Breakfast time.
Breakfast at the Greyrat house was, as always, with everyone gathered at the dining table in the living room.
Because Shirou had gotten up early to make a big breakfast, the Greyrat family's dining room was filled with even brighter and more cheerful smiles than usual.
The only two who weren't smiling were Shirou and Roxy.
Their expressions weren't so much not smiling as looking gloomy enough to cry.
"Shirou, what's wrong?" Paul noticed something was off with Shirou and asked, confused, "Didn't you sleep well last night? You weren't up all night thinking about stuff and couldn't fall asleep, were you? Ah, I did similar things when I was a teenager."
"N-no, nothing like that! And it wasn't just thinking, it was more like..."
Shirou suddenly stopped, because Roxy had just given him a look that seemed like it could kill.
"Similar things?" Zenith's gaze suddenly turned sharp. "Speaking of which, I heard you were quite the ladies' man in the capital when you were young, Paul. You must have been around a lot of women? I'd love to hear about your romantic past, dear husband..."
"Uh!!"
Paul hadn't expected to dig his own grave like that. His face froze, and he couldn't answer for a moment.
"Teacher, you look tired today too."
Rudeus noticed Roxy's dark circles and couldn't help asking curiously.
"Uh, I was studying magic too late last night..."
Roxy said, making up an excuse.
But then she remembered Shirou's words from before, "You're still studying water magic this late?", and her face turned red.
"Huh?"
Rudeus noticed Roxy's strange behavior and glanced at the flustered Shirou, a suspicious look on his face.
After breakfast, Rudeus found Shirou and said, "Shirou, you've been going to bed really late lately, especially last night."
"Huh? How did you know?"
Shirou's eyes widened. He and Rudeus slept on the first floor, but not in the same room, so Shirou didn't expect Rudeus to know when he went to bed.
"Because you always come back to your room so late. I've been staying up late studying magic every night."
"I see."
Shirou, realizing that Rudeus knew he was going to bed late, immediately said, "I'm just trying to improve my cooking skills. I didn't do anything else, um, nothing happened."
"..."
The more Shirou tried to hide it, the more suspicious Rudeus became.
Shirou sighed at this, realizing he was being a little too sensitive.
But he couldn't help it. Being in the same space as Roxy made him think of what happened last night, and his heart would start racing.
Under the immense pressure, Shirou couldn't help but confide in his only younger brother, Rudeus.
He cleared his throat and said hesitantly, "Rudy, if, and I mean if, a girl used her hand in the hallway at night..."
Shirou stopped before he could finish, suddenly noticing Roxy standing behind Rudeus, looking at him with a smile.
Shirou froze, completely speechless.
"A girl in the hallway? And then?"
Rudeus didn't notice anything wrong and asked curiously.
"N-nothing, I didn't say anything."
"???"
Shirou's attitude only made Rudeus more confused. Just as he was about to ask more, Roxy suddenly spoke up, saying gently, "It's time for magic class. You should go."
"Okay."
Rudeus nodded, but when he turned to look, he saw a look of reluctance on Shirou's face, as if he really didn't want to be around Roxy.
He was clearly confused, wondering what had suddenly gotten into his brother.
...
Over the next few weeks, everything seemed to go back to normal.
Shirou and Rudeus studied magic with Roxy in the mornings and swordsmanship with Paul in the afternoons.
Shirou wasn't particularly talented in swordsmanship, but he was becoming more skilled with the basics of Sword God Style, occasionally unleashing strikes that Paul had to take seriously.
In contrast, Rudeus's magical talent far exceeded expectations. Roxy even suspected that he would soon be able to use advanced magic.
Shirou's earth magic was still just average, good enough for making pottery at best, but more than enough for making weapons.
This was also thanks to Roxy, a good teacher.
She didn't stick to a rigid teaching plan, but instead adjusted the lesson content to match Shirou's level of understanding, showing great adaptability with her students.
Thanks to Roxy's careful explanations, Shirou felt that he might even be able to use intermediate earth magic once he became more skilled.
But this made Shirou feel even more guilty, and he really wanted to apologize to Roxy for what happened before.
However, he had no idea how to fix their relationship. Since that incident, they only really talked during class. Otherwise, they couldn't even have a casual conversation.
"Haa..."
Shirou couldn't help but sigh whenever he thought about it, and even his sword practice became restless.
Rudeus had been watching Shirou like this, and one day he finally couldn't help but ask, "Shirou, do you like Roxy?"
"W-what? That's ridiculous!"
Shirou quickly denied it. He didn't have those feelings for Roxy at all and saw her as someone to be respected, except for that night when it was really hard to respect her...
"You don't like her? I like Roxy a lot."
"What do you know about liking someone? You're just a kid."
"Aren't you a kid too, Shirou?"
Rudeus looked unhappy.
He thought Shirou was just pretending to be innocent. As a man in his thirties in his past life, Rudeus believed he understood men perfectly.
There's no such thing as a man who doesn't like beautiful girls!
No matter how proper Shirou seemed on the surface, he definitely had those urges inside!
Meanwhile, Shirou had no idea what Rudeus was thinking. He was still trying to figure out how to deal with his relationship with Roxy.
If he apologized, would she forgive him?
No, the main problem was that things were so awkward. How could he even bring it up?
The more Shirou thought about it, the more his head hurt. He sighed again, lamenting his sad fate.
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