Chapter 1: The Worst Day of Makoto Naegi and Shirou Emiya's Life

The young child had little sister, barely a toddler, on his back. His green eyes registered the burning building, his hair was an absolute mess, sprinkled with cinders and ashes. He took a step forward and felt his feet unable to get their holding.

However, he still kept his sister on his back. She let out a cough and he smiled at her.

"Don't worry sis, it'll be fine… You'll be safe," the boy looked at his ailing sister, "Just don't breathe in the fumes…" He took another step forward.

I… I need to keep hoping… The boy's eyes closed, I can make it out of here. My mom and dad… Who were they again?

Images of a happy family was starting to fade away. Replaced by ashes.

The boy collapsed.

Hope... I need to hope.

I need...to save…

The boy's eyes closed. As the fire started to overtake him, the crying tears of his sister started to touch his back. Maybe, maybe they just needed hope as well. All of those caught in the fire needed hope. It was then the most hopeful thing happened.

"Please, I… I need to save at least one person…" a man's desperate voice rang through the crying toddler's ear. She looked at the man between her tears. She wouldn't remember this, but she would see a sheath come into her brother's chest. The boy's empty eyes opened as the girl looked at their savior.

"Thank you...thank you, thank you!" The man hugged the boy. The toddler stared at them. The girl looked at him.

He looked at her and smiled.

"...Is this your brother?"

The girl nodded as she looked at the man above him.

"...I see," the man stood up, tears in his eyes as he looked at both the boy and the girl, "I'm... I'm so glad I found you...both of you... I...I have been saved."

However, there was one reality that rang through the fire. This was the worst day of Makoto Naegi's life. It was, after all, the same day Makoto Naegi died. In his place was another boy. The boy who saw the crying man and felt the crying toddler, his sister, on his back.

His name was…


"Shirou!" Immediately Shirou Emiya was caught from his daydream. A teen with blue hair was pointing at him, "Shirou, I need you to go and get me some coffee from the store down the street."

Shirou blinked, "Oh, sure!"

It was lucky that Shinji had brought along his "friend," Shirou Emiya. He was helpful, as evidenced from the swan he helped save, a nice person and was basically the kind of person who Shinji liked to hang out with. An idiot, but a friend of sorts.

Shirou smiled, "Sure!" He looked at the group that Shinji was hanging with, all girls along with Shinji's purple-haired sister (who was actually by Shirou's side at the moment), "So what do you guys want?"

The girls all gave their orders and when Shirou took a step, the girl started to follow him.

"Senpai?" the girl looked at Shirou, "Can I come too?"

Shirou smiled and nodded, "Sure Sakura!" Shirou didn't notice Shinji's look of distaste and the two started to walk toward the shop.

"Come ladies, I'll talk more about the place I know when Shirou and my sister comes back," Shinji said. As the girls giggled, both Shirou and Sakura walked off to the market.

The two of them were talking about, well to be perfectly frank, it was just them catching up. Shirou looked over to Sakura one last time.

"Sakura… I just want to know, has Shinji-"

"...No," Sakura suddenly said.

"I see…" The two of them kept walking to the convenience store. And just like that, both Shirou and Sakura had exited with bags full of drinks and other such indulgences. As per Shirou's gentlemanly nature, however, he took Sakura's bag and immediately felt that yes, the bags were heavy. And yes, they weren't entirely comfortable to carry.

"Um, senpai, are you..."

"Don't worry Sakura!" Shirou started to work forward and immediately, almost as if the gods wanted to curse him, the bags had both ripped from the seams. Shirou's own eye started to wince. How could this have happened? Other than his secret and his dream, Shirou Emiya presented himself as a normal person. So again, how could this have happened?

Immediately, both Shirou and Sakura started to pick up the fallen contents. Sakura looked over to Shirou and given him a small smile. Such a bad day shouldn't happen to her beloved senpai. However, it seemed as if the day would have gotten worse.

"We're missing one can," Shirou said as he counted the cans again. Sakura frowned as she also counted the cans. Their eyes lingered onto a bench where an old man was sitting down and had picked up one of the cans. Both Shirou and Sakura watched as the man drunk from it.

"Um, sir?" Shirou approached the old man, "That's my can?"

"Well, I already drank from it," the old man said, "I shouldn't have to give you the can just because it was your's. Why, it rolled in front of me! I don't see the reason to have to give you the drink."

