[EMIYA SHIROU]
[THE GAMER]
[LV 25 - 15700/25000]
[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 850][SP: 10]
[STR: 42][DEX: 43][INT: 50][WIS: 33][CHR: 77]

Shirou returned home from his regular trip to the Reverse Side shortly before dawn.

Unlike the last time, he was in no hurry to get home. After the incident at the water park, Taiga never came around again.

He learned that she took a couple of weeks from work, citing health issues, and she refused to see him when he went looking for her at her place.

Shirou was in a good relationship with the Fujimura group, but Taiga was their princess. If she didn't want to see anyone, her grandfather's men wouldn't let anyone in.

Shirou could have easily forced his way through, but that wasn't his nature. More importantly, the problem was first caused by his callous use of his abilities.

Tyrant Eye. The ability to force those with inferior willpower to submit to the user. It was a useful ability if one intended to defuse a volatile situation without violence, but he had abused it on the very first day.

It had been unintentional, but it had left Shirou disgusted with himself all the same.

Needless to say, he wouldn't go around using it on anyone unless it was absolutely necessary.

However, that left him absolutely stumped. He was supposedly a genius, but he had no clue what to do in these circumstances.

At his core, Shirou wasn't the kind of person who could let the wrong stay wrong, but that didn't mean he knew how to make it right. Taiga loved him the way a woman loves a man. The same as Saeko.

Should he have seen it coming?

His charisma made him attractive in a way that transcended age, and they already shared was a bond of affection to one another.

Did Attraction plus Affection equals Love every the time? Was there some other, unmeasurable factor in play that his Gamer Eyes couldn't discern?

Or maybe, was it how humans actually functioned?

Even normal people had charisma that worked not differently from his own. Throughout history, there have been countless figures that managed to steer entire nations with their personality alone.

Charisma was power and power was not unlike gravity. It inevitably drew people in and if they were ill equipped to handle it, they would get crushed.

In light of that, maybe it was better if Taiga had nothing to do with him from there onward.

Magi were already a dangerous existence by virtue of the things they actively did. As the Gamer, he was also dangerous in a passive way. He didn't need to do anything to affect reality around him anymore.

That was the conclusion he had reached.

However, the problem with relationship points and levels was that they worked both ways. Whether or not that was a consequence of his Gamer Eyes or it was just the way he was, it remained the fact that as Taiga's feelings for him had grown, so had his feelings for her.

The idea of being separated from her tore at him. Still, it was really better this way. Time would heal all wounds and Taiga would eventually forget about him.

It was for the best.

Taiga woke up to the light shining through the blinds of her room.

Her eyes were red, as expected from someone who had cried herself to sleep.

In the course of the previous week, she had become familiar with the sense of shame and hollowness inside her chest, but that didn't mean she had also grown used to it.

'I've ruined everything.'

She woke up with this thought every morning.

She didn't know what had come over her that morning. All she knew that under Shirou's firm gaze she couldn't bring herself to conceal the truth anymore and blurted it out in the worst way possible.

She hadn't meant to make it sound like she was threatening to expose his relationship with Saeko, but it was only natural he would perceive it like that.

She was supposed to break off such a thing, even call the authorities. Certainly not wish for the same thing for herself.

Taiga didn't know how Shirou's relationship with Saeko had come to be. Maybe, despite the morally arguable circumstances they truly loved each other. Certainly, from what she had seen of it, it didn't seem like she had forced herself on him.

Yet her intention had been to break them apart, not in order to protect him, but so that she could take Saeko's place.

Not only she had failed as her guardian, but she had shown herself willing to ruin what they had for her own selfish reasons. She hadn't understood how despicable her behavior was until she put it into words, after which she couldn't bring herself to face Shirou again.

She had made run for it and she had no intention of stopping. She called in sick from work and at the same time she had made a request to transfer to another school so that she wouldn't have to him again.

Not tomorrow, not in a hundred years. That was the depth of her shame.

If not for the fact that it would only cause him even more troubles, she would have also removed herself as his legal guardian. Instead she chose to stay so that no one else would get in the way of his relationship with his girlfriend.

She didn't even have the courage to tell him to his face. She couldn't stand the thought of the expression he would make upon seeing her. She hardly could look herself in the mirror anymore.

She hoped that in doing so he would forget she had ever existed and with that the shame she had brought upon herself.

Even though it tore her apart from the inside out.

The next night.

Shirou struck down wraith after wraith. Behind him, Saeko mirrored his steps.

The two of them together were like an unstoppable whirlwind. The never-ending flow of restless spirits didn't manage to put even the slightest scratch on them.

