Three Months Ago, Fuyuki City, Japan.
Tohsaka Rin climbed up the staircase of Homurahara Academy, heading for the rooftop of the school. In all honesty, she shouldn't actually be going to the rooftop, students were prohibited from coming there, and with her reputation as a model student, the very last thing she would have wanted was to be caught.
However, Tohsaka Rin was a trained magus, thought from birth by her father until he passed away, there was more than one way to make sure one wouldn't get caught. At the beginning, when she first came to school she erected a bounded field around the entrance to the rooftop, warding anyone who wasn't a magus. Anyone who saw her going up will forget as if it never happened while anyone who wanted to come up will simply turn the other way.
As she ascended the stairs, she caught a glimpse of the white-silver markings on the back of her left hand. It looked like a double crescent moon with a single teardrop-like sword that pierced straight through the middle.
She gave herself a smile at the sight of it. It meant that she was chosen to participate in something great and she had to tell one of her closest friend about it. The markings, or Command Seals as they were called, already started forming a month ago after she got news from the Clock Tower, only this morning was it as clear as the Command Seals she read in her text book, and that meant that in three months, she will be participating in a grand ritual that her ancestors have been in, the Holy Grail War.
The Tohsakas were part of the three families that started the Holy Grail Wars along with the Einzberns and the Matous. The Tohsakas didn't have the same access to the Heaven's Feel like the Einzberns did, or extensive knowledge on the Throne of Heroes like the Matous, but what they did had was resources and land, spiritual land to enact a ritual such as the Holy Grail Wars, to be more precise Fuyuki City.
They are and have been the Second Owners of the Fuyuki leylines since the past ten generations and Rin along with her mother, Aoi Tohsaka were now the current land owners of Fuyuki. If anyone wanted to perform magecraft in Fuyuki, they had to ask permission from them. They had the backing of both the Church and the Magus Association in order to make sure all would comply.
By allowing the Einzberns and the Matous to form the Holy Grail Wars using their leylines, they essentially became fixed participants in the Heaven's Feel ritual ever since, that is, until seventy years ago, during the Third Holy Grail War.
During the Third Heaven's Feel, the Nazis intervened and plundered Mount Enzou, stealing the Greater Grail that laid beneath it. This prematurely ended the Holy Grail Wars in Fuyuki. The Tohsakas along with their allies, the Matous, gave up with trying to reenact the Heaven's Feel ritual after having lost so much from the Nazi's attack on their lands.
Those bastards, she thought. Those guys could never comprehend how much her family had to sacrifice for this ritual.
They eventually had to 'move on'.
That is, until she got the news from Clock Tower last month ago.
She was contacted by her sponsor, Lord El-Melloi II, who offered her the chance to fight in the Holy Grail Wars, the 'real' Holy Grail War, not some fake Holy Grail that she kept hearing about, which was held in Trifas.
There was no way she could refuse.
Her father was already denied the chance to fight in the Holy Grail Wars, so it was up to her to bring back the name of the Tohsakas and claim the Holy Grail. There was no better crowning achievement that she could accomplish before finally entering into the halls of the Clock Tower to further her studies.
She was told that this Holy Grail War would be different than the ones that were previously held in Fuyuki. There will be fourteen Heroic Spirits that would be summoned. Instead of an all-out battle royal, the fourteen servants will be divided into two factions, each faction having seven of the original servants to win the Holy Grail War.
The war was totally different than what her ancestors fought in, though she didn't like the idea that she had to share her win with other masters, this form of warfare did meant that battles will now be more precise and strategic, servants that usually had handicaps such as the Caster or Assassin servant classes will now be able to be used to their fullest potential, and it also meant that regardless whichever servant they summoned, it didn't mean they would lose out entirely, though she had to admit without a doubt that because she was the most gifted and strongest of the masters, she will eventually be summoning the strongest of servants and become the overall reason of her factions win.
She was an Average One. And who in the world could compare against that? Even her closest friend couldn't compare to her in terms of magecraft.
Which reminded her of another added benefit of this war. She won't be going alone, a close friend of hers will be accompanying her as well and she was confident that they'll be able to handle anything that came their way.
Opening the door that headed to the rooftop, Rin saw the person she wanted to meet up here and show her Command Seals.