"I…" Shirou sighed, "Look, can you at least pay me back then?"

"No can do son," the old man said, "I'm saving up for the future."

'It's literally 100 yen… It's not even much,' Shirou snarked to himself.

"Well, thank you for the drink regardless," the old man stood up, "My bus is coming." Shirou sighed as he watched the man walk away. Dealing with men like that reminded him of Shinji. Then again, he probably would have been willing to give him the drink if he asked. Instead, the man simply stole it.

"...Senpai?" Sakura looked at Shirou, "Um… He…" She pointed to the bench, where a familiar leather item had fallen.

Shirou's eyes lingered on the man's dropped wallet. He could just take it as revenge, but that wasn't Shirou Emiya. He picked the wallet up and looked at Sakura, "Can you…"

"Of course senpai…" Sakura sighed. Shirou gave her a smile and gave her the rest of the cans.

"I'll be back!" Shirou shouted as he grabbed the wallet. He chased after the man and entered the same bus the old man was on. As the old man sat down behind a twin-tailed teenager, Shirou approached him.

"Sir, I found your- Whoa!" Shirou screamed. As he fell, he attempted to grab something, anything to help him stabilize himself. Said thing was a bag carried by a businessman. Said businessman looked at Shirou in surprise and the bag poured out its contents, jewels.

"How the-"

The man lifted Shirou up, "Nobody move or I slit this kid's throat!" The man threatened the whole bus and pointed a knife at Shirou's throat. The man pulled Shirou to the driver's seat, which was quickly vacated by the driver. "Now, none of you saw anything, you got- Oof!"

It can be said that good luck and bad luck are two sides of the same coin. This man had a crazy amount of good luck the whole day, but Shirou's day? Well, it was just his nature. He wanted to help his friend, but now? He was stuck in this situation. But ignoring a clear-cut bad guy when he stole items? That was something Shirou couldn't look past.

Acting fast, Shirou had rammed his head against his assailant. Briefly thanking his older sister/guardian for influencing him to take up some form of martial arts, Shirou knocked the knife out of his hands.

"What the? Who the?" the man immediately ran out of the bus. Shirou, in a rather stupid move, followed him out.

He didn't even notice a twin-tailed girl watching the scene with a surprised look on her face.


The man, dragged by his bag and unwilling to ditch it, was slower than the young and spry Shirou Emiya. Shirou Emiya had a focused look on his face; focused solely on catching this person. He looked at his legs and felt his bones start to get stronger. This wasn't just adrenaline, but rather Magecraft. A skill that only a few could have. What Shirou was using was Reinforcement. He kept running and running. He had to catch this robber and once his fingers grabbed the bag, the robber had decided to instead leave behind the bag.

He pushed aside an unfortunate postman and stole his bike.

"Damn you!" The man exclaimed, looking back at Shirou, "You should go to hell! I won't forget this day! Your face! I-" the man's proclamation of hate was interrupted. Instead of escaping, he fell off the bike. Even worse? The bike ended up at a street lamp where it exploded in flames.

"..." Shirou watched the scene in shock and confusion. He slowly walked toward the scene as the cops started to run in. He picked up a can. Now broken and bent.

"...Huh. I didn't lose that can," Shirou stared at it in shock as the cops arrested the man. One of them walked to Shirou.

"Excuse me, young man, may we talk to you?"

"...Sure."


Shirou Emiya had a very, very long day. It was rather frustrating what with the police getting involved and asking him a multitude of questions, but he finally made it back home. When he opened the door, he was greeted with a very loud, but familiar, face.

"Shirou!" A brown-haired woman, one much older than him and yet her attitude was for one much younger than him, yelled directly in his face, "Where were you!? Sakura said you chased after an old man and- Well, that's not important! Komaru's doing something dumb"

"I'm fine Fuji-nee," Shirou sighed, "I just… I just had a long day really…" When he came in, his nose was assaulted with a confusing and confounding scent. Almost like something was burning.

"Oh no…" Shirou rushed to the kitchen to find a young girl with brown hair screaming as a pan was lit aflame. She was trying to smack it with a towel, which had only made the towel become engulfed in flames, "Komaru!"

"Oh! Hi Shiro-nii, I was trying to cook something because you were late and Sakura didn't come by. But um…" She looked at the kitchen. Shirou frowned as he grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed on the pan. The flames, now smothered, had all but died down. However, Komaru looked greatly embarrassed.

