Chapter 2

The woman, Miya, was quite graceful and kind. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed that she was just your average housewife. Unfortunately, he did know better. She was dangerous. The fact the first person he thought of when she was around was Karasuba, well it didn't help matters. Still, she seemed docile enough. As long as she presented no harm to his sekirei, then he had no reason not to keep the peace.

His other concerns were the two other sekirei in the house. He didn't see them, but they were still there. He was unsure of why his mother sent him here, but he had to assume that she had information on them that he didn't have. So, he'd trust her. Though, that didn't mean he'd drop his guard just yet. He'd have to be sure to let Akitsu know to protect Kuno and Musubi if he wasn't around.

The price for the rooms wasn't that bad. She was surprised he asked for two, but didn't pry when he told her about Kuno and Akitsu. He couldn't help but be gladdened by that. Then again, if she was what he thought she was, then she likely had no reason to pry. After coming to an agreement, Miya left to grab something for him to sign, so that left him and Musubi in the Inn alone.

"Isn't this place amazing, Shirou?" Musubi asked him, causing him to break from his thoughts. She appeared to be admiring the inside of Inn and enjoying it quite a bit. He supposed it was good that she liked where they would be staying for the foreseeable future. It also told him that Kuno and Akitsu would likely not have any issues with it either.

"It does have a nice homely feel to it. Warm and inviting, which is quite rare now that I think about it." He answered. Everything was quite ideal. The Inn even had quite a large yard, which was more than ideal. It meant he had somewhere he could resume his usual activities. 'If I wake up with Kuno, Akitsu, and Musubi near me like last night, then I'll have to get creative with getting up in the morning without disturbing their rest.'

He hummed, knowing of a few tricks he could pull off. Still, he was just happy he could finally start training in a spacious area again. There was also the long road in front of the house which would be great for runs. It was also situated in a good spot, relatively speaking. "So, what are we going to do after this, Shirou?" Musubi asked.

"It'd probably be best if we regroup with the others, before heading back to my apartment and packing up. I don't have much, so we should be able to move in today." He replied, before looking at his bandaged arm. 'Probably best I change when I do.'

"Alright, Kotomine, all you need to do is sign this and you'll be all set." Miya said, reappearing from wherever it was that she went to. Shirou simply nodded, before reading through the paper. He had to admit, hearing her call him Kotomine felt a bit odd. The thing was, it had never bothered him before. Though, now that he thought about it, almost everyone usually called him Shirou.

As he was looking at the paper, a stray thought told him to sign it as Minato Sahashi, but he quickly threw that thought out. He grabbed the pen and quickly signed out his name. Miya kept her usual kind smile on her face, though he was pretty sure she was examining him. If he had to think about a reason, then it was likely that she ran some sort of check on him. Considering his bandaged arm, he felt like it was pretty justified.

"I brought you this." Miya then held up a white and black track jacket. The moment he saw it, his mind flashed back. He remembered the sight, the smell, and even the sounds he heard that night. The same night he summoned Saber. Of the many memories of the Grail War that he had, even the ones he didn't wish to remember, Saber's summoning was the memory he doubted he'd ever forget. "It belonged to my late husband, but it'll be alright for you to have it."

Miya's words dragged him from his reminiscence. He was partially glad for it. The memories were rather bittersweet for him these days. "I appreciate it Miya, but I'd feel bad for borrowing it." He replied, rubbing the back of his head. Miya shook her head.

"I insist. After all, going out like that will draw a lot of attention. Besides, I like to help people whenever I can." She told him. Shirou shot her a small smile, before looking down at the jacket.

"I see. Well, I'll be sure to bring it back in one piece." Shirou held out his hand and took the jacket. "I'll just go place my jacket into the room and deal with it when I get back." He continued. Normally, he'd just throw it away, but he still had his black keys, flash bomb, and his first aid injector inside of it. "Musubi, I'll be right back. We can meet up with the others after."

Thankfully, Miya didn't offer to take his jacket or anything. If she did, he'd probably come off a bit shady by holding onto it. Considering he wasn't exactly the best at lying, nor did he like to, he was relieved that he didn't have to even try. His eye twitched a bit when he noticed that the jacket didn't quite fit, but ignored it. It wasn't like he'd be wearing it all that long anyways.


Walking back to the apartment was uneventful. Well, other than Musubi's comments about the city, but that wasn't all that bad. It was always good to have someone to help break the monotony of walking alone. It was because of this, that he was realizing that each sekirei had their own level of exposure to the world. From what he could infer, Musubi wasn't all that familiar with the real world, other than what she had saw on television.

He had a feeling that Akitsu and Kuno were similar, but they also were a lot different than Musubi. Kuno didn't seem all that interested in the city or its people, rather, she treated them as if she were a normal person. But it was clear that Musubi wasn't used to such things. He didn't mind answering any of her questions, but it was something he took note of.

He made sure to message his sister that he was going to stop by his apartment since he had to change. He figured he could get a head start in packing his things, but was surprised when she said that they'd meet him there. However, he decided to ignore it. He guessed that it was just her wanting to spend more time with him or something. 'Miya did say that I could use the kitchen, so maybe I'll just stop by the store and make something for everyone once we get back to the inn?'

Admittedly, he was a bit worried about how the others would react to Musubi. It felt like the right decision in the moment. Besides, the whole reacting to an ashikabi was important to their species. Honestly, he probably wouldn't have went through with it if it wasn't for him remembering Kuno's words about it. The fact that it was uncommon meant there could be multiple sekirei for one ashikabi, but he didn't understand what it was that allowed such a thing. Why and how did he cause a reaction in Musubi? What caused reactions in the first place?

Kuno said that ashikabi were their destined partners. If that was the case, then what was it about him that attracted two sekirei? Was there a reason? It was information like that, that he was hoping to gain access to eventually. His mind wandered to his phone, remembering that he did plan on calling a few people soon. 'I should probably let Takami know that her suggestion paid off.'


Yukari had been quite excited once she entered Shin Tokyo. Ever since she learned of her brother's survival, a survival she had been correct about by the way, she immediately made it her mission to be with him. She also went out of her way to try and learn what she could about him. Despite her dislike of her, Caren was quite helpful in that regard. Granted, she wasn't sure how much of what she had told her was the truth, especially in regard to how close she was to her brother, but she digressed.

She was certain that she would get him to remember what he had forgotten. The first step was getting into a college near him. That was easily accomplished, though she was surprised that he didn't manage to get in himself. Then again, she remembered her mom mentioning that he didn't continue his schooling after high school, so she figured that might have been the reason.

Either way, she managed to accomplish her goal. Now, the second and current step, was to spend time with her brother. If she could recreate the bond they had when they were younger, then she was certain that it would be easier for him to recover his memories. Hence, surprising him with a visit and treating him exactly as she did when they were young.

She would admit to being nervous about it, as she hadn't seen him in person since she learned about his reappearance. It was easy for her to speak with him on the phone and through video calls, but in person was another thing entirely. She blamed their mom for insisting to focus on school rather than her brother, otherwise she would have been able to meet with him much sooner.

She had to admit, the image she had of her brother was much different from what the reality ended up being. Granted, she wasn't sure exactly what she was expecting. His hair was the first thing she noticed from the video calls. Gone was his red hair, replaced with the white color reminiscent of their mother. It was a big change, but she had gotten used to it fast. Especially since his eyes were just as she remembered, being golden brown and filled with a gentle kindness and wisdom that would be hard to find in anyone else.

However, it was the age she could see in his eyes that actually bothered her. For some reason, she could feel something missing from them. It was something that she was determined to keep an eye on. She trusted her instincts, and said instincts told her that he needed something. Then again, she was sure that he needed quite a few things, which was the whole reason she was there in the first place.

She was getting off track. Initially, the image she had in her mind of her brother was a bit different from what she ended up getting. Not that it was a bad thing. In fact, if she were being completely honest, he looked a lot better than she imagined. She got very lucky by visiting him when she did. Rather than let her nerves get to her, she decided to just jump head first into her brother, literally. Normally, this would have resulted in him becoming unbalanced and falling over and her landing on top of him. At least, that's how it usually occurred in her manga and novels.

