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.

19. Pest Control: Aftermath

Pest Control/Aftermath

---

When Shirou woke up, three hours after having fallen asleep, he didn't feel refreshed at all, rather he felt tired, spent, his whole body felt bruised and battered, and the throbbing pain in his head seemed to have intensified.

For a few seconds, he struggled to remember what he had done that left him in such a sorry state, blinking slowly as he tried to sit up.

His fatigue disappeared instantly however when he recalled what had happened that evening, what he had done. Within a second, he was out of his room, on his way to check up on Sakura and Shinji.

To his immense relief, both were exactly where he had left them, Sakura in the guest room and Shinji on the couch, neither of them having moved as far as he could tell.

The moment he entered Sakura's room though, the girl let out a soft groan, stirring in her sleep and turning over on her side.

That was the kind of behaviour that indicated one was close to waking, and Shirou estimated it shouldn't be more than an hour now before Sakura would wake up.

He contemplated staying next to her until she woke, but ultimately decided to leave the room, to give her some space. He thus took place in the living room, where he would be able to keep an eye on Shinji and from where he'd be able to hear Sakura call out once she woke up.

As he sat there, Shirou tried to think of what to say to his friends, how he could apologise for missing them being abused for such a long time, and how on Earth he was going to explain the fact that he was a Magus, which they were surely both aware of now.

After failing them so terribly, and having lied to them for so long, it wouldn't surprise Shirou if they didn't want anything to do with him anymore, that Sakura would hate him for betraying her trust, and would walk out of his life forever.

He could scarcely think of anything that would be worse than that. So, even though he didn't deserve it, he still hoped that she would forgive him. That he and Sakura would make breakfast together again this morning and would be doing so for many years to come.

It was bordering on the impossible, but he couldn't help but hope nonetheless.

Shinji was a whole other matter however.

Shirou knew what the boy had done to Sakura, he had heard it from his own mouth, but it hadn't been voluntary. It was something that he'd been forced to do, and it had no doubt left its own marks on him.

Shirou honestly didn't know what to do with Shinji, and many minutes went by as he tried to think of something, a punishment that fit the crime, but without success.

Sunken in thought as he was, Shirou didn't notice Sakura wake up about fifty minutes after he'd left the room, nor did he hear her trying to get to her feet, but he did hear the sound of her falling back on the ground with a squeak after her legs gave out from under her.

He was in front of her room in a flash, about to enter, but just as he placed his hand on the handle, he stopped.

Then he knocked on the door instead.

"Sakura...? I-It's me. C-Can I... Can I come in?"

For a few seconds, no response came from inside, giving Shirou the time to cringe about how stupid he sounded, before...

"SENPAI?!" Sakura suddenly shrieked, scaring the life out of Shirou with her sudden volume. "W-Wha-? W-What are you doing here!?"

"This is my house!" Shirou answered in a voice that was definitely louder than normal, as he tried to calm his racing heart. "I brought you here last night."

"W-Wait! Last night? You mean I wasn't dreaming?" Sakura sounded utterly confused at her current situation, which was probably only logical.

"No, you weren't dreaming. But, uhm, Sakura, can I come in? It's a bit awkward talking like this."

"Oh, yes, sure." Sakura still sounded rather out of it, but permission was permission, so he entered the room.

Once inside, he immediately tried to look her over for injuries or other maladies, and he desperately tried to ignore the fact that Irisviel's old nightgown fit her incredibly well, and that she seemed to shine with an ethereal light, and that she was wearing no underwear under the gown.

He utterly failed in his second objective, but at least he was able to make sure she was unharmed and in a good state, aside from the immense confusion in her eyes, which only seemed to increase as she looked at him.

"Senpai." Sakura began, sounding very hesitant. "What happened to grandfather? I can't… Certainly, he wouldn't have let you take me with you?"

"No, he wouldn't. That is why he is dead." Shirou told her bluntly. "I killed him a few hours ago, when I took you away from the Matou-estate."

Sakura blinked slowly, trying to process that information, and in any other situation, Shirou might have laughed at her overly ponderous expression, as he could almost hear the gears grinding away inside her head.

"Grandfather is… dead?" She repeated eventually, before frowning. "But that is impossible. He cannot be killed. I once stabbed him, multiple times, and he just laughed it off."

"You don't have to worry about that. I destroyed all his familiars too, including the ones inside of you. I even destroyed his Soul. I can assure you that he is completely gone."

Sakura gave him an incredulous stare, before she placed her hand on her heart, probably to verify his words for herself.

Shirou didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she must have obtained some manner of information from it, for after a few moments, the hand dropped back at her side.

Then a lot of different emotions started flashing over her face. Immense shock, followed by adorable puzzlement, followed in turn by realisation and acceptance, before her expression settled on pure, unadulterated joy.

Her body sagged as if relieved from an incredible burden, and then she smiled at him, a smile so filled with delight and happiness it could outshine the dawn itself.

It was a wonderful sight, and Shirou let it sooth his heart for a couple of seconds, smiling back, before he was completely caught off guard by a purple-and-white blur suddenly slamming into him and arms being wrapped around him in a hug.

"Thank you, Senpai." Sakura cried, burying her face in his chest. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I-I-I, uh, Bwuaaah!"

"A-Ah, y-you're welcome." Shirou stuttered, realising with shock that she was crying now. Unsure what else to say, he wrapped his arms around her in turn, hugging her strongly in an attempt to set her at ease, trying to ignore how pleasant it was to have Sakura in his arms like this.

Sakura continued crying for well over a minute, but then she calmed down again, taking deep breaths to regain her composure, though she didn't let go of him in the slightest, and growled adorably when he did try to let go of her.

At that moment, it seemed as if everything would be alright, that there was no more need for worry or concern, but Shirou couldn't accept that. He couldn't accept being let off the hook so easily. Not when he had failed so terribly.

"I am sorry, Sakura." He said, and he felt more than he saw how her body tensed in surprise. "I messed up. I should have saved you sooner, and told you that I was a Magus years ago, but I-"

"No." Sakura interrupted him, shaking her head against his chest. "You didn't 'mess up'. You saved me, like a hero."

"What? No." Shirou argued. "I knew for months already that something was really wrong with Zouken, but I still chose to sit by and do nothing about it."

"Perhaps, but I don't mind." Sakura answered, tightening the hug. "Senpai, you saved me. You saved me. How could I ever be angry with you?"

"Because I was too late." Shirou repeated, not understanding why she wasn't seeing it. "Because I should have saved you months ago. I always talk about becoming a hero, but how could I when I couldn't even see that you needed my help?"

"I told you not to help me." Sakura said, her voice becoming stronger. "I told you to stay away when you tried to offer your help. This was my fault, Senpai. I thought that grandfather would kill you, so I tried to chase you away, but you still saved me."

"But don't you think I-"

"No."

"But I-"

"Na-ah."

"You really don't blame me?"

"Not at all."

"…I really don't deserve you." Shirou sighed, wondering how on Earth he'd managed to find such a purehearted and kind friend, his worry and anxiety slowly falling away as she smiled at him. "I really don't deserve any of this."

"I disagree. Senpai deserves every good thing that can possibly happen to him." Sakura smiled.

"…I see." Shirou said, looking away from Sakura for a moment to hide that he disagreed. "Well then, there is still much more we need to talk about. Will you let me go?"

"Never! Ah, I mean, in a few minutes. Just let me stay like this for a while, please."

True to her words, Sakura kept hugging him and didn't let him go until several minutes had passed. Shirou didn't mind though, it was a nice feeling, having Sakura in his arms like this, and he almost regretted it when she did let go of him and sat back on the futon.

"So." Shirou spoke up first, looking around uncomfortably as he sat down next to her. "I killed Zouken, and I am a Magus. This must be surprising to you."

"Well… I have to admit that, sometimes, I already suspected that you were a Magus." Sakura admitted shyly, looking down at her lap and thus missing the shocked look he gave her. "Grandfather clearly considered you worthy of his attention, and you seemed to hate each other on first sight. Also, I saw a few books about Norse mythology at your house, along with drawings of Runes."

"Ah, so you saw those." Shirou sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, knowing perfectly well which drawings she was talking about. "I shouldn't have left those lying around I suppose. Was that not enough proof though, that I am a Magus?"

"Not really." Sakura shook her head, still looking down at her lap. "I could also be a hobby, or something for a project for school, and… well, I suppose I always dismissed the possibility, because I thought that Senpai was too good and kind to be a Magus."

He could see where she was coming from. He wasn't really a Magus after all, but a Spell-Caster. The only reason he frequently referred to himself as 'Magus' was because it was quicker and easier than having to explain his reasoning every time.

"But then it turned out Senpai was a Magus all along." Sakura went on, looking up to give him another blinding smile. "You're even more amazing than I always thought. I love you, Senpai!"

She continued smiling for a second, only for her face to slowly redden as she realised what she just said out loud.

With another squeak of embarrassment, she hid herself under her blankets, trying to hide her red face from sight, mumbling muffled apologies.

It was adorable to see, and Shirou had to hold himself back from patting her head.

"I love you too, Sakura." He smiled as he reached out to pat her head after all, losing the battle with his baser desires. "Don't you have any questions for me though? You can ask me anything you want."

"Ah." Sakura whispered, peaking up at him from under her blanket with warm, trusting eyes. "I trust Senpai. You can tell me as much or as little as you want."

Shirou's own cheeks started heating up at such a raw display of affection and trust, and he self-consciously rubbed the back of head, wishing for some reason that he'd taken the time to wash his face and comb his hair before coming into Sakura's room, as nonsensical as that was.

"From now on, I'd like there to be no more secrets between us." He answered softly, watching as Sakura perked up at his words. "I'll tell you everything about me there is to know."

"Learning more about Senpai." Sakura gasped, delight once more shining in her eyes as she emerged from the blankets again. "This is the best day ever!"

"…Ahem, r-right." Shirou stuttered, slightly taken aback by her enthusiasm. "I-I hardly think it'll be all that interesting though."

Okay, maybe he deserved that deadpan stare Sakura sent him in response. His life was many things, but uninteresting it was not, even he could see that.

"A-Anyway." He continued. "I-I guess it all started in the Great Fire, where I lost my memory. I have told you about that already, but… I didn't tell you everything."

A deep breath.

"When I was lying there, dying, after having ignored everyone begging for my help, dad eventually came to save me. He saved me with Avalon –a Noble Phantasm– and got me out of the fire, and while he did so, he smiled. He smiled so happily that I just had to feel that for myself. That was when I decided that I wanted to save people too. To obtain that happiness that dad experienced, but also to atone for my sins."

"You don't have any sins to atone for." Sakura immediately said, a pleading note in her voice as she repeated something she had been telling him for years now. "There was nothing you could have done to save those people, you know that."

Shirou didn't say anything, looking away instead. They'd had this discussion multiple times already, but neither had been able to convince the other so far.

"At first, dad and I lived together peacefully." He went on, noticing how Sakura wilted slightly at his blunt dismissal of the topic. "But after I told him I wanted to become a hero, he started training me, both in Magical and Mundane things."

"Emiya-san was also a Magus?" Sakura asked with wide eyes, before bonking her forehead. "Of course he was, stupid question."

