2/13 Afternoon

Shirou Emiya walked out of his room, all freshened up and dressed in his signature blue and white long-sleeve shirt and jeans. He headed down the stairs of the Emiya Household, his steps enthusiastic as he got ready for the afternoon. He passed the living room, seeing Leysritt asleep on the sofa with the TV turned on. He stopped as he saw the headline for the news, the anchor reported the facts with cold professionalism.

"—the shocking death of a Diet Member in one of the prestigious hospital's in Tokyo thanks to the negligence of one of the doctors has left the public appalled. The Director of the Hospital has defended himself by saying that the death of the politician was supposedly the result of the rumored Mental Shutdown cases plaguing our country for the past year. Police have begun conducting—!"

He frowned at the news as he moved away from the living room. He pulled out his phone to check the news he had been reading earlier in the day. "They haven't let up with this thing…"

He shook his head, ridding himself of the depressing news and returned his focus towards the positive. He would be heading out with his sister this afternoon, so it would be better that he got ready quickly. He wouldn't want to bring down the enthusiasm that Illya had shown him earlier. He headed for the front door of the house, bending down to put on his sneakers and nodded in satisfaction at the speed and precision with which he tied his laces. Getting up to his feet, he waited for—

"Young man, you will keep a watchful eye on your younger sister, understood?" The stern voice of Sella made him turn towards her. The woman was dressed in her casual attire, with a broom in her hand as she looked at him with sternness. He gulped at the look.

"Yes Sella…"

"You will make sure that the two of you remain safe and sound by the time you return."

"Yeah…"

"And I will not have you dallying around. Your mother left me with the responsibility of taking care of you two while she and your father are away on their business trip for this month! I expect you to return in two hours! Is that understood?"

Shirou sighed, scratching his cheek in embarrassment at the lecture he was receiving. He watched the pale-haired woman looked at him with a stern expression and he felt the need to answer quickly, lest he face her wrath again. "Don't worry, we won't stay out for long Sella."

The most responsible and strict maid of the Emiya Household nodded resolutely and crossed her arms. "Quite so, as Lady Illya's elder brother, it is your responsibility to set an example for what the young Lady must aspire to be. I won't have you acting like a ruffian and setting bad habits for the young Lady."

The redhead looked somewhat offended by that remark. "What is that supposed to mean!?"

"Humph, don't act so innocent…" She gave him a squinted look that made him back up. "I know how much of a charmer you are with the girls in your school… that is already a demerit in your attitude in my books!"

"C-Come on…it's not my fault…" Shirou started as he sweated in embarrassment at the cold truth, images of many of his female classmate when he said something without thinking and the clear anger in Shinji's at that.

"Onii-chan!" He turned away from Sella and saw Illya running towards him with a smile on her face. That look on her face was enough to erase the embarrassment he was feeling as he saw the young girl reach him. She looked up at him and nodded excitedly. "You ready?"

"Of course."

Sella cough slightly and grabbed the siblings attention. She looked at Illya and gave her a small smile.

"Now Lady Illya, due remember to be careful and to not speak with strangers. Stay by your brother's side at all times."

Shirou looked away with a small grimace as he scratched his cheek. "…Why can't I ever get it that easy with her…?"

"What was that young man!?" Sella's stern voice caused him to flinch back into attention and gave the older female a shaky smile.

"Nothing…nothing…!"

Sella's hands were on her hip, taking a deep breath to commence with a new rant on him—

"Sella's acting like a hag again…" The three turned towards Leysritt, the second maid of the house walked forward—still in her sleepwear and looking at them with a lazy gaze. Sella scoffed indignantly.

"Leysritt!"

Shirou was about to watch another bout between the two maids go down, but he was hurriedly pushed towards the entrance by Illya. He looked down and saw her wearing an exasperated expression as she stared up at him.

"Let's go!"

And with those words the two left, making sure to lock the door behind them. Illya had come out of the house barefoot and was quickly trying to put her shoes on while hopping from one foot to the other. Before he even had a chance to chastise her for doing that, she took off running down the streets. The redhead was caught off guard by this and he quickly went after her.

"H-Hey! Wouldn't it be better to grab the bikes!?"