To her surprise, that didn't happen. Her brother did have to take a few steps back, but he stayed standing and caught her. She was instantly able to feel that her brother was incredibly well built. She wrapped her arms around him and could feel his muscles at they moved to catch her, with her even being able to feel his arms wrap around her to do so. It wasn't like she planned, but she thought it worked out nicely. Once she got a better look at him, she saw that he didn't look like one of those big bodybuilder types, which she was thankful for.

Before he put on a jacket, she was able to see that his muscles were all well toned and defined. She was pretty athletic herself, so she could tell that Minato's body and muscles were the result of intense hard work. In fact, she had a hard time believing that he was able to maintain such a body as a priest, or ex-priest. It was easy to guess that he was likely quite popular with the ladies. Even if he tried to wear clothes that covered up his muscles, because they didn't do much to hide them, at least not to her. But, that wasn't what caught her eye the most, though it was certainly eye catching and memorable.

No, what caught her attention were the scars she noticed on his arms before he put his jacket on. Though, now that she thought about it, she noticed he had a few faint marks on his face as well. Whatever caused them likely healed up really well, but her sharp eyes were able to pick up on the faint scars. Unlike the cross shaped scar on his hand, the ones on his arms and face would likely go unnoticed to most people. She couldn't help but groan a bit. 'The fact I noticed should be kept secret. Wouldn't want anyone asking questions.'

Still, it was enough to cause her to worry. As it went, her mother and herself didn't actually know too much about Minato. They knew obvious details, ones most people knew about each other, but more personal things were still a mystery. Her mom said to be patient and let him gradually reveal things as he got more comfortable with them, but she really wanted to know more about him. She needed to know more about him. Heck, even his two, probably, girlfriends didn't tell her much. The two were complete opposites.

One was taller, quiet, and very well endowed. The other was more similar to herself, but a bit shorter. She also seemed a little anxious at times, but she got along with her really well. Kuno seemed to be the one he was closest to, which made her wonder if Caren's comments about him having a thing for little sisters was true, yet Akitsu and him seemed to have some sort of master-servant thing going. Needless to say, it didn't tell her much about his tastes.

Which should have made shopping for him difficult, yet it didn't. She normally would have went with buying the two girls clothes that accentuated their bodies or were slightly provocative, but she had a feeling that Minato didn't really require help on that front, nor did he seem into that kind of thing. Considering his upbringing and even how Akitsu and Kuno were dressed currently, her brother seemed to prefer clothes that brought out someones inner beauty and tastes, but still accentuated their looks. At least, that was what she was thinking anyway.

It was hard, but she was sure that she managed to find exactly what he'd like. Akitsu seemed rather happy with what she was wearing, so that was good. It was kind of hard to tell, since she didn't really show too much emotion. However, Kuno seemed to understand her well enough to translate. Kuno, well, she really was a lot like her, but a bit more plain. It was kind of weird. She chose a variation of what she was wearing before, though a bit more stylish thanks to her input.

She was sure that Minato would love it, so she was excited when he mentioned heading to his apartment to change. Considering they were able to buy everything they needed in such a short time, she figured he wouldn't mind if they all met up with him earlier than expected.

Despite her thinking that they had made their way back to his apartment pretty quick, her brother still ended up beating them there. The moment she opened the door, she was surprised to see another beautiful girl in her brother's apartment. She was dressed kind of funny, appearing like a shrine maiden, but more like a sexy shrine maiden, or a shrine maiden one might see in fighting games.

She had a large bright smile when she finally noticed them, but Yukari couldn't help but take immediate notice of the fact that her breasts were almost as large Akitsu's, maybe even a tad bit larger. Before she could look any longer, she saw her brother step out from a room with a different jacket than she saw him wearing earlier.


Shirou raised a brow, noticing Yukari had returned. She seemed to notice that he had changed jackets. It wasn't too big of a deal. He doubted she'd focus on it too much. He then focused on Kuno and Akitsu, being rather surprised by their change in attire. Kuno was wearing a more colorful version of her previous outfit. He figured it was likely just her preferred style.

Still, he couldn't help but be drawn to her beauty. It would have likely been strange to most people, but Shirou honestly felt that Kuno wasn't all that lacking when compared to Musubi or Akitsu. Sure, he understand that, physically, she was inferior in most attributes, but she made up for it in other areas. He hadn't really focused on it, but he really did get a pure, angelic feeling from her. Perhaps it was her innocence and trust in him that did it, or something else he had yet to understand, but Kuno was special.

He noticed her face begin to blush from embarrassment, causing him to turn his gaze towards Akitsu, who was breathtaking herself. Seeing her in one of Luvia's dresses was already enough to show off her feminine charms, but what she was wearing now definitely took the cake. It was a simple white kimono with a black obi, though he could tell that the material was rather high quality. The kimono wasn't what caught his eye. It was the addition of certain chain accessories with said kimono, as well as the fact that said kimono didn't do much to hide her rather sizable assets.

Now, Shirou wasn't one to question women and their tastes, but this was definitely a new one for him. If it was a racy bra or lingerie set underneath the kimono, he'd likely not be bothered as much, his sisters in the church had a variety of different tastes so he was kind of used to it, but the choker and chains were something else. His eye then twitched when he remembered a certain nun. 'This is definitely something Kiara would be into.' Especially since the choker actually had a cross on it.

She was technically his sekirei, so he figured he should try to be understanding of her tastes. However, he kind of did want to know why she chose that. He kept a small smile on his face as he looked Akitsu in the eye. "Um, Akitsu?" She tilted her head to the side a bit, "Can I ask what the chains are about?"

The moment he asked, he noticed a faint blush appear on her cheeks, as she looked down at the accessories. Honestly, he found the reaction kind of endearing, it reinforced his thought that Akitsu, and sekirei in general, were still women at heart. "Ah, they show that you are my master." She replied, holding a hand up to the chains on her chest. Shirou couldn't help but be a bit surprised by her response.

He then turned his head to look at his sister, who was inspecting Musubi, but realized that he was looking at her. She flinched, before waving her hands in front of her. "W-Wait, this wasn't my fault! Akitsu went and chose that herself. We did buy her other clothes, since I figured you were more into women who dressed modest but were still able to be sexy..." She began to say, before Shirou quickly interrupted.

"Alright! No need to explain your reasoning to me, I get it." He lied. He didn't get where his sister got that from. Honestly, he didn't even know what he liked in a woman. He hadn't really thought about it. All he really had was Caren, Ciel, and Luvia, and there wasn't that many similarities between the three of them. Maybe if he looked farther back, he'd be able to find something, but he never really thought about such things. Other than Saber and Bazett, anyone else from that time...the images of two sisters flashed through his mind, as well as a certain blindfolded servant.

'No use thinking about it.' He thought, doing his best to ignore his thoughts and memories. Two of them he failed, while one of them he wanted nothing to do with. Even just his mind bringing up fringe memories was enough to cause his stomach to churn and his head to hurt.

"Well, I think you both look great." He quickly said, ignoring his previous thoughts. His words seemed to be the right ones. Akitsu seemed to stand up a bit straighter, while Kuno smiled while blushing. He learned that it was usually the right choice to compliment a woman when they put effort into their clothes to impress their loved ones. He learned that through personal experience, as well as simple observation of couples he met during his time in the church.

"Um, Shirou, who's that?" Kuno spoke up, with Shirou following her pointing hand towards Musubi.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask that too." Yukari added, looking towards him. Shirou sighed, before seeing Musubi smile excitedly.

"Hello! My name's Musubi!" She chirped happily, waving at the two fellow sekirei. Shirou had a bad a feeling about letting Yukari hear any of what Musubi was going to say next, so he quickly took a few steps over and grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Yukari, why don't you help me pack for my move to my new home? We'll just let Musubi and the others get acquainted." He quickly said, smiling at his sister with the usual expression. Yukari sputtered a bit, and managed to get out some protests, but he was ultimately successful.

He trusted Kuno to be able to handle things with Musubi. Mainly, it was to keep Yukari free from anything to do with the supernatural. He was fine with her thinking whatever she wanted about him and the girls, as long as she was kept safe. His sister was important to him, just as Caren was.

