Infinity Stratos Blades
An Infinite Stratos/Fate Stay night fanfic
Author's notes: I hope that Kuro being in the story caught you guys from the left side XD, you thought I was gonna keep on with the original IS storyline? Or that I would keep on basing from the (sadly) unfinished Infinity Swords fanfic. Currently I am writing non-stop, as soon as I finish a chapter I got part way of the next one written, I apologize if the quality sucks tough... I just wish to cater to you all. I don't want to disappoint with lack of updates, that being said a few things I must add.
Moonlight Fox:Rebirth by fire is now discontinued... Sailor moon's reboot just killed the mood for me... sorry so PLEASE do not ask about updates.
Also I am feeling down lately... I got a rather coarse review from angrycritique, a rather vulgar and sneaky person who leaves such a rude comment and blocks incoming messages, calling my story a total rip off of Infinity Swords, people like that make me sad... and angry, to be honest I wanna choke him. But since I can't I just gonna continue writing, but do not be surprised if my writing suffers from it.
I know I can't please everyone, but I would like people who are rude and have nothing constructive to say/do, to just go and F*ck themselves... preferably without lubricant and with something sharp and pointy.
I mean, who does that? Just post something rude and just insult someone and then block all incoming messages?
A pussy that's who... anyways... here comes the new chapter.
Chapter 9: Problems in black. The mischievous dark one and the unlikely Allied Forces.
Tatenashi woke up due to the sunlight coming from the window, she felt calm and refreshed.
She had to admit, this place was... calm.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY ONII-CHAN YOU THIEVING CAT!?" a voice yelled.
Tatenashi woke up with a smirk.
Tatenashi walked up to Shirou's room... and Kuro was naked and was leaning on Shirou's chest rather erotically, causing anger on Ilya, however Shirou was too scared and freaked out to react to this.
"Ahahahaha... this is fun... too fun! I should have come to being a lot sooner" Kuro said with giggles.
Rin came and saw at the scene, her hand clutched the door frame and it begun to splinter due to her strenght.
"Ohohoho... what's this? Emiya-kun... just what are you doing with an underage girl naked in your bed?" Rin said with a sweet smile.
Tatenashi knew, Ilya knew, Kuro knew. Even Shirou knew.
She was BEYOND furious.
"Ah... Rin... this isn't what it looks like?" Shirou said pleadingly.
"Oh? And just what is it that it looks like to me? Enlighten me Please?" She said.
"I... I dont' know... I just woke up and Kuro..." Shirou begun.
Kuro begun to cry.
"And after all the affection we had last night... you just forgot?" she said with tears on her eyes.
Ok, Kuro was milking this for all what's worth. And Tatenashi was enjoying this.
After a onslaught of Gandrs, biting, punching, kicking, pulling hairs and moaning (from Shirou in pain).
Tatenashi had to admit, this was better than TV.
After eating breakfast they got ready to get back home, but not before confirming Kuro stayed at home.
They did not know that she had astralised and followed them to the Academy.
Emiya State
"Hey... has someone seen Kuro?" Rin asked.
Rin and Ilya then shared a look of shock/horror.
They rushed out the door leaving a confused Sakura and Rider behind.
They both blinked at the sight.
Back to IS Academy
Shirou and Tatenashi had a nice ride back to the Academy and thanks to her position she could help Shirou with the 'no outside sleeping' rule, as she had the abilities to bend the rules somewhat.
Still Shirou got a talk to be Orimura-sensei and Tatenashi got one, albeit lighter in comparison.
Still their primary objective had been completed.
"Ohhh.. so this is where you two go to study, I did not think it was so grand" Kuro said as she materialized in between them.
"Kuro?!" they both said in shock, her presence her would REALLY rile up Orimura who no doubt had done a more thorough background check on Shirou and his family and friends.
Who knew Shirou had such a scary person as a father.
Emiya Kiritsugu, AKA The Magus Killer, a professional killer, he killed targets deemed 'too dangerous for the world to hold' and killed them ruthlessly, no matter how well protected the target would be, he always killed his mark, he was the epitome of the killers in the world.
