Please play Fate/Go with me.

Hiratsuka Shizuka opened the refrigerator, took out a can of beer, and sat directly on the boy's bed to drink it.

"What's the matter with coming here?" Shirou asked.

Hiratsuka Shizuka gulped down a can of beer and exclaimed, "This can't go on!!! I never expected the exchange match to end in a 3-0 score! 3-0! Unbelievable!"

"Didn't you also say that friendship comes first and competition second in these exchange activities?" Shirou said.

"That's a line you can only say after you win," Kasumigaoka Utaha said coldly as she walked over and sat on the boy's bed.

Hiratsuka Shizuka crumpled the can into a ball with one hand and said fiercely, "That's right! We have to get back the face we lost. Shirou, tomorrow is your turn. Be on your best! Give them a big surprise! Just like that little girl before, put on a performance that shocks everyone!"

Shirou asked Hiratsuka to put her hands down twice to calm her down before saying, "No, teacher, think about it: would you buy a ticket to go to a concert?"

“If there’s a singer you like,” Hiratsuka Shizuka said.

Shirou asked again, "Would you pay money to see a kyudo performance?"

“If it were your performance…maybe…perhaps…” Hiratsuka Shizuka said hesitantly.

“It’s a different type of performance. The viewing experience of artistic performances is different from other performances. We don’t force people to understand things they’ve never seen before,” Shirou said, shrugging.

“But there are people who like archery, though they can’t compare to shogi or go.” Hiratsuka Shizuka said, resting her chin on her hand, looking troubled.

At this moment, the senior sitting next to her interjected, "Actually, it's about combining six months' worth of Weekly Shonen Jump into one book, priced at 5000 yen. Would you buy it?"

"It's so cheap! Of course I'll buy it!" Shizuka Hiratsuka shouted, raising her hand.

The senior student asked again, "What if it were a six-month guide to modern dating for men and women?"

"Why would I buy that kind of thing?!" Hiratsuka Shizuka exclaimed in frustration.

The senior student looked at the boy with a smile and asked, "Shirou, am I right?"

Shirou nodded and said, "Yes, that's roughly what I meant. Although it's a little different, it's surprisingly convincing."

"Although Zhou Meimei's Pipa Ballad is an ancient-style piece, it is also music that modern people can enjoy. But archery, just like a modern dating guide, is something that some people are destined not to use or learn about."

"Do you understand now, teacher?" Shirou looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, only to find that she was now slumped over at the foot of the bed, looking heartbroken.

"Huh? Teacher, why are you clutching your chest and lying on the ground? Did you drink too much? If you feel like throwing up, I'll help you to the toilet."

"It's nothing... I've just been hurt a lot in the past." Hiratsuka Shizuka leaned against the boy and was helped up from the ground.

Shirou helped Hiratsuka Shizuka to sit down on the sofa.

The weak Hiratsuka Shizuka grasped the boy's hand, her powerless hand trembling slightly, and said with a sorrowful expression, "Shirou, Kasumigaoka... even for my sake, please... you must shock the entire audience tomorrow... uh."

After saying her last words, the woman collapsed onto the sofa and died.

"Anyway... I'll try my best. And this is too fake. If you want to sleep, please go back to your room," Shirou said helplessly.

"Huh? I think I acted pretty well. I could easily star in an idol drama!" Hiratsuka Shizuka sat up from the sofa and said seriously.

"Not even close," Shirou retorted. "If it were a comedic role in an idol drama, you could certainly pull it off by playing yourself."

"Yes, I agree. Even a third-rate actor is better than this. Of course, if it's the kind of movie Shirou likes, then that's a different story." The senior suddenly added.

"What kind of film?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked Shirou, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"A kung fu movie! Super awesome!" Shirou gestured with his fist techniques, though the only martial art he'd actually learned was Bajiquan, which he'd been beaten up a few times. Snake Fist was terrifying the first time he encountered it.

"Bruce Lee! Jeet Kune Do! Woo-da! Jack Cheng! Snake Hands, Drunken Fist! Ip Man! Wing Chun!"

