Chapter 3: Statue

Beta read by Shigiya

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-Room 2-

In the royal room of the cruise trip that Taiga won from the lottery. The two occupants living adjacent to each other have been having a pleasant conversation for the last hour. Even their initial polite tone soon dwindled down to two people talking as if they weren't strangers a few hours ago.

"And so, my sister just straight up left me all alone, while leaving with our butler and family car! It took me two hours to walk back to our manor while avoiding strangers calling the police on me and wearing high heels!"

Shirou couldn't help but ask why people were calling the police on her in the first place.

"Oh, well, I think they just found someone like me roaming the streets weird and probably assumed that I happened to be a lost child. Anyways, when I returned home after an hour, my sister didn't even apologize for her actions!"

Woah, Shirou wondered just what kind of environment and parenting made these two sisters grow up so differently. 

"Wow, she's… sounds like an extreme kind of person," Shirou said as he poured more juice for Luvia. 

"That is one way to describe my sister," Luvia let out a huff at Shirou's choice of words and miffed at the memory, before taking another sip of juice. 

They already drank the entire thermos of tea. Having too much of it would not be good for anyone's health, so he opted for something sweet and healthy. His current room being the Royal suite, room service provided them with fresh fruits, so he quickly squeezed out some juice for both of them and made a fruit cocktail. 

When Luvia first came in an hour ago, their conversation started a bit stiff and awkward. She spoke eloquently and with a bourgeoisie tone that belonged to a noble from the middle ages. Even her laugh just screamed rich Ojou-sama from the few mangas that Taiga made him read. Fortunately for Shirou, the more he talked with her, the more she relaxed and began conversing in a more casual tone.

"But that's just how my sister is. I love her with all my heart and wish her the best, but that girl can personify the devil any time she is in a bad mood. Doesn't help that she doesn't like traveling and meeting new people, like me. Therefore, finding common ground between us can be a bit… impossible."

Shirou smiled at how Luvia described her sibling. Despite complaining for all this time, he could see how she genuinely seemed to care about her younger twin. 

"I can't say I can sympathize with you, Edelfelt-san. I don't have any siblings of my own, though my guardian does force me to take on an older brother-like role when she gets all childish." 

Taiga was a responsible adult… when she wasn't around him, that is. She never missed a day of teaching her class—aside from that one time—and always worked hard to be the best teacher for her students. She held genuine love and passion for her work, and Shirou always admired that trait of his Fuji-nee.

But to become a true older brother... There was so much he needed to do before.

Hopefully one day, he would be able to accomplish one of his father's dreams and his own.

"She sounds like a fun type of person. I'd like to meet her during our stay here." Luvia said.

"You should. You'll love her cheerful attitude. Though I warn you, she can be a bit… forward." 

"That's good. I myself am a straight-to-the-point kind of girl. Meeting someone with similar traits is not a bad thing." 

He nodded his head.

All in all, Shirou ended up enjoying his stay on this cruise ship more than he thought. Back in Fuyuki, he barely had any friends outside of Sakura, Issei, and Shinji. Sakura, who he met when saving her from a bunch of bullies as a kid, Issei he first encountered when Kiritsugu was buried at Ryuudou Temple and Shinji, whom he met by hanging around with his sister. People like Neko-san—Otoko Hotaruzuka—did not count. He viewed her more as his boss and older sister like Taiga. She agreed to let him help out her business in Copenhagen. The place was more like a liquor store and a bar at the same time. 

It also helped that the pay was quite generous. Kiritsugu left him with enough savings to live a comfortable life, but Shirou just couldn't accept such a thing. How could he allow himself to live such a comfortable life when he didn't deserve such a thing in the first place? 

So working hard to earn a wage suited him very much.

Neko-san was a serious-minded person, although her behavior might seem childish at times like Taiga-nee. She was always busy with her business, unable to stand lazy people, and she really cared about running Copenhagen but could be overly generous with the service at times.

Not to mention both his guardian and boss were actually old friends from high school. 

"By the way, Sherou, from which part of Japan do you hail from? I find the country to be quite modern and traditional in its history all at once. My curiosity begs me to grab the opportunity to step foot in your homeland in the future."

"Oh, I'm sure you won't be familiar with the name of my town. It's quite obscure." Shirou said, knowing Fuyuki wasn't well known for anything compared to the other prefectures of Japan. 

"It's Fuyuki City." 

