Chapter 04: Drawing conclusions
Strange.
Archer remained vigilant, others might not see the difference between Emiya Shirou's behaviors before and after the confrontation with Lancer, but he could see them perfectly.
He had changed.
His eyes had lost their naive gleam, his actions were less out of kindness and more out of taking advantage of them. Very similar to his own if I were to add anything else.
Something was very wrong.
That had been one of the reasons he had counseled Rin, but such it seemed the girl had chosen to ignore him once again.
An exasperated sigh escaped Archer. Rin was not a bad Master, but like all inexperienced youths she tended to be rebellious when she received help from others. Nor could she deny that it might have been because of the way he said it or a little revenge on his part for teasing her.
The arrogance associated with her inexperience had a strong effect on the way she acted and also when making decisions.
Besides... she could see that the idiot had seduced her tongue with food, used sweet words to stroke her ego and finally showed how poor his skills were to win her pity, something that in an average Magus would have been undoubtedly pathetic and inefficient even to the point of showing a result contrary to the expected one.
To top it all off was the fact that he maintained a close relationship with his Master's sister, which was the nail he finally used to win her over.
It was a very precise way of getting what he wanted, almost as if he knew in advance how to deal with her.
The idea hovered in his mind for a while but he dismissed it just as quickly as it had appeared.
Such a thing was not possible, at least not this early in the war, so it had to be something else.
Whatever it was that could cause this strange behavior, in the end it didn't matter.
Because Emiya Shirou had to die.
...
Despite the lack of people besides its owner, the Emiya residence had not been silent.
[Recently there have been many gas problems and a large number of cases of mysterious disappearances have been reported Will this be the end of the Fuyuki we all love and cherish]?
Such news was seen on the TV that Taiga had forgotten to turn off when he left in a hurry. Shirou sighed as he took control, his older sister's carelessness had caused certain thoughts to hover in his mind.
It was almost like some sort of sixth sense for disaster.
He had a feeling that told him that Caster and Rider were already on the move and very noticeably so. Or was it just that he was now more aware of his surroundings.
It was hard to know, but he did understand something.
He should not and could not afford to rely entirely on the linear order of events.
The events around him, his attitude, the people he interacted with.
Everything was a factor to be taken into account, each with a consequence and a relevance in terms of turning points.
Once a part is changed, no matter how small, it still affects the whole.
To believe that changes, however minor, would not have some effect was simply delusion rather than positivity.
Emiya Shirou had already had too many delusions in her life to want more of them.
Even now he doubted whether the options he saw were some unknown mystical specter he had learned to catch with his eyes or just the beginnings of a new mental illness.
- Senpai -
A voice brought him out of his thoughts, his gaze focused on the beautiful purple-haired girl who had entered his home.
Sakura Matou...
Without letting his uneasiness show in his gaze, Shirou smiled at the girl as usual.
Tender and adorable as she was...
She was without a doubt, dangerous.
Or rather, the variables around her were, especially the old parasite.
Shinji could be dealt with by sneak attacks, destruction of his mystic code or with Tohsaka's support. There was even the option of trying to bring him to his senses but with the war already underway it was unlikely that such a strategy would generate the desired result.
But Zouken? Zouken was different, to defeat him he had to destroy every trace of him. Including the worm in Sakura's heart, which did nothing besides complicate everything.
There was also the pile of messes that could form if he ever triggered the events that would lead Sakura to become a dark version of herself.
No matter how she tried to look at the situation, Sakura Matou was more trouble than she could handle right now.
Even if he didn't show his real emotions on the outside, just being aware of the girl's situation and everything that had happened to her.
It was enough to make him want to save her no matter what.
Not because he was in love, not because he wanted to follow an ideal or a dream.
Because even on her own "route" Sakura was still suffering.
Hers, was a smile to protect.
She would do this for him, for her, and for every Shirou who died trying to save her.
...
The rest of the day passed more or less normally, a couple of arguments here and there. He had lunch with Issei, listened once again to his speech about how Rin was either a demon or an evil witch hiding under the face of a model student.
Oh and the worst part was that now he knew there was a certain part of truth in it.
Helping quite a few people too, of course she had to, she couldn't afford to differ too much from what should be the "normal Shirou" everyone knows.
Only a stupid person would change his ways out of nowhere and hope that the people around him wouldn't notice. With things as they were it would definitely raise suspicions. And having someone act to find out the reasons for his new behavior was definitely not something he would like.
His day continued that way until it was time to leave.
Shirou could be thankful for that, at least for a while Homurahara could be a good place to calm down a bit.
If I were to put it simply, it was as if it were a nice, quiet field of flowers next to a noisy, violent battlefield.
A space where even if peace was only a mere momentary illusion, at least I could enjoy it for a while.
After all, there were people who were happier living a lie.
...
Sitting on the bed in his room, Shinji Matou looked carefully at the book in his hands.
A mystical code with the ability to give him command of a Servant, his key to recognition.
Through war he would rise up, no one would dare belittle him anymore.
Of course, it was a pain in the ass to have someone as damn weak as Rider, but in the end he had no choice but to settle for how things had turned out.
Maybe and just maybe she sabotaged everything.
For a second a crazy idea ran through his mind. What if Sakura had summoned some weak shit on purpose to get him killed faster?
No, no, she wouldn't dare. Sakura wasn't that cruel and planful.
He had been a good brother to the best of his ability, there was no real reason to hurt him.
How can you be sure of that?
Frowning he stood up and opened the drawer in his bedside table and picked up a small metal container.
She could stab you with a smile on her face if Emiya asked her to.
Inside could be seen some pills.
It was really disturbing how the voices in her head seemed to get louder as time went by.
She is yours by right, why give her to a stranger?
Because they all wanted her to hurt Emiya, Tohsaka and Sakura?
Shinji could only watch over the eventual disappearance of the voices.
...
One more time.
Sitting on a swing beside him was the white-haired girl, Illyasviel Von Einzbern.
Shirou had simply taken a detour while lost in thought, and before he knew it she was standing in front of him.
Cute and terrifying.
They were two words that fit perfectly into the description he would give about her.
Innocent and cruel.
- Would you play with me, Onii-chan? -
Childish and mature.
The girl was a tender bundle of contradictions, erratic and bloodthirsty, but in broad daylight he didn't think she would try to hurt him.
And even if she did, what could she do? It was at times like this that he resented the other Shirous and their stupidity in preventing Saber from following him to Homurahara or staying nearby.
Of course this was a time to curse Archer once again.
Why? Because he doesn't like him, and he would curse him all he pleased.