11 Chapter 11: Again?

Beta read by Opal and Fabled Life.

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-Midchilda-

Standing near the now barren field once filled with lush greenery, Teana held a pensive gaze, observing the aftermath of the previous confrontation between Riot Force 6 and the unknown drones. Dozens of people were present, and the cleanup crew was here to pick up any remnants of shells and fragments left behind, also ensuring the place was spotless. This endeavor had started a couple of days ago and was nearing its end.

"Man, it's a shame this spot got wrecked this much. I used to come here with my son every weekend, a perfect area for some light exploring. Just what the hell happened here? It looks like the enemy dropped a bomb here rather than drones... There aren't even any metal scraps in this particular area," she heard one of the crew members mumble in the background. Teana found herself sharing the same sentiment while also recalling the events that transpired over here.

A scene that, even now, remained burned within her memories, one she was not able to look past even after having taken a couple of days of rest. Playing repeatedly, each time the details get more pronounced and exaggerated. "This is the place," she whispered and kneeled on top of the blackened ground, scorched by the fires of the impact between the laser and whatever creation Shirou conjured at the very last second.

Her hands absentmindedly touched the ground, a small voice in her head wondering if the outcome would be different if she had not been here to begin with. A thought that grated her mind nonstop and was not going away any time soon. "Still not enough. I wasn't able to be much of a help on the field again." A sigh escaped her lips; currently, she was both mentally and physically tired, feeling that even Subaru contributed more in the end.

This even further weighed on her mind after watching the footage of Signum and Vita working in perfect unison, having both dominated the sky and ground where the number of drones was the highest with little difficulty. 

One of the field agents came forward with a tired smile on his face. "Agent Teana, we will finish the cleanup very soon; our team has already begun packing up after the Ground Commander gave us approval. Thank you for your hard work." 

So that was her cue to leave for the day, a simple duty to watch over the ground in case another surprise attack were to happen, but she was pretty certain that it wouldn't be the case.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then." Bidding her farewells, the girl left the area, having already made plans for the day along with Subaru. Hurrying along the road, she rushed towards the center of the city, passing by countless people all watching the news about the recent attack. Such information was plastered on every corner of the street and the news, most of it focusing on the possible perpetrator rather than anything else.

Not paying these things any mind, the girl only wanted to focus on honing her skills. "I can't allow that to happen again… I can't fall behind everyone else." Even Caro and Erio showed great progress in their training, advancing leaps and bounds for kids their age. "I don't even want to think about that guy."

The image of the red-headed mage appeared in her mind, his nonchalant behavior after beating her in marksmanship, revealing that he never actually tried to use a gun, always opting for his bow and arrow. "Where even is he?" She walked by his apartment this morning to find it empty, him along with that girl whom he decided to rescue and take in. Why he was so adamant about keeping her away from others in the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, she couldn't tell, but it appeared that even Nanoha agreed with his decision.

With these thoughts occupying her mind, it didn't take long for Teana to reach her desired location: an elevator leading down to the underground training area she and Subaru attended daily to keep their skills sharp.

"Hm?" A loud clanging noise caught her attention from the other side, followed by another heavier impact that sounded much more powerful, similar to a loud thud. "Looks like Subaru came in earlier than usual—"

"—Careful! If you don't hold it properly, you'll cut yourself." A voice that most definitely did not belong to Subaru reached her ears, sounding similar to the boy she was thinking about earlier came from the other side. "I told you it would have been better for you to stay with Fate; at least she has a car and could have given you a tour of the city. Ah, careful there!"

"You don't need to treat me like a child… I won't get bored just from sitting around for a few hours." Answered a second voice belonging to a young girl. "Also, I'm perfectly capable of holding such a weapon."

"But you ARE a kid."

"…"

"And I'm being serious, those blades aren't exactly normal, they can cut through steel by simply dropping them."

"Are you sure they aren't devices from an ancient civilization?" she asked again. 

"Uh… the second part is technically not false, but no it's not a device. Then again, they are just copies rather than the real deal." 

Never mind, the voice wasn't just familiar—it was most definitely Shirou! Unknowingly tiptoeing near the door frame, Teana peeked her head around to find him along with Lutecia standing near a field of dismembered wooden dummies, some of them having been completely destroyed into pieces. The boy was no longer wearing his Barrier Jacket but rather a black cuirass armor covering his chest that she hadn't seen before. And next to him, holding the black and white swords, was none other than Lutecia.

"They... are not real?" The little girl questioned, looking at the weapons, then back at the man behind her. "But I saw you use them against Zest. He went toe to toe with people holding very powerful weapons with that spear and managed to break them, yet he never left a scratch on these swords here." said the girl, giving Shirou a confused look as the next moment the black blade in her hand vanished right before her eyes. She looked back at her empty hand in shock as the sword reappeared within Shirou's hand along with a couple of other similar weapons around him.

"It would be even weirder if all of them were real, given it would mean that I had someone make me hundreds of copies of the same blade down to the smallest detail and store them within a space created by my Magecraft," Shirou explained, realizing fully the irony of the second part of his sentence, though he rather not bring up the matter of his Unlimited Blades Works. "It's simple Projection spellcasting, uh… kinda complicated to explain in detail but just know they're basically lesser copies." 

Shirou imagined a certain golden king getting angry and calling him a mongrel all the way from the other side of reality if he were to hear their conversation.

"Wait, does that mean you can also copy Intelligent Devices!?" Lutecia asked with an expression of anticipation, looking at him with wonder and sparkly-filled eyes for a brief moment. The wonder on her face was so different from the stoic expression she normally had displayed, catching him off guard for a second. But unfortunately for both him and the girl, he had to shatter that expectation. 

"Sorry, those are things that I can't replicate."