The moment he said that, Luvia's eyes widened slightly before returning to normal. She didn't betray any outward emotions and kept her calm disposition. If memory served her well, then a certain rival of hers lives in that city as well. Sharing a similar ancestor and practicing under the same tree of their magecraft 

"Fuyuki, you say… I heard there was a rather enormous outbreak of fire. Killing thousands of people that day, with very few survivors. I believe they call it 'The Great Fuyuki Fire'. Quite a tragic event, I must say. You wouldn't have happened to be there at that time, would you?" she asked, her eyes focusing more on Shirou's face. 

The latter, of course, didn't notice her sudden change.

"You could say that, it was a horrifying day for everyone involved... A tragedy that shouldn't have occurred in the first place. That period of time certainly doesn't being back any good memories." 

'Aside one.'

The frequent nightmares he kept getting off that fateful day kept haunting him every week. The young Emiya could never forget the sensation of fire nearly burning his skin, the cries of help calling out to him as he kept walking forward—ignoring their pleas, as they were consumed by the flames and choosing to survive while throwing everything who he once was away. His first and last selfish act. One that he never wished to ever happen.

"Forgive me. I am at fault for bringing up such a dark subject after our rather enjoyable conversation. It was not in my intentions to displease you in any way."

He shook his head, smiling at Luvia and telling her that it was fine.

"You can't change the past. Those who have died will stay dead no matter how much I may wish otherwise. My father always told me to never get too hung up on the past, not to walk forward blindly when looking back and facing the consequences later." 

Whenever the old man would give him such pieces of wisdom, on many occasions, Shirou felt that these words were meant for Kiritsugu rather than himself. Sometimes, he realized that his father's eyes would grow dim and somber whenever he sat on the porch, looking at the moon. Reminiscing of a past that Shirou was unaware of. 

"Your father sounds like he was a wise man."

"He was… one with many flaws, but someone I definitely looked up to," he said, reminiscing about his time spent with Kiritsugu. 

Like how the man would, on many occasions, nearly burn down the kitchen by just trying to boil water and somehow manage to make the liquid catch fire as well despite all logic saying otherwise.

How he learned many things from him.

And much, much more.

"I can see that you respect your father very much from the way you talk about him. I do so as well after hearing your description of the man you admire. I find the act of a father caring for his son to such an extent admirable and envious. Many use their children as tools to push their agendas on goals they failed to accomplish. Then again, not all parents are like that… it just so happens that some people just get the short end of the straw." 

The way she talked about the topic sounded like the issue was quite personal.

Shirou laughed a bit.

"Ironically, my case ended up being the opposite," he mentioned, making Luvia curious about what he meant by that.

"My father… was quite weak. He slept for half of the day, could barely exercise himself before coughing, and simple actions quickly became a challenge for him. One night, he told me about how he had a dream, how he abandoned them due to many reasons that pushed him further away from his goal. Some of which I could not agree with, yet in the end, I accepted his words. Therefore, I asked him to not worry that I would make his dreams come true." 

"You took his goals for yourself, willingly?" Luvia's tone seemed confused. She didn't look like she completely agreed with Shirou to some extent. "While I understand the reason behind it, him being someone you cherished so much. Have you taken the necessary approach of having your own dreams put first? Everyone has a goal, something they want to accomplish for themselves. While it's admirable to pick up someone else's dreams, putting it at the forefront can be detrimental in the long run." 

Shirou disagreed. His father's dream was to save people, and there was nothing wrong with upholding that ideal.

"May I ask what he dreamed of accomplishing?"

There it was, the same question he was asked many times by others. Though they mostly inquired about what he wished to do, his answer would always be the same.

"I want to become a hero and save people."

He said it, not hiding or wording it differently. This wasn't something to be embarrassed about, not something he was ashamed of. Despite being called out for having such a childish goal, it was his, and Shirou Emiya wouldn't stop until he reached that point. 

'Saving someone means not saving someone else. A superhero is really selfish, huh…?' Kiritsugu said that to him years ago. 

It happened when Shirou told him he wanted to be just like him.

He still couldn't get a grasp on his words completely.

But the boy known as Shirou Emiya had to become a superhero who went around saving people, just like Emiya Kiritsugu. Something determined since the day he was saved.

He still had doubts.

How could he become one in the first place? What factor determined the day he could officially call himself a hero? Doing random good deeds did not count, so saving someone's life… yeah, probably.

He waited for the laugh to come, the mockery and denial he grew used to hearing from everyone around him. A hero? Impossible, an embarrassing goal, something that only a child would say. These arguments kept being repeated to him countless times. Not that he didn't understand their reasoning, many wished the best for him and didn't say it with malicious intent.

