High School Dragons x Blades

[One-Shot]

Reincarnated Devil

He stood before her, his golden blade ready, as he stared down the personification of all evils; their battleground was at the empty expanse of a dark crumbling ruin.

His opponent had long hair of absolute white with gleaming red eyes and her skin was quite pale. Her form was adorned in black matter with blood-red lines that streaked and pulse all over. This being was a shadow, a shadow of Angra Mainyu, that was possessing and defiling her body.

'Damn it!'

Shirou Emiya - a contestant of the Holy Grail War - clutched the handle of the sword that chooses the king and used it to shield himself from the torrent of black muck that threaten to swallow him whole from nearly every direction. He did not dodge, he did not run away, all he did was charge forward; for there was no where but. He swung his sword, that was known to all as the Golden Sword Of Assured Victory, as he staved off the darkness and cut through the prehensible limbs that would surely do to him unspeakable harm.

The Puppet Of Angra Mainyu blinked as it dully gazed at the miracle before it. The red-haired boy - this mere mortal - should have already been completely overwhelmed and stripped of all his flesh... He was neither fast nor nimble, yet he was able to avoid everything sent his way. The God Of All Evils twitched its puppet's mouth into a light grimaced as a strange tug nagged at the back of its mind...

The puppet was resisting its control and trying to weaken its strength; but that shouldn't be possible, the lesser being's conscious should have already corroded into non-existence. Angra Mainyu quickly tried to forced it down but the girl kept on struggling against it.

Nothing could impede his path, nothing could stop his approach. Shirou would reach her - there was no denying that - to him it was but a simple truth; even if he would need to die to fulfill that truth, he would reach her.

His thoughts raced, sounds and images filled his head as he remembered his time with her. He gritted his teeth and howled. 'Damn it!'

He had no plan nor any real methods.

Charge in and stab her in the heart; that was his only solution.

'DAMN IT!' He had looked at every possible angle, at everything under his disposal, and yet he still could not find anything that would save her. 'DAMN IT!' He wasn't blind nor naïve - he knew - he knew now the truth: some people could only be saved by their death. 'DAMN IT!' It was such a heart-wrenching but also world-changing revelation to him; he had always wanted to be a hero, he had always wanted to save others, but against the face of the cruel world his wants did not matter. 'DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!'

Caliburn shimmered in Shirou's hand, it was a golden light which broke through the bleak darkness. One step, two steps, three steps, he was right in front of her now, she was so close that he could just touch her cheeks by merely reaching out his hand.

It was then that the God Of Darkness snapped out of its inward struggle and trance-like state.

It looked upon Shirou with fear and hastily set up a wall of black ichor to block his immediate path.

'I had promised to protect you... but I was too weak to prevent this from happening...' Shirou thrusted his sword and it easily pierced through the hardened mud. "I'm sorry!" The blade had barely sunk into her chest when it released a concentrated beam of light.

The shining energy shot through her body - it completely annihilated her corrupted heart - and then had flared out from her back.

The radiant golden light continued, with strength comparable to that of the Sword Of Promised Victory, and headed onward to the pillar of rotting flesh - another one of Angra Mainyu's manifestation into the physical world but this time through the Greater Grail rather than that of a Lesser Grail. The light struck true and decimated the core. Its pure power destroyed both the Holy Grail and the Persian God Of Darkness And All Evils - their physical forms and everything else that tethered them to this world was simply purged from that single attack.

The ruins rumbled and began to slowly collapse as large chunks of earth fell from both above and below.

Shirou dropped Caliburn and walked over to her, to the person he considered as his most precious.

Her small fragile body had a gaping hole in her chest, her once beautiful appearance had now been permanently marred, and he was the one who had done that to her - it was him that had fatally wounded her, he was the only one to blame.

"Ilya..." He whispered in pain.

He had killed his sister; the only family he had left in this world... and now he had none.

He knelt down next to her body and brushed aside her white locks. Despite the peaceful expression on her face, regardless that he had freed her from Angra Mainyu's taint, he would never forgive himself for this.

"Onii...chan?"

"...Ilya?!" Shirou quietly shouted.

She looked at him fondly but weakly. Her lips curled upward as a hand of hers brushed against his fist and he grabbed it gently in response. "Thank you," she rasped.

He wryly smiled back and tried to put on a brave front.

It was amazing that she was even still awake - yet alone alive - at this moment. She was not only just missing her heart but also everything else that used to be in front, behind, and near it as well. Perhaps it was because she a homunculus or perhaps it was because some traces of Angra Mainyu's regenerative mud still lingered in her body? Whatever the case, the young girl ignored the pain and discomfort as best she could.

"I..." she whimpered and he merely listened, all Shirou could do for her was to remain by her side until the very end. That was the least he could do as her brother, it was merely the smallest step toward the future road for redemption that he would soon undertake.

