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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
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Chapter 19: Chariot (2)
If there was something that Shirou was finding rather nerve-wracking, it was how Kiritsugu was purposely avoiding to make even the simplest of interactions with him.
Having awaken from his slumber and dealt with the sudden dog-pile attack from the girls, the red-haired boy had turned his attention to some quick questions that had sparked from his still-sleepy mind.
If Illya was here with the others, were Leysritt and Sella in the house too?
The answer was given by the arrival of the two maids, now wearing more casual clothes, after the 'cuddle session' had been interrupted. The short-haired woman had a simple dark-red jacket and tight jeans on herself, while her 'sister' was donning a brown blouse and a lighter-brown long skirt.
They had rushed to the bed, but instead of following the girls' past 'attempt at his life', they decided to merely club him with numerous concerned questions about his current state. It was mostly Sella that went with the precise inquiries, 'Liz' preferring to keep her own queries relatively generic but about the more important issues regarding his situation.
The second inquiry being how much time had passed since he was awake and that was a reply offered by the dutiful 'servants'. Almost a full day spent resting from what had happened at the castle, Kiritsugu requiring them all to be safe and stable enough to take the flight.
It was only after having survived the hounding of the all-female group that the young Emiya remembered that there was also someone else to think about.
Kiritsugu had looked calm, far too calm, as he prepared some coffee for himself. Shirou had reached the small kitchen to see him during the process, staying silent as he expected the man to finally spurn in action the moment he saw the child entering in the room and…
He merely stared at him.
Silent, surprised even, but not giving much of a mere nod to greet him a 'good morning'. The redhead was quick to notice that he was now sporting some bandages as visible from his now open dark-gray shirt.
That encounter was incredibly brief as the room was soon invaded by the rest of the group and… food was prepared for the hungry girls thanks to the two maids' (Sella's) efforts.
Breakfast proceeded as loudly as expected, the girls being swift to shift their attention to try and explain how things had gone during his unconsciousness, Taiga being the most vocal of the cadre as she narrated the story in quick Japanese.
After he had fainted mid-fight, Kiritsugu had managed to get him and Illya, with the aid of the two remaining maids, out of the Einzbern Castle. The moment the Golem had died, the entire hive-mind system that controlled the majority of the Einzbern's homunculi had followed it to the afterlife.
They had all fallen to the ground like string-less puppets, going still as their 'life' vanished from their husks. Sella and Leysritt being swift to reach for the unharmed Illya and the two injured Emiyas, helping them to walk to where the mercenary had left his car.
The route to reach the car had been a slow but hasty one as both him and his adoptive father required medical assistance the quickest possible.
Once they had all arrived to the vehicle, the older Emiya had managed to drive back to the house where the others still were, the three girls having been panicking for the 'missing' Shirou for hours at that point.
In that exact moment, the boy was subjected to receive a single slap from the 'worried ladies' and soon his poor right cheek was turned a pained bright red at the strength of this 'reward' for worrying them so much.
Taking a crescendo of damage, from a -2HP from Caren, to a -3HP from Gray's meek one, and an aching -5HP from an irritated Tiger's retribution.
With the dark-haired man close to fall unconscious himself as the wounds had left him far too weakened to get him to stay conscious enough to patch himself up, it was Sella herself that decided to carry him to the house and ask for assistance in Japanese.
Since Taiga was the only one speaking and understanding the language, she was the one that rushed to help and assist the application of the bandages and medicines for both father and son.
Having a basic training as a nurse, something that her grandfather had demanded from her to conclude before completing her fourth year at Homurahara, the brunette knew what she was doing and the patching-up process was actually incredibly well done from the way maids praised her.
The girl basked in a little bit of glory, smiling eye to eye at the fact she was the one that did 'the most' in those moments, much to the chagrin and silent fury from the rest of the females.
Yet the Gamer's concerns lied within a singular problem.
The girls now knew about Magecraft by the mere fact that the Fujimura was showing no hesitation in describing the castle and they seemed fairly knowing of what was going on in the backstage of the events there.
