Life in Totsuki Academy was somewhat different from what he was used to. In fact, it was odd enough that the fervency of the gazes directed at him were so intense, yet the expectation within them was far more so. He could barely understand it.
All things considered however, it was easy enough to ignore due to the relative isolation of the villa granted for his use within the Academy grounds.
The sound of a knife hitting a chopping board resounded in a quiet morning, the birds outside chirping by a watering pond.
Of course, the source of this sound was him as he steadily chopped a row of vegetables into pieces before shifting them into an empty bowl by using the flat end of his utensils and his hand. As much as he couldn't deny that he enjoyed his current idyllic lifestyle of simply cooking the day away, he was also considering how he should allot some time to further his own magecraft.
Senzaemon, the Headmaster of Totsuki Academy, had already informed him that he didn't need to attend classes for the time being to better his cooking before any kind of evaluation, and as such, he currently had a lot of free time on his hands. Considerate of a person as he was though, he didn't make empty promises.
He had once said to Soma and Joichiro that he would try and work things out, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Moreover, Senzaemon had already gone to the extent of making his stay in Totsuki more comfortable, meaning that he had to do something in return. Ergo to practice his cooking; something that was admittedly not much of a problem for him who had already had to feed what had amounted or surpassed even a lion's appetite in the body of a woman of such small stature in the past.
Taking the vegetables, he moved them towards a similarly chopped plate of meat, strips of chicken breast and tender leg meat separated by an inch width's divide. A bowl of batter was by the side made from an assortment of spices, eggs, and flower blended in evenly with a whisk that he had already washed and put away.
He continued cooking in the tranquility and ambiance granted by the villa, all the while contemplating the issue of time allotment in his mind.
Magecraft wasn't something he could ever picture himself giving up, not after a certain event that had occurred to him in the past known as the Holy Grail War that solidified his beliefs; more so when he had faced and rejected the very manifestation of a future self who had crumbled at the face of his ideals, unable to recall the very reason his long journey had ever began.
It was simply the aspiration of a boy who had nothing but the envy of what he had seen on that day where tongues of flickering flames reached out towards a rustic sky.
The only survivor of a tragedy that befell a city of thousands.
Just because something was right, didn't mean it was correct.
If it was impossible to save everyone, then he would find an alternative.
The knife fell, producing a thump as it gently cut into the grooves of the chopping board and peeled off a layer of butter which he used as oil for the pan over the oven. Lost in thought, he didn't notice the peculiarity of his movements, subtle traces of magical energy running through his arms and into his knife before returning to his eyes.
Just like the butter that was being melted on the pan, the other vegetables and meat he had cut were suffused unknowingly with this same magical energy. To him, it had never really mattered what ingredient he used when cooking. Back when he was still living with Kiritsugu, the man hadn't put much effort into selecting the best choices when it came to groceries, and as such would often return with over ripened fruit and vegetables or aged meat and bread.
Naturally, his younger self never complained, but at the same time those mediocre ingredients continuously produced stunningly beautiful and exquisite tastes and textures. It wasn't something that he had really thought about then, and it was the same for the present. All that he cared about when cooking was the anticipation of watching the warmth that would come to his friends and family's faces. That was all that mattered.
Therefore, what had been happening was something that his body was doing at a subconscious level even from an early age.
An art of cooking-based magic even he was unaware of yet was the prime candidate for due to his unique disposition and abilities.
In fact, a blade doesn't generally have to be used for or against violence, but perhaps could be used in a more amicable manner.
A wry smile made its way up to his face as an alert sounded in his head from the bounded field, a magic barrier of sorts that separates the inside from the outside using a boundary line, he had set up around the villa. The villa was his current residence and because he was the only person living within it, he had already made plans to shift one of the storage buildings into a temporary mage's workshop. He said temporary since he wasn't sure of his current status within the academy, and didn't know if he would be asked to move again at a later date.
