EDIT: Mind me, my ramblings must seem really incoherent spread out across some twenty-odd chapters. I like to skip around and go from the end backwards or the middle onward sometimes. Maybe not the most efficient, but it's fun to do!
Hey all! I forgot to include it last chapter but I have a straw poll going to see what kind of fic idea would be a good idea to develop based on reader interest. The straw poll link is: www .strawpoll .me/18129592
It seems there was some confusion regarding the part about Avalon and this misunderstanding was likely just a blunder on my part. Shirou had lost the power to regenerate through Avalon. Though, after speaking with Gray, he regained the regenerative power, just to a lesser degree. This was due to the momentary lack of connection and it has (as of the last chapter) mostly returned to normal.
Anyhow, enjoy the chapter!
Shirou had his back against the wall, fear in his eyes and broken weapons in each hand. He was staring down not one, but two unstoppable monsters from the deepest pits of hell. Each was determined in tempting him. Each one was asking him to commit a truly heinous act. It was something that went against his morals and broke every set of rules he had in place for himself. There was no way he would succumb and he would fight tooth and nail to prevent it from happening.
Blazing aqua and brooding violet stared him down from each side, forming a pincer formation that pushed him to the back of the hall. The move left him with nowhere to go. "This can't be legal," he panted, gritting his teeth and recreating the pipes in both hands. "You can't force me to do what you're asking."
"I extend my right as Second Owner to include you as my rightful property so you're bound to do my bidding!" Rin declared, pointing a demanding - and threatening - gloved finger in his direction. He knew the danger hidden within those fingers as much as the Tohsaka herself. She might as well have been pointing the barrel of a gun in his direction, with gandr acting as the bullets.
"Are we not good enough for you, Senpai?" Sakura asked, taking the entirely opposite approach. Was this some sort of hanky-panky good-cop-bad-cop routine? Where did they find the time to practice this!
Shirou shook his head, conflict rising in his mind. "No, well- it's not that you're not good enough it's just that-"
"You're scared," Rin blurted out on his behalf. "It's fine, we'll be gentle for the first time." The girl gained a predatory smirk and stood tall, ominously cracking her knuckles.
"The one day everyone is out of the house and you two decide to corner me like this? And to try and force me to…" he trailed off, mind wandering to focus on their proposition. He felt the blood rushing to his cheeks and everywhere besides his brain, severely clouding his judgement. Before he could be persuaded by his own primal urges, he gave his head a shake and renewed his resolve. "It's not happening, trace on!" With a shout, the two pipes in his hands were reinforced with bright blue lines. Bazett had warned him about young girls and their urges, but Shirou had never expected it from Rin and especially not from Sakura.
"Then we'll just have to force you," Rin menaced, predatory gaze turning a shade darker as her body crept forward.
The phone rang abruptly down the hall and both girls turned to look toward it in the same instance. Shirou breathed out a sigh of relief as they turned their attention from him to one another, arguing over who would answer. Eventually, it was decided that Sakura would answer the phone while Rin watched over Shirou to make sure he didn't escape.
Shirou faced off against Rin when Sakura departed, keeping the girl at a healthy full extension with the pipe in his hand when she tried to advance. Eventually, Sakura returned with an entirely different look: a sad, almost regretful one.
"I need to return home again, I'm sorry," she murmured. Before either Shirou or Rin could fully digest her words, the girl took off jogging toward the exit and the entire mood in the air shifted to confusion.
"Wonder what that was about," Rin murmured, considering the interaction in her mind. It gave Shirou just enough time to squeak by her and silently dart off into a room. With his options open, he could easily lose the Tohsaka in his own house and escape.
… … …
… … ...
Christmas break came and went faster than Shirou could have anticipated. It was stranger than the past few years. For starters, Sakura and Rin were absent and the only communication between them all was through the exchange of gifts via courier.
Even after, contact had been limited at best. In fact, Sakura hadn't even so much as called Shirou throughout the entire break, neither had Rin. Shirou didn't want to admit it, but he was actually thankful to have a quiet break period. After returning from the Clock Tower, everyone had been pulling him in every conceivable direction. He'd hardly had a minute of time to himself. Having to appease both Sakura and Rin by attending each of their events and spending time with them was getting a little out of hand. He just wanted to make them happy, not make them jealous.
At the very least he had time to himself over the break. So, as any sane individual with limitless free time for a solid week would do, Shirou spent it all training his magecraft and trying to further develop his reality marble. After the first dozen failed attempts, the consequences of his inability began to appear. His nerves were on fire, his muscles twitched and convulsed as if they were being periodically electrocuted even hours after his attempts and his sense of strength and reaction time were skewed. Every motion of his body was a gamble, with some being too quick or powerful and others being underpowered and short. He barely managed to stumble back to Illya for healing on one particular night.
Illya had told him that he was pushing himself too hard, but Shirou passed it off and claimed that he could handle it, carrying on with what was essentially just torture the very next night and the nights to follow.
With so many failed attempts, he eventually came to understand what his reality marble was looking for. Trying to determine the next line of his aria was like playing a game of Operation, where wrong words would set off an imaginary "buzzer". Considering he was shooting in the dark trying to find a word that would work, it was far from unexpected when he found absolutely nothing.
He knew a reality marble was a reflection of his inner world, so it stood to reason that the aria to enact its creation would need to be a reflection on events in his life, but what about his life was worth speaking about? He had attended the Magus Tournament, but that hadn't worked. He had killed, but that hadn't worked either. So what else had he done that would be enough of a milestone to fit its way into an aria? That was the question he asked himself every night while struggling to fill in the blanks.
Eventually, the Christmas break ended and Shirou returned to school with a smile and joy from the Christmas cheer. Rin was there, though she was awkwardly distant and made an opening to leave as quickly as she could. He wasn't able to ask the most pressing question in his mind: why she had decided to start wearing gloves.
Since he couldn't ask her for an answer directly, he had to settle for hypotheses, eventually coming to the conclusion that she just wanted warm hands due to it being winter. Though why did she leave them on at all times? Perhaps it was just another one of the female mysteries he had yet to crack. Some of those were nearly as hard as the reality marble problem he was experiencing.
Returning to school had been a welcome experience until he stumbled across Sakura on his way to class. Her eyes opened wide as she spotted him and she reflexively turned her head to the side, casting her eyes down while raising one hand to nervously toy with her hair. "S-senpai, how was your break?" she asked, pretending that nothing was wrong.
Shirou might have been stupid, but he wasn't blind. Even without tracing, he had spotted the darkened bruise partly hidden by concealer on her left eye. When he did perform a visual trace just as verification, a significantly darker story was revealed.
There was a truly obscene number of heavy contusions covering large portions of her body. Most of them were focused in extremely sensitive places, designed to inflict the most amount of pain. The ribs, the inner thighs, stomach and back. The severity was easily comparable to some of the bruises he had received himself during sparring matches or genuine battles against magi. But Sakura didn't involve herself in anything of the sort, there was only one place the injuries could have come from and it made Shirou's blood boil instantly.
He couldn't make a scene in the middle of the school hallway, so he quickly took hold of the Matou's hand and led her into the nearby science lab, a room he knew would be empty at this time. When they entered, the bell to begin classes sounded but Shirou hardly noticed. None of his responsibilities mattered when a friend of his was hurt.
Sitting the girl down, he remained standing with crossed arms, glaring down at her embarrassed face with concerned anger. "Where did all the bruises come from?"
There was a period of long awkward silence as the girl continued futilely trying to hide her injuries. "I can't-"
"You can, but you don't want to. Who are you trying to protect?" A thought leapt to his mind. Rin would never do something like this and the only other person remotely close enough to her that she would want to hide was- "it was Shinji, wasn't it?"
Sakura lifted her head immediately, silently confirming his suspicions in one motion. "Senpai, it's fine, you can't-"
"Where is he? I want to have a talk with him." Shirou looked around the room as if the man in question would be hovering around the ceiling. While he claimed to just want to speak with Shinji, Shirou's mind was anywhere but. It was actually disturbing how quickly his mind went straight to violence.
He couldn't hurt Shinji, no matter how much he might have deserved it for harming his own sister, could he? The best he could do was threaten the boy enough to make him never consider harming Sakura again.
He turned to leave but the Matou moved to stand in his path. "Shirou, please. It's alright."
Shirou was taken aback, not because Sakura was standing up to him, but because she hadn't called him Senpai. "But-"
"Shinji can't help it, it's just his way." Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, but Shirou couldn't focus on that when he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why would she be justifying such senseless violence? "He's using me to vent his frustration, I'm fine with it, really!"
Shirou clenched his jaw and set his face. He gently lifted both hands to grip her shoulders, squeezing just enough to keep her in place. "Sakura, this is something I have to stop. I care about you, Rin and Illya care about you. None of us want to see you being beaten by your own brother." Shirou could feel his core heating up with anger, growing warmer and more uncontrollable with each passing moment. The mere thought of what had happened was driving him up a wall and he couldn't take his mind off it. "I'm not sorry for going against your wishes, I'm speaking to Shinji and making sure he never touches you again."
Sakura flinched as he pulled the girl close and wrapped her into an embrace but after a second, she relaxed and practically collapsed in his arms. The two were together for some time before Shirou released the girl and wordlessly moved past her out the door.
He had to find Shinji, or at least confront the boy alone on his way back home. The latter would make things much easier to handle, though would Shirou be able to contain his anger until then?
… … …
… … …
Stuffing both hands into the pockets of his jacket, Shinji pulled the two sides together to retain some warmth from the biting wintery air. While he could have zipped the article up and avoided the inconvenience entirely, that would have ruined the style he was trying to pull off.
Honomi, a young naive girl from the B class underneath him, had claimed to be busy today. That was important, as it meant that she wouldn't go out on a date with him today. He had tried asking out two of the other girls he had been working on but none of them seemed interested either.
It couldn't be because of him or something he did, so it must have just been the cold weather. Closing his eyes as he walked, Shinji's mind wandered to another troubling girl, Sakura.
What was her problem? And what was up with her spending so much time at that jerk Emiya's house? He was getting sick of it, mostly because when she wasn't home, he had to go out and spend his hard-earned money on terrible fast food. That, and he couldn't really enjoy himself to the fullest extent. Reflecting on last night, a sly grin befell his features.
He had really let the girl have it over the phone, letting his anger out enough to convince her to come back right that second. Once she arrived he- well, the mere thought of what he had done was the sole reason he was amused.
Sakura was a pitiable thing, deserving of the treatment she received in life. Besides that, he was the head of the Matou family and she needed to be put in her place regardless. She had to understand that he was the real head of the Matou family, not some surrogate whelp like her who had been graciously brought in to their family.
