Chapter 1A

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For Shirou Emiya, the day began much like any other.

True, he may have stayed up late tinkering away at the junk littering his workshop, but that was hardly out of the ordinary for him. Plus, unlike yesterday, he actually found himself waking up on his futon instead of the cold, hard stone of his workshop, so that was an improvement.

He’d had another Fire dream last night… though those were nothing he couldn’t deal with.

For a moment he was also reminded of the strange tiny girl who’d passed him by last night…

Then Shirou remembered he had breakfast to make and suddenly all that vague, weird stuff became a very distant second priority.

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“Good Morning, Shirou!” Sakura Matou, his friend of many years and former fellow archery-club member greeted Shirou with a bright smile from the kitchen area as he entered the dining room.

“Morning Sakura!” Shirou returned the greeting and a smile of his own as he joined her in the kitchen, “You’re looking happy today.”

“Oh, thank you Shirou,” Sakura giggled in reply as they both worked on getting breakfast ready before Fuji-nee got in.

Honestly, ‘happy’ wasn’t the right word as Shirou watched his purple-haired friend. He’d seen Sakura happy before. Right now, the only word Shirou could think to describe Sakura was… radiant. Sure, she wasn’t exactly bouncing off the walls or anything, but there was still an energy and vibrancy to Sakura this morning that Shirou couldn’t remember seeing in her since… well ever, really.

Shirou was about to ask what might have put his friend in such a good mood, but he quickly thought better of it. It wasn’t his place to pry into Sakura’s private life, especially with the surprisingly happy mood Sakura was in. The last thing Shirou wanted to do was possibly interfere with Sakura’s good mood. And of course, if whatever it was made Sakura this happy, then what reason did Shirou have to pry?

However, it when they were almost finished with breakfast that Shirou noticed something that did make him want to pry.

Glancing over at Sakura as she reached into the cabinets to retrieve some plates, Shirou’s eye caught what looked like a bright red splotch on the back of Sakura’s hand.

“Hey Sakura,” Shirou called out to his friend, “want happened to your hand?”

“What? OH!” Sakura ‘eepd’ out before spinning around, clearly trying to hide her hand and whatever was on it, “It’s… nothing Shirou, don’t worry about it.”

But it was something that made Shirou worry. He’d only gotten a quick glimpse of Sakura’s hand, but the bright, angry red mark was impossible to miss.

“…It was Shinji, wasn’t it?” Shirou’s voice was low and not far off from angry. He always had a feeling that Sakura’s brother would hurt her, beat her or any number of other bad things. Just about everyone at school had that feeling. But Sakura was always quick to defend Shinji, claiming that he would never hurt her, and she only got hurt by accident. Part of Shirou was expecting Sakura to do just that right now…

“No Shirou, Shinji did not do this to me,” Sakura turned back to address him, her expression… strangely calm and friendly, “I burned my hand last night on one of the old sconces we have in the basement, it’s fine. But thank you for your concern,” Sakura finished with a smile.

“Oh, okay…” Shirou replied, not exactly sure how to take that. This was not how Sakura generally replied to those kinds of questions. Honestly, it was enough to convince him that it actually was an accident. But even so…
“Still, if he’s done something to hurt you…”

“Shirou, I understand your concern, and everyone else’s. Shinji…” Sakura paused, like she was taking a moment to choose her words, “…is not a very nice boy.”

That statement really threw Shirou for a loop. Sakura actually admitting that her brother was kind of a bad person. That was a NEW one…

“But I actually had a very nice… talk with Shinji last night about all thing things he does. Zouken too. And I think I really… changed him.”

“Wow… really?” this was a REAL surprise for Shirou. Did Sakura really sit down with her brother and her grandfather about what a massive jerk Shinji was? THAT was a new one, “You really talked Shinji through all that?”

“Yep! Don’t worry, Shirou. Shinji’s not going to be bothering people anymore. I think I took a really big load off his shoulders,” Sakura flashed a big, happy grin.

Also Shirou could swear he heard snickering coming from somewhere behind Sakura…

Of course, that was probably Fuji-nee, considering how she came bounding through the door a moment later looking for breakfast.

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Shirou’s trip to school was rather uneventful. Sure, he could feel his magic circuits itching just a bit, but it wasn’t anything uncomfortable. Though he had been feeling this every morning for the past two weeks now…

Sometimes Shirou really wished he had someone to talk to about magic stuff.

