The next morning, Roland opened the door of his home, rubbed his eyes and yawned.
After a good sleep, he woke up earlier than usual today.
"There are still two hours left. What should we do?"
At this time, the streets were still silent, and the sky was like a mirror that had been wiped and then covered with a layer of mist. Only a faint ray of sunlight shone through it, making it look vast, peaceful, and warm.
Without much thought, under the influence of Spirit Contract, Roland, who had become very self-disciplined, gave the answer.
"I should go for a morning run. After indulging myself, I still have to return to a regular life to be happy. Have fun..."
Fighting in anger is easy to get tired. Although he knew this was common sense, for the sake of long-term planning, Roland decided to improve his physical strength. To encourage himself, he stretched lazily and cheered himself up.
Although he deliberately lowered the volume in order not to attract attention, it seemed that people with keen hearing still caught it.
This greeting came from behind Roland.
"Good morning."
Roland's body froze for a moment. Even though he didn't say anything strange when he was talking to himself, he would feel ashamed if someone heard him. If Roland was thirty years old, he might be able to just laugh it off, but he was not even twenty years old now.
He subconsciously turned his head to look over and quickly searched the impression in his mind. Although it sounded like just a polite greeting between strangers, for some reason, the voice sounded a little familiar.
Then, the owner of the voice gradually walked towards him.
He was a tall, stocky young man with neat short hair. He looked good, but his indifferent expression made him look too serious, which made people feel scared.
He wore a long robe that was like a uniform but not in the way, and a golden cross hung around his neck, but perhaps because his face was too cold, he gave people the impression of being an unpopular conservative priest.
"Good morning..." Roland looked at the newcomer with a strange expression. He was already on alert and ready to summon the Killer Queen at any time. "Excuse me, are you a priest?"
"Yes, that's very rude." The priest stood at a distance that would not arouse anyone's vigilance, and looked at Roland with his calm eyes.
"I am the priest of the Fuyuki Church, Kotomine Kirei."
Am I in trouble?
That's not right. I didn't do anything. Isn't it not a crime if you are not found? There should
n't be any ashes left at the scene yesterday. Even if it was the set of Bleach, it would be impossible to find me.
And, why would Tohsaka Tokiomi and the church care about this? As long as there is no trace of mystery and magic left, the serial killers don't care, so why would they care about me?
Although Roland was greatly shocked, he did not show it on his face. He asked hesitantly, "My name is Roland. May I ask what Father Kotomine wants to talk to me about?"
The Killer Queen is ready to strike. As long as Kotomine Kirei makes the slightest move, she will let him experience the power of her Stand. Since the opponent is also a man, there is no need to hold back.
Thinking of this, Roland's eyes moved slightly downwards and he saw Kotomine Kirei standing in an upright posture, but the back of his hand was tightly covered by his sleeves.
Kotomine Kirei did not notice Roland's thoughts and actions. He just looked at Roland seriously and made an unexpected invitation.
"I just heard what you said, so do you want to go for a morning run together?"
The scene became quiet for a moment.
"ha?"
As Roland made a surprised sound, Kotomine Kirei seemed to realize his mistake and began to explain.
Things like just returning to Fuyuki, keen on morning exercise, and having no companions make the street full of a cheerful atmosphere.
Roland finally came to his senses and remembered what he had said before.
Could this guy be triggered by a keyword? So he was subconsciously attracted to me?
Roland took a deep breath and felt that he needed to calm down, then reject him righteously to avoid trouble. Yes, he had to be firm in his attitude!
"...Okay, but I'm not a professional, so I won't be very fast."
After a while, Roland, who was already feeling hot and sweating slightly, stopped.
"I'm done for today. I have to go to work later. What about you, Kotomine-kun?"
"I still need to practice boxing," Kotomine Kirei replied calmly, without any intention of hiding anything, "My father once inherited Bajiquan from China, and was also taught by a famous teacher, so this is my regular morning class."
After agreeing to continue jogging together tomorrow, Kotomine Kirei ran towards the church without any hesitation and continued his morning exercise.
Roland shrugged lightly until his back disappeared from his sight.
"We were just doing morning exercises together... I thought I was being watched."
It is not difficult to see through the current Kotomine Kirei. Knowing that his personality is now as stagnant as a pool of water, it is destined that too much concealment cannot be done.
During the morning run, Kotomine Kirei and Roland did not say anything extra, they just ran calmly. Even when Roland pretended to be exhausted and deliberately revealed a few flaws, Kotomine Kirei did not react at all.
If the other party had received an order, even if it was just to monitor the situation, they would not have done this. However, from another perspective, he was indeed being targeted.
It would be impossible to say that he did not know what quality of himself attracted Kotomine Kirei, but he did not expect that they would meet like this.
Is it possible that gravity really exists?
Roland frowned and rested on the bench for a while. After his breathing calmed down, he stood up and looked at the vending machines lined up next to him.
"Go buy a bottle of tea and then go back and take a shower. We'll be at work soon."
Roland walked to the vending machine, selected the drink he wanted, and reached into his pocket, but surprisingly found nothing.
Eh?
Roland patted his other pocket again, but still got an empty response. His body froze, and he looked up at the sky in silence.
It was a mistake. On my first morning run, I changed into loose clothes and completely forgot about logistical preparations.
Forget it, just bear with it for ten minutes and talk about it when I get home.
Just as Roland was about to leave, another pair of footsteps gradually approached. The person who came was wearing a fancy purple coat with a leopard pattern on the collar. He had orange hair and looked like a playboy.
The orange-haired young man looked like he was just taking a walk in this quiet place, and he looked like he had just come out of a nightclub.
He leaned slightly over Roland, put in a few coins, clicked twice on the 100 yen barley tea option, then took out a bottle and handed it to Roland.
"When you're out and about, it's inevitable that you'll run into this kind of thing. If you feel bad about it, just return it to me later... Ah, I have something else to do later, so I'll leave first."
Seeing that Roland seemed stunned, the young man forced the barley tea into his mouth, waved casually, and left quickly.
There was no asking for anything in return, no unnecessary communication, the orange-haired young man just did good deeds every day with a hearty smile and an optimistic attitude.
Seeing this kind of scene, even people who had a bad first impression of him will develop a favorable impression of him.
But Roland couldn't do it because he knew the young man's name.
——Ryuunosuke Uryuu.
It turns out that not only Stand users but also villains are attracted to each other.