DISCLAIMER
The following is a fan-based
FICTION
Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Root A and Tokyo Ghoul:re and other products related to the TG Series are all owned by Sui Ishida, Shin Towada and Shueisha.
F/SN, F/Z, F/KPI and other products related to the Fate Series are all owned by TYPE-MOON, Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.
Please support the official release.
Premise for those not-so well-cultured on one of the two series or both:
1- This story starts by the time Kaneki is already working at Anteiku so much before Jason kidnapping him;
2- This Shirou is from the Heavens Feel Route but since he had been forbidden to continue practicing his tracing he is extremely rusty and much weaker than during the Grail War.
3- Shirou is also much less prone to jump to action as he is not in good relations with Clocktower and he promised to Rin and Sakura to not spam Tracing. He will make good use of this ability but he knows he cannot get fixed back like before since he lacks Avalon and he doesn't wish to steer back into becoming Archer 2.0;
Prologue: The Job
Fuyuki City, 2015.
The town had certainly grown bigger after the events that had happened ten years ago.
Most of the people his age had forgotten the mysterious deaths and weird occurances that had took the town by surprise in 2005.
Yet Shirou didn't forgot. The war had left him a different person.
Sakura and Rin had assured him that this change was for the better and he had reluctanctly agreed to them, knowing the alternative wasn't as pleasant as his life now was.
While he knew he couldn't become the Hero of Justice he had tried to be thanks to the Grail War, Shirou Emiya was happy that he had an humble but helpful job.
As his last years at Homurahara ended with him continuing his part-time job at Copenaghen and helping Raiga-jiji, both those situations ended up gently pushing him to become an independent repairman.
An hardworking and friendly young man, Shirou's income skyrocketed as his popularity was boosted by his own capacity in dealing with the worst of jobs and by Raiga-jiji himself.
The man was a boss of the Yakuza and had more than once voiced his lament of lacking a proper heir to spoil.
Thus knowing that Shirou didn't have the wrath in his heart to replace him and that Taiga was not showing any application in finding a suitable fiance, Raiga decided to help his surrogate grandson in gaining the respect and money he truly deserved.
The Emiya was happy for the comfortful lifestyle he was enjoying but he found himself lacking something he had come to enjoy during the first two years after the Fifth Heaven Feel.
Someone greeting him at home.
While Sakura, Rin and Rider had continued to live for a long time in the large household he lived in, soon the Tohsaka heiress and soon-to-be head of the clan had moved for three years to study in London at Clocktower.
Shirou was saddened by the lack of Rin's usual sass but Sakura and Rider still kept making his day with their own kindness and sometime naiveness.
The Servant had to learn much from her former Master in dealing with chores but she soon caught up and helped around in the house.
It was around two years ago that Shirou's happiness came to an halt.
Rin Tohsaka returned to Fuyuki much more restrained but much wiser to before and she had then started to try and connect with her former sister.
The result?
"R-Rin planned to make a tour a-around the world. S-She wanted to rekindle our ties."
In that moment Shirou was using Gradation Air to study the issue of the small engine he had been sent to fix by a small company in town.
His focus in completing the analysis faded and the blue hue of his Circuits at work turned off, his mind going blank for a moment.
It was in that moment, Shirou knew, that he made the worst mistake.
"Sure! You two need to make up for the years you have lost, especially after the War."
Something clicked in his brain. Somehow that wasn't what he truly would have said in that predicament.
He would have found an excuse to try and keep them from leaving Fuyuki. From leaving him.
But he didn't, the true reason ringing in his head and painfully reminding him the reality of his situation.
His mind was still scarred by the events of the war, from the sacrifice of Illya and helping Sakura and having her around soothed his grief.
But the former Matou wasn't a toy he could keep with him when he wished, especially because of her mixed feelings.
She was still attracted to him, that was sure... but she was so scared of hurting him and Shirou felt guilty of being unable to directly voice this issue to her, to make her know that he wasn't going to leave her.
