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Bedside Manners
The sound of Shirou's heart beating in his ears blocked out any other sound besides his own heavy breathing, sweat dripped from the bridge of his nose. He watched the words appear then vanish, and as they did a flash blinded him, darkness did the same subsequently. White speckles floated across the black canvas, and though Shirou could not reach out to grab some he knew that it was snow. From the darkness came a crunching sound that was snow underfoot, and with it snow covered trees in the background. Ahead of him was a forest, one that instilled a strong sense of deja vu, his attention was then drawn to a voice from an unknown location.
"If I never cheated then I wouldn't stand a chance against you." The voice said, Shirou couldn't even move his head to locate it, but he knew it was close. It wasn't until his sight turned to a little girl standing by him did Shirou fully understand where he was, and who.
'This is Kiritsugu's memory.'
"Very well, then I'll challenge you again. A champion accepts all challengers." She said, sticking her chest out with pride befitting an heiress.
'Illya… she looks so small, how long ago was this?' He dated this to have to be at least 10 years ago if Kiritsugu was talking to Illya. 'This must be before the end of the Fourth War.' This was the happiest he had ever seen her before in his short time knowing her.
"Indeed I am honored." Kiritsugu bowed slowly, then suddenly lunging out to snatch up the young Einzbern up onto his shoulders, "Your Highness!"
"I'm so high up!"
His vision began to swim, like a puddle thrown into a lake everything around him became distorted and stretched. The images continued to stretch into nothingness, and from the void return the reality that Shirou was familiar with. He was back in his body, and with 2 new weapons in his arsenal if the current notification was to be believed. He'd also gained a new title, and while Shirou acknowledged the advantages the perks of said title would bestow on him, he rejected it anyway. Deep down, he just felt like a title wasn't something he was interested in, regardless of if nobody else could perceive it.
'It's the principle of the thing, I don't want to be labeled as something I haven't earned, and do I even want to earn it? No. Hero of justice and Mage Killer should not be represented by the same person, it isn't right.' He dispelled the notification from his vision to have another immediately take its place.
Interact with people Kiritsugu encountered to acquire more memory fragments.
A vein bulged from Shirou's forehead, he had thought that he would be getting in the entirety of his father's memory. The fact that the game waited until now to tell him it would be piecemealed irritated him to his soul, but he nonetheless switched over to the Quest section of his game menu. There in this section it provided no more information, just the direction already provided to him. One other thing caught his eye though, in this section a new tab had opened up, Failed.
Unbroken Bond: Win the Holy Grail War with Saber. FAILED
For the King: Fulfill Saber's wish. FAILED
Independent: Do Not Use Alaya's Favor. FAILED
Tree Hugger: Maintain a positive alignment with Gaia. FAILED
A Promise Is A Promise: Ensure Caster and Mr. Kuzuki live through the war. FAILED
Temple Master: Defeat Zouken and Assassin at Ryuudou Temple. FAILED
Dynamic Duo: Eliminate at least one Servant with Saber. FAILED
Perfectionist: Complete all missions. FAILED
'That…. isn't good. I'm making good progress by my estimation, but to know that I could have done things differently… no. That's life, we make mistakes and learn, I don't need you to tell me that I messed up, or that I can do better.' He rationalized himself well, but the now apparent mounting failures did still hang heavy on his heart.
You have unlocked Time Alter Triple Accel/Stagnate
This was rather late timing for the notification, Shirou still felt appreciative to be granted a trademark skill of his father's, even if it was completely useless at the moment. He hadn't used his time magic all to frequently, the speed of attacks that the enemy Servant's possessed made him wary of how effective it would be. Last thing he wanted was to use the magic and find that he was still slower than them. He took a few more moments to sit at Kiritsugu's grave, to not visit for so long just to kill the guy reincarnated wasn't how Shirou wanted to leave things. After a few more precious moments, and with his current task done and the day still young, he sought out to visit Issei, another person he had pushed back seeing far longer than his preference.
