Chapter 3: A withering flower.
"Shirou… is it ready yet?" A young woman's tired voice sounded from the living room.
"In a moment, so stop whining." I replied while keeping my hands busy. They danced between countertops, deftly chopping vegetables with practiced precision. The sizzle of onions hitting the hot pan greeted me as I added them, followed by a medley of garlic and peppers.
As the sauce bubbled and thickened, I turned my attention to the main course. Tender cuts of chicken sizzled on the grill, releasing a tantalizing scent that made mouths water. With a flourish, I plated the dish, arranging the colouring vegetables around the succulent chicken.
With a satisfied smile, I dropped down the stool and carried the plates to the table, where a young woman with short brown hair in a high school uniform awaited. As I placed the dish down, her eyes lit up with anticipation, like that of a tiger about to pounce on their prey.
[Skill 'Cooking' has leveled up]
I dismissed the System notification and sat down across from the girl, who took her share with a bowl of rice already in her hands before I could even settle down. She was brimming with energy, her previously depressive mood was nowhere to be seen.
"Thanks for the food!" The young woman exclaimed, clapping her hands together. As the teen eagerly munched down on the fruits of my labour, I, too started feasting, but with much more restraint; eating at a much slower pace.
While doing so, I threw a swift glance at my companion. The girl was none other than Taiga Fujimura, surrogate older sister, future legal guardian of Shirou Emiya, and most important of all, the granddaughter of Raiga Fujimura—the head of an old Yakuza group situated in Fuyuki.
Kiritsugu introduced me to her over a month ago, saying that she was the family of a friend of his, and ever since then she's been visiting me on the regular to eat breakfast. I couldn't blame her, really. If one were to taste the dishes I've made, everything else would seem bland and uninteresting.
Albeit short, our time spent together had been nothing but fun and enjoyable, so I've grown quite attached to her. I welcomed Taiga's presence as much as I do with Kiritsugu's. Soon enough, the two of us finished our food and placed the plates in the sink to be cleaned.
"Ah, that hits the spot." She comments while patting stomach, a content smile plastered on her face. "You know Shirou, you should totally open a restaurant in the future."
"Perhaps, I just might." I answered out loud as my thoughts stirred. 'If nothing ruins my plans for the future, maybe I could.' I turned the faucet off, carefully stored the clean plates, then left the kitchen area only to find Taiga on the wooden floor, slipping into a blissful slumber while muttering incoherent words to herself.
Stealing a glance at the clock stuck against the wall, I spoke. "Hey, Taiga. It's half past 7 already, you better get going if you don't want to be late for school."
"Gah!" She immediately shot up to her feet before grabbing her bag and rushing towards the foyer in undue haste. Her next words made me giggle a bit; "Your food is just way to good, Shirou. I thought I entered heaven for a second!"
I joined her at the entrance and watched in amusement as she struggled to put on her shoes. After finally inserting her feet in, she opened the sliding door and walked into the front yard. She turned, motioning towards me to convey her goodbyes. "Well, see you later, Shirou! Don't go accept candies from random strangers, alright?"
A warm smile spread across my lips as I returned a wave of my own. "I should be the one telling you that with how much of an airhead you are. Be careful out there."
She disappeared into the distance a short while later, leaving me alone inside my not-so humble abode. A sigh escaped my lips upon reaching the living room once again, seriously, this place is way too big for my taste. It especially felt even more empty when my adoptive father, the only other occupant of the house, was absent for the next month or so.
Kiritsugu said he simply had some unfinished business back in Europe, but I knew it wasn't that simple. He was undoubtedly trying his best to rescue his daughter, Illyasviel, from the Einzbern family. And he would repeatedly fail until his body deteriorated due the curses ingrained onto it, depriving Kiritsugu of his ability to employ magecraft and weakening him greatly.
