For those following the story, yes I did upload this chapter and then took it down. I had realized that despite writing a note to double check something, I hadn't done it before posting the chapter so I took it back down. After rewriting the scene in question, I have put it back up.

My apologies. I try to put out decent work, but this chapter isn't one of my best.

Chapter 6: Bothering the Teacher

The next day…

"Glynda! We need someone to put the stairs back together in the City Hall! You will do that for the Council of Vale, right?"

Glynda would have glared if she wasn't aware of the political ramifications. Namely, making a petty enemy at a time when they couldn't afford any more.

But the city was in ruins and the Council wanted to use her Semblance to repair the fourth-largest building in the city after the Palace, Beacon, and the CCT Tower just so that they could hold meetings in their comfortable chairs?

But she needed the political good will of the rulers of Vale. They did control the budget after all.

"Of course," she said as she changed course towards the administrative building. "I can open up a slot of time in my schedule for the Council."

"Deputy Headmistress," the flunky said, before pointing to the Bullhead he had arrived in. "We have Councilor Hans Christian Clothes' private Bullhead available for you while he waits at City Hall."

Glynda stopped.

The Council still had their private Bullheads!? The city needed every airship they had for distribution and there still was an inadequate number but the Councilors were keeping their private property back for momentary conveniences?

Glynda didn't give her best glare to the flunky but compromised by giving one of her nastier ones. She supposed that it would cause trouble later as offending politicians, especially when they were selfish and stupid, wasn't an act you made unless you wanted trouble.

And Glynda had enough on her plate that she didn't need to seek more out.

But she couldn't help herself. This whole situation was irritating her.

"Glynda Goodwitch, Deputy Headmistress of Beacon, you have been summoned before the Council of Vale to answer the questions this body has over the institution known as Beacon. To begin with, we would like to ask you, what is the current status of Beacon Academy?"

"Overran but alive," she answered succinctly as she stood before the reigning council in Vale on their amphitheater like meeting room. "Our professors spent the Battle of Vale in defense of the city and to buy time for the evacuation from Amity Stadium/Colosseum. Our students were sent to Beacon to mount a defense but were unprepared for the dangerous Wyvern that attacked Beacon and the combined assaults of the Grimm, White Fang and the virus infected Atlasian Knights and Paladins. We were able to evacuate most of the students but we are lacking control over the campus grounds at the moment. However, causalities were not as horrendous as they could have been and most students will be able to return at a later date."

"I see," a Councilor said, hands steepled together in front of her at her large, expensive wooden desk as she looked down on the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon. "Do you think Vale would be benefitted by applying any budget at the current time towards Beacon?"

Glynda blinked at the sheer stupidity of the question.

"Yes, Councilor," she said, restraining her wit from verbally attacking the idiot in front of her. "Even if Beacon is unable to access its training facilities, we need the budget for retaking the facility and its repair."

"What if we didn't bother to retake it?" another councilor said. "What justification would the survivors of Beacon be able to offer up for their large budget in the future?"

Glynda stared at the idiot. She had guessed wrong as to which one was the sheer idiot among the councilors.

She wasn't the only one staring at the man like he had done something incredibly stupid. Multiple councilors were staring at the idiot among them.

"For one, honored Councilor," Glynda said, false honey in her voice. "It would allow you to keep employing your current Huntsmen and Huntresses who are helping to keep the city safe after it was attacked. For another, it would allow us to continue producing Huntsmen and Huntresses in the future for the continued safety of the city."

"We'll discuss that matter later," a third councilor said, with a look at the idiot that declared that he was wondering how he could politically use the idiot. Probably throw him to the wolves of public opinion judging by the disgust and dislike hidden on his expression. "Rest assured, deputy Headmistress, that we will ensure that you continue to receive funding in the future. We are just trying to determine how to use the remaining funds of this fiscal year for the good of the city in these dark times."

Glynda silently approved of the forming plots of the third councilor. She didn't have time to waste on idiots who were in command and getting in everyone else's way.

But she also took note of it. Someone who was this ambitious in these circumstances warranted a closer eye in case they were tempted to work for Salem.

Now if only she had someone she could spare to take that closer look!

"Now, as for the matter of the demise of Headmaster Ozpin…"

"Miss Goodwitch! This is Lisa Lavender from Vale News Network. What is the plan for Beacon now that the Headmaster has fallen and the campus overran?"

Glynda blinked as her eyes adjusted from the relative darkness of the council chambers to bright noon sunlight. "I wasn't aware the news was up yet. I had thought the CCT was still down."

Did Shirou already manage to find a way up to Beacon and retake it?

