Fate-Stay Night: Precognitive Realization

by SilverMan42

This is the story of a boy named Yuzuru Shindou, an ordinary young man who had gotten himself into the battling ritual known as the Holy Grail War. What will become of him now that he has become part of this war that may result in his death? Will he be able to survive with the help of his Servant? Or will he fall into despair? (Rated M, in case sexual) (Few Tsukihime) (OCxHarem)

11. Chapter 5

I do not own Fate/Stay Night or anything related to Type-Moon whatsoever, except only the OCs of the story. Also, spoiler warning: M is in case of sexual themes and stuff. Anyway, other than that, enjoy!

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Chapter 5

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Akira's POV:

It's almost been three days since we spoke to Yu-chan, and today was the middle of dawn, and Megumi and I were at the airport with our bodyguards behind us, as we waited for him to arrive soon. We had called him and had explained everything to him, so he should be arriving at Fuyuki City as soon as possible. Then, we saw a jet had arrived, and we immediately recognized it to be our family's private jet, which means that he's here now. Once we saw where our family's jet was landing at, we began to walk out from the airport all the way to where the jet was at.

We saw and walked to where the jet had landed, as the passenger door began to open, revealing a staircase for the passenger to walk down out of the jet, and once the staircase was set, someone, a man, began to come out of the jet and began walking down the stairs with a secretary and two bodyguards behind him. The man then saw us as we were approaching him before he turned to us to reveal himself. This man standing before us…was our father, Shinobu Shindou.

Our father in front of us is a wealthy business middle-aged man who has short black hair that is combed to the back and sharp blue eyes, the traits that my little brother, Yu-chan, and I got from him; Yu-chan having his hair color, while I had both his hair and eye colors. He was wearing his usual business outfit, which is his black suit with a white buttoned shirt and a red tie, black pants, and black shoes. In his hand was his black suitcase which no doubt contains the money that they needed.

The secretary next to him, who also happens to be our mother, Maiyumi Shindou, has shoulder-length brown hair, with some of it tied into a ponytail, and gentle brown eyes, the same traits that Yu-chan and Megumi got from her; Yu-chan having her eye color, while Megumi had both her hair and eye colors. She was wearing her secretary outfit, which consisted of her red glasses, her blue suit with a white buttoned shirt and a yellow bowtie, a black pencil skirt that reaches to her knees, and white high-heeled shoes. In her hand was her tablet.

As soon as both father and mother, as well as their bodyguards behind them, came over to us and stood right in front of us, me and Megumi, as well as our bodyguards, formally bowed to them as a sign of respect, before we lifted ourselves up to face them for us to greet them.

I started first as I smiled and said, "Greetings, it is good to see you again, father." I then looked at my mother and said, "And you, as well, mother."

"Yes." Megumi said next, "It's been quite a while, dad, mom."

Father nodded to us as he said with a gentle smile, "Yes, it is good to see you two, as well, my daughters, Akira, Megumi." Father then looked around for a bit, before he said, "I take it that Yuzuru is not here with you, is he?"

"No, father, he isn't." I said, "Yu-chan is currently at his home for the time being. He wishes to remain at his place so that he could spend his time with his childhood friend as well as Mr. Everhart's daughter, Minna."

"I see." said father.

"If you would like, father, I could call him for you." I suggested, "If there's anything you wish to say to him."

Father remained silent, as he was thinking about it for a moment, before he answered, "No, no need for that. I'm sure Yuzuru wishes to be alone for a while. Besides, we're here for business, so it would be best not to interrupt him while we're on business, nor should we drag him into it. Also, I highly doubt that people here know that we're Yuzuru's family, so it would be best that we'd not to have attention drawn to him."

"Ah, yes." I said, in understanding, "I suppose you're right."

"Well, I'm sure Yuzu-chan will come and see us once we're finished with business!" Megumi smiled, "So, for the time being, let's head to the hotel before we get started!"

"Yes." I said, "While we do, I believe it would be best that we should explain things first if it is necessary."

"Of course." father nodded, "I'd like to hear what's the situation."

We then went to our car and then our driver began to drive us on our way to the hotel that we were staying at, for the time being, the Fuyuki City Hyatt Hotel, located in the Centerville neighborhood. On our way, we explained to father and mother about the situation of the academy that my brother was currently studying at, from the school's funding to the threat of it being shut down, and what would happen to all the students, including the exchange ones, as well as teachers and staffs if the situation is not resolved. Everything that our brother told us. We had figured that father was already told about it, but just in case, we should tell him what we know. Of course, as expected of our father, he took it all in and took this very seriously. Even mother looked into her tablet to see that what I told them was true, and she was just as serious as father was.

"I see." said father, "I understand. So, the Board of Directors of Education will not help and support the academy unless they are paid back the money that they had lost."

"Correct." I nodded, "And the academy only has about six days left until the academy shuts down for good. And for the academy to run again, they will need their support as well as funding for it to continue running again."

"Daddy, if it's possible, then we'd like to help the academy in Fuyuki to continue running again." said Megumi, "If we can help the school, then everyone here will continue to go and study at their academy again. And, Yuzu-chan is there, so we wish to help our family member."

"I see." said father.

"Dearest," said mother, "Right now, the chances of them trying to get their academy back on their own is very, very slim. Even with the support of many parents of every student wanting to get it back, there is little to no chance of it returning so long as the academy's funding is little to none. And, even if they tried to reason with the Board of Directors, none of them will listen to reason unless their trust is brought back. However…" She readjusted her glasses before she added, "If we were to intervene and provide them the necessary needs for Homurahara Academy, and if we were to reason with the Board of Directors and convince them to continue supporting the academy…then there is no doubt that they would have a better high chance of returning everything back to normal, and the students here in Fuyuki will continue to study at their academy."

"I see." said father.

"So, father," I said, "If it is possible, as these people here in Fuyuki need our help in restoring it to the way it is, will help them?"

After hearing what we had told him and what we suggested we do, he closed his eyes and became silent as he began thinking for a moment about what to do. Then, when he opened his eyes, he then said, "We shall meet with the Board of Directors, and we shall speak to them directly. We will be having a meeting with them and have a negotiation with them. I would like to speak with them regarding their decision on shutting down the academy, and I want to make sure, that they listen to my reasonings, and what I will intend to do for Homurahara academy."

"So, then, you will help bring it back?" I asked.

Father looked at us as he gave out a smile and said, "Well, it is something that you two called to me about and asked if I should deal with it, so yes, I will."

Hearing what our father said, accepting to help Yu-chan's academy, me and Megumi smiled in sheer joy as we were happy with his answer.

"Besides," father added with a chuckle, "Abraham's only daughter is here in Fuyuki City and is being kept an eye on by our youngest of the family, is she not? If words of what happened were to reach him, he'll be getting around my neck and bother me about it without end. We don't want our family friend to do that because of what happened to his own daughter."

We chuckled in agreement, before I said, "Yes, that's true. We all know how he reacted when Minna went missing one time. Though, then again, he is a protective parent."

"Yup." Megumi smiled, "Can't let Mr. Everhart be mad at us for what'll happen to Minna."

Our driver then suddenly stopped the car, making us turn to look outside through the window, as we have already arrived at the Hyatt Hotel. We then turned to father as he looked at us before I smiled and said, "Shall we, father?"

Father smiled back and nodded, before he said, "We shall."

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Rokurou's POV:

Me and everyone else in the Board of Directors were in our meeting room office having a meeting, regarding the strike that was still currently going on at the gates of Homurahara Academy, the school that we intend to shut down for good, as we watched the TV news regarding it.

"In today's news," said the news reporter on TV, "The parents of every student of Homurahara Academy are still continuing to riot and being on strike, demanding that they have their academy back for their children, who are also students learning in this once prestigious academy. The strike is currently taking place at the front of Homurahara Academy, where many people who are on strike consist of students, teachers, families, and former students alike. It has already now been a few days since the announcement of shutting down Homurahara Academy for good, as the decision had been decided on by the Board of Directors, who will no longer be supporting the academy unless the situation is resolved by teachers and staff within the remaining four days. As the rioting and the striking rages on, the question now lies within everyone's mind: what will be the fate of Homurahara Academy?"

After we finished watching the news as the TV now began to show TV commercials, I turned off the TV, ending it, before I turned to see the rest of the board.

"My, God…!" Satou grumbled, "I can't believe those people…! It's already been a few days, and these people still demand that they have the failure of their academy back?! What fools, do they even understand the concept of what's going on or what they're doing is completely meaningless?! What they're doing now is making meaningless noises and wasteful efforts! What a waste of time!"

Takashi laughed and said, "It can't be helped. They all want their school back for their own reasons because it's their beloved school. Well, not like they understand anything about what we do nor understand that there's nothing they can do about it."

"Yes." said Yamazaki, "But, we've made up our minds, and have made the decision, nonetheless. The academy will soon shut down for good, and the students will leave Fuyuki City, and they'll be sent to different schools once it is over. Homurahara Academy will not open for Fuyuki again."

"U-Um…I-I-I don't know, you guys." said Sakuragi softly and shyly, "I don't…I don't really think it's a good idea to just…decide on this without even listening to their reason first. S-So, d-don't you think that…we should at least try to hear them out?"

"No, we do NOT!" said Satou sternly, silencing her, "In fact, I'd rather not listen to the selfish and meaningless reasons of those insolent children who've been studying in the academy learning nothing from those failures of those teachers!"

"Yes." said Kimura, "Their reasons do not matter at this point. We'll just have to wait and see how it all ends, or until the academy shuts down for good. The strikes that everyone is making will soon no longer matter once it is all over."

I looked at Akizawa, who had her arms crossed and her eyes closed, as she was sitting in her seat in complete silence as if she was keeping things to herself. Then, as if she felt my eyes were on her, she opened her eyes to look at me as she said, "I have no say in this, Sakakibara. We have made up our decisions, and we shall keep and accept that decision. Besides, even if they do eventually figure out a way to save their academy, they'll already be too late."

"I see." I said, "Very well, then."

We then heard a door open and close, before I turned around and we looked to see that it was my secretary, Fukui, that just came into the room, interrupting us a bit. She then said as she came over to me, "Sakakibara, sir."

"Yes, Fukui?" I said, "What is it?"

"We just received words at the front gate." said Fukui, "There is what appears to be a businessman with several people with him who claims to be from Misaki Town requests an audience with you and the Board of Directors. He wishes to speak with you regarding Homurahara Academy."

Upon hearing that, the rest of the board, save for Akizawa, looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces and well as looks of curiousness, as they whispered to each other who it could be. Of course, I was just as curious as they were as I said to myself, "Misaki Town…" I then looked at Fukui as I commanded, "Tell those at the front gate to let them in. We'd like to see who it is in person."

"As you wish." Fukui bowed before she turned away as she brought out her phone to make the call, as she then waited for answers, before she said on the phone, "Hello? Yes, the Board of Directors would like to meet with them in person. Let them in."

After that, we waited for about half an hour for whoever it is to arrive. Most of us were being patient for them to arrive. Then, the door began to open, as the people who wish to see us began to enter our room, slowly revealing to us who it is. And…I was in complete surprise, as I immediately recognized who those people that were coming into our room were. More specifically, I recognized the man that was walking in with his secretary next to him and the two girls behind them. No doubt, they were…

"Well, I'm quite surprised." I spoke out, "Who would've thought that the president and CEO of the Shining Artists of Shindou Corporation himself, as well as his two heirs of the artist company, would come all the way here from Misaki Town to meet with us. And under no guard at that."

The rest of the board members were just as shocked and surprised as I was, seeing that the president and CEO of the business company would come and show himself to meet us, as they began to whisper to each other, wondering what he was doing here along with his family, save for Akizawa, who was staring at the president and the two girls.

Before the man himself could speak, the girl who appears to be older stepped up and bowed before she said, "We are truly honored and grateful to be recognized by the head of the Board of Directors of Fuyuki for who we are. But, please, allow us to introduce ourselves, nonetheless." She then looked at her father and said before stepping back, "Father?"

The president nodded to his eldest daughter before he turned to us and introduced himself, "I am Shinobu Shindou, president and CEO of the Shining Artist of Shindou Corporation. At your service to all of you."

The president then turned his head to his two girls and nodded to them, signaling them, before the eldest one nodded back, turned to us, and bowed as she said, "Greetings to all of you, I am Akira Shindou, eldest daughter of Shinobu Shindou, and first heir to the Shining Artist of Shindou Corporation. It is my humble pleasure to meet you."

The second one stepped up before she smiled and waved as she said cheerfully, "And I'm Megumi Shindou, second daughter of Shinobu Shindou, and second heir to our family's company along with Aki-nee. It's nice to meet you!"

"Ah, yes." I said, "Nice to meet you, as well. Both of you." I then looked at President Shindou and said, "And you, as well, sir. I've heard that your artistic work and your company are very well known in Japan."

