Prologue part one

I hear something close by. A sound that was eerily familiar but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

"...Father?" A soft murmur escaped my lips as my lungs slowly breathed in and out. My eyes was slowly adjusting to the sunlight that shone from the open window right next to the table. For a second I thought I saw my father right beside me but it was just an illusion.

"Ah." I let out a small groan as a piercing headache assaulted me. How long have I been asleep for?

While still groggy and unsteady I checked my surroundings. To my side was what appeared to be vast amounts of medical equipment monitoring my condition, while a couple was directly connected to me as it pumped some kind of viscous liquid into my bloodstream.

"I see..." This explains the familiarity as I watched the machines drone on. Someone must have rescued me but how and why?

"Urgh." The headache returned for a brief moment as I tried to recall my past memories that might have led to this situation.

Multiple images of me facing against the Ainsworths appeared in my mind, starting from the very beginning of the holy grail war right to my final stand against Angelica. However my memories stopped there, I know I achieved victory over the Ainsworths albeit barely but everything after the battle was a complete blank.

Numerous questions flew past my head but the most pressing one was the fact that I was still alive as by all rights I should be dead.

The backlash from my previous injuries I suffered during the course of the holy grail war, along with getting blasted by a vortex of red death that crushed everything in its path including reality itself should have finished me off for good. Not to mention the price I had to pay to activate my sword's final ability...

"Trace on." I conjured an image of a gun cocking and firing.

"Ah." A sharp pain ran throughout my body and soul stopping me from continuing further. How fitting for this to be the price I had to pay for overstepping my limits and delving within the realms beyond mortals, but at the very least they were still there. Given time I'm sure they would heal but for now I would have to do without magecraft.

"Hah." Staring blankly at the ceiling I started to reminisce about my time with Kiritsugu and how his first lesson was to tell me about the dangers of magecraft. "Remember Shirou to be a magus means to walks with death."

My reminiscing was cut short when the door suddenly flung open. A group of people entered the room with a tall man wearing glasses leading the front, closely followed by three beautiful women and an effeminate looking male dressed in a business suit.

I narrowed my eyes as I focused the majority of my attention onto the woman who walked in last. I could feel some sort of spiritual connection between us but how and why?

The woman had long light grey styled in a ponytail with gray narrow eyes. She wore a tight black leather top, a miniskirt and stockings. Draped over her shoulders was a grey haori with a weird crest printed on it, a bird with an angel wing and underneath it was the yin and yang symbol with large commas beside the symbol.

She looked exhausted as she had bags underneath her eyes but there was something unsettling about her. Not to mention, her smile it was anything but comforting rather it felt more like one of a beast stalking their prey.

"Who are you? Did you rescue me?" Ignoring the piercing pain coursing through my body, I forced myself to sit upright while my brain kicked into overdrive.

What was their purpose in saving me? Was it an act of charity or did they want information about the recent events in Fuyuki city. Were they affiliated with the Ainsworths, the mage association, an independent family or were they just ordinary people?

Numerous questions flew past my head as I examined the group, depending on their response I might be willing to part with some information as they did save me. Though I doubt that I would be given a choice as I was in no condition to resist any form of coercion be it physical or spiritually.

The tall man simply nodded and pointed towards the woman I was eyeing before spreading his arm wide open with a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

"Congratulations! You were magnificently chosen to be the partner of a sekirei!"

"...What?" I gave the man a dubious look, out of all the things to say and do he chose to go with something incomprehensible. I never heard of a sekirei and the only partner I had was my father.

"I understand you must be terribly confused Mr nobody but this isn't a scam or some shifty underground scheme." He tried to reassure me but honestly it did sound kind of sketchy unless this involved the moonlit world.

"Sekirei plan, that's the name of the game you are participating in."

"The rules are simple there are 108 freed sekireis and these sekireis fight and fight and FIGHT! Until there is only one sekirei remaining and the ashikabi of that remaining sekirei is given permission to ascend to the final trial." He paused for dramatic flair while spreading his arm wide as he made the proclamation.

"The ashikabi who overcomes the final trial will hold the fate of the world in their hands!" He gave me an excited look as if he expected me to respond with the same level of enthusiasm at such a prize but to me it didn't matter that much.

