With a working pace that fast, it didn't take long before they arrived at the reports on the men whom Mirei had designated the best possible marriage candidates for the Vice-Director. The top of the pile, so to speak.
"Alec Fargo." Lorelei's voice contained a bit more excitement now that had reached the last stage of the ordeal. "Age: Thirty-one. Occupation: Magus. Department: Astromancy. Characteristics: Patient. Capable. A good sense of humour. Loyal to the bone. Politically savvy. Quite handsome."
"He used to be a hopeless disappointment, fit for the very bottom of the pile, but recently, he turned his life around quite significantly." Mirei told her as extra information. "I could not find out what happened exactly, but whatever it was, it seemed to have had a very positive effect on him."
Lorelei nodded, and placed the report to the right, on the pile of potential husbands whom she would seriously consider.
"Raphael Umbridge." She read the next name, and then her face contorted in distaste.
"He is not to your liking?"
"I met him. I did not like him." Was the short answer, before the report was crumpled and thrown into the hearth.
"A mistake." Mirei had expected something like this might happen once or twice, so she didn't bat an eye. "My apologies for placing him so high on the pile."
"No need. Let's continue."
And continue they did, working off the remaining files one by one, until they finally arrived at the top ten.
"Domhnal Eulyphis. Age: Twenty-nine. Occupation: Head-Professor. Department: Spiritual Evocation. Characteristics: Capable, honourable, loyal, well-connected and well-liked, described to be good in bed."
"He would be a good choice, if only because he is a member of that family." Mirei informed her calmly, and Lorelei nodded in response, placing the report on the pile of husbands to seriously consider.
The Eulyphis were some of the Barthomeloi's most staunch supporters, and a Ruling Family themselves at that. Forging an extra link with them through marriage would not be a bad idea.
"Mordigan Growchester. Age: Twenty-four. Occupation: Associate-Professor. Department: Zoology. Characteristics: Loyal, capable, shrewd, politically savvy, described to be good in bed."
"Once more, being a member of such a prestigious family that is allied to yours already gives him a head start." Mirei shrugged. "Other than that, he's acceptable enough, though not particularly special."
Another report on the pile of serious consideration.
The next three reports were pretty much the same. Decent men with powerful backgrounds and high positions, who might not make for a dream-husband but would be acceptable enough to Lorelei, the Barthomeloi-family, and the Clocktower as a whole. Even before she had been assigned the task of gathering these reports, Mirei had known that those men would have a massive leg-up when it came to their eligibility to marry Lorelei, and judging by the girl's face, she'd known that as well.
The fifth report however clearly shocked her.
"Waver Velvet." She read in a, for Lorelei, stupefied voice. "Age: Twenty-seven. Occupation: Lord of the Archibald and Head of the Departments of Modern Magical Theories and Mineralogy. Characteristics: Honourable, intelligent, shrewd, a good teacher to his students, kind, helpful, and sensible. Drawback: There are many other women vying for his hand in marriage."
"Don't look at me like that." Mirei huffed when Lorelei turned to her with a look that demanded answers. "He's an eligible bachelor from the Aristocratic Faction who meets your requirements and is objectively one of the best of the bunch. Do with that what you will."
Lorelei looked at Mirei for a few more moments, and then quickly placed the file aside without looking at it again. She didn't cast Lord El-Melloi's report into the hearth, as Mirei had half expected, but she didn't look like she was going to seriously consider him as an option either.
Probably for the best, considering how heated the battle for lord El-Melloi's hand was already getting.
The fourth, third, and second to last reports were reviewed quickly. Just a few more people who were decent, focused, and honourable men with good backgrounds, prompting Lorelei to place them on the pile of serious consideration.
Then she looked at the very last report, detailing the man whom Mirei had designated the best possible choice for her.
The brunette did her best to seem uncaring and detached as she picked up the piece of paper, but there was an air of anticipation about her nevertheless as she reviewed the report.
"Number one would be…" She began, before she froze stiff, and then gave Mirei a bewildered look. "Him?!"
"Of course him." Mirei scoffed, crossing her arms defiantly, daring Lorelei to protest. "He is the only man I have ever met who managed to draw emotional responses from you, the only one who confidently challenged you and almost defeated you in a match, and the only person whose absence is clearly bothering you. What could I do but place him on top?"
"…You are misreading the situation." Lorelei stated clearly, looking away pointedly. "I assure you that I feel nothing for him."
"You were never very good at lying." Mirei smirked upon seeing the almost childish gesture, and the smirk got wider when Lorelei audibly grinded her teeth. "But, I cannot force you into choosing a particular man. You have filtered out those who you absolutely do not want, and now you must pick from those whom you kept around."
"I will think about it."
"You should do more than think, girl. Go out and meet them is what I would do. Talk with them, interact with them, see how they behave when you are around and when you are hidden. Form a picture of your own, for only you can decide who fits best with you."
Mirei could try to give pointers and create a general picture of every man, but she would never be able to decide for Lorelei who her best possible husband was. The girl would have to decide that for herself.
The brunette seemed torn about Mirei's advice, her ministrations of the Wolpertinger's fur increasing in intensity, but as always, her intellect and common sense prevailed over her emotions, and she nodded slowly.
"Very well." She took a deep breath after those words. "I will attempt to reach out to them, and then decide. I shall start at once."
"After you have spoken to Valualeta, Trambellio, and the representatives of Atlas and the Wandering Sea about the return of Mystery and Phantasmal Beasts." Mirei reminded her. "That has priority for now."
Privately, she wondered idly what task Lorelei disliked more. Having to speak with eligible bachelors or telling her rivals about the return of Mystery.
The answer remained unclear however, as Lorelei merely nodded stiffly, her expression not changing one bit.
It seemed she had resigned herself then, to both tasks.
She then placed the Wolpertinger back on the ground, ignoring its soft whine of protest.
The piles of reports she had made for herself were placed into one of her cabinets, at a sufficient distance that reports couldn't fall from one pile and end up on the other, and notecards were placed on top of them detailing what every pile was.
Mirei didn't miss however that the last report, about the man whom she had designated as the best possible husband for Lorelei, didn't end up on one of the piles, but was instead carefully folded up and placed in an inner pocket of the girl's jacket.
How interesting.
"…And then Kiboku-chan asked me what the physical properties of a water molecule were, and when I answered correctly, she looked so impressed! Kakeida-kun was a bit jealous of course, since he has a crush on her and studied very hard to impress her, but then I helped him talk with her, so we're all good now. You see, I asked Kiboku-chan to walk with me to the store next to school during the break, and then I had Kanchi-kun bring Kakeida-kun there as well, before we left them together. We didn't spy on them of course, but we did watch them for a bit, and they hugged, so I think it went well! Kamaru-chan and Tsuino-chan, they are the girls sitting next to me, laughed about it, but I thought it was sweet. Oh, and Matsu-kun said he might come to me for dating-advice too when he gets a crush!"
"Is that so?" Shirou smiled indulgently as Illya chattered non-stop about her day at school, faithfully committing all the names to memory, knowing she appreciated that.
They were sitting in the living room of the Emiya-estate together, having both just returned home, and the redhead was now patiently listening to his little sister's stories, noting that she clearly had had a much more interesting day than him.
Flushed a spotty red, with tangles in her hair and stains on her clothes, beaming as brightly as the sun, Illya looked like a stereotypical tomboy teenager, and Shirou could not be happier to see her like that.
"Yes! Even the teacher, Ruriho-san, said that I knew a lot about dating! I don't think it's dating myself though, it's more about interpersonal relationships, but if it helps them get together, then who cares about that?!"
"I agree completely." Shirou nodded, giving her a headpat in praise, encouraging her to continue.
"School is just so amazing!" The little sprite practically cheered, almost bouncing off the walls in her enthusiasm. "I am really, really, really, really glad you made me go! Thank you!"
