Chapter 644 - 31-

Chapter 31 - For want of a Sword

Shirou hummed to himself. He wasn't thinking of much, save for the paella he was currently cooking up as dinner. He had done enough thinking back at the stadium and was relishing being able to relax.

The Sports Festival had finally ended.

After his match with Bakugo, both of them had been taken to the infirmary. The magus wasn't injured or exhausted, but he had managed to play it off as if he were. This meant there was nobody to face off against Todoroki in the finals.

There was originally meant to be a tie-breaker event between both he and Bakugo, but with both said blond unconscious and himself pretending to be, it was a victory by default. The audience wasn't very pleased with the less than excitable outcome, but considering the matches they had all seen back-to-back, they were all pretty much satisfied. A little disappointed, but satisfied.

The same couldn't be said for two people though. No points for guessing one of them.

Bakugo had gone on a rampage the moment he had woken up, which was hours after the awarding ceremony. He had to be restrained from going after him to 'settle the score'. He seemed angrier than ever and it should've worried him, but honestly? Shirou had just accepted that he was never going to appease the guy. He had tried all day and it had gotten him this far, which wasn't very far at all.

The second disappointed person was less infuriated but more irritated if what he was told was correct.

Endeavor, the second-highest ranked hero in Japan, had verbally declared his son's victory to be a sham. While he was overjoyed that his child had come out victorious, he did not like the way he had won by default. The man seemed prideful, so it was understandable that he didn't like things being plainly handed out.

Shirou could have given the professional hero what he wanted and fought with Todoroki, as he was the only one physically able to do so, but he just didn't have it in him. He feigned the need to recover and had even skipped the awarding ceremony as Bakugo had.

In the end, Todoroki had obtained first place with Midoriya coming second. He had no idea if he or Bakugo ended up third. Officially, they were tied. Unofficially, their match caused a ruckus online where it was heavily debated on who was the real winner. Frankly, Shirou didn't care. He'd happily let Bakugo take it if he wanted it.

He could've just forfeited, but he had a feeling that Bakugo would've been even angrier than he was now so he let it be.

What happened after was barely as exciting. The festival had ended a bit after the awarding ceremony, which meant everyone was allowed to go home. Yu arrived in the infirmary to pick him up, which was nice of her but she really didn't need to.

Shirou momentarily frowned as he turned off the heat.

Although, he sort of understood where she was coming from. He had promised answers and she wanted them. Actually, she had wanted them ever since the start of their shared tenure. The only reason she didn't pry it out of him was that she respected his privacy and wanted him to open up about it himself.

But the months had gone by and Shirou remained silent.

Deep down inside, it must have frustrated her, and Shirou felt sorry about that. He truly did, but he supposed habits were harder to break than most. He had kept a lot of things from his previous caretaker, Fuji-nee. It appeared he was doing the same thing, even when in a whole new world.

A somber thought.

A few minutes later, Shirou had set the table and plated the paella. Yu exited the bathroom with her costume long forgotten as pajamas took its place.

For the first time in a long while, they ate in silence.

He was slightly thankful for it because at the moment, he was still gathering what he wanted to say. After all, thanks to Archer's careless words, he had let his past tryst with Rin slip. It opened a whole can of worms that needed a lot of context to explain.

That bastard was just trying to screw him over, wasn't he?

"So, you did well," Yu commented as she finished her dinner.

Shirou merely nodded.

"Tied for third place, right? Not too bad for a first-year, don't you think?"

One more nod came forth.

She stared for a moment. That moment stretched into what felt like hours but ended the moment a tired sigh left her.

"Yeah, this isn't going to work. At this rate, we'll be dancing around 'that' topic until we're old and ten feet under," she said as she crossed her arms and legs. "… You know? I wanted to respect your privacy and wait until you were ready to open up."

He nodded. His suspicions had been confirmed, but Yu was not done.

"At first I thought that 'he's just a kid' and that 'he'll open up eventually'. People always keep secrets so it's just normal. I keep telling myself that there's absolutely nothing to worry about," she continued as if she was rambling. At this point, she was probably unsure if she was. "However, I'd have thought after months of living together, you could give me something."

"By something, you mean my past?" Shirou concluded what they both already knew. "I take it that you want to know more?"

"I want to know something about it," she stressed as she closed her eyes. "Right now? I just know that you were some kid that got on the wrong side of a villain's attack and ended up here. What I actually know about you, is barely anything."

She opened her eyes, but any sign of frustration faded as they were replaced with concern. "I really did hope you would tell me something sooner. Do you know how it feels like to hear that your adopted son managed to get laid?" The awkward question came as fast as it went. "Like shit. It's a private affair, I know that – but when a random cafe owner knows more about it than me? You can't deny that it's a really shitty feeling."

"That cafe owner a special case," he tried.

"I know," she ushered out. "That shady-ass cafe owner is somehow connected to your past and I have no idea why. It's driving me crazy and making me uneasy, you know? It's like I'm someone that's not worthy enough to know."

"That isn't true," Shirou denied.

"Then why don't you trust me?"

He did. Emiya Shirou trusted Takeyama Yu with many things. He trusted her to do what was right. He trusted her with his wellbeing. He even trusted her enough to live with her. That was why he stayed with her in this apartment in the first place.

But not enough to trust her with his magecraft, or of his origins.

That was the crux of it, wasn't it?

Ask no questions and you wouldn't get hurt, a mindset that many people would have taken when approached by the same situations that Takeyama Yu handled. However, he would've argued it to be an apathetic mindset, one that his adoptive mother would likely agree with. It was better to ask questions, get hurt, and learn to live with it.

Just like now.

This was the tipping point for her. She had held on for so long, hoping that she'd get something from him, only to get nothing. And while it could be argued that a normal parent and child relationship should be about the parent giving, the child should also be given something special back. That something was their trust.

"There are… reasons I don't tell you about my past, and where I come from," Shirou finally admitted. He could see that his admission had hurt the woman somewhat, but she was a professional hero and handled it well enough to conceal her reaction. "It's the kind of information that is unbelievable. And even if it was believed, it could lead to some people getting hurt."

"Yet a cafe owner from a few blocks down your school knows about it?"

"He's a part of it."

Yu frowned. It deepened when she came to some sort of conclusion. "Was he the villain that attacked you?"

Shirou, as inappropriate as it was, nearly laughed at the notion of calling Archer a villain. However, he couldn't deny the plausibility of the claim. After all, Archer was the kind of person to happily become a villain if it meant saving more lives. Frankly, Shirou felt the same way.

"No, it wasn't him," Shirou admitted truthfully, but Archer did attack him multiple times with the intent to outright murder him. "It was someone else."

"Are you sure? Because that cafe owner is seriously suspicious," she pushed before suddenly frowning. "… Not to mention, shares a quirk similar to yours…"

Already, a new conclusion was taking hold in her mind. "Tsukauchi said that the villain was a tall blond with red-eyes with a quirk that let him summon weaponry and launch them at incredibly high speeds… sort of like what you did in a few of your matches," she stared directly at him as if she had an epiphany. "Is your quirk a result of experimentation?"

Shirou blinked and then sighed.

"I'll stop the misunderstanding there Yu," he said. "This ability is mine since the very beginning. The similarities between ours are mere coincidence."

"It sure sounds like a lot of coincidences," she said skeptically. "Are you sure you're not skirting around the issue? I'm a professional hero, I can handle any information you throw my way."

Shirou frowned, ultimately undecided on that claim.

How did their conversation take this turn? He had thought that Yu would grill him for details about his relationships, but instead, it went into a talk about his past. Where was the correlation?

Right, his past. It always looped back to that. Rin, the 'villain' after him, his abilities and skills, all of it was related to his past. He could always explain it to her in pieces, give her a few truthful statements and let her make up her own story. It had worked for him before, back when he learned Tsukauchi had a lie detection quirk. In theory, it would work for him now.

But did he want to?

It felt like… a disservice. It was almost as if he was betraying her in some way, which shouldn't be the case. He had done the same to Taiga, Sakura, Issei, and basically, everyone he had known back in Fuyuki. It felt right at the time and should feel right even now.

He had consigned himself to it, this path to his goal, of becoming a hero even if it killed him.

"There are some things that should be left alone," Shirou tried reasoning.

"I wouldn't be a hero if I didn't stick my nose in places I don't belong, now would I?" she countered. He couldn't reply. To an extent, Shirou felt the same way. However, any sense of tension faded once she just smiled at him. "I said it before, and I'll say it again. You can trust me. I'll stake my career on it."