Glynda immediately dismissed the idea. There was no way that she wouldn't have been told of it or any other attempt to retake Beacon.

"It is," Lisa Lavender agreed. "However, we have taken to both printing the news and distributing it through short-range wireless providers. The people deserve to know! Now, what can you tell us concerning-"

"Miss Goodwitch! This is Cyril Ian from Vale News Network. What is your statement concerning the rumored demise of Pyrrha Nikos after the disastrous end of the Vytal Festival Tournament?"

Glynda stopped in the streets as she looked at the man, who was holding a microphone to her face.

She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to deal with the media again right now and she had to get onto reconstructing the walls. But if she didn't assure the public now, then public morale would drop and Vale couldn't afford that.

Holding back her sigh while maintaining her public persona, she replied.

"Well, Ian, I can tell you that-"

"Hey, baby," a thug smirked at Glynda as she passed by the alley where he and a few friends were lurking. "Want to see something amazing?"

Glynda didn't dignify the horrible flirting attempt with a response.

Honestly, couldn't they do something productive rather than bothering her?

"Miss Goodwitch!"

"Miss Goodwitch!"

"Glynda Goodwitch!"

"Glynda?"

Sitting in a chair at her quarters, Glynda groaned out-loud before realizing that it wasn't someone else demanding something of her even though night had finally fallen.

"Sorry, Shirou," She forced a smile onto her face as she looked over to one of her roommates who was sitting on the ground next to his bed as he fixed some device he had brought back. Then she remembered that she should keep her emotional distance from him and the smile vanished off of her face. "It's been a long day. Is there something you need?"

"No," the man frowned, setting down the screwdriver and folding his arms over his sleeveless black undershirt that highlighted his muscular build. "I was actually wondering if you needed any help with anything."

Glynda looked away.

The man was just too attractive for his own good.

"I'm fine, Shirou," she reassured the man, refusing to stare any longer at her future student. No matter how sculpted his face was, or how his muscles rippled as he casually moved around, or how fine his strong, long legs were, or how good his cooking was, or how kind he was, or his humorous snark and wit that kept up with her own, or how his eyes would draw her own in, she shouldn't have a crush on her student.

No, she did not have a relapse this morning while she was still waking up and Shirou was moving around in the kitchen, a beauty in both sight and smell. All those qualities were just random thoughts in her head. She refused to give any admission to the implication of staring at Shirou for a couple of minutes until her brain finally fully switched on.

But she was an adult. She would ignore it. She would ignore her crush and refuse to act on it. Eventually, it would go away.

Either that or Shirou would graduate and then leave.

Glynda decided to ignore that pang of disappointment too.

But what else could she do? She couldn't give him trouble about her crush. It was originating from her and it would be wrong to start making trouble for him because of her own private issues.

She couldn't run away from it. Shirou was going to be one of her students. And right now, he didn't have anywhere else to sleep and neither did she. She couldn't kick him out of the barracks.

And she most certainly could not act on her irrational feelings!

No, all she could do was pretend that it wasn't there, that she didn't have a crush.

"If you're sure…" Shirou trailed off, disbelief evident in the tone of his voice. "You look like everything has gone wrong for you."

"No, just dealing with the politicians," Glynda admitted. "It went well enough, if you don't mind the usual… intelligence they have."

Shirou snorted, his lack of respect towards them obvious. "Should I expect a declaration of war anytime soon?"

"Fortunately, it was not a bad day," Glynda responded. It would be a nightmare if Vale decided to declare war now. "Only two counselors made an idiotic suggestion."

"Wow," Shirou sarcastically marveled. "Must have had a few got lost on way to the meeting."

Glynda didn't respond. She shouldn't smile. She shouldn't smile.

Even if she wanted to after that meeting and the rest of the day. And even if it was rude to the Council. Even if it was inappropriate.

"As a Huntress of Vale, I feel obligated to request that you do not speak of them like that when I am around to hear it," Glynda finally said, adjusting her glasses.

Shirou gave her a dry look. Obviously not believing that she was serious about the request.

She matched it with her professional stare. She was a professor. She would not lose this contest. She would not give in.

She would not show that she currently had a similar sentiment.

"Alright," Shirou finally conceded the point. "Maybe they are not that bad. I wouldn't know."

Glynda smirked as he looked away. She still had it.

Shirou felt a touch of shame at Glynda's reproach. She obviously felt responsible for the city so she owed loyalty to the rulers of Vale.

And he wouldn't have said such a thing to their faces or in front of Miyu. If it wasn't something that he would have encouraged Miyu to do, he probably shouldn't do it himself.

