Surprising discoveries

When the clock struck six in the morning, Sakura awoke.

It was precisely on the dot, not a second later. Waking up at six was one of the rules of the house. It was always in effect, even during the holidays, and she always made sure to keep herself to it. Grandfather wanted it that way, and she knew better than to protest or disobey.

She played along with his schemes and plots every time, taking his every blow like a good little girl. The pit had broken any overt resistance in her a long time ago, and obeying her grandfather went automatically now. She just didn't dare disobey him. He was always far too willing to dish out punishments for every misstep or slight, real or imagined.

She could still remember uncle Kariya being...

Well, she did her best, but it certainly wasn't easy sometimes. Especially not since her grandfather himself also tended to sabotage her whenever he could.

Take the 'wake up at six'-rule. On first sight, it required some discipline, but shouldn't be too hard, until one realised that there were no clocks in the house. There was no way to tell the time whatsoever, making it very difficult for Sakura to keep herself that rule.

Fortunately, she had a way around that. She was able to tell the time anyway, with the small pocket watch she had gotten from him. He had given it to her, just like that, with one of his bright smiles, when she had told him one day that she didn't have any clocks in her house.

She was one of her most prized possessions, not just because it was a convenient tool, but mainly because it was a gift from him. He had given it to her himself, after he had bought it, for her.

She had almost fainted from delight when he had handed it to her, and she had made a solemn vow to treasure it for the rest of her life. Even if it broke after too much use and couldn't be repaired, she would keep it. It would forever serve as a reminder to his kindness.

Getting up from her bed and quickly dressing herself, Sakura grimaced as her sore muscles loudly protested the action, still feeling the effects of the 'training' she'd been subjected the previous night. At least it had been nothing more than a 'standard' training, the likes of which she could almost sleep through these days.

Don't get her wrong, the time in the pit had been as horrible as always, but she had managed not to show any signs of discomfort easily enough. That was the most important thing, not showing emotion. She'd learned early on that protesting, begging, or otherwise reacting had no use at all at best, and was counterproductive at worst.

So she shut down every emotion she had, be it disgust, pain, hopelessness, or anything else. It was a very effective shield, so effective in fact that it had started to spread to her normal life as well.

Whenever she encountered trouble or problems of any kind, her default reaction was to turn off all higher brain functions and become a zombie. Whether it was other children bullying her, her teachers scolding her for her incomplete homework, or all of her classmates ignoring her, the easiest way to deal with it was by shutting down. That way, she had nothing and no one to care for and no one who cared about her.

Simply said, Sakura was alone, and refused to let herself feel lonely or desiring of companionship. That was how she had survived so far.

There was one single exception however.

Him.

She thought of him, of her heroic, strong, handsome Senpai, and a smile almost came to her face, before she ruthlessly suppressed it when she remembered where she was and who might be looking at her. Still, while the smile was easily reined in, the flutter of her heart could not be suppressed, and her mood lifted in turn. It was funny, how he could raise her spirits even when he wasn't actually present.

Emiya Shirou, her beloved Senpai, had appeared in her life as sudden and unexpected as a thunderclap under a clear sky, walking up to her out of nowhere to help her with her bag when she'd been buying groceries a few years ago. He had strolled into her life and had refused to leave, at first to her confusion, but later to her great joy. Walking home with him, a veritable stranger, had been the first pleasant evening she'd had in literal years.

The very next day she'd met him again, when he protected her from bullies, fighting them off, taking punches and kicks for her sake without a second of hesitation. She had been no stranger to getting bullied, it had happened almost every day, with most people gladly turning a blind eye, but her Senpai had put an immediate end to it. None of her bullies had ever dared to bother her again after he'd 'talked' to them a couple of times.

He was like her very own knight in shining armour. Oh, how she wished he would sweep her off her feet and carry her away to marry her, before he would throw her in his bed and ravish-

Quickly shaking her head to get rid of those kinds of thoughts, she exited her room. In passing, she also knocked on the door of her brother's room. Technically, there was no need for him to rise as early as she, as the rules didn't really apply to him –grandfather utterly and completely ignored him– but she knew he appreciated it nonetheless if she did wake him early.

She walked up the stairs leading to the ground floor, making sure to keep her steps very quiet, almost holding her breath even. She had nearly reached the front door by now, and if she was lucky, she would make it out before-

"Ah, Sakura. Good morning to you, my sweet granddaughter."

The old, rasping voice sent shivers down her spine, and she had to suppress the reflex to freeze like a deer in headlights. Showing any kind of emotion now would land her in a heap of trouble, as the owner of the voice would gladly prey on them in any way he could.

"Good morning, grandfather." She replied in a monotone voice, carefully burying all feelings she'd had a moment ago, slowly turning around to face him.

Matou Zouken looked like a very old, very decrepit man. He was tiny, wrinkled all over, bald, with spotted skin and blackened eyes. His hands looked like a bird's feet, and his nails were long enough to resemble talons.

Fortunately, his old-fashioned kimono hid most of his body, or Sakura would have had to put far more effort into suppressing her revulsion at the sight of him.

"Where are you going this fine morning, my dear?" Zouken asked, looking at her with his cold eyes. Sakura managed not to flinch at his sudden curiosity, but it was a close thing. "You have been going off by yourself for so long and often these days, I can't help but worry for you. You aren't getting up to any kind of mischief I hope? Have you fallen in with a wrong crowd?"

'Worry for her'? As if! He only cared about her Magic Circuits and her potential to bring his family back from ruin. What she got up to besides that had never been his concern.

He just wanted to assert his dominance over her again after last night, when he had suddenly started talking about the weather. When he had shown fear, actual fear,in her presence.

She wouldn't fall for it. For the first time in her memory, her grandfather had shown weakness in front of her. There was no way she'd forget that, no matter how much he would bully her.

"I was going to visit my friends, grandfather." She replied, still without the slightest emotion in her voice. "I assumed it would be okay. If you don't want me to go though, I won't."

"No, no! None of that." Zouken waved a dismissive hand at her words, giving her a 'kind' smile. "Don't worry, my dear. You go out and enjoy yourself. As long as you finish your chores and you are present for your training, you can spend the holidays as you please."

Surprise almost appeared on her face, only her years of experience allowing her to suppress that emotion before it could take root. It was incredibly generous of him, to just give her the holidays off, to spend it as she wanted.

Unless it was another ploy of course. It wouldn't be the first time he had tried to give her false hope. Was he planning on giving her a massive list of chores now-?

Her thoughts were interrupted when her grandfather suddenly walked past her without another word, going deeper into the house, sunken in thought. Sakura's eyes widened at the sight, and she watched with no small amount of surprise as he disappeared into the hallways. She had genuinely expected him to try and bully her to bits again, but it seemed his attention was already taken by something else.

Not about to waste this opportunity, she immediately left the manor, getting out of the door as fast as she could without making it seem like she was fleeing. Then she made her way over to her Senpai's house. His light, warm, and inviting house, which seemed to reflect his own character perfectly well.

Senpai might not be up yet, but he always left the key hidden in the yard for her to find. Usually though, he would be up when she arrived, cooking breakfast for her and Fujimura-Sensei. The times that she did in fact arrive earlier could be counted on the fingers of two hands, usually after Senpai had worked until particularly late at night.

