...well, count it as an unusually good choice of phrasing then.
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Fate/Collapsing World
- Thread starter Pale Wolf
- Start date
- Crossover
And here I had hope that it was proof that you are a human being , and not a AI programed to read quests!...well, count it as an unusually good choice of phrasing then.
The fact you managed that unintentionally is somehow even more amazing...
Exterminatus
Tsukumogami User
- Location
- Southern California
The only thing impressed upon my mind as a result of misbegotten youth and misspent hours is that molluscs and other shellfish are involved.
It just the sort of thing which fits her you know...strong on the attack, no defense.
Okay, I'll be closing the vote in about 24 hours. The vote presently stands at a small lead for class president, followed by history teacher.
[11] His class president.
[8] The History teacher.
[2] About that. No, he doesn't arrive without incident.
[1] The Valkyrie Operation teacher.
[1] The dorm's Resident Assistant.
[11] His class president.
[8] The History teacher.
[2] About that. No, he doesn't arrive without incident.
[1] The Valkyrie Operation teacher.
[1] The dorm's Resident Assistant.
So, time for a lorepost, on an organisation that's been coming since the start of the quest - Shicksal. The fuckers you can blame for the Protestant reformation (not a joke).
It was formed in Europe, around about a thousand years ago, to wage war against the Honkai. At the time, it was essentially an arm of the Catholic Church - it's a little unclear if the Crusades for Jerusalem happened in this timeline, but if they did, the knightly orders that formed likely took inspiration from Schicksal.
At least going by some of the manga continuity, Shicksal lacked the capability to truly kill Honkai beasts, instead sealing them under various cathedrals.
At some point in time, the position of Archbishop/Overseer of Schicksal became essentially hereditary to the Apolcalypse family. I imagine it wasn't so to start with, but as the Apocalypse family continued to be appointed to the position they presumably accumulated enough political capital and institutional knowledge to make it more effort than it was worth to choose someone else. It probably helped that the family also created a vault that contained all manner of treasure and dangerous shit.
Around the late 1400s - I'd put it at 1489? - Schicksal decided to try and indulge in what would become an age-old European past-time. Colonialism.
Aiming to gain control of Asia and the like, the forces of Schicksal set out East. A major part of this adventure would be Kallen Kaslana - the Holy Maid of Schicksal and the greatest of the Valkyries who she lead. This colonial venture would be stopped at the battle of Kirchsak Steppe, where the army of Ming China defeated Schicksal, despite the advanced Honkai based weaponry used by Schicksal (that probably would have constituted a warcrime).
Despite the initial early advantage that Schicksal enjoyed, when the Immortal Guardian of Shenzhou entered the battlefield - it was a crushing defeat.
Even Kallen Kaslana, mightiest Valkyrie of an age, could not defeat her, experiencing what was likely her first defeat in combat ever, though soon after the Immortal Guardian of Shenzhou would disappear from the pages of history.
Battered, bloody and, most importantly, broke, Schicksal returned to Europe. To recoup the significant financial lossess incurred when one launches an invasion of an entire continent on a roughly medieval tech level and lose, Schicksal - which remember was an arm of the Church - began the sale of indulgences. Sometimes rather forcefully.
It also indulged in some other questionable financial behaviour, I imagine.
In any case, horrified as she realised how far Schicksal had fallen from the sacred organisation it had once been, Kallen Kaslana stole a holy relic, and fled east, ending up in Japan. There she fell in love with a beautiful shrine maiden, who would become a pseudo-Herrscher. Though Kallen would defeat her, the wounds she sustained - a broken heart not least among them, I imagine - prevented her from fleeing from the Schicksal Valkyries who took her into custody and returned her to Europe to face trial.
Naturally, she was sentenced to be executed. But, as she stood on the gallows, there was one final twist - a horde of Honkai beasts escaped from under the cathedral, and rampaged throughout the city. Still wounded from her fight against the shrine maiden, likely starved from her time awaiting execution, Kallen Kaslana did all she could to fight the Honkai beasts and save the civilians. She died in the process.
(The creed of the Kaslana family - a creed that predates Schicksal, even Charlemagne, dating back to their founding, 1500 years ago - is simple and twofold. First - "Constitute thyself as a shield protecting the innocent and weak." Second - "Kaslana's die and never yield.")
Soon after, the then Archbishop was ousted by his son, Otto Apocalypse.
Going by the lore for the Sakamoto Ryoma stigmata set, they were involved in the opening of Japan in the 1800s - clearly their taste for colonialism had been put off but never truly satiated.
It is likely considerably less of a religious organisation these days, but Schicksal survived to the modern day, stronger than ever, able to control the fate of nations, affiliated with many quite wealthy companies. It survived the First Eruption in 1950s, the vicious fighting in the 1970s, where Theresa Apocalypse, the grandaughter of the Overseer, would begin a long and distinguished career, the Second Eruption and the death of Cecilia Schiariac and many other Valkyries.
In the early 2000s, St. Freya, a school for Valkyries would be formed, the first - and likely the only ever - of it's kind. Theresa would become it's principal, in addition to her duties as Commander of the Schicksal Far East division.
And that's more or less it.
It was formed in Europe, around about a thousand years ago, to wage war against the Honkai. At the time, it was essentially an arm of the Catholic Church - it's a little unclear if the Crusades for Jerusalem happened in this timeline, but if they did, the knightly orders that formed likely took inspiration from Schicksal.
At least going by some of the manga continuity, Shicksal lacked the capability to truly kill Honkai beasts, instead sealing them under various cathedrals.
At some point in time, the position of Archbishop/Overseer of Schicksal became essentially hereditary to the Apolcalypse family. I imagine it wasn't so to start with, but as the Apocalypse family continued to be appointed to the position they presumably accumulated enough political capital and institutional knowledge to make it more effort than it was worth to choose someone else. It probably helped that the family also created a vault that contained all manner of treasure and dangerous shit.
Around the late 1400s - I'd put it at 1489? - Schicksal decided to try and indulge in what would become an age-old European past-time. Colonialism.
Aiming to gain control of Asia and the like, the forces of Schicksal set out East. A major part of this adventure would be Kallen Kaslana - the Holy Maid of Schicksal and the greatest of the Valkyries who she lead. This colonial venture would be stopped at the battle of Kirchsak Steppe, where the army of Ming China defeated Schicksal, despite the advanced Honkai based weaponry used by Schicksal (that probably would have constituted a warcrime).
Despite the initial early advantage that Schicksal enjoyed, when the Immortal Guardian of Shenzhou entered the battlefield - it was a crushing defeat.
Even Kallen Kaslana, mightiest Valkyrie of an age, could not defeat her, experiencing what was likely her first defeat in combat ever, though soon after the Immortal Guardian of Shenzhou would disappear from the pages of history.
Battered, bloody and, most importantly, broke, Schicksal returned to Europe. To recoup the significant financial lossess incurred when one launches an invasion of an entire continent on a roughly medieval tech level and lose, Schicksal - which remember was an arm of the Church - began the sale of indulgences. Sometimes rather forcefully.
It also indulged in some other questionable financial behaviour, I imagine.
In any case, horrified as she realised how far Schicksal had fallen from the sacred organisation it had once been, Kallen Kaslana stole a holy relic, and fled east, ending up in Japan. There she fell in love with a beautiful shrine maiden, who would become a pseudo-Herrscher. Though Kallen would defeat her, the wounds she sustained - a broken heart not least among them, I imagine - prevented her from fleeing from the Schicksal Valkyries who took her into custody and returned her to Europe to face trial.
Naturally, she was sentenced to be executed. But, as she stood on the gallows, there was one final twist - a horde of Honkai beasts escaped from under the cathedral, and rampaged throughout the city. Still wounded from her fight against the shrine maiden, likely starved from her time awaiting execution, Kallen Kaslana did all she could to fight the Honkai beasts and save the civilians. She died in the process.
(The creed of the Kaslana family - a creed that predates Schicksal, even Charlemagne, dating back to their founding, 1500 years ago - is simple and twofold. First - "Constitute thyself as a shield protecting the innocent and weak." Second - "Kaslana's die and never yield.")
Soon after, the then Archbishop was ousted by his son, Otto Apocalypse.
Going by the lore for the Sakamoto Ryoma stigmata set, they were involved in the opening of Japan in the 1800s - clearly their taste for colonialism had been put off but never truly satiated.
It is likely considerably less of a religious organisation these days, but Schicksal survived to the modern day, stronger than ever, able to control the fate of nations, affiliated with many quite wealthy companies. It survived the First Eruption in 1950s, the vicious fighting in the 1970s, where Theresa Apocalypse, the grandaughter of the Overseer, would begin a long and distinguished career, the Second Eruption and the death of Cecilia Schiariac and many other Valkyries.
In the early 2000s, St. Freya, a school for Valkyries would be formed, the first - and likely the only ever - of it's kind. Theresa would become it's principal, in addition to her duties as Commander of the Schicksal Far East division.
And that's more or less it.
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Again like 95% agreed, and useful for those coming in new, just some details:
Schicksal actually appears to date back 1500 years ago, with the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
It's also not entirely clear whether the Roman Catholic Church exists in Honkverse, or if Schicksal replaced it entirely. All the religious authorities and such are always referred to as Schicksal - 'the military arm of the Catholic Church' is a good way to nestle it in, though.