Sitting with his back leaned against that fence of the rooftop, a young boy wearing the Homurahara standard uniform took a sip from the beverage he just bought.
The boy had an innocent look that indicated he was as old as Rin. He had golden eyes and white hair that was combed backwards, causing it to stick out. Rin had no idea what he used to make his hairstyle like that. He wore a golden cross around his neck which he kept in his uniform jacket during classes, since bringing such objects was prohibited.
"Shiro!" Rin called the boy, heading to where he sat.
"Tohsaka-san," the boy looked up as his name was called. He had a beautiful innocent smile that made Rin's heart flapped just from staring.
"Geez, why are you still calling me that? I thought I asked you to call me by my first name already Shiro, we've already known each other for more than ten years," she said.
"Sorry, Tohsaka….I mean Rin. You know me and honorifics and all the Church's protocols and stuff. It's already become a habit," the boy made an innocent apology, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, I guess I can overlook that, since you did have to wait for me here," Rin smiled back. She took a seat besides Shiro and opened her own lunchbox.
The boy's full name was Kotomine Shiro, and like Rin, he was also a fellow magus, and one of the few that lived in Fuyuki. After the Third Holy Grail War, his father, Kotomine Risei, who was the representative from the Church and also the supervisor for the war, stayed back in Fuyuki, eventually forming close ties with the Tohsakas, since they were the Second Owners of the land.
Shiro literally grew up with Rin, they knew each other since they were eight, though Shiro usually went to Italy to train as an Executor and a member of the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament. When his father died when Shiro was twelve due to old age illness, Shiro often stopped by the Tohsaka mansion, firstly because Rin's mother, Aoi didn't like the idea that someone so young was living all by himself, afterwards Shiro just came by often and even knew Rin's father before his death, even being the person who organized his burial in the Fuyuki cemetery.
He and Rin eventually became close friends because there was nobody else that the other could talk to about their secret double life, Shiro and his work with the Church and Rin with her apprenticeship as the Tohsaka heiress.
"I got your call this morning. So the Command Seals finally formed?" Shiro asked excitedly.
Rin smiled at this, then showed the back of her left hand. Three Command Seals that proved she was going to become a participating master in the upcoming Great Holy Grail War. Shiro looked at the Command Seals with awe.
"And you? Have yours fully formed yet?" Rin asked.
Shiro pulled back the left sleeve of his uniform and showed Rin the back of his hand. There engraved on the back of his left hand were three similar white-silver tattoos that meant that he was also a master in the upcoming Great Holy Grail War. They were different than Rin's though. The pattern still resembled somewhat of a sword or pointed arrow, but it was more chaotic with clawed like markings instead of hers more round and tranquil shape.
"You should try to hide that Rin, you wouldn't want someone noticing it," Shiro pointed out at Rin's Command Seals as he brought back down his sleeve and hiding his own Command Seals.
"I'll remember to do that once I'm back home, in the meantime, I'll just try and cover it up and hope nobody notices," Rin said while taking a bite from her food.
They continued eating until finally Shiro broke the silence.
"It's finally coming closer ehh? I'm betting you're going to be extremely excited," Shiro said casually.
"Of course I am! My ancestors have been fighting in this war, and to know that I'll be able to participate in it whereas my father wasn't able to, there's no better privilege," Rin declared.
"So I'm assuming that this is it? You won't be backing down no matter what?" Shiro asked again.
Rin almost felt like she wanted smack Shiro for asking such a stupid question. Of course she's not backing down. This was a chance in a lifetime to prove her worth. However she stopped midway when she saw the serious worried work Shiro had as he gazed at the horizon.
She knew that look. Shiro was worried, really worried.
"Hey, what's up with you Shiro? Shouldn't you be excited too about being able to enter the Holy Grail Wars? Fighting alongside the best of people that mankind has to offer, maybe even get a promotion by the Church and you could even get any wish you want granted," Rin said trying to comfort him.
"Huh," Shiro sighted.
"Don't get me wrong Rin, I am excited to fight in the Holy Grail Wars, I might even say that I'm more prepared for it than you are, no offense. It's you that I'm worried about Rin, are you sure that you want to come along? They say that this Holy Grail War is unlike any that had ever happened, this will be the single biggest event in the whole world where there will be so many Heroic Spirits in one place at a single time. Even Alaya wouldn't summon more than seven Counter Guardians," He said.
