With a small frown, a pair of violet eyes awoke. Her throat grunting as the alarm clock rang out. Her hand lazily reached out to shut the annoying thing off, slamming down on the alarm. Though instead of silence, the alarm still sounded making the tired sleeper realize she missed. With a grunt, her hand lifted again and lazily searched for the top of her alarm clock until after a few tries, her hand met plastic and metal, pushing the button on the top of the alarm. Silencing it.

For the next few minutes, the girl then laid in her bed. Eyes shut while trying to go back to bed again in a blissful slumber. Yet now that a part of her is awake, it knew she couldn't just stay in bed all day. So, after about ten minutes, the covers were thrown off to reveal the girl herself.

A white shirt and some small shorts. Nothing really fancy, but the clothing did rather well in showing her rather fine figure with the shirt being a bit small around the chest. Her hair was quite a mess though, with it covering half her face at the very least. Yawning, the girl then looked at her clock and saw that it was just a bit past ten. She slept a bit longer than expected.

Tiredly, the girl then got off the bed and went to the bathroom in her room. A bit glad she had a bathroom all on her own, as her brother and uncles didn't have such a luxury and even had to share a room together. Anyway, once she entered the girl turned the knobs on the sink and from there some water came out the faucet. Cupping her hands together, the girl placed both hands under the faucet, then leaned forward and splashed her face with water.

"Cold!" With Sakura Matou now feeling wide awake as she shivered. Turning the faucet off, Sakura looked at the mirror to see she's now fully awake. "...ughh." While also realizing just how messy she looked from her hair all the way to her wrinkly clothing. Imagine if Shirou saw her like this. That wasn't even mentioning the teasing her brother would give her for this.

Now feeling a little insecure, Sakura spent the next twenty minutes making herself look more presentable where afterwards, she exited the bathroom and put on her casual clothing. A long red skirt, violet shirt, with a nice red ribbon tied into her hair. Now feeling a little more confident, Sakura then exited her room.

"Hey Sakura."

"Morning sleepy-head."

"Oh. Hek kid!"

Where she could see a lot of other people already up and walking around. A quick look showed Sakura was inside some structure with a glass ceiling with countless small - but supportable - apartments all. Exiting and entering the apartments were countless people who were actually like Sakura in certain ways. That being, everyone having lost their original homes to the assault of monsters and their destruction. Not that Sakura minded, seeing as she preferred a small room with a bathroom than that place.

These complexes have everything a person needs after losing their homes. Food. A roof over their head. Water. And of course, showers with stalls. Even wi-fi. The rooms being quite big and spacious, though most people -mainly families- needed to share with Sakura being lucky and having her own room.

Waving hello to some of the kids and adults, Sakura then began moving towards where the cafeteria should be. Once she finishes eating, Sakura can spend the next hour or two relaxing before going to the kitchens and helping them out, seeing as it's her turn to help cook. As most people, primarily sixteen and up, have responsibilities to help run the place from cleaning, shifts on doing laundry, wiping windows and other stuff. Sakura primarily being a worker in the kitchen to cook food and at times, helping in cleaning clothes.

Sakura rolled her eyes when she thought about the laundry. Knowing that whenever it was her turn, her brother would instantly dump his clothes onto her to get first service. He wasn't lazy per say, helping out with tutoring the younger kids, but he sure loved having Sakura clean his clothes for him. Having especially shame in forcing his younger sister to clean his undies.

As Sakura walked and met familiar faces, the young Matou then thought back to a face she hadn't seen in a while. 'Shirou.' It's been some time since she last saw him. Her senpai having moved to another city, City-A. Not to mention school for the time being was out since some minor monster attack happened at the academy. Occurring just a few days after Shirou left.

That meant Sakura couldn't even see Shirou at school. Not helping that whenever Shirou called, either she wasn't there, or her brother picked up the phone first and hung up soon after before she could get a word in. As such, Sakura found herself getting increasingly impatient to see Shirou again.

"Mmmm." As Sakura pouted, her mind tried thinking up of ways to see Shirou again. If anything, she wished she could just go to his house like she usually did before. Too bad that Shirou has yet to give her an address. 'I really wish I could just meet him.' Sakura thought as she entered the kitchen.

