EMIYA SHIROU]
[THE GAMER]
[LV 20- 100/20000]
[HP: 2000][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 760 ][SP: 5]
[STR: 37][DEX: 39][INT: 21][WIS: 31][CHR: 77]
Taiga made her way to the Emiya household as she did just about every morning. Shirou had been away all weekend so she didn't get to eat over at his place. In her book, that was unforgivable. Granted, he might have been a budding sword-prodigy but if there was one thing that Taiga respected more than that was his skill at the stove. The boy could cook better than the average housewife and certainly better than Taiga or anyone at her place could.
It was perfectly fine if he wanted to polish his ability with the sword, but that didn't mean she had to go hungry. Today she would have him prepare all of her favorite dishes as apology.
She let herself in without bothering to knock. As his legal guardian it was her duty to come over unannounced and watch that he wouldn't be up to mischief. Not that she worried about something like that. Shirou was more responsible than she had ever been and for all her faults, Taiga did take her responsibilities very seriously despite of her lackadaisical attitude.
But still, as his de-facto big sister, it was her duty to swoop in when he'd least expected her, hoping to catch him in an embarrassing situation that she could use exploit to blackmail even more food out of him.
A responsible adult, ladies and gentlemen.
Of course, being early in the morning, he was probably working out in the dojo, so she made her way there with light footsteps.
However once there, she found a person she didn't know instead of her charge. A redhead stranger was holding one of Shirou's wooden swords and was going through some elaborate motions with exceptional fluidity.
There was an intensity about the way he performed the kata that was almost hypnotic. Taiga could not stop staring in sheer admiration. This could no longer be called swordsmanship. It was an art form.
Who was this guy? There was something striking familiar about it but she couldn't quite place him. Then it suddenly clicked in her mind and she called out.
"Shirou?"
He stopped in his tracks. As he turned around, her heart was caught in her throat. Eyes of a stunning gold pierced through her and she stood rooted on the spot.
"Taiga? You're early. Sorry, but breakfast isn't going to be ready for a while. ... Taiga, are you alright?"
"Wha-? Oh, yes. Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Ah-hahaha," she laughed awkwardly. How could she have mistaken Shirou of all people for someone else? "Anyway, Shirou, did you do something with your hair?"
"What? No."
"Hmm. There is something different about you. Have you grown taller maybe?"
"I don't think I could have grown any noticeable amount in a couple of days," he deadpanned. "What brought this up?"
"Nothing. You just look different somehow. Must be my imagination."
"Probably. God knows you do have wild one."
"I didn't raise you to be this cheeky, Shirou," she stomped her feet.
"I could argue that you didn't raise me at all, but we have already agreed on your imagination being out of control, so why bother?"
"Mooou! Shirou! Is that how you treat your big sis after you went off gallivanting for two whole days? This is a penalty! Penalty!"
"I get it. I get it," he sighed in obvious resignation. "Double serving of your favorite dishes today."
"Yes!" Taiga cheered. "My master plan was a success."
"Congratulations," Shirou replied with evident sarcasm. "Now go sit in the living room while I take a bath. Then we'll see about feeding the tiger before it goes feral."
"DON'T CALL ME A TIGER!" she roared, but of course that did not help her case at all.
Shirou just laughed and went about getting himself clean.
While Shirou was in the bathroom, Taiga sat in the living room as instructed, pondering about the recent developments.
Something had to have happened with Shirou, but she didn't know what. He was different somehow, although there was nothing different about him on the outside.
She had known him for years now and she had watched him grow. From the beginning he was outstanding among his age group, but after Kiritsugu's death it was like he had started running at full speed toward adulthood and she wasn't referring to his physical growth, although he seemed to fare quite well in that department as well.
She was thinking of his demeanor. Everything about him was not as a boy of ten year should be, from the way he moved and how he carried himself to the way he talked.
He oozed some kind of quiet confidence and when he spoke his voice was smooth and velvet-soft in spite of still being obviously childish. She had watched him closely and even when he did something as mundane as walking it was like he was gliding.
