- I do not own any of the respective characters and all rights go to the respective owners.
Sword of stars and idols
#The stage is set
[Are you sure about this…] The voice on the other side of the phone asked with a flat tone before an annoyed grunt escaped her lips. [For all we know she could be lying, trying to get you to take responsibility for something that isn't even yours to begin with.]
"If that was the case Tohsaka, don't you think she would have called earlier?" A young man in his early twenties answered with a sigh escaping his lips, his skin had a light tan to it, and his short auburn hair with a single white bang and bronze-colored eyes that had a sharpness to them, it gave him a sort of exotic look, that had many turn their eyes at him with curiosity before going back to what they were doing. Walking out of the airport he just arrived at, his eyes continued to scan the environment holding his luggage in one hand and his phone in the other. "Besides, I don't think she would do something like that."
[I'm just saying Shirou, never met the woman, so I don't know what she's like.] Tohsaka, or Rin if you go by her actual name answered frankly as the sound of a hot liquid getting poured could be heard over the phone. [Also that reminds me, when were you even supposed to meet her?]
"Don't know, She didn't say much other than to send her a message when I arrived in Japan," Shirou replied casually as he continued his walk to one of the parking lots, stopping before he entered, his phone squished between his shoulder and head as he was looking through the pockets in his jacket, before picking up a set of car keys and a note with license number and location.
[I see, very cautious of her, guess that's to be expected with what you told me about her, especially with how crazy some fans can get about the people they idolize.] The sound of a content sigh could be heard accompanied by the sound of ceramic hitting wood. [So what's your plan now? If I remember correctly, it should be around noon in Japan right?]
"Honestly, I'm probably just gonna send that message to her, find a place to get something to eat afterward, and then find a hotel to sleep the jetlag away at," Shirou replied before a yawn escaped his lips. "So I'm gonna go, cya."
[Cya.]
With the sound of the call ending, Shirou flipped the phone closed and placed it in his pocket, before grabbing the handle of his luggage and walking with the note in his hand through the parking lot he was in, looking for the car he had managed to borrow from the Fujimura gang. 'Probably a good idea to visit Sakura and Taiga before returning to London, or else they would probably kill me.' He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought as he reminisced of the past.
Walking further down the lot he finally found the car he was looking for, and after placing his luggage in the trunk, he entered the car and found himself situated in the driver's seat, but before he started the engine, he picked up his phone and began going through the list of names in it before stopping at one and began typing a message.
Emiya: I'm in Japan now.
Hoshino: …
Hoshino: Really?
Hoshino: That was fast!
Emiya: Had some free time, so decided to arrive early.
Emiya: Is the timing bad?
Hoshino: That's not it! just surprised is all.
Hoshino: Didn't think you would arrive in Japan so soon.
Hoshino: But this works better for me.
Hoshino: Let's agree on a time and place to meet, and talk from there.
Going a bit back and forth, they finally found the place they were going to meet and agreed on the time the 'date' as Hoshino liked to call it, was going to take place.
Putting his phone back in his pocket, he started the engine of the car and began leaving the parking lot he was situated in, planning on using the rest of the day to find a place to eat, and then a place to sleep for the night.
A yawn escaped Shirou's lips as he stood in front of the restaurant they had agreed to meet at yesterday, fatigue rearing its head into his mind from the lack of sleep he had gotten last night, as finding a place to stay was harder than he thought it would be, taking him until almost midnight before he finally finds a place he could rent for a reasonable price without hidden cameras encroaching on his privacy. 'To think I had to use my magecraft just to be sure I wasn't being filmed without my knowledge.'
An annoyed huff escaped his lips at the memory before a sigh joined it not long after as his gaze wandered around the alley he was in, even after finding a place to rest, sleep didn't come easy to him that night, uncertain to the significance of this meeting and of how much it would impact his life.
