*This is my favorite recently released story. I Follow most of this author's work*
Latest update: October 10, 2023
Summary:The married life wasn't ever something that Emiya Shirou envisioned for himself, and yet he was now a househusband nonetheless. He loved his wife to death—even if that mecha school put her in a bad mood sometimes—but wasn't all this Infinite Stratos nonsense kind of a pain?
Link:https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14280222/1/Skill-Househusband-EX
Word count:11k
Chapters:3
Orimura Chifuyu was never under the delusion that working at the IS Academy would not be a headache and a half. Putting aside the dangers of the Infinite Stratos technology itself, dealing with a bunch of pubescent girls day in and day out was never something that she particularly cared for.
She did, however, do it willingly. In a sense, at least. Was it a misplaced sense of duty? Responsibility? She wasn't really sure. It felt important, though. That's what her heart told her.
Conversely, when she found out that she would be teaching a first-year class because her idiot brother somehow did the impossible, she was this close to tossing any altruism out the window and quitting altogether.
Hah. As if anyone would let her do that.
It was fine, though. There was a six pack of beer and a hot meal with her name on it waiting for her at home. As long as she had that, the strength to do it all over again tomorrow would find her. Probably.
She scoffed and slammed her binder shut, startling the newest roster of students seated before her.
"All right, everyone. We'll reconvene after lunch. I don't want anyone to lose focus. Understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" they responded in unison. If nothing else, they were obedient… for now.
The kids all headed for the door, likely on their way to the cafeteria. She grabbed her own lunch from briefcase—
"Huaa!"
"So cute!"
"Hey, check out Miss Orimura's bento!"
The woman noticed all the eyes on her and looked down at the lunch box in question.
There wasn't anything strange about the way it looked, was there? None of her past students brought it up before.
It looked the same as always. A simple plastic container wrapped neatly in a blue chequered cloth.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked. The peanut gallery shut up immediately. Their fearful gazes were a kind of reverence that she was used to, in a way.
"Uhm… Miss Orimura?" one of them found the courage to speak up. "Where did you get that bento? Does the cafeteria have those?"
The woman quirked a brow. Was she serious? Why on earth would a cafeteria give out packed lunches? Just eat while you're there, idiot.
"Of course not," she responded flatly. "I brought it from home."
Muted squeals made their rounds amongst the students that hadn't already taken off. Now that she mentioned it, shouldn't they all have taken off by now? The lunch break wasn't so long that they could dilly dally like this.
"Did you make it yourself?" another girl asked. She had a wide grin splitting her face.
Chifuyu frowned. Did these kids seriously think she had the time for stuff like this?
"No. It was prepared for me."
There was no way to prepare for the barrage of questions that followed.
"Oooh! Do you have your own private chef?"
"That sounds nice!"
"No, it's a boyfriend, right? Totally a boyfriend!"
"How romantic!"
"No way!"
"Huoooo!"
She sighed. There wasn't any point in talking about this, was there? Her personal life was none of their business.
The teacher decided that dealing with their eccentricities any further wasn't worth the trouble. Instead, she made the choice to ignore them all and leave the room.
"Ohhhhh, I didn't hear a no!"
"Come on, don't be silly!"
"I bet she's—"
As the door slid shut behind her, she could still make out the sounds of the first-year class yapping excitedly about something or other. It was her hope that they would get their shit together within the next few days, else she'd have to smack some common courtesy into them herself.
She only made it a few steps down the hall before the door swung open again. She turned her head over her shoulder to see none other than her little brother staring at her, wide-eyed.
"Can I help you, Orimura?" she asked him plainly. Little brother or not, it was only right to address him professionally while she was at work.
A finger was pointed at her.
"You!" he shouted. "You don't actually have a boyfriend, do you?"
The students filtered out of the room. For however much they seemed interested in the novelty of Ichika's circumstances until now, she somehow made herself the newest centre of attention.
That ticked her off a little. What game was he playing now?
"Are you right in the head, Orimura?" she shot back a question of her own. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a time and place for everything, but this is not the time, nor the place, for whatever… this is. I'll see you all next period."
At that point, she was dedicated to tuning them out. She picked up her pace and b-lined toward the teacher's lounge.
She had a lunch to eat. It simply wouldn't do to have to throw it away.
"Chifuyu! Hold on a second!"
Her brother was hot on her tail. She resisted the urge to tell him to address her properly while they were at school in favour of picking up her pace.
"I said wait!"
She didn't.
When his hand grabbed her by the shoulder, however, instincts took over. She grabbed him by the arm and flipped him onto his back.
"Oof!"
She sighed, realising too late that he had things his way. She was too lenient as a sister. It wasn't good practice to spoil one's family like this.
