Shirou skidded to a halt on the grass with knees bent and chest heaving.
Again.
He turned, and made his way back to the beginning of the track. He passed by the high-jump bar as he walked, an unattainable goal for the moment, but Shirou was nothing if not obstinate when he set his mind to a goal.
Besides, if he could make this jump then he was one step closer to becoming the Hero of Justice he promised the old man he'd become.
Legs set, breathing steady - Shirou dashed off to attempt the jump again.
And again.
And again.
Until his body could take it no more and he was forced to give up, returning to his backpack and leaving the field outside of Homurahara - his high-school - unaware of the eyes watching him as he left.
-]l[-
Shirou's trip home was uneventful, aside from the soreness in his body. It was apparent to him that he had worked himself too hard that afternoon.
Turning the corner, Shirou arrived on his street. From there it was a straight shot to the Emiya residence.
Clink
Shirou paused, he had just heard something from down the nearby alleyway. Forcing his aching muscles to work, Shirou dashed to the narrow passage, past the dumpsters and boxes that lined the backstreet.
There— a light was shining from behind a box at the very back of the alley. If it had been earlier in the day Shirou would never have seen it.
Letting out a grunt as his muscles protested the action, Shirou knelt next to the item, reaching out and picking it up.
Odd. The object was rectangular in shape, and less than an inch thick, a bit shorter than a foot in length, and half that wide. The closest things Shirou could equate it to would be one of the Library computers or the control screens to the nuclear launch systems that Kiritsugu had installed back home. Unlike those products though, the entire device was a screen, with no obvious buttons except for one on the center of the bottom of the long side, and a small extension on the side. It reminded Shirou of a graphics tablet, so that's what he would call it.
Moving past it's physical appearance, Shirou finally gazed at the screen and what it displayed. Written in large black letters over a white background were the words: "One skill point remaining," and beneath it were eight words, attributes, similar to those from a manual of a role-playing game he had read earlier that year. They were as followed:
Strength (STR)
Dexterity (DEX)
Intelligence (INT)
Constitution (CON)
Charisma (CHA)
Wisdom (WIS)
Luck (LCK)
Magical Energy (MNA)
Shirou paused, curious as to the purpose of the device, before shrugging and tapping Constitution at a whim.
Immediately, Shirou felt something change within his body, and stiffened at the strange feeling. His pain had... decreased? Almost as if his... constitution... had increased.
"What the-" Shirou cut himself off before glancing back at the tablet that had (presumably) caused this change. The words on the screen had changed from the selection menu to a new message. "Level up to gain more skill points."
Level up.
Shirou thought back to the game manual and the brief section he had skimmed over about leveling up. From what he vaguely remembered... to level up, one had to gain Experience Points -also known as XP- through performing various activities such as fighting, or training.
Returning his attention to the tablet, Shirou took in the final thing on the screen. A counter, reading "0/100 to next level."
Shirou let out a slight smirk. If this device continued to function in the same manner, then it would be a great help in Shirou's goal to becoming a Hero.
"I suppose it's time to train more."
-]l[-
"Trace, On." Shirou muttered as he sat in seiza on the mat that lay on the floor of his shed. This was his hideout, his Batcave, the place he went to be alone.
Right now he was using it as a training ground for his magic. His father might be dead, but before his passing, Kiritsugu Emiya had taught his adopted son some magic. Well, the old man insisted Shirou call it magecraft, but to his understanding it was basically the same as the magic one would find in a fantasy novel.
One of the few spells that Kiritsugu had taught Shirou was Reinforcement. A magical process used to strengthen an item. To put it simply, he could fill in the 'gaps' of an object's structure using his magical energy.
Shirou let out a hiss as the stick he was holding shattered. Something had gone wrong while he was performing the spell, and the result had been the destruction of the item that Shirou had been trying to reinforce.
Groaning at the failure, Shirou pushed himself to his feet and stepped over to the desk that lay in the corner of his shed. On it was a plate of cold food; which Shirou immediately began picking at, a few books; open to pages that he had been studying, and the tablet that had become his newest obsession.
It had been a week since he found the tablet, and during that time he had leveled up twice, gaining two skill points. One thing he had noticed, though, was that the amount of xp required for his second level-up had increased, from 100 to 200. If it increased in the same manner, then within a few levels it would be incredibly slow to gain any levels at all.
That said, Shirou still had his two skill points, and he knew what to spend them on. He put one point into MNA, and the second into CON. His plan was to train his magecraft even more as it appeared to reward the best experience out of everything he had tried so far, but the limiting factors to that plan were his magical capacity, and the length of time that he could endure the pain of activating his circuits.
With that done, Shirou stood from the mat, stretched his sore muscles, and exited the shed. He stepped out into the cool air, closing the door behind him, and glanced around the yard. It was spacious, with plenty of room for physical activities, be it stretches, yoga, or sparring. The entire yard was surrounded by a wall that was almost double Shirou's height. It ran around the entire property uninterrupted, except for the gate at the front, the only entrance in or out.
He crossed the grass, stepping onto the veranda, and walking around to the front door. Sliding it open, Shirou stepped inside to a common sight; his guardian, Taiga Fujimura, sitting on the cushions next to the table, bouncing with unspent energy.