Trust.

Once more, it came back to that word.

Takeyama Yu was someone Shirou found he could trust, there wasn't any doubt in that, but he didn't know to what extent. Keeping secrets was what he grew up doing. He kept his magecraft from everyone, even his former guardian. It was only during the Holy Grail War that his status as a practitioner of magecraft was exposed.

Throughout his life, keeping that knowledge tightly locked had just been, what he considered as, the norm. Even when he found himself in a whole new world, one that was slowly becoming more familiar to him, he hadn't changed his ways. Or rather, it was because of the unfamiliarity that he stuck to his relatively familiar norm.

Perhaps if he had been thrown into this world, back when all he could do was reinforce objects via weakened circuits, he wouldn't have seen any purpose in doing so. Now, with he had the ability to possibly level city blocks, knowledge of it would certainly cause more trouble than it was worth.

Just imagine it, a teenager with the ability to destroy an entire district from large distances with relative ease– not that he was able to do so just yet, breaking a noble phantasm took much more magical energy than he had at the moment. Even if that teenager was the kindest person you could ever meet, people would be wary – Archer's memories reminded him of that each day. Security around that teenager would tighten to the point he couldn't even breathe, all for the sake of protection.

In that situation, Shirou would not be able to save anyone. Above all, he wanted to fulfill his ideals. He wanted to save everyone in front of him, but he couldn't do that if he was watched like a disaster waiting to happen.

Nobody, absolutely no one, could fault him for keeping such things to himself.

This was his burden to hold.

Why are you doing things I would do?

Like a nagging worm, Archer's words crawled into him and burrowed deep. Somehow, even deeper than the memories he had obtained from their past week of training.

That bastard represented a failed and broken ideal. He was someone who gave up because he saw his path as flawed by definition, nothing but a waste of time. Shirou disagreed because even if didn't end the way he thought it would, it was still something worth pursuing…

… But did that mean Shirou had to follow that same path?

He wasn't alone in this world. He wasn't the only one willing to try and save everyone, nor was he the only one with the power to even attempt to do so. Throughout the world, there were thousands– no, millions who wanted to save people.

To take on that burden alone was what led Archer to his downfall, and his eventual abandonment of their ideal. In this world, he didn't have to do it alone anymore.

The woman in front of him said it herself.

A Hero doesn't fight alone.

"Shirou?"

"Yu, you say I can trust you, but can you trust me?" he interrupted to her surprise. "Because if you don't, then I don't know how to even begin to explain this to you without–"

"–Without me not believing in you?" She completed for him. "Is this information that sensitive?"

A resolute nod followed soon after.

A moment or two passed before Yu finally did something. She reached into her back pocket and took out a phone. There were a few notifications, but she turned it off without looking and set it onto the table. She turned back to him with a lazy grin.

"Well, we have all night, don't we?"

Shirou stared at her. He looked for a sign, anything that would indicate otherwise– or something that proved her wrong. A twitch of the lip or even the hint of sweat on her brow, undeniable proof that she'd go back on her word.

He couldn't find it.

His eyes mellowed and he sighed.

Archer was right, Emiya Shirou was a hypocrite.

"Where do you want me to start?"

If there was anyone who he trusted, who deserved the truth, it would be her.

"The beginning. The very beginning."

Thus, it flowed out, the secrets he had to try and tell.

It began slowly. First, his true age of eighteen, then with background information of Fuyuki. The city that he had lived in for the entirety of his known life. It didn't exist in this world, and not even looking it up online provided any results. He used it as a way to explain that he came from another dimension, one without professional heroes or criminals newly labeled as villains.

She scarcely believed him. She trusted that he wasn't lying, but that was understandable. Apparently, this society had made preparations for alternate dimension visitors. Some scientists didn't discredit the possibility, especially when quirks apparently got stronger every generation. It wasn't impossible to say that, soon, such dimensional threats could exist.

It was sort of like Heliocentrism. Centuries ago, people thought everything revolved around the earth via Geocentrism. It was just a theory until it could be proven. Now that Shirou existed, dimensional travel was feasible, and perhaps even achievable.

Shirou found it convenient for his explanation. However, he didn't stop there. In addition to describing Fuyuki, he had detailed his amnesia of a life he had no recollection of. It explained a lot to her, apparently. Tsukauchi had a lie detection quirk, but he didn't pick up any lies from the magus. Half-truths had skewed the truth to some degree.

Yu was disappointed that he did that, but she understood given his circumstances.

Lost in an unfamiliar world and feeling as if the only one you could trust was yourself. It would drive anyone into a corner, to keep secrets and ensure they wouldn't be found out. It was a testament to how familiar Shirou became with the world that he chose to come clean to her. Otherwise, he'd have taken his secrets to his grave.

Then he mentioned magecraft and everything felt even less believable, as it always seemed to be the case when it came to that particular topic. He tried removing any misconceptions she had about magecraft, separating it from magic entirely, but he didn't go into detail. It didn't matter as much as it would if they were in his old world.

This also led her to realize that his quirk wasn't a quirk at all, but instead, his magecraft. He even exemplified it by stabbing her shadow with a Black key and preventing her from moving. She thought it was his quirk evolving, as others in the past had done, so he also conjured an Ansuzrune from the vague memories he had seen in Lancer's spear. The asinine botched-up rune only lasted a second, but it was enough proof for Yu to believe in him.

She also tried asking to see if she could learn it out of curiosity, but he denied it. There was a one in a billion chance of her having the circuits to perform it. Not to mention, just using magecraft wrong could end up killing you. After explaining that particular bit of information, she quickly gave up on the idea.

Not that he'd be a good teacher, especially after he was mutilating his nerves for years on end.

There were some exclamations of how he wasn't found out yet, especially when having Aizawa as a homeroom teacher, but he attributed it all to good luck.

They had wasted a few minutes talking about it so Shirou continued with his background setting before they were derailed further. He explained that Fuyuki was not just his home, but the battlegrounds of a war that would take place every century or so. A war where magi would come together and summon forth heroes from history to do battle. A war where the victor would be granted untold magical power and the ability to wish for anything.

A war where the prize was a Monkey's Paw.

Yu had realized it was too good to be true, and he only confirmed it. The Holy Grail might've been a vessel for a magi's hopes and dreams one upon a time, but now, it was a glorified genocide device. Where your wish would be twisted to provide the worst outcome for humanity no matter what it was.

It was also a war in which he participated. Yu didn't particularly like hearing that, especially once she realized that the war wasn't a mere tournament, but one where you had to stake your life on the line. A misstep would mean disaster, a mistake led to tragedy, and weakness would lead you to your death.

At the mention of death, she hesitantly asked him.

"Shirou, have you killed anyone?"

The tone she used was both filled with dread and saturated with hope.

"No," he said. The way she sagged onto her seat showed her relief. "I haven't killed anyone, and I don't think I ever will."

Emiya Shirou had never killed anyone. He didn't regard the Nomu as a person, more a beast or familiar, so he didn't think anything of it. He had tackled Caster's dragon fang soldiers before and likened the experiences together.

However, that didn't mean he hadn't experienced the act of it. Perhaps not physically, but mentally or spiritually. Involuntarily sharing memories with Archer meant he had seen a lot of death, most of which at his– Archer's hands.

He hadn't killed anyone but it sure as hell felt like he did.

However, Shirou didn't let himself be distracted by pitying Archer's life, so he moved on with his explanations.

As a result of that war's ending, he ended up dragged into this world of Heroes and Villains. However, he wasn't dragged in alone. Three of these ancient heroes were here with him, and when asked why that was bad, he gave her a picture of it.

They weren't just the spirits of ancient heroes. They were essentially divine entities, known as Servants, summoned from a realm that existed outside time and space, the Throne of Heroes. They were weakened so they could fit into a Class container – which he explained was why he called Archer… Archer, but they were still a threat.

Servants could level city blocks and topple hero society as they know it. Shirou knew that two of those who followed him could've definitely wiped Musutafu off the map if they tried hard enough.

One of which he told Yu of, was Gilgamesh, his final foe. He who grossly underestimated the magus and paid the price for it. In fact, he was more than capable of causing global catastrophe by just letting that sword loose for a mere moment. However, Shirou didn't know where he was.

