mad because of that. Sure, the lost of life was nothing short of a tragedy, but the fact that it knew I was going to New York to meet up with a few contacts of mine was what truly pissed me off. Do you realize what I could've done had I made it to New York? I could've prevented the clusterfuck that led up to the First World War. All I needed was meet a few folks in New York and that little rat Princip wouldn't have had his chance of assassinating the Archduke."

He sighed. "Oh well. What happened, happened. There's nothing I could do about it anymore at this point." He set down his utensils, after having finished his meal. "But as far as meals go, the boy had outdone himself this time. I'll need to give him a little reward for trying so hard."

"Let me guess," Kurama's voice bled through the link in a deadpan manner. "That's why you told the boy and his girl to head over to the temple to retrieve this 'trinket' of yours, so that you could hand it to him under the guise of a 'reward'. Heh." The fox snorted. "How original of you."

"Hey, hey, knock it off." Naruto huffed, simultaneously closing the lid of the obento and carrying it over to the kitchen sink for him to wash. Turning on the kitchen sink, he then said, "it's a nice setup and you know it. Doesn't it sound good? A mysterious man tasked a boy in retrieving an unknown item, the boy then returned with the intention of giving the item to the man, only to be surprised when the man bestowed it to him instead. It's classic."

"It's uninspiring. Just like the rest of your works."

The sound of his knee hitting the kitchen cupboard echoed throughout the house.

"Wha– you take that back Kurama, that's totally uncalled for!"

"Hm… whatever you say…" was the last thing the Ninth Tailed Beast said before resuming its slumber.

Tohsaka Rin stared off into space.

Surely, this was unbecoming of a model student like her, but there were matters that were just too important that she could not help but let both eyes and mind stray from the lesson her teacher was teaching her and her classmates.

It's not like she would miss out a lot from dozing off anyway. She had preemptively learned the school's curriculum before the term even started, so it's more like the lessons having to catch up with her than the opposite.

That left her a lot of time to focus on the things that really mattered. Things related to the Moonlit World she was a part of and not some mundane boorish drivel like homework and exams. If she wanted she could've entered a college-level education, but her 'caretaker' – and yes, she was using that term loosely – decided against it.

He brought up reasons such as drawing unwanted attention due to her not being of age and it being unnecessary as she would enroll in the Clock Tower eventually.

Not to mention, she didn't have time to prepare for something like college or university this time around. The reason? The Heavens Feel ritual that was about to take place within her territory of Fuyuki. It was the first real step to make her debut as a Magus, having to prepare for it for the longest time. With her father's works that he had left behind after he, unfortunately, perished in the previous iteration of the ritual, she – with the guidance of her caretaker – had been training and developing herself for this event.

She already went through the steps and scenarios she would take during the duration of the war. She would scout out potential masters, register herself as a participant of the ritual in the church and let that fake priest ordain her, summon a strong Servant – a Saber-class, preferably – and eliminate the other enemy Servants and win the Holy Grail.

Although she had little personal desire for the relic, it would certainly be great if she were to have it in her possession. Just think of what the other Magi in the Clock Tower would say about her? She'd be the first Magi in modern history to have 'won the Holy Grail' in her résumé. That's enough to turn a few heads over her way when she eventually joined the ranks of the Magi in the Clock Tower.

The ringing of the school's bell interrupts her dozing off, causing her to assume her honor student persona by appearing thoughtful and contemplative.

"That's it for today's lesson, we'll be resuming where we left off tomorrow. Class rep, don't forget to collect everyone's assignment before leaving the school and drop them on my desk in the faculty office." Their teacher, a serious and intimidating looking man by name of Souichiro Kuzuki-sensei, said as he began dismissing the class.

And just like that, another day of school was over. She had no reason to stay behind, not even to play her honor student role by helping out the faculty. Today, she intended to head straight home and review some of the research materials she had scrounged from her father's studies.

Maybe buy some groceries before that? She didn't feel like ordering take-out.