Looking down at his calloused and scared hands, he pondered on what Tohsaka had told him, that if what Hoshino told him was false what would he do? It was simple, he would leave, return to London, and continue with what he was doing before getting the call, travel the world doing missions for the Association and help people in the process, maybe even continue learning more magecraft that he could use to save people, he had gotten better at using some healing spells, however little that meant.
The thought of it not being true however made his heart ache in a way he hadn't felt before and he didn't know how to feel about it, but on the other hand, what if it was true, what would he do then?
He could always just continue with what he was doing before all this, but he wasn't sure if that was the right call to make or not, a sigh escaped his lips as he looked up towards the sky. 'Yet…'
"Shirou?" Before he could continue his train of thought, he was interrupted by a voice he recognized belonged to the very same woman he was waiting for, but as he turned around what he met with wasn't what he expected, as instead of seeing eyes that could capture the attention of anyone that met her like a shining star in the night, or a smile that could capture that hearts of many.
"Ai, is that you?" He was met with a person who showed nothing to the world, wearing plain clothing that didn't reveal much of the person wearing it, with their face covered by a face mask, a pair of sunglasses, and a hat that her hair was tucked into.
"Shh, not so loud!" Instead of getting a straight confirmation, he was pulled by the person in question to her height, with the other hand used to hover over her face mask in a shushing motion as she looked around the alley as if searching for something. "What if someone heard you?"
"Uh right." He wasn't sure of what was going on, choosing to just go with the flow as he watched her letting out a sigh of relief from what he could see before she turned to look at him again.
"Do you know how bad it would be for my career if someone saw me walking with a man in public?" She asked with a small huff before walking towards the door of the small restaurant they agreed to meet at. "Let's talk inside."
Instead of replying he just followed behind her as they both entered the restaurant. Upon entering he was greeted with the sight of a small restaurant with a more traditional themed interior, lined with private booths along the corridor from the entrance to the other end, where from the sound of it the kitchen was located.
All in all, it looked cozy and a nice place to eat from first impressions, but also nothing too fancy that would be out of range for the average person to come and enjoy.
Turning back to Ai he noticed she hadn't stopped walking even after entering, continuing down the corridor before stopping in front of a specific booth that was tucked neatly into the corner of the restaurant, giving the most privacy one could get from this place, waiting for him to join her before entering.
Upon both of them entering the booth, Ai removed her glasses and hat, revealing a cascade of beautiful purple hair with matching colored eyes that revealed the charm that could capture people's attention.
"Fuuh, this is much better." A sigh of relief left Ai as she made herself comfortable, with Shirou sitting back in the chair, trying to do the same thing.
"So… How have you been?" He failed miserably in the process, knowing that this wasn't a simple meeting between old friends, yet he still tried to be friendly.
"I'm doing good, my career has been going well as of late, so there's plenty of stuff to do, and you?" Ai just followed along, focusing most of her attention on a tablet she picked up from the end of the table, holding all the menu items.
"I guess you could say the same thing about me, I'm steadily getting contracts, traveling around the world helping out wherever I can," Shirou replied while filling up a cup with water, slowly taking a sip. " I was actually in the Middle East at the time you called, ready to return to London after having finished my latest contract, so you could say your timing was perfect."
"Guess so." A weak chuckle left her mouth as Shirou
"Why didn't you tell me Ai?"
Silence filled the air between them as none of them said anything after that, Shirou keeping his focus on Ai as she continued to look at the menu, a small smile still on her face even if a bit shaky.
"When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was thinking about telling you." When Ai finally spoke up, it had already been more than a minute of her looking through the menu before finally placing it to the side, yet her eyes never moved, focusing instead on the table in front of her.
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because I didn't know how you would react, and wasn't even sure I wanted to keep them either, so I waited," Her eyes met Shirou's as she looked up, her smile having turned into a frown. "When my return to Tokyo was drawing close I finally found the courage to tell you, yet before I got the chance, you told me you were planning on going to study abroad with some woman called Tohsaka when the school year ended."
