Chapter Length(sans Author's Notes): 9K
-= IMPORTANT NEWS =-
YES, YOU GOT AN UPDATE! Just CTRL+F "- NEW UPDATE - " (without quotes) to begin the (rather short) update of the story down below. Once I've written chapter 3, I'll delete this message.
I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry for only being able to come up with this much but IRL problems cropped up. Now, my job no longer provides enough income for me to live and I have been looking into polishing my 3D modeling skills so I can get into freelancing. I'll try and keep writing, but as much as I love writing out my stories, it doesn't pay my bills ;_;
Author's (old and edited) Preface:
Just to be clear, I planned for each chapter of this story to be one year each, so I'll mostly deal with Shirou dealing with Esdeath being a child and how his relationship with her and his parents will play out. In other words this story is a slice of life. I don't actually do SoL stories, but this is a challenge for myself as a writer. If you want action, you'll have to wait near the end and on the sequels (if I do it).
Shirou was bewildered. Actually, he was down-right dumbstruck.
In front of him was a girl with pale white skin, long blue hair and a pair of light blue eyes. Her hair was secured in place by a black hairband that had a cross with a white outline, which was the Partas clan crest. She wore a plain white dress that reached down to her knees, and a pair of brown fur boots. All her features combined made her look like she had snow flowing through her veins instead of blood, and he couldn't help but liken her to one of the fae. Needless to say, Shirou was charmed by her.
Said girl was also cupping both of his cheeks with her hands. Oddly enough, although her hands were cold, he felt his face heating up. Meeting her eyes, she stared at his own curiously, as if she was searching for something. She nodded her head, finding whatever she was looking for and let go of his cheeks... only to immediately wrap her arms around him with the lunchbox squeezed between them.
"Wha-" He yelped in surprise. Though the girl pulled away a second later and frowned at his clothes. She apparently didn't like them very much then promptly shoved her arms inside his coat and under his shirt to resume hugging him fiercely.
"Warm. Very warm." The girl purred, PURRED, in his ear.
"What- I don't- I mean..." Shirou was flabbergasted, surprised by the sudden clinginess of a girl he had literally just met. He might look like a kid, but he was an adult with Japanese morals and a skin-to-skin embrace was embarrassingly effusive. He could just feel his face going redder and redder. He turned to his mother for help, only for him to recoil as she looked at him like a tiger who had just found its prey.
"Esdeath, who are you talking- oh my."
A woman, who Shirou could only assume was the mother of the now named Esdeath, stepped out from the house. Similarly to her daughter, she had the same hair color and white dress, but had a black belt around her waist which was secured by a buckle in the shape of their family crest. She also had a red shawl looping from her back with both ends dangling from her elbows. At first, she looked at the two of them with a bemused expression, before her lips stretched into a Cheshire grin. She glanced at his mom and the two of them shared a conspiratorial grin, which sent a shiver down his spine.
"Good morning, Olwen." Ayumi greeted and bowed politely. "You're looking well today."
"Good morning, Ayumi," the woman, Olwen, nodded. "Still wearing those fancy robes of yours, I see."
Ayumi shrugged elegantly. "I like the way they feel. If you want, I could lend you some."
"Maybe another time," she shook her head. "So, what brings you here?"
"I wanted to show my gratitude to you and yours for helping my husband last night." Ayumi bowed, much deeper this time before she raised the two lunchboxes in her hands. "As our thanks, Shirou and I made you breakfast."
"Honestly, you didn't have to. I can guarantee Tor wouldn't have like to lose the best blacksmith this village has ever had. All the same, I'll accept your thanks and tell Tor about it when he gets back. Thank you, Ayumi." She said before taking the two lunchboxes.
Finally, their attention returned to the two children beside them. Honestly, Shirou would have preferred they continued ignoring them because they had the same smile Rin had when she was going to tease him relentlessly. Then again, Esdeath still had her arms wrapped around him so he was essentially caught between a hammer and an anvil.
"Esdeath, sweetie, what are you doing?" Olwen finally ask.
"Shirou is warm!" She said, both answering and not answering the question.
"I see," Olwen nodded, accepting her daughter's answer. "But you know, you have to let go of him."
"Don't wanna." Esdeath refused, and hugged Shirou even tighter, almost causing him to go blue. For a three-year-old, she had surprisingly strong arms.
Olwen sighed, but Ayumi stepped in then. "Esdeath-chan, you can play with Shirou anytime you want, but first you have to eat the food he cooked."
"Food?" The little bluenette asked.,
"Uh huh," His mother hummed. "Shirou cooked it. Just~ For~ You~~~!"
Shirou's brows rose up, uneasy with the way his mother kept emphasizing that he cooked the food when he wasn't even allowed anywhere near the stove except to chuck firewood in it. At best, he helped chopped the vegetables, seasoned and tenderized the meat, peeled the potatoes, and other trifling things. Then he felt Esdeath pull back from her death-hug, though she still held him at arm's length. She gave him a questioning stare as if asking what Ayumi said was true.
"T-that's right!" He lied through his teeth, jumping at the chance to be released from her bear-hug, and raised the lunchbox that had been between them. "Here. We- I mean, I made you breakfast~"
To his relief, she let go of him and took hold of the offered lunchbox. As soon as her hands were full, Shirou immediately took a big step back, just out of her reach in case Esdeath wanted to resume her hug-a-thon.
"Now sweetie, don't forget to say thank you." Olwen reminded her daughter gently.
"Un." Esdeath nodded to her mother before she looked back to Shirou and smiled. "Thank you, Shirou!"
"You're welcome." He managed to say without stuttering. He didn't know if he was still blushing as he hadn't fully recovered from the hug, so he turned to his mother and said, "We should go back. We have to feed dad."
"Ara, but you didn't return the hug Esdeath gave you. It would be rude if you don't return the gesture, Shirou~" Ayumi smirked.