The city of Fuyuki was abuzz with activity, even more now than usual, to which Shirou attributed multiple factors to. They could be out because of the severe fluctuation in weather lately: rain, then snow, even now the sun was shining with substantial heat, and he could have sworn he heard about an ice storm on the way. One with a more active imagination might even say it was the signal of the end of everything, which Shirou found fitting considering the possibility. With such rapid fluctuations, people could be found scrambling around to to procure all manner of material, whether it be food, clothing, blankets, or even protection. Shirou figured it wouldn't take long for the activities of the Shadow to gain traction within public news circles, and his prediction came true more than he imagined. Officially they were calling it a rash of kidnappings, since no one has even laid on eyes on the Shadow outside of the Grail War participants, laid eyes on it and lived at least. He should have seen this coming, the Shadow preferred Servants as a food source, but with the scarcity of them growing larger the longer the War went on, so to did the number of missing case reports. New missing posters appeared by the day, and with paranoid whispers on who the suspect might be abound, Shirou felt a weight of guilt over him that grew with each new victim. He look at a poster, it was a young man named Yatsu Wui, age 13, he was taking the family dog out to use the bathroom when he went "missing."
"I'll avenge you, all of you, forgive me but I just need a little more time." Shirou whispered as he watched parents hurriedly shepherd their kids in and out of stores, unwilling to stop to even acknowledge anyone they might know. They had explained in class how there was going to be a curfew implemented tonight, an annoyance of an obstacle in his way, but at least it would take some of the work out of protecting citizens. As much as he hated to admit it, even protecting his own city was proving a monumental task that was stretching him thin, not to mention his ongoing involvement in the Grail War. That brung him to his next concern, the women participants, more particularly their moral standing. He knew for a fact that Illya cared only for what she deemed important, of which he felt she thought the people of Fuyuki were not. Rin on the other hand, who he guessed technically presided over Fuyuki, never expressed much concern over its inhabitants, hell he'd seen her more worried over her schoolwork. Still making his way over to the hospital, Shirou's thoughts of Rin eventually transitioned over to Sakura as the point of focus, more specifically the role she played in the war.
'Why would Shinji need a book to command his Servant? I need to ask Rin and Illya what they know about it. The question is if Shinji ran out of Command Seals, or if he never had them to begin with.' With Rin's admission of her relation to Sakura, his purple haired friend would probably have the necessary mana to facilitate Shini and Rider's partnership if she had enough potential as a magus to get sent to another family. Shirou sighed, thinking this way gave him a headache, even if he knew it was necessary to cover all his bases. Even with his curiosities, he refused to act in any way hostile until Sakura made a move against him, he felt she deserved that, if not more.
The Fuyuki General Hospital was surprisingly empty for it being a hospital. Shirou wondered if everyone being on high alert made them hyper aware of potential injuries and hazards, funny that all it takes is a homicidal magical presence to get people to live sensibly.
"Excuse me miss?" He addressed the blonde middle aged woman sitting behind the desk in front of him, most assuredly the receptionist. Her features were noticeably tired and her eyes looked almost dead, but she wore a decent amount of makeup that made her look a good deal younger than she probably was.
The woman looked up at Shirou, then back down, then up again, the shameless undressing she did with her eyes went unnoticed by the ever oblivious redhead. Alas, he merely smiled at her, which she returned slyly. "Yes young man, can I help you with something?"
"I'm trying to find Issei Ryuudou's room." The receptionist appeared momentarily crestfallen at his request, shaking her head.
"Here I thought you were one of the new security guards, mmmm shame. Well if you follow that hallway, it will lead you to room 14A that's the one you're looking for." She pointed down the hallway to his right.
He nodded appreciatively, walking away before stopping mid stride, turning back to say something else. "Umm, if you don't mind me asking, why are you guys hiring security? This place is empty, and there are already guards at the entrance." The woman looked reluctant to talk, but Shirou put on the most reassuring smile he could muster, effectively melting away her resistance.
The receptionist looked side to side, emulating the need to ensure they had privacy before beckoning Shirou closer. "It's for the patients, you know the disappearances that have been happening around town? Well it isn't new, every year around this time, orphaned children under the hospital's care go missing. It doesn't get much media coverage because no one notices or cares they're gone excpet the staff, who are replaced regularly or threatened to keep quiet."
The look on her face matched Shirou's, disgust and heartbreak. "How long has this been going on?"
"I'd say about 10 years, it's amazing that they've kept it under wraps for so long. The only reason I know is because the receptionists that have passed through here hand down information as they leave, hoping one of us will get something concrete to bring this place down. Unfortunately, these bastards are very good at wiping their feet, 10 years, 20 receptionists and we still have nothing."
Shirou smiled at her, "Thank you, for everything. The world needs people like you, good people." Heading off towards Issei's room, he noticed the pop-up notification but he figured it was a quest pertaining to something that he was already going to look into, so he ignored it. He halted in his tracks when he arrived at the door to his friend's room. "Issei? Are you decent?" Shirou opened the door to see Issei sitting up in his bed, though he couldn't tell what he was doing before he had entered.