A rough breeze sent a chill down his spine, forcing him to squeeze the sides of his coat tighter against his body. "Damned wind, why can't it just warm up already?" he cursed to nobody in particular.
At least the snow wasn't as bad as last year. In fact, this year there was hardly any and when it did snow, the swings of warm weather melted it away quickly.
Turning along the sidewalk, he walked down the familiar strip of small shops that had separated from Mount Miyama. He had eaten dinner yesterday in one of these very stores - it was mediocre.
Ominously, a large shape stepped out onto the same sidewalk he was on a short distance ahead, standing perfectly still and obnoxiously blocking the path.
Shinji couldn't tell who it was at first, but looking upward he caught orange-tipped, silver hair. There was only one person in all of Fuyuki who had hair like that. "Emiya?" he asked, stopping a healthy distance away. Grimacing, the memories of all Shirou's injustices came flooding back and Shinji couldn't help but grow irritated at the mere sight of his rival's face.
"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes. I see you're going gray though you know they say-"
"Shut up," came an abrupt response, silencing Shinji with its unexpectedness.
Twitching his head back in surprise, Shinji furrowed his brow and scowled deeply. "Finally grew a backbone too I see."
Shirou took a few steps closer and the seriousness of his face actually threw the Matou off. This wasn't the Emiya he knew at all, he was significantly more stuck up for starters. "Why'd you do it?"
Shinji couldn't help but laugh, though by the way Emiya tightened his hands into fists, that wasn't the correct response. "We're rivals, remember? I'm ruining your reputation little by little and I've been doing it for years now. The night before the kyudo tournament, I was on cleanup duty and it didn't take long to unstring each bow a-"
"That's not what I'm talking about," Shirou growled, taking another step forward until there was barely an arm's length between the two.
The proximity and tone in Emiya's voice was enough to inspire some fear and panic, though it wasn't enough to break Shinji's resolve. Shirou was a softie, the few times he had gotten into fights, the boy merely defended himself. It was doubtful that he could even throw a punch. "Then what are you talking about? Spit it out already."
Emiya took another step forward, nearly bumping their chests together. Having to lift his head partly due to the height difference, the Matou spotted a fire blazing behind his rival's silver eyes. Shinji had never noticed how much Shirou had changed, he almost looked like another person compared to how he was just a few years ago. The boy's lips were set in a deep hateful scowl and his entire face looked set to kill. "Sakura," was all Shirou said, like some sort of machine with minimal programming.
Shinji narrowed his eyes. "I see, that bitch squealed to you and now you're-" Before Shinji could finish his sentence, his head snapped to the side as a hand violently slapped him. The force was unprecedented and it was more than enough to send the full-sized man onto the ground. Lifting a hand to his cheek to cool the painful heat, Shinji cast a resentful stare from the ground into the eyes of the Emiya.
"Don't call her that," the boy growled while his fists trembled at his side.
How dare someone like Emiya touch him like that, how dare such an insignificant person lay his hands on him? Did he know who he was? Shinji would make Shirou's life a living hell, both in school and out - he would just need to ask for a favour from his grandfather.
"I can call her whatever I want, I'm her brother," Shinji spat back, lifting himself back to his feet shakily. He jabbed a finger into Emiya's chest, surprised at finding the boy was practically a solid wall. "And I'll do whatever I want with her too." Shinji couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his lips. "She's never complained, maybe she likes what I do to her."
Being so close, Shinji could watch Shirou's face twitch. "You take that back," he threatened shakily, voice wavering somewhat. "Or you'll regret ever saying it."
Shinji regained some confidence, stinging pain on the side of his face keeping his anger burning strong. "What are you going to do, kill me?" The Matou narrowed his eyes, "You don't have the guts."
The only warning he got was the brief flash of bared teeth. Before Shinji could even understand what was happening, a fist collided with his nose and everything collapsed into darkness and stars.
The next thing his eyes comprehended was the sidewalk as it rapidly approached. There was another impact and the darkness returned, bringing pain which rapidly pulsed in his face. As his body regained its functionality, the feeling of hot liquid became apparent, trickling down the front of his face.
Shakily, Shinji pushed off the cold concrete with both arms, eyes growing as he spotted fresh crimson fluid dripping onto the gray stone. Shirou had punched him, had genuinely struck him in anger.
It was unexpected, and it made the Matou wonder what else the boy would do. With his head reeling to maintain consciousness, Shinji scrambled clumsily to his feet, taking a few steps forward with his back toward Emiya before turning around to face him directly. There was some space between them now at least, another moment to comprehend what was happening.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Shinji asked, in bewilderment and with a voice altered by a blood-clogged nose.
Shinji's question did little to stop the Emiya from advancing. There was literal murder in each of those eyes and for the first time, Shinji feared for his life.
Disregarding his bloody nose, Shinji fumbled around trying to stuff one hand into the inside pocket of his jacket. When Shirou was just a step away with his hand reaching forward, the Matou managed to withdraw what he was searching for.
There was an audible clicking snap just before the Matou thrust his hand forward in an act of panicked desperation. A soft fleshy noise halted Shirou in mid-step, forcing the Emiya's eyes open while he made a soft grunt of pain.
The two simultaneously looked down toward the area of conflict. Following Shinji's arm, they both arrived at the same point - the blade firmly embedded in Shirou's abdomen.
Shinji was stunned, appalled that he had even done such a thing - thought it felt powerful at the same time. He stabbed Shirou, his rival. Would it kill him? Was he a murderer?
No, it was self-defence. But he would have still killed regardless. Maybe if he killed Emiya, his grandfather would respect him more, maybe everyone would respect him more.
Shinji yanked the blade free and blood began dribbling from the gaping wound. The blue-haired boy reared his arm back to stab his rival again, but his hand was suddenly caught by another in mid-thrust. Snapping his head up with an agape mouth, he couldn't even blink before another hand was thrust toward his face.
Everything happened at once: Some sort of cloth was being forced into his mouth, his arm was twisted and yanked toward Shirou, and the hand pushing the cloth into his maw was abruptly snapped downward.
There was a visceral crack as Shirou's elbow collided with the back of Shinji's own. The limb was broken effortlessly and the blue-haired boy made a cry of pain that was muffled by the cloth jammed in his mouth.
Shirou didn't stop there, as Shinji's own arm was twisted back on itself, being manhandled to force the blade right back into its wielder's own torso. His hand was released, but he was still unable to fully scream with the cloth in his mouth. Focusing on his mangled arm, he cautiously used his other hand to try and dislodge the blade, but every touch to his broken limb sent blinding agony through his body and whited out his vision.
He had never felt anything like it before, the pain was horrendously indescribable. The shock of what was happening likely dulled the suffering, but it was excruciating nonetheless.
Shinji didn't make it very far, unable to move the knife or even release it with his own disgustingly broken arm. The Matou looked up to find his rival staring at him, not with fear or uncertainty or even regret. Shirou's face was cold and apathetic, heartless and understanding of his actions.
This man wasn't human; humans felt emotion, especially after stabbing one of their own. Peering into Shirou's eyes Shinji could tell: He had done something like this before - it wasn't something new for him. He had done it before, and he would do it again if he had to.
Shinji was too stunned to move out of the way as Shirou wrapped one hand around his clammy throat. The silver-haired boy lifted him off his feet easily, glaring into his panicked eyes with cold hatred. Sucking in a shaky breath, he let out a haunting whisper. "You won't be able to hurt Sakura anymore."
The hand around his neck squeezed tight, cutting off his already limited supply of oxygen. The edges of his vision went dark, and he struggled to try and free himself. Shinji punched at the arm holding him but it was to no avail, his rival was too strong. "You won't be able to hurt anyone anymore." There was a hot searing pain in Shinji's abdomen that went above the agony of his arm. Straining his eyes to look down, he spotted a sword embedded in his torso, likely continuing through his entire body if the pain in his back was any indication. Where had that come from?
As the seconds passed on, the suffering gradually ebbed away and his entire body began to feel cold. The motions of his one good arm were slowing, becoming weaker and weaker as his body shut down one system at a time.
Shinji came to the conclusion that he was dying, that this was the end of the line. Shinji still had a problem though. He couldn't quite comprehend why. Why was this happening to him? Now of all times? Wasn't his grandfather supposed to protect him?
His vision was nothing more than a pinprick and even that was fading fast. The last image he witnessed before the darkness eclipsed his entire view was the anger-filled features of Shirou.
… … …
… … …
Shirou couldn't wash his hands anymore. The soap from the dispensers, the hottest water the grubby sink could produce, nothing was getting the blood off his hands.
Pulling back from the scalding water, he watched his hands tremble while the water slowly dripped off his burned pink skin. Clenching his hands and eyes, he tried to will the blood away, reopening both to the same sight as before, blood-soaked hands.
Cursing audibly, he couldn't help but clench his entire body, trying to rid himself of the turmoil coursing through his brain. In frustration, he shouted and slammed a fist into the mirror above the sink. The entire surface shattered violently, with a few large pieces falling to shatter into even smaller shards within the porcelain below. Gripping the edges of the dingy sink, Shirou took heaving breaths in an attempt at controlling himself.
He had lost control, he didn't even know what he was doing until it was over and by then it was too late. What had he done? How could he let it happen? He had really just intended to talk. Threaten, use his words maybe, but he hadn't intended to hit Shinji, let alone kill him.
When Shinji had insulted his own sister like that, then claimed that she would enjoy being struck, something inside Shirou snapped and he hadn't returned to himself until some time after his deed.
Shirou obviously panicked, but before it could deal any damage, his training with Kiritsugu had kicked in. Since Shirou couldn't even cast purifying flames like his old man, he had been taught a single rune that would conflagrate whatever it was written on. Since runes required nothing more than memory and mana to work, almost anybody could learn them. Using that, the body had been handily disposed. Only a trained magus that knew what they were looking for would be able to find a trace. Once the main problem was handled, he cleaned up the blood, traced a clean outfit to wear and calmed himself down - though the latter didn't work as well as he'd wanted it to.
Looking up to the remnants of the mirror, a shattered reflection stared back at him with wild eyes. Maybe he was a monster, maybe Kain was right. If he was capable of this…
Lowering his head and gritting his teeth, he mumbled a hollow "goddamnit" toward the sink. Gripping onto the edges, Shirou focused on breathing, trying to collect his mind before it exploded.
His head was pounding, his stomach hurt and he felt like simultaneously vomiting and ripping the sink straight from the wall. He did neither thankfully, instead deciding to turn the water to cold and splash it onto his face.
