Chapter 13: Fujimura-Sensei’s Fury (Patreon)

"Anyway, we can talk about that later. For now, you should get cleaned up. You'll catch a cold if you stay like that."

"Thank you."

The voices of Shirou and Sakura grew closer, just outside the closed door.

Sigh—

Shinji pushed himself up from the tatami floor, casting a casual glance past Shirou at the girl following him—his middle-school-aged sister.

"Shinji, your sister's here."

Shinji didn't answer. Instead, he lay back down, lacing his hands behind his head, crossing his legs, and letting out a lazy yawn.

...

While Sakura used the bath, Shirou sat down opposite Shinji in the living room, a slight frown on his face.

"Shinji, Sakura told me. She said you've only been home five times in the last two months."

"Yeah, so what?"

"What do you mean, 'so what'? Why are you never home? Sakura's worried about you."

"Don't need her to."

Shinji's immediate, unhesitating reply made Shirou sigh in frustration. Even after all these years, these two were still exactly the same.

"Look, I don't know what's going on with you, but isn't your attitude toward your own sister a little too cold?"

"Emiya."

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

"Are you even listening to me?!"

"When I'm hungry, I can't hear anything. So please, make me some dinner."

"No way! And how can you just forget I'm still injured?!"

"Oh, right... I forgot."

"You're really... ah, forget it—" Shirou finally gave up, dropping his head with a long, weary sigh.

...

"Shirou~ I'm here to see you!"

The moment he heard Taiga Fujimura's voice at the entrance, Shinji, who had been lazily flipping through a magazine on the floor, instantly snapped to attention. He scrambled to his feet and made a beeline for the door, not looking back.

Sigh—

"Feeling any better?" Taiga slid open the living room door after coming in, but stopped mid-sentence, noticing Shinji trying to sneak away silently on all fours right beside her.

"Well, well, if it isn't Matou-kun~ Long time no see!" Taiga put her hands on her hips, leaning down with a sweet, sunshiny smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

The moment Taiga's voice came from above, Shinji froze. A strained grin spread across his face as he looked up. "Ahahaha... Yeah, I guess it has been a while, Taiga-san."

Hearing that, a throbbing red vein instantly popped on Taiga's forehead.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! It's Fujimura-sensei!!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Taiga-san!" Shinji yelped as she locked him in a tight headlock.

"I said call me Fujimura-sensei! And we need to have a little chat about you skipping the entire first week of school!!"

Gritting her teeth, Taiga showed no signs of letting go, tightening her grip around his neck.

"It's gonna break! I can't breathe, Taiga-san!"

Shinji flailed uselessly. It was then that Shirou, who'd been completely forgotten thanks to the commotion, finally spoke up.

"Um... Fuji-nee, didn't you come here to see me?"

"Oh! I almost forgot!"

Finally remembering her original purpose, Taiga turned to look at Shirou sitting at the low table. She released a gasping Shinji and scratched the back of her head with a goofy laugh.

"Ahahaha, sorry! When I saw my number one problem student, I just couldn't help myself..."

It was then that Taiga noticed the purple-haired girl sitting across from Shirou, drying her hair. She looked to be a middle schooler.

"Now that I think about it, who is this...?" Before she could finish, Taiga's sharp eyes caught Shinji trying to sneak away again. Her hand shot out, snagging the back of his collar. "Matou-kun, your teacher has so much she wants to talk to you about~"

"You've gotta be kidding me... How did you even see me..." Shinji muttered, sweatdropping.

...

"I see, so you're Matou-kun's little sister."

At the low table, Taiga, now sitting beside Shirou, looked with some surprise at Sakura, who was seated across from them next to a very irritated, cheek-propping Shinji. Her expression then shifted to a slightly troubled one as she tapped a finger to her cheek.

"Still... Matou-kun, even if you've been avoiding home, making your little sister worry like this isn't very good, you know?"

"Still, even so, as Shirou's guardian, I feel this might be a bit inappropriate."

It turned out that Sakura had just tactfully expressed her wish to come help at Shirou's place until he recovered.

"Fuji-nee, ahem." Shirou coughed softly, shooting Taiga a meaningful look filled with eyebrow wiggles.

"What? Why are you making faces? If you have something to say, just say it! Or... are you planning to make a move on your friend's little sister?"

"Fuji-nee!" Shirou's face flushed bright red as he hissed her name. He leaned in close, whispering something only the two of them could hear. "Look, I'll explain the details later. It's... actually related to Shinji."

"Huh? Matou-kun?" Taiga blinked in surprise, glancing over at Shinji, who was propping his cheek on his hand, looking bored and yawning. "Don't tell me your injury has something to do with Matou-kun?"

"It's not that! And keep your voice down! Actually..."

Before Shirou could finish his explanation, Shinji across the table suddenly put on a show of being utterly heartbroken. Clutching his chest, he declared:

"Yes, it's all my fault! If only I had taken better care of Emiya, he never would have gotten hurt."

"Shinji, what are you talking about?" Shirou looked utterly confused.

"In short, the blame lies entirely with me!" Shinji stood up, his face a mask of contrition. "If I had stayed by Emiya's side twenty-four hours a day, I could have absolutely prevented this!"

"Wait, twenty-four hours is way too much! And why would you need to be by my side anyway?"

"So! Please, let me take responsibility, Emiya!" Shinji leaned forward dramatically, grabbing Shirou's hands with deep-feeling emotion. "I will make it up to you properly, Emiya. Until then, let's emigrate to the Netherlands together. I'll spend my whole life making amends."

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?" Shirou stared at the intensely sincere Shinji with utter bewilderment. "And why on earth would I move to the Netherlands with you?"

"Ahem." Taiga cleared her throat quietly, leaning in to whisper in Shirou's ear. "Shirou, I think the Netherlands recognizes... marriage between same-sex couples."

"Huh?!"

"That's right! From now on, let me compensate you with the rest of my life! I'll stay by your side and protect you forever, Emiya! And Taiga-san, we'll be counting on you to officiate!"

"I told you to call me FUJIMURA-SENSEI!! And as your guardian, I ABSOLUTELY FORBID THAT KIND OF THING—!!"