While religious crusades aren't ever mentioned, there were Honkai Crusades, mass military movements against large honkai populations in the Middle East and actually pretty morally defensible (assuming the native human populations weren't completely shoved out of their own lands and shit).
(The Honkai Impact setting has this super different past and then just sort of meanders along a similar line to our history for the last five hundred years until it's basically a proper match for Earth-as-we-know-it in the mid-1950s, and then diverges off again with the First Impact)
The Eastern Crusade started in 1470, and the loss at Kipchak Steppe was in 1475.
(By which he means 'made it literally mandatory to purchase indulgences, if you didn't buy one you could expect legbreakers to take their cash out of you, your household, and your family')
I wouldn't say it's stronger than ever in political terms. It's far more focused and powerful relative to other forces (the artificial stigmata that make Valkyries capable of tangling with honkai were developed in... I want to say the early 16th century, though it's possible it was finished in the tail of the 15th), and still very powerful. But it did take a pretty big step back after Otto took over, and seems to have been fairly quiet until honkai activity jumped up to 'oh fuck everything' in the mid-50s, so I'm not sure I'd say it's as powerful as the 'medieval Catholic Church' it used to be, though it's still on the level of 'negotiating with nations, and often the stronger party'.
(In the GGZ timeline, Schicksal appears to be a secret organization unknown to the general public, though that's hilariously impossible with Honkai Impact's history)
Schicksal actually appears to date back 1500 years ago, with the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
It's also not entirely clear whether the Roman Catholic Church exists in Honkverse, or if Schicksal replaced it entirely. All the religious authorities and such are always referred to as Schicksal - 'the military arm of the Catholic Church' is a good way to nestle it in, though.
While religious crusades aren't ever mentioned, there were Honkai Crusades, mass military movements against large honkai populations in the Middle East and actually pretty morally defensible (assuming the native human populations weren't completely shoved out of their own lands and shit).
(The Honkai Impact setting has this super different past and then just sort of meanders along a similar line to our history for the last five hundred years until it's basically a proper match for Earth-as-we-know-it in the mid-1950s, and then diverges off again with the First Impact)
The Eastern Crusade started in 1470, and the loss at Kipchak Steppe was in 1475.
(By which he means 'made it literally mandatory to purchase indulgences, if you didn't buy one you could expect legbreakers to take their cash out of you, your household, and your family')
I wouldn't say it's stronger than ever in political terms. It's far more focused and powerful relative to other forces (the artificial stigmata that make Valkyries capable of tangling with honkai were developed in... I want to say the early 16th century, though it's possible it was finished in the tail of the 15th), and still very powerful. But it did take a pretty big step back after Otto took over, and seems to have been fairly quiet until honkai activity jumped up to 'oh fuck everything' in the mid-50s, so I'm not sure I'd say it's as powerful as the 'medieval Catholic Church' it used to be, though it's still on the level of 'negotiating with nations, and often the stronger party'.
(In the GGZ timeline, Schicksal appears to be a secret organization unknown to the general public, though that's hilariously impossible with Honkai Impact's history)
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- Location
- United States, EST
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Er... isn't 500 years ago from the start of the game about 1516? Pretty sure the Western Roman Empire was kinda kaput by then. Or do I have the dates mixed up?
No. Western Roman Empire died around 400 A.D. A little after really, 450+ or something.
i forgot the thousands digit
1500 years ago
Okay, vote closed, no change since last tally.
Shirou will be greeted by...
[11] His class president.
[8] The History teacher.
[2] About that. No, he doesn't arrive without incident.
[1] The Valkyrie Operation teacher.
[1] The dorm's Resident Assistant.
1500 years ago
Okay, vote closed, no change since last tally.
Shirou will be greeted by...
[11] His class president.
[8] The History teacher.
[2] About that. No, he doesn't arrive without incident.
[1] The Valkyrie Operation teacher.
[1] The dorm's Resident Assistant.
I could have sworn there was some line in (one of) the manga about the Pope, but I don't want to have to track it down.
It's kind of interesting, yeah.
Ah, thanks. I think I got confused between that time and when Kallen and Otto met as children.
Yeah, being able to field an army of superhuman warriors with highly-advanced tech does that. Schicksal HQ is straight up a set of floating islands named after the Nine Realms in Norse mythology.
Trying to think of anything else I can lorepost on. Anti-Entropy, since a bunch of people have referenced it in thread, but a lot of that stuff is kind of spoilers beyond - opposed to Schicksal, uses mechanised forces heavily, based out of North America. Still an enemy of the Honkai. Well, pretty much any and every human is an enemy of the Honkai, in the first place.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
476 or 480, depending on who you count as Emperor at the time: Romulus Augustus went down in 476 when Odoacer overthrew him in Ravenna, the capital at the time, but Julius Nepos was still recognized as Western Emperor of Rome by Constantinople, and he wasn't killed (by his own troops!) until 480.
Chapter 4: First Day at the New School
~~~I========>
[O] His class president.
~~~I========>
Having disembarked from the train, Shirou was now waiting for his pickup from St Freya. Since he had the time, and the waiting area wasn't so crowded he'd be disturbing anyone else, he pulled out his new cellphone to make a call.
Fortunately, it was pretty simple to use. Shirou had never been the most modern guy and had never needed a cellphone before now, but as a Valkyrie he'd need to be open to contact pretty much all the time, a home phone and answering machine weren't sufficient anymore. So he'd had to buy one in a shopping center in Shinto before he left, one of many little things he'd needed to get done.
He'd been swamped since he read the letter, without enough time to do nearly as much as he wanted, so most of his goodbyes had been fairly perfunctory, uninvolved affairs. But one of them had been niggling at him for a while, so he could at least begin to address it now that he had breathing time.
Kiana had been in a bad mood after he had told her about St Freya. He hadn't noticed it at the time, she hadn't complained or been all that demonstrative, but the memories had wormed their way through his brain until he realized it. The fact that she had been quiet about it was how he knew it should be addressed - Kiana Kaslana was not often a quiet person.
It wasn't as if it were necessary to clear things up. She was a drifter, she moved every few months, it was unlikely she'd be in Fuyuki anymore when he returned for winter break. Odds were they'd never meet again, and any awkwardness wouldn't ever matter. But still, she was a friend, so a better goodbye, at least.
Fortunately, she basically lived off her cellphone and didn't even have a home line, and school hours were over so she should be free. He didn't actually know her cell number by heart, they'd never really contacted one another outside the dojo, but the dojo had had it on file, so he'd obtained it and put it into his contacts list.
After a few rings, her voice came on. "Heya, who's this?"
"Good afternoon, Kiana-chan."
There was a remarkably chicken-like squawk over the phone. "Senpai?! Wh-? Huh?!"
Shirou smiled. Truly, elegant as ever. "I got a cellphone, so I thought we could trade numbers. I won't be living in the same city, but that doesn't mean we need to drop all contact. You can call me anytime, and if you happen to be in Soukai you can feel free to visit."
"..." There was a long silence on the other end. He could hear her breathing so he knew she hadn't hung up on him, at least.
"And sorry for just sort of tossing it out and rushing off. I didn't really end up having time to meet up again for a more elaborate goodbye," Shirou added. Come to think of it, had he even actually said goodbye, rather than just implied it by talking about his intent to immediately leave? "I can't really improve it much at this point, but still, sorry, I didn't deliver it that delicately."
Eventually, words came to her. "... Shirou no baaaaaaaka." The call terminated with a click.
Shirou suppressed a chuckle, putting the phone away. She was still kind of ticked. But it was back in her normal range, rather than her being silent and truly, genuinely ill at ease. Kiana didn't grumble at people in her seventh language when she was seriously angry with them. Even with her knack for languages, there was too much disconnect between the self and the words - if she were truly infuriated with him rather than annoyed, he'd be hearing something incomprehensible in German, English, or some tormented hybrid of the two. (That had been her reaction when someone at the dojo had gotten a feel and seemed to enjoy it more than she felt appropriate, so he knew enough to recognize it)
She'd probably call back to chat when she was a little less immediately annoyed with him. His number was in her phone now, so it was at her leisure.
It wasn't too long after slipping the phone back into his pocket that he was pretty sure his pickup arrived - someone was approaching him with a very purposeful stride, as if they'd recognized their objective.
It was a girl, maybe eighteen? Shortish, slender but moving in a way that indicated her figure came from extreme fitness rather than dieting, with long steel-gray hair tied back in a loose ponytail, the only thing keeping organized what seemed to be inspiringly messy hair. Serious blue eyes behind square-rimmed glasses, and dressed in what looked like a blue Chinese-style dress and black leggings, though the upper chest was covered by a distinctive military-style white jacket decorated with a braid of gold thread. St Freya's uniform jacket.
Shirou took hold of his roll-on luggage and started maneuvering through the scattered handfuls of people towards her - there hadn't been a huge amount he needed to take, so while his suitcase was fairly sizeable, it was basically all he'd be bringing. With both of them pressing towards each other, it didn't take too long to meet up, and Shirou bowed.