Once he was cooled and sufficiently stabilized, he turned toward the broken door he had entered through and silently slipped out into the back alley. After cleaning up, he had fled all the way into Shinto, stumbling onto a gas station that thankfully had a bathroom in the back. It was dingy, ill-maintained and had the persistent smell of rust, stale bodily fluids and mould. The one redeeming feature was that it was discreet. He estimated that he was a little over forty-five minutes from home, and judging by the vibrations coming from his pocket, people were looking for him.
Shakily retrieving his phone, Shirou took a deep breath and flicked it open after noting the time: seven o'clock. Putting it to his ear he offered a nameless greeting. It was a habit inherited from his father, though his father had a reason to protect his identity.
"Where are you?"
Shirou didn't have to think much to recognize his own father's voice. "I'm fine, just got caught up…" He hadn't thought this far ahead, he didn't have an excuse and lying would get him caught. "...helping a friend," he settled on, going for a half-truth. This would help Sakura in the end, wouldn't It?
Shirou decided to start his walk back, wiping a bloodied hand on his clothes. The blood wasn't leaving, though it didn't stain his clothes either. On the other end of the call, there was a shuffling and a soft noise akin to a sigh. "Hurry back when you're done, your dinner is getting cold."
Deciding to play things natural, Shirou decided to ask what dinner was before explaining that he would be back in a half-hour. After closing his phone and replacing it in his pocket, he tried with extra vigour to wipe the blood off. Once again, it failed to leave his hands and failed to leave a stain.
What was happening?
… … …
… … …
Shirou stepped into his house with a tremble. In fact, he couldn't stop his hands from shaking uncontrollably. It was one thing to kill someone he didn't know, hardly knew or hated. It was something else entirely to murder someone he knew, had been friends with and who just so happened to be the brother of one of his girlfriends.
It was different. He couldn't explain it, but it was disturbing him more than any of his other murders.
Maybe he really was a monster.
"Is that you Shirou?" came a question from Illya, startling him even though it should have been expected.
He tried to speak but his voice cracked at the beginning, prompting him to clear his throat and try again. "Yeah, how was dinner?"
"You missed out, it was so much better hot and fresh," she gloated, giggling to herself.
Shirou took another shaky breath, removing his shoes and trying to calm himself. He had been trained by the Magus Killer himself, he was supposed to shut this sort of stuff out and focus on his goal. While he was never taught anything about assassination, the old man had offered his general all-purpose guidance.
Protect his family, protect his friends. Shirou had done both. Sakura was being hurt by Shinji, he needed to be removed if she were to be protected effectively. "That's great. Did Taiga show up?" he called out again, walking down the hall. As he entered the kitchen, Illya explained that the teacher hadn't arrived. At the sound of his arrival, the girl turned, gave him a queer look and actually stood up.
"You look like you've seen a ghost, are you feeling alright?" The small girl approached him and gently took one of his hands in both of her own. Could she see the blood staining them? Did she know already? "You're shaking and cold, what were you up to all night?"
Shirou had already dug himself a hole with Kiritsugu, now he just had to dig one of equal size with Illya. "I was helping a friend with something."
Illya hummed, stared up at him with concern and gently rubbed at his hand. "Well it looks like it was a pretty hard task, why don't you go get some sleep a little early?" she asked, guiding him by the hand back into the hall. He could hardly refuse, especially since he was exhausted and the prospect of sleep was so alluring.
He was lead into his own room but instead of being led to his futon, the door was closed behind him and he was whipped around to face the homunculus. "I know you're lying to me, so what did you do?" The girl placed both hands on her hips, concern growing into annoyance.
Shirou began an attempt at defending his lie but as he started speaking, Illya's face clearly displayed that she wasn't buying it.
The tyrant rolled her eyes and pouted. "You can't tell your own sister? Come on big brother, you tell me everything. Is this really so bad?"
"Using your charm to get information isn't fair!" he shot back, trying not to look at her.
"So it was working?" the girl giggled. When he remained silent, she sighed and placed her chin thoughtfully in her hand. "Nobody needs help in the middle of the evening. You've already got two girlfriends so you can't be looking for that sort of thing." When he gave a sharp look, she merely waved him away. Suddenly, the girl snapped her fingers, casually saying, "Take off your shirt."
Shirou recoiled. "Illya, you've seen way too much, I'm not showing you anything."
Now it was Illya's turn to be disgusted, though it almost seemed forced. "I don't want to see you naked again you big pervert! Just take off your shirt so I can see something."
He couldn't put the pieces together in his mind and even if he could, declining would be suspicious on its own. He resigned and carefully lifted his shirt above his head. Illya made a quick "ah-hah" and placed one hand on his abs. He realized his mistake immediately. "You got into a fight and were stabbed. Seems like your friend is pretty rough." There was a soft green glow as Illya patched up the partly healed injury using magecraft.
Shirou remained silent. He was caught, but he couldn't admit to his deeds. Illya knew he had killed, but those were all people who were directly or indirectly trying to hurt her. "I-," he began, voice acting on its own. She was right, he couldn't lie to her, not even half lies. "I killed Shinji."
The girl stiffened, hands pausing on his torso for a moment before pulling away slowly. "Shinji Matou? Not that I liked him, but why?"
Shirou looked down at his crimson hands. "I lost control," he admitted through gritted teeth. His voice turned cold and empty as the memories replayed once more in his kind. "I lost control just like I did with you. He beat Sakura and-"
"Woah woah, calm down!" Illya quickly interrupted, waving her hands up at his face to grab his attention. "That time was years ago and you didn't lose control. You just wanted to protect me and did what you had to. If you say you went through the same thing again, then what you did was for the best." Illya turned her head partly, murmuring to herself. "Abuse from her own brother? Maybe it's a good thing that he's gone."
Shirou ran a hand through his hair, gripping and pulling on some of it. At least he could ask someone else the questions running through his own mind. "What do I tell Sakura?"
Illya shot him a questioning look. "What do you mean? Tell her you killed the guy who was abusing her. Shouldn't she be happy that he's gone? There's no way she could enjoy something like that."
Shirou shook his head, kneeling on the tatami below so he could rest his sore legs. "Sakura never wanted him killed. I can't explain it, but she was almost protecting him. When I found out about it, she said that she could handle it."
Illya hummed. "So what do you want to do? If you tell her, she'll be crushed."
Shirou nodded mournfully. "I know, I know, I'm stuck."
Illya plodded up to kneel just ahead of him. "Alright, well let's think about our options. Did anybody see you," she trailed on, gesturing with her hand awkwardly. "You know, kill him?"
Shirou thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "No, nobody was around."
The homunculus shrugged. "Alright, well we could lie to her."
"You want me to lie to her?"
Illya broke into an unamused laugh. "No, she would see through you like water. I was thinking that Daddy could do it for you."
"Kiritsugu?" Shirou asked with the same emotion as if the girl had punched him in the mouth. "I can't go to him, no way."
Illya scrunched up her face. "Why not? He doesn't care about that guy any more than I do and besides, he knows much more about this sort of thing than either of us. On top of it all, he's the only one who can lie to Sakura." Making note of Shirou's confusion, the girl rolled her eyes and continued. "Sakura sees through everyone. You know how I can tell when you're lying? Well, she can tell when anybody is lying."
"Except Kiritsugu," Shirou mumbled, finishing her thought. "I guess we have no choice then, let's see what the old man thinks." Illya nodded and quickly ran out the door to get their father. Before long she returned with the man in tow. The expression on his face was one of disappointment more than anything.
Closing the door after he entered, the man stared at Shirou intensely. "We have a problem." Kiritsugu leaned against the door and sighed heavily. He paused to rub at the bridge of his nose before speaking. "You've battled Zouken Makiri before," his words were a statement but Shirou understood it as a question.
Shirou was confused already. "If Makiri is the same as Matou, yeah. He's not-"
"Human, he's a collection of worms," Kiritsugu filled in, nodding in agreement. "It's what I assumed after my confrontation with his as well. Either way, because of his condition, he has the uncanny ability to be everywhere at all times. Parts of him are inside insects and dormant worms across all of Fuyuki, acting as his eyes and ears. Zouken undoubtedly keeps an extra eye on those he deems important. The odds are that he knows precisely what you've done."
Shirou's heart sank. "He wouldn't tell Sakura, would he?"
Kiritsugu nodded, "The first chance he got." Watching Shirou rapidly grow in worry, he motioned with one hand for him to calm down. "Don't worry, Sakura likes you more than that excuse of a step-brother I'm sure. She will get upset and confront you, but you should be able to work things out."
There was silence as all three collectively thought over their situation. Illya was the first to break the tension. "So then why do we have a problem?"
Kiritsugu hummed, his mind a thousand kilometres deep in thought. "With the Holy Grail War just around the corner, why would he allow you to kill his grandson? Even if he planned to use Sakura as the Matou master, why allow one of his own blood to be slain?"
"Hey old man," Shirou began, furrowing his brow in thought. "When I was defeated by Zouken, he said he would leave me alive so that I could help break Sakura's mind. Maybe that has something to do with this?"
Kiritsugu made a noise of thought, bringing one hand up to his mouth before scowling. "If only you hadn't thrown the jar containing our only specimen directly into our enemies' face we might have been able to test something, a bounded field that would repel or destroy Zouken's familiars." Sighing at length, he closed his eyes and sat quietly for a few more moments.
Father and son had already spoken at length about that encounter and both concluded that it was incredibly foolish. Shirou had acted impulsively, his young nature believing he could defeat Zouken single-handedly without help. While Kiritsugu had knowledge, Shirou's resistance to asking for help meant it went untapped. It was a mistake, but at least the boy had learned to seek assistance when he was up against something unknown. Shirou was gradually coming to terms with the fact that his father was a wealth of knowledge, though he still disliked asking for assistance regardless.
Kiritsugu nodded partly to himself. "We don't have enough information to act, so for now we should keep an eye on Sakura, collectively. Obviously, the key to Zouken's victory in this coming war depends on Sakura's state of mind."
"What if she won't speak to me after this?" Shirou asked.
Kiritsugu opened the door to leave, stepping halfway into the hall. "She'll come around. She doesn't enjoy living there any more than you enjoy her being there, I'm sure of it."
Kiritsugu turned to leave but suddenly stopped, abruptly casting his head back to look at the kneeling boy. "When you're more composed, we have to talk," he stated, continuing to exit shortly after. While the man walked off, Shirou couldn't help but look down at his hands. They weren't covered in fresh blood any longer, but they were still stained red.
… … …
… … …
The public hadn't been aware of Shinji's murder. Rather, it was assumed that he simply ran away, so a funeral wasn't held formally. Surprisingly, Sakura didn't even hold one for herself, though she did refuse to speak with Shirou for a good month. Eventually, she came around, though the beginning of their conversations were quite rocky for another month following. Memories of that initial confrontation still returned to him in the quiet of night, when his mind had nothing to focus on.