"Shirou!" Taiga shouted, leaping from her seat the moment Shirou entered the room. "When is dinner?"
Shirou grinned, he was used to the constant nagging of his guardian, and over the years it had become endearing. He was quick to reassure Taiga that food was coming, and moved to the kitchen to begin working.
The rest of the evening went smoothly, Taiga enjoying the chicken meal that he had made, and they both enjoying some light conversation on the matters of history homework assigned by Shirou's teacher.
-]l[-
Shirou rose with the sun the following day. He spent a few minutes eating a cold breakfast before gathering up his school books, placing them in his backpack, and then heading off to school.
It was a medium-length walk to Homurahara Academy, and Shirou spent it hypothesizing new ways to train his body and magic, as well as optimizing his XP gain. Perhaps if he-
"Heya, Shirou!"
A voice startled Shirou out of his thoughts. He glanced towards the speaker to see one of his friends, and fellow Kyudo club member; Ayako Mitsuzuri, standing by the entrance to the School, waving him over.
"Ah, good morning, Mitsuzuri," Shirou gave her a friendly nod as he stepped past, heading for the Kyudo range.
Ayako fell in step alongside him and they headed to the range for morning practice. The two of them, and a few other members, always did their best to show up before school began to get a bit more work in. But as the club co-captains, Shirou and Ayako tried to get there even earlier to set the area up for their fellow students.
"I still can't believe we convinced you to stay in the club," Ayako spoke conversationally as she laid out bows and equipment for members to use when they arrived.
"It surprised me too," Shirou spoke while sweeping the slightly dusty floor. "It was mostly thanks to you and Sakura though."
Ayako chuckled. "Maybe we just know you the best."
The door slid open, and in entered Sakura Matou, Shirou's underclassman, and some of her friends within the Kyudo club. They waved hello to their captains, before picking up some of the laid out gear, putting it on, and lining up at the firing line.
Shirou could hear the sound of bow strings releasing in the background as he finished up the dojo setup. Exchanging a glance with Ayako, they both confirmed that they had completed their various tasks and with a nod, they both picked up their own sets of gear and stepped up to join the rest of the club on the range.
-]l[-
When Shirou checked his tablet after practice, he had gained another level. He spent the point on Constitution, and began planning a late night excursion to the Kyudo dojo to gain more xp. His working theory was that upping his Constitution would allow him to spend longer without sleep, and thus have more time to practice and gain levels. The reason he would be headed to the Kyudo range was twofold. First: a want to improve on his archery skills while using magic to reinforce his body, and second: it was an out of the way building where he was unlikely to be disturbed
He cruised through school, spending a couple minutes during lunch to fix up a few items for the class president, his friend, Issei Ryoudou, before heading off to the cafeteria to eat lunch alongside his fellow Kyudo club members. He used to eat alone on the roof or with Issei in the Student Council room, but since he had been convinced to take the position of co-captain he had made an effort to spend more time with the members of the club.
He traveled home alongside Sakura who had volunteered to help him make dinner for Taiga. They made a miso soup for the household, before Sakura and Taiga headed off for their respective households. Shirou walked the Matou sibling home, and on the way back, headed off to Homurahara for practice.
He slipped inside the dojo and pulled his bow off of the rack that it was stored on during off-hours. He strung it, drawing the string into place on the massive frame, many hours of practice allowing him to do it quickly. Stepping up to the firing line, Shirou drew an arrow from his quiver and nocked it in a practiced motion. Then he pulled the drawstring back...
Breathe in, hold, release.
Twang
The arrow flew straight and true, letting out a thunk as it sunk into the target at the end of the range perfectly on target.
And that's how it went for the rest of the time Shirou spent training. Draw, aim, fire, repeat.
By the end of the night Shirou had accumulated two more levels and had pulled out the tablet in preparation to spend them. He had put one into MNA and was debating where to spend the remaining one when he was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Emiya? What'cha got over there?"
Shirou froze, and turned to face Ayako. She was dressed in warm clothes, similar to his own, and held a handbag in one hand.
"H-hey, Mitsuzuri… What are you doing here at this time of night?" Shirou spoke with a nervous stutter to his voice. Kiritsugu had mentioned that revealing magecraft to outsiders was very dangerous for all parties, with the mage being punished, and the non-mage possibly being killed.
Ayako raised an eyebrow at Shirou's blatant ignoring of her question. "Sometimes I go on late-night walks when I can't get to sleep, and I noticed the dojo light was on when I passed by the school… so, I've answered your question. Now it's your turn.
Shirou stared at Ayako for a moment before stating, "No. I'm sorry, Ayako. I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Quoting Odyssey while not answering my question. I can see when I'm not wanted." Ayako turned, her face displaying the hurt that Shirou's words caused.
For some reason, the sight of her retreating back reminded him of his father. He had admired that man, admired his ideals and selfless sacrifices. But when Kiritsugu had passed on, he was left alone, burdened by a secret he couldn't share with anyone.
When he looked at his friend, he realised that despite the risks, he couldn't bear to hide anymore."
"Wait!" Shirou reached out toward his friend's retreating figure, causing her to stop in the doorway to the range. "I… If I tell you then you could be in danger."
