Fate/Reach Out
Chapter 8: Class of 2-2
April 12th, 2011 – Dojima Residence
Shirou's eyes slowly forced themselves open, staring blankly at the light fixture overhead. Long-ingrained habit took over from his position in the warm futon, and he glanced at the clock by his futon first thing: it was just after seven o'clock.
I slept in? That's no good… No way I can do my morning exercises now. Do I have even enough time to make breakfast?
Shirou considered himself an early riser, and he fully intended to take advantage of that to start cooking breakfast for the Dojimas right from the get go. It was only when he brought his arm up to wipe his eyes that the full weight of last night's "dream" hit him. Much to his surprise, there was no pain, no fatigue in spite of the fight leaving him in incredible pain at the end. He only really felt the disorientation of the change in surroundings and position.
I'm still alive… he concluded rather belatedly. That's a good sign.
Shirou also noted that movement was painless as well. As he started to get changed into his uniform, he took a moment to look for wounds. Strangely, not so much as a blemish marred his skin aside from his old shoulder scar, not even where the Ghoul had punched a hole in him on the opposite side. Did he just imagine the whole thing? And that strange weapon… now that he thought about it, was that the first time he had Projected anything that well?
Everything I tried outside of Structural Analysis has never worked so well before… and I certainly never learned lightning magecraft or how to bind spirits either… so why-?
The red-haired teen shook his head and cleared his thoughts; today was the first day of school. He could worry about the cryptic dreams he'd been having and startling development of his magecraft later. He could do a more in-depth analysis when he managed to replace his Magic Circuit, a task he couldn't put off for much longer if he intended to keep his skills (such as they were…) sharp.
While somewhat disappointed that he wasn't able to cook breakfast, Shirou made a point to make himself presentable for class at the very least. A quick shower later, and he was slipping into the school uniform for Yasogami High School Fuji-nee had ordered for him. It was an old-fashioned gakuran-style outfit: the high-collar black jacket was subtly checkered around the cuffs and collar with a houndstooth pattern, giving them a slight shimmer, with golden buttons. The jacket was also lined with white threads in places, making the uniform look patchy but still sleek. This went over his chosen white undershirt and matched the black slacks the school required. It was actually pretty similar to the uniforms Homurahara High used if slightly more traditional in design. It was certainly comfortable enough, especially since he left the top two buttons undone.
When he finally came down, he nearly jumped when he noticed Nanako placing breakfast on the table. Two places were set, and each plate had a simple meal laid out of sunny-side-up eggs, bacon and toast. "Good morning," she greeted.
Shirou tensed his jaw to keep it from dropping open; seeing this girl not even half his age cook breakfast for the both of them was not only endearing and sweet, but also unsettling. He was no expert on the subject, but he didn't think girls Nanako's age should be so used to cooking for themselves and to be so at ease with the task. It was like seeing himself years ago as he grew up with Kiritsugu…
Was this what it was like for Fuji-nee when she first saw him come out of the kitchen with an armload of food?
Though, in his defense, his father was a horrible cook and resorted to take-out most of the time, so Shirou had to take up cooking for both their sakes. The man could have probably made water catch fire if he put more effort into it. Taking up the mantle of "family chef" was one of the best decisions he made concerning his life, if the heartfelt compliments from Sakura and Fuji-nee were any indication. Once again he promised himself to cook something up for his relatives soon, ideally tonight.
"Good morning," he finally managed to reply as he sat down. A sweep of the table showed that there was only enough for the two of them, and Dojima was nowhere to be found. "Did your father leave for work early?"
Nanako nodded. "There was some kind of trouble. He won't be back until late," she explained before starting to eat. She wasn't as clearly upset as last night, but her tone was resigned, as if she had grown used to it.
"I see…"
The two of them ate their breakfast in extended silence, managing to simply enjoy the other's company. At least, Shirou hoped Nanako was enjoying it. As it was, he didn't have much too actually talk about with the younger girl, and if Dojima was always out as Nanako implied, she was probably used to the silence of eating alone.
