Soft. Soft and fluffy. The ground he was sleeping on was soft and fluffy, and only lulled him further into his sleep. The comfort of the... wait.
The ground?
Shifting, Shirou squeezed his hand and felt himself grab something soft, but refusing to move. With a groan, Shirou opened his eyes, blinking at the sudden light.
Looking down, he noticed that he was sleeping on a bed, before turning his head and having his vision immediately fixated on the small snow fairy to his left. She was fast asleep and breathing lightly. Raising his left hand, Shirou pet her head before tucking her hair behind her ear.
Smiling, Shirou decided to remain silent and let Illya sleep. But before long, the door to the Infirmary was opened, and in came Saber and Rin, both looking solemn.
When they turned and saw Shirou, they seemed to blank for a second, before very quickly moving towards him. As they reached him, he had raised his finger to his lips in a gesture of silence, before being very abruptly yanked by the collar straight towards them.
"A-Ah... Hey, Rin... Saber... How are you?"
The two girls were glaring at him hard enough that he could feel their ill-intent. Alongside that, they both looked angry, and their hands were shaking with restrained anger.
"Shirou..."
At once, they said his name, before slowly raising their fists, that weren't holding him, menacingly.
"H-Hey, you two... You know Illya's still asleep, right?"
"Maaah~ Onii-chan~"
Muttering that, Illya, who had been leaning on Shirou's bed, and slightly on Shirou, until that point, leant back into her chair, giving Shirou no more protection from the wrath of his friends.
"Do not worry, Shirou. We can do it quietly."
With that, the punishment for his actions had begun.
"So, this guy body-tossed an Ukonvasara, forced you to use your Oracle energy, and asked you to stab him in the heart. And when you did, it healed all of his wounds. Do you know how crazy that sounds?"
Rubbing his still-stinging cheeks after Rin and Saber's unrelenting assault, Shirou sighed.
"Hah. I know it sounds crazy, but come on. Is someone being stabbed in the heart and healing all their wounds really that weird? Actually, don't answer that. But, it probably has to do with how he's suffering from Oracle Cell Erosion too."
After everything that happened, Rin and Saber were now seated around Shirou's bed, with Illya in the same position, still somehow asleep despite the slapfest that had occurred.
"Actually, what did you do with him?"
Rin scratched her cheek, looking at Saber.
"Well, Saber was the one dispatched to help you. But I heard he's currently being kept in the Brig."
"Wait, Brig?"
It was Saber that answered this time.
"Yes, Shirou. In my own original visit to the Far East, the Prison Floor was one of the places we were taken to. You likely hadn't heard about it because of how rarely it is used."
"Well, how is he?"
At that, both Saber and Rin looked away awkwardly, before Rin answered,
"He's awake. And he's... fine. No insanity. No desire to fight people. If anything, he was a gentleman."
Hearing that, Shirou's eyes slightly widened in shock, before he nodded.
"Well, I guess that makes sense. He seemed kind of alright when he asked me to stab his heart."
Rin muttered how he doesn't sound very alright if he's asking someone to do that, before looking to Shirou, who began talking again.
"So, do we have any idea on who he is? Where he came from?"
Saber and Rin looked away awkwardly again, with Saber answering,
"He has said that he would be willing to talk, but he would first like to apologize to you for his actions."
"Huh... Alright. When can I go?"
Hearing that, the girls quickly stood up, with Rin chastising him for his nonchalant attitude.
"No, you can't! You just got hospitalized! Even if we said yes, you're not allowed to leave without the doctor's say. So there. Honestly, I don't understand why you can't just take a break."
Before Shirou could rebut that, or even comment, Saber followed up.
"I must agree with her, Shirou. If you keep doing missions, and keep ending them in the Infirmary, without rest, then you will eventually fall."
Taking a breath, Shirou went to speak, but was interrupted again by the Infirmary door opening. From it came Sakaki, holding a clipboard.
"Oh! Hello there. I didn't expect to see you two at this time. And Shirou, I see you're awake. How are you feeling?"
All of the rooms occupants, sans Illya, looked at Sakaki in surprise.
"Um, Professor... What are you doing here?"
"Why, I'm here for Shirou's check-up. I am a doctor after all."
Walking up to Shirou, Sakaki took out a stethoscope and listened to Shirou's heartbeat, before writing something down on his clipboard. He then pulled out a mini-light, and shined it in Shirou's eyes, focusing on his left, before scribbling something else down.
"So, Shirou, how do you feel? Any pain anywhere?"
Shirou tilted his head, before moving his various parts, before shaking his head in the negative.
"Alright then. You're allowed to leave."
The three conscious occupants looked at him blankly, before the two girls stood up, yelling,
"What!?"
Before the two could continue, the noises coming from the sleeping snow angel took their attention. As she continued mumbling and rolling, she eventually cracked open an eyelid.
"Mmgh... Onii-chan?"
As the quartet made their way into the elevator, Shirou took a look at the destinations. There were a few unlabeled buttons, but on the bottom of the list was one labelled Prison, which had a button covered in a thin layer of dust.
Pressing it, and wiping the dust off of his finger, Shirou waited as the doors closed and the elevator began to descend, listening to the music playing. It was still Wolf's Howl, but it had apparently changed during the time he was in a coma. According to everyone, it was quite sad, but Archer apparently thought it was bittersweet.
Hearing the elevator ding, Shirou watched as the doors opened and showed a long hallway that went on for a while before turning right. The walls were green with there was also a fair bit of rust, and had a mesh roof where the wires that connected all of the electronics together could be seen.
