Chapter 58: The Archery Club Competition
In the early morning, the gentle sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating motes of dust dancing within the bright orange beams.
Shirou released the girl in his arms and carefully rose from the bed. Since that night, Saber's wariness toward him seemed to have diminished significantly; now, even when he held her like that to sleep, she would only offer symbolic resistance.
It seemed he wasn't far from taking the final step.
With these thoughts in mind, Shirou went to the washroom to freshen up. Illya, Sakura, and the others woke up one after another shortly after, and they prepared breakfast together. After a simple meal, the group headed to school.
"Good morning, Orihara-kun, and Sakura too~"
Just as they reached the school gates, they ran into Ayako Mitsuzuri, who was dressed in her dōjō uniform and preparing to go change.
"Good morning, Mitsuzuri-san."
Sakura also smiled and nodded to her. After exchanging greetings, Ayako looked at Shirou.
"The competition is after noon today. Don't forget our promise, Orihara-kun~"
"Yeah, I know," Shirou said leisurely.
Afterward, they each went to their respective classrooms. Not long after he sat in his seat, the exceptionally brilliant mathematics teacher walked in, skillfully took a piece of chalk to write on the blackboard, and began his non-stop lecture.
As for Shirou at this moment, he lowered his head and focused entirely on writing and drawing in his notebook with a lead pencil.
Snap—
The lead suddenly broke, leaving a blackened mark on the pure white notebook. Shirou clicked the end of the pencil, a fresh lead emerged from the tip, and he resumed writing rapidly, his pencil staining the pristine white notebook with dense patches of black.
A moment later.
Shirou looked at his masterpiece, the corners of his mouth curling slightly in satisfaction. Jeanne, in her spiritualized state, saw this scene and felt he was mocking her; she was so angry she wanted to manifest and punch him.
Ring ring ring ring—!
Along with the school bell, the classroom returned to its lively atmosphere, as if the very air was filled with a sense of pleasure. Once class was over, the students returned to their own worlds.
For example, a few students sitting in the corner were currently playing Monster Hunter on their PSPs, occasionally letting out gasps of admiration at exciting moments.
"Brilliant!"
Then, as the game seemingly entered another stage, they scrambled to urge their friends on.
"Where's the meat? The meat! Put down a trap, quick!"
"No, you're doing it wrong!"
"Do you even know how to play, you scrub?!"
"What are you doing? Argh!" "
Hmph, hmph, ahhhhhh!!!"
In such an atmosphere, the morning passed quickly.
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On a winter afternoon, Shirou arrived at the Archery Club right on time.
"You're finally here!" As soon as he arrived, Ayako Mitsuzuri, who had been waiting early, hurried over. She grabbed Shirou's arm and led him inside. "Quick, go change into your dōjō clothes. With you here this time, we can definitely win!"
"Don't have too much expectation for me. There might be someone who shoots better than I do," Shirou teased.
"How is that possible? Who could shoot more accurately than you?!" Ayako, however, had great confidence in Shirou, raising her hand to pat him on the back. "In the field of archery, I would call you the strongest!"
Since it was winter, he only needed to drape the dōjō uniform over himself. As Shirou pulled on the clean white garment, he spoke to Ayako.
"After that day, you haven't encountered anything strange, have you?"
Hearing this, the girl's cheeks suddenly flushed crimson. "What do you mean by that?"
She suddenly remembered what Shirou had done that night, and her boisterous, lively demeanor instantly turned shy.
"I mean, have you encountered any magi or other dangers?" Shirou corrected.
"...No, I haven't."
Ayako's gaze looked somewhat resentful, and then she said, "Just hurry up and follow me once you're dressed!"
Ayako had just turned around when she felt the man behind her suddenly draw close, whispering in her ear.
"I'm really sorry about what happened that day."
In an instant, the girl turned red from face to neck. She bit her lip in anger, turned back, and punched Shirou.
"You... don't suddenly say things like that!"
"Hey, hey, that hurts. I feel like my heart just stopped," Shirou said, faking an expression of intense pain.
But Ayako looked at him with an expression that said, 'Keep acting.' Sensing it was no use, Shirou asked directly.
"Which school are we facing this time?"
"Sakuraba Academy's high school division. Although none of their archery club members are better than I am, most of them are at an average level, so we need a higher score to beat them."
Ayako said somewhat helplessly. It felt like a 'Challenger' player unable to carry a team of 'Bronze' and 'Silver' teammates.
"You've had a hard time," Shirou patted her shoulder. "By the way, can I call you Ayako?"
"Sure," Ayako replied with slightly red cheeks. "But don't think you can mess with me like you did that night...!"
She originally wanted to mention that she knew martial arts, but she suddenly remembered Shirou's absurd combat strength and realized with frustration that if he really wanted to mess with her, she truly couldn't resist.
"What are you thinking? I'm not that kind of person," Shirou said righteously.
"Hmph, I don't believe you!" The sensation from that night seemed to resurface; Ayako immediately looked away.
Without wasting more time on the subject, Ayako led Shirou into the dōjō. Currently, the match between the two schools had reached an extremely tense stage.
The rule was that each archery club sent five members, each shooting three arrows in sequence, with the final victory decided by the total score. Thus, this was a team battle.
A member of the Homurahara Academy Archery Club began to draw their bow, pulling the string to full draw with a perfectly standard posture.
Swoosh—!
The arrow shot out and hit the target. The referee standing to the side took a look and blew the whistle: "Outer ring! One point!"
Beside Shirou, Ayako watched this and helplessly facepalmed. "You see what I mean..."
"I think it's fine. For a beginner, hitting the target is a victory," Shirou said.
"But they've been practicing for almost a year."
"Ah... I see..."
Hearing that Homurahara opened with only a "one-pointer," the members of the Sakuraba Academy Archery Club immediately burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!! This Homurahara Archery Club is just weak!"
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