Fate: Hammer Time

by TedTheRabbit

Shirou Emiya wanted to become a hero. That was clear to all who truly know him. For a long time though, he lacked the power to actually achieve that goal. No longer. No longer will he lack the power, now that the Hammer of the Odinson has chosen him as new wielder. Prepare for Thunder. ShirouxMultiple, Thor-Shirou.

12. In the Water

In the Water

---

Magecraft left traces.

This was an undeniable and inescapable truth. A power that could shape the world on a fundamental level, that allowed a person, a Magus, to play with Reality itself, always left a mark on the world. That was completely inevitable.

This mark was visible to anyone who dabbled in the Mystic Arts, though to varying levels. Most Magi could somewhat perceive the presence of Magecraft in their vicinity, through a variety of senses, and with Spells, this perception could be amplified.

There were some however that took that ability to a whole other level. A select few individuals who were more perceptive to the world at large, and who could track down the traces like blood hounds on a trail.

Emiya Shirou was one of these individuals. With his sense for Magical Energy, which for him translated into scents, he could pick up traces of Magecraft from dozens of metres away, and he could almost always determine precisely what kind of Magecraft it was too.

It was an incredibly convenient talent to have. It had proven its worth with the criminals smelling of magic, and it had significantly contributed to finding the Dead Apostle in Urayasu, and undoubtedly, it would be invaluable many more times in the future. Without it, Shirou would be grasping in the dark.

This talent also allowed the redhead to pin down any and all sources of Magecraft within the borders of Fuyuki-City, which was certainly convenient for someone like him, who had to avoid those sources like the plague.

In general, that meant he had to avoid the Tohsaka-manor, inhabited by Tohsaka Rin, the Matou-estate, inhabited by Zouken, and the church, inhabited by Kotomine Kirei.

Kotomine Kirei in particular was one to avoid, and Shirou, warned by Kiritsugu of how dangerous that priest was, had never gone anywhere near his Church. Even now, with Mjolnir at his side, he avoided that place as much as he could.

Not just because of Kotomine however. Something else lived in that Church as well, something Mystical, something that smelled like the Fuyuki Memorial Park, where the Great Fire had taken place, along with some whiffs of the scent of gold, a bit of steel, and something bittersweet that brought to mind extreme arrogance, mixed with an overbearing scent that indicated an overwhelming amount of power and authority, to the point that it made Shirou's nose hurt.

Shirou didn't have a clue as to what it could be, but he did know that whatever it was, it was Strong, with a well-deserved capital S. Stronger than anything he had ever smelled, save for Mjolnir itself, enough to obliterate Shirou if he got into a confrontation with it.

Fortunately, Shirou had always been able to avoid it quite well, and recently, it hadn't even been present in the city at all, having gone elsewhere, which suited the redhead just fine.

In comparison, Matou Zouken was more difficult to avoid. True, the ancient Magus might not venture out much, if at all, but from what Shirou had been able to smell, he had an extremely good surveillance system in place across the entire city.

If Shirou had to describe it, he would say that it was like many 'pieces' of Matou Zouken had been scattered all over town. Those 'parts' of the old man were seemingly everywhere, even under and around Tohsaka's house and in the vicinity of the church. He had even smelled their taint, if less intense, on Sakura, though that was to be expected, as she lived with the old man.

Fortunately, no such parts were anywhere near Shirou's house. Apparently, Zouken did not consider him important enough to spy on.

Still, just to be sure, he had added a few more Runes to the defences of his house, mainly focused on stopping small pests, since he'd quickly figured out those pieces were probably the worm-familiars of the Matou-family.

Anyway, the point of it all was that Shirou had sharp senses for Magecraft, and that he was well-aware of every source of Magical Energy within the borders of his city.

At least, until today.

When Shirou had woken up this morning, after another night of crime-fighting, he'd had no inkling yet that something was amiss in his city. He had prepared breakfast with Sakura, had eaten it while talking with her and Fuji-nee, before heading off to school. Just like any other day.

On his way to school however, Shirou had had an unfortunate encounter with a certain someone he would rather stay far away from. Since retreating had not been an option without seeming suspicious, as he was already within her sights, Shirou had been forced to cross paths with her. The ever-dreaded, by him at least, Tohsaka Rin.

As always upon encountering Tohsaka, Shirou had kept his Circuits and the mysterious power dormant. Once more, she hadn't suspected a thing, not even glancing at him, though she did lightly brush against him in passing.

Strange that. He was quite sure he had given her enough space to pass, but it almost seemed as if she had purposely moved closer to him during her approach. It was most likely just his imagination though. They had probably both just miscalculated their path in relation to the other and had collided as a result. Wouldn't be the first time Shirou had walked into someone by accident. Ayako came to mind.

He would have merrily continued on his way afterwards, dismissing the Second Owner from his thoughts, if he hadn't then suddenly noticed it.

No, not a Clown in the sewer, but a scent. A scent of an unknown Magecraft. Something that didn't belong in his city.

Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't related to Tohsaka. Her scent always carried traces of smoke and ash, fresh air, clear water, damp earth, and a certain 'nothingness' that he had learned to associate with Ether, coming together in a pleasant mix. He could still smell that scent now, even with her being a street-length away.

This unknown scent however smelled more like vanity, a biting, lemon-like smell, mixed with small amounts of the smell of rotting blood.

For a moment, Shirou entertained the possibility that someone was trying to follow him, but he discarded that thought quickly. He would have surely noticed someone stalking him much sooner than this.

His theory was confirmed when the origin of the lemon smell passed over him without hampering or stopping in its flight and continued following Tohsaka. Shirou, who had no doubt this was bad news, momentarily pondered on what he should do.

On one hand, this wasn't his business at all. If someone was following the Second Owner of Fuyuki-City, then he, being unaffiliated with either the Clocktower or the Church, didn't have any right to interfere, except by informing said Second Owner, which he wasn't going to do of course.

On the other hand, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. It was clear something was wrong here, likely to the detriment of Tohsaka herself, and he had never been one to follow the rules when that meant he would leave someone in trouble.

So Shirou promptly did an about-face and walked in the opposite direction, following the origin of the lemon-smell, making sure to stay out of sight.

The chase continued for a short while, with a small fish being hunted by a bigger fish, which in turn was hunted by an even bigger fish, until the three of them passed a small park, one of many inside the city.

Seeing a chance to end this chase prematurely, Shirou quickly told hold of the rainclouds above their general position and then made it pour right above Tohsaka's head. After the girl's anticipated squeak of surprise, Shirou saw how she swiftly took shelter under the trees of the park, thus remaining stationary for now, which also forced her pursuer to stay where it was.

The pursuer moved into the trees, a fair distance away from Tohsaka, yet close enough to keep observing her. A perfect opportunity for Shirou to get a look at what exactly he had been chasing.

Moving in from the opposite direction of where Tohsaka was standing relative to the pursuer, Shirou quickly got it in his sights. It was seated on a low branch of a tree now, well-hidden from Tohsaka's viewpoint. It was quite an ugly little thing. Ball-shaped, with batwings and no other discerning characteristics. A construct, he would guess, hastily put together with admittedly fine materials. Something that had been enabled of flight and spying capabilities by spells.

In short, a Magus' familiar. One that had been built specifically for the purpose of spying on Tohsaka.

Quite bold of them. Tohsaka was a very powerful and talented Magus, who could dish out quite a bit of damage to anyone trying to attack her. Trying to pull anything on her, especially within Fuyuki-City, was foolhardy for anyone but the greatest of Magi.

That didn't even mention the fact that it was forbidden for Magi to stalk each other like this. What purpose did it serve anyway? This whole situation almost looked like someone was preparing to abduct Tohsaka, but that was even more forbidden. Surely, no Magus would even try?

Unless…

Shirou's gaze turned frigid, his hands balled at his sides, and the clouds became progressively darker, spreading out from their position to cover the entire park.

…Unless those who sent this familiar were the Magi, the ones he'd been chasing so far.

It was quite the leap in logic, he knew, but there was nothing that excluded the possibility. The more he thought about it, the more likely it actually seemed. They were moving on from just abducting mundane people to kidnapping Magi like Tohsaka, who, despite being a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy, was an almost ideal target for them. She still lived alone after all, without any allies, making her vulnerable to scum like that.

They were really a lot bolder than he had anticipated, or rather, too confident for their own good. Abducting a Second Owner was bound to call down the wrath of the Clocktower on them when the Magus Association found out about it, and Shirou had no doubt they would find out.

There was of course a possibility that he was wrong, that the Magi he was chasing were not in any way involved with Tohsaka's pursuer, but that changed little about the current situation. Whoever was spying on Tohsaka, they were breaking the law and certainly didn't have good intentions. He would have to put an immediate stop to this.

Shirou inspected the familiar a bit more thoroughly, attempting to find something that could perhaps lead him to its makers. No such luck though. The spells on it were incredibly basic and weak, barely giving him anything to work with, while the materials were most likely imported from all kinds of places around the world.

In short, the construct was of no use to him, so he better destroy it right away.

He reached forward and placed his hand on the thing, before utterly crushing it by closing his fist, feeling the spells come undone under his power.

The destruction had been swift and total. The makers of the familiar had not been able to see anything and were now probably biting their nails in nervousness and alarm. Excellent, maybe they would realise now that they were not free to do everything they wanted without suffering the consequences.