"Not stupid at all." Shirou protested. "But yes, dad was a Magus. He trained me for a while, mainly focusing on providing me with as much information as possible. Fighting and spellcasting I could learn on my own, he said, but I had to have a basic understanding of the Moonlit World before he died."

Sakura nodded again, showing she still followed him.

"Then he died, as you know, leaving me to follow my dream. A few months after his death, while I was walking through the forest next to the temple, a storm came in. It was no normal storm though, as all the lightning, wind, and anything else seemed centred around one point in the sky. That point, as it turned out, was this."

With those words, Shirou made Mjolnir appear, the hammer materialising in a shower of sparks, as if trying to be dramatic.

"A hammer?" Sakura asked in confusion, before her eyes narrowed as she spotted the inscription on the side. "'Whosoever lifts this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor'?"

"Indeed, and it isn't fake. This is the actual Mjolnir, and it actually bestowed Thor's essence onto me."

"Wow." Sakura breathed, looking at him with starstruck eyes. "You were chosen as a god's successor? That's amazing."

Surprised at her quick acceptance of his frankly ludicrous claims, Shirou nodded his head pensively in response to her words. "I suppose I am meant to be Thor's successor; Mjolnir certainly seems to think so."

"Mjolnir thinks so?" Sakura asked, confusion replacing awe for a second.

"It's sentient, or at least partially." Shirou revealed, nodding emphatically at her shocked gasp. "Yes, I was surprised too. That's not the only strange thing though. It also massively boosted my abilities. I have improved physical strength, massively increased durability; the quality of my Magic Circuits got a lot higher, and I even got some extra abilities from it that I certainly didn't possess before. It really helped me during my missions."

"Your missions?" Sakura asked, tilting her head in a cute way.

"Ah, yeah." Shirou nervously scratched his cheek, wondering how Sakura would take the next bit of information. "I have been taking down criminals and other evil people over the past months."

"Taking down…?! Senpai, you have been fighting people!?"

"Don't worry. I was never in any danger." Shirou hastily assured her, holding up his hands to try and calm her down. "With Mjolnir, I was always safe."

"Are you sure?" She implored, looking moments away from trying to inspect him for any injuries or scars. "You weren't hurt?"

"…" Shirou would really like to answer positively to that, but the Dead Apostle and especially the Phantasmal Beast would make a liar out of him if he did that.

"Senpai, you weren't hurt, were you?"

"…Maybe a little."

"S-Senpai." Sakura looked close to crying again.

"Hey now, there's no need to cry." He said soothingly, mind racing as he tried to think of something to set her at ease. "I-I am fine now."

"I don't want you to get hurt!" Sakura shook her head, tears rapidly building up in her eyes.

"Then how's this? I cannot promise I won't get hurt, but I can promise that I will always come back to you. I give you my word on that."

Sakura sniffed once, studying him intently for any signs of lying, before she nodded in reluctant acceptance.

"Thank you." Shirou sighed in relief, fully intending to keep that promise. "Alright, where was I?"

"Fighting criminals." Sakura mumbled, wiping her eyes as she composed herself again.

"Right. Well, that went quite well for a while, but then I stumbled on something much larger." Shirou continued from where he'd left off. "I started finding criminals who had been Hypnotised in the past. They had been ordered to abduct people, so that the Magi who had Hypnotised them could use those people for their experiments."

"What?" Sakura looked aghast at his words. "W-What kind of cruel…? Those people sound like grandfather!"

"Technically speaking, it's what every First-Rate Magus would do." Shirou told her gently. "Though the ones I am talking about were taking it to frightening levels. I don't have an accurate count, but it wouldn't surprise me if thousands of people fell victim to them and their schemes."

"D-Did you stop them?"

"Eventually yes, but it was a lot of work to track them all down. I had to visit numerous cities and fight countless criminals before I could find the Magi-"

"Senpai, are you Rakurai?" Sakura suddenly asked, apparently having connected several dots in her mind.

"…Ah, w-well, I suppose that's what my alter ego is called, yeah." Shirou answered, rather caught off guard.

"That's so cool!" Sakura gasped in awe, looking at him with shining eyes. "Fujimura-Sensei was right! Rakurai really is a magical vigilante who saves people with his awesome magical weapon. You're so amazing, Senpai!"

"…" Shirou coughed into his hand, unable to stop a blush from forming at Sakura's honest praise.

"Oh, but I interrupted you. I'm sorry, please continue."

"R-Right, so I fought criminals." Shirou fumbled, struggling with his story. "A-And the Dead Apostle and the Phantasmal Beast of course."

"Phantasmal Beast?!" Sakura interrupted him yet again, though this time for a very good reason. "I thought those didn't exist anymore?"

"Apparently, they do."

"It must have been difficult to defeat it." Sakura mumbled, her Magus-upbringing, however limited, allowing her to understand how much of a threat a Phantasm Beast could represent.

"Yes, but honestly, it wasn't nearly as bad to face as Oni." Shirou spat, clenching his fists at the memory of the most despicable man he'd ever seen. "He was a monster, someone who enjoyed causing pain. He abducted and hurt people, for no other reason than that he considered it amusing, and I… I killed him."

"Was that why Senpai was so sad a few weeks ago?" Sakura asked softly, not even flinching at his re-telling of his first kill. "Because you shouldn't be sad. Not for someone like that."

"Yes, I know that now." He assured her, idly noting the plum-haired girl seemed to have much less trouble than he did with the concept of killing criminals.

From there on, he had to take a few steps back in his story, as he told her of the police and their reactions to his vigilantism, and in particular about the fact that they had seen it fit to dedicate an entire national investigation to him.

"I mean, can you believe that?!" Shirou sputtered, not noticing Sakura having to smother a giggle at his indignation. "So much money and working hours wasted on me. I feel like I'm bullying the police. And that's not even the worst. I have fans, Sakura. Actual fans on websites, who follow me during their free time, like I am an idol or something."

"That's… terrible, Senpai." Sakura said solemnly, hiding the fact that she was pinching her thigh to prevent herself from laughing.

"I suppose I should just be glad that I was doing enough good for people to notice." Shirou sighed. "Not that I was making much progress with hunting the Magi. It wasn't until Hikone that I got somewhere with that."

"Hikone? Where we had our swimming exam?"

"Yes, indeed." Shirou nodded. "While we were staying in Hikone, a Magus-mercenary tried to get into your room, to kidnap Tohsaka-san. I only noticed it just in time to stop him."

"I see." Sakura shivered slightly, remembering she had been in that room as well. "I am happy you were there to protect us."

"I am happy I was there too." He assured her with a smile. "That mercenary told me where the Magi were hiding, so I went there to take them down. That was two nights ago, or three now, I suppose."

"Did you succeed?" Sakura asked, though she looked pretty confident in his answer already.

"I succeeded, without even a scratch on me." Shirou grinned, and Sakura smiled back. "I got them all, though three of them committed suicide before I could capture them."

Again, Sakura showed no reaction to being told that Shirou's enemies had been killed.

"But then I had three corpses and two prisoners in my Vault, my pocket dimension I mean." He went on.

"Pocket dimension?" Sakura asked, eyes opening wide again. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Shirou then reached into his Vault and pulled out several pieces of blank paper, knowing that to Sakura, it would have seemed as if he was reaching into nothing before suddenly holding something. "It is a trans-dimensional space that keeps everything that I put into it in stasis."

"Ah." Sakura made a small noise of understanding. "Are the Magi still in there?"

"No, fortunately not. Yesterday, someone entered the castle of the Magi and tripped the alarm I had left there. I went back to the castle and fought the intruders, but then it turned out they were also hunting these Magi."

"An accidental confrontation between those on the same side." Sakura stated, hitting her fist on her palm in understanding. "Just like in Ayako's manga. Did it end up alright though?"

"Yes, it did. It turned out one of them was actually a lord of the Clocktower, and a pretty important one too. Fortunately, he wasn't of the overly prideful sort, and was willing to talk, so we reached an agreement. He would get the Magi and I would get their bounties, a favour from him, and a sponsorship for when I want to enter the Clocktower."

Sakura nodded again.

"When I got back from that though, I encountered Shinji on my way home." Shirou's smile made place for a grim expression. "I dragged him along to a park and interrogated him. After a while, he told me-, well, he told me everything. After that, I made my way over to the Matou-estate and killed Zouken. I took you here afterwards."

"…"

"Shinji is here too by the way. He fainted in the park some time after I left, and I couldn't leave him out there."

"…"

"…Sakura?"

"He told you everything?" She repeated softly, her eyes darkening as she shrunk in on herself. "Even about my f-former family? The t-training? What those Worms made me feel and do? H-How impure I am?"

"Sakura…" Shirou hesitated, and that told Sakura everything she needed to know.

"I'm sorry, Senpai! I'm s-so sorry! I-I should have told you that I am defiled!" She cried, looking around his room as if it was the first time she saw it, as if she just realised she was horribly out of place. "I chased after you and stayed with you even though I had those worms inside me. I am despicable. I should just go back home and stay there… Mhumpf!"

Sakura had been in process of getting to her feet, to run away from the house and remove her impure self from her Senpai's presence, but she didn't get any further than half-way, as Shirou resolutely placed his hand over her mouth, cutting off any further nonsense, and pushed her back into a seating position on the futon.

"Defiled?" He repeated in absolute disbelief, the intensity of his gaze striking the girl silent. "You? Never! You aren't defiled at all! That's nonsense! Please never say such things again, or I'll be mad!"

Sakura froze at his words, his hand still over her mouth, and she looked at him with wide eyes.

Fearing she didn't understand yet, Shirou tried to make it clearer, scooting closer to her and reaching out to wipe the tears from her cheeks, before pressing his forehead against hers, in a way he had seen people on Taiga's drama-shows comfort each other.

It always seemed to work in those shows…

"You aren't defiled because of the worms, or whatever they made you do or put you through. That is all Zouken's fault, not yours. You are the best and purest person I know, and I am sure that everyone would agree with me. Don't let yourself be influenced by a man who should have died centuries ago."

Sakura still didn't react, only making soft, confused noises as she raised her hands to cup her own cheeks. She bit her lip, screwing her eyes shut as she began breathing erratically, before heavy sobs started wracking her body.

Shirou almost panicked at the sight of Sakura crying like that, quickly trying to create some distance, fearing he might have done something wrong.

He was halfway to getting up to his feet however, when Sakura suddenly tackled him full on for the second time that morning, his imbalance causing him to fall flat on his back with Sakura on top of him.

The girl was not even capable of speech anymore at this point. She was crying loudly, tears and snot streaming over her face as she clutched onto him, her body shaking as she let all her bottled-up emotions out for the first time in years.

There was relief, happiness, delight, even exultation, but also grief, sadness, and anger, all of them coming out now that Sakura finally didn't have to hold back anymore. For the first time since Shirou had met her, Sakura dared to let all her masks and walls come down.

Once he realised that, Shirou immediately wrapped his arms around her again, hugging her strongly, trying to show that he wouldn't leave her behind or send her away now that she had broken the act of the perfect Kohai, that he would stay with her for as long as she would have him.

"Do you-, do you really mean what you said?" She asked him after a solid ten minutes of uncontrollable crying, looking as fragile as a porcelain doll, her eyes filled with a desperate hope.

"Of course I do." Shirou said. "I wouldn't have said it otherwise."

"B-But I-I-I…" She stuttered, not looking convinced yet, prompting Shirou to lightly cuff her over the head.

