Fate: Hammer Time

by TedTheRabbit

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

8. Follow the Trail

Follow the Trail

---

Shirou was about to reach an important milestone in his efforts to rid Fuyuki-City of most of its criminal elements.

He had been running around his hometown for two weeks now, taking down gangs wherever he went, and he was very glad to say that he'd be apprehending the last gang of the city that very night, just in time before school would begin.

Yes, he was completely certain of it. The gang he was targeting now truly was the last one in the entire city. Once it was removed, only the Fujimura-clan would be left out of all illegal enterprises that had been present before Shirou took up the mantle of the vigilante.

The location of the gang was already known to him, and all preparations had been made. All that was left was to strike the gang down and end its corrupting influence on the city forever.

Of course, new gangs would be moving in soon, not to mention there were plenty of evildoers in Fuyuki-City that weren't affiliated with a gang of any kind, such as muggers and burglars, as well as crooks that focused on fraud, laundry, or extortion, but defeating the last gang was still a great milestone to reach.

Not that he was planning on taking it easy after that of course. There were many more cities and other places out there that needed his help after all.

Before he could start travelling however, there was one other matter in Fuyuki-City that he needed to deal with, something that could very well throw all of his plans into disarray.

The matter of the criminals smelling like Magecraft.

During his nightly missions, he had found more and more of these criminals as he attacked gang after gang, all of them carrying traces of spells and Enchantments, and eventually, he'd been able to draw two conclusions.

The first conclusion was that there were five distinct smells that kept coming back, which, most likely, meant that there were five people (beings?) involved in the matter.

The second conclusion was that whoever was behind this, they had been at it for a long time. Shirou had been able to roughly estimate when each crook had come into contact with Magecraft, and his estimates told him that this whole business had been going on for years. Some traces were almost eight years old even.

Something big was going on, and Shirou didn't like at all that it had taken him this long to even catch wind of it. He didn't believe for a moment it was something benign, which meant he had to put a stop to it as soon as he possibly could.

Looking back, it had been a mistake not to interrogate the criminals smelling like Magecraft the moment he'd discovered them. Just taking one aside for a few minutes would have been child's play back then. Now they were out of his reach however, unless he wanted to break into prison or the police-headquarters.

As he had absolutely no wish to visit either of those places, Shirou hoped that he would encounter another person smelling like Magic tonight, so that he could interrogate them. If there wasn't such a person though, he would be forced to break in anyway.

It wouldn't really be difficult, as the police of Fuyuki-City was of subpar quality and he had his Magecraft, but he'd rather avoid it nevertheless.

Better cross his fingers and hope for the best.

But it wasn't evening yet, it was only afternoon, and that meant Shirou was working on something completely different from his vigilantism.

'And then some herbs to finish it. Yes, this should make for a good meal to celebrate the end of the holiday.'

Shirou placed the herb-mixture he had just found into his shopping cart, next to the many other foodstuffs and other items he had already placed in there. He was currently wrapped up in one of the most important tasks of the day, doing groceries, and so far, it had been going rather well.

As he intended to make dinner extra special tonight, he'd been visiting various specialty shops and stores to buy the ingredients he needed, which meant it took longer than usual, and also cost quite bit more than it normally did.

That didn't matter though; it was for a good cause.

The good cause being that he wanted to throw a small party tonight with the important people in his life. Partially to celebrate the milestone he'd reached in his vigilantism, but also to mark the end of the break and to announce the beginning of the second half year of the schoolyear.

He feared it wasn't going to be a very busy party though. He had invited Sakura and Taiga of course, and he had added Issei to the list as well, with the intention of strengthening their budding friendship, but that was pretty much it.

Shirou did not exactly have a lot of friends. At his school, he was considered somewhat weird among his peered group, with his disposition to be helpful to anyone, including the teachers. A large part of his time at school was spend repairing school equipment in fact, and most of the other students just saw him as a suck-up or a doormat because of it.

Shirou didn't mind though. It was probably for the best even that his peers did not befriend him, as he was generally much too busy chasing after his dream to be a good friend. A friendship wouldn't last long if you never really interacted with each other after all.

He was perfectly content being friends with just Sakura, Taiga, and Issei; he didn't need anyone else, even if he would have liked it if he could have invited a few more people tonight.

In order for that to happen though, he would have to walk into someone before this shopping trip was over, start up a conversation with them, and immediately hit it off with said person enough to invite them to his house. The chances of that happening were pretty close to zero.

Mentally shrugging his shoulders, as there was nothing he could do about that, Shirou put the matter of friends aside. There was no use being hung up about things he couldn't change. He should focus on the things he could change instead, such as the quality of tonight's dinner.

Shirou would be damned if he served his guests anything sub-par, so he was going to give his all to make it the most splendid meal he'd ever cooked.

With Sakura's help of course, as the purple-haired girl had practically demanded of him that morning that she'd be allowed to help, and Shirou, not about to test Sakura's mood, had promised that he'd wait for her.

Yes, it meant that a guest would be helping the host with the party, but Shirou had long since accepted that that was how it worked with Sakura. That girl was surprisingly forceful when it came to helping others.

He wondered where she'd learned that…

"!"

Mjolnir suddenly gave of a warning signal in his mind, practically screaming in alarm, and Shirou, who had just left the last shop and was on his way home, stiffened in shock.

He didn't allow himself to be surprised for longer than a single moment however, and then quickly looked around for the threat, but to no avail.

He then tried asking the hammer what was going on, but it didn't answer him. It just kept sending out warnings that something was approaching, not even hinting at what, who, when, or how. All it did was panic.

Puzzled by this uncharacteristic behaviour, Shirou kept his guard up, staying vigilant despite the lack of visible danger. He didn't stop walking though, but kept going at the same pace as before, pretending to have noticed nothing.

He meticulously kept his Circuits and the mysterious power dormant, so no Magical Energy or other kind of power would leak out and alert any onlookers to his true nature, but also on stand-by, ready to be activated in a fraction of a second in case something did in fact attack.

He then meticulously scanned the area again, with his eyes and his nose, but again found nothing.

Yet Mjolnir insisted with infuriating certainty that something was coming for him, and that he should start running at once.

Not knowing what else to do and deciding to trust Mjolnir not to lead him to danger, Shirou increased his pace as much as he could without looking suspicious and reached the end of the street in barely any time. With the same considerable speed, he rounded the corner…

…Only to collide head-on with someone else running in the exact opposite direction.

Once more, Shirou was caught off guard, but when Mjolnir suddenly stopped panicking and insteadstarted radiating greatly amused and satisfied feelings, he realised the hammer had played a prank on him.

Needless to say, Shirou was flabbergasted. Not just because a Divine, otherworldly weapon had played a prank on him, but also because the prank was objectively not funny.

He had been running when he had come around the corner, and from what he had perceived from the other person, so had they, meaning their inevitable collision had been very forceful.

Normally, they both would have bounced of each other and fallen back, or one of them would have delivered more force and would have fallen forwards on top of the other, like in some kind of anime.

Shirou's strength, durability, and fortitude allowed him to take the blow of the impact with ease though. He did not even stagger, nor did he have the wind knocked out of him.

He did come to an immediate stop, but that was because he had halted himself. All things considered, he was fine.

The same couldn't be said for the other person however.

They had been knocked back by the collision and had fallen backwards onto the unforgiving ground. Judging from the harsh gasp Shirou had heard when they came down, they had gotten the wind knocked out of them.

He just hoped they hadn't been hurt too much. If they had landed in a particularly unfortunate way, they might have a heavy concussion or even a cracked skull.

Fearing the worst, he stepped towards them to help them in any way he could.

They turned out to be a girl of about his age, with brown hair, brown-yellow eyes, a build that was typical for a Japanese schoolgirl, and a face that was far above average in terms of beauty. She was still panting hard to get some air back into her lungs, remaining sprawled out on the ground, flat on her back, but she didn't seem concussed and there wasn't any blood anywhere. As such, he held out a hand to help her up.

"I am so sorry." He apologised, partially for his own actions, and partially for Mjolnir's, whose fault it was that they were in this situation in the first place. "I should have watched where I was going. Are you okay?"

The girl on the ground looked up at him, blinked a couple of times with an expression of confusion on her face, and then huffed.

---

Mitsuzuri Ayako was walking peacefully down the street, her steps calm and confident, with her head firmly stuck in the clouds.

She was just on her way home from her martial arts training and saw no reason to hurry, as there was no one waiting for her at home anyway. Her parents and her younger brother Minori had been out of town for the past two days, and they wouldn't be back for another day or so.

Ayako was perfectly fine with that. She was old enough to take care of herself, and she didn't even have to worry about school, because it was a holiday. Food might have been a problem, as Ayako was not a great cook to say the least, but her mother had prepared several meals before she left, so all Ayako had to do to get herself dinner was to put those pre-prepared meals in the microwave for a few minutes.

Her mother hadn't been very happy with leaving Ayako with only microwave-meals however, and had suggested she'd try to eat with her friends, perhaps even arrange a sleepover.