Satisfied with his work, Shirou dismissed the rain clouds again, before turning around to resume his way to school-

"Excuse me."

A sudden voice came from his left, mistrust and caution clearly audible in it, and Shirou froze on the spot, before very slowly turning his head to look at the owner of the voice.

"Didn't I already see you a few streets back?"

Tohsaka Rin was standing there, looking at him with a suspicious glare.

It didn't seem like she had seen him destroy the familiar, because then she would be asking entirely different questions, but even foregoing that, he was not supposed to be here, and Tohsaka knew it too.

"We did indeed cross each other just now." Shirou answered, thinking quickly. "You almost walked into me, remember?"

Tohsaka blinked at his frank admission, probably having expected him to deny it, but then narrowed her eyes again in suspicion, while Shirou wracked his brain for a reason for him to be here that had nothing to do with Magecraft, familiars, or deep dark secrets that would get a certain someone a one-way trip towards a First-Rate Magus' Workshop for experimentation.

"Then why are you here?" Tohsaka demanded, looking even more mistrustful than before. "You were going in the other direction, so you shouldn't have ended up here. Don't tell me you were stalking me!"

"W-What?" Shirou exclaimed, almost taking a step backwards in shock as Tohsaka revealed the cause of her suspicion towards him. "No! I wasn't following you. I was just seeking shelter from the rain in this park, nothing more."

What he told her was mostly true. He hadn't been following her, but rather the familiar, and it was the rain that had caused Tohsaka to seek shelter, and he had done the same in order to ambush his target, so in a round-about way, he had been seeking shelter too.

Tohsaka kept up her glare for a few moments, studying him, while he tried to look as innocent as he could. He had to say that he was pleasantly surprised she hadn't already mindwiped him, or turned him into a thrall, or ambushed him with a spell, which were all acceptable options for a Magus.

True, all options would have utterly failed against him, but it still spoke positively of the Second Owner's character that she hadn't even tried. When that occurred to him, he could do nothing but smile warmly at her.

"W-Well, okay then." Tohsaka suddenly spluttered, turning her head away from him. "I'll believe it wasn't your intention to stalk me, just this once."

"Much appreciated." His smile widened, and he lightly inclined his head towards her.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again." She hissed, narrowing her eyes once more, though now in displeasure rather than suspicion. "I mean, sneaking through the bushes, letting your greedy eyes roam all over me, doesn't exactly give me the best impression of you."

"I wasn't sneaking through the bushes." Shirou replied indignantly, though, looking at his actions objectively, he could understand where she was coming from. After all, he had been hiding from her just now, in the bushes, so yeah.

"Could have fooled me." Tohsaka snipped, smirking at his put-upon expression. "Not that I can really blame you, I am beautiful beyond compare after all."

"..." Shirou deadpanned at the black-haired girl, who only smirked wider in response, looking at him haughtily as if she were a princess talking to a commoner.

"Who are you anyway?" Shirou then asked, since he wasn't supposed to know.

"Tohsaka Rin." She introduced herself curtly, her manners overriding her sadistic enjoyment for a moment. "Currently in my third year at middle school. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Shirou nodded curtly. "My name is Emiya Shirou. I am in my third year at middle school as well, and I am planning to attend Homurahara high school next year."

"You are?" Tohsaka asked, her voice slightly higher pitched than before.

Seeing him nod, she pursed her lips a bit, aiming another inquisitive stare at him, to which he merely raised an eyebrow.

The stare-off continued for a second, until she suddenly started moving again. She abruptly turned around and marched away, leaving him quite nonplussed.

Before he could address her on it, she turned her head slightly and called back to him.

"I am short on time as it is, nice to have met you, Emiya-kun." With that said, she turned her head back and seemed to speed up even more, not giving him another look as she practically fled the scene.

"Nice to have met you too, Tohsaka-san." Shirou called out to her, watching as she rapidly disappeared out of his sight.

Just like that, their impromptu conversation was over.

That... that honestly went a lot better than he thought it would go. Instead of a difficult interrogation about his presence in the park when he had clearly been going the other way, he got an actual, if very short, conversation, which was abruptly cut off by Tohsaka when she realised she still had to go to school.

Normally, he would be a little put off about the abrupt dismissal, but he was currently much too happy at not being suspected as a Magus or a creep. Especially the latter.

Still, he should make sure never to end up anywhere near Tohsaka ever again.

She wasn't evil or unpleasant or anything. She was just way too perceptive, and he didn't trust his own ability to keep his more unnatural skills and traits hidden from her over a longer period of time.

He had been successful this time, and perhaps he would be again next time, and the time after that, but there was no guarantee he would be able to keep that up forever.

Those were concerns for a later time though. For now, he needed to go to school. He had promised the janitor to take a look at the malfunctioning air conditioner before classes would start after all.

So Shirou continued on his way, putting all thoughts about Second Owners out of his mind for now.

---

The next day, Taiga was once again heading over to the Emiya-estate for her daily breakfast and to have a chat with her wards. It was rather early in the morning, but despite that, Taiga was in an excellent mood, even more so than normal.

There was simply a lot for her to be happy about on this happy, happy day.

For one, she had gotten the raise she had been after for a while, and then had managed to get more working hours at Homurahara too, which meant more salary and another raise 'for all of her efforts'. She might not even need her allowance from her gramps anymore if she kept this up.

Second, she had been picking up kendo again. Taiga admitted she'd let herself go a bit in recent years, but she was back in business now, training harder than ever, and it clearly showed in how quickly she was improving again.

Third, and this was perhaps the biggest reason for Taiga's current good mood, her two wards had been doing excellently these past few weeks.

Shirou and Sakura were both at the top of their classes, with ease, and in just about every subject too. They had also found new friends in Ayako and Issei, and both had made very concrete plans to join the Archery-club once they were at Homurahara.

From Shirou, she'd already expected as much, honestly, save for the new friends, which was a first for him, but the fact that Sakura was now almost matching him in grades was quite a shock.

She didn't mean that the plum-haired girl was dumb or anything, but she'd never shown any interest in anything outside of Shirou. Not in school, not in other friends, not even in her own future. She was like a mechanical doll with only one function, and that function certainly wasn't self-care.

Taiga didn't know how Matou Zouken had done it, but he'd taken a fantastic, delightful girl who had the ability to practically raise herself and had messed her up anyway. That man did not have what it took to raise children, that was crystal clear by now.

Taiga had played around with the idea of trying to get Sakura, and Shinji as well, away from him, but as she didn't have any real evidence against him and Japan was notoriously difficult with getting children away from abusive relatives, she had not been able to go any further than just ideas.

Recently though, Sakura had been getting better. As said before, her grades had improved, she'd started to make plans for her future, and she'd become friends with Ayako. She finally seemed to be shaking off the weight that Zouken had placed on her, and though she was by no means fine –it would likely be many years before she would ever get anywhere close to 'fine'– it was a hopeful sign.

Stepping through the gates of the Emiya-estate, Taiga made a beeline for the front door, entering Shirou's house with the customary amount of noise and racket, to warn the teens she was approaching and that they had to cease all inappropriate behaviour they might be participating in.

"Good morning, Fujimura-sensei."

Looking to the side as she entered the living room, Taiga spotted the plum-haired girl and her not-quite-yet-boyfriend. Both were smiling at her, and happily welcomed her to the table.

After the customary itadakimasu, the three started eating. Taiga of course immediately pulled as much food as she could towards herself. Talking could wait until later, food was more important now.

"Fuji-nee, you really shouldn't be eating that fast." Shirou sighed after eating a bit of food himself. "It's unhealthy and you have plenty of time before you have to leave, so please, calm down."

Taiga didn't even look up from her plate, but instead refuted his statement with a shake of her head. He was dead wrong, and it was so obvious why that she wouldn't even bother telling him.

That was all he got for now, as she redirected her attention on the food. Vaguely, she heard the teens talking with each other, but she ignored them.

Eventually though, she finished her breakfast, and after Sakura and Shirou had brought away the plates and bowls, she opened right away with the most important news of the day.

"The vigilante is in the paper."

"…Huh?"

But the news didn't make much of an impression, as the teens now blinked at her in apparent confusion.

"Come on, guys, remember what I told you about a few weeks ago?" Taiga pulled out a newspaper from her jacket, holding it up as if it were a newborn lion-king. "About the vigilante that was fighting the gangs?"

"Eh, y-yes, we do." Sakura confirmed hesitantly after quickly making eye-contact with Shirou, who nodded too. "You said they were being kept a secret from the public to avoid having people copy them."

"Yes, but guess what? They are no longer a secret. The vigilante is in the paper!" Taiga exclaimed, throwing said paper down on the table, angled so that Shirou and Sakura could easily read it. "It looks like the police is finally giving them some credit for their work."

The teens both said nothing for a while, focused on the article as they were. Sakura lightly hummed during her reading, while Shirou blinked in surprise several times, at one point mouthing the word 'Rakurai' to himself.

Sakura then picked up the paper and began reading a part of it out loud, sounding dubious about its contents.

"The police-department is of course very happy with Rakurai's contribution to taking the gangs into police-custody but cannot condone their actions. Taking the law into one's own hands is still a crime, no matter how effective or beneficial to society. We thus ask Rakurai to turn themselves in, and we guarantee that the sentence will be lenient." She dutifully spoke in a monotone, causing Shirou to frown and Taiga to huff.

"We have kept the existence of this individual a secret for as long as was possible, to prevent any copy-cats from emulating this dangerous behaviour. Recently however, Rakurai has started their work in different cities as well, forcing us to step in and explain what is occurring in our region. We once more stress that vigilantism, as well as providing aid to vigilantes, is illegal by law. It is also very dangerous and ill-advised for civilians to fight criminals. There is a substantial risk of death and/or injury when fighting without extensive training and skill-"

"That will do, Sakura." Shirou interrupted her with a sigh. "This is just a lot of the same things repeated in different wordings."

"Oh, don't be so grumpy, Shirou." Taiga said, sticking out her tongue at him. "It is awesome to have a vigilante in town, it's almost like a manga or an anime."

"It is not even remotely the same!" Shirou snapped back. "Not everything that seems cool is based on those fantasies, Fuji-nee, especially not something like this. This vigilante is not a superhero or a Magical Girl."

Shirou didn't quite yell, but he did raise his voice, looking far more agitated than Taiga had expected.

"Ah? Shirou, what's wrong? I just wanted to say it is cool that Rakurai is doing this for the city..." Taiga's voice tapered off, before she leaned forwards, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "But… perhaps I hit a little too close to home? I have no doubt that you would be doing exactly the same as the vigilante if you could. Would that make you a magical girl as well, Shirou-chan?"

"W-What are you saying there out of the blue?" The teen spluttered, the agitation in his expression vanishing immediately to make place for an embarrassed blush.

"You are always ready to help anyone, Senpai." Sakura pitched in before Taiga could react. "Just like a Magical Girl, or a superhero."

"Indeed." Taiga crowed, happy at having found an impromptu ally. "Don't you always say you want to be one of those later? Or, or, hear me out, Sakura-chan, maybe Shirou thought he was done waiting now already."

"Done waiting now already?" Sakura parroted, looking confused, before her eyes lit up in understanding and a teasing smile appeared on her face. "Oh! You mean Senpai is Rakurai!"

"Yes!" Taiga cheered. "My little Shirou, going out at night to defeat evil and injustice. Saving damsels with unusual hair colours from terrors in the night. I am so proud!"

Shirou, whose head had fallen deeper and deeper until it rested on the table, let out a deep, aggrieved sigh, but didn't react beyond that. Not even when Sakura latched on to his arm to teasingly fawn over him.

"In all seriousness though, if you had been a few years older, I really would have thought you were the vigilante, Shirou." Taiga adopted a more serious tone as she said that.

"Really?" Shirou asked in surprise, slightly lifting his head from its position on the table.

"Absolutely." Taiga confirmed. "You cannot deny that you would become a vigilante in the blink of an eye if you had the ability."

"…You might be right about that."

"Don't look so gloomy! I am not insulting you. Rakurai is awesome after all."

"He is?"

"Yes, he is courageous and brave. Scouring the streets in search of villainy every night, while most good citizens are soundly asleep. They prowl the streets, appearing out of the shadows when they are needed most."

"Oh yes." Sakura instantly agreed, still holding Shirou's arm. "A dark and mysterious figure, striking fear into the hearts of his enemies."

"Armed with a mystical weapon from unearthly origin." Taiga picked up again. "He flies over towns and cities, ever searching for his nemeses, who are responsible for the crime he has to fight every day. A tale of magic and secrecy, that started in memory of someone dear to him."

"That sounds amazing!" Sakura beamed.

"He is a real hero after all." Taiga finished her story with a beaming smile of her own.

Then she turned towards Shirou again, anticipating a reproaching remark from the straightforward teen. Her smile dropped however, when she noticed that he did not look put upon or reproachful at all. Rather, he looked shocked beyond words.

He hadn't moved at all from his position, seemingly frozen in place. His eyes were wide open, he was slackjawed, and even a little pale.

"Shirou!" "Senpai?!" Taiga and Sakura simultaneously shouted in shock and worry.

"Shirou. What's wrong?" Taiga asked, grabbing his shoulders to give him a few shakes. "Are you sick? Did you get a stroke? Are you alright, Shirou? Blink twice if you are!"

No blinks were forthcoming, so she slapped him in the face, hard, and instantly regretted it, as it felt as if she had slapped a brick wall.

"Huh?" The slap did prove enough to rouse Shirou from his trance. "I mean, no. I am fine, I am fine, I assure you. I am not sick, I just thought you were being serious there for a moment, with the flying and the mystical weapons."

Taiga deadpanned at him. He had taken her seriously? Really? He normally had such a healthy dose of scepticism for everything she said, so why on earth would he suddenly take her seriously?

"It's nonsense of course." Shirou continued quickly, probably trying to cover up his slip. "It is not like people are actually capable of what you are describing, right, Fuji-nee?"

Neither Taiga not Shirou saw the shadowed look appearing in Sakura's eyes for the shortest of moments at those last words.

"No, people are not capable of what I just said." Taiga said, looking suspiciously at him. "You looked really bad there for moment though, are you sure I don't need to call a doctor-"

"No." He hastily denied. "I was only shocked at what you said about the vigilante, nothing more. I am not sick."

Taiga still wasn't wholly convinced, and she could tell Sakura wasn't either, but they both let the matter drop for now.

"In all seriousness though. Aren't you at least a little impressed?" She asked instead, picking up the newspaper again, waving it in front of his face. "It's an actual vigilante! Isn't that awesome? Come on, you know I am right. Am I right, Shirou?"

"Yes." Shirou huffed, holding up his hands as if to stave her off. "You are right, they are awesome, whoever they are."

Taiga nodded in satisfaction, happy with the confirmation.

"Hold on. What time is it?" Shirou suddenly asked, sitting up straighter. "Have we not been talking way too long already?"

"Ah, we still have ten minutes before we need to leave, Senpai." Sakura answered quickly.

"Only ten?" Taiga spluttered, before glaring reproachfully at the clock.

"That's not the clock's fault, Fuji-nee." Shirou sighed. "If you want more time to talk in the morning, you should try getting up earlier. It might actually be a good idea now that I think about it. I'll start with breakfast earlier as well, before Sakura arrives, and then we-"

"NO!" Taiga and Sakura immediately yelled, both in complete disagreement with the idea, cutting him off in the middle of his sentence. He blinked in surprise at the sudden shout, looking from Taiga to Sakura and back.

"… I suppose not then." He finished lamely, giving up on the idea, to Taiga's great relief. She wouldn't have survived getting up earlier. Now, quickly, a different subject.

"So, I heard the two of you will finally begin with those swimming lessons you were promised?" Taiga inquired innocently. "It would be about time by now, that letter arrived so long ago."

"It wasn't our turn yet, Fuji-nee. The swimming pool simply don't have the capacity to hold all students at once." Shirou explained, accepting the change seamlessly, to Taiga's great relief. "But you are correct. The day after tomorrowwe will be expected at Fuyuki-City's largest swimming pool to receive our first lesson."

"We actually got quite lucky." Sakura pitched in, smiling brightly again. "We are in the same group as Issei-san, Ayako, and Minori-san. Isn't that amazing?"

"It is." Taiga gushed, happily patting Sakura on her head, though she also noticed the slight frown that came to Shirou's face at the mention of Ayako's younger brother.

"It is quite the coincidence to have us all in the same group." The redhead said eventually. "But I can't say I am unhappy about it."

"Excellent." Taiga replied, though she totally called bullshit about Shirou being happy to be in the same group as Minori. "Then you will have each other if there are any problems. Having friends with you is important."

"It is." Shirou agreed.

"Oh, before I forget, do you both have your bathing suits ready?" Taiga asked. "If not, we'll have to head over to the clothing store this afternoon."

"No, we have everything we need." Sakura assured her, and Shirou nodded. "I already checked if I still fit in my swimming suit, and I do."

"Same for me." Shirou added.

"Good. In that case, have fun. I know you've been looking forward to it." Taiga grinned, suddenly feeling very mischievous.

"I don't know if I've really been looking forward to it." Shirou said, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just a swimming lesson, and dad already taught me how to swim."

"Not what I meant. I was talking to Sakura, who I'm sure is looking forward very much to seeing you half-naked, Shirou."

Shirou blushed slightly, self-consciously crossing his arms in front of his chest, but it was Sakura's reaction that Taiga had been hoping for.

"Fujimura-sensei!" She cried out, her face exploding in a fierce blush while she shook her hands rapidly in front of her. "D-don't s-s-say s-such th-things! I-it is not t-true! IT'S NOT!"

That was a blatant lie. Taiga had no doubt Sakura had been looking forward to seeing Shirou in swimming pants since the letter has arrived.

"You haven't been looking forward to it?" Taiga asked innocently, pretending to be confused. "My mistake. I thought you were. You certainly have been looking very dreamy every time the subject of swimming lessons comes up."

"I'M NOT! PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!"

"Okay, okay." Taiga laughed, holding up her hands in surrender. "I'll stop."

She'd already reached her objectives after all. Shirou was blushing strongly, consciously looking away from Sakura, while the plum-haired girl looked positively frazzled now.

"But aside from… the earlier subject, are you looking forward to it, Sakura-chan? A bit of swimming around while learning how to survive in open water. Combining fun and work in one splashy package?"

"A-A bit. I don't know how to swim at all." Sakura confessed in an apologetic tone, the new subject allowing her to cool off a bit. "Grandfather never considered it important, so I'm happy with the lessons. Nii-san has had them for the past weeks, and he says they are quite informative and effective."

"Shinji praised them that much?" Taiga asked sceptically. The elder Matou-sibling was not known for his enthusiasm and lauding of other's efforts, so she couldn't help but be doubtful of Sakura's words.

"Ehehe, no." Sakura laughed sheepishly, bowing her head and letting her hair fall in front of her face. "But he didn't complain about them, and he said that 'they were not as bad as he had expected' and that 'the instructors weren't completely worthless', and by now, I can translate sentences like that."

Shirou sighed deeply, shaking his head at the behaviour of his friend, causing Sakura to sheepishly laugh once more.

"Any idea what you will be doing during those lessons?" Taiga continued her line of questioning.

"No, not really, but I can ask Nii-san." Sakura proposed. "I'm sure he'll be willing to tell us."

"You do that then, and please share the information with the rest of us. Oh, and one more thing." Taiga leaned forward on her forearms, fingers crossed together. "If any of the instructors or the other children in your group try anything funny, come tell me at once and I'll bust some heads."

She was completely serious about that. No one messed with her wards and got away with it. She, as their legal guardian, had a responsibility to break anyone who tried such heinous stuff with them in two or more pieces.

Shirou scowled lightly, but he nodded without hesitation. Sakura pressed her hands to her mouth in shock, before she too nodded.

"Excellent. Leave such people to me. I'll make them regret they were ever born."

"As expected of a wild tiger." Shirou sighed.

"Shirouuuuuuu!" Taiga immediately interrupted him in turn, her good mood gone in an instant. "Don't call me a tiger! I am not a tiger, I have never been a tiger, and I will never be a tiger! Never, never, never!"

To extra emphasise her point, she leaned forward over the table, crouching low and baring her teeth at the boy. Her attempt at intimidation fell flat though when instead of cowering, her wards burst out into laughter at the sight.

Alas, the happy atmosphere she had inadvertently created was ended when Sakura announced it was time for them to leave. The three of them left the estate and went their separate paths, but after Sakura had disappeared out of sight, Taiga grabbed Shirou's shoulder to hold him back.

"… Fuji-nee?" Her little brother asked after a second of surprise. "What's wrong?"

"Shirou." She began, carefully weighing her words, knowing that she was stepping into a potential minefield here. "Do you know anything more about this vigilante than you let on?"

His eyes widened in shock at her question, but to Taiga's immense relief, there was no guilt or sense of being caught in his gaze. Not that that necessarily proved his innocence, but still.

"Fuji-nee…" Shirou repeated, now sounding hesitant about what he could even say in response.

"You know, I wasn't lying when I said that I believe you might start to emulate Rakurai's behaviour. Heavens, I seriously entertained the thought that you might be Rakurai yourself for some time." Taiga said.

"I… I cannot deny that I might to such a thing." Shirou admitted, looking oddly not-guilty at the admission.

"Well, don't!" Taiga urged him. "Catching criminals in the middle of the night is work for crazy superheroes and merciless assassins. Not for teenage boys who only do kendo, no matter how much those teens might want to help. You must realise that."

"…Perhaps."

"Shirou, please promise me that you won't try to copy Rakurai." Taiga implored, before raising her voice, drawing herself up to her full height. "Promise me right now, or I swear I will force you to practice kendo, and running, and kickboxing, and whatever, with me every day so you will be to broken to do anything at all."

"Wha….? What's with the threats all of a sudden?" Her little brother spluttered, before he sighed, nodding in agreement. "Understood, Fuji-nee. I won't try to copy the vigilante, or any other vigilante that might crop up in response to Rakurai. I promise."

It made Taiga's mood bounce right back into 'excellent'.

"Fantastic." She gushed, smacking him on the back in her enthusiasm, before instantly regretting that action as her hand felt as if she had hit a brick wall, again.

"That's all I had to say for now. Thanks for listening, Shirou-chan. Bye Bye."

Saying her goodbyes, Taiga then ran off, trying to make up for the time she lost by having that last talk with Shirou.

---

It was with a quiet hum that Shirou put his shirt back on, not feeling at all hurried for a change.

He was currently standing in a single-person changing room, in the official swimming-pool of Fuyuki-City. He had just finished changing, and he was about to head out the pool itself, for the first lesson in swimming he'd gotten in years.

Now that he was here, he found himself actually looking forward to it. It had been a very long time since he had entered a large body of water, so he had no idea how skilled at swimming he was anymore, and a short course might be just what he needed to brush up on his skill again.

According to Shinji, whom Shirou had interrogated quite thoroughly the day before, they would start with general training in the basic swimming skills, before moving on to learning how to properly save a drowning person, as well as some theoretical lessons on how to deal with strong currents. During the lessons, the students would be divided into smaller groups of five or six, which the students either had to form themselves, or otherwise would be sorted into by the instructors.

As soon as he had told Sakura and Ayako about that last bit, they had immediately formed their group on the spot. They had still needed at least two more people though, so they had asked Issei and Minori to join, to which both boys had agreed.

Shirou was of course happy that Issei was included, but he had to admit he would rather have had that Minori had not been asked. He did not know why, but he would, truthfully, prefer it if Minori stayed well away from their group. He did not want the boy anywhere near him—No, wait, that wasn't correct. He didn't care if he had to team up with the younger boy himself. He just didn't want Minori anywhere near Sakura.

Strange, but that was how it was.

On the positive side of things, they now had their full five man-group complete, and still had a spot open in case someone else needed a group.

It was thus with a smile on his face that Shirou entered the pool. He wore his swimming trunks, but also a shirt to cover his upper body. He didn't know how long he would be waiting for the others, and he did want to preserve some modesty and dignity.

He was a bit prudish, so what?

He found he was one of the first people to arrive in the pool, though not the first. That honour belonged to Sakura and Ayako. Though they were standing with their backs towards him, looking over the pool itself, there was no way he could not have recognised them. He hadn't been friends with them for so long without memorizing at least a few bodily characteristics of theirs.

...That was meant in the most non-perverted way possible! He didn't mean any of those characteristics of course, rather he meant the general shape of their backs, their height, and their torso-to-leg ratio, and other very innocent things like that. He didn't stare at them in a perverted way! Well, maybe a tiny bit, sometimes, but never for too long!

He certainly wasn't looking at their butts-

Shirou coughed in his hand, banning the distracting images from his mind. The bodies of his female friends were no business to be concerned about today. Today was about swimming and getting Sakura through her first lesson ever.

Unfortunately for him though, when the girls turned around to face him, he learned, right then and there, that the outward appearance of his female friends was in fact something to be concerned about today.

They were clad in one-piece swimsuits, purple for Sakura and black for Ayako, that covered almost their entire torso, save for some visible skin on their flanks. They were certainly very much decent in it, nothing daring, all very appropriate.

Nevertheless, their incredible attractiveness, and, dare he say it, sexiness, hit him around the head like a sledgehammer. For a few seconds, he could do nothing but take in their forms.

Their visibly toned stomachs, their fantastically shaped legs, their skin shining in the light of the room, the not-so-gentle swell of their breasts. Shirou could actually feel the blood in his body rushing to his face and... a certain other place.

With titanic effort, Shirou managed to get himself under control just in time to prevent the blood from reaching its destination and causing a potentially embarrassing incident. He breathed in deep, shaking his head a few times, trying to recover from that unexpected blow.

"Senpai! Over here!"

"Oi, Shirou, right this way."

The girls then called out to him, just as Shirou managed to get his head back in the game. A quick glance revealed them to be smiling at him, seemingly not having noticed his little slip.

"I know, I'm coming." He called back, waving at the girls to signal he had seen them. He quickly made his way over, actually managing to keep his mind away from the impure places it had descended to a few seconds ago.

"Good morning, you two." Shirou smiled as he came to stand in front of them. Sakura and Ayako promptly wished him a good morning back, Sakura with her serene, yet currently slightly nervous-looking smile and Ayako with her customary big grin.

"It's good you are here, Shirou." Ayako said, reaching out to lightly pat him on the back. "Sakura is being very difficult at the moment, and I need your help with this."

"Oh?" He questioned, looking with surprise at the one girl that he had never seen causing any kind of trouble for anyone. "And what is it exactly that you are doing to poor Ayako, Sakura?"

"Nothing." The plum-haired girl instantly declared, though it didn't come out as forcefully as she might have wanted, and instead made her sound more like an angry little kitten. "Mitsuzuri-san is just making things up."

"Making things up? Me? This Mit-su-zu-ri-san?" Ayako asked in shock, dramatically taking half a step back. "I never ever, or maybe sometimes, make stuff up. Why, you are the one being so difficult here, calling me by my family name and everything. She won't tell me what's wrong with her."

That last line was spoken to Shirou, while the brunette gestured towards her purple-haired friend. Said friend was still spluttering in protest, when Ayako reached out and took her into a one-armed hug, or rather, head lock, gently ruffling her hair.

