[EMIYA SHIROU]
[THE GAMER]
[LV 25 - 7800/25000]
[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]
[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]

Shirou walked through the empty streets of the spectral copy of his hometown with Shisui drawn at his side.

Thanks to the wide range of his [Detect the Unnatural], looking for slimes was much easier for him than it would be for anyone else.

On average, every night he could get as much as twenty Mana Cores. Now that he knew that they were weak to fire and with full awareness of his Inventory ability, killing them was a breeze.

Before heading out each night, he filled his inventory with home-made molotovs. He threw them after having Reinforced them, which bestowed upon the incendiary weapon the spiritual aspect necessary to interact and harm supernatural entities.

He was a bit disappointed when his little bout of MacGyvering didn't unlock the fire-based Magecraft skill, but he supposed there was a limit to how much of a cheat he was.

However, he happily found out that if he Reinforced something and then stored it in his Inventory, it would not lose its enchantment no matter how long it stayed there. That, in spite of the fact that food still spoiled, albeit at a slower pace, so it wasn't like time didn't flow inside it.

The best assumption he could make was that wherever it was that his Inventory opened up to, it was nowhere under Gaia's domain.

It was pretty neat, all things considered. It meant that he could Reinforce equipment beforehand while inside his Workshop, where Mana consumption was reduced and the rate of success was increased, and then pull them out fully powered at a later time.

It went a long way to help him conserve his Mana. Even with lots of Cores at hand, one could not easily stop in the middle of a fight and consume one, expecting the enemy to let him to so unimpeded.

The less things required his attention in the middle of a fight, the more likely he was to emerge victorious. Simple as that.

Now better prepared than ever, Shirou patrolled the streets looking for one more prey. It had been more than half an hour since he last found one. He was starting to think there weren't anymore of them in this part of the city.

Maybe it was time to move to more distant parts of town. The area around the Red Light district was constantly swept by the members of Soul Society, so there were few mobs to begin with. If he went farther away from their base of operation, there should be much more preys available.

Stronger ones too.

Feeling confident with his own power, he decided that it was time to venture forth.

The Business District was located right next to the Red light District. Shirou supposed there was a reason for that, but he'd rather not think about it.

Almost as soon as he moved into this new area, he received several prompts of supernatural presences nearby.

That definitely surpassed his best expectations. He carefully approached the location of the closest one and upon turning a corner he was greeted by the sight of a familiar mass of goo.

It was nearly identical to the slimes he had fought until that point, save for the fact that they were pink instead of green and had a different name.

[Slime Girl]
[Lv.55]

'Huh,' Shirou pondered. 'They have a gender?'

Shirou hadn't even considered the possibility, though he supposed it wasn't totally absurd. Why Slime girl though? Wouldn't Female Slime fit better?

Shaking his head free of silly thoughts, Shirou pulled out another molotov from his Inventory, lighted it up and tossed it at the monster.

The bottle crashed next to it exploding in glass and fire.

[HP -100]

The damage it received was about half that of its earlier brethren. It also moved much faster, as it immediately started zigzagging towards him.

"Shit!"

There was no time to pull out another molotov. Shirou jumped back just in time to narrowly avoid a flurry of tentacles that whipped in his direction.

Shirou had already vacated the place, but he was still close enough to see the asphalt melt where the tentacles had hit, showing that they had some kind of strongly acidic attribute to them.

Between this and the higher level, they were an entirely different foe from their earlier counterparts.

[HP +10]
[HP +10]
[HP +10]

And by the looks of it, they had a passive regeneration as well.

As he considered what to do, the slime wobbled in place. Part of its mass extended upward, slowly shaping itself to look like a female human from the waist up.

'Oh, so that's why she's a Slime Girl,' he thought, blushing slightly at the sight of a naked pseudo-woman.

The Slime Girl seemed to study him with a finger placed on her lips. Shirou for his part was examining her back, wondering if he was equipped to fight her. She was too fast to use molotovs against her and he didn't know whether or not she could melt his weapons faster than he could kill her.

What should he do? Retreat and gather information about the best way to fight her or give it a shot either way?

... After a moment of consideration, he decided that caution was the best part of valor. While the Slime still looked perplexed, Shirou stepped away slowly, until he was confident enough to turn around and run away properly.

Perhaps it wasn't a very brave approach, but it was better being safe than sorry, at least when there was only his life on the line.

