This story is set 10 years after Fate Stay night. The Grail did not activate then, and there was no heaven feel ritual. The characters grew up. Some matured and became better and stronger than they had been as teens, others, who had been barely holding themselves together, fell completely apart. Please note that Shirou in this story is NOTHING like archer/EMIYA, as Archer's formative experience was fighting in the Holy Grail war and winning at horrible cost (from which he learned that if he fights & sacrifices everything, he can save people)
This Shirou is an idealist, but framed in a more normal, more human setting (though he's still a fighter)
Also, he doesn't use swords (Where would he have gotten the idea to do so?)
START
At first glance, the man who walked into the principles office looked older, with graying hair and a cane.
"Hello, Dr Emiya. Please take a seat. The principle stood up and motioned for his guest to make himself welcome
As Emiya came into the room, the second impression was of a much younger man – despite his hair, his face was not age-lined, and the cane appeared to be more of an affection than a necessity.
"So tell me about yourself. I have obviously read your resume, but I want to hear why somebody so, ah.. 'qualified' is interested in teaching biology in Fuyuki." He held out a water bottle to Dr. Emiya as his guest sat down on the edge of his seat, his cane propped within easy reach
"Thank you." Emiya leaned forwards, "I'm here because I want to save the world." He cracked open the water bottle and took a sip, "And I want to do it now, which is why after Medical school, I took a residency in Sierra Leone, and then spent my summers working with Médecins Sans Frontières in northern Nigeria in the war zone there, because I wanted to save people, to make a difference. But you know what? I discovered that even in places like that, most days were just routine. I felt like I was making a difference in somebody's life only once every few weeks at most."
Emiya shrugged, "I realized that the problem was not the situation I was in, but with me. I have the passion, but not the patience to make the world better. So decided that maybe I could pass my passion on to the next generation, who will have the skills I lack to actually use it ." Shirou figured that this explanation would do – it was close to the truth, and there was no reason to bring up a certain Finnish mentor / friend / lover / distant acquaintance / whatever the hell she was.
"That is a very... interesting perspective." The smile on the principals face was somewhat fixed. Most interviews didn't get so.. intense or personal. But they needed somebody to get the slower and less motivated students interested in science. "But you are definitely qualified, and you certainly will be able to keep the students attention. Welcome to teaching, Dr. Emiya!"
^T^Y^A^
The severely dressed business woman stepped out of the Lexus and walked up toward the decrepit mansion, her chauffeur shuffling after her.
She swepped into the darkly lit interior, to be confronted by a wizened old man standing in the foyer, "Ah. Sakura. I knew you would come back." Matou smiled, revealing bare gums. The smile not make him appear any more pleasant, but at his age, he figured he would settle for disturbing.
Sakura held out her brief case to to her chauffeur, "Hold this." She did not even pause as she walked in a calm manner over to Matou and plunger her right hand into his chest.
The elderly form rippled, and began to shimmer and squirm, as if made up of thousands of worms, but Sakura clenched tight to something in the old man's chest, and he did not quite loose cohesion. She bent over, and supporting the back of his head with her free hand, kissed him passionately. Matou began to convulse as the the skin on his already whithered frame was sucked in, leaving a mummified cadaver. Once the body stopped moving, Sakura let it slip to the floor, off of her hand. Revealed in her fist was a giant worm, which was still wriggling feebly. Sakura brought it up to her mouth and bit it in two before spitting it back out onto the floor.
"Shinji, bring my things inside" she commanded as she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief.
The mummified chauffeur shuffled back out to the car.
^T^Y^A^
"Open, shut" the young woman was finishing up the incantation as the entire room filled with a reddish glow that overspilled the chalk summoning circle, making the basement room appear unearthly and disturbing. Despite the arcane working that the magus was performing, she was dressed as if for the opera, in an elegant evening dress.
"Open, shut. Open shut" With each phrase, the woman opened her hand revealing a gemstone pendant.
With a final gesture, the glow flashed one last time before dissipating. The woman looked around comically.
"Where the hell is he? She?" She peered under her work table, but there was nobody there – she was alone in the now prosaic work room. She turned the overhead light back on and took another glance around. With a sigh, she stomped up the stairs.
"6 months of stored mana gone, and nothing to show for it. How could I have managed to screw this up? You don't technically need a catalyst, and using my oldest gem reservoir as the focus should have summoned a servant most attuned to me." She muttered in a fashion of those used to spending too much time alone, "was that criteria too narrow? Maybe there aren't any servants that are a good personality match for me." What bothered Rin the most was the loss of the pendant – it had been a gift from her father. He had given one to her and an identical one to her sister. She hadn't used it in years. Who would have thought that losing that one last connection to her sister would bother her so much?