"Shirou… I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. Plus, I doubt whatever you have there is too dangerous." Ayako spoke while returning to Shirou's side.
"I- I just don't want you to get hurt because of me."
Taking in the raw feelings apparent of Shirou's face, Ayako placed one hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Shirou. Whatever it is, we can face it together."
And so, Shirou told her.
-]l[-
"So… your life has turned into a video game, basically?" Ayako slouched against the wall of the Kyudo building, watching Shirou as he fired arrow after arrow downrange.
Shirou paused in his kyūjutsu, resting the bow on his sneakers and turning to Ayako. Rubbing the back of his neck he responded. "Yeah, basically."
Ayako let out a growl at Shirou. "I am so , why did you have to get such a protagonist-like role, huh? At least I get to come along for the tide… even if I am a supporting character at least I know what the hell's happening."
Shirou tilted his head, looking at her confusedly. "A… supporting character? What do you mean?"
"Oh! I guess you don't know all the terms… So in most stories, like books and movies and the like, anyone who appears less or does less important things than the protagonist, but still has a significant role in the story. Otherwise they're known as minor characters."
"So like Sakura in Naruto then?" Shirou asked her, obviously interested in the conversation.
"Uhh, yeah, more-or-less."
"Mmm. I see."
Ayako paused, thinking through her next statement. "Say, Shirou. You mentioned that you get stronger by training, yeah?"
"Mmhmm."
"Alright. Then how about we meet again next week and I can help you with your training.
"Sounds good."
-]l[-
Shirou and Ayako continued to spend time together during the next few months. Sometimes, they stayed up so late training that Ayako would end up crashing at Shirou's house, much to the confusion of Taiga when she came the next morning to find another person eating Shirou's delicious meals… The first time this happened, Taiga almost had a meltdown. But after Shirou and Ayako managed to assure the older woman that nothing untoward was going on, she got her revenge by relentlessly teasing the two of them.
One day, Shirou set off early to get things ready at the Kyudo range. About halfway through the setup, Ayako entered the room, carrying a small bag with her.
"Ah, good morning, Mitsuzuri," greeted Shirou.
"Yo," Mitsuzuri's greeting was much more casual, but she moved to help him without a moment's hesitation.
After a few minutes of work, Ayako noticed something in the room. "Hey, what's in that box over there?"
"Ah, yeah." Shirou began. "Taiga just got me a Gameboy and a copy of Pokémon Ruby and since you seem to know so much about video games I was curious how you'd recommend starting out?"
When Shirou was met with silence he turned around to gaze at Mitsuzuri only to be met with her face right in front of him. "You-" she spoke forcefully. "Will be coming over to my house, where you will play through Ruby before battling me."
Shirou was quite surprised. While he knew that Ayako often invited Rin Tohsaka over, he didn't expect to basically be demanded to come over, over a video game of all things.
"All right then."
"Good."
-]l[-
"Damnit! How are you getting so many more crits than me?" Shirou exclaimed as yet another one of his Pokémon was hit by one of Ayako's critical hits.
Ayako laughed, "Maybe I'm just luckier than you?"
"Tch. Maybe I should be raising my Luck stat instead of Constitution," Shirou muttered back to his opponent.
After another few minutes of intense tactical button pushing, Ayako came out as the victor, throwing down her own Gameboy and laying back on her bed, pink hoodie pooling underneath her.
"I'm surprised with how your room looks," Shirou commented from where he sat on the foot of the bed. "It's a bit… Stylish?"
"Emiya, the word you're looking for is 'girly.' Is there something wrong with that?"
"It just seems to clash with how you are at school, all energetic and sporty I guess."
"It's my belief that a beauty must do martial arts."
"...What does that even mean?"
Ayako let out a sigh. "Nevermind. Have you visited the Pokécenter yet? Let's battle!"
"Agh, fine. If you just like beating me that much…"
-]l[-
Over the next year Shirou and Ayako grew steadily closer, participating in numerous activities together beyond Shirou's training, though that also went up at an astonishing rate, with Shirou growing stronger almost daily.
After a few months of leveling his CON, he eventually reached a point where he needed to rest nary more than once a week. After reaching that obscene level of Constitution Shirou was able to quickly gain more levels, putting them into DEX and STR alternately. Once he reached a comfortable level in those, he began putting them equally into INT, LCK, CHA, and WIS.
During summer break Shirou had spent almost the entirety of it vacationing in the forest to train, and after returning from training incredibly tired, ended up accidentally putting every single point from that training into MNA.
Because of that accident Shirou found his magical capabilities increasing at an astounding rate, as well as the sudden ceasing of pain whenever he activated his circuits, instead resulting in a noticeable increase in his body temperature. Additionally, Shirou had found a new technique to use his obscene magical energy with which he suspected might be useful in the future.
-]l[-
It was one day during September, school had just resumed and Shirou and Ayako had been working hard to prepare the newer recruits of the Club for the upcoming tournament. Shirou wouldn't be participating in it himself, due to feeling it cheating from all his magical enhancements, but he had succeeded in convincing Ayako to enter alongside several other students. With all the work it had been a tiring first week back and Shirou had decided to take a day off.
