Chapter 3: The Hero's Journey
Tohsaka and I fell back behind the adults as they made their way inside. When I look in her direction to motion that we will talk about it later, I stop partway in my concern from her pale complexion.
Her eyes are wide as they dart around in sudden deep apprehension before giving me a searching look. My expression in return is only even more confused.
"-what's with the weird look, Tohsaka?"
The adults ignore us while Tohsaka looks cross. "Emiya... is there something you want to tell me?"
Her voice was snippy, her fists balled at her sides. Yes, Tohsaka is definitely angry and I don't know how to defuse it this time.
Unsure how to answer, I decide to copy Kiritsugu. "Merry Christmas...?"
Tohsaka looks like she wants to hit me but has settled on ignoring me. She seems to take some measure of comfort from Kotomine's calmness instead. I don't think following Kiritsugu worked...
The trip through the house to the backyard was tense in the lull's wake after our talk. Emerging out into the backyard, Kotomine slows in his steps for a moment while Tohsaka gives a gasp.
Laughter, loud voices, and the faint aroma of flowers fill the air. With the sun bearing down on the view in front of us, even I'm stopped for a few seconds to admire the view.
Where once when we first came to this house, the fence surrounding it had small trees and bushes near it, now vibrant rows of flowers space themselves throughout, bringing an almost surreal beauty to the area.
Compared to anywhere else, home was always overflowing with Mana. The bounded field Justeaze had set up allowed Mana to flow in, but not out. I'm sure that she was collecting it from elsewhere and bringing it here. But I don't know how she's doing it.
Justeazes flowers and her workshop being set up within here meant that it was impossible for a mage to find out that we were here unless they stepped within the house.
After they take a moment to absorb the view and atmosphere, Kotomine turns to face Tohsaka and I while Kiritsugu leaves us behind to go toward Justeaze.
"Rin."
Straightening at the words of Kotomine, she gives him a look, desperately questioning what's going on.
Looking truly pleased, Kotomine gives a look of kindness that rang hollow. "Is this not good fortune for you? Your fear of dragging one of your new friends into the moonlight world is for naught. He was already a part of it."
"-wh... I-"
"Indeed. You can truly make a friend here, instead of avoiding them." He looks down at her, both stern adult and pleased guardian all at once.
"Though I would hope you take this opportunity, it is yours to do with as you wish. After all it is not unheard of for a Magus to tear down their peers..."
With those ominous words, he turns on his heels and makes his way leisurely towards where Justeaze and Kiritsugu seem to have a quiet argument.
Tohsaka looks shaken, cycling between fear, hope, and chagrin. My brows can only furrow at the words of Kotomine.
"Wait, Tohsaka you know magic?!" The words blurt out of my mouth in my shock. Pouncing on my side, Tohsaka covers my mouth with her hand in panic.
"Are you an idiot?! Don't say stuff like that in the open, idiot!"
Mumbling an apology to her hand, she retracts it before putting her hands on her hips with her eyes narrowed on me.
"E-mi-ya, you have some explaining to do." Sweat crawls down the back of my neck as I get the distinct feeling like I'm in danger.
Give me those skeletons to fight any day over an angry Tohsaka.
"W-well. Uh." I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to say here. I didn't even know she could do Magecraft too!
Propping up an elbow with her palm, she points at me imperiously. "Does anyone else here know?"
At this point, she is half hissing at me and half whispering.
"Yes, but it's only two people. I think…?" I might be wrong, considering I didn't even notice Tohsaka could also do magic. Most Magi should be able to sense others nearby unless they were hiding. But somehow both I and Tohsaka completely missed each other.
She rolls her eyes and flicks her hair with an air of someone who's already done with today. "You don't even know." She wasn't even asking at this point. It was a statement.
I'd be more proud on ruining her composure today if it was on purpose. Tohsakas perfect student persona has died and in its place is the real Tohsaka, who I could only get to appear rarely.
I liked the real Tohsaka a lot more, so it was not that bad.
Making a sound of frustration, she hunches her shoulders. "Take me somewhere we can talk privately, then. You aren't getting away until you explain everything and I determine your punishment."
The look I give her is dubious. I haven't even done anything, so why would I get punished?
"Sure…" I get a sharp look for my tone, but I lead her towards the party. She doesn't look impressed.
"Don't worry, I know just the place." My goal being the shed, or my Workshop.
Being polite to anyone we went past, I left a wide gap between us and Taiga just in case. Considering the mood Tohsaka was in, the meeting between the two wouldn't go very well.
Weirdly, my family and Kotomine weren't out in the garden anymore since I couldn't see them as we walked.
Making our way into the shed and closing it behind us, I led her towards the trapdoor so we could go even further down. The Mana only got thicker the further down we got towards where the Workshops were.
Once we reached the indoor pool that had been set up in here, we stopped. Motioning to a side bench, I sit down, waiting for Tohsaka to do the same. Giving a dubious look at the bench, Tohsaka mutters something under her breath as she activated her magical circuits. My hand twitching is as far as I get before I suppress my natural reaction to possibly being in a fight.
I'll be fine, it's just Tohsaka.
Looking pale after activating her circuits, she tentatively sits down at the furthest end of the bench away from being next to me. Warily she looks around as if waiting for something to jump out at her while keeping me in her periphery. I'm not sure what she's worried about.
