DISCLAIMER

The following is a fan-based

FICTION

F/SN, F/Z, F/KPI and other products related to the Fate Series are all owned by TYPE-MOON, Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.

Please support the official release.

Chapter 15: Settling in, Traumatically

A week passed, and things have been a 'struggle' for me.

Starting with the fact I had to get two equally-disruptive individuals fit in a school situation without raising suspicions, I found their eagerness to do something other than waste time in the flat equally upsetting as amusing. Why did I find this excitement of theirs quite entertaining? Well, for starters, I wouldn't have to worry about them burning the flat down by cooking as they would have to be all time under my watch, directly and indirectly; and two, these two didn't seem aware that school isn't exactly the best place to seek distractions without labor.

I kind of expected Elizabeth to face the worst out of this idea, being that she was the one with less awareness when it comes to practical businesses of this sort, yet she seemed to get through the few issues about it by becoming the class' 'diva'. There was none at the moment, and the few dumb guys (and some girls) were quick to worship her with advice, assistance and 'distractions' in case the teacher was annoyed with her. Clever, I should have expected nothing less from a girl of noble origins with a strong liking for manipulation.

Setanta had it tougher. Sure, he started at an earlier year and had to face less problems with the workload, but it was still education he wasn't too happy to learn about. It reminded him a lot of Scathach and that looked like a lot of mental scarring to go through. Pity, but I had no intention of doing much about it. Like, one thing was helping a kid, another was helping the soul of a grown-up in a kid's boy get through decades-worth of psychological issues. And considering how much of a prick he was in some instances? I think the karma still is deserved.

Speaking of Scathach, it didn't take long for me to ultimately see what she decided to do to 'settle in' Fuyuki. In fact, I should have seen this coming by a wide shot. Two days after seeing her claim the flat in front of mine, we received a notification in Homurahara Academy that a new teacher had been hired and she was to be the new PE sensei for the girls from the high school grades. Cue a Scottish Woman that wore a strict and yet 'mature' outfit made by a black jacket and short skirt, a white shirt under it, stockings and a pair of glasses. Did she even need glasses? I was quite sure those were fake and to make her 'smarter-looking' in that regard.

Now, I had initially thought she would have approached me to either brag or flaunt her current situation, but she didn't. In fact, the few times I caught her staring at me was more out of a smug expectation of me going to her. And for me to be the one to start any conversation. Spoiler-alert, I didn't. I didn't see a reason, I didn't want to be subjected to more of the way she tended to dominate conversations and I had my job to do. Luckily for me, none of the other individuals that were keen to watch me do things, such as Caren (or rather, mostly Caren) seemed to connect dots on the whole 'me avoiding the new teacher'.

Still, I did watch closely how she was handling her classes and... the results were nothing short of awkward. Despite my unease at the possibility of the old-fashioned witch drilling some harsh lessons on the students she had to deal with, I was surprised when she took a more lenient approach. All because she had bought some books on the topic. I wasn't sure if I had to be shocked or not, but Scathach, someone that was known to not capitulate on how to teach a student of hers, was actually following a different route when it comes to teaching her new 'apprentices' how to become 'great men and women of society'.

Yet, her role was a bit broader from the classic PE teacher. Not only did she handle practice with girls, but she was also in charge of theoretical lessons for the rest of the classes. And that stick she had around wasn't just to point at spots in the blackboards and detail points she wrote there. Many hands got whipped while trying to be too daring for common sense. And those kids, despite how upset they were for this discovery, should be grateful to not get the classic Scathach's treatment.

So, yes, things were just developing in a calm way and I could tell that it would take a while before I had to really worry about any surprises in that regard. That was until I got news from Taiga that there was a situation tied to a student which required my utmost attention. It was around the time I was finishing checking a few papers that the brunette slammed a few documents in front of me, making me jump by surprise.

"Taiga!" I exclaimed half-angrily, the young woman flinching but remaining unperturbed as she sat in front of me.

"Sorry. I just need you to check on this student and- it's important."

I frowned, easing down just now at the way she mentioned this whole situation. I could tell something bad was afoot.

"You want me to do what precisely?"

Taiga sighed, showing quite the serious and yet uneasy look on her face. "Look, John. I would normally not ask you this but... this student has been having trouble following classes and I can tell this one has some issues. Can't bring her to talk about those since her guardian is out of town for a job in Osaka."

I slowly nodded, "And you want me to talk with her because-"

"Oh please! You are better-geared to handle delicate situations. I know I am unprepared for that sort of thing and... just do this for this kid, please."

Taiga sure sounded like she was really concerned about this, and I saw no issue in actually checking what was going on with this student.

Who was the problem student? Well, let's just say this one was a thirteen years-old girl with plum-haired hair and violet eyes. She wore a 'middle-school' black outfit, and she was currently staring intensely at the surface of the desk she was sitting by. A little sign of unease which I had used as a young student too in an effort to not stare around for too long. As I opened the door, her gaze slowly lifted off from this and up to me. Her expression went from surprised to confused.

"You are not Fujimura-sensei," Sakura Matou muttered softly, and I nodded.

"Taiga-san couldn't make it, so she asked if I could take care of this session for her this time around," I replied politely. "My name is John Bukharin, and I normally teach English to students in Elementary School."

She understood as she nodded at the introduction, saying nothing more as I calmly made my way to the desk and sat down in front of her. I had a few papers on me, some were certificates and others were notes Taiga wrote. And by notes I meant small descriptions the young woman wrote down in an effort to keep the essential points of their previous interactions. She had three sessions with her already, and I was surprised that it didn't reach my ear that this situation was actually unfolding but... I guess I should have expected it.