She didn't even speak. There were no words, though her eyes said more than her mouth ever could. She was judgement, proclaiming his guilt with a glare more damning than anything he had ever encountered. The pit of anticipation that had formed for this encounter grew several times heavier, becoming something crippling. He could only feel sorrow staring into those depressed, violet eyes.
This was the second time he had done something like this. The first time was with Luvia, where his attempt at doing her a favour by allowing her a chance to win in the Magus Tournament backfired and only made her hateful.
Why did his attempts at doing good always seem to end up making things so much worse? He opened his mouth to express his apologies, but he was silenced by a loud slap.
He had been struck. While it wasn't painful physically, it had done immeasurable damage to his already sorrow-filled mind. Straightening his head and peering down at the girl that had rapidly approached, everything else seemed to lose importance. There was only one goal, one objective for him to accomplish now: To stop the tears from crawling down her face.
"I told you not to do anything and now look what's happened!" she cried with more emotion than he had ever heard from the girl. "You killed him, I can't-" Her voice failed to register, fading out as a sob coursed through her frame.
"I thought-" he murmured, trying to justify his position.
"You thought you were doing good, but you have no idea," she shot back, cutting him off. Pulling her hands back to her chest, her frame shook once more while she took a step back, staring at him as if he was a stranger. "It doesn't matter if he hit me, he was still the only thing I had that I could call family."
He didn't know what to do, and he had no idea what would be the right move to make. He began apologizing, extending a hand toward her but when the girl visibly recoiled, he stopped himself and pulled back.
There wasn't any convincing her, he couldn't say anything that would take the pain away. He would just need to give her time, as difficult as it was to wait while she was hurting.
Even now, there were still moments where he caught that same fearful, saddened expression in her eyes. It was likely involuntary, but the fact that it existed in the first place still served as another reminder of his deed.
Spring came without any major events, though it was fraught with minor things. Throughout the winter, Rin had worn strange gloves. If it had been a normal person, such a thing would have been far less intriguing, especially during the cold winter. Although Rin was far from a normal person. Tohsaka was a girl who wore thigh-highs and short skirts, regardless of the temperature. It was almost as if she were challenging the cold, facing it head-on with that stubborn nature of hers.
So why wear gloves? It was a question he had been asking ever since she first put them on, but he still had to find a concrete answer.
Something else had changed in Rin as well. It was something he picked up on in his basic visual tracing which became significantly more noticeable during his in-depth tracing whenever they happened to come in contact with one another. He couldn't tell what it was specifically, but it shared a similarity to Caren, of all people. He had isolated the change to her right hand, but since she was wearing gloves, he couldn't see it with his own eyes.
He had expected to be able to see the source of the abnormality when spring rolled around; when the gloves would come off. Unfortunately, that never happened. The gloves did come off, but they were replaced with bandages. The Tohsaka passed it off with some excuse, claiming to have injured her hand while performing an experiment in her workshop. He knew better of course. He could see that it wasn't a wound. Since it was Rin, he decided not to doubt her and took her words at face value.
Things could only get worse when Sakura decided to corner him one night when the house was empty. Illya actually went out on her own this time, having to handle some of her own personal business. Sakura asked him to do something he had been trying to avoid since day one and each time she asked, he grew more and more defiant. Eventually, when she realized he would not budge, the Matou broke down and explained her situation.
With tears in her eyes, the girl explained everything to him. Shirou couldn't describe how he felt, but the closest word he could use was mortification. He had known from his father's journal that Sakura was inhabited by the same worms that made up Zouken and had come to peace with that unfortunate information years ago. What he didn't know was that she required an input of mana from an outside source to pacify the worms, else she would be devoured from the inside out.
More harrowing, was the thought that it had been Shinji providing the mana for all these years. That information alone had been enough to wash the blood from his hands, crimson stain fading almost immediately. He was even more despicable than Shirou could have ever imagined. It was a good thing that he was gone now.
Shirou was all set to provide his "services" to help out when an idea had come to him at the last second. In his Clock Tower studies, he had learned of all the mediums used to transfer mana. All bodily fluids worked, though some were significantly more efficient than others. Since spitting on Sakura was quite rude and semen was entirely off the table, the last option he had was blood. While not the most effective mana transferring fluid, it wasn't much for him to give blood, especially considering that Avalon helped to replace what he lost at an accelerated rate.
The girl seemed disappointed that he had a solution but dejectedly agreed to test it regardless. Slicing his wrist to draw blood felt a little strange, but considering the alternative, he was grateful to try anything.
Before long he had a glass of crimson fluid for her to try and was praying to whichever deity was gazing down on him that his hypothesis was correct. While she complained about the taste, the girl also pointed out that it had worked and that the impulse had died down. From that point on, it became something like clockwork where Shirou would give the Matou a dose of blood to appease the appetite of her parasites.
While shaky, things slowly returned to how they were when Shinji was alive. With spring came birds, flowers and the student exchange program, something that returned to bite Shirou square in the rear end. He had forgotten about his commitment entirely and when Issei broke the news to him one lunch period, he was understandably far from ready.
"They'll be here next week."
"They?" Shirou shouted abruptly, nearly dropping a piece of food that he had intended to eat.
Issei nodded, pushing up his glasses as they had fallen partly down his nose. "There are two and they've come together."
"I only agreed because I thought there was one person, how am I going to be able to guide two people at once?" Shirou asked, regretting his kindness more and more.
Issei shrugged. "I'm sorry, Emiya, but you agreed and trying to find someone on such short notice now would be impossible. I was caught off guard as well as I had originally thought there would only be one."
Shirou sighed and laid his head down on the table. "Why are they coming so late into the school year?"
The council president shrugged. "Supposedly they had problems gathering immigration papers. From what I understand, they have already completed the equivalent term in their home country in advance. They'll merely be attending to become acquainted with the student body before beginning their education next year."
Returning from his recollections, Shirou surveyed Homurahara High from the front gate, briefly turning back to catch sight of Sakura walking along the sidewalk. Catching sight of him, she approached and offered a respectful greeting. "You usually arrive earlier than me, why are you so late today, Senpai?"
The boy lifted a hand behind his head, flashing a soft smile. "Illya wanted a big breakfast today so I couldn't come as early as usual."
The two continued a pleasant conversation as they walked side by side into school. After preparing for the day at their lockers, they both said their farewells and carried on to their own classes.
As soon as Shirou settled into his desk, a sudden spike of anxiety hit him like a truck. If he was in charge of two new students, what kind of people would they be? Would he even be able to help out enough? He was so busy with the other elements in his life, could he really handle showing two more people around Fuyuki?
There were too many unknowns for him to be comfortable and he couldn't stop thinking about what was still to come: the Grail War. This was his last year before everything would collectively hit the fan and it would soon be his last year in high school as well. So many important events were so near in the future.
What would he do after school? Would he try to be a normal person with a normal job? He was interested in law, but it felt like a waste of his abilities to neglect the magus path of his life. But what would he do if he did follow the magus inside of him? Try to save every life on Earth?
It was noble but ultimately pointless. That was the goal his father had during his Grail War and he knew how that had turned out.
Speaking of the Grail War, he had no idea what was awaiting him but understood fully that very little of it was bound to be good. Rin, Sakura and Illya were all likely to be masters, but couldn't only one of them win? Would he have to kill each of them to destroy the Grail? This had to be a version of the prisoner's dilemma, he was sure of it.
A hand waved down in front of his face, snapping him from his musings. "I called your name three times, Emiya. You feeling alright?"
It was Mitsuzuri, displaying her familiar playful smirk. It had an infectious quality and before Shirou realized it, he was unconsciously smiling back. "Yeah I'm fine, just a little tired is all."
Mitsuzuri stood and seemed quite surprised. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard that from you, something must really be wrong. Is it those two new exchange students we're getting? I heard that you'll be in charge of them." The girl gently ran her fingers along the surface of his desk, casually watching as he stumbled to get words from his brain out of his mouth.
"I guess I'm just nervous," was what he eventually settled on saying.
"Never heard that before either," Mitsuzuri quickly added, grabbing his attention with a seriously concerned look. "You sure you're fine?"
Shirou stared into her sharp bright eyes for a moment before smirking. "Yeah, don't worry about me." He would have been lying just moments ago, but after such a brief interaction with Mitsuzuri, his anxiety had washed away and he wasn't feeling half bad.
The girl shot him a sharp smile that had a challenging edge to it. "You should come down to the kyudo dojo before you cheer up too much. With your mind out of it I might be able to beat you now."
The two shared a brief laugh and an equally short exchange along the same playfully competitive lines. Shirou was almost caught off guard when Taiga screeched into class just as the bell to begin classes rang out. With a short laugh, the teacher energetically extended one hand skyward in victory, claiming to have made it on time. This happened more often than not if that could be believed.
Before actually starting the day, Taiga paused at the start to make an announcement regarding some important news. She went over everything Issei had already explained to him prior: two exchange students who didn't speak English would be attending school just to learn the language and acclimate themselves before fully joining school the following year.
Next, Taiga pointed a menacing finger in his direction, specifically labelling him as the exchange student's "guide". It directed the attention of everyone in the class. There were whispers and laughs that echoed around him and he caught one comment specifically. "I bet it'll be two good looking girls. What use does the fake janitor have for two more girls?"
While unexpected, he really should have planned for such a thing in advance. Taiga was Taiga after all. What he wasn't prepared for in the slightest, and what he would never have seen coming, was the two girls who stepped into his class that next moment.
One confident and proud, the next sheepish and unsure.
Rin was going to kill him.
… … …
… … …
"Don't hold your breath, focus on the target and watch the scope rise and fall with calm, steady breaths," the man whispered in her ear.
Following instructions, Missy focused on her own breathing in tandem with the rise and fall of the crosshair in her scope. She realized that there were moments where the sight remained still at the top and bottom of her breathing cycle and quickly understood what he wanted her to do before without him having to point it out.
"When you feel confident in firing, pull the trigger softly enough so that it comes as a surprise. Any slight jarring motions will disturb your shot," he murmured, voice retaining a cold but fatherly tone. "Try to aim for the heart, not the head. Even if your shot is off, you'll likely strike center mass and incapacitate the target enough to make a second."
Making notes of all his guidance, Missy was left in silence to finalize her shot. There were over eight hundred meters of distance between them, a range which made the men at the far end appear as small as ants. The Magus Killer had already set the ranging and accounted for wind, acting as her spotter so that the job would go smoothly. It was a mere matter of lining up the target and pulling the trigger now.
This time, they were in Nigeria, Africa, a place which was significantly more dry and hot than the other countries they had been to. Kiritsugu, like always, had briefed her on the flight over. They were here to eliminate the head of a guerrilla squadron just hours before a counter-strike by the country's military. According to Kiritsugu, if they took down the leader, the group would be too disorganized to mount a strong enough defence against the coming police force.