Thankfully, none of the other kids followed him. There was just one idiot for her to deal with for now.
She sighed.
"What is it?"
"Do you seriously have a boyfriend?" he repeated. Uselessly.
"I don't understand what you're not understanding," she admitted. "You know Shirou, don't you?"
Ichika's look of confusion turned into one of understanding. Then shock. His jaw might as well have been hanging on the ground.
Shirou?
…Shirou?
"..."
Hold on.
A certain memory from quite a few years ago suddenly came to the forefront of his mind.
X
"Come on, Ichika, you're in middle school now, so stop acting like a grade schooler. Don't you have a language exam today? Hurry up."
Chifuyu huffed as she adjusted her little brother's uniform. The boy pouted at being manhandled by the woman, though her ever present glare did a good job of keeping the kid in check.
"I'm big, now! I can take care of myself, you know?"
She scoffed.
"Right."
Ichika's pout turned into a frown. She was always like this. Couldn't Chifuyu just let him be? It was like she'd rather put her own life on hold just so that she could fuss over him more.
"You know, Chifuyu, it's weird that a woman your age is still single."
"...Hm?"
There was a dangerous glint in her eye as she registered what the boy had said. He was in a headlock faster than he could react.
"Gah! H-hey! Nee-chan!"
It wasn't like he wasn't expecting this to happen, though. His sister was the violent type; it only made sense for her to lash out if he poked fun at her like that.
The grip around his neck loosened suddenly. Was she forgiving him that quickly?
Ichika took advantage of the opportunity to slip away.
"Chifuyu, you—"
He lost track of his own words. The woman's eyes were downcast; there was a contemplative expression on her face that he wasn't quite used to seeing.
It was the first time Chifuyu had looked so unsure of herself around him.
"Ichika, I think… I should be honest with you."
Huh?
It was a strange shift in tone. He could only go along with it cautiously for now.
"Uh, yeah." He nodded. "What is it?"
"I've been seeing someone."
His brain stopped working for a moment.
Chifuyu, his slave driver of a sibling, couldn't even make eye contact. As much as she tried to hide it behind her usual stone-cold glare, he could see a dusting of pink across her cheeks.
"S-seriously?" he stuttered.
She nodded. She might as well have been twiddling her thumbs, so embarrassed was she.
"His name is Shirou."
…Shiro?
What a strange name. Did people actually name their kids Shiro in this day and age?
Oh.
He tried to stop the pity he was feeling from bleeding into his expression.
What was her IS called again? He heard a few broadcasters talking about it back during the Mondo Grosso. Shirohime? Shirobane? Shiro-someting-or-other for sure.
Poor Chifuyu.
With such a gorilla-like personality, it only made sense that no man would want to touch the idea of dating her with a ten foot pole. Was she really so lonely that she decided that she was in a make-believe relationship with her IS?
The cool mecha costume isn't your boyfriend, Nee-chan. Please get well soon.
"Ah. Right," he spoke up, trying to play along. "Shiro."
She blinked owlishly.
"You know him?"
His smile was strained.
"Of course! Everyone knows about… Shiro."
She let out a sigh.
"And here I was, thinking I was being all secretive. I was scared for nothing, I guess."
No, Chifuyu. Please continue to pretend that you aren't trying to date your IS when you're in public. It's really embarrassing.
"Right!" he chirped weakly.
His sister pulled him in for a hug.
"I'm so glad," she whispered. She sounded so relieved… he almost felt a little bad, for some reason. "Would you…"
She trailed off for a moment before finishing, "Would you like to meet him?"
He froze.
"No! Uh, that's fine. There's no reason for me to get in the way, right?"
It was way too weird. He wouldn't be able to keep a straight face if he had to be there when she was at the height of her delusions.
He could feel the drop of her shoulders.
"...I see. That's fine. Have a good day at school, okay?"
"Yeah! Thanks."
If he never had to think of this day ever again, it would be too soon.
X
Oh no.
Ichika winced.
"Sorry, my bad," he apologised.
Chifuyu hummed.
"He's quite a good cook, you know."
"Of course."
"I'm serious. If you want him to make something sometime, I can just ask. He wouldn't mind."
"Thanks for the memo."
Was his sister really so far gone?
This had gone beyond normal roleplay. She had been preparing bentos for work and pretending that her make believe anthropomorphized war machine had made it for her.
Was it time for an intervention? He sure hoped not. He was the only one who'd show up and depending on what stage of denial she was in, Chifuyu would have no reservations about beating the brakes off of him for even suggesting such a thing.
She was going to turn twenty five, soon. As a brother, he could only worry.
Chifuyu suddenly slapped him upside the head.
"What was that for!?" he cried.