Sakura loved it when that happened. If he wasn't up yet when she arrived, she'd get to cook breakfast for him after all, making her feel like he was her husband and she was his wife.

She could still remember the first time that had happened. That day, she'd… well, she'd screwed up, unused as she was to any kind of cooking. Senpai hadn't been mad at all though, and had instead taught her how to cook. He was so attentive and patient during those lessons, and because of his teaching, Sakura was capable now of making meals that were adequate at least.

Her Senpai was just so kind and generous and amazing. She loved cooking for him, and she was delighted with every word of praise he'd give her.

The Emiya-estate had almost become her second home by now, and the only reason that it wasn't her first home was because it would be rude of her to presume too much and because Zouken would never allow it.

It was mainly the second reason that held her back honestly.

It made Sakura wonder what would have happened if she hadn't been given away to the Matou-family back then, when her father had dropped her off with Zouken without explanation or goodbye. If she'd still been the second daughter of a family that didn't work with worms, would she have been able to visit Senpai every day? Could she eventually have married him even?

A wonderful fantasy, but a fantasy was all it was. The past was the past and she would never be able to change it. She had been given to the Matou-family by her own relatives, like an unwanted piece of furniture, and that was that. She had been abandoned by her mother and her father. Even her own sister did not-

Shaking her head to dispel the dark thoughts, Sakura continued her walk to the Emiya-estate, making sure to dodge any pools of water that were left over from the rain of the night before. She doubted Senpai would appreciate it if she arrived at his house with drenched stockings after all.

Then again, maybe that would give her an excuse to slowly pull her stockings off, in his full view of course, during which she would raise her leg so high he would be able to look up her skirt-

But phew! That storm of last night had really come out of nowhere! It hadn't been predicted and nothing had hinted at its coming. It was really strange, as well as slightly concerning. Storms weren't exactly things that could come out of nowhere after all.

Not that Sakura was well-versed in the specifics of meteorology or anything, but she was in fact good at sensing unnaturalness.

Though her previous Element, Imaginary Numbers, which specialised at finding and fighting Ethereal beings, had been largely replaced by the Matou's Watercraft over the years, she did have enough of it still remaining to detect and pinpoint any obvious anomalies. Like her very own grandfather actually.

That was how she knew that something was wrong today. The feeling of power was heavy in the air, heavy enough that she could feel it in her bones. It was a kind of power that felt familiar to her, as if she had encountered the source before, but she couldn't for the life of her determine what it was exactly.

Sakura played around with the idea of going to someone else for help, but it would have to be someone who would both listen to her and would not laugh in her face afterwards, so she didn't exactly have a lot of options.

Her grandfather and brother had of course never been options to begin with. Her grandfather would just laugh at her or ignore her, bully her some more and sent her off again. Her brother couldn't do anything in the first place and was not interested in what she had to say anyway.

That left only the Second Owner of Fuyuki City…

Sakura promptly put on an emotionless façade again and started walking further along the street at a brisker pace than before. On second thought, nothing worth noting was going on here after all. She must have imagined it.

It was sometime later that she arrived at her favourite place in the entire world: Emiya Shirou's house. Even in the twilight, it radiated peace, content, and safety like no other house did. It seemed to shine like a beacon in the night, in her eyes at least.

Entering through the gates, she noticed the lights were on inside, indicating her Senpai was already awake and busy. That filled her with both happiness and slight disappointment. On one hand she liked eating his food alongside him and Fujimura-sensei, as it made her feel special when he would cook just for her. But she also greatly enjoyed cooking the food for him herself, so she could show him how much she had learned from him.

Also, if he'd still been asleep when she entered, she could have taken a few seconds to look at him when she went to wake him up. He always looked so peaceful asleep, and handsome. Not that Senpai wasn't handsome when he was awake, he was always handsome of course, and kind, and amazing, and...

Her thoughts screeched to a halt as she felt the worms inside of her begin to stir, a heat at her core making itself known as they started consuming her magical energy to produce aphrodisiac in turn. Sakura immediately focused her attention on something else, school in this case, or her chores, or on the sky. Anything as long as it didn't have any relation to her Senpai.

With the incredible mental discipline installed in her by years of ceaseless torment, she managed to quell the urges, though only just. No doubt she would have to deal with them sometime today. I had been a while since her brother had…

She would do it herself again, when she got home. She would just have to retreat to the bathroom, think of her Senpai and-

'I'm sorry Senpai.' She thought, gritting her teeth, disgusted with herself and her weakness. She knew she didn't have a choice in the matter, but that didn't make it any better. Oh, how she hated herself-

"Sakura!" Shirou suddenly called out to her from the doorway, and Sakura jumped like a startled deer, having completely missed how he'd opened the door and stepped out of his house to greet her. "Good morning."

Her shock was short-lived though, and a bright smile came to her face unbidden when she met his eyes. Her self-loathing, fear, and disgust melted away, leaving nothing but a gentle warmth. When she was with him, everything was well.

"Good morning to you too, Senpai." She replied, her voice as tender as she could make it.

Shirou's smile widened in response, making her heart flutter all the more. He led her inside, taking her coat from her in the hallway and putting it on a hanger while Sakura removed her shoes. They continued to the kitchen, where several pans were already on the fire.

"Feel free to sit down. I'm sure Fuji-nee will be here shortly." Shirou said, already moving towards the stove in order to continue preparing the food. "We can start breakfast once she's here."

Again, on one hand, sitting down and being served by him sounded very nice. On the other, she couldn't let him do everything in and around the house while she was doing nothing. He might start thinking of her as lazy.

"No, Senpai. I can't just sit down while you work. Please, allow me to help." She stated, trying to come over as self-confident instead of desperate. "I will set the table now."

"Oh, thank you very much." Shirou smiled fondly at her, making her blush brightly. "Sorry for making you work when you're a guest."

"It is not trouble at all." She assured him, grabbing the plates from the cupboard under the stove, bowing her head to hide her blush. "I practically live here anyway, so I should do my share of the work."

"You already did everything yesterday because I overslept again. I should be my turn today." Shirou tried, though his face suggested he knew it was a weak argument.

It was so weak that Sakura didn't even deign it with a reply, and instead prepared their drinks with a roll of her eyes. Silly Senpai, she might have made breakfast yesterday when he had overslept slightly, but he had made breakfast during the nine days before that.

"Well, I appreciate your help, Sakura." Shirou eventually said, giving up on getting her to sit down. "It makes things a lot easier. I'm happy you're always here."

Another blush. That damned heat was returning too. She had to change the subject, and fast.

"How was your evening yesterday?" She thus asked him, placing the drinks on the table, remembering that he'd told her the previous evening that he would be visiting his father's grave. "Was it… very hard?"

"...No, not anymore." Her Senpai responded, his gaze turning slightly wistful, before he smiled again. "I visited his grave and told him about the past weeks, and I even managed to talk with Issei for a bit."

Ah, yes, Issei, Senpai's new friend. She had met him a few times before, and she was glad to say that she approved of him. He was smart, ambitious, and didn't abuse Senpai's kindness and generosity. It also helped he was male and not at all interested in Senpai in a romantic way.

"And after I talked with Issei, I made an evening walk through the forest." Shirou continued, making Sakura freeze in place.

"You walked in the forest yesterday?" She asked, before frowning deeply when he nodded. "Senpai, that was dangerous!"