That was going to be difficult however, as Ayako didn't really have any friends whom she was close enough with for a sleepover, and she sure as hell wasn't going to ask casual acquaintances for such a thing.

Well, in all honesty, she did have one friend she might be close enough with for a sleepover, but that friend's family sucked big time, so Ayako hadn't even tried asking her. The only sleepover that would happen between them was that friend staying at Ayako's house, and something told her that was not what her mother had in mind.

That left her without options though, as her friend list was painfully short, so she would have to be content with a microwave-meal.

It was pretty much her own fault anyway. Ayako knew she wasn't the easiest person to get along with, with her out-going personality and exuberant behaviour, and she'd never cared enough about making friends to try and change herself.

Why would she? It seemed frankly ridiculous to her that she would force herself to fit some kind of mould, just to hang out with people who were also forcing themselves to fit the mould. Like, what? They could all be miserable together, was that the idea?

The only one she really got along with, the friend with the... less-than-ideal family, was a girl who was one year below her at school; one Matou Sakura.

They had waved to each other once in a hallway of their school, after their eyes had met by coincidence during their walk to their respective classrooms, before they had found each other again during the break, when they'd tried to sit down in the same chair and had collided with each other. Since then, a tentative friendship between them had formed. At least, Ayako considered the sweet girl a friend, and she hoped the feeling was reciprocated.

Too bad though that Sakura's brother was so difficult.

Matou Shinji was a... peculiar person. He wasn't really bad, but he was definitely unpleasant to interact with. Most of the school didn't seem to notice it, but he just seemed so grating to Ayako. She didn't know if he meant to come over like that, but it surely was annoying.

Ayako truly couldn't see how Shinji and Sakura could be related, so distinct were the differences between them. Was Sakura adopted or something? She'd almost think so if it wasn't for the hair and the eyes.

"HONK!"

"EEP!"

Ayako was violently roused from her thoughts by a car only narrowly missing her, and she almost fell backwards before she managed to steady herself at the last second.

"Be careful, dear." A nearby middle-aged woman said in a false-kind voice, giving a smile that seemed more like a sneer, the look in her eyes indicating that she was greatly enjoying Ayako's distress. "If you don't look both ways before crossing the street, you might get run over."

It wasn't even a funny remark, yet everyone within earshot still giggled or smirked to an extent, some of them enjoying seeing someone be humiliated, others just being happy it wasn't them.

Ayako's ears burned in embarrassment, and she quickly turned away from the onlookers to hide the fact her cheeks were getting red as well. She then crossed the street the very moment there was a gap in the line of cars driving by, and quickly marched away from the scene.

Once she was out of their sight, Ayako increased her pace even more, until she was all but sprinting towards her home, the bag on her back bouncing with every step. Her mood had been thoroughly ruined by the incident, and she wished to return home as soon as she could.

In her haste, Ayako didn't slow down when going around a sharp corner, nor did she look around it to check if there was someone coming from the other side. It occurred to her half a second too late that not looking might not have been the wisest course of action, especially considering what had happened a minute before.

Indeed, upon rounding the corner, she collided face-first with a... wall? Something that did not fall over or stagger, like a person would have done, but instead remained on its place even after she ran into it at full speed.

As one might expect, she bounced off said wall in quite a spectacular manner and landed flat on her back. Fortunately, her bag was both small and soft, containing her uniform, or it would have been murder on her back. She also managed to keep her head from slamming on the ground, thank God.

The air was completely knocked out of her though, and she had to gasp for breath for a few moments before she could think properly again. Her sight was blurry, and her head spun slightly, but she could see some kind of shadowed object standing before her, which was probably the wall she had run into.

She reached up to rub her head, only to find, to her shock, that she didn't have a headache.

But that was impossible! She had slammed into a wall, head-first! Her head should have been hurting like hell. It wasn't the first time she had run into something, and there had always been a headache afterwards.

Then again, this particular wall was softer than any other wall she'd ever run into. Not soft like a pillow or a rabbit or anything, but still far, far softer than bricks were supposed to be. Needless to say, she was confused.

She got even more confused when the wall suddenly started moving from its place, coming closer and leaning over her. Surprise turned to outright shock when the wall(?) started to talk.

"I am so sorry, I should have watched where I was going." It said, regret and concern clear in its voice, and then it offered her a hand. "Are you okay?"

Ayako lifted her head to properly look at the object, blinking a few times to get rid of the blurriness. When her sight had cleared again, she finally realised the wall she had run into was in fact not a wall at all, but a person.

"Huh…" She huffed, lifting an eyebrow at the surprising discovery, before she grinned and gladly accepted the offered hand.

"I'm fine, no need to apologize." She assured him, before marvelling at the ease with which she was lifted back onto her feet, like she weighed nothing. "I wasn't paying attention either, so I guess we were both at fault here."

The boy smiled at her response, though the concerned look didn't disappear entirely, and Ayako found she massively preferred this kind of response to the mocking laughter she'd received after the previous incident.

She quickly looked him over. He was quite tall for his age, which she guessed was close to hers, with red hair, golden eyes, and quite a handsome face, which became even more handsome when he smiled. He was wearing loose-fitting clothes though, so she couldn't say anything more about him than that.

Realising he was speaking again, she quickly focused on his words instead of his looks.

"Good, that's good." The boy said, rubbing the back of his head. "When you fell down like that, I was worried you might have gotten hurt."

"Now that you say it, I did bounce quite spectacularly, didn't I?" Ayako laughed, and yes, that was okay, because she was laughing about herself, and that was allowed. "You must be really tough to send me flying like that."

As far as she'd seen, he hadn't even been staggered by the collision. She had even thought him a wall for almost a minute, that was how solid he was.

"Ah, not really. I just train a lot, that's all." He answered, looking down in slight embarrassment.

Yeah, no, that was definitely not all. Ayako also trained a lot, and it had still been her who was knocked over in the collision, not him. Unless he was some kind of fitness-freak, something had to be going on.

"My name is Emiya Shirou." The boy, Shirou, took advantage of the lull in their conversation to introduce himself, bowing politely in a greeting. "A pleasure to run into you."

"Mitsuzuri Ayako, pleased to run into you too." She promptly replied, long ingrained manners coming to the forefront, before they immediately fell away again with her next words. "Are you on steroids then?"

"Steroids?!" He spluttered, his mouth falling open at her words, which, she now realised, could very well be taken as an accusation. Steroids were illegal after all.

"Well, yes. I mean, you did send me flying." She explained herself quickly. "I don't mean to brag, but I'm quite strong. You would have to be some kind of super-bodybuilder to-"

"No. No, Mitsuzuri-san, I might be a bit stronger than most people our age, but I'm not on steroids, and I am not a bodybuilder, and definitely not a 'super-bodybuilder'." He immediately shut her down, looking entirely serious about the matter. "I am… merely a bit stronger than you."

"Alright, if you say so." Ayako nodded, not about to press the matter.

"And I do say so."

"Alright, I get it." She held up her hands in a playful gesture, smiling at him, and she was relieved to see he smiled back in response. He had been nothing but kind so far, and she'd hate to ruin things between them by being awkward.

Also, his name sounded familiar for some reason. She had heard the name 'Emiya Shirou' before, she was sure of it. She didn't quite recall where though, but it had something to do with the colour purple...

"Wait!" She exclaimed, startling him with the sudden volume of her voice. "Do you know someone called Matou Sakura?"

The plum-haired girl had told Ayako that she had another friend who went to a different school, and though she mostly referred to him as Senpai, she had at some point revealed that his real name was Emiya Shirou. Now, Emiya and Shirou were common enough names, but if used in combination…

"Matou Sakura?" He repeated, smiling brightly. "Yes, I know her. She is a good friend of mine. Do you know her too?"

"Ah, uhm, y-yes." Ayako spluttered, caught off guard by his radiant smile. "She's a schoolmate of mine, a-and a friend. W-We hang out during the breaks."

"Oh! I see. So you're the Ayako who is bold and brash on the outside, but soft and kind on the inside." Emiya said, still smiling brightly. "Thank you for being there for her during school then. It is good to know she has you as a friend."

'…Did you really have to tell him such things about me, Sakura?' She thought frantically, half-turning her head to hide her small blush. Talking about her behind her back, and in such a way too, the purple-eyed girl was going to pay for that, she swore it here and now.

"It's no problem." She eventually mumbled, still looking away. "Sakura's nice."

"She is indeed, but thank you nonetheless." Emiya repeated. "Never thought I'd be bumping into Sakura's friend on the street though. Say, can I ask why you were running?"

"Oh dear, already asking personal questions about me even though we barely know each other?" She fake-gasped in a scandalised voice. "Are you trying to find out more about me in order to manipulate me or are you asking me for gossip, Emiya-kun?"

It was Emiya's turn to huff at that. "Hardly for gossip, even less for manipulating. I was only worried you had something important to get to and that I was holding you up."

"Oh, no, not at all." She assured him quickly, red again creeping up in her cheeks when she remembered the incident that had been the cause for her haste. "I'm not in any kind of hurry. My parents and little brother are out of town, so there's no one waiting for me."