That is how he got the title of 'Magus Killer', that and it became the title in the Clock Tower.
How he managed to marry and have a beautiful daughter like Ilya was beyond Tatenashi... Orimura however was thinking of something else.
There were no records of Ilyaviel's birth anywhere.
She managed to get Laura to find information on the Einzberns, they were a rather wealthy plutocrats, they were reclusive and did indeed invited Kiritsugu into their home many years ago.
They did find that there was a little girl on the grounds... however it was rather.. weird, people who tried getting closer would suddenly feel afraid and leave, regardless of time of day, others would just wonder around, lost at the VERY edge of the property.
She also heard that there was a lot of blood and wolves around the area, but they never managed to get into the state where the Einzberns had their castle.
Orimura was concerned, did Kuritsugu kidnap the girl?
It was unlikely, since Shirou said she came from Germany where the castle was... he said it was to look for Kiritsugu, but that plan was shot due to his death.
Still that did not answer the question about how she got here and WHY was it so damn breezy all of the sudden?
She then saw her skirt was down and looked around and saw both Shirou and Tatenashi who held their hands up to their mouths and promptly looked the other way.
A lone little dark skinned girl who was grinning impishly.Obviously the culprit
She pulled her skirt and fixed it right.
And delivered a blow with her clip-board. Only for the little girl to dodge it at the last second and run off laughing.
Kuro was now on a deep kiss onslaught rampage.
Everyone on the campus was her target and the girls passed out with a blush.
"Shirou... explain" Orimura-sensei said, her eyes where sharp and hard.
Shirou gulped, he had no true answer.
"Ara... isn't that Ilya-chan's cousin... it seems to be very hyper... I hope she didn't get into your sweet stash" Tatenashi offered.
"Ah... yes, she get's REALLY hyper when she eats candy... Orimura-sensei, sorry but can I bother you to help me catch her? Otherwise... it's gonna be a LONG day" Shirou asked.
Orimura sighed, she agreed, the girl would be... disruptive.
One of the latest victims was Yamada-sensei who was on the floor with a dizzying look on her face and a heavenly smile on her.
"Yes... that is gonna be a lot of trouble" Orimura-sensei said as she sighed at the scene as she grunted.
"Kyahahahaha... this is soo good, being free is awesome!" Kuro yelled as she run up the stairs to the roof kissing any and all girls.
Until she met Lin and tried to kiss her.
"KKYAAAH!" She yelled as she launched a furious straight kick at Kuro's chest.
She, however, put her hands on her leg and jumped alongside with it, Lin punched and kicked using her martial arts skill, the girl however was much better as she used Lin's strength against her as she dodged by a hairs breath.
Lin was livid, how this girl tried to steal her first kiss...!
Lin then partially deployed her IS, but the girl was still agile, it was unreal, even her attacks did not reach her, just WHO was this girl?
Just as she was about to kiss Lin and drain her of her energy Orimura-sensei grabbed her in a choke hold while doing a 'Frankeinsteiner', however Kuro was able to avoid it the worst by putting her hands on the ground.
Orimura-sensei was surprised at her combat skill, moreover she twisted herself in a way and speed that made Orimura twist with her and shrug her off.
Orimmura-sensei then took off her heels.
She lashed out with a powerful kick that Kuro took on purpose, she wanted her to attack her to use her attack as a launching platform.
"Hahaha the Obaa-san is easy to rile up isn't she?!" Kuro said as she continued to run as her impromptu launch pad forcefully eject her as per Kuro's plan. Shirou paled at hearing this, he was sure he was going to receive some sort of retribution.
"Emiya-san..." Orimura said as she turned around she had a stone-faced look but clearly she had a murderous aura around that even Tatenashi was afraid of her, 'scary' written on her now open fan.
"I want you to help me secure and tor... restrain... yes, restrain that wild child" she said, there was no room for dissenting in her voice.
Shirou got to the roof using his IS while Orimura waited behind a water tower.
"Kuro... stop that, now" Shirou said.
"aww... no way... I haven't have so much fun in... EVER" Kuro said with glee.
