Chapter Text
Prologue: The beginning after the end
"I'll grant you this, you are more powerful than I, for now!"
The golden servant attempted to dodge the slash by jumping back but—!
"Go to hell" Shirou quickly spoke, his body low on mana, his reality marble already vanishing from the world as he swung his twin blades.
My body reacts on its own and closes the gap in an instant with Kanshou and Bakuya in my hands. I slash him with all my might .
Suddenly a bright light covers the entire battlefield, the light coming from the lake eliminates the hill of swords.
The reality marble vanishes into thin air. But it didn't matter anymore, the battle had already been decided.
Eventually, his eyes slowly adapted to the light and in front of him stood a golden servant, Gilgamesh: The king of heroes wounded, his right arm had been cut and sliced beyond recognition, his chest had been slashed into an X.
Shirou discarded his twin swords, exhausted after his battle with the golden archer.
Yet the servant in front of him kept a calm and steady breathing, attempting to conserve what little remaining energy he had left.
║ Impossible… ║
Were his eyes tricking him? No, he remembered that his opponent was not a normal human but a servant, a being far above what humans could ever hope to achieve.
The King of Heroes: Gilgamesh. A servant whose legends say carries all treasures in the world, a god-like servant born of a human and a goddess. Legends say that his leadership became the seed for all those great empires that later gave birth to a bunch of cultures and legends.
He knew that if the servant in front of him took the previous battle seriously. He wouldn't stand a chance even with his reality marble at full power. He could have easily destroyed him at any point during their fight if he went all-out or used his trump card early.
It was a miracle that he came out victorious but his victory was not thanks to his skills nor strength, his opponent had underestimated him and didn't consider him a threat until now.
Without hesitation he attempted to project Kanshou and Bakuya once more but.
His circuits cried out in pain unable to supply any magical energy.
║I was sure I slashed his chest open. Why is he still standing?! ║
Shirou decided to take another look at the servant in front of him to confirm his suspicions.
The golden archer was bleeding out and fast, he had covered his wound with his last remaining arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding, his expression filled with rage with bloodlust that compared itself to a certain blue lancer.
Slowly the servant spoke.
"Running out of mana is such a pathetic end." Gilgamesh called out his Gate of Babylon preparing a spear to impale the boy in front of him.
"Victory is yours but it won't save your life, Faker."
I have to dodge it cannot end like this.
Shirou mentally prepared himself to create nerve circuits. His body was at his limit and it was a risky move but he would rather risk dying to his nerves rather than being impaled to death.
But in a twist of fate, before the servant in front of him could ever react an incredible force manifested itself right next to where his arm used to be as a dark small sphere of death, dragging him to the center with ease.
Gilgamesh looks down at his body in astonishment…His body was quickly being swallowed by a black and endless void. The golden Servant panicked and tried to move away but the force from the void proved to be far stronger than him.
"What?!" The servant said in shock as the black void grew larger and larger quickly covering more area.
Curses radiated from the void.
"What are you doing? How dare you drag me in you lich. WAIT—!"
The sphere continued its growth, now covering almost the entirety of the servant's body.
"The hole, the Grail". Shirou gazed at the void in disbelief.
But in a desperate attempt to save his life, the golden servant launched his reliable noble phantasm enkidu within the limits of the void towards the closest that could save him from a certain death.
That thing turned out to be him.
I barely react in time, avoiding the golden chain from capturing me and dragging me to the void yet my arm had been caught.
"That sick abomination doesn't even realize that a fellow servant cant be made its core!" Gilgamesh looked back at him, enraged at both him and that certain servant for trying to consume him .
"Crap! It's trying to pull me in with you." Shirou quickly positioned himself in order to resist the pull from the chain.
"You fool, I will not die like this today, stay where you are mongrel at least until I can get back over to you."
I try to resist but I can't get this chain off of me. I'll be swallowed into that void along with him. Even if I hold my ground, he'll pull himself out which means I'm going to die either way.
1. …I'll at least take him out with me!
2. …No way can I give up that easily…!
No, I'll have resist until the very end!.
"Fat chance, it ends now even if it costs me my arm!" Shirou held his arm in hesitation, unsure if he could cut his own arm with what little mana he had left or continue with the struggle but before he could think of the idea any further Gilgamesh smirked at him.
"Too bad Faker I no longer require you!"
Gilgamesh summoned another portal from his gate of Babylon and launched his chain enkidu towards a nearby tree, enveloping himself with the chain and slowly pulling himself out while dragging the boy towards the void.
Crap he launched the chain towards the tree! If this keeps going I won't be able to escape its grasp!
"Damn it—!"
But without any warning the tree where the chain was holding onto had been cut in half, the chain retracts and goes back to its owner.
