Just Your Average, Everyday Fifth Grail War...

[Anthurak]

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)

[Anthurak]

Chapter 1B

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It was late. It was dark. He was tired.

And he was running for his LIFE!

It should have been such an easy night…

For the last few hours, Shirou had been hard at work making the archery club’s dojo absolutely spotless. Sure, some others might be content with simply straightening things up and putting away any loose equipment, or even calling it quits once it got dark outside, but Shirou was never one to give anything less than 110% effort at a task. Particularly if it was a cleaning task. Shirou always prided himself on his ability to make a table, a room or even a whole house absolutely spotless. It tied in with the pride Shirou took in his cooking. After all, cooking food, especially for others, in unclean conditions and risking contamination was an utterly heinous offense in Shirou’s book! Not to mention, Shirou felt he owed just a bit to his former club and his friends there. And Shinji. Giving any less than his absolute best simply was not an option.

And so, long after everyone else went home, long after the sun set and moon rose high into the sky, Shirou was finally putting the last of the cleaning supplies away and admiring his work.

That was when he heard it.

The ringing clangs of steel striking steel.

Shirou ran to investigate the cacophony, what sounded almost like a fight of some kind. But as he reached the edge of the school’s main yard, Shirou was stunned by what he saw. This was no simple fight…

This was a BATTLE.

Two figures, one red, one blue, dashed back and forth across the field. They met in dizzying whirlwinds of flashing blades. Moving so fast that at times they were little more than hazy blurs to Shirou’s eyes.

A tall man with white hair in a red coat clashed his pair of shortswords against the long spear wielded by another tall man with blue hair in a blue bodysuit. The pair would meet, then separate, then clash again at speeds that Shirou could barely track.

But even as hard as it was to keep track of, the sheer inhuman skill on display was plain as day to Shirou. The lightning-fast strikes, parries, reposts and dodges were so precise, so focused, it was almost as if both fighters knew exactly what his opponent would do before he did.

Were it not for the very deadly weapons both men were swinging at each other, Shirou might have thought this display looked more like some kind of superhumanly fast dance. Indeed, at one point Shirou thought he saw the man in blue smiling.

The whole display was at once stunning, awe-inspiring and terrifying.

But more than anything else, Shirou found his gaze most drawn to their weapons.

Even in just the brief moments where they slowed enough that he could catch a glimpse of them, Shirou was amazed by what he saw.

Those weapons, the long red spear wielded by the man in blue and the paired, black and white shortswords wielded by the man in red were absolutely incredible!

Shirou could just tell that these weapons were forged by only the greatest of craftsmen and honed by the finest of skill.

And more than anything…

He… He wanted that!!!

“Who’s there!” the man in blue suddenly shouted, turning in Shirou’s direction, “Who just complimented us?!”

Oh… he said that out loud, didn’t he?

Suddenly, any sense of awe or wonder Shirou might have felt at watching two inhumanly strong fighters do battle was immediately overshadowed by the overwhelming TERROR at having potentially drawn their attention to him.

“I’m sorry!!!” Shirou managed to blurt out before he turned around and started running for his life!

Logically, there was probably no way in hell Shirou could outrun the man in blue, given how fast he was moving earlier.

But right now, there was no space for logic in Shirou’s brain. The only things Shirou knew right now as he frantically ran back into the school building was the pounding of his heart in his chest, the roar of blood in his ears, and sheer, unadulterated terror.

Through the locker room, down a hall, up the stairs, down another hall, Shirou had no thought to where he was going. He barely noticed the times that he tripped on a stair, stumbled through a doorway or smacked into a wall or locker. The only thought in Shirou’s mind was to get away. He dared not even look over his shoulder.

After what felt like both an eternity and a blink of an eye, Shirou came stumbling to a halt, his lungs burning, desperate for air.

Only just managing to stop himself from keeling over completely, Shirou took a series of quick, frenzied breaths. As the while he frantically looked back down the hallway where he’d come from.

There was no sign of the blue man with the spear. All was quiet, save for the pounding of Shirou’s heart in his chest.

“Did… Did he spare me…?” Shirou managed to say aloud, trying to watch his surroundings.

“‘Spear You’, you say?” came a voice from behind him.

