"What's your name?"
Because he was set on protecting his dignity as the younger brother, Rudeus showed a hostile attitude towards the green-haired boy in front of him, even acting a bit arrogant.
Seeing Rudeus like this, the green-haired child immediately panicked and said nervously:
"M-my name is Sylphy..."
"Sylphy?"
Because Sylphy's voice was too soft, Rudeus didn't hear the last part clearly, so he misunderstood the name.
This made him even more certain that this was a boy, and his hostility grew stronger. He said, "My name is Rudeus, Shirou's younger brother, and his only younger brother, you know."
"Y-yes, Dad said Shirou has a younger brother..."
Sylphy was scared by Rudeus's attitude and completely hid behind the door, afraid to show his face.
Rudeus didn't expect Sylphy to be so weak, and he felt strange for a moment, wondering if he was really a boy. But he quickly remembered his past self, when he was also introverted and withdrawn. He figured Sylphy was probably the same.
Thinking of this, Rudeus couldn't help but feel a little sympathy. He felt a bit more accepting of Sylphy, and the hostility wasn't as strong.
But he still wanted to protect his dignity as the younger brother, so he said with a sharp tone, "Since you know, you can't just call my brother 'brother' whenever you want, understand?"
"But... Shirou is Shirou..."
Sylphy seemed very innocent. His gentle tone even made Rudeus feel a bit guilty.
Rudeus wavered at first, thinking he might be going too far. But he quickly remembered that this was just a boy, and there was no need to be too gentle.
So, he hesitated for a moment and then said decisively, "Everything has an order. Shirou is my brother. You're just someone who came later, so at least you have to be after me."
"So, you mean..."
"Shirou is my brother. If you want to be Shirou's younger brother, that means you have to be my younger brother. That's right, try calling me 'brother'!"
Rudeus just wanted to find a reason to make Sylphy give up. He didn't think he would actually call someone like him "brother."
But unexpectedly, when Sylphy heard his words, he didn't even hesitate for a moment and said decisively, "Rudeus, is this right?"
"!!"
Rudeus never expected the power of a cross-dressing boy to be so great. He almost couldn't recover.
Suddenly, he thought that this Sylphy might directly take away Shirou's attention from him. The sense of crisis in his heart became even stronger. He felt that this boy named Sylphy would greatly shake his position as the younger brother.
No, he was Shirou's only younger brother, and he couldn't let anyone else take that away.
Rudeus made a silent decision in his heart.
...
"Ugh..."
He opened his eyes.
The ceiling above him was completely unfamiliar. It wasn't the Japanese-style courtyard of the Emiya house, nor was it the style of the Greyrat family.
Shirou's eyes slowly focused. He almost thought he had traveled again. But when he saw the maid Lilia next to him, he immediately realized that things weren't as he thought.
"Shirou, you're awake!"
Seeing Shirou wake up, Lilia was very excited.
Although she was choked by the smoke as soon as the fire broke out, and even when she barely regained consciousness, she was confused and didn't understand the situation, she still clearly remembered that Shirou had appeared in front of her at the most critical moment and saved her.
Including the last time, this was the second time Shirou had saved her. The gratitude Lilia felt for him was countless.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where's Rudy?"
"Rudeus is resting in the next room."
"I see."
Shirou nodded and was about to get out of bed when he suddenly felt a tearing pain coming from his right shoulder.
He looked closely and realized that there were clear burn marks on his right shoulder and chest. His entire arm was somewhat unable to exert strength because of this.
"I'm sorry, Paul and Zenith have already gone out. There's no one in the village who knows healing magic right now, so we could only do some basic bandaging."
"Looks like I went a bit too far this time."
Although he said that, Shirou didn't really care too much about it. He believed that even if he had to do it again, he would still make the same choice and save the people in danger.
Of course, such serious injuries did bring him quite a bit of trouble. With this, not to mention practicing swordsmanship, even everyday activities would probably be difficult.
"By the way, where am I now?" Shirou looked at the surrounding environment and felt that it was very unfamiliar.
Lilia immediately replied, "We are at Laws's house now. Since the Greyrat house was burned down, Laws took us in."
"Laws, I'm really causing him trouble..."
Shirou sighed. He didn't want to cause trouble for the people around him because of himself, but he also knew that things often didn't go as planned.
If his arm wasn't injured, he would definitely take the initiative to take on the housework or cooking at Laws's house to repay this kindness.
But unfortunately, he couldn't do that now.
"But I can't just lie here and do nothing."
Shirou narrowed his eyes. Although half of his body was in pain, he could still easily stand up with his willpower.
But before he could take a step, Lilia suddenly blocked his way.
"Lilia?"
"Please stop, Shirou."
Lilia's expression was very serious, even to a certain extent. "Your body hasn't recovered yet. You must stay in bed and rest!"
"...But I can still walk around a bit, right?"
"No! This is for your own good!"
"This..."
Shirou was stunned that Lilia was so concerned about his body. He had originally wanted to go out for a walk and do some rehabilitation exercises.
Just then, Rudeus heard the commotion and came over from the next room.
"Shirou, you're awake!"
"Yeah."
Seeing that Rudeus was safe and sound, Shirou was relieved.
Before he could continue speaking, he saw Rudeus suddenly say with a worried face, "Shirou, why are you getting up! Your body hasn't recovered yet. You must stay in bed and rest!"
"???"
Shirou never expected that Rudeus, who had once ignored him, would suddenly show so much concern. He was both happy and helpless.
Because from the eager looks of Rudeus and Lilia, his idea of going out for rehabilitation exercises was definitely ruined.
Although he had always hoped to improve his relationship with his family, now that the relationship had improved, the concern from the people around him brought a lot of trouble, which really made him want to laugh and cry.