A few people said hello with Sakura waving at them. As she then went to get some food, while thinking of ways to find Shirou, she then overheard something. Two young men on the table, a laptop with them. Both speaking about a subject Sakura knew very well.

"Damn. I can't believe this is one of the new Class-S heroes. She's a babe.""

"I know." The man's companion nodded with a grin. "Total hottie. Red eyes, blonde hair. But we also have that other recruit joining them. Some cyborg person. He's rad!"

"Haha. Oh yeah." The man nodded. "I prefer babes, but cool-looking bros are fine too. Especially with that sweet armor on him." The two then high-fived while Sakura tilted her head. She then noticed they were surfing on the Hero Association website. Thinking back, Sakura did recall seeing ads about some event happening, but she didn't know what. Truthfully speaking, Sakura didn't really bother much with hero stuff. Not because she hated them, Sakura was just rather indifferent towards them.

'But senpai does like them.' While Sakura didn't care much, she did know Shiro enjoyed them. If anything, the young Matou liked how he gushed about them and that sparkle in his eye. It was really cute. Especially when they were in middle school.

Sakura then had a wonderful idea. Maybe she could look some stuff up about the recent events of the Hero Association, that way she had something she could talk about later on with Shirou when they meet again. It was perfect. She just needed to get some information at the moment. As such, after getting her food and thanking the lady, Sakura found herself a seat and took out her phone where she then tapped on the HA app.

It was recommended everyone got one, not just to get information on heroes and clips of them, but also as the app lets a person know if a monster attack is happening or if an evacuation is necessary. Though this time, Sakura was going to use it to see the recent events occurring. In this case, it seems a hero trial had been offered a while ago. A link then showed a list of those who passed the examinations.

Tapping her cheek a little, Sakura then decided to check it out. Maybe looking at some of the new heroes will allow Sakura to have something to talk about. Tapping the link, a list with images showed those who passed. The top of the list showed those who passed into Class S, which was quite rare seeing as only the best could be allowed that rank. From the looks of it, there were three of them. Some girl and some guy, both being blonde and having the exact same description as she overheard earlier. Also another blonde but Sakura couldn't tell if they were a boy or a girl and gave wolf-vibes of sorts. Not much else aside from their image, though a file said information on them will come in due time. For now, it showed their stats and their high scores.

Sakura then scrolled down by moving her finger upward. More images showed more unfamiliar faces. Some that passed in Class A like a guy with bandages on his neck or a girl with long purple hair. Then it continued to Class B where for a moment Sakura stopped.

"..." One of the images showed a girl with pigtails that seemed rather familiar. But...they were wearing a mask, so it was tough to tell who this person was. Though they felt very familiar, like she knew this girl on the tip of her tongue. Followed by a feeling of betrayal as well.

'Probably nothing.' Sakura then passed the image and continued down. After two minutes, Sakura considered stopping when suddenly, she stopped scrolling with her eyes widening. Had she been drinking something; Sakura had no doubt she'd have spit the drink out comically like those on tv. The reason being, she saw none other than an image of Shirou Emiya on the Class-C list. Needless to say, Sakura's mind stopped for a full minute as she desperately tried to comprehend what she's seeing.

After a minute, she then stood and grabbed her tray. Finishing the rest then putting it down at the end of the table where she then walked away, knowing what she had to do.

"Hahaha! What a loser." Shinji Matou chuckled as he saw a clip on some low-rank villain trying to hit the Rank A hero Amai Mask and getting his butt whooped. It was video clips like these that made his day. Seeing morons get beat up which put a smile on his face. "Nimrod." Shinji chuckled as he then went to see if he could find another video.

Maybe one of King fighting a monster, which is apparently super rare as online sources say. Though seeing the monsters wimp out and do a dogeza is still humorous.

"Brother."

"Gah!" Shinji nearly dropped his phone, the latest model might he add, as Sakura then came into his room. Well, the room he, his uncle and father all shared. Unlike Sakura who got her own room, he and the rest of the men ended up with only one with no bathroom like Sakura and just one bed. A schedule has been made for who sleeps on the bed, the couch, the floor, then switching.

