Homecoming

*Story Start*

*Minato*

"Come on, big brother!" Yukari didn't quite growl, but it may have been a close thing. Somehow, every single time without fail, whenever we were apart I forgot how… much… my sister was. Maybe it was the trauma, but I always forgot the pain and horror she caused when she wasn't actively doing something to me. Case in point: she was less leading me and more pulling my arm out of its socket as I stumbled behind her. They did say trauma can affect memory… "Aren't you excited! Mom invited us to a restaurant."

Excitement? No, I would say I was filled with more dread than excitement. Placements were soon and as much as I had been studying, I didn't feel confident.

"Ow! I'm coming! Slow down!" She didn't have to pull so hard; we were still on time. "And it isn't anything strange, is it? We go out every time you're home.

Despite my words, though I was trying not to think about it too hard, Yukari was right. Mom almost never had the time to take us out, especially lately; whenever we 'went out' it was usually take-out brought back to her work flat.

The fact that Mom made the time to take us out made me think this might be a celebration of some kind. It wasn't either of our birthdays or… the other event… so it had to be something for work. Please, please let it be work. If it was for my upcoming exams…

"Oh! I wonder if she has a new boyfriend!" Yukari exclaimed.

A what?!

The thought had me stop – for all-of a half second before Yukari pulled me along again. It was a good thing we were seeing mom after all; I think I needed a doctor.

"Minato, stop being slow!"

"I'm not! Stop rushing, I'm right behind you."

"Stop being distracted by my ass then." I blanched, stumbling and – ow! "I see it there!" She pointed, ignoring my pained and scandalized yelp.

"Yukari! You can't just say that!" Already some very judgmental looking stares were directed at me by passersby. "People might get the wrong idea!"

"Or the right one, sis-con." She snorted. I was not! Ugh, and her holding my hand like this wasn't helping. Nor, probably, was the heat creeping up my neck from embarrassment. Wasn't I supposed to be the one leading her as the older sibling? "Now would you hurry up, I wanna see Mom and – holy shit she has a boyfriend!"

Mom was standing, having seen us as we walked in. She wasn't wearing her customary lab coat so I didn't see her at first. She was, however, wearing one of her nicer black function dresses and one of her good necklaces with matching earrings. The pearl ones that complimented her hair (I was raised by a single mother, I picked up things).

The table was a four-seater, which wasn't unusual for our us since it was the three of us. What was unusual was that the fourth setting was laid out and not empty…

…and there was a man standing beside Mom and – Oh gosh, Yukari was right…

He was tall, towering over Mom by a bit over a head. Red hair, cut short on the sides and a bit longer on the top, was starting to turn prematurely gray – or rather, a startlingly familiar shade of white – at the temples. He was wearing a crimson button-down shirt and a pair of black slacks. A suit coat was folded over his chair behind him. He didn't look like a doctor, maybe – holy hell the guy was cut – his arms didn't look bulky, but when he moved to wave his arm muscles flowed against the fabric. A swimmers' build more than anything, but wow…

"Holy shit, go Mom…" Yukari was much more appreciative if also crass (okay, so I was jealous).

It did allow me to take the lead and pull her the final distance to the table.

"Minato, Yukari." Mom smiled at us, "I have someone I want you to meet."

And there was the trepidation again. Mom never brought people to meet us. I wasn't even positive she had dated anyone while we were growing up. Was this her branching out now that we had left the house?

I swallowed. "Hello, Sir. I'm Minato Sahashi." Mom raised me to always put my best foot forward despite my inner turmoil and, if this man was important then I wouldn't let her down.

"I didn't know you were a cougar, Mom." I felt my insides shrivel and die.

Mom didn't do much better, for once looking torn between horrid embarrassment and flaying my sister alive. It might also be the only time I'd ever seen my mom without an immediate retort.

"I'm glad to see I'm appreciated in my time." The stranger filled the silence. "But how do you know this isn't an arrangement? I could be interested in the newer model."

"Shirou!" Mom slapped his arm as Yukari bluescreened. Ironic given the way her face turned crimson from her chin to her forehead. "That's hardly appropriate. And you, young lady! Where do you get off speaking like that to new people? I know for a fact that I raised you better!"

Mom laying into Yukari was old hat enough it let me take my own breath and recalibrate (although her laying into the stranger the same exact way was new). That wasn't what I expected from someone dating Mom, let alone someone Mom would date. That was more the reaction of –

"I'm joking! I'm joking, sorry." The man, Shirou, smiled indulgently (laughing as Mom alternated between swatting at him and Yukari). "You just remind me of my younger sister, Illya. She acted very similarly; always poking and prodding, but get her on the backfoot and she got flustered. Interesting to see it works on other little sisters."

