The Youngest Campione

by bubbajack

EMIYA succeeded in his plan...He is reborn in a new universe with a new family for his efforts. With a chance to try again, can the former Counter Guardian become a true hero, like he always dreamed? However, there is more on the line than his ideals and humanity, for gods walk among men...and even darker things lurk in the shadows worse than any Heretic God. Harem! Rated T-M!

1. Chapter 1

The Youngest Campione

By: Bubbajack

Beta: Diller/Grammarly

Disclaimer: I do not own FSN or Campione.

---

Ch.1: Consequences of victory.

"Emiya-kun, watch out behind you!" Rin cried out in alarm.

But it was a warning that came too late for one Emiya Shirou as before he could think about moving several swords pierced his back making him stagger and fall onto his side facing his attacker.

As he lay there, the back Shirou couldn't help but ask "Archer...why?"

His face was a blank slate as he replied coolly, "To save you, and to save me."

"What do you mean traitor?!" Arturia yelled at him from her still chained position.

He seemed to think about responding for a moment, before shrugging and saying "I may as well tell you seeing as hopefully soon it won't matter anyway as I will cease to exist. You see, I am not a typical Heroic Spirit, like those from the past. I am from the future, thirty years in the future to be exact." Archer told the two Masters and Servant.

"What, but that can't be! For someone to become a heroic spirit in this day and age is nearly impossible!" Rin said shocked.

A bitter smile on his face, Archer replied "Nearly, being the key word Rin. Anyway, I was someone who wanted to be a Hero a Hero of Justice, someone who saved everyone no matter the cost...and it cost me everything; my friends, my life, even my ideals."

"A Hero of Justice? No, it couldn't be...you can't be?" Rin said too afraid to finish her sentence.

Locking eyes with his former master and friend, Archer raised a white eyebrow and asked, "I can't be who, Rin, Emiya Shirou? The same Emiya Shirou, who always charges in head first to help people, expect nothing in return? The same boy who, while being blinded by useless ideals couldn't see how much everyone around him cared about him? Or the same Emiya Shirou who would easily throw away his life for others without a second thought for his own safety? Including...including making a pact with Alaya to revive those who are already dead, becoming a Counter Guardian after death in the process."

"You made a pact with Alaya?" Rin asked more astonished my her Servants foolishness than anything. As all magi know that those who make agreements with Alaya in life get whatever they desire...But in death, they act as guardians of humanity destroying any threat to the human race as a whole... even if that threat is humanity itself.

"Indeed I did, and it was the worst mistake I ever made. But thankfully, that mistake is about to be undone." Archer said as he watched Shirou's breathing become shallower.

"You're wrong." Shirou gasped out before coughing up some blood and continuing "Even if I die here and you no longer exist that won't change one fundamental thing about you or me."

"And what is that?" Archer asked raising a pale eyebrow.

"That you, just like me, are distorted. You can't help but want to save people who are in trouble it's who you are at your core...and why your Element and Origin is both Sword. You *cough* were reforged in that fire to protect others no matter what you say otherwise. That is why *cough cough* you became a Counter Guardian isn't it? You thought you could continue to save lives even after death?" the dying Shirou asked his embittered counterpart.

The red-clad servant nodded, "Yes that was the original reason but it doesn't matter now." Archer said firing a final arrow in between his past selves eyes silencing him forever.

There was a moment of shocked silence from both Rin and Saber and then they both cried out in outrage.

"You monster, how could you Archer?! Rin asked frantically as she cried tears.

Altria's reaction was vastly different, however. Her face was devoid of expression and completely cold as she stated to Archer bluntly while staring at her deceased master "You will pay for this so I swear as a King."

She swore this oath even as a single tear ran down her cheek.

Suddenly, shafts of light began emitting from Shirou's dead body and then all was consumed in an explosion of light...

---

"Well, you've really done it this time Emiya." Said a whimsical, feminine voice as his vision began to clear.

"Huh, who said that?" Archer said sitting up and finding himself in an all-white room, sitting down on a white leather couch. He looked to his right and found a woman with long, white hair and crimson eyes sitting behind a desk made out of white marble while she typed away furiously on a Macintosh laptop.

'Illya?' Archer had thought before he noticed she was older, at least in her thirties before he asked "Who are you, and where am I, and how did you know my name?" he asked.

"Well you're correct in assuming I'm not Illyasviel von Eisenberg, but I digress. I suppose some introductions are in order. I am Akasha better known to you mages as the Root." She said giving him a warm smile.

Archer blinked twice and then said dumbly "The root is a woman?" causing her to laugh.

"Oh no not at all, I am just formatting myself in a way you can comprehend. I must say though, congratulations are in order. You are the first person in all of recorded history to defy fate and actually do something I didn't account for by going back in time, killing your past self, and erasing your own existence." She said chuckling as if she had just been told a good joke.

"Umm, thank you?" Archer asked confused at what was going on, as he thought he was supposed to cease to exist, not end up talking to the Root herself.

"Well, the thing about the whole cease to exist bit is, I think that would be letting you off too easy. So I've decided to grant you a special punishment slash reward for being the first person to entertain me so much and cause me the headache of having to alter the destinies of several hundred thousand people." Akasha told him reading his thoughts.

When Archer heard that his eyes widened for a moment and then closed as he sighed and said "So then even after all that, my plan was for nothing? Typical." He said in his sarcasm thick voice.

"Oi, don't say that till you hear what you're getting into!" Akasha pouted.

Archer rolled his eyes at her antics but nodded saying "Alright what is this punishment that is also a reward?"

"That's the spirit! Now, what I've come up with is rather elegant I think. You will be reincarnated in a different universe as one Godou Kusanagi whose destiny is even greater than your own. You will, however, keep all of your current memories' and skills." Akasha told him.

Archer narrowed his eyes and said "That's the punishment isn't it? Being forced to fulfill this boy's role in his place and continue to protect people."

"Is it, I'm not really sure, but it's all in how you look at it I suppose." She said with a shrug.

Sighing, he resisted the urge to throw up his hands in defeat as he said, "Well it's not like I have much of a choice do I?"

"Nope, none at all." She said still smiling.

Narrowing his silver eyes at her, he muttered, "Damn you, alright fine then. When do I get started on my punishment slash reward?" he asked, eager to get out of this woman's presence.

"Right after you read over and memorize the contents of this file." She told him sweetly either not hearing or more than likely ignoring his tone of voice and pushing a cream colored file toward him.

He picked up the thin folder and after opening it read the contents:

Name: Kusanagi Godou

Birthdate: 1996

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Brown

Family:

Ichirou Kusanagi (Grandfather)

Shizuka Kusanagi (Sister)

Chiyo Kusanagi (Grandmother)

Mayo Kusanagi (Mother)

Genzou Kusanagi (Father)

Sakura Kouzuki (Cousin)

Archer raised his eyebrow at being born in '96 when initially he was born in sometime in '87. He decided to ignore this though, in favor of asking "Before you send me off, could you tell me what the world I'm going to is like? What can you tell me about the state of magic there? Will I have to deal with Gaia messing with my magecraft like usual or…?"

Akasha smiled half lidding her eyes and steepling her fingers as she stared at him for a moment before she replied,e "Well since you asked. The world you are going to is stuck in a perpetual Twilight of the Age of Gods. The Gods do still exist. Meaning your magic will be more potent, but Alaya also exists to a point, meaning your projections will still be affected by degradation due to humanity separating themselves from the Gods."

Archer quickly dissected the information given to him and deduced several things. This world was likely much more dangerous due to gods and who knows what other kinds of magical creatures still being present. Two, not only his magic, but magic, in general, would be more powerful than when he was alive. And lastly, if Alaya existed in some form he had to be very careful not to fall into its clutches again.

After taking a few seconds to process all of that, he nodded and said, "Ok got it. Now, is there anything else about this new persona of mine I need to know about? Archer asked.

Only for Akasha to smile at him and respond "Enjoy dealing with your unintentional Harem Emiya-san!" she said cheerfully before she hit a big red button that was not on her desk a moment ago. This caused Archer to get the feeling he was freefalling out of the sky.

'Damn that woman. Something tells me my life just got a whole lot more complicated. Would it have been too much to ask for my existence to just end? Of course it would; as apparently as even when I win, I still lose.' He thought bitterly as he fell towards the roof of what appeared to be a hospital.

He phased through the room as if it wasn't even there and kept falling through the floors until he stopped in a delivery room. A beautiful woman in her mid-twenties to early thirties, with black hair, and dark green almost black eyes, wearing a hospital gown was groaning in pain. A man who also had black hair and light green eyes was currently having his hand crushed while being cursed at by the woman.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT I'M LIKE THIS, YOU AND YOUR GORGEOUS FACE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" she swore.

Grimacing in pain the man replied "Yes dear, it all my fault you agreed to marry me, now push!"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO YOU BASTARD!" she screeched even as she pushed yet again.