"So...?"
Jumping at my question in fright, Tohsaka scowls at me in annoyance before glaring me down.
"What is even going on!? Since when could you do Magecraft? How did you hide it? Why haven't your family brought up the fact that you are all Magi in my territory?"
Out of breath and going red from sheer anger, she points at me as if it would get the answers out of me faster. My hands raise in surrender.
"Magic has been something I've been able to do ever since being adopted," I say, emphasizing my point. "I wasn't trying to hide. I didn't even know my family needed to talk to you...?" My voice trails off in my confusion.
"Wait, why do they need to talk to you again?"
Lunging across the bench to latch onto me, I get shaken by her in her anger.
Oh dear.
"What do you mean you don't know why you need to talk to me? Are you dumb? Have you lost your mind? Is this why you keep doing things and expect people to follow you?!" Practically shouting at me, I can only weather the storm of my friend the hurricane. Though I take her question seriously.
"I don't think I'm dumb, but I'm nowhere near as smart as you, Tohsaka. It's kind of hard to keep up honestly."
In embarrassment, she lets go of me before crossing her arms. "Why do you keep complimenting me? It will not make me less mad."
Before I can speak up, she continues. "And what do you mean by not being as smart as me? If you tell me about being not good at school or something when you have equal marks as me, I'm going to be even angrier."
Her tone has noticeably gotten a lot friendlier as she smiles at me at that last question. The hairs on the back of my neck rise. This is not a friendly question at all!
My answer is simple for this, at least.
"Because it's true? And it makes people happier to tell them their good points." While embarrassed by my point, she lets me continue uninterrupted. "You're also just smarter than me by far. Just ask anyone who knows us both. I have to put in a lot more time than you do to have to understand the same things."
Mulishly, she looks unconvinced. "How long do you spend studying?"
"...for schoolwork or...?"
"What do you mean by 'or'? Of course I meant schoolwork." Exasperated and out of patience, her foot taps.
"Outside of school? Probably... like six hours, minimum."
Spluttering, she looks at me in disbelief. "S-six hours! Do you not do anything else but study and spend time with us at school?!"
"No, of course not." Tohsaka is asking silly questions. "I train too."
"...you train too. Of course, I see." Rubbing her temples with the same tired air of Kiritsugu, I stop my hand from wanting to pat her on the shoulder. I'm not sure if that's the appropriate emotional response. I've gotten into trouble for that before.
Instead, I just nod before a brilliant idea comes to me.
"But man, this is going to be awesome! That means since you know about magic, I can finally talk to someone who isn't a big sister about it. It's hard sometimes being the only one learning magic and being so slow at it. Maybe working together we can become even better at magic!"
Tohsaka gives me the most shocked look yet at my abrupt change in topic, but I'm too excited to care.
"Do you think you could convince Kotomine to let you come over to my house?" Honestly, I'm not sure what I'll do if he says no. Maybe I can convince Justeaze for me to sneak out to Tohsakas instead?
The silence is deafening, long enough even that I fiddle with my hands as I wait.
"Emiya."
"Yes?"
"Stop speaking."
My mouth opens before I shut it with a snap. I wanted to argue that I had already stopped but that would probably make her angry...
"You haven't been taught properly at all." Frustrated, she slumps in her seat refusing to look at me. "Emiya. I'll have to think about it. And I'll need to get Kotomine to talk to your family about all the magic if he hasn't already. You're too much of an idiot to have been trying to trick me."
It hurts a little, considering she sounds so sure about calling me an idiot.
"Thank you...?"
"You're welcome." Sounding completely sincere, she takes the time to scowl at the pool itself. "Why is there so much Mana in here as well? I've never seen a place anywhere near close in how much there is." With how pale Tohsaka is getting in here, I should probably take her upstairs again. I get up from where I'm sitting and motion for her to follow.
"Oh, Justeaze just collects it, though I'm not sure how."
The rest of the trip is silent until we make our way out, back into the celebration. We both take a second to recollect ourselves at the sudden sound before I grab Tohsaka by the wrist and drag her now that she's no longer angry. Taken aback, she can only gasp and stumble after me as I direct her.
"I'll introduce you to everyone now that you feel better."
"Emiya, you can't just treat everything the same straight after!" The weight behind me increases a little, but I don't stop. "Why are you so strong, you brute!" She's practically whining at this point. First, I look around as I think about what to say to Tohsaka.
It looks like Kiritsugu, Kotomine, and Justeaze are back. Though they seemed to have separated out into different groups. I make my split decision to go towards my old man first since Tohsaka hasn't met him yet.
Distracted, I half pay attention to Tohsaka as I answer her. "Of course I can treat you the same. We agreed I have done nothing wrong. The only thing that might change is us spending more time together if you want to. Otherwise, we are still friends."
Currently Taiga is talking animatedly with Kiritsugu as he listens to her bemused. I'm not sure how Tohsaka will do with talking to Taiga, but considering Kiritsugu is there, it should be fine.
Spotting us, Taiga stops partway in her talking to give a shark like grin before pouncing in our direction. Before she can crush me in a hug and pick me up, I dodge enough to have her miss me while clutching Tohsaka to my side. Tohsaka gives a squeak in surprise with a wide eyed look at Taiga.
As the local wild girl, Taiga is no normal person. I can't say it out loud, but I hope Tohsaka learns that this wild tiger, who is trying to grab us, is a true menace and should be feared.