That: what an older sibling should say to take the mickey out of a rambunctious younger one. One of the things that never came to me in the moment (shower thoughts the next day never seemed to help). I took another, more careful look this time as the dread crept back in with a vengeance.

The white creeping into his hairline wasn't just a familiar shade. Standing next to Mom, I could see that it was the same shade as hers (I resisted the urge to pat my own hair, wondering if I'd go white early too). The red too, now that I thought about it, was a shade I'd seen before. It's hard not to recognize, given the number of times I stared at the photo, wondering.

And his eyes.

I'd know that shade of molten gold mixed in with brown anywhere. No one else I'd met had the same color eyes as the boy on the mantle.

I found myself speechless, motionless, as the conversation droned about me.

"I'm not 'seeing' anyone." Mom continued. "And if I was, while I appreciate your support, that was a terrible way to say it. What I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted." She took a moment to use Glare Seven until Yukari quailed (it didn't take long). "Was that I would like to introduce you both to someone very important I met at work a few weeks ago."

"You realize how that makes it sound more like we're dating." The glare shifted from the now giggling Yukari to Shirou. He mimed zipping his lips. Now that I looked for it, he had the same impish smile Yukari had when she was making trouble. Mom's lips passed down to more than just my sister.

"Fine." She groused. "I was going to do this properly, but like a band-aid it is. Minato, Yukari, I'd like you to meet Shirou Emiya." She tossed a pack of files onto the table. "His other name is Ichirou Sahashi, your older brother."

…

Even having foreseen it, the confirmation stole the breath from my lungs like I'd been punched.

"I see where I got my sense of tact from." Shirou… Ichirou… my dead brother spoke.

A piercing, shrill sound sent most of us wincing (and several nearby tables glaring) as Yukari squealed.

"OhmygodIhaveanewbigbrother!" I had barely recovered from the first assault when she let out another keening cry and dashed around the table. "You're so big! How'd you get so tall? Am I gonna get tall like that? I hope so, I'll kabedon everyone at school like 'hey babe, how you doing' and BAM! Kabedon! Can you lift me?"

And then reached her hands up like a toddler asking for ups.

…

I think I might die of secondhand embarrassment, if only because Yukari showed no hint, and I was left to suffer both her share and my own.

A single hand came down and palmed her head. "Eat your vegetables, exercise and get good grades." He ruffled her hair, which she growled at (literally, she growled)… but she smiled underneath the squinting glare she gave him with a light dusting of pink on her cheeks.

The last time I tried to give Yukari a headpat she bit me.

"Yukari, sit." Mom and I sighed in tandem, even if only she vocalized the sentiment. "You're making a scene. Why did I have us go out, I should have hidden you three at home with takeout. What was I thinking?"

What was she thinking? I banished the uncharitable thought immediately, though wishing for a private space to deal with all this new information would have been nice.

"That if I was just in your apartment when they arrived, they would get the wrong idea, I think."

"How long have you known?" I croaked.

The two shared a look, then Shirou gestured.

"A few weeks." Mom admitted. Weeks? "An…Let's say an accident led to a genetic test getting a partial match. I was called in to help troubleshoot as I'm in charge of that area of the lab group."

"We get it, Mom." Yukari interrupted. "You're really cool and smart and I want to be just like you."

Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, despite weathering Mom's curdling glare.

"You're lucky you're cute." Mom's hands darted out like a viper to pinch Yukari's cheeks, no less affectionate for the shark-toothed smile she was wearing.

"Ah! Mom! I give! Forgive me!" Yukari wailed.

"We're going to be thrown out at this rate." Shirou groused, directing it somewhat towards me as an audible 'aside.' I found myself agreeing with him. People were staring.

"So what was the error?" I asked. Focusing on the older male was easier than dealing with the Sahashi women. Story of my life.

"That the test had a match at all." Shirou shrugged, continuing the story while my mom and sister had their 'bonding moment'. "I had just landed at the airport and was trying to get home when they called Takami. Then we sent out for confirmation with other hospitals and then if slash how to go about, well… this." He gestured to us all sitting at the same table.

"Yive bive hive dive hive tive?" Yukari didn't quite speak through the stretched face as make speech adjacent noises.

"Yukari, try to speak normally please." Mom let go of her and retook her seat and poise. "But no, Shirou has not 'been here the whole time'."

I remained unconvinced that Mom didn't have some sort of magic powers.

"It's by luck that I was even in town in the first place." I recognized his expression from both Mom and the mirror; he meant something unfortunate happened to him then. "Had my flight not gotten diverted from Fuyuki."

