Illyasviel von Einzbern was a simple girl. At least she liked to believe so. She trained her Magecraft constantly, she learnt without much complaining, she listened to everything her grandfather told her.
Though after her mother and father aband- left, left her. She liked to have some alone time in her room. Where it was quiet. Where it was peaceful. Where she could be by herself.
If anyone ever claimed it was because it was where she spent time with Kiritsugu and Irisviel the last time she saw them, she'd use her new maid's to end them.
Illya sighed to herself, lying on her large King sized bed, flat on her back. Slowly moving a hand up to her hair, a Circuit in her hand sprung to life. The young girl wordlessly activating a spell and cutting a singular strand of hair mere millimeters above the skin of her scalp. As the hair began to go limp, caught by gravity, more Magic Circuits sprung to life with but a single uttered phrase.
"Verfeinern"
The alchemical spell immediately took root on the strand of hair. Twisting, elongating, and knotting it both physically and magically until it became a wireframe of a small bird, just slightly larger than the 9 year old's hand. This particular trick was one that she had been told of from some of the older Homunculi around the castle that had been around with her mother. Also from the scant memories she had of her mothers Thaumaturgy.
Unlike her mother though, she used her actual hair rather than wires. Born of a wish to be like her precious mother and a lack of trust, finances and time, she had re-created the technique using the framework of her mothers.
With a small flick of her wrist she bounced the bird up a couple centimeters before telepathically commanding it to fly around the room. An impassive face on the young girl as her red eyes rolled around, following her construct as it flew around the room to break up the monotony of the day.
Raising both hands to the ceiling she began to sway them around, the bird construct following the directioning of her hands.
"One day I'll figure out how to make you fire off spells. Then I'll have surpassed-" Her words were cut-off by the sudden wave of invisible force that travelled into and through her room.
It wasn't harmful and she could tell that it was cast by one of the many Bounded Fields within the Castle. Yet it made her tense up, her pupils dilating and adrenaline beginning to pump into her system, solely due to one fact. This particular pulse of Mana was carefully constructed and pounded into her head until she could recognize it in her sleep.
The Einzbern Castle was being attacked.
Dispelling her creation she was quick to jump to her feet and begin throwing clothing on. A singular shoe was fitted on and her jacket caught on one of her arms when the door to her room was thrown open and she screamed in fright, jumping back and collapsing into her closet as her imbalanced height threw off her coordination.
"Ah. Lady Illyasviel! You felt the pulse, good" Sella commented, running into the room.
Behind her, her 'sister' stared blankly at the door, and then at her halberd that was taller than the door frame itself. Tilting the pole slightly she walked into the room. Upon doing so she looked around the room as if entering it for the first time, stretching her polearm out in a couple directions before wordlessly pulling her arms back in close and withdrawing from Illya's room to stand in the hallway.
"Leysritt! You need to stick close to Lady Illyasviel" Sella chided as she helped Illya get properly dressed.
"My Halberd is too large. I will protect her from here" Leysritt called back in a flat, monotone voice.
Leysritt and Sella, fairly new additions to the Einzbern Homunculi in all honesty. They were created after the death of Irisviel von Einzbern and the betrayal of her husband Kiritsugu Emiya, specifically for the purpose of protecting and aiding Illya. Both sporting platinum hair and red eyes, but other than the similar colouring they were actually quite different.
Leysritt was the melee combatant of the two. Sporting short hair that was currently hidden behind the Einzbern maid's cowl and blank red eyes. Despite her combat specialty it was nearly impossible to tell from her clothing and physique, being a very moderate maids uniform and slim with large curves respectively.
Sella, on the other hand, was much more magically inclined than her sister Homunculus. When not hidden behind the maid's cowl, her platinum hair was long enough to reach her tailbone and her eyes shined with a light that Leysritt lacked. Unlike her, Sella's body was similarly slim but far more fragile and without the curves that Leysritt sported. Her clothing, however, was nearly identical.
Narrowing her eyes in annoyance, Sella let the issue drop since having someone outside the room probably was a good idea. Also this really wasn't the time to start arguing with Leysritt. Turning back to Illya, Sella made sure everything was in order before straightening up, her gaze catching the window of Illya's room.
"Ranged weaponry is taking out the homunculi. We need to move Lady Illyasviel" Sella informed her before grabbing her hand and beginning to tug her charge.
"Where are we going Sella?" Illya asked as she got tugged out of her room, stumbling for a moment before regaining her proper footing.
"Away from your room Lady Illyasviel. Then we can take some of the tunnels to-" The distant sound of a large amount of screams made all three of the Einzbern Homunculi pause for a moment, though in Leysritt's case it was more because the other two stopped.
"Whoever is attacking is strong" Leysritt commented, unperturbed by the multiple screams that just sounded out from the snowy plains surrounding the castle.