President Shindou nodded and said, "Thank you. I'm honored to hear that."

"So," said Satou, "What brings the president and CEO of the well-known artistic company along with his two heirs all the way here from Misaki Town to Fuyuki? I don't imagine it has something to do with your business. If it's about the academy that'll be shutting down soon, don't bother talking to us about it! We've already made up our minds on letting that failure of the school go!"

"H-H-Hey, Satou!" said Sakuragi, "That's the president and CEO you're talking to! Don't be rude to him!"

"Well, I don't care at this point!" said Satou, "They're wasting their time, and ours!"

"Satou-!"

"Now, now!" said Takashi, trying to calm them down, "The president and his two girls came a long way to get here. Let's just at least hear them out, and see what he has to say."

"Yes." said Yamazaki, "We should at least listen to them. Besides, it's not often we get to see the Shindous themselves in person. Let's hear what they have to say. They're-"

"I am FULLY aware of who these people in front of are!" said Satou, sternly, "What I don't understand is WHY they're here nor WHY can't they comprehend that what they say will NOT make any changes! It is a COMPLETE waste of time!"

"That's right!" said Kimura, "They said so themselves, that it's about Homurahara academy! If it's about the situation regarding shutting it down, there's nothing for them to say about it! In fact, there's nothing left for us to discuss!"

"Guys, c'mon, let's not fight!" said Takashi, trying to calm everyone down.

"He's right!" said Sakuragi, trying to reason, "Fighting isn't going to solve everything!"

Akizawa, who still had her arms crossed and her eyes closed, remained just as she was, sitting in her seat in complete silence as if choosing not to be a part of the ruckus that they were making as they kept fighting with each other. Then, as if feeling my gaze at her, she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at me, before she gave a small smirk and then shrugged, telling me that it should be my problem and not hers since I lead the Board of Directors. Of course, she'd tell me that.

I sighed at that before I turned to the rest of the members, who were still arguing with each other before I took in a deep breath, and then shouted loudly, "ENOUGH!"

Hearing me shout in the room placed everyone in complete silence, as the members all turned to look at me to hear me speak. I then cleared my throat and said, "The President and CEO of the Shining Artist of Shindou Corporation have presented himself to us and is here to speak with us, and as the head of the board, I would like for us to hear what it is he has to say, without ANY further arguments, nor ANY further objections. Are we clear?"

The board members looked at each other for a moment, before they nodded, and agreed to listen. Satou and Kimura were reluctant, but they sighed and relented, reluctantly agreeing to listen to President Shindou. I nodded to them and said, "Good." I then turned back to President Shindou and his daughters and said to them, "I apologize for their behavior. It's been…well, a rough day for us since what had happened with Mr. Kobayashi and Homurahara Academy. It's been making few of us…stressed out because of what is going on with everyone in Fuyuki."

"I understand." said President Shindou.

"Thank you." I said, "Now then, go ahead. Let's hear what you have to say."

"Thank you." said President Shindou, "Let's get straight to the point." He then looked at each and every one of us as he said, "Now, as any of you, no doubt surmised, I've come here to speak with all of you, regarding the…decision that you've made for the academy. So, then, I gather that…all of you made the decision of shutting down Homurahara Academy, then? Because of what had transpired with the former principal of the said academy, Kobayashi?"

I looked at the board members as they remained silent, as if not wanting to speak up to say anything yet. Then, just when I was about to say something, Sakuragi spoke for us, "Umm…for the most part, President Shindou. Most of us decided that because of what had…transpired with former principal Kobayashi, as well as what he did with the money that was loaned to him by us, it was thought that it was better to…put an end to things. So, that's why we decided to shut down Homurahara Academy for good."

"Hmph." said Mr. Satou, "Well, obviously. That weak-minded fool couldn't possibly do his job properly as a principal, all because that one student was blackmailing him, and it's no more than a foolish child. Not to mention the fact that he's been lying to all of us about needing money to help support the academy, only to find out that instead he's been using the said money to just clear off this ridiculous debt of his. Plus, those pathetic excuses of those teachers and staff didn't even bother to do anything to deal with the situation as such. Hell, not even those so-called students of theirs even bothered to call the police when some delinquent went roaming around and doing things as if owning the place for himself, and even when they did, that fool Kobayashi would just deny it to the police. Obviously, it was better that Fuyuki City would be better off without that pathetic excuse of the academy and it's pathetic excuses of teachers and staff. Besides, it was the one question today to which we all could give a clear, simple, straightforward, and honest answer."

"Indeed." said Kimura, "It was the best decision that we all decided on. Homurahara Academy has become a complete failure since Kobayashi and the rest of the staff, as well as those so-called students, made complete failures of themselves, all because of one delinquent student that was there. Kobayashi is an adult, and he can't even deal with something called blackmailing. Therefore, we made the right decision of no longer supporting the academy and decided on shutting it down for good. If the Japanese government asked and we told them everything we knew, I'm sure they would've come to an agreement to it."

"Yes, I see." said President Shindou, "Well, I can see why you would make such a decision. Unfortunately, however, and although your answer was indeed clear, simple, and straightforward, there is some difficulty in justifiably assigning to it the fourth of the epithets you applied to the statement, and in as much as the precise correlation between the information you communicated and the facts, since so far as they can be determined and demonstrated, is such as to cause epistemological problems of sufficient magnitude as to lay upon the logical and semantic resources of the Japanese language for a heavier burden than they can reasonably be expected to bear."

W-Wait…what? I was utterly shocked to hear what President Shindou just said about the decision we made for Homurahara Academy, as I said, "W-What?"

Each of the members of the Board of Directors, save for Akizawa, were just as shocked to have heard what President Shindou said to us as I was as they looked at each other with mixed expressions of shock and confusion at what he was trying to say, before Satou was the first to look back at President Shindou and said, "Epistemological?! What in the world are you talking about?!"

The eldest daughter, Akira, stepped up and said for her father, "What my father means is…well, you made a false statement about Mr. Kobayashi, as well as the teachers and staff of Homurahara Academy, and the decision that you made was based on your misjudgment towards them. In other words, an error."

"What?" I said, confused.

"A-An error?" said Kimura, confused.

"Yes, an error." said President Shindou.

"What do you mean an error?" said Satou.

"I mean, that you…made an error." said President Shindou.

Everyone on the board, as well as myself, were giving out confused looks, as we didn't understand what he was trying to say or what he meant by that, as I said, "I…don't understand."

Akira looked at her father as she said, "Uh…father…"

"Yes, perhaps this is a difficult concept to get across to politician types of people these days." said President Shindou, before he began to think for a moment as he said, "Let's see…you, um…you, uh…uh...and, ah, yes, what I mean is, is that YOU did not accurately make a correction about them."

"Wait, you mean…what do you mean by that?" Takashi asked, confused, "Are you saying that, Kobayashi WAS in debt and was being blackmailed, or what we decided on?"

"Both, actually." said Akira, "Your decision on shutting down Homurahara Academy was made because of what happened with Mr. Kobayashi, without knowing who was involved or what was going on or what he was doing before you even knew of it, was considered not only a mistake but also a lie."

"What?!" said Kimura, shocked, "Y-Y-You…you can't call that lying! And you can't call our decision a mistake!"

"Really?" said President Shindou, "Then, what exactly would you call the opposite of making a correction, or perhaps the opposite of telling the truth?"

"Well, I mean, there was no such intent." said Yamazaki, "We didn't mean to deceive them, we've never knowingly misled anyone involved in politics."

"Nonetheless, you and the rest of the Board of Directors have done so." said President Shindou.

"W-What?!" I said, shocked, "W-Well, President Shindou, it wasn't any of our faults! And besides, none of us knew the school was on a verge of shutting down, nor did we know that Kobayashi was being blackmailed by that bully delinquent of that disgraceful student!"

"Actually, Mr. Sakakibara," said his secretary, "You and the rest of the board were deemed to have known, you are all ultimately responsible for it."

"What?!" said Satou, shocked and somewhat enraged, "Well then, why weren't we told of this in the first place?!"

I turned to Fukui and gave a stern look as I said sternly, "Fukui, care to explain why we were not informed of this in the beginning?!"

"H-H-Huh?!" Fukui stammered, "U-U-Uh…w-well, I-!"

"The school faculty of Homurahara Academy may not have felt the need to inform any of you of such." said President Shindou, interrupting Fukui.

"What?" I said, "And why is that?"

"Well, perhaps they didn't know either." said President Shindou, "Or perhaps, and in spite of not knowing about Kobayashi's situation regarding his debt and blackmailing, they had been advised by him that you, the Board of Directors, did not need to know."

"Well, we DID need to know!" said Kimura, almost shouting.

"Well, apparently, Mr. Kimura, the fact that you and the board needed to know was not known at the time that the now known need to know was known." said his secretary, "And therefore, those who needed to advise and inform perhaps felt that the information that you needed as to whether to inform the highest authority of the learned information was not yet known. And therefore, there was not authority for authority to be informed, because the need to know was not, at that time, known nor needed, exactly."

We became silent as we all took in what his secretary had just said, before Takashi said in confusion, "Wait, what?"

President Shindou cleared his throat and said, "What we mean is that they would not know that you would make a decision of shutting down Homurahara Academy after the incident with Kobayashi."

"Well, obviously, we would if we didn't know and were asked!" said Satou.

"They did not know that you'd be asked when you didn't know." said President Shindou.

"THERE IS BOUND TO BE ASKED WHEN WE DIDN'T KNOW IF WE DIDN'T KNOW!" Satou shouted, as he got up and slammed his hands on the table.

The room became completely silent from hearing Satou shouting what he said, before President Shindou's second daughter smiled and playfully said, "What~?"

"What?" said Takashi, confused.

President Shindou cleared his throat again before he said, "It was thought that it was better not to inform you. You see, despite Kobayashi's weak mentality, he was still a principal for Homurahara Academy, and as such, it was thought that it was better not to create distrust towards both you and the school faculties, they only tell when you should be aware."

"And when would that be?" said Satou.

"You should now be aware of it because you've all just denied it." said President Shindou.

"WHAT?!" Satou shouted, in disbelief.

Hearing what President Shindou said even made us look in complete disbelief, and I could see Akizawa smiling while holding onto her laughter as she was finding this to be amusing.

Yamazaki sighed and said, "Well, it would've been rather more helpful if we had been aware of it before we made our decision."

"On the contrary," said President Shindou, "If you had been aware before you decided, you wouldn't have decided."

"But we needed to know!" said Kimura, "And those teachers and staff, they-!"

"They do not always tell you about school bullying, blackmailing, nor about debt dealings when you need to know about it." said President Shindou.

"You see, in times, Board of Directors, they need you not to know." said his secretary.

"Oh, I see!" said Satou, "Did those pathetic excuses of those teachers and staff decide that we didn't need to know?! Or was it Kobayashi?!"

"No, they didn't." said Akira.

"Well, then who bloody did?!" said Kimura.

"Nobody, actually." said Akira, "It was just that nobody decided to tell you, especially in person."

We became completely shocked and bewildered about what she had just said, before Kimura said, almost shouting, "But that's the same thing!"

"On the contrary," said President Shindou, "To decide to conceal any and all information from you is a heavy burden for any school faculty or even a school official, including Kobayashi, to shoulder. However, to decide not to reveal information to you is considered a routine procedure."

"Well, in that case," said Satou, "Fukui, we need to know everything, now!"

"H-Huh?" said Fukui, surprised, "U-Um…uh…e-everything, Mr. Satou?"

"Yes, everything!" said Satou.

"Uh, well…" said Fukui with uncertainty, before she looked at me for answers as she asked, "Um…sir?"

I nodded to her and said, "Go ahead, Fukui. Let us hear everything."

"O-Oh, very well, sir." Fukui bowed, "As you wish." She then went on to her tablet as she looks up into every information that she could find in her tablet, before she then began saying, "Uh…well, stationary delivery is this week, as well as two several releases of school complaints, uh…four dozen packets of-"

"NO!" Satou and Kimura shouted.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Satou shouted, "Fukui, stop being silly! I MEAN important things!"

"O-Oh!" said Fukui, "Um…uh..." Fukui suddenly gave out a nervous smile as she said, "Um…sir, what exactly is important?"

"W-Wait, what?!" both Satou and Kimura said, bewildered by what she asked.

"Yes." said President Shindou's secretary, "How should she decide what is important?"

Most of the board members, as well as me, suddenly became bewildered by this as we tried to say something but couldn't. Even Sakuragi tried to look to Akizawa, who kept herself quiet, for answers. Then, infuriated by this, Satou slammed his hand on the desk and shouted, "DAMMIT! How could you people possibly defend this cock-up?!"

"Well, as I've said before," said President Shindou, "You've made an error."