It wasn't like these items were Divine Construct by any means. Those like Rubin were possible, nowhere near as complex or alien as some of the other devices he had seen. He even experimented with the device in his spare time, using reinforcement and alteration on his cloak, just to see what he could and could not do with this world's technology.

"Your magic is very unusual," Lutecia remarked. "No wonder the doctor was very obsessed with you. He wouldn't stop talking about you after our first meeting." 

He shivered at those words, "Somehow those words sound so wrong, imagining a creep 'obsessed' over me isn't reassuring." 

"I don't know… the doctor you may consider an enemy but he's been very nice to me." 

'Well because you are a naive child who just lost her mother, not really a challenge for a mad scientist to earn your trust.' These words played in his mind, nearly slipping out but he made sure to not let his subconscious speak out. 

She tilted her head as her attention returned to his weapons, "By the way, if copies are already that powerful, then where did you exactly encounter the originals?" 

"Because a white-haired guy who didn't know when to shut up and an adult-sized blonde psychotic brat with arrogance the size of a country kept throwing their swords at me every so often. Though the former did save me a couple of times… unfortunately his smug face is too irritating to make me feel any gratitude." The more he explained, the more worried Lutecia got, looking over him with a worried gaze. 

"Ah, don't worry, we won't be seeing them anytime soon — hopefully." 

"Wait, why are you telling me all of this? You shouldn't be revealing the secrets of your magic to anyone so easily, Shirou." She huffed, her eyes squinting and looking at him with disapproval. Adorable was what he'd call her at the moment, but held back. "Zest taught me that the more you reveal your powers to the world, the more likely the enemy will create a counter against you." 

At that, he just shrugged. "Well, you aren't my enemy anymore, so I'm not worried if you know about the details of my abilities. Nanoha and the others already know about the basics, so I don't mind it."

"I feel like sooner or later you'll be in trouble because more people will know about how your ability works…" 

"Oh don't worry about that, I'll manage." 

"..."

While those two conversed with one another, Teana continued to gaze at them from the back, unsure whether she should interfere and possibly ruin the mood. It was a strange fact to discover. Not long ago, Lutecia was a member of a criminal… a terrorist group that nearly killed the man, and now he was taking care of her without any grudges. She herself tried to engage in a conversation with the girl, but it was hard to make any progress with her. The latter was still very wary of everyone else other than Shirou and Nanoha to some degree. 

Even Caro and Erio had trouble completely getting along with her in their first meeting. 

"Though if I remember correctly, Subaru is the only other one she is getting along with," she mused. Then again, her friend was a very gifted individual when it came to making friends. She would know, as Subaru did the same with her back in the academy. Her stubbornness knew no bounds, bullheaded with her ways of getting along with someone who admittedly wasn't exactly the nicest at first.

In her concentrated state, looking at the two in the distance, Teana failed to notice a presence slowly approaching her from behind. Her body jolted as an arm came to rest across her neck.

"Well, well, what do we have here? I knew you and Shirou were getting along well, but the last thing I expected was for you to start spying on him," an amused voice teased the girl.

"Wah!" Teana jumped away, scared out of her wits at the unexpected presence, jolting around just to find Subaru standing behind her, already wearing her Barrier Jacket. The blue-haired girl showed a big grin on her face, starting to chuckle at her friend's shocked reaction.

"Hey there, Teana. Didn't expect for you to be done with your duties so early. You're focusing too much on training lately, perhaps you should take a few days to rest. Also, what is going on inside?" Subaru walked forward and peeked inside the room, her curious face turning into one of surprise at the duo inside. "Huh, is it just me, or do those two start to look less and less like a guardian and his protégé, becoming more and more like siblings?"

They did give that kind of impression, didn't they? 

But in her opinion, it was Lutecia who behaved more maturely most of the time, weirdly enough. She almost wanted to joke with Emiya that the girl was actually his bigger sister despite looking so young. Strangely enough, Shirou behaved rather weirdly after hearing that, trying to avoid that conversation before finding an excuse and leaving the apartment to buy groceries. It was a strange situation that made Teana wonder if he actually had some siblings back home and whether or not her words made him remember them.

"So, how long are we going to hide here from the others?" Subaru asked, causing her friend to hesitate as she didn't know how to answer that, unsure whether going inside now was a good idea after the latter caught her spying on them. Seeing her hesitate, Subaru just rolled her eyes before grabbing her orange-haired friend's wrist and pulling her along.

"He-Hey! Wait!"

Unfortunately, her words of protest were completely ignored as they swiftly walked onto the field. "Hello, Shirou! You seem to be having fun with Lutecia there. Mind if we join in on the fun?" she said without missing a beat. "We were kinda spying on you two from the corner, and while it was cute seeing you two get along, it's more fun if we joined in."

"Subaru!" At that moment, Teana wanted nothing more than to hide in a hole and never come out. "She's just kidding! We've just arrived, and we're hoping to get some training together," she quickly tried to dismiss Subaru's words, hoping that she wouldn't get suspicious or anything like that. "So don't mind us, continue doing whatever you were doing, and we'll just be in the background."

She slowly backed away and forcefully grabbed her friend, dragging her away this time while making sure that the latter wouldn't say anything else just to embarrass her.

{Break}

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

From the spectator's seat, he sat alongside Lutecia, sipping on a cold drink absentmindedly as he watched the scene before him. The training area held many facilities for anyone dealing with any kind of weapons, along with places like this where he could have a drink or something to eat. Right now, he was absentmindedly watching Teana's session, a strange gaze in his eyes as he noticed one particular detail about her shooting.

"She's not in the right state of mind," the purple-haired girl answered before he could, casually sipping on a straw of a milkshake he bought for both of them. Her legs swung back and forth as she sat on the chair next to him. "She is getting way too frustrated every time she misses even slightly."

