The blade moves through the air like light. It can not be seen, it is in one place and then another. The blade isn't fast, but you can't track it, it seems to flicker in and out of existence. You can tell it's moving but following those movement is not possible, it seems to just blend in the background of reality . His strikes bend and arc seeming to reach around the target, every strike from a different angle but always landing in a perfect line on the target. This is a technique that can not be understood even by the welder.
He rested, the blade slowly dissolving in motes of light. Leting my circuits keep me warm from the cold night, I watched my breath puff into existence, before deciding to get back to work. I picked up a branch from the cut up tree. "Trace On" I whispered the words quietly into the night, filling the branch with the mana to strength the concept of "Sword" the mana trickled through the pathways of my body.. I examined the branch, it wasn't quite the right size but it would have to do. I held the sword loosely at my side trying to copy what I remembered from the temple guardian. It was wrong, it wasn't even close to the original. I struck the tree, trying to feel what I'd done moments before, but without his blade to guide me, I was stuck using my own skill and compared to the heroes of legend I was a child.
"These hands will never hold anything" Those were the words he lived his life by, but I won't follow His path. Well, that's the plan at least, so far every hero's skill has disappeared with the weapon. No, it's more accurate to say I never had their skill. The weapons were just dragging me along for the ride.
The glowing gem floating in the middle of the field began to flicker
Almost out of time, Rin put her foot down on sword training in the house after I cut the couch in half so I was stuck hiking to the middle of nowhere to practice. The gem was an added protection, it set up a bounded field that alerted me to anyone approaching. She tried teaching me how to set it up on my own but that went as well as all my sword training, that is to say terribly. Maybe it was all those years of doing magic the wrong way but whenever I tried doing something other than projection it failed, exploded or both. That's not to say there wasn't any progress but ten percent chance to not burn down the forest were odds I wasn't willing to risk. Luckily, Rin managed to rig up a gem to set up the field for me, it wasn't a permanent solution only lasting as long as Rin was willing to supply me with gems, but it was better than nothing. I watched the gem disintegrated as the spell consumed the container I walked over and kicked some dirt on the shattered pieces to help cover it up then snapped my impromptu sword over my knee, I throw half into the nearby bushes and decided to use the other half as a walking stick. I would have to dump it before I left the woods but there was no harm keeping it for now. I stifled a yawn and checked the time.
"02:21"
Later then I thought, hope the bus is still running. I throw the other half of the branch into a tree and started jogging. Why can't I retain anything from tracing? It's all stored in the Bladeworks so why can't I bring it out? When I'm holding the blade, its simple. I don't even have to think about it but when the blade faded so did the skills. Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. I'm trying to copy a master's skills without knowing the basics. If I just trace the shape without the materials or history, the blade will fall apart. Their skills are the same way, just like I need to get the materials before I can fill in the shape. I need to learn the basics before I can copy the masters. I need to shape my body into a proper vessel for the skills to occupy. Well, saying that is one thing but I have no idea how that's supposed to work. It's not as simple as shaping mana into a frame.
"Argh, You bastard!"
My legs were in motion before my brain understood what was happening. I closed in on the source of the sound, my legs glowing with reinforcement. Four men in total, two on the ground, one knocked out, one trying to stand the two standing guys were kicking the struggling one. They didn't even hear me before I tackled the closer one mid kick. We went tumbling down knocking the other guy over as we hit the ground. I grabbed his collar and pulled his head up ignoring the look of shock on his face as I slammed it into the concrete.
"What the hell!" The one I didn't tackle was on his feet before I had a chance to get off his buddy, I ducked his kick and grabbed his pant leg pulling him off balance. I scrambled to my feet and tackled him as he was standing up. He was ready for it and threw a knee into my stomach as I mounted him. I ignored the pain and slammed my fist into his face, feeling the crunch of his nose reverberate up my arm. I brought my fist down like a hammer over and over again pounding the fight out of him. He tried warding me off, he stuck a hand in my face to block my sight and clawed at my eyes. it wouldn't work, I was long past the point where I needed eyes to keep hitting him. I used my free arm to pry his hand out of the way and dropped my fist into his bloody face. His head hit the concrete and I heard a crack. He stopped struggling. I checked his pulse and signed in relief. He wouldn't be picking any fights for a while but he'd live.