Wasn't it a bad thing if other people knew about this secret?
But if Kiritsugu didn't show any issue with it… was it truly bad?
As a 'Magus', Shirou had much to learn about the world but the boy knew one thing for sure. There had to be a reason as of why the Association didn't want other people to reveal their 'tricks' to the world.
...Still, the man was fine with it so… maybe he could too?
The attention then shifted to the fact regarding Illya's integration to the group, something that Shirou noticed had been terribly quick. Not only had the white-haired, red-eyed girl picked up quickly some of the Japanese words from Taiga, the little Einzbern had also decided to address him with a strange and somewhat incorrect honorific.
"Oniichan."
And while her pronunciation was correct, there was still… her accent. It gave a soft but edged corner to the word in particular, something that incredibly left him speechless every time he heard say that.
Of course, his reaction to this didn't pass unnoticed to the rest of the bunch and soon Gray and Caren tried to give 'pursuit' over the matter, with the English-girl having still some issues about his first name while calling him 'Shirou-san' and the Italian child calling him 'Shiro-kun'.
The conversation expanded from that to the most important of issues, being 'when' they were supposed to return back to Fuyuki.
"Soon." Kiritsugu replied curtly and giving little else to the discussion as Taiga once more took the lead. With Leysritt, Sella and Illya now joining the group, the older Emiya had to go and order three new tickets for the flight they were supposed to take and the delay was by just a single day, that day.
And so by tomorrow they would be out of Germany and on the path to be back to his… hometown.
With the first meal of the day finished and the four girls rushing for the bathroom (Leysritt and Sella aiding little Illya and Caren in the 'competition'), Shirou found himself in the room alone with Kiritsugu.
The mercenary was aware of this too, but instead of displaying this with some change in his calm demeanor, he just remained quiet, waiting for something to happen.
The silence was quite unnerving, the redhead having trouble to actually stare at the man as he felt that something was truly going to happen. Something that he wasn't going to like since by now it wasn't impossible for his secret to be put in jeopardy by the suspicions of his guardian.
Kiritsugu stood up and stared at the table for a moment, then his eyes shifted back to the boy.
"Shirou." His voice was clear, but lacking any semblance of emotions to it. "How are you feeling?
The question seemed weightless, void of any warmth that should usually be accustomed to the 'concerned' query.
Still, the Gamer nodded slowly. "I'm fine. Just a little sore." His reply was curt, his tone rather tight at the unknown predicament. There was little he could do right now to avoid this talk now and… he braced for the real question to happen.
…
The dark-haired adult sighed as he stared away from the child and to the sink filled with plates that had yet to be cleaned. Sella had planned to go through those once she was done with helping with Liz the two younger girls but… soon Shirou was once more under Kiritsugu's stare.
"The Einzbern clan is one of the oldest families in the Moonlit World." He said, index tapping at the table as he let himself fall back on his chair. "Influential, powerful… but also obscure." The mercenary stopped the tapping as he noticed Shirou's staring at his fingers' activity.
"Do you know why I'm telling you this, Shirou?" Kiritsugu asked quietly. "Or do you also know this already?"
There was more silence, seconds of quiet passed and the Gamer felt incredibly terrified by what was going on. His attention was fixed on his adoptive father's actions, keen to keep up his guard for any dangerous stance from him.
Yet until now he had done nothing worthy of any powerful reactions. He felt caged, confused and scared of what the next move would be.
"You managed to somehow gain Gray's trust and bring her to yourself, away from the small village where she lived."
Shirou tensed at the pressure but the man wasn't done with his little talk.
"It didn't take me much to gain some little info from Add, the spirit of Sir Kay himself. Just a few strokes at his ego and he blurted out what I needed to paint the whole situation that got the girl to join us."
There was a pause, the tapping resumed and this time the boy's eyes followed the action instantly, as if expecting something out of it. Yet nothing happened and his mind strained even more.
The tapping stopped.