Orimura-sensei jumped with a boken as she went to slam her on the head, however she managed to stop it with her bare hands, Orimura-sensei smirk, she released the boken not even a second after noticing that it wouldn't budge and smacked her on the head with her knuckles smacking her to the ground.
"GAH!" Kuro yelled in pain.
Shirou grabbed her by the back of her shirt. He sighed.
"I am SOO Sorry about this Orimura-sensei... I will make sure that this doesn't happen again" Shirou said.
"Like you are able to do such a thing, when every girl you know strings you along" Kuro said.
"They do not! I offer to help" Shirou said.
"Suuuure... almost dying twice trying to save someone... just how stupid are you?" Kuro said.
Shirou turned around, it was the way she said that... the defiant tone, the assurance that she knew him better than anyone.
It sounded like that bastard... Archer.
Kuro rose an eyebrow... "Well... you are a hypocritical idiot... but that's what I think, so I won't speak about it..." She said with a shrug.
Yes... definitely she had some characteristics of Archer.
Even her way of attacking was reminiscing of both of them, however she added more acrobatics and aerial maneuvers.
"See that you do Emiya-san" Orimura-sensei said.
Shirou sighed "Kuro... you can't just do that... what if you caused more mayhem than this?" Shirou said.
"Well... I had to... I need to consume some prana and stealing a bit via a kiss Is the best way I can do... unless... onii-chan wants to kiss me?" she said as she blushed and acted coyly.
Shirou did something no one ever seen him done before, he smacked her on the back of the head.
Then his arm begun to ring.
On his face was a signal that said 'voice only incoming call'
"Answer" Shirou said.
"SHIROUUU!" A voice yelled almost making Shirou go deaf.
"It's Kuro... we can't find her anywhere! she is gone! I think she might have hitched a ride alongside with you" Rin said.
"Yes... I found the little hitchhiker...she made a HUGE commotion in here... do me a favor... chain her up or whatever..." Shirou said with little patience.
"Wow... that's really out of character of you" Rin said.
"She went on a kissing rampage and drained the prana of over 100 girls" Shirou said with a deadpan look on his face.
"Ouch... yeesh, so now what?" Rin said.
"Try binding her or anything just make sure she behaves" Shirou said.
"Yeesh, sounds like I am gonna have to baby-sit this brat... alright, I'll pick her up in a few, I'll have Rider take me there, I should be there in half an hour" Rin said.
"See that you do... and Rin... thanks" Shirou said.
"Don't worry, you have our support, just don't go doing stupid things ok?" Rin said.
"Yeah... like this idiot could do that... he always getting into trouble due to his personality" Kuro said as she rolled her eyes.
"Idiot he may be, but at least he is an honest idiot" Rin said.
"Well... you caught me... so I'll obey, but I don't want to disappear... so I need prana" Kuro said.
"Don't worry... I can help you with that" Rin's voice was sweet and made Tatenashi, Shirou and Kuro shiver in fear.
So a half an hour later Rider arrived with a motorcycle ('borrowed" from the Taiga group) to pick up the new trouble.
After putting a helmet on her (a horrible yellow construction helmet) she sped off with Kuro hanging on for dear life.
"And there they go" Shirou said with a sigh.
"I must admit, you are a good source of amusement" Tatenashi-san said as she giggled behind her fan with the word 'pierrot' on it.
Shirou was annoyed at this, he really was starting to become an eroge protagonist.
Orimura-sensei was glaring at him during class, there was no harm on the girls, as prana transference was perfect and was minimal, while he could not blame Kuro for her actions it did irritate him.
It would have been best to just ask them as they could just made a solution for her, however he wondered the reason she would NEED to do that.
So classes went by as per usual.
Laura Bodewig, had an interesting day, she saw a tanned version of herself run around the school kissing girls, they all blushed fiercely and passed out.
She tough it was due to the orgasmic feeling, the girl certainly seemed to know how to use her tongue... however her IS managed to get a reading of some sort of energy being siphoned from their bodies, it was slight, almost imperceptibly.
She was unsure what just happened, so she needed to think, of course she couldn't call this in due to her not having enough proof, it could have been a simple error of the machine, it was a prototype after all.
