It was a night like any other. The temperature was between warm and cold, just right for wearing a yukata. With the moon in the sky, it would've been a peaceful night to anyone.

Such was the case for Shirou Emiya. Recently, his adoptive father, Kiritsugu, had been staying outside on the porch more and more. He was also acting more tired.

Wanting to see his father, Shirou made his way to the back porch. Seeing the familiar hunched figure on the porch, Shirou made his way over and sat down.

Kiritsugu was looking upwards at the sky, with a faraway look in his eyes.

Without warning, he began to speak.

"When I was younger... I wanted to be a Hero of Justice."

Confused, Shirou wondered why Kiritsugu was talking about this, before looking upwards and thinking on his statement.

Kiritsugu wanted to be a Hero of Justice when he was younger...

Ever since Shirou was saved by Kiritsugu, he had wondered if he would be able to smile like he did on that day. In that pursuit, he had pestered Kiritsugu to explain to him about being a God Eater.

Being a, normally, reasonable adult, Kiritsugu refused, believing this would be enough to keep Shirou away from being a God Eater and let him have a normal life, at least until he was of age.

It was not.

Shirou pestered Kiritsugu again and again until Kiritsugu gave in and gave him a brief history of God Eaters and their duties. Believing this to be enough, Kiritsugu moved on.

However, Shirou continued to pester him, this time to learn how to fight with swords and guns and shields. Kiritsugu refused. Shirou asked again. Kiritsugu refused again.

This continued on for the next two years. Whenever the two weren't having a meal together, or "normal" father-son bonding, they were talking about whether Shirou should train or not.

After the two year long back and forth, Kiritsugu relented. That was when Taiga was introduced. She had been an occasional visitor for a while, but after listening in on a conversation on Shirou's schedule-to-be, she jumped in on it and offered to teach Shirou the way of the sword.

It was a tough process.

Taiga may have been training to become a school teacher, but she was awful at teaching kendo. She would go way too hard in training matches, being pulled along by the Tora Shinai's bloodlust and decimating the competition.

Shirou fell victim to this during the first few matches, before his inclination to bladework made itself known. It started as briefly deflecting strikes, to being able to block and even retaliate.

It was in one such match that Shirou felt that something was off. As if he was missing something. Closing his eyes, he thought on it, before an image flashed in his mind.

Of a man standing before him, his back, clothed in a crimson red, facing him, and in his hands were two swords, twin blades of black and white.

Snapping out of his revery, Shirou wondered on the vision, before looking towards the rack of practice shinai.

Feeling curious, he decided to grab another shinai.

The ensuing practice match against Taiga went poorly.

Of course, this was due to Shirou having never used two swords at once. But, if Shirou was a natural with one sword, then he was born to wield two. Using the dual blade style he had begun to develop that uses the opponents reflexes against them, he had been able to quickly overwhelm Taiga.

Now if only he had such luck with guns.

Kiritsugu had decided to take care of teaching Shirou how to use guns and shields. Shields were easy enough, it was just a matter of balance. Shirou could easily master that, as his fighting style requires him to be limber enough to move his arms and body towards and around multiple blows.

But guns were... bad.

The first time Shirou tried to use a gun, it seemed to spontaneously explode. The bullet had somehow jammed, while the gun loaded another bullet, causing the two to collide and explode.

The second time was better, as the bullet was able to get out of the gun, but not necessarily as desired. Instead of leaving through the gun hole, it blew straight out the side of the barrel.

The third time had the gun jamming again, but without any exploding.

The fourth time involved Shirou dropping the gun and it shooting a bullet into his left shoulder. Needless to say, that put him out of commission for a while, and Kiritsugu actually shelved using a gun.

It was around that time Shirou met Sakura, as Shirou was in the archery club at Kuromatsu Middle School with his friend at the time, Shinji, and Shinji asked Sakura to help Shirou out.

But that's a story for another time.

Breaking out of his nostalgia tangent, Shirou thought again on what Kiritsugu said, before...

"Wait. You wanted to be a hero? Does that mean you don't want to anymore?"

Shirou was shocked. This man, his saviour, no longer wanted to be a hero. That means he didn't want to save people anymore, didn't it?

Kiritsugu, seeing the upset look on Shirou's face, chuckled dryly and responded.

"Well, being a Hero of Justice is a time limited thing. I'm too old now."

"Time limited, huh? I guess you can't be a hero anymore."

Kiritsugu nodded, and, if one looked closely, slightly frowned.

"If that's the case, then I'll become one for you."

Shirou looked at Kiritsugu with determination shining clear in his eyes. To Shirou, if he pursued this dream, then he may be able to one day smile like Kiritsugu did.

"What?"

Kiritsugu, for his part, looked shocked. Surely he heard that wrong. What did this boy, his son, just promise?

"Didn't you hear me? I said I'll become a Hero of Justice in your place."

But Kiritsugu didn't hear wrong. He heard a promise, a solemn vow, for this boy to head down the path he once travelled. He should feel horrified, he should feel disgusted, but instead he felt...

"Haha..."

Relief. Relief that the dream he once held wouldn't go to waste. And belief that this boy could possibly achieve the impossible dream he had believed in so long ago.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Shirou had never heard his father laugh so loud before. For a second, his face showed surprise, before he began to pout, believing Kiritsugu was mocking him.

"That's good! That's good... I guess I can rest now, huh..."

As Kiritsugu went silent, Shirou observed his father and saw the smile on his face, so similar, yet different, to the one he had when he saved him. Noticing Kiritsugu's lack of movement, Shirou nudged him and called,

"Kiritsugu?"

Receiving no response, Shirou silently stared at Kiritsugu, before leaning against him, promising to stay with him until the morning, and reaffirming the promise to fulfill his dream. He would not cry.

For Kiritsugu Emiya had died that night, with a smile on his face.

Shirou was yet again removed from his reminiscing by the smell of food. Nearing the dining room, Shirou reached for the doors before being interrupted by a message over the intercom.

"Can Shirou Emiya please report to the Director's office in 5 minutes? Repeat, can Shirou Emiya please report to the Director's office in 5 minutes?"

Releasing an exasperated sigh, Shirou turned around, making his way to the nearest elevator.

"What do you need now, Professor Sakaki?"

Thank you for reading. This is Cee and, oh god I'm so sorry for what you just read. The general idea was to do what I've been doing, that is, a flashback, returning to the present, and adding some intrigue for the next chapter. I didn't mean to go off on a whole tangent right there about Shirou's training, but there it is, and I'm sorry, but I at least tried to make it funny with the gun thing.

Second, tense, I think it's still a problem, I'm not even sure if it's real or if I'm jumping at my own shadows.

Third, the announcement at the end, I wanted to make it like the ones that occurred in God Eater, but I couldn't remember how they went, and I didn't want to have to rewatch a playthrough to see what it was like, so I kinda just guessed, and went with the school intercom message.

Fourth, the AN isn't long, but the chapter sure is.

Thank you to theopomel, LuckySolace, HYDE-BESERKER, ToriSenkiTan, JohanPhantom, Cypher1221, nazarioneo, alpha95, and Richy Escorpy for favouriting or following, and thanks to Guts and Toes, mauraman3000, AnonymousAuthor3 again, Lionheart33, 98kazer again, and jairoesme for reviewing.

Goodbye.