Chapter five

As Emiya sat there, staring at his cup of tea contemplatively, he wondered what led him here.

The room was silent, yet he wasn't there alone and the redhead knew that no matter what he did, what he tried if this being wanted him dead, he would not even have the time to process the thought of fleeing.

"So... How have you been?"

... Seriously?

Looking up from the cooling tea, he raised an eyebrow at the old man with a white beard, wearing a suit.

His aged face was blank and his long white hair slicked back.

This was Zelretch.

Aka, a bored dimension hopper.

"Hmm, pretty well, if I do say so myself, what do I owe the pleasure?"

The older of the two, even with his two lifespans, sipped the tea he prepared and met his eyes.

"Oh, you know, just checking on you since you probably figured out how you got here by now."

Shirou pursed his lips, he did have a few theories, because really, if it wasn't a god that sent him here it could only be zelretch.

"I figured but didn't want to assume. You were my second guess after god wanting to reincarnate me."

Zelretch snorted in amusement before his face became serious again.

"Wanna come with me dimension hopping after you're done here for shits and giggles?"

"... Say no more."

___

"Emiya-Kun, why do you seem more distracted?"

The said teen blinked before shrugging and resuming his homework that they were doing in the library.

"Spending time around you distracts me way more than it should."

He lifted his hand, catching a textbook that was heading straight for his head. snickering slightly, Shirou looked up to see Rin frowning at him, looking greatly displeased.

Rolling his eyes, he went back to finishing homework, honestly, she could be so nosy.

Sighing as he finished the last math problem, he closed the notebook and looked at Rin who was looking at him impatiently.

"About time, you sure are slow, Emiya-Kun."

Rolling his eyes at the comment, he stood up. It wasn't him who tried fixing problems without reading the chapter's instructions, but he digressed.

"You think what you're doing is cute, but it really isn't. At this rate, no one is going to want to date you, Tsun-Tsun."

She swatted him on the arm with a glare but said nothing as they walked out of the building.

What were they doing in the library? It was an excuse, Taiga would only accept that as a valid reason, if she couldn't find him, she would look for Rin and if she couldn't find her, then he was the next victim.

Turning on his phone, he raised an eyebrow at the seventeen missed calls and twenty-four messages.

"Forty-one."

He remarked absently as Rin checked her own device and clicked her tongue.

"Thirty-two."

Heh, he won.

Humming with triumph, he walked away with nothing more than a smirk, infuriating his friend even more. He had to admit, he may be enjoying this more than he should.

"I hate you so much right now."

Ah yes, another victory for him in mental combat, something he was unparalleled in, too bad she still, over all these years, didn't understand his superiority in this field.

They went in the direction of his house, since their houses were in the same direction, keeping the silence as they maneuvered around the crowd.

However, the mind of one Shirou Emiya was still in turmoil, could he really leave this world behind, after spending so much time here with Taiga and Rin? The decision was impulsive when he agreed to join Zelretch, that old bastard in his search for entertainment but considering that Avalon resided within him, he would soon be like him if he didn't die before long.

The fifth Holy grail war or as he dubbed it, the call of duty: battle royale, would begin within a year or so and his mage-craft was reaching its limit.

Admittedly, his alteration still needed work, and what he could forge still had ways to go before he was satisfied, but that would only last for a while, little by little, things he could improve on would dwindle and vanish, leaving him with nothing to work on...

His reality marble... he had no idea where to start with that, Maybe he could ask Zelretch for some help but it was still on hold for now.

Before long, they entered the bus and he took the best place on the steel on wheels, the back window seat.

"Sometimes, I think that you're in your own world, Emiya-Kun."

Now, how to spin that around?

"I am, I just have to share it with everyone else."

He smiled at her groan, she made it too easy... And it would eventually prepare her for the heroic spirit EMIYA, AKA the actually satan.

Now that he thought about it, he could make so many references! The only problem was remembering them... Meh, he was sure it would work out.