She opened the basement door and stepped out into the kitchen.
"Hello. Where do you keep the mayo?" A bronze skinned man dressed in a black dashiki – a West African tunic with bright red pipping along the deep v-neck - stood up from peering into the fridge. Despite his shock of white hair, he did not appear older than mid thirties. "Incidentally, Servant Saber, at your service." He gave a slight bow before putting the loaf of bread he was holding onto the counter, next to a can of tuna fish and a short, broad spear.
^T^Y^A^
"It'll be great to be back in Fuyuki High. It'll be like old times, except now I will be working as your colleague" Shirou put the tray of food onto the table and sat down opposite Taiga. "It'll be strange seeing all my old teachers as coworkers, though."
Taiga didn't bother to reply, instead shoveling food quickly onto her plate - having Shirou stay with her had a HUGE side benefit. So much for that diet she had been flirting with. It'd not like she was really fat or anything – nothing that biking into work wouldn't fix.
"Is Kuzuki-sensai still teaching? I just can't see myself as his peer – he was always kind of intimidating" Shirou watched with bemusement as Taiga shoveled and chewed, 'I would have thought she would have outgrown that.'
"Nuh, nuh" Taiga gestured violently as she tried to get words out past a mouth full of rice.
"Don't mention that name!" She managed after swallowing hugely. "It wash a scandal. Jush horrible." She slurred as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, "And the students still won't stop talking about it!"
"What happened?"
"It turns out he was an international criminal – a hit-man or something! About a year and a half ago, Interpol finally caught up with him. The police came after him, and he managed to give them the slip. They chased him for a week! The entire city was locked down before he was shot dead in a fight at Ryuudou shrine, of all places." Taiga snarled. "The poor students were traumatized. And now, they are treating him like some sort of local cult icon."
"Huh. I never expected that. Though it kinda makes sense in retrospect. Tea?" Until he had time to find his own place, Shirou was staying with Taiga in her apartment. Shirou was bemused that despite the apartment being a gift from Taiga's father (and most likely bought with yakuza money, if certain rumors were true), she was incensed at other people's criminal behavior. "Incidentally, when is Hamura-san returning from his trip? I've been looking forwards to meeting him."
"Hamura's on another sales training trip to China. This one is going to be two weeks, but hopefully it will be the last one." taiga smiled as she spoke of her husband – he had just started working for a motorcycle parts company that her father was part owner of. "What about you? I saw a strange car at the Matou house on my way to work yesterday. You think Sakura might be around?"
Shirou shrugged, "I am not certain if it matters – we haven't spoken in almost ten years, not since we broke up."
"Hmm.. Well, are you seeing anybody?" Fujimura leaned in inquisitively, a predatory smile on her face.
"Taiga, I just got back to Japan a week ago!" Shirou leaned back, defensively. 'Why is it always like this? It's like she's my grandmother.' Of course, she was the closest thing to family he had left, so Shirou didn't really mind. It was nice to have somebody who worried about this little stuff.
"Well, I know a couple of nice young girls at my gym. I can ask if either of them is free this Friday." Taiga 's eyes unfocused as she planned to rescue poor, socially helpless Shirou.
"Heh" Shirou stood up from the table. He was most definitely not ready for this conversation "I'm going to go have a walk, to settle my digestion."
"Poor Shirou – even the idea of dating is putting your stomach into knots. That's why you need help from mama Fujimura or you'll end up a life long bachelor."
Shirou fled.
^T^Y^A^
Shirou wandered the streets of Fuyuki, reacquainting himself with his birth city. It was still an industrial town, so pretty much everything shut down at five o'clock, and now the streets were dark and empty, save for small islands of activity around the bars. It was a cool spring day, especially near the waterfront. Old habits developed living at the edge of war zones died hard, so as he walked, he kept his eyes open for anything unusual, for any sign of danger or for any poor shmo who might need rescuing.
As he was walking up from the docks along an otherwise empty road, he saw a young blond woman walking the other way. She was clearly European, and dressed much too nicely for the area. As she drew near, Shirou opened his mouth to ask if she was lost.
But before he could say anything, she beat him to it "The war has already started, oni-chan. You should summon yours soon."