Taiga had some old friends who did ballet, and none of them had as much grace after years of training as Shirou exhibited with every single action.
It was like someone had taken some warrior-king from an old legend and squeezed him into the body of a ten years old boy.
In any event, something had to have happened to him, because if it hadn't, if it was just another of her flight of fancy, then it would mean that this growing attraction she harbored for him was because she was some kind of deviant.
No... whether or not Shirou was different didn't change the fact that she had these kind of twisted feelings for him in the first place. Of course she would never act upon them, but they were still present.
Now, what was she supposed to do with them?
Shirou sat into the bathtub, soaking in the pleasantly hot water, while his mind wandered.
He had only barely grown used to his Gamer ability and already he had experienced something that he never even thought of before.
He was thinking, of course, about his first sexual experience. To be honest, until that night Shirou hadn't even entertained the thought of being intimate with a woman, simply because he had yet to reach that age at which such thoughts would come forth spontaneously.
However, now that he had a taste of the forbidden fruit, every time that he wasn't engaged in a mentally challenging activity he would inevitably return to those moments with his mind.
It was annoying because he no longer needed focusing to perform any complex task. Anything that was within within his already established [Skills] required only to consume the necessary attribute (if there were any) to be performed successfully, unless they came with a probability of failure in which case focus increased his chances to be successful. As of that moment only the act of making [Never Circuits] in combat fell into that category.
In short, he had been thinking about sex ever since, with obvious effects on his anatomy.
How was he supposed to deal with something like this?
Unfortunately, Shirou had yet to be introduced to one of the most basic survival skills for any healthy young male: masturbation. Having skipped straight to third base, he had completely missed the progressive exploration of his own sexuality and he was therefore lost as to how to behave in regard.
He didn't dare look it up in a book somewhere, least he caused eyebrows to be raised and consequently drawing attention to his unorthodox lifestyle. He didn't even have any adult figure to ask for information and Taiga most certainly did not qualify as one. It didn't cross his mind to check the web for informations either. Shirou wasn't as bad with modern technology as other Magi were, but he never developed much interest in that specific branch of it either.
In short, he was stuck suffering with a near-permanent hard on. Fortunately his preference for slightly baggy clothes helped conceal his predicament and his mental fortitude helped him ignore the discomfort as well, but it was still a pain in the ass.
After trying to figure out the problem with Saeko, Shirou thought that going back to school would be a simple and straightforward endeavor. He was so very painful mistaken.
Everywhere he went, throngs of girls followed. Shirou harbored little illusion that it wasn't because of his high [CHR], but what was he supposed to do about it? As far as he knew, it was mandatory to have high charisma in order to unlock the most complex [Quests], since he suffered a penalty because of his young age. Charisma was willpower mixed with the outward projection of a positive self-image, which made him appear reliable and attractive.
How people decided to react to that was entirely up to them. In the case of girls his age, that meant stolen glances and relentless whispering. He was also fairly sure that the only reason why no one tried to make a move on him yet was that they would be ostracized by the rest of them.
Girls were scary, no doubt about that. Ultimately, it was something he could put up with, so he didn't bother doing anything about it.
Eventually, it came again the day for Shirou to go over at the dojo for his usual training. He still had to break through the Master level in the Busujima-style, after which he could just come over once a month during the full moon to fight undead and make experience faster than with repeatable [Quests]. Not that he had stopped doing those. Helping people was his life mission after all. Rewards weren't necessary.
He found her already waiting in her dojo, wearing her usual school uniform.
"Hello, Shirou," she greeted with a smile. Her voice was warm and her face devoid of the tension he had come to associate with her as of late.
"Thank you for having me again, sensei."
Saeko snorted softly. "Still polite as ever, aren't you? Nevermind, I like that side of you."
"Uhm... thank you?" he fidgeted, blushing lightly and she chuckled in response.
