Sword Child

Chapter One: What did I do this time?

I always looked up to my father.

So when he said he would return home no matter what,

I believed him.

Truth is, he never did.

Mum was devastated, but I felt like she was expecting it.

"Please don't go. You won't win, and you know it. I can tell Zelr-!" I remember mum crying to dad before he left, but he cut her off in mid-sentence.

"Geez Rin, you have zero confidence in me don't you? I can't blame you though, I'm still the same idiot I was back then."

"Don't tell me you're-!"

"I'm not going to do that. I won't end up like him, I've got another plan. I promised you." His voice was harsh and loud at first, but by the end of the sentence it was barely a whisper.

"Shirou..."

Then, she cried for what felt like an eternity, and dad finally left after smiling at Ritsuka and me.

I wonder, what would have he done if he was in the situation I got myself into?

Heh, probably the same.

I got my stupidity from him, after all.

"Hmm?" I scratch the back of my head in a half-awake state while I sit up.

"I was sleeping...on grass?" It wouldn't be the first time, but it bugs me off because I have no memories of doing so last night.

"...Just what the fuck happened yesterday?" No, really. I can't remember a thing aside from waking up in the morning.

Then, crack. I feel something break and my head starts hurting. Like, a lot. I cringe back in pain and raise my hand to my face, trying to ease the suffering. Perfect, another thing to add to my list of 'things I should be worrying about a lot right now but I just don't have time for them'. Nice, I've got absolutely no problem with that. Yep, none.

Think, what would dad do in this situation? That's right! You can bet he would be scouting the surrounding area!...At least, that's something I think he would do…

Anyway! That seems like the most logical thing to do, right? Then let's get started. I force my tired body to stand up and look around me. I'm in a clearing, in the middle of a forest. Cool, no problem at all with that either.

"Really, what did I do yesterday?" This amnesia is really annoying.

'Mental note: Buy a damn notebook and write everything that happens to not end up like this again.'

I release a sigh and start walking towards the tallest tree I can see. Climbing like dad taught me I get to the top in order to get a good look at the forest and hopefully find a way out. I seem to have some luck, instead of the traditional E-ranked one that comes with being an Emiya, as I can clearly see a road that leads to a paved street in an urban area...but this isn't London. The houses are clearly Japanese, and they remind me a bit of dad's old neighbourhood in Fuyuki where we visited Aunt Sakura from time to time, but this isn't Fuyuki by any means. I've been there last year, so I can tell.

But then, where is this place? Did I take a train to some weird town with a lot of Japanese immigrants when I was too drunk to remember anything? I mean, it's impossible I'm in Japan, right?

...There is no way of finding out without going there myself, I guess.

I get down from the tree carefully after memorizing the path to the city. I didn't want to jump from it even if I can reinforce my legs, that would just be an unnecessary waste of Prana. Prana that I might need for more serious things later, like rescuing a kitty or something. I mean, there is no chance in the world something more serious than that might happen.

No, think straight. 'Always be prepared to engage the worst case scenario, if you don't your life and the ones of your companions might be in danger. Most times it's better preventing than healing, Gudako.', that's what he used to say. Ritsuka is a genius, but I? I need all the advice I could get. Heh, mum always said I'm like a female clone of dad. Stubborn, seemingly without any talents at all, average to horrible in almost all types of Magecraft…

...There is no time to think about that. I can bitch about that later, yes. For now I should focus in getting out of this forest.

It took me a while, but I'm finally out of that damn place. It's getting cold out here, and inside the forest it was even colder, so I'm glad I made it. Now that I can take a closer look, this place definitely looks like Japan, but there are some western-styled houses too.

"Yeah, I think so too..."

That picked my interest. People talking in Japanese in the streets? You don't see that everyday in England. Heck, I don't remember ever hearing someone aside from mum and dad talking in Japanese in England. While their English was actually quite good, I guess it was just easier for them that way. I was raised surrounded by the two languages so I can switch between them and speak naturally in both. Anyway, I should be asking this guys where am I.

"Excuse me!" I speak as I run up to them, waving my hand to catch their attention. They seem to be around my age, and they are wearing what I think is a school uniform. One of them has his head shaved, the other one has messy brown hair and wears glasses, and the third and last one has even messier brown hair but didn't wear glasses like his friend.

"Y-Yes?!" The bald one replies nervously...did I do anything wrong? Geez, Ritsuka always says I don't know how to approach people. It's not my fault! They are the weird ones, not I! Yeah, that's definitely it!

"Do you know where we are right now?"

"Uhh, you mean this street's name?" The one with glasses replies.

"No, not the street's name. I'm asking you where we are."

"Kuoh City, Japan, of course. But I don't think you mean that?" The brown haired one without glasses says, but I notice the way his vision drifts downwards…

"...You're watching my breasts, aren't you." It isn't a question, rather an accusation. A true one, though, judging by how red his face just turned.

"No! I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"I'm not!"

"You're!"

"I'm not!"

"You're not!"

"I am!"

"See?! You are!"

"Ehh?! That's not fair you tricked me into saying that!"

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

We keep yelling at each other for a time until I cannot hold it anymore and burst out laughing my ass off. He follows suit a moment later. I used to get in a lot of stupid arguments like that with my brother, so I guess I couldn't help it. And I'm supposed to be sixteen already...That fact only made me laugh more. The other two just stared at us the whole time with perplexed looks in their faces.

"I take it you know her, bro?" The one with glasses asked the one I got in an argument with just now. A stupid argument, at that. I mean, it isn't the first time I've had guys staring there, and this one at least tried to hide it. I suppose it's natural? I should ask Ritsuka later, even if he doesn't answer the look on his face will be priceless.

"Eh? No, this is the first time I see her?"