"Then all the more reason to get Lady Illyasviel as far away as possible, keep moving Leysritt" Sella commanded, beginning to pull Illyasviel down the hallway of the castle once again.
Though this time Illyasviel nearly ended up pulling her along with how ready she seemed to be to keep running.
XXXxxxXXX
Meanwhile, a little earlier
"Here they come Kiri…" Irisviel muttered as she stared out over the snowy plains and up at the castle.
"I'm aware" Was all Kiritsugu muttered, peering through the scope of one of the many firearms and weapons he had brought with him.
"Can you take any shots Kiri?"
She was met with silence for a moment before his rifle fired, making her yelp and block her ears.
"I FORGOT HOW LOUD THESE WERE!"
Kiritsugu tried to ignore the flare of fondness that spread from his heart to the very tips of his fingers and toes. It may have metaphorically warmed him to see his wife so lively again after so many months of her deteriorating and subsequently recovering but right now wasn't the time for fondness.
Kiritsugu Emiya was a man feared by an entire superpower of the Moonlit world. The incorporeal being known as the 'Magus Killer' and even if the enemies rushing towards him and Irisviel right now weren't true Magus…
'They're close enough' He thought to himself, beginning to fire his rifle in earnest.
Having learnt from her previous mistake, Irisviel felt the bite of the cold and the taste and smell of the air intensify. Her already supernatural eyesight sharpening even further. The rifle firing right next to her no longer bothered her in the slightest. Why would it? It's not like she could hear it anymore.
With a simple motion she pulled out two long wires and wordlessly pumped her Od into them, both of them beginning to elongate, strengthen and move supernaturally against gravity. With a sudden blur of motion, the both of them moved and twisted on themselves, forming two floating swords.
"For what it's worth!" She yelled out, her hearing still gone, "None of this is personal!"
Both wireframe swords fired forward, strands connected to Irisviel by wrapping around her fingers. Swinging both of her arms in front of her so that they crossed over, both of the blades followed the action at much faster speeds ripping through most of the front line Homunculi without mercy. Though the ones closer to the middle escaped with either a limb missing or wounds that would bleed them to death eventually but still allowed them to fight.
'Iri is brutal. Can't say I fault her' Kiritsugu thought to himself, the screams of the homunculi filtering through the plugs in his ears but ignored as Kiritsugu loaded a new magazine into his rifle and continued firing.
After another thirty seconds, and the murder of 20 more homunculi between the two parents. The both of them decided that the Homunculi were getting just a bit too close. Both the Homunculi trying to get within Melee and the Homunculi firing spells at them.
Running backwards a couple steps Irisviel simultaneously pulled in both of her sword constructs, beginning to form them into a new shape. Kiritsugu meanwhile stopped firing with his rifle, Irisviel backing up serving as their signal that they would begin the approach to the castle.
Standing up he grabbed the strap on the rifle and slung it over his head and shoulder. Putting it on properly and immediately hopping onto the back of the large wireframe bird that Irisviel had just created.
With a simple mental command, Irisviel sent her construct and the two of them hurtling up into the air and towards the castle, the intensity of her senses dying down as sound slowly began to return to her.
"Do you think they changed her room Kiri?" She asked suddenly.
"Not sure. Head there regardless. Better to stick with what we know but prepare for surprises"
She just nodded and kept her construct going, trying to ignore the strain on her Circuits from using so many wires to create a single creature with enough strength to carry both her and Kiritsugu.
"You're heating up already"
"H-Huh?"
"You're steaming. You're pushing yourself too far" Kiritsugu pointed out, his tone disapproving.
"I'll be fine Kiri"
"For now. But you need to be prepared for after"
"I recover quickly"
"Iri-"
"We're almost there Kiri. I can do this" Her cheeks were beginning to go red from the difference in temperatures between her body and the cold air, especially up so high.
All Kiritsugu did was sigh, and as they approached the window of Illyasviel's room, he raised an M1911 and fired a couple times. The window to the room shattering in an instant and allowing the bird to slow down and enter safely before dissolving back into wires. Kiritsugu landed just fine but his wife stumbling for a moment as she sighed out a cloud of hot air in relief.
"This is why I said we should use the car" Kiritsugu muttered as he helped steady her, his eyes scanning the room.
"But you wouldn't let me drive!" She whined.
"Hm. Whoever was in here was in here recently…." Taking another second to look around he noticed a picture on the bedframe and his eyes widened.
"Kiri?" Irisviel muttered in confusion before yelping as he pulled her out of the room.
"This was Illya's room. She left recent- there" He pointed at the corner of the long hallway where the form of an average sized adult disappeared around the corner.
"They have a lead on us Kiri…" Irisviel muttered in annoyance, her eyes narrowing "Go ahead! I'll catch up!"