Fuyuki. My breath hitched. Mom and Yukari quieted down too, a somber pall fell on the table at the word. It wasn't a pleasant word in the family for, well, obvious reasons.

"Shirou lives there." Mom answered the unasked question.

All the sad not-birthdays. The silence that came whenever the sister city came on the news or in conversation. The times I'd catch Mom staring at the picture on the mantel when she thought we were out playing. The days and years of mourning her first son. All this time and he was only right there next to us? Practically right in our backyard…

"You have been here the whole time!" Yukari gave voice to the thoughts. "Boo! All the summers we were right there we could have found you! But you're here now, right? Does that mean you're going to be living with us in the city from now on? Oh! Can we call you Ichirou-niisan?"

"Ah, that was a lot. For starters, I'd prefer going by Shirou." Shirou was holding up well getting the 60% strength Yukari treatment. "I'm on vacation for the next few weeks. Some of that has been used up confirming everything, but for the rest of that time I think I'll be around?" He glanced at Mom and found approval. "After that though I'll have to go back to England."

"Is that where you live?" Yukari gushed. "I always wanted to go abroad!" She did? "That's so adventurous!" Ah, adventure. That did sound more like my sister.

"I've been living there since the end of high school. A friend and I went to university there and we ended up sticking around." Oh, so he was good looking, personable and got into a school abroad. "Though my work has me traveling most of the time."

"That's not fair!" Yukari whined. "I have to go back to school for exams! I wanna stay!"

That's right. She was home since she was done with classes for a few days before her finals kicked off. If Shirou was only here for a little while, I would be studying during his stay, and she'd be away the rest of the time too.

"Where abouts? I can probably take you on my way." He offered. At Mom's surprised look he expounded. "I still haven't had a chance to head back to Fuyuki since landing in the city and I need to go soon. If it's possible to chaperone the trip, I can drop her off on my way to or way back from home."

Mom looked uneasy. Even if it was only a short train ride away from the home we grew up in the countryside, we'd never gone into Fuyuki for obvious reasons. That probably meant no… I was upset by how I wasn't upset by the thought. This was a lot of change, a dead brother coming back to life and I felt I wasn't handling it as quickly or as well as Yukari.

That's… fair. I was stressed and (not a little bit) jealous. I couldn't help my feelings, but I could help the way I acted.

"It might be a good idea, Mom." She looked surprised, but I forced myself to continue. "I'm going to be busy studying until exams and would feel bad taking up time when I can't afford to actually spend it with you all and get to know you, Shirou-san. Plus, you were going to take Yukari back to school yourself anyway, right Mom? It would give her time to reconnect." I turned to the older man, "Then, after my exams, if you still have time left in Japan, then we can get to know each other as well?"

It was the reasonable solution. The best for everyone. Sometimes, to make people happy, you had to sacrifice, right?

"If you're sure, honey." My affection for Mom swelled, but after searching my face she must have found something there that made her agree. "Alright. I'll have to arrange things with work though."

As the three of them began to work out the logistics, I could feel the distance yawning open between us. It wasn't charitable or fair, but I felt lonely watching my family going on an adventure with what could only be my replacement – an older, stronger and more confidant brother to Yukari and an established if not successful (and by the level of dress he was at least doing well enough) eldest son to Mom.

Someone whom Yukari didn't bully but could gush over.

A son that made Mom happy.

I looked at how he integrated himself with Mom and Yukari, baiting out carefree smiles in what were complete strangers.

I wanted that.

I don't think I was going to be able to focus on studying anymore though….

*Yukari*

I was up with the sun today. Not because I was weird, like a morning person, but because I was too excited to keep sleeping. New brother (pending) Shirou was taking us into the rebuilt city across the red bridge we passed on our way in last night.

For some reason I had always imagined Fuyuki like one of those black and white historical atrocities: all bombed out and full of horror like an episode of Fist of the North Star. The city was very pretty looking, though much much smaller than Shin Tokyo and I didn't see any gangsters (much to my disappointment).

I didn't get to hang around Shin Tokyo too much on my own with school and Mom working her insane hours. It would be fun to be able to be let loose for the first time in… a sad while. Shirou was much more stacked than Minato though, so I'd be able to buy as much as my allowance could handle!

Er, that was, after a slight detour. Still wasn't sure how to feel about visiting the graveyard where our father's parents were. It wasn't like he was in our lives any and they'd died long before Minato or I were even born. They were, however, another clue to my growing suspicion for why Mom spent so long in the office. I could feel my grin grow sharp. Office romances were a hallmark of the older shojo books for a reason after all.