Now he was sure the blush returned to his face, but he couldn't refuse his mother, especially when she was looking at him expectantly. Facing the greatest challenge in this life, he stepped forward and hugged Esdeath. "E-enjoy the food!" He stuttered before quickly letting go.
As he stepped back though, Esdeath caught his arm and latched on to it. "Stay." She told him, though it sounded more like an order.
"Now Esdeath, Shirou has to go home so you have to let him go." Olwen reminded her daughter.
"No," she pouted, puffing her cheeks. "Don't want to."
"You need to eat breakfast first. Or is it that you want to waste Shirou's food?"
The little bluenette pouted even harder at that. She looked conflicted, her eyes darting back and forth between Shirou and the lunchbox that "he had made just for her." Then reluctantly, she listened to her mother and let go of his arm with a forlorn look on her face.
Shirou internally winced at the heartbroken expression and he felt like he had kicked a puppy. Hoping to console the girl, he raised his hand and patted her on the head. Her eyes widened at the contact, but she soon started to smile in delight and leaned her head towards his hand. Encouraged by the results, he made a small commitment. "There, there. I promise I'll play with you next time."
"What's a pro-miss?" Esdeath asked when he pulled his hand back.
"A promise is something I will definitely do," He explained to her. "So, even if I'll go home now, I'll definitely come and play with you next time."
"... promise?"
Not sure if she was making sure he promised or just trying to say the word, he just nodded his head and said: "Promise."
Seeing her nod her head, Shirou turned to his mother to see if they could go home, and once again winced as Ayumi looked like the cat that had caught the canary, a looked that was shared by Olwen. The two mothers nodded their heads, seemingly satisfied, before Ayumi bid the Partas goodbye. Shirou did the same and the two Emiyas trekked back down the hill to go home.
- LINE BREAK -
Olwen Partas closed the front door as her daughter reentered their home. She smiled as she saw Esdeath giving the pail lunchbox a quizzical look. It was a small thing, but she was happy that her daughter was finally showing interest in things other than "gaining strength" like her idiot of a husband... or herself for that matter. For her daughter's sake, she hoped the Emiyas would continue in being themselves and altogether foreign from the rest of the village.
Olwen couldn't help but reminisce to the time before the Emiyas had come. In the past, the village founders had ingrained the belief that "the strong survive, and the weak die" among the villagers and made sure the belief was passed down from one generation to the next. As a result, all the villagers was raised to have a single focus, which was hunting Danger Beast to prove their strength. Olwen too, believed in that philosophy as she had not known any other.
Then one day, a married couple wandered into their territory, seeking a place to call home. They called themselves Keima and Ayumi Emiya and they had unknowingly brought change along with them. At first, Tor, the village chief, didn't want anything to do with them as they had not proved themselves to be "strong" like all the other villagers. Then Keima pulled out a sword, went to the nearest decent-sized rock, sliced it cleanly in two, and told them he was willing to create more weapons like it for the village, at a price. After that, Tor immediately changed his tune and only a few villagers grumbled at their chieftain's decision. While Keima was a second-rate warrior at best, his smithing skills were another thing entirely and contributed more to the village's overall strength than any ten hunters combined.
Ayumi, on the other hand, had no strength to offer the village at all. Yes, she had impressive skills with a bow, but it was ultimately useless as she does not put it to use other than in defense of the village. The men had scoffed, calling her weak, as she was a prime example of a lamb among wolves.
The Women's Circle, however, saw things differently. No matter the difference in strength or how intimidating her surroundings were, Ayumi held her head high while she simply kept her peace with a brilliant smile. She carried herself with an elegance the village had never seen before and it awoke something in all the women. Olwen had no doubt that they all liked what they saw, and wanted to mirror her but were simply too proud to say anything about it. In fact, her invitation to try those dresses she calls 'Kimonos' was a very tempting offer. It was just that she was a Partas and she could not bring herself to be the first to fold.
However, while the Women's Circle tried to keep silent about it, each of them tried to sneak in small changes. A braided hair here, a makeshift amulet there, a flower behind the ear every now and then. It was all inconsequential, but for better or worse, they enjoyed the feeling it gave and craved more of whatever Ayumi had. It was only sheer stubbornness that stopped Olwen from going to Ayumi right now and demand her to dress her up in those Kimonos.
Still, while Olwen held herself back, Esdeath was another story entirely. She believed having more options and a much wider world to experience was a good thing for her daughter. She would still be happy if Esdeath would simply grow up the same way she did, but she would be no less happy if she had spread her wings and left their nest, to see the world beyond their little corner in the world.
"Ols, I'm back!" The voice of her husband, Tor Partas, called from the kitchen and broke her from her reverie. "Is breakfast ready yet?"
"Papa!" Esdeath yelled, and ran to the back of the house where Tor's voice came from. "Look! Shirou made me breakfast!"
Olwen followed after her daughter with a smile and entered the kitchen with her husband closing their back-door behind him. Tor was the prime example of a Partas with his shoulder length blue hair and tall, muscular build. He was wearing a red vest over a white sleeveless robe and a black shirt underneath. A black bandana wrapped around his forehead while a gold medallion hanged around his neck. He had a beard that grew along his jaw and met with his sideburns, enhancing the stony planes and hard angles of his face. Despite this, Tor still had a boyish grin whenever he smiled. It was such a strong contrast on the man that Olwen couldn't help but adore.
Esdeath walked up to her papa and showed off the lunchbox in her hands. "Look Papa, Shirou made me breakfast."
Tor's face turned to one of confusion at his daughter's antics. He moved to grab the lunchbox, thinking that Esdeath was offering it to him, only for her to step back and clutch to the metal pail tightly. "No! It's mine! Shirou made it for me!"
"I- I see..." Tor stuttered, his expression growing even more bewildered. Olwen couldn't help but giggle at the scene. At the sound of her laughter, he looked towards her with a brow raised, silently asking what was going on.