'Was he just sitting there? Weird.'
"Shirou Emiya, I'm pleased that you'd come to check up on me like this." The lack of eye contact was disconcerting to Shirou.
"You don't seem pleased. If I came at a wrong time I can always-"
Issei snapped back before he could turn to leave. "No! With everyone staying inside more, you're the first real visit I've had in awhile."
"I heard Tohsaka came by and paid you a visit." Shirou asked with a sly smirk, raising a single eyebrow that elicited a blush from Issei.
His friend seemed intently focused on a billboard outside his window. "More like an interrogation, she arrived the day after I did so I don't remember much, side effect of the medication. Though I can assure you that her bedside manner would make her a horrible nurse."
"That sounds about right," Shirou chuckled, "anyways how are you feeling?"
His friend seemed to move and talk well enough with no signs of pain. "I'm doing quite well actually, though I can't muster the energy to leave my bed for more than a few minutes, it has everyone baffled."
"Maybe we'll see an illustration of you in next year's anatomy books, Issei Ryuudou, Patient Zero."
"Oh haha, I'm telling you it's not as fun as laying in your own bed sick. Uuaahhh I can't even stop yawning, and I sleep through most of the day, consider yourself lucky to catch me awake. Personally I'd rather not accrue medical fees for just extended rest." Issei then broke out into a fit of yawns, each one shockingly seemed to sap some of his stamina until he had slid completely under his covers in exhaustion. "If I'm still in here two days from now, bring a pot of coffee and lots of dango, I'll leave bouncing off the walls….. if…...I ….have… toooo….." His sentence was punctuated by his own snoring as fell straight to sleep. Shirou almost envied the class president, it had been more than a week since he'd slept that soundly, or even known the feeling of peace. Shirou made to leave, but not before taking a single cursory glance at the billboard that Issei was looking at.
"Mitarashi dango with green tea, just how you like it. We'll have to get some when this is all over." He said before leaving.
"Onii-chan!" Illya came running around the corner before Shirou had even crossed through the doorway. Her smile quickly vanished into a look of curiosity as her adopted brother looked past her, the wall, and possibly the next 1000 yards, her onii-chan clearly had something on his mind. His semiconscious ambling led him to his room with Illya close behind him, still as much worried now as she was a second ago.
"Huh? Umm Illya, do you mind if I get some rest?" He never even turned around to look at her, still transfixed on some imperceptible concept. The Einzbern reluctantly conceded the room to him, but with her information for the meeting ready and the house spotless, what was there for her to do?
"Illya, I heard the door, is Sempai home?" Illya spun on her heels, and there was Sakura, somehow nerely 3 feet away from her yet the former never once sensed her presence. Illya marked it up to being lost in her own thoughts, of which she now had a new one, one much more mischievous and entertaining.
Shirou did not leave hi9s room until a few hours later when Rin arrived at the door, Illya was the one to greet her in as Sakura was…. indisposed at the moment after Illya put her plan into motion.
"Welcome in Tohsaka." Her tone was well more mature than her appearance.
Rin crossed over the threshold. "Hello Einzbern, you seem to be in good health."
"Why do you not seem pleased by that?" Illya asked curiously.
Rin crossed her arms and closed her arms, "You never formally withdrew from the Grail War, which you could possibly take a Servant from a dead Master."
Illya smirked and gave Rin a knowing look. "I get it, you must be itching for it at this point, that first win."
Rin snapped her eyes open, her entire face the color of a ripe tomato. "What would you know about winning, last time I checked that Shadow whooped Berserker."
"If you guys hadn't butted in, Berserker and I would have wiped the floor with that Servants for what he did to Sella and Leys." Illya replied nonchalantly, secretly balling up her fists.
"Mmm I highly doubt that."
"I was capable of supplying Berserker with unlimited mana and control him enough to strategize as we learned the enemies powers, Heracles was our champion for a reason."
"I wouldn't say that too loud, I wouldn't be surprised if Gilgamesh could hear insults through walls." Shirou joked as he walked up to greet the two women.
"Gilgamesh? King of Heroes, Gate of Babylon….that Gilgamesh?" Illya asked.
Shirou nodded, "The very same, Servant to Kotomine if I'm correct."
Illya rubbed her temples in frustration, "Ugh I was hoping he'd be an easier opponent." She motioned for the three of them to enter the dining room where their meeting would take place. "You fought him onii-chan, what would you gauge his current threat level as?"
"If Kotomine is on his good side, very high. If not….we should be good until some kid annoys him. I'd say we can put them on the backburner, or maybe even use them to our benefit. This is only a hunch right now though and I don't want you guys worrying about it until I have something concrete."
"So," Rin clapped her hands together, they were now all seated around the table, "I'd like to start first with a simple question. How are you progressing so fast in magecraft Emiya? At first I chalked it up to Saber's training yet you still improve even after she's gone."
'Surprised it took her so long to ask.' So Shirou explained his situation to Rin, only omitting the usual details regarding his life being a videogame.
After everything was said, Rin looked into space for moment, thinking about what she was told. She shrugged her shoulders, "Fine if you don't want to tell me, keep your secrets, you're still a valuable asset."
Shirou felt a vein pop in his forehead, he made to retort but was interrupted by Illya clearing her throat. "Well if that is handled, let's continue on to our Matou situation. Shinji are currently indisposed, those worms really did a number on him. He says that Zouken is his grandfather, and that he was given the book as a gift given his lack of magic circuits."
"So he doesn't know that Zouken has been around for centuries." Shirou said absentmindedly.
"I'm sorry did you say centuries?" Rin asked incredulously.
"Right? The guy doesn't look a day over 87, but it seems that his prolonged immortality is rotting his soul from the inside. I think he's using the worms as a placeholder since no organic body can survive that long." Shirou added.
"Well let's take a look here." Illya reached under the table, Shirou saw Rin tense up slightly. The Einzbern produced a large scroll, unfurling it over the table revealed a chart with names scattered across. To the left he saw his group, in the middle was Zouken and his group, and to the right was everyone else. "So Gilgamesh and Kotomine…" She wrote down Gilgamesh's name and connected it to Kirie's. "...and Zouken is using worms so there's no guarantee that we've actually met his true form." She placed a question mark next to Zouken's name.
"How do we kill him?" Rin asked. "That's what really matters right? We need a weapon that can either destroy his soul or send him entirely to oblivion."
"Hmmmm…" Illya placed her hand on her cheek, racking her brain for something.
Shirou spoke up when he noticed the opportunity, "I actually have a favor to ask of you guys, and I'd rather do this tonight." The two magi looked at him curiously.
He was glad that there was still some good weather to be had, and even more glad that the route to the hospital was a lightly patrolled one. The 3 now stood in front of the hospital, the structure seemed larger at night, and far more intimidating with the sparsely lit parking lot offering only a little illumination.
"Shirou why are we here?" Illya asked, as a homunculus she always avoided hospitals. Sickness was not something she knew of, and considered it the by product of a fault in the design of living creatures.
"On the right side of this building is Issei's room, now from inside that room he had a nice view of the city and there was a billboard."
Rin looked at him, then to the side of the building, her face scrunched up in confusion. "His room is on the first floor?"
"Yeah, see the problem." Looking around while he walked towards the entrance, Shirou wondered why not even a single room had their lights on.
'Is it possible that the hospital is upholding the curfew as well with a lights out time?'
"Hey miss, I'm back, anything new happen since I left?" Shirou called to the woman at the receptionist desk. "Miss?" The woman did not even acknowledge them, even as Shirou waved his hand in front of her face, even yelling in her ear.
"Emiya hold up." Rin grabbed a pen from the desk, bringing up to the lips of the receptionist. "Her makeup was done well, but there is a slight discoloration to the lips that the lipstick missed." Opening her mouth with the pen, a rancid smell arose from the back of her throat, it was enough to make Shirou gag. "She's been dead for awhile."
"I just talked to her this morning though." He reached forward and wiped away some of her makeup, revealing her skin tone to be more towards grey and black than anything else. "How is that possible?"
"Onii-chan, I'm not familiar with hospitals, but aren't there supposed to be workers?" Illya asked looking around the empty reception area.
"Yeah…" He responded.
'This isn't right, we shouldn't be here without more information and preparation. Is this a Servant we've met, another new Servant, a Master? Too many questions, not enough answers.' Shirou took a step back, then another, he began to signal for Rin and Illya to retreat when he heard the soft whimpers of someone in pain. He nearly sprung into action, but stopped at the beginning of the hallway to his left where he heard the cries. 'It could be a trap, I wouldn't put it past anyone to use something as effective as a hostage or even a fake.' At the midway point of the hallway was a small puddle of blood with droplets trailing further down the hall to a small figure limping into the stairwell.
