His reaction offered new light into Rin's evaluation. It was strange how many details could be derived from a person just through simple conversation. He knew her name and where she lived but not what she looked like. That meant he wasn't stalking or trying to kidnap her. He was more disappointed than upset at her supposed lack of being present so he might have been telling the truth about wanting to talk. A subtle motion to her coat pocket allowed Rin to grasp her magical compass. It was motionless, which meant this man was likely not a magus. So what reason did he have to be here looking for her? "Actually…" Rin began, tilting her head to one side. "I thought you were going to try and hurt me, so I lied."
As if on a switch, his face brightened and returned to its bland state. He actually seemed a little happier than he had been with a little smirk coming to the corners of his mouth. "I see, that's very wise of you. So I suppose you are Rin Tohsaka?" he asked for verification, getting a short nod from Rin. "So you're alright, wonderful." He breathed a sigh of relief.
What did that mean? She was alright? Of course she was, what else could she be? "You're scaring me, mister," she responded, getting an awkward chuckle from him.
"I'm sorry, I guess I spoke out of turn." He cleared his throat. "If it's more comfortable I can come inside and speak with you and your mother. This will take some time, so it may be best if we all sit down and have some tea." He paused, scratching the back of his neck. "Your mother is familiar with magecraft, correct?"
Rin was stunned again. Once more he had blown her expectations out of the water. So he was a magus but he was being sly about it. Whatever he had to say was of incredible importance. Not just anybody would wander up to the front door of a known magus family. "She does, but not like I do," Rin admitted.
"I see. Well, then what would you prefer we do, Miss Tohsaka?" So he was letting her decide? Rin's mother never seemed too interested in magecraft. Whenever it was brought up or used near her mother she seemed to go quiet and become distant. It was probably because of what happened to Sak-
"You haven't gone into your father's study have you?" The man asked an odd question as Rin was thinking about her answer to his first question. He knew about her father's study? This was getting more confusing and sketchy with each word he spoke.
Rin decided to be honest. "I haven't yet. Why is it that you're asking?" Rin narrowed her eyes, continuing her attempt at playing this cool and confidently. Inside, her brain was trying to figure out escape routes and possible ways to kill this Kiritsugu should he turn aggressive. So far she had nothing in either department.
"It would be better if I could come inside and speak to you privately." He paused to look behind himself. "I can answer your questions and I will be as honest as possible," the man admitted, nodding to himself.
Rin hummed, looking him over once more. She was hoping it came across as if she were sizing him up as an opponent she could handle but the dead glare in his eyes revealed she wasn't fooling anyone. Defeated, she sighed and stepped aside. "We can talk in one of the rooms on the lower floors. My mother is upstairs cleaning out her own room."
The man entered and took the time to remove his heavy-looking boots. Rin closed the door and shouted up the stairs to her mother. She fabricated a story explaining that one of the neighbours had come by upon seeing the lights to the house on again. Aoi thankfully seemed to believe the story.
Holding one finger over her lips as a signal to be quiet, Rin motioned for the older man to follow her. She led him down the hall into one of seven identical doors. If Rin had anything to comment on about this house it was that it was too darn big.
The room was just a simple reading space with bookshelves lining the walls and two luxurious armchairs facing a well-used wooden fireplace. Rin had seen her father in here multiple times, glasses perched on his face and nose stuck into a book. Casually, she ignited the fireplace with a simple "von asch". With the room lit up, Rin hopped up to settle into one of the chairs while the man sat on the edge of the other.
The two looked into each other's eyes while they both thought of what to say. Blue-green battled with inky black to see which one could come across as the most stoic.
"I've committed myself to being honest with you, any questions you ask will receive truthful answers," Kiritsugu began, clasping his hands on his legs. "If you doubt my authenticity, I am willing to sign a Self Geass."
Rin furrowed her brow. He was really determined to reveal the truth to her, wasn't he? A magus willingly signing himself to a Self Geass was no joke. Or was this some ploy to gain her trust? "No…if you're so willing to sign a Geass then I believe you," she denied, finding herself rapidly becoming interested in this man. Who was he exactly? "But as a test, I'd like for you to explain to me who you are."
He nodded. "My name is Kiritsugu Emiya, son of the sealing designate Norikata Emiya. I am better known by my nickname as the Magus Killer." Rin gulped. Would now be the time he pulled a sword out of his ear and cut her head off? "It's a name I've grown to hate the more I hear it." Rin relaxed. So he was one of those mushy I never asked for this types. "I am also the sole victor of the Fourth Holy Grail War."
If Rin had been drinking something it would have been spat all over his face. This man won the War? Then why was he here in her home? What reason would he have to…had he killed her father? Anger began to spark within the girl. Her sensibility flew out the window and there was only one question in Her mind. Both hands clenched atop her lap and she lowered her head so she wouldn't have to look at his face. "If you fought and won the War, did you kill my father?"
There was silence for a few seconds, then a shuffle of clothing. "Yesterday I broke into this house through the backdoor. I believe I saw you cleaning up the broken glass. After searching the house I discovered your father's study and found him strung up as a torture subject. I will spare you the details, but I will let you know your father was in incredible pain." His voice held sorrow and honesty in it. He didn't express anything consoling but his tone let her know he at least meant it. "After witnessing your father's servant, I have little doubt that they were the torturer. Archer, the epic hero Gilgamesh, was still a servant and could be shackled by Tokiomi's Command Seals. To prevent this, he destroyed your father's mind with pain so he could have free reign." Rin shut her eyes tight and did her best to control herself. She wasn't going to cry in front of a stranger, she was stronger than that - she had to be. Kiritsugu paused for a moment as Rin sniffled. It was the only display of emotion she'd shown since asking if he had killed her father. Lightly coughing to clear his throat, the man resumed. "There was no way to save his life and at that point, he was no longer able to be considered human. Extensive healing over decades may have restored him to a non-vegetative state but his mind would have still been demolished from the event. I killed your father as quickly and painlessly as I could." He reached up to scratch the back of his neck to break the awkward silence. "I'm sorry. While we were competitors in the war, even I would never wish such a fate upon him."
The anger was still growing within her, but it was no longer directed at Kiritsugu. If he was telling the truth then ultimately Archer was to blame for her father's murder. "Is this why you asked if I had been to the study?"
"Yes. I was unable to fully cleanse the area of traces regarding the event. I have removed the body and did my best to preserve your father's family crest - what was left of it," he explained.
"Are you going to return the crest?" Rin asked, finally looking up into the man's eyes. Those cold black pools were the last sight her father would have seen, it couldn't have been much of a send-off.