"Huh?" He blinked in confusion.

"There was a storm tonight." She told him, her frown becoming even deeper when he seemed to genuinely have no clue what she was talking about. "Don't tell me you didn't notice."

Shirou's eye seemed to twitch at her words, before he smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head in that typical motion of his that always caused butterflies to fill her stomach, this time being no exception.

She wouldn't be deviated from checking up on him so easily though. If he disarmed her anger so effortlessly, she'd use a different tactic. She put on a hopeful, slightly sad smile, knowing he couldn't refuse her if she did that.

Indeed, upon looking her in the eyes again, Shirou flinched, before sighing in defeat as he realized he was not getting out of this.

"I was in fact still in the forest when the storm rolled in. I had gone there to clear my head and I did it coming." He admitted, before quickly continuing. "Oh, but don't worry. As you can see, I am fine. As soon as I saw the clouds, I left the forest at once and went back home again."

The first thing Sakura felt was relief, immense relief, and she let out a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding. She wasn't sure whether he was telling the truth about leaving immediately, but if he was indeed unharmed and whatever strange anomalies had been going on hadn't affected him, it hardly mattered whether he was being truthful or not.

It wasn't as if he was obliged to tell her the truth after all. Senpai's business was his own, and Sakura was just about the last person on Earth who had the right to condemn him for lying. She was lying to him every day after all, about nearly every aspect of her life.

She didn't tell him about the worms inside her, writhing in her flesh. She kept silent about the horrible urges that they gave her so often, and that she took care of those urges with him in mind.

She didn't tell him about her sadistic grandfather, whose body was made out of worms and corpses and who would kill him without hesitation or regret should she displease him in any way. She didn't tell him of her sister who had abandoned her, or of her parents who had given her away.

And most importantly, she didn't tell him about her being a Magus, about her being a practitioner of the Mystic Arts, of Thaumaturgy.

Not that she could do any spells though. Having her magic sucked away by the worms inside her before she could even properly use it was not very beneficial for proper training.

She wanted to tell him sometimes. She wanted to reveal that she was a Magus, just so she could be honest with him for once, but she couldn't do it. If she revealed what she actually was, Senpai might turn away from her. She was tainted after all, beautiful on the outside, but black and sickened within. She was only deluding herself, pretending to be normal and clean, just so she could spend a little more time with him.

Worse than that however was the fact that Zouken would kill Shirou if he found out Sakura had revealed even the slightest bit of information to him. He would kill him, and then blame her afterwards.

And if her grandfather didn't kill Senpai, something else definitely would. She had no illusions about what Senpai would do once he heard about the Moonlit World after all.

Her wonderful, foolish Senpai wanted to be a Hero of Justice after all, to save everyone from evil and pain. If he ever heard about the rogue Magi, or the Dead Apostles or any of the other rotten things in the Moonlit World, he'd try to fight them. He would try to save as many people as he could, not paying attention in the slightest to his own well-being.

But he couldn't fight Magecraft. There was no doubt in Sakura's mind he would die horribly if he even tried. There were real monsters in the Moonlit World, both human and otherwise.

Her precious, innocent, powerless Senpai was no match for them and their cruelty and brutality. There was no way he could be.

Fujimura Taiga was a relatively simple woman. She knew and acknowledged that about herself and didn't see any problem with it. She was who she was, simple, spontaneous and fond of the little pleasures of life. Her family had never discouraged it, and none of her friend minded it either.

So she just went through life, wearing a smile all the way, never hiding her emotions or opinions from anyone. She was frank with everyone and indulged in whatever she wanted to indulge in.

And right now, she wanted to indulge in the food her little brother was no doubt making at that very moment, together with his not-quite-yet girlfriend.

How on Earth Sakura was still his not-quite-yet girlfriend instead of his girlfriend proper was something Taiga would never understand. That girl's raw affection and love for him were so obvious that anyone who knew the two of them for longer than two seconds could easily spot it.

Shirou turned out to be completely blind however, someone on whom normal signals were utterly lost, so Sakura was still nothing more than a not-quite-yet girlfriend.

Needless to say, Taiga had resolved to help Sakura win his heart however she could.

What could she say? She approved of the girl whole-heartedly. It would be good for Shirou to have someone like Sakura in his life to care for him. God knew he wasn't doing so himself. He was an amazing person, but he was much too callous with his own well-being. If he hadn't had Sakura and Taiga on his side to force him to take some rest now and then, he would have worked himself to death already.

Yes, operation Get-Them-Together was high-priority. That way, Shirou would have someone who could look after him and ensure he wasn't working too hard, and Sakura would have a nigh-ideal man who would treasure her for the rest of her life.

It was perfect.

But enough about matchmaking, it was time for breakfast.

As always, she found the gates of the Emiya-estate already unlocked, which meant Sakura had already gone in before her.

Once she'd entered the hall, she quickly threw aside her coat and shoes, before making her way to the dining room. She made sure to produce a lot of noise while doing so, signalling to the teens that she had arrived.

Barging into the dining room, she was met with the wonderful sight of a breakfast well-prepared. Great quantities of hot, steaming food were waiting patiently for her to come and eat, and her first impulse was to attack right away. The manners that had been painstakingly instilled into her by her grandfather however reined her in, and made her turn towards the cooks first, as was polite.

"Heya Shirou, Sakura-chan. How are you?"

There, she had politely greeted them and fulfilled her daily quota of well-mannered behaviour. Now it was time to eat. She promptly sat down at the table and grabbed her chopsticks, holding them in a ready position.

"Good morning to you as well, Fuji-nee." Shirou answered her with a sigh as he brought the last of the dishes to the table, Sakura nodding beside him with her typical serene smile. "We're both fine. How about you?"

"I'm fine, perfectly fine. Now, come sit down already so we can eat." She said, in a most definitely not-whiny tone. She wasn't whiny, he was just slow, and she was hungry.

Her not-whine had its intended consequence, as the two teens sat down at the table as well, next to each other of course, with Sakura sitting as close to Shirou as possible while still maintaining a somewhat respectful distance. The dense idiot didn't notice or think anything of it, but Taiga certainly did, only barely holding back a teasing remark, knowing that it would only delay the start of the meal.

"Itadakimasu." Shirou said at last, picking up his chopsticks. After Sakura and Taiga had responded in kind, they, finally, started eating breakfast.

It was as delicious as ever, Shirou and Sakura had outdone themselves once again.

"This is really good, you two." She praised them in between bites of food. "Better than any restaurant I've ever been to."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Fujimura-sensei." Sakura scolded her. Oops. "And it was Senpai who made breakfast today, I only set the table."

Oh? Sakura hadn't made it in time to cook today? No doubt she was greatly disappointed. She was always so happy when she could cook for her Senpai and show him what fine wife-material she was.

"Setting the table was a great help though." Shirou said, glancing over at the purple-haired girl with a confused look. "And don't forget you made breakfast yesterday. That was delicious too, so you don't have to be so modest."

And there was the inevitable blush from Sakura, coupled with a big smile and happy wiggling, which of course went completely unnoticed by the dunce next to her.

"I agree with him, Sakura-chan." Taiga raised her fist to show how serious she was. "You cook like the best of them. Your food is better than any other food I have ever eaten. If I could only eat your food for the rest of my life, I would die happy."