Taking a few more bites of his meal, he had to admit she was pretty good in making a western breakfast. The bread was toasted to a perfect golden brown shade, mixed with the right amount of butter to avoid losing its crunchiness. The egg was served with little to no burn marks and the yolk intact, and the bacon was very crispy. It looked like she had a lot of practice cooking. Before he could compliment her on the food, the six year old broke the silence. "You start school today, right?"
Shirou swallowed his bite of French toast and nodded. "Yes, I believe so."
Nanako gave a shy smile. "My school's on the way, so… let's go together!"
He was somewhat taken aback by her earnest request, but he had no reason to deny it. Actually, it was a genuinely friendly offer, and it would give the cousins a chance to just get used to the presence of the other. "That's a good idea. Thank you, Nanako."
His little cousin's face flushed again as she silently nodded before she refocused on her meal. She was starting to reach out to him at least, even if she wasn't completely sure how to act around him yet. Shirou didn't mind. They had a whole year to find common ground.
After breakfast, the two had checked their bags and gathered their umbrellas before heading out for school. The route was pretty long considering that Dojima lived almost on the opposite side of the city from Yasogami, but Shirou didn't mind. Even small bits of exercise like this would be good for him.
Samegawa Flood Plain
The walk was, as expected, quiet and faintly awkward for the cousins as they crossed the floodplain. Beside them was the Samegawa River, its banks slightly swollen from the rain, but far from flooding the ditch it flowed through. Shirou also noted the way the hills gave way to a small plain that had a small gazebo standing in the middle of it, offering a view of the city to the north.
Once the pair reached the end of the plain and back to a proper road, Nanako stopped and pointed towards a paved path leading further up the hills. "You keep going straight from here," she said. "My school's this way. Bye!" With a smile and wave, Nanako walked back the way they came towards her elementary school.
Shirou silently waved back, not finding the time or words to say back to her. I really need to get better at this "cousin" business. I should have complimented her cooking, maybe offer some lessons or at least encouraging her.
The magus hadn't even taken a single step when he spotted something from the corner of his eye at the gazebo he and Nanako had just passed. It was a girl about his age: she was about average height for a Japanese girl, with her light brown hair cut in a short bob cut, barely reaching her neck. She stood out from the rest of the girls he had seen on the way to school thanks to her green track jacket with yellow stripes she was wearing over her uniform, a few aluminum badges pinned on one side. Instead of socks, she wore a pair of loose white leg warmers.
She was pacing restlessly, glaring at the rainy sky as if her irritation would get it to pause. It seemed odd that she would stop there. Then he noticed that she was soaked. Ah. She has no umbrella. Compared to the downpour that occurred last night, the rain had mellowed out into a light drizzle, but for anyone trying to walk today, it was still annoying enough to require some protection.
With a shrug, Shirou headed back towards the gazebo. It wasn't like him to leave people in these situations without offering a helping hand. "Excuse me? Are you a Yasogami student as well?"
"Eh?" The girl was visibly surprised by Shirou's arrival. "You talking to me?"
"There's no one else hiding under here, is there?" he asked playfully with a smile, closing his umbrella as he stepped under the wooden shelter.
She chuckled and shook her head. "Oh no, I'm just waiting for my friend to show. She's usually good on favors, so she might not mind me sharing her umbrella for today… I hope."
Shirou cocked his head a little. "If it's no trouble, what happened to your umbrella?"
The brown haired girl laughed sheepishly. "I uh… saw this action movie the other day where a guy was using an umbrella as a weapon and doing some cool moves with. I tried to mimic them with mine and… accidentally broke it. Punched a hole in the shoji, too…"
A bead of sweat rolled down the back of the magus' head. Who would reenact kung-fu moves with an umbrella you might still need? Then again, considering his habit/hobby of fixing appliances with the help of magecraft, he couldn't really say anything about strange guilty pleasures. He made no secret that he enjoyed helping as a fake janitor back home, but he made sure no one knew how he pulled it off so easily. He could still recall the stares of disbelief from his peers back at the Homurahara Student Council when he brought a broken heater back to working order in a matter of minutes.
Still, it wouldn't do well on his conscience to leave this girl alone in the rain betting on the chance her friend does come by and then allow her in. "If you want, you can borrow mine," he offered, holding his umbrella out.