"You could just summon your servant and leave everything to me. You don't need to come all the way to Trifas and fight and risk your life. If anything happened to you, what am I supposed to say to Aoi? Maybe it would be best if you-" Shiro's words were interrupted when he was smacked at the head by Rin.
*Whack*
"Ouch, what was that for?!" Shiro bellowed, holding onto his head.
"You idiot! Didn't you hear me earlier? My father was already denied the chance to compete in it, what makes you think that I am going to give it up as well?! Because it's more dangerous than previous Holy Grail Wars?! Well wouldn't it just be harder to win if there were fewer mages on our side? Since when in the world did it stated that by having less people fight we would have a better chance to win?!" Rin shouted back, petrifying Shiro on the spot.
He was completely speechless.
"And besides, who do you think among the two of us is the better magus? The only thing that you could do are those Holy Sacraments. What are you supposed to do when you're confronted with a problem concerning magecraft, do you expect the other masters to help you out? Or are you also going to ask them to go home as well and leave everything to you?" Rin said.
"Sorry, sorry Rin, I was just worried that's all," he replied.
"Well worrying wouldn't help you win would it? You need friends and teammates and all the advantages you could get," Rin said.
"Ok, ok, you've got a point," Shiro said defeated.
"But you have to promise me you wouldn't do anything reckless or brash while we're at Trifas. I know that you're good, but I'm the one who's trained in combat and is experienced in taking out other mages, this is my territory, so let me handle most of it, ok?" he said.
"Still not giving up ehh? And what do you mean by brash and reckless? I'm a Tohsaka mage for your information! Our family motto is to be in control and elegant, it's not like the plans that I will be making will be any crazier like yours," She said.
"Well then, I guess it's settle then, we'll be teaming up for the duration of the war. I'll be in your care Rin," Shiro said while smiling and bowing his head.
Rin's face turned a shade redder at Shiro's declaration.
"Yeah, yeah, I will be in your care as well, just make sure you don't do anything stupid while we're there," Rin said, coming over her previous trance.
They finished their meals and then started heading back to their respective classroom for the next session of school.
"I'll come by your house later this evening and bring over the dossier's of the other masters the Mage's Association have sent me, we could go over them together," Shiro said.
"Yeah, I can't wait to get started," Rin said happily.
She smiled happily all the way back to her class. She was finally going to participate in the Holy Grail War and one of her best friends, Kotomine Shiro will be there to help her win it.
In the snowy hilltops of Germany, within the Castle that stood atop a hill, the Einzberns were also busy preparing for the upcoming Great Holy Grail War.
All day and night, mages were in underground factories, building an army of homunculi that would rival and even surpass the ones made by Yggdmillennia. They were outfitted with the strongest Conceptual Weapons the Einzberns could obtain, to the point that they may be able to even bring down a servant. The homunculi are constantly upgraded so that they could go through any obstacle. Their Elder wanted their Homunculi that were sent to be perfect.
Elder Jubstacheit had already sent a team ahead to Sighishora, the closest city to Trifas that was outside of Yggdmillenia's influence, to build a castle for Shirou and Ilya to stay in during the duration of the war. It would also be housing the homunculus that would be brought there for the battle.
Meanwhile, inside the workshops, other mages were trying to formulate and research on new ways to perform alchemy and their wish-craft sorcery. This in turn will then be taught to Ilya so that she could use it and become more proficient in magecraft. Shirou would have been taught about it, but he lacked the affinity to perform any of the higher-tier magecraft the Einzberns had, he could only perform the basics of alchemy, bounded fields and material transmutation, so Shirou couldn't be that much involved in most of the research.
He didn't have to.
He's been prepared for five years now ever since his father died, inheriting the Emiya Magical Crest and also the mantle of Magus Killer. He was actually glad that the family put a lot of focus on making sure that Ilya went in as prepared as she could ever be. Yes, she didn't like all the hard training and studying, sometimes whining about it and going into a tantrum, but hopefully it will pay off when whatever she learnt saves her life in the future.
She was truly a magnificent mage.
Shirou once saw her change the shape of her familiars in mid-flight from a bird into a sword then surging forward like a bullet, create solid objects out of air and even heal wounds at an alarmingly fast degree.