Besides, for some reason, he had a feeling that his sekirei were able to understand his intentions. 'Except for Musubi, she does seem a little airheaded.' He thought with a small smile. He amused himself a bit more when he realized that Akitsu and Kuno could be a bit scatterbrained too.


Once inside her brother's room, she noticed that he hadn't really bothered to unpack in the time he had been there. It was a bit sad, but brushed it off, knowing that he would be staying with them for the foreseeable future.

She wanted to see how the other two would react to the newly introduced Musubi, but Minato pulled her away before the interesting things could happen. Still, she didn't expect him to just grab her hand like that.

She mentally shook her head. That wasn't important. Minato mentioned he found a new place to live and needed helped packing up a few more things, so she figured she could do so. Minato began to pack things away, prompting her to begin to do the same.

As she went about her job, she noticed the closet door was open and had some boxes and bags inside that peaked her interest. She snuck over and began to inspect some of the contents. There was a bag holding a collection of books, a first aid bag, and an ornate small oak box with a small, but intricate, lock on it. She was interested in its contents, but didn't want to pry too much. Still, she figured that whatever was in it was likely important.

Her eyes then strayed to a duffel bag in the corner, a slight reflection bouncing off of something. She reached in and pulled it out. She let out a small hum, before opening the bag and seeing what it was that caught her attention. Her eyes widened a bit as she reached in and pulled out the object.

It was a trophy, only one of many in the duffel bag. This one was for a prefecture championship in Kendo. Her eyes widened a bit, before quickly looking at a few of the others, seeing a few other trophies and awards for archery and kendo. "What do you got there?" She heard behind her, causing her to jump. She looked up, seeing Minato leaning over her and looking at her with the usual small smile he wore.

"Are these all yours?" She asked him, though it was clear that they were. Minato let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah, back from when I was begged to compete by my friends, family, and teachers." He replied, looking down at the trophy in her hands. "Mom asked me to bring back any kind of awards I received from when I was in school. I just haven't gotten around to delivering them to her yet, I guess." He added while rubbing the back of his head. She noticed the small pause before he said 'mom', so she figured he was still getting used to it. Still, this was kind of impressive.

She guessed that he was athletic from his muscular body, but now that she thought about it, his physique did line up with that of someone who practiced kendo and archery. 'That's why his hands feel so strong.' She thought to herself, remembering when he grabbed onto her earlier. "Couldn't you have been super famous if you were this good? Why stop at these levels?" She asked him, wondering why none of the awards seemed to indicate him going any higher than his prefecture. He tilted his head questioningly.

"Because I didn't learn Kendo and Kyoudo for competitions. I did it for more spiritual and meditative purposes. While I may have been a priest, there were aspects of Kendo and Kyoudo that I felt could blend well with my own interpretations of my beliefs." He explained, before turning away and returning to what he was doing earlier. "Besides, taking good care of one's body is also important in my religion. We view our bodies as temples. I'd prefer my body be healthy and strong, with my mind and heart in alignment."

The perks of learning proper breathing and other skills were simply a bonus, though he wouldn't tell his sister that.

Yukari was a little dumbfounded by him. It didn't seem like he had any care for things that most others did. She knew that becoming a famous kendoka or archer was a dream for many, yet Minato didn't seem to care about that at all. The fact that it apparently took people begging just for him to compete said a lot. He was also quite modest, as he likely wouldn't have even brought up his awards if their mom didn't ask him for them. She wondered if it was because of his beliefs and the way he was raised, or if he was just naturally like this.

Heck, he didn't even care about how much of his money they spent shopping, not even asking about it when they returned. Now that she thought about it, she wondered how much money her brother actually had saved up. Akitsu and Kuno also mentioned how kind he was, so she was beginning to wonder if her brother was even real. She couldn't even really find a bad point about him. Other than maybe the fact that he, may or may not, have three girlfriends.

However, this was still good. She had already managed to learn a bit about her brother that she hadn't known before. She was definitely going to share this with her mother when she spoke with her again. She placed the trophy back into the duffel bag, before zipping it back up. 'Huh, maybe I should offer to take these to mom.'

As she thought this, she noticed a long bundle in the opposite corner. She blinked a few times, before reaching out and grabbing it, being surprised by the weight of the bundle. Just feeling it, she could feel that there were multiple objects wrapped up inside it. She pulled the bundle out and into the room. She then unrolled it, seeing three different Katana within.

"Careful with those. They're rather important to me." She heard Minato speak to her, but she was still drawn to the swords in front of her. They were still sheathed, but she could already tell that they were beautiful swords. She had seen some before, but these were definitely the real deal.

"Minato, where did you get these? They look...expensive." She couldn't help but ask. Not that she thought that her brother obtained them through illegal means, but it was quite a shock. Minato walked over and picked up one of the swords, specifically, one that had a white handle with a red scabbard.

"I happened upon them, mostly. This was one was a gift, I suppose you could say." He replied, before looking at the sword with blatant fondness. Yet, she couldn't help but be bothered by the sad look in his eyes. It was obvious that he was remembering something, but she didn't see anything else as he placed the sword back down on the cloth. His fingers lingered on the scabbard, softly letting it go.

Yukari couldn't help but equate the way he handled the sword to how one may treat a lover, not that she had any experience with that kind of thing. The amount of tenderness and care he took when holding the blade was like he was admiring a delicate flower.

"Well, that's enough about all that, we should start packing this stuff up. If you want, you can come and see where I'm staying. You'll likely be visiting me there a lot in the future after all." He told her, placing a hand on her head and ruffling her hair, causing her to pout a bit.

Still, she was happy she was able to learn more about him. However, she felt like she only had more questions now. Perhaps she could ask her mother more about it later.


Shirou finding another sekirei was very unexpected, let alone finding one shortly after just becoming an ashikabi. Akitsu thought it was because he was a strong ashikabi, which Kuno had to agree with. It caused her to think back on when Shirou became her ashikabi. He had told her that he was the strongest ashikabi.

She believed that with all of her heart. She had wondered what it would be like to have an ashikabi, and now she knew. She trusted him more than anything, but also, she felt like his strength was also a part of her. It was wonderful. She couldn't quite put it completely into words, but if she had to, she'd say that she felt complete.

She only wished that her ashikabi was similar. However, after Musubi's arrival, she was beginning to think that maybe the reason was because he hadn't gathered all of his sekirei yet. Shirou was so bright and warm, strong and kind, that she knew that he'd likely have other sekirei. If he had multiple destined partners, then it could explain a bit.

However, she learned that her ashikabi's strength went beyond others. He had protected Musubi, taking an attack meant for her and shrugging it off completely. She didn't even know he was hurt until Musubi brought it up when she introduced herself. It caused her some worry, but figured she'd wait to check on him after they got settled.

Knowing what he did to protect Musubi only made her love her ashikabi more. He was exactly what she thought he was. The only problem was that her and Akitsu had realized that Shirou didn't believe that. Even now, when he was with Yukari, she felt spikes of emotion. Sadness and pain, but also happiness and joy as well. Musubi felt them too.

His heart was conflicted. Yet, she could see that he wanted to be better. She sighed, holding onto his arm a bit tighter as they walked to their new home. She noticed him look at her for a moment, before he shot her a small smile.

Her heart beat faster and she could feel her face heating up. It only made her more determined to help him. She did have some questions and concerns, mostly about his past, but it wasn't anything to be worried about, as Shirou would never put them in harms way. It was just something that she innately understood about him.

One thing she was interested in was his name. His sister called him Minato, but he called himself Shirou. Yukari did tell them a bit, but Kuno was sure that there was more to it. She looked towards Akitsu and Musubi, who were both carrying luggage of their own, along with Yukari. She still needed to speak with Musubi and Akitsu about it, as it was technically her responsibility as Shirou's first sekirei.

She couldn't fight and she wasn't all that strong or brave, but she was determined to help Shirou in any way possible. She would do everything she could to assist her ashikabi and make him happy.


Returning to Izumo Inn was thankfully uneventful. Shirou really didn't want to expose Yukari to anything related to the sekirei, let alone supernatural. Still, he was glad that she seemed comfortable enough with the sekirei around him. "So, this is where you're going to be living Minato?" Yukari asked, with Shirou nodding.

