Chapter 01 – Justice/Miracle

A man dreamt… of the world's salvation…

Another man chose… the survival of his species…

And I wished for… their happiness…

TO THOSE THAT HAVE ALREADY READ/WATCHED OATH UNDER SNOW, PLEASE SKIP TO CHAPTER 2, THIS CHAPTER ISN'T THAT POLISHED, ONLY A REFRESHER FOR THOSE WHO FORGOT THE STORY OR INTRODUCTION TO NEWCOMERS

3rd POV

A car, carrying 2 people, was on its way to a place known as Fuyuki City.

"The Sakatsuki Family?" A young red-haired boy asked.

"Yes." A middle-aged man with a cigarette replied. "It's a family with an old history, living in Fuyuki since the 16th century. Other than that, there's nothing noteworthy about them, but there's something strange."

"Strange?" The boy questioned.

"No one has ever seen children, or more precisely, girls below the age of 7 from that family."

"What does that mean?"

"After they reach that age, they suddenly appear from out of nowhere, claiming that they recovered from a disease, moved from another house, or were children of relatives. I think that it's the remnants of the Divine Child religion."

"Divine Child religion?"

"Divinity until age 7, children below that age are closer to gods or spirits than any human. It's that kind of religion."

"In that case." Started the boy with a serious face. "If those children are close to gods and spirits, then your wish…"

"The possibility isn't high." The man replied with a cynical stance. "Even if such children exist, I don't know whether the power they have is what I'm looking for. Still…" The man trailed off.

"Still." The boy continued. "If the possibility exists, then it's worth trying, since we're champions of justice!" The boy said while beaming a smile at the man.

The man sighed and breathed in the smoke in his hand.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not anything like that."

"Yeah, yeah. You're humble, I know."

The man saw something that caused him to hit the brakes.

"What's the matter, Dad?" The boy asked, startled by the sudden stop.

The man simply left the car and continued staring at the front. The boy confused, followed the man's example to see what left him so dazed. What he saw, was pure utter destruction. Vehicles and people were flying from the power of the disaster, buildings crumbled as it swelled rapidly.

'That isn't something that human can do.' The man thought.

"Get in the car, Shirou, we're leaving." The man demanded.

"What are you talking about, Kiritsugu?" Shirou refuted. "At this rate, the city—"

"It would be fine if it were just the city." Kiritsugu cut him off. "But we don't know how much further it will expand. It might reach all the way here—no, in the worst-case scenario, it could engulf the entire country!"

"But that's why we—" He began.

Then holy light began shining from Fuyuki City, the two were captivated by its actions. It engulfed the expanding dome of destruction and erased it from existence. Such a phenomenon could only be called a miracle.

As the two continued to search for the miracle's source, they encountered obstacles that got in their way.

"We can't go any further by car…" Kiritsugu stated as he looked at the blockades and cars around the area.

He was then surprised when Shirou suddenly rushed out of the vehicle and avoided the attention of the authorities.

"I'm going!" Shirou yelled.

"Wait, Shirou-" He could only stare at his son's back as he weaved through the mass of people.

'I have to catch up him before something bad happens.' With such a thought, he began planning to follow Shirou quickly.

Shirou ran, determined to find the miracle that might fulfill his father's dream.

Shirou reaches the edge of the crater that was the result of the disaster and lamented all the lives lost because of it.

A bell-like sound rang out in the area and took his attention away. Turning his head, he saw a black-haired girl with a pink yukata, sitting on a half-destroyed building, blankly staring at the horizon. The girl then turned her head to look at him in the eyes. Yellow eyes met red; their respective owners silently stared at each other.

*CRACK*

A pillar supporting the structure started to crumble.

"Watch out!" Shirou screamed as he sprinted to save the girl from being crushed to death. 'Don't collapse yet!' He thought.

Suddenly, the building froze as if a video being paused, Shirou noticed it, but he ignored it for now to save the girl. As he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her small frame and used [Reinforcement] to leap out of danger together, with him taking the brunt of the fall. As if waiting for them to leave, the building finally collapsed completely with a booming crash.