Tears welled up in her eyes, "I just barely got to know you, the real you, Onii-chan... I want to know more about you. There's still so much I want to do with you, so much I haven't experienced in the outside world yet..."

Her hand slackened and began to fall out of his grip, her life was quickly fading, she would be gone in only a few mere fleeting moments.

"I... I wish would we could have been a real family, Onii-chan..."

She smiled at him one last time. Sincerely, kindly, gently, innocently, she smiled at him, leaving him a scene he would never forget - that would be ingrained into his mind forevermore.

And then she finally drew her last quiet breath.

The world cried out as it crumbled all around him. The cieling collapsed, the earth was torn asunder, the cavern that once held the Greater Grail was simply falling apart. The Fifth Holy Grail War was now over and once again there were no winners; the ritual that had existed for nearly two-hundred years was gone. The God Of All The World's Evils was defeated. Everything was over.

All of it was over now.

"...Good night, Ilya."

[...]

Shirou Emiya suddenly awoke up from his deep slumber.

There was a hazy fog enveloped around his mind, all white and gray - it was a distorted mess. He groggily got out of his bed and stretched. Because he was an early-riser, the sunlight was barely inching its way through his window.

'What kind of dream was that?' he wondered in a daze. He couldn't remember it clearly at all, only that it left him feeling extremely unpleasant.

Ignoring it for later, Shirou let out a yawn and set out to start his daily routines.

First on the list: an hour jog around Fuyuki City.

[...]

Shirou was always the first person in his family to wake up. (Thump) Thus he was always responsible for cooking breakfast - even though that also included lunch and dinner last on in the day - that was mostly because both his father and mother couldn't cook to save their lives and his little sister preferred to eat his food rather than actually help him cook. (Thump) Breakfast was almost done by the time he had heard anybody else rustling into the dining room. (Thump)

He glanced back to take a look.

There was his father, Kiritsugu Emiya, sitting on his chair while he read the morning newspaper. (Thump Thump) He was a scruffy looking kind of guy and appeared best with a cigerette in his mouth. (Thump Thump) He didn't have work anymore, apparently the man had stopped working the day he married his wife, however, even despite that, their family had never needed to worry about money. (Thump Thump)

His mother, Irisviel Emiya, sat next to Kiritsugu. (Thump Thump Thump) She was a beautiful woman, a foreigner from Germany with long white hair and soft red eyes; she appeared to be quite young in appearance - almost college age - and did not look to be a mother of two children. (Thump Thump Thump) She was always so lovey-dovey with her husband and often acted somewhat childish too. Shirou never did learn how the two of them had met. (Thump Thump Thump)

Sitting on the opposite side of the table - humming an energetic tune to herself - was his younger sister, Illyasviel Emiya. (Thump Thump Thump Thump) She was practically a miniature version of their mother and had a certainly elegant doll-like quality to her. (Thump Thump Thump Thump) Maybe it was just Shirou being overprotective, but since he was her older brother, he felt that it was his duty to protect her from any sort of harm.

(THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP)

Her small fragile body had a gaping hole in her chest, her once beautiful appearance had now been permanently marred, and he was the one who had done that to her. She looked at him fondly but weakly, "I... I wish would we could have been a real family, Onii-chan..." and then she finally drew her last quiet breath.

(THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP)

"Something wrong, Shirou?" His father's baritone voice reached out to him.

"Huh?" The teen uttered as he was broken out of whatever trance he was in. "Uh, no, nothing, I'm fine, dad."

Kiritsugu's analyzing gaze lingered on him for a moment before the man returned to his newspaper. But Shirou's mother and sister - on the other hand - still seemed quite worried about him.

Illyasviel blinked, "Onii-chan, you look tired. Did you not sleep well? Did you have a nightmare?"

Shirou hummed, "A nightmare, huh?" Vague sounds and images from his blurred dream quickly flickered through his head, "Yeah, I think I did; I don't really remember it. It's nothing for you to worry about though, Ilya."

"Shirou, if you're having trouble sleeping then you're welcome to come sleep with your father and I~!" His mother happily suggested with a near soundless clap of her hands.

"No thanks, mom," He chuckled, "I'm a bit too old for that."

Irisviel only looked a smidge disappointed from her son's response.

And finally, the last member of this four person family was himself, Shirou Emiya. He was the odd-ball of the family, genetics was a funny thing since he didn't resemble his family much at all - most people would think he was adopted if they saw him with his family. He was the one that did most of the housework around the house, such as cooking, and was currently a second-year student at Kuoh Academy.

Soon Shirou finished making breakfast and then set everything out on the table. He took his seat to the left of his little sister and then stared at the final remaining but empty seat. His was a family of four, so who did this fifth seat belong to?

"MORNING!" A cheerful voice boomed out from the front door of the Emiya Household.

'Ah, right... Taiga.'

The teenage girl named Taiga walked right in and plopped herself down on the empty chair.

"Morning!" She repeated, this time less loudly.