Plus, he was always calling the house and making Mom flustered and-slash-or mad, which was the same thing once you hit thirty (or so I figured from said novels). Oh, if their stones said Hiroto!

I needed to find out if child support included allowances… or were retroactive. I squealed, almost slipping on the (only slightly dusty) wooden floors. But I didn't fall and, more importantly, I didn't wake up Mom or Shirou.

This house was so huge! When Shirou had mentioned that he grew up alone after his other dad died, I was expecting him to have lived in some rundown bachelor pad or decrepit apartment. Something sad, like with leaky faucets and peeling wallpaper and a bad smell. The sort of not-quite-a-motel they showed on television or in those kinds of manga where lonely men go to fail to learn to cook, clean, do laundry, or talk to women.

You know, like Minato's place.

Old man Emiya must have been loaded though! To afford an old old school style mansion, the type that featured in samurai films (I didn't pay too much attention to the plots, but sword fights went hard). The rooms had real tatami mats and the doors to the shared common areas were shoji. Mom had already lectured me three times for being too hard on them, but nothing broke so far!

The house even had a courtyard. A courtyard! With a stone walled shed dominating one end and a full-sized dojo across the yard. Yeah, not like a home gym like Mom had, or an exercise room you got if you moved a couch out of the way.

There was a full sized, shiny floored, weapon rack lined actual freaking dojo! Just right there!

New big brother (pending, but like… woah) had serious main protagonist energy! Even if he turned out to be turbo lame (unlikely, given what I've seen so far), I needed to start applying the good old fashioned 'little sister' routine yesterday. With casual swag like this – for a home he wasn't even in most of the time – I would be flush with new manga. Oh! Better yet, I could spread out into collectibles!

I was just passing by the front door on the way to the kitchen (well, what I thought was the way. I may have gotten turned around at the third bedroom I'd found) when the door handle jiggled.

A guest? I froze. It was way too early for a guest; everyone else was still asleep! It was barely past seven and – the door handle turned and the door kicked itself open!

A home invasion?! A sketchy looking woman with manic eyes literally kicked open the door. Yeah. Someone was breaking into the house.

Shit! She just broke into the house!

"Shirou! You better have a very good… explanation… for…" The woman, clearly some kind of vandal, was wearing a red, foreign band shirt under a black leather jacket, with metal studs around the neck, shoulders and cuff. Black jeans with purposefully ripped slash frayed thighs and boots. There was the glint of violence and madness in her brown eyes. Her yell tapered off as she saw me frozen in front of her.

"Shirou!" I screamed and bolted. This was too much protag energy! I didn't want to be kidnapped by some over the hill vengeful woman after my brother's fortune! I was a delicate young maiden! My flight of all of three steps before I was skidding around the corner and slipping on the (now slightly more dusted) floor.

"Shirou!" The woman let out her own yell behind me – like the roar of a wild animal, an apex predator having found a cute young morsel to devour – and gave chase.

"Shirou! Mom!" My voice shrill as I took another skidding corner on my hands and feet, pinwheeling for purchase.

Salvation! Shirou burst out of his room; feet planted like he was ready to tackle any threat and beat it into submission like a goddamn Hero. Not since I was eight had I ever been so relieved to see an older brother.

"Shiroutheresascaryyankeewomanandshebrokeintothehouseandchasedme" I barely had the breath to speak as I dove, power sliding across the floor and grabbing his leg as I slid past.

"ShirouwhoisthisyounggirlshesbarelyanyolderthanIlyaIsthisthewayIrasiedyou – Wha?" The woman started ranting as soon as she laid eyes on him, only to cut off as Shirou bodily hiked her onto one shoulder with one arm.

I gave my own bewildered yell (I did not squeak) as his other armed scooped me up around my middle. The distance between the stranger and I, even if it was only Shirou's body width, seemed like a chasm as he hefted us up.

"Shirou! Yukari!" Mom spilled out (a little literally) from around the corner still wearing a sleeping gown. "What's wrong?" Only to freeze at the sight of Shirou with one strange woman over his shoulder and me tucked under the opposite arm.

"Mom!" I cried, reaching for her. "A strange woman after Shirou broke in and chased me!"

"M-mom?" The woman, no longer screaming, whispered shellshocked. Her gaze alternating between mom and myself. "A mother… and a daughter… at the same time. Kiritsugu, where did I go wrong raising this boy…"

Wait… what did she –

"No." Shirou grunted. "I don't know what's going on but its too early for this. Yukari, Takami, this is Fujimura Taiga." He said while lifting said woman off his shoulder to dangle in the air like a dangerously large cat held aloft by the scruff. "She isnt' a burglar. She's practically an older sister to me.