"But then…?" The bald one tries to formulate a question but it dies on his throat when I give him the 'Tohsaka Rin Smile #1', which freezes him to the bone. Good, no weird questions allowed, especially not about what just happened."

"What's wrong, Bald-kun? Did the Magus eat your tongue?" I put another of mum's scary smiles, just to make my point clear.

"B-Bald-kun?!"

"I don't know your names." I reply simply.

"Y-Yeah, that's right. I'm Hyoudou Issei, and these are my friends Motohama and Matsuda." He says while signalling the one with glasses and Bald-kun respectively.

"Nice to meet you three Pervert-kun, Bald-kun and Street-name-kun!" All of them cringe at the way I address them.

"...Street-name-kun?"

"I know it's bland but I'll come up with something better later okay?!"

"Sure..."

"But why do I get to be Pervert-kun?!" Pervert-kun complains.

"Because you're a pervert, duh."

"...Fair point." He looks down in defeat.

"Oh, I forgot. My name is Emiya Gudako." I smile at the three of them...I need friends, okay? I don't care if they are damn perverts. I can always punch them when they do something they shouldn't, mum used to do it all the time with dad...though I'm sure it hurt more her hand punching him than how it hurt dad. Heck, I never saw him even flinch at mum's physical attacks, nor the verbal ones at that...

...Wow dad you were a tough guy.

"Emiya-san, then?"

"Uhh, sure." I never get addressed with Japanese honorifics living in England, so I'm not used to hear 'Emiya-san', especially if it's referred to me and not my older brother. Wait wait wait! I totally forgot! When I asked them where we were, he replied with 'Kuoh City, Japan of course.'

'Holy shit am I truly in Japan?! How did I get here?!'

"RING RING RING RING!" The tone of a cellphone cuts out our conversation, Pervert-kun's cellphone to be accurate.

"I have to take this." He excuses himself and leaves to answer the call.

Oh well, I guess I should get goi-

"Who's there?!"

But I pick up a smell with my nose just before I was about to leave. Sweet, the smell of honey mixed with something else I can't place my finger on. That was the smell of Prana, which meant that either a supernatural being or a really strong Magus was watching us. All Magi can sense Prana, but I've always been quite good at it, just like dad. Which was the reason this put me at even more edge, as a being with so much raw Magical Energy got so close without me noticing until now. A Dead Apostle? I've seen some before, and there is something in the smell which reminds me of them but it isn't exactly the same. But if it's not a Dead Apostle, what is it? A wraith? No, those are too weak to posses this much Prana. A demon? Perhaps, but their presence is much more aggressive than this. A Servant? Nah, that's impossible. Mum said they destroyed the Grail, and I'm not in Fuyuki to begin with.

Secrecy be damned, if I have to fight I will and hypnotize this guys later. I'm not good at it but erasing a few minutes worth of memories should be possible, even for me.

"Trace on..." I muttered under my breath. In order to activate my reinforcement I needed to chant. Mum chanted in German, but that didn't seem to work for me. Then dad showed me the aria he used for almost everything, 'Trace on'. Surprisingly it worked for me too, and I've been using it since always.

I guess there will be more action than saving a kitty from a tree today.

I turn back, using my nose to track down the potential enemy. I end up localizing them in the rooftop of the house at my back. There stands a girl, again not much older than I, with crimson red long hair looking at me with a stunned expression.

"Bald-kun and Street-name-kun, grab Pervert-kun and get out of here. Fast!" Even though my voice is serious, I still called them by those nicknames. I guess I just can't help it.

"Yes ma'am!"

Good.

"What do we have here?" I ask to the still confused 'girl'. I refuse to believe that someone with that much raw Prana is a human. "A vampire perhaps?" I'm not confident in that if this turns into a fight I will win, so I'm trying to scare her off first. "Or a demon?" Demons aren't supposed to take human forms, but who knows what the hell she is. Her scent doesn't match with any archetype I've ran into before, after all.

"N-No wait, I'm not here to fight!" Wait did my facade work?! "I was just here to see Issei-kun, I didn't expect to run into one of you. What are you doing here anyway, exorcist? I don't recall being told ones like you would be here. Did Sona plan this without me?" She was dead serious a moment later, though.

"Exorcist? You may be confusing me with someone else." I chuckled a bit. Me? An Exorcist? Hah! Ortensia-san has to hear this! I mean, I've got not aptitude at all for that. If she had said Executor I would have given this girl more credit. Even though there is no thing in hell which would make me be one of the Church's dogs, it was more possible than me being a damn Exorcist.

"So you're not an Exorcist? Then what are you doing in Devil controlled territory? Are you a freelance magician?"

"First, what the hell is a Devil? A red dude with a trident is the only thing that comes to my mind. Second, Magician? Do I look like the Blue? Because I'm certainly not Zelretch."

"...What?"

Huh?

...Why do I have the feeling that I've just gotten myself into a big mess?

AN: Yo, what's up. So I basically saw a crossover between this two series which had Shirou's child as the MC, but it lacked any chorence at all. Heck, the author changed his name every ten sentences. So I thought, why not writing my own? And here it is, but with a signifcant diference to that one. There, Shirou's kid was an OC, but here I have them being Ritsuka and Gudako, with Gudako being the main character and the story being told from her pov in first person. I'm not confident writing in third person in this language, so sorry if it isn't of your liking. But trust me when I say that I can't write shit in third person, at least not in English.

There are quite a few questions, like how did Gudako end there? Why doesn't she remember the past day? Don't worry, those aren't convenient plot holes. Everything said and done in this chapter has a reason to be.

Oh, and excuse my shit English, but I fear that if I write in my language no one will see this, and I will not get the criticism I wish.

Well, see ya in hopefully not too much.