For a split second Gilgamesh could not believe his eyes, that faker shouldn't exist anymore. He knew he had killed him back then in Einzbern castle so why was he still alive?!
A familiar voice Emiya Shirou never expected to hear again yelled out at him.
"Move you fool!" The voice spoke from above.
Archer?! How the hell is he alive?
"Archer!"
"I said move! You idiot!"
The red knight materialized a bow and a single nameless arrow and aimed towards his target, Gilgamesh's head. Emiya Shirou moved to the right to avoid the arrow but—.
Without warning the void grew and shrunk faster than before as if it was getting desperate, the golden servant appearing and disappearing from view. The knight in red tried to take a shot but the unpredictable changes of force from the void made him lose his concentration, missing the shot.
Crap not like this. I don't want to die like this.
I attempt to turn on my magic circuits but they refuse to cooperate. I attempt to create nerve circuits but blood comes out of my mouth.
║
My body is at its limit, the pain from overusing my circuits its too much.
The knight in red falls to his knees, his body turning more transparent as the struggle went on.
Archer is at his limit too; he shouldn't exist anymore but—. If he is still here, that means it is not over yet.
The boy slowly approaches the knight in red with caution, keeping his concentration in the incoming debris while also trying to predict the unpredictable changes from the void.
The knight in red extended his hand and without hesitation, he took it.
║ We are going to survive this. No matter what!
Shirou and Archer keep their stance against the void overwhelming force and as they continue to resist, Shirou could notice something strange.
The chain grip began to weaken.
"Archer!" Shirou yelled at his future self. "I think we can make it to the tree!"
"Oh no you dont!" Gilgamesh emerged from the void once again and launched another chain at the pair; however he missed for nothing more than a few centimeters. "Damn you! Once I escape from this dirty beast mouth, I'll rip both of you with my own hands!"
But unaware to Gilgamesh, the void had taken his insult as a suggestion.
A large human hand reached out of the void with malicious intent.
"What in the world…" The knight in red couldn't believe his eyes, the void had grew a hand and it was slowly making its towards them
The red knight who always thinks a step ahead had no known counters for this.
"Damn it all!" Archer said, worried for his past self safety as he attempted to move away as far as he could from its grasp.
The chain on Emiya Shirou's left arm was still dragging him into the void despite getting slowly weaker and on his other arm, the knight in red held his past self preventing him from being dragged into the abyss.
Gilgamesh continued to launch enkidu at everything he could, wooden pillars, nearby trees, the pair of fakers but everything he was about to hit anything, the chain would miss by nothing more than a few centimeters or mere inches.
It was a battle between willpower and determination. Only one would remain at the end and they both knew that very well.
The hand continued its journey with each passing second, making its way towards them with nothing more than a few meters left before reaching its goal.
"No, No, No!" The knight in red became desperate attempting to move farther away from it, yet the hand was getting closer faster than he could get away from it.
║ The hand is nearly in front of us. Its smell is horrible, radiating unknown curses beyond imagination and once it grabs us…. we will die a gruesome death.
But he refused to accept this outcome, he couldn't die after everything he went through, he had learned his lesson about his ideals and grew as an individual, he still had promises to fulfill and the most important of all: He had someone waiting back for him to return
"Bring it on!" Shirou mentally prepared himself to create nerve circuits as the hand drew closer.
But suddenly, It stopped. The black sphere of death stood still no longer pulling them towards its center, it only remained there quietly watching over its prey.
The pair fell to the ground, confused about what just happened.
Gilgamesh quickly escapes from the void, grabbing a pillar without taking his eyes off the void and in a mix of panic and anger releases Shirou's left arm from his grasp, but before anyone could react, he spoke.
"You dare to try using me as a vessel?!" His voice filled with rage and disgust. "As if I would ever allow myself to be taken over by a wild beast!"
Without hesitation he launched his treasures at the void but the void did not react in any way, it only swallowed them without a second thought.
"You bastard, you dare steal from a king's treasure?!" Enraged after losing his treasures, he opened another gate and grabbed an unknown spear.
"Such crime is paid by death." He aimed his spear and blasted a beam of raw mana directly towards the void but this time, the void reacted by launching his very own treasures against him.
Yet the king did not move, instead he countered them by opening more gates, retrieving his previous treasures with ease.
"Did you really think you could hit me with my own weapons?! Stupid beast!" He opened another gate and prepared his next attack.
The void began to lower down, touching the ground with its small and eerie ghostly hands that it had just formed, spreading them farther away into the forest, losing mass in the process.
"And where do you think you are going?" He launched another one of his treasures, cutting one of the ghostly arms and quickly retrieving it before it gets absorbed.
