After a few more hours of training, the group decided to call it a day. After packing their weapons and equipment back into their briefcases, Shirou, Illya and Yukari hop back into their jeep and drive back to the city of Ha Long.
By the time they reached the city, night has fallen. They parked their jeep at the warehouse where they originally found it and make the journey back to their speedboat at the docks. They walk through the busy market again which is now illuminated by the lights from the stalls.
Illya and Yukari were conversing with each other and enjoying their free time as they look at the various clothes and gifts that were selling at the stalls they happen to pass by. But Shirou was awfully silent since returning back from their training. He remained quiet as he bought more groceries and ingredients from the food stalls. No doubt Yukari is concerned over Shirou's current state and fully aware that perhaps their earlier conversation during lunch had troubled him, maybe even made him lost some respect for her. But she didn't regret what she did and hearing his past only made her want to help him even more. Hopefully things will get better when they return back to the yacht.
After buying the gifts from the stall, Yukari and Illya turn to the grocery stall beside it where Shirou is paying the shopkeeper after buying some leeks.
"Are you done?" Illya asked Shirou.
Shirou turned to the women and gave a wan smile. "Yeah, I'm good to go." He replied with a lack of emotion.
They continue walking through the market but suddenly stop at their tracks when they heard a scream. The three gasped while the civilians in the market turn their heads in shock and confusion.
"What was that?!" Yukari cried in alarm.
"It came from over there!" Shirou yelled, pointing at the direction of the scream. The three quickly dash off.
In the middle of a small roundabout outside of the market, a man with messy black hair and dressed in a simple and dirty light blue collar shirt, brown pants and black shoes had his arm wrapped around the neck of a woman as they stood in front of a fountain. Several police officers stood in front of them with their pistols aimed at him. The man had his own pistol which he pressed it against the woman's stomach. Several civilians idly stood nearby and watch the scene in horror and bewilderment.
"Don't you dare shoot motherfuckers, or I'll kill this bitch!" The man bellowed at the officers. The officers remain silent as they aim their pistols at the man while his hostage trembled and breathed heavily in fear. After a few moments of tense silence, the man's crooked, misshapen teeth broke out into an ugly grin.
The man cackled insanely and shouted at the police officers, "You guys really are a bunch of fucking cowards, just like my piece of shit ex-girlfriend!" His face now distorts into a ferocious snarl. "I apologize to her for what I've done, but instead of forgiving me, she just told me to fuck off! I did everything to get her back, but she was too fucking stubborn to understand my feelings for her! And now, she's with another man. I hate her. I fucking hate her! She hurt my fucking feelings! So now, I need another woman in my life. And none of you assholes are going to ruin my life the same way she did to me! So fuck off, you motherfuckers!" The man looked at the woman and smirked. "Or I'll shoot this bitch."
Unbeknownst to the assailant and the police officers, Shirou, Illya and Yukari arrived at the scene on the other side of the roundabout. Shirou turns to the alleyway beside them and gestured Illya and Yukari to follow him. As they hide in the alleyway, Shirou quickly place down his grocery bags and briefcase. He opens up his briefcase to reveal his disassembled sniper rifle.
"Archer, what are you doing?" Yukari asked. Shirou ignored her as he quickly assembles his sniper rifle within less than a minute. He quickly stood up and aims his sniper rifle at the head of the assailant who is still taunting the police and holding the innocent woman as his hostage. "ARCHER!"
"Quiet!" Shirou snapped, trying to keep his focus on the deranged man.
"Archer, do NOT resort to killing that man!" Yukari rebuked.
"Caster, we are not debating this again!" Shirou yelled back.
"Archer, please listen to me!" Yukari cried. Shirou narrows his eyes as he lowers his rifle slightly, letting Yukari continue, "I know you're still troubled over your friend's death, and I don't blame you. But this isn't like how you dealt with that terrorist back then."
"But what if the assailant had something up his sleeve even when I injure him?" Shirou said.
"You should learn from your mistakes. But you can't always let your guilt and past stop you from doing what's right." Yukari lectured.
Shirou grits his teeth and gave a low growl. As he raised his sniper rifle again, he aims at the assailant, but this time at his thigh.
"I hope you are right, Caster." Shirou murmured under his breath. He pulled the trigger and fires a bullet through the assailant's thigh.
The man yelled as he released the woman. As the woman ran off and quickly escorted away from the scene by some police officers, the man fell to the ground, curling himself up and screaming in extreme pain and agony. His eyes are as wide as saucers as he looks down at the round-shaped wound on his left thigh with blood slowly oozing out of it.
"AAAAHHH! MY LEG! A HOLE! THERE'S A HOLE!"
While the man is down, the other police officers quickly take the opportunity to surround him. One of them kneels down to check the pockets on the man's clothes.
"He's not carrying anything else." The officer said firmly to his superior.
"Take him in!" His superior commanded.
As the assailant howled in agony while he is being handcuffed, Shirou's eyes widened in disbelief, trying to comprehend what had happened. As they stood behind him, Yukari and Illya were smiling in relief.
"YOU DID IT, ARCHER-CHAN!" Illya yelled enthusiastically as she wraps her arms around Shirou and embraces him tightly.
"I…I did it." Shirou murmured as he lowers his rifle.
Yukari nods her head and places her hand on his shoulder. "You've done well, Archer-san." She said.
"You're a hero…" Illya uttered blissfully. A huge grin plasters across her face as she snuggled him.
Shirou stared blankly for a few moments, unsure of what to do. But soon after, a large smile finally began to take form on his face. With a sigh, he responded to them, "Yeah…I did well."
After getting back into their motorboat and contacting Rin that they are returning, Shirou, Illya and Yukari drive their way back to the yacht.
Illya and Yukari watched the city of Ha Long slowly fading into the darkness as they drove further away from it.
"Yukino-san," Shirou spoke, causing Yukari to turn to him at the driver's seat. "I guess I owe you an apology. If you weren't with me, I would have actually killed that man."
Yukari smiled at him. "We may have different views, but we're still teammates." Shirou responded by turning his head and giving her a smirk.
"Welcome home guys!" Chulainn and Rin both cordially greeted when Shirou, Illya and Yukari entered the interior of the yacht.
"Hello!" The three happily responded. Shirou immediately heads to the kitchen to cook while Illya, Yukari, Chulainn and Rin go over to the table and take their seats. As they wait for Shirou to prepare their dinner, Illya excitedly shares with Chulainn and Rin what had happened today, partially regarding Yukari's training but mostly on Shirou's heroic action in the city. She did get sidetracked later on however when she began rambling about how Shirou took care of the crook by punching him in the face and throwing him into the fountain while the police officers and bystanders cheered him on. Even though Yukari, Rin and Chulainn know that she is now fabricating and showing off her blind affection for Shirou, they just sat idly and listen to her stories, waiting for her to finish letting out all of the excitement and hyperactivity in her body.
An hour had passed and by the time Illya finished her ramblings, Shirou had finished cooking their dinner. Shirou placed the tray of food on the table which includes a plate of banh khot and seven bowls of beef noodles. After Shirou placed the bowls in front of his teammates, Ricky and Saber got out of her office and walk over to the dining table with their hands locked together.
"Good evening everyone." Ricky greeted.
"Saber! Ricky!" Illya replied cheerfully.
"What are we having for dinner tonight, Shirou?" Saber asked.
"Vietnamese beef noodles and banh khot. I hope you'll love them." Shirou said.
"I can't wait to try it out." Saber replied with a small smile.
"We haven't seen you two for an awfully long time. Care to explain what you two were doing?" Chulainn asked with a playful smirk.
"Mind your own business." Ricky gave a sly grin to Chulainn while holding up a middle finger.
"That's the Assassin I know." Rin smiled approvingly. "It's good to have you back."
"Yeah, it ain't easy coping with what I've experienced, but I'm glad you guys are here for me. Especially Saber." Ricky said. He, Saber and Shirou grab their seats and sit down.
"Boss, I have something to say before we eat." Shirou said to Saber.
"What is it, Shirou?" She inquired.
"I think even if Yukari wouldn't become a good shooter, I'm totally fine with her not using a gun at all." Shirou said, glancing at Yukari with a smirk on his face. Yukari smiled back at him. Shirou turns back to Saber and continued, "I believe this team is complete with Yukari not carrying a gun, and it also makes her what a truly special member she is to this team."
Saber quietly nods her head for a moment before she spoke, "I think so too." Yukari's smile widens as she stares at her leader. "Now let's eat." Saber ordered her teammates.
Shirou and Yukari place their hands together and cheered, "Itadakimasu!"
"And while we eat, I can tell you two what happened during Yukari's training and what Shirou did in the city today!" Illya said to Ricky and Saber ecstatically as she holds up her cutlery.
"Do tell." Ricky said.
Rin groaned as she rolls her eyes back and let her arms droop limply at her sides. "Not again…" She said miserably. The others laughed.
As they ate their dinner, Illya began sharing her stories to everyone present at the table again. Shirou watched everyone conversing and eating with his lips curved into a blissful smile. As he took careful review of the current situation, he is suddenly filled with a memory of his past.
