Greetings, dear readers! I have returned once again.

I know, I said I would work on the Duality Rewrite. But I don't have much of the motivation I had when I started. That doesn't mean I've discontinued it, I'm still gonna rewrite, but it's not gonna be a main story that I'm going to work on often. It's more of a side project, really. This story will be one of my main stories for the time being, along with some others that I'm gonna work on later. They've been on my mind for a while. They're on my profile, but the summaries are more of a base line. Enough about my other stories, let's focus on Fake Hero.

Just to be clear, the Omake in the last chapter was non-canon. Both the mannequin things and the kung-fu floating swords. Shirou's not gonna be fighting honorable duels with floating swords anytime soon. I may bring back the floating puppet bodies though, just for another joke. Maybe a bonus chapter consisting of celebrating Halloween, and Shirou screwing with people with floating mannequins covered in blankets.

And to that one Guest that asked if I actually enjoyed Jackie Avocado, here's my reply: I read it for the laughs. It's the same reason people watch 'Try Not to Cringe' compilations, it's so hilariously dumb that I can't help but laugh at the stupidity. For most of the stories, the writing itself is… pretty bad. No offense to you, Jackie. And I got rid of the recommendation part.

Oh, I came up with an alternative summary for the story; "The most overpowered and least heroic version of Shirou Emiya wakes up in MHA, his little sister at his side this time, and derails the entire plot simply by existing." Tell me what you think in the Reviews, I think it's a pretty decent summary of the story so far. I mean, we've already drop-kicked the Shie Hassaikai Arc.

Let's find out what else Shirou's gonna ruin in Chapter 5!

Chapter 5: Premonition

"Thanks for coming all of the way here. Going to the station ourselves is what I'd normally do, but Eri was anxious to leave the house. It would also be pretty dangerous for us to be out in the open." Truth. The young man, Shirou Sakatsuki, pat the head of the girl in question. She didn't flinch, which was a bit odd if you knew what she had been through. Naomasa nodded along, understanding her aversion to leaving the house, considering her circumstances.

It had started with an odd report the station had received, claiming that the sender had come across a victim of child abuse, and requested to have an officer sent to the listed address. The higher-ups had found it suspicious, and the new recruits thought it was some kind of trap. Naomasa agreed to check it out, and kept his hand near his gun when he knocked on the front door. Thankfully, it was not a trap or lure, it was a genuine report.

Though he was a bit surprised to find out that the sender was a young man (It took some reassurance that he was, in fact, still a teenager. Those bags under his eyes were not helping his case) in a pink, frilly apron. According to him, he prepared some tea and baked cookies just prior, and they were almost done cooling. As for the apron…

'It was a gift from my little sister. She thought it would look nice on me, and bought it with her allowance. I honestly couldn't say no to it.' Or so he said. To be fair, it did fit quite well on him. But judging from the '#1 Mom' on the front, it wasn't intended for young men.

He had changed out of it, and returned in a Navy Blue yukata, with an albino girl, maybe five years old, and another girl, older with black hair and amber eyes, holding his hands. That led them to this moment, Naomasa sitting on a couch across from the two, a wooden coffee table between them. On the table was a cup of tea for each of them (Eri had hot cocoa instead), and a plate of freshly baked cookies (Shirou had wiped the crumbs off of the girls' cheeks thrice now).

The detective clicked his pen, pulling out a notepad. He placed a recorder on the table, and turned it on. No one objected to it. "Now then, please state your names for the record."

"Shirou Sakatsuki." Truth. The young man said first.

"Miyu Sakatsuki." Truth. The older girl went next.

"E-Eri." Truth. The youngest girl stuttered. This is the one he came for, then.

"Any surname?" Naomasa asked. Eri shook her head.

"It's probably due to repressed memories. She said she remembers her mother and father, but not much else." The other man present chimed in. Naomasa wrote that down on his notepad.

"Can you tell me what led up to your meeting?"

"I was walking home after picking up some groceries. I took a few shortcuts through the alleys, and called the cops on a couple guys that tried mugging me." Truth. Shirou spoke up, raising a hand.

