She sounded so dejected that Shirou couldn't help but empathize a little. But then again, he was never the type to leave things be if he could help it.
"If it's playing with snow, you can do this instead, no?"
"Eh?" The girl was caught off-guard when she turned to him and was suddenly staring into a set of beady eyes. Or rather, it was a pair of pebbles placed into a mound of snow alongside a couple of dried leaves. The snow bunny stared at her from the palm of Shirou's hand, waiting as if for her to accept it. "That's… cute…"
"There's more than one way to play around, you know." A cheeky grin graced the boy's face. "Take it."
"W—?" she barely had a moment to protest as he pushed the shoddily made rabbit into the palms of her mittens.
"Sure, it's not sledging or snowballs, but you can do things like this too, yeah? It's not every day we get the chance, but, alone or not, don't you think it's better to enjoy the time we have while we can?"
"… Hm… Yeah…" she agreed, staring fondly at the small bun in her hands. It was a delicate thing. Fragile enough that even she felt a little cautious in crushing the thing in her palm. The expression it had on was plain and simple too. But, if one looked at it at an angle, the beady pebbles it had for eyes seemed to stare determinedly into her own.
It was delicate, but… it was charming in its own way.
"Hm, you look better with that smile on your face, you know…"
Lost in thought was the child that Sakura barely registered Shirou's words as he said it. When she finally did, her face turned beet red. "Wha-what are you saying… all of a sudden—?!"
"What?" the boy didn't seem to register what she had. In fact, he shrugged at her as if to ask what he did wrong. "I'm just saying. A cute girl with a glum expression is a bad image to look at. Smile a bit more. It suits you better."
Innocent, that much was certain. Sweet, he may not even have meant it to be. Shirou's cheeky smile was meant to convey remaining positive no matter what came in life. Nothing more, nothing less. But for Sakura, a child who'd longed for affection even as she enjoyed the company of her foster family, it was more…
"… Hey…"
"Yeah?"
"Do you… can you show me…" she pushed the snow bunny to his face, partly using it to block her face from him. "How did you make it?"
"I don't mind." The boy casually shrugged and squatted on the wayside to gather more snow to start with. He didn't even mention the fact that she was glowing red at the cheeks if he even noticed.
The girl was quick to join him. Quietly, she intently listened to his every word. Though, it wasn't just what he was saying that she paid attention to, not that Shirou ever saw. They passed the time making other snow figurines. Running out of ideas, Shirou even flopped back first onto the snow and started to make snow angels. It took Sakura a few long seconds and some light teasing before she too joined along, abashedly waving her arms and legs in the dirt to shape out one herself.
When that was done, they stared up in the sky. Not in silence, they talked. Nothing much important, just talking. Talking… they talked about a lot of things. Mundane things. How they were doing in school. How they both had hard times making friends. How their home lives compared to one another. How they had troublesome foster siblings. How they had to act as the responsible ones more so than their own guardians at times.
It was all so, so… normal. Normal topics of their normal everyday lives…
But even so, when Shirou took a glance to his side and saw that Sakura was heartily chuckling at his stories about how bad Taiga was at cooking, he was glad. Gone was her gloomy air, gone was the sad look in her eyes, and gone was the morbid silence. This was… it felt good. He felt good, having managed to lift her spirits. Even if it was just talking.
Even when she started chatting him up about how her brother could be a handful, he didn't dare ignore her. He sat back and listened, chiming or commenting back every so often. And when a joke of his managed to crack her up enough that she was keeling over… Shirou felt the weight on his shoulders lighten a little.
He hadn't felt so relaxed in a while. Come to think of it, he barely felt relaxed even around what few friends he did have. Taiga wasn't a good role model despite being way older than he. And due to growing up in a shrine, Issei was far too straight-laced and professional at times that Shirou felt it would be a bother to burden the guy with his worries. But Matou Sakura…? She… she was different. Somehow.
Shirou didn't know how to put it on, but he felt like he could relax around her more.
"Hey, are you listening?" Sakura narrowed her eyes with another pout as she leaned forward to stare into his face.
