The Love of an Empty Sword

by ahdokobo

Shirou Kotomine wasn’t a stranger to odd circumstances, but finding out his long thought to be dead family was still alive, that was a shock. Thanks to overly concerned friends, he finds himself in a new city attempting to lead a normal life. That is until a chance meeting with an alien with the wings of an Angel. Maybe it wasn’t too late to regain what was lost?

1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

He waded through flames and death. Cries for help and suffering wails filled the air. To put it simply, it was hell. However, he walked on. He wasn't dead, so he would continue to walk, shedding parts of himself off as he did so. Within this hell, he could only do one thing, pray for a miracle. The cross handed to him as a woman pushed him away from a falling building had burned into his hand.

He could feel it, but it mattered little. With each step, his mind focused in on it. If a miracle was possible, then surely God would be able to create one. So, he put his faith in God, praying to him, praying for some salvation from this twisted hell. He then fell to his knees, before fully falling down to the ground. Still, he pushed forward. His prayer inaudible, but still leaving his mouth.

He couldn't crawl any farther. So, he flipped onto his back, clutching the cross tightly in his hand. He prayed to be delivered from this hell. For an angel to save him. Just as he finished his prayer and prepared to close his eyes, he heard a voice call out to him. A beautiful voice. "Will you give up after coming so far?" The voice wasn't near, but it still reached him.

There was something about it, something that made him not want to disappoint her. His eyes opened once more. He grit his teeth, his senses returning to him. He felt his heart beating anew. He couldn't stop here. For the one he tried to save, he had to continue. To find some salvation within this hell. He flipped back over, before forcing himself to move again.

First his arms, crawling forward. "Only mongrels crawl on the ground as they cling to life." The voice spoke again. He gripped the cross in his hand tighter, feeling it dig into his hands, causing blood to flow from his fist. 'Move. Come on. Move. Stand.' He mentally commanded his body, trying to force it to listen. Slowly, he managed to push his small body upwards, only to fall.

His strength was leaving him. His body wanted to give up. But, he couldn't give up here. Despite his ragged appearance, one on the verge of death, his golden brown eyes burned with determination. He once more forced his arms to push upwards, until he managed to make his way to his knees. His breathing was shallow, ragged, but as long as his burning lungs still held air, he would fight.

"Is this your limit, boy? To prostrate yourself as if powerless?" Once more, the voice called to him. The voice's question triggered something in him. 'Powerless?' He thought to himself? To keep going was to fight a mountain in his condition. However, as that thought crossed his mind, something else entered it. He had heard it once, but didn't remember who or where, only what the words were.

'All things were possible, through God.' Those words were at the forefront of his mind. 'If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it shall move. Nothing will be impossible for you.' He heard it once. Faith was all he needed. So, he took in a breath of the hellish air around him, and once more began to move.

He could feel his body protesting, breaking under the conditions he was in. Surely, he should be dead already. Yet, he still moved. He brought one leg forward, steadying it, before pushing himself upwards, pulling the other leg to balance him. He was shaky and felt as if even a small breeze may push him over, but he had faced the mountain in front of him, and succeeded, even if his body was breaking, his soul would not.

Without waiting to hear the voice, he forced his legs to move forward. 'My arms and legs still work. It was my spirit that was weak. But no more.' He may not be able to even feel his legs, but as long as they could still move, he would go forward. He could save someone. 'Perhaps, there is someone who wishes for a miracle too? I can save them.' He thought faintly, his vision going in and out of blackness.

"You show some promise, boy. Unlike the rest of these mongrels. Be thankful boy, you have some worth in this age of mongrels. We shall see what you grow to become." The voice said once again, just as his eyes nearly blacked out. Only making out the image of a blonde girl, whose body was only covered by a white cloth. His eyes could make out some sort of shimmering gold, before seeing two bottles appear in her hand. Both different colors.

"Don't disappoint me."

---

Shirou's eyes opened with a start. He looked around, noticing that he was still in the waiting room of the airport. He let out a sigh. 'It's been hours, still nothing?' He shook his head, before looking back down at the table where his bible was opened. "13 years is a long time. I wonder what made me dream about that memory?" He said aloud, deciding to close his bible and focus on himself.

It had been three years since the Holy Grail War's conclusion. It had been a tough journey, yet, he felt he was still on the right path. He had become the miracle that others prayed for, and yet, he wasn't satisfied. No matter how many he saved, he couldn't help but feel it wasn't enough. There was always one more who needed him. Gil was always amused by his goal, not understanding why someone like him would lower himself to play shepherd to "Mongrels", as she put it.

Still, she didn't stop him. He didn't understand why, considering how she believed, but didn't question it. That wasn't even mentioning Caren and how she liked to poke fun at him for his dream. He frowned a bit, knowing that he would likely be on the receiving end of her usual remarks for not contacting her when he said he would. 'She likely knows when my plane landed, so I'm sure I'll be hearing about it when I speak with her again.'

He sighed, not looking forward to it at all. He didn't think returning home would be such a long process. He left on a simple mission to hunt down a dead apostle in France, only to have the higher ups ask him to be on the lookout for anything strange in Tokyo. Or, what was Tokyo, it was now Shin Tokyo, thanks to the changing times and Mid Bio Informatics, or MBI for short.

MBI was some sort of conglomerate that popped up during his lifetime and was currently leading the world in technological and medical advancements. Well, publicly leading, that is. Shirou was still sure that the Holy Church's tech out-shined theirs. After all, could MBI replace 70 percent of person's body with consecrated gadgets, or as mages called them, mystic codes, and maintain their humanity? He highly doubted it. The church likely had the best technology in the world.

Shirou hummed to himself. 'Well, Atlas maybe, but most mages shun technology, so I doubt it.' The Church was wary of MBI, with even the Mages Association wanting to keep an eye on them, but despite their efforts, nothing was ever found. Either it was hidden, or the agents were swiftly taken out. That was a long time ago, nowadays the Mages Association were the only people willing to keep an eye on it, but even they had a hands off approach to it for some reason.

Then again, he was here. But he was also Japanese, so he supposed the church thought he'd be fine. He got a bit worried when he arrived and was swiftly taken aside into a waiting room after their security measures glitched out when it came to him. 'Another point to show their tech isn't up to the church's standards yet.' He shook his head, that had been hours ago.

He supposed they could have simply locked him in there to die slowly, but he doubted it. There were much easier ways to kill someone discreetly. It was partially why he didn't want to drink anything in the room. Though, after analyzing everything, he realized it really was just a mundane waiting room with no secret traps. He looked down next to him, seeing his suitcase that had been brought to him.

He doubted they were suspicious of anything in it. If they checked it, they would have found many mundane things. Even the things that were thaumaturgical in nature appeared to be nothing more than ordinary objects a priest would have. Still, in case this was an attempt to separate him for "disposal", he prepared some black keys and even had his Ash Locks ready.

Still, he decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Shirou wanted to see the best in everyone. He was a servant of God and followed his teachings, but he also knew of the darkness that lay within man's heart. He may have wanted to be like the saints he looked up to, wanting to save everyone, but years in the Eighth Sacrament had long stripped away most of his naivete. Gil believed that if the Grail opened up again, humanity likely wouldn't survive, being drowned in their own sin and curses.

He wanted that to be wrong. And, even if she was right, he had to believe that humanity could be better. That God's Grace still lingered within their hearts. It was the small things that allowed him to keep believing. Small acts of kindness from total strangers, helping one another. Seeing the smiles on children's faces when they were happy. He clenched his right hand, before opening it up and seeing the faint cross shaped scar in the middle of it. 'One day, there will be an outcome where everyone is saved and can share their happiness and love with others.'

As he was thinking about his ideal outcome, his nose picked up on two scents approaching. Thanks to Gil's training, as well as some from Ciel, his sense of smell had increased. His sense of smell was already heightened when it came to magical energy, but training only made it better. There was one who smelled like a doctor's office, with hints of perfume, and the faint smell of smoke.

It was human. The second scent was definitely not. It wasn't a scent he was familiar with. It wasn't a dead apostle, a mage, or a demon. It wasn't a puppet or homunculus either. He almost thought it was just pure magical energy, but that wasn't the case. Whatever the smell was, it was easily overpowered by the scent of blood and steel. The second being's scent caused him to remain on alert.

He opened his bible back up, activated his magic circuits, and passed some of his magical energy into the bible. Unlike Mages, members of the Church could have their weapon on them at all times. It wouldn't be seen as suspicious or anything. The Bible was said weapon, or more precisely, it was Shirou's sword. Rather, it was his sword, his shield, and his armor. It was like that for most members of the Eighth Sacrament.

Many sacraments could be invoked just from the bible alone, which is why most members of the church always had a bible on hand. Ciel taught him how to create Black Keys from it, his mentor Riesbyfe Stridberg taught him how to invoke defensive countermeasures with it, and Caren taught him about the rites and sacraments he could perform within it. If Mages had Grimoires, the Church had the Holy Bible.

He prayed he wouldn't need to use it, but it was always best to be prepared. Heck, he even had a few swords ready to be traced. The moment the door opened, he was finally able to see the source of the bloody scent. It was a woman, taller than most average Japanese women, being around the same height as Gil, around 5'8. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, appearing to have a grey color to it. She was dressed in a short, black kimono, with what appeared to be a dark red skirt underneath, barely extending past the short kimono.

Her best feature was her long legs, which were covered with black, thigh-high socks and boots. He guessed that it was also what attributed to her height. Around her shoulders was what appeared to be a grey haori, worn more like a cloak or cape. Her hands were covered with fingerless gloves, which carried a black nodachi. From the brown leather belt she wore, he guessed that she usually carried it on her waist.

Despite her beauty and the sword she carried, it wasn't what caught his eye the most. No, what caught his attention were her sharp, grey eyes. It was easily noticeable by looking into her eyes, that whatever the woman in front of him was, she was a killer. He had seen that same look in the eyes of every church executor he had met. It was enough to tell him that she was a threat. One he couldn't take lightly.

She looked directly at him, before shooting him a smile. It was a cheerful smile, but he knew that behind that smile was something dark. Though, strangely, he couldn't help but see a small bit of light in her eyes. There was something there, something pure, but before he could try and recognize what it was, the second woman entered.

She was an ordinary human, which was a nice change in pace from the thing that had taken a spot in the corner of the room, her smile never changing. The new girl was dressed far differently, wearing what appeared to be a Doctor's coat, over a white button up blouse, a black pants, and some black high heels.

All in all, she appeared more like an office worker who just so happened to be wearing a doctor's coat. His eyes wandered to the MBI identification card she wore around her neck. 'Great, maybe I'll get out of here before Caren gets too upset.' He thought himself, thankful that his wait was finally over.

"MBI? I assume you were sent to handle whatever technical issues this machine is has?" He asked, placing a small smile on his face that he was used to using when dealing with people. When Caren mentioned his lack of smiling, he made an effort to smile more. Even if it was fake, he realized that it put people at ease. Though, judging from the way the woman's eyes narrowed at him, it didn't exactly work on her.

"Cut the innocent act, tell us who you are and who you work for? Also, tell us how you managed to trick this machine in the way that you did." The woman said in a sharp tone while glaring at him rather intently. Shirou simply raised a brow at her words, not bothered too much by what she was doing. Considering the things he'd seen and faced, a normal woman glaring at him wasn't anything to be worried about. Though, coming at him like this was a bit much for an error.

Shirou still maintained his small smile, probably appearing more like his adopted father and sister than he cared to admit. "My name is Shirou Kotomine, and I'm obviously a priest." He said with a bit of annoyance leaking into his words. He figured it'd be best to use his legal name of Kotomine, instead of using Hortensia, considering he hadn't gotten around to switching it just yet. He didn't feel like sharing his father's name after what happened during the Grail War. But, alas, he'd have to make due.

"As for tricking your machine, well, that's news to me, ma'am. I was simply trying to go about my business when I was led away thanks to your glitchy machine." He continued, placing his hands onto the table and clasping them together. He noticed the woman's eyes focus in on him after he finished. Nothing he said was a lie. Considering he was still wearing his church attire, he didn't understand why she would ask him who he worked for.

The woman had already sat down and started typing away on the machine, before pausing and looking at him again. "Yeah right, you're a little young to be a priest, aren't you?" She was skeptical, he could understand that. Most real priests were older than twenty. However, he had done priestly things before. Plus, he had been a part of the Holy Church for most of his life. His age wouldn't matter to them.

"Jesus Christ was giving sermons when he was only just a child. The word of god doesn't care how old one is, only that they have a message to give." He replied, keeping his previous expression on his face. It seemed that the woman didn't really like his answer. Or, she hadn't been expecting for him to actually give one. Either way, she simply scoffed and went back to looking at the machine.

Her eyes widened, before they focused in on him again. "Karasuba." She said plainly, before Shirou heard the thing in the corner hum. With surprising speed, she unsheathed her sword and placed it next to his throat, slowly making her way behind him, as if she was some sort of predator. The action nearly caused him to react, but he held himself. He didn't feel like killing anyone today, even if one of them was an inhuman.

For the first time since they began, Shirou's fake smile was replaced with a small frown of disappointment. "You're seriously pulling a sword on a priest just because your machine's busted?" The woman raised a brow at his response, obviously a bit intrigued at his lack of a reaction.

"If you're trying to convince us that you're just a innocent priest, and not a foreign infiltrator or someone sent by our competitors, then maybe ignoring the blade at your throat isn't such a good idea." She said, her scowl deepening a bit when Shirou simply shrugged.

"I've had my life threatened countless times, with all manner of weapons. It comes with the territory. If it is God's will that my life end here, then so be it." He replied, keeping his face from showing any emotion. Okay, he was kind of laying the whole priest thing on a little too thick. The last bit was too much, even for him. Though, considering the look on the woman's face, he did manage to unnerve her a bit. 'Good.' "Now, can we move things along? I have a date that I'd rather not be late for."

"Oh my..." He heard the thing behind him let out a small hum as she spoke. "I didn't realize priests could have dates." Her voice was tinged with amusement, though Shirou simply ignored her. He didn't care what it thought. Though, the MBI lady seemed to focus in on him after what he said. She then began to type into her computer as she asked him some questions.

Simple questions, what his name was, why he was in Japan, why he left, things like that. Saying church business sounded kind of sketchy, so he told her that he was asked to baptize a friend's child. Which wasn't a complete lie, he did do that, but it was simply because he was the only priest in the town that could do it, and the parents were quite adamant about having their child blessed and baptized.

The questions were easy, but then it got a bit off when it came to the name of his parents. "The name of your parents?" It wasn't that he was uncomfortable with answering, just that he knew it'd be problematic.

"I was orphaned when I was young. Will telling you my adoptive parent be alright?" He asked, with the woman raising a brow, before nodding. "Kirei Kotomine." She then paused, her eyes narrowing in on him.

"So Kotomine is your assumed family name?" She asked, with Shirou thinking that was kind of a dumb question. Rather than say anything, he simply nodded, not caring that the sword at his throat slightly cut into his skin. "Biological family name?" Shirou's eye slightly twitched at that.

"I don't remember." He answered plainly. It didn't bother him, nor did was he all that curious. His family died in that fire saving him. All that he had to remember them by was a cross, one that he had already passed onto another who needed the strength that it provided him. Wherever it was, he hoped that it brought some hope to whoever wore it.

