6

 Chapter 6: V1C6: Ever Distant Ideal

"... and while the mime did survive, he was never able to walk again," Professor Port said, finishing up yet another long and ultimately pointless tangent. "Now, can anyone tell me the point of my story?"

Weiss' hand dutifully shot up. She answered when she was acknowledged, "If we cannot carefully apply our Aura to strengthen random objects, we may either be unable to protect someone or else hurt those we wish to protect."

"Very good! You truly are a model Huntress, my dear! Now, I know everyone here is capable of strengthening their weapons and themselves with their Aura but your weapons are designed to take the strain and it is impossible to hurt oneself with one's Aura. When it comes to everyday objects, however, the result can be quite catastrophic. However, once mastered, the skill is infinite in its applications and indispensable in its practicality. Observe." In one quick motion, Professor Port grabbed one of the ripe tomatoes from a basket and loaded it into his blunderbuss before firing it at a target on the opposite side of the room. Despite the incredible forces involved, the tomato struck the target and bounced off, not even so much as bruised.

"There. You see?" Professor Port asked as he held up the tomato for the class to inspect. Not much inspecting was done, however, for the sudden gunshot had left all but those who had gotten their Aura up in time gripping their ears in pain.

Once everyone got their hearing back, Professor Port continued, "Now, I want you all to come up here as I call you, take a tomato, and throw it at the target as hard as you can. Accuracy doesn't matter but the state of the tomato does so feel free to take a few moments to concentrate before throwing it. Let's see, I think we'll start off with Emiya Shirou. Shirou, if you would?"

Shirou got up and made his way to the professor. Reinforcing an object with Aura and doing it with magecraft were practically identical so he knew he could do this exercise in his sleep. As such, he hurled the tomato at the target the instant he took it from Professor Port and watched idly as it struck the bulls-eye and bounced off, completely unharmed.

"Excellent work!" Professor Port said as he walked over to the tomato and picked it up. He squeezed it slightly and was surprised to find that it didn't give. "And with a lasting effect! Very good work indeed! I didn't peg you as much when you first walked in here but you have the makings of an excellent Huntsman, Shirou my boy! Go on, off to your seat!" Shirou had no idea if he should be flattered or insulted so he chose to be neither.

Professor Port went on to call up every other student in a seemingly random order. Several of them failed one way or the other— either the tomato was destroyed utterly when it struck the target or it exploded in their hand; Jaune was among the former and Nora was among the latter— but most managed to have some success. Aside from Shirou, the only ones able to do it perfectly were Pyrrha, Ren, and Weiss and only Pyrrha had done it with the same speed and accuracy as Shirou.

Once that first exercise was completed and everyone had a go, Professor Port had each student collect five tomatoes and tasked them to spend the rest of the class attempting to successfully strengthen one of them. When they thought they had it, they were to test it by striking it against their desk. Ren and Weiss were tasked with trying to reach this protected state as quickly as possible while Shirou and Pyrrha were allowed to do basically whatever they wished so long as it didn't disturb the others.

By the end of the class, Professor Port went around and checked on everyone's progress. Ruby had quite deliberately exploded two of hers before a pointed look from Weiss made her take it seriously. She managed it on the third without any real difficulty. Blake had taken two genuine efforts in order to get the amount just right and then lost a third when working on speed. Yang had also destroyed two of hers on purpose then proceeded to explode two on accident. The fifth one managed to withstand the impact but it didn't come out of it unscathed. As for Weiss, none of hers were destroyed but one was slightly bruised and she managed to reliably ready the strengthening in about five seconds as opposed to the ten or so it had taken her the first time.

Over with Team JNPR, Nora had failed utterly, exploding all five of her tomatoes. It was uncertain if that was by accident or design but Ren seemed to be taking it seriously so that was enough for the others. Ren managed to get his time down to two seconds from his previous seven and didn't even damage any of his. Pyrrha, not wanting to stand out too much more, decided to work on her control even though the exercise could confer no benefit for her. Jaune, meanwhile, utterly failed in even exploding one of his and had merely smashed them all against the desk.

Shirou spent the entire time is a light meditative trance in order to suppress the revulsion he was feeling at all of this wasted food.

"Excellent work, all of you!" Professor Port said after his examination was over and the bell rang. "I want you all to practice this on your own during the weekend. Come Monday, I'll test you not just with tomatoes but with a wide variety of items! Your performance then will be compared with your performance today and your grade will be determined from that! Now, off you go!"

"Man, I can't believe how poorly that went," Jaune moaned as he left the class with his team, his head and shoulders slumped in total defeat.