…Wait, should she have told him about that? Was it safe to let a boy know she was alone and that no one would notice her missing until the next day at least?

Oh well, this was Sakura's friend, so it was probably okay.

"I am glad to hear it." Emiya nodded, before he held up one of the shopping bags he was carrying. "So you're off to cook dinner as well then?"

"…Ahahahaha, no." Ayako placed her hands together in an absolutely not bashful way. "I can't cook. I'll be warming up a meal in the microwave once I'm home."

Emiya's face seemed to twitch in distaste, and she could take a good guess which part of her sentence had prompted that reaction.

"They're not that bad, honestly." She protested, feeling she had to defend microwave meals. "They're perfectly fine if you have nothing else."

"…I suppose." Emiya said, straightening out his face again, though it was clear he still didn't agree in the slightest.

"Don't be so elitist." She scolded him, feeling ticked off at his behaviour, before crossing her arms with a challenging look. "Unless you're going to tell me now that you'll be cooking for me tonight, I don't want to hear another bad word about microwave meals."

It was supposed to be a chiding, a challenge he wouldn't accept, a bluff, if you will, but Emiya didn't even flinch.

"Seems I'll be cooking for five instead of four then." He nodded, and it took several long seconds for Ayako to realise what he'd said. "I'm throwing a party tonight to celebrate the end of the holiday, and I still have plenty of room left. You are hereby invited. Sakura will be coming over too, in case you're wondering."

"Huh?"

"I know this is sudden." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "And I don't really have a story ready to convince you to come. It's up to you, really."

"Sudden indeed!" That was almost an understatement! Ayako might have partially brought it upon herself with her challenge, but that didn't mean he wasn't being extremely bold with his proposal.

The correct and wise thing to do would be to refuse. She didn't know this guy at all, and her mother had explained the concept of stranger-danger plenty of times to her.

Then again, he didn't seem to be a bad person, and she generally wasn't one to pass up on free food. Also, she wasn't exactly in the position to be picky with potential new friends, not to mention more Sakura-time was always a win.

"Alright, fine." She sighed dramatically. "I graciously accept your invitation. You will behave like a proper gentleman at all times though."

"Of course." Emiya smiled at her again. "Then please follow me."

He began leading her to his house, and as they walked, filled the silence with idle conversation.

It was pretty nice, Ayako found, to do this kind of thing. Just talking about nothing in particular with someone who wasn't rolling his eyes at everything she said.

They talked about their hobbies, about the weather, the city-council, and of course, school. They attended different middle-schools, but it was a pleasant surprise for Ayako to hear of his intention to go to Homurahara high school.

"Really?" She exclaimed. "I was planning on going there too. Fantastic, then I'll have at least one person I know there."

"I'm happy with it as well, Mitsuzuri-san." Emiya agreed. "I won't be the only one though. My friend, Ryuudou Issei, will also enrol there, and Sakura will join us as well the year after ours."

"I knew that Sakura would, but I don't know this Issei."

"Ryuudou Issei is the son of the owner of the Ryuudou-temple." Emiya explained, and she nodded to show she was familiar with that temple. "He is a very hard-working person, who aspires to become a monk, like his father. He is very thoughtful, and if you get to know him, he is very kind as well."

"Then I look forward to getting to know him." She grinned. "Are they the only ones coming to the party?"

"No, there will be one more person." Emiya corrected her. "My big sister, Fujimura Taiga. I think you will like her."

"Your big sister?" Ayako blinked in confusion. "Why do you have different surnames?"

"She isn't my actual big sister; she just calls herself that." Emiya explained with a small shrug.

"What does she do for a living?"

"She's a teacher at Homurahara."

"Really?!" Now that was news alright. "Then shouldn't you be calling this a 'preparation for Homurahara High'-party? I mean, if everyone of us goes there or will be going there."

Emiya gave her a surprised look, before he smiled yet again. "I didn't even think of that, Mitsuzuri-san, but you're right. Feel free to call it that if you want."

She grinned, punching his shoulder in exhilaration, before shaking her hand in pain. Ouch, he was tough.

"Thanks, Emiya-kun." She laughed once the pain had ebbed away again. "That's much better than celebrating the end of the holiday. I mean, why would you celebrate that? It's more like a time of mourning really."

"Mourning? Mitsuzuri-san, school is very important, I assure you." Emiya said, giving her an incredulous stare. "Breaks and holidays shouldn't last too long, or you'll forget everything you have been taught."

"You do have a point with that." Ayako admitted, before pointing her finger at him in a challenging motion. "But there's no way I'll ever agree that longer breaks are bad."

"Doesn't that mean you disagree with my entire point of view?"

"…Maybe."

The two teens continued their way to the Emiya-Estate, bickering with each other all the way about the importance of school and the minimum number of holidays a student needed. It was the first time the brunette had ever done anything like this with someone who wasn't family.

It was fantastic!

---

Shirou leaned back against the kitchen-counter, looking with satisfaction at the party he had thrown, though considering they had eschewed drinking and dancing in favour of playing board games, watching sad films on tv that got Taiga crying every time, and talking about whatever subject caught their interest, it would perhaps be more accurate to call it a calm celebration instead.

After he'd gotten home with Mitsuzuri in tow, he had immediately seated her at the dinner table and had started the preparations for making dinner, while also putting away all groceries he wouldn't need.

Sakura had arrived only ten minutes later. She had been quite surprised to find Mitsuzuri sitting at the table, but after a quick explanation, she'd happily accepted the brunette's presence.

She had been sticking very close to him for the whole evening though, all the while keeping a sharp eye on Mitsuzuri. He didn't think the brunette had noticed, but Shirou definitely had, and it confused him slightly. Eventually though, he'd chalked it up to Sakura wanting to make sure her friend from school was comfortable.

Really, Sakura was amazing like that, always looking out for those she cared about.

When he had expressed that opinion to her though, she had suddenly left the kitchen in a hurry, claiming she had to make sure everything was ready for the guests to arrive.

She was such a diligent person.

Taiga and Issei had arrived a few minutes before dinner was ready, almost at the same time, with Issei dressed up in neat clothes, as Shirou had come to expect of him, and Taiga just wearing her every day-clothes, which was precisely what he expected of her. Issei, bless him, did not comment on that at all, just thanking Shirou for the invitation and then proceeding to be the perfect guest for the rest of the evening.

Dinner had gone exceedingly well. Sakura and he had outdone themselves like never before. Even Shirou himself almost had trouble stopping with eating, it was just that good.

After the meal had come to an end, they had all pitched in to help clean the table and the kitchen and went on with the party afterwards.

And that brought them back to the present. Shirou smiled as he looked around at his house being all lively and cosy, feeling very glad that everyone looked so happy, including Mitsuzuri.

"Senpai!" Sakura then called out, grinning widely in a way he'd never seen from her before. "How long are you going to stand there? Join us!"

"Yeah, Shirou." Mitsuzuri agreed happily, acting suspiciously drunk even though she hadn't ingested a drop of alcohol. "Come on, one more evening of relaxation before the hard life will begin again."

"Coming." Shirou smiled, pushing himself off against the kitchen-counter and walking up towards the others. "What are we playing?"

"Some new kind of boardgame, Colonisers of Catan."

"Colonisers? That sounds… questionable."

"Well, I suppose."

Despite the questionable name however, the game turned out to be a lot of fun, and the five of them played it together until the clock struck midnight.

At that point, Taiga made an end to the festivities. They were all still young, fourteen or thirteen, and they shouldn't stay up too late. They had school in the morning after all.

Shirou and Taiga then walked everyone home one by one, before the unofficial siblings returned home themselves.

Waving goodbye to Taiga as she disappeared from his sight, Shirou walked back into his house. Contrary to his big sister's expectations though, he did not go to bed immediately. Instead, he walked to the shed and grabbed the bundle of cloth that was his vigilante-outfit.

It was time to go to work.

---

A few minutes later, Shirou was jumping from rooftop to rooftop across town, with Mjolnir firmly in hand, moving towards the hide-out of the last gang of Fuyuki-City.

He had two goals for tonight. He wanted to apprehend the entire gang as efficiently as possible, but he also wanted to find and interrogate a crook smelling like Magecraft, should one be present at the hide-out.

The first objective had priority, though he would definitely do his best to complete the second one as well.

As to why he was roof-hopping instead of flying; well, it was because of caution. He had flown most of the way to his destination, but when the base of the gang, a fifteen-floor building that had fallen into disrepair, had come in sight, he had seen that approaching through the air would be more difficult than normal.

For one, the building, which he would guess to be a former office complex, was surrounded on all sides by flat and empty ground with no cover whatsoever. For two, the surroundings were completely illuminated by countless lamps and lanterns that had been placed everywhere. For three, every entrance had a guard posted in front of it.

The gang had obviously gone to great lengths to secure their base and had sacrificed stealth for defence in the process. Frankly, it was a miracle the police weren't already knocking on their doors with how visible they'd made themselves.