As soon as he got away he felt a strange relief wash over him, almost as if he had dodged a very grim fate.

"A Slime Girl?" Matsumoto asked. "I never heard of something like that."

After Shirou made his way back to Soul Society, he went to look for Matsumoto inside Ahnenerbe, wanting to know what was the best way to handle this new creature, but it appeared that none had ever met it.

"It could be a rare spawn," she explained. "Sometimes a variant of a monster appears, which is very much stronger than the usual sort. I'll let the other hunters know about it."

"Do you think I should have tried to kill it?" he asked, at which Matsumoto shrugged.

"You are the one who had to make that call. However, your instinct told you to retreat, right? You won't last long in this line of work if you can't or won't trust your gut. I can at least tell you that much."

"Trust my gut, eh? I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Matsumoto-san."

"Aw. Don't mention it," she cooed, ruffling his hair. "You can always come to this nee-san whe you are in doubt."

"A-anyway, I should probably get going. The sun is going to rise soon and I better get home before that, otherwise I'll have to come up with a very good excuse with my guardian."

"A Magus with a curfew," she chuckled. "Who would have thought."

"I guess the world is stranger than you imagined, Matsumoto-san."

"So it seems," she laughed before taking sip of liquor. "Thank goodness for that. If there is one thing I really hate, it's boredom."

"Yes, well. I shall strive to make your life interesting then," he joked.

"Why, Shirou-kun, you are already doing that. If you keep it up, I might even reward you for it," she promised.

She was obviously teasing him, probably without realizing that he was already receptive to this kind of stimuli. At least, Shirou had gotten used to this kind of behavior a little bit, thanks to Yoruichi, and managed to play oblivious.

"Hm? What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head cutely. Matsumoto seemed to realize what kind of pass she just made and recovered her composure.

"Nothing, nothing. It was just a joke, but you are too young to understand it. Run along now, or you'll be home late."

"You're right. See you next time, Matsumoto-san," he said, throwing on his backpack and making for the exit towards the real world.

After Shirou had left, Matsumoto kept staring at the door from which he had just vanished.

What was wrong with her, flirting with a kid like him? Granted, playful was her default mode and being almost always a bit tipsy didn't really help her in that regard.

She also wasn't used to being around children, so she didn't really know how to deal with them. More importantly, most of the time Shirou didn't really come through as a kid, so she more often than not she almost forgot he was one, right until she said something that should have had him blushing up a storm but flew over his head completely instead.

Oblivious guys were the worst.

Oh, well. That just meant she had to try a bit harder. She could certainly get a brat to blush if she actually tried. Otherwise, her name wouldn't be Matsumoto Rangiku.

Shirou made it home well before dawn. Keeping himself to less traveled streets he run at the top of his speed and made it back in less than half an hour. He had more than enough time to get started on breakfast.

He was sure Taiga would come today. She never skipped the first meal of the day twice in a row.

He was not mistaken in that regard and about a hour later he heard the front door opening, and the familiar footsteps of Fuji-nee approaching the kitchen.

"Ohayo, Shirou," she greeted.

"Good morning, Taiga," he greeted back as he turned. "Breakfast is almost ready so that a se….Taiga?"

Although the person he was looking at was clearly Fujimura Taiga, Shirou almost didn't recognize her.

To be perfectly honest, she had always been on the pretty side of the attractiveness spectrum. However being sort of a slob who preferred comfortable yet frumpy clothes detracted from that and made her look overall plain.

Not that morning.

Gone was the frumpy dress, replaced by skintight jeans shorts and a t-shirt - striped, because what else? - and a hooded jersey with the zipper left open.

If one had to describe her look, it would be tomboyish college girl.

However, the clothes alone wouldn't have been enough to give him pause. There was a completely different feel about her. Her hair had a new luster, her skin seemed fairer and the color of her lips more vivid.

Was she wearing makeup? She had to be.

"Hm? What is it?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You changed your looks," he replied after a moment. "It suits you."

"O-oh. Well I'm glad you like it," she said somewhat bashfully. "Anyway, let's eat."

"Right," he agreed and started to bring food the table. They immediately started eating, and Shirou had to acknowledge that Taiga's look wasn't the only thing that had changed.

She never was exactly one to gorge herself with food, but she never made any effort to conceal her appetite either. That morning, she ate slowly and carefully. One could almost say that she was ladylike in her behavior, which contrasted greatly with her tomboyish apparel.