"No time Onii-chan!"

"W-Wait a minute—!"

The girl ran through the streets with gleeful abandon. "We gotta hurry Onii-chan!"

"Don't run so fast! You'll trip and fall!"

"I'll be fine!"

"Illya…! If we keep going like this we'll be all sweaty and gross!"

"But the chocolates…!"

The two kept running at this pace, until they passed the Fuyuki bridge and made it into the Shinto District. They slowed down, stopping by a corner to catch their breaths and cool down. After a few minutes, they were on the move once more—though, thankfully at a much slower pace.

The cool air of the winter season made Shirou's skin prickle and made his sweaty clothes cold against his skin. Shaking and ridding himself of the irritating shiver, he let his eyes roam towards Illya. His little sister was taking point in this little expedition of theirs, stubbornly pushing past the crowd of people in the Shinto district. He smiled as he hurried his steps to walk alongside the small white haired girl.

"Don't go so fast Illya, you'll get lost."

His sister looked at him with wide red eyes and pouted as she kept going forward. "But Onii-chan! If we don't hurry, they'll sell off those Valentine chocolates the other girls told me about!"

"Humph, and whose fault is it? I told you that if you wanted to get a gift for someone, you needed to do it in time and not leave it to the last second."

"Yeah, but…"

"And anyway. Whoever you want to give the chocolate to, you should've told me! I would've been more than happy to make them and help you give them to whomever." Shirou nodded and smiled affectionately towards his little sister. The girl turned a deep shade of red and looked down, sweat rolling off her heated cheeks.

"…but I wanted to give them to you…" She murmured in embarrassment. The redhead cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

The girl flinched, looking up in alarm at almost being caught. Her eyes darted to the side and saw the entrance of a large chocolate store which was adorned with hearts and fluffy signs. Perking up, she took off running in quick retreat. "Here we are!"

"H-Hey! Wait up!" Shirou called out as he took off after her.

The inside of the store was packed, making it hard to move. Yet Illya pushed on with fierce determination through the aisles to find her chocolates and Shirou wasn't far behind, always keeping a watchful eye on his little sister. Minutes ticked by as the two struggled to find the desired sweets—but…

"T-they're sold out…" Illya said sullenly as she looked at the empty table where they were supposed to be displayed. Shirou sighed and sympathetically patted her head.

"Come on, how about we see if we can find any other chocolates? I bet whoever gets them will like them as long as it's you giving it to them."

"Hmm…" Illya looks up at him with bright red eyes. "Whoa! Onii-chan…When did you get so smooth?"

"Gah—! What are you saying!?" The redhead blushed, before moving away with a smiling Illya in tow. "Come on."

Time passed, as the store slowly started to empty of its customers. As they left, Shirou was now holding a basket with his right forearm, while slowly and curiously inspecting a bag of crepes, wondering if the taste was consistent, sweet and yummy enough to eat. He pursed his lips as he shook the bag. "Hey Illya, you think these crepes will taste sweet or sour? I could make some if—?"

He stopped as he turned around and didn't find a small girl with white hair. He narrowed his eyes, looking around but found nothing. His heart started beating fast as he moved to search for his little sister.

"Illya!" He called out as he looked through every aisles, but didn't find his little sister. Now his insides grew cold as he started to walk faster towards the store's exit. "Illya!"

"Hey! Hey sir!" A female voice made Shirou stopped and he whirled around towards an annoyed cashier with customers trying to pay. She gestured towards his basket. "Sir, if you're planning on leaving, pay up. Otherwise I'll be force to call secu—!"

He didn't let her finish as he reached her, ignoring the disgruntled and angry customer in line. "Have you seen a little girl with white hair?"

"Uh…what?" The cashier looked confused as her annoyance gave away to the subtle desperation Shirou was demonstrating.

"A little girl with white hair…" Shirou repeated, feeling a tad annoyed at wasting time here. "She has big red eyes, pale…she's my sister and I can't find her."

"O-Oh! Yes, I saw her go out of the store like a minute ago si—!" Shirou didn't even hear what she said as he put the basket on the counter in front of the cashier and ran out of the store.