"I dunno, I thought it was fun!" Nora said as she continued to lick the remains of tomato off of her hands.

"It was certainly an enlightening exercise," Ren commented as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and used it to wipe some tomato off of Nora's face.

"I'm certain you'll get the hang of it, Jaune," Pyrrha said as she placed an encouraging hand on her leader's shoulder.

"You can say that, sure, but I don't even know where to being. I know you said something about it strengthening our equipment in the forest, Pyrrha, but I don't even know how to do that much!"

"You don't strengthen your weapons with your Aura?" Ren asked, suddenly very interested.

"Nope."

"So, you're saying that you fought that Death Stalker with normal weapons?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yep." The rest of Team JNPR gave their leader a very confused and concerned look. "What?" he said defensively when he finally noticed. "Crocea Mors just cut it and blocked it like a sword and shield should. What's so weird about that?"

"Jaune," Pyrrha said slowly, "normal weapons are mostly ineffective against the Grimm. They need to be empowered by our Aura to do anything. That's why only Hunters and the military fight them."

"Wait, really?" The rest of Team JNPR nodded so Jaune just threw his hands up in their air. "So I've got a magic sword. Great. Listen, I'm going to go back to Professor Port and ask for some help. I'll catch up with you guys later." Jaune's teammates waved him off as he turned back but his plan to speak with the professor changed when he spied a certain redhead walking out.

"Hey, Shirou, can you spare a minute?"

"Sure. What's up, Jaune?"

"Well, ya see, the thing is, you're pretty good at that whole Aura control thing." Shirou nodded his head when the other boy paused and waited for him to continue. "Well, ya see, the thing is, I'm kinda pretty completely awful at it." Shirou nodded again. "Well, ya see, the thing is, I was kinda wondering if you had some free time this evening after classes." Shirou nodded again. "Well, ya see—"

Shirou held out his hand, feeling a headache coming on, "Can you please get to the point?"

"Will you help me practice with it?" Jaune said quickly.

"Sure, I don't mind, but why aren't you asking Pyrrha or Ren for help?"

"Ren's going to be really busy trying to help Nora and Pyrrha, well, I'd just feel bad if I asked her. She's just super amazing and I don't want to waste her time with this when she could be doing something better."

Shirou was curious as to why Pyrrha's skills made her unchoosable when his didn't but decided not to voice that curiosity. "I highly doubt that she'll see it that way but, if you insist, I'll help you. Can you meet me at my room at six?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem! Thanks, Shirou!"

"Don't mention it. Come on, we're going to be late."

OoOoOoO

Shirou and Jaune sat on the floor of Shirou's room facing each other, their respective weapons setting across their laps. The process Jaune needed to learn was simplicity itself and while the way Shirou had been taught had actually been for learning magecraft, he figured that the method would work well enough here with some tweaks. It would probably be highly unorthodox but, so long as the results were good, he figured no one would care.

"Alright, Jaune. We're going to start with some meditation exercises to get your mind clear and focused. Are you comfortable? Good. Now, make sure you're sitting up straight and let's begin.

"Start by taking slow, deep breaths; in through the nose, out through the mouth. You want to maintain a soft focus here; looking ahead but not at anything in particular. Feel the weight of your body pressing down on the floor, the feeling of your hands on her knees. Take in the sounds of the room and everything outside it. Acknowledge everything but focus on nothing. If a stray thought enters your head, don't try to push it out. Just acknowledge it and let it pass."

Shirou let Jaune continue in this way for ten seconds. "When you're ready, on your next out-breath, gently close your eyes and let yourself fall into a normal breathing pattern. You don't need to breathe in any special way, just whatever way feels most comfortable to you. As you breathe, pull your focus inward. There should be a spark of warmth in your core. Do you feel it? Nod your head if you do.

"Good. Focus on that spark. Feel how its heat spreads slowly through your body. If a stray thought enters your mind, that's fine. Just acknowledge it for what it is, a thought, and let it pass. Don't try to force it out, just let it pass and return your focus to that spark. Just focus on it for a moment. Examine how it feels, what you can feel it connect to, how your awareness of it is making you feel."

Shirou lapsed into silence for three minutes this time. "Now, I want you to activate your Aura while maintaining focus on that spark." Shirou smiled slightly as he watched Jaune's eyebrows shoot up. "That little spark is now everywhere, isn't it? It's more like a fire filling your entire body now. That's your Aura that you're feeling, Jaune. Your soul. This is the source of your life made manifest to become your power. The stronger your soul is, the stronger your Aura will be.

