Borrowing Money

In the Nasuverse, time was not something beyond control. Both the Second Magic and the Fifth Magic could manipulate time.

But Shirou was neither the jeweled old man Zelretch nor magic girl Aoko Aozaki. Time was still the boss when it came to him.

Three years had passed, and Shirou was eleven. He had grown quite a bit taller, and he had become even more... lazy. Standing only four feet three inches tall, he often carried a katana on his back—the Zanpakuto known as Black Winged Great Demon.

Shirou had always been confused about his own power. If he was a Hollow, he had no Hollow hole. If he was a Soul Reaper, the power he used was still Hollow power.

Over those three years, Shirou's body had remained the same as when he first arrived in this world, constantly drawing magical energy from the atmosphere. Sometimes, he wondered whether he would become something like a Lesser Grail if this continued.

But no matter what, Shirou now had the confidence and strength to go head-to-head with a Servant on the level of that big-eyed cute Marshal.

Fifteen-year-old Fujino could already skillfully wield the power of her Mystic Eyes.

Shirou had taught Fujino how to use her Mystic Eyes. Although Shirou himself did not have Mystic Eyes, in a sense, they were merely a kind of power. As long as it was one's own power, following instinct would eventually let one use it.

The two of them were still children, yet today they had to head to Kanbiko City by themselves. Touko Aozaki had called Kiritsugu Emiya to borrow money, but Kiritsugu was tied up with something, so the task could only be handed to Shirou and Fujino.

It was the same place as last time, the same abandoned building. But unlike before, Touko had only been an illegal resident last time. Now, she had officially obtained residency.

Garan no Dou. For some reason, Touko had chosen that name. But it was none of Shirou's business.

When he reached the door, Shirou gave it a loud kick and sent it flying open. As for manners? Come on. How could something like that still exist between acquaintances?

The door flew open, and Touko tensed up at first. But once she saw Shirou, she lowered her guard.

"Couldn't you knock? The door wasn't even locked. You could have just pushed it open," Touko said to Shirou.

"I was only checking how well your defenses were set up. Who knew they'd be this bad?"

Touko did not even want to say anything in response to Shirou's sophistry. Not only could she not beat the brat, but he could always find an excuse for himself.

"Yes, yes, you're right. Did you bring it?"

"Of course!" Shirou shook the briefcase in his hand. "It's all here. The one million yen you wanted to borrow."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Touko elegantly adjusted her glasses. "Come here, Mikiya. Payday."

Only then did Shirou notice there was someone else here. Plain-looking, dressed all in black, with black-rimmed glasses and the face of a harmless nice guy. That was right—this was Kokutou Mikiya, one of the Four Heavenly Kings known for roaming the Nasuverse.

"Hey, Touko, aren't you going to introduce this friend?"

"Oh, right." Touko casually used a rune to repair the door, then said to Kokutou Mikiya, "You can handle something like this yourself, right, Mikiya?"

"Yeah, no problem." Good-natured Mikiya agreed. "I'm an employee of Garan no Dou, Kokutou Mikiya." Mikiya extended his hand toward Shirou.

"Then I'll call you Mikiya. Nice to meet you. My name is Shirou, Emiya Shirou." Shirou took Mikiya's outstretched hand.

"Let me give you a friendly reminder, Mikiya," Shirou said. Then he suddenly vanished, using Sonido to appear beside Mikiya's ear. He glanced around, made sure Touko was not paying attention, and continued.

"If you work for Touko, make sure you keep a close eye on your income and take your hard-earned money straight away. Otherwise, you might end up with your boss borrowing money from her employee!"

Shirou's words made Mikiya smile awkwardly. In his eyes, someone as wealthy and capable of making money as Touko should not be the sort to do something like that.

That was why he was still too naive, young man. Your boss could indeed make money, but compared to making money, she was even better at squandering it! How about spending millions in an instant?

"But wouldn't that be illegal?" That was all Mikiya could say.

"Tch. The law can't control people in our line of work." Shirou glanced at Touko. "I'd bet fifty sen that, if things stay as they are, a certain someone will burn through every last bit of money she has in under two months. And I mean every single penny."

"It can't be that serious, can it?" Mikiya scratched his head and asked in disbelief.

"Nothing's impossible." Shirou stretched lazily.

"I'll tell you the truth. Three years ago, my family commissioned her for something. The payment was tens of millions of yen. Do you know how long Ms. Aozaki took to spend it all?"

Mikiya shook his head. How was he supposed to know something like that?

"She spent it... Fujino, how long did Touko take to blow through that money?"

"Forty-five days." Fujino answered Shirou's question with a smile. She was very satisfied with her current life. Compared to how she used to feel as though she was not truly alive, she felt that her life was now incredibly fulfilling.

Shirou did not have a bad memory. On the contrary, his memory was quite good; he just used it all for keeping accounts and remembering recipes.

"Forty-five days. Hear that? When it comes to wasting money, no one can surpass your boss." Shirou spoke to Mikiya with a straight face. "So listen to me. Take out the wages you've earned before she blows through all her money."

"This is a proper underground office, and your boss is a mage. There's no such thing as legal or illegal, so just do it!"

Mikiya could only smile sheepishly as he listened to Shirou. At the same time, he wondered just how his boss had offended this harmless-looking kid for all her dirty laundry to be aired out like this.

The old pendulum clock chimed. Mikiya looked up at it, then went to the door and picked up his coat. "Sorry, Emiya, but I have something to do, so I'll have to excuse myself."

Then he said to Touko, "I'm leaving first, Touko," before walking out.

"So, what's he going off to do?" Shirou asked.

"He's going to see his girlfriend. Mikiya is completely devoted to her, even though she has been unconscious in a hospital bed for two years." Touko poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned against the table.

"Girlfriend? Mikiya really is faithful. Oh, right, what's his girlfriend's name?" Shirou had no manners around people he knew. He picked up the coffee pot and drank straight from it.

"That coffee is expensive, brat."

"It's fine. Worst case, I'll reimburse you for the coffee. And you still haven't told me Mikiya's girlfriend's name!"

"Then it's settled. Mikiya's girlfriend is named Shiki, Ryougi Shiki." Hearing that Shirou was willing to let her fleece him, Touko readily answered his question.

"What a character!"

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