Chapter 6: Sakura's Feelings
February 2nd, early morning.
Sakura, who had moved back home, uncharacteristically woke up late. When Shirou saw her while she was washing up, he noticed the girl even had slight dark circles under her eyes.
"What happened?" Shirou asked curiously.
"Ah... n-nothing! I'm just not quite used to being back yet!"
Sakura waved her hands frantically, as if her secret thoughts had been pierced. In reality, last night Sakura had been lying in bed constantly wondering if Shirou would come find her; consequently, she had tossed and turned in a mix of anticipation and nervousness, unable to fall asleep at all.
Although Shirou really wanted to know the specific details, Sakura put up a stance of "death before speaking," leaving Shirou truly helpless.
Watching Shirou's contemplative expression, Sakura's cheeks gradually flushed. Overcome with shyness, she sought to change the subject.
"By the way, Shirou, aren't you going to wear a school uniform?"
Sakura noted that Shirou was already dressed in a set of white casual clothes; such an outfit would likely be quite conspicuous at school.
"It's fine, a little bit of magecraft will fix that. You don't have to wear yours either, Sakura."
Upon hearing Shirou's words, Sakura couldn't help but knit her brows, feeling that his phrasing was a bit strange.
"Shirou, let's go to school."
"Mm, let's go."
Shirou nodded. Together they left the house, walking along the road toward the school.
The early morning was shrouded in mist; a thin layer of white fog drifted through the city's streets and alleys, and the chill in the air grew deeper.
Walking side-by-side with Shirou, Sakura realized that the boy beside her had grown so tall without her noticing that she could only look up at him. Furthermore, he possessed a unique aura that made him seem as if he belonged to a completely different world than the other students.
This feeling made Sakura feel somewhat worried. she felt as though she would drift further and further away from Shirou until, eventually, she wouldn't be able to catch up no matter what, left only to wait in one spot for his return.
Sakura did not want to be stuck in such a situation. She wanted to seek change; she wanted to be able to help Shirou one day.
Secretly making a vow in her heart, Sakura prepared herself to delve deeper into magecraft, striving to make herself useful to Shirou one day.
Before long, they arrived at what was now the private Homurahara Academy. Shirou was now a second-year student in the high school division. With his methods, entering a school was naturally effortless.
"I remember Rin also attends this school, right?"
Shirou wasn't entirely certain about this point; after all, because of his previous multiple reboots, the timeline of this world had become very chaotic.
To Shirou's inquiry, Sakura answered with a smile.
"Sister also attends school here. She should be arriving around this time as well."
Shirou nodded upon hearing this.
"I see. Then let's go."
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It seemed to be a dream. Tohsaka Rin saw the scene of her family estate turning into ruins. After that, her mother was unhappy every day and never smiled again.
After her father's funeral ended, the red-haired youth who appeared at the ceremony shared such a high similarity with the boy named Orihara Shirou in Rin's memory that she had found him impossible to forget for these ten years.
Saying they would meet again—it's been ten years! He's a total liar!
A big liar!
Her long black hair was scattered messily across the bed. The girl, still caught in her dream, had her brows slightly knit, her face carrying a trace of nostalgia and pain.
Ring ring ring ring ring...
"So noisy, I don't want to wake up yet...!"
The girl, still in her dream world, murmured with dissatisfaction as she twisted and turned while hugging her duvet. However, that damned sound—sounding like it belonged to a mortal enemy—continued.
Ring ring ring ring ring...
"What is it, honestly! I slept so late yesterday, let me sleep a bit longer!"
It's fine to sleep a little more, this thought couldn't help but pop up in Rin's mind. Last night, she had worked until the early hours of the morning to decipher the magecraft books left by her father, and she had used a lot of magical energy to attempt those spells. Thus, she currently appeared exhausted, drained in both spirit and body.
Ring ring... ring ring... ring ring...
"Dammit... I just need to move a little bit to turn it off... but it's really so cold..."
Rin was still yearning for her warm bed. Her willpower, weakened by physical and mental fatigue, began to waver.
'I'm an honors student; it shouldn't matter if I go to school on the verge of being late on a day like today, right?'
"Right, right... the alarm is set for a thirty-minute snooze, so I should be able to sleep for thirty more minutes..."
Just as Rin was thinking this, she suddenly realized her logic was a bit strange.
"Wait, a thirty-minute delay... doesn't that mean I'll be late!?"
Rin suddenly snapped her eyes open. Wearing her loose white pajamas, she sat up in bed, her light blue eyes wide. Likely because her sleeping posture hadn't been very elegant, the loose pajamas had slipped slightly, revealing a fair, fragrant shoulder that radiated a porcelain-like glow under the hazy morning mist.
After Rin and the alarm clock glared at each other for several seconds, she suddenly felt her cheeks flush at the thought of her foolish logic just now. In her shamed anger, she smashed a fist down onto the clock.
With a bang, this new alarm clock—which had been with Rin for less than a week—made an overtaxed sound and turned into fragments.
After "turning off" the alarm, Rin slowly left the bed and took clothes from the wardrobe to change out of her pajamas.
"Hiss—so cold!"
Shivering, Rin quickly changed into her school uniform, then pulled warm black over-the-knee stockings onto her two slender legs. As she released her pulling fingers, the stockings clung tightly to her thighs, creating a subtle, attractive "flesh-indentation" effect.
"Ugh... should I start watching my diet lately..."
Rin pinched her slightly fleshy thighs, feeling that if she went to weigh herself now, she would get an unpleasant result.
Thinking this, Rin then followed the icy corridor to the living room, which was filled with the chill of a winter morning. Attacked by that bone-chilling cold, Rin's body trembled slightly.
"Hiss... the heater, the heater!"
Although the climate in Fuyuki City was relatively warm in winter, only this morning was it as cold as everywhere else. After turning on the heater, Rin headed to the bathroom.
At times like this, living alone was inconvenient. If her mother were here, the living room would have been filled with warmth before Rin even woke up. Unfortunately, it seemed that because of seeing those ruins ten years ago, Rin's mother, Tohsaka Aoi, easily lost emotional control even when facing this rebuilt mansion.
Out of necessity, Aoi had returned to her parents' home to live, leaving Rin to independently cook, clean, do laundry... and then attend school, study magecraft, and learn about business matters all on her own. After all, as the successor of the Tohsaka family, she didn't intend to just live off her inheritance. Though even so, the industries still in operation allowed her to receive a considerable monthly income.
Current Rin was quite a wealthy woman.
In the cold morning, inside the cold bathroom, Rin combed her long hair and tidied her appearance slightly. If there was one benefit, it was only that the freezing water forcibly chased away the lingering sleepiness from moments ago.
After sorting out her outfit and breakfast, Rin checked the time.
"What, it's only 7:10. There's no need to be in such a hurry."
However, if she relaxed too much because of that and ended up having to run to school, Rin didn't want that to happen at all. Be calm and elegant at all times—this was the Tohsaka family motto.
'Since we seriously maintain this motto, our ancestors must have truly come from a prestigious lineage' Rin thought.
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