The former counter guardian found himself being pulled towards the birthing woman's' stomach. It was then that realization dawned on him and he mentally cursed 'You mean I have to go through puberty again! 'Fuck!'

He then flipped the bird to the heavens while shouting"FUCK YOU AKASHA!"

He was still cursing up a storm moments later, but it merely came out as the first cries of a newborn baby.

---

He was then held by his new mother Mayo Kusanagi and his father Genzou eventually two older people were allowed in and held him. He assumed they were his Grandmother Chiyo and Grandfather Ichirou. They both looked good for their ages, Chiyo having very little gray in her hair and few wrinkles on her face gave the appearance of a kindly grandmother. Ichirou by contrast gave off an air of a playboy past his prime, who still had it. His hair was silver on the sides while black and slick back on top and he had more wrinkles than his wife, but it made him look distinguished.

Ichirou took him in his arms and rocked him in his arms saying "Your gonna be just like your Grampa when you grow up. Yes, you are."

Archer noticed his new Grandmother giving his grandfather a stern sideways look.e Taking him from the man and smacking him upside his head, she said, "No he won't not if I have anything to say about it."

'Well, this is…ah to heck with it, I'm going to sleep.' Archer thought.

---

Three years and three months later

Godou's eyes snapped open and he sat up in bed. He took a moment to stretch and rub his eyes before he glanced at the clock beside his bed that was held in a resin dragon's claw that he got from Ichirou-jiji last Christmas. He noted it was 6:40am. Shaking his hair out of his face, he hopped out of his bed and thought, 'Time to make breakfast.'

As fortune would have it, his parents couldn't cook to save either of their lives. They were so bad, in fact, that they usually went to Jiji and Chiyo-basan's for dinner which is the only time he really got to eat during the day. Not wanting to starve to death, he made it his mission to cook as soon as he was able. He somehow miraculously managed to survive three years and some change like this, likely because his mother just stopped breastfeeding him.

'I swear, I'm going to end up with a breast fetish because of that.' He thought before he shook his head and soldiered on.

He had decided he wanted some real food so he walked casually towards the kitchen, not expecting anyone to be up yet. But, much to his surprise, a dim light spilled from the end of the hall that led to the kitchen. He cautiously crept closer and made out the voices of both of his parents talking. As he got closer, he realized they were, in fact, bickering, something they did more often than not.

"What are we going to do Mayo? We can't even feed the kid we have let alone another one." Genzou complained.

"I know that Gen, and we wouldn't even be having this conversation if you could keep your dick in your pants."

"Hey! It takes two to tango sweetheart, so I'm not the only one to blame here." He then paused. Likely to take a drink, as Shirou heard the sound of slurping and something being set on a solid surface before he finished cockily. "Besides it's not like you never said no when I whipped it out."

'Okay, I think I'm going to stop this now before they scar me for life.' Shirou had thought before he walked into the kitchen.

His mother noticed him first frowning slightly before she said concernedly "Godou-kun, did we wake you up sweetie?"

Shirou shook his head in response to the question before answering in slightly incorrect Japanese "I'm hunggy."

Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment his father said "Well unless you can cook brat you'll have to wait till we head over to your grandparents in an hour or so for brunch."

In response, Shirou nodded and said "I kan kook Old Man."

Scowling slightly Genzou said "Can't you just call me dad?"

Shirou ignored the often asked question in favor of finding a folding step ladder and collecting things from the fridge. He came out with eggs, orange juice, and pre-cooked sausages. He then pushed the stepping stool in front of the stovetop before he rummaged around in the cupboards to the left of it for a moment coming out with a skillet. It wasn't until he set the skillet on the stove and lit the front most burner that his parents actually reacted.

Mayo hastily got up and turned the burner off just as he was about to crack an egg on the side of the skillet. Giving his mother a deadpan glare he asked, "Why?"

"It's not safe for a three-year-old to be cooking on a stove," Mayo told her son.

Raising an eyebrow he retorted "You wanna do it?" Seeing his mother hesitate, Emiya sighed and said "Just watch okay?"

He then proceeded to turn the burner back on and cracked the egg on the side of the skillet with one hand. Quickly pulling it apart before tossing it aside and doing the same to a half dozen more eggs and then put all of the sausages in the skillet with the eggs. He then handed an empty tea kettle to his mother and said "Fill with wata pwese."

Mayo quickly did as her son asked and by the time she came back he had a teaspoon full of jasmine 'dragon pearls' which were high-end tea leaves wrapped in jasmine leaves or some other flavor enhancer. When left to seep, both the tea and the enhancer, in this case, jasmine, would soak in the boiling water enhancing the flavor.

Mayo watched as her ever distant son made a full breakfast in a matter of minutes. He then divvied it up into three portions handing the largest one containing half the food to his mother before carrying the two smaller plates to the table and going back for the tea kettle. He placed it in the middle of the table along with three cups.

Genzou upon seeing how the portions were divided complained "Hey, how come she gets more than both of us?"

Emiya, who was busy pouring out the first cups of tea, replied "Mommies eating for two."

This caused both parents to look at each other and blanched. Turning back to her son, Mayo asked "Godou, how much did you hear before you came in here?"

Pushing the cups of tea towards his parents he mumbled "Too much." Before he began eating his food.

---

Just two weeks shy of nine months later, on the fourth of December Shizuka Kusanagi was born. Emiya spent the day his mother was in labor at his grandparents' house, with his grandfather Ichirou. Emiya spent most of the day sequestering himself in the play room his grandparents had set up for him. But he didn't touch any of the toys. No; instead, he trained. Doing pushups, sit-ups, squats, and running through kata's of his personal style Crane Wing Three Realm. It was a combination of what he was able to piece together from Souichirou Kuzuki's Snake style and the Fake Priests Bajiquan.

While his primary use for Crane Wing was bladed combat, he could use it for unarmed combat as well. The base stance of his hybrid style consisted of him standing with his arms held at right angles to his sides, his legs spread apart and slightly bent, leaving his chest blatantly wide open for attack. Then when they took the obvious bait, thinking him inexperienced he would dodge and be able to counter attack through various means.

He ran through various katas for so long that he completely lost track of his time and surroundings. This is why he almost jumped when he heard Ichirou's voice come from behind him, saying "I'm sorry to interrupt your play fighting Godou-kun, but I thought you might like some lunch."

Turning and calmly facing his grandfather, Emiya replied coolly "That's sounds fine Jiji. What would you like to eat?"

Ichirou stood beside the doorway saying "I was going to ask you that Godou-kun."

Shrugging he replied "I don't dislike anything just tell me what you want so I can cook it."

Chortling Ichirou replied "I think you're too young to cook yet Godou-kun, maybe in a few years."

Giving his grandfather a sideways look as they made their way towards the kitchen, he replied "I've been cooking for almost nine months now Jiji, and keeping the house habitable for just as long."

Ichirou stopped dead at his barely five-year-old grandson's proclamation "You're not serious?"

Seeing the deadpan look he was being given in response, all Ichirou could do was hang his head in shame and think. 'I knew you and Genzou were career oriented Mayo-chan, but I never would've thought you would pick your jobs over the wellbeing of your own child.'

He then knelt down and putting his hands on his grandson's shoulders he said "Godou-kun while you're here, you just focus on being a kid and having fun alright? Leave things like cooking and cleaning to the adults."

Shrugging off the older man's grip, Emiya replied "If you insist Jiji, but I really don't mind doing those things."

During lunch, in which the two had a western lunch consisting of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, Ichirou asked, "So Godou-kun are you excited to be an older brother?"

Shrugging in response Emiya replied "Not sure yet, I just hope she's not going to keep me up all night crying and then follow me around everywhere when she gets old enough to walk. It'll be annoying if that's the case."

Chuckling, Ichirou reached over the table and ruffled the boys' hair, causing him to scowl at him which just made Ichirou laugh harder before he added jokingly. "Come now Godou-kun, you'll never get a young lady to like you if you act like that all the time."

"Don't care." The former counter guardian replied.

Ichirou gave him a knowing look before saying, "You don't care now, but in a couple of years you will, believe me."

"Hn." He said as he rolled his dark-green eyes.

Ichirou chuckled as he stood, saying "Wait here, I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, Ichirou came back with stained red oak wood box roughly the size of a loaf of bread. Setting it down in front of his grandson before resuming his seat Ichirou asked, "Would you like to play a game Godou-kun?"

Emiya was half tempted to say no, and get back to his training, but… 'I never really had grandparents when I was alive. Well, there was Raiga, but he doesn't really count.'

The moment he ended up in this universe he promised himself that no matter what, his 'parents' wouldn't replace the Old Man, Taiga, or Illya in his heart. So he kept them at a distance. Also, maybe it was because he was paranoid, or because he'd lost his original birth parents, but he was afraid to get too attached to them lest they were too mysterious disappear from his life.

'Not that it matters, there barely around as it is. But anyway, I've got grandparents now so maybe I should enjoy it.' He thought to himself.

"What kind of game? He asked.

