Fate/Reach Out (F/SN + SMT:P4 Crossover)

[nitewind]

That was one wild roller coaster of a chapter. Yeesh, we got Yomotsus Ikusa and Shikome popping up and going after Shirou, Sakura getting Kotomine involved in all this, and Taiga somehow meeting her Shadow. Did I get everything?

 

[zaiaku]

How about something that was reminiscent of an actual married couple's argument between Taiga and Dojima and not one of those that people call such to tease them with?

 

[Brandark]

Lookit Taiga and Dojima chucking stones at each other! Man, those glass houses are going to be totally shattered.

More seriously, Dojima does raise some good points about Taiga, though his delivery leaves...much to be desired.

This is the first fic where I've seen Taiga's quirks being taken seriously and questioned. The depth given to the portrayal of characters(Not just Taiga, but all characters) is amazing.

Awesome writing skillz aside, this is also partly due to the crossover settings, I suspect. A core theme of Persona 4 alongside 'reaching out to the truth' is 'to face myself'. Aside from the obvious 'facing your shadow' part, all social link characters have their insecurities, flaws etc. dragged in front of their faces one way or another and have to overcome, or at least come to terms with them. And of course, f/sn characters are chock-full of issues. Addressing them Persona 4 style is bound to produce some spectacular fireworks.

Moving on...

Margaret gave a playful smile. "You are correct. You do not need to pay me."

Click to shrink...

Where was this generosity when I played as Yu? And Shirou is on his first playthrough!

So jelly right now.

For some reason they had reminded Shirou of himself, and he didn't like it one bit.

Click to shrink...

Very interesting. This is progress, I suppose. He is realizing(somewhat unconsciously) the wrongness of his chosen path at some level a lot earlier.

In other news, plot left the tracks of canon and dived headfirst into the sea.

Demons in the real world! Way ahead of schedule! In Fuyuki! Taiga meets her shadow! In the Taiga dojo! Sakura gets involved! Freaking KIREI gets involved!

Damn, son!

And of course, Kirei doesn't miss the opportunity to the fan the flames of...everything between Sakura and Rin even among all the chaos. Stay classy, Kirei.

 

[Wasuregusa]

Kishou, I think you published the wrong file on fanfiction.net. Lots of spelling/grammatical errors not present in this version of the chapter. IINM, it seems like a format compatibility issue where the site displayed non-printable data as normal text.

 

[KishouTheBadger]

*facesmack*

Again, love you Wasu. Pointing this out reminded me I used the betaed version without accepting the changes, leading to that mess of a chapter. Can't believe I didn't notice (as I only used C+P) for the other sites...

 

[ultra]

I wonder what Kirei's shadow would be like.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

I wonder what Kirei's shadow would be like.

Click to shrink...

An evil-variant persona. Kirei faced himself and came to terms in the worst way back during Fate/Zero with Gil's "help".

 

[zaiaku]

An evil-variant persona. Kirei faced himself and came to terms in the worst way back during Fate/Zero with Gil's "help".

Click to shrink...

Don't forget that this is Kirei is from the Nasuverse and nothing is ever simple. What if Gil was just trolling Kirei making him believe that he enjoyed the suffering of people, when really it was the fact the struggle to overcome misfortune that eased his soul? Of course that's just me and he really is the sadistic SOB that he's thought as.

 

[Raj]

Very glad to see this updated, I am definitely looking forward to seeing Taiga confront her shadow who will ask her questions I always wondered about her. I'm definitely enjoying the character development you are giving her and I suspect that by the end of it I may even like Taiga as a character for once.

I also enjoyed that Shirou won't actually have to pay to get her Persona back and yet at the same time it was referenced as a joke. I very much enjoyed seeing that happen. Although from what it sounds like once he gets a Persona he has no way to reset it's stat's and moves which could make things a bit harder for him especially if you choose what moves they inherit through a random process. Overall it was definitely an enlightening and interesting chapter.

Don't forget that this is Kirei is from the Nasuverse and nothing is ever simple. What if Gil was just trolling Kirei making him believe that he enjoyed the suffering of people, when really it was the fact the struggle to overcome misfortune that eased his soul? Of course that's just me and he really is the sadistic SOB that he's thought as.

Click to shrink...

I would absolutely be livid if that happened, as Kotomine is my favorite villain precisely because he was only able to find happiness through cruelty. It was honestly hard to define him as EVIL for exactly that reason and if it gets taken away I would be very angry if it's glossed over that makes sense and I would only get annoyed for lost potential but purposely portraying him that way would be ridiculous.

 

[zaiaku]

Like I said, that's just my opinion on Kotomine's character. Kishou probably will keep him as the trolling for the evul lulz because it just wouldn't be Kotomine if it wasn't. My opinion was just shifted in that direction because of a pretty decent PMMM/FZ croosover I read.

 

[Rowan Seven]

My opinion was just shifted in that direction because of a pretty decent PMMM/FZ croosover I read.

Click to shrink...

What story would that be, out of curiosity? I'm working on my own F/Z story, and good insights into Kirei could be useful.

 

[Hadiz]

What story would that be, out of curiosity? I'm working on my own F/Z story, and good insights into Kirei could be useful.

Click to shrink...

I think he means this one.https://m.fanfiction.net/s/8458095/1/The-Goddess-of-Hope

 

[KishouTheBadger]

To my fans, here's my new latest update:

1: Stalking

Al-Revis Academy… Nikki still couldn't believe she got an invitation to this place. She didn't know about the other beastmen of her village, but she couldn't see herself as an alchemist. But for every other student like her that got accepted here, there would be very smart and handsome men that would make great husbands. She wasn't going to blow this chance.

So, she took it upon herself to do some early scouting of all the male students. Many were very easily smitten by her looks and alluring voice when she sung, but she wanted someone more fun to hang out. She also considered the upperclassmen Flay who invited her to his workshop, but he was still in the potential list.

Every guy she saw she made a mental note. Either cute, handsome, or one a scale of one to ten. With so many to chose from, and most of what she saw being rather bland in her opinion, she was starting to think this wasn't going to be easy.

Until she saw a lone boy hanging behind everyone else in assembly. Silver hair, a thin body, having the confidence of a rodent the way he shuffled his feet. She thought his face to be kind of cute, a 7 tops, and would have overlooked him if not noticing what was standing by his legs.

Because there was one important thing about this boy that changed everything in her opinion. He had a pet cat.

Possibly a unique cat mana at that, but still a cat. That meant he was a cat lover.

Nikki smiled. He was perfect.

<><>
2: Feet

Vayne didn't quite remember what happened. One moment he was reaching for an ingredient dangling from a branch, the next he was falling off the cliff edge.

He heard a jump, a crash against earth, and felt a strong hairy arm catch him before he fell any further. And then they landed safely on the ground feet first.

Still holding onto him, Nikki gave him a bright smile. "Watch where you step, silly!"

<><>
3: Tail

"Be gentle," she urged him, almost begging. "Just like that…"

Vayne stroked her tail somewhat gingerly and slowly. He had taken care of Sulpher for years, so he felt he had a general idea how to take care of cats. He didn't know why Nikki suddenly asked him for "tail training", but he assumed it had to do with the weakness beastmen all had… and how Jess squeezed it roughly. As far as he knew, Jess wasn't allowed to touch it again after Anne showed disdain of her exploited weakness.

