A Godfather's Fate
Summary: Fate Stay Night, without the magic, but most definitely with the War. Mafia-style.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
XXX
I'm getting out. The thought echoed inside of his head as he wandered through the result of his family-in-law's ambitions.
Kiritsugu loved his wife and his daughter, but this was not something he could allow himself to be part of. This was beyond redemption.
The smell of burning flesh would've made another man sick to his stomach, but he'd been hardened over the years in the Einzbern family's service. Even so, the stench was almost overpowering.
Everything around him was burning, everyone around him was burning. There was no life in this place. Only death, seemingly endless in its supply.
He'd been part of what'd caused this.
Unlike the Einzberns, he'd never wanted much in his life. A wife, a family, a home; the ability to keep his bar running smoothly.
It'd been a nice bar, and he had many fond memories of it. Smooth, oily wood, glittering glass lining the shelves. It'd been a meeting place for many people.
In hindsight, it'd been the place that led him to where he was now.
The bar had given him connections, the bar had allowed him to meet the Einzberns, the bar had made him useful as a friend to the family. So useful in fact, that they gave their only heir's hand in marriage to him.
She'd given birth to a beautiful daughter, and how he'd loved them both. But he couldn't allow himself to be used by the Einzberns any longer. He was getting out.
Stumbling through what he presumed had once been a house, but was now only low, faintly crackling walls, he came upon a sight he'd never believed himself to see.
A boy.
A boy was lying there, one of his arms stretched up against the sky as if to grasp it.
He was alive. There was life here. And where there was life, perhaps there was still hope.
XXX
The clouds look strange when seen from above. Ilya smiled at the thought, this was the first time she'd ever flown.
Berserker was sitting next to her, the silent, giant of a man was a comforting presence. She was finally going to get answers, she was going to learn the truth behind her father's betrayal all those years ago.
She was the only Einzbern heir left, and many of her bodyguards had protested when she'd suggested this course of action, but Berserker had simply nodded and grunted his acceptance of her orders.
It wasn't as if he was being rude, a long time ago when she'd still been a child she'd tried to make the silent, giant of a man to speak to her. She'd spent years trying to find some way to get him to say anything that could be associated with actual words. She'd failed. He would nod, shake his head, grunt, and scream. Otherwise he might as well have been a rock with legs – which would certainly explain some aspects of his physique.
And now she was going to the country where his father had refused to return from, the country where, according to the rumors she'd been able to trace down, he'd adopted a son.
XXX
Kirei felt a smile creeping its way to his lips.
He couldn't ask for a more perfect setting.
The only heir of that ancient family had not only abandoned most of her guards in order to keep a low profile, she'd basically arrived at his doorstep.
Maybe this was God's wish?
He didn't particularly care for any of the power that he might gain from killing the girl, but the thought of what it'd do to the families around them was simply delightful.
The Matous would leap at the opportunity for power, to be able to restore themselves to their former glory, and the Tohsakas on who's land she'd die would be the ones blamed by all of the Einzberns allies.
It was perfect.
The families would go for each others' throats like rabid dogs. And he would get a front row seat, just close enough to the scene that he might get splattered by a few stray drops of blood.
"I'm looking forward to it as well Kirei, but you probably shouldn't smile like that in front of that Tohsaka girl, she's clever enough to realize what's going on." the blond-haired man took a sip of his wine, calmly observing the altar.
Gilgamesh knack for reading others without even seeming to glance at them had unnerved a lot of enemies over the years, and adding that to his cold-hearted effectiveness made it easy to see why he was labeled as one of the best at what he did.
Of course, there were those who disagreed with that statement, but any who did so in his presence usually weren't heard from again.
Kirei had found Gilgamesh's diligence in hiding the bodies to be quite enjoyable.
XXX
"Senpai. Wake up senpai."
Shirou struggled to open his heavy eyelids at the sound of the familiar voice.
Was it already that late?
"Ah, good morning Sakura." Sakura smiled in response and rose to her feet.
"Good morning senpai."
She's really grown into a lovely young woman. Flinching somewhat at the thought, Shirou got up from the floor – apparently he'd fallen asleep in the shed again.
"Sorry for having you wake me." her smile simply grew warmer.
"I don't mind, in fact, I enjoy the times when I can start the day by waking senpai."
Fighting off the blush that attempted to rise to his cheeks, Shirou tried to find something else to look at.