"No, YOU PEOPLE made an error!" said Satou.

"Actually, I'm merely a simple CEO of the business corporation." said President Shindou, with a smirk, "What happened with Homurahara Academy has nothing to do with my business nor my family. In fact, Kobayashi is the one responsible for making the decision before his suicidal death, and not the school faculty."

"Well then, we should've at least had him resigned in the first place." said Yamazaki.

"Actually, with all due respect," said President Shindou, "You should only ask Kobayashi to resign from his position when he's made a mistake, which could've been seen at the time and not the benefit of hindsight."

"I see." I said, "Well, I'm sorry to say this, President Shindou, but that doesn't change the fact that the teachers and staffs of Homurahara Academy are complete failures, especially since what had happened with Kobayashi. Their lack of actions to deal with the situation with the academy's worst student, as well as what Kobayashi was doing to steal money to clear his debt, has cost the board greatly. In fact, it's because of their lack of actions, it has shown us that the teachers and staffs were no more than failures, incompetence, a bunch of sorry excuses, and a complete disgrace to teaching Homurahara Academy, as well as failures towards those so-called students of theirs, who they should've been helping them learn, not fooling with themselves. In fact, these so-called students of theirs all act as no more than mere infants, nothing more than little children instead of full-fledged adults. They hardly even show any signs of maturity, respect, or even discipline for that matter. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised that those foolish and disgraceful teachers and staff didn't teach those kids ANYTHING in their school."

"Really?" said President Shindou, "Is that how you truly see them as? Failures? Disgraces? Immature? Irresponsible? People who have no knowledge nor understanding of anything whatsoever? If anything, I would say that YOU PEOPLE are the ones who lack understanding of what those students and teachers are going through throughout their entire school years. And that is why you fail to see that you've made an error."

I gasped, as I was shocked at what he just said, I turned to him and said, almost shouting, "W-What?!" Even most of the board members were shocked by what President Shindou just said about all of us.

"Tell me this," said President Shindou, "Have any of you board members ever graduated from high schools such as Homurahara Academy? Have you ever looked back on your younger days on how your school had taught YOU anything, or how it had shaped you to become the people you are today? Had any of you EVER thought back on how you once were during your time, on how once weak you were, but have changed to a completely different person BECAUSE of the school you once attended, and how graduating from school made you better or successful? Well, have you?"

Me and all of the board members looked at each other, as we took in what he was asking us, before we tried to think as we tried to think back on our past, before President Shindou said, getting back our attention, "No? Well, I have. And let me tell you, my life back then was completely different than the life I have now, as well as the lives of the current generation that is today."

He then took a deep breath, before he began, "Before I became a rich and successful artist, as well as becoming the president and CEO of the artistic company that I currently run to this day, in my youth, I was once a poor young boy who lived in the countryside on a Japanese styled hut that stood by a beautiful lake. Not completely dirt poor, but poor enough to remain in the middle class, managing whatever me, my siblings, and my parents could manage in our home, and on our small farming and crops. It was a difficult life, but it was an everlasting, peaceful, and manageable life. Like many, I go to school every day, and I studied hard to the best of my ability to make myself better for my family. The school that I attended was an old school, and only having one class that taught all grades, with one teacher teaching all of them. During my younger years in school, I discovered that I had a talent for art, and, wanting to use my skills in art, I decided to study art and drawing, bettering my skills on art, and to create what I thought of wanting to make them as if they were coming to life. Everything I did, studying in art, I did so on my own, without the reliance of others. One day, during my early teen years, I was told that I could study in a high school academy, far away from home to a city. And because of my family life, if I had wanted to further my education as well as find a way to improve the living that I had, I had no choice but to leave the countryside as well as use whatever savings that I had to attend high school. Like most of the younger generations today, I had struggled, I had pushed myself to the very limit, and I had tried my hardest to study my way up in many of my classes, as well as further improve my skills in art. But most importantly, I learned, about myself and about others, as well as the world, and I changed. High school life was a difficult time for me, but I did learn so much from it, as well as changed myself, shaped me into becoming who I am now. And when I graduated high school, I felt like a better man than I am today, and I then I went to attend college to further my studies and improve my skills in art. After that, I decided to run an art business that is today, and I became rich, then I met my wife, got married, and had children of my very own."

Hearing him mentioning them made both his daughters smile, as Akira bowed to her father while Megumi gave a gesture of waving, and his secretary even made a small smile at him. Most of the board members, saved for Akizawa, were in complete astonishment hearing his story. Of course, even I was amazed by his story.

"So, you see," said President Shindou, "High schools, such as the case of Homurahara Academy, not only can it give out learning towards the younger generations of students, but also completely changes in them, and shape them to become who they wish to be, and Homurahara Academy has given such great changes towards those who have graduated from it, such as the case with Ms. Sakura Matou, who decided to stay to teach English for newer students, Ms. Ayako Mitsuzuri, who also decided to stay to teach Math, as well as many others who decided to not only to teach but also to make changes for the younger generations, just as it changed them. So, whatever you say about them is considered wrong, and it does NOT give you the place nor right to judge the merit of the school for which YOU have only observed superficially! And, the trouble that is now has arisen, because of your error of judgment in making such decision of shutting down Homurahara Academy!"

"WHAT?!" we all shouted incredulously.

"You should NOT have made a decision of shutting down Homurahara Academy BECAUSE of what Kobayashi did!" said President Shindou, sternly, "Nor SHOULD you have placed the blame on the teachers and staff about Kobayashi and his situation in which neither they nor you DID not know!"

"But that was your fault!" Satou shouted, "You JUST admit it! They were keeping secrets from the Board of Directors!"

"Not at all, actually." said President Shindou, "The system works perfectly well, for as long as the Board tells out everything that they are going to say before they say it. However, if percipiently, they say something without even first clearing with an official, they have only themselves to blame, so none of you should say anything in public without first clearing with—with respect, you all must learn discretion."

"What?!" said Kimura, shocked, "Discretion?!"

"We weren't aware there was anything to be discreet about!" said Yamazaki.

"Well, you should now." said President Shindou, "Because there is always discretion. Whether inside or outside of government, there is always, ALWAYS something to be discreet about."

After hearing that, I as well as all the board members looked at each other, as we all took in what President Shindou said.

---

Mirai's POV:

It was the middle of the afternoon, as my companions and I, except for Hiroko, as well as Assassin in his spiritual form, were out walking in the middle of the city. We were out searching for the Master of Archer named Manami Asakura, a half French and half Japanese woman, as well as the secret base of operation for the Master and the Archer-Class Servant. This Master of Archer, despite having a handicap, is known to be one of the most formidable opponents, standing equal to, if not more, to me, making her a worthy opponent. The information about her whereabouts led us to believe that she's residing in one of the buildings in this city, possibly the tallest one.

"Aimi, are you sure that the Master of Archer is here in the city?" Sayaka asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it." said Aimi, "If my sources are correct, she should be at the building with the flag pole on the top of its rooftop. They say that the building is a daycare center."

"A place for children." Sayaka guessed.

"Precisely." said Aimi.

"Well, that sure is the best place we could go to." said Sayaka.

"Aimi, do you have any information about Manami Asakura?" I asked.

"Yes, milady." said Aimi, "According to her biography, Manami Asakura was once an orphan and lived in an orphanage that was run by the Holy Church, and was raised under their care ever since both her parents died in an accident, resulting in her legs becoming dysfunctional. However, after discovering that she had Magic Circuits and had the ability to use magecraft, she was transferred from the Church to the Mage's Association to train under them to become a proper mage, and despite her handicap, she proved herself to be quite a powerful mage, efficient in both healing and Elemental Magecraft. In other words, and as you could guess, she is equal to you, milady."

"I see." I said, "And, any reasons as to why she would choose a daycare as a base of operation?"

"Actually, yes, I believe there is." said Aimi, "You see, Asakura happens to be caring for children who happen to be orphans just like her. After leaving the Mage's Association, Asakura had created and ran her own orphanage as a means to take in and raise children who are orphans just like her, loving them and caring for them, acting as a mother figure to all of them. According to the orphanage that she runs, she happens to have taken in fifty orphaned children, most of the children who have lost their parents, while some few of them were abandoned by their parents. Perhaps the reason why she would choose a daycare as a base of operation is so that she could bring the orphaned children there to be kept safe and sound, away from the Holy Grail War."

"I see." I said.

"Well, that would explain it." said Sayaka, "She must've been chosen by the grail to become a participant, so she could fight for the kids."

"Correct." said Aimi, "Perhaps the reason why she brought the orphaned children with her was that she does not wish to leave and abandon the children, as she loves the children very dearly. It is likely that she chose not to leave them be in the orphanage that she runs is because it is likely that if she left them to be at the orphanage, the other Masters and Servants would've gone after them in order to get to her, and the children would not be safe from the war. Moving the children to a different location was perhaps the safest option for her to use."

"Huh." said Sayaka, "Quick thinking."

"Indeed." said Aimi, "Also, since she used to have a connection with the Holy Church, as well as a connection with France, it is likely that she will be having allies from the Church to fight with her, likely the one in France."

"I see." I said, "Any info on what her chosen Servant is as well?"

"That, sadly, I do not." said Aimi, "However, I did manage to have found something that had slipped while I was searching for information. Apparently, she was seen to be holding what appeared to have been a golden apple."

"Huh?" said Sayaka, confused, "The heck? Why an apple? Were you sure she wasn't saving that for lunch or something?"

"Ah, actually, Sayaka, I do not believe that it was an apple for eating lunch." Aimi smiled at Sayaka before she became serious again and said, "Actually, I believe it was no ordinary apple. I believe it was a relic from Greek Mythology."

Sayaka gasped at that and said, "Wait a sec, a relic…? And it's from Greek Mythology…?"

"Yes." said Aimi, "And if my assumptions are correct, I believe her Servant Archer could be…"

"Atalanta." I finished for her, "Also known as the Chaste Huntress. She is a huntress who is famous for her swift feet in Ancient Greek legend. She's quite famous in Greek for being the first to drive an arrow into the Calydonian Boar during its extermination, as well as a member of the Argonauts, which assembled brave heroes from all over Greece. I heard she's a very formidable opponent in Greek legend, with her speed and her skills in archery."

"Yes." said Aimi, "And, I believe that there is a reason why she chose to have Atalanta as her Archer-Class Servant."

"Something to do with her past?" Sayaka guessed.

"Yes." said Aimi, "She has the tragic past of being born as the daughter of a king of a certain country and yet being abandoned in the mountains by her father, somewhat quite similar to how Asakura lost her parents. According to Atalanta's legend, long before she became a member of the Argonauts, she was born as the daughter of King Iasus of Arcadia. However, although she was born in and as the princess of the natural paradise, Atalanta ended up being abandoned in the forests and on the mountains immediately she was born as she was shunned by her father, who desired a son rather than a daughter. However, she had survived thanks to the divine protection from Artemis, the Virgin Moon Goddess, and Goddess of the Hunt of Greek Mythology, who felt pity for her. Artemis sent and made a female bear, a sacred beast of the Goddess, nurture the girl by giving her milk and raising her up. In gratitude, Atalanta is a fervent follower of Artemis. Since then and throughout her history, while she became known as the fierce huntress in Greek, she also became a symbol of purity for children. In other words, what Atalanta desires is for the happiness, love, and the salvation of all children throughout the whole world, far and wide."

"I see." I said, "So, the reason why Manami Asakura chose Atalanta to be her Servant as an Archer, is because she shares and desires the same wish that Atalanta has; the salvation for all children."

"Precisely." said Aimi, "And if that is so, it is likely that since they share a noble cause, they both would get along well together as Master and Servant, and would both make an impactful team."

"Huh." said Sayaka, before rubbing the back of her head, "Well, I'll be damned. Jeez, this is just our luck. We'll be going against the Master of Archer who's on the same level of Ojou-sama, along with that damn virgin huntress whose power lies in speed and precision. I don't know if we can handle people like that."

"Indeed." said Aimi, "And…even if she didn't have the Church as her allies, she's not only powerful, she's also very calculative and intelligent in combat, perhaps even on par with you, even with your Mystic Eyes, and she will find her way to defeat her opponents by any means necessary."

"I see." I said, "Well, I believe I may beg to differ from that."

"Hmm?" said Aimi, "How so, Ojou-sama?"

"Do you remember what you said about the orphan kids and the Church being her allies?" I asked, and the two nodded, before I said, "Well if she were to have the Church as her allies, I believe that the Church will likely have them fight against all of you and not have her and her Servant go against all of us. If I'm right about this, I believe that she intends to fight us in a fair fight rather than using underhanded tactics. And, if she intends to go against her opponents in a fair fight, it is likely that she'll have her Servant go against Assassin while she deals with me, while the Church goes to you."

"In other words," said Assassin, telepathically, "She's going by the merit of chivalry."

