Chapter 183

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*dokkan!*

"OIIIII, SHIROUUU!"

The sliding doors slammed to the end of the rails as a tiger barged into the Emiya residence, the stomach under the striped T-shirt rumbling in warning as saliva slid off it's teeth. The house itself seemed to tremble with the heavy footfalls of the predator, announcing its presence as if it owned the place, stalking its prey with experienced familiarity. Going through the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge for snacks or leftovers, barging into every single room in the residence, it took a while before the neurons in the beast's mind finally fired.

"Oh crap, he's staying with Issei and Kuzuki now!"

Sprinting back out without even bothering to clean up the mess she had left behind in the house, she only remembered to properly lock the outer gate before jumping on her scooter and rushing off to the temple at top speeds, or at least as fast it was legally allowed. Not that the scooter was that fast in the first place anyways.

On the way there, she felt her mobile ring, raising the phone to her ear as she steered the scooter with one hand expertly, turning corners and dodging cars with no sweat.

"Taiga-chan? Did you see the news? The reporter was saying just now that a gas leak occurred on Ryuudou Temple because of the meteor strikes. It looks like the whole area is now sealed off by the police. Do you think Emiya-kun is ok?"

The anxious voice coming through the speakers was that of Otoko Hotaruzuka, also known as Neko to her friends. She'd known that Shirou had moved to the Temple to stay at as he'd told her after informing her that he would be taking extended leave from his part-time job at the bar she managed, but she never would have imagined that the an explosion caused by meteors would occur out of the blue at the temple he was staying at. Despite being remote, she had never heard of something like that occurring there at all.

The scooter screeched to a halt as Taiga unconsciously gripped the brakes tightly, her heart freezing upon hearing those words.

"A gas leak? Explosion? At the temple?"

"Y-yeah, that's what the news is saying."

Neko's eyes remained glued to the television mounted at one corner of the bar, photos showing a cordoned off entrance with the torii gate that led to the top of Ryuudou mountain, yellow tape wrapped around the place. Despite that, the craters and damaged stairs were plainly in sight, only slightly obscured behind the police officers milling about.

It sparked seeds of anxiety within Neko, and these emotions were transferred to Taiga as her imagination began to run wild, outrageous scenarios involving Shirou popping up one by one in her head, most of them ending up with his dead body. She flattened her body against her scooter like a pro cyclist, gunning the engines for all it was worth as the speed limits were completely ignored. Weaving her way through the thankfully empty streets as she rushed past the lights regardless of what color they were, her wheels screeched as they pulled tight corners close enough to the ground that her jeans almost scraped the pavement. The few people who saw her thought she was some daredevil youngster playing around, with no the wiser about her identity as a teacher in a local school.

By the time she pulled up at the foot of Ryuudou Mountain, her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating like a drum. Slamming the helmet onto the seat of the scooter in her haste, she left it idling as she raced up to the nearest police officer.

"Were there any survivors?"

Swiveling around, the police officer shrank back slightly, caught off guard by her aggressive posture as she leaned forward, but he managed to collect himself as he performed his duty.

"We found the monks inhabiting the temple passed out on the road circling around the foot of the mountain. There was a meteor strike that followed close on the heels of the last one, possibly striking a gas pipe and causing a rupture which leaked out enough to fuel a large explosion. That's what we have concluded from the investigation for now."

He was too shocked to brush off Taiga as she grabbed the front of her shirt and almost shook him, her slender arms trembling as she held onto the fabric tightly.

"Nobody else was found?"

"No, only the monks."

Slowly, he pried her hands off, Taiga not resisting as he took a step back from her.

"If you have anyone you think might have been on site during the incident, please leave your phone number with us and a description of the missing person. We promise to contact you if we find anyone matching the information given to us."

Slipping into a calming, professional tone, he attempted to reason with the woman, her face to the ground as the shadows from the sun above obscured her face.

A period of silence passed by as neither of them said a thing, the pen and paper in the officer's hand held out to her, but she made no response.