"No problem." Shirou grinned, glad that having Illya go to school had paid off so well that even after a month, she was still deliriously happy every time she returned home. "It's good to hear you are settling in nicely with your classmates."
Quite an understatement there. If Illya was to be believed, and he did believe her, not in the least because Sakura always backed her up, then those classmates were practically worshipping her. She stood at the very top of the hierarchy in that classroom, unquestioned and unchallenged in her authority.
It wasn't without its downsides, as she seemed to be paying more attention to the wiles and wants of her friends than to her lessons, but Shirou couldn't find it in himself to scold her for that. After eighteen years of suffering at the hands of the Einzbern, she deserved a nice, long period of unbothered fun.
If the teachers started to complain, he might have to take action, but as long as they didn't seem to mind Illya's enthusiasm, he wouldn't say anything either.
"When's dinner?" Illya then suddenly changed the subject.
"Dinner?" The sudden change took him by surprise a bit, but Shirou soon recovered. "Why? Are you hungry?"
"No." She denied instantly, before, as if on cue, her stomach started rumbling loudly, vehemently disagreeing with her.
"Let me check." Shirou carefully kept his face straight, making sure not to laugh at her red-faced expression of mortification, before he turned towards the kitchen, which was out of his view but not out of the range of his voice. "Sella, how are you doing over there?!"
"It's going well, lord Shirou!" The former Homunculus maid replied immediately, and he could almost imagine how she straightened her back as if saluting, pausing in her stirring of the curry. "I need no more than fifteen minutes!"
"Very well. Thank you." He called back, before lowering his voice as he turned to Illya again. "There you have it. Fifteen minutes."
"Right." Illya nodded, before also glancing in the direction of the kitchen, pursing her lips a bit. "I'm surprised you're just letting Sella cook though. Normally when I come home, you are always fighting over the kitchen with her."
"Not tonight." Shirou shook his head however, as he was not in the mood for arguing with the stubborn maid today. "Sella can cook tonight."
"O-Oh." Illya clearly didn't know how to react to that, and she awkwardly fiddled with her fingers a bit. "Why?"
"I'm just not in the mood." Shirou explained shortly, crossing his arms, hoping she'd drop the matter. "There's nothing strange about it."
"Not in the mood? Ah! I see!" Illya appeared confused for a moment, but then her eyes cleared up, and she reached out and placed a supportive hand on his arm, patting it a bit. "You miss Sakura."
"Miss Sakura? I don't…" Shirou began to protest, but he fell silent when he saw Illya smug, confident smile, realising his denial was just making him look foolish. "…Yeah, I miss her."
Sufficiently so that he couldn't even muster the energy to argue with Sella.
Ever since school had begun again, requiring Shirou to spend many hours away from home every day, Sella had taken over much of the housework. She regularly mobbed the floor, dusted off the furniture, cleaned the windows, refreshed the bedsheets, and indeed, cooked their meals. It wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to say that Sella had largely taken over the house.
Of course, Shirou hadn't just let that happen, and he often clashed with Sella over the dominion of the kitchen and the stove, often assisted by Sakura, who had a similar dislike of being forced away from her favourite hobby.
But today, the plum-haired girl wasn't present to assist him, and that impacted his motivation more than he'd expected.
In fact, it was worse than that. None of his girlfriends were present today.
Ayako had returned to her family's home, as they had all agreed. Her parents had already given her a lot of leeway in getting to spend the entire summer holiday at his house, and they shouldn't take it too far. Not when Ayako was still a minor.
Rin had also returned to the Tohsaka-manor, and for much the same reason as Ayako. Her mother had been released from the hospital, and as a proper and faithful daughter, Rin had every intention of watching over her as she got used to a normal life again.
Sakura had not joined Rin however, having no desire to return to her former home. She'd made it clear that she considered the Emiya-estate to be her home now, and Rin had accepted that.
Tonight was an exception though. It had been a week since Aoi had returned to the Tohsaka-manor, and at Rin's request, Sakura had come over for dinner, partially to celebrate the milestone, and partially to see how it would go to have the remnants of the Tohsaka-family in one room again.
It was a very daring choice to host such a dinner, a choice that could very well blow up in Rin's face, but the black-haired girl had been willing to take the risk. She seemed strangely determined to patch the strained relationships within her family, and was willing to go to serious lengths in the pursuit.
In the face of such conviction, Sakura had capitulated, reluctantly agreeing to come to dinner that evening. She had entrusted to Shirou though that she wasn't at all sure that she'd be able to last throughout the entire meal, and that she wouldn't be home late even if everything went well.
She was going to try her hardest to be polite and well-meaning though, if only out of pity for a woman who had suddenly woken up to find that her husband was dead, her oldest friend had been murdered, and that her daughters had both grown up without her.
In other words, Shirou would be eating with only Illya, Leysritt, Sella, and Caren tonight. Still quite the crowd by Japanese standards, but still notably fewer people than he'd actually wanted.
In light of that, it did not feel like a large sacrifice to give up on cooking dinner. It wouldn't be as much fun without Sakura anyway.
"It's only for tonight, Shirou." Illya piped up again, somewhat hesitantly patting his back in an attempt at reassuring him. "Sakura will be back by tomorrow, I'm sure of it."
"Perhaps." Shirou mumbled, before he shook his head, realising he was moping around for no reason. "I mean, yes, you're right. Sakura will be back tomorrow, so I shouldn't sulk."
"Quite." Sella agreed, her arms crossed and a frown parked between her eyebrows.
"Sella?" Illya blinked in surprise at the maid's sudden appearance in the living room. "What are you doing here?"
It was a reasonable question. The maid was still wearing her beautiful, elaborate apron depicting a scene from the Pirates of Penzance, she held a wet wooden spoon in her hand, and judging from the sounds coming from the kitchen, the stove was still on. She seemed to have walked away in the middle of cooking dinner, which wasn't at all like her.
"I came to request your assistance with setting the table, as Leysritt seems to have vanished." Sella explained, and with that, everything made sense again.
"I'll get right to it-" Shirou began to say, before he stopped when Sella held up a finger.
"But then I heard you wallow in misery, lord Shirou." She continued, her frown becoming deeper. "While it might not be my place to say this, such behaviour is wholly unbecoming of you. I do not think lady Sakura would approve, and I must insist that you get a grip."
"Of course." Shirou agreed humbly, fully realising she was right. "I am sorry, Sella."
"Hm." Sella nodded, letting out a soft sigh herself. "Very well. Please set the table then."
Her piece said, the maid turned around in a flourish, and she marched back into the kitchen.
"I'll help too." Illya offered, getting up from the couch, before she offered him a hand, as if he was an old man.
"I'm still young, Illya, my legs haven't gone stiff yet." He complained, but all he got in return was an impish smile. "Need I remind you that you are older than me?"
"La la, setting the table, la la!" Illya promptly began singing loudly, drowning out his voice as she turned around and rushed into the kitchen, pressing her hands over her ears. "Hum dum, I so enjoy being fourteen, hum dum!"
The redhead scoffed at first at her blatant denial of reality, but his amusement at her antics got the better of him, and his reproachful expression involuntarily turned into a smile again.
He couldn't help it. Seeing her in such a good mood, free and unbothered by any worries about the future, was just too amazing. There was no way he could stay angry at her if she was so happy.
The brother and sister duo quickly set the table together, with Leysritt, who had reappeared at some point, pitching in about halfway through, and Caren, who had finished her evening sermon, helping out at the end.
Sella then served the curry, and after the customary proclamation of gratitude, they all dug in.
Reluctant as Shirou was to admit it, Sella was every bit as good a cook as he was, and she proved it yet again today. The curry was excellent, and he didn't find any issue with it that he might have improved upon had he been the one cooking instead.