"Hey" A voice from behind. I stood, turning to face the owner. His face was covered in bruises, clutching his ribs, and spitting blood. He'd feel it in the morning "I don't know why you helped me but thanks." He spit out more blood, I hope this guy has health insurance
"It was no problem. Why are these guys after you anyway?" I turned back to the thug searching him for a phone
he scowled "Didn't leave town fast enough, Ragnarok blacklisted me after I lost a fight." the parts of his face not covered in bruise did it's best to scowl, "Fucker used a dirty move and now I have to pack up and leave. fuckin bullshit" he muttered and he pulled a phone from his pocket "And I missed the train, fantastic"
"I can protect. You don't have to move. I know a place you can stay while I sort it all out" I hope Rin doesn't mind, I might be able convince her to let him stay for a few days. Shouldn't take much longer than that, bullies were easy enough to deal with after all. Just show you can hurt them more then they can hurt you and they'll leave you alone. It wasn't perfect but nothing was
He gave me an incredulous look "Against, Ragnarock? Ha, funny joke. They've got this whole town on lockdown, even if you followed me everywhere I went they'd just keep throwing scumbags at you till you went down." He sighed, "I appreciate what you did for me but I'd be careful if I were you, these guys don't mess around and after that stunt, they're going to be looking for blood"
I pulled a phone from the bleeding thug's pocket.
"Anyway umm-"
"Emiya Shirou"
"Anyway Emiya, I've got to get going. Good luck, you're going to need it" he winced and started limping away.
In town for a week and already pissed off the biggest gang around. Well, that's fine, they pissed me off too. I wasn't going to let them terrorize people and chase people out of town. This is only the beginning. Still, I needed to get these guys off the street. I used the thug's phone to dial an ambulance
"I found three unconscious kids, they look really beat up. I think they hit their heads pretty hard. I'm in the middle of spruce street. You can't miss them." I tossed the phone on the thug's body without hanging up.
I looked around. I was standing on a narrow road with a small stream running parallel. The other side had lots of foliage. Not a bad place to wait around till the ambulance arrived. I waded through the water and sat in the bushes then glanced at my phone
"3:46 AM" It was going to be a long night. The ambulance arrived twenty minutes, took ten minutes to pack them up. It took me another thirty minutes to trudged to my apartment and climb out of my wet clothes. I collapsed on my bed, and let blissful sleep take me.
"Shirou wake up you're going to be late!"
Sorry, I don't understand you try again later. Maybe if I ignore her hard enough she won't exist. That's how magic works right? Believe it hard enough and it happens? Well I refuse to believe in the existence Tohsaka Rin.
"Are you ignoring me Emiya!" She tore away the blanket
"I'm trying but you're not making it very easy" Wasn't that cold anyway, who needs blankets.
"I see how it is. Are you feeling sick Emiya?" I could imagine her smile, it wasn't a happy one.
"Yes, I'm deathly ill and only going directly back to sleep will save me" The last half was true-ish.
"Oh, I'm soooo sorry, here I'll go get you some water to help bring down the fever." she was probably being sarcastic but I couldn't bring myself to care. I stood on the edge of blissful sleep and wakefulness, it wasn't a bad feeling especially given my long night.
Slosh slosh~
Wasn't that sound? Nah, too tired it'll be fine.
"Alright, Shirou this should help you feel much better" I gasped and shivered as the ice water smothered my chance at getting anymore sleep, I used my newfound energy to explode out of the now soaking wet bed.
"What the hell!" I demanded
"Don't get snippy with me! I'm not one making both of us late because he won't get out of bed!" She shot back
"That doesn't mean you couldn't be more gentle"
"I tried nudging you! You just waved me off! Stop arguing you're just going to make us later!" She stomped her foot
I sighed, "Yea, sorry." couldn't she be wrong for once? Was it a girl thing? Or was constant rightnes a Toshkaka original skill.
"Jeez, don't apologize just hurry up" She huffed and crossed her arms.
"You can start without me, I'll catch up" She nodded and walked out of my room.
I glacned at my soaked bed and shrugged, I'd probably be sleeping on the couch until I could air dry it.
I yawned and put my head down. I usually brought my lunch but thanks to my late night I didn't even have time to make a sandwich. The cafeteria's food wasn't terrible, it wasn't even bad but it didn't taste nearly as good as sleep felt right now.
