Fate/Collapsing World

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[O] In a dojo in the eastern part of town. When there was no school, he had a whole lot more time in his day, and he could really buckle down and train. For some reason a local priest taught kung fu there on occassion, and he was alarmingly good to learn from. Thoroughly unpleasant to deal with, but the path of a Valkyrie is fraught with peril or something. One of these days he wouldn't be used as a floor mop by that new kouhai of his...

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The floor was comfortable, Shirou thought. Here, with his fingers laying against the hardwood planks, he truly was at peace with the Earth, and all the creatures that lived upon it.

Wait, no, that was exhaustion, not peace. Well, close enough. As long as he didn't have to actually stand up it was basically the same thing.

The floorboards creaked lightly as a foot settled in next to him, and its owner crouched down at his side, lightly poking a finger into his chest. "Taking up residence, Shirou-senpai?" Kiana Kaslana was a smallish girl, with clear blue eyes, white hair pulled back into two braids, and the ability to kick his ass on a whim.

"No..." he groaned. "Just a rental. Roll me out of the way, please." She could probably drag him easily, or pick him up bridal-style, so he had to specify the one that would do the least damage to his frail male ego.

"Yep-yep, sure!" She shifted slightly to get a grip on his clothes - t-shirt and sweatpants, the dojo wasn't highly formalized - and started tugging to get him off the floor so that another pair could take their turn sparring.

The two young men heading up kept a bit of a wide berth between them and the rolling pair. Most of the people at any dojo were hobbyists and unwilling to go at it even half as hard as Shirou and Kiana.

The white-haired girl wasn't a Fuyuki native, more of a drifter who happened to be attending school here for a few months, but Shirou counted himself lucky that she'd turned up. With a sparring partner that he had to work to keep up with, he'd improved faster than ever. The teacher was too good, Shirou couldn't catch any opportunities on the man unless he intentionally exposed them, which meant Shirou sparring against him was more an exercise in determining whether the deliberate opportunity was 'real' in the context of the spar, or a feint that he'd be punished for exploiting.

"Did you have to throw that hard, though?" Shirou complained as Kiana brought him to a halt off to the side.

"Hahah, sorry senpai." She stuck out her tongue. "I actually did, though! Any slower and I might've missed it, you did great today."

"Yaaaay," Shirou cheered(?), throwing up his fist as high as he could send it (about a foot).

"That is arguable," a heavy, solemn voice spoke, as a shadow loomed over him. A local priest, Father Kotomine, who helped out at a nearby dojo every so often. Tall, broad-shouldered, lanky, he was built sharp, with the bones of a very big man, but the bare minimum of meat on them. "It was not a bad spar, but it seems it will be the last one you'll be having for today," he pointed out, hands clasped behind his back. "It is questionable if the intensity taught you more than repetition would have."

"Ugh." Kotomine-sensei was a teacher who specialized in criticism. You could never quite deny what he said, and it was never pleasant to hear, either. Shirou didn't like him at all, and he didn't really enjoy learning from him, but he enjoyed the results, so he kept coming.

"Kaslana-san, remember that we do not provide replacement training partners. If you break this one, there will be no substitute." Please sound a little sad at the possibility, sensei.

"Ahahahahahah, aye-aye, sir," Kiana acknowledged, scratching the back of her head. "That'd suck."

"You may wish to keep the strength farther down, as well," Kotomine continued.

"Ah, I don't actually mind," Shirou volunteered. When Shirou finally did manage to become a Valkyrie, he would always be one of the physically weakest ones. His actual physique could only do so much next to the utterly tiny level of enhancement his body could tolerate. Which meant practicing against Kiana Kaslana's superhuman body was good for developing the skills he'd need.

'Kaslana' wasn't really a name spoken in modern history, and didn't come up in common lessons, but Shirou had studied Valkyrie, Schicksal, and Honkai history in every single detail he could manage. In the distant past the House of Kaslana had been one of the key pillars of Schicksal in fighting against the Honkai, and its members all carried a true stigmata in their bodies.