His interrogator's scowl actually lessened, with her eyes losing a bit of their earlier heat. There was something else behind her eyes as well, almost as if she was second guessing herself. "You expect us to believe you don't remember your own family name?" The thing behind him asked, its sword gingerly moving upwards on his throat. Shirou let out a small sigh.

"Whether you believe it or not doesn't change the truth." He replied, though he felt he should somewhat explain it to the woman in front of him. "A tragic fire occurred in my hometown, killing a lot of people. I survived, but the doctors said that I suffered from amnesia caused by trauma. Incidentally, that's the same reason why my hair is white. Good enough answer for you?" He asked in an annoyed tone.

"For now." It replied, with Shirou lightly shaking his head. He wasn't appreciating how she seemed to act like she was who decided whether he lived or died. Plus, she wasn't nearly strong enough to be speaking down to him in such a way, only Gil had the honor of that distinction, and he defeated her in the Grail War. However, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of reacting in any one way other than slight annoyance.

The woman interrogating him did have an interesting reaction though. She appeared to be studying him, rather than just looking at him with a disinterested scowl. She began to type into her computer again, though it seemed that her gaze kept coming back to him. "Where was the location of the fire and what was your natural hair color?" She asked, causing him to raise a brow.

"Fuyuki City and it was red." He replied plainly, deciding to lean back and cross his arms. It was clear that this wasn't going to be going by fast anytime soon.

"What was your address in Fuyuki during the incident?" She further questioned, though Shirou didn't quite understand the importance of that. Though, it was an innocent enough question, considering he didn't know.

"Unfortunately, that's something I do not know. I was close to the epicenter of what started it, but that's all I remember." He clarified. It was why it was such a surprise that he survived where so many others died. Though, he had no doubt that he would have died if he wasn't saved, even if Gil tried to say that he saved himself, he knew the truth.

The woman kept typing before she paused, her expression completely changing and her face turning white like she had seen a ghost. Shirou didn't pay too much attention to it, he figured that she must have realized that he was telling the truth and that she had her inhuman monster just threaten a member of the church. Though, considering how long she was taking to speak up, he felt like there may have been more to it. "Takami?" Karasuba asked, curious about why her boss was silent.

Takami slightly flinched, remembering where she was, before looking back over towards Karasuba. Her eyes were immediately drawn towards the blade at his throat, as well as the blood that was slightly trickling down his neck from his lack of care. "That's enough, Karasuba. Put your sword away." She said quickly, a flash of worry noticeable in her eyes. The inhuman's blade shifted a bit, likely from surprise.

"So, I won't be killing him after all?" Karasuba asked, disappointment easily noticeable in her tone. Shirou had to hold in a scoff. Every non-human being looked down on humans, it appeared this thing was the same. Those same non-humans always had a look of shock on their faces once the humans they looked down were the very reason for their death. He had seen such expressions on many dead apostles. Ones he killed and ones his comrades had killed. Considering the church's stance on non-human monsters, well, he had a feeling that he'd have a chance to see that expression on her face too.

"No killing today it seems." He said to her, though he said it in a way that he knew she understood. Takami likely heard it as a smug remark, but Karasuba knew what he meant. Considering her expression once she pulled his sword away and began walking back to her corner, she knew he said it as a statement more to himself than anyone else. Though, the way he looked at her may have also had a small effect on it as well. He made sure that she saw he was serious. His eyes hardened for a moment, becoming cold and sharp, looking directly into hers, before he returned back to his usual self.

Considering her expression seemed to grow excited, despite him looking at her like an Executor, was a bit worrying. In fact, she almost seemed to draw some sort of pleasure from it. It was enough to unnerve him, if only slightly. She seemed to smile at him for a moment, before Shirou decided to focus on Takami. "Now, considering I'm priest, and I know how these things usually work, you can just donate whatever bribe money you have to the orphanages and abbey's around here." He said while putting his previous smile back on.

"So, now that that's done, I'm assuming you've figured out the flaw behind your machine and that I'm free to go? I'm likely to get an earful as it is." The last part was muttered, but he was sure they heard him. It wasn't like he was hiding it anyways. Karasuba seemed a bit amused at him, but Takami was still a bit pale. She looked at him, before shaking her head and holding up the thing that got him into this whole mess.

"Could you please blow into this one more time for confirmation?" She asked, her voice shaking a bit as she asked. Shirou was a bit thrown off by it. He was, at his core, someone who saved others. He had been doing that for a very long time. The shakiness in her voice, even if it was barely noticeable, was enough to bug him. He couldn't help but wonder why it happened. However, he knew that if he did it, it might alleviate a bit of whatever was stressing her out so bad.

So, without a word of protestation, Shirou leaned forward and blew into the machine. It was the most simple thing to do, but he felt like doing it might actually help Takami a bit. He heard the machine let out a few beeps and noises as he did, before leaning back. Takami pulled the machine back and looked at the screen, letting out a shaky breath as she did so. 'What's going on?'

"Is everything alright, ma'am? If there's truly a problem, I might be able to help in some way." He couldn't help but state that to her, with Takami looking at him with a surprised expression, before she shook her head.

"Shirou..." she said, causing him to raise a brow. She hadn't called him that this entire time. "Can I call you Shirou?" She asked.

"Well, it'd be awkward for you to call me Father, so yes, Shirou is fine." He joked, trying to alleviate the tense atmosphere a bit, though it didn't seem to work.

"Shirou, this machine was made to check DNA through a combination of dead cells and saliva. It then takes that DNA and runs it against a set database we have." She said, intermittently licking her lips as if they were dry. Though, he could see it was mostly a nervous tick. Shirou simply nodded at her explanation, indicating he understood it. "Well, when you blew into it, the results show that you were a partial match for two sets of the DNA in the database, so it didn't know which one you were."

"A partial match?" He asked, a bit surprised. Considering he was now being himself thanks to trying to make Takami feel better, he knew that it was likely the most emotion she had seen from him. Though, he felt it was understandable, since he knew what the woman was implying. If he had enough DNA for the machine to mistake him for two people, then that meant he held a good amount of their DNA. That'd only happen for family members. "You're saying that thing accidentally ran a maternity and paternity test on me?"

Takami actually appeared a bit sheepish at his words, before steeling herself once more. "That does appear to be the case, Shirou." She told him, causing him to let out a sigh. He was sure his family died in the fire, but now he realized that wasn't the case. He didn't much care to find them at this point, mainly because of those who raised him to who he was now. Kirei, well, he did teach him quite a bit, but he wasn't the one he was thinking about.

No, it was more like Riesbyfe, his mentor who had been a mother figure to him over the years. Caren, his adoptive sister, who taught him more about love and how to live than anyone else. Ciel, someone he partnered with consistently, who was likewise afflicted by trauma and guilt, she was the one who helped him through all that, to understand it. Or even Hansa Cervantes, the cyborg priest, along with his quartet, who looked after him like he was their younger brother.

That was only a few, but his point was, they were his family. They were what mattered to him the most. He doubted if his real blood family could reach the bond that he had with each of them. Takami must have taken his silence as a cue to continue speaking. "Now, I know that we have the database for international criminals and other things like that, but the MBI employees were the ones who tested the device when it was made. As such, the employee database is also within the machine."

She spoke fast, but clear. Almost as if she was nervous. But, Shirou decided to ignore that for now, focusing on what she said. "I see." He couldn't help but take a deep breath. "So, you're telling me that, not only do I have living relatives, but that they are also a part of your company?" The way he spoke was filled with doubt, but he didn't get what Takami would get out of lying to him.

He was trying to stay as calm as he could, but he couldn't help but have some of his emotions leak out a bit. He honestly didn't know how to feel about it. He wished that he had someone there with him to help him figure it all out. "Ah, yes." Takami replied, her face flushing a bit. It seemed that she was trying to find the right words to say, but was struggling to find them. Shirou was mostly just focused on trying to figure out his own feelings on the matter.

He let out a disappointed sigh as he brought a hand up to his forehead. "Do you know who they are? Also, it'd probably be best if you didn't tell them about me." He added, with her looking at him with a puzzled expression. Shirou then brought his hand up and ran it through his hair, before looking at her with a wry expression. "Well, they had the chance to find me after the fire, yet here I am. I assume there was a good reason, so I'd rather not cause any trouble."

"That's not..." Takami quickly started, before stopping herself. Shirou couldn't help but be a bit startled by her quick reply, and even quicker cut off. It seemed that even Karasuba actually showed a bit of interest in her reaction. Takami took a deep breath, before reaching into her pocket and taking out her cell phone. She pressed a few buttons before pausing and looking at the screen. Shirou could recognize a look of a sadness in her eyes, but also a flash of determination as well.

She looked at the screen for a moment, before holding the phone out to him. Shirou eyed the phone with some suspicion, before deciding to reach out and take it. He looked at the screen and saw a picture of a younger Takami, her hair just beginning to turn white at the roots. She had a happy smile on her face, as she held a young child swaddled in a pink blanket in her arms, maybe around 4 or 5. The boy was around 6 or 7, with short red hair and golden brown eyes, he smiled bright as he held onto his mother's leg.

Shirou looked at the picture, studying it closely, before his own expression changed to one of shock. He looked from the picture, back up to Takami, then back down. 'This isn't happening, it's just a dream, right?' He thought, being sure to keep his breathing in order. This was a miracle, like the ones people would see on TV of something totally impossible happening to them. His biological mother was right in front of him, but also, judging from the picture, he had a sister as well?

'Why is this happening to me? I don't...' he then cut that line of thought off. 'No, this is for Takami, who must have been suffering this whole time from having lost her son. How many times would she look at that picture? How long even? Did she blame herself?' He was forcing his church training and way of thinking to come up, mostly so he didn't react poorly to Takami 'I'm such an idiot for what I said earlier.'

"You had gotten really sick, and I was worried about Yukari maybe being too young to fight it off. So, I decided that I'd send you to your grandparents house, at least for the weekend." She spoke in a soft voice, though he could tell it was full of emotion, sadness, grief. The barely restrained tears beginning to form in her eyes caused Shirou to clench his fists tight, 'A world where no one would have to cry.' Yet, here he was, the cause of her tears. "Then we got the call about the fire and..." It was here her breathing hitched and an uncontrollable sob managed to break through.

Shirou immediately stood from his chair and made his way around the desk, ignoring the look Karasuba was giving him, or rather, her placing her hand on her sword. The look she had though, it was one of amusement. Shirou found nothing amusing about the current situation. He wanted to kill it, but Takami was in the room, and she came first. Shirou brought a hand down onto Takami's shoulder. It was a simple maneuver, but one that was very effective when dealing with emotions like this. Takami stilled for a moment, before she relaxed and even brought a hand up to place on his.

"I called every single hospital that could have possibly taken you in, but my mother's address was so close to ground zero. No hospital had any record of you and combine that with how close you were...There had to have been more I could have done if you're here." She said, Shirou managing to see tears fall from her cheeks. If he hadn't fallen back to his church training, he felt he may have reacted poorly as well. But, that wasn't important. Helping Takami was his mission.

"You did enough, Takami. More than enough, actually. My situation isn't on you. It's on me for likely spelling my name wrong. None of this is your fault." He said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small cross and subtly using his sacraments on it, reinforcing it and altering it to be a bit sharper. He then grabbed her chair and spun her to face him, just as he threw the altered cross at Karasuba, who was getting to ready to bust out laughing.

She barely noticed the throw in time, managing to move her head to the side as the cross flew by and into the wall. She focused herself back onto him, her eyes narrowing, studying him closer now. She likely thought he was like all the other humans she'd faced and intimidated, someone she could lord over and push around. Now, she knew that he wasn't afraid of her, and that he had no issues with killing her, since said cross was aimed at her head, still, it seemed it managed to graze her cheek. She hadn't noticed it yet, so he wouldn't draw attention to it, instead focusing in on Takami.

Shirou knelt down in front of his mother, and wasn't that just a crazy thought in itself? Takami waited, looking down at him, bringing her hands up to his face. "Well, Shiro was your nickname, and with the Amnesia, it's likely what made you believe it was your name." She said to him, a small smile on her face as she spoke to him in a soft, but watery tone.

'Wait, what?!' Shirou wasn't even his actual name? Just a nickname? Even with Takami explaining that the fire affected his mind that badly, he couldn't help but feel a bit lost. Shirou was who he was. It was his identity that held everything of importance to him. The look on his face must have been telling as Takami took his hands into hers. "My hair was going white and you used to always say that you wanted my white hair. So, we called you, Shiro. After the accident, you must have said your name was Shirou and spelled it different because of your amnesia."

Takami then smiled at him. "Even if you don't remember fully, I'm glad that you still remembered that." She then let out a weak chuckle, "We even have the same hair color now, just like you always wanted." She then calmed a bit, before sighing. "Your name is Minato Sahashi, my son. My alive son." She said the last bit, probably because she didn't want this to be a dream.

'Minato Sahashi.' Hmm, it didn't feel unrecognizable. The longer he mulled the name around in his head, the more familiar it sounded. Shirou could only let out a sigh, he wondered what his current family would say when he told them. "So, a sister?" He asked, not wanting to give himself time to stop and reflect, since he was worried he'd have a small panic attack.

Takami smiled and nodded. "Yes, Yukari, she's 18 now, and was hit just as hard as I was. She still remembers you playing with her and how you made her feel safe. She'll likely want to meet you as soon as possible." She said with a bit of exasperation. Shirou guessed she was a bit of a handful. "You're close to twenty right?" Shirou nodded. Takami then looked him up and down before frowning. 'Oh no.'

"Considering how you're dressed, I'm guessing no college education? Oh, and what was that about a date earlier?" 'Crap, I blame you Caren.' He thought to himself, though, he wasn't all that upset. Already, he could see some life return to Takami's eyes. She even looked healthier. Through some kind of miraculous circumstances, Takami had reunited with a son she thought dead. 'The Lord works in mysterious ways.' Shirou thought to himself. Which meant that there had to be a reason he was brought there and why he reunited with his lost family.

He couldn't believe that someone like him deserved such a miracle, so there had to be a bigger reason at play. All he had to do was find out what that was.

---

A few months had passed since then. In those few months, his only orders were to "monitor the situation", AKA, he was on sabbatical. He blamed the people he told about his newly found family. Specifically, he blamed his mentor. She was really the only one with enough authority to cause something like this. Then again, he supposed Ciel could have called in a few favors. He shook his head, it didn't matter who did it, it only mattered that he had nothing to do.

He should have guessed that this was going to happen. Over the years, especially after the Grail War, those close to him often dropped comments about him taking a break or other things like that. His mentor was the biggest advocate for that for some reason. He mostly just brushed those comments off, but it seemed that he should have taken them more seriously. He didn't get it.

Still, he supposed things could be worse. As it was, he was basically given free reign over Shin Tokyo. Considering the inhuman, Karasuba, he had a feeling that things weren't so simple. He didn't know what she was, but he was determined to find out. He probably should have reported it, but he knew that if he did that, the church would likely send a large force to wipe out MBI and anyone else who may have come into contact with it, including his mother.

