"Point! Match over! The round goes to Namimori Middle School! The set goes to Namimori Middle School with five wins!" The ref declared after Natsumi managed to score a final point.
"It was a good match. You were amazing." Her opponent said, seeming a bit dumbstruck.
"Um… Thank you." Natsumi replied, returning the bow.
After lunch, Shirou started to have the group watch each of the remaining teams and plan on how to best approach them, coaching all the other members on the exact weaknesses of their styles and preparing openings and counters before the fights even started.
It made everything… frighteningly easy, as they swept the three rounds after lunch. Shirou accurately predicted the turn ordering and the strategies of the three teams and instructed them on the exact counters. And almost as if seeing Shirou do it was taken as a challenge, Reborn often threw his own two cents in on how to best set up to break their opponents' will and throw them off their game.
The two of them were terrifying as they quoted great military leaders of the past. Natsumi couldn't even imagine what a game of chess between the two would be like.
"Way to go, Natsumi-chan!" Illya cheered as they left the fighting area.
"Thanks." Natsumi replied, giving the girl a pat on the head, causing her to pout slightly.
The others also said words of encouragement… or worship, as they headed back to where Kiritsugu and Irisviel were waiting, only to find Taiga and Raiga waiting for them there. "Congratulations on maintaining your undefeated status." Irisviel giggled.
"Way to go!" Taiga said with a wide grin.
"You too, Fuji-nee." Natsumi replied with an awkward smile. She wasn't used to people congratulating her on her physical performances.
After Shirou had jokingly started calling Taiga 'Fuji-nee' the cheerful girl decided that she liked the nickname and insisted that Natsumi and Illya call her it as well.
"Well, your group's undefeated status won't last forever. After all, you're going to have to fight my school within the next few rounds." Taiga said, puffing out her chest.
"...You haven't been paying attention to the boards again I see." Raiga said with a sigh. "All of the other schools have already been eliminated. You are the only two left."
"Huh? But I thought there were supposed to be 12 rounds, I haven't even had my tenth yet." Taiga said.
"And you won't. It would have taken 12 rounds if your two schools weren't both undefeated. As is, they are filling up 6 schools worth of slots." Raiga explained. "Because it is only the two of you left, the next round is the final round."
"YSH! I'm EXTREMELY pumped!" Ryohei shouted, clutching his fist. "Just one round more to go and we will prove once and for all that boxing is the superior sport!"
"Onii-san." Natsumi said as she looked around at the several hundreds of stares that Ryohei was getting them.
"Tch, what's so great about boxing." Taiga said, rolling her eyes. "All it is is a bunch of guys in their boxers punching each other's lights out. No class at all."
"WHA!?" Ryohei shouted, flushing bright red in embarrassment from the insult. "Says the person whose sport is just a bunch of people poking each other with sticks!"
"What did you say!?" Taiga growled back before shouting her own insult.
"Um… should we stop them?" Illya asked as the two of them continued to make a spectacle of themselves with their childish back and forth 'argument'.
"No. They're fine." Shirou said, not really concerned about the two of them. Illya looked up at her brother to see a slightly serious look on his face as he watched Taiga.
"Idiots." Gokudera said with a sigh as the shouting continued.
"When my team clubbers you in the finals, you have to admit that Kendo is the better sport!" Taiga shouted.
"And when my boxing team extremely wins, you have to join my boxing club!" Ryohei counted.
"Deal! Hope you are ready to admit defeat!" Taiga shouted before stomping off, presumably to meet up with her team.
"Ysh! Victory now is more important than ever!" Ryohei said, a wide grin on his face and his eyes on fire… literally, there was dying will glowing in his eyes.
"Onii-san, calm down a little." Natsumi said, worried that the boy's already ridiculous speed and strength would be amplified even further and cause a scene that couldn't be explained.