The void retrieved its hands once more but something was different, their fingers were covered in blood and they resembled more like needles than a regular finger, eventually disappearing into the void once more.
Except for one but that wasn't the problem anymore.
A real human hand emerged from the void, an abomination making its debut in this world. Its body was made from crimson flesh attempting to simulate a human form.
Its facial features were incomplete, dark spots covering where the eyes and mouth were supposed to be. Its hands were pitch black with several of its fingers missing or incomplete. Its body was covered in pitch-black tattoos. The lower part of its body was missing, showing nothing more than just nerves and bones. Its torso was incomplete as well, "organs" could be seen falling from the void and its bones being exposed.
It looked more like a living corpse rather than a human. An abomination that should not exist in this world.
The abomination fell to the ground and began crawling its way towards the boy.
Shirou crawled away as far as could, not wanting to be the first victim of that thing.
I need to move but my body can barely move anymore, i can barely keep my eyes open anymore
The abomination began to crawl a little faster and for a split second Shirou looked at, freezing in the spot as he saw something familiar in the abomination, it resembleda certain person he saw burn to death on that day.
Shirou took a deep breath and looked at his future self.
║ —Still, I have to act. Archer is in no condition to take on both of them, it's a miracle he still hasn't disappeared after all but for now, i don't want to know what that thing is capable of.
But before Shirou could think what to do, the golden servant spoke.
"Begone", Gilgamesh opened a portal and launched a spear towards the crimson flesh without hesitation.
The abomination screamed in agony as gilgamesh treasures pierced its weak and decaying body.
"Hmph" He opened more gates and launched more weapons at it. The abomination screamed in pain but there was nothing it could do. "What a disappointment you are not even worthy to be touched by my treasuries, without the control and mana from the grail you are worthless."
The abomination began to melt, unable to keep its form after the terrible assault . The golden servant looked at it with disappointment.
"Pathetic to believe the being who managed to take so many lives in the previous war would be so weak."
Previous war?
The monstrosity tried to crawl away but its body was already broken beyond recognition, it could not fight back anymore, so instead it decided to create its own attempt on a mouth with what little he had left.
"Die, Die, Die." The abomination said, stating its first words not as a welcoming message but as a threat.
"Huh, what did you say? you dirty beast."
The abomination raised its head and lips, smiling with its set of incomplete teeth, malice passing through the air.
"Die!" The monstrosity yelled at the bottom of its lungs as it reactivated the growing sphere of death itself on a much larger scale than before.
Archer quickly positioned himself in order to resist the everlasting void but with his past self still holding his hand, it proved to be a difficult task.
The king of heroes launched multiple chains at the ground in order to resist the sudden change of force.
The abomination laughed as it caught its prey's look of despair as they realized what it just did and with a creepy and incomplete smile, the abomination was dragged up by one of its ghostly hands slowly disappearing into the void as it looked at their reactions.
The force from the wind continued to grow alongside its size, the force became so great that the core structure of Ryuudou Temple started to collapse, absorbed into the endless void.
"Don't even think about it you mongrel!" Gilgamesh opened his gate once again and enveloped himself in a certain stump of a tree that a certain red archer had cut earlier.
But the knight in red did not care as his only goal right now was to protect his past self from the everlasting, expanding void.
However the void did not show signs of stopping, it continued to grow, feeding itself from an unknown source of mana connected with its ghostly needle-like hands.
I attempt to move my legs but my body no longer responds. Just maintaining my consciousness to stay awake is taking everything from my willpower.
Eventually his grip on his future self begins to weaken bit by bit.
Damn it all… I dropped my guard and now I'm going to die in vain. I'm sorry Rin, fuji-nee, Saber, Dad, Everyone, I failed.
He slowly lets go of the hand, unable to move any longer.
║ I'm being dragged in and there's nothing I can do, my mind is slowly going blank. I slowly close my eyes, hoping that it won't be painful…
Shirou closed his eyes and accepted his death but fate had other plans for him. He opened his eyes and in front of him a familiar person was holding his hand. The knight in red managed to grab his hand at the last moment.
║ Archer. He projected a knife and stabbed it into the ground.
Crack!
But it's not enough, even for someone as inexperienced as me i can tell the knife is an incomplete projection, It's not going to handle the weight of both of us.
Crack!
║ The knife snaps—Archer and I fall into the grail to meet our demise.
The knight in red and the boy crossed the barrier between this world and the grail, never to be seen again.
The golden servant started to laugh, his previous feelings of anger were quickly replaced with an uncontrollable joy .
"HAHAHA!" Gilgamesh continued to laugh as he was the one who came on top in the end but fate had other plans for him, plans in another garden.
