A/N: Alright! Laptop's been fixed and personal issues are being dealt with. Fanfiction is my therapy~ This chapter will cover Shirou's debut match in an actual competition. Enjoy and please review!

The weeks seemed to fly by, with Shirou kept busy well and truly every day owing to archery practice, kendo practice and his usual, handyman jobs for Issei and the school council. Even though it had initially been unimaginable to him, Shirou found himself enjoying kendo practice more and more. He had never fought in a spar against any of the other members but had spent hours in the afternoons either being drilled by Aurora, who never hesitated to correct him in any way, or training in his shed by himself. Slowly but surely, her amendments became fewer, and Shirou knew that he was improving. There was one thing that bothered him however, Rin seemed smugger than usual, as though she knew something he didn't. He decided to pay it no mind however, and it was soon time for Shirou's first kendo tournament.

Shirou glanced around the tournament hall. The ceiling was high and the many windows lining the walls had the hall filled with mild sunlight. Dust motes were swirling in the streams of light, like grains of sand in rushing water and Shirou was mesmirised by the motions of those shining particles. So engrossed was he in their movements that he did not notice the opposing team line up and take a seat on the floor opposite his. Aurora, noticing her teammate's reverie placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him into a seated position.

"It's starting," she hissed. Shirou bit his bottom lip nervously as the announcer called out the names of the first pair to square off.

"The first match, Homurabara Gakuen versus Ishikawa Koko! Contestants Yamada and Miyazaki come forward."

Yamada, the boy who had greeted Shirou on his first visit to the kendo club got up and approached the referee confidently. Shirou had seen him duel several times and was amazed that for such a short individual, his strokes were mighty and opponents who weren't expecting his strength often were pushed backwards several paces. Glancing around at the other members of the kendo club, Shirou grinned. Everyone had been training incredibly hard; it was time to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

"Ready..Begin!" cried the announcer, and the two boys leapt into action, Yamada was clearly much more experienced and powerful, as he swiftly achieved a strike on Miyazaki's shoulder and one on his head. The Homurabara team cheered and whooped before the referee called up the second pair. Ignoring her thrumming heartbeat, Saber shifted over to Shirou's side and whispered "Hey Shirou, you do know how the scoring system works right?"

"Umm.. No."

"Well basically, in kendo, you need to hit your opponent thrice to win. The team with the most victories wins in the end. Got it?"

Shirou nodded. Three strikes would be all he needed. Leaning forward, he gripped his knees tightly. 'Saber, just watch,' he thought. 'I'm going to help this team win this competition, then the tournament. For you.'

The remainder of the matches passed quickly, with the Homurabara team winning all their matches with ease. Shirou hadn't been able to take his eyes of Aurora's match; the grace and precision with which she executed each blow never failed to captivate him. In a daze, he heard his name being called and stepped onto the padded mats. His opponent was a burly, tall boy, determined to win back the honour of his team by emerging the victor in the final match. Saber kept her face emotionless, her faith in her former master unshakeable.

"Shirou has trained extensively. He will win." she told herself. Sure enough, Shirou seemed unfazed by the fact that it was his first real match and in fact was smiling respectfully at his opponent. As the bulky boy charged at him, sword held high, Shirou sidestepped and his sword clanged against his opponent's side. One of the referees standing by raised a flag, indicating that Shirou had scored and the match was allowed to continue.

Growling angrily, his opponent came at him again, his target the side of Shirou's helmet. Shirou ducked, and with a rapid upward thrust, his sword met the protected area just under his opponent's throat. Another flag. Finally, as his adversary attempted a side blow, Shirou seized an opening and thwacked him soundly on the top of his head, winning the match.

"And the winner of the first round of this tournament is Homurabara Gakuen!" at the sound of their victory, Helmets were launched skywards from Shirou's team, as the Ishikawa team skulked away in depression. Shirou didn't even make it halfway to his teammates when they rushed towards him and patted him on the back.

"Congratulations Shirou you really showed them!" crowed Yamada. "You should've seen the look on his face!"

"Amazing!" agreed another member, a tall lanky boy in his year named Kenji agreed wholeheartedly.

"Oh, that was nothing," Shirou grinned sheepishly and dismissed their praise, but he only sought the approval of one. Emerald orbs met chocolate brown and the blonde smiled contentedly. Surrounded by his teammates and receiving unspoken praise from the club president had Shirou feeling like he was on cloud nine.