"...Sorry…" Komaru said.

"It's fine," Shirou looked at the kitchen and scratched the back of his head, "We have extra pans here anyways." He sighed before looking at Komaru with a small smirk.

"Why did you cook anyways Komaru?" Shirou looked at her.

"I… I got hungry. And Sakura was busy today too! She just stopped by and only told what happened to you to Fuji-nee and me. And you came really late!" Komaru sighed, "So yeah…"

Shirou smiled, "It's fine. I can probably make something fast. For both you and Fuji-nee." Shirou crouched down and got an apron.

"Oh yeah! Something came in the mail this afternoon Shirou-nii!" Komaru told her brother, "I think Fuji-nee has it."

"Really? Where is it?"

"It's a surprise~" Fujimura said. She looked over to Komaru and pouted, "You're lucky you didn't burn it up Komaru."

"H-H-hey, I can cook like my brother!" Komaru exclaimed, "I mean, I think I can..."

"Other than your matching ahoges and thoughts of your 'averageness' as well as your taste in anime and idols, you two aren't all that similar," Fujimura pointed at their hair-style. A piece of their hair popping out on their heads. "So Shirou, what's on the menu today?"

"Ramen," Shirou stirred the soup, "So, what's this surprise?"

"Well…" Fujimura giggled in tandem with Komaru.

"You'll find out soon!" Komaru said.

"Alright, looking forward to it," Shirou finished the ramen and held the pot. He walked over to the table and paused when he saw the letter. A familiar black-and-white symbol.

"...That's…"

"Open it!" Komaru exclaimed.

"Food!" Fujimura yelled out. She looked at the pot in excitement, not at all focused on the surprise in store for her ward.

Shirou tenderly placed down the pot and stared at the letter. He opened it up.

"Dear Shirou Emiya, you have been invited to be the Ultimate Luckster at Hope's Peak Academy…"

Shirou read it outloud, but everything was a blur. In one universe, the boy with an ahoge would be celebrating with his family, likely going out somewhere to eat. However, Shirou Emiya wasn't that boy. Not anymore. He closed his eyes and sighed, "I'll...think on it."

"- And you'll probably even meet Sayaka- What!?" Komaru looked at Shirou, "Shirou, what are you saying!?"

Shirou ate the soup and sighed, "I'm not sure."

"Wha!?" Fujimura looked at Shirou, "Shirou, what are you saying!? Wait, is this about your dream?"

Shirou sighed, "A bit. Sorry, I need time to think… Besides, the letter said that I'd have a week to decide. Not everyone goes to Hope's Peak."

"Yeah! The average people!" Komaru yelled, "You're not one of them! You're a ma-" She looked at Fujimura, "...We'll talk about it later."

Fujimura looked at Komaru and Shirou confused.

"I don't get it about this 'may' stuff," Fujimura sighed, "But Shirou, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

Shirou was quiet, "Maybe…" He kept eating in silence.


"Shirou-nii?" Komaru saw Shirou looking at a porch in silence. The moon was high and Shirou was still quiet. He was replaying a scene in his head once again.

"...It's selfish if I agree," Shirou said.

"Shirou…" Komaru looked down, "It isn't. This is…"

"Something that's once in a lifetime. A small chance that nobody gets. It's like last time. The fire."

Komaru stared at Shirou, "It's...not like that."

"I just remember carrying you on my back," Shirou said, "And being saved by Kiritsugu. Surviving it was...selfish."

"We were saved! And I'm grateful for that Shirou!"

"And now look," Shirou revealed the letter, "I have a choice to be selfish. What if someone else deserves the Luckster spot?"

Komaru paused, "We both had a reason to survive the fire Shirou. Both of us. I don't know why we survived, but there was a reason."

"...Maybe."

"And besides! You're not average, not like me! You're a Mage!"

"Second-rate one."

"Eeeeh, better than me. At least you can do Magecraft." Komaru let out a sad chuckle.

"Meanwhile, I'm just an average girl without any skills."

She approached the porch, "But even then, dad told me to take care of you because he knew you'll do stupid stuff!"

"K-K-Komaru!" Shirou looked at his sister before letting out a sigh, "Give me a day. I'll make my decision then."

"Okay. But you better make the right choice."

Shirou let out a chuckle before closing his eyes.

'...I have hope in that dream, right?'