Of course, that was the worst case scenario. Still, he knew that the loss of life that came from him reporting it would not be small. So, he decided to do what the church told him to, and monitor the situation. Just like with Karasuba, he had a feeling that things weren't as simple as they appeared in the city. He couldn't quite explain why, but he had a strange feeling about it. Which led to him staying within the city.

Though, he would admit, that another reason was because of his recently found family. After their initial meeting, and subsequent DNA tests, Takami was rather adamant about him staying close. He supposed finding out that her long thought to be dead son was alive was enough to make her not want to lose track of him again. He acquiesced to that request pretty quickly. Her request for him to go to college was one that he wasn't too keen on.

Doing so would have been useless to him, considering he was a part of the church. It took her awhile, as well as some words from certain people he knew, before he gave in. Considering he hadn't been in school for two years, he wasn't expecting to get in on his first try, which he didn't. He had a feeling that he wasn't too far off, but his knowledge wasn't meant for classrooms.

Because of that, he wasn't all that disappointed when he saw that he didn't get in. He looked up at the board once more, before letting out a sigh and making his way through the city. Other students appeared to be quite happy, celebrating with their respective family and friends. He couldn't help but wonder if he could have had such a life once upon a time. It was a life Noel wished to have, the "normal" kind.

He shook his head, it was useless to think about such things. As he continued to walk, he passed by multiple shops, his mind wondering if he should call Takami and let her know about the results, though he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. It wasn't that he disliked talking to her, it was more like he didn't know how. The closest thing to a mother he had, was his mentor and a few of the nuns who taught him during his training.

Said nuns were Executors, so they were all killers of the highest order. His mentor, Riesbyfe, was a knight of the church, and while she taught him quite a bit and looked after him, she wasn't what one would likely think of when they thought of a mother figure. He still didn't know why she chose to mentor him all those years ago, as she never told him, but she did try her best. As such, interacting with Takami was a bit odd when considering what he was used to.

Though, it wasn't all that bad. Over the months, Shirou had been able to grow a bit more accustomed to having an actual mother who was looking out for him when it came to "normal" things. It was odd, but also kind of nice. Shirou knew that he was going to have to call Takami and let her know about the results. She had been overjoyed when he said he would actually take the entrance exam. So, he felt she deserved to know.

He let out a sigh, taking out the new phone that she had bought for him. He kept his church cell phone for obvious reasons, but the new one wasn't so bad. Rather, it was a definite upgrade in technology. The church didn't really put their technology into things like phones and what not, so he was rather impressed with the new model he had. Granted, he didn't understand why a phone needed so many features when all he needed was to call someone on it.

But he digressed. He pressed a series of buttons before he made it to Takami's contact info. He paused for a moment, looking at the number, before finally pressing the button. He couldn't keep putting it off, besides, it wasn't like he was afraid of speaking with her. It was more like he was still trying to get over the awkward feeling he had when speaking with her.

When she spoke with him, it was obvious that she still held memories of him when he was younger. All the memories of raising him and of all the moments a mother may have with their son were still there in her mind. To her, Shirou was still that kid, even if he was older. The love was still there. That's what made it awkward for him. Despite their relation, the truth was that the two were practically strangers, especially on his part.

He didn't have memories of those times, at least, none that he could recall. Takami told him that it was possible his memories were still there, just locked away until a strong enough stimuli made him remember. Ultimately, it was what she was counting on, even if Shirou wasn't confident about it. He supposed such a thing wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Though, he wouldn't know unless something managed to actually trigger said memories.

The line rang once, and just as he was prepared to hear the second one, the call was answered. It was surprising how quickly she was able to answer her phone, especially if she was working. "Ah, Minato, how did everything go?" She asked, her voice filled a bit of expectation. Considering he was sure that he told her not to get to excited, as he hadn't been to school in years, he knew it wasn't about the school. Her voice always had that tone, likely from just him calling her.

He did wince a bit at her calling him by his birth name, but quickly stamped any negative emotions out before they could manifest. He wasn't all that comfortable with that name, as he had lived as Shirou for so long, but considering the fact that he wouldn't even exist if not for her, he felt it was a small concession. To her, he was still Minato, and there wasn't going to be any changing that, no matter how much he argued that fact. Which he didn't.

He felt it would be a bit unfair, not to mention a bit mean spirited, if he fought her over his name. Granted, he did manage to get Takami to let him continue on with his current name, but he was able to put it in a way she understood. The minor concession was allowing her and his sister to refer to him by what they remembered him as. If he denied them that small concession, then it'd be like telling them that Minato was dead and never coming back, and to get over it and accept this stranger as your family.

He wasn't going to do that to them. He did want to know more about his family. He wanted to get to know them better. A part of him even wanted to remember them. That came from his conversations with his other family, as they wanted him to try embrace this rare opportunity given to him. This 'second chance', as they called it. Despite all he'd been through, what he believed in and what he fought for, he also felt like he owed it to them to listen. He'd never be a civilian, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a family.

At least, that was the reasoning they gave them. He knew how hard that would actually be, considering his lifestyle, but still. How many of them would prefer to have a normal life? The deciding factor, funnily enough, was Noel, Ciel's apprentice. For her, she'd take the chance at a normal life if it ever presented itself. That was torn from her, and Ciel, many years ago by dead apostles. He internally sighed. A name was a small price to pay when considering such things. Besides, it wasn't like he was referred to by other names by other people and organizations.

"Went about as expected, unfortunately. Two years is a long time to not have not studied, you know? Still, I thought I did reasonably well." He replied, deciding that it was best to be honest. Takami paused for a moment, before he heard her let out a long sigh.

"You just missed out on it. Your scores were reasonably well, considering you haven't had any proper schooling since high school. The scores on History and Literature were rather high, they almost made up for your other scores." She said nonchalantly, almost as if she was looking at something and reading said results from what it was. Considering who his mother worked for, as well as the fact that he got the idea that she was rather important, it likely wasn't too far off the mark.

"I should have guessed that you already knew about the scores. It seems my plan of hiding the result of whether I got in or not would have been for naught." Shirou said with a faint smile. He was pretty sure that he heard Takami let out a small chuckle.

"That's right, you shouldn't underestimate the power of a mother." She said to him, her voice rather upbeat. He was glad to hear it. While he may have been adjusting to everything, he didn't want Takami to feel like a stranger. Considering the fact that she actually managed to speak with a few people from his life, he guessed that she was able to get a better understanding or read on who he was now, so she likely adjusted her approach based on that.

Takami then paused for a moment, "Shirou,..." She used his present name, which meant that she was serious now. "What are you going to do now?" She asked, her voice taking on a more somber tone. 'Ah, she must think that I'll be heading back out now that I don't have to worry about college. That might have been nice.' He thought with a wry smile. Unfortunately, he was now on a sabbatical from the church, allowed to monitor the situation wherever he was. In simpler terms, he was on a very forced vacation.

Granted, he likely would have chosen to stay close by, likely in Fuyuki, even if this series of events hadn't occurred. It was where his original destination was. His plan was to stay in Fuyuki for awhile after his last mission. Now, well, he just changed Fuyuki for Shin Tokyo. He had a family he wanted to learn more about. "I'll be staying in Shin Tokyo for awhile. If things continue as they are, well, I may reapply next year when the time rolls back around."

"I see, that's nice to hear." Takami replied, a small sigh of relief was heard before her words. He guessed that she really was worried he'd leave. "What are you going to do about your living situation? You're more than welcome to stay with me if you need to." That was a bit surprising, though he was thankful for the suggestion.

"I think I'll take a look around and see if there is anywhere with some rooms open to rent. However, I'll definitely drop by every once in awhile." Shirou shared. His current residence was small, as it was meant to be a temporary place until he decided what to do. Considering his circumstances, he felt it was best to move somewhere with more space. He hadn't had any luck so far, but that was only because his search radius was small.

There was a pause, causing Shirou to wonder if something happened on her end, thankfully, she spoke again. "Well, let me know when you do find someplace. I'll keep an eye out if I see anything on my end. And remember to call me whenever you can, Minato. I want to know that your staying safe." Her voice was earnest and he could tell she was worried about him. He felt that she probably wouldn't worry so much if she knew what his job actually was, but also felt like that wouldn't matter either. He had a feeling that he could be one of the strongest beings alive and she'd likely still worry.

A part of him couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that. "I will, Taka...mother." He quickly corrected himself. Admittedly, it was rather strange to refer to her as his mother. Still, there was a small part of himself, that felt a bit of comfort from that. He was pretty sure that he was able to hear her let out a surprised noise from the other end of the phone, which caused a small smile to creep onto his face.

---

'It's so cold. The snow falling is only making it worse.' She thought to herself, walking along a road and sniffling. Her eyes were watering, though it mostly because she wanted to cry. She felt like her hands and feet were so close to becoming frostbitten, and she was tired from running away from those two who were chasing her. That wasn't even mentioning how hungry she was.

'I don't have the strength to fight the others. I can't even find my ashikabi. All I know how to do is cry.' She thought to herself as she sat up against a wall. She brought her knees up to her chest and felt like giving up. Without her MBI card, she couldn't even buy anything. She had lost it when she was running away.

Ever since she could remember, having an ashikabi sounded like the most wonderful thing she could imagine. For every one of their kind, there was a destined one for them out in the world. But, it seemed like that was only true for the good ones. The real ones. She hadn't found one ever since she left the lab, no matter how hard or far she searched.

She breathed into her hands to heat them up a little, feeling herself shivering as she did so. Already she could tell that the snow was beginning to accumulate on top of her head, but she didn't feeling like wiping it off. She felt her eyes tearing up some more, almost threatening to spill over, until she felt her heart, then her body, begin to warm up. It was so sudden she almost let out a gasp.

"Hey, are you alright, miss?" A warm voice called out to her, causing her to look up at the source. Standing in front of her was a handsome young man. The sun at his back, highlighting his outline perfectly. He had white hair and golden brown eyes with slightly tan skin. He wore jeans, black boots, a blue t-shirt under a black jacket, along with a warm winter coat, and a red scarf of some kind. She noticed a cross hanging around his neck, one with a shield hanging in the middle of it.

He took a few steps closer, before kneeling down in front of her and wiping away the snow atop her head. She noticed a faint smile on his face as he looked her in the eyes, making her heart beat faster. "You look cold. Here." He spoke again, this time taking off the warm coat and placing it around her shoulders. She subconsciously leaned forward to allow him to do so, not even registering her own movement. 'Warm. It's so warm.' She thought, covering herself more with the coat. "Do you need help? I'm sure I could call someone if you needed it? Maybe MBI?"

Her eyes widened, before she quickly shook her head. "I..." She started, before pausing, her own embarrassment stopping her from speaking. Especially since her stomach chose that moment to start growling from the lack of food. The man in front of her blinked a few times, before letting out a small chuckle while he rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah, perhaps it'd be better if we spoke after you had something to eat? Not to mention, it'd get you out of the cold. Don't worry, I'll pay for it." He said, standing up and holding out his hand to her. "My name's Shirou." She looked up at him, before shakily taking his hand.

"I-I'm Kuno." She replied, her voice still a little shaky. As she stood up, she realized her legs were still stiff and stumbled forward, before she felt the man grab ahold of her and steady her.

"Don't worry, I've got you." His words warmed her heart and provided a sense of reassurance. She couldn't help but wonder if this was what it felt like for everyone else. "There's a small cafe just down the street, we can eat there." She nodded, still holding onto his hand. Something the man noticed, causing him to raise a brow, before looking back at her. She was about to let go, before he simply shot her a small smile and turned to start walking, seemingly unbothered by it.

She let out a small sigh of relief as she followed behind him. "I found you, my ashikabi." She whispered to herself, a smile beginning to stretch across her face.

---

Beautiful eyes. The eyes of a killer who feels nothing when piling up corpses. It was such an exciting thing to see, only for them to go away when he focused back on Takami. Ugh, she hated it. When he threw that sharpened cross at her head, it was something new and unexpected.

Oh, how she wished to see those eyes again. To just even see him again. Takami couldn't tell, heck, she doubted if any humans were able to notice it, but she did. It took her awhile when she was holding her sword to his throat, but she caught his scent. Even thinking about it now caused her to shiver in delight. There was only the faint smell of blood and steel. It was glorious.

Minato Sahashi, or Shirou Kotomine, was a killer. Takami likely didn't know, otherwise she would have heard her complaining about it. Which meant that she was the only one who had this knowledge. 'Ah, a killer with those eyes and that smell, who are you, Shirou Kotomine.'

As it was right now, she wanted to find out. She wanted to see how strong he was. Just so she could turn around and break him for thinking he could kill her. Shirou was her prey, not the other way around. #04, Karasuba, was going to make sure he understood that. A bloodthirsty grin appeared on her face, as well as some cackling, which scared a few of the MBI employees who were within the vicinity.

"It's time to see what kind of information that little birdy may have on my prey." She said to herself quietly, before continuing her march down the hall. She was sure that she'd have some luck if she went right away, rather than wait.

---

Shirou was just walking around, before deciding to check out a disturbance close by. Particularly, it was a loud screech of some kind. His inner hero took over, equating it as a call for help. So, he did what he did best, he ran towards the source of the cry. After seeing two more of the inhuman species that Karasuba was, he wasn't liking his odds. Though, he would admit these ones smelled more like ozone, but that same pure feeling was still there.

He didn't know what they were, but it was clear that different types existed. Just as he called a few black keys into his hands, the pair ran off, jumping up to the rooftops with no effort. 'Elemental affinity it seems, increased physical traits, and beauty.' The traits he noticed from them all, save for the scent of pure, sweet magical energy of some kind. He didn't know what he was up against, but he'd need to find out sooner or later.

If they were a danger to humanity, he had an obligation to kill them. There was also the fact that they were inhuman, so that was another point he'd have to deal with. If they weren't a danger, then it'd be something he could work with. He wasn't looking forward to any of this at all. So, he let out a sigh, before continuing on. 'So much for a vacation.'

It was shortly after that, that he ran into another one, Kuno. He was able to smell her, the same sweetness, but hers was by far the purest he had smelled. He couldn't smell an element assigned, so he guessed she wasn't like the twins from earlier. Once more, he dropped some black keys into his hands, walking closer, being sure to hide his approach in case he had to kill it. The moment he grew close, his heart stopped and his breathing following shortly after.

He saw a young woman with messy, light blonde hair that went down to her shoulders, wearing a pale blue blouse with a white collar, a matching skirt, knee-length boots, and white thigh high stockings. In the middle of a snowy winter. Then there was the scraped up knees, her crying, and shivering form that told him everything he needed to know.

It didn't matter what inhuman it was. She was crying, likely hungry, and cold. He had to save her. As a follower of the Lord's teachings, he couldn't let this continue. Not to mention, he wanted a world where no one would have to cry. A world where instead of tears, they'd share their happiness instead.

He banished away the black keys and introduced himself, placing his jacket around her, and quickly deciding to take her to eat and to get out of the cold. 'The poor girl was shivering like crazy.' It was after this thought that he heard her whisper something about an "Ashi-something or other". Admittedly, he wasn't thinking about it too much.

He was preoccupied by how human she seemed. 'How many girls have I helped who looked just like her out there? Nowhere to go, Afraid, and just seemed sad and lonely.' He inwardly sighed, knowing that the count was quite high. One of those cases, a sick girl, was the reason he no longer had his original cross. He figured she needed it more than he did, and it saved him, so he hoped it would do the same. 'I'll have to make some time to visit her.'