"But I can already guess what's wrong." Ayako sighed. "You don't want to be a burden to us, despite us having told you a thousand times already that we're only happy to help."

Ah, now Shirou was catching on as well. Sakura was the only one of their small clique, Issei and Minori included, that had never had any formal swimming lessons before. On itself, that was something that shouldn't matter at all, as the entire purpose of this course was to learn, but Sakura was self-conscious about it nevertheless.

In short, she felt like she would be a burden to them because she was so far behind.

It was ridiculous of course, but Shirou knew precisely who to blame for that self-deprecating mindset.

Zouken.

The head of the Matou family had turned Shinji into an arrogant, yet fearful and uncertain teen that was heading towards self-destruction, while Sakura had become a timid girl that was unable to request anything from others out of fear they would think of her as greedy and unworthy of love.

Not for the first time, Shirou wished that he could take both away from Zouken, but he knew he could not. Zouken would never accept it if he, another Magus, were to try and take his grandchildren away from him, no matter how pure his intentions might be.

The only way to get Shinji and Sakura away from him was to kill him, and Shirou wasn't quite sure the man deserved such a fate. To the best of his knowledge, Zouken was unpleasant, yes, but ultimately nothing more than that. Certainly not someone who should be killed without hesitation.

Shirou smiled kindly at Sakura, who was now struggling slightly against Ayako's hold, though she wasn't actually trying very hard to escape.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura." He assured her, taking a step forward to place his own hand over Ayako's on top of Sakura's head. "We promised we would help you, and we will. You are our friend after all."

"A-Are you sure?" Sakura ventured shyly, stopping her struggle against Ayako's hold entirely as she looked up at Shirou. "I won't be a burden?"

"Of course not." Shirou shook his head immediately, giving her a grave look to convey his seriousness.

"Definitely not." Ayako agreed with a sharp nod. "You could never be a burden. Stop worrying about that."

"I-I will!" Sakura's beaming smile was beautiful beyond compare, certainly enough to make Shirou's heart skip a beat. "Could you let me go now, Ayako?"

"Moo." The brunette looked disappointed at that, having quite enjoyed holding Sakura so close, but she did obediently let go of the other girl.

"We can hug again later." Sakura promised her, and that seemed to put Ayako in a much better mood again.

For some reason, Shirou felt like he was missing something there…

The sound of footsteps suddenly caught his attention, and he turned around to face the newcomer. The girls, lacking his enhanced hearing, let out surprised sounds at his action, before imitating him.

The new arrival turned out to be no one else than Issei, who was clad similarly to Shirou, with swimming trunks and a shirt on.

"Ryuudou-san!" Ayako called out happily. "Good to see you here! How are you today? Are you well? Looking forward to the lessons? Or not at all perhaps? How's the family?"

Blinking at the sudden barrage of questions, Issei slightly adjusted his glasses.

"Good to see you as well, Mitsuzuri-san." He replied dryly. "I am indeed well, just like the rest of my family and the others at the temple. Yes, I am in fact looking forward to the lessons, it had been a while since the last time I swam, honestly."

"Yeah, it's the same for me." Shirou nodded. "I rather suspect it's the case for quite a few people who'll show up today."

"True." Issei acknowledged with a short nod, before smiling at Sakura. "Though those without any experience don't have to worry either. Are you ready for this, Matou-san?"

"I am, Ryuudou-san." Sakura nodded, looking demure again, but also much more determined than earlier. "I'll try to keep up with the rest of you, even if I might need some help."

"You will receive all the help you need, I assure you." Issei answered without a second of hesitation. "Us older and more experienced students have a duty to assist the younger and less experienced ones, but even if that were not so, I would have had no objection against teaching you, and neither would the others, I am sure."

"Right you are, Ryuudou-san." Ayako grinned.

Shirou nodded in agreement as well, before turning around yet again as he heard more footsteps approaching their location. This time, it was a group of people, most of whom he didn't know.

"Oh!" Sakura suddenly proclaimed, as she smiled brightly at the newcomers. "Hello there, Minori-san."

Shirou's smile disappeared and was instantly replaced with a frown as the arriving group was now identified as Mitsuzuri Minori and his friends.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan." Minori immediately called back, smiling brightly as well, though his expression shifted into a glare for a fraction of a second as his gaze passed over Shirou. "Are you ready for today? I know I am, so let's have some fun, shall we?"

"I am ready, Minori-san." Sakura smiled, bashfully staring down at the ground. "I don't know about fun, but I-I'll work very hard!"

"And I am here to help you with whatever you need." The younger boy proclaimed, proudly puffing out his chest. "Just stick close to me, and I'll guide you through."

Sakura fidgeted slightly at those words, the bashful smile still on her face, missing the thumbs-up and winks that Minori's friends sent him. Shirou on the other hand did not miss those signs, and he found he forcefully had to relax his hands afterwards to prevent them from clenching into fists. Something about seeing that just rankled him badly.

He didn't presume he could tell Sakura who to speak with though, so he just averted his eyes and instead began a conversation with Issei about the recent happenings in Japan, which they were soon joined in by Ayako.

As they talked, other students kept trickling in, until, about five minutes later, the four instructors also arrived.

"Welcome, everyone." One of the instructors said loudly after another five minutes had gone by, during which everyone had arrived at the pool. "My name is Kishimoto Teruo, and together with my co-workers, we will be your swimming instructors for the coming weeks. Let's all get along."

A general mummer of agreement came from the crowd.

"Now, we realise that many of you are already experienced at swimming, yet I am sure that there are enough of you who cannot swim yet. The normal response to that would of course be to create two groups, dividing you into experienced swimmers and less-experienced swimmers."

There was a barely noticeable gasp from Sakura at that. She nervously met his gaze, and Shirou made sure to smile reassuringly at her. Smiling back, she inched a little closer to him, which made him feel strangely happy for some reason.

"Yes, that's what we normally would do." Kishimoto went on. "However, we also learned from previous experiences that splitting you all up so brusquely is detrimental for motivation and the general mood of the room."

Kishimoto grabbed a form lying on the table next to him, holding it up in the air.

"Which is why you've had the instructions to assemble groups of five or six people yourselves, ideally a mix of experienced swimmers and newcomers, though that is not a necessity. After I finish talking, please find your friends to stand with, and I'll come by to write your names on this form. What's more..."

Kishimoto clearly had experience speaking before crowds. The man didn't talk long, but he still managed to cover an impressive number of subjects in that time, including but not limited to the schedule of this particular lesson, the general schedule and build-up of the coming lessons, the requirements for the final exam in a few months, and any possibilities for extra help for those who felt they weren't prepared enough for the exam by these lessons alone.

"That just about wraps it up. For now, find your old friends, or potential new friends, and please stand together so that you form a clear group." Kishimoto finished.

In an instant, the previously calm air of the assembled students became hectic and wild, as everyone either struggled to reach their friends, or went around trying to find sympathetic-looking people to join with. Fortunately, Shirou had no trouble navigating through the masses, making sure to keep Ayako and Sakura close by, which they didn't seem to mind at all. Issei was quickly found, having been smart enough to move towards the edges of the crowd. It was also fortunate that he'd had the presence of mind to drag Minori along with him before the boy could have charged off.

They stood close together to signal they were a group, as per the instructions, and it didn't take long before things began to settle down again. Once Kishimoto began going around with the form, most, if not all people had been included in a group.

As such, it looked like the open spot in their group would remain empty. Sweeping his gaze around one more time, just to be sure, Shirou reaffirmed that there was no one left…

No! Wait. There was one person still alone, a person who was walking straight at Shirou's group, their stride purposeful and self-assured, leaving no doubt that they were coming over with the purpose of joining them.

That wouldn't have been a problem at all, since they all had agreed that the spot was open for anyone who didn't have any friends or acquaintances here, if it hadn't been for the simple fact of who this person was.

Shirou was vaguely aware he should be doing something, but he was unable to tear his eyes away from the impending disaster, until...

"Excuse me? I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid I don't know anyone around here. If I could perhaps join your group, I would be very grateful."

The question was asked in a perfect tone, just polite and demure enough to come over as proper and pleading, while at the same confident and self-assured enough to notify everyone around that refusal was not an option.

Such a perfect tone and choice of words was only to be expected from this person. She knew exactly how to speak to people to get them to think the way she wanted after all. It came with her profession.

Shirou was nevertheless tempted to reject her, but since he had no actual good-sounding reasons, there was no way he could do that.

Not to mention that she genuinely seemed to consider his group her best choice. There were other groups with open spots, but Shirou had to say he really didn't like the way some of them looked at her, and she didn't seem to like it any more than he did.

And since the others also didn't seem to consider it any problem for her to join them, with only Sakura now pointedly looking away for some reason, he really had no way to refuse.

"Ah, sure, Tohsaka-san." Shirou thus answered, smiling slightly at the black-haired Magus. "We still have a spot available. Please, do join us."

Tohsaka smiled brightly at him, and Shirou thought he could even see some sincerity in it. She quickly went to stand beside them, to the great disappointment of many who'd been eagerly watching her.

