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Chapter 2 - 02 Please Play FGO With Me

02 Please Play FGO With Me

The pink-haired girl stood at the door, flashing a textbook eight-toothed professional smile, lightly waving her hand as she cheerfully saw off Hiratsuka-sensei.

"Shirou-Senpai, let me help!" After seeing the teacher off, Mash came running back and said enthusiastically to the boy.

"Oh, then I'll leave the left side to you. Let's finish up quickly—I'll walk you home." The boy agreed.

"No need for that!

More importantly, Shirou-Senpai, come play the game with me instead! Look, everyone's playing it.

You can play with friends, and even use it to interact with your little sister at school!" Mash proposed again.

She had a will that had been forged through countless trials—there was no way she would give up so easily.

"But I don't have that much time to play..." He didn't care about the "playing with friends" part, but when he heard the last sentence, the boy was a little tempted.

"It's fine! I'll give you my sub-account, and I'll help you log in every day to collect rewards. So come on, let's play together, Shirou-Senpai!" Mash immediately offered, looking at the boy with puppy-like eyes full of anticipation.

"Hmm… I'll think about it. But let's make it clear—during club activities or my part-time job, I won't be able to play with you." Feeling pressured, the boy turned his head away, avoiding the girl's innocent gaze.

"Got it! I'll send the account info to your phone later." Mash's eyes lit up as she happily agreed, clenching her fists with excitement. Her voice was practically chirping with joy.

"Yeah, I'll be counting on you then." The boy reached out and gently patted his kouhai's head with a soft smile.

If he'd known that just agreeing to play a game would make her smile so happily, maybe he would've said yes a long time ago.

He didn't really understand entertainment or games, but making the people around him smile so happily—that felt pretty great.

After that, the boy and girl cleaned up the clubroom together.

The boy looked around at the now spotless Kyudo room, with its gleaming floors, and nodded in satisfaction.

Besides being the "wish-granting machine of International High," he was also known as the "vacuum cleaner of the archery club." This level of cleaning was nothing to him.

Then, after locking the door, Shirou and his kouhai Mash walked out of the school together.

The school they attended was called International High—short for the International Senior High School.

In truth, it was an internationally operated school jointly funded by multiple countries, with campuses all over the world.

At the school, you could see a memorial stone for Shakespeare, Gandhi's famous quotes plastered on the walls, a statue of Confucius in the courtyard, and pavilions with carved lines from Bai Juyi's Song of Everlasting Regret and Pipa Song.

High up in the auditorium, there was a stained-glass window depicting the French saint, and in the art classroom hung the Mona Lisa's smile…

Students here were either top scholars, specialized elites with extraordinary talents, or sons and daughters of wealthy and influential families.

Foreign students like Mash were actually quite common.

The international school was like a commercial plaza, occupying a large independent area.

On either side of its grand front gate were tree-lined pedestrian paths, leading straight to a main road connecting to the city.

Follow the pedestrian path left or right, cross the zebra crossing, and you'd find all sorts of shops, with the entrance to the subway station nearby.

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home? If it's inconvenient, I can at least walk you to the street near your place." Shirou tried to be considerate and made a suggestion after putting himself in her shoes.

After all, young girls may have concerns about being seen walking home with a guy—especially if it was in front of someone they liked.

Yeah, if that's the case, it really would be awkward.

"Really, no need! Besides, Senpai might not even be able to beat me right now. See you tomorrow!" The pink-haired girl smiled and waved both hands as she ran off to the right of the school gate.

"Kouhai's really got some nerve, huh." Hikigaya Shirou smiled to himself. In his past life, he could face off against top-tier heroic spirits head-on.

Though now, having lost his magical aptitude, he was just an ordinary person who could barely use a few reinforcement spells through special means.

He watched the pink-haired girl's figure run along the tall outer wall of the school, down the tree-shaded sidewalk by the road, across the zebra crossing, and finally disappear around the corner of the street.

It was still early, with plenty of pedestrians around. The area was safe—there was really nothing to worry about.

Thinking that, the boy turned and headed in the opposite direction. When he got home and had just taken off his shoes, his phone chimed with a message notification.

"This girl… don't tell me she actually timed my arrival home? That's a little creepy…" Amused by the thought, Hikigaya Shirou shook his head.

When he entered the living room, he saw two little pink feet raised up and swinging from the couch.

"Welcome home, Onii-chan." Lying on the sofa was his younger sister, Hikigaya Komachi. She was holding her phone, tapping away at something.

The phone suddenly blasted a familiar voice: "First step, swifter than sound... Second step, infinite suffering... Third step, the absolute sword! Mumyou, Sandanzuki!! — 'Lightless, Three-Stage Thrust!!!'" (Okita Souji's Tecnique)

"Oh, I'm home. Komachi, you're playing that game again? What about studying?" The boy put down his backpack, opened the fridge, and poured himself a glass of water.

"I'll study after dinner! By the way, Onii-chan, don't you think it's time you updated your old-man lifestyle?

Try playing this game that's all the rage among young people! Just so you know, Komachi's favorite is Sakura Saber—Okita-chan!" Komachi casually recommended.

"Komachi, didn't you say that even your old-man brother would like it?" The boy responded nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but the only person in the world who could actually love a brother like that is Komachi!

If I hadn't lived with you for over ten years, I'd totally think, 'Wow, look at this guy—he's aging before his time. Bet he'll go gray any second!' It's only because I'm your sister that I can understand your stick-in-the-mud personality!" Komachi raised her hand and scolded with her finger.

"…Thanks, I guess." Shirou turned his head aside. He was moved, but wouldn't say it out loud. My little sister is just too cute—she's basically an angel!

"If you're not going to play games, then how about finding a girlfriend who understands you while you still have the time? That way, both I and Mom can finally stop worrying." Komachi suggested again.

"Hmm… Komachi, what do you want for dinner?" That was the second recommendation for this game today. The boy thought it over, silently pulled out his phone, connected to the Wi-Fi, and began downloading the game.

"Komachi loves anything made by Onii-chan! Just now, Komachi's affection score for you just hit max!" Komachi sat up on the sofa, raising her legs with a bright smile.

"If only you hadn't said that last part..." The boy looked through the ingredients in the fridge, finally settling on a delicious-looking purple vegetable. "How about eggplant tofu hotpot?" he proposed.

"Sure! Let's have that! A little chili's fine, but no cilantro, okay?"

"Got it." The boy understood instantly. Knew you'd have requests.

And so, combining the obsession of "Hikigaya" with homemaking and the battle-hardened cooking skills of "Chef Emiya," the super domestic god Hikigaya Shirou went online.

He washed the rice and started the cooker, then prepared the soup.

Next came the main dish.

He cleaned the eggplants, cut them into strips and soaked them, minced and marinated the pork, and chopped the chilies, scallions, ginger, and garlic.

Then, over low heat, he stir-fried the meat and eggplant into a golden, fragrant perfection. Added cooking wine and seasonings, tossed in the tofu, poured it all into a clay pot, covered it, and left it to simmer for half an hour.

All that remained was to prepare a quick stir-fried veggie dish for two— And the love-filled sibling dinner was complete.

While waiting, he picked up his phone to check— The game had finished downloading and installing.

Following the account info Mash had sent, Shirou logged into the game. After the sky-blue title screen, he entered the main menu.

"…It's not Eggplant?" He chuckled at the name of the Avatar.

(the name it's the nickname of Mash in FGO community)

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