He wordlessly nodded and with a quiet mutter to himself, shot forward in a burst of air and a blur of black. Irisviel followed shortly after him, but knowing that even while reinforcing her body she'd still take at least twice as long as Kiritsugu to get to the corner.
Skidding to a stop, and uncaringly ruining the carpet under his feet, Kiritsugu ended his Time Alter. At least for the moment. Staring ahead of him he noticed the unmistakable form of his precious daughter, flanked by two Einzbern Homunculi both dressed in maid uniforms and unfamiliar to him.
Pulling out his Calico M950 and raising it, his eyes widened at the sight of one of the Homunculi, the one with the fuck-off big halberd, dashing towards him with so much force that the floor cracked under her push-off.
"Time Alter: Double Acce-"
"Begon-"
"STOP!"
Kiritsugu, already within the makeshift reality marble of his family's Magecraft, twirled out of the way before noticing that Illya was yelling something and that the halberd-wielding Maid had stopped and turned to her quizzically. Taking any moment to relieve the burden of Time Alter he let it drop after moving back a couple steps for safety, a heavy breath leaving his lips as everything returned to normal for him.
"F-Father?"
"It's me Illya" He muttered softly, frowning as tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Why now?...WHY NOW!? You left me here! Everyone kept saying you betrayed me! That you let Mother die!" She screamed out, clutching her hands to her chest tightly.
"Illya…I didn't-"
"Illyaaaaaa!~" Irisviel skidded to a stop, as unconcerned with the carpet as her husband and using him to completely stop her momentum.
"M-Mother?..." Poor Illya looked like her world was crumbling around her and she didn't know what was real and what wasn't.
"Illyasviel!" Iri cheered happily, running forward and wrapping her into a hug, neither of the maids knowing how to properly react to what was happening.
"M-Mamma!" Illyasviel cried, her mothers hug making her realize that this was as real as real could get, her own arms wrapping around Irisviel.
"Lady…Illyasviel?" Sella asked hesitantly, not comfortable with this strange woman hugging her charge.
"Her father?" Leysritt, meanwhile, questioned Kiritsugu with a tilted head.
Slowly he nodded, keeping a wary eye on both of the Homunculi, his finger resting next to the trigger of his Calico.
"Lord Einzbern is displeased with you. He told her of your betrayal and replacing her" Leysritt helpfully informed Kiritsugu, making him tense up.
"LEYSRITT! Stop giving away information!" Sella yelled, incredulous that her sister could do such a thing.
"He is Lady Illyasviel's father and is non confrontational" Leysritt reasoned, raising a singular eyebrow.
"Why do I bother?..." Sella grumbled with crocodile tears.
"W-Why are you- why now? You left me! G-Grandfather said you died! You replaced me!" Illya cried into her mothers jacket, Irisviel just gently consoling her and patting her back.
"My body started to break down sweetie. It took a while to get me fixed up. But I'm good as new now" Irisviel softly but happily informed her daughter "And we aren't replacing you with your brother Illya. I'll explain more later, but he's the nicest young boy. You'll love him"
"Doubt it…" Illya pouted childishly, hugging her mother tighter.
"Iri. We have to keep moving before either the other Homunculi or Jubstacheit find and catch-up to us" Kiri called out, matching the glare of Sella without a moment's hesitation.
"It was you that took out all those homunculi outside" She announced "Lady Illyasviel, it could be dangerous to be with these two"
"No! I'm not leaving!"
"B-but Lady Illyasviel you could be in danger-"
"They can just talk to Grandfather! It's just a misunderstanding!"
"Sorry sweetie. But we didn't come here to stay here with you. We're taking you with us" Irisviel dropped the bomb on her daughter, hyper-aware of both the maid's reactions despite not looking like it.
"B-But grandfather will be angry" Illya whined pitifully, making the flame of anger grow more intense in both of the parents.
"We know sweetie. But he can't go after us where we're going. Now come on. Your father's right. We have to go!"
"Lady Illyasviel!" Sella called out as Irisviel stood up, holding her daughter.
"M-Mother! C-Can Sella and Leysritt come with us please?" When her mother looked over, Illya gave her the biggest puppy dog eyes she possibly could, complete with tears and a wobbly lip.
"Iris-" Kiritsugu got out before being cut off.
"Of course they can come sweetie!" Irisviel exclaimed, hugging her daughter tighter, ignoring the sigh from Kiritsugu.
"I-I see. If that's what you wish. Lady Illyasviel" Sella said respectfully, Leysritt just nodding to show that she had heard her charges orders.
"We won't be able to take the bird with so many people. Circle around the back" Kiritsugu commanded, beginning to walk through the familiar halls with purpose.