"The Emiyas cooked us breakfast." She answered, showing him the two other lunchboxes in her hands. "Ayumi wanted to thank you for helping get Keima home last night."
"And Shirou is..." Tor murmured in thought with his eyebrows furrowing. Then they shot up in comprehension, "He's their son."
Olwen nodded.
"Hmph." Tor huffed and crossed his arms. "That brat has some guts, but he's got another thing coming if he thinks I'm giving my daughter to him just because he cooked her breakfast."
This time, Olwen frowned at her husband's reaction. How'd he get to THAT conclusion? More over, while she hadn't really interacted with the boy herself, she approved of what little she saw and how he acted around Esdeath. So even going by Tor's ridiculous assumption, to Olwen, Shirou at least had his foot in the door. She opened her mouth to admonish her husband, but Esdeath beat her to the punch.
"Shirou no brat!" Her daughter complained. "Shirou is warm!"
Tor tilted his head at his daughter's wording but quickly shook his head, dismissing it as a child's talk. "Esdeath, you're not allowed to have a boyfriend. You're too little."
"Shirou is my boy friend." Esdeath answered and glared in the same way an angry kitten does; absolutely adorable.
"You're too young," Tor shook his head. "You're not allowed to have a boyfriend until your fifty."
"No." Esdeath said defiantly, hugging the lunchbox in her arms tightly like it was the little boy himself. "I want Shirou as my boy friend."
Tor frowned, but pressed on. "Papa will break his legs."
"No, Bad Papa! No hurt Shirou!" Esdeath scolded. Then she used her trump card. "Or I will hate you!"
"Ack." Tor reeled like he was physically struck. "E-E-Esdeath, you d-dont mean that."
"No hurt Shirou." The little blue haired girl demanded as she pointed at her Papa. "Pro miss it."
"Now Esdeath-"
"Pro miss or I hate Papa now."
Tor looked to Olwen, completely at a loss at what he should do but he found no help from her as she had a hand over her mouth, trying not to let out a giggle as Esdeath wrapped Tor around her little finger. Sucking in a breath to keep from laughing, she deigned to give her husband a piece of advice. "I think you should give up on this one and just make the promise."
Tor pursed his lips, his pride making him hesitate on admitting defeat. He looked towards Esdeath and...
"I-"
"Y-Youcanhaveaboyfriend!" Tor succumbed quickly.
"- love you, Papa." Esdeath said with a victorious smirk.
Olwen shook her head in amusement before she clapped her hands and told the father and daughter that it was about time they started eating. They gathered around their dining table and sat down, each having a lunchbox in front of them.
Olwen lifted the lid of hers' and was immediately assaulted by an abundance of mouth-watering aromas square in the face. Looking at the food within, she could have sworn the food was sparkling. It smelled delicious, more delicious than anything she'd ever smelled in her life. Glancing up to her daughter and husband, she saw a similar scene happening to them. As a person that cooks for her own family, she tried to hold back the feeling of defeat. It would just be another hit to her pride both as a woman and a Partas. Tentatively, she grabbed a spoon and took the first bite.
It was everything she dreamed of and more!
She couldn't help but hang her head in defeat... Then shoved a second spoonful of the food. Then a third. Then a fourth. Before she knew it, the food was gone!
She looked to Tor and saw his food was also gone. Their eyes met, and they both nodded as a silent agreement passed between them.
- LINE BREAK -
Shirou's appetite for the food in front of him was slowly dropping as he sat on his side of the table between his parents, while Ayumi was regaling Keima with what happened earlier in the morning. More specifically, between him and Esdeath.
"You should have seen them together, Kei! They looked so cute together, but Shirou was being so shy around Esdeath-chan. And he was blushing so much that even his ears were the same color as his hair" Ayumi teased, taking too much joy at it. He sent her a small glare, just in time for her to glance at him, specifically at his ears, which just made her covered her mouth with one hand and let out an "Ufufufu~" laugh.
"Shirou," his father called for him. Glancing to Keima, he saw that he had a serious look on his face. Taken aback by his father's expression, he attentively waited, thinking he was about to impart him with some sagely advise passed down from fathers to sons in dealing with women. Root knows he needed it. Raising his hand, Keima gave him a thumbs up, his face splitting to a large grin. "Good job. Take good care of your girlfriend!"
Shirou groaned, inwardly despairing and wondering if all the adults in this world were the same. If they were, he expected his life to be difficult in several different ways. At the very least, he took comfort in the fact that they weren't sarcastic cynics like a certain red-garbed heroic spirit.
- KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK -
Suddenly, there was an urgent pounding on their front door, stopping both the breakfast and, to his relief, the teasing. By the Root, his parents were relentless with the teasing.
"Who could that be at this hour?" Ayumi wondered as it was still considered early morning, so the smithy was still closed.
"I'll get it." Keima volunteered, getting up from the table and leaving their dining room.
Curious at who it could be, Shirou looked inside him to search for his circuits. 24 of them were, for the lack of a better term, blocked; like they were brand new, unopened circuits again. He had gone through hell to activate them and for them to now be closed annoyed him. He had tried to open them once, but it had strained his body so much that he felt like he was about to have a heart attack so he decided to hold it off until he could get physically stronger. To his relief though, his last three circuits were ready to be activated on his whim.
Flooding one circuit with prana, he reinforced his ears just in time to hear his father opening the front door.
"EMIYA! YOU BASTARD! YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING THIS KIND OF FOOD ALL TO YOUR- Ow ow ow ow, Olwen it'll rip, it'll rip!" A grown man's voice yelled before it had turned into whining.
"Keep your voice down, Tor. You'll disturb the neighbors." Olwen's voice said in a scolding tone before it quickly turned pleasant as she greeted his dad. "Good morning, Keima."
"Y-yeah, morning to you too Olwen, Tor..." His dad stuttered.
"Ara, that sounded urgent." Ayumi commented, only hearing the shout which had been cut off. She stood up and made for the door as well.
