Heir to the Blacksmith

by Plasma Assassin

Shirou Emiya, born to a Clan following the name they had not officially been called in centuries, chasing after a dream created by their ancestor as relentlessly as any other Magi family reaches for the Root. This is the boy that Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern find in the rubble and mud of the Fuyuki Fire, and this is the boy that they adopted.

28. Special: Second Anniversary Celebration

WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO WHAT I DESPERATELY HOPE IS A PROPERLY TIMED ANNIVERSARY CHAPTER FOR OUR LOVELY HEIR TO THE BLACKSMITH.

We've managed to reach two years of this trainwreck (behind the scenes) of a story and honestly, I'm just glad that so many people are liking my story, despite my main lore guy making it his actual mission in life to point out everything wrong with the story.

Small side note: He's writing his own fanfic but refuses to post anything until he's 100% completed both the prequel fic and the main fic and I'm waiting for him to show it off so that I can turn his treatment of HttB right back on him. *Cue evil laugh*

But moving on. At the time of writing this Authors Note we're sitting on 1,229 reviews, 4,014 Favourites and 4,804 Follows. Honestly that's fucking insane to me. Thank you, guys, so much! I genuinely was never expecting to get this much love and attention when I started HttB. A wee little author drowning in MHA fics with like the barest knowledge on the Nasuverse as a whole and now I'm standing here.

We had a little scare with Ao3 and some policy warnings but that's been worked out and we're all good now.

This is a little different to my usual chapters and I'm aware of that but I currently have a uni assignment and a uni exam coming up so I definitely don't have the time to write chapter 30 and then do 28 and 29 in June. As much as I would have preferred that. But I wanted to do something for the anniversary since I sorta, kinda, maybe missed it last year.

So this year you're getting an entire chapter of Omakes and Side Stories! How long is it going to be? Fucked if I know, I'm writing this AN before I've even started writing any of them. But I have a couple ideas thanks to my discord, so you should go check it out if you ever want to become apart of the community!

Discord code: ctMzhq3

(Also I'll be replying to both chapter 27 reviews and this chapters reviews in chapter 28 so don't worry)

XXXxxxXXX

Side Story: The Parents Find Out

Shirou yawned as he walked out of his room. His hair even more ruffled and untamed than usual and a subtle lethargy to his movements that definitely wasn't normal.

"Morning." He mumbled into his hand, seeing his parents already awake alongside Liz and Sella.

"Morning sweetie, you seem more tired than usual. Late night?~" Irisviel grinned mischievously at her son while sipping on some coffee, getting a vague smirk and roll of his singular open eye.

He knew that tone of voice that his mother held, and the look on her face. She was insinuating things once again.

She wasn't exactly wrong per se. But in this specific circumstance she wasn't exactly right either. And hopefully, for Rin's pride, it would stay that way.

"Mhm." He nodded, yawning again and sitting at the table.

A moment later, Sakura walked out looking as prim and proper as ever. The picture perfect maid for Shirou that Liz was meant to be but was just a tad too lazy to actually pull off properly.

"Good morning Irisviel-san. Kiritsugu-san."

"Morning."

"Morning Sakura!" Irisviel smiled knowingly at the two of them as she took another sip of her coffee.

'Great. Everything's going fine so f- Oh no.' Things were going well, too well, Shirou knew exactly what that meant.

"ONII-CHAN!"

Illya skidded around the corner of the hallway, grabbing onto a support beam of the house to stop herself from going too far with her sock-covered feet.

"WHY IS RIN NAKED IN YOUR ROOM!?"

Irisviel spat her coffee all over the newspaper that Kiritsugu had been trying to read, not that he really was currently with the almost shell-shocked expression on his face.

And in the ensuing shock, from Shirou's room, a very faint squeal could be heard followed by a slightly muffled.

"shit!"

XXXxxxXXX

Omake: Gilgamesh's True Enemy

"I'm Gilgamesh's true enemy!" Enkidu shouted, staring into the eyes of the woman across from them with a dark glare.