All of this though, didn't mean that Shirou could just lay back while his family members were busy working. If anything he was more than wanting to play his part in getting back the Third Magic, it was just that, his methods were more unconventional and unorthodox for mages.
This included daily training of his body and his skills, sometimes going out and jogging in the freezing cold outside and hunting any wild game so his skills wouldn't diminish. His family members didn't have to do any of these mundane things to keep in shape, they were mages; they could just will it. Then there was his way of getting information. While everyone else was still wondering how to use a fax machine or finally realizing that such a device even existed, Shirou already had a laptop. Getting internet was a pain in the back while he was at home. He had to beg on all fours to his Grandfather to erect a satellite at the observatory because he wanted to get connectivity.
Emiya Shirou was now in his study and printing out the dossiers of the other masters that will be participating in the upcoming Holy Grail Wars sent by the Magus Association.
"What are you looking at Onii-chan?" Ilya asked. She was now taking a break from her studies, spending time in her brother's room. She peered at the monitor of his laptop as Shirou scrolled through the dossiers. Shirou pressed the print button so that they could get a better look.
"It's the profiles of each of the masters that we will be working with for the Holy Grail War,"Shirou said.
"Uhhhh," Ilya's interest peaked up. She walked towards the printer and waited for all of the materials to be finished printing before taking it to her brother and pulling a chair and sitting next to him so they could read it together.
Currently there were six masters that have been chosen. Ilya recognized the names of the other families that were involved in the creation of the Holy Grail Wars, the Tohsakas and the Matous.
She gave the dossiers to her brother, who briefly scanned through it before reading it out aloud.
"Illyasviel Von Einzbern," Kotomine Shiro said aloud from a similar sheet of paper so Rin could hear him. The duo were in Rin's workshop which was in the basement of her house.
The workshop previously belonged to her father. The room was lit by dozens of candles through magecraft. There were numerous spell books that filled the shelves. A single altar was pushed to the side and a table was in the middle where they also sat around with a box full of files that contained the dossiers of the other masters in their faction and any other information that might be useful for the war that were sent and collected by their informants in the Magus Association. There were an assortment of magical instruments and flask that Shiro didn't want to know what it contained.
The first time Kotomine Shiro was in here, he and Rin sneaked into it so that they could read the more complex and advance spell books. The result was that the spell book came to life and tried pulling Rin into Jesus-knew-where, it was the timely arrival of Rin's father that they escaped without a scratch.
Now Rin inherited her father's workshop and everything within it. The first thing they agreed to do was to seal that crazy spell book.
"An heiress and also one of the Einzbern's Homunculus that was specifically designed to become the ultimate master in the Holy Grail Wars," Shiro continued.
"She has the elemental affinity of Ether. Her abilities include the thirtieth degree of Alchemy, Spiritual Evocation and Invocation, Material Transmutation, erection of Bounded Fields and the basics in all five of the Elemental Magecrafts, coupled that with the Einzbern's wish-craft sorcery trait"
"Hmmmphhh," Rin huffed in annoyance. Using a homunculus was like cheating since a homunculus can be programmed beforehand to know the exact spells and skills needed for their intended purpose. Though Rin's own skills is comparable to the homunculus, the fact that she had the added bonus of having a sorcery trait that allowed her to perform any magecraft simply by just wishing it was just overpowered.
As Rin looked at the picture of the person in question, she still had a hard time believing that such a small figure had so much raw potential. The girl couldn't be more than twelve years old judging by her look, or she could even be only two to three years old for all she knew since Rin knew that homunculus matured faster than humans.
"She'll be the one in charge of the creation, production and supply of the Einzbern Homunculi army while we're in Trifas," Shiro said.
The battle between them and Yggdmillennia would be on a scale that makes their own Fuyuki Holy Grail War like small fry. This wasn't just a battle between individuals, this was a battle between families and to an extent rivalling factions of Associations, if that was what you wanted to call Yggdmillennia as. The battle won't just be between masters and servants, anything that they could throw, homunculus, puppets, golems, familiars, summoned monsters, everything and anything they could use to give them an edge will be used and is desperately needed to win.
It was said that Yggdmillennia themselves were going to have their own army of Homunculi. Whether it can rival the Einzberns will be known in the future.
