001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

"Sigh..." Rin sighs, looking utterly exhausted.

"Sister, if you keep acting like that, your reputation as a model student will be ruined." Sakura warns.

"Yeah, like your sister said, just act normal," I add my own two cents.

Hearing our words, Rin got a little irritated. "Like hell I can act normal after that revelation!"

Earlier, I introduced myself to them and told them that we had met when they were still children. I also explained that the necklaces they're wearing are the ones I gave them. Then, I told them about the Sky Realm, which piqued their interest, especially when it came to its magic system.

"My brain's overloaded with too much information at this point. So just let me act like this for the rest of the day..." Rin says to us, then walked off towards her school.

At the moment, I'm accompanying them to their school since it's been a while since I've observed a classroom lesson. But even though I'm with them, no one else can see me because I erased my presence.

"There she goes..." I remark to Sakura, watching Rin as she walks away.

"Sigh... Sister is always like this. But she'll return to normal later."

Sakura and I walk side by side, silently following Rin. Neither of us speak up to start a conversation.

"...We've met before while me and sister were still children, right?" Sakura suddenly asks.

"Yes. Though I don't remember everything clearly because of the Primal Beast Mithra's power. And as I mentioned earlier, summoning a Primal Beast in this world is too troublesome."

"I see... It's just too bad I can't remember any of it. Because in my dream, I remember being so happy when I was on that airship, enjoying the journey in the sky." Sakura comments, sounding disappointed.

"When we're done with this Holy Grail, I can take both of you to our world if you want to. So you don't need to worry."

"Hehe, I can't wait for that." Sakura smiles at me. In her dreams, the Sky Realm seemed like a utopia, one that left her in awe.

After that, we both fall silent again. But this time, the silence is more comfortable compared to before.

Soon, we arrive at their school. Rin is standing in front of the school building, waiting for us.

"So, do you want to follow me or Sakura?" Rin asks me.

"Well, I'll follow you since I'm curious about what the lessons in your class are as a model student.

"Alright then. We'll part ways here since my class is in a different place from my sister's. Thanks again for the bento, Rei." Sakura says with a smile then walks off to her class.

"Have fun." I waved at Sakura as she left.

After Sakura is gone, it's just Rin and me being surrounded by students entering the school building. "Remember not to distract me during lessons, alright?"

"Sure, I'll just watch."

I follow Rin as she walks through the school hallways, observing the school. This is really nostalgic as I haven't been in an environment like this ever since I've been in the Sky Realm.

As I am taking in the surroundings, Rin greets some people she knew, including the English teacher and caretaker of Emiya Shirou Taiga, and the captain of the Archery club named Ayako. I don't pay much attention to their conversations, instead continuing to look out the window and at the various classrooms we passed by.

Then, I start hearing Rin argue with someone, which made me turn my attention towards her.

"Huh. That's..." I notice a guy with short auburn hair and golden-brown eyes repairing some broken equipments.

"Emiya Shirou, the Hero of Justice and a Counter Guardian in the making."

Not gonna lie, I kinda feel bad for Shirou... Even though his dream is childish, like world peace or something along the lines of saving everyone, he also gets tricked by Alaya into becoming her slave.

But his ability to keep moving forward, no matter how tough things get, for the sake of his dream is admirable.

Even though it eventually led to his future self hating his past self and tries to kill him...

"Hmm. Actually, what happened to Archer? Rin told me her Command Spell disappeared, so she definitely can't summon Archer EMIYA anymore." I murmur to myself.

"What are you thinking about? C'mon, we need to go." I hear Rin whisper, snapping me out of my thoughts about Archer.

"Ah, sure."

After that, Rin enters her classroom, and soon the lesson starts while I stand behind them, observing the class.

This is so nostalgic, seeing all this~

But I notice one of the female students sitting at the front of the class seems completely unfocused.

Every now and then, she glances at her hand nervously.

"Hey Rin, can you hear me?"

Rin, suddenly hearing my voice inside her mind, turns surprised and starts glancing around. "Don't panic, it's just me talking directly to you."

"Hah? You can do that? Then why didn't we use this before!? Instead of making people think I'm talking to thin air!"

"Well, the problem with this is that I'm not just listening to you, I can also hear everything you're thinking whenever I do."

Rin immediately goes silent, and I can't hear anything from her mind...

"It's fine, Rin. I'm not gonna tell Sakura that you actually ate sweets in the mi—"

"No, stop it! Don't say it anymore!!"

That's cute... I can see from here that Rin is extremly embarrassed, with her cheeks turning red.

"Can you see the girl in the third column from the right, at the front?"