"Look, if I can accept that I'm not a failure of a hero because I was months too late with saving you, can you not accept that you aren't defiled or impure merely because Zouken tried his hardest at breaking you? Unsuccessfully, I might add."

"You aren't a failure." Sakura mumbled in reflex.

"And you aren't defiled." Shirou repeated, smiling as brightly as he could at the girl, who, at last, seemed to understand what he was getting at. She lifted her head from its position on his chest and pushed herself up until she was sitting on his stomach, her hands leaning on his shoulders.

Then she smiled at him.

Now, he had seen both Tohsaka and Ayako smile before, when they were very happy with him, and those smiles could only be called beautiful, but Sakura's current smile was undoubtedly the most angelic of them all.

"Thank you, Senpai." She whispered, before looking down at his wet shirt with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry for that."

"Don't be." Shirou huffed with a smile. "It's just a shirt. You are much more important to me."

"Hehe." Sakura gave him a childish grin, something she'd never done before, which made Shirou's heart skip a beat at how cute she looked. "I love you, Senpai."

"I love you too, Sakura." Shirou smiled. "You are my dearest friend."

"Geh." Sakura suddenly pulled a face as if she'd bitten into something unpleasant, but before Shirou could ask about it, she was smiling again.

She then looked away shyly, allowing her hair to fall in front of her face, as her eyes peaked at Shirou from within her bangs.

"But if the story's finished, could you perhaps… show me a bit more of what you can do now?" Her voice grew even softer. "A-As a Magus, or g-god I guess."

"Ah, right. I will." Shirou agreed with a firm nod, sitting up again, putting Sakura to his side, and reclaiming Mjolnir from where it had come down when Sakura had tackle-hugged him. "Like I said before, my Magic Circuits are much better than they were, and my physical capabilities increased a lot. I can lift cars now, Sakura, and I even broke a stone wall with my fists."

"I suppose that's needed when you fight Phantasmal Beasts and Dead Apostles." Sakura nodded, unsurprised by his words. She did let out a squeak though when Shirou grabbed her at her sides and lifted her above his head, showing her a bit of his strength.

Not that she was heavy. Even though the muscles in his arms were shot to hell, they barely gave a twitch in response to him lifting her.

He eventually let the girl down again, before continuing.

"…Right. Next to that, I also have what I call 'the Mysterious Power', which is like Magical Energy, except… well, different, I guess. It is a Mystic power source, but much more powerful than Magical Energy, and I believe it is almost sentient even, just like Mjolnir."

"That's… a little scary." Sakura mumbled, a sweatdrop appearing on the side of her head.

"I also gained a massive proficiency with Runes, and the ability to control the weather, including lightning and wind."

To give credence to his words, he coated his hand in lightning, and then created a miniature storm right above their heads. He didn't make it rain, but he did make mini-lightning bolts flash between the tiny clouds.

"I also have the Cleansing Power, which is basically a power that removes and eradicates everything that I consider unnatural, like Dead Apostles and Zouken's familiars. I can also heal wounds with it, though I don't know the theory behind that. Perhaps I consider wounds unnatural?"

"That sounds like an amazing power to have." Sakura smiled benignly, like a big sister at her enthusiastic little brother.

"And I haven't even mentioned Mjolnir yet. It allows me to fly at great speed, it has an immense innate power that amplifies my strikes considerably, I can use it to fire lightning bolts, and it also gave me Magic Resistance."

Sakura nodded slowly at his words.

"Not to mention that it gave me this armour." The redhead continued, happy he could finally show it to someone, materialising it on his body. "It's very durable, Magic Resistant, and self-repairing, and Mjolnir said it has a lot of functions I haven't even found yet."

"My knight in shining armour." Sakura whispered with a smile and a blush, too soft for Shirou to hear.

"That's pretty much everything I can think of at the moment though." Shirou said, digging through his memory but not finding anything else he could tell her. "Should I think of anything else, I'll tell you right away."

"Thank you Senpai." Sakura professed again. "Thank you for telling me so much about yourself. I would do the same, but I… you already know everything, I suppose."

"…" Not able to think of anyone to say in response, Shirou hugged her again. She hugged him back right away, resting her face in the crook of his neck, sighing softly in content.

"We should probably make breakfast now." Sakura suddenly said, lifting her head from its position. "We can't let Fujimura-sensei starve, can we?"

Shirou blinked at the seemingly random topic, before he smiled.

"Yes, let us go to the kitchen." He agreed, getting up from the ground, hiding the stab of pain that shot through him at the motion, before helping Sakura to her feet. "We can't have her go hungry. Now that I killed Zouken, we'll have to convince her to let you stay here after all."

Sakura blinked at that, before she made an o-face, probably only now realising she needed a place to stay now that her grandfather was dead.

Shirou was of course more than happy to have her stay here. Shinji too if it was needed, though he was unsure if the blue-haired boy would accept it.

Still, as they walked towards the kitchen together, his senses still incredibly dulled and his head still feeling as if it was about to explode, Shirou felt a flicker of warmth inside his chest.

He had taken a step forward in pursuing his dream.

He had saved Sakura.

---

Exiting her house, Taiga wasted no time in making her way over to her little brother's residence. Not only to score some breakfast, but also to check if Sakura had finally returned from her sudden and unexplained absence.

She'd been gone for three days now, and frankly, Taiga was but a hairbreadth away from marching over to the Matou-estate with a couple of the guys to teach that Zouken a lesson and get the girl out of there.

Child-abuse was something she could absolutely not condone, ever.

Entering Shirou's house was easy enough, as she had both the key and Shirou's permission to use it when she saw fit. Only, when she entered the dining room, she was shocked to find an empty kitchen, with no one making breakfast yet.

Well, no matter. Oversleeping was no problem on a free day. She would just wake Shirou up now and-

Why was Matou Shinji in the living room?

Taiga froze as she saw the blue-haired boy sleeping peacefully on the couch, as if he had every right in the world to be there.

She closed her eyes, rubbed them with her hands, and opened them again.

It made no difference; Shinji was still there.

But if he was here, in Shirou's house, where he'd obviously stayed the night, then did that mean Sakura was here as well?

A quick glance around the living room showed no glimpse of purple hair, but then Taiga realised that, considering she was Shirou's not-quite-yet-girlfriend and thus more important than Shinji, it was likely Sakura had gotten the guestroom.

Indeed, when Taiga arrived at the guestroom and took a peek inside through the half-opened door, she could see Shirou and Sakura sitting there, Sakura on the futon in a nightgown and Shirou on the floor right next to her. Both were smiling and clearly okay.

They were also wrapped up in a conversation, to the point where the normally so observant Shirou hadn't even noticed her standing in the hallway.

Taiga knew it wasn't proper at all to eavesdrop, but curiosity got to her, and she couldn't help but try and listen for in a bit.

"But if the story's finished, could you perhaps… show me a bit more about what you can do now?"

That was Sakura's voice. The words were followed by some inaudible mumbling, but Taiga was too busy being confused to listen more closely. What Shirou could do? Like what, cooking? Taking care of the house? Being good at school? Surely, Sakura would already have a good idea of Shirou's many talents?

"Ah, right. I will." That was Shirou's voice. "Like I said before, my Magic Circuits are much better than before, and my physical capabilities increased a lot. I can lift cars now, Sakura, and I even broke a stone wall with my fists."

That… was quite the boast to make. Taiga wasn't sure what to make of those words, even when she saw him lift Sakura above his head, from a sitting position, seemingly without any strain whatsoever, even thought that was easily a bodybuilder feat.

Shirou then continued, telling Sakura about a sentient Mystic power source that he had, which was, according to him at least, quite powerful. Then he mentioned that he had a 'proficiency with Runes', whatever that meant, and that he could control the weather.

Taiga was sceptical about that claim, until Shirou suddenly made sparks of lightning appear in his hand, seemingly out of nothing, and also created a freaking storm in the room.

What did they say about scepticism again? When presented with irrefutable evidence, change your opinion or be a fool? Because what she saw right there seemed evidence enough.

The conversation then became even more complicated, something about a Cleansing Power destroying everything Shirou didn't like, and healing everything he did like. At least, that was what it came down to for Taiga.

Shirou also revealed a hammer, that was super powerful and allowed him to fly apparently, and armour, that just appeared out of nowhere on his body.

Taiga was deeply confused by everything Shirou had said, but despite that, she could barely suppress a squeal of excitement upon seeing the teenagers hug each other after they had concluded their conversation. Strange powers and circumstances or not, that was seriously cute.

After a little while though, they separated again and got to their feet.

"We should probably make breakfast now." Sakura said. "We can't let Fujimura-sensei starve, can we?"

"Yes, let us go to the kitchen." Shirou agreed with his not-quite-yet-girlfriend. "We can't have her go hungry. Now that I killed Zouken, we'll have to convince her to let you stay here after all."

With those words, they made for the door and entered the hallway, where Taiga herself was of course no longer present.

She was literally sprinting away, as fast and silent as she could, to reach the dining room before the teens would see her standing in front of their door.

Once she sat herself down at the table, having remained unseen, preparing to pretend she had been waiting there since she'd come into the house, she thought back on the last words she'd heard.

'Now that I killed Zouken'.

That was what Shirou had said, wasn't it? That was what he had told Sakura. That he had killed Zouken.

Taiga did not know what to think of that.

Now, don't get her wrong. From what she'd heard and seen, Zouken was questionable at best and more than likely a child-abusing monster. The man's death didn't bother her at all, rather it was the fact that it had been Shirou who had killed him that shocked her so.

Her dear little brother, who normally even refused to gossip, had killed someone. He had killed the grandfather of his best friend, and he didn't even sound regretful about it.

Not to mention the whole thing with his 'powers and abilities', abilities humans weren't supposed to have. Humans weren't supposed to control the weather, or punch through stone walls, or create armour out of nothing.

How would a human control the weather and do all those other things? They couldn't, absolutely not.

So logically, Shirou would have to be something else than human.

This conclusion did not come out of nowhere. Taiga had seen an American film a few years ago, one about an alien baby that was send to Earth because its original planet had been destroyed. That baby grew up with extraordinary powers, and eventually became a superhero. The story had always stuck with her, because it had been quite inspiring, and also fairly entertaining.

On the other hand, Taiga also had to think back on the scariest book she had ever read, about a monster, a demon, coming down from a higher dimension to prey on children with its immense and strange powers, using them to show his prey their worst fears, before mercilessly consuming them.

Both of those creatures had strange and amazing powers, which they kept a secret, just like Shirou. So perhaps, Shirou could actually be like them?

That made sense. That truly made sense! That would explain what she had just seen!

Taiga grinned as she sat up straight, her earlier shock and worry forgotten now that she had solved the riddle. Shirou was just an alien.

'…'

'Shirou is an alien!'

Taiga's grin disappeared in an instant when it sunk in that she had an extra-terrestrial being living in her city, one she had basically adopted as her little brother, while she had never noticed anything.

He behaved so very normally though, just like a teen of his age was supposed to. He cooked, he cleaned, he worked hard at school. He was at most six months away from getting himself a girlfriend or two. He didn't act like an alien at all.

'Does he perhaps not know he is an alien?'

Yes, the more she thought about it, the more plausible that seemed. He had probably landed on Earth, right in Fuyuki-City, during or perhaps a little before the Great Fire. In there, he had lost his memories of his alien world because of the trauma before he had been saved and adopted by Kiritsugu.

