Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or Fate/Stay Night
...
"So you really stayed out the whole night training," said Mandalay as she passed the cup of tea she had poured to Shirou. The teenager in question had eaten shortly after he had sauntered into the training grounds, almost oblivious to the looks he was getting before napping for a few hours and then bouncing back up as if it was nothing. Mandalay was positive that under no circumstances was anything of the sort normal for a teenage boy but given the fact he was sitting in front of her without a care in the world said otherwise.
"I guess so, I kind of lost track of time," said Shirou with a shrug of the shoulders before sipping on the tea he had been given.
"You were gone nearly twenty four hours, all because you lost track of time," stated Mandalay in disbelief. Rubbing at her eyes, she collapsed into the chair opposite Shirou. "When you didn't come back well after the sun had set I wanted to send a search party out for you but Eraser told us not to under any circumstances. Part of me thinks that he wished that spending the night in the woods would make you sick."
"That sounds about right," said Shirou as he placed the ceramic cup on the table.
"Regardless, it's good to see you safe and unharmed," said Mandalay with a small smile. Shirou merely nodded, knowing that it would have been far more surprising if he had been harmed in any way given the state he had been in. "Now, if I may, I need to ask you a question."
"By all means," said Shirou with a light gesture.
Mandalay fidgeted in her chair a bit, knowing that what she was about to ask was likely a bit too personal for comfort. "How did you..." she started, struggling to find the right words.
"Fight your quirk off?" finished Shirou, making an assumption to where Mandalay's train of thought had been going. The light nod he received informed him that his guess had been correct. "For a long time, my friend attacked my mind almost on a daily basis. Effectively, she believed that if we were ever given some information that was classified beyond belief, then it was in the realm of belief that someone would try to extract the information straight from our minds. Hence the training. Over and over again she would infiltrate my mind and I had to repel her by any means necessary. The faster the better. Now, now it's just second nature."
"How long would you say, 'a long time' was?" asked Mandalay.
"Longer than you could imagine."
Mandalay merely nodded slowly in understanding as Shirou reached forward for his cup. Part of her was relieved that, if what Shirou was saying was true, the ability to defend one's mind from attack took a rigorous amount of repetitive training. Given how he had had to train with someone who had a quirk that could assault the mind, it made sense to believe that there was nobody else capable of what he could do.
Knowing this brought Mandalay a sigh of relief. "Did you ever learn anything worthy of protecting to such a degree?" she asked. Shirou merely shrugged his shoulders, causing Mandalay to smirk lightly. It didn't matter what answer he gave, given the nature of anything worthy of being protected to such a degree meant that whatever Shirou said would make her question the legitimacy. Him staying silent was undoubtedly the best option.
"So from hearing conversations around the dining table, I believe that many of the students here have you to thank for the level of growth they have accomplished thus far. Your methods however seem harsh..."
"Of course they are," said Shirou. "The fact that they have stuck on with my lessons for as long as they have shows that their determination to become heroes is unwaverable. I'm merely pushing them so that they are able to survive out there."
Mandalay wanted to say something about how that was such a morbid way of thinking but given the fact that Kouta's parents had died in the line of duty would make her comments more than a little hypocritical. Shaking her head to push those thoughts out of her mind, she focused once more on the teenager in front of her. "Were you taught in a similar way?"
"Yes, though to be fair I did ask for it," said Shirou with a light smile, reminiscing on his time in the dojo with his servant.
"Very well," said Mandalay as she pushed herself off of the seat. "I urge you to take a bit more time to properly rest before you wander off again. I think Pixie-Bob will have a fit if you vanish on her again."
"No promises," said Shirou cheekily, enticing Mandalay to give him a light smile before she made her way out of the room. Shirou meanwhile remained seated, taking the time to enjoy the rest of his tea. Given how long he had found himself fixated on improving his reinforcement, he wasn't in any real rush to return to his task today.
He'd give it another go tomorrow.
...
Yaoyorozu marched through the Trial of Courage with Aoyama by her side. She was resolute with her focus, determined not to allow anybody from 1-B to frighten her. She knew that they would try their best to terrify them but given the torturous routine that Shirou had put her through, she sincerely doubted anything in this forest was capable of scaring her.