"It is. Mom recommended it, so I thought it would be a pretty good choice." He answered, heading inside and making his way to the rooms he rented. He had noticed that there were only two sekirei inside of the house. Rather, one sekirei and whatever Miya was. Miya was similar to a sekirei, but he could tell that there was something fundamentally different about her.

One of the sekirei he sensed before was gone, so he figured that it likely went out for something. He entertained the thought of it being with its ashikabi, but doubted it, considering the actions of his own sekirei. He thought it was limited to Kuno and Akitsu, but Musubi pretty much clarified that sekirei were rather clingy. They preferred staying in close proximity to him.

It wasn't too much of an issue, though he would admit to being a little unfamiliar with such actions. 'As long as they don't get overly affectious with their actions, it should be fine.' He wasn't good with that. The girls in his life tended to do such things to get a rise out of him. The worst offender was Caren, though Ciel and Luvia were guilty of it as well.

"Oh, Shirou, did you happen to find another friend in such a short time?" He heard a soft voice call out teasingly. Shirou glanced to the side, seeing Miya standing nearby, holding a broom with a small smile on her face.

Shirou let out an amused huff. "I suppose you could say something like that." He said, turning to face her. "Landlady, this is my sister, Yukari Sahashi. Yukari, this is my landlady, Miya Asama." He motioned to the both of them. "She'll hopefully be visiting quite often, so I thought I'd show her where I was moving. I hope that's not a problem."

"Wow, she's so pretty." He heard Yukari whisper beside him. Shirou kept his usual small smile on his face, though he did agree with his sister. Miya was a beautiful woman. Granted, he didn't think she matched the beauty of Saber, Gil, or the other female servants he saw, but she was definitely good looking. He actually thought she looked like a grown up Saku...

He felt a flash of heat, along with a piercing pain in his chest and head, lasting only for half a second, before mentally shutting off his thought process. Despite this, the smell of flowers and blood lingered for a moment, before he decided to focus on Miya once again.

"Oh my, I wasn't aware you had a sister, Shirou." Miya replied, with Shirou managing to piece together what she said, despite only catching half of what was spoken. "Might I ask why you have different names?" She asked them, with her eyes opening slightly. Shirou stopped his hand from twitching at the action.

"My big brother was separated from us for a long time because of a fire, but our mom happened to find him recently! He has amnesia, but I'm working extra hard to get his memories back. His real name is Minato Sahashi!" Yukari answered for him, though the last part caused him to wince a bit.

"That sounds horrible. I apologize if I brought up any bad memories." Miya quickly said, however, Shirou merely shook his head.

"It's not a problem, Miya." He replied. It really wasn't. He knew Miya likely thought his reaction was from bad memories of the fire, but it was mainly because of his name. He didn't have any real attachment to the Kotomine name, so that wasn't actually a problem. Shirou, however, was the name his mentor baptized him under when she took him in as her disciple. "Shirou Kotomine is my current legal name, so it's what I use when I sign things. I apologize if it seemed like I was hiding my identity."

"I forgot to ask mom, but how come you haven't changed your name back already, Minato?" Yukari asked him, causing Shirou to sigh. He understood why his mother and sister wanted that, but it wasn't exactly a decision he felt like rushing. 'Well, maybe I can offer her something that'd help my mother and sister ease up a bit.'

"Well, it's a bit complicated, I suppose. I explained it to mom, though, I suppose next time you see her you can let her know I'm thinking about going back to Sahashi at least." He answered with a small smile. It wasn't as big a deal for him. Besides, after the Grail War, he had been looking into changing his name anyways. Kotomine wasn't exactly a name he wanted to be attached to. He didn't know who his real father was, but he hoped he never found him, considering what he did to his last father.

"Really?!" She exclaimed happily while hugging him, likely thankful that he was willing to even do that despite not doing so since he was reunited with them. His only worry was Caren. Hortensia was the name he was going to end up choosing. She was the only family he had until recently and had even dedicated herself to 'saving' him. His father mentioned that she was a lot like her mother in that regard. Of course, he only said that to be a jerk and to prove a point.

Either way, he didn't want to leave her alone. He'd have to talk with her about it sometime. "Yes, really." He responded with a small chuckle. He noticed Miya smile at their interaction, though he was a bit puzzled by her interest earlier. He still felt he should be on edge around her, but decided to put a little faith in her. She may not be a full sekirei, but she definitely was related to them. As such, he felt a need to be more understanding.

"Well, Shirou, will your sister be staying to eat? I don't mind making more to accommodate her stay." Miya said in her soft voice and usual kind smile.

"Actually, I only came to help Minato with his things. I have to meet mom after this, so I can't. But, I'll definitely be by again soon!" She answered, though Shirou was a bit puzzled by her words. He thought that she was going to be sticking around for the day, but he thought that maybe it might have been his own mistaken way of thinking.

"I see. Well, don't let me keep you keep you any longer. If any of you need anything, be sure to let me know." Miya offered a final smile, before turning and likely headed back to cleaning the inn.

"She seems nice." Yukari said with a small smile. Shirou would agree. He could tell that she cared about the Inn quite a bit just by looking around the building. He wondered if it was tied to the reason why she had a last name, considering none of his sekirei actually had one. If that was the case, then where was her ashikabi? Then again, he knew that she wasn't exactly the same as a sekirei, but the question still stood.

He figured he could think about it later. He still needed to put his stuff into his room and help his sekirei with their room.


"So, have you managed to settle into your new home?" Takami asked, her voice over the phone made it seem like she was in a rather good mood.

"I have. Yukari made a surprise visit and helped me move my things." He replied, hearing her hum on the other side of the phone. "Speaking of her, she said that she would be dropping by your place later to drop off a package."

"A package? What kind of package?" She asked, not knowing what Yukari would want to bring to her. The way she asked made Shirou think that Yukari had likely given his mother packages or gifts before, but that they weren't exactly something appropriate. He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the thought.

"One of my bags. It just has a collection of the stuff you asked for." He explained, knowing that she'd understand what he was talking about. "I meant to drop them off earlier, but I sort of forgot about it. Ah, but everything should be in there."

Takami paused for a moment. "I wish I could have been there when you got them." She spoke in a solemn voice. Shirou's chest tightened upon hearing it.

"Well, there will always be more opportunities in the future." He said, trying to lift her spirits a bit. He didn't particularly enjoy competing, at least, not when he was in school. He felt it was unfair to his opponents, considering the training and conditioning he received when he was still young. Especially when considering his mentor was a monster who could leave craters in the ground from her punches.

"You're right." She answered, her voice regaining its previous tone. "How are you adjusting to everything, Minato? Yukari wasn't too much, was she?" Shirou raised a brow a bit, before shaking his head with a small smile.

"She was fine, if a bit excited. Nothing I wasn't expecting. Considering our phone calls, I actually thought she'd be a bit worse." He told her, letting out a small laugh. "As for me, well, I think I'm finally getting used to everything." It had only taken three months, but he was beginning to not be that bothered by the name 'Minato' anymore. Interacting with Yukari wasn't all that difficult either.

As for interacting with his mother, well, he felt he was making decent progress on that front. A part of him wondered if he should bring up his sekirei. However, he quickly squashed those thoughts. His mother worked for MBI, and he really didn't want to trouble her with his own issues. Besides, if she did help him, she might get in trouble and he didn't want that. It was bad enough that he made her cry before.

No, he'd do his best to make sure she wasn't bothered by his actions during this whole farce of a battle royal.

"I'm glad to hear it." She replied, before pausing once again. "Um, would you like to go out to eat sometime in the next week or so? We haven't really had much time to spend together and I'd like to get to know you a bit better than I do now." Shirou blinked a few times. He thought about it for a moment, thinking about his sekirei and what he'd tell them about it. 'I'm sure I can figure some way to explain it to them.'

"That sounds great." He answered. He thought he could hear Takami let out a sigh of relief, before hearing her let out a grumble. "Is everything alright?" He asked, hoping that nothing bad happened.

"Oh, yeah. It's your sister. She's calling me." She told him, causing him to let out an amused huff.

"I understand. I'll be sure to call you again when I get the chance." Shirou assured her. Surprisingly, he actually enjoyed speaking with her. He wondered if it was because she was his mother, or if maybe it was because of some kind of memories planted deep in his subconscious.