The artificial stigmata most Valkyries used was a pale copy of the natural kind some people were born with. Derived from it, but the real thing was better in every way - more powerful, more sophisticated, and more resistive to honkai infection. Kiana had been born a Valkyrie, and it wouldn't impact her lifespan either, true stigmata had none of the deleterious effects.

Shirou didn't begrudge her that. She was born with everything one needed for his dream, but it wasn't hers. She had never signed up with Schicksal, nor had she expressed interest in it. She had things that mattered to her to pursue (namely, her deadbeat father, who she was apparently wandering the world in search for). She had just been born that way, it didn't impart any extra responsibilities on her. He'd like to have it, but it wasn't her fault he didn't, and there wasn't any benefit in angsting about it rather than working with what he did have.

And one of the things he did have was a sparring partner who had all of the advantages he lacked - which meant the opportunity to practice from the point of weakness that he would be spending most of his career in.

"It is not about politeness to you, young man," Kotomine shook his head. "It is about what she gains from the lesson. You are much stronger than any of your sparring partners, young lady. But is the same true of your prospective opponents? Can you afford to spend your time practicing how to defeat only those who are weaker than you?"

"... probably? I mean, it's not a short list." Kiana shrugged. "I see whatcha mean, though, I don't get as much out of it if it's super-easy."

"You just shattered the last vestiges of my pride, Kiana-chan," Shirou deadpanned. It was true, though, sparring against her was more a question of how much she held back. And she wasn't just muscle, she was skilled and he honestly wasn't sure how well he'd do even if she held her strength and speed down to his level, or even the level of a normal girl her size and age.

"Ah no, I didn't mean it that way senpai!" she waved her hands in denial. "The super-easy is, like, hypothetical! Not specific to you!"

"Though it is true if she went full-force," Kotomine pointed out, drawing a wince from Shirou. Couldn't deny that either, though. Kiana hadn't been able to beat Kotomine, even going all-out - she'd first come to the dojo as a challenger, and had only started studying here once she'd seen there was something to learn. But he'd seen her going all-out against Kotomine in that challenge, after anything less had failed her, and Shirou was entirely capable of comparing it to the speed and force she used against him.

"Mngghhh-!" Kiana bristled at Kotomine's assertion, back hunched like a hissing cat, and Shirou wasn't entirely convinced her hair wasn't standing up on end like a cat's too. She did look a bit fluffier than normal. "No bullying Shirou-senpai!"

Kotomine folded an arm in front of his waist and bowed like a European butler. "Of course, young miss." With a faint smile, he moved on to other students, leaving the pair to rest.

Kiana looked around awkwardly, before sitting down next to Shirou. "... you gonna be okay? I didn't do it that hard, did I?"

Shirou waved a hand. "No, no, I'm just resting. The fall was just a finale, I'm mostly just tired from keeping up with you until then." While her inborn Valkyrie powers were probably involved, half of it was just her sheer bouncy energy.

"Heheheh, you lasted a while, senpai!" she perked up at his assurance. Stamina was his strong point, at least. And he'd been able to stave off outright defeat long enough to get tired, so he was honestly feeling pretty good about his performance. You didn't measure yourself by whether you beat an opponent out of your league, you measured by how far you got. And he'd been getting further every time. "So whatcha doin' after?"

"Hungry?" Shirou chuckled. Kiana was entirely untroubled by mooching off her fellows with a cutesy act.

Her cheeks puffed out. "Not just-! I have other reasons to hang out with friends, hmph!" She folded her arms across her chest, ostentatiously looking away from him. The effect was somewhat hampered by the occassional flicker of her eye to catch him in the corner of her vision, though.

"Sure, sure." Oh right, that had reminded him. "Just remembered, I ended up cooking more than I needed last night." Translation: Taiga had been busy and hadn't come. "So, yakitori in my ba-ahahahah."

Shirou broke off laughing as Kiana instantly vanished from where she sat, already rifling through his bag. "Awwww yissssss~!"

"Save one skewer for me!" he called out after her. "... and another one for the next girl to catch your eye!" he added after a moment's thought. She would absolutely offer one on reflex and then realize she'd eaten them all and embarrass herself.