Kiritsugu merely nodded his head at the girl's presence.

"Welcome, Taiga-chan!" Irisviel greeted.

Illyasviel smiled, "Morning, Taiga-Oneesan!"

"Morning, Taiga-san," Shirou said.

Taiga Fujimura; this girl was one of Shirou's childhood friends. Because their family lived together on the same block, the two had often played together as children - though their definition of play was apparently about being rough and generally involved beating each other with sticks. She was an only-child and was - in a manner of speaking - raised solely by her grandfather, Raiga Fujimura, who also happened to be an old friend of Kiritsugu's as well.

She was a highly energetic girl, full of life and energy, and that was despite the odd fact that she was the granddaughter of a yakuza boss - which nobody except the four families on their block knew or at least openly admitted to knowing. Taiga was also a rising star in the kendo-circuit with the fearsome, yet appropriate, nickname of Tiger and could even beat up grown men that were easily three-times her size.

In Shirou's opinion, she was rather cute, but that girl did not have a single feminine bone in her body and was manlier than most boys her age. He knew her quite well since she often lazed around his house just to eat his cooking.

"Sup, Shirou!" Taiga smiled widely at him, "Thanks for the meal!"

Breakfast was, but of course, as good as always thanks to Shirou's talent in the art of cooking.

[...]

The school that Shirou and Taiga attended was known as Kuoh Academy.

The place was originally an All-Girl's School, however that had changed in recent times and it was therefore now a co-ed school - though, the girls-to-boy ratio was still fairly high, at a ratio of about 4:1 through out the entire school, all over the separate student-years, and even inside the classes too. The campus grounds were quite enormous as the school had some influential backers - it was a private school after all - and Kuoh Academy was easily one of the most prestigious institutions for learning in Japan.

The male uniforms were a stylish black blazer with a white collared-shirt underneath and black slacks.

The female uniforms on the other hand had far more flair to them; they had the same white collared-shirt with a black ribbon-bow, plus a short black shoulder mantle with a buttoned-up black corset-like vest, ending with a embroidered purple skirt.

Kuoh Academy was a top-class school that seemed beyond Shirou Emiya, or rather, a place that Shirou seemed to be completely out of place in.

Indeed, if somebody were to asked him why he was attending this prestigious academy instead of the more average one - such as Kuoh's sister institution: Homurahara Academy - then he would straight-forwardly answer and say it was because his childhood friend had threatened to hound him everyday for the rest of his life with a particularly fearsome bamboo-sword, known as the Tora-Shinai, if he did not chose to attend Kuoh Academy.

In his defense, there were only a handful of people who could have refused a threat like that, and he was not one of them.

Soon, Shirou arrived at his classroom and took his seat at the back.

"Hmph, so, you've finally arrived, huh, Emiya?" A classmate that sat next to him and on his right spoke up, "So, have you made any progress with Fujimura?"

"Morning, Shinji," Shirou greeted, "And what progress are you talking about?"

The boy, Shinji Matou, had blue wavy hair and gray-blue eyes and was another one of Shirou's and Taiga's childhood friend. He often acted like a jerk on the outside, as his tongue was rather sharp and smug, but on the inside he was a really good guy - though most people would never get to see that side of him. He was part of the Archery Club and was the ace of the team - barring the captain of course - and was also fairly popular with the female student body.

Shinji placed an elbow on his desk along with a hand on his cheek, "As thick-headed as always, I see, Emiya," he snorted, "Well, being Fujimura's favorite sparring partner means you would need to develop a thick skull, I suppose. You have my condolences, Emiya."

"Thanks," Shirou stated sincerely.

His friend merely shrugged with a sigh. "So, Student Janitor, are you going to be helping out the Student Council fix the worn old appliances... again?"

"Yep," Shirou nodded, "I promised them that I would take a look at a few of the air conditioners this time."

"Heh. That Student Council President of ours really has you wrapped under her fingers."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I guess it really is too much to expect for you to suddenly realize why Fujimura has always disliked the Student Council for monopolizing your time," Shinji huffed somewhat wryly, "Perhaps I should be giving Fujimura my condolences instead."

As always, it was the same old, same old for the two of them.

Except, something a little different happened today.

Shirou turned to his left and took a brief look at the empty desk. "Hey, Shinji."

"Hm? What is it, Emiya?"

"Where's Issei?"

Shirou's final childhood friend was Issei Hyoudou. That guy was the most perverted boy in all of Kuoh Academy. By his outer appearance alone - he wore glasses, had slick brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes - people would assume that Issei was a fairly studious and serious person who also looked rather cool... and that was somewhat true. But, the fact of the matter was, Issei had no shame when it came to his perverseness and the only reason he had chosen to attend Kuoh Academy was so that he could oogle at all of the pretty and cute girls.

A strange thought suddenly popped into Shirou's head. In it, Issei appeared with dyed dark-blue hair that was all combed to one side and he had apparently gotten into the habit of leaving his hand in his pants pocket. 'Hm? That seems familiar somehow...'