"See that you do. I worry more about you than your sister, you know." She quickly replied with a small laugh. He couldn't help but let out a small scoff.

"Of course, who knows what kind of stuff I might end up getting involved in?" He shot back. Takami let out small snort.

"Exactly, so stay safe, Minato." She finished in a soft, motherly tone. Strangely, it reminded him of Riesbyfe when he was younger. The memory caused a small smile to appear on his face.

"I will, mother." He reassured her. 'Well, as safe as I can be.' He thought to himself. He couldn't make any promises, but he'd do his best. After all, he still had to look after his sekirei. He couldn't do that if he was dead. Besides, there were still people he had to save.


'No matter how much time passes, even to the end of time, I doubt that I'll forget her face.' He thought to himself. The image of her was likely burnt into his soul. Pale blonde hair, a light blue haori, her sword, but most importantly, it was her smile he remembered the most.

It was a smile that could light up anyone's world, simply from how bright and beautiful it was. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Master." Why was he remembering all this now? He didn't know, but he wasn't complaining.

Perhaps it was because of the sekirei plan and his wish to see his Saber again. However, he knew that was next to impossible. Still, he could dream and recall his memories.

Before he could continue to reminisce, static filled his mind, before he was transported to a familiar sight. It was hot. So hot that he could feel it in his bones. No, one might even say it was so hot that it went back to be cold. How that was possible, he didn't know.

This familiar heat was easily noticeable as the Fuyuki Fire. 'Another nightmare.' He hated it. Still, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. In the distance, he could see a figure with long purple hair. His sight ran with static, changing the figures, but the one he didn't want to see was who hurt him the most.

Without thinking, he ran to her. The closer he ran, the more he began to notice the black sun and the rain of black mud coming down. She continued walking, never turning towards him.

Just as he thought he could reach her, the mud he was wading through swallowed him, burning his skin and very sense of self. It was pain he hadn't experienced before. 'No, I have, once.' During the end of the fifth Grail War.

He felt like he couldn't breath, trying to focus on anything to bring an end to this. Something that could help him pull through this. He was trapped in a black mud, unable to see, save for a small light.

"The Lord...My Shepherd...shall...want." He heard a singing voice breaking through. Even with it broken up, he recognized it. 'Caren...' Latching onto her voice, he forced himself towards the light.


Shirou awoke, his hand shooting up and his breathing a bit uneven. 'Caren?' He thought, feeling his other arm wrapped around someone. He turned, seeing that it was Kuno, who was still fast asleep, thankfully. He didn't want to make her worry anymore than she already did.

He checked the time, noticing that it was 5:30 in the morning. He looked back towards Kuno, seeing her sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face. He was glad that he didn't wake her up. Out of the three sekirei that he cared for, he knew that Kuno was the most gentle and caring one. Musubi was easily excitable and had mentioned that she actually wants to participate in the sekirei plan.

Akitsu on the other hand, well, she reminded him of Saber when he first summoned her in the way that she responded to things. But, Kuno? He didn't know why, but he felt the closest to her, and like he had to protect her. If he could, he would make sure that she never had to interact with the Sekirei Plan at all. He didn't know if that was because of his past failures, or because she reminded him of someone, but what he knew was that he was going to make sure that his sekirei would make it through this. He wouldn't fail again.

Without thinking, he took his hand and brushed her hair away from her face. A small smile made its way onto his face, before he let out a sigh. He moved slowly, being extra careful not to wake her as he made his way to his feet. After quickly changing, Shirou made his way out of his room, trying to move as a silently as he could. He didn't feel like waking anyone up who didn't normally wake up like he did.

In fact, he actually noticed that two more sekirei had arrived at the Inn. One scent he was familiar with, but not the other. 'It smells like fire and smoke.' He thought with a small grumble. It was this newer scent that actually made him slightly uncomfortable, but it was mostly because of personal issues, rather than anything inherently wrong with its scent. It didn't smell of blood or anything, so it had that going for it.

'Judging by the time they returned, they should sleep until the afternoon.' He thought, though this was just a rough guess. He knew it could be different, based on the fact that they weren't human and could likely have different sleep patterns. He shook his head, deciding not to think on it too much.

He noticed that no one seemed to be awake just yet, which worked perfectly for him. He slowly made his way through the building, before making his way to the open yard. He had neglected his training for awhile, only managing to do small things to keep his body in shape. It was kind of embarrassing, but now that he was here, he no longer had to worry about it.

He stepped out onto the grass and took a deep breath, before going through a series of stretches and breathing exercises. Once he was done, he knelt down on the ground and began to pray.


Miya wasn't sure what to make of her newest tenant. From what she was able to gather, he was just your average person who was looking for a place to stay. His previous occupation was a priest and he was currently trying to get into college. It was odd, but nothing she'd consider that odd. He had a kind disposition and seemed friendly.

Normally, his appearance at her inn wouldn't have been all that strange. But, his appearance at her inn was anything but normal. His arm was obviously injured and he had a sekirei with him. So, she was able to guess that he was an ashikabi. Once again, not too odd, but it turned out that he actually had two more that weren't currently with him. Three sekirei, that wasn't something a normal ashikabi would be able to do.

Then, there was the fact that his identity wasn't all that simple. She knew that MBI knew better than to send anyone her way, so she knew he wasn't a spy or anything. Though, once she learned that he was actually Takami's long thought to be dead son, well, she would admit to being a bit thrown off by it. She had some doubts on the validity of it, but it turned out that it was actually true.

She wondered why Takami recommended her Inn to her son, but realized that it might have been to keep him safe during the sekirei plan. Considering she likely already knew that her son was an ashikabi. She hummed a bit, since it was a likely answer. Considering he used to be a priest, she figured that Takami likely wished for him to not have to fight or watch his sekirei fight another person.

The thing was, she wasn't sure that Takami's son was so simple. He didn't carry himself like an ordinary person. He always appeared strong and ready for anything, like a soldier waiting to be attacked. It wasn't something a normal person would appear to be. Then there were the few times she noticed his eyes become unfocused. She could tell that there was pain in them, but she wasn't sure from what.

She initially thought it was because of the fire he was in, but something was telling her that there was more to it. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but she was sure that he wasn't a bad person. She didn't get to see how he would react with the other members in the Inn just yet, but the way he acted with his own sekirei told her that he was a caring individual.

'I mean, not just anyone would take in a scrap number.' She thought to herself, thinking about the sad fate that befall Akitsu. Yet, Akitsu was with Shirou and had seemingly made some sort of bond with him. A part of her wondered if he knew what she was, but realized that was likely the first thing that she told him about herself. She had to admit that she had grown some interest in him.

She had woke up normally and proceeded to do her usual routine, however, she found that there was something a bit out of place when she did so. She noticed Shirou out on the grass of her yard, kneeling down, seemingly meditating. Though, she doubted it, considering she could see that his lips were moving. 'Praying then?' Though, she wondered how long he had been awake by the time she had seen him. She hummed, before moving on.

After some time passed, she walked back by and saw him performing some sort of kata. She wasn't all that well-versed in martial arts, so she didn't know what he was doing, but it was clear that this was something he was well trained in. She did notice some movements that looked familiar, but wasn't exactly sure if it was just familiarity or if it was because he fused other styles into his preexisting martial art.

Her eyes narrowed in on a pinkish red ribbon he wore on his upper left arm. She thought that it was rather odd for him to be wearing such a thing. It didn't seem to match any of his other clothes, but then again, she figured that no one would ever really see it normally. His clothes now were obviously meant for training, a black sleeveless shirt and matching black shorts, so it wasn't something one would notice.

However, now that she thought about it, his arm looked fine now. She was pretty sure she could smell burnt flesh the day before, yet, his arm didn't look all that damaged. Her eyes narrowed a bit, wondering why it seemed fine now.

She shook her head, looking at the time and noticed that it was still rather early. She decided to make some tea, since it wasn't time for breakfast just yet. She turned and walked away, heading towards the kitchen.

By the time 7:30 A.M came around, Miya decided it was time to get breakfast started. Everyone would likely be waking up soon, so she figured it was about time. Out of curiosity, Miya decided to check on Shirou once more. This time, however, she saw him with his eyes closed. He was dodging, weaving, blocking, attacking, and counter attacking. It was obvious that he was imagining an opponent, though his movements were quite slow.