The Valkyrie pressed a fist into her palm and matched his bow with a solemn dignity that looked more like it belonged in a period movie's most dramatic setpieces than a train platform. "Good afternoon. Am I correct in believing you are Emiya Shirou, the new student for St Freya?"
Shirou nodded, rising from his own bow. "Ah, yeah, I am. Are you here to pick me up?" Ugh. He felt like a baboon next to her refinement. It was like Tohsaka when she wasn't being adorable, like he didn't belong in the same universe as this girl.
She nodded. "Yes. I am Fu Hua, your class representative."
Shirou paused, mentally sorting through the name. It sounded Chinese, but two syllables was a Chinese given name. Given name alone, even with honorifics, was a bit too direct for someone he'd just met... "Ah, is there an issue with your family name? You didn't mention one."
Fu Hua nodded. "I do not have one. Feel free to use my given name." She paused, holding up a finger. "I am not particularly sensitive about this matter, but I would recommend you ask about families with more delicacy with other students. Many of your classmates have somewhat troubling backgrounds, and not all of them are over it."
Shirou's eyes widened. "Oh! I'm very sorry!" He bowed sharply, cursing himself for not realizing it. St Freya wasn't just a military prep school, it was a shelter. People with high honkai tolerance were often useful, and that meant there were a lot of people out there of varying ethical standards who wanted to use them. St Freya was partially dedicated to protecting such people and ensuring them a safe school life, but no, obviously they didn't always manage to be the first to pick them up...
Fu Hua waved it off, and took hold of his suitcase. "Don't worry. I grew up a street orphan, but I have long gotten over any related traumas or shames. It's simply that not everyone has, so some delicacy is wise." She turned and started hauling his suitcase through the flow of people, clearly expecting him to follow.
Shirou darted after her. "Ah, no, let me handle that, I'm fine!" Letting a girl handle his luggage was way too much. The fact that she was a physically-superhuman Valkyrie and could probably carry it far more easily than him had no bearing on that.
With a tilt of her head, Fu Hua acquiesced, angling the handle so that they could easily transfer grips without a hitch in their movement. It didn't take them long to reach a solidly-built white car parked on the sidewalk, which opened at their approach.
"... wait, you have a driver's license?" Wasn't she a bit on the young side for that?
"Yes, but the car is automated, so I will be talking to you in the back rather than driving it." At a gesture, the trunk opened, and Fu Hua waited for Shirou to whistle at the technological flexing and sling his suitcase in before slipping into the backseat.
Shirou slid in on the other side, and once he had buckled in and shut the door, he was immediately presented with a pen and a clipboard filled with a lot of paperwork. He took it on reflex, eyes crossing at the sheer mass of it.
"Do not be concerned, your information is already filled in," she assured him as the car smoothly sailed out onto the city roads. "All that is required is your signatures, though I would recommend you read each form carefully, both to ensure the information is accurate and that you understand what you are agreeing to. Ask me if you have any questions."
Shirou nodded, twirling the pen between his fingers and running his eyes over the papers. Nondisclosure agreements and consent forms, mostly. Nothing looked out of order, so he signed his way through and handed the clipboard back. "There wasn't a medical procedure consent form, am I not getting the stigmata implanted?" He assumed he was, stigmata were sort of a necessity for Valkyries, to amplify their natural resistance and enable them to actually operate in honkai-heavy environments. But his probation might interfere with that.
"Medical procedures are more involved, so they will be explained directly and consent will be obtained specifically for each procedure," Fu Hua explained. "Your medical schedule will start tomorrow, today is for settling yourself in."
"Makes sense. What's the plan on that? I'd like to get everything done as soon as I can so I can acclimate a bit before classes start."
"Preliminary physical tomorrow morning. If there are no issues detected, you should have your stigmata put in the evening of the day after, stay in the medical bay for the night, and be good to go the following day. There will be plenty of time until classes from then."
Shirou nodded, committing the schedule to memory. He'd have those two days to familiarize himself with the facilities, then once the stigmata was in he'd have to get into immediate practice if he was going to catch up.
Fu Hua drummed a finger against the car's window, drawing Shirou's eye to the clean streets they were passing through. "Ah yes. You are going to be under probation."
Shirou nodded. "It was mentioned, yeah. What are the terms?"
"Your honkai resistance is substantially below what is normally acceptable for Valkyries," she began. "This raises serious concerns when it comes to your health, which is a problem in both a moral and a practical sense. The moral consideration should be obvious, but if a Valkyrie's service life is too short, that can also be a problem for Schicksal. So St Freya is absolutely insistent that your honkai flow remain within a safe range, to minimize the health complications. At the same time, with that honkai limitation - which is substantially lower than any of your peers - you must still maintain the same range of grades as them. Your expectations are no higher, but you will find them a great deal harder to reach."
"... right, that makes sense." It was about what Shirou's own personal target had been already, so it wasn't too out of the ordinary.
"To monitor this, in addition to the stigmata, you will also be implanted with a honkai detector, which will inform the faculty if you go above your limit. The school nurse will give you the finer derails on this and the consent forms, but I'll ask right now - is this acceptable to you? If it's too intrusive, we can look into other methods of monitoring, or if being under these restrictions is unacceptable, we can turn around without issue."
Shirou blinked, and rapidly shook his head. "Ah, no, no, this is fine! I have no issues with this." Well, he'd been hoping to go with his own idea of what a safe level was rather than St Freya's, but it wasn't that shocking that they weren't allowing that. "This has always been my dream, I'm not going to give up on it because it involves making me a cyborg." Wasn't it even cooler that way, actually?
Her lips curled just a little, a small smile. "You will be on a three strikes system. Each time you go over your limit will be one strike. In principle you may appeal to your homeroom teacher and the principal to have a strike removed if the situation justified it, but don't expect much of this - they will evaluate it strictly, if they are not convinced that the strike was the only way to prevent death or serious injury, it will remain on your record. If you reach three strikes, you will be immediately expelled. Do you understand?"
He considered it for a while. "... I do." It was more generous than he'd feared. He had a bit of room to screw up and figure out a decent swing of it before expulsion came on the horizon. He'd really have to make sure to stay within limits, though. If it was just his health he could risk it, but getting kicked out and unable to be a Valkyrie was far more terrifying.
"As a personal suggestion, I would recommend you get your first strike as soon as feasible."
Shirou blinked.
"You will have to ride a rather fine edge of honkai flow, high enough to be useful in battle, but also low enough to stay within your limit," she explained. "So I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the feeling as thoroughly as possible under controlled conditions. You need to know what your limits feel like so that you know when you are approaching them, and can make certain to stand exactly on top of them rather than stepping over."
He considered that, and then solemnly nodded. "Thank you, Fu Hua-senpai." It wasn't a bad idea.
"I am always glad to advise an eager young warrior." Outside, Shirou could see water, sparkling a perfect blue. "Ah, we're here."
Shirou looked more carefully out the window, and saw that they were crossing a bridge - there was a guardhouse behind them that they must have passed on automatic, and ahead of them lay the island in the middle of Soukai's northwestern lake, the island that St Freya was built on.
The campus stretching out before the car was legitimately impressive. White walls and pale blue roofs, stately buildings like old European mansions, cathedral spires rising overhead, with a deep forest stretching out across the island from it. Schicksal never really went an inch less than all-out when it came to aesthetics.
Fu Hua seemed to have been waiting for him to finish looking around, since it wasn't long after he'd got a decent view of everything in sight from the car that she resumed speaking. "I am the class representative for your class - we are both in Class 5, which is taught by Major Murata Himeko."
Shirou's eyes widened, and he pumped his fist in victory. "That's good to hear, her reputation is one of the best." And she was sort of his secondary idol after Kiritsugu, since she'd thoroughly crushed the same challenges he was facing, so getting to learn from her should be great.
"Her performance merits every bit of it," Fu Hua nodded. "Class 5 is also Squad 5 in the Schicksal Far East Valkyrie force - every Saint Freya class doubles as such, with their homeroom teacher as their commander, and the class representative as the student commander." She bowed her head. "Saint Freya is lighter when it comes to military discipline than most Schicksal forces, so behavioural rules are not very strict in campus life, but please do not hesitate to obey orders in field operations."
Shirou nodded. "I understand. I don't have military experience, but I do understand the gravity of the situations we will be responsible for handling. I'll strive not to be a problem."
"That should suffice, for a beginner. You will have time before it becomes a concern, regardless. Actual frontline battlefield operation is only for those Valkyries on the Squad who are Rank B and above. C and D-rank Valkyries participate in training exercises, but do not deploy into actual battlefields outside of dire necessity."
Shirou nodded, quickly running through the basics in his head. B-rank was when a Valkyrie was qualified for frontline combat. A and S ranks were for the ones who were really good at it, rather than 'met the standards'. C was for specialists - a C-rank Valkyrie was not expected to fight the Honkai directly, but wasn't completely helpless in the event of confrontation, and was honkai-resistant enough to stand on a Valkyrie's battlefield to operate and maintain the various honkai-powered tools Valkyries relied on for support, or perform some other specialty useful to the situation. D-rank was not yet cleared for anything.