Shirou almost jumped back from the sudden move. "My bad! It's just… Listen to you, I didn't think you'd actually be quite talkative."
"Are you calling me a wallflower?" A pink shade accompanied by a pout formed her face when Shirou said it.
"No, not that." He shook his head with a chuckle. "Usually, others don't talk with me too much."
"Eh? Why? I thought you were popular because teachers always talk nicely of you."
'Just how does that make me popular?' Shirou shrugged as he scratched his head. "Yeah, I don't think other kids think the same. Most just avoid me. I'm not popular in my class hence I don't have a lot of friends." Sakura stared at him for some time. Redhead tried to ignore it, but the intense stare from the smaller girl was making him nervous for some reason. "Why are you staring?"
"I just thought that I don't have anyone else to play or hang around with besides my brother. And… well… since you're without friends too, I thought maybe— er… that is to say…"
Sakura's head shamefully broke eye contact first. She looked a little bit shy to say it out loud. However, Shirou got where she was coming from and finished for her. "Do you want to be friends?"
"I thought that was a given!" Sakura shouted happily before she froze and turned away. "I mean, y-yeah. I would like to be your friend, Emiya."
"Me too, Matou." he offered her his hand which she took firmly. Albeit, her brows furrowed a bit upon shaking it. "Something wrong?"
"It's… kind of weird to be called like that. Uncle and Shinji call me by my name while kids at school just ignore me or call me the weird sick girl."
"Oh… my bad."
"What are you apologizing for, silly?" She giggled to herself before leaning forward to glance up at his red-cheeked face. "You don't have to treat me like glass. Just talk to me like you always have. But… this time… you can call me by my name…"
"Really? Isn't that informal?" Taiga told him that calling people with whom he wasn't close by their name was impolite. But…
"What? Are you getting shy about calling each other on a first-name basis? I don't mind it so it is fine. I got used to people in Europe doing it all the time while I was there."
"You… you've been to Europe?!" he asked, voice hinting a slight excitement, to which Sakura noticed and proudly nodded.
"Yep! Uncle Byakuya took me there when we went to pick up my brother from his old school. Though he always brags about it to his friends but the other boys don't believe him. Haaah, one of the other reasons why he so often gets into fights." Sakura sighed whilst shrugging. "Because of that, I don't bring it up with my classmates. Not that many try to talk with me." She sounded a little down, but that all vanished when she continued. "But we were there and it was really cool! The flight was amazing! Westerns have these big amusement parks! There were also bigger zoos and huge aquariums! We visited a couple after we got there. I liked it but uncle was always complaining about prices—Ah! Sorry." She cleared her throat. "I got carried away."
"No, no. I think that's really cool," Shirou reassured her. "I always wanted to try western food, it looks so nice on TV. I tried to make some, but I don't know if they were good, my dad didn't complain but he can eat anything and like it."
Sakura's eyes sparkled. "You can cook? That's amazing! I wish I could too. My uncle is bad at it and his food tastes… I can't say it's bad but it's really… meh." She looked a bit conflicted, as though she didn't want to hurt her family's feelings despite them not being there. With a wry smile, she just sighed. "But then neither Shinji nor I am any good at it. We usually order takeout because we don't have time to really study up on cooking…"
"I can teach you if you want." Shirou decided to throw her a bone, knowing how good it felt to actually make good food for people he cared about. If it was a fun experience he could share with her, then… "It isn't hard and you can cook for your entire family."
"Really?" Sakura was smiling even wider this time. "I would love to! Uncle did so much for me and I want to help him! Shinji too, I guess. Oh, I know! I'll have him taste test my first dishes!" Shirou didn't miss the mischievous smile Sakura had on. "If it's good, then it's a success. Otherwise… well. That'll teach him to throw snowballs at me! Hey, Emiya—"
"Shirou is fine," he interrupted. "If I can call you Sakura then you can call me Shirou. It's only fair. After all, it would be weird if only I called you by name, don't you think?"
