It was noon,and the old man just came back from his business trip. But something was wrong, he was hurt, he had several cuts along his side and chest that I had to help him stitch up. I didn't ask what it was or what happened but I could tell it was not an accident. After helping him patch up he thanked me and went to his room, he really looked sad when he said that. I don't know what was wrong but if the old man needed help with something then I will gladly help him.

It's been a few hours and I worked up the courage to talk to the old man. While eating dinner I looked up and said "I have decided that I want to learn magic". There was a long silence after that and I could see the old man examining me, before he replied with "Alright, tomorrow morning, I will start teaching you."

I went to bed determined and ready.


I wasn't expecting this, for a whole week I learned magecraft theory and world history. Not that I'm complaining, it's actually interesting learning magical theory and its long history.

As I sat down and the old man stood up in a sort of lecture mode he corrected me saying "First of all, magus practice magecraft, not magic don't confuse the two or people will think you're an idiot."

"Now, Magecraft is the artificial reenactment of mystery which is something that cannot be done by normal humans, only those who possess magic circuits can do such things, yet magecraft can only do what is possible through the science of the modern world, just faster."

"Magic or otherwise referred as True Magic, is the power to do things that is not possible with modern science. Now let's talk about the mage's association."

"The Mage's Association?" I ask, "is it some type of government?" The old man nods and says "Good guess, It is something like a government, but not quite like most governments. You see, the Mage's Association has one main goal, and it is to preserve magecraft for as long as possible."

"To do this the mage's who foresaw the decline of Magecraft decreed that in order to preserve the power of Thaumaturgy they should drift apart from normal society and become a secret, known only by a few people. By the middle ages magecraft and the Mage's Association were hidden from the normal world."

When the old man was done speaking he paused to let me digest the information, "The Mage's Association? What about us, where do we fit into all this?" Without pause he answered my question "Before I came to Fuyuki I was a mercenary, I hunted down dead apostles and rogue mages." He stared into space for a second as if remembering something, then turned towards me.

"I will tell you about them later but for now all you need to know is that there are three main breaches of the Mage's Association. What I am going to teach you today is the clock tower of the Mage's Association. As they are the headquarters of the Association."

After he was done speaking the old man sat down and continued "And not just the association but the holy church and other types of factions exist in the moonlit world. But for now you only need to remember one thing" The old man looked me in the eyes with a serious expression.

"The most important thing you need to remember is that you should never trust a book by its cover. The Mage's Association as a whole is a dangerous place where all sorts of trickery and magecraft takes place. Everyone there will try to take advantage of you or maybe try to kill you."

A surprised look appeared on my face and I respond with "kill me?! I can understand taking advantage of me but why would they kill me?" the old man grunted and said "Look Shirou, I am not a good person, I told you before that my hands are stained with blood. I killed many people, some of them were good people and some of them I don't even consider human."

"But the truth of the matter is I killed a lot of people, and that kind of life will make you a lot of enemies." He stopped talking and took out a cigarette to smoke. Puff A puff of smoke flew out into the air and he turned to look at me in my eyes. "My name is notorious among the Magus community, the name Magus killer and Emiya has made a lot of enemies. So when meeting a magus I want you to be very careful or they might try to kill you."

The old man then sat up and walked out of the Dojo but not before saying "Alright we are done for the day, tomorrow I will teach you more practical things now get ready to go to bed.

A bright light shined through the curtains the next day as I got up to do my morning routine, such as cooking and setting the table. After breakfast the old man gets up and says "Follow me" then proceeds to start walking towards the dojo. 'Well this is different,' I thought as I followed him through the house. Usually he teaches me in the living room.

After following him and opening the dojo doors I start to smell the fresh wooden floor and the new walls. This was one of my favorite places in the house, not only because I get to watch Fuji-nee practice Kendo but also because It was a nice place to relax. Speaking of Fuji-nee, she should be arriving later today, maybe I can finally ask her to teach me some kendo.

"Ok, today I will teach you how to open your magic circuits. When a magus activates his magic circuits what must he use?" I answer "A trigger" and he nods. "A trigger could be anything from the start of an engine to a pot of tea boiling. My trigger is the firing of a bullet, but triggers are different for everyone."

Okay I need a trigger to open my magic circuits, simple right?

Wrong

It's already been an hour and I'm not even close. I huff,"it's alright it took me a few days to find my trigger" The old man said while trying to keep my spirits up.

"We should take a break in a few minutes. You'll find your trigger, eventually" and after trying and failing to find my trigger I called it a day and left to go relax.


"Shirouuu! How are you today" Fuji-nee said as she pinched my cheeks "Cut it out" I pouted, trying and failing to save my poor cheeks. An amused Kiritsugu approaches the door and saves me. "Taiga, if you keep pinching him like that he's going to look like a chipmunk"

Relenting Fuji-nee says "oh, alright I'll stop, anyway dad said to meet up with him at 'that place'" Fuji-nee says as she walks to the dojo to set down her stuff. Kiritsugu nods, grabs his coat and walks out the door but before he closes the door he whispers to me "Do not practice magecraft when I'm gone I will be back at around six, make sure to take care of Taiga, so she does not break anything"

"Don't worry I will make sure she doesn't break anything." Fortunately or unfortunately Taiga was able to hear what I said and yelled out "Hey!"

I ignore it…

As I close the door and turn to see a pouting Taiga she says "You're so mean Shirou, what happened to that cute quiet kid who always followed me around?" I deadpan, an answer with "Follow you around? If your not lazing around you either drag me to wherever you go or dress me up"

Seeing a smug expression on Fuji-nee's face, I instantly get warry and hear her say "Oh, and here I thought of giving you a present, guess I'm not going to." An even more deadpan expression appears if that's even possible. "And what present could you have actually gotten me?" I counter.

"Hey! I'll have you know that what I got you cost a lot out of my pocket!" she said as she brought out a Bōgu and Shinai.

I stared gobsmacked at her smug face, then to the Kendo equipment. But before I could say anything Fuji-nee interrupts my thoughts with "Ha ha you should see your face right now. I know you have been wanting to learn kendo. You're not exactly good at hiding it, you know?"

She smiles and drags me to the dojo "Cmon lets get you ready!"

(Taiga Pov)

Thwack Thwack Thwack

'What the heck is this?! Just a few minutes ago Shirou wasn't even able to swing that shinai properly. But now he's actually making me put in some effort to beat him. And his movements are so natural I don't even have to correct him on some of his stances and he's refining them by himself, although he does make some mistakes which I can point out and correct him.'

At the rate he's going I think it would just take a few days for him to be able to beat some of the people I fought at the tournaments.'

'He swings at me from the right and I block then thrust forward but before I could hit him my shnai he reflets it and I had to back off. Wow! He's really getting good at this!'

(Shirou Pov)

'Damn it! I can't even touch her!' "Ouch!" I yell as I fall on my butt. "Wow Shirou-kun you're really improving fast!" Fuji-ness says while she takes off her helmet. I could not answer right away as my lungs and whole body were on fire but I eventually respond with "ThanksFuji-nee. But do you really need to beso rough?" Amused she replies "Of course, how else are you going to improve"

I'm really tired but I'm happy, I think I finally found my trigger. "Let's take a break I'll go make some tea" I say as she pumps her hand in the air, classic Taiga style.

While Fuji-nee is resting in the living room, I sit down and close my eyes and focus on my breathing. 'I can do this'! I think in my head, As my body loses all focus on the outside and I start to look inward. Breathe in, breathe out Puff. I got this

Thwack!

.

Thwack!

.

Thwack!

The sound that the Shinai makes when you hit your opponent! And all of a sudden Boom! An energized feeling rushes through me as I open my eyes and see green lines on my body. My od!

"Finally I did it!" I yelled in my head as I jumped up and down. But suddenly my eyes started to burn a little. I shut my eyes and blink several times, 'the burning is still there but it's becoming more bearable.

But suddenly out of the corner of my eye I see something glowing, a long clear string coming through the door and connecting to my chest.

'What is that?'


This Chapter was edited by ZinxcVonTomeil

Welp, I have been trying to get my writing style better.

I think it's going okay I just need more experience, what do yall think?

Well sorry for the info dump but it was needed for some background

Damn this chapter had much more words. I hope it was all enjoyable, comment on what I can improve on and I will try to reply to as much of it as I can. ;)

Anyway, I'll see you next time!