Shirou's aim was B-rank. A and S were nice dreams, but he had to be realistic about his level of talent. C was acceptable, it would mean he could operate in post-eruption search and rescue teams or battlefield support roles, but he'd prefer B if he could get there. There was something satisfying about hitting evil in the face himself. Kiritsugu had been A-rank, but Kiritsugu had had talent.
"When's the next ranking exam?" He'd have to get prepared for it as best he could.
"Early October. Slightly more than a month after classes resume in September."
So about a month and a half. He'd have to get to work.
"Make sure not to focus only on combat subjects," she cautioned, a finger held up. "Conventional academics are also required, and Saint Freya's conventional academics are somewhat compressed to make room for the Valkyrie courses. It can be easy to lose your footing."
"Thank you for the warning, class rep." He would have to let his academics slide to get any kind of handle on all the new 'being a Valkyrie' things, but he still had to reach some basic standards, and catch up when he could. He'd have a day or two to hit the books before he had the actual implanted stigmata to practice with, at least, so he could work on Tohsaka-sensei's homework and get a little bit ahead before he had to focus on everything else.
"What does your financial status look like?" she asked, as the car slowed down, navigating between the beautiful white buildings. "You were an orphan, I believe, so I presume your parents aren't giving you an allowance."
Double-orphan, technically. Truly a rare status to be proud of. Shirou nodded. "I've been doing part-time work to pay my living expenses." Kiritsugu had left him an inheritance, alongside the remaining assets of his first set of parents, of course, but Shirou had considered it prudent to keep that as a reserve in the face of unexpected crises as much as he could - if he suddenly had a medical bill, part-time wages weren't going to cut it, so it was best to keep that fund as intact as possible. He'd never gotten sick in his life and didn't injure easily or for long so that was more theoretical, but it was still best to save, medical emergencies weren't the only kind. "My understanding is living expenses are covered by Saint Freya itself?" It would be good if he could keep his off-class hours to focus on training, especially early on.
"That's correct. In addition, qualified Valkyries of C-rank or higher, as members of Schicksal's Far East Valkyrie Division, recieve wages for being on-call depending on their qualifications, and hazard pay and such when actually deployed. Since Saint Freya covers your expenses, that will be pure savings and spending money." Fu Hua held up a finger to accentuate the next point, a gesture he was very familiar with from Rin-sensei. "If you need more spending money than that, or cannot reach C-rank, part-time jobs are permitted, but you are only allowed a maximum of ten hours a week. Twenty if you can maintain B-rank."
"I understand." He probably wouldn't be doing much part-time work. He was, frankly, a spartan existence. He just did not spend much to begin with.
"Good." The car came to a halt, and Fu Hua opened the door and slid out.
Presuming this was their stop, Shirou followed out the other door, moving around to the back where the trunk had already opened for him to retrieve his suitcase. Man, this kind of automated vehicle was so smooth to work with he was going to get spoiled if this kept up.
They had stopped in front of a long, three-story building, of the same construction as most of Saint Freya's buildings. "The dorms?" The car's trunk shut itself and it drove off behind him, so he hoped so.
"Yes. Please follow me." She started on her way up the stairs to the upraised first floor, and Shirou followed without complaint. "Most faculty live in the dorms. All faculty rooms are on the third floor and are clearly labelled, so if you need something from them, feel free to ask." She pulled open one of the large double doors and strode in. "You won't need keys. Sensors perform unobtrusive surveys at entrances, if you have the right to access the place, such as the dormitory or your room, you can simply enter at will."
Shirou whistled, hauling his suitcase in behind her. "Nice. What about guests?" The inner foyer was nice, a big open sitting room with chairs, couches, decorative plants, a TV up against a wall, and various paintings and sculptures laying about for decoration. It was basically empty of anyone, though.
"If you're accompanied, it will be assumed you're letting them in. Off-campus guests are permitted, but please don't keep them long, the honkai level around the dormitory can fluctuate heavily and could potentially reach unhealthy levels for normal people. Do not take any guests towards the forest or the central class buildings especially, the honkai levels in those areas are never safe for non-Valkyries."
"I'll bear that in mind," Shirou promised, and resolved not to go there himself, either. Right now, he was a normal person.
Fu Hua paused, coming to a halt and turning to face Shirou. "If you are being accompanied against your will, once you're at an entryway speak the alert password and security will be alerted and attempt to evaluate and resolve your situation. It changes by month, for September it's 'ski resort'."
"Don't say it in front of an entrance if I'm not in trouble?"
"Try not to. You won't be in for disciplinary action if you do it by mistake, but security will have to evaluate the situation and it's inconvenient."
"Got it."
Fu Hua pointed to the nearest door, next to the sitting room. A pair of nameplates were fastened next to it - Laeticia Janvier and Adele Janvier. "Laeticia Janvier is the Resident Assistant. If you have any dorm-related issues, look for her, she's responsible for most such things. Her roommate is her twin sister, make sure not to mistake one for the other. They're easy to tell apart as long as there's light, but when you're first meeting them, ask their name, don't address them until you're told."
Shirou blinked, but shrugged. "Okay?" Well, he supposed twins might get tetchy about people thinking they were the wrong person. "Actually, are they even here right now? The dorm seems pretty sparse." It was summer holiday so it was no surprise if people were gone.
"Yes, a few students stay, they're among them." She snapped her fingers. "Right, before I forget, Emiya-kun. The Resident Assistant is also responsible for basic sexual health. If you need protection or contraceptives, she'll be where you go. Please use protection, and especially make use of contraceptives if you have any sexual relations that could result in conception. This is a paramilitary facility and unplanned pregnancies greatly complicate operations."
Shirou choked. "I-wha?!" He could feel his face heating up and it was almost as humiliating as having this conversation.
"Oh, planned ones are fine, though - consult with the principal and your squad leader if you'd like to try for a child," the class rep continued on, without a hint of mercy. "We don't advise it before your graduation, but Saint Freya students arrive from all sorts of backgrounds, with all sorts of circumstances and psychological hangups, so it isn't forbidden, as long as it can be handled in an organized fashion. Sometimes they need heirs fast."
"Th-thank you for the information!" he definitely did not squeak. His voice came out firm and manly. Definitely.
Fu Hua smiled faintly. "There is, of course, no rush. If you have any questions about such things, Laeticia is trained to handle them. If you prefer familiarity, I can do so. She's in a different class, so you will know me better than her before too long." At the look on his face at the idea of asking pretty girls about sex, her smile widened just a bit. "If you'd prefer someone of the same gender, pick a male teacher you feel comfortable with."
"... okay." If he said anything more she might stay on this topic, so Shirou remained entirely silent.
She reached into a bin hanging on the wall of the common room, and pulled out a thin notebook, handing it to him. "School rulebook, dormitory rules in the first section. It's more or less self-explanatory, but I must emphasize one of the rules - pets in the dorms are strictly forbidden."
Shirou blinked as he paged through the book a little. "That shouldn't be a problem, I don't have any pets or plans to get any." Well, there was Taiga, but whatever the actual nature of their relationship, 'pet' rules were about animals, not humans.
"Good. You do not want to see a Valkyrie having an allergic reaction."
"Is it that bad? I hadn't heard of that." He supposed uncontrollable twitching and the like might be a problem with superstrength.
"For the Valkyrie, it isn't any worse than for unaugmented people. Our resilience increases to the same degree as our strength, so we won't hurt ourselves. But our environment doesn't, so repair bills can be expensive when someone sneezes hard enough to fire a bullet, and it's really best if unaugmented people aren't anywhere nearby." She allowed a few moments for that image to settle into his mind, and then shrugged. "Really, though, if you have an animal and need it cared for, please ask the faculty, accomodations can be made to take care of them if you found a box of abandoned kittens or something."
"Does that actually happen?" It was common enough in anime and the like, but Shirou had honestly never heard of an actual occurrence of the box of abandoned kittens.
"... Valkyries are prone to statistical anomalies," she answered, after a long, haunted pause.
At that moment, Shirou felt a true sense of kinship with this girl. Teachers who managed to injure themselves badly enough to need carrying to the nurse's room while delivering a lecture were a statistical anomaly too. "Taking care of people can be hard when they're crazy," he commiserated.
Fu Hua looked at him, and in her eyes, he could see that she knew. She knew that he understood. They sighed in unison.
After that moment of communion, Fu Hua led Shirou towards and up one of the staircases, towards the left side of the building. There was an elevator, but Shirou didn't mind not using it - a little bit of exercise wasn't a bad thing in this job. "Your room is on the second floor. You're rooming with Ruan Fen Chao. If you don't work well together, talk to me and I'll trade rooms with you."
Following with his suitcase, Shirou frowned as he did some math and came out with nothing at all appropriate. He couldn't tell the gender of Fen Chao's name, but if they were female then Shirou rooming with her was highly inappropriate, and if they were male then Fu Hua rooming with him was. Either way... "Isn't that a little...?"
"Hm?" She looked back over her shoulder at him, trying to ascertain the nature of his protest.
He waggled a hand in a way that honestly didn't at all call to mind what he was trying to communicate. "Boy and girl rooming together?"