"Hahaha, you don't need to worry. I had my boys put up a barrier around the stadium. No one will notice or be able to record if you and your friends use a bit of your 'magical girl' power to spice things up. So feel free to go wild." Raiga said as he watched his granddaughter go. "A loss might do her a world of good."
"I don't understand what that means! But I'm EXTREMELY pumped!"
"You want her to lose?" Natsumi said in surprise, as Ryohei was already starting to go wild.
"My little tiger cub hasn't lost a sword fight in almost two years. With her... unusual advantages, she is hardly ever even challenged, and it has caused her growth and enthusiasm to plateau." Raiga said sadly. "Until she ran into you all today, she was thinking of giving up on Kendo, saying…"
"What point is there in practicing when you cannot improve." Shirou said, startling the man. "It's the same reason I never joined the Kyudo or Kendo Clubs myself. There simply wasn't any point."
"Shirou-senpai?" Natsumi had never really thought as to why Shirou never joined any clubs when he was so skilled at them. She had mostly just believed that it was because he was busy with his repair work and secretly being a magician. She hadn't considered how lonely it must feel, being so far above everyone else's capabilities.
Natsumi had always had the opposite problem.
"Well then Natsumi, it sounds like you are going to have to give it your all to teach Taiga-chan some humility." Reborn teased.
"Reborn!?" Natsumi panicked. She didn't want to fight against Taiga. She hadn't even considered it as an option. Was that even possible for her?
No way! She couldn't do it!
"Sorry Reborn, but I'm going to have to ask that this one be left to me." Shirou said calmly.
"Oh, the Untouchable Prince against the Tiger Princess. Interesting." Raiga said with a slight grin that looked a little sinister.
Reborn looked at Shirou, curious about the level of calm that the boy had whenever he said it. "What's the fun in you fighting her at your full strength?"
"I won't be at my full strength. I intend to fight without the use of flames or magecraft." Shirou replied.
"...Are you sure you can beat her like that?" Reborn asked with a slight tilt of the head. Shirou had managed to hold his own against Yamamoto Tsuyoshi using nothing more than normal human strength, but Reborn knew that Fujimaru Taiga wasn't your normal case.
Even if Shirou was 'untouchable' that wasn't the same as 'unbeatable'.
"...Do you know the story of David and Goliath?" Shirou answered.
A smile curled Reborn's lips. "I might." He said with a chuckle. "Alright, Natsumi can leave it to you this time, but tell me, are you sure you can win?"
"No. That's the entire point. I want to find out."
"Wha!? You don't know if you can win!?" Natsumi shouted in surprise. "Is Fuji-nee really that strong?"
"She isn't as strong or skilled as Tsuyoshi was, but she has another factor on her side that will make this a very interesting match." Reborn said before turning and walking away. "I'm looking forward to it."
"So, it's going to be me and you, huh?" Taiga said, too giddy with excitement to stick to the formalities required for the tournament. She was practically jumping from one foot to another, a big grin on her face. "Maybe now I will be able to see what you can really do."
"I'll see if I can't entertain you." Shirou replied with a bit of a cocky smile.
"Are both participants ready?" Reborn asked, having dressed up as a referee in order to judge the match, and have the best seat.
"No, not yet." Shirou said as his eyes went to Taiga's very normal sword. "Where is Tora-Shinai?"
"Huh? How do you know about Tora-Shinai?" Taiga said, blinking in surprise.
"I have my methods. So why aren't you using it?" Shirou asked.
"The judges told me that I couldn't." Taiga mumbled.
Shirou glanced over at Reborn. "Ref, may I be allowed to request that she be allowed to use it?"
"You do realize what you are asking for, right?" Reborn said with a raised eyebrow, seeing Shirou nod his head, the baby hitman grinned. "Sure. I'll allow it."
After receiving permission, Taiga went and exchanged her shinais, returning with one sporting a tiger striped pattern and a tiny cartoon tiger head tassel hanging from its guard.
Shirou was slightly surprised when he saw it, as it didn't give off the same thirst for blood as the version he was more familiar with. It was still as it was from before Raiga had decided to seal it away.
