"Does this...go here?" Shirou muttered as he slid a piece in, the small little metal cylinder clacked against the hilt of the sword and he hissed in pain as it dropped uselessly against the ground. He cursed silently to himself and swooped it off the ground.
He raised the metal breast plate that he had been working on, a [Status Window] appearing on it's side. He frowned, noting how it was still battle damaged, and sighed. He was expected to finish this two days from now and just got the necessary tools to do it, but his [Metal Equipment Repairing] wasn't as high as he would have enjoyed but he could most likely get it done if given the right time.
He sighed though as he stared out the window, at the familiar sight of Ridien Town. This was Shirou's home, or rather his virtual home as he was trapped on Sword Art Online. It had been a long time since that day at the Town of Beginnings, Shirou still didn't like to think about it, but he was glad he was able to reach some semblance of normality.
Shirou had done as much as he could when he could, helping some small parties deal with the nearby forest monsters and giving money to Swordsman trying to get gear to clear out Dungeons, and had settled into a pretty normal routine of fixing things and going out on quests. His shop, which was right in between two inns, was pretty famous for it's high level maintenance and Shirou had been particularly ecstatic at being able to repair old equipment. His adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya, had been a budding craftsmen and had taught Shirou the basics to metal repair. So Shirou was immensely overjoyed when he discovered the Repair System emulated much of the real life counterparts.
Yes, Shirou Emiya was satisfied with this much. He twirled his [Repair Tool] in his hands and set to work on fixing the breast plate.
By the time he was done the time had already clicked to nine o'clock. Shirou was a bit surprised by that, usually some people would have stopped by to but some of his armor sets before moving on. He shrugged anyways, he didn't really need all the money, just the act of helping someone was enough. He rose up from his chair and headed to the front desk to close up his shop.
With the winter up he couldn't afford to keep his shop on all throughout the night and overextend his bill. His house borrowed heat from the inn by his side and the taxes in winter were particularly brutal. If it was one thing that Aincrad was good at, it was ripping your wallet to pieces.
When he entered the front desk he was surprised to see someone at the weapons rack, looking at his wares as the snow banged against his shops doors. He paused, unsure if he should disturb her.
His shop was rather large, as it should be since it was originally a store house. The front was spacious enough to fit five shelves full of armor, vambraces, boots, helmets and chest plates that he had either crafted or had received from thankful customers. On each end of the shelves was a bin full of either spears, swords, maces or the like. The furthest left wall was entirely dedicated to shields and some special armor that Shirou had accumulated from passing customers or from his own quests, while on the right wall was merely swords, daggers and axes that were either too big or too powerful in comparison to the standard blade.
Looking at the line of blades was a small blonde haired young woman. Shirou was immediately struck by how elegant she looked. Her cheeks looked soft and fine as it arched slowly to her smooth chin. Her long blonde hair was tied to a bob at the top of her head with dazzling blue eyes shining with a sort of noble authority. She wore robes much akin to a dress that flared outwards from her hips. Gold lining ran down the sides of her body and down the skirt, ending off to metal boots. Metal arm guards, breast plate and shoulder pauldrons rested snugly in their places on this diminutive girl and a small piece of metal rose slightly off the top of the dress to protect her small neck from danger. Overall, Shirou this girl could smack him flat on his back if she wanted.
She turned to him, her eyes softening when she noticed he was nothing more than the shopkeeper and smiled softly at him. "Hello," she greeted. Shirou scratched the back of his head, caught off guard by her formal greeting. Her accent signified to him that she was probably not japanese and it was the auto language system kicking in.
"Hi, the shop is going to close soon but if you need me to see something I'll be glad to help." The girl frowned at him, as though mulling over the words in her head. Shirou decided he didn't like seeing her frown, he rather see that face shining vibrantly rather than as cold as it appeared. "My name is Shirou, Emiya Shirou."