"Ahhh, right." Fu Hua waved it off. "Another statistical thing about Valkyries is that they are a great deal more likely to be LGBT than the general population. It may have something to do with historic stigmas against variant sexual expression - when there isn't a space for you in regular society, occupations like this start looking far more appealing. The general takeaway is that segregating Valkyries by gender does not actually do anything to reduce sexual activity, so Schicksal has decided to rely on the maturity of the Valkyries involved and not really care as long as it doesn't impede operations."
"... ah." Shirou wasn't sure if that explained Kiana but at the same time he could not pretend that rooming her with girls rather than boys would have the intended results.
"It's more of an apartment suite, so I won't be dangerously close." She chuckled. "Don't worry, he isn't the sort to make a move on me anyway. He's not very... good... with people."
Ah, so it was a boy. That was good. Even if he knew no one was going to proposition anyone, it seemed more tense to live under the same roof as a girl.
With that, they'd arrived at what must be his room, since the door opened after Fu Hua brought him to stand in front of it. Even though it was open, the older girl rapped her knuckles against it a few times. "Fen Chao, I'm here with your roommate."
The room was still built like a high-class English manor, with a central living and dining room, a narrow bedroom on each side, each flanked with either a bathroom or a small kitchen. There was a thick sofa in the middle of the living room, facing a television. The television was on, displaying what looked like a fighting game, but Shirou couldn't see anyone on the sof-
Ah, they'd been laying down on it. The game paused and a blanket-covered head arose from the couch. "... hello..." The slight figure stood up and turned to face him, and Shirou realized that this room was going to be a little tense after all.
Ruan Fen Chao was male. Shirou had been told that, and in principle he believed it, but it certainly wouldn't have been his guess. The boy was very small, built delicately and downright beautiful, pale and soft-skinned, with incredibly long and soft-looking reddish-brown hair falling to his waist or so. He wasn't crossdressing, he was basically wearing a light shirt and boxers with a blanket wrapped around himself, but he was just pretty enough that he'd be mistaken for a flat-chested woman at first glance. As well as most subsequent glances.
Shirou coughed into a hand. "Uh... I'm Emiya Shirou, it's a pleasure to meet you." He didn't think he was gay, but when someone was this pretty normal orientations didn't apply so well. His libido was not able to detect the Y chromosome. This would be awkward.
The smaller boy bobbed his head. "Ruan Fen Chao... welcome?"
Well... Shirou supposed he'd better start moving in. Gave his eyes an exuse not to linger in the boy's direction.
Adventures in adolescent sexuality aside, Shirou will spend this first day familiarizing himself with the area. There'll be a few things he settles in to work on doing - one activity, and getting some kind of dinner.
[ ] Fen Chao says he cooks, so Shirou will let him do the first meal and spend some time getting to know his roommate.
[ ] The fridge is stocked with Fen's ingredients. He said Shirou can go ahead and use them, though they probably won't be a perfect fit for Shirou's repertoire. Still, Shirou can cook tonight's dinner easily enough, and spend some time with Fen Chao.
[ ] There's a cafeteria down on the first floor. Shirou prefers to cook, but it may be worth seeing how good the cafeteria is, and there should be other classmates in there to introduce himself to.
[ ] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
[ ] Go introduce himself to the Resident Assistant. He won't need her help immediately, but it'll be good to meet up with one of the people responsible for the dorm, maybe she'll need a hand with something?
[ ] Prowl the dorm common rooms for fellow students. The first floor one was empty but there are two more Shirou hasn't checked yet, and it's another likely congregation point for students.
[ ] Saint Freya is built on an island, so it has swimming spots. This is summer, so a few students are likely making use of them, both for play and since swimming is a good workout. It'd be another decent opportunity to meet his fellows.
~~~I========>
[O] His class president.
~~~I========>
Having disembarked from the train, Shirou was now waiting for his pickup from St Freya. Since he had the time, and the waiting area wasn't so crowded he'd be disturbing anyone else, he pulled out his new cellphone to make a call.
Fortunately, it was pretty simple to use. Shirou had never been the most modern guy and had never needed a cellphone before now, but as a Valkyrie he'd need to be open to contact pretty much all the time, a home phone and answering machine weren't sufficient anymore. So he'd had to buy one in a shopping center in Shinto before he left, one of many little things he'd needed to get done.
He'd been swamped since he read the letter, without enough time to do nearly as much as he wanted, so most of his goodbyes had been fairly perfunctory, uninvolved affairs. But one of them had been niggling at him for a while, so he could at least begin to address it now that he had breathing time.
Kiana had been in a bad mood after he had told her about St Freya. He hadn't noticed it at the time, she hadn't complained or been all that demonstrative, but the memories had wormed their way through his brain until he realized it. The fact that she had been quiet about it was how he knew it should be addressed - Kiana Kaslana was not often a quiet person.
It wasn't as if it were necessary to clear things up. She was a drifter, she moved every few months, it was unlikely she'd be in Fuyuki anymore when he returned for winter break. Odds were they'd never meet again, and any awkwardness wouldn't ever matter. But still, she was a friend, so a better goodbye, at least.
Fortunately, she basically lived off her cellphone and didn't even have a home line, and school hours were over so she should be free. He didn't actually know her cell number by heart, they'd never really contacted one another outside the dojo, but the dojo had had it on file, so he'd obtained it and put it into his contacts list.
After a few rings, her voice came on. "Heya, who's this?"
"Good afternoon, Kiana-chan."
There was a remarkably chicken-like squawk over the phone. "Senpai?! Wh-? Huh?!"
Shirou smiled. Truly, elegant as ever. "I got a cellphone, so I thought we could trade numbers. I won't be living in the same city, but that doesn't mean we need to drop all contact. You can call me anytime, and if you happen to be in Soukai you can feel free to visit."
"..." There was a long silence on the other end. He could hear her breathing so he knew she hadn't hung up on him, at least.
"And sorry for just sort of tossing it out and rushing off. I didn't really end up having time to meet up again for a more elaborate goodbye," Shirou added. Come to think of it, had he even actually said goodbye, rather than just implied it by talking about his intent to immediately leave? "I can't really improve it much at this point, but still, sorry, I didn't deliver it that delicately."
Eventually, words came to her. "... Shirou no baaaaaaaka." The call terminated with a click.
Shirou suppressed a chuckle, putting the phone away. She was still kind of ticked. But it was back in her normal range, rather than her being silent and truly, genuinely ill at ease. Kiana didn't grumble at people in her seventh language when she was seriously angry with them. Even with her knack for languages, there was too much disconnect between the self and the words - if she were truly infuriated with him rather than annoyed, he'd be hearing something incomprehensible in German, English, or some tormented hybrid of the two. (That had been her reaction when someone at the dojo had gotten a feel and seemed to enjoy it more than she felt appropriate, so he knew enough to recognize it)
She'd probably call back to chat when she was a little less immediately annoyed with him. His number was in her phone now, so it was at her leisure.
It wasn't too long after slipping the phone back into his pocket that he was pretty sure his pickup arrived - someone was approaching him with a very purposeful stride, as if they'd recognized their objective.
It was a girl, maybe eighteen? Shortish, slender but moving in a way that indicated her figure came from extreme fitness rather than dieting, with long steel-gray hair tied back in a loose ponytail, the only thing keeping organized what seemed to be inspiringly messy hair. Serious blue eyes behind square-rimmed glasses, and dressed in what looked like a blue Chinese-style dress and black leggings, though the upper chest was covered by a distinctive military-style white jacket decorated with a braid of gold thread. St Freya's uniform jacket.
Shirou took hold of his roll-on luggage and started maneuvering through the scattered handfuls of people towards her - there hadn't been a huge amount he needed to take, so while his suitcase was fairly sizeable, it was basically all he'd be bringing. With both of them pressing towards each other, it didn't take too long to meet up, and Shirou bowed.
The Valkyrie pressed a fist into her palm and matched his bow with a solemn dignity that looked more like it belonged in a period movie's most dramatic setpieces than a train platform. "Good afternoon. Am I correct in believing you are Emiya Shirou, the new student for St Freya?"
Shirou nodded, rising from his own bow. "Ah, yeah, I am. Are you here to pick me up?" Ugh. He felt like a baboon next to her refinement. It was like Tohsaka when she wasn't being adorable, like he didn't belong in the same universe as this girl.
She nodded. "Yes. I am Fu Hua, your class representative."
Shirou paused, mentally sorting through the name. It sounded Chinese, but two syllables was a Chinese given name. Given name alone, even with honorifics, was a bit too direct for someone he'd just met... "Ah, is there an issue with your family name? You didn't mention one."
Fu Hua nodded. "I do not have one. Feel free to use my given name." She paused, holding up a finger. "I am not particularly sensitive about this matter, but I would recommend you ask about families with more delicacy with other students. Many of your classmates have somewhat troubling backgrounds, and not all of them are over it."
Shirou's eyes widened. "Oh! I'm very sorry!" He bowed sharply, cursing himself for not realizing it. St Freya wasn't just a military prep school, it was a shelter. People with high honkai tolerance were often useful, and that meant there were a lot of people out there of varying ethical standards who wanted to use them. St Freya was partially dedicated to protecting such people and ensuring them a safe school life, but no, obviously they didn't always manage to be the first to pick them up...