"..."

Yet as he waited for a burst of laughter or a statement denying his dreams, none came, and Luvia's reaction revealed nothing.

"You don't find it weird?" he asked, confused at her reaction.

Maybe…

"I do."

He sighed.

Oh, well, he shouldn't have expected otherwise.

"But I also respect your dreams. It is not my place to judge what you want to become in the future. I have no right to demand any sort of change from you. We barely know each other after all. Why change your dreams from the words of a stranger? If I were someone closer to you, then maybe I would have intervened in some way. But for now, you do you, Sherou. Good luck on reaching your goals."

He did not expect such a reaction from her. Of course, she didn't agree with what he understood so far, but she also respected his goals, and that was something he rarely heard from anyone—aside from Sakura. Luvia might have become the second person who somewhat agreed with him.

"Thank you," Shirou said sincerely. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

Once again, Luvia's gaze returned to the knife on the table. Her face turned into a slight frown as she contemplated what course of action to take. 

As she was about to talk, both heard a chorus of screams coming from the cruise's deck. The sounds of people calling for help immediately triggered Shirou's senses.

"It's coming from the ship's deck!"

"Indeed."

Neither of the two hesitated and ran to the glass door leading to the balcony and looked downwards to see what the commotion was about. Everyone was running to one side of the cruise, crying out for someone.

"Look, over there!" Luvia pointed at a spot offboard the ship. 

What they saw was a young boy who didn't even look like he was ten, having somehow fallen off the ship and struggling to swim in the water, screaming for help as he continued to struggle. The crowd of people all gathered around the railing as many tossed life jackets and any sort of rope they could find, yet none were able to reach him, and even then, the child was panicking too much to notice them and began sinking further in the water.

"Where have those imbeciles staff members run off to!?" Luvia screamed in anger.

Knowing that the kid didn't have much time left before he'd drown, she decided to take matters into her own hands. With how quickly the boat continued to move forward and the complete lack of any of the crew members attempting to save the boy, Luvia didn't have time to contemplate her decision.

Just as she was about to rip her dress away and jump off from the highest floor of the cruise—someone else beat her to it.

Shirou hopped on their room's balcony.

"Trace, on!"

Magical energy gathered inside his legs, glowing with a bright green circuit-like pattern. Shirou didn't hesitate to use reinforcement to jump off further at a distance so he could reach the area the child drifted off to. 

Bam!

The metal railing bent a bit inwards. The force behind his jump propelled him a few dozens of meters forward as he then proceeded to free fall a few dozens of meters downwards to the sea.

"Shirou!"

Taiga shouted as she saw a shadow pass over her head and grew horrified as she recognized the person who jumped off the boat!

Splash!

He plunged down the surface of the water and immediately began searching for the kid. Since they were still close to the coastline, the water—thankfully—wasn't that deep and was clear enough. He could see the sea bed and corals with different sorts of fish lurking beneath it. 

Many swam away from the commotion, but when things calmed down, the different sort of fishes started to return to their previous spot.

'Hm?'

At the corner of his eyes, a glimmer of light caught his attention. Inside what looked like a dark cave further beneath the coral reef.

'Not now!' 

Shirou shook his head and swam down to the kid flailing around, trying to swim but only managing to worsen his situation as he started to lose more air. 

'Gotcha!' 

Swimming to his side, Shirou grabbed the boy and swiftly ascended upwards, using his still reinforced limbs to push against the water faster. His effort proved to be successful as he managed to reach the surface before the kid ran out of air.

Both gasped, panting while the boy whimpered and coughed from the near-death experience.

"Don't worry, you're safe now. I got you," he said, consoling the child while he saw some of the crew members finally dropping a safety boat and quickly reaching his location. 

"Noah!" 

A young woman cried out to them. She was with the rescue team and crying as she called out for the boy, who was most likely her son. By her side was someone else, a worried Taiga.

"Don't worry ma'am, your son is okay! And Fuji-nee, I'm fine as well!" Shirou said, showing the still breathing child. "Your mother is almost here, Noah. You'll be back on the ship soon enough."

"Huuuuu!" Noah continued to cry, burying his face in his shirt. "I lost mom's birthday gift! I have to get it back!" 

What is the reason why he fell in the first place? Shirou asked Noah and the boy nodded, telling him that his father died a year ago and his mother has been sad since then. They were invited to the cruise by a family member to celebrate her birthday, and Noah wanted to surprise her with a gift. Something that his father gave him long ago.