Still, the fact that he had already placed a bounded field, revealed that it was only a matter of time before he would resume his practice of magecraft. This again led back to his earlier contemplation about the allocation of time in his day.
Putting down his kitchen supplies and utensils, he sighed as he made his way towards the entrance of the villa. The bounded field he had created was only of the simplest sort. Most magi in the world treasured their workshops and would never allow for any individual other than themselves to step foot within it; partly due to weariness and more to due with mistrust against others who may steal their research. It was why magi didn't allow other magi to tour their personal workshops and would go to great length to set up lethal defenses if necessary.
Of course, he wasn't the average magi. Instead, the only setting of the bounded field around the villa was the standard alert system that would inform him when others drew near. In which case, now that he was in Totsuki, it may very well be another member of the school's staff or another one of its students. In either case, he didn't want to deal with them when they continuously insisted on him revealing his 'hidden' background or skills that would enable him to bypass Totsuki's own rules.
There was once a time that he had grown frustrated enough that he literally said it upfront. He just came from a normal if somewhat eccentric family should he count Kiritsugu and Taiga into the fold. The result?
They didn't believe him and he was reluctant to include Soma into his troubles so he willingly chose not to speak about his relation. Of course, his constant refusals at revealing the 'truth' only made him more of a mystery to others.
The thing was though, aside from his magecraft, there was nothing mysterious about him at all.
It was with this in mind that he steeled his expression and resolved himself to turn away whoever was at his door at the moment. Yet, rather than opening the door right away, he got it in his mind that he had to do something to dissuade this issue from occuring again. As such, no matter how many times the people outside knocked or wrung the bell, he ignored it while waiting for the perfect opportunity.
The very point where one nearly lost their patience due to frustration and awkwardness of standing outside for nearly half-an-hour for no reason and just left. Of course, when it came to him, nothing ever turned out right.
No matter how long he waited, minutes to hours, the silhouettes he could see through a section of blurred glass at another part of the villa never left, rather he could feel their persistence and a bad sort of premonition.
Fine, if that was how it was going to be, then he had already gone too far to back down now. He stood by the sliding door, puffed his chest before nodding his head and reaching a hand out for the handle.
"For the last time," he said sliding the door open, expression stern. "I'm not interested in talking with you anymore. There's no point in you continuing to-"
His voice died in his throat; a muffled and choked gasp escaping his lips as the bitter lecture he had planned to say disappeared from his mind as he stared at the twitching face before him. It was the same eerie smile. The one that looked like she was pleased with him, but was actually planning for something related to his misfortune. Her red jacket was the same, and even the ponytails she wore on her head were matching with the image of the woman he had in his mind. The thing that made the situation even realer to him was the sympathy he could see from the other woman of small stature standing with her back straight and blond hair tied into a bun.
Thinking about what he had just done, and the relative temper of the woman before him, his legs began to wobble as he backed away; a trepidation on his face that couldn't possibly have had been faked.
Fear clouding his mind, the door closed on reflex, an irritable snarl ringing into his ears in the next moment along with the sound of the door forcibly opening.
"In the time you've been away you've grown some guts haven't you, Shirou Emiya?"
"Uhm, T-This is a misunderstanding," he stammered, looking as if he'd swallowed a lemon.
"Oh?"
If anything, his words only seemed to cause the smile on the face of the woman before him to become eerier.
She was Rin Tohsaka, a high school classmate of his that was the last of a line of magi residing in Japan. Known as a founder family of the Holy Grail War, the Tohsaka line was actually in charge of all spiritual activity within Fuyuki after being granted the title of Second Owner by the Mage's Association.
Their relationship with each other was rather ambiguous and rough at the start, but the events of the Holy Grail War had pushed the two closer to each other. As such, it wasn't hard for him to determine that she was far from forgiving him. Her black hair was already beginning to float as traces of magical energy suffused her form, the deep cerulean of her eyes revealing no mercy.