However, that didn't mean it was ordinary.
"Are you sure you want this? I'm a lot stronger when I have this sword, you know?" Taiga said as she took a practice swing.
"Yes. I know." Shirou replied. He could sense the way her flames interacted with the tiger striped weapon, drinking them in as if it was part of their natural vessel. Almost unnoticeable blue flames dancing along the stripes edges, all of it without the fight even starting.
"Any other requests?" Reborn asked.
"None." Shirou said shortly as he got into position.
"Then, begin!" Reborn shouted, giving the signal to start.
The moment she had met them, Taiga had known that they were different from the others. Natsumi and Illya in particular had given her the feeling that there was greatness hidden just beneath the surface, Ryohei had openly shown his unusual talents, even if he was just a hyperactive idiot with no grace at all, ...the silver haired brat and the guy with the regent hairstyle were admittedly pretty forgettable, but even a blind man could tell that Reborn had been different.
Yet the one they all seemed to hold respect for was Shirou.
Taiga could see why after watching just a few matches. He was heads and shoulders above the others when it came to skill and insight. The way he could accurately predict the outcomes of almost every match before they happened had made her feel giddy with excitement. She wanted to see how she would perform against his 'victory from a hundred miles' sort of style. So she had been overjoyed to find that he was to be her opponent.
It was to be the first match in forever where she might actually have a challenge.
It had been so long since she had a good challenge. None of her classmates could put up a fight, even when she handcapped herself by only using one arm. Even the experts her grandpa occasionally had over couldn't beat her the way they used to. She continued her daily practices, but it was all started to feel like an empty exercise, as she no longer saw anything to work towards. But now...
Taiga didn't hold back, using all her skill and speed to try to push through Shirou's defenses. He was weaker and slower than she expected, but even so, he put up a fight.
Taiga couldn't say when it happened, but her offensive pressure suddenly vanished and she found herself on the defensive side of the combat for the first time since the tournament began. She tried to find openings, but her attempts to regain control only cost her more and more ground. He had her. Using only half her strength, he had her in a retreat she couldn't escape from.
In a desperate attempt to regain control, she tried a strong parry, only to find the attack she had tried to parry was a faint. Her momentum was carrying her weapon to the side, she was open…
*Crash!*
Shirou rolled to the side just as something came falling down from above, smashing into the ground where Shirou had been standing just moments before.
"Competitor Emiya's hand touched the ground. One penalty point will be awarded to competitor Fujimura!" The oddly familiar looking ref declared.
"Huh?" Taiga said, her confusion echoed by everyone else.
"That's bullshit! Get your eyes checked ref, a fucking light fixture just fell down in the middle of the stage!" Gokudera shouted.
"Doesn't matter. Rules are rules." The ref replied with a shrug.
"Wha!? You've got to be kidding…!"
"No, he's right." Shirou said as he returned to his feet. "A warrior does not complain about the fortunes of war, as luck is merely another aspect of battle. It's my own fault for not having prepared myself."
"Why would you have prepared yourself for that?" Taiga asked, her mind still boggling over it all, but Shirou's serious face was the only response she got.
"Are both participants ready to resume?" The ref asked.
"I'm ready." Shirou said, returning to the starting position.
"...Sure." Taiga said, confused, but ready.
The fighting continued, this time with Taiga a bit more prepared. She managed to maintain her offensive for a while longer this time, but after several parries and retreats, Shirou managed to get her off balance once again…
*Crack!*
Shirou's attempt to move in for the kill was stopped when a floorboard snapped under his foot, forcing him to correct his balance as he tried his best not to fall to a knee and received another penalty.
"Um… ref?" Taiga said awkwardly.
"The match is still live." The ref replied as he popped grapes into his mouth… where did the grapes come from?
Shirou managed to dislodge his leg and returned to the fight as if nothing had happened, and Taiga was put on the defensive yet again. Only, as they fought, a large lump started to crawl its way up the inside of Shirou's pant legs, ignoring the boy's attempts to shake it off mid fight.
The lump worked its way up all the way to his helmet and then Taiga gave a squeal as she saw what it was. "Is that a rat!?"
While his leg had been underneath the floorboard, a large grey rat had managed to climb up into Shirou's clothing and worked its way up to the boy's helmet, and was scratching at his face as he struggled to stay in the fight.
"The match is still live." The ref chuckled. Shirou seemed equally unwilling to pause the match for such a small thing, doing his best to ignore the rat that was trying to claw his eyes out.
...That was when three dozen stray cats came charging out from underneath the stands, screaming and hissing as they fell upon the boy to get at the rat.
Reborn felt a tear coming on.
Sometimes, nature was just so beautiful. But he had to remember his job.
"Competitor Emiya's protective gear has been removed. One penalty point will be awarded to competitor Fujimura! The score is now 1 to 0 in Fujimura's favor." Reborn declared after the small army of cats managed to wrestle away Shirou's helmet, despite the boy's valiant efforts to ward them off.
His face was covered in scratches and bite marks, proving that he was serious about not using any magic at all.
Shirou grunted his acceptance and he went to try to retrieve his helmet from the strays.
While this was happening, Natsumi approached Reborn. "Reborn, what in the world is going on?" Natsumi asked, her face full of panic.
"It's a Kendo match. Can't you tell?" Reborn said, tilting his head and maintaining his perfect poker face.
"How in the world is this a Kendo match?" Natsumi cried.
"It is just as competitor Emiya said. Luck is merely another aspect of battle." Reborn said with a shrug.
"What, was the Tomato hit with a gypsy curse or something?" Gukodera said in dumbfounded shock as one of the nearby stray cats hissed at him.
"Maybe this will help you all understand." Reborn said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few sheets of paper, handing them over to Natsumi.
"Those are...!?" Taiga gasped in horror as she recognized the papers.
"They're… Fuji-nee's English exams…" Natsumi said, twitching a little as she looked down at the pages covered in red ink, a large '10/100' circled at the top of the page.
"No! Anything but that!" Taiga cried, slumping down to her knees. "How did you even get those!?"
"I have my methods." Reborn responded cheekily.
"Alright, so she sucks at English, what does that have to do with what's going on here?" Gokudera asked as he glanced over the paper.
"Well, that is a free response test. Now, look at her multiple choice test for the same subject." Reborn said, showing them a second paper.
"On...one hundred percent!?" Natsumi cried in surprise.
"I'm… I'm not bad at English. I just don't do well with free response." Taiga stuttered, looking away from the group.
"It says you were given 10 points for putting your name on the paper." Gokudera deadpanned, causing the girl's bottom lip to start trembling.
"Competitor Fujimura doesn't know a single word of English, and yet she was able to get a 100 on a 50 question multiple choice test with 5 possible answers per question." Reborn said. "The odds of that happening is less likely than getting the jackpot in the lottery, four time in a row. And when using her personal good luck charm, the Tora-Shinai, her luck goes from merely ludicrous to what you are seeing before you today."
"No way." Natsumi said as her eyes bulged, unable to comprehend the level of unlikeliness.
To be fair, even Reborn was having a hard time believing the level of chaos brought about by Taiga's luck as it tried to change reality in order to assure her victory against the improbably skilled Shirou. Perhaps it wasn't just her luck. Perhaps Emiya's own luck was absolutely terrible and the two forces were working in a form of chaotic harmony.
...It was so beautiful.
"But nothing like this has ever happened before." Taiga objected.