1 Year Ago…
Unknown Location
Shirou and Ayako sat together on a bench beside the door of Kiritsugu's office. It's been 24 hours since they returned to the headquarters from Fukuoka, and after much consideration, Kiritsugu had decided to transfer his son to another team. He hoped that with his son under the leadership and guidance of one of his best men, Shirou can recover from his guilt over the loss of his friend and regain his morale as a mercenary. But Shirou was half-hearted over this decision as he sees this as a sign that his father has lost some faith in him as his son and a mercenary, and this also means he would no longer be working alongside his remaining friend Ayako.
"I guess we aren't in the same team anymore. I'm sorry." Shirou said to Ayako apologetically as he stared at the wall in front of him.
"You did yell at your father after all. And it's alright, there's no need to apologize." Ayako said. "Your father is just doing what's best for you. You are a great sniper in the field and he doesn't want to let a good man like you go to waste." She gave Shirou a warm smile as she gently pats him on the back. "I hope you will feel better, and when that happens, I wish you all the best. Sayonara Emiya-kun."
Shirou turned to Ayako and replied to her in a dull voice, "Sayonara Mitsu-senpai." Ayako gets up from the bench and walked off. As she leaves, the door beside Shirou opens.
Shirou turned to his left and see a woman with blonde hair, tied to a ponytail and dressed in a black suit, gloves, pants and shoes walking out of his father's office. After she closed the door behind her, she turned to him.
"Shirou Emiya?" She asked. Shirou gets up from the bench and stood straight in front of her.
"Are you Arturia Pendragon?" Shirou asked.
The woman nodded and folds her arms. "Please refer me as Saber."
"Yes…" Shirou nodded. "Saber…"
"Your father told me what kind of mercenary you are. I would definitely love to have someone like you in my team." Saber extends her hand to Shirou. "Welcome to the team…Archer."
Shirou stared wordlessly at Saber's hand for a few moments before he grabs it and shook with Saber. Shirou closed his eyelids and gave a solemn bow to his new leader. "Saber…I promise you that with every ounce of willpower I have, I will protect you and everyone in the battlefield."
Saber responded with a warm smile on her face. "I'm glad to hear that."
Shirou elicited a blissful sigh. Looking back at it now, it was a good moment for him. The moment he was accepted into Saber's team, he became part of a group that felt more than a team of elite soldiers who are only waiting to be hired and earn money. To most people, they think they are a group of people who only think for themselves. But personally to him, those people are wrong.
As Shirou looked down at his food and began to eat, a thought flittered through his mind.
'This is more than just a team. It's a family.'
Zouken Matou lets out an irritated sigh as he places down his empty cup on the table in front of him. Ever since his plans in creating the Grail missiles and Od serum were exposed to the world, he and his remaining employees who escaped from the authorities were forced into hiding underground. His representatives tried to defend him but the evidence was so strong against him that his former headquarters was forcibly shut down by the Japanese government. While him and his remaining employees are fortunate to have places where they can seek refuge after fleeing Japan, this incident had no doubt since been a thorn on Zouken's side.
Everything he had worked so hard for decades to accomplish including money, power and resources are instantly gone in a blink of an eye and he holds a grudge on the people responsible for exposing his plans in creating his ultimate weapons. Even in his old and thinly body, he will do anything to get revenge on the people who had brought his company and reputation to ruins.
He looked up at the pair of doors in front of him when he heard a few knocks. "Come in." He grumbled.
The doors opened and Kirei Kotomine, dressed in his usual dark blue trench coat, steps into the room with his hands placed behind his back.
"Matou-sama, I'm happy to report that our factory in Iceland had finished the third round of manufacturing the Od serum." Kirei reported.
"Good." Zouken said curtly with a nod. "But now, after what happened to our train in Russia, we have to be very careful with how we transport the serum to our location."
"Especially when it might attract the attention of those meddlers who constantly thwarted our plans again." Kirei added. "Thankfully, if it wasn't for the few drips of the serum your granddaughter recovered from the train wreck, we wouldn't have made any sort of progress at all."
"That is why I want the both of you to head down to Iceland. Recover our newly made serum and get them over here…by any means necessary." Zouken said darkly.
Kirei places his hand on his chest and bows down to his boss. "Yes, Matou-sama."
As Kirei got up, he turns to his right and sees a young red-eyed woman stepping out of the shadows. She has a red ribbon tied at the left side of her long white hair and dressed in a black long-sleeved dress with red stripes.
"Come. We have a mission to do." Kirei said to the woman as she walked over to the back of the couch Zouken is sitting on.
Zouken turns his head to the side and said to the woman, "Do not fail me, Sakura."
Sakura Matou responded to her grandfather as she gazes at Kirei and folds her arms, "I won't."
Sovereign: I would like to thank CrazyLich79 for following my story and Crimson-Tuna-Sub for checking out my story. Thanks guys! I hope you all enjoy this story arc. It may not be thrilling and exciting as the previous arcs, but I hope you all enjoy what this arc had to offer. Stay tune for the next chapter and read and review!