XXXxxxXXX
It took a few minutes of skulking around and Kiritsugu showing off his expertise in assassination for the group of five to reach the ground floor of the castle. Illya was now standing on the ground but still clutching her mothers hand in a death-grip.
"We're going to have to go through the dining room…" Kiritsugu figured out, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
"Why?" Leysritt asked, raising an eyebrow once again.
"Closest window to the outside. We can't waste anymore time"
"Understood Lord….Emiya" Sella muttered, her face scrunching up as she did so.
As they approached the doors to the dining room, Kiritsugu kept his grip on his Calico and gestured for everyone to press themselves against the walls as he did the same. His free hand reaching out and pushing the open but doing nothing else.
For a moment nothing moved or made a noise. Kiritsugu kept his senses keen for any sort of rushing in or charging of Magecraft from within the dining room. When nothing reacted he sighed silently in relief and motioned with his head to go into the Dining Room, turning his sights down the end of the hallway just in case a Homunculus came running up behind the group as they made their way in.
"Irisviel? What an…unexpected surprise" The voice that spoke was cold, intrigued, and elderly.
Above all else, though, it sent a mental message of 'WARNING' firing through his entire system. Kicking off the floor and flying into the room, the iron-sights of his Thompson aimed center-mass at the man sitting at the head of the very long dining table. His Calico M950 held loosely at his side but ready to be raised with the slightest of provocations.
"…Father" Irisviel greeted Jubstacheit smoothly, wordlessly pushing Illya back behind her.
"The Holy Grail War ended. Yet you live" The head of the Einzbern family noted, his gaze locked on her before a spark passed through them and his red eyes shifted to Kiritsugu "Ah. I see now…"
"Moth-"
"Kiri. Take Illya and the maids. I'll catch up in a moment" Illya flinched at being cut off by her mother, and when her voice was that unforgiving as well.
"Irisviel…This is Jubstacheit, not a regular Homunculus" Kiritsugu responded, taking a step-forward with his Thompson Contender still aimed at the old man's chest.
"Astute observation traitor" The Einzbern head purred smoothly, his voice like an arctic glacier "But listen to her. I believe there's much to be said between us regardless. Listen to the instructions of your 'wife' and I'll call the Homunculi off"
"Daddy!" Illya yelled, caught in Leysritt's grip and struggling in vain "You can't leave Mamma! You can't!"
"Kiritsugu. Go," Kiritsugu didn't want to but hearing the conviction in his wife's voice, he decided to tentatively trust her.
Wordlessly he motioned for Leysritt and Sella to move towards the window, slowly making his way over with his Thompson pointed at Jubstacheit the entire time. The smashing of the glass and Illya's begging barely registering over the concentration it took to have to walk away from his wife. Leaving her again due to a mission, even if this one was quite a bit more personal than the last.
Eventually though, he wasn't able to stay behind, his gaze moving to Irisviel just before he dove out the window and began to make his way after his daughter and her maids.
"He wished you back didn't he? The Magus Killer used our kindness against us and wasted our wish to bring you back" The man's features never shifted from the perpetual coldness they always held, yet the temperature of his voice dropped below even the winds now blowing into the dining room.
"Is that the only reason I'm staying behind? So that you can find another reason to hate my husband?" All remnants of mirth or childishness were void in both her voice and mannerisms, her eyes boring into his own.
"I merely wish to know the full story of his betrayal. After everything we gifted him, I believe it's deserved"
"You deserve no such thing" Her response, and its rapidity, surprised the old head of the Magus family.
"Hooooh? You'd be wise to remember your situation, Irisviel" His eyes flashed with latent power hidden beneath the surface of his skin.
"The great head of the Einzbern family going back on a deal?" A slender eyebrow was raised as she cocked her hip and rested a hand on it.
"You misunderstand" One corner of his lips lifted in a half smile, half sneer "Shut down Magical Circuits"
She could feel his Prana wash over her, pushing for her to obey his command. Evidently something built into Einzbern Homunculi that he likely based on the Command Seals of the Holy Grail War. She made no move as two tendrils of the floor by Jubstacheit's feet shot up before elongating towards her like oversized needles meant to stab her through.
A second later, smug red eyes stared directly into a similarly coloured pair that were narrowing in fury. Two wires floating besides Irisviel as the tips of both stone needles the elder Einzbern had sent towards her fell to the ground in multiple pieces, like wire going through wet clay.
"How interesting. In-built pseudo-Command Seals?" Irisviel commented as both of her wires came to rest twirled around both of her arms.
"How? Simply wishing you back should have brought your body back exactly the same" Despite the accusation, Jubstacheit seemed to almost be asking himself the question, trying to figure it out.
"That was a dirty move" She cut off his inquisitorial mumbling, her smug look melting into something much more closely resembling the anger he had glared at her with moments prior.
