Good day to all! Time for Round 5, and the beginning of the first Arc proper. I am sorry it took me 2 months to post this.

Side note, over 10,000 people showed up when I posted the fourth chapter. What, did you think I stopped the moment after posting the third chapter? That would be funny, but no. My heart isn't made of steel after all.

So far, none of the reviews have said anything that's so wrong it's funny, and I don't really have any new info for you.

I did get a few PMs about some things, but that doesn't really answer the complaints I had. I did learn that the term 'Incarnation', specifically "Shirou is an 'Incarnation' of Sword" is a fanon thing, usually credited to 'From Fake Dreams' by Third Fang. I've known for a while that the term Prana is kind of fanon, but it's basically just a synonym of Magical Energy, and Magical Energy is referring to both Od and Mana. I'm pretty sure they came up with Prana because the translators kept mixing up Magical Energy and Mana.

But I didn't get any concrete answers as for which Magecraft EMIYA used to make Caladbolg II. I then realized that I don't want to debate about this anymore, so let's meet at the middle and say he used both. I did learn some things that are apparently common Fanons, like Shirou's 'distorted' way of life being the reason he has a Reality Marble. Or that the 1900s is the cutoff date for people to become Heroic Spirits. I'd never even heard either of those before.

Anyways, time to d-d-d-d d-d-d-d-d-d-duel! I mean, it's time for chapter 4!

Chapter 4: Eri

Musutafu City, Japan. It was a fairly large city in Shizuoka Prefecture, built over the Pre-Quirk city known as Hamamatsu, and home to one of the most illustrious schools in the world. Due to this, quite a few recently graduated Pro-Heroes, as well as several seasoned veterans, centered their work around the area. Whether it was because of the aforementioned Hero Academy, the sheer size and population of the city, or the Pros themselves, there was quite a fair bit of crime in the area. There was basically something making the newspaper every day, ranging anywhere from a simple robbery to a villain wreaking havoc.

Some theorized that the villains wanted a challenge, to prove that even the 'safest' city in Japan wasn't infallible. That with enough luck and strength, any half-decent criminal could leave their mark on the city. Others said that villains were just plain stupid. More often than not, it was a combination of the two. So it didn't come off as much of a surprise when Shirou saw several police cars blocking off a road, and yet another fight ensued in the middle of the city. A sigh escaped his lips. "I guess I'm taking a detour home." He groaned. With that in mind, he turned away from the generic slug-fest happening in the streets, and planned out a different route to take.

He adjusted the large brown bags of groceries he was holding, shifting them a bit so he could hold onto them better. There was a sale on a few things that he needed, so he struck while the iron was hot and bought in bulk. In hindsight, maybe he should've checked if they had enough space in the fridge and pantry, but it was too late to turn back. It was fairly late at night, the store would close soon, and he needed to get home soon.

He had to take a few backstreets to get around the fighting. Normally, one would question the intelligence of a person who willingly went through the alleys of a city infested with crime. But Shirou could knock someone out cold when he was nine due to Kiritsugu's training. And now, when he had a mastery in several types of magecraft, a better physique, and the power of a Heroic Spirit within his body? He was probably more dangerous than most of the criminals in the country. Case in point, three men were left cradling their 'jewels' after trying to mug him. "The number of criminals in this city is astounding, if you ask me." He muttered, putting his phone away after reporting his 'attackers' and calling ahead to tell Miyu he'd be home late.

He walked along the still crowded streets of Musutafu, weaving his way through the crowd uncomfortably. Even after the several months he lived here, he was still unused to all of the people in the city. Fuyuki, at least as he knew it, was a pretty barren place. Aside from the few stores that remained open, running into a person was a fairly uncommon occurrence. And now there were hundreds of people walking the streets. It unnerved him, to a degree. Maybe that was another reason he stuck to the alleyways.

Eventually, he found himself at the thin path between his rather large apartment complex and another large building behind it. Surprisingly, that detour got him home several minutes faster than his usual route did. Sure, it carried more risk to him, but it was insignificant compared to the time saved. Time is worth more than any currency, after all. If he had been even ten minutes slower in getting to Miyu, he'd be too late and she'd be gone.