He sped through the crowded streets as he looked around for Illya, not bothering to be careful with who he crashed into. His breathing came in short bursts, his focus zoning entirely into tunnel-like vision as he payed attention for anyone with white hair. He looked from all around him but found nothing.

His heart hammered violently against his ribcage as he tried to—

Suddenly his eyes zoomed in on a familiar little girl with white hair who was looking around in an alleyway, confused and regretful as she walked into it.

His eyes went wide and he immediately took off towards her. He reached her immediately and got down to his knees before her, startling her with his surprise appearance in the dark alleyway.

"Illya! Are you okay!?"

"W-W-Wha—! I…yeah…yeah I'm fine…" The girl looked down with a blush and a guilty expression. Shirou let out a sigh of relief, but narrowed his eyes at her.

"What were you thinking running off like that Illya!? You scared the hell out of me back there…"

"I'm sorry Onii-chan it's just…" She blushed deep scarlet and bowed her head, muttering something.

Shirou raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior. "What's that? I didn't catch it."

The girl turned even redder and buried her face into his chest. "I… I just saw someone who looked like that Detective Prince from Shibuya…and… I wanted to see if it was him…"

Shirou looks down at her and let out a sigh escaped him. "Really? That's all? Geez, you went ahead and gave me a scare just for that?"

"Hrm…" Illya squirmed at his words, the redhead just sighed and patted her head affectionately.

"…fine, I guess I can't get to mad at you. You're about that age anyway…"

"…" Illya closed her eyes and cringed at his words. Shirou stood up and took her hand.

"Just don't be so reckless."

"… Sorry Onii-chan—!"

"Is the area secure?" A lazy male voice called out in English, but Shirou understood somewhat the words that had been uttered. Both siblings flinched towards the area where the voice came from and saw a man wearing white clothes walking backwards—holding an assault rifle in his hands.

Shirou's eyes immediately went wide, his first instinct screaming at him to grab Illya and run out of the alleyway. However, just as his arms reached for the frozen Illya and wrapped themselves around her, another man with a similar uniform appeared to meet his armed ally. Shirou quickly pulled his sister towards him and lunged both her and himself behind a mountain of garbage bags. He put a hand on her mouth and shushed her with a serious look. She nodded as they heard even more footsteps.

The two huddled close together, balling themselves against the garbage bags and pressing back as they saw a man in white walking forward lazily with his weapons on his back. Both brother and sister grew stiff at the sight, especially when he started to turn around and—

Everything went black as Shirou, filled with dread at the dangerous men, had pressed against the garbage bags a little too tightly—tipping some of the bags above and making them fall over him and Illya. Obscure and frozen in fear and dread, they heard the armed man grunt.

"Damn easterners…don't they know how to keep their streets clean?"

"Stop goofing off moron! Lord Marisbury is making his way here." A female voice admonished as the man who almost caught the brother and sister pair huffed in annoyance.

Shirou carefully looked down at Illya, and pulled the hand away from her mouth and made her look at him. He gestured for her to be quiet and she gave a shaky nod. Satisfied, he twisted his body carefully, trying to make the garbage bags not fall or make any noise. He managed to make the bag move slightly and see that the man from earlier was gone. He started to move, but stoppedas even more people entered the area.

"Lord Marisbury, Assistant Director! We have secured the area!"

"Good, good." An aged and dry voice exclaimed. "As to be expected from my security detail. Your presence here is quite important, especially when concerning this accursed city. A city which has housed four distinctive Wars…or should I say three and a half? The Fourth War was cancelled prematurely…perhaps there are echoes of it still going on and the Association wasn't aware of it, hmm? I do wonder if your secure area holds any significance when fighting against the might of such powerful familiars known as Servants."

"…" There was an uncomfortable silence with audible nervous gulps breaking the awkwardness and adding to the bizarreness of the moment.

"It was a joke." Shirou raised an eyebrow and looked down at Illya, who shared his perplexed look.

"Lord Marisbury…" The soft spoken and exasperated voice of another man filtered into the siblings hears.

"Humph, Assistant Director, can you not take a joke?"

"It isn't that my Lord…but, I don't think this is the time to be joking around. This situation we're in…is far too dangerous…"

"What do you expect of me? To stay back in my home, honing my research carelessly and twiddling my thumbs as I wait for my execution?"