"Goodbye Tohsaka-san!"

"Have a good evening Tohsaka-san, keep up the good work."

"See you later Tohsaka-san!"

Classmates and teachers alike both said their goodbyes as she made her way towards the school entrance. It felt nice, being recognized. Her carefully crafted persona was just convincing enough for people to have a good impression of her, but also distant enough to prevent them from getting too close to her.

She's aware of how 'uncute' it might seem, hiding her true self, but she decided to stop taking advice from people who weren't her quite a while ago.

She approached her shoe locker and thanking God above for the lack of any envelopes or something similar. It's about time they stopped doing something as childish as that. Putting love letters in shoe lockers? That was probably a thing in the 90s.

"Yo Tohsaka."

Rin flinched, dropping her loafers with a resounding plop on the floor. Just because the love letters stop coming, it didn't always mean that they've stopped trying.

Turning around to face the source of her current irritation, Rin had to try twice as hard to make her smile look convincing. The sight of greasy purple hair, the scent of cheap cologne, and the throwaway harlots hanging off from the boy were enough to make her lose her appetite.

Unfortunately, this was a sight she was slowly getting used to. Not for the lack of trying, mind you.

"Good evening to you too, Shinji. How may I help you?" Her smile was saccharine sweet, akin to concentrated diabetes.

"You may do so by joining us for karaoke, how about it?" The greasy, seaweed looking greaser had a smile that her fist would not hesitate to get to know with. "I'm sure I can spare an extra spot just for you."

The wink he sent her made her shiver visibly. Never mind the grating voice and manner he carried himself with, his mere presence alone was like a needle with how easily he got underneath her skin whenever he's nearby.

Matou Shinji. Resident playboy and all around Casanova. This boy went through girlfriends like she did jewels. The girls hanging around him right now were also a different set than the one she remembered from last week. How deplorable.

"No thank you, Shinji." Regardless of how badly she wanted to introduce Shinji to her fist, her image came up first in the totem pole of priorities. "I have an errand I need to run. My guardian wouldn't let me wander off so late anyway."

"Keh." Shinji scoffed, the confident smirk dropping from his face all entirely, replaced by a more fitting expression on his face: petty frustration. "What's with people and having errands? First Emiya, then my own little sister and then you? Unbelievable. We're high schoolers, not corporate slaves."

That second part got her attention. "Hm? Your sister? I thought she'd be busy with the archery club?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at Shinji. "Shouldn't you be at your club? Seeing as you're the Vice Captain and all?"

"Feh." Once again Shinji scoffed, but this time his punchable smirk returned. "Tohsaka, Tohsaka, Tohsaka. Like any other good leaders out there, I delegate. And, yes, she should be. But Mitsuzuri told them that they could leave early as thanks for filling in for her last time."

Well wasn't that interesting?

Her relationship with one Matou Sakura was a strange one. Aside from the fact that they're sisters estranged at a very young age, she would describe them to be acquaintances at best. Not close enough to be friends, but aware of each other's position both within and outside of school.

Certainly a better relationship than the one she had with the girl's brother.

"So how about it, Tohsaka, why don't you-"

"No thanks Shinji, I have to go now."

She left for the gates, unable to bear a second more at the receiving end of Shinji's desperate attempts to get her to join him and his gaggles of girls. She let a small smile slip on her face at hearing the boy wailing out his frustration.

Her destination after leaving school was the market, which was not far from the school but always a chore to walk to whenever she was at home, hence her preference for ordering take-out meals.

Although she had a guardian, that man was pretty much absent from her daily life as he had other duties to attend to. This resulted in her having to learn how to cook and prepare her own meals. Although she was not a bad cook by normal standard, it was always a hassle to prepare and clean up after herself.

And since that man basically manages the estate her father left behind as well as whatever inheritance he left for her, she was pretty much at the mercy of that fake priest. It's worse when he

"Your total is 5,000 Yen, will you be using your point card for your purchase?"