Unless it was for her, like killing those seven competitors in the Holy Grail War. Not something he ever wanted Miyu to do but he wouldn't hesitate to do again.

"So, is there something I can do to help tomorrow?" Shirou asked, changing the topic. Also, while looking for people to help and boards to put up notices on went well together, especially when it came to asking people if they had ever seen Miyu, it didn't help in getting the CCT back up.

"Hmm," Glynda hummed as she pulled out her scroll. She flicked it on and examined something. "I don't suppose you are any good at fixing turrets, are you?"

"Actually," Shirou perked up at something he could do. "I have fixed complex machinery before."

"Military grade turrets?" the blonde raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall that being on your transcripts, Shirou."

Leaving aside that Shirou didn't have any transcripts. But he did have a resume that he had left with the rest of his admission paperwork.

"Well, not anything like that," Shirou had to admit. "The military had their own technicians so I never worked on one before. But there isn't that much difference between one large complex machine and another if you have the blueprints and manual."

And Structural Analysis was very good at substituting for those. Not to mention it helped him to understand where the problem was and what wasn't working as it used to, which was the hardest part of fixing anything. Even with Dust putting up some interference, it didn't change the fact that Shirou had learned to tweak the basic spell to not set off the Dust.

Dust had some odd reactions to magecraft. Shirou had learned that when he made his first try at fixing a stove on Remnant really.

He had laid one hand on the kitchen stove and it literally blew up into a fireball as the Fire Dust decided that the spell wanted it to activate in one burst.

When the fireball had faded, Shirou had been left standing there with his eyebrows singed, hair on fire, shirt burning, and hand red with a second-degree burn.

He had been lucky it hadn't been worse and that the family hadn't charged him.

Fortunately, that was a long time ago.

"Are you any good at it?" Glynda asked, idly tapping the table while thinking.

"Good enough to make some money off repairing stuff without having the customer send it to the company," Shirou said modestly.

"Well, if that is the case," Glynda said, standing up and walking over, scroll in hand, to where Shirou was working on putting a device back together. "I'll copy the schematics over to your scroll and you can help put some turrets at the wall back together tomorrow."

"About that," Shirou felt slightly awkward as he watched the lovely woman walk towards him. "There might be a small problem. I don't have a scroll."

Glynda stopped dead.

"Shirou," she started, adjusting her glasses in disbelief. "Are you telling me that you don't have a scroll?"

"Yeah," Shirou shrugged. "Never wanted to buy one. Public terminals were common enough that I didn't need to buy a scroll and pay their associated the monthly bills. I would rather use the money to search for Miyu."

"I see," Glynda said, frowning disapprovingly at him. "Well then, Mr. Emiya. You will find that you will need a scroll to be a Huntsman at Beacon. Scrolls are critical for communication and spars."

"Spars?" Shirou asked, in confusion. "How would a scroll be important in a spar?"

"For gauging your Aura," Glynda trailed off as she remembered that Shirou didn't know anything about Aura.

Give him a break, he didn't know that a field of thaumatology would be so wide spread. Dust was mystical but you didn't need to be a magus to use a sword Mystic Code to stab someone. He had just figured that Dust was common enough that Remnant had learned to use science to tap into its power.

"Shriou," Glynda said, placing her free hand on her well-rounded hip. "A scroll is a critical tool for a Huntsman. It allows you to see the state of your team, send messages back to civilization, receive requests, and record information in addition to a host of other functions. For combat alone, a scroll is helpful in determining strategy as it will tell you if your aura or that of a teammate's is low and they need to be protected."

Shirou blinked as he processed her words, laying back against the side of his own bunk.

It sounded like they could tell how many units of Aura they had.

"Wait, you can measure how much Aura a person has?" Shirou asked in surprise.

"Yes," Glynda blinked. "Of course, we can. We can measure the state of a person's Aura, their maximum capacity, and how much they have left. The scroll will then display it on the scroll and to devices that interface with it."

Shirou leaned back against his bed.

Looked like Remnant was more advanced than Earth again. You could do something similar on Earth for examining a person's Magic Circuits but that was a ritual that took time and preparation. And to do all of what the professor had just listed would involve several rituals or spells in sequence.

But to do all of those simultaneously and repeatedly with only a single device…

Though it did explain what that complex sensory device in the occasional scroll was for. He had never bothered to learn what it did but he did know how to fix it and replace it if a component had burned out.

"Are you not able to do that with magic?" Glynda asked, curiosity evident in how she held her head.

"No, there is a way," Shirou said. "But that is a combination of several rituals that requires some preparation to do. Nothing as quick or convenient like what you are saying though."