Shirou couldn't help but wince at the comeback, not sure of what to say after, it became his turn to look away, at the time all he was focused on was not to reveal something he shouldn't, not knowing how bad it sounded from an outsider's perspective.
Seeing his reaction, her head turned down with a saddened expression as she fidgeted with her fingers. "I chose not to say anything after you said that, I didn't want to burden you with the responsibility, even after I chose to keep them."
"Then why now?"
"Because I overheard Aqua and Ruby talking about it with each other, questioning who their father was and I thought they at least deserved a chance to know who you were," Ai replied as she took out a phone from her pocket, beginning to scroll through it before stopping and placing it on the table, slowly sliding it in front of him. "Here."
Upon seeing the phone, the first thing he could see was a photo on the front screen, the photo having 3 people in it, Ai being the first sitting in the middle with her arms wrapped around two kids, a boy, and a girl, each having different colored eyes, with the boy being a lightish blue and the girl being a pinkish red, yet both of them had one thing in common, their hair being completely white.
A hand slowly moved to the white bang in the sea of auburn in his hair as Shirou unconsciously tugged at it, something Ai noticed as a small smile spread across her face.
"I was kinda shocked myself when I saw their white hair, thought they would at least have either your or my hair color, Are you sure you and Illya weren't blood-related by any chance?" Ai asked as she rested her head in her left hand, drawing Shirou out of his stupor as his focus turned away from the phone and turned to her.
"No, me and Illya were never related." He shook his head in denial with a bit of mirth.
"Just had to be sure," Ai replied with a small shrug, before remembering something on her mind. "By the way, how's Illya? The last time I talked to her was when I left Fuyuki."
Hearing the question, Shirou's demeanor changed drastically as his head turned downward, his voice turning an octave lower with it. "She's uh… She's dead."
"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that." Ai became very unsure of how to react to the news, her eyes turning downwards as an awkward silence fell between the two, with Ai unsure of what to say after that, not wanting to upset Shirou more than she already did.
"It's fine, happened a long time ago." Yet in the end, Shirou was the one to break the silence, a sigh escaping his lips as he slowly caressed his right hand with a small smile, his thoughts elsewhere even as he replied.
Before Ai could reply, the sound of ceramic hitting wood drew both of their attention towards two bowls of ramen being placed on their table by a young lady who left with a quick comment to 'enjoy the food', ruining the tense atmosphere between them.
They both turned to each other as a different kind of silence took over them before both began to chuckle Ai took one of the bowls, placing it at herself, before handing the other one over to Shirou who took it with a bit of curiosity, looking down at it before looking up at Ai with a raised eyebrow. "You do know I could have ordered myself right?"
"You could, but we both know you wouldn't," Ai replied as she took a hairband from her bag and tied her hair into a ponytail, before uttering a quick 'itadakimasu' as she took her first bite, enjoying the food before swallowing. "Besides, it's my treat, and you wouldn't want to waste perfectly good food, now would you?"
"Fine." Instead of dragging the argument out, he chose to just accept it and joined her in lunch, with the both of them enjoying the now more comfortable silence that was between them as they both enjoyed each other's company.
In a preschool not too far from where Ai and Shirou were eating, two kids were sitting on a bench at the playground, a boy and girl separately, other kids running around playing whatever game they could come up with, the two kids could have been older than four from the looks of it, both of them related from the looks of it, with them both donning distinctly white hair and facial features, with the girl having pinkish red eyes, and the boy's being a lightish blue.
These two were the very same children from the picture, the children of Hoshino Ai and Emiya Shirou, They were Hoshino Aquamarine and Hoshino Ruby
"Hey Aqua, do you know why Mama looked so excited this morning?" Sitting with her feet dangling over the edge of the bench, Ruby asked her brother while watching the other kids run around, one of them trying to catch the others but failing over and over again with frustration.