Eventually, he had to ask.

"Are you thinking of going to work wearing that? I mean, it looks good on you but isn't it a little too informal?"

"I'm not working today," she explained. "I took a couple of days off."

"Oh…. Is there any problem? Yesterday you didn't come around all day long and I barely saw you at school. Did something happen?"

She looked at him in a way that he couldn't quite describe. He would have thought it almost looked accusing, but it couldn't be, because he was a hundred percent sure he hadn't done anything that would upset her.

"Not really. I just felt like taking a break."

"Alright then," he nodded. As long as she was fine, he had nothing to object.

"I was thinking of spending the day at the new water park that opened last month."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I forgot about that completely. I thought about going too some day."

"Well then, why don't you skip school for once and come with me?"

Shirou snapped his head up. Did he heard wrong or did Taiga - his legal guardian and homeroom teacher - just tell him to skip school?

"Uuuuh?"

"Come on," she insisted. "You are so far ahead of the curve that you could skip the rest of the school year and still graduate at the top of your class. Besides, genius or not you need to wind down and have fun sometimes."

There was an exclamation mark above her head. The telltale sign of a Quest waiting to be accepted.

[NEW QUEST]
[Heart of the Tiger]
[Description: Have fun with Taiga at the Water Park]
[Reward for success: 5.000EXP, ?]
[Consequence for failure: 500EXP, Relationship with Taiga: Strained]
[Accept?]
[Y/N]

Shirou frowned. Why would something so trivial affect his relationship with Taiga?

Still, she was right and he could afford to skip a day of school or two. The Quest reward was sweet too and, more importantly, he didn't want to ruin his bond with Taiga.

"Sure. I suppose I could use a break too."

Going by Taiga's smile, Christmas had to have come early.

Shirou started regretting his choice immediately after leaving the house.

It wasn't like he decided that he would rather go to school than going to the pool. No, his regret stemmed mostly from his choice in companionship.

For Taiga, deciding to skip work for a couple of days and have fun instead wasn't particularly strange. She was an extremely whimsical individual. Shirou wasn't worried about that.

He was rather worried about himself in relation to her.

In the past months, his awareness of the opposite gender had been forcibly awakened and also heightened.

As a result, his gaze was always drawn by the curves of the female body. No one was spared. Not even his surrogate sister.

To make things worse, on this day she someone decided to highlight her femininity in a way she had never done before where he could see.

Shirou's gaze inevitably fell on the length of her thighs, which considering their difference in height meant they were almost exactly at eyes level.

One could say what they wanted about Taiga, but not that she wasn't fit.

She liked to eat a lot and laze about when she could, but when she didn't she was an intensely active woman, who still diligently practiced kendo every single day even though she no longer took part in official competitions.

And it showed.

Therefore, even though Shirou had been exposed to the overwhelming femininity of Saeko and Yoruichi, that didn't mean he wasn't susceptible to Taiga's.

Lust swelled into his chest, while Saeko's encouragement to find other lovers replayed in his head, which prompted him to punch his own face every now and then to clear his mind.

This wasn't just any woman. This was Taiga. He would not make her an object of his fantasies.

Of course, he couldn't know that her intentions were exactly the opposite of his own.

Taiga's plan was working. She could tell from feeling Shirou's gaze on her skin while they made their way to the water park.

The previous day, she had spent hours deciding what to do with her feelings for him, in light of the revelation that he was already in a relationship with one or more older women.

To be quite honest, she was a bit angry. Mostly at herself, for letting someone else claim something she felt belonged to her, and in lesser measure at him for letting it happen.

Taiga was acutely aware that what she intended to do was wrong, no matter which way she sliced it. However, she was not one to let herself be bullied, not even by her her own emotions.

She had already accepted that she couldn't change her feelings and she had decided not to act on them to protect him. However, now that she had found out that he had already been... spoiled, her reservation came crashing down.

'If someone gets to have him, that's going to be me.'

This was the decision she had come to and now that she had pushed past the barrier of her own morality, she was thoroughly enjoying feeling his eyes on her.

Her pride had been prickled, her territory had been infringed upon. She had to retaliate or her name wasn't Fujimura Taiga.

They eventually made it to the water park, where they split to get changed in their swimsuits. Shirou was fairly quick about it, so he found himself waiting for Taiga while he looked over the immense establishment.

