Chapter 8: Starting Lines (Patreon)

"Maybe," Shinji said with an air of indifference, continuing to eat as he spoke. "But principles really do change. And honestly, it's often easier to just... change them."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just listen casually, no need to take it to heart."

"Weird guy..."

After the meal, it was nearly two in the morning.

The rain continued to fall relentlessly. Shinji and Sakura ultimately abandoned any thought of returning home and stayed the night at the Emiya residence.

...

The next morning.

Shirou, sliding open his door, saw Sakura, who had also just stepped into the living room.

"Where's Shinji?"

"Brother... he went out for his morning training at four o'clock."

"As early as ever," Shirou said, then picked up a sticky note Shinji had left on the table.

— Don't worry about breakfast for me. See you the day after tomorrow, Emiya. — Your Destined One, Matou Shinji.

Ps: Tell Sakura she doesn't need to wait for me at the school gate lately.

"Is this guy planning to skip school again?" Shirou sighed in resignation. "And can't he tell his own sister something like this himself...?"

"There's... something about me?" Sakura asked, sounding almost disbelieving.

"Yeah, he said you don't need to wait for him at the school gate lately. He's probably going to skip class again."

"I see..." A clear flicker of disappointment passed through Sakura's hollow eyes. She was silent for a couple of seconds before seeming to gather her courage. "Um... Senpai, if it's okay... could you tell me about my brother?"

"Shinji? But you're his sister. You should know more about him than I do."

Sakura shook her head but didn't reply, her expression saying everything.

Seeming to understand something, Shirou began to speak slowly.

"Shinji, well... he's the type who seems to get along with anyone. He's easy to be around. It feels like you don't have to pretend when you're with him. And even though he skips class a lot and I rarely see him study, his grades are always top of the year, and his physical fitness is also..."

Sakura listened with keen interest as Shirou recounted stories about Shinji's usual life at school.

Throughout the entire breakfast, Sakura listened intently to everything Shirou said about her brother.

After breakfast, as they left the house together, Sakura bowed deeply to Shirou. "Thank you for telling me so much about my brother."

"It's no problem, really. It's nothing worth thanking me for. You should get to school early. Since it's on my way, I'll walk you."

"Senpai, I..." Sakura seemed to steel her resolve once more. "I'd like to ask you a favor!"

Looking at the girl bowing before him and hearing her request, Shirou agreed without much thought.

...

Four months passed in the blink of an eye. Shinji managed to balance cultivation, tasks, studies, and life, grinding even harder than he had in his gaming days in his previous life.

He hadn't missed a single one of the increasingly insane daily training tasks. He'd completed every normal quest that popped up. The main quest... still had four years left on the clock.

As for the Conquest Quest, he currently had no interest. While he'd been an expert at raising sims in his past life, he didn't want to start something like that so early here.

Moreover, playing a dating sim with visible affection meters in real life felt... weird to him.

To put it simply—It just doesn't feel like love.

So, he'd basically stopped opening the Conquest Quest tab altogether, no longer paying any attention to the favorability ratings.

[Good Grandson, a vast harem is the mark of a King. You must broaden your worldview.]

Ignoring the damn system's voice, Shinji stepped out of the classroom, only to be immediately intercepted by his homeroom teacher at the door.

"Yuko-sensei!" Shinji looked past Yuko with feigned surprise. "Is that a handsome guy in a designer suit coming this way with a bouquet of roses...?"

"Where?!" Yuko instantly spun around to look.

Seizing the opportunity, Shinji nimbly sidestepped through the gap in the doorway, turned, and sprinted down the hall toward the nearby staircase without a backward glance.

At the same time, Yuko-sensei, realizing she'd been tricked, reacted. Fuming, she gave chase from behind.

This scene was, in fact, a common occurrence at the school, playing out every few days.

Bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, Shinji deliberately slowed his pace, bantering with his homeroom teacher as he ran. These lighthearted, cheerful everyday moments were also incredibly precious to Shinji.

"Matou-kun! Stop—! And no running in the halls! Even if there's no one else around!"

"Who in the world would actually stop when you tell them to?! Besides, Sensei, you're running in the halls too!"

Shinji yelled back over his shoulder without stopping. But the words had barely left his mouth when his peripheral vision caught a figure warming up in front of a high jump bar on the athletic field outside the hallway window.

Something suddenly clicked in his mind.

Hmm... Sakura applied to this middle school. The acceptance notices went out the last couple of days. Even though she's not officially enrolled yet, she's basically a student here now.

She'd be coming to the school during this period to handle some procedures and attend orientation sessions about what to expect in April.

Which means...

—Today is the true starting point of the FSN storyline! The origin of that meme about how we never found out just how many people actually saw Shirou doing the high jump that day!

The thought made a faint, knowing smirk curl at the corner of Shinji's mouth. The plot is finally about to begin!

Feeling an inexplicable sense of relief, Shinji unconsciously quickened his pace, soon bursting out of the school building.

What Shinji didn't know was that his sister, who had just finished her orientation and should have been standing in the hallway watching Shirou's high jump, didn't pay it much mind. She merely glanced briefly in that direction before turning her attention away...

Meanwhile, watching Shinji about to dash out the school gates, a panting Yuko shouted to the middle-aged man at the entrance, "Sato-sensei! Close the gate! Stop Matou-kun!!"

The moment the middle-aged man saw Shinji, he understood completely. Although the boy had only been a student for a year, their "history" went way back!

Sato-sensei, the P.E. teacher and dean of students—a man with short-cropped hair, bulging muscles, a brawny build, and wearing only a short-sleeved shirt in this weather—didn't hesitate for a second before pulling the main gate shut.

"Matou-kun! Checkmate!" Sato-sensei snorted with a hint of triumph.

"Is that so?" Shinji replied with a light laugh, his pace not slowing in the slightest. The next moment, he ran straight for the closed gate, bent his knees slightly, leaped, cleared the gate effortlessly, and landed steadily on the other side. The entire sequence was fluid and executed without a single wasted motion.

"Matou-kun!!" Yuko shrieked in frustration, but Shinji paid her no mind, making his escape.

Sato-sensei stared dumbfounded at the two-meter-high school gate beside him, muttering to himself, "That kid... he cleared it that easily?"

Just then, a certain black-haired, twin-tailed girl—Tōsaka Rin—who didn't belong to this school but was here on student council business, and who had just entered the middle school grounds and passed by Shinji moments before, suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked back toward the school gate.

That guy from just now...