"Point card, please." Just because she was the Tohsaka heiress it didn't mean she was exempted from being frugal every now and then.

The cashier finished the transaction and Rin left the supermarket with a bag full of ingredients. She planned on making fried rice, one of her specialty dishes, but bought enough ingredients to last her the week.

She wouldn't have much time to spare aside from what few she had already assigned to attending school and schoolwork. She also wanted to cut off spending by not ordering take-out as often, besides, she could always use the practice of cooking.

"Ah."

"Oof!"

It seemed that she had made the mistake of letting her mind wander while walking. The result was her bumping into a fellow pedestrian. A much taller and firmer pedestrian. Rin dropped her schoolbag and her groceries, but from the sound of it, the eggs she bought didn't break. She took a cautious step backwards, assessing the situation by turning towards the person she had bumped into.

"I'm sorry, it seemed I've…"

It was one of the few rare cases of her committing a blunder, she was hoping no one from school witnessed her. She looked up to get a better look of the face of the person she bumped into. Blue eyes greeted her, conveying nothing but sheepishness.

"No, no, half the fault's on me." The man dismissed her apology before she could say anything more. He knelt down, examining her shopping bag. "How is it? Anything broke?"

"No, fortunately," Rin told the polite stranger. Although she was talking to a stranger she had never met before, she could not help but project her honor student persona. Well, he was an older person, after all, perhaps that's why?

"That's good, wouldn't want to ruin whatever you're planning on cooking." She received a friendly smile, one that she was used to getting from her teachers and classmates. "What about you? Didn't hit you too hard, did I?"

Rin almost wanted to scoff, but manners and her need to maintain an image prevented her from doing so. "Not at all. I'm sorry for bumping into you, but I have to head home now." She bowed, if not only for the sake of showing the gesture.

"Yeah, goodbye, Ojou-chan." The foreign man said, his voice carried by the wind. Rin swore she saw one of his eyes flash into purple before flickering back to blue. "Be careful."

Rin spared the man one last glance before she took off. As she walked away, she couldn't help but scratch the back of her neck, feeling it suddenly itching.

"You… want me to have this?"

Sakura wasn't able to follow him in finishing the favor that Naruto asked them to do. She said she had to go home immediately after she finished club activities, but Shirou had spent enough time to know that it was just one of Shinji's way of troubling the sister. He would've convinced the girl to come with him, but he knew better than to convince Sakura out of her family business, regardless if it's real or fake.

So he went and climbed up the temple. One of the priests there who recognized him to be a friend of their head priest's son was kind enough to bring the item to him. Imagine his surprise when he found out that said trinket was in fact a dagger of some sort.

It surprised him, but he didn't ask anything else and merely brought it to its owner.

"Yes." The blond-haired novelist, who had the opportunity of taking a bath and partake in an early supper, confirmed. He looked to be in a better condition as opposed to earlier this morning.

"But…" Shirou traced his eyes all along the surface of the dagger, eyeing it with confusion. "Why?" he asked eventually.

Naruto shrugged, his shoulders peeking out from the loosely draped kimono he was wearing. "Why not? It's served its purpose if the monks over at the temple are done using it, I've no particular use of it, and you've been a helpful little kid to me over the past few months. Do I need any more reason?" said the blond man with several owlish blinks.

Shirou laid down the unique looking dagger on the table, still mesmerized by its appearance. It was quite a large and hefty piece, hence him referring it as a dagger rather than a knife. He knew, by design at the very least, that it was a kunai. But rather than having a simple blade, it instead had a three-pronged blade instead of one. The handle was made thicker than normal and was wrapped with a cloth-like material with ink scribbling inscribed onto it. The pommel bore the familiar O-ring that most kunai were famous for and if it wasn't for it, he wouldn't have known it was a kunai, to begin with.

"What were the priests using something like this for?" It was not hard to detect the curiosity in Shirou's voice.