"Er… uhm…" Sakura thought about it before nodding along. She was quick to suppress her reddened cheeks by cupping her mittens to her face and exhaling deeply. Then, she reached out and grabbed the edge of his coat sleeve. "I—in that case, Shi-Shirou, can you teach me how to cook as soon? I want to cook something back at home as quickly as possible."
"I mean I'm free after school. But, err…" There was a matter of Shirou magecraft lessons with his dad, he didn't say.
Apart from it being a secret, there was a little bit about him lacking in practice. It had been a few months since he started training with his old man but they've had little progress. Not to say that Kiritsugu was poor at teaching, but the man had admitted that he himself didn't go through conventional learning as all other magi clans have.
One who had to learn things via firsthand experience and without theoretical lessons could only go so far in passing down what he knew well. Therefore, Shirou had faced a hard time understanding the basics of the basics considering the boy had very little talent as a magus.
Despite that, he was slowly getting there. Repetition and effort wouldn't go to waste, talent or no. But then he'd just offered his help to Sakura, which now that he thought about it was just him throwing it out there, offering a little help should she have needed it. He didn't expect her to look at him like his offer was a godsend, however.
Maybe she wanted to prepare something for a special occasion. Or perhaps she was just the earnest type who wanted to provide for her family via her own efforts. He could sympathize and understood that it was just as important to her as his training was to him. That was his opinion on the matter.
What was a kid to do? Well, he could've refused. He could've set some conditions first or maybe schedule it when it was convenient. But…
Your father didn't have to save you. The boy felt time freeze as something gnawed at him from within once more. He didn't have to come back into that hell… to save anyone! Especially… not you.
Why did he survive when the others hadn't… Why…
Because… they weren't as lucky as you. The niggling feeling, one coming from the depths of his soul, seized upon his emotions. Not those of the present, no. It grasped what he felt then. What he felt every night… since the fire. They all died… because only you were lucky enough to be found alive…
"…" Shirou took a deep breath to settle his thoughts. For a while, Sakura looked like she regretted being too forward. The boy made to ease her woes by grasping the hand she held his sleeve with. "I… I guess I'm free."
He couldn't go back on his word. Not after promising to give her the help she wants. That's not very hero-like at all. To abandon her when she needed it the most… It wasn't… It…
The boy hid his emotions, but Sakura must not have noticed his internal conundrum for she was quick to follow up. Grasping the hand that held hers with both her own, she smiled gleefully. More so than she'd ever done before. "Great! Then we can start today!"
"… Eh? Huh—T-today?! You mean… right now?"
"Yeah! Come on, I will show you our home! You can teach me there!" Sakura pulled him closer to her and was about to start walking out the campus gates with Shirou right behind.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY! SAKURA!" But when they both heard the shouting of her name, they stopped dead in their tracks. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIT!"
While Shirou did an about-face, Sakura strode past him to stand between him and the newcomer. A blue-haired boy waving his hand as he ran towards them caught his eye. Face red and looking out of breath, Shirou didn't fail to notice the glare directed at Shirou's person for some reason.
"Oh, right… my brother…" Sakura, however, sighed before slowly rolling her eyes upon the other's frantic arrival. "Took you long enough, Shinji! I almost left without you!"
"I can see that!" The boy caught up to them, panting for breath but otherwise still looking like a crazed bull. Wide eyes looked spooked as far as Shirou was concerned and he actually assumed the boy would start yelling again. But instead, he first eased his breathing before straightening up and standing toe-to-toe with Shirou. "You."
Confrontational, prompt and curt. One word was all he said and Shirou could immediately tell his personality was one of the things that Sakura's stories about her sibling was pretty damn accurate.
"W-w-w-who—Ahem. Who are you and why are you holding hands with my sister?!"
Only… Shirou didn't expect the boy to go beet red and demand answers like he was about to cry…
"Er… I… um…"
Shirou baulked. What could he have said to defuse the situation? He didn't understand why the boy who he'd heard had come to her sister's rescue would look… well… disappointing? No, that wasn't the word. Weak-willed? Nah, he actually fought someone for her sake and Yamamura was definitely not a pushover considering he was one of the more athletic members of their grade.
That being said, Shirou didn't know what to say to the challenging wimp who stood before him without getting clocked to the face.
