Jeanne reported Emiya Kiritsugu's panicked reaction at the Fujimura Mansion, as well as the unexpected factor of Fujimura Taiga, to Kanjuro in detail. Kanjuro tapped the armrest with his finger, a glimmer of interest flashing in his eyes.
"Fujimura Taiga... Sobu High School..." he muttered the names, the smile at the corners of his mouth gradually deepening. "What an interesting coincidence. It seems the stage for this play is even broader than I imagined." He immediately pulled up the sparse information on Fujimura Taiga, confirming that she attended the same school as him and that they might have even crossed paths a few times, though he had never paid attention before.
The next day, at the end of the school day at Sobu High School, the setting sun dyed the school gate in a warm golden hue. Students poured out like a tide. Fujimura Taiga carried her school bag, her mind already calculating what nutritious dish to cook for that mysterious and pitiful uncle tonight (even though her cooking skills were mediocre), her steps hurried.
"Yo, isn't this Fujimura-san?"
A refreshing and somewhat magnetic voice sounded beside her. Taiga instinctively turned her head, and what met her eyes was a handsome face with a gentle smile. His black, messy hair shimmered in the sunset, and his deep eyes seemed capable of sucking away one's soul. It was Kanjuro. He was wearing the Sobu High School uniform, standing tall and possessing an outstanding temperament, making him exceptionally conspicuous in the crowd.
Taiga froze for a moment, then recognized this face that was quite eye-catching in school. But she wasn't in a good mood right now, especially thinking about the uncle at home who was in a terrible state, and she had no interest in dealing with this seemingly popular boy. She frowned, her face showing blatant disdain. "What? Is something up? Are we that close?" Her tone was as sharp as a bristling cat's.
Kanjuro didn't mind her bad attitude; instead, his smile deepened with a hint of cynical teasing. "Don't be so cold, Fujimura-san. I just saw a fellow student and wanted to say hello. Seeing you in such a hurry, are you rushing back... to cook for someone important?" His voice rose slightly at the end of the last sentence, carrying a subtle hint of probing.
Taiga's heart skipped a beat. Instinctively not wanting him to know about Emiya Kiritsugu's existence, she immediately retorted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, "None of your business! Stop trying to get close! Get lost!" She tried to hide her guilt with ferocity, quickening her pace to shake him off.
However, Kanjuro easily kept up like a piece of sticky candy, walking side by side with her. His voice remained gentle yet possessed an undeniable penetration. "Cooking, huh... I'm actually quite good at it. Looking at you, you don't seem like someone who cooks often, right? How about... I help you? Just think of it as friendly mutual aid between classmates."
"Who wants your help!" Taiga rejected him without thinking, but her cheeks inexplicably felt a bit hot. This guy was indeed good-looking and had a nice voice, but that gaze that seemed to see through everything made her very uncomfortable, yet... also strangely attracted. She forced herself to harden her heart. "I'm warning you, don't follow me!"
Kanjuro stopped, spread his hands, and made a helpless and innocent expression. "Well, it seems I'm disliked. But if you change your mind, you can come find me anytime, Fujimura-san. After all, making delicious food for someone important is a very happy thing, right?"
His last sentence was like a feather lightly scratching the tip of Taiga's heart. Her footsteps paused, and she didn't look back, but the tips of her ears quietly turned red. For some reason, she didn't drive him away harshly again.
Kanjuro looked at her back, which was slightly flustered yet pretending to be calm, and the corner of his mouth curled into a successful arc of a scheme. He didn't follow closely anymore, just watched her leave, like a very patient spider watching its prey hover at the edge of the web.
The next day, as expected, Taiga "happened" to meet Kanjuro, who seemed to have also come to the supermarket. He once again offered to help, and this time, half out of spite and half out of curiosity (and perhaps a sliver of attraction to his looks that she didn't want to admit), Taiga didn't immediately refuse.
Thus, in the Fujimura family's kitchen—which wasn't very large but was well-equipped—a bizarre yet "harmonious" scene appeared.
Kanjuro tied on an apron (which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere) and handled the ingredients with practiced movements. Cutting vegetables, seasoning, and controlling the heat, he flowed like water, as if he were a head chef at a top restaurant. He would occasionally direct Taiga to do simple tasks like washing vegetables or handing him seasonings, his tone natural and possessing an irresistible guiding force.
Taiga was awkward at first, intentionally being contrary, but seeing Kanjuro's focused profile and amazing culinary skills, her little temper unknowingly dissipated. She even laughed out loud at the trivial school anecdotes he occasionally threw out. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of food and a... nearly warm atmosphere.
"I didn't expect you to be quite capable!" Taiga said, looking at the several dishes on the table that were excellent in color, aroma, and taste, unable to help but offer a compliment, even though her tone was still a bit stiff.
Kanjuro took off the apron and smiled slightly, the light casting a gentle shadow in his eyes. "It's my honor to satisfy Fujimura-san." His gaze swept over the dishes as he added softly with hidden meaning, "I hope... your 'important person' likes them too."
Taiga's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively avoided his gaze, nodding haphazardly. "...Yeah, thanks."
She saw Kanjuro out, and as she watched his back disappear into the night, her mind was a mess. This person... seemed a bit different from what she had thought? He was gentle, handsome, a good cook, and proactively helped... Aside from being a bit too familiar and hard to read, he didn't seem to have any flaws?
She shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel those messy thoughts from her mind, and turned to pick up the food.
What she didn't know was that in a corner she couldn't see, the gentle smile on Kanjuro's face had long since vanished, replaced by a cold interest, like observing an experimental subject. He took out a Communication Runestone and whispered instructions to Jeanne on the other end:
"Continue observing. Focus on recording... Emiya Kiritsugu's reaction when he eats this 'loving' meal."
He looked forward to seeing what kind of... wonderful despair would be catalyzed when that warmth, which he had personally participated in making and which was disguised as a "sunny senior," was fed into the mouth of that man who was like a startled bird. Meanwhile, the completely unaware Fujimura Taiga was personally pushing the person she wanted to protect toward the edge of a more sophisticated trap. Inside the guest room of the Fujimura Mansion, the light was warm. Emiya Kiritsugu sat at the low table, silently eating the dinner brought by Fujimura Taiga. The dishes looked excellent, the aroma was fragrant, and the taste indeed far exceeded his previous expectations. He chewed mechanically, his hollow eyes occasionally flickering with a very subtle wave due to the deliciousness of the food, but mostly containing a deep-seated unease.
This taste... was too good. It felt somewhat unreal. Not in terms of skill, but an... indescribable sense of familiarity, a hidden trace beneath the deliciousness that seemed deliberately crafted, making his shattered nerve endings ache slightly. But in his current mental state, he couldn't make clear logical judgments and could only attribute this strangeness to his own oversensitivity and long-term post-traumatic stress.
"Uncle, how's the taste? Is it to your liking?" Taiga sat opposite him, her chin resting on her hands, her eyes bright and expectant. Seeing Kiritsugu eating more than in previous days, she felt a little proud; it seemed the tricks she learned from Kanjuro were quite effective.
Kiritsugu paused, nodded extremely slowly, and hoarsely squeezed out two words: "...Very good." This was a rare positive feedback from him.
Taiga immediately beamed, and her chatterbox opened up. "Right, right! I told you! Actually... hehe, not to brag, but I met a friend recently who's super amazing at cooking! I specifically learned a few tricks from him today!" Her tone carried a bit of unconscious showing off. "His name is Kanjuro, he's from our school. He's handsome and has a great personality, and I didn't expect his cooking to be so great too!"
"Ye... Xiao...?"
This name was like an ice pick, instantly piercing into Emiya Kiritsugu's mind! The hand holding his chopsticks jerked violently, and the chopsticks fell onto the table with a crisp sound. The color instantly drained from his face, his pupils constricted in fear, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably. That demon! The name that had pushed him into the depths of hell! How could... how could it come from Taiga's mouth? And as a "friend"?
"Uncle? What's wrong?" Taiga was startled by his violent reaction and quickly stood up. "Are you feeling unwell?"
Kiritsugu abruptly lowered his head, his hands tightly gripping his knees, his knuckles turning white. He couldn't let her know! He couldn't drag her into this! Kanjuro was too dangerous! He must have done this on purpose! He had found him and even used Taiga to... to do what? A new round of torture?
He forcibly suppressed the roar of fear in his throat, using all his strength to keep his voice from being completely distorted. "No... nothing. Just... my hand slipped." He didn't dare look at Taiga as he picked up the chopsticks again, but he could no longer swallow. The food was still delicious, but now it was as hard to swallow as poison.
Taiga looked at his pale face and slightly trembling hands, her heart filled with confusion and worry, but seeing that he didn't seem to want to say more, she could only suppress the urge to ask further. She tried to lighten the atmosphere, changed the subject, and babbled about other trivial things at school—how she had knocked down a senior while practicing Kendo, how her grandfather nagged... These mundane, trivial, and real ramblings, full of the breath of life, were like a weak warm current, slowly penetrating Kiritsugu's frozen and desperate heart. He listened silently, his tense body relaxing bit by bit.
(She knows nothing... she just... simply wants to help me.)
This realization hit him with a piercing pain and... an indescribable warmth. He looked back at his life: Irisviel was more of a like-minded partner and someone to protect; Maiya was a loyal but ultimately proven false subordinate; Illya was distant from him. The ones who had truly given him pure kindness and warmth were only the childhood Shirley and his mentor Natalia, and they had both died because of him. He had long been accustomed to loneliness, betrayal, and exploitation.
But the girl in front of him, Fujimura Taiga, was unrelated to him and didn't even know his background, yet for the simple reason that "one cannot just stand by and watch someone die," she had taken him in, cared for him, and even went to learn cooking from someone else just so he could eat better... This kind of pure, direct care without any motive was a luxury he had almost never experienced in his life.
A strong impulse surged in his heart; he wanted to say something, to respond to this warmth. But when the words reached his lips, they turned into deeper fear. He was afraid. Afraid that his "calamity" constitution would eventually harm this sunny girl. He couldn't involve anyone else.
"...The taste is really good." He spoke again, his voice even hoarser than before, but carrying a very faint, real warmth. "In the future... if... if it's possible..." He paused for a long time, as if using up all his courage, before whispering, "...I want to eat... the food you make every day."
These words were spoken with extreme difficulty, even somewhat incoherently, but they made Taiga freeze instantly, followed by a burst of surprise and unbelievable light on her face, even the tips of her ears turning red.
"Re... really?!" She was so excited she almost jumped up, then quickly pretended to be calm, patting her chest hard with a thudding sound, trying to put on the air of a big sister. "No... no problem! Leave it to me! As long as you get better quickly, I... I'll cook for you every day! As much as you want!"
Watching her smile, vibrant and cloudless because of a simple word of recognition, a crack seemed to widen slightly in the depths of Emiya Kiritsugu's frozen heart. A faint hope, almost non-existent like a candle in the wind, was quietly ignited—perhaps, just perhaps, here, he could truly... take a temporary breath?
He lowered his head, masking the roiling, complex emotions in his eyes, as he suppressed both the bone-deep fear and the yearning for warmth with all his might.
He did not know that the warmth he touched so cautiously was connected at its source to the venomous snake dragging him into hell. And that promise to "cook for him every day" would, in the near future, become the final straw that crushed him in the most cruel way.
In the distance, Kanjuro, "watching" this scene through Jeanne's vision, smiled with satisfaction. The prey was stepping into the softest, most inescapable part of the trap. He looked forward to the moment the truth was revealed—the expression of instantaneous shattering on Emiya Kiritsugu's face, and the despair of Fujimura Taiga's collapsing faith.
That must be... truly delicious.
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