I had already won such a prize before, I was the victor of the Ainsworth holy grail war giving me the right to a miracle. Nevertheless this helped confirmed my suspicions, this sekirei plan sounded eerily similar to the holy grail war only on a bigger scale.

Still I needed more information to come to a conclusion as I never heard of the term sekirei before or ashikabi. If this Sekirei plan truly had the power to change the world then surely Kiritsugu and I should have came across it one way or another during our travels to save the world.

"I see that you are interested in the plan, but I have a proposition for you. How would you like to join MBI?"

"MBI?" I intentionally let out a confused voice in order to gather more information as I never heard of MBI either. I started to get a sinking suspicion that things wasn't as simple as it appeared, if only my magic circuits still worked I could have verified my hypothesis with magecraft.

"... It seems like your more interesting then I thought Mr nobody."

The atmosphere suddenly became tense as the man's tone changed slightly from his previous overly dramatic voice to one with a slight edge. He pushed up his glasses and was about to continue but I interrupted him.

"Shirou Emiya, my name is Shirou Emiya." I decided to give him my name as it was getting annoying to be referred to Mr nobody but that wasn't the main reason. It was more of a test, a way to get information based on how he would react.

"I see, It would be rude of me not to respond in kind Shirou Emiya." He spread out his arms like before, clearly he was building the tension for his reveal.

"My name is Minaka Hiroto, and I am the current CEO and founder of Mid Bio Informatics or MBI for short. But more importantly I am the game creator and master of the Sekirei Plan."

I see that was quite informative, from what I could understand this MBI must be a powerful organisation judging from the way he expected me to know it's name and the fact that it is the creator of the Sekirei plan. So it must be an public organisation with at least a country level presence or on a global scale and judging from the name it's main field of expertise is within the medical sector.

That would explain how I was still alive but the biggest question I had was this even my world? My fist tightened as I contemplated my hypothesis, the evidence seemed to match up with my theory as they said it themselves "Mr nobody." With their power a simple background check wouldn't be hard to achieve especially with one whose father is the infamous magus killer.

Of course this was all speculation on my part but it made sense with the information I have, but that still begs the question why? I have nothing to do with them except... I turned towards to the beautiful gray haired woman whom I felt a connection to, she returned my look with a soft smile.

"Well what do you say Shirou? Would you like to join MBI?" Minaka extended his right hand towards me in a gesture of friendship.

It may have been appeared as an innocuous offer but I knew better than that. I didn't have a choice in this matter and even if I did I would still take it anyway, for there was no better alternative for me if I wanted answers and the chance for a new life.

"Yes I would like to join your organisation, but first is that woman over there my so called Sekirei." I accepted his offer by shaking his hand, a mere formality as we both knew I didn't have a choice in this matter, but it was still one that was necessary.

Minaka laughed loudly before answering my question. "Yes she is, she is sekirei number 04 Karasuba also known as the black sekirei."

So her name was Karasuba and if she was to be my sekirei then I guess I'm an ashikabi. Still I wonder what the number stands for, does it represent strength, the order of their birth, or was it just a serial code?

"Oh if your wondering about the number then you shouldn't worry, its just the order of which they were born and found in, wait whats with that look fine." He must have seen my expression as he started to talk without my prompting.

"You would find out anyway so might as well tell you now, the numbers from 01 to 09 are what we refer to as single numbers and." A loud ringing noise echoed across the room all of a sudden.

"Damn who interrupted me." Minaka reached into his pocket and took out a phone. His expression changing to one of annoyance as he saw the screen.

"I'm sorry Shirou but I have to go but never fear Natsuo over here would take over for me." He pointed to the effeminate male who was wearing a business suit before leaving in a hurry, almost bumping into the wall on his way out.

"..." That was interesting to say the least, but it didn't really solve my questions at all aside from knowing my colleagues names.

"I'm sorry about the director, he's just a bit eccentric but he means well." Natsuo said as he attempted to cover for his boss sudden departure.