"My Lord, I…"

"This city was meant to give us the answers we needed in order to finally put a stop to all those wretched murders that have been happening to us, my dear Assistant Director. The Mental Shutdown and Psychotic Breakdowns cases… the problem plaguing us that started within the borders of this eastern country and that has affected beyond it."

Shirou frowned slightly as the titles he had given to the cases reminded him of something he had read earlier in the day. He shook his head and focused on finding a way out.

The Lord continued in a cold and dry tone. "An eastern problem should be exactly that, an eastern problem—and yet we've already had mixed casualties inside the very walls of the Clocktower thanks to the Shutdowns and Breakdowns. And that's not even talking about the entire fiasco with the Bartholomei family… such a disastrous show of uncontrollable power when one's mind is driven into insanity by this bizarre case."

"Lord Marisbury, that is exactly why I had advised for you to bring a more specialize security detail. Not to insult the people here…but, this a serious matter you're dealing with. An unknown case with no knowledge on how's it done or performed and your security is far too lax! Sir you could get kill…" The Assistant Director admonished with an annoyed huff.

Shirou managed to remove some of the bags off their bodies and freeing them from the weight of garbage and its smell. Looking down at his sister, he saw her let out a silent breath of relief as she swallowed nervously. Shirou grabbed onto her tightly and sneaked a view back, seeing the man who almost caught them with his back towards them and many more guards all standing in attention for two men.

One was a tall man dressed in aristocratic black and white clothing, his back towards him. Shirou assumed that this man was the Lord, while the other man dressed more like a doctor was the Assistant Director. The redhead shook his head and turned away, as he began to slowly sneak away with Illya.

"Humph, what does it matter?" Marisbury's voice was one of anger. "It is as you said, the method on how these cases have happened remains unknown to either of us. Civilian victims, mage victims…in the end both suffer the same fate. What security detail should I have brought? The most expensive? The most likely to grab the attention of whoever is behind this? No, it is better this way. After all, if the theory of major Human Foundations located within certain areas around the country is true…then I should be fine. No one would be looking for me here. This city, a warzone for the Holy Grail that could grant any miracle—and yet that Grail is nothing but a defunct piece of rock now incapable of giving me the answers I seek. I can see that Einzbern homunculi and her assassin Kiritsugu Emiya did a number on it."

"What…!?"

"Papa…!?"

Both siblings froze, realizing they had spoken out loud as they were inches away from exiting the alleyway. The two looked back and saw every guard, the Lord and his assistant looking at them. Marisbury narrowed his eyes and gestured towards them.

"Get them!"

Shirou was already running even before the man had moved his lips to say those words. He had grabbed Illya and sped away, ignoring her startled cry. Carrying the small girl in his arms and holding her close to his chest, he ran like a mad man through the streets of Shinto.

He looked back and saw two men in white running towards him at great speeds. Startled by this Shirou took a right and arrived into a crowded street, using his body to push and force his way past people. He ignored their indignant cries as he ran with Illya in his arms. Once more he looked back and saw the men, alongside others pushing through the crowd, not running, but their steps brisk and forceful as they made their way towards them.

"Onii-chan!" Illya's cries just gave him more strength and adrenaline to run. He ran into an open area, seeing a pair of stairs, that would lead to the underground mall of Shinto and took off towards it. As he took the stairs, he saw a lonely young man with shaggy light brown hair tap into his phone as he walked forward. Shirou ignored this as he looked back in distraught and—

There was shift in his vision as he saw the very same entrance he had taken was now closed off with a reddish metal gate.

"H-Huh—!"

Shirou didn't even managed to voice his confusion as he tripped on the steps and fell. He gritted his teeth as his back bounced off the steps, while his arms fiercely held Illya as she hugged into him with each bounce. Once his body ceased its stumbling as it reached the final step, he let out a groan and let his arm go toward his back, trying to soothe the pain. Illya looked down at him in concern and immediately stood up.

"Onii-chan! Are you okay!?"

The young man bared his teeth, and got up to his feet with shaky legs. He nodded at her as he held his back.

"Y-Yeah…but, are you okay Illya!?"