It also explained why he had been completely unharmed when he had been taken out of the fire. His strange alien physiology had protected him.

No wonder Shirou was getting those powers. He was growing up, becoming an adult alien, and his abilities were finally manifesting themselves now that he was strong and mature enough to handle them.

Taiga gave herself a metaphorical pat on the back for her quick understanding of the situation. Not everyone could have reached such conclusions so quickly, no, you needed serious brain power for that.

Now if she could only figure out what to do with the information...

"Fujimura-Sensei?"

Taiga's thoughts were interrupted by Sakura's voice, and she looked up to find the plum-haired girl as well as Shirou looking at her in surprise. Both had changed out of their sleeping wear at some point, though Taiga didn't recognise Sakura's new clothes, a white shirt and black leggings, both slightly too big for her.

"Heya, you two, I'm here for breakfast." Taiga grinned, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible and not at all like she'd eavesdropped on them only minutes before. "Imagine my surprise though, when I suddenly found that guy, just lying here on the couch."

She jabbed her thumb at a still fast asleep Shinji, a slight smile on her face.

"Nii-san?" Sakura called out upon spotting him, making to approach him, before she was stopped by Shirou's hand falling on her shoulder.

"Let him sleep. If he's still not awake by now, he really needs it." Shirou told her softly, before turning to address Taiga herself. "Good morning, Fuji-nee. I suppose I owe you an explanation about this?"

"I can take a good guess myself, but perhaps you can fill me in on the details." Taiga replied, willing to play along for now.

"I got Sakura and Shinji out of the Matou-estate last night." Shirou told her bluntly, and Taiga was reasonably sure that was the truth. "They stayed the night at my place."

"Grandfather was really mad last night." The plum-haired girl added. "H-He even attacked N-Nii-san, and t-then t-tried t-to attack m-me as w-well. S-Senpai and Nii-san stopped h-him, a-and we r-ran a-away, t-to Senpai, who l-let us s-stay at h-his h-house."

"He attacked you?!" Taiga snarled, not having to fake her anger at all. "That old man has definitely gone too far this time! You have to get out of there, permanently!"

Sakura looked up in shock at her words. "B-But w-where would we g-go? We d-don't have a-anywhere else to s-stay-"

"You can live here." Taiga immediately proclaimed while rising to her feet dramatically, making both teens gasp in surprise, as if that hadn't been their plan all along.

"Really, Fuji-nee?" Shirou asked. "Just like that?"

"Yup." The exuberant woman confirmed with a smile. "I'm sure gramps would be fine with it, and the authorities can be convinced easily enough, especially if we tell them what kind of man Zouken is."

"Thank you, Fujimura-Sensei. Thank you so much!" Sakura cried in delight, the emotion clearly completely genuine, her smile so bright that it was blinding. "I won't make any trouble for you, I swear."

"It is no problem at all, we'll all be glad to have you." Taiga laughed. "Besides, I don't think you can make trouble for me even if you wanted to."

Shirou and Sakura professed their gratefulness a few more times, before they set about making breakfast together, Sakura's smile never leaving her face the entire time.

It was about half-an-hour later that the teens finished and they could dig in. Shinji was still asleep, so they let him lie there, putting aside some food for when he woke up.

"So, what are you two going to do today?" Taiga asked, slurping her noodles. She would have to attend a family-meeting herself, so the two were on their own.

"Oh, nothing much." Shirou said dismissively. "We still have to get Sakura and Shinji some stuff that is needed for living. You know, clothes, toothbrushes, books, the likes."

There was a heavy implication in that sentence that they would go and buy those things at the stores, but Taiga suspected they would just get them from the Matou-estate. Zouken certainly couldn't stop them anymore.

She sighed. She really was reacting way too mildly for the situation. Her poor, precious Shirou had killed someone last night, actually killed someone, and here she was, eating breakfast as if she didn't have a care in the world.

Only, she didn't know what else she could do. Mentioning that she knew of his actions would only complicate matters and drive him away from her, or he might make her forget it altogether with his alien-powers.

What complicated matters even more was the fact that he didn't even seem all that bothered by having killed someone. Really, his behaviour from a few weeks ago, when he had been very down and sad for about a month, was far more fitting for someone who had just killed anoth-

Oh… So Zouken wasn't the first person whom Shirou had killed.

What the hell was she supposed to do with that information? As if things weren't complicated enough yet.

Gah, this whole parenting-thing was difficult! Why weren't situations like this ever covered in those books she read? Now she had to figure it all out for herself-

"Fuji-nee?"

Upon hearing her name being said in such a concerned tone, Taiga wrenched herself from her thoughts, looking around until her eyes settled on Shirou.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright? You have barely eaten anything, and you look pale." He cocked his head to the side as he carefully looked her over. "Have you come down with something? I can make some tea for you, and you are free to use the guestroom to lie down for a while."

"Eh? Oh no, there's no need for you to bother yourself over that-"

"Fuji-nee, of course there is a need for me to bother myself over that. If you aren't feeling well, then I-"

"We." Sakura interrupted him gently.

"-Then we will have to take care of you. That what we do for each other, isn't it?"

…

Right, why was she even worried?

He would be fine, the idiot, even if he was an alien and had apparently killed multiple people already over the past months.

She should stop fretting so much. Shirou was a good man, and the situation would undoubtedly sort itself out somehow.

If she wanted to worry about something, she should worry about arranging the adoption of Sakura and Shinji. It would take a lot of paperwork, handling the matter concerning Zouken's death would be torture, and she'd have to get her gramps' permission on top of that.

She'd do it though. She would give it her all. Nothing was more important than their happiness. Kami-sama knew they deserved it.

---

Sakura was living in a dream.

There was no other way she could describe it. She was living in a dream and she hoped she'd never wake up again.

Her grandfather was gone, Nii-san and she were finally free, and she was going to move in with her Senpai, who didn't think she was defiled and didn't hate her, even though he knew everything.

Her Senpai was the one who had saved her too, like in her many fantasies. He had stormed into the basement and had obliterated Zouken, before carrying her away to his home.

She placed a hand on her breast, feeling her heartbeat from the place where there was no longer a single worm present. She had forgotten how it felt to not have those parasites inside of her after so long, to not be weighed down by their presence. Her mind felt so incredibly clear, and her body felt so light.

She could even activate her Circuits again without feeling like her entire body was being chewed on and cut to pieces from the inside out. She hadn't done anything with her Circuits though. No way she was going to try a spell after so many years of inaction. She had never been taught a single thing about Magecraft in the Matou-household and using Magical Energy without teachings was foolhardy at best and suicidal at worst.

What was at least as good, if not better, than her renewed ability to use Magecraft however, was the completely absence of the filthy, tainted lust that had constantly assailed her ever since she had been thrown into the pit for the first time.

She had been awake for hours now, and not once had she felt the dark kind of desire that the worms had always forced upon her. She was as attracted to Shirou as she had always been of course, but she could finally feel a proper, healthy appreciation of his form, like teenage girls were supposed to.

All in all, she was feeling as light as a feather, as if she could handle everything and take on the entire world by herself.

Which was a good thing too, as they were currently headed towards the very place that had spawned just about all of her nightmares for the past decade, the house that she had always associated with pain, misery, and hatred.

The Matou-estate.

Shirou had been very clear in his intentions. They were here to take everything that might be of use to them, and then they would burn the place to the ground. Once they were done with that, they would blame Zouken for the fire.

With a bit of luck, no one would bother questioning them.

They were currently walking over the street, on their way to her old house. It was… nice, to walk with her Senpai, without any of the stress she would normally be suffering in his presence.

No, 'nice' wasn't strong enough a word. It made her feel amazing, to the point where, even though she knew she was being far too presumptuous, she began to consider doing something scandalous.

She shyly glanced at Shirou, looking at his face first, and then at his hand, not really believing she was actually contemplating this.

Slowly, she reached out, astounded on the inside that she could be so bold, and slowly, carefully, placed her hand in his, entangling their fingers a bit.

Shirou gave her a curious look, but he didn't reject her advances, instead tightening his own grip slightly, softly holding on to her hand.

Sakura was now holding hands with him, while they were walking over the street together, like an actual couple.

She never wanted to wake up again!

"We are here."

Sakura was regrettably torn from her bliss by her Senpai's warning, noticing they were standing in front of the gate of the Matou-estate.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Shirou asked carefully. "We can do this another time if you want."

"No. Let's do this today." She shook her head, before giving him a smile. "I want to get this over with as soon as possible, and then I never want to see this place again."

Shirou looked her in the eyes for a few moments, before he nodded and pushed the gate open, revealing the damage he had already done to the garden and the front door the night before.

"Do you know what we can expect here?" He asked, looking around carefully, having insisted that he took the lead, being the toughest and most Magic-Resistant out of the two of them.

"The cruellest curses and spells that grandfather could think of." Sakura said with a sigh. "I don't know anything specific though, I was never taught anything by him."

"Then we'll just have to be extremely careful." Shirou nodded, stopping just before the front door and sending a pulse of some kind inside.

"Just a little trick with the Mysterious Power, similar to sonar." He explained when he saw her questioning look. "It's very obvious and visible to everyone inside, but it works really well when you want to find defensive measures and don't care about being noticed."

"That sounds really useful." Sakura smiled. "Did you find anything?"

"It would seem I was very thorough yesterday in destroying the defences, as there's nothing left except for a few half-broken curses here and there." He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

They stepped inside, very cautiously, ready to bolt should anything go wrong. Or, at least, Sakura would bolt, while Shirou would take on whatever it was that threatened them.

Their caution turned out to be unneeded however, and soon, they were standing in front of Sakura's room, having encountered no threats on the way.

Shirou quickly took some large bags from the Vault, which he handed over to Sakura so that she could get everything she wanted together.

Which wasn't a lot. Sakura never had many possessions to begin with, so there wasn't all that much she could retrieve. Mostly clothes, and a few gifts from her brother and her friends.

She actually had to think for a long time whether she would take the few things she had left from her time as a Tohsaka with her, or if she would let them burn with the house. Eventually, she put them in one of the bags, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

All in all, it didn't take longer than fifteen minutes to grab her stuff, and it took an equal amount of time to get her brother's possessions together as well. It then all went into Shirou's Vault.

When that was over with, they started their plundering for real.

Sakura could not deny it made her feel giddy to start upending everything in the house. She broke into closets, turned drawers upside-down, had Shirou kick in a few doors for her, she tore the artwork to pieces, and she threw the piles of research on the ground, before blatantly stepping on it when she walked away.

Grandfather would have hated it of course, which was a big part of what made it so enjoyable. She was destroying the physical representations of her rotten childhood, helped by the one she loved, resulting in two of the best hours of her life.

"So, I believe we got just about everything." Her Senpai said with a small smile after those two hours had passed, putting the last of the jars they had found in his pocket dimension.

They had found a lot of interesting things in the many rooms and hidden spaces in the house, ranging from a lot of ordinary money and jewellery to a few papers on Worm-Craft and a considerable number of jars filled with an unidentifiable fluid in which strange, organic-looking objects were floating.

Shirou burned everything that involved worms of any kind, but the rest of the research he kept, even the strangest things that neither of them could actually understand.