And now he was letting her go, with someone that could truly help the plum-haired woman in growing out of this fear of hurting more.
The first week of being alone in the cold, empty home reminded him about the time Kiritsugu had died.
Differently from then, Taiga had actually started to take seriously her job, dropping for breakfast once in a while.
Frustration started to accumulate in Shirou's own paranoia and soon the treacherous need to practice Archery started to plant the seed of self-doubt, slowly consuming his previous confidence.
Praises for his good work from the various clients soon started to not gratify him as much as before and the unnerving craving of making use of Tracing continued to pester his mind daily, leaving him in a constant state of vigilance.
The culmination was approaching and Shirou knew that he lacked the fortitude to face it directly and alone.
It was when he returned from home from one of those commissions that Shirou eyed the curious brown package that had been left in front of his porch with a white letter sitting on it.
Tiredly, the young man picked the package and took it inside.
First thing first, Shirou opened the letter and started to read it silently.
From: CCG Headquarters, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo
To: Emiya Shirou, Miyama Town, Fuyuki City
Esteemed Specialist Emiya Shirou,
We send you this letter attached with a set of clothes for our request consisting in helping in repairing machinery and object of your competence for the duration of 365 days (1 Year) with the compensation of 3860507,01 Yen.
We eagerly await for your response,
Washuu Yoshitoki, Chairman of the Commission Counter Ghoul (CCG)
P.S. In case of refusal, please send the content of the box in the same conditions you have found it.
Shirou blinked and the gears in his mind rolled quietly as he tried to make sense of the highly rewarding job.
Tokyo was big after all and an entire year was quite a long time to be away from Fuyuki.
He silently accepted that he needed much more information regarding this CCG.
Two years after the HGW, Shirou had managed to save up to buy a small computer to use for school-related and then job-related issues.
The old thing needed just few seconds to turn on and, seeing the desktop forming completely, the young man started the browser he had installed and searched any article about the CCG.
Eyes blinking and mind adding to his vast supernatural knowledge the details regarding Ghouls.
Shirou was actually surprised, having never heard of those creatures before.
Maybe Tohsaka could have bragged about knowing this subject before leaving for Clocktower, but Shirou felt that this was the first time hearing about this species.
Bulletproof and their diet limited by their biology to human flesh, they were deemed a dangerous problem festering in the capital as a terroristical cell had started to spread its influence in the small groups running away from the investigators of the CCG.
So... a job that could help in guaranteing the safety of the innocent people of the city?
Sounds good.. but what about them?
His eyes moved to the small photo framed on the side of the dest, showing him, Tohsaka, Sakura and Rider smiling at the photographer.
It was the first time they went to a waterpark and he had truly enjoyed that day.
His eyelids closed a bit as sadness reminded him of the scarce correspondence of letters he was having with her kohai and sighed.
Maybe he truly needed to leave town for a while...
AN
Had to bring this one in as I was starting to mess up elsewhere because of the ideas I'm not able to push as per my tight schedule.
Today I will post a chapter of Fukuro and of FPO later on, so hold on in this mad run I shall pull!
Simplified timeline for dummies in this fanfic:
1994- Fourth Holy Grail War
2002- Tokyo Ghoul Jack
2005a- Arima and Eto create the 'One-eyed King' plot
2005b- Fifth Holy Grail War ends with the destruction of the Grail and the end of the practice. Victors are Shirou Emiya (by the Church) and Sakura Matou (by Clocktower).
2010- Tokyo Ghoul Pinto/Tokyo Ghoul: Days
2015a- Kaneki Ken becomes an artifical one-eyed Ghoul
2015b- Shirou Emiya receives the job request from the CCG
The reason why I don't use the After/Before Steel Beam Incident calendar is because it's way too faulty and confusing in the long run and I think the seriousness of this series requires a normal calendar.