"Honestly, Shirou, if you don't stop being this cute I'll have to skip training and eat you up right away."
"Err... what?"
"Hm?" she tilted her head to the side. "What? Did you perhaps think it was a one-time thing? Tch, tch, tch, Shirou. After you said that it was fine for me to be the way I am, I told you I would have you take responsibility for it. You better take good care of me from now on."
Shirou looked taken aback, but then his face morphed into one of utter resolve.
"Yeah. You can count on me."
Saeko sighed. "What did I just say about being too cute, Shirou?"
"Huuuh... I'm sorry?"
She shook her head.
"Honestly, it seems like words just won't cut it with you. Lesson number one, Shirou. With me, things such as apologies are useless. Now, it seems that you owe me a good fight and after we are done with that, I'll see to your proper punishment."
Shirou swallowed loudly, but nodded all the same. He wasn't quite sure what he dreaded more, the fight or the punishment. He knew, however, which one he was looking forward to the most.
After he was done with his training session (read: fending off against a Saeko no-hold-barred), they moved to her home, where she proceeded to take a bath first.
Shirou was torn between elation and disappointment when she didn't invite him to join her. The latter was further reinforced when she stepped out wearing with her white yukata which clung to her gorgeous wet body like a second skin. She seemed very smug about the way he ate her with his eyes, but only motioned for him to have a turn in the bath himself and moved right along.
Shirou bathed expecting her to come in at any minute, like the last time, but there was no trace of her.
A bit sour and a bit guilty over his misplaced expectations, he dried himself and left the bathroom.
"Sensei?" There was no answer. "... Saeko?" the tried.
"Over here, Shirou," her voice called from the end of the corridor. That where her room was. He made his way over there and knocked before letting himself in.
Still wearing the white yukata, Saeko was sitting seiza in the middle of the room, with a small book in her lap. She motioned for him to come closer and he did so by sitting in a similar fashion in front of her. This close flowery scent of her skin was highly intoxication.
"So…," he started.
"So, for your punishment, Shirou," she said closing the book with a soft thump, "I was thinking of making you give me a massage."
"... a massage?" he asked after a second, not sure of having heard right. Was something like a massage even a punishment? "I don't have any experience with that."
"It's okay. I'm sure you will learn fast."
"Well, if you are okay with that, sure," he agreed.
"Great!" she smiled and promptly unfastened the belt of her yukata, smoothly sliding it off her shoulders and thus baring her bountiful breasts in the process. She barely gave the flabbergasted boy a chance to look at them that she turned her body around to lay on her stomach with purposeful slowness so to give him a perfect view of her ass and legs, as well as the core of her womanhood.
Shirou was utterly dumbstruck but his young member had stood up at attention right away, twitching expectantly.
"Well?" she purred. "We don't have much time."
"A-alright," he managed to stutter. "Where do I start?"
"Hmm. Start with the shoulders and work your way down… slowly."
He nodded and took a seat at her side, kneading her shoulder with his small hands. The last time they had been naked together, Shirou hadn't had the chance to have a good look at her whole body, but now he had a perfect view of her entire rear.
Her back was slender as expected, with a hint of toned muscles underneath porcelain skin. It narrowed down as it approached her waist, only for it to broaden once again as her curves gave shape to her feminine hips and her glorious bottom.
The desire to touch her there was overwhelming and only through sheer mental fortitude he managed to keep up with the task. Of course, his dick was rock hard and twitched as if to express disapproval with his lack of appropriate action. He tried to kept it hidden but the tent in his lap was unmistakable.
As he rubbed her skin, Saeko hummed in approval and she continued doing so until Shirou stopped at her waist.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I've -uh- finished?"
"Hmm. I don't think so. Keep going further down."
"B-but…"
"Now, Shirou."
He gulped and nodded, moving his hands to knead the flesh of her toned ass. His finger squeezed the flesh of her buttocks, softly at first and then progressively harder as his desire grew.
Unseen by him as he was entirely focused on that part of her anatomy, