Prologue: The First Lesson

#1-This world is cruel. It will not coddle you. It will not help you. It will not mourn your passing. The only way to mark your existence on this world is to forge your own path through it, no matter what stands in your way.

The first thing I always see is the fire.

It's always there, waiting for me. An engulfing torrent of light and crackling. A furnace that should be scorching but only chills me to the bone. How can it be so cold?

Then the screams. So loud. Coming from every direction. They don't stop. They're in pain, and I can't stop them. I cover my ears so I don't have to listen, but they just keep screaming. I don't want to hear! I don't want to know! Why is it so cold!

And then I see his face. He's smiling at me. I never know his name. All I know is that he's smiling down on me like he found something special. Like a treasure he didn't know was real. And then he's gone. It's still so cold, but I feel something hot too, like he left me something. On my cheeks, on my chest. A wet warmth so hot I want to get away from it but can't move. Why he leave me this? Why does it hurt?

Then, I see my father.

He looks down on me with a smile in his eyes. He almost always has one. Like he keeps hearing a joke no one else can. More than that, there's a smile on his face too. If his eyes are from hearing a joke, his smile is from telling one. It makes him completely radiant.

His laugh is so full, so powerful, that he seems to have no greater joy than this moment. The uncomfortable warmth on my cheeks is nothing compared to the blaze of life that is my father. In that moment, I want nothing more than to be like him. Than to feel that same fire inside myself. Not the cold flame of before or the burning heat felt now, but that radiant blaze that had everything I could ever want.

I reach for him. I reach for that warmth.

He holds me in his arms and asks me a question. I always find it hard to answer. My throat hurts. I try, and I keep trying, until I can finally say it.

"I'm"

"Can you fix it, Kotomine?"

I looked up at Issei with a playful smile. Today, I had been asked by the student council president to see if the various appliance breaking down in the club rooms could be fixed. Apparently, the current budget was tighter than expected, meaning the replacement of said appliances wasn't viable at the moment.

"Shouldn't be an issue," I told him. "But if you plan on me fixing all of them, I may have to start charging you."

"Like we could spare the expense," he replied dryly before rising from his seat. "I'll leave you to it."

Issei left the room, sliding the door closed behind him. All jokes aside, charging him for the repairs wouldn't feel right considering the ease of the task. Not a permanent solution, but all I can do for now is patch up the power cord. A little electrical tape, and it should last till the end of the semester. I can probably fix it up before we get to that point, though.

Even muffled by the door, I could hear Issei's tired expression through his words.

"Tohsaka. You're here rather early. I'm sorry to tell you that Kotomine will be busy helping me this morning, so you'll have to talk to him later."

"You assume that passing the student council room means I wish to speak with him? My, aren't we presumptuous, Student Council President?"

I shook my head as I wrapped the troublesome segment of cord with tape. Issei was right. Rin didn't usually come to school this early. She had never been much of a morning person, so I understand him seeking some ulterior motive. I was curious myself.

As I began to carry the heater to the door, Rin spoke once more after an annoyed growl from Issei.

"I merely decided to come earlier than usual. Surely the student council president isn't against such promptness."

I opened the door and placed the heater between the door frames.

"Perhaps not," I said, giving Rin a smirk. "But when the illustrious Rin Tohsaka graces us with her presence so early in the day, we can only be suspicious."

"Well, perhaps I wished to encourage the other students, showing them that those who excel put in that extra effort."

"Silly me. I thought that was my job."

We both smiled at that.

Ever since we were young, competition was a near constant between us. While I was far better at Bajiquan after all the years Father drilled it into me, her grades and knowledge of magecraft still exceeded mine, if only marginally in the former. Grades were the one thing we felt had relatively equal footing, so we've been trying to out-do the other.

Currently, she was in the lead, but I thought I could take it by the end of semester.

"Kotomine," Issei said after clearing his throat, drawing our attention back to him. "We can't afford to waste any more time here if we're going to fix the heater in the A/V room."

He was right, of course. I picked up the heater once more and replaced it in the student council room before following after Issei who had already begun to move.

"I'll catch you later, Rin," I told her as I went.

Rin hummed thoughtfully in response, which was the most confirmation I'd be getting. With a little extra effort, I caught up to Issei.

"It is a bit odd for her to be so early," he said, glancing back at Rin.

"She probably just set her alarm wrong," I told him. "That, or what she said is true. We could be seeing a lot more of her in the morning."

"Somehow," he brought his eyes forward once again. "I doubt that."