Yet, only half of the spirits were being successfully exorcised. The other half was merely pushed back and quickly returned to the front line.

Still, they were being held at bay long enough for their number to diminish, until the sunrise came and disrupted the power that gave them substance, causing them to vanish with the early morning mist.

"What troubles your heart so much, Shirou?" Saeko asked, sheathing her sword.

Shirou didn't even consider lying and tell her that everything was fine. The fact that his sword couldn't harm the wraiths was definitive proof that his mind wasn't properly focused.

Shirou sheathed his own sword and turned to face his teacher and lover.

"I have... made a mess of things with my guardian," he admitted.

Saeko tilted her head. "And I suppose you don't know how to make it right?"

He nodded.

"I am not the foremost expert on people myself, Shirou, but I do a few years on you after all. If you are willing, I'd like to help you in this matter."

Shirou scratched his head and looked away embarrassedly. He had already considered asking Saeko for advice in the previous days, but he had wanted to wait and see if the situation changed any.

More importantly, he felt embarrassed in discussing with his girlfriend the love confession he had received from another woman. Still, it did involve her as well.

"My guardian found out about us a few days ago," he eventually admitted. Saeko's eyes became wide as saucers and her complexion paled considerably.

"She won't say anything," he quickly supplied.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked, obviously not being so easily reassured.

"... because she confessed she was jealous of you... and that she would have wanted to be with me."

"... How did you answer?" she asked.

"I didn't," he sighed. "She run away immediately after and she's been avoiding me ever since."

"When did this happen?"

"Over a week ago. She's hasn't been coming to school either. To avoid me, I suppose."

"I see. And what do you plan to tell her once you see her next?"

"... I'm going to reject her as gently as I possibly can."

"You do not like her, then?"

"Yes. No!" he amended. "It's complicated."

"This isn't about us, is it?" she asked.

"You might be inclined to share," Shirou grumbled, "but that doesn't mean she would. Even then, I would turn her down. She's not like us. She's not part of the Moonlit World. She's not equipped to deal with the baggage we carry and I have no desire to be in a relationship with anyone and hiding all this from her."

Saeko nodded, but looked thoughtful. "That's a good reasoning and a good reason, Shirou. So why are you troubled? Ah. You do like her."

Shirou lowered his head in shame. "I care for her. She's my sister."

"She is not. There is no blood relation between the two of you and being your legal guardian doesn't make her your relative. More importantly, it does not change the fact that you see her as a woman."

"Nevertheless," he huffed. "My feelings for her don't change the situation. I won't put her in danger by making her even closer to me than she already is... and I don't intent to leave you for her either."

She caressed his face gently, while a warm smile adorned her face. "Thank you, Shirou. It means a great deal for me, knowing this. That being said, I think you might be making the wrong decision in this matter."

"But you just said..."

"I know what I said. You reasons are good and well thought out, but do they change how you feel? Do they change how she feels about you?"

"How could they? She doesn't even know about them and keeping it from her it's the whole point of it."

"So, you have taken upon yourself to decide for the both of you. This way, not only she will suffer, but she won't even truly know why. That is a sad fate you are condemning her to."

"But... I'm supposed to keep it secret."

"Shirou, your existence and hers are already intertwined. Ignorance never protected anyone. If you can't answer her feelings, you should at least turn her down sincerely. At least... that's what I would want in her place."

Shirou closed his eyes and pondered her words. There was some merit to them. If Taiga knew of the Moonlit World and its secrets, maybe she could let go of her feelings more easily.

Maybe... but it went against everything he had been taught by Kiritsugu. As much as he valued Saeko's opinion, Shirou wasn't one to change his mind easily.

"I'll... consider it," he decided to say. "Thank you Saeko."

"Think nothing of it. You can always come to me for help, Shirou. No matter which ordeal you face I want to stand by your side as much as I can. Now, we should probably head back if you want to make it to school in time."

Shirou nodded and followed her down the mountain. His mind wasn't any more at peace than it was earlier.

"Yo, brat!" Yoruichi greeted once Shirou returned from school. She was, of course, completely naked.

"Oh, Yoruichi-san," Shirou greeted back. "I haven't seen you around here in awhile."

"That's because you're almost never home during the day and I'm always down there at night."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense," he agreed weakly.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Hmm? Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"

"For one thing, you haven't even blinked at seeing me naked when just a couple of weeks ago you couldn't look in my general direction without getting a hard-on. Secondly, you are not out there helping random strangers as usual."

"Am I that transparent?" he asked.

