The rest of the night passed without incident, as brother and sister slept side by side in a loving embrace. Though his dreams had been invaded by the scheming voice of the homunculus whose arms lay wrapped around his waist, Shirou awoke in a better mood this morning then he had in any day in months. Despite being bogged down by Illya's dead weight, Shirou simply set aside his younger sister for the time being and made his way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Though he had forgotten to ask Illya what she wished to eat the night before, Shirou eventually settled on a western-styled meal of eggs and toast as it took a short time to prepare and would likely sate his snowy-haired house-guest's picky pallet.
Meanwhile, back in Shirou's room, Illya slumbered for another hour or so before finally awaking to find that her precious Shirou was no where to be found. Though, before she could fly into a panic, the smell of fresh eggs sizzling upon a frying pan wafted the room, rousing her senses to the location of her older brother. Following the smell, and the sound of her own growling stomach, Illya soon found herself in the mansion's kitchen where she took a seat a the low table where she often shared meals with friends and family. Illya then squealed with delight as she saw the spread of food Shirou had made for her.
"Is this all for me, big brother?" Between the food before her and the kiss she had shard just hours before nothing could impede Illya's happiness.
"Of course not, I have to eat to you know." Shirou bluntly stated while putting away the frying pan he had used to make the morning meal. Illya simply laughed at his painfully obvious statement.
"Oh whatever, let's eat!" Illya then proceeded to dig into the food set out before her, and finished it in record time. With Shirou's meal now sitting in her stomach Illya made a small trip to the dining room's TV and turned the channel to a incredibly loud and colorful program.
"What is this, Illya? You know I usually watch the local news in the morning."
"It's anime, silly. Your Japanese, you should know that!" As the program in question moved forwards, it's title was revealed just before the commercial break: Magical Girl Kolido Ruby. A show for young girls that was also curiously popular with 20something young men. Shioru had seen it once before when Illya had taken control of the television on a morning he had slept in.
"I can see that, but why are we watching it?" Shirou was ever the pragmatist, even in matters of television viewing.
"I watch this show every morning before Taiga-ni leaves for work, I can't start my day without it!" Illya would not back down either, as she inherited the same stubborn nature that her father displayed during the 4th Holy Grail War.
"Fine, whatever, just get ready to go out as soon as your done eating." Shirou knew that he would never get Illya to back down and thus dismissed this conflict at hand as a lost cause.
"We're going somewhere?" Illya said, her attention firmly fixed up Shirou.
"I thought it would be nice if we could have a little fun outside the house for once. Maybe we could go to a game center or something?"
"Thank you, Shirou-san!" Illya said leaping upon her brother once more. "I've always wanted to go to one of those!" As Illya linked her hands around his waist, Shirou was reminded of the previous night.
"Hey, Illya..." Shirou's tone was low and accusatory, causing Illya's happiness to dip into negative territory. "Did you sneak into my bed last night?" Illya's heart sank into the pits of her stomach, she was hoping her illicit activity would have stayed a secret for even just a bit longer then this. Unable to speak, she simply nodded her head in the positive. "Listen, your not in trouble, it just feels odd sleeping with someone right now, all right?" Somehow Illya knew in her heart that this involved Saber, everything in Shirou's life at the moment seemed to.
"But I've been lonely to, big brother." Illya pleaded. "Taiga-ni leaves me at home most of the day by myself. All I can really do is watch TV all day till she gets home..." Illya was on the verge of tears, a fact that Shirou simply could not ignore. Taking the small girl in his arms, Shirou gently wiped the tears from her eyes before speaking to her with a smile.
"I know, so we'll talk about this later. For now lets go have some fun, ok?" Illya was unsure of what to make of what had just happened to her, but she knew being close enough to Shirou to hear his heart beat seemed- in a strange way- to make everything ok. Without another word, the Illya went to ready herself for the day.