"Since competitor Fujimura is such an especial swordsman herself, very little, if any, luck is needed to overcome a normal opponent. But in order to overcome overwhelming odds, an overwhelming amount of luck is needed." Reborn replied. "In the story of David and Goliath, depending on the telling, Goliath was either a giant, the son of a fallen angel and a witch, or a fallen angel himself. Regardless, he was a monstrous individual, whose size, strength, skill, intelligence and mystical power all dwarfed everyone around him. And yet, that monster was knocked unconscious by a normal shepherd using nothing more than a sling and a rock. Something that probably wouldn't even knock out your average man in a single blow. That is the kind of absurd luck needed to defeat a monstrously superior opponent."
"But that's…" Taiga said, unsure of what to do.
"Don't back down." Shirou said, surprising her as he returned with his helmet. "This is exactly what I wanted."
"Shirou?" Taiga said.
"Fate has decided that I am to lose this match. I want to see if it is possible for someone like me to overcome that fate. So please, don't quit, and don't hold back." Shirou asked her, his eyes still as serious as they were from the start.
"If both participants are ready, we can resume." Reborn said, they both returned to the starting positions and Reborn gave the signal. "Begin!"
They restarted, only it was clear from what Reborn could see that Taiga's heart wasn't as in it. A second spot light fell with Shirou dancing out of its way and around the broken shards on the ground, without much of a care, even as Taiga winced and pulled back.
"Don't hesitate!" Shirou shouted, before getting around Taiga's guard once again, his sword finally connecting.
*Crack!*
After the blow was dealt, Shirou's weapon broke in two.
"As competitor Emiya has been disarmed, the landed blow will be disregarded. Once again, one penalty point will be awarded to..." Reborn started but Taiga cut him off.
"Hold on a second! That isn't right!" She shouted. "He landed his hit before his weapon broke! Shirou should have already scored three hits on me by now! He should have already won!"
"That may be in a real fight, but this is a competition, and rules are rules. Since the penalty occurred before the point was called, it can be disregarded." Reborn said with a shack of his head.
"It can be, but isn't it my choice whether or not to challenge the point?" Taiga countered.
"...Technically, yes. Are you not going to challenge it?" Reborn asked, his mouth curling into a smile.
"No! The point stands!"
"Very well, the current score is 1 to 1, with competitor Fujimura having an extra half point penalty." Reborn said with a chuckle. "We will resume once competitor Emiya replaces his weapon."
"You didn't need to do that." Shirou said as Taiga got back from talking with Reborn.
"Yes I did." Taiga said hottily. "I don't want to win like this. I don't want to win without ever even landing a single stupid point on you, Shirou." Her hands trembled as her frustration.
Shirou saw this and sighed before giving the girl a smile. "You need to stop taking this so seriously." Shirou said, surprising Taiga. "The Flames of Rain grow when you enjoy what you are doing and will dwindle when you stress out about it. You don't need to dwell on all this complicated stuff, it will only slow you down. If you want to fight me at your fullest, then stop thinking about it and just do it."
"...Just do it, huh?" Taiga replied, thinking about what he had just said.
He was right, her flames had been weakening the more she tried to think about Shirou's serious attitude towards it all. She had been hesitating and been distracted. Shirou was the most skilled opponent she had ever faced. She wanted to enjoy this.
As she took a deep breath and let out a sigh, the flow of energy started to return to her as a smile returned to her face. "Alright. Go and get a weapon so that I can score a real point on you this time." Taiga said with a grin, blue flames starting to coil around her weapon again.
"I said enjoy yourself, not get cocky." Shirou replied as he walked back to his teammates, surprising everyone as he took both Ryohei and Kusakabe's weapons. "I'm going to have to borrow these."
He took a few experimental swings as he returned to the stage.
"A two sword style? Is that even legal?" Kusakabe asked.
"Yes, though no one ever does it." Reborn replied. "I thought you said you wouldn't be going all out."
"I said I wouldn't use any magecraft." Shirou stood in front of Taiga, body open and swords held out at his sides. "I'm ready whenever."
"Begin!"
Taiga pushed forward, giving it everything she had. She was fast, stronger and more focused than before as the thrill of combat took over for her, not that it made a single difference.
