Chapter 5 - The Palate-Cleanser
...
Emiya Shirou slept.
And he dreamed,
The dream of a hill of blades,
And of one man, standing alone atop of it,
Swords piercing through his back,
As he struggled ever onwards, ever upwards.
...But it was a lost battle.
A literal uphill struggle, a pointless effort.
One without any meaning.
He knew that.
They both knew that.
So why...?
Why did he continue to struggle, despite that?
Deep down, they both knew the answer.
It was because the man, once a boy, couldn't bear to not struggle.
If he did, he'd lose himself. All sense of meaning, all sense of purpose.
If he ever gave up, all that he would have left would be to be swallowed by his own sense of guilt.
And so, he struggled.
He struggled, and struggled, and struggle.
And he was betrayed.
Again, and again, and again, without end.
But...
Even so, Even then,
That man paid it no mind, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how much each wound broke him inside just a little bit further.
He continued to struggle ever onwards, ever forwards.
Even in his barren wasteland of nothing but wrought-iron swords, devoid of life and meaning.
After all,
That was the only thing that he knew how to do;
The only thing that ever gave him any sense of purpose.
...
...
...
Emiya Shirou awoke again, this time, in a significantly more calm manner.
...He was on a bed he didn't recognize, in a rich western looking mansion. It wasn't as comforting as his futon and the walls of the Emiya estate he was used to, but this was nice in its own way, too.
"Ugh, why does my body hurt so much?" He wondered as he groaned, getting up.
'Where am I?' He wondered, curiously.
Adjusting himself to the room, he looked around the area.
On one table in particular, there was a picture of Tohsaka, and was that...
...Her father?
This was probably Tohsaka's house, then. Well, a high class western mansion certainly suited her image, that much was for sure.
"Having fun, Emiya-kun?"
Shirou jolted, as Tohsaka came in to the room, carrying a plate with a tea pot and some teacups, to set down on a table.
"Tohsaka?"
"Here," She offered, motioning for him to help himself to some. "I've made some tea for you."
Shirou was a bit hesitant at first, but seeing her wait for him impatiently, he gladly accepted, taking a cup of tea to sip.
"Wow!" He commented, "It's surprisingly good!"
Tohsaka smirked, proudly, "Right?"
Then she realized something and scowled, "Wait, what do you mean by surprisingly good? Are you saying I don't seem like I'd be able to make good tea by myself?"
Shirou chuckled, nervously, "No, no! I didn't mean it in that way..." He said.
Tohsaka glared at him, waiting for him to finish.
"It's just, well, you seem like the type that would have tea served to you by a maid or butler, or something, instead of the one serving tea to other people."
"Hm..." Tohsaka, murmured, in a seemingly pondering sort of pose, "I never knew this, but you can be surprisingly rude at times, Emiya-kun." She teased.
"What? I'm just telling you my impression." Shirou grumbled.
"Well, I won't deny it." She said, "I wasn't exactly the type to make tea for myself before, not very often, at least. But ever since I've gotten my card, it seems to have had some influence on my habits and personality. Becoming a lot more tidy than before, and more interested in cooking and properly making tea and such."
Really, had she somehow summoned some sort of butler Heroic Spirit, or an Archer who also just so happened to be a butler?
Hmmm...
That might be a lead into her mysterious heroic spirit's identity. She might have to look into that later, into the legends of any heroes that also served a master in life.
"I see, you too, Tohsaka? For some reason, it feels like I've thinking a little differently lately, too. I've been a bit concerned about that, actually." He expressed, "Are these cards somehow changing who we are? Like brainwashing, or something?"
"Well, I don't think it's something to worry about, to that extent." Tohsaka reassured him, "The cards don't seem to have that much influence over us."
Shirou nodded. In truth, he didn't really mind the influence of the Saber that he using. Somehow, it seemed to fit him and complement him, perfectly, like a glove.
Rather...
It was the influence of Tohsaka's archer card, which he had accidentally touched that more worried him.
Even though, for some reason, he could feel an incredible compatibility with the card, like equipping on a perfectly fitting full suit of armour, it also felt as though the card itself were somehow rejecting him and his ideals.
And when he had used it's power, it felt almost as though it were trying overwrite and reject who he was fundamentally, somehow.
"..."
...Well, maybe that was just a needless concern. It wasn't like he'd ever be using it again, after all.
Seeing his silence, Tohsaka started the conversation back up again.
"More importantly, Emiya-kun, feel free to help yourself to some snacks."
She presented to him a small tray of snacks with the tea.
"I don't have too much or too fancy at the moment right now, but feel free to help yourself to some macarons."
Shirou looked at them.
Tohsaka said they weren't fancy, but they looked pretty fancy to him, these "macarons"? Nevertheless, he didn't voice his thoughts on that.