Well, a miracle… Most likely it was just corruption or incompetence, or both even.

Whatever the reason, these people clearly didn't care about the police. Those defences were in place for something else, and Shirou was willing to bet a whole lot that he was that something else.

It was almost admirable, the lengths they had gone to in order to keep him out. Shirou almost felt bad about proving that it wouldn't work. Almost, but not quite.

It was a nice trick, all those lights, but Shirou had control over something that had been responsible for countless power failures and, even better, would not raise any suspicion about magic even when used liberally.

Lightning.

A natural phenomenon that had destroyed thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of lightbulbs over the years.

From the rooftop of a nearby building, Shirou raised Mjolnir into the sky. Using the mysterious power, he directed clouds to gather above the office complex, making them shift from white grey to deep dark, and then, without further delay, he unleashed the storm.

Accompanied by the harsh clap of thunder, a lightning bolt came down, completely ignoring any lightning rods that might have been present, following Shirou's command to directly strike the building itself. The frightening amount of electricity made contact with the power-cables and promptly deep-fried the whole network. Before Shirou's satisfied eyes, every lamp and light in and around the building went dark, eliciting shocked and panicked cries from the gang members inside.

He took a deep breath through his nose, and grinned. As he had hoped, someone inside of that building smelled like Magecraft. From what he could sense, the source was located at the top floor, so that was where he would be headed.

After dismissing Mjolnir, as it was still too powerful to fight mundane criminals with, Shirou took a massive leap from the rooftop, covering dozens of metres, and came down right in front of one of the building's backdoors. Two criminals were standing before it, both frantically attempting to pull out their flashlights.

Two taps sent them to dreamland, and Shirou entered the building. The defence-system, created so painstakingly, had delayed him for less than half a minute in the end.

Taking down fumbling criminals left and right, Shirou followed his nose up the stairs, climbing higher and higher to the top floors. Eventually, some of the crooks managed to get their flashlights in their hands, but it did not help them; it only gave away their positions to him.

It was all the way up on the fourteenth floor, with most of the gang members unconscious behind him, that he could finally pinpoint the source of the smell, now only one floor up from where he was standing.

There was only one stairway from the fourteenth floor to the fifteenth, and that stairway turned out to be guarded by a group of very serious-looking thugs. The thugs were armed with flashlights and guns, and had placed themselves in a very strategic location, effectively covering all angles of attack, leaving only the frontal assault an option to Shirou. Clever of them.

Now that he thought about it, their plan of placing lights outside to prevent him from sneaking up on the building had been quite crafty as well. This was clearly not just a run-of-the-mill gang ran by lazy idiots, these guys could actually think, or at least their leader could.

Not that it would help them. The thugs might have chosen a strategic location to stand guard in, but Shirou decided to be clever himself and just jumped over them. They didn't expect an attack from behind, and within a few seconds, they were down for the count.

Now only the leader was left.

Shirou calmly walked up the stairs, seeing no reason to rush now that his target was trapped. There was only one way in, and thus also only one way out.

The fifteenth floor turned out to be mostly an open space, with no one in sight, though there was one door to Shirou's left that led to a secluded area. His nose told him clearly that his target was in that secluded area.

Trying to open that door the easy way revealed that it was locked, so Shirou simply kicked it in, before entering the room behind it.

The first thing he saw was the man sitting at the back of the room, behind a desk.

The man looked… very generic to be honest. Black hair, a typical face, no scars or anything, and a normal build for a Japanese man. It was almost an insult to Shirou just how normal this gang-leader actually looked.

An insult, yes, but no surprise. Kiritsugu had made sure his adopted son knew that normal, ordinary-looking people could be monsters just as much as any beast from the Moonlit World. Not every villain had a twirling moustache or a large scar. Most of them were just people you'd walk by on the street without ever suspecting anything was amiss.

People such as this man.

Though even this man looked a bit more impressive with a gun in his hand, especially since it was pointed at Shirou's head.

"You!" The man spoke up forcibly, his teeth gritting in barely suppressed fury. "Finally you show yourself to me, vigilante. I hope you had fun taking down the other gangs because your life ends here!"

The man seemed… angrier than Shirou had expected. Sure, he had taken down the man's gang, kicked in his door, and was threatening him now, but his rage seemed almost apoplectic.

"You seem mad." Shirou remarked softly, deliberately adding a mocking undertone, hoping the man would blow up on him, as people tended to ramble when they had blown up.

The man seized the bait with both hands.

"Mad?! MAD?! I am furious! Do you know how hard I had to work to get all the gangs in this damn city to work together? All these prideful alpha-males, each with their own plans they think to be brilliant and an ego that's larger than Mount Fuji? Do you have any idea how hard it is to soothe the egos of more than fifty different leaders at once so they won't murder each other on sight?"

The hand holding the gun started to tremble as the man shook with rage. "I am the one who organized them all, making sure the Fujimura-clan, damn their eyes, didn't shut everything down right from the start. I got them working together, or at least not shanking each other every other day. It cost me more than three years to come this far, and YOU TOOK IT ALL DOWN IN TWO WEEKS!" The man was now screaming at the top of his lungs at Shirou, who remained wholly unimpressed.

The man's story did catch his interest though.

"You are the man who was managing all of the gangs? By yourself?" He inquired, not bothering to hide his surprise. He hadn't seen anything that indicated a central leader during his previous outings, but maybe he just hadn't paid enough attention. "That must have been quite the job. I can't imagine it would have been very easy."

Looking the man straight in the eyes, Shirou sent a small 'suggestion' into his mind, encouraging him to keep talking.

"And don't I know it." The leader sneered, needing no encouragement to vent his anger. "Between prideful leaders wanting my position and low-ranked idiots thinking they know better than me, every day here in this accursed city was torture. Torture which I only bore because I knew I'd be able to get out of here when I was sufficiently rich and powerful again."

A faraway look appeared in the crook's eyes, as if he were looking back into a past only he could see. "I once had it all. I had a strong gang, trustworthy underlings, cowed people in the streets, police-officers bought or intimidated; it was paradise, plain and simple. At least until it all came down around me, through treachery."

The leader focused on Shirou again. "I fled to this city, desperate to get away from rivals and officers who suddenly gained enough courage to stand up to me. Once I got here, I found broken, fragmented gangs and an underworld ruled by the Yakuza. I wouldn't let that stop me though, I was going to rebuild everything I had lost and take my revenge on the one that betrayed me."

"You speak of having been betrayed, but are you sure you didn't just mess up yourself?"

Once more, the sentence had been carefully constructed to get the man to spill his life-story in his rage.

"NO!" The man yelled, once more letting himself be manipulated. "I know it was that stranger who betrayed me! The one who came to me when I was running a small gang in a backwater village. He gave me money, he made it so that I could rise to power, he gave me what I wanted in exchange for my services to him, and then he tore it all down when I was no longer of use to him! I know it was him, it could only have been him!"

The leader had started spluttering and wailing during the last few sentences, indicating that he was close to a break-down. Shirou wasn't done with him though, and another mental push returned some semblance of calm to the man, enabling him to ask his next question.

"What kind of services did you provide for this mysterious stranger?" Shirou asked, suspecting he wouldn't like the answer one bit.

"We kidnapped people and sold them to him."

Yep, as he had expected, he didn't like it in the slightest. Firmly sitting on the desire to knock the criminal out at once and deliver him to the police with a headache that would hold on for days, Shirou asked his last question.

"Are you even sure you can find him again?"

"No, I am not sure at all, and that's why I decided to become a big-time gang leader again before I started hunting him." The man bristled, waving the gun around to convey his agitation. "It's like he did something to my mind. I can only remember a blurry figure and a weird voice. I wasn't even drunk during the meeting with that guy, dammit.

He suddenly fell silent for a moment, his eyes once more gaining that faraway look.

"The weirdest part though is that he could always convince people to do what he wanted." It was said in a soft voice, and Shirou lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "Just by looking people in the eyes and commanding them, he made them obey him without question. Apparently, I did that too, but I can't recall ever doing anything of the sort."

Shirou froze, his mouth falling open behind his mask.

What the man described… It perfectly fit the symptoms of being Hypnotised by a Magus.

Hypnosis. The art of controlling minds. With this skill, a Magus or other user of Thaumaturgy could alter memories or compel people to do whatever they desired. Convincing criminals to do what they wanted and then wiping their minds afterwards would be child's play to any Magus worth their salt.

And apparently, what this Magus wanted was people. They wanted people and weren't afraid to go to significant lengths to get them.

Shirou's head spun as the implications of this hit him square on. He had already found that there were five Magi responsible for this, and if each of those five had multiple gang leaders under their command, for several years at least, then the damage done could be catastrophic.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of people could have been kidnapped over the years, used for whatever purposes the Magi could think of. Countless people sentenced to a fate far worse than death, and doubtlessly, countless more would suffer that same fate if nothing was done.

The police would be of no help here. Not because of incompetence or corruption this time, but plainly because there was no way for the mundane authorities to track down and arrest Magi. Only their puppets could be caught, and those would be replaced in a matter of days.