"True enemy? You became his greatest confidant and friend. Don't you lie to me you clay puppet." Ishtar, currently wearing the form she had taken in another timeline with white hair and red eyes, scoffed while waving one of her hands dismissively in front of her face.

"And I suppose you believe yourself worthy of that position?"

"Of course! Who else but I could claim to be the greatest enemy of the first hero in human history?" The goddess bragged, puffing her chest out and placing a hand on it dramatically.

"Amateurs." The voice came from a robed figure sitting at the table next to theirs, making both legendary figures look over.

"Excuse me?" Enkidu enquired with a tilt of his head.

"You'll speak with respect when addressing me or you won't speak at all, human." Ishtar, on the other hand, scowled darkly at the back of the robed figures head.

"I said-" The figure reached up for their hood and pulled it down while turning around in their seat.

Revealing the form of Ea-Nasir, earrings made of immaculately polished copper pierced into his ears.

"-AMATEURS!"

XXXxxxXXX

Side Story: The Clocktower Chronicles I

Shirou yawned into his hand as he walked down the halls with Luvia and Gray at his sides. The 16-year-old having been woken up early by Gray so that they could all spend the day together.

Now Shirou was no slouch at waking up early, in fact most days he'd be just as energetic as Gray to be up this early. However, jetlag was an absolute bitch and currently had him looking like an ever-so-slightly more energetic version of Luvia.

Said girl was walking by his side like sleeping beauty. The girl evidently exhausted to be up so early yet somehow making it look good, if the whispers around the three of them were any indication.

"Holy shit its them!"

"Why are they walking around here?"

"The Princess of Death and the Crystalline Hyena!"

"Who's that walking with them?"

"Oh, dear god no…"

"You know them?"

"That's the Demonic Blacksmith!"

Shirou couldn't keep a small grin off his face as he heard that last whispered comment, a title that he had picked up two years ago and took great pride in. He had, had to break 180 blades across both the forging and testing phases, including 27 commissions, to earn that nickname for himself.

It also didn't help that word of the occasional failed mission to Fuyuki helped to solidify that title. Because people went on missions to fuck with his stuff and when they did, they did not come back. It had led to a reputation that was a bit more fear-based than either of his friends, but he genuinely didn't care so long as his skill was known.

"Oh, fair Princess!" The sudden, dramatic, cry got the group of three teens to pause in their walking and face the boy who had cried out.

He looked to be about the age of the three of them with curly brown hair and somewhat pale skin. His clothes were fancy and evidently expensive but with bags under his eyes that told Shirou that he'd probably been awake for quite some time at this stage.

It took less than a second for both Shirou and Luvia to realize that he was referring to Gray's nickname, the girl just giving him a cool, blank look while lowering her head ever so slightly into the fur lining the hood of her cloak.

"Can I help you?" Both Shirou and Luvia could detect the very unhidden 'go away' in her voice but evidently this boy could not.

"Princess! Ever since I laid eyes on you, I've been enamored with your cool beauty. I couldn't contain myself anymore."

'This guy is delirious from lack of sleep. Please try to contain yourself before I start hacking.' Gray thought to herself, her face as still as stone as she watched the idiot in front of her make a bigger and bigger fool of himself with each second that he waxed poetical.

Behind Gray, both Shirou and Luvia shared amused looks. Their expressions shifted minutely as they seemed to almost communicate silently before Shirou turned back to Gray and her living torture.

He could have been subtle in his actions if he truly wanted to, he'd been getting lessons from the people in his life for long enough by now. But truthfully, he didn't want to since it would be a lot quicker to just do it the brute force method.

In the span of a fraction of a second something about Shirou and the way he held himself seemed to change. His presence filling the hallway like an omnipresent omen as he just slowly pulled the blade strapped to his hip. The intensity in the air and slow, dreadful, sound of the blade leaving the sheath cutting through all the whispers and even the teen's delirious love confession. The hallway condensed down into two things and only two things as more and more of the blade was exposed to the outside world.

Shirou, and those that were not Shirou.