Kotomine Shiro turned the paper and continued reading the contents of the dossiers.
"Next is from the Matous. Hey look Rin, Sakura will be joining us," Shiro pointed.
"What?!" Rin said, surprised at what she was told.
"Sakura's coming as well?!" Rin asked again, not believing.
"Yeah, look. It seems that her grandfather, Zoken Matou, requested to send her and act as one of the masters," Shiro said.
"No…but I thought….." Rin said to herself nervously.
"What's wrong Rin?" Shiro asked. Rin quickly dropped her worried expression and looked back towards Shiro, hiding her previous worry with a smile.
"Ahhh, Don't worry Shiro, it wasn't anything. I just didn't thought the Matous had an heir after all this while," She said. Shiro eyed Rin, not believing entirely what she said.
Emiya Shirou stared at the picture of the beautiful young girl with violet hair and similarly colored eyes. Her hair was styled with a pink ribbon on her left side. In the picture she didn't smile and had a solemn look. The Matou heiress looked so beautiful yet tragic at the same time. As if something had happened to the person in the photo for her to appear as so, because in all of Shirou's life, he never heard anyone having purple eyes and similar colored-hair naturally.
If only there was something he could have done to help ease that pain. Maybe if his circumstances were different and he never met his father, he would have grew up in Japan and maybe would have met the girl, helping her in her plight whatever it may be. Who knows, they could have been good friends.
He wished there was a way he could make everyone happy. If he had to admit that he had wish that would be it, to become a 'Hero of Justice' and make sure nobody had to cry again, similarly like his father's wish, but he knew that it may be impossible to achieve, even with a miracle. The only thing he can do right now is save as many people as he can.
"What are you staring at for so long Onii-chan?" Ilya interrupted his thoughts.
"Huhu," Ilya caught her brother staring at the picture of the young beautiful Matou heiress, giving him a mischievous look.
"I never thought Onii-chan was already thinking of such things," Ilya said.
"What?! What do you mean Ilya?" Shirou said, pleading innocence.
"Don't try to hide it Onii-chan, I'm your little sister after all, there's nothing you can hide from me. I understand that you are already becoming an adult, and at some point you feel a need to find companions and lay down," Ilya continued.
"What are you talking about Ilya?" Shirou asked dumbfounded.
"Well she does seem 'bountiful' for her age don't you think? Huhu, but remember, if you want to have the hand of anyone Onii-chan they firstly have to go through me. Your little sister will make sure whoever becomes your life long companion will have to be able to provide you will all the necessities you require. And I mean all the necessities," she said mischievously.
Bountiful for her age? Have the hand of anyone? Life-long companion? Shirou was trying to figure out what the hell his little sister was eluding him to. And what did she meant by 'all necessities'?
That's when it clicked to him.
His face suddenly turned redder at the realization.
"For heaven's sake, Ilya! It's not like that!" Shirou said defensively.
"Huhu, you may say that now Onii-chan, but watch yourself when we meet up in Trifas, they will be trying to put spells on you and win you over. Fortunately, your little sister will be there to ward them off if they don't meet up to my standards," she declared happily.
"Ilya, now is not the time to be thinking about those things. We're going to war!" Shirou said.
"Just forget about any of that and focus on the task at hand," Shirou said, trying to quickly change the subject.
"Huhu, ok. But remember, little sister is watching," she said mischievously, eyeing her brother.
Shirou ignored his little sister's attempt at controlling his love life and instead continued on with the dossiers.
"Matou Sakura. There isn't much about her. The only abilities stated that she has is the Matous magecraft of 'absorption' and some of the basic spells and that she has some kind of Sorcery Trait, everything else is left undisclosed by the family. On paper her skills are almost like mine," Shirou said casually.
Ilya quickly eyed her brother at this remark, then made a wide mischievous grin.
"Not that it means anything," Shirou added before Ilya finally dropped her façade.
"But it seems strange," Shirou remarked.
"Why so?" Ilya asked.
"Well, because the Matous have been known to not have that many heirs and children that can perform magecraft. So where did she came from? And if it's so hard for the Matous to get an heir, then why waste it in fighting in the war when she herself doesn't seem that capable?" Shirou thought out loud.
"Who knows, maybe the Matous are just greedy. None of their actions made much sense. Weren't they the ones who implanted this precautionary step on the Grail? Being able to summon fourteen servants was their idea, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew more about the Grail than what we realize," Ilya commented.