Kariya and his dad were currently out though, letting Shinji take the bed while eating some snacks. Having bought a mini fridge for the room and ate some candy. Until Sakura interrupted of course. "What?" Shinji asked, wondering what Sakura needed.

"I need to ask you something." His sister then said.

"Well, make it quick." Shinji pointed at the clock on the wall. "My show's about to start soon, so I'm going to need peace and quiet here when it happens."

"...you mean those shows where the girls are-"

"Woah, woah, woah. J-Just say your question!" Damn it. You forget to lock the door one time and your little sister sees you watching some, ahem, stuff. The look she gave him that day, Shinji still remembered it and didn't like it. Especially when Sakura just left without saying anything.

"Alright." Sakura didn't really like bringing up awkward things either. So it's best if she asked her question and gave her brother his privacy. A light blush on her face as she still recalled the show Shinji watched all while thinking if Shirou, who's a young man, also watched these things. Moving on, "I just want your advice on one thing."

"Fine. Shoot. What is it?" Bet it was something on getting Shirou's attention again. Well, he had plenty of advice for that. Though maybe this time he should be more sensible. 'Unlike that time with the swimsuit, guh. I mean, it did get Shirou's attention technically.' Too bad Sakura, wanting revenge, decided afterwards she wanted a 'sister' and cornered him.

A-Anyway, it probably wasn't anything big.

"How can I be a hero?" Shinji then spat out the candy he had been eating.

Shirou sat down on the bench while he nervously glanced at Rin.

The idol of the school just looked at him, as if he had done something wrong. 'And, okay, maybe throwing up while in danger might do that. But come on! They were gross!'

But in truth, Shirou knows why she's looking at him like that.

Because she realized he was a magus, with him discovering the same about her. Talk about awkward.

Anyway, after a minute or two, and tired of the silent treatment, Shirou decided to just get this over with. "So." He began. "You're a magus."

"Really." Rin looked unimpressed. "Saying that in an open space."

"Wha-?" Shirou looked surprised. Quickly he turned his head, but he saw nobody. "But there isn't anybody here!" He then immediately replied.

"Yet you didn't even bother checking for people when you said that, did you?" Alright, fine. She had him there. Truthfully, Shirou is still a little shaken up after seeing what was apparently some mad scientist and his horror projects like some zombie film. Normally, Shirou wouldn't so easily reveal anything about magecraft so casually.

With a sigh, Shirou then relaxed himself. Saying, "Sorry. It's just," Calming himself Shirou continued, "When we went on patrol, I assumed we'd either face nothing or some minor monster. Not…that."

"Can't say I blame you." Rin admitted. "Truthfully, that was also unexpected. Though then again, the magus in City-Z aren't exactly rule followers."

"Wait, there are more?"

"You didn't know?"

It became clear that both sides lacked knowledge of one another. After all, the two only realized just recently the other was a magus. Not helped that compared to Rin, Shirou actually knew very little about the magecraft community. His father never told him much and Shirou never minded.

Guess Rin decided to see where she had to start. "How much do you know about magecraft?"

"...like…generally speaking?" A nod is given. "Oh. I see." Looking a bit bashful, Shirou reluctantly said, "Honestly, not that much."

"How so?"

"My family isn't really…a lineage, honestly speaking. I think." It's been a while since Shirou had asked Kiritsugu about their family history, which the man didn't bother with. "Truthfully speaking, I'm not all that different from a regular person. Heck, my sister is more or less like me. And Kiritsugu, I don't think he even bothers with magecraft."

"Perhaps a family that left then." Rin mused to herself as she eyed Shirou. She felt a little shame for not realizing Shirou was a magus. But a good look at him showed he likely, if rarely, used magecraft at all. At least in the open anyway. Rin then decided to sit down next to Shirou on the bench, making the young man blush a bit.

"Uh, Tohsaka?" Before Shirou could ask further, Rin then continued to speak.

"I suppose it's not rare for there to be families like yours." She began while looking at Shirou, who did his best to look composed. "Really, there have been some families who have given up on magecraft for one reason or another."