Fu Hua waved it off, and took hold of his suitcase. "Don't worry. I grew up a street orphan, but I have long gotten over any related traumas or shames. It's simply that not everyone has, so some delicacy is wise." She turned and started hauling his suitcase through the flow of people, clearly expecting him to follow.
Shirou darted after her. "Ah, no, let me handle that, I'm fine!" Letting a girl handle his luggage was way too much. The fact that she was a physically-superhuman Valkyrie and could probably carry it far more easily than him had no bearing on that.
With a tilt of her head, Fu Hua acquiesced, angling the handle so that they could easily transfer grips without a hitch in their movement. It didn't take them long to reach a solidly-built white car parked on the sidewalk, which opened at their approach.
"... wait, you have a driver's license?" Wasn't she a bit on the young side for that?
"Yes, but the car is automated, so I will be talking to you in the back rather than driving it." At a gesture, the trunk opened, and Fu Hua waited for Shirou to whistle at the technological flexing and sling his suitcase in before slipping into the backseat.
Shirou slid in on the other side, and once he had buckled in and shut the door, he was immediately presented with a pen and a clipboard filled with a lot of paperwork. He took it on reflex, eyes crossing at the sheer mass of it.
"Do not be concerned, your information is already filled in," she assured him as the car smoothly sailed out onto the city roads. "All that is required is your signatures, though I would recommend you read each form carefully, both to ensure the information is accurate and that you understand what you are agreeing to. Ask me if you have any questions."
Shirou nodded, twirling the pen between his fingers and running his eyes over the papers. Nondisclosure agreements and consent forms, mostly. Nothing looked out of order, so he signed his way through and handed the clipboard back. "There wasn't a medical procedure consent form, am I not getting the stigmata implanted?" He assumed he was, stigmata were sort of a necessity for Valkyries, to amplify their natural resistance and enable them to actually operate in honkai-heavy environments. But his probation might interfere with that.
"Medical procedures are more involved, so they will be explained directly and consent will be obtained specifically for each procedure," Fu Hua explained. "Your medical schedule will start tomorrow, today is for settling yourself in."
"Makes sense. What's the plan on that? I'd like to get everything done as soon as I can so I can acclimate a bit before classes start."
"Preliminary physical tomorrow morning. If there are no issues detected, you should have your stigmata put in the evening of the day after, stay in the medical bay for the night, and be good to go the following day. There will be plenty of time until classes from then."
Shirou nodded, committing the schedule to memory. He'd have those two days to familiarize himself with the facilities, then once the stigmata was in he'd have to get into immediate practice if he was going to catch up.
Fu Hua drummed a finger against the car's window, drawing Shirou's eye to the clean streets they were passing through. "Ah yes. You are going to be under probation."
Shirou nodded. "It was mentioned, yeah. What are the terms?"
"Your honkai resistance is substantially below what is normally acceptable for Valkyries," she began. "This raises serious concerns when it comes to your health, which is a problem in both a moral and a practical sense. The moral consideration should be obvious, but if a Valkyrie's service life is too short, that can also be a problem for Schicksal. So St Freya is absolutely insistent that your honkai flow remain within a safe range, to minimize the health complications. At the same time, with that honkai limitation - which is substantially lower than any of your peers - you must still maintain the same range of grades as them. Your expectations are no higher, but you will find them a great deal harder to reach."
"... right, that makes sense." It was about what Shirou's own personal target had been already, so it wasn't too out of the ordinary.
"To monitor this, in addition to the stigmata, you will also be implanted with a honkai detector, which will inform the faculty if you go above your limit. The school nurse will give you the finer derails on this and the consent forms, but I'll ask right now - is this acceptable to you? If it's too intrusive, we can look into other methods of monitoring, or if being under these restrictions is unacceptable, we can turn around without issue."
Shirou blinked, and rapidly shook his head. "Ah, no, no, this is fine! I have no issues with this." Well, he'd been hoping to go with his own idea of what a safe level was rather than St Freya's, but it wasn't that shocking that they weren't allowing that. "This has always been my dream, I'm not going to give up on it because it involves making me a cyborg." Wasn't it even cooler that way, actually?
Her lips curled just a little, a small smile. "You will be on a three strikes system. Each time you go over your limit will be one strike. In principle you may appeal to your homeroom teacher and the principal to have a strike removed if the situation justified it, but don't expect much of this - they will evaluate it strictly, if they are not convinced that the strike was the only way to prevent death or serious injury, it will remain on your record. If you reach three strikes, you will be immediately expelled. Do you understand?"
He considered it for a while. "... I do." It was more generous than he'd feared. He had a bit of room to screw up and figure out a decent swing of it before expulsion came on the horizon. He'd really have to make sure to stay within limits, though. If it was just his health he could risk it, but getting kicked out and unable to be a Valkyrie was far more terrifying.
"As a personal suggestion, I would recommend you get your first strike as soon as feasible."
Shirou blinked.
"You will have to ride a rather fine edge of honkai flow, high enough to be useful in battle, but also low enough to stay within your limit," she explained. "So I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the feeling as thoroughly as possible under controlled conditions. You need to know what your limits feel like so that you know when you are approaching them, and can make certain to stand exactly on top of them rather than stepping over."
He considered that, and then solemnly nodded. "Thank you, Fu Hua-senpai." It wasn't a bad idea.
"I am always glad to advise an eager young warrior." Outside, Shirou could see water, sparkling a perfect blue. "Ah, we're here."
Shirou looked more carefully out the window, and saw that they were crossing a bridge - there was a guardhouse behind them that they must have passed on automatic, and ahead of them lay the island in the middle of Soukai's northwestern lake, the island that St Freya was built on.
The campus stretching out before the car was legitimately impressive. White walls and pale blue roofs, stately buildings like old European mansions, cathedral spires rising overhead, with a deep forest stretching out across the island from it. Schicksal never really went an inch less than all-out when it came to aesthetics.
Fu Hua seemed to have been waiting for him to finish looking around, since it wasn't long after he'd got a decent view of everything in sight from the car that she resumed speaking. "I am the class representative for your class - we are both in Class 5, which is taught by Major Murata Himeko."
Shirou's eyes widened, and he pumped his fist in victory. "That's good to hear, her reputation is one of the best." And she was sort of his secondary idol after Kiritsugu, since she'd thoroughly crushed the same challenges he was facing, so getting to learn from her should be great.
"Her performance merits every bit of it," Fu Hua nodded. "Class 5 is also Squad 5 in the Schicksal Far East Valkyrie force - every Saint Freya class doubles as such, with their homeroom teacher as their commander, and the class representative as the student commander." She bowed her head. "Saint Freya is lighter when it comes to military discipline than most Schicksal forces, so behavioural rules are not very strict in campus life, but please do not hesitate to obey orders in field operations."
Shirou nodded. "I understand. I don't have military experience, but I do understand the gravity of the situations we will be responsible for handling. I'll strive not to be a problem."
"That should suffice, for a beginner. You will have time before it becomes a concern, regardless. Actual frontline battlefield operation is only for those Valkyries on the Squad who are Rank B and above. C and D-rank Valkyries participate in training exercises, but do not deploy into actual battlefields outside of dire necessity."
Shirou nodded, quickly running through the basics in his head. B-rank was when a Valkyrie was qualified for frontline combat. A and S ranks were for the ones who were really good at it, rather than 'met the standards'. C was for specialists - a C-rank Valkyrie was not expected to fight the Honkai directly, but wasn't completely helpless in the event of confrontation, and was honkai-resistant enough to stand on a Valkyrie's battlefield to operate and maintain the various honkai-powered tools Valkyries relied on for support, or perform some other specialty useful to the situation. D-rank was not yet cleared for anything.
Shirou's aim was B-rank. A and S were nice dreams, but he had to be realistic about his level of talent. C was acceptable, it would mean he could operate in post-eruption search and rescue teams or battlefield support roles, but he'd prefer B if he could get there. There was something satisfying about hitting evil in the face himself. Kiritsugu had been A-rank, but Kiritsugu had had talent.
"When's the next ranking exam?" He'd have to get prepared for it as best he could.
"Early October. Slightly more than a month after classes resume in September."
So about a month and a half. He'd have to get to work.
"Make sure not to focus only on combat subjects," she cautioned, a finger held up. "Conventional academics are also required, and Saint Freya's conventional academics are somewhat compressed to make room for the Valkyrie courses. It can be easy to lose your footing."
"Thank you for the warning, class rep." He would have to let his academics slide to get any kind of handle on all the new 'being a Valkyrie' things, but he still had to reach some basic standards, and catch up when he could. He'd have a day or two to hit the books before he had the actual implanted stigmata to practice with, at least, so he could work on Tohsaka-sensei's homework and get a little bit ahead before he had to focus on everything else.
"What does your financial status look like?" she asked, as the car slowed down, navigating between the beautiful white buildings. "You were an orphan, I believe, so I presume your parents aren't giving you an allowance."