"This is excellent, miss Sella." Caren worded out loud what he was thinking, and Shirou nodded to show his agreement. "You truly are a wonderful cook!"
"It was nothing." Sella replied humbly, a small but pleased smile on her face. "With lord Shirou's recipes to help me, preparing today's dinner was a simple matter."
"Don't humblebrag." Shirou scolded her. "You followed the recipes, yes, but you clearly added your own touch as well. Caren was right when she called you a wonderful cook."
"Oh, well, if you are so adamant." Sella appeared mightily pleased by the compliments, and even more so when Illya nodded furiously in agreement. "I'm happy the results of my efforts are so appreciated."
"It might even be better than Shirou's cooking." Caren teased, before quickly holding up her hands in surrender when Shirou gave her a dry look. "Never mind, I take that back. You are equally good."
"Thank you." Shirou nodded firmly, before patting Caren's head, to her clear delight. "Oh, and Sella? You can leave the dishes to me today."
"There is no need for that-"
"It is only right." Shirou insisted. "You cooked, so it is natural that I do the dishes."
"…Of course." Sella accepted after a moment, and although she tried to hide it, she did look a bit pleased. She had never much liked cleaning up after a meal after all. In fact, it was the one chore she disliked.
"Also, once I'm finished, it's time for the weekly check-ups again." The redhead added, looking at Sella, Leysritt, and Illya in particular.
"Has it already been a week?" Illya's eyebrows went up into her hairline, before she looked at the calendar, which confirmed what Shirou had said. "Huh."
The weekly check-ups were, just as their name implied, check-ups that Shirou performed every week on Sella, Leysritt, and Illya. They served for him to verify that there were no complications from the Ritual he'd performed on them, to ensure that they wouldn't be surprised if a problem cropped up at some point in the future.
He was pretty sure that the Ritual had been carried out properly, that there were no complications, but he couldn't be entirely certain, so it was better to play it safe.
Perhaps it was overly cautious of him, but in this instance, it was better to be overly cautious than not cautious enough.
He'd never forgive himself if his carelessness caused someone to get hurt.
"Here I go." Shirou announced, before he placed his hands on Illya's head.
It had been about an hour since dinner had ended, and currently, Illya was sitting on the sofa in the living room while Shirou was standing right behind her, almost as if he were a hairdresser.
He wasn't going to cut her hair though. As announced, he was going to check whether her new body was experiencing any problems, issues, or complications as a result of his Ritual.
For that, he'd use various forms of scanning Magecraft to form a picture of what was happening with and inside Illya's body, ensuring that nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
For a given value of ordinary of course.
"Tell me if you feel any discomfort or pain anywhere." Shirou instructed, before carrying on when he felt her nod.
First, he did a preliminary check on her Magic Circuits and her brain, which were of course the most complicated parts of the entire body and thus the ones most vulnerable for any possible complications.
As he did so, he also asked a few questions.
"How have you been feeling, Illya?"
"O-Oh, uhm…" Illya hesitated for a moment, before she nervously licked her lips. "Fine, I suppose."
"Fine?" Shirou huffed. "That is a meaningless term. It's not good, it's not bad, it's nothing."
"Yes, alright." Illya groused, her nervousness visibly lessening as her annoyance at his remarks rose. "I'm feeling well, alright? Perfectly well."
"Good." Shirou nodded in satisfaction while closely examining her prefrontal cortex and the sensory folds. "Have you experienced any discomfort or pain anywhere over the past week? Any dizzy spells or sudden emotional outbursts?"
"You sound like a doctor, Shirou." Illya scoffed, before shaking her head again. "Nothing like that. I feel perfectly fin- well!"
"Indeed." Shirou nodded, relieved to hear that was the case.
Nevertheless, he continued his examination, and it was only several minutes later that he felt safe to conclude that there was nothing wrong with her Magic Circuits or brain.
Then, he went lower, to her torso, where he carefully verified the good condition of her heart and lungs, two organs that were of immense importance in mysticism, as well as in real life.
After that, her intestines followed, as well as the liver, her stomach, the kidneys, the spleen, and practically all other organs. The way these organs interacted was carefully checked too.
Lastly, he looked at her muscles and bones, before he returned to the head, tracking her nervous system as he did.
It was all in tip-top condition.
"You're all good." He told Illya once he'd finished, eliciting a wide and relieved smile from her. "Nothing seems to be wrong with your new body."
"Of course not." She beamed, as if that kind of result was only natural. "You made it after all. There's no way you would do a bad job."
"Heh." Shirou grinned, giving her head a small push in appreciation, before he ushered her off the sofa and turned to Sella. "Alright, it's your turn now. Please sit down."
Sella wordlessly obeyed his command, taking Illya's place on the chair, and she promptly closed her eyes when he placed his hands on her head, letting out a very deep breath, sagging into the sofa as she did so.
Unlike Illya, who had been a bit jumpy and tense during the check-up, Sella was completely relaxed, to the point where she almost seemed to be dozing off. When he asked her the same questions he did Illya, she barely responded at all, which was nothing like her.
It would have made him worry, in case she was in fact experiencing complications, if it hadn't been for the wide smile on her face and the small happy noises she made. They gave away the actual reason for her sudden lethargy.
Apparently, Sella rather liked the weekly check-up procedures.
There was nothing wrong with that of course. Many people also liked to go to the hairdresser after all, or to a masseur, or to have their hair checked for lice and other irregularities. That Sella liked having her new body inspected for any unfortunate complications was very similar to that, and nothing out of the ordinary.
In fact, it was good that the overly serious maid was finding things to enjoy, so Shirou made sure to stretch the examination for a long while, really being unnecessarily thorough in his efforts to verify her good health.
Leysritt on the other hand remained completely neutral throughout the whole examination. She wasn't nervous, like Illya, or content, like Sella, or any other emotion. She just sat through the entire process without saying a word or moving a muscle.
She had been a reserved person before the Ritual, and that hadn't changed much after.
She was in excellent condition though, just like her sisters.
"Alright, I'm done." Shirou said once Leysritt had left the sofa again, putting his hands in his sides as he turned to face his three patients. "Once again, I couldn't find any complications or issues. You all appear to be in perfect health."
"Of course." Illya nodded, puffing out her chest in pride.
"Thank you, lord Shirou." Sella sighed a bit in relief.
"Hm." Leysritt hummed noncommittally, though she did give him a grateful nod, tiny as it was.
It seemed like a general success…
"My turn!"
…But then Caren, who had been quite well-behaved so far, suddenly stepped up, sitting down in the sofa and giving him an expectant look.
"…Your turn?" Shirou repeated after a moment, wary of what the nun was intending.
"Yes." She nodded happily, still looking at him with hopeful eyes.
"Your turn for what?"
"For you to do lewd things to me of course."
"L-Lewd?!" Shirou wished he could say he wasn't surprised anymore after a month of living with the nun, but that would be a lie. Once more, her shamelessness caught him unawares. "That was a medical procedure! There was nothing lewd about it!"
"Then I too need medical attention." Caren insisted imploringly. "Can't you see how frail I am?"
"I did that with Sella, Leysritt, and Illya because they recently underwent a change in their lives! I need to make sure it hasn't adversely affected them! That's what the regular check-ups are for!"
"But you need to do regular check-ups for pets as well." Caren argued, as if that was a perfectly logical argument to make. "Nya."
"I told you not to mimic a cat!" Shirou scolded her, flustered and off-balance by her insistence on being his 'pet'.
"Then, please?" She tried instead, giving him her most hopeful smile yet. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
Despite being older than all others in the room save for Illya, the nun was blessed with adorable looks and large dewy eyes that seemed tailor made to look pleading. Denying her now would be like kicking a puppy, and despite knowing he was being overtly manipulated, Shirou found himself walking towards her anyway.