"I will get it for you." 

He promised Noah to get it back if the kid went back to his mother. 

"A-Alright. Promise you'll get it back?" he asked, looking at Shirou with innocent and hopeful eyes, still sniffling.

The latter just couldn't say no, and he promised to do his best. Maybe that glint he saw beneath the water was the necklace.

After waiting a few more seconds, the rescue boat arrived, and Noah was embarrassed by his sobbing mother, who hugged and kissed him like her life depended on it. Shirou looked on with a smile as he loved seeing such a wholesome scene. 

"Oi, Shirou, take my hand and get on the boat before some scary shark comes by and bites you!" 

Taiga was panicking the most. She'd seen enough movies to know that those who stayed submerged for too long always ended up dying by getting pulled by some strange creature from underneath!

"You're exaggerating, Fuji-nee. Nothing will happen to me." 

He tried to calm his guardian, but it only seemed to further stress her out.

"That's what they all say before getting eaten alive and their blood dyeing the water red! Stop being a stubborn child and come up the boat, right now!"

Shirou slowly swam back from the boat. 

"What was that, Fuji-nee? I can't hear you over the sound of… the ocean!" 

He gave her a sheepish smile before plunging back beneath the water, much to the dismay of Taiga.

"Come back here, ya idiot! I will not hesitate to smack your butt with a paddle!" Taiga screamed in fury.

She tried to jump overboard as well but was stopped at the last second and begged to not pull off such a stunt as well.

"Oi, let me go! I need to save Shirou before he becomes a snack for some underwater sea monster!"

Safe to say, everyone on the small boat joined to hold down the angered Taiga. Even the rescue team's captain tried to calm her down.

"Huuuuu! The obedient and sweet Shirou I once knew, has finally grown up and is going through his rebellious phase. Soon, he'll find a random girl and forget about his Fuji-nee!" 

The mother and son duo decided to create some distance between them and the melancholic and melodramatic Taiga. Even the crew members decided to stay silent and not meddle with troublesome matters.

{Break}

Back with Shirou, he dove to the cave he saw the particular glint from before. The deeper he swam, the darker it got, and it wouldn't be long before his vision would darken once he reached the inside of the cave.

Having no other choice and not wanting to dwell too long with his limited supply of oxygen—Shirou began the process of reinforcing his eyes. Out of every part of his body, the eyes were by far the most fragile part of the human body. Shirou still wasn't proficient enough with his basic magical spells, aside from Projection and Structural Analysis, to attempt to reinforce his eyes without taking the proper precaution was extremely dangerous.

'Take a deep breath and focus.' 

His circuits buzzed as very little amount of Mana from the world entered his body and slowly got turned into magical energy being sent to his eyes. The process was slow, and Shirou feared that he would run out of air before he could successfully finish the process. Kiritsugu always warned to never rush such a spell. He was forced to do it when jumping off his room, and he could feel some slight vein rupture in his legs which burned slightly—but nothing too serious that resting wouldn't fix.

He could not be so careless with his eyes, a slight misstep, and he would end up blind for the rest of his life, which would be the best outcome if he failed. 

He would rather not think about what would be the worst outcome.

As a steady stream of small amounts of energy flowed to his eyes, the scene in front started getting increasingly clearer. The coral reef became more vibrant, and he could see the smallest details of every lifeform inhabiting the place, to the small crustaceans, planktons, and even fishes swimming far away. Fortunately, there were no sharks anywhere near, and even if there were any, in most cases, they wouldn't attack him. Shirou knew the difference between real sharks and those shown in movies.

'There it is!'

The glint from earlier returned a small silver locket with the picture of the woman he saw before and that of a man. One that shared some resemblance with Noah.

'So this must be his father, huh….' 

He could relate to the boy. Having lost Kiritsugu did hit him quite hard. Shirou didn't remember when was the last time he cried aside the day of his father's passing.

As he went to grab the locket, it turned out that the locket's chain managed to get stuck to something. Not wanting to break it by pulling too hard, Shirou grabbed what looked like… a piece of stone. The chain was entangled around it, and the piece of stone didn't look normal. Its surface was very smooth and with a weird texture that reminded him of scales.

With another pull, he managed to wedge it out along with another tug. 

'What is this?'

What he found was a very damaged broken piece of a head statue which seemed to belong to a creature of sorts. The head itself was the size of his palm, with... fangs? It looked old, with moss and algae growing on its surface. The only part that was left untouched was the eyes, and Shirou swore that the eyes felt alive and looking at him. Whoever carved this masterpiece really outdid any statue he'd seen in his life. He wasn't a lover of such pieces in general, he knew many collectors loved finding such ancient relics of history. But he could appreciate a well-made piece of art.

How could such a thing end up in the depths of the Aegean Sea was a question for which he didn't have an answer. Maybe a relic from the past that got swept by the tide? In any case, Shirou really liked the piece and found it to be a shame if he were to leave it in the dark cave.

So, he took it and stored it in his pocket to study it later.

'I'm running out of air.'

Having found what he came to search for in the first place, Shirou swam up to the surface as fast as possible. His lungs were already convulsing from the lack of air. Nevertheless, he continued to stay calm and reached the surface in a few seconds.

"Puah!" he gasped loudly, feeling a bit lightheaded from staying so long underwater.

"Mister Shirou!" Noah called out to him, relief showing on the boy's face as he saw both his savior and the locket safely back to the surface. He cheered, jumping up and down on the boat while shouting, "You got it!"

"Told you that I'll get it back."

The boy and the mother both thanked him, while Taiga just sighed tiredly, she was a bit proud of Shirou. The boy was going to get himself killed one of these days with his stubborn attitude and general tendencies to help people without question.

Afterward, everyone was brought back to the cruise. Everyone on board applauded the young redhead, making the latter feel rather embarrassed by the attention. He wasn't used to so much cheering from people in general. Though he did feel proud when someone called him a hero.

The staff brought him some towels to dry himself while the crowd started dispersing. Taiga remained by his side, using a separate towel to dry his hair while giving him a speech on how he should never attempt such a reckless thing and that his jumping off the balcony nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Like seriously, I'm only in my early twenties, yet I already feel like I'll have white hairs and wrinkles before I even reach thirty because of your antics, Shirou. The students will start calling me old hag soon enough, and then I'll never get a boyfriend, wuuuuu!"

Shirou laughed at her antics. 

He remembered when Fujiwara-san told him how Taiga used to cause him so much stress in her childhood that he felt himself ageing ten times faster every day. Even as an adult, Taiga's father made sure to keep an eye on his daughter. Not because he worried about her well-being but rather worried about the people she frequented.

"Don't worry, Fuji-nee. I'll always take care of you, no matter how old you'll get." Shirou said, not realizing how misleading his words were to a young woman.

"Ouch! It burns!" 

He cried out in pain as Taiga suddenly scrubbed the towel on his head quite roughly, while having a growing blush adorning her face.

"Don't say such words to an innocent young maiden like me! Why can't you be like that with Sakura-chan!?"

"Eh, what does Sakura have to do with this!?" 

He just said that he would always help her out like he did every day! He moved his head away from her as her rough handling felt like she was trying to make him go bald.

Shirou really pitied her future boyfriend.

"Sherou." 

Walking up to him was Luvia, still wearing her navy blue dress. When he saw her, Shirou's face turned ashen when he remembered that he had used magecraft in front of a civilian! Kiritsugu told him on many occasions how strict the Mage Associations were about non-magi people getting even a sliver of information about the supernatural world and how they would go to great lengths to keep it a secret.

Hypnotism was rarely used, while permanently silencing them ended up being the faster and most preferred method in most cases.

'I need to make sure she doesn't start questioning my use of magecraft in front of everyone!'

The Clocktower had ears everywhere, even in the most unlikely of places, and he wasn't willing to take the chance and risk Luvia's life.

"E-Edelfelt-san?" he stuttered, rushing to get up and clothe himself. "Y-you came. I'm fine. There is nothing to worry about. Let's go back, and I'll explain everythin—"

"—Who is this?" Taiga interrupted him.

Before he could give her an answer, Luvia was quick to reply.

"Good evening, my name is Luviagelita Edelfelt, and I am your neighbor in the Royal suite number 1."

"Wait, the Royal suite!?" Taiga exclaimed in shock.

Oh right, she didn't bother checking what room she won from that old man.

Shirou should have expected that and he hoped he was prepared for the fallout when she found out.

"Yes, I met your… protege an hour ago. We had a wonderful conversation. Sherou is quite the gentleman, and I must say that he is an excellent host. He talked a lot about you, Miss Taiga, I presume?"

"An hour? Gentleman? Sherou!?" 

Wasn't that a bit too quick!?