"Good morning, Tohsaka-san, was it?" Issei spoke, stepping forward and giving a polite bow. "I am Ryoudou Issei, a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Mitsuzuri Ayako, also a pleasure." The exuberant girl smiled at the newcomer, her eyes gliding over Tohsaka's body, before she glanced sideways at Sakura, blushed slightly for some reason, and then looked Tohsaka right in the eyes again.

"Mitsuzuri Minori, I'm her little brother, I too am pleased to meet you." Minori picked up from where Ayako had left off, also bowing to the girl in front of him.

"…Matou Sakura." The plum-haired girl said shortly, still pointedly looking away from the other girl, who did not seem bothered or surprised by it.

"We have met already." Shirou finished the round of introductions. "Though I will say it is good to meet you again, Tohsaka-san."

"Likewise, Emiya-san." Tohsaka replied curtly, before turning towards the other four and giving a bow, her eyes carefully studying each of them, except Sakura, whom she barely looked at. "I thank you for your kind welcome, I am Tohsaka Rin, let's get along."

"Alright then!" Kishimoto suddenly spoke up again, apparently done with his forms. "Now that you all are gathered in groups, you will receive your instructions. We will start easy, with five minutes of breaststroke. Those of you who do not know what that is or how to do it, either ask your teammates, or come to us instructors for help."

Shirou and the others turned to Sakura, who smiled sheepishly and shook her head, signalling she had no idea what to do. Strangely enough, Tohsaka seemed to be at a loss as well.

"Don't worry, you two." Issei said, looking around for a bit. "Just give Shirou and me a moment to take off our shirts and we can start."

Ayako let out a cough which sounded a lot like 'prudes', but since she would be correct in that notion, neither Issei nor Shirou bothered to say anything of it.

Issei calmly removed his shirt, pointedly ignoring Ayako's teasing whistle, though he smiled at the cry that followed when Sakura poked her friend in the side.

"Ouch, did it have to be that hard, Sakura?" The exuberant girl whined. "And why in my side?"

"Yes." Sakura replied mercilessly. "If you are acting that stupid, then I have no problem touching you hard in those places."

"Touching me hard in… those… places?" Ayako seemed to choke on air, her face going red. "Kya! Sakura! Ph-ph-phrasing, think about phrasing, please, I beg of you!"

Shrugging mentally at the scene, though he did spare a thought to wonder why Tohsaka was turning red too, Shirou went to emulate Issei, also pulling off his shirt and putting it to the side, now clad only his swimming trunks, lightly stretching a bit to loosen his muscles.

It really was hot in here. He had only been wearing a shirt and swimming trunks, nothing else, yet he was already so sweaty he almost seemed shiny in the light of the lamps. He would have to shower before getting into the pool, because this was just unhygienic.

He made his way back to the others, and once more joined their semi-circle. That's when he noticed they had all gone very quiet, none of them moving an inch anymore.

Looking around in mild alarm, Shirou tried making eye-contact with Sakura, hoping to ask her what was going on, only to find her staring forward, her eyes glazed as her mouth was dropped half-open.

Hoping for assistance, he turned to Ayako next, only to find her in much the same state, her face entirely red as she stared forward. Even Tohsaka was affected, also gaping in stupefied awe. Issei and Minori were unabashedly staring as well, and several of the other teenagers around seemed to have fallen prey to this new phenomenon too.

Shirou tried following their gazes to whatever they were staring at, but the only thing that he could find was… himself?

"Excuse me, what has gotten into all of you?" He asked loudly, feeling very confused, and also more and more embarrassed as everyone just kept staring at him.

To his relief, that question seemed to break most of them out of their trance, causing them to look away immediately. Unfortunately for him though, the females kept sneaking glances whenever he wasn't looking, to the great consternation of the males.

Poor Shirou, who didn't even know why they had been staring at him before, was at a complete loss as to why most of them were now glaring at him with spiteful sneers and dismissive frowns, mumbling to each other in hushed tones. They probably did not mean for him to overhear their words, but he did, being an enhanced being and all, and he could only be glad that he was not easily insulted, because there were some instances of swearing and profanity in between the awed whispering that altogether went way too far.

One of the oldest teens present even looked at Shirou with a disgusted look before spitting on the ground, though that immediately got him a whack over the head from Katsuragi, one of the instructors. Feeling appreciative of the older man for a moment, Shirou instantly lost that feeling a mere second later, when the man gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, mouthing 'nice gains, bro' to him.

What was that even supposed to mean?

To make matters worse, neither Ayako nor Sakura had stopped their staring yet, and Tohsaka was obviously having difficulty pulling her gaze away too. Shirou was just about to snap them out of it when it was done for him, as Kishimoto had apparently had enough of it all.

The instructor clapped his hands, incredibly loudly, while also releasing a roared order for everyone to shut their mouths and to pay attention. He got everyone's attention the next instant, even from the three girls standing with Shirou.

"Hm." Kishimoto then continued with a nod, as if nothing had happened. "Good, now that everyone's got their wits back together, I believe you have your instructions. Get moving!"

So they did. Immediately. Collectively trying to forget what happened just now.

---

Matou Sakura was equal parts elated, embarrassed, and horrified.

Elated because she turned out to be really good at swimming, despite never having done so before. Her fears of being horrible at it were proven completely untrue, and the proud smiles from Senpai and Ayako were like liquid happiness being injected into her veins.

Embarrassed and horrified, because she had been staring like a dirty old man for far too long when Senpai had pulled off his shirt. It had been so far beyond acceptable that she couldn't even see the border of acceptable beneath her anymore, and that Ayako had been in a similar state could only do so much to stave off her embarrassment.

Sakura was not entirely sure of what to think of her sis- of Tohsaka-san being in much the same state as the two of them, but after the initial knee-jerk reaction of glaring at the other girl, she had just put that it of her mind, as she did with everything relating to her old life.

She couldn't suppress a smile of… something similar to vindictiveness however, when she noticed just how clumsy Tohsaka was in her attempts at swimming, constantly having to lean on Ayako to even just remain above the surface. It had gotten so far that Ryuudou-san had resolved to ask for the instructors' help if this kept up, even though Tohsaka-san had asked them not to.

Eventually though, through sheer stubbornness, Tohsaka-san actually managed to get herself to an acceptable level of skill at the end of the hour-long lesson. Sakura had to admit the black-haired girl was tenacious at least, though she could have done without Senpai praising the girl for managing to keep her head above water. Sakura herself had done much better than that!

Alright, Senpai had already praised her, so she shouldn't say anything, but she still couldn't entirely stop her eyes from narrowing when Tohsaka quickly looked away after Senpai told her he admired her will and drive. It was a reaction she recognised after all, from herself, whenever her Senpai would just casually say something incredibly kind or uplifting, with that air around him that he was merely speaking the truth.

Sakura had gritted her teeth at the sight, the sight of that… that girl acting like that around her Senpai. Her anger had lasted for several seconds, until she remembered that she was being nonsensical.

She didn't have the right to be jealous. As much as she pretended, she wasn't worthy of Senpai at all, being a filthy existence not even fit to crawl around at the feet of those better than her…

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?"

Minori's worried voice was just what she needed to dispel those thoughts and to push her self-hatred back into the abyss where it belonged. Putting on her most innocent expression, she quickly answered her friend. "Eh? Oh no, I am fine, Minori-san."

"Ah, eh, g-good." Minori mumbled, fidgeting in place for some reason. "I-eh, I, uhm, I just wanted to say I think you did really good today, w-with the swimming I mean."

Sakura let another one of her half-fake, but also half-true smiles come to her face. Minori-san really was a good friend, and she appreciated his attempts at talking with her. If only there wouldn't be such strange tension between him and Senpai, she would have liked to interact with him more often.

There wasn't much time for them to speak though. The lesson had just ended, with Kishimoto calling everyone out of the water and sending them to the changing rooms, as they 'had to get out of there before the old women with ladles would arrive again'.

It sounded like something from experience, poor man.

On her way to the changing room, she bumped into her Senpai again, who was looking at her with obvious pride in his eyes.

"You did really fantastic today, Sakura." He told her with a large smile. "I dare say you blew the rest of us out of the water."

Giggling at his lame pun, Sakura smiled back at him. "Thank you, Senpai. I couldn't have done it without all of you though, so thank you, really."

Then, without any warning, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed her Senpai on the cheek.

"…?"

"…"

It took her a moment to realise what she had done, but when she did, she felt her face explode into a blush.

Not daring to wait for Senpai's reaction, she made a mad dash to the changing rooms, her head spinning at her own boldness.

Why had she done that?! Why did she kiss Senpai?! What had possessed her to do such a thing?!

Was Ayako rubbing off on her? No, that couldn't be; Ayako had never kissed Senpai, it wasn't the brunette's fault Sakura acted like this.

Goodness gracious, this was odd. Was this what audacity felt like? Was this what it was like to be spontaneous and bold?

Because if so, then she liked it.

---

Shirou liked to think he was not easily surprised anymore. With Magic being real, his father being a renowned super-assassin, his sister being an artificial creation meant to serve as the vessel for a cursed wish-granting machine, and most of all, Mjolnir having arrived, he would have thought himself to be desensitized to unexpected happenings.

He was wrong. Very, very wrong. Even after everything he'd experienced, life still had a way of throwing curveballs at him.

The sudden kiss on the cheek he'd received from Sakura had sent his mind spinning. It had been wholly unexpected, and he had stood frozen for several seconds after the fact, unable to move a muscle.