The girl blinked, her chin upturned quizzically before nodding with a brief smile. "Arturia Pendragon, it is a pleasure to meet you Shirou," He couldn't help but chuckle a little, "Is something I said funny?" She asked confusedly and her face seem to contort to some extent of anger though not by much. Shirou waved his hand in front of his face as he stifled his laughter.
"Emiya is my last name, Shirou is my first." Arturia made a face of understanding, a blush on her face as she realised her mistake.
"I'm sorry I meant no disrespect." Arturia said with a small wince. Shirou waved her off.
"No, it's quite alright, now what do you need?" Shirou leaned his elbows on his front desk waiting for Arturia to show him what she needed. Shirou wondered if Arturia was her real name, considering it was the feminine version of Arthur the king of Camelot, but knew better than to ask her if it was. Same as how he knew most would think Shirou was actually a made-up name and not his real one which he accidentally put in thinking it was to register his NerveGear profile.
"I was informed by my friend that you provide high-level maintenance service for swords of any calibre?" Arturia said and Shirou noticed how she was gripping something on her waist carefully.
"Yea well, so long as it's not a warhammer I could probably fix it. My [Sword Repair] skill is a little bit lower than my [Spear Repair] skill which is almost maxed out. Arturia seemed impressed, noted by the slight widening of her eyes as she tilted her head in acknowledgement.
"Then here, this is a very cherished sword that I have in my possession. Can I trust that you would not steal it?" Arturia asked, a dangerous glint in her eyes. Shirou felt offended but nodded his head anyways as he accepted the blade.
He was incredibly surprised to find that the sword was Excalibur. "A [Legendary Sword]? This is amazing!" Shirou exclaimed. Arturia reached forward and gripped the sheath of the weapon, and Shirou noted that the sheath Avalon had healing properties.
"It was a very difficult sword to acquire and I am wary to leave it in a blacksmiths hands for fear of them running off with it," Arturia explained. Shirou nodded his head and looked down at the weapon. It was an extremely daunting weapon to behold, with stats that Shirou had never seen the likes of. He wondered what Arturia had fought that had even shaved off a fraction of the swords [Durability] but tossed that thought aside.
He dragged a chair from his workshop to the front and sat on it as he examined the sword, noting how Arturia stood close by watching him like a hawk. "This thing had some pretty demanding requirements," Shirou muttered, noting the strength requirements. It was higher than even the heaviest warhammer that Shirou knew of!
He glanced warily at Arturia then her small petite hands and resolved to never make her mad, lest he lost his head from a finger flick. "I could probably fix it, if I used some of the dragon scales that someone had sold me," Shirou muttered. Shame though, he had wanted to use it in crafting a speed type spear. "It will probably take till tomorrow though."
Arturia shook her head and to his surprise she pulled out a chair and sat on it. "Then I shall wait," she said resolutely, "I still don't trust you."
Shirou frowned however could understand her plight so he merely sighed in resignation. "Alright, but close the shop will you?" He asked. She cocked her head quizzically before nodding her head and overturning the sign, "Lock it too!" Shirou called as he returned with some spare tools. He wasn't sure if he wanted her in his workshop, that thing was full of junk that even he found it stuffy.
"It is done," she replied as she returned to her place.
And from that moment on Shirou worked on the legendary blade in his hands. Talking idly with Arturia as he did. They talked about little things, how she had the Saber skill and how Shirou was once part of the archery club.
They talked, they laughed and by the time morning came. They hadn't realised that Excalibur had already been finished long ago.
I had found this on my google drive. Guess I had written this without knowing about it. I liked it but I can't write romance and fluff that well, so I'm fine with some taking this up to try and continue it. I only ask that you inform me as I'd really like to read it. I love a good romance. Anyways, I don't think I'll continue this because I'm not confident of my fluff abilities nor of my female characterization. I think Arturia was slightly OC in this, I'm not sure. I really am not confident in my ability to write for Fate/stay night. Maybe if I get my hands on the VN and learn a little bit more on the Nasuverse would I feel comfortable but till then, I'll leave you with this.