He was worried he might be hurting Nikki the same way, but she would always look at him with a flushed face asking for "more".

<><>
4: Feral

"It's okay," Nikki cooed to the beast monster she had just pummeled down. "I'm not going to hurt you anymore. See? No more hammer."

The monster stirred, warily regarding the girl. But as she moved closer with a beckoning hand, just close enough to stroke its fur, it didn't attack. In fact, it purred when her hand did stroke it.

Most students wouldn't treat Owl Bears with kindness and patience. They would either run from them in a panic or kill them for ingredients. Nikki always treated other types of monsters as fair game, but she always preferred to fight the beasts herself.

Flay assured them it was a part of their beastmen blood that they could interact freely with similarly natured monsters. Her culture was still confusing to Vayne and Jess, but they at least knew that they grew to like seeing this gentler side to Nikki.

<><>
5: Whiskers

She kissed him.

It was on the cheek, deliberately meant to discourage her fan club from pestering her and their workshop. It only happened once, on top of all the chasing, flirting, and hand holding, and it was so quick no one else would have noticed.

But she kissed him. She actually kissed him.

And all Vayne could think about was how ticklish her whiskers were.

<><>
6: Collar

"Here ya go, Vayne!" Nikki smiled with her hands outstretched. "I made it myself!"

"It" was a jeweled collar that she had spent all her spare time, Col, and resources to make. Because Sulpher was Vayne's shifting weapon, whatever the cat mana wore transferred into his weapon form. And she wanted to make sure it was the best weapon Vayne could get.

The silver haired student flinched, thinking back to a similar event he was offered a collar. By Roxis, of all people. "I... appreciate it Nikki, but that looks rather tight to fit around my neck."

Nikki blinked. "It's not for you, it's for Sulpher. Why would you think otherwise?"

"…don't ask."

Well, as weird as it was, it gave her an idea. "Well, between beastmen, it's customary to give collars as a betrothal. Maybe we can matching sets for each other later?"

The betrothal was a lie, but he didn't need to know it yet. She just wanted to see him act cute and flustered if only for a moment.

<><>
7: Hiss

"Just promise me you'll be careful around that guy!"

Vayne stared between Nikki and Muppy, the latter unaware of their eavesdropping watching him tinker his hover pot from behind a desk. On the one hand, the alien had been a boon since joining their workshop. He was helpful in battle and had so much to share with them about his life and home world.

On the other hand, Nikki didn't trust Muppy for some reason, and was outright hostile towards him. He knew Nikki longer than Muppy, so he was certain that she wouldn't act this way without good reason.

"I'll keep an eye out," he said neutrally. As much as he wanted to give Muppy the benefit of the doubt, the beastgirl deserved it more.

<><>
8: Meow

Vayne loved her singing and her apology song was easily her best.

In the beginning Nikki sang with fun and playfulness in mind, as if teasing the boys into falling for her. For a time she just saw it as fun, without regarding the consequences. But it was what ostracized her from the rest of the school, as they decided she was nothing more than a poser. It was fortunate she realized this before it was too late to fix everything.

Now she was singing her earnest feelings.

<><>
9: Lives

There were no words exchanged since their fight against Isodole.

Everyone kept their distance from Vayne; the gossiping students and teachers out of fear, and his friends and comrades out of respect for the startling revelation.

He was actually a mana created by his father. He was a mana that can grant wishes and had been responsible for every miraculously, unexplainable thing that happened over the last few years at Al-Revis Academy.

Sulpher and Nikki were proof of that. He had brought both of them back to life, but was it really worth it?

For her part, Nikki was just as shocked having been dead and then resurrected, but said nothing. Rather, she stayed behind after everyone had gone to their rooms, slipped into his bed and slept with him.

Vayne hugged her close, torn. She returned it. He didn't want to lose her again, but he wasn't sure if he could make his "wish" anymore…

<><>
10: Fur

After graduation, Vayne lived up to his promise by visiting Nikki's home, and only with minimal dragging. Since Vayne had no real home or guardian before Al-Revis, the villagers eagerly accepted him as one of their own. Mostly on the pretenses that he was to be Nikki's husband. Although he repeatedly denied the idea, he wasn't opposed to seeing Nikki in that light after years of working together as both colleagues in alchemy and comrades in battle.

It only took a week later of living in the village before he saw Nikki's natural fur underneath her clothes…

<><>
11: Home

Years have passed since accepted in the village, and before Vayne knew it, the new house he lived in with Nikki was crowded and full of little beast-children. Every time a baby was born, Nikki would "celebrate" with him and get pregnant again. Sometimes she would get lucky and have multiple children in one go; their best record was four.

And so, it grew to the point that both parents failed to find time for each other now. They always asked to play games, sing songs, and even practice alchemy. A few of their children even have plans of attending Al-Revis to become alchemists as well.

True, as a big family, no one got along truly well, and ended up fighting a lot for attention. But it was their family. They both wanted this. Nikki, who's only goal in attending an alchemy school was to find an ideal husband and procreate her race. And Vayne, a now sterile mana who deep down wanted to be surrounded by the people he loved.

Their wishes came true, and they couldn't be happier for that.
<><>
Ailurophilia, a Mana Khemia snippet collection

Fin

AN: if you had read the whole thing and wondered why I broadcasted an entirely unrelated oneshot instead of the Shadow Taiga, Kirei hopping, Yomotsu busting goodnness, I have two words for you: APRIL FOOOOOOLS!
(But seriously, I hope you liked this piece. I tend to use Atelier centric music in my soundtrack as well and have been a fan of the series since Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana. The fanfic link is also here.)

 

[Brandark]

At first, I was like , and then I was like .

 

[Raj]

Considering it is April 1st, I really shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

As for the snippet it wasn't bad but I was honestly very lost since I know neither series.

 

[ultra]

 

[zaiaku]

Ahahaha...ah...Should've known better.

 

[KishouTheBadger]

Chapter 25: The Inner Child

Fuyuki Forest

As a practitioner of magecraft, Shirou was a paranoid, if slightly suspicious person. Although he tuned out baseless rumors around him, he heard enough to know that the forest near the city was considered haunted. In other words, it was entirely unlikely to risk anyone's safety unless they were actively seeking a thrill.

Fortune seemed to favor him thus far in the run, as he saw no more civilians as he entered the forest. A mile later, he broke into a small clearing of dried grass patches and few trees. It was just large enough to fight openly in the surrounding area.

Perfect.

Shirou finally skidded to a stop midway across the clearing, catching his breath. The demons visible through his glasses also halted, but looked no less for wear after chasing the teen halfway across the city. Taking advantage of this, he held his hand out to summon his Persona…

Only to clench nothing but air.

It was as he feared. Whether or not Persona was the same as Magecraft, it required drawing out the necessary prana to use. The only reason he was able to reinforce himself, let alone summon his Persona, was because Teddie's world was saturated with prana and allowed him to use it as an effective outlet.

But even if he couldn't summon his Persona, he still had them to guide and empower him through his subconscious. If only he had a weapon he could-

"Dodge!"

His thought process was cut short at Eligor's barked order, snapping in time to see Yomotsu-Shikome vault towards him, covering the distance between them in a second. Multiple hair tendrils hardened and shot out even as she charged, aimed to impale where he stood.

Reflexes kicked in as Shirou rolled to the side and away from the tendrils, but Yomotsu-Ikusa appeared before him with his body lowered to make a sliding stop. His spear, held high in one hand, fell down like a hammer with just enough distance that the blade would slash the magus.

Shirou, still caught in the momentum of his dodge roll, stopped himself just as he came to his back and rolled to the side as the spade stuck the ground. He forced himself back up the next moment, only to wince as a black spear grazed his shoulder. His footing buckled just enough for Ikusa to follow-up and swing his spade sideways, tripping him back down.

Tumbling forward to avoid Shikome's advance, Shirou's hand caught hold of a long tree branch. Hardly sturdy enough to be called a shinai, but it was best available on short notice. Swinging blindly back, he smacked the hag across the face, causing her to stumble at an angle past him while averting the spiked hair that would have skewered him.

But he was given no rest or time, forced to parry his reinforced yet makeshift weapon against a warrior's own. The deadlock held between them, Shirou staring at the masked helmet of Yomotsu-Ikusa, grimacing how things were just peaceful a few minutes ago.

As dire as the situation was, he was still thankful no one else close to him was in any danger.

<><><>

The next thing Taiga knew, she was hurled across the dojo and hit the floor like a ragdoll, bouncing once on impact. Groaning in pain, she forced herself back on her feet, glaring at the masked doppelgänger. The kendoka abandoned her stance and strutted over, her shinai lightly grazing the dojo matting by the tip.

"Not so high and mighty now, eh Tiger?"

Her glare intensified and knuckles tensed. As much as she was pissed upon being mocked by that word, the kendoka's power was at a whole other level. She was hurt, confused, annoyed, and especially mad, but she didn't rise at the obvious bait. "Okay, so you have the same name as me. I can buy that. But why the hell do you look just like me?"

"I'm what you call a Shadow of the true self. Not the silhouette that comes up whenever you're near light, oh no. I'm that little subconscious thing in the back of your Tiger-shaped head that represses all the things you hate to admit to yourself, let alone everyone else."

"Stop calling me that," Taiga growled, barely stopping herself from yelling.

"Or what?" Her double cooed. "You'll bite me? You 'hate' being compared to something so unfeminine yet you react just like a provoked Tiger."

"I said stop it!" Taiga cried, charging again as she reached for another shinai resting in the sword rack in one motion. Yet despite the power and swing of her attack in both arms, the Shadow casually blocked with her own shinai single-handed.

"You can't tell me what to do," she taunted. "I'm an adult. I'm free to make up whatever rules I want! I keep my youth. I eat free meals at home. I whine when I don't get my way. It's the high life and I love it! Why the hell should I give any of it up?!"

This time, Taiga said nothing. She just kept swinging with strength and technique fitting of an experienced kendoka. Her opponent parried each blow with casual ease, resting her spare hand on her hip while she swung her wooden sword like a fencing epee. Taiga needed all her focus to find an opening and defeat her stronger double.

"Everything was going great until I graduated from high school. After that was college, yet another mountain climbed. I was so caught up with everyone else about the future and crap, but what did the future have in store for me? Careers? Marriage? Family?"

Taiga didn't know what her double was going on about, but she kept attacking regardless. If she was this preoccupied that she wanted to rave about her life, then maybe she could find an opening…

"The truth is there's nothing after all that. Nothing I want anyway. Too soon did we have to move on and get told to 'grow up'. It's the rules of society, they said. As if they were all damn ashamed of all those stupid mistakes they made as teenagers." It was at this moment that Taiga caught the Shadow's weapon in a deadlock with her own, but failed to get close to overpowering the kendoka. "'We can't all be little kids anymore, Taiga-chan! Why don't you just be like the rest of us and grow up? Grow up?! GROW UP!?!?'"

At her sudden outcry, Shadow Taiga's aura flared and by sheer force blew her off her feet. In fact, Taiga found herself flying across the dojo and crashing through the wall.

<><><>

After dropping off the Dojimas at Shirou's house, and bidding Sakura good night with the promise that the matter was all but taken care of, Kotomine set off to find the wraith's trail. If there was any commandment on the boy's part, he didn't let up in running and kept the interference with said wraiths to a bare minimum. He merely had to heal and hypnotize a few angry pedestrians that got something more than a scrape on the knee to keep the incident quiet.

As the line of injuries thinned, he started pacing further down the path, nearing a familiar forest. His mind wandered back to the people and this Shirou's reasoning. Why all this way? Running and leaving his family made sense, as it drew the wraiths away from them. But why not fight back? Why hadn't he used the civilians as shields, and tried to push them away?

It was kind of a surprise to him. He was first and foremost a priest, and once a highly skilled taskforce agent against the likes of monsters and Dead Apostles. But he also knew the basic principles to magecraft to be considered a mediocre one at best, despite the conflict of interest between the Church and Magi Association.

Part of the reason the two didn't get along was how destructive Magecraft was to the world and word of God. Those gifted with magic circuits continued to test the limits of Thaumaturgy, yet could only go so far before the natural order itself came crashing down on their heads. Some took to drastic measures and joined the ranks of the Dead Apostles in pursuit of knowledge, making the Church's job of destroying them all the more difficult.

And yet here was a supposed magus, hiding under Rin's radar, attracting the attention of wraiths, and going out of his way to take the fight out of the streets like some sort of hero.

"My husband's wish is to end all suffering; to bring world peace."

Kotomine's features and fists tightened slightly at the bitter memory, before he forced his expression to stoicism. That "wish" his rival had died along with him, and it would stay that way, because that thinking broke him down in the end. It offered him false hope like how Kotomine clung to his unknown answer like a lifeline.

As he entered the forest and picked up his pace, the priest decided that he was going to save this Shirou two-fold. From both the wraiths, and whatever naïve notion he had of bringing peace to a world waiting to end.

That decision made, he also chose to forgo mentioning this to Rin right away. She might be the Second Owner, but he was her guardian first and foremost, as well as a seasoned Executor back in his day. And if she were to get mad over this slight, he could find some amusement riling her up later.

It didn't take much longer for Kotomine to find Shirou; the sounds of battle helped guide him. Upon entering the clearing, he quickly spotted a red-haired boy with glasses swinging a stick around blindly. To an average person that would be all they could see, but the priest could also make out faint outlines of black and white wraiths dancing around the boy while attempting to kill him. Every so often, their bodies would flicker like television static, leaving brief blinks of their true colors.

He only saw the flashes once, but he assumed that one was a deadly spirit and the other a vengeful warrior. And he almost expected something of a challenge from how Sakura made her plea. Then again, the boy was now being choked by tendrils and held in place by one of the wraiths while the other prepared to finish him off.

Immediately Kotomine sprinted faster than he had to in recent years, silently drawing out red empty hilts hidden within his robes, until four were pressed between each knuckle of his hand and five feet of enchanted steel instantly appeared from them. As quick as this action was, his throw was just as fast, aimed precisely at the wraiths.

All this had been done in three seconds.

This was an important detail because one of the wraiths, the warrior, caught sight of him from the side, and reacted accordingly. Instead of charging and most likely skewering the boy by the spade's point, it skidded to a stop to turn to him and swung in an arc. Kotomine's thrown weapons, the Black Keys, were all deflected and scattered away from the weapon by the counterattack.

The ghost wraith noticed the warrior before the priest, and dodged as best it could by retreating to the side, dropping the boy from its grip in the process. Only one Black Key had hit, staggering it to a woman's shrill scream as the holy charm sapped its energy.

Kotomine clicked his tongue; he could have easily done it in half the time and hit all the marks had he been in his prime.

In reaching for a new set of Black Keys, he almost missed the warrior glowing red and channeling prana. From the position and intent, this action was meant for him. Its extended hand recoiled like firing a gun, and Kotomine saw a block of ice form on the ground directly in front of his path.

He had no time to stop or slow down, so at the last moment the priest spun on his heels and twirled around the ice while advancing. His timing was near perfect as he avoided collision in time to see it shatter like a bomb.

The ghost wraith also chanted a spell with a blood-red prana release, but with more control and finesse equivalent to a medium. Unlike the ice block obscuring his path, a green sphere surrounded his body before seeping into him, as if forcing an unknown weight onto his body. Kotomine suddenly felt sluggish and for a moment almost tripped, but he immediately righted himself and lost no momentum at all. By now he was within striking distance of the wraiths.

As if realizing what control of magic they had was useless against him, the warrior swung its blade for Kotomine's neck, only to meet a fan-spread of Black Keys. Both priest and spirit danced with their blades in fast precision, with the sound of metal echoing across the forest's clearing. Kotomine felt his speed become even more sluggish than he remembered, but considered it to be the effects of the green curse on his body rather than just old age.

The warrior felt confident in the difference of speed, and attempted to end the fight by jumping and swinging the spade down overhead. Its weapon, however, was stopped inches away from the priest's hair. Kotomine's knuckle, aligned directly below and parallel to the weapon, held four hilt stumps in zigzag crossing to stop the weapon's advance.

Kotomine had his attention focused on the warrior, waiting for an opportune moment, but was just aware of the hairy(?) ghost about to rush him from behind. It was at that moment that Shirou, forgotten from all parties up until now, screamed and swatted the ghost aside with his stick. Kotomine followed this opening by throwing a handful of Black Keys at it, four in all.

The warrior, meanwhile, failed to pry its spear out of Kotomine's weapons, and decided to kick the arm holding it down. A flicker of annoyance crossed his face, and the grip on his hands loosened enough to allow the Key holsters to sag. This wraith, however, was still leaning onto its spear and now standing on one foot. It tumbled forward in an ungraceful heap as Kotomine made a more graceful backstep to keep distance.

This allowed him to regroup near the red-haired boy, backs leaning against another while keeping an eye on their opposition. "Shirou, I presume?" the priest spoke first.

"Who are you?" he asked back, watching the wraiths warily still. "How do you know my name?"

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss matters once we're done here. Try not to die until then."

<><><>

"Why won't you grow up, Taiga-chan?"

The English teacher stirred back to consciousness as the words were uttered. They weren't the words from her Shadow, but masculine and judging. Taiga almost expected to wake up in her bed while hearing that same voice chide at her for passing out,

But no such luck; this wasn't a dream. The room was of the same shape, size, and overall design of the last room, but with two differences. Firstly, there was a big hole in a wall that she had no doubt knocked through, that led to the first dojo. Second, in contrast to the appearance of the bright, pristine and well-kept first dojo, this new room was dark purple, littered with magazines, dinner plates and pillows surrounding the ring circle. The circle itself had claw marks resembling a certain big cat, clawed and carved to the point she could feel the marks under her feet.

Oh, and if sporting a few bruises and open cuts on her head and back from that last explosion wasn't proof enough about the reality of this situation, she didn't know what was.

"You're just humiliating yourself now," the familiar voice spoke again, echoing all around her. "All these showy antics are making people laugh at you, not with you."

"It's an embarrassment being seen next to you." Another chided, exasperated. "Why can't you use that energy for something productive in your life?"

"Don't you even care about the kendo championship anymore? I thought you said you would take over where none of us would. How do you plan to do that when you keep getting disqualified for something as stupid and insulting as a 'good luck charm'?"

"Stop doing this to yourself, Fujimura-san. You can do anything if you put your mind to it, but not when your mind is acting equivalent to a child."

More voices came and went, but Taiga couldn't keep up with them all. They talked about her behavior, her immaturity, and other personality flaws. Each word was barbed towards her insecurity, and grew to swarm her in her insecurity. They were people she knew and met growing up, used to hang out with, but for their own reasons had all moved on.

They all eventually died down as soon as Shadow Taiga marched inside. Taiga realized too late that her shinai was out of reach, having been dropped after crashing into the room. She could only watch as the Shadow stepped and cracked it in two like it was a flimsy twig.

She was starting to realize that this wasn't any normal kendoka.

"So what exactly does this prove, beating me up?" Taiga said, slowly backing away from the Shadow's gait. It was more distracting than hearing all those voices just now. "All I've seen you do so far is throwing temper tantrums and breaking the rules to your own benefit."

From the cover of her kendoka mask, the Shadow smiled. "You're not any better yourself, Tiger. We're the same, you and I."

Twitching at that word again, Taiga asked aloud curiously, "Then don't you hate hearing everyone else call you by that name?"

"Damn straight," she admitted, much to the teacher's surprise. "But not for the reason you made up. Tiger is a GREAT name; a STRONG name meant to strike fear in the weak. Who cares if it's not feminine enough? I'm only mad at the little bitches who say it with such cheek and mocking. 'Oi, Tiger!' 'Time to wake up, Tiger!' 'Look at that, it's Tiger-sensei!'"

Each uttering of the word made her flinch. Her anger was still there, but in hearing the mocking sounds of what she knew were supposed to be Homurahara High School students that all knew about her, doubt started to grow. And a small bit of fear. "Wh-what's your point?"

"I know this is a little hard for you to process," the kendoka said sarcastically. "But it's all connected. I wanted to be the best in sports, and thought I could make something of my life. Be the best, and all that. I could do anything I want if I just applied myself, from a school teacher to an Olympic athlete! But the same friends I made in school went about their 'real' lives and left me hanging, saying I was the one dragging them down with my immaturity and dreams and shit."

The Shadow drew ever so closer to her, but Taiga suddenly felt her movements to be slower and timid. All those things she said, what she heard before, it was just a coincidence, right? It couldn't be that they were really the same, right?

"So I thought; why not stay where the best years of my life were? So I went and got a job as a high school teacher. After all, high school students know where it's at; no needless bitching and moaning about life that hasn't happened yet. Just live in the moment and enjoy it for what it is."

Although Taiga couldn't see through the mask clearly, she could see from the body language how the Shadow trembled with each step, squeezing the hilt of her shinai hard enough to split it slightly. "But that plan blew up in my face, because even the little shitheads started calling me immature. And they felt superior to ME because I was acting like a child despite being their teacher. It should have been the other way around, god dammit! It hurts! It always hurts! They're always looking at me with contempt because I couldn't be bothered to act my age. SCREW MY AGE! All those killjoys my age and beyond wouldn't know real living even if it bit them in the ass! And Shirou and Nanako-chan are the worst offenders!"

Something in the Shadow's rant gave Taiga pause in her retreat, just at the end of her side of the ring. "What did you say?" she asked.

"You heard me!" snapped Shadow Taiga. "Those two are nothing more than hypocrites! Shirou keeps fantasizing about being a superhero! He lets himself get strung around like a puppet! He even acts like the maid of the house doing chores with a smile, and he still has the gall to bitch at ME for not being mature enough!"

"N-no he doesn't," was the weak reply. She just talked to Shirou about this on the bridge, and he liked doing all the chores. But he also commented on how she "littered" the house, giving her mixed feelings. Had he really wanted her to help all those times?

