Sword of Fate | Chapter 24

Fuji-nee stepped back and gave Shirou a soft tap on his head. "You'd think that I'd have beaten sense into that thick head of yours by now." She sighed and clasped her hands in a prayer. "Oh, Kiritsugu! How could your son be so senseless? Please, enlighten this humble young woman!"

Shirou sighed. "I get it, Fuji-nee. There's no need to rub it in my face."

Fuji-nee gave Shirou an impish grin, and then left the dojo, humming all the way. When she was gone, Shirou turned to Kirito. He raised an eyebrow. "Master kenjutsu practitioner?" he asked. "Where did she get that, Kirito?"

The black swordsman looked abashed. "Ah. I... might have slipped a bit and forgot to hold back for a few seconds." At Shirou's unyielding gaze, Kirito sighed. "Alright, I accidently lashed out with the intent to kill. I admit it."

Shirou shook his head. "I'll... just pretend that you didn't admit to almost killing my guardian." The poor red-head felt pressure building in his head, the troubles of the day starting to get to him.

"Hey!" Kirito looked affronted. "That shinai of hers was honestly cursed! I had to actually use this bokuto as a Noble Phantasm to prevent it from shattering!"

The red-head sighed. "Whatever you say, Kirito. I'm heading inside to see if there's anything Sakura needs me to do. Clean this place up, would you?"

The black swordsman stared at Shirou's retreating back with disbelief, then cast a wary glance at the innocent looking shinai with as much bloodlust as a Muramasa blade. After a deep sigh, Kirito turned away from the cursed sword and walked out of the dojo. The feline purr that he heard on his way out was written off as a hallucination from the day's stress.

After all, swords, even in games, didn't do that.

Right?

Dinner was a simple affair. Kirito blended easily into the Emiya Residence's dinnertime and took his place at the dinner table without trouble. Sakura had prepared a baked salmon, along with the usual staples, for dinner and the four people at the Emiya residence gathered for the meal.

"So, Kirito." Taiga raised her chopsticks and pointed at the dark-haired swordsman. "How'd you get so good at the blade? It wasn't through ordinary training, was it?"

"Sensei!" Sakura scolded her tactless teacher. "You shouldn't be asking such things at dinner. And you definitely don't point at people with your chopsticks!"

Shirou nodded. "That's right Fuji-nee. Keep it up and Sakura might cut off your rations."

Taiga gulped at the threat. Even if it was just light-hearted teasing, threats to the Tiger's food supply were seriously considered. She gave a nervous glance back to Kirito. "Ehe, I didn't mean to pry..."

Kirito finished the food on his plate and gently set it against the table. "No, it's obvious that you would be curious. I apologize for not addressing it beforehand."

Something about Kirito's tone set Shirou's alarm bells ringing. The red-head looked at the black swordsman, catching the mischievous glint in the young man's eyes, and sighed, recognizing it as the same look he had when telling everyone about how they met. Well, Shirou mused, at least it was believable.

The red-head wondered how Kirito would explain this situation. Kirito didn't disappoint.

With a somber tone, Kirito gazed at everyone and then began speaking. "It all began when I was fourteen..."

Shirou sighed as he walked along the darkened road with his Servant. After spinning an incredible tale about winning the chance to experience an advanced video game, advertised as a hyper-realistic fantasy simulation in his invitation, and explaining exactly how realistic the game was, giving examples of duels and the enemies he had encountered, like genetic-splicing experiments gone wrong and murderous criminals, Taiga had been stunned.

Taiga could hardly believe that Kirito had gone through such an experience, but coupled with the fact that he actually was skilled with the sword, and the expressions Kirito had shown when telling the tale, especially the gut wrenching portion where one of his closest friends had died in an ambush while he lived, was left convinced. Kirito's solemn oath that he wouldn't let anyone else die in front of him, and that he had trained his skills to prevent an event from occurring again, eliminated any doubts she had about Shirou participating in their 'underground video game tournament'.

Sakura, on the other hand, took the news with ease, something that confused Shirou until she pointed out the mysterious events occurring and that it wasn't hard to believe that Kirito had experienced what he had considering that.

Needless to say, it was far too close to the truth for his comfort, so the head of the Emiya household had quickly ushered the two female guests out, after convincing Taiga to escort Sakura home.

"Something wrong, Shirou?" Kirito gave his Master a curious look.

The swordsman's words brought about another round of sighs from the red-head, something he realized he was prone to doing recently. I blame the war, Shirou thought.

"No. I'm just... wrapping my head around the fact that you managed to convince Taiga that your outfit was a costume and not actually... real."

Shirou gave a pointed look to the black swordsman, once again dressed in his dark attire and armed with two blades. The crystalline sword that had shattered was replaced with an equally elegant blade marked with a blue dragon. It was nameless, as Kirito told him, but would serve just as well as his broken weapon.

He grinned. "I didn't."

Shirou nearly tripped over his own feet at those words. After righting himself, he gave Kirito an incredulous look. "What do you mean you didn't?"

The swordsman shrugged. "She took one look and asked if my swords were real. When I said yes, all she told me was to 'protect Shirou'."

The red-head let out a groan and rubbed his forehead, trying to stave off the inevitable headache. "Let me guess. That's how you convinced her to make me carry Tora-Shinai?"

"Yep!"

The cursed blade was currently wrapped in a towel and carried around Shirou's back, held with a make-shift rope holster. "And why should I have it again?"

:::

:::

Suscribe so you can access more chapters in advance!!! ⚠️patreon.com/sKyarcsc

Chapters 1 - 50 🔥