It was a bit of a walk from Homurahara, but nothing considering his increased stamina from the CON stat. Within thirty minutes of leaving his home Shirou was walking alongside the Mion River at the Riverside Park. It was a popular location for dating couples in Fuyuki, but Shirou wasn't worried about that; he was just happy to get some solitary time after helping with school so much.
It was a sunny day, perfect for taking a nap, though if Shirou were to stay out late in the afternoon, a chilly breeze would be sure to remind him of the season. He let out a long sigh, letting himself flop down onto one of the many benches that lined the river. How nice would it be to simply lay there, relaxing and wasting away valuable time.
"Oi, Emiya. What a coincidence."
Shirou briefly considered feigning sleep, but the sound of his friend sitting down next to his head stopped that idea before it could go anywhere.
"Mitsuzuri? You're skipping too?" he asked, straining his eyes back to see that she was dressed in her usual clothes for whenever she wasn't at school - grey jeans, a white shirt, and a pink hoodie zipped over that.
She grinned at Shirou, raising one hand to rest her chin on. "Yeah, I think that Sakura can keep the newbies in line for a day… Plus, you're the really devoted one, what with all the time you spend training."
"I'm not the one trying so hard to keep up, am I?" a little unfair, given that Shirou had magic on his side, but even with that unfair advantage Ayako still kept working on her own skills in an attempt to get somewhat close to his own.
"Pssh. You should be ashamed I'm performing so close to your level, even after all your magic stuff." Ayako teased him. "Shame the tablet didn't work for me." Shirou had spent a couple days trying to teach Ayako how to perform magic, or at the least see if the tablet would enhance her the same way it was able to him, but all the tests were a bust.
Ayako glanced down at Shirou to make sure that he was still paying attention. "Still, even before you started spending every night there I don't think any regular members go to the range more than you or me. You had your part-time job and even helped the student council for whatever reason. I wonder, when do you actually have fun?"
"I was thinking the same of you." Shirou muttered to the girl sitting above him. She let out a grin at his response. "I keep work and play strictly separate. I do get my share of entertainment when no one's looking, though. I also distinguish between study, work, and leisure time."
She glanced down at Shirou. "I wonder," she began, poking the teen in his forehead. "Rather than 'on-off,' you seem more like 'on-on-on'. To think you claim to live a full life, even with always running off to help people, never giving yourself any time to relax. Even when on vacation or with me you always seem impatient to get it over with and go back to helping people. Or so I thought… but here I see you idling around as if you had a change of heart. Whatcha up to? A date? A meeting? Hm?"
"Mmph." Shirou let out a puff of air, he should've known that Ayako would ask him something like that… A date would be nice but…
"Wait. You make it sound as if I'm Shinji or something."
She laughed before speaking. "He plays around way too much. Although it would be nice if you were a little more like him."
Shirou tilted his head as far as he could from his position, confused at Ayako's statement. A moment later his eyes widened slightly as he began to speak. "Then I guess you're still waiting for your date?"
Ayako acted confused for a moment. "Me? With who? And where?"
"...So you don't have anyone cute who would go with you?"
"What is this? A year ago you would've just nodded and left it at that. Now it sounds like, 'I just looove seeing a girl on her way to a date!' or something lovey-dovey like that."
"...That doesn't even make sense. Anyways, does that mean you're all alone too?"
"Just like you. But… hmm…" Ayako nods to herself, thinking through something, before suddenly clapping her hands, startling Shirou into a sitting position from the noise.
"Alright, as this is such a chance meeting, go out with me."
"Eh…? A date with you?" Shirou was startled by Ayako's sudden request.
"Go shopping with me, at least. We see each other so often, does this really come as a surprise?"
Shirou's only response was garbled muttering, his brain still catching up to Ayako's words. She must've taken it as him declining, or maybe she just wanted to mess with him, for she spoke again. "What, am I not good enough?"
His friend questioning her self-worth brought Shirou out of his confused funk to rebuke the statement. "I didn't say that."
Ayako's downcast expression tore at Shirou's heart as she continued. "It must be so… You must be into some other type… I guess I'm not up to par. I've already lost the race before it's even begun."
Shirou grasped desperately for something to say before arriving at, "Uhh, back on topic, what's the plan for today? Date: where?"
Ayako's expression immediately transitioned into a grin, before she began relaying her plan for the day to Shirou. "You've already eaten, probably, so you'll take me out for tea before we go to the CD shop to check out some new songs, and then head to the game center. I know you've mentioned that you don't really play anything besides UNO, so it'll be a good chance to see where the terms I keep using come from."
Ayako said all of that in a single breath, and by the end of it she had to take a moment to breathe, allowing Shirou a chance to respond.
"You know I'm not very good with all the hustle and bustle of the game center, right?"
Ayako groaned. "Good grief, anachronisms like you and Tohsaka shouldn't exist in this age. Even Sakura is more or less…"
"Wouldn't my very practical ability to strip any machine down to bare metal for repairs more than compensate for not being familiar with some consumer electronics?" Shirou asked his date.
"Say that after you've at least gotten a cell phone. Though I can't really imagine you texting, either."
Shirou hummed at that. "I suppose I should get one. Neko keeps telling me to get one whenever I see her."