"I-I- uh- You're so- u-um." The sleep-deprived teen began to stammer and trip over himself as the sheer presence of Shirou seemed to knock all of the delirium out of him.

"Run along now." Gray spoke softly, making a small gesture with her hand.

And like the Red Sea before Moses, basically the entire hallway fled from the three of them. Leaving only Shirou, Gray and Luvia in the hallway as Shirou let out a long breath and dropped his blade back into his sheath.

"You know. Sometimes I wonder how the two of us manage to catch so much attention when you're around." Gray mumbled, placing her hands on her hips and giving Shirou an amused look as he huffed and rolled his lone eye.

"Because I don't want attention unless its potential commissioners and you two are pretty girls."

"Well, he has a point there." Luvia giggled, getting a roll of Gray's eyes, though she couldn't deny it.

XXXxxxXXX

Side Story: The Clocktower Chronicles II

"You look like you're having fun." Waver grinned, his smile only growing as Olga let out a terrified screech and fumbled with the blade in her hands after nearly dropping it.

"M-Master! W-What brings you here?" Olga asked, blushing brightly and averting her gaze a little as she clutched her new blade tightly to avoid another potentially dangerous fumble.

"I wanted to see how my apprentice was doing with the new and very dangerous short sword that she'd ordered from the greatest blacksmith of your generation."

"I-I'm doing fine. Thank you for checking on me, Master." Olga managed to collect herself, giving him a small nod while holding her short sword to her chest.

"It's my job after all. Well, one of them at least." He chuckled, pulling a cigarette out and lighting it with a small snap of his fingers.

"And you do an exemplary job." Olga spoke truthfully, a determined expression on her face as she looked at him.

"I'm glad you think so. So, how's wielding that new blade?" He took a deep breath in of his cigarette.

"It's going well." Olga replied, and Waver immediately knew that she was lying to him.

Not purposefully, he knew that much, but more because he knew what proper blade control and technique looked like and Olga most certainly did not have it.

"Want to try again?" He offered, a little trick that he used to try and get Gray and Olga to rethink over their actions without looking like an overly critical asshole.

"…I'll do better, Master." Olga mumbled, bowing her head a little so that she could no longer look him in the eyes even if she tried to.

And yet despite trying to play it off as something lighthearted he still ended up feeling like an asshole. Goddamn you Marisbury, you unfeeling bastard.

"I wasn't admonishing you, Olga."

"Oh. I see…"

"Have you thought of asking Gray or Shirou for help?"

"I-I could never do that! T-They have better things to do than-"

Waver pulled out his phone. Flipping it open while breathing out a small cloud of smoke and typing in a contact. Hitting the call button and letting it ring once before throwing it to Olga.

"Catch."

"-teach me how- E-Eh!? M-Master what are you-" Olga's eyes widened in panic as the phone bounced out of her fingers a few times as she tried to grab it before finally managing to clutch it in the fingers of her free hand.

The young girl let out a shaky breath of relief before she heard the sound of the call going through.

"Waver? What's up?"

"Big b- S-Shirou!" Olga yelped, holding the phone up to her ear in a snap of motion the moment she heard his voice.

"Oh, hey Olga, Waver letting you use his phone?"

Off to the side, Waver just grinned smugly, leaning back in his seat and puffing out another small cloud of smoke.

XXXxxxXXX

Omake: Shirou's Favourite Videogame

"Where. Is. It?"

"Shirou. Sweetie. We're worried for you…" Irisviel muttered, clutching her hands to her chest.

"Where did you take it? Where did you hide it?" Shirou growled, both of his eyes glaring daggers at the congregation of his loved ones.

"Shirou. Your addiction to that game…" Rin muttered, wringing her hands together at the dark glare that Shirou was giving them all.

"Give it back."

"Shirou this has gone too far." Kiritsugu spoke, cutting through the bullshit like it was a specialized skill.

"I WAS NEARLY UP TO THE ELITE FOUR!"

XXXxxxXXX

Omake: A perfect world

"Sherou! So nice to- is that blood?"

"Mhm."