Wondering why the Partas were here since he had just seen them half an hour ago, Shirou also left the table and quickly caught up to Ayumi. As the two of them reached the front door, they arrived to a scene of Olwen pulling a tall bluenette by his ear as she lectured him not to yell so early in the morning. Meanwhile, said male was agreeing to everything she said and begged her to let go of his ear before she rips it off. From the way their conversation was going, Shirou assumed the man to be Tor, Olwen's husband. Still, he wondered why the two Partas- no, scratch that, Esdeath was also present; however, the little girl was standing by the side lines with a glazed look in her eyes that made Shirou worried. She was standing stock still, one hand holding onto a spoon that was inserted in her mouth while her other hand was holding onto the lunchbox he had given her.
"Ayumi, Shirou. Hello again." Olwen said, noticing their arrival.
"Hello Olwen. I did not expect to see you so soon." Ayumi greeted with a slight bow, before her brows furrowed and she tilted her head. "Was there perhaps something wrong with the food?"
"Oh no, the food was delicious." Olwen dejectedly said, making Shirou's own brows furrow. If it was delicious, then why did she look so dejected?
"I see, that is a relief to hear, but then what brings you to our home?"
"Hm? Oh, well... I..." She hesitantly started before her eyes landed on her husband, who she held by the ear. "I was simply stopping my idiot of a husband from giving in to his gluttony."
"But Ols you- Ow, ow, ow!" Tor started to say, only to be stopped as Olwen brought his ear closer to her mouth.
"Shut up and let me handle it." Shirou heard Olwen whisper, his reinforcement still active.
Then it clicked. The Partas were infected with the Taiga Syndrome!
He honestly couldn't understand why people liked his food so much; after all, he had just followed the recipes in his old world. However, while he didn't know the why, he wasn't stupid enough to not realize the food had... a certain effect on people. The worse of them was his adoptive sister, Taiga Fujimura, who practically demanded he cooked her every meal of every day during his childhood. When he had to leave with Rin and Saber to go to London, they had to physically pry away a crying Taiga from him at the airport. It would have been an endearing scene, if not for the fact she was shouting 'Who will cook for me now?!' all the while. He loved his elder sister dearly, but dealing with her always gave him a headache.
Shirou looked at each of the adult Partas in the eyes and had to hold back a wince. They definitely had that hungry, gluttonous look. Not wanting to deal with the second-coming of the Tiger right now, he ignored the adults and looked back to Esdeath, who had not moved an inch.
Growing concerned by her trance-like state, he walked over to her and waved a hand in front of her face, but didn't get a reaction. Frowning, he poked her right on the forehead and finally got her to blink, waking her up from her daze.
She stared at him for a good while, before she noticed the spoon that was still inside her mouth. She took it out and stared at it for a moment, then glanced at the lunch box in her other hand, before she finally looked back up to Shirou, eyes wide with the boundless energy of children. "Delicious!" She declared, then resumed eating the lunchbox at a pace even Saber would have been impressed. "Shirou's food is delicious!"
Shirou smiled wryly, still not liking the credit that he thought was due to his mother. "Y-you're welcome, Esdeath."
She didn't say anything in response, too busy with shoveling food in her mouth. Shirou just watched in morbid fascination at how a small girl like Esdeath could eat like a starving wolf. He made a mental note to try and teach the girl table manners later on. If she was going to eat like that, she might as well try and look elegant about it.
Then with a loud CLANG, her spoon collided with the bottom of the lunchbox, announcing that she had reached it's end and that it could no longer provide her with any food. She frowned and stared at the lunch box like it had robbed her of her candy. Slowly, she looked up towards Shirou with the same hungry look as her parents.
The alarm bells in his head rang, but before Shirou could act, Esdeath dropped the lunchbox and pounced on him, latching herself onto his arm again. "Shirou! Cook me more food!" She begged with a pleading tone. "Please, please, please?"
Shirou sighed, resigning himself to her hold, though he was thankful she wasn't going for an all out hug again. He opened his mouth to answer but hesitated. At his core, Shirou was an honest person and he could pull off half-truths well enough. His tongue felt like it twisted into a knot as he tried to form the lie his mother had established, but as he did so... His mind suddenly realized that this was his chance to start taking over the kitchen!
'After all, I can't say it was my cooking unless I made the meal completely, right? Better yet, why not have Esdeath be there as well? That way, mom won't be able to deny me the chance to cook by myself.' Shirou thought, mentally doing a fist pump. 'Haha! The kitchen will be mine, mother! You won't be able to refuse this time!
With a plan in place, he told Esdeath he'll ask for permission and turned around to face the adults, who were apparently watching the two of them for a while now. Rather than commenting about it though, Shirou forged ahead, all in the name of conquering the Holy Land. "Mom, can I make Esdeath another meal?"
Ayumi blinked at her name being called before she smirked. "Ara, trying to make the moves on Esdeath-chan already, Shirou?" She asked in Japanese.
Shirou internally cringed and wanted to deny it with all his heart. However, for the sake of his goal, he ignored the comment and simply pressed on. "Can she come watch? I want to show her everything."
"YOU BRAT- Ow, ow, ow, but Olwen he's-"
"Tor, you will shut your trap and let the kid be or you'll be sleeping on the couch for a long, long time." Olwen whispered, before sending an apologetic look towards the Emiyas.
"But Ols, he said-" Tor murmured quietly.
"I know what he said but it's you that's misunderstanding the whole thing."
As the two Partas argued, Shirou continued to ignore them in favor of focusing on his mother. Ayumi had a frown on her face, seemingly taking things into consideration. As expected of his mother, she wouldn't yield the kitchen so easily. She hummed softly to herself, and slowly, her frown morphed into a smile; one that Shirou has come to dread.
"Hmhm, show her everything you say? That means you want to teach Esdeath-chan how to cook, right?" Ayumi asked.