Then she let out a deep breath, raising her face so that the officer could see her expression once more. She had a light smile on her face, with none of the emotions she had shown earlier displayed on her facial features.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you, I'll be on my way now."

"Really? I'm sure that we can help-"

"It's nothing, I misremembered something, that's all. Thanks for the help though."

Turning around, she returned to her scooter and wore the helmet again, kicking the engine back on as she rode off at legal speeds. The officer gazed at her until she turned around the bend and disappeared from sight, then strode back to his post at the gate.

Driving on the road normally, she kept her course until she was sure that nobody was behind her. Swerving sharply to a stop, she parked her scooter within the edge of the mountain, hidden from sight by shrubs and ferns. She made sure it was well-concealed, patting the leaves down to make them sink lower and cover the handlebars, before she started her trek up the mountainous terrain. Her figure soon melded into the shadows of the trees, soundlessly passing from the artificial road into the realm of nature. The barrier erected around it was only for spiritual entities, which Taiga was not.

It was a cold day, and her breath fogged the air as she grew warm from the exercise, but she didn't pant once as her toned body made the hike look effortless, the years of fighting with her shinai tuning her muscles into lean meat that could easily perform strenuous labour. Though she had cut back after becoming a teacher, her stamina and athleticism had barely diminished, easily demolishing Shirou whenever she was forcibly dragged into a spar. It didn't matter how hard he tried, he hadn't won a single time.

As she neared the edge of the temple, she paused, scanning the area for people. Despite the presence of several police officers below at the foot of the temple, the temple itself was virtually empty, the premises vacated. Not even birds hopped about as a layer of light snow blanketed the place, doing little to hide the scars of the 'gas explosion', which Taiga frankly found quite suspicious, or at least her instincts told her so.

After poking her head out to confirm that there really was nobody around, she walked into the temple, stepping over a gap in the wall that had made the temple accessible from the side. She could see the trail of something being blasted through the wall, a line of shattered tiles on the ground leading to the gap, but she quickly turned her attention away from it. Now was not the time to be wondering about what had actually happened here. Going around the various remnants of the battle, she headed to where she remembered the living quarters of the temple were. She had visited the temple before due to Issei Ryuudou, a student of hers who lived here, and also because she'd had to give some things to Souichirou before. Although she couldn't say she was a frequent visitor, she still roughly remembered the layout of the place, especially since it wasn't particularly complex either.

Gingerly making her way through the holes in the walls, she stepped onto the polished wooden floors of the interior, the floorboards creaking slightly with her weight. Slowly, she slid the doors of each room open, when there were doors to open at least. Going through each room, she could tell that the common sleeping area of the monks had not survived the explosion, but the guest rooms were surprisingly intact. She could tell one was Kuzuki's, judging by the suits within the room, but strangely there was another the scent of perfume, something sweet and floral lingering in the air in spite of the stench that had been clogging her nose ever since she had walked into the area.

Has he found a woman?

Finding it hard to believe that he had finally started dating, she blinked and retreated from the room, going for the next.

After a series of empty guest rooms, she finally came across the one that seemed most likely to be Shirou's, the familiar shirt that she always saw him wear with a corner hanging out of a suitcase, which he had inherited from his father along with his current residence. There were some items that she could recognize, including the things that she normally saw him fix at the shed near the back of his house. Some simple appliances, such as a heater, a clock, a lamp and several other loose odds and ends were scattered in one corner, messily sweeped into a pile to keep them out of the way of being stepped on. There was probably a set of tools in the suitcase there along with his clothes, which she found right on top of them as she flipped open the suitcase, metal clinking against each other as she lifted it off the fabric.

There was precious little though, aside from the essentials and the items needed for his hobby of being a handyman. There wasn't much that he required after all, and even his own living space was sparse, the walls bare and the room free of furniture save for-

Wait.

Was that two futons on the floor?

Getting down on her knees, she patted the white covers, making sure to confirm it's existence. Maybe Shirou wanted to sleep sideways on the futon? She closed her eyes, wondering if something had triggered him to start sleeping like that.

There's no way!

Nope, he definitely wouldn't start doing something like that. Or maybe it was a guy he was sleeping with? Perhaps it was Issei who slept with him?

Looking left and right, she bent next to the futons and sniffed both of them. Though she wouldn't admit it, she could recognize Shirou's smell instantly, and in this case she could tell that the left futon was probably his. When her nose came close to the other, the faint smell of lilies, distinct from the smell of cotton. Maybe Issei was using lily-scented perfume recently?

As if!

There was no way this was Issei who had been sleeping here, especially considering how far apart the two futons were, placed almost at the opposite ends of the room. Issei and Shirou wouldn't bother sleeping so far apart, so she was sure that Shirou, who was ever concerned about these matters, except for with Sakura, would definitely insist on sleeping as far away from each other as possible. She could almost imagine the scenario in her mind, Shirou dragging the futons from each other as the girl pouted.

SHIRROUUUU!

In his last moments, had he been together with a girl as he was consumed by the flames of the explosion? Had he, the densest brickhead she had ever met, finally surmounted the mental block in his mind and found someone?

Shaking her head furiously, she pushed out the image of him performing a kabedon on a girl, a slight red tint coming to her cheeks.

No, it must have been the other side. Instead of Shirou coming on to a girl, it was more likely for a girl to come on to him. With his personality, she knew it would be hard for him to refuse anyone, and he could be easily taken advantage of. She had seen him being dragged into matters he had no business in by other people, acting as an all-round assistant in most physical labour that was required to be done at school, which he gladly accepted, earning him his reputation at the academy.

Her hands balling into fists, her eyes narrowed as she thought of the vixen who was taking advantage of Shirou and forcing him to obey her every whim. The mental picture of a haughty woman with striking eyes and an arrogant laugh with blonde twin drills lurked in her mind, the stereotypical image of a rich mistress that would easily play with Shirou and then discard him the moment he lost his entertainment value.

Then she remembered that she was supposed to be there to search for the person, instead of fantasizing about his love life. The blush grew even more intense, but luckily no one was around to see as she stood up, looking around the room for clues as to what might have happened to Shirou. Maybe he had eloped with the woman and ran off to a country far overseas?

Slapping her cheeks to sober herself, she realized it was far more likely that he could have been fatally injured in whatever incident had happened here, since his foolhardy nature along with his unquenchable thirst to help people made him highly likely to be in the line of fire no matter where he went, sacrificing his time and energy for other people, even strangers. He did have limits to his helpfulness though, but they took very specific conditions to reach.

Sobering up at the thought of him lying buried from debris somewhere around here, she took one last careful look around the room.

As she did so, she heard the sliding door behind her open with a 'clack' as the wooden door frame connected with the wall.

Whirling around, her eyes wide as she opened her mouth to frantically explain herself to the police, the only thing that came out was an 'a' as she realized the person behind her was no police officer, far from it. With her mouth hanging wide open, she realized there was a priest standing there, a frock and a necklace with a cross dangling from the string on his chest, the sign of his faith. He was quite tall, with rugged features not too dissimilar from Kiritsugu, but the eyes were closer to Kiritsugu than the rest of his face. There was a certain...emptiness, she supposed she could say, that was in a way close to what she often saw in Kiritsugu's when he was staring off into space, or when he thought she wasn't looking.

Tilting down to look at her, his eyes locked on her own, freezing her in place without a word.

"What brings a lost lamb like you here?"

His tone was neither threatening nor furious, a rich voice that sounded more amused than anything. It was befitting of his image, and had been successful in coaxing confessions out of his parishioners even when he wasn't trying. It did nothing to soothe Taiga's nerves though as she started babbling, a stream of nonsense coming out of her mouth as she tried to process several excuses at once in her head, the words coming out jumbled together without making any sense or meaning. As she was waving her arms and motorboating her mouth, he calmly reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Take your time to think, child."

