Their world was crumbling down.
Nothing was left of the wasteland that was once called their home. Dead bodies everywhere, fire scorched the ground, and debris surrounded the area. There were cracks forming below, and the sky was of a red orange color. At the center of it all, was a shadowy tower-shaped figure.
In the midst of the chaos, a lone figure stood on top of a rocky hill. She gazed up on the sky above, and outstretched her hand in hopes of reaching the horizon. But she knew that in the end, she couldn't even reach the stars.
"So, this is where it all ends." She spoke, closing her eyes and a sad smile formed on her lips.
She set down her arm, bowed her head, and with a swift swing of her right arm, a sword had been summoned to her call. The woman turned to face the shadowy, tower-shaped figure. She raised her arm that held sword, and murmured a silent incantation. As she chanted, the sword started to glow an illuminating, yellow light.
Before she had finished her words and struck down the sword, a voice had called out to her.
"███████, are you sure you would want to do that?"
..
Shirou and the Heroines
Chapter I: The Story of Everyday
"For we live in a not-so-ordinary world after all."
..
It was hot.
It was so hot.
In the midst of the fire, the boy aimlessly wandered the place. He could barely remember why he was there, but all he thought of was that he wished to get away.
As he continued to walk, he didn't realize that a statue had crumbled down. Debris was going to fall down on him. When the boy had noticed it, he had tripped while trying to dodge it and injured his leg in the process. He turned around to see the falling debris. For some reason, he couldn't move at all. His eyes were left fixated upon what bestowed before him.
Just then, a blue figure appeared before him and managed to destroy the debris into tiny pieces. His vision had gone blurry, and he couldn't notice the details or even the face of his savior. He only knew that they were in blue.
He outstretched his right arm towards his hero, in hopes of contacting them. They were just there, and he wanted to do something about it…even…just a touch. The boy closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they were gone. But his arm remained outstretched, praying that one would save him.
Just as he was about to pass out, a figure in black had come before him and held onto his hand tightly. The boy looked up on who had come to save him again. His vision cleared for a second, and he saw a man's face. The man was smiling as he held onto his hand. There were tears falling down his cheeks.
"Thank you…I saved someone. Thank…you…" He said. Those were the last words that he heard before losing consciousness.
.
Emiya Shirou woke up to the sound of the alarm clock. He was panting and sweat trickled down from his face. Above him, his eyes met with his room's ceiling. He sat up from his futon, and held up his hand and let it touch his forehead.
"It was that dream again." Shirou murmured, and he sighed.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice calling out to him.
"Onii-chan, I'm coming in!" His sister's voice rang from the other side of the sliding door.
The door slid open and a small girl entered his room. She wochere the Homuhara Academy's uniform. She had long, snow-white hair and crimson eyes. Her skin was pale, and had a small stature.
"Good morning, Illya. You're up early today…" Shirou greeted his sister. His words were followed with a loud yawn.
Illya smiled, "Well, I have to because I have club activities to attend to. Also, don't you have to start with your daily routine now? You know, your morning exercises and all."
Shirou looked at Illya with a dumbfounded look. Illya's statements haven't processed into his mind yet. But upon realization by what his sister meant, his eyes widened in shock and he jolted up from his futon.
"Crap! I forgot about that!" Shirou exclaimed in panic. He frantically picked up a plain, white shirt from his closet and jogging pants. When he passed by his sister, he gave her a small ruffle on the head before running off to the dojo for his morning exercise.
"Thank you, Illya. See you later!"
As she watched her brother leave, Illya couldn't help but smile. This was one of those rare moments where her brother would falter or forget important tasks. It was a little amusing to watch as she remembered that Shirou being clumsy was always a trait of his, even in his younger years. It was like watching a little Shirou all over again.
With those thoughts left in her head, she proceeded to walk to the door. Before leaving, she said her farewells to her parents, Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern, and headed off to the pathway to school.
Meanwhile, Shirou had finished his morning exercises and taking a bath. He was headed for the dining area in his beloved home, only to find his father and mother preparing the meal for the day.
"Oh, good morning Shirou!" His mom, Irisviel, greeted him with an angelic smile.
"Good morning, Mom." He greeted her back and sat on his seat, which just happened to be across where Kiritsugu was seated. He wore his usual blue yukata and his eyes seemed to be paying attention to the newspaper.
In a corner of the dining area, there was the TV that was left on and the news channel was currently being shown. Shirou watched as the newscaster on TV started to talk about a fashion show that was held recently in a nearby city. It was uninteresting for him, so he diverted his attention to the food on the dining table.
The food being served was a crab salad, salmon with mirin and soy sauce, and accompanied with tofu and miso soup. There was also a teapot of hochija being served as the drink for the meal. Just staring at the food made Shirou hungry. He stated his thanks, and started to eat his food.