"Well, doesn't know what macarons are, but empty stomachs are the enemy, and so is needless extravagance." He commented. "Thank you, Tohsaka."
Tohsaka chuckled lightly, "You sound like some sort of military leader, saying things like that." She noted.
Shirou paused, since when had he begin thinking like this?
"Well, probably the influence of my card, or something."
Picking one up, he said a quick "Itadakimasu", and bit down on a macaron.
Surprisingly good, he noted. He would have to look up the recipe, later.
"Certainly, I can see that." Tohsaka said, "Especially if you have a high compatibility with your card. You certainly do seem to have become more reliable and manly in the past few days, Emiya-kun."
And he had gotten a lot cooler, too. Not that she herself would freely admit that.
Shirou nodded. He felt like that, too. Something about being a knight really appealed to a man's heart and spirit, in a way not quite like the way it would appeal to a girl's heart.
"Just like how when I'm equipping my own card, I feel even more irritated at your stupidity than usual." She commented.
"That's in bad taste, Tohsaka." Shirou complained.
He normally wouldn't mind such a joke, but after the experience he had with her card, almost crippling him in the process, that comment somehow irritated him.
"It's not a joke, Emiya-kun." Tohsaka said, seriously. "It's the truth."
"..." Somehow, that irritated Shirou even more.
"Speaking of which," Tohsaka continued,
"Just how were you able to draw so much power out of my card?" She asked. "Being able to pull out so much power shouldn't be possible for any human body, regardless of your compatibility. Well, Ilyasviel is a special case because of her circumstances, but it shouldn't have been possible for you."
Shirou scratched his head.
"Well, even if you ask me..." He started, "I doesn't really know how to answer."
"..."
"I can barely remember how I did it myself. There are only vague impressions left, like feeling some sort of connection, like I was somehow pulling on something I wasn't supposed to...Or something like that."
Rin pondered on that for a bit. Was it possible that he had some sort of important connection to her Heroic Spirit? Maybe like an ancestor, or somebody who used a very similar type of magecraft, or something?
"Ah, that's right!" Shirou interrupted, breaking her train of though, "How did you recover from your wounds, Tohsaka?"
She looked at him skeptically. "You're kidding, right? Recovery and repair magecraft one the most basic types of magecraft."
Well, the more advanced forms required skilled magus, but if it was only recovering a few bones, not that much more complex than restoring glass, albeit the realignment of nerves and blood vessels did take a lot more precision.
Judging by the amazed look on Shirou's face, he in fact did not know that beforehand.
Tohsaka sighed. He really was a ridiculously amateur novice of a magus.
"What's far more impressive," Tohsaka emphasized, "Is the fact that you somehow managed to recover from a burst eyeball! Even most modern medical magecraft wouldn't be able to do something like that, you know? To be able regenerate and restore function to something as complex as that?"
"Ah, that's right!" Shirou said, seeming to only have noticed that just now, "My eye is fixed again, now! That's good."
Tohsaka sighed, "You only noticed, just now?"
Shirou laughed awkwardly. "Well, I only noticed it had broken in the first place right before passed out, after all. And it wasn't exactly the first thing I would remember upon waking up."
"Well, whatever." She said, "More importantly, Emiya-kun, do you have any idea how you healed up?"
Then, seeming to realize something, she stopped herself. "No, wait, on second though, maybe I shouldn't ask. We are enemy masters that will have to fight each other eventually, after all. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to be giving away your secrets so early on in the war, and for free, either."
"Really?" Shirou asked, perplexed, "Well, I don't mind, Tohsaka. I trust you. You say we're enemies, but you've already saved my life twice now. And we fought off that girl together and you even took me back to your house to rest up. I can't think of you as any enemy after all that, Tohsaka."
Tohsaka scoffed. "That's just because you're too naive, Emiya-kun. I could be tricking you or trying to manipulate you, for all you know. I'm a magus, after all."
"Yeah." Shirou said, "But, I trust you, Tohsaka. And you really are a nice person, to be so worried for me."
Tohsaka blushed, "I am not! And the same flattery won't work on me twice, Emiya-kun!" She scolded.
Shirou just smiled, continuing.
"I think," He said, "My servant card might have something to do with it? Even during my first battle, I was somehow healing up while fighting, and the same was true in my battle with Mordred."
Well, it was bit different in that it wasn't something he had paid attention to or even particularly in his first battle. He just naturally ignored his battle wounds at that point, as if understanding instinctually that they wouldn't hinder him much, and would even surprise the opponent as kept charging forward, despite them.
But only in his battle with Mordred had he then consciously realized his body was somehow mysteriously healing itself constantly, though he was fighting for life at that point, so it wasn't really something he was able to especially pay focus to or ponder on, at that point.
Tohsaka nodded. "I see. An ability of your card, huh? Well, that does make sense, and I suppose that would only be the only natural explanation."