"We all have cards up our sleeves child. It merely seems like the traitors trumped my own in this case" Irisviel's eye twitched at being taken out of the equation by what was essentially her father so quickly, but other than that momentary slip she let nothing else of her thoughts show.
"If that's all. I will be leaving"
"Very well. With the recent changes apparently undergone with your physiology you have no further use to the family. I hereby strip you of the family name 'Einzbern' and banish you from these grounds" Irisviel stared impassively into the eyes of her now ex-family head.
"Very well. Jubstacheit" She nodded her head before turning on her heel and beginning to walk towards the shattered window to jump out just as the rest of her family had a minute or two before.
"I will send a letter within a year. Do be sure to send back dear Illyasviel's reaction to learning how much of your remaining time you wasted with her replacement" Irisviel paused in place, turning her head to stare at him from the corner of her eye, rage and hatred burning in the singular red orb that was visible to him.
He thought that he had received such a parting victory didn't he? Undermining her rescue of Illya, showing that Illya still had worth to him while she did not, mocking and degrading her precious son with such a title as 'replacement'. Well if that's what he wanted to end on, she'd hit back just as viciously. The verbal kid gloves were finally coming off.
"No need to send a letter. I wouldn't want to waste time you could be down in your Workshop. Failing to create another Justeaze, again." Turning her head back to look in front of her she leapt out of the window, happy with the feeling of victory even if she didn't know his actual reaction.
XXXxxxXXX
A week later
"So this is Japan?" Illya asked in wonder, twirling in a circle as she walked, her arms out wide and a smile on her face.
"After the border I didn't think-" Leysritt started before being stopped as Irisviel placed a finger on her lips.
"Kiri is never going to let me live down that going to France actually got us away from my cousins. Please don't bring it up more" She very pointedly didn't look at Kiritsugu as she said this, not willing the slim chance that she'd see a very smug grin if she did.
"Very well Lady Irisviel"
"Just call me Iri, Liz!" Irisviel said cheerfully, clapping her hands together as she looked over her and Sella, neither one of them dressed as maids to avoid any issues while they had been travelling.
"Kay"
"L-Leysritt!" Sella yelled out, shocked by her sister's 'scandalous' behaviour.
"Call me Liz" All that got from Sella was a choking noise.
"You like my nickname? Kiri! Liz likes my nickname"
"Well done Iri. Illya careful you don't bump into anyone" Kiritsugu called out, getting a giggle from Illya as she hopped back the couple steps to her father.
"Ok!"
"I've never seen you this happy before Lady Illyasviel" Sella commented gently, smiling gratefully to show that despite her words, she was happy that was the case.
"I'm finally back with Mother and Father" Illya responded with a small smile "And I get to live with them. Other than my brother, why wouldn't I be happy?"
Kiritsugu and Irisviel looked at each other in worry as she said this, the both of them seeming to have a silent conversation with just their facial expressions, as muted as Kiritsugu's were, and gestures.
"You know Illya. Your brother is very nice" Iri started.
"He took you," She pouted, getting a sweatdrop from her mother who looked to Kiritsugu for help.
She got a raise of one of his eyebrows and a shaking of his head in return. So in response she sent him a pleading look that he caved to almost instantly.
"He didn't take either of us, Illya. He's the reason both of us were able to come and get you"
"H-Huh?"
"There was a disaster in this city a little over a year ago. He was the only survivor, what allowed him to survive allowed the both of us to find him and get out relatively unscathed" He said simply, his gaze still ahead of him as he walked down the street, unnoticing of his wife's facepalm and the paling complexion of his daughter.
'Lord Emiya isn't….the greatest with words' Sella thought to herself with a sweatdrop.
'What's mochi?...' Liz thought, her gaze and mind almost as far as possible from the conversation as it could possibly be as she looked off to the side.
With a whimper Illya suddenly stuck to Kiritsugu's side like glue, holding his left hand in both of her's tightly. Kiritsugu looked at her in mild bewilderment before looking up at his wife for help. And as revenge for his initial ignoring of her pleading gaze before, all Irisviel did was grin and shrug.
A couple minutes later, the group of five came up to the gate to the Emiya estate. Sella perking up at the feeling of the Bounded Field around the house.
"A Bounded Field? Good to see but it feels…weak?" She questioned cautiously, looking at the married Magi.
"I'll explain in the house" Kiritsugu responded, getting a knowing nod from Sella.
However, the moment they entered the estate, both Kiritsugu and Irisviel tensed up. Something that was noticed by all three of the new arrivals.
"Mother? Father?"
Her unasked question was answered by the pulse of Prana from the other side of the house and the small flash of light and explosion that they could hear. Without another word, Irisviel shot up the path and nearly threw the doors off the hinges. The rest of the group, hot on her heels.
