Chapter 61

After spending the morning suppressing the urge to sniff Saber's hair and prying her off him, he managed to complete his morning routine and eat a simple breakfast with the monks, consisting of lotus roots and tofu with rice. After he finished the meal, he was about to go out with Issei to school, walking all the way from the temple to Homuhara for the first time, when he spotted Caster approaching him near the temple gates.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He turned to Issei.

"You go on ahead, I'm going to talk to Artia-san for a moment."

Artia Penelope was the name she was using as part of her false identity, created for convenience when Kuzuki needed to introduce her to the monks.

Issei nodded and continued walking down the stairs, while Shirou gave Caster his full attention.

"Master has yet to recover yet, so he's requesting a day off from school and won't be able to go with you to Homuhara Academy. It seems like Saber is also still recovering from her injuries, so she'll still be sleeping for a while. While I don't recommend going out in the open without either Master or your Servant by your side, since it's broad daylight, I doubt any of the enemy Masters would try something. Also, you've only just summoned your Servant, so your identity should only be known to my Master and the Master of Berserker, Einzbern-san. As long as you don't do anything to attract attention, you should be safe."

She paused.

"Though it would be better for you to stay next to Saber to speed up the healing process, I can still do my best to hasten her recovery by siphoning some of the energy from the leylines through me to her. It would still be best if you were there, but I won't stop you if you want to go to school."

Ah, so that was why she still hadn't woken up. He would've expected her to be awake before him with how dutiful she had seemed to be, but if she was still recovering then it couldn't be helped. In addition, while he didn't figure it out, she had rolled over to him while they were sleeping because she needed mana to recover, and shortening the physical distance while having skin-to-skin contact helped transfer mana more efficiently, which prompted her body to automatically roll over to him.

Though if he could help her in any way, then he'd do so. She had protected him last night against Berserker with her own life, and was the main reason she was still lying in the room and resting. Even putting that aside, he was her Master, and had the responsibility to support her. He still hadn't fully accepted his role in the Holy Grail War, and his mind still felt detached from it all, but he couldn't just ignore someone who needed his help, much less someone only he could help.

"If she can heal faster in my presence, I can skip a day of school and stay-"

"Oi! Isn't that Shirou there?"

From below them, two muscular men dressed in back leather jackets walked up to him and called out to Shirou.

"Boy, anue called us for help in looking for you, so you'd better call her soon! She's in a bad mood right now, and you know best what happens when she's like that…"

Even the yakuza shivered when the thought of Taiga in one of her moods entered their minds.

Shirou on the other hand, was shocked that Taiga had gone so far as to contact the yakuza to help out, because she rarely relied on her father's connections for herself. Then again, the scene he had left at the Emiya residence wasn't exactly assuring either.

"Well, we'd better go now to avoid pissing off the Ryuudou ojii-san, so see ya around kid."

They went back down the stairs to call off the search.

Shirou turned back to face Caster.

"Ah, it seems like I'll have to go and take care of some business. If I don't come back within 24 hours, you can have Kuzuki become Saber's master." With a strained smile, he turned around and made the trip to face his impending doom in the form of a voracious tiger that stalked the streets of Fuyuki.

He managed to catch a bus close by that stopped near the academy, and when he reached the school gates, he saw a palpable aura floating in the, a red killing intent that repulsed the students trying to enter the school gate, the shape akin to a furious yaksha. Standing there with Torashinai in hand, was Fujimaru Taiga the Tiger of Fuyuki. A little bit behind her on her right, was Matou Sakura, completely unaffected by the murderous air pouring off Taiga. She was wearing a worried expression, her eyes downcast as she kept her hands clutched close to her chest.

Slowly, Shirou approached the two of them cautiously, putting one foot in front of the other with some effort. There were no bystanders at all, each of them hurrying through the gate to avoid the immense pressure of being near Taiga. The only people watching Emiya confront Taiga did so from a safe distance, from the classroom windows.

"Good morning Fuji-nee, Sakura-san."

He tried to play it as casually as possible, giving his usual greeting while keeping his body loose in preparation to dodge any sudden attacks, though with how fast she was it was nigh impossible for him to do so.

"Shirou, where did you go last night, hmmmmmm?"

This is bad. That was Shirou's first thought when she saw the shadows hiding her eyes, a red glint the only thing he could see there as the aura became even greater, making him physically take a step backwards.

"Aaahhh, there were just some robbers at my house, and a fight broke out there between me and the intruders. Luckily, Souichirou-sensei was at my house at the time, and he helped me fight them off, but he was injured during the scuffle Since he felt that it was unsafe to stay there, he offered to let me stay with me at Ryuudou temple."

This was the excuse he had prepared, and it contained grains of truth as well. It also lined up with Kuzuki resting at the temple too.

"And what was he doing at your house?"

"He was… helping me add new components to my exercise routine. I had asked him for some advice earlier, and he came my house to help out by observing my workouts."

This was believable, because Kuzuki was well-known to be extremely fit, despite nobody having seen him exercise much. During the school sports festival teachers races, he always declined to join because after the first time he participated in the race, the other teachers had complained that he was cheating. Some certain female teachers and students also idolized him and his "chocolate abs", to quote one female student.

Taiga closed her eyes for a moment.

Phew, it seems like she's-

*BAK*

The wooden blade caught him in his sides, the bamboo sword bending as the strips of bamboo wood creaked, the wind almost visible from the force of the blow.

"Kagh!"

He was blown off his feet and lifted into the air, before he fell back down and rolled to the left for a few meters.

"That's payback for making me worry so much, Shirou. Now get your ass to school before I have to beat it in there."

Taiga strode into the school with her sword resting on her shoulder, her mouth twisted into a satisfied smirk, while Shirou curled up into a ball on the pavement and grunted in pain, wheezing for breath after the heavy blow dealt to his unprotected right oblique muscles, the shock even traveling to his stomach and making him want to heave his breakfast right on the floor.

Approaching him, Sakura laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Senpai, do you need some help to get into school?"

"Kuhhh, hhaahhh, I-I think I need to, kah, rely on your shoulders, Sakura. Sorrrry, koff, for the bother."

"Un, it's fine senpai."

Slowly adjusting him into position with his right arm looped around her shoulders, she lifted him up and supported him through the school gates and into the nurse's office to rest, much like how he had lent his shoulders to Saber last night while they walked up the steps.

Atop the school roof, a girl in red stood there, stretching out her senses as the jewels in her palm disintegrated from the spell.

"Erleuchte den Weg zu meinem Schatz, oh leuchtendes Juwel."

As the jewels disintegrated, two sigils formed in the air from the dust of the jewels rising up, lighting up in red and blue.

"So there's two Masters at school hmmm…"

Behind her, Archer looked on as Sakura carried the pained Shirou into school grounds.