"Ah, please, it is nothing, e-everything I know I learned from Senpai." Sakura said hastily, gesturing frantically at Shirou.

Taiga frowned at that, noticing not for the first time that the plum-haired girl had the tendency to put herself down and downplay her actions, even when she more than deserved praise. That girl direly needed an ego-boost.

"That is not true, Sakura." Shirou replied, as if he'd heard Taiga's thoughts. "I might have taught you the basics, but you did everything else yourself. You really are an amazing cook."

Sakura was now hiding her face in her hands, her face no doubt electric red. She still managed to answer him though, in a somewhat muffled voice.

"Thank you, Senpai, Fujimura-sensei."

Oh, by the gods, that girl was seriously cute.

"You're welcome, Sakura-chan." Taiga grinned widely, before placing her chopsticks down. "So, to talk about something completely different, what are your plans for the coming holiday?"

"Our plans?" Shirou echoed, clearly not having expected that question.

"Yes, your plans. You've got two weeks off from school, starting today. Certainly, you have some idea as to what you're going to do."

"Well, I was actually going to train some more, and apply for that job at the café. I heard they needed help and it would be a good source of income for me to live on."

Ah yes, he had been talking about that. Café 'The Copenhagen'. She knew it well; the daughter of the owner was a good friend of hers.

"I have to do chores at home." Sakura said, before glancing at Shirou. "But I will try to join Senpai as much as I can. I-I'll do my best to support him during his training."

"Unacceptable!"

"H-Huh, b-but-"

"By no means are you going to spend the holiday only working and training." Taiga proclaimed, rising dramatically from her seated position. She pointed at them, looked down her nose in a glare and continued. "Holidays are for rest and relaxation, so rest and relax you will, by force if needed."

"Ah, but Fuji-nee." Shirou protested, shifting nervously in his seat. "It is very important that I train today, I think I am close to making a breakthrough, and I can't miss such a crucial day..."

That sounded like an excuse to her, and a pretty bad excuse at that. She didn't even deign to answer it, instead keeping up her glare.

"Fine." He relented after a few moments, though with obvious reluctance. "I'll take it easy this holiday."

"Good!" She grinned widely, knowing how seriously he took his promises. "Oh, and the same goes for you, Sakura. You are a child, you must enjoy your life, not spend it working yourself to death already. That's what adulthood is for."

"…Yes, Fujimura-Sensei." Sakura said, a shadow passing over her face, though neither Taiga nor Shirou noticed it, before she plastered her smile back on. "Grandfather said I was free to do what I wanted as long as I finish my chores, so I have plenty of time."

"Excellent." Taiga was very glad to hear that. "Let's do something fun together. Shirou! It has been too long since we've had a friendly kendo-spar. To the dojo, now."

"T-The dojo? S-Sure, but what about the table-?"

"Clean the table later! We must fight!"

Before either of them had time to protest, she jumped in between them, grabbed them around the shoulders, and frog-marched them to the dojo of the Emiya-estate.

Once they were there, it took little effort to bully Shirou into going along with her plan. He and Taiga quickly changed into their sparring-kits in the changing rooms, while Sakura remained in the hall, waiting patiently for them to return.

Once they were out of the changing rooms and in full gear, Taiga took place across from her ward, brandishing her weapon; a normal training-bokken. She would not use the Torashinai today, that thing was not fit for a friendly spar.

"You ready for another defeat, Shirou?" She taunted him. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, too much."

"I am ready, Fuji-nee." Shirou smiled at her from where he stood, calmly settling into a stance of his own, remarkably well-adjusted to the situation, considering he'd been cajoled into a match only minutes after eating breakfast. "And you should prepare as well. This time might be different, because I have-"

He froze mid-sentence, his mouth falling open as his face turned pale. His bokken lowered and he took several steps back, breathing hard as he looked at her in horror.

"Shirou? What's wrong?" Taiga called out, startled by his strange behaviour.

"A-Ah, Fuji-nee, I just realized, this exercise is like training as well, right? Maybe we should do something else?" He rattled, suddenly looking like he would rather be anywhere but in the dojo with her at that moment. "Maybe we can play a relaxing game of chess? Or a game of Go?"

"A game of… what now?" Taiga spluttered, entirely taken aback by his sudden mood-swing, and by how unprecedented the situation was. Shirou was not a quitter, he'd never tried to get out of a match before, and that he suddenly did now was almost enough for her to indeed call it off.

Almost, but not quite.

"No can do, Shirou." She said, hardening her heart. "The rules of Kendo state a match is not over until one of us is defeated or surrenders honourably. You know that."

"Yes." Shirou sighed, not looking at all surprised by her refusal, his nervous expression changing into resignation as he settled back into his precious stance. "I do know that."

"Are you alright, Senpai?" Sakura asked nervously, and he was quick to give her a reassuring smile in return.

"I am. Don't worry. Could you please act as the referee for this match?"

"…Of course." She nodded after a second, still not looking convinced he was okay, before she raised her arm nonetheless, checked whether they were both ready, and then lowered it to signal the start of the match.

Taiga launched the first attack.

With a wordless yell, she jumped forward and swung her bokken at Shirou's head in an overhead blow, to test his strength and defence. Her little brother raised his own bokken in response, though he did not move besides that.

Their weapons connected with a harsh crack, and a contest of strength began. Based on Shirou's rigid stance and lacking footwork, the brown-haired woman had expected to be able to push him back a few steps, maybe even thrown him on his back if his balance was exceptionally bad. That didn't happen though.

Instead, Taiga's entire body jarred as Shirou halted her momentum completely. He didn't step back to absorb the force of her attack, he just stopped her cold, without any sign of exertion on his part.

Shocked by this development, Taiga immediately disengaged, widening the gap between them in an instant. She then threw the bokken over to her off-hand, so she could shake her main hand a bit, to return some feeling to it after the backlash had knocked it senseless.

Taking hold off the bokken correctly again, she came in once more, this time aiming for his knees, making sure to not put as much strength behind the blow as before. Both to avoid hurting her hands again, and to make sure she wouldn't break his knees should the blow land.

She found she didn't have to worry about the latter. Shirou blocked her strike again, with the same casual ease as before. He had definitely gotten faster these past months, as she followed up her first strike with three more, aimed at hip, back, and head, and had all of them blocked or parried. Stronger too, her hand was still throbbing from that first block of his, and now also from the parried blows.

Then Shirou suddenly jumped back himself, putting some distance between them as he raised his bokken in preparation for an attack of his own. Taiga put her guard up, careful not to leave any holes in it for him to exploit.

She had barely gotten her bokken up before Shirou exploded into motion, clearing the distance between them with the speed of a man years older than him.

It was not so fast though that Taiga was unable to react. She had fought against faster men before after all. Seeing he was aiming for the centre of her chest, she made to side-step his lunge and simultaneously prepared her counterattack. A forward strike like the one Shirou was using always left plenty of holes that could be exploited.

She was caught completely unprepared though when her little brother swept his bokken sideways at the last moment, right at her, forcing her to block his strike head on.

It was a manoeuvre she had not expected him to be able to use. It took a lot of strength, speed, and technique to change the direction of a forward blow. Doubly so if you wanted the strike to carry enough power to count after said change of direction.

For the split-second it took for Shirou's blow to land, Taiga wondered how much strength he would be able to put behind the blow. Then their bokken connected, and she got her answer.