Smiling a little Ichirou took the top off the box and said "This is a box full of some of the oldest board games known to man. I figured we could start with tic-tac-toe and work our way up to harder things like checkers, chess, and shogi. What do you say?"

Smirking a little, the youngest Kusanagi male replied "Ok Jiji, let's play."

Four hours and the thirty-eight game later and Ichirou was shaking his head in stunned disbelief, for he had not won a single game of tic-tac-toe against his five-year-old grandson.

'It's like he thinks thirty moves ahead…Wait, what if that's really the case? What if Godou is actually a child prodigy?' Ichirou wondered.

Deciding to test his theory, he cleared his throat and said "Godou-kun, let's play a different game."

"Ok, what did you have in mind Jiji?" Godou asked.

In response, Ichirou pulled out a checkered wax wood and ebony board along with figurines Emiya could tell were carved from obsidian and real ivory. He waited patiently as Ichirou finished setting up the pieces and even let him explain how every piece worked. By the time he was finished, Emiya had about sixty different strategies' ready to go. In other words, Ichirou never stood a chance.

The two had a stack of sandwiches for dinner just so they could continue playing, and by the time they called it a night, Emiya had won thirty-two times to his Grandfather's twenty-eight. Emiya had thrown almost half the games so as not to hurt his elders pride too badly.

"You play a mean game of chess Godou-kun. But I think it's time for us to catch some shuteye. Before that though, how about I tell you a bedtime story?"

Emiya just about snapped at the older man. He was a hairsbreadth away from saying how he wasn't a little kid and could take care of himself. He opened his mouth to do just that only to realize 'I am just a little kid.'

So instead he asked, "What kind of story did you have in mind?"

Ichirou led him to the room he and his wife had set up for him, once he'd seen to it the boy was comfortable he left, coming back shortly afterward with a thick leather bound tome. Sitting in a nearby rocking chair, Ichirou cleared his throat before asking "What type of story would you like to hear? This book here is my life's work, and it is full of all kinds' mythology and legends from various periods of human history. From ancient Sumerian to Greek, to Roman, Welsh, Chinese, Irish, English, Scandinavian, to our own Japanese mythology, it's all here."

"That's pretty impressive Jiji," Emiya said, a bit of respect entering his tone.

Preening at the respect entering his grandsons tone for the first time since he'd known him, Ichirou replied "Thank you. Now is there any particular legend you'd like to hear Godou-kun."

"King Arthur, tell me about King Arthur." He requested.

"Ah, fancy yourself a knight do you? Alright, let's see here…ah, here we are." Ichirou said upon finding the proper page clearing his throat before beginning.

For a time, Archer allowed himself to get lost in the memories of his past. Back when he had friends, a semblance of a family, when he fought alongside a king, and when he still had her.

His thoughts soured with the story, as Lancelot's affair with Guinevere was discovered, he lost her to time. When Lancelot slaughtered his brothers' in arms to save the queen, he loved his friends had started to abandon him. By the time Mordred was rejected by the king, all his friends were had left him in one form or another. He threw himself selflessly into battle after battle as King Arthur and his knights went off in search of the Holy Grail, and Mordred led his people in insurrection against their king. By the Battle of Camlann, he had had made the dumbest decision of his life. He had become a counter Guardian and resigned himself to countless centuries of slaughter.

Emiya was drawn out of his downward spiral of reverie by the sound of a book closing. He glanced up at Ichirou who asked "Did you enjoy the tale Godou-kun?"

Nodding, Emiya replied "Yeah, Thanks, Jiji."

Ichirou responded by ruffling his hair kindly before getting up and heading towards the door. Just as he was about to leave he heard his grandson ask "Jiji?"

"Yes Godou-kun?" he asked turning around.

Taking a moment to formulate his thoughts, "Do you think that King Arthur or any other of the heroes from myth for that matter regret what they did in their lifetimes?"

Seeing the confused look the older man was giving him he tried again "What I mean is a good ninety percent of myths end up with the hero dying tragically right? So do you think they thought it was worth going through all the trouble of trying to be a hero in the first place if, in the end, everything they fought for was destroyed?"

Ichirou walked back to his grandsons' bed and sat back down in the rocking chair before he rubbed the stubble that had accumulated on his chin in contemplation as he said.e "While I can't speak for them Godou-kun, it was once said that all it took for evil to triumph was for good people to do nothing. So it is quite possible that; even though their lives ended on a sour note, that had they not acted at all, things could have gotten even worse. Brittan would have been run over by the Saxons and the Picts for example."

Ichirou saw his grandson nod in acceptance, yet, the elder Kusanagi felt he didn't fully accept the answer he gave him. So, he decided to tell him something an old friend told him when he was younger.

Clearing his throat and getting the boy's attention in the process Ichirou unknowingly recited a phrase that would have a profound effect on the former counter Guardians life thereafter "Through action, a Man becomes a Hero. Through Death, a Hero becomes a Legend. Through Time, a Legend becomes a Myth. And by learning from the Myth… …A man takes action."

Emiya stared at the physically older man in something more than surprise but less than awe. The words he just spoke had a profound truth to them. Not only that, but the words like spokes on a wheel. Each leading to the other in a way that it went full circle. It was ironic in a way, as it mirrored his own fate rather well.

By fighting alongside a legend the likes of King Arthur and against that of Cu Chulainn and Herakles, he sought to become a Hero of Justice. By his want to become a hero he died becoming a legendary Counter Guardian of Alaya. In time, he became a bitter thing of myth, which caused him to take action and kill his younger self, hence his current situation. But he could also see it for how it was meant to be seen. Heroes rising through every age urged on by the myths and legends that proceeded them. A cycle of heroes incarnate.

"New Legends will always supplant the old," The youngest Kusanagi muttered to himself.

"I guess you could say that. It's more entrusting things to the future. Working to make things better then so others can make the now even better. Continuously working to improve the world. Inspiring others to keep trying. To know that no matter how hard the world tries to crush you, you just get back up. Did they have regrets? Of course, they did. Everyone as regrets. Everyone has moments where they think about what they could've done better. What they should've done better and they carry those with them. However, if they had never stepped up, Evil would've succeeded and made things far worse. The true legacy of heroes is that they leave knowledge and hope. Knowledge for future generations to learn from so that they don't make the same mistakes and hope that things can get better if we keep trying." Ichirou explained to the five-year-old.

"Knowledge to learn from and hope to inspire others huh?" Godou mused.

A weird expression appeared on the boy's face as he said that before he looked at his grandfather and to Ichirou shock and elation smiled at him.

He watched as his grandson mulled over his words. His face went from melancholy to sour, to bitter, to sardonic, and then to content all within the span of a few seconds. After which, his face became a blank slate like that of the serene pond before he said "You know your pretty smart Jiji." He complimented his grandfather.

The older of the two rubbed his head saying

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there Jiji. Well, I won't keep you up any longer. Goodnight."

Smiling, Ichirou replied "Goodnight Godou-kun." Before he left the room.

After the old man had left, Emiya laid awake and thought over Ichirou's words. Hands clasped behind his head as he stared up at his slowly rotating fan he thought 'Is that what I did, did I cop out by going back and succeeding in killing my past self?'

He then thought back to some of his janitorial jobs as a counter guardian and almost wretched. Taking a few deep breaths he managed to calm himself down and think 'No, no I definitely did the right thing.' He thought.

He muttered to himself as he began to nod off "Maybe, maybe I can do it right this time…"

---

By the time Genzou showed up with Chiyo to pick up his son at around one 'o' clock the next day, he had found the young boy and his father-in-law engaged in an intense chess match. He smirked at that happy to see the boy getting knocked down a peg or two. He silently walked closer, hoping to see his father-in-law's victory, only to be stunned to find it was not his father in law who was winning but his son.

Not looking up from the board, Godou spoke, saying "Are you just going to stand there gawking old man, or are you going to tell me the name of my new brother or sister?"

"Godou-kun, be nice." Chiyo chastised pointing a finger at her grandson before her face softened and she asked "Did you have fun with your Grandfather?"

Not looking Godou replied, "Yes Grandma."

"Good." She said nodding before she stopped and looked at her husband suspiciously "You didn't teach him anything inappropriate did you Ichi-kun?"

Ichirou opened his mouth to respond only for Godou to pull his fat from the fryer by saying "All he did was cook for me play board games and read me a bedtime story grandma."

His eyes flicked to hers for a moment and she saw the absolute sincerity in his eyes as he assured her "That's it."

Genzou, who had been scowling at his son's usual way of addressing him up until now, finally answered him "Her name is Shizuka and hopefully she'll be better behaved than you boy."

"Uh-huh, checkmate by the way Jiji," Godou replied.

Ichirou looked at the chessboard owlishly to find one of his grandson's pawns had taken his king. Shaking his head in bemusement, Ichirou replied "You never cease to amaze me Godou-kun. By the way, if you need Chiyo or me to go to the store and pick up cooking ingredients' for you, you need just ask."