And that didn't even account for the Magus Association.

The Magus Association was the central authority of the Magi of the Moonlit World, essentially something like a government, though far, far bigger and more complicated than a normal government would be.

Also called 'the Clocktower', after the location of their headquarters, the Magus Association was run by several powerful Magus-families, who called themselves 'noble families', and together determined the rules and laws of the Moonlit World.

It was they who appointed Second Owners, such as Tohsaka Rin, to oversee plots of land for them and ensure everyone stuck to their rules, and it was they who had created the rule that the existence of the Moonlit World was to be kept a secret.

It took a lot to rouse them to action, but once that point had been reached, the Magus Association was like a tidal wave of destruction, unrelenting and unstoppable, destroying everything in its path.

Shirou wasn't sure whether Magi using mundane criminals to abduct people was something that would attract the attention of the Magus Association, but he prayed it was not. The Magus Association was extremely draconic in their measures, and if they decided that the scheme of the Magi was in violation of their laws, they might decide to start a purge never seen before in recent times, which could easily lead to thousands of deaths.

And that was only if they didn't decide that what these Magi were doing was a perfectly valid method of obtaining resources, one that should be copied. Most Magi were sick in the head like that, and the nobles in the Clocktower in particular.

"But I've already said too much." The leader suddenly spoke up again, aiming his gun at Shirou once more. "You have ruined all of my hard work. I'll have to start all over again because of you and your meddling. Now you will pay for it. Your death will serve as a warning to all who might wish to emulate you."

The rage on the plain face turned into dark amusement, and the lips twisted into a nasty grin.

"Farewell, mister Vigilante."

The man pulled the trigger three times, making sure to aim straight at the vigilante-

-Who had already disappeared.

The gang boss barely had time to be surprised before something smashed into his wrist hard enough to shatter the bones, making him drop the gun as his hand lost all function.

He opened his mouth to let out a cry of agony at the sudden pain, only to gargle uselessly when he was seized by the throat. The criminal then found himself lifted into the air, gasping for breath, before he was thrown backwards into the wall behind him, after which his collar was seized.

Shirou pulled the man up to eye-height, looked into the gangster boss' eyes, and used his own Hypnosis on the man, completely taking over his mind.

"Tell me everything about yourself, your previous gang, and the stranger you dealt with, now." He commanded, his voice hard, thundering, and filled with Magical Energy.

The criminal boss, who had looked panicked and in agony, promptly turned neutral as Shirou's power took hold of his mind and began droning out facts in a monotone voice.

Most of those facts were useless or just a repeat from what the man had said before, but some facts were interesting. The crook's name was Sawachika Keizo apparently, and he originated from Hikone, a city that was quite far from Fuyuki.

There was a lock on the man's memories however, most likely placed there by the Magus who had enslaved him for so long, preventing Sawachika from giving Shirou any details about said Magus.

Fortunately though, a little bit of the mysterious power enabled Shirou to unravel the knot without doing any damage to the man's mind.

Before Mjolnir's arrival, doing such a thing would have been impossible to Shirou, who'd had significant trouble just Hypnotising someone at all. Now though, it was only a minute's work for him to undo all the blocks and alterations that had been building up in Sawachika's mind for years.

With his mind unhindered, Sawachika could give him a description of the Magus. It appeared the Magus was quite old, male and had a seemingly Northern-European nationality. He was apparently also quite tall.

Sawachika didn't know much about the fate of the people he had sold though. The hideouts where the kidnapped people had been brought to were always only temporary and their locations where never in the same place twice.

Seeing that the man didn't know anything else, Shirou quickly reapplied the memory locks that he had removed earlier and, just to be sure, added his own as well to make the crook forget about the interrogation.

During the re-applying of the memory-locks, Sawachika calmly droned on about the things he had done in his life. It started out with things like stealing apples, which was still relatively innocent, but when the man started talking about the depraved things he and his gang had done during their rule, Shirou promptly knocked him unconscious, using a lot more force than necessary.

Then he called the police, informing them of his actions and his location, before hanging up again.

A glance to the side revealed the presence of a window in the room, which he quickly walked towards. Opening it, he took one last glance at Sawachika, who was still out cold, before launching himself into the sky.

---

Osaki Koyo had mixed feelings about his job.

On itself, that was nothing new for him. He was a police-detective, and though he enjoyed helping people and putting criminals behind bars, his profession could be stressful and upsetting even on the best of days.

It was difficult to see time and again what cruelties people were capable of at the drop of a hat, to see how ordinary people, looking like any other, could act like monsters straight out of a nightmare if they were even slightly provoked.

There were only so many brutal murders one could investigate without losing at least some faith in the good of humanity after all, and Osaki had arrested too many husbands who were guilty of murdering their wives over some ridiculously small issue to have much of that faith left.

In general though, there were more positive points about his job than negative points. There had to be, or Osaki would have left to pursue another career years ago. Even if it was tough and depressing, he still felt he was doing good work, and that mattered a lot to him.

It mattered enough that it had even gotten him through a rough patch. A rough patch that had only very recently ended and had everything to do with his move to Fuyuki-City, now around two years ago.

Osaki had chosen Fuyuki-City to move to because its crime-rates were far lower than the nation's average despite it being a major city located at a trade hub. Those low crime-rates, coupled with the fact it was still an interesting and bustling city, made it very appealing for a single father with two daughters to live in.

As such, he had pitched the idea to his daughters, and they had agreed. None of them had had any problems with moving, as none of them would be leaving anything of importance behind. Coupled with…

Osaki took a deep breath.

…With what had happened, they were only glad to get out of their former residence as soon as they realistically could.

For his daughters, the move had worked out perfectly. They had really found their place in Fuyuki-City. They were attending a good school, they had a lot of friends, they had kind, attentive teachers, they were discovering new hobbies, and they generally blossomed like they never had in their previous home.

Osaki was of course very glad about that. How could a father not be elated that his daughters were so happy now, especially after… that.

He just wished he could have said the same about himself. That he had effortlessly ingrained himself into the police-force of Fuyuki-City and was now having a grand time as well.

It was not to be however. From the moment he'd arrived in Fuyuki, he had encountered problems left and right, starting with his job at Law-Enforcement.

When he had arrived at his new precinct for the first time, it had immediately occurred to him that most of his colleagues were very lax.

Initially, he had chalked it up to the low crime-rates in the city, which allowed for a slightly more relaxed approach than would have been permittable in other cities.

Later though, he had learned that they were just lazy. Lazy and irresponsible to the point where Osaki sometimes thought it was better to get rid of them, for even having no one was better than having them.

Reports remained unfiled for months, calls to the alarm-number were only sluggishly responded to, organised crime was pretty much left alone, and Yakuza-family was running the city's underworld openly without anyone batting an eye.

It was ridiculous, ridiculous to the extreme, and it heavily clashed with Osaki's long ingrained sense of responsibility and righteousness.

It had taken him months to get used to the new situation, and it was safe to say that those months had been the most difficult part of his career so far. He'd contemplated walking away on numerous occasions, and had actually been planning on quitting three times, though he hadn't gone through with it.

After those months had passed however, and Osaki had been able to learn to stop worrying about what his colleagues did or didn't do –not easy for a linear thinker like him– he had been able to get back into the flow.

He'd tracked down drug dealers, home invaders, muggers, and burglars. He'd arrested hackers, money launderers, and frauds. He'd solved numerous civil disputes, ended countless cases of domestic abuse, and had earned several more medals to add to his collection.

Things finally seemed to be looking up again.

Then this mess had happened.

Osaki sighed loudly as he left his home at half-past-four in the morning. He had been called a few minutes before with the message that yet another gang had been found with all of their members unconscious, and that he was needed to gather evidence again.

He wished he could say that it had been the police who had taken down this gang, but that would be a lie. The police was in no way responsible for this, just like they hadn't been responsible for the previous arrests.

It had all started two weeks ago, with the sudden arrest of an entire gang of drug dealers. Osaki himself hadn't been present for it, but he had heard about the case from one of his colleagues. It had left Osaki feeling astounded that his co-workers had been so successful in their work.

Then more mass-arrests had followed in the subsequent nights and Osaki had learned that, no, the other officers weren't suddenly getting more competent than before, they were claiming the accomplishments of a third party as their own.

An actual vigilante had done the work for them.

Wasn't it sad that that actually surprised him less than his colleagues suddenly putting in the work required to roll up a few gangs?

Shaking his head sadly, Osaki stepped into his car and drove off to the gang's hideout, where his partner would be waiting for him.

Once he'd arrived at the office complex, he parked his car, stepped out, ducked under the yellow tape, and went to search for his partner, who should already be present.

He didn't have to search for long. Yomaura Taya was not a discrete person, and the fact that she was standing out in the open, loudly directing officers around the scene, helped as well.

She was a tall, slim woman with red hair and brown eyes, both of which she'd inherited from her Irish father. She wore a neat blouse, a pencil skirt, and stockings, with combat boots on her feet. She was relatively new at law-enforcement, having worked at a big pharmaceutical company before she had made a switch in careers.

She had been his partner from the moment he had arrived at the Fuyuki-police station for the first time. Recalling the young newbie with a 'so new she squeaks' kind of shine about her nervously inquiring whether he was her new partner never failed to bring a smile to his face. Now was no exception.

For all her inexperience however, she had been a godsend to him. Osaki had been very new in Fuyuki-City after all, and as such did not know much about the dynamics of the city. Yomaura however had lived there for years and knew it much better than he did.

That, coupled with her competence, reliability, and agreeable personality made her the perfect partner for an experienced detective who was new in town, like him.

"Good morning, Yomaura." He called out as soon as he was within earshot. "I see you have matters well in hand here."

"Good morning to you as well, Senpai." She replied, turning around to face him. "Yes, everything is going well. There are no bystanders because of the early hour, the crime scene has been secured, and the criminals have been arrested and are on their way to the station. We can investigate the building itself now."

"After you then." Osaki said, to which Yomaura nodded once, before they entered the apartment complex together.

Osaki grimaced when he entered the crime-scene. Just like the previous times, the spots where the criminals had been lying were marked with yellow tape, and the sheer number of marks present made him distinctly uncomfortable.

Whoever this vigilante was, they had to be an extremely good fighter to be able to take down this many men, especially since they had been armed with a plethora of weapons. Just like at all the previous crime-scenes.

According to the police-medics, most of the criminals had been taken down in a single blow, without any chance to defend themselves. The vigilante, according to them, would have to be at absolute peak-human ability in both strength and speed to consistently manage to perform such a feat.

They would have to be a top athlete, but that made no sense whatsoever to Osaki. Top athletes generally had better things to do than beating up criminals after all, at least as far as he knew.

He'd had a lengthy discussion about it with Yomaura, and they had eventually come up with three tentative theories. The vigilante could be a well-trained agent from a powerful secret service, a really skilled athlete with a lot of backing, or the vigilante was not just one person, but a large group of people working together.

They considered the last one to be most likely, but absent any evidence, they couldn't make any conclusions yet.

"Sheesh." Yomaura suddenly said from beside him as they climbed towards the fourth floor. "This guy really is some kind of fighting champion. From what the officers said, most of these guys never even had the chance to pull out a flashlight before he was upon them, let alone put up any kind of fight. It's like he trampled them underfoot."

"Yes, it does seem that way." Osaki replied. "But I'm more curious why they didn't just turn on the lights instead of messing around with flashlights. In fact, I'm also wondering why we aren't turning on the lights. Did the vigilante fry the circuits again?"

"Yes, he did so again, somehow." His Kohai responded, looking very put out. "Just like the previous times, he shut down every part of the building's power network. According to the tech guys, he completely overloaded the system somehow."

Osaki huffed, having to admit it was a good tactic of the vigilante. Shut down all the lights and power, and then come in with night vision goggles or something and take down the entire gang while they were in disarray.

According to the criminals they had interrogated so far, it really was a terrifying experience to have everything go dark suddenly, before hearing your buddies get mowed down by an unseen assailant.

It was of yet unclear however how the vigilante did it. The only clue they had found was that in every hideout, there was one power-outlet that had been completely melted. According to the tech guys, the vigilante had likely short-circuited everything from there, though they hadn't been able to tell him how.

Osaki and Yomaura kept climbing stairs after stairs, until they reached the top floor. There, they entered an office, where more yellow tape had been stuck to the floor near the wall opposite from the door.

"This was the leader of the gang." Yomaura told him, pointing at the mark. "He was attacked and knocked out like the rest of them, though it appears the vigilante was a lot harsher with him than he was with any of the other criminals."

Osaki blinked at that, motioning for her to explain further while he searched the desk for anything interesting.

"He had not only been struck on the head much harder than the rest, giving him a heavy concussion, but he also had bruises on his throat that suggest temporary strangling, further bruising on his back, indicating he was thrown backwards into a wall, and a shattered wrist that will most likely never heal properly again."

"Really?" Osaki looked up from the desk in bafflement. "That sounds an awful lot like torture. Why would the vigilante do that?"

"We don't know yet, Senpai." Yomaura replied, looking just as confused as Osaki felt. "We are waiting for the man to regain consciousness, so we can interrogate him, but before that, it's only speculation."

"Hm. Well, let's see if we can find anything here, shall we?"

Receiving a nod back from his Kohai, Osaki carefully searched the room for clues, meticulously going over it with a fine toothcomb. He came up empty though. The only clue was the opened window, but that could mean all kinds of things.

Yomaura did elicit a laugh from him though when she jokingly suggested the vigilante had flown away.

It was a bit strange however that she did not seem entirely convinced that such a thing was impossible.

"I think we've done all we can for now, Senpai." Yomaura then said. "I will have someone inform the owner of the building of what went down in here. Do you want me to brief you on the earlier findings now?"

"No need, I will read your report on the matter later. Now we must return to the precinct. Do you want a lift?"

"If it is no problem, Senpai."

Osaki nodded, before he left the building, Yomaura dutifully following him.

It was still awfully early, way too early to start working already, but the vigilante wouldn't catch himself.

---

That same morning, though quite a bit later, Shirou found himself in school.

He was currently seated at the back of the class, alone, the tables at his right- and left side being empty, as they usually were. His notebook was open in front of him, yet he clearly wasn't paying attention to the lesson, something everyone noticed but nobody bothered to say anything about.

The other students generally didn't associate with him, either in class or during the lunchbreaks, though the latter was mostly because Shirou would be busy repairing equipment or cleaning up a mess that a student had made somewhere. It was almost every day that he had to do one or both of those jobs, so he didn't have much time for socialising.

He was wildly popular with the teachers though. His helpfulness, coupled with his excellent grades, stellar presence-record, and perfect behaviour made him one of the most favoured students at the school. Naturally, this didn't exactly raise his standing in the eyes of his fellow students. No one wanted to associate with a teacher's pet after all, especially one who studied day and night to keep up his grades.

If only they knew how little he actually did for school, they'd be shocked stiff. Shirou usually didn't study for longer than a few minutes a day, if that, something he could get away with because he had an 'advantage'.

When Shirou had discovered, now several years ago, that he had some talent at Reinforcement, he had immediately tried to apply the spell to anything he could find.

Weapons, everyday objects, his muscles, his senses, and so on, just to see if it would work. He'd even gone against his father's teachings by Reinforcing his heart and lungs as well. Contrary to all expectations, he had not only not killed himself, but had even gotten those organs to work better and more efficiently than before, even while not Reinforced.

Kiritsugu had been baffled that such a suicidal move had actually produced any results, let alone positive ones, but had quickly deduced that Shirou's survival was likely because of Avalon. He had congratulated Shirou but had also warned him to not go any further.

Naturally, the redhead hadn't listened.

When he had been sitting in school one day, Shirou had suddenly gotten the bright idea to Reinforce his brain. It had been an insanely dangerous plan, even more than Reinforcing his heart and lungs had been, but Shirou was determined to try nonetheless.

It had been difficult and useless at first, only giving him nosebleeds and headaches. Enough practice and determination however had paid off considerably, and Shirou had eventually managed to, somehow, permanently improve his brain with Reinforcement.

Yes, permanently. It turned out that when he added Magical Energy to the imperfections in his brain, it was either improved permanently or not at all. He had no idea what the principle behind it was, but that was what he had found.

Reinforcing his brain didn't exactly make him smarter, but it did increase both his memory and attention span, as well as his perception and reflexes. It had been an amazing discovery, and Shirou had wondered how far he could take it.

Not very far, it turned out. Despite more attempts at Reinforcing his brain, it did not improve further, leaving him with only headaches and nosebleeds again, as well as Avalon working hard to fix the damage that he had wrought to himself.

Still, he'd had some success, and ever since then, Shirou never had any problems keeping up his excellent grades at school with only minimal effort. He had hadn't scored lower than perfect in years now.

Which was why Shirou's current teacher let him get away with not paying attention in the slightest. The smartest student at the school could get away with a little daydreaming after all, or so the teacher figured.

That teacher was mostly right, but he was wrong in his belief that Shirou was just daydreaming. He wasn't, he was pondering deeply about his plans and plots, going over his actions of the last weeks and what he was going to do in the near future.

Fuyuki-City had been rid of all its gangs for now, leaving him free to move on to other cities to fight their criminal underworld as well, but he also had those Magi and their cruel scheme to worry about.

The latter wasn't exactly something he could ignore. Thousands of people had likely already fallen victim to it, and as an aspiring hero, he had a duty to stop it, not to mention that he had promised Mjolnir that he would involve himself with the Moonlit World as well if necessary. He had promised that only last chapter…

That is, last week, and he wasn't someone who went back on his promises.

No matter how difficult it was going to be, or how strong his opposition was, Emiya Shirou would not let such monsters get away with their crimes. No matter how long it would take or how much effort he would have to put into it, he would end these Magi's foul schemes and prevent further abductions.