"Then you, for some unexplained reason, decided to follow me as I went to free my daughter and-" He sighed heavily and nodded. "I'm grateful that you were here. I wasn't prepared enough to deal with Acht… but while I can be such, I'm also intrigued by the fact you knew where you were and what you were doing."
...
"I-" Shirou tried to speak, but the main lifted his index up and stopped him.
"No," Kiritsugu interrupted quietly. "I think you have secrets, Shirou. Big secrets." As he finished speaking, he pulled up from his coat's pocket a small piece of paper. A strange seal drawn into it.
He blinked, Observe instantly giving him some clarity over the mysterious document on the table and he frowned.
[Object: Self-Geis Scroll]
Powerful curse engraved in a piece of paper. A binding contract used by the Magus Association to have absolute commitments regarding high-level secrets kept by major officials of the organization. Once the Caster signs its name upon it and thus accept the demands imposed by the paper, they will have their Magical Crest bound by the curse. If the Caster commit to break even one of the points imposed, the User's Magical Crest will cease to function and cause the death of the Caster.
-Warning, Insufficient Requirements: [Magic Crest]
Shirou paled at what he had just read and he felt terribly nervous about what Kiritsugu was trying to suggest- no, force him to do. He gulped nervously as he finally noticed the last detail about it, the saving grace from this horrifying situation.
"I-I can't." The boy finally spoke, his lips trembling just a little as he was still recovering from the nerve-wracking predicament that had concluded moments ago and the lecture of the object the man was trying to have him to sign.
The adult lifted a confused eyebrow, the first time he showed any emotion since he had started to speak. "What do you mean, Shirou?" His voice trailed the confusion, but he managed to keep it smooth enough to render it clear for the boy.
"I… I don't have a Magic Crest." He admitted with genuine honesty. "It wouldn't… work."
…
"You can use Magecraft, Shirou." Kiritsugu seemed to be chiding him with his calm tone, pressing on him to say otherwise rather than… lie? "If you can use Magecraft, then you have a Magic Crest."
The redhead frowned at the table and… blinked in confusion. "But I- I don't-"
"How about we prove this already? Please reveal your arm." He demanded strongly, pointing at the boy's left arm. He stood up and walked by the side of the scared Gamer as he took the limb, turning it slightly around and carefully enough to not hurt while moving out of the way the sleeve masking the skin.
Shirou blinked in surprise as his Circuits flared as Kiritsugu's fingers touched his arm. Bright-blue lines stretched visibly on his arm, some ending by his fingertips only to curve and return back… to the origin of the Prana.
His Magical Core was… warming up too and in mere moments the glowing sight spread right to his chest. The man blinked, his eyes widening just a fraction as he followed the lines right to the brighter spot hindered by his shirt and bandages.
The Emiya paused, his eyes fixed on the area but… then he let go of Shirou's arm and walked back to his seat.
The tension seemed to disappear moments later as Kiritsugu went to pick one of his smokes to lit it up.
The Gamer blinked in utter confusion. "T-That's it?"
The man shrugged as he adjusted his lit smoke.
"Yep." He replied without hesitation.
"A-And what about-"
"It can't work on a target without Magic Crest." The mercenary admitted with a sigh. "I don't have anything on me that can actually work with that." He pointed at the boy's chest, suggesting at the Core.
"So that's it? You don't plan to… ask for more?"
"Are you going to tell me anyway if I asked?" The man inquired, only to have silence back from Shirou. "Yep, that is why I'm not asking."
"B-But you made it clear that you thought me a danger!"
Now this was ridiculous, why stopping now!
He had been this close to crack and he just… let it go like this?!
"But what about-" He tried to speak but-
"Nope." Kiritsugu interjected lazily. "I'm not interested."
"But what about the-"
"No."
"But-"
"I was thinking about buying some-"
"Okay, why?!" Shirou finally slammed his fists on the table, his face sporting the angriest scowl the boy had ever shown to anyone. "Why putting me in that situation of all things if you are not interested in-"
"Oniichan?"
Shirou froze as he recognize the voice calling him and he slowly turned to see Illya… and Taiga. And the rest of the girls and the maids.