It was as good a plan as any, as if she would know any better. During her time beside him, she had come to admire the man. He always had his ear to the ground and seemed to be the first know of potential dangers popping up across the entire globe. With how often they were out taking down targets or clearing compounds, the two had quashed several groups of dangerous individuals long before their names were ever known to the public.
Returning to the task at hand, Missy concentrated on her breathing. On the apex of her inhale, she began to squeeze the trigger, unable to fire the rifle before the scope moved to the bottom of her breath. Listening to Kiritsugu's instructions, she continued squeezing the trigger lightly, only putting on more pressure at the top and bottom to keep the scope on target. When she reached the top of her inhale, the steadily advancing squeeze set the gun off, making her jump in surprise as the sound reached her ears.
"Watch through the scope, confirm your own contact," he mandated, keeping his eyes glued to a pair of rangefinders. Refocusing on the image in the scope, she barely had enough time to watch a small splatter of blood spew slightly left of center on her target. The man grasped at his chest, stumbled back to press up against a truck and then promptly collapsed onto his rear as strength abandoned him.
"Good placement," he murmured monotonously. "Finalize the kill, ensure he dies," he instructed, not moving so much as an inch from his position.
Hesitating a brief instance before obeying, Missy chambered a new round and prepared to take a new shot. People were crowding around the injured man at this point, some trying to move him to safety, others trying to evaluate his situation on the spot. The confusion gave her enough time to line up her shot. After the first shot, things began to feel more natural and fluid. It was as if she had practiced the shot a hundred times when she had only fired the gun once just moments prior. The next round went off, not even deriving a flinch from her.
Blinking as the recoil subsided, she focused on her target to find him certifiably dead, with a visible - albeit small - hole in his forehead. "Once you're certain the target is dead, the next step is to mobilize. Gunshots reveal your position and if you don't move, you'll be located. The more you fire, the easier it is to be found." Without telling her what to do, he began standing, moving further back to leave the area entirely.
Hastily taking down the bipod, the girl stood and slung the rifle onto her back, jogging to keep up to her mentor. "Are we leaving today, master?" she asked, occasionally checking the area around to ensure they were safe. It had taken them two hours to hike to the outlook from their truck and it would take them almost as much time to return. They would be able to cut a few minutes off that time, if only because they now knew the trail and they weren't trying to hide anymore.
"Tomorrow," he answered, explaining himself while retracing the path in his mind. "There's another job that needs doing, but this one will pit you against your first magus target."
"Me?" the girl asked, body twitching as she raised a hand to her chest. "Are you saying I'll be going alone?"
The man nodded. "There are times where you'll need to move independently without my assistance. In fact, I need you to be capable of operating solo. Just stick to what I've taught you and remember the most important lesson about magi."
"To ensure their death, destroy the brain," Missy filled in, reaching behind herself to grab a pistol from her waist.
"That's right. Some magi are incredibly resilient and can survive seemingly fatal wounds. Extra care must be taken and since you're unable to use magecraft to destroy the bodies, double-tapping is our best alternative."
"Yes, master," the girl mumbled, checking the perimeter again for good measure. She hadn't been in this line of work for very long, but Kiritsugu had taught her so much regardless. She continued to receive small glimpses of her past with each bullet fired, though they were still difficult to piece together. It was as if she were watching a movie but for every frame she could see, dozens were missing.
There were things she now knew that she hadn't before at least. She had been in Fuyuki for a reason, she'd had a goal. She was looking for someone and had stumbled upon someone else in her search. Before coming to Fuyuki, she had been somewhere else. That somewhere else was different. There were children and another man who seemed familiar.
With the rise of memories, came conflict. Did she even want to remember her old life? Wouldn't that bring up feelings of regret and loss? It had been years since her new life began, what would all of the people in her old life think of her now? If those people were important to her, why hadn't they come looking?
"Missy?" Kiritsugu asked, snapping the girl out of her trance. "If you're not focused and prepared, there's no point in continuing with the mission, we'll head home right now."
The girl flinched and shook her head violently. "I'm sorry," she began, steeling her mind and focusing on the man ahead of her. "It won't happen again, let's continue."
… … …
… … …
"You can't be serious," Rin exclaimed loudly, moving both hands to grip at the side of her head. "Both of them?" She turned to put her back in his direction, twintails flickering in the wind on the roof. "Nobody has approached me, so they must still be sorting out where they're going to stay."
Shirou sighed and stared up scornfully to the sky. If there was a divine deity up there, they were laughing at his misfortune. "It gets worse. I know why she's here." Moving his head back down, he caught the awaiting glare of the Tohsaka and continued. "She's here to kill my old man."
Rin blinked three times before snorting out a laugh. She started to speak but it was broken up by sudden bursting laughter, rendering her words indecipherable. She repeated herself twice, managing to make herself laugh even harder with each attempt. "She wants to kill Kiritsugu?"
The boy let out a long sigh, admitting to himself that it was rather comical. "According to her, only old people retire and since he retired a couple decades ago, he's really old now," Shirou recalled, remembering the conversation like it was yesterday. "Because she thinks he's old, she figures he'll be easy to kill. I think she wanted to kill him because he stole work from her family or something." He slowly turned his head and mumbled a question to himself aloud. "But why did she bring her along as well?"
After her laughter subsided, the Tohsaka responded to his own personal question. "You said her name was Landry Hammon, right? Is she using her same nickname here as well?" He nodded in response and the Tohsaka adorned her trademarked thinking pose. "If Luvia is a magus worth her salt, she'll likely need an apprentice," lifting her head to look at him directly, she asked a question: "Did she have anyone following her around in the Clock Tower?"
Shirou scratched his head, trying to think if he saw anyone nearby Luvia at any point. "Not that I recall, we were pretty close then so I think I would have seen something."
"What do you mean, close?"
Focusing on Rin, he caught a very ominous sight. With her arms crossed underneath her chest and a threatening pout on her face, he knew he was treading on thin ice. "Nothing like you and I, she was just a friend."
With the Tohsaka's short jealous fuse lengthened somewhat, the girl turned up her nose and gained a righteous look. "If I see you gawking at her for longer than a second I'll have your head, Emiya," she threatened. When he agreed that such a thing wouldn't happen, the girl lowered her head and returning to thinking. "If that other girl, Lectra, was a low-ranking magus, Luvia might have taken her on as an apprentice. If her goal was to take on the Magus Killer, maybe she thought that she would need the extra help." The girl snapped her fingers, beaming down at him with great interest. "I'm forgetting the most important part: did they recognize you?"
Shirou shook his head. "I've changed quite a bit since then but they said I looked familiar. Lectra seemed skeptical but Luvia pointed out that my eyes were a different colour and she seemed to believe that."
Rin nodded. "Alright, good. So then it's just a matter of keeping them away from Kiritsugu. I don't think they'll ever be able to find him. I've never even seen him leave the house, let alone show his face in public."
Shirou frowned. "He's not a hermit, he leaves and walks around town when he wants, he just doesn't go looking for trouble."
"Well keep it that way. If you hold up your good little helper act, she'll never suspect you as his son and will search everywhere but your house." Rin finished speaking almost as soon as the bell to end lunch rang. "By the way, how did you get away from them to come talk to me?"
Shirou sighed, recalling the awkward exchange. "I told them I had to talk with my girlfriend and gave them directions to a tourist-focused cafe just down the street." Rin's lips parted in confusion as her cheeks grew pink. Abruptly, she made a strange noise and turned away from him.
"W-well, that was quick thinking of you," she settled on. "I'm surprised they didn't see through your lie is all."
Rolling his eyes, Shirou smiled at the embarrassed girl. "Yeah I know, the thought of you and I being a couple is enough to make me sick too."
The rapid shift in emotions on the girl was hilarious. Though by the raging fury behind her eyes, he wasn't going to find it as funny in a few short moments. At least Avalon would stop the gandr from getting him too sick.
… … …
… … …
"Shero~," Luvia sang, flamboyantly jogging forward before wrapping his arm up into her chest. Pulling him close, he awkwardly stumbled against her, giving the girl a strange look. He could tell that she was tugging him away but was trying to do so innocuously. "How is my favourite guide doing today?"
"Luvia, what are you doing?" he asked, speaking to her in Japanese rather than English. It was strange to be touched and handled in such a public area. Not even Rin or Sakura touched him in the direct gaze of the public, though it was more out of an ingrained cultural respect for one another's privacy than a disliking of the act. Public affection just wasn't as prominent in the East.
In something reminiscent of decent Japanese, the Edelfelt responded with something along the lines of: "The weekend was so long and I'm just excited to see you again!"
Behind him was the ominous growling of not one but two women. "I swear if you don't get your hands off of him in two seconds I'll-"
"Senpai isn't a toy!" Sakura shouted, taking hold of his other arm and yanking him away. While Rin could at least restrain herself to communicate, Sakura appeared to be the more impulsive of the two.
As he looked between the two struggling girls, Rin joined Sakura and the duo quickly yanked him away from the Brit, taking a defensive hold of both of his arms in the middle of the hall. He felt like a gourmet steak being fought over by hungry lions. With a face smitten with shock, Luvia stealthily checked her surroundings with her eyes. She seemed to make a note of the people turning their head to look at them. Luvia had never acted this way with him in the Clock Tower, what brought on such a drastic change in personality?
The blonde bombshell dramatically held both hands to her chest, appearing visibly distressed. She made a noise of mock hurt, casually making sure that other students were watching the exchange. "I'm shocked that the idol of Homurahara is so emotional!"
Shirou could practically hear Rin's teeth grinding away as she strained to keep her words in her throat. He felt sorry for her dentist. Like a hawk watching a meal from high in the sky, Tohsaka focused solely on the blonde ahead, disregarding all of the students who had started whispering around them. Before Tohsaka could open her mouth to spit what was likely scalding venom, Shirou struggled to pull his arms free but the action put attention on him. "Both of you can calm down, it's fine. Luvia just doesn't know any better since she's not from here."
Calming everyone down, he could have sworn that there was a glint in Luvia's eyes as she flickered her gaze between him and the Tohsaka.
Lectra suddenly appeared sprinting down the hall, reaching Luvia with a huff. "I make one phone call and you vanish on me to start making trouble," the girl spoke in English. In terms of learning Japanese, Lectra was incredibly one-sided. She could hear and understand spoken Japanese, but her reading, writing and speaking was horrendous, to say the least.
Turning her head to look at the girl, Luvia pouted. "I was bored waiting for you to finish gossiping with Flat. With how close you two have gotten over the last year, I'm surprised he didn't come with you."