The girl spluttered at the offer. "Huh? But what about you?"
"I'll be fine. School's not that much further and you're soaked enough as it is. It's no big deal," Shirou shrugged easily.
The girl looked at the umbrella fora second before frowning. "I can't do that to you. My friend should be here any second…" the girl's polite refusal was interrupted by a buzzing from her jacket pocket, and she pulled out her phone and checked the text message. "Oh, crap! She's already at school?"
Shirou brought his umbrella back up. "The offer's still open, if you need it. If you're worried about me, we can always just share it until we get to the gate. It's not that much farther is it?"
For reasons Shirou couldn't fathom, she blushed at the compromise briefly. "B-but that's… Wouldn't that be awkward?"
"Why? You don't have your umbrella, and neither of us want to get wet." he replied obliviously.
With a brief sigh of resignation she stepped forward under his reopened umbrella. "Alright, you win. Just as far as the gate though, got it?"
"Got it."
"And… thanks," she smiled cutely.
For an Ally of Justice-to-be, Shirou felt content with that simple thanks. No matter how small or big the favor, he was willing to tackle it if only for the small graces of thanks from the people around him.
The rest of his walk was uneventful, and before long they found themselves at the front gates of Yasogami High. The electronic gate was still open and students wandered through with varying levels of haste. If the gate was closed when you arrived, you were tardy on the records or the whole school was closed. The school stood on top of a hill with several Sakura cherry blossom trees starting to bloom on either side of the courtyard, giving a warm greeting to the arriving students. Before him stood a three-story boxy-shaped building, with a smaller two story building connected at the side via two covered walkways, all colored in a slate gray color.
As the girl thanked him and ran on ahead, Shirou couldn't help but to feel at awe at the place. He hadn't expected much from a high school in a small rural town, but it was actually a good size and well-kept. It was no Homurahara, but that school had its own dojo building dedicated to archery, for goodness sake!
"Yasogami High, huh?" he muttered to himself. "I wonder what school here will be like…"
Yasogami High School – Room 2-2
Chie Satonaka couldn't believe her poor luck. First, she had to run through the rain because she forgot to replace her broken umbrella (seriously, you'd think they'd be sturdy enough to take a few good whacks) and was soaked for a good portion of the way over. At least near the home stretch she met someone kind enough to share his with her, awkward as it was. She never got his name, now that she thought about it.
But to further her rotten day, she, like the other students in this particular classroom, discovered that they were stuck with Kinshiro Morooka for a homeroom teacher. "King Moron" had to be the strictest stick-in-the-ass faculty member of Yasogami High. Rude, ugly and prone to openly insulting anyone under the age of 30 (at least), the man was universally reviled by the students who had his classes. It was a bizarre mix of shame and relief that her best friend Yukiko was in the same boat.
"Hey, you guys!" A female student a couple rows away told her friends excitedly. "I heard there's going to be a transfer student from the city in this class!"
It was a nice distraction to King Moron, and the girl's friends started getting into it. "Oh, really? A guy or a girl?"
Chie had to admit she was interested too. "A transfer student from the city… just like you, right Yosuke?"
She turned to the student sitting behind and to her left, who was hunched over his desk as if sleeping… or dead. "Are… you alright?"
"I really don't want to talk about it," the boy moaned, not moving even an inch from his position. Chie exchanged glances with Yukiko, who sat in the seat in front of her, and they both gave confused shrugs before settling back in to wait.
Moments later, the front-most door slid open with its tell-tale grinding, revealing their foul-tempered homeroom teacher in his trademark pinstriped blue suit and checkered tie followed by a taller boy wearing the school uniform. The students who were still up and talking immediately scrambled to their seats when they spotted the teacher. Morooka seethed at the still talking students unaware of his arrival, and made it known through his loud, almost perpetually snarling voice.
"Alright, shut your traps!" he bellowed. Every student flinched and silenced themselves on the spot. Despite being shorter than his most of his students and noodle-thin, some said it was his horrendous overbite that scared them into submission, others felt his hideous comb-over was a crime against nature. No matter how loathed he was or how much people groused about him behind his back though, no one was bold enough to argue with him for more than one day before his sharp tongue and threats of expulsion silenced them. He was called King Moron for a reason after all.