It felt like she was run into by a horse. Her arms almost buckled under the pressure, only just managing to take the blow without giving in. She had to take several steps back to maintain her balance as she staggered, forcing her to drop her guard completely, and with that, she knew the spar was over.

As soon as she had regained solid footing, she felt the point of Shirou's bokken under her chin.

"Match over!" Sakura cried. "Senpai wins."

Shirou had won indeed, yet despite that, Taiga could have sworn she saw some traces of frustration in his expression before it evened out.

What did he have to be frustrated about? Taiga was the one who should be frustrated. It was her first loss in quite a while.

She wasn't one to give up so easily though. She would win the next bout.

The moment Sakura gave the signal to begin the second match, Taiga took the initiative again, jumping forward while aiming the bokken at his chest.

Shirou side-stepped the blow, and Taiga promptly swept her bokken to the side, like he had done to defeat her -

Only to find Shirou already gone.

Eyes widening in surprise, she looked to the sides, seeing no trace of her young ward. It was a second too late that she realised he had to be behind her, and though she tried turning around to face him, she was too late to avoid the hard push against her back. Unable to keep her balance, she fell forward.

Again, she felt the point of a bokken press into her, this time her neck, making it clear who had won once more.

"Match over!" Sakura called, and there was no hiding the pride and admiration in her voice. "Senpai wins again."

By now, Taiga could no longer dismiss this as a fluke, and she made careful note of her little brother's improved prowess. She would have to take kendo matches with him more seriously from now on if Shirou had managed to reach this level of proficiency already.

"Not bad at all, Shirou." She remarked, getting up from the ground and dusting herself off with a few brushes from her hand, before grinning viciously at him. "Seems like I can't go easy on you anymore."

Shirou shuffled in place, clearly hesitating to continue sparring with her as he looked to the side in contemplation. Eventually though, he gave in to the inevitable, and with an audible sigh took his battle stance again.

Sakura once again gave the signal to begin the battle, and Taiga took the initiative for the third time. This time though, she kept a wary eye on her opponent, no longer treating this like a little spar with a young teen, but as a fight with a strong opponent.

Taiga feinted a blow to his left shoulder, switching to aim at his right knee at the last second. Shirou did not fall for it though and intercepted the blow skilfully. She followed it up right away with a slash upwards, aimed at his face, making Shirou take a step back.

She then stabbed thrice in quick succession at his abdomen, each one of them dodged. Keeping up the pressure, she came in closer again and aimed a sweeping blow at his left thigh. That was only a distraction though. As Shirou riposted this blow like all the ones before, she ran past him on his left side. She then crouched low and swept her leg at the back of his knees, hoping to knock him over.

It succeeded. Unprepared for this action, Shirou could do nothing to prevent Taiga from literally sweeping him off his feet. He fell down on the ground, hard. She could hear him blow out the air in his lungs in surprise as his back collided with the floor. She then straightened again and placed her bokken under his chin.

This spar was hers.

"Match over! Fujimura-Sensei wins."

"Well done, Fuji-nee." Shirou grinned. "You really took me by surprise at the end."

"That is hardly surprising. That move was a bit much for a simple spar." Taiga laughed, fondly remembering how she'd used it to win her fifth tournament in a row. "I apparently can't afford to take it easy anymore while fighting with you."

The post-battle banter over, they bowed to each other, signalling the end of the entire match, and then walked back to Sakura, who was loudly applauding for the both of them. Of course, a little more for Shirou, as she had to support her man.

Putting away her equipment, Taiga settled for watching Shirou and Sakura interact with each other. Sakura was fussing over her red-haired idiot, insisting she check him over for injuries, while he claimed there were none.

She was loath to interrupt the peaceful picture, but a grumbling in her stomach reminded her it was about twelve o'clock already. Time really flew by when you were having fun.

"Shirou, Sakura-chan!" She proclaimed loudly, distracting them from their little argument. "When's lunch?"

It was rather amusing to see them both facepalm like that.

It was adorable, how they moved completely in tandem. They really were alike in surprisingly many ways. Yet another reason why they had to get together.

After the three had eaten lunch together, Sakura and Taiga left Shirou's house again. Sakura had to do chores at the Matou-estate at the behest of her grandfather, and Taiga was going to help her own grandfather with his 'business'.

"Don't forget we'll be back for dinner." Taiga shouted, and Shirou smiled in return, before giving her a thumbs up.

He then watched the girls walk away, before letting out a relieved breath when they were out of sight. It seemed neither of them had noticed anything amiss about him.

He was rather proud of himself actually, for keeping his calm so well for so long. If one forgot about the outrageously unfair kendo match that he'd had with Fuji-nee, during which he had once again discovered holding back in battle wasn't nearly as easy as one might think, he had been able to conduct himself normally the entire time.

Neither girl had noticed anything amiss, even though Shirou had found a Mystical object the night before and currently had it hidden inside his head. Somehow, he'd been able to behave like he did on an ordinary day, enough so that he had apparently aroused no suspicion.

The kendo match had in fact been the most difficult challenge of today. Not in terms of winning –he dared say that winning kendo-matches with his honorary big sister would never be a problem for him anymore– but rather in terms of losing. He had gotten so fast and strong all of a sudden that, during the match, it had almost seemed as if Taiga was just a child holding a bokken for the first time. It had taken him two matches before he could adjust his power to an appropriate level and hand her a believable win.

Despite that one screw-up though, Taiga and Sakura had left his house none the wiser, leaving him alone and free to begin his experiments upon both Mjolnir and himself.

When he had gotten up that morning, he had almost thought the previous night to have been a dream. That notion had been disproven quickly though when Mjolnir sent out a pulse of energy from wherever it resided inside his head. Not enough to hurt, but more than enough to prove it was really there and not just a fidget of his imagination.

It had been quite the shock, and Shirou had sat on his futon for several minutes after, just staring at the wall with a blank gaze, trying to process the fact that a magical hammer, which might actually be the Mjolnir of Thor itself, was now in his possession.

After he'd managed to gather his thoughts again, he decided to focus on what the presence of the hammer would mean for him personally. He would assume for now that Mjolnir was not out to harm him, and based on its behaviour last night, it was willing to help him to become a hero, but that little bit of information still left many blank spots in Shirou's understanding.

As such, he'd composed a list of relevant matters he would have to address today.

First of all, he had to make sure the Clocktower would never hear of this, lest they made him into a research specimen or something. For much the same reason, he would also have to hide his current circumstances from Tohsaka, the Matous, and Kotomine Kirei.

Other than that, he would have to do some research into the phenomenon of Mjolnir taking up residence inside his head. He'd never heard of something like that happening ever before and he would like to know more about it, just in case it was dangerous somehow.

The third item on his list was that his battle-training would have to start from the very beginning again. His capabilities had changed so greatly overnight that it was virtually impossible he would be able to fight efficiently with only his current training to fall back on. With how much he'd been enhanced, carrying on like normal would make him a danger to others and himself.

Last night had really only gone so well because his opponents had been worthless fighters, and because he was apparently bulletproof now. If things had gone even slightly different, he might very well have killed someone.

Not just his body would have to be retrained however, but his Magecraft as well. Going into battle while not knowing how your own Magecraft functioned was plain suicide, and who knew what Mjolnir had done to it.