"Your guess is as good as mine, Emiya," Shinji answered boredly.

The classroom door suddenly slammed open and 'speak of the devil' Issei walked right in with a serious expression on his face. His feet landed with resounding thuds as he took several steps toward his best friends. His hands reached out with a snap and then clamped down firmly onto their shoulders.

"Shirou, Shinji..." He addressed them quietly as they looked at him puzzingly, "I've finally got myself a girlfriend!" He beamed loudly enough for everybody to hear in the room and in the hallway as well.

The classroom froze still before breaking out in pure confusion.

"What?! Hyoudou got himself a girlfriend?! For real?!"

"Impossible! Whose the unlucky girl?!"

"It's the end of the world! The end of the world is here!"

His classmates, primarily the female ones, roared out in defiance of his statement.

Shinji didn't care about what was just said; boyfriend-girlfriend matters were simple affairs to him - he could find himself a date with a snap of his finger and a flick of his hair - so he couldn't believe what all the fuss was about. He quirked a brow in response, "Are you feeling unwell, Hyoudou? Have you finally confused your perverted fantasies with reality and can longer tell the difference between them?"

Issei merely smirked and let out a light chuckle, "Oho, are you jealous, Shinji? Even though you're someone who could always find a girl to date, you've never actually committed yourself to a relationship and had yourself a real girlfriend!" He nodded to himself sagely.

"Hmph, I simply haven't found someone who can meet my standards," the archery-boy retorted with a snap.

"So you say," Issei delightfully sneered and Shinji growled back.

Shirou decided to cut in at this moment, he was always the mediator between the two of them.

"Congratulation, Issei."

"Oh! Shirou! Thank you~!" The glasses-wearing boy practically sung out his words. "I'll be praying for the success of your love-life too, Shirou!"

Shinji grumbled and then flicked his bangs, "So, this... girl of yours-"

"Girlfriend!" the pervert immediately clarified.

"-This girl who is a friend of yours and isn't Fujimura," Shinji rebutted smoothly, "What's her name?"

Issei opened his mouth to retort but then closed it shut; most of the time, there was no point in ever arguing with Shinji Matou. He took in and out a passionate breath; he placed a hand on his chest and flared up the other as though he was dramatically calling out to a girl from below, "Yuuma... Yuuma Amano! Ah, she's so cute, I fell in love with her at first sight and she did as well! She's like a pretty little angel!"

"Is that so...?" Shinji stated unconvinced.

"Where did the two of you meet?" Shirou asked.

"Today!" Issei posed, "She's apparently from our sister school. She said that there weren't any interesting boys there, so she's been visiting our school to have a look see for awhile now... and then she eventually found me!"

Shinji hummed somewhat venomously, "Ah? You? Interesting?" he snorted, "What exactly made her fall for you?"

"My charming good looks and vibrant personality of course!" Issei gloated and laughed aloud, "Yuuma-chan is the best!"

[...]

"I really think we should stop spying on them."

Shinji snorted, "Nobody asked what you think, Emiya. Now keep quiet."

For several hours now, these two childhood friends have been secretly tailing Issei and Amano.

This was Issei's first proper date with Amano and he used an entire week to prepare it. Unfortunately for him though, as he had blathered a bit too much, Shinji had discovered when and where this date was occurring and so then dragged Shirou along with him on the clad-destined day.

The red-haired teen sighed, "I know you're worried-"

"You're mistaken; there's no way that I would be worried about that pervert."

"-You are," Shirou cleared his throat, "I know you're worried but shouldn't we respect Issei's privacy? I mean, he's doing fine so far, hasn't he?"

Shinji clicked his tongue, "Well... yes. I got to hand it to that fool but he has definitely planned the most perfectly normal date," and quickly added on a few more words, "After all, he hasn't scared off that Yuuma girl yet."

"So, what's the problem then?"

Shinji frowned, "Hmph, I just don't trust her, is all. I get a bad premonition every time I look at her, that's all."

Shirou stayed silent. He too had often felt a certain oddity about Amano Yuuma, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was and so had no reason to act on it yet - not that he would know how to either. At first glance, Shirou could see nothing wrong with the girl but his mild paranoia made him somewhat wary of her. Still, personal paranoia was not a good reason to tell his best friend to stop dating the girl, and so he simply left the issue be.

The two boys continued their spying as the date went well into the afternoon.

Eventually Issei and Yuuma had walked into the creepy Fuyuki Central Park and momentarily disappeared from view.

Shirou let out an involuntary shiver.

Ten years ago there was a large fire that had destroyed a huge portion of Fuyuki City. This disaster came to be known as The Great Fuyuki Fire and the Fuyuki Central Park was soon built as a memorial to the tragedy. Apparently Shirou and his mother had been victims of the incident and were also hospitalized for quite some time because of it. Though, in Shirou's case, he didn't remember all that much about it and his mother Irisviel kept silent whenever the subject came up.