She almost let out a sigh, as she knew that he would likely try to jump in against a sekirei during this plan. Doing so would only get him killed, along with his sekirei who would be level one terminated because of it. It really was quite disappointing. A part of her thought she should urge him to not attempt such a thing. Then again, she didn't really want him to know about her. It was better that way.

As she was watching, she heard movement upstairs, likely her other tenants waking up. "Good morning, Shirou!" She heard one of them yell out, though the voice was easily noticeable as Musubi. Shirou opened his eyes, before looking up towards his sekirei. His eyes followed her as she jumped from the window of her room down in front of him.

"Good morning, Musubi. Is Akitsu and Kuno awake too?" He asked with a small smile. Musubi shook her head, before looking at him rather closely. Miya was about to turn to work on breakfast, before she heard Musubi continue on.

"Yep, they're getting dressed. I was going to do that too, but then I saw you out here and wanted to spar with you!" Musubi said with excitement. Miya hummed, thinking that this was a good outcome. It would show Shirou that he shouldn't get involved with sekirei when they're fighting.

Shirou blinked a few times, before shrugging his shoulders. "I see. Well, I suppose we could spar for a bit before breakfast." He replied nonchalantly.

"Yay! Alright, please take care of me." Musubi said, getting ready to fight Shirou. Shirou took a deep breath, though Miya noticed his lips moving, as if speaking something. She brushed it off just as Musubi charged forward. She expected for Shirou to be hit and likely fly back from the strength Musubi had, however, that wasn't what happened at all.

Shirou was calm and his eyes were focused. Musubi charged at him, throwing a straight punch as she did so. With surprising speed, his left hand came up and actually caught Musubi's wrist, before he stepped in with his right foot and threw an elbow strike into Musubi's solar plexus, or rather, it would have if he didn't stop just before actually hitting her. The speed and force were great enough that she could actually see that his strike still managed to reach Musubi just from the pressure alone.

The next thing that happened, was he seemed to keep pulling Musubi by her wrist and redirected her towards the ground, where she rolled onto the ground with a small groan and a pout.

The attack wasn't anything harmful. It probably felt like a gentle nudge and pull, but that was kind of the point. Shirou didn't want to harm his sekirei, so he stopped before he could. Still, Miya knew that such an attack would be effective against anyone, even sekirei. She was very surprised to say the least. She didn't know any human who could react to a sekirei like that, let alone a power type like Musubi.

"You telegraphed your attack and even overextended your attack, leaving you exposed for counter attacks." Shirou stated, looking at Musubi with a small smile. Musubi looked up at him, before quickly crawling to her feet.

"Right! I'll do better this time." She said confidently. As the two were about to continue, Miya noticed that Kuno and Akitsu had both changed and made their way down to the pair. She hummed, before deciding to head back in and start breakfast. While she was interested in seeing Shirou spar with Musubi, she had a feeling that she'd get more chances in the future. Just being able to see that he was able to react to Musubi's attack was enough to tell her that he wasn't just an ordinary person, let alone an ordinary priest.


Sekirei were very dangerous. That was the one of the first things that Shirou thought when he learned about them. Slowly, he was beginning to see them in a different light. They were still dangerous, but for the most part, they were docile and even acted like a normal person. He didn't get the feeling that they were a race that thrived on combat, even if they were capable of it.

Then he sparred with Musubi. He was realizing that MBI seemed to be the ones who tried to make them see combat as something ordinary for them, despite that not being the case. It made him dislike MBI even more. But, that wasn't the point. He was able to spar with Musubi, who was a power type sekirei, and managed to teach her a few things. That was what surprised him.

She was fast and strong, just as he expected, but they weren't at the level of a servant. 'Thank God.' If they were, he'd really have trouble dealing with them. No, they were definitely more than normal people could handle. He'd say that they were dead apostle level, depending on the sekirei in question. He hadn't seen them in action, but his spar with Musubi was enough to tell him that she could probably handle her own with a dead apostle in a straight up fight.

The thing was, fights in the supernatural world were rarely ever straight up duels. Plus, Musubi was inexperienced, something she openly acknowledged. It was what allowed him to train her a bit. Once she properly learned how to control her power and fight, he doubted he'd be able to spar with her like he did.

He noticed Miya a few times during his training, but she never approached him, so he thought that she must have just been keeping an eye on him. He didn't really mind, it wasn't like she would have seen anything out of the ordinary. Even the sacraments he had on appeared to be nothing more than normal work out clothes. In reality, they were made for training with increased weight.

They were mystic codes, with a sacrament embedded within to increase the weight to allow for harsher strength building. They were very useful, so he made sure to always have some on hand.

As it stood, he could probably fight a sekirei without his circuits, if he had to. The thing was, there were plenty of times where Musubi was able to surprise him with increased speed that he would rather not have to fight one without them. Still, they weren't opponents that he couldn't defeat. It made him feel a bit better about protecting Kuno, Akitsu, and Musubi if he had to.

Besides, he didn't plan on fighting sekirei with just his fists. If he had to fight, he'd do it the same way he fought all other opponents. Which meant he would be well prepared. Though, he did have to start thinking about how to help Kuno with her abilities. So far, he was trying to up her confidence a little bit, mainly by leaving her in charge when he's not around. It wouldn't seem like a big deal at first, but he knew that it'd push Kuno out of her comfort zone a bit, while also giving her a bit of leeway with Akitsu's, and now Musubi's, strength.

'Maybe later we can start working on something a bit more straightforward.' He thought to himself, wondering just how he could accomplish that. As he was thinking this, he heard someone moving down the stairs. The scent was familiar, so he figured it was one of the other sekirei that called this place their home.

"Good morning everyone." The sekirei spoke out in a friendly tone. Shirou turned and saw the sekirei he assumed was here when he visited with Musubi. She had long brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail, and was dressed in a pink and purple shirt with star on it and some capri jeans. Like most other sekirei, he noted that she was quite beautiful and well endowed. Still, there was something about her that bothered him. A faint smell of blood, but if she was here then he thought that she might be like Miya in that she didn't want to fight.

He hummed as his sekirei all replied back to her. She blinked a few times, looking at the three sekirei he had. "Whoa, I knew that we had new tenants, but I didn't know that we got so many." She said, apparently happy to see the new people she'd be living with. "My name's Uzume, it's nice to meet you all."

Shirou put on his usual smile before replying. "It's nice to meet you as well. My name's Shirou Kotomine, and these ladies are, Kuno, Akitsu, and Musubi." He introduced each one by pointing at them respectively. Musubi gave a smile and a wave, while Kuno responded with a quiet 'Hello', and Akitsu simply nodded.

Uzume let out a small chuckle, "That's quite the assortment of ladies you've got there. You must be quite the ladies man." She said, likely to tease him. Shirou raised a brow, before letting out an amused huff.

"If I am, it's completely by accident." He replied. He was actually telling the truth on that front. He never did anything other than be himself, so he was equally as surprised when someone would become interested in him. The sekirei were because of different circumstances, but he still didn't know what exactly he did to make them react to him.

As he was thinking that, he noticed that Uzume's eyes focused in on Akitsu. He saw a faint look of panic in them, causing him to turn to see what she was looking at. He didn't know what it was, since she looked the same as always, other than her kimono that is. That was when he realized that she wasn't looking at Akitsu's body, her eyes were trained on her crest.

He could see that Akitsu became a bit somber at the attention it was getting, annoying him a bit. It reminded him of Ciel and even Caren somewhat, and the way some of the church members would treat them for things beyond their control. "Can I ask that you not stare, please?" He asked politely, doing his best to remain calm. Uzume seemed to flinch a bit, likely realizing what she was doing was rude.

"Ah, sorry, I was just..." She started, before Shirou shook his head and raised up a hand. If other sekirei knew about scrapped numbers, then Shirou knew that such a reaction might happen, so he couldn't blame them. It still bothered him enough to shoot Akitsu a comforting smile before he replied, but he wouldn't let it affect him too much. As long as Akitsu knew that he didn't care about it, then he was fine. He refused to abandon her and he would make sure she knew that.