He had to agree with her; the trial was not just a simple target practice with a circle at the end of the range, but rather a machine that sent dozens of rubber balls hurtling towards Teana at different speeds and rates of fire. Her task merely was to shoot them down before they reached and hit her. In the beginning, it was all going smoothly. With just a single gun, she was able to destroy nearly a couple of dozen spheres and dodge a few when they got too close. But as time went on and the fire rate and speed slowly started to escalate, she started to falter.

"Really, that is to be expected. I don't even think I am capable of deflecting so many attacks at that rate if I had a gun," he conveniently did not mention how it would have been a different story if he used his swords instead. Unfortunately for him, some of the opponents he faced, even after the Holy Grail War, were monsters in their own right. While not as fast as Servants, they were able to move so fast that even his eyes had trouble keeping up, leaving him relying on his guesswork and other senses to compensate. 

Not like he possessed a Mind's Eye like Archer… yet.

"You were much faster against Zest," Lutecia answered with a deadpan face. "And I heard from Nanoha that you are a pretty good gun user, so who knows, you might surprise yourself if you tried."

The boy chuckled awkwardly at those words, not having anything else to say. "You're going to keep bringing up that fight at every opportunity, aren't you?"

"It's the only time I saw you fight, so yes," Lutecia replied matter-of-factly.

A third voice chimed in. "Why don't we change that?" Subaru Nakajima said, giving Shirou a quick pat on the back before taking a seat on his left side, a bottle of water in her hands while her clothes were soaked in sweat. Shirou immediately looked away, through pure instinct alone, to avoid any misunderstanding. Unfortunately for him, Subaru noticed. "Oh come on now, you don't have to be so shy about such a little thing. You'll be red as a tomato if we went on a mission and it was raining."

"I'm pretty sure your Barrier Jacket would protect you from the water as well," Shirou retorted.

"That's your best defense?" Subaru said with a grin on her face, one that made him sigh as it only meant she was going to tease even more. "But since you didn't deny my claim, that means you're actually always looking, aren't you?"

Her elbow jokingly struck his side a couple of times. Shirou didn't know how to react and just tried to get on with it while Lutecia completely ignored them. His reaction made Subaru start laughing out loud before she waved. "Oh come on, no need to get flustered. I'm just messing with you. You're too easy of a target, Shirou."

Too easy of a target? Perhaps it was high time he started to give the girl a taste of her own medicine. He hadn't honed his skills for the past few years, using Rin and Luvia as practice targets without them knowing for nothing!

"But seriously, I don't know if you noticed, but Teana has been acting kind of weirdly lately," Subaru continued. Shirou nodded his head, having seen moments where the girl would be absent from her apartment longer than usual, and come back very late at night, exhausted and covered in suit marks. "From day till night, in every possible free time she's given, the girl has been spending time here, honing her skills."

"Ouch!" As if on cue, another rubber sphere managed to breach Teana's defenses and struck the girl straight in the forehead, sending the mage hurtling backward until her back struck an iron wall. Cross Mirage fell out of her grasp, sliding away till it turned back into its Standby card form.

"Yeah, that. She's been having that same experience probably a hundred times a day for the past who knows how long. If it weren't for me, then I assure you she would even forget to have her daily meal or to even take a shower," Subaru said with a sigh. 

He was pretty sure if Teana were to hear the way Subaru worded the phrase, the former would easily aim for the blue-haired girl's head and start shooting. 

"It's not that her progress is stagnant, but to my eyes, they seem to be getting worse and worse every time I see it," Lutecia answered. Her lips twitched upwards as she witnessed Teana going back for another round and getting belted by more and more spheres, which struck her like a hailstorm. The sight, other than being kind of sad, was also very funny.

"Yeah, what she says. Wow, for someone so young, you certainly are very perceptive. It would have been a pain in the ass if you remained our enemy. I can't imagine having to deal with a small child with a brain like that," Shirou remarked.

"You don't have to imagine anything. You would have won any kind of battle against me. My skills do not exactly lie with combat, to begin with. I just control my little bugs into infecting some systems and taking over. Nothing more, nothing less," Lutecia responded, giving Shirou a side-eyed glance. She was pretty certain that she had mentioned to him prior that her ability allowed her to do much more than that.

He was certain that after his battle with Zest, the girl was willing to fight him to some degree. If her abilities were only to control insects, then he didn't think Teana would be the type to jump into a battle with such a disadvantage.

Another cluster of spheres was shot at Teana, and the girl started to struggle even more, resorting to dodging each one of them more than actually shooting. Her defenses slowly but surely chipped away as her stamina depleted, until the point she got hit straight in the face. "Argh!" cried out the young girl, her system shutting down as she was shot behind the starting line while her gun went flying back as well. Shirou winced at the impact.

"Should we go over there and check up on her?" Lutecia asked, her answer coming in the form of Subaru and the redheaded boy running down next to Teana. "Damn it!"

The orange-haired girl shouted with anger as her fist struck the ground repeatedly, her frustration palpable to everyone around her. "Why can't I do it!?" she exclaimed to no one in particular, Subaru and Shirou looking at each other in confusion, wondering how to handle the situation. "No matter how hard I try, this entire time I've practiced for days on end, yet it only feels like I'm getting worse!" 

Allowing her partner to help her stand up, the duo escorted the girl near the spectator zone. 

"Calm down, Teana. You've just been pushing yourself far too much lately, and it's hard to notice any difference or progress if you don't take the time to rest."

"But I don't have time to rest, Subaru. You know the enemies won't wait for me to take a small break before attacking us again. I barely had much of a presence in our first mission, and during the auction, it was much worse. You destroyed more drones than I did and could have done more if you had gone all out," she said, gripping her jacket tightly and looking down at her hands in frustration. "It feels like I've hit a plateau. Even as I try to go beyond my limits, my body just won't accept it, and I keep making more and more mistakes."