"Huh. Really?" Now that's news to Shirou.

"Uh-hu." Rin then thought of a certain girl living with a certain family who doesn't bother with magecraft. "Sometimes it's because their magical lineage died out. Other times there's some internal conflict that ruins them. Or perhaps something or someone ruins the family. Though these days, it's because one's life work is destroyed."

"...monsters?" Shirou made a guess. Getting it in one go.

"Pretty much." Confirming it, Rin sighed. "While it's not normally a big deal, whenever a Demon-Level threat pops by they usually rampage. In some rare events, they strike at areas that may just contain a magus's workshop. Double for Dragon Levels who may have some big power like that monster that struck City A."

"Oh." Memories of that came to Shirou. Of that purple creature that was then killed by a hero. "I remember that."

"And so did a lot of magus." Her brows narrowing down, Rin scoffed. "That thing wiped out not just regular people, but also magus. Most died, but those that lived had to give up. Especially those in City-B when that giant fell across the entire city." A common problem these days.

Before, magus and normal people didn't have to worry about monsters much. But ever since the wars all those years ago and the slow uprising of these freaks popping up, things have changed for the magecraft community. Especially when the monster's rampages began affecting the world that had stayed hidden for so long, only those part of it knew of the losses with the rest of humanity unaware.

"Huh. That guy sure didn't seem troubled." There was a certain edge in Shirou's voice. Nothing furious, though he remembered that man and all his little creations. He seemed okay.

"He's a rogue magus." Rin decided to explain a little. "Countless magus have actually left the Mage Association. Not everyone, and it's really just a small percentage. But with how these monster attacks are going, the influence the Mage Association has is waning." Because of that, there were more rogues than they usually were. "Heck, some even decided to join the Hero Association itself!"

"...like you?" Rin felt an invisible arrow hit her. It wasn't an insult, but it hurt either way.

"I-I have reasons for that!" Rin shouted as she turned slightly red while Shirou put his hands up defensively. After a bit and realizing how she acted, Rin quickly went back to her usual persona. "Ahem." Now back to normal, Rin then said, "A-Anyway. The point is, there are a lot of rogues with the most being in City-Z."

"That doesn't sound good." Shirou commented on, already having a bad image of some jerks kidnapping people if they were like that guy from earlier.

"Depends on your view I suppose." Though despite saying this, Rin didn't look entirely pleased herself. As she's aware that the magus in that city had even less morals than the usual magus. Not that the latter were any better themselves.

"But anyway," Rin then continued while also hoping to avoid any more questioning from Shirou. "For now, just ignore them since our job wasn't even to deal with magus. What we did before was simple self-defense." Which also meant Rin felt no guilt for beating that guy up.

As for Shirou, he didn't look any happy hearing that they had to let that magus and who knows how many others like him scott-free. 'But what can I even do?' A very authentic question. Despite Shirou wanting to walk right back to City-Z and find the magus to throw them at the cops, logically, Shirou knew that was impossible.

The wards, the defenses, not to mention whatever cards those jerks had up their sleeves to defend themselves. Kiritsugu always did tell him that while magus can be beaten with the right tools, you still had to be careful around them. Lest you wanna be a test subject for them.

So, while reluctant, Shirou knew he just had to let them go. Then thought back to the magus they just faced and thinking, 'At the very least, hopefully I knocked some knowledge or whatever out of that guy's head.'

"In any case, I have my answer now." Standing up, Rin brushed the dust off her as she looked at Shirou. Now fully aware he's a magus, if a rather poor one, and could question him about further inquiries at another time. "Needless to say, I do hope you won't spill any of my secrets, correct?"

"Of course." Not a hint of deception in Shirou's eyes. "Don't worry Tohsaka. I won't say a word." Not even to his father.

"Good." Rin then got ready to leave to go home and relax. Not to mention fill out a report to the Hero Association on her patrol, a false one of course, before she paused and looked at Shirou. "...I suppose I'll be seeing you later." She then went back to walking.