Kiritsugu nodded slowly. "I haven't brought it with me but you are free to collect it whenever you desire in exchange for certain privileges." The man bargained. This was where his wisdom shined through. A magus family crest held a lot of weight as a trading token. Did he come to extort money from her family?
"And what might these privileges be?" she asked coldly, scowling with accusatory eyes.
"You are to become the Second Owner of Fuyuki," he stated more than asked. So he did know of her family. "I wish for effective immunity and for my presence here to be undocumented."
There was only one reason someone would want to stay out of the eyes of the Mage's Association and Rin hoped it wasn't the case. "Why? Are you a sealing designate?"
The man shook his head, much to her relief. "My reputation has granted me an unhealthy number of enemies. I have a family to protect now and I would rather they not become a target in someone's attempt at getting to me. I will not be conducting any sealing-worthy experiments or developing magecraft at all in fact. I've never been interested in the Root or magic in general so your risk in this is minimal. Beyond that, I have ways of making my signature invisible to even first-rate magi like yourself."
Rin hummed, clasping her hands on her lap. "I suppose if you are discovered I could feign ignorance of it all. You're correct in saying this is rather low risk," she agreed. Few magus families ever visited Fuyuki which meant the overall level of exposure was negligible. Risk of this man entering the next Grail War was also low. Rin would be sixty-eight when that time came, Kiritsugu would be in his nineties if her guess about his age was close. If he was still alive by then, he probably wouldn't even be able to eat his own food let alone fight in another Grail War.
Rin closed her eyes, taking a moment to breathe and collect herself. It wouldn't be right to get heated over this conversation. If she grew too angry, she might miss crucial details due to clouded judgement, just like she had earlier when he brought up her father. "So why have you come to me then? If you have ways of masking your presence then you didn't need my permission in the first place," she decided on asking next. It would be good to get the basics out of the way before continuing to anything more advanced.
He looked her straight in the eyes with an expressionless face. "I need your help."
This man was the literal embodiment of unexpected surprises. When would this train of shock end? "What could I possibly help you with?" she asked, face full of genuine confusion.
"Magecraft training," he replied simply, getting a blank stare from the girl. Rin blinked twice, then moved a hand to rub her ear. Had she heard that right? She definitely hadn't heard that right.
"I'm sorry but could you say that again? I thought you had said magecraft training." She laughed awkwardly.
"I did, although it wouldn't be training for myself," he clarified, his gaze the epitome of absolute seriousness.
Rin tilted her head to one side, trying to comprehend what he was requesting. "Just to get this absolutely clear, I'll say it how I understand it." She paused briefly to try and put the current situation into words. "You want an eight-year-old girl to teach someone you know magecraft rather than just teach them yourself?"
The grave glare remained as he nodded. "I was never taught as a proper magus which means I cannot teach my children anything beyond the most basic of magecraft," he admitted, laying his cards on the table as it were. From a magus' perspective, it was an incredibly stupid move. The only purpose she could see in doing such a thing would be to further authenticate his statement of honesty.
"How basic?" Rin asked, trying to get a grasp on how difficult this would be. Surely a magus who came out of the Holy Grail War victoriously could cast some decent spells, enough to start his own children on the path of magecraft.
"I can create Cleansing Flame and I am decently skilled in reinforcement magic. Beyond that I was briefly trained in runecraft just before the War." He paused to scratch his head. Rin wondered if this was as awkward for him as it was for her. "Without my crest, neither of my children will be able to utilize the Emiya magic."
He was absolutely useless. How could a magus with such little in the way of skills actually win a war designed specifically for first-rate magi? "You didn't secure your crest in one of your children before leaving for the War?" Her father had done just that. Before he left, he had given her a large portion of his crest for her to carry on. "Are you an idiot?" she blurted out, hand coming up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened in surprise.
He laughed at her words. "Some might call me that, yes. I'm unable to properly transfer my crest unto my children for a handful of reasons. My son cannot accept the crest as he was recently adopted into my family, and my daughter is unable to utilize it as she has developed a crest of her own. It's far from fully-fledged but I wouldn't want to try introducing another crest in case there are compatibility issues," the man explained, introducing logic to his decisions.
"I see, so you're rather stuck aren't you?" Rin asked, getting a neutral agreement. There was a long pause as she thought over his request and all the details she had learned. She didn't really have an incredible grasp on magecraft herself, so learning it and teaching others simultaneously would detract from her own ability. On the other hand, if she helped Kiritsugu she could gain an incredible ally with a wealth of information. She would also have two willing participants for any experiment she wanted to conduct. Rin shrugged impassively. "Then I suppose I'll have to help you." The smile that suddenly spread across his face warmed her heart. "But I'm not committing fully to anything yet, I'll give training them a try and see how it goes alright?" she stipulated, trying to leave her end of this contract as open as possible.
"That's perfectly understandable. If you require funding or items for training I will be able to provide those as well. The man reached into an inner pocket of his coat and withdrew a folded piece of paper. "I don't know your schedule but you are welcome to come by when you please." He handed her the piece of paper and she took a moment to open it. There was nothing more than a simple address, most likely the man's home. It was near the very northern edge of Miyama, in essence, as far away from her own home as possible. The Tohsaka manor was on the southern edge of Miyama. Rin supposed she could visit after school seeing as how her school was just north of her house, so the trip wouldn't be as bad.
"I'll see what I can do, you might understand if I say I'm a little busy with recent events," she commented. "While you're here and under an oath of honesty, I'd like to ask a few more questions."
Kiritsugu shrugged. "Shoot."
"What were the identities of the servants involved?" she began.
"King Arthur as Saber, Gilgamesh as Archer, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne as Lancer, Alexander the Great as Rider and the others I was unable to identify. Berserker was some sort of mad knight, Assassin was a skinny man with blackened skin who supposedly died within hours of the official start and Caster wore a red cloak and utilized a reality marble." He explained it all from the top. "I won't explain every detail of the War to you. It's both unnecessary and personal." He squinted his eyes, challenging her to provoke him on the matter.
She wasn't biting. "Then tell me about your adopted son, why would you choose to strike up a family in the middle of a War?"
"I adopted Shirou following the end of the War. One action after another near the end lead to the Great Fire. I found and rescued him and he was the only living survivor I came across." He paused to swallow. "He lost his memories and I decided it was best to offer him a home rather than to leave him for an orphanage."
Rin's eyes softened. "That's very noble of you as well as quite unfortunate for Shirou. I hope he's not too disturbed by the event."
Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes suddenly. "You're very mature for your age, I hadn't expected such a conversation from a little girl."