Though, he would admit that there was a faint memory of him seeing something like that before. He couldn't quite remember who or when it was, but he saved a little girl like that before. It was one of the reasons why he was so determined to help others in similar situations.

Once inside the cafe, he made sure that Kuno was able to order whatever it was that she wanted. He hated to admit it, but it was also because he wanted to see if she actually wanted to eat human food. Considering the inhuman beings he had dealt with didn't normally partake in human food, he felt he could get a good grasp on what she was. Needless to say, she was eating human food just like anybody else.

Not to say it was an end all be all test, but it was a good way to check. She didn't react to his cross, holy shroud, or any of things that most inhuman things would react to. It was enough to cast some doubt on whatever she was. Considering all the other beings out in the city he had noticed, it was strange that there wasn't any of the usual reports that would follow such a large amount of inhumans.

He briefly considered MBI covering it up, but there was no way they were that good at hiding things. He felt slightly guilty the more he spent time with the poor girl. Mainly for thinking that she could be of any harm to anyone. So, he decided to let his guard down around her. Even if he'd have to come up with a way to deal with her species, mostly for the safety of the city since if the mages association found out, they'd likely send a large force to either kill or capture them, along with anyone else exposed to them.

Unfortunately, this went for his faction as well. He didn't want such a fate to befall the girl in front of him. She was innocent. Alas, he still needed answers. The best way to get them was through Kuno. He was able to see that she was looking much better from when he had found her. Though, he would be lying if he wasn't worried about the red on her cheeks, or how her breathing seemed to get a bit more labored as time went on. 'Can her species get sick?'

"Um, are you feeling alright? I thought getting you out of the cold and having something to eat would help, but you look like you're having a tough time." Shirou finally said, looking around to see if there was anyone close in the cafe, luckily it appeared to be empty, save for the staff. Kuno looked up at him, before becoming a bit embarrassed and looking down at her hands.

"Um, I think it'd be better i-if we didn't talk about it where people can hear." She said in a quiet voice, causing him to become a bit concerned. It didn't sound, or even seem, like she was trying to get him alone for something nefarious purpose. Which was good, but still. He let out a sigh, before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a larger cross than the usual ones he carried. 'It sucks that I'll have to use this here, but it could be important.'

Kuno looked at him with a puzzled expression, though he ignored it. He placed it on the seat next to him and sent some magical energy into it, causing some symbols to appear on the crucifix. 'Not like I can use Black Keys to make a bounded field in a cafe. Besides, these were always meant to be disposable and inconspicuous to carry.'

"It'll be alright, Kuno. We're the only ones here. Plus, we're sitting in the corner, so I doubt anyone will hear us. I'd like to know about why you were sitting out in the snow. That is, if you're willing to share? I might be able to help." He reassured her, seeing her cheeks redden a bit more. He could tell that she was blushing, which was a good sign. If she could still react like that, then it meant that whatever was going on with her wasn't too debilitating. "I heard you mention something about an, ashi-something."

Kuno looked at him with some surprise, obviously not expecting him to have heard her. She held her hands up to her chest, before taking a deep breath. "Yes, my ashikabi. Th-That's what's happening to me. I am reacting to my ashikabi. I've been looking for so long. Someone precious we've never met. Each of us were born for our ashikabi. To...To guide them to the heavens." Her words should have worried him, but there was something about this girl that managed to disarm him.

It should have put him more on edge, but for some reason, he just couldn't. 'Born for their ashikabi? Guide them to the heavens?' None of it made sense. She wasn't human, yet she was speaking about reacting to an 'ashikabi', but he couldn't sense anything close by that could do that. Even the way she spoke, it sounded like something he'd hear from someone in the Holy Church. There was also the fact that she said they were born for these, ashikabi. He didn't understand what it meant. Guide to the heavens, well, that could mean anything.

Though, it sounded a bit familiar, but he doubted that it was what he was thinking. "Ashikabi? So, your body is having a reaction because one of these ashikabi is near? Are they, you know, like you?" He asked, deciding to just get that out of the way. Kuno quickly shook her head, her cheeks becoming more flushed.

"You're my ashikabi." Her voice was quiet and embarrassed, as if she was nervous about even saying that. However, Shirou was shocked more than anything. It was one more thing that didn't make sense. "Ashikabi are humans, our destined partners." She continued, causing Shirou to wonder what she was. She didn't even seem to react to the fact that he knew she wasn't human. 'Maybe because of this reaction?' He thought, though he was still bothered by the fact that they were destined to be with humans.

No inhuman would ever lower themselves to bond with a human unless it was absolutely necessary. Even then, they usually just enslaved the human or turned them into something else entirely. Considering how she was referring to him, he doubted that they changed their human partner. Which made no sense. Plus, if it was just humans, then did that mean it didn't matter if they had magic circuits or not? It could be anyone? If that was the case, then this was going to be a really complicated matter to deal with.

He didn't even notice Kuno growing closer to him, being so caught up in his own thoughts. That was until he caught what she said. 'Wait, I'm her ashikabi?!' His focus snapped back to her, seeing her eyes becoming glazed slightly, her breathing growing heavier, and considering how flushed she was, he assumed her heart rate was increasing as well. "I'm sorry, I can't stand this anymore." She breathed out, causing his eyes to widen.

"W-wait!" He was about to summon his black keys, but he noticed that it looked like she was trying to kiss him. His mind began racing, he doubted he could stop her right now, at least, not without making a scene. His bounded field only blocked sound. Judging from what was happening, he could infer that this was how they formed their bonds. His knowledge in thaumaturgy wasn't all that great, especially when it came to contracts and such. He thought that because this almost seemed like it was more along the lines of making a contract with a familiar or something.

Normally, that required blood or a piece of the magus, but he supposed a kiss could do that. In fact, kissing could pass along some magical energy or DNA. So, he supposed that it made some sense. He wanted to know what was going on, what they were, and what they wanted. In fact, he needed to. He couldn't allow more of her kind, or humans, to just be exposed to magical elements. Without any knowledge, this would become incredibly messy and time consuming. Kuno was this source of information for now. Not to mention, he could always use Rule Breaker if he needed to break that bond.

That thought caused a chill to run up his spine. Kuno was an innocent being. Just from observing her, he could tell that she wasn't violent. Plus, there was something about her that made him want to help her. His church training told him to simply kill her and then dispose of the rest of them, along with their ashikabi. Yet, what if they weren't a danger to humanity? Something deep inside told him to save her. Considering who his mentor was, he decided to go with his gut rather than follow the church's usual logic.

In the next moment, he felt Kuno's lips press against his. He felt her pull a bit of his energy when she did so, but it was relatively minor, so much so that it wouldn't have been noticeable if he wasn't paying attention. He could hear her let out a content sigh as she kissed him, but that wasn't something he wanted to focus on. Especially not when he noticed something extraordinary.

The moment he knew the two bonded, two beautiful, golden wings of light appeared behind her. His eyes widened, taking in the beautiful sight in front of his eyes. In fact, he noticed that even Kuno seemed to grow prettier as well, though he thought that may have had more to do with the fact that she appeared healthier and full of life. "An angel?" he whispered to himself, becoming even more confused by what happened.

He had heard stories of angels in his time at the church. There were many throughout time, but this was the first time he saw anything that could even be remotely close to an angel. At least, an angel as they were commonly depicted. All in all, there were many different types of angels, the most popular were the kind he was looking at now, human looking with wings. Then there was the more abstract ones, but he didn't want to go into all that. His mind was already racing from what was in front of him.

"Forever and ever." He heard her whisper as she leaned back, her wings disappearing and everything returning to normal. This was going to be a lot more of a problem than he initially thought it was. Now, he really couldn't let the church or mages association know about them. He had to keep them hidden for as long as possible, until he figured something out.

He had a lot he wanted to ask, but wasn't all that sure where to start. Considering Kuno's instant blush and look of embarrassment, she likely wasn't expecting such a thing to happen so quickly either. Before he could ask anything, however, his phone began to ring. Shirou hummed, not expecting anyone to call him. The only person who would call him, was his mother, and he had just gotten off the phone with her earlier. He supposed it could have been his sister, so he decided it was best to see who it was, since it could be an emergency.

He noticed that he didn't recognize the number being displayed. "It's MBI." Kuno told him, switching seats to sit next to him, growing quite close to him. Shirou raised a brow, not understanding why MBI would be calling him. 'Unless...Unless they're tied to this whole thing like I thought they were.' It was a suspicion of his. While he didn't know much, he knew that there had to be a reason why MBI became as large and powerful as it did within such a short time.

He guessed they were tied to Kuno's species in some way. The fact he was getting called after his bonding with Kuno, he was suspecting he was right. 'Once again, this is becoming complicated.' He sighed, before deciding that he needed to answer it. The moment he did so, a loud sound came through the speaker, sounding similar to a victory screen from one of those games that Caren played. "Congratulations! You have been magnificently chosen to be the partner of a sekirei!"

The screen showed an image of someone who was the one speaking. Honestly, it was kind of fascinating how many features were in the phone Takami had given him. He guessed it was a video or camera feed, which was surprising. He knew a few people who'd probably like something like that. He'd probably be more excited if wasn't for the fact that this person called him immediately after what he did. 'Sekirei? Like a bird? Seems a bit degrading.' He couldn't help but think, considering Kuno appeared more like an angel than a bird to him. Then again, he had been exposed to the church since he was young.

He also couldn't help but feel a sense of dread from this call. He hoped it was for nothing, that they were simply calling to reveal what Sekirei were and to keep it secret, anything other than what he thought. The person's eyes moved beside him, before letting out a hum. "Hoh, number 95, Kuno. You managed to find your ashikabi. I trust your doing well?"

Kuno leaned closer into him, grabbing onto his arm as she did so. "Um, y-yes, professor. I finally found him." She said in a shy tone, though her voice was clear and not as quiet as before. Shirou though, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes a bit. 'Number 95? How many sekirei are there?'

"Professor? So, you're some sort of scientist?" Shirou asked, before looking at the image again. "Wait, no, your appearance looks like the CEO of MBI, Hiroto Minaka." Shirou corrected himself, noticing the man smile confidently at his words, basically confirming his words. "What are you doing calling someone like me? Is my mom okay?" Though, it was a redundant question. He had a feeling he knew why. He just didn't want that to be the case.

The man let out an amused laugh, "Well, at least you know who I am. It's more than I could say for some of the others, and don't worry Minato, Takami is just fine. Now, allow me to answer your question." Shirou's eye twitched at being called Minato. In fact, it made no sense for this person to call him that, since only Takami and Yukari could call him that. Then again, he supposed she may have talked about him at MBI, but still, hearing this guy call him Minato boiled his blood for some reason.

"The 'Sekirei Plan', that's the name of the game you will be participating in." He said, sitting back in his chair as he spoke. However, Shirou didn't much care about that. Only that his earlier fears were correct. His mind flashed, remembering flames, blood, death, destruction, and...'Senp...' Shirou quickly crushed those thoughts, focusing on what was in front of him. "The Rules are very simple. There are 108 freed sekirei, these sekirei shall fight and fight and fight and fight! And the last remaining "Ashikabi" with their sekirei shall be given permission to ascend!" He said, gesturing flamboyantly.

Shirou, however, only felt a cold chill run down his spine. Everything he heard so far sounded like the Grail War, but only worse. The Grail War was fought for a wish, not ascension, whatever that meant. However, if an idiot like this guy was willing to stage a massive battle in a large city for it, then it likely wasn't something small. Just the wording alone bothered him. Ascension didn't sound good to him. He almost wished he was dealing with a mage, since their lunacy usually revolved around the root and their mysteries.

He shook his head. "Fight and Fight? So, a battle royale?" He asked, seeing the man smile in a way that made him uncomfortable. "What are the rules? Surely, you must have set up the necessary precautions for something like this? Is there an overseer or something, maybe MBI? What even is this ascension you're talking about? What do the sekirei have to do with any of this?" He asked, rapid firing his questions, though the man only shook his head while clicking his tongue at him, as if he was a child. Which only grated on his nerves more. This guy didn't beat him into the ground during training enough to earn that right. Only his mentor could do that to him, and maybe Takami, maybe.

"Now, now, Minato, it's too early to tell you all of the details. After all, a game has to be fair to all contestants, so some things will have to wait until you get far enough into the game. Rules are rules, I can't show favoritism, even if you are Takami's son." Minaka replied, causing Shirou to grit his teeth. "Now, of course, this is all very secret, so since you know, you have a responsibility to keep it a secret. Anyone caught releasing information, well, MBI will have to retaliate with all our force and abilities. Now, I have to get going, good luck Kuno, Minato."

"It's Shirou!" Shirou quickly said, just before the phone hung up, his patience with being called that having reached its limit. He closed his phone, before sighing and palming his face with his free hand. He couldn't help but let out a groan. 'This is really bad.' He thought, though he supposed it was good that it was supposed to be a secret. The 'normies', as Caren called them, would be cowed by MBI's threats, so that was a plus. It meant that keeping the organizations from finding out would be a bit easier. He just had to make sure no unknown quantities showed up. As for the game itself, well, he had won the Grail War, he was sure he could win this war too.

"Shirou?" He heard Kuno's voice softly call out, causing him to bring his hand down and look over towards her. She was looking up at him with a guilty and sad expression, one that he felt didn't belong there. "Do you regret meeting me?" He was sure he saw her eyes slightly tear up, causing him to shake his head, before giving her a small smile.

"Of course not, Kuno. Even if this whole thing is ridiculous, I don't regret meeting you." He said in a soft, but reassuring voice that surprised him. She then hid her face in the sleeve of his jacket, amusing him a bit.

"I-I can't fight. I'm w-weak and all I've been good at is crying." She said, her voice a bit muffled by his jacket. Shirou couldn't help but want to comfort the poor girl. If the competition was like Karasuba, then he supposed that it made sense for her to react that way. He was surprised when she looked back up at him, her face appearing more confident. "B-But I'll try my best. I'll do my best for you, my ashikabi." Her arms tightened around his arm, pulling him a bit towards her.

Shirou looked at her for a moment, before letting out an amused huff. "Don't worry, Kuno. If you can't fight, then I'll be sure to protect you. After all, I'm the strongest ashikabi here." He said with a smile, imitating the time when Saber smiled at him so long ago. It appeared to work, as Kuno's face blushed a bit, before she leaned back into his arm. 'I suppose bringing my gear from Fuyuki last month was a good call.' Shirou thought, not noticing that another sekirei had seen him, before quickly running away, noticing a change in their body.

---

Information after that whole debacle came pretty easily. Well, sort of. Kuno was pretty forthcoming with any questions he had. The problem came from the lack of knowledge that she had. Which, in itself, was not a big deal. The basics was more than enough for now. Learning about the different types of sekirei was important, as he only had rough conjectures, so to get confirmation was good. Power types and elemental type sekirei were the most common. Kuno was technically a elemental type, though her power was based more around sound waves from her voice, which is what he heard before finding her.

An ability that may seem weak at first, but if paired with the right partner, was invaluable. Even a second of getting an opponent off guard was enough to decide a battle. There was also some odd rules, like waiting with the body of the defeated sekirei, which seemed redundant if MBI could track sekirei like he thought they could. Really, he only had more questions. Like why this was even happening in the first place. If what Kuno said was true, and he believed her, sekirei were only looking for their ideal partners. So, it didn't make sense to pit them against each other.

