Skirmish (II)

"Emiya, cover the flank!" the Executor shouted.

"Already on it!" Shirou shouted back as he moved to intercept a wave of ghouls moving towards their group. The sword he was wielding, plain and unremarkable, flowed beautifully, cutting down the Dead as if they were made of paper.

"Shirou! There's another group coming from behind." Satsuki warned.

"Please handle them!"

"Y-yes!" the teenage vampire replied uncertainly, though still moving to meet the incoming threat. She was dressed in her school clothes, but underneath she wore the Mystic Code Shirou had made for her. In her hand there was a copy of the sword he himself used.

"Are you sure asking a vampire to watch your back is a good idea, Emiya?" the leader of the hunt asked. "That's one hell of a risk you're taking."

Shirou managed to snort amusedly as he mowed down undead after undead. "She's a good person. She won't run away on you and she won't betray you either."

"If you say so," the Executor shrugged. "Come, the route is clear. The Dead Apostle should be in the next room."

The three of them advanced into the building. The Church had managed to track the Vampire before he could get his territory up and running for good and they sealed him inside the place he had chosen as his base. An abandoned military complex from World War II right at the outskirt of a thriving Chinese town. He had either overestimated himself or underestimated the Church, because the sudden spike in disappearances caused the Executor to lock onto his position before he could leave the area.

The Church had completely cordoned off the city. Nothing went in or out without their knowledge. Had he been one of the heavy hitters, it would have been for nothing, but this self-turned Dead Apostle was just as mediocre as a Magus as he was as a Vampire.

Unable to flee the perimeter set up by the Church, he had holed himself down in the very heart of the complex and tried to subdue his pursuers by overwhelming them with numbers in the narrow corridors.

It was the only right move he had made in this entire incident as the Church couldn't counter-swarm his hideout, while he could throw all of his ghouls at the invaders without remorse.

Despite his defiance, the group finally arrived at the door, which the Dead Apostle had sealed shut with Magecraft.

"Can you undo the sealing, Emiya?" the Executor asked.

"Sure I could. I don't see why I should bother though."

He put a hand on the wall and cast Structural Analysis. It was steel-reinforced concrete. Certainly sturdy, but it hadn't been used to support the structure. Therefore making a hole in it wouldn't bury them alive.

"Get ready to move in," he warned. The Executor and Satsuki both nodded. Shirou cast Reinforcement on a portion of the wall starting from the Vampire's side. It deformed and swelled like an over-inflated balloon. Before the steel inside it reached its breaking point and exploded, showering the inside of the bunker with shards of concrete and metal.

There was a cry inside the room and they took it as the cue to get inside through the entrance Shirou had aptly provided.

The Dead Apostle was on the floor bruised and bleeding, trying to pick himself up from where the explosion had thrown him.

"Curse you!" he hissed at them. "If it wasn't for you I would be…"

Wasting breath was the last of a series of unwise moves on his part, as the Executor didn't give him a chance to talk any further. He swung his arm and impaled the vampire in the chest with his Black Keys.

The Dead Apostle trashed on the ground, shrieking like an animal with a desperate look on his face, clawing uselessly at the blade stuck in his chest. His attempts at breaking free were cut short as yet another blade was flung at his head, stabbing him right in the eye and finally putting him down for good.

"Well, that's a wrap," the Executor declared as he approached the body cautiously. "Thanks for the assistance Emiya. You too, Miss Yumizuka."

"Don't worry about it," Shirou nodded. "Are you sure you don't need anything else?"

"No, no," he waved his hand dismissively. "I've got it covered from here."

"Alright then. We'll head back first. Let's go, Satsuki."

"Okay," she nodded.

They both turned to leave, but just as Satsuki was about to step through the hole in the wall; Shirou's hand shot out and grabbed the blade that had been thrown toward her unguarded back.

"Wha-" Satsuki yelped, turning around to look upon this scene. Shirou, holding the Black Key whilst he glared daggers at the Executor whose arm was still stretched out in front of him.

"Hm. I didn't think you'd stop that," he stated, sounding mildly displeased.

"Was there a reason for this or it was just upon a whim of yours?" Shirou asked as he turned to face the turncoat. His voice was as cold as ice.

The Executor smiled thinly. "One should capitalize on a chance when it's offered."