The heavy weight on her shoulder dispelled any confusion in her mind, a sense of unshaken strength passing into her body from the point of contact, stilling her thoughts so that she was able to collect them. It was a minor form of hypnosis, but it served its purpose well, making her realize she was running her mouth off about nothing, and it was hard to detect as well. Once he removed his hand, she took a deep breath and decided on what to say.

"I'm looking for someone who moved to the temple to stay for a while before the accident."

She revealed herself to the priest, speaking truthfully without hiding anything. She had a feeling that she could trust him with this, and also that he would easily see through any lies she tried to tell him. It didn't seem like he was interested in evicting her from the premises either. As long as she didn't say anything outrageous, she would be fine. After all, he was a priest, what could he do? Make her confess? Although admittedly, his build was just slightly intimidating to her, as the frame of his body was visible under the smock, as much as it hid his body.

Describing the situation regarding Shirou and his appearance to the priest, she asked him if he had seen anyone matching the description.

After raising his head to ponder for a moment, he shook his head regretfully.

"I am sorry Fujimaru-san, but I do not recall seeing anybody like that around here. I was called over as a member of the Urban Structural Management Department, to assist with the survey of the area and assess the damage for reports to the government, but I didn't see any bodies."

The post within the government had specifically been created for him to be a smokescreen, a facade of legitimacy that allowed him to interfere in official affairs, and a way to create coverups, allowing him to distribute the false reports and access governmental resources and records locally without having to resort to drastic measures such as breaking in, easing him into his position in Fuyuki as a observer from the Church. By having the official post, he also benefited by having an excuse to visit such sites in the name of damage assessment. He even had credentials to back up his position, all of them forged. If Taiga had bothered to ask, he could have easily shown her them as proof.

She was too busy contemplating the fact that he hadn't seen anyone to ask him thought, her thoughts preoccupied by the red-haired boy. Seeing her crestfallen emotions written all over her face, the priest had to suppress a smile of indulgence, his heart fluttering at her sadness, but he maintained his facade with an iron will. Perhaps it would be good to play around with her for a while longer.

"The damage from the explosion was quite extensive, from what I have seen. I am sorry to say this, but you must prepare yourself for the possibility that he may have...met an untimely end."

A shade of sorrow passed ghosted through her face, quickly plastered over with a grin.

"Of course I know that, but it's better to be optimistic right? So I should continue searching, thinking that he's alright."

Kirei was slightly disappointed she didn't have a greater reaction, but he could tell that she wasn't that easily broken. Staying his hand for the time being, he stopped pushing her and instead decided to show her around.

If he was correct, she was the guardian of that red-haired boy who was acting as the Master of Saber in this War, whom Lancer had spotted during the first night when Archer had battled Rider at the school, as Ruler arrived there to announce the rules of the War. Afterwards, he became aware of the alliance between Saber and Caster from Lancers surveillance of Ryuudou Temple, but he didn't know much else regarding them aside from that. Coincidentally, he believed he had met the boy at the mapo tofu store he frequented as well, if memory served him correctly. Perhaps he would be able to dig up some information about him from the woman in front of him, if he played his cards correctly. Lips curving, he offered his help.

"If you persist in searching, then allow me to assist. It must be the Lord's will that you met me here. I shall escort you so that you may walk freely within the boundaries of this mountain."

And also so that he could steer her away from the more suspicious remnants.

"Thank you so much! Let's go then!"

Bowing energetically, she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him off, surprising Kirei as she thoroughly trusted his words and started carrying him all over the place as she bounced from spot to spot, going over every spot with a fine-toothed comb. It was like he was caught up in a tornado, unable to get out of her pace as she gave him no chance to initiate conversation, a seemingly inexhaustible well of energy suppressing him, the desire to find Shirou motivating her strongly.

Like a whirlwind, they passed through every single building in the temple, but failed to find anything new regarding Shirou. There wasn't so much as a hair left behind there, with only the room he had been sleeping in showing evidence of his existence within the temple. She had wanted to investigate the fissure in the middle of the temple too, but a few words from Kirei and some mild suggestion hypnosis kept her from getting too close.