Unfortunately for him, the shed looked much like it always did, filled with junk, broken junk, almost but not quite fixed junk, junk that was probably beyond repair but that he didn't feel like throwing out, and some tools. Pausing momentarily to wonder at how many of the things inside had been broken by Fuji-nee – the sheer amount of collateral damage that she'd stacked up over the years was quite impressive – he finally realized that he was still wearing his work-overalls.
As a frown slowly developed on his face, Sakura was quick to take advantage of her head-start.
"Breakfast should be ready soon." and – still smiling – she disappeared out the door.
Deciding that he really did need to change before entering the house, Shirou sighed and surrendered the cooking to his kouhai. He'd probably arrive at the kitchen when it was time to set the table.
XXX
"That damn brat of the Einzberns! If she wants to travel, then she can travel with her damn guards! Stop making trouble for the landowners you spoiled rich-kid!" Archer sighed in response to her repetitive yelling at the wall.
The realization that Ilyasviel von Einzbern, the single heir to that ancient family, was coming to her land with virtually no protection at all, had been enough to severely worsen Rin's mood – which hadn't been very good to begin with because she'd been trying to sleep when Archer had rushed into her room with the news.
Ever since then, she'd cursed, rounded up people to make sure that the Einzbern heir was protected, cursed some more, kicked a chair, sipped on some tea, growled at Archer for his snide comments, and then cursed a little bit more just to be sure that she got the message across.
"Rin, I trust that you are aware that this is a school day?" Archer seemed quite content in his armchair and Rin suppressed the urge to try and tip it over – something that wouldn't be all too hard to do if you knew where to push.
"Of course I know that it's-... it's a school day?" suddenly ceasing her endless pacing, she met the man's eyes. He nodded, a small smile touching his lips before quickly being replaced with his usual, calm mask.
"Whilst the matter with the Einzberns is of a much higher priority, you should still try to at least remember your other obligations Rin." she knew that she deserved that scolding, but it still made her flinch slightly – she really hated how he could always remain so calm even in the most pressed situations.
"So, you want me to go to school?" she eyed the man suspiciously – she trusted him, but she never knew what went through his head.
"I believe that you might as well, there's not much you can do from now on, other than wait."
Continuing to watch him for a moment, she finally nodded in acceptance.
"Fine, so be it." she strode past Archer, and tipped his armchair in the passing. His surprised outcry, and the pleasant, loud thump as he hit the floor signaled that she'd succeeded in getting back on him for waking her this early. She didn't even try to hide her smug grin. "Get the car, would you Archer?"
XXX
It'd been a very average day for Shirou. Fuji-nee had done her usual, dumb routine at breakfast, Sakura and him had walked together to school, he'd helped Issei with fixing some things, Fuji-nee had done her usual, odd things during homeroom, and as he'd left school, he'd decided to pass by the shopping district to pick up some ingredients for dinner.
Basically, it had been a day so much like any other, that there'd been absolutely no way that he could've in any way anticipate this.
"Onii-chan!" the small girl pounced at him.
It should be noted that he'd never seen the girl before in his life, and that she was either mistaking him for someone else, or simply hugging random strangers on the street for reasons that were beyond him. He was hoping that it was the former, because then he might be able to help her find whoever it was that she was looking for.
Grabbing onto the small girl and spinning a little so as not to fall over, Shirou wondered at the pale-haired girl's lightness.
"Umm, might I ask who you are?" she looked up at him, slightly startled, before smiling widely.
"My name is Ilyasviel von Einzbern, but you might call me Ilya, onii-chan."
This answer did nothing to explain anything, and so he opened his mouth to try to explain to her that he really did not have the faintest clue as to who she was and why she had pounced on him. But he was interrupted.
Several men in suits were moving towards them through the crowd.
Shirou had never seen much problems with having people in suits approaching him, but many of these people seemed to have a hand hidden from sight. And, considering the amount of men that were moving towards them, he couldn't bring himself to believe that this was all a big coincidence.
A small girl shows up, introduces herself with a foreign name, and people who look very much like they belong on the darker side of society start advancing on their position.
He didn't know what exactly was going on, but he was certain that it couldn't be good.
Apparently, the small girl had noticed what had distracted him.
"Oh, umm... onii-chan, let's talk somewhere else, quickly." she started pulling him towards an alley – which probably wasn't a very good idea if you thought it through, since they'd probably be forced to act much more civil in the presence of the crowd.
Of course, that was only if they decided that she wasn't important enough to make a big fuss of, and if that wasn't the case, there would probably be a lot of victims.
Cursing under his breath, Shirou lifted the small girl into his arms, and ran for the alley.
XXX
"So, what's the situation, Archer?" the man in the driver's seat met her eyes briefly in the rear-view mirror as she settled in the car's backseat.
"It seems like our enemy already made their move against the Einzbern." Archer's voice sounded annoyed, but Rin knew through experience that he was blaming himself for being – what he believed to be – inadequate.
Rin frowned in response, she could admire his diligence and self-discipline in most cases, but she detested when he took the blame for something that was out of his hands.
"It can't be helped, we'll just have to stop them." she turned towards the window. "Let's go."
She could've sworn that she saw a small smile flash across his face out of the corner of her eye, before he turned back to watch the road. "As my master commands."
XXX
Lancer was very good at his job.
The problem, he'd realized, with being very good at his work, was that a lot of people in high places took notice of him. Of course, this meant that he could ask for almost ludicrously high prices, but it also made it somewhat difficult to decline work. High placed people had a strange tendency to hold grudges, he suspected that it was actually a requirement of being placed high up in the pecking order.
Lancer was terrible at holding grudges.
He'd been stabbed, shot, punched, back-stabbed, evicted, dumped, and been treated like dirt on several occasions in his life, yet he couldn't bring himself to think much of it.
It was simply a part of his work.
Though he still didn't really think he'd deserved that eviction – he'd only been a few month's late with his rent – things like that was common place with being muscle-for-hire. The fact that he was really good muscle-for-hire didn't really matter.
Right now he was actually thinking that it would've been nice if he could've just been decent muscle. The thought of shooting a small girl on the street didn't appeal to him, but he couldn't really argue with his employer this time, even though he suspected that all hell would break loose the moment he succeeded – he had a theory going that the false priest was completely insane.
He'd disliked the idea to start with, but he knew how to do his job, and when a redheaded boy grabbed the girl and took off down an alley, he knew that it was going to get annoyingly complicated soon.
He'd never seen the boy before, so the chance of him belonging to any of the families were low – Lancer was very good at his job – but considering the speed he took off at, and the path he picked without seemingly thinking about it, Lancer suspected that he was either trained in running away from mobsters, or just a natural.
In Lancer's experience, nobody was a natural.
Cursing under his breath, he waved to his men, and they took off after the little girl and the redhead.
XXX
Shirou had never dealt with gunfire before and, whilst a part of him was somewhat annoyed at this lack of experience, most of him was feeling quite happy with being allowed to be blissfully ignorant of it up until this point – the latter part was in fact a bit miffed at being forced to experience it at all.
He suddenly felt an odd sense of sympathy towards the characters in action movies – Fuji-nee very much enjoyed those kinds of movies – as bullets sliced through the air at a distance that he didn't find to be even remotely comforting.
The chase had brought them away from the crowd, which was good considering the potential for bystanders to get hit by stray bullets – though a consistently critical part of him still wondered if they would've dared to draw guns in public – and into a neighborhood filled with abandoned warehouses and the like.
It was a place that might as well have been designed for random shootouts. There were places to take cover by, a general lack of populace to get caught up in it, and lots of places to run to – as long as you knew how to pick a lock.
Thankfully, despite not having experience at dealing with gunfire, Shirou was used to danger, good at picking locks, and surprisingly athletic for someone who didn't participate in any of the school's clubs. Also, it didn't hurt that the small girl who seemed to be the cause of all of this, seemed quite competent for someone her age – though her small stature did make it somewhat difficult for her to keep up.
He didn't know why Ilya was being chased by these men, or why they were so quick to open fire – if she belonged to a rich family and they wanted money, kidnapping would probably be a much better idea. Unfortunately, he didn't really have the time to question her for potential reasons.
So, when the armed men were suddenly faced with gunfire of their own, he was left in something akin to frozen shock. Momentarily stunned out of motion.
Not from the bizarre change of the situation, nor from relief at finding allies in this unlikely place.
No, the reason for his shock was something related to those things, yet quite different.
He was stunned to the point where he forgot his words, by the beauty of the girl in front of him.
Golden hair, collected into a tight bun to keep it out of the way, sharp eyes that took in everything in the area, calmly apprising him as she ducked under cover next to him.
"I suspected that this would happen, my name is Saber." Shirou continued blinking dumbly for a moment before responding.
