PoV: Emiya Shirou

Red eyes blink and she tilts her head,

"A foreigner in winter attire? At this time of year?"

I nod, scratching the back of my head,

"I thought it was pretty weird too, but didn't give it much thought. Being almost late and all." I add offhandedly.

She nods, chewing, before swallowing down the rest of her bento. She shoots me an inquisitive glance,

"Didn't you say something about a foreigner transferring into your school? Maybe it's her?"

I give it some thought, I hadn't put two together when we'd met, but thinking about it now…

"Nah, the girl the rumors were describing was supposed to be transferring into our grade. The girl I bumped into looked no older than 12."

I dismiss it, the ages just didn't match up.

She however, seemed to disagree, "Maybe she's one of those people that just look really young. Ya know, like in anime."

I deadpan at her answer, "Yeah, and that's why it's in anime and not real life."

She pouts slightly, "You never know, it could be she's just really small."

I quirk an eyebrow, "Then explain the childlike features, Tachie."

Her theory crafting ends there, unable to refute my point. She doesn't give up though, finding different angles to connect the foreign girl to my soon-to-be schoolmate.

"Maybe it's her sister?"

I shrug, crossing my arms and sitting back in the chair I'd pulled up,

"Could be, but there's no way to prove she is or isn't."

She shakes her head, disagreeing,

"She wanted to meet up with you didn't she? Why else would she ask for when your shift ends?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Soooooo, you could ask if she has any siblings!"

"I mean, I could, but we're supposed to meet up under the context of me having wronged her accidentally. It's not like we're hanging out or something."

She wilts at that, leaning her back into the frame of the hospital bed. She turns to me, red eyes scouring my neutral expression for something. Failing to find it, she scoots forward, before plopping back onto her bed. A sigh heaves out of her throat, disappointment lacing her voice, "Do you really believe it'll stay that way, Shirou?"

My confused expression is apparently enough of an answer.

She wipes a nonexistent tear from her eye while rolling away from me, comically feigning sadness, "To think my dear childhood friend would grow into such a womanizer and not realize it."

My face burns-

"Oi, who's a womanizer you bothersome pig?"

She turns right back over,

"Pig?! I'm not a pig, you shameless flirt!"

"I'm not a shameless flirt, you greedy hog!"

She's back to sitting up again,

"Yes you are! Have you seen the way the other nurses talk about you!? How Tsumiki-san looks at you?! "'Oh Emiya-kun is so sweet, he's great husband material, I wish I went home to a guy like him everyday.'" Emiya-kun this, Emiya-kun that! You're like their favorite topic besides each other!"

The warmth that was in my face spreads to the rest of my body,

"I-"

"Doesn't your kohai basically live with you now?"

"Sakura is my friend's sister! I wouldn't do something like that!"

Her eyes narrow and I can tell she's entirely unconvinced,

"Uh-huh, and what about that Archery captain always chasing after you?"

"That's just about getting me to rejoin the Archery club! Mitsuzuri and I don't have that kind of relationship!"

She wags her finger in front of my face, "You still don't have an answer for those nurses, huh?"

I sputter in embarrassment, "And how aren't you a pig, huh? Always begging me day in and day out about bringing you a bento. You even forced poor Tsumiki-san to walk all the way to my house to ask about it!"

This time it's her turn to be embarrassed,

"Wha- don't you know it's rude to call a girl a pig?! Plus I doubt she minded too much anyway, she got to go to your house!"

"And how does that justify you wolfing down all the food I bring you, huh? You're almost as bad as Fuji-nee."

"Er-"

"Gorging yourself on food all the time when you get so little exercise is terrible for your health."

"Ack-"

She feigns being stabbed through the chest, before flipping back over onto her side and beginning to mutter,

"When did my dear friend become such a bully? I'm sorry Irisviel-san, I've failed you. I let such an innocent boy become a monster! Please, I beg, give me back the Shirou that was kindness incarnate!"

I don't try and contain my eye roll, "Don't start something if you can't finish it, and don't go namedropping people I don't know either."

Especially when they have such a foreign sounding name.

She glances back at me, "Irisviel-san was our babysitter, remember? She looked after us a lot, and even made us call her mom once. She's kinda hard to forget, given she was almost as much of a kid as we were."

I frown, once again failing to recall something that happened from my childhood.

"I don't remember this, when was it again?"