It was Rin's time to smile now. "Sometimes people aren't what they seem. Besides, you can't always be the unexpected one," she shot back, getting a soft chuckle.
"You might just be right." His eyes flickered to a window outside before his body moved to stand. "It's getting late. You have cleaning to get back to and I really should return home." Rin nodded in silence before following him out to the front door. Respectfully bowing, he left and rapidly blended in with the night.
Rin closed the door and pressed her back against it. She let out a great sigh and closed her eyes. Why did she feel as if teaching magecraft was going to be incredibly frustrating?
… … …
… … …
… … …
"You idiot!" came a shout from the left. Shirou's head whipped around to focus on who had spoken, but the only thing he met was a fist inches from his face.
A loud crack sounded as he was entirely laid out on his back. Reeling, Shirou groaned and lifted a hand to his face. Dabbing his fingers around his nose revealed fresh blood. Feeling around further let him know the punch had broken his nose. Through the dark haze and the whirling stars, shimmering turquoise eyes and raven black hair suddenly draped over his face. Was this an angel come to take him to heaven? Was he dying? At least his escort to the afterlife was a pretty girl. Shirou blinked heavily to try clearing the distortion. No, this wasn't an angel, more like Satan incarnate. A few seconds passed before crimson eyes and white hair also made their appearance.
"Do you always have to hit him so hard?" Illya asked, looking between Rin and her semi-conscious brother. She held a face of sadness, probably because she never liked seeing her brother get hurt. Shirou remembered how mad she was the time he came back home bloody and bruised after protecting Sakura. The purple-haired girl had been getting bullied by some of the bigger kids when Shirou went to play with her. He had taken their attention off her but received a pretty nasty beating because of it. Coincidentally enough that was also the day Illya decided to learn healing magecraft.
"An enemy wouldn't hesitate in striking without mercy," Rin pointed out like a wise old man while she wiped blood from his face with her finger. It had been flowing from his nose and threatened to drip into his eyes. From experience, both of them knew how painful and irritating that was. "I'm actually surprised that punch didn't kill him," she mumbled.
Illya frowned and looked like she was about to give Rin a dose of her own medicine before another voice joined the conversation. "You're absolutely right, Rin," Kiritsugu spoke up from the sidelines. Casually, he threw an already bloodied towel towards the group. "If you don't experience what real blows feel like, you'll grow to be overconfident that attacks won't hurt. Repeated exposure to vicious attacks will also increase your resistance. If you become familiar with pain you can overcome it."
Rin reached for the towel, picking it up and pressing it under Shirou's bleeding nose. "Are you with us in there?" she asked, snapping the fingers on her other hand in front of his eyes a few times.
Weakly, Shirou lifted a hand to the towel to maintain pressure. Slowly he tried to sit up but his muscles weren't fully cooperating. "Mh-hm," he hummed from behind the towel.
"You can't focus on a single target like that. You have to keep your senses open so you can be aware of the entire area." Illya cooed, placing her hands across various parts of his body. Every time she did, a pale green glow washed over his skin. The glow removed bruises and stitched cuts back together. Each spot she touched was as good as new in a few seconds.
"Mh-hm," Shirou replied absently, finally succeeding in sitting up. They had been training since four this afternoon after they had all gotten off school. Kiritsugu had spoken with Aoi to let Rin sleepover. It was more effective to stay the night after having to travel so far. Since they had started training, Shirou had been the main person receiving injuries.
Supposedly these fights were a free-for-all and the main goal was to put the others out of the fight however they could. Illya was using Engel Note and normal magic bullets to defend herself. She wasn't nearly as physically strong as Shirou but her magical power was almost greater than Rin's. Rin was perfectly balanced in terms of physical and magical ability. She had trained in some of the same martial arts Shirou had but her focus was primarily in spellcraft. She was skilled in reinforcement, jewelcraft and a very specific runic curse called Gandr. From what Shirou understood, it was essentially magecraft's own version of a pistol. Rin hardly used it in their training for two simple reasons: it was dangerous, and it had side effects following the end of fights. Those struck got incredibly sick for the next few days. When Rin decided to use the spell in training, its power was decreased significantly to the point where it was almost worthless.
Shirou, on the other hand, was entirely focused on the physical. It wasn't as if this specialization was intentional. He had done his best to get into everything he possibly could. At school, he was in junior kendo and archery. The Homurahara Academy clubs had already expressed their interest in his joining when he was old enough. Outside of school and official clubs, Shirou had learned martial arts with several trainers. Kiritsugu had taught him what he knew, including basic combat with knives. Reikan, Fuji-nee's friend, had taken over after. The very first day Shirou had come to the crashing realization that Kiritsugu's style of fighting was vastly different to a professional's. Kiritsugu reacted to each movement and simply moved naturally to counter the attacks. Reikan took advantage of a single misstep and piled on follow-up strikes. It was as Reikan was planning six moves ahead in chess while Kiritsugu still thought they were playing checkers. Once Shirou learned all he could from Reikan, he would have to move on to other mentors to continue advancing his ability. It would be preferable if the teacher was also a magus. That way Shirou could use reinforcement like he would in a real fight.
The old man had also taught Shirou how to fire guns and had even given him two pistols. They had custom grips with designs of black roses and pearls. A simple tracing revealed the grips were recent additions compared to the rest of the gun. Engraved on the grips was a name Shirou had never seen before, "Maiya", in beautiful golden cursive. When Kiritsugu had been asked who Maiya was, he had simply responded that she was someone important and that they had helped him understand things better. Unfortunately, Shirou couldn't keep the guns. He had just been shown them, but he would get them back to keep when he was older.
As for Shirou's ability in magecraft, it was almost nonexistent. Rin had done her best teaching him but he never seemed to understand or get everything right. The best he had done was in reinforcement, which he oddly excelled in. Rin had called reinforcement a useless branch of magecraft but Shirou could see potential in it. Reinforcement didn't just mean making something harder or sharper, it could mean making something more potent or effective. Water would provide a greater level of hydration, food would be more nutritious or tasty and plants could be reinforced to grow faster. Since Shirou was good at it, he decided to work on it in his spare time outside of Rin's training. He had tried to keep to a schedule of practicing every night since Kiritsugu had stuck it in his head that discipline in a craft was of absolute importance.
Illya was a self-proclaimed prodigy. Whenever Rin taught them something new or discovered a new spell, Illya mastered it after watching Rin cast it a single time. If Rin didn't show her, however, she couldn't seem to understand how the spell worked. Shirou just thought Illya was a visual learner, but when Rin tested her knowledge of magecraft fundamentals she hadn't known a single thing. Shirou had been able to answer Rin's questions but Illya just guessed.