"…"

Subaru remained silent, understanding the weight of Teana's words. The feeling of helplessness, the realization that her friends could be in life-threatening danger, and she wouldn't be able to rescue them in time. The knowledge that it happened already once with Ariel during their first mission and much closer with Europe during the second mission. Safe to say, the girl was angered at her own lack of abilities. "Sometimes I wonder if I even deserve a place in this."

Meanwhile, he resisted the urge to sigh, understanding her emotions and what she could be feeling. He immediately went up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What are you talking about? You did more than anyone could expect from you in those missions. And you can't judge your performance based on just those two occasions. The second time was my fault. I asked the others to send me to the other side of the field and risked my life because of that. You aren't at fault for not being able to stop that."

"Yeah, what he says," Subaru chimed in. "And I'm pretty sure you had my back more times than I can count during that fight. If you weren't there, I would have been caught by surprise by a sneak attack and would have been defeated in a matter of minutes. You're just being too harsh on yourself."

Lutecia nodded absentmindedly, lacking knowledge or reference of Teana's abilities, but trusting Subaru's words on the matter.

"You guys are just being too nice to me," Teana said with a self-deprecating chuckle, indicating that their words didn't fully alleviate her concerns. Shirou understood her resistance, as he was familiar with the frustration of being stuck at a level despite putting in countless hours of effort. Wasn't this similar to his struggles with magecraft when he tried to practice what Kiritsugu taught him? However, Teana had genuine talent; she just needed a confidence boost or a battle to showcase her capabilities. 

"Hey Subaru, remember your idea of having a small spar again?" Shirou asked, prompting a confused look from the blue-haired girl before he continued. "Unlike last time, why don't we have a match against one another? Me and Lutecia versus you two."

Shiro's proposal was met with surprise from both women and the young girl beside him, but he believed it was the most effective way to reach Teana rather than just using words.

break

{Break}

Teana wasn't feeling confident about this battle, unlike Subaru next to her who was physically beaming with joy and anticipation. "Man, I can't wait to get my revenge on that guy. Unlike last time, he won't catch me off guard or keep pounding me into the ground with those stupid arrows! I'll count on you for cover, Teana," Subaru said, showing the girl a thumbs up.

"Do you think we'll be able to change the outcome? It was pretty clear to me that he was most likely holding back on us," Teana said, unsure if Subaru recalled, but it was clear that Shirou was able to conjure up more than just weapons and arrows.

"You're talking about that flower-shaped shield spell he brought up before, aren't you?" Subaru's words made her look up at the latter in surprise before shaking her head.

"Of course, you remember, you were there with me after all," she said, looking back at the opposite side of the field where both Shirou and Lutecia stood, waiting for the battle to start. The little one was no longer wearing her hood and had some sort of glove on, most likely her device. 

Meanwhile, Shirou wore something very different from his usual attire. His closed red jacket was gone, replaced with the black armor she had seen previously with a red jacket, but this one only had one long-sleeved arm. His right side showed his full arm without anything covering it. That was an odd choice of design, she had to admit. Even if Barrier jackets generally protected the entire body regardless of their appearance, it was still recommended for the standard ones to cover the entire body as it offered slightly more protection. As for her and Subaru, who was wearing slightly less clothing, that was mostly to accommodate agility and movement, especially in Subaru's case as she was a close-quarter combatant.

Despite its appearance, that shield was certainly one of the strongest spells she had seen. Being able to block an attack of that caliber was no small feat, and she doubted that either of them would be able to even cause a crack in it with their strongest attacks.

"Don't worry, it's not like he's able to bring out such a spell all the time without any repercussions. That thing must be consuming a ton of his mana, so he won't use it constantly, I bet. Or perhaps it was a one-time spell he used to save his life. If he could use it regularly, then we would have seen it earlier as well," Subaru reassured, though despite wanting to believe in her words, she was still very skeptical about the entire thing. "What we should be worrying about is that girl over there. Like, I know she's not our enemy anymore, but if the guy behind all of this chose to send her to accomplish such a mission in the first place, then it must mean she has some powerful spells." 

Another matter with which Teana agreed. So without further ado, both girls used the remaining time before the duel officially started to come up with a basic plan of attack. Using the knowledge gained from the first fight against him, it was decided that moving as a group was ideal rather than approaching one by one. 

With Shirou and his accurate shots most likely aiming for one of them, it was best to focus on that rather than anything else. "I'll keep shooting at him as well. This should provide us with enough time and distract him far enough for us to close the distance,"  Subaru proposed. After that, both agreed that Subaru would deliver the final blow to Shirou while Teana would take out Lutecia.

"Alright, in three, two, one... let's go!" At Subaru's signal, a translucent platform appeared beneath their feet, a spell that created a thin path for both of them to take. They circled all around the field in a zigzag formation, making sure not to give their opponents an easy time aiming at them and increasing their range of mobility.

"Looks like the little one is going to make a move first," The blue-haired mage remarked, prompting Teana to look upwards and spot a gentle glow forming beneath Lutecia's feet. The latter's eyes closed in concentration before opening again, the giant magic circle having summoned entities that made her skin crawl, surrounded by an uncountable number of insects.

"Ew!" She recoiled slightly at the sight, but upon closer observation, she realized that these insects were different from what she had imagined — not organic creatures but metallic, drone-like almost. Unsure of what to expect, the girls stayed on guard and prepared for anything their opponent could send their way. Not wanting to sit idle, the gunslinger made the first move, aiming straight toward the little girl with her attack.