"Emiya Shirou." a strange mix of emotions flashed through the girl's eyes at his name.
"I see, then it is as I feared." she sighed, then turned towards him with a serious face. "I am a friend of your father, I'll explain everything later."
Before Shirou could respond, the girl loosed another round of bullets against the men, then grabbed him by the collar and heaved him to his feet.
"Let's go." he was given no opportunity to argue.
XXX
Lancer had developed an honest dislike for this job.
First, the target to the job he hadn't wanted from the get-go had been picked up by an unarmed, but clearly experienced boy, who'd forced him into a chase that'd led them across half the city, then, when they'd finally got them pinned down, a girl appeared out of nowhere. A girl who was probably among the single most skilled marksmen he'd ever seen.
Deciding that this job had suddenly gained a lot more unpredictable elements than he was comfortable with, Lancer gave the order to retreat as the three of them disappeared around the corner of a warehouse.
He was going to get hell for this, but it was better than running into some kind of trap, besides, he wanted time to retreat before the Tohsakas realized what was happening on their land.
XXX
Rin really didn't like the way this day had turned out.
She'd been dragged out of her bed at an ungodly hour, faced with the threat of a war between the families, gone to school where she'd been forced to act like a proper student, been rushed by car to where the cause for her worry was caught in gunfire, and as if that hadn't been enough. She was now facing down the barrel of a fully functional gun.
Basically, it hadn't been a very good day.
She was vaguely aware of Archer tensing up beside her, uncertain about what to do when she was a slight squeezing motion away from a permanent coffin – somewhere deep down, away from any survival instincts she might possess, she felt oddly smug, she wondered if it might be a instinctive feeling that emerged whenever the man's mask slipped off.
In her state of 'very much concentrating on the thing that might end my life in a few moments', she didn't register the voices around her, though she still noticed the girl hesitate. Then, as the gun was lowered, she finally realized that the girl standing in front of her was not alone – she was also extremely beautiful, but that wasn't all that important at the moment.
Behind her was a smaller girl with hair that seemed white, and a boy that she thought was strangely familiar for some reason.
"Tohsaka?" the blonde girl who'd spoken wasn't facing her, but the boy, with a questioning expression, apparently confused by something. "... I see, I did hear that that man had a daughter..." she nodded slowly, and Rin's eyebrows shot up.
How did this girl know her father?
Resisting the sudden urge to question the girl about it, she glanced towards the the ones standing behind her.
The little girl was the Einzbern heir – jackpot – but the boy was something of a shock. Emiya Shirou stood in front of her, looking mildly curious, and sneaking confusedly annoyed glances at Archer whenever he got the chance.
Dismissing whatever reason her classmate had for being annoyed at Archer, Rin took a deep breath, ignored the two others and turned towards the reason for her day being ruined.
"My name is Tohsaka Rin, and I'm here to keep you safe for as long as you stay on our land." the small girl looked at her and frowned, but nodded her head in respect nonetheless.
"I see, though I'm here on personal matters rather than business, I appreciate your concern for my safety, Tohsaka." the small girl grabbed onto Shirou's elbow. "But I'll be in the care of onii-chan."
Shirou looked just as confused as Rin felt.
XXX
"So you failed?" Kirei didn't look towards the man in the doorway, focusing instead on the giant oil painting in front of him.
He liked the painting, though he supposed that most people wouldn't.
It'd been created during a time when sinners had been punished in inventive and, if he did say so himself, enjoyable ways.
A part of him would sometimes regret being born into this era, where such things were considered a sin in themselves. But he'd quickly understood the joy of stirring unrest in an era of comfortable peace. The indignant terror that those who were soon disposed of in Gilgamesh's usual ways expressed towards him had proven to be ample payment.
"Yes, Kotomine-dono. She was protected by two people I had no knowledge of." Kirei was caught somewhere between an intrigued smile, and an annoyed frown.
He didn't like the idea that his plan's had been interrupted, but the thought that someone of whom not even Lancer had any knowledge of had come to the Einzbern heir's aid did rouse his curiosity.
"I see, then could you describe them to me?"
"First there was a boy with red hair. He seemed to have been trained to some extent, and though I believe that he was unarmed, he was able to prolong the chase for quite some time."
Kirei nodded thoughtfully, he'd never heard of such a boy.
"Then, when we'd finally cornered them, a girl with golden hair came to their aid. She was probably among the best gunmen I've ever heard of." Kirei blinked, memories flooding him for a moment.