"Precisely." I said, "Plus since she values the orphaned children as if they're her own, I believe she's more of a good person. If anything, she's actually quite similar to a certain someone that we know. I wouldn't be surprised that those two Masters would get along quite well."

"Ah, I see." said Aimi before she smiled and nodded, "Yes, I wholeheartedly agree!"

"Well, yeah." said Sayaka, rubbing the back of her head, "I guess. I mean, he's still a stupid idiot, but yeah, I guess."

"Speaking of which," I said, "I had sent Hiroko to go and watch over him and his girlfriend today to keep an eye on them. From what I hear from Hiroko through my familiar I sent out to her, he and Saber seem to be practicing swordplay in the free time that they have while his childhood girlfriend watches. I suppose he believes that since he has nothing better to do, he might as well start improving his fighting skills for his next battle in the Holy Grail War. And, based on his progress, it seems to be running very slow. However, it is going very slightly well for him."

"Oh, wow!" said Aimi, amazed, "I'm quite amazed."

"Well, make sense." said Sayaka, "Since, technically, he IS a Master and IS a part of the Holy Grail War. Though, I don't see why we have to take turns watching over and babysitting them from afar."

"Well," I said, "We did promise him we would provide protection and the guarantee of the safety of his friends and the girl he loves after all, as well as make sure that absolutely nothing happens to them or his girl during the Grail War. Besides, we are in an alliance now, and we need him as our greatest ally."

"Well, yeah, I guess it's true." said Sayaka.

"Indeed." Aimi smiled.

"Master," said Assassin telepathically, "I meant to ask you about this later, but…about that girl that the kid is with, wouldn't she just become a distraction for him?"

"Oh?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him, "And why would you believe that as such, Assassin?"

"I'm…concerned." said Assassin telepathically, "The girl that is with the kid will just plague his thoughts and feelings, as well as his concentration on his battles. His concern for her well-being is too strong, and it could affect him greatly during the Grail War. His feelings and emotions for that girl could get the better of him, and could even get himself killed if he ever tries to concern himself to her, hence greatly affecting our end of the side. Just as his feelings and emotions got the better of him during our fight with Caster."

I chuckled a bit and then said, "Your concern for something so trivial such as about Yuzuru is not necessary, Assassin. Caster only got the better of his emotions BEFORE we made an alliance with him, as well as before we agreed to guarantee the girl's safety. Surely, you should know the difference by now, and surely, you wouldn't expect something such as that were to happen a second time."

"Well, yes, and of course not." said Assassin telepathically, "But-"

"And besides," I said, cutting him off, "That girl is not a distraction for him; she's a necessity."

"Hmm?" said Assassin telepathically, confused, "A necessity?"

"Yes." I said, before I began explaining, "You see, Assassin, good men like Yuzuru needs something that drives him, something that pushes him to go even far beyond his limits, to push himself to become stronger for said something that drives him, hence making him improve himself to become much better than he is now, hence making him well suited for that something, as well as driving his desire to protect said something that is very precious to him. In other words, what Yuzuru needs is motivation, and what better person to motivate him than the very girl of his dream?"

"I see." said Assassin telepathically, "In other words, that girl is necessary, because she "motivates" him to become better and stronger, in order to protect her."

"Precisely." I said, "As I said, she's not a distraction, but a necessity. And besides, we made a deal with him to protect her, so should she be in any real danger, we'll be doing the work of protecting her on his behalf. As I said, we're in an alliance with him, so no Master or Servant will get to her or his friends."

"I see." said Assassin telepathically.

"Any more concerns regarding that, Assassin?" I asked as I smiled at him.

He remained silent for a moment, before he said, "No, Master, none."

"Good." I said, "Now, while Yuzuru is busy playing with his princess, we'll be onto the matter at our end: reconnaissance. Looking for whatever it is we can find on the other Masters and Servants."

"Very well." said Assassin telepathically.

"Uh…guys?" I heard Sayaka speak.

"Yes, Sayaka?" I turned to her, and I saw she had a shocked and disturbed look on her face.

"Uh…y-y-you…" said Sayaka, keeping her shocked and disturbed look, as she began pointing, "Y-You might…wanna look at that…"

Confused, me and Aimi looked at each other, before we turned to where Sayaka was pointing at, and…much to our shock, what we saw was…disastrous.

Far in front of us was the building that we were looking for. Except, it was covered in complete blackness as if it was caught on fire long ago. The building looked to remain intact, but overall, it looked to be in complete ruins. The outside of the building had burned marks everywhere, and all the windows were shattered into pieces. It looked…horrible as if something must've happened long before the Grail War even started. What in the world happened there?

We quickly looked ahead to see that there were a couple of policemen at the front door of the building before I turned to Sayaka and Aimi and said, "We should find out what had happened. Let's ask them." The two nodded at my suggestion before we quickly went to go ask the policemen.

As soon as we got closer to the building, I stopped to speak to the nearby policeman and asked, "Excuse me, officer, I apologize for interrupting, but can I ask of you what exactly happened here?"

"Oh, hello, little miss." said the police officer after he noticed me, "Well, it's pretty hard to say, but I'm pretty sure from the looks of the building, I think there was some sort of fire that was going on for some time ago. I'm not sure when, why, or how it even started. It probably started from robbery, but until we can figure out what caused it, that's about as much as we can investigate from this poor building." He then turned to look at the building and said, "I gonna say though, it sure looks pretty bad. Even though the building is okay now after the fire stopped, I'm still not sure if there are even any survivors in there. Heard that this place was filled with mostly orphaned kids. Those poor souls."

"I see." I said.

"Well, anyway, that's as much as I can tell you ladies." said the police officer, "You three should probably leave and head home for today. Sorry, but it's still not safe for you girls to be here. Police work and all."

"Ah, yes, of course." I nodded with a smile, "I understand, officer, thank you."

The police officer nodded back with a smile before he turned away from us to meet up with his fellow policeman as they then began talking to each other. I then felt Assassin's hand on my shoulder as he said to me telepathically, "Master, there's an alleyway that goes behind this building. We can make our way up to the top of the building before we find our way in."

"I see." I thought, "Good. Thank you, Assassin." I then turned my head and whispered to Sayaka and Aimi, "I know another way in. Follow me."

The two nodded to me before we looked back at the policemen to see that they were still talking to each other, no longer noticing us. I then nodded to them, signaling them to go before we began to quickly move to the alleyway silently and discreetly before the policemen could even spot us.

We quickly found the clear spot behind the building before we stopped to look up at the top of the building. Assassin materialized himself to his physical form as soon as the coast was clear. We took a moment to look up at the top of the building, before, seeing that we jump our way up, we began chanting, "Es ist gross. es ist klein. ¡Vox Gott Es Altas! (It is large. it is small. ¡The Voice of God is the World!)" After chanting that and enhancing our legs, we jumped up high at the speed of sound, before we began to fall as we began to land on the building.

"Luft der Leichtigkeit (Air of Lightness)." I chanted in German, before a sudden gust of wind surrounded us, making us light as the wind, as we began to land gently on the roof of the building.

"Well, we made it." said Sayaka, as she pulled out her guns, "But we gotta be cautious. Who knows who or what's in there?"

"Right." said Aimi, as she brought out her throwing knives.

Assassin pulled out his combat knife to prepare himself as well.

We then went to the rooftop door of the building, as I cautiously went up to open it first. Slowly, I opened the door and took a peek inside. Aside from the inside being dark, everything inside seemed to be clear, so I opened the door widely before I turned to my companions and my Servant and nodded to them, signaling to them that it was clear. They nodded back before Sayaka stepped up and decided to take the lead and went inside, with her guns pointed and ready.

Aimi went in after her next before I turned to Assassin and commanded, "Watch our backs when we get in." Assassin nodded to the command before I went inside to go after them, with Assassin following me from behind.

As soon as we got in, I quickly went to see if we could turn on the lights inside since it was too dark. Unfortunately, the light switches were not working; must've been cut off and broken after the fire, so I brought out a gemstone and used it to flash out bright light to light up the entire room. As soon as I did so, we took a look at our surroundings.

Aside from the burned marks all around the place that were caught from the fire, the inside of the building was very large, as it had multiple rooms that were lined in ten on both sides of the hallways; few of those doors were broken to pieces. Honestly, we were pretty amazed at how big this place of the building really was.

"Whoa…!" said Sayaka, amazed, as she looked around the place for a bit, "You know, for a place to be called a daycare, this place sure is amazingly big."

"Well, I did say that Asakura happens to have taken in fifty orphaned children while running an orphanage." Aimi smiled, "So, I suppose it's likely that these rooms here are for the children who're staying here during the Grail War, likely for safety purposes."

I went to one of the doors to the room and opened it to check and see, and sure enough, it was a room for a child to stay in. I then went for the next one to check, and it was just the same as the other. All of these doors lead to rooms for each of the children to stay in. Aside from the burned marks around the rooms from the fire, as well as the burned items for children that were lying on the floor, they were all mostly empty.

"Hmmm…" I thought, as I looked around before I used my Mystic Eyes of Retrocognition to look into the past, before the fire had occurred. Through my eyes, I could see one of the children, a boy, was playing with his action figure toy in his room, enjoying the fun he was having. He was…happy, as were the other kids in the other rooms. Then, someone knocked on the door, before it opened to reveal an unidentified person, a body, specifically a man. And, the way he was dressed in a robe, he had to be a member of the Church. The boy looked at him as if he was listening to what the man was saying before he got up on his feet and went to him, before the man brought his hands to the boy's back, as he began to lead him somewhere. I continued to use my eyes to look further, and I saw that it was the same for the other children. None of the children came back to their own rooms after that.

I then stopped using my Mystic Eyes before I said, "Someone from the Church was dragging the children one-by-one to somewhere as if he was bringing them to show them something. However, none of the children made it back to their rooms."

"What?" said Sayaka, confused, "I don't get it. What could he want to show the kids?"

"I don't know." I said, "However, I believe it has something to do with the fire that happened here." I then turned to my companions as I commanded, "Let's split up and search around the place, see what we can find so we may know what happened here before the fire had occurred. Report back to me if you found anything."

"Right." Sayaka nodded.

"Understood." Aimi bowed.

"Assassin, you're with me." I said.

"Right." Assassin nodded.

Then, we split up and went in different directions to search for clues.

---

Sayaka's POV:

I walked around this huge place of a daycare until I found myself in a place that seemed to be a kitchen. I looked around, readying myself with my gun with my flashlight on to see if there was any danger. I looked around while aiming with my gun, only to see that the coast was clear, with no enemy in sight. Even though it was clear, I kept my gun in my hand just in case while lowering it, and then looked around the kitchen. My god, this place is a mess. Burned marks everywhere, as well as dirt stains and messed up kitchen utensils everywhere.

Suddenly, I took a sniff of my noise and…I smelt something awful. It was…

"Ugh…oh, God!" I said, disgusted, while covering my mouth, as I felt like I was about to throw up, "What the hell?! Ugh, the hell's with this rotten smell?! Urgh, God, this place reeks of blood! Who in the fucking hell reeks this place with blood?! God, this is JUST my luck! It smells like people died here!"

I then gasped, and thought…wait…the smell of blood…did…something happen here? Did somebody die?!

I looked around the kitchen again to see where the smell was coming from, and even though I hate the smell, I had to sniff this rotten stench in order to find the source of it. I kept on smelling this awful stench-dear God, I fucking hate it-until I found where it came from, the storage room. Thought that there could be danger inside, I quickly went to the side of the door and readied my gun, before I brought my hand to the door handle to prepare to open it. I sighed and readied myself to open on my count.

…3…2…1…now!

After the last count, in a flash, I quickly opened the door real hard, slamming it, and breaking it in the process, before I readied myself and aimed my gun at whatever it was inside, before I suddenly gasped, only as I saw what was a horrible sight to see. Oh, my God…! This is…! Right in front of me was…completely awful. What I saw was a pile of small dead bodies that were lying on the floor, all burned, gouged up, and completely unrecognizable.

I remained where I was for a moment, as I was still in complete shock from what I was seeing before I managed to recover and went to inspect the bodies. Aside from the burns that they suffered from the fire, they looked…horrible. These bodies, based on their size, must be the bodies of the orphaned children. The only things that remain are the head and the body. I looked at each body and noticed that all their arms and legs were missing, and their insides were cut open, and the insides of the organ, including their hearts, were gone. My God…who could've done this to them? And why did they do it?

---

Aimi's POV:

I found myself in what appeared to be a library that was full of books, mostly books for children. Just like the building, the whole library had unfortunately been caught by the fire. All the books were burned out, leaving only burned marks on them. Even when some of them were opened, the pages were also burned out and they were all unreadable. I looked around the library for a moment, before suddenly, I noticed something that was on the library desk.