"Neko?" Ayako asked, not having heard Shirou mention her before.
"The person I work for. Fuji-nee's old classmate."
"Aaah, that lady that runs the Copenhagen. Yeah, wouldn't you need one to keep in touch over shifts and things like that?"
Shirou suddenly looked uncertain at the prospect of getting a cellphone. "She would probably end up calling me to help with all sorts of stuff outside of work. Not that I mind, but I have a lot of other things on my plate right now…"
"Well, it's all up to you… Just a matter of time, I bet." Ayako let out a hearty laugh before continuing, "I'll make sure to teach you everything you need to know. Anyways, let's head over to the game center. First-person games should be okay, yeah?"
Shirou thought on the term for a few seconds before responding. "The shooting ones?"
Ayako grins in appreciation. "Great, you ought to be fine there. Who knows, maybe we won't even need the continue button? Off to the station then, I'll treat you to some tea."
"...Ah, we should at least split the bill."
Ayako set off at a brisk pace, and Shirou was forced to chase after. As they meandered through the park toward the train station, Shirou realized that he really was on a date. More importantly, he didn't particularly mind.
"Now, now, Shirou. Cheer up! It'll go fine."
"If you say so…"
-]l[-
It was a quiet night at Homurahara Academy and both Shirou and Ayako were in the Kyudo range, as was normal for them at this time of night. It was cold outside, due to the winter season, but the two teens were bundled together and couldn't feel the bite of nature.
"It's getting late," spoke Shirou to Ayako, after a glance at his watch. "We should get going soon, before it gets too cold."
Ayako nodded, and they untangled themselves from where they had been laying in the corner. They'd been together for a couple months, and had grown much closer in that time. They often shared a blanket during their late-night excursions to train. Grabbing his bag, Shirou led the way out of the Kyudo building. He had made it just three steps out the door before he paused midstep, tilting his head as if listening to something.
"Do you hear that?" Shirou asked, while motioning for them to stop. Ayako paused, straining her hearing to try and identify whatever her boyfriend had heard.
Shirou's head jerked to the side, and Ayako followed his gaze to see a pair of men fighting in the middle of school grounds. They were almost moving faster than Ayako could follow, red spear repeatedly hitting against a pair of white and black blades.
Shirou turned to Ayako and opened his mouth to speak but he must've made a sound while turning, for the fight in the schoolyard immediately stopped and the blue-armored fighter rocketed off toward Shirou.
Shirou barely had enough time to shout at Ayako to dodge before he was being kicked in the chest by the spear-wielder, launching him a dozen feet back and throwing him into a concrete wall.
Shirou coughed up blood as he watched the man in blue approach him, slowly, with a predator's gait. "Sorry to ruin your date, kid, but I can't let you live after what you just saw."
Shirou grunted in pain as he forced himself back to a standing position. "Yeah, and I can't just let you kill Ayako… Trace On!" Self-hypnotism complete and circuits activated, Shirou felt his body begin to warm up as the mana began flooding through his veins. He began filling in the gaps of his muscles with mana, the gaps in his skin, everywhere that it would fit. Immediately Shirou felt stronger and faster, and with this newfound capability was able to dodge the next attack from his opponent.
A fast-paced dance was entered, the blue-haired man darting forward and back with speeds that Shirou would've been unable to match, let alone dodge if not for his self-reinforcement. It was because of that spell that he was able to just barely scrape by them -a moment of inattentiveness would've spelled his doom.
After maybe fifteen seconds, Shirou's opponent disengaged, irritated at the apparent stalemate. His red eyes flickered to Shirou's side, and before the teen could react he had disappeared from his spot and was sprinting toward Ayako, who had set up near the trees that were placed on the inside of Homurahara's wall.
Shirou knew that he was too far to reach her in time, to stop that cursed spear from ending her life, and yet still he persisted, running toward her, arm outstretched, putting all his mana into the thought of saving her life.
And then a searing pain erupted from the back of his hand. Red marks burst into existence, and there was a flash of light near Ayako - blinding in the darkness - that signaled the coming of a new force to the battlefield.
When the spots cleared from Shirou's vision he saw a woman dressed in a blue dress with silver armor absolutely decimating the spear-wielder. She was matching him step-for-step, blow-for-blow, and with every strike she grew a bit ahead. It was clear that her opponent knew this too, and he was looking for any possible advantage he could take - not even to win the fight, just to escape with his life.
His eyes flickered back to Shirou, and pouring on one last burst of speed he dove toward the teen, driving his spear down toward the boy's chest. Shirou barely had any time to react at all, and the best he was able to do was place his hands in the way of the spear, slowing it down just enough with his flesh to keep it from piercing his chest.
Shirou could feel the tip of the spear pressing down onto his chest, and in a moment the spearman would be able to impale him. Ayako was too far to help, as was the mysterious woman in blue. He had only one chance.
From his time practicing magecraft to before the tablet entered his life, Shirou had learned the reinforcing an object with too much mana would result in it exploding. Previously Shirou hadn't had enough mana to shatter any object past a table leg, but over the past summer he had gained enough mana to break nearly anything. Problem was, the resulting explosion would differ based on the size of the object, and the amount of mana needed to break it. Since this was a magical weapon, the explosion would be much larger than anything Shirou had previously broken, and would be incredibly dangerous to be so close to. Nonetheless, Shirou didn't have any other options. If he did nothing, then the spearman would kill him and escape, so Shirou was forced into a corner.
"Trace On!"
He spoke the aria, and began flooding the spear with mana. It filled every crack and crevice, every pore of the weapon. Whatever it was made out of was incredibly conducive to receiving mana, and it wasn't very long at all until it was full to the brim with mana. And then Shirou added more.
The spear didn't just break, it shattered, white lines spreading across the shaft, expanding from where it had impaled Shirou's hands. More and more lines, until the entire weapon was criss-crossed with shatterpoints. And then it blew up, fracturing into thousands of tiny pieces that were then disintegrated by the force of the explosion. It was a concentrated explosion, but still massively powerful due to the power contained within the spear. A ball of concentrated mana expanded outward from the impact point, until it collapsed in on itself and released the energy within.
The pain was excruciating - equal to what Shirou recalled of his earliest memories - and Shirou let out a scream as the explosion ripped apart his chest. Forcing his eyes open, Shirou was able to see the explosion catch his opponent as well, distracting him long enough for the mysterious woman in blue to run up and behead him.
What the lady in blue would do next, Shirou did not know. For the crippling pain quickly overwhelmed him and from that moment on, he knew no more.
-]l[-
When Shirou woke, the first thing he noticed was the lack of debilitating pain. Eyes still closed, Shirou felt around his chest to feel new skin where he had expected to find bandages over fresh wounds.
Curious, he opened his eyes to see the ceiling above the tatami mat on which he lay, and after pushing himself upright, he saw Ayako entering the room, a cup of tea in hand.
"You're awake!" said Ayako, carefully setting down the tea as she approached Shirou's bedside. "We were worried for a bit after you blew up, but Saber did something that made you heal really quickly, so by the time we brought you back here you were all healed up."
"...We? ...Saber?"
"Ah yeah, you summoned a… Servant? who calls herself 'Saber' and insists that she will follow your commands in this 'Holy Grail War.' She was the one who saved me from the guy she calls Lancer, as well as the one who killed him, I don't know if you were conscious to see that."
"Holy Grail War…" Shirou muttered, not recognizing the name.
"That's what Saber called it. Tohsaka offered to explain, but Saber was apprehensive about taking her up, so I followed her lead and declined."
Shirou grunted acknowledgement as he pushed himself up from the bed, pulling on a shirt and accepting the tea that Ayako offered. The pair walked down the hall to the dining room where this Saber-woman was waiting for them.
"Ah, Master, you're awake. I had faith that Avalon would succeed, but even I did not expect it this quickly."
At her words, Shirou glanced at the clock that hung on the wall to see that it had only been some three hours since Lancer had attacked him. "Ava-what now? So short- how did I heal so fast?"
Saber glanced at him suspiciously for a moment, before letting up and smiling slightly. "You had one of my Noble Phantasms, Avalon, placed within you at a young age that provided you with several benefits like enhanced healing. Thanks to your Tohsaka friend we discovered this while preparing you for healing. When you summoned me, however accidental it may have been, you linked the two of us in a contract, allowing me to activate Avalon's potent healing powers to save your life from Lancer and the destruction of his weapon. Speaking of, if you were to return Avalon to me, I would be able to win this war that much faster, with my strongest weapons combined with your obscene mana output."
Shirou barely considered the request before agreeing to it, with the stipulation that Saber explains what she meant by her statements of summoning and wars. She was quick to agree, and within minutes all three of them were seated in the dining room, drinking tea and talking.
-]l[-
Shirou and Saber were striding up the long flight of stairs that led toward Fuyuki's Buddhist temple. Saber had hypothesized that the Servant of magic - Caster - would have set up their base at the leyline that the temple sat upon.
"There!" Shirou pointed toward a silhouette that was just coming into view at a small landing of the steps. The figure was wearing some sort of long clothes, and carried a nodachi in one hand. Glancing to his companion, Shirou could tell that Saber was sensing to see if the figure was a Servant. Straightening her back a moment later, Shirou could see that she reached a decision.
"Well spotted, Shirou. Stay back, and I'll deal with the enemy." Saber disappeared with a flurry of motion, reappearing with her blade raised for an overhead strike against her opponent. Her invisible sword was blocked by the nodachi, the blade moving blazingly fast through the air, though its wielder was unable to support the weight behind Saber's strike and was forced to dodge to the side to avoid being sliced open.
Shirou was unable to watch any more of the fight as he focused on running up the stairs as fast as his body could manage. He wasn't reinforced, making sure to focus all of his mana output to feeding Saber, allowing her to move at speeds exceeding fifty times the human norm, and strike with similar power.
He could hear the sounds of blades clashing as he jogged up the steps, taking them two at a time to catch up to Saber. By the time he was close enough to see the fight clearly it was almost over, the nodachi-wielder was bleeding from numerous wounds, panting, and bent over, while Saber was still as energetic as usual and completely unhurt. To be fair to the defender, Saber had the advantage of an absurdly powerful Noble Phantasm that made her almost completely immune to harm as well as the capability to heal from any strikes that did make her bleed. Even still, the fight would be one-sided anyways, as no Servant besides Berserker could hope to match Saber in a physical contest— or at least that's what Saber claimed.
