Chapter 1

March 16, 2004

Nagazora City, St. Luke International Hospital.

At five o'clock in the morning, the boy lying on the hospital bed slowly opened his eyes with a bewildered expression and blurry eyesight

What comes into view is the ceiling made of polymer materials and metal pipelines.

The faint sunlight hits the surrounding environment through the curtains, soaking the narrow bed in a hazy darkness.

The boy glanced around and then realized that he was lying in a ward.

The melodious and crisp birdsong rang out one after another outside the window, but the corridor outside the ward was quiet.

The boy stretched out his hands to slowly raise his upper body.

He shook his head to wake up his unconscious brain.

He then lowered his head to look at his body.

No injuries could be seen on his body except for the dry tears on both sides of his cheeks.

Everything doesn't look out of the ordinary—

If you ignore the immature age of this seemingly harmless body, that's only about six or seven years old.

'Am I dreaming about that time again?'

After barely figuring out his current situation the boy couldn't help but start to doubt himself.

He knew that he was not the kind of person who was good at lucid dreaming.

In most cases the images he sees after falling asleep are only memories of the past.

So when he found out that he suddenly changed to his younger appearance the first thing he wanted to know was whether he was in a memory or a dream.

After all, dreaming of laying in a hospital ward is not a new experience but rather a habit.

'Were my dreams so realistic?'

The boy frowned slightly, thinking with some doubt.

His dreams are always hazy, and even if he knew that he was recalling the past he couldn't think freely like right now.

Moreover, although the overall style of the wards is similar it was slightly different from the ward that had always appeared in his memory.

Just when the boy's thoughts was spinning wildly he gradually realized that he didn't seem to be in a dream.

A severe headache attacked his brain without warning, tearing at his faint consciousness mercilessly.

It was like a multiple blade was cutting inside the head.

He arched his body suddenly

Crack-

Out of the instinct of not wanting to trouble others the boy tightly covered his mouth, desperately enduring the screams that were about to burst out.

Amidst the headache that was enough to cause ordinary people to go into shock in an instant, a sealed box of memories deep in his consciousness was opened.

Chaotic scenes and incomprehensible thoughts turned into continuous images flashing in the boy's mind.

At the same time, crack-like lines pried open his field of vision in an extremely punishing manner like the raging fire that was deeply imprinted into his memories.

Countless dark thin lines and pitch-black holes swarmed into the boy's field of vision like swarms of wasps.

The scene where everything was covered by the pitch-black gave the boy a vicious and ominous premonition that the whole world would fall apart at that moment.

When the boy pessimistically thought that the pain would last forever, it didn't.

It suddenly came and it suddenly left.

"Hmm..."

Enduring the swelling pain that remained in his head, the boy let out a distressed voice muffled by his fingers and panted rapidly.

"Hoo...ha...ha...ha..."

He desperately adjusted his breathing.

His face was livid and his head was covered with cold sweat.

"What... These memories are..."

Even after the pain has disappeared the images that remain in his mind are still flashing non-stop.

And... more than that.

His brain no longer feels pain but everything he can see is still densely covered with twisted black lines.

'Is it because my brain has been too intensely stimulated? So maybe my visual system was also affected?'

The boy thought in his heart.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, pondered for a while, then sighed softly.

He closed his eyes after laying back on the hospital bed.

He began to sort out those chaotic memories in the quiet environment.

He didn't know how long it took but after the footsteps of the nurse's sounded outside the corridor, the boy who sorted out those memories opened his eyes with a complicated expression.

'—Let's make a conclusion first.'

If those extra memories are correct, he... no, this body that does not belong to him should still be a boy named [Emiya Shirou].

Although the experience and life of this [Emiya Shirou] is very similar to him in the general direction, it is completely different from him in crucial parts.

For example... this [Shirou Emiya] did not suffer from the [Fuyuki Fire] that killed more than 500 people, but he still lost his parents in a murder case.

Another example... the man who adopted this [Emiya Shirou] is not the [Hero of Justice] and [Magus] who travels all year round.

The person besides him is the policeman [Emiya Kiritsugu], who was difficult to accompany due to work.

In addition, the most similar thing is that no matter who [Emiya Shirou] is, he will lose his adoptive father last night in a starry sky.

After sorting out those chaotic memories, Emiya Shirou, who was lying on the hospital bed pursed his lips showing a somewhat bitter expression.

At least the Emiya Shirou in [Fuyuki City] accompanied his father on his last journey, this one in [Nagazora City] lost the chance to see his father in his last moments.

"Really... If this is a prank, the person who made such a joke is a very bad guy."

He raised his arms to cover his eyes and whispered in a hoarse voice.

He doesn't know if it's because they have the same origin, but the boy who also lost his adoptive father the night before quickly accepts those memories that didn't belong to him.

At the moment when the memories of the two parties were completely merged the boy was a little unclear whether the [Emiya Shirou] in [Fuyuki City] came to this world or if there was a part in the mind of the [Emiya Shirou] in [Nagazora City] with memories that didn't belong to him.

Just when Shirou was a little confused because of the strange event a sound of scattered footsteps sounded from a far until it reached the door to Shirou's ward.

As the door opened from the outside a doctor came to Shirou's bedside and pulled open the curtains.

Shirou couldn't help squinting his eyes slightly as the sunshine came in.

The doctor who came was a middle-aged man with a serious face.