If they arrived at the same time as the ancient king of Uruk, then the arrogant Servant wouldn't stay quiet if he was around. No doubt that all of these people running around as professional heroes would likely enrage him with their sheer audacity. That, or something else entirely. Shirou wouldn't dare claim to understand a guy who wanted to massacre the human race because they weren't worthy enough to live. The complete lack of news or incident reports even hinting at him just worried him to no end.

He then explained that Archer, better known to her as Farran, was also a participant. He had been living in this world with a fake name but he wouldn't disclose his true identity. When asked why Shirou merely said that it was Archer's secret to tell and not his. But in truth, Shirou didn't want to be the one who opened that can of worms. Archer had basically pushed him to explain everything to Yu, but he could deal with that. You could barely call him his future self anymore because Shirou wanted to take a separate route to him.

Yu was apparently surprised for a moment but quickly accepted it. It made sense to her, apparently, something about his civilian files being shady and incomplete enough for Shirou's explanation to make sense.

It had also made Yu curious as to who was the third who followed him.

She didn't like the answer.

One questionable ally in Archer. One possible future foe in Gilgamesh. Finally, a present threat in Avenger– better known to him as Angra Mainyu– and better known to Yu as the Beast.

She questioned him, dug into any possible avenue if it meant knowing more about Shirou and Avenger's relationship. He only knew his identity due to his magecraft, which he explained by tracing Tawrich and Zarich, the Left and Right Fang Grinders, and looking into their history as weapons provided little. He also proved he could do that by stating the exact date of when Yu cut her thumb with the kitchen knife, which was months before Yu and he had even met.

Yu quickly accepted the explanation as well. It made for a smooth transition to some speculations he had. He mentioned that Avenger didn't feel like a Servant, but more like a wraith. He was weak, but he could leap from body to body and possibly killing the host before moving on to a new one.

Not to mention… his Noble Phantasm, and the subsequent shift that it obtained.

A Servant's power, their Noble Phantasm, was molded by the conceptions of man and their collective belief of that legend. The crystallization of a legend, but because it was crystallized doesn't mean that the power was set in stone. The Throne of Heroes might be a separate realm, but it is affected by man's perceptions. It exists as a record of mankind's heroes, and records can be modified.

A vivid example could be pulled from Archer's memories. Clarent, a blade remembered for being responsible for slaying Arturia, had originally been a pure blade almost as treasured as Caliburn. A radiant and brilliant royal swordtwisted into a demonic sword of calamity.

There were already hints of it on Angra Mainyu.

Upon first encountering the Servant-turned-Wraith, his Noble Phantasm had all the damage Shirou dealt inflicted back at him. It was painful, but he had no physical wounds as a result of it. Avenger's bout with All-Might, on the other hand, had left bruises seemingly left deep imprints by his own fists.

Avenger was evolving due to the infamy that he – as the Beast – had obtained. If the original Noble Phantasm changed to this degree, then the quirk that Avenger somehow obtained could become much, much worse, and become a Noble Phantasm of its own. It could take ages, perhaps even decades, but it was possible that he could spiral out of control.

That alone was cause for worry.

If Avenger could grow, then Shirou would need to get strong enough to combat it. As Avenger was now, Shirou was confident that he could put up a fight, and perhaps even kill him, but doing so would be a… less than stellar idea. He might've been weaker as a wraith, but Shirou needed a way to permanently put him down.

Perhaps Archer had an idea? The bastard already knew of his existence, but the fact he wasn't doing much about it was troubling. Knowing Archer, he wouldn't let him run free without proper reason–

"Shirou? You blanked out there," Yu called. "Should we save the rest for another day, like tomorrow?"

Shirou blinked.

"Maybe," he flaccidly agreed. "We can talk about Avenger later, but there are still things I need to talk to you about."

"You've given me enough!" Yu said. "You can stop now. I have a good idea of what happened in your past so it's all good!"

"But–" it felt like he needed to tell her more.

"If you keep pouring while the cup is full, it'll spill," Yu said. "That's something my mother told me once and it applies here, probably. You can tell me more if you want, but leave it for tomorrow, please. I have to… internalize all of this."

He saw her reasoning and merely sighed. He didn't agree, as he felt there was more he needed to tell, but he supposed it was too much for one day. Might as well let her get some rest. But first, he had to clean the dishes.

When Shirou was scrubbing in the kitchen, he found Yu standing beside him a moment later.

"I'll scrub and you rinse?"

Wasn't she going to sleep?

Shirou raised his brow before he nodded.

A few seconds had passed. The following silence was thick, his throat felt dry from their prior discussion, but he was relieved. He was starting to believe that she just wanted to help out. That is until Yu took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm sorry," Yu muttered. "I'm starting to see why you kept it all a secret. I'm sorry for forcing you to tell me."

Shirou spared her a glance. He saw her furrowed brow, both the fear and the worry in her eyes. The slight frown she wore and the tiniest hints of a shudder.

"Why?" Shirou said as he acted like he didn't see anything. "It was my choice to tell you. I was going to do so sooner or later. I might as well do it now."

"That doesn't mean I don't feel like shit though," Yu retorted. "What kind of mother intimidates their kid to tell their secrets?"

"One that cares, I think."

She spared him a glance and stopped scrubbing her plate. He took it as a prompt to explain. And he did.

"I never had a mother, so this experience is novel to me," Shirou said. His explanation felt hollow, incomplete, so he just kept talking. "I just mentioned my circumstances, how I ended up in the Grail War, my reason for fighting, and the truth of my abilities. But I didn't explain my life very well, did I?"

She nodded but frowned. "Shirou, you don't have to–"

"You told me to start at the beginning," Shirou said. "I didn't. You know about my past, but not it in its entirety. You know the context and circumstances, but not the actuality. That was my fault. I'm not used to being the one explaining magecraft and its intricacies, so I let myself get lost in it."

In fact, this should've been the very first thing he told her. He wanted to begin by explaining the Holy Grail Wars, to point out how the fire started. Somewhere down the line, it got muddled with explanations piled on top of explanations.

It irritated him that he let it become such a mess.

Takeyama Yu could be trusted, that was what he believed.

"You really don't have to tell me now. We can wait for tomorrow."

But then it'd feel like it was too late.

"Then this isn't about me, but about a boy–" Shirou went on. He ignored any plea she'd have because he wanted to tell her. Whatever she saw in his eyes must've swayed her because she went back to scrubbing the plate, as a way to keep her hands busy. "–The first thing that boy remembered was fire, a fire so great that it choked the night sky with smog. That fire was started by the Fourth Grail War, but he didn't know at the time. He was just a kid wandering through burning debris."

The memory of fire was as vivid as the day he was born.

"Women and children burned, calling out to him to try and save them. The boy was their last chance at salvation, a way to escape the twisted hell they found themselves in," Shirou said. "He didn't."

Yu winced.

"At the time, the boy was a scared little kid that just kept walking. He didn't want to stop and help anyone, because if he did, then he would die. He kept walking, ignoring the cries of other children and the screams of those he had left behind," Shirou muttered. "Ash and smoke filled his lungs and made it impossible to breathe. Eventually, he just stopped walking. He was exhausted. The boy wanted the end to come quickly so he wouldn't have to suffer any longer so that he could be punished for leaving so many people to their fates."

"Shirou–"

"But then a man found him. He saved him, and as he did so, that man cried tears of joy with a beautiful smile on his face," he muttered. "At that time the boy thought it was a beautiful smile. Would he be able to smile like that one day? That boy had such thoughts. That man smiled because he saved him, so would the boy do the same if he did the same and saved others?"

Yu paused.

"That man was a spell-caster, not a magus. He didn't practice the ideologies that a normal magus would have and merely saw magecraft as a tool to be used. He taught the boy a bit of what he knew, but not a lot. The man thought it would only hurt the boy in the end. Most of what that boy knew now is self-taught," Shirou admitted. "They moved into an open estate, where he took care of the boy until he died of old wounds from the fire. Before his death, he told the boy of his dream. He told him about how he wanted to become a hero, an ally of justice. Someone who saves everyone in front of him."

"That boy was you, wasn't he?" Yu muttered.

He nodded.

"It was a beautiful dream. An extremely, beautiful dream."

He truly believed that. To this day, he believed in that dream and wanted to make it a reality. It was his ideal and his complete and utter reason for living.

"That man was named Kiritsugu, my adopted father. He took me in after he saved me, and that dream was the reason I joined the Holy Grail War, to save the people in front of me from being killed. In a way, I succeeded. Gilgamesh failed in his plan to eradicate humanity…"

"But then you found yourself here?"