Chie noticed that while their homeroom teacher was talking, the student was writing his name on the blackboard. "Shirou Emiya," if she was reading those kanji right. Wait, he looks familiar… No way! Chie nearly gaped at the sight: it was the same boy who walked with her to school!
"I'm Kinshiro Mooroka, your homeroom teacher from today forward!" he continued, following up with one of his infamous rants. "First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons. Long as I'm around, you students are going to be pure as the driven snow!"
Many students rolled their eyes at his ongoing tirade and felt beads of sweat roll down the back of their heads. It wasn't uncommon for King Moron to make such remarks and speeches, treating himself like judge, jury, and executioner on what he deemed indecent, which was basically any form of interaction between people of the opposite sex. It was like he hated the notion of people having social lives in any form.
After nearly three minutes of expressing his issues with teenagers he finally moved on, still obviously annoyed. "Now I hate wasting my time, so let me introduce you to the transfer student."
Having finished writing out his name well before Morooka was done ranting, the obviously patient teen immediately stepped forward to address the class with a neutral face. "My name is Shirou Emiya. It's nice to meet you all," he said politely with a bow. Despite his average height, he was actually more exotic than many expected. His hair was a dull red color, and his eyes were almost yellow in the right light.
Before anyone could say anything, Morooka took over once again. "This sad sack's been thrown out of Fuyuki City out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage. He's a deserter, no different from a wounded, defeated warrior, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him!"
He turned to the student, who was standing awfully stiff and tense. He probably wasn't used to being so casually insulted by a teacher before, but it was the common initiation by King Moron; everyone got whipped at least once by him. The student, Emiya, seemed to finally relax and turned to Mooroka with an innocent question: "Isn't that a little self-depreciating?"
Many of the students blinked, and even the homeroom teacher looked perplexed at what he just asked. "What?" he grunted flatly.
"You just mocked Inaba as a place in 'the middle of nowhere', so by definition, you would be insulting yourself and everyone in this classroom for living here, wouldn't you?"
A deathly silence followed after Emiya's words were uttered, almost like a funeral observance. The students were aghast in horror of someone having the guts-nay, the balls- to call King Moron on his hypocrisy. Yosuke, who managed to lift his head in time for the transfer student's casual delivery, spoke the two words that circled everyone's head:
"He's dead."
Morooka, for his part, managed to keep his composure aside from a pulsing vein and twitching eyebrow. "Well aren't you the smug little smartass. That's it; you're on my shit list, effective immediately."
Before Emiya could begin to utter what would most likely be an apology, King Moron pounced on him with no leeway for him to speak even a word in his defense. "Now listen up! I don't know where you got that superiority complex, but you're miles away from your city of perverts and assholes, in more ways than one. So don't even think about taking advantage of some girl here with your sweet talk! City boys like you piss me off; going around banging girls left and right, reading all these damn manga about death-books and drill robots-"
From her seat in the middle of the class, Chie decided to bail the poor guy out. No one should have to put up with this kind of thing from their own teacher, especially not on their first day. "Sensei!" she raised her hand and boldly interrupted his tirade. "Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"
Morooka glanced at the empty seat next to Chie in the middle row, slightly calmed. "Huh? Yeah, sure," he turned back to Emiya as if the last few minutes hadn't happened. "Hear that, city boy? Your seat's over there, so get your ass over there and siddown!"
"Y-yessir," he muttered quickly, and finally settled into his assigned desk. He let out a slight sigh of a relief before whispering to the girl next to him. "Thanks for the save up there."
"No problem. I never got to pay you back from back at the gazebo." The relieved smile he gave her at that had a bit of recognition in it. "You better watch what you say here, though," Chie warned quickly, and just as quietly. "King Moron will only make it worse for you if he gets half a chance."
"'King Moron'?"
"It's what we call him. He's the worst, isn't he?"
Emiya shrugged nonchalantly. "I've known worse. Compared to a friend of mine back home, this 'King Moron' is rather tame."