She'd tagged along with him after classes a few times. (Sometimes they worked the same part-time job, so they were heading the same way on occassion)

Kiana blew a raspberry his way, held up a chicken skewer retrieved from his bag like she'd just drawn Excalibur from its stone, and then promptly stuffed the entire thing into her mouth and pulling the skewer itself out with a flourish. She could probably take up sword swallowing, there was talent in not poking yourself with the skewer.

She strolled back to him, munching happily with her cheeks bulging, the boxes that held the skewers balanced in her hands. She plonked back down next to him, chewing smugly, and held out his own requested skewer.

Shirou took it, shaking his head with a smile. "At least take the time to taste it, Kiana-chan." He didn't wait for a response, just working at a more sedate rate on his own skewer.

Eventually, she finished chewing, and picked something up from on top of the boxes - an envelope with Schicksal's logo emblazoned on it (to Shirou at least it looked like a pair of upraised wings made from a mechanical gear). "Didja forget this? It didn't look opened."

Shirou twisted slightly to see it - ah, it was addressed to him, his reply from St Freya. He hadn't really had the heart to open it and see his rejection early in the morning when he got his mail, so he'd just brought it out with him. "Just a bit of bad news I was putting off."

Kiana winced in sympathy, and held the envelope out to him. "I always feel better about bad news if I've got something nummy, is it the same for you? Your cooking's about as good as it gets, so..."

Shirou smiled faintly, taking the envelope. "It's worth the try." He worked a finger into the seal and slowly ripped it open, pulling the letter out and holding it up in the air above his face. Yeah, reply to his applicatio-

Shirou blinked. He blinked another four times to make sure his eyes were clean, and read it again. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, sat up, and read it again, and the words didn't change.

'Probationary Acceptance'.

In a bit of a fugue, Shirou read through the following pages, detailing where he should travel, when he should arrive, what he should bring and expect, a voucher for travel, and the details of his probation - accomplishing course standards while remaining within acceptable honkai tolerances, basically. In other words, using less power than everyone else, to a low enough degree that even his tolerance could withstand it somewhat - and still accomplishing what was expected of everyone else. Difficult, but about what he'd expected to need to do anyway.

A small finger poked his cheek. "Shirou-senpai, you okay?"

"Ah," he shook himself. "Yes, I... sorry I need to organize my thoughts this is not what I was expecting," he took a bite of his yakitori to buy himself some thinking time. Of course he was going, this was his dream. He'd never imagined it'd come this soon but how could he do anything but leap on it now that it had? "... I think this might be the last baji class I go to, Kiana-chan."

"Eh?! Why?!" She leaned in behind him to look at the letter.

"Ah, no, no, it's nothing bad! I was expecting bad news but then it was good news so now I need to be ready for a new school by the end of summer break." Shirou paused, taking time to catch his breath. "... yeah, so, I need to pack and say goodbye to everyone, and I have a lot to do. I had no idea I'd get accepted this year..." And in the middle of the year too.

Kiana slumped. "... man, you sound excited. Where are ya goin'?"

"St Freya, it's an academy for Valkyries and I'm in." If he didn't flub this, he'd be saving people from the Honkai so absurdly soon it was unreal.

"Hoh? Was this year's application accepted, then?" Kotomine's voice rumbled from the side as he approached. No surprise, they hadn't been quiet.

"Yeah," Shirou nodded, grinning so hard it almost hurt. "Hey Kotomine-sensei, you used to be a Valkyrie, right?" It had never been said, of course, but the man was clearly Honkai-enhanced to keep up with Kiana, and his priesthood was with Schicksal's faith, so it wasn't exactly a difficult guess. "Any tips?"

Kotomine cocked his head. "No, I am not a former Valkyrie." He allowed a beat for Shirou to get exactly the wrong interpretation before continuing, "I am a current Valkyrie. Fuyuki observation is my duty station."

Shirou blinked again. ... had it just never come up to ask? How did this not...? "... why Fuyuki?"

"The outbreak ten years ago," Kotomine answered, putting an instant end to Shirou's good mood. "Its causes are not entirely gone, so the Overseer decided it was best to station a long-term observer."

"What." Shirou glared at Kotomine as if he could squeeze answers out of the priest with his stare. "It could happen again?!"

