Thank you all for the reviews! Please do note that I am not taking non-nasuverse children as of now. If I get through all the nasuverse kids, I'll open up suggestions for non-nasuverse kids. With that, I'll get to the reviews.
T-B-R: The one and only
Toa Solaric: It is impossible to add the Lostbelt kids because I have not gotten to the Lostbelts yet. When I get there, I might add them in.
Chapter 4: Shirou Day
Atalanta stretched and yawned in her bed. The previous day had gone well. Sakura was slowly breaking from her shell with gentle encouragement from Medusa and Irisviel, while Illya soaked in knowledge of the "outside world" like a sponge, excitedly asking questions about how things are like outside her cold, lonely room.
"I think… I want to save another child today," Atalanta muttered to herself as she stepped out of the room and made her way to the terminal. She looked at the list and clicked the first name.
She felt a pang of guilt as she saw the boy on the screen. She remembered her master crying in her room, grieving for the death of her friend. She remembered her master lashing out at her, telling the archer that his death was her fault. She remembered Saber and her hast conversation with him. With resolve burning in her eyes, she summoned a servant.
Shirou sat on the front porch and sighed. It had only been a couple days since Kiritsugu died and Shirou just felt… empty. His mind wandered to the young girl he met a few years prior. Sakura, if he remembered correctly. They had been meeting up at a park every day, or at least until she disappeared.
Shinji, his best friend, was moved to an orphanage three years ago ever since the death of his grandfather and the disappearance of his sister. He didn't seem too torn up about his grandfather's death, but something else seemed to irritate him.
"Shirou!" The young man heard a familiar shout and barely had enough time to dodge an orange blur shooting towards him.
"Ow!" He heard a loud crash behind him. He turned to see Fujimara Taiga wearing some sort of weird onesie standing up and rubbing her back. "I flew a lot faster than I thought I would…"
"Taiga, what are you wearing?" Shirou deadpanned. He knew his new adopted older sister could be excitable, but this was just too much. He had known Taiga even before Kiritsugu died, but she had officially adopted him as a younger brother when his adoptive father passed.
"I'm not Taiga!" Taiga insisted, placing her hands on her hips and puffing her chest out. "I'm Jaguar Man!"
"That's a tiger onesie," Shirou replied blankly.
"You…" Taiga clenched her fist, shaking with rage. Then, much to Shirou's surprise, she shook her head and took a deep breath. "Calm down. You have a job to do."
"Job?" Shirou asked. "What kind of job requires you to wear something like that?"
"Well I'm gonna bring you with me, of course!" Taiga walked up and slapped Shirou on the back. The slap was so hard, it caused Shirou to stumble forward. "It's not good to leave a child like you alone."
"I'm not a child," Shirou insisted with a pout.
"You're still coming with me," Taiga put a hand on his shoulder, her expression softening as she looked into his eyes. "I know you want to help people, but let me help you for once."
"But…" Shirou looked away.
"There's a little girl who was secluded her whole life," Taiga blurted out, catching Shirou's attention. "She's looking for someone to help her learn more about the outside world."
"I'll go," Shirou said without hesitation. What hero of justice couldn't help a little girl?
"I thought you would say that," The two started to glow as Taiga's smile widened. "Let's go."
The two vanished with a flash of white light.
Shirou was confused when they appeared in… his house. The house looked like a spitting image of the Emiya Estate.
"Welcome to our place!" Taiga exclaimed as she walked down the hall. "I'm home!"
There was a scrambling of footsteps and the first person that appeared with a small girl with snow white hair and piercing red eyes.
"Hi! I'm Illyasviel von Einzbern, but you can call me Illya," The girl, Illya curtsied and spoke in a respectful, yet obviously excited tone. "It's nice to meet you."
"Emiya Shirou," Shirou introduced himself, still marveling at the house's similarities to his own.
"Onii-chan?" Shirou's attention snapped back to Illya, who was looking at Shirou with a look of wide-eyed shock.
"Wh—" Before Shirou could respond, Illya ran away.
"Mama! Onii-chan is home!" Illya shouted as she ran. Shirou looked up at Taiga, who shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I just got here," Taiga said, earning a glare from Shirou. The young sword turned his attention back to the front when he heard more footsteps. A taller woman turned the corner and looked at Shirou. She had the same white hair and red eyes as Illya, but she looked a lot older.
"Oh, Shirou!" The woman exclaimed, pulling him into a hug. "I'm so happy I finally get to see you!"