It was also somewhat entertaining to know that Shirou had traversed his way into this game before she and Aoyama. He had gone in alone and nobody had dared to comment otherwise. Yaoyorozu found herself giggling lightly at the thought of 1-B trying to scare Shirou.
She truly believed that nothing in these woods were capable of scaring him.
Absolutely nothing at all.
...
It wasn't as if she had been caught off guard, far from it. Given her quirk and being able to see the danger that each and every student and professional hero was facing, she had been aware of the threat the moment it had happened. Ragdoll had however found herself in the most compromising position having been at the midway checkpoint of the Trial of Courage and consequently the furthest from the campsite.
The poisonous mist had forced her above ground, the speed at which it had engulfed the surrounding landscape was terrifying and already she was aware that more than a few students had collapsed from having inhaled too much of the gas. Unfortunately there was little she could do to assist them from her position. Moving to help the students would result in her inhaling the gas and rendering her unconscious but thankfully some of the students were already on to that.
She could see Yaoyorozu produce gas masks by the bulk, passing multiple out to anybody she encountered. Iida was co-ordinating students, not panicking under the stressful conditions. Shirou was releasing an arrow from his bow.
Hold up.
A scream of pain erupted from behind Ragdoll, alerting her of the presence that she hadn't sensed. Leaping to another branch to create some distance, Ragdoll found herself looking at a masked individual wearing a dark yellow overcoat and a top hat with a feather in it. The overcoat was swiftly changing colour however as blood spread from the barbed arrow lodged in his forearm.
It wasn't there for long as he reached for the arrow with his other hand but instead of yanking it free, it vanished and in its place he held a small ball, no larger than a marble. Ragdoll couldn't help but swallow a lump in her throat. If this man had gotten any closer to her, would she be trapped by his quirk? She had no intention of finding out.
"He's releasing another arrow," she said, looking off in the direction the original arrow had soared from.
It was difficult to tell if the villain could tell if she was bluffing or not but given the fierce amount of pain he had suffered from the last projectile, choosing to vacate the area temporarily seemed like an appropriate course of action. The villain leapt backwards and down from the branches, hidden from view as he was engulfed by the poisonous fog.
Ragdoll found herself breathing out a sigh of relief before an arrow struck the tree she was stuck on. While she was momentarily shocked, she saw that the end of the arrow had a taut rope connected to it, leading off to where the marksman was located. Thankfully, balance was one of her strong points and she swiftly leapt onto the rope, the material not slacking in the slightest before she started to make her way towards, she hoped, safety.
...
Midoriya made his way towards the cliffside, having a gut feeling that it was where Kouta was currently located. He was lucky that he had managed to get past the fog when he had. Part of him had wanted to stay behind and render the person creating the mist unable to do so anymore but given the number of people there, he had faith that they would be able to do the job without his assistance.
They could take out that target. He could ensure that a young boy was safe.
Scaling the mountain at a swift pace, he began to hear a voice monologuing and unfortunately it didn't sound anything like the boy he was trying to save. Speeding up ever so slightly, Midoriya burst over the rise before landing on the pathway. Without a second thought, he charged forward, driving his fist right into the person standing close to Kouta, only for the blow to be blocked without any sort of resistance.
Again, the person began to say something but Midoriya thought nothing of it as he launched his other hand upwards in an uppercut in an attempt to make use of the man's need to babble on. Showing speed that he hadn't thought a man of that size was capable of, the man leant back and avoided the blow before gripping tightly onto Midoriya and tossing him towards the cliff face.
Despite the speed he was being flung, Midoriay was able to right himself in midair and plant his feet into the mountain surface, bending his knees to absorb the energy before springing forward. The man pulled his arm back, telegraphing his attack and forcing Midoriya to evade the blow which caused the ground to crack. The old Midoriya would have gasped at the destructive force this man had at his disposal but now, he merely kept on the assault, launching the strongest kick he could at the man's elbow joint in the hope of breaking the bone.
Instead of a satisfying crunch, Midoriya's leg connected with muscle fibres that seemed to spring out from the man's pores, preventing any lasting damage from being dealt. At least now Midoriya had an idea of the man's quirk, taking the opportunity to retreat to where Kouta was standing in shock. The brutal battle he had just witnessed had only lasted a handful of seconds but what a terrifying few seconds it had been.