The more Luvia talked and seeing her casually made a nickname with Shirou's name sent alarm bells ringing inside Taiga's head. She was just joking when she compared the young Emiya to a playboy. She didn't expect him to actually work his magic on a beautiful foreign beauty in a single hour!

'Sakura-chan has a rival!' 

This realization made her imagination run wild. The boy wasn't even an adult, yet he was already so proficient in the art of stealing someone's heart, such a sinful kid he had become. Taiga wondered what would happen if she let her guard down around the boy. He had already tried to smooth talk her a minute ago. Would he also try to ensnare her in his net?

No! She was his big sister! 

'Not by blood.'

A traitorous part of her mind reminded her.

"Is she alright?" Luvia asked, seeing a red-faced Taiga staring at the sky absentmindedly for the last few minutes. 

The girl was sure that she didn't accidentally cast some sort of hypnosis on her.

"Don't worry about her," Shirou said. "It happens quite often with her getting lost in her weird thoughts. Edelfelt-san, I think we should find somewhere private to discuss… what just happened." 

"I feel the same. Let's return to our room."

How could he explain to her the existence of magic without freaking her out? He could try to pull a Kiritsugu and call himself a wizard with special powers and that she needed to stay quiet—or else. 

No, that wouldn't work.

As Shirou was stressing over the matter, he didn't notice that they had walked all the way to the other side of the ship, where there was no one aside from the present. He saw Luvia playing with some jewels in her hands. Finding them rather pretty to look at and they were probably expensive from how they shined. Why she brought such valuable items out in the open was something Shirou decided to ignore.

"That was quite brave of you, Sherou. To jump off such a high place without hesitation to rescue someone is not something many people would do." Luvia spoke first.

"No, I wasn't anything special. I'm pretty sure someone else would have done the same if I was slower—like you, Edelfelt-san." 

"Oh, so you've noticed." she said, touching her still intact dress. "I rather like this dress. Having to rip it away or having it get ruined would have been unfortunate. But what can I say? I do have a bleeding heart when it comes to others. A trait many see as a weakness, regrettably."

A weakness?

"Then they are wrong!" Shirou exclaimed rather loudly, surprising Luvia.

"Wanting to help others is natural and comes from a place of good. It shows your true nature when you are willing to put yourself in danger. It's something that makes us human. And just your willingness to save Noah showed me that you are a good person, Edelfelt-san. Helping others is what makes us strong. Bringing a smile to their faces brings fulfillment, and anyone trying to tell you that you're wrong is mistaken. What you tried to do there was admirable and not a sign of weakness. You are a good person!"

"..."

Maybe he went too far with his speech.

"Pft-ohohohohoho!" Luvia burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh, Sherou, how naive and innocent you are. Calling me a 'good' person? Now that's a joke that will even make my sister laugh. We've only known each other for an hour, and you've already grown so comfortable around me, big mistake. Just my actions of saving another should not make you lower your guard around me—not that you had any since the beginning. Such a rookie mistake would get you killed in the future. If not that, betrayal is what awaits you. The world is filled with snakes waiting in the shadows to strike at any given point at the sign of weakness."

Why was she acting like that?

And again, he couldn't agree with her words.

"I don't know why you view yourself in such a light. But I really don't think that you're a bad person, Edelfelt-san. And you've given me no reason to fear you or to see you that way." 

He wanted to go as far as to tell Luvia about his desire to hang out with her more often. To become friends, just like his relationship with Issei and Shinji. Being one of the few to accept his dream made that kind of impact on him, and her willingness to jump off the board to save Noah just reinforced his impression of her.

Luvia's smile vanished and got replaced with an indifferent face. 

Shirou felt an unusual chill creep up his spine.

Something felt wrong.

"Is that so… guess I was wrong about you, Sherou," Luvia said, bringing her arm up. 

Pointing at him, she spoke.

"You are not fit to be a Magus."

The bright blue jewel in her hand glowed as a large amount of Mana gathered on her fingertips, forming a small magic circle.

"Eh?"

Confusion filled Shirou's face as it soon got replaced with shock.

"A Magus!?" he shouted in disbelief, jumping back from Luvia. 

Projecting a small dagger, Shirou got himself into a fighting stance, ready for anything Luvia might throw at him. Magus were ruthless killers who would go to any length for their research, and he was reminded many times to never underestimate a single one of them by Kiritsugu.

Luvia smirked, her smile seeming empty.

"So you've finally noticed~."

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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter.