DISCLAIMER
The following is a fan-based
FICTION
Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul Root A and Tokyo Ghoul:re and other products related to the TG Series are all owned by Sui Ishida, Shin Towada and Shueisha.
F/SN, F/Z, F/KPI and other products related to the Fate Series are all owned by TYPE-MOON, Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.
Chapter 25: Ultimatum
Shirou stared nervously at the closed door of the elevator, his mind going through a process of understanding what had happened after he had been found having repelled the Owl.
Between the curious glances from Juuzou and Shinohara and the suspicious stares from Kuroiwa and Marude, he had expected to be the one that exposed magecraft to so many humans.
What truly made it worse was that not even Zelretch would have been able to overturn a sealing designation if such thing was the case.
Yet his fears froze and shattered as they all returned to the 1st ward.
A frantic, young man awaited for the Commander and the vice-Commander to give some news from the director's himself.
When the two returned to the team, they gave a curious look to Shirou, Juuzou's eyes glowing in astonishment and awe.
The Emiya's confusion would last until he reached back to his workshop, where a panicking Koitsu paced back and forth.
"You almost got caught! And what worse I think someone is trying to take advantage of the situation."
As the researcher explained with great details the reason that had changed the men's reaction to his actions not so many hours ago, Shirou felt oddly cold.
Why would Arima-san say such a lie?
"Because he knows. And now you are going to be used by the big fishes."
Oh?
While the Magus had been more than careful to not give too much serious thought to Chigyou's theories, this one was among the few that actually made sense to him.
If the Reaper meant to take tutelage of his case, then that would give him enough leverage to push Shirou to become his puppet.
A risky move as the Emiya knew that Arima's true strenght depended on a limited amount of Quinques, which Shirou could easily copy and use at their maximum potential.
It would have ended like with Gilgamesh, minus the constant fear of being blasted off from Ea.
Someone knocked at the door, someone with a guard uniform. "Emiya-san? Arima-san requires your presence in his office."
Gulping down the dread into his stomach, Shirou sighed as Koitsu tried uselessly to make him stay away from the end of his humanity.
Part of his mind scowled at that sentence, knowing full well that whatever the Reaper was going to ask from him was going to be more lenient than what EMIYA had suffered as Alaya's dog.
Thus here he was, in that small elevator that led to the more important offices, and his eyes blinked as the doors opened to reveal the white-grey complex that was Arima's office.
The white-haired man sat quietly in his seat, finishing reading the after-report of the Suppression Operation.
"Shirou Emiya, I hope I have not taken you away from anything important."
The Magus bit down a scowl at the blatant lackful 'apologise', noticing how it was just a formality.
"No, Arima-san. But- Can we just skip this whole spectacle."
The Investigator blinked, finally settling the papers down, his grey eyes staring impassively at the young man.
"Please.. take a seat."
The Emiya complied, sitting to the chair in front of Arima, waiting for the truth to be told.
"I think we both know you are not a 'normal' human being, Shirou-san." The reaper paused, his mind getting proper words to relied upon the silent witness as to avoid any possible fallout in the half-truth he had prepared.
"You are a Magus. I know this... The director does not."
A grimace appeared on Shirou's place as the dread in his stomach painfully spread to his bones as he kept silent, waiting for whatever his possible, new blackmailer was planning for him.
At least he will avoid a lecture from Rin for 'having been a moron and revealed the existance of Magecraft to the world', but also get a lecture for 'having been a moron and let another man blackmail him to do whatever his wishes'.
Sometimes the Emiya truly wished the world had kept the same, sane days it had before the Holy Grail War, before he got pulled into hell and all.
"Your abilities can be used for the right purpose.. but I do not wish a slave, Emiya-san. I wish an ally."
"An.. ally?" For the many possible ways this discussion could have ended, Shirou had not expected this one actually.
The Reaper nodded. "You need to understand that while the CCG is an organisation shown to be the only obstacles between monsters and humans, there is much more about the family leading this establishment of Ghoul."
Shirou blinked.
Arima's words felt wrong to hear from someone as important as he was to the CCG.
"Have you noticed that the current disposition of the RC scanners doesn't abide with the standard rules. How some patterns are purposely removed from being detected."
His eyes went wide, remembering how he had asked to Koitsu about that very detail.
"Order from the high chief. It seems that some patters are just faulty with humans with high RC counts."
"You did? Good. Then I hope you understand what I'm implying there now."
Silent fell as the freezing feeling of realisation washed upon the unprepared Magus, now grasping why there was something wrong with the organisation.
"The Washuu are ghouls.."
Amber eyes barely glanced into the grey ones of the reaper, the Investigator merely nodded at the affirmation, confirming his theory, making it a fact.
"A mask for a family of Ghoul that cannibalise fellow Ghouls. A mask that kept the brutal repression that many of their people suffer even now. But.. there is more, there are more skeletons in the wardrobe."
