^Trackless^

Shirou wasn't an idiot. At least not a complete idiot.

Sakura had been coming to help him out around the house for over a year now. It had started when he got sick at Kiritsugu's funeral, and had continued even after he got better. She would come over in the morning before school, and then again in the evening, to help him cook.

At first, he had figured she was just being helpful. After all, being helpful came naturally to him as well. But then he noticed something strange: she wasn't going over to anybody else's house to help them cook. As a matter of fact, other than her older brother, she didn't really hang out with anybody except him.

Slowly, he put two and two together and got something close to four (possibly helped by Fuji-ne's knowing smirks whenever she saw the two of them together).

Shirou was washing the dishes and passing them to Sakura to dry. Fujimura was in a food coma on the couch as the news lulled her to sleep. It was almost summer break, and Shirou figured he should say something.

"Um, Sakura? You know the Tanabata festival is in couple of days."

"Hmm? Yes, I think it is." Sakura agreed good naturedly. Honestly, she really didn't pay much attention to the cultural festivals. Her life revolved around her home. Specifically, surviving it. She had compartmentalized herself, and Sakura, the Sakura that was here now, did not think too much about anything that did not involve Shirou and school work. It is what let her be so cheerful and upbeat all of the time.

"Would you like to go with me?" Shirou paused.

"Oh, that sounds like fun. I bet they will have a variety of food. We can pick up a couple of new recipes."

"No, I mean like a date. As a boyfriend / girlfriend sort of thing." Shirou wasn't certain what the protocol for asking a girl out was (Who could he ask? Fujiimura? Shudder in horror). The way this was going, he was obviously doing it wrong, but he didn't have any other options.

So he doggedly pressed on.

"Oh." Sakura froze, her eyes huge. If she had thought things through, this would have been a logical thing to expect, as their relationship progressed. But she hadn't: being with Shirou was an escape from the other part of her life. The one she didn't think about. "Um. ok. I have to check with grandfather, but I think so."

Shirou was a little disappointed at the tepid response. 'Did I misread the situation?' He hoped that he hadn't messed things up. He was friendly with a lot of people, but Sakura was one of his few close friends. The pair continued with the after dinner clean up, but now there was a tension that prevented them from talking.

Shirou kept glancing at Sakura, trying to work out what he had done wrong. Which is why he was looking as Sakura reached up to the top shelf to put away the serving tray. As she reached up, her sleeve slid back, revealing an ugly bruise on her arm – three reddish brown blotches in a sea of green.

Shirou dried his hands, "Sakura, who did that to you?" His voice was cold.

Sakura quickly tugged the sleeve back down, "Um, it's nothing, Sempai." She refused to meet his eyes.

"It's not nothing. I was in Kendo club in middle school, and even though we wore protective gear, sometimes a wild swing would slip past the pads. I know how hard you have to get hit to get a bruise like that."

Sakura shrugged, glancing up. Shirou was still staring intently. She had never seen him this focused before. He wasn't angry. He was… she wasn't certain. Shirou reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please tell me. I want to help"

"You can't help," she replied quietly.

"Is it… your grand father?"

Sakura was quiet for a long time, before replying. "Shinji."

"Has he done this before?" There was a cold anger in Shirou's voice. Shinji used to be a friend... but if he was hurting Sakura, he would have to do … something. He wasn't certain what.

Sakura shrugged, "Once or twice. It's not important." She continued looking at her hands, refusing to meet Shirou's gaze.

"Not important? Sakura, you're important to me, and if somebody is hurting you, I want to know."

Sakura smiled at the statement, "Sempai, I will deal with this. Shinji… I can handle Shinji." She pulled herself together, looking as poised and confident as always.

Shirou nodded. He trusted Sakura. If she said she could deal with it, she would, "Ok. Just tell your grandfather, ok?"

She nodded and gave him a big smile. "I am looking forwards to going to the Tanabata with you, Sempai."

Sakura left shortly afterwards. As soon as she was out of sight of the Emya's house, she did a little dance. She was important to Shirou!