"You know brat, on anybody else that would have been a crippling move," declared the villain as muscle fibers began to overlap one another, covering the majority of his body. "I doubt your goody two shoe teachers taught you something like that, but that's what makes this interesting!"
With the increase in mass, the cloak the man had been wearing was effectively useless, ripping from the sheer difference in body size. It was at this moment that Midoriya was able to see his way to victory. The brute of the man had a scar on his face covering his left eye, or at least the prosthetic eye that was embedded in his skull.
This man had speed, power and a defence that would be incredibly difficult to break through. In Midoriya's favour, the man had only one working eye. Hence, if he couldn't out pace or out power the villain in front of him he needed to give himself the winning edge in the only way he could think of.
He was going to rip this man's eye out.
...
"Good, you made it," said Shirou as he stood in the canopy, Ragdoll jumping off the rope and onto the safety of the thick branches. "Tell me, what's happening out there?"
"Chaos," answered Ragdoll, having no real other answer for it. "Thankfully quite a few students have made their way back to the campsite, Eraser has dealt with the danger there but the fire is still growing. Mandalay, Tiger and Pixie-Bob have engaged the enemy. The real issue is Midoriya, he's on the mountain with Kouta and he is fighting for his life."
"Will your teammates be alright?" asked Shirou.
"Of course," said Ragdoll, pumping her fist. "Focus on your friend."
"Alright then," said Shirou as he looked upwards. He needed to get to the top of the canopy in order to get a good look at the mountainside in order to be able to provide support for Midoriya.
Fate, it seemed, had other plans.
Without so much as a warning, the tree that they were standing on began to topple over. Shirou reacted quickly, looping one arm around Ragdoll and leaping off the branch they were standing on to the safety of another tree. "Friend or foe?" he asked the member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats.
"Nearest student is back..."
That was all that Shirou needed to hear before a barrage of swords was sent careening forward, piercing the fog near where the fallen tree roots were located. The clang of steel on steel rang out however, as the swords Shirou had traced were knocked in all manner of directions as the person in the fog parried every threatening blow.
Changing tactics, Shirou allowed his bow to come into existence with an arrow already notched in the bowstring. Pulling the arrow back, he flooded the weapon with his mana before letting loose, the projectile rocketing forth before exploding on impact.
The blur that leapt out of the explosion caused him to frown ever so slightly. For them to be able to deflect all of the blades he had sent forth made them beyond skilled. Even if they had some kind of quirk that gave them some affinity for metal, to be able to swing as fast as they could required incredible precision, speed and strength.
The person landed gracefully on one of the opposing branches, their black blade held by their side. The sight of it caused Shirou to grasp at his head.
Beside him he could barely register Ragdoll saying something as his vision struggled to remain in focus, his eyes locked on the sword before him. The sword which couldn't be before him. The sword which when last he had seen hadn't been this corrupted monstrosity. He knew what he was seeing was true however, which meant that the person standing before him was who he thought it was, but not at the same time.
"Saber," he said slowly, the being before him not reacting to the title.
Hundreds of questions flooded his mind, many centred around the word of 'HOW!' Did he have time to ponder over these questions however? Of course not, considering there was a heroic spirit currently launching themselves at him with their sword prepared to slice his head clean off.
Grabbing the back of Ragdoll's head, Shirou pushed her down as he collapsed as low as he could, mere moments before the blade entered the space they had been. If Ragdoll had hoped that the sword would embed itself in the wood of the mighty tree, she was sorely mistaken as the blade sliced clean through without slowing down for an instant.
Knowing that she was in danger, Shirou threw Ragdoll from his crouched position, the member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats squealing at the impromptu flight. Shirou had no time to see whether or not she was able to grab hold of a branch to keep her out of the toxic fumes below. Instead he was more focused on the heroic spirit intent on killing him.
Springing upwards, Shirou clambered towards higher ground. He needed to move as far away from the gas below as possible. All Saber needed to do to guarantee victory was to plunge him to the ground. She may have been immune to the fumes but he wasn't keen to see how toxic quirk abilities affected him.