To this very day, the Great Fuyuki Fire seemed to have left a horrible curse on the land. Most people avoided passing through or even near the Fuyuki Central Park whenever they could; the park had an inexplicable eeriness to it during the daytime that even the most skeptical of people were hard-pressed to deny it.

"You alright, Emiya?" Shinji asked. He kept his sincerity and concern well hidden but he was indeed worried about his childhood friend.

"Uh, yeah, fine. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried. How many times do I have to say that to you, Emiya?" Shinji retorted snappily with a slight relief, "I just don't want you dragging your feet along." He lips then curled mildly downward and he clicked his tongue, "Tsk. What a joke of a park. Who would bother wasting their precious time at this gloomy place? This park can hardly be considered a romantic spot; Hyoudou is certainly an idiot for bringing a girl here." Shinji continued forward and entered the park; he ignored the sinking feeling that he received - he wasn't going to back out now.

There was something in the air, a tension that was near its breaking point. Shirou was not a very superstitious person but he was always one to trust his guts and instincts. Right now, they were screaming at him to run away as fast as he could and leave this park behind as far as possible. But, Shirou was a loyal person, he wasn't about to abandon Issei and Shinji anytime soon, so he just had to continue more cautiously from now.

The two friends hid themselves behind some bushes. They could see Amano standing in front of a large water fountain with a hauntingly beautiful smile directed at Issei.

'Something is wrong,' Shirou's thoughts buzzed.

"Would you die for me?" Issei's girlfriend asked sweetly of him.

'Something is seriously wrong,' Shirou's muscles tensed mightily as the very air around him seemed to freeze.

"...Eh? That is... Huh? No, um, sorry, but can you repeat that for me, Yuuma-chan?" Issei shook his head, "I think there's something wrong with my ears."

She giggled, "Will you die for me, Ise-kun?" Large black feathered wings sprouted from her back.

'Not human,' Shirou's mind instantly recognized, 'Dangerous!'

"What in the name of...?!" Shinji muttered in shock.

Issei himself was seemingly stunned instantly by the sight. Other than his initial reaction, he was completely unmoving and silent, as he stayed rooted to his spot.

"The short time I spent with you was really fun, Ise-kun," Amano's smiled took on a sinisterly cold appearance, "Playing couple with a child has been a truly interesting experience for me."

A pressure of violet energy coaleacsed into the winged-girl's hand. It formed into the shape of a large spear and filled the air with a cackled humming noise.

Shirou's head felt like it was being hammered severely as a strange scene clogged his mind.

(THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP)

A man in blue held a cursed red spear, one moment it was in his hand and the next it was not. The heart was pierced, therefore the weapon had struck: reality dictated that Shirou Emiya had died that day.

(THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP)

Amano casually flicked her wrist. One moment the energy spear was in her held and in the next it had simply pierced through Issei's lower abdomen. The spear created a large gaping wound as it vanished away in a splurt of energy. Issei twitched in complete and utter confusion, his hands reached out for the girl in front of him, "Yu...?" and then he collapsed onto the ground like a puppet cut from its string.

Something in Shirou's mind shattered.

"ISSEI!" He screamed out as he ran out from the bushes and into the fray.

He wasn't thinking anymore, his body simply reacted and moved of its own accord. His body burned as though his blood was on fire, his body hardened as though his bones were steel. Images and sounds... no, they were memories, his own memories, they flooded his crazed mind.

His hand simply grasped the imaginary handle of an unformed sword.

Amano looked at him with a mere momentary surprise before she produced another energy spear in her hand. She sneered at him, "Oh, it's you; Shirou-kun, was it?" she could barely recalled him; they had only briefly met because Shinji had once forced Issei to introduce her, "I guess I was a little careless, I didn't think a human would try to follow me here to a cursed place like this."

Again, she flicked her wrist with disinterest. The spear of energy flew with such speed that it only appeared as a near instant streak of violet light.

Shirou planted his foot and swung his empty arm. He didn't think, he didn't care, he simply wanted something in his hand. The spear collided with something and was cleaved in half. He didn't lose his momentum, he didn't let the winged-girl shake off her surprise, he rushed forward and raised his arm. He swung down his weapon but missed his strike as Amano took a step back and then flew into the sky with a frantic swoosh of her wings.

The girl growled at him, "I see; so you have a Sacred Gear, huh? Well, I'll just eliminate you too then!" but also dismissed him as a threat. She generated two new spears - one in each hand - and swiftly made the effort to throw them.

Shirou dodged and roll with natural battle instinct, his body moved before he even had time to contemplate, and both spears missed him by a thin margin. That surprised Amano for a moment but then she quickly continued her assault from the sky and rained violet spears down upon him.

