Shinji: Bet You Didn't Expect This? I'm a Partner of Justice Too! (Please Support the New Book)

Watching Shirou blush as he silently worked on the task at hand, Shinji suddenly seemed to realize something. He reached for his bag and began rummaging through it as he spoke casually.

"Then I'll lend you some. I've got every type right here."

"What the hell are you bringing to school?!" Shirou shot back, his face turning red.

"AVs, adult magazines, manga, erotic manga, erotic doujinshi, erotic galgames, regular galgames..."

As he watched Shinji dig through his bag, Shirou's eye twitched uncontrollably.

"Shinji, you really are..."

"You're the only guy in class who hasn't borrowed any, Emiya." Shinji spoke with a trace of concern on his face. "Honestly, I'm worried about you, Emiya! Could it be that you're not interested in girls?! Are you interested in men instead?!"

"Of course not!"

"Oho?" Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then tell me, what kind of girl are you interested in?"

"It's too early! We're too young to be talking about this kind of thing! Weren't you supposed to be helping me?"

"Don't change the subject, Emiya! What we're discussing is a very serious matter!"

"It's an incredibly boring matter!" Shirou retorted, but then seemed to remember something and added offhandedly, "But anyway, Shinji, you have someone you like, right? You even went to another school to confess to a girl on the day we started school."

"That was just a momentary lapse of judgment. Don't worry about it." Shinji waved a hand, looking entirely unconcerned.

"Is that so?" Shirou glanced at Shinji and deliberately said, "I heard her name was something like Tohsaka, and after she rejected you, she gave you a pretty thorough beating."

"Didn't I say it was just a momentary lapse of judgment? I came to my senses right afterward. It had nothing to do with getting beaten up."

"I don't believe you."

"It's true!" Shinji sprang to his feet, clenching his fists with a deeply serious expression. "At the very last moment, I suddenly came to my senses! The appeal of twin tails—has an expiration date!"

Shirou's mouth twitched. "What the hell are you even talking about?"

"Once I realized that, I quickly changed my story and said I was only joking. Then I paid the price for that joke."

"By getting beaten up?"

"Exactly. That's what happened."

Shinji had not told the truth. When he had first met Tohsaka Rin and confessed to her, he had suddenly realized that something seemed off.

After realizing that something might be wrong, Shinji had hurriedly changed his story and said he had only been joking. In the end... he got beaten up.

Rin's affection rating in the conquest mission had also dropped by five after that confession. But compared to the way her affection rating had inexplicably risen by one point every so often over the past two and a half years, it was only a small decrease.

At present, Rin's affection rating was forty.

Sakura's affection rating remained around fifty.

Shinji truly could not make sense of it. Something felt wrong, but he could not put it into words.

Still, he did not think it was a big deal. After all, there was still "Shirou's high jump on the field." That was where the real relationship route for those two sisters began.

"Emiya, to be honest, I'm actually a Partner of Justice."

The moment Shirou heard the words "Partner of Justice," he froze. His hands stopped working as he looked up at Shinji blankly.

Shinji stood on a chair, his right hand pressed against his chest as he solemnly announced, "That's right! To me, cuteness is justice! In this world, nothing is more precious than cuteness! I will become a Partner of Justice!"

"What kind of justice is that supposed to be...?" Shirou replied speechlessly.

"It's the justice in my heart!" With that, Shinji threw open his school uniform, revealing a lining printed with a cute anime girl. "Well?! Is she cute?!"

Shirou merely pulled awkwardly at the corner of his mouth. "Shinji, you..."

Shinji cut him off. "Hey, hey, don't you think she's cute?"

"It's not about whether she's cute or not. No matter how cute something like that is, it has nothing to do with justice—"

"Enough, Emiya! If you keep talking, I'm going to get angry! This is justice! The justice in my heart!"

Shirou suddenly thought of a possibility and asked, "Um, Shinji, don't tell me you're a lol—"

"Ah! You were about to say it, weren't you?! You were about to call me a lolicon, weren't you?! Let me make this clear in advance: I'm not that kind of pervert! Absolutely not!"

"I wasn't even done talking. Shinji, you sound more like you're giving yourself away..."

"What did you say?!"

And so, amid the bickering between friends, the two made the Cultural Festival sign together. It was not until midnight that they finally finished it.

Shirou stretched, then placed both hands on his hips as he examined the sign before turning to Shinji beside him with gratitude. "Thanks to your help, Shinji. Otherwise, I would've had to pull an all-nighter today. Thanks."

"If you want to thank me, treat me to food. Something hot, home-cooked."

"That's fine, but aren't you going home?"

"There's no one at home lately. My old man basically stays at hotels and doesn't come back. Speaking of which, I went to catch him cheating at a hotel last time. It was pretty fun."

"Your personality is as awful as ever. And don't just casually tell me such complicated family information..."

"It's fine. You're Emiya, after all." Shinji looked unconcerned. He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, one hand resting on the strap while the other slipped into his pocket. "Let's go. I can't wait. Let's see... I want fried chicken, tempura, sukiyaki, and a serving of takoyaki too."

"What's with the takoyaki at the end? And... what kind of combination is that? It's way too weird. Tempura should be properly paired with udon."

"Haha." Reaching the door, Shinji laughed and pulled open the clubroom door. At the same time, he looked back and replied mysteriously, "It's a delicious combination."

"What kind of nonsense answer is that...?" Shirou rubbed his forehead and shook his head helplessly. But then he suddenly noticed something and asked Shinji in confusion, "Shinji? Why did you stop? Didn't you just say you couldn't wait?"

Only after the words left his mouth did Shirou notice a girl standing outside the clubroom. She was Shinji's younger sister, Sakura Matou, who attended a nearby elementary school and whom Shirou had seen waiting outside the school gates for Shinji many times before.

"Brother..."

Shinji did not answer. His face remained cold and expressionless.

"Shinji?" Shirou called tentatively.

"Emiya, sorry, but I can't eat with you today. Don't cry from loneliness while you're eating alone, okay~? Anyway, bye. See you tomorrow."

Turning back with a smile, Shinji teased him with those words before walking past Sakura and slowly heading down the corridor toward the shoe lockers without another word.

After politely bowing to Shirou, Sakura turned and silently followed Shinji.

Watching the somewhat strange pair of siblings, Shirou sighed softly. "Shinji's way of getting along with his sister is still exactly the same as before. And who would cry from loneliness just because they were eating alone...?"

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