Tuesday, 6 September, 2011.
Night fell over Mitakihara as Minako finished putting away the last of dinner's dishes. Once the last plate was returned to its proper place in the cupboard, Minako reached for her notebook and for one of her test packets. Each one contained the material she would need to know if she wanted to receive her equivalency certificate, and she needed her cert if she wanted to get a better job with which to provide for her daughters. Archer was gone, four months now into his disappearance, and although Minako wishes every night for him to return, she had all but given up hope that he would be. So she pushed on, adamant that she could pick up from where he had left off.
She was getting better at cooking. She was studying every night. She hadn't touched a beer since that June day when she came so close to burning the apartment down with her forgotten lunch mistake. Archer would have been so proud of her.
Her own homework completed for the evening, Kirika had sat down at the couch to watch something on the television; the volume was turned down so Minako could concentrate, so she had no idea what her daughter was watching. Then there was Homura, who hadn't yet returned from inspecting the repairs done to her apartment. Considering the water damage that had been done to the lower floor, Minako wasn't sure what their living situation would be in the coming months. True, if Homura's apartment was finished being repaired, it was a nicer place to live than this dump. But this dump was also closer to the junior high school at Shirome. If they moved to Homura's apartment, that would increase the commute time for all of them, and could also disrupt all the progress Kirika had made towards keeping on top of her schoolwork.
"Hey mom, do you think he's coming back?"
Her daughter's question caught Minako in the middle of a particularly difficult calculus problem. "I don't know, pumpkin," she replied. "Homura said he'd be back, but... It's been four months, and there still hasn't been any sign of him. I... I just don't know." Minako tapped her pencil against the page, only just noticing that Kirika had turned the television off and was, for lack of a better term, sulking. "Hey, do you want to go over to Oriko's place?" she asked her daughter. "I know you haven't seen her outside of school very much since this happened. I think she'd really appreciate seeing you."
"I mean, I do, but..." But Oriko wouldn't bring back the man Kirika had come to see as her father's replacement, even if it was only for a short time. "You need me more than Oriko does."
There was a knock at the door. "That's probably Homura, back from inspecting her apartment," Minako said. "Can you let her in?"
Kirika did as she was told and opened the door. Minako heard their hushed conversation, picking out the words "So, I ran into someone when I went to check out the apartment..." coming from Homura's mouth, followed immediately by a moment of silence.
"Mom! Come quick! It's dad! Dad's back!"
Minako's fingers went numb, and her pencil fell from her grip, falling to the floor where it caused a semi-napping Amy to jump up and hiss at the fallen object. She turned her head, fearing in her heart that this was just a cruel trick, that the moment she looked there would be nothing. Instead, she was greeted by the smiling, tanned face of the man who had done so much for her and her daughter. Minako pinched herself, and again, before Archer said "I assure you, I'm very real."
No matter what Minako tried to say, her words were stolen on her tongue. "Listen, Minako, I've got something I need to talk to you about, and it's... Well, it's kind of important." Archer scratched the back of his head as he spoke, saying "I probably should have told you sooner, but... Well, I guess I never saw things progressing the way they had until it was too late. Do you mind if I sit down?"
Her words returned to her, just long enough for Minako to stumble with a "Sure... Have a seat," gesturing to the table where Archer joined her. Kirika and Homura took their own seats as well. "Is this... Is this about why you were gone for so long?"
"It is." Archer nodded his head, sighing, as if he didn't know what to say first. "Look, Minako, I... I haven't been entirely truthful to you, and my... Absence, has given me reason to believe that what I've been keeping from you is something you should know." Minako didn't like the sound of that, but she remained silent. Judging by the looks on their faces, Homura and Kirika were already aware of what he had to say. "I..." Archer shook his head. "I don't really know where to start with this, so I'm just going to come out and say it."
"I'm not a person."
Minako eyed Archer, not entirely sure which of the emotions warring inside of her was the one in charge as she said "... You're kidding, right? You're gone for four months, and that's the excuse you come up with? What does that even mean, 'you're not a person'? Then what am I talking to, a ghost?"
"Actually, yes."
With those words, Archer gave a demonstration, and Minako's blood ran ice cold as Archer vanished, reappearing moments later standing at the kitchen counter. "... How did you..."
"Do you remember when we went to Mikuni's beach house, how I told you about the wizard battle I had been part of in my youth? Well, the truth is, it wasn't just the one time, and I wasn't always a teenager. You see, I am a servant, a long-dead spirit called on by a mage to fight for the Holy Grail. It's just that this time, there was no Holy Grail for us to fight over. Archer is just the class of servant I belong to; my real name is Emiya Shirou. I was born in the city of Fuyuki, in the Ōita prefecture on Kyushu, twenty-four years ago. At least, the living version of me was born there twenty-four years ago. For me, it's... Complicated, but I'm probably in my mid-thirties. I think it goes without saying, but this also means I'm not actually a teacher. All the history and mythology stuff I know comes from having met the responsible parties for myself."
"That doesn't... I don't..." Try as she might to speak, Minako's tongue kept tripping over her words. Frustrated, she settle don the one word she thought best described her feelings. "How?"
"How am I a servant, or how is there a living version of me that's younger than I am?" Minako nodded her head; how to both of them, apparently. "I'll try my best to make a long story short. I'm from a parallel timeline to this one. This current me made a contract with a power he didn't understand, and got stuck with the task of being the World's janitor. That's how I became a servant. As for why I'm older than the me that's currently alive, it's because time has no meaning in the place where servants live when they're... Let's call it 'off duty'. Even though I'm technically from the future, it's no more difficult for me to be here than it would be, for, say Miyamoto Musashi to be here."
Minako looked to Kirika, to Homura, hoping to find some indication on their faces that this was all just some kind of horrible joke; but their faces betrayed no such response. This was reality. Her tone turned sour as her tongue found its words, and Minako asked "So, is there anything else you've been keeping from me? Is Homura even your daughter? Did you ever even love me? Or was all of that just you having a good laugh at our expenses?"
"Homura is actually the one who summoned me. She's neither my daughter by blood or by legal bondage, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love her all the same." When Archer wrapped his arm around Homura's shoulder, when Minako saw the look of warm contentment on her adopted daughter's face, she knew he was telling the truth. "And I really did love you; I still do, in fact. The idea of starting a family with all of you was the reason I decided to come back."
"This... All of this, Minako; you, Homura, Kirika; this is why I wanted to come back. I love you all, and nothing would make me happier than for us all to be a family. I just... Needed to let you know the truth about me." Archer stood, bowing deeply for Minako. "But, if after this that's no longer something you want, I'll understand. I'll get out of here, and I won't ever bother you again if that's what you want."
Minako contemplated Archer's response. Inside her was a storm, and she had no idea if what she was about to say was the right decision or not. "Just... Just tell me this much; how much of it was real?"
"All of it," Archer replied. "Every word, every emotion, every touch; everything we had was real. The only thing that wasn't real was myself."
"Well..." Would she regret this decision? Would she regret speaking the words which rested on her tongue? "What do we have to do to make you real?"