As Ichirou said this, he gave his son-in-law a clearly disapproving look, causing him to look away in shame. Chiyo meanwhile looked in between the two men in apparent confusion. Emiya broke the tense atmosphere by saying "Thanks, Jiji, I'll keep that in mind. C'mon Old Man, get me home so I can greet my new little sister."

He then proceeded to get up and head towards the door. But not before his grandmother was able to trap him in a hug and kiss him on the cheek before saying "You be nice to your younger sister you hear?"

"Yes, grandma." He replied with a half grimace half smirk on his face as he attempted to wriggle out of her grasp.

Chiyo gave him another kiss on the cheek in response just to poke fun at him before she finally let him go, chuckling as he wiped at his face while heading for the front door. After she was sure he was out of earshot, she turned back to the two meen. Placing her hands on her hips stared them down pointedly and said "Would one of you like to tell me what's going on?"

Genzou opened his mouth to respond, but Ichirou beat him to it, saying "It seems as though Mayo-chan and Genzou-kun favor their careers over making sure their son is safe at home and well fed. He seems to have been fending for himself recently and has, through the grace of some deity, taught himself how to cook in his parent's absence."

Chiyo looked at her husband "Your joking right Ichi-kun? He's joking right Genzou-kun?"

The Kusanagi matriarch looked between her stony-faced husband who was never this serious, and Genzou, who looked so ashamed he couldn't even look her in the eyes, and she realized the truth of the matter. She knew her grandson was distant, and that he kept people at arms length. Now she knew why.

Glaring at her son-in-law, she marched over to him stiffly all the while saying in a dangerously calm tone "Is this true, Genzou-kun? Have you and Mayo-chan been leaving Godou-kun all by himself while you go off to work?"

His mother-in-law's words cut him like a knife. Genzou flinched at the sheer accusation in her tone.e But he steeled his spine and straightened before he replied. "Yes sometimes, we do our best to be there for him but more often than not, our schedules us out until long after he's gone to bed for the night."

What Genzou didn't say was that whenever he and his wife made it home, they would find plates full of covered food waiting for them at the kitchen table, courtesy of their son. Although Genzou would never admit it, those plates of food were a welcome sight after a hard day of work.

"Unacceptable, it is completely utterly unacceptable that a five-year-old should be left alone for so long let alone have to cook for himself like this. And now you have another child. Tell me Genzou-kun, what will you do now?" Chiyo questioned.

Genzou spread his arms in despair responded "Well Mayo is on paid maternity leave for the next six months, so hopefully by then we'll be able to figure something out."

Chiyo shook her head in disgust at Genzou's seemingly uncaring attitude. She then and said in a flat tone, "Should you fail to 'figure something out' you can bring both him and Shizuka-chan over here and we'll look after them."

"We couldn't burden you like that-"Genzou began, only to be cut off by his mother-in-law who said "It would be no trouble. I'm sure Godou-kun could help me around the store and at least then we'd know he'd be safe and well looked after."

Genzou winced at the insult but said nothing deciding he needed to get home instead. Turning on his heel without so much as a goodbye, Genzou left his in-laws home. He found that boy sitting patiently in the backseat. On sight of him Genzou felt his blood boil at the sight of him. He wanted so badly to lash out at him. Didn't he appreciate all the hard work he did to keep a roof over his head and food in his belly?

'No-' Genzou thought-'He's always rude he never calls me dad, and always keeps his distance from me…is he, is he really my son?'

---

Emiya noted the ride home was unusually quiet. He watched the scenery fly by while also watching his father figure out of the corner of his eye. He was tense, his shoulders were stiff, he was gripping the steering wheel so hard his palms were turning white, and he had a grimace on his face. The former Counter Guardian didn't know the specifics. But he knew it was about him due to the fact his father would send him especially hard furtive glances every now and again when he thought he wasn't looking.

Finally, they stopped in front of the house. It was a modest Japanese style home, just down the street and around the corner from the local shrine. It had white washed walls topped with slanted tile surrounded the house properly, and the tiling covered the roof as well. Wood and glass inlaid sliding doors covered the structure surrounded by an open-air porch and ironically enough, the house had the same layout as his old home. Yet is was smaller, really only large enough to fit half a dozen people comfortably. And yet, despite that, there were several acres separating the walls from the house proper, almost as if it was supposed to be expanded on but never was.

As Emiya made his way across the lawn, he could already hear the sound of a newborn crying at the top of her lungs. Upon opening the front door, he could hear his little sister, Shizuka, announcing her displeasure for all to hear. Finding the noise slightly irritating, he decided to do something about it. So he headed towards the source of the sound.

He found his mother pacing in the living room holding and pink swaddled infant in her arms that she was gently rocking back and forth while making shushing noises. He tried and failed several times to get his mother's attention, but she couldn't hear him over the cries of his newborn sister.

'Ok let's try this.' Emiya thought before he put his fingers to his lips and let out a shrill whistle.

It ended up working better than he expected as, not only did he get his mother's attention, but Shizuka stopped crying upon hearing the shrill sound.

"Son, when did you get back?" his mother asked.

"A few minutes ago." He said absentmindedly while staring at the bundle in her arms.

Seeing his gaze, Mayo asked, "Would you like to hold her son?"

Seeing him nod, Mayo leaned down and gently deposited the pink bundle into his waiting arms. He gently took her in his arms, making sure to support her head. Her face was cherubic full cheeked and toothless, but her dark-green eyes were wide open and they stared at him in wonder. Although he didn't realize it, he was staring back at her equally surprised…the look in his face amused the newborn causing her to smile and giggle at the one who held her.

Upon seeing such innocent laughter, untainted yet by hatred, bigotry, and general melancholy that existing in the world would no doubt bring with age and experience, Emiya couldn't help but smile himself. Here he held an entirely innocent life in his hands, and as he held her; he thought back to Illya, how he was able to be her big brother if only for a while.

His thoughts soured a little as he remembered how he threw himself into his training instead of grieving her loss. He told himself he was growing strong to protect others so that no one else would ever have to feel like he did upon losing the snowy-haired homunculus. But, in truth, he was lying to himself. He threw himself into his training so as not to have to deal with the emotions related to her loss. It was only after several centuries as a Counter Guardian that he realized this.

His smile became more akin to a grimace as he recalled this, which in turn caused Shizuka to fuss. Seeing what he had done, he cooed at her and made funny faces and sounds, causing her to giggle again. He then took her over to the couch and sank into it, still making goofy faces and smiling at the newborn.

Mayo for her part couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her typically distant and cold son was laughing and making funny faces to amuse his new baby sister. She'd never seen this side of him before and it shocked her in all honesty. She'd tried to get him to smile, to laugh all the time when he was younger, she eventually gave up realizing that he was a dour yet dangerous individual. Then in an instant those perceptions were shattered. Her son could laugh and smile, he just chose not to.

"Ah, I see you finally got Shizuka-chan to stop crying. What was wrong with her?" Genzou asked coming up from behind her.

Still numb, Mayo shook her head slightly and replied "It wasn't me."

Walking next to his wife Genzou asked, "What do you mean?"

In response; Mayo pointed to the couch, where Godou was still entertaining Shizuka.

"What the-"Genzou began only for his wife to finish "I know, who would have thought he was capable of that?"

Both parents watched as the two children bonded. One with a contented smile, and the other with a suspicious grimace on their features.

---

It was around midnight that night when Emiya was awoken by the sound of Shizuka crying. He frowned slightly, not in annoyance, but at concern for the newborn girls' wellbeing. Throwing his covers off, he made his way towards her room down the hall. Quietly opening the door, he crept into her room on cats paws. Her room was primarily pink and it had all manner of girly things in it, pictures of cats and puppies littered the walls. On the far side, away from the window, which was covered by curtains was a crib. Walking up to the wooden bars, he looked in on his squirming little sister. She seemed upset for some reason he could smell she didn't need her diaper changed which means she either wanted to be held or was hungry. In order to accomplish either, he had to get her out of her crib.

'Ok, I've fought vampires, ghouls, and insane magi. Getting a baby out of a crib should be a piece of cake right?' he thought to himself.

It turned out to be slightly more challenging than he thought. When he fought vampires, ghouls, and magi, he had access to magic and he wasn't trying to get someone out, he was trying so slaughter said individuals'. Still he managed. Pulling himself up by bracing himself against the bars, upon reaching the top he faced another dilemma, how to get Shizuka out of the crib.

Balancing himself on the edge of her crib, Emiya decided to do something he saw in a spy movie once. Using his legs, he did the splits bracing himself above the crib. This kept his arms free, allowing him to pick up his squealing little sister before he straightened up and jumped slightly to the side before hopping off the crib altogether, bending his knees to absorb the impact.

After he had straightened, he looked at Shizuka and said "There that wasn't so bad, huh Shizuka?"

Shizuka just giggled and smiled in response. Resisting the urge to laugh himself, the former Counter Guardian carried his little sister to the kitchen where a highchair had been set up for her that was used by him when he was her age. Placing her in it, he then went to the fridge and came back out with a half-finished baby bottle. Popping it in the microwave for half a minute, he tested it on the back of his hand before he offered it to Shizuka herself.