"Hmm?" Rin tries to look in the direction I mentioned and spots the girl with medium-long brown hair and blue eyes, wearing glasses.

"Yeah, I know her. That's Ayaka Sajyou. She's pretty quiet and rarely talks to anyone in this class... What's wrong with her?"

"Well, she has a Command Spell," I tell Rin.

"What!?" Rin suddenly stands up in shock, causing everyone else to stare at her.

"Ahhh... I'm sorry, but can I go to the toilet?"

After getting permission to leave, Rin walks past me, signaling me to follow her.

Well, I follow her. But instead of going to the toilet, we actually head to the rooftop.

"You want me to tell Sakura?" I ask her as we near the rooftop.

"...No, it's fine." Rin replies after a moment, then opens the door leading to the school's rooftop.

Rin walks over and sits by the railing that surrounds the roof, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at me.

"So, she's a Master? Did she already summon her Servant?"

"Yeah, she already did because her command spell is bright. You want me to make her Servant show themselves?" I ask while staring at a different direction.

"No, there are too many civilians. And you can't fight during the day! And can you even fight a Servant? I know you have magic that you showed me this morning, but..."

"Yeah, it's not a problem for me, so you don't need to worry."

And I'm also curious how this summoning system from Fate works. I wonder if I can get a servant of my own~

"Hmph. By the way, in my dreams, I remember seeing you with 12 wings. But I don't see any of them on you right now."

"I can hide those wings. And it's kind of a pain to have them on your back all the time. They're so big that it makes it harder to walk." And using those wings would increase my power even more, so... Yeah... The Counter Force would definitely start panicking.

"Can you sense any Masters besides Sajyou?" Rin asked me.

"Yes. There are two with Command Spells, and one under someone else's spell."

"What!? That many? And someone is under a spell?"

"Seems so. But why do you care, anyway? You're not a Master anymore, right? And you don't have a Command Spell, so technically this war isn't of our concern."

Hearing that, Rin looks down while holding the palm of her hand where her Command Spells used to be.

"Yeah, I know... but..." But before Rin can explain her reason, the bell suddenly rings, signaling the start of the break.

Rin immediately stood up and walks past me. "Well, look at the time! It's time to get Sakura and eat lunch together!" she says quickly.

Oh well, if she doesn't want to talk about it, that's fine. I then follow Rin to her classroom to pick up the lunch I've prepared for her earlier.

After we pick up Sakura and invite her to eat with us, we return to the rooftop and begin eating together.

Both of them seem to enjoy the lunch while asking me about the Sky Realm and the magic I use.

More specifically, Rin is very interested in the magic from the Sky Realm, so she keeps asking me how to use it.

"Oh right. By the way, there is a magic field currently enveloping this school." I say to both of them while eating the bread I created after seeing the bread in the cafeteria.

"Pffft!" Rin immediately spits out the water she was drinking.

"A magic field?!" Sakura turns shocked as she hears that. After all, setting up something like that at Public place is considered taboo for magi.

"What the—!! Since when!?" Rin asks me urgently.

"Since we arrived this morning. I already sensed it, but the magic field is still in its early stages. So neither of you would've noticed it."

"Then we need to do something about it!" Rin quickly says to me.

After that, time passes by and the day finally almost ends, finally school for the day is over. Now the three of us are walking together to the mansion.

There isn't much to do while we are walking. Sakura and Rin don't say anything, likely thinking about who put the magic field on the school.

Because of that, Sakura accidentally bumps into someone. "Kyaa!" I immediately catch Sakura before she falls, but the person she bumps into falls onto the asphalt.

"I'm so sorry about that. I didn't see where I was going." Sakura quickly kneels down and tries to check on the girl she has bumped into.

But the blue-haired girl remains silent and doesn't respond to Sakura's words at all. Then she stands up on her own and starts walking away without even glancing in our direction.

Sakura and Rin can only watch the girl in confusion. "What's wrong with her? I mean, I know we're at fault, but she could at least said something!" Rin says, shaking her head.

"It's fine, sister. It was my fault in the first place. Let's just go home." Sakura reassures her sister.

But as they are about to start walking again, they realize that Rei wasn't following them, still staring in the direction of the girl.

"Rei? What's wrong?" Sakura approaches Rei, who is looking away.

"...No. Never mind. Let's just go." I decide not to tell them what I have seen.

"Hmm... You're acting really weird right now." Rin says but continues walking towards the mansion.

"Let's go, Rei." Sakura tugs on my hand to get me moving again.

From the girl earlier, I can see inside her body that there are many large worms consuming her magic circuits...

And the aura I feel from that girl is incredibly dark...