Chapter Text
“Senpai!” Shirou felt himself stir. His eyes were bleary as he saw the burry visage of bright blue hair. “Senpai, wake up!”
“Huh? Morning already?” Shirou mumbled to himself. The images of his nightmare were rapidly fading as his vision started to clear. Standing before him was a small girl with bright blue twintails and emerald green eyes looking down at him with a pout.
“Yes, it’s morning,” The girl huffed. “Get up. You need to make breakfast.”
“Good morning to you too, Ichika,” Shirou said as he stood up from the hard, concrete floor from the shed. Yumiyo Ichika had been friends with Shirou since middle school. The schoolgirl had found him sitting alone the day after his father died and decided to talk to him. Ever since then, she would stop by Shirou’s house every morning for breakfast. Although she was a freshman, making her a year younger than Shirou, they still walked to school together.
Ichika pouted at Shirou, but didn’t reply. Without any more words spoken, they made their way into the kitchen.
“So, what do you want for breakfast?” Shirou yawned as they made their way to the nearby building.
“Omurice please!” Ichika’s demeanor quickly changed. She had a sweet smile on her face and her eyes shone in the sunlight.
“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Shirou rolled his eyes as he made his way into the kitchen. “Go ahead and wait at the table. I’ll be ready with yours soon.”
“Okay, and don’t forget to leave out the mushrooms!” Fukigen called as she left the kitchen. “If you do, I’ll make you wish you never had a tongue!”
What does that even mean? Shirou thought as he made his way to the refrigerator. He grabbed everything he needed and stood in front of a cutting board. He quickly sliced two onions in half and started to dice. Each serving of omurice used half an onion, but he knew that Taiga would want seconds.
The next step was the chicken. As he went to grab the chicken on the other side of the stove, he put a pan on top of the stove and turned it on and drizzled a bit of vegetable oil. Shirou then opened the packet while letting the pan heat before scraping the onions into the pan from the cutting board before placing the chicken on it. He swiftly and expertly cut the chicken into small chunks before adding it in. He had two sections of mixed vegetables that he had prepared the previous night. One of them with mushrooms and one without. With Ichika in the house, omurice was one of the things they had the most for breakfast.
Shirou grabbed the mixed vegetables that didn’t have mushrooms and dumped a bit of it into the pan before mixing it. He then got the rice he also prepared the previous night and added that too. He grabbed the salt and pepper and seasoned the whole thing. While Taiga liked hers with a lot of pepper, Ichika preferred hers with less salt and pepper while having more soy sauce.
Lastly, he put in soy sauce and ketchup. He added a little extra soy sauce. If Ichika kept eating this, he’d have to switch to low sodium. As he plated the rice, he thought about his day. Issei told him about a broken air conditioner after school, so Shirou had to fix that as soon as possible. He was up to date on his assignments, but he had an English exam on Friday. Even though Taiga was a lenient teacher, he still had to study.
“Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Shirou said as he placed the pan back on the stove and grabbed an egg. He cracked it onto a bowl and added a bit of milk and started to whisk. He didn’t even need to use a measuring cup.
He added a bit of vegetable oil before pouring the mixture of eggs and milk into the pan. As soon as it solidified, he added some cheese. Once it melted, the rice went in. He flipped the egg so it was covering the rice. He plated the omurice and drizzled ketchup so it spelt the kanji for “good morning.” He was under the philosophy that the little things that made you smile made food taste better.
“Food’s ready,” Shirou said as he made his way to the table with the plate of omurice. Before Ichika could reply, the door slammed in to reveal one Fujimura Taiga.
“I heard food?!” Taiga exclaimed.
“God! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Ichika took a deep breath while putting a hand over her chest.
“Good morning, Ichika,” Taiga addressed the young girl before turning to Shirou. “Shirou.”
“On it, Fuji-nee,” Shirou said with a small smile on his face as he placed the plate of food in front of Ichika. He went back to the kitchen and made a plate of omurice for Taiga, except this one had mushrooms. While he was there, he made one for himself.
“Food’s ready,” Shirou said as he sat down, giving Taiga her food.
“Thank you!” Taiga clasped her hands before making a small prayer. Shirou mimicked his actions before starting to eat slowly. Taiga, on the other hand, scarfed down her food like she hadn’t eaten in days, even though Shirou fed her the previous night. In a minute, she had eaten the entire plate.
“How do you even manage to do that?” Ichika raised an eyebrow. “I started eating way before you and you’re already done.”
