Fuyuki, Homurahara Academy.
Rin Tohsaka was having a confusing morning.
'I can see the need to blend in with the civilians, but attending a normal high school? Really?!'
Rin was well-informed that a Japanese high school would be a different experience from what she and her 'mistress' had in Finland. Local mentality and the country's curriculum standards aside, it was also just a normal school. Not one owned by a magi household nor influenced by one from the shadows. Even with all the preparations, she wasn't quite ready for what she got returning to Fuyuki after all these years.
Especially the yakuza of a teacher with the air of a tiger shouting down the excitement of her students at their arrival.
"Listen here, punks!" Loud, commanding, and strict, the voice of the teacher made every student in the room pay attention to her. Them as well, but more her as Fujimura Taiga slammed a palm to her desk. "Our class was lucky to be selected for two transfer students from Europe! I want you all to be on your best behaviour! Or else—!"
The eccentric woman with light brown hair calmly—albeit threateningly—drew a bamboo sword and pointed it straight at her audience of teenagers. Why on Earth the school teacher had a kendo sword hidden under her skirt of all places was beyond Rin's understanding, and the Tohsaka heiress didn't want to find out why.
Luvia, the minx, kept a smiling mask on as though this would've been a normal first day in any high school. The teacher Fujimura, on the other hand, just grinned like a drill sergeant as soon as her class groaned in acknowledgement. As if this was normal in any high school setting! But upon turning to face them, the aforementioned new students, the adult wore a beaming smile like she was a kindly neighbourhood older sister down the road.
"Come on now! Don't be shy and introduce yourself, you two!"
Rin's polite but irritably twitching smile found it hard to speak at first. Considering they were trying to lay low, they already failed when they arrived at the front gate getting off Luvia's limousine. Getting assigned this homeroom with this teacher, however, it all but defeated her plans to mask her personal identity from any limelight.
They were here for special reasons, after all.
Still, Rin's awkward silence aside, Luvia was ecstatic, immediately basking in the attention she was given by the eccentric teacher, matching Taiga's enthusiasm with her own pompous laugh.
"Ohohoho! I thank you for that wonderful introduction, Miss Fujimura-sensei! As a member of the Edelfelt noble family, allow my humble self to greet you, fellow classmates of Homurahara Academy!"
Rin's eyebrow twitched at how quickly Luvia was able to adapt to speaking Japanese names so perfectly. It was as if all the anime the witch forced her into watching actually aided in that endeavour. Luvia was positively beaming upon enrapturing the students with her exaggerated bow and the lifting of her long skirt as a curtsy. She then spoke like she was on a diplomatic mission and not posing as a student of a regular school.
"I am Lady Luviagelita Edelfelt, the future head of the Edelfelt household of Finland. However, I understand that it may be a tad difficult for the common folk to start pronouncing my name with perfect diction. Hence, as per my dear maid's—Ahem!—friend's suggestion, I permit you all to address me as simply Luvia. In any case, it is with great anticipation that I am to be your fellow classmate. Please, look after me!"
Said maid was quick to narrow her eyes upon being nudged to the front by her dear mistress. Rin stifled the urge to strangle the blonde gorilla with her drill hair and sighed.
"Err… likewise to my… friend… here," God, how she detested saying it aloud. Ah, she didn't miss how Luvia was cackling behind her snapped-open fan, the witch! "It is a pleasure to meet you all. I'm… Rin… Tohsaka Rin. I used to live and study in Fuyuki but moved to Finland ten years ago. I'm glad to be back home. I will be in your care as well. Good day."
Being more familiar with local customs from her time in elementary school, Rin slightly bowed before standing up straight. As both girls expected, they had garnered pretty much the attention of everyone in the class. After all, it's not every day that two students from abroad get transferred to the same class. In this sense with Luvia being a bonafide foreigner, she was seen as an exotic attraction instantly. Especially when she acted like a benevolent ruler wherever she went. Well, she is a nobility, rotten insides aside.
However, in the eyes of everyone in the class, Rin wasn't a mere accessory. She could already feel the same pressure and expectations they had for her that rivalled her so-called 'friend'.
'Ugh… this is what I get for being a blonde while standing right next to Luvia…' she inwardly groaned while outwardly keeping a polite face. 'People will definitely think we're related. Yuck!'
She tried so hard not to retch. Thankfully, she had years of experience after putting up with the noble bimbo of an ape.
Who could have guessed that losing that stupid bet to the natural blonde would end up like this? Still, dyeing one's hair blonde was far from the worst Luvia could have imposed on her. Rin could admit that she rocked her current look but preferred her natural dark hair over the golden locks any day. She was already the picturesque Yamato Nadeshiko. Going this far was a low blow but a tolerable gag by Luvia.
Rin definitely drew the line at wearing red eye contacts though. Luvia tried and failed to force Rin into wearing them this morning and wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise. Dressing up as a fake blonde? Fine. Being overtly outed as this prissy noble bitch's maid? Tolerable. Having to wear eye contacts for the duration of their stay just to keep up the disguise? Rin would rather choke on sashimi. No doubt she'd look great with them, especially to contrast her hair at the moment. But it will be a pain to constantly maintain them, not to mention having sore eyes because of them.
"Ah… It's great that they like you! Seems like everyone will get along this year too—! Ah… wait… I think I'm forgetting something.." Taiga nodded approvingly before pausing at a thought. She closed her eyes, seemingly trying to remember something important before she snapped it open. "Ah, that's right! It's your first day here, so you guys need a guide!"
'You needed time to remember that?!' Rin held herself off from overtly judging her teacher's competence and decided to not have herself and Luvia involved with anyone so soon. "Er… it's alright, Fujimura-sensei. I think we'll get by fine navigating the school on our own—"
"Nonsense! It'll be rude to just throw you two off the deep end! And it'll be irresponsible of me not to get at least someone to help you two out! The question is, who should it be?"
While she busied herself in a thinking pose, the students sat before them all began to clamour. The once calm and quiet class began volunteering to be their guides. Most noticeably, they were made up of a majority of the boys of the class. And they were all acting like rabid fans.
"Sensei, let me! Let me!" "No, me!" "Nah, you suck, pick me!" "Luvia-neesama, please look this way!" "Kyaaah!" "Taiga-chan, let me do it!" "Oy, quiet down you guys! Can't you see you're all being rude to the new students." "Shut your face, Issei!" "Mitsuzuri, you're not helping!"
Rin couldn't recall if her classmates in elementary school acted like this in any way. Probably not. Hopefully not. It was so cringing how it resembled Luvia's depiction of how Japanese schools worked. So cringe that Rin was struggling not to die of second-hand embarrassment with every plea they made. Hell, there's already a Luvia fanclub blooming amongst a gaggle of squeeing girls in the nearest corner of the room! She didn't dare imagine what was going on with the boys' side either as they fawned—begged to be their guides.
Fujimura Taiga ignored all of them. Except for the one who called her 'Taiga-chan'. That boy ended up with a piece of chalk flying like a bullet to strike him square in the forehead as the teacher continued to think. Or perhaps she was playing around? Rin studied her silly thinking face but her eyes were already targeting someone in the far back. A redhead who wasn't all that interested in the new faces to his class.
"Shirou! You're up! Be a gentleman and show these two ladies around the school during lunch and after class, okay?!'
"Huh?!" the redhead boy in the back of the classroom blinked before asking. "W-Why me—?!"
"Eh? What was that?" Fujimura's smile momentarily turned scary. "You got something you need to do later? Don't tell me you have a date planned!"
A few of the class laughed and chuckled at that like it was an inside joke. The boy himself just made a face that said 'It's not what you're all thinking' before trying to state his reasons. It only took the teacher's insistent puppy-dog-eyed pleading face for him to cave immediately.
"Erk… F-fine…" the boy sighed in defeat and slowly nodded. "I'll do it…"
"Great! Be a gentleman, you hear?!" The energy of the entire class was quickly shut down as mutterings of 'ah, sadly, Emiya's on duty again' or 'can't help it if Taiga-chan's looking to offload work' accompanied the sitting down of the students. It seems they stumbled upon the 'teacher's pet'. Or maybe more the 'teacher's favourite' if his reluctance was anything to go by.
In any case, Luvia and Rin were quickly seated without much of a fuss. The boy named Shirou gave them a polite but troubled nod as Rin spared him an apologetic glance. Now seat neighbours, it was best to just go with the flow here.
Fujimura Taiga then quickly diverted the class's attention to the blackboard as she wrote down 'Finland' in English characters. "Now! Since we have new students from afar, why not test your knowledge about the Scandinavian nation they're from? You there! What's the capital of Finland?!"
That got a few wry chuckles and mutterings of a nonsensical pop quiz out of nowhere. In Rin's eyes, it seems this act of randomness was nothing new to the class. Not that they all would take it lying down as what seemed to be the class representative raised his hand while adjusting his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"But Fujimura-sensei, this is an English class—AGH!"
"Then answer in English, Issei!" Taiga yelled with excitement, having thrown yet another stick of chalk with devastating precision at the guy's forehead. Luvia chuckled behind her fan as Rin offered a silent prayer at his expense. Everyone else just went with it. Or groaned. Either or, the class atmosphere was one of strange acceptance and jovial tomfoolery until the bell rang and Fujimura Taiga had to leave for her next class. Their new classmates would then flock to her and Luvia both, barraging them with questions and such, reminiscent of an actual class for once.
All in all, fate was being kinder than Rin could hope for from her new classmates and school life. Perhaps returning home wasn't going to be all bad.