He supposed defeated sekirei could be used to power whatever this ascension was, but if that was the case, then why grow them and teach them about the world? It'd be easier to just raise them as cattle. Dark, yes, but it wouldn't make any difference. He supposed that it could be tied to how much they use their powers, but even then, that didn't make sense unless their powers affected the surrounding areas in some way, which they didn't from his knowledge. All in all, nothing about the "Sekirei Plan" made any sense to him.

He would have to investigate on his own. Maybe get in touch with a few people who could get him information from MBI. He had a few contacts that might be able to pull it off. The problem came from if they were in Japan or not, and if they could keep their mouths shut. He felt like he was getting a headache. Thankfully, after stopping by his small apartment, he was able to pick up a few things that would make his life a bit easier. Not to mention, it allowed Kuno to rest somewhere that wasn't uncomfortable or a cafe.

He didn't have much, since the apartment was temporary, but he kept a few things handy. Mainly, black keys, some gloves and boots enhanced with rune thaumaturgy, and a sword. He quickly traced a case to carry it in, since having it out for everyone to see was a big no no. After allowing Kuno to rest and asking a few more questions, he decided to continue his search for another place to stay. Kuno was more than happy to accompany him, despite him telling her she could wait there.

So, the pair wandered throughout the city, checking certain places he had investigated before, but none would really match up with what he needed now. Which was the addition of Kuno. That did remind him, he found that sekirei were rather clingy, or at least that's what he was thinking. Kuno preferred to remain close with him, holding onto his arm, shroud, or even just holding his hand. Feeling the warmth from her wasn't unwelcome, in fact, he found that he felt a bit better when she did so. Considering his "issues", he was surprised by that fact.

"Shirou, what if we don't find anywhere?" Kuno asked him, causing Shirou to hum for a moment.

"Maybe we'll become homeless?" He joked, with Kuno letting out a small 'eep'. Shirou let out a small chuckle, "You don't have to worry about that. We'll find somewhere. If we can't find anything at all, well, I suppose I could give my mother a call. She probably wouldn't mind us staying until we found somewhere." He reassured her, though he was a bit unsure about that, considering Takami was MBI. Plus, he didn't want to bother her with his own problems. Really, he was just reassuring Kuno. It wasn't like they wouldn't find somewhere. The chances of nowhere willing to take them in was so infinitesimally small that it shouldn't even be a consideration.

"I'd prefer to find somewhere that would give us a nice advantage in terms of location. It'll be tough, but I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something." He continued, before noticing more scents around them. Before, he didn't really have to worry about them, but now he'd need to be careful. With Kuno, he'd need to protect her and fight opponents who were likely stronger and faster than a normal human. It definitely wasn't favorable at the moment. Kuno thought herself as weak, and that low confidence needed to be fixed before they'd be ready to fight any tough opponents.

'Guess I'll be playing the role of Mr. Kuzuki in this battle royal.' He thought to himself, remembering how Kuzuki even managed to catch Saber off-guard, despite Saber being highly skilled. "It's getting kind of dark, Shirou. Shouldn't we head back?" Kuno asked him in a small voice. Shirou knew that night was likely to be the most active time for sekirei, so he wanted to patrol a bit. However, his earlier points made him think better of it.

Shirou nodded to her question, but as the two began to head back, Shirou stopped dead in his tracks. 'Blood.' He could smell it, and it was close. As he focused in on it, he noticed it also smelled like a sekirei as well. 'Has there been a battle already?' He thought, noticing Kuno looking at him with a questioning gaze. "Someone's hurt nearby. I'd like to check it out before we head back to the room. Is that alright with you?" He asked, with Kuno looking a bit worried.

However, she seemed to think about it for a moment, before looking back up at him. "Mhm, I wouldn't have found you if you didn't come check on me." She said with a happy tone. "Shirou's a kind person, so we should do what you think is best." She finished, holding onto his hand as she did so. Shirou looked at her with some surprise. 'A kind person?' He supposed from the outside looking in, that was the case. But, he didn't think he was all that kind of a person. Images of blood and corpses flashed through his mind for a moment, before they went away as Kuno squeezed his hand.

"Thank you, Kuno. Be sure to stay close." Shirou told her, before making his way towards the location of the scent. As the pair made their way closer, Shirou noticed what appeared to be a light fog or haze in the area. It was definitely unnatural, even with the weather being rather cold. Still, he supposed it didn't matter. He mentally readied his trigger, in case he needed to protect Kuno.

He could feel Kuno grow closer to him, likely frightened by the strange atmosphere. He had to admit, despite her behavior and general fearful nature, she was quite brave. He had known people to freeze up or tremble uncontrollably when afraid. While she was scared, she seemed to trust that he'd protect her, which surprised him a bit, considering she hadn't known him that long.

Shirou's thoughts on the matter were cut short, his eyes noticing a girl sitting on a bench, her body leaning against the side lazily. Rather, it reminded him of someone who was barely supporting themselves when they were close to death. His eyes were able to pick up that she was wearing a white button up shirt, with a doctor's jacket over it, and nothing else. Her hair appeared to be light brown and he could make out some sort of mark on her forehead.

The clothes had blood on them, which was concerning. He couldn't see any wounds on her, but that didn't mean anything. Not all wounds were physical after all. Considering he had seen similarly dressed women during his time with the church, it led him to a not so happy conclusion. If she was a sekirei, then it only made him feel that much worse for her, considering how they sought to bond with someone.

Actually, he found the thought rather repulsive. He had dealt with many perpetrators of such crimes, yet, when looking at the sekirei in front of him, it sickened him as much as when he found out about... Shirou shook his head, 'Don't go down that road.' He took a deep breath to calm himself, before walking up closer to the woman. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked, she didn't say anything, only responding by looking up towards him with an empty expression.

"Do you need help? I'm sure that I can call someone if you need it. Maybe MBI?" He added, with the woman looking away.

"No. I can't go back. There's nowhere for me to go." She said, her voice remaining rather neutral, or maybe even lifeless. "I'm a failure...Sekirei." She continued, with Shirou reacting to her words. He knew what she was, but he didn't understand why she was considering herself a failure. 'Did her ashikabi die or something?' His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Kuno pulling on his jacket, causing him to turn to look at her.

"Her crest, it's on her forehead." Kuno whispered, with Shirou finally noticing said mark. "I heard about it in the lab. S-Scrapped numbers, who winged themselves." She finished, gripping onto his sleeve a bit tighter. 'Winged themselves? How does that work?' He thought, thinking about what he currently knew about the sekirei. It didn't make much sense to him, especially considering what Kuno had told him about her race.

Winging herself should be impossible, considering how they bonded with humans. If her race had a destined partner who had to be human, then how could it be possible for a sekirei to wing itself? However, what he was able to gather, was that the woman in front of him was depressed and likely traumatized. Without an ashikabi, or being able to have one, then she really was lost in the world. A single being who is an outcast for something out of her control. Shirou took a deep breath.

'A sekirei who can't fight and a sekirei who can't be winged.' Shirou couldn't help but think about how he tended to attract misfits. Then again, he was kind of a misfit himself. Rather, maybe it was more apt to say misfits and broken individuals. A part of him doubted if he'd actually ever be able to be a normal person, even if he wanted to.

Shirou held out his hand to the woman. "Well, Kuno can't fight and is a bit of klutz." He said with a small smile, hearing Kuno let out a strained noise behind him. "As for me, well, I've been told that I was broken a few times." Only a few times, but he remembered them vividly. Mainly because he didn't understand what was broken about himself. The woman looked at his hand, her eyes widening slightly.

"Do you want to come with us? We'll take care of you." 'I'll save you.' The thought flashed through his head as he spoke. 'I won't fail this time.' He eyes looked at his hand, his vision flashing and showing it covered with blood for a moment, before returning to normal. 'All I had to do was offer my hand before. Even if it's one covered in blood, it's better than not doing so.' He thought to himself, remembering the face of a purple haired girl, her features slightly unblurring in his memories.

Her lifeless eyes slowly began to recover their light. They conveyed uncertainty, however, when she looked over at Kuno, whatever doubts she had vanished. He didn't know what she saw, but he was glad that Kuno helped her in some way. She reached up and took a hold of his hand, standing up as she did so. Unfortunately, this left her rather exposed, considering her lack of clothing. He heard Kuno let out a surprised 'eep', before he felt her hands reach up and cover his eyes.

Shirou couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the act. He let go of her hand and quickly took off the coat he had grabbed from his home. 'Giving out another coat. It's a good thing I brought enough clothes.' He thought, before holding it out. "Put your hands through, this will keep you warm." He said, hearing the woman give an affirmative hum, before feeling her put on the coat. Kuno's retracted her hands and quickly ran over and began to button up the coat.

"Warm." The woman stated as Kuno finished. The coat went down just above the girl's knees, which was fortunate. Surprisingly, the girl's rather well endowed body was still noticeable with the coat on, even if it was hidden from sight. 'Why did I notice that?' Shirou shook his head. He noticed the girl didn't have shoes, which was a problem. It was cold out and he didn't want her walking on the ground without shoes. 'I could carry her.' He ran the thought through his head, knowing that his jacket would be long enough to hide her lack of clothing.

"I can't let you walk around without shoes." He said, before before removing and handing his sword to Kuno. He then turned and knelt down. "I'll carry you." The woman looked at him for a moment, her head cocking to the side, before walking up and taking up a position. Shirou then stood, the woman holding onto him. "Kuno, is she still covered?" he asked, with her quickly checking and nodding. "Good. Let's head back home."

As the trio began to walk, Kuno once again stayed close, carrying his sword and checking on the girl every once in awhile. Shirou noticed that she seemed a bit worried about her. He could feel the woman on his back hum for a moment, before he felt her head lean against his shoulder. The trio continued on, more focused on each other than anything else. In their unaware state, they failed to notice prying eyes.

One watching from the rooftops, and the other arriving in a car shortly after and only managing to catch a glimpse of the trio walking away. Though, there was another set of eyes, closely observing them. Her eyes were those of a predator, following her prey.

---

Once the trio reached Shirou's apartment, Shirou went about trying to deal with what he was going to do about the sekirei in his home. He quickly cooked up some food and tea for his guests, not knowing how this was going to work. He sighed, deciding to worry about it later. "Akitsu." The woman said, causing Shirou to look towards the woman. Kuno was sitting in front her, appearing to have asked the sekirei her name.

"Uh, Shirou, could we use your shower?" Kuno asked him. Shirou looked at Akitsu and noticed how dirty she appeared to be. It wasn't just dirt that had accumulated, but also the blood. 'Well, it'll let me get her something to wear in the meantime.'

"Yeah, that's probably best. I'll try and find something for her to wear in the meantime." He answered, with Kuno smiling at his response. Akitsu seemed to understand, as she quickly stood up and undressed. Kuno's eyes widened, surprised by the sudden action. Shirou was also stunned for a moment, before turning away. He couldn't help but slightly blush. It was just common courtesy after all. He may have reacted worse if he hadn't already seen beautiful women naked before, but this was still surprising. Not to mention, Akitsu was stunning as it was.

"You can't just strip out here, Akitsu!" Kuno quickly called out, probably trying to hide her body with something.

"Why?" Akitsu asked, her tone not really changing that much. Shirou wasn't liking that she was comfortable with stripping like that. Either she didn't have a grasp of common decency, and the other option, well he just hoped that it was the first option.

"Um, normally you do that when you're in the bathroom. It's just something that everyone does." Shirou answered, still looking away. "Kuno can explain it to you more while you clean up." He added. He heard Akitsu hum for a moment.

"I see. Understood." She answered, before he heard footsteps make their way towards the bathroom. Once he heard the door shut, Shirou opened his eyes and let out a sigh. 'That was interesting.' He wondered if the other sekirei were like that. Though, he doubted it, considering Kuno seemed normal enough. Then again, considering how close Kuno preferred to stay with him, he wondered if it was just a byproduct of being raised in a lab.

Rather than think on it some more, he decided to head into his room and prepare for the night. "Trace on." He said, activating his circuits. He thought about clothes Akitsu could wear, but he wasn't sure what would fit. He let out a sigh as someone came to mind. He began to trace one of Luvia's dresses. 'A few alterations and it should be fine.' There was other clothes, but he just needed something temporary. 'Tomorrow, we'll go out and buy some clothes, for both Kuno and Akitsu.'

He traced a few other things for when they were done and set them at the foot of the door, informing them of the change of clothes as he did so. Honestly, it was a rather hectic day. Kuno was one thing, but to find another sekirei was almost too much. He was just glad that he was the one who found her. Considering the state she was in at the time, he couldn't help but think that she would have been susceptible to others involved in the plan, among other things he didn't want to think about.

He shook his head, deciding not to worry about it anymore. He proceeded to get changed for bed, deciding to handle things the next day. Akitsu wasn't all that talkative, but from the few things she had told him on the way back, he realized that she hadn't been out in the real world for very long. Any knowledge about the sekirei plan was likewise limited. Information was something that he sorely needed. He looked at his phone, contemplating asking for some assistance from his many contacts.

The one who stood out was Luvia. If there was someone who could help him with some information regarding MBI, it'd be her. There was also the fact that she likely wouldn't spread information about whatever she found either. Of all the mages he knew, Luvia was one of the few that he felt he could trust. There was also Rin, however...it was probably best to think on it some more. Luvia was at the top of the list right now. If nothing changed soon, then he'd have to rely on her assistance.

'Luvia...I wonder how's she doing? I should make some time to call her soon.' He thought, realizing that it was rather late. He couldn't help but think back on how he met her. It was mostly just chance when he thought about. She was going after a sealing designate at the same time that Shirou was ordered to hunt down the heretic mage. She never told him why she was after him, and Shirou didn't ask, but he had to admit that he enjoyed the time he spent with her on that hunt.

Unlike most of his brothers and sisters in the church, he didn't feel the same urge to be hostile to mages who had done no wrong. Luvia was a rare mage in that regard. She was still very much a mage, but she was a good person too. He had made sure to keep up contact with her since then. She was a good contact to have, in regards to the Mages Association, as well as just someone who had influence in the world. Plus, as mentioned, he rather enjoyed spending time with her. A stray thought told him that it was because of her similarity to Rin, however, he paid no mind to it. Ignoring the static that came from those memories.

Shirou sighed, setting up the futons for three people. It was going to be a tight fit, since the apartment wasn't meant for so many people, but it'd be fine for the night. He laid down onto his, relaxing as he did so. He ran through a mental checklist, being sure to make sure he secured everything before going to sleep. Even accounting for the black keys he kept under his pillow. He refused to be caught off guard. He didn't know who he'd be facing in this sekirei plan, but he had to plan like they were people who knew what they were doing, especially since they had beings who outmatched normal humans.

He closed his eyes, deciding to rest for a bit until Kuno and Akitsu got out of the shower. However, he must have been a lot more tired than he initially thought he was, as he felt his consciousness slowly drift away, until finally, he was asleep.