Another example was that Tohsaka turned out to be much... friendlier than he had expected. He had known she wasn't the standard psychopathic Magus, but to discover she also had a kind side about her was rather nice.

In a stark contrast, discovering that Iwakuni, the town he was currently visiting as part of his vigilante-duties, was a peaceful town without any criminal presence whatsoever was more unnerving than it was pleasing.

He had visited several towns now during his self-imposed mission of hunting the dangerous Magi, and every single one of those towns had had a large criminal presence in one form or another. Fuyuki-City and Ise had been infested by gangs, while Urayasu had been infested by gangs and a Dead Apostle.

Here however, in Iwakuni, a rather idyllic-looking small town in the mountains, nothing of the sort could be seen. There was nothing wrong, no waste on the streets, no homeless people in the alleys, no shards of broken glass of questionable origin laying around car-parking spots, and no criminals running around, no matter where he looked.

Shirou had been strolling through this town for six nights in a row, but he hadn't been able to find any sort of shady activity, and neither had he found anyone looking the slightest bit suspicious. He'd even gone civilian again just like in Urayasu, trying to tempt criminals into coming to him, but he hadn't been assailed at all.

Eventually, he had resorted to visiting the police station, and listening in on police scanners, but all he had heard were a few drunk-and-disorderly's, some traffic violations, and more than a few cases of tax fraud. Nothing that required his interference.

For all intents and purposes, Iwakuni was quiet and peaceful.

It unnerved him.

Don't get him wrong, Shirou was happy such places existed, living proof that his dream was perhaps not so impossible after all, but he also couldn't help but feel suspicious of such a seemingly-perfect place. It was after all one of the towns that had been visited by the Magi, which meant it had been suffering mass-abductions not too long ago.

Some research pointed out that there had in fact been a considerable criminal presence in Iwakuni in the recent past, but after those crooks had gotten too greedy, and had abducted too many people, the inhabitants of the town had banded together and had thrown the criminals out. All of them.

As a result, peace had reigned in Iwakuni for a while, but Shirou was unsure how long that would last.

In fact, it was entirely possible that the peace was already over.

Breaking the organised crime had caused a significant drop in the number of people going missing in Iwakuni for a time, with pretty much the only exceptions being voluntary runaways, but lately, as Shirou had read in the local newspapers, the number had gone up again.

People were once again going missing, disappearing from their homes, from the streets, and from their work. Whoever did this, they did not care where their victims came from, nor how much they would be missed. It wasn't at all like the Magi, but more like that Dead Apostle from Urayasu.

This was not a Dead Apostle though. Shirou had sniffed the town up and down and back again but had found not a single whiff of the smell that should have accompanied such a creature.

In other words, he was dealing with yet another new, bloodthirsty entity. Something that did not care about law-enforcement at all and had no qualms about abducting and possibly killing a lot of people.

Shirou wasn't sure if it was a being from the Moonlit World or just an ordinary psychopath, but with how things seemed to be going for him, it was likely the former.

Which made it all the more important that he find the creature responsible quickly.

People had been disappearing for close to two months now, but it seemed to be going very slowly. Only one or two people a week, never more. Which was strange, since Shirou would have thought that something that could pull a man out of bed in a room where four other people had been sleeping would not be satisfied with that low a number.

But no, two or three people were the absolute limit. Even drunken teens walking alone over the streets at night were left alone if the quota for the week had already been met.

The perpetrator wasn't even going for the easy targets at all. The aforementioned man sharing a room with his friends was an example, but someone else had been kidnapped from the uppermost floor of a government building, while there were still several hundred people present.

Yet no working cameras, for some indiscernible reason.

As there was no trace of a creature in the town itself, Shirou had expanded his search-area to the town's surroundings as well. He had wandered the area for some time, trying to find anything worth mentioning in a twenty-mile radius, but that hadn't born any fruit either. Iwakuni was a mountain town, with a lot of nature and rough terrain surrounding it, where many not-so-law-abiding people or creatures could easily hide, even from someone like him.

Not to mention the large lake in the valley, at walking distance from the edge of town. A lake that seemed to hide countless secrets in its depths.

The first time Shirou had looked at that lake, it had given him cold shivers down his spine, and even now, days later, it still gave him a very bad feeling every time he looked at it, like there was horribly wrong with that body of water.

So naturally, he had gone to check it out.

He had harboured a faint hope that his feeling of wrongness would originate from strange and illegal happenings going on there, something tangible that he could actually interact with, and vanquish if needed, but it had turned out that it was not so.

There was nothing to be found around that lake. The citizens of Iwakuni avoided it like the plague, and any tourists visiting the town quickly picked up on that feeling of wrongness as well. As a result, all resorts, vacation houses, and other living places there were empty.

Paradoxically, the presence of those resorts, vacation houses, and living places indicated that people had in fact lived there once but didn't anymore for some reason.

Not at all happy with that information, Shirou had resolved to find out precisely what the deal was with that lake, and why the area around it was so deserted while it was clear many people had lived there not too long ago.

Walking over the streets of Iwakuni, on his way to gather more intel, Shirou watched the people walking past him on all sides, their conversations easily audible to him if he listened carefully.

"… and I told him, 'yeah, no', and he said; 'But Gaspar-senpai', but I said 'no', and…"

"… dear, remember, you are beautiful the way you are…"

"… hmm, packed with muggles again. Come on, kids, nine-and-three-quarters…"

All very normal conversations, but he wasn't here to eavesdrop on random strangers, he was here to find information about the lake. That was the reason he was wearing his civilian clothes after, instead of his vigilante outfit or magical armour.

Well aware that no club or café would allow a teenager like him entrance at this hour, Shirou planned to pretend instead that he was the well-behaved oldest son of a vacation-going family, who had been sent to the tourist office of Iwakuni to gather information about that interesting-looking lake at walking distance from town.

The tourist office was easily found, and after pretending to look at the folders for a bit, Shirou went over to one of the employees, a rather bored-looking black-haired woman, who was in her mid-twenties, if Shirou had to guess.

Beneath that boredom however, he could swear there was… sadness as well, further punctuated by some tear tracks on her face, and her eyes being suspiciously red.

Choosing to not meddle in things that weren't his business, Shirou stood in front of the woman's desk and waved his arms for a bit.

"Excuse me, ma'am." Shirou began as soon as he had successfully drawn her attention. "Could I ask for your assistance?"

Receiving a dull nod in response, Shirou continued.

"I'm on vacation here with my family, you see, with mom, dad and my little sister, and we were wondering if there is any information available about the lake." Taking careful note of the woman's paling complexion, Shirou pretended not to notice her discomfort. "We were actually planning to go to the lake tomorrow morning, and I was wondering if-"

"NO!"

The shout echoed through the office, drawing the attention of both the other employees and the tourists mulling around.

Noticing the attention they were now receiving, Shirou smiled inconspicuously, and before long, everyone turned away again, dismissing the small disturbance as unimportant. The woman didn't settle down however, on the contrary, she went as far as to lean over her counter and grab his shoulders for emphasis.

"Do not go to that fucking lake!"

Blinking in surprise at the woman's outburst, Shirou studied her for a few seconds. "Why?"

"Because that lake is evil." She snarled. "It is evil and rotten; everyone in the city can feel it."

So his feelings were correct. That lake was in fact bad news. Far from feeling validated however, Shirou just felt his unease intensify. What could be hiding in that lake that even mundane people felt its presence so clearly?

Perhaps reading the question in his eyes, or maybe just wanting to vent to someone, the woman continued, keeping her grasp on his shoulders.

"It used to be very lively there." The women whispered. "People from the town, tourists, even athletes, they all came to the lake, for fun, enjoyment, sport, even large tournaments of all kinds. But then it took residence in the lake, and no one has been able to stand the atmosphere there ever since."

"How long ago was this?" Shirou asked sharply. "And what do you mean by it?"

Either not noticing or ignoring his sudden shift from childlike to serious, the woman continued, lowering her voice even further, bringing her face closer to his.

"No one really knows what it is." She admitted. "But ever since it came to live in there, some months ago now, the air and the- the… the mood around the lake became horrendously foul."

"W-well, I suppose it is not a good idea to visit the lake then?" Shirou asked jokingly, giving the woman a nervous smile, which he dropped when she wordlessly shook her head in the negative, her expression perfectly still.

"I-" She spoke up again, but couldn't get out more than a syllable before her voice broke. "I don't think you should. I- I am sorry if I'm coming over a bit strong. It's just, my cousin disappeared shortly after it arrived, and people have continued to disappear and… Well, no one ever listens when I say I think the two occurrences might be connected."

"I understand." Shirou assured her quickly, feeling nothing but sincerity from her. "I won't take my family to the lake."

He didn't even have a family to take anywhere, so that would be a promise easily kept.

The woman looked relieved at this words, and Shirou bid her a quick goodbye, before she could start asking difficult questions.

Once outside, he went over what he had just heard.

There was something in the lake, something that didn't belong there. It gave off an oppressive atmosphere to humans, and it had appeared some months ago.

"My cousin disappeared shortly after it arrived."

Shirou didn't miss the implications of that. The hostile atmosphere combined with the conveniently timed abductions said enough.