As for me, school had been suspended for the next 3 days, something along the lines of pipes being broken—the reason already disappeared from my mind. The only thing I took out from this was that I had more time to master my magecraft and harvest EXP from random strangers.
Unknown to Shirou however, Rin Tohsaka, after sensing the presence of a magus, decided to postpone school activities using her authority as the Second Owner in order to investigate it, but she would find nothing but disappointment in the future.
"Well, I've got nothing better to do." Changing into a more comfortable set of apparels consisting of a red sweater and dark shorts, I left my home and went to the market to assist anyone I could find in order to complete side-quests. At the moment, only about a dozen or so experience points were needed in order for me to graduate from the fifth level, and I was hoping to accomplish it by today.
"Just place it over there, Shirou." A man with jet-black hair directed me to a corner. I followed his instructions and gently planted the cardboard box in my arms atop another.
The very second the package left my hands, a transparent partition appeared before my eyes, signaling the end of a side-quest, which was followed up by another screen that I was most eager to see.
[You have leveled up]
'Yes!' My mind raced. It had been some time since I've begun helping people out, and my level had finally risen.
As it was early in the morning, there were still some people that were opening their shops, and I was there to aid them no matter how small it was. Need help cleaning your store front? or perhaps some trash needed to be thrown out? You bet I'm helping. Even something as little as arranging furniture rewarded me with a bit of experience points, so I did them since it literally takes no time to do so.
"Good work, Shirou. That's all for today." The same man entered the scene with a friendly smile on his face. "You should take a break, I don't wanna be the one who gets blamed if you all of the sudden dropped dead due to exhaustion."
"I'm good, I can easily go for a few more hours." I casually replied. Oh boy, if he only knew how much I eclipsed him in pure stamina. With the amount of points Vitality currently had, I could continue working for many hours straight without taking a single break.
"Well okay, if you want, go take a beer from—" His next words failed to manifest as he noticed a young woman dressed in green appear behind the red-haired boy's back. A look of terror quickly spread across his face upon recognizing who it was.
I turned my head, facing the new addition to our conversation. A ring could be found fitted on one of her fingers and a similar one could be seen on the man's, signifying their relationship.
"What were you going to give him, dear?" She stood at the elevated doorway, a hint of madness whirling within her eyes as she looked down at her significant other.
"Uh," he paused for a moment before squeaking out a single word: "beer?"
"You are giving a child… beer. What are you thinking?" A frown marred her otherwise beautiful face upon hearing his honest answer. An air of oppression radiated off from her as she crossed her arms below her chest.
"Go man the register, now." She commanded, to which her partner obeyed without asking questions, lest he suffer her unbridled wrath. After seeing him off, she then turned to me with a different aura altogether. Her features had softened, and her eyes no longer sharp as a blade.
Gone were the crushing air surrounding her being, and was instead replaced by a motherly presence that brought safety and warmth to anyone near it. Honestly, it was scary how she could switch from one to another so seamlessly without any prior indication.
"Are you alright, Shirou? He didn't make you do anything too much for you, did he?" She worriedly asked while giving my form a once-over. Unbeknownst to her, I could probably win a fist-fight against most adults as I am right now, so her worries were unwarranted, but she didn't need to know that of course.
"Don't worry, he didn't. And please don't be too harsh on him, I was the one to wanted to help." I replied with a bright smile to ease her concerns for my well-being.
"You're such a kind child, aren't you?" The woman took out a small food container from God knows where and handed it to me. "Here, take this. Don't forget to eat or you'll grow up thin and skinny, alright?"
Accepting her gift, she then gently caressed the top of my head, which I did not mind. It still annoyed me at certain times, but I was gradually getting used to my physical age and how people treated me because of it.
With that, I left the couple's store, was kindly greeted by a lot of people, and made my way towards the nearby park then settled down on a wooden bench. My legs swayed back and forth, humming joyously as I opened the plastic container—which bore an assortment of freshly prepared sandwiches. One of them quickly found its way into my mouth, a small bite having been taken out of it.
While indulging myself, my eyes caught sight of a young girl's sleeping figure below a large tree. She slumbered in a seated position, her form gently slanted to the side, resting against the sturdy trunk for stability. She possessed a head of silky purple hair, donned a simple muted dress, and looked a year younger than me.
Out of the blue, my chest begun to twist in pain before disappearing just as quickly. My vision refused to process anything else apart from the child's figure.
Unable to hold my curiosity any longer, I slid off my seat, walked right in front of her slumped body, and lowered myself to the ground. My approach produced a noise loud enough to be captured by the girl's senses, causing her mind to jolt awake.
Stirred from her sleep, she slowly opened her eyes to reveal a pair of amethyst-coloured irises that stared back into mine. Upon closer inspection, I notice that her gaze appeared listless, as if a layer of mist clouded her vision.
"Hello there, are you alright?" Unconsciously, my voice came out rather tender. For some reason I could not put my finger on, a sense of protectiveness overwhelmed me.
The girl continued to stare into my eyes instead of providing an answer, forcing me to act in order resume the conversation. I placed the sandwiches between us and incentivized her to take one. "Go on, take one. I don't mind."
She tilted her head slightly, looking a the box with curiosity for a while, before reaching out to pick one. She placed the food next to her mouth then took a small bite, and to my surprise, a hint of life flared from within her blank eyes before swiftly dissipating into nothingness, causing my chest to knot tightly.
She took another bite, but to my disappointment, not a smidgen of light appeared within her gaze. I patiently waited for her finish her sandwich before saying; "I'm Emiya Shirou, you are?"
After a minute of silence, she opened her mouth to speak. "I'm Toh—" she stopped before correcting herself, "Matou… Sakura."
A frown threatened to replace the smile on my lips. Truthfully, I had my suspicions, but hearing it directly from her caused an even heavier weight to grapple onto my heart. I dropped my head, glaring at the flowing grass beneath while biting my lower lip.
She was Sakura Matou, one of the main heroines of the story, and was perhaps the saddest character throughout the series, undeserving of the suffering she had went through. Sakura had originally been part of the Tohsaka family, but was given to the Matous by her father at a young age, essentially abandoning her, and forcing the poor girl into a life of untold pain and misery due to the machinations of Zouken Matou.
"I see," I raised my head and looked at Sakura, "oh, you have some bits on the corner of your mouth, let me get rid of them."
I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and cleaned the foodstuff off her face while doing my best rein in the rage bubbling within me. She didn't react to my sudden physical touch, merely staring at me with a mix of apathy and confusion.
"Hey, how about we play together at my house? It's pretty cozy there." People would've taken my words differently if I were an adult talking to a child, my next actions evermore so; I did not wait for the purple-haired girl to answer and rose to my feet, wrapped my hand around her's, then gently pulled her up to stand.
Sakura was startled to say the least, yet did not do much to separate from my hold. What I was about to do was literally kidnapping, but I could not care any less, my mind was occupied with nothing but thoughts of rescuing the ill-fated girl.
Keeping our hands intertwined with one another, I turned and started walking with Sakura in tow, who offered little to no resistance to my pull. My actions were slow and steady, as if she were a delicate piece that would shatter at the slightest touch.
Emerging from the park, the two of us crossed many streets and passed through various crowds. Along the way, I could not help but throw a glance at everyone who neared, in fear that one of them would suddenly jump and take away the frail girl at my side.
Thankfully, we arrived at the Emiya residence without any problems—well, apart from the weird and expectant looks some of the adults who knew me were giving, there was nothing to worry about.
The entrance was clean and tidy, not a speck of tarnish was visible. Seeing this, a sense of pride swelled within me. It was a herculean task and a half to clean the entire mansion by myself, with a child's height no-less, but the end result was all worth it. Besides, the intense labour did wonders in increasing my stats.