"It's fine, no harm done." He replied, 'No noticeable harm that is.' A darker part of his mind responded, however, he simply ignored it. "Miya's about done with breakfast."

Uzume took the change in subject quickly. "Great! Miya always makes good food." She said, causing Shirou to wonder if she'd allow him to make food for everyone sometime in the future. It was one of the reasons he wanted to move to a bigger place. Miya's kitchen also seemed to be rather well equipped, meaning he could really let loose if he wanted.


Breakfast proceeded without incident. Uzume seemed rather friendly, which Kuno was rather thankful for. Shirou had told them previously that the inhabitants were sekirei, which caused her to panic a bit. Thankfully, Shirou said that they don't seem hostile, and not to fight unless it was to defend ourselves. Musubi did seem a bit let down about it, but Shirou reassured her that there would be plenty of time to fight in the future.

Musubi wasn't quite what Kuno expected from someone who could bond with Shirou. Unlike Shirou, she seemed to actually want to participate in the plan and to fight other sekirei. She was also very outgoing and cheerful, which kind of contrasted with Shirou's rather calm and collected demeanor.

A sekirei would always react to the ashikabi who was most suited to them. A sekirei always reacted to their destined one. So, for Musubi to react to Shirou, meant that she was tied to him in some way that she couldn't see. She wasn't bothered by her, especially because she was so nice. She thought that might have been a reason, though Musubi mentioned the same things that she did when reacting to him.

It was enough to tell her that her earlier thoughts on her were correct. Which meant that their goal of getting their ashikabi closer to being complete had taken a step forward. Until that happened, she had made sure to let Musubi know what her and Akitsu had noticed, as well as the plan on how to help him. Musubi's answer was quite straightforward, which was to show Shirou how much they all loved him.

Kuno was a bit surprised by her response, but understood what she meant. It was the plan after all, but Musubi seemed to believe that love was enough to heal their ashikabi. Kuno couldn't refute it, but had a hard time believing it to be that easy. She wasn't all that smart, but she knew that some things weren't that simple. The only problem, was that she had no clue what else could help them.

Still, love was something the three of them had in abundance. For now, she supposed that going with Musubi's direct answer was best for now. She did notice that Shirou's smiles seemed warmer than usual, especially the one he gave Akitsu when Uzume brought attention to her crest.

Even during breakfast, their ashikabi did show a bit of improvement, though it wasn't anything most people would notice. However, his sekirei could notice and they did. It was only minor, but it was enough to tell Kuno that they were on the right track.

"So, you're his first sekirei?" Uzume asked her, causing her to jump a bit. The group had moved to the area that led to the yard, where Shirou was standing with Akitsu and Musubi. He seemed to be explaining something to Musubi, who was listening intently.

"I-I am." She replied, her cheeks reddening a bit. 'I stuttered again.' She thought with some disappointment.

"That's interesting. I thought it would have been Musubi, considering how he's able to keep up with her." She said, obviously interested in it. Kuno shook her head.

"We reacted to him because of his kindness and his warmth." She replied, being sure not to stutter. She wanted to be sure to drive that point home. Even if Shirou could fight a sekirei, it had nothing to do with why they reacted to him. The image of when she first saw him flashed through her mind, causing her to smile.

"That's why I have to do my best to help him, even if I'm not good at fighting. I don't want Shirou to lose his warmth or kindness." She added resolutely. She couldn't fight and was a bit of a klutz, even if she didn't want to admit it. But that didn't mean she couldn't do other things to help. She might not know what, but she'd do her best to figure it out, for her ashikabi.

Uzume looked at her with a sad smile, "I can understand." She said, looking at Shirou for a moment, before a strange expression made its way onto her face. Kuno was a bit puzzled as to why, until she heard Uzume say something to herself. "Have I seen him before?"


The day had started without any incidents, which was great. Shirou still hadn't met the sekirei that smelled like fire and smoke, but it wasn't like he was all that upset about it. Plus, chances were that he would likely meet them at some point.

Currently, he had left the inn to go for a walk, though it was mostly because he needed to make a call. He managed to convince Kuno and Musubi that he'd be alright alone, but they were quite adamant that he take someone, so he chose Akitsu. She was currently walking a step back from his left side, almost like a bodyguard. He wasn't sure why, but figured that it might have had something to do with her wanting him to be her ashikabi.

Either way, Akitsu was the best choice. He didn't really plan on being gone too long, so he didn't have to worry about anything happening to Kuno and Musubi while he was gone. Now that he had a place to call home for awhile, he felt like he had time to go over everything and try to learn what he could about the sekirei plan. But, he did have some personal things to take care of first.

As he took out his personal church phone, Akitsu hummed in response. Shirou raised a brow as he turned towards her. He then noticed that she was looking at his phone. "That isn't your usual cellphone." She said in her usual tone of voice, though he could tell that she was puzzled by its appearance.

"Ah, right. This was my phone before my mother bought me my new one. It's mainly something I used for work, which is why I'm using it now. I have to get a hold of someone I worked with before." He told her, with Akitsu blinking a few times before nodding. He couldn't help but smile a bit at her response, before he focused back onto his phone.

He took a deep breath, before dialing a familiar set of numbers. The phone began to ring, before Shirou turned to Akitsu. There was one more reason why he chose Akitsu to come with him. He knew that she likely wouldn't share anything she heard him say on the phone with others. Not that he didn't trust his sekirei, he knew Kuno likely wouldn't say anything, but he also didn't want to worry her too much. Musubi, well, he had a feeling that she didn't really have a filter.

Akitsu was really just the best choice. Plus, he could always just ask her to keep what she might hear between the two of them. As he was thinking this, the call was finally answered. He noticed the sound of shuffling papers and the faint hum of computers in the background. "Hello, Shirou, is that you?"a female voice called out form the other side of the call.

"It is. Sorry for bothering you if you were busy." He replied with a faint smile.

"Oh, no need to apologize to me! I'm actually quite free right now." She quickly responded, "Though, it is quite odd for you to call me on my personal phone. Plus, weren't you supposed to be vacation or something?" Her words actually caused him to wince a bit. 'Does everyone know about that?'

"How did you hear about that?" He decided to ask.

"Please, Shirou, it's me. I know everything." She answered with a proud voice. "Plus, Riesbyfe told me about it." She added with a small giggle. Shirou felt his eye twitch at that. "Anyways, I was told not to give you any kind of information related to the eighth sacrament unless it was an emergency. So, if you thought you could get some work while on vacation, I'm afraid that I have specific orders not to do that."

'Well, at least they were thorough.' He thought to himself with a sigh. Plus, when did the church start thinking he was that bad of a workaholic? "No, that's not that I called for. I just needed help to find an old friend of mine." He replied, hearing a few seconds of silence on the other side of the phone.

She let out a sigh. "Fine, send me her name and I'll send you the information." She acquiesced. Shirou let out his own sigh, happy that she was willing to help him out.

"I really appreciate it, Gabrielle. If you need anything, just be sure to let me know." Honestly, he was a little scared that she wouldn't help him after hearing what she said, but knew that she usually always helped him out when he needed it.

"Oh, you better believe that I will. Do you know what it's like being cooped up in here all day?! Honestly, even I want to get outside sometimes." She said, going on her usual spiel. He had heard this particular rant plenty of times before.

"Yeah, too bad your agoraphobia kicks in when your outside longer than an hour." He muttered with rolled eyes. Gabrielle was an important member of the church. Her family had apparently always gathered information for the church, stretching back nearly two thousand years. She was one of the closest things to royalty you could get outside of the Catholic Church.

When technology started to evolve, Gabrielle just so happened to be quite interested in such things. Computers and the internet were kind of her thing, though it was used mostly for Church business, mostly the eighth sacrament. Hence, what she was doing now.

"What was that?!" He heard her yell, causing him to wince.

"I said thanks for everything, gotta go, bye!" He quickly said, before hanging up. He couldn't help but sigh a bit, thankful he managed to dodge that bullet, at least for now. He knew that he'd likely be in for a rough conversation when he called next, but he could deal with that when it happened. He quickly sent Gabrielle the information that he needed, before taking a deep breath to calm himself.