"Pretty much, yeah," she nodded emphatically. "So, what's eating you?"

"It's personal," he replied flatly.

"So, women, then," she said matter-of-factly. "Did Saeko wise up and dump your ass?"

"What do you want, Yoruichi-san?" he asked with a sigh.

"Wait, did I hit the mark?"

"No, Saeko and I are doing fine, thank you."

"Huh. Strange, my sixth sense is telling me that this is definitely about a woman, but if it's not Saeko then...," she sniffed the air. "Hoh! It's about your guardian right? Her scent is almost completely gone around here. Did you two had a fight?"

"Yoruichi-san... please, drop it. I appreciate your concern but it's not helpful."

"Damn. This is the first time I see you this stumped. What happened to your usual approach?"

"I have an usual approach?" he asked, curiosity piqued. Shirou wasn't one to worry about what other people thought of him, but since recently that has started to become an issue for others maybe it was better if he understood how the people around him saw him.

"Sure you do. You usually bludgeon whatever problem you have until it's fixed. It's almost cute to watch."

"Seriously?" he frowned. "I don't think I'm like that, am I?"

"Ehhh, maybe it's a bit unfair on you, I'll give you that much. You aren't really that ham-fisted, but you usually do hit at the problem until it's solved. At least, it's not like you to leave things to fester."

"Is it bad to think things through for once?"

"Not necessarily," she shrugged. "But it's not like you, and if I were someone close to you, that behavior would either mean that you care a lot... or not at all."

"Wh- Of course I care about Taiga!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah. I can see that clear as a day. The question is... does she realize it also? I have no clue about what went down between the two of you, but won't she think that you care so little about what happened that you won't even bother fixing it?"

Shirou blinked once, then he spun around and dashed out of the door so fast that he left a blur in his wake.

Yoruichi stared at the empty spot he just vacated and chuckled. "You're welcome, brat."

"Ohh, if it isn't little Shirou," Fujimura Raiga, Taiga's grandfather and Oyabun of the Fujimura Zanbatsu said as Shirou screeched to a halt in front of the gate of his mansion. He was about the climb into his car escorted by four of his men. "I haven't seen you around in a while."

"Raiga-san!" Shirou said without preambles as a way of greeting. "Is Taiga at home?"

"Such rush," he laughed. "No, my little tiger hasn't been around much lately. She seemed to be quite under the weather these days. Would you happen to know anything about it, young man?"

"Yes. I hurt her. I didn't mean to and I have to fix it. Where has she gone?"

"Oho," Raiga grinned wolfishly. "Owning up your mistakes is a praiseworthy trait to have, Shirou-kun. However, what are you going to do if I decided that she'd be better off not seeing you again?"

"Raiga-san! You have been nothing but kind to me over the years. I am forever in your debt for the help you gave to both me and my late father," Shirou said bowing as the waist. "That said, if I have to go through you and your men to find her, I will."

His declaration caused Raiga's men to burst out laughing, but the Oyabun himself was not amused. However, he didn't look upset either.

He tapped his cane on the asphalt once and his men fell immediately silent.

For a long moment, he stared Shirou square in the eyes.

Although he was probably the most laid back Oyabun in in all of Japan's history, Fujimura Raiga was very much a Yakuza to the bone.

He had seen and perpetrated his share of violence and he had witnessed people die in several occasions. Many of his brothers had lost their lives in the tumultuous years following the end of World War II, fighting to their last breath to defend their family and their honor.

Circumstances differed, but Raiga had learned to know what face a man makes when he stands up for the things he believes in, willing to put his lives on the line.

Above all, he knew their eyes and they were the same as Emiya Shirou's right that moment.

Raiga grinned. It seemed that the modern era had yet to extinguish the blazing blood that had run so strongly in the hearts of his generations.

"I can't be sure, but I know she has a friend in town running a bar called the Copenhagen. If she's in the mood to drown her sorrow, she probably went there."

"Thank you!"

"Oi, Shirou!" he shouted after him, causing him to stop and turn around. "One mistake I can forgive, but if you make her cry again my men will have to go through you."

"If I'm ever that dumb to make her cry again, I'll deserve it!" he promised before turning around and making his way toward the city.

"Eh!" Raiga chuckled after Shirou had turned around the corner at the end of the street. He then climbed into his car and left in the opposite direction as him.

"Uh, Boss?" the driver called, looking at him in the rear-view mirror. "I know you have a soft spot for the kid, but are you sure it's wise to let him get away with such disrespect?"