Along the walls were cells, and a large number of them. They were all pitch black inside due to a lack of prisoner, aside from the one at the end of the hallway, which showed that the rooms were a concrete grey when lit, and had the lead giant that Shirou fought within.
Walking down the hallway, the other three with Shirou were able to experience the shock of his appearance for the first time. Rin was gaping, shocked at how anyone could be that big, or have muscles that big, without having their skin tear. Saber was giving him a critical eye, trying to understand how one so big could move fast enough to challenge Shirou. Illya just looked at him in interest, thinking he could give good piggy-backs.
When they reached his cell door, the man looked up with a pleasant expression, before his eyes widened in shock and he stood up, almost tall enough to touch the roof with his head.
"I-It's you! Are you okay?"
As Shirou figured, his voice was deep, but it also seemed to contain a deep wisdom and understanding.
"Uh, I'm fine. Are you okay, mister?"
Blinking, the man looked at Shirou in confusion, curious at why the boy he had been crushing was worried for his safety.
"I'm fine as well. I am glad you are okay. I would like to apologize for my actions."
Saying that, the man bowed his head in apology. Shirou was surprised he was so apologetic, and hurried to respond.
"Ah, d-don't worry about it. Actually..."
Hearing him lead off, the man rose his head, looking into Shirou's heterochromatic eyes, the same as his.
"Yes?"
"Um... I'd like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind."
Now the man was really confused. This boy that he had fought, and he's certain had injured, was being overly polite, despite being faced with a possible enemy.
"...You may."
Sighing in relief, Shirou continued the conversation.
"Hah. That's good. Now then, first thing's first. What's your name? Or what should I call you?"
The giant seemed to still, before sighing sadly.
"Hah. My name, huh? My name hasn't been heard in many years. Sometimes I wonder if I even still know it. But, I suppose you can all call me... Berserker. Appropriate, no?"
Hearing that, Shirou took on a sombre expression, putting his hand to his chest.
"Your name has been forgotten, huh? I can... understand that..."
Squeezing his chest, Shirou looked back up to the now named Berserker, and said,
"I have also forgotten my name. But you can call me Shirou Emiya. It's nice to meet you, Berserker."
When Shirou said that, everyone looked at Shirou confused. The girls had no idea what he was talking about, while Berserker was wondering what this boy had to go through to be able to say something like that. Before anyone could comment on his response, he continued.
"If you don't mind answering more questions, could you tell me what you were doing out there?"
Blinking from the abrupt topic change, Berserker looked at Shirou before looking away ashamed.
"I had... I had gotten into a battle. The enemy had overwhelming numbers, too many for me to easily handle. So I... had to use Mad Enhancement."
"Mad Enhancement?"
"Mad Enhancement is the name of one of my abilities. Most God Eaters that have these Armlets," here he waved around his right hand, with the metal-bangle-like Armlet, "have unique abilities attached. Right?"
That question was directed to Shirou and Saber, who both looked at their right hand Armlets, before nodding. Seeing them nod, Berserker nodded then continued.
"Mad Enhancement gives me increased power, but at the temporary cost of my sanity by flooding my body with Oracle, and depriving my brain of its higher function. I must have travelled a great distance between there and where we fought. I didn't recognise the terrain at all."
"Hmm. Okay. Which branch are you a part of?"
Chuckling humorlessly, Berserker shook his head.
"Branch, huh? I haven't been part of a branch in years. I was exiled a few years ago. Been wandering ever since."
While Shirou was curious what Berserker did to deserve banishment, he decided it would be rude to pry and instead ask possibly the most important question.
"One last question. How did... stabbing you in the chest... not kill you, but instead healed your wounds?"
Chuckling, this time with humour, Berserker ran his hand through his hair and answered.
"That's also one of my abilities. It's called God Hand. It allows me to heal all of my wounds and resume normal functionality by releasing a compartment of Oracle kept in my heart. But there's only a limited number of uses. Anything else?"
Shirou was nodding his head, thinking on whether there was anything else to ask, before deciding there wasn't. He then looked to the others, to see if they had anything they wanted to ask.
Rin was just confused, but seemed to be busy trying to digest the information given. Saber seemed to still be gauging Berserker, using the information given to adjust her expectations. She didn't seem to want to ask any questions either. Illya just looked interested in Berserker as a person. Probably no questions there either.
Looking back to Berserker, Shirou gave him a slight smile.
"Thank you for answering all of my questions. I'll be going now. Let's talk again when you're set free, alright, Berserker?"
Looking slightly surprised, Berserker looked at Shirou before slightly smiling.
"Yeah. I'll see you later then, Shirou."
It would then take a week or two for the officials of the Far East Branch to get all the information from Berserker they wanted and decided his fate.
It was decided he would be kept in the Far East Branch and have an eye kept on him at almost all times. Since he fought him, Shirou was chosen to be his watcher.
When Shirou and co. heard that, they all went to go see him. They gave him congratulations, and showed him around the base. It was during the tour that the bond between Illya and Berserker really begun.
"Hey, hey, Berserker. Can you give me a piggy-back ride?"
Thank you for reading. This is Cee and, this is kind of a mess. But, I promise this is going somewhere. Would I lie?
Second, the Brig is based off of the Brig that appears in Episode 2 of the God Eater Anime.
Third, Berserker will probably get proper characterization later. Probably.
Thank you lilblazemoi0127 for favouriting and following, and thank you to ptl again for reviewing.
Goodbye.
Word count: 2124