The girl grew red in the face, turning her head away from the only two English-speaking people present. "Maybe you're just jealous because you're still single."
As the two began throwing increasingly scalding insults at one another, Rin jabbed at his back, gripping the back of his collar to pull him closer to her level. "These are the two you were so worried about? I can take her, just give me the chance and I'll have that cow crying all the way back to London."
His collar was yanked toward the other side, and Sakura's voice filled his other ear before he could respond to the first girl. "I don't want you hanging out with them anymore, Senpai."
He already felt as if he was being yanked in every direction on a regular basis, today seemed excessively tiresome. Pulling away from the two girls, he scowled and looked at everyone present. "Alright, I've had enough." Unexpectedly, he wrenched both arms free of the girls' grip, raising his hands in a calming motion. To sate everyone, he would have to be impartial as usual. "Can everyone just stop arguing? We all need to get along for the foreseeable future so let's just do that."
He caught Lectra squinting her eyes to give him a confused look. It was almost like she had caught something out of place, though she didn't speak out at the moment. "How do you plan on accomplishing that?" Rin asked dryly, rapidly assuming her idol position after noticing the number of eyes on her.
"I haven't gotten that far, but I'll figure something out."
… … …
He didn't figure anything out.
Lectra was easy to get along with and was the easiest to handle. With her personality, she could befriend anyone if given enough time. It was Luvia who caused everything to turn hostile. Whenever she was in the proximity of Rin, the two gravitated toward one another and began combat, either physical or mental. There were at least a dozen occasions where they had to be forcibly separated by Shirou or Sakura. Even the teachers around Homurahara had taken note of their rivalry, keeping the two as far away from each other as physically possible.
It didn't take long for Shirou to see that those two simply couldn't get along in the slightest. During the last month of the school year, Luvia had put cracks in the pedestal which held Rin's idol status.
To make matters worse, Luvia and Lectra were getting nosier, asking him all sorts of personal questions. They were likely developing a case on him to see if he was a potential suspect for interrogation about the location of the Magus Killer.
They had even asked to go over to his house, apparently catching word of the quality of his cooking after speaking with Sakura. At the very least, the Matou managed to get along with both Brits quite well, despite her jealousy regarding how much time he had to spend with them both. Perhaps it was a "keep your friends close and enemies closer" tactic.
In the first few days, he had learned from Rin that Luvia and Lectra were staying together in Fuyuki's well-known haunted house, though it had been remodelled and repaired extensively. Relaying the information, Kiritsugu had built upon his knowledge, explaining that a master in the Third Holy Grail War had been from the Edelfelt family. They had been sisters, using the innate ability of their family crest to summon two copies of a single servant. They had purchased two mansions in Fuyuki. One was in the heart of the city near the Tohsaka manor and the other was close to the Fuyuki Church. Both were considered haunted, though it was likely that Luvia had chosen the manor in the city to reside in. It explained why Rin was never contacted. Since the Edelfelt family already owned a workshop in Fuyuki, there was no need to notify the Second Owner or ask for permission.
"That dumb cow, I can't believe she'd pull a stunt like this." Rin's sudden outburst popped his concentration, prompting him to look toward her with some concern. The two were back on the roof eating lunch once again, though the Tohsaka seemed significantly more sour than usual. Thankfully he could still have this time alone with Rin, though he had to have lunch with Luvia and Lectra every other day as well.
"What did she do this time?"
Rin had a deep scowl on her face and one hand positioned on her hips. It was a sign that she was prepared to assault the next person to so much as breath in her general direction. "That cow told everyone in my class that my family name sounds like something else entirely in English."
There was a moment of confusion before Shirou had to suppress a laugh at the prospect. He knew exactly what sort of conclusion Luvia had made, but he wanted to hear Rin say it aloud himself. Barring his amusement as much as he could, he asked, "What does she think it sounds like?"
Rin turned around to face him, blazing fire in her aqua eyes. "Toe-sucker," she spat with anger.
At that point, Shirou couldn't hold it anymore and he burst out with laughter, much to her displeasure. Rin's face darkened several shades until it nearly matched the colour of her uniform's tie. "S-she isn't right, is she? That's not what it sounds like to English people, right?" Shirou couldn't even make a coherent response, his laughter too powerful to form proper words. "You big dummy, answer me!"
… … ...
… … …
"Have you noticed anything odd about Shirou?" Lectra asked, stuffing both hands into the pocket of her hoodie.
"Odd? How do you mean?" Luvia asked, giving her apprentice a questioning look.
Lectra shrugged, casting her gaze down to her feet. "I dunno really, but we've been searching this entire town for magi since we arrived and haven't found anything, not even residual mana traces-"
"So you're saying he's not here?" the blonde suddenly interjected.
Lectra shook her head with a frown before continuing. "Someone is definitely here. All of the ether clumps I've sent out have died at random times by some mysterious force. It's like they've turned off because the feedback I was receiving just vanishes. At the same time, the mana doesn't return to me either. It's like they're being devoured instead of dispelled."
The girl stopped, an action which brought their gaze to one another. "So you agree that we should keep looking then? What you describe sounds like something the Magus Killer would do to protect himself, I'm sure of it."
Lectra stared into the girl's burgundy eyes, tightening her lips before sighing. "Yeah we should keep looking, but I still want to talk about Shirou." The girl resumed walking the path toward the manor, hearing a giggle from behind.
"I don't think Flat would be alright with you dating another boy, in a new country no less," she teased.
"It's not that, not at all," she defended. "I'm more than happy with Flat a-" she paused, blinking as she realized what Luvia was doing. "Stop going off subject! Haven't you noticed that Shirou seems kind of similar to Blade?" she asked, finally getting her concern across.
There was a long period of silence that made her wonder if Luvia had spontaneously died. "You thought so too, huh?" she finally asked, making a short jog so he could resume walking side by side. "I thought it was just me. While he wore a mask, his hair looks pretty much the same and even his eyes are similar. I don't really remember his voice that clearly, is it close?"
Lectra nodded, comparing the man she knew then and the man she believed him to be now. "I think it's the same. There might be a little more emotion in it now, but he could have been altering it then."
"What about the fact that he's not a magus?" Luvia asked, raising a good point.
"You wouldn't have known that Blade was a magus either. Neither one had a detectable signal that I could see like most other magi. I can tell Rin is a magus just on a glance, in fact, she might be more powerful than you are."
The blonde made a tsk noise. "Fat chance. I could take her on with both hands tied behind my back. It's good to hear that you're making use of those textbooks I gave you at least."
Lectra rolled her eyes. Luvia had claimed that she could do something similar with Blade just last year though after watching the man in combat time and time again, Lectra knew quite well who would actually win that fight. "Anyway, we need more information before we can start accusing him. Our main priority should be finding out if he's a magus, or visiting his house, whichever has an opportunity to come first."
"The odds that Shirou is a magus are pretty high. From what I could dig up on the Tohsaka family, they're a pretty well-respected influential group in Fuyuki. I can't see why the current head would be dating a normal human," the Edelfelt reasoned.
"Maybe she's just keeping up appearances. You know, a cover story. That's why we'd probably learn more if we could get invited to his house."
Luvia made a noise of confusion. "What would visiting his house do for us?"
"Sakura always says he's an amazing cook," she blurted out, growling stomach getting the better of her. "Besides that, she also told me that he has a father and a sister. While I looked through the school records, I couldn't find anything. Not even the students in Shirou's class really remember her, though they know she attended and graduated."
Without even looking, Lectra could hear the smile on her partner's face. "I knew it was a good idea to take you on as my apprentice. I distract Rin and Shirou while you get friendly with the people and find clues. I'm chuffed, we make such a good team."
"Just remember our deal. I'll help you so long as you help me."
"I haven't forgotten and I'll hold true to my word," Luvia assured, turning her head as the Edelfelt manor came into view. "As soon as the Magus Killer is dead, I'll give you whatever you need."
Lectra let out a breath of air before forcing an uneasy smile on her face. She was purely riding on faith, but Luvia seemed rather trustworthy. "Where did you want to eat today?"
The blonde whipped around on the spot with a beaming face nearly as bright as Lectra's own. "Apparently there's only one Chinese restaurant in Fuyuki and it's got some of the best mapo tofu around."
Lectra made an appreciative hum. "I don't think I've ever had that, is it spicy? I don't really like spicy food that much."
Luvia waved one hand. "It's a little spicy but not too bad. I've had it a few times back in Britain but this should be something special." Lectra hummed, considering her options before eventually deciding to give it a try.
How spicy could it be?
… … …
… … …
"Why did you want to go out to eat today of all days?" Shirou asked, more curious than irritated. "You know I can just cook whatever it is you want, right?"
The priestess shrugged her frail shoulders, keeping her eyes forward while she responded. "I've heard good reviews of a Chinese restaurant but I do not know where it is."
He hummed thoughtfully, recalling the name of the only Chinese restaurant in Fuyuki. Koushuuensaikan Taizan, a joint run by a single woman named Batsu, someone who was known to beat the men clueless enough to try flirting with her with a wooden spoon. Neko claimed its food to be heavenly. Although, with her favouritism of all things spicy, he could tell his mouth was in for something hellish. "Well, if that's what you want then there's no point in refusing."
Caren nodded stiffly before stating that he was learning in a very bland tone.
Smirking, he threw his gaze upward to read the nearby store signs, spotting the one he wanted within a few seconds. He guided the two of them into the building, surprised to find it decorated in full authentic Chinese fashion. Visually tracing the various decorations, he found that each and every one was imported and no expense had been spared on their construction - something that couldn't be said for most products imported from China.
The store was relatively simple despite the fine decor. Paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, oriental wallpaper and a surprising amount of greenery. There were six tables in the entire restaurant, though only two were filled. At the far back wall sat a doorway leading into the kitchen and a large rectangular viewing window, through which Shirou could see the cook and hostess, Batsu.
Upon realizing that another customer had arrived, she immediately moved from the kitchen to offer a bright greeting, preparing two menus and gesturing them toward a table.
With incredible hospitality, the girl explained the daily special - dumplings and chow mein - before taking their drink requests. Both had requested water, and were left with some time to decide on their order.
Shirou only just began to read when Caren set her menu down and confidently murmured, "Mapo tofu." Taken aback, Shirou rapidly read through the menu items before deciding to take on the restaurant's most famous dish as well.
While waiting for Batsu to return, Shirou made small talk with the miniature priestess, hearing much of the same dialogue as always. She was always doing fine, she never witnessed anything interesting and her sermon was always completed without a hitch. After asking her the same questions and gathering the same answers, it had become more of a formality than anything.