"Who's- why are you covered in blood?"

"I was doing the world a favour." Shirou answered simply, wiping his hands with a, quickly turning red, hand towel.

"Sherou….who's blood is that?"

"Kristiina's." Shirou sighed in bliss, as if he had smoked a hundred joints all at once.

"YOU KILLED MY SISTER!?"

"You always said you wanted to be a single child, right? Now you are."

"YOU- Huh. I guess you're right…"

"See? A favour." Shirou sighed again, a dopey grin on his face as he just started to stare into space.

XXXxxxXXX

Side Story: The Clocktower Chronicles III

"Olga? Why are you waiting outside the workshops?" Gray asked as she walked up to the door, seeing her fellow apprentice nervously swaying on the spot outside the doors.

"Ah. Gray. Well, the thing is…I sort of- Master wanted to speak to b- Shirou. But when I went inside the workshops…"

"I see the issue now." Gray muttered, cupping her chin in her fingers and nodding sagely. "Shirou was too busy with his forging?"

"Yes." Olga nodded resolutely, hoping that Gray knew of some sort of way to snap him out of his hyper-focus.

"Ok. I can deal with this. Just….don't open these doors until we come back out, alright?"

"I- Ok?" The younger girl gave her a confused look as Gray walked into the workshops, shutting the door with a click that seemed to echo down the halls.

And Olga managed to hold herself back for a few seconds. She tried to follow Gray's orders, she really did, but the temptation was too strong. The idea that she would know how to draw Shirou's attention from his smithing and pay attention to her, praise her, give her head pa- The idea was too tantalizing.

Olga opened the door and peaked through it with only one eye, not wanting to give herself away. Though with what she was witnessing, they probably wouldn't have noticed even if she'd fully walked in.

"Gray give it back!"

"Master wants you!"

"He can wait a few goddamn hours!"

Shirou and Gray were both gripping onto the shaft of a smithing hammer, with Gray holding onto Shirou's other wrist as the both of them rolled around the floor of the workshop. The moment they hit a wall or a bench a small struggle ensued for a few moments before they went rolling in another direction again, pushing and tugging at each other like two wild dogs fighting over a thick cut of steak.

"Let go of the hammer Shirou!"

"Let go of me!"

"Master wants you!" Gray repeated, her head bouncing off a pair of metal smithing tongs on the floor only for the momentum of their rolling to smash Shirou's head against the leg of one of the workbenches.

"Then he can come here himself!"

"He still has classes to teach Shirou! You know this!"

"Then clearly it's not important!"

Olga slowly shut the door, unable to comprehend what she had just seen. The image playing in her mind over and over again before high-pitched giggles left her lips at the sheer absurdity of the situation. She couldn't believe it!

Arguably the two strongest fighters of their generation. Two Apex Superhumans who could put 90% of Magi to shame with the sheer strength and power of their bodies and Magecraft, and they were rolling around on the floor of a workshop like children fighting over a toy. It was the kind of low-stakes, impossible to predict, absurdity that just left comedy in its wake. And even a girl as prim, proper and sheltered as Olga couldn't help but laugh at the punchline.

And then she heard a snapping of metal and a thud that physically made the floor beneath her feet vibrate for a fraction of a second and suddenly it wasn't quite such a laughing matter. She should probably go grab Waver before they got into an actual fight in such a public area.

Though…If she wanted to truly fit in with and eventually become an Apex Superhuman herself she should probably watch this through to the end, right? She wasn't going to get between them, obviously, that would be stupid. But if she could practice some Magecraft through their arguments and fighting it would be invaluable experience.

Thirty minutes later, Waver would be made aware of one of his apprentices, alongside Shirou, completely ruining a quarter of the workshop in what they described as 'A little spat.' And his other apprentice using Magecraft on any who tried to get near and/or stop the fight.

He would promptly inhale an entire cigarette in approximately three seconds before spewing smoke like a dragon and proceeding to blame anyone except himself or his apprentices even as he shattered a coffee mug in his grip and struggled to keep his voice from cracking like a pubescent teen.