"Do you have any last words?" Saber asked her opponent. He stands silent, instead inclining his head to Saber before the two Servants sprint at each other, passing by with their blades drawn and in a striking position before ending facing away from each other. After a moment, Saber's opponent collapsed to the ground, dying to a cut to the chest, while Saber stood tall.
"Were that purely a test of skill you would have won." Saber admits to her fallen opponent, before gesturing to Shirou to continue on.
They entered the Ryuudou Temple grounds, where they were met by the Master of the previous Servant, and the one originally predicted to be located at the temple - Caster. She was dead within five minutes, her magic having no effect on Saber due to her Magic Resistance skill, and her only chance being her Noble Phantasm, which she took out right before her death, due to an arrow piercing her heart from the forest which surrounded the temple.
Shirou and Saber spent a moment gazing toward where the arrow had come from, watching as Tohsaka's Servant, Archer, dropped from his perch upon a tree, and disappeared from sight within the forest.
The task they set out to do -finding and defeating Caster- completed, the Master-Servant pair returned to Shirou's house where Shirou would be tasked with cooking dinner. A usual duty, but one that Shirou took on gladly.
-]l[-
The next day found Shirou and Ayako heading to school, while Saber scouted around town for the locations of the two unidentified Servants. The servant had extracted a promise from Shirou to use a command spell to summon her if anything dangerous occured, and Ayako had agreed to make sure he followed his promise.
There had been a bit of tension when Tohsaka saw the two of them, but after staring at them for a moment, turned her gaze and didn't bother the two again for the day. At least not until a bounded field sprouted over Homurahara, draining the energy of everyone at school.
Shirou and Ayako had just left their history class led by a substitute teacher -Kuzuki had something personal to attend to- when the students to either side of them had begun collapsing in the halls. Ayako had held out a few seconds longer than everyone else, but eventually she too succumbed— falling to the floor in a slump. Shirou made sure that she was in a safe position in an empty classroom, before standing to begin searching for whoever activated the magecraft.
He had just contacted Saber through their mental link and informed her of the situation -requesting her presence- when he was interrupted by Tohsaka turned the corner of the stairwell, dashing toward Shirou while shouting, "Did you do this?!"
Shirou was opening his mouth to answer when he was interrupted by a deep voice coming from behind him.
"No need to interrogate him, it's Rider's doing, and Emiya isn't her Master."
Shirou glanced behind him to see Rin's Servant, Archer materializing in the hallway.
"We should get going if we want to take her down before she can escape," Archer mentioned to the two magi, as he began striding to the nearest window, before sliding it open and dropping to the ground. Shirou followed, grunting slightly on the landing, and after a moment of chanting, Tohsaka also followed.
The teens followed Archer, as he led them around the side of the school building to a side entrance where they were met by a voluptuous woman with long purple hair wearing a black and purple form-fitting dress. In one hand she held a single nail, as long as her forearm, and attached to the nail was a long chain that she had wrapped around her other hand.
She was startled to see them approaching her, but didn't let it distract her for long, launching into an attack against Archer, chain weaving intricate patterns in the air around her, darting out occasionally to strike at Archer, who blocked using the same twin swords as when Shirou first saw him.
Rin hung back from the fight, and Shirou followed her lead, not having anything to help Archer in his fight.
Saber, ETA? Shirou thought to his Servant.
Thirty seconds.
Shirou nodded, before speaking to Tohsaka. "Saber will be here in twenty-five seconds, if Archer can hold out until then, we can take Rider."
Tohsaka nods, relaying the information to Archer who begins fighting even more defensively, throwing his swords to stave off Rider's assault, and creating new ones to block strikes with. It was a deadly dance between the two of them, but Archer was the more skillful of the two, if the less powerful Servant, and as such was able to keep his distance for the next twenty-five seconds.
As promised, Saber showed up half-a-minute after informing Shirou, leaping from the roof of the nearest building, clearing the wall around Homurahara, and landing with a skid, launching dirt into the air as she slid between Archer and Rider, catching Rider's chain around her blade and almost ripping the weapon out of her grasp.
Regaining control over her weapon, Rider turned and leapt into the air, clearing the wall easily, before heading toward one of the many skyscrapers in Fuyuki. Saber glanced back at the group, saw that Shirou was fine, and launched off after Rider.
The two servants were behind cover for a moment, and Tohsaka took advantage of the time to speak. "Emiya. Archer and I will go find Rider's Master while Saber takes on Rider." Then she turned and jogged away, Archer dematerializing and following.
A moment later Shirou saw a blur of movement on the side of the closest skyscraper. He caught a hint of purple and could tell that it was Rider running up the side of the building. Another blur, and Saber was beside Rider, trading blows as they both defied gravity to reach the top of the building.
Rider gave one last burst of speed, launching herself onto the roof of the building a second before Saber would get there. Shirou couldn't see very well, even slightly reinforcing his eyesight, but he did note the visible glow now coming from the rooftop, right as Saber landed on it.