“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Taiga winked at the freshman. “A spry, young lady like me needs her energy.”
“Maybe you can use your energy to get to school,” Ichika flicked her eyes over at the clock that was in the room. “Don’t you have to go?”
Taiga looked at the clock and her face paled.
“Alrighty, kiddos! I gotta head out! Stay safe!” Taiga shot up from her seat and dashed out of the house.
“What am I going to do with her?” Shirou pinched the bridge of his nose. He loved his guardian, but she could be… eccentric at times.
“Don’t do anything,” Ichika shrugged in response. “Anyways, we should probably head out soon too.”
“You’re right,” Shirou said as he stood up. “Let’s go.”
“Thanks for doing this, Shirou,” Issei said with a small smile as he looked down at the faulty air conditioner. “I know this thing needs to be replaced sooner than later, but we never have the budget to.”
“It’s okay,” Shirou shook his head. “I can take care of it.”
“Alright,” Issei said as he opened the door. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”
“Thanks, Issei,” Shirou said. Issei nodded and closed the door. As soon as his footsteps faded away, Shirou knelt down in front of the machine.
“Alright, buddy, let’s see what’s wrong with you,” Shirou put his hand on the air conditioner and closed his eyes. “Trace On.”
Green veins spread around the machine from his hands and information started to flood into Shirou’s mind.
“Ah, I see,” Shirou opened his eyes and grabbed a screwdriver. He unscrewed the lid and took it off to see the wires were all jumbled up. “I’ll fix you right up.”
He silently worked at the machine until he heard footsteps approaching. This time, it was two. Shirou didn’t even have to hear their voices to tell who they were, but it helped that they were bickering loudly.
“C’mon, just talk to him!” Ichika’s voice came from the hallway and through the closed door. “It doesn’t hurt to make friends.”
“We’re cordial, and that’s enough,” The other voice belonged to the school idol, Tohsaka Rin. Despite being the role model for almost every girl in the school, she liked to keep to herself. The only reason Ichika managed to earn her friendship was because she was too stubborn to accept that Rin kept to herself.
Shirou screwed the lid of the air conditioner back on and made his way to the door. When he opened it, he saw that the two of them had stopped to argue right outside of the door.
“Is there anything you need?” Shirou asked.
“Shirou! Just who I was looking for,” Ichika had a sinister smirk on her face as she flicked her eyes over to Rin. “You see, my friend Rin here has something she really wants to say, but she’s just too shy. She wouldn’t be able to cope if you learned that she—”
“Ichika,” Rin growled, her eyes gazing right into Ichika’s. “That’s not funny.”
“Fine, suit yourself,” Ichika shrugged her shoulders. “You can’t escape the truth, though.”
“That’s not even the— you know what? Nevermind,” Rin rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry for roping you into this, Shirou. If you excuse me, I’ll be taking my leave.”
As she started to walk off, Ichika chased after her.
“Oh no you don’t!” She shouted as she followed her upperclassman. Shirou watched as the two faded into the hallway before eventually fading from sight.
She really knows how to pick her friends, Shirou thought before closing the door. He didn’t know whether he was referring to Ichika or Rin.
“Yo,” As Shirou stood up from his seat, he looked up to see that Matou Shinji was waving to him with an easy smile.
“What’s up, Shinji?” Shirou said. Shirou remembered when he met Shinji. They were around eight. Shinji was acting aggressive and Shirou tried to butt in. He learned that Shinji’s grandfather had died and he was moved to a foster home. Shirou understood his feelings and they bonded. As time went on, his bitterness faded away and he became a real upstanding guy.
“Just wanted to thank you for fixing the AC. If you didn’t, we would have been in real trouble next semester,” He said.
“No problem,” Shirou nodded, returning Shinji’s smile. “Wanna walk home together?”
“Nah, I have something to do today,” Shinji sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “By the way, I suggest you stay indoors at night. It’s pretty dangerous out there these days.”
“Yeah,” Shirou said, uncertainty coating his voice. Why bring it up now?
“Thanks, man,” Shinji offered a fist. “Nice seeing ya.”
“Yeah,” Shirou replied as he bumped fists with Shinji. Today was a good day.
“Afternoon, big sis,” Tohsaka Sakura smiled as she saw her sister walk up to her. After Tokomi had caught wind of what Zouken was doing to her, he used his final command seals to make Gilgamesh kill Zouken and remove the crest worms from Sakura. Ever since his death, Sakura had moved in with Rin and they lived like that ever since.
