Fate/Writer's Dream: Immagine Speculare

Chapter Three: It All Comes To The Same Conclusion

     Another morning shined on the Emiya household, but the tension within Philip's heart couldn't be more heart wrenching. His mind was deeply lost in thought.

    "It's not about what is true, but what is right, and you have to believe that til the very end."

     That's what Emiya told him last night, and it's been reverberating through his mind ever since. Weren't they the same things: what's true and what's right? It was a confusing philosophy to him.

     He wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing; there was soap on his toothbrush and toothpaste in his hands. As the toothbrush touched his tongue, he immediately gagged and wiped his face with his hand that was covered in toothpaste, making his face even dirtier than before. He took a step back and slipped on the towel laying on the floor. His entire body came crashing down, causing the cups on the sink to fall over as well, along with a towel on the towel racket, medicine on the counter, and a hairbrush that fell on his chest.

     He groaned in pain as he sat back up and rubbed the back of his head, spreading more toothpaste all over himself. When he realized what he had done, he groaned even louder and stood up.

     While looking at the mirror, he noticed a few things wrong with his outfit: his shirt was inside out, his shorts were unzipped and backwards, and he wasn't wearing a hat, but a pillowcase as a beanie.

     "You know what? I give up," Philip muttered as he slapped the beanie off of himself and walked out of the restroom, looking like a complete mess; toothpaste hair and a messy attire.

     He cursed repeatedly as he made his way towards the living room and grabbed his backpack from the couch. "I'm heading out now, Emiya," he called as he banged his head against the door, cursed loudly again, and tried to push open the door once more even though it was clearly a pull, not a push, door.

     Emiya stared at him dumbfounded, the sink still running. He watched his "adopted son" struggle to open up a door. A full grown fifteen year old boy... struggling to open a door.

     "Philip... you should probably skip school today and get some rest," Emiya suggested as he turned off the sink.

     "What? No, I'm fine!" Philip said as he gave up on the door and slid open the window. "I got like the minimum. Pretty sure it's chill." He tossed his backpack outside and dive bombed after it. "I'll see you later Philip!" he called, but paused and thought about what he said. "Uhhhhhh, I meant Emiya. Anyways, goodbye, I'm going to go to school and do stuff." He picked up his bag and ran down the dirt pathway.

     Emiya watched him disappear into the forest, still stunned at the sight he's seen. He sighed and walked over to the couch and sat down. "Somethings wrong," he muttered as he looked outside the window.

     Philip ran down the dirt road, nearly tripping over his untied shoelaces till he reached the school and slowed down to a paced jog. He slid through the crowds of students as well, his peers staring at the back of his head that was covered in toothpaste, and as well as his face.

     As he made his way up the stairs, he noticed a subtle difference with the students: it wasn't as crowded as before. It was strange that that was the only thing he sensed, not his friends or Valence, but the fact that the crowds felt more spacious than before. Multiple students had been absent due to being "sick", but for these many students to become absent was strange. Perhaps it was just a chain reaction.

     Philip walked down the hallway towards his classroom, his palms sweaty and his grip on his backpack tightening. He was going to decide whether he was right or not today, the final decision that would affect his friendship between himself, Alyssa, and Maxwell—