Now intensely curious, Chie would have asked more but their teacher caught them in the act. "What did I just say to you, city boy?"
Emiya paled, and Chie couldn't help but to feel bad for him. "Uh, it's not-!"
"Consider this my first and only warning! I see you hitting on Satonaka again, and I'll personally toss your ass out of here for good!"
He glared at the rest of the students, who were gossiping quietly amongst themselves since the transfer student was seated. "And that goes for the rest of you, as I hope you're aware. Now keep quiet while I start homeroom!"
Thus began the first day of the Yasogami High school year…
After school
"That's all for today. Normal lectures will start tomorrow."
A wave of relief washed over the students, and most started packing their bags or gathering in little groups to talk with their friends. Morooka himself was already heading to the door, completely uninterested in what the students did when he wasn't being paid to put up with their 'hormone-fueled stupidity' as he liked to call it.
He didn't even get a chance to get out the door before the PA system chimed. "Attention all teachers. Please report to the faculty office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice."
Morooka let out a slight grunt before turning back to his students. "You heard the announcement. Don't go anywhere until you hear otherwise."
"The nerve of that guy," a female student murmured as soon as he left. "This year's going to suck…" Several others murmured their agreement before settling in for the wait.
Shirou let out a sigh when the teacher finally left. As strict as he was, he could actually imagine one person that would be even worse if given a position as teacher. After all, if anyone could turn casually lambasting people into an art form, it was Shinji Matou.
Not even a minute passed before sirens screamed by the school grounds. With no one trying to get his attention and no requests for help on the first day, Shirou walked over the window with a few other students, drawn to the noise. "Sounds like an ambulance," he noted. "But why so close?" He could just make out the red and white lights shoot by before the wall of gray that was Inaba's fog swallowed any further signs.
"Something big must have happened," an excited student offered. "But I can't see a damn thing. Friggin' fog…"
"That's Inaba for ya," another shrugged. "When it rains, it fogs right after."
Fog… Now that he thought about it, Shirou had been completely shrouded by a very thick fog in his dream last night, and the view outside the second-story window was just as covered from view. Anyone else would have shrugged it off, thinking it a coincidence, even as far as dreams went. But as a magus, he was taught to not believe in them. What could it mean? Is a magus, or worse, doing something through the fog?
"By the way," another student spoke up, adjusting his glasses habitually. "Did you hear the paparazzi lately? They've been looking all over for that announcer."
The student next to him looked instantly interested and eager at the latest bit of gossip; both failed to notice Shirou's slight frown. "Oh yeah, Mayumi Yamano-san, right? I heard some guys spotted her at the shopping district once or twice."
"Well apparently, she's been staying at the Amagi Inn for the last few days."
The gossip-loving student gaped, switching his attention between him and someone still seated at their desk. "Whoa, no joke?!"
Considering you and the media's unhealthy obsession for her, I can't blame her for hiding out here, Shirou thought. Even one day after hearing about the 'Yamano scandal' was more than enough for him. One would have thought the media would have something else to talk about by now. He was confused as to what the girl had to do with this… and why the gossiper was going over to her.
Now that Shirou was looking at her, he had to do a slight double-take. The girl reminded him of Sakura for a second, but only so far as their posture went. She was tall and slender with unblemished, pale skin and long black hair held back by a red hair band. Her features were those of a classical Japanese beauty, and she stood out even more with the red sweater she wore over her uniform top. Black stockings covered her legs, somehow adding to her delicate appearance.
"He better not try to turn it into an attempt at the Princess Amagi Challenge," the knowledgeable student smirked and shook his head.
Shirou blinked and turned to the student. "Princess Amagi Challenge?"
After taking a moment to look Shirou over in brief surprise, he replied. "You're the transfer student, aren't you? Best tell you now before you embarrass yourself like a few other love-struck fools." He turned and pointed to the girl, awkwardly talking with the gossiper that walked up to her.
"That girl over there is the heir to her family inn; Yukiko Amagi," the other student explained. "She's one of the two most popular girls in Yasogami High, up there with Ai Ebihara. She's rich, elegant, beautiful and smart, and is popular with nearly the entire male student body. I heard she has a few female followers as well," the boy couldn't help but grin at that last part before he continued. He paused long enough for them to see the student solemnly walking away, as if his cue to make a point.