"And now you're going to hold like this. With your Aura still activated, I want you to feel it out. Poke at its edges. See how it envelops your body and heightens your capabilities. Get a feel for all of the changes. Just let your mind sink into it. Again, if your mind wanders, which it will, just acknowledge the thought for what it is and bring your focus back."

Shirou let Jaune hold his meditation for nearly ten minutes and only brought a stop to it when the other boy's fidgeting had grown to a certain level. "Good. Now I want you to release your focus; let your mind go wherever it wishes. Think about whatever it wants to think about. Pay attention to whatever feeling it wants to. Just let it do what it wants." Ten seconds passed. "Now bring the mind back in as you become more aware of the weight of your body on the floor, of the sounds and sensations around you. Whenever you're ready, I want you to gently open your eyes.

"So? How do you feel? Take a moment, if you want."

"I feel… better. More relaxed. Kinda sleepy."

"Good. And your Aura? Can you still feel that?"

"Kinda? I know its there and it kinda feels like I can feel it but I don't really know."

"That's fine. Was this your first time meditating?"

"Yeah. I've never done anything like this before. Thought it was something those super serious martial arts guys did all the time to, I dunno, float or something."

Shirou chuckled slightly, "Some use it for something like that, sure, but it's a lot simpler than most people think. Anyway, you did very well for it being your first time. We're going to keep at this until you can feel your Aura without having to focus on it. Or at least not focus too much. Can you meet me tomorrow morning half an hour before our usual breakfast time?"

"That's pretty early but sure. We gonna be doing this then?"

"That's right. I want to try and get you to that point before the day's out."

"That sounds like a lot of work but I'm game. Well, I'm gonna go grab something to eat. Thanks again for the help."

"No problem, Jaune."

OoOoOoO

Saturday evening came to find Shirou and Jaune once again meditating in Shirou's room. This was the fourth session that day and Jaune's progress had been promising. By the second session, he had been able to feel his Aura without active concentration and they were now moving on to the task of expanding his Aura to envelop Crocea Mors or anything else he was touching.

"I want you to picture your sword in your mind's eye," Shirou said, his voice calm as he guided Jaune through the exercise. "Try your best to imagine every detail about it. Once that image is firm in your mind, imagine yourself wielding it. Now think of the sword not as a tool but as a part of yourself. It is an extension of yourself that is incapable of doing anything that you are incapable of doing. It doesn't empower you. It doesn't grant you powers. It is you, no more or less. Now let the heat of your Aura envelop you fully. That sword is the same as any other part of your body and if it isn't protected then you aren't fully protected. When you're ready, open your eyes."

A solid minute passed before Jaune's eyes finally opened. "I think I've got it," he said, "but how can we check?"

"Easy," Shirou said as he got up and motioned for Jaune to do the same. "I'll strike it. Hold your sword ready to block an overhead strike." The stance that Jaune adopted was weak and full of holes but it'd do. "Now stand still." Shirou brought down his black blade on Crocea Mors and watched as Jaune barely managed to hold his guard despite Shirou not putting that much into it. "Did you feel anything?"

"Yeah, it felt like… something was leaving me. My Aura doesn't feel as… full."

"Perfect. You've got it."

"Alright!" Jaune said as he pumped his fist into the air. "So can we work on fruit next?"

"Nope," Shirou said casually as he sheathed his sword and put it away.

Jaune's expression went from excited to crestfallen so fast that Shirou was surprised he didn't pull a muscle. "But why‽"

"Because it's not my place. I helped you get this far because you're my friend but if you want to get further, you need to look to someone else."

"But there is no one else! Ren is still working with Nora!"

"Then ask Pyrrha."

"I already told you why I can't ask Pyrrha! She's just… way too amazing! She's way better than I'll ever be! I can't drag her down by asking her to pull me up!"

"That's where you'd be wrong, Jaune. Pyrrha's your partner, isn't she? That means, at least for the next four years, she's with you no matter what."

"All the more reason not to bother her. Sure, she's my ideal as a Hunter but she's just so far away. I can look on and admire all I want but there's no way I can do anything more."

Shirou looked off to the side and bit his lip as he quickly warred with himself. Eventually, his desire to help others won out. "Listen, Jaune, I'm going to tell you some things, okay?" At Jaune's confused look, Shirou walked over to the bed and sat down heavily before motioning towards the chair. Once Jaune was situated, Shirou began, "Do you want to know where I learned swordplay?"

"I don't know what this has to do with anything but sure."

"Well, I learned a bit from my father before he died. Then I learned a lot from someone who I considered by big sister. She didn't have any real combat experience but she was scary good at kendo and that's what she taught me. I learned a lot of really important stuff from her but the one who really showed how to fight was someone else.

