A Group Photo Beneath the Cherry Blossoms

After taking a break for a while, Shinji thought to himself.

And, unusually, the System did not pop up to urge Shinji to train or refresh his daily missions, as though it deliberately wanted him to relax for a while.

The day after the funeral ended, Shinji packed his luggage.

Leaving behind only the words that he wanted to travel for a few days, he left the Matou Residence and left Fuyuki.

In the blink of an eye, it was April.

The start of the school term, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

Early in the morning, Shinji, who had only returned from his trip a few days ago, opened his eyes as he lay sprawled on his bed, then climbed out of the bed covered in all sorts of documents and materials.

"Haah~~~" Shinji let out a yawn and stretched himself lazily.

Wearing the neatly folded school uniform that had been placed beside his bed, Shinji finished washing up and pushed open the dining room door, only to see Sakura busy setting out tableware.

"Brother, breakfast is ready."

"You didn't go to Emiya's place today?" Shinji asked flatly.

"Brother only comes back once in a long while, so, um..."

She really was a good little sister. Shinji praised her inwardly.

Pulling out a chair and sitting at the table, Shinji discreetly observed his younger sister, whose expression was clearly different from before.

The biggest difference was probably the light in her eyes. They had life in them now.

The protagonist really was extraordinary. In just a few months, he had completely changed a girl whose life had practically been steeped in despair. Was this the power of the protagonist's halo? No, perhaps it could be called the power of love.

Shinji thought.

Shinji had decided, as early as after last Christmas, to treat this world as a real one and had shut down the affection system. He would never have imagined that the life in Sakura's eyes had a great deal to do with him...

Hearing from a certain Partner of Justice about things concerning her brother, who often did not come home—things that happened at school that she could not reach, little anecdotes about her brother's usual life...

"We can clean up when we get back. It's the first day of school, so we shouldn't be late."

After finishing breakfast, Shinji stood and said this in a very casual tone.

Although Shinji's gaze was as cold as ever, Sakura's face still flashed with unmistakable delight at his words.

Going to and from school with her brother seemed like something from a very long time ago—back when they had attended middle school together, there had been a few such occasions.

"Okay," Sakura replied with a smile.

At the entrance of Hohzuki Academy, where cherry blossoms continually drifted down on the wind, Shinji and Rin happened to meet and immediately exchanged a round of sarcastic barbs. It was remarkably harmonious.

"Honestly, I thought something good might happen on the first day of the new school year. Looks like absolutely nothing will. Otherwise, I wouldn't have run into such bad luck first thing in the morning."

"That's true," Rin said with a slight shrug, her tone carrying a hint of regret. "Just as Matou said."

"It seems Tohsaka has a very clear understanding of her own position."

"No, no, I meant that what I encountered so early in the morning was exactly as Matou described. Not a word off."

"Are you looking for a fight this early in the morning?"

"You're the one who started it."

Seeing the two gritting their teeth at each other and butting heads the moment they met, Sakura hurriedly spoke up from the side. "Good morning, Toh... Tohsaka-senpai. I'm a first-year student—Sakura Matou."

Watching the two pretend they were meeting for the first time and introduce themselves in public, Shinji sighed inwardly.

...This really was a pitiful sight.

"Yo, Shinji. Morning."

Shinji turned to look at Shirou, who had just arrived, and raised a hand in response. "Morning, Emiya."

"Good morning, senpai," Sakura greeted softly.

"Morning, Sakura. And good morning, Tohsaka."

"Matou, perfect timing. The student council wants a report from you on your attendance rate for the new term."

Looking at Isshin as he approached, Shinji curled his lip and complained, "What student council? Aren't you the student council president now that the new term has started? And what kind of report is an attendance rate report? Why am I the only one who has to write something like that?"

"Do you even need to ask? It's because your absence rate is outrageously high."

"Emiya! Emiya! Come help recruit people!"

From far away, Mitsuzuri's voice carried over.

Watching Mitsuzuri run over while waving, Shirou raised his hand in reply. "Yeah, I'll come help in a bit."