On the library desk was…a book! Of course, the cover was burned from the fire. However, the pages remained intact. Seeing that book there, I quickly went over to the book to look at it. The cover of the book was burned, so the title could not be read, but I should be able to read it and see what it is about. To be honest, it's actually a miracle that this book managed to survive the flames. I opened the book and began reading the pages to see what this book was about.

I kept on looking and reading the pages, processing any and all information that I could find in this book, until finally, I could see and process what this book was about, making me gasp in shock at what kind of book this was that I was reading.

"N-No way…!" I said, shocked, "This can't be…! T-This book is…!"

---

Mirai's POV:

Me and Assassin were looking around the building until we found a room that leads to somewhere. We both stood at the sides of the door, before taking a peek inside. Inside the room, we could see there was a summoning circle that was drawn on the ground. This must be the place where they summon their Servant. I looked at Assassin as he looked back at me before we nodded to each other, and then we slowly opened the door and slowly went inside the room. As soon as we got in, the gemstone that I used for light lit up the room, giving us a better view of what we were seeing inside the room.

In the room, and right in front of us, we saw the summoning circle that was drawn on the floor and based on the condition of how almost faint and worn out it looked, it is likely that the summoning circle had already been used, and a Servant has already been summoned into the Grail War. However, what we found was even more disrupting, and it was on the summoning circle. What we saw was…a corpse of someone or something. The corpse was completely burned and looked completely unrecognizable. And, on the stone counter, there was the golden apple that was intended to be used as a catalyst for Atalanta.

I looked at Assassin and ordered, "Assassin, go and check on the catalyst. I'll take a look at the corpse here."

Assassin nodded before he went to go over to the catalyst, while I knelt down and inspected the corpse. As I looked at the corpse, even though it was unrecognizable, I immediately saw this former body of a person was not ordinary, as it was something else other than human.

"No way…!" I said, shocked, as I kept looking at it, "This corpse…it's not human. No. Rather, it's no longer human…it's a body of a Dead Apostle…!" But, why would a Dead Apostle be here and on the summoning circle? Unless…it was used as a sacrifice for summoning a Servant? Then, that means…!

"Wait…!" I heard Assassin say, making me look up at him, before he said to me, "Master, this apple hasn't been used as a catalyst to summon a Servant!"

I gasped from hearing him say that. "I knew it!" I thought, "So, then this corpse of a Dead Apostle was used to summon a Servant and not the apple! Which means Atalanta was not summoned as a Servant! But…the question is, who used this Dead Apostle to summon a Servant?! And…who was this person before they became an Apostle?!"

Then, I noticed something, and at the side of the circle was…a wheelchair. Wait a second…

I quickly went over to the wheelchair and took a look at it for a moment, before I remembered something and said, "Manami Asakura has a handicap, and it's her disabled legs. Which means, this wheelchair belongs to Manami Asakura! But then, if this is here, then where is Asakura?!"

I took a look at the wheelchair for a moment, before I used my Mystic Eyes again to look into the past. Through my eyes, I could see that there was a woman, likely Manami Asakura, as she had fallen off her wheelchair, and then looked as if she was choking herself as if struggling with what was happening to her, and she looked as if she was screaming out loud as if something terrible was being happened to her. I tried to look further deep what happened, but…everything soon became unclear of what happened, forcing me to stop using my Mystic Eyes.

"Augh!" I winched in pain from that, as I placed my hand on my head, before shaking my head and cursed, "Dammit…!"

"Master, what's wrong?!" said Assassin, sounding concerned, "What did you see?!"

"I-I…I'm not sure…" I said, as I began to recover, "But…from what I saw through my Mystic Eyes, I saw Manami Asakura, and…she looked as if she was suffering as if she was struggling with herself. Something terrible must've happened to her, but…from what, I'm unsure. And beyond what happened next, I don't know. However, one thing's for sure. Manami Asakura is likely dead."

"I see." said Assassin.

I then got up and said, "Well, anyway, we've learned what we can here. Let's leave this place while we can and regroup with the others. We'll go over what we've learned back at the Tohsaka Mansion."

"Understood." said Assassin, before he began dematerializing into spiritual form.

I sighed to myself and said as I began to leave, "And we better be prepared for whoever did this to this place."

---

Rokurou's POV:

It was now in the middle of the evening, as President Shindou and his two daughters had already left our office after telling us what he had to say. I was standing and looking out the window with my hands behind my back, as I began to think back on what President Shindou said to us before he left.

---

Flashback:

"Here is what I intend to do now." said President Shindou, "I heard that everyone outside that wishes to have their Homurahara Academy back are planning on making a donation for the school to return it to running again for everyone to come back and attend to, and even though it has little effort, it is showing that the donation is doing the best it can to bring their academy back to how it was before. So, what I will do is make a donation with my money and give them exactly what they need to bring their academy back. However, I will only do so based on whether you change your minds on shutting down the academy or not. Take the time that you have and think back on what I have said to all of you, as well as the errors that you have made on the teachers and staff who are innocent of what Kobayashi did to the academy, and then decide whether you intend to support the Homurahara Academy again or not. Think hard on this, and decide soon."

---

Now:

I remained silent as I thought back on what President Shindou said before I heard Satou shout, "THIS IS OUTRAGE!"

I turned back to my fellow board members as they were arguing about what President Shindou said to us before he left.

"Who does this man even THINK he is?!" Satou shouted, "First he came here personally and rubbed whatever he said about 'discretion' in front of our faces, and then he PULLS THIS?! And him thinking that the failures of those teachers and staff are innocent?! That's just pure UTTER NONSENSE!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" said Takashi, waving his hands, "Whoa, there, Satou! You're WAY out of line there! There's no definite proof that those teachers and staffs are failures, nor is there proof that they had anything to do with Kobayashi and his complete antics. Besides, they said it themselves before too, remember? That they didn't know that Kobayashi was being blackmailed nor was he even in debt. Hell, even we didn't know that ourselves!"

"Which is precisely the problem!" Kimura argued, "Had they known about this, then they should've informed us in the first place! And had they known Kobayashi had been lying to us and told us in the first place, we wouldn't be giving away our money to him in the first place, so that he could clear away his ridiculous debt! And what's more, they even allowed the worst student to enter their school, and allowed him to do whatever he wanted, as well as bullying and hurting other students!"

"You speak of matters that should've been a benefit of hindsight!" said Yamazaki, "Even if they could do so as such, what good could it possibly do?! If any of them or even Kobayashi tried to tell us, the police, or anyone what was going on in the first place, the situation would've likely worsened! What matters now, is what we should intend to do next!"

"He's right." said Sakuragi, "We need to think about what we should do now, and if we should reconsider our decision on shutting down the academy for good. Besides, we all heard what President Shindou said, we made a mistake!"

"He didn't prove we made a mistake on anything!" said Kimura, "In fact, you can't prove that we made an error on our decision! It's complete utter nonsense!"

"ENOUGH!" I shouted, silencing the board members, before I took a deep breath and calmed myself, before I said, "The choices that we have now are considered quite a few. Thinking about it now, I can see that perhaps it may not end well in our favor. Fukui, show us the news channel."

"Yes, sir." Fukui nodded before she turned on the TV to show us the news channel.

"As if now, the situation is still continuing to get worse as time passes by for Homurahara Academy to be shut down completely." said the news reporter, "Here, we can see that many of the Fuyuki residences continue to raise their strike to bring back their once prestigious academy; family and friends, and many who had once graduated from the academy, as well as the current students of Homurahara Academy. Here, we have a former student as well as a former teacher of Homurahara Academy joining us today, Mrs. Taiga Fujimura. Tell me, Mrs. Fujimura, how do you feel about-?"

In the TV news, the woman on screen, Taiga Fujimura, who appears to be in mid-thirties, with matching short light brown hair and eyes, wearing a green dress with a yellow and black stripe shirt and white shoes, quickly snatched the microphone from the news reporter, before she looked comically angrily at the camera before shouting at the camera, "HEY, YOU MOTHER FUCKERS OF BOARD DIRECTING ASSHOLES! YOU SEE ME?! YOU SEE MY FACE RIGHT NOW?! YOU BETTER BE FUCKING WATCHING THIS, BECAUSE I'M HERE TO SAY TO YOU ASSHOLES ARE MAKING A BIG FUCKING MISTAKE! YOU DON'T KNOW THE FIRST FUCKING THING ABOUT OUR SCHOOL! YOU GUYS ARE A BUNCH OF TRASHES! YOU SHUT DOWN OUR SCHOOL, AND I'M GONNA COME AND FUCKING KILL YOU FUCKERS! OUR SCHOOL'S THE PLACE FOR EVERYONE FUYUKI HERE TO LEARN, SO DON'T BE TALKING SHIT ABOUT THIS ACADEMY BECAUSE YOU'VE NEVER ATTENDED OUR SCHOOL BEFORE! YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, FUCKERS! I'M GONNA COME FOR YOU! YOU HEAR ME?! I'M GONNA FU-!"

The TV news suddenly stopped working, showing us only an error screen as it was making a long 'beep' sound before Fukui then turned off the TV.

I sighed before I said, "Perhaps we may have been making a mistake. We've made an error in making this decision based on our blind judgment towards the teachers and staff of Homurahara Academy, for something that we didn't even know about."

"You can't believe that, Sakakibara!" said Satou, "YOU lead the Board of Directors, and yet you're now doubting yourself?! What we decided on wasn't a mistake at all! It's foolish people like them who see that! They have no idea, do not understand, how politics works around here!"

"Then do WE understand HOW life outside of politics works?!" I shouted at Satou, making him look at me with a shocked expression, before I calmed myself and said, "To be completely honest, I've almost completely forgotten what my life was like before I became a head of the Board of Directors. I was a young man then, perhaps even carefree like the rest of those kids, but…now, I've become too absorbed in my work as a member of the Board of Directors, that I didn't have time to reflect on myself, nor to think back on my past."

"Sakakibara…" I heard Sakuragi said.

I heard Yamazaki sigh before he said, "As the eldest of the Board of Directors, I have to admit myself that I've never once attended a high school like Homurahara Academy before. Perhaps, you can even say that in my youth, how I had gained knowledge and understanding about politics was…quite different compared to the younger generations that are today. It's been fifty years for me since then. Perhaps because if it, I too was blind to make a false judgment, and it led me astray."

"Yeah, I guess it's the same for me too, I guess." Takashi chuckled, "I mean, I had attended a high school academy once, but I completely forgot about it. Hell, I can't even remember what it was like being in high school. It's kinda silly if you think about it. Though, then again, I was probably a lovable-idiot then as I am now. No wonder I forget things about my past easily, and why I'm the least useful of this bunch. Hahaha."

"Kimura," I said, "What about you? Do you have anything to say?"

Kimura remained silent for a moment before he sighed and said, "No, sir. I have none, sadly. Actually, to be honest, I never wish to think back on my days during school. Unlike many students, I was…taught in a very strict boarding school, so I never had any kinds of changes or developments like those kids have. It's…why I think that the children in Homurahara Academy are…mostly childish and incompetent. But now, thinking about what President Shindou said, perhaps I may have been wrong about them the whole time."

"W-Well, I have attended high school academy before!" Sakuragi spoke up, "And I have thought back about it sometimes. Back then, when I was in school, I was really shy, and I couldn't talk or interact with people very well, and I would mostly keep things to myself rather than saying what I wanted to say to anyone. I was really alone when I couldn't make any friends because of my shyness. But then I met Akizawa; she and I became friends and we've been stuck together ever since. And because of her, I was able to overcome my shyness and talk to people now. Honestly, if it weren't for my days in high school, I would've never met Akizawa and overcome my shyness, and we would've never met Sakakibara when we were in college together. That's why, I think that it's wrong to shut down Homurahara Academy, because if we do so, then…these kids won't be able to develop into who they want to be! That's why we-!"

"That is ENOUGH!" said Satou sternly, "I care less about any of that nonsense about development that these foolish childish children made in that ridiculous school of theirs! In fact, I highly doubt that any of them have even made any developments at all from those failures of teachers! Which is why we should NOT change our decision on shutting it down! And those foolish people outside, on strike, they're only making meaningless actions and meaningless noises that'll never work! This is why I hate children, especially teenagers!"

"Really, Satou?" I heard Akizawa, who had her arms crossed and eyes closed and had been quiet throughout the entire meeting, finally spoke, "Because it would seem to me that YOU are the one who hasn't developed at all, for an adult, that is."

"W-W-What?!" Satou stammered.

Akizawa then opened her eyes to look at him while keeping her arms crossed and said to him, "If I remember correctly, didn't your wife divorce you, because of your dislike for children while SHE wanted to have children? Didn't that cost you the woman that once loved you the most, who once trusted you the most, only because she saw what and how truly a horrible man you really are when you speak horrible things about children?" Akizawa smirked and said in amusement, "Honestly, I actually find that quite insane. If anything, I would say you're even worse than a simple child."