"You've seen me fight in some of our lessons, right? Well, my fighting style is just a pale imitation of hers. There was this girl who was… my Pyrrha, I guess you could say. She suddenly came into my life and changed everything. She was a horrid teacher but she sparred with me for hours every day so I could learn from her and improve. She was truly amazing. I had never before seen someone so skillful with the sword and I've never seen someone as good since. Her form was flawless, her attacks were as fast as a raging hurricane, and her power was like a stray bolt of lighting. Even though I was pretty good when I started and despite all of the progress I made, I never even came close to landing a hit on her. She was my ideal in so many ways but never once did I come close enough to stand by her side."

"Well, who is she? She sounds amazing. Do I know her? Is she here?"

"She's dead. She has been for some time now. And no, you didn't know of her. No one here does."

Jaune's expression fell even as he watched his friend fight to hold back his emotions. He'd never seen Shirou with an expression that wasn't a faint smile or concern but now that his mask had come off, he could see the fractures. He could see the vast pain and sorrow in his friend's eyes and, in a flash of insight, knew that there was a lot more to this story than he was letting on. "Oh, I-I'm sorry." He didn't press it. He couldn't press it. If there was one thing Jaune didn't want to do, it was causing others pain and his friend had experienced more than enough of that for several lifetimes.

"It's okay. You couldn't have known. Anyway, she was as distant from me the day she died as she was the day she came into my life. Even now, I'm no closer to her. But I still chase after her. I'll always chase after her. I know that I will never be good enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her but I still keep chasing her. Because I can do no less.

"Learn from Pyrrha, Jaune. Talk to her. Open up to her. Don't be afraid of her. She may be an ever distant ideal to you, as far from you as Remnant is from the Sun, but don't let that stop you. And, most importantly, remember that she's Human, just like you. No matter how skilled she is at everything, she's still a Human just like you. Reach out to her and I'm certain that she'll reach right back for you just as she had reached back for me."

Jaune was silent for a long moment after Shirou finished, absorbing everything. The weight of emotion was thick in the air as his mind turned his friend's words over again and again. It was obvious, even to him, that Shirou and this woman had been very close before she died. This woman had been his ideal and he had chased after her with everything he had. While he had no idea as to the exact nature of their relationship, it still gave him pause. Could he one day be as close to Pyrrha as Shirou seemed to have been with that woman? There's absolutely no way he can ever be as good as she was in combat but maybe, just maybe, he can support her in other ways as her friend? As her partner, even?

Jaune thought back to a week ago when they had been preparing for their entrance exam. Back then, Shirou had said that he didn't have to be nearly as good as Pyrrha to be a good teammate. Ruby has said that a good teammate can cover for their team's weaknesses. Pyrrha had just straigh up said that he'd be a good teammate. It was a ludicrous idea no matter how much he thought about it but it was one that appealed to him greatly. He felt pulled towards it. For the first time in his life, Jaune felt like there was something he simply had to do.

"You're right," Jaune eventually said. "Thanks, Shirou. For everything. I'm gonna go talk with Pyrrha."

Shirou smiled at his friend, "You're welcome, Jaune. Good luck."

When the door to his room clicked shut and he knew he was alone, Shirou let out a long sigh and leaned back against the wall. With his eyes closed, he let his mind sink into his core to the artifact that was there. The only physical proof of her existence that wasn't a fake made from prana. The item that saved him time and time again and served as his undeniable link to her. An object that had been with him for so long that his body was familiar with it on a level greater than any other.

It thrummed in response to the contact of his mind. Shirou fed a bit of his prana into it and felt its warmth radiate outward, consuming him whole. This was his guide; the stick by which he measured his life. So long as it reacted in a welcoming manner like this, he knew he was on the right track. He knew that he would never be able to live up to her, who had owned it before, but he was content with it guiding him on the way all the same. Of course, a dark corner of his soul pointed out that perhaps its judgment wasn't sound. Perhaps it would react that way no matter what sins he committed.

After all, the sheath still reacted this way even though his beloved Saber, who had been its previous owner, had been killed by his own hands.

OoOoOoO

Jaune stood outside the door of his team's room and tried to calm his racing heart. While he had already made up his mind to follow Shirou's advice, the simple fact of the matter was that the courage to ask had to first be built up. It's not that he feared rejection in this case, it's just that asking Pyrrha for help given everything was very difficult.

Swallowing his doubts, Jaune opened the door to his team's room. As luck would have it, Pyrrha was the only one in the room at the moment. Ren and Nora were currently elsewhere practicing with the very skill Jaune needed help with.

