He brought the Matou siblings to the shopping street in Miyama Town.
Every time he passed through here, Shirou couldn't help but marvel at the convenience of modern civilization.
Even though the fairies' Britain had developed for over ten thousand years, commerce there was still extremely primitive.
Whenever Shirou and Morgan arrived in a town, just procuring supplies would take several days.
In Proper Human History, everything could be taken care of in a single day at most.
"Shirou-nii-san, let's go."
"Oh, right… where's Shinji?"
He turned around, only to find that the familiar figure had disappeared.
Sakura Matou said, "He was probably drawn to a toy store. Let's just do our shopping first, and we can pick him up before we leave."
"Is that really okay?" Shirou asked, a little concerned.
"Mm." The girl answered firmly.
In the end, thanks to Sakura Matou's insistence, it turned into an outing for just the two of them.
Two hours later, Shirou and Sakura Matou walked out of the last shop, both carrying bags full of purchases.
"We bought so much, Shirou-nii-san."
Shirou tilted his head slightly.
"Yeah, this should last about three days, even factoring in Fuji-nee's appetite, which is way beyond that of a normal middle school girl."
Sakura Matou smiled.
"Hehe, Shirou-nii-san was really popular with the shop ladies. They gave us a lot of freebies."
"That's a bit embarrassing," Shirou said.
"Hey, Amamiya, out shopping?"
The two turned around. A young elementary school girl with short brown hair and a bright, refreshing look was standing there.
"Mitsuzuri."
Her name was Ayako Mitsuzuri. She went to the same elementary school as Shirou, and despite being a girl, she had a bold, straightforward personality that didn't lose to any boy.
Shirou was something of a leader among the kids in Miyama Town, and among those who followed him was Ayako Mitsuzuri's younger brother.
At some point, for reasons unknown, Ayako Mitsuzuri had set her sights on Shirou.
Recently, she often dragged him along to train in martial arts, saying things like, "Amamiya, you've definitely got talent! I wouldn't be wrong about that!" but Shirou always politely refused.
Ayako Mitsuzuri glanced at the girl hiding behind Shirou and asked curiously,
"Is she your little sister, Amamiya?"
"No, she's a friend's little sister."
"A friend's little sister…"
At those words, the light in Sakura Matou's eyes gradually dimmed.
Shirou quickly added, "She's like a little sister to me. Sakura, I mean."
Ayako Mitsuzuri seemed to understand and muttered quietly,
"So she's Tohsaka's… I see. The two sisters really don't look alike… Ah, my parents are calling me. Amamiya, see you at school."
After saying that, she waved and left.
She came quickly, and left just as quickly, like a gust of wind.
"Sakura, let's head back too."
"Okay, Shirou-nii-san!"
The two elementary school students walked along the crowded shopping street, chatting as they went.
"Good thing we caught that milk sale. Maybe we can make some cake later."
"Shirou-nii-san, you can make cake too?" Sakura Matou asked in surprise.
Shirou nodded.
"Yeah. Though Sakura, you probably still prefer drinking milk as it is, right?"
Sakura Matou drank a glass of milk every morning and evening, which was actually quite rare for a child her age.
"I'd really like to try a cake made by Shirou-nii-san," Sakura Matou said, her expression full of quiet anticipation.
"I'll let you try it sometime."
Watching her expression, Shirou asked,
"By the way, have you gotten used to me moving out of the Matou household?"
The girl hesitated for a moment before answering,
"Since it was Shirou-nii-san's decision, I can't really object… and besides…"
"And besides?"
"N-nothing."
Sakura Matou hurriedly lowered her head, her cheeks gradually turning red.
She recalled a line she had read in a book a few days ago.
'Distance makes the heart grow fonder.'
"And I'll be coming over to visit you often from now on, Shirou-nii-san!"
Shirou nodded. "You're always welcome here, Sakura. Please pass that along to Shinji for me."
Hearing that, the girl flashed a bright, cheerful smile. "Okay! I'll definitely come bother you often, Shirou-nii-san."
Shirou: "..."
It felt like she only heard the first half. What about Shinji?
Shirou suddenly realized that Sakura had become much more cheerful lately.
At first, she had seemed like a very introverted, quiet girl, the kind who would shrink back in fear at the slightest trouble.
But now, Sakura Matou was composed and confident, so mature it was hard to believe she had only just turned seven.
Could someone really grow this much, this quickly, just by leaving the protection of their parents and older sister and entering a new environment?
Well… it's not a bad thing.
Just as Shirou was reflecting on how remarkable human adaptability could be—
"I'm who I am today because of you, Shirou-nii-san. You saved me."
Under the brilliant glow of the setting sun, her face was tinted with a beautiful hue, impossible to tell whether it was blush or the sunset's light.
Shirou felt something was off. "...Sakura?"
"If it weren't for you, Shirou-nii-san, I don't know what I'd be like now. But it would definitely be something miserable, right? So…"
Sakura Matou set down her shopping bag and tightly grasped Shirou's hand.
"Even if I leave the Matou family, you won't abandon me, will you, Shirou-nii-san?"
A chill ran down his back, and Shirou nodded stiffly.
"Of course! There's no way I'd abandon you. Sakura, we'll always be good frien—"
"That's great."
The gloom on Sakura Matou's face vanished completely, replaced once more by a shy smile.
"Oh, right. Where's Shinji?"
"Ah, oh no… I lost my brother!"
Even though they had already left the shopping district, they finally realized something was missing.
In the end, they found the lost Shinji Matou at a police kiosk in the shopping district.
He was crying his eyes out.
...
...
"I'll go prepare dinner now. You can wait in the living room or your room."
"Shirou-nii-san, are you sure you don't need any help?"
"Yeah. You've been with me all day, Sakura, you must be tired. Take this chance to rest."
After finally convincing Sakura Matou, Shirou stepped into the brand-new kitchen and put on a new apron.
It felt a little unfair to Sakura, but he still wanted to have the first use of this kitchen all to himself.
"—Hah."
Shirou took a deep breath, returned to his usual calm expression, washed his hands, and opened the shopping bags he had brought back.
The seasonings, vegetables, and meat he bought from the shopping district… anything not needed tonight went straight into the fridge.
It took about twenty minutes to organize the kitchen before he officially began cooking.
As for dinner, Shirou had already decided on the menu while shopping.
The centerpiece would be the fish delivered earlier that day by the Fujimura Group to celebrate the completion of the new house.
Britannia, like Japan, is an island nation, so during his travels, fish had always been the easiest ingredient to obtain and the one he cooked most often.
Once he started cooking, Shirou became so focused that he completely lost track of time.
When he finally looked up again, an entire hour had already passed.
"Dinner's ready. Fuji-nee, stop sleeping."
Shirou placed the finished dishes on the table one by one, and the rich aroma quickly filled the spacious living room.
Even though they had prepared themselves mentally, this…
Everyone stared at the lavish spread, mouths hanging open in shock.
"Shirou… is there anything you can't do?"
"It's just something I happen to be good at."
Shirou took off his apron. "I thought I had bought all the necessary tools and seasonings, but after getting back, I realized I'm still missing a few things… I can do even better tomorrow."
Taiga Fujimura stared in disbelief. "No, no, no, this is already perfect!
If it gets any better, I'll be too ashamed to call myself a woman! Ah… Sakura looks like she's about to cry!
Sakura, it's okay~ Shirou isn't exactly normal, so you don't have to measure yourself against him~"
"What do you mean 'not normal,' Fuji-nee?"
Shirou said with mild dissatisfaction, "I'm just a bit rusty since I haven't done this in a while. Please forgive me if the taste isn't quite right."
"Rusty… how old are you, exactly?"
"I just turned 8 a few days ago."
Shirou answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world and sat down in his seat.