Still, she was in awe at the moves of the girl, she was like a feather in the sky... a blade in the execution of moves, it was similar to how Shirou fights, but more... elegant.
"Uhmm... she looked like Ilya-san, I wonder if I should do some recognizance on house home?" She asked herself.
"Ah... Laura? Is something wrong?" Charlotte asked.
"Eh? oh... no... it's nothing, I was just thinking... why don't we see Shirou-san's home sometime?" Laura asked.
Of course she had other intentions for her 'visit'
"EEEhh... SURE! Let's do it!" Charlotte said as she held the German girl's hand.
Laura blinked owlishly.
Later that day
Shirou dodged a bullet from Cecilia's IS as he parried Houki's overhead slash and dodged out of the way of Charlotte's shield-breaker while simultaneously attacking her.
Laura then attacked with the Railgun mounted on her IS.
Shirou received one solid hit on him, making him tumble back several yard to the opposite wall.
Laura however got hit by a rather fast arrow aimed at her chest, launching her back at the opposite wall.
In other words, Shirou did a cross-counter.
Laura had to admit, to do something like that with projectile weapons was downright impossible, but Shirou seemed able to foretell what someone would do, he would plan and use any means at his disposal to eliminate someone in the most pragmatic of ways, using the least amount of moves and strength. It was... scary? Ominous? Yes, perhaps, but Laura just respected the man. He was.. a soldier who was not a soldier... maybe a warrior? Yes, that... image fitted him quite nicely.
She blushed, this man... he was much better than any she ever seen before, even the special forces in her home country could barely hold a candle to him.
So now... operation 'home espionage' is a go.
School was back to normal but Laura received a package from her group 'Schwarzer Hase' inside was a spy gear (AKA Stalking Equipment). Even Charlotte, after seeing the equipment, was feeling hesitant.
However the bonus of learning a bit more about him was too irresistible to pass on.
At class
Shirou shivered slightly as he felt a cold wave wash over him, he thought it might be Rin planning his punishment.
Or Sakura... or both together.
However... they had to deal with Kuro first, the girl apparently used prana to sustain her life, so it was natural she would get it in a way that would ensure she wouldn't either get in trouble and would let the 'victim' recover so she could get more at a later time.
It was like Rider, on how she 'feed'... however without killing the victims.
The question was, how did Kuro know so much about him, and why did she appear after the ritual? There was no explanation on her sudden appearance in the Emiya State.
Rin decided to use low grade gems infused with Rin's prana rich blood.
Kuro needed 100 units of prana to function for a week, Rin can make about 1000 units.
They wouldn't know why she would need so much but it was still acceptable to make a few gems every 6 days.
It wouldn't put a strain on her finances as they are cheap gems, however she felt uncomfortable spending money on that... Shirou said that he would reimburse her somehow.
Rin could be such a little perv, her mannerisms in public belied her true nature.
Kuro was bored, but got into some spars with Rider, who was somewhat rather impressed with her, he overall abilities and skills where somewhat servant level.
Her fighting ability resembled both of Archer (EMIYA) and Shirou, but with more aerial combat involved, more grace.
While both Archer and Shirou had the same move-set, they both acted like machines, one attack flowing after the other, with purpose... deadly, perfect, precise... like a well oiled-machine.
Kuro added a bit more to it... using her smaller and more agile body she twisted and turned and redirected the attacks, due to her small frame.
Rider was a bit disappointed, due to the amount of 'cute' of both Ilya and Kuro was overwhelming while she was a tall statuesque (no pun intended) woman, while Rider exuded sexuality, both of them exuded 'moe'.
After bemoaning her luck she and Kuro had some ice-pops to cool off.
It was weird, Kuro did not hate Shirou (in fact he teasing was going to what could be downright sexual in nature) she was a bit rough with him on the way she insulted him from time to time, but without meaning to be mean.
Shirou was informed on everything Kuro did.
So far everything was going good.
He had no idea what was stored for him.
As the days went by Shirou was anxious to go back home to go in depth about Kuro's sudden appearance in this world.
Shirou took Saturday night as the time to leave the academy, and went back home after classes.