Shirou nodded.

"Before that– and after Kiritsugu's death, I spent my life helping others with menial chores. I was taken care of by Fuji-nee, someone I consider to be an elder sister. Life was slow, steady. Not much would happen, but that meant I could practice a bit of magecraft here and there. I had some friends and people I trusted. Overall, it was peaceful."

He missed that place. The people, his friends, and the relationships he made in it. He truly did.

"Do you want to head back?" Yu asked. "Do you want to return to that world, where your friends are?"

Did he want to go back?

That was the question.

"No, not yet," he admitted. A part of him longed to return, to see Issei and how he was doing after the Ryuudou temple was left in tatters, to see how Sakura had been handling herself after the war, to cook for the ever jubilant Fuji-nee once more, and to see the face of the woman he dearly loved. "Not until I make sure this world is safe from Avenger and that Gilgamesh isn't a problem."

"Why?" she stressed. "This isn't your world. Hell, I'm just adopting you. We've only known each other for three months. Why don't you want to go back? Isn't it easier to leave them to us, this world's heroes?"

Why indeed?

"No, they're my responsibility," he said. "They wouldn't be in this world if it weren't for me. I need to take responsibility. If I left now, then it would mean abandoning everyone in this world."

"We're not helpless, you know?" Yu argued. "We can handle these problems ourselves. Why are you trying to take responsibility when it isn't your world?"

To let others do work for him?

To ignore the people that he could save?

"You said it yourself," Shirou replied. "I wouldn't be a hero if I didn't stick my nose where it didn't belong. I don't belong here, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help."

An ally of justice wouldn't abandon a world because it wasn't his. Emiya Shirou wouldn't either.

"… But, your family and friends?"

"Not a problem," Shirou admitted. "They'll find their way here. I have trust that she can…"

"She?"

"Tohsaka Rin," he said. "I mentioned her before. She was the master I was allied with. A headstrong woman with a fiery personality. As a magus, she's a genius, unlike me who's third-rate at best. Archer told me she'd end up studying under the Second Magician, so someday, she'll find me. Until then, I want to keep saving as many people as I can."

He wouldn't be Emiya Shirou if he didn't.

Yu was silent for a few more seconds before sighing.

"That's just like you, isn't it?"

Another nod.

"You're not even going to accept an apology from me, are you?"

Yet another nod.

"You're really a handful…" she muttered. "Then at least accept this. Thank you, for telling me. Truly, thank you."

And silence reigned once more.

Emiya Shirou did not regret his decision to tell Takeyama Yu. Not in the slightest. He might regret it in the future, but right now, there wasn't a single doubt in his mind.

Somehow he felt… liberated, just by letting it all out.

He enjoyed that feeling. He truly did.

"So, Tohsaka Rin was her name right?" Yu suddenly said. "Was she the one who took your first?"

Shirou paused his rinsing and just sighed.

"Yes."

"Blunt are we? Mister actually eighteen years old?" She berated.

He could tell that the coming days were going to be full of similar teasing.

Wonderful.

But right now, he wouldn't trade it for anything.

That night had been long and tiresome, but by the end of it, Shirou felt that Yu was somewhat satisfied. Not completely, as she still had questions, but she felt that they were better suited for another time.

She had asked about his past and he told her.

He told her of a town called Fuyuki and of the teenager who lived there.

He told her of the battles he fought and the people he met during the war.

He had even told her of who he fell for, and who had to drag him around otherwise he would've killed himself by his reckless stupidity long ago.

As exasperated as he was by the whole ordeal, it didn't stop him from heading to school two days later. He had been recognized on the streets, as everyone who had heavily participated in the tournament would inevitably be, but it proved uneventful when he finally reached class.

As usual, he was earlier than the rest of the students. Although, he supposed they'd be later than usual, especially since it was raining. Shirou had managed to avoid the downpour by being at school before the rain clouds had even formed, but he was sure his relatively lethargic classmates wouldn't.

8:45 AM had arrived and all students were in their classes. As expected his peers gossiped about being seen on the big screen and how they were recognized on the streets. A novel experience to be sure.

But as usual, the gossip had to come to an end. Aizawa's appearance ensured that.

"Morning."

""Good Morning!""

Asui had noted how his bandages were gone, something about an old lady going overboard, but Shirou was ninety percent sure he knew which old lady that was.

"More importantly, we're having a special hero informatics class today," he started. "Code names, in other words, Hero names. You'll be deciding on yours today."

In an instant, cheers erupted within the classroom.

The next instant they were gone when Aizawa's quirk activated.

"This is also related to the professional hero draft picks I mentioned the other day. The drafts begin in earnest during your second and third years after students are experienced enough to become assets to other pros," he said. "In other words, for them to extend offers towards the likes of you, first years with barely any experience, shows that they are interested in your future potential."

Ah, Shirou recognized what this was. It was the internship program, right? He remembered Yu talking avidly about it and wanting to take him in. Shirou was definitely tempted to take that offer. However, decided against it. Yu tended to be overprotective so it would be a slight detriment if he accepted.

"Of course, these offers are often canceled if that interest dies down by graduation," Aizawa added.

"So we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, right?" Hagakure had asked. To which their teacher agreed.

"Also, here are the totals for those with offers," he said as he raised a remote. The blackboard behind him shimmered into life as Kanji and numbers filled it up with information.

Todoroki was at the top of that list with a few thousand offers, and Bakugo was close behind, only lacking a hundred or so. Even Midoriya himself has a hundred or so, likely due to his reckless fighting style. However, for some reason, Shirou couldn't find his name.

He heard Yaoyorozu sigh in front of him before turning to Todoroki, "Impressive, Todoroki-kun."

"They're all probably because of my dad," he retorted. Somehow, it lacked the annoyance that'd usually be there. However, Todoroki didn't focus on his offers for much longer. He blinked at the board in confusion. "This is odd. You have only one offer."

Yaoyorozu blanched before looking at the board again. She must've felt shocked, perhaps devastated, which is understandable. Only one offer? When she performed significantly well in the sports festival? Something was wrong, and they all knew it.

"Hey, why doesn't Emiya only have two?" Mineta suddenly spoke up.

"Forget that– Yaomomo only has one!" Jiro interrupted. However, went sheepish as she turned to him at the back. "Sorry Emiya, but look! Even Midoriya has a whole lot more!"

A few classmates blinked in confusion, which was understandable. Shirou was tied for third – despite Bakugo's angry tirade, denying that result like the plague – and you truly couldn't discredit Yaoyorozu's performance.

No insult to Midoriya though, even if his performance was particularly hard to watch, especially with how he broke his limbs over and over. It was particularly suicidal… not that Shirou was one to comment. After all, he had spent the majority of his youth metaphorically shoving a piping hot iron rod down his spine.

"No interruptions," a stern berate from Aizawa stemmed Bakugo's tirade, along with the student gossip. The weary-eyed teacher focused on his students. "However, it is understandable you'd be confused. The irregularity of their offers made the faculty designate someone to explain the significance of them to him, which unfortunately happens to be me. Is that all?"

At the lack of responses, he grunted. "Keep these results in mind. Whether or not anyone asked for you specifically – you will all be participating in internships with professionals."

The news seemed to surprise them all, but because Shirou was told of it by Yu, he wasn't. Although, having just one offer meant that Yu had kept her word and sent him one. It was odd that it was just her though.

"At USJ," Aizawa continued. "You already got to experience live combat against real villains, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see actual professionals at work… which relates to today's activity. Those will be the names you use during your internships, but they're temporary. That doesn't mean you can change them as you please–"

"–because you'll have hell to pay later!" The door slammed open as a familiar face entered. "A lot of hero names used by students become recognized by society, thus end up official in the eyes of the public!"

Aizawa's eye twitched at being interrupted, which made Shirou notice the scar he now had under his right eye, before sighing. "Well, that's how it is. Midnight will be ensuring you don't have names that'll bite you in the ass later down the line."

"I can't moderate your choices, because I let someone else decide my hero name so it is inappropriate. Also, I have more important matters to attend to at the moment," he turned to leave the classroom. "However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't take it seriously. By deciding your hero name here and now, you get a more concrete image of what sort of hero you want to be in the future, and thus try to reach it. This is what it means when they say 'Names and natures do often agree'… with All-Might being an example."

With that, Aizawa left the room. This left a bewildered Midnight staring at the door.