"I'm fine Onii-chan…but…" The girl looked around, and he could see the goosebumps in her skin as she looked uncomfortable. "What's wrong with this place… did… did they redecorate the underground mall…?"

Confused, Shirou looked up and analysed their surroundings. A dark and twisted hall met their gaze. The floor looked cracked and dirty with numerous of empty stores going on and on until they divided into two different paths. The air twisted and carrying grime and an intense stench—

But the most unsettling thing was the silence… nothing at all, but dread filled them.

Illya took a step back, her body shaking with fear and tears filled her eyes. Thankfully, Shirou was there to wipe them away. She looked up at him in surprise as he hugged her, using his arms to pull her up and carry her. He stared down at her red eyes and nodded.

"I don't know what's wrong with this place but…going back isn't an option…I won't let dangerous men like them get their hands on you, no matter what."

Illya pursued her lips as she looked up at the darken top of the stairs, fear and apprehension settling in at the mere thought of those men bursting in and catching them. She scrunched up her face as she remembered something.

"But what about what they said…about papa…and what's a homunculi, that couldn't be mama…right, Onii-chan?"

"I doesn't matter for now Illya…" He said as he stretched his hurt back, hissed and shook his head. He took a step forward. "Let's just make it to the other side and get home, fast."

Illya nodded against his chest and Shirou looked up with determination as he began jogging forward. The deeper he went into the bizarre corridor, the more anxious he grew. He stopped once he reached the intersection and looked to the right—seeing at the far side a very clear dead end. He clicked his tongue and looked towards his left.

"I'm…I'm really not liking this Onii-chan…" He looked down at the nervous girl and sighed.

"Me neither…me neither…"

Shirou walked, his steps firms and his goals set even if his body was shaking with dread.

He wouldn't let Illya get hurt…

He couldn't…

He—

A loud crash behind them made Illya screech in fright and Shirou jumped as adrenaline filled his body once more. With his heart hammering his ribs away like a sledgehammer he whirled around to see a cloud of dust slowly dissipating, revealing a dark silhouette.

The older brother opened his mouth, ready to call out whoever was in the cloud…but his words froze at the tip of his tongue as he and Illya looked up.

And up.

And up.

Towering before them was a twitching monstrosity. Black and oozing an even a darker substance, the monster loomed over them. Various metal masks with blue eye holes were etched on its monstrous body, with the one attached to its 'head' acting as its face. The monster looked down at them.

Everything froze…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Until Illya's scream broke the silence sending everything back into motion. The monsters 'eyes' shone red and it began to lumber forward. Out of pure panic and desperation, Shirou turned around and ran.

Thundering footsteps echoed behind him, enticing him to go even faster. He took a right on the next corridor and just kept going, even if his back was killing him, he couldn't stop. He took another right.

"… He's catching up to us…!" Illya whimpered in fear and that just made him go even faster.

There was absolutely no choice for him here.

Even if his back was hurting…

Even if his legs were burning from running so fast and skidding to get each turn…

Even if it felt as if hours had passed with each step…

Even if his heart beat to the point of collapse…

He wouldn't stop.

He wouldn't let Illya get hurt.

The shadow of the monster loomed closer on the running teenager and overshadowed him.

Shirou took a left and saw a weird swirling red light—the steps on the floor ripping up as if contorted bizarrely and twirling hypnotically just like the red light. Shirou didn't know what he was about to do and he didn't know what that red light meant—

But…

He couldn't stop.

He just wouldn't.

His clenched his teeth tightly as he went into the red light and—

Fell.

He just collapsed.

Exhaustion wrestled control away from his tired body as he and Illya flopped down on the hard floor. The little girl let out a startled cry and Shirou slid on the hard pavement, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. Letting out a shaky breath, in pure panic, he whirled his downed body around to see if the lumbering giant was behind him—yet he found nothing.

Nothing, except for the red spiraling light.

"Wha…" Shirou's question was abandoned when he heard Illya gasp. He was about to turn around towards her, but an ear shattering explosion went off making him flinch.