He had better return to the lake and see if he could actually find something this time, now that he knew for sure something was hiding in there. If he really had no other choice, he might take a dive too.

On his way to the lake however, on foot, as there were still too many people out and about for him to fly, Shirou arrived at a very quiet and seemingly empty part of the town.

Empty, as in empty streets. It was by no means rundown or something, to the contrary, every house seemed inhabited and quite luxurious at that. It was just that no one seemed to be outside at the moment.

Whether that was caused by the people living here loving their sleep or by a supposed serial-abductor being around, he didn't know, but he was leaning towards the second option, as it was too early for everyone to be asleep yet.

These people probably figured it was better to stay inside, where it was safe.

Which was why Shirou raised an eyebrow when his eyes fell on a man who was in fact walking over the streets, alone, as if nothing was wrong.

No, never mind that part! Why was the man wearing his pyjamas? Why was he wearing a nightcap and slippers while outside?

Doing a double take at the strange sight, Shirou wondered briefly if he was dealing with a drunk or an addict here, but the man seemed certain in his movements, purposefully walking towards wherever he wanted to be. He didn't stumble from the alcohol, and neither was he high-strung or half-asleep from possible drugs. He was just... walking there.

Shirou contemplated going over to the man to reprimand him about his life-choices, but ultimately decided to respect the man's freedom to live as he wanted and to adopt a wait-and-see approach. Maybe all of this had a very good reason.

After walking parallel with the man for several streets however, and not seeing him slow down or really do anything that wasn't mindlessly moving forward, Shirou moved in a bit closer, hoping the man wasn't drugged to his gills on something quite a bit worse than the usual fare.

When he came close however, close enough to see the man's glazed eyes, he immediately realised drugs had no part in this.

Shirou's nose twitched, and so did his eye a second later.

Once again, a smell of magic made itself known to him, and Shirou realised this man was under a spell.

It was, all things considered, quite a weak spell, but that weakness was probably what had prevented Shirou from picking up on it until he had come closer than fifty meters.

Fortunately, that same weakness also meant it shouldn't be that difficult to break the spell and snap the man out of his trance.

Shirou quickly approached the black-haired, ordinary-looking man, and unceremoniously tripped him, catching him before he could smash face-first into the ground, and laid him down on the sidewalk. The man promptly started trying to get up again though, not even reacting to a strange person coming out of nowhere to tackle him.

Placing his left hand on the man's forehead, while keeping him down with the other hand, Shirou focused, and pushed with the mysterious power, removing all foreign and malicious impulses from the man's mind, while also adding a slow working memory suppressant spell that would give the man the idea the next morning that everything that transpired here had been a bad dream.

Seeing the man visibly relax and seeing the dazed look disappear, Shirou let go of him and took a few steps to the side, just far enough to be proper, yet close enough that he could provide aid should it be needed. The man had fallen asleep for now but should be waking up soon.

Indeed, barely two minutes later, the man started stirring, before opening his eyes a bit, closing them again, and then shooting upwards with a yell, apparently having discovered he wasn't in his bedroom anymore.

"What? Why? Whe-When? How'd I get here?" The man murmured, his eyes shifting around, before they fell on Shirou. "W-Who are y-you?!"

The man appeared to be close to a panic attack, as he spiralled down into incomprehensible mumblings and frantic motions with one of his arms, the other being held tightly against his body.

"Easy, sir. I am not here to harm you." Shirou spoke quickly. "I am only here because you seemed to be unwell, and I thought you might need help."

The man stared in Shirou's eyes for a few seconds, initially seeming dubious, before he sagged slightly in relief, apparently taking Shirou on his word.

"Oh? Oh, right." The still unidentified man sighed, not quite relaxing, but moving away from a hair trigger at least. "Sorry for that, my boy, I was just nervous. With the serial killer around, and me being out during the night, I thought for a moment I was a dead man."

"You seem remarkably unsurprised at being outside in the middle of the night." Shirou remarked, trying to sound casual and only lightly curious. "I mean, you seemed scared of me, but aside from your first shock, you don't seem all that confused to be on the streets."

"That's because I already know the cause of me being here. I took too much of my medicine before going to sleep." The man half-laughed, half-sighed. "Tanaka-Sensei, my doctor I mean, already said that it could cause hallucinations, but I didn't expect sleep-walking as well. Though, with what I saw…"

Shirou nodded, even though he knew the man's explanation was completely wrong. It was the spell that had caused all of this, not any kind of medicine, and Shirou really didn't like how evil the spell had felt when he'd dispelled it.

He liked it even less that the man had been walking in the direction of the lake.

"What did you hallucinate of then?" Shirou inquired, which he immediately regretted when he saw pain flash across the man's eyes.

"My wife." The older of the two spoke softly, a lone tear appearing in the corner of his eye. "I thought I saw my wife beckoning me to come with her. Even though that's impossible, since she, well, s-she, she passed away last year."

"My condolences." Shirou offered quietly, to which the man nodded.

After waiting for a minute or so to let the man regain his bearings, he continued. "Do you want me to walk you home, sir?"

"No, it'd rather that you did not." Was the answer. "Don't get me wrong, boy, you seem nice enough, but I'm not taking any risks with a murderer on the loose. I hope you understand."

"Of course." Shirou assured the man, bowing slightly to show his sincerity in the matter. "Be well then, and good luck on your way home."

"To you as well." The man bowed back, before he resolutely turned around and walked away.

Naturally, Shirou followed him anyway, at a discrete distance, just to make sure he made it home safely.

Once that was over with, Shirou donned his vigilante outfit, called forth Mjolnir, and flew towards the lake at full speed. He now had an actual lead, so there was no time to waste.

Whatever was going on in that lake, it just became a whole lot more serious. With the woman swearing by high and by low that something was in there and the man walking straight towards that specific body of water, being drawn in by visions of his loved one, Shirou could no longer afford to take it slow.

Within minutes, he reached the lake again, and once more, the repressive aura and the smell of what he now could identify as Primal Magic hit him full-on. He hadn't thought much of the smell earlier, with Japan being full of ancient magical places and, regrettably, having a history of tragedies, but knowing what he did now, it was a lot more unnerving than before.

Coming down at one of the beaches, only a few metres away from the lake's shore, he looked around thoroughly for any sign of life, but he found nothing.

It was extremely creepy. With the humans having been gone for some time, nature should have made an effort to reclaim the area, with insects buzzing around, grass and roots claiming every inch of the ground, small mammals such as rabbits flocking to the land, the area should have been more... alive.

Instead, everything seemed dead. It was utterly silent, absolutely nothing was growing and even the lake itself was entirely still. As in, not a single wave or ripple was visible, and hadn't been since he had arrived, as if the water itself was holding its breath.

Feeling curious at the strange sight, Shirou gathered some of the Mysterious Power and sent a gale of wind right at the lake, in an effort to stir the water a bit.

His expression and mood turned completely grim when that failed to do anything, the lake remaining as still as ever.

It was all the confirmation he needed, all the confirmation anyone would need. Something was wrong with that lake, and the chance that it was related to the Moonlit world was almost one hundred percent.

Shirou sent out another gale of wind, followed by another, and then one that was stronger than the previous three combined. It still did nothing.

Pursing his lips and ignoring the crawl up his spine, Shirou considered his options.

He could continue attacking the lake with his bag full of destructive attacks until the sun would rise again, in the hopes something would happen, but that had a low chance of success, and he only had a few hours before he needed to start with breakfast.

Another option was to stand here, still and unmoving, hoping it would draw out whatever was in there. If it hadn't come forth yet though, it probably wouldn't do so in the near future either, and again, he was short on time.

That left him without options.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth, but Shirou knew he had to retreat for now. There was nothing more he could do today.

Resigning himself to having to come back the following nights, Shirou rapidly spun Mjolnir in a by now almost automatic motion, before shooting off into the distance.

As he left, he completely failed to notice a large shape moving away from the shore, as two completely blue eyes, set in an enormous, human-like face, watched as he flew away, strong tentacles moving in powerful motions as the creature propelled itself through the water.

But even though Shirou did not see the creature itself, he could feel its eyes in his back, and he knew he had been seen.

---

And that is that. Time for an Author's note.

Shirou knows quite a lot about his own city, like Zouken's worm being spread all over town and a mysterious presence (Gilgamesh), living in the Church.

For the record, if Shirou and Gilgamesh fought now, only Mjolnir would stand between Shirou and immediate annihilation. The difference between them is too large.

In fact, I'd like to say that at the moment, Shirou can only defeat the writer Servants (Shakespeare, Dahl, and the like) in battle, as well as most Casters as long as it remains purely physical combat. Even types as Frankenstein and Astolfo are currently beyond him, if mostly because of their larger experience in battle.

Rin and Shirou meet, hurray, and they slightly hit off too. Enough at least for Rin to see Shirou as a safe option to be around when clad in a bikini only.

Then the last part, where Shirou has new trouble in a new town. I don't think you can readily guess just what is hiding in that lake, but it will have its own POV in the next chapter. Yes, it is sapient.

Again, thanks to Hollowichigo12 and CrazyLich79 for all the support.

Also, this is not in any way a Harry Potter fanfiction. That was a little joke. Any other references from other verses are purely cameos, until clearly stated otherwise by me.

Ted says goodbye.