"He usually just sleeps on the floor when we do these," she muttered in bewilderment before shrugging. "Oh well, must be one of those days. Alright kiddos, take one of these whiteboards and pass the rest behind you! Don't forget the marker!"

Eventually, Shirou got a hand on one of these boards. He stared at it for a while, momentarily thinking much like Aizawa and not caring for what name he would give himself, but paused once Aizawa's words came to mind.

The hero you want to be… huh?

As childish as it was, Shirou wanted to be the sort of hero who would save everyone. No matter where they were if he could see them, he would save them. He didn't want anyone dying before his eyes and only sought to bring them salvation.

That was the kind of hero he wanted to be, but was there a word that brought out that sort of feeling? Frankly, Shirou had no idea, and there was some doubt he ever would.

A few students had gone up and offered their hero names, but Shirou was, admittedly, too deep in thought to notice.

There wasn't a good one that came to mind. He didn't want a name to use his last name, because then that'd mentally link him with Archer EMIYA. The idea was as vomit-inducing as it was nauseating. He couldn't do it like Todoroki, because his name was Shirou and that meant the color white.

It had to be something that would reference him and him alone.

"Explosive Murder King!"

"You probably shouldn't use that."

"Why not!?"

"Try 'Explosion Boy'!"

"Shut up! Spiky-hair!"

After the collective grilling he received from his classmates, he glared at them before settling on Shirou himself. As usual, he glared like he was an offending sight. However, he just looked away and returned to his seat, which didn't stop Shirou from hearing him whisper about him still being a sword-bastard.

Shirou sighed. Being called that by Bakugo was starting to get annoying, but he couldn't really deny how accurate it was. His Element and Origin were both Sword, after all…

Sword.

If there ever was a word that perfectly described him, it'd be that. Shirou didn't even hesitate when he wrote it onto the small board.

"The Unlimited Blade Hero, Sword," Shirou ended up saying. It wasn't even the Japanese word for sword– which was tsurugi or ken, but plainly the word sword in English.

"Are you sure?" Midnight asked. "I like the intro, but after that, it's a little… plain, isn't it? Like, really plain. I'm not sure you'd be able to stand out with a name like that."

It was plain, some would say it was also inaccurate. He wasn't capable of just blades and swords – he proved that during the sports festival, but he was always comfortable with swords out of all other bladed weaponry. Plus, it didn't matter if he wouldn't stand out. He'd still try to save people.

Sure, there were other options, like simply choosing Archeror Wrought-Iron as his hero name, but they were far too closely tied to Archer. He didn't want his name to remind him of the bastard every time it was mentioned. He could've even chosen something like Saber as an homage to his Servant, but it didn't fit him. Names like Heroic-Spirit or a Servant's class were only related to his past, and barely fit him as he was now.

It needed to be something closely tied to him.

Sword simply fit the bill.

It was his Element and Origin. Why not make it his hero name too?

"I'm sure."

Aizawa sighed as he made his way back to his classroom. He was still in the hallway, but he'd give it two or three minutes until they were done. The usual time that first-years would take to decide.

In all honesty, he should've been having his usual morning nap. Instead, he lied about having something better to do – going back to the faculty lounge to grab the internship offers notwithstanding, but he did need time to think. Time to think of the new information that just had to pop up and deprive him of his rest.

The Beast was spotted, once again at Hosu.

He had no idea what that villain was doing there, especially after being caught once before. No villain would return to their old stomping grounds after being caught… not unless they knew they wouldn't get caught again.

Given how he was released before, likely through a combination of that man-child of a leader and that Kurogiri fellow's quirk, he certainly had enough reason to. It was arrogant, and above all troubling.

U.S.J. had shown how much damage that trio could do, especially after what happened to All-Might.

The general public didn't know. Not even the police officers that handled cleanup knew. Only the staff at U.A. realized how close their Symbol of Peace was to being defeated that day, and it worried them. If they were to approach this League of Villains again, they'd need a concrete strategy.

Worries aside, it wasn't the main issue.

Tsukauchi had informed him of Ingenium's defeat at the hands of the Hero Killer, also at Hosu.

Their simultaneous appearance could not be a coincidence. Did it mean something? Possible collaboration? Unlikely, as the Hero-Killer had denounced the Beast's actions before. If those two groups met, it would likely end in bloodshed… but the chance of them working together was not zero. Therefore, it should be prepared for should it come to pass.

He didn't want to think of what such a team could accomplish. The Hero Killer had a solid following, with a few agreeing with his sentiments albeit disagreeing with his methodology. With the League of Villain's backing, it could quickly spiral out of control.

Aizawa sighed and reentered the classroom.

These were thoughts for another day.

For now, he had to deal with the troublesome offers both Emiya and Yaoyorozu had obtained.

"I assume everyone's done with their Hero names?" he asked as he saw Midoriya returning to his seat. A nod from Midnight confirmed it. "Good. We'll go back to the topic of internships. They will last for one whole week, but where you will go during it will be depending on which pro's offer you accept yourself. Those without offers will choose among forty alumni agencies around the country willing to accept you. They all work in different places and have different specialties, so pick wisely."

Idly, Aizawa listened as Midnight explained an example. However, that wasn't what had his full attention.

In his hands was one of the two offers addressed to the Emiya brat… with all the other offers having been rescinded at short notice.

"Yaoyorozu and the Brat, follow me," Aizawa said. He could already feel the headache forming. Why did it always have to be the brat?

A minute later, they were in a private meeting room. Aizawa had noted Midoriya entering one near them, but he was honestly too tired to think much of it.

He got the students settled down and placed the offers on the table.

"I know you're both hungry and eager to eat your lunch, so I'll be quick," he said. "Brat, one of the two offers you received are from nearby, or more specifically, your adoptive mother."

"Are there issues with that?" the brat asked.

Aizawa snorted. "Not necessarily. While it has been done before, parents usually prefer to teach their own kids. I imagine Endeavor sent an offer to his own scion," he grunted. "No, the main issue is your second offer, and the only offer that Yaoyorozu received."

The two brats grabbed the paper, and as they were reading, Aizawa decided to verbally explain. "Yoroi-Musha, the eighth-highest ranked hero in Japan. His offer alone caused the others to withdraw."

Just like that, Aizawa could see the shock on their faces. Understandable.

"B-But why?" Yaoyorozu reasonably asked. "If someone like Endeavor would extend an offer to his son, why does Todoroki still have thousands of offers?"

"Do you really want to know?" The sudden deepening of his voice must've caught them off guard, as they fell silent at his question. However, it didn't detract the curiosity in their eyes. Fine.

"Yoroi-Musha, as I said before, is the eighth-ranked hero in Japan. He lacks the ranking and reputation to be on part with Endeavor, but that means little when he is almost certainly one of the oldest active heroes today," Aizawa explained. "That being said, in all his years as a professional hero, he has not taken any sidekicks or apprentices, nor has he accepted any student internships from out school despite literal decades of asking. However, that seems to have changed with you two."

"I take it we're exceptional in his eyes?" Yaoyorozu muttered with a hint of endearment. However, the concern didn't fade. "How does this relate to the other withdrawn offers?"

"With his age comes experience," Aizawa started. "-as well as power and influence. It is likely that, through it, he exerted enough pressure to ensure others do not attempt to steal his prospects away."

"That doesn't sound… very heroic," she commented.

"I agree, but the world isn't black and white," he said. "You will always find heroes who have dirtied their hands in some way or another. He likely believes himself to be the best option to train the two of you."

"We can't pick anyone else?" Emiya spoke up for the first time. "I remember that there are other willing agencies."

"You could pick your mother," which sounded odd outside of context. "That bullheaded woman probably didn't realize what Yoroi-Musha's trying to pull here, but she likely didn't care either," Aizawa said with a snort. "However, in regards to Yaoyorozu? No, she can't. Those other agencies are strictly reserved for those without offers."

In an instant, he could see his student grow sullen at the information. Nobody liked being caged into a decision, especially when there was basically no decision to make. She was going to his agency, no ifs and/or buts.

Seeing her hesitance, Aizawa mentally groaned. "While I can understand not wanting to do so, Yoroi-Musha's offer could prove beneficial."

"In what way?" Emiya continued to ask.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the thought of the brat taking interest before he shrugged it off. He was just going to provide comfort to his other student, not the brat before him.

"Simple. The old hero doesn't remain at his agency. In fact, he rarely visits. It could be argued that it isn't an agency at all. There are only secretaries there doing his paperwork for him, not a hint of any sidekicks."