"…Fine." He gave in, to her obvious delight, though he did hold up a finger the next moment, his tone becoming stern. "But the clothes stay on. That's unnegotiable."
He wouldn't put it past her to strip completely naked under the pretence of a medical examination, and he tried to head that off at the start.
"Boo." Caren pouted, confirming she'd indeed been planning such a thing, and Shirou felt relief wash over him that he'd managed to avert a disaster.
"We'll be in the dining room, Shirou." Illya then said as the redhead went to stand behind Caren's sofa. "There's this new card game I heard about at school, and I want to teach it to Sella and Leysritt."
"Of course, have fun." Shirou nodded, waving them off, before he placed his hands on Caren's head, commencing the examination.
Her reaction was much the same as Sella's. Almost immediately, she relaxed fully, and unlike the maid, she wasn't afraid to give voice to her enjoyment too.
"Aaaah." She groaned in approval, happiness radiating from her. Fortunately though, there wasn't anything lewd about the sounds. They were just expressions of happiness. "Hmmm."
For a while, Shirou worked in silence, just randomly picking areas of her body to inspect, before he tried to strike up a conversation.
"Sella told me you've been feeling bored."
"Huh?" Relaxed and entranced as she was, it took Caren a moment to process what he'd said, but once she had, she nodded cautiously. "Ah yes, I am, a little, maybe."
"I see."
"Please don't take it personally. I am not saying you or the others are boring. It's just that I don't have anything to do." Caren rushed to explain, wary of causing offence.
"I understand." He assured her, not offended at all. "You are definitely not the type of person to quietly read a book or watch tv after all. You are an agent of chaos."
"…It feels as if you just insulted me."
"Your imagination, surely." Shirou said confidently, before he pursed his lips in thought. "What you need is something that will allow you to interact with people. Maybe some volunteer work, or perhaps an actual job."
"You don't think I can pretend to be your age and go to school as well?" Caren asked, before placing her hands under her chin, adopting an adorable expression. "I am confident in my youthful appearance. Even when I reached adulthood, paedophiles and predators worldwide pursued me with great vigour."
"That is a strange thing to boast about!" Shirou deadpanned. "What on Earth even happened?"
"Several Executors took me on a world-trip when I turned seventeen and had me walk through dark alleys in bad towns at night. When the aforementioned paedophiles and predators came after me, they cut them to pieces, rather gleefully."
"…Aha."
"It is a common thing to do for the more sadistic agents of the Burial Agency, so they can let off some steam and indulge a bit." Caren continued. "The Pope himself sanctioned it."
"…Did he now?" This was getting weirder and weirder, and Shirou quickly returned to the previous subject before his sanity started to erode. "But anyway, I don't think passing you off as a student is going to work. Taking a job would be better."
"I do not have many marketable skills though." Caren warned him. "Exorcising spirits and annoying people are pretty much all I'm good for."
"I don't believe that." Shirou huffed, lightly swatting her head. "You are an inquisitive, bright woman. I am sure that you have many talents. Don't put yourself down like that."
"O-Oh." Caren muttered, lowering her head slightly, before she took in a deep breath. "I do speak eight languages, quite fluently."
"That's an excellent and marketable skill." Shirou said encouragingly. "What else?"
"I am also very adept at interrogating people." She continued, sitting up a bit straighter. "Without any torture whatsoever, I might add."
"That's a bit niche, but certainly good to have."
"I have completed every first-aid training course the Burial Agency offers and received training as a nurse."
"A nurse?" Shirou stilled, his hands pausing the kneading of her shoulders. "You have received training as a nurse?"
"I have, yes." Caren nodded, turning her head around as far as she could, clearly sensing he had an idea. "What are you thinking about?"
"Homurahara High happens to have an open spot in the infirmary." Shirou replied, having heard so from Issei. "The previous nurse retired, and they haven't been able to find a replacement yet. I heard they're getting quite desperate by now."
"…I do not have the necessary papers." Caren tried not to get too enthusiastic, raising a practical concern.
"You will by tomorrow morning." Shirou promised, as he was fairly adept at forging such papers with enough skill that a school principal at least would not be able to see through the ruse.
"I specialise in treating magical injuries, not normal ones." She raised a second concern.
"Normal injuries are exactly like magical ones, but easier to treat."
"I am not good with children. I will definitely make them cry."
"Now that is just plain untrue." Shirou huffed. "You are wonderful with children."
Caren opened her mouth, perhaps to refute him, perhaps to raise another concern, but she did not speak. For a few seconds, she sat in silence, before looking Shirou in the eyes again.
"Is it really alright?"
"Absolutely." He assured her, confident that Homurahara would never reject a skilled nurse, no matter her young looks or slightly problematic personality. "The job is yours if you want it."
"I want it." Caren mumbled, before shaking her head and strengthening her voice. "I want it!"
"Then I'll make sure you get it." Shirou grinned, before taking his hands off her body. "I finished your examination by the way."
"Oh, right." Caren blinked, having almost forgotten he had been examining her. "Found anything interesting?"
"You are in excellent health, aside from your inborn… affliction." Shirou replied, not quite certain how he should refer to her body's Curse-like property.
"My Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution." Caren provided the proper name. "A genetic trait that is activated when I come near a Demon-possessed person, causing me to suffer injuries similar to those that the Demon will cause on the poor soul it has possessed."
"I see." That sounded like a strange power to have, but Shirou decided not to comment.
"Thank you for the examination." Caren then spoke formally, as if he were an actual doctor, before she gave him an angelic smile. "Now it is your turn."
"My turn?" Smelling trouble, Shirou took a small step back.
"As a nurse, I will sometimes have to do examinations myself, right?" Caren asked.
"I… I suppose." The redhead nodded cautiously.
"It's been a while though since I have last examined anyone. I think it would be best if I practised now, to get a feel for it again." Caren explained further, sounding quite reasonable all of a sudden, before she grinned at him. "Please be my patient?"
"W-Well, I-"
"Thank you!" Caren didn't even wait for a proper reply, and she promptly set out examining him, not shy about pushing his clothes aside as she did so. "So, as a school nurse, I will probably have to check for light injuries. That means bumps, bruises, bite-marks, ticks, paper cuts, signs of allergic reactions, and signs of common diseases. None of that is particularly complicated."
The white-haired nun went over his body with alacrity and skill, demonstrating that she really knew what she was doing.
"R-Right." Shirou replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable with being manhandled like this, but putting up with it since Caren really did seem to be taking it seriously.
"I imagine though that some children might have more serious injuries." Caren mused, retracing her hands for a moment to crack her knuckles. "That calls for a more in-depth examination."
"In-depth? What exactly does that- HEY!? W-Where are you touching?!"
"I fully intend to become a professional and serious nurse at your school." Caren replied in a sincere tone, before she grinned widely, lowering her voice to a salacious whisper. "But for you, my dear Shirou, I shall gladly be a naughty nurse."
"Wha? OI! D-Don't touch there! Stop that!"
"Ufufufufu."
"STOP!"
"Should we do something about that, mistress?" Sella asked, looking worriedly at the adjacent room, from where Shirou's screams were clearly audible.
"No." Illya replied bluntly, frowning when another cry interrupted her explanation of the card-games' rules. "It's his own fault for getting that nun so worked up about him. He can deal with that hellion himself."
"Right." Sella mumbled, still looking uncertain.
"If it really concerns you that much, you should tell Sakura about it when she returns." Illya suggested when she saw that Sella was still worried. "She'll straighten miss Ortensia out, surely."
"Oh no, I couldn't." Sella shook her head however. "Lady Sakura already has so many problems to deal with, I do not wish to add to them needlessly."
"I don't think this qualifies as 'needless'." Illya deadpanned, and her claim was supported when Shirou screamed again in the adjacent room.
"…Once lady Sakura returns, depending on her mood, I might inform her about this."