Double-orphan, technically. Truly a rare status to be proud of. Shirou nodded. "I've been doing part-time work to pay my living expenses." Kiritsugu had left him an inheritance, alongside the remaining assets of his first set of parents, of course, but Shirou had considered it prudent to keep that as a reserve in the face of unexpected crises as much as he could - if he suddenly had a medical bill, part-time wages weren't going to cut it, so it was best to keep that fund as intact as possible. He'd never gotten sick in his life and didn't injure easily or for long so that was more theoretical, but it was still best to save, medical emergencies weren't the only kind. "My understanding is living expenses are covered by Saint Freya itself?" It would be good if he could keep his off-class hours to focus on training, especially early on.
"That's correct. In addition, qualified Valkyries of C-rank or higher, as members of Schicksal's Far East Valkyrie Division, recieve wages for being on-call depending on their qualifications, and hazard pay and such when actually deployed. Since Saint Freya covers your expenses, that will be pure savings and spending money." Fu Hua held up a finger to accentuate the next point, a gesture he was very familiar with from Rin-sensei. "If you need more spending money than that, or cannot reach C-rank, part-time jobs are permitted, but you are only allowed a maximum of ten hours a week. Twenty if you can maintain B-rank."
"I understand." He probably wouldn't be doing much part-time work. He was, frankly, a spartan existence. He just did not spend much to begin with.
"Good." The car came to a halt, and Fu Hua opened the door and slid out.
Presuming this was their stop, Shirou followed out the other door, moving around to the back where the trunk had already opened for him to retrieve his suitcase. Man, this kind of automated vehicle was so smooth to work with he was going to get spoiled if this kept up.
They had stopped in front of a long, three-story building, of the same construction as most of Saint Freya's buildings. "The dorms?" The car's trunk shut itself and it drove off behind him, so he hoped so.
"Yes. Please follow me." She started on her way up the stairs to the upraised first floor, and Shirou followed without complaint. "Most faculty live in the dorms. All faculty rooms are on the third floor and are clearly labelled, so if you need something from them, feel free to ask." She pulled open one of the large double doors and strode in. "You won't need keys. Sensors perform unobtrusive surveys at entrances, if you have the right to access the place, such as the dormitory or your room, you can simply enter at will."
Shirou whistled, hauling his suitcase in behind her. "Nice. What about guests?" The inner foyer was nice, a big open sitting room with chairs, couches, decorative plants, a TV up against a wall, and various paintings and sculptures laying about for decoration. It was basically empty of anyone, though.
"If you're accompanied, it will be assumed you're letting them in. Off-campus guests are permitted, but please don't keep them long, the honkai level around the dormitory can fluctuate heavily and could potentially reach unhealthy levels for normal people. Do not take any guests towards the forest or the central class buildings especially, the honkai levels in those areas are never safe for non-Valkyries."
"I'll bear that in mind," Shirou promised, and resolved not to go there himself, either. Right now, he was a normal person.
Fu Hua paused, coming to a halt and turning to face Shirou. "If you are being accompanied against your will, once you're at an entryway speak the alert password and security will be alerted and attempt to evaluate and resolve your situation. It changes by month, for September it's 'ski resort'."
"Don't say it in front of an entrance if I'm not in trouble?"
"Try not to. You won't be in for disciplinary action if you do it by mistake, but security will have to evaluate the situation and it's inconvenient."
"Got it."
Fu Hua pointed to the nearest door, next to the sitting room. A pair of nameplates were fastened next to it - Laeticia Janvier and Adele Janvier. "Laeticia Janvier is the Resident Assistant. If you have any dorm-related issues, look for her, she's responsible for most such things. Her roommate is her twin sister, make sure not to mistake one for the other. They're easy to tell apart as long as there's light, but when you're first meeting them, ask their name, don't address them until you're told."
Shirou blinked, but shrugged. "Okay?" Well, he supposed twins might get tetchy about people thinking they were the wrong person. "Actually, are they even here right now? The dorm seems pretty sparse." It was summer holiday so it was no surprise if people were gone.
"Yes, a few students stay, they're among them." She snapped her fingers. "Right, before I forget, Emiya-kun. The Resident Assistant is also responsible for basic sexual health. If you need protection or contraceptives, she'll be where you go. Please use protection, and especially make use of contraceptives if you have any sexual relations that could result in conception. This is a paramilitary facility and unplanned pregnancies greatly complicate operations."
Shirou choked. "I-wha?!" He could feel his face heating up and it was almost as humiliating as having this conversation.
"Oh, planned ones are fine, though - consult with the principal and your squad leader if you'd like to try for a child," the class rep continued on, without a hint of mercy. "We don't advise it before your graduation, but Saint Freya students arrive from all sorts of backgrounds, with all sorts of circumstances and psychological hangups, so it isn't forbidden, as long as it can be handled in an organized fashion. Sometimes they need heirs fast."
"Th-thank you for the information!" he definitely did not squeak. His voice came out firm and manly. Definitely.
Fu Hua smiled faintly. "There is, of course, no rush. If you have any questions about such things, Laeticia is trained to handle them. If you prefer familiarity, I can do so. She's in a different class, so you will know me better than her before too long." At the look on his face at the idea of asking pretty girls about sex, her smile widened just a bit. "If you'd prefer someone of the same gender, pick a male teacher you feel comfortable with."
"... okay." If he said anything more she might stay on this topic, so Shirou remained entirely silent.
She reached into a bin hanging on the wall of the common room, and pulled out a thin notebook, handing it to him. "School rulebook, dormitory rules in the first section. It's more or less self-explanatory, but I must emphasize one of the rules - pets in the dorms are strictly forbidden."
Shirou blinked as he paged through the book a little. "That shouldn't be a problem, I don't have any pets or plans to get any." Well, there was Taiga, but whatever the actual nature of their relationship, 'pet' rules were about animals, not humans.
"Good. You do not want to see a Valkyrie having an allergic reaction."
"Is it that bad? I hadn't heard of that." He supposed uncontrollable twitching and the like might be a problem with superstrength.
"For the Valkyrie, it isn't any worse than for unaugmented people. Our resilience increases to the same degree as our strength, so we won't hurt ourselves. But our environment doesn't, so repair bills can be expensive when someone sneezes hard enough to fire a bullet, and it's really best if unaugmented people aren't anywhere nearby." She allowed a few moments for that image to settle into his mind, and then shrugged. "Really, though, if you have an animal and need it cared for, please ask the faculty, accomodations can be made to take care of them if you found a box of abandoned kittens or something."
"Does that actually happen?" It was common enough in anime and the like, but Shirou had honestly never heard of an actual occurrence of the box of abandoned kittens.
"... Valkyries are prone to statistical anomalies," she answered, after a long, haunted pause.
At that moment, Shirou felt a true sense of kinship with this girl. Teachers who managed to injure themselves badly enough to need carrying to the nurse's room while delivering a lecture were a statistical anomaly too. "Taking care of people can be hard when they're crazy," he commiserated.
Fu Hua looked at him, and in her eyes, he could see that she knew. She knew that he understood. They sighed in unison.
After that moment of communion, Fu Hua led Shirou towards and up one of the staircases, towards the left side of the building. There was an elevator, but Shirou didn't mind not using it - a little bit of exercise wasn't a bad thing in this job. "Your room is on the second floor. You're rooming with Ruan Fen Chao. If you don't work well together, talk to me and I'll trade rooms with you."
Following with his suitcase, Shirou frowned as he did some math and came out with nothing at all appropriate. He couldn't tell the gender of Fen Chao's name, but if they were female then Shirou rooming with her was highly inappropriate, and if they were male then Fu Hua rooming with him was. Either way... "Isn't that a little...?"
"Hm?" She looked back over her shoulder at him, trying to ascertain the nature of his protest.
He waggled a hand in a way that honestly didn't at all call to mind what he was trying to communicate. "Boy and girl rooming together?"
"Ahhh, right." Fu Hua waved it off. "Another statistical thing about Valkyries is that they are a great deal more likely to be LGBT than the general population. It may have something to do with historic stigmas against variant sexual expression - when there isn't a space for you in regular society, occupations like this start looking far more appealing. The general takeaway is that segregating Valkyries by gender does not actually do anything to reduce sexual activity, so Schicksal has decided to rely on the maturity of the Valkyries involved and not really care as long as it doesn't impede operations."
"... ah." Shirou wasn't sure if that explained Kiana but at the same time he could not pretend that rooming her with girls rather than boys would have the intended results.
"It's more of an apartment suite, so I won't be dangerously close." She chuckled. "Don't worry, he isn't the sort to make a move on me anyway. He's not very... good... with people."
Ah, so it was a boy. That was good. Even if he knew no one was going to proposition anyone, it seemed more tense to live under the same roof as a girl.
With that, they'd arrived at what must be his room, since the door opened after Fu Hua brought him to stand in front of it. Even though it was open, the older girl rapped her knuckles against it a few times. "Fen Chao, I'm here with your roommate."
The room was still built like a high-class English manor, with a central living and dining room, a narrow bedroom on each side, each flanked with either a bathroom or a small kitchen. There was a thick sofa in the middle of the living room, facing a television. The television was on, displaying what looked like a fighting game, but Shirou couldn't see anyone on the sof-
Ah, they'd been laying down on it. The game paused and a blanket-covered head arose from the couch. "... hello..." The slight figure stood up and turned to face him, and Shirou realized that this room was going to be a little tense after all.