Exciting Waves had been built in the course of a few weeks as an unknown investor had bought the land for cheap and poured billions to built the state-of-the-art water park.

An establishment that was completely devoid of life at present, since it was a weekday and it wasn't even high season yet. Actually there were other people around, but they were so few and the place was so big that he would have had a hard time telling without actively using [Detect Presence].

They basically had all the park to themselves.

"There you are," Taiga's voice called. He steeled his mind before turning around. By now, he knew full well that he would not be able to look at her and stay indifferent, so he forced himself it the state of mind of a Magus, before laying his eyes on her.

Even so, his heart still skipped a beat at the sight of her.

True to her preference, Taiga had chosen a striped two-pieces swimsuit.

It was a completely normal piece of apparel in these circumstances, but it showed far more skin that he was used to seeing from her.

A slight blush made its way to his face.

"So... let's get inside," he proposed. The sooner he got into the water, the sooner he'll get to cool down his head.

'If this is how puberty is going to be all the time,' he mused as they went over to the water, 'it's going to be a real nightmare.'

Behind Shirou's back, Taiga clenched her fist victoriously.

Her swimsuit - her body - definitely had an impact on him. She was afraid of being out of the competition on that front, considering the beauties she was secretly faring against, but it seemed that it wasn't the case.

She definitely had a chance to score with him. She just had to play her cards right.

For the next few hours, Shirou and Taiga played in the water. They swam and splashed each other without any second meaning.

Both of them appreciated the respite. Even Taiga, despite being the instigator of the tension between them. After days of worrying over her own feelings, she welcomed some mindless fun.

Eventually, though, they decided to get out of the water and have a snack.

Shirou climbed out of the pool first and held out his hand to help Taiga out.

That was a mistake on his part. He was certainly strong enough to lift her easily, even with the added weight of the water on her skin.

What he failed to consider was that the higher ground would give him a perfect view of her breasts. It proved enough of a distraction to make him use more strength that it was required.

"Wha!" she yelped as she almost flew out of the water.

The sudden change in position made Shirou lose his balance, causing him to land on his back on the poolside while Taiga crashed onto him a short moment later, making his vision go dark.

"Hmm?" Shirou wondered with his head buried between two mounds of flesh. With some difficulty he twisted his head up, relative to his body and found Taiga looking down at him.

There was a string hooked on his nose, which crossed his field of vision. For a moment, he didn't realize what it was, until he figured exactly what were those two mounds that he could feel pressed against his face.

Taiga's naked breasts.

From his position, Shirou couldn't tell exactly how his limbs were placed. As he felt the impulse to get himself out of that situation he slightly flexed his hand.

"Hya!" Taiga moaned as his fingers kneaded her soft flesh. If having his face buried between her tits wasn't enough of a reason, her flushed face and cute moan broke the hold he had on his own arousal.

Shirou's erection happened so fast that the head of his cock brushed against Taiga's crotch.

Even through the material of both their swimsuit, the contact against the folds of her womanhood sent a spark of pure pleasure up her spine.

"-!"

With all of her willpower, Taiga suppressed the throaty moan that would otherwise escaped her lips. Instead, she pushed herself away from Shirou, disregarding the fact that his head was still tangled with the top of her swimsuit.

As result her butt hit the floor of the poolside, which made her breasts bounce around freely.

It took all but a second for her to realize that she was flashing her breast and to cover herself with her arms, but by then Shirou already had a clear eyeful of it.

The Magus's eyes threatened to burst out of his skull and his erection out of his trunks. He too realized quickly his own circumstances and rapidly rushed to cover the incriminating tent.

"S-S-Sorry!" he stuttered, handing over her indument and then jumping headfirst into the water, so that he could sink into its depths, never to emerge again.

Taiga's heart was going a mile a minute.

It had been nothing more than an innocent accident. It should have been nothing more than that.

Yet, she could still feel the burning touch of Shirou's fingers on her skin and the hardness of his manhood against her most intimate place.

Shirou had thrown himself into the water right after, certainly feeling as embarrassed as she did. Perhaps even more, since he caused it to happen.

WIth a long drawn breath, Taiga recomposed herself and then jumped back into the water as well.

She found Shirou sitting seiza at the bottom of the pool, like a penitent monk.