"…" Illya backpaddled until her body was on top of the fallen redhead and she let her hands grip his clothing tightly. "Onii-chan…"

He didn't respond to her as his eyes were focused on the bizarre image in front of him—A red monster, with the face of a leopard on its chest growling angrily as a blackened robed figure with hair reaching its feet floated behind the monster, patiently waiting.

And opposing them was a lonely figure, dressed as dark as midnight with a helmet and mask of similar color. The figure slouch and raised his handgun towards the opposing duo with his left hand.

"So the intel about you holding some connection to that bible king is true…but to think you would take the form of one of his demons as well…" The words were distorted, unnatural and filled with callous disregard for the one who stood before him.

The monster roared—signifying the start of conflict…

The three clashed.

Like a hurricane of fire and metal, the battle reverberated throughout the small confined space the siblings found themselves in.

The floor cracked as the three delivered mighty blows.

The air burned as the red leopard face monster and blackened figure worked together to dominate the lonely figure with supernatural and holy strength.

The space crackled and twisted as the lonesome fighter matched their every move.

An explosion trumpeted harshly and right there—right at that moment Shirou saw it.

The dark cloth fighter reached with his left claw like hand for his mask, burning in blue fire, still obscuring his face— before a towering figure appeared behind him.

"Come…Loki!"

And the battle ended, the dark figure was suddenly overwhelm by a wave of dark and red power—taking a hold over its form. The blackened fighter let out an inhuman howl, its body revealing itself as the darkness covering his form dissipated. A robe of black, red and white adorned the now psychotic man as he began to glow gold with his once white hair quickly fading into gold—his body breaking apart as an eruption of power exuded from the screaming man.

Shirou and Illya yelled as the explosion shook them to their very core and flung them apart. The redhead impacted a far off wall and felt the air leave him. He slid down to the floor in a daze. His eyes wandered from left to right until he saw the lonely figure in black walk towards a man—Lord Marisbury.

"…W-what…!?" Shirou question with an incredulous look, confused and completely out of his depth, he watched as the lonely figure raised his gun to the man's forehead. Marisbury looked at him with a furious gaze, yet his face remained passive.

"Impossible…a Servant to be defeated like this…so easily…how is this possible…how…how could've you have found me? I had covered all my steps… I made sure to keep any contact with the Clock Tower to absolute zero…the only one aware of my expedition was… no… it can't be… was I sold out…by my own disciple…by Kirschtaria ?" The man questioned as he looked down stone faced. "I see… I had greatly underestimated just how much chaos has been going inside of the Mage Association… he was looking for protection and stopped me before I could even reach the truth… he simply chose the winning side…"

A gunshot went off—

The powerful noise echoed in the confine space.

"It doesn't matter…" Said the black mask assassin as the body of Marisbury fell backwards, a hole in his forehead. "You wouldn't have found anything…"

Marisbury dissolved and Shirou could only watch in bewilderment at the scene—

"Onii-chan!" The loud scream caught both males off guard as they twisted to see a terrified Illya looking at the black masked assassin. Tears streaming down her face as she stepped back until her back was pressed harshly against the wall. "Onii-chan! Where are you—!? Please… please Onii-chan!"

"Did I drag her in…?" The assassin wondered out loud as he began walking towards the scared Illya. He readied his gun. "Hmm…I'll just have to take care of her then."

Everything froze for Shirou as he heard those words.

…I'll just have to take care of her then…

He was…

…take care of her then…

He was going to kill Illya!?

No…

No.

No!

NO!

He wasn't about to let that happen, no matter how bizarre everything was—

He wasn't going to let this murderer get anywhere near his sister!

Ignoring the pain in his body, he got up and lunged forward, unbeknownst to the murderer.

The black mask pointed his gun at the terrified Illya—

Her fearful gaze…

Her broken gaze…

He wouldn't let it end like this!

"STAY AWAY FR—!"

Bang!

His loud cry against the foul black mask assailant was cut short.

Shirou skidded to a stop, his feet wobbly as he was looking right into the eyes of the murderer before him.

"Another one…?" The black mask assassin muttered, but Shirou didn't care for that. He opened his mouth to scream at the murderer to step away from Illya—that he would stop him…

However…

"Glugh…!" Something wet spewed out of his mouth and he looked down at his clothes, which were now stained red. He grew dizzy as he stared at the blood pouring from his mouth and from the gunshot in his chest. He blinked rapidly to focus his eyes on Illya. "Guhk…Ill…guh…"

He collapsed to the floor.