Growling in frustration, she pounces again, but it goes the same as before.
"Shirou! Let. Me. Hug. You." Lunging with each emphasis, I dodge each one. At the end, she collapses to her feet in her despair. Crying crocodile tears at my avoiding her. I ignore her in favor of Tohsaka.
"Sorry Tohsaka. Tiger here is untamed, so she can be dangerous to new people." Imparting my words of wisdom, the local animal in question gives a yowl in protest, shooting to their feet.
"Kiritsugu, Shirou is bullying me!" Dragging out the 'me', she latches onto the side of my old man and cries into his side.
"It's fine." In a miraculous recovery, Tohsaka regains her social grace, leaving my hold to give a perfect bow once more. "It's nice to meet you."
As Kiritsugu pats Taiga's shoulder in bemusement, she immediately recovers from her distress to look at Tohsaka with a mischievous grin. "Oho, is this one of Shirous' mysterious friends?"
Making her way towards Tohsaka, Taiga looks her up and down before giving me a thumbs up. "I approve. You need somebody who's polite and cute to make sure you stay out of trouble when I'm not around."
Putting a hand on Tohsaka's shoulder in complete seriousness, she stares her down.
"Shirou here is the sort of idiot who can't say no to helping people and forgets to look after himself. He's even started teasing me now! So keep him from becoming a twisted person who bullies his family and helps strangers without thinking, okay?"
Giving a sound of amazement at Taigas complete lack of knowing personal space or how to talk normally to somebody you just met, Tohsaka slips from the jaws of the tiger with a polite smile.
"I'll see what I can do." She said.
Behind Taiga looms the sight of Kiritsugu, who places a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough for now. You should go see your grandfather. I have something to talk about with the two kids here."
Blushing under the contact, Taiga nods enthusiastically before giving a salute to him. "Alrighty! See you later, Shirou and friend." Giving a wave to us both, she leaves with haste.
There is silence for a few seconds as Kiritsugu looks over at us both. "You must be Tohsaka Rin. Shirou has told me much about you and his other friends. My name is Emiya Kiritsugu. It's nice to finally meet the person Shirou speaks so highly of.
With a tired smile, he motions for us all to take a seat on one of the mats that had been placed on the grass.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Emiya. I hope they are all good things that he says about me?"
Mind working a mile a minute as she is talking, Tohsaka is probably trying to think about how to get the answers she wants without giving away anything to others. Giving a nudge to Tohsaka and getting a glare in response, I just whisper.
"Just ask. At worst, my sister can just change people's memories. Either that or they will assume you are playing pretend and Kiritsugu is humoring us."
Nervous at my interruption, Tohsaka aborts partway through going to push me back and gives a polite smile to Kiritsugu. "Emiya." Keeping her voice low enough so that only we can hear it she stares him down.
"How do you know my guardian, Kotomine? And why is your family here in my territory without informing me?"
While looking at us, Kiritsugus' eyes go unfocused as if seeing something else entirely. "Your guardian and I, we've worked together previously."
He takes a moment to gather himself before continuing while Tohsaka waits impatiently.
"Kotomine was aware of us being here, though I cannot tell you on why he did not inform you. Personally, I do not practice Magecraft or even am a Magus. I am only a spellcaster who has retired here."
Giving a lopsided smile, he motions to his own body.
"My magic circuits are slowly being eaten away by a quite nasty curse as well. I have been informed I only have a few years left to live."
My stomach drops and I feel faint.
"W-what...?"
Tohsaka gives me a concerned look as I sway. Kiritsugu is going to die?
"When were you cursed? Why didn't you tell me or Justeaze?"
"Justeaze was the one who told me there is no cure at this point." Clinical, I note in the back of my head. Like he doesn't even care about his upcoming death.
"Then we will just make one!" My voice comes out in a shout. Heads turn in our direction at the sound of my anger. Tohsaka shrinks back from me in shock while Kiritsugu just looks exhausted.
Sound becomes quieter from around us as I feel something being placed to cover our area. Mulishly, I clamp up so I don't start shouting again.
Awkwardly, Tohsaka reaches towards me as if to do something before dropping it. Turning to look at Kiritsugu, she scowls. "Regardless of if you can cast magic or can't, I should have been told. Including the fact that both your son and daughter can use magic and practice it regularly. I will discuss more with my guardian before I will discuss your negligence."
Turning to me, she reaches forward to grab my hand and drag us up.
"Come on Shirou, let's go. We still have the rest of Christmas to enjoy." Looking away from me, her face is slightly pink as we leave.
She really is a good friend. I can only respond in kind.
"Thanks Rin." My voice is faint, but she still hears it. Her face goes a deeper shade of red, but she refuses to acknowledge our exchange outside of that.
The rest of the party was lively, with me eventually recovering enough to contribute to the party. Rin never left my side, joking with me like nothing had happened or just talking about school. When she got me to smile again, she looked relieved.
Once we moved back into the house, everyone split into different groups.
Kotomine I saw was spending time with Kiritsugu, Ryuudou, and Raiga as they played a game of cards. Justeaze was teasing Taiga before they ended up going to spar, with Taiga's father going to watch.
Me, Rin, and the son of Ryuudou were the only ones left, who weren't in our own group, instead spending time with each other. The only problem was... well...
Across from us, who had introduced himself as Ryuudou Issei looked at us both distrustfully. While he had been perfectly polite in introductions, he treated us both like we were Taiga after too much sugar. Trying to interact with him had failed at every turn, and now we were all stuck in this awkward silence.
Rins' eyebrow was twitching.
Deciding this would not work, it's better to cut our losses and do something else.
"Rin, let's go see how Taiga and sister are going." With a look of relief, Rin gets up to follow me while Ryuudou remains seated.
"I shall stay here." Short and succinct, he gives a nod towards us as he watches us leave.
Once we were out of earshot, Rin blows out air in frustration. "What's his problem?! We did nothing wrong. Why was he so rude?"
After this morning, Rin seems a lot more comfortable showing her actual reactions with me instead of wearing a mask when it's just us two.
"I'm not sure, but his dad is nice, though, so I don't know where he got it from. Maybe he thinks we are rivals, like how Ryuudou is rivals with Raiga?"
With an exasperated look, Rin rolls her eyes. "I hope not. I don't need somebody rude like that making my life harder."
Walking into the dojo, Taiga flails in the air as Justeaze holds her by the ankle above her head, laughing. Taiga complains loudly as she swings back and forth. Kendo sticks lying on the ground, forgotten.
The sound of a facepalm comes from Rin before she goes to turn on her heel and leave.
"Wait Rin, where are you going?"
"Away from this madness."
Since we only gave presents to those we were close to, the present giving was short. Both Kiritsugu and Justeaze were going to give me real presents once everyone else left. So instead they both got me useful things like a new Kendo stick and a book on biology. I got a couple of chuckles and odd looks from the others at my excitement.
Rin got a book on different martial arts from Kotomine. At the end, Rin and I revealed the gifts we got for each other.
Opening our gifts, I hear Rin gasp from the side while I look curiously at a small red book that was wrapped inside. The front cover was written in Rins' handwriting, called 'To be a Hero'.
Hearing a choking sound from the side, I turn to look. Tohsaka has trembling hands as she looks at the gift. I got her in absolute shock.
"Do you like it?" I asked. "It was hard to do. I got my sister to help me, but a lot of the work was my own."
Held in her hands is what Justeaze had called a jadeite necklace. Initially, I had wanted to create some jewelry or something pretty for Tohsaka, but I just didn't have the skills for working with that sort of thing in time. So once my sister had gotten the material she said would fit, I had to use Reinforcement to alter its shape to fit better.
Lost for words, she leans over towards me while clutching the necklace towards her chest.
"Do you know how much this costs?!" It's almost a hiss, but she makes no move to give it back, thankfully.
"No...? I mean, I figured it didn't matter. I just wanted a present that fit."
Unable to comprehend my response, she defaults to hide her confusion. "Thank you for the present."
Looking it over, tears gather in the corner of her eyes as she whispers the inscription on the back to herself. "For my best friend, worth more than any gem..."
I'm a little concerned by her reaction. Justeaze was the one who came up with the words when I told her what I wanted. I didn't think it would make her this upset. As I opened the book I received as a gift, I noticed that it was filled with the writing of various individuals. Reading through them, a sense of warmth fills my stomach as I beam.
Rin went around and had everyone who I had helped write their thanks into this book. My friends, my family, all those who I had tried to do something for they had taken the time out of their day to do this for her. Honestly, it was amazing how many people Rin had gotten to write in here. I'm just glad all my helping other people had made a difference to them.
Having placed the necklace around her neck and tucked out of view, Rin rounds on me and pounds my shoulder lightly with her fists.
"Don't give me such expensive gifts, you idiot." Blushing profusely, she hides her face in my shoulder before sniffling.
"Thank you Shirou, for being my friend..."
"Thanks for letting me be your friend." I close the book with a smile.
I ignore the teasing of the adults, and the cheering of Justeaze in the background.
Asked to stay back, the last people left in the house are my family, Kotomine and Rin. Sitting around the kotatsu, with cups of water in front of us, Justeaze breaks the silence.
"Hello everyone, welcome to the infrequent Fuyuki reunion. I'm today's host, Justeaze von Einzbern." She only gets unimpressed looks in return for her attempt at humor. "As part of this Christmas celebrations, I come bearing good tidings."
"Considering in a shocking turn of events that Shirou has made friends with the Tohsaka family, it is only right we make up for our blunder, to appease the young lady." Dramatically narrating, Rin gives her a suspicious look, even as Kotomine looks amused at her antics.
"Starting on from this year, I shall help tutor young Tohsaka in Magecraft for the next year." Tohsaka's jaw drops in shock before it turns to glee. Quickly getting hold of herself, she gives a stern look at Justeaze.
"And what makes you think I'd accept such a thing?"
Perplexed, Justeaze just taps a finger to her chin. "To be perfectly honest with you, this is more a formality and because you are friends with Shirou. Considering my last deal with your father and how the blunder is more on your caretakers' end then ours, I could just leave you with nothing."
Giving a wide grin in delight at Rins' grimace, she continues. "Not that your guardian needs to inform you about such peaceful matters. He is, after all until you grow older, the one who manages this territory. If there is no danger to you, then he does not need to tell you outside of kindness."
Rin nods begrudgingly, accepting. With a clap of her hands, Justeaze gives a bright expression to us all.