The void after seeing the king of heroes laugh at the failure of the kid and the knight in red saw an opportunity and without hesitation it took it, releasing a multiple of small ghostly hands at him, grabbing him in an instant and dragging him towards the void
"What the h—" He attempted to use his chain once more but it was too late, his entire body was already covered in hands.
"No, No, No, Wait!" He looked in a panic as he saw, the hands began to cut the tree stump pretty quickly and so for the first and maybe the last time in his second life Gilgamesh: The king of heroes felt fear.
The tree stump was cut, the chain let loose and the king of heroes headed straight first into the void, unaware of what kind of horrors he would experience there.
The void slowly shrinks and retrieves its hands, leaving nothing more than a burning memory of a war without a winner.
The magical energy inside the grail exploded outward ripping through everything in its vicinity. They said that the amount of magical energy was enough to reach Akasha. However, things were about to change.
Emiya Shirou finds himself in an unfamiliar place.
I feel nothing, Is this how death feels like?
Emiya Shirou asked himself but there was no one there who could answer his questions.
No, I can still think and feel, which means I'm alive right?
He opened his eyes and encountered himself in a dark and empty void.
I can't see or feel anything around me. The air in my lungs is slowly being pulled out.
The boy quickly closed his mouth in a desperate attempt to save what little air he had left, delaying the inevitable but it never came. As a blinding flash of light illuminated the void.
I see a light in the distance like a lone star shining through the night sky without a second though, i try to get myself closer to the light, forcing my oxygen-deprived body to swim towards the light no matter what, eventually my senses slowly start kicking in as well.
║ I fall into the light, gravity suddenly takes a hold of me and I plummet onto a hard ground, air filling up my lungs.
The light around me is so bright, It feels like as if i was hit with a flashbang.
Shirou rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision but the dust and blood from his previous battle prevented it. Eventually his eyes adapted to the light enough to see a silhouette of a person approaching.
The silhouette approached him, concerned and curious about his current state.
"Who are you?" Shirou asked the mysterious silhouette in front of him.
"Huh?" The silhouette replied, as it looked back at him with a confused look.
I close my eyes for a bit and take a deep breath in an attempt to adapt the sudden daylight once more.
Eventually his eyes adapt to the light, revealing an unfamiliar landscape.
║ I start looking at my surroundings… It looks like some kind of European style architecture with old buildings covered in moss and cracks.
He takes a look at the background, human-like humanoids and humans walking around together with clothes that look like they were pulled out of a museum.
Are these what they call Phantasmal Species?
Shirou immediately froze, confused about what he just saw but before he could say a word, an inexplicable feeling invaded his body. The mana in the atmosphere was extremely dense, denser than anything he had ever experienced before.
║ Just where the hell am I...?
"Hey, Are you okay?" The silhouette asked him.
Shirou looked in the direction of the voice, the silhouette had cleared itself revealing a young boy around his same age looking at him with a very confused look.
Shirou takes a look at the mysterious boy in front of him. The mysterious boy was wearing a black-white tracksuit with orange lines on the shoulders. His clothing was out of place compared to the rest.
He was carrying a plastic bag filled with groceries with a logo of a familiar convenience store he used to buy his groceries from. This boy was not clearly not from around here, in fact he looked as equally confused as him.
Shirou became even more confused as he started to think of the possibilities of what just had truly happened after he had crossed the event horizon until finally arriving at a conclusion.
║ It's hard to believe but there's no denying it, the grail definitely did something before disappearing.
"Yes, I think?…" Shirou replied to the mysterious boy. "But who are you?"
The boy in front of him smiled and pointed his hand at himself .
"My name is Natsuki Subaru." The boy proudly proclaimed his name.
A few minutes ago, in another time and place
Subaru is in his room reading manga when suddenly, "Hey Subaru can you do me a favor and buy some groceries."
"Sure, just give me a second." Subaru stopped reading and grabbed his wallet. "Alright, where do you want me to go now?"
"Thank you." Naoko gave Subaru some money. "It's the same one as always. You can buy something for yourself once you get there, just make sure you can afford it."
"Oh, and don't forget you can only eat what you buy after we eat dinner." Naoko smiled at Subaru.
"Yeah I know Mom, I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Hey son, come here for a second" Kenichi grabbed Subaru's shoulder. Subaru turned and covered himself, expecting another one of his infamous dad hugs.
"Yeah?"
"Shh, Can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure dad, what do you need?" Kenichi looked around as if he was hiding from someone.
"Please buy me a piece of chocolate. I need it for my morning coffee."
"Sure…?"
"You see your Mother has been keeping me on a strict diet for a while. Did you notice how we haven't eaten a single piece of dairy products for a week?"
"Now thinking about it, you are right we haven't eaten a single piece of meat this week."