"Alrighty!" Illya grinned, before returning to her explanation of the card-games' rules.
But then she was interrupted again when they all heard the sound of the front door opening.
"Did you hear that?" Illya asked, turning her head around.
"I did." Sella nodded, appearing a bit puzzled. "Is lady Sakura back already?"
"No." Leysritt shook her head however, not looking up for a moment. "It's Ayako."
"Ayako?"
"I am back!"
Barely two moments after Leysritt confidently stated the identity of the person having entered the house, they came barging into the living room.
It was indeed Ayako.
"Did you all miss me?" She grinned widely, putting her hands to her sides. "I managed to convince my folks to let me spend the evening here, provided I'm back before midnight. I heard Sakura was gone so I thought Shirou might need some moral support."
"He does need support, yes." Illya nodded promptly. "And I mean, right now."
"Huh? What do you mea-?"
"KYAAAAA!"
The high-pitched scream tore through the dining room, making Ayako jump like a startled hare.
"What the hell?!" She squeaked.
"Lady Ortensia is doing all kinds of unspeakable things to lord Shirou." Sella was quick to report, relieved that someone was present now who could deal with it.
"Unspeakable…?" Ayako needed a moment to process that, but when she had, her eyes widened in outrage. "Oh, I think not!"
Then she stormed off, ready to teach the lascivious nun a lesson, leaving the former Homunculi alone again.
It had been many years since Sakura had last stepped foot in the Tohsaka-manor, since she had been given away by her own family, yet even so, its lay-out and interior were still frightfully familiar to her.
She remembered the couches and tables, where she and Rin had played so many games. She recalled the portraits of past triumphs, that had been such a point of pride to their father. She still knew the way to the bathroom, to Rin's room, to the master bedroom, and even to her own former room, well enough that she'd be able to walk them blindfolded.
Despite her best attempts to forget, her memories of living in this once-happy place were still crystal clear in her mind, seared in there during her years at the Matou-estate.
It also helped that neither the living room nor the dining room had changed one single bit since she'd left, and she was willing to bet the rest of the house hadn't either.
Frankly, it was almost as if she'd never left at all.
Which was exactly the air that both her sister and her mother were trying to maintain right now.
"You really have made a lot of progress on your crafts, Rin." Aoi praised her eldest daughter in a voice that was as happy as she could make it. "You are a true prodigy."
"It was nothing." Rin huffed, brushing a lock of hair out of her face with practiced ease. She did a pretty good job of hiding how much the compliment meant to her, but Sakura wasn't deceived. "But yes, you are correct that I am a prodigy."
"You certainly have no lack of confidence." Rin's smug remark prompted an actual smile of amusement from Aoi, which looked a lot better than the plastic smile from earlier. "My prideful little girl."
Rin nearly preened at the endearing term, which made Sakura smile a bit as well, despite her best efforts to keep a neutral expression.
The three women were sitting at the dining table together, eating the meal that Rin had worked so hard on to prepare. It was a dinner that Sakura had been dreading ever since she had accepted the invitation, envisioning all kinds of horrors and awkward situations.
But now that she was actually sitting here, she found the atmosphere to be… calm.
Unexpectedly calm.
It wasn't perfect of course. Sakura herself hadn't said more than ten words since they had all sat down, and the conversations between Rin and Aoi were not nearly as casual and pleasant as they tried to make it seem. So far, it all seemed rather staged.
It was jarring to Aoi to find that her daughters had grown up in her absence, and it was jarring to Rin to suddenly get her mother back out of nowhere. It left them confused and helpless, which was difficult for people who normally liked to have complete control over every single facet of their lives.
But there was no control to be had. The sad fact was that they were essentially strangers to each other after nine years of not truly interacting, and no supposed 'mother-daughter bond' was going to make it any easier to reconnect.
Even after a week of living together again, their conversations were stilted and awkward, and they were both walking on eggshells around each other, desperately trying to find points they had in common.
The situation wasn't completely hopeless though. Far from it in fact.
Both Rin and Aoi were trying their hardest to make it work between them. Neither of them let the current awkwardness deter them, and they worked hard on getting to know each other again.
It was still early days, but considering the progress they'd already made in a single week and the amount of goodwill they had towards each other, Sakura got the feeling that they'd be alright in the end.
If only she herself could muster some of that goodwill as well…
But no, all of this just irritated and annoyed her. The calm she had spoken about earlier, the pretence that nothing had changed since their early childhood, vexed her greatly, and despite her best efforts, the resulting deterioration of her mood was starting to reflect in her demeanour.
Something Rin picked up on, but Aoi did not.
"Sakura." Apparently deciding that the time was right to try and talk with her youngest daughter, the woman turned to the plum-haired girl, before she hesitated, struggling to find something to say. "H-How… How was… How was school?"
"It was alright." Sakura replied truthfully, suppressing her irritation for now in order to play along, as she didn't feel like arguing. "Nothing much happened. We're preparing for the upcoming exams, so Sensei made us take a few practice tests today."
"Ah, and how did you do?" Aoi inquired, gaining some courage from Sakura's swift response.
"Sensei is still checking the tests. We'll hear the results next week. Everyone with an insufficient grade will have to take supportive classes and make supplementary assignments, but I am confident I did well."
"I see." Aoi nodded as if she understood perfectly, though that wasn't true. She was the wife of a dedicated, traditional Magus after all, someone who had never enjoyed any form of formal education herself. The terms 'supportive classes' and 'supplementary assignments' might as well be Greek to her. She did understand though what 'doing well' meant, so she gave Sakura an approving smile, before she turned to Rin. "Did you do something similar, Rin? Take these… tests?"
"I did them last year." Rin nodded, heaving a small sigh of relief that the conversation was going well so far. "The final exams in middle school. I had to take them, just like everyone else. I did alright."
"What Nee-san means is that she aced them." Sakura huffed, rolling her eyes slightly at her sister's misplaced humbleness. "Best scores in the school, or so I heard."
"Hm, well, yes, Sensei might have said something like that." Rin nodded, looking pleased as pie with the acknowledgement of her excellent scores.
"Oh, very good!" Unfamiliar though she might be with the school system, Aoi did recognise when one of her daughters had done something extraordinary, and she was quick to praise Rin as well. "I am proud of you, my dear."
"…Yes." Once more, her mother's praise clearly meant the world to Rin, though she still hid it quite well as she gestured at Sakura. "Though Sakura didn't do bad either with her most recent exams. She was in the top ten percent of her year."
Aoi turned her proud smile to Sakura next, and the plum-haired girl found, to her surprise, that she too felt strangely happy to receive that smile.
"Neither of us can beat Shirou though." Rin continued, her tone becoming a bit frustrated as she pouted slightly. "He's just too good, that cheater."
"Senpai does not cheat. He uses his natural advantages." Sakura promptly corrected her sister, as having an alien and Magically Reinforced brain was generally not considered cheating by any definition of the law or school-rules. "As you well know, Nee-san."
"Tsk." Rin made an unhappy noise, but she didn't refute Sakura. She had actually gone over the school rules, and she indeed hadn't found anything about aliens or Magic being forbidden. Apparently, whatever fool wrote that book hadn't considered that a necessity.
"Shirou-san must be very intelligent then." Aoi spoke, her tone very careful and cautious. She hadn't really met the redhead since the time he'd healed her, aside from a few short glimpses here and there, but she did know that he meant a lot to her daughters.
She might not have enjoyed any official education, nor was she particularly well-read, but she did have enough empathic sense to know that a careless comment about this boy could very well land her in trouble with both Rin and Sakura.
Something she wanted to avoid at any cost. Hence, her care when talking about him.
"I suppose he is a little clever." Rin huffed, turning her nose up at her boyfriend's feats. "In some ways. Though that goes to show that clever people can still be idiots."