“Good afternoon, Sakura,” As Rin caught up to her younger sister, the two started to make her way home.
“How was your day?” Sakura asked.
“It was alright,” Rin heaved a sigh. “Ichika’s still as pushy as ever, though.”
“She’s just doing what she thinks is best for you,” Sakura assured her. She was also friends with Ichika, but while she bickered with Rin, she doted over Sakura, getting downright aggressive if anything happened to her.
“She doesn’t have to be so annoying about it,” Rin muttered under her breath. “Speaking of which, have you made any progress?”
“With what?” Sakura tilted her head in an adorable expression of confusion.
“With your senpai,” Rin put her hand over her mouth as she let a giggle escape from her mouth. Sakura’s face turned beet red.
“W-what do you mean?” Sakura shook her head vigorously. “We’re just friends who share recipes every now and then.”
“Recipes, eh?” Rin’s smile widened. “Recipes for—”
“For cooking, Rin,” Sakura rolled her eyes, the blush fading away. “Please get your mind out of the gutter.”
“C’mon, I’m your sister,” Rin huffed in an expression of faux anger. “Let me tease you a little bit.”
“Never,” Sakura pouted. The two laughed before fading into a blissful silence. After a while, Sakura spoke up again. “It’s that time, right?”
“Yeah,” Rin’s smile vanished. They had received a letter in the mail a couple months ago from a man who went by Tanigo Motoaki. He had bought the Fuyuki Church outright and started to live there. That wasn’t all that important, though. The important part was the letter. A letter stating that the Holy Grail had miraculously survived the attack it had received ten years ago. What’s worse is that it kick-started the war by 50 years.
“I can’t wait to see what kind of servant you get,” Sakura tried to lighten the mood. Despite the mystique and importance of the war, it was still a war, and both siblings had ample reason to be anxious.
“Me too,” Rin said as they stopped in front of the Tohsaka Mansion. “I’ll summon it tonight.”
“Whew,” Rin took a deep breath as she looked down at her handiwork. “Usually, I would be mad about you being up so late, but I wouldn’t have been able to get this done without you.”
“I appreciate the compliment,” Sakura smiled sweetly at her sister. “Can I stay during the summoning?”
“Sure,” Rin said. She knew Sakura wouldn’t go to sleep if she told her to, so she might as well let her stay. She then took out a feather and placed it in the center of the circle. According to her father, it was the feather of a phoenix. She didn’t know if that was true, but that feather exuded a feeling that Rin had never felt before or since she had received it. This was going to be her catalyst. “Now, let’s begin.”
“Let silver and iron be the essence.
“Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation.”
“Let my great master Schweinorg be the ancestor.”
Energy swirled around Rin as she chanted. Sakura’s eyebrows raised before she settled for a small, proud smile.
“Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall.
“Let the four cardinal gates close.”
“Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate.”
Rin’s eyes flicked over to the clock. 2 am. Perfect. Sakura had noticed that all the clocks were back an hour that morning and she had spent the afternoon making sure they were set to the proper time.
“Fill.”
“Fill.”
“Fill.”
“Fill.”
“Fill.”
“Let it be declared now; your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be your sword.”
“Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail.”
“Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth.”
Rin felt a sharp pain as her mana drained from her and into the circle. Sweat bead down her forehead. She knew the ritual would be taxing, but this taxing?
“An oath shall be sworn here! I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven.”
“I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell!”
“Rin!” Rin could barely hear Sakura’s cry of worry. She looked down to see the feather glowing. It was working. She was almost there… almost there…
“From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by the three great words of power!”
“Come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!”
Rin yelped as a bright light enveloped the room. She took several steps back only to be caught by Sakura. The two sisters shielded their eyes from the light as the wind started to pick up. After a few seconds, the light faded and the wind simmered down.
As Rin adjusted her eyes and moved her arm away, she saw a woman standing before them. A beautiful woman with her hair the color of fire and her eyes a beautiful amethyst. She wore orange and white clothing that was revealing enough to cause Sakura to blush, but Rin was no shrinking violet. In one hand was a shield made of unknown metals and in the other was a sword. While the hilt was made of a similar metal, the blade was made of nothing but pure, concentrated energy.
She opened her eyes and a bright smile formed upon her lips.
“By your summonings, I’ve arrived!” The woman thrust her sword into the air as she announced her presence excitedly. “I am the servant Saber and I ask of you. Are you my master?”
Rin’s shaky legs gave out and she fell to her knees. She had done it.
She had summoned the strongest servant.