* AN: This story stub has not been beta-read.
Disclaimer: I DO_NOT own "Fate" franchise. No profit is being made.
Fate/Stay Night & Fate/Grand Order crossover :: The Cooking Sword
Shirou leaned on his kitchen counter, his breath still labored after running several city blocks, and tried to wrap his mind around everything that had happened to him in the past hour.
First, he came across a pair of supernaturally-strong men fighting each other to death in the school's yard. And when he had the misfortune of attracting their attention, one of those strange fighters - a red-eyed man in a blue bodysuit that wielded a blood-red spear - chased after him and stabbed him right through his chest. Except, Shirou wasn't dead. Or even wounded. If it wasn't for a bloody hole in his clothes, the red-haired teen would've thought that he had hallucinated the whole thing.
Someone must have revived and healed him, and his only clue about the identity of his savior was a ruby necklace that, he was sure, belonged to the school's idol Tohsaka Rin. But why would she do that when they weren't friends and didn't even talk to each other except for occasional greetings when they ran into each other in the school?
His train of thoughts was interrupted when the now-familiar spearman in blue burst through the Emiya residence's wall.
"Dammit, kid. I can't believe that I'll be killing the same person twice in one day. Go straight to the Afterworld this time, alright?" He said as he prepared to skewer the unfortunate teen with his spear. Shirou, however, had no desire to die (again), so grabbed the nearest object - which happened to be a metal spatula - and, creating a handful of Magical Circuits out of his nerves, reinforced it to its limits before moving to block the strange man's spear with it.
Shockingly, this actually worked.
"Ho, this might be fun after all." The spearman said as he quickly got over his surprise. Then, with a rather blood-thirsty grin on his face, he used his far-superior strength to throw Shirou out of the kitchen and into the dining room.
The red-haired teen had barely a moment to recover before his attacker was upon him, his spear raised for another strike. Rolling aside to avoid being stabbed, the young Magus did his best to put some distance between himself and this strange guy in a blue bodysuit. It worked only for a brief moment. The spear user was incredibly fast and, even though he wasn't fighting seriously, Shirou could barely keep up with him, even while using Reinforcement to push his body beyond its normal limits.
Still, he somehow managed to block the next attack with his trusty spatula.
The spearman appeared to be both impressed and annoyed by that. Which, unfortunately for the teen, meant that his attacker was taking him more seriously now. Before Shirou could even react, a brutal kick sent him flying through the house's thin wall. It was so powerful that it might have killed him had he not reinforced his body earlier…
The young Magus barely skidded to a stop in the dirt near the center of the courtyard before he was forced to dodge the spearman's next attack. And this time he wasn't able to do that cleanly and ended up getting a rather deep cut on his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Shirou got back onto his feet and raised the spatula that he somehow managed to hold onto in front of himself. His mysterious attacker grinned and tried to stab him again.
Metal clashed against metal as the red-haired teen somehow managed to intercept the incoming attack. Yet, even with his Magically-reinforced body, he didn't have enough strength to completely stop the red spear and it once again tore into his flesh, leaving another bleeding wound on his shoulder. He wasn't fast enough to do anything about the follow-up roundhouse kick to his stomach either and was sent flying into the shed that doubled as his workshop.
Shirou groaned as he tried to get back onto his feet but couldn't do more than sit up. His whole body hurt and he was certain he had more than a few broken bones. If he was no match for the spearman before, he stood absolutely no chance against him now. That didn't mean he was giving up though. And his determination wasn't shaken (much) even when the spearman stepped into the shed, his weapon poised for a strike.
Acting on pure instinct, Shirou raised his spatula to intercept the incoming attack. And while he managed to redirect it away from his heart, it was about as far as his success went: the spear still tore a hole through the Magically-reinforced cooking implement and pierced his shoulder.