To do that though, he needed a plan, and to make a plan, he needed information, and to get information, he needed to interrogate those crooks smelling of Magecraft. Unfortunately, there weren't any of those out there anymore.

It seemed he would have to break into the police-station after all.

Joy.

---

Fujimura Taiga was, very uncharacteristically, in a contemplative mood. She did nothing but stare at the wall, going as far as to ignore the food laid out in front of her, as well as the attempts of Shirou and Sakura to attract her attention.

At least until they pulled out the big guns.

"FUJI-NEE/FUJIMURA-SENSEI!" They yelled together, as loud as they could, almost giving poor Taiga a heart-attack. She started, shooting upright from her seating position. She didn't manage to stand up completely though, losing her balance and almost falling backwards if Shirou hadn't reached out to grab her shoulder and stabilize her again.

"Shirou! Sakura-chan!" Taiga shrieked in return. "What the- Where- Why did you do that?"

"Because you weren't listening, Fuji-nee." Shirou replied with a firm voice. "You weren't paying attention to anything we were saying and worse, you weren't eating properly."

"Ah, well, I was-"

"Are you alright, Fujimura-sensei?" Sakura asked, looking at her with large, worried eyes. "Y-You aren't sick, are you?"

"Eh? Sick? Oh! No." She denied, waving her hands rapidly, trying to get the situation under control again "Ah, don't worry. Nothing's wrong with me, I was just contemplating some stuff."

"Stuff?" Sakura repeated, not letting up on her concerned look. "W-What do you mean? Is it bad stuff?"

"No! No, it's good stuff, nothing but good stuff."

"Really?" Sakura asked, the concern slowly making way for relief.

"Yes, really." She assured the girl, patting her on the head softly.

"Is it something you can tell us about?" Shirou asked.

Now, that was a good question. Could she?

Well, she probably could.

"Sure, I'll tell you. Do you remember what I told you about those small gangs inhabiting the outskirts of Fuyuki-City?" Receiving twin nods, she went on. "Well, as you are no doubt aware, we of the Fujimura-clan do not like those gangs. They violate the rules, create chaos, commit dire crimes, and are generally just pests. We've been trying to kick them out them for years, though without much success."

"But you succeeded now then?" Shirou cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

"Yup! All of the gangs on our watchlist have been arrested!" Taiga exclaimed joyously, pumping her fist in her enthusiasm. "They've finally been taken off the streets."

"That's great!" Sakura clapped her hands in joy, a big smile on her face, forcing Taiga to blink a few times to recover from the cuteness-overdose that gave her. "So the police managed to arrest them?"

'Tsk, as if those idiots could ever do something like that.' Taiga thought derisively, her grin shrinking considerably. Safe to say, she didn't have the highest opinion of the police of Fuyuki-City, and it was an opinion formed after several years of dealing with them, so hers was a reliable one.

"I don't think the police did that, Sakura." Shirou spoke up before Taiga could, sounding apologetic to have to bring the bad news. "They haven't been able to do anything about the gangs for years. People say they are… lazy, to be honest."

"Indeed." Taiga butted in, nodding gravely, though she also wondered where Shirou had heard rumours like that. "Lazy, unreliable, and utterly incapable when it comes to fighting organised crime."

"Ha?" Sakura mumbled, looking confused. "B-but who is doing the arrests then?"

"I heard this only recently from a friend of mine who works in law-enforcement." Taiga whispered conspiratorially, making the teens lean closer to her. "She told me that a mysterious figure is responsible. They apparently take down the entire gang, before calling the police to come arrest the criminals."

"A mysterious figure?"

"Yes!" Taiga exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air in exuberance. "Fuyuki-City has its very own vigilante!"

Sakura and Shirou were struck speechless for a moment, both gaping in shock.

"A vigilante?" Sakura then muttered. "You mean one of those real-life superheroes?"

"No." Shirou immediately snapped, making Sakura start slightly at the serious tone he used. "I understand why you would think that, but a vigilante is simply someone who takes the law into their own hands. The one who did this is in fact committing a punishable crime by fighting criminals without the state's permission."

"Y-You mean they can be arrested?" Sakura stuttered, wringing her hands together when Shirou nodded gravely.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Taiga gave a lazy wave with her hand, which was completely at odds with the fact that she was beginning to seriously wonder just how Shirou knew so much about these subjects. "I seriously doubt the police will be able to catch him. They aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. No, scratch that, they're idiots."

"Fujimura-sensei!" Sakura cried, giving her a scandalized look. "You shouldn't say such things about the police. They are working very hard to protect us."

"Some are." Taiga admitted. "But most of them are not. They're just in it for their own sake. I talk with officers and detectives all the time during work. Most of them are lazier than even the worst student I've ever had, and some of them really give me the creeps."

"S-Surely, it can't be that bad-"

"Sakura-chan, they are even keeping the vigilante's existence a secret so they can claim his accomplishments as their own. They say that it is to avoid copy-cats, but I don't believe a word of it."

"O-Oh…"

"Hey now, don't look so down. You don't need the police. If you're ever in any trouble, you can always come to me, and I'll sort it out for you."

That seemed to get Sakura in a slightly better mood, as the purple-haired girl gave her a tiny smile again.

"Is that legal?" Shirou, ever the law-abiding citizen, asked dubiously.

"It is if I say so." Taiga beamed back, before patting Sakura on the head again. "I mean it though. If there's ever anything you want to get off your chest, big sis Taiga is right here to listen."

"Y-Yes, Fujimura-Sensei." Sakura smiled.

"Say." Shirou suddenly said, and the seriousness of his tone drew the attention of both girls. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but aren't we quite late for school already?"

In identical motions, Sakura and Taiga turned towards the clock as well, and they saw...

"Buddha's bald head!" The curse slipped out before Taiga could control her tongue, but neither Shirou nor Sakura said anything of it, a testament to how dire the situation was. "Hurry!"

And hurry they did. They cleaned up the table in record time, pulled on their shoes and coats, and said a few words of goodbye before sprinting off to their respective destinations; Shirou and Sakura to their schools and Taiga to Homurahara for her job.

---

Later that day, after school, Shirou was making his way over to his new job.

Taking down the gangs, training with Mjolnir and his new powers, and spending time with the people close to him weren't the only things Shirou had been doing during the holiday. He had also found the time to apply for a job at cafe 'The Copenhagen'.

It hadn't been very difficult. The Copenhagen was openly looking for people to hire, and they had very clear instructions on their website and on the poster that had been hung on one of the windows.

Prospective employees could either send an email or visit directly, and Shirou had decided on the latter option. Once inside the café, he'd been brought to a backroom immediately for a formal interview, conducted by Otoko-san, the daughter of the owner, though she preferred to be called by her nickname, Neko-san.

That had gone rather well in Shirou's opinion, or at least, Neko-san had seemed content with his answers.

After the interview followed a practical test. He had been asked to go through a trial run in the café, during which he'd served people, cleaned the cafe when needed, tended to the shop, cooked food, and manned the counter, apparently performing so well Neko-san had inquired whether he really didn't have any experience working at a cafe.

When he had revealed that he was also adept at repairing and maintaining all kinds of electronic equipment, he'd been hired on the spot.

Hotaruzuka-san, the actual owner and Neko-san's father, had practically been salivating at the thought of being able to cut costs on maintenance and repair.

Needless to say, they wanted him in as often as possible, and today, he would be working again.

At the café, there was enough for him to do. During the first hour, Shirou cleaned the floors and the tables, served over forty people, assisted the cook, and even managed to find some time to repair a broken dishwasher.

It was definitely a lot of hard work, but Shirou didn't mind. Hard work had a way of calming him down, and it allowed him to fall into a routine, during which he could easily let his mind stray elsewhere.

Elsewhere meaning to his upcoming mission to break into the police station of course.

Honestly, he did not expect it to be very difficult. Kiritsugu had told him long ago that the police in Fuyuki-City were incompetent and corrupt, and Shirou had never seen any evidence to the contrary.

This incompetence was not there by chance. It was something that had been deliberately engineered by the Magus-Association, because it made it easier for them to hide the Grail Wars from the public eye.

Having the police poking around every time a Servant blew something up was a real nuisance after all, so it was better to deal with the problem at the root. Some greased palms and some fubbed paperwork easily ensured all the problem-cases of the nation's police were concentrated in one place, and that place was Fuyuki-City.

It was very lucky for Fuyuki-City that the Fujimura-clan was present to keep the peace, or the city might have become a playground for criminals by now.

It really put into perspective just how powerful the Magus-Association was, just how far its reach extended. It was often said that it was relatively weak in Japan, yet it still managed to engineer something that this.

Nothing, save for perhaps the Holy Church, could possibly compare.

Here, in the café, working on normal, everyday jobs, it really hit Shirou like a ton of bricks just how daunting his self-imposed task really was. Fighting the Magus-Association –for he doubtlessly would have to at some point if he really wanted to be a hero who would save all– would be insanely difficult, if not impossible.

