Fate/School Days - Sidestory 1: Koyuki
It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was high, cicadas were chirping, not a cloud to be seen for miles.
It was the worst day in my life.
The day had started out well, I woke up in the room I shared with Karin-imouto, hopped over her empty bed to use the necessary since the floor was taken up with various laptops and tablets. If my sister ever slept, I have never been witness to it. Once I left the bathing room I headed down to the primary kitchen room to break my fast, but I paused at the entryway. It was completely empty.
This had never happened before, Father had always made it a point to wake up before the rest of the family in order to make breakfast. It was a matter of pride for him, even Gil-ojisan was unable to beat him to the kitchen. Even if those two were away for some odd reason, Miya-kaasan would usually step in to take over. The fact that none of the three were present was... troubling.
I took a moment to consider the previous night's events, making sure I had not missed any family making plans for a trip away. Finding no such recollections in my memories, I moved on to remembering my family's usual morning habits and plotted out the most likely rooms they would be in given the calendar date. I turned to head towards the master bedroom.
As I ascended the stairs, a sense of unease began to grip me. Karin-imouto was very fond of forcing me to watch various horror films; while I would never let her force a reaction from myself, it was always the movies which took their time to build up the tension that affected me the most. My anxiety was not lessened in the least as I approached Father's bedroom and heard voices and saw light spilling from the open doorway. There were several voices, all of them keeping low to avoid waking the rest of the house and I picked up my pace slightly.
"The brat's found us," Gil-ojisan was the first to notice me as I let myself into the room. Miya, Rin, Matsu, and Chiho-kaasans all turned towards me and began talking animatedly. One of them was saying soothing words while she came up to me, to hug me or turn me away, but I pushed around her and headed for the bed.
The small table next to it held a bag with the imagery of the local grocer, a small pile of obviously brand new bottles spilling out. Father was in a chair beside it, holding the hand of the woman laid out under the covers. She was pale, more than usual, and her face was wet with sweat. A cold towel was pressed against her forehead, but it slipped off as she turned to look at me.
No, this wasn't happening. This *never* happened. Maybe to the others, but never *us*. I was smart enough to recognize the signs, It wasn't anything dangerous, but it was still unexpected, world-shattering even.
The woman on the bed looked at me with shadowed eyes, "Koyuki...," she whispered.
The room went blurry as disbelieving tears welled up in my eyes. "Mother," I gasped out.
My mother, the Sekirei of Ice, had a cold.
My day went downhill from there.