Yaoyorozu frowned. "Once again, that doesn't sound very heroic or beneficial to an internship."

"He's an old man with no time for it," Aizawa added. "However, it is a blessing in disguise. He is a firm believer in the traditional roles that a hero should play. This will mean you will travel with him and spend more time on actual combat rather than logistics. You're already book smart, but you lack experience. This will benefit you more than you realize."

He saw his students nod, which he interpreted as mild resignation. Well, the only one feeling resigned had to be Yaoyorozu. There was basically no choice on her part. Not even arguing with the Principal– Nezu did anything. How unfortunate.

However, such is life. Sometimes, things just don't go our way.

"That is all. You're dismissed, Yaoyorozu. Take care and prepare yourself. I imagine Yoroi-Musha will not be a lenient supervisor," he advised. A respectful bow later, she was gone with her 'offer' in tow. "And you, brat? Decided yet?"

The brat stared at the offers before him and sighed. Something was going on through his head and Aizawa wasn't sure he was going to like it. A solid minute later, the brat handed one piece of paper and took the other with him, having accepted it.

… That brat.

Aizawa grinned at the rejected Yoroi-Musha offer before him.

Classes had ended without much else happening.

His class spent the majority of lunchtime discussing and debating where they'd go. A few asked Yaoyorozu and she had to tell them she'd be studying under the eighth-ranked hero. Originally, it was cause for celebration, but once the reason got out about why it transitioned into worry.

Professional Heroes were pillars for modern-day society, but there were still a few rotten eggs. Shirou heard that his own adoptive mother was less than reputable during her debut days, long before she had taken him in. Somehow, it didn't really surprise him.

Shirou got up from his seat and nearly left the classroom. However, he was stopped by a call from Yaoyorozu. "Emiya-san, are we still going to be training together?" she asked.

Ah, he nearly forgot. The events of last night must've gotten to him.

"Yeah, I'll just need to rent the gym again," Shirou replied. He was sure no other students would be using it, or that there would be a free room. Suddenly, he remembered something. "Midoriya, have you considered my offer?"

The boy, originally deep in thought, popped up at being called. "Pardon?"

"I asked you back at the sports festival, remember?"

He was silent for a solid second before suddenly widening his eyes. "Ah, that's right! Sorry, I nearly forgot!"

In Midoriya's defense, Shirou had also forgotten to approach him after his match, but he was basically playing dead at that point so it was best he didn't bring that up.

Midoriya nodded. "Yes, I'd like to join you."

"Join? What's this about Deku-kun? You guys up to something?" Uraraka suddenly piped up from her seat.

"I offered to help train Midoriya with his quirk," Shirou explained. A short second later, he added on to it. "Do you want to join in?"

"That sounds like fun!" she said aloud. "What about you, Iida-kun? Do you want to join us?"

Iida got up from his seat. "I'd think that's more up to Emiya than me…" Suddenly, he looked contemplative and turned to him. "Although, the offer does interest me. Would it be acceptable if I joined you?"

Seeing no reason to deny it, Shirou nodded. "Fine with me. If anyone else wants to join, feel free."

"Sorry, my pa needs me to do something," Jiro replied. "Shame though. I'd like to see what this 'training session' would be like."

"And I have to help at the family bakery."

"And I have make-up classes," Kaminari muttered. "Ah, what a cruel world."

While his classmates devolved into mindless chatter, Shirou hurriedly left to the physical education department. A part of him was glad Bakugo went home early because he would surely have taken the offer as an excuse to settle the score.

He was just a bit worried though. There was an oddly determined look on Iida's face. Not an expression that'd be worn when accepting a friendly offer. Perhaps he had an ulterior motive?

Considering what made headlines yesterday, it was almost a fact.

Ingenium, Iida's elder brother, was hospitalized after a run-in with the villain known as Hero Killer Stain, someone who uses bladed weapons in his fights.

Shirou didn't like the implications.

Midoriya shuffled a bit once he entered the rented gym.

Being reminded of Emiya's offer had surprised him somewhat, but now that he was over it, he was willing to give it a try. Anything was worth a shot to help gain a semblance of control over One-for-All. He'd rather not wound himself every time he used the quirk. How could he even try to be like All-Might if he was crippled every other day?

He had changed into his physical education uniform and found Yaoyorozu doing a few stretches at the center. Uraraka was following her lead, but she struggled to do so. Apparently, their deputy class representative was more flexible than they thought.

Of course, there was also Iida, who was diligently following along.

Midoriya's smile died as he remembered what had happened to his elder brother. The grief and worry must be running rampant within his friend, but from the look of it, he was fine.

Deep down, Midoriya knew that to not be the case. The usual diligent Iida would have happily accepted Emiya's offer, but not in… such an uncharacteristic way. Something was driving his decisions, and he had a feeling that he knew what it was.

The Hero Killer Stain used daggers and other bladed weaponry. That was all the general public knew about him, and that was only inferred by the slash and stab wounds from his victims.

Was he trying to train with Emiya just so he could fight against Stain better?

The more and more Midoriya thought about it, the more that particular reason felt right. That worried him.

"Sorry I was late," Emiya said as he left the changing rooms. "This is the first time with so many people, so I might be a little lost. My apologies in advance."

"What do you usually do?" Uraraka asked as she finished her stretches.

"Usually, we spar until we can't move," Yaoyorozu answered in his place. "Then we spar again after some breaks in between. He offers critique in the middle of it."

"Which probably wouldn't work with this many people," Midoriya muttered.

"That's why I think we should try something new," Emiya replied. "We'll still spar, Yaoyorozu. However, I'll also be with others when you're resting. Basically, I'll be alternating who I spar with."

"Won't that be exhausting?" Uraraka commented.

"It wouldn't be a training session if I don't train too," he replied. "I'm not confident in my endurance. This way, I can address it."

Midoriya nodded. That made sense. However, once a question was raised in his mind, he just had to ask. "How does this relate to helping me with my quirk?"

"I can explain that," he said. "But before that, has everyone finished stretching?"

"We followed along with Yaoyorozu!" Iida reported with a rigid salute. "We are more than ready!"

Emiya frowned wryly. "Okay, I'm going to have to ask you guys to stretch a bit more while I talk to Midoriya more privately. It'll be better than just standing around and listening to me."

Seeing reason in his words, Yaoyorozu immediately offered to spar with Iida. Their class representative eagerly followed her to the small ring at the center. Uraraka, seeing herself without much to do, decided to stay and listen.

"Alright. When I offered to help you train, I was originally going to spar with you until you got it down," Emiya had stated. "However, after thinking about it, it might be better to ask you a few questions before we actually begin."

Midoriya had to flinch once he saw Iida get sent flying by Yaoyorozu. She had used his momentum against him, which was a good lesson for him to learn not to do. "What kind of questions?"

"Do your limbs break because of your quirk, or because your quirk is more than what your limbs can handle?"

A momentary flux of panic took over as he worried that the secret of One-for-All had been leaked, but a distracting tilt of the head from Uraraka took precedence. "What do you mean?"

"If it's the former, then Midoriya will be hard-pressed to use his quirk in our ideal profession," Emiya had said with a grimace. "If it's the latter, then we can work on how much he outputs. Honestly, I'm not too sure which, but I hope it's the latter."

Ah, so he guessed. No worries then.

"That's right," Midoriya confirmed. "When I use my quirk, I'm struggling to gauge how much… power? Let's say power, to put into my body. It ends up breaking my body when I let loose too much."

"Why not put it out a little bit at a time?" Uraraka had asked again.

"She has a point," Emiya agreed. "When objects take more than they can handle, they could end up being irreparably destroyed. A human's body is no exception. Taking baby steps until you figure out what that limit is would be a good start."

Why did Midoriya feel like he was speaking from experience there?

Before he got lost in thought, he shook his head. "I wish I could. It feels like a floodgate, where opening it would let too much through, and even trying to close it would be a whole other story."

Even if he wanted to try taking 'baby steps' with One-for-All, it was no easy task. Easier said than done.

At times like these, Midoriya envied how easy All-Might had taken to the quirk.

"That sounds tough," Uraraka comforted. "My quirk is easier to use so I don't have that problem. Have you tried anything else?"

Midoriya nodded. "A lot of things, but it gets hard to practice it without Recovery Girl to fix my… mistakes." If he had to practice at home, then he would be at the hospital almost every day. Not ideal, especially when his mother would inevitably worry about him even more than usual.