"Late night?" A hand rested on my shoulder
I looked up groggily checking who was talking to me, Shibasaki smiled at me and pulled a chair up to my desk.
"You have no idea" I sat up and greeted him. Shibasaki was a nice guy, made friends with just about everyone, even offered to show me around on my first day. He ripped open a bag of chips and started snacking.
"May I sit with you?" I turned and nodded at the newcomer, The class president, and Shibasaki's best friend. If you found one the other was bound to be close by, which made it all the weirder how they were almost polar opposites. Tomori adjusted his glasses and popped the lid off his lunch box.
"Hey, Takuma did you meet the new girl yet?" Tomari looked up, from his sandwich.
"I have not had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Tohsaka, no." He pulled a napkin out and wiped his face.
"Man, you're missing out She's not exactly stacked but she's got a figure to die for, how about you Eimiya? You seen her yet?"
"Don't talk about her like that" I scowled slightly but quickly schooled my face "But No, I've never met Rin " I laid the school was strict on dating and I doubt they'd be much fonder of us living together without supervision either, on top of that Rin refused to drop her honor student persona so I was stuck pretending not to know her.
Shibasaki lazy smile turned into a shit eating grin "You'd never lie to your buddy would you Emiya?"
I flinched, " what do you mean? I haven't lied about anything"
"You must be magic then" this is bad. Did he see me practicing last night? How did he get around Rin's field? Is he a magus as well?
"Because I don't remember ever mention her first name and using her first name without even meeting the girl? That's pretty bold. Oh and don't think I didn't notice your face when I was talking about her body" He leaned over "Come, on don't worry about the stick in the mud over there. You can dish, it's fine we're all friends here after all"
"You shouldn't harass him, Takuya. Emiya is entitled to his secrets, as much as you and I are." Thank you Tomari, I'll never think bad about people with glasses again. "Though I must admit, I am curious about your relationship with Tohsaka." Stupid glasses face
"I bet you two are a bit closer then friends~, aren't you Emiya" I flushed and pulled on my collar it suddenly got much hotter in here.
"Aha! I know it" He smirked
"It's not like that, I just really like the name Rin is all" Crap this is bad, she's going to kill me if people find out we're dating "Honestly guys, there's no juicy gossip you're just imagining things," The door to the classroom slammed open
A big guy walked in. He wasn't wearing the uniform but he definitely wasn't a teacher. The room quieted down instantly. "Ragnarok is looking for Kenichi Shirahama. If you know where he is speak up now." No one said anything, even the ever talkative Shibasaki suddenly found his lap a lot more interesting.
"No one's got anything to say?" He stalked around the room, "How bout you? You seen him?" He grabbed one of my classmates by the lapel hoisting him up
"No! I've never even heard of the guy!"
"Don't lie to me!" He shook him.
I moved to stand but Shibasaki grabbed my arm
"Just let it go, there's nothing we can do" I pulled free. He was wrong, at the very least I can save the people right in front of me
"Put him down and this doesn't have to end in violence." He was an asshole but that didn't mean I wanted to hurt him.
"The fuck you say," He dropped the new guy and turned to face me. His nostrils flared and he bared his teeth.
"I said if you walk out now, no one has to get hurt."
"Kid do you know who you're messing with?" He walked over to me
"Do you know how little I care" That was his last straw. he threw the first punch, it was slow and wide, aimed squarely at my jaw. Maybe, it was Archer's memories or just my own experience with the grail war but it looked more pathetic than scary. I stepped into his range the fist missed its' target by a mile as my forehead slammed into the bridge of his nose. He went down bleeding. I waited for a second watching if he would get up. I wasn't expecting a lot from him but this guy was way too weak. It was better this way I guess, at least no one had to get seriously injured. I glanced at the clock on the wall. I could carry this guy to the nurse's office and be back before the bell rang I grabbed his arms and pulled him onto my back.
"Thank you Emiya" I turned to face the voice. it was Hisamatsu another of my classmates. Didn't really talk with him much but he seemed like a nice guy.
"It wasn't a problem" I hope they don't go after him for this but he had a forgettable enough face I wasn't too worried.
"I mean, you didn't have to do that, and now they're going to go after you and -"
I interrupted this rambling "It's fine. I'm not just going to sit back and let some thugs attack people. Doesn't matter who their friends are." The guy on my back groaned "I've gotta get this guy to the nurse's office can someone cover for me if the teacher comes back
"Yea, I got you" I thanked Shibasaki and hurried into the halls.
How was I going to deal with Ragnarok? Archer's memories told me that if you took out the leaders of an organization like this, they would usually collapse into infighting.I should publicly kill the leaders and burn their headquarters so that they wouldn't be able to rally around a central person or place. Well, the first part was okay, but I'd need to workshop the second part. I need to find the leaders and take them out. Archer's memories provided me with some insight on how to kill them but I quickly pushed it out of my head. I wasn't going to be like him. I would stop Ragnarok and I'd make sure they would be breathing at the end of it.
It wasn't always easy telling his memories from mine. Sometimes, I'd know how to do something I never learned, or think of plans I wouldn't have considered before. It was as much a hindrance as it was helpful. Sure, it was great knowing how to take apart and clean a Heckler & Koch HK416 without ever touching a gun, but in fights, it turned into a liability. When Archer fought he didn't leave anything to chance. No move was too dirty, no trick too underhand. He was brutally efficient about tearing his opponent apart, he didn't care about style or honor. He never fought to win, he fought to kill as fast as possible. He didn't see them as humans, he saw them as a target to be eliminated for the greater good. If I wasn't careful I would do the same thing.
"Emiya? I know it was an incredible shot but are you just going to stare at it all day?" Shiba's voice snapped me out of my thoughts
"Oh, sorry. I'm just out of it today. Late night." I shrugged and walked down the range to retrieve the arrows I didn't remember firing. Shiba walked with me admiring the shot.
"Doesn't even have to pay attention to hit a bullseye" She shook her head. I'd never missed a shot even before I got a couple decades worth of extra practice, now it was second nature.
"So Emiya what were you doing up late anyway?" She quested
"Uhm, you know this and that."
"This and that" She gave me a sly grin, "you know I heard that some Ragnarok guys got pretty badly beat up last night. No one knows who did it. Happened in the dead of night and the only thing they can remember is red hair"
I carefully counted out five more arrows. "Oh yea, wonder who did it"
"It's funny, I heard you knocked out a Ragnarok member who was harassing your classmate"
"You know you shouldn't believe everything you hear" I shouldn't underestimate the power of a teenage girl constantly on her cell phone. Well, I guess telling her the truth shouldn't be a huge issue. The rumor will spread faster thanks to her and that'll force Ragnarok to come after me sooner so they don't lose face. Thank you, Archer, you may have been a prick after death but your life is serving me well.
"Well, in this case, you should believe what they say. I'm not really the kind of person who can stand by and watch when he sees bullies and from what I've seen Ragnarok is nothing but a group of them." I walked over to range
She giggled "wow Emiya it's like you're a real life superhero."
A couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. "Yea, something like that"
I was walking home three days later when I got a message from Ragnarok. "We've taken Tohsaka Rin hostage. Come to the Matsue Lark if you care about her life. Love, the fourth fist of Ragnarok; Loki" My mind went blank. I stared at my phone. How did they get my number? No that wasn't important, Rin was in danger. Just like with Archer, they took her to draw me in. This was a trap, I didn't even need Archer's memories to know it was a trap. I dropped my bag and started running. I reinforced my legs mid-step, I sprinted past people, bikes, and cars. I covered a mile of distance in less than two minutes. Even if it was a trap as long as I beat them down fast enough they wouldn't be able to hurt her. I stopped in front the door to catch my breath, before pushing the door open.
"Welcome to the Lark?" A girl in a pink waitress uniform greeted me
"Ugh hi, I'm here to meet a guy. I think" I scanned the restaurant looking for him, only to realize I had no idea what this guy looked like or if he was even a guy at all.
"Over here" a man in a trench coat called me over. I guess he was a guy, he was a guy who took Rin. I walked over and sat down in the booth across from him. He didn't bother looking up from the rubric cube he was fiddling with.
"I'm sure you know this already but I'm Loki, the fourth fist." He twisted the cube
"Where's Rin," I demanded.