"Yes he does! He just does whatever the hell he wants without realizing how much he worries everyone! How much he worries ME! I've given him all my heart and soul and THIS is how he repays me?!"

Taiga was torn. One the one hand, she really wasn't comfortable even admitting that she liked Shirou in any way the Shadow was implying. But on the other, she more than felt annoyed that he just seemed oblivious to not only Sakura-chan but to her as well, two lovely females eating at his house every night with the utmost concern in how he took care of himself.

"And let's not forget Nanako-chan!" she continued, hugging her shinai to her cheek like a toy before mimicking/mocking the other girl's voice. "'My mom died in an accident!' 'That sounds lonely!' 'You're the weird one!'"

"She's just a kid!" Taiga cried with dismay. "She misses her mother and, and-!" She wanted to defend her, but couldn't muster the words to argue against herself, with what she knew she really felt.

"And she uses that crutch to show off her forced maturity!" Shadow Taiga spat, swishing her shinai away. "She uses it to make everyone else feel bad for not growing up like she did. She looks at everyone who is happier than her with such contempt, and don't tell me you didn't notice!"

She did notice. From when trying to explain the housing situation to her, Nanako only said three words that made her feel self-conscious about how effective her role as guardian really was. She would later call out her methods at dinner, saying four words that meant so many things. How confusing the logic of her argument was, or how silly she was behaving about morals and good deeds.

Or even the one interpretation that Taiga took the hardest; how immature she was being in comparison to a six year old.

"They never liked me, so I say screw them. That's right; screw them! And while I'm at it, screw that wallflower bitch Sakura too! And that dead-beat cop Dojima! Screw the 'students', screw the 'friends', SCREW EVERY! LAST! ONE OF THEM! FOR BEING SO UPTIGHT AND BORING!"

Again Shadow Taiga crackled with an explosive aura, cracking the floorboards under her feet and forcibly scattering the furniture away. Food littered the floor, plates shattered against the tiles, pillows ripped and the TV was embedded in the wall with the glass cracked in.

Again Taiga was blown away, but made no effort to defend herself. She was too shocked to react. Her body slammed against the opposite wall, arms and legs spread as her skin started to get further scraped from the unnatural ki attack. But her face was silent in shock, staring at the angry kendoka raging at the world that was fed up with her. Torn between getting laughed or scorned at for her choices. But there was one staggering truth she couldn't deny, no matter how much she wanted to.

This is me. All my stress, my anger, even my bitter sadness.

The Shadow marched towards Taiga again after her episode, acting as if it hadn't happened. She then lifted her shinai parallel to the ground, inches away from Taiga's nose. "So when I'm through beating your face in, I'm going to finally earn the respect I deserve from those ungrateful twerps. No more niceties, no more comical outbursts, no more holding back the pain and hurt whenever someone laughs at my face. I'm finally going to live MY WAY!"

Being so close to one another, Taiga could see her face from underneath the mask grin sadistically. "And then everyone would know and fear the real Taiga Fujimura."

<><><>

There was an unspoken agreement between the magus and priest that they would fight Shikome and Ikusa respectively. While Shirou would at least distract the hairy hag, Kotomine would trade blow for blow with the warrior ghost on a physical level beyond his own.

Shirou knew nothing of the priest, but he was glad to have him on his side for the moment. Up until his arrival, it took everything he had just to keep up with the Yomi duo. If he had only had to deal with just one of them, or at the very least the hairy hag, he knew he could win. But the two of them compensated for their weaknesses with the other's strengths.

Yomotsu-Shikome fought with stealth and trickery as opposed to outright blitzing, and was a magus in her own right. Her entire body looked like it was hair, weightless and nearly formless, minus the sword stuck inside her body. It allowed her to move easily in the air to lash or grapple Shirou whenever in range.

Yomotsu-Ikusa was the superior of the duo and for good reason if he was truly meant to be a soldier of the underworld's army. The lean body and the long reaching weapon made him a deadly foe, and he knew how to use it.

It was an effective strategy: Ikusa would force the pressure on him while Shikome would sneak in to weaken or kill him. Now that the odds were even, the Yomi demons couldn't risk doubling up on either of them now.

Shirou took the offensive now, charging and swinging his branch at the hairy hag. Each attack missed her by literally a hair, and it was all she could do to avoid getting beaten by a blunt object. Her movements were somewhat slower than before, due to the sword Kotomine had struck her with.

Meanwhile, Ikusa continued swinging its spear at Kotomine, now starting to glow with an eerie blue-white light. They met resistance with the rapier-like blades, each swing and making a sound equivalent to a thunderclap, and the priest was not even phased by this growing ferocity of the warrior. His face was as passive as when he first ran in blades brandished, despite Sukunda impairing his movements.

"You'll need more than a stick to purge a wraith," Kotomine said casually to Shirou, glancing briefly to his fight while still fighting.

"It was all I could find!" Shirou barked back.

"Surely you have better means to fight back than what's at hand. Unless you're implying you really are weak and have been targeted for lack of self-defense."

The priests' words irked Shirou. It was true that he was a third-rate magus and had just discovered his Persona a few weeks ago, but the way he said that felt like his criticism was more malicious than constructive. "It's not like I have my sword with me."

"Rejoice Shirou, for your wish is now granted."

To the magus' surprise, one of the priest's many rapiers had appeared, thrown with enough force to be embedded in the ground and tilted upright. Grasping the hilt with his free hand, he immediately realized that the weight and balance was completely different from the katana Daidara made, and did not have as much striking power in comparison.

It was still better than the tree branch he had been using.

Shikome also realized the danger of the weapon as well as she stopped retreating and attempted to ensnare him with multiple hair tendrils. Shirou immediately threw his branch at her, landing a lucky hit on her masked face. Her staggered pause allowed him time to pluck the Black Key off the ground.

With the sacrament sword in hand, Shirou tucked his arm back and charged. Yomotsu-Shikome recovered in time to extend her hair tendrils again. He ducked and turned as they came, thrusting the sword forward when he was finally in striking distance.

"Hoooa!"

The Black Key stuck fast into the screaming hairy hag, but she still had enough fight to swipe a tendril in abandon. This was the closest proximity he'd had with Shikome thus far, and the moment she touched the back of his head, he instantly regretted it.

Fear. He had felt it before, not too long ago even. He remembered the overwhelming sense of vertigo from when the Charming Prince screamed, forcing long buried memories of the burning park to the surface. Following that was the near death-experience of his friend Yosuke, and seeing the castle on fire froze him in another trance.

This fear-inducing touch was similar to the scream he'd heard before; his vision blurred in blotches as if made of paper burning over a flame. He was no longer in a forest but now a mirror image of the Fuyuki Fire as he remembered. The sounds of metal blades against one other dulled in favor of screams and embers. They were normally disorienting before, but these screams belonged to people familiar to him. Yosuke, Satonaka, Nanako, Fuji-nee, all of them. But he saw no one but charred black bodies under flames and rubble.

Moments prior to Shirou's vision of the past, Kotomine played it safe to his sudden atrophy with his deadlock. He wasn't as young as he used to be, and he had never quite recovered over the last decade, so his skills were rusty. Even so, on top of all the impairments, he was impressed that Yomotsu-Ikusa could keep up with him whereas most wraiths and Apostles met their ends quickly.