What did he mean-
"My full name is Kishou Arima-Washuu, my father is Tsuneyoshi Washuu, previous chairman of the CCG. I'm half-human."
Shirou Emiya opened the door of his flat with a serious expression in his visage.
There was just so much to think. There was so much to decide.
"I extend to you this offer of friendship, Emiya-san. I will give you one day to choose according to your wishes."
It's not a choice if there is just a way out.
He sighed and let his body fall onto the sofa, barely noticing the already turned on lights of the hallway leading to the guest room.
Silent feet approached the unaware Magus and, the blue missile hitting him from above woke him up a little bit.
"Sensei! Why didn't you told me!" Panic was replaced by the classic annoyance of being tired.
"Saiko-chan? Oh, if you mean about Arima-san then I-" "I had to discover it from Ku-baka while I was preparing a cake to congratulate you for having that super-important mission and-" "Saiko-chan?"
She paused, melting a little above him shoulders as she waited in patient silence.
"You made a cake.. for me?"
"Sure I did!" She huffed, yet her tone lacked the same fury it previously held. "I put it in the fridge since I didn't want to have it melt as I waited."
Shirou felt his chest warming up, a curious hole he didn't know to have in his soul getting filled by happiness.
It had always been him that he had waited for others to return home.
Sure, Sakura would help him with cooking, but he would be the one greeting her, Rin and Rider at his-their home.
It felt.. nice that someone did the same for him.
"Thank you."
The girl huffed once more as her eyes slowly closed, her energy finally drained and her body started to fall asleep.
The soft snores that reached the back of his head, widened the small smile in his face as he closed his tired eyes too, letting sleep take him away from the worries of the world.
AN
Today I will do another chapter of CCG Repairman, tomorrow I plan to finish Ghoul man with its last two chapters (it's long overdue) and Sunday is going to be a double chapter for Fukuro no Sewa. Human King is going to have double chapter Monday and in Thursday I will do a mixed Human King-CCG Repairman schedule.
Also I might be forced to rework the schedules a bit by January as I've been asked by multiple readers of some stories I wrote few months ago that wish to see a sequel I had promised to do. Together with this, as scheduled in the ARC 3 of FPO, I will start Fate/ Last Heaven. It will be a gift to celebrate Heaven Feel's second movie and a comeback of Ultimate Gun Game with its protagonist, BUT! Said protagonist has been reworked to fit a much different spectrum of emotions. About this last bit, I will finish by saying that Pairings had been chosen, Shirou will have his harem but someone will be removed from it to be paired with the OC. It will not be Sakura like last time but I will not be pushed away from this idea of pairing as I have a grand planning about it.
Review Q&A!
Dreiundzwanzing: I know... it's just that I'm quite a scaredy cat when I see just two-three readers reviewing. The reason I took too long in arriving to Jason's arc was because I was following a bit the pace of the manga. I still find it annoying that Banjou's and Kaneki's attempted escape wasn't even mentioned in the manga, nor was the meeting between Shironeki and Sen Takatsuki during the book signing. Kenny will lose some of his tragedgeyegdey persona and be a little more honest to himself. Lastly, Thank you!
ThatIdioticMelody: I find great relief that it's been two years since I passed my final exams at High School. Now I face Uni's exams and boi, those are interesting pieces! Also, thank you!
Kayen1024: Actually no. It wasn't Caren.. but you got the right part of the universe.
Yolea Irk's: Eto finds Shirou an absurd puzzle Arima had prepared to her way after finding the candidate. She still thinks Kaneki is the candidate Arima meant as she found out that they shared the same book's tastes. Also, she is of the idea that the King needs to be a Ghoul, thus she exclude Shirou with a quick glance. A mistake, one she will have to live with as she will discover it later on. The trio of investigators fell off on the floor under the roof and they speeded to reach back as Kuroiwa and Shinohara (both equipped with the Aratas) were supposed to be the only ones able to take down something like the Owl.
About Quinx squad and Saiko, I've planned something for next chapter and it's one of the conditions Arima will impose upon Shirou as his ally. Yes there will be some points imposed upon the protag, some good, some secret. (You should also remove the copy review you posted with your last one. It's literally the same as the one you posted 4 hours early that the last one.)
KRKing: Interesting! But I think that Omake will be published after the Shirou-Mama one I'm preparing.
PervyPanda: A spar is planned, maybe next chapter. Also I will timeskip, but after everything is ready and dandy to pull it perfectly.
nanox876: Kaneki suffered just a week of torture with Jason, I've theorised the centipede was put there by Week2-3 of the canon torture.
Tobi14: Yamori heard of Kuzen a bit before Tokyo Ghoul Jack, when he was still sane. While Cochlea continues underground, there is nothing that connects the 24th Ward with the prison, the wards are just quite close to each other.