"Matou's here too. Come with us," Mitsuzuri said as she stepped forward, giving Shinji a wink.

Shinji tilted his head back, looking utterly uninterested. "No thanks. I'm not a member of the Archery Club."

"You used to be, right?"

"Exactly. Used to be. I'm not interested anymore."

"Actually, from a certain perspective, you haven't truly left the Archery Club yet. After all, you still haven't submitted the withdrawal form required to leave the club."

"I don't care about that!"

"By the way," Mitsuzuri suddenly noticed something. Looking at Sakura, who was chatting with Rin nearby, she asked Shinji, "Who's that girl?"

"Shinji's sister," Shirou answered in Shinji's stead, seeing that he had no interest in replying.

"Ah!" Mitsuzuri's eyes lit up. She darted forward and grabbed Sakura's hands before Sakura could react, speaking impatiently.

"Say, are you interested in archery? Your brother is an exceptionally talented genius at it. Since you're his sister, you must be good too, right?"

"Um... well, no..."

Before Sakura could finish, Mitsuzuri pressed on. "I almost forgot. What's your name?"

"...My name is Sakura."

"Sakura... Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!" Mitsuzuri nodded in great satisfaction and leaned a few centimeters closer. "Then join our Archery Club. Or have you already decided on another club?"

"No..."

"Then it's settled!"

Watching Mitsuzuri act this way, Isshin pushed up the glasses on his nose and sighed. "Honestly, you're being far too forceful."

Shirou smiled helplessly from the side.

At that moment, Shinji suddenly noticed something—Rin, who was preparing to slip away quietly, and Taiga, who was running over with a camera held up.

"Hey." Shinji took two steps toward Rin and called out to her.

"What? Do you want to continue our argument from earlier?"

"How about we call a temporary truce?" Shinji gave a slight shrug.

"Huh?" Rin let out in surprise. "That doesn't sound like something you'd say."

From the side, Taiga called to Shinji while holding up the camera. "Matou, you're the only one missing! Ah! Tohsaka too—come on, both of you!"

"Eh? I don't need to—"

Before Rin could finish, Shinji grabbed the hem of her clothes and pulled her forward.

"What are you doing? Wait—"

"Just shut up for now," Shinji said without looking back.

"You jerk, let go of me!" Rin's face flushed slightly, but Shinji showed no intention of releasing her.

In the end, Rin was still dragged over by Shinji and quietly shoved between Sakura and Mitsuzuri.

Honestly, this guy really loved making decisions for other people without asking, Rin grumbled inwardly.

"Thank you, sir." Taiga, standing behind the six students, smiled at the rigid-looking man in a suit and silver-rimmed glasses whom she had asked for help—Souichirou Kuzuki.

"Fuji-nee, you're a teacher too, aren't you?" Shirou complained helplessly.

In the end, they managed to take a big group photo with seven heads in it.

From left to right were Shinji, with his hands in his pockets and shoulders shrugged as he tried to look cool, only for Taiga behind him to yank up his ear at the last moment and make him cry out in pain; Isshin, whose eyes were not entirely on the camera and who seemed to be glancing at Shirou now and then; Shirou, frowning as he prepared to turn around and say something to Taiga; Sakura, looking sideways at Taiga and Shinji with one hand covering her mouth, a hint of surprise on her face; Rin, with her arms folded and pretending not to care at all; and Mitsuzuri, grinning and giggling at the camera.

Finally, behind them all stood Taiga, fuming as she tugged on Shinji's ear after apparently being angered by something he had said.

The moment was frozen there.

"Just so we're clear, I'm not going to thank you or anything."

On the rooftop, Rin stood with her arms folded, looking thoroughly tsundere.

Hearing this, Shinji's eye twitched uncontrollably. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"So you barged into our classroom without saying a word, in front of all those people, dragged me away while I was catching up on sleep, and brought me all the way here just to say that?"

"Yep."

Shinji fell silent once again.

After a long while...

"If you want to pick a fight, could you just say so?"