No, it wasn't skill that kept the wraith alive now. If Kotomine truly wished to, he could have killed both of them in one go but chose to pace himself. The fact that he was impaired by a slowing curse was of little consequence as far as he was concerned.

Rather, it had been some time since he had earnestly done Executor work, and he wanted to test something he'd learned since then.

Just then, all eight of Kotomine's Black Keys were scattered when Ikusa, instead of slashing against them when cross guarding his front, kicked the arms underneath. This also left him vulnerable as Ikusa grabbed the front of his cloak and pulled him up to his masked face. Kotomine couldn't so much as gag before the Yomi warrior made an exhaling sound and purple mist flooded out from under the mask and surrounded them like fog.

"Mi…asma?" the priest gagged, unfortunately forced to inhale the gas. Ikusa threw him down in a heap, and the giant man was coughing once more.

Yomotsu-Ikusa stood over his head. He watched the priest succumb to poison, falling flat on the ground. Moments later he raised his spear-like weapon over his head, poised for Kotomine's heart. The blade point came down like an arrow, piercing through his body in one thrust.

To anyone else, this would have been a fatal strike.

"Interesting."

From the ground, Kotomine smiled in spite of the pain his body suffered. He slowly rose up when he finally felt the Sukunda curse leave his body. Whatever he had intended before was dropped in favor for simply flipping his body completely upright, pulling the weapon's tip from the ground in the process. Yomotsu-Ikusa, still holding the spear lodged inside, found himself violently thrown into the air and impacting the ground behind the priest.

The priest pulled the spear out of his back with both hands and snapped it in two before turning to the warrior, still smiling. "You fight to ensure death for certain, yet don't betray any emotions to the act, even in success. But as you just proved, you show fear at being overpowered. That sense of fear is quite… invigorating."

In a flash, his hands were armed to the knuckles in Black Keys. He raked both arms as far as he could down the warrior's body, then twisted, and parted them to either side, leaving a gory gashed mess. In only two seconds the wraith known as Yomotsu-Ikusa faded into a black substance, and then nothing. Even the broken spade faded away. All that remained was the deep paved marks on the ground made by his sacraments.

It was at this point that the priest noticed Shirou had been ensnared by the hairy hag again, but this time he had a glazed look in his eye. Shikome was casting another spell, this one surrounding Shirou with dark purple glyph marks and purple flames. Dark mist surrounded them, originating from the center of the spell and threatening to destroy Shirou's soul.

This wouldn't do. He was going to save that fool from himself, and no wraith or spirit or wish was going to stop that. So Kotomine swung his arm out and let the Black Keys fly; three aimed at the Shikome wraith, and one at Shirou.

As he expected, the sudden pain in his right leg was enough to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

Shirou quickly gathered his bearings to see more Black Keys piercing the hag, now desperately using her tendrils to pull them out for the first time but finding them resilient. Shirou remembered the Black Key still in his hand, also piercing Shikome, as well as the one still in his leg. He immediately plucked the new key out before stabbing it into Shikome's chest, and then made a desperate gambit to activate his magic circuits. His eight step process was memorized so thoroughly he didn't even mentally recite them as just acting on them for his plan to work, and hoping that Shikome didn't notice before it was done.

Work damn it, work! I don't care if you break down right away when this is over, just make this one thing work for once!

"Trace-!"

Prana surged through his hands and into the Black Keys, reinforcing the fine edges beyond their original capabilities. The once seemingly flimsy and weak-edged blades turned into well-tuned enchanted rapiers for fights beyond mere spirits. But it wasn't enough.

More was pushed in, directly into the furthest points of the blades and expanding along the edges. Small cracks opened across the keys in each hand, allowing pressure to seep out. He knew the moment that he let up the prana would leave and the Reinforcement would end, reverting the blades back to normal form. He could never complete a simple spell in his training in Fuyuki, and he had to be careful not to overextend the spell and cause it to explode.

Which was the exact reaction he was pining for in regards to Yomotsu-Shikome.

For the first time, Yomotsu-Shikome realized what was happening, from the glowing aura of blue surrounding Shirou. This wasn't just a normal Shadow fight to him. It was personal. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt his friends or family. This monster had the gall to use his nightmares against him, and draw those he held near and dear to him for a breakdown.

Even as an all-loving Ally of Justice, Shirou found this to be especially inexcusable.

"-Ooooooooon!"

The cracks finally shattered along the Black Keys and with it an explosion of prana that surrounded the forest clearing in a flash of white.

<><><>

"You're wrong."

Shadow Taiga's smile gave way to bewilderment under her mask. Her other self said that she was wrong, and rejected what she heard, but not in desperation at wanting to dissuade or ignore the argument. Despite getting blown away and literally backed into a corner, she wasn't breaking down or ready to fight back again. Rather, she stared back at her despite the shinai hovering in front of her face. In fact, Taiga looked more calm and sure of herself than since the start of the fight, where she lost her momentum and confidence upon seeing her face on the Shadow's head.

But surely it was a façade, right?

"So you reject me?" she asked for clarity. "Deny all the ugly secrets and things you hate about the people around you?"

Taiga shook her head. "No, I believe you. It's hard to wrap my head around, but if you knew Shirou and Nanako-chan's names, then what you're saying isn't entirely bullshit. And now that I think about it, what you said makes a lot of sense."

"But you still reject me."

"I disagree with your reasoning. There's a difference."

As far as the Shadow could tell, there wasn't. "And what makes you say that?"

"You were right about one thing," Taiga explained. "My life after high school sucked for the most part, and I felt like I didn't fit in anywhere. I wanted to stay at the same high school and maybe become a source of inspiration for the students there. A big sister even. But everyone just makes fun of my name so much that I flip out to hide the fact that it hurts. I was too immature for even my old home."

As she spoke more about her life, a frown grew on her face and her eyes drifted down to the floor. It was like the entire world around her was telling her to grow up, for what lack of subtlety it had. But she saw a silver lining to all this.

"But not for Shirou," she smiled. "He puts up with me because he trusts me and likes my company. Sure, he's got no self-control helping others and is taken for granted on that part, but I can't fault him for doing the right thing. He just wears his heart on his sleeve too much."

"And Nanako-chan? She called us weird, and rubbed her superior maturity in our faces."

"Even if that was how I felt, Nanako-chan isn't thoughtless. I've always had my flaws realized by my peers, but she's one of the few to openly state them. She cares in her own way, just as I do in mine.

"But I'm sure if she had the chance to, she would want to have fun like any kid her age instead of acting grown-up. Heaven knows I wanted to have more fun if given the choice. So you're wrong. I don't need to show the world who the 'real' Taiga is. They already do."

The once dreaded tension that filled the dojo since the fighting started easing away like a lifted weight the more she spoke. The Shadow no longer held dominance, and was almost dismayed at the sudden reversal. "…where the hell did this come from? I was just bitching about how you were the clown everyone wanted to laugh at, and NOW you decide to act mature and responsible?!"

"I know, right?" Taiga closed her eyes and smiled, with a slight laugh in her tone. "I only thought of Shirou's benefit at the time when I sent him off, but I never realized how stagnant I let the life around me get. How I hid from my problems instead of resolving them. Between him finally growing up a bit and meeting the Dojimas in person, you were just the final kick in the pants I needed to realize that."

"You're going to fall onto old habits again," The Shadow argued, ignoring the slight falter in her grip. "A tiger doesn't just change her stripes overnight."