She readily took to the bottle, causing her older brother to sigh in relief, glad that's all it was and not something serious. Still, this scare made him resolute in beginning his magic training anew. 'It'll be a lot easier this time now that I know my element, origin, and skillset unlike last time.'

But before he could even begin, he needed to open his magic circuits. After making sure Shizuka was well-fed, he got her settled back in her room, he went back to his own, shaking his head in disdain as she passed his parents door. Never once did either of them stir to check on their newborn daughter. Once he was safely back in his room, he took a thick leather belt and bit down on it deeply while breathing through his nose to calm himself.

'I've felt worse, I can do this.' He mentally told himself before he cocked the mental gun in his head…and fired it.

He was glad he had the foresight to clamp down on the belt because turning on his magic circuits for the first time hurt worse than he remembered. He let loose a groan into the leather as he collapsed onto his bed, the feeling of more than two dozen rods being forced through his nerves as darkness claimed his vision…

---

Emiya awoke with a groan. His vision was blurry as if he'd taken a solid knock to the head, so he took a moment to let everything to come into focus. Once it did he looked at his clock and noted it was 9:35am. As he sat up, he observed his whole body ached. It took him a moment, but he remembered why he was feeling so crummy this morning.

Wanting to see what he had to work with, he fired the gun inside of his mind, turning on his circuits, all twenty-seven of them. He then checked his total prana capacity and nearly passed out when he found he had thirteen-hundred units of prana available to him, almost five times what he had when he was alive. Upon further inspection, he found each of his circuits was holding forty-eight units of prana, the sheer number of circuits he possessed, coupled with.

'Ok how did my circuits go from being E-rank in quality to A-rank?' he wondered.

Mentally slapping himself Emiya thought 'Ok calm down and think Emiya, what would Rin do in a situation like this?'

Funnily enough, he could practically hear his friends' voice saying, "Examine the facts dummy."

Chuckling at the fact that even in his head she mocked him, Emiya began to calmly evaluate his current predicament. 'I have almost five times as much prana but how? How did I end up getting all this extra prana? Was it a side effect of activating them early-.'

"That's it!" he said aloud "I had, for the longest time, converted my nerves into makeshift magic circuits! Rin told me they had atrophied to the point they were hardly able to hold prana by the time I'd activated them for the first time. Which means, these are my circuits at in their prime." He deduced smirking to himself and patting himself on the back for figuring this out like Rin would.

He then did some quick math. Before he only had two hundred seventy units of prana, which after leaving a third of that aside for reinforcement, left him one-hundred-eighty units of prana for tracing. If utilizing Unbroken Noble Phantasms, he could trace thirty-six copies of any weapon in his arsenal before he needed to stop to let his circuits recharge. If he Broke his projections, however, that meant he could only use twenty-five of them at a time before needing to stop.

Hence, why he used a bow for super long range sniping. It allowed him to utilize his Broken Phantasms from a safe distance, usually someplace high up, yet hidden from sight. Allowing him to pick targets that would inflict maximum damage upon the enemy, be it taking out their leader or some other valuable resource. He'd used this method only against foes he knew he would have little chance against in direct combat, like vampires, and other such horrors.

With his new reserves, however, he should be able to Trace one-hundred-seventy-three blades or one-hundred-twenty-three Broken Phantasms after keeping a third of it for reinforcement. Considering he was only five at the moment, Emiya doubted that his reserves would rise at all by the time he reached his prime. If they did, then he would have three times his current prana capacity; as commonly one's circuits slowly grew in power as their user did in age until they reached their prime. This is why so many magi tried to prolong their lives as it kept their magic circuits in excellent condition for longer than usual. Some, however, decided to become Dead Apostles in order to achieve this goal, something that was not tolerated by the Clocktower, and despised by the Counter Guardian himself.

He couldn't count the number of times he'd slain a magi who'd dared cross that forbidden line.

'Not that I have much room to talk considering I possess the other taboo of the association.' He thought wryly.

Shaking himself out of such thoughts, he glanced at the clock again and noticed almost twenty minutes had passed. Deciding he had laid in bed long enough, he got up and doing his morning routine, headed towards the kitchen in order to make breakfast. When he got to the kitchen, he found a note on the fridge addressed to him. Luckily he'd 'taught' himself how to read early allowing his parents to leave him notes whenever something 'came up' which was often.

Taking it off the fridge he read:

"Dear Godou-kun,

As much as I didn't want to, I had to head back into work today. I had to give a big presentation that, without me, would've lost the company a significant client. Your father is pulling an all-nighter, so I called your grandparents to come look after you and Shizuka-chan till I get back. They should be here by the time you get up in the morning.

Love, your mother

P.S. Be nice to your Grandparents, please!"

Emiya shook his head. eNot out of the fact that his mother somehow drew a very convincing chibi version of herself giving a peace sign at the bottom of the note. No, but at the fact that after just three days after giving birth, she would go back into work. Leaving her infant daughter alone. He was not angry, that wasn't quite what he was feeling…

'Disappointed.' He realized-'Yes, I'm very disappointed in both you and the Old Man, Kaa-san.' Emiya thought as he continued to shake his head.

But then he noticed, his grandparents weren't here like the note said they should be, and he had slept in due to exhaustion.

'So what could've happened?' he wondered as he stroked his nonexistent beard.

Deciding not to dwell on things he couldn't change for once, Emiya proceeded to make himself a western breakfast consisting of a sausage omelet, toast, and tea. He made extra just in case Ichirou-Jiji and Chiyo-obāsan showed up while he was eating. As fate would have it, just as he was about to sit down to eat, he heard the front door open.

Moments later, the matriarch and patriarch of the Kusanagi family made their way into the kitchen. Ichirou was carrying a familiar wooden box under one arm, and Chiyo looked slightly miffed but she brightened upon seeing him.

"Hello Godou-kun how are you dear?" she asked kindly.

"I'm good obāsan, how are you and Jiji today?" he asked.

Chuckling at his casual address of them Chiyo ruffled his hair and replied "We're fine Godou-kun, did you enjoy meeting Shizuka-chan?"

Nodding he replied "She was a bit loud at first, but she settled down once I held her. There's some breakfast on the stove if you're hungry." He had said before he dug into his own meal.

His grandparents soon joined him, complimenting him on his cooking prowess as they too dug into their food. After he had finished eating, he excused himself, citing the need to go check on Shizuka. Upon entering his little sister's room, he found her just waking up. Walking up to her crib he said, "Guess who's here to see you Shizuka? Obāsan and Jiji are here to see you!" he said in a babyish tone, causing the newborn to giggle.

Climbing the side of the crib like last time and retrieving his little sister he picked her up and said "Let's go say hello shall we?"

Shizuka giggled in response, causing Emiya to take that as a 'yes' in baby. He carried her into the kitchen where Chiyo and Ichirou were almost finished eating. When they saw their grandson come in carrying his little sister smiling and making funny faces, Ichirou dropped his chopsticks full of food he had brought halfway up to his mouth. Chiyo ended up sputtering on a mouthful of tea, almost doing a spit-take as she took in the never before seen sight.

For his part, the former Servant of the Bow just gave the two a level look and raising an eyebrow he asked "Are you two ok?"

Awkwardly clearing his throat, Ichirou replied "Hph, we're fine Godou-kun."

"Yes, and happy to see you and Shizuka-chan getting along so well. I admit I wasn't sure if you two would get along or not." Chiyo said as she took another bite of food.

"Eh, she's not so bad, are you Shizuka-chan, no you're not." He said in the baby talk, causing the newborn to giggle.

Chiyo smiled at the exchange between brother and sister before nudging her husband and saying "Ichi-kun why don't you and Godou-kun go out and have some fun while I take care of Shizuka-chan?"

Raising both of his eyebrows, Emiya asked, "Are you sure obāsan? That doesn't seem to fair to you." He pointed out.

"And your parents leaving you here alone with a newborn and expecting you to cook for yourself doesn't seem fair to you." She pointed out rather harshly of her daughter and son-in-law. She then sighed and reasoned with the boy, saying "Your only a child for so long Godou-kun, please don't be in such a hurry to grow up and enjoy it while you can."

The former Servant of the Bow sighed internally, 'It seems I've already got people fretting over me.' He had thought before he said, "Well, if you're sure…"

"Of course I'm sure, now go out and have fun with your grandfather…but not too much fun you hear me Ichirou?" she finished warningly.

Chuckling awkwardly the Kusanagi patriarch said to his wife "Of course not dear, I wasn't planning anything of that nature until he was fifteen at least." He joked.

Seeing his wife's disapproving frown, he said hastily "Give Shizuka-chan to your grandmother and let's head out Godou-kun."

Shizuka fussed and whined as she was handed off to her grandmother but was quickly shushed by the older woman who rocked her in such a way that her missing brother was quickly forgotten as she giggled and laughed. She never even noticed the front door opening and closing.