Of course, the morally questionable stuff would be destroyed. Everything that involved hurting the innocent or for which innocents had been hurt would be burned to ashes.

"It looks like there's nothing left." Sakura agreed with him, walking out of the secret room they had been standing in, the last one they had been able to find.

Now all they had to do was start the fire, get out of the house before anyone would notice, and make up a convincing story about a crazy old man who had burned himself alive after his grandchildren couldn't take his abuse anymore and ran away.

"I'll start the fire then." Shirou said, glancing at her with a sympathetic expression. "Is there anything you still want to do or say here? Last chance now."

"I have nothing to say, Senpai. It's enough to know that this place is destroyed, so I can finally move on."

"Then be ready to run." He said, before he drew a Rune in the air. "This place is going to turn into an inferno soon, so let's get out of here."

And so they did. As soon as the Rune took effect, they sprinted out of the house.

Not wanting to be seen anywhere near the upcoming conflagration, they made their way back to the Emiya-estate immediately, trying to look inconspicuous as the Matou-estate went up in flames behind them.

Sakura looked back at the immense cloud of smoke that was slowly rising into the air, deftly ignoring the shocked cries from the people around her as she kept walking.

Shirou placed his hand on her shoulder in support, but though the gesture was nice, it was unneeded. She wasn't looking back out of nostalgia or because she was thinking back on happy memories that were now lost.

She was only looking back because she regretted not being able to stay and watch as the fire consumed her most hated place in the world. It would have been such a beautiful sight, and she would have loved to snuggle up to her Senpai while basking in the warmth.

A missed opportunity, but she would get over it. It would just have been the icing on the cake anyway, as today was already the best day ever.

She was finally out of there.

And of course, she made sure to take Shirou's hand again as they walked back home.

---

About an hour after Shirou and Sakura returned to the Emiya-estate, Shinji finally woke up.

The blue-haired teen was very groggy at first, rising to a sitting position while grasping his head in his hands, his eyes remaining closed as he groaned in pain and disorientation.

After rubbing his eyes to get rid of the worst of the headache, Shinji finally looked around. He blinked several times, realising he was not in familiar surroundings, before he turned his head to look straight at Shirou, who was sitting across from him on a sofa.

For a few moments, neither teen said anything, just staring at each other, one in shock and curiosity, the other in silent determination.

As he stared though, Shirou could see that Shinji's memories of the previous night were slowly returning, the confusion in his eyes disappearing bit by bit, until finally it dawned on him just what was going on.

"Emiya." He said neutrally, before falling silent, casting his gaze down to the ground.

"Hello, Shinji." Shirou responded calmly.

"What happened?"

"I killed Zouken. You are in my house. Sakura is here as well, preparing one of the bedrooms for her own use, as she's going to move in permanently. She knows I am a Magus, as well as various other facts about me. We just got back from the Matou-estate, where we plundered everything that could be of use before we set the place on fire."

Shinji stilled, processing Shirou's quick summation of events, before he huffed.

"Had a busy day, huh?"

"Quite busy. I can't complain about the results though."

"I bet you can't."

Both then fell silent again, as Shirou averted his eyes as well. Neither said anything for a while.

"…So, you're a Magus?" Shinji eventually spoke up again. "Can't say I saw that coming."

"Well, it's not like I behaved like one. Dad never taught me about how a proper Magus was supposed to behave, he only ranted a bit about how annoying they could be."

"Your father?"

"Emiya Kiritsugu, the Magus Killer."

Now that caused Shinji's head to shoot up, his expression contorting in surprise as he looked at Shirou.

"That guy? No wonder then that you could kill Zouken so easily."

"It wasn't exactly easy, but we are digressing. I have to apologise for being so late with getting you out of there..."

That got him another huff and a dismissive handwave from Shinji.

"…But I must ask you this. I know what you did to Sakura, you told me last night that you raped her. I understand now that it was necessary for her to stay alive, but… did Zouken force you to… to do that to her? Was it him who made you do it, or…?"

Shinji averted his eyes again, looking to the wall beside him as he gritted his jaw. "And what if he didn't, Emiya? What are going to do if raping her was a conscious choice I made, because she replaced me as the heir of the Matou-family?"

"I would be very mad if that was the case." Shirou admitted. "But Sakura already asked me to go easy on you-"

"Of course she did." Shinji interrupted him with a sneer. "Foolish girl. She could stand to become a little tougher-"

"Shinji, stop that." Shirou snapped. "Her kindness to you, even though there is a chance you willingly hurt her, is a sign of her strength, not weakness."

In a world where it was so easy to condemn, hurt, and hate others, was it not strong to forgive? Was it not a sign of greatness to ask for mercy for those who hurt you?

Sinking to their level was never something to applaud or encourage, rather something to regret.

Shinji looked ready to protest, but he deflated before he could get a word out, a thoughtful look appearing on his face as he nodded once, his mouth twisting as if he tasted something unpleasant.

"Anyway." Shirou continued, putting that little spat behind them. "I am not going to kill or hurt you, Shinji, but I would like an answer to my previous question. Did Zouken force you?"

"Choke on it." Shinji said shortly, turning away from Shirou yet again.

No matter how much Shirou tried after that, Shinji would not say another word, choosing to remain silent, perhaps out of pride, perhaps out of regret, perhaps even because he himself didn't know the answer. No amount of talking from the redhead got as much as a peep out of him.

Eventually, Shirou had to acknowledge he wasn't getting anywhere, so he changed the subject.

"We took your stuff from the Matou-estate as well. It's over in the guestroom, all of it, or at least, everything we could find in your room."

"I see." Shinji said, turning back the moment Shirou let the previous matter drop. "Thank you."

"As I said, we burned the house down, so you can't live there anymore, but I have a room for you if you want…"

Shirou tapered off when Shinji shook his head, making it very clear what he thought of the redhead's offer.

"Now that Zouken is dead, I am not staying here." He said, an oddly light note in his voice. "I have been wanting to get out for years, and I am not letting this chance pass me by."

"Get out of where, exactly?" Shirou asked carefully.

"Fuyuki-City." Shinji sighed, confirming Shirou's suspicions. "No offense to you, Emiya, or to Sakura or Mitsuzuri or anyone else, but this place holds nothing but bad memories to me. I have to get out of here, I'll go crazy if I don't."

"I see." Shirou said, pursing his lips. "Where will you go?"

If Shinji truly wanted to leave the city, Shirou wouldn't stop him, but he couldn't in good faith let the boy live on the streets, without a penny to his name or a place to sleep.

"Don't know." Shinji shrugged, looking way too unconcerned for such an important topic. "I'll get by."

"At least pack a suitcase before you go." The redhead ordered his friend. "I'll Enchant one to hold far more than it should while weighing nothing at all, so you can take everything you need. As I said before, your stuff is over in the guestroom and, oh yeah, take this."

Without hesitation, Shirou stood up and grabbed one of the debit cards to one of Kiritsugu's burner accounts from their hiding place in a cupboard, before pushing it into Shinji's hands.

"Here, take this card, it holds somewhere around five million yen." Cue the jawdrop. "I'll add another five million as soon as possible. Take the money from the Matou-estate as well, and I think that-"

"Emiya!" Shirou stopped when Shinji suddenly interrupted him. A glance at the blue-haired teen told him he might have been a bit too fast there.

Standing with his eyes and mouth wide open, debit card in hand, Shinji looked ready to just up and leave. In the end though, he just sighed deeply and sat down again.

"What. The. Fuck?"

"If you want to leave, I won't stop you." Shirou said, starting from the beginning again. "But I can't let you leave without a plan or resources of any kind. As such, I'll give you all your stuff, which we took from the Matou-estate, as well as all the money we found there and that debit card, which holds five million yen. I'll add another five million soon."

Shinji gave a terse nod at that, glancing shortly at the card in his hand, before motioning to Shirou to continue.

"I'll also Enchant a suitcase to hold everything, so that you can actually take it all with you without breaking your back from the weight. That is everything I will be able to do for you though, unless you are willing to let me keep an eye on you-"

"No." Shinji interrupted him sharply. "Don't follow me, Emiya, and don't let Sakura either. In fact, have no one follow me if you can help it at all. Not you, not Sakura, not the police, or anyone else."

Shirou cocked his head to the side, before he nodded. If Shinji didn't want company, then Shirou wouldn't force it on him.

"Do you want to see Sakura before you go?" He tried, hoping that Shinji would agree to that much at least.

"No."

"...Very well."

Shinji regarded him for a few more moments, before he sighed.

"I'll be leaving in an hour, Emiya."

"That should be enough."

With the conversation finished, Shirou left the living room, on his way to create and then pack a magical suitcase.

Fortunately, he had a few suitcases lying around, a leftover from his dad's prime years, when he had travelled the world on a daily basis.

Enchanting one to hold far more than it should without the added weight was not something he had done before, but again, Mjolnir bailed him out, a sense of exasperated fondness emitting from the hammer as it presented a Runic Array to him.

This Runic array would make the suitcase far bigger on the inside than should be possible, while also taking away a lot of the weight. It would also prevent anyone from stealing the thing from the owner, in this case Shinji, and it would make it always return to said owner, no matter what happened to it.

It really was cheating to get all that from Mjolnir, while others would have had to work for years to even get a shadow of what he got in a second, but Shirou didn't really care at the moment. He only had an hour to complete the whole project after all.

Shirou painted the Runic Array on the inside of the suitcase with his own blood, after which he added some of the Mysterious Power. He winced slightly at the pain that channelling the Power caused to his bruised and battered body, but he carried on nonetheless.

The suitcase was done in a matter of minutes, and he could start packing.

On his way to the guestroom to grab Shinji's stuff, he encountered Sakura.

"Senpai." She called out upon seeing him, a hopeful smile on her face. "How was Nii-san? Did you talk with him? Why are you carrying a suitcase?"

"Hey, Sakura. Yes, I did talk with him." Shirou answered, the smile on Sakura's face making place for a confused look after hearing the pensive tone in his voice. "He wants to leave the city, so I'm packing a suitcase for him."

"Leave?" Sakura asked with wide eyes. "B-But where will he go?"

"He doesn't know where he will go, he just wants to get away from here." Shirou sighed. "Which is why I'm packing his stuff, so he can take it with him. I'm also throwing in some of the money I got from lord El-Melloi and all money from the Matou-Estate. If that's okay with you of course."

"It's alright, you can give him everything." Sakura immediately agreed, before pressing her hands together. "Can I talk to him? Maybe I can convince him to stay?"

"He doesn't want to talk to you." Shirou admitted, giving Sakura a one-armed hug when she looked down in sadness. "Hey now, you don't have to feel bad. I think he just feels guilty for what he did to you."

"He shouldn't have to." Sakura whispered, leaning into his side. "It was Zouken who forced him, every single time. He might not act like it, but I know it is true."

Shirou nodded. If that was what she thought, he wouldn't doubt her. Besides, he would like to think that he wasn't that bad at picking friends.

Granted, it was more that Shinji had picked him, but still.

"I'll help you pack then." Sakura said after a while. "We can't have Nii-san leave without everything he will need out there."

Shirou smiled and nodded, before they went to get everything together.

Eventually, it didn't take them longer than forty minutes to pack everything Shinji might need, ranging from toothbrushes and toothpaste to clothes and extra shoes.