"I visited them a few weeks back and noticed that they were having a rehearsal for a ceremony of some sort." the novelist replied briefly, "they needed something to use as a prop for the ceremony and it just so happened that they needed a dagger."

"And you just happen to have what they were looking for?" the redhead asked incredulously.

Naruto shrugged in an uncaring manner. "I brought them the thing, they liked it, and they decided to borrow it. End of story, really." He then took a long sip of tea from his mug. "It was already mine, I've had it for a long time but aside from it being sentimental, it had no real value to me. I would've given them the damn thing if they'd ask, but they didn't."

"Wow."

"Oh come on, it's just a knife, nothing to go 'wow' over." A pair of blue eyes rolled themselves sideways. "I'm sure you've seen more interesting ones before."

Whether or not Shirou noticed the sarcasm in the man's voice was up for debate, but one thing was clear. This dagger – tool or whatever – was no ordinary item. He did not dare try to Structural Grasp the thing in front of a person, for the sake of not exposing his more private 'hobby'.

The sound of Television playing in the background to fill in the emptiness the room would have otherwise provide made for a weird atmosphere. Shirou never expected to be rewarded for his work, but he had people trying to do so anyway. The usual thing to do from that point was to deny payment and leave, but for some odd reason, he felt compelled to accept the reward he was given this time.

Maybe it's because it's not monetary? Or maybe it's because it's a blade he'd been given?

"Oi, Shirou-bou," the man's call was enough to return him back to his surroundings, "what's the matter there? Are you seriously putting that much thought into it? Either take it or leave it, I don't care."

"No, no." The adoptive son of the Magus Killer quickly said. "I'll take it. This is…" he struggled to find his words, "thank you."

"Hmm." the blonde man hummed in a satisfactory manner. "You should get used to that feeling."

"I'm sorry?"

"You should get used to feeling rewarded for your efforts." clarified the blond man succinctly. "Newton's third law, boy. For every action you do, there's always going to be an equal and opposite reaction. Since you did me a favor, I returned it in the form of a reward. All you gotta do is accept it."

The boy pursed his lips. "But what if there's nothing worth rewarding?"

A hollow chuckle echoed throughout the living room, courtesy of the owner of the house himself. He gave Shirou a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but the way glimmer and looked more than makeup for it.

"There's always something worth rewarding, boy." the aged foreigner told the young native somberly. "You might not consider it a reward in the traditional sense, but there will always be. As I've said, all you gotta do is accept it."

After placing the dagger inside his schoolbag, cleaning up the mugs they used for drinking, and saying a final goodbye, Shirou then left the author's property. He made his walk home not only with a new item, but also a new feeling for him to ponder.

It didn't take long for the red-headed boy to reach his own residence, it being near in the first place. He took off his shoes, laid down his bag in the living room, took out the chicken to defrost, and prepared himself a nice hot bath.

Soaking in the bathwater, his thoughts began drifting off to what Naruto had told him earlier.

"'All you got to do is accept'… huh?" murmured the boy. He sighed, before sinking his head into the water to revitalize himself.

He might not exactly know what the man meant by what he said, but he knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

"So you've decided to give it to him, huh?"

"Yup."

The night sky when observed from this part of Fuyuki provided to be a better viewing experience as opposed to when viewed over at Shinto. The pollution from all the light and smog made most of the stars invisible, but no amount of man-made effluent could block out the giant, pale petri dish floating in the sky.

He felt his pulse quickening when he stared at the white celestial body. The reason why it reacted the way it did was a subject of discussion he did not like to bring up, even as a soliloquy. Even as his body, his blood, his mind, and his eyes reacted erratically, he still acted as if nothing was wrong.

"...even after all this time, you're still reacting this way." The voice of what was once his burden murmured somberly from within his soul. "Stay still, let me see what I can do."

The relief his partner granted him came in the form of several of his tenketsu being blocked purposefully. He felt whatever effect that was done to him receding as the blocking of his tenketsu allowed him to restrict where his chakra flowed.