Glynda tilted her head thoughtfully as she considered that.

"Interesting," she muttered to herself.

Shirou wished he knew what she was thinking at that moment. But if he had, it would only have been Glynda realizing that Ozpin might have known of the ritual but since the magic was omly inherited from Maiden to Maiden, they probably had the exact same amount of magic as the previous Maiden.

"Not really," Shirou disagreed. "In combating magecraft, the most important thing is figuring out how each Mystery or spell works and then countering it. Knowing how many times your opponent can do a certain spell is useful but since they know their own capacity better, it isn't quite so useful."

Glynda frowned.

"I'm not sure I follow," she said. "Are you saying that discovering the opponent's Semblance is more important than their Aura capacity?"

"Semblance, the unique manifestation of a person's innate power and Aura?" Shirou recalled from her lecture the first night they had met. He nodded. "Yeah, I guess you can say that, although magecraft tends to run more in fields than in one unique manifestation. A person who can create a fireball tends to be able to do more magecraft based on fire and heat than just fireballs."

"Ah yes, that is the case," Glynda muttered to herself.

Shirou wondered at what she was thinking about as the woman's mind seemed to be somewhere else.

"Is it different with Semblances?" Shirou asked curiously.

He needed to know if he was going to be hiding his abilities by pretending to be a Huntsman when he was actually a magus. Sounded like a magus in fields other than Dust and Aura were much rarer here than a magus would be on Earth.

"Yes," Glynda snapped out of distraction to refocus her pretty green eyes on Shirou. "While everyone's Aura shares the same properties, including defensive properties, enhancing of physical qualities such as healing and strength, a person's Semblance is unique to them. My own, telekinesis, is quite different from Bart's or Peter's or even my own students. Although the occasional Semblance can on occasion appear the same such as Pyrrha Nikos's polarity when compared to my own, hers operates quite differently."

"Huh," Shirou considered it. Sounded less like everyone got their own specialized field of magecraft and more like their own Origin was manifested into a single spell. Like him and Tracing.

"Honestly, how you know to fix advanced machinery but not know anything at all about Aura is beyond me," Glynda shook her head reproachfully. "Surely, you had encountered someone who said something about it. It is one of the basic differences of a Hunter and a normal civilian."

"Well, I never met anyone with Aura," Shirou said, then frowned as a memory of some high tier fighters with some mystically infused weapons he talked with once came to mind. He had just assumed they used a hidden device to manipulate Dust in order to infuse their weapons. "Wait, come to think of it, there were those fighters who might have had Aura but they didn't ever talk about Aura. Just about Grimm and their families."

"Also, I might have only talked to them or anyone else about Miyu," Shirou admitted, looking away while feeling embarrassed. He didn't want to admit his own lack of sociability to this competent woman. But she was already on track to discovering it so no point in hiding it. "All of my conversations with people led back to Miyu in one way or another. And if they hadn't seen her, I usually didn't have anything to talk about."

Shirou could hear her sigh at that.

"Shirou, there is more to life than just one sister," Glynda said chidingly. "While finding and rescuing her is undoubtedly very important and something you should do, what will you do if it turns out that she is dead? You'll need a life after that."

Shirou stilled, his face twisting into a rictus of pain.

He hated thinking about that possibility.

Miyu had to be alive. He had to have saved her.

If he had instead sent her here to die-

No. He had wished on the Grail and on Miyu for her to have a small piece of happiness. And the wish obviously hadn't failed because she had brought him along. It had to have worked, even if it had separated the two of them.

Maybe Miyu wanted to punish him for taking so long to save her from the Ainsworth but she hadn't wanted to be without him after seeing him come out of his Reality Marble so badly injured.

But then, why hadn't he found her?

No, it was a big planet, Shirou reminded himself. She might be in one of the other kingdoms. He wouldn't have seen her while he had searched through all of Mistral if she was instead in Atlas or Vacuo.

But wouldn't they have landed close together when they came to this world?

"Shirou, Shirou!" Glynda shouted into his face one hand on his shoulder.

"Huh?" he responded, dragged out of his doubts.

"Are you alright?" She asked, her rushed voice full of concern. "I'm sorry if I touched on something I shouldn't have. She's probably still alive. I shouldn't have been so insensitive."

"No, you're fine," Shirou said, waving it off. "She's still alive. I know that."

"How do you figure? Magic?" Glynda asked with a little relief at his assurance.

"Magic," Shirou affirmed, without going into details.

He had already given away too much information about the Holy Grail when he mentioned it yesterday. If Glynda didn't know about the Holy Grail, then he shouldn't let her know.