"I…" Shirou had a confused look on his face. "Who are you?"
"Oh!" Irisviel jumped back with an embarrassed blush on her face. "Where are my manners? My name is Irisviel von Einzbern, and I was Kiritsugu's wife. You can call me Mama if you like."
"Kiritsugu… had a wife?" Shirou's eyes widened and he took a step back.
"Kiritsugu had a wife?!" Taiga exclaimed at the same time, but Shirou wasn't paying attention. He was completely focused on Irisviel, trying to wrap her head around the information this stranger just gave him.
"And… Illya…?" Shirou knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it for himself.
"You're my onii-chan!" Illya appeared from around the corner. "Did you really not know?"
"The old man didn't say anything…" Shirou shook his head, his eyes still wide with shock.
"He didn't?!" It was Illya's turn to be shocked. Irisviel put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and smiled.
"Your father had a lot on his mind at that time," Irisviel said gently. "I think he wanted to bring you home and introduce you to Shirou himself."
"I see…" Illya looked sad now. She looked up at Shirou with glassy, pleading eyes. "You'll still love me, right?"
Shirou felt his heart ache. How could he say no?
"Of course," Shirou smiled, resolving to save his sister from her sadness. "Just leave everything to your onii-chan."
By the time Atalanta made her way to the new arrivals, Illya was already insisting that Shirou play with her and Shirou was letting her drag him around with an easygoing smile.
"I am happy that they are getting along," Atalanta smiled at the two children.
"Me too," Irisviel walked over and stood next to Atalanta. "My late husband adopted Shirou, you see. We were separated due to the ending of a grail war, so they never got to meet."
"I see," Atalanta frowned at the mention of the war. "I am happy that thou closure hath been reached."
"Shirou?" Shirou turned and Sakura was standing there, obviously attracted by the commotion. Medusa was with her, making sure that the young girl was safe.
"Sakura?" Shirou looked at her. "You were here this whole time?"
"This whole time?" Sakura tilted her head. "I've only been here for a day."
"I haven't seen you in four years," Shirou said.
"Four years?!" Sakura's eyes widened at the revelation. "I've been here that long?"
"Not exactly," Everyone turned to see Archer leaning on a wall. Shirou scowled, but said nothing.
"This place is outside space and time," Archer explained, his eyes locked on Shirou, sharing his scowl. "The Fool was taken four years after Sakura was, even though only a day has passed here. We can open pathways to any point and time when we need to."
"Archer, be nice," Irisviel reprimanded the crimson hero.
"I am," Archer shook his head before walking away.
"I don't like him…" Shirou muttered with a grimace. "I don't know why, but he just rubs me the wrong way."
"Don't worry about that," Irisviel placed a hand on Shirou's head, ruffling his hair. "For now, go play with your little sister. We'll talk to Archer."
"Okay," Shriou said as Illya tugged on his arm.
"Ne, onii-chan?" Illya looked up at him with big eyes. "Have you heard about magical girls?"
Shirou sighed. It was going to be a long day.
"What was that?" Irisviel demanded as she swung the door to Archer's room open. Archer was staring out the window, seemingly deep in thought.
"It might be too late for him," Archer shook his head. "The Fool has already set his path."
"Why do you keep calling him a fool?" Irisviel asked, narrowing her eyes. "Who are you?"
"Just a Nameless Archer," The man shrugged with a self-deprecating chuckle. "I call him a fool because he is one. His ideals will be his downfall in the end."
"How do you know that?!" Irisviel demanded, getting more and more irritated with the Archer. "You don't know him!"
"Unfortunately, I do," Archer stood up, his cold, gray eyes piercing Irisviel's crimson eyes. "After all, it's already happened once before."
Shirou looked away from the TV when he heard footsteps. It had been about an hour since Irisviel left to scold Archer and he and Illya watched Magic Mari the entire time while Illya rambled on about different topics.
To his surprise, he saw Irisviel holding back tears as she briskly walked over to Shirou. Before Shirou could even react, Irisviel pulled him into a tight hug. Shirou tensed as he felt her body shaking and he wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her as best as he could.
"What's wrong?" Shirou asked awkwardly.
"Shirou… I love you," Irisviel choked a sob as he hugged him tighter. "I won't ever let you go."
Thank you all for reading! Feel free to leave your thoughts and ideas in the reviews and be sure to join the discord in my bio.