Didn't stop Sakura from embracing his arm and pulling him away from her brother though.
"Shinji, back off! This is Shirou. I met him while waiting for you!" she happily explained while Shirou glanced at her blissfully ignorant smile, back to Shinji's face that appeared to have seen the apocalypse, then back to Sakura's insistent gaze quietly asking him why he wasn't introducing himself. She even added "Hey, come on. Didn't you say you wanted to meet my family?"
"I… I guess I did." Shirou shrugged, still confused as to what was going on, before nodding along.
"M-m-m-meet… family…? Eh?" Shinji muttered under breath. "Sakura… why is Sakura… so close… Oy… what's… going on…?"
"What are you muttering about like a doofus again, Shinji." Sakura's shyness must've been reserved for outsiders for she was quite loud when it came to her family. At least, that's how Shirou took in her forwardness with her brother. "You're being rude to Shirou, you know?"
"Shi-Shirou? F-first name basis?!" The boy looked incredulous. As though that was the big issue to begin with. "Y-you don't… normally get along with… strangers… But who… Who is he?!"
"Like I said. He's my new friend and he's coming along home with us."
"I… was sorta… asked to help… teach her how to cook?!"
"What?! WHY?!"
Sakura said it like she found the answer to all her problems. Shirou looked and was confused trying to state the obvious but uncertain if he was even heard. But Shinji… The boy looked like death was upon him, having cornered all forms of escape.
"Ah… Sakura is bringing a boy home… bringing a boy home… home…" the boy repeated, gaze falling to the ground. "Ah… I'm dead. First, that bastard tried something and I got in trouble with the school… now… this…"
A chuckle escaped the boy amidst his mutterings. Then it twisted into a panicked chortle, like amusement found on the brink of death.
"Ah… shit… He'll kill me. I'm dead. I am so… so dead…" Under his breath, he whispered to himself before rounding back to Shirou with a finger pointed at his nose. Then, after a moment of tense silence, shouted once again. "I… I—I won't let you trick my sister… Whoever you are!"
"Eh?! But… I wasn't though!"
"I don't care! You won't take her away from me!"
"HUH?! You… what're you going on about—?!"
"You heard me!"
Before Shirou could respond or clear the misunderstanding, and before Matou Shinji could jump forward and attack him, a pair of mitten-covered hands grabbed both their hands and tugged them out the school gates. The owner of said mittens ignored either of their protests as they trudged down the path towards her and her brother's home, with Shirou being the reluctant passenger.
Though that being said, the strongest memory ingrained upon the boys that day was the part when they both slipped on the icy street and fell into a heap on the floor. Having held them along, Sakura fell atop their pile, safely of course.
However, sharing a knowing look, both Sakura's and Shirou's laughter afterwards was the cause of much of Shinji's early childhood grief. Not that either of the two bothered to clear it up for him.
***
Author's note:
Hope all of you enjoyed it! Anyway, this was probably the last chapter focused mainly on the Lelouch/Nobunaga honeymoon period. Time to get back to serious war preparations.
About Shirou and Sakura's first meeting. Obviously, it is different from cannon. ReavesTheReader phrased it nicely.
"Code/Zero Sakura's more forward than the meek and subdued girl in Stay/Night. Confident, open, maybe even a little touchy when it comes to sibling relationships as she actually cares for Shinji here and he does so back. But she's also still hurting from what happened in the past."
Sakura and Shinji dynamics will be different. Without Zouken, no one can affect Shinki in a terrible way, plus Shinji will be the future head of the Matou clan and hence has no hate for Sakura. So, the two of them will have a more normal sibling dynamic, can't wait until Rin will return to scene :3
Also, I hope all of my fellow Fgo salt miners had good rolls. I failed on Raikou bait banner and now have to save up for Castoria again, but managed to get 200sq so far. Used SSR ticket on Drake. I actually was thinking about writing Lelouch and Drake servant a long time ago.
Anyway, I have something special for you :3
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Also, as promised, the omake about Nobu vs Nobu vs Nobu...etc. for Lelouch. Sorry for my cringe humour.