"I'm not sure, she looked a bit surprised when I asked, but didn't say much other than that she was meeting an old friend," he replied as he flipped a page from his book, a book too advanced from any four-year-old to normally read, yet didn't show any problem defying that thought even with the conversation going on. "Which could mean anything in her line of work."
"I see, wonder who it could be to make her that excited though?" Ruby replied as she slowly tapped her chin, learning her top body from side to side as she squinted her eyes in thought.
"That's the question," A sigh escaped his lips as he closed the book, looking at his sister from the edge of his vision, before looking at the kids running around while resting his head on his palm, seeing the kid running after the others finally caught one of them, laughing as he ran away afterward. "But it's a question impossible to answer with what we know right now, so don't think too much about it Ruby."
"Bummer," A small pout showed on her face as she continued squinting her eyes in thought, not heeding her brother's advice before looking at him with an accusing look. "You have an idea of who it could be, don't you?"
"No…" A bead of sweat ran down the side of his head from the question as he looked in the opposite direction of his sister, something that made her sister more curious as to what he was thinking, slowly crawling towards him, repeating the words 'Tell me' over and over again while poking him, even as he tried moving further away from her, she continued to pursue him and in the end he jumped off the bench and began running away, with her chasing him from behind, both of them not budging in the slightest.
Yet even as he ran away from her, Aqua couldn't help getting this weird feeling in his stomach whenever he thought of the person it could be, because for whatever reason he couldn't explain, he felt that whoever it was would change a lot of things going forward, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not
After finishing eating their food, Ai and Shirou began packing their things Ai donned her disguise while Shirou went out and paid for the dinner, something he insisted on doing, believing that she should save her money for something better.
After walking out of the restaurant together, they both turned to each other with Ai writing down her address on a piece of paper, before giving it to Shirou.
"This is where I live, I have my concert at the dome coming up tomorrow in the evening, but you should be available to visit at around noon if not earlier if you want, Miyako and Sato would be arriving at around 2 pm to pick me up with Miyako staying behind to watch Aqua and Ruby."
"I have nothing important planned for tomorrow, so I should be able to come early if that's fine by you, what do you say about-" Looking at the clock on his phone, he quickly set a timer on- "10 pm?"
"That doesn't sound too bad, Aqua and Ruby should be up around that time." Following his lead, she wrote it down in her phone before returning it to her pocket.
"Okay, then that's the plan." putting his phone back into his pocket, he was prepared to leave before remembering something. "oh yeah, if you want Ai, I could go visit one of the grocery stores near your apartment and get something I could use for lunch?"
"Ooh, that does sound like a perfect idea, I think that will get you some brownie points." Ai couldn't help but laugh at the thought, something that made Shirou chuckle as a small smile spread across his face.
"Then that's what I'll do," Taking his phone out again to look at the clock, he began walking towards the street, with Ai following behind him, as they both got to the Street, Shirou began walking away, waving back at Ai as he did. "I guess this is it for today, see ya tomorrow."
"See ya." Waving back, Ai walked the other way with them both leaving in different directions, yet something neither of them noticed was a single person standing on the opposite side of the alley, having watched them with gritted teeth and clenched fists before leaving himself, looking down at the text messages on his phone, before returning to the home screen, were its background picture none other than Ai herself in her idol outfit, before fully closing the phone.
As Shirou walked down the street, he scrolled through his phone's contact list before finding the number he was looking for, dialing it up as he stopped at an intersection as the light turned red, waiting for the person on the other end to pick up the call.
[Hello, Fujimura speaking.] When the call was finally picked up, he was met with the energetic voice of his old guardian and sister figure, a small smile spreading across his face as he started walking again with the light turning green.
"Hey Fuji-nee, been a while." A surprised gasp escaped the other end at hearing his voice, making him chuckle a bit from the reaction.
[Shirou!] He was forced to move his phone away from his ear or risk losing his hearing by how loud his sister shouted his name, yet even then he could still hear the shushing sounds coming from other teachers if he should hazard a guess by looking at the time, with a quick apology coming from his sister afterward. [You haven't called in a long time, how are you?]
"I'm doing good Fuji-nee, just been busy as of late so I never had the time to call, but I'm taking a break from work at the moment, so I thought I should call and see how it's going with you?" Even if he felt bad that he hadn't called in a long time, he didn't have any time to call, either being on missions or studying most of the time, especially with how the time zones worked.
[I'm doing well, not much has happened since we last talked, but I'm glad to hear you taking more care of yourself,] Her voice was a bit monotone as she answered before sounding more jovial, the sound of a bento box opening in the background, with the sound of chewing following after it, before a oh sound could be heard as she spoke with food still in her mouth. [Oh yeah, there was that one thing that happened!]
"And what was that thing in question?" Shirou chose to ignore her talking with food in her mouth, more curious as to what that thing could be.
[Sakura called last week, she managed to score a job in a preschool around Tokyo,] Shirou almost stumbled upon hearing that, not expecting her to be here in Tokyo. [Surprised?]
"A bit, but not at her getting a job at a preschool, but why Tokyo?"
[Said she wanted to get away from the city now that there wasn't anything holding her there anymore,] Taiga's voice turned a bit sadder towards the end, the sound of chewing stopping. [Poor girl, I can't imagine how lonely it feels with her grandfather dying and her brother moving out right after.]
"Right…" Shirou knew he couldn't tell her the truth, knowing it was for the best to keep those skeletons in the closet, especially with how close it was to the magical world, but even then he couldn't stop it when his voice turned a tang more aggressive from thinking of that monster, making the people around him give him more space as a chill went down all their spines.
[You ok?] It was a tone Taiga noticed right away, worrying for her little brother, making him sigh.
"I'm fine, just thought of something I wished I could forget, nothing unusual really," Shirou spoke with calm in his voice as he got closer to his hotel. "But anyways, I called because I wanted to tell you that I am in Japan right now."
[Really, why didn't you say anything, we could have arranged for someone to fetch you!?] Her voice was tinged with a mixture of annoyance and happiness, as she shouted into the phone, ignoring the shushes from the other teachers.
"Because I have something important I need to do, so it's gonna take some time before I can visit Fuyuki, and I don't know how long that would be," Shirou replied calmly while entering his hotel, giving the receptionist a small wave as he was talking, walking towards the Elevator and pressing the button to call for it. "But I will stop by to visit before leaving Japan again."
[You better do, or I'll hunt you down myself, you hear me!] Taiga called out with a boisterous laugh, receiving a chuckle in response.
"I will, don't you worry," Shirou replied as he entered the elevator, pressing the button to the floor he was located in. "Talk to you later Fuji-nee."
[Sure, cya Shirou.] With that, the call ended between him and Taiga, as the ping of the elevator door opened and he began walking down the floor to his room, entering and closing the door behind him, and with nothing better to do, he went ahead and took a shower before going to take a nap, hopeful that he would be able to get some actual shut-eye this time around.
When morning came, Aqua couldn't help the nervous feeling he was getting as he watched Ai move around the apartment, seeing her being much more active in the morning than she usually was, especially when the dome concert would only begin in the evening. Yet, he also knew why that was the case, and that was the actual source of this uncomfortable nervousness he could feel in his stomach.
Ai had told Ruby and him that someone would visit when they got home from school, someone she had recently come into contact with again after not having talked to them in years, telling them that it was someone who had traveled to England to study abroad and had just returned to Japan to visit some of their relatives, but had some time to visit an old friend.
But Aqua knew better, having a strong feeling that it wasn't just some old friend, but probably someone closer, a certain someone he didn't want to think about if could help it, but he knew Ai, she wasn't that stupid to risk the biggest secret she had getting leaked to the public ruining her career, just because of some old friend.
