Watching Shirou silently blushing and focusing on his work, Shinji suddenly realized something. He opened his bag and started rummaging through it, speaking nonchalantly.
"Here, I'll lend you something. I have all kinds."
"What kind of things are you bringing to school?!" Shirou exclaimed, his face turning even redder.
"AVs, adult magazines, comics, 18+ comics, 18+ doujinshi, and 18+ galgames, as well as regular galgames."
Shirou's eye twitched as he watched Shinji rummage through his bag.
"Shinji, you really are..."
"You're the only guy in class who hasn't borrowed anything yet, Emiya," Shinji said, showing some concern. "Honestly, I'm worried about you, Emiya! Do you not like girls? Are you interested in men?!"
"Of course not!"
"Oh?" Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then tell me, what type of girls do you like?"
"It's too early for that kind of discussion! And weren't you supposed to be helping me?"
"Don't change the subject, Emiya! This is a serious matter we're discussing!"
"It's more of a trivial matter!" Shirou retorted, but then he thought of something and continued, "By the way, Shinji, do you have someone you like? I heard you confessed to a girl at another school on the first day."
"That was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, don't worry about it." Shinji waved it off, looking indifferent.
"Really?" Shirou glanced at Shinji, teasingly. "I heard her name was Tohsaka something, and after you got rejected, you got a good beating."
"I already said, it was just a heat-of-the-moment thing. I came to my senses right after. It had nothing to do with the beating."
"I don't believe you," Shirou replied.
"It's true!" Shinji stood up suddenly, clenching his fist with a serious expression. "At the last moment, I realized! The appeal of twin tails is limited!"
Shirou twitched at the corner of his mouth. "What are you even talking about?"
"Once I realized that, I said I was just joking, and then... I got beaten up."
"You got a beating?"
"Yes, that's what happened."
Shinji wasn't entirely truthful. When he first met Tohsaka Rin and confessed, he suddenly felt something was off.
After realizing something was wrong, he quickly said he was just joking, and then... got beaten up.
Rin's affection in the game dropped by five points after that confession, but given that her affection sometimes inexplicably increased over the past two and a half years, it was a minor drop.
Currently, Rin's affection level was at forty.
And Sakura's affection level was around fifty.
Shinji couldn't quite understand this. He felt something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint it.
But he thought it wasn't a big deal, as there was still the "Shirou's High Jump" event, which was the real start of the emotional line for the two sisters.
"Emiya, to be honest, I am a champion of justice."
Hearing the words "champion of justice," Shirou paused, stopping his work and looking up at Shinji.
Shinji stood on the chair, his right hand on his chest, and solemnly declared, "Yes! For me, cuteness is justice! Only cuteness must not be betrayed in this world! I will be that champion of justice!"
"What kind of justice is that?" Shirou muttered.
"It's the justice in my heart!" Shinji opened his school uniform, revealing a cute anime girl on his undershirt. "How about it? Cute, right?"
Shirou could only awkwardly tug at the corner of his mouth. "Shinji, you..."
Shinji interrupted, "Hey, don't you think it's cute?"
"It's not about being cute; it's just that no matter how cute it is, it has nothing to do with justice..."
"Enough! Emiya! If you keep going, I'll get angry! This is justice! My justice!"
Shirou suddenly thought of a possibility and asked, "So, Shinji, are you a lolico—"
"Ah! You said it! You were about to call me a lolicon! Just to clarify, I am not that kind of pervert! Absolutely not!"
"I didn't even finish my sentence, Shinji. You just admitted it yourself."
"What did you say?!"
And so, amid their bickering, the two of them worked on the cultural festival sign until midnight.
Shirou stretched, placed his hands on his hips, and looked at the completed sign. Then he turned to Shinji, gratefully, "Thanks to you, Shinji, I didn't have to stay up all night. Thanks."
"If you're grateful, treat me to something. Something homemade and hot."
"I can do that, but aren't you going home?"
"Nobody's home lately. My dad mostly stays at hotels. Last time, I even caught him in the act at a hotel. It was quite fun."
"Your personality is as bad as ever. And don't just blurt out such personal family matters."
"It's fine, because it's you, Emiya," Shinji said casually, then slung his bag over his shoulder, with one hand in his pocket. "Let's go. I'm looking forward to it. I'll have fried chicken, tempura, sukiyaki, and some takoyaki."
"What's with that last one? And what kind of combination is this? Tempura should go with udon."
"Haha," Shinji laughed as he reached the door, then turned around and said mysteriously, "It's a delicious combination."
"What kind of nonsense answer is that..." Shirou sighed and shook his head, but then he noticed something. "Shinji? Why did you stop? Didn't you say you couldn't wait?"
Shirou saw a girl standing outside the activity room door. It was Shinji's younger sister, Sakura Matou, who often waited for him at the school gate.
"Brother..."
Shinji didn't respond, his face cold as usual.
"Shinji?" Shirou called tentatively.
"Emiya, sorry, I can't have dinner with you today. Don't cry from loneliness, okay? See you tomorrow."
Shinji smiled and joked before walking past Sakura, heading towards the shoe lockers in silence.
Sakura bowed politely to Shirou and followed Shinji.
Watching the peculiar sibling duo, Shirou sighed, "Shinji's relationship with his sister hasn't changed at all. Who would get lonely from eating alone anyway..."