Not to mention all the other gangs, syndicates, groups, orders, and organisations around the world, all dabbling in human misery. They were legion, and Shirou was beginning to doubt they could even be fought.

Shirou had been going strong for the past two weeks and had taken down most, if not all, of the organized crime in Fuyuki-City, but did that even make a difference?

He had seen it in Sawachika's mind, so many criminals and evil people. So many powerful groups and organisations. So much hate and anger towards the world and towards humanity.

What could he do against all that hate?

How could he, a third-rate Magus without any real skill, influence, or contacts, ever deal with all of that?

Shirou felt like he was drowning in a tidal wave of responsibilities, and not for the first time, he wondered whether Mjolnir shouldn't have chosen a better wielder, someone with more power and potential than Shirou had. Someone who had the means to take on the world and succeed?

Shirou couldn't measure up to such people. There was no way he could.

Becoming a hero who could save everyone… It had never seemed further away.

"Excuse me, waiter. Could I order a drink please?"

The sudden voice roused Shirou from his darkening thoughts, and he looked around for the source of the sound, eventually finding it sitting at one of the tables in the café.

Making his way over, he took some time to observe the unusual guest. He was a male, West-European or American if he had to guess. Very old too, with wrinkles everywhere. He had short greying hair and a thin moustache. He also wore sunglasses that completely hid his eyes.

After the man had placed his order and Shirou had retrieved his drink for him, he made to walk away, but a hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder, keeping him back.

Shirou was momentarily shocked at how easily the man had stopped him. That was no small feat, even if Shirou wasn't putting much effort into walking away.

"You seem very troubled, my boy." The man spoke softly, taking off his sunglasses to reveal sparkling blue eyes. "While you may not know me, perhaps this old man can be of help? I promise no one will hear anything of this conversation if you don't want anyone to know."

Shirou hesitated. He had indeed never met this man before, but both his instinct and Mjolnir were telling him to trust him. Mjolnir even seemed to recognize the man, odd as that was. That, coupled with the sheer wisdom in the man's gaze and the calm compassion in his voice, made the offer a tempting one.

"I... well, I recently have begun with a task, to fulfil an old dream." Shirou eventually began, fighting the urge to fidget. "But I see now how monumental that task actually is, and how far away my dream still remains, and I don't know if I can handle it. I don't even know whether I am the correct person for the job or not. I want to do it, but…"

Shirou trailed off when the man held up a hand, his smile full of understanding.

"I understand completely what you mean, my boy." The senior said. "I myself often felt during my life that I had bitten off more than I could chew, just like you. I wondered whether I could truly accomplish what I set out to do, I wondered if there wasn't someone better, someone smarter, someone more creative than me who could do a better job.

But, my boy, those are not questions you must ask yourself. You have committed yourself to a path, I can see it in you, and that is all you need for now. You may doubt you can see it to its end, but doubting is useless in these situations. Don't give up because it seems hard or because you believe someone else might do it better, especially if no one else has actually done it so far. Fight vigorously until the end. I have seen enough of life and met enough remarkable people to know someone like you will succeed without a doubt."

Shirou stared at the man, who had flawlessly picked up what he had been trying to say and had words of advice ready at once.

"Right." He murmured, somewhat heartened but still not quite sure. "Thank you, but are you sure? I mean, you say you see conviction and ability in me, but I don't know if I'm worthy. What if I fail? What if I'm not good enough-?"

"That, my boy." The man interrupted him sternly. "Is absolute nonsense. I have seen many people like you, with fire burning in their eyes. Each and every one of them succeeded, boy, and the fire burns in you brighter than in anyone I have ever seen before in this verse."

The man then finished his drink, slapping an amount of money on the table that was outrageously more than the price of said drink. The senior then stood up, grabbed his coat again, and made to leave, but turned back to Shirou one last time.

"Mjolnir did not choose wrongly, Emiya Shirou." He said, making Shirou freeze in shock. "It chose you because on this whole planet, in this whole Omniverse, you are the worthiest. You are the one chosen to wield it. You will succeed in your task, boy, better than you can imagine. Take that from one who has seen and helped many heroes reach the top."

With those words, the old man turned around and ran out of the cafe, with a speed that should have been impossible for a man his age. And while he ran outside, he let out a cry:

"And so I say; EXCELSIOR!"

Shirou was absolutely stunned for a moment, but his training kicked in quickly and he sprinted after the man, running onto the street and looking around for him, but to his further shock, he couldn't see the man anywhere. The old geezer was gone, disappeared as if he were never there.

Shirou stumbled back inside, not able to believe what had just happened. Did that old man know what he was? Did he know what was going on with Mjolnir? It definitely seemed like it.

An unconcerned hum from Mjolnir confirmed this, as the hammer seemed completely certain that the man knew everything, but also that it wouldn't be a problem.

Shirou was surprised at the hammer's carefree attitude. The man had been helpful, yes, kind too, but that wasn't a guarantee that he would keep Shirou's secrets.

Mjolnir thrummed again, assuring him that it knew that man, and that the man would never tell anyone about Shirou, no matter what, as long as Shirou didn't want him to.

Shirou himself wasn't entirely sure whether he believed that, but since the man had disappeared and there was nothing he could do about it, he decided to let it go for now and just appreciate the man's advice.

Again, there was nothing he could do, except hope that things would be alright.

And for some reason, he actually believed they would be.

---

Somewhere else in the city, in one of the better parts of town, Yomaura Taya was just about to go to bed. She'd gotten up very early this morning, to secure and investigate a crime scene, and wanted to catch up on her sleep now that she had the time.

After changing into her nightclothes and brushing her teeth, she threw herself down on her bed for a well-deserved rest. Before she fell asleep though, her mind went out to her Senpai, as it tended to do whenever she wasn't deeply focusing on something else.

He really was a hard and dedicated worker, whom she had been lucky to be partnered to. He was probably still working at this very moment and wouldn't be going to sleep for quite a while yet, if he didn't just pull an all-nighter again.

Taya let out a very deep sigh at the thought. She liked his motivation and dedication, very much, but they also concerned her. They made him push himself to his limits so often, and that couldn't be healthy.

Take the situation at the precinct for instance. Her Senpai forced himself to pick up all of the slack of their lazy colleagues, despite how much pressure that put on him. He never refused to help a co-worker, no matter how busy he was himself and he never allowed himself to slack on anything.

He grumbled about it a lot, but he always did his job and more. No matter how often she told him to take it easy, he just seemed incapable of ignoring work that had to be finished.

Taya sighed deeply again. At the rate he was going, he was going to collapse soon. She would have to tell his daughters to get him to sleep more. A combined assault from his partner and his daughters usually did the trick to convince him about something.

She would talk with the girls tomorrow. For now, she would grab some shut eye herself.

Taya closed her eyes…

Only to widen them in shock as she felt cold shivers run up her spine, her instincts going haywire like they hadn't done for years, screaming at her about impending danger.

Her muscles seized up, her heart began beating wildly, and her lungs drew in all the air they could. She felt watched, as if someone was talking about her, even as if something was walking over her very grave, as if something was approaching fast-

Then the feeling disappeared.

Taya could only blink in stupefaction for a few moments, before looking around to confirm she was truly alone in her room, the darkness and loneliness suddenly feeling oppressive and as if they hid a thousand assassins.

She normally wasn't afraid of the dark, but that feeling had... unsettled her.

Perhaps she should ask if she could stay at her Senpai's house for the coming nights, if only to make sure they were all save. Whatever she had felt a few seconds ago, it certainly was nothing good.

Adding the request for a sleep-over to her 'to do'-list for tomorrow, she looked around one more time, before laying down again and falling asleep.

She did make sure to sleep with one eye open however.

---

And so we end the chapter.

I know, I know. Not a lot of curbstomping, not a lot of Moonlit World, but the gangs needed to be dealt with first. Shirou would not leave such a job half-finished and it is still the good fight, even if it isn't all that impressive. Turns out there is a lot behind it though…

Ayako is introduced, hurray, and she seems a bit attracted to Shirou, but who can blame her? He's Shirou after all. This is for now a purely physical crush, but that can develop into a lot more, if you know what I mean, 'wink wink, nudge nuge'.

As for the police, well, they are still capable of catching criminals, but they are lazy slackers who'd prefer it if others did it. They cut corners, don't properly write reports and that kind of thing.

There are a few corrupt ones, but not all of them are so, not by a long shot even. The grumblings of this chapter were because of the POV's. Osaki is frustrated because he is driven and they are not, Taiga is annoyed they are barely any help against gangs, and Shirou is angry because he knows of the true reason behind their incompetence.

I have always considered it strange that in canon there were no huge actions after the debacles with the murders committed by Lancer, the attack on the school by Rider and the messes in town courtesy of Caster, Angra Mainyu and the rest. So I figured the Magus Association purposely kept the police incompetent to hide their little war better.

Osaki and Yomaura, being from out of town and very new respectively, are not influenced and as such possible allies for Shirou.

And a pep-talk at the end for Shirou. From a very special someone, doing a cameo. RIP

Alright, I figure you've seen enough bold text for now, have a nice day.