Satou grumbled at her statement and insult, before he said to her, almost shouting, "Well, what of you, Akizawa?! What do you have to say about this?! You've been acting quiet this whole meeting! Do you have anything to say?!"

"Well," Akizawa began, "As Sakakibara said, the options that we have are quite a few. Even if the academy shuts down for good, these "foolish people" who're making "meaningless actions" and "meaningless noises" won't stop completely. However, that is not the issue that I'm trying to get at. The real issue is Kobayashi. And, as President Shindou, who as I'm sure you're aware by now is my uncle, had said to all of us, there is always discretion. And Kobayashi, in spite of his weak and disabled mentality, was being discreet with what he had with the money that we offered to him, by lying to us and making us believe that it was for Homurahara Academy when in reality was to clear off the debt that he had caused towards himself. Of course, he was also being discreet from the teachers and staff, as well as the police who were called by parents of every student. There was no involvement with either the teachers and staff or any of the students with Kobayashi's antics, aside from Shichirou Hashimoto, who at the time was blackmailing him to allow him to do as he pleases. As such, since he was the one pulling the strings to steal away money from both the academy and the Board of Directors, and no one was aware of that fact, the blame should go to Kobayashi and not them."

"So, now you think that they had nothing to do with it?!" said Satou.

"I'm speaking out the truth." said Akizawa, "As I said before, what Kobayashi did was a despicable and irresponsible act that has cost us greatly and have not only affected the academy, but also the Board of Directors as well, and has caused their academy to be framed by him. However, I never said that THEY were responsible for what HE did to us and their school. Hence, whatever the problems that had been caused by their former principal should not have been laid down onto the teachers and staff, hence why it should not be resolved by their hands. Especially the students. As that one student said when he barged in during our meeting with the teachers, they had done absolutely nothing wrong, and that gives us no right to yell at them nor treat them as if they're at fault for everything that's already happening right now."

"Tsk!" said Satou, "You're only defending that little boy because HE'S your cousin!"

Akizawa chuckled with a smirk and said, "Hardly. I'm only pointing out the real fact. The fact that several students defended their teachers and staff means that we, or rather you, Satou, rubbed them the wrong way and that they were actually indeed learning from them and developing into better people, even better than you if I wouldn't be surprised myself. If anything, these "foolish children" are not what you would call "babies" anymore." She then looked serious and added, "Besides, it is as my uncle had said, whatever we said about them is considered wrong, and it doesn't give us the place nor right to judge the merit of the school for which we have only observed superficially, nor should we have placed the blame on the teachers and staff about Kobayashi and his situation in which neither they or we DID not know about. Instead, we should do what we do best, and support Homurahara Academy as the Board of Directors, not go against it because of what Kobayashi did."

Satou grumbled and said, "It's nothing but a complete waste of time…!"

Akizawa smirked and said in amusement, "It's not like you have anything better to do with the "time" that you have, old man." Hearing her say that made Satou grumble again, before Akizawa added, "Besides, it's like I said, these "meaningless actions" and "meaningless noises" aren't going to stop anytime soon. Oh, and…if words were to reach the Japanese Government, and when they hear the people's reasons, the Japanese Government…will be on their side and not ours."

Kimura sighed and said, "Yes, I see you have a point."

"Yeah, that'd be bad." Takashi chuckled nervously.

"Then, what do you suggest we do, Akizawa?" Yamazaki asked.

Akizawa then turned to look at me and said, "I suggest that we should accept the terms that President Shindou has made to us, and change the decision that we have made in shutting down Homurahara Academy, and remove any cause made by Kobayashi that has been placed onto the teachers and staffs to relieve them of the burden, Sakakibara. And, we must once again support Homurahara Academy and leave what had occurred with Kobayashi behind us. If my uncle intends to save Homurahara Academy once we changed our decision, then so be it."

I took in what Akizawa had said to me before I began to think about it for a moment. Then, after enough thinking, I said, "Yes, you're right, I believe we should."

"W-What?!" said Satou incredulously, "B-But-!"

"As Akizawa said, the blame should not go to the teachers and staff." I said, "And, we're the Board of Directors, and it's our duty to support the academy to the best of our abilities. What Kobayashi did was his fault and his alone, because of his discretion. We have to let what he did go past and continue supporting the academy and not ridicule it for what he did or for not knowing what he had done. We have to do our duties as members of the Board of Directors to support Homurahara Academy, as they do their duties to help students grow and develop into better people. Therefore, I'm changing my decision on shutting down Homurahara Academy for good." I then raised my hand and asked, "So, are all in favor?"

Seeing that I rose my hand and made a decision on changing it, Akizawa smirked and was the first to raise her hand, signaling that she is in favor of it before Sakuragi eagerly joined in. Yamazaki chuckled a little before he raised his hand in favor as well, then Takashi shrugged before he raised in favor, and then Kimura raised his in favor. We then looked at Satou, who was the only one left, waiting to see his answer.

Satou grumbled before he raised his hand and said, "Fine! Let's just get this over with. But after this, I'm resigning from the board!"

"Suit yourself, old man." Akizawa chuckled, and Sakuragi giggled.

"Then it's settled." I said before I turned to Fukui and said, "Fukui, make a call to the front. Have them informed to the Shindous."

"Yes, sir." Fukui nodded, before she brought her phone out, dialed a number, and waited for answers. As soon as there was an answer to her phone, she said through her phone, "Yes, this is Fukui. Yes. Tell them that…we've decided on changing our decision. They'll know what we mean. Yes."

---

The next day:

Yuzuru's POV:

Morning came by as we got up from bed and we went to brush our teeth and change into our casual clothes. Me, wearing my usual blue t-shirt with my dark blue jacket that consisted of sky blue sleeves and yellow trimming worn over it, dark navy long pants, and my usual blue sneakers. Minna was wearing a one-piece white dress that have long sleeves and a skirt that reaches her knees, a light blue jacket over it, a pair of long socks that covers her calves, and a pair of white shoes. Saber was in her black suit. We were in the dining room eating our breakfast quietly.

It's been four days since the announcement of shutting down the academy, and I've been spending my time mostly practicing on my sword skills with Saber helping me. Saber was…well, she was a tough fighter, and she doesn't hold back on striking me, leaving me little to no time to react, and she would make practice really hard for me to go through with, leaving me beaten down most of the time. Hell, I still have bruises from the practices that I went through with her. It was tough, sure, but…at least I was learning little by little, and I'm at least getting the hang of it now. Although, there were a few times that I got distracted because I felt like someone was watching us from afar, though I decided to ignore it to continue practicing, keep focusing on my skills with a sword. Anyway, as I ate my breakfast quietly, I thought about what Akira-neesan and Megumi-neesan were doing. It's been four days now. I wonder if they've done it already? And if they have, I hope it worked out.

"Yuzuru?" I heard Saber say, making me look up at her, before she asked with a concerned look, "What's wrong? You look like something's bothering you?"

"Huh?" I said, "Oh, no, it's nothing. I'm just…thinking about something is all. Don't worry about it, though, it's not important."

"Is that so?" said Saber, "Well, if you insist, I won't ask further."

I nodded and said, "Thanks. Well, anyway, think you're up for more practice?"

"Yes." Saber nodded, "It's a good time for morning practice."

We then heard some rushed footsteps before there was some banging at the door, making us turn to the door.

"I'll go get it." I said, as I got up. I went up to the door and opened it to see who was outside. When I looked outside, I saw Yukitsuki-san standing at the front, with both hands on her knees, and she was panting as if she had run a marathon. She must've run over here from her room, though I didn't expect her to be this tired. I mean, she could've just walked her way here. "Yukitsuki-san!" I said, "Uh…what is it? What's wrong?"

Yukitsuki-san stayed where she was while panting, trying to catch her breath for a moment, before she looked at me and said excitedly, "Shindou-kun, you need to come and to see the news! Something BIG has happened to our school!"

I gasped at hearing that. Could…could this be it?

---

We were in Yukitsuki-san's room as the news was being played on TV, as the news reporter said, "In today's news, after the long-awaited four days since the day it was announced that the academy is to be in an immediate shutdown, our Homurahara Academy has been saved from being shut down and is now once again running back in session. All teachers will continue to teach in Homurahara Academy, and all students who would be transferred to other schools, including exchange students who would return to their respective countries, will continue to stay and learn in this academy. All and all, Homurahara Academy will continue to resume starting tomorrow."

Hearing what the news said about Homurahara Academy and its great news, we all began to have smiles on our faces, and then we began cheering, happy to hear about the news of our academy. Minna hugged me happily while we all cheered for the news, happy to know that she'll be able to stay here in Japan, and I hugged her back, while Saber looked at the TV with a smile on her face. I looked at the TV as the news continued playing. They did it. They actually did it!

The news Reporter then said, "…the ones who had saved our prestigious Homurahara Academy from immediate shut down was done by Shinobu Shindou, the president and CEO of the Shining Artists of Shindou Corporation of Misaki Town, as well as his two heirs to his company, Akira and Megumi Shindou, who had made the greatest donation of millions of yens to save Homurahara Academy."

…Dad, Akira-neesan, Megumi-neesan.

"No way!" said Yukitsuki-san, surprised, "I can't believe it! The people of the Shindou Corporation actually came here to Fuyuki to help our academy! Isn't that awesome, Shindou-kun?!" She looked at me with sparkles in her eyes, as she was happy to see that my family came here to help, and she doesn't even realize I'm part of that family.

"Uh…yeah." I said, "It sure is."

"Wow! I really can't believe it!" said Yukitsuki-san, excitedly, while looking at the TV, "I can't believe that the Shindou Corporation actually came here! It's a miracle!"

While Yukitsuki-san was distracted by the TV, Minna looked at me with a confused look, as if wondering why I didn't tell her that they were my family. I smiled at her before I brought my finger to my lips, signaling to her that I was keeping it a secret. Minna saw this and looked back at the TV for a moment before she looked back at me and nodded with a smile, telling me that she understands my reasons, and I nodded back to her in thanks.

"Yuzuru." I heard Saber say, making me turn to look at her, "These people on TV…could they be…?"

I gave Saber the same signal I gave to Minna before I whispered, "I'll explain later. Can you keep it a secret for me for the time being?"

Saber gave me a surprised look for a moment before she nodded to me and whispered back, "Of course."

"Thanks." I nodded.

"Hey, guys!" we heard Yukitsuki-san say, making us turn to look at her as she said, "We should head to the academy! We gonna see what's going on for ourselves!"

"Huh?" I said, "Are you sure? They said that the school won't start until tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know." said Yukitsuki-san, "But, really, I gotta see what's going on for myself! I know that school will be going back good as new, but I wanna go and confirm! So, we should go and see what's happening!"

Hearing what Yukitsuki-san suggested, I thought about it for a moment, before I turned to Minna and Saber, asking if we should, before they both nodded to me, telling me that they should, and I nodded back to them before I looked back at Yukitsuki-san and said, "Okay, then, let's go to Homurahara Academy. While we're at it, we should call the others."

"Right." Yukitsuki-san nodded, "I'm on it."

---

We had just arrived at Homurahara Academy, and at the front of the school gates, were lots of people as well as parents and students, who were cheering for the return of Homurahara Academy, while news reporters were giving out the news on camera. Me, Minna, Saber, Yukitsuki-san, Kurosawa-san, and Hiiragi were standing at the far side and watching what was happening, and we just couldn't believe our eyes.

"Wow!" said Yukitsuki-san, amazed, "I…I can't believe this!"

"Well, from the way and looks of things here," Kurosawa-san smirked, "I'd say believe it."

"YEAH!" Hiiragi screamed excitedly, "THIS IS SO AWESOOOOOME!"

"Yeah." I said, "It is."

"Ja." Minna smiled.

"Indeed." said Saber.

"Well, now that means we can all go back to our beloved school again!" Yukitsuki-san smiled, "I'm really glad! I'm really glad they brought it back!"

"Yeah." I said, as I looked ahead with a smile, "Me, too." I'm really glad they did it.

"Hey, guys!" we heard someone call, and we turned to see that it was Mitsuzuri-sensei and all of our teachers who were waving at us.

"Mitsuzuri-sensei!" I said, surprised.

"Our senseis!" everyone else said, just as surprised as I was.

They came over to us with happy smiles on their faces as they embraced us in their hugs.

"I'm so glad you kids are here!" said Mitsuzuri-sensei, "We were hoping that you guys would come over to see this!"

"YEAH!" Makidera-sensei shouted excitedly, "OUR SCHOOL'S BACK, BABY!"

"Isn't it great, everyone?" said Saegusa-sensei happily, "Now, everyone doesn't have to leave the school nor Fuyuki!"