"You've kept me standing out here for almost four hours," she began slowly, a finger pointing forward. "How about you go and take a 'Gandr' to reflect?"
Traces of curse magic in the form of black light tinged with red began swirling at the tip of her finger.
His mouth closed, understanding that nothing he could say would work. After all, Rin was obviously venting.
Fortunately, a gentle hand enclosed around Rin's and dissipated the growing magic.
It was Saber, or Arturia Pendragon, the woman and Heroic Spirit he had summoned by magic who had fought by his side in the Holy Grail War.
"Even though you are my master now Rin, I will not allow you to bring my Shirou, ugh, no, I mean my former master to harm."
Arturia began strong, but her voice began to wane near the end. Still, it didn't change the fact that she had saved him from danger. Inwardly, he had already decided that he was going to cook her a feast for this favour. Besides, there was just something about watching Arturia eat that was endearing to him.
Like mentioned before, Arturia was of small stature, barely even reaching the height of his shoulders. However, she was a very forward kind of person with a decisive personality. Her teal eyes alone were reflective of this fact, never showing signs of being reserved or hesitant, rather they were always strong of character.
Unlike Rin who wore a thin red coat, she wore a white gown with laces for shoulder straps due to the relative humidity of the summer season.
"Why are you always so soft in regards to him?" Rin whined pouting. "He made you wait too."
"And he must have had had his reasons," Arturia replied reassuringly.
Bless her soul.
He was definitely going to return this favour one way or another.
With Arturia's intervention, he was quick to explain his confusing circumstances to the two and promptly invited them in.
Seated in the living room, Rin and Arturia recounted how they had taken a leave of absence from the Clock Tower due to their concern over him. It was with a heavy and petulant expression that Rin also recounted how she had ditched a certain drill-haired blond that had been tailing her ever since London.
His lip twitched after hearing Rin's remarks, yet he understood that Rin may never get along with the other person she was speaking about.
This wasn't exactly something that he wanted to deal with at the moment so he simply kept silent and allowed her to bask in her minor victory.
Speaking of which, he actually appreciated Rin and Arturia's sentiment to come visit him to see how he was doing.
"So that's how it is," Rin said crossing her arms. "We'll be in your care until you settle your family issues and are ready to return to the Clock Tower."
Arturia nodded to Rin's words and levelled him with a strong gaze when she noticed that he was about to refute, wanting to say that they would be wasting their research time.
"I know what you're thinking," Rin said absently while raising a brow. "By staying here, I'll hinder my own progress in magecraft? Well, considering the relative isolation of this place, there shouldn't be much of a problem if I research here. And no, you can't refuse."
His mouth once again closed.
Yup, this was definitely the Rin he remembered.
And if Arturia was also the same, then he knew what he had to do in repayment for her earlier favour. He served her all the food he had been practicing with since the morning. It was a literal mountain that caused Arturia's eyes to sparkle as he nodded at her and gestured that it was all hers.
Just as he was about to take a seat, the door rang once again, the bounded field he had set up alerting him of a new arrival.
"I told you this happens too often," he said, trying to get his point across to Rin who only scoffed indignantly.
Stopping himself from sitting down, he walked towards the door again, Rin following while Arturia was content to just gorge herself on his offerings.
Opening the door, he was met with the sight of a typical yankee or delinquent. He had long slicked back dirty-blond hair, and a pair of gold coloured eyes framed by rectangular shaped glasses. Various types of jewelry were hung around his neck or placed on his hands and wrists, the most glaring of which was a rope-chain necklace and a Rolex-style watch.
"Shirou Yukihira, yes? I don't really care either way," the man said evenly. "My name is Eizan Etsuya, and I have come to purchase this building with a fair proposition."
He raised a brow to Eizan's words, but he knew that he couldn't sell the place now with Rin and Arturia's arrival. The location itself was necessary to allow Rin and himself to continue researching their magecraft.
He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it's not for sale."