"Excuse me?" Shirou stopped and pivoted to follow her. She did not reply, instead quickly turning down into a side alley.
"Miss? Do you need me to call you a cab? This area is not safe to wander at night."
When she continued walking without a reply, Shirou turned and followed her. At first glance, from her well tailored clothing, she had appeared to be his age, or possibly older, but Shirou now saw that she was probably in her late teens. As she walked, pretending Shirou wasn't there, her shoulders started to creep up to her ears. Finally, she pivoted and stepped back towards Shirou, "I didn't take you for a stalker, oni-chan"
"I'm not, I mean.." Now Shirou was at a loss for words – not only was he face to face with an attractive (blond) woman, but Taiga's words were still resonating in his head (because they HAD hit a nerve).
She just smirked as Shirou lost all his composure, "Oh, I know you're not. Your a good man." She stood on her tip toes and kissed Shirou on the cheek, before leaving a completely pole-axed Shirou standing in the street,
It was several minutes before Shirou's brain rebooted.
^T^Y^A^
The woman in the closely tailored suit perched on the warehouse fire escape, looking in through the second story window. The building looked abandoned from the front, but from up here, she could see the back area: Here, columns of blue light were standing in rows, and inside each column was suspended a young woman. The ones on the right side, where the blue light was dimmer, were all stunningly attractive, while the ones on the left, where the columns of light were sparkling and dancing with energy, the woman were of a more mundane appearance. In between were tables strewn with various alchemical apparatus boiling and dripping liquid into tubes that ran to the trapped women.
The woman did not move, except the ones on the left side sometimes twitched or moaned as if in agony.
Working in the space between the two sets of lights was a man in a lab coat. As he muttered incantations and inspected an array of tubes and glowing spheres, a woman knelt at his side, holding a platter with a drink on it.
The observe pulled back her fist and smashed through the window, sending flaming shards of metal flying from her hand down at the other magus.
The woman who was by his side stood up, blocking the spell (For that is what the jagged, red hot shards were) with her body. As she fell to the ground, the man whirled around and unleashed a wave of blue sparks up at his attacker.
But the intruder did not wait for him, jumping down and releasing a spear of liquefied metal from her fist. The man dodged, and the spear smashed into the apparatus, releases a wave of heat.
As the battle between the two raged, fires caught on the machinery. The woman tried to avoid injuring the captive girls, but the man was not so restrained, and soon the fire enveloped the whole building.
The woman lost track of her opponent, instead turning to try to rescue some of the woman.
Which is when she saw her sister
Bazett woke up with a gasp. That dream again. She clenched her fist.
She pulled on her suit, as at the same time she silently pronounced, 'Berserker, It is time to hunt'
^T^Y^A^
"Rin, we should go out an reconnoiter." Saber commented, from where he perched on a chair like a gargoyle, his spear across his lap. ,"The other servants are probably already in motion,"
"Later."
Saber sighed, "How long has it been since you saw the sun? You're as pale as a zombie" His master really didn't look good. Well, she looked good, being dressed in a fancy evening dress, and her hair up, like she was about to go out to paint the town red, but she was pasty white, giving the lie to the fashion statement. And her eyes were red rimmed – like she was staying too late too often.
"You're just dark skinned, so all Japanese looks pale to you. Besides, there's no need to rush. Let the other servants thin each other out a little first" Rin was hunched over a Rube Goldberg machine, involving gems dangling from rotating arms and sliding along elliptical tracks. "Besides, my Soul Generator isn't quite ready."
Saber hopped off of his chair, "What's it for?"
"When the Great grail activates, the power will pour out through the spacious-temporal locus, ie the victor of the Holy Grail war," Rin slowly shifted into her lecture pose. It was clear she hadn't had much call to use it lately. "But the design is very basic. In order to control the process and elevate the soul to the next level of existence, I will need this generator." But the more she talked, the less tentative her speech became (and the more comfortable her posture) as half forgotten skills resurfaced.
"What's that for?"
"It will allow me to turn my soul into a source of magical energy, so that I am no longer bound by the amount of prana my body can collect."
"Why?"
Now Tohsaka was starting to look puzzled, "So that I have unlimited mana for casting spells?"
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?" Now Rin was starting to get exasperated. Nobody had questioned her like this in years! "That is the goal of all mages – to discover new magics, to expand their personal horizons!"
Saber nodded. He than grabbed Rin's arm, "Get your jacket. We're going out, to discover some non-personal horizons."