Leaping from branch to branch, he could hear Saber chasing him but it didn't seem as if she was catching him. By all means he knew that she was more than capable of doing so. Even if she wasn't the same Saber that he remembered, it seemed that striking an opponent's back was still something her honour wouldn't allow.
Either that or she was simply toying with him.
Probably the latter.
Glancing below, Shirou was glad to see the ground beneath him. Dropping below, as soon as Shirou's feet touched the ground he swung on the spot, Kanshou coming up and knocking Saber's blade to the side. Bakuya followed suit In Shirou's other hand but despite still being in midair, Saber managed to dodge the weapon without so much as letting a single hair be cut.
The following seconds were a blur as steel clashed against steel in a dazzling display. Anybody capable of seeing the action would have thought that the battle was on even ground. One competitor had a clear advantage however made only more obvious when the cracks began to appear in Shirou's mythical blades.
Knowing that they were about to shatter, Shirou took a leap backwards as Saber's sword cleaved through the air. In that single moment he launched the twin swords at Saber who effortlessly knocked them away. She was also able to sense the swords coming at her from above, a single swing of her sword preventing any of them from getting close to touching her.
It did give Shirou a moment to prepare however. Only a single moment.
Instinctively he reached for Kanshou and Bakuya once more but prevented himself from doing so, knowing that the same result was almost inevitable and he would only waste precious stamina and mana. Instead he brought forth Gáe Buide, the spear twirling thrice in his hand before his fingers clenched tightly around it.
Bracing himself, he knew that this tactic was dangerous. Saber wouldn't have given him the time to utilize Gáe Bolg (and even then he had once seen Saber avoid what should have been a fatal blow) so he had opted for the golden spear instead. With Avalon resting dormant inside of him, there was no chance that Saber could recover from the curse brought forth when cut with this weapon. Even if he could only land a handful of cuts, it could potentially turn the tide.
If he was lucky.
Springing forth, Shirou lunged with Gáe Buide and rapidly tried to land any sort of hit. Torso, head, legs. It mattered not where he tried to strike as Saber graceful weaved her way through every attack effortlessly. Shirou remained undeterred however as he continued his assault, knowing that a single lapse would result in dire consequences. He may not have been landing a hit but the constant attempts did prevent Saber from striking at him.
Of course, that would have been the case for an extraordinary opponent.
Saber was beyond that.
Shirou watched as Saber stepped into his attack, the tip of his spear gliding off her armour as she thrust forward.
Shirou could feel the unforgiving steel embed through his shoulder, the legendary weapon having pierced clean through his flesh. He had managed to weave and avoid a fatal blow but that was little solace. His eyes were locked onto Saber's face, not a single hint of emotion being shown.
Grinding his teeth together, Shirou tried to pierce at Saber's side with the spear in his hand and felt another surge of pain as Saber stepped backwards, pulling the corrupted sword out of him as she did so. Blood freely flowed from the wound as Shirou leapt backwards expecting Saber to swiftly give chase, only for her to remain rooted to the spot.
Shirou allowed the golden spear to vanish from his grasp, knowing that if he hadn't been able to get a strike in thus far the chances of him successfully cutting her with one arm effectively out of action was near impossible. Still though, not all hope was lost. He could still fight. There was still a chance.
"Shirou!"
The sound of his name caught Shirou completely off guard, turning his head swiftly to see Midoriya looking worse for wear. Clinging to his back was Kouta, the young child looking like he was in a mild state of shock. Then in Midoriya's hand...
Was that an eye?
"Let me help!" offered Midoriya boldly.
Shirou knew that the boy meant well, somewhat reminding himself of him back at the start of the Grail War. He too had been more than willing to offer any kind of assistance in trying to fight some of the fiercest warriors to have ever walked the planet, not caring how incredibly outclassed he was. So while he knew that Midoriya was keen to help him in this battle, Shirou was more than aware that the level of difference was similar to comparing a butter knife to a claymore. One could spread jams and such over toast. The other could cleave a man in two.
The difference was just too great.
Especially when Saber lifted her sword above her head.
Whatever hope they had vanished.
Hundreds of colourful words aptly describing how screwed they were bombarded Shirou's thoughts as he contemplated any and all options he had.