A sharp glint entered Eizen's eyes that would have had been undetectable had one not been paying attention. However, Rin had and was immediately opposed to anything Eizen had to say. Eizen reminded her too much in a way of Shinji Matou, someone she had once been acquainted with.
"Do you happen to know what being a member of Totsuki's Elite Ten entails?" Eizen pressed, a business smile over his face.
From the blank expressions that Eizen received in response though, the answer itself was already clear. His brows furrowed.
"Look, if you have nothing else to say, why don't you just leave," Rin said, waving a hand dismissively.
Eizen's brow twitched, a hint of anger welling up from within him as he had always been rather short-tempered. Although Eizen had many different tactics he figured he could employ, the first one that came to mind was still the simplest.
"No matter then. Even if you have special status, there's one thing that's still universal in Totsuki, a Shokugeki," Eizen had no choice but to say after a moment of contemplation.
A Shokugeki in Totsuki Academy or cooking duel was a formal challenge between students and chefs to settle personal arguments and debates through a competition between culinary prowess. Of course, there were certain conditions to initiate such a challenge, but it wasn't something that was difficult for Eizen to achieve. The only difficult condition was getting the other side to agree.
"Well, how about it?" Eizen started goadingly. "If I win, this villa will henceforth be under my influence, and if you win then you can take my offered money."
Rin who hadn't been very interested up until this point perked up her ears, a fervency erupting from within her. She immediately pulled Shirou to the side and whispered into his ear.
"Wait, you can make money with this Shokugeki thing?" She asked probingly.
In fact, she didn't even wait for him to answer before tentatively calling out to Eizen in a stutter, a strained smile on her face.
"A-About how much money are we talking about here?" She asked.
Rin's form of magecraft was heavily based on jewels and gems. In which case, it was exceedingly difficult to acquire large quantities without ample funds and this had always been one of her largest concerns. Therefore, anything to do with money making was of her utmost priority.
"Judging by the size of this villa and how much effort it'll take to convince Senzaemon to hand this villa over, I estimate around three to six million in value."
Eizen frowned after speaking, inwardly unwilling to admit that he was a tad unnerved by the zeal and intensity of Rin's heated gaze. It was as if she was staring not at him, but at a gold mine with the way her eyes seemed to shift into dollar signs. Still, he was a professional. All he did was silently take seven steps back and keep a sweaty palm over his cellphone's emergency number.
And no, he was not afraid, just prepared.
"T-Three to six million," Shirou heard Rin mutter to herself in a daze, not liking how this conversation was going.
As such, he bit the bullet and decided to just speak his mind. He was never one to be enticed by money anyway.
"As tempting as your offer may be, I-"
"HE ACCEPTS!" Rin said vehemently, recalling Shirou's culinary skills and unwilling to believe that he would lose out. At this point she was already counting the cash with her hands in her mind.
"Rin." He said strongly, trying to dissuade her.
"Trust me on this Shirou and just kick his ass! Look at him, he's basically just a monkey, how can he possibly cook better than you? The money's already in the bag so why would you want to miss out on such a deal?"
Meanwhile, Eizen was inwardly sneering, yet maintained a neutral expression. It wasn't as if he was planning on losing out on anything anyway.
Eventually, Shirou relented under Rin's persistence.
Eizen smiled.
"Good, then its settled. We'll have our bout in a week's time to settle our accounts. Now if you'll excuse me I…"
Eizen's voice trailed off as Arturia appeared, peaking her head out curiously from the corner of the door frame leading to the living room where she had just finished consuming her food. Eizen was literally frozen, his eyes focused solely on Arturia and the natural grace and elegance she exuded. It didn't help that her cheeks were somewhat puffy from eating, making her look that much more endearing.
A red flush was slowly working its way up Eizen's face, and to everyone's bewilderment, Eizen quickly left without another word despite his earlier bravado, a stiffness to his steps.
Arturia looked blankly at Rin and Shirou before asking the question on everyone's minds.
"What exactly is going on?"
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