"If you're not interested then stop bothering me," she grumbled. "Isn't there something that would be a more productive use of your time?"
Ichika stammered. He totally forgot!
He saw his childhood friend in class today. They hadn't spoken in ages, yet she signalled for him to meet her up on the roof; there was obviously a lot that they had to say to each other.
…He was gonna be late. Houki would think that he totally blew her off.
"Gotta go, Chifuyu! See you later!"
"I told you! At school, call me—ugh."
She gave up with a grumble as the boy ran off without a second thought.
Whatever. She was hungry.
X
If one were to ask the Emiya Shirou of several years ago whether he ever envisioned himself being a happily married househusband at his age, he would have called them crazy.
It wasn't that the idea of falling in love was completely alien to him or anything. It was more the househusband part that would have thrown him for a loop. He had aspirations, after all. Dreams to chase. There was no way for him to be tied down and still do what he had to do.
And yet, here he was.
The man smiled silently as he hovered over the stove. With practised timing, he pulled the fried pork cutlets out of the sizzling oil and rested them on a metal rack.
Great! They could sit there for a few minutes. By the time dinner rolled around—it wouldn't be long before his wife got back—everything would be perfect.
He took out two plates and carefully piled on two portions of the shredded cabbage that he had prepared.
Once everything was in place, he proudly rested his hands on his hips.
Dinner would be just wonderful tonight, he decided. His wife was stressing over today for a good while now so he wanted her to come home to something nice.
Ah. Speak of the devil. He heard the lock at the front door unlatching.
"I'm home!" called out a tired-sounding voice.
Not more than a few seconds later, a woman in a dishevelled suit rounded the corner. The no-nonsense glare that was one hundred percent plastered to her face melted away instantly upon seeing him.
"Smells wonderful. You didn't have to go through all the trouble."
Shirou grinned, turning off the overhead stove light before rounding the corner and walking up to Chifuyu.
Her shoulders drooped and she rested her forehead against his chest. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.
"What trouble? It's only normal for me to want to welcome you properly after such a long day."
He could feel the heat of her breath as she laughed into his shirt.
"You smell like oil," she said.
"I believe it. How's your brother?"
She sighed but didn't move an inch.
"Acting like a chicken with its head cut off as usual, but he'll be fine."
Shirou snorted.
"What words of encouragement. His sister has such love for him."
"Of course I love him," she rebutted… and yet it came out as more of a tired moan.
The man hummed.
"He still doesn't want to stop by?"
"Nope."
"Hah. I get it. You're his only family; it's tough for him to let go."
Chifuyu pulled away. She looked him in the eye.
"It's not that."
"It's fine!"
"It's not that," she repeated. "I've always been… tough on him. I'm sure it's difficult for him to picture someone like me settling down, is all."
Without another word, he brushed her hair out of the way and pecked her on the forehead.
"Your clothes must feel stuffy by now," he wagered. "Sorry, I went ahead and got everything ready. Did you want to take a bath first?"
Chifuyu liked to act like it didn't bother her, but he was sure that it did. Partly, at least. Anyone would want their family to show interest in their life. Maybe it was guilt that she wasn't able to be a more doting presence for the boy in his that stopped her from vocalising such thoughts.
Either way, he didn't want her to worry about that right now.
"I'll take a bath later. I'm starving, so let's eat."
"Sure!"
He saw her thin smile and knew that it was a joyous one.
The woman grabbed a seat at their quaint dining room table and touched her husband's shoulder appreciatively as he placed a wonderful-looking tonkatsu dish before her.
He pressed a cold can of beer against her forehead; the jolt of shock was mild and quickly over with. She sighed in contentment and held it there a moment longer, trapping his hand under her own.
"Feels nice…"
She cracked it open and nearly chugged half of it in one go.
"Fuah!" she exclaimed, slamming it down next to her plate.
Right. This was nice. She was pretty sure that she could deal with anything as long as she could come home to this forever.
Before he could circle the table and grab a seat for himself, she pulled him down and kissed him tenderly.
He was caught off guard for a moment before smiling with lips against hers and kissing her back.
Beyond anything and everything else going on in their lives, the one thing that they were both sure of was that they wouldn't trade their marriage for the world.
How funny.
This result just seemed so impossible, didn't it? They were fundamentally unrelated individuals: be it career path, character, or even place of residence. Emiya Shirou should not have been in a position to have romanced Orimura Chifuyu. Orimura Chifuyu should not have been in a position to know the name Emiya Shirou. And vice versa.
How could anyone wrap their head around it? Surely, it would be difficult.
It would make the most sense, perhaps, to view their relationship through a lens with a little more context.
Link:https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14280222/1/Skill-Househusband-EX