"Of course, Nee-san." Sakura agreed kindly.
"Insensitive too." Rin continued.
"Indeed."
"He never thinks before he acts."
"Never."
"He is just so infuriating!"
"Right, Nee-san."
Seeing her sister act all Tsun again did wonders for Sakura's mood, and she struggled to hold back laughter as Rin overcompensated in an attempt to not seem like a love-struck girl.
The struggle became that much harder when she saw how Aoi looked utterly confused at Rin's grumbling, having no experience with Tsunderes herself. She had tried to be nice to her daughters by praising the man they seemed close to, yet now, Rin seemed to be bitterly complaining about him.
"Rin?" The woman ventured carefully, her tone still hesitant. "Could I ask you something?"
"Of course." Rin nodded quickly, breaking off her complaining to pay attention, eager to help her mother out.
"Who is Shirou-san to you, exactly?" Aoi inquired carefully, before looking at Sakura as well. "To both of you?"
"…Why do you ask?" Sakura replied with a question of her own, quickly composing herself again, noting from the corner of her eye that Rin did the same.
"Because you have been so vague about him." Aoi explained softly, fiddling with her fingers and already looking like she half-regretted having asked the question. "S-So I was just curious. It… It really feels… He hasn't visited you once, Rin, a-and I get the idea that that isn't normal. I don't want you to feel like you cannot see him b-because of me, so I wanted to tell you that… I just wanted to talk about it, about him."
Sakura and Rin exchanged a surprised glance at their mother's words, as they realised, simultaneously, that the woman was much more observant than they had expected.
"I… I might be overstepping some boundaries here, e-especially after I've been gone for so long, b-but I can see that he is very important to you." Aoi continued, nervously licking her lips. "S-So, I was wondering, if he was perhaps…"
"Romantically involved with us?" Rin finished for her when she fell silent.
"Y-Yes." Aoi nodded, and the fact that she blushed at the rather innocuous words showed once more just how reserved she was about all matters related to romance.
"Well." Rin huffed, scratching her head in thought, before she turned to Sakura. "How are we going to reply to this?"
They had agreed beforehand that the polyamorous relationship they were in was not something they should lightly share with Aoi. Being both a Magus-wife and Japanese, she was as traditional as they came, and might have trouble accepting their… arrangement.
Now that she was actively asking about it however, remaining quiet was no longer a viable option. Neither Rin nor Sakura were keen on lying to their mother's face, and denying to say anything would only make the woman more curious.
Which left them little choice in the end but to fess up now.
"Truthfully, I imagine." Sakura thus replied, sitting up straighter as she made up her mind.
"Agreed." Rin nodded, taking a deep breath. "So, it's fine if I tell her?"
"...Yes. Boyfriend-matters are one of those things you have to be honest about to your parents, right? As much as possible at least."
"That's what it says in the books." Both girls had actually tried to read up a bit on proper mother-daughter relationships, and although most of it was a bit abstract and not applicable to their situation, some of it had seemed valuable.
"B-Boyfriend-matters?!" Aoi gasped, having of course listened along. "S-So one of you is romantically involved with him?"
"Yes." Rin confirmed, gesturing at the plum-haired girl. "He is Sakura's boyfriend."
"Sakura's. I see." Getting some clarity in the situation did wonders for Aoi's state of mind, and she relaxed a bit. She might not be very familiar with the concept of boyfriend, having never had any romantic involvements before her arranged marriage to Tokiomi, but she knew enough to try and be supportive of her estranged daughter's choices. Boyfriends were essentially just marriage candidates anyway, and that was something she could work with. "H-He seems like a nice-"
"And he's my fiancé." Rin bluntly interrupted her.
"…Huh?"
It took several long moments for Aoi to catch up with what Rin had said, and even when she had, she still didn't quite process it.
"And he's also Ayako's boyfriend. You remember Ayako, she's the girl who was with us at the hospital." Sakura nevertheless continued mercilessly.
"…What?" Their mother still didn't quite comprehend what they had said, blinking blearily as she looked from one sister to the other.
"The four of us are in a relationship, together." Sakura summarised the situation as concisely as she could. "A romantic relationship."
That seemed to do the trick, and Aoi's mouth fell open in shock.
"H-H-He is courting all three of you?!" She gasped. "H-How scandalous! T-That is like a ha-"
"We have a sort of relationship that is commonly known as polyamorous, or so I have been told." Rin corrected her sharply, unwilling to show any weakness at this point.
"Yes." Sakura agreed with the sentiment. They had all decided together that they wanted to enter a romantic relationship for nothing but love, so there was nothing harem-like about it.
"B-But he has seduced b-both of you!" Aoi protested, still looking entirely overwhelmed. Having never been more than the traditional wife of a traditional Magus, she had no idea how to handle the idea of her daughters being in love with the same man, never mind the fact that they were both acting on it too.
"You make it sound like Senpai forced us to be with him." Sakura huffed, crossing her arms in a show of displeasure. "We had agency too, mother, and we wouldn't be in this relationship if we didn't want to be."
"B-But… That is…" Aoi fumbled with her words, trying to find something to argue with. "He could be manipulating you."
"I don't want to hear that from a woman who was forced into an arranged marriage herself with someone who had no problem destroying his own family." Sakura's tone had turned unnecessarily sharp at this point, and she threw out the mean remark, unable to keep her calm as Aoi cast doubt onto her relationship with Shirou.
She'd known that Aoi would be confused by the nature of their relationship with Shirou, predicted it out loud even, but even so, it stung badly to hear how the woman tried to paint her Senpai as a manipulative playboy.
Fortunately, her remark was enough to strike Aoi silent. The woman looked baffled by her words, perhaps even slightly impressed.
Not that Sakura paid any attention to that.
"We are in a relationship, mother." The plum-haired girl then dictated. "And I-"
"We." Rin interjected.
"-We would appreciate it if you stayed out of it. If you cannot, I will break off all contact with you again."
"…!"
That seemed to do the trick. Aoi's protests ceased immediately, and she froze in her seat.
Though she might be traditional, she was not a fool, nor was she unreasonably stubborn. In fact, based on her past record, it could be said that she was a total pushover.
Hence, her daughter's ultimatum gave her considerable pause.
Sakura had now laid out her terms, and when faced with the possibility of losing her daughter again, mere weeks after getting her back, the woman was forced to think things through properly, and weigh what was more important to her.
To her credit, that choice was an easy one.
"I understand." She nodded, and even though she clearly didn't, she did a good job at acting like she did. "I… am happy that you both found someone whom you can love."
"Thank you." Sakura let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, daring to relax again. She still held many mixed feelings over her attempts at reconnecting with her mother, but even so, she was relieved that it wasn't necessary to cut her out of her life again already.
"Glad to hear it." Rin grinned, also relaxing at the diffusion of the situation, before she puffed out her chest. "And if it still worries you, perhaps it'd help if you thought of this as my harem rather than Shirou's."
"Hehe." Sakura laughed politely, even though it was a joke Rin had already made a thousand times before to every inhabitant of the Emiya-estate.
At least, she was pretty sure it was a joke…
This time however, it was the wrong thing to say.
"Y-Yours?!" Aoi started again, her eyes becoming wide as saucers once more, and her voice rose several pitches. "B-But…! T-That… I-I don't…!"
"Mom?" Rin blinked at the unexpectedly strong reaction. "What's wrong?"
"It can't be your harem!" Aoi demanded shrilly, not a single shred of doubt in her voice. "It can't be!"
"What? Why?!" Rin protested, looking honestly affronted. "It is because I am a woman-?!"
"Sakura's in it!"
"…Right." Aoi's very reasonable point of protest took all the wind out of Rin's sails, and the black-haired deflated again, blushing slightly. "Yes, that does make things a tad awkward."