This Sakura Matou was different from other versions. First, Zouken was dead. Zelretch's visit from six years ago hadn't just seen him deal with the Grail, but also took care of the old worm for good. The end result was that Byakuya relocated with his son in London to try his luck closer to the Magus Association, while Sakura was given to Kariya. From the way this last individual had left replied to some letter mentioning that the school was given permission to provide as much assistance as necessary to his niece, showing he may have outgrown his obsession for Aoi and perhaps really grown a backbone for the sake of taking care of Sakura.

I wasn't 100% sure of it, but it was a possibility and... yet Sakura had some issues despite all those good details. Short attention-span, mood swings, forgetfulness and so on. A closer look confirmed how her face had signs of sleep deprivation. It was clear that she still had some time of torture from Zouken Matou going on. I doubted Zelretch would have left the worm situation in her body linger, and I could tell that it wasn't a physical issue. It was mental, and soon I got a clearer view of the situation by the time we started to talk.

The conversation started cautiously slowly. I could tell Sakura was nervous due to her not knowing me, so I started with questions I knew she could handle. How are your grades? How is your uncle? And if she had any hobbies? Silly questions, but things that were meant to be silly for the sake of keeping a conversation alive. And it worked. Sakura was still uneasy about all of this, but produced answers to these queries. I pushed her some more in that regard before eventually broaching into what was clearly the issue of the situation.

"Now, Sakura-san, I know this sounds a bit rude on my part, but did you have any sleep-related issues I should be made aware of?"

Her shoulders tensed up. "I'm... I'm fine."

"That's not the answer for this question," I remarked mirthfully, yet the girl didn't budge much. "Well, how about I say that I believe I know why you have been having that sort of issue?"

"...You don't," She remarked firmly and I sighed, leaning back on my chair.

"Sakura-san, what I'm about to say will not leave this room just like what you are telling me will not be heard by others," I remarked calmly. "I am familiar with magecraft, and I know who Zouken Matou was."

That, I could tell, triggered a few unpleasant memories from the way she shivered.

"I-I'm not sure-"

"I will not talk about him or what happened with you and him, however, I wish to state a fact: I wish to help you, but I can't do it if you hold onto the pain like that."

The girl looked away and I sighed.

"Sakura."

"I-I still remember," She muttered with a half-a-sob. "I-It feels like he is still around, watching and... and then he is not there. I'm- I want Kariya-ojiisan around but- but he has work to do and- and I don't want to be a bother."

"...You are not a bother. You are just someone that needs help and has been told many times it is never coming," I corrected blankly, her teary gaze shifting back to me as I sported a sad but sympathetic look. "You survived a nightmare, Sakura. You should never once doubt you are free from the worst of it, but to solve what is left you need to work on yourself to remove the nightmares."

"H-How?"

I scratched my chin. "Well, I think trying to get a therapist could be a way but... I suppose that could be rough due to what happened back there since it's not exactly something many would be able to stomach; but we can still try something that should make it easy for you to sleep properly."

A frown adorned her face and then it exploded in a surprised look when I told her my crude plan to get her a temporary solution. I had to admit I never once thought of doing this myself, but I had to be responsible for this student since we had a right and a duty as teachers to help when and where we could. And since Kariya gave permission to do everything in our capacity to help Sakura, I saw fit to get her to check a doctor with a medical study nearby.

Sakura wasn't completely sold to this idea, but I mentioned that she wouldn't have to tell the doctor much of her trauma and just mention sleep-deprivation issues and this being tied to trauma. That the medicine she needed had to help her have a calm sleep. And the woman we found there was kind enough to ask just a few questions without going into personal matters. I had to explain how I was Sakura's teacher and had been granted permission by her uncle, her current guardian, to go through this procedure.

After twenty minutes of questions and examination, Sakura tightly held the bag containing a box with the medicine she had to take once every night and a document to request more when the box was empty and she needed to buy more of it. I spent the remainder of that walk together as I escorted her back home that she had to be mindful of the medicine on not getting too desperate in the dosage in case it worked or even if it didn't as the doctor had mentioned it being a 'testing ground' to see how severe the issue was.

Soon I was alone and walking up to my flat, with Sakura having been safely escorted home and provided with some food for thoughts when she felt nervous and thinking about the past. I argued that some simple hobby such as crosswords or sketching could be a good way to distract herself from any unpleasant memory, and she seemed really interested in trying everything possible to 'make the pain go away'. When she said that, I was just cracking a tiny bit.

I knew I couldn't understand her trauma, but that didn't mean I couldn't find the way she struggled so unfair on her and so upsetting. Truly, this world was cruel when it wanted to be.

I went back home, yawning and looking ready to nap a bit before getting to cook and clean any mess that the 'brats' may have left in the house but-

"Master/Mastah! Help me with the homework!"

I knew I was forgetting something about them going to school. I just didn't expect it to be a problem after such a long day of work.

AN

Yes! Sakura has barely made an appearance in the Illyaverse. The one that is shown the most is her cray-cray version from the Miyuverse. There is not much known about her in this side of Kaleid Liner, but it's clear that she was taken in by Kariya since Shinji is no longer around and possibly in London getting El-Melloi'd one way or another.

Next time?... I don't know. I think I will not drop any clues this time around~.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

REVIEW Q&A!

Bulldan: I have a few unused Servants to cast as potential Riders, and Columbus is… not among them, I am afraid.

Blu3b3rryT3a: They are 'one year' older than Shirou.