"Hey wait!" He ran down the hallway after the person until some of the blood on the ground caught his attention. Looking closer he noticed that it was dark, very dark, one could almost say black. He bent down to touch a little but immediately snatched his hand back when he saw the fluid move, or at least it looked like it had, it was honestly so small that it could've been his imagination. As Shirou stood back up, he heard the incoming footsteps of Illya and Rin and he was so focused on that sound that he didn't hear the floor giving way underneath him. The hallway gave way to the darkness underneath, Shirou instinctively reinforced his legs like he had seen Rin do at the school, the result allowed him to land without even feeling his landing.
"Shirou stay there, we're coming down." He heard Illya say, he could only make out the black outline of their figures looking down at him.
"No, stay where you are!"
"Now is not the time to-"
He interjected, "Please listen to me. If the staff are dead that means no one is protecting the patients. Our first priority should be saving any civilians that are still alive. If I don't regroup with you by the time you're down then send Archer down to look for me."
He saw the two look at each other, "Why Archer?"
"I care less if he gets caught."
"Makes sense." He heard Rin say. "Alright Emiya but it better not come to that. You've got 15 minutes and not a second longer."
"Sounds like a plan, Issei's room is 14A, make sure he's safe for me please."
With that their figures disappeared leaving only the single pillar of light among the pitch black area he was now in. 'Who ever is here used the stairwell, and it looks like this is an actual room, so there has to be a door around here that leads back up.' During this thought he heard something, a shrill wail cutting through the darkness that surrounded him.
"SSKKKRRREEEEEEEE!"
"Jeez."
"Hey Tohsaka, who is Issei?" Illy asked as they returned to the reception area.
"A classmate of ours, and a friend of Emiya's. He was admitted here, collateral damage from when Caster and her Master were killed."
"I see….. T-Tohsaka, where is-"
"SHE'S GONE!?" The two looked at the desk, the receptionist was nowhere to be found. "Either someone moved her or…" She gulped.
"Onii-chan did say she was talking this morning."
"Let's hurry up and get to Issei's room." Illya nodded in agreement, crossing over to the hallway parallel to where Shirou was with Rin. They were surprised to find the hallway crowded to absurd levels, the staff, the patients, they were all packed into the hall shoulder to shoulder. They were silently shuffling amongst each other until the two magi appeared, one by one turning to acknowledge them. A black substance leaked from their mouths, which began flowing like a faucet as they let out a collective growl mixed in with the gurgling of the black fluid, it almost sounded like a group of angry people were all gargling mouthwash in synch with each other.
"SSKKKRRREEEEEEE!"
A shriek came from below them, it seemed to act as a sort of dinner bell as they hallway sprung to life with a stampede of people trampling over each other to get to the two.
Shirou Emiya [Lawful ● Good], Level 47
Health: 40/100
Magic: 25/100
Strength: 29/100
Endurance: 50/100
Dexterity: 52/100
Intelligence: 36/100
Wisdom: 44/100
Luck: 60/100
Skills:
Element: Sword/Sword
Resistance: Magic (5%) Curse (5%)
Unlimited Blade Works: Level 7 (Locked)
Passive increase in Swordsmanship
6% EXP increase in Sword skills progression
10% EXP increase in Archery skills progression
Charisma: C+
Cooking: A+
Cleaning: A+
Zen: D-
Alaya's Favor: 15%
Kenjutsu: B (Fighting Styles Included)
Reinforcement Magic: C+
Weapon Tracing: B
Time Alter: B
Gun Fu: D
Pankration: Level 4 (Instant Travel: 10%)
Presence Concealment: D+
Perks:
Ironman
Seasoned Battle Technician
Star Constellation: O' Heaven, Collapsing Star
Mana Fortification
Quick Fire Projection Lv. 2
Sorry this took so long and for the lack of action, though as you can tell the next one will have more than enough. Hope you like this chapter!
Reviews:
Aesir19- A lot of people have concerns on how I have the Shirou/Alaya dynamic heading, all I can say is that everything is as designed, even the stuff you don't like. If it isn't a plot problem or grammar error, it has a purpose.
SinForged- Thanks, not sure what I'm doing with her yet honestly, but she will do something of importance.
Stevegaming87- Hadn't looked into that yet, will do it now. Thanks for letting me know.
Ariadne Venegas- Oh I've been waiting to write that Saber Alter fight, the idea's I have…
Eragon1928374655- Too many O's. Just…. way too many