As the two made their way towards a silver Toyota Prius Ichirou asked "Is there anything you would like to do Godou-kun, anyplace you would like to go?"

He thought about it silently for a moment, he was five he had nothing but time to train and become a hero, still the sooner he got started, the better. But, since he wouldn't be able to save anyone for several years yet, it might be good for him to pick up a hobby as well. These thoughts in mind, he turned to his grandfather and said "I've got a couple of things in mind Jiji."

---

As the two drove down the road, Ichirou couldn't help but ask "Why exactly do you want a book on human anatomy Godou-kun? It seems, odd for a five-year-old honestly. Most kids your age would want manga or those comic books about that superhero in America."

Giving his grandfather an old look he said, "There's an honest to goodness superhero in America?"

"Oh yes-" Ichirou said with a nod "Goes by John Pluto Smith I believe. From what I've gathered by watching the international news, Smith fights all manner of evil organizations' in the states while wearing some iron masked get up with a cape and everything. Apparently, he does a good job but also causes a lot of property damage."

Emiya nodded, knowing that property damage and loss of life was sadly a part being a hero. He glanced up when the minivan suddenly came to a stop. He found they were in front of a larger than average bookstore called Eight Branches Books. He also noted that though his grandfather was getting out, that the shop clearly wasn't open for business. Getting out of the car himself he said as much to the older man.

Ichirou just smirked. While flipping through the keys on his key ring, he replied "Don't worry Godou-kun, I'm sure your Chiyo-chan won't mind if we pop into the store for a little bit."

Blinking in surprise Emiya said, "Wait, Grandma owns this place?"

As he unlocked the door, Ichirou replied "Yes indeed. When I was younger, I was an archeologist major in college you see. This led to my fascination with mythology and it was how I met your grandmother, as she was studying pantheon societies. Eventually we both became involved with both ones another and love for the mythology of all cultures' and how they borrowed from one another. In the end, we graduated with two degrees each. One in comparative mythology for the both of us, and the aforementioned majors."

Emiya whistled appreciatively "Wow Jiji that's…impressive. But are you sure the books I want is going to be here?"

"Never fear Godou-kun, your grandmother was interested in a wide variety of topics, so much so that she supplies' the local Tokyo University students with various book materials," Ichirou informed him.

And so, Emiya began his search. Thirty minutes later; he came to the counter with not only a book on human anatomy, but books on both Elder Furthark and I-ching Runes, as well as books on Bajiquan and various types of weapon usage. Upon seeing the titles, Ichirou gave his grandson an odd look, and Emiya suddenly felt as if he were being x-rayed down to his very core. As if the old man before him could see the old soul that inhabited the young body.

"Are you some kind of warrior mage Godou-kun?"

"I prefer battle-mage if it's all the same to you, Jiji." Emiya responded casually.

Ichirou nodded as if in understanding before heading over to a stack and saying "Judging by the titles of some of those books, I would call you more of a Warrior-Poet, one who trains both body and mind. That being the case, you might want to read these too."

He then placed "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu on top of the stack along with "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi. The boy was surprised he had overlooked those two books in particular. From what he recalled, Sun Tzu was a brilliant military strategist and Musashi was an expert swordsman even at a young age. Smiling at the older man in thanks, he asked, "How much do I owe you?"

Scoffing Ichirou replied "Don't be ridiculous Godou-kun, we're family. Now let's get your books to the car young knight, you have somewhere else you wish to go if I remember correctly?"

Emiya nodded, feeling embarrassed that he was doing all this for him. He was used to being self-sufficient. He had been on his own since he was twelve in his past life, having only Taiga, Sakura, and Raiga as a makeshift family of sorts. Even though, Raiga took care of his bills and finances he still went out and got a job, not wanting to feel like a freeloader.

They ended up driving downtown towards the batting cages. In-between hitting baseballs being shot towards them by pitching machines, the two Kusangani's continued to talk.

"So,-ping-"You start school in a few months are you excited?" Ichirou asked as he hit a ball out of the park.

*Ping!* "Yeah, I suppose so. I'm not really much of a people person in case you haven't noticed though so I'm not sure how well I'll get along with everyone."

Ichirou nodded "Heh, you take your time warming up to people that's true- *Ping*-"But I think once people get to know you they'll find a steadfast friend."

Emiya silently considered the older mans' words as he mechanically hit two more balls being delivered from the hopper. Finally, he said, "Yeah, I suppose your right." *Ping*

---

After an hour or so of hitting balls in a batting cage, the two retired to the park which, unlike the one back in Fuyuki wasn't cursed with All the Evils of the World. The grass grew vibrant and green, trees were healthy, and children ran and played while their parents set up picnics.

It was idyllic really. That was the thought in Emiya's mind as he followed his grandfather to a grouping of wooden chairs placed around stone tables. Several were occupied already showing the tables were meant to hold chess sets as several old men were in heated games from what he could see. Taking up an unoccupied one, the two began what would be a longstanding tradition for the two of them. As they started playing, Emiya decided to look through the book he'd acquired on Elder Furthark Runes. He'd learned a bit about runes in the past. After learning he possessed a Reality Marble and asking Rin for advice on how to make bounded fields last longer once he realized he was in possession of one. However his knowledge was far from complete, as he only intended to use them to extend the duration of his Reality Marble after deployment.

Now that he had plenty of time to train and learn, he intended to do just that, training both his body, mind, and magic circuits. And so, as he decimated his grandfather in chess time and time again, this time winning just as much as he lost as he was only half paying attention. He thought about how his constant strive forward towards his dream made his surrogate family abandon him and how, he only realized how loved he was and how good he had it after the fact. With these thoughts in mind, he made a solemn vow:

'I will become a real hero. I may not be able to save everyone; but if I can protect those closest to me, and those under me should I be put in a position of authority, plus those I see in front of me, that's enough.'

---

Nearly nine months later…

He had awoken seconds before his alarm went off, gently hitting the buzzer before it could actually go off. Throwing off his sheets he threw on a pair of red sweatpants with black stripes down the side and an identical looking sweater before he threw on some socks and, after double checking to make sure Shizuka was still asleep in her crib, made his way to the kitchen. For a brief, fleeting moment, he hoped he would find his parents in the kitchen. He envisioned his mother would be trying her hardest to make him breakfast while his father smiled behind reading the paper and drinking his morning tea. He smiled wistfully at the thought.

Upon entering the kitchen, cold reality reasserted itself. The kitchen was completely empty, save for a note on the fridge. No mother who didn't know how to cook was trying to surprise him with a terrible but heartwarming breakfast. No father was sitting at the table reading the paper and drinking tea while bemusingly watching his wife fail at making breakfast…neither of his parents were here to see him off on his first day of school.

Mentally crushing the twinge of disappointment he felt, he thought to himself 'Why should I even care? I mean technically I'm thirty-five. This is kindergarten. Finger painting, juice boxes, and snack time nothing remarkable.'

Yet a small voice in the back of his mind argued 'What's the point of having parents you can remember if there never around?'

Banishing it with a shake of his head, he ripped the note off the fridge and read:

Dear Godou-kun,

Sorry, we couldn't be there for your big day, but work called. You shouldn't have too hard a time getting to school its just down the street a ways. We called your grandparents to come and look after Shizuka-chan in your absence. Be careful on the way there and play nice with the other children.

Love, your parents.

He crushed the note in hand after reading it. He honestly couldn't believe his parents would leave both himself and his infant sister here like this, knowing he was going to school today and they just, just abandon them for their jobs!

He stopped this line of thought when he felt his fingers digging into the palm of his hand. Taking a deep calming breath, he went to the fridge and pulled out a premade breakfast he'd made the other night. After heating it up in the microwave; he took it, along with a pair of plastic chopsticks down the hallway. Making his way to the open-air patio in the backyard where he kept an umbrella stand full of kendo gear. It was full of many types of wooden practice weapons. Everything from bokken to shinai, to yari and wakizashi, were present, as well as wooden versions of European weapons. Next to it was a small stand with glass doors in which sat numerous books on everything from combat tactics to philosophy to obscure magical subjects.

As he ate his breakfast, he recalled how Ichirou slowly acquired these things for him over the past nine months. First it was just the books, then a kendo weapon here and there, he saw him exercising one day and went out and bought him weights to help him get better faster. He never asked the old man to buy him any of this, he just did it. He even bought him the umbrella stand and shelf to keep his things in. Although he didn't tell him, Emiya kept track of the price of everything Ichirou bought him. He intended to pay the old man back as soon as he was able.

Till then, however, he would make use of Ichirou's kindness. He had read through all of the books and found the Book of Five Rings by Musashi to be most insightful. As it turns out, the Kensei believed that a warrior shouldn't favor any one particular weapon. Instead, they should become proficient in the use of all weapons equally so that one can never be at a disadvantage in a fight no matter what weapon they happen to be using. Niten Ichi-ryu or Two Heavens as One, also taught dual sword use for both katana and wakizashi. Sadly he had no actual instructor in the style and just what he could find on the internet and in a couple of books, which may or may not be reliable.