"Correct, you see she has been following a tutorial from Youtube, she wants us to keep us healthy but I can't handle this anymore."
"If you buy it for me, I won't wake you up tomorrow, you'll be able to sleep all you want." Kenichi extended his hand hoping to settle the deal with his son.
"Make it 1 week and we have a deal." Subaru after seeing his father's weakness couldn't let this opportunity go to waste, he had to use it.
"3 Days." His father downgraded the offer.
"3 Days and without dad hugs." Subaru, not wanting to agree with his terms, decided to tweak the terms of the deal.
"I'll consider it."
[ Oh hell no! What's the point of making of this deal, if you are randomly going to crush me at any time during the day. ]
"How about this?"
"I'll buy you an expensive chocolate if you give me a week." Subaru let out a smile. "A chocolate not even you could resist."
"Oh and what kind of chocolate are you talking about?"
"One that will make you change your mind: A 200 grams premium Nutella bar."
"In that case, consider it a deal, just keep it a secret from your mother okay?." Kenichi looked around the hallway with a concerned expression on his face. "If you do, I'll make sure you get the best lunch at sch…. home for this week."
"I'll let you sleep at peace, no dad hugs or your mother waking you up for the entire week and that's a promise."
[ Easy, Now I'll finally be able to finish reading the rpg light novel that has been sitting on my desk for weeks now. ]
"Wait Subaru but how are you going to pay for the chocolate bar? I thought you had wasted all your money on those girl dolls and that poster over there."
"Not really, I always save money in case of emergencies." Subaru, after realizing his mistake of telling his father that he had money hidden somewhere, quickly changed the topic. "But it's not much anyways but i think this fits as an emergency"
"So i'll be back in a couple of minutes, mom told me that she needed some groceries for dinner so i'll buy the chocolate while i'm there okay?"
Subaru went into his room and opened his closet. A pair of shoes, His old tracksuit, A t-shirt, A wooden chest, Etc.
Subaru decided to go with something simple. He took his tracksuit and looked at himself in the mirror, his hair was messy but it's nothing he can't fix. He grabbed his wallet and prepared to leave.
But before he could leave he noticed his parents talking with a delivery man in the door, carrying a box and some documents with a strange logo
"And that should be everything, just please sign this form." The delivery man handed out a paper and gave it to them.
"Thank you and have a good night sir." Kenichi and Naoko closed the door and headed to the kitchen before finding their son, watching from the living room.
His parents retreated in shock unsure of what to do. They placed the box and documents on the table knowing that perhaps it was finally time for them to tell him the truth.
"Subaru." Their tone sounded serious immediately Subaru realized something was about to happen, he knew that tone very well. "We have something important to tell you."
"Please sit down." Naoko took the box from the ground and placed it on the table
"What did you get the puppy I asked, when I was 10?" Subaru let out a small laugh trying to be optimistic despite the heavy atmosphere.
"No this is important, just please try not to make a scandal." His mother opened the box and showed its contents to everyone in the room. Subaru remained in complete silence.
"This is your uniform." Subaru took a look at his new uniform, it was blue and it looked more like a suit rather than a standard uniform. "We wanted it to be a surprise but it seems that's no longer the case"
"I know you must be shocked but put yourself in our shoes, you have spent a third of your life alone in his room."
"It's our duty as parents to make sure that you get a good future." Naoko placed the uniform in his hands. "We are sorry for not telling you earlier but don't forget that everything we do it's for your own good."
"No I don't want to, I'm happy where I am right now." Subaru placed the uniform back in its box.
"Listen Subaru, I have worked in various industries in multiple jobs across the world and I can tell you that spending the rest of your life doing the same thing over and over will eventually make you miserable." Kenichi placed his hand on his shoulder trying to console his son.
"But in school, you will meet new people, friends and foes and all kinds of interesting people, maybe you'll find happiness or maybe a special someone."
"Your father is right, in school you'll see all kinds of things and experience a lot of new things that you would never find in your room." Naoko gave him a pair of documents. "Take a look."
Dear Natsuki Subaru
It's an honor to inform you that your application has been accepted, we hope to see you in the next semester.
-Atte Misaki Town University
"No way…" Subaru remained in complete shock, his frustration grew larger and larger. "Why would you do this without my permission?"
"We had to."
"But why would you pay for the whole semester? Not only that but the residence and insurance too?"
[ I don't deserve this, why would they bother now? I have spent most of life being a disappointed and now they register me in a university despite not having any skills outside just being useless. ]
"I don't understand, why now?" Subaru clenched his fists. "Both of you know what's going to happen."
"I'll just fail and fall behind everyone like i always do, not to mention i don't have any training or skills after i left the school a couple of years ago."
"So why would you spend that amount of money for a lost cause?"