That was along the lines of what she had guessed, anyway. Though she had wondered whether or not Emiya-kun had somehow made use of any other magecraft or mystic codes, given just how powerful the healing potency of his recovery seemed to be. But given how much an amateur he seemed to be, that didn't seem to be very likely.
"Then, let's form an alliance, Emiya-kun." Tohsaka suddenly proposed cheerfully, out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Shirou asked, "What is this, all of a sudden?"
Not like he particularly minded, but it did seemingly come out of nowhere.
"Well, you trust me don't you?" She asked, not really for confirmation, but with more of a lecturing tone, as though she were leading Shirou to a conclusion.
Shirou nodded.
"And I've already done some favors for you, so it would be a pain for you to just die now on your own, after everything." She explained, "Plus, a naive fool like you probably wouldn't betray me." She said. "Probably."
Shirou laughed, but he couldn't disagree. And personally speaking, he actually did like the idea of teaming up and working with her.
"And, you he healing ability and unknown ability to draw extra power out of my card might prove useful, too. Especially if you could draw that much power out of other cards, as well."
Internally, Shirou doubted that.
It felt like the connection and compatibility he had with that Archer card was very unique, and unlikely to be found with other cards - The compatibility he had with it was even more so than the level he had with his own card, and probably even more so than Ilya's bond with her card.
But he didn't voice that concern to Tohsaka, not wanting to interrupt her or make her reconsider her offer.
"Plus, in worst case scenario," She said, "I could use you as a meat-shield if things start taking a turn for the worst. With your recovery speed and potency, it's not like you would die, after all."
Shirou laughed nervously.
Well, she said so, but she probably wouldn't actually do that, right?
Right...?
"Well," Tohsaka said, finishing up, "Keep in mind that this will only be temporary alliance in any case, and that even if both manage to survive until end, We still will have to fight each other for the right to the Grail, in the end."
Shirou nodded. "I know. But if possible, I wouldn't want to fight you, Tohsaka."
"And that's exactly why you're too naive, Emiya-kun." Tohsaka chided, "It's not a matter of if you want to or don't want to, We all have to fight and kill each other, if we want to obtain the Holy Grail."
"I know." He said, "But even so, I don't want to fight you for it."
"Plus," He continued, "If you don't have a bad wish for grail, like, "World Domination", or anything,"
(Tohsaka scoffed at the childish imagination Emiya-kun had, mildly offended to think that he would even believe her wish would ever be something like that.)
"And especially if you have a Good Wish like World Peace, or something like that, then I wouldn't mind letting you have my card to reach the Grail."
Shirou could feel a bit of protest from the spirit of his card as he said that, but he pushed it down.
"..."
Tohsaka contemplated on that.
"...You're a real idiot, you know?"
Shirou chuckled. "Yeah, you've already told me many times, by now."
"Hmmm..." Tohsaka murmured, "Well, I don't have any wish for now, but I'll tell you when I decided on one, and you can tell me your decision then. Okay, Emiya-kun?"
Shirou nodded. "Sure."
Shirou paused, then turned back to Tohsaka in astonishment, "Wait, you don't have a wish?!"
She nodded.
"Then why are you risking your life fighting in the War?"
And Tohsaka, in typical Tohsaka fashion, replied nonchalantly.
"Well, to win for the sake of winning, of course."
She said, flipping her hair as a matter of course, giving her reply as though it was only obvious.
Shirou sweatdropped. What an intense reply, but given so nonchalantly! It was certainly a very "Tohsaka"-esque type of answer.
She glanced over at the clock.
"Ah, look at the time, Emiya-kun. We should be heading to School, by now."
Noticing she was right, Shirou nodded in agreement.
...
Heading over to the school for another day,
Shirou and Rin both paused as they felt something seriously wrong with the air.
As he walked through gate, Shirou could taste the feel of something sickly sweet in the air, sickening his senses.
He could feel his Card warning him, too, that there was something wrong here.
There was the bounded field, of course. But there was also the presence of one, no, two Masters at the school?
Shirou glanced over at Rin, "Do you feel that, Tohsaka?"
She nodded back.
This was something they couldn't just ignore.
They would need to take care of this, and soon.
...
Bon Appetite!
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Author's Notes:
Next chapter, Shirou and Tohsaka VS Shinji and Sakura?
Why is Sakura fighting by Shinji's side? Find out next time, on Dragonball, I mean, er, Fuyuki's Regal Class-Card-Clad War!
(I know it may not sound very exciting or very appetizing at first, but keep in mind that Shinji never truly had his own Servant in the original Visual Novel, but does here. So, who could it be?
Also, just keep in mind about Sakura's circumstances...
So it might just end up being more appetizing and exciting and fulfilling than you expect it to be, at first glance!)
So, look forward to it!