^Trackless^

The afternoon of the festival, Sakura was almost skipping as she left the Matou mansion. The decrepit hulk sat on what had once been an upscale street, but in the past few decades, the neighbors on either side of the mansion had moved out and left the properties to be taken back by nature. There was something... uncomfortable about the neighborhood. As she headed to Shirou's, Shinji came out the door as well. "Don't spend too much time at Emya's. Grandfather wants you home by 8."

"Ok." Actually, grandfather didn't care. But Shinji liked telling Sakura what to do, and she found it easier to just go along with it. Shinji wasn't real happy with Sakura spending so much time with Emya. He didn't like Sakura having somebody besides him to focus on. It was part of why he and Emya were drifting apart. As he was about to turn to go towards the house, it occurred to him, belatedly, that Sakura had been dressed a lot fancier than her usual wont.

He shrugged. He would figure it out later – right now he had a date. It was amazing what the right attitude and the Matou name could accomplish. The fact that the family was practically broke now was irrelevant – girls were stupid.

^Trackless^

Shirou led Sakura through the row of stalls, towards the stand he had spotted this afternoon, when he had came by to scout out the place for their date (Since it was very important that everything go right, a little extra work had been the only reasonable option). This store sold jewelry, including hair decorations, so Shirou wanted to get Sakura something there.

"Um, Sakura, you look very nice." Honestly, Shirou didn't really pay much attention to such things, but he wanted to let Sakura know how he felt about her. He wasn't certain how to do that, but this seemed like a start.

"Thank you, Sempai." Sakura didn't have many fancy clothes. She didn't concern herself with things - most of her clothes were either school uniforms or plain dresses that would hide how disgusting and corrupted she was. But it felt surprisingly good to hear Shirou compliment her. She unobtrusively straightened her sweater.

"Here it is!" Shirou stopped in front of a booth that sold all sorts of teen jewelry. And they had a large selection of headbands, clips, combs and hair pins. "I noticed that you always have something in your hair, so I thought you might want to get something here."

"That was very thoughtful of you, Sempai" Sakura's face almost glowed with happiness. She didn't deserve this, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to accept this unlooked for treasure, and that is what interactions with Shirou were to her.

After doing a little shopping, the happy couple continued on down the lane.

"Do you know which high school you are going to next year?" Shirou asked. He suspected it would be the same as him. Fuyuki only had a couple of options, and unless you were into engineering or tested really well, you went to the Fuyuki Regular School.

"I am going to go to the same school as you, Sempai." Sakura tentatively reached out and took Shirou's hand.

^Trackless^

Shirou was ecstatic. Night had fallen, and they were still walking around, holding hands. They had covered all of the festival area, but neither teen wanted the evening to end, so they had continued on to all the regular shops that lined edges of the festival streets. These were doing a booming business as well, cashing in on the bounty of customers.

"What are you doing here?"

Shirou turned in surprise at the angry tone coming from behind him.

Shinji stormed up the sidewalk, brushing past people strolling. "Grandfather wanted you home at eight. You're late!" He reached to grab Sakura's free hand. He was furious: that slut he was supposed to have had a date with had stood him up. And as he finally headed home, what does he see? His stupid sister walking with Emya!

Shirou interposed himself, holding out one arm to block Shinji while continuing to hold Sakura's hand with the other. "Calm down, Shinji. We just lost track of time. There is no need to get upset."

"Out of the way, Emya," Shinji pushed Shirou's arm out of the way, at the same time grabbing Sakura and pulling. "I'll tell you when there is reason to be angry!"

Sakura staggered, not wanting to go, but not wanting to resist and cause a scene. Shinji gave her a sharp yank. "Come on!"

Sakura stumbled and slipped off of the sidewalk just as an oncoming Honda took the corner too fast. The driver didn't have time to slam on the breaks before colliding with the falling girl.

"Oh.. Sakura, I didn't mean to..." Shinji stood in horror. He wasn't certain what to do. Grandfather would kill him.

Shirou and the surrounding bystanders rushed over to Sakura. The Honda driver leaped out of his car, "I'm sorry, I didn't see her! Is she...?" he wrung his hands uselessly.

A police officer pushed through to see if he could help, while a second police officer tried to disperse the crowd.

"Officer," Shirou called out. His voice was controlled, but he was filled with a cold fury. "Arrest that man – this wasn't an accident." He pointed at Shinji.