After their triumph in the first round, Saber began pushing her team harder than ever for the next rounds. Due to his speedy improvement, Saber then began to let Shirou face the other members of the team, against whom he fared quite well. Everybody got along well with Shirou's relaxed, caring nature and Saber soon observed an improvement in the group camaderie. With a half-smile creeping onto her face, she recalled what it had been like when she took over the club. When she had joined, the kendo club was a mess. The members hardly knew how to fight, much less take proper care of their equipment and she was alarmed to find some members swinging around the swords as though they were clubs. Taking charge of the situation, she challenged each and every member to a duel, and upon winning every one she proclaimed herself club president. Homurabara's team was notorious for losing the inter-school kendo tournament every year and Saber was determined to help them win at least one. Under her harsh discipline many members dropped out, leaving a dedicated few that she pushed to their limits. The result of such intense training was a strong, disciplined team that were set on winning the year's tournament whatever it took.

Casting her gaze around the room as the club packed up, Saber overheard some of the members' conversation and smirked.

"Hey Shirou," called Kenji. "Some of us are going to a café after this. Wanna come?"

"Eh?" Shirou was taken aback, as prior to that he had never had anything to do with the others in his club after practice. "No problem. I've got to help buchou clean up though so please wait five minutes ok?"

"Yeah sure! We'll be waiting outside!" replied Kenji as he left. "Bye buchou!"

Shirou straigtened up and sighed. "Ah.. I better get to work then." He began running the tap in the sink, needing water with which to clean the armour but was stopped by Aurora.

"They want you to go out right? Then you should leave first. I'll take care of things just this once."

Shirou blinked, taking in her words. "Really, you shouldn't..!" he protested but she pushed past him and picked up a cloth, dipping it into the water, leaving no room for argument. Shirou hastily muttered his thanks and left, regrouping with his new friends. Chuckling to each other, the group began walking towards the school gates, Yamada and Kenji enthusiastically discussing their plans to have a coffee drinking contest. Enveloped in a sense of belonging and security that came with being part of such a tight-knit group, Shirou was plagued by a niggling feeling in his mind. All of a sudden, he turned on his heel and dashed back towards the shed.

"Shirou, where are you going?" yelled Kenji.

"I'll be back in a minute!" Shirou gasped.

Bursting through the doors of the shed, Saber glanced up at the noise. "Oh Shirou, did you forget something?"

Not bothering with a reply, Shirou grabbed her arm and hauled her up, dragging the astonished club president away from the shed. Catching up to his friends, Shirou flashed a tired grin. "Hey guys, if it's ok with you, can buchou come along?" There was silence for a moment, and Shirou feared they would disagree but Yamada spoke up.

"Why not? Anyway, we have to show buchou how cool Fuyuki City is!" with the matter settled, Saber found herself escorted by her subordinates, touched by Shirou's act of kindness.

'He is the same as before,' she mused, recalling the time when he'd introduced her to Taiga and Sakura for the first time, as he had felt uncomfortable at the thought of keeping her out of sight. Knowing that it was not just to her Saber persona, but to everyone that he showed his compassion, she let a little smile grace her lips.

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The sounds of whooping and raucous laughter filled the street as the kendo club went their separate ways home, all exhausted from their afternoon celebrations. The boys had indeed had a coffee drinking contest, which turned out to be a mistake as Yamada and Kenji had stumbled, or rather skipped home with their arms around each other's shoulders and identical idiotic grins on their faces. Ah, caffeine. Shirou, Aurora and the others had merely observed, highly entertained as the two boys then proceeded to get them all kicked out of the café by an irritable manager as they had been dancing on the tables as though drunk. Whoever knew that caffeine could work much like alcohol? Shirou repressed a shudder at what the unpredictable duo would get up to once they were legally allowed to drink.

Much time had flown by since the start of the school term and many of Shirou's classmates were stressing over examinations and future plans, they all being third year students. Shirou himself was forced to do more study, with his dream to become an engineer requiring a good entrance examination score. Glancing at the enigmatic girl beside him, Shirou wondered what she had planned for her future.

"Um, buchou," he broke the silence nervously. "Stressed about the exams?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and he inwardly facepalmed. Somehow he couldn't imagine stoic, calm Aurora panicking over exams. The image just did not sit right with him. As he berated himself mentally, Aurora began to snicker. It was then Shirou's turn to arch a brow.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You were thinking that I probably don't stress over things like exams right?" she answered. "Surprising though it may seem, I do feel somewhat worried, but with some study I think I will get through this."

"Yeah.." Shirou looked sheepish. "You're just so.. Unflappable."

Saber didn't know what came over her, perhaps it was the earlier excitement, or Rin's advice had finally paid off, but she (flirtatiously) replied "Are you implying that I am rigid and boring?"

"Eh? N-no, that's not what I meant." Shirou was slightly flustered.

"Oh?" she playfully replied. "Then what?"

Somewhere, in the back of Shirou's mind, as they flirted and playfully argued all the way to Rin's house, he felt uncomfortable, as though he was committing a dire act of betrayal. Pushing it further into the recesses of his consciousness, he decided to deal with it later and focus on enjoying the new side he was seeing of his club president.