Ruan Fen Chao was male. Shirou had been told that, and in principle he believed it, but it certainly wouldn't have been his guess. The boy was very small, built delicately and downright beautiful, pale and soft-skinned, with incredibly long and soft-looking reddish-brown hair falling to his waist or so. He wasn't crossdressing, he was basically wearing a light shirt and boxers with a blanket wrapped around himself, but he was just pretty enough that he'd be mistaken for a flat-chested woman at first glance. As well as most subsequent glances.
Shirou coughed into a hand. "Uh... I'm Emiya Shirou, it's a pleasure to meet you." He didn't think he was gay, but when someone was this pretty normal orientations didn't apply so well. His libido was not able to detect the Y chromosome. This would be awkward.
The smaller boy bobbed his head. "Ruan Fen Chao... welcome?"
Well... Shirou supposed he'd better start moving in. Gave his eyes an exuse not to linger in the boy's direction.
Adventures in adolescent sexuality aside, Shirou will spend this first day familiarizing himself with the area. There'll be a few things he settles in to work on doing - one activity, and getting some kind of dinner.
[ ] Fen Chao says he cooks, so Shirou will let him do the first meal and spend some time getting to know his roommate.
[ ] The fridge is stocked with Fen's ingredients. He said Shirou can go ahead and use them, though they probably won't be a perfect fit for Shirou's repertoire. Still, Shirou can cook tonight's dinner easily enough, and spend some time with Fen Chao.
[ ] There's a cafeteria down on the first floor. Shirou prefers to cook, but it may be worth seeing how good the cafeteria is, and there should be other classmates in there to introduce himself to.
[ ] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
[ ] Go introduce himself to the Resident Assistant. He won't need her help immediately, but it'll be good to meet up with one of the people responsible for the dorm, maybe she'll need a hand with something?
[ ] Prowl the dorm common rooms for fellow students. The first floor one was empty but there are two more Shirou hasn't checked yet, and it's another likely congregation point for students.
[ ] Saint Freya is built on an island, so it has swimming spots. This is summer, so a few students are likely making use of them, both for play and since swimming is a good workout. It'd be another decent opportunity to meet his fellows.
~~~I========>
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] The fridge is stocked with Fen's ingredients. He said Shirou can go ahead and use them, though they probably won't be a perfect fit for Shirou's repertoire. Still, Shirou can cook tonight's dinner easily enough, and spend some time with Fen Chao.
[X] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
[X] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
Funny story about that, Shirou.
Kiana would know like, a lot of languages, wouldn't she. She definitely travelled around the world looking for Siegfried - the manga gives it as Italian elementary school, a middle school in Haiti, then another in the Phillipines. Which doesn't quite fit with the current canon stuff with her, but it does give a nice impression of her background.
Yeah, that sounds like Fu Hua.
Wow, Shirou. It's almost like St. Freya may not trust a bunch of likely traumatised/heroic people to consider their own limits.
Shirou, I'm so, so sorry. Not to say that Himeko isn't an amazing Valkyrie, one of the very best, especially considering her handicaps. But she's also, uh, kinda like Taiga, in different ways.
Laeticia - Jeanne?
Uh - well, glad they're on top of things at least?
I always read HI3 Sakamoto Ryoma as possibly being some flavour of trans.
Incidentally, Kallen Kaslana, who I mentioned earlier, was definitely gay given she fell in love with a miko. Which probably didn't help with 15th century Europe trial.
Midnight here, so I'll vote tomorrow.
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Deadly Snark
Tryhard As Fuck
[X] The fridge is stocked with Fen's ingredients. He said Shirou can go ahead and use them, though they probably won't be a perfect fit for Shirou's repertoire. Still, Shirou can cook tonight's dinner easily enough, and spend some time with Fen Chao.
[X] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
[X] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
Well she's not planning on joining Schicksal anyway...
Yeah, she has been everywhere, she kinda just drops into Mei's life as this random weirdo survivalist and has this incredible collection of varied and obscure skills to get by, including languages, a smattering of Crime skills, etc etc.
Fu Hua has this sort of inhuman elegance, since anything she does regularly she has an absolutely absurd amount of practice with so she just straight-up has it down, without a single flaw, even unconscious ones.
I mean, they mostly do, considering Theresa hasn't, like, beaten Himeko unconscious and strapped her to her bed even once. But only when they're experienced with their own limits.
Yeah Fu Hua is far more diplomatic than I am because her internal monologue was going 'When it comes to the job, she's one of the best, but don't put your hopes up too much or your heart will break when she starts chugging booze in-class' much like Shirou's does with Taiga.
Ahahah, you know none of my prereaders got it immediately, I had to point out 'J(e)an(ne)vier' to make it clear.
Yeah, I need to fill in a lot of character slots in terms of Schicksal and St Freya characters, and here I have this gigantic cast from the other side of the crossover that's mostly not going to have any other way of showing up, so, well, grab a French girl and give her a Jeanne d'Arc stigmata set and there we go. It's not my sole source of non-Honkai characters to fill slots, but it's the largest one, so expect a lot of familiar faces.
Yyyyeeeeaaaaah St Freya has a lot of teenagers at the peak of their sex drive, in really good physical condition and so trending towards looking pretty good, who are repeatedly placed in very tense positions.
They know that their students fuck. And it doesn't bug 'em, as long as they make sure the funtimes don't complicate their actual job.
She could be bi, but yeah girls are definitely on her list of interest.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
We caught her in the middle of her secret chicken mafia operation!
Uh oh... the mating cry of the wild tsundere...
Yes. This is fact.
Shirou, you are such a stick.
She's being quite practical and adult about this. You should try it. People have sex. And they enjoy it. Stop acting like you're a prudish 6 year old who just heard someone say 'Boobies!'. No wonder Rin has to practically beat you over the head to get you to notice she's a woman. You're an idiot.
[X] There's a cafeteria down on the first floor. Shirou prefers to cook, but it may be worth seeing how good the cafeteria is, and there should be other classmates in there to introduce himself to.
Cute roommate is a plus, and we like cooking, but lets nose around for people first. We can see about spending a day or evening in with Cute Roomie once we know more than 2 people.
[X] Saint Freya is built on an island, so it has swimming spots. This is summer, so a few students are likely making use of them, both for play and since swimming is a good workout. It'd be another decent opportunity to meet his fellows.
Workout and getting out to see the grounds and more people? Go for it.
Also brutal as fuck. That sex talk, I can't tell if she gives no shits or is enjoying it far too much.
And yeah, that's what happens when you're older than the current Age of the planet. Man, what she must have been like at her peak though...
[x] The fridge is stocked with Fen's ingredients. He said Shirou can go ahead and use them, though they probably won't be a perfect fit for Shirou's repertoire. Still, Shirou can cook tonight's dinner easily enough, and spend some time with Fen Chao.
[x] Go introduce himself to the Resident Assistant. He won't need her help immediately, but it'll be good to meet up with one of the people responsible for the dorm, maybe she'll need a hand with something?
[x] Go introduce himself to the Resident Assistant. He won't need her help immediately, but it'll be good to meet up with one of the people responsible for the dorm, maybe she'll need a hand with something?
- Location
- Canada
[X] There's a cafeteria down on the first floor. Shirou prefers to cook, but it may be worth seeing how good the cafeteria is, and there should be other classmates in there to introduce himself to.
[X] Saint Freya is built on an island, so it has swimming spots. This is summer, so a few students are likely making use of them, both for play and since swimming is a good workout. It'd be another decent opportunity to meet his fellows.
Let's meet more people.
[X] Saint Freya is built on an island, so it has swimming spots. This is summer, so a few students are likely making use of them, both for play and since swimming is a good workout. It'd be another decent opportunity to meet his fellows.
Let's meet more people.
Revlid
blob of bugs
- Location
- England
[X] Fen Chao says he cooks, so Shirou will let him do the first meal and spend some time getting to know his roommate.
[X] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
"He cooks"? Bastard. We must know our enemy before we crush him 'neath our spatula. In the meantime, our armoury must be stocked and ready.
[X] Go into the city to buy groceries. Even if he can make do off Fen's ingredients for a bit, Shirou plans to cook as many of his meals as feasible, and will need his own stock of necessities to do so. Rude as hell to operate off Fen Chao's generosity longer than the minimum necessary. It'll also help him familiarize himself with Soukai City and meet a few of the people he'll be seeing a lot of while he's here.
"He cooks"? Bastard. We must know our enemy before we crush him 'neath our spatula. In the meantime, our armoury must be stocked and ready.
Shirou, you are such a stick.
Despite the amount of women in his life, Shirou is just incredibly underprepared for sexuality, and is, well, a teenage male, and if you remember being one of those you can probably speak for just how bad at this you should expect him to be.
Ironically it's actually the opposite. Shirou is just super conscious of women, and so he basically just pulls away to give space and goes 'okay you horny idiot don't read things into that it's just going to trouble them' and kinda doesn't really stay on the lookout for signals in the first place because he just assumes from the start he's not getting 'em.
She gave a little smile in there, so yeah she's enjoying his blushing reactions, though the subject itself was sort of 'doesn't get me nervous, I can just be matter-of-fact, but the reactions other people have are great'.