The barrel of her weapons glowed with a gentle yellow sheen before a magic circle formed in front of them, "Cross Fire Shoot!" sending small orbs made of magic hurtling towards Luticia. The yellow projectiles closed the distance towards their opponent in an instant, yet Shirou did not move a muscle. His arms folded as his gaze was perfectly calm. 

The wind picked up, as the hundreds of summoned familiars moved.

Both girls were surprised to find the attack stopped by hundreds of insects gathering in front of their summoner in a condensed cloud, completely absorbing the attack. Lutecia had not taken a single step and merely observed from her spot on the other side.

"Damn, those things are durable," Subaru remarked, noting that Teana's attack had managed to destroy only a handful of them from the entire cloud.

"I'll try something more powerful, but she'll probably use the same move to block it," Teana added.

"Still, nothing a good old punch won't be able to bypass. Uh, I'm pretty certain those summons of hers can't be as powerful as the drones," Subaru said, her rollerblades screeching against the ground as they grew closer and closer to one of them. Unlike the last battlefield, there was no technology here capable of altering the space around them into an urban environment. The area they were in mostly was an open field where unfortunately they wouldn't be able to use the surrounding structures to use as cover against his arrows.

Subaru used one of her techniques against the storm approaching, a single shot from her device sending a beam of energy towards the hundreds of insects and causing a small explosion before their eyes. 

"Yes! That should take care of the rest of them," she shouted while her partner continued to send a flurry of shots towards the swarm, treating them no differently than the rubber spheres she trained with a couple of minutes ago. Fully focusing on those furthest away and letting Subaru destroy the closest ones. 

"Just how many of them are there!?" 

A handful of these insects managed to bypass their attacks and reach both girls, their sharp resembling stinger ends leaving small scratches upon their skin, somehow bypassing the defenses of their barrier jackets.

Gritting her teeth, Subaru had enough and jumped high in the air. "Tea!" she warned her partner, the latter having heard her voice but too focused on something else, her eyes darting left and right to search for someone in particular, "Teana!? Move!" 

"Huh? A-Ah, right!" 

The revolver mechanism on her gauntlet spun around before a large quantity of mana gathered at its epicenter. The swarm, which had grown from a couple of hundreds to beyond thousands of those small mechanical insects, gathered in a singular spot, so dense that even the ground was no longer visible before shooting upwards straight towards her. Taking a deep breath, Subaru did not let that distract her and thrust her hands forward. 

"Revolver Shoot!" Unlike the previous attacks, this specific cartridge inserted in Mach Caliber shot out a beam of energy that scattered in a large area, barely able to cover every one of those small insects and destroy them with minimal effort.

From a distance, Teana made sure that each one of those targets was hit, ensuring that any remnants would get swiftly destroyed by her bullets. "That was easier than I imagined," she said as Subaru landed right beside her, a strange feeling coursing through her mind as she gathered her thoughts. Before the fight even began, she was expecting a difficult challenge where both of them would be pushed beyond their limits and with hardly any chance to win. But now that they had handled such an attack in the first place, rather than making her happy, it made her feel very uneasy. It was as if she was forgetting about something particularly important, and the more she thought about it, the more restless she became.

"Wow, that was awesome! Did you see my move there? I was practicing it for the last few days to make it more powerful, totally worth it!" Subaru exclaimed, a giant grin on her face as she looked at the aftermath of that attack. The ground was slightly scorched with scattered bits of metal and burning debris all around them. These insects, despite having sharp things capable of breaking through their layer of defenses, were quite fragile. It made her question how Lutecia would have fared against them during the auction, as this wouldn't have been enough against the likes of Nanoha and Fate, who were also present back then. "How exactly did she participate during the attack again? I was pretty sure we didn't see any insects back then and were mostly dealing with drones."

The orange haired girl had a similar question; there had to be more that the girl could do than this small-scale attack. Perhaps she, too, was holding back against them? 

"Wait a minute... Why aren't we being attacked anymore?" she asked. Instantly, both their eyes widened in concern as they turned around swiftly, only to find the spot where both of their opponents previously stood was now completely empty. Not a single trace of those two was visible anywhere, and that made the hair on their skin stand up.

"Shit, it was a distraction!" Subaru shouted, getting into a battle-ready stance with her guard completely up for any slight changes in their surroundings. Teana did the same thing, feeling goosebumps spread across her skin as she heard the sound of a gun hammer clicking. "—!"

A loud bang occurred right next to her ears, the corner of the girl's eyes spotting a red piece of cloth right next to her along with the familiar black armor. 

"A gun?" was all she could say before another wave of shock spread within her mind as she got a closer look at the weapon in question. "My gun?" 

The same colored gun, same shape, and same color? The weapon that she believed to be within her grasp was now held by the boy, with smoke coming out of its barrel as its wielder looked her right in the eyes. 'No… it is slightly different to Cross Mirage, the fact that it has a revolver chamber.'

"Look out!" Subaru shouted, being the fastest one to react, and jumping towards Shirou with an overhead strike with her legs. The latter didn't even bother to dodge and instead turned the gun upwards and shot again. 

Bang! The projectile left the chambers before striking Subaru's heels right in the center.

The force behind it was more than enough to throw her out of balance, sending her body spinning backward. 

He swiftly moved, his free hand moving with lightning speed, striking her right in the guts. The attack forced every ounce of air straight out of her lungs, along with spit. "Gah!" she recoiled. Unlike Subaru, there was only so much physical trauma she could endure, regardless of whether she was wearing a barrier jacket or not. Both girls fell to the ground a couple of meters away before hastily getting back up again. 