"It's not a lost cause and we really didn't spend a lot of money anyways, remember your old aunt? Turns out she has been working in a very important position in the university for quite some time."
"I met her the other day in the supermarket while shopping and at some point, we started talking about the family and during the conversation, you were brought up by her"
"She talked about how you looked adorable as a baby and when i told her about you quitting school a couple of years ago, she became very worried and said something about youngsters dropping out of school always ending in a bad spot."
"So she offered me a deal with the university, you would assist as a temporary student before fully joining the university after completing a quiz of some sorts."
"And don't worry if for some reason, you manage to mess up something, she will help you and personally teach you herself."
"Stop…" Subaru became even more frustrated, he had been given another chance to change his life for the better in school but this time, failure not only would harm his parents wallet but also the career of his aunt.
Subaru hitted the wall in frustration
"I think I need a minute, excuse me." Subaru stood up and walked away towards the bathroom and locked himself in. He took out a towel from the cabinet and screamed at the top of his lungs before opening the door and heading back
"Take it easy." Naoko approached Subaru and gave him a big hug. "You are going to have fun there!"
"Once you see it you'll change your mind, the campus is huge and has a lot of open areas for you to study and rest." Naoko took something from the documents folder, appearing to be a map of the campus.
"Here, take a look!"
Subaru took the map of the campus and began to read, revealing its true size of 5 residential areas combined into one. In one of the many spots of the university one of them was called The plaza mall filled with stores ranging from simple fast food restaurants to small scale stores for students of all areas.
He placed down the map and began to read about the other buildings.
"Not to mention I've heard that some restaurants inside the school give away free food to students in need so you'll never get hungry there!"
"Oh Subaru, if i were your age, i would have killed to get an opportunity like that." Kenichi let out a small laugh.
"If I could be young again, I would have definitely gone to that university."
"I dont think im sure about this, is it too late to reconsider it?" Subaru became conflicted, a part of him wanted to experience that life but his brain was constantly yelling at him not to do it.
"Move on, leave it in the past," Kenichi said with a warm smile. "I'm sure you'll like it!"
"The semester starts in 2 months from now, giving you and us enough time to prepare."
"But I'm not sure if I want to go just yet…"
"Oh Subaru, it's going to be alright. The university is just 40 minutes away, we can visit you at any time and you can go back here on the weekends if you want to!" Naoko and Kenichi quickly comforted Subaru by giving him a huge and warm hug.
Subaru embraced the hug but his mind and heart were in conflict about the whole thing. He went to the bathroom and attempted to clear his mind.
[ What should I do? The semester has already been paid, I doubt that I can do anything to convince them to change me to another university or resign me but…]
Subaru opened the map once again feelings of curiosity and optimism invaded his mind.
The university doesn't look that bad, it has a lot of places that i would like to visit but
Knock
Knock
"Hey Subaru, are you there?" Naoko knocked on the door. "Just wanted to remind you that you have to go to the convenience store."
"Oh and don't forget about the thing."
"Yeah I know, I'll be there in a minute."
10 minutes later
After a lot of thinking and planning Subaru decided to stop thinking about it for now, he had to finish his current task of buying groceries. He saved the map in one of his pockets and left the bathroom.
[ I think i'll buy a pair of chips after this ]
He goes to the living room and finds his parents checking on the package, Subaru just looking at his uniform with an indifferent look in his eyes.
"Hey Subaru once you are back, can you do me a favor and try out the new uniform? I want to make sure that it fits you."
"Sure mom, anything else?"
"Yeah, what would you like for dinner? I think this one is a special occasion so I'll let you choose what you want for dinner. "
"I'll think about it while I walk." Subaru slowly walks away from the room. "I just need some time to clear my mind okay?"
"Oh okay just take it easy okay?" Naoko waved farewell "Oh and don't forget your phone." Natsuki pointed at the table in the kitchen.
"Got it."
"Take Care" Natsuki smiled at Subaru like she was waiting for his response. But Subaru just waved back without a word or a smile as his heart and mind were conflicted.
Subaru left his house and began walking towards the convenience store. Unaware of the fate he was about to meet.
[ I wish I had more time to think and clear my mind. If I go to the university there's a chance that I'll meet a group of friends, foes or maybe even a girlfriend but if I slip and lose focus for a moment, my grades would drop significantly and I would end up back home as a failure. ]
Sigh
[ It's a high risk-high reward situación but if i let this opportunity pass there won't be another one. ]
[ Still… What choice do I have? They already paid for it and there's nothing I can do about it.. ]
3 minutes later…
Subaru entered the convenience store. The store was mostly empty except for a pair of people paying for their stuff in the checkout.
He walked around looking for what he needed to buy. The smell of sausages taunted him but he knew he couldn't buy a hotdog otherwise he wouldn't be able to eat dinner so he continued with his task.
Until he finds a manga and gets distracted by the cover, he quickly shuffles the pages trying to figure out the plot by just looking at the images.
"I see where this is going, this is where they suck you in". He left the manga on its shelf unsatisfied with its predictable and cliche plot.
[ Oh wait, I forgot I need to buy some groceries and chocolate for Dad. ]
He goes to the candy corridor and begins to look for the chocolate bar he had promised. In the background a couple is seen on the street holding hands while walking away. Subaru just looked away not wanting life to remind him about his current loneliness.
Sigh
Subaru continued with his search. Ignoring all those orange joe candy and instant ramen that laid on the shelf until eventually something caught his attention, a honey-lemon flavored ramen, his favorite.
"Huh neat, I thought they stopped making these." He grabbed his ramen and continued his shopping grabbing a pair of chips and adding them to his shopping bag.
He continued shopping, grabbing everything his mother wanted, a bag of coffee beans for the morning, a chunk of oregano for soup, two pairs of Tomatoes for the soup as well, a bag of spaghetti pasta for future fancy dinners and a trio of lemons for some reason.
[ Alright this should be everything. Time to head back home. ]
Subaru headed to the checkout counter with his wallet in hand.
"That will be 363 yen." The young and sleep deprived employee said. Subaru took out his wallet and began counting his money, he had more than enough but something there caught his attention.
[ Huh, I was able to afford it.]
"Huh, a grooved-edge ten." Subaru inspected the old coin before saving it on his wallet.
Subaru paid for his stuff and left the store without a second though.
A car passed down the street and for a split second he thought he saw the car split in two before going back to being one. Maybe he should head out to sleep after this.
Sigh
Subaru looked at both sides of the road checking if there were no cars in the distance. There was none, now knowing that there was nothing in his way, he took a deep breath and said.
"That's what I get for holing in my room all day, gaming." Subaru scratched his eyes. "Guess my eyes are tired."
Suddenly a bright light emerges from the background blinding Subaru.
[ Ah, What the hell was that? ]
Subaru scratched his eyes again. His vision slowly begins to clear. He finally opens his eyes and is immediately shocked by what he sees.
In the background, a bunch of half human-animal hybrids and humans were walking down in what appears to be an old market.
He closed and opened his eyes again and took another look. The buildings around him looked really old, some of them had cracks and broken windows all around them, others looked slightly better but there were people inside.
[ Am I asleep? I know that I have been barely sleeping for a couple of days but I didn't know falling into a deep sleep right in the middle of the street was possible. ]
A bell is heard in the background. The sound shakes his very being forcing him to cover his ears.
"What's going on?"
He began to walk around in a crowd in confusion, some people looked at him with mixed views like if they were seeing a foreign while others just minded their business. Eventually he manages to collide with someone, the person in question just nodded and left without question or confrontation but for him that was the finishing touch.
"I'd say I was dreaming, but this is obviously really happening." Subaru became Ecstatic. Everything about this place felt real, the touch, the questionable smells, the sun somewhat burning his skin.
At first he had thought this was nothing more than a dream but all of this was real he had become what he had always read in his light novels, a hero summoned from another world to do something heroic like saving the kingdom from an ancient and evil demon lord or some other cliche problem.
He didn't complain or care about his summoning place and timing as his adventure was about to begin.
But fate had other plans for him.
He started looking around for his summoner but just like always life was full of surprises.
In front of him was another boy from around his age manifested himself from thin air, badly wounded with his shirt almost ripped off and a broken hoodie laying right next to him even for the untrained eye, he could tell this boy was close to falling unconscious.
[ What the hell? ]
His smile faded as he stared at him. Concern began to rise as everything he looked at him new wounds would appear in his field of vision.
Before he could say anything the boy in front of him asked him a question.
"Who are you?"
"Huh?" He was caught off guard by his question. Questions began to surface in his mind
[ Was he also summoned in this world as well? But why is he badly wounded? and where is our summoner? Otherworldly heroes would often get summoned in castles, sometimes random dungeons or even empty fields but why in the middle of the street? ]
[ I'll think about that later but for now I need to do something about him. I just cant leave him there to bleed out, if he is the second protagonist or companion. I can't let him die! ]
"Hey are you okay? What happened?" Subaru grabbed and shaked the mysterious boy's shoulder and asked him.
"Yes, I am…" The mysterious boy replied, his voice sounded extremely tired and his eyes kept losing focus, there was no denying that the person in front of him was in danger.
"But who are you?" The boy asked him despite his wounds.