As he was about to ask another question, the girl focused on something over his shoulder. With his back toward the entrance, he had to turn to see what she was interested in. He spotted Luvia and Lectra almost immediately and the two made note of him just as quick. They both raised their hand and adorned smiles to offer a friendly greeting, steadily approaching their table only to be intercepted by Batsu as she placed drinks in front of Shirou and Caren.
Batsu gave an inviting greeting to the two girls, quickly asking if they were intending to join the table Shirou was at. Luvia agreed in the time it took Shirou to open his mouth, deciding on his behalf. Repeating the process she had gone through with Shirou and Caren, Batsu took drink orders and was about to offer the newcomers menus when they both kindly explained that their orders had already been decided.
Everyone was having mapo tofu, though given that it was practically famous from there, it was far from unexpected. Only Caren was brave enough to take on Batsu's offer of having it made "extra spicy".
Once the hostess had left, Luvia immediately cast a look toward Shirou. The table sat four and when they had arrived, Caren and Shirou took the outside two across from one another. When Luvia and Lectra arrived, the two had moved in, with Luvia beside him and Lectra beside Caren. "Would you care to introduce us, Shero?"
Glancing between the girl and Caren herself, Shirou quickly developed a cover. Hopefully, he could still lie to Luvia and Lectra without a mask. "She's my sister," he stated while doing his best to keep his expression locked.
Caren flinched visibly, eyes widening before her face changed to take on a thoughtful expression. "Shirou's sister," she mumbled softly, voice barely audible even to Shirou. Thankfully, the other two girls were focused on him so they missed the reaction.
Luvia turned to examine the priestess, who caught the Edelfelt's eyes with equal intensity. "I'm Shirou's sister, Caren Emiya."
Surprised that she was committing to the ruse so well, Caren took over answering questions. The questions were far from unexpected. They featured basic detail gathering and small talk.
"So are Shirou's meals as good as Sakura and Rin say they are?" Luvia asked, squinting inquisitively at the priestess.
The girl nodded softly. "My brother is the best cook, I have never had meals as good as his." The neutral, impassive tone could have easily been mistaken for sincerity and thankfully for Shirou, that was exactly what the other two girls took it as.
"So all the rumours are true. Seems like you're quite the host, Shero. So why haven't we gotten an invitation? Are we not good enough?" Luvia went full on the victim offensive, forcing him to raise his hands in mock defence.
"Hey, it's nothing like that! You're both smart girls but I've just been really busy with other stuff, you know?" He smiled, but it was more out of nerves than genuine amusement. No matter what, he couldn't let these girls weasel their way into an invitation, the risk of either one discovering something was too great.
Before either one could start begging and pleading, Batsu stepped out of the kitchen door with arms full of equally appetizing, steaming dishes. With considerable finesse, the girl deposited a plate in front of each of them. They all appeared similar, though there was significantly more red chilis coating Caren's meal.
On the first inhale through his nose, he understood that this was going to be a painful experience. As the scent of expertly prepared food reached the sensitive olfactory organ, his senses exploded from the raw spiciness in the air alone. He got similar vibes from the two other girls as he panned the table. This was certainly going to be interesting.
… … ...
Comparing the sensation in his mouth to anything known was impossible. There wasn't a heat in the world that could be likened to the entire mouth incineration. Each exhale felt as if he were breathing raw flames. On the backs of his jaw below each ear, tingling, persistent agony reminded him of his foolish mistake.
Not wanting to waste food, he had finished the entire plate and that had been the true mistake. Sweat was profusely dripping from his head and there wasn't enough water in the world to calm the inferno that dominated all of his senses.
Luvia and Lectra weren't handling it any better, though Lectra was crying and making silent prayers, so she was definitely handling it worse. The two still had half a plate of food left each, though it was obvious that they were in no condition to finish it.
Caren, on the other hand, appeared no different than usual. Her cheeks were red and there were beads of sweat rolling down her forehead but otherwise, she was completely fine.
Only the rest of them were snivelling messes, sweating, snotting and crying over their mistake. "That was good," Caren stated softly, looking at the other pained faces around the table.
With various levels of pain in their voices, everyone still agreed. While overwhelmingly spicy, it was delicious. In fact, that was part of the problem. Because it was so tasty, it was practically additive. After the first bite, the taste lured everyone in to consume more despite the raging flame in their mouth.
"I can't feel my tongue," Lectra whimpered, planting her forehead on the table.
Luvia laid one hand on the back of the girl's head, weakly collapsing her upper half onto the table as well. "Stay strong, you can make it through this!" Straining to get such inspiration out, it seemed to be Luvia's last attempts at helping someone before she perished to the blaze herself.
Casting a pained expression toward the priestess, Shirou asked why the girl could handle such extreme spice so easily. The girl looked down at her clean plate with a simple expression. "It was quite spicy, but not the spiciest I've eaten."
There was a cry of shock from behind in the kitchen. Turning toward the source, Shirou watched an incredibly agitated Batsu storm from the kitchen, pointing a wooden spoon ominously at the priestess. "Not spicy enough? I was taking it easy since you looked a little young, but if you come back next time I'll show you!"
Reeling back from the sudden outburst, the hostess wore a smile and looked at her suffering customers. "I'm glad you all enjoyed the meal, would you like the bill now?"
After recovering some more, Luvia and Shirou both elected to split the bill in half, paying for each of their respective guests. After leaving the restaurant, Shirou and Caren said their farewells and split away from the other group.
A few steps away, Caren snapped up to grip at his hand. She was really committing to this "sister" thing, wasn't she? Since he was still in eyeshot, he decided not to make a scene though he did point it out after rounding the corner.
"Thanks for helping out and covering for my lie. You can let go of my hand now," he explained, surprised when she silently refused, actually tightening her grip instead.
"You said I was your sister," the girl stated blandly.
Shirou opened his mouth to speak, to deny the comment and explain that it was a lie but his heart stopped him prematurely. Caren was just a sad lonely little girl, he couldn't deny her something so small but so comforting. "Alright, alright you can be my little sister. Just don't let Illya hear that or she'll probably kill me, okay?"
Caren turned her head to beam up at him, soft smile on her face as she offered a stern nod. He had to admit, her joy was infectious. "When we get home, we can continue to work on our plan."
He couldn't help but feel a rapid pang of sadness. She was referring to their partly assembled plan to rescue Sakura from the clutches of Zouken. Together, along with Kiritsugu, the trio had established the barest framework of what would be required to pull it off.
The priority was getting Sakura to Caren with enough time for the priestess to perform a purification ritual without the vile worm noticing. Zouken wasn't a stupid man and after almost losing the girl once, he had undoubtedly installed a "self-destruct" switch inside Sakura. With that fact in mind, it was difficult to develop a plan that could work. Hopefully, with the Magus Killer on their side, they could put something together that could work. Thankfully, the man in question had just returned from his trip with Missy. Once again, Shirou was left in the dark and clueless on where they went. Considering how often the two went on these trips nowadays, he had gotten used to it.
It didn't take long for the duo to arrive at the Emiya house. Caren held his hand the entire way, separating only when they passed the door to the front gate of the estate. Entering and settling down in the kitchen, Missy served the dinner she had been working on while the remaining members around the table tried to work around the supposed "self-destruct switch".
Caren explained that she would need two hours to cleanse Sakura's body of worms and that time would need to be completely uninterrupted. The problem lay with finding a way to distract the old worm for that time, something they rapidly realized was impossible. There was no way that a single person could take on Zouken for two hours.
After beating their heads against the metaphorical wall for hours, Kirtisugu moved on to a more tangible subject: The Holy Grail War. Seeing as how Caren would act as the mediator for this year, she was the best person to speak with. Beyond confirming the fact that it was to take place in the coming winter, she revealed no more information, regardless of Kiritsugu's attempts at prying and extraction.
Contemplating the coming War, Shirou came to a grand conclusion. Immediately he went to work explaining what was going off in his mind, laying the framework of a plan where the success of Sakura's rescue hinged on a single circumstance - the Holy Grail War.
It was shaky to start, and the boy could see in his old man's face that it came across as impossible, but as Shirou finalized his musings and polished off the idea, the two male Emiyas came to a similar conclusion:
"This could work."
… … …
… … …
It was quiet here, standing amidst the blades. There were so many more of them now than there were when this type of dream began. There were now hundreds of weapons he had gained over the past few years. He had finally amassed something resembling a collection, enough so that there were weapons in his view regardless of where he looked.
He was in his own mind again. That far, distant place only accessible in his dreams. How could he remember each time he came to this land while simultaneously being unable to understand what it even was when he awoke?
This had been going on for years, these dreams, so why couldn't he recount a single occasion with absolute certainty when he was awake? It was like the Shirou he was here and the Shirou he was in the real world were two entirely separate people. There was so much loss here, so much suffering and regret that it became crushing. When that blackened figure appeared, the effect was only amplified, guilty sadness becoming something physical and impossible to breathe in. They had fought at length, over and over, conducting endless battles until he awoke, unable to remember a thing.
Peering down, he examined the black and white swords in his hands. They were so familiar, eerily so, yet each one was more distant than he could comprehend. Of all the things he forgot upon awakening, how could he forget something that seemed so natural?
The swords faded into blue sparks, hand clenching into fists as he recalled that ominous line spoken to him by a mysterious old man. "Sweet dreams."
Shirou still didn't really understand who the man was but he was obviously quite powerful. Either the man had a hand in causing these dreams, or he was causing them himself directly.
Why couldn't he just go back to wandering through the Great Fire? At the very least, that dream was simple and familiar, something known. The land he was in now was foreign, obscure and it gave him the sensation of dread.
Everything was confusing in this world. It was absolutely foreign but there was a persistent feeling of deja vu. He had been here, he was here, and he would return here again. How long had he been walking into the horizon? He had started when the dream began, but at this point, it felt closer to weeks. Turning around, he spotted that familiar clay hill. Regardless of how far he walked or in what direction, the hill was always the same distance away. Gazing further up, the shadowy figure perched upon its apex stared back at him, weapons in hand. That thing was always here too and it seemed to have a singular purpose - to kill him.
Shirou had tried conversing with it before to no avail. It broke through any sort of imprisonment and shattered every single weapon he created with a single strike. It was the ultimate unstoppable force, an inevitability. How many times had he died to that ominous being?
Deciding to get this nightmare over with and wake up, Shirou turned and took a step toward his fate. As his foot hit the ground, everything suddenly melted away, changing colour and coalescing into a new scene entirely.
He was no longer on that baked clay plane. He was somewhere else entirely, an expansive, dimly lit room which featured several dead bodies. The two different uniforms revealed that this had been a team-based battle, though they had all died regardless. Shirou had never seen such an area in his life and that did little to calm the foreboding sensation in the back of his mind.