“Hey Ayako, has Sakura been okay these past few days?” Shirou had foregone his normal lunch with Issei in the student council room to track down his old friend and current captain of the archery club. He wasn’t… especially concerned for Sakura and he certainly wasn’t going to pry too much into her personal life, but it still couldn’t hurt to check in with a mutual friend. Recently, Shirou was really only seeing Sakura when she came over in the mornings to help with breakfast, chores or reigning in Fuji-nee. Ayako likely saw just as much, if not more of Sakura than Shirou did lately.

“Oh yeah, she’s been fine. Great, even!” Ayako Mitsuzuri replied as she took a seat across from Shirou with her lunch, “She’s been working her butt off this last week. Heck, just today I think she’s been in the best mood I’ve seen her in for a while.” From the way she perked up, it seemed a bit of Sakura’s new-found cheer might have spilled over into Ayako.

“The problem is her brother,” and just like that, Ayako’s mood soured as she let out a very annoyed groan.

Shirou gave her a sympathetic nod. Wasn’t that the story of the Matou siblings?

“Shinji’s been railing on the first-year members. Insults, yelling, he’s even thrown a few things. I’ve had to watch him like a hawk these past few days.”

“Wow,” Shirou had to admit, that was a bit much even for Shinji, “wonder what got to him.”

“I heard it was something to do with Tohsaka. I’m just glad he’s out sick today. Gives me a well-deserved break,” Ayako muttered as she took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah…” Shirou started before Ayako’s words sank in, “Wait a minute, Shinji’s out sick today?”

“Yeah, Sakura didn’t tell you?” Ayako replied.

“No… Sakura told me she had a talk with Shinji and their grandfather last night,” Shirou answered. This was weird. Why wouldn’t Sakura mentioned that?

“Huh…” Ayako tapped her plate for a moment in contemplation. Then her lips suddenly twisted into a grin, “Well that’s certainly interesting…”

“…You have a theory?” Shirou asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Indeed I do, dear Shirou,” Ayako replied, raising her fork in an attempt at a dignified, intelligent pose, “I believe that the venerable Zouken Matou has finally had enough of his grandson’s shit and is having a very long talk with him as we speak.” She finished with a wicked grin.

“Geez… I almost feel sorry for him,” Shirou had met the Matou patriarch once in his life for exactly ten minutes, and he had ZERO desire to extend that time any further.

“HA! I sure don’t!” Ayako’s wicked grin only widened, “I think I’ll get the other archery girls together after school. Some celebrations might be in order. You want in, Shirou?”

“Ah, no thanks. I’m good,” Shirou replied with an uneasy chuckle. He never thought Ayako was so… vindictive. Sure, this was Shinji they were talking but…

Actually, Shirou could understand the sentiment. Sure he wouldn’t be celebrating, but he could get where Ayako was coming from.

Also, was it his imagination, or did the air next to Ayako just… ripple somehow?

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The rest of Shirou’s day passed rather uneventfully.

Though on his way home from work that evening, he thought he saw Rin Tohsaka hanging out on top of a skyscraper.

That was… weird.

“Shirouuuu~!” a sound not unlike a wailing cat greeted Shirou upon getting home, “I’ve been waiting for hours!”

Fuji-nee lay sprawled out next to the dinner table watching TV, looking more like, again, a cat desperately awaiting its dinner.

“Don’t you have food you can eat at your own house, Fuji-nee?” Shirou asked as he closed the door behind him.

Fuji-nee then sat up and regarded Shirou with a quizzical look.

“But this is my house, Shirou.” Fuji-nee answered with a confused tilt of the head, as if Shirou had just asked the most obvious question in the world.

“Right…” Shirou replied dryly. Yes, Taiga’s family did technically own the house and had leased it to Kiritsugu and now to Shirou, and sure he certainly didn’t mind making another serving for dinner, but still. To have Fuji-nee repeatedly mooching off of him, one of her students at that… It all just felt rather embarrassing.

Glancing at the table, Shirou noticed a couple of rolled up posters. Unrolling the paper, it looked like a festival advertisement.

“Did the school give you these?”

“Yeah,” Fuji-nee groaned, “rejected poster ideas to promote one of the festivals next month. Do you want one? I can think of any use for them.”

“Hm…” Shirou trailed off as he regarded the half-colored sketches on the paper.

Rolling up the poster tight in his hand, Shirou was suddenly struck with an idea to exact just a bit of petty revenge on his teacher and resident moocher.

“Well, I can think of one use!”

Shirou proceeded to swing the rolled-up poster at Fuji-nee in an impromptu slash. Even as he realized that this was probably a BAD idea…

And Fuji-nee… flickered.