Reaching the living room, I told Sakura to get comfortable however she liked and opened the television to occupy her mind for the time being, while I made my way towards the kitchen with shaky steps. It was incredibly idiotic of me, a completely irrational decision—I knew that, but my mind could not think of anything else at the moment.
The moment I decided to help Sakura, a scythe loomed over my shoulders, primed to lop my head off at any moment. Alas, I had revealed my existence to Zouken Matou, Sakura's adoptive grandfather and the man behind her torment. His main body - a worm he'd transferred his soul into via magecraft - should have already been planted beside Sakura's heart, giving me no choice but to confront the old maggot himself when he makes an appearance in the future.
'I should've thought this more thoroughly…' A whirlwind occupied my head at the time, preventing me from forming a coherent thought. There was a myriad of ways to handle this situation if I only thought more rationally, but there was no going back now.
To remove the turbulent thoughts forming in my head, I started preparing the best meal I could feasibly create with my current skills for the two of us to eat. With practiced hand, I seasoned an arrangement of mackerel fillets with a blend of herbs and spices before placing them over lit stove, the hiss of the fish echoing in the room.
With a gentle clatter, I transferred the golden-brown fillets onto a large platter and turned to the table where Sakura sat, who watched my actions with slight interest, then laid out the mackerel with care. She stared at the food for a moment, taking in the delicious aroma, then shot me a look as if asking for permission to continue, to which I positively gestured.
Shoving a piece of mackerel into her mouth, vitality appeared within her languid gaze which lasted for a whole second before going away. She ate slowly at first, but gradually increased her pace and finished her meal at the same time as I did.
As the night chased away the sun, blanketing the sky with darkness, Sakura pulled her attention away from the TV screen and tried to return back to that abominable place she called a home, but reluctantly stayed over for the night after a short discussion with me. More than happy to accommodate her, I lead Sakura to an empty room situated beside mine and gave her a futon to sleep on.
Later inside my room, I sat on the floor with my legs crossed, a thoughtful look on my my face. My first idea was to contact Kirei Kotomine - a priest of the Church - and ask for help on this matter, but immediately tossed that idea overboard. He would pose even more of a problem if he catches a whiff of my existence, that emotionless man wanted nothing more than cause pain to people.
An hour later, my mind all but failed to come up with a plan of action, causing me to drag my hands down my face in utter exasperation. With a defeated sigh, I ceased my current thoughts, deciding to leave it up for tomorrow, then crashed into bed. For now, there was nothing I could do other than hope for the best.
I gazed to my left, staring at the thin wall separating my room from Sakura's. "I'll keep you safe… I promise." I made a silent vow before entering a deep slumber.
On the other room, Sakura rested peacefully on her bed, blankly looking at the ceiling with her gem-like eyes. Unlike the pit of worms below the Matou manor, where Zouken Matou told her to lie inside of daily, the soft matress underneath her back was heavenly. It wasn't painful, much more comfortable, and there was not a single grub on sight to breach her insides or emerge from it.
Despite staying at a complete stranger's home, she was calm, and perhaps a little glad by this development. She had wanted to escape that chasm of filth, scream out for help, but she knew nobody would offer a hand to someone unclean as her. What would happen if this boy, Shirou Emiya, find out the truth about her? She was afraid that he might leave her like everyone else, dwindling what little hope she had left.
When they first met on that park, she could see it; deep within his amber eyes, the desire to save her shone brighter than everything else. 'But why?' She asked herself. She was a failure, even her own father abandoned her, what does he see in her that compelled him to do what he did? It was probably a lie; the concern he showed, the smile he sported, he must've showed that to everyone, she wasn't anyone special.
Truthfully, she began to think that this might not even be real in the first place, perhaps she was still stuck inside of that deplorable pit, being indoctrinated by her grandfather, and had merely started hallucinating to escape from the pain.
Even if this were indeed a dream, Sakura hoped for it to never end.
END.