It was a sobering thought to have.

His attention returned to him when he leaped backwards, avoiding two men rushing out of the narrow passage behind the complex, both wearing… bird masks? Or were those plague doctor masks? "Shit! The boss is gonna kill us if we don't find her! She disappeared around here, right? She's gotta be nearby!" The first one shouted in a hushed tone, seemingly ignorant of the red-haired magus.

"That was three hours ago! She's probably long gone by now!" The second one whisper-shouted back, looking just as frantic.

"Then we split up and keep searching! I don't wanna end up being red paste on the wall!" The first shouted back, the two splitting up and running opposite directions down the street. Shirou had his back against the wall, watching the two men run away.

"It's like they didn't even notice me…" He muttered quietly. He shrugged, returning to his walk home. They must've been that desperate to find whoever they were looking for, if they couldn't even tell he was here. Then again, that 'red paste' comment was probably a good enough motivator. Putting the unusual encounter into the back of his mind, he walked through the alleyway in silence. It was hard to unlearn something that was drilled into him since day one, especially when the one who taught him was a mercenary as infamous as the Magus Killer. One of those lessons happened to be walking silently.

Stepping past the greasy dumpster, Shirou nearly turned the corner… until he heard a muffled sob. He paused at that, turning around to look at the oversized trash can. Rather than immediately open it and possibly get attacked by a stray cat, he structurally grasped its contents. 'Expired food, paper plates and plastic sporks, food packaging, a little girl, ruined clothes… wait, what was that last one?' He stared at the garbage bin, hesitating to call out to the child in the bin. After a second, he decided to speak up. "I know you're in there!" He shouted, his voice echoing through the alley. He heard the little girl inhale sharply, likely in fear.

He stepped towards the large green bin, lifting the lid. It let out a loud groan as it opened, startling the inhabitant. She looked up at him fearfully, and Shirou got a long look at her. Long, unruly blue-gray hair. Large, round red eyes. A small grey horn sticking out of her right temple. A dirty, tan dress with short sleeves. Bandage-wrapped arms and legs, and bare feet. His first thought was that she was perhaps an Einzbern of this world, but neither of the Einzberns he knew had horns. His second thought was that she seemed terrified, tears forming at the edge of her eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked, the words leaving his mouth faster than his brain processed what he was seeing.

She looked scared to respond, but after looking down both ends of the alleyway, she clutched the hem of his shirt. "Please! You have to hide me from the bad men!" She said in a hushed voice, looking down the path he had just come from. Or rather, the path those masked men went down. Putting all of those facts together, it was obvious that this girl was the person the masked men were searching for. Some kind of trafficking ring maybe?

Either way, he wasn't just going to leave her like this. His natural disposition wouldn't let him ignore her suffering, even if he really wanted to. Not that he would, he wasn't the kind of person who would do that. And he couldn't really imagine taking her in to be that big of a risk, unless the person looking for her was All Might himself, or someone of similar power. He could move faster than the speed of sound with Nine Lives (The technique Hercules used on the Hydra, not the slab of stone he swings around), he could match most Quirks with a variety of Noble Phantasms, and his Servant-level physique was nothing to ignore, either.

With that in mind, Shirou picked her up out of the dumpster with a nod, carried her in his free arm, and brought her to his apartment's front door. She didn't seem to object, though she was still very frightened. "Miyu! Can you get the door? My hands are full!" He called out. He heard a muffled 'I'm coming' through the door, and stepped back. When the door opened, she looked up at him happily, but her expression froze upon seeing the small girl in his arms. Looking at him as if to ask 'who is this', he made an expression that was difficult to place. "It's a long story, I'll tell you while we make dinner." He explained. Seeming to accept that answer, she let him step into the house and closed the door behind him.

And the little girl was left scared and confused.

I set down a plate of curry in front of the albino girl- Eri, if I'm correct- while processing what she had just told us while I cooked. Getting her to open up was a bit difficult, understandable considering what she described, but she did eventually speak up with some consoling and reassurance that we wouldn't throw her out, regardless of what she said. And I was trying very hard to resist the urge to hunt down this 'Overhaul' on principle alone.

