Matou Shinji and the Chains of Debt (A Matou Shinji AU Quest)A/N: In this Quest - for a quest it is, not a CYOA adventure, because I need something that won't require hours and hours of my time putting together massive chapters (this is not getting chapters on FF.net), we go back to the first year, using the basics of the Peerless Alchemist setting (which itself is a variant of BFAS where Snape doesn't commit suicide), and importing the Hermione of Peerless Alchemist.
This is another variation on the Matou Shinji theme, exploring what would have happened had Matou Shinji not sought the support of the family that had thrown him away, but had turned instead to Tohsaka Rin, the Second Owner of Fuyuki, asking her for a loan of 1 MILLION YEN (about $10,000 US, or 1000 Galleons). Her price - his servitude for the summer, to prove that he is serious about wanting the money, as well as a contract to repay 10 MILLION YEN in ten years time, or be bound for ten years of servitude for every million he falls short.
It was perhaps not the best deal in the history of the world, but given that he was but a boy with nothing to his name except the clothes on his back, he accepted that this was the best offer he was going to get and signed the contract she proposed.
Sadly for the boy, once Matou Zouken heard about this latest bit of foolishness, the patriarch went about removing the boy from the family registry, effectively disowning him, thus leaving Shinji with no choice but to move in with Tohsaka for the summer as her live in help.
Over the course of the summer, the boy learned that living with a girl...was about as icky and uncomfortable as that Ryuudou boy always said it would be, and that Tohsaka could most certainly be a...witch, and not the magical kind who made potions. He had once idolized her, true, but in his months in her house, he'd learned four very important things about her:
1) Tohsaka Rin was a massive slob (or at least was deliberately making more work for him to do)
2) Tohsaka Rin was very, very grouchy in the morning, and wasn't functional without coffee
3) Tohsaka Rin packed a hell of a punch, and tended to use him as a training dummy
4) Tohsaka Rin liked to seem flawless to the rest of the world, but she was often careless when it counted
Four, did he say? No - five, with the fifth being that she had an insanely high spice tolerance, no doubt acquired from the takeout that her guardian, the priest, rewarded her with now and again. (This had proved an excellent incentive to learn the basics of cooking, as the choice between starvation and ingesting something that would melt his innards and burn just as much going out as it had going was...not a pleasant one).
Choose one Skill to Gain:
[ ] Cooking (Basic): Can make a decent cup of coffee, and prepare a basic meal (with a bonus to...tofu dishes)
[ ] Efficient Cleaning: Being able to clean up messes more efficiently
[ ] Martial Arts (Taking a hit): Knowing how to take a hit/fall in a way that minimized injury - earned from being Tohsaka's punching bag
[ ] Basic Physical Therapy: Giving massages and backrubs that help relieve muscle soreness
Still, he had to admit that Tohsaka wasn't entirely terrible, as she had asked Kotomine to provide some clothing for the...orphan, and the man had done so, giving him some items from his childhood, and some that had been donated for the church out of what he called Christian Charity.
[Acquired: 3x Acolyte Cassocks, 4x Black Robes, various shirts/slacks/coats - mix of new and lightly used]
...yes, charity, and all it cost him was time. Time spent attending Mass on Saturday evenings. Time spent studying a religious text he had no use for. Time spent in lessons on how all were doomed to the fires to hell, unless they repented from their lives of sin and gave up the false idols they worshipped - idols like power, the pleasures of the flesh, wealth, or more.
...oh, and time spent sweeping and cleaning up the church, out of...gratitude.
(It wasn't a wonderful use of his time, but appearances had to be kept up, and this was something Rin would have to help with otherwise, so it wasn't surprising she dumped the responsibilities on him).
But eventually the summer was over, and the boy found himself accompanying the priest on a trip to Europe...a trip on which...disaster struck. Apparently, one of the other passengers on board had been a rogue magus who had sought to become immortal, with...interesting results for his self-control. Sadly, the presence of the priest spooked the magus, leading a fight that ended the lives of many of those on the plane, with Shinji seeing for the first time just how dangerous an Executor of the Church could be, even if the man said he was "retired" or some nonsense like that.
[Acquired: 1x Black Key]
After that though, the boy finally made it to London, where he...
[ ] Followed instructions to go to Diagon Alley
[ ] Was met by Lord Black
[ ] Was met by Filius Flitwick
[ ] Was accompanied by Leonard Spencer-Moon and his grand-daughter, who had been on his plane from Rome
Reply With Quote
