Chapter 62

His sides still seared with pain, but it wasn't to the point that he couldn't even stand straight as he took small steps into the student council room, careful not to strain bruised muscles around that area. It had been some time since he'd suffered a full power strike from Fuji-nee, and it was clear she still hadn't lost her edge. It almost felt like a giant slab of stone had cut through his stomach, with intense agony erupting the moment he had fallen to the ground.

"Emiya, does it still hurt?"

Issei stared at the area where Taiga's shinai had struck him, his eyes looking as if they could pierce through the fabric and assess the injury directly. Shirou touched his sides with his left hand, smiling lightly to avoid making him worry.

"Nah, it's fine now. The swelling's gone down, and it doesn't hurt to walk anymore."

Indeed, if it wasn't for Sakura he would have stayed on the ground long after the morning bell had rung.

*kok, kok*

They both turned to the door behind them, surprised that someone was visiting the student council at this time of the day. Was it a teacher?

"Please come in."

*shhhk*

The sliding door opened, revealing a girl with long, silky black hair tied up in twintails and stark blue eyes.

"Tohsaka-san?"

Instantly, Issei's posture changed as his guard was raised, his chopsticks lifted in front of him like weapons while his eyes narrowed. Shirou on the other hand, was simply confused and stared at her.

"Tohsaka-san, do you have any urgent business with the student council? If not, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

Issei's curt voice cut through the air like a hot knife, clearly unwelcoming of her.

"What if I said I just came to pay the student council president a visit?"

Issei stood up and raised his voice slightly.

"It seems like even honors students can lie as well. Tell me, what is your true objective for coming here?"

Rin was slightly taken aback when he pressed the attack, but she decided to stop teasing him to prevent the situation from escalating further. Despite the fact that she was a mage and he was only a monk, she didn't want to get into argue with him pointlessly, and it would also reflect on her behaviour if a teacher or student passed by and saw them going at it.

"I lost a pen around here somewhere and I'm looking for it. I just want to ask if you've seen a red pen around here somewhere? It also has a black cap with light cyan highlights."

Issei settled down slightly and lowered his chopsticks at her words.

"No, we haven't seen a pen like that, but we'll keep an eye out for you."

This time, Shirou answered her. Rin nodded gratefully to him, a slight smile creeping to her lips, glad that she had saved him last night.

Noticing her smile at him, Shirou scratched the back slightly embarrassed, a hint of red touching his cheeks.

Looking at the two of them, Issei decided to step in before something dangerous happened to Shirou.

"Ahem. Do you have any more business here?"

Rin turned to him and asked one more question.

"Does anybody else use this room or the rooms nearby besides you two?"

"Is there any reason why you need to know about that?"

Rin sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

"I just want to know who to ask around here about my pen. Or are you refusing to help me, president?"

"Kgh, n-no. Hold on, let me think."

Issei crossed his arms and lowered his head in thought.

"Only Emiya and I use the student council president during the day, while the rest of the student council members come here twice a week for meetings after school. As for the home economics room next door and the empty multi-purpose clubroom, nobody uses the clubroom, while the home economics club only holds activities there after school on Friday, or during specially scheduled events, of which there haven't been any since the 17th of December."

"Oh, I see. Thanks for the information, I'll be on my way then."

She turned around and headed out the door, her twintails swinging rhythmically.

"See you later Tohsaka-san."

She paused slightly when Shirou said that, but then continued on her way as if nothing happened, shutting the door behind her.

"Hmph, good riddance. I wonder what she was up to this time."

The moment she was gone, Issei pushed up his glasses and sat back down, clearly still suspicious of Rin.

"Come on, she was just looking for a pen right?"

"Don't be fooled by her appearance Emiya. You have no idea what she'll do to you if you fall into her clutches."

They continued with lunch as Rin left to check the next few spots.

"Archer, do you think that either of them was a Master?"

It was a moment before she received a reply to her mental question.

"I doubt it was the Emiya boy, he looked too idiotic to be one. But the Issei boy seemed quite suspicious of you. His hostility seemed to suggest that he knows something about you as well."

"I agree that Emiya probably isn't the Master, with how he acts at school. He's just a nice guy who's also slightly dense. As for Issei, I think he's especially sensitive to the Moonlit world. He reacted to remnants of magecraft on a school field trip before when no one else could sense them, and he probably senses instinctively that something's different about me. Still, I suppose it's worth keeping an eye on him."

The traces of mana in the school had led to the student council president room and the archery dojo, as well as several classrooms. She was currently in the process of checking each of them out and looking for the two potential Masters she'd found earlier. She'd never imagined that there'd be Masters in her own school, but then again the selection of participants open to all as well. All that was required was a strong desire.

"I suppose we'll have to keep looking then."

She headed to the archery dojo next, passing by a boy with curly blue hair.