According to her, when her Quirk awakened and she made her father disappear on accident, her mom freaked out and gave her away to her grandfather. Said grandfather, who happened to be a Yakuza boss, was taking care of Chisaki 'Overhaul' Kai. The boss asked Overhaul to figure out what Eri's Quirk was. When he finally figured it out, the boss fell into a coma of sorts (It doesn't take a genius to figure out why), and Overhaul took over. He cut her apart, harvested her, and put her back together using his own Quirk. He used the parts he harvested from her to make some kind of weapon that would 'tear down the world order'.

While she was being taken to Overhaul for another surgery, she managed to distract her escorts and get away. The compound went into red alert, having ordered everyone to guard the many exits to the underground labyrinth. Overhaul had mentioned a secret exit only he and part of his inner circle knew of during a previous 'session', and Eri managed to escape through that. Though a few of Overhaul's goons guarding a more well known entrance found her running through the streets, and chased after her. After quite a bit of running, she hid in a dumpster to give her pursuers the slip, and she stayed in there for several hours. The same goons retraced their steps, then I found her in there and took her inside. That brought us to this moment.

Needless to say, she had been extremely lucky. The fact that her distraction worked, the fact that Overhaul had mentioned the secret exit, the fact that no one found her on her way to said exit, the fact that hiding in the dumpster gave them the slip, all of that was really up to chance. Fortunately, lady luck seemed to be smiling upon her, and all of those events ended in her favor. Admittedly, if I was her age, escaping probably would've been impossible. Even with the few lessons I had at the time, the odds would definitely be stacked against me. Kiritsugu started off with normal, non-magical training, like weapon maintenance and moving silently. Not to mention firearms, explosives, and even knife training. It was all a bit much to put on a kid not even 10 years old, but I managed.

Kiritsugu's lesson on 'disposing of the evidence' was one of the reasons I was so thorough when it came to cleaning, in fact. Soap and water did not get that stuff out, no matter how hard you tried or how much you used. And everyone got used to the smell of bleach and blood eventually, right? Granted, it was pig blood, but… Regardless, I carried that thoroughness into my normal cleaning out of habit.

"Anyways…" I turned to Miyu, who immediately understood my intentions, and nodded after a moment. It was nice to know she knew what I was thinking with just a look. I turned back to Eri. "There are a few options on what we can do… but we can talk about those in the morning. For now, you're welcome to stay here until you figure out what you want to do. Miyu, can you show her to the extra bedroom after dinner?" I asked. But after a moment, I changed my mind. "…Actually, can you take her to the shower first? I think she would like one after hiding in a dumpster." Miyu nodded. But that came later. I clapped my hands together, Miyu mirroring my actions. "Itadakimasu." We said in unison.

Eri looked at us strangely. Odd, did her parents never follow the tradition? Miyu provided an answer for her. "It means 'I will humbly accept'. We're thanking the farmers and fishermen who got the ingredients used, as well as thanking Onii-chan for making the meal." She explained. Eri seemed to understand that explanation, and copied us. Thankfully, she already knew what farmers, fishermen, and ingredients were. I can still remember the time Miyu asked me what the phrase meant, but only got more confused after I explained.

On one hand, I'm glad Miyu is a fast learner, but on the other, I miss that confused expression she wore whenever I tried explaining something complicated.

Eri fumbled with the spoon I gave her (She seemed a bit young for chopsticks), but managed to get a scoop of curry off of her plate. While we were talking, the food had plenty of time to cool down, so she took a bite without much hesitation. She sat still, with the spoon still in her mouth, for about five seconds. Then she took another spoonful and ate that too, and went for a third before she even had the chance to swallow her first bite. I tried to get her to stop before she ended up choking, but her plate was empty by the time I stood up.

I stared at her for a long time, looking between her and her empty plate in shock. I offered her a second plate, still in a bit of a daze. But Eri said she was full, and declined my offer. Didn't change the fact that she ate way too fast to be normal. Maybe her Quirk? Or just her disposition? Or perhaps her previous 'caretakers' left her malnourished.