Admittedly, he'd already performed a spell since Mjolnir's arrival, the 'Structural Analysis' on the criminals' warehouse, but at the time, he'd been focused on his mission, so he hadn't stopped to see if anything about him had changed.

So the time for experimentation was now.

Closing the front door, Shirou walked back into the house and went directly to his shed, where his Workshop, his Sancta Sanctorum, was located.

The shed itself was nothing special. It was just a small building, used primarily by Shirou to store his repairing tools and other materials he didn't want to keep in the house. It was small, perhaps three metres high and eight square metres in area, and it was made of wooden planks that had aged visibly over the years.

On the inside, it was cluttered with tools, bags, and boxes. In the corner, a motorbike stood rather prominently, one that he had gotten as a gift from Raiga-san for repairing a lot of bikes and cars belonging to said Yakuza-leader. He was not yet legally allowed to drive it of course, but he did know how to drive, in case of emergency, and he sometimes tinkered with it a bit.

To an observant person however, several things would stand out as not belonging in an ordinary shed. The large tomes for instance, or the drawings of Runes on the walls. There were a number of notebooks lying around too, as well as many pieces of paper filled with barely legible scrabbling.

Evidence of the few projects Shirou was pursuing in his spare time. Projects of Magecraft.

Today however, he wasn't here for those projects. He was here for something completely different.

After closing the door of the shed and locking it, he assumed his standard meditational pose, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Normally, he took this position when he wanted to practice his Magecraft or access his Circuits for a check-up. This time however, he wanted to look into the changes that Mjolnir had wrought on his body, and then specifically the changes relating to his Magecraft.

Shirou took a deep breath, exhaled, closed his eyes, and spoke his magic words.

"Trace On."

Magical Energy surged forth from within him, filling him with a pleasant warmth as his Magus Circuits pulsated softly and produced the energy that was the very basis of Magecraft. It was the same as always happened when he activated his Circuits, and at first, Shirou was relieved nothing was wrong.

Then his eyes shot open in shock, as he felt something utterly unexpected.

Activating his Magic Circuits had been intended as the first step, a warm-up, nothing more than taking stock of something that should have remained completely unchanged.

It hadn't though. It hadn't remained unchanged. Something was radically different than before, and that something was the sheer quantity of Magical Energy that was now flowing through him.

Before Mjolnir had arrived, Emiya Shirou had possessed twenty-seven Magic Circuits of below-average quality. The quantity was respectable, but the quality not so much. It had made him capable of generating more Magical Energy than his father, but that was a low bar to clear.

That was no longer so.

Those twenty-seven Magic Circuits were still present. He could still feel them inside himself, located in his soul. Nothing had been added or taken away. However, those Circuits themselves had been altered severely. Where before they had been below-average quality at best, producing below-average amounts of Magical Energy, they were now absolutely top-notch.

According to his estimations, every single one of the improved Circuits could produce as much Magical Energy as all of his old Circuits together, at the very minimum, making his reserves several orders of magnitude greater than before.

It was an absolutely astonishing change, and if Shirou remembered correctly, a totally unprecedented one too. It was one of the official rules of Magecraft that the quantity and the quality of a Magus' Magic Circuits could not be increased naturally. There were artificial ways of course, Magic Crests being the most famous, but organically improving Circuits was considered impossible.

For his Circuits to have been altered so drastically, a miracle had to have happened. Something on the level of a fully powered Grail.

This… This was unbelievable! The need for secrecy just became even more dire than before. If the Clocktower ever caught wind of this, Shirou would find himself reduced to a specimen before he would be able to blink in surprise.

Overwhelmed by his discovery, Shirou made to withdraw from his meditation. Before he could though, he suddenly noticed something, something that was hidden at the very edges of his awareness. Some kind of energy he had never felt before, but which was now present inside of him.

It was not the normal Magical Energy, sometimes also called 'Prana', which was the stuff that fuelled spells and rituals. This energy was… different, alien almost.

For a moment, he considered the possibility that it might be Ether, the elusive Element that could not be perceived by any mundane means, but that didn't feel right. Mjolnir also disagreed if the displeased hum was anything to go by.

That didn't leave him with many options however. Shirou would be the first to admit his knowledge of the Moonlit World was lacking, but he knew enough to determine that, if the power he was feeling now was not Od, Mana or Ether, it had to be something unknown, something new.

Or perhaps, something old?

If Mjolnir was truly Mjolnir, did that mean the new energy he felt inside of him was something from the Age of the Gods? A power beholden to the divine only, that had now been bestowed upon him too?

If so, then it made sense he couldn't recognize it. He'd never been a god before after all.

Then again, Shirou honestly still doubted the hammer he now possessed was really Mjolnir. As he had already realised the night before, there were just too many differences. The real Mjolnir was as big as a camping truck, and heavier than any other weapon ever created. It also did not have the ability to give people divine powers, nor did it possess the ability to communicate with anyone like Shirou's hammer could.

Furthermore, Mjolnir surely would not have supported him in taking down small-time mundane criminals. It was well-known to all in the Moonlit World that the gods had been first-class jerks, considering all humans beneath them. They, and by extension their weapons, would have spit on anyone who would have suggested they actually do something to help the little guy, and that was if they were in a good mood. Shirou's hammer by contrast hadn't even hesitated for a second before jumping in.

So this couldn't be Mjolnir, and if it was Mjolnir, then it had to be from another world. A world so different from Shirou's that none of his knowledge about the Age of the Gods could possibly apply, which meant the same was true for the mysterious power.

Now, he was no natural researcher, but Shirou had to admit all of this made him very curious. If the sensation he could feel inside of himself truly was an unknown power, never seen before in his world, then its possibilities might be endless.

He carefully reached out to the power, bringing his mental 'probe' as close to it as he dared. Then he metaphorically prodded it with a mental tendril, before retreating a bit to see what would happen.

No real reaction came from the power, except that it seemed to stir for a bit.

Feeling somewhat more confident now that he hadn't been blown to bits immediately, Shirou slowly accessed the power, and then let it flow through his entire body, much like his Magical Energy did whenever he used it.

The mysterious power felt like a liquid warmth, slowly flowing through his veins, somehow feeling… 'thicker' than normal Magical Energy. Despite feeling thicker though, he found that it was very easy to mould. It reacted to his every command and did what he wanted it to do without fail, better even than Magical Energy.

Shirou was hesitant to use it however. Though it did seem easy to mould and command, he had no idea what it could do. Using it in the middle of the city was not a good idea in light of that.

Once again though, Mjolnir encouraged him to just do it, making clear through a series of hums and images that it was totally safe as long as he didn't overdo it. The hammer seemed very excited, almost as much as it had been when Shirou was about to fight the gang.

As the hammer had not let him astray yet, and he would have to address the mysterious power at some point, Shirou once again decided to trust it.

He focused on the mysterious power again, guided it through his arm, and 'pushed' it out of the palm of his hand.

'Crackle.'

Having been shocked to the point of muteness for far too many times the past day, Shirou only lifted an eyebrow in mild surprise as his hand become wreathed in a glove of lightning. The sparks were dancing across his skin, the power stored in them immense, yet doing absolutely no damage to Shirou himself.

Seeing it just… be there, was almost enough to make him believe it was only an illusion. Lightning didn't behave that way after all, and though Magical lightning might, Shirou was supposed to have zero aptitude for elemental Magic in general.