^T^Y^A^
"Have you been been by your old house?" Issei asked as he took Shirou's rook with a pawn. Issei had always been a fan of chess, but the only time Shirou got around to playing was when he visited Issei, so the results were unsurprising. The pair were having dinner in a run down tea shop around the corner from the High school – Shirou had spent the day setting up his classroom and ordering lab supplies.
"Yeah, I went by last night – lights are on, so somebody's living there, but it looks pretty run down." Shirou moved another lonely pawn
"Check. And mate" Issei looked at his watch, "I need to get back – I have a young couple that has an appointment to work on their wedding." Issei was now a junior priest up a the Ryuudou shrine. "Are you heading back to the tiger's den?"
"No, I have to finish setting up. I got waylaid into helping fix the projector by Ming li – she teaches Chinese next door."
Issei sighed, "If you were anybody else, I would ask if she was pretty, but this is just Shirou being Shirou. Don't forget to look out for yourself while you are taking care of everybody else."
Shirou paid his tab and helped Issei pack up the game, "Strange words, from a priest."
Shrug. "I know you." Issei paused, before adding, "but it was your example that helped me decide to follow my father into the priesthood."
Shirou was still mulling that over as he made his way back to the school. What Issi had said was really nice, given the overall failure of his life. So he managed to save a few lives here, help a person there. It was still so tiny, so insignificant as to not matter at all, in the greater scheme of things. What was the point of it? People still died.
He had just gone through the main gate when he head a loud crash. He took of at a run in the direction of the athletic field, where the noise was coming from.
There, he found a blue clad man wielding a pair of swords savagely attacking another clad in a IsiNene- an African style kilt – and not much else. The African was much more collected, blocking the attacks with his spear. Shirou's eyes were immediately dawn to it - it was only five feet long, but at least a foot and a half of that was the blade, and the wielder was using it almost as a sword, to calmly deflect his opponents wild blows. As usual, weapons drew Shirou's eye, imprinting themselves on his psyche. Not a terribly useful skill, but it gave him an edge if anybody attacked him with that weapon (knowing all the possible uses of that weapon, he could predict what attacks were coming)
But despite his calm demeanor the spear wielder was obviously over matched, as he did nothing except defend himself.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Shirou shifted his grip on his walking stick so that he was holding it as a club.
The man in blue turned to face Shirou, and as he did the redhead felt like he had been punched in the stomach – the man's visage was so twisted in anger that it radiated a palpable force. Shirou barely had time to stagger back as the madman leaped to attack him. Shirou managed to deflect one sword, but the other caught him unprepared, ripping through his side.
"Hey, dog. I'm your opponent!" the spear wielding swordsman lunged forward, jabbing at his opponent's side.
As the Berserker's hideous gaze was averted from him, Shirou was able to raspingly draw a breath. He staggered behind the dumpster, clamping a hand to his bleeding side.
As the battle continued, he began to chant in a foreign language. He kept peering at the battle just in case the crazy man with the swords attacked him again. A reddish glow emanated from his hand, and the bleeding stopped and slowed. As a doctor, healing magic came easily to him, though a certain-blond-who-shall-not-be-named had been horrified at the extent to which he used it for personal reinforcement. But Shirou was always practical – if it worked, what did a little pain matter?
"You want me? Then come and get me" The spear man taunted as he leaped up onto the roof of the school, and waited just long enough for his opponent to follow before leaping away.
"What was that about?"
^T^Y^A^
The next day found Shirou back a the school, making photocopies as if nothing had happened. "Are you certain you don't want to go to the police?" Taiga asked for the third time. When Shirou had arrived at her apartment all bloodied last night, he had explained that he had come across two gangs fighting it out on the school, and when he had tried to break it up, one of the gang members had cut him.
Taiga had been beside herself until she had determined that despite the amount of blood, the injury was indeed trivial. After that she had bemoaned how, despite being ten years older than when she saw him last, Shirou still lacked any common sense.
But this morning, when she saw the damage to the athletic field, she again tried to get Shirou to go talk to the police officer inspecting the damage. "This isn't Sierra Leone. You can trust the cops."
"It'll be fine. I didn't really see anything. Besides, it will do the students good to be more cautious at night." Though school was currently out for break, and by the time it started up again, this incident would be old news.
Taiga rolled her eyes and went off to her meeting. She had learned how pig headed her former charge could be. Once he made up his mind, he wasn't going to change it, no matter how glaringly wrong he was. It was like he intended to make the world conform to his view of reality through shear force of will. Idiot.