Remembering his way of fighting from the past, Teana instantly loaded her gun with another magic shot before firing. Unlike before, it wasn't just one beam, the spell split into dozens of smaller bullets, all heading straight toward Shirou. She expected him to bring out the same shield or use his blades to deflect the attack, hopefully buying them enough time to come up with another tactic. However, once again, she was rendered speechless. Rather than doing any of that, Shirou raised his gun and fired six shots in quick succession, each projectile hitting her bullets dead center and nullifying the attack.

The scene left Teana speechless, her mouth wide open, momentarily forgetting they were in the midst of a battle. Fortunately, she snapped back to reality when she noticed Shirou lowering his gun straight towards her once again, the barrel shining with a strange blue light for a second. "Since when could he copy my technique and device!?" she screamed in frustration, raising her gun and carefully aiming for the barrel. In a similar fashion to Shirou, she closed her eyes and concentrated before firing her shot at the same time as her opponent. Their attacks met halfway and canceled each other out, but before she could even be relieved, a second bullet pierced through the cloud and struck Teana on her shoulder. "Damn it!" she shouted.

"Don't forget about me!" Subaru, on the other hand, took advantage of Shirou's focus on Teana. Circling around the duo, she rushed straight towards the boy's back where he wouldn't be able to spot her. Unlike last time, she went with a strike from below, using her fist and going straight for an uppercut. "Try using a gun against this, you bastard." 

There was no way he would have enough time to switch hands and aim. But her moment of glee was cut short as a powerful punch struck right across her face from someone else. Subaru thankfully managed to recover just in time and not be sent flying like before, noticing the person who attacked her.

"How did she even get there?" Right next to Shirou was none other than Lutecia, the young girl still wearing her stoic face, standing right between Shirou and another one of her summons. But unlike the other small insects, this one was much more intimidating and bigger. A humanoid creature the same size as Subaru, covered in a thick black carapace, with a mantis head that stared right back at her. Powerful arms capable of delivering a lot of damage, most likely the ones that struck her moments before. "She wasn't there last I checked, it's like she appeared out of nowhere," Subaru whispered in shock, noticing Lutecia secretly holding onto a certain dagger hidden within her pockets.

"Doesn't matter, I'll just focus on you, and Teana will focus on Shirou!" Subaru said, but before she could rush forward, she was forced to dodge as her instinct screamed at her, moving away just in time to dodge a stray shot. This one, however, was from her partner. "Teana!?" she exclaimed with shock, Teana froze in her spot as she quickly shook her head. "I wasn't aiming for you! I shot at him, and he deflected the attack somehow, changing its trajectory!" Both girls struggled to believe that such a thing was even possible, let alone executed with such frightening accuracy that it defied everything they had seen in the past.

"Idiot, don't lose your focus on him!" Subaru warned her friend, the latter not expecting Shirou to close the distance between them and head straight for her partner instead. "Try to hold ou— Ugh!" 

As she tried to get back up, the same humanoid grabbed her head and pushed it back into the ground. The disgusting taste of dirt on her tongue coupled with the slight dizziness made it hard to concentrate on anything else. 

"Sorry about that, but Shirou asked me to make sure you don't interfere."

Interfere? Subaru was curious what she meant by that.

.

.

.

Teana felt her body freeze as she wondered what to do next. Her mind was still trying to figure out whether or not she would bring out the blades and use them against her or not. Yet it became apparent to the girl that she couldn't just stand by and let him do whatever he wanted. 'He's too fast, I won't have the time to charge a Cross Fire Shoot. But I can't risk him getting close if he can even overwhelm Subaru!' 

One attack… only a single spell came to her mind she believed that could possibly earn her a chance at victory. But the casting time was the slowest. 

"Shoot Barret!" Wasting no time, she cast another spell. This one taking less time than any other attack to form. The ball of light, though dimmer, shot out of the barrel as there remained less than a handful of meters between her and Shirou.

"Huh?" He didn't seem to have anticipated such a quick cast spell, Teana holding back a smirk as the projectile struck him right in the middle of the face. A cloud of smoke spread before quickly getting dissipated by more shots from Shirou's gun. 

"What!?" Surprised by how quickly he recovered, the girl staggered backward as a few managed to hit her. The impact was, strangely enough, weaker than what she expected, but painful enough to release a grunt. 

This time, Shirou managed to close the distance between them completely, leaving her no room for any other spells. 

"You're overthinking it too much," Shirou said, the gun's heel delivering a swift strike to her forehead, again, the impact itself did not carry as much force as she thought it would. "Don't think about what you must do to win, just focus on your current situation." 

She would have given him an answer if his knees hadn't struck her in the guts, pushing the girl off the ground before whipping the gun around and aiming it back to her face. Through sheer willpower alone, she got over the pain and tilted her head just enough to dodge the bullet. 

"It's clear to me that you're far too distracted and frustrated lately. But blaming yourself for everything is not healthy, you're already an amazing gunslinger." 

"As if you'd understand!" Anger leaked out of her voice, grabbing onto Shirou's arm and locking it in place with her arms and legs, making it impossible for him to move it anymore. "I trained for years to get to this point, yet it only took you a matter of days to get on my level. Who are you calling amazing here!?" 

He winced as she twisted, most likely feeling the joints of his arm screening in pain. Yet Teana could not celebrate as he tried to slam her body to the ground, the blonde jumped away and managed to create enough distance between them. "Cross Fire Shoot!"

Orbs formed around her body, twice as many as before, all being sent shooting towards Shirou. 

With her own eyes, she saw him hesitate, his free hand making a motion as if he was going to hold something else before abandoning that notion. 'Why isn't he using his swords?' 

Teana's question went unanswered as right before her eyes Shirou started to move. Bringing up the gun and just like before, fired six shots, destroying half of the orbs before hastily jumping away. 'Are those… bullet casings near his feet?' 

Those weapons definitely looked similar to her device but were definitely different.