Shirou spun around, and was greeted with the splitting, searing pain of sharpened steel piercing his chest and into his very heart.

Looking down at the new hole in his chest, Shirou saw the rest of the red spear materialize out of thin air, along with the man in blue holding it.

Then with a flick of his wrist, the man pulled his weapon back.

And Shirou crumpled to the floor, all strength having left him, the once excruciating pain now replaced with simple numbness.

Looking up, even as his vision began to blur, Shirou saw the man in blue standing over him, his blood red spear held over his shoulder. Shirou could just make out his blood now coating the spear’s tip…

The man looked down at Shirou and shook his head with a sigh.

“There once was a boy with red hair.

He wished that his life I would spare.

Sadly it appears,

I thought he said ‘spear’.

I’ve been doing this too much, I swear.”

Shirou might have asked what that was supposed to mean, were he not currently choking on his own blood.

“Sorry kid, I really am. Normally I might have appreciated the compliment, but unfortunately my Master’s a right shite who doesn’t want any witnesses and I can’t exactly refuse an order from him.”

The man sighed.

“A bit of advice for your next life; When you see a battle-”

Shirou didn’t actually catch the rest of what the man said, as his hearing was fading. The last thing Shirou saw was the man in blue turning away, and fading into nothingness.

Then…

Darkness.

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“Whelp... ...Oh No. Shirou... ...heart ripped... ...Chulain... ...a tragedy.”

“...right... ...SPEAKING of... ...love life... ...WHEN... ...your boyfriend... ...SHITTY LIMERICKS?!!”

“...I think... ...cute.”

“...cannot BELIEVE... ...thinks you... ...hot!”

“...speaking of... ...you want to... ...that dead one?”

“...right, I’m... ...un-dead this guy…”

“...NOT as... ...undead. Zombies can't...”

“...right… ...how do I do that…”

“Ugh… ...just use... ...that pendent... ...summon me! ...how it’s happened... ...times now!”

“…I HAVE to use... ...pendent? ...kinda hoping... ...hang onto it... ...a memento...? ...I’m... ...keep this outfit... ...pendent goes GREAT with-”

“...!”

“...fine... ...doing it… ...this un-deadening... ...weird. ...sort of thing... ...SISTER... ...doing…”

“...YOU feel weird? ...ONE time Rin... doesn’t give a shit... ...Emiya dies... ...actually WANT him to... ...THAT feels weird.”

“...have you know… ...at least ONE shit... ...you very much! ...just like to know...”

“Heh... ...are at least PART... ...give you that...”

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Shirou’s eyes flew open as he took his first gasp of breath.

He was… alive? He… was okay?

Then the burning pain and soreness in his chest hit, and Shirou could immediately tell he definitely wasn’t okay.

Then again, if he could feel pain, then that meant he was still alive, so Shirou supposed that was a plus in its own way.

Reaching up to his chest, Shirou felt the ripped hole in his shirt, still damp with what had to be blood. His blood. But underneath that hole he felt… just unbroken skin. Not even a scar, even though with how sore he felt, there probably should be a scar.

…He should be dead. Shirou was pretty sure he had been dead! But he wasn’t. Shirou could faintly remember… somebody standing over him after the man in blue left. He could remember voices, even though the words were lost in the haze.

“Someone healed me…” Shirou muttered aloud. Even with what little he understood about magic, Shirou knew that someone must have healed him with magic. Saved his life…

Shirou finally found the strength to push himself up, though not without considerable effort. His whole body felt sore and stiff… As he tried to get to his feet, Shirou’s eye caught something on the floor next to him.

A pendent, set with a deep red gemstone.

Barely even thinking, Shirou grabbed the pendent as he finally got to his feet.

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After what felt like an eternity, Shirou finally stumbled through his front door.

“I’m home…” Shirou announced to no one in particular. More out of habit than anything else. His voice came out more than a little slurred.

Shirou just managed to make it into the dining room before his legs finally gave out and he collapsed in a heap.

…This was fine. Sure, he was trying to get to his bed, but the floor worked too.

Finding the strength to roll onto his back, Shirou was finally able to take a breath and try to process what just happened.

Those guys in red and blue he’d seen fighting… no way they were human. Or maybe…

“Were those guys… mages?” Shirou found himself saying aloud. He could remember dad saying that mages could do these incredible, superhuman feats.