"Yeah." said Himuro-sensei with a small smile, "And we get to keep our jobs as teachers here."

"Yeah." I said, "That is great news!"

"Right?!" Mitsuzuri-sensei smiled, "And what's more, those guys from the Board of Directors have agreed to help support our school again! It took a lot of time and convincing, but apparently, the guys from the Shindou Corp. managed to get through to them and were able to have them trust us and support us again! What's more, the Shindou Corp. gave us a shit ton of money for donation and have our school continue running again! Isn't that awesome or what?!"

"Wow!" Yukitsuki-san smiled, "That's amazing!"

"Yeah." I said, "It sure is." And…I'm glad they did it.

"Ahem." We heard someone say, making us turn to where it was coming from, and much to our surprise, standing in front of us was one of the members of the Board of Directors, Rokurou Sakakibara, as well as his secretary, Chiyoko Fukui.

"Mr. Sakakibara!" said Mitsuzuri-sensei, surprised.

"W-What're you doing here?" said Saegusa-sensei.

Mr. Sakakibara took his time looking at each and every one of us, before he cleared his throat and said to the teachers and staff, "I came here to tell all of you here, that I take back what I had said to all of you before, about you being a disgrace to your academy and yourselves. I placed a misjudgment about the rest of you for what Kobayashi had done, and had placed a great burden that Kobayashi had made upon you when in truth, you had nothing to do with his antics, and you didn't know that Kobayashi was doing such despicable things to clear his debt, as well as him being discreet about it. So, therefore, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I apologize to all of you for that." He then looked at us and said, "And to you students, as well, for the mistreatment and the insults that we made upon you. You are all good students, and I do hope that you continue to learn in this academy."

We took the time to take in what he said for a moment before I smiled and said first, "Thank you, sir, we will. And…we're sorry, too, for being disrespectful to you and the board." My friends nodded to him in agreement.

Mitsuzuri-sensei then said, "As are we. We were fools for believing in Kobayashi, and we were fools to allow Kobayashi to do such things behind our backs and yours. We should've seen it sooner. Forgive us." The teachers and staff nodded in agreement.

Mr. Sakakibara smiled and said, "I think what matters now is that we've all learned our mistake and that we now learn to never allow such things to happen ever again, and do what we must do best."

We all smiled at that.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me, the board and I must speak to the reporters today to answer their questions." said Mr. Sakakibara, "Oh, and, just so you know, you'll be having a brand-new principal who will gladly be in charge of looking after Homurahara Academy as your principal, and I assure you, he's far better than our former principal, Kobayashi. I expect you to look forward to meeting with him, and I expect that you'll work well with him." Mr. Sakakibara then turned away to leave, with his secretary following him.

Mitsuzuri-sensei chuckled with a grin and said, "Oh, we plan to."

"You know," said Kurosawa-san, "Seeing him now, he didn't seem so bad."

"Yeah!" Hiiragi cheered.

"Well, what matters now is we got our school back." said Yukitsuki-san, "And I'm so glad we'll be going back. I hope everything goes back to the way it was again."

"Yeah." I said, "I'm sure it will." I then looked around and noticed someone was missing, before I said, "Hey, uh…where's Matou-sensei? I don't see her anywhere around here."

"Sakura?" said Mitsuzuri-sensei, "Oh, she's inside the school. Apparently, President Shindou wanted to talk to her about something, so they went in to chat. I'm not sure what it's about, though."

"I see." I said before I began thinking for a moment. Actually, it has been a while since I've seen my family, so maybe this is a good time to chat with them for a bit. Besides, I need to thank them for saving our school. I then said, excusing myself, "I'll go in and look for her. Is it alright if I go?"

"Oh, sure." said Mitsuzuri-sensei, "We don't mind, but…why?"

"No reason." I said, "Just gonna go say hi and all." I then turned to Saber and said, "Hey, Elaina, can you keep an eye on Minna for me while I'm gone?"

"Of course." said Saber.

"Okay, great." I said, "Thanks." I then looked at Minna and said, "I'll be right back, so wait for me with Elaina, okay?"

"Ja!" Minna nodded happily, "I will!"

"Okay." I said, as I began leaving, "I'll be right back!"

---

I walked around the hallway to look for dad and Matou-sensei until I heard there were voices coming from the principal's office, so I went over there to where they could be talking until I made it to the door and took a peek inside. In the room, dad was sitting on the couch while Matou-sensei was sitting on the other as they were talking to each other.

"No, of course not." said Matou-sensei, "I assure you; your son is no trouble at all. He's a very good student, and I really favor him the most. I even treat your son as if he was my own."

"I see." said dad, "Well, I'm glad to hear that, Mrs. Matou."

"Yes, sir." said Matou-sensei, "I promise, you have nothing to worry about. I'll do whatever I can as his teacher and take good care of him."

I felt that it was time to go in, so I knocked on the door for them to hear.

"Oh?" said Matou-sensei, "Who is it? Please, come in."

I opened the door and let myself in.

"Ah, Shindou-kun!" said Matou-sensei, surprised, "I didn't know you were here!"

"Sorry to bother you." I said, "I just wanted to see what you were up to." I then turned to my father and bowed to him as I said, "Hello, it's good to see you again, sir."

"Yes, good to see again, Yuzuru." said dad, "I see that you're doing well."

"Yes, sir, I have." I said, "And, I wanted to come and see you, and thank you in person, for saving our academy. So, thank you, sir."

"Of course." said dad, "You're welcome." He then turned to Matou-sensei and said, "If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with my son for a moment."

"Yes, of course." said Matou-sensei, "I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you." said dad, before he turned to me and said, "Yuzuru, mind if I have a word with you?"

"No, sir, not at all." I said.

We then left the office and went out to the hallway to speak. Dad then cleared his throat and said, "So, Yuzuru, how have you been?"

"I've been doing fine, sir." I said.

"I see." said dad, "And, I take it that Minna is with you?"

"Yes, sir." I said, "She's living with me at an apartment complex that I'm living in. I've been keeping a good eye on her for a while now, sir."

"I see." said dad, "That's good to hear. Tell me, Yuzuru, are you aware of Minna's feelings for you?"

"H-Huh?" I said, confused for a bit, before I realized and said, "O-Oh! Uh…yes, sir, I am aware."

"I see." said dad, "Then, how do you feel about her in return?"

"Huh?" I said, "O-Oh, uh…um…w-well, I…uh…I-I…I don't know, exactly, sir. T-To be honest, I'm…I'm not really sure how I really feel about her right now."

"I see." said dad, "Well, I suppose that's to be expected. Then tell me, Yuzuru, are you aware of Minna's situation as of right now?"

"Huh?" I said, confused, "Minna's…situation? Uh, no, sir, I'm not. Minna hasn't told me anything about her situation right now. I mean, a lot of things happened and we haven't had a lot of time to talk. Um…why? Did something happen?"

Dad sighed and said, "I…figured she wouldn't tell you." Dad then looked at me with a serious look on his face as he said, "Yuzuru, you should know that when she graduates here in Japan, Minna Eckstein Everhart will return to her country of Germany, and she's going to be married."

I gasped in shock at what my father had just told me. H-Huh?! W-Wait, what?! M-Minna…Minna's gonna get married?!

"W-Wait, married?!" I said, shocked, "W-What do you mean she's gonna get married?! A-And to who?!"

"To another powerful business family that resides in Germany." said dad, "The marriage is the olive branch for their business cooperative purposes. You see, Yuzuru, their family is planning to take over and combine Mr. Everhart's business with theirs since Mr. Everhart is planning to step down and have an early retirement. They intend to have Minna become a bride to the son of their family and make her one of theirs, and they intend to have Minna to bear an heir for them once she marries into their family."

"No way…!" I said, shocked, "A-And…and Mr. Everhart's okay with that?!"

Dad looked at me and said, "No, he's not okay with it. Though he intends to retire early and step down from his business, he does not wish to give his daughter away to them that easily. He wishes for Minna to have a future of her own, and to live her life freely so she can have a normal life rather than being with another powerful family. And, before he plans to step down from his business, he would like to hand his daughter to someone who he believes that he can trust. And so, that's where you come in, Yuzuru."

"Huh?" I said, "M-Me?"

Dad nodded and said, "As you are aware, Minna has strong feelings for you and wants to be with you, because out of everyone, she trusts you the most since you two were little. And, because of that, Mr. Everhart believes that you are the right candidate to take her in your hands. However, the son of the family, who intends to marry Minna, wishes to take Minna for himself and wants you out of her and their family lives because he believes that you are unworthy of her and that you do not have what it takes to be with her for the rest of your life. That is…if you even understand how you feel about her now."

"I see." I said, "B-But, sir, I-I don't think that Minna should have to marry anyone in that family, and…well, even if Mr. Everhart steps down from his business, he doesn't have to give Minna away! She can just go and live out on her own! Besides, we have our own rights, and we should decide on our own, to make our own destiny!"

"For ourselves, yes." said dad, "But not for others. There are times when everything that has happened until now was allowed to happen by someone or something. Minna is no exception. Everything that she did, they allowed it to happen, because they gave her the time that she needed to bring her feelings out to you. And now, you need to make her time count, and see how you really feel about her. Because if you don't, Minna will be taken away, and she will be forced to marry into the family, and whether you like or not, you'll never see her ever again."

I gasped at what my father had just said to me, before I said in complete shock, "W-What?! I-I'll…n-never see Minna again?!"

"That's right." said dad, "It's…saddening, I understand, but that's just how it is. I'm sorry that I had to tell you that, but as I said, you can change your own destiny, but you CAN'T change others' destinies. None of us can. We're not Gods."

"No…" I said, as I began to look down with shadow casting my eyes. I…I just couldn't believe it. Minna…getting married…and there's nothing I can do…to change that…?

"However," he said, making me look up back at him, "You CAN support others in helping them change their own destiny by deciding what YOU want to be a part of your destiny. In other words, you can change Minna's destiny by deciding what YOU want in your life."

"Sir…" I said, before I began thinking for a moment, about Minna, and how I really feel about her. I then looked back at dad and asked, "Sir, right now, I'm not entirely sure how I really feel about Minna right now, but…if it's possible, could I please have some more time to think about my feelings and what exactly do I really want? If I have more time, then I…I'll figure out how I really feel."

"Yuzuru…" said dad.

"Please, sir." I bowed to him, "Just give me some more time."

Everything became silent, as I kept my head bowed to him waiting for an answer from my father. Then, after a moment of silence, dad answered, "Three months."

I looked back up at dad and said, "Eh?"

Dad looked at me and said, "I will contact Abraham Lamprecht Eckstein Everhart, and have him convince the family to give you three months to think and decide what you really feel and what you really want. You have three months, starting tomorrow, to make up your mind and decide how you feel and what you wish to do with Minna. If you decide to take her with you because you wish to be with her, then she can go free, and she'll break the marriage proposal and will have no reason to marry into their family. However, if you don't decide by the end of that three months, then you'll have to cut your ties with Minna, become distant from her, and let her go for her to be married into their family. Is that understood?"

"What?!" I said, shocked, "B-But, sir-"

"No 'buts'!" he said sternly, "Is that clear?"

I looked at him in the eyes for a moment, and I could already see that he was being serious on this, so I relented and said, "Yes, sir."

I felt his hand placed on my shoulder, making me look at him, before he said, "Listen, Yuzuru, I don't like the idea either, because I know how close you two truly are together. However, as I said, you can't change others' destinies, only your own destiny." He then walked up next to me, ready to leave, before he said to me, "You'll have to make up your mind and decide on what you truly want soon. Otherwise, you'll regret it, and never get that chance again."

Without looking at him, I said, "Yes, sir. I will."

"Good." I heard him say, "Well, I'll have to go now. My flight back to Misaki Town will be here soon. Take care, son." Then, I heard him begin walking away, until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, leaving me alone in the hallway to take everything in. Three months. Can I really decide…on how I really feel that long? For Minna's sake?

---

Sakura's POV:

I was peeking out at the door, and…I heard everything that was going on outside, and I heard everything that Shindou-kun's father had just said to him, about Minna. I just…couldn't help but feel bad for Shindou-kun, as he had to just hear what was going to happen to Minna if he doesn't decide soon, and as he was struggling with his true feelings.

"Shindou-kun…" I said, as I kept watching him for a bit before he began leaving.

This is bad. I just…I just hope Shindou-kun understands his true feelings soon.

---

Yuzuru's POV:

I walked around the hallway thinking to myself, as I began to process what I had learned, and trying to think what I should do. Then suddenly, I felt like I bumped into someone, and I stepped back a bit to see them and apologize.

"O-Oh, crap!" I said before I bowed and apologized, "Uh…sorry."

"You sure have a habit of thinking to yourself without even bothering what's right in front of you." I heard them say, and I immediately recognize the voice, making me look up to see that it was one of the board members, as well as my cousin.