He felt embarrassment rising, his blush persisting but now without the previous anger it had fueled it to stay.
The Gamer blinked and he sat down on his chair, glaring at Kiritsugu. "You knew." He said with a tight tone.
The adoptive parent didn't reply to that accusation, merely looking away as his lips twitched upward just for a moment.
"Otouto." Taiga was now bending, bringing her face dangerously close to his. "What were you saying to Kiritsugu? Something about us perhaps?"
The suggestion was lost to the boy, a frown now adorning his face. "What?"
"You know," The brunette continued with an odd tone. "Something about us girls. Maybe something important, very important."
...What?
His immense confusion was broken the moment he felt a weight settle on his lap, Illya kneeling on his legs as she gave him a close hug. "Oniichan mine!" The girl exclaimed loudly, pouting at Taiga.
The rest of the girls soon approached him too and something similar to a tug of war began with him being the center of the attention. He was being pulled, yanked, hugged, cuddled and snuggled in that insane mess of people.
N-Not again!
But just as he succumbed at the play of the four girls, Kiritsugu stared at the scene blankly.
Shirou had been correct, he had been very close to have him reveal what truly was 'wrong' with him. There was just so much to ask and little he knew that would be answered at the moment, the boy having showed as much mystery as much genuine interest in protecting the people he considered friends and family.
Confusing, worrying and quite perplexing. It was interesting to see how someone could garner so much attention… despite the young age.
The Emiya mused darkly over the presence of a 'Magical Core' of all things, something that truly denied him the chance of making use of something to further limit the possibilities for the child to show even the least worrying development towards Illya or any of the other girls.
They were all important, both for strategical purposes but also an emotional connection. Caren was just like Illya to a certain degree, while Gray was just a girl with Artoria's appearance and a powerful instrument sealed behind some highly-restricting rules.
Part of him still wanted the answers, yet his mind was weighed by the words Add had given to him before he left the caged object to his usual whining.
"You seek the logical answer to things, but sometime the real solution to questions lies in the world around us. You have already met one of the possibilities, Shirou now represents a clean slate, a chance of truly bringing hope to the world. He is an odd kid, very shy and reserved, but so was she before turning in the greatest Knight of them all. Don't try to question it, it will still happen."
So unnerving and incomprehensible, there was no clue in that cipher, the only thing he could think up being Artoria herself at the mere mentioning of a female 'Knight'.
But why would Saber be connected to Shirou? Avalon?
There was just so much left to the unknown and… only time will tell if this 'hope' will be good or bad.
AN
Wanna hear a funny story? Kiritsugu learned about the true potential of peer pressure by… none other than Irisviel herself. How? Ice cream might be involved.
Also, quick and terribly shameless plug for Magical Trickster DXD. Why? Well, I'm going through some of the chapters and doing some polishing, expansion and improvement of those. I think I will do something like that for this story when I begin my week-long 'holiday' from updating.
Yes, I have decided to spend a full-week (from 23 to 30) to either rest, clean some of the chapters I had to 'clean' and maybe do some random stuff.
I wanted to do some One-shots, some fun bits I have planned out. All his a secret and… I have an account with the Co-fi but with the K. I think it will be easier for people wishing to donate to actually do it in a system that doesn't drain accounts monthly. I think single-time donations are for the best… are they?
P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin
k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin
REVIEW Q&A!
MeleeSmasher: It is actually stated in Canon that Waver spent some months in Fuyuki after the HGW before going around the world. It is something that has been added by Lord El-Melloi II lore.
Deltadragon373: Yes, but now anytime soon. I've still to work around the kinks of developing four girls (plus Rin and Sakura coming soon) and I don't want to mess things up.
EVA-Saiyajin: I know. I've both FSN and FHA VNs done and completed months ago.
Guest: Yup, I've plans to rework some scenes during the week of rest, also Taiga's issue has been solved.
Michael C Grigori: Clarissa came early for some tea. She was such a lovely ghost girl! XD