Before I had even realized, Miyu had also finished her plate, and the two were already in the washroom. I blinked in confusion, before sitting back in my chair. I took a bite out of the plate of curry that sat before me, and frowned when I realized it had already gone cold.

"Would you like to repeat that?" Right now, Overhaul was very unhappy. If he had to guess where it all started, he would say it started when his research hit a wall. No matter what he tried, after getting an imperfect version of his Anti-Quirk bullet, he couldn't extend their duration, their effectiveness, they only did what they were supposed to for a few hours, then the target went back to normal. And then this happened. "Because I don't think I heard you correctly."

"S-Sir!" The expendable on his left spoke, quivering in fear. Good. "W-We had found the girl escaping from the facility, I don't know how she got out, and we chased after her. When we turned a corner at an alleyway, she was…" Expendable 1 trailed off. "She was already gone! We went back and split up, but neither of us found her! We're sorry!"

"Is this true?" Overhaul asked the second expendable on the right, not looking away from the first.

"Y-Yeah boss." Expendable 2 stuttered. Overhaul stood there in silence, as if processing the information. "B-Boss?"

"You two had one job. And you lost. My. Property." Overhaul turned around, his hands folded behind his back. "Without that girl, the Shie Hassaikai will never rise to their former glory! And you two lost her." He repeated, visibly shaking. "Setsuno. Hojo. Tabe."

Three of the Eight Bullets stepped into the meeting room from behind the two expendables. "Young Master?" The tallest of the three, Hojo, asked.

"Due to the incompetence of these two," He began, looking down at the expendables kneeling before him. "Eri has managed to escape. You three are going to find her, and bring her back. If you don't…" He trailed off, before turning back around and reaching for the faces of his two expendables. They didn't even have a chance to cry out before they were turned to red stains on the floor. "Have I made myself clear?"

"Of course, young master!" Hojo agreed unphased, with Setsuno and Tabe nodding at his sides. It was good that they were so loyal to him.

"Get someone to clean this mess up, too." He added on, before walking past his Bullets and stepping out of the room. 'Eri, you naughty, naughty girl. When I find you again… you'll wish you never ran away.'

"So there are a few things we can do about Overhaul." Shirou began, leaning back on the sofa he was sitting on. The sun hadn't even finished rising yet, but he was quite used to waking up this early. Rather than his usual shirt and jeans, he was in a navy blue yukata. Eri, who sat to his right, was having trouble sleeping for more than an hour at a time, likely due to nightmares. She was dressed in one of his sister's older animal pajamas, the penguin ones specifically. As for Miyu herself…

"Nmu…" The girl in question mumbled in her sleep, who wore a short-sleeved version of Shirou's signature shirt. It draped over her, but it made her all the more adorable. A stray lock of hair drifted near her mouth, and she began to chew on it. Shirou wordlessly brushed it away from her mouth, smiling at the adorable actions of his kid sister. He stroked her hair gently, causing Miyu to nuzzle up against him more closely and squeeze him tighter.

Miyu wasn't used to being up this early, but didn't want to separate from Shirou either. Eri's story bothered her quite a bit, so she snuck into his bed again. Her compromise? Latch onto him like a baby koala, and refuse to let go. When he sat down, she shifted slightly so his arm was wrapped around her. He projected a blanket and covered her with it just after.

"First, we can go to the authorities. The police, the Pros, the Child Protective Services, whatever works. You can tell them what they did to you, you would be put into witness protection, and they would storm the compound, arresting everyone." Shirou listed off Eri's options in the matter. She said nothing, likely considering the choice, so he continued. But stopped before he got a word out. "I'm skipping the second one, because there's no way you would agree." Eri tilted her head at that one. It was technically a thing they could do in regards to Overhaul, but Shirou knew Eri wouldn't be okay with forgetting about Overhaul and moving on. "Thirdly, I break the law and deal with it myself. I've had a bone to pick with him ever since you told me what he did to you." He admitted, frowning as he crossed his arms. The suggestion caused Eri to look at him in horror.