"Why?" Satsuki asked, wide eyed. "Why would you do this?"

"I have no personal grudge against you, Miss Yumizuka," the Executor tipped his head in her direction. He even managed to look sincerely apologetic while doing so. "You have my deepest sympathies for your circumstance. Nonetheless, your existence is an eyesore which I vowed to eradicate. I had orders not to start anything first, but I was hoping to kill you both here and blame it on the Dead Apostle ."

"I see," Shirou said flatly. "And what are you going to do now that your clever plan failed?"

The Executor shrugged. "I know my odds of surviving against the both of you are slim to none. Even just against you, Emiya, my chances are extremely low. I saw you move and I'm nowhere near your league. It's why I tried to kill Miss Yumizuka first Increasing my odds and maybe pissing you off enough to make a few mistakes. Since that went how it went, I guess I can only be killed by you two here."

Shirou stared at him long and hard before letting out a sigh. "Let's go, Satsuki-san."

"... alright," she replied, her voice laced with bitter resignation and her eyes staring at her feet.

"Oh? Are you just going to let me go like this?" the Executor asked, failing to completely conceal his shock.

"What would your death accomplish?" Shirou answered, frowning. "There's probably hundreds of people like you in the Church. Killing you would only add to the number of corpses in here and it would help no one."

"Well, far from me to look into a gift horse' mouth. Till the next time then," he waved at them with a smile.

"I will still report this incident to your boss though," Shirou said as he walked out of the room.

"And here I was thinking you were the merciful sort, Emiya," the Executor said shaking his head in dismay.

"You only have yourself to blame for it," Shirou replied unapologetically.

They left the room without turning their back to the Executor and continued to watch over their shoulders until they were out of the complex entirely.

"Is it always going to be like that?" Satsuki asked once both had left the site.

Shirou dipped his head in grudging confirmation.

"I'll try to make you as strong as I can, but you must learn to watch your back at all times. There's no clear cut distinction between good and bad people. The best thing you can do is find someone you can trust with your life and stick with them."

"... what a horrible way to live. Maybe it would have been better if I died that night."

"Don't say that, please. As long as you live, you can find something worth living for. Trust me on that."

"Okay," she agreed for the sake of agreeing. "I'll try. Thank you, Shirou."

"Don't mention it," he shook his head briefly. "I only wish I could do more."

"You've already done so much. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Besides, I'm getting stronger every day with your training. Maybe one day I'll be strong enough to help someone else for a change."

Shirou smiled at her sincerely. "I'm sure you will."

Satsuki smiled back. It was a small thing, but it held all the hopes she had.

The next morning

The return trip was uneventful, but when they got home it was already late morning.

Medea was at the door, waiting for them as she always did, whether they were coming back from school, training or an Apostle Hunt.

"Welcome home, Shirou, Satsuki," she greeted. Shirou's eyes lingered on her, but when they crossed gazes he looked away.

It had been almost a week since that disastrous meeting in the bathroom and he was still awkward around her. Part of it was because he felt embarrassed about having revealed his attraction for her, the rest was due to the fact he couldn't remove the image of her naked body from his mind.

He had only caught a glimpse of it but it still teased him. Whenever his mind was idle or when he laid in bed at night, it came forth unbidden. It made him extremely aware of her presence.

Whenever she was around it was like his five senses were amplified to the max and he could detect every detail of her. From the inflection of her voice, to the way her clothes hung on her body. Even to the sweet smell that she seemed to produce just by breathing. He was almost convinced that if he focused long enough, he could even taste her.

Every day he was going mad from frustration. Which he expressed by training and forging twice as hard as usual and by avoiding her as much as he could, which wasn't much as whenever he turned around she would be there, too close for comfort.

Either she had lost the concept of private space or he had grown too aware of her. To make things worse she always made a point to brush against him. Fleeting touches, innocent enough, but they would set his skin on fire all the same.

She was slowly driving him crazy and he was fairly sure that she was doing it on purpose. He came to the conclusion that she was punishing him for being an idiot and offending her with his words.

"I prepared a bath and breakfast," Medea explained, returning him to the present. "Take your time and then get some sleep."

"Thank you, Caster," he nodded politely. "Satsuki, please go first."

"If you're sure," she said meekly.

"Yeah. I'm going to the Workshop to drop my gear off first."

He pushed into the house and past Medea, refusing to meet her eyes and went straight to the Workshop, where he proceeded to store away all the equipment they had brought. It wasn't much, as he could Trace what he needed on the spot, but he still brought several non-Projected Mystic Codes as a precaution.

As soon as he was done, he went to go clean himself and then eat something, before getting some well deserved sleep. Tohsaka and Saber would visit in the afternoon, the former to work with Medea and the latter to spar with him.

He needed all the rest he could get.

A few minutes after Shirou had fallen asleep, the door to his room opened slightly and Medea peeked in. To say that the Witch was troubled would be the understatement of the century. Ever since that fateful day, she had been racking her brain for a way to solve the awkwardness that had formed between her and her Master. A way to dismiss it and revert back to the relationship they had.

She couldn't find it.

Pretending nothing had ever happened was out of the question. Much like Shirou, she had already been putting on a facade around him to hide the feelings she was harboring, of which attraction was the least important of all. Now that that the rabbit was out of the hat, she couldn't find a way to make it go back in.

No, that wasn't correct. She could just make Shirou forget about the entire thing, quite literally. She even had his permission. She just didn't want to because she was happy it had happened.

Shirou liked her. Shirou actually liked her. Sure, it was only a physical thing, but she had always thought that he didn't feel that way. She was fairly certain that he found the age difference off-putting, but it wasn't the case.

Of course she was happy that the guy she liked, liked her back, even if not quite in the same way. Still, their relationship needed fixing, and if it couldn't go back to the way it was, then it meant it could only go forward.

Ideally, she would sit down with him and explain her feelings, but truth be told, she didn't really know what to say. She settled for the trying to get as close to him as possible, making him understand that she reciprocated the attraction.

Seduction was something she was good at. She had manipulated several men into their undoing with her charms alone, no magecraft required. Even some lucky few have had the luxury of laying with her before they outlived their usefulness.

Medea was confident she could get her message across like that.

Clearly she didn't know him as well as she thought.

A few hours later

Following the creed that one who doesn't eat a lot can't call himself a warrior, Shirou ate a bigger meal than usual, before setting out to do some light exercise to aid his digestion and warm up his muscles in preparation of the beating from a spar with Saber.

He was just about done when the doorbell rang.

"Saber. Tohsaka. Come in," he greeted the duo.

"Emiya," she nodded at him stiffly as greeting, while Saber had a light smile on her lips.

"Greetings Shirou," the Servant replied as she stepped inside the house. "Are you ready for today's training?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he answered smiling. "I'd ask you to go easy on me, but that would defy the purpose entirely. Though I had something different in mind for today."

"Oh? Do you believe you've become good enough already?" she asked with a tone between scolding and playfully mocking.

"As if," he shook his head. "But I'm at the point with your style where any amount of improvement on my part will take a lot of time. Since we don't have months to spare for me to make just small progress, I was thinking of changing the game altogether, so to speak."

"Hmm? I'm intrigued now. What do you have in mind?"

"Do you think you can perform with a spear as well as you can with a sword?"

Saber's smile widened just a little bit and her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. Her voice was level and dignified as usual, but it had a slight, dangerous edge to it.

"Why don't we find out?"

Truly, enough pride to fill a dozen lions.

Ten minutes later.

"Taaah!" Saber shouted as she rained sharp thrusts onto Shirou. The redhead did his best to fend off her strikes, but most of them landed squarely on his chest, sending him tumbling to the floor.

"Does that satisfy your expectations?" Saber asked, resting her training spear at her side.

Shirou picked himself up from the floor. He was sweating but also smiling from ear to ear.

"I couldn't have asked for more."

"Good. Now, let's see if you can keep up! Taaah!"

Thus, the intense spar resumed. Unlike their first exchange, Saber didn't give Shirou time to rest between bouts. She was fully intending to make him earn her styles by pushing his body to the utmost limit.

It was the most exhausting, grueling training he had ever put himself through. By the end of the hour, every fiber of his body was sore and when the time was up, he allowed himself to rest against the wall of the dojo, breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

Saber was kind enough to hand him a bottle of water. Of course, she looked entirely unfazed.