The money as well of course, which, at Sakura's advice, they spread out over multiple purses and bags. The jewels were haphazardly thrown in, as well as all the cheques, precious stones, and other valuable stuff from the Matou-estate.

"…Please tell Nii-san I'll miss him." Sakura said as Shirou closed the suitcase. "And that I don't blame him for anything."

"I will."

When he eventually got back to the living room with the suitcase fully packed, he was relieved to see Shinji still sitting there. He had feared that his friend might have taken the chance to run while he was busy packing.

"Shinji." He called out, attracting his friend's attention. "Thank you for waiting."

"Hm, you took your time." Shinji huffed as he took the suitcase. "Thanks."

Both teens walked to the gate together, neither speaking a word until Shinji had stepped out of the estate. Then he turned around again.

"So, this is it." He said, again having a strangely light tone in his voice. "I guess this is goodbye, Emiya. Thanks for the suitcase, and for not killing me on the spot, I guess."

"You're welcome. Can I convince you to send a message every now and then? It would greatly relieve us to know you were still alive and kicking."

"I'll see about that." The blue-haired teen said dismissively. "Tell her I said goodbye."

"I'll pass your message on." Shirou nodded. "She asked me to tell you that she will miss you."

Shinji gave a terse nod, before he turned away again, continuing his walk along the street. Before he could get out of earshot however, Shirou called out one last time.

"She doesn't blame you, for anything."

Shinji stopped again, for just a moment, though he did not look back.

"I know."

And he continued walking, his suitcase at his side, and soon disappeared from Shirou's sight.

Their paths had diverged.

---

When she heard her mother knock on her door for what felt like the fiftieth time today, Ayako didn't bother with pleasantries and immediately threw her pillow at the door in return.

"Come on, Ayako." Her mother sighed. "I know you are worried about Sakura, but you can't stay in your room the entire day. Wouldn't visiting Shirou be much better than just moping your afternoon away?"

"I'm not moping." Ayako grumbled, trying to bury her head in her pillow, only to realise she had just thrown it at the door.

With another wordless grumble, she got up to grab it.

While standing in front of her door however, she could hear her mother's dejected sigh, the sound far sadder and more 'moe' than an adult woman should be capable of.

Ayako gave a sigh herself, realising she was being a bitch to her mom. Shaking her head, she opened the door, facing her mother, who looked surprised at her sudden appearance.

"Hey mom, sorry for today." Ayako mumbled, looking at the floor. "I shouldn't take out my problems on you."

Her mother smiled softly as she drew her in for a hug. "It is no problem, dear. I know you are worried sick about Sakura-chan."

"She just won't talk anymore, with anyone." Ayako complained, hugging her mother back. "Something has to be wrong, and I'm willing to bet it's her grandfather's fault."

"…In all honesty, it wasn't entirely unexpected." Her mother admitted, making Ayako freeze up. "Every time I met her, I could see signs of possible abuse on her. I never acted on them, because I wasn't sure, but with this going on..."

"So there is something wrong in that family." Ayako hissed, taking a step back. "We have to do something!"

"Indeed. Child abuse is not something we can condone."

Mother and daughter looked to the side as a new voice joined the conversation, seeing Ayako's father step up to them, a heavy frown on his face.

"Ryozo, I understand that you don't like doing nothing, but we won't achieve anything by storming in without a plan either. We can't do it now-"

"Then when, Chiaki? When are we going to do something? When that old man finally snaps and actually harms Sakura? When Sakura can't take it anymore and tries to harm herself? You know just as well as I that it won't stop until we act."

Ayako watched as her parents argued, finding herself firmly on her father's side. They had to get Sakura out.

Now outnumbered, her mother caved easily enough, agreeing to take action, as long as they kept it within the boundaries of the law.

"I suppose Sakura and Shinji can stay here, or with Shirou-kun." The woman mused as she pressed a kiss to her husband's cheek. "Whatever they prefer, though I suspect Sakura-chan at least will choose Shirou to stay with. They have been getting closer over the past months. You'll really have to start working hard now if you still want to beat her to it, dear."

Her father scoffed, while her mother giggled again. Ayako herself only chuckled half-heartedly however, as her mother's words reminded her of another problem she had.

She had still not answered Sakura's question. It had literally been months since the plum-haired girl had proposed to share Shirou between them as their boyfriend, and Ayako still hadn't answered, not to accept and not to refuse either.

There were entire weeks she didn't even think of it, while she kept Sakura waiting the entire time.

Okay, Sakura probably didn't think of it most of the time either, but it was still very callous of Ayako to let the matter lie for so long.

Was that a factor in Sakura's sudden refusal to talk to them? Did she feel insulted or humiliated by Ayako's ignoring of the matter? That hardly seemed like Sakura, but then again, Ayako had apparently missed signs of abuse on her already, so perhaps she had missed more than that.

She really had to talk things over with her, and fast.

"In fact." Her father said as Ayako tuned in again to their conversation. "I think we should go to the Matou-house right now and take Shinji-kun and Sakura-chan away from there, immediately."

"Alright." Ayako said, already half-way down the hall before her parents had even noticed she was moving. "Let's go."

"Ah, w-wait." "Ayako-chan?"

Not paying heed to her parents tripping over themselves behind her, Ayako put on her shoes and resolutely walked outside.

She was about two streets further when her parents caught up to her again, both looking very out of breath. They clearly needed to exercise more.

"Okay, okay. No more delays." Her mother puffed. "Zouken's an old man, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get past him if he gets violent. Okay, deep breaths, we are justified in doing this, deep breaths."

Ayako spared a moment to feel amused about her parents referring to the old man as 'Zouken' all the time, never as 'Matou-san'. In fact, no one ever seemed to refer to him as Matou-san. Not even Issei did that, and he was as polite and rule-abiding as they came.

Her amusement disappeared however when she spotted a massive cloud of smoke hanging above a part of the city, the kind of cloud that could only be produced by an immense fire. Her stomach dropped when she realised the cloud was coming from the general area of the Matou-estate.

Her breath quickened as her hands got clammy. She picked up her pace immediately, leaving her parents behind again.

As she ran towards her destination, the pit in her stomach only became wider and wider as the origin of the smoke remained on her path, remained on the exact place where she didn't want it to originate from.

She prayed under her breath that she was wrong, that the origin was somewhere else and not at all where she feared it to be, but the closer she got, the more confirmation she received that it was indeed coming from the Matou-estate.

When she reached the line of firemen and police officers blocking the way towards the conflagration, Ayako's last hope fell away.

Sakura's house had turned into an inferno, the flames hungrily consuming the entire estate, the heat so intense Ayako could feel it even from a street length away.

But the familiar purple hair was nowhere to be seen, and neither were any ambulances or other signs of medical aid.

"It's such a shame." She suddenly heard a woman say from somewhere within the crowd. "I've been here since the fire started, but no one has come out. The firemen think the inhabitants are still inside, those poor people."

"Then they're dead." Another answered bluntly. "Look at it, nothing can survive in there."

"…No… NO!" Ayako cried, violently pushing herself through the crowd of bystanders, cursing them all in her mind for standing in her way. "No no no no. SAKURA!"

She broke through the crowd with liberal use of her elbows, knees, and fists, but before she could go further, her way was barred by two police-officers.

"Miss, you cannot go further, it is too dangerous there."

"BUT SAKURA IS STILL IN THERE!" Ayako screamed back, trying to get past them, only for them to hold her back, grabbing her by the shoulders. "LET ME GO!"

"Miss, please!" One of the officers shouted, while she struggled against their hold like a woman possessed. "The fire is too hot, and the building is close to collapsing. You can't get any closer or you will be harmed by it-"

"I DON'T CARE, SAKURA IS STILL IN THERE!"

"Miss, please! You can't go there. You'll only get hurt. There is nothing you can do right now-"

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

"Miss, please!"

"NO!"

"Men, let me handle this."

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried great authority and weight. The policemen backed off immediately, and just as Ayako was about to run forward again, she was slapped in the face.

It wasn't particularly hard, but it was surprising enough to cut through the haze surrounding her mind.

A strong hand then landed on her shoulder, easily holding her back, though admittedly she didn't struggle as hard as before.

The brunette noticed now that tears were streaming down her cheeks, worry and despair running rampant through her mind, as she looked at the burning estate again.

If Sakura was in there, as that woman had said, there was no way she could survive.

But that would mean she was dead, that she was gone forever…

No, no, no, she had to get inside! It didn't matter if she would get a few burns, she had to get Sakura out before it was too late. Why did no one understand that? She had to help her friend!

The tears started coming full force again, and Ayako tried resuming her desperate run towards the house, only for someone to place himself in her way.

The man wasn't overly large, but he had a massive presence around him that made everyone in his vicinity, including Ayako, stop moving all the same. His eyes were hard, but also understanding, as he calmly held Ayako back.

"Miss." He began, sounding tired and regretful. "Please, don't. You won't achieve anything by running into the flames. You would only make your parents grieve your injuries, or worse, your death. Please stay here, where it is safe."

Her parents…

"Ayako!"

She was promptly hugged from behind by arms she recognised as her mother's. A glance at the man in front of her, who had a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes, told her that he had seen the woman coming and had purposefully stalled Ayako until she arrived.

Ayako could appreciate the cunning, but that was the only thing she could appreciate.

"Mom, let me go, Sakura is still in there, and Shinji probably as well." She begged, only for her mother to tighten the embrace.

"No, sweetling, you can't go there. The fire is too hot." She protested.

"That doesn't matter, I have to help them."

"You would die." The voice of her father cut in, the man suddenly standing behind his wife. "Do you think Sakura and Shinji would have wanted that?"

Ayako froze at his words.

…

No. They wouldn't have wanted Ayako to die for a lost cause, they would have wanted her to live on. Both of them would have thrown her out of the house themselves if it meant she could live.

And a lost cause it was. The heat and the flames were so intense that she couldn't even look at the house without hurting her eyes, and that was still from half a street away. There was no way she could get close…

…And there was no way anyone could survive in there.

The strength in her legs disappeared as she sank to the ground, slipping from her mother's strengthless arms, the truth of the situation setting in.

…They were gone.

Sakura was gone.

Ayako buried her face in her hands as she started crying uncontrollably, while Chiaki immediately kneeled next to her, hugging her tightly in an attempt at comforting her, and Ryozo went to speak with the officer.

"What happened here?" He hissed.

"We don't know, sir." The officer responded calmly, looking at Ayako with empathy in his eyes. "We only have a few witness-statements. According to them, everything seemed fine one moment, before the entire house became an inferno by the next. We heavily suspect it was arson."

"Did- did anyone get out?" Ryozo asked hoarsely.

"No one got out as far as we know."

Ryozo gritted his teeth as his daughter started crying even harder, a sound that no father ever wanted to hear.

"Am I correct in assuming you know the inhabitants of this place?" The detective went on, before bowing slightly. "I am detective Osaki Koyo. I won't be in charge of the investigation, or even involved in it all that much, but I can pass on any information you can provide to the officers in charge so that you can leave immediately."

Ryozo shortly introduced his family in turn, before giving the detective a quick description of the members of the Matou-family, as detailed as he could.

"I see." Osaki said when Ryozo was finished. "Do you have any idea who would set fire to their house?"

"No, I can't think of anyo-"

"Zouken."