For some reason his arm started to throb more lately... more like a slight pang of pain.
His command spell was slightly glowing in a eery red.
Shirou arrived home, he had no idea he was being tailed.
"Laura... are you sure this is a good idea?" Charlotte asked.
"Too late for it now... let's get this over with" Laura said.
"Ahhh... what am I doing with my life? I am turning into a stalker..." Charlotte thought with tears on her eyes.
Laura brought out a pair of powerful telescopic lenses.
She saw both Kuro and Shirou sparing, Kuro was having the upper hand, due to apparently had knowledge of his stile and predicted his counters, so it was a deadlock of countering the counter-of the-counter-of the-counter-of the-counter.
It was something akin to a dance, both persons trying to strike at each other with as much power as possible... a pair sword dancers.
"hey... let me see!" Charlotte said as she took Laura's telescopic lens.
She blushed... as both Kuro and Shirou exchanged blows, the shinai was near it's breaking point due to the sheer power their blows had, it was amazing, it was scary, it was pure beauty of 2 beasts attacking each other.
"Shirou-kun! The ofuro is ready for you" a voice called as Laura hear from her, a parabolic listening device that caught the audio.
"Oi Shirou... don't you feel something odd?" Rider said.
"Eh? Rider... what do you mean?" Shirou asked.
"I dunno... I just feel like we are being watched" Rider said as she looked out towards where the Germanic-French duo had stationed themselves to spy on Shirou.
She grinned, the two girls shivered...
"Fufuh..." and it all went black.
Bad end...
"Aaaah... I can't believe we got caught, I am soo ashamed" Charlotte said as she had tears on her eyes.
Rider was smiling beatifically as Charlotte was shivering on her seat, while Laura was acting like a kid who got caught with a hand on the cookie jar.
To be caught so easily... even when they where so far away? It was unheard of, was this woman a secret super elite solider?
Another girl came by, she had deep purple hair and purple eyes, a beautiful and rather enviable figure.
"Ah... hello good evening, might you be from the IS academy?" she asked sweetly.
Charlotte shivered, Rider Shivered, even Laura shivered, regardless of her military background and training.
"Sakura... stop that" Kuro said with a karate chop on Sakura's head.
If there was one thing that was good about Kuro is that she could spot a 'Dark Sakura' in the making and cut that bud at the nip.
"A.. anyways... have something to drink" another girl with black hair came this time with some cups of green tea.
Kuro and Rider took Sakura to her room.
And just then... a knock on the door sounded.
*Knock knock knock*
Shirou and the rest of the inhabitants could feel something akin to 'evil intent', it was rather palpable.
Shirou slowly opened the door, a blue-print for a blade at the ready in his mind as the imaginary hammer of the gun that was his magecraft was cocked back.
He opened the door.
"Eh!? Orimura-sensei?! W-what are you doing here?!" Shirou said in shock.
He was glad that Fuji-nee was currently at Raiga's cause he wouldn't be able to deal with these two women together.
However, what could possible be the reason for her 'evil intent'?
"Idiot... is about your combat abilities... your combat abilities" Rin whispered at him.
"Hello Emiya-kun, I came here for a surprise home visit, normally we wouldn't do this, but because you have your own home outside campus, as well as being the only male IS pilot certain... responsibilities are given to me, one such is to inspect your home and house-life, I see you have quite a... large company, might I ask who are they?" she said.
Translation: there are a lot of women in this place... what are they doing here? If you answer in an unsatisfactory way I will beat the answer out of you.
"Ohohoho... yes Shirou-kun is very popular... but don't trouble yourself, we are just visiting, we help him take care of his formerly ill sister, and now the cousin came by... it's like when it rains it pours with this guy" Rin said.
Translation: our WE being here is none of your business.
"I see, however I have to make sure his home-life is adequate for him, it wouldn't do for a young man to be associated with... less reputable characters" Orimura-sensei said.
Translation: I can butt in if I want to, you are a stranger in here, so go home.
Rin was trying to keep calm, but underneath her sweet smile she was charging her crest ready to fire a volley of Gandrs should the bitch in front of her disrespected her any further, secrecy be dammed.