Shirou's two sword style could best be described as relentless. Every defence flowed flawlessly into an attack and each missed swing was a distraction for the follow up. Chaos surrounded them, floor boards breaking, bits and pieces of the roof falling down, and even an entire section of an air vent, but Shirou kept his footing light and just danced around it all as if none of it existed as he continued his assault.
There was absolutely nothing Taiga could do but give ground, but even so, a smile spread across her face.
This was it. The thing she had been missing over the last year of her life. Someone who could show her an entire other world of swordsmanship, who could show her that she had still a long way to go to reach the peak. Merely the struggle to hold on against him was exhilarating.
But she didn't want to merely hold on. She wanted to land that point. To get it far and square, and so, when her eyes found the opening, she struck. His positioning was too far off to allow him to properly parry her horizontal slash, and she had been sure she had him, only for his entire body to twist as the last second, causing her slash to miss his helmet by a hair's width.
His first sword came in, locking with her Tora-Shinai, while the other pushed forward in a strike to her exposed side.
There was no way to guard, and she couldn't properly retreat, so Taiga did the only thing she could do to avoid. She fell.
Even as she toppled backwards, landing on her back, she was trying to prepare herself for the follow up attack that she knew was coming.
So long as she could stop Shirou from scoring a point before the penalty is called, she would only receive a penalty for the fall and would still have one last chance. Only, before Shirou struck out at her, the entire ceiling above them gave one final groan, before everything above the two of them simply gave in.
Taiga was on her back, staring upwards as steel support beams came falling down towards her, and she was in no position to get out of the way.
"Trace On."
Before the falling ceiling could reach them, Shirou dashed forward, grabbing onto Taiga and rushing the both of them out of the way of the falling metal, which crashed to the ground, smashing through the wooden floor and completely destroying the stage, sending up a cloud of dust as it did so.
"Are you alright?" Shirou asked her as the dust started to settle.
"Y...yeah. I'm okay." Taiga said, still a bit shell shocked. Looking at the distance they had managed to cover, Taiga suddenly realized just how much Shirou had been holding back during their fight.
"Sorry Shirou-kun, but rules are rules." Reborn said as he stood next to them.
"Huh?" Taiga said, not understanding what he meant for a moment.
"Because competitor Emiya tackled you out of the way, that is another penalty. The final score is 2 to 1. You win, competitor Fujimura." Reborn reported.
"But that's…!" Taiga started but stopped.
Rules were rules.
"I'm sorry Shirou. Because you had to save me, you ended up losing the match." Taiga said, a little guilty. Though her melancholy stopped as Shirou snorted.
"You're joking, right?" Shirou said, giving Taiga a funny look. "Your life is worth more than some silly competition."
"Huh? But what about all that stuff about overcoming fate?"
"It doesn't really matter." Shirou said with a shrug. "Besides, even if this match really had been something to decide my fate. I'd much rather face whatever damnation that awaits me for losing than let something happen to the people I care about."
Shirou then gave her a reassuring smile, and Taiga felt her cheeks starting to heat up. It suddenly occurred to her that he was still holding her pretty close.
"Are you guys alright!?" Natsumi shouted as she started to run over to check on them, prompting Taiga to struggle out of Shirou's grip.
"Yeah, we're fine." Taiga said, as she tried to control her blush.
She looked over at Shirou again, at the one who had reminded her that she had a long way to go when it came to swordsmanship. The one who had given her her new goal.
That day, things had been crazy, but Taiga still couldn't be happier.
According to the wiki, Taiga has EX-rank luck.
If B-rank Luck is basically a minor divine protection and can bend the fabric of space and time in order to change the outcome of a battle, what exactly would EX-rank do?
Here is my imagining of what a fight between E-rank and EX-rank luck would look like.
It seems like a very Fate kind of outcome. Shirou is someone who can't be hit by a normal fighter, but she is someone who can't lose. So Shirou never got touched, but Taiga still won.