By the end of her search, it became more and more bleak as she was unable to find anything about Shirou or his whereabouts, the possibility that he had just perished becoming increasingly possible. It was like he had simply evaporated from the world, which could possibly have been the case if he had been caught by the gas explosion. Feeling dispirited inside, Taiga nevertheless managed to muster a sincere word of thanks towards Kirei as she decided to leave the mountain after all that. Having someone to talk to while searching had definitely helped to alleviate some of the burden she had felt as it became increasingly difficult to find traces of Shirou.

"Do not worry child, it was simply my duty as a man of the Church. May the Lord aid you in your search."

Taking his leave after escorting her to the foot of the mountain, ignoring the curious gazes of the police standing guard there, he parted with her as she ran off back to the spot where her scooter had been parked.

Once he had returned to the privacy of the church, the empty pews were filled with a bellow of raucous laughter.

It was the first time he had felt this elated after such a wonderful surprise, a coincidence so great that it must have been the work of the Lord, to lead him to such a revelation.

Who would ever have thought that Kiritsugu had adopted a boy, and that very same boy was now participating in the Holy Grail War as a Master. Unable to withhold his emotions, his body trembled as a fresh wave of laughter bubbled out of his chest, a fit of emotions that he had not experienced for a long time. Raising his palms to the heavens, he stood in front of the pulpit and gazed at the cross hung at the center rapturously.

"Lord, this gift you have bestowed upon your servant is indeed glorious! I shall finally have the chance to return what Kiritsugu gave me on that fateful night, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I will do to his son what he did to me, for the son shall pay for the sins of the father, and the daughter for their mother."

His exultant emotions were quenched with that outburst, his hands falling back to his sides as he slowly reverted to normal, but his heart still palpated at the thought of meeting this boy, Emiya Shirou.

He had no desire to inflict harm on the boy, far from it. What Kiritsugu had gifted him during the final night of the past war was a divine revelation that had shown him the truth of the world, one that he was eager to share with the rest of humanity as the curses were unleashed from the Grail. He wanted to see with his own eyes what kind of world it would become after being bathed in the mud of Angra Mainyu. To this boy, he would express his gratitude by sharing with him the same vision he had seen, which the boy's father had granted him. Would the boy recoil in horror? Would he embrace it? Would defy it, spouting words of empty heroism like Kirei had once heard Kiritsugu say? Whatever it was, Kirei looked forward to it. He wanted to know what kind of person it was that Kiritsugu had raised. If it was possible, he also wanted to see the boy suffer too, purely for his own enjoyment. That however, was secondary to enlightening the boy about humanity and it's ultimate wish.

He wasn't a very expressive man, but as he laid down his plans, he would have been rubbing his hands in glee if he were more open with his emotions.

Meanwhile, Lancer silently watched her Master in the corner in spirit form, having recovered enough to finally pay attention to what was going on with him. Intrigued, she wondered what on Earth could have inspired such a reaction in him. From the very first day she was summoned, with his hand thrust into her chest, she had no doubts that he was a man who would not show such an outburst like that. She didn't even know if he was capable of such a thing at all, yet he had done so just now. Who, or what, had managed to make him react like that? The question lingered in her mind, as she resolved to continue observing him, so that she may find a weakness in his armor that she could exploit to avoid being backstabbed by him in the future.

The scooter rumbled back to life as Taiga drove off, leaving the damaged temple behind as she dug into her jacket for her phone, a tiger mascot strapped to it with yellow string.

She refused to believe that Shirou had died there. If he had, there would have at least been some signs of his demise, with body parts or clothes strewn across the place, as gruesome as it may sound. With the absence of these factors, it seemed more likely that he had simply left the area instead, and she fully intended on finding out where he had disappeared to. If he had actually eloped with a girl and left Fuyuki without saying a word to her…

Her hand balled into a fist around the handlebars, the veins popping out of the back of her hand.

Once she found him, he would have a lot of explaining to do. In the dojo. With Torashinai.

Punching in the numbers for people she called family, she raised the speaker to her mouth and started giving out orders to the Fujimaru-kai.