Rin was always so mad after seeing Illya master spells that had taken weeks just to understand the fundamentals for when the albino didn't know a single thing about magecraft processes. A few days ago Rin had boasted about how she had extensive reservoirs of mana and explained how she could easily defeat Illya in a battle of endurance. Shirou thought she did it just to feel better about herself. Illya had argued that Rin was wrong and a full-scale battle had almost ensued. To settle things before the two destroyed the backyard, Kiritsugu pointed out that he could run a simple test on the two to determine their magical potential.
Rin had forty natural circuits and with her father's completed crest she had a total of one hundred and thirty. Each circuit was capable of outputting fifteen units of magical energy which meant she could output nearly two thousand units in a single burst. Kiritsugu had said it was a mind-boggling number for someone her age and that it would continue to grow as she got older. Her circuits would develop further and their capacity would increase. Shirou was almost nothing compared to Rin. He only had twenty-seven circuits and they were very low quality. Each one could barely handle ten units of energy which capped his output at around three hundred. Rin had been confident and full of herself until the old man looked at Illya's circuits. Doing his best not to laugh, he revealed his daughter had over three hundred natural circuits and her crest wasn't even fully developed yet. They weren't quite as high in quality as Rin's, but the sheer number alone had her beat.
Illya then sent power through every circuit she had to reveal bright red lines that ran across her entire body. Kiritsugu commented that Illya was rather balanced on account of having poor regeneration. This meant she acted more like a high capacity battery than an efficient factory like Rin. With this new information, the two decided that they were about equal and left the argument there. Illya had reserves while Rin had constant replenishment. They had both left out the fact that Shirou was an absolute lost cause who wasn't even comparable to either of them. Not only were his reserves and generation poor, he couldn't cast spells if his life depended on it. Unfortunately with Rin Tohsaka as a teacher, sometimes it did. At least he could reinforce better than his mentor, he had that saving grace.
Shirou pulled the towel from his face and touched under his nose. His bleeding had stopped and the swirling in his head had subsided. "Nice reinforcement, Tohsaka. I hope my face didn't hurt your hand too much," he said with a weak smile.
Rin's eyes widened before blinking several times. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she turned away. "Of course not. Next time I'll make sure my punch knocks you out." She huffed, standing and walking some distance away.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Illya asked, pressing her hand to his face awkwardly to set his nose through magecraft. "This will make the fourth time you've lost, aren't you tired?" There was a disgusting crack as the cartilage and bone settled into its rightful place.
Shirou stood up after Illya was done. He wobbled on his feet and gave his head a shake. Blinking a few times to clear his eyes, Shirou smirked. "I'm fine. The old man, Reikan and Fuji-nee have put me through a lot worse," he assured her. Testing his muscles, he flexed his arms and legs before rotating both shoulders. Everything seemed to work properly, at least for now.
This fight he would win for sure. He didn't want to hurt the girls, but he could make them surrender if he put some effort into this next bout. Or he could knock them out with single strikes. While Illya walked to her own starting position, he began taking deep breaths.
The boy closed his eyes and looked inside himself. Not so deep as to see the golden light shining in his core but enough to see his body and its inner workings. He focused on his muscles and began channelling Od. He clenched his eyes tighter as searing pain stabbed through his body like a hot blade.
He didn't know why magecraft always hurt to cast, but he was too afraid to ask Rin since he didn't want to be yelled at…any more than he already was. With mana flowing through him, Shirou directed its flow to fill up the empty space between his flesh. This was simple self-reinforcement, filling the empty pore space with mana to make a harder structure and increasing its efficiency. In this way, one might think objects with greater porosity would make better materials for reinforcement. However, that wasn't the case. Objects with extreme porosity become dangerously unstable upon being reinforced to capacity. Sponges and bones were good examples of porous objects. Mana becomes unstable when compacted upon itself and as a consequence, it tends to explode violently without warning. Skin and muscle were great materials to reinforce because one often had an incredibly detailed view of their own body and the pore space was perfect for filling. Shirou wasn't going to reinforce his bones for a simple spar and besides that, he didn't feel like exploding from the inside out.
Shirou opened his eyes upon finishing his reinforcement. Clenching both hands into fists, he moved into a familiar combat stance with his eyes darting between the two girls.
It had been around four years since Rin started training them both. In that time, Rin and Shirou had grown much taller and matured greatly over the years. Illya had stayed identical. She might have grown an inch and her face might have become a tad more angular but she was still just Illya. When he told people Illya was, in fact, two years older than Shirou and Rin, they were shocked and refused to believe it.
Rin cast a glance between the two of them and nodded as a signal to begin. Shirou took a brief second to look towards Kiritsugu sitting on the edge of the engawa. He was sipping tea as he watched his children train. The first year he had effectively given them a break. Illya and Shirou had trained in magecraft with Rin, sure, but there had been no physical element to their training. Once Shirou turned nine, Kiritsugu had practically forced him to join everything he deemed "advantageous to combat ability".
"Shirou!" Illya's voice came to his ears. Turning back he was met with a familiar sight - Rin's incoming fist.
If he hadn't reinforced his muscles he would have found himself in an identical position to last time. Since he hadreinforced his body this time, he was able to duck beneath her fist towards her outside shoulder. Moving around the smaller girl as she tried to re-adjust, both his arms snaked around her waist.
Blowing out a breath as he squeezed her abdomen, Rin suddenly found herself airborne as Shirou suplexed her onto the hard - albeit grass covered - ground below. With a whump, Rin made a noise of pain then fell silent.
She had actually struck her head and been knocked out entirely from the unexpected move. Shirou frowned and cursed himself for hurting her, but at least he had taken one of his enemies out of the fight. Now it was just Illya - but could he really hurt his little sister?
Standing up, he took a second to brush the dust off his back. That was when a magic bullet decided to singe some of the hairs on his head. Looking up at her sister, he found her to be smiling devilishly. "Angry about losing so many times, big brother?" she asked casually. Three small versions of Storch Ritter fluttered in front of her ominously, making strange crystalline tweets. "You wouldn't hurt your poor little sister, would you? Just give up so I don't have to heal you anymore."
Shirou wished he had weapons as easy to create as Illya's. Being able to create whatever weapon he wanted on command would be amazing. All she needed were hairs and she definitely had plenty of those. Shirou just had his fists and he couldn't use a bow in spars. His kendo stick might work, but he wasn't allowed to bring it home from school yet. Taiga had just let him borrow her old one whenever they fought at home and he didn't want to break one of her weapons. If Shirou had to choose between an angry Rin and an angry Taiga, he would choose Rin every time.
