Prologue:
The sound of metal clashing against metal had pulled on me. It demanded that I look to where two oddly garbed beings that appeared straight out of the summer comiket were fighting.
Whether they were cosplayers or not didn't matter in the end. The weapons they were using were surreal.
A foreign male with blue hair sporting a blue... jumpsuit, I guessed that's what it was, carrying a red lance. The mad grin etched onto his face was insinuating his excitement for battle.
And the Blue Man's opponent. Probably the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Petite and appearing to be in her late teens, with a slender physique and soft, white skin. Elegant in every sense of the word. Her hands were curled, one atop another, as if holding onto a weapon. An invisible weapon?
I didn't get to study either warrior further, as the two launched themselves towards each-other and another clash of steel was heard. Sparks flew and instantly both tried to press on for an advantage. The Blue haired man was obviously the faster of the two, but the deceivingly quick blonde was no slouch either. I noticed that the lance-man was having a hard time breaking through the blonde's defense, the knight simply parrying the lancer's assault before responding with her own counter.
The entire exchange probably lasted less than five seconds.
If I had been in somewhat calmer state of mind maybe I'd have hidden myself and kept observing. As it was, the clash of these two titans had only made me fear for the danger they imposed. There was a gust of wind blowing at me as a result of the force from the two fighter's swings. I wouldn't be surprised if they could destroy buildings with that kind of strength. Rather, I'm sure they could, judging from the few decently sized craters littered around them...
So with some precaution, I intended to step away while not cutting off my sight from the spectacle and go home to convince myself that I hadn't seen anything. Or so that was the plan until...
The shuffle of my movements was loud enough for both the combatants to notice me.
"Whose their?!" shouted the Spear man.
It took me less than a second to understand two things. One: I was done for, and two: I should run.
Earlier That Day
Wake up. Exercise. Practice a bit of Structural Analysis. Make to school. Greet my friend, Issei. Help around school. Head to work. Head home. Cook dinner. Practice again and sleep.
This was my usual daily routine. Or at least, it had been. But the last few days had made me feel off lately. Maybe it was how the rise of gas leaks accidents and missing people seemed suspiciously correlated. To me, at least.
Perhaps it was how my under classmate and friend, Sakura Matou, seemed to be more distant lately.
Or maybe it was how the school idol's, Rin Tohsaka's, presence seemed oddly more noticeable to me lately.
Well, the raven haired teen's presence seemed to allure pretty much everyone in school. I, myself, didn't find her as alluring as everyone else, not to say I didn't think she was pretty, I simply never gave the school beauty that much thought. Not until recently, that is.
Regardless, I tried to brush off these disturbances. I simply felt that they weren't my business to intrude on, or in the case of the gas leaks, couldn't do much about them.
But I did find myself curious about Rin's case. Specifically, how she was noted to have visited the Archery Club grounds with some frequency as of late. Tohsaka's visits themselves wouldn't garner much attention from anyone, but it had struck a chord within me how ritually she has been doing it. If it had been once or twice it could be written down as a passing interest in the art of marksmanship. But from the time period she had begun her ventures up to the present suggested that Tohsaka would have either joined or, at the very least, lost interest.
Tohsaka had never shown any interest in clubs. It was a wonder how the school idol was able to get away with not joining any clubs, even though it's mandatory to join at least one club in Homurahara Academy. Yet, given how Tohsaka is the top student of our grade, how well liked by the teachers she's become, and an overall popular girl... go figure.
But I'm digressing.
I'm not so sure as to having the right answer, but there's been this inkling suspicion in me that believes Rin Tohsaka has been looking for Sakura.
I didn't know why, nor had any evidence to prove it, but it was the small details that made me come to that conclusion. Sakura's tense frame as she crossed paths with Tohsaka. And how Tohsaka herself would give a sideways glance towards Sakura at the same time. Sakura would try to evade the twin-tailed, raven haired girl as much as possible; yet I would sometimes catch the contemplative looks both girls would give each other when the other wasn't looking.
I don't believe that Rin has any sinister intentions towards the violet haired girl. Quite honestly, that being my only plausible excuse in case someone asked me, I wasn't sure why I wanted to go to the Archery Club building in the first place other than to quell my own selfish concerns and curiosity.
My curiosity proved pointless, however, when I made my way back home after finding out by a secondhand source that practice had been canceled... which I learned after almost receiving a kendo stick to the head. I didn't feel disheartened or bitter at having wasted time. Just disappointment at my luck today.
So it was with these thoughts in mind that I made it to the school courtyard when I heard that fateful clash of steel.
I turned full sprint back to the school building. My senses were at an all time high as adrenalin began to pump into my brain. There was a somewhat familiar voice yelling out 'Wait, Saber!', but I couldn't quite recognize who it was. It didn't matter, as I was more focused on getting myself away from those monsters.