"Wonderful. Also, Shirou, I'll be having you train more with Tohsaka and Kirei. Considering you were so interested in martial arts and like that girl so much, you might as well get two birds with one stone."
Excitement bubbles up in my stomach. Honestly, this seems great!
"What?! Do I not get a say in this?" Slamming her hands on the table, Rin glares at Justeaze.
"Even if your friend is there, Rin, I expect you not to slack off." Taking a sip from his drink, Kotomine only looks satisfied by this exchange. Kiritsugu looks as if he bit into a lemon but has nothing to say about the situation.
He's been silently watching both Kotomine and Rin as if waiting for something to happen.
"As if!" Realizing Kotomine is joining in, Rin crosses her arms and pouts. I poke her in the side, causing her stare to turn in my direction.
"Cheer up Rin, this will be fun."
Her severe expression drops a little as she returns my smile.
"I'll also be traveling a lot more, and so will Kiritsugu. So in the meantime, I'm going to need you to keep up with your studies, but do nothing reckless without me there. Hopefully, sometime this year I should have some things sorted to make our lives easier."
Disappointed but understanding, I nod.
"Wonderful. I'll be here for about two months before I leave, so be ready for your lessons, young Tohsaka. I don't like slackers." Sternly, Justeaze waves her finger.
"I won't disappoint you, teacher."
"See that you don't."
After that, it was mostly small talk, where Kotomine occasionally needled Kiritsugu or Rin, Justeaze teased everyone while Rin and I discussed our knowledge of magic. It was impressive how much she knew and they were completely different from what I knew. The closest we had to anything similar was curses with her knowing something she called a Gandr.
I guess sickness as a curse was a thing, considering Kiritsugu...
Reinforcement was something she also practiced, but she only used it to the extent of making her body more powerful compared to how much I use it for. It horrified Rin when I told her about how far I had taken it. Good thing I didn't tell her about reinforcing my brain. I'm not sure she would have approved.
Our goodbyes were short, with Rin giving me a smile.
"I'll see you at school, Shirou."
"See you then, Rin."
And like that, they were gone.
Later that night, I searched for Kiritsugu, who was sitting out in the garden staring up at the full moon. Sitting quietly next to him, I follow his line of sight to stare at the sky. The silence is long, where we both say nothing for over an hour.
"When I was younger, I wanted to be a hero of justice."
Breaking the silence, he speaks in the most peaceful way I'd ever heard of him. Not looking away from the stars, I think about what to say. Initially, I wanted to be angry. After all, being a hero isn't wrong. But considering he was sick...
"But you became sick, right?"
The silence continues for a couple of seconds before he gives a quiet, breathless chuckle.
"But I became sick." He takes a deep breath. "I wanted to save people. But I ended up destroying so much." Regret is so heavy I can almost feel it in the air. "In the end, I threw away my happiness for the chance of saving others, and my last hope died with them."
"I wish... that you could grow up happy, Shirou."
With the stars shining up above, I raise a hand as if to grasp them. "I already am, old man."
"Don't give up on your happiness either Kiritsugu." I nod to myself, my mind made up. "If you couldn't be a hero of justice, I'll just do it for you. I'll be the type of person who saves everyone without regrets. I'll make your dreams come true."
"After all, you're a hero to me, Kiritsugu."
"I'm relieved." With a smile, he closed his eyes, falling asleep in the middle of the garden. Exasperated, I sigh.
The next day, he left on another trip.
On the first trip to the church, I could feel myself sweating the entire way. Justeaze in comparison cheerfully walked next to me as the distant figure of that building got ever closer. Opening the large church door without a care, she pops her head in to look around.
"Yoo-Hoo, beautiful Justeaze, and her adorable little brother is here." Walking in without waiting for an answer, she puts her hands on her hips as she looks across to Kotomine, standing in at the pew as if he had been waiting for us.
"Welcome to the house of God." He spreads his arms out as if to welcome us, giving an enormous smile as if to both mock and be sincere. "Before you start your training, you are always welcome to confess your sins. Even if you cannot forgive yourself, God shall always listen to those seeking to repent."
My sins... the people I left behind. Maybe I should confess...?
Laughing, Justeaze wipes a tear from her eye with her thumb. "Man, I knew I liked you for a reason, Kirei. You say the funniest things sometimes."
Baffled, I lose my track of mind at her laughter. Was he just joking, and I missed it? Embarrassed, I look around instead of paying attention to see where Rin was.
As I look, her head rises from one seat in the church, facing our direction. She doesn't look impressed by either of the adults in the room.
"As a friend, of course, I shall listen to any of your many failures to help you overcome them." Now no longer as amused, Justeaze pouts. I make my way to Rin so I can sit next to her and watch these two talk.
"I've seen you do that before. If I let you go off on that with free barbs, I think even I'd feel bad. And I don't have anyone cute this time to comfort me, so no thanks." Dismissing Kotomine, she waves him off before walking towards him. I lean towards Rin to whisper to her.
"I don't like how much they get along."
Nodding, Rin side eyes Kotomine and Justeaze.
"It's not good at all." She said flatly.
Taking the time to hand Kotomine a vial, Justeaze turns on her heel and makes to leave. Looking over her shoulder, she addresses us all.
"If anything goes wrong, just feed Shirou that vial to heal him. It'll only work on him though, so don't bother for anyone else." Callously she waves over her shoulder as she leaves.