"Thank you, ol' pal." he thanked the fox gratefully while massaging his forehead. "I thought I had it under control, but I guess I didn't." He sighed, continuing, "you think it'll be long before I start feeling the need to sink my teeth into the nape of women?"

"Stop it." The blond's cynical query was met with no amusement by the Ninth Tailed Beast. Kurama spat, saying, "You are not a vampire, Naruto. I will not allow my host and partner to lower himself to something as vile and disgusting as those aberrations."

"I'm a pseudo fucking Lunarian, Kurama." The words coming out of his mouth was soft and subdued, "that's already vile and disgusting to me."

The chirping of crickets filled in when Kurama failed to speak. The fox considered himself to be the only one to know the former Uzumaki the most – sometimes he's sure he knew more about the man more than he knew himself – and that was thanks to the connection they share as well as the hardships they had to endure.

Both back then when they were still in their world and right to the moment where they found themselves in this new one, he was with the man through it all. Even when Naruto could've combined his consciousness along with his siblings and into their dormant state, the fool insisted that he wanted him to be there for him.

Trust.

Kurama never trusted anyone. Ever since his creator passed, he never trusted anyone. Not his hosts, certainly not those Uchiha's and not even the other Tailed Beasts who were his siblings.

He had only ever trusted the man known as Uzumaki Naruto. Or Hyuuga Naruto, as he preferred to be called nowadays. An homage to his late and only wife of so long ago.

So, it was with certainty when he said that he could feel the anguish and pain his host felt when they took his humanity from him.

"You had no choice, Naruto…" the fox consoled in a low grumble. "If you hadn't done what you did, then you would've died."

"No. I did die, Kurama." whispered the foreign man hoarsely. "A huge part of me died that day, along with them. I know it's not wrong wanting to save yourself, but does saving yourself even matter if the thing you're supposed to protect died while you do so?"

Kurama could only let the words stew in his thoughts. He felt his host calming down from their link, but the emotion he felt was still present.

"So we'll live. We'll live again as somebody else. As someone else. You don't get to tell me that you've given up, Naruto. Not after all we've been through." There was no anger in the fox's tone. "Human or Moon-folk, you are still my partner. But you are nothing less than that. You hear me?"

A chuckle. "Yeah… I hear you." He shook his head, a smile forming on his face. "Besides… I think we both know it's this world's way of keeping me in check. It labels me as a vampire because it has no previous instances of people or beings with my set of circumstances roaming about… even if it did, it's not keen on letting me go unwatched."

The wind picked up, letting a cool breeze descend over the veranda. Naruto turned his eyes towards the moon once again, but this time, he did so with mismatched eyes. The Genjutsu he had placed over his eyes was put down in favor of letting them bare.

He cast a gazely stare upon the moon. One of red, another purple. One was an endless pattern of kaleidoscope while the other an infinite spiraling ripple. The wind settled down, before eventually dying. It was as if the world itself had flinched under the subject of his gaze.

Grunting, he blinked his vision away, recasting the illusion and returning his eyes to their normal dispositions.

"Something's stirring, Kurama. If I'd care to find out more, I would've done something about it."

"More like 'done something more'." It was one of those moments when Naruto did not have to see his tenant's face to know that he was, in fact, giving him sass. "Those Hiraishin beacons you manipulated those priests to set up on the temple, the ones you placed around town, the one on the kunai you gave to that boy the one you tagged on that Sakura girl a long time ago, and that red girl you encountered on the market should be enough. For now. I'll give it a few weeks before you actually start picking up your own weight and throwing it around just because of how action starved you are."

"Kurama!" The blond man fake admonished. "Are you implying that I do not have the self-control necessary to distance myself with whatever is about to go down in this place? How could you?"

"Yeah, yeah, now say that again without that dumb grin on your face, you blond bastard."

"Hm, let me think about it… nah."

A/N: Welp, here we go again.