It was dark, but a pit up ahead was producing a strong blue light from within, bathing the area just enough for him to see. The area was industrial, with concrete floors and steel handrails making up the edges of pathways. Between these walkways, were large, deep channels filled with flowing water. These channels extended to connect to the large basin, the same basin which was producing the only light in the room.
Shirou had seen something like this before in science class. Thinking back, he realized exactly where he was. This was the chamber of a nuclear reactor and the blue light signified that it was running.
Why was he here? What sort of connection did he have to his place, and how could he see it so clearly, even in a dream?
Then he saw the reason. One of the bodies was moving, struggling to hold onto their last scrap of life in a vain attempt at surviving. They wore a bomber jacket and a tactical rig, though both were covered in droplets of blood. This was obviously in a cold region of the world. It was a man, a man with reddish-orange hair in a careless style, freely floating on top of his head. Shirou knew it was himself, but it wasn't the version of himself he knew. This version was similar to his younger self, so what was going on here?
The dream Shirou was on death's door. Rivulets of blood streamed down the sides of his head and one eye was swollen closed. Those wounds were superfluous compared to the bullet holes in his arm and chest.
Not even Avalon could heal that quickly, though it would likely prolong his dream version's suffering by a few minutes. Shirou's copy managed to reach the railing just before the large reactor pool. The redhead collapsed over it, panting heavily as his lower half gave out entirely.
The real Shirou - though who was he to claim to be the real Shirou? - watched from a distance, as his doppelganger struggled to move. Both of them snapped their heads up as a blast of energy washed over the area. Blue mana-charged fog rapidly dominated the area, condensing high in the sky above the pool almost as rapidly as it had appeared. The orb was surrounded by two thin concentric rings which rotated around the orb in random unpredictable ways. Every piece was made of a pure form of mana, something foreign to him personally, but eerily natural in the moment.
It was beautiful, it was impossible, it spoke. While it didn't speak any language, Shirou understood the deal it was making clearly even without words: It would give him the power required to shut down the reactor and save millions, and in exchange, it would claim his life after death and turn him into a Counter Guardian.
The real Shirou knew what a Counter Guardian was, well. Rin had told him and it was even spoken about at the Clock Tower. They were a silent force of the "Will of the World", acting as a deterrent against those who would bring about the extinction of either the Earth or humanity.
Evidence from the past told a grim story. Wherever a Counter Guardian went, nothing but craters remained. It became clear that the World cared little about the fidelity of innocent or guilty, deciding to lump every individual together only to annihilate them all with impunity. It was barbaric and cruel, effective but inhumane. Something only Kiritsugu could condone, if only because it would save more than it would kill.
Becoming one of those things would help him save more lives in total, but what of the innocent lives he ended? What if his family did something to incite the wrath of a Counter Guardian? Counter Guardians, like Heroic Spirits, were timeless. Who was to say the World wouldn't play a spiteful trick and send a copy of him to kill his own family?
Suddenly, like clawing hands from the depths of hell, thin blue wires similar to Illya's Engel Note crept from the blue orb. This wouldn't have been concerning if they only reached the dream Shirou, but they were after him too. He tried to move, but found both his legs were cemented firmly to the ground; there was no escape. As the creeping fingers of the orb contacted his body, they rapidly spider-webbed across his form, covering him in visible wiring.
He felt warm and connected to something that was on an entirely different level. It demanded an answer and drew it from his lips without his consent, drawing from his truest desire. "No, I won't do it. I won't pose a risk to my family," he claimed.
Then the dream Shirou spoke, voice equally as confident and brimming with truth. "I'll do it if it means no one has to cry."
An ominous noise sounded while the dream Shirou was covered in a blue aura. His wounds were healed and his body restored while the tendrils attached to the real Shirou receded as if he were cursed.
While the blue tendrils returned to the orb, the scene ahead of him grew distant, like he was being yanked through space and time away from the area. As the darkened room became blurred with bleary white, his name was softly called out and there was something warm on his cheeks.
… … …
"Shirou, wake up you dummy!" Illya chided, gripping onto the sides of his face with both hands. If he didn't wake up soon, she was going to have to slap him. Thankfully, her shouting in his face finally stirred something up in that paste behind his eyes.
His eyelids fluttered open and he drearily focused on her face. "You slept in, you're going to be late for school," she explained, and the prospect got him moving immediately.
In fact, he moved too fast. Illya had been sitting on his stomach and the thought of being late for school sent him lunging from his futon without a care for those around him. The featherweight girl was quite literally thrown away as the boy prepared for school.
Thankfully, since there was a king-sized futon around them, her landing wasn't too hard, though it was painful nonetheless. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" he called out, rifling through the dresser nearby for clothes.
Illya scowled while rubbing her rump to ease away the soreness. "I just woke up a minute ago. I don't really set an alarm for school anymore since I don't have to go."
The boy made a growling noise of defeat, finding the clothes he would wear for the day only to snap his head back to look at her with a demonic look of fury. The girl stiffened but understood what he wanted. Obediently, she turned her head away so he could dress. "Today of all days. Sakura is at her house so she couldn't be here to wake me up, Rin hasn't visited in weeks and to make things worse, Lectra and Luvia expect me to meet them in front of the schoolyard right about now."
Illya drowned out the complaints, casually turning her head to lecherously sneak peeks at Shirou. They weren't really siblings, so it was okay if-
No! Bad Illya!
The mental shout snapped her body to attention, head-turning to look in the opposite direction in an attempt to drive the thoughts away. Not only did he have two girlfriends already, they were brother and sister. She couldn't possibly see her feelings being reciprocated, or see him having the time to deal with her on top of the others.
No, her attention needed to be focused elsewhere, like teasing Caren. Illya would never claim to be a kind soul or even a good person. For some inexplicable reason, it was just fun to see people jealous. While flaunting how good life was with her family to a lonely priestess might have seemed cruel to most, Illya couldn't help but enjoy it. Illya could tell in subtle ways that the priestess was unspeakably jealous of Illya's own position.
A thought came across Illya's mind. "Don't you have an alarm clock to prevent things like this?"
Feeling his eyes searing into the side of her skull, she immediately regretted asking the question. "Once upon a time I did, but one morning it went off when I slept in and you demolished it with Degen!"
Illya deflated, silently remembering that she had done exactly that. "That was because it went off at six in the morning and I was really tired."
"Look at where it got us now," he mumbled moving toward the door. "Well, at least you get to feel the consequences too. I won't be able to make you breakfast so you'll either have to go without or beg Missy to make you something."
Illya gaped toward the door as Shirou opened it to leave. "But Shirou -!"
"No buts, I don't have any time!" Before she could say another word, the boy was out of the door and on his way. Defeated, the girl collapsed forward onto the futon sheets and groaned loudly. Missy already did so much around the house and was so busy going on trips with Kiritsugu that it felt rude to ask that she do more just for her. She was the one woman Illya actually felt bad for. Though she couldn't tell whether it was because of her amnesiac state or because she seemed genuinely pleasant without a hint of forced politeness like Rin. She was similar to Rin's mother, Aoi in that way, though Aoi seemed to exude a strange emotion that reminded Illya of her own mother.
The thought of her mother sent Illya down a winding path through fond memories of Iri and Kiritsugu back in Germany. It all seemed so far away now, a mere fraction of her life, but each memory held so much weight.
Illya would have been lying if she claimed that she didn't miss her mother. There wasn't a day that went by without looking at her father and imagining her standing beside him, smiling in that warm way she always did. Illya could almost feel her mother watching over her, even now.
Her father's persistent sad smile only made her heartache, if only because she knew why it appeared the way it did. He had lost so much and had hurt more than Illya ever had without Iri. Even though he never said it aloud, she knew why he hadn't tried to find someone else.
There simply wasn't anyone alive who could compare to Iri in his mind, and Illya could understand where he came from considering she felt the same way. Letting out a long breath into the covers beneath her, a sudden full-body pain made her gasp. All the strength in her body faded at once and she collapsed onto the soft surface, struggling to move at all as the sensation of electrocution even cut off her ability to make noise.
What was happening?
… … …
"Daddy?" rang a soft voice from the hall.
"Yes, princess? Did you need something?"
"I'm not sure, I don't know what to do about this."
Lifting his head from his desk, he spotted Illya standing in the doorway, holding her hand out in front of her face while closely examining something on the backside. Immediately he knew what the problem was and his heart sank into the abyss. "They're command seals, aren't they?"
The girl meekly nodded, turning her right hand over so he could see the back of it. Clearly emblazoned on her hand was a strange symbol. It was tribalistic but intricate, with arching spikes, unlike any other seal he had seen before. It wasn't even similar to his own, though that was far from unexpected. "I'm pretty sure."
"While it's not much of a surprise, you've officially been chosen by the Grail as a master in the coming War," He gestured for her to come closer, leaning forward in his chair and patting the top of her head when she was within range.
With a scowl, the girl asked her next question. "Rin and Sakura will be masters too, right?"
He nodded, offering his daughter a sad smile. "Unfortunately, yes. Each one of you is the head of a founding family. Three masters in every War are always decided in advance by the Grail. The remaining four will be picked seemingly at random, however, it's more than likely that the Mage's Association will have a master already picked out in advance."
"So it could pick Shirou?" she asked, looking over her hand several times.
Kiritsugu had no desire to answer that question. He knew quite well that his son would be a master, it was revealed to him years ago and by a man who was certifiably the best source for that type of information. To make things worse, he couldn't lie to Illya without being caught either. "The Grail could choose anyone to be a master. It could choose me or Shirou. So long as the person is a magus, they have a chance."
"But I don't want to hurt Shirou," she huffed.
The Magus Killer's saddened smile grew a shade more depressed. "Hopefully you won't have to. If he's not selected, you have nothing to worry about. Even if he is chosen, the two of you can work together to claim the Grail."
The girl looked up at him, concern plain as day in her crimson eyes. Despite how much she had grown, she was still her father's little girl. "We'll work together as a family then."
He nodded softly, maintaining his sad smile as he withdrew his hand. As he did, Illya scrunched up her face, suddenly reaching out to take hold and look the appendage over. "Did you burn yourself?"
Examining the back of his own right hand, he could see the blotchy, reddish patches which resembled scalded flesh, in that way he could see how Illya came to such a conclusion. What he saw was something much different, something more familiar and infinitely more concerning.
His old command seals.
Howdy, all! It's been a long time for an update. This time it wasn't me though, so you can't be mad at me! Anyway, the Holy Grail War is almost upon us and things are starting to get heated. Get prepared for an unexpected Grail War which is sure to be Unbalanced, though likely not in the way you might think :}
Remember to favourite, follow and leave a review! And thank my beta, Talndir for continuing to help out when he can!