There was no denying however that the lightning was very much real and very much being created by him.

That wasn't the only strange thing about this whole matter however. Lightning was supposed to be a very taxing and very difficult spell, one that masters of Elemental Magic struggled to control and could only use for a minute at most, but Shirou's power-reserves didn't reflect that at all. They stubbornly remained full, as if more of the mysterious power was being added to his system as quickly as he consumed it.

All of that however, his sudden aptitude and his immense reserves, paled in comparison to the most shocking thing of all. Something so astonishing Shirou literally refused to believe it for a few moments.

Gaia was not pushing back against the lightning.

The spell wasn't being eroded. It just existed, as if it was perfectly normal, perfectly natural.

Gaia, the goddess of the Earth, was supposed to fight against Magecraft because it was a blight upon her World. She would normally actively try to undo any type of disturbance of the natural order. She should have been trying to end his spell from the moment he had started it.

But she didn't. She seemed to… ignore it completely.

Was that caused by the fact that he was using a power other than Magical Energy? Was this mysterious new power of his exempt from the usual laws?

By the Golden Spires, if this ever came out, every single being in the Moonlit World would try to hunt him down to discover what made him tick. Forget the Clocktower, Tohsaka would try to strap him to a table and cut him open herself if she ever heard of this.

Shirou promptly dispelled the lightning and broke his connection to the power, letting it retreat into his soul, to be called back whenever he required it.

He had done enough 'soul-searching' for one day. Discovering that Mjolnir had fundamentally altered his Circuits and had given even given him a new power source unaffected by Gaia was plenty to keep him occupied for a long time to come.

One thing was certain. His life had just become much more complicated.

He was half-inclined to put an immediate stop to all experiments until he had properly processed his new findings, but in the end, he continued, knowing that it was of vital importance to really understand what had happened to him.

As he'd said before, it was very dangerous to not completely understand your own Magecraft, and that meant he better check out his normal repertoire of spells before he could call it quits for the day.

He had already done 'Structural Analysis' on the warehouse yesterday, which had gone perfectly well. The information the spell had provided him had been as accurate as ever and he hadn't felt anything amiss while casting. As such, he could cross that particular spell off the list.

The next spell he would take a look at was Reinforcement, the ability to 'remove' the imperfections in his body, which greatly enhanced his physical abilities.

"Trace on."

His Magic Circuits flared to life for the second time that day, and again an astonishing amount of Magical Energy filled his body. He promptly poured that energy into his muscles, erasing their imperfections, strengthening them beyond anything a human should be capable of.

He was relieved to discover this spell worked perfectly as well. He had feared at first that Reinforcement wouldn't be possible anymore now that his muscles were so strong already, but it seemed he had been wrong about that.

Now, a quick test of strength. Not bothering to get up from the ground, he reached out to grab the motorcycle standing beside him and tried to lift it, finding that he could effortlessly lift it above his head with only one arm, even from a sitting position.

He held the bike in the air for fifteen minutes before he put it down again, still not feeling any kind of strain. Further experimentation was needed to find his limits, both when he was not Reinforced and when he was, but it was clear there was nothing in the shed that would provide him with any sort of challenge.

Absently noting that the Reinforcement hadn't worn off yet even after twenty minutes had gone by, he went to test his last spell, Projection, or, as he called his version, Tracing.

Projection was the practise of using Magical Energy to form a temporary construct. How much that construct resembled the object it was supposed to mimic and how long it would last depended on the power and talent of the caster.

Shirou's way of forming Prana into objects was much like Projection, but better. He had discovered that by using Structural Analysis on an object before using Projection, he could 'Trace' that object and make it much closer to the original and much longer lasting than when he just used the normal spell.

It had made quite an impression on his father, who had congratulated him with his success at taking 'Gradation Air' to the next level. He had subsequently added though that there weren't much uses for the skill in both ordinary life and in a hero career, so Shirou shouldn't get too enthusiastic about it.

Shirou had chosen not to listen to that, and had kept training this ability, slowly making his Projections better and better in quality, and closer and closer to their originals. He hoped that he might one day be able to create perfect copies, but that day was still far away.

"Trace on."

A metal pipe took shape in his hands. It was a simple piece of iron, with nothing special about it. It was the object Shirou preferred to use when training his Projection skills, for he had Analysed it so often that he knew every aspect of it by now. The lack of special attributes also made it a very low-priced object, excellent to use for practice.

Shirou's Projection was higher in quality than any other Magus could have managed. It wasn't a 100% perfect, or even 70%, but the fact that it was more than a hollow shell was more than most could ever hope to achieve.

The amount of Prana the spell had cost, normally quite noticeable, was now barely noticed missing from his enlarged pool, so he went on to the next step right away, which was a skill that was largely comparable with Projection and Tracing, yet at the same time quite different.

"Alteration."

The art of altering objects, changing their shape and composition.

Under Shirou's directives, the metal pipe smoothly changed into a sword, and a smile came to his face at the sight. It seemed Alteration was yet another spell that was still functioning and now only cost a neglectable portion of his reserves.

At the same moment, Mjolnir, still residing in Shirou's mind, noticed a sword appear right next to it, at the foot of the hill. There was nothing particular special about this sword, but at least it wasn't blurry like the rest.

Now to collect some more.

It certainly seemed like a perfectly decent sword, but Shirou decided to perform a Structural Analysis on it nevertheless, to see if the quality of his Projections really was up to par with before.

So he performed the analysis…

"Trace o- HAH?!"

…Only to drop it in absolute shock.

The sword before him, the Projection…

It was eroding incredibly slowly, much slower than before, at a pace so sluggish that it wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone but Shirou and another select few.

That was preposterous! He had barely put any effort into creating the thing. Gaia should have been eating away at it at a rapid pace. It had no right being as complete as it was after the amount of time it had already existed.

Was this tied into his Reinforcement not degrading either? Was his Magecraft now less susceptible to Gaia's influence? Shirou didn't want to believe it, such a thing was unlikely, no, impossible. Gaia's Reality Marble would degrade any type of Magecraft or other unnatural force on Earth, that was one of the laws and inherent failings of Thaumaturgy.

Except… that wasn't true, was it now? The mysterious power wasn't influenced by her. Was that tied into this matter? Did the mysterious power make his normal Magical Energy less susceptible to Gaia as well? Was that even possible?

It was almost too much to think about. He could understand it if Gaia did nothing against a power that he had gained from a divine weapon that had randomly fallen down from the sky and likely did not belong on this world. It was another thing when his normal, Magical Energy-based Magecraft, the Mysteries of a third-rate Magus, were suddenly being eroded at a much slower pace than before.

Shirou knew this was beyond him to understand. He had simply accepted from his father that Gaia would erode all Magecraft, without asking why. He had not searched for explanations or causes, he had just gone along with it. As such, he was at a complete loss at what to do. Was he supposed to report this? Would he have to watch out for Gaia herself, who might take offense at his impudence?

He didn't know. He had no idea. This was more than he had ever bargained for.

One thing became absolutely clear to him though, as clear as the purest of water under the clearest of skies. One clear thing among a storm of uncertainties.

He could never, never, tell anyone about this. That his Magecraft had become less susceptible to Gaia's influence was the greatest and most important secret he'd ever held, greater than his improved Circuits, greater than the mysterious power, greater than his father being the Magus-Killer, and he should never share it with anyone under any circumstances.