Still it was enough for now. Before he began his daily exercise routine of pushups, crunches, squats, and running circles around the house, he proceeded to attempt to reproduce an individual experiment. Picking up a nearby stopwatch he had put his thumb on the start button before he said one of the few aria's that he knew.

"Trace on." With those words, the hammer fell in his mind as did his thumb, and he began tracing two simultaneous Noble Phantasms.

He began by judging the concept of their creation. One was meant to kill people, the other was meant to kill mysteries.

Next, he hypnotized their basic structure. One was a meter long leaf-headed spear, the other, an absurdly shaped dagger, more suited for rituals than combat, as its edge was blunt, its blade brittle.

Then, he duplicated the composition material. One was made out of the bone of some long-dead sea monster while the other was forged from enchanted bronze.

When he reached step four, imitating the skill of their making, he stopped the process briefly and thought 'Begin alteration. Replace spearhead with a dagger. Begin fusion. Binding and strengthening matrixes at the point of fusion…Right, that worked, as usual. Now comes the hard part.' He thought.

He sympathized the experience of the growth of both weapons. This step was necessary as it granted them their legends and through them their mysteries. The problem was they were no longer two separate arms but one single fused new weapon. This was what he'd been trying to do for the past six months fuse two Noble Phantasms together using Alteration, giving the new weapon the traits and powers of both its parent weapons.

He could fuse the weapons together easily enough. The hard part came when he tried to duplicate their legends, granting them their powers. Due to being two separate weapons fused into one, the legends of the weapons blended and thus, their powers became nonexistent. But he thought he found a solution this time. Now to test it.

'Add buffer.' He thought.

The 'buffer' was like a magical wall built into the new blade meant to keep the legends of the weapons separate allowing them to keep their myths and thus their powers associated with them. He got the idea from a different timeline. One where he was summoned to a Holy Grail War and he had his left arm grafted onto his younger self. Rin tried to give him some of her Circuits to act as an 'off switch' of sorts.

Much to his surprise, the buffer held, even though both blades pushed against the wall all that ended up doing was strengthening it, as it was being pushed from both sides. Smiling at a job well done, and thankful he got past such an annoying hurdle Emiya continued with his tracing.

The next two steps went hand in hand. They were that of sympathizing with the experience of its growth and reproducing the accumulated years of the weapon. These steps copied the knowledge of the users of the weapon allowing him to call upon it, effectively use the numerous blades in his armory as if he were their original owner, it also added power to the legends due to age.

The final step of accelerating every manufacturing process ensured the copy of the weapon was only a rank below the original.

'Trace set, fire!' he thought before opening his eyes and clicking a stopwatch stopping the timer just as his six-month long experiment came to fruition.

It was a meter long spear, primarily red with rose-like vines along its shaft, its head, however, marked it different from its parent Gáe Bolg. For instead of a leaf-shaped head it possessed a jagged curved brittle looking thing, speckled and stained in blood. It was Rule Breaker, Dagger of Medea of Colchis, Witch of Betrayal.

Emiya stared at his creation in amazement. 'I actually did it, I successfully combined two Noble Phantasms, crystalized weapons of heroes' legends together.' He thought in wonder.

His excitement didn't last long however as he began running tests on it to see if it worked like he thought it would. He searched the Blade Works for a target, finding one he projected it. It was Colada one of the two swords of El Cid. Colada produced a constant fear effect upon the enemies of the wielder. A perfect test subject.

Taking the…the…'This needs a name.' Emiya realized "Fusion Phantasm? Yes, I like that."

Taking the Fusion Phantasm he poked the sword of El Cid. There was a flash of light pink light and he set the phantasm aside to pick up and structurally analyze Colada. With a quick glance, he could tell the fear effect of Colada had been negated.

"Ok, that worked. Now let's go to step two."

Tracing another Colada he stabbed it into the earth and then took several steps back before pushing his prana into the weapon and calling out the name of the shaft of the weapon "Gáe Bolg!"

A crimson red and dark purple aura of prana had flared around the weapon before it shot forward in a bolt of red and purple tipped light. It struck the Noble Phantasm dead on before shattering it into millions of motes of light.

"That…worked better than advertised." He said to himself.

That shouldn't have been possible. For all their power, Gáe Bolg and Rule Breaker shouldn't be able to utterly shatter another Noble Phantasm. This required more tests and theorizing but he didn't have time for that at the moment, for he needed to complete his morning routine then bathe, eat, feed Shizuka, and then begin the eight block jog to the school.

So he began his usual morning routine of ten reps of pushups, sit-ups, squats, and jumping jacks, finishing by running around the yard twelve times. He had just finished his workout when he saw Jiji's silver Toyota Prius pull into the driveway. He gave them a two finger salute when he saw them and they honked their horn in response. Once they parked, Ichirou got out with a smile and a wave, and noted Chiyo had a sour look on her face before she slapped a smile on her face, most likely to keep him from worrying.

He knew why she was upset though, her daughter had once again abandoned her children during an important point during one of their lives, specifically his. Jogging up to them he said apologetically "Sorry you had to come here at the last minute once again you two."

Shaking her head, Chiyo replied "Don't be dear, we're always more than happy to be here for you and Shizuka-chan, you know that. Your parents will look back and feel sorry that they missed this and other things in your life I assure you."

"That's right so why don't you go freshen up while your grandma and I go and make you breakfast?" Ichirou said while clapping his grandson on the arm.

Frowning he replied "You don't need to do that, I can-"He was cut off by his grandmother who said sternly "Young man, you go take a bath and get into your school uniform. Leave breakfast and Shizuka to us, you hear?"

Doing his best not to smirk he replied "Yes ma'am."

He smiled as he turned around and headed into the house. He was happy he could at least depend on his grandparents if not his actual ones. After he had finished bathing, he slipped into his school uniform, a white t-shirt, a black military-eques overcoat, and black jeans.

Heading into the kitchen he found a breakfast of rice, miso soup, eggs, toast and green tea waiting for him. The moment he entered the kitchen, Chiyo began fussing over him.

"Oh look at you, you look all grown up! It seems like just the other day your mother brought you home from the hospital and now, here you are going to school for the first time!" She sniffed.

"Umm, I'm sure you want to take all manner of pictures Grandma, but I really do need to eat." Emiya reminded her.

Chuckling ruefully, Chiyo replied "Yes of course dear. You go right along and eat breakfast while I check on your sister."

He did just that, methodically eating his way through his breakfast. By the time he was done, his grandma had brought a giggling Shizuka out of her room.

Smiling at the sight of his little sister, he said, to her "Good Morning Shizuka-chan."

Upon hearing his voice, Shizuka twisted in Chiyo's grip until she could see her big brother. The moment she laid eyes on him she stretched an arm toward him, wanting to be held by him. Seeing her whine piteously he said sadly "Sorry Shizuka-chan, but I can't hold you, I've got to get going."

What happened next almost casued Chiyo to drop the infant girl in surprise.

"Onii-chan."

Emiya blinked in surprise before saying in a surprised tone "Shizuka, did you just..?"

"Onii-chan." The nine-month-old said again while reaching out for him.

Smiling so bright he could light up the room, Emiya reached over and picked up his baby-sister saying "Shizuka! That was your first word!"

Onii-chan, Onii-chan!" She said again as if agreeing with him.

"Ichirou, get in here!" Chiyo called to her husband.

The patriarch of the family came rushing in hair askew and partially wet as he frantically looked around and asked "What's wrong Chiyo, where's the fire?"

"No fire look." She said pointing to Godou who was holding a giggling Shizuka.

"Say it." He prompted her "Say it again."

"Onii-chan, Onii-chan, Onii-chan!" Shizuka yelled happy her brother was holding her and smiling.

Upon hearing his granddaughter speak, Ichrou smiled and said "Shizuka's talking, that's great! How did this happen?"

"She really, really wanted me to hold her." Emiya replied before looking at the nine-month-old and saying seriously "And now I've done that Shizuka. I'm extremely proud of you and so will mom and dad when they come home. But now I really need to get going ok?"

"Onii-chan~!" She whined piteously.

Ruffling her tuft of black hair good-naturedly he said sadly "Sorry kiddo, but I gotta go."

He then gave Ichirou a pointed look, raising an eyebrow, and doing his best not to smirk as he asked "Provided you're ready to take me Jiji?"

"Huh?" Ichirou then remembered his hair was wet and nodded sheepishly before saying "Give me five minutes Godou-kun."

---

The two Kusanagi males arrived at Jounan Academy with plenty of time to sign him in and find his classroom. B-1 was the class where he would be spending the foreseeable future. A piece of paper taped outside said "Come right in!"