I did not dare turn around to see if I was being chased. It wasn't until I reached the school's second floor corridor that I deemed it safe enough to check for any pursuers.
"Well, what do we have here?" a masculine voice inquired.
I jumped back in surprise. The voice sounded close, yet there was nobody around me. As I searched my immediate area, a dim blue light suddenly materialized into the blue haired man from earlier just a few steps before me.
"Damn. Didn't expect for someone to have been around during my fight with the blondie." the man sighed resignedly. He wasn't even looking towards me, rather inspecting his lance lazily held in his right hand. "I really hate to be the one to do this, but orders are orders. Can't leave any witnesses. Deadmen tell no tales, and all that" he spoke as he approached as a predator would its prey.
"What?" a squeak escaped from me. My legs were shaking, but I couldn't force them to run, barely managing my right foot to take a step back.
"Sorry, kid. Nothing personal, just curse your crappy luck for being at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Before I could even retort, I felt a sudden pain in my chest. It wasn't excruciating. it was a quick flash of pain, and I barely had the chance to look down at myself to see where it was coming from.
It was a stab to my heart. The stranger's red lance had pierced me.
The blue haired man had disappeared by the time I looked up again but could still hear his voice disembodied. "Sheesh. It's a sick joke for a hero being forced to act like this. My master really is a shitty person."
My body was feeling too heavy, I fell to my left side and my eyes began to lose focus. I could suddenly hear yelling from the stairway.
There was a strong smell of iron and a wet feeling spreading around my torso. I realized it was my own blood.
"...If his heart was hit, there's no way of saving him..."
It was the female voice from earlier. I though haphazardly
It was here where I felt myself enter and leave consciousness several times. I couldn't move, but my unfocused eyes tried to make out recognizable figures.
"...Why are you here!?..."
"...Why did you have to pick this hour on this day to be here!?.."
"...Will he be well...?" another feminine voice asked with a hint of concern.
I saw two frames. Both female, one in red and the other in blue. Both were nothing more than fuzzy images in my eyes.
"...There's still a way..."
There was a sudden weight on my chest and almost immediately a red light filled my unfocused vision before I once more lost consciousness.
It was darker outside once I had come to my senses.
I felt very tired and could feel an ache in my chest. If it weren't for a fact that I was on school grounds, I would have believed it all to be a horrible dream. There was no pool of blood. Only a patch of crimson on my uniform shirt from where I was stabbed, and I noted that my shirt was no longer teared as well.
While forcing myself to stand, I suddenly stumbled to my knees. I blinked several times and sensed my sight regaining its focus. It was here, bent down, where I noticed a red gem necklace that was lying next to me.
It was the only clue left by the the pair that both found and healed me.
I pocketed it.
Fuyuki City was quiet.
The street lights guided my path to the Emiya residence.
It was all I had left from my late father. The way home left me thinking about the recent events and the surprise I had from the lack of any damage from the swordswoman's and lancer's confrontation. I expected small craters, cuts on walls, holes on the ground. Yet nothing was out of place. As if nothing had happened in the first place.
Once reaching the entrance of the residence, I made it to the living room and crashed onto the floor to rest. Safe to say I was exhausted, but felt much better than when I woke up at school. I lifted my shirt and traced my fingers over the area of skin that was pierced with the red lance.
Not even a scar was left.
I felt uneasy. Everything pinpointed to being a dream, yet I knew better. Whatever those two cosplayers were, they were using magic. The lance-man's disappearing trick was magic, too. For anyone else, magic would be a childish explanation. But I knew it was true.
I was a magus, after all. A crappy one, yet a magus all the same.
And as my late father, Kiritsugu, had taught: 'To use magic is to walk with death'. In simple terms, once someone has learned of magic, and practiced the craft, their life would be in danger.
I was tired. I felt my body wanting to rest, and for a moment I was about to slip into the realm of dreams when...
TING
I quickly rolled to my right to dodge a stab where my head previously rested. I felt fear creep at me as I saw my reflection produced by the steel from the same weapon that had nearly killed me a few hours ago.
The bell that Kiritsugu had hanged from the ceiling had alarmed me of the arrival of a trespasser. My adoptive father had always been paranoid about unexpected guests for some reason...
I guess his paranoia paid off.
"Damn it, kid. I wanted to make your death quick and painless as possible and you show me your gratitude by staying alive?" the lance-man complained angrily. He pulled his weapon out of the now teared wooden floor.
I quickly grabbed the nearest obect to me, which was a poster my guardian brought home the night before. I used my Reinforcment magic to make it more durable.
"Now, I guess I'll have to make your death more painful!" the older male declared with a feral toothy grin. "Enough to make sure you'll want to stay dead!"