His arms did not even attempt to block any of the falling spears. His body instinctively knew that he no longer had the sheer momentum to cut through a spear yet also keep himself from flailing about because of the impact. Likewise, his chaotic mind could tactically analyze his current situation; if he tried to plant his feet so that he could adjust for the lost of momentum, then he would simply be a sitting duck as he would open himself up for the flying-girl to attack him from another angle.

Thus, Shirou kept himself moving and avoided all the spears - though some still managed to graze him. But, at this rate, he was getting nowhere; it was a stalemate, he was on the ground and she was up in the sky.

He needed something, he needed anything. His memories flashed with a bow and arrow, he could do that, he had the skills to create them and to fire them but he didn't have the time - the moment he stood still to pull the arrow was the moment he would be perforated by Amano's spears of energy.

Shirou needed something else, something quicker. An attack so overwhelming he could either utterly annihilate the girl or force her to flee.

He glanced over and his eyes soaked in the sight of the mysterious blade in his hand. He intuitively knew its name, its purpose, its ability, its history, everything about it he simply understood and did not understand all at once.

He could use it.

That was what his memories told him. That was what his body told him. That was what the sword told him.

He would use it.

Shirou swung the sword at another spear and cleaved it in half. Without warning, a golden energy spiraled out of the blade's tip - it was not as strong nor as encompassing as its successor but the brilliant light of this attack was much faster, it moved at a speed both seen and unseen and simply appeared to have flashed in the eyes of the untrained.

The beam tore into Amano's right wing and clipped her ability to fly in the sky. She screamed as she suddenly registered the pain and screamed even louder when she realized that she was plummeting toward the ground. She flapped her bird-like appendages but could not maintain her control, still the attempt was able to prevent from simply dropping like a rock.

Her landing was unbearably rough as she crashed onto the ground shoulder-first but she had luckily used her wing as a cushion. Amano gritted her teeth and cracked her fingers with a flick. Two energy spears - larger than the previous ones - instantly buzzed to life.

Shirou wasted no time; he was already in movement as the girl fell from the skies.

He swung his sword on her grounded figure and it cut through one of her spear with little trouble. The blade continued to travel with little resistance and lopped off her left hand. She screamed in raging pain as she thrust the other spear: it blew out a chunk of flesh from the side of his stomach. However, Shirou was already in motion for his next attack, he retaliated with a slash of his sword and cleanly sliced off the out-stretched arm from below her elbow.

Amano screamed and cursed at him in fear with wide-eyes, "YOU WRETCHED SCUM! HOW DARE YOU!? HOW DARE YOU!? YOU... YOU'RE JUST...!" She quickly scrambled away with kicking feet.

Shirou merely dropped onto the ground with a strange gush of noise and laid on his stomach - or what remained of it. He was completely unbalanced due to the lost of a good portion of his side and so wasn't able to handle the recoil of his previous attack. But this would not be enough to keep him down. He was not finished, everything in his body and mind roared at him to keep fighting; he was an ally of justice... to allow a villain to escape from his grasp because of a little injury was just pathetic.

He coughed with a slightly ragged breath as he stared back defiantly at the furious girl. He couldn't stand up and couldn't hold a weapon like this.

But then again, he didn't need to.

Even if he couldn't sort out all his thoughts yet, his body and soul could recognize the memories that were constantly flowing into him.

"Trace... on!" He rasped out and five swords materialized in the space above him. Amano's eyes further widen in fear and her mouth trembled with fright. Her voice simply lost their strength then and there, as nothing but hacks and coughs came out of her throat. "Bullet: fire!"

The swords shot off with incredible speed, it was an unavoidable and unblockable barrage to the injured winged-girl, "N-NO!" she finally cried out at last.

It was then that the five weapons were promptly deflected.

An older man, someone who looked quite appropriate as an elderly butler, appeared by Amano's side.

The man cleared his throat and spoke politely, "Lady Raynare, I am here to assist you."

Shirou winced in a frown; he was in no condition to handle another opponent. The situation was getting bad.

Amano Yuuma - or Raynare as she was called - growled unsuccessfully at the man, fear still tinged her every expression, "S-Shut up! Just kill this damn brat, Dohnaseek!"

The gray-haired man named Dohnaseek merely grabbed her by the waist instead, "I'm afraid that securing your safety is my primary concern at the moment, Milady."

"What? What are you talkin..." Raynare turned to looked at something behind Shirou. Whatever she saw made her scowl intensely. "We're leaving!" Without anymore words the two of them took their leave; the man sprouted black feathery wings and flew away from the battlefield - the only proof of their existences were a few of Raynare's rankled feathers cascading down from the sky.

Shirou could only watch the two people as they left the ground behind - he could not move his head any higher. When the black-winged duo were gone from his sight, he tried to roll his head as to get a good view of whatever it was that had caused them to leave.

There, from what he could see in the slight distance, was a girl wearing the Kuoh Academy's uniform. This person stood over Issei's slumped and motionless body - besides him, for some reason, was Shinji's lying body as well. After finishing whatever it was that she was doing, the girl turned around and looked at his direction and locked eyes with him.