Meanwhile Irisviel dashed through the house, worry and adrenaline spiking her system and compounding each other. Digging her heel into the surprisingly polished floor of the house she slammed the door to the dining room open, knowing that it was the quickest way to the backyard without going over the house or demolishing it. What she wasn't expecting however, was the sound of something shattering in the kitchen, directly to her left.
Whipping her head around to the noise so fast her hair nearly acted as a makeshift whip against the doorframe, her nearly manic red eyes peered at the confused and slightly afraid purple eyes of the girl who had just dropped a plate on her kitchen floor.
"Matou-san!" Slamming the door open on the other side of the room was Irisviel's wonderful son, covered in dirt and sweat with a sword held in a tight grip at the ready.
Besides him a girl with black hair and aqua eyes ran up. A ball of black and red energy charged and held in front of her hand with her other hand bracing her arm.
"Shirou!" Forgetting everything else she dived at him, making him yelp as he stumbled back a step before being tackled and hugged by his mother.
"Lady Iris-" Sella called out before freezing as the ball of energy was suddenly aimed at her.
"Who are you? Why are you in Muramasa's house?" The twin tailed girl asked with a glare the spell seemingly ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"K-Kaa-san! Stop!" Shirou finally managed to get out over his mothers smothering.
"Kaa-san!?"
"Kaa-san?"
Both young girls called out respectively, the black haired girls spell dying out. Luckily without being fired off to do so.
"Who are the both of you?" Kiritsugu asked, finally making his way into the dining room, his eyes blank and unforgiving, a non-verbal warning held in them should either girl do something he didn't appreciate.
"A-Ah. Well…."
XXXxxxXXX
A couple minutes later found everyone bar Sella and Leysritt sitting at the table. Irisviel, Kiritsugu and Illya on one side. While Shirou, Rin and Sakura sat on the other side.
"I see. So the daughter's-" Rin coughed very pointedly and gave an uncomfortable look to Irisviel "Daugh-..ter?" She tentatively asked, getting a nod "Of Tokiomi and the…heiress of the Matou family. You've both befriended my sweet little Shirou?" She cooed.
"That's….r-right. Emiya-san.."
"Oh just call me Iri or Irisviel dear. You're a friend of Shirou's after all!" She smiled and clapped her hands together.
"May I do the same?" Sakura asked, blankly tilting her head to the side.
"Of course!"
Meanwhile Shirou could feel the glare of the young girl, his sister apparently, as if she was trying to physically light him on fire with her gaze alone. However whenever he looked directly at her, she seemed to only get more angry at him.
"You've made such interesting friends Shirou!" Irisviel exclaimed happily.
"Thank…you? From what you said you have a very interesting family kaa-san" He chuckled nervously.
At the word 'family', Illya's glare only got more intense. To the point that no one at the table could possibly ignore it anymore, though Shirou sure tried.
"Hi illya. I'm your broth-"
"I hate you"
"-er a-ah?" He blinked quizzically at the demi-homunculus while Irisviel spluttered in shock next to the young girl.
"I won't let you take Mother and Father from me"
"I'm not trying to-"
"I won't let you replace me either"
"I-I don't want to replace-"
"Lies"
"Can I please finish-"
"You don't deserve Mother and Father"
"Illyasviel!" Iri yelled out, shocked anger thick in her tone and body language from the words of her daughter.
Despite the guilty look she gave her mother when her gaze flickered over, the moment she looked back at Shirou it was back to burning hot hatred.
In the time it took Illya to look over at Irisviel and give her the guilty look. And for both Rin and Sakura to feel a strange sense of anger at the 'younger' girl. Shirou could feel a strange swirl of emotions bubble up inside him. There seemed to be a little bit of every negative emotion he knew and other's he had yet to know of, let alone experience. And in a mere couple seconds he could feel it beginning to bubble and broil within him like a pot full of boiling water with the lid firmly over the top.
In a split second he made a decision. He could either take the lid off to release the pressure, but he had no idea what would happen if he did that and he didn't want to anger or disappoint anyone at the table…
Or.
He could get rid of the heat all together. Take the pot completely off the flame until he has time to safely complete the recipe.
A strange but intimately familiar feeling washed over him as everything seemed to….dull. The boy resting an elbow on the table to prop his chin up, gazing into Illya's eyes of hatred with eyes of nothing. A void for which nothing was felt and nothing escaped.
Exactly how he had been following the Fuyuki Fire.
"You're correct" Every person in the room, including the two maids, snapped their heads to stare directly at Shirou "I don't deserve them"
His voice was blank. Somehow matching Sakura at her very worst with only a few seconds between his last words and these ones. Like a corpse given the ability to speak.
"You are their daughter. Their true child. I don't deserve an ounce of their time or love now that you are back" Illya didn't know how to react, her glare crumbling into a look of simultaneous guilt and fear at his dead voice.
"Shirou.." Kiritsugu muttered, staring at his adopted son.
"Shirou, that's not true!" Iri cried out, her eyes growing moist.
"It's fine. Neither of you need to lie. Why would either of you care for me when you have your true child here? I'm just the survivor of a disaster. Usually I would have gone to an orphanage regardless"
"M-Muramasa…" Rin muttered, her voice weak and vulnerable as she gently reached an arm out to him, an action mirrored on his other side by Sakura.
"I do not wish to ruin things more than I already have. I'll be going" He went to stand up before being stopped as Irisviel practically dived across the table.
"Shirou no!" He tilted his head to the side as she placed both of her hands on his shoulders "We love you. Just like we love Illya! Neither of you is replacing the other. Neither of you is some pet project! I know that Kiri feels the same. We love both of you equally! You may not be our blood-child like Illya is Shirou. But you're both our children!"
As Irisviel dealt with their, currently, emotionally compromised son. Kiritsugu looked over at Illya, a feeling of pain surging through his system at the look of shock and guilt that was so painfully evident on her face. Yet at the same time, he was glad that she had such an expression. It meant that the weight of what she had said was sinking in. And that she wouldn't say such things again, and if she did, certainly not as lightly as she did just then.
"I..understand" Shirou muttered.
"Say what you understand Shirou. Please" Iri begged him.
"I understand that both you and Kiritsugu love me and that you didn't take me in just because Illyasviel wasn't here"
"Good. I love you so much" She kissed his forehead and hugged him.
"I-I need to go somewhere I can release some pent up emotions before I explode" He muttered, getting an understanding hum from her.
"Just go in the backyard sweetie. I'll explain to the others" He just nodded before standing up and nearly sprinting out of the house before an explosion was heard by everyone else.
"I'm…going to go outside with Muramasa-kun" Rin muttered shyly.
"It's ok sweetie. He's just trying to work out some complicated emotions" Irisviel explained, getting a nod from Rin before she went out the back, Sakura following moments later.
"Now Illya…" Irisviel said, turning to face her daughter.
"I'm sorry…"
"I'm not the one you should be saying that to. Why would you think that?"
"Grandfather told me-"
"Jubstacheit also told you Irisviel had died" Kiritsugu cut in, getting an embarrassed blush from the girl.
"I-I've never had to share your love before. A-And I just got you back!"
"That doesn't excuse what you said Illya" Kiritsugu said sharply.
"Kiri!"
"I'm not bending on this Iri. She needs to understand"
"I do! I really do! I promise!"
"No. You don't. Because you didn't even know how much being the survivor of a disaster hurt Shirou. And how you reacted to his words proved that"
She had nothing to say to that. Staring down at the table guiltily, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she began to hiccup.
"Look, Illya. Both of you will get over this. I believe that. But you need to make the move first. Shirou held a hand out first and you burnt him for it. Now you need to" Kiritsugu explained, ruffling her hair before standing up "Now I'm going to watch over Shirou and make sure none of them do something too dangerous" He told Irisviel, his wife pretending not to notice him pulling a cigarette out of his coat pocket as he walked out.
"I'm sorry Mamma…."
"I know sweetie. I know.." Illyasviel let the first of her tears drop as her mother hugged her.
XXXxxxXXX
That night, Emiya residence
Shirou groaned and stumbled to the door, sliding it open while rubbing one of his eyes. Opening them a bit wider when he realized who was standing in the hallway.
"Can we…talk?"
"I..suppose?" He muttered, confused.
Stepping aside he let her into his room, the older girl shyly fiddling with the hem of her shirt as she stood across from Shirou.
"I'm…sorry about what I said earlier today"
"If you don't mean it you don't need to say it Illyasviel. I'm fine with telling Kaa-san and Tou-san that you did"
"N-No I do mean it! It….It was really mean to say. So I'm sorry" She bowed to him.
"It's fine Illyasviel. What you said wasn't really wrong.." he replied, scratching his cheek.
"It was!" She whisper yelled, straightening out "I-I said it because I was lied to and scared and….and it wasn't right when you've done nothing wrong"
"Well. Thanks I guess? That's really nice to say"
"I'm still scared. That you'll replace me. But Mother and Father talked to me while you walked Rin and Sakura home. A-And I know that they would be really disappointed if we didn't get along so….I'm willing to try?" She held a hand out awkwardly.
"For what it's worth. I'm sorry you had to see 'that' earlier as well. So I guess I'm willing to try as well" He, just as awkwardly, shook her hand.
The both of them stood there, arms shaking up and down for far too long as the silence stretched for longer and longer.