---

Fire filled his line of sight. Bodies burning, both alive and dead, could be seen wherever you looked. High in the sky was a dark hole, an untold number of curses spilled out onto the ground, only adding more fuel to the cursed flames and mud. Anyone who laid eyes upon it would agree, it was hell on earth. The smell, the heat, and the sounds were overwhelming, all a remembrance of a memory forever etched into his being. Static.

The scene changed, once more, a town being burned to the ground. He looked down at his hands, each was covered in blood, as were the holy blades in his hand. He looked behind himself, seeing numerous bodies littering the ground, burning or dissolving into ash. In front of him were people, or rather, the remnants of people who were now cursed to a fate worse than death.

Without hesitation, he cut them down, wielding his weapons in the service of saving many more from this horrible fate. His white hair momentarily regaining the red color of his youth. It was necessary, he understood that. However, the thought that tortured him was, what if he was here sooner? Could he have saved them? He was a failure. He always felt like he was too late. It was because of these thoughts, that he felt empty. Static.

He looked on, a world of blood and death. One entirely foreign to him. Behind him was his own world of blades, yet, in front of him, was this cruel world of death and destruction. Rain fell, only adding to the apocalyptic feel of this strange place. Yet, it didn't feel like the scenes he had seen before, despite the appearance of the scene. It felt more like the aftermath of a grand battle. Where one stood against many, yet, who was it.

His answer appeared in the middle of his line of sight. A woman, one he had seen before. Her long gray hair tied up in a ponytail. Her black short kimono and short dark red skirt easily distinguishable, as well as the grey haori draped around her shoulders. He hated to admit it, but she was beautiful. She turned to look at him, her eyes lighting up as she did so. The smile on her face changing into a smirk. "You've shown me something interesting, Minato Sahashi." She spoke to him, her tone casual and sweet, despite her eyes telling him she wanted to run him through with her sword.

"You don't get to call me that." He replied with a scowl, raising his hand up, a katana in place of his holy weapons from before. Her face seemed to turn into one of surprise, before she let out a happy laugh. She then began to walk towards him, swaying happily back and forth as she did so, before she was in front of his weapon. Her hand came up and grabbed onto the blade.

"Yes, keep up that defiant front. Show me that killer instinct. Show me more of those beautiful eyes of yours." She said to him, her tone slightly euphoric. Shirou's eyes only narrowed more. He really wanted to hate her. "I wish to seem them pointed at me and only me, Shirou dear!" She said, leaning closer to his face. Her eyes flicked from his eyes to the scene behind him. If he didn't know any better, he would have had said he saw her eyes sparkling.

"Maybe you'll get to see it firsthand yourself, Karasuba." He shot back, causing her smile to widen a bit, before leaning back.

"All in good time." Was her simple reply, her bloody hand coming up and lightly stroking his face. He really wanted to hate her, yet, the emotion never came. "After all, you're just like me, yes?" She asked, her head cocking to the side slightly, as Shirou saw what appeared to be black wings emerge from behind her. However, it was only momentary, as they seemed to disappear the next moment, almost like an illusion.

Shirou wanted to reply, however, before he could, her other hand quickly came up and grabbed onto his chest where his heart would be. He could feel her begin to tighten her grip and push into his chest, however, he only kept his eyes trained on her own. Words then filled the air. "I am..." Karasuba's expression seemed to grow more excited as she heard it. "...the bone of my sword."

Before her hand could pierce his chest, or before he heard any more of his aria, he saw a bright light begin to envelop him. It was warm and pure. For some reason, he felt like it was something he was missing, or rather, something he had lost.

---

Shirou was looking up at the ceiling. 'What a weird dream.' He thought, trying to gather himself. 'No, it wasn't like a normal dream. It was similar to the dream cycle, but also it wasn't.' The dream cycle only ever showed memories or things related to the servant. What he saw was different, yet, he couldn't deny that there was something that felt familiar about it.

'Still, why did I have to see that thing in my dream?' He thought, upset at such an idea. However, he decided to worry about it later. He wasn't going to let her get into his head. He noticed that the sun was shining through the windows, meaning he had slept through the night. There were no disturbances, so no one attempted to come after them, which was a plus.

As he was about to get up, he finally took notice of the fact that there was some weight on either side of him. He turned his head to the left and saw Kuno wearing the set of pajamas he had prepared for her. She was tightly hugging his arm against her body, almost wrapping her body around it. Considering her disposition, he figured she might have gotten scared through the night and made her way over towards him for comfort.

Seeing her peacefully sleeping face was rather comforting. He couldn't help but think that she was a rather cute girl. Something about her made him feel warm and comfortable. He couldn't remember really feeling this way before, so it was kind of odd. Still, he enjoyed seeing her like this. She looked happy, the smile on her face was bright and content, telling him just how much she trusted him.

Still, Kuno being there wasn't all that surprising when he thought about it. What was surprising, was what he found when he turned to his right. Akitsu had done the same thing as Kuno, hugging his arm close to her body. The issue was that her body was a lot more well endowed than Kuno's was, as well as the fact that her pajama top was completely unbuttoned. As such, his arm was sandwiched between her rather large, and amazingly soft and warm, breasts.

'I didn't just notice that did I?' He shook his head. He didn't know why his thoughts focused on something like that. He wasn't a hormonal teenager, nor was he unaccustomed to women's bodies. He mentally sighed, deciding not to worry about it. He was just glad that she appeared to be wearing underwear, though he would have preferred if she was wearing the pajama bottoms he put out, but he digressed.

As he was about to try and sneak out of his predicament, he noticed that Akitsu's eyes were open and looking directly at him. He wondered if she had been watching him sleep. "Good morning." She said in her usual tone of voice. Taking a deep breath, Shirou managed to calm himself down from his surprise.

"Good morning, Akitsu." He replied, with Akitsu letting out a hum in response. He couldn't tell for sure, but he had a feeling that she was in a good mood. However, he had a question that needed answering. "Um, Akitsu, why are you and Kuno in my bed?"

Akitsu tilted her head slightly. "We were worried." She stated plainly, looking into his eyes. Shirou quirked a brow, wondering what worried them. "You were restless and looked like you were in pain." She added, likely to clear up his confusion. 'I see. It happened again.' His nightmares would come and go, but they were never as bad as what Akitsu was saying. 'Unless...' He thought about it, before realizing that this might have been a common occurrence that no one told him about.

He didn't freak out as bad when he woke up, because he had woken up with girls beside him before. Caren was the most common one, though the other women in his life would be there sometimes. They always brushed it off with an excuse, or were just natural occurrences expected from the night before, but he realized that they all must have experienced this same thing and never told him. The only question was why?

He felt a strange emotion as he thought about it, before deciding to focus on the current circumstance. "I see. Thank you, Akitsu." He said softly, before looking towards Kuno. "And you too, Kuno." He felt her jolt a bit, before she opened her eyes, looking a little embarrassed. He felt her breathing shift while he was talking to Akitsu, so he was able to guess that she was awake.

"Are you okay, Shirou?" Kuno asked, sitting up while wiping the weariness from her eyes. Shirou simply shot her a small smile.

"Yeah, I've had nightmares before. They come and go. So, I think I'll be fine for awhile." He answered, with Kuno humming a bit, before smiling at him. Seeing it, he couldn't help but look away. He didn't know why, but seeing her smile was rather comforting. Before he could focus on it, Fuyuki flashed through his eyes, causing him to shake his head. 'Right, first things first.' "Uh, Akitsu, why are you dressed like that?" He asked, looking at her and pointing out her lack of clothes.

Kuno must have just noticed, as she let out a strained noise. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed her look down at herself, likely comparing herself to Akitsu with a jealous expression. Akitsu tilted her head a bit, "Ah, I was hot." She replied simply, as if it was obvious. Shirou could only sigh, deciding not to worry about it right now.

"Well, for now, why don't we get dressed and ready for the day. We still have to find a bigger place." Shirou told them, before making his way to his feet. It was the end of the month and he hadn't paid for another, so he really needed to find a new place. He really didn't want to have to pay for another month. That was if the landlord would even let him, considering he now had two female aliens with him. Before he could lament his situation, he saw Akitsu begin to undress in the middle of the room again.

"Akitsu, wait for Shirou to leave the room!" Kuno quickly called out, with Akitsu tilting her head in confusion. Shirou sighed. He was glad that Kuno at least understood common sense. She was a responsible girl, at least, somewhat. Seeing her trip and fall onto the floor as she tried to stop Akitsu caused his image of a responsible girl to fade a bit. 'She really is a klutz.'

---

After changing into his civilian clothes, Shirou made breakfast for everyone. He lamented the fact that he didn't have access to a real kitchen to do. He hated being limited this much, but he was hoping to change that today. Akitsu and Kuno quickly ate what he made, considering what he made was still good. Limited he may be, but his cooking was still fit for a queen. Literally.

He was glad that Luvia's clothes managed to fit Akitsu. Well, after some alteration to it, of course. He was surprised to find out that Akitsu's chest was a bit larger than his friend's was. But, besides that, they matched the girl pretty well. Considering it was just a version of Luvia's usual blue dresses, he supposed it was only fair. Luvia always dressed to impress after all. He looked towards Kuno, who was wearing what she wore the previous day. He had them cleaned through the night, but it still bothered him that she had to wear the same thing again.

'First things first, I have to get them some clothes.' He thought, before nodding to himself. He then noticed Akitsu looking at him intently. "Is something wrong, Akitsu?" He asked, a bit of worry leaking into his voice. Kuno seemed to pause, looking at Akitsu for a moment. However, she then looked towards him too, almost as if she knew what she wanted. She looked down at her hands, before looking back at him.

"Um, Shirou?" Kuno spoke, causing him to look towards her. He noticed her eyes shift towards Akitsu, before going back to him. "I talked with Akitsu yesterday while you were asleep." She continued. Shirou guessed as much, considering Kuno didn't seem all that surprised when she woke up beside them. "I don't want you to get hurt, and w-while I'll do my best to protect you, I know that I-I can't fight." Her eyes seemed to water up a bit, though it seemed she was just upset at herself more than anything.

"I told you that you don't have to do that Kuno." He replied to her softly, causing her her cheeks to redden a bit. However, she quickly shook her head.

"I-I know, but I want you to be safe." She said, her words gaining confidence as she spoke. "So, I asked Akitsu to help protect you. S-She can't have an ashikabi, b-but I told her that you could be her ashikabi!" She finished while bowing her head, her last words being said rather quickly, as if she was scared he would be upset at her. Shirou blinked a few times, before smiling at her a bit. He then looked towards Akitsu, who was still studying him intently. He then looked back at Kuno, who finally brought her head up to see what he would say.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, are you comfortable with me acting as her ashikabi?" He asked her in a soft voice. He wasn't going to toss Akitsu out. He already planned on taking her with them when they left, but if an ashikabi was as important to a sekirei as he thought they were, then Kuno asking this was a really big deal. "Isn't that kind of...odd?" Kuno blinked a few times, before shaking her head.

"It's not common, but it happens." She answered, "P-Plus, I want Akitsu to have an ashikabi." She added, before holding her hands to her heart. "All sekirei should find their destined ashikabi. If you can be her ashikabi, even if only in name, I'm sure it'd make her happy." Kuno then smiled at him. "It'd make me happy too. Akitsu's my friend." She finished, her happy smile still adorning her face.

Shirou was a bit thrown off, considering that Kuno said that 'it wasn't common, but that it happened'. Did that mean that some ashikabi could have more than one sekirei? If that was the case, then that was going to complicate things. One on one battles was what he was accustomed to, not counting dead apostles or mage hunts. Even then, it usually ended in one on one engagements. He contemplated if he should go out and find more, but remembered Kuno's smile when she spoke to him. The bond between a sekirei and their ashikabi was special.

Akitsu was her friend, and the two had likely spoken to each other about the matter in depth, so it was different in that case. Akitsu couldn't react to, or bond with, an ashikabi, so it was more symbolic than anything. It still held meaning, of course, which was the point. A sekirei had to react to and find their destined partner. It was a special connection. So, going out and finding more wouldn't be all that simple, plus, it felt dirty. If someone did that and forced it, then that made them no better than the criminals he hated most. It made them as bad as Shin...static filled his brain, causing him to shake his head. 'I'd kill myself before ever doing such a thing.'

Even if sekirei were inhumans, even if he was trained to kill beings who threatened humanity, they were still made in the image of angels. They were innocent. Forcing a bond like that would dirty their wings. These angels bonded only with their destined ones. Something like that was likely a sin of the highest order. His brain was still filled with static, his mind replaying scenes of a certain person. Replaying what he did to him when he found out. He looked towards Kuno and Akitsu, remembering how he found them. 'I can't allow that to happen.' He decided, such an action was a sin of the highest order. His mind cleared as he took a deep breath.

Kuno appeared to look at him with a slightly worried expression, with Akitsu not appearing to react, though he noticed her eyes slightly downcast. He realized his little episode may have been ill timed. "Sorry, I just thought about something. Um, is this what you want Akitsu?" He asked her, as he still wanted to hear it from her. Akitsu's eyes lit up a bit, before nodding.

"I cannot bare your mark, but I wish to yours. You are warm, kind, and accepting. I cannot have a true ashikabi, but if could, I would want him to be you." She said, in what was the longest sentence he heard from her. He noticed that he didn't have the same flash as he did when Kuno called him that. Though, he also noticed that he felt a bit warm when she said it, which was a bit strange. However, he brushed it off. He put on the same smile he usually did. He noticed Akitsu, and even Kuno, seemingly shift a bit as he did so. "Will you let me be your sekirei?" She asked, moving closer to him.

Shirou looked at her, before looking towards Kuno, who seemed to be watching him closely. 'Kuno said she wanted her to have an ashikabi.' He thought to himself, 'Plus, she said it'd make her happy.' He felt like that was important. He didn't know why, but he disliked seeing her saddened or upset. He had already decided to save Kuno. 'Maybe I could save one more?' When was the last time he had actually been able to save someone? It felt like all he had done before ending up in Shin Tokyo was kill. Kill to save others. While he was in a battle royale, he felt like he could actually save someone. "I will." He told her, resolving himself.

Akitsu's eyes lit up, showing more life than before. "I will protect you both." She stated firmly, before bringing her hands up to his face and placing her lips onto his. He knew it was symbolic, however, he noticed that his magical energy was still syphoned off. Which didn't make any sense. She kissed him for a few seconds, before separating. "Forever and ever." She finished with small smile. Shirou blinked a few times. Her crest was still on her forehead. However, she still drew something from him like Kuno did. It didn't make sense.

He couldn't help but think that something was terribly wrong with Akitsu's mark. However, he didn't have the knowledge to know just what it was. However, before he could ponder on that thought. Someone began to knock on his door. He noticed Kuno flinch, before quickly scurrying over towards him and Akitsu. Akitsu's eyes only narrowed, however, he noticed that it felt colder in the room all of a sudden. He let out a sigh. "I'll answer it. I'm sure it's just the landlord." He reassured them, standing and making his way over.

---

Her ashikabi was broken, like her, like her friend. Kuno couldn't fight, she was a failure, and their ashikabi? His words as he slept were haunting. The wounds they found on his body were even more so, especially over his heart. Then there was his eyes before she kissed him. Their ashikabi was not normal. His eyes looked empty sometimes. Yet, there was untold amounts of pain in them. Pain he didn't notice, or ignored.

