Chapter 12: A Whimsical Promise (Patreon)

"Shinji..."

Shirou wanted to say more, but Shinji didn't give him the chance. He turned and walked towards the shop door, waving goodbye to the others over his shoulder.

"Anyway, see you at school. Bye."

"Wait! Matou!" Issei stood up, leaning on the table, and raised a hand to stop him. "Your absence rate for the next semester must not exceed 5%! And no more bringing contraband to school! Do you hear me? Hey! Matou!"

As Issei kept shouting after Shinji, Mitsuzuri frowned slightly and turned to Shirou. "Emiya-kun, is Matou-kun's personality a bit... strange? And you knew this would probably happen, right?"

"Pretty much," Shirou admitted with a resigned shake of his head. Then, furrowing his brows as if talking to himself, he added, "As for his personality, 'strange' might be an understatement; it's more like peculiar. Shinji always gets these sudden whims about all sorts of odd things and throws himself into them, but his passion burns out just as quickly. For example..."

Issei interrupted Shirou and took over: "For example, he suddenly wanted to experience the life of a monk and came to Ryuudou Temple for three months of ascetic training with my father. Or the time he suddenly decided to write a novel, locked himself in his room for two months, and wrote an internationally award-winning book. Or when he wanted to know if discounted bento had the same number of rice grains as full-priced ones, so he bought both, patiently counted the grains all night, and concluded there was a difference of fifteen grains. There are many, many instances like this."

Hearing Issei's words, Mitsuzuri's eye twitched uncontrollably. "I feel like simply calling Matou-kun's personality 'strange' is no longer sufficient, isn't it?"

"Ordinary people might think that, but Matou is different," Issei shook his head and continued. "During his training, his focus and seriousness made me think countless times that he truly wanted to become a monk. But after the training ended, he could instantly revert to his old self, as if he had grown tired of it and lost all interest in matters related to monks."

"And it's not just that. Anything he dives into on a whim, he abandons cleanly once he's finished. He even refused to accept the award for his original, prize-winning novel, claiming he had plagiarized it. There's no doubt that Matou is a peculiar talent who can put in the effort to perfect anything he sets his mind to on a whim. It's just a pity that he loses all interest immediately after completing it."

"Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case," Mitsuzuri nodded.

"To be honest, sometimes I can't tell if he was ever genuinely interested in those things in the first place. I can't be completely sure, nor can I completely deny it."

"Didn't Shinji say it himself? They were just whims," Shirou interjected. "I think it's really just that."

"What a waste, though!" Issei and Mitsuzuri exclaimed simultaneously.

"Huh? Why are you both saying that to me?" Shirou was startled by the two leaning in at once, but then he sighed softly. "But if only Shinji could develop a passing whim for kyudo... My initial hope was just that there might be a possibility, and..."

"Ahem. Actually, I just suddenly developed a tiny, whimsical interest in kyudo. When is the tournament?"

Looking at Shinji, who had returned at some unknown time and made the above statement, Mitsuzuri was simply stunned. Issei facepalmed, shook his head, and sighed in resignation. As for Shirou, he showed a trace of gratitude.

Shinji, as if remembering something, added, "Oh, and let's be clear upfront: this only lasts until whatever tournament is over."

Mitsuzuri couldn't hold back a retort any longer. "You really are a strange guy, you know that?"

"Is that so?" Shinji chuckled lightly, then leaned forward with a look of keen interest. "Actually, I just developed a tiny, tiny whimsical interest in you too, Ryogi-san."

Mitsuzuri offered an exceptionally sweet smile and reminded him, "Matou-kun, my name is Mitsuzuri Ayako. Please make sure to remember my name correctly first."

...

It wasn't until Shinji and the others had left the café one after another that the twin-tailed girl hiding in the corner booth finally lowered the newspaper she'd been using to cover her face.

"Heh... So that confession back then was just a whim too..." Rin's face was terrifyingly gloomy. It was clear she was barely managing to control her expression.

"Matou Shinji, you just wait!!"

And so, completely unaware, Shinji had successfully "attracted" the ire of a certain twin-tailed girl.

As for his agreement to temporarily join the archery club, it was only because the damn system had suddenly issued a normal quest the moment he stepped out of the café.

[Random Quest Issued]

[Quest Content: Join the Archery Club and win first place in the upcoming rookie tournament.]

[Reward: 1000 Points. Additional Failure Penalty: 90% chance of becoming a vegetable.]

Seeing the suddenly issued quest, Shinji cursed inwardly immediately.

Screw this!

Over the years, Shinji had been toyed with by these suddenly issued quests with failure penalties more times than he could count. The quest contents were all over the place: write an award-winning novel, go train austerely at a temple, count the rice grains in a bento box...

In short, it kept finding new ways to make trouble for him. He really, really wanted to uninstall it!

[Good Grandson, as one who shares This King's bloodline, archery is a hereditary skill.]

Hereditary your sister! Shouldn't a man's hereditary skill be [@#$nsfw$*!—]?!

In the end, Shinji yielded.

...

The Emiya Residence, living room.

"Now that I think about it, does this mean I won't be able to eat Emiya's cooking for a very long time?"

Sitting cross-legged before the low table, Shinji finally seemed to realize something, his expression gradually turning grave.

"It'll probably take over three months to recover," Shirou replied, sitting down at the table.

"Dammit! I just thought of this harsh reality!"

"So why did you only think of it now?"

"Because I've been sitting in the living room for a full ten minutes and you still haven't served me tea, which made me consider this possibility," Shinji answered honestly.

"So you were waiting for me to serve you tea..." Shirou sounded somewhat speechless. "At least look at my current condition. Anyway, if you want tea, go make it yourself."

"Maybe I'll just forget it. I'm not really thirsty right now."

Shirou: "..."

Rustle, rustle...

Hearing the sound from outside, Shirou turned his head towards the genkan, murmuring softly, "Is it raining...?"

Knock, knock.

"Is Fuji-nee back?" Shirou stood up and walked slowly towards the entrance.

Meanwhile, Shinji mentally retorted: No, it's my sister, sent by the old man to keep an eye on you. But this injury has nothing to do with me, and I didn't quit the club because of it. I wonder what reason the old man will have Sakura use to take care of you? I'm a bit curious...

At the genkan, seeing Sakura, drenched and soaked by the rain outside the door, Shirou was also taken aback.

"Sakura..."