It had escaped her notice before, but not once did he use any of the spells she was familiar with. Even the ones that struck her were not beam attacks or anything of that sort, but physical bullets. 

"This is my chance." Gaining a window of time, Teana ran up the light platform to gain a better position. Taking the time to check on Subaru and finding her friend pinned to the ground by some insectoid creature, she thought of aiding the blue-haired girl. "No! I have to make sure he's out first, Subaru can handle herself!" 

So she jumped straight towards the man, both of her guns now equipped with blades shooting out from their barrels, her hands held upwards as she descended, ready to strike him down. She still expected Shirou to bring out his blades and was prepared to deal with them at any moment. 

But to her dismay, not only did the man not bring out his usual blades, but he also brought out a second pair of guns that resembled hers and copied her exact stance as he aimed upwards. "Are you mocking me!?" she shouted as she fired two more shots. Each one impacted the blades of her guns, shattering them into pieces. 

Yet Teana no longer cared, completely disregarding any hesitation and worry she had prior. 

"Phantom..." Time felt as if it had slowed down to a crawl. Her eyes concentrated on Shirou's hands as he pulled the trigger once again and fired another shot. The bullet traveled through the air toward her, and she made no effort to deflect or destroy it, letting it continue its trajectory toward her face until she forcefully used every ounce of muscle in her body to turn her head just in time for it to pass right next to her cheek. "...Blazer!"

The impacts released enough energy to create a miniature dome of both fire and smoke that engulfed both of them in less than a second. Teana fell to the ground, barely able to catch herself from planting her face straight onto the grass. She panted loudly, trying to regain her breathing while her limbs slightly shook. The fight hadn't lasted that long, but every second felt like an entire hour. 

"That… should have… hah… done it. It had to," she said while panting, having used most of her mana for that move. But just as she was about to celebrate a victory, her ears picked up the sound of another gun hammer being pulled back followed by an audible click. Everything around her seemed to come to a standstill. 

Her face, which had been slightly turned around, now fully widened as she found the redhead standing close. His right arm extended with the gun pointing straight at her, while his apparel looked more detailed up close. On his body there were no signs that showed major damages other than small burns and stains that could be polished out easily, but the same couldn't be said for the black armor, which showed some slight cracks on its edges, confirming it wasn't there before.

"Why… aren't you using your swords!? I feel like you're making fun of me, Shirou!" Finally not being able to hold back anymore she demanded, he looked up at her with an awkward smile. 

"Because I want to show you that you actually are getting better with your skills after every mission." He said, getting up from the ground, sharply breathing in as he moved his arms around a bit. "I didn't know you could use daggers with your gun, must it have been a new spell? Would have made it easier for me if they were real blades." 

She was taken aback by his first answer, frowning and demanding for elaboration. 

"Didn't you notice? I was fighting the same way you did during our first duel together." That made her eyes widened with shock, while he continued his speech. "From my speed, strength and even accuracy were all something you would have been able to do very recently. Granted, I had to use a regular gun that only looks similar to yours given I wouldn't have been able to use the spells you know but you get my point. Your current self easily managed to overwhelm that version of yourself, quite easily I might add." 

"But it doesn't matter," she retorted quickly. "If you had used your swords and stopped holding back then I wouldn't have won! Can't you understand? I just want to reach a level where I can protect you and all of my friends!" 

Taken aback by her words, Shirou was left momentarily stunned at the tone of her voice. 

"In the first mission, Erio almost got gravely hurt, and in the second one you nearly died… I couldn't do anything and I hate that! If we were to end up in a similar situation once again and you weren't as lucky as before, then what's stopping you from ending up with life-threatening injuries or worse?" 

Her way of thinking felt strangely familiar, different for certain but with enough parallels that he knew more and more where she was coming from. A way of thinking that somewhat mirrored his, one that he started to understand more and more how it gnawed at the girl's mind if left unchecked. 

"I don't want to see you all hurt and I don't want to become a dead weight to the team… I can't allow that." 

He took a deep breath of air to carefully think about what he could say next. "You're wrong about one thing, I understand where you're coming from. Because I used to be in your shoes as well." 

"..."

It was obvious she didn't believe it.

"Heh, you don't need to look at me like that as if I'm lying — it's the truth. I didn't get to my current level because of talent, I believe I mentioned this before. I am, and always will be a third-rate Mage, someone barely qualified in the eyes of many with how little I could actually do. Shirou Emiya at the end of the day was only able to use a single spell, with no chances of learning anything else without spending my whole lifetime just to make the smallest of progress. And this same person tried to go up against true monsters because he didn't want to see anyone get hurt." 

"You succeeded?" Before she knew it, Teana had lowered her guard and began to converse with the man, curiosity having gotten the better of her. 

"Hardly at first, I kept losing again and again. Nearly got killed more times than I can count, it was honestly pathetic what little impact I had on the overall situation. I always ended up being saved by someone else, and I hated that. I… I couldn't save one person, someone I found out much later on to have been basically family to me." His tone changed as his eyes darkened. 

"I-I'm sorry, Shirou." She replied, genuinely feeling a pang in her heart at the emotions he showed. 

"Don't be, it was my fault. I was weak." Anger leaked out for a moment before he quickly composed himself. "But you aren't, your case is very much different from mine. Your rate of improvement is astonishing, you don't realize that but everyone around you does. You were helpful in every mission, without your assistance Subaru wouldn't have been able to fight freely without any worries of getting attacked because you had her back covered. You're just as important as anyone else, without you the team wouldn't be able to operate the same anymore. That is why…"

He raised the imitation gun once more, this time a second one appeared in his other hand. Taking on a stance that mirrored hers, the redhead glared back with a far more menacing look than before. "I'll use your skills to prove to you my point."