Kuno noticed it too, even before they found her. The distant look in his eyes. The guilt they conveyed sometimes. The way he would gaze at certain things. Even his smile, it was practiced. While it may appear genuine to others, Kuno was able to tell because of her bond. She, herself, was able to tell because she had seen it many times on others. Empty. A broken heart. Yet, he stood tall.

No, that wasn't right. They had both seen it, real smiles, real happiness. Genuine warmth in his words. Genuine happiness and kindess in his eyes. It was still there, like with them. They weren't broken, just incomplete. Kuno was brave, she would fight for her ashikabi. She couldn't bear his mark, but he accepted her as his own. He was her ashikabi. Her master may be incomplete, but they would fill what was lost. They had seen it already.

Kuno said so. In the short time she had been with him, she could feel through her bond that he was already different. All sekirei lived for their ashikabi. They were beings of love. If Shirou was empty, if his heart was broken, then they would simply fill that hole and fix what was broken. They would make him happy and fill him with their love, over and over until the end of time. Because Shirou was their ashikabi, forever and ever.

---

The moment the door opened, Shirou only had a moment to react. If his reflexes weren't as honed as they were, he may have actually been taken down. Thankfully, he managed to right himself after taking a few steps back. The cold temperature worsened, only for it to let up a bit, likely noticing that he wasn't in any real danger. He was inwardly relieved that Akitsu seemed to be rather perceptive. "Minato!" He heard his name called out, as his midsection was attacked with some surprsingly strong arms wrapping around him.

He then heard giggling. He couldn't help but shake his head, as he let go of the girl he practically had to catch as she launched herself at him. Said girl being Yukari, his little sister. He thought he had a pretty good idea of what a little sister would be like, considering Caren was kind of a little sister, at least for a small bit of time before she decided to "save" him. 'Nevermind, I don't have any idea what a real little sister is like.' He thought, remembering how Caren was anything but a little sister. Sure, she called herself his sister and would even refer to him as her brother, but he was starting to think that it was just a fetish at this point.

He hated that Yukari and Takami had actually spoken to her before as well. Watching her little act was enough to cause his skin to crawl. Not to mention her and Yukari's little spat and subsequent competition. He knew Caren was only doing it because it amused her, but Yukari was in too deep and was caught in her web. He shuddered to think what Caren put into the poor girl's head. He mentally shook his head free of those thoughts, deciding not to focus on that anymore.

Back to Yukari, she was a rather exciteable girl, but she was rather sweet. Apparently, she still remembered him from when they were young. Memories he didn't have. According to his mother, she was rather distraught when he "died". While she was still young, it did have an affect on her as she grew up. She even refused to believe he was dead for a long time, which turned out to be true. When she was told he was alive, well, her response must have been quite something judging from the look Takami gave him when she told him about it.

When she called him, she tended to talk to him for hours. Rather than annoying, he found it quite endearing. She was determined to be his sister and to have him be part of the family. She was the main one who insisted his memories would return, and had done quite a bit of personal research on the matter. This included actual research, as well as fictional research. Still, it was nice that she was so intent on it. Surprisingly, it was quite easy to interact with her. She reminded of him of some of his friends from school. Still, he wondered what she was doing there. She hadn't called him or anything. 'Though, Takami mentioned her getting accepted into college. Maybe it has something to do with that?'

"Yukari, I wasn't expecting to see you today." He said with as small smile, looking down at his sister. She peeked up at him before standing up on her own. He figured she took more after Takami, considering she actually looked similar to her, minus some differences. He wasn't going to mention what differences. Unlike Caren, this was his actual blood related sister.

She smiled triumphantly. "Well, of course, this was supposed to be a surprise after all. Mom told me how you decided to stay here, so I decided to apply to a college here to be closer to you! She also said you didn't get in this time, so I wasn't going to mention it, but you don't seem upset at all. Which is good, because now we can spend more time together making new happy memories." Shirou let out a small chuckle.

"I heard, congratulations. As for everything else, well, I'm looking forward to it. I wish you could have told me you'd be coming sooner. I was in the middle of looking for a bigger place to live, so what I have here isn't much to look at." He said with a shrug. Yukari simply let out a huff.

"Well then, your totally awesome, real, little sister will simply have to help you out then." She stated while placing her hands on her hips. Shirou couldn't help but sigh. Yukari also had a tendency to add 'real' after little sister ever since talking with Caren. 'I swear Caren, I will get you back for that. Somehow.' He then noticed her do a double take, obviously just now noticing Akitsu and Kuno. "Whoa, who are they?" She said, walking a bit closer towards Akitsu. Shirou raised a brow, before realisation set in. He quickly grabbed her by the back of her collar, causing her to let out a small yelp in surprise.

"No being a pervert to my guests, Yukari. I don't care if they don't mind." He said, quickly shutting down any future response. Takami mentioned that rather odd quirk. It was another reason he refused to allow her around people he knew. He didn't want her freaking them out. Caren was one thing, since they had some sort of weird rivalry going on, but everyone else, no thank you. Yukari let out a grumble at his words, causing him to sigh. "Anyways, this is Akitsu and Kuno." He pointed at both of them respectively, with Akitsu bowing and Kuno waving at her. "This is my little sister, Yukari."

After he introduced them, his concentration was taken elsewhere. He heard them speaking with each other, but he ignored it. A familiar scent caused him to focus outside of his home. A familiar and annoying scent. If it was who he thought it was, he really hoped she stayed away. He couldn't see her, which meant she was somewhere observing him. Why and where were unknown. However, it only mattered that she was. 'Karasuba.' He then thought about his sister. 'Akitsu and me protecting Kuno and Yukari would be a tough battle.' If he could face her somewhere advantageous to him, one on one, he was more confident in his odds. Then he remembered his dream.

'That was just a dream, right?' He thought so at first, but if there was more to it, then it meant Karasuba was watching him for a reason. His eyes scanned the obvious vantage points, the points he would watch from if he was hunting prey. However, he didn't see anything there. He let out a hum, before deciding to step back into his home. If all she wanted to do was watch, then so be it. "Typical voyeur behavior." He muttered under his breath. It was a bit of a joke, just in case she was able to hear him somehow.

"What do you think, Minato?" Yukari suddenly asked, breaking his train of thought. Shirou looked back, seeing her standing by Kuno and Akitsu. He had no idea what they were talking about. Yukari frowned. "You weren't listening." She sighed. "I said we should go shopping. Kuno and Akitsu mentioned they didn't have a change of clothes since you decided to help them out." Shirou was a bit surprised by that. 'Helped them?' He realized that it must have been Kuno who came up with that. Akitsu seemed like that more straight-forward and even somewhat forgetful type.

"Right, I was going planning on doing that today. With you here, it'll make everything a lot easier." He said with a nod. Honestly, he could have done it. He had shopped with women before. However, he also knew that there were some things that women weren't all that comfortable with. Underwear and other female essentials was one of them. Plus, shopping with two attractive girls would have garnered him such unwarranted attention. If he went with Yukari and the two of them, he would just look like some poor soul who got dragged into being their baggage carrier.

"Great! Let's get going. It'll be tons of fun." She said excitedly, though Shirou was sure it was just because she could have an exuse to fondle the two of them. He trusted Kuno to deal with her. Then again, she was kind of shy and cowardly. 'Maybe this isn't as good an idea as I thought.' Just as he thought that, his phone vibrated. He let out a groan, before checking his phone. The three girls began to make their way out of his apartment, led by Yukari. Shirou grabbed his holy shroud and followed along, checking his phone as he did so.

'A text message? Why didn't she just call me?' He thought to himself. Then again, it could be that his mother was in a important meeting or was busy, so she sent him a text message. He wasn't a fan of them, but understood the idea. He quickly began to click away at buttons, before finally opening the message. It was a location and name. 'Izumo Inn?' He wondered. 'Well, if she recommends it, then I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check it out.' He looked up, seeing Yukari smiling while leading Kuno and Akitsu away by the hands. Akitsu had her usual expression, but Kuno had a somewhat embarrassed smile on her face. She looked happy.

"Uh, you guys go on without me. Here." He quickly called out, running up to them. The three looked at him with puzzled expressions. He held out a card to Kuno, who reluctantly took it. "That's my card. Feel free to use it for whatever, there's plenty of money on it." He told her with a small smile. He was never a big spender, neither was anybody in the church really. Most of it was spent on shopping for food, or curry expenditures. Some of which were reimbursed if on a mission.

Thanks to this, he had quite a bit of money saved up from missions and a few other jobs he did on the side. Helping people sometimes required money, so he made sure that he always had some on hand.

Which reminded him to check on his ill acquaintance. He'd likely have to ask someone to tell him where she was, but he was sure that he'd be able to get said information pretty quick. "You're not coming up with us?" Kuno asked, her voice saddened, causing his chest to tighten for some reason.

"Ah, my mother just sent me a recommendation for a place to stay. If it checks out, we can just move our stuff there rather than make two trips back to apartment. After I do that, I promise to meet you all somewhere for lunch." He said reassuringly. He was being honest. "After that, we can do whatever we want for the rest of the day."

"Master, should I accompany you?" Akitsu asked, an expression of hope in her eyes. He noticed Yukari react to Akitsu's words, which he had a bad feeling about. Shirou closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He leaned forward and spoke to her quietly, mainly to make sure that Yukari couldn't hear him.

"Akitsu, I want you to protect Yukari and Kuno, just in case." He then turned towards Kuno. "Kuno, if something occurs, you act as an ashikabi for Akitsu, but keep Yukari safe. If it gets too bad, retreat back to the apartment and have Yukari call me." The two girls looked at him for a moment, before nodding resolutely. Kuno quickly stepped forward, holding the card to her chest as she did so.

"Okay, we understand. B-But, we want you to stay safe too. You're our ashikabi, and I don't know what we'd do if you got hurt and we weren't there." She said with her eyes watering a bit. Once again, Shirou didn't like seeing that. He smiled at Kuno, before ruffling her hair a bit with a chuckle.

"I won't take long, I promise. And if something happens, I'll call Yukari." He reassured them. "Now, go have fun." He then looked at Yukari. "Yukari, be careful. If anything happens, call me." He siad with a small smile, he then turned around and started to walk away. As he did so, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He was also doing this to draw, who he thought was, Karasuba away from the group. He was pretty sure that if she was watching them, then it was likely him she was following. Her scent had faded away by then, but that didn't mean she was gone. If she was good, if she was just hiding, then she'd likely follow.

Besides, he could tell that Yukari was excited to go shopping with them. This just killed two birds with one stone. If the place Takami had sent him was suitable, then that solved that. Yukari taking them all shopping was another thing that solved another problem. He didn't know how strong Akitsu was, but considering what he felt from her when Yukari showed up, he had a feeling that she wasn't weak. He was rather interested in the fact that her power seemed to be centered around the cold, likely ice. He couldn't help but wonder about the other sekirei powers out there.

He needed to find out how strong they were in comparison to magecraft. For all he knew, their powers were weaker than what he had seen from other mages. Though, the opposite could also be true, which wasn't a very happy thought. 'I really hate magecraft sometimes.' He thought to himself, before shaking his head. He needed to focus on his current task. The location for the Inn wasn't all that far from where he was, so that was a plus. There was also the fact that his mother recommended it. Considered what he knew of his mother so far, he doubted she'd send him somewhere that wasn't suitable.

---

Shirou was making his way through the city, only stopping to watch MBI helicopters flying around overhead every once in awhile. Considering what he was now participating in, he was glad to see some sort of presence overseeing the city. It would have been rather disappointing if all of this was going on with no discretion whatsoever. He didn't have high expectations of MBI, so he was pleasantly surprised.

He was also glad that he hadn't seen any kind of news about anything related to the sekirei. Whether it was good cover ups by MBI or not was a miracle. Still, he had to wonder how they handled such things. Considering he had caught the scent of a few sekirei while he was making his way through the city, he couldn't help but think that it wasn't as simple as just covering things up. Honestly, it made him a bit suspicious that magecraft may have been involved. If so, then it would actually be a rather reasonable explanation.

'Unless they have a sekirei specialized in things like that?' He hummed to himself, it was worth thinking about. He still didn't have all that much information on MBI or the sekirei plan in general, so it was mostly just theories. As he walking, he noticed a security camera on a nearby wall. He looked at it out of the corner of his eye, but he was sure that it was following him for some reason. His eyes slightly narrowed, before scanning ahead for any other cameras. 'Am I being watched?'

It was a disconcerting thought. He let out a sigh, before catching three scents that interrupted his train of thought. He looked around, not seeing anyone around the area, which was lucky. He was getting closer and closer to his destination, which was farther from the populated areas of the city, so he guessed that this may be where sekirei focused their time rather than in places with high populations. It would also answer why there weren't many reports of strange occurences. 'They're getting closer.' He was about to drop a few black keys into his hands, but was stopped when he heard a girl's voice call out.

"Watch out!" He quickly activated his magic circuits and reinforced himself, as he looked up and saw someone falling from the sky. She appeared to be falling, which meant she wasn't attacking him. He steadied himself and readied his arms, managing to do it just as she reached him, falling right into his arms. He could feel the force she would have impacted with in his legs, straining them a bit. Luckily for her, and him, he was used to having to catch people in similar manners before.

The girl had her eyes closed, likely expecting to have crashed into him. She slowly opened her eyes, finally noticing that he indeed caught her. He had to admit, she was very beautiful. In fact, she was similar to Akitsu when it came to the body. 'No, I think this girl is a bit more filled out on top and bottom.' He thought, noticing the difference, mainly because of how she was dressed. 'Did I seriously just check her out? What is wrong with me?'

She was wearing what appeared to be an outfit for a shrine maiden, but considering some of her clothes, and pink color, didn't exactly line up with a traditional shrine maiden, he felt it was more of a outfit that evoked a shrine maiden more than anything. Plus, there was the combat gloves she was wearing. She had short brown hair framing her face with a waist length ponytail in the back, and pretty brown eyes to complete her look. Honestly, he didn't know what to do or think anymore. 'Girls falling from the sky? What's next? I'm going to get struck by lightning?' He thought sarcastically.

"Thanks for saving me." She said with a bright smile and happy voice. Shirou couldn't help the redness from appearing on his cheeks from her words. "I knew that was too high to jump from." She added, her tone sounding a bit annoyed. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at her words. He gently lowered the girl back down onto ground where she could stand. She was a head shorter than he was at present.

Seeing her like that, it made him dislike MBI even more. The cute creature in front of him shouldn't be forced into a death match against her fellow sekirei. "Are you okay, miss?" He asked, hiding the annoyance he was feeling at MBI. The girl looked herself over. Before smiling at him again. It appeared the girl was all smiles all the time. A naturally happy girl.

"Yes, I'm combat ready!" She answered with a little salute. Shirou let out an amused huff as he smirked at the girl. "I'm number 88, Musubi!" She introduced herself cheerfully.

"It's nice to meet you, Musubi. My names Shirou..." before he could continue his introduction, his body moved on instinct, moving himself in front of Musubi and pushing her away while keeping himself in between her and what was about to hit him. He brought his arm up as he did so, managing to activating the sacraments he had on his jacket, just before he was struck.