"Aww, Shirou – eek!" She startled as he then casually tossed her in a gentle arc into his room. A muffled whump signaled her safe landing on the futon that had her hissing like a cat to escape.

"This," He grabbed me, and I struggled not to giggle as he held me upside down by the waist, "is my actual blood sister Yukari Sahashi." A flex sent me in the same arc Taiga flew in to bounce off the sheets in the spot the older woman just vacated. My cry was decidedly of the warrior woman type, and not the girlish, giggling squeal they might have claimed.

"Is everything alright Shirou? Yukari?" Mom poked her head in the door over Shirou's shoulder. Well… more like poke around his shoulder. New big brother was tall.

"You mean you aren't two timing a mother and daughter?" Taiga muttered, "And that my charms as the older sister next door haven't finally caused you to snap and ravish me as part of your deviant harem?"

Oh. My. God. I think I had a new hero.

"Hmm… I'm going to make coffee." Mom wandered off to the kitchen (the opposite direction of where I'd thought it was).

"Wha…What?" Shirou held the bridge of his nose in his hands when he finally unfroze.

"Well after I let Rin stay over while that nice Saber girl was here," New older sister Taiga continued, "I had to hear a lot of rumors in the staff office about you. Of course I protested, my Shirou was such a good boy, I said. But don't think I didn't notice the three of you sneaking out at night."

Shirou gaped, tried to talk, stopped and gaped again. This was the power of Ultra Older Sister…

"And you followed Rin all the way to England? Poor Sakura came to me crying-"

"Stop." Shirou breathed out a hard sigh. "Just… I don't… how wrong you… I'm going to make breakfast. When I am done, then we can have a nice morning that makes sense." He retreated, following Mom towards the kitchen.

"Shirou is so cute when he's flustered." I looked over at Taiga-senpai, who locked gazes with me. This must be what all those worthless friends Minato kept trying to make felt when I stared into their NEET souls. "So, you're really related to Shirou?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Mom showed us the tests and everything."

"Hmm…" Slowly, a cheek rending grin split her face. "Wanna go look at pictures of him as a kid?"

Oh HELL yes.

*Yukari*

I was pulling into the drive up to the church when Takami spoke up.

"You can let me off here."

"Here?" I slowed to a stop. The path up was lined with gravestones. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. This is close enough." She got out as I shifted the truck into park. "Go on ahead and I'll catch up with you afterwards."

"Wait, mom!" Yukari was already halfway out of her seatbelt. "I'll come with."

"No. Stay." Tamaki stopped her. "This trip was so the two of you could bond, so take some time to talk without me for a bit." At Yukari's pout, Takami continued. "You'll be fine. I'm sure Shirou would appreciate the company, right?"

Not really. I preferred to do my mourning alone.

"Sure, you can meet the other side of the family." I said instead. She did have a point about getting to know each other more. Plus, I could see Yukari's dejected expression in the rear-view mirror. "We'll just be up the hill a little then."

We watched as she left, wandering through the aisles of graves towards our presumed grandparents' plots. Yukari huffed and her arms crossed as she pouted.

"If you'd rather not stick with me, I won't be offended." I offered.

"That's not it." She explosively sighed. "Mom just never lets us know anything about our dad. Everything I know I've had to sneak around for. I thought that this time…"

"This time you'd be able to join her and get closure?"

"Yeah…" We continued watching until Takami stopped, barely in sight, in front of three plots. "Sorry, it's not you it's just…she hasn't told you anything, has she?"

"No." I shake my head. "Only that they work together in some capacity."

It wasn't much to go on, given how big a company Mid Bio Informatics was and I had agreed to Takami's terms of not telling her children what company she worked for. Yukari's frown inverted, however, so learning something however small cheered her up.

It felt… nice… to turn her mood around.

"In the meantime, hop up front." I tapped Takami's former seat. "We might not know your dad, but you can meet mine."

"Score!" Yukari scrambled, not around the truck as I'd expected, but vaulted over the gearshift, nearly kicking me in the face.

"Hey! Careful!" My shout was clearly ignored as she wormed her way into the seat.

"I got it!" I waited for her to click her seatbelt in before shifting the truck back into drive and pulling away. "So, uh… what's up with the muscle man detail? Is that like, a guy thing?"

Ah… she was referring to the large, in color detail of the Berserker Heracles on the hood of the truck.

"What, you don't like the Bersercar?" I grinned as Yukari pulled a face. "I'll have you know that Illya painted it."

"Illya?"