"Y-You can't!" She stood up abruptly, her small hands clenched tightly. She was shaking, either from fear or exhaustion. "He's really scary, a-and strong too! He could hurt you! Really bad!" She insisted, standing right next to him. Shirou just smirked and patted her head, not even standing up from his spot.

"I was kidding. There's already enough attention on us due to how 'incredible' Miyu's Quirk is, and if I break the law, the HPSC could use it as a reason to take her away." He sighed, sounding somewhat bitter. In truth, he could likely get away cleanly with an Assassin Card, but that was still much more risk than he was okay with. Even taking Eri in would attract unwanted attention from the Shie Hassaikai. "So, unless you have any other ideas, going to the police seems like the best option."

"What do you mean?" She sat back down on the sofa, calming down. Shirou hummed in confusion, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "You said people could take Miyu-san away if you broke the law. Why would they do that?"

"Oh." Shirou breathed out. "Well, Miyu's Quirk is really strong, and it can do a lot of different things. A bunch of people want to take her and train her to fight bad guys, like the other heroes do. The problem is that she doesn't want to do it. So they're looking for a reason to separate us and force her. Breaking the law could be enough to do it."

Eri stared at the sleeping ravenette in silence, then looking back up at Shirou. "Why did you help me?" She asked suddenly.

"It was the right thing to do." He lied easily. He was neither an idealistic fool, nor was he a gullible moron. He took her in before he even realized why, and he still didn't have a real reason. Probably his inherit 'older brother' disposition at work again. Or maybe it was EMIYA's influence over him? As much as he hated to admit it, EMIYA couldn't help but help others. At his core, he was still the very same idealist he used to be. "I'm sure anyone else would've done the same."

"People didn't help me. Only you…" She looked down sadly, hugging her knees to her chest. "It's because I'm cursed… My Quirk is a curse…" Shirou reached out to pat her head again, but stopped as his hand hovered inches above. After a moment's hesitation, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in closer.

"We're here for you. It's okay." He said comfortingly, rubbing her back gently. She buried her head into his side, trying to keep herself from crying. "You're not cursed."

"B-But Overhaul-" She started, her voice somewhat muffled..

"If Overhaul said that the sky was yellow, would you listen to him?" He interrupted, pushing her back slightly to look her in the eyes. He continued. "If Overhaul told you that pigs can fly, would you believe him? No, you wouldn't. The sky is blue, pigs can't fly, and you aren't cursed, no matter what kind of Quirk you have."

After a moment of silence, he looked down at Eri, half-expecting a response. What he got was her sleeping quietly. He sighed, it was really too early in the morning for this. But he was pretty tired, too. A few more minutes couldn't hurt, right? Shirou's eyelids felt heavy, and they slowly shut. A few minutes later, the last of the trio had fallen asleep on the couch.

Shirou sat at the desk in his bedroom, both hands occupied with different tasks. With his left hand, he held his teacup and took a short sip, before setting it down and taking a bite out of an apple slice. As for his right, his fingers danced across the keyboard as he worked on more legal documents. Though unlike before, they were on a computer, and these ones weren't for Quirk Registration. Well, some of them were. But most of these were for something else. Specifically, they were a report he was filing for the police, and adoption papers.

Yes, they were both for Eri. No, he was not the one adopting her.

Technically.

Legally speaking, Shirou was still a minor, though he was turning 18 in the near future. So a lot of the things he was doing would be illegal if it were just him and Miyu. However, they did have a legal guardian on paper. That legal guardian was Zelretch. Apparently, the 4th Dead Apostle Ancestor had registered himself as a Japanese citizen in this world several years prior to sending the siblings there. 'He liked visiting this odd world' or so Sapphire said. It would certainly explain how he managed to rent an apartment for the two when they first arrived.

Due to that citizenship, it wasn't too difficult to get Shirou and Miyu registered as his charges. Of course, they did have to deal with all other legal matters by themselves, taxes included, but Shirou had been handling those for several years. It wasn't like he had a Yakuza head to do them for him, after all. And forging signatures was a skill he had learned courtesy of Kiritsugu (Thanks for that by the way, necessary Hero of Justice skills indeed…) so most legal matters were signed off on Zelretch's name. Shirou would just register Eri as one of his charges as well. Most of the government wouldn't care all that much, Shirou would get to take care of Eri, and Zelretch would find the whole situation hilarious.

Alternatively, Shirou could wait a bit longer, at least until he turned 18. That way, he could adopt Eri as his daughter instead of his sister. He wouldn't treat him differently regardless of their legal relationship, but the latter idea would give him an excuse to get all those '#1 Dad' mugs and aprons he's been eyeing. Then again, Miyu was way, way too young to be an auntie. Decisions, decisions…

"Ugh-" All of a sudden, there was a severe pain in his hand, distracting him from his task. It was either phantom pain from a scar or a muscle cramp. He took the offending hand off the keyboard and held it up for inspection. One of the muscles in his hand was contracted, which was odd since he was trying to relax it. It was a cramp then.

He rolled his sleeve back, exposing the rest of his heavily scarred arm, to check for any other unusual contractions. He didn't see any, so it was just the one in his hand. "What were you supposed to do with cramps…? Right, you stretch and massage them." Shirou murmured, cradling his cramped hand with his free one. So he did exactly that, massaging his hand in silence and bending his fingers slowly. After a moment, the pain lessened somewhat. He let out a small sigh at that. The pain wasn't unbearable, but it was unpleasant.

He noticed Eri staring at him through his open door, her hands wrapped around the doorframe. He gestured for her to come in, and she stepped in somewhat uncomfortably. He tilted his head, as if to ask if something was wrong. She seemed to pick up on that, and asked her question. "Where did you get those scars?" She asked, looking at the arm he had exposed previously. "D-Did Overhaul get you too?"

"No, he didn't. I did receive a lot of these from other people, but quite a few of them were from accidents." Shirou shook his head in denial. "Do you see these little ones on my hand?" He showed her the tiny scars on the palm of his hand, each one less than a centimeter long. She nodded hesitantly. "Part of my Quirk lets me make things stronger, but if I make it too strong, it breaks. I was using it on a lightbulb, but I pushed it too far and the lightbulb broke. I got these scars from the glass that cut my hand." He explained, pulling his sleeve back up.

"So why do you use it?"

"Hmm?"

"If it hurt you, then why use it?" She elaborated, looking away.

Shirou sat silently, thinking of a way to explain it. After a few seconds, he came to a good enough conclusion. "Because there's someone I need to protect."

"Huh?" Eri looked back up at him.

"There's someone I need to protect." He repeated. "And if I want to protect them, I need to be strong enough to do it. To get stronger, I need to control my powers. And the only good way to do that is to practice."

"Even if it hurts?" She asked. Shirou nodded. "But what if it hurts other people?" He paused at that, he knew exactly what she was talking about. Rather than answering, he projected a small kitchen knife. She flinched at the sight of it.

"Eri, you have to understand that most Quirks can hurt people." He explained, turning the knife in his hands. It was particularly sharp. "Fire Quirks. Flight Quirks. Telekinesis, Super Strength, Mind Control, Shapeshifting, all of these could be used to hurt people in one way or another. But people won't hurt each other as often if they can control themselves." He dismissed the knife, letting it fade into light. "Obviously, some Quirks are harder to practice with than others. I don't know what yours is, but it seems like one of the harder ones to use. But you can practice with it. You just need to give it some time."

"O-Okay." She responded, seemingly content with his answer.

"Now, is there anything else I can help you with?" Shirou turned his body back to his desk, but kept his eyes on Eri. She looked at his desk, and her eyes seemed to lock onto something. He followed her gaze, and he found himself looking at the plate of apple slices right next to his computer. He reached over to it, and offered it to Eri. "Do you want some?" He asked.

She stared at the sliced apples on his plate, and reached out for the one closest to her. She took a small bite out of it, and after a few seconds, took two larger ones in quick succession. She looked like she really liked it, because she stared at the remaining slices with a bit of drool leaking out of her mouth. Shirou projected a handkerchief and wiped it off, before giving her the plate. Before he could even dismiss the cloth, the plate was already empty

'Note to self; Eri really likes apples.' Shirou thought, as he returned to his paperwork. He made a mental note to add apples to the shopping list.

Eri has joined the party!

In truth, I'm not that pleased with this chapter. It's short, a bit rushed, and kind of bland. I'm gearing up for something bigger next time, though. And let's just say that the HPSC won't be placing all their Eggs in one Miyu-shaped basket afterwards.

Ugh, but I gotta do the Duality Rewrite… and there's another thing I want to do, too… I also have my school work to take care of… Man, real life sucks. That would certainly explain why so many of us read fanfiction.

Anyways, if it's any consolation for the short chapter (Probably not), here's a short Omake I've been planning for a while. It was actually inspired by a conversation I had with someone who PM'd me. Specifically, a spanish-speaking reader going by the name of Jesds. You can expect a few more from our conversation.

Jesds, as you can probably tell, this isn't the only one we talked about. I'll be saving those ones for a later date. You know the ones. As for the rest of you readers, you'll just have to wait.

Omake: Poor executions, awful inspirations.

"Alright, test number 1. Seeing if I can still manipulate my projections after drastically changing their forms." Shirou muttered to himself, once again standing on Dagobah beach. He had cleared out the space around him, and set down two things in front of him; A metal doll, about the size of your average 9 year old, and a life-sized puppet. The former was constructed from projected weapons, and reshaped into a humanoid form. The latter was a projected copy of a puppet he had seen in a store. At the moment, he was trying to see how well he could manipulate his projections. Was making his projections float the limit? Or could he do some simple things, like slashing? What about complex things?

Surprisingly, he got the idea from an anime his underclassmen had shown him. Multiple, actually. But the main one was from a character Hakunon had him cosplay as; Sasori of the Red Sand. A puppeteer from an old anime called 'Naruto'.

You get three guesses who the main character is.

To start off the experiment, he summoned a random steel longsword from his inner world to test his manipulation skills on normal, unchanged weapons. He compelled it to move forward, and it slowly inched forward. When he compelled it to stop, it stopped. He then made it move backwards, then turned it across the Y and Z axes respectively. "Slow, basic movements are almost automatic…" He thoughtlessly commented. "Let's try something faster."

With a thought, the sword turned 90 degrees to the left. Then it spun clockwise a lot faster, having turned 180 degrees. He kept rotating it, until it was fast enough to be considered a proper 'slash'. "Alright, swings work just fine."

He continued practicing, until the sword was zipping through the air, spinning like a wheel, and turning on a dime. He also tested some other things, like projecting weapons behind him and stepping to the side to see if they followed him. They only did when he wanted them to. "Projected weapon control has been thoroughly explored." It was honestly a wonder why EMIYA never tried experimenting with his projections. Sure, firing swords off like bullets was effective, but too straightforward. Point and shoot was too simple, and easy to deflect. "Now, to test the puppets."

He started with the oversized puppet he projected. For a moment, it wasn't moving at all. That was until he really focused, and the main body began moving. But the limbs and head just flopped around aimlessly. He let out a sigh, and dismissed the puppet. Controlling it accurately wouldn't be worth the time and effort he put into it. "Puppet test is a failure. Now attempting the metal doll."

He focused his attention on the child-sized mass of swords. Manipulating every individual blade independently would be impossible without impossibly advanced parallel thinking, so he focused on the blades that formed the 'skeleton'. It moved much easier than the puppet. Shirou tested the 'bones' in the upper and lower arms, then the legs, one at a time. When he attempted to move multiple limbs in different directions…

"Metal doll test… failed." Shirou deadpanned, watching as the arms shot into the distance and the legs buried themselves into the ground, all four limbs having torn off from the main body the moment he tried independent movement. He didn't even get to attempt walking. He shook his head, and dismissed the projected body. "Back to the drawing board." He sighed, shaking his head and walking home. "Well… I guess projecting metal dolls and floating them at people could make for a good prank… All I need to do is cover them with sheets."

-lll-

That was stupid. And Non-canon.

Until next time, this is the Namer, signing out!