There weren't many.
Focusing all of his mana, Shirou brought a sword to his side. "Midoriya, run as far away from here as you can," ordered Shirou.
"But..."
"I say this with all the sincerity I can Midoriya. If you're anywhere near this next move, you will die."
Shirou could hear Midoriya stammer for a moment and he was thankful that the boy had a defenceless child in his grasp. Were he by himself, he could almost guarantee that Midoriya would stay regardless of his warning. With a kid however...
"I'll bring help," said Midoriya before he took off, sprinting off into the woods towards the campsite.
Help.
Nobody could help.
Shirou lifted the sword he held in his grasp high above his head, his action identical to that of Saber. Perhaps he had decided that his best chance of surviving this was also the most poetic one.
In his grasp he held Clarent, the sword which belonged to Mordred of the round table.
Poetic indeed.
In front of him, Saber's sword erupted a beam of pure energy, purple in colour high into the night sky. Shirou allowed his mana to flood into Clarent, a torrent of red spewing forth and up into the sky.
Seconds ticked by and Shirou prayed that hopefully by seeing the sword in his hand, Saber would recollect something. Anything that would make her pause.
It wasn't to be.
The two warriors launched their attacks simultaneously, twin destructive forces launching forward and colliding with one another with such intense force. The ground cracked. Trees were uprooted. The very world was stripped bare of all living things.
No matter how much strength Shirou plunged into this attack, he knew, deep down he knew, that there was only one way this was going to end.
...
"Kouta! Are you okay?" asked Midoriya as he cradled the young boy in his arms.
"Wha...what happened?" asked Kouta, unsure of what had just happened.
Midoriya truly wished that he could give an honest answer to Kouta but he had as much of a clue as he did. One second they had been running through the woods before next the world around them dramatically altered. The explosion that had rung forth had shifted the very landscape surrounding them. It frankly was nothing short of a miracle that they hadn't been injured in the blast.
"Was that Shirou?"
Kouta's question had effectively asked what had been on Midoriya's mind. Had they been closer, Midoriya had little doubt that whatever attack Shirou had launched would have had the potential to defeat almost anyone.
Had it defeated his opponent though?
"Let's go back," said Midoriya, the uncertainty in his voice completely understandable. The two of them would be walking into the centre of a conflict that neither of them had any part in. Midoriya knew however that stepping into situations like this was merely part and parcel for those wishing to become heroes.
Surprisingly, Kouta didn't argue and just meekly nodded, perhaps unsure of just what kind of danger they were stepping towards. Considering that he had encountered his parent's killer mere minutes ago and that the brute of a man had tried to kill him as well, the level of danger seemed somewhat difficult to comprehend at the moment.
Moving at a brisk pace, Midoriya headed towards the epicentre of the blast having put Kouta on his back once more. If they thought that the destruction they had found themselves in had been extensive, it was nothing compared to what they were encountering. It was especially jarring when they found the lush landscape completely bare, resembling a barren wasteland instead of the forest surrounding them.
Neither Midoriya or Kouta could comprehend the destruction in front of them, unable to find any words to describe what they saw. There was however, one thing standing amidst the devastation.
"Shirou!" shouted Midoriya as he recognized the figure standing there. Or at least the body that had been standing there before he collapsed backwards, crashing against the ground with an unceremonious thud. Crouching down to allow Kouta off of his back, Midoriya rushed forward to check on his fellow student, suddenly grateful that he had not allowed the young boy to see the image before them.
To say that Shirou had received a cut was an understatement if there ever was one. To say that he had nearly been cleaved in half was more of an accurate description. A straight line had gouged his body from collar to hip, three fingers in width allowing blood to flood from the wound and form a pool around him.
Midoriya found himself frozen as he watched the life literally bleed out of Shirou.
He had to go get help!
He had to go...
He had...
Nausea swiftly filled Midoriya's body and he managed to turn away just in time as vomit and bile burst from his lips and painted the ground. It took him several seconds to compose himself, taking deep breaths in and out in an attempt to get his body back under control. It didn't matter how queasy the image made him feel, he still had to get help.
He had to.
...
Hope you enjoyed.