"Don't mind her. She's always been a little cold to people who aren't part of the family." Looking away from Rin, I feel bad. Even in the family she was cold like that sometimes to Kiritsugu and Taiga. She would only look after or be kind to me consistently.
Looking unbothered by the revelation, Rin gets up from the chair to walk towards Kotomine. "That's the natural reaction for a Magus though. You are the unusual case for how much you care about strangers, Shirou."
My gut reaction is to disagree, but it's hard to come up with something to refute her statement since I don't know any Magus outside of her or my family.
"So you don't care about strangers, Rin?"
Stopping in front of Kotomine before I do, she frowns. "...I care about strangers so much as it's going to be my job in the future to make sure they stay out of danger."
My frown matches hers before Kotomine speaks up.
"Let us be on our way. Einzbern informed me previously that you use the old Einzbern mansion to train. We shall go there."
The brows of Rin furrow. "The Einzbern mansion?"
Kotomine sighs in disappointment. "Rin, put more focus on your self study of your famili's history." She crosses her arms stubbornly but doesn't defend herself. "The Einzberns are one of the founding families who, with the help of the Makiri and Tohsaka, created the Holy Grail in this very city."
Lost at the topic, I side eye at Rin who seems to understand what he is on about by the look of her upset expression. "So the thing where dad died was..."
"Yes. He died seeking the Holy Grail here. After being created, in their greed, each of the families fought to the death so that they alone could have it. This ritual has begun four times so far, each time leaving only death and destruction in its wake."
"But why would they fight over it?" Perplexed, I squint at Kotomine.
"The Holy Grail can grant the wish of the victor. Many families have sought it for different reasons throughout the years. The families of Makiri, Einzbern and Tohsaka have a guaranteed spot in these wars so long as they have someone willing to fight. Though the Makiri family go by the Matou name now." Rin flinches at the mention of the Matou.
"...is there a chance that the Einzberns killed my father?" Dread fills her voice and she looks sick.
"To that end I cannot say, you would have to ask her yourself. Though if you try to attack her Rin, know this. You shall die." Completely serious, Kotomine stares Rin in the eyes as they walk.
"The difference between you and Justeaze is far too great. I have fought with her before and she has likely grown even stronger."
"You fought my sister?!"
"Indeed. It was to my fortune that she spared me. But enough for now. If you have questions on the Holy Grail War, ask Tohsaka. I'm sure, of course, with your encouragement, she will put more effort into her studying."
Rin angrily crosses her arms as she walks, muttering complaints about Kotomine the rest of the way. I spent the trip on the way to the forest trying to cheer her up, which eventually succeeds by the time we arrive.
While Kotomine is unbothered by the fog and gloomy atmosphere, Rin shivers from the sudden cold. The crunch of the leaves is all we hear until the house comes into view. Since there were no ghosts or other defenses that Justeaze warned me about, I can only assume that we were all exempt from things attacking us.
All of us take the time to look around before facing each other in front of the mansion. "What I shall teach you is in two parts, Bajiquan. And I shall inform you about the various dangers of those who use magic."
We both pay rapt attention as Kotomine talks.
"Vampires, Magi, Monsters, and other things that humans would be afraid of. I shall teach you their weaknesses, and how to survive them if you are to get into a fight with them. While resting from exercise, you shall study inside with various tomes I have brought for you, or I shall teach you both. This will depend on how long you both can last in practice."
"The training will be brutal. Feel free to quit at any time if you can't handle it."
And then he smiled.
It was odd in the first couple of months how much more I could do than Rin in the spars. While she was a lot more skilled than me, she got tired hours before I'd even feel it. It 'd frustrate her, but then she'd completely eclipse me in knowledge from all the extra time she spent studying.
Our days of training usually went with every second day. We would either train with Kotomine together, or train with Justeaze in the afternoons. Kotomine seemed to enjoy the spars a lot more than teaching us the theory. But I think that's just the way he was.
Justeaze still only taught just me in the dream training, which is where I truly showed my frustration in the spars.
After one brutal bout, I lie on the floor surrounded by the blood and viscera of all the small Oni I had killed. As their remains slowly melted away, Justeaze looks down at me with a frown from where she stands above me.
"Are you still upset?" She asked.
Too spent to put much energy into my anger. Instead I just give her a look to show how silly of a question that was.
"What's the big deal? Most people can't do all forms of magic. Not being able to do traditional healing isn't the end of the world."
After Christmas Justeaze had tried teaching me healing like I asked. Compared to some of the other magic I had learned, healing needed to be controlled. Precise. No matter what different healing I tried, it was way too inefficient no matter how hard I tried or how long I worked.
With how this was going, I'd never make Kiritsugu better! It was incredibly frustrating that somehow that I was better at fixing wounds with Reinforcement than actual healing.
"Well, there is no point in focusing on magic. You'll never be able to do it right. It's probably something to do with your Origin or Element." Musing to herself, I perk up in interest.
"My Origin or Element?"
"Oh, yeah." Clicking her tongue, Justeaze looks embarrassed.
"I never looked into that. Well, to keep it short, most people have an Elemental Affinity in one of five elements with a few rarer exceptions. Knowing what your affinity is lets you know what types of magic you will excel in."
Pointing a thumb at herself with a grin, she winks at me. "Though I'm good at everything."