"Hm? A kid? Is that what you saw?" Raiga answered. "No wonder you're still just a foot soldier at your age. No, the day I first met him, Emiya Shirou was already no longer a child, but now it seems that he has blossomed into a fine man. A bit young, maybe, but a fine man indeed. Hm. It seems like my grand daughter has inherited my eye for people after all. Mwaahahahaha!"

The car sped toward its destination, carrying a thoroughly amused Yakuza Oyabun and his perplexed underlings, who really had no clue what he was on about.

It wasn't an unusual occurrence at all, so they just rolled with it as they had become accustomed to do.

Taiga sat at the counter, nursing a glass of liquor in her hands.

The quiet atmosphere of the Copenhagen, with its soft lights and its few patrons, was the right place for her to slowly drink herself numb. She wasn't one to get drunk easily, courtesy of year of celibacy drowned in alcohol. A state of being that was likely to continue to her last days.

Neko, her friend and owner of the shop, knew what the score was. Upon seeing her coming in with that face, she immediately poured her a glass of her strongest spirit without asking a single question.

Taiga appreciated the thoughtfulness, but it did not ease the feeling of loneliness in her heart. Still, it was better she got used to it for good.

The transfer request had gone was lucky to have found an opening at the local high-school. Starting on monday, she wouldn't teach at Shirou's school anymore.

That way, she would no longer have to meet him unless it was absolutely necessary for a legal matter. Maybe it was irresponsible of her, running away like that, but Shirou was already an adult, perhaps more than she was.

He would be fine. He would definitely be fine… without her.

On cue with that thought, the door opened with the sound of a bell chime.

"Welcome to…" Neko-chan said, stopping mid-greeting. "Hey, are you lost little one?"

"There you are," the unmistakable voice said. Taiga's head whipped around so fast that she very nearly threw herself off the stool.

"S-S-Shirou?!" she yelped.

"Oh? Is this your ward, Taiga?" Neko asked. "You didn't tell me he was this cute."

Shirou who would usually fluster at being complemented in any way didn't even seem to register her friend's words. He was pointedly looking at Taiga with an intensity that made her want to shrink.

"Come home," he simply said approaching her. "Please."

Even at a time like this, after she had failed and let him down so deeply his voice was full of care.

She couldn't take it.

"Taaaah!"

With a feat of agility that was worth of the feline that gave her her namesake, Taiga lept above Shirou, who could only gape at the absurdity of her reaction as she sailed above his head.

She rolled on the ground and before anyone could say anything she was already out of the door.

Neko looked at Shirou, who looked back at her just as dumbfounded.

"Well," she eventually said, "aren't you supposed to take her back home or something?"

"... damn it," Shirou said, finally coming to grip with the situation and darting out of the shop in hot pursuit.

Neko and the remaining patrons were left staring at the place that the duo had just vacated. Strangely enough, no one was excessively surprised. Most of them were familiar with Taiga and her antics and while this was somewhat strange, it wasn't the strangest thing they had seen from her.

Eventually they returned to their drinks and conversations. Only Neko still looked at the half finished drink left by her old time friend.

"Could it be that she is…. Naah. That's just silly."

Taiga, Shirou had to admit, could run like the wind.

At that hour of the early evening, the walkways teemed with people. Running wasn't an easy feat even for someone with his dexterity and of his size, yet Taiga moved managed to move through the crowd like they weren't even there.

Thinking about it, Taiga's level was 25, which he had only just recently surpassed. Again, the only reason why he was much stronger than someone his level was because for a long time he favored grinding stats over making experience points.

Level did not equal to strength or ability, but rather it was a measure of one's experience. Just like his raw power was higher than what his level suggested, the same probably held true for Taiga, whose dexterity was seemingly higher than his own.

Shirou had a hard time keeping up with her and it was only because she was running mindlessly instead of trying to hide that he didn't lose her in the crowd.

Eventually, after the sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon, their chase took them all the way to the Memorial Park. No matter Taiga's level of fitness, her human constitution couldn't keep up with Shirou's Gamer Body. Once she reached the usually empty park, she slowed down and leaned against a tree to catch her breath.

Shirou also slowed down and stopped a few meters away from her.

"Are you done yet?"

"Don't you… know… when to quit?" she asked between gasps.

"I know when I mustn't," he replied flatly.

"Why?... Why won't you just let me be?"

"You're hurt. Do you really expect me to do nothing?"

"How can you… This is not your fault. I shouldn't have said anything. I should have just… This is all wrong."

She slid down against the tree, taking her face into her hands. "I'm a disgusting person. I should have put an end to the thing between you and that girl… not compete with her. You know that, right?"