Doing so, they walked into a brightly colored room with many shapes and numerous animals on the walls along with the alphabet in kanji. In lieu of desks there were small child-sized rugs spaced throughout the area. Doing a quick headcount, Emiya noted there were nineteen other children here in class with him. Ten girls and nine boys. On the far left side of the room was a desk, behind which sat a young Spanish woman with narrow Japanese features in her early twenties, with shoulder length dark brown hair, and warm almond shaped brown eyes.

Upon standing up to come greet them, he noted she wore a white and pinks striped Yukata held shut with a pink obi. Upon making her way towards them she smiled and bowed before speaking in flawless Japanese "Hello there I'm Evans Alyssa and I'm the teacher for class B-1. Who might you be?" she asked kindly looking towards him.

Bowing in return, he replied "Kusanagi Godou, nice to meet you."

"My, my, what a polite little gentleman you are! I'd better be careful around you or my husband will be looking for another wife." She joked.

She then said "Why don't you go and introduce yourself to the other children, Kusanagi-kun?"

Nodding he walked into the fray, he looked back briefly to see his grandfather and Evans-sensei talking amicably.

When he turned back around he found a sight that made him frown. Two boys who were bigger than the rest of the students in the class sans himself were pulling on the hair of a girl with long chestnut brown hair. She was extremely soft-spoken her voice barely raising above a whisper even as she begged them to stop.

"P-Pl-Please, Please stop!" she begged.

One nudged the other and said "Hey Toyama, I think she's gonna cry. Are you gonna cry you big baby?"

"Oi, let her go."

The two turned around at the sound of Emiya calling them out, still hold onto the girls' hair as they did.

One of the boy's the one called Toyama let go of the girls' hair and took a step forward, thinking to intimidate him. With a cocky smirk on his face he asked "Oh, you gonna make us?"

Up until now, Emiya had been slouching slightly so as to appear non-threatening. Upon straightening he stood half a head taller than both the other boy's making him the tallest kid in class. Staring down at the other boy he said again "Let. Her. Go."

Emiya accentuated every word by poking the other boy in the chest making him stumble back with each poke until he was standing next to his friend allowing him to look down on them both. The two boys upon being looked down upon like theey were insects or worse, they lost their nerve and let their captive go. Muttering apologies as they slinked to their seats. Emiya glared at them as he watched them go, both to be sure they wouldn't try to jump him from behind, and to let them know he was keeping an eye on them.

When he turned back to ask the girl is she was alright, he was surrounded by his other classmates. Apparently, by showing up those two, he was cool now. Three boy's forced their way forward from the crowd the one him the middle had slightly messy black hair and charismatic brown eyes.

The boy on his left had a wild animalistic look with gangly black hair, a tooth that stuck out to the top of his mouth like a fang, and sharp pointed eyes.

The last boy had a very soft effeminate face for a boy, he seemed kindly and proper to the former Counter Guardian. The boy in the middle then spoke, "That was cool the way you handled that man. We tried to do something, but they were bigger than us. I'm Kenji Miura, and this is Tarou Nakayama and that's Hanatarou Rui." He said point to the boy on his left and right respectively.

He nodded to them politely before introducing himself "Kusanagi Godou, nice to meet you. Wee'll talk later, alright Miura? Right now I need to check on that girl."

Smirking Miura replied "Sure man, clear a hole for the conquering hero people!" he yelled.

Though Miura didn't see it, Emiya frowned at being called a hero. Though he didn't frown for the reason he usually would. While he didn't hate the idea of hero's anymore, he didn't think he had earned the title of hero yet. But, he figured the boy spoke in jest, so he didn't let it show on his face for long, and while his methods were…crude to say the least, they were certainly effective. As Emiya soon found himself in front of the girl he had saved from bullies.

She seemed very shy as she was unable to look him in the eye, and not just because was a whole head and shoulders above her. She kept her gaze glued to the floor as she stuttered out "T-Thank you for h-helping me. Y-You don't have t-to do that."

"I know I didn't have to do anything." He said causing her to flinch both at his casual tone and at the fact he lifted her head till she was looking him in the face as he smiled and finished "But I don't need a reason to help anyone, including you, ok?"

Thise caused the girl to smile at him in return and say "O-Ok, thanks for helping me."

Nodding he bowed theatrically and said "Kusanagi Godou is the name of your knight milady. Might I know the name of you, oh fair maiden?"

He saw the girl turn away, likely to hide a blush before she said "Mariya Yuri is this maiden's name f-fair knight."

Chuckling in the back of his throat, he said "Milady, would have me finish off these…ruffians?" he said while giving the two from earlier a look that caused them to shiver.

Smiling a bit Mariya replied "No Sir Knight, I believe they have suffered enough."

Giving yet another theatrical bow, Emiya finished "As Milady Mariya wishes."

There was silence for a moment until all the kids including Mariya broke out into giggles. Even Emiya managed a smirk. 'I always did have a slight flare for the dramatic, probably picked it up from Saber.' He thought to himself.

"That was great! You two should take that act on the road!" Miura called from the back of the crowd.

"Maybe we will! Right Mariya?" he asked her jokingly.

"I-ah-"Before Yuri could properly formulate a response, the sound of two loud claps. The crowd turned as one to find Mrs. Evans holding her hands together staring at them happily. "Alright everyone! Let's get to our seats, it's time to start class!"

---

It was the end of her first day as a Japanese Elementary level teacher, and Alyssa Evans was shocked. Not by the students she was used to that having been an elementary school teacher in America for two years before moving to japan with her husband of three years, Cole. What shocked her was one student in particular.

Kusanagi Godou. During the first lesson, she was taught the students the alphabet and then went around the room showing them how to write their own names. Some needed help correcting kanji and such but when she got to Godou, he'd written his name, his whole name but he had also written the names of his new friend's Mariya Yuri, Kenji Miura, Tarou Nakayama and Hanatarou Rui, and he was showing them how he wrote their names in kanji.

That was her first surprise. The next one came during art time when she allowed all the children to finger paint. She expected crude drawings of flowers, cats, cars, and trees. Nothing truly astounding.

Again Kusanagi-kun proved her wrong; for when she came around to his easel, she found a picture of a tall man with bronze skin, slicked back white hair, and silver eyes, clad in a red cloak and black and silver trimmed armor stood. Staring bitterly out into a desolate, smog covered field, swords of all shapes and sizes impaled in the earth like gravestones as giant cogs spin in the sky. Some of the swords were more distant and thus closer to the figure, while others were further from him and closer to the viewer of the painting.

Then at nap time, he didn't lay down like the other children. No, he sat cross-legged on his mat and began to meditate. Honest to goodness meditate!

He ate lunch with his friends and during recess, participated in baseball when asked. But other than that, he kept to himself and only answered questions when asked.

The more Alyssa thought about it, the more she realized. For a child the age of six to not only be able to write in perfect kanji, but to be able to paint like he did, answering any question asked of him as if he was bored, meditating, and only playing with the other children when his friends ask him…

"He's a child prodigy, a genius." She said to herself.

She then reached over and picked up her phone, she had some calls to make. If she was right, Kusanagi-kun, was an incredibly gifted child. If that was the case, certain people needed to be informed so steps could be taken. If he was one such child, he could certain do much better than a public school after all.

---

Chapter Length: 15,100 words – Date Completed: 4/23/15

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AN: Hello Guys and Gals and welcome to the opening chap of The Youngest Campione, my new FSN x Campione fic and the rewrite of my old fic, Wrought Iron Cross. I chose to rewrite the fic for several reasons: It had gotten too out of hand, the plot was…it needed work, some ideas looking back seem weird now in hindsight, the list goes on really. But now, to cover a few things:

Emiya's Circuits: While he still has only 27 circuits since he activated them so early he has access to his full reserves instead of the atrophied circuits Shirou started out with during the 5th Heaven's Feel. And seeing as EMIYA the Heroic Spirit gets no bonuses from neither fame nor legend, it's safe to say that the stats he has as a Servant are the stats he ended up attaining in life. So he as access to 1300 units of prana (Od specifically I think.) That's 48 units of prana per circuit which is pretty damn good for a six-year-old.

Fusion Phantasms: Emiya's new toy in this fic. An incredibly powerful, versatile, but costly skill. Even with his current reserves, he can only use the weapon show in this chap sixteen times, as Rule Breaker costs prana to activate as far as I know, considering its name needs to be called, then if you add Gáe Bolgs piercing effect on top of that, that's even more prana. Were he to use the thrown version of Gáe Bolg, he could only use it eight times then as it costs more prana to activate.

Story Pacing: I felt I went far too fast through the last story, so I'm slowing it way~ down! I'm gonna take it from the top, develop relationships and subtly change things from the get go. So it'll be two or three more chapters before Emiya becomes a Campione, but don't worry. I intend for him to be plenty busy in the meantime.

Lastly I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to my beta Diller for without him, this rewrite wouldn't have gotten off the ground! Be sure to show your appreciation to him when you review guys and gals! If you enjoyed the rewrite let us know via review would you please? And Feng, I look forward to hearing from you the most, as I feel I've greatly improved. Till next time everyone, Bubbajack and Diller, out! Peace!