I'm not impressed.
Pouting, she continues. "Your Origin is something that defines you. Think of it more like an instinct than something you are aware of. Somebody who had an Origin of fear, for example, could be someone who enjoys making others afraid or a fan of being afraid. A thrill seeker."
She counts down on her fingers as she continues. "Or they could be somebody who is always afraid. If you are talented enough, or build up someone in their youth while knowing their Origin, you can direct them in a definition that you particularly like."
In her teaching mode, it's become a bit of a lecture.
"As a word of warning, never get your Origin awakened. If you value controlling yourself, it's a bad idea."
"Why would someone get it awakened?" I asked.
As if looking at something far away, Justeaze taps a finger on her side. "If your Origin acts like instincts for most people, having it awakened is like having super powers based on that instinct. The problem is that it forever rules you after that."
She gives me a stern look. "That fear Origin I talked about? That person wouldn't be able to stop themselves anymore. They might strike fear in almost everyone they meet as something they gained. But now scaring people is all they do. Even if they knew scaring somebody might kill that person, they wouldn't be able to stop themselves."
Grimacing, I feel ill at that description. That sounds like being trapped in your own body.
"On a lighter note." Her tone changes to be much more cheerful. "You are probably one of those exceptions considering your talent in all the main Elemental Affinities is so bad." Saying something mean with no empathy at all, she looks excited.
"Unique things like that are my favorite. It is so much more fun finding out like this instead of just finding it out with a spell or something. I hate spoilers." Pouting, she has a realization on her face.
"Oh, also, as well. Don't change your Elemental Affinity unless you have some sort of hidden spell that even I don't know. Changing your affinity is possible, but it just makes you way worse at magic." She scowls in disgust, looking annoyed. "Just because you didn't get the affinity you wanted, that doesn't mean you should mutilate your body for it."
"Changing your affinity won't make you more talented or anything. Just be smarter. Bah." Frustrated, she continues going on a rant as I listen in with half a ear.
Making my affinity different might be a way to help save Kiritsugu, but Justeaze doesn't like it at all. So I guess being smarter is the way to go. I wonder...
"Hey." I said.
"Hmm" Looking at me and stopping her rant, she raises her eyebrows at me in confusion.
"Is there a way to make me smarter without learning things slowly?"
Putting a hand to her chin, Justeaze takes the question seriously. "I'm sure it's been done before, but personally I have done nothing like it. The most I've worked with in altering others is homunculi and babies in the womb."
"At least specifically in messing with how the brain works. Bodies aren't that hard otherwise." Quickly correcting herself, she looks deep in thought.
Sitting up with a groan, I give pleading eyes to Justeaze. "Can you please help me get smarter, faster? I'm not sure how long Kiritsugu has left. Otherwise I'll have to put more practice into Reinforcement and Alteration on my brain."
Resolute, I stare down Justeaze so that she takes me seriously.
Justeaze frowns at me. "...I can look into it for you, but there are no promises."
With a groan, Justeaze puts her hands behind her head. "You always work me so hard, Shirou. What am I going to do with you?"
"Thanks, Justeaze."
Her eyes soften as she looks down at me. "You are lucky I love you, kid." She pauses after saying it as if in shock at her own words. A giggle slips out before she lies down next to me. I yelp as she pulls me into a hug and down into her lap.
"Mm. You know, me being around like this is a really, terrible idea. But I just can't help myself. I feel almost nostalgic."
"What are you even talking about?"
Playing with my hair, she only giggles. "When you grow older, keep your sister from doing anything bad, okay? In exchange, as long as you keep trying to save people, I'll support you."
I cross my arms and pout as Justeaze just does whatever she wants again.
"Sure. As a hero, I'll keep you from being bad."
To be a hero, to save those around me. As long as Kiritsugu and Justeaze believe in this dream, I'll make it true. I promise.
The day before Justeaze left on her trip, somebody new appeared.
Lately, while we were at home, Justeaze had been teaching me how to cook for myself for when everyone was away and I was home by myself. It was as I cleaned and cooked that I found it was something I enjoyed. It was even better than training!
Fantasizing about a world where cleaning and cooking meals was enough to make everyone happy as I worked out, there was the alarm from Justeazes boundary field in case someone who wasn't allowed in had entered the property. Quickly toweling down, I was as quiet as possible, making my back inside the house.
In our dining room sat a violet haired and eyed girl with a red ribbon tied to the left side of her hair. She wore a white dress and stared down at the kotatsu in front of her with lifeless eyes. Across from her sat Justeaze, who was happily playing some sort of handheld video game.
Baffled, I take a few seconds to gather myself. "Justeaze. Why is there a stranger in our house?"
"Hm?" Continuing to play her game without looking up, she presses the controls rapidly. "Oh her? Some old man was annoying me and wanting to take my stuff, so I took his."
"Uh." I don't know what to say.
"The worst part is now that I've taken them, I have to look after it. The poor thing has been so wasted and worn down that I honestly don't know what that idiot was thinking. Torturing your students doesn't mean they somehow become better at magic."
Looking up from her game, she scowls. "I did a full checkup to make sure they weren't diseased or were going to die. The girl had worms and everything! I thought most modern societies had mostly eradicated that. Well, I suppose these were magical, so it was different..."