Shirou sighed. In truth, Taiga was correct. In normal society, saying that his relationship with Saeko would be frowned upon would be an understatement. Taiga had the additional stigma of being his guardian, not to mention a surrogate sister. No one in ordinary society would accept a relationship between them.

He didn't know how long she had been harboring those feelings for him, but it mustn't have been easy for her.

"If you think so, why did you do it?" he asked.

"Because…. because I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the thought of you being with someone else," she sniffed. "If… if she had been someone about your age… I would have been able to accept it but… if it had to be someone closer to my age than yours then…. then I wanted to be that person."

Shirou didn't understand. Even though he knew that his charisma played an effect on how attractive he was, this was a matter of affection. Taiga loved him. She loved him enough to do something she knew being completely wrong.

Shirou couldn't wrap his head around that.

"Am I really worth all the trouble?" he asked. Shirou didn't have an inflated opinion of himself, nor he suffered from low self-esteem. In truth, he didn't think about himself much at all, busy as he was thinking about everyone else. Every time he spared a thought about himself, it was either in relation to things he had to do, or how to better help others.

From the outside he could pass for a normal person, but his mentality was closer to that of a machine with a single, specific purpose. To save everyone.

Taiga looked at him incredulously. "Do you think that two grown up women, one of which drop-dead gorgeous, would even consider being in a relationship with someone your age if we didn't think so?"

At which, Shirou had nothing to say. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he directed his answer to another part of her phrase.

"Saeko's pretty, too, you know?" he muttered.

Taiga frowned at the non-sequitur. Of course she thought Busujima was pretty. She just said she was gorgeous so why would he said that? Unless, he thought she was talking about someone else, it didn't make sense. Did he have a thing with that Yoruichi gal after all? But then the women would be three so….

Her eyes widened.

"Do you… you think I'm gorgeous?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Eh… you weren't talking about yourself?" he blinked, then he looked away with his face of a vivid shade of red.

"But… but… I'm old."

"Compared to me, so is Saeko," he mumbled.

"And… her tits are bigger than mine," she insisted, with a faint and cruel hope swelling in her heart.

"What has that have to do with anything?" he hissed, whether in further embarrassment our outrage it was hard to tell. "Look, I'm not an expert but even I know relationships are not a contest. Saeko is Saeko and Taiga is Taiga. The reasons why I love her have nothing to do with the reasons why I love you."

Suddenly, the park was plunged into a deep silence, broken only by the sound of car traffic in the distance and the ruffling of the leaves on the trees around them, few as they were.

Eventually, Shirou decided to break the silence himself.

"I love Saeko. I can't talk about our circumstances, but we do care about each other. It's not just a fling. That said… my feelings for you are not inferior to my feelings for her. So, I can't stand watching you being hurt and think stupid things about yourself that just aren't true."

Taiga's lips parted, in preparation to give an answer. An answer that never came, because their conversation was suddenly interrupted by several hooded figures seemingly dropping down from the sky in a circle around the two of them.

"Kyaaaa?" Taiga shouted in fright at the sudden appearance.

Shirou's reaction was just a widening of the eyes and the dropping into a defensive crouch.

Among the sudden newcomers, one figure stood tall, towering above them all. He threw back his head and let out a booming laughter.

[Wei Kang]
[Lv. 33]

"Hahaha! We meet again, brat!"

Completely surrounded, Shirou slowly inched closer to a terrified-looking Taiga. This was not a good situation. Not in a hundred years.

Under ordinary circumstances, he was fairly sure he could take on these guys on his own. He was stronger, better prepared and equipped than the last time he fought them, while if their level was any indication they hadn't progressed much.

However, he was not alone in this. Fighting these men and keep Taiga safe was a task several magnitude more difficult.

How was he supposed to fight these guys, protect Taiga and hide the Moonlit World from her? Something had to be sacrificed in order to achieve victory.

To anyone else, it would be an inescapable conundrum.

To Emiya Shirou, it was a no brainer. He would not let Taiga be hurt. Not again.

The choice had already been made and the words that had long since come to represent his resolution rolled out of his mouth without hesitation.

"Trace… ON!"

XXX

AN: Wooooh. Time for some shit to hit the fan. How will be the next chapter play out? Regardless of the outcome, things won't be the same ever again for Shirou and Taiga.

If you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing, please do leave a review. Additionally, if you would really like to show appreciation, why not visit my Pa treon account at Pa treon [dotCOM] / ichaichasennin. The story over there has gotten all the way to chapter 18.

Either way, thanks for reading this and for appreciating this story the way you do. Stay awesome.