"Yeah, maybe so," Shirou agreed.
"Moving on. Next we have Rin Tohsaka"
"Ohh, another beauty! And with blue eyes too!" Ilya remarked. Shirou just tried to ignore whatever she said. Anything that he added will only be used to fuel the fire his sister was trying to create.
The girl had long and wavy black hair, which was styled into twin-tails tied with matching black ribbons. In Ilya's words, she wasn't as bountiful as the Matou heiress, but her figure was like that of a model.
"Second Owner of the Spiritual Lands of Fuyuki and current heiress to the Tohsakas. She is an Average One. Compatible with all five forms of Magecraft. Bounded Fields, Spiritual Evocation and Invocation, along with the less commonly known Formalcraft and Witchcraft. Her specialty is in the Flowing and Transferring of Power and Energy specifically in Jewel Magecraft. It's even stated here that her family has knowledge concerning the Second Magic. She seems almost as good as you are Ilya," Shirou commented.
"Almost. Some normal girl could never reach my level," Ilya announced proudly.
"She studies in the Clock Tower during the summer breaks and is sponsored by the El-Melloi faction," Shirou continued.
Whoever this Tohsaka Rin was, she was the real deal. The very definition of a first-rate magus. She had the lineage, an elemental affinity that would have Lords cry over, owns a Spiritual Land and has ties with both the Church and the Magus Association. The only problem may be the fact that she was from Japan, which many people from the Magus Association looked down upon, though this didn't seem to deter her the least in her studies.
Personally, Shirou was just glad that there were other people who seemed like they could actually hold their own in a fight. Thou, whether the Tohsaka Heiress 'can' fight and prove useful during the Holy Grail War has yet to be seen.
Based on his own personal experience, most magus who focus on researching and studying magecraft couldn't hold themselves in a real fight. He'd met people who could bend the elements based on their will, create storms and enact miracles that seemed almost impossible to the normal layman, yet when in a real battle, mind you, real battles are not always 'fair' battles, they tend to do some of the most illogical and irrational things any sane man would do, and some of them don't even know how to fight sometimes.
It was a combination of what he thought was a backward traditionally-bounded mindset, overconfidence and underestimating ones opponent.
Only time will tell whether Tohsaka Rin fitted that bill or not.
"The Magus Association will be sending Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a first class Enforcer," Kotomine Shiro continued reading.
He sifted through the dossier, satisfied at the overall information he received about the Enforcer.
"You know her?" Rin asked.
"Not personally. We've worked in a few hunts before. I know at least that she's good, and I mean really good," Shiro said.
"How good?" Rin said worriedly.
"The type that might be able to take-out-servants-if-she-was-lucky good," Shiro said.
"She can take down servants?!" Rin said, not believing it.
"Her family members, the Fraga, have a Sorcery Trait called God Holders, also known as Tradition Carriers. It allows them to use the Noble Phantasm Fragarach," Shirou said casually.
"She has a Noble Phantasm?!" Rin still doubting Shirou's words.
"I don't know the conditions or how it is used, but I heard she can one-shot anyone with it," Shiro said.
"No way," Rin said.
"Other than that, she's not that good as a magus only specializing in runecraft, but with great efficiency. But so far, other than me, she has the most experience in direct combat, maybe even the strongest master in terms of combat in the whole war," Shiro said.
"Well, it's a good thing she's on our side," Rin remarked. Shiro nodded at this. He didn't want to spend his time fighting against her.
"Now onto the last master in our group," Shiro picked up the last file from the box.
"His name is…."
Emiya Shirou gazed long and hard at the thin piece of paper that held the last dossier of the last member of their group. It was a member from the Church. And although that was a surprise by itself, since members of the Church aren't encourage to practice magecraft, sometimes even frowned upon, what really caught his attention and put him in a baffled state was the person's name.
Kotomine Shiro.
….
….
….
It took Shirou a few seconds to process the sheer ridiculousness of the fact. How much of a coincidence was it that he had the same given name with another fellow master? The probability of it ever happening was beyond comprehension.
"Uhhh, Onii-chan, this guy got the same name as yours!" Ilya stated the obvious.