In the midst of lamenting, a blade landed on the ground beside him. Shirou realized it was the old man's blade. Kiritsugu had one on him at all times for reasons Shirou felt were better left unexplained. Rin had told him about his father's other name a couple years ago. It never changed Shirou's opinion on his father, but it certainly made him curious about the Magus Killer's bloody past.
Reaching down and rolling forward in the same motion, Shirou simultaneously recovered the blade and avoided three incoming magic bullets. With the blade in his hand, Shirou mumbled his practiced aria under his breath. "Trace on." It began, activating his circuits and causing searing pain to shoot through his body. He continued, already having a specific purpose for this blade. "Examining basic structure." He sidestepped to avoid another magic bullet. One avian construct dove too low and a quick thrust upward put the knife into its trajectory. A grinding noise sounded as the blade sliced off one wing of the bird. With a shattering noise like breaking glass, the construct fell apart. In Shirou's mind, a wireframe of Kiritsugu's blade appeared, gently rotating as if it were some special artifact.
"Brother?" Illya asked nervously, taking a step back as she looked into his cool eyes.
"Examining and minimizing flaws," came the third line and with it, material to fill in the wireframe. If this plan were to work, he needed to perform an alteration to the knife as well. He would need to manipulate its entire design to pull off the right effect. "Supplementing ideal design." The design pictured in his mind merged with the original design of the weapon. The two schematics melded together to match the traced materials to the proposed design. Shirou got careless in his movements and a magic bullet struck him in the hip. It disrupted his movements forward and left a burning, aching pain but it was nothing he couldn't fight through.
"Aim for the limbs, disabling motion is better than wounding center-mass!" Kiritsugu called out the suggestion to his daughter. Let it be known that the old man definitely did notpick favourites.
"Executing alterations." With the fifth line completed, his alteration could be pulled off. It was being performed much faster than he was used to but the alteration wasn't very complex in the first place. The two remaining birds held their positions as they prepared to fire more magic bullets along with their master - this was the perfect situation.
Gripping the knife tight, Shirou moved the design from his mind into the physical blade in his hand. Golden sparks crackled from the surface of the blade as the entire shape changed to fit Shirou's mental image. It wasn't a simple bayonet knife any longer, now it was a wickedly curved weapon of strange design. It almost looked like a boomerang.
Shirou stopped running and planted his feet. His arm cocked back and with considerable force, he whipped the blade towards the nearest bird. A satisfying cutting noise sounded as it bisected the construct horizontally. His alteration was successful as the weapon arced towards the final avian automaton and shattered that one as well.
Without constructs to protect her, Illya was rather defenceless. Magical bullets could only do so much and with the small distance between the two, it was unlikely she could even break Kiritsugu's altered blade. Shirou extended his right hand as the blade returned to him, the handle landing comfortably in his open palm.
Illya seemed to cower under the harsh glare he was giving her, looking at him with an unfamiliarity like he was a different person. "I - I give up, you win!" she shouted, collapsing on her knees. From behind, Kiritsugu sighed.
"You can't get scared in situations like these, Illya. You could have used your magical bullets or delayed Shirou with a wall of flame while you prepared another wave of Engel Note constructs. Shirou may be strong physically but your ability to quickly fire off spells can keep him at range for a considerable amount of time." There was a light noise of clattering china as he set his cup down. It was followed by a grunt as he stood and stretched. "Good use of alteration, Shirou. Next time leave the dramatic pause and pose out of the spar. We're doing this to prepare all of you for real combat. I know you don't want to hurt your sister but imagine her as an enemy that wants to kill you."
He strode past Shirou after giving his hair a ruffle. He neared Illya and held one arm over her head. In response, she gripped his forearm and he easily lifted her back to her feet. "I think that's enough for today, Shirou why don't you go get cleaned up and start on dinner? After that, you can trace a gift I got for you."
The boy in question looked down at himself. The top half of his shirt was stained with his own blood and sweat. He was an absolute mess, but at least he had won once in training. He could rub that in Rin's face when she woke up.
As the adrenaline from the fighting wore off, Shirou rapidly realized his body was much sorer than he had thought. Halfway to the house, he gained a limp and the right side of his body wasn't cooperating with his brain fully. Most of that had probably been from Rin's Gandr, it looked like there would have to be a break in training while he recovered. Taking some extra time to move, Shirou eventually stumbled into the bathroom and prepared to bathe.
… … …
In a little while, Shirou was in the kitchen pulling items from the fridge and cupboards to begin cooking. Rin, Illya and Kiritsugu were sitting at the dining table holding conversation as the evening news gently filled the blank space. Shirou couldn't really listen as he was incredibly busy with fixing dinner. Turning on the oven, Shirou mixed sauces and prepped what he could with a sharp knife. If she was going to show up at all, Fuji-nee would likely arrive soon which meant he would need to feed five people. Just in case, he would make enough for at least six. Usually, someone was extra hungry and took on another serving so there were never any left overs.
As if on cue, the doorbell sounded. "Illya could you go get the door?" Kiritsugu asked, eliciting an enthusiastic agreement as she hopped off into the hall.
"So could I get the insider hint on what you're giving Shirou?" Rin whispered, believing Shirou couldn't hear them. What neither of them knew was that he always listened, or at least he tried to listen anyway. His ears were quite sharp when he wanted them to be.
With his back to the table, Shirou heard a shuffling. It was probably Kiritsugu looking to see if his son was paying attention. Even though he was old, he was still ridiculously sharp. Shirou did his best to look as natural as possible. Quieter than the girl, he spoke. "I think we have an eavesdropper." He chuckled. Rin joined in with a giggle before taking a drink of her water.
"Shirou!" came a call from the front of the house. It was Illya, this wasn't going to be good, was it? "Your girlfriend is here!"
There were several noises at once. The clatter of a dish as Shirou dropped it into the sink, the noise of someone spitting out their drink and a loud snort from someone seeing through the tease. Shirou thought he heard a squeaking noise coming from the front of the house.
"You have a girlfriend?" Rin blurted out, rapidly realizing what she had just asked. "I - uh - well, how did you meet?" She decided on digging her hole deeper than it already was. The door to the kitchen slid open and Illya tugged someone into view. Taking a second to look, Shirou spotted Sakura who had bright burning cheeks. Looking further back, Shirou noticed Rin's face was in the same state.