But then after that, when the man in blue stabbed him…

“I almost died back there…” Shirou spoke aloud.

No…

Shirou sat up, bringing his hand up to his chest as he hesitantly glanced down. Seeing and feeling the hole in his shirt and jacket. And the dried blood all around that hole. His blood.

Shirou remembered the feeling of cold steel piercing deep into his chest… and into his heart…

Shirou felt his whole body tighten.

He didn’t almost die back there...

“I… I should be dead…” Shirou breathed out.

“Yeah. You really SHOULD be,” came a voice from somewhere above. A very familiar voice…

Shirou had JUST enough time to scramble to his left before a familiar red spear came down right where he’d just been laying. Followed by a likewise familiar man in blue.

Diving over the dining table and running on nothing but adrenaline and fight or flight instinct, Shirou reached out to grab the closest thing he could to defend himself.

…Which turned out to be the rolled-up poster he’d tried to hit Fuji-nee with yesterday.

“You know, it really is a funny thing,” the man in blue muttered as pulled his spear out of the hole it made in the floor and lay it across his shoulders before turning to Shirou with a look that almost seemed bemused.

“There once was this boy whose chest I drilled,

Yet here he stands before me, chest-hole refilled.

And frankly, I just can’t let that go.

Because as far I know,

People die when they are killed,” the man finished with a half-grin.

Well… he did have a point, Shirou had to give him that. But right now…

“Trace. On.” Shirou breathed out his incantation. He felt his circuits surge to life with mana, focusing into the rolled-up paper in his hand. He understood the structural components that made up the paper, and with his magic he could make them better. Now his roll of paper was as strong as steel.

So long as he could keep up the mana output anyway…

“You know, I realize you have no idea who I am and couldn’t possibly guess the reference you’re making,” the man drawled, his blood-red eyes flashing with bemusement as he eyed Shirou’s improvised weapon, slowly moving around the table, “but are you seriously going to try beating off the Hound of Culann with the equivalent of a rolled-up newspaper?”

The comment alone almost made Shirou loose his concentration. Was this guy saying he was a dog? …He did wear a pendent shaped like a wolf’s head around his neck (along with a sword-shaped pendent of all things) and his long ponytail did kind of resemble a wolf’s tail…

“Because I gotta say, that’s actually pretty clever,” the man flashed a wide smile as he rounded the table, giving off an entirely relaxed, casual air like he didn’t actually KILL Shirou less than an hour ago and just now tried to do it a second time.

Then again… he was pretty much leaving himself completely open at the moment…

With all of his strength, Shirou lunged forward with a strike from his reinforced poster…

…only to come to a dead stop as his weapon dented and crumbled against the red spear, the man having moved faster than Shirou could even see to bring up a block.

“Completely suicidal, but clever,” the blue man flashed a toothy, bloodthirsty grin.

Shirou now had the intense urge to RUN again.

Ironically, something the blue man would be helping with as an armored boot suddenly shoved into Shirou’s stomach, sending him flying across the room, out the door and tumbling down the short hallway beyond before hitting the wall at the end.

Scrambling to his feet, dented weapon still in hand, Shirou rushed to his left down the next hall before passing a window to the yard outside. With the only thought in his head being ‘GET AWAY!’, Shirou didn’t even think before hurling himself through the glass.

Going through the glass hurt. Hitting the ground the wrong way hurt even more. And Shirou was already hurting quite a bit from getting thrown just a moment earlier. He was pretty sure he’d sprained… several things.

Shirou only barely managed to get back to his feet before he felt a hard and heavy staff slam into his back, sending him flying head over heels once again across the yard.

“Normally I get annoyed when people keep running away and don’t just stand and fight. But honestly I can’t really blame you, kid.”

Shirou barely registered the man’s words as he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled forward. By some strange luck, he’d landed right outside his shed and now he was limping through its doors.

Shirou had no idea what he’d do or find in here that might help. He just wanted to get away…

“Watch your back!”

With nothing left but adrenaline and fight-or-flight instinct, Shirou managed to spin around and yank open his poster. Pumping all the mana he had left into it, Shirou raised the reinforced piece of paper up in a desperate bid to stop the incoming thrust.