Both men turned around as Ayako cut through their conversation. "Zouken would have done this. The man is an insane abuser who terrorised his grandchildren for years. W-We were going t-to get t-them out, b-b-b-but…"

Chiaki hugged her daughter again, rubbing her head and whispering comforting words in her ear as detective Osaki wrote everything down.

"Thank you." He said softly when he was done writing. "Your statements have helped a lot, I assure you. Can I ask you to come in for a more detailed statement later though?"

"We will." Ryozo assured the man in turn. "For now though, please let us take our daughter home."

"Of course." The detective nodded. "My deepest condolences for your loss."

Ayako felt her mother pull her to her feet, softly dragging her along, away from the fire. Faintly however, the brunette could hear her father continue to speak with the detective.

"Why are you here if not on duty, Osaki-san? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I live close by and I was out with my family. When the call about the arson came, I sent my girls home and came here. Like I said, I won't be involved with this case. I already have my own investigation after all."

"I wish you the best of luck with it then. Thank you for helping us."

"It was no problem. I hope your daughter will recover soon."

That was the last she heard before her mother dragged her out of earshot, leaving Ayako with only her thoughts as company.

Sakura was gone.

It seemed impossible. How could she be gone?

What higher power would go out of its way like that to take such a fantastic girl from the world?

Ayako felt as if her heart had been torn out, as if the strongest man in the world had punched her in the gut, yet she would gladly take both options if that meant Sakura would still live. How was she supposed to get through the day without her best friend…?

Shirou!

Ayako stopped dead upon remembering her other friend, her other friend who was still blissfully unaware of their loss.

Her mother made a confused sound at her sudden stop, but Ayako didn't listen to it.

"I have to tell Shirou." She said, her voice sounding dead even to her own ears. "I have to tell him."

Robotically, she turned and started walking towards Shirou's house, hearing her mother follow her.

During the walk, Ayako tried shutting off her mind as well as she could. She did not want to think or feel anything, not when that would hurt so much.

It was simply unimaginable, a world without Sakura. A world where the plum-haired girl didn't walk through the hallways, where she wouldn't happily tell her of her most recent dinner with Shirou.

A world where she would never smile again.

She reached Shirou's house, her feet having carried her there automatically. The building felt as warm and inviting as always, and Ayako hated having to bring such bad news into such a peaceful atmosphere.

Yet when she tried stepping inside, she found she couldn't move a muscle.

Her entire body locked up, refusing to follow her commands. She simply couldn't make that first step.

How would Shirou react? He would be devastated of course, grieving like Ayako herself, but would he be angry too? Angry that Ayako had come too late?

If she had been a measly two hours earlier in her decision to pick Sakura and Shinji up from their house, they would have been alive. They would have been walking with her towards the Emiya-estate, but instead, there were gone, because she had been too slow.

Shirou would probably tell her it was not her fault, but…

A sudden small push to her back forced her to step inside, through the gate. Ayako turned her head in surprise, to find her mother standing there, a sad smile on her face.

"He needs to know." She said softly. "And it would be best if you told him, instead of a random police officer."

Ayako took a deep shuddering breath, and nodded, wiping away the tears, though new ones instantly took their place.

She forced herself to walk, one step after another, entering Shirou's house and making her way over to him.

There were sounds coming from the dining room and the kitchen, so he was probably there, working at dinner, perhaps expecting Fujimura-sensei to join him. Instead, he would get Ayako, and the horrible news she was bringing.

She started sobbing again as she tried to think of the correct words. How was she supposed to tell him this? What was she supposed to say? What would she do when he cried?

With shaking hands, Ayako pushed open the door, stepping inside the dining room, her eyes closed as she tried to regain a bit of her composure, even though she was still sobbing.

She would have to be blunt. She didn't have the energy for anything more complicated. Shirou would understand, right?

She would have to tell him that Sakura was gone. That she would never visit again.

That they would never hear her voice again…

"Oh? Hello, Ayako. I didn't expect to see you here."

Ayako, for the second or third time that evening, froze on the spot, once again completely taken by surprise by yet another twist as a very familiar voice greeted her happily.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again, hoping against hope that she wasn't hearing voices.

She wasn't!

Somehow, by some God-given miracle, Sakura was standing right there, setting the table, wearing her apron and looking at Ayako with worry and confusion.

She was right there, very much not dead.

"Ayako? Are you okay?" Sakura asked worriedly, putting down the plates to approach her. "You look as if you've been crying-"

She didn't get any further than that, as Ayako flung herself at the plum-haired girl at full speed, hugging her as tightly as possible.

"Sakura!" She cried out, tears streaming over her face again, but this time, of happiness. "You're alive!"

"Eh? Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"Y-You-Your h-house! It's on fire, and I thought you were still inside!" Ayako wailed, tightening her grip on the other girl even more. "I thought you were dead!"

"E-E-Eh? N-No, I'm not dead!" Sakura cried, hugging her back. "Senpai got Nii-san and me out of there this morning. We're fine."

Shinji was fine too? By this point, Ayako couldn't even talk anymore, she was so happy. She just sobbed and cried and generally made a mess of things, while Sakura comfortingly rubbed her back in small circles until she calmed down a bit again.

Okay, Sakura was alive. Fantastic news. Now it was time to work out all issues they had, so that she could properly enjoy the presence of her very much alive friend.

"Sakura." She thus said, dislodging herself and grabbing the other girl at the shoulders. "Do you remember the first time you had dinner at my place? Shirou was there too, and my brother was being a bit of a jerk, do you remember that?"

"Of course." Sakura nodded, confused by the sudden subject change.

"You said that evening that I was free to pursue Shirou." Ayako continued, feeling a little embarrassed that she could recall the conversation word for word. "You said I had your blessing, and that you trusted that I wouldn't push you out of the picture."

"…Yes, I did say that." Sakura whispered, looking down in sadness. No doubt she was sad because she thought Ayako was going to refuse. Well, then she would be surprised.

Gathering all of her courage and steeling her nerves, Ayako took the leap of faith.

"I accept!" She yelled, probably far louder than was necessary. "We will share Shirou as our boyfriend!"

And then, before she could lose her carefully build-up courage, she leaned forward and kissed Sakura on the lips.

It was a chaste kiss, just pressing their lips together, but she hoped it was enough to convey the sentiment.

"Uh?" Sakura appeared completely thrown for a loop after Ayako pulled back, staring at her in shock.

"Yes. We will do this together, as you proposed back then." Ayako confirmed with a smile, feeling an enormous weight being lifted off her shoulders as she said that, finally getting it over with.

Some uncertainty gripped her however, when Sakura's expression remained shocked. "That was what you meant, right? T-That you wanted to share Shirou, and be… closer?"

Sakura stared for a few more moments, before she rapidly started nodding. "Yes, that is exactly what I meant. I-I'm happy you are willing to accept."

"Fantastic. I look forward to working with you." Ayako grinned, feeling immensely relieved she hadn't misunderstood the girl all those months ago. That would have been so embarrassing.

"Sakura, what going on there?" Shirou entered the kitchen that moment, looking as if he just came out of the shower. "Oh, Ayako. I didn't expect to see you here today."

"Ah, Shirou." Ayako said coldly, looking at the one who had failed to inform her that he had already taken the siblings away. "Just the one I wanted to see."

"Eh? Is something wrong, Ayako?"

"The Matou-estate is burning down." She explained, crossing her arms, glaring at the foolish redhead. "I thought Sakura and Shinji were still in there, and that they had- that they had… d-died. I thought they had burned alive in there."

"Oh!" Shirou looked shocked and guilty as she explained. "I am so sorry; I should have informed you right after I took them from the Matou-estate."

"Yeah, you should have." Ayako hissed, quickly wiping away some fresh tears. She had been convinced she had lost Sakura in those flames, but all the while, they had been holed up at Shirou's place, and they hadn't even told her about it.

Then again, Shirou couldn't have anticipated that Zouken would torch his own place, so not all the blame fell on him. She was willing to admit that.

"Ayako." Shirou said, walking towards her, before bowing deeply. "I cannot express how sorry I am for making you worry like that. I should have remembered to tell you they were here right away, but it honestly slipped my mind. It won't happen again."

"I'll just assume it was an honest oversight then." She huffed, letting go of her anger. "As long as you tell me immediately if something like this happens again. Oh, and I'll be having dinner with you today."

"Of course. We would be glad to have you." Shirou smiled. "We'll get started on it right away."

Ayako grinned back, though she had a nagging feeling she was forgetting something important…

"Sakura?!"

Oh right. Her mom had still been outside.

"You are alive." The woman cried in happiness, rushing through the dining room to scoop the girl up in a hug. "Oh, I'm so relieved. We thought you were dead. Ayako was so devastated, she was just crying and sobbing and…"

"Mom!" Ayako hissed as she tried to pry her mother off Sakura. "There is no reason to talk about that. Sakura and Shinji are both alive, so let's forget about the past hour, please."

She continued her attempt at dislodging the plum-haired girl from her mother's embrace, but froze yet again when Sakura suddenly reached out and touched her cheek, the smile on her face absolutely dazzling.

"I am glad you care about me so much." She said, with enough warmth in her voice to melt the entire South Pole.

Was Ayako blushing? She was blushing, was she? Ayako groaned in embarrassment as she tried to hide her face in her hands. Why did her mother have to tell them that? Could she get a better, more discrete mom?

Ah well, at least Sakura was happy.

"We have to tell your father at once." Chiaki continued, setting Sakura down, a serious expression on her face. "In fact, we have to tell a lot of people. Sakura and Shinji are now believed to be dead by the police. We have to rectify that as soon as possible."

"Right." Ayako agreed, looking around the dining room. "Where's Shinji anyway?"

"He left." Shirou answered, crossing his arms.

That got him two confused looks.

"Left?" Chiaki asked. "What do you mean he 'left'?"

"I mean that he left. He said that had enough of Fuyuki-City and left to find himself. I expect him back in a few months or so, maybe a year, when he has screwed his head on straight again."

"And you let him leave?" Chiaki asked incredulously.

"I couldn't have stopped him even if I wanted to." Shirou sighed. "He was set on leaving, so he would have, with or without my permission. All I could do was give him some money and a packed suitcase and ask him to contact me if he ever needed any help."

"T-That… I-I…"

Ayako's mind raced as her mother stuttered. Shinji had left? He had strolled out of town, just like that?

It was better than being dead of course, but just letting him leave town for an uncertain future, that wasn't a Shirou-thing to do.

Except, it was in fact a Shirou-thing to do. If Shinji really wanted to leave, then Shirou would not stop him. That was an undeniable fact.

Shirou would do what was best, and if leaving town was the best for Shinji, which she was willing to admit it might be, then he would let the blue-haired teen leave.

"Mom." She interrupted her still stuttering mother, who turned to her with a pleading expression, hoping for support. "If Shinji wants to leave, we should let him leave."

"B-But… That's dangerous." The woman protested. "As an adult, I cannot accept that a teenager is now wandering the streets all alone-"

"Mom." Ayako sighed. "What do you even want to do about it? I don't want to be rude, but finding him is going to be difficult, and keeping him here even more so. Wouldn't it be better to let Shinji do his own thing for now?"

"…Fine, but I am going to tell your father about Sakura being here and also about Shinji being gone." Chiaki said, her tone making clear that this wasn't debatable as she pulled a phone out of her pocket.