Her long hair was a bright crimson even in the dark and it wafted beautifully in the breeze, meanwhile her eyes were of a blue-green kind of color and was seemingly watching him in a calculative manner.

Shirou knew her, by the Japanese way her name would be said as 'Gremory Rias.' She was Kuoh Academy's First Great Lady, a third-year who was the most popular person in the entire school, she stood out quite easily with her vibrantly red hair and rather shapely figure.

But why she was here in this park right now, he honestly didn't know.

Rias walked over to him with a neutral expression, her steps were light yet gracefully refined and contained a certain sense of power to them, "Greetings, Emiya-san."

"Hello, Gremory-senpai," Shirou returned politely, it was a second-natured reaction to him.

The girls lips curled up into a smirk, she was amused by his odd calmness of the situation - he was much tougher than he looked if he was treating such a life-threatening injury as nothing to worry about. "You are a strange person, Emiya-san. I did not realize that our Student Janitor had a sacred gear and could use it well enough to force even a higher-being, such as a Fallen Angel, to flee from battle."

Sacred Gear and Fallen Angel; Shirou had no idea what the former meant but the latter was something that he could make an educated guess about, 'Is that what Yuuma Amano was? A Fallen Angel, like the ones from the bible?'

"I wonder, is that the reason why Sona-san calls upon you often...?" the girl humored to herself absently for a moment before shaking her head, "Emiya-san, I would like to make a offer to you."

"An offer?"

"You have talent, that much is certain, and it would be a shame for it to expire alongside you, Emiya-san. That is why I want you to become my servant: a reincarnated devil."

"A... reincarnated devil?" Shirou parroted uneasily.

Rias nodded and spoke gently, "Yes... but please do not think so lowly and wrongly of us, Emiya-san. We Devils are not pure evil like those many stories you may have certainly heard. I can assure you that we mean no harm to humans and I, of course, mean no harm to you as well."

"...So you're not a Magus, you're a Devil?"

She blinked, "Ah, forgive me. Yes, I am a Devil."

"I see," he accepted her statement easily. Maybe it was the blood-lost getting to him but Shirou felt that he could actually trust her - not that he was very distrusting person to begin with - and replied simply, "A reincarnated devil..." his eyes focused on his friend's still body, there was a currently more pressing-matter to attend to first, "Gremory-senpai," it wasn't right for him to decide on his own but he wanted his best friend to live, "Is it possible... can you... can you save Issei's life first?"

The crimson-haired girl blinked and then gave a soft smile. She was pleasantly surprised about how Shirou was more worried about his friend's state than over his own - she could see that his reputation at school as one of the friendliest and most helpful boys was not exaggerated at all. "Hyoudou-san is fine, I have already seen to his wounds, and all he needs now is a little rest."

Shirou let out a breath of relief. Issei was safe, that was one less worry that he and Shinji would need to deal with now. The boy then blinked, "Ah, excuse me, but why is Shinji lying on the ground?"

"Ah, Matou-san... He is only a regular human and therefore an innocent bystander. When I had arrived, I sent him to sleep and erased his memories of this event."

'That's a relief,' the teenage boy thought. It was better for a normal person like Shinji not to be involved with the supernatural. "Speaking of... when did you get here, Gremory-senpai?"

Rias paused as she took in he sight of Shirou's wound.

Her underclassman was dying and it wasn't a good idea to delay his reincarnation into a devil. Though there was a generous amount of time to revive him even after death, that was a waste of valuable assets as such a situation would only use up more of her Evil Pieces to resurrect him.

However, even though the red-haired boy was bleeding out, it was a very slow process; it was as if death was taking its idle time to get here.

As far as Rias' knowledge went, she knew that humans had a very slow rate of regeneration, and Shirou Emiya was human as far as she could detect. Therefore, something else was at work here and it was a greatly curious matter that she would have loved to investigate - but that could come later. Rias pondered whether she should reincarnate him first or continue their little questions and answers.

"Gremory-senpai?"

Well, it seemed that the boy was too lively to just up and die at the moment.

The First Great Lady of Kuoh Academy pulled out a piece of paper from her skirt pocket. The sheet had some words on it but the most striking thing was the complex and authentic magic circle drawn in the center.

"This is a flyer with a summoning circle inscribed on it that we Devils hand out to humans. Hyoudou-san must have picked it up somewhere and unintentionally used it to call out to me with his dying wish."

"His dying wish, huh?" Shirou smiled wryly. As expected, even in his fading moments, Issei was still driven by his lust. He let out a chuckle, "Yeah, that sounds like something he would wish for."

"Now then, do you have any more questions, Emiya-san?"

"Am I dying?"

"...Yes."