He tried talking to Ruby about it, but she rejected his theory before he could even voice it, stating that it probably was just some friend she knew back in school, and he should stopped worrying about it, but he could tell by just looking at her that she didn't believe that herself, that it was probably just a bit to assure herself that it wasn't who they think it is, but in the end they could only wait and see.
Walking closer to the door into Ai's room, he could see her combing her hair in front of the mirror when he peeked inside, having already gotten dressed in a more comfortable and casual dress than what she would normally use when going out, but even though he tried to be sneaky about it, Ai spotted him immediately through the mirror as he poked his little head through the door.
"Aqua, what are you doing sneaking around like that?" She asked the usual cheer she used around her children, putting down her brush as she turned around to greet him with a smile, a smile that grew a bit from seeing him freeze up upon getting caught.
"N-nothing, I was just curious as to when this person you talked about would arrive." A small blush crept up both his chins as he looked away before looking back again, seeing Ai look at the clock in surprise, seeing it being 10:20 a.m.
"Huh, he isn't normally one to be this late." Even if Ai whispered those words to herself, Aqua heard them and couldn't help but feel the nervousness increase from those words.
"He?" But even then, he hoped that what he heard was wrong.
"Oops, spoilers," Ai pretty much confirmed it with a cheerful voice, but when she noticed his reaction, she walked over and pulled him into her embrace, smiling while she stroked his white hair. "Don't worry Aqua, there's nothing to be scared of."
"But isn't this dangerous for your career?" Aqua looked up at her with worry clear in his eyes, something that surprised Ai, but the smile on her face became more natural upon hearing those words, as she pulled him further into the hug.
"Aww, you don't have to worry Aqua, he knows how to keep a secret!" Yet even when her voice was cheerful, her eyes turned more somber as she turned her eyes toward the mirror, her reflection looking back at her, as the fears she had of if what she felt was true love or not resurfaced, yet she forcefully suppressed them again, not wishing to think about it. 'I really am a bad mother, huh.'
The doorbell rang, stopping the small moment between mother and son as Ai let go of Aqua, leaving for the front door, with Aqua just standing there for a second unsure of what to do.
"That must be him, coming!" The doorbell rang again as she got closer, Aqua finally deciding to follow after Ai, hearing Ai open the door before he got to the hall. "Hello?"
Yet the moment he opened the door to the hall, the first thing he saw was the red coloring of blood pooling on the floor like a small river, his eyes following the trail as his breathing stilled for a second, his eyes widening in sheer shock and disbelief, as right in front of him he saw something that would forever haunt him for the rest of his life.
"Ai!"
A knife stabbed into his mother's abdomen.
Now this is a story I have been brewing up for a little while now after having watched the anime and with Alex Keller's writting contest, I thought what better time than now to write it, disclaimer, I haven't read the manga but i'm probably going to do that in the future to get a better Idea of how I'm going to continue with this story in the future.
For those who have read my other story, no it isn't dead, I have just had have massive writers block that made it so I couldn't think of how I was going to write my scenes, which then made me neglect the story, forgetting to write on it, but I'm getting back into it again and thought this would be a good way to fight the writers block, because with two stories I can just jump between writing one of the other when I can't come up with anything for the other.
Now onto this opening chapter: The Shirou in this story is from a semi original route that has a mix of both the Fate and UBW route, with some few difference that happened before and after the grail war, I wont say too much about it, just know that Shirou met Ai before the 5th grail war, but only got together with her a bit after the war, the general idea is there, I just need to get the details down.
I'm also gonna age Ai up with a single year, so she is going to be 17 instead of 16 when she got pregnant, and this is because of Shirou.
Else I don't really have much else to say other than leave a comment if you have any critique that can help me to get better, or if you just wanna leave a comment to give your opinion on the story. Also I haven't fully decided on the name yet, the one it has right now is mostly a place holder, but if I can't find anything better to name it, it's probably going stick.