The next thing Shirou knew was another rolled-up poster coming down hard to smack him on the head, even as his own improvised blade cut nothing but empty air.

“You’re about a hundred years too early if you’re hoping to get the drop on me, my little novice,” Fuji-nee gave a sweet, serene smile even as she was poised in a flawless striking pose, her own improvised blade sitting on Shirou’s head where she’d just smacked him.

Standing up straight, the young teacher assumed a classic resting pose, her rolled up poster now resting on her shoulder as if it were a trusted blade. “I suggest you come to me for some actual training before you try that again, young Shirou. Otherwise…”

That was when Taiga’s sweet smile suddenly shifted into a savage, toothy grin, her eyes flashed with what almost looked like bloodlust, and what almost sounded like a growl rumbled up from her throat…

“…I might not be able to hold myself back.”

Shirou was wondering if he should start running for his life when his teacher then dropped the improvised weapon that Shirou was fairly certain she could still kill him with, and spoke, “Well, now that that’s out of the way…”

With that, Fuji-nee proceeded to fall to her knees, hands suddenly clasped together in a pleading, prostrated look.

“Please make me some of your delicious food, Emiya!”

And just like that, the spell was broken, and everything was back to as it should be.

“Sure, sure Fuji-nee,” Shirou muttered in bemusement as he got to his feet.

“Yay~! You’re the best, Emiya!”

As he got to work on dinner, Shirou was left scratching the new sore-spot on his head in more than a little befuddlement.
He knew Fuji-nee was deceptively fast, but Shirou was pretty sure he’d never seen her move that fast before. He was also pretty sure she’d just moved faster than his eyes could even follow. Not to mention that aura she’d been giving off for a moment there. It reminded Shirou of the times he’d seen Fuji-nee in kendo tournaments when they were younger.

…Perhaps the Fujimura Tiger had actually started practicing seriously again?

That was a scary thought.

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That night, Shirou dreamed of Fire once again. He dreamed of trying to save someone from the Fire. He dreamed of how he himself was saved from the Fire.

And… he dreamed of swords.

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The next day, Shirou learned that Shinji was out sick again. Specifically from Ayako who was looking about ready to throw a party over the weekend with her friends from archery club. For his part, Shirou was just a little concerned. Sure, Shinji was a… not-good person, but he was still a person, and Shirou didn’t like it when persons were hurt. Even if that person was… Shinji.

Shirou really wished he’d thought to ask Sakura this morning how Shinji was doing. Though even if he did, Fuji-nee had been… particularly energized today, so Shirou really didn’t get a chance to talk much with Sakura anyway. And apparently, that would be the last chance he’d get to talk to Sakura for a while. She said she’d have something going on for the next few weeks that would keep her from coming over in the mornings.

That certainly was by no means a problem for Shirou, heck he’d always felt just a little guilty about the help Sakura went out of her way to provide him and Fuji-nee.

Still, part of Shirou would miss seeing his friend. Maybe he should take her up on that offer to stop by the archery club sometime to visit…

Nah, he shouldn’t have to impose on Sakura like that. Especially considering what Ayako said about how hard Sakura was apparently working. He’d just be a distraction for her.

Other than that, Friday went by without much note. Aside from the new bruise on his right hand getting tingly on-and-off all day.

Shirou wasn’t sure where he’d gotten the dull-red mark, though he did sometimes zone out when working late in the shed. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d woken up the next morning with a bruise he didn’t remember getting.

After he finished his last class for the day, Shirou found himself just wandering the halls for a bit. It was funny, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was off somehow… A tingling in his magic circuits he couldn’t quite explain…

Shirou sighed. Maybe he should just go home and take a na-

“SHIRROOOUUU!~” and in what almost felt like a gust of wind, Fuji-nee was in front of him, looking fairly out of breath.

“Fuji-nee…?” Shirou started, before remembering that she often made a point that he should call her ‘Fujimura-sensei’ while on school grounds.

But it seemed like she didn’t really care this time.

“Shirou! So as it turns out nobody has cleaned up the archery club today I was going to make Shinji do it but it turns out the little palnakayo is out sick again today and the club really needs to be cleaned before the weekend so could you please take care of it I know you don’t have anything going on tonight and I would really really REALLY appreciate it!”

After taking a moment to decipher the string of words Fuji-nee had just blurted out, Shirou sighed.

“Sure Sensei. It’s no problem.” After all, what was Shirou going to do? Refuse a friend asking for help? That just wasn’t what he did.