"What are you gesturing like that? It's hilarious! Shirou, your acting is completely terrible! But... really! Really! So you have this kind of hobby, Shirou! Then next time there's a good new movie, let's watch it together!" Hiratsuka Shizuka said with a laugh, as if she had found a kindred spirit, patting the boy's shoulder repeatedly.

"Um... um," Shirou replied awkwardly, having escaped a close call.

"Tch..." Kasumigaoka Utaha muttered under her breath.

Shirou glanced at his senior and said, "Let's call it a day then. I need to get some rest and recharge for tomorrow's match."

"Well then, tomorrow's performance depends on you guys!" Hiratsuka Shizuka said with a laugh, and left Shirou's room with Kasumigaoka Utaha.

The next morning, I arrived at the school here in a private car.

Shirou is about to perform archery for the teachers and students of schools in Xunyang. Xunyang is an ancient city with a long history and has experienced many wars. During the Three Kingdoms period, it was called Chaisang, a territory of the Wu Kingdom, and was where Zhou Yu trained his troops.

When it comes to naval warfare, bows and arrows are the primary weapons, so he would never dare to underestimate any of the heroes under heaven. Before going into battle, even bathing and burning incense would not be excessive.

The boy changed into a white shirt and black pants archery uniform and stood on the left side of the auditorium. Thirty meters away, the teacher mobilized other students to help set up the target.

It demonstrates the etiquette, posture, and eight movements of proper archery to the public. Just like a martial arts performance that only focuses on posture, even if it contains spirit and has a unique aesthetic, it is still a kind of art.

But for young people who have grown up in an era where entertainment reigns supreme globally, art is actually irrelevant.

The whole process lasted ten minutes. Shirou remained calm and focused, concentrating on pursuing the pinnacle of archery. He was neither arrogant nor impatient, and everything proceeded in a relaxed and unhurried manner, much like the nobles of ancient times who, at a banquet, would compose poems and, when the mood struck, compete in archery.

At that moment, the boy's arm formed a parallel line with the bow; the arrow's target, the point he wanted to hit, and the focus of his gaze all converged into a single line. And so, the arrow was released.

Then he sheathed the bow, rotated it around his left arm, and stood still. He was calm and composed, as if everything was under his control.

At the same time, the arrow hit the bullseye.

This time it was in Xunyang, not at a kyudo competition in Tokyo. The surrounding audience wasn't kyudo masters or enthusiasts, but rather laymen who were probably encountering kyudo for the first time. This kind of slow shooting performance was hardly appealing to the young men and women seeking excitement and thrills, and it certainly wasn't exciting.

However, it's not that no one appreciates it. The aristocratic air that emanates from the young man is far more refined than that of tennis or golf. It is a combination of spiritual beliefs and elegant demeanor.

Young people may not be able to grasp the intricacies of it, but the older generation of teachers certainly saw something in it; at least the bearing displayed by the young archers was quite impressive.

"Although I don't quite understand, young man, you shot very accurately on such a small target."

"Although I don't quite understand, upon closer inspection, he's a handsome guy with amazing muscles."

"Although I don't quite understand, I felt my heart beat faster for a moment when I shot the arrow."

"Yeah, you felt it too, didn't you? Although this guy isn't my type of pretty boy, he's so beautiful and has such a great presence, like someone from a painting. Anyway..."

"So handsome..." The little girl with pigtails sitting in the back exclaimed involuntarily in a sweet, intoxicated voice.

Chapter 122 Little Girl and Heroic Spirit

When the girl realized she had blurted out her thoughts, she knew she had messed up. For someone as noble as the sun and moon, this was truly an embarrassment. Zhou Meimei turned away helplessly.

At this moment, both of her followers wore expressions of utter disbelief, as if the sky had fallen and the earth had cracked.

"Princess...? Huh?" The girl next to the twin-tailed girl asked in surprise, looking at her boss.

"Princess?! What did you just say?" The other girl also looked as if she had seen a ghost.