"However, no one's ever been able to date her yet, and she's still single. A lot of people have tried, and they all failed. No one really knows what she wants in a guy because she works at the inn every day after school and is usually bored out of her mind by whoever asks her out. Rumor has it that she would only accept someone as dashing and charismatic as a prince to even think of asking her out. Considering how she's the closest thing our town has to a princess, I'd say it's pretty believable. And then there's Satonaka-san, her ever-watchful guardian. You don't meet with her approval when she's around, she'll kick you out the nearest window, they say."
"You can't always trust rumors," Shirou countered. It didn't seem right to objectify a young woman into a princess without really knowing her. Does anyone even bother to just talk with her, or do they all just skip straight to asking her out? No wonder they don't know anything about her.
His chatty classmate student shrugged. "I suppose not. But if you don't listen to what others tell you, then who can you trust?"
Shirou didn't have an answer for that, nor did he want to think of one. He glanced back and leaned against the fog-veiled window, hoping to see something out there, or at least distract himself from hearing more rumors and gossip. Something about a channel and soulmates, was it? Honestly, Homurahara High never had this kind of problem. Then again, small towns like Inaba were probably starving for things to do and talk about.
The intercom went off again a few minutes later, but the news wasn't exactly promising.
"Attention all students," the same female voice from earlier called out. "There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home. I repeat…"
Many of the students started chattering excitedly on the possible meanings of that announcement. Many were even openly making plans to find what was going on regardless of the faculty's warnings. While Shirou was among those wanting to take a look, he was interested for an entirely different reason: If someone was hurt or worse, he wanted to do something to help, whether it was to look for the cause or save a life in peril… Maybe if I leave now I can find out what's going before Dojima-san would notice. I need to make time for MOEL as-
"Hey, new guy!" A loud, energetic voice broke his train of thought. Turning, he recognized the girl from the desk next to his, as well as the one he lend his umbrella to this morning. Unlike the classically beautiful Yukiko Amagi standing behind her patiently, the shorter girl had more of a 'cute girl next door' appearance, brown eyes and a friendly smile on her face.
Yukiko only glanced at him for a second before returning her attention to the floor. She must have a lot on her mind, Shirou concluded.
"You're going home by yourself, right?" the more energetic girl asked. "Why don't you come with us?"
Normally, any guy would jump at the chance to walk home with a pair of attractive girls extending an invitation, especially if it included the most popular girl in school. This fact briefly registered in Shirou's mind and he felt a twinge of worry. Amagi-san was Yasogami's equivalent to Homurahara's own RinTohsaka: beautiful, smart, athletic- everything a guy would want in a woman and the school idol to boot.
"I-I appreciate the offer," he admitted. "But isn't it rather sudden? I don't even know your names." Well, he heard Amagi's name, but Shirou didn't think it would be wise to sound like he was snooping about the popular girls in school.
The brown-haired girl slapped her forehead in response. "Oh right! Nearly forgot about that! I'm Chie Satonaka, and this is Yukiko Amagi, my best friend."
Well, as long as they were introducing themselves… "I'm Shirou Emiya. Nice to meet you both."
"Oh, nice to meet you too," Amagi nodded, seemingly surprised to be included in the conversation. "Sorry this is so sudden…"
Her friend brushed both their worries off. "Oh, stop apologizing Yukiko. You're making me look bad. I just want to ask him some stuff, that's all."
A sheepish voice interrupted them. "Satonaka-san?" The teen behind them had messy auburn hair and a set of headphones hanging around his uniform collar, and was slightly taller than Shirou. The boy, Yosuke Hanamura, suddenly bowed at the waist and held out a DVD case as if making an offering. Anyone could see that he was outright scared for some reason.
"Th-thank you for lending me your movie," he stuttered. "It was really awesome, like how they all moved and stuff… For what it's worth, I'm really sorry, so please spare me your wrath until my next paycheck!" he finished in a rush, forcing the DVD into Chie's hands. Not giving her a chance to say anything, he turned sharply and walked away as quickly as he could get away with.
