His name was Senzaemon Nakiri, the Headmaster of Totsuki Academy and Erina Nakiri's grandfather.

Similar to Erina, Senzaemon had used to possess long locks of flowing blond hair swept behind his back, but it had then shifted into a dull gray with age. He was old, a man that had seen many things in his life, and could be said to have many regrets, most of which concerned his handling of his family's affairs.

He had a distant son-in-law, who he himself had banished due to certain circumstances, and a granddaughter with a skewed personality because of said circumstance.

He raised a hand to scratch an itch on his temple as he thought, the motion causing him to feel a slight resistance from the yukata he wore which was held in place by a white sash. Then again, most of his clothing was rather strained on his figure due to his physique.

It wasn't that he was overly large or anything like that, it was just that regardless of his age, the striated and toned muscles of his youth were unable to remain hidden. Even the smallest outburst on his part could tear his upper garments with a simple flexing. In which case, it became one of his defining factors when judging the quality of food; for when sampling a delicacy, the involuntary shudder of his muscular frame that tore his clothing apart was enough of an indication for what he felt for the dish.

Utterly satisfying, delicious even.

It was only natural that he would feel such a thing when sampling food, for he himself was the Headmaster of a culinary school. Without talent, personality, and drive in the younger generation, then how could the culinary arts be enjoyed by everyone around the world?

His method of thinking wasn't wrong, but it was also what had allowed a son-in-law like Azami Nakiri into his family despite knowing the ambitions Senzaemon had seen in him then.

Regardless of what grievances he had about his past decisions, he had to stop looking at them and instead work towards the present. More specifically, on the temperament of his cherished grandchild.

A spoon found its way to his mouth, carrying on it a fragrant and piping hot dish which used eggs as a main ingredient.

He sampled the dish in his mouth, his teeth grinding upon the soft textures as a pleasant taste spread throughout his mouth. A dish of the homely sort that caused his eyes to widen in thought.

It wasn't ye at the level where he his clothes involuntarily stripped off, but it was close.

He stared at the application paper laid out on the countertop and couldn't understand just how Erina had been marking the criteria for Tostuki's entrance exam.

There was a large Fail mark printed in bold across the application, and he could only smile wryly when he noticed the applicants picture and name.

Soma Yukihira.

Senzaemon paused for a moment as he stared at the papers, seeing just how similar Soma appeared with Saiba Joichiro before smiling.

He could already imagine an unforgettable year, just like that year in the Polar Star Dorm, and yet, the application paper beneath Soma's was what caused Senzaemon to frown.

The paper was listed as Shirou Yukihira, Saiba's eldest and lost son that had gone missing since the unfortunate incident in Fuyuki with the raging fires evident even in the present day.

To be honest, Saiba had asked him for a favour in regards to this eldest child that even if Shirou's culinary skills weren't up to standard that he would be looked after in Totsuki's private grounds. In this way, Shirou could be exempt from most of Totsuki's harsh policies in the short term to see whether the potential and strong character Saiba had said about Shirou was true or not.

In this regard, Senzaemon was actually quite curious. Saiba was a serious sort of man despite his laid- back attitude. He wouldn't just brazenly claim someone had potential in cooking without a justifiable reason and confidence. Of course, Saiba's eldest son had always been a sore topic for the man, making Senzaemon unable to rule out of the possibility of an overestimation, and it was precisely because of this that he was frowning.

Unlike Soma Yukihira's dish which had been able to get his hands on, the food Shirou Yukihira had served was currently out of his reach due to the fact that the dishes were created in separate halls. He had only been fortunate enough to obtain Soma's dish because he had been nearby the first Kitchen area before the employees tossed out the dishes that were deemed failures due to policy.

As such, any thoughts of moving to the other testing area to find Shirou's dish was useless, for Senzaemon knew that the dish was most likely thrown out already.

He sighed, a hand moving down to his pockets to pull out the Nakiri family's seal of approval before he stamped it over Erina's Failed evaluation of Soma Yukihira, passing him.

In the end, Erina's evaluation of a Fail was unjustified for Soma Yukihira. Therefore, as the Headmaster of Totsuki, Senzaemon had to amend it as was his duty.

However, for Shirou Yukihira, Senzaemon was left at an impasse. On one hand, he trusted Erina's judgement, but on another, he had just seen for himself that his granddaughter could be quite petty.

A hand scratched at his beard surrounding his face, before he ultimately decided on a course of action.

Only time will tell if that potential is worthy of attention or not.

Instead of slamming down a passed evaluation over Shirou's application paper, Senzaemon instead left a small note done in accordance with Saiba's request, and his own curiosity and judgment.

When Senzaemon left the room and the employees of Totsuki gathered up all the applications, all they saw in regards to Shirou Yukihira's result was a single glaring word.

Classified.