"I think I remember that. Just to be clear, did you use your Quirk on them? It would fall under self defense, but I just want to make sure." Naomasa replied, recalling the day three men had been taken in due to attempted robbery. The location they were clutching was a pretty good indicator of what happened, though Naomasa was double checking for legal reasons.

"No, I didn't. All I did was remove their ability to have children." Truth. Naomasa nodded, though a trickle of sweat ran down his forehead at the… unique phrasing. A second joined the first when he turned to the two girls at his sides, and spoke again. "Eri, Miyu, if a guy ever tries bringing you somewhere or making you do something without consent, kick them between the legs and run." Shirou shook a finger back and forth, as a teacher lecturing their students, or a parent scolding their child. Miyu nodded in agreement, and Eri just nodded at the instructions.

"Please continue with your story."

"Right, sorry. When I turned the corner into the alley behind the building, two guys came running out. They seemed desperate to find someone, because they were re-tracing their trail. One of them said they went through that same alleyway three hours ago. They split up when they got to the end, and neither of them noticed me, or at least ignored me. I didn't think much of it… until I found Eri hiding in a dumpster at the other end of the alleyway. She asked me to hide her from the 'bad men', so I took her inside." Truth. Naomasa wrote down the important points in the notepad, specifically the 'bad men' Shirou had mentioned.

"Can you describe the men you mentioned?"

"I think they're from a Yakuza group, the Shie Hassaikai." Shirou explained, and continued at Naomasa's insistence. "They were dressed pretty normally, but both of them were wearing face masks, specifically plague doctor masks. All the members of the Shie Hassaikai I've been able to look up online were wearing masks, and plague doctor masks were most common among them." Truth.

"Do you think Eri is the one they're looking for?"

"I know she's the one they're looking for, Eri told me that they were the ones chasing her. They're probably still searching for her. Unless Chisaki killed them for their failure, and I wouldn't put that past him, considering what I've heard about him…" Truth. Shirou crossed his arms, his hands wrapped around them tightly. Naomasa's eyes widened slightly.

"You know about Overhaul?" He asked. In response, Shirou just bobbed his head towards Eri, still mostly oblivious to the conversation. The detective nodded in understanding, and changed his question. "What do you know about him?"

"The former head of the Shie Hassaikai, who's name I couldn't find out, took him in at a young age. I'll call him the boss. Chisaki started fighting people who got into their 'territory', but the boss knew that they were reaching their end. One day, Eri's birth mother gave her to the boss, who happens to be her grandfather. The boss asked Chisaki to figure out what Eri's Quirk was, since they were 'similar'." Naomasa wrote in his notepad yet again, taking note of the fact that Eri and Chisaki had somewhat comparable Quirks. He also planned on asking how Shirou knew all this, since Eri probably didn't know some of it.

"Chisaki figured out her Quirk, and proposed using her to create a drug that could make the Shie Hassaikai the rulers of the underworld. Selling the drug to villains, and the cure to Heroes. The boss was opposed to the idea, so Chisaki put him into a coma and enacted his plans, taking up the name Overhaul. From what I've heard, he's already managed an imperfect copy, but without Eri, they can't continue any more research." Truth.

"You're… awfully neutral about this." Naomasa noted, though he noticed how Shirou was clenching his arms tightly. But he was keeping a straight face and an even tone. Naomasa was having a bit of a hard time doing so at this very second.

"Neutral is one of the last words to describe how I'm feeling, Detective. I've been doing my best to keep myself from personally hunting him down for what he's done." Truth. "And let me tell you, the art of sharp and pointy is a very effective way to flay someone."

"Let's move back on topic, then. Do you know what kind of drug they were making?"

"It's some kind of special bullet. It's supposed to target the Quirk factor, and render someone's Quirk unusable for several hours. It's incomplete though. As for how it does it… all I know is that it uses materials harvested from Eri. Blood, skin, and cells." Truth. Naomasa was wondering how the young man, not even half his age, was keeping a straight face. Eri didn't react much either. Though she was preoccupied with the cookies. Miyu… it was hard to tell what she was thinking. Unless it had to do with her brother in some way, her expression… it was unnaturally blank.