"Say, Shirou, are you dating Sakura?" Irisviel asked him, sitting on her usual seat which was next to her husband and gave Shirou a small smile.
The moment Irisviel finished her question, Shirou almost choked on his food. He stared at his mother in bewilderment, wondering why she asked him that question of all things.
"I-I'm not dating Sakura! Why ask that anyway?" Shirou spoke frantically.
"Well, you two seem so close. Ever since you brought her over for tutoring lessons, you both got so close! Ah, the wonders of young love!" Irisviel explained and gushed at the thoughts of Shirou and Sakura getting together.
Shirou couldn't help but let a blush form on his cheeks, "A-Anyway, Mom, she won't be coming over tonight though. I have work today, and it's really important that I do go over today."
Irisviel's thoughts were halted the moment she heard that Sakura wouldn't come over.
"…Oh." She spoke and looked down on her empty plate, "Too bad she wouldn't be coming over tonight. The meal I prepared for dinner was her favorite."
It seems that all those thoughts of Shirou and Sakura being together had temporarily disappeared from her train of thought. Shirou was so grateful for that. At least he wouldn't be bothered for the rest of the morning. His attention was diverted to the television, wherein it now featured a story of a number of gas leaks occurrences in Shinto.
"Hmm, a lot of those are happening lately." A voice spoke. It was Kiritsugu, who seemed to be very intrigued by the story featured on TV. Shirou turned to see his father, who had now set down his newspaper and watched the news silently. He turned his attention back to the TV. Videos of unconscious people being brought to ambulances were shown, and just the thought of seeing that made his fists clench tightly.
"…We should be careful, Mom, Dad."
.
As soon as Shirou finished eating breakfast and helped his mother in cleaning the dishes, he set off to school. He started walking downhill until he reached the crossroads, where he turns to the direction to Homurahara Academy. Upon reaching the front gate of the school, he saw a familiar figure just a few feet in front of him.
"Oh, Sakura! Good morning!" He greeted happily to the junior.
Sakura Matou turned around to see Shirou walking and waving at her. A smile formed on her lips, and gave a small wave back at Shirou. When Shirou reached Sakura's side, he asked when she would be able to visit him for their next tutoring session.
"I'm not quite sure, Senpai." Sakura spoke, "I have quite a busy schedule this week, as I need to take care of my uncle and all."
"Ah, that's too bad." Shirou said, "Well, I will catch up to you soon. See you soon!"
He bid his farewells to Sakura and started to run again. He ran up the stairs and reached his classroom, where he found his friend, Issei Ryuudou, sitting down already. He also saw that Sakura's sister, Matou Shinji, was sitting down as well. As usual, his admirers surrounded him, who was all fawning over how great and handsome he is. Shirou sighed and sat down on his seat, which was behind Issei's.
"Good morning, Issei."
Issei turned his attention to Shirou, "Good morning, Emiya."
They start to chat a little bit about schoolwork until the homeroom bell rang. The students in the class all make their way to their seats, and wait for their homeroom teacher. One minute later, there were loud footsteps heard from the hallway. The classroom door slid open, and Taiga Fujimura, class adviser of 2-C, entered the classroom.
"Gooooood morning, everybody!" Taiga greeted excitedly, waving her hands to the students.
She skipped her way to the front of the classroom and let out a loud huff.
"Hope you're all having a splendid morning! Alright, I'll start on homeroom now, as there are a ton of announcements I need to make." Taiga exclaimed
She started homeroom slowly, giving important announcements to the class and a schedule on the activities for next month.
"Please do take note of the curfew. It's at 6PM. So please don't stay too long in school, alright?"
"Yes, Fujimura-sensei." The class responded in unison.
"Aaand…that is all for homeroom! I'll be back in Japanese class which is the period after lunch, everyone!" Taiga exclaimed. She bid farewell to the class and trotted her way to her next class.
Moments later, the first period teacher of 2-C entered the room. She had blonde hair tied to a bun and emerald green eyes. Blue-rimmed glasses were perched on her nose bridge. She wore a simple light white blouse with a pastel blue blazer as her top. She also wore a sky blue skirt that reaches an inch below her knees, and cerulean blue flats.
The entire class paused their actions as soon as they saw the teacher. She stood tall and dignified at the front of the classroom, with her green eyes eyeing at each one of the students.
"Good morning, class." She greeted them in English.
"Good morning, Miss Penn." They greeted to her back in English.
The woman named Miss Penn smiled, "Take your seats, class. We are going to begin a new lesson today."
.
At the sound of the dismissal bell, classes had ended. Shirou bid farewell to Issei and left the school. He reached the crossroads and started to make his way for Shinto. After a few more minutes of walking, he reached his workplace, Copenhagen.
