The time is winter.
All traces of autumn have long disappeared. Now is the last day of November. There is still a month until the New Year, and with it a brand new century.
If possible, I, Toono Shiki, would really like to spend the New Year in this house, with my parents and Toko.
But, unfortunately, this is not possible. A few days ago, the family sent a message -
"Come back to the Toono family now." said the current head of the Toono family.
It was really hard to accept. Although he was the eldest son of the Tono family, he had been fostered in the Arima family for seven years, and he had not returned home once during these seven years.
I am 16 years old this year. Seven years ago, when I was 9 years old, I spent almost all my teenage years in this house. For me, perhaps this is my real home.
Compared to the impression of the Tono family, which is full of etiquette and strict family rules, the Ariken family feels more like a home.
Peaceful, ordinary, and leisurely.
My family members are harmonious and harmonious. My adoptive mother Qi Zi and my adoptive father Wen Chen treat me like their own parents. My younger sister Du Gu is also very attached to me, like a child who never grows up.
I have always longed for such a life. There is nothing wrong with living a warm life like this.
I put my hands together facing this place that used to be my room, and clapped my hands continuously as if I was visiting a shrine. I walked out of the room that I had been accustomed to for so long, walked through the living room that I had visited countless times, and walked out of the entrance hall.
Looking back, I once again looked at the home where I had lived for seven years.
My adoptive mother Qizi chased out, calling my name and chattering with a sad expression I had never seen before.
Worrying about one’s health, worrying about whether one can adapt to life at home, worrying about whether one can get along well with family members - this is how a mother treats her child who is traveling far away.
He gritted his teeth and said the usual words he would say when going out.
I don’t know why this happened. We will obviously never step through this door as a family again. Maybe I still have the fantasy of becoming a family again.
However, the moment I stepped out of the house, I couldn't help myself.
"Thank you for your care all along. Mom, please take care of yourself. Please also tell Dad, and Dugu..."
I could hear my mother sobbing behind me, and my eyes started to ache. I could only keep telling myself that if I didn't leave now I would be late.
Today is Tuesday, school is open as usual, and returning home is scheduled after school. In fact, it is not impossible not to go to school, but I really want to walk the way to school again, and I may not have the opportunity to do so in the future.
School life is the same as usual, with classes going in and out. Because it is near the end of the semester, the atmosphere is a little tense.
However, this has nothing to do with me. My grades are average, neither good nor bad, and I have no intention of going to college. If I don't find what I want to do after graduation, I will go to my sister's dojo to be a "substitute teacher". My sister said that I am almost qualified. It would be good to work in Chengzi's office like my brother-in-law. Maybe I can get some news about the teacher. I have always wanted to say thank you to her.
And my two friends...it seems to have nothing to do with them.
Qian Youyan. His hair is dyed orange, he wears earrings in his ears, he wears shabby clothes, he skips school all the time, and fighting and making trouble is commonplace... In our high school where the focus is on academic advancement, he is the only one who is out of order.
Yumatsuka Satsuki. A typical idol in the class, she has long brown hair and a beautiful face that fascinates boys. In addition, she has excellent grades and a gentle personality, so she is also popular among girls.
By the way, I still don’t understand why these two influential figures with different paths would become friends with a humble student like me.
Looking back, it seems that since the day I met my sister and brother-in-law, there have been more and more people around me, and they are all very unique people.
But there is nothing wrong with this. Thanks to them, every day of my life is fulfilling.
Amidst the mutual ridicule with my bad friend Arihiko and with May's gentle farewell, a day's school life ended.
"Haha." Sigh. "Now it's time to go the other way."
Since I have decided to go back, I can only take it one step at a time. I will leave it to God to see what will happen.
A red car stopped at the school gate. The model and license plate of the car were very familiar, and so were the people in the car - a man named Kurodori Kan'iya who also wore old-fashioned black-framed glasses and looked like a mature version of himself, and a woman named Ryougi Shiki who had the same kind of eyes as himself.
The latter rolled down the window and waved casually.
"What are you doing? Get in the car."
"Oh, oh—sister, brother-in-law, why are you here? Aren't you planning the wedding?"
The Ryogi family is one of the most powerful families in Kanbushi City. Although their status is not as high as that of the Tono family, it is not much worse. As the heir and future head of the family, marriage is naturally not a trivial matter. Before I received the request to return to the main family, they were already busy with this and there was no way they would have time to visit me. Did God really hear my prayers
"Shiki knows you're going back to the Tono family today, and I'm a little worried about you. The people in the Tono family are not ordinary."
My brother-in-law was driving while talking. My adoptive mother had said something similar before I left home, but—
"It's okay. I'm not ordinary myself."
I held my eyes with my hands, and through the gap above my glasses, I caught a glimpse of a world full of cracks.
"Confidence is good, but—next."
As my sister spoke, she threw out a short black handle decorated with a Tai Chi pattern and the word "Nana" - it was the short sword she used most often.
"The Tono family has been a bit uneasy lately, so you'd better be careful. Also, I suspect that Touko and Matou are involved in this incident."
"Shinji? He's back?"
A boy named Shinji Matou is also his friend, the most mysterious one, and he disappears from time to time.
"I just came back a few days ago. I heard from Fujino that he didn't go home, but came here directly."
"He was at Tono's house, but he didn't contact you and asked you to go back. No matter how I think about it, it seems wrong."
"Ms. Orange said before that she would give you a surprise."
"Given the bad taste of these two guys, it might not be a surprise, but a shock."
"So we decided to come over and say hello to your family, and give the wedding invitations to Ms. Orange and Shinji."
Of course I know my brother-in-law and sister have good intentions and are worried about me, but I always feel that Mr. Orange and Shinji will not harm me. But what a coincidence, the five of us are together again, is this their purpose
The scenery outside the window quickly receded, overlapping with past memories unconsciously.
The main gate of the family home is just around the corner.
PS: Regarding the issue of Danzo, we don't know how strong he is after becoming a Heroic Spirit, because the Danzo in front of him appeared in FGO1.5.3, who can rival the Danzo of the servants. Now with the cloak, there is no need to worry about Orange's safety - in fact, Erye's worries are unnecessary, Orange is very strong now without relying on Danzo.