"I know," she said coolly, with hardly a twitch at the once hated word. "But I'm not going to let this get to me anymore. It's like what Shirou told me; I'm there for him when he needs me most. He's the little brother I never had, and I love him."

"But you really love him that way, don't you?"

Taiga's eyes flew open, caught unaware. But it passed too soon for Shadow Taiga to take advantage of that, as she slowly gazed around the dojo/living room. Memories of eating his cooking until her stomach ached and she slept it off with a smile. Of whacking him down in Kendo only to wait for his diligence to kick in and keep going. Of all the teasing and fights they had, filled with a knowing affection that siblings had.

She allowed a soft smile and nodded. "Yeah, I do."

He never complained about putting up with her. He took her pranks in stride because he knew it made her feel better (as he also deserved it for the times he would call her that name). She didn't even know when these feelings started popping up, but they grew to a point that she couldn't imagine a day without knowing the lovable idiot. If she had to admit that to anyone, it might as well be herself.

By now the purple aura surrounding Shadow Taiga had dimmed to a faint blue hue. But Taiga paid this development no mind as she stood up, walked past the still Shadow, and looked around.

"Which reminds me; I still have to go rescue that idiot from whatever mess he's gotten himself into this time. And give him a few whacks for scaring me and the others."

"Are you going to forget me?"

The tone gave Taiga pause; her Shadow or whatever the kendoka was called, she wasn't haughty and confident anymore. She sounded frazzled by her epiphany, and almost scared.

But she didn't turn around, nor did the smile leave her face. "Tell you what; if I ever do, you're free to kick my ass as much as you like and I won't fight back."

"Even if I were to kill you?"

The very thought gave Taiga the confidence to cross her arms over her chest. "Against my sexy endurance?! Ha! My name's Tiger for a reason!"

And there it was; the proud open declaration to the English version of her name. Had it been any other day this would have ended violently. But now there wasn't any doubt, even to her Shadow, that she was going to face her challenges with her head high. Shirou, Sakura-chan, Nananko-chan, even Dojima-san. As long as she had people like them in her life, she would always have respect as herself.

Taiga, of course, was a simple woman who didn't understand the significance of this talk. She was more animatedly focused on finding an exit out of the enclosed dojo, going as far as kicking what should be breakable shoji doors. "Ow! Geez, what does it take to open these things, a cannon?"

Suddenly remembering the hole she made, she finally turned fully to the kendoka with a peculiar request. "Hey, uh, Black Taiga?" she asked, placing her hands together before asking in a pained expression, "Think you can try and kill me again? At least enough to blow me out of this room?"

The blue hue grew around the Shadow, who hid a smile under her face mask. Just before the room flashed to white, she said, "Not really, but I can show you the way out."

<><><>

Emiya Residence – Evening

The first thing Shirou noticed upon awakening was his room's ceiling. Surprised to find himself in his own bed, he began to wonder if everything up until the park was a dream. A more skeptical part of him knew otherwise, especially since he was still wearing Teddie's glasses, but he was willing to just move on and prepare dinner, if only to alleviate his nerves. With the glasses safely tucked back to his pocket, Shirou left his room and head for the kitchen.

He expected to see the others sitting by the kotatsu, either eating Sakura's cooking or waiting for him to arrive. But the first thing he saw was the tall priest standing in the dining room and staring down the picture frame in front of him.

"You're awake," he said, turning to him. "I am the priest in charge of the church across the city, Kirei Kotomine. Forgive me for intruding in your home, but I had to make sure you and your guardian arrived safely."

"Guardian?" he then noticed the slumped up woman sleeping on the couch. He immediately rushed over to her side, dismayed. "Fuji-nee!"

"I found her on the way back. She was slumped up against a thick tree like she was attempting to bash it with her shoulder. I suspect she was unconscious for some time during the fighting."

Shirou gulped. "So… is she okay?"

"A minor injury," Kotomine nodded. "I also placed a minor hypnotism spell on her, convincing her that everything she saw prior was merely a lucid dream. Knowing her… personality, it shouldn't be too surprising that no one would take her account seriously, whether or not it is true."

A resigned chuckle left the magus' lips. "Yeah, you're right about that. But what about-?"

"Your sister and her father are resting in their own rooms, also hypnotized to disregard what happened."

"I see." It was a big relief to Shirou; he wasn't sure how he could explain to his family about two demons chasing him, especially him bolting on them like that. It was enough of a blessing that they would forget instead of the alternative. He felt he owed this man something, and thought of just the thing. "Would you like some tea, Kotomine-san? It's only fair to thank you for saving my life, and you're a guest here."

The priest's eyes widened slightly. "That sounds pleasant. I accept your offer."

The next few minutes ticked away as Shirou prepared two tea packs while Kotomine sat patiently at the kotatsu. Shirou could only imagine what the older man was thinking, let alone why his gaze was fixed on his father's portrait. He was powerful, fast, and dangerous, able to kill a demon similar in nature to a Shadow without a Persona. Was it because of his status within the Church, an enemy of the Magi Association? Or was it something else?

Well, whatever the man's reason, he was alive now, and so was his guardian. With gratitude in mind, he brought over two sets of cups and the kettle full of fresh tea. He didn't even have the chance to warn Kotomine about the temperature before the man drowned it all in one gulp.

"Aaah, that was quite refreshing," the priest smiled. "Thank you for the tea, Shirou."

"Y-You're welcome," he replied awkwardly and poured his own cup. Kotomine didn't ask for a refill, but the kettle and heater was placed next to his cup if he so wanted. Silence stretched between them once more. Shirou thought about what to ask the man, yet his attention was focused on the same portrait.

"How did he die?"

Shirou blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"The man in the portrait. Kiritsugu Emiya," the priest explained, surprising Shirou again. "I meet him once nearly a decade ago. I assumed he had fallen to hell, but I didn't know the specifics of how or when."

Like a switch, the redhead's wary trust switched to anger and scowling. He'd spoken ill of his father figure, the man who had given him a new life, as if he was some horrid criminal. "You have no right to say that," he growled.

"I apologize if I had offended you," Kotomine explained in a tone that betrayed his words. "But I merely speak from what I know of the man since we last met."

"He raised me," he snarled. "He taught me magecraft. He saved my life."

The older man only smiled sardonically. "While I see he has indeed left you well off in this estate, his method of teaching leaves a lot to be desired. As much as I respect his skills, I haven't felt any of your circuits activate during the fact."

"Circuits?" Shirou echoed. "I can only make one at a time before I pass out from burning myself."

"The fact you believe that to be the right way speaks volumes of your ignorance," Kotomine explained. "As does believing that the act of saving your life redeems the Magus Killer."

"Magus Killer?"

The priest's right eyebrow rose up in surprise. "You don't know anything, do you?" It wasn't a hard observation; Shirou's once indignant rage gave way to confusion and hesitation. He could also hear the slight hitch of fear at the mention of his epitaph.

It was sad, pathetic, and completely hilarious. It took all of Kotomine's self-control not to laugh at the cruel irony.

For his part, Shirou recovered and glared at the man again. "I know enough," he argued, staring back at the picture frame. "I know that above all else, he wanted to be an Ally of Justice. He wanted nothing more than to save people, and I want to fulfill that wish for him to the best of my abilities."