"Straight to business then. She's safe for now, and you should be more worried about yourself." He put the cube down, "I'm going to explain to you what happens next. You're going to go down to the docks, my men are going to pack you into a create and load you onto a ship. You'll be sent somewhere, and you'll never be heard from again. You have until midnight before bad things start to happen to your little girlfriend." He picked his toy back up.
"What about Rin?" as long as they had her my hands were tied.
"Hmm, oh right. We'll hold onto her for a little while." He chuckled to himself. "If she doesn't fight back she won't' be harmed. Can't promise anything otherwise n-" My reinforced arm tore through the table like it didn't exist. He tried to ward my arm off but it was useless. I threw him across the dinner and watched him crash through a chair. It was unfortunate but no way Rin wouldn't fight back.
I pushed the remnants of the table off me and stepped out of the booth. I wasn't the only one either, every single person in the restaurant stood up with me and every single one of them pulled out a weapon. A various assortment of stick, rods and pipes. The waitress even pulled out nunchucks. I counted twenty. This wasn't great, the longer I took the greater chance of Rin getting hurt. No way to end this quickly either, unless... If I killed one of them fast enough the others would falter. No, I didn't need to go that far, not yet. Two of them rushed me from the side, I turned swinging my fist with me plowing through the nearest one's hasty guard, and slamming him into the man beside him. That was the signal, the rest of them started moving as well. One of them came at me with a club. I ducked out of the way and directly into the path of a metal pipe. It knocked me off balance but the magic filling my body made my skull harder than the cheap iron. I lunged for him knocking the dented pipe out of his hands, we both fell to the floor. I slammed my fist into his face hard enough to leave an indent of my fist. I felt arms wrap around my neck in an attempt to strangle me I throw him off with a snarl, he went flying through the wooden divider. Something solid broke against my arm. I turned and stared down the the thug with the broken cane.
"What the hell!"
"This guy's not human!"
The gang started backing away at my display of durability. This was my best chance of ending this quickly. "If you take your friends and get out of here now, I won't follow you. My business is with him" I pointed to Loki who was only now pulling himself from the wreckage of the table. I grabbed the dented pipe lying next to me and tore it in half. They didn't even bother grabbing their friends when they ran from the dinner. I hope one of these guy's phones survived. I walked over to Loki, who was looking more panicked by the second.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Don't you care about that girl?"
"I do, that's why if she gets hurt I'm coming back for you."
"Now, where is she." I picked him by the collar easily lifting him into the air. He struggled in my grip for a second before settling down. "I'm only going to ask nicely once." He paused his panicked expression morphing into a smug grin
"I left her with Thor. If you want her back you'll have to talk to him. He's in an old abandoned building running a fight club." He told me the address and I dropped him. He groaned in pain clutching his leg. Rin wasn't far. If I hurried I could make it to her before nightfall. I turned away and looked at the group of wounded thugs. Just as I was about to take off pain arched through my body. I could feel every muscle tense so hard they started to tear and I dropped like a sack of bricks. Loki chuckled
"Not so tough now, no one is after feeling my amped up taser from hell." He kicked my prone form. Every fiber of my being hurt, but that wasn't anything new. I could still move I ignored my protesting muscles and slowly stood up
"No way! That was fifteen thousand volts! You shouldn't be conscious much less standing" He kicked me in the ribs but I ignored that too. He lunged with the taser again but I was ready for it. I grabbed his hand and used my reinforced strength to break his wrist bones. The disgusting crack made me want to throw up but I didn't have time to deal with another one of his tricks. I pushed him back into the broken table. Doing my best to ignore his screams of pain. I didn't enjoy hurting people but if I didn't do at least this much they would just keep hurting people. I grabbed a phone from one of the downed thugs and called for an ambulance before bolting through the door. The cops would probably show up at my house later but once I saved Rin she could take care of it. Probably.
It was dark when I finally reached the building they were holding her. I hid in an alleyway and examined the broken building. One way in one way out, constant traffic, sometimes in groups sometimes by themselves except for one guy standing directly in front of the entrance, everyone who went in paused for a few seconds. He's a guard, but there's too many people for him to recognize everyone so probably have to be a password. Now I just needed to find a way to get the password. I could grab someone and beat it out of them. No, too loud and if they give me the wrong password I'll be walking into another ambush. No other way, I'd have to risk it.
I walked out of the ally and directly to the entrance. Trying to look as confident as possible
"Emiya right?"