The ground within her feet sunk in slightly, his feet pushing himself forward at great speed. "—!" Teana, unprepared, tried to aim once more but had her hand kicked away by a kick. A gunfire aimed straight for her already sore stomach, causing a great deal of pain yet even in her state, she managed to recognize the moves he used being of hers she used rarely. 

So she tried to do the same, only to have gunfire be shot straight at her knees. "I remember in our first duel you were far more perceptive and calculating than what you've shown today. You have never allowed yourself to be separated from Subaru and try to take on an enemy on your own." 

True, she couldn't deny that. Had she focused on their teamwork then maybe…

His words were followed by a series of shots each aimed at her hands, forcing Teana to lose grip of Cross Mirage. "You would have made sure that I wouldn't be getting anywhere near you, focusing on your main advantage and constantly putting me under pressure. Buying time till Subaru got close and finished the job."

In a desperate attempt, her hands glowed with magic as mana gathered to fire another Shoot Barret, only to discover the man was gone. Her ears picked up the sound of running footsteps on top of her until she realized the platform was still active. She tried to regain her footing.  But it was too late, he grabbed her hands, legs wrapping around arm and neck interlocking with one another. Forcing a painful sensation as if her muscles were about to be torn and her bones dislocated. 

She ended up on the ground, huffing and immobile.

"The Teana of the past was far more capable, I know you can easily surpass her if you stop holding yourself back with these false thoughts about you not being important because you are." 

She didn't have an answer for him, staying quiet and her gesture admitting defeat. Letting her go, he stepped back as she lay on the floor with her eyes looking at the ceiling, hearing footsteps approaching as she came to face Subaru. Crouching down, looking at her straight in the eyes. "So, have you woken up yet, Tea? You kinda left me to fend off against the insect girl by myself, never thought I'd lose to someone probably younger than Erio." 

"...Sorry." 

"I'll be honest, this also reminded me how reliant I am on you. I always fight without any worry about my surroundings because you are there, I honestly can't remember the last time I felt so overwhelmed." 

A small smile appeared on the blonde's face. "It's rare to see you lose like that." 

"Humph, of course, it's rare. Our teamwork was one of the most effective even in the academy, there was a reason why we were amongst the best! You seem to have forgotten about that." 

"Hah… yes, you are right." She sighed, now that calmness occupied her mind, she started to realize how faulty this plan of attack was from the beginning. Her prior self would have never agreed to such a reckless approach. 

Subaru extended her hands which she took, the latter pulling her back on her two feet. Looking at Shirou who was talking to Lutecia, going to pat her head which the girl leaned in towards with a peaceful expression. 

Approaching them, strangely enough she felt more nervous yet also at ease. As if some invisible weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. 

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Much better…also," the girl closed the distance between them and had her arms wrapped around him. "Thanks for everything, it would have been bad for everyone if I kept acting like that." She truly meant those words, not noticing the smallest of blush appear on Shirou's face before he awkwardly returned the hug without saying much of a word. 

Subaru laughed in the background while Lutecia seemed to be talking with her insects and congratulating them for their efforts.

"You two seem to be going along well enough." 

"—!?"

"Wah!" 

He was frightened for a moment, his body twitching as he hadn't sensed this person approaching. Looking back to find Nanoha having a large pout on her face, looking at him as if he'd wronged her somehow. "N-Nanoha, w-when did you get—"

"—That's not important! I'm supposed to be the instructor but here you are having all the fun, Shirou." She said, looking between him and Teana. "While I am glad you two are getting along, it wouldn't hurt to have called me to oversee the battle. I could have participated as well!" 

A chill ran down Shirou's spine at the thought of fighting this woman.

A reaction that was noticed by the brunette. 

"What? Do you have something to say to me?" She asked getting close to his face with a frown, he looked away, not sure how to answer the woman.

So he let his mind just utter the first thing it could come up with. "Not really, I very much like to live to see the next day and not get murdered by your endless whining." 

"..." 

Everyone around him gave the man a strange reaction at his response, not expecting it to sound so dry and sharp.

"Well he's not wrong, you can be pretty stubborn at times." Apparently, she wasn't the only one watching the match, as Fate walked over followed by Erio and Caro. The young boy ran over to him with wonder in his eyes. 

"That was an amazing battle! I didn't know you could copy techniques like that! Can you do it with me as well? I want to see if I've gotten better compared to my past self. Please!" He pleaded, putting him in a tough stop as Shirou only intended to boost Teana's confidence this one time. 

"Kyu!" Friedrich jumped on his red hair, rolling around, treating it like a nest before going to sleep. 

Best to ignore it.

"M-Me too if you don't mind." Caro asked as well, trying to reach for her familiar but too short to reach him. "So-Sorry about Fried, I don't know why he's behaving like that!" 

"I can't really copy your style, Caro. I'm not a summoner." Shirou replied dryly, tilting his head sideways and trying to have the little dragon slip off his head. "Ouch!" Only to have the creature sink its claws within his scalp and hold tight. 

"Waaah! Fried! Bad dragon! Bad dragon!" Caro panicked, her eyes moistening at her familiar's actions.

But thankfully he was saved by the sound of all their devices starting to ring all of a sudden. 

"Eh?" 

Even Nanoha was unprepared.

Accepting the call, they all heard Hayate's voice come from the other side. 

"Riot Force 6 is asked to assemble at the Headquarters, we have spotted the presence of more variant drones. Everyone please return as soon as possible, this is urgent."

"Again?" Said Subaru. "We just got done with those very recently!"

"It's the doctor! " Lutecia answered, looking at the screen with shaking hands.

As for Shirou, he shared her sentiment, this was far too quick of a response after what happened last time. The girl mentioned how this person was supposed to be very cautious, was he perhaps here to take her back?

He had a bad feeling about this.

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