"There was a time where you didn't break your arm, wasn't there?" Emiya suddenly said. "Do you remember? Back at USJ?"

Memories of that day flooded into him all at once. He remembered feeling helpless as if he had just been a burden, a complete liability. However, he didn't wallow on those thoughts for long. He was here to get stronger so that it wouldn't happen again.

Midoriya cleared the clutter from his mind and recalled one moment.

"... I do, actually," he muttered. He had been thinking about throwing a punch, just one punch, to save his classmates. "Against that Nomu. It survived, but so did my arm. Even though I was sure that I used it."

"EH?" Uraraka blurted with wide eyes. "That happened!?"

"Could you try and remember what you felt back then?" Emiya tried, inadvertently ignoring his classmate. "You succeeded once, so you can do it again."

Midoriya didn't see a reason not to try it. Thinking back to the day was disheartening, but he did recall one feeling. One, simple feeling.

"Protect," he said. "I wanted to protect my friends."

That was the root of it all. The sheer need and desperation to save them, to prevent harm from ever befalling them, that was what he felt. That was the single emotion he had in that one moment.

… Was it wrong of him to feel good about that?

"Then it might be a mental issue," Emiya commented. "Not 'issue' in a bad way, but you might be stifling your own progress subconsciously. Overly thinking about the process and not letting things flow naturally."

Midoriya frowned. "If that was the case, then why did I break my arms back in the entrance exam? That was the first time I used it so I didn't think about it, yet my arms shattered."

Uraraka seemed to grimace at the memory. "So that's what you meant when you said you got your quirk recently…"

Recently… yeah. In comparison to his classmates, he got his quirk basically yesterday.

"Did you try and limit yourself back then too?" Emiya asked. When Midoriya nodded to answer, he continued. "The concept of letting it loose yet restrained is contradictory, but that might be what you need. Or rather, what you had already done back at USJ. You didn't think about holding back, yet you subconsciously did to prevent injury. You need to somehow make both of these parts a conscious effort."

Midoriya winced at that. "That… doesn't sound as simple as you make it out to be," In fact, it didn't sound simple at all. That sounded like trying to keep the floodgate open yet closed at the same time. How would that even work?

"… So basically, better control?" Uraraka tried. "That sounds like a long way to say better control."

Emiya said nothing, but from the slight frown on his lip, Uraraka was right on the money.

Midoriya sighed. "It just loops back to that again, doesn't it?"

"Not necessarily. The way you envision it is probably a factor too," he replied. "Thinking of it as a floodgate isn't a good way to control it."

"Wait please, I'm lost. How?" Uraraka once again asked.

"Using myself as an example, it's easier to make weapons when thinking of the hammer of a firearm being fired. It's the part that ignites the gunpowder–which is ironic, now that I think about it. I can't make guns," he explained. He shook his head soon after. "Sorry, I rambled. Continuing from that, I find making weaponry harder to do when imagining anything else. It's sort of like a mental trigger. You might have your own mental trigger that you default to."

Was that how it worked? 

Midoriya blinked in thought. He had never heard of a mental trigger before, was that something like a mental image? However, it made sense that it wouldn't be well known. Most quirk researchers prefer cold hard facts, so the pseudo-science of quirks wasn't brought into question yet. Or maybe it was already recorded on an academe site, and Midoriya just didn't find out about it even with hours of internet browsing?

Whatever the case, it was worth a shot. He did always default his thoughts to an egg in a microwave… probably because he had destroyed their microwave once doing the same thing. Mother wasn't happy about that.

"I could give it a go," Midoriya muttered. "However, what should we do in case my arms break again?"

"Recovery Girl isn't in today, isn't she?" Uraraka muttered. It really hammered home how bad it would be if he did break any limbs today.

"Then try to mitigate the damage instead of preventing it altogether," he suggested once more. "Sometimes, things will go wrong, and there won't be anything you can do to stop it. At that time, you should try and mitigate it."

"In what way?"

"You mentioned putting too much power into a limb, and the result would be a broken limb," Emiya explained. "Have you tried spreading that power elsewhere? If you can't prevent too much power from appearing, then you could try spread it out evenly."

Midoriya blinked.

"That could work!"

"Whoa–! That surprised me…" Uraraka muttered at his sudden shout. "But, wouldn't you break all of your limbs instead? It sounds risky."

"True," Midoriya agreed. "However, if I combine everything we talked about…"

Steady control, a better mental image than a flood gate, and spreading out the power so it wouldn't accumulate. All of those factors added together should help. Even if it didn't, they were good benchmarks to have. It was like turning the dials of a microwave and controlling the temperature. Yes, it was exactly like that!

"Look's like he'll be busy," Emiya noted before turning to the spar occurring beside them. "Are you tired, Yaoyorozu? We could switch if you want?"

Their deputy class representative nodded and Iida ceased his assault. He was just as tired as she was, but Iida seemed more than willing to stay there and spar with Emiya, which wasn't a good sign. Once again, worry crawled it's way up to him.

"We could try hand-to-hand combat?" Yaoyorozu suggested to a still lively Uraraka once she had made her way to them. Emiya was already sparing with Iida, but he used that kendo shinai from back during their indoor exercises. "I might be tired, but I just need a short breather."

"No problem!" The bubbly girls said once more. However, she stalled before turning back to him. "Deku-kun, are you going to be alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine."

She squinted her eyes. "You sure?"

She definitely thought he was going to break his arm today. It was sort of sad that his suicidal results tended to become the norm around him.

"Yeah. I'm going to put Emiya's hypothesis to the test, and try out the countermeasures."

And if it worked… well, he'd be one step closer to mastering One-for-All.

Spread it out across the egg… wait, where did the egg come from? 

Shirou had to admit that sparring with Iida was sort of nostalgic. Having faced Servants, beings who surpassed the common speed of man, he was used to being the slowest one in the fight. That proved to be useful when he dodged Iida once again and scoring a hit with Torashinai.

Their bespectacled class president gritted his teeth in frustration and once more tried to attack him.

It didn't feel right.

Sparring with Iida felt different from normal. It was almost as if he was seeing him. Not Shirou but someone else entirely, and the magus had a feeling he knew who it was.

He raised his hands in a sign of surrender, which shocked Iida enough to give him pause.

"One second. I need to change my weapons for a bit," he explained, to which Iida nodded in understanding, not seeing the harm.

In Torashinai's place, two heavily blunted combat knives appeared.

Hero Killer, Stain.

With such a name, it was impossible not taking an interest in looking into more information about him. The villain was infamous in certain circles, being able to take down so many heroes without being caught was admittedly, an achievement. A heinous achievement, but an achievement nonetheless.

It was inevitable that heroes would get hurt when saving others. Shirou could've understood if Stain had been attacked because heroes had gotten in his way, retaliation was always to be expected, but the villain was actively seeking heroes to kill.

Shirou hated that idea more than anything.

To selfishly seeking out protectors of the people, who put their life on the line every day to save lives, all because he didn't believe them to be true heroes? That they deserved to die because he believed that they didn't fit into his biased mold? A mold that very few people could fit into?

Heroes were heroes, it didn't matter if they were twisted to some degree. Nobody is a paragon of right and virtue. He was damn sure that most Heroic Spirits weren't perfect either, and they resided in the Throne of Heroes. If lives were being saved then nothing else mattered.

One part of him wanted to storm the streets of Hosu to find the bastard himself, just as he had tried to do with Angra Mainyu before. However, he knew that it was a foolish idea.

He had underestimated villains before. He thought that he, in a weakened state, could handle a mere serial killer – although Avenger was no mere serial killer, but regardless. He had nearly died a meaningless death as a consequence of his decision, were it not for Yu. As a result, he had focused on getting stronger and letting heroes like Yu take the reigns, at least until he could join them himself.

Simply put, he believed that heroes would be able to deal with the Hero Killer, but they'd need to change their methodology when tracking him down, or else they'd never catch him.

Shirou took a deep breath as he got mentally sidetracked.

The reason he traced these combat daggers was that there were finally descriptions about the weapons the Hero Killer used, mostly thanks to Iida's surviving brother. While it wasn't completely accurate, it was close enough to set as a benchmark.

He could tell that Iida was seeing Stain in his place, and used this 'training session' as an excuse to try and get strong enough to beat him. Shirou could tell that he wouldn't be able to dissuade him, as his word wouldn't hold enough merit. He had recklessly sought out Avenger before, in a much more rash manner than what Iida was attempting.