The instant the spear’s tip hit Shirou’s make-shift shield, the overcharged piece of paper disintegrated in a violent burst of mana. The force of the explosion and the thrust blew Shirou off his feet yet again, sending him flying into some boxes.

Shirou tried to get up, tried to MOVE. But he just… couldn’t. Right now just about everything was hurting. And what didn’t hurt was just numb.

“Well I guess that’s a wrap,” Shirou could dimly make out the blue man’s voice. Looking up, he watched as his attacker stepped through the doorway, spear held at his side.

The man stood for a moment, seeming to regard the boy laying before him for a moment.

Then he sighed.

“I’m sorry to say kid, but you are not cut out for all this,” the blue man spoke in a somber tone. To Shirou it almost sounded like he was apologetic.

Shirou remained still, unable to move.

He thought he saw the man open his mouth, like he was about to say something, like he was going to do something, but he didn’t.

Then he sighed and spoke again.

“There once was a lancer in blue, he had a dark job to do.

His prey may have been sad, but he wasn’t quite bad.”

The man then raised his spear and angled it forward.

“In his next life he might get-”

“Shut up…” Shirou finally managed to breath out.

The man paused, raising an eyebrow.

“I shouldn’t be alive, but I was saved by the most heroic act I could ever imagine!” Shirou railed in a hoarse voice, struggling to stand.

“So I can’t die yet…”

Shirou clutched the bloodied hole in his shirt over his heart.

“Not until I’ve paid that kindness back…”

He was angry. Not just at this man who was about to kill him, but at himself too! At the fact that he was completely helpless! That he couldn’t do anything!

He was supposed to save people! Save EVERYONE! But right now… he couldn’t save anyone… Not even himself…

“That’s my obligation… that’s my duty!”

Distantly, Shirou felt his circuits pulse.

“So I can’t die here… I won’t die here!”

And something resonated. Something deep within Shirou.

“Not to a bastard like you!”

His left hand burned.

“…No matter WHAT it costs me!”

If Shirou’s vision hadn’t been blurred by the pain and the power, he might have noticed that the spearman now looked rather saddened by those words…

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Lock confirmed.”

“Commencing final spiritron conversion…”

“…all stages cleared.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Anthurak]

Chapter 1C

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A flash of light and a thunderous call filled the shed, knocking up a blinding cloud of smoke and dust. Dimly, Shirou could see that the blue man leapt back out of the shed. And standing in his place…

The smoke and dust finally cleared, and Shirou could only stare.

Standing before him was a woman with sun-kissed golden hair and sparkling, piercing emerald eyes. She was garbed in both an elegant blue, white and gold dress and gleaming metal armor, her chestplate inscribed with several runic markings in blue.

She stood tall in a way that made whatever her physical height might be irrelevant. With a poise, stature and demeanor that exuded authority, power and most of all… nobility. Like some King of a lost, bygone time…

“Wha…” was all Shirou could say, rendered speechless and awestruck.

The woman stood still, regarding Shirou with a stern, unreadable gaze.

It was all Shirou could do to stare back.

And the woman… continued to regard Shirou.

Then suddenly it almost looked like she… shivered? Then she quickly looked away and awkwardly coughed into her hand while saying something under her breath.

It was almost as if the sight of Shirou had dredged up some embarrassing or uncomfortable memories for her…

But then the woman looked back to Shirou, the stern look replaced with a friendly smile.

The woman held out an armored hand to him.

“Sorry about all this Shirou,” her smile had a kind, almost motherly look. Or… fatherly, if that made any sense.

“Uh…” Shirou spoke uneasily as he took the gauntleted hand and was pulled up with surprising ease. “Wait, how do you know my nam-?”

“Yo, Artoria! We all tight?!” came a voice from outside. The voice of… the man in blue? “Is the kid okay?” Hang on, why was the guy who was just trying to kill Shirou asking if he was okay? And… why wasn’t he still trying to kill him?

“Yes Cu, we are indeed ‘tight’!” the woman turned to call back outside, “And are you okay Shirou?” the woman immediately turned back to ask Shirou.

“Uh… yeah, I’m… okay,” Shirou managed to reply, and he did feel okay. Pretty much fine, actually. Which was weird. Just a moment ago he could barely move and now he felt basically fine? What was up with that?