I flinched "Ummm no?" sounding much less confident than I wanted to.
"No point trying to hide it. Not many other redheads in a white blood splattered shirt." I looked down and just like he said, there were smatterings of dark red on my cuffs
"My hair is dyed and I was just clumsy and cut myself when I was working in the gardening club."
He gave me a look. "you dye your eyebrows, you're in the most pansy club possible and visit fight clubs in your spare?" I was beginning to think he wasn't buying my story. "whatever just go in"
Perfect infiltration.
I walked past the guy and headed deeper into the heart of Ragnarok. A short hallway connected to a curtain separated the cool night air and the rancid smell of blood and sweat. A group of people surrounded a small pit, some of them cheering others, screaming obscenities all of them too engrossed to notice a new guy enter. I joined the crowd, trying my best to blend in. I needed to find where they were keeping her and get out. There were too many people here to fight at once. I was already low on mana, drawing this out would kill me faster than any of these guys.
"Emiya Shirou! Come out!" A deep voice cut through the noise of the crowd. The voice's owner wasn't exactly blending in. He was huge, wearing a sleeveless robe and the same gloves that Loki had. He pushed his way through the crowd stopping directly in front of me
"Heh, smaller than I thought but you'll do nicely. I heard how you roughed up Loki and his boys. Pretty bold move picking a fight with two fists in one night."
"I don't want to fight you. I just want Rin back."
"Not what I heard. I heard you were talking shit about Ragnarok after you put a couple of our boys in the hospital." He smirked "here's how this is going down; We fight in the pit if you win I'll make Loki spill the beans on your girl. When I win I'll still help you get the girl back, however" he paused " you devote your life to the glory of sumo wrestling!" his men cheered either in support of his boss or the chance to add another man to their sumo wrestling team I wasn't sure which.
I wasn't happy with it but it was either fight him in the pit or with all his men up here. I agreed with a nod of my head. We walked over to the pit and he jumped in.
"Well, what are you waiting for! Come on"
I climbed in on the opposite side. My heart was racing. I licked my lips and took a deep breath, I had to beat this guy. There was no other way to save Rin. The walls seemed taller from the bottom, they seemed to press the large man closer without him taking a single step.
I closed my eyes. "I am the bone of sword" I whispered to myself, so quietly I could barely hear it myself. These were the words that carried EMIYA through his life and they would carry me through this fight.
I opened my eyes
"those are some good eyes. You'll make a fine Sumo wrestler." he dropped into the stance his legs splayed outwards his hands on his knees. "this is a battle to submission. You can use any style of fighting you wish, no holds barred. Ready, begin!"
he charged me. I met his charge with my own magically powered charge. He moved to push me back but my feet dug into the cracked concrete and we stalled in the middle. He growled, muscles bulging with effort. Reinforced I could barely match his strength. I moved to break his grip but he pulled me forward and I landed hard against the ground, my visions blurred, I felt the rush of air and rolled out of the way just in time to his foot slamming into ground where my head used to be. I I rushed to my feet, but before i could get my hands up his fist slammed into my chest throwing me into the wall. My ears were ringing and I tasted blood, it'd felt worse. I pushed off the wall and rushed him, he hit hard but not nearly hard enough to keep me down. I dodged his am and got in close, I slammed my fist into his ribs but it seemed to sink into his fat stomach. He grunted in pain as I jumped out of the way of a heavy swip. This was a war of attrition my magic reserves versus his stamina. This was a losing battle and I know it, he hadn't spent the night sprinting around and fighting people, I didn't have the skill to even try fighting him without a boost. I only had one option, I'd have to stop fighting myself and let the instincts Archer's memories burned into me take over. I I closed my eyes and focusced on the one the one memory we had in common; the smile and the dream. "Trace on"
He opened his eyes and scanned his opponent. Thor favors the left, his heavy weight puts pressure on the joints. His right arm shoots out and grabs Thor's pulling him off balance, The big man stumbled forward to catch himself, His leg snapped out a reinforced kick knocking the knee out of its socket. Thor went down with a scream of pain. Not done yet can see it in his eyes. Thor's on his knees, he tries to grab me, keep me close so his immobility can't be used against him. A meaty hand grabs his shoulder, his own hand shoots up and grabs Thor's finger bending it against the joints painfully pulling it out of 's hand snaps back. Still has one hand left. Thor clutches at the broken finger trying to pop it back into place. His right-hand smashes into Thor's good hand, the sharp crack confirms the brake. Time to finish it. His right leg lashes out like a whip doubling Thor over as he tries to catch his breath. Thor loses his balance, catching himself with his four remaining fingers. He stomps on the hand Thor used to support himself, listening closely for the snaps and pops of the small bones. Then kicked the arm out from under him. Before Thor could fall He wrapped his arm around the targets head, his hand gripping Thor's chin. It would only take a single pull to break the man's neck.