Now that Shirou thought about, he should have had known that there was something weird going on from the moment Soma received a call informing him of his passed application papers for Totsuki academy. At the time however, he had been too considerate of the competitive flare that flashed in Soma's eyes to bring up any of his suspicions. More so when he knew by Soma's flustered and unwilling expression that he must have had believed that he made something passable and was still failed. Then again, with how Erina Nakiri had glowered at him due to his simple relation to Soma, he probably didn't want to know the story.

In regards to his own evaluation, it was even more bewildering, and should have had been a prime indicator that something was wrong. He had literally walked out of his own examination without waiting for his evaluation. As such, how was it possible for him to have had passed?

Live examinations were generally professional. Before evaluation, leaving was tantamount to forfeiting by disqualification, and yet still, he passed?

It was too difficult to believe that there were no undertones involved which was why he was a fool to have had leisurely gone along with it.

Expectedly, when he and Soma returned to Totsuki Academy he was separated from Soma who was scheduled to attend the First Year Students Assembly and brought elsewhere.

It was a rather secluded area located on a small hill surrounded by farmyard on one side, and forest on the other. At the center, near the foot of the hill, was a small Japanese-styled villa with sliding shoji doors and tatami matting placed in each visible room.

If he had anything he could relate it to, it would be his own manor in Fuyuki where he was raised by Kiritsugu Emiya. The only differences were related to size, as his manor in Fuyuki was more largely spaced with high walls for privacy rather than the bamboo fence around the villa.

Exquisite, would be a rather fitting word to describe the place and scenery, but he couldn't understand why it was he was specifically led to it.

"I'm sure you may have certain questions, but the Headmaster has said that he will inform you of your situation later once you've settled into the villa," the woman guiding him inclined her head, a sense of curiosity and respect in her eyes as she stared at him.

Unknowingly, his evaluation of 'Classified' by Senzaemon Nakiri had made him famous throughout Totsuki as such an evaluation had never occurred before. Many knew Senzaemon, the Headmaster of Totsuki to be able to discern the quality of any dish and be able to evaluate it without too much thought. Senzaemon himself was one of the individuals who aided Erina Nakiri to possess her 'God's Tongue,' for food. As such, to receive a 'Classified' grade from someone like Senzaemon Nakiri, Shirou Yukihira was either someone of great importance, or a chef whose ability couldn't be graded.

Totsuki was a culinary school that was the best if not thee best, in the world. Many influential students had applied, and had still failed to meet its standards. Therefore, the prospect of Shirou Yukihira garnering a 'Classified' through influence alone was minuscule, leaving only a single option that was also a truth.

A chef whose cooking Senzaemon himself wasn't able to grade.

It was a shock that spread throughout Totsuki, and was talked about by both teachers and leading students.

Yet, the person in question himself was utterly clueless.

"Just a quick question, but is this place really just for me?" He asked uncertainly.

The woman guiding him was quick to nod her head.

"Indeed, this is even part of a private property of land," the woman clarified with admiration.

Not many in Totsuki had such a right to live in such a place, making the thoughts others had of 'Shirou Yukihira' skyrocket even more. The treatment between him and the average student in Totsuki was far too different to ignore. Practically all the teachers were informed that for a certain time period, Shirou himself would be exempt from expulsion of any sort during culinary classes.

Senzaemon had enforced this amongst Totsuki's staff due to his favour for Saiba, and for the fact that Saiba had told him that Shirou had only taken up professional cooking recently. The short duration where he was exempt from expulsion was to give him enough to time to find his path of cooking and adjust to life in Totsuki. The isolated Villa was done in the same regard to allow Shirou the time to practice in solitude.

However, kind intentions by higher powers were always speculated thoroughly by the masses below and sometimes ignorance and envy could lead to foolish misinterpretation.

When Shirou heard the woman's words, and noticed the sparkle in her eyes, a shiver involuntarily travelled down his back.

"T-Then thank you," he ended up stuttering awkwardly, brows furrowing when he noticed that she was just staring. "But is there anything else you need?"

"Ah, no, sorry sorry," the woman replied in a fluster, the navy-blue coloured blouse she wore around her shoulders ruffling when she waved her hands in front of her in embarrassment.

To be honest, she was a second-year student, and had only been tasked to guiding Shirou to one of Senzaemon's villas out of convenience. It was just, not only did she assume that Shirou's chef mastery was beyond superb, but she quickly realized that he wasn't exactly bad-looking either.

From the age she had seen in his application paper due to her part-time job as a Totsuki Academy intern, she had seen that his age was identical to her own, meaning that his skills were vastly superior to his young age.

It was too awe inspiring that she had lost herself while looking at Shirou's calm bronze coloured eyes.

"Sorry," she repeated again, bowing her head. "Uhm, uh, I better get going then."

She left right then and there, a combination of walking and running that looked a little odd in Shirou's eyes, but he didn't question it and instead stared upon his new residence unaware of the troubles it would eventually bring to him.

And the title he would eventually be known by.

The Phantom First Seat.

Thanks for reading!

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious

Fate-In time should have had come out on Thursday, but I met with a couple complications this week. It should be coming out soon though