'Just what…?' Shirou thought back to the strange occurrence that allowed him to rescue the girl in time.

"Can't breathe." Shirou attention was caught by the girl's voice. He lightened his hold to avoid suffocating her and gave her an odd stare.

'Did she do that?'

"This is the first hug since mother…"

Kiritsugu, then finally arrived and took in the surroundings.

Shirou tucked in the young girl currently sleeping at the back of Kiritsugu's car.

"Sakatsuki Miyu" Kiritsugu proclaimed "The hidden Divine Child descended from the Sakatsuki family. It looks like they set up a bounded field inside that house. She was most likely born and raised there."

"What exactly is the Divine Child? Why would they lock her inside that place?" Shirou questioned.

"Shirou…" Kiritsugu ignored his question as his entire body trembled. "It looks like we finally found it."

"Huh?"

"The Sakatsuki's Divine Children, they hold the power to grant human wishes unconditionally." He asserted with great zeal "Their magi set up a bounded field to keep human thoughts away. They live inside there with only their mothers for 6 years who waits for them to become normal humans, but something unexpected occurred that caused the field to collapse and the wishes of the people reached Miyu."

Shirou thought back to the disaster. "People's wishes?"

{I don't want to die!}

{Make it stop!}

{Save me!}

{Help!}

"Shirou, our journey is now over." Kiritsugu stated. "Right here, I will use this child to save humanity."

Shirou couldn't help but have complicated feelings about his father's words.

Shirou glanced at the girl, Miyu, who held a ball and staring blankly at the estate.

The 3 of them lived together in an estate bought by Kiritsugu. Bounded fields and walls were erected to hide Miyu from the world, like a cage. Shirou thought about how he should interact with Miyu, so he decided to approach her and introduce himself.

"Umm, your name is Miyu right?" He started. "I'm Emiya Shirou. Nice to meet you."

"Emiya… Shirou." The girl repeated like a record.

"Yeah, that's my name."

"Emiya… Shirou." She repeated once more.

"Just Shirou is fine." He asserted.

"Shirou."

"Right, since we'll be living together now, we're… ummm, like a family."

"Like a family."

"Yeah, and the one locked in his office is Emiya Kiritsugu." He approached her and sat down beside her. "He's my savior and a champion of justice."

"Savior…? Champion of justice?" Asked Miyu as she tilted her head.

"Yeah, I lost my parents in an accident when I was little, and the one who saved me back then was Dad." He reminisced. "You see, Kiritsugu is a weird person, his ideal is to bring eternal peace to this world filled with pain and suffering. That's why I say he is my savior and a champion of justice." He then realized something. "Ah, I guess what I'm saying doesn't make sense to you."

"Oh, it's about time I made food." Shirou stood up and moved to the kitchen as he realized the time. "Is there anything you want to eat?" He asked.

"Not really." Miyu replied.

"Then, is there anything you don't like?"

"No."

Shirou could only scratch his head, wondering what kind of food he should cook now.

"Okay, then please sit tight and wait for me." He started moving to the kitchen.

Shirou realized as he prepared the ingredients, that Miyu was following him. Staring at his actions from behind a wall, half her body peeking out of it. He overlooked it for now and continued to get kitchen supplies.

As he went outside the kitchen, he heard Miyu's footsteps following him, as he stopped and looked back, he saw Miyu holding a ball while following him. She also stopped moving and simply observed him. He wondered what he was supposed to do about it, but since it wasn't doing any harm, he decided to ignore it and go on to do his work.

As he continued moving, he heard a surprised cry behind him. Miyu dropped her ball and it rolled towards him. He decided to show off a bit and using his foot, he made the ball jump, used his knee to raise it higher, and sent it back to Miyu with his foot. Miyu, didn't catch the ball. Instead, the ball hit her torso, as it fell down her body, she kicked it back to Shirou. He then decided to entertain her as he sent the ball back again.

They spent time like that, playing like the children that they are.

Afterwards, as Shirou was cooking, he saw Miyu again, staring as he cooked their dinner.

"Wanna try it?" He asked.