"I see," Shirou stated. He surprised himself. He didn't know that he could be so accustomed and calm in the face of his own death - in fact, his mind was simply analyzing how, why, and when he was dying rather than find a way to save himself from his coming death. It wasn't even morbid fasicnation, just a statement of the facts. Shirou snorted derisively. He wondered why he was mentally describing his own dying form to himself in such sheer detail.

"So, do you wish to become a Reincarnated Devil, Emiya-san?"

He paused as a grand memory struck him, "Ah..." he voiced quietly, "Gremory-senpai. I... I have a little sister," he stated fondly, it was such a simple statement but it meant the world to him. "She's important to me; very important. I want to protect her happiness and her smile, because we're family. I'm her brother and I don't want to fail in that regard anymore. Dying... there's no redemption to be had in something like that," his voice had steel and determination and his eyes reflected the same as well, "Gremory-senpai, please, make me a Reincarnated Devil; I can't die yet."

"There is no turning back; will you stand by that decision, Emiya-san? You may live but you will no longer be human."

"Yeah, I'm fine with that. I won't have any regret or shame about living as a Devil."

The crimson-haired girl nodded her head and acknowledged his resolve. "Very well then," she pulled out several small objects from her other skirt pocket and held them in-between her fingers, "I am the King, Rias Gremory, and I hereby welcome you, Shirou Emiya, as my new Pawn."

Her slender fingers pushed the unknown object into Shirou's chest and it sank into his body with little resistance. But the boy's body still needed more and so a second object was used. Yet that was still not enough and thus a third object was pushed into and absorbed by his body.

Three pieces to save her underclassman; Rias smiled. Even if the total worth of a Pawn was less than the other chess pieces, three was still a sign of greatness. Shirou Emiya would be a valuable asset to her and the same could be said about Issei Hyoudou who had used up five pawns. It was quite lucky of her that she didn't need any more or any less for the two of them.

Shirou felt the three tiny items inside of him. He felt them merging with him but also mingling with something else. There was an oddly curious feeling as these two unknown sides resisted each other - one that seemed holy in nature and the other three seemed dark in essence, before they suddenly communicated and then had apparently settled for coexistence. Already he could feel the two forces cooperating on restoring him back to peak health - if not better than before. 'What is that all about...?'

"So... I'm your servant now?" He smiled peacefully. He had only heard this line once, but it was forever ingrained in his memories, for it was the day he had first encounter the beautiful and strong swordswoman - the one who had always fought by his side and he by hers. His voice was filled with pride as he repeated these words, "Then I ask of you: are you my master?"

The young lady with crimson hair responded in kind.

"Yes."

Author Notes

I need to stop starting up new stories on a whim. Someone slap me. Correction, this was going to be a new story... but then I turned it into a One-Shot. So, like always, thank you for reading this one-shot!

So what was that prologue? What freaking route is that? I have no idea actually; I'm just going to pretend that it's a possible scenario (Normal End) for the non-existent Illyasviel Route. Though it's an Alternate Universe ending here instead...

Honestly, I don't remember what the name of Issei's hometown in HSDxD is. I'm justing going to call it Fuyuki City.

So why is Shirou in the HSDxD Universe? Convulated on my part. Let's pretend that a dying Illyasviel was still connected to the Greater Grail (that is being purified with the death of the Angra Mainyu) and was able to make her wish... except the Grail was still tainted (even if it was only a little), so the wish got a bit skewered. So BLAM, Shirou and Ilya (who were probably going to end up dead in the collapsing cave) are transported to another parallel but still not quite the same universe. Um, yeah.

Also Shirou cheated a bit since a little bit more than just the Ilya Route was sent back. Heheh.

I went and bended the rules a little regarding the Evil Pieces... not that I remember the rules all that much - haha. Basically the pieces needed are based on the characters current power-level and not their potential/what-if one. Meaning that Issei (who has never used his Sacred Gear and therefore Draig's powers) doesn't use up all 8 Pawn Pieces this time.

So how does Avalon's healing work... well, let's just say that having Avalon inside of him for all these years has made Shirou something of a 'keeper' and so he gains some benefits. Likewise, the DxD environment compared to the Nasuverse is a bit more benevolent. Basically, Shirou has a good affinity with Avalon and has a low-regeneration rate because of this - which is pretty bad because he can't heal gores like the one he took from Yuuma/Raynare and is technically dying out much slower than normal to the point that he can't really tell that its most definitely fatal...

Why does Shirou not need to say Caliburn's name to use its ability? The Name-Attack-Shout is a restriction imposed on Servants for the HGW when activating their Noble Phantasms; ie, it's a game-mechanic. Shirou doesn't have this problem since he's not a Servant.

On an unrelated note... I'm rather interested in reading a Fate/Stay Night x Saints Row story. All the magic insanity of FSN combined with the gangster hijinks of SR as Shirou Emiya becomes the Boss. It sounds amusing to me.

If anyone wants to adopt (or do whatever) to this idea, then please feel free to do so.