"It probably has something to do with her Quirk factor, then…" The officer thoughtfully raised a hand to his chin. "Do you know what Eri's Quirk is?"

"I have a few theories, but nothing concrete. And Eri doesn't like talking about it, so I haven't forced her to tell me. Sorry." Truth.

"I see." Naomasa wrote that down, glad that the young man respected Eri's privacy. "Just one more thing, then I'll be on my way."

"And that would be…?"

"It's for Eri." The girl in question stopped filling her cheeks with chocolate chips, and looked up at the detective. "We've been looking to put Chisaki away for a long time now, but he's always escaped charges. We already know a bit, but if you can tell me what he did to you, we can put him away for a long time."

"If Overhaul gets arrested, he won't be able to hurt you ever again, Eri." Shirou added.

"Y-You promise?" She asked. Shirou nodded. "Pinky Promise?" She asked again, raising a hand and extending her pinky. Shirou did the same, and gave her a 'pinky promise' with a smile. She turned back to Naomasa. "Will you… really believe me?"

"As long as you're telling the truth, I'll know." The detective confirmed, encouragingly giving Eri the kindest smile he could.

Eri seemed reluctant, but with some encouragement from Shirou, she talked. And when she finished, Naomasa looked like he wanted to throw up. Shirou and Miyu, who had already heard the story, kept neutral expressions that betrayed their true feelings.

"W-Well… That will be more than enough to keep him behind bars. Forever." Naomasa tried to keep a composed voice. "You were very brave telling me this. I'll make sure he never hurts anyone ever again." He turned back to the other two occupants. "Do either of you have any questions?"

"What happens to Eri-san?" Miyu spoke up for the first time in the conversation.

"She can stay with you for now, and after that… We'll see what happens." The detective replied. Shirou smiled ever so slightly at that, but Naomasa didn't notice.

"I'm guessing we're being put into witness protection." Shirou stated, not as a question, but as a fact.

"At least a month, but it's going to last until the Shie Hassaikai have been dealt with." Naomasa replied. Shirou seemed to deflate at that. "Is something wrong?"

"We might be in it for a while, then. Chisaki's definitely on high alert now that Eri's escaped, and going to the police seems like it's the first thing most people would do. So he's probably preparing to escape through one of the secret exits if it comes to that. And when that happens, who knows how long it'll take for him to resurface?" Shirou explained his thought process. "How many other facilities does he have access to? What kind of connections does he have? How long will we have to be protected? …Could he find out about us, or Eri?"

Naomasa didn't have a reply to any of those questions. Instead, he took off his hat, and held it to his chest as he bowed to the trio. "Thank you for your cooperation. I'll be going now." And with that, Naomasa stepped out of the apartment. He took out his phone the second he shut the door, and called one of his contacts. "Sir Nighteye? It's me, Tsukauchi. I might have a lead on that investigation of yours…"

Back in the apartment, Shirou leaned back into the cushions of the only couch that they owned, letting the projected couch opposite of him vanish. His shoulders sagged slightly. "He didn't even drink his tea…" He turned his eyes to the now empty plate of cookies, and took notice of the abundance of crumbs on his sisters' cheeks. "Didn't even leave one for me, huh?" Shirou said with fake sadness. The two girls looked guilty at each other. Shirou just laughed it off and pat both of their heads. "It's fine. Now that the policeman is gone, we can go back to play time." They seemed to perk up at that. He was glad Eri had grown comfortable with them so quickly. That being said, she trusted them way too fast for someone with her experiences. It concerned him to a degree. But right now, he has two little sisters to entertain.

With both the go-ahead from the Association and a small army of Pro-Heroes, the Shie Hassaikai base had been stormed. There were dozens -if not hundreds- of arrests, and even a few injuries. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Unfortunately, Shirou's prediction had come true. Even with as many of the exits blocked as possible, Overhaul managed to escape with most of the Bullets he had created, and his upper echelon, the 'Eight Bullets'.