"She's here~!" Illya sang as she stepped back into the dining room. "Give your boyfriend a big kiss hello, Sakura!" Illya teased, sending her father into a bout of laughter.
"Illya don't tease them too much. Let Shirou finish cooking first." Kiritsugu laughed, motioning for her to sit down before she got too excited.
"I don't have any girlfriends," Shirou mumbled to himself in defence. He faced forward to focus on his cooking while blood rushed to his cheeks. How could he have a girlfriend? He only spoke to two girls besides his sister and they were both just friends. Rin and Sakura were good looking, but he didn't think they were attracted to him - or that he deserved anything in that sense in the first place.
He blinked as the water near him began to boil. He could start actually getting things ready now.
… … …
Shirou rolled out several large dishes of various foods. Fried pork belly, xiaolongbao, fried rice, char siu, mapo tofu and various vegetable plates with a light miso soup to warm everyone up. The soup was served first while Shirou settled the other dishes on the table. Years back, Kiritsugu had bought Shirou cases of recipe books. The old man had seen how much he enjoyed cooking and decided to offer a few gifts. It broadened Shirou's culinary repertoire greatly and allowed him to make meals from almost every culture. He was still fuzzy on some strange European and American meals but he had most of Asia down.
Once everything was placed, Shirou removed his apron and settled opposite his father at one head of the table. He carefully filled his plate with what he wanted before looking around the table. If the TV hadn't been on, he reckoned the sound of chewing would be suffocatingly loud. "Well, since nobody is talking I'll take it I did a good job?" he asked, getting various agreements from his guests.
"I should have started staying over for the food a long time ago," Rin mumbled through bites, missing the glare she received from Sakura across the table. "Even if you fail as a magus I'd be more than willing to hire you as a personal chef." Kiritsugu snorted in amusement.
"Senpai has always been a good cook," Sakura added sheepishly. "Even when he was just starting out his meals were amazing." Her head was down as she spoke as if she were ashamed to say anything at all.
"Shirou just suddenly learned how to cook this well out of thin air?" Rin asked with some amazement. "Are you sure you're bad at magecraft or are you just toying with me?" She pointed her chopsticks at the boy accusingly.
Shirou paled, holding up one hand in surrender as he tried to look as passive as possible. "Nope, still terrible at magic. Please don't throw me to the wolves in the forest again," Shirou pleaded, remembering the last time Rin had thought he was holding out on her.
Sakura lifted her head and looked at Rin with a considerable shock. Illya noticed and chimed in. "Uh-oh, Rin." She leaned towards the Tohsaka and held one hand in front of her mouth as if it would silence her words. She still spoke loud enough for everyone to hear of course. "Looks like that upset Shirou's girlfriend." She giggled, laughing harder as both girls turned a lovely shade of pink.
Shirou looked towards his father who only offered a mischievous smile. It seemed like he knew something Shirou didn't, and it made him feel strange. Was he missing something the old man could see?
"Shirou learned to cook all by himself and he used me as a test for all his food experiments," Illya continued, speaking with pride.
"That explains all the extra weight you've gained," Kiritsugu teased, getting a laugh from the table at her expense. It broke the strange tension that had been growing. Kiritsugu was always good at doing those little things that Shirou couldn't.
Just as Ilya was about to whine, the front door slammed open and closed. "That'll be Fuji-nee. She's rather late actually," Shirou commented, munching on a piece of eggplant. On one hand, he counted with his fingers. One - two - three and the dining room door slid open.
"I could smell your cooking from three blocks away!" she shouted, practically leaping over the table to sit down and begin filling her plate. Oddly enough, nobody seemed to mind the sudden intrusion. It was almost like this had become a daily occurrence. For most of the people at the table, it had.
Eating meals in a large group like this had become anything but uncommon. Fuji-nee always dropped by for free food, that had started right after discovering his talent for cooking. Rin had started staying for dinner only a few months ago. After being convinced by Shirou, she reluctantly stuck around. Her entire disposition changed after she ate the first time. She actually wanted to come for dinner the next day and everything fell into place from there. Since Rin had always stuck around outside to continue training Illya, she had always thought Kiritsugu had done all the cooking. Secretly, the Emiya family thought it was funny to lead the Tohsaka along into this way of thinking. The day she found out Shirou had been the true chef was also the day Shirou had had to "train" his resistance to magic by receiving dozens of Gandr shots.
Sakura began visiting two years ago. Kiritsugu had always taken on a sad smile and the two shared little glances between another when they thought nobody was looking. Over time the level of sadness in the old man's features had faded away. On her first visit, Kiritsugu had informed Shirou and Illya that Sakura was a magus as well. Or that she knew of magecraft anyway. Sakura had seemed upset over being revealed like that, but Kiritsugu had explained his reasoning. According to him it was better if they were all on the same level. He didn't want anybody to be walking on eggshells around another and that seemed to placate the girl. After that, Sakura came around every couple days and occasionally prepared meals in Shirou's stead. She was discovered to be much more experienced with traditional Japanese meals than Shirou, so the quality of meals were about the same. This kitchen-sharing program wasn't something agreed upon, it was actually forced. Shirou had tried to convince Sakura to let him cook but she wasn't having any of it. According to her he "worked too hard" and "needed to take breaks".
Shirou thought the opposite and so did the old man. He was always trying to work harder and push himself to be better, he had to. If it made Kiritsugu happy then Shirou was prepared to push himself past his own limits and beyond. Pain was temporary and skin grew back so if that was all Shirou had to offer to get Kiritsugu to smile, it was worth it.
The rest of dinner was filled with idle chat. The adults brought up topics while the children filled in the blanks or added their own input, sometimes skewing off in tangents before starting all over again when Taiga or Kiritsugu moved onto something new. It was a fluid dynamic that sustained a pleasant atmosphere full of laughter. With good food and better friends, even the dullest day could be made enjoyable. Even Rin and Sakura - who always seemed to be avoiding one another - spoke and had a pleasant conversation.
As the night drew on, Taiga eventually said her thanks and left with a full stomach. From what Shirou picked up, she had to study for upcoming exams and couldn't stay any longer. Taiga was taking courses to become a teacher at Homurahara Academy. If everything went well, she would be teaching there in another two years. It meant Shirou would have to deal with her as his teacher and that meant he'd have to make lunches for her, otherwise, she would steal his.
With Taiga gone, the conversations were more relaxed and sombre. Shirou found out how school was going for the two girls and discovered they were both excited for high school. Sakura specifically said she wanted to join the archery club as soon as she could. Since she was younger than him, she would have to wait an extra year to get her wish.