Not realizing Shirou had blushed a bit as he then leaned backwards on the bench. A part of him, while knowing it was silly, a bit happy to hear Rin wanted to continue seeing him. "Ah." Shirou then felt a bit of embarrassment. Putting both hands on his face. "What am I, a middle schooler?" Getting so excited just because a girl, a rather cute one, stated they'll see one another again.

There's no denying that Shirou, like any youth his age, is attracted to a pretty girl. And Rin, while quite different from his imagination, is quite good looking and even had some neat skills. Funny, really. Shirou never imagined he'd end up working with Rin, yet here he is now. With his hormones going just a little wild. Ah, youth.

"Ugh." Though youth also brought angst, as suddenly, coming from nowhere, a person sat down right next to Shirou on the bench. Blinking, Shirou squinted as he felt like he recognized this person. But he couldn't put his finger on it, only seeing black hair, casual clothing, and glasses.

Who at the moment, looked troubled. Saying aloud, "What an idiot."

"Excuse me?" The boy then turned to Shirou. While the latter was just confused by what the boy meant, the former just realized he must have accidentally insulted Shirou.

"Oh. Um! Sorry. I wasn't-I mean." Taking a quick breath, the boy then said, "That line wasn't meant for you." Leaning on the bench, a fist on his cheek, the boy said, "It was for someone else."

"Trouble?"

"Hehehe. Like you wouldn't believe it." While Shirou could leave right now, he didn't have to either. Plus, it seemed the boy was eager to speak whatever problems were plaguing him. "Let's just say that my days have gotten wilder."

"Hm. How so?"

"My…girl…friend? Yeah. Friend. She ended up doing something really stupid. All because of some stupid jealousy!" The boy looked irritated while also exhausted. His brows furrowed with his hands in the air. He then blushed as if he recalled something. "I-I mean, it wasn't like it was my fault. Granted, I admit that I might have, ahem," The boy then averts his gaze while a tinge of red is seen on his cheeks. "Been staring a little. B-But I'm a dude and she was wearing almost nothing!"

"?" Tilting his head, Shirou can gladly say he's quite lost. Something the boy noticed and then slapped himself in the head. Realizing the words he just said could be very misunderstood.

"Uh, let me repeat myself." This time with more specifics. "A while ago, my neighborhood was under attack. Nothing serious of course. Just a Threat Level Wolf, nothing too threatening." Very true. While a Wolf Level Threat could still hurt, even kill someone, a few people rightfully prepared could beat one up.

Heck, Shirou once saw a Wolf Level Threat as a kid. An angry walking bird the size of a dog. Big…but not very threatening.

"I actually considered beating it myself with a certain," The boy leaned his head back, where for a moment his glasses shone just a bit. Making his eyes look a bit more ominous. "Skill…of mine. But it turns out there was a hero patrolling. In fact…" The boy looked left, then right, as if wondering if he was being spied on. Then he took out his phone and unlocked it, where after a bit he then showed Shirou the screen. "This is who she is."

Shirou can now see why the boy looked stimulated. Because the second Shirou saw the image, he found himself glad his father wasn't here. Otherwise he might once again tell Shirou about the birds and the bees, something neither liked. Also Illya's teacher Taiga who visited, who would just call Shirou a pervert.

On the screen the boy showed Shirou a tall woman with a muscular yet curvy body. Wearing an outfit like the one Rin had worn during the hero examinations, only being orange while showing off well-defined abs yet looked feminine all the same. Shirou gulped and the boy nodded.

"Yeah." The boy nodded as he pocketed the phone. "She's definitely a…beauty." The boy then rolled his eyes and sighed. "And yeah, maybe I was starring a little. But come on! Who wouldn't?" While most men would deny it, truthfully, they wouldn't, which included Shirou. Who dipped his head in both shame and interest.

"But," Now comes the trouble. "Obviously some people I know, girls, apparently didn't like that." The boy then seemed to focus a bit and cringe, as if he were remembering some stuff that made him cower. "But my friend didn't like it the most. Along with senpai."

"Seems like you've been having trouble."

"Oh yeah. You know what they say about women."

"Never anger a woman-"

"-or face their scorn."

It was then both teenagers looked at one another, in full understanding. Then both laughed.