"Nothing! I didn't say anything!!!" The girl blushed and waved her hands, her twin ponytails swaying behind her.

At this moment, Shirou on stage bowed to the audience to express his gratitude, and feeling the girl's gaze, he nodded to her.

Feeling the boy's gaze, Zhou Meimei's face turned even redder.

“Princess…you haven’t fallen for me, have you? No way! Now is not the time to enjoy life! We agreed not to talk about marriage or romance until we’ve achieved success. As long as we have money, we won’t have to worry about finding a young man to marry into our family! When we’re 80, besides…we haven’t even paid off our family’s debts yet…”

"Yes, Princess! We haven't even worked hard yet, we haven't become the richest people in China, and we haven't even finished building our business empire to become the world's number one. Even if you want to flirt with men, please do it after we've finished building our business! Once we've made enough money to live a luxurious life, what kind of good men won't we have?! Right now, it's okay to find a guy just for fun!"

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing! You don't need to say anything more about these things!" Zhou Meimei said, blushing.

At this moment, Shirou, who was standing still, put down his longbow and began to stretch his arms and legs; his performance was not over yet.

When the boy picked up the bow again, his entire demeanor changed. He transformed from a carefree and elegant young man into a cold and stern warrior, standing there quietly like a fortress guarding everything. Perhaps this was the temperament that best reflected the boy's true nature.

"Well then, that concludes the archery demonstration. Next, I'll show you some modern shooting techniques," Hiratsuka Shizuka said with a smile to the audience. This demonstration style was something Shirou had mentioned to her in the car this morning. If traditional archery wasn't engaging enough, then let's show off some skills.

"Modern shooting?" A boy in the audience who had handled a bow smiled noncommittally upon hearing this.

"Huh? Wasn't that impressive? Even though it was slow, it hit the bullseye!" a classmate next to me asked doubtfully.

"It was just luck! What use is that kind of slow shooting technique on the battlefield? Although I don't understand the rules there, as long as I use my compound bow, I can shoot at the target without any problem. I'll find him to spar with later." The young archer said with a light laugh.

While people may not be able to comprehend the profound aspects of various arts, these are, after all, exquisite techniques passed down through generations over hundreds or thousands of years. Without a period of in-depth study, it is likely impossible to understand them.

However, art inevitably contains truth, goodness, and beauty. As long as it is art of the people, rather than art that is mutually praised within a small circle, then as long as we find a way to showcase its exciting and stimulating aspects, everyone can still appreciate it.

Things like Go or calligraphy might be difficult, but with a bow and arrow, you just need to hit the target.

Shirou simultaneously caught three arrows with his right hand.

The first and second arrows were nocked and fired the instant they were released, and the third arrow followed closely behind, the entire action completed in one second.

In an instant, the three arrows merged together, forming a long line, before finally separating slightly and piercing the center of the target. From the front, they formed a straight line of three white arrow feathers.

Shirou turned his back, nocked an arrow, and then instantly turned around, unleashing three arrows.

Speed, explosiveness, and a fierce aura.

The arrow reached the target the instant it was released, embedding itself firmly in the bullseye and forming a second "I" shape.

Then there are jump shots and backflip shots.

Finally, the target's center, around the nine and ten rings, was now filled with more than ten arrows, the white feathers on the arrow tails forming a perfect white circle.

The students sitting there were stunned. In their eyes, Shirou, who held a bow and arrow, was like Hou Yi reincarnated. He was probably more lethal with a bow and arrow than someone with a machine gun.

"Now I'm starting to believe the legend that Zhao Yun shot down the sail rope of the pursuing soldiers with a single arrow when he went to the river to meet Zhuge Liang," the white-haired principal exclaimed with amazement.

"That's right. Back then, General Taishi Ci shot down a rebel's hand that was sticking out from a high building, pinning it to a beam. That's probably what a master archer in ancient times had to do," the head of the teaching department sighed, echoing his sentiment.

"Hey, what did you just say?" someone teased, patting the boy playing with the bow on the shoulder.

"No, I mean let's play ping-pong with him next time," the boy playing with the bow said with a forced laugh.