'Alright, that's one down.' He thought to himself. Shirou then began to look through his phone again in order to call someone else, however... "Master." Akitsu called out, causing Shirou to turn towards her, seeing her looking down the street. Just as he followed her line of sight, he caught it.

"Sekirei. Two of them." He stated, before looking at Akitsu. "Let's go." Akitsu smiled, before nodding.


Oh, she really screwed up this time. She managed to injure one of the twins, but the other one actually managed to injure her. She also couldn't use her ability too much without an ashikabi, so she was quite limited. She also couldn't get past her whip unless she tried something risky. That didn't sound very appealing to her.

"Can you just give up already?! My ashikabi wants to wing you and I plan on bringing you back to him." The blonde sekirei chasing her called out. 'Mitsuha, I believe the other one called her that.' She let out a small groan. She could always try to cut her losses and run again, but she doubted that'd work, especially with her injured leg.

'Alright, the only real solution is just to take her out.' She thought, looking around the area, mapping out the shadows that were available to her. 'I have maybe two jumps left before I'm fully exhausted.' She took a few breaths, before getting ready to jump out. Just as she was about to, she felt the area become cold.

"Who the heck are you?!" She heard Mitsuha call out.

"Akitsu, make her retreat." She heard a male voice order.

"Yes, master." She then heard large cracks, like ice, before deciding to peak around the corner. There she saw a sekirei in a kimono alongside a male, likely an ashikabi, who was dressed in jeans, a red shirt, and a black jacket.

The ice sekirei began to fire off spikes of ice, causing Mitsuha to run and dodge as much as she could. "What are you doing?! I won't let you get in the way of my ashikabi's happiness."

The man's eyes narrowed. He quickly charged forward, surprising her quite a bit. He was far faster than any human she had seen before. "Akitsu." He called out, with the ice sekirei forming two sets of different ice spikes in the air and shooting them off at different positions. Mitsuha kept dodging, but it was clear that she was being funneled to a certain spot.

She then noticed him move his lips, whispering something, just before he shot forward far faster than she believed a human should be able to move. Mitsuha landed right in front of him after dodging a blade of ice. "I swear, when I get..." just before she could finish speaking, she noticed the man appear right in front of her.

He appeared to place a hard step into the ground, before twisting and throwing a powerful punch into Mitsuha's body. The power of his strike actually threw her back into a wall, where she let out a loud cry. A part of her contemplated jumping into the shadow next to her and eliminating her completely.

However, rather than do that, she thought it would be best not make a bad impression on the ones who saved her. The man exhaled, before standing straight. "Freeze her there, Akitsu. She can leave when we're gone." He told her. The ice sekirei nodded, before walking over towards Mitsuha, who appeared to be concussed. She was honestly surprised that she wasn't terminated from that strike.

The ashikabi then turned towards her. She was a bit surprised that he was able to see her, since she was hiding in a shadow. "Are you alright, miss?" He asked, shooting her a small smile.

Her eyes slightly narrowed, before she placed a hand on her hip. "What are you?" She asked him, a small smile appearing on her face. He raised a brow, surprised by her question.

"My name's Shirou Kotomine, and I'm just an ordinary person these days." He replied, causing her eyes to widen, before letting out an amused huff.

"These days, huh?" She questioned, before looking over towards Mitsuha. "I'm guessing you're also an ashikabi." Shirou rubbed the back of his head.

"I am. Though, I'll admit, this is the first time I've actually been able to help another sekirei." He admitted, obviously a bit nervous. "Some habits are hard to break I suppose. Besides, my sekirei told me how important it is for a sekirei to find their destined ashikabi, so when I heard her Mitsuha say that she was going to take you back to her ashikabi to be winged, well, I felt I had to intervene."

"Oh, so you're one of those people who believe in all that love stuff my kind likes to talk about?" She asked him with a small smirk on her face. Shirou scratched his cheek a bit.

"Uh, well, I'd like to believe it. My sekirei sure do." He answered, surprising her a bit. Especially since she noticed him react strangely to her question. It was almost as if something flashed through his eyes when he heard it. He seemed like a good person, but she could tell that there was some darkness in him as well.

As she noticed it, she felt her heart begin to beat a bit faster. 'Interesting.' She thought to herself. She shook her head. "I am number 57, Yahan." She introduced herself, running her hand through her long black hair as she did so. "Tell me, ashikabi, you wouldn't happen to have room for another sekirei would you?" She asked him with a smile on her face.


And done. Sorry for taking so long. I've been in the process of moving and all that stuff. It's taken up most of my time and has been a huge pain, but it'll be alright. I'm going to try my best to keep uploading when I can. I have some stories mostly done, including the reading chapter everyone has been asking for. I had to redo it, so sorry if it took a long time. Lost Hero of Chaldea will also be out soon, hopefully.

Also, I've been working on setting up a , in case anyone wants to support me on there. These stories won't be on there, just my own original story or stories. If you want to support me there, I'll be sure to let you know when I have it setup. So, these stories won't be needed to paid for, they'll still be here.

Anyways, back to the story. This chapter was to set up more of what I plan to do with this story. I'm obviously changing things up, or trying to. I don't want to do a rehash of what's been done so far. I also want to try and flesh out some more church related things that aren't talked about or that have been unexplored. I'm going to see what I can do on that front. The characters will have more chances to interact, especially as their time together grows. Some have asked about other characters showing up, and they will. I plan on showing other characters from the nasuverse. Ciel, Caren, Luvia, Gil, and others will show up. I don't want to reveal too much right now, so I won't reveal anything about Sakura or Rin yet. I will try to drop hints about it and the Grail War as time goes on though.

I also wanted to show that Shirou is dedicated to his training and even his religion. He was personally trained and practically raised by Riesbyfe Stridberg, who is a knight of the church, and is said to be a believer among believers. So, I'll say that for those who want to see Shirou act more like a priest or pastor, you'll definitely see it. I have many different moments lined up to show that side of him off. Let me know what you think about some of the things I've set up this chapter, as well as what you think in general. I want to also show how Shirou's relationship with his family grows as time goes on. It was one of the things I've wanted to see explored in other stories, since I believe that Shirou would want to know them.

He's also not completely heartless. Some were wondering why Shirou cared about his first name, and I decided to explain why in this chapter. His last name, he could care less about, but Shirou is important to him. I will also focus a bit more on Shirou healing from what happened in the Grail War. Also, I know Angels exist in the Nasuverse, that's why I said that he heard stories about them. Shirou believes in them, but he hadn't seen one personally. So, yeah. Just wanted to point that out.

Kuno and the newest sekirei I introduced will be fun to write, as I want to do something fun for them. Kuno's journey will be obvious, but Yahan's is something I have something planned for. Yahan is from a sekirei video game, released in the 2000's I think. It's been awhile, but I rememeber liking her design and her powers. Shirou's Saber was Okita Souji, since I wanted someone who could kind of match with this version of Shirou. Check out Fate/Type Redline if you wonder what I mean. Also, Sekirei will be around dead apostle level in terms of certain things, but that doesn't mean they can fight dead apostles. Some sekirei are stronger than others and other stuff. I'm hoping that as I write more that you'll see the powerscale a bit easier.

Shirou's Sekirei will be the usual, but I want them to all represent something about Shirou and that's why they react to him. It'd be dumb if they just reacted to him just because he's nice. Yahan, for example, likes the darkness inside of him, though this will be expanded on since it's actually more complicated than that. It's why I'm excited to get to Kazehana's part. Shirou and her will be interesting, hopefully. Karasuba, well, I'm sure you can guess what she might represent about him. I want to do something a bit more with them, because I don't think Shirou would ever really tolerate her normally, as least not like he did in In Flight. This story is something I want to try and build a bit more differently than others. So, yeah. Also, someone asked why Shirou didn't use hypnosis, he can't with magecraft. He can do it, but not by himself. He has items and mystic codes that I'll introduce to accomplish that. His origin and element is sword, which will be explained why later. Also, his desire to be a hero will be explained as well, since it didn't come from Kiritsugu.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading it. It was fun to write when I could. So, thanks once again, I appreciate all the support and reviews, they really help me out. If you have questions, feel free to ask, I try to answer what messages I get. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I really appreciate you reading and, as always, until next time.