"Your next-?" Satonaka blinked, realization dawning almost immediately.
"See ya later!" Hanamura waved, switching to a full-on sprint towards the door.
"You bastard! What did you do to my DVD?!" Satonaka all but vaulted over the desks in her way and charged the fleeing boy like a mad bull. She didn't give him any chance to escape, launching a lightning-fast kick just a little too high to simply trip Yosuke up.
Watching the event like a car crash, Yukiko gasped in surprise while Shirou visibly cringed. In fact, many of the students left in the room cringed with them when they saw the hit. Some of the males surreptitiously covered themselves in sympathy.
Yosuke simply dropped where he stood, squirming with pain and cradled his family jewels. Satisfied that he wasn't going anywhere any time soon, Satonaka popped open her DVD case to inspect the damage. Rage gave way to despair instantly. "Wha-?! No! It's completely cracked! My 'Trial of the Dragon'…" she almost wept at the loss, and Shirou couldn't help but feel bad for both her and the still whimpering student. If it were the DVD player, he'd happily offer to fix the damage, but repairing a cracked disc was a bit outside his abilities. And Hanamura…
"I think mine's cracked too…" the auburn-haired teenager wheezed from the ground, barely getting his feet under him. "C-critical hit to the nads…"
"A-are you alright?" Shirou and Yukiko asked at the same time.
Hanamura looked up, but only focused the black-haired girl next to Shirou. "A-ah, Amagi-san… Are you worried about me?" he sounded a little hopeful with that.
"Leave him, guys," Chie huffed. "He'll be fine tomorrow." She marched out of the room, not so much as giving a passing glance to the shakily standing Hanamura. Yukiko looked somewhat sympathetic but followed her friend all the same.
Dubious about that, Shirou stayed behind for a moment. Yosuke had managed to stand back up, but his knees were shaking a little. "You gonna be alright? Need help to the nurse?" he kindly offered.
Yosuke looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Thanks, but I think I'll be fine. I'll just walk it off; I'm tough." His voice was obviously strained, and he nearly doubled over again at his slight misstep before clinging to the door handle.
"…If you're sure…" Shirou muttered, not quite feeling right leaving the guy in pain, but he did look like he was recovering at least. Casting one last look at his classmate, who was already starting to compose himself, Shirou jogged out to catch up with the two girls waiting for him at the staircase.
A/N: So instead of meeting Yosuke first on his walk to school, Shirou runs into Chie. The interaction there is actually taken and adapted from a cute new scene in the Golden port, that would happen the morning after watching the Midnight Channel for the first time. It was cute, but got me thinking if it had happened earlier, like the first day of school, since it was the only other raining day before that point.
As for why the first scene with Yosuke was scraped, it wasn't because of time (like in the animation). Yosuke was mostly set up as a character that we would grow to sympathize within the first two days because of the "Kick Me" sign painted on his back in invisible ink. First encounter, rode into a street sign and hurt his leg. Second encounter, "critical hit to the nads". Third encounter, unintentionally burned by the school idol. Fourth encounter, waist deep and rolling inside a trashcan. By that point you as the character would have to feel sorry for the guy, and the game allows you to finally help him out a bit.
Shirou however is unconditionally helpful to others with little regard of his own benefit from it: he's not someone to standby until he feels bored or pity. Yosuke, however, still needs to feel the world's conspiring against him before someone gives him a helping hand (and more), which will lead to his development.
But I suppose there isn't much change here since it follows a slightly modified script of the first school day. Ironic that at the time this finally came up (Wednesday night, plus time in making some edits) it was my first day back on campus. So yeah, things WILL get slow again, but I might get back to some of my earlier works if diligence and fortune shine upon me. I personally like the rebuttal I made towards Morooka anyway: seriously, you can't really get away with mocking yourself after saying you live "in the middle of nowhere". Not quite as cool as "You calling me a loser/Who's the defeated warrior here?" but as someone once stated at the Spacebattle forums, "only Shirou can find a way to verbally backhand someone while being polite about it."
Hope everyone's having a good new year and adapting to back to school studies. I know I will be.