Sakura left around nine, fighting everyone who said she shouldn't go alone. Shirou asked if she could stay over just to be safe but apparently, she was needed at home. Shirou didn't like her walking all that way alone but there wasn't much he could do.
Rin decided to go to bed early around ten after helping Shirou clean up dinner. When they had been alone in the kitchen she'd complimented his tactics in the last spar. This nice side didn't last since she followed it up with "but I'll get you back next time" which left him feeling uneasy. She was going to amp up her Gandr, wasn't she?
When everything had been cleaned up and most of the house had gone to sleep, Kiritsugu invited Shirou out to the yard to keep him company over a cup of tea. The two of them hardly had any time alone so a moment to sit, relax and talk in private was more than welcomed. Shirou knew Kiritsugu better than most, so while he made a cup of tea for himself, Shirou also brought out a cup of coffee for the old man.
Walking through the engawa to the backyard, Shirou found said old man sitting right where he had watched the training mere hours ago. He was looking up at the stars and the full moon looming above. Just a cursory glance revealed the constellations Taurus and Orion. Ursa Minor and Major were visible as well, but they were quite common. Settling down beside his father, Shirou offered the cup of coffee which was graciously sipped.
There was a long period of silence where the two were just content looking at the stars. This side of Fuyuki was dimly lit compared to the Shinto area, which meant stars could really make themselves known. It made Shirou sad whenever light pollution hid the beauty of space. The twinkling stars were inspiring but depressing at the same time. They were pretty, but they also represented how small Earth was - how insignificant everyone really was in the grand scheme of things.
"I've never told you why you've been training so hard." Kiritsugu suddenly spoke without warning, taking another drink of his coffee.
"I thought it was just because you wanted me to be a good person and because I had to protect Illya." Shirou shrugged. If he were being honest, he hadn't really thought about his father's methods all that much. If he was stronger, he could protect people and defend them from powerful evil people. At least that was what he believed, Kiritsugu had made it clear in his training that saving a "good" person from an "evil" person was subjective. Sometimes, those perceived to be "evil" were actually doing good things. Immediately, Shirou thought of Kiritsugu himself. To most, he was known as the Magus Killer, but if he could settle down and raise a family could he really be that bad? Perhaps his actions were just misunderstood. One of these days when he was older he would have to have a chat with the old man.
"I want both of those things from you, but there's another reason beyond that. Four years ago, before you were adopted, I was involved in a War." Shirou focused on the old man's face. He was looking toward the stars distantly as if he were remembering something he would rather forget. "It was a War between magi fighting for an artifact that could grant any wish the victor had. I won, but it had been revealed to me that this artifact, the Holy Grail, was a lie. No matter who used it, no matter what sort of wish was asked of it, the result would be the same: unfathomable suffering." He paused to take a drink, looking down into the cup now.
"Is that what caused the Great Fire? Your wish?" Shirou wisely put two and two together.
"Not exactly. I could stay here all night and explain to you the entire workings of the Grail and the War, but there's a much faster way. I've watched you develop your own form of reinforcement magic. You've created your own aria for the process, right?" he asked, turning to look at Shirou directly. The black eyes of his father were slightly glazed. The emotion held within choked the boy up. He had never seen such a gaze from the old man before. "You call it tracing."
"Y-yeah," he managed to croak out.
"That's good, you'll need that," Kiritsugu responded immediately, reaching to his side to reveal a black leather book. The front facing was incredibly detailed with intricate engravings in the material. They were strange almost arcane shapes that gave the book an eerie visage. Shirou was rather suddenly faced with the scent of leather and rich wine. Where the wine smell came from was anyone's guess. "If you trace this book, you will understand what I mean. Your tracing allows you to see the history of objects and the thoughts of the creator. Not only will you be able to extract the knowledge held in the journal, but you'll also be able to see the thoughts I had at the time of writing." Kiritsugu explained, handing his son the book.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Shirou asked after a moment, taking the book in his hands.
"I have no idea, but if I tried to tell the story and explain myself, we'd be here past sunrise around the halfway point. Knowing me, I'd forget something as well." Kiritsugu chuckled, returning his gaze to the stars. "I never wrote my wish in that book." The old man took another sip. "I wanted to be a hero, to save everyone by putting an end to all conflict. I failed, but with all I've learned I've come to understand that you will succeed in my place."
Shirou's eyes widened. He would become a hero? Someone who would save people? "A hero?" he asked, testing the words with his own mouth. It was interesting to hear himself say it on account of the fact that he didn't believe it. "Why can't we both be heroes - together?" he asked, scrunching up his face. "You're not that old, yet."
His father laughed. "I'm pretty sure my time for this Grail War stuff has come and gone. It's not like I'm dying so you don't have to worry about that, but I have the feeling my role won't be as great as yours. I'll do my best to prepare you, but you should know how great a responsibility this is." He paused, looking around as if he expected to find someone listening in. "Rin believes the next Grail War will take place fifty-six years from now, but I know it will start in no more than six. I also know you, Rin and Illya will all be involved in it," he whispered, eyes looking grim. By his tone, this was something Shirou knew to keep as a secret.
Shirou fell quiet as he digested this information. Only he and the old man knew of this. It was likely all written in the black book held in his own two hands. The sight of this journal worried Shirou. What would he discover from tracing it? How would it affect him? Depending on where the old man started writing from, this could actually overload his brain with data and kill him. If he had stuffed it with years worth of material, the mass inflow of memories and details would short every circuit Shirou had. He gently closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply. Looking inside himself he found his magic circuits and ran a quick check to make sure everything was in order. With his enhanced ability in reinforcement, Kiritsugu had been able to teach him how to visualize his own circuits as well as the circuits of others. With it, Rin had elevated his status as former "poster-reinforcer" to the very prestigious "circuit-tester". Apparently, he was only useful to test their magical strength like an inanimate instrument. Shirou counted up his circuits, all thirty-four of them wer- wait, thirty-four? He had twenty-seven a few days ago, how had he gained seven new circuits?
"Kiritsugu, why do I have more circuits than usual?" Shirou asked with his face scrunched in concern. Rin had taught him that a magus' circuits were hereditary, passed down and unchanging. Unless a magus had taken on a family crest, the number would always be the same from birth.
The old man stopped mid-drink to look at his son as if he had gone mad. "That's impossible, you can't acquire more circuits," he began, placing a hand on Shirou's shoulder. He scrunched his face in concentration before suddenly looking just as confused as the boy. "You have thirty-four circuits," he stated, face shifting harder as if he were struggling with something. "Twenty-seven of them are the normal ones I counted the first time but the rest of these are…new?" He paused, humming in frustration. "There's something else wrong here. You utilized magecraft earlier today in your spar with Rin and Illya, correct?"