He thought highly of Kiritsugu, and always would. He never forgot the sense of relief he saw, how tightly he was held after seeing his face, or how he wanted to share that feeling. Every time he saw or thought of Kiritsugu Emiya, he saw a heroic sorcerer he wanted to emulate. And he knew there was more to a person than their dark secrets, or their repressed Shadows. He never judged his friends for those unsightly moments, and he wouldn't for his late father.

Kotomine's smile fell, now staring at the teen with an unreadable expression. "An Ally of Justice, you say?" he repeated as he reached out to pour himself another cup of tea. "And what exactly does that mean? Did he ever say?"

Shirou frowned in thought, before answering as the priest gulped his drink. "I don't think so. Only that he wanted to be a hero and he was too old to be one then."

"And you would admire such a vague ideal without question?"

"Of course I would admire it," Shirou argued. "He saved my life-"

"At the cost of thousands of people that died that same night, including his late wife," Kotomine cut him off. "His supposed heroism is the equivalent of a destructive vigilante who would gladly shoot a hostage if it meant preserving a larger sum of lives."

Words died in Shirou's mouth. That couldn't be Kiritsugu, not the one who saved him. Just because Kotomine spoke so surely and confidently didn't mean that he was right. He couldn't have caused the same Fire that he was saved from.

"There's a reason he was known infamously as the Magus Killer; he was a contract assassin who hunted rogue magi that have often threatened the secrecy of magecraft and the lives of civilians. His skills were seen as unorthodox and taboo among more esteemed magi, but they got results. The only inconsistency was how many people died as collateral each time.

"All those people. All those innocent lives, caught in the crossfire. Is that the mark of an Ally of Justice? The needs of the many outweighing the few? That he should decide to end their lives because they are the only thing standing between him and his designated target? What one may call an act of heroism, thousands more would call an act of terrorism.

"His wife, Irisviel von Einzbern, was no exception either. She had loved him and devoted herself to him, willing to do anything that meant the realization of his goal; so much that she allowed herself to die just so he could make the rest of the world happy, or at least attempt it. His act of killing her was the catalyst of causing that terrible fire ten years ago.

"Kiritsugu Emiya did not save you that day, Shirou. The real miracle is that he did not succeed in killing you."

It was a pivotal moment. Shirou was unable to get a word in edgewise during the whole speech. Everything he had believed or built up in Kiritsugu was being torn down by this priest who knew his past life and actions before the Fire. He wanted to believe in the Kiritsugu that he loved as a father, and to reject the man's tales as lies.

Kiritsugu was a hero, despite what he did before. And he was going to follow his dream, even if it meant going against the world itself. He wanted nothing more than to punch this guy right now-

-only for someone else entirely to beat him to it.

The table shook and tea spilled. The tall, muscular body of Kirei Kotomine flew and crashed into the far wall, and now nursed a swollen cheek from an unexpected blow. Both his and Shirou's eyes wandered to the person responsible.

Standing over the table with her clenched fist held out was Taiga, heavily panting as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She stared at the priest with tear-filled eyes scowling at him. Her fist dropped as she pointed at him with emphasis and roared, "You! Big! MEANIE!"

Dumbfounded silence came from both men, though it was unclear if it was from her choice of words or how she quickly regained consciousness.

"You keep going on and on about Kiritsugu in the past, but you don't know jack shit about him after that. Maybe he used to be a mass-murdering mercenary, and maybe he did some bad things I wouldn't be happy to know, but the last five years of his life he raised Shirou as his own son! I don't care if it was guilt or grief or something else, but he buckled his shit down and did the right thing, damn it! Just like Shirou has done his entire life trying to help others."

Kotomine rose slowly from the wall. The last thing he needed was a woman aware of magecraft and gabbing about it. Killing her would require more than a small amount of hypnotism and tying up loose ends at her school, so he sought the easiest solution to put her to sleep again. "You will forget everything you have-"

"Shut up."

Once again Kotomine was caught off guard. Only magi could resist the effects of hypnotism, and he was certain that this woman had no understanding of magecraft or magic circuits in her body.

But instead of slumping to sleep or even showing impaired memory, she marched over, grabbed his cloak and pulled his face down to hers. He was so surprised by her act of defiance he didn't even register it in time. "I'm the Guardian of this household. I'm the one who makes the orders here, and I'm telling you to get the hell out. And if I ever see your face near him or his family again, I'll kill you with my shinai, unfeminine roar, and high heels."

A tense minute passed as Kotomine weighed his options. This woman couldn't know anything about the Church or Magi Association. Although Kotomine was old and tired from his wraith encounter, he could kill this woman with a simple punch. But she stared at him without fear, without falter, and believed in the late Kiritsugu as a good man. She was more than willing to fight him if it meant protecting the man's honor.

And for some reason, he believed she could actually achieve victory over him with those implements if serious enough.

He lightly brushed his hand against hers, urging her to let go so he could stand back upright. After righting his cloak, he turned to Shirou to say "Thank you again for the tea," before leaving.

Moments after the door closed, Shirou and Taiga found themselves exchanging glances with one another. The former was shocked and rooted to his seat, still digesting that his guardian had heard everything. The latter had an unreadable stare, which he could only assume was her way of hiding hurt and betrayal.

Shirou gulped, trying to salvage the situation as best as possible. "N-now Fuji-nee, I can explain-"

She didn't let him finish. Instead, the older woman knelt down to him and hugged him tighter than he ever remembered. He felt so confused, and yet his building fear gave way to relief. It was as if a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders, all because someone close to him knew about his secret and didn't care.

Tears fell down from his eyes, and it was only then that he realized he had been fighting back this feeling since Kotomine started talking about his father.

"It's all right," she cooed and rubbed his back. "It's all right. Let it all out."

 

[zaiaku]

Ah, the feels. Can't wait to see what/who Taiga's persona is. Speaking of though, does this mean that Taiga will be making the move to Yasoinaba soon?

 

[Raj]

First may I just say that I'm extremely glad to see that you've updated it.

I really enjoyed this chapter and can say that you've definitely made me enjoy Taiga's character here.

Although it's a shame that Kotomine wasn't able to talk to Shirou more, as he probably would have told him how to unlock his circuits, or at least given more away.

Still at least he got punched in the face.

 

[flashburn]

Yay update soon!

 

[Ars Poetica]

Still at least he got punched in the face BY THE TIGER OF FUYUKI HIGH.

Click to shrink...

FTFY; because, seriously, that was the best part of this chapter.

 

[Tonaris]

First may I just say that I'm extremely glad to see that you've updated it.

I really enjoyed this chapter and can say that you've definitely made me enjoy Taiga's character here.

Although it's a shame that Kotomine wasn't able to talk to Shirou more, as he probably would have told him how to unlock his circuits, or at least given more away.

Still at least he got punched in the face.

Click to shrink...

At least he was punched in the face. That's important, so we said it twice.

 

[KChasm]

When I found out that Kotomine had hypnotized Taiga, I was very disappointed. I was afraid this was going to be one of those, you know, "Oh, she forgot it but she didn't really forget it, not in her heart of hearts" sort of things.

But then suddenly Taiga became even more awesome and now I have hope again. Hooray.

 

[zaiaku]

I guess Magi call it hypnotism ironically. Cause IRL, hypnotism requires the belief that one can be influenced by another, and Persona pretty much makes one almost (Panic and Fear and Confusion status exist after all) immune to it. Hell for all we know Taiga's Persona Resists or Nulls it.