[ I don't know who he may be but knowing that fate has brought me here I wouldn't be surprised if he was at my school with me. Time to give it a test. ]
"My name is Natsuki Subaru." Subaru proudly proclaimed his name.
Notes and Questions
Discord link: 72eyCDNR5c
1.-Which Version of Shirou is this?
UBW True End Shirou
2.-Are you gonna continue this?
Yes, but it mostly depends on my mood and my busy schedule.
3.- Is Subaru/Shirou gonna be OP?
No, they will learn some tricks but compared to the main cast; they are still nothing more than a pair of beginners with barely any talent.
5.- Is this related to Re:Circuits?
No, however that fic and the redux version and certain people in reactionist discord inspired me to write this.
6.- Anything related to feedback or ideas or bad grammar
Try posting it on the review box with an example or you could dm me about it, you can also find me in the "reactionist discord" as Looxond, you can also found me on my discord (EcxJ5Ce2MP)
7.- Something about formatting
[Subaru Inner Monologue/thoughts]
║ Shirou Inner Monologue/thoughts ║
"Dialogue"
Action/Narration
8.- How does Shirou know about certain magic topics and certain servants
Rin/Kiritsugu taught Shirou offscreen and his tracing gives him a bit of insight into the history of any weapon he sees.
9.- Why didn't you get rid of Subaru and make Shirou the only protagonist?
It simply doesn't make any sense at all.
Satella gave Subaru RbD becauseshe loves him. It makes no sense getting rid of Subaru to replace him with another random anime protagonist. Plus if Shirou had RbD we would get another Greed IF due to his ideals.
Having the two of them there makes more sense.
10.- Subaru is cringe
Indeed he is but he will grow, rewatch Re:zero arc 1 and see it yourself.
He was brave and prideful at the start because he saw himself as an average isekai protagonist then reality hit him like a truck.
11.- Why you didn't give Subaru/Shirou (Insert something about Shirou/Subaru aka powers/personality/ideals)
I don't like that concept of giving another protagonist a power that is unearned it feels lazy and repetitive it becomes another boring scenario of "Protagonist gets X power from this other protagonist (To give you an example just go to Ao3 and click on the tag "Izuku Midoriya has a quirk" it's the exact same canon story with a few twists and maybe a few changes.
When it comes to ideals and personality it feels wrong to give another character a different personality than canon simply because they often go the OOC route at some point because the author got confused while writing the personality
In this case instead of doing that mess, i decided to give subaru a friend who will help him learn a couple of things and help him grow as a person, unfortunately for both of them their actions will soon disrupt a couple of things altering the world in ways that wouldn't be possible in the main story.
Use your imagination :)
12.- Will Shirou remember failed loops?
Shirou wont remember failed loops (hollow ataraxia does not count)
13.- This character is OOC
In that case please dm me via discord or FF and give me an example of how said character is supposed to behave but just keep in mind to be respectful and sincere since this is my first fic, if you simply go to the reviews and say "This is trash OOC" and you refuse to elaborate i'll dm you instead.
Not so Funny Facts
Pre-rewrite
Subaru had an argument with his parents about going to school before getting sent to Lugnica, this is my interpretation of events that happened during the argument.
Post-rewrite
Subaru university situation is based of something that happened to me very recently, i joined a very decent university a year and a half ago with a lot of luck but in my case my university space is not that huge compared to his, i felt nervous of messing up and losing my opportunity of studying here and i feel guilty everytime that i fail a course for my own stupidity or lack of attention. This is the very same reason why I haven't been able to write for a while.
In Subaru's case I decided to give him a similar scenario but improved, he gets a dream like university thanks to his parents contacts, no strings attached. The only thing that he would have to truly face is his trauma of not being good enough which if he had remained in his world, he would have eventually gotten rid off.
He never said "goodbye" to his parents, only a single wave and that's it.
In canon there was no chocolate promise in fact no one knows what happened before Subaru was sent to Lugnica. This is something that I added myself to make Subaru suffer later on and yes the chocolate promise is going to be used in the future.
Subaru was sent to Lugnica in 2013. Shirou was sent to Lugnica in 2006. 7 Years apart from each other. It's going to be interesting seeing Shirou not get certain references from Subaru time. (Yes they live in the same world and timeline)
"Misaki Town? Huh i think i have visited that place before" -Shirou
It's very likely that Subaru saw a certain chair lover boy from Misaki town once while shopping at night.
Subaru met Shirou at some point in his life, They were never classmates and never spoke to each other simply because they saw each other in a plaza once and that's it.
Early 2005s internet was weird, piracy and a lot of random websites were showing up everywhere, youtube was barely a year old and 340p quality videos with questionable content were all over the platform, Shirou most likely entered youtube once and looked up for a recipe of something that taiga wanted to try out.