15 – Visiting Yukino's House
At that moment, in a high-rise apartment room, a pale yellow desk lamp lit up the living room. The sofa was empty, the TV screen dark, and the spacious space appeared particularly quiet. Suddenly, a sound came from inside.
"Pfft!" Accompanied by the sound of splashing water, a girl's joyful laughter echoed out, reverberating in the air for a long time.
After a while, the door opened, and a black-haired girl walked out. Her cheeks were flushed from soaking in the bath too long; her delicate face was rosy and glowing, and a faint steam rose from her body.
She looked at her phone, which was in a waterproof pouch, showing the words "Who am I?" The image of a boy pretending to have amnesia surfaced in her mind.
She recalled the earlier moment when he patted her head, and her lips couldn't help but curve into a beautiful smile. Her mood had suddenly improved.
Even though what happened earlier was embarrassing, thinking that the one who saw her was him made her feel—though ashamed—somewhat happy.
She didn't quite understand this strange feeling yet. Yukinoshita Yukino was still puzzled by it.
Inside the bathroom she'd just left, the mist still hadn't dissipated. Droplets dripped from the faucet, splashing water, making a steady dripping sound.
The bathtub, still steaming, had just settled down when the surface rippled again.
The girl thought for a moment and sent another message before turning to head toward the bedroom.
She gently lifted her long black hair, which floated and danced through the air, giving off a sweet-and-sour fruity scent from the shampoo.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at school…
"Okay, Shirou-senpai, stop playing on your phone already. You should dispel your Heroic Spirit possession state now," the pink-haired kouhai Mash said, teasing Shirou.
"Right. Mash, come here for a second," Shirou beckoned her over.
"What is it?" Mash asked curiously as she stepped closer.
"Like this—make a V sign with your fingers," Shirou instructed.
"Like this?" Mash held up both hands, mimicking him. She felt a bit embarrassed.
"Perfect! Say cheese~!" Shirou stretched his arm around Mash's shoulder, pulling her closer. With his other hand, he raised his phone and snapped a photo! The boy and girl appeared together on the phone screen.
Thus, Mr. George's wish to take a picture was fulfilled. The armor on Shirou's body turned into glowing light and reverted to his regular school uniform.
What the boy didn't notice was that, at the very moment the photo was taken, an image of a silver-haired, white-robed man in his mobile game lit up. A translucent bar representing compatibility suddenly flashed gold light and rose—from under 1% to 10%.
"Thanks, Mash," Shirou, now back in his regular human form, said with a smile.
"It's nothing..." Mash's face blushed as she thought to herself that she definitely wouldn't tell her senpai that she, too, wanted to increase their compatibility.
When Archer-class Shirou returns, and Saber-class Shirou is added to the summoning pool, that would be her moment of defying fate with a single ten-pull! At last, she would become a true European (i.e., lucky gacha puller) blessed with maxed golden cards!
"Mail mail!" Just then, a message notification buzzed. It was from the girl again: "Come meet me at my house."
"Well, there really isn't a good place to talk around here anyway," Shirou looked at the message and said to Mash, "Looks like we're going to Yukinoshita's. Let's go."
"Eh? Oh..." Mash blinked in confusion but followed Shirou out of the school gate.
After exiting the different space, all the trees outside the school gate that had been burned were now perfectly intact—only the section of the wall destroyed by the Chimera remained broken.
After that, Shirou and Mash took the subway and arrived in front of Yukinoshita's high-end apartment building.
"Senpai? Where is this?" Mash asked, puzzled.
"This is where Yukinoshita lives," Shirou said as he entered the building.
Since she lived alone, without anyone else around, it really was a good place to talk about private matters.
Shirou walked up to the building's intercom panel and pressed the door number. It connected quickly, and a calm, somewhat cool feminine voice answered, "Yes?"
"Yo, Yukinoshita—we're here," Shirou greeted her through the camera.
"Come in." The girl responded and then hung up directly.
The security door opened to the sides. Shirou gestured for Mash to follow him.
The elevator happened to be on the ground floor, and Shirou and Mash got in. Without even checking, Shirou pressed the floor number. The green display above the door steadily rose until it stopped at 15. The elevator doors opened.
Yukinoshita lived in Room 07 on the 15th floor. After exiting the elevator and walking right for a few dozen steps, they arrived.
"Wait! Shirou-senpai, why are you so familiar with this place?" Mash asked, full of suspicion. The way he moved—it was like he was returning to his own home!
"Ah, I only came here once before during the school festival for something," Shirou replied casually as he stepped forward to press the doorbell.
Still—how could he remain so calm about visiting a girl's house? How many times had he done this before? Twice? Three times? Or more than ten?!
Mash's mental image of Shirou-senpai was once again crumbling and rewriting itself!
The door opened quickly. Standing there was Yukinoshita Yukino, dressed in casual homewear: a fluffy, cream-colored long-sleeve top that revealed her snow-white neck and elegant collarbones...
"Please come in, Mash. And you too, you blank-faced idiot," Yukinoshita invited as she opened the door.
"Thank you, Yukinoshita-senpai. Sorry to intrude," Mash answered politely and entered the room.
"Oh..." Shirou followed in, and only then noticed the black ribbon tied like a bow at Yukinoshita's back waist. Looking closer, he saw it was an apron with a cat pattern. Her jet-black, silky hair shimmered like a black pearl just out of the water. Especially in the light, some still-damp strands sparkled faintly.
'Her hair's still wet. Don't tell me... she just came out of the bath? Which means... when I messaged her earlier, she was... in the bath?! Wait... did I just do something super inappropriate?!' Shirou's eyes widened. Once again, he was troubled by his overly sharp powers of observation.
"You two sit for a bit and watch TV—I'll go make dinner," Yukinoshita said with a smile as she walked to the kitchen, pulling a kitchen knife from the rack. It gleamed coldly under the lights.
Shirou's expression changed instantly. In one quick stride, he rushed up and snatched the knife from her hand. Smiling, he said, "Let me help!"
"..." Yukinoshita gave him a look like he was an idiot, then said, "Then I'll leave the washing and chopping to you."
"Got it! Leave it all to me!" Shirou replied cheerfully. To save his life, he would happily cook here for a lifetime.
Yukinoshita pulled out some broccoli from the fridge and handed it over.
Shirou took it, placed it on the cutting board, and sliced off the tough stems cleanly. A few swift movements, and the broccoli was cut into neat little pieces—uniform and tidy, like tiny green trees.
Yukinoshita passed him a bowl, perfectly timed.
Shirou swept the broccoli into the bowl with his knife, turned on the faucet, and rinsed them clean.
Just as he picked the knife up again, Yukinoshita placed some beef on the cutting board.
With a slightly angled blade, Shirou sliced the beef into thin, glistening slices.
With their perfect coordination, the prep work for dinner went smoothly and seamlessly—like a synchronized performance.
"Wait a minute! Senpai, why are you so natural at cooking in a girl's house?!" Mash, who had been dumbfounded watching their teamwork, finally came to her senses and blurted out the question.
"Huh? Well, cooking breakfast or dinner for classmates or clubmates isn't that unusual, right?" Shirou looked at Yukinoshita with a confused expression.
He didn't have many friends, so he'd always thought this was pretty normal.
"What made your brain cells think I could answer that question?" Yukinoshita replied coldly. "But I suppose cooking with friends is fairly normal." She didn't have many friends either, but she had enjoyed teaching Yuigahama to make sweets.
"No! It's totally not normal!" Mash protested intensely. What was with these two?! Their lack of common sense was perfectly in sync! Even an artificial lifeform like her knew this kind of thing wasn't ordinary!