Miyu nodded and followed Shirou's instructions.

"Kiritsugu, dinner's ready." Shirou said as he entered the room.

"Yeah…" The man replied absent mindedly.

"Aren't you pushing yourself too hard?" Shirou asked concerned for his father's health.

"I'm just one step away. We have the wish-granting device to save humanity." Kiritsugu replied with purpose and frustration. "But I have no idea how to use it…!"

"Ummm… Kiritsugu." Started Shirou as he tried to lighten the mood. "Miyu's 6th birthday is tomorrow right?"

"Yes, that's right." Kiritsugu affirmed.

"So, are we going to celebrate? It can be just a simple—" He stopped as he saw the look on his father's face.

Kiritsugu stood up and stared at Shirou with a face devoid of any warmth. "Celebrate? Celebrate that the Divine Child is becoming more human? We have no idea how long the child can retain its wish-granting powers. Is it based on her age? Fuyuki's leylines? Maybe she would lose her powers if she realized that she's turned seven."

Shirou looked down on the floor, cowed by Kiritsugu's gaze.

"We do have an obligation to take care of that thing." Kiritsugu continued. "Providing her toys and food is fine, so long as it doesn't cause any changes, but don't misunderstand. That thing is no more than a tool to save humanity."

Shirou left the room, feeling conflicted on his emotions.

'I know that. I know he's correct.' Shirou rationalized to himself. 'I shouldn't see her as a human… I shouldn't develop feelings for her… Sacrifice the few to save the many, this is the correct way…!'

"Shirou" Miyu pulled at his sleeves.

Shirou looked at her, but he simply couldn't see her as a tool.

"Let's play."

Her actions unknowingly tested his resolve, should he sacrifice Miyu? Should he save humanity?

*THUD*

"Kiritsugu?!" Shirou left Miyu behind as he rushed to his father's side.

"I don't have long. If so…" Kiritsugu said as he lay down on the futon, facing Shirou.

Shirou thought about what he should say.

"Yeah, you can leave it to me!" Those words felt so hollow to him.

Shirou resumed his life, helping with the Sakatsuki family records and learning magecraft from Kiritsugu, taking care of the house, playing with Miyu.

He hoped that these peaceful days continued.

"Shirou, what should I do next?" Miyu was learning how to cut ingredients with Shirou's instruction.

"Hmmm, let's mince it."

"Hey, Kiritsugu. The price for fulfilling your wish is…" Shirou trailed nervously.

"It's as you've read." He replied curtly.

"Miyu is the wish-granting vessel that would be bound eternally to the world by fulfilling the wish? Even her soul?" Shirou thought it too cruel.

"To save the world, nothing short of a miracle is required. That's almost too low a price for it."

"But…!"

"Don't forget your goal, Shirou. It's saving the greater number of lives, not the few lives in front of your lives."

Shirou didn't know what he was supposed to do anymore.

A month passed. Two people, a father and a son, gazed at the starry skies from their house.

"I tried to do what I thought was right, but I kept making the same mistakes. I always tried to fix what I did wrong, but I only made things worse. Until I found myself at a standstill. I wanted a miracle to give me an easy way out. It was like chasing the moon on a cloudy night, a journey through a pitch-black night."

"You're talking like an old geezer right now, Kiritsugu." Shirou knew in his mind that this would be the last conversation he would have with Kiritsugu, he didn't know how he knew but… "Chasing after what's right could never be a mistake. I won't let it be a mistake." He forced out through teary eyes.

"I see, in that case, I'm relieved." He closed his eyes with a reassured smile on his face.

And so, Emiya Kiritsugu, champion of justice, died to a disease.

AN: This chapter is pretty unpolished. No, I am not going to rewrite it, it's just Oath Under Snow canon with minor alterations anyways. It is mostly for readers who haven't read or watched it yet. If you guys want a better experience, I recommend you watch or read it. I'd appreciate it if you guys review the 2nd chapter instead of this. I wanted to begin the ACTUAL fanfic with SoL and internal turmoil, though I don't think I got the internal turmoil theme down.