After lunch, Shirou really got down to work. He wasn't much of a mage – his father had refused to teach him anything, but he had sought to expand his knowledge, first studying with a Jamaican houdon visiting family in Freetown, and then with THAT woman.
He stared in the library, first drawing a quick diagram in chalk on the floor and then the same diagram on a scrap of paper. With a lighter, Shirou burned the strip of paper. As the smoke curled around the chalk mark, he put a pair of seeds and a piece of chicken bone on the sketch. It flared yellow and faded from sight. The ward was in a corner between a wall and the flank of a bookcase, so nobody should disturb it accidentally.
Shirou dusted off his hands as he stood back up: one done. That should keep supernatural entities out of this end of the school. By his calculation, he would need another dozen wards. With his level of mana, that would take several days.
That night, after making dinner for himself and Fujimura, he went up onto the roof and ran through some exercises. It looked like 'Home Sweet Home' wasn't going to be any less dangerous than the African bush, so he needed to get back into practice. He started with some two stick routines, flicking them in a pattern meant to block an attacker with one as he struck with the other before transitioning to one stick, where he often use the empty hand to pin an attackers arm, or strike open hand. Finally, he went to fully bare handed drills, using his reinforced hands as weapons, striking at imaginary opponents in nerve centers, joints and blood vessels – areas that he had learned about as a doctor.
He had once considered training with traditional weapons – swords always called out to him, and he was pretty good with a bow – but carrying them was impractical most places. But with his cane, he was never unarmed.
He finally finished off with some katas, just to cool down. He had gotten good at training on his own, but it would be nice to have a second person to practice with.
^T^Y^A^
Shirou leaned on the gate and inspected his handiwork – it was Friday afternoon, and the wards were complete. He was just turning to go when a sharp voice interrupted his composure
"What do you think you are doing?"
"Excuse me?" He turned to discover a short woman dressed in an cocktail dress berating him. The short was not unusual, as he was taller than most Japanese men, but it was too early in the day for the party dress.
"What do you think you are doing with those lame ass wards? Are you TRYING to get the attention of every passing mage, or are you just a retard? And why didn't you check in with me when you moved to my city?"
Shirou shrank under the verbal barrage. He was at a loss as to how to handle an attractive young woman talking to him like that. "I'm just trying to keep the kids safe. There was some sort of magical beings – spirits or something – fighting it out here a few days ago." Shirou paused, and added, "And why should I check in with you?" as his self confidence resurfaced.
"I'm the second owner, baka. It's my job to keep track of what other mages are here, and what projects they are working on, so if if one of them escapes and starts making a mess of things in Fuyuki, I know what I'm dealing with."
"Oh" The more she spoke, the less attractive she became, making it easier for Shirou to talk to her, "in that case, Do you happen to know what went down over in the athletic field earlier this week?"
"Yeah. " She paused, before pronouncing "Saber." The spear wielder faded into view, now dressed in his red dashiki . "It's the Heavens Feel ritual. Seven mages, paired with seven heroic spirits are fighting for access to the Third magic. You should stay inside and lock your doors if you don't want to be gutted. My Saber won't necessarily be around to save your ass next time."
"You know, it's very jarring, how you dress like a elegant lady, but talk like a dock worker. And you didn't even tell me your name"
Now it was the woman's turn to look sheepish, "Sorry, I'm kind of out of practice socializing. My work keeps me busy, and most people are assholes. I'm Rin Tohsaka" She stuck out her hand
Saber rolled his eyes before mouthing 'Hikikomori" as his pointer finger twitched towards Rin.
"Mm. I see." As Shirou shook Rin's hand, he turned to Saber, "She hasn't left her house in years has she?"
Saber nodded "I had to jump start her car. And replace all four tires."
"Hey!"
Shirou cocked his head in puzzlement, "Aren't you a heroic spirit from ancient times?" He knew a little about this Heavens Feel ritual. It was (in)famous in the magical world as a complete dumpster fire that had failed four times in a row, with a high casualty count.
Saber laughed, "We get basic skills when we are summoned, otherwise we'd be completely useless from culture shock."
"I will have you know that I just don't like to drive. I walk when I need to go out. Like I am doing now." Rin turned and stalked off, "Come along Saber."
Saber smiled with affection at his master's antics. As he turned to follow, he faded from view.
Shirou waved bemusedly. It had been a very strange day. At least he had discovered another mage, and possibly one that could be an ally in keeping trouble under control. Trouble was Shirou's generic term for anything that threatened the people he was caring for, either bureaucrats trying to embezzle medicine from a hospital in Sierra Leone to asanbosam raiding a refugee camp in Nigeria.