"O-Oh, crap!" I said, shocked to see her, before I bowed again and said, "Uh…I-I'm sorry about that, uh…Ms. Akizawa! I-I wasn't-"

"Oh, drop the formality." she said, "We're not strangers, you know? Yuzuru."

"O-Oh, uh…o-okay." I said, "U-Uh...s-sorry, um…Erika."

"Don't apologize." said Erika, "You had nothing at fault here. I'm sure you had something on your mind that's bothering you."

"Uh…right." I said, "Oh, right! Uh…a-anyway, I wanna thank you, Erika!"

"For what?" she asked.

"For changing your mind about shutting down the academy." I answered, "If…if you hadn't, we wouldn't be where we are today. So, uh…thank you."

Erika sighed and said, "You don't need to thank me for that. What I did, I only did it as a member of the Board of Directors, just doing my job. Nothing I did was personal for you or your friends."

"Oh, right." I said, "Well, still, thanks, for whatever's worth."

"Hmph." said Erika, "So then, what seems to be going on with you today? Knowing you, you seem to be troubled about something."

"H-Huh?" I said, "Uh…well, I…uh…"

"It's about that girl, who's your first friend, isn't it?" Erika guessed, "Your father told you about it already?"

"H-Huh?!" I said, surprised that Erika had already known about it, before I answered, "Um, uh…y-yeah. H-How'd you…know that?"

"Lucky guess." said Erika, as she turned and faced the window, looking outside, "It's been going on at our relatives' side, too. Apparently, it's such a big deal to hear that Mr. Everhart is stepping down from his business in Germany, that everyone in the family, mostly the few of our cousins who're selfish, were giving gossips about wanting to take his business for themselves, even that stupid father of mine. Honestly, how that even reached them from Germany to Japan is beyond me."

"Oh, I see." I said, "Well, I mean, Mr. Everhart DOES have a powerful company that he runs, or at least might no longer run. So, I guess it makes sense for it to be a big deal."

"Hmph." said Erika.

"So, are you interested in taking it?" I asked, "Mr. Everhart's business?"

"I have no interest in running a business, much less something that is that powerful." said Erika, "Just as I have no interest in running your family's art business that my stupid old man intended for me to do. Besides, I'm too busy with being a member of the Board of Directors to even run a business."

"Oh, I see." I said.

"But enough about that." said Erika, "What about you? You already know that once Mr. Everhart steps down, he'll have to hand his company to another rich family. But what about that girl? She'll have to be forced to marry into their family, as part of their deal. And if she does, she'll be gone for good. So, what're you going to do about it?"

"Uh…well, I…" I said, as I tried thinking, "I…I don't know…I mean, my dad said that I have a few months to think about it, before I decide what I really want and how I really feel, but…I'm…I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do…or what I really think of her…"

Erika sighed and said, "You are really slow, you know that?" She then looked at me with a serious look and said sternly, "Stop hesitating! Stop acting like a coward, or a reserved little brat! You're NOT a little kid anymore!"

"H-Huh?!" I said, taken aback by that.

"You are NOT that little reserved brat who lets people say whatever insults they say about you!" said Erika sternly, "You are NOT a little brat who just runs off and cries to his sisters all the time! You are your own man! And if you ARE a man, then you should stop acting like a baby and ACT like one!"

"E-Erika…" I said.

Erika sighed after calming down and said calmly, "I mean it, don't hesitate, and don't think too much all the time. You're not a little boy anymore. You're not some kid who's used to being looked down upon by people, including our relatives, because of your flaws and not doing anything about it. You've already grown from that over the years, and you're much different than you were back then. You already have the right to decide, to make your own choices. And if you want to make whatever choice you think is right, then just take it. Do what's best for yourself, and not just for those you love."

"Erika…" I said, "I-I…"

"Don't misunderstand." said Erika, as she looked away from me, "I'm only telling you this because I still pity you, just as I pitied you back then, I'm not telling you this because I care."

"O-Oh…" I said.

But then, Erika turned back to me and made a small smile, before she said, "But…I am somewhat interested in where this is actually going for you, whether you intend to get your girlfriend or not. Who knows? I think this little 'childhood friends' relationship might turn into love. I'm interested in seeing it happen. For my amusement, that is."

"Huh?" I said, confused before I took all in what she just said, and then screamed incredulously, "HUH?!"

Erika chuckled in amusement before she said as she began walking away, "Well, I should get going now. I may not look like it, but I'm busy with work to do. Being in the Board of Directors and stuff. Anyway, good luck with your love life, because you're gonna need it."

I just stood where I was in complete and utter shock, as Erika began leaving until she was gone, leaving me alone in the hallway. I then sighed and said to myself, "Oh, God…not Erika too…" I sighed again and said, "Oh, well…"

I then looked out the window and thought to myself, "Still, she's right. I…I can't just keep to myself and not do anything like this. And I can't be like I was back then. I…I gotta decide soon, on what I really want."

---

Later:

It was already nighttime, and I was already at home with Minna, Saber, and Yukitsuki-san. Tomorrow, we'll be going back to school like normal again. We had already said goodnight to Yukitsuki-san and we went back to our apartment room to turn ourselves in for the night, and Saber had already begun to fall asleep. But, me? I just…I couldn't sleep. I just couldn't sleep, not after what I had just learned about Minna's situation. So, I decided to go outside for a bit and watch the moonlight, and let the cool breeze blow.

"Yuzu-kun?" I heard someone say, making me turn around and see that it was Minna, who was in her pajamas and had a blanket around her shoulders.

"Oh, Minna!" I said, "Hey."

"Yuzu-kun, what's wrong?" Minna asked worriedly, "You can't sleep?"

I chuckled a bit and said, "Ah, yeah. Sorry, I just couldn't sleep. I was just…thinking about some stuff, that's all."

"Oh, I see." said Minna, as she came over to stand next to me, before she looked at the moon and said, "Wow. The moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?"

"Yeah." I said, as I looked at the moon along with her, "It sure is…"

We stood where we were looked at the moon in complete silence, letting this moment last for both of us, as we let the moonlight shine down upon us. I then felt Minna's hand holding onto mine as she places her head on my shoulder, with her eyes closed and with a smile on her face. As I looked at her, I couldn't help but just…smile at the smile she was making, because…I want her to be happy like this all the time. Thinking about that made me hold her hand tighter so that I wouldn't let her go. I just…I just couldn't. I can't.

Then, I began saying, "Hey, Minna, listen, I-"

"You already know, don't you?" said Minna, making me gasp and look at her, as she looked at me with tears in her eyes that looked like they could come out anytime soon, before she said, "That I'm going to be married to another German family in Germany, don't you, Yuzu-kun? Once I graduate?"

I remained silent as I was a bit shocked that she already knew that I found out already before I swallowed and said, "Um, yeah…I do. M-My dad told me just when I went to see him today. And…well, he said that I have three months to think until I decide whether I should have you or not." I then turned around to face her and asked, "But, Minna, are you…are you really okay with this? You, marrying someone else from another family that you don't even know? And just…letting them have you after your father steps down from business? Are you really fine with that?"

Minna looked at me for a moment, before her smile faltered, as she closed her eyes and slowly began crying, as she said tearfully, "Nein…nein, I'm not…I'm not okay…"

"Minna…" I said, sad to see her this way. Because I knew that…behind that smile of hers, deep down, she had sadness.

"I-I'm sorry…Yuzu-kun..." said Minna tearfully, "But...I'm not okay with it…because, I'm scared…" Minna looked at me as her tears fall from her eyes as she said to me in tears, "I'm scared of being with someone else…I…I only want to be with you…Yuzu-kun…"

"Minna…" I said.

"I…I really…didn't want to…" said Minna tearfully, "But…but, I didn't have a choice…if…if my father steps down, then…they'll take me away…from my home…and away from you…and I won't be able to see you again…but, I…I don't want to marry the man of their family…because, I don't wanna forget you…I want…to be together with you, just like when we were kids…that's why…"

"You had to come to find me…" I said, "And to tell me how you felt about me…that you love me…"

"Ja…" said Minna tearfully, "And I…I wish…I wish that it was you, who would marry me and not that man…that you would love me forever…"

"Minna…" I said.

"Yuzu-kun…" said Minna tearfully, "I…I don't…I don't wanna separate with you…I don't wanna forget you…I…I…if I marry someone other than you…I'll…I'll…"

Seeing her like this in tears, crying, wanting to be with me, wanting to love me and only me alone, not wanting to be with anyone else and be lost from me, I just…I couldn't help but go and grab onto her in an embrace, as I held onto her tightly, as a sign of comfort that I'm here for her, and not letting her go.

"Y-Yuzu…kun…?" said Minna.

"Minna," I said, "Right now, I'm not really sure how I really feel about you. Not yet, at least. But, I'm not gonna leave you, and I'm not gonna lose you. Because, I promised that I'll stay with you and protect you, no matter what. What matters now, is that I'll remain at your side, keeping you safe, and be here for you, as a hero who'll protect you. And, until I see and understand how I really feel about you, please wait for me for as long as it takes, okay? Please wait for me, until I see and understand how I truly feel for you."

"Yuzu-kun…" said Minna, as I let go of her a bit, so she could look at me, "Do you…do you promise? You'll stay with me until you say that you love me?"

"Minna," I smiled at her before I kissed her forehead and said, "Have I ever once lied to you, or have I ever once broken a promise to you?"

Minna looked at me with a surprised look for a bit, before she shook her head and smiled as she said, "Nein, of course not! I know you would never lie to me, and I know you would never hurt me! Because I trust you! And I love you! That's why…that's why I'll wait for you!"

I sighed in relief before I hugged her again and said, "Then, you don't have to worry, and just leave it to me. I promise, you're in good hands. I'll be a hero who'll protect you. So, please wait for me, until I have my answers for you."

I could feel Minna was smiling and I could feel that Minna was crying, not of sadness, but of joy, knowing that I'll keep her safe as she waits for me, before she closed her eyes as she smiled and whispered, "Ja. I'll wait for you. Because, I love you, Yuzu-kun."

"Thank you, Minna." I said, as I rubbed the back of her head, keeping my embrace to her for a long while.

"Yuzu-kun?" said Minna, making me let go of her, as she looked at me and asked, "Um…Yuzu-kun, I know that we're not lovers yet, but…can you please kiss me?"

"H-Huh?" I said, surprised for a bit, before I asked, "Um…Minna, are you sure?"

Minna nodded and said, "It's okay, Yuzu-kun. So, please, kiss me."

She then closed her eyes and then slightly opened her lips, as if she was welcoming me, as she waited for me to kiss her. I looked at her for a moment, taking in a good look at what I was seeing right in front of me; a girl who I've known all my life since childhood is welcoming me to kiss her.

I swallowed a bit before I said, "Okay." I then placed my right hand on her left cheek as to hold her face, before I slowly began to move my face closer and closer to hers, until finally, I locked my lips with hers, and we stayed where we were, letting this moment of bliss to go on as we remained in our kiss. This kiss we were doing…felt…really nice, soft, and warm. Then, after the long moment of bliss from kissing, we let ourselves go and looked at each other, with smiles on our faces.

"Yuzu-kun," said Minna, "The kiss we made…it felt wonderful."

"Yeah." I said, "It was nice."

Minna then hugged me this time and said, "I love you, Yuzu-kun."

I smiled at her before I hugged her back, letting ourselves hold onto each other in our embrace again. Then, after a long enough time of hugging, I let go of her and said, "We should get back to bed and get some sleep. We'll be going back to school tomorrow."

"Ja, we should." Minna smiled, as she held my hand, "Let's go, Yuzu-kun."

"Yeah." I said, as I held her hand back, before we walked back inside, hand-in-hand, to get ready to get some sleep, closing the door behind us, ready for what tomorrow awaits us.

---

Unknown's POV:

I stood in front of a cross of the Holy Church, looking at it and admiring it for a while. I then turned around to face the Servant that was standing before me with her head down, with shadow casting her eyes.

The Servant in front of me had blue short hair and stood about 5'5" tall. She was wearing clothes that represent a member of the Church, which is consisted of a black robe with a long skirt that reaches her ankle and long sleeves, with the ones around her wrist were white and had a red cross representing the Church, a white scarf collar, black boots, and a necklace with a cross on it. Yes, this is my Servant, Archer.

"Archer," I announced, "The time has come. It is time for us to make our move in the Holy Grail War, for me to gain power over all living things. And now, I have a task for you, Elesia."

My Servant, Archer, looked up at me to reveal her matching blue eyes, as she said to me, "Yes. As you command, my Master."

---

So, what do you guys think? Please, be sure to leave a review for me on what you guys think of the story! I hoped you all enjoyed it. Don't be shy and don't just read the story, REVIEW and tell me what are your thoughts of the story!