When he arrived, Otoko Hotaruzuka, her father, and his workmate, Conor Browne, greeted him.
Conor was a man in his mid-twenties, and usually described by Otoko as a laid back kind of guy. He usually wore a beanie on his head, which covered his hair from everyone. Although, the most notable part about Conor was his red eyes, as it always felt mesmerizing to even look at. Today, he wore a plain white, long-sleeved, polo shirt and black pants. He wore the Copenhagen apron around his body.
"Hey, Emiyan! Right on time, we need a lot of help." Otoko greeted him, carrying a big box on her hands.
"Ah, I'm glad to be of help, Neko-san." Shirou said and picked one of the many big boxes.
"You sure you need help with that, buddy?" Conor asked Shirou. Unlike Shirou, who was carrying one box, Conor was carrying two boxes in his hands.
"No, I am fine, Conor-san. You're carrying so much already anyways." Shirou replied to him.
Conor grinned, "Oh, alright! Do tell me if you need help."
Two hours later, they had finished restocking the inventory. It was supposed to be a job done by five people, but today, the only ones who arrived to help in the job were Shirou and Conor. The duo sat on wooden chairs, relaxing after two hours of heavy lifting of the boxes. Conor held a glass of water in his hands, and took a sip from it.
"Hey kid, don't you have any homework needed to be done?" Conor inquired, "You could have stayed home and finished up on school, you know."
"Well, I heard that help needed today and well, I wanted to help." Shirou replied.
"And who told you about today?" Otoko intervened into the conversation. She stood next to the two men, with her arms crossed together.
"Furukawa-san told me about today." Shirou replied to Otoko.
"…Ah, I see. That idiot, he shouldn't have pushed all the work on a student." Otoko said, "Well, you are one too. You don't turn down anyone who asks for help, right? There was a time you helped me and my dad when we were sick."
"Well, I only accept things that I can do."
Otoko sighed, "…Hmm. Well, what I'm saying is, you are a good person but you can be a bit stupid. I'm worried for you, Shirou."
At that moment, Otoko's father tapped Shirou on his shoulder and Shirou's attention turned to him. In Otoko's father's hands, was three ¥10,000 bills.
"Thanks a lot for helping us out, Shirou. Ever since we hired you, you've been really helpful and hardworking. Here's my token of appreciation."
He handed over to Shirou the ¥10,000 bills and Shirou hesitantly accepted it.
"Oh, thank you, sir."
.
"I'm home!"
Shirou exclaimed as he entered the house. He walked to the dining area, where his family was there, eating dinner cooked by Irisviel.
"Welcome back, Onii-chan!" Illya greeted her brother with a grin.
"Welcome home, Shirou." Kiritsugu greeted him.
"Good evening, Shirou. Why not take a seat beside Illya?" Irisviel asked him and Shirou nodded, taking his seat next to Illya.
The family started to eat their dinner, and they talked about the events on what happened that day. Kiritsugu listened to their stories intently, Irisviel laughed, Illya was promoting her school play wherein she would be starring as a main character, and Shirou told them about work.
After dinner, Shirou spent the rest of his night doing his homework. He had to study for two tests tomorrow for English and History class. After two hours of intense studying, he fell asleep.
.
Well, that was how this Emiya Shirou lived on his life.
He was a simple boy living a simple life, as he lived with his father, mother, and older (yes, older. Illya just loves calling Shirou as 'Onii-chan') sister. He was friends with a handful of people in school, and he worked at a part-time job.
But you know, despite all that, he still is the same Emiya Shirou we all know and (maybe) love. He is the very same Emiya Shirou, who holds the burning passion to become the Hero of Justice and possess his abilities of reinforcement and projection.
He just doesn't know it yet.
For him, he thinks that he lives in the world of the ordinary.
Well, he doesn't. Here, magic and mages still exist in his simple, little world. But unlike any other world I've encountered, this world is pretty special. Perhaps, you've seen a small bit already on why this world is pretty special.
So, prepare yourselves! For I, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, am here to narrate to you all about this world and the coming of age story of this universe's Emiya Shirou.
A/N: I'm not dead!
[coughs] Anyway, I'm alive. After endlessly pursuing through the barren land known as 'high school', I just finished my final exams and am about to graduate from HS soon. Yay me! And I have a loooong summer break, which would mean I finally have time to work on my fics! (Which, by the way, would start being constantly updated next month.)
Back to the story...hmm. I've been working on this new fanfiction project slowly since January. Only now have I had the chance to finish the outline of the entire story and first chapter. This fic would kind of be like (in theory) a Fate/kaleid version for Shirou, only...more GAR and less fanservice I guess haha. It also kind of crossovers with Fate/Grand Order. So, prepare yourselves.
Please do follow/favorite/leave a review! And let Zelretch guide through the next chapters of this fic! Bye (for now)!