"This is weird…" Shirou finally admitted, ending the handshake.
"Yeah" Illya agreed with a shy nod.
"I suppose we'll get to hugs eventually?..." He muttered in a joking tone, getting a small smile from her.
"Well…considering due to my body being this" She gestured weakly to herself "Mother and Father are going to say I'm younger than I am so…Eventually we'll get to hugs…O-Onii-chan"
"Hm…" Shirou hummed, not knowing what to make of the strange pulse of emotion that flowed through him in time with an especially strong beat of his heart "You should get some sleep, its late"
"I'm still on Germany time so that'll be difficult but I will…attempt to"
"heh. Good enough. Goodnight Illya" He smiled and ruffled her hair, pretending not to hear the embarrassed yelp that left her lips.
Meanwhile, crouched outside their room, Irisviel smiled proudly. Her eyes beaming with so much happiness it almost lit up the hallway.
XXXxxxXXX
Side Story: Illya discovers Television
"Father. What is…that?" Illya asked, pointing at the tv that had the news on it.
"That's…a television, Illya?" Kiritsugu responded with a raised eyebrow.
"What's a television?"
"Ah. I see. A television is a piece of technology that picks up various signals to display sounds and colours in the form of shows." He explained, trying to keep it dumbed down and feeling like even then he was doing a bad job.
"Ah. Are they all so, formal?" He placed a finger on her lips and cocked her head to the side as she looked at and listened to the news.
"No. That's just the news. This remote can change the channels." He said, showing her how to change the channels as it flicked through different shows.
"Woah. There's so much variety." Illya gasped, showing her inner childishness.
"That's right. So there's a show for everyo-"
"Kiri! Can you come help me?" Irisviel called out from another room down the hall, getting a fond sigh from him.
"I'm going to go help your mother, you can keep flicking through channels if you want to find something to watch." He told his daughter who looked at the remote unsure before nodding.
"Ok father!"
As he walked away he could hear the tv flick through channels before hearing a distant 'In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!' and chuckling a little to himself.
An hour later
"I'm home!" Shirou called out, slipping off his shoes and walking into the living room, only to freeze.
"Moon prism power, make up!" Magecraft, actual honest to god Thaumaturgy surged around Illya, transmuting her clothes into a magical girl outfit and getting a cute squeal from her.
"I-Illya!?"
"In the name of Sailor…U-Uh, Root! I shall protect the world and show everyone my beautiful Magical Girl goodness!" Illya shouted, twirling around before striking a pose with her fingers in a 'V' over one eye while the other was closed.
Only to freeze, her excited face beginning to give way to mounting horror as she looked at the shocked brother she hadn't seen, or heard apparently, up until that point.
"What's….happening?"
"Sailor Root! Away!" Before Shirou could stop her, Illya crashed through a window.
XXXxxxXXX
Hello one! Hello all!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Its shorter than chap 4, I'll admit, but I also feel like this chapter really didn't need to be much longer to achieve what I set out for it to achieve. So in that light, I'm very proud of this chapter.
What did you guys think? I'll be eager to find out xP Also I hope you look forward to next months chapter. It's the first big timeskip of the story. Probably long overdue if im honest XD
Discord: ctMzhq3
REVIEWS:
Lawrence H. Bain: I make no promises about adding Lorelei to the harem. But I also stand by my statement that as of writing this reply I have no plans for her to be apart of it.
DaDragon562: I'm glad you enjoyed the Gil, Sakura, and Rin introductions and interactions in this chapter. Gil's in particular was very difficult to pull off.
AngelicWisdom: Unfortunately it is EX rank. And Irisviel is Irisviel. So honestly the spots open to pretty much any girl that so much as even blushes in Shirou's direction XD
AnimeFan13579: Ah yes. Concepts and conceptual weapons. Those will absolutely be one of the larger roadblocks in Shirou's journey to be a blacksmith. But if Muramasa can do it. So can his great(x18) grandson!...Eventually XD
Ochsee: That's pretty much the plan, at least until shit starts hitting the fan.
Veritas Of The Void: Touko and Aoko will both be apart of the story, at least as name-dropped characters. But adding them to the Harem? As much as they are hot, I try to make sure that Harem members have a legitimate reason to be in the Harem. To stop it from spiralling out of control and having just every hot girl in Type-Moon become apart of Shirou's Harem.
Tamaha8: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it going forward as well!
1740: Gray will appear. But as for joining the harem? Once again, I have no current plans to add her in.
JGreen039: It depends on the type of blade, and unfortunately theres still the degradation from Gaia that he'd need to find a workaround for. And as for Avalon giving him extra abilities? I'm not 100% sure but ive been toying around with the idea and trying to find possible side-effects that wouldn't completely fuck the powerscaling. So we'll see where that goes.