The mud seeps in through your pores, leaving no inch untainted.
You can feel every conceivable crime inflicted upon you(?) as you float in this endless void. Crows pick at your(?) eyes and maggots consume chunks of your(?) flesh, the torture unending.
You've forgotten who you are, where you came from, why you're here. As the corruption eats at your synapses you find yourself desperately holding on to a mental picture of a smiling face. As if it's more important than anything else.
Seconds before you pass the point of no return, the mud stops its assault on your senses, as though by Divine intervention. A blue butterfly floats by unfettered from the surrounding's nonexistence. Your body regains its form, and you find yourself reaching out for it desperately, the tip of your finger barely making contact-
Your body hits concrete, and it seems to knock everything back into place. Your father, the Grail War, the love of your life.
You are Shirou Emiya, and you lost. You lost the one fight you needed to win, and you lost Saber. You thought you had died, you should have died. Looking around, you find it hard to believe the afterlife looks like a city's alleyway.
Still, while it looks like Earth, it doesn't quite 'smell' like it. The mana in the air feels ever so slightly off, like a beautiful painting with an off brushstroke.
As you drag yourself to your feet you notice your clothes and body pristine, no pitch black spots or burns. New to you, though, is the shoulder bag you're wearing, its weight barely noticeable. Opening it to check its contents you find your heart sink at the appearance of a familiar small stuffed lion. On impulse, you reach your hand down to caress it, your sense of growing panic calmed slightly at the feeling of its fur.
You aren't sure why it's here, but it brings about as much comfort as it does sadness. You belatedly notice that also in the bag is a wallet filled with a fair amount of money. Your endless confusion is suddenly interrupted by a yell.
"S-Stop it! Let me go!"
A woman's voice, coming from nearby. Without a moment's hesitation, you're moving towards its source.
"Just get in the car!"
A man's voice this time, clearly drunk from the way he's slurring his words. Your steps hasten, and soon enough the altercation comes into your sight, a bald man with a goatee trying to force a woman into his car.
"Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouths and follow where I lead this country!"
You start rushing towards them to stop him, when-
'Who cares? Just let him have his fun.'
Your thoughts stall for a second as an uninvited voice injects itself into your head.
'…What?'
'Oh shit, you can hear me? Hey, stab yourself if you can hear me!'
'Why would I do that when I could just respond?'
'Eh, It was worth a shot.'
"What're you lookin at, kid? This isn't a show, get lost!" While having a conversation with the intruder in your mind, your body kept moving, placing you only a couple of meters away from them. Even here, the stench of alcohol is strong.
"If you let her go, I will." You're aware you don't have a particularly intimidating appearance, but the sounds of sirens closing in help punch up your statement.
"Oh you little shit, you called the cops, huh?"
The drunkard takes a swipe at you but stumbles over his own feet as you sidestep the attack, face-planting into the road.
You hear roaring laughter from the voice.
'Could you be quiet!?'
'Why would I? This is prime entertainment, look at how that sad sack of shit went down! Honestly, did you hear that little bit of his villain monologue? D tier at best.'
The woman gasps as he slowly stands up with blood pouring from an open wound on his head, glaring daggers at you.
"Damn brat… I'll sue!" For what? He's actively attempting a crime!
"If you keep this up…" The victim speaks up again. "Then I'll report about the money! Is that fine with you!?" So, she works with him? For him?
"Then I'll just say you did it on your own, and it's over. Who do you think I am!? The police are all my little bitches!" He's clearly had far too much to drink if he's believing these delusions.
"Sure you do. Now-"
"No…" You're cut off by the woman speaking in a defeated tone, does she believe him?
He lets out a disgusting laugh and continues. "Hey. Make this statement to the cops. 'This kid suddenly attacked me.'Got it?" What the hell…? "If you even try to say anything else, you know what'll happen to you, right?"
You're astonished at this turn of events. The woman is horrifyingly silent.
"What are you talking about?"
"Shut the hell up. You're done for. You'll see what happens when you cross me."
'Threaten him back! Don't be a pussy about this, hero.'
You don't appreciate the somehow derogatory way he said the word hero.