"Will you stay for dinner as well then?" Sakura asked, to which the woman shook her head.

"No, my husband and I will eat at home with Minori. I take it you will stay though?"

The question was directed at Ayako, who nodded with a smile. These two owed her that much at least after the scare they gave her.

"Very well." Her mother nodded. "This matter is far from over though. I still want to know what happened exactly, and the police also needs to be informed, but for now, I'll let it be. Enjoy the meal and have a good night, you three."

"We will, mom." Ayako said with Shirou and Sakura nodding besides her, before the sentence really registered in her mind. "Wait, you three? Me as well?"

"If you're going to eat here, you might as well stay the night." Her mother huffed. "Besides, I think I'll be good for you after the events of today. Is that alright, Shirou?"

"Ayako is always welcome here, Chiaki-san." Shirou said, smiling at the brunette.

The woman nodded, before giving them a last hug each as she walked out of the house, the last sound audible being the lock on the door clicking as she closed it behind her.

Sakura and Shirou both released an explosive sigh that moment, startling Ayako quite a bit with its volume.

"Wow, she accepted that pretty easily." Shirou said, sagging in relief.

"I almost thought she would insist on chasing after Nii-san immediately, as well as going to the police right away." Sakura agreed. "I'm relieved she didn't."

"Mom isn't heartless." Ayako protested weakly. "She wouldn't drag you around after such a stressful day."

"I suppose she wouldn't." Shirou agreed. "She seems like a very kind woman."

"Indeed. I wish I had a mother like that." Sakura sighed wistfully.

"Ugh, y-yes, she's great." Ayako admitted, not able to deny it, and feeling that denying it anyway would be extremely insensitive after Zouken's actions.

Her friends nodded, before they set off for the kitchen again.

While cooking, the topic was carefully kept away from recent events, merely lingering on schoolwork, cool tv-shows, and the shopping spree that was necessary to get Sakura all the new stuff she would need now that her old stuff...

Well, it was obvious what had happened to her old stuff.

When the food was prepared however, and they all sat down at the table, with Fujimura-sensei missing because she had yet another family-meeting, Ayako could no longer hold back her curiosity.

"What happened?" She asked sharply.

"It's quite simple really." Shirou replied. "After our discussion about getting Sakura out of the Matou-estate and away from Zouken, I decided to remove them myself."

"And Zouken just let you?"

"Absolutely not." Shirou scoffed, as if the very notion was preposterous, which it admittedly was. "I actually had to get physical with him to get all three of us out."

"Was it that bad?" Ayako asked, shocked that it would have escalated to such a level. She knew Zouken would be unpleasant, but to actually fight Shirou…

"Grandfather is- was, very possessive." Sakura said, a sad note in her voice. "For him, it was very important that he owned us. When Senpai came to take us away, he couldn't bear losing a part of… well, of his identity, basically."

"I didn't know." Ayako whispered, leaning over to hug Sakura again. "I'm so sorry for not noticing it for so long."

"I have known Sakura for far longer and I didn't see it either, Ayako." Shirou shook his head. "The blame lies with me far more than with you."

"I kept you out of it though, or at least, I tried my hardest to." Sakura interjected. "I am the one who avoided talking about it and pretended everything was alright and didn't want to talk to you for the past few days and-"

"Let's just blame Zouken and be done with this." Ayako hissed, shaking her head in disbelief. "You two, always so eager to take the blame when you shouldn't."

"Sorry, Ayako." Shirou said sheepishly. "I suppose Zouken is indeed the guilty one."

"Still, I'm sorry for avoiding you for the past days." Sakura said with clear regret in her voice. "I know it doesn't excuse anything, but grandfather said he would harm you if I didn't."

"That old bastard." Ayako hissed, slightly incredulous that the threat had even been made. What was he going to do? Fight them? That frail old man would have been lucky to cross the road in one piece.

"I see now that I shouldn't have let myself be influenced by him so much." Sakura assured her with a wry smile. "He is gone now though, so I guess it doesn't matter."

"Yeah." Ayako frowned. "He set his own house on fire with him in it. That man was beyond saving."

"Are you sure it wasn't an accident?" Shirou asked, leaning forward in interest.

"According to the firefighters, the witnesses declared the fire spread way too fast for it to be natural, so no. Zouken must have lit it himself."

"…I see."

Sakura then softly cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the other two present.

"Could we please discuss something else now?" She asked, looking increasingly uncomfortable with the subject.

""Of course."" Ayako and Shirou agreed immediately.

The rest of the evening was spent talking about innocent, soft topics, as well as watching some romance dramas and anime.

Eventually, they went to bed, with Shirou sleeping in his own room and Ayako sharing Sakura's new room with her.

"So, you are going to stay here from now on?" Ayako asked the plum-haired girl as she rolled out a futon for herself. "Does Fujimura-Sensei know?"

"She does." Sakura answered happily, sitting on her own futon. "She is completely fine with me staying here. She said she'd try to get me as a ward of the Fujimura-family too."

"That is wonderful news." Ayako grinned.

"It is." Sakura agreed, before her expression suddenly turned serious. "But, Ayako, now that we are alone again, I wanted to ask; how exactly did you envision us dating Senpai together? And what does it mean for… well, for the two of us?"

"…"

Now that was a sudden change in topic. Ayako went slightly red at Sakura's bold question, stuttering for a moment, before she recomposed herself. She had taken the first step here, so she shouldn't shy away from questions.

"E-Eh, w-well, you know, do normal relationship stuff together, only now with the three of us. Go on dates, kiss, eat together, t-things like that. It really shouldn't be that difficult if we're all fine with it." The brunette said, starting out nervously but gaining confidence as she spoke. "I think actually getting through to him will be far more difficult than the three-way relationship itself."

"You are probably right." Sakura pouted cutely. "Senpai really doesn't see it, does he? I guess we'll just have to try extra hard at being noticed."

Ayako nodded in agreement, already trying to think of something they could use to make it clear to Shirou that they liked him. She was drawing a blank though, the few options that she could think of either being too over the top or not assertive enough for the blockhead.

"…We could also ask for advice." She eventually suggested softly, wringing her hands a bit, feeling a blush come up as she laid down her idea. "I think my mother would be willing to help us with this."

"That would be the smart thing to do." Sakura readily agreed. "An adult will probably have a calmer, more objective look on things."

"Have you ever met my mom?" Ayako scoffed, though she could not deny her mother would in fact be a big help. She always was when Ayako needed her.

"I have, that's why I know that asking her for her advice is a good idea." Sakura said cheekily, before she yawned. "Oh, excuse me. Shall we go to bed now?"

"Let's." Ayako agreed. "We have a lot to do tomorrow, like visiting the police station, and notifying everyone about your survival, and maybe we can catch a glimpse of that fool of a brother of yours too, before he disappears."

"Are you worried about Nii-san, Ayako?"

"…A bit, yes. I don't doubt he left of his own volition, and he is capable enough to survive on his own, but I am still concerned about him being out there, in his state of mind, without any help."

"I am concerned too." Sakura admitted in a whisper. "I really hope he'll be fine."

"He probably will be." Ayako assured her, trying to sound as confident as she could. "Just you wait, he'll be back before you know it, and better than ever."

That got another smile out of the girl, once more making Ayako's heart skip a beat.

"Good night, Ayako."

"Good night, Sakura." Ayako laid down on her futon, fully expecting Sakura to do the same after turning off the lights.

Instead however, she heard a few grunts from Sakura's direction, as well as the sound of something being pushed across the floor, causing her to turn to her side to see what was going on.

Sakura was pushing her futon towards Ayako's, eventually laying them right next to each other, giving the brunette a perfectly innocent smile as she did so.

Ayako was still staring at the joined futons when Sakura turned off the lights. She lifted her head just in time to see Sakura lie down next to her, and she was too surprised to prevent the girl from putting an arm around her.

Sakura then snuggled up to her, quickly drawing the blanket over them and falling asleep before Ayako could say anything.

Ayako blushed fiercely, her face feeling incredibly hot as she registered the feeling of Sakura's soft skin against her own.

For a moment, she contemplated trying to break free, but even if her mind had been willing to do that, her body certainly wasn't.

'I wouldn't mind falling asleep like this every day.'

And now her mind apparently also didn't want to break free anymore either.

Unable and unwilling as she was to get away from Sakura, Ayako just sighed deeply, before relaxing, deciding to just enjoy the sensation of having a beautiful girl lying flush against her.

It didn't take very long for her to fall asleep as well.

---

And done, the aftermath.

A hell of a lot happened here, and more will happen next chapter. I guess that's what happens when you reach such a milestone in your story.

Very heavy on the exposition, but also a very short recap on what Shirou's been doing. I hope it was a bit interesting at least.

Next chapter is a bit more plot-progression, but also not overly much. It's just that a lot needs to be cleared up now, and it means more telling.

The Clocktower is approaching, but our main characters first have to finish the schoolyear before Shirou can get enough time off. What will happen in those few weeks that are left? Who knows…?

Taiga now thinks Shirou is an alien. Can anyone guess which two fictional characters she was referring too when she reached that conclusion?

Shinji is gone for now. He is on a life-changing journey and believe me, it will be life-changing(!) for him. We'll see him again later.

Ayako has now accepted Sakura's proposal, and they are free to work towards finally getting Shirou as their boyfriend. Will they succeed? Probably.

Also, both Sakura and Ayako are canonically bi, with Sakura having her eyes on Rider and Ayako having her eyes on Rin. I am not pulling that out of thin air.

Discord: discord . gg / YaZvJJj

As always, my thanks to my beta-readers Crazylich79, liamrodhudson331 and Woggie.

---

Omake:

CrazyLich79 was still planning on killing Ted, that had not changed over the past few chapters. To become an author, one had to make sacrifices after all, and if that included the life of an old friend, then so be it.

For now however, he was content to study for his upcoming language exam, while grinding FGO and drinking coffee that was at least 99% sugar.

Ted had just arrived at a bothersome, dragging part of his story, right after some big action, so Lich wasn't planning on taking over just yet. he had enough on his mind with how long he spent staring at each sentence in the chapter, trying to think of possible ways how anything he wrote down could come back to bite him in the future when he took over the story.

He had been watching several important places around town however, especially Grail-kun's home, in order to anticipate possible nasty surprises. During one of these… 'ahem', voyeurism sessions he had seen something unacceptable, something that had almost made him want to revive himself and pluck his eyes out in hopes of unseeing it, something that had to be rectified as soon as possible.

Fakers, copy-cats, those without creativity to do something unique. All of them had demanded knives of Grail-kun to do… something, he didn't know what, but he did know he didn't like it one bit.

Couldn't they have brought their own weapons? Were they too poor to get a fruit knife? Maybe they were greedy and didn't want to use their own stuff? Oh, or maybe they had a curse that killed them when using the creative part of their brain? What was it called agan? Hippocampus? Something like that.

Well, no matter, the Lich knew what he had to do.

He wiped his mouth with a tissue, picked up his trusty new knife from the table, and rose, passing some money to a waitress.

"These young'uns need a lesson in originality, heck, I will throw 'em a discount and only charge them their lives for a 1-on-1 session with Yours Truly. Time for some action, I needed a break from studying anyway."

His knife gleamed, and Crazylich79 marched away in fury.

---

Thanks to Crazylich79 for the omake.

Ted disappears now.