Even the best of people could commit atrocities for power's sake or lie to hide what they really were. Shirou had trusted Julian and his good heart, especially when Julian had said that he would choose his sister over everyone else.

It might have been a lie. But Julian had always been fighting alone too. Yet when it came down to it, Julian had chosen to use a doll of his own sister for the Grail War. To risk one of the last reminders of his family, to lose what was important to him.

All for the sake of a good dream, a wonderful yet painful ideal. One of a hero of justice.

To sacrifice one to save all.

Shirou had defied it, cast aside his father's dream, betrayed his own promise to Kiritsugu. Everyone precious to him was gone and he had nothing left.

But Miyu had to still be alive. He had wished for her to have a warm share of happiness. You couldn't be happy if you were dead so Miyu must be alive.

Or so Shirou believed.

"It must be convenient to be so skilled in magic," Glynda said drily before hurriedly taking her white, smooth hand off of his shoulder and standing up.

Shirou got up as well. He must have really worried her if she had bent down to comfort him about his sister.

And she didn't know about the Grail and his wish so it really was logical for her to wonder about his belief in Miyu's continued existence.

"I'm not really," Shirou admitted. It would become quickly obvious that he wasn't a very good magus. Hiding it now would only lead to trouble in the future if they had high expectations of him. "But I know enough to know that Miyu has to be alive."

"If you say so," Glynda non-committedly said. "Anyway, what had we been talking about before we got onto our uncomfortable tangent? Must have been a happier conversation if we had to go off our path to find it."

"We were talking about fixing the turrets tomorrow," Shirou said, creasing his brow as he tried to remember.

"Ah yes," Glynda clicked her tongue. "Maybe I was too optimistic about the cheerfulness of our previous topic."

"You don't enjoy discussing ball bearings and their relation to keeping the turret able to swivel along its arc of fire?" Shirou asked sarcastically.

"If I am to talk about ball bearings, it is along the line of 'will you please move your shoe so I can put the ball bearing back where it belongs instead of replacing your own?'" Glynda riposted. "I am a busy woman, you know and I don't have time for crude attempts of flirting that fail to impress me."

"In interest of conserving time, why don't you show me the schematics now?" Shirou proposed. "That way you can get back to what you were doing and I can finish this up."

Shirou referred to the disassembled device he was putting back together before patting the bed behind him in invitation for her to sit down since they were both over here.

"No, let's sit at the table," Glynda said, looking at the bed like it scared her a tiny bit. "And I can split the screen to work on my own stuff while you study the designs."

It wasn't obvious but to a person who had shared the skills of Archer who had specialized in reading his opponents to determine their next action and how he should best counter it, Shirou could easily discern her fear, as minor as it was.

What it didn't do was tell him why his bed had spooked Glynda. It was as clean as her bed. And he had only slept in it for one night so it shouldn't smell bad or something.

But it really didn't matter, Shirou admitted as he got up. Sitting on a bunk in a shared dorm or in a chair didn't change anything.

And to speak honestly, he didn't need to look over the schematics. He would learn them as soon as he Structurally Analyzed the turret tomorrow. But spending the time now would help obscure his expertise at Structural Analysis.

A lot of magus underestimated the basics, Kiritsugu had taught Shirou. Reinforcement and Structural Analysis both were extremely useful for both combat and preparation for ambushes. Knowing where a gun or car engine was already failing could save a lot of work and time when it came time to sabotage the enemy counter-attack or escape route.

And Kiritsugu had to admit that with Shirou's extreme affinity for Material magecraft, he might as well specialize since he wouldn't have any other choice in magecraft. Shirou's talents were just too focused for him to learn Kiritsugu's other spells.

And while Shirou was starting to trust Glynda Goodwitch, obscuring the full breadth of his abilities was just smart. If you could deceive your current allies, then you were deceiving your enemies, whether present or future.

Glynda smelled nice, Shirou noted as he took a seat next to her as she split her large scroll screen in half. The half closer to him was for the schematics while the other half was her own stuff. A long checklist, judging by what he saw her open even if less than half of the items weren't checked off.

Shirou saw and heard Glynda scoot her chair away from him with a scraping sound as he leaned forward to get a better look at the screen.

Shirou wondered why. He didn't smell bad.

He thinks.

Maybe he was just in her personal space.

Shirou spent his early childhood with Kiritsugu as an assistant. He's familiar with the corruption of politicians. I imagine that Kiritsugu had to kill a few and passed his disdain for the corrupt ones onto Shirou. And since the majority of politicians that Shirou saw were the corrupt ones before they died…

Shirou might not have the most respect for the field.