Japan. Fuyuki.
'Ngh,' a shiver travelled down a young boy's spine as he continued his march down the empty campus grounds. Sighing away, his breath came out as a small puff of steam. 'Hm. It might snow again tonight…'
Fuyuki's winters weren't the coldest in the region. Despite it, snow-covered roads more than an inch deep in snow required its citizens to take obligatory prep work. Parents and teachers alike would demand the children return home as soon as possible, all the while reminding them to remember to take precautions in battling the harsh cold.
But not all parents were that responsible. Some, namely a certain father of the young lad deep in thought had all but forgotten to remind his son to even take a coat. Kiritsugu often forgot to bring his, not that the man would remember until being scolded himself. Alas, not all children were allowed to be childish in the face of irresponsible, or maybe just distracted, families.
Having opted to assist his homeroom teacher in cleaning up the classroom, Emiya Shirou had to go home later than most, trekking through thick sleet whilst accompanied by the setting sun. Classes had been long over but no student was within sight of the main building's entrance all the way to the campus gates. It was peacefully quiet and would've been nice to enjoy if not for the frigid winter air. With nothing much to do, he thought it best to distract himself. Even went so far as to be helpful in his boredom earlier. Some of his classmates had long since left for home or the arcades, making fun of him for wasting his free time, but Shirou didn't pay them any heed. After all, there was nothing wrong or bad about helping. No matter how small, embarrassment was a non-factor in assisting others, even strangers.
'Ah, right, I forgot dad didn't buy anything yesterday.' Even now, the boy's mind was lost in what chores needed doing back home before he even made it out the school gates. 'Hm… we need milk, green tea leaves for dad, and maybe a bag of sugar. We've been eating chicken too often lately… Guess I need to change it up a little. Oh, right. I can swing by the old lady's place and see if she has fresh fish. She did say her husband would be bringing in a new delivery this week. I remembered to write down that recipe I saw on TV a few days back. Dad will love it.'
Preoccupied as he was with the daily duties of the Emiya household, the boy failed to notice his stepping past the gates and out into the street. He also didn't see that said street was frozen over due to the cold weather. That said, landing on his rear end hard certainly snapped him out of his thoughts and staring up blankly into the winter sky.
'Argh!' Groaning in pain, his shoulders ached as did his skull, stopping any attempts at getting up. He tried again, but ended up falling back harder when his elbow slipped, suffering a second mild headache on impact. With only the clouds above to watch his absentminded struggle, he let out a sigh that steamed into the air. 'Aah… What am I doing?'
Losing yourself in self-imposed work. Something answered. It took him a moment before he considered it his own train of thoughts answering the very question. Trying to work your body to the ground for the sake of being 'helpful'.
'There was nothing wrong in that… was there?' He sighed, a misty cloud forming above his face before vanishing to the wind.
To live as you wish… That is the way of living. The boy shrugged, earning a slight pain from his back but not denying the truth of the statement. Even a child would understand that in hindsight. But to choose living… for the sake of others… how… stupid…
That stung. The thought was there. Common sense dictated it the norm, but he couldn't—no, refused to accept living any other way. Yet… it was hard. For a child to even try to take on the burdens of others… it was… it was…
Stupid…
Yeah… It certainly was stupid. But mainly the fact that he felt like giving up after barely trying was the kicker.
Gritting his teeth, he forced down those inner thoughts. Day after day, he would war with ideas of just stopping and living as any other normal kid would. He refused. He adamantly refused to just… let it all go.
Shaking his head once more, he cleared his mind. It was probably the exhaustion creeping in, not that he'd admit to it. Any excuse his father could use to baby him wasn't worth the relaxation. Not when the old man himself was a wreck at house chores to begin with.
Shirou had to be the strong one of the two. Otherwise, he'd just be a burden, or so he heartedly believed.
Emiya Kiritsugu wasn't a bad father per se. More a dysfunctional guardian, but the man meant well. He even went so far as to accept the boy's selfish request despite his earlier objections.
'Dad's a mess enough. I can't just… give in. Otherwise that'd make me a waste of time.' He refused to be a wasted effort on his savior's part. He can't…
Stupid…
Sucking it up, he inhaled deeply and tried to right himself. Lifting his upper half up, without slipping this time, he was able to sit himself on the ice. A cursory glance about him, the entire street was icy and the last thing he needed was to lose his balance and end up a cold heap again.
'Alright!' Taking it slow, he managed to get a foot and a knee steady. 'Now the other foot—'
"Um, are you alright?"
"BAH!"
The sound of someone's voice behind him was a bit of a shock. But maybe the other person was far more surprised when he suddenly slipped on his other foot as he tried to do a one-eighty in place. The end result was him slipping back to the ground, only this time, the stranger that tried to reach out as he fell followed him to the floor as she too lost her footing on the frozen street.