A moment later the glow grew exponentially until it was as if there was a second sun in the sky. Then Shirou felt the drain in his mana as Saber activated her Noble Phantasm. A golden glow appeared on the rooftop, matching the previous white glow, and then a moment later all the light disappeared, and Saber jumped from the roof.
Rider is dead, Saber reported landing in front of Shirou.
"Good job. Let's grab Ayako and get some rest."
-]l[-
It was another day until anything happened. Tohsaka invited Saber and Shirou to a meeting at the park, discussing the War and the remaining Servant - Berserker.
Rin had just finished informing Shirou that she and Archer had dealt with Rider's Master when they were interrupted by an explosion from the bottom of the nearby hill. Rushing to the top of the hill the four of them were able to see for miles, and, more importantly, were able to see a golden-armoured man raining down explosive weapons onto a grey giant.
Shirou's companions all stiffened at the sight of the golden man, though for differing reasons. "I know him…" spoke Saber, summoning her armor and blade as she prepared for battle. "I know not how he lives, but he is more dangerous than any other opponent we've faced, Shirou."
Archer looked sideways at Saber, considering something for a moment before speaking. "I can kill him with your help, Saber."
She nods. "Very well. Let us wait for an opening."
Shirou reinforced his vision to get a better view of the battle, just in time to watch the grey giant keel over and die, held in place by golden chains. A sword slid into existence near the golden man's shoulder, pointed off to the side, and Shirou followed the line of fire to see a small girl dressed in purple and white. Shirou had hardened himself to the death of Servants, but the Masters he was still unwilling to let die.
"Saber! Save the girl."
And then his Servant was gone, leaving only a line drawn in the air to show movement. The sword was fired by the golden man, and then Saber was there in front of the little girl, sword already swinging to deflect the oncoming projectile.
"Dammit!" Archer expressed his frustration at Shirou in that one word before running toward Saber to assist her in the fight. As he ran he summoned a large bow in one hand and a red arrow in the other. Placing the arrow to the string, Archer fired off the magically-powerful arrow toward the golden man, only for it to impact against a shield that came out of nowhere.
Resuming his run, Archer began chanting something, though he was too far away for Shirou or Tohsaka to hear what it was. Within moments he had entered into melee combat alongside Saber against the golden man. Saber stayed in front, using her increased survivability to protect Archer and the girl from the golden man's barrage of weapons.
Suddenly, a ring of fire expanded from where Archer was standing, consuming both Saber and the golden man, before dissipating and revealing that all three had disappeared.
Shirou slid to a halt next to the girl, currently lying unconscious on the ground, and checked her pulse to see if she was alive. She was, and relieved, Shirou sat down on the ground next to her to wait for the battle to finish. There was nothing he could do now besides provide mana to Saber.
So Shirou waited, his mana draining as Saber fought to the utmost of her abilities.
And he waited.
And waited.
And then the drain stopped, the fire reappeared, swirling over the gather mages, and with it came Saber and Archer.
"It's done."
-]l[-
"I can't believe that it's only been a month," Ayako murmured as she leaned back against Shirou, as the pair sat on the veranda to the Emiya residence.
Shirou let out a hum at her statement before responding. "Yeah. It feels like longer with all that's happened since the end of the war. Rin went to London, Saber and Archer with her. I'm sure we're missing them."
"That'd make sense, I suppose. But we're keeping plenty busy with our own work so…" Ayako shrugged, snuggling closer to her boyfriend. "Say, did you hear that Illya got Sakura to go out with her?"
"Mmhmm. Since Zouken disappeared and Shinji left for college she's been a lot more open. It's good to see. I wonder how that relationship will turn out."
"Are you kidding? They're perfect together! I'm sure they'll be together for the rest of their lives, I just know it!"
Shirou chuckled at his girlfriend's prediction. "Say, Ayako… if they get to be together all their life, do we?"
Ayako twisted her neck to look toward Shirou. "You think I'm ever letting you go? Nah. We're staying together to the end. Promise it."
"I promise."
And to cement the promise, Ayako leaned forward, capturing Shirou's lips with her own and drawing him into a kiss as the sun dipped below the horizon, signaling the end of the day.
Fin.
Hi there. Welcome to my disjointed mess of a story that I wrote 4 months ago and only now got around to finishing. This was written for a prompt on the ' Server' Discord server and I decided to turn it into a Shirou/Ayako story for funsies. Did I remember anything about how Ayako acted? Nope. And I did it anyways.
When uploaded, this will be the first (as far as I can tell) Shirou/Ayako story uploaded within over five years and as such, I have decided that it is my prerogative to come up with a ship name. So I hereby present 'Emiyako!' If that doesn't float your boat, then try Shirako as an alternative. Oh, and the fact that Ayako exists as a character tag on FFN? That was my doing so I could tag her.
Now, I have to thank my friends Eternal Escapist and SomeWritingGuy for their help on this story. You can find their works under (13391848) and (13106788). Without them, this fic would be a mess of poor word choice and bad decisions. So again, thanks!
Anyways. If you made it this far in the story, then thanks! And consider giving it a favorite and/or a follow (though I probably won't update this.) - it helps the stats. And if you really enjoyed it, then please, leave a review letting me know what you thought.
That's all for me.
Laters.