"You see, I live here, before the incident in our school my home broke due to a heater malfunctioning... so I been staying here, of course I pay rent and put my share of the bills for food, I am not a leech, and certainly I am not in the habit of chasing after a person to pry his secrets where he is more vulnerable" Rin said.
This last exchange was a LOT less subtle and it was like someone slapped Orimura on her face.
"Oh? Rin... the Ofuro is ready" another woman said as she came out of the Ofuro on a dress shirt and panties.
Shirou looked the other way. "Use a towel Bazett!" Shirou said.
Bazett just shrugged as she went to her room.
Orimura just rose an eyebrow.
"I am not her you know" Rin said.
Orimura smirked. That woman had a lot of muscle, she looked well trained and she had looked at her and send something akin to killing intent at her, she replied in kind.
Bazett just ignored her, it wasn't worth her time, a regular human could not match her, regardless of how much training they had, magecraft was just an unfair advantage at times.
"Anyways, let me get you all some snacks and talk civilly" Shirou said half pleadingly.
A few minutes later
Bazett was looking at the newspaper for a new part-time job while Rider was reading a novel, Sakura... was restrained on her room and Ilya was playing tag with Kuro and somehow managed to get her Germanic look-alike to join in the game. Charlotte was having a Darjeeling tea as she did not quite like the taste of the green tea herself, thankfully Rin had her own tea stash.
After the tit for tat from Rin and Orimura she decided to explore a bit of the state, she had to admit it was grand and magnificent.
However it was unnerving, she had the feeling that the 'house' was staring at her, judging her and disapproving of her.
Which was ridiculous as homes could not do such thing.
She went to the back of the house and saw the little shed in there, there was a lot of junk and stuff in mid-repair, the boy was into fixing stuff apparently and was quite good at it, by what many club members had said, he was really handy and fixed a lot of stuff for them for nothing in exchange. However, what really caught her eye was the dojo.
It was big, as big as the one at the IS academy, the floor was worn out, probably by use of Shirou, however there was some imprints of someone else, a woman, if the size of the imprint was anything to go by, there were others, but those 2 where the most predominant, as well as many marks on the walls that where 'Shirou-shaped'.
She sat down and took a deep breath... yes, this place was tranquil an ideal place to train, but it still did not explain WHERE Shirou managed to learn his skills, from what she gathered Fujimura Taiga was a kendo champion of the 5th Dan, banned from competition because she did not want to take the charm off her shinai on championships. The way the woman fought was definitely different from Shirou's suicidal tactics.
"You know... you give off killing intent like that and people are gonna dislike you" Bazett said.
"What people think of me never bothered me" Orimura-sensei said.
"Still it wouldn't hurt to be less... hostile, you want to find out of Shirou's skills correct, unfortunately there is nothing you can find here... however, if you keep digging, you will only find yourself and everyone you care about into an early grave" Bazett said.
Orimura twisted around and delivered an attack at the other woman who had threatened her, she put all of her power into it, she heard those words before from Shirou, but this woman also said the same, meaning that she was privy of those secrets, she would defeat and restrain and interrogate her.
Her punch made Bazett's hand smoke, but she did not move an inch, she did not even acknowledge the attack. Orimura's punch that could break concrete easily where held back by this woman's hand as it was nothing. She looked at the punch that Orimura has launched as pushed her back, she positioned herself to receive an attack, but it never came, Bazzet was in a non-confrontational pose.
"I apologize if I sounded like I would attack, I must admit talking to people is not my strong point... after all, I am only good at breaking stuff, so I won't take offense at your attack since I provoked it without meaning it... but with this amount of strength, you shouldn't search for those answers, moreover, it seems more like out of curiosity rather than necessity, if so... please, for your own sake... stop it" she said, and with that she left.
Orimura was livid, she was proud of being one of the strongest woman, inside and outside of an IS.
However this woman just stopped her attack like it was nothing, and she ha a look of pity for her.
THAT is what made it worst.
"This is like a den of monsters" Orimura-sensei said as she shook her head.
Just then Ilya, Sakura, Kuro and Rider sneezed in unison.
