A new home


Morning, 7th/March/1994

"Pack your stuff. Let's go."

"Go where?"

"To your new home. You have been released from the hospital."

"Wait, really?!"

"The doctor said that you have been fully healed only in a week. Normally it takes more than a month for the wounds to be healed."

Shirou was shocked.

"Also, you look a bit more mature since the last time I saw you."

"Eh?"

He took a mirror on the table beside him and looked at himself.

He no longer looked like a 7-year-old kid but instead look like a 10-year-old one.

"Wha-"

"It's probably the thing that help you heal faster. Let's go now so I can check on your condition in my place."

"Erm… OK?"


Next to him, a matured potted plant usually seen was somehow disappeared, only the pot remained.


Afternoon, at an abandoned house

"What is this?"

"My home. This is both my workshop and where I live."

"But why an abandoned house?"

"...Let's don't go over that fact."

They went up to the 4th floor. Inside it looked like a regular office.

"Go put away your stuff and have a rest. We will begin the next morning."

"But where do I sleep?"

"On the couch."


Morning, 8th/March/1994

"Turn around and face your back at me."

"Eh?"

"Just do it. I need to check on you to see if you are capable of learning Magecraft."

"Wait wait wait wait wait. I never said I wanted to learn magic." Shirou denied furiously.

"Stop talking and sit still."

Touko placed her hand on Shirou's back and closed her eyes.

"Let see here... 27 high-quality Magic Circuits... elements...The Great Five Elements?! Wait...Origin...!"

She paused.

"What's the matter?" Shirou asked.

"Time."

"Huh? Time? And what's with all the stuff that you said before?"

"Sit still. I will explain it to you, and everything you need to know about Magecraft."

Shirou gulped. At that moment, he knew, he fucked up.

She proceeded to lecture Shirou for 3 hours straight, and didn't let him go anywhere, except the bathroom.

But somehow, Shirou managed to get all of that information in his tiny 7-year-old (probably not anymore) head.

"...And now back to your condition. Your Origin of "Time" may be the reason why your wounds heal sooner and you became older."

"How exactly?"

"You may have awaken your Origin in the accident. And when you were injured, your body's time was sped up into the future, probably 2-3 years, when all your injuries had already healed."

He did a thinking posture.

"I get it."

"You did?"

"This is getting more interesting than I expected."

"Eh?"

"Alright, I have decided. Teach me Magecraft."

"What?!"

Touko couldn't seem to catch up with him.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong, Touko-san?"

"No, nothing."

"I'm hungry. Let's go get some lunch."


Shirou began learning Magecraft under Touko, with her teaching him how to master all of his 5 Elements. About his Origin, she's still looking for a way for him to use it efficiently. But it irritated her how it reminded her of Fifth Magic: Magic Blue that her sister, Aoko -the one person she couldn't get along with- used, the magic that she was supposed to be the one to wield it.

Shirou had started to go to elementary school, and often helped her out in doing some errands. Touko told Shirou about Garan no Dou, the agency that Touko set up, when one of her customer came by. He now also learnt magic and self-defend under Touko's teaching. The magic that he felt the most familiar/comfortable with are Reinforcement, Gradiation Air, and structural analysis. He felt a deep connection to the magic itself, albeit that was the first time he had ever learnt it. He couldn't understand why.


Almost a year had passed since then.

Morning, 24th/December/1994

"Touko, look! It's snowing!" Shirou pointed out of the window.

"I guess winter is coming then." Touko shrugged and looked back at her documents.


Evening, 30th/March/1994

A boy named Mikiya Kokutou met a girl named Shiki Ryougi in a snowy night. That fated meeting had set the future for the both of them.