Shirou's brows furrowed, wondering how his mom got to that conclusion. Regardless, he slowly nodded his head. More or less though, it would be just like the time when he taught Sakura so he had no problem with it.
"Then in that case..." Ayumi continued and turned to the two adult Partas. "Why don't you two join us as well?"
Olwen pursed her lips together. "I don't want to be a burden..."
"Heiki, heiki- I mean, it's fine! A meal is more delicious when there are more people, you know? Hey Kei-kun you don't mind, right?" She asked her husband with a meaningful look, who only gave a resigned nod. Suddenly, Shirou realized he had made a critical error, as he had an epiphany on who wore the pants between his parents. "See? What do you think Olwen-san? Tor-san? Do you want to have dinner with us?"
"Oh, well... I-" Olwen hesitated, but Tor answered for her.
"I think it's a great idea!" He shouted, before remembering the position he was in. And just as he expected, Olwen began to pull. Hard.
"You- you! To rely on other's kindness, where's your pride as a Partas?!" She yelled indignantly. "I don't remember marrying such a docile man! If a horse doesn't kick you, I will!"
"F-forgive me! Ow ow ow, I-I-I misspoke!"
Ayumi rolled her eyes at the other married couple's antics. She clapped her hands to get their attention. "Now now, Olwen. If you want to help, you can just come over later."
The Partas matriarch turned to her Emiya counterpart with a slight pout. She held her gaze for a second before she sighed and, to Tor's relief, released her death grip on his ear. "Then we'll come by in the afternoon to help." She said, looking defeated.
"That's great!" Ayumi cheered. "I don't think I can cook a good variety of food for six people after all!"
"B-but, mom! I thought I was cooking..." Shirou interjected as he realized that he had already been relegated.
"Hm? But Shirou is teaching Esdeath-chan how to cook, right? You'll need to watch over her carefully since she's never done this before, so you won't be able to help kaa-chan like usual." Ayumi argued.
Shirou opened his mouth to retort but realized she was right. Sakura was a teen by the time he was helping her cook, while the girl clinging to his arm didn't look like she could measure a cup of water!
If not for Esdeath clinging to him, he would have fallen on his knees in despair as he realized he was completely outmaneuvered by his own mother. 'Sasuga okaa-sama.' He silently lamented.
It seems his victory for the Holy Land was still far, far away.
- NEW UPDATE -
At the very least, Shirou couldn't say it was an uneventful day. For the moment though, he felt quite dispirited at his plan backfiring and his role within the kitchen diminish even further than it already was. No one had ever really denied him from the kitchen, heck, Rin, Saber, and Taiga demanded he be there, so he supposed he had taken the duty for granted.
Feeling like he had tasted "true defeat" for the first time in his life, Shirou's consciousness shut down and went into auto pilot. As a result, he didn't notice the adults finishing their conversation. The Partas bid the Emiyas goodbye, with Owen promising to come by in the afternoon while Tor will follow for dinner. Keima and Ayumi also went back into the house to resume their breakfast, leaving him outside. As for why they did that...
"Hey Shirou, let's play! You pro missed right?" Esdeath said, dragging him through the snow. His mind vaguely recalled something like that, so he let her pull him along to parts unknown. They didn't go far, Esdeath only dragging him to the nearest, flattest patch of earth and handed him a random stick she found.
"We're going to fight, okay?" She told him with a excited smile, wielding her own random stick before she walked a few paces away. "I'm going to be the chieftain, and you'll be the cha-en-her. The winner gets to be chieftain and live, while the loser dies!"
Though "Shirou" was still miles away, his mind quickly recognized the words 'fight' and 'dies.' It quickly started waking up his battle senses from a long hibernation of unuse. His senses immediately analyzed his surroundings and recognized Esdeath as it's opponent. She was practically vibrating in place, ready to pounce on him like a predator; however, since they were equally armed, his senses had no real worry and simply waited for it's opponent to attack.
"Ready? GO!" The blue-nette declared, rushing towards Shirou. Though his battle senses hadn't been used in three years, it had fought off the likes of Servants and Dead Apostles. So to it, his current opponent was only moving in slow motion.
Having no worries over the little details such as being armed with a stick or fighting against a child, Shirou's body redirected an over head blow, making the weapon slide harmlessly to ground before quickly twisting his wrist and chopping his opponent on the head.
- SNAP -
Shirou blinked at the sound, finally waking up from his stupor. Feeling something in his hands, he looked down to see a stick nearly split in two. Wondering why he was holding such a thing, he looked around his surroundings... and saw a crouching Esdeath as she held the top of her head.
His heart jumped to his throat and he immediately dropped the stick in his hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out what just happened. He quickly knelt down to try and comfort the girl. "Esdeath, I'm so sorry! Let me-"
Before he could touch the little blue-nette's head to examine how bad her injury was however, she got up, turned around, and started running towards her house.
"Great..." Shirou muttered before he plopped himself down onto the snow.
- SNAP -
Shirou winced and reached whatever it was underneath him. It was Esdeath's own stick and it had snapped identically to his own. He didn't count himself as superstitious on things like fate or anything of the sort, but he hoped this wasn't some kind of bad omen.
He dropped the stick next to its twin, and stayed down for a few seconds to think about how he could reconcile with Esdeath. Of course, he didn't feel anything special for the blue-nette, but making a girl cry, especially a child at that, left a bad taste in his mouth.
Since he did just meet the girl today, the only idea that came to his mind was making her a meal and hope she'd forgive him. That meant explaining what happened to his mom so he could use the kitchen, and he knew she was not going to be happy for making a girl cry.
He cringed, not looking forward to his mother's reaction. While he was inwardly a grown man, he did not want to upset his mother. He had only ever gotten in big trouble once, and it was when he had sneaked into his father's smithy. His mother didn't even say a single word of scolding; all she did was give him what he now calls "the look" and he was racked with so much guilt, he felt like he had failed her to get into high-school!