"trace off" I took back control and looked down at the wreck of a man. I grit my teeth, this was necessary.
"Do you submit?" I asked quietly
"yes" he grunted out. I took my hand off his chin and gently pushed him to rest on his good leg. He took a few moments to catch his breath.
"You're a rough bastard you know that. A deal's a deal, Loki's in the back room. He'll tell you everything you need to know."
"Thank you." I turned away and climbed out of the pit. The gamblers surrounding the pit backed away, cowed by my blatant brutality. "where's the back room?" I asked the closest one. He silently pointed to a dark green curtain. I pushed my way through the gaggle of people, The same man I beat in the dinner sat on a stained couch. He was fiddling with a couple of wire puzzles looking none the worse for wear. If this guy took Rin it wouldn't be out of the question that he was a magus but why the hell would a mage be involved with a street gang?
He sat up putting his puzzle to the side "Hello, Emiya. You did quite a number on my buddy Thor but the past is the past. Let's focus on now. I have a proposition for yo-"
"I don't care" I interpreted him. "Tell me where Rin is or I'm going to hurt you."
He Hummed thoughtfully "to be honest I'm not really sure, I had one of my many minions stash her in a safe house. She'll be delivered to you safe and sound by tomorrow night." he leaned back on the couch
"Just like that? No hoops to jump through, just here you go, have a nice night?" I said not fully believing him
"you just tore one of the fists of Ragnarok apart and besides I think we can be helpful to one another. So let's play nice." he chuckled
"If I hear about you trying something like this on somebody else I will come back for you and I won't stop at a few broken bones" I walked out, there was nothing more I could do tonight. If Rin wasn't returned I'd starting cutting my way through their little gang person by person.
"ACK ACK" I coughed. Covering my mouth with my sleeve. I tried taking another step but my knee buckled under me and I had to catch myself on a wall. I'd used magic beyond my limits and now I was paying the price. Reinforcement wasn't a simple magic and with my low capacity, using it all night had ruptured my blood vessels and shredded my muscles. I'd live, but I'd probably have to miss school. I stumbled towards home. It wasn't far now, I fell up the steps landing face first on walkway before using the door to pull myself up, which meant I fell forward again when the door opened by itself
"Shirou! I can't believe you missed practice again….umm Shirou? What are you doing on the floor?"
I sprung up, the pain, forgotten in my joy. I embraced the young magus, her perfume filled my nose and I breathed a sigh of relief just holding her in my arms.
"ugh Shirou you reek and why are you covered in blood?"
"I'm sorry I got you caught in this" I apologized, I needed to be more careful. I can't let this happen again.
"caught up in what? Shirou start making sense right now!" She demanded
"They kidnaped you!" Did they give her some kind of memory erasing drug?
"The library?" a doubtful look crept onto her face
"What? No, Ragnarok. They called me and said if I ever wanted to see you again I'd do what they said"
"You idiot! Why didn't you just call me? How would some street gang even kidnap me anyway?" She made the you're in idiot face again. She made that one a lot "Next time, think before you run off to play hero. I know it's not your strong suit but if you keep running around like a headless chicken you're just going to get hurt."
It bugged me to admit it but, she was right. I could have avoided hurting a lot of people tonight. My legs fell out from under me and my visions started to swim, darkness creeping in around the edges. The last thing I saw that night was the worry on Rin's face
Author's note
Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I urge everyone to leave a review, even if it's something simple such as a suggestion for what diction you would enjoy seeing this story progress, a review featuring my many technical errors, pointing out that I fucked up people's names several times(I hope this is no longer the case but I missed it the first time so it's worth mentioning) or really anything you believe is worth mentioning. I do this to improve myself so feel free to be as harsh as you like.