"Thanks," he nodded, taking the bottle and draining it with a few gulps.

Saber sat seiza next to him. The image of a blond girl dressed in western clothes, sitting in the traditional Japanese way created a captivating juxtaposition. Fortunately, Shirou was already in the process of drinking water, so the swallowing of the knot in his throat went unnoticed.

'Quit it, you idiot,' he scolded himself mentally, 'these kind of thoughts are the reason why you made a mess of things with Medea.'

However as much as he willed himself to stop staring at Saber, his treacherous eyes went back to her every time his focus slipped.

'Give me a break.'

Shirou wasn't one to become easily distracted and certainly not by girls. His rigorous mental discipline made it difficult for anything to sidetrack him. Still, there was a limit to it and he was a teenager in the midst of constant surges of hormones.

In the past several weeks, or months even, the number of beautiful women around him had increased drastically.

Medea, with her regal and adult beauty. Saber, with her doll-like charm and aura of righteousness. Tohsaka, with the aloof confidence of a Magus concealing her caring side. Even Satsuki, whose endearing personality had acquired a wild edge with her transformation in a vampire. He could even add Sakura to the list with her mother-like attitude, even though he didn't see as much of her lately.

Around so many exceptional women, even his resolve had started to take a few hits. Shirou wasn't one to willingly spend time fantasizing about women, but at this rate he would no longer have a choice in the matter.

He wished he could bang his head on the wall, right there and then, but that would have Saber asking question about his sanity and he'd rather not explain to her what his problem was. That would not end well.

What was he supposed to do in these circumstances? He had made hundreds of plans to deal with things like Servants, Magi, Dead Apostles and other assorted superhuman threats, but he didn't have a single one to deal with women.

Basic warfare discipline dictated that if you were facing a foe you could not hope to defeat, retreating was a perfectly acceptable option.

But where was he supposed to retreat to? The enemy was in his goddamn home! There was already nowhere left for him to run.

'You didn't teach me about this, dad,' he complained inwardly.

"Is something the matter?" Saber asked, causing Shirou to nearly jump out of his skin. "You seem troubled."

"Ah, no," he shook his head trying to play it cool. "I was just thinking about the war."

"Hm? What of it?" she inquired.

"I was considering setting up another base of operations in the city, just in case we'd be forced to abandon our respective places," he explained. It wasn't precisely a lie, though he had a second, more personal reason for wanting one. "The moment our identities as Masters are exposed, our homes would be the first places to come under surveillance. And under attack, of course."

"You would rather run than fight?" she challenged, lifting an eyebrow. It seemed like an odd question coming from Saber.

"I fight if there's something worth fighting for," he replied flatly. "However my consideration was just about basic warfare. There's no reason to commit ourself to a fixed location and risk coming under siege as result. Archer-Class Servants would be able to attack us from huge distances at their leisure, making it difficult for us to retaliate. The Assassin-Class Servant's entire skillset relies on stealth and taking out the Masters from the shadows. Having our location known would only help them. Playing to the opponent's strength is foolish, even in a fair duel, which the Grail War is not."

Saber kept staring at him, almost as if she wanted to look into his soul. Then, a smile stretched her lips, ever so slightly.

"That is indeed the case," she concluded. "Truthfully, my Master and I had reached a similar conclusion. She has already started setting up a secondary Workshop."

"Well. I'm glad we're on the same page then," Shirou sighed in relief. He knew then that he had just passed some sort of test, though he wasn't sure what it was about.

"Speaking of my Master, would you mind fetching her for me? It's about time we returned home. I would do it myself but..."

"No need to say anything," Shirou held up his hand.

Whenever Tohsaka and Medea were together around Saber they started teasing her mercilessly. Saber didn't know how to handle it and Shirou guessed that she had no experience about it whatsoever, which fit what he knew of her character perfectly.

Somehow he didn't think many people ever thought they could get away with messing with her on any level, and she didn't know how to deal with it, save for the sharp end of her sword.

As result it had become his duty to separate the two female Magi and return Tohsaka to her Servant, which he promptly did.

After Saber and Tohsaka had left, Shirou went into his Workshop but Medea wasn't there any longer. Shirou sighed in relief. At least he didn't have to try to avoid her.

He picked up his tools and donned his blacksmith apron before approaching the furnace.

Soon, the Workshop was filled by the sound of metal hitting metal. Slowly but steadily Shirou's mind cleared of all thoughts other than those of creating blade after blade. Shaping metal had become a second nature to him. Rather than him making blades, it was more like blades made themselves through him.

All the thoughts in his head vanished, losing all perception of the world around him. Even time became a secondary thing. Only blades filled his vision. A familiar landscape that he had experienced only in his dreams started to become clear in front of his eyes.

The fire from the forge erupted and in a great column of flames but he didn't pay it any mind He didn't even notice when it cascaded around him in a perfect circle. The world seemed to waver within this circle and fleeting images of blades stabbed into the ground flickered briefly, before disappearing once again.

He could and would have remained in that state until he'd run out of materials to use if he hadn't been shaken off by an external disturbance.

"Shirou?"

The hammer froze above his head and he turned to look at the person standing behind him.

He blinked as he rapidly came back from the field of blades and at that same moment the previously tame fire turned wild and shot up in a great wall of heat and flames.

"Kya!" Medea cried whilst shielding her face and stumbling backwards.

"Medea!" Shirou stepped forward, completely disregarding the flames that singed his skin. He grabbed her hand but she had already lost her balance and soon, they were both falling down.

Thud!

"Ooow!" both of them exclaimed at the same time.

Shirou opened his eyes and found Medea's face mere inches from his. At the last moment he had managed to switch their position and thus ended up with his back on the floor, whereas Medea now lay on top of him.

Both of their faces instantly turned red.

"Uh… Co-could you let me up, please?" he asked. Even though he was wearing a thick leather apron he could feel the shape of her body pressing against him. The same thing could be said for Medea, who could feel a distinct part of Shirou's anatomy pressing against her.

A malicious glint flashed through her eyes for the briefest of moments, so fast that even Shirou didn't notice it, even though all of his attention was directed at her.

"Hmm… no," she replied after a moment of pondering. She then maneuvered herself so that she could rest her head on his chest. The friction of her body against his made Shirou shiver and if it the apron hadn't taken the brunt of it, he might have had a very embarrassing accident. "Hmm. You make for a nice pillow, you know Shirou? I wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning."

"D-d-d-d-d-d-d-don't joke around, please," he stuttered.

"Oh? Is it only Satsuki then, that can get away with it without a word of complaint from you?"

"You know it's not like that," he suddenly protested. "Why are you doing this? Is it punishment for the other day?"

Medea sat back up. "Punishment? Why in the world would you think…"

And then it dawned on her. Shirou just didn't get it. She had been giving clear signals for an entire week and he thought she was just teasing to get back at him.

No human could be that dense.

"Shirou... you're an idiot," she declared as she stood up and marched out of the Workshop.

Shirou watched her go from his place on the ground until she was out of sight.

"What? Did I fuck up again?" he wondered. "Of course I did."

It seemed like he could never get it right, even if he had no clue what he had done wrong this time.

Later

When dinnertime came around, there was none of the cheer usually found at the table. The food was excellent as usual but no one dared to look up from their plates or utter a word.

A dark cloud hovered above their heads, originating from the resident Witch, who chewed on her food with her usual elegance, all the while glaring daggers at the only male in the room.

"Psst. Shirou," Taiga called under her breath. "What did you do?"

Shirou kept his head lowered and didn't dare answer. Somehow he knew he needed to pretend he didn't exist and make his escape as soon as possible. He had been racking his brain trying to figure out how he had offended her this time, but he couldn't figure it out.

Had he been wrong after all? She was trying to punish him, wasn't she? That was the only thing he logically could think of. Her behavior the past week couldn't be explained otherwise.

Well… there was technically another explanation, but it was simply preposterous.

She wouldn't be genuinely flirting with him, right?

He wasn't such a fool as to believe that a gorgeous woman like her couldn't have any interest in a boy like him. His rational brain simply excluded the possibility.

He would not even hope that he could be wrong. He already chased after one dream knowing it impossible. He wouldn't pine after two.

At the same time, Medea wasn't angry as much as she was confused. Shirou had misinterpreted everything she had done for the past week. She had measured every nuance, all of her body language short of throwing herself at him to get the message across and it was all for nothing. So, it was only natural she would feel frustrated.

Her Master, the man she loved, was as dense as a sack of bricks.

Really, she only had herself to blame for it. From the very start, Shirou was an all-or-nothing kind of guy. He would either commit to a course of action entirely or disregard it completely. Unless she forced him to acknowledge that her feelings were real he would just awkwardly take a step back for every step forward she made.

She had to match him and go all in without any possibility for a misunderstanding.

Of course, it was easier said than done. If she was someone who could act openly on her feelings she wouldn't be having as much trouble as she did. Needless to say, she was stuck as how to proceed.

Outside of her head, however, everyone just saw a black aura flare around her. Taiga and Satsuki quickly excused themselves and made themselves scarce. Only Shirou remained there with her, if only because it was his responsibility for upsetting her.

Still, while he sat there bearing the heavy atmosphere, his traitorous heart couldn't help but dream a little bit, only for his brain to squash it down ruthlessly.

It was not a good day to be in Emiya Shirou's shoes.

The sun had barely disappeared behind the horizon when Mitsuzuri Ayako finally locked the archery dojo doors.

The day had been extremely long, between classes and club practice. She hadn't realized how demanding the captaincy would be and she wondered how Emiya could handle it on top of being the best archer in the club, an honor student, the school's unofficial repair man and even holding a part time job in the evening.

No wonder he had opted out of the club entirely this year. If she had known what a burden it would have been, she would have tried a lot harder to keep him around. To make matters worse without Emiya around, Matou - the insufferable one- was even harder to keep in line.

Shinji was an above average kyudoka, but his ego was out of proportion and he had the bad habit of dumping his duties on the youngest recruits, which meant she was at odds with him more often than not.

Just earlier they had been discussing animatedly about it and he ended up storming away. As he was the one in charge of cleaning up for that day, it fell onto her to make up for it. His sister had offered to help out, but Ayako firmly refused.

She had wanted to ask Emiya if he wanted to help out, knowing that he would do so gladly if he could, but she had been informed that he hadn't come to school that day for reasons undisclosed.

As a result, she was stuck with clean up duty after seeing through all of her responsibilities as captain and by the time she had finished, it was already evening.

There wasn't a single soul left on the school premises and if she hadn't been so familiar with the place, she would have been rather freaked out. Looking at the main building from the outside, it felt hollow and cold. A stark contrast to how it looked during the day, teeming with life and energy.

It was a small wonder that schools after dark were one of the most popular settings for horror stories.

Ayako chuckled to herself. If one looked at the city lights reflected on the windows, the mind could conjure pretty much anything. Skeletal figures moving through the empty halls, screaming faces pressed against the glass, blindfolded women with long purple hair, ghostly lights flickering about and...

…. wait what?

Her eyes snapped back, searching the windows for the things that had caught her attention.

There was nothing, of course. Just an empty corridor among many others. Just another trick of the mind.

She exhaled and shook her head. She had simply managed to spook herself all on her own. Fortunately, no one would ever know about it. If Tohsaka did, she wouldn't let her live it down for the rest of the year.

She turned to leave and froze on the spot.

She was there, crouched on all four like a wild beast, purple hair sprawled around like a nest of snakes.

For the briefest moment Ayako didn't understand what she was seeing. When she did understand it, she tried to make her brain unsee it because it was clearly a product of her imagination, just as before. When she finally accepted it as reality it was too late. The creature was already on her, lips parted as if to eat her.

Mitsuzuri Ayako didn't return home that night.

XXX

AN: Sorry for the long wait people! September hasn't been kind on me. I won't bother with the details, but I had to take care of a lot of stuff. Things are largely settled down for the time being, so production has resumed steadily.

Next chapter, Shirou and Medea's relationship comes to a head. How will things turn between them?

In other news, I have made some slight change to my Patron account. Basically speaking, my patrons above a certain level get to read two chapters (at least each month), while here and on other platforms it will trickled down one chapter each month and they get to vote what gets updated every time.

If you are interested in reading more every month, or if you just wish to support me please visit [p atreon [dotCOM] / neoalfa]. Or if you'd rather not waste your money on me, consider leaving a review.

This chapter has been proofread by The Ride and Obiki Doragon, so give them some gratitude as well.

Till next time folks