"It is plausible," the man answered, voice sober and level. "If the source is not managed properly."

"What source?!" Shirou yelled, standing up fully. "What caused it that was just left here?!"

Other students were looking to them in alarm, but Shirou did not care right now.

"I am not at liberty to say," Kotomine pointed out. "Especially in such a public place. Suffice to say that it was not adviseable to do anything further to that source, after the outbreak was ended. If you reach a sufficient clearance, I will be happy to tell you more details."

Shirou shut his eyes and focused on calming his breathing. Calm breaths made for a calm mind. Eventually, he felt safe to open his eyes, and look up into Kotomine's. "Were you involved in suppressing the outbreak?"

Kotomine nodded, folding his hands behind his back. "I was. In fact, I was your father's associate." He chuckled to himself. "I thought of him as a rival, at the time. He did not think of me at all, though. It was a one-sided affection."

Shirou chose to interpret that as figurative rather than Kotomine confessing to a gay crush on his father. The gay wasn't an issue to him but no one ever wanted to think of their father's sex life. Also the thought of Mama Kotomine was terrifying on an existential level and Shirou would not be able to live on without that image banished forever from his mind. ... then again it was still better than if Taiga had managed to marry the old man. "... what was he like? When he was still a Valkyrie, I mean?"

Kotomine licked his lips, pausing for a moment to phrase it. "... he was filled. He felt so much, for so many, that fear for them brought him to despair. So he hid from those feelings, to do as he believed he must." Kotomine closed his eyes in a moment's reminescence, before shaking his head. "The only 'tip' I can give you is that. Find what fills you, young man. And glut yourself on it without shame or fear."

There was only one thing that had filled Emiya Shirou. That smile that Kiritsugu had shown at the end of Hell. The salvation he had felt, that exceeded even the one he had saved.

He nodded, swallowing past the lump in his throat. "I understand."

Kotomine looked askance at the younger man, an eyebrow raised. "Do you, now?"

Well, that was unexpected. Shirou was honestly caught by surprise, and he had the rest of spring break to pack up the entirety of his life in Fuyuki and settle in at St Freya. The process was a bit of a rush, so he couldn't take care of everything. He did get all the basics covered, goodbyes to friends and family were said and things were packed, but there was only so much he could do, and some of the things he'd have liked to take care of didn't get as much attention as they should. Which of them did he focus on getting the most done?

First, vote for how many tasks Shirou works on.

[ ] One task will give Shirou time to settle in at St Freya before the start of the school year. He'll be able to meet with the people he'll spend his time with, get his bearings in what resources are available to him, and get a decent footing in the coursework, especially the parts he knows are going to be hard for him.
[ ] Two tasks are possible, but Shirou will arrive late. He'll be in time for the bare minimum orientation and start of classes, but he'll be hitting the ground running and will have some trouble getting into the swing of classes.

Next, vote for the tasks you want Shirou to take special care of. Vote for up to two. If you consider one task substantially more important than the next-best, vote for the one to make sure it gets in and your other vote isn't competing for it. If you want to have a say in the potential second, use both votes.

[ ] Spend time at home with Taiga and Sakura, some quality time before he leaves. This will be the last time he'll get to see his family until the next school break, after all. He should enjoy it.
[O] Shirou has no intention whatsoever of confessing to Tohsaka Rin - to him, she is one to be admired, not one to be had. And certainly not now that he's leaving town. But it might be nice to attend the cram school one more time and just mention that he's leaving. He doesn't really think he's someone that features into her attention at all, but it would still be kind of rude to just vanish from her environment without saying anything.
[ ] Shinji, Sakura's brother, has been hitting her. Shirou had been thinking over what to do about it, but he's run out of time. His best idea right now is just punching the guy so he knows how it feels to get punched, but if he takes some extra time he may come up with something less likely to lose himself a friend. (Don't worry, Shinji will get punched whether or not this vote is taken, the vote determines how much more complex Shirou's response is beyond that)
[ ] Make sure to get a last visit to the dojo in. It probably won't mean much to him as a fighter, but it'll be a good last chance to spar and speak with Kiana and Kotomine. Mostly Kiana, at least there he only loses the fights rather than the conversations.

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