"So handsome..." Even Wan'er and Lingyue were captivated, their eyes sparkling with admiration.

Annoyed to no end, Zhou Meimei took the opportunity to run away. Wan'er and Lingyue naturally followed, and the other girls also seemed to find it interesting and ran after her.

At this moment, Shirou changed his clothes in the dressing room, removed and stored the bowstring, then put it into his special backpack and carried it down from backstage.

"Shirou~! Your performance was really cool!" the little girl said, running up to the boy who had just stepped off the stage.

"Thank you. Although it can't compare to the poems you recited before, Zhou, I did my best," Shirou said with a light laugh.

"Just call me Meimei, I won't call you Shirou, we're friends, right?" the little girl asked softly, swaying her body from side to side.

"Okay, I know, Meimei," Shirou readily agreed.

"Humph……"

"Um……"

Wan'er and Lingyue both wore expressions of utter disbelief, as if they'd lost a fortune. On one hand, it seemed the princess who had led them to the pinnacle of life had indeed fallen for them. On the other hand, the princess's object of affection was undeniably handsome, but they were simply not qualified to compete with her…

The girls behind them seemed to be gossiping and interested.

At that moment, Kasumigaoka Utaha and her classmate who was helping her carry the things came up.

"Go for it, senior!" Shirou encouraged the girl.

"Well, I was just trying to please the people here," Kasumigaoka Utaha said nonchalantly.

Despite saying that, when it came to the formal exchange program, Kasumigaoka Utaha, with the help of her teacher and several classmates, carried a long table, laid out raw Xuan paper, dipped a brush in ink, and devoutly wrote down the entire text of "Song of Everlasting Regret" in Chinese characters.

Even though she wasn't fluent in Chinese or calligraphy, the girl still put in a lot of effort for it.

'Well, this person is definitely a fan of Murasaki Shikibu and Bai Juyi, so that's why they chose this one... No wonder they're so close with Eriri, it turns out that Senpai is a different kind of tsundere in some ways.' Shirou thought to himself.

Unlike Ms. Hiratsuka, Kasumigaoka-senpai, although she couldn't understand Chinese, put in the effort to memorize the standard pronunciation and recited the Song of Everlasting Regret in a beautiful and melodious voice.

"The Han emperor, captivated by beauty, longed for a woman who could topple a kingdom, but for many years he sought none. The Yang family had a daughter who had just come of age, raised in seclusion, unknown to the world."

Her natural beauty was hard to conceal; one day she was chosen to serve the emperor. A single glance from her could launch a thousand ships, and all the beauties of the six palaces paled in comparison.

………………

The spring night is short and the day is high, and since then the king will not go to court early.

………………

There are three thousand beauties in the harem, and three thousand people love her.

………………

"In heaven, we wish to be birds flying wing to wing; on earth, we wish to be trees with intertwined branches. Heaven and earth may pass away, but this sorrow will last forever."

Yang Yuhuan was naturally beautiful, proficient in poetry and song, and extremely talented in music and dance.

At the age of seventeen, she married Prince Shou, the son of Emperor Xuanzong, but because of her beauty, Emperor Xuanzong took a liking to her and ordered her to be summoned to the palace to serve him. She then became a Taoist nun in the palace temple. At the age of twenty-seven, she was made a Noble Consort, and after the death of the Empress, she became the head of the harem and received all kinds of favor.

Finally, during the An Lushan Rebellion, while fleeing, she was regarded as a femme fatale and was ordered to commit suicide by Emperor Xuanzong at Mawei Slope with no other choice.

A young girl recited an 840-word poem flawlessly in her unique, clear, and graceful voice, earning applause from the entire audience. People, whose sense of national pride was satisfied, looked at the beautiful and elegant young girl on stage with admiration.

Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded and smiled at the other teacher, quite satisfied. It seemed that the exchange activity had received such a good response, and coupled with the shock that Shirou had brought earlier, it was a perfect success. No wonder he was the top student in Chiba International High School who had maintained the first place in his grade all year.