"Tch." The red-eyed man clicked his tongue, before ripping his spear out of the teen's shoulder, making him cry in pain. Then, with a simple flick, he tore the spatula out of the Magus's hands and sent it flying into the back of the shed, where it landed almost in the center of a Magical circle neither he nor Shirou himself knew about. Neither of them noticed the said Magical circle suddenly activating either. "Look, kid." The man said. "I respect your tenacity, but you have to accept that this is the end."
"I refuse." The red-haired Magus said. "Someone revived me earlier and I will not squander their gift by letting you skill me just like that. Even if I…" He stopped abruptly as his left hand suddenly felt like it was on fire. Looking at it, he saw three strange red marks on the back of his palm that most definitely weren't there before. The spearman noticed that too.
"So you're the seventh, huh?" He asked no one in particular. "Well, not like it matters in the end." He continued as he raised his spear for a strike. "You're still going to die here, kid." Before he could do anything, though, the shed was bathed in bright blue light.
This light was so bright that Shirou reflexively closed his eyes and, thus, didn't see what happened next. But even with his eyes closed, he could tell that something sizable had moved past him with incredible speed and attacked the spearman, sending him flying out of the shed in a feat of incredible strength.
Daring to open his eyes, the red-haired Magus found himself looking at a woman unlike any he had seen before.
She was tall, easily over six feet, and had a waist-long mane of blond hair, atop of which sat a strange diadem that looked almost like two pairs of horns. The woman's eyes were mismatched with the left one being almost pure-green while the right one was noticeably tinted with orange. She was also quite muscular and even the medieval plate armor that she was wearing couldn't hide that - or the fact that she was stacked - completely.
Forcing his thoughts away from that dangerous topic, Shirou shifted his gaze towards the sword the mysterious woman had in her right hand. It was a European double-edged sword with a blue handle. It also didn't have a proper crossguard with a diamond-shaped extension of the blade taking its place.
"So, you're the one who summoned me?" The strange woman spoke up, addressing him. Not getting any answer from him she continued: "You don't look like much, but I can see some potential in you. I, Servant Saber, will accept you as my Master for now, but remember, it is the strong who rule over the weak. If you wish to keep my loyalty, you have to prove that you're worthy of it." Not knowing what to say, Shirou simply nodded in response. That seemed to satisfy the knight-lady as she turned her attention towards the Emiya residence's courtyard where the spearman stood, his weapon at ready. "For now, I shall deal with the pest." And with that Servant Saber attacked, moving so fast that the red-haired teen could barely see her.
The spear user had no such problem, but that didn't help him all that much as he couldn't match the raw strength of the buxom knight. After half a minute of being tossed around the courtyard, he finally managed to put some distance between himself and Saber.
"There is no way I'm fighting you here." He said, as if recognizing the woman. "Plus, my cowardly Master is ordering me to retreat." And with that he promptly fled.
"Lancer!" Saber growled. She looked ready to pursue him, but then she sniffed the air and stopped. "Another Servant is approaching. I shall remain by your side and protect you, Master." She said.
"Just call me Shirou." The young Magus said, but was promptly ignored.
The two of them didn't have to wait for too long for whoever Saber had 'smelled' to arrive. It was the other man Shirou had seen fighting in the school's backyard - a tanned white-haired man wearing black armor and red coat cape. And accompanying him was none other than the school's idol, Toshaka Rin.
"Emiya-kun, you are alive! Thank God!" The brunette called as she saw that Shirou wasn't a corpse yet. Then, a moment later, she noticed the Servant standing next to him with her sword drawn. "Uhm… So you're a Master too?.."
"Ah,... I've been called such, but what is Master?" The redhead asked, prompting the girl to let out a sigh.
"Of course…" She muttered under her breath. "It was a complete novice like you who somehow managed to summon Saber." After recomposing herself, she continued: "I feel generous tonight, so I'm going to explain to you the basics of the ritual you got dragged into, Emiya-kun." Then she looked around, noticing the state of the house. "Also, do you need some help fixing this up?" Shirou nodded.
"Master, is it wise for you to trust them?" Saber asked as she kept her sword at ready.