"My sister. She's up ahead." I took the wide turn to where I usually stopped when I came up here – about halfway between the meager graveyard and the church entrance. "Towards the… end, I suppose… she wasn't as mobile anymore. A lot of her other hobbies were difficult for her."

The truck, inaptly named the Bersercar even though it wasn't a car, had become a bonding experience for the both of us. When her over tuned circuits began to turn on her body, she was left increasingly unable to perform her mysteries. Her Wishcraft – a shortcut for her alchemy that leveraged her insane amount of prana generation to 'cheat' prerequisites and materials for mysteries – became too taxing for her body, and my own studies into unlocking my Reality Marble and other sword based magecraft were incompatible for bridging the gaps between our styles.

"Some days, it hurt her to move. On others, it was so bad she couldn't." Eventually, in those helpless days, the two of us began to study runecraft. From there, small experiments to make each other laugh or smile. How to make a propeller spin. How to make a squirt-gun. The types of things we might have made as children if we hadn't had the childhoods we lived.

"Then one day we started to pick up mechanics. Small things, like battery powered propellers and other toys. But we made them ourselves."

If any self-respecting Magus had caught us, they'd probably have been compelled to kill us on principle. Instead, Rin just yelled at us for wasting time and material in dead ends. Either way, those small gags eventually became the Bersercar.

"One day, my truck broke down. I wasn't using it as much, so I didn't need to replace it just yet. I'm not sure when or how it happened, but it became a thing we'd work on. Just the two of us."

"That sounds sweet." Yukari said as I put the truck in park.

"I suppose. It wasn't done when she passed, but I've kept up on the maintenance now and then since." Which may have meant incorporating some of her more experimental, not-safe-for-roads parts. The Bersercar was, like its namesake, a fucking monster. I could probably drive through a building and not feel it.

I led her down the path to the graves by memory alone. It was odd, having company. Taiga had offered many times to accompany me – I knew she came by on occasion on her own – but it never felt right. Yukari's presence… wasn't unwelcome, but it didn't really fit either.

"Yukari, I'd like you to meet my dad Kiritsugu Emiya, his wife Irisviel Einzbern and my sister Ilyasviel Einzbern." The graves were side by side, nothing more than a bit of stone with an inscribed name.

"Kiritsugu Emiya…" Yukari sounded out the name on the first headstone while I got to work clearing the clutter from around the graves. "So… this is the family that adopted you?"

"Something like that. Kiritsugu is the one who saved me from the fire." I couldn't help the lilt of my cheeks as the image of his smile from that day still burned clear in my mind. My first clear childhood memory. The smile that resonated in my soul with the cry: 'I want to save someone too. I want to feel that joy.'

"Huh…" Yukari's grunt brought me back to the present. "Sorry, it's nothing… just… your smile looked so sad."

"Ah…" What? How could one of my most treasured memories be sad?

"Ah!" She panicked, waving her hands in front of her. "Ignore that. I said something strange. Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it…" I wasn't sure what she was getting at, but I'd probably heard worse. Rin often said I was broken. Archer… merely confirmed it.

"Still, I'm – holy… Oh. Wow. I think I just found religion." What?!

I looked up at where she was staring up past me.

"Hello, you two. Ah. Shirou-san, I thought that was you." A new, familiar voice came from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see a woman with shoulder length gray hair wearing a black ankle to neck habit trimmed in white. Her golden eyes didn't reflect the small, welcoming smile I knew to be an illusion. In her hands was a small brown package tied together with twine of all things.

"Hello Caren." I raised my hand in greeting. Caren Hortensia, a member of the Exorcists, took over the custody of the Fuyuki church after Rin and I killed her father during the Grail War. A cover, of course, for her activities helping the church's Burial Agency – the holy equivalent of the Clock Towers' Enforcers.

In other words, we were polite rivals and comrades in arms.

"Shirou?" Yukari nudged my side, not taking her eyes off Caren.

"Right. Yukari, this is a friend of mine: Caren Hortensia. She runs the church here." I introduced her. "Caren, this is Yukari Sahashi. She's my guest on her way back to school for her exams. I'm not sure but you may have seen her mother on the way over."

"How do you know a nun?" She blithely asked. Was I this bad at talking to people when I was younger?

"Yukari." Thankfully, Caren only laughed at Yukari's loudly whispered and very rude question.

"Shirou-san was an acquaintance of my fathers'." Caren answered for me. Her golden eyes still showed the same triumph and relief my own held knowing that bastard Kotomine Kirei was permanently dead. "You may well know, but Shirou has a habit of helping women in need."

"Why did you stress 'women'?" I deadpanned at her, to no avail.

Actually, while she was here, there was something I wanted to discuss with Caren alone.