"A tad awkward?!" Aoi's voice sounded outright strangled by now, and Sakura was pretty sure that this was not what the doctors had in mind when they prescribed total rest for the woman. "It's unnatural! S-Sisters don't go together!"
"We were raised apart for most of our lives." Rin gently reminded her, gaining some steam again. "And it's not like we can have a child together, so it's not as big a problem as you think."
"Tohsaka Rin!" Aoi promptly pulled the full name-card, something parents used when they wanted to be stern, and it spoke to just how off-balance she was that Aoi resorted to it. "D-Don't even joke about that!"
"Did you know I once made Sakura service me in maid-lingerie?" Rin asked glibly, as if she hadn't even heard her mother's scolding.
Aoi now looked utterly flummoxed, her mouth opening and closing without a sound, and Sakura wondered why Rin was laying it on so thick. Yes, they were closer than sisters were probably supposed to be, but that didn't mean they had to rub their mother's face in it with such blatant exaggerations.
But then she made eye-contact with Rin, and she saw the sparkle in her eyes. A very familiar sparkle, that instantly made the situation clear.
The black-haired girl was teasing their mother, purposefully driving her up the wall.
Seeing that, Sakura couldn't help but laugh, and Rin quickly joined in as well.
"Y-You are jesting!" Aoi concluded with a mixture of relief and outrage when she saw how her daughters were laughing at her.
"Of course we are." Rin grinned, clearly amused by her mother's put-upon expression.
But that was a half-truth.
It was indeed true that Rin and Sakura hadn't gone as far with their relationship as the former had implied. At the same time however, suggesting that theirs was a normal sibling relationship, like Rin was doing now, was also not true.
To put it in the simplest terms possible, it was complicated, and Rin and Sakura were still trying to figure things out themselves.
In light of that, it would be best to not tell their mother too much about it, though at the same time, they had to let her get used to the idea as well.
Actually, Rin was handling this pretty suavely, now that Sakura thought about it.
"But we were telling the truth about dating the same man." Sakura nevertheless decided to add, feeling there shouldn't be any ambiguity about that. "Together with Ayako."
"That is indeed true." Rin agreed.
"W-Well, if that is all, i-it shouldn't be a problem." It spoke to how much they'd overloaded their poor mother that she already considered a four-person polyamorous relationship to be 'all', but since it worked in their favour, both Sakura and Rin were happy to hear it. "I hope he makes you happy, both of you."
"We have nothing to complain about on that front." Rin grinned, putting her hands on her sides. "He is an idiot, and not very good-looking, but he's rich, powerful, and surprisingly savvy politically. I imagine he'll make quite a decent husband."
The black-haired girl was going full Tsundere again, and Sakura rolled her eyes with a fond smile. This time though, Aoi too smiled unsurely, as if she was getting used to her eldest daughter's mannerisms.
"I… I think your father would have approved as well." She remarked after a moment, and she unconsciously started fiddling with her wedding ring. "If he'd gotten past… the polyamory, he would have liked Shirou-san."
"…"
Undoubtedly, her remark was meant as a compliment or perhaps a reassurance. To let the girls know that their father would have approved of their boyfriend too.
But neither of her daughters took it that way.
Especially not Sakura.
"The fact that Tokiomi would have been satisfied with our arrangement is in fact a downside." The plum-haired girl said bluntly, unable to hold back the scathing remark. "I care only for his opinion insofar I can disappoint and anger him. Nothing else. Do not speak of him to me."
The sheer hate she still harboured for her father slipped out before she knew it, without her intending too, and she already regretted her words before the last sound had left her lips. Neither her mother nor her sister were anything like her father, and they didn't deserve her vitriol.
"Sorry." She apologised, accurately aware of the pain in Rin's and Aoi's eyes.
It remained quiet after that, as the women looked everywhere but at each other, but just before the situation became unbearably awkward, Rin made a brave attempt to get a conversation going again.
"R-Regardless, my engagement to Shirou is indeed advantageous to the family." She boasted as best as she could, going as far as to put on her idol mask to look happy and content. "Which is very much needed, considering that the fake priest pretty much ruined us."
The mention of that man, of Kotomine, instantly eradicated the awkward atmosphere, replacing it with unhidden anger and hate. All three women had been hurt by the man, and none of them were the type to be shy about such feelings.
"I cannot believe he would betray us like that." Aoi whispered, her hands clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "We trusted him. Tokiomi treated him like a son."
It was easy to forget, but for the first few decades of his life, Kotomine had actually been a decent, dutiful, and polite man, sufficiently so that everyone around him couldn't help but like him. He was charismatic and strong, an ideal apprentice aside from sometimes being a bit slow, and to the Tohsaka-family, he'd been an immensely valuable asset and family-friend.
As such, the news that it had been Kotomine who had killed her husband had been a massive shock to Aoi, perhaps even bigger than hearing that her daughters were members of the same polycule, and a true stab in the back.
Denial had been her first reaction, denial and grief, but it hadn't been long though before she too was filled with hatred for the priest. By now, she had joined her daughters in despising the man.
"May a thousand spiders eat his eyes." Aoi cursed him, though she knew her curse would never reach its target. Kotomine was too crafty, too slippery.
"We'll get him." Sakura promised, and then, by impulse, placed a hand on her mother's arm. "I'm sure we will."
Aoi stared at the hand for a moment, baffled by the affectionate gesture, but then she looked back at Sakura, and she nodded.
"Yes." She agreed. "We will."
And just like that, mother and daughter had gotten a bit closer again.
Nothing united people like a common enemy after all.
"So I hold the bow like this?"
"Almost, but your left hand needs to be a little higher, and your right hand a little lower."
"That feels unnatural though."
"Only for a short while. You'll get used to it soon enough."
Ayako and Shirou were standing together on the archery range in the dojo of the Emiya-estate. The brunette had just freed her boyfriend from the claws of the perverted nun, and they had chosen to retreat to the dojo, as Caren never came there.
Apparently, she was allergic to physical labour, or so she said, which meant any form of sports or exercise was anathema to her. Hence, the dojo was a fine place to hide from her.
And since they were in the dojo anyway, Ayako had chosen to ask Shirou to help her train her archery-skills.
Let it be clear though that she was not bad at it. To the contrary, she had already proven herself to be one of the best archers in the Homurahara Kyudo club, which itself was one of the best clubs in the country. According to her Senpais, national competitions were well within her reach.
Shirou was better though, much better, and although Ayako was not the type to get jealous over such things, she did find in it the motivation to improve herself too.
So she asked Shirou for some tips and hints, which he obligingly tried to provide.
"You have to hold the bow like this and place yourself almost parallel to the direction you're shooting in, though not entirely parallel, because that will interfere with your line of sight." He explained, demonstrating the form that he used with his own bow and arrow. "Don't hold your breath when you shoot and try to release the arrow when you're in the middle of breathing out."
Perfectly following his own advice, he drew the arrow back and released it, hitting the bull's eye yet again.
All while maintaining eye-contact with Ayako, not giving the target a single glance.
"Okay, now you're just showing off." The brunette huffed, prompting a guilty smile from him, before she lightly swatted his chest to get him to move aside. "My turn."
Having said so, Ayako took up position on the lane, facing him. She raised her bow, picked up an arrow, and nocked it, though she did not draw it back yet. She placed her body almost parallel to her bow, and shifted her hands on the bow until they were roughly at equal height, with her left hand being a tad higher than her right, aiming the arrow slightly upwards.
"How's this?" She then asked.
"Your hands are still too far apart in height." Shirou responded promptly. "Also, you need to angle your hips forward a bit more and bend your torso backwards a tiny bit. Your shoulders are too squared, your feet are too far apart, and-"
"Alright, alright! Hold on!" Ayako interrupted him quickly, fumbling with the bow as she tried to follow his instructions but failed. "I can't keep up with that!"