"A real long while back, before the-"

She stops herself, quickly going silent. But it's too late, my hands have already balled into fists, and any positivity I'd felt before had been replaced by tension. A horrifying scene replaces the one before me, an image I'd never forget for the rest of my life. I can't keep my face neutral and can feel my teeth grinding in agitation. Before long I can almost feel the flames, heat rising through my body reminiscent of the Fire. My eyes see what isn't here, and a burning hellscape engu-

It hurts It hurts It hurts It hurts

"Shirou? Shirou!"

My name is being called and I-

Give it back Give it back Give it back Give it back

Someone's grabbing my hand, someone's squeezing it with all their might. They have a surprising amount of strength for someone who's spent so long in the hospital.

"Shirou!"

I blink away the flames and force the heat down. My vision clears and I'm back in the hospital, bright fluorescent lights and the smell of food mixed with cleaning chemicals calms me down. Tachie is sat up, an expression of worry painted across her features. Her left hand is holding my right, squeezing it to keep me here.

'Here, in the hospital. Not anywhere else.'

"Shi-"

"I'm fine."

I cut her off unintentionally, startling her if her flinch is anything to go by.

I grimace, "Sorry, I'm fine. Seriously."

She purses her lips, thoroughly unconvinced, but doesn't push it. Instead she continues holding my hand, though she's stopped squeezing it. We stay like that for a bit, not saying anything to each other. The mood had shifted with the Fire's mention, and I can't help berating myself for drawing the attention to myself.

Tachie had lost just as much as I had in the Fire, and unlike me, she wasn't saved by Kiritsugu. She'd lived almost her entire life, confined to these hospital walls. Not only had the Fire taken her home and family, it left her rather weak physically. In fact, she hadn't shown any signs of recovery until recently. It was why I worked so hard, why I-

A vision of a full moon flashes through his mind, a man and a boy sitting side by side. A promise, more sacred than life itself, shared between them.

-took up his dying dream.

It meant more than anything, more than even my own life. I'd take on this burden, their burden, for both his and her sake. I wanted to be their beacon of hope, a light in their darkness. My one wish, that I'd bring about with my own two hands. My one desire left in this empty body. I squeeze her hand, drawing her attention to me. Red eyes meet bronze, and she smiles.-

'The child's words are foolish, he couldn't possibly understand what it meant to follow in his footsteps. But a small part of him, a part of him he'd thought would never resurface, surged with hope. A hope that told him, that even when times were tough, this boy would stand strong and achieve that Utopia he dreamt of for so many nights. A hope that told him believing in this boy was the right decision, that he'd be able to achieve what he never could after years of fighting. Of killing. A smile stretched across his broken features. "I see. If it's you then, I'm glad." Entrusting his dream, his last wish, to the boy at his side, Emiya Kiritsugu passes away.'

-For the sake of their smiles, no, for the sake of everyone who had ever suffered. For everyone that would suffer. Emiya Shirou will become a Hero of Justice. Even if it kills me.

-Scene-

"…..…"

"..."

"...You do realize you perpetuate all those rumors about us by doing stuff like this."

"Oh please, they've all gone home already, who'd be around to see us?"

I don't have a response to that, letting Tachie run her fingers through my hair. I was sitting on the bed facing away from her, while she was behind me on her knees. It was oddly soothing, and beneath her touch I felt all my tension fade away.

Well almost all of my tension.

"I get that you have to be close to do this,-

The devilishly soft sensation pressing onto the back of my head left me with quite a bit of tension.

-but do you have to bethisclose?!"

I hate how embarrassment laces my voice as I sputter out my complaints.

She only giggles in response, "Oh? Is the great Emiya Shirou weak to this kind of thing? Don't tell me I, your dear childhood friend, have aroused some less thanappropriatethoughts in that head of yours."

I scowl, red in the face, "Don't kid yourself, I just prefer my personal space is all."

She only laughs at my weak response, and I hate how I enjoy the way I can feel her laughter reverberating through her body.

We fall back into silence afterwards, and otherdistractionsaside, I allow my mind to drift from the comfort. Feeling my eyelids grow heavy, I allow my self to drift o-

"In the next coming days, these streets will become dangerous."

I snap awake with a start, startling Tachie into falling backwards onto the bed. She's up in a heartbeat though, shooting me a confused look. I don't have the luxury to answer her unasked question, my mind having snapped awake with me. The dread that I'd manage to force down returned in full force. I stand up, shooting a glance at the clock. It was a quarter past midnight, my shift having ended hours ago. I-

"Are you leaving?"

-turn to look back at her. Her face was completely neutral, but having known her for so long, I could spot the hidden emotions swimming in her mask. I purse my lips, not wanting to disappoint her further.