“Shirou’s okay too!” the woman turned right back around to call outside.

“Great!” the man (Cu?) shouted back “Uh… sorry about all that! I don’t actually want you dead, that was all just a… THING we had to do… Sorry!”

…and now the man who’d just been trying to kill him was apologizing for beating him up. Shirou turned to the woman, Artoria it sounded, to ask what was going on, only to find her turned away and speaking under her breath.

“…Yes, the summoning went fine, I don’t feel anything wrong… …Yes, Shirou is fine, I’m sure he’ll appreciate that… …Okay, we’ll see you both in a minute.”

The woman then turned back to Shirou before he could even speak up.

“I imagine you have many questions at the moment, but right now we need you to stay put. Things are about to get weird.” It was all Shirou could do to simply stare in growing bafflement.

“Well, weird-er, I suppose,” the woman corrected with an understanding smile before giving Shirou a pat on the back, “just sit tight, someone will explain later. Don’t worry about it.”

With that, the woman, Artoria, stepped outside to join her… friend? Leaving Shirou inside the shed. Shirou considered following her, but something about the strange woman’s words and tone made Shirou conclude that he really should stay put.

And… she was certainly right about things getting… WEIRDER.

The first to arrive were a pair of figures who seemed to drop clear out of the sky. One Shirou recognized as the man in red he’d seen fighting at school earlier. This time Shirou was able to get a better look at him. Tall with heavily tanned skin, short, slicked-back white hair and wearing a bright red jacket over a black bodysuit with a waist-cape.

With him was… Tohsaka of all people! Gone was her normal school uniform, replaced with a red longcoat, white and gold top, black skirt and stockings, along with a multitude of gold bracers, anklets and other bits of jewelry, including some kind of seven-pointed crown.

Also… she was definitely floating. As in, while the man in red simply dropped to the ground from the air, Rin hadn’t actually touched the ground yet.

Shirou was still trying to process that when he heard the thundering crash one something, or perhaps more than one things hitting the ground on the other side of the yard.

Looking over, Shirou found himself even more confused.

Standing to one side was a young girl with white hair… the same girl Shirou had seen a couple nights ago! Except now she was in an elegant white-and-purple dress and had a sword hanging from her hip. Standing to her right was an utter GIANT of a man, three, maybe four meters tall easily with a long, wild mane of black hair, adorned with black chains and lion emblems and wielding an axe almost as big as he was. And standing to her left was… a polar bear?

The girl was just waving and shouting a greeting when a black shadow suddenly appeared on the ground near Artoria and Cu. The shadow then immediately burst into a cloud of purple lights that resembled butterflies, which in coalesced, revealing a pair of figures.

One a woman in elegant, flowing purple robes and a hood that obscured most of her face, wielding a long staff with a large circular crest.

The other was a tall man. Or perhaps a woman. It was impossible to tell with the heavy black robes and hood obscuring their entire figure. The only distinguishing feature Shirou could make out was the bone-white skull mask on their face.

The pair immediately greeted the other two in a friendly manner, with Shirou trying to pick up on what they were saying from the shed. It looked like the robed woman was speaking to Artoria…

“…it okay if I hug you?”

“…Yes, yes you may.”

The robed woman proceeded to immediately pull Artoria into an overly-affectionate hug, squealing affectionately about how much she’d missed her. For her part, Artoria looked slightly annoyed though mostly bemused at her friend’s(?) antics.

“-Ahem-,” a deep, gravelly and weirdly familiar voice spoke from the skull-faced figure as he turned to Cu, “is the Priest aware of anything, Cu?”

“Nope,” the blue man, who’d just been making a friendly wave towards the man in red approaching with Tohsaka, replied with a smug grin, “jackass doesn’t suspect a thing. And his last check-in was fifteen minutes ago so we’ve got a good forty minutes before he tries to borrow my eyes again. He’s been very anal about checking in every hour.”

“Well that’s certainly more than enough time for me,” the robed woman spoke up, having just let Artoria go before approaching Cu.

Shirou was trying to watch what they were doing when suddenly a loud ‘neighing’ came down from above, immediately seizing Shirou’s attention.

Descending from the sky was a great white horse with wings. As the steed touched down its rider, a woman with long purple hair and a blindfold, dismounted. She then turned to help…

“SAKURA?!”