How stupid of her. Regardless of his relationship with older women, Shirou was a gentleman at heart. He would definitely feel guilty over something like that, even if it was entirely accidental.

Taiga wouldn't have that. She had her own share of responsibility in this matter. After all, she was trying to seduce him, therefore she could hardly blame him for her own partial success.

She swam next to him and poked his head. He opened his eyes, saw her, and quickly shut them again.

What was he planning to do? Stay down there until he drowned? He was certainly stubborn enough to do exactly that, this idiot.

Still, if there was one thing in which she wasn't inferior to him, it was certainly stubbornness.

She sat seiza in front of him and waited.

Shirou opened his eyes to find Taiga looking straight at him, while she mirrored his penance.

If he wasn't underwater, he would have likely sighed tiredly.

He should have known Taiga wouldn't just go away because he ignored her. She was stubborn as much as he was. If she put her mind to something, she would pursue it to the very gates of hell.

If he decided to stay there, she would do the same even if she drowned. Of course, he couldn't have that and so he elected to swim back to the surface.

Shirou broke out of the water with a gasp and climbed out of the pool, sitting on the floor to catch his breath. A moment later, Taiga was laying next to him, her breath just as labored as his.

After they had both regained their breath, they laid silently next to each other for a while

"Ne, Shirou..." she eventually said.

"What is it?"

"Do you think my breasts are soft?" she asked, cupping said globs of flesh.

"What the hell are you even asking?" he sputtered, red faced and sitting up straight.

"What? It's a legitimate question. You're the first man to see them and touch them, so I'm asking for your opinion."

"I have no intention of answering that," he declared.

"Oh? So I guess if they aren't as big as Saeko's they aren't just worth bothering. Is that how it is?"

"Excuse me? What does Busujima-sensei have to do with anything?"

"Busujima-sensei?" she parroted mockingly. "That's not what you called her the other night when you were fucking her on the table where we eat every day."

Shirou felt a chill go up his spine. They had been caught. They had been caught and they hadn't even noticed.

He racked his brain for an explanation that could excuse what happened to be a very illegal relationship. Shirou himself was above (or rather beneath) legal repercussions because of his age, but not Saeko.

And yet, he definitely didn't feel like justifying himself. His feelings for Saeko were genuine and requited. He would not feel ashamed for them.

"I see. So that what's this is about. Yes, Saeko and I are like that. What of it?"

Taiga felt a shiver go down her spine. Shirou had pinned her down with his gaze and she couldn't find in herself the strength to move a single finger.

He was a completely different person all of a sudden. She had already a hard time seeing a kid when he looked at him, but now she wasn't sure she was looking at a human being at all.

He was an overbearing existence. Kind and gentle only because he chose to, not because he lacked the strength or willpower not to be such.

She was suddenly afraid of him, and yet even more attracted to him than she already was.

[As a result of a special action you have learned: Eye of the Tyrant]
[Eye of the Tyrant - LV MAX]
[Description: Convey your will through your gaze and make people submit to you. Requires thrice the target's CHR to be effective. The effect is split against multiple opponents]

Shirou might have balked at the new skill he had just acquired, if not for the fact that he was currently busy using it on Taiga to protect Saeko.

"Well?" he asked. "What are you going to do about it?"

"N-nothing. I... I didn't mean it that way. You... you can be with whomever you want to, of course. I... I was just..."

"You were just what?"

"... jealous. I was just jealous of her. Because she got to be with you."

Shirou's mind screeched to a halt. The effect of Tyrant Eye vanished and Taiga realized what she had just admitted.

Before Shirou could say anything, she got up and started to sprint toward the changing room. Shirou was too dumbstruck to stop her. Even with [Fast Thinker (I)] he was just too busy making sense of what had just heard to intervene.

As soon as she disappeared past the door, another prompt appeared into his vision.

[Heart of the Tiger: FAILED]
[Reward failure: +500XP, Relationship with Fujimura Taiga downgraded to: Strained]

"Shit."

What else was there to say about this mess?

XXX

AN: Surely you didn't think that getting Taiga would be easy, right? Just because she was the closest to him doesn't mean that everything would go smoothly.

Anyway, a huge thank you to my beta, Obiki, and to you guys who always read and review.

By the way, if you are eager to read the next chapter (plus two more on the 15th of this month) make sure to pay a visit to my Pa treon account at "P atreon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin"