Chapter 4 -:4 Kuoh City
"Ah! Emiya-kun!" The tall, buxom redhead greeted, her blue-green eyes brightening cheerfully at the sight of him, a sentiment shared by her dark-haired companion, though her smile carried a hint of mischief "Good afternoon-!"
Shutting the door in her face & locking it for good measure, Shirou proceeded to ignore her surprised exclamations & the bemused looks of the Student Council as he calmly crossed the room to a window, which he proceeded to open & climb out of, pausing only to shut it behind him before turning on his heel and sprinting off into the distance.
"Well..." Tsubaki mused, unable to hide her amusement as Saji seized the opportunity to escape Sona's sight by rushing to open the locked door "That happened."
"Indeed." Sona mused, torn between her disapproval of Shirou's behavior & her amusement at the look on her rival's face as Saji showed her in "Good Afternoon, Rias, Akeno."
"Good Afternoon, Sona." The Gremory heiress returned the greeting, her Queen, Himejima Akeno smiling as she inclined her head at "Was that Emiya-kun earlier?"
"You just missed him." Sona supplied, gesturing to the windows for emphasis, hiding her amusement at her friend's ensuing pout behind a disapproving frown "Was there something you needed him for?"
"Not really." Rias sighed, shaking her head in exasperated disappointment "I'd just like to know why he always tries to run away whenever I try to talk to him."
"Maybe you did something so terrible to him in the past he developed a fear for you?" Akeno opined, not even trying to hide her amusement at the "Maybe he drummed up the courage to ask you out, only for you to carelessly trample over his feelings when you rejected him?"
"Akeno!" Rias chided, flushing at her Queen's imagination "Stop making me sound like the villain in a bad soap opera!" she huffed crossly "Besides, I honestly can't recall ever meeting him before."
"I wouldn't be surprised, considering he only enrolled at the Academy this year." Sona opined, accepting a folder from Tsubaki, Shirou's picture attacked to the front page "He transferred from Homurahara in Fuyuki city, but was forced to repeat a year to make up for his lackluster marks."
"So he's technically a 3rd year, Kaichou?" Ruruko noted brightly, earning a troubled look from Saji, "You'd better get him something nice as thanks for fixing the heater, Gen-chan."
"Ara, so the Brownie of Kuoh strikes again I see." Akeno mused, ignoring Saji's splutters in favor of the aforementioned heater as Rias ran her fingers over it as if testing for dust "Well?"
"Mm, there's no doubt about it." Rias confirmed, her expression unreadable as she drew her hand back & turned to face Sona "It's faint, almost non-existent really, but I can detect some traces of the same magical signature we've been sensing on and off around campus the past few months."
"I see..." Sona mused, her expression just as unreadable as Rias' as she adjusted her glasses in thought "I had my suspicions, but I never would have imagined a Magician would be so daring as to sneak into our territory, especially given recent events."
"You think he could have been affiliated with Raynare's group?" Rias pondered, crossing her arms beneath her considerable bust, much to Sona's irritation "It would certainly explain his wariness around me, and not all of her accomplices were accounted for, Freed Sellzen being a prime example."
"Possible." Sona mused, shivering slightly at the mention of the insane exorcist "Though from what little we know, it seems Sellzen hates Magicians just as much as Devils, so it's unlikely Emiya-kun would have had any involvement with him."
"Could he simply have moved here without knowing this territory was under the protection of the Gremory & Sitri clans?" Reya suggested "I mean, none of the residual magic we've sensed around campus has been remotely offensive, right?"
"True. He only seems to use it to gain a better understanding of the inner-workings of the machines he repairs." Tsubaki opined as she adjusted her glasses "In cases where the magic lingers, it seems to be strengthening faulty components until such time they can be replaced."
"Ara, it would seem his reputation as a 'Brownie' is well deserved after all..." Akeno mused, licking her fingers with a sultry smile, "I can only wonder what secrets he may be hiding..."
Sona said nothing, more than familiar with the antics of her friend's Queen, even if she shared her thoughts on the matter. No matter how highly the staff & student body spoke of him, no matter how well-intentioned his actions may be, the fact remained that Emiya Shirou was an unknown Magician that had somehow managed to slip under their radar in the wake of the 'Twilight Healing Incident'.
True, Rias' 'Occult Research Club' had resolved the issue swiftly, garnering the Gremory two valuable new addition to her peerage in the process, but it didn't change the fact that, somehow, no less than Four Fallen Angels & a squad of Stray-Exorcists had managed to sneak into their territory.
Such a slip-up could be fatal in the future. Hell, it HAD cost Rias new peerage members their mortal lives, so it was only understandable that, even if it turned out he wasn't a threat, Sona wouldn't rest till she learned just what rock Emiya Shirou had crawled out from under.
"For now, I propose we merely adopt a 'wait and see' approach." She suggested, Rias nodding her head in agreement "If it turns out he's simply ignorant, we may consider approaching him." Her glasses flashed ominously "Should his intentions be less than noble, however..."
Her implication was clear, though Sona was surprised to note quite a few people in the room seemed troubled by the prospect of having to kill Emiya Shirou. Herself included.
Kuoh City: After Hours.
"I'm heading off, Master." Shirou called out, the Faker waving in passing to the owner of Azazel's favorite bar, where he worked part time in order to earn some spending money "I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Take care kid!" the mustachioed owner called out, nodding his head from the bar, where he was dutifully cleaning a glass with a clean rag "Tell 'Az' to stop on by sometime, will ya?"
"I will." Shirou called out, stepping out of the bar only to curse as he found himself standing in a rainstorm, the Faker holding his book-bag over his head as he raced for the nearest shelter.