And it was definitely Sakura stepping down from the horse, but looking completely different from how Shirou had ever seen her. Dressed in flowing, deep blue robes embroidered with intricate gold patters, wearing several gold necklaces, earrings and bracelets set with rubies, sapphires and emeralds, and a large pink lotus flower pinned in her hair. And also… she was now looking directly at Shirou.

Along with her blindfolded friend. And the horse they’d rode in on.

As well as all of the other strange and kind of scary people who’d gathered in Shirou’s yard.

…He’d blurted Sakura’s name out loud, hadn’t he?

Shirou felt rather… exposed at the moment…

“Hi Shirou! Weird night, huh?” Sakura waved over from across the yard with a cheerful, sparkling smile. Shirou managed to awkwardly wave back. He could actually see sparkles in Sakura’s eyes. They were star-shaped.

“We’ll explain later, don’t worry about it!”

Shirou was wondering if that was going to be possible when he noticed a bright, purple glow coming from the group of four in the middle of the yard. To his shock, the robed woman was sticking some kind of jagged dagger into the outstretched hand of the man in blue, creating that purple glow. And… Cu didn’t actually seemed bothered by this.

Just as soon as the glow appeared, it vanished, and the woman withdrew her dagger. The man’s hand didn’t seem to have any injury whatsoever.

“Thank you VERY much,” the man, Cu; Shirou reminded himself, gave a relieved grin.

“Will his master notice that the contract has been severed?” the skull-man asked.

The robed woman shrugged, “Mine didn’t.”

“Fair enough.”

“Now Artoria, could I see your hand please…?”

As the other three talked, Cu proceeded to immediately run over to the man in red, a man Shirou had seen him fighting in some deadly duel just an hour ago and… hugged him. The man in red immediately returned the hug.

And then… Shirou immediately glanced away, feeling his face heat up as he realized Cu was now kissing the other man. That was… definitely NOT what he would have expected.

“EWWW!!! Why do you have to do that in front your poor sister?!” the little white-hair girl suddenly shouted, making an over-the-top gagging noise, “Your lewdness is going to pervert my innocent child brain!”

The man in red responded by holding up one hand with the middle-finger raised at the younger girl, never actually breaking lip-lock with his lover.

However, this only seemed to spur her on.

“Daaad!!! Archer just flipped me off!” the girl called out, pointing at the man in red while looking to… Artoria?

“Archer, that is NOT a gesture you should be making to your little sister,” Artoria called over to Archer in a commanding tone, her arms crossed and looking all the part of a stern father… despite being a woman.

Archer proceeded to hold up his other hand to flip Artoria off too.

“…Oh really?” Artoria retorted with a raised eyebrow and a sudden knowing smirk, “So am I going to have to call up your mother and tell her you flipped off your father and your poor little sister, young man?”

That seemed to actually get Archer’s attention, as the man immediately broke off his kiss with a now dazed and very happy looking Cu, while he himself stared eyes wide and looking very concerned with his… father’s… threat.

He quickly dropped both hands.

“Sorry,” he spoke in a bashful tone towards Artoria, “and sorry, Illya!” he called over to the white-haired girl, who now had her arms crossed with an extremely smug grin on her face.

“Good.” Artoria nodded approvingly, “Now feel free to continue kissing your boyfriend.”

“Glady,” Archer replied with a chuckle before pulling Cu, who was letting out a happy ‘Wooo!’, back into a make-out session.

“NOOOO!!!” the white-hair girl, Illya, wailed, “My childhood innocence!”

“-Ahem-” the robed woman spoke up, “not that all this family chicanery isn’t absolutely adorable, but I’m ready to get started.” While everything else had been going on, she’d been carving an intricate circular pattern into the ground.
Shirou might have been offended by the unsanctioned vandalism of his yard, but he was also pretty sure these people might do something to him if he tried to interfere so he stayed put and quiet.

“Alright,” Artoria replied, her face back to the stern, professional air, “do you need anything from the rest of us, Medea?”

“…I could use Ishtar, Parvati and Sitonai pitching in some extra power. Having some local mana sources as catalysts would certainly help anchor the spell.”

“How well is that going to work?” Tohsaka spoke up as she… floated… over to the two, Sakura and her friend approaching too, “We aren’t exactly local ourselves.”

“No, but your bodies are. And so is enough of the mana inside them,” the robed woman, ‘Medea’ apparently, replied. “The only alternative would be using, well… him,” she proceeded to thumb over to the shed. At Shirou, who in turn was now feeling VERY uneasy…

“Pretty sure trying to use him would turn out less like using a catalyst and more like a human sacrifice,” the woman drawled.

…very VERY UNEASY.

“Yeeeah… let’s not do that,” Sakura replied. “Illya! Could you come over here please?” she then called over to the girl, who was theatrically covering her eyes.

“…Is my brother done lewding it up with his boyfriend yet?”

“Yes, we are actually!” Archer called over, looking just a bit annoyed and standing next to a very satisfied looking Cu, “And you’re one to talk, considering all that manga you trade around with Jack and Abigail,” he added with a smug grin of his own.

“LIES! I am a perfectly innocent young maiden! And I will hear none of this slander!” Ilya yelled back, looking ready to run over to the man in red before a massive hand carefully plucked her into the air.

“Berserker NOOOOO! Put me down!” the girl whined as she flailed, “I need to go kick my brother in the dick!”

“------------” the massive behemoth of a man rumbled something incomprehensible to Shirou’s ears as he transported the grumbling young girl over to the other group before depositing Illya on the edge of the circle.

Sakura, Tohsaka and the robed, Medea woman all took their own positions at three other points around the circle. The others gathered outside the circle to watch. Shirou himself took a step out of the shed, now curious as to what they were doing.

Medea began to chant. It was a language Shirou couldn’t comprehend.

The circle began to glow.

She held her staff out, pointing towards the center of the circle.

The circle glowed brighter.

Sakura, Tohsaka and the white-hair girl, Illya, all knelt at the edge of the circle, each placing a hand into it as they began chanting themselves.

The glow coming from circle became even brighter. And Shirou began to hear, and feel, a rumbling coming from it.

The chanting grew louder and louder. Medea raised her staff up higher into the air.

Then, at the tip of the staff, the very space above the circle… split open.

In this… tear in space, an orb of light was filled. When Shirou tried to look directly at it, his eyes hurt. Not from the brightness, but from… something else.

Though as he averted his eyes, Shirou thought he saw two shadows within the light.

The chanting reached a crescendo, and the light shined so bright that Shirou could see it even when he shut his eyes.

Then, the light was gone. Leaving two figures standing in the circle.

Two girls. One with light, blueish-purple hair that fell in front of her face, leaving only a single violet eye visible. She was clad in a dark metal armor like some knight of old, not too dissimilar from Artoria actually. Violet colored outlines marked the armor, as well as the fabric visible underneath and a pair of tails hanging from her waist. Strapped to her left hip was a single, thin-bladed sword.

In contrast, the other girl had more shoulder-length red hair tied off in a side-ponytail, keeping it out of her amber-colored eyes. She was dressed in a long orange collared shirt over dark shorts with full-length black stockings and a pair of black and orange shoes. Over all this was an open black coat tied together at her collar with a red ribbon and emblazoned with an emblem Shirou didn’t recognize. For some reason, she looked oddly… normal compared to everyone else Shirou had seen tonight. Even with the slightly odd dress, she looked like someone Shirou might actually see walking the halls of his school. In fact… she looked oddly familiar in a way Shirou couldn’t explain…

Also, sitting on her shoulder was some kind of white fluffy… cat?

“Connection established, and transfer successful!” the lilac-haired girl announced as she pulled out some kind of device attached to her wrist which suddenly projected a number of screens into the air, “We did it, sempai!” she turned to her redhead companion.

“Yeah!” the other girl cheered with a fistbump, “Great work everybody! Knew you guys could do it!” she flashed a bright, exuberant grin to everyone present.

It was funny. Despite this girl looking by far the most normal person here, from the way everyone else greeted her it was clear that SHE was the one in charge of this whole group of… superhuman individuals. Everyone else seemed to great her with a subtle deference and respect that conveyed that they followed her lead. Even if those greetings seemed more like longtime friends or family members, complete with a number of hugs.