"I was thinking about it, it's getting pretty late, and I was told that the streets would be getting pretty dangerous soon." I add that last part offhandedly, not giving it mu-

"Who told you that?"

I blink, taken aback by the seriousness in her voice. Had she heard the same as well?

"A friend of mine, I helped her out of a dangerous situation not too long ago. I guess she was just warning me about whatever it is that put her in that position." I explain pretty easily.

She doesn't say anything in response, turning to stare out the window with that hardened expression on her face. It almost looked like she was glaring at something.

'Or rather, someone?'

"Tachie?"

She continues for a little longer before sighing, muttering something under her breath that I don't quite catch.

"It's nothing serious."

She answers offhandedly, as if dismissing all her strange behavior from before. Her words do nothing to convince me though, like with Megissa before, I'd never seen such an expression on her face before.

"More importantly," she turns to me, head moving so quickly I'd almost missed it, "It's nothing for you to get involved in, of Justice."

I glare-

"That's not for you to decide," I bite back, "If people, innocent people, are getting hurt, I can't just stand by and do nothing."

She only frowns in response, meeting my determined gaze with a searching look.

Our staredown lasts a bit, the room filling with tension. But, just as it seems like it's about to explode, She sighs, closing her eyes,

"I can't convince you not to do anything dangerous," she starts, before opening them again to look me dead in my eyes, "But please, please Shirou, promise me you'll be careful."

There was fear in her eyes.

A fear I couldn't ignore.

A fear I couldn't rebuke.

I can only nod my head as a response, before collecting the empty bento box, and heading for the door. She doesn't say anything, but I can feel her eyes trained on me as I pull it open.

"I'll come see you as soon as I can."

Somehow, I can feel her sorrowful nod even after I've closed the door.

-Scene-

I pass by the night staff on my way out, bidding Tsumiki-san a halfhearted goodbye. As if Megissa's warning alone hadn't spooked me enough, Tachie's reaction only justified this intense dread. For even Tachie, who'd spent 10 years in that hospital, to know and be weary of whatever danger was quickly approaching…

I glance around me as I quickly make my way to the area right before the bridge, passing by the spot where I'd met that foreigner girl.

'Come to think of it, I don't think I got her name.'

The whole interaction in itself was odd, I don't know what about her had caught my attention. Nor do I know why I accepted her calling me her older brother so quickly. As far as I know, that meeting was our first ever, she was a complete stranger to me.

'And yet,'

Something about her had been familiar. More specifically, her physical features. I was certain I'd never met someone that looked like her before, but despite that, her red eyes, pale skin, and snow white hair struck a chord of nostalgia in me. I had no recollection of it, and I was certain I'd never met such a person before, but I couldn't ignore the feeling of familiarity I felt whenever I thought of that girl.

"Everything else is wrong though," I speak aloud to myself as I cross the bridge.

Her height, her voice, her personality. Everything that wasn't her features struck me as wrong. Like pieces of a puzzle that just happened to fit in places they weren't supposed to go. It was almost maddening, to be so sure that something was off, but not know what should be there. A part of me notes that it's odd that this mystery girl has taken up all my thoughts. Most people wouldn't give a stranger this much thought, familiar or not, and mulling over this won't get me any answers.

'Luckily, I do know what will,'

I'd be meeting her soon, hopefully, and while I would prefer for us to put our original meeting behind us, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to ask her a couple questions of my own.

'And Tachie's own, I suppose,' her idea from earlier appearing in my head just as I reach the street to my home. I can see from here that the lights are off, meaning Sakura, Miyu and Fuji-nee had probably already gone home. I wince at the scolding I'd receive from them tomorrow, as staying out this late had both been an accident and out of character for me.

It's just about two in the morning when I step inside. I take off my coat, before hanging it up and removing my shoes. While I'd called the foreigner girl's attire odd, truth is, as it approached the end of the year it got pretty cold. Of course, full on winter gear like she wore was a little strange, it wasn'tthatclose to December after all.

Deciding I'd done enough thinking for the day (and that I'd take a longer shower in the morning) I head to my room, not dwelling on the emptiness of this large home. On my way there though I stop by the bathroom, just to fulfill my quick nightly routine. It's when I'm brushing my teeth that I notice something though, and don't think anything of it. I'd fallen on it earlier, so it was likely just a scrape.

'It's a shame I didn't notice earlier when I was at the hospital, I could've dealt with it there.' But I don't waste time wishing I'd have noticed it earlier.

Instead, I just resign myself to bandaging the faint red smudge on the back of my right hand tomorrow morning.