“YES!” Fuji-nee seemed to practically cheer, “Thank you Shirou! You are a lifesaver! Well, I mean…” Fuji-nee paused, as if she was suddenly rethinking her choice of words for some reason, “No, no you’re definitely a lifesaver Shirou. See you later!” And before Shirou could question what any of that was supposed to mean, his teacher was tearing off down the halls, and woe betide any student or faculty unlucky enough to be caught in her path…

As he headed towards the archery club, Shirou made a mental note to double-check his recipes when he got home. He was getting the distinct impression that he may have put too much sugar in Fuji-nee’s breakfast this morning…

Then again… hadn’t he done an omelet for Fuji-nee this morning…?

“Emiya-san!” a voice called out, interrupting his thoughts.

Looking up as he neared the stairwell down to the ground floor, Shirou saw two girls approaching him from the opposite hall, one waving him over. They were… actually Shirou was having a hard time placing their names. He was pretty he’d seen them around at one time or another but he couldn’t recall anything about them… Probably first-years or new transfers he hadn’t met yet.

“Emiya-san, Fujimura… sensei said she wanted you to clean up the… archery dojo. She said it was important,” the first girl, a brunette with glasses and a stoic expression, said.

“EXTREMELY important,” her friend, the girl who’d waved him over added with a smile.

“Yeah, I know. Sensei already told me about that,” Shirou replied. He wasn’t surprised Fuji-nee would cover her bases like this. Or that she’d rope some hapless first-years into being her errand girls.

“Oh. That’s great,” the first girl answered back, “in that case, we’re heading home. We’ll see you later. Emiya-san.” With that the girl turned around to leave down the hallway.

“Yeah. See you later Emiya-san,” the other girl added with a smile and a wave before turned to join her friend.

“Sure, see you later,” Shirou replied with a wave of his own as he turned to go his own way.

It was weird, Shirou thought as he started down the stairs. He was having trouble remembering just who those two girls were… and there was something about that conversation that seem off somehow… Wait.

“Hey!” Shirou spoke up as he turned back, “you know that hallway doesn’t lead… anywhere…” Except the girls were nowhere to be seen.

“Huh,” Shirou scratched his head. That was weird…

But he did have an archery dojo to clean.

However, the weirdest encounter came a little ways on.

“Shirou Emiya!”

In the form of one Rin Tohsaka.

“Toh-Tohsaka-san…?” Shirou nearly tripped over his words as the dark-haired, twin-tailed girl practically popped out of nowhere to get right up in his face. Her shimmering blue eyes practically blazing as her whole expression and pose almost shined with purpose and authority. Shirou wasn’t sure if he found the whole display attractive or terrifying.

“Fujimura-sensei has approached me to inform YOU that the archery club needs-!”

“-to be cleaned before the weekend,” Shirou finished alongside Rin, looking utterly befuddled as he did. Was that seriously what this about?

Rin blinked.

“Wha…?” she blinked again, looking more and more flummoxed with every second.

“Yeah… she already got to me and told me. I’m headed there now,” Shirou replied as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Honestly, he felt a little guilty. It seemed like Tohsaka had come in with this whole spiel in mind that he’d just taken the wind out of. Not to mention she’d pretty much wasted her time tracking him down what with Fuji-nee already speaking with him. “Sorry.”

It was at this point that Rin draw back from him in a flash, bringing her hand up to her mouth and making a small cough as she regained her composure.

“Very well. Your apology is noted and appreciated,” with that, Rin stood aside.

“Carry on, Shirou Emiya. You have an important task to complete!” Rin declared, motioning for Shirou to continue on his way.

“Riight…” Shirou chuckled just a bit uneasily as continued on past Rin, “thanks, Tohsaka. I’ll see you around,” Shirou had heard all the rumors that Tohsaka could be intense, but he never thought she’d be THAT intense.

“Hmph. I imagine you will,” and with that ominous statement, Tohsaka was gone.

As in, literally when Shirou looked back to ask what that was supposed to mean, Tohsaka was nowhere to be seen.

…At this point, Shirou opted to just make a beeline for the archery dojo and get to work before anything else crazy happened today.

“…cLEaN… tHe ARchEry… CluB…” a dark, gravelly voice echoed the halls.

“…CleAn ThE… arCHeRY cLUb…”

“OKAY OKAY, I’m GOING!!” Shirou yelled back to whatever evil spirit or hidden drama students Fuji-nee had conscripted as he BOLTED for the dojo.

“…good…”

Unfortunately, he would not be so lucky.

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(Parts B and C to be uploaded soon)