"Yukari, why don't you check on your mom?" I said.

"What? But she said…" Yukari pouted.

"I'm about done here." I kindly interrupted, giving her a significant glance. "Why don't you go find her and let her know we're ready to leave soon."

Her grin bloomed in time with her understanding. "You're the best big brother!"

I flinched as she dove for me, arms encircling my middle. I blinked away the static – my hands coming to gently grasp the shoulders of the white-haired albino –

"Ara? Has the beast of Emiya finally turned his sights upon me?" Caren chimed in, feigning a swoon as she brought her hand up to her forehead. "Shirou-san is truly insatiable, that two beauties cannot keep his attentions, he still sets his eyes upon a Lamb of the Lord."

"That really happened?!" Yukari stared in awe before bolting through the gravestones giggling as I play-swiped at her. I'd probably pay for that later, I mused as I watched the giggling black-haired girl try (and probably fail) to sneak towards her mom, in the meantime…

I turned a baleful glare towards the woman next to me trying (and failing) to smother her mirth.

"Really, Caren?" I sighed. "Between you and Taiga I'll never live that rumor down."

"Then you should repent for your wicked ways," Caren's grin belayed her haughty delivery. Now that she brought her arm down, I could see her eyes sparkle in devious delight. "Consorting with a witch is a sin, or so I hear. If you wish, I can hear your confession, oh wicked sinner."

"Someone who didn't know you might take that as an invitation." I deadpanned, waiting a moment for the delivery of the next blow. "Or worse yet, be foolish enough to take you up on that."

"Ha!" She laughed, falling into step beside me as we began an aimless walk through the graves away from my companions. "I don't know, some proper absolutions may do you some good. Though maybe give someone else a chance…"

"And what, pray tell, is that supposed to mean." My deadpan held slightly more heat this time.

"Hmm?" She leaned a bit into me, looking up to try and stare me down. "Did I hear you right? Well since you did call for a higher power, I'd say you should stop flagellating yourself."

"I'm not–"

"You are." She countered. "Some people may find enjoyment in being punished but you are a different breed. The phrase 'build your own cross to carry' isn't meant to be an instruction: it's a warning."

"Caren–" I growled. My feet discovered a familiar section of the graveyard, and I froze. The shadows of the trees stretched towards us, reaching with jagged fingers–

"No, Shirou." She cut over me. "As a friend it's painful to see you go on like you're walking to your own death. You of all people know you can't save everyone, it's not a personal failing. Sometimes people die. You aren't to blame for –"

"Stop." I barked the words harshly. I held my breath until my palms stopped feeling sticky and wet, and then released it. "I'm not. Whatever you or Rin or Luvia are thinking. I get it. Sometimes people die." Sometimes you kill people…

The feeling may have disappeared, but the breeze still smelled like old blood.

"I didn't mean to upset you." She said after a time.

"It's fine." I turned away from the path leading to Matou's grave.

"You are keeping interesting company today." The subject change was weak, but it was enough to latch on to. "Though once more you seem to have brought an evil spirit to my doorstep."

"I'm aware." I tilted slightly away from the tree I thought Karasuba had posted up in. "That's Takami's bodyguard and my watcher while I'm in town." I kept my voice a bit lower, still unsure exactly how keen Karasuba's hearing was. "So long as we don't present a danger to Takami, we should be fine. She's more interested in me than you, anyway, so I wouldn't worry."

"I'm sure she is." Caren gave a noncommittal hum. "Interesting company indeed." She commented instead, leaving most of her statement unsaid.

I ignored whatever subtext she was trying to convey with those words and rolled my eyes.

"You know, when I was talking about your sins earlier, I was being metaphorical." She glanced over towards where I could hear Takami shriek Yukari's name. Given my experience with little sisters, maybe I shouldn't have underestimated the girl. "Rumors are fun and all, but do you have something to confess?"

"I suppose." I nodded, putting on as grave a face as I could. "That's my mother and sister."

Her stumble (almost a faceplant) was well worth it.

"Ah…Interesting company indeed."

"I'm not sure how I feel about it either." I let her try and regain her dignity without comment… this time. In the distance, I could hear Takami shouting – half in anger, half in surprise – as Yukari danced around her trying to see the graves the older woman bogarted.

"Are they…"

"I'm not sure." I turned us away from the two of them, walking deeper into the graveyard. "If they've knowledge of the moonlit world, they haven't let anything slip yet."

Which wasn't strange.

One of the rules of the moonlit world was to limit the knowledge of magic to practitioners only. Even amongst magical families, it was common for only one child to learn the family mysteries and other children learn as little about the family craft as possible. Sometimes… those other children were even sold or traded to other mage families that needed heirs.