Still she had to admit, Shirou was a magnificent chef, as she found out after being treated for dinner by him.
Charlotte and Laura where given forks as they still had not quite grasped how to use chopsticks, and Shirou did not want to be hit by a Fin shot (over-charged gandr that affected in the physical level rather than just pass by as a gandr would do), or being eaten by curses from Dark Sakura.
He wanted to pass a night where his body would not be put to a near death status, he might be stupid, but not THAT stupid... suicidal tendencies in saving people non-withstanding.
After dinner and Rin helping Shirou clean dishes Rider brought out some sake and share some with Orimura and Bazett, she was hesitant due to her poor resistance to alcohol but complied.
Seems like Orimura liked her alcohol.
After enjoying a good time with alcohol ("No Snake Sake... just... no" Rider pointedly said) they said their goodbyes, however Orimura could not be dissuaded, she had to find out where he got those skills of him, he could be a sleeper agent from Phantom Task.
However as she got to know people she found it less likely, Phantom Task people where rather antisocial and had personality disorders, most of them where just plain crazy and got off out of cruelty and murder.
The more she got to know him... the more polar opposite he looked.
Even his home, while a tad crazy and not normal, was... homey.
It made her envy him somewhat... she would had liked to be with her brother, but her obligations stopped her from doing so. She could barely interact with her brother and it seemed like the distance was ever growing between them.
Still, maybe she could ask for a leave for a while, she never took vacations so it was long overdue, she was sure that Yamada-san would be able to hold the fort for a while.
After all family was important.Still she would do due diligence and continue to dig on Shirou's life as much as she could, she would not stop until all her doubts are cleared, come hell of high water.
Charlotte and Laura then begun to tour around Shirou's home, it was rather large, she found herself going to the tool-shed she found during her... unfortunate spying.
This place held the strongest scent of Shirou... not even his room on this house had his scent.
When she caught herself thinking of that she blushed heavily.
"Ahh... yes, this place was used by the idiot a lot" a voice said.
Charlotte turned around, it was... Kuro? Yes, the dark skin was a dead give-away.
"Ah... why wouldn't he use his room then? Isn't it more comfortable there?" Charlotte asked.
Laura was listening in as well.
"Weeeell... is not about comfortable or not, is just that the tool-shed allowed him to be away from people as he tinkered with stuff to fix... you seem to know he likes to do that, right?" Kuro said.
Yes, Shirou had earned the nickname of the Ghost Janitor at the academy after all.
"He experiments a lot on how to fix things here" Kuro added "Not to mention about the magecraft he practices" Kuro added in her thoughts.
"Hey... what's this?" Charlotte asked as she saw a small letter on the ground.
It was not a letter, but rather an old paper from 6th grade.
"Plans for the future: To be a hero- Emiya Shirou"
"AWWWWW... how cute! so he was like this since little? How adorable!" Charlotte said squealing in delight.
Kuro chuckled at her antics, but Laura managed to spot something else... a deep engraving on the floor.
It was part of what appeared to be a magic circle... she had read a lot of those books before to pass the time, but she knew it was a bonafide one, it was rather old though, possibly more than a decade and a half old.
"Interesting..." she thought to herself, it was really unlikely that Shirou had not seen it before.
There was something on it... lead-paint? Chalk? Interesting...
Still it could wait, it was time to go home, after apologizing and getting out after hearing that Sakura wanted to say her goodbyes personally they rushed back to the academy.
"I am heading out... I will be back next week ok? Take care all of you" Shirou said.
They all said their goodbyes.
He would do the ritual next time, and he would ask Rin and Bazett to put a bounded field around the house, and something to stop the eaves-dropping using mechanical means.
And so he spend the night at home once more...
Once more, he had the same dream... the 3 blades in front of him... all of them calling up to him.
And the blades had gotten closer than ever to him in his dream.
A field of blades... and those 3 stood on top of them all, and they continued to call him.
Dare he answer the call?
Could he?
Would he?
In the end... the decision... would not be an easy one.
"I wish to fight"
"I wish to be loved"
"I wish... to see him once more"
3 blades, 3 servants, 3 wishes... will it be granted?
Chapter end