"I promise that neither Archer nor I will attack you first tonight." Rin said while giving her Servant the look. The knight-lady narrowed her eyes and sniffed the air again.
"I smell no deception from you. I shall stay my blade as long as you do not go back on your word." She said before dismissing her sword, making it disappear in a motes of blue light.
"Archer." Rin demanded. Her Servant didn't look very happy but dismissed his twin swords as well. Satisfied, the Tohsaka heiress turned her attention to the red-haired Magus. "Alright then, Emiya-kun. Let me help you fix your house and then we'll talk about the Grail War you're now participating in." Shirou could only nod in response.
AN2: Yes, Shirou summons Barghest / Fairy knight Gawain here.
~/ *** OMAKES *** \~
#1: You can't fool hellhound's nose
"I smell no deception from you. I shall stay my blade as long as you do not go back on your word." She said before dismissing her sword, making it disappear in a motes of blue light. "Do answer me one question, though, Master of Archer. Why does your Servant smell just like my Master?" Rin remained silent for a few long seconds, caught completely by surprise by this question. Then she slowly turned to look at her Servant.
"What are you hiding from me, Archer?" She asked, her disgruntled tone making it clear that the man had been keeping things from her. Archer, however, had no desire to answer that question and quickly astralized, much to the annoyance of his Master.
#2: Breakfast with Saber
Yawning, Shirou made his way towards the kitchen, wondering what he should cook for today's breakfast. As he approached his domain, though, he noticed that the lights were already on. Peeking inside, he saw Saber behind the counter, putting a finishing touch to a sandwich she was making. It was a lot like what one could buy in Subway restaurants, except it was huge, easily big enough to feed three grown men. And his Servant had made two of those monsters.
Then he noticed what exactly she was wearing. Namely, an apron. Just an apron. And nothing else.
"Saber, what are you doing?" He asked as he stepped into the kitchen. "And what the hell are you wearing?" The Servant put the finishing touch on her sandwich and turned to face him.
"Good morning, Master." She greeted him. "I saw these on an advertisement we walked by yesternight. They looked so delicious that I've decided to make some myself." She paused for a moment before continuing: "And what's wrong with my clothes?" She asked while tugging at her apron, nearly exposing her breasts for her Master to see. "Isn't this what a woman of these lands is supposed to wear when cooking for her man?"
Shirou's mind promptly short-circuited and the red-haired teen fell unconscious, a string of blood escaping from his nose.
"Master?" Saber asked, her voice suddenly full of worry. "What happened, Master?"
#3: Hide and seek
"Issei, you have to help me! I need a place to hide." Shirou pleaded to his classmate, who was sweeping the stairs leading to the Ryuudou temple.
"What's going on, Shirou?" The monk-in-training asked. "You look like there are hellhounds after your soul." Indeed, the red-haired teen looked horrible. He was sweaty and tired, like he had just run a marathon and… Was that a bite mark on his neck? His clothes didn't look any better: they were in disarray, dirty and were torn in a few places.
"Just let me in, please!" The young Magus pleaded.
"O-okay." Issei replied, still not having any idea what was going on with his friend.
"Thank you." Shirou said quickly before running up the stairs leading to the temple. The other teen let out a sigh and went back to sweeping. Unfortunately, he didn't get to do much before another distraction arrived only a minute later. This time, though, it was a woman. A tall, muscular blonde with the biggest pair of tits the young monk has ever seen.
"Shirou, darling, where are you? I need more of your mana, Master! Where are you?" The strange woman spoke to no one in particular. Then she… sniffed the air like a dog trying to follow someone's trail? Then she noticed him. "Hey, boy, have you seen my Mas-... I mean, Shirou?" Issei's mind, however, was too busy trying to make sense of all this chaos to actually understand the question he was asked.
"N-no." He stammered out. In response, the woman swore in a language he couldn't understand before taking off, asking the very world around her where her 'Master Shirou' was.
Issei let out a deep sigh as he tried to return to the task the temple's master had given him. Alas, all that he could think about right now was trying to figure out what sort of a mess his friend has found himself in.