With speed I could barely keep up with my eyes, the lance-man leaped towards me. I would freely admit that my arms rose, not from experience, but instinctively, to block the lance's pierce with the reinforced rolled poster. Thankfully, it was enough to slide the lance off course, only managing to graze my cheek.
"So magecraft, huh?" The feral man asked rhetorically. "Now this might be more interesting than I thought!".
I saw no point to try and fight this guy. It was obvious to me who was stronger; so seeing how bad my situation was, I did what was left for me to do.
I ran.
The lancer-man was hot on my trail, so with escape being my priority, I threw myself towards the nearest exit, a glass sliding door that lead to the backyard.
CRACK!
In pursuit for something stronger than a poster, I headed towards the shed in my backyard. The same shed where I would tinker with machines. A room full of wrenches, large keys, and the like. The spot where I would secretly practice the few magic spells I knew.
Hearing steps getting increasingly louder, I turned to see the blue man thrust his weapon at me. I quickly raised my reinforced poster and unrolled it for cover. The stress produced by the force of the lance was too strong for my item. It was only natural for it to break.
The recoil produce sent me soaring into my workshop.
"I don't get it." spoke my attacker, "Your able to use magecraft yet your only able to use weak spells. Maybe if your situation had been different you could have been the seventh. Well...too bad for you, I guess."
I turned to him, my back facing the ground. I crawled backwards to create some space, but I knew deep down that it was pointless.
I was going to die here.
There was no way I could beat this guy. He was faster, stronger, and more experienced than I.
I was going to die here.
Even if I escaped, this guy was most likely going to keep hunting me down.
I was going to die here.
It was frustrating that my life was going to end before I even got to accomplish my dream.
And suddenly a memory flickered into my mind. A giant fire consuming homes, streets, people; burning everything and everyone indiscriminately. A Hell that I was all too familiar with. A Hell where I both 'died' and was 'born' again. Where a boy that was beyond saving met a man desperately looking for someone to save...
I didn't want to die here.
I couldn't die here.
"...I won't die here..." I found myself saying.
The blue-man paused his assault to look at me with curiosity. "What can you possibly do as you are now, kid?" the man ask with sardonic amusement. "Perhaps you could have been a Master, even with your pathetic magic circuits, you would have had at least a chance to survive!" he spoke with a chuckle.
"I won't die here! Not yet! Not when I haven't even come close to accomplishing my dream! And definitely not against someone who kills people as if it were a sport!" I felt my prana flowing through me, magical energy resonating with my desire to keep living and searching for some way to materialize it.
If my attacker was fascinated by my demonstration of resolve, he didn't show it, opting to take another step and thrust his spear at me. Yet mid-thrust, the lancer-man was not staring at me, rather, he was staring below me
I searched down and saw blue electricity flowing out of my hand. Which had been place over a spell circle that I had even forgotten was there.
"A Servant Circle!?" the blue-man asked in shock, consequently pausing his attack.
The familiar blue materialization occurred. A humanoid light form gave shape to a man. A man that seemed eerily familiar, yet I knew for a fact I had never seen this man before. He was tanned, with white hair, well-toned; garbed with a black, skin tight body armor covered by a red coat.
There was another burst of magic, this time from the summoned man, and twin swords appeared within his hands, clashing against the lance that was being held before him. The lance-man skidded away to make some distance. No doubt to assess the situation.
This brief respite allowed me to take in my new guest.
For some reason I felt a small headache by just looking at him.
I could only stare at his back in confusion. There was something about him. A certain fascination crossing with admiration.
TSSS
I grunt in pain, on my right hand there is suddenly a symbol I don't recognize being burned onto my hand. I can somewhat give it the form of a...bow?
"I must ask you." His voice was deep and detached. Icy, even. Yet it cut the intense atmosphere like a hot knife would against butter and manages to distract me from my new tattoo, "Are you my master?"
I was once more confused and somewhat afraid, but at the same time I was mesmerized as he turned to face me.
My amber eyes met his steel gray.
I would never forget this moment, I decided.
This moment where fate had us meet.
AN: Thank you for reading this prologue. Depending on the reception I may continue this story or not.
I hope you enjoy the take of Shirou summoning Archer. This won't be a yaoi story, rather a 'How Shirou and Archer will influence eachother and, therefore, the storyline'.
Updates will be irregular. I'm thinking maybe once a month but that'd depend on the audience. Would you guys prefer short chapters in shorter timespans or longer chapters in longer timespans?
As for romance: Unsure! I feel inclined for a 'harem' but it may go any of the heroines way! Mostly depends on how Shirou's growth plays out.
Please review! Questions may or may not be anwered, No promises! That's all for now!
-InfamouslyHandsome