He wondered if that was Ayumi's natural charm or was it something all mothers could instill into their children...
He shook his head, noticing his thoughts were going in a weird direction. With no other option left, he stood up and quickly made his way home. He entered the kitchen through the back door and promptly saw his mother cleaning up the plates they had used for breakfast.
Ayumi turned at the creaking of the door. She wore a happy smile as she looked at him, but it quickly turned into a frown. "Shirou, what's wrong?"
"... N-nothing." He wanted to tell the truth, his ingrained honesty willing him to do so, but his self preservation suddenly told him that the truth was a bad idea.
Ayumi's brow rose up at his response. She sighed, dried her hands, and walked up to Shirou before bending down to his eye level. "Shirou," she started with a gentle but firm tone, "you can tell me anything. I promise I won't get mad."
In the face of his mother's prompting, Shirou's instincts, the same one he has used to escape certain death countless times in his previous life, was now screaming at him to keep his mouth shut and deny, deny, deny!
"Really, it's nothing kaa-chan."
"... I don't know who taught you to do it, but you don't call me kaa-chan anymore. You've been calling me mom since you turned three." She pointed out with a look of disapproval. Apparently, she really didn't take too kindly to him switching from Mama, mommy, or kaa-chan to just mom. Then she tapped him on the nose with a matter-of-factly tone. "Also, your nostrils grow wider whenever you do something bad."
And like a child, his hands unconsciously clamped down on his nose. Shirou cursed himself, wondering why he couldn't mount any kind of defense against Ayumi, even when he was technically as old as her! Was his childish body affecting his thinking?!
"W-Well... I... Um... Esdeath..." Shirou stuttered.
"What about Esdeath-chan?"
"I... Uh... I accidentally-"
- SLAM -
Before he could say anything else, the back door behind him was suddenly flung open. He turned around to see... Esdeath... Who was holding a wooden sword in each hand. To his surprise, she had an excited smile on her face. Then she zeroed in on him and her smile turned into a grin with hints of madness behind them, sending a shiver down his spine.
"Shirou!" She screamed with utter delight and anticipation in her voice. "Fight me!"
'What?'
"What?" His voice echoed his thoughts as Esdeath threw one of the wooden swords at him. With a glance, he knew it was a training sword made from Yukumo Wood. It had a similar appearance to a double-edge straightsword, but scaled down for a child's body. It's been used for countless number of hours by generations of Partas children, Esdeath included; though she, more or less, has just been swinging the stick around in pretend.
Once his Structural Analysis was completed, he fumbled to catch the training sword before it hit his face. He glanced back to Esdeath to ask why she wanted to fight... Only to see her in the air, wooden sword already raised for another overhead slash.
With his mother still behind him, Shirou blocked the blow, even as Esdeath pushed him down with her whole weight. He was about to yell at her, to ask what she was doing, but the look in her eyes screamed a lust for battle and to speak in the battlefield meant death, so he kept silent.
Instead, Shirou twisted his sword to the side, forcing his opponents sword away while his was ready for a counter attack. The little blue-nette reacted readily though and blocked his counter. His brows rose in surprise, but quickly lowered as he recalled he had done a similar strike on Esdeath earlier. It seemed the girl learned quickly.
He was about to push down with his sword and use her defense as a springboard, but before he could...
"Shirou. Esdeath-chan."
His mother called for the two of them and he felt a shiver run down his spine. Similarly, Esdeath glanced behind him and her grin disappeared while her already pale features turned even paler. Shirou didn't even have to see Esdeath's reaction or hear Ayumi's tone though; he could FEEL her disapproving expression burning the back of his head!
"Y-Yes mom?" He stuttered, not having the courage to look behind him.
"No playing sword inside the house."
"R-right! Sorry mom! Let's go, Esdeath!" Shirou quickly replied.
And with that, he grabbed Esdeath's free hand and left through the back door. He didn't even look back because he could feel his mother's gaze following them until they were finally out of sight from the house. Despite that, the two of them kept running until they were back to the clearing they had started.
Promptly, Esdeath plopped herself to the ground and Shirou followed suite. They sat next to each other, gasping for air as they both had run as fast as their short little legs could carry them through the snow.
It took a full minute for Esdeath to recover her breathing and she spoke up first. "Shirou," she called.
"Yeah?"
"Missus Ayumi is strong."
Shirou couldn't help but laugh, agreeing with her wholeheartedly.
After a while, Shirou had stopped laughing and the two of them simply stayed lying down on the snow covered ground, quietly watching the clouds pass by. After a while though, the sun peaked out from behind a cloud and Esdeath was the first to sit up from her spot.
"Hey Shirou, let's fight again!" She demanded, looking down at him.
"... Why do you want to fight me so badly?" Shirou asked, curious if it was because she was angry at him for hitting her. If she was, he'd apologize and just let her hit him back however much she wanted until she was satisfied.
"Because I want to be strong." She answered with a tilt of her head, her tone clearly saying the 'duh.'
Shirou frowned at that. Her answer was simple, which was to be expected from a child. However, it was also entangled with the same kind of selfishness that magi had, the ones that would stop at nothing so long as they reach the Ashakic Records. Then again... she was still a child and lived in a village where people needed to be strong or they would get eaten by the Phantasmal Beast roaming the woods. It wasn't all that surprising that she would emulate the adults around her, but he seriously believed he needed to change that mind set. Hopefully, into something like "needing strength in order to protect their loved ones." For now though... He might as well humor the girl.
"Fine, we'll fight." Shirou sighed, getting up from the ground.
"Yes!" Esdeath cheered, bouncing up from her spot and getting into position a few paces away.
Wooden sword in hand, Shirou fell into a stance, one taught to him by Saber in his past life. As he did, he started to get a feeling similar to vertigo. He felt like his head was too big, his limbs too short, and his skin too soft. Due to this, he was thankful to Esdeath for the chance to get used to his childish body.