'Oh I forget to introduce myself my name is Natsuo Ichinomi its nice to meet you Shirou." He offered his hand in a gesture of friendship which I took with my right hand. He must be pretty important for him and the CEO to enter together.

"Nice to meet you too sir." I should show them proper respect considering I've just joined their company.

"No need for that Shirou, you could just call me by my name as I'm not that important. I'm just a normal clerk working for the pharmaceutical department."

"But you could say I got a bit of a promotion as the ashikabi of two sekirei so I guess I'm not just a normal clerk anymore." He smiled at me but I couldn't feel anything from the smile. I knew that smile I had worn it many times throughout my life, it was a smile that belonged to a hollow man that had lost everything he cared about.

"...I understand Natsuo." Seeing that smile reminded me of the sacrifices I've made, my father's ideals that perpetuated my reason for existence, my best friend that shared my false dreams and my junior who has always loved and supported me from the shadows and yet I felt no pain.

I have long made my peace with my choice I have no regrets.

"Shirou, before I explain anything I need you to sign theses forms first, you could read them if you want but it's nothing more than a formality." Natsuo turned to one of the women standing beside him. She handed him a suitcase containing the documents which he poured onto the bed as well as throwing me a pen.

"Seeing how you have no registered identification documentation in any country the director decided to give you one. All you have to do is sign the forms with your signature and name for it to be legalised." He took out a couple of forms from the pile and gave it to me.

I scanned the documentation for any traps and loopholes but to the best of my knowledge it was safe, it appeared to be a normal registration forms with all the requirements already been completed for me.

Like he said earlier all I needed to do was fill in the basic information such as my name, date of birth etc. Despite that I went over the documentations once more, slowly checking it for any problems but they appeared to be fine. I filled in the form with my basic details before handing it over to Natsuo.

He gave it a quick look to make sure everything was filled out and in order before placing it within the suitcase. He took out one of the forms I signed and handed it back to me. "This is your temporary identification document, this will act as a proper ID before the official one is issued to you within a couple of weeks to a month."

'Now this is your official employment contract with MBI. I would need you to sign the contract just like before, all the prerequisites have already been filled out for you." He handed me another stack of forms from the pile.

"..." It was best to get rid of the formalities first I guess, getting a slight migraine from the paperwork I repeated the same actions as before.

Scanning the documents for any traps or loopholes, before doing a thorough search of the paperwork, asking questions if I'm unsure of something and signing the documentations when it seemed safe before handing it off to Natsuo. This process repeated itself for a good couple of hours until I finished signing the pile of documentations.

After handing over the last of the paperwork to Natsuo, I cracked a smile.

I now had a proper foothold in this new world. I had proper identification documents to signify I was a Japanese citizen, a bank account set up with MBI with VIP treatment and no upper limit for the duration of the sekirei plan and a separate account for my salary. I still had a couple of issues left but with the money those could be solved easily now I just need to understand what I got myself into.

"These seem to be in order, okay within a couple of days to a week you will be issued with a MBI credit, debit card, and your work ID. Until then you are free to do what you wish, but if you wish to access our records early you would have to rely on Karasuba or me to let you through." Natsuo said as he packed up the pile of signed forms into the suitcase before handing it over to the pink haired woman beside him.

"Now I could start explaining what you need to know but first do you have any questions?"

Author notes

Lazy bad author whom only writes first drafts.

This is the new version of the villain with his grim angels, the reason this story is getting a redo is simple I changed parts of Shirou's powers and since I don't plan out I kinda forget the original intention of the old version.

I would be reusing parts of the old version as I'm too lazy to change it.

The whole concept of Erebus has been reworked and although there are still traces of the old version, ultimately the new version works on a different basis. The details are still being ironed out though so it could still change, though it wouldn't matter for this story.

Basically Erebus refers to the bounded field covering the sword, an similar existence to Excalibur's invisible air but on a far stronger scale.

It reflects the aspect of Shirou's beginning and middle, a construct of his admiration for justice, his act of hiding Miyu away from all that sought her, as well as his struggles of trying to follow in his father footsteps.

What lies beneath Erebus is the aspect of the end, Shirou reaching the clouded moon.

I would update the details of his weapon once I finished the prologue for another miracle.