“I gotta say, it’s nice being in Fuyuki without everything being on fire for once.” Shirou heard the redhead speak up in the midst of the greetings.

“Yes, maybe this time we can actually keep that from happening, sempai.”

“Mash! You say that like that was all our fault!”

“Oh! No, no, No! I’m sorry! That’s not what I meant sempai! I’m sorry!” the lilac-haired girl, Mash, suddenly broke into frantic, apologetic stuttering.

“Aww, you’re fine Mash. Don’t worry about it,” the red-head replied by giving her companion an affectionate hug, a pat on the head and a kiss on the cheek.

‘Mash’ proceeded to turn redder than her friend’s hair.

“…Thank you sempai…”

“-Ahem-” a throat was cleared, drawing everyone’s attention to the man in red, Archer.

“Okay so, show of hands,” Archer spoke up, “now that we’re all here, who else wants to go murderize Gilgamesh and Kirei?”

“Yep.”

“Sure.”

“Oh, most definitely.”

“You know me so well.”

“Indeeeed…”

“-enthusiastic rumbling-”

“I call dibs on the priest!”

“They shall DIE screaming.”

“FUCK YEAH!”

Shirou noted that the last three came from Rin, Artoria and Illya respectively…

“Hang on, Hang on!” the group’s redhead leader called out, hands raised in a clear attempt to calm everyone down.

“Alright, so before we do all this murderizing, you all know I gotta ask; Is this version of Gil really that bad?”

“YES.” Came the simultaneous chorus of literally everyone else there save for the Mash girl.

“…Okay then,” the redhead shrugged in approval. “In that case…”

The redhead stepped forward from the group and struck a dramatic pose, “TO THE… er…”

“Fuyuki Church.” Archer helpfully provided.

“TO THE FUYUKI CHURCH, THEN!” the redhead pointed in a commanding tone.

“Yeah!” came the chorus of agreement before the group exploded into a flurry of activity.

Illya hopped onto her polar bear, who reared up with a roar before jumping over the wall surrounding the yard and charging off into the night, her friend Berserker following right behind them.

Artoria withdrew what looked like a set of car-keys, which seemed to immediately cause a motorcycle to burst into existence next to her in a swirl of sparkling lights. Hopping onto the vehicle, Artoria also proceeded to jump the wall before tearing off into the night.

Rin seemed to summon some kind of large floating… bow… boat… thing out of thin air, which she, Cu and Archer jumped onto before flying off into the night sky.

The skull man in the robes seemed to just… vanish.

Medea began to weave her staff in some arcane motions before taking hold of Mash and the redheaded girl. Then the tails of her robes suddenly extended, growing out into a massive set up wings. With a mighty gust, the trio took flight as well.

“Bye Shirou!” Sakura shouted over to the shed as she hopped back on the winged horse with her blindfolded friend. Rearing up with a mighty neighing, the horse too took flight, galloping up into the night sky.

And just like that, the yard was left empty and quiet once again.

Save for one Shirou Emiya.

Who was now attempting the process what the hell just HAPPENED?

His attempts proved fruitless.

“Crazy night, huh Shirou?”

It was then that Shirou looked to his left to find Fuji-nee… holding a long stick with a giant cat’s paw at one end and wearing some kind of oversized furry cat onesie. Shirou was about to consider this refreshingly normal…

But then he noticed the pair of very real looking CAT EARS growing out of her head.

“Fuji-nee…” Shirou tried to form a coherent sentence.

“Actually, I prefer Taiga now. Or ‘Jaguar Warrior’ if you’re feeling dramatic. Or ‘JW’ if you’re feeling radical. Oh, actually Shirou, you can call me ‘Taiga-nee’ if you like!” Taiga flashed Shirou a grin. The ears on her head twitched in perfect time with her movement.

It was all Shirou could do to simply stare blankly at this point.

“Now come on,” …Taiga gave Shirou a hefty pat on the back ushing him forward. “We got a few things to talk about.”

“…Sure…” And with nothing left to say, do or think after… ALL THAT, Shirou simply followed his adopted older sister into the house.

…

Though…

“Okay, but why a cat sui-”

“Don’t worry about it.”

[Sena Kumo]

...beautiful. Just...beautiful.

[Anthurak]

...beautiful. Just...beautiful.

Thank you!