"Name's Shiki." The revealed boy said while raising his hand.

"Shirou." Which Shirou recuperated as the two shaked on it. "And I have to say, it seems you're in the dog house."

'Like you wouldn't believe it." Shiki moaned. "Ever since that day, my sister keeps a closer eye on me while the maids do the same. Heck, even worse, one of my friends decided that she would be a hero because of that incident."

"What? Really?"

"Really." Shiki didn't look proud of that. "And even worse…she passed."

"Uh…congrats?" Yeah, Shirou didn't know what to say to that. Thankfully, Shiki didn't seem to mind.

"It's not all bad, really." He admitted while placing both his hands behind his head and relaxing. "I mean, she got a pretty high rank in the Heroes Association. Heck, and she can take me to the base of the Association itself where I got to meet lots of heroes."

"Lucky." That's so cool.

"Oh yeah. I even got some autographs." Though Shiki did have to do it in secret. Especially when he got some autographs from the female heroes. "But man, she can get rather full of herself. But…She's still pretty amazing."

"Well, good for you." Realizing that the day was getting a little late, Shirou decided it was time to go. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you. But I have to go."

"It's alright man. You do you." Shiki got up and did a little stretching. "If anything, I feel a bit better now, talking this out." Shiki then waved good-bye. "See ya."

"See ya." Like that, the two went on separate different paths. Shirou himself smiled a little at meeting such a nice man. Anyway, for now he just needed to go back home and write his report. Though he'll have to unfortunately lie, seeing as he can't just say he got kidnapped by a mad magus. That had to stay a secret.

'It's unfortunate, but I'll just say I saw nothing and was too late to respond to the alert.' Shirou then snapped his fingers. "Oh, right." He almost forgot. Some snacks for Illya. And after quite the long day, Shirou felt like eating some snacks himself. Afterwards, he'll make some dinner for the family.

'Family?' Which included Kiritsugu, with Shirou still uneasy by his reaction. Maybe when the opportunity came, Shirou could ask him what was wrong. After all, they're family. And family needs to stick together. So, with that in mind, the young EMIYA then went to the nearest convenience store while thinking of ways to open up to Kiritsugu.

"And done." All while Illya herself finished doing her homework. Yawning, the younger EMIYA then looked at the time. It wasn't really late, but Shirou was taking his time getting back home. Hopefully he didn't get in trouble. Facing some nasty monster that tried to attack him, especially since he became a hero. Still, Illya bet her big brother was doing just fine.

Bring!b Bring!

Illya then heard the house phone ringing. Quickly Illya went to it, where she then picked it up while hoping it isn't another scammer. "Hello?"

"Illya. Is that you?"

Illya recognized that voice. "Taiga-sensei?"

"Ah. Nice to hear you." Illya's teacher responded with her chipper attitude. "Hey, is Kirtusgu home?"

"No."

"Oh. Shame." Illya really hoped her teacher didn't call just so she can hit on her dad again. Thankfully, it seems Taiga wasn't calling for that as she had something else to say. "Anyway, I just want to let you know that the class will be going on a trip to the beach later."

"The beach!" Illya said excitingly.

"Uh-hu. So, get your swimsuit ready. We're going swimming!" There was a bit more to the call that just that, but Illya didn't bother with it. More excited that she can go have fun in the sun with her friends and play in the water. Shame Shirou couldn't come with her, but the trip should still be fun.

"-and in other news, fishermen have been spotting strange sighs in the water. But they don't know what." All while the news gave a rather dark foreshadowing.

And done. Nothing too much happened here. Just the minor aftermath and nothing more than that. Though as you saw, Shirou and Rin will be sticking closer to one another now that both their secrets have been unveiled to the other. Something Shirou doesn't mind too much.

I even showed him getting along with Shiki, who at this point has no girlfriend but is more than mere friends with Arcueid, who is indeed a Class S hero. Doing it mainly to get Shiki's attention again which worked.

And I finally got to show Sakura properly. Where in this world, is much happier even when living with limited space. Though she's rather peeved that Shirou hasn't been with her, and now wants to follow him. Even if it means being a hero. Though whether that'll work or not is uncertain.