An hour later, Illya and Shirou met at the mansion's front gate, dressed for a day on the town. As they walked towards the nearby shopping center, Illya insisted upon grasping Shirou's hand and not letting go. As Shirou was still reeling from the young girl's tearful outburst, he had no emotional strength left to resist Illya's advances. Hand in hand, the pair soon reached the the promised game center. Buzzing with neon lights and the glowing screens of nearly a hundred arcade games. Despite the visual overload, Illya was quick to drag Shirou all over the center, stopping at any game that caught her attention. Despite having no talent for games at all between the two of them, Illya nonetheless had fun in the endless sea of lights and buttons. Within the span of two hours, Illya had run Shirou, and his wallet, dry for the time being. Unable to stand sights and sounds anymore, Shirou motioned for Illya to come to his side.
"Are you ready to go home?" Shirou said while nursing a rather foul headache.
"Fine..." Illya pouted. "But I wanna do one more thing before we go." Dragging Shirou along like a rag doll, the pair soon found themselves in the covered booth of a photosticker machine. To tired to resist, Shirou simply left Illya to do what she wished. After inserting a few coins into the machine, Illya set up the photo's details before yanking on Shirou's arm to get into position. "Smile!" The young girl yelled while doing the same herself. One bright flash later, the photo was done and printed. Despite Shirou's halfhearted smile, the shot was quite pleasing to Illya. "Thank you, big brother!" Illya yelled once more as Shirou forced her from the game center entirely.
Back in the real world, far from the sounds and lights of electronic entertainment, Shirou seemed to be relived. "Did you have fun, Illya-chan?"
"Of course! I'm always happy to be around you..." Illya blushed a little as she spoke, as did Shirou in response.
"A...All right, lets go home, it's getting late." Shirou was frazzled by Illya's confession. No girl had spoke to him in such a manner since Saber departed for her own time. And so, the pair did return home and the night continued as it usually did in the Emiya household. Shirou cooked dinner, fought with Illya for control of the manor's sole TV, and then cleaned up for bed. All that remained was to resolve the problem of where Illya would sleep.
"So, Illya, have you figured out where your going to sleep tonight?" Shirou already knew the answer to that question but simply asked to make conversation.
"I want to sleep with you, big brother." Illya's words and coy appearance oozed cuteness, which was, in fact, a deliberate act meant to manipulate Shirou's heart and claim dominion where the King of Knights still reigned. "Please...?"
"Your just going to sneak into my bed even if I say no, right?" Shirou sighed. A moment later Illya once more nodded in the positive. "Fine, just go get ready already. I don't want this to be more awkward then it already is." Though her's was a begrudging victory, Illya couldn't help but jump for joy as she skipped to Shirou's bedroom to change for the night. Though it was a small victory, Illya imagined today's outting would go along way towards loosening the chain's binding her beloved older brother's heart. The bigger question was what she was going to do once those chains were gone and Shirou was free to live in the present. Thinking of such things made Illya blush once more, she had planned to take over where Saber had left off with Shirou. Though the specifics of such a plan were best left for another day as Shirou entered the room wearing an old t-shirt and loose pants.
"Get in bed already!" Shirou scowled. Illya quickly complied to his wishes, ducking under their shared sleeping space with lightning quickness. Shirou soon followed suit, settling into the futon with his back firmly set against that of the snow-haired maiden.
"Big brother... Why aren't you facing me?" Illya whined.
"Because It's weird, all right? Just go to sleep." Illya would do no such thing, and reorientated her body so that her body lay firmly nestled against Shirou's back and her arms lay gently draped around his waist. She had no intention of sleeping back to back and made the message clear to her sleeping partner with the intensity with which she held Shirou close to her body.
"Good night, big brother." Illya wished upon Shirou, completely ignoring his wishes. Shirou, not in the mood to argue, returned his sister's missive.
"Good night, Illya."
Thanks for the reviews and favorites, everyone. It really goes a long way towards giving me the motivation to keep writing!
For those wondering, Illya and Shirou are technically brother and sister because Illya's father, Emiya Kiritsugu, was also Shirou's adoptive father. I would also like to address a question posed by a anon reviewer, who asked what became of Sakura in all of this. To answer that, Sakura and Shirou are just friends in the present. They had tried dating but Shirou's depression over loosing Saber made it impossible for him to love another woman at the present date.
See you all next chapter when Illya's attempts to win Shirou's heart escalate to critical mass!