The former head had been moved into a proper hospital, and there was some debate on whether he should be punished for Overhaul's crimes, used as bait, or left alone. He was opposed to the plan his 'son' came up with, after all. In the end, it was going to be held off until the man had awoken. But there was little chance of that, Overhaul had used his Quirk to re-shape his spine. The only way to fix it would be for Overhaul himself, or for someone with a similar Quirk, to put it back into place.

As expected, Shirou, Miyu, and Eri were put into witness protection, and they were moved into another building for at-least one month where they would be guarded. Functionally, it was similar enough to their apartment that no one minded the temporary move. That was until the Pros started showing up, switching out every two to four days.

Eri was still quite nervous around people aside from the amber-eyed siblings, so she usually avoided them, but was respectful whenever they came into contact. Miyu was both curious and dismissive of them, though it usually depended on the Pro-Hero in question. The more Heroic ones caught her attention, while the ones in it to beat up bad guys and get paid were usually ignored. She was also quite respectful about it, regardless of the type they were dealing with. Shirou was similar to Miyu in that regard, but more irritated in general. He hadn't chewed out any of the 'fake' heroes yet, but he felt his eye twitch when that kind of hero was the one watching over them. Mt. Lady was one such example, though he had multiple problems with her, not just being in it for attention and pay.

'Wearing a skin-tight suit around children, what kind of example are you trying to give them!?' He wanted to shout, but kept it to a civil 'Should you really be dressed like that around two young, impressionable girls?'

Mt. Lady assumed the teen was flustered by her costume, and shamelessly teased him with her… 'assets'. His usual tired expression shifted into a frown, his point completely ignored, so Shirou stayed in his room for the rest of the day. The Pro-Hero assumed he was too flustered and let it go, but he was actually going through his Reality Marble to help clear his mind of the interaction. As well as looking over any Noble Phantasms that are niche in use, lower-ranked, or all but forgotten in his Reality Marble.

Beagalltach, a Noble Phantasm of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne that granted a significant increase to Magic Resistance. B+ Rank. Carnwennan, a dagger of King Arthur's that granted B-Rank Presence Concealment when wielded, though it only existed in the Welsh version of the story. D Rank. Blessing of Wisdom, tied to Suzuka Gozen's silver sword Shoutouren, granted the user the wisdom of the bodhisattva that forged it. C Rank. Clarent, a royal sword bestowed upon the succession of kingship and stolen by Mordred, raising all physical Parameters by one Rank and either granting or raising the skill Charisma. C Rank, originally B. And many, many more.

Regardless, it was time for the next rotation. Kamui Woods, a masked Pro who wouldn't look out of place in those old Kamen Rider and Power Ranger shows, was just about to leave. There were more than a few Pros that took their job seriously and weren't just out for glory, so he gave them each some advice. For Kamui, he recommended trying to manipulate wood that had been detached from his body, as well as naturally-grown wood.

At the same time, Shirou was taking an apple pie out of the oven, Eri was sitting by the counter excitedly waiting for said pie, and Miyu sat next to her while reading a history book Shirou had borrowed from his school's library before their protection began. It was one of the many books Shirou had borrowed to catch up on this world's recent history, and what happened since the years of his old world. Nintendo was still making Pokemon games, people were still fighting over the 'console wars', and Disney still had a copyright on their mouse. Even after hundreds of years, some things never change.

"Now Eri, when you take something out of the oven, you have to wear oven mitts." Shirou lectured, making up for Eri's lack of a formal education. She was still very afraid to go outside, Shirou had to carry her all the way to the new apartment, so she wasn't going to school yet. That wasn't to say that Shirou was unable to do it, he had plenty of experience with teaching, if the embarrassed look on Miyu's face was anything to go by. "If not, you'll burn your hands. And none of us want that."

Hearing the door opening and shutting, Shirou turned to it, and standing next to Kamui woods was a businessman and a teenager. The businessman was in a white suit, with a red tie covered in white polka dots. He had smoothed out green hair, though a few streaks of yellow stood out. A pair of glasses covered his eyes. All in all, he looked like your average Japanese man, if you overlooked the hair. It looked like he was keeping something in his coat.

