บท 20: Chapter 20: Nightmare

2 weeks latter

In the kitchen of emiya residence shirou was cooking. Setting the table he sat down in front of his father and began eating. Kiritsugu asked

"Did you have any visions last night?"

"No, nothing at all."

"Just that black void with an orange horizon." replied shirou.

"Not it marks 2 whole weeks after you saw the whole 4th grail war and your point of view merged with your injured self."

"The visions have stopped since then but you still see that void after you sleep." stated kiritsugu

"I have 2 possible reasons for this situation," uttered Kirtsuguas he looked at shirou nod.

" First your visions were a one-time thing for the grail wars. It's a very good situation in this case but it's unlikely because you still go to that transition void you visited between visions."

"Second case is your visions require a trigger or it has some conditions that are required to be fulfilled."

Hearing the possibilities shirou was sent into deep thought but he didn't particularly feel anything about the loss of visions. He said

"We will know about them when the time comes but Dad why were you packing your bags last night?"

"I have to go to Germany to meet a contact to get the books I ordered for your further studies." said the ex-hero of justice with a small smile

<and rescue Iliya from those pragmatic people, who would most likely discard her.> he determined in his mind while smiling on the surface.

Shirou went to school while kiritsugu was lost in thoughts

…

While shirou had a normal day at school and had lunch with the boys, the bell of the emiya residence was rung by a courier delivery service.

Kiritsugu appeared and received 7 boxes from the deliveryman and then took them to the dojo. opening the boxes he revealed 6 sheathed swords as well as a disassembled sword rack and sword maintenance supplies.

Setting up the rack he admired the 2 katanas he had ordered from the recently famous smiths surnamed Yoshino and Amata. Then he looked over the slightly worn-out cross-sword and bastard sword.

Then he took out the used but maintained talwar and Jian from the box and placed them on the stand. Nodding his head at the variety of swords he has collected for shirou emiya senior left the dojo.

….

Shirou reached home and ran to his room for a change of clothes. Wearing his white robe he walked into the dojo but was interrupted by his father. Who said

"Shirou there is a surprise waiting for you inside the dojo." and smiled mysteriously.

When the older emiya didn't answer what the gift was shirou didn't ask further but entered the dojo. Inside the dojo, he didn't immediately notice anything different hence he scanned the room for any difference till his gaze was locked at the sword rack that was absent yesterday.

Moving closer he admired the swords, he touched 3 cursed swords followed by the 3 straight ones. Unseathing the swords one by one he held them and enjoyed the distinct feeling they gave.

Taiga walked into the dojo about to greet shirou but closed her mouth when she found him meditating with a katana on his lap while 5 more swords were arranged neatly beside him.

Woken up from meditation by the stubble movement of taiga across the wooden floor, shirou looked at her with a sharpness in his eyes that went by unnoticed by both of them.

Smiling at her shirou said

"Good evening fuji-nee!"

"Good evening shirou," she replied

The tiger of fuyuki asked shirou about the swords and he explained how these were gifts from kiritsugu. Smiling at shirou and rubbing his head she thought

< I would definitely have a talk with kiritsugu about his decision to give sharp blades to a child. Where is his responsibility as an adult?>

After the talk shirou and Taiga crossed swords before she taught him more about techniques.

After the lesson shirou mediated by holding a katana and started feeling its structure.

After meditation, he went to prepare dinner before he started planning the arrangement of bounded fields for this property.

Closing the notebook titled the Blueprint and began practising magecraft till he fell asleep.

…

The next morning after having breakfast kiritsugu left for the airport as he said

"Shirou, I will be gone for about a week so I have called Taiga to stay with you."

Seeing shirou nod his head kiritsugu left the house. Shirou went to the lawn to practise making bounded fields till it was time for his school.

….

Shirou walked across the school gate and came across Rin and she greeted him

"Good morning emiya."

He replied with

"Good morning tohsaka." as they parted ways.

Inclining himself on his seat shirou greeted Shinji who was talking about winning some elementary school archery competition with a group of people. As he was ignored shirou helplessly shook his head and waited for the class to begin.

The day at school ended without any notable incident and shirou went home but found Taiga waiting for him at the school gate.

Waving at her shirou ran towards her and they went home.

After the swordplay lesson shirou cooked dinner for both of them while Taiga tried to help but ended up burning the food.

As Taiga was with him shirou was unable to practise anything except structural grasp on the new swords.

The week passed like this and shirou was unable to meet Rin for their routine spar as Taiga insisted on going with him when she learnt that he wanted to visit a friend.

While searching for cleaning equipment to help shirou clean the house taiga opened the emiya family armoury. When shirou expected her to be shocked by this or ask questions she just calmly closed the closet picked up a broom and said with her regular energy-filled voice

"What are you doing there by just standing, Let's go I will help you clean the dojo and attic while you do the rest."

On Monday morning kiritsugu came back and met Taiga. when she asked whether his business trip was successful, he just smiled but his eyes contained deep disappointment that only shirou was able to perceive.

Understanding this shirou quickly pulled Taiga to the kitchen to help him set plates. after everyone ate breakfast taiga went home and shirou went to school.

After an uneventful school day shirou returned home and felt the gloomy mood surrounding his father. After this revelation, he decided to give the man some space and went to prepare some ingredients for dinner.

The lesson with Taiga was extra harsh today as shirou showed some sudden improvement making her say that might have reached enlightenment.

After Taiga left shirou went to practise structural grasp on the talwar and as he was meditating he suddenly felt his vision change.

He saw a man wearing pieces of leather armour and a piece of cloth wrapped around his head running on a beach.

The coconut tree that he passed by suddenly splintered as a bullet hit the tree followed by the sound of a gunshot.

Turning around he saw 3 men wearing some kind of uniform charging towards him. The man dodged another shot but the 3rd shot hit him on the thigh. As the bullet hit him the man fell face flat.

As the 3 men encircled the fallen man, the man unsheathed a sword that was identical to the one shirou was meditating with.

Shirou looked at the lone man facing the 3 men with bayonets and beheading one of the uniformed men. The other 2 men take this chance to pierce the bayonets into his heart and throat.

Shirou`s vision returned to the dojo as he was left perplexed but feeling the fogginess in his mind he went to sleep chalking it up to tiredness.

…

Shirou woke up in the place he dubbed the void. He waited there as this void should fade away like it did for the previous 20 days but surprising him the void didn't fade as he expected instead he saw a familiar swirling of colors as his vision went blank.

Shirou`s vision recovered above fuyuki but he felt that the city was somehow different. Before he could find anything to prove his suspicion his vision descended rapidly towards the church.

As his vision descended he saw a priest wearing black church clothes inside the cathedral. After some thinking, he identified the priest as a slightly older Kirei the master of assassin in the 4th war.

What made shirou feel uncomfortable was the young man standing in front of the priest. The young man had a master`s command spell on his hand that he extended towards the priest.

Shieou found that his vision was accelerating towards the red-haired young man wearing a full-sleeved t-shirt and fell pants. The blue sleeves and pants were the last thing he focused on before his vision merged with the boy.