Shirou knew that the given name 'Shirou' may be a common name in Japan, but what was the probability that both were magus, were both fighting in the Holy Grail War AND were both on the same faction?
He didn't know if he should be relieved that he wouldn't have to put a bullet in someone that had the same name as himself or not. It would feel kind of odd, like he was killing himself. The only comfort he had was that both names may 'sound' the same, but they were 'written' differently in Japanese as he double checked.
Of course when it was translated into English, the spelling became the same and that was what got Emiya Shirou completely taken back at first.
"Onii-chan! This person stole your name!" Ilya pouted after glancing over the dossier.
Shirou gave a light chuckle.
"Well you couldn't blame him, 'Shirou' is a great name to have, anyone would want their child to have it," Shirou said, with a hint of pride.
Ilya wasn't satisfied by the answer she got, it felt like to her, that someone had just stolen her brothers identity. She gazed hard at the photo of the person. He had an innocent smile coupled with white hair that was combed backwards so it stood out.
Shirou continued to read through the printed profile.
"Kotomine Shiro," he said. It sounded weird when he said it.
"Age seventeen going to eighteen, son of Kotomine Risei, the supervisor and mediator dispatched from the Church during the Third Fuyuki Holy Grail War. A member of the Executors and the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament. Knows all of the forms of the Holy Sacraments including the Counter Magic employed by the Order of the Templars. Studied under the Tohsakas in basic magecraft theory. The five basic elemental theories of magecraft, spiritual Evocation and Invocation…..yada yada yada…" Shirou continued, jumping through some of the things that didn't interested him.
Then finally something caught his attention.
"What is it Onii-chan?" Ilya asked curiously. It was rare that her brother showed so much interest in another person. He didn't even showed this kind of interest towards the targets that he was ordered to neutralized, since that would hamper his ability to kill them.
Emiya Shirou was reading the profile of Kotomine Shiro, and what caught his attention the most wasn't his skill or the fact that they shared the first name, but what caught the young Emiya's interest was his counterpart's accumulative combat experience.
"He went to how many Fake Holy Grail Wars?!" Rin bellowed. The thought that someone had almost the exact same name as her best friend was almost a sheer coincidence that even made her cringe, but after going through the person's profile, Rin couldn't believe that such a person with so little skills can do so much.
And the guy's her age for heaven's sake!
"Seven in total, the most recent one was about two months ago. Out of the thirteen False Holy Grail Wars the Einzberns entered, he participated in seven of them, the other six his father entered before he died," Kotomine Shiro stated again. He was as baffled as Rin was. Which was one of the reasons why he complied to Rin when she asked him to repeat again what he just read of. His eyes could be tricking him for all he knew.
"In three of those wars, it was said that he was able to summon a Saber class servant, the identity of the servant is not known," Shiro continued.
"And he won in all of them?" Rin asked.
"When you mean 'won' as in 'the last guy left standing', then yes, he won in all of them," Shiro said.
Who the hell was this guy?
Emiya Shirou.
Also known by the alias of 'Faker' in the freelance business, since he specialized in gradation air and reinforcement magecraft, two forms of magecraft that from Kotomine Shiro's point of view, couldn't be that useful even if he wanted it to.
Was there something more to the alias 'Faker' than what he thought of?
"Tearing and Dismantlement of Bounded Fields, the basics of Material Transmutation, inherited the Emiya Crest. His skills includes sharpshooting, hand-to-hand combat, western-style swordsmanship, and also is a natural athlete," Shiro kept on reading.
Seriously, the skill sets and abilities of this impersonator did nothing to help him show that he actually earned the name similar to Kotomine Shiro's.
What was really glaring was his track record. His overall experience and his history.
"This doesn't make any sense," Emiya Shirou finally spoke.
"Why not?" Ilya asked.
"Because it's all over the place," Shirou said, annoyed with Kotomine Shiro's profile and track record.
"He first became an Executor trainee at Shura's Den, then right before graduating he changed so that he instead worked with the Templars and learned their ways of purging magecraft, then he applied to be part of the elite Swiss Guard and be stationed in the Vatican, he got an offer to become a part of the Burial Agency but eventually turned it down, then finally settled as an Executor in the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament," Shirou said.
"So what? He didn't like what he was doing. So he changed jobs," Ilya concluded.