The one standing next to him definitely looked more like a Pro, though he seemed young. A red, white, and blue suit was what he was wearing, with hints of green and a red cape adding more detail. He wore white headgear with a golden visor. On his chest sat the number one million in bright gold. Slicked back blonde hair and odd-looking blue eyes completed his look. Though, the costume didn't look like it was made from normal fiber.

"I'll speak with our guests. Eri, don't touch the pie until it's cooled down." Shirou ordered, setting the pie down on the counter. Eri nodded, but was still drooling over the pastry set down next to her. As an extra precaution, he gave Miyu a look, silently asking her to keep Eri from hurting herself. After receiving a nod from Miyu, he turned his attention back to the two newcomers. "Good afternoon. Would I be correct in assuming that you two are our next guardians?" Shirou asked politely.

"Yup! Sir requested to be one of your protectors for a few days, and since I'm part of his agency for my workplace study, I was allowed to join him! The name's Togata Mirio, but you can call me Lemillion!" The young blonde introduced himself first, pointing at his chest proudly. Shirou chuckled quietly at that, and raised a hand in greeting.

"I'm Shirou. The one with black hair is my little sister Miyu, and the one drooling over the pie is Eri." He introduced himself, gesturing to the albino girl by the counter. Lemillion put on an odd expression at the sight of her. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing! I just thought it was kind of funny. Sir's actually been keeping an eye on Chisaki for a while, but we never got an opportunity to lock him up. And all of a sudden, we have evidence of his crimes and we raid his base. Guess we got lucky, ya'know?" The blonde scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile. "It would be great if we caught him, but at least he can't hurt Eri-chan anymore!"

"I'm gonna guess that this is the 'Sir' you keep bringing up, because I know for a fact I filed my taxes this year." Shirou snarked, looking up at the finely dressed man. Lemillion laughed at the joke, but 'Sir' kept his expression neutral as he looked down at the spellcaster. Shirou met his gaze, a sly grin on his face. A cough broke off their impromptu staring contest, and their attention was on Kamui Woods.

"Young man, I'll see if that idea of yours has any merit. Make sure to take care of young Eri as well." The masked Pro called out, before turning to the two newcomers. "Sir Nighteye, Lemillion, can I trust you to protect them?"

"Of course." The now-named Sir Nighteye responded, speaking up for the first time since arriving. He pushed up his glasses with his middle finger, an action Shirou was well-acquainted with, as Julian did it all the time. Though it was also usually a sign that Julian was about to curse up a storm. Shirou usually covered his ears when it happened, so his hands instinctively twitched. Sir Nighteye seemed to take notice, but said nothing of it. "We wouldn't be very good Heroes if we couldn't protect three children."

Shirou felt his eyebrow twitch when Nighteye counted him as one of the children. He'd been taking care of himself long before he met Miyu, and he was almost eighteen. 'Child' shouldn't have applied to him.

Shirou pushed that irritation to the back of his mind, and refocused on the room. Kamui Woods left while he was mentally arguing about his age, so that left Sir Nighteye and Lemillion to watch them. After a minute of thinking, he recalled what the younger man had mentioned. "So… have either of you picked up any leads on the Shie Hassaikai?" He asked, crossing his arms. "It would be reassuring to have any info on their whereabouts, that way I know what areas to avoid when Witness Protection lets up."

"There were a few sightings of confirmed members, as well as individuals we suspect to be members." The finely-dressed Pro replied. "The police are also at work interrogating the members we captured during the raid. We've discovered a few more smaller locations connected to them, but none of them had any of the upper echelon present."

"Did you find anything in the main hideout? Locations, members, drugs… formulas?" He pressed on.

"We were able to confirm that Chisaki Kai was indeed using Eri's cells to create the bullets, as we found traces of living tissue within. We were also able to identify her Quirk; Its name is Rewind. And it allows her to rewind a living being to a previous state of being." Nighteye stated in a matter-of-fact tone, surprising both Shirou and Lemillion.

"That…" Shirou trailed off, thinking about the ramifications of such a Quirk. It reminded him of some of the stronger Dead Apostles, and how they recovered from their injuries not by regenerating, but by reversing time to before they were injured. That added another little sister he had to shield from the Safety Commission, since it was basically the ultimate healing Quirk.