"Excuse me, folks. We received a complaint about an argument, is something the matter?" You feel some pressure taken off your shoulders as a few policemen arrive, but as the drunk turns to look at them… "Oh! It's you, sir."
With a sickening grin the drunk glances at the woman. "Go on. Tell the officers what happened here."
"...That young man suddenly attacked him. He shoved this gentleman to the ground, and he got injured, as you can see…"
'Oh, that bitch! Good ol' betrayal.'
You can't fault her for it. He holds something over her. You'll just have to explain the situation yourself-
"It's exactly as she says." He speaks first. "Also… keep my name off the record. You understand what I mean, right?"
"Yes sir. Hey, cuff him!" He orders another officer to approach you, and you let it happen.
You're confident you'll be able to convince them of your innocence as long as you explain the circumstances.
Apparently, Fuyuki doesn't exist. Neither do you, nor anyone you care about. Also, it seems he wasn't exaggerating about his control over the police.
You already knew about how 'efficient' and 'accurate' the Japanese justice system was, but experiencing it is an entirely different matter. In barely any time you found yourself guilty and sentenced to assault. And, as you don't have a legal guardian there's no 'house' to go to for 'house arrest'. So you've been stuck in a detention center.
'So, let's recap, shall we? You died. Suddenly showed up here in this apparent alternate world with yours truly. Immediately decided to go do your hero thing. Then got arrested. I'd normally be laughing, unfortunately, I'm stuck here too.'
'...Why are you here?'
'Fuck if I know.'
He goes quiet after that, and you don't hear a peep from him in the few days you wait for a probationary home to be found. You spend those days desperately trying to figure out what happened to you, but if there even is an explanation it is far out of reach.
You entertain the thought of breaking out, but what would that get you? There's nowhere for you to run to. If there's a way back, you have to find it, but you're unable to come up with a step one. To the likely multi-thousand-step process that is dimensional travel.
"Get up, kid. They found a school for you." A few officers have shown up to your room with some good news. It's not much of a probation if you're being held in a room that's close enough to a cell. "You should feel lucky, too. You have a choice of where you'll be staying unlike most."
'Wow, a choice of where we'll be stuck for a year. How magnanimous.'
'You're back. Thought I had gotten rid of you.'
'Not that easily.'
"First off, there's always an orphanage."
'Veto! Veto, am I allowed to veto?'
He doesn't have a say in this, but you're definitely not going there anyway if there are other choices.
"An owner of a cafe that some of the officers like to frequent by the name of Sojiro Sakura has offered to take you. He apparently has a spare room in said cafe. His paperwork checks out, as well."
'Ehhh, nah.'
"Lastly, as part of a new initiative, you could stay with a government official. Specifically, it seems a prosecutor by the name of Sae Niijima was chosen for you."
"Bet she signed up just to make herself look good…" One of the other officers not so quietly gossips. The other just rolls his eyes.
'I prefer this option for obvious reasons.'
'Please stop talking.'
"So what'll it be, kid? We don't have all day."
This is a very big decision to have such little time to choose.
[ ] Live with the cafe owner.
You'd likely have a bit more freedom with him, and you're not a bad cook if he asks for your assistance.
[ ] Live with the prosecutor.
It's the option that would look better to those reviewing your case. You'd also be helping her out, apparently, so a win-win.
'Why are we going along with what they say anyway? You could easily break out of here.'
'I'm not killing anyone.'
'Then don't! Just beat them up a bit, and if something 'unfortunate' happens it happens. No big deal.'
[ ](0.5) Get out of here
It is definitely a big deal, but if you make sure not to hurt anyone it's not the worst idea. It would probably be easier to find out what's happened to you if you weren't under probation. Being on the run from the police would bring an entirely different set of problems, though.
Author's Note: This chapter was made with minimal knowledge of the Japanese legal system! I used Google if need be but it is absolutely not accurate.
It feels a little weird to have Shirou get arrested like that, but he also absolutely wouldn't get violent or try to run away. Especially with his incredible confusion as to what the hell happened and where the hell he is.
Fun fact for those who didn't know, one of the original ideas for Persona 5 was that you would live with Sae, but they cut it out because having a Phantom Thief living in the same house as a prosecutor was too much like a drama. Well I think it'd be really cool and I love me some drama, so it's an option now.