In fact, he should do his best to forget about it himself as well. Put it out of his mind altogether. There was nothing he could do about it after all. At this point, he doubted that even completely doing away with Mjolnir would help.

He needed to focus on something else, anything else. Fortunately, the hour was growing late, and Sakura would be arriving soon to help him cook dinner. The plum-haired girl was precisely the distraction he needed right now.

Shirou rapidly cleaned up the shed, removing any trace of Magecraft as well as he could. The Projection was dismissed, the bike put back in its proper spot, and Tomes were assembled and put away.

After that was done, he went back to the house proper. He couldn't start with dinner until Sakura arrived, so in the meantime, he cleaned the house a bit more, anything to keep himself occupied.

Fortunately, Shirou had always possessed a one-track mind, and by the time Sakura arrived, around twenty minutes later, he'd managed to bury that secret quite deep in his mind already.

"Hello, Senpai. I'm back." She smiled brightly at him as she entered, putting away her coat and shoes with an ease that came with familiarity. "Have you started dinner yet?"

"Hello to you too, Sakura." He greeted her back, her presence already improved his mood greatly. "No, I hadn't started yet. I was waiting for you to join me."

That got him an even wider smile, and the two of them got down to it, working seamlessly together to prepare an excellent meal, as they had done so often before. Naturally, they cooked enough for five people, one portion for Shirou, one portion for Sakura, and three portions for the hungry beast that would probably soon invade the house.

Strangely enough however, the hungry tiger failed to arrive at any point during their cooking. Even when they put the last dish on the table, it remained suspiciously quiet.

Taiga was late. An extremely unusual occurrence, one that only took place if she was working on something extremely important. Even then though, she usually called in advance to let them know she was delayed.

Just staying away without saying anything wasn't at all like her.

Fortunately though, Taiga did arrive soon after, before the food had even cooled down. As always, she entered with the requisite amount of racket and clamour, clearly announcing her impending arrival, yet instead of irritated, Shirou felt mainly relieved at hearing the sound this time.

"Heya, guys!" His big sister said cheerily as she barged into the dining room. "Sorry I'm late. There was some important stuff at home I had to deal with."

"I'm sure." Shirou huffed, before fixing her in place with a glare. "But was there any reason you didn't let us know in advance?"

"You certainly don't look busy now." Sakura agreed, also glaring at the older woman, though with her, it brought to mind kittens confronting large balls of yarn.

"I know. I'm sorry." Taiga murmured, her jovial mood disappearing in an instant, her eyes downcast and body hunched over, showing she did truly feel bad about it. "It was a madhouse at grandfather's today. Apparently, someone attacked and took down a small gang at the edge of town and called the police on them afterwards. All those people are in jail right now. Grandpops has been looking into it all day, ever since the news reached him, trying to find out how someone could operate in his city so freely. I completely forgot the time, I'm sorry, really."

Shirou gave no outward sign of being disturbed in any way by Taiga's words. Inside however, he felt slight nervousness take hold of him.

He had forgotten Taiga's grandfather ran most of the unlawful practices in Fuyuki City when he had taken down that gang yesterday. A rather large oversight now that he thought about it.

Was he feeling bad about this now? Was he wrong for interfering in old man Raiga's business?

Well, no, not really. Those men had been crooks and criminals, who belonged in prison for their deeds. If old man Raiga didn't like that, then he should have been more careful who he associated with. Shirou was not going to look the other way just because the criminals had ties with the Fujimura-clan.

An exception could be made for the Fujimura-clan themselves though, since their criminal activities were rather limited. Despite their fearsome reputation, most of their businesses were actually completely legal, and none of the illegal stuff was really harmful to anyone.

It hadn't always been like that, but old man Raiga had really cleaned up the family-business since becoming the leader. Enough so that Shirou would rather not arrest him and risk having him be replaced by someone with far less scruples.

"So you are searching for the person who got them arrested then?" Shirou asked, keeping a careful eye on his self-proclaimed big sister.

"Huh?" Taiga started coughing in surprise, thumping her chest as she almost choked on a piece of food. Irately waving away a concerned Sakura who was just about to pat her on the back, she regained control of her breathing soon after, and then threw him a puzzled look, that was quickly followed by an understanding one.

"Oh no, I didn't mean grandfather was searching for the one who took that gang down. That person, or those persons more likely, were completely right in doing so. It was that gang that didn't belong here."

Oh, he'd been wrong? That was a relief to hear. Both because he was not being hunted, and because old man Raiga apparently was not happy either with those gangs. Maybe he could use that in further expeditions.

"Ah yes, I suppose it makes sense Raiga-san wouldn't want intruders in Fuyuki-City." Shirou said mildly. "It must be difficult to keep them all out though."

Taiga sighed deeply, going as far as to put her chopsticks down, signalling things were about to get serious.

"Gramps is working hard at keeping outsiders away from the city," she said, crossing her arms in contemplation. "But while big organisations indeed don't stand a chance here, smaller ones like that drugs gang are still quite widespread throughout town. We simply lack the time and manpower to root them out completely, as there are so many places they can hide."

A whole lot of criminals, concentrated in small gangs, working outside of old man Raiga's influence? Shirou knew what he was going to do over the coming holiday.

"Fujimaru-Sensei, Senpai, Please don't talk about such things at dinner." Sakura suddenly huffed, giving both of them an adorably angry look.

"Right, sorry." Shirou apologised sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"What he said." Taiga nodded, also looking sheepish under Sakura's adorable glare.

Now that they had been reprimanded by Sakura, Shirou and Taiga returned to milder subjects, discussing with each other and Sakura what they had done during the day.

Funnily enough, none of the three told the truth, as each had something to hide from the others, but Shirou was the only one who knew that they were all lying.

He would be lying again if he said it didn't sadden him a bit.

After dinner, Sakura and Taiga, both having finished their respective tasks for the day, hung around a bit longer, and Shirou was glad to have them. Yes, he was eager to go out and hunt some criminals, but there was nothing wrong with spending a nice evening with the people he loved either.

He would get started tomorrow. This evening, he would take some time off.

And voila, another chapter. This one took somewhat longer, as it just kept rubbing me the wrong way. Did I characterize Sakura and Taiga properly? Or did I make mistakes?

Shirou now has done some experimenting and has discovered several astounding things about himself, not in the least the new power and the lessened eroding of his Magecraft.

That mysterious power is of course the Power of Thor. Name it what you will, Odin Force, Thor Force, A Skyfather's Power, go crazy. Just know that it will follow the Marvel rules and not the Type Moon rules.

His normal Magecraft will still mainly follow the rules of his own universe, for now. Be aware though that over time Gaia will lose more and more of her influence over him. This isn't overly noticeable to others, so it will remain a secret for quite some time, but I'm already looking forward to writing realization scenes. Those are going to be fantastic.

As for Shirou deciding to forget about it, well, that is actually the wisest thing to do. There's nothing he can do about it, and having to come out would be absolutely disastrous. The best thing he can do is make sure not even he knows about it anymore.

The next chapter will have Shirou apply for the job at the Copenhagen and test his capabilities some more. I don't think there will be more combat yet though.

Okay, this was the chapter. Farewell, with greetings from Ted.

Edited later for better flow and choice of words.