"Sorry." He apologised, realising he'd indeed been talking too fast. "Do you want me to repeat it?"
"…I think it would be best if you taught me in a more practical way." Ayako replied after a moment of thought.
"Practical? You mean, another demonstration?" Shirou raised his bow again, more than willing to shoot another thousand arrows if that would help.
"I was thinking more along the lines of you correcting my posture yourself." Ayako suggested instead, her smile turning a tad naughty. "Physically. You say I have the wrong stance? Come and make it better."
For a few seconds, Shirou remained still.
"…Very well."
Then, he put his bow down, and walked towards the brunette, a sense of anticipation settling in his stomach.
In response, she assumed her stance again, before giving him an expectant look.
"Are you sure?" He nevertheless asked, his hands crossed behind his back for now as he stopped about half a metre away.
"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't." Ayako grinned, cocking her hips to the side appealingly. "Besides, you already gave Rin a massage while she was half-naked, and you washed Sakura's hair in the bath. It's my turn now."
"Your turn?" Shirou blinked at the use of those words, before he made a soft sound of realisation. "This was always your intention."
"That you would physically correct my posture, your body pressed against mine, as we shoot arrows together?" Ayako blinked innocently at him, though her flush and her grin of anticipation rather ruined the effect. "That is exactly what I intended. That's why I'm not wearing any underwear right now."
That remark made Shirou freeze completely, and his eyes automatically flitted over her body.
She was wearing the traditional kyudo-outfit, consisting of the Yukage, the protective glove, the short-sleeved keiko-gi, which was essentially a kimono-like shirt, a navy-blue hakama, which was an angle-length skirt, and the tabi, the split-toed socks.
It all looked perfectly proper and appropriate, on the outside.
But now Shirou couldn't look at her without knowing that beneath them, Ayako was wearing absolutely nothing.
Then he noticed that the obi was missing too, the traditional belt holding the outfit together, which made his anticipation increase so much his stomach contracted almost painfully.
The keiko-gi and the hakama didn't have any buttons or zippers to keep them in place. To make sure they stayed where they belonged, a kyudo-practitioner used the obi to tighten and secure them.
Without it, the outfit was liable to fall apart during rigorous training, leaving the practitioner in their underwear.
Or in Ayako's case, naked.
Already, the keiko-gi was coming loose slightly, baring Ayako's collarbones, and it threatened to reveal even more if she continued jostling it.
The hakama too was slipping down without a belt to hold it in place, and already, he could see the upper part of her right hipbone. Undoubtedly, if she turned her back to him, he'd be able to see the upper part of her bottom as well.
She looked awfully enticing like that, enough to banish all thoughts of archery from his head, and Shirou almost wished she had less raw sex-appeal, if only to still the raging feelings in his heart.
Not really though. He loved her very much the way she was, sex-appeal and all, and he wouldn't change her for the world.
"So, are you going to help me or what?" Ayako pressed, as he'd stayed silent for rather long already.
"Ah." Shirou blinked once, looking her in the eyes again. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely." Ayako grinned, before her expression turned almost challenging. "Don't tell me you're going to chicken out now? Rin was topless when you massaged her, and Sakura was naked when you washed her hair. Compared to that, am I not almost decent?"
"You know an awful lot of details about what I did to Sakura and Rin." Shirou noted, dodging the question for now.
"Of course. They told me all about it." Ayako revealed casually, as if it was no big deal. "I've been searching for something sexy and original to do with you for a while now, for my turn, and I think this is it. This is what I have chosen."
"…I like your choice." Shirou commented after a moment.
"I thought you would." Ayako looked awfully pleased at his words, before she smirked, her voice becoming low and throaty as she pulled slightly on the cleavage of her keiko-gi, leaning forward enticingly. "So come and correct my posture, Shirou."
In a split second, before he even realised it himself, Shirou had moved behind her, stopping only mere millimetres before he fully pressed his chest against her back.
As he had expected, her hakama had slipped down enough to expose the upper part of her delectable butt, and he took a moment to admire the sight before he got to work.
"You need to angle your hips forward." He whispered into her ear as he placed a hand on her butt, applying some pressure until her hips were angled just right.
"Oh, now I see." She whispered back, her smirk becoming wider when he didn't remove his hand.
"Your torso on the other hand needs to lean slightly backwards." He continued, outright cupping one of her breasts with his other hand, pulling her upper body towards him. Her claim about not wearing underwear was proven too, as he could clearly feel her hardened nipple press into his palm, even through the fabric of the keiko-gi.
A sensation that inadvertently made his hand tighten its grip.
"I-I understand." Ayako gasped slightly, a sound that was like music to Shirou's ears.
"Lower your right hand." He instructed her, and though he did not manually correct her this time, she did follow his instructions to the letter. "Good. Now try hitting the bull's eye."
"R-Right." Still a bit breathless, Ayako obediently took aim, drawing the arrow back.
Immediately, her body tried to fall back into its ingrained, faulty stance, but Shirou kept a tight grip on her butt and her breast, forcibly holding her steady in the correct form.
Like this, reliably hitting the bull's eye should be easy for her.
But Shirou suddenly felt a bit naughty himself, and he blew into her ear at the very last moment.
"Kya?!" Ayako squeaked in shock, and the arrow went wide, flying off onto a different track, where it clattered uselessly on the ground.
"Hahahahahaha!" The sight was just too amusing, and Shirou couldn't help but laugh.
"Shirou?! What the hell?!" Tearing herself out of his grip, Ayako rounded on him with a furious expression, dropping her bow so she could ball her fists. "Why did you do that?!"
"Because it was funny." He replied with a beaming smile, as if it was obvious.
"Y-You!" With an angry snarl, Ayako launched herself at him, hitting his chest with her fists. "Meanie! Bully! Saboteur!"
Her strikes didn't contain any real strength though, and Shirou felt secure in continuing to smile at her, only reaching out to pat her head.
Of course, the wild movements made it impossible for her half-baked kyudo-outfit to stay proper. Her keiko-gi had come undone completely, hanging uselessly from her arms and covering precisely none of her upper body, while the hakama had long since slipped over her hips and ended up around her ankles.
She was technically still wearing them, but for all intents and purposes, she was as naked as the day she was born.
Naked, and gorgeous.
There was no other word that Shirou could use to describe her. Her beautiful skin, her shining hair, her charming face that was set in a furious expression, and her defined musculature that did not detract from her feminine appeal in the slightest but rather added to it.
Simply gorgeous.
It wasn't long before he could no longer bear it, and he caught her in a hug, squeezing her tightly in his arms.
She was undoubtedly the strongest of his girlfriends, beating Rin by a comfortable margin and Sakura by a veritable mile, yet even so, her body was incomprehensibly soft, like a plushie.
Hugging her was an amazing feeling, and Shirou indulged eagerly.
"Hmpf." Her anger dropping, Ayako soon relaxed in his grip, and eventually, she surrendered fully, pressing herself against his chest. "Enjoy it while you can."
"I intend to." Shirou replied happily.
"Fine, but in return, you will help me seriously with my training later." She dictated, as it seemed her pride was still stinging over the completely missed shot. "I mean it, no more blowing in my ear."
"Of course." Shirou agreed. "It was funny once, but it won't be a second time. Do you want to, uhm, correct your outfit again?"
"Should I?" Ayako asked, looking up to innocently blink her eyes at him. "Do you want me to?"
"Not particularly, no." Shirou replied honestly.
"Then no." She concluded, before huffing. "I understand the purpose of a protective glove, but really, who needs a traditional outfit? Not me."
"Certainly not." Shirou agreed completely.
"Then let's get back to it."
The redhead obligingly let her go, and the brunette picked up her bow again, before throwing aside her ruffled clothes, leaving her bare aside from her gloves.
From there on, it was a very fun training session for the both of them.