He grit his teeth as he felt the familiar feeling of lightning magecraft hit him. The moment it struck him, his mind flashed back to when he assisted Ciel in putting down Roa for good. His lightning magecraft was no joke. This lightning wasn't as strong, but it was still impressive, especially the slight explosive power it had that broke the sidewalk and ripped apart his right sleeve.

'Arm's not broken. Sleeve's wards took most of the brunt, but my arm's quite numb. I can still work with this.' He thought, dropping a black key into his non-injured hand. "Shirou, are you okay?!" He heard Musubi call out with worry. His eyes were focused on where the attack came from, which was two twin looking sekirei, dressed in some rather immodest leather attire.

'Two opponents. Had three black keys in each sleeve. One sleeve was destroyed. My sword isn't with me. My jacket has ten spares, two mystic code flash bombs, and my first aid injector. The last one is useless right now. I have Musubi behind me against two assailants with lightning abilities. Exact physical and combat capabilities unknown. Fight or flee?' He then noticed the look on the twins' face. It was clear they didn't mean to hit him, but they also were unsure of how he was still standing despite being caught in their attack.

"Get out of the way, idiot! This doesn't concern you." One of the twins called out, causing his eye to twitch. 'They just hit me with lightning and I'm the idiot? What if it was an innocent civilian?' "And you quit hiding and fight us already!" The blue one called out again, this time talking to Musubi.

"I'm not fighting anyone yet. Not until I find my ashikabi." Musubi answered from behind him. 'They're attacking a sekirei without an ashikabi? Is there a reason behind that other than wiping out the competition quicker? Is there a special reason why an ashikabi is needed? I thought they were just meant to be their partners. Like a master and servant.' He was beginning to think there was more to the bond than just needing a partner to participate in the plan.

Then again, it wasn't to participate in the plan. The plan seemed to be geared around the sekirei having an ashikabi. He almost sighed. He really needed to find someone who could answer all these questions he had. "You heard her. I suggest you both turn around and return to your master. You're lucky there were no bystanders around this time, so I'll let it slide. But if you insist on coming after her..." He readied his black keys in his hands.

'The feeling in my arm should return in three seconds.' The twins actually seemed surprised by his unspoken threat. His arm went back to normal as the blue twin was about to speak again, however, he wasn't going to let that happen. He quickly threw two black keys aimed at the twins' feet. They appeared like black stakes, the design he took from Noel's version of her black keys. They were easier to store and even easier to explain, as he could just say they worked like collapsible batons.

Not that they'd be able to check after he dematerialized them. Using the same motion as his throw he reached into his jacket and quickly grabbed one of the flash bombs. It appeared like a small vial of liquid, with a string of crystals hanging from the lid. He passed magical energy into the vial and quickly tossed it into the air. He turned, not waiting to see their reaction and grabbed Musubi's hand before running the other way.

After a few steps, he saw the bright flash from the mystic code going off, as well as the sound of the twins' eyes being blinded, rather, it was them screaming from the flash blinding them. They'd be fine. They were designed not to cause permanent damage, in case an ally was accidentally affected. Still, it wasn't pleasant. He then noticed that Musubi had no issue with keeping up with him.

He figured her kind was faster than humans, but even his reinforced speed should still have been pretty fast. To see her keeping up with his running was actually a pleasant surprise. It meant that Akitsu and Kuno were likely similar, at least to an extent. 'Actually, I wonder about Kuno.' He thought with a wry smile.

---

The pair ran pretty far, before finally stopping. He made sure he ran towards the location of his destination, mainly for convenience. However, it seemed they had managed to lose their pursuers. Though, he noticed Musubi's face and complexion beginning to mirror Kuno's when he first met her. Which was very concerning. "Uh, Musubi, are you okay?" He asked, with Musubi looking at him, before she began to fall towards him.

"Whoa, hey, what's wrong?" Shirou once again questioned, catching her as he did so. He heard her let out a groan, before hearing her stomach growl. 'So, she's just hungry?' He thought with a relieved sigh. It did somewhat resemble Kuno when he met her. He looked around and noticed a ramen stall a little bit farther down the road. 'It'll have to do.' He had some cash on him, so it wouldn't be a problem.

At least, that's what he thought. Musubi was eating as much as a servant. Gil often ate a lot, though he thought that was more just indulging in food simply because. Saber enjoyed tasting all the different kinds of food the modern world had to offer. He remembered ice cream being her favorite. Looking at Musubi's excited face as she ate actually reminded him of Saber's face when she first tasted ice cream.

A small smile creeped onto his face from the memory. It was a nice reminder. "Thank you so much for saving me, Shirou. Also for feeding me. I've been super hungry for awhile, but I lost my MBI card when I was looking for my ashikabi. Then those two mean sekirei started chasing me when I went back to look for it. But, I couldn't fight them without my ashikabi so I started to run and jump in the direction I felt he could be."

She was speaking rather quickly, so he wasn't all that worried about anyone hearing her, plus, she was actually being quiet. So, that was good. He looked over towards the chef, who seemed preoccupied with making more ramen. As he did so, Shirou noticed a MBI insignia on a sign in the stall. It was suspicious.

"Then you saved and protected me! Now, you're even feeding me." She continued, as Shirou just listened. The girl seemed to have had a rough time since leaving MBI's care. He actually felt a little sorry for her. "I wish I could have an ashikabi like you." She said in a soft and quiet voice. However, he heard it. Hearing it actually made him feel a little bad. The again, he didn't think he was all that great of a person.

Kuno and Akitsu seemed to think so, but he was sure that had to do with Kuno bonding to him and Akitsu not being able to have an ashikabi. In reality, he wasn't a good person. He lived by the teachings of god, followed the words of the Bible, but he was also an executor. That wasn't counting all his past failures and sins. Honestly, he couldn't understand why Kuno reacted to him. He didn't deserve...he then noticed Musubi stop talking.

As he was stuck in his thoughts, he noticed Musubi leaning in close to his face, her cheeks red and her eyes slightly glazed over. He didn't understand what was happening. How was she reacting to him, and why? Plus, there was a bystander close by who...he looked over and noticed said chef was now gone. 'What?' He tried to lean back away from her, but only ended up falling from his chair, with Musubi following suit, landing on top of him.

"My body keeps getting gotter." She breathed out, moving closer towards his face. 'It's not common, but it happens.' Kuno's words replayed in his mind. He remembered what happened with Kuno when she reacted to him. Though, this seemed a lot different from Kuno. If he analyzed what Musubi said earlier, then it meant that she felt the general direction he would be in. Yet, this seemed a bit more aggressive than Kuno's reaction. He felt her hands rest against his face as she sat on top of him on the ground. As it was, he couldn't really move.

"My ashikabi..." She whispered, her lips not far from his own. He was about to push her away, but remembered Kuno and Akitsu. Kuno said that she wanted all sekirei to find their destined ashikabi. He then imagined what would happen if he did that. What if someone else came and tried to force her to be their sekirei? Considering how bright and happy the girl was, he couldn't imagine such a fate befalling her. Before he could continue thinking, Musubi's lips pressed against his. Pink wings of light burst from her back. Once again, Shirou couldn't help but think about how beautiful they appeared to be. They really were angelic beings.

Her lips slowly parted from his, as her wings then dissipated. "Forever and ever." She sighed happily, a content smile on her face. "I finally found you, my ashikabi!" She then reached down and hugged him tight, with some pretty surprising strength. Though, it wasn't too bad. He still remembered a time where he had been hugged and had his ribs broken. 'Actually, I think that was twice.' He thought with a wry smile. "I'll fight really hard for you, Shirou! I'll make sure we both survive, so we can ascend together!" She said excitedly. 'Ascension. That again.' He didn't know what it meant, but everytime he heard it, he got an uncomfortable feeling.

"That's great, Musubi. Though, I should tell you that I'm already the ashikabi for two sekirei." He explained, with Musubi looking at him with a tilt of her head. She then looked around, likely looking for them. "They're not here right now. They're with my sister, shopping for clothes." Musubi then looked back towards him.

"Oh, I see! Well, I look forward to meeting them! You must be a really strong ashikabi to already have two sekirei. With all three of us protecting you, I'm sure we'll be able to win the sekirei plan." She started to speak really quickly, though he was a bit thrown off by what she said. He wanted to ask her more questions, but he didn't want anyone to overhear them on accident. Let alone the ramen stand guy, who conviently reappeared. Shirou's eyes narrowed, noticing the man had some more ingredients, yet, it felt a bit unnatural.

"Musubi, remember we're supposed to keep this a secret. It's best we not talk about it in public." He whispered to her, with Musubi covering her mouth with her hands.

"Right, I forgot." She replied with a weak laugh. Shirou sighed, realizing this girl was likely an airhead. She also seemed rather gung-ho about the sekirei plan. 'Well, at least that means I have frontline fighter.' If Akitsu was an elemental caster type, then it was good that Musubi was a fighter type. With the sekirei caring about protecting their ashikabi, then having a partner with him as he fought would likely alleviate that worry somewhat.

"Um, do you mind letting me up? I still have to pay for the food." Musubi looked down at him, before realizing their position.

"Oh, yeah, I can do that." She said, before quickly hopping to her feet. Shirou raised a brow at her actions. She seemed very different from Kuno and Akitsu. Once again, he couldn't help but think that he was attracting odd sekirei. Rather than focus on that, he quickly did as he said, though he was sure to watch the man's actions closely. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but that was what was bothering him. "So, what are we going to do now, Shirou? Oh, are we going to meet up with the others?"

Shirou shook his head. "Not yet. I was in the area because I was looking for a place to stay. I want to finish doing that before heading back." He told the girl, as the pair began to walk away.

"I see. Um, are you sure you're okay, Shirou?" She asked with a worried tone. Shirou looked at her with a puzzled expression, before seeing what she was looking at. His arm had some minor cuts and burns, though he realized that it would likely worry a person not familiar with such injuries. They were relatively minor, so he didn't really notice them until she pointed it out.

"Right, I should probably cover it." He replied to her, before taking his shroud and using it to bandage his arm. As he was doing so, he realized that if it bothered Musubi, then it should have bothered the ramen stand owner. 'The MBI logo. Mental interference? Hypnosis?' He thought with narrowed eyes. He thought it was a set up from MBI for passing sekirei and ashikabi to eat at. It still may have been tied to MBI, but it was clear that the owner was under some sort of mental interference spell. Enough to make him ignore or leave the area when sekirei started talking about certain things. The idea that there was a spell that specific was weird, but not all that uncommon. What bothered him was that this meant that magecraft was involved in the city.

The question was, were they with the Association or were they freelance? The thing was, it made no sense if that was true, considering what the sekirei were. Mages would definitely kill their children if it meant getting a hold of even one sekirei. Yet, he hadn't noticed any signs of mages in the months he had been in the city. He had to imagine that they were set up in the MBI headquarters, if there were some. There was also the chance that this was done with technology, so he couldn't discount that idea. 'I have to make some calls soon.'

If there were mages, he'd have to plan accordingly. Though, this also led him back to MBI. If MBI was a mage funded or occupied company, then it was really going to complicate his already complicated life. Still, he had to think about what to do with the sekirei. From what he could see, the sekirei weren't a danger to humanity. They could function in society and blend in with no complications, if they were taught well. The church could work with that. The fact that they had angelic characteristics would either help, or complicate matters, but it was still an idea.

As long as they weren't infectious like dead apostles, who the church viewed like a disease that had to be removed root and stem, then he had a feeling he could make it work. 'Ugh' He felt like he was going to have a headache. It had only been a few days, and yet, he had no idea what was going on. He needed information, and he needed it soon.

---

Shirou and Musubi soon found the location of the Inn Shirou was looking for. Shirou decided to focus on the current problems, before moving on to the other issues. For all he knew, he was overthinking everything. He was praying that was the case. Still, he was quite happy when he finally reached Izumo Inn. If things worked out, then he'd have solved one of his main issues. The problem, he could smell three signatures within the Inn. It was enough to cause him to stop in his tracks, with Musubi being pulled back by his sudden stop.

"Shirou? Why are we stopping?" She asked him. He was going to reply with what he noticed, but didn't feel like explaining how he knew that. He looked down at his hand, noticing that Musubi hadn't let go since they started walking. Considering Kuno and Akitsu's behavior, he wrote it off as their usual clinginess, but it still made him think about his sekirei and their safety. Considering there were three other sekirei in the Inn, he had to consider the saftey of his group. He then remembered who sent him the location.

He felt like he had a pretty good idea of what kind of person his mother was. She was rather protective of her children and had the obvious maternal love a mother should have for her children. So, he couldn't imagine that she would send him somewhere that was dangerous. Then he remembered that she worked for MBI. Meaning that she likely knew about this Inn and who was in charge of it. Which likely meant that she sent him here for a reason. If they could track sekirei, then that might also mean they know about their ashikabi, so maybe she sent him here because she trusted the people in the Inn.

It was the only conclusion he could come to, considering he couldn't imagine his mother wanting any harm to come to him. He took a deep breath, before shaking his head. "It's nothing Musubi, I was just collecting myself." He answered, before beginning to walk again. He noticed the sign on the gate in front of the house, announcing that they had rooms available. "Trace on." He whispered, activating his magic circuits, just in case. If it turned out to be dangerous, then he would fight. The pair walked through the gate and up to the front door. A small sign read, "Izumo House."

He knocked on the door and waited. Musubi was looking around at the rather large house, likely in awe since she was raised in a lab. The door then open to reveal a beautiful woman in some traditional Japanese clothes, rather, a kimono and hakama. In fact, she reminded him of Saber and the clothes she wore when not fighitng, only the colors were purple rather than pink. She had long purple hair, which wasn't all that strange, Ciel had dark blue hair, plus there was Saku...He had seen all kinds of colors of hair before. What was strange, was the feeling he got from her.

Her scent, but also her aura, radiated a quiet strength that was far greater than any sekirei he met so far. The scent of blood was also noticeable on her, though it was more subdued than Karasuba's was. Still, he felt this woman was far more dangerous than Karasuba. He kept himself from reacting, calming himself after she opened the door. She was strong, but she wasn't Saber, or even close to Gil, but still, it was impressive.

Shirou quickly snapped out of his thoughts. "Uh, sorry for intruding, but we saw the sign in front of your house. My apartment only allows a single occupant, so I wanted see if I could maybe rent a room or two?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head. The woman seemed to inspect him and Musubi, her eyes lingering on his bandaged arm. He had a feeling that she knew what Musubi and him were. She gently smiled at the pair.

"I see. You appear to have had a rough time recently. Come inside and we can discuss it further." She said in a gentle voice.

---

Decided to end this here, mainly because of how long this is already. It was an idea that was stuck in my head and I ended up just writing it. It was fun and I'm not sure if you'll want to read more of it, but if you do, I'll add more. I wanted to add my own spin, so I made Shirou be an executor. His issues are slightly different from canon Shirou, obviously, but I wanted this to be a story where he slowly heals while trying to save others, since he feels like he's a failure in that regard, for multiple reasons I hinted at. I like the sekirei Manga and wanted to make my own crossover for awhile, then I read the first eight chapters of In Flight last week and it only made me want to do it more. So, that's what this is. We'll see if I do more. Like I said, if people want more, I'll do more. Anyways, this was something I had for awhile, so I'm just deciding to release it.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading it. It was fun to work on. 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.