"Sir, wasn't that supposed to be confidential?" Mirio asked, looking up at Nighteye confused. He was met with a cold, calculating stare.

"It would be far safer for them to know ahead of time and prepare for it, rather than be caught off guard by it later on and end up suffering for it. And what are a few pieces of soon-to-be public information worth compared to the lives of two people?" Nighteye explained, his arms folded behind his back. He turned to Shirou. "You've been informed of what happened to Eri's father?" He asked flatly, Shirou holding off a scowl. He wasn't particularly fazed by the death in question, but even he would be a bit more gentle about it. For the most part, he respected the dead.

Mostly. Even if he was being manipulated by Julian, Shirou would never forgive Shinji. Or Julian himself, for that matter.

"…Yeah." Shirou replied after a moment. "Eri's the one who told me about what happened. One moment, she was reaching out to him, and the next, he… vanished." He continued. "When I first heard about it, I thought her Quirk was some kind of molecular disassembly or annihilation power. But rewinding someone to when they were only a couple of cells, or… or even before they existed, that makes sense too." He shook his head. "Regardless, thanks for telling me. I can plan ahead if something goes wrong, and now I have a better idea on how we'd go about helping her control it. Maybe rewinding an apple core into a whole apple? That could work…" Shirou raised a hand to his chin, tapping it lightly with his finger.

"…You don't seem that concerned." Nighteye noted, raising an eyebrow. Shirou noticed his confusion, and instead of downplaying the danger Eri's Quirk could potentially pose to him (Which was close to none, if it came down to it he'd just put her to sleep with a Mystic Code or hypnotism), he chose to remain silent.

"…" He maintained a neutral stare, amber eyes challenging yellow ones. After a minute of this, he abruptly turned around, his stone-cold stare replaced with a small smile. "Looks like the pie's done cooling down." He commented, walking towards the kitchen. "Eri, Miyu, pie's ready!" He called out, taking out a few plates and utensils for the kids.

The girls ran back into the dining room as Shirou set aside a plate for both of them, as well as a plate for himself. He offered some to Lemillion and Nighteye, but only the former accepted. The latter continued his observations in silence.

Shirou walked through the isles of his preferred grocery store, the pitter patter of small shoes trailing behind him, and louder footfalls on either side. It had been discouraged by many of the people guarding the building, reasonably so, but after Shirou explained just how horrible their agents were at getting the right ingredients, and the fact that neither of the girls had been outside in over a week (Eri hadn't seen the sun in months, judging from her rather pale complexion), he was allowed to go on his own shopping trips and take the girls with him… so long as they had an escort. Said escort consisted of two of their agents. While they were mostly inconspicuous, there were still two men in suits following people much younger than them. Needless to say, it caught some attention. None of the group particularly minded it, though they drew the line at people taking pictures.

Shirou set down a red pepper that was not quite ripe, and picked up another one. After a second, he added it to the plastic bag, tied the bag up, and put it in the cart, right next to the potatoes. Shirou thought the guards were unnecessary, but accepted the conditions so they could finally get out of the house for once. Sure, he could always sneak out, but with all the guards, he would get found out pretty quickly, scolded, and a bunch of other things that would make sneaking out counterproductive. The shopping was a breath of fresh air, for both himself and his sisters. Well, him and Miyu. Eri… not so much. But she still came along.

While Eri was still terrified of going outside and being around people, she still much preferred that to the alternative of being left at home while Shirou was shopping every week or so, so she had come along with the siblings on their shopping trip. However, considering the fact that an albino child with a horn and scarred arms wasn't that hard to spot, she had been disguised.

At the moment, her hair was a shade of pink on the lighter end, and her eyes matched his own in color. Since Fall had come and the weather grew colder, Eri has been dressed up in a light blue turtleneck sweater, a black skirt, and black stockings. Her horn, small as it was, still made it a bit difficult to conceal her identity. So the bodyguards had procured a hat that looked like a rabbit, and hid the horn under one of the ears.