But that couldn't be the case. She'd retired ten years ago.
Shaking his head to clear it from the images, he dismissed Lancer with a final order to keep track of the heir's whereabouts until further notice.
He would have to have a talk with the Matou family.
XXX
Rider looked down at the courtyard where Shinji was yelling at one of his subordinates about something. She really couldn't stand the boy and had been immensely relieved when she'd been assigned to his sister. Because even if Shinji did have some sway over her as the head of the family, she didn't have to put up with his whims, or fear his sudden temper – at least not directly.
Besides, she very much enjoyed the young girl's company, even if it was somewhat sparse since the young girl started to visit that Emiya-boy.
The only drawback with her position was that she had to report the girl's movements to her grandfather.
A grandfather whom didn't seem to really approve of the boy she spent so much time with.
Rider was certain that if him and Shinji hadn't been such close friends whilst growing up, her visits would be out of the question.
She pushed up her glasses and sighed, she really hoped for Sakura to be happy, and the way she tended to smile whenever the Emiya-boy was mentioned, proved to her that he made her just that. It made her feel as if she was betraying her whenever she reported her movements to the unsettling old man.
"Rider, is something wrong?" Sakura walked up to her with an uncertain expression.
"Nothing in particular." she turned back towards the window.
"Nii-san again?" Sakura was standing next to her.
"Not quite, but close enough I suppose..." the young girl frowned slightly at her response.
"Then tell me, Rider."
The silence stretched between them for a bit, until she finally opened her mouth once more, still turned towards the courtyard below.
"Sakura," she seemed a bit startled by her serious tone, "if you ever decide to abandon this house, I'll take you wherever you wish to go."
The younger girl watched her, bewildered for a moment, and then she too turned towards the courtyard.
"I know. You're a good friend, Rider."
XXX
Shirou had never seen a man that was so... gigantic, before.
Berserker looked something like a mountain that, for reasons inconceivable, someone had crammed inside of a human.
"And why, might I ask, did your only bodyguard leave you alone?" Rin drawled on in a voice that made it very clear what she thought of this.
"Don't blame Berserker! He only did it because I told him to." Ilya sent a pointed glare in the older girl's direction, obviously protective.
Rin opened her mouth in response, but the man called Archer cut her off.
"If I may interject, a bodyguard's duty is to make sure their charge is safe at all times, regardless of said charge's personal wishes." Ilya sent a glare in his direction too.
"I was safe, I was with onii-chan!"
Rin's eye twitched in a way that made Shirou feel unusually at peace with Saber standing in-between the two of them. He was a firm believer that girl's shouldn't be the ones to fight, but he supposed that he could make some sort of exceptions to the rule in light of the stunningly short temper that the school's princess was currently exhibiting.
However, as Rin opened her mouth to spit venom – it might sound rude, but that was honestly what it looked like – Saber spoke.
"Ilyasviel, it would not be a good idea to rely on the training of an unarmed and uninformed amateur to keep you safe."
Shirou felt a little offended, but decided not to comment, seeing as how the Tohsaka heir was apparently starting to reach the breaking point for not being interrupted whenever she opened her mouth.
"Onii-chan isn't weak!" he might've decided not to speak up for himself, but it was slightly comforting to hear of the little girl's confidence in him, however misplaced it might be.
"He's an inexperienced fool." the venom in Archer's voice was enough to make Rin blink.
"Archer...?" she, in fact, looked quite stunned.
"Rather than attempting to lose her pursuers in the crowd, he went out of his way to get to a scarcely populated area where his enemies – whom were clearly armed – no longer had any reason to hold back."
"You mean that I should've risked them opening fire in the middle of the street!?" Shirou glared at the coldly calculating man in front of him.
"The odds that they would've done so were minute, as I'm certain that you know."
"And what if they'd done it anyways!?"
"You can't protect everyone, it would be for the better if you realized this immediately."
He opened his mouth to respond, but Saber cut him off. "Shirou, whilst I do not approve of his methods, I do not believe that this is the correct time or place to discuss this."
Rin, finally snapping out of her stunned silence, nodded. "I trust that you have a better place in mind?"
Saber glanced over at her with a curt nod. "The Emiya estate should suffice."
"Very well, lead the way."
XXX
A/n: And that's as far as I can write. Uncertain of which Route it should follow – if any – uncertain of how Caster and Assassin changes things, and still not able to write the genre properly. I surrender.