"W...worms...?" I can only gasp in horror as I look at the girl with pity. The entire conversation she has barely payed attention to it.
"They changed her Elemental Affinity, wasted her Magic Circuits and then taught only her body how to do Magecraft instead of her knowing it mentally as well. I don't think I've seen such a waste in my life!" Really incensed now, she drops her game to the table, scowling.
"I was going to give her back with a warning, but now I think I'll keep them and teach that idiot a lesson." She petulantly crosses her arms.
I open and close my mouth for a couple of seconds. "So... her home life isn't good?"
Justeaze shrugs. "Yeah."
"Justeaze." I bring myself to say something I never thought I'd have to do. "Just because somebody does something bad to you, it doesn't mean you can just take people from their homes."
She looks away from me in embarrassment. "It's fine, since it turned out for a good reason, right?"
The silent look I give her is long enough that she clicks her tongue before slumping in defeat.
"This girl, she's a Magus then?" I give the girl in question a kind smile before going to make a cup of tea for all of us in the kitchen. She doesn't otherwise react.
"Considering how she looks, she's probably a Matou?" Musing to herself, Justeaze shrugs.
Grimacing as I prepare the tea, I sigh. "Isn't that one of the big families here, the one your family is allies with...?"
"Yeah." Completely unconcerned, she continues playing her game.
"Wouldn't that be bad?" She shakes her head for no.
"At worst, he complains to Kotomine, who hates him and won't let him talk to Tohsaka. Or he could try to talk to the Association. But considering he doesn't look like he's anything close to a human, I doubt they'd be sympathetic."
"And if he attacks me, he'll just die. So it's not a concern at all."
Troubled, I give her a dubious look before the girl who had been silent until now speaks up. "You shouldn't get into a fight with grandfather. You'll die." Frowning in the poor girl's direction, I bring our cups of tea to the table and take my seat on the floor.
A laugh erupts from Justeaze at this girl's comment. "Oh man, you're a funny girl. Maybe keeping you around won't be too bad." Dismissing her concerns, she leans back. "He's a couple hundred years too young to even come close to me."
"Justeaze, your ego is getting big again. Stop looking down on people or it'll come back to bite you." I can only hope they took my admonishment to heart one day, so she doesn't get a nasty surprise one day in the future.
"Alright, alright. I'll think about it." With a put-upon sigh, she gives a look towards the stranger in our house. "What is your name, actually? I wouldn't mind calling you Violet or violet girl all the time, but I figure you'd prefer your actual name."
Holding the cup of tea in her hands, she looks up towards Justeaze. "Matou Sakura..." Her tone is without emotion.
"Considering your grandfather is useless, I have decided that you are going to live with us. If Kiritsugu doesn't like it, I'll just move us towards the Einzbern mansion." Justeaze points at me. "You are going to look after her while I go on my trip. I'll go talk to that old man again and tell him the change in the situation."
My jaw drops in shock at her statement. "Wait, how am I going to do that? What about when I'm at school? What do I even tell Rin when I bring Matou along?"
Ignoring me, she continues. "You'll have to teach her some magic, though it will probably have to be just tomes and supervision. Later on, I'll have to see what I can do to fix her potential. A waste like this is just the worst."
"Justeaze."
"Alright Shirou, I've decided. I'll see you later."
"Justeaze, you better not be leaving."
Getting out from under the Kotatsu, she rushes towards the door. Scrambling from my own spot, I chase after her. Unable to keep up with her as she leaves the house and goes out into the street, she escapes being a responsible adult and leaves me with the girl who looks... a little more interested in her surroundings now? Staring straight at me, a glimmer of interest shows in her eyes.
"Rin...?" she asked.
Sheepishly, I scratch the back of my head. "Yeah, my best friend, Tohsaka Rin. I'm not sure if you know her, but I train with her every week on martial arts and magic." Looking slightly more upset then when she first came, I wave my hands to make up for whatever I said that made her upset.
"Since my sister just left us here. If you want, you can come with me and practice magic and martial arts with us?" She twitches at my comment but is mostly unresponsive. "Magic with us isn't anything scary, we have fun there and are happy. But if you don't want to come, you don't have to."
The silence stretches for a few seconds before she nods shyly. "I'd... like to come watch."
"Then we will go do that."
I take a few minutes in the silence to realize something.
"Matou... do you have anything you brought here with you? Like a change of clothes?"
She shakes her head for no before taking a sip from her tea. I sigh in frustration.
End of Chapter 3:
And so things continue to change more and more. The story has slowed down a bit now as more and more things start to happen. The changes will only get more and more obvious over time as things happen. Next chapter will give some clues into who Justeaze really is, and what happened in the 4th holy grail war.
Reviews:
Franklen -
Honestly I like the idea for a lot of reasons, but at least in his younger years I doubt Shirou would read Shakespeare based on a variety of reasons. I'll keep it in mind for later though.
Rusheru -
I can neither confirm nor deny on it possibly being femlin, merlin or any other variation :P. To answer the other question though, the difference in magecraft between Shirou and his main version is honestly in part because of how he's been raised here. With him being able to learn magic that isn't of the main elemental affinities due to being taught, his magical talent is a fair bit better then the regular Shirou.
Shirou's origin possibly being different is something you'll have to keep watching to see.
Others -
To everyone else who gave their support, thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. Hopefully I can keep it up to standard.