"ONII-CHAN!"

Shirou stared at abyss-like ceiling of this bizarre area…his mind still reeling on how to help Illya. Just as the thought of her crossed his mind, she appeared. Little hands grabbing onto him as if her life depended on it. Her eyes were filled with tears and fear as she looked down at him. Shirou attempted to soothe her, yet he could only manage a gurgle as more blood continued to spew out of him.

She covered her mouth as she saw the gore, her pale flesh stained with blood thanks to his own injuries.

He wanted to move…

He wanted to clean the mess she was making on her cloths and face with his blood…

He wanted to dry her tears…

But his body just wouldn't move…

"You were just in the very, very wrong place at the wrong time." A distorted voice called out. Shirou's shaky eyes moved towards the murderer and he went rigid.

The assassin looked down at him and continued, his voice inhuman and dispassionate, yet oddly soft and curious. "It's sad…you were just trying to be a good brother weren't you…but, this was just a bad situation for the both of you. To quote Hegel, 'Mere goodness can achieve little against the power of nature' and you… you just went against the worse type of current."

And with that, he pointed his gun towards the near catatonic Illya.

Shirou's eyes went wide in fear and desperation—even though his vision was slowly fading.

His defenseless and innocent sister was about to die...

Her life would be snuffed out…

Her entire life, would come to an end…

All because he wasn't strong enough to save her.

"Will you let her die?"

A voice from deep within called out. His fading vision snapped to attention as everything went dark except for the crying and fearful Illya and the murderer who was about to kill her.

"Is that all you can accomplish? Have you decided to forsake the promise you made long ago for that same girl who cries for you now? Will you let yourself sink and make her suffer for your own weakness!? Will you become a failure of a man for being incapable of stopping her tears and her death!? Will just lay down here and die as a failure!?"

Shirou didn't understand what was going… he didn't know who was talking to him…

And yet…

This voice asked him something that he found himself incapable of not answering.

"…n…o…" His voice was weak… drowned out by his own blood…

And yet…

There was power in his refusal to simply die.

"Indeed, for there is no other path but the one of struggle and sacrifice. I am thou, thou art I… from this moment on, never forget this moment and strive in conflict, so that you may never fail her."

"Farewe—!" The black mask's words were halted as an explosion of raw power ripped through the air in front of him. The assassin jumped back, skidding on his feet and falling onto a knee in shock as he saw the torrent of blue fire illuminate the dark room they were in. His eyes went wide.

Shirou stood, straight and determined as he carried the catatonic Illya in his arms—and his face was obscured by the bindings of red cloth. Covering most of his upper face, including his eyes and some of his hair…the redhead with his free left hand went for it—

The black mask assassin gasped in surprise as he saw red flash occurred over the back of his hand…and a mark appeared on it. "Impossible… that's a—!"

Shirou didn't hear him as he harshly pulled the red cloth surrounding his head.

The grotesque sound of skin being ripped off was horrible for his ears—and yet he did not care.

If it meant saving Illya from this horrible nightmare…

Then he would gladly take all the pain of the world.

Everything disappeared as his vision went white with power…

The black masked assassin…

The bizarre world…

His own blood on the floor…

It all went away as he roared—

"■■■■■■■■■!"

A name rang out…

So loud…

Reaching the ears of everyone except his own…

Power beyond his comprehension was being used…

Fire and metal filled the bizarre world…

He swung his free arm and weapons appeared…

Swords…

Swords…

And even more swords…

An unlimited number of them filled the confined space due to his pure determination…

To protect his little sister…

He would render it all to sunder…

...

...

...

"The destination has been deleted. Returning to the real world. Congratulations."

Story Beta: Crossovernaru

Author's Note

Hello there! And welcome to the rewrite of Heart's Oath, now renamed Oath in our Hearts. I hope you enjoyed the prologue for this story and that I managed to intrigue you to find out how this turns out in the future. Other chapters will be released during August, so stay tune.

Hope you enjoyed!

Until next time! Adios!