And just like she had done the first time, Esdeath moved first. There was no warning, no call to start the fight, just a pure straight charge towards her enemy. Shirou counted it as a point to her. Beast didn't fight with honor after all.
She tried something new this time though, her sword coming from below and swung upwards. Shirou bent his knee, ducking under the blow even as his sword move to deflect hers, making it pass harmlessly above his head. Undeterred, Esdeath continued to attack, intending to slam her pommel on Shirou's crown. In response, he stepped forward, placing his leg behind her knee, and slammed his shoulder into her torso. Her upper body's momentum completely reversed, making her tumble backwards with her feet suddenly launching skyward. She hit the ground, the cold snow cushioning her fall. She immediately tried to get up, but found Shirou's blade on her neck.
"Point for me." Shirou declared, as he stepped back and held out a hand for the little girl.
Esdeath pouted, but took his offered hand.
Shirou helped her up and the two of them began backing away from each other. Once they were far enough, Shirou fell into another stance while the little blue-nette was simply too eager and dashed forward once more, immediately restarting the fight. He didn't mind though and simply let the girl come at him.
The little girl's sword had no intention to hold back at all as it moved, fully commited to slam into Shirou. She slashed vertically, then horizontally, then tucked her sword in to thrust into his chest. However, her strikes never met his body. Swing after swing after swing, she was met with a parry, a block, or just empty air. Then with a surprised expression on her face, Shirou's sword tapped her head, poked her stomach, or she would again be facing the sky. Sometimes she would even get a face full of snow. Regardless, the girl would get up, eager to keep fighting.
"You're leaning in too far." Shirou suddenly said.
"Eh?" Esdeath let out in surprise, causing her to stop her movements completely.
"Here, look." Shirou then approached her, patting her foremost thigh and head. "You're head is too far from your leg. While this makes you go faster, if a strike comes from the side, you'll fall easily." Then he pushed her shoulder, making her stumble to the side a bit. "See? You have to keep your body balanced."
"Balanced?"
Shirou nodded and took a stance in front of her. "Here. Try and copy me."
Esdeath furrowed her brows, inquisitively looking at him. Regardless, she followed what he said. She spreaded her legs shoulder width apart, one foot forward and her rear heel raised, straightened her back, but kept her chest just a little bit hunched. Whichever part she didn't quite get, Shirou helped adjust them until she was in proper form.
"Good. Now, see, even if I push you like this, you won't fall like last time, right?" Shirou then brought his sword against her's and started putting his weight on it. The little blue-nette nodded her head, easily being able to keep her body upright against an opposing force. Then, with her confidence growing, she started to push back. Seeing this, Shirou pulled back and Esdeath stumbled forwards, making her off balance.
"Ah!" She let out, just as Shirou caught her from face planting onto the snow.
"Hora, remember you need to be balanced."
"Un." Esdeath nodded, taking the advice seriously.
After that, their fight resumed.
Well... If it could still be called that, as Shirou began to take the "fight" as him mentoring Esdeath instead.
He noticed the little girl displayed an unreal amount of natural talent with the sword. Given a decade or so, and if he could stomp out her bad habits, he honestly wouldn't be surprised if her swordsmanship could touch Arturia's feet. However, unlike Saber, who had a calm demeanor even in the midst of battle, there existed an extreme battlelust in Esdeath, one that was comparable to Berserker. In fact, for brief moments, Shirou kept having flashbacks to the Holy Grail War with one of its Master-Servant pair; Illyasviel Von Einzbern and her own Berserker.
Except Esdeath had no need for a 12 foot tall monster as she could attain the domineering image by herself!
After a while, Shirou called for them to have a break. Esdeath argued with him about continuing. Forgetting she was still a child, he pointed out it was the middle of winter and she was sweating. She furrowed her brows in confusion, not understanding what he was talking about and called him a scaredy cat. Shirou furrowed his own brows, before he palmed his face and realized his mistake. Then he started explaining hypothermia to the little girl. Of course, he didn't actually call it hypothermia, just explained the dangers of sweating while out in the cold. She pouted but ultimately conceded to his desire.
Then, once Esdeath was sure she wasn't sweating anymore, she pestered Shirou to continue fighting. Shirou sighed, but indulged the girl all the same.
Time passed and they simply fell into a cycle. They would fight, Shirou would teach her various things, and they Esdeath would fidget while they rested. Once the sun rose to it's zenith, both of their mothers called for them to have lunch. After a lot of reluctance from Esdeath, and promises to play again in the afternoon from Shirou, the two went to their respective homes.
In the following days, Shirou fell into a routine. Shirou would try, and fail, to wake before his mother so he could make breakfast all by himself. Once the food was prepared, and if she managed to wake up early enough, Esdeath would occasionally r̶a̶i̶d̶ join the Emiyas for the first meal of the day. As the two of them were still quite young, their parents had yet to give them any chores(to Shirou's lament.) So the pair of three year-olds mostly played all day. Of course, spending all their time fighting would get boring, so Shirou insisted they do other things. They explored the village and it's surrounding lands, greeted the other villagers (which was Shirou's idea,) and tried to recruit the other kids to join their fights (Esdeath's idea.)
Shirou also made sure to come up with plenty of activities for them to do to break the monotony; things like chess, cards, or his personal favorite, archery. Of course, the activity Esdeath hated the most, like all children, was studying. For the first few times, she gritted her teeth and endured it, bemoaning how utterly boring it was or how her head hurt from thinking. It wasn't that Esdeath was stupid, in fact, Shirou was of the opinion that the young girl had quite the aptitude for learning. The only problem was Esdeath herself wasn't the least bit interested in math, language, or anything Shirou would consider academic. Soon enough, whenever Shirou said the dreaded words, she would immediately run away, even attempting to hide from him. Unless the studies interested her, had something to do with fighting, or granted her more physical strength, Esdeath would rather bury herself under the snow than open a book. Her attempts didn't last long though, as Esdeath had terrible hiding skills.