"No, no. You don't get it Ilya, Church members don't change jobs. Each member of the Church eventually becomes content with their role and believes that that is their 'calling' unless their superiors says otherwise, they only move within their given role, and the records even showed that he did well in each job," Shirou explained and pointed out.
But that wasn't the case with this person, that's what Emiya Shirou thought. It wasn't just a simple, 'I don't like my job' or 'I wanted to try out new things', there was something going through the mind of Kotomine Shiro when he transferred from one job to the other, as if he was searching for something. And then he finally settled in as an Executor in the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament. What was in there that halted his haphazard job-changing pursuit?
And then there was the whole confusion regarding his profile.
Not only was there a serious lack of information regarding him and what he actually did, but some of the things didn't seem consistent.
The first thing that Shirou found baffling was his age. If Kotomine Shiro was the supposedly son of Kotomine Risei, then Risei had to be at least eighty years old when he had him, which didn't seem possible nor practical for someone his age to have children. Maybe Shirou could give the benefit of the doubt and say that Risei 'adopted' and raised young Kotomine out of kindness, ignoring the fact that he was already old enough to be able to take care of anyone else, but then what about the baffling track record the young Kotomine had?
He had to be at least thirteen when he exorcised his first Demon. Does the Church even allow kids to do that at such a young age?
Kotomine Shiro continued to scan through the Faker's track record. His eyes darted quickly from one line to the other.
When the Magus Killer was alive, Faker would sometimes follow him in the many freelance missions and False Holy Grail Wars they were dispatched to. Whether Faker had his first kill during these times were unknown, but his first official kill was when he was fourteen, two years after his father's death.
And the jobs didn't stop there, he continued to kill one after the other, until finally he made a name out of himself. That added to the fact the he participated in one Holy Grail War to the other, with the conclusion of each war a fake.
What were the Einzberns doing to him? What was his father teaching him that he could go through all that without breaking?
How could a mere child go through all that and yet still have the will to continue on?
Could someone, anyone for that matter, sacrifice and kill so much and yet still have the strength to continue on their quest?
"This guy seems like a monster," Rin commented, she looked disturbed after reading the profile of Emiya Shirou.
"Twenty one hits in the span of three years, and that didn't include the collateral damage. What in the world is up with this guy?" Rin asked rhetorically.
Kotomine Shiro thought the same thing.
What in the world was the matter with this guy?
What could push him to go so far at such a young age and yet not break?
Was he like him?
Was there somebody else like him? Emiya Shirou thought.
Was there someone else out there that believed in the same ideals as he did?
Was there someone else who thought that it was more important to save as many people as one can rather than thinking whether the lives were worth saving at all?
"Onii-chan, you're making that serious look again," Ilya interrupted Shirou's thoughts.
"Ohh, sorry Ilya," Shirou apologized, quickly changing his demeanor and then proceeding with a smile. Ilya didn't like it when Shirou had his 'serious' look on, it reminded her of their father when he wasn't all fatherly anymore, and it was also the look Shirou gave when he wanted to kill somebody.
Though his face didn't show it, his mind was still thinking about the young Kotomine.
"Well that's it for now I guess, that's all of us in the White Faction, or what Clock Tower dubbed as the Alliance of Magus," Shirou said.
"What about the last person? Shouldn't there be seven masters altogether?" Ilya asked inquisitively.
"Well it says here that the Holy Church wanted the last place, and the Magus Association couldn't find another capable person in time, so we'll just have to wait and see," Shirou said, glancing back at the dossiers.
Regardless where they were or whether their names were almost identical or not, both Shirous looked back at the profiles of their counterparts, trying to understand the person behind that simple piece of paper.
Were they the same?
What pushed them to move forward?
What was their deepest desire?
It seemed that their questions had to wait until they met up in Trifas for the Great Holy Grail War. They will be teaming up after all.
Author's Notes:
For the sake of the reader's convenience, the spelling of both characters are spelled so that they are easily distinguishable yet they sound the same. One is Emiya 'Shirou' the other one is Kotomine 'Shiro'. Notice the absence of 'u' in Kotomine's name.
Although in the Type-Moon wiki, both names are written as 'Shirou', and in this story every character 'reads' their names when translated to English as the same spelling. It is also to be noted that the spelling of both character's names are written differently in Japanese.