"Hello, Jaune," Pyrrha said with a smile as she looked up from the book she had been reading. "That didn't take very long. Everything go okay?"

"Yeah, everything's pretty fine. Hey, listen, Pyrrha, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, Jaune, anything," Pyrrha said as she put her book down and sat up in her bed to face him.

"Would you mind, uh, helping me with the, uh, whole fruit thing?"

"The exercise Professor Port assigned us? Sure but I thought Shirou was helping you."

"He is! Or, rather, he was. Getting me to the starting line, that is. See, I kinda had no idea how to even put my Aura into things so he helped me get that far."

"Why did he stop there?"

"Ya see, we talked about a few things and I just realized that I'd… really rather be… trained… by… you… if you don't mind," Jaune said while nervously shuffling his feet. "It's okay if you don't! I'd understand! You're probably super busy with other stuff!"

Pyrrha blinked in stunned surprise for a few moments before beaming at her leader, "Sure thing, Jaune. I'd be more than happy to help. Come on, let's go outside. Twigs and sticks work well for this exercise."

"Why not use fruit?"

"Well, for one, Nora and Ren are using the kitchen on this floor for practice. For two, given his reaction during the lesson yesterday, I'm pretty sure Shirou would die from shock if we wasted too much food."

Jaune chuckled, "Yeah, you're probably right."

As the pair lapsed into a casual conversation as made their way outside, Jaune couldn't help but replay his conversation with Shirou one last time. He had no idea what happened to that girl he had spoken so fondly about but he knew one thing with absolute certainty: He wouldn't be afraid anymore. He would chase after his ideal with everything he had and he wouldn't stop no matter what. The more he paid attention to Pyrrha rather than just practically dismissing her as being so far away as to not be worth considering, the more he started to see past the self she showed the world. The glimpses were infinitesimally small and so brief that they were almost impossible to notice but he was noticing them more and more. He had no idea what those tiny cracks meant but he would become a teammate she could depend on. That much he swore.

"Hey, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them as they walked over to a cluster of trees.

"Yes, Jaune?"

"Thanks. For everything."

A/N: As always, a big thanks to everyone who's fav'd, followed, and especially reviewed!

And now the truth is out. In case you didn't know beforehand, the mysterious woman Shirou referred to in his narration in the previous chapters was Saber. The fact that Shirou killed Saber should be very eye-opening to those who are familiar with the original visual novel. I'd just like to once again say that this Shirou didn't follow any exact route. His Holy Grail War was a bit different.

Now that this has been revealed, I can finally point out that Shirou's Hunter attire, that armor that he wears, is based on Protype Arthur. He requested it to be that way when Ozpin asked in order to honor Saber's memory.

Lastly, have an omake! This should have been posted with the last chapter but I kinda forgot about it.

Omake 3

What's in a Name

After V1C5

"Hey, Shirou, do you have a moment?" Ruby Rose asked one day as everyone was on their way to lunch.

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Well, I was just thinking about everyone's weapons and I realized that you never told me the name of yours."

"That's because it doesn't have one."

Ruby looked at Shirou like he had just spouted off one of Nora's insane theories. "What do you mean it doesn't have a name?"

"It just doesn't have one."

"You mean you didn't name it when you were designing it?"

"I didn't design it. It was a gift given to me and its design was based on my abilities."

"Well, did the person who made it give it a name?"

"If they did, they didn't tell me. I honestly couldn't even tell you who made it."

"How could your weapon not have a name?"

"I honestly don't see why this is such a big deal."

To that, Ruby actually scoffed and looked taken aback. "It's the biggest deal! Your weapon reflects who you are! Its name is just as important as your own!"

Ruby's words brought Noble Phantasms to Shirou's mind and how they were an integral part to the identity of a Heroic Spirit. "Maybe," Shirou allowed, "but I still don't see a point in it for me. Crescent Rose being named as it is may be important to you but my bow-sword being nameless suits me just fine."

Ruby looked deeply concerned as she chewed on her bottom lip but continued on before Shirou could say anything else. "Well, what about your Soul Surge? You have a name for that, right? Mine's called Fairy Law."

It was clear that Ruby was almost desperately searching for something but Shirou had no idea what so he plowed onward. "I honestly haven't given that whole concept much thought since I learned about it. I certainly don't have a name for it."

Ruby stared into Shirou's eyes for a long moment, clearly deeply concerned. Feeling uncomfortable, Shirou was about to speak up when Ruby once again beat him to it. "Well, we should go eat. Thanks for telling me, Shirou."

"It's no problem."