Surprisingly enough, Shirou was the one who came up with the disguise, bunny hat included. Despite the fact that his preferred choice in style was quite plain, he actually knew quite a bit about fashion and disguises. The main reason had to do with Miyu, and the fact that he picked out all of her clothes for her. Just to be clear, he always asked for her input, but she would always say something along the lines of 'Onii-chan can decide what fits me at a glance' or 'Anything Onii-chan picks out for me will look good'. Shirou didn't know how to respond to that, so he just went along with it.

Even so, she was worried about Overhaul finding her, and being outside didn't help in that regard, disguise or not. So the entire shopping trip, Eri had been clutching the hem of Shirou's coat as if her life depended on it, burying her face into her sweater with her other hand. Shirou had been comforting her the entire time, though he made sure not to use her name when doing so.

Most of the time, he only had one hand free to push the cart.

After going through the store and getting all the necessary ingredients for tonight's dish (Getting odd looks all the while), the group left the building and re-entered the disguised armored truck they were being escorted in, the bodyguards putting the bags in the trunk. It was a bit of a surreal experience, so to speak. Especially for the little ones, who had no experience with this kind of thing whatsoever. Shirou was moderately used to it, so it wasn't as unusual to him.

Even before his Grail War, Shirou lived a very colorful life.

"Mr. Sakatsuki, I still believe you should leave the grocery runs to us." The driver, and one of his bodyguards, spoke. They had stopped at an intersection, waiting for the red light to turn green. "I know we've messed up a few times, but-"

"Do you remember the time I asked for potatoes, so I could make caldereta? Only four of them mind you, and they were the only things I asked for. I had everything else I needed for it. I even defrosted the ground beef from the week before." The red-head sighed, giving the driver a pointed look. The man in question flinched. "You brought back chicken, a pineapple, and a watermelon. How is that even possible?"

"We… forgot, sir." The other bodyguard hesitantly replied. He was sitting in the front passenger seat, right next to the driver. "The blame lies with me."

"That still doesn't explain how you two missed the one thing I asked for, while getting three other things I didn't ask for. You could've called and checked in with me. You could've come back and tried again the next day." He stressed, leaning forward in his seat. He then sighed in defeat, falling back into his chair. "Fortunately, we had spaghetti noodles in the pantry, so I was able to whip up some pasta with the chicken, and dessert with the pineapple and melon. And I managed to refreeze the meat, so it didn't go to waste. But I had to throw out all the vegetables I prepared in advance." The second-rate magus shook his head.

If there was anything he despised more than the Ainsworths, it was wasted food.

"That is why I'm coming out and shopping instead of leaving it to you. When I can trust you two to keep track of the lists I give you, I'll let you two take care of it. But until then, I'll do it myself." Shirou argued. He then gave the bodyguards a sympathetic look. "I get that I'm the one being difficult here. I understand that perfectly. But now that I'm in charge of Eri, I'm going to make sure she's taken care of properly. Dietary needs included."

Eri was in poor health when she first showed up, both malnourishment and vitamin deficiency being among the more obvious issues. Emotionally, he was furious with Chisaki for treating Eri like that. But logically, he couldn't help but be astonished at his stupidity. Chisaki was collecting her blood for his weapon, or whatever he was making, but because she was in such poor health, her blood would be of very low quality. Because of that, preserving her Quirk factor was very difficult. If her needs were properly taken care of, receiving more Vitamin D to make up for her lack of sunlight and a proper diet to help fill her out, his weapons would've been mass produced and shipped out to every criminal organization on the globe by now. For a so-called 'genius', he was pretty ignorant of basic human physiology. Well, either that, or he was just needlessly cruel.

Not that Shirou was an expert in it or anything, but considering how many times he used Structural Analysis on his own body, he could definitely tell if something was wrong with a person. That being said, he didn't need Magecraft to tell that Eri didn't have nearly enough Vitamin D.

Speaking of, Eri was resting on his side, all the walking she wasn't used to and the worrying she did seemingly tiring her out. Miyu was also leaning on him with closed eyes, though she wasn't asleep. Just acting particularly spoiled today, considering the fact that she was nuzzling up against him. He was more than willing to indulge such spoiled behavior with headpats.

Slowly, Shirou felt himself shift into his own little world. The quiet humming of the car, the light shaking, cradling his little sisters in his arms, while he wasn't drifting off into slumber, he definitely felt at peace.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

Shirou glanced out the car window, and noticed that a lot of people were running away from the street to their right. While the vehicle was mostly soundproof and it had tinted windows, Shirou could still tell that people were screaming as they ran away from… something. "Is something happening outside?" He asked, getting closer to the windows. He couldn't see what was causing the commotion, but he could tell that the streets were damaged.

Shirou's question seemed to get the attention of their finely dressed guards, as they too turned to look at the commotion. The passenger picked up a radeo. "We've got a situation in Musutafu, on First and Fifth. Looks to be a villain attack. Over." He spoke into the police radio built into the car. What came out of the speaker was broken up by static. But the general message came through.

"We… Shie… Backup!…Bullets… Heroes!…" The voice, presumably an officer, barely came through. It got more clear as the message continued. "Repeat… -Shie Hassaikai… Need backup!… Eight Bullets!… -Heroes Primate and Red Gauntlet are down! They're in the city, at the intersection on First and Fifth! Over!"

Eri visibly flinched when the words Shie Hassaikai came out of the radio, her hands starting to squeeze Shirou's clothes in terror. In response, he pulled both of the girls closer to him, trying his best to comfort Eri. Several people emerged from the chaos. Shirou counted five, and they all wore masks of some kind. Three of them were bird masks.

The first was massive, towering over the other three, as well as most cars going down the street. He wore a black tank top with a power logo in the center, green jeans, sneakers, and there was some kind of metallic brace around his shoulders and waist. His hands were covered in massive metal gauntlets and knuckledusters.

The second wore a dirty white T-shirt, black pants, a blue tunic, and black boots. He also wore some kind of contraption over his hands, though they looked more complex than the simple gauntlets the first guy wore. His mask was a bit torn, so his hair was visible.

The third was one of the more finely dressed of the group, and he was bald with no eyebrows. A black dress shirt, white dress pants, and black shoes. Rather than the bird-like masks of his companions, he opted for a plain white medical mask. There were several crystalline structures sticking out of his body, predominantly his arms.

The fourth was dressed quite like the third, though with a different color scheme and a pink neck tie as well. He was holding a lot of things, mostly stolen police pistols. That being said, he also had a katana, which Shirou automatically added to his Reality Marble. That gave him the identity of the man, Setsuno Toya, and his Quirk, Larceny. The blade itself hadn't had a lot of blood staining it, that duty was mostly left to the fifth guy.

Speaking of, the final guy looked… unhinged, for a lack of a better word. He wore a rug sack over his head and shoulders, a rope tied around his neck to keep it steady. The mouth area was covered in stitches, as if it had been hastily repaired several times. His eyes, barely visible from where Shirou was watching, had a crazed look in them. His eyes would dart back and forth in a sort of crazed glee. His hands were twitching at his mask, as if ready to tear through it. That would explain the stitches, at least.

Shirou hadn't been able to make out what they were saying due to their masks. But when they all turned to the very same Armored Truck he was sitting in, he didn't need to know. It was pretty obvious, even if they hadn't turned to look at their car.

They were here for Eri. But he wouldn't let them take her.

Whew, that took a lot longer than it should have. Sorry for the delay, and sorry for the cliffhanger.

Yeah, Setsuno, Hojo, and Tabe (Thief, Crystals, and Dental Floss) weren't the only ones sent out to find them, like I had alluded to in the last chapter. Excluding Sakaki, Tengai, and Nemoto (Drunk, Shield, and Truth Serum), all of them had been sent out.

The actual fighting is in the next chapter, and the chapter after that will introduce more key characters.

Once again, sorry for taking so long. No Omake right now. It's like, four in the morning as of writing this, so I'll probably edit one in later. Probably something to do with restaurants.

I'll get to work on the next chapter, and it should come out sooner because fight scenes are easier for me to write. Also, Summer Break. Yay.

Until then, this is the Namer, signing out!