Chapter 5: What Spring Does to Cherry Trees
Seeing this, Illya, refusing to be outdone, also rushed over and hugged Shirou around the waist.
"Long time no see, Shirou~"
"Long time no see, Illya."
While Shirou enjoyed the warm reunion with Sakura and Illya, who had both blossomed into beautiful young women, Hisau Maiya, who had arrived at the castle gates further behind them, completely ignored the atmosphere and spoke up at an inopportune moment.
"You have been gone for ten years."
Upon hearing Maiya's words, Sakura instinctively looked toward Shirou.
"That's right, Shirou, where exactly did you go?"
"Well... you could say I went to another world to train and search for a few things along the way."
Shirou replied with a fair amount of emotion, reminiscing about his various experiences in the world of Campione!.
Maiya wore a look of doubt at this, but Sakura and Illya trusted Shirou implicitly.
"So that's how it was..." Sakura nodded, and then a smile that was as comforting as a Yamato Nadeshiko spread across her face. She said to Shirou, "Anyway, it's just good that you're back, Shirou."
As she spoke, Sakura seemed to suddenly remember something and said to Shirou:
"Ah, that's right, Shirou! That magecraft book you gave me before—I finished learning everything in it during the first year~"
Even though the girl's face still wore a gentle smile, Shirou felt that something was slightly off.
Thus, Shirou made a grand gesture.
"Ahem, bring me a thousand needles, and watch me perform a special trick for you!"
.
.
.
In the end, Shirou did not swallow a thousand needles, but Sakura still intended to punish him.
"Illya and I were planning to go fishing by the sea today, so your punishment is to carry me there on your back!"
In Sakura's eyes, this was likely already a severe punishment.
Shirou, however, was more than happy to oblige.
After all, having the girl press against his back, feeling each other's bodies through their clothes—this subtle sensation was hardly a punishment; it was clearly a reward.
"Get on."
Shirou turned his back to Sakura and bent down slightly.
The girl immediately gave a light hop, and her slender arms, like white lotus roots, circled around Shirou's neck. Her face drew close to his, and for a moment, it felt as though even the air was rising in temperature.
Standing nearby, Hisau Maiya looked confused, not understanding how they were going to get to the seaside without taking a car.
However, in the next second, Shirou gave her the answer.
The light of magical energy surged to a degree that made Maiya's heart tremble, and then a magic-circle-like pattern formed beneath their feet.
In the very next instant after her vision was obscured by that piercing radiance, Maiya found herself in a different place.
Under an increasingly clear sky and the glow of gentle sunlight, the beach and the azure ocean were sparkling with glints of light.
Perhaps because it had just rained, there was no one around, which spared them from wasting time using memory-erasing magecraft to clean up after being discovered.
"But, we didn't bring any fishing rods?"
Illya suddenly remembered this fact.
"That sort of thing is simple."
As Shirou spoke, pale blue magical energy surged in his hands, and four fishing rods appeared.
As for bait, isn't it everywhere in the sea?
Although Shirou could easily obtain any kind of fish he wanted from the ocean, the joy of fishing lies in the fun of the unknown.
They found a spot atop a reef and began to fish.
This was clearly Hisau Maiya's first time doing such a thing, as evidenced by the fact that she didn't even know how to hook the bait.
However, that wasn't to say she had no interest in entertainment. According to Sakura, several times over the last ten years, she had seen Maiya secretly sneak into a cake shop and eat until she was full; she was practically a devastating sweets lover.
The legend of a "mysterious, expressionless woman who constantly comes to this shop to devour sweets" had already been hyped into an urban legend by the shop staff.
"Don't tell Aunt Maiya that I know about this, okay? She seems to be very cautious herself, fearing we might find out," Sakura whispered a reminder to Shirou.
If Maiya knew that her tiny secret had long since been discovered by Sakura and the others, one wonders what kind of expression she would make.
Although he was curious, Shirou did not intend to deliberately do something that would embarrass her.
Shirou then spoke to Sakura about another matter.
"By the way, Sakura, would you like to move back in with me?"
"Um... I don't have a problem with it, but I don't know what Illya would think..."
Sakura asked with some concern.
"Then everyone can move in together; I don't mind," Shirou said indifferently.
Sakura's face suddenly stiffened, and then she shook her head like a rattle.
"N-No! Absolutely not!"
Compared to her relationship with Illya, Sakura definitely wanted to monopolize Shirou. Therefore, there absolutely could not be any "third party" who might interfere.
Jealousy seemed almost ready to overflow, but Sakura still tried her best to control her emotions, not wanting Shirou to see her seemingly selfish thoughts.
"This... this isn't very good, and it seems there aren't enough spare rooms at home..."
How could Shirou not see through the girl's mind? He just found it quite interesting to tease her.
"It's fine even if there aren't enough guest rooms. My bed is actually quite big~"
"Eh...!? I-I-I... I..."
The girl's pretty face instantly turned crimson. She stammered, overcome with shyness.
A bashful mist began to accumulate in her eyes, looking as though she might cry from the grievance in the next second.
Seeing this, Shirou stopped teasing her and changed the subject instead.
"Sakura, are you in school right now?"
"Yes, Illya and I are at the same school as Sister."
As she said this, Sakura's voice grew fainter, whispering to Shirou like the buzzing of a mosquito.
"If Shirou could be with me, it would be even better..."
Upon hearing this, Shirou smiled and nodded.
"Since I don't have much to do lately anyway, I'll grant your wish."
Hearing these words, Sakura delightedly linked her arm with Shirou's.
"Mm, Shirou is the best!"
With the person she had missed day and night for ten years right before her eyes, and being in such close contact, Sakura couldn't help but feel her heart in a mess. The tips of her ears burned slightly as she hugged Shirou's arm, rubbing it against her chest.
A soft and plump sensation brushed against him from time to time, making Shirou's eyebrows twitch. He couldn't help but marvel that Sakura's changes over these ten years were indeed significant.
The tip of the fishing rod had already begun to bend downward, indicating a fish was on the hook, but Sakura had absolutely no heart to pay attention to such things now.
Within her heart now, only a single thought remained. It was a ten-year reunion that had suddenly become so full it was almost ready to burst through the dikes.
"Big brother, I want to do to you what spring does to the cherry trees..."
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