Since I had been believed to be dead, any theoretical family craft would have fallen to Minato – the sibling I had the least interaction with so far. The soft-spoken boy wasn't what first came to mind when I thought of a Magus or heir but…

Sempai

…I would have to look out for the signs. Still…

"I don't think that's the case though. I haven't sensed any magic from either her or her daughter. Still, I have the feeling that Takami knows more than she lets on. Our watcher isn't human, but I haven't worked out specifically how yet."

"Quite the mystery you've stumbled into." I scowled at her unrepentant pun. "We were wondering what had been keeping you." We? "Our mutual friend was looking for you." Ciel was here? That wasn't right… I could hear Archer's bitter, mocking laugh echo. "Unfortunately, she couldn't stay long, but she left something for you."

She gestured to the unassuming package she'd been carrying.

"I promised I'd deliver her gift to you."

No… it couldn't be…

"She said it was repayment for a favor." She continued, untying the twine that held the package closed. Brown packaging gave way to red. Caren kept talking, but I couldn't hear the words over the static as my fingers touched the Shroud of Martin.

In the War, Archer… the future version of myself cursed to the Golden Throne of Heroic Spirits, had worn the red Shroud as a coat. His version was tattered and frayed at the hems, as if reflecting the physical, mental and spiritual wounds of its wearer.

And now I held his pristine signature fashion.

I held down the bile that rose in my throat.

"Well?" Caren asked. "Do you like it?"

"It's great."

The words tasted like grave dirt in my mouth.

…

How fitting.

*Scene break*

That night I found myself in the shed while Takami and Yukari were getting ready for bed. It was one part nostalgic, one part bitter as I wandered through the space. I let the memories of my first experiments with magecraft wash over me. Practicing Reinforcing objects: lightbulbs, lengths of wood, metal rods, pipes. I liked metal pipes. Taiga or–

Sempai

–Sakura calling to me through the door when I overslept in the morning. My feet took me to the back wall, to where I summoned my Servant for the Grail War. Saber.

Arturia.

The magic circle had faded, parts of it still visible where it was shallowly carved into the floor, but much of it packed with dirt and debris and faded with repeated wear and the passing of time. The scar over my heart itched, matching the unease in my stomach and I forced myself forward, stepping through the circle and out of the memories I had been lingering in.

My hands found a box – high up on the shelves and out of sight, tucked neatly into a gap between the stone wall and the wooden support beam. For all that I used this space as my unofficial – and to quote Rin – "third rate, backwater hedge workshop", it wasn't until setting Ilya to rest that I had fully explored it.

Maybe it was because I thought that, even if he was dead, these were dads things. I could hold the memory of him and his beliefs in my heart, but leaving his things as they were would… I don't know, preserving a vestige of his existence? Like a memorial? I suppose it didn't matter anymore.

I took down the unassuming wooden box – untouched by dust or time, unlike the rest of the shed – placing it on the floor before grabbing the (relatively) newer black duffel back I stashed next to it on my last visit.

Meeting with Caren… receiving the Shroud of Martin… put things into perspective. Particularly Archer's memories that I had been doing a poor job of not dwelling on. Archer never had reason to come back home after leaving for the clocktower. But he did return once. It may only be a coincidence that I was here but…

I opened the metal clasps to the box. Inside, the Thompson Contender that dad built his career in the corpses of dead mages. Three of the oversized shells – I didn't need to use Structural Grasping anymore for the knowledge of their construction to be burned into my brain – made of his powdered bones – remained. A mystic code made to weaponize his Origins of Cut and Bind.

I closed the case back up, slipping it into the duffel containing my emergency work kit, tucking it under the rune-inscribed, heavy black coat I preferred as my work attire. I hesitated… hefting the folded package containing Ciel's gift as if it was going to bite me. Knowing it was (or was supposed to be) Archers meant it probably would have if it could… before stuffing it in the duffel as well.

Whatever was waiting for me back in Shin Tokyo was… unknown. The last time I had faced something so alien to me had been – screamingbloodfire – a city fallen to the dead.

Even with my practice with Illya

I wasn't the best hand at runic based mysteries and the old pair of body armor and coat were out of date compared to the work gear I had left home in England, but it was better than nothing.

The hint of blood on the 'wind' settled the matter and I stuffed the mantle in the bag, closing it and taking it with me.

Whatever was going on with MBI, Shin Tokyo and the woman who stalked my shadow… I would be as ready as I could be for the end this time.

*End*

Once more, shout out to ParadoxicalThought, HibernaLupus, and OctZ for performing the sacred rites three times to awaken me from my eternal rest