"I don't understand."
I said. I had no idea what she meant by "that thing," but…
"But… the voice in my dream. That was Iri-sensei, right?"
It was a hunch, just a reminder of the intense vision I had, but the voice so similar to hers was there. I remember.
"I see," she said. "So you don't know what was that. I believe somebody ought to explain this to you, then. It seems that you are now connected to the Central Grail. It was created ten years ago as the lynchpin of the demi-servant creation process. In short, this is what connects a spirit and an ordinary human into a proper demi-servant. And while other Grails can produce prana to sustain demi-servants nearby, the process of summoning a spirit can only be achieved through the Central Grail."
In other words, the reason the system works is because of that thing, but…
"I have a unique connection with the Central Grail, a connection we seem to share. I cannot disclose more, but the original purpose behind the Grail was the wish-granting. And I believe that was what you did, when you saved me."
Indeed. It was what I wanted, to save the person in need.
"I am sure you had a very strange dream last night. It's the same for me. I don't sleep the way normal people do. Instead, I connect to the Central Grail, and from there, to what we call the Root. It was what you saw and nearly died because of that."
I nearly died?
"We aren't sure what happens when a human touches the Root because nobody returns from there. For all we know, people simply don't want to. Not after seeing the things they saw there. The Root contains every last bit of knowledge humanity would ever have, and that's frightening," she said.
And then, everything went silent for a minute or so. Nothing, but the sounds coming from somewhere else. I didn't dare to speak, and Iri-sensei was thinking her words over.
"You must understand. The connection you have to the Central Grail is unique. So unique, only two people in the world possess the same abilities. You're the game-changer, our greatest hope. And I know this'll be a lot of pressure, but know this: every time you spend outside, you're helping people."
I had nothing to say at that. The way she smiled was filling me with hope. To this day, nobody expected much from me, and I was used to people thinking this way. I… I was an ordinary girl, not some kind of a… miracle worker.
"It's fine," she gently held my hand. "I'm sorry. For a moment, I forgot you're so young. That's okay to be anxious, okay to be scared. Believe me, your time will come, not now and not anytime soon. It's an adult's job to let children to make mistakes, worry about trivial things like the amount of homework to finish and just stay children."
"Iri-sensei," I said.
"A word of advice. Don't think too hard about things. Just enjoy them the way they are. Like the time you spend with your friends and family. The world won't disappear, while you'll be fooling around. We, adults, are going to shoulder this responsibility."
I said nothing, not because I had nothing to say, but because there was so much I wanted to tell in the same time. Those red eyes, locked into mine, were so loving and compassionate. And so, we both were silent, just thinking about probably meaningless things together.
"Here is your drinks, mother," said Shirou. He walked towards his mother, who accepted a cup of steaming tea with a graceful nod.
"Thank you, Shirou," she said. Her eyes crinkled a bit in amusement, as she added. "Took you long enough to get here. Did something hold you back?"
"Yes, it did," he said and promptly decided not to disclose more. It took us pretty long to talk, so I wonder what took him so long to came here. Maybe I should ask later.
"I'm going to take a short nap, so you better leave somewhere else. That means both of you," she said and gestured us to go. I obediently went to the door, but a single line caught my attention, making me ears perk up a little.
"Oh, and Shirou, do take care of this girl, will you? I took quite a liking to her, you see."
"So you're healthy enough to crack awful jokes," he said behind me. As we both left the room, I wished he won't look my way. Because some things clearly weren't meant to be heard.
"We still have some time before the lessons end. About thirty minutes or so, I think. Do you want to go anywhere else?" he said and noticed how "colorful" my face was. "Hmm? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing," I said. "For now, let's…"
[] To the cafe
[] To the schoolyard
[] Wander around
[] Write-In