Then, once the sun neared the horizon, Esdeath would excitedly drag Shirou back to the Emiya house like it was her own home, causing him to smile wryly. When they arrive, they would immediately head for the kitchen and Shirou would teach her everything that was related to cooking; how one measures a cup of sugar, how one would season meat, when to use pot and when to use a pan. Her love and desire for cooking was now of the same level as her obsession with gaining strength now, and it was all because of one simple phrase Shirou had offhandedly said: "Hunger is the enemy."
By the side, Ayumi and Owen would occasionally watch them while they were the ones doing the actual cooking for both families. As soon as dinner was ready, Keima and Tor would enter the dinning room and the two families would eat together. With their day complete, the Partas would bid the Emiyas good night and return to their own home. Shirou too, would retire to his own room, meditate and practice his magecraft a little before going to sleep himself. Then, once the sun rose up, the routine would start once more.
AN: This is part of Chapter 1, which I've already placed it in, but since I figured most wouldn't bother going back to the previous chapter, I've pasted it here. I'll delete it once I'm done with chapter 3. This was just what was going through Zelretch's mind before he had isekai-d Shirou.
'What an interesting dimension.' A man thought to himself as he gazed into a rift of reality. 'It was world filled with monsters, assassins, villains, and every kind of evil, man and beast alike, could come up with with no hero sight. And unlike here, the World remains dormant and yet... there are no gods. Oh, there are Beast, yes, but none of them seem intelligent. Still... the most interesting things are still the humans. Even better, quite a few of those "main characters" live in the same time period. And oh! Do they meet quite a grisly end... Still... the one that had the most potential and lost it... is her, huh? Those assassins really shouldn't have killed her. She would have turned the tide of battle in their favor.
'Hm? Wait... That energy is quite familiar... Oh? Oh, you bastard. So that's where you've been hiding, huh?
'Well, can't say you don't have the right idea. Still... you somehow used MY magic to get there without my permission so I'm a bit peeved. I'll be getting my pay back, you mark my words!'
His door slammed open, making him turn around to see his apprentice stomping into his room followed by a blonde woman. His apprentice had a look of quiet anger behind her eyes, making him raise his brow. Sure, he had practically seen her with the emotion all the time, but he didn't cause it THIS TIME. He hadn't planned anything until next week! Besides, his apprentice usually expressed her anger, be it through words or magecraft, not letting build inside her like she was doing now.
Before he could say anything, his apprentice spoke.
'What? Say that again.' And just when he needed it, his apprentice gives him the key for his revenge. On top of that, she's solving her own problem in his style too! She layed out her requirements for her idea to work and the man knew those wouldn't require all that much effort to accomplish. In fact, he had candidates for that just on the other side of the world in the new dimension. All he needed to do was just give one, tinsy, tiny, little push and he was sure the stage would be set for a certain hero of justice to enter and for the girl doomed to be a villain to be swept up in it as well.
'Oh Rin, I'm so proud of you right now! Poor Shirou will never see it coming!'
Review Response Section:
I'm actually quite overwhelmed this story is quite well received. Thank you all for reading my story! It really makes me happy to see your reviews. I'll respond to those who have questions here or are unclear about something with the story. If I believe it's spoiler-ish, I'll PM you instead.
(The most honorable 1st reviewer)Guest & EiniY1
The last part of this update was mostly for you. While I had thought that the summary was enough to paint that Zelretch wasn't doing this for just shits and giggles(Well, yes, but that's a bonus), I guess I didn't really paint it that well. Yes, this story is Slice of Life but I have thought what Shirou and Esdeath can do once they've reached the capital. I have a number of scenarios, but I'm already heavily leaning on one. Hopefully, we can get out of the village within a year, lol.
mx2432
Keima and Ayumi are actually from "The World God Only Knows" but I simply just took their names, haha. Their description and character is nothing like them. Not if this is a short story, it doesn't look that way. As I write, I'm getting invested with the idea. At first, I just wanted to save Esdeath from a terrible fate. Then I wanted Shirou to learn what it's like to have parents. Even now, I'm thinking what changes could the two do, what they would feel if I made them encounter this or that scenario and I feel like exploring them. So no, this doesn't look like it's a short story for now. IRL circumstances could change and authors often fall of the face of the earth because they met difficulties.
infadinityfollower
Frankly, Keima and Ayumi are simply each half of Shirou. So if they seem garry/mary-stu to you, that's because that's just who Shirou is :))
thebebb
This is UBW Shirou, meaning Shirou never got to interact properly with Illya other than her maniacally telling Berserker to crush them. Perhaps in the coming chapters that's what he might feel, but Esdeath sure as hell won't, I can tell you that.
Also, for him getting embarrassed and such, though I believe I've PM'ed you this, this is just something intrinsically built into the Japanese culture. They frown on PDA and Shirou is Japanese. We complain about it all we want since it's quite a cliche, but I've already come to terms that this is something to expect from Japanese people in general.
Primordial Inscriptor Z-09
My only gripe with this is that the parents are treating the children as if they were already hormonal teens that actually can differentiate gender and are attracted.
You're probably right. I'm just basing this on my memory and what little video there are on youtube of little girls telling their parents they have boyfriends.
Of course, I know kids wouldn't know what its meant to be in a relationship, but I don't think it's all that hard for parents to play a little match-maker. Besides, how I like to think about it is Olwen trying to absorb the Emiyas into their clan. While Tor has accepted them as officially as villages go, it's different from being related by family ties. Likewise, Ayumi having been raised in a noble house, would know the importance of blood ties. Since she herself loves her husband, then, as cold thinking as it is, the only one they can "marry off" would be Shirou, and how better to become a part of a clan than to be family with the clan chieftain? I mean, if the kids don't fight against it, heck, if they even wanted it, then all is fine, right?