But he would give this Rin a day to calm down before talking to her about any possible collaboration – she seemed a little high strung. Though honestly, it was refreshing to see a woman who was that straightforward. No mind games or double entendres.
After double checking his wards one last time, he set off for home. As was his habit, he took a different road everyday, so as to learn more of the city.
This time, his path led him to one of the seedier neighborhoods, with run down apartment buildings mixed in with second floor import export firms, and other small businesses that didn't bother with a retail space.
It was just starting to get dark when Shirou smelled a sickly sweet aroma, as of rotting fruit. He stopped and began to turn in a circle. It was then that he heard a muffled sound from a narrow alley that he had just passed. Grabbing his walking stick with both hands, he pulled it apart into a pair of short rods and stalked into the alley.
Partly hidden by a dumpster, a woman in fetishistic clothing was holding a weakly struggling man in an embrace. His heels drummed on the sidewalks and then stopped.
"Let him go!" Shirou hissed.
The woman turned and complied, letting the body drop to the pavement. She was wearing a blind fold, and her hair whipped around like in a strong breeze.
As Shirou charged at her, she waited patiently before leaping up, bouncing off of the alley wall and landing behind Shirou.
But as she reached to grab the redhead, he whirled around with lightning speed, bringing up one of his sticks to smash her hand away. Before she could react, Shirou moved unnatural fast, bringing his sticks around in a series of rapid strikes at her vulnerable points – the temples, her collar bone. As she tried to block the attack, he tried to strike the top of her arm to sweep it out of the way.
The woman blurred into motion herself, blocking the attacks with a pair of spikes attached to a chain. But then a wave of light covered Shirou and he moved even faster, striking her on the side of the head.
The woman sprang back, and then up onto the roof. Shirou waited, at the ready, in case another attack was forthcoming, but there was nothing. He dropped his self-reinforcement before he completely exhausted his mana. Or shattered a bone.
He bent down to examine the body. It was a nondescript man, a little overweight. There was no mark on him. For all the world, he looked like he had died of a heart attack.
Shirou stood up cautiously and began to walk home. He hadn't gone more than a block before he sensed something moving on a roof next to him, pacing him.
This was bad. He couldn't go home to Taiga's with whatever it was following him – probably that woman from earlier. There were no wards set up at the apartment, and he didn't want to bring trouble down on Fujimura's head.
He kept walking at the same pace, pretending nothing was wrong, as he wracked his brain for where to go. If he knew where Tohsaka lived, that would be an option, but he hadn't asked. While it would have been a good idea, it would have been a kind of creepy, stalker-ish thing to do.
His dad's old place. The Emiya estate was warded, and he had reinforced the wards on the tool shed as a teenager. It was the only option. He just hoped that whoever had moved in would stay indoors.
As he got to the fancier part of town, the buildings got lower and spaced further apart, making it more difficult for the vampire woman to follow him. He was almost at the estate when an arrow shot down at him. His trained senses heard the slight hiss of the air, and he threw himself to the side, barely avoiding getting shot, and ran for it, vaulting the wall.
His pursuer followed, leaping up onto the wall and raining down arrows as Shirou ran for the shed. Just as he reached the door, an arrow nicked his calf.
As his leg buckled from the pain, he threw his shoulder against the door and fell inside. His vision began to swim, and everything was limed in a reddish light. He kicked the door shut and crawled past his dad's old bike towards a defensible position. The pain in his leg was spreading, and now his entire leg pulsed in agony. Poison.
He heard somebody land outside the shed "Come out, come out, little rabbit. My master says I shouldn't kill you, but maybe she will change her mind."
Shirou head pulsed and his vision swam. He heard the vampire woman say something else. And then strangely, a woman's voice replied from inside the shed. He must have blacked out momentarily, for he heard a crash, as of a window breaking, but he didn't see it. But then he saw the vampire woman fighting against a blond woman wielding a sword.
He watched the battle through haze. 'She's pretty'. Her appearance was more severe than Luvia, but watching her move – the fluidity and grace, as well as the passion. Shirou was entranced. And Luvia was too frivolous, anyways.
Next thing he knew, his eyes snapped open and he screamed as the agony in his leg became too much even for him. Luvia was holding him as he spasmed in pain. "Hold on, Shirou. Arturia, get him into the house!" the voice sounded distant and echo-y.