At least this way, he could try to prepare the bespectacled teen as best as he could.

Several times Shirou had scored a hit on him. He informed him about leaving himself open, and to try and plan what move you do in advance. He was glad that his critique was sinking in, albeit at a slightly slowed rate. Iida eventually got tired and he had to spar with Yaoyorozu again. She needed to better her reaction time, which should come with time, but it wouldn't hurt to force some muscle memory in her.

Uraraka had been sparing with Iida in takedown tactics at that time, but she seemed to be losing. Shirou advised her to use her quirk in grappling, which she ended up taking to like fish to water. It surprised him how well she ended up doing.

Then there was Midoriya.

Their sparing had ceased as they saw Midoriya hold a steady pose. A strange smell filled the room, but Shirou was certain that he was the only one to notice it.

A split second later, Midoriya had embedded himself to the wall.

"Deku-kun!?"

"Midoriya?"

Their cries of concern were unfounded as he pried himself out of the wall and heaved heavily. "The egg and microwave!"

At the confused looks he received, he blushed and reiterated. "I… might have figured it out," he said as he flexed his fingers. "I couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds, but this could work. Thank you, Emiya!"

"At least one of us is being thanked."

Midoriya blinked and turned to the entrance, of which he was conveniently beside.

Aizawa's quirk enhanced eyes stared back at him.

"Time's up. Get ready to leave so Cementoss can clean up this mess."

The speed at which a panicked Midoriya rushed to the changing rooms honestly rivaled his speed from earlier.

"And Midoriya," Aizawa called once more. "Good work."

His panicked speed had slowed somewhat but picked up even faster than before.

Once everyone was gone, and only he and Aizawa were left in the room, the teacher snorted and turned to leave. "Helping your classmates out of the kindness of your heart? Just like you, isn't it?"

The sheepish smile of agreement Shirou had given him went unnoticed as he left.

Takeyama Yu grabbed a stack of papers, making sure that they were neatly uniformed for once, and set it aside with an audibly groan of weariness.

The day had been long, arguably longer than any other day she'd been at her agency. She had worked at the U.A. Sports Festival as a part of the security detail, but it wasn't the most tiresome part.

What was tiring was the secrets she now had, ones that she'd take to her deathbed.

Her little adopted son had come from a whole different dimension. At first, she met him with expected skepticism, but she kept an open mind as she listened to him. The more she did, the more she made sure that nobody else would know about it, lest she irreparably ruined what little rapport she had built between them.

A world without quirks wasn't hard to imagine, one only had to look at their history books to see it, but one that had a secret society of mages willing to dissect infants if it meant they got what they want? It made her want to puke, and possibly question what kind of shit went through Shirou's head.

Then Shirou tried proving his words by throwing a cup against the wall, which surprisingly didn't break. She even tried herself, and the darn thing was as unbreakable as a slab of steel. As far as she knew, his quirk couldn't reinforce objects, unless it was a hidden facet of his quirk.

Oh wait, it wasn't his quirk. He just said it was a brand of magic he was specialized in. She didn't really care that he said it was magecraft and not magic, because it was still kinda unbelievable. Of course, he added onto it by literally stopping her in place with a sword stabbed into her shadow, but she still rationalized it as a part of his quirk, even if she could barely believe her own reasoning.

Then he drew something called a rune midair, which caused it to be set on fire. She was lucky that their fire alarm was off because she did not want to explain it to the fire department.

If she didn't believe him there, then she'd be an idiot, and her mother didn't raise an idiot. Of course, this meant that the bastard of a cafe owner was also a part of this different dimension. A quick call even confirmed it. She still didn't know what Farran's role was in her adopted son's past, but he wasn't the type to tattle, it would appear.

His secrets, he was free to tell. The secret of others? If she wanted that, then she'd have to go and ask the damn cafe owner herself. A bummer, but understandable. It was too bad that she couldn't just go and ask him these last few days. Paperwork had almost tripled this week which made it almost impossible.

Honestly, after all those revelations, it made her ask if there was anyone else from his home that came here.

She did not like the answer.

Because it was also the reason why her paperwork tripled.

The Beast, or known to her adoptive son as Avenger or Angra Mainyu. Apparently, he was some kind of evil spirit that was supposed to have faded away but latched onto… something? Honestly, most of the technobabble flew right over her– or was it magibabble? – but the fact that the Beast's first recorded instance of murder coincided with Shirou's appearance was telling.

Honestly, it worried her even more. Especially when a quick search on the internet just told her that Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, was the name of a literal epitome of evil. Granted, it was from some forgotten religion called Zoroastrianism, but still, an evil god.

The Beast certainly didn't feel like one though, and Shirou felt the same way… which just might mean the guy wasn't at his full strength. Did that mean they'd have to fight a god at some point?

Yu suppressed a shudder.

Shirou kept these secrets because he knew how bad it would be if they ever got out. It took her a while to see it from his point of view, but she had to admit, the things he could do. If the word got out, could incite a bit of panic. Probably not to the extent he worried it to be, but a fair bit of it. Mostly thanks to All-Might and the rightfully deserved borderline worship of him. In fact, most saw him as a god anyway… weird cults man.

Yu shook her head. She was getting lost in thought again, which was definitely the norm these past few days.

However, even with these worries, what had cemented itself deep into her mind was Shirou's past. Or rather, as most hero tabloids would call it, his origin.

A fire that burned the world around him, with cries of people praying for salvation, and the boy who walked past it all trying to live. It sent shudders down her spine. It explained so much about her adoptive son that it just felt… kinda sad.

But it didn't beat the annoyance she felt once she remembered the psyche evaluation test he had all those months ago. Recovery Girl must've known, but still wrote down a 'mild case of survivor's guilt'? There was nothing mild about it!

She mellowed down her thoughts as she grabbed the next piece of paperwork. It was for tomorrow's pile, but she needed to work through some stress anyway.

Yu didn't hold any ill will to the old rescue hero. She was annoyed at how downplayed his mental trauma was, but she could see the reason behind it. Shirou would've probably been taken away from her and put into proper rehab facilities, which would make it worse. Honestly, with how far their society had progressed, you'd think they'd improve on that already.

She was sure that Shirou hadn't told her everything, but he told core details. That was all that mattered to her. And while she felt bad about pushing him for details, she was also glad that she did.

Why? Honestly, the reason felt a bit personal.

She just felt closer to him now, that's all.

The door to her office swung open and revealed a horned man that leisurely made his way in, as he usually did being her secretary. "Mount Lady? I have the results from U.A. here. The student you requested will be interning here once the internships begin."

"Great," Yu said with a smile. "I assume the intern is…?"

"Your son, Emiya Shirou," he replied with a stiff smile. "Now, while I heavily disagree with interning a family member, I trust that you know what you are doing. You have been doing well for a new hero these past few months."

"Compared to when I started, is that right?" Yu replied with a knowing grin. "The image change was jarring, wasn't it?"

"Certainly," he replied. "However, I do believe that this is for the better."

Yu nodded, certainly feeling the same way. "If there's nothing else, you can leave."

Her secretary nodded and made his way out. Mentally, Yu wondered if she could give him a raise. The guy was the only one who stuck with her throughout her career, with others leaving for some reason or another.

Although most of those thoughts faded once she eyed the new piece of paper in front of her.

It was a notification sent to all professional heroes about how the Hero Killer Stain had gone free for far too long. The police division of Hosu had sent invitations to as many professional heroes as they could to take down this threat.

Normally, they wouldn't have. The police of Hosu had a strained relationship with their public due to having failed them before with the Beast– Angra Mainyu, whatever. They did not want a repeat of the situation so now they're going all out on one villain.

Overkill much? Yu would disagree.

Stain's mere presence was pulling down on public relations. People were losing trust in heroes, and Yu wasn't one willing to let that slide.

Accepting this invitation might've been irresponsible of her. After all, she had a student about to intern at her agency. This sort of task was not for someone as inexperienced as a student.

However, Shirou was no ordinary student. Far from it, if what he said about this Holy Grail War was true.

And besides…

She eyed the next report, one of the Beast being sighted in Hosu.

There was a chance they could kill two birds with one stone, to nip a problem at its bud before it sprouted, and to possibly help her adopted son so he wouldn't run off as he did months ago.

Hmm… that was more than three birds with one stone, wasn't it? Well, it suited her just fine. Takeyama Yu was many things. A sinfully opportunistic person?

Oh yeah, definitely.