Shirou nodded. "I used it a couple times. I reinforced my body and altered the blade you gave me."
Kiritsugu hummed, taking the book gently from his son's hands to replace it with a cup of tea. "Reinforce this cup so it won't break when dropped," Kiritsugu ordered, keeping one hand on Shirou's shoulder.
He did as asked, starting his aria with the normal "Trace on". The stabbing shot of pain coursed through his body. How could Rin and Illya make magecraft look so painless if they had to go through this every time they cast a spell?
"Stop," Kiritsugu ordered as soon as Shirou finished speaking. "Thirty-eight." He stated, removing his hand. "Your body tensed when you started, any reason why?" he asked, glaring into his son's eyes accusingly.
"Yeah, of course. It hurts to use magecraft but I've gotten used to it after a while." The face of pure confusion the old man gave him was a bad sign.
"Shirou your original twenty-seven circuits seem unused, even those seven new ones weren't utilized when you started that reinforcement. How are you accessing your magic circuits?" Kiritsugu asked. This was rapidly becoming more like one of Rin's tests with each question.
"I look inside my mind and focus on a point. Then I just start the spell and try to concentrate on what I want to do." Shirou tried to explain his process. It was incredibly hard since the words just weren't there. How he could explain something he didn't fully understand? He just looked within himself, began the casting process and it worked.
"There's no activation? You don't turn on a switch or imagine something happening to activate your circuits?" Kiritsugu grilled, looking dead serious.
Shirou shook his head. "No, never. I've never turned on a switch or anything, I've just started casting and it's always worked," he responded, getting a harsh sigh from his father.
"Then you've been using magecraft wrongly this entire time. I'm surprised Rin hadn't noticed this before me but knowing how stubborn you are, you likely didn't want to bother her." Shirou felt ashamed, his father had gotten the situation right on the nose. "You've been converting your body's nerves into makeshift magic circuits. You're lucky you haven't killed yourself considering magi who've tried to do what you've done eight times now have about a fifty percent mortality rate," Kiritsugu explained, getting a paling glance from his son. "Just don't cast spells like that anymore." The old man reached up to his robe-clad chest and grasped at the air before looking down as if he was missing something. "Shirou, could you go to my room and grab my coat for me? You know the one."
Shirou was confused as to why but he figured it was probably for good reason. Getting up, Shirou left to retrieve the large black trench coat which had come to appear familiar on his father's shoulders. Every time he held it, Shirou marvelled at how heavy it was and how light the old man made it seem.
Returning, Shirou wrapped the coat around his father's shoulders before settling back into place beside him. When Shirou looked again, there was a gun in his hands. "Where did you pull that from?" he asked, surprised at the sudden appearance.
His father paid him no mind, pulling on the piece of metal near the trigger which seemed to break the weapon in half. Gleaming in the night was the brass plating of a bullet. Shirou was surprised to watch his father handle the weapon with the casual nature of doing laundry. He removed the bullet and snapped his wrist upwards to close the weapon back up. Shirou noticed something strange about the bullet itself. Rather than a copper tip, it was off-white, an ivory colour.
"I'm going to give you an image to help with the process of your spellcasting. I'd like for you to picture this as you look to start channelling mana," Kiritsugu explained, lifting the now empty gun towards the shed in the backyard. The moonlight glinted off the surface of the weapon.
It was rather beautiful even if it was intended to cause death. Beautifully engraved metal for the receiver with stained wood for the main stock. It had been an item of loving creation at one point. Shirou watched his father with interest as his face settled into a cold gaze. It was the first time Shirou had ever seen such a glare from his father and it sent chills down his spine. Did he also look like that when he fired guns or used bows?
Kiritsugu's finger squeezed the trigger and a loud click echoed through the backyard as the hammer slammed into the firing pin. At that moment Shirou realized what his father had meant. Shirou had to imagine something activating to convince his circuits to go along. It didn't matter what he imagined, he just needed to visualize something to turn his circuits on at the same time.
Shirou set his hands on the floor of the house and closed his eyes. In his mind, he saw the back of the gun. He imagined the hammer coming down to strike the pin and as the two made contact, an explosion from the bullet within. All at once, his body flooded with a sense of power he had never felt before. The darkness of his mind came alight with the image of glowing green circuitry. He felt as if he had tapped into a reservoir of endless power. Feeling confident, Shirou used this sudden abundant source of mana to trace the entire house.
Similar to echolocation, a pulse echoed from his hands to move throughout the entire structure. A wireframe of the entire area came alive in his mind, rapidly filling with the building's true materials. He saw the kitchen and dining room, he could see himself and Kiritsugu sitting on the edge near the backyard. He could even see Rin and Illya sleeping in their rooms. Everything was recorded, everything was logged for future use. A pipe underneath the sink in the bathroom was improperly connected and might burst in the winter, the oven in the kitchen was going to blow a burner in a few days and a couple of the wooden floorboards needed replacing.
Shirou opened his eyes and smiled with pride. He lifted his hands from the house and the recreated model in his mind disappeared. He could access it at any time, but he needed his head clear for the next task. Carefully, both hands wrapped around the book his father had given him. "Trace on," he spoke defiantly.
Then something snapped. As the data began to stream into his mind, the circuitry in his body crackled and snapped. The pleasing green suddenly turned into an eerie red. The lines began to cross and more interference distorted his mind.
He had already begun tracing which meant data was continuously streaming from the book into his mind. Shirou grit his teeth, trying to keep the pain from overwhelming him. He could do this, he had been training for so long, a stupid book wouldn't kill him.
But it was a losing battle. His body began convulsing and blood vessels within his nose and ears popped. He was trying to brute force mana through his circuitry to try correcting it but that was only doing more damage than good.
His body started convulsing, muscles being triggered by the overwhelming tide of data flooded his mind and sent his neurons into a state of self-destruction. Years of memories and experiences were compressed into seconds. This was going to kill him, wasn't it? He was going to be killed by a book. Rin would laugh and call him a useless magus at his funeral.
He fell onto his back as a seizure took over his body. He couldn't let go of the book since it was being death-gripped by his hands at the moment. Kiritsugu shouted his name and moved to look into his eyes. There was panic in his face, he was worried about his son. Shirou couldn't even speak as his vision collapsed around the edges. His consciousness faded when it reached the point of a pinprick.
Was he going to die here? Was his father's journal going to kill him? He had so much left to do and who would protect Illya?