"Ngh," his back arched, but feeling the warmth of the stranger on his chest, he fought the instinctive urge to groan and asked instead, "You okay?"
"I'm… f-fine…" It was then that the stranger, a girl about his age, lifted her flushing face from his chest to meet his eyes.
She was cute, and was the first thing to come to mind. Wrapped in thick winter clothes, her small face and the concerned look in her eyes caused an organ in his chest to skip a beat. Not really the kind of thoughts anyone should be having when the other person could be hurt, but he couldn't help the passing thought. The second thing to catch his eye though were the bandages he spied around her neck that spanned all over her exposed neck. Even more extended beneath the collar of her coat.
His eyes were quick to narrow at that. How such a child could suffer so many injuries… suddenly his own pain felt miniscule.
"You… alright?" he dumbly repeated.
"… Y-yes!" she immediately replied, breaking eye contact first with flushed cheeks. "I'm fine."
'She's fine,' he thought but noted her teary-eyedness as she looked away. It was obvious she was in pain but refused to acknowledge it. "Need help getting up?"
"I… I was actually about to offer you the same. I guess… approaching you from behind wasn't such a good idea… Eheh… Eheheh…"
She laughed it off, but it was an awkward one. He ignored her self-sarcastic mumbles of 'nice one, Sakura' as he tried to sit back up. This time, he allowed her to use him as support in getting a good footing on the less icy part of the street, that being next to the school gates, before getting up himself.
"Thanks," she said, still shyly offering a hand.
He took it with a grateful yet sheepish nod back. "Are you sure you're really okay?"
"No, really! I'm fine."
"But… those bandages—"
Perhaps mentioning it was tactless of him. Perhaps she didn't want anyone to notice because her hand shot up immediately to them, making awkward attempts to hide them from view with her long sleeves.
"These… they don't hurt that badly. And besides, you caught me more than I landed on my knees so…" They don't hurt, she insisted. He heard her whisper more of 'I'm not going to cry, not anymore' to herself, but it was her smile, one that held strong despite looking so fragile, that caught his attention. Awkward or not, she had the temerity to remain steadfast. "I'm fine, really!"
"Oh," seeing the insistence in her eyes, he thought it better than to push. "Well, thanks for the help then… I guess?"
"You 'guess'?" she eyed him whilst tilting her head to the side.
"It's not like I was having that much trouble to begin with, you know," the boy's gaze broke away to the side, cheeks flushing at her disbelief. "I could've gotten up from that easily."
"Didn't look that way. I mean, you were lying down for a while. Then after you started to move, you began slipping like a newborn deer."
His face felt red hot against the winter air. "I don't want to hear that from someone who slipped too after trying to help."
"Hey!" she cried out indignantly while puffing her cheeks.
He pouted the same. She held her ground. The silence persisted before, who knows which of them started first, and both kids began giggling at their stupidity.
"Why are we fighting?"
"I don't know, didn't you start?"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Childish banter was… it wasn't beneath Shirou. He could hold a normal conversation with kids his age. But sometimes, what they had to say came off as weird or rude. Trust a child to be blunt and ignorant. This girl though, she was weird AND rude. Standoffish, but in a good way. At least she didn't look down on others nor did she ignore those who needed helping, frustrating as it was to admit he needed it.
She was cute too. How had he not noticed her before, though? She wasn't one of his classmates. Was she from the year level below his grade?
"I'm Shirou. Emiya Shirou." Holding up his hand, he offered a shake.
"… you're… that Emiya?" She muttered quietly but accepted it as she smiled back. "Matou Sakura. Feels kind of formal though, shaking hands."
"Is it strange?" he scratched the side of his cheek.
"No, just… kinda embarrassing. Don't you think so?"
Yeah, most kids would've just offered their names and be done with it. But he'd picked up a thing or two from his father. Or was it more than that? He wasn't sure. Taiga, a family friend of the Emiya household, often called him a bit more mature than most, but he immediately chalk that up to the high schooler just being too immature for her age.
"Well, at least it's not 'fall on my butt after trying to help' embarrassing, right?"
"Mm, you're not letting that go, are you?" she was pouting again, but cheekily smirked after this time. "Hmph, at least no one else was around to see. God knows what would I do if Shinji saw that. I'd never hear the end of it…"
"Shinji?" The name sounded familiar. Oddly so. "Someone you're waiting for?"
"My brother. He… he got in a little trouble and the teacher had him stay back a bit. That's why I'm waiting around."
"Shinji… Shinji, huh?"
"What's wrong? Oh dear. Has my brother done something to you too?!"
"'Too'? No, just… I think I heard of his name before…" Shirou tested the name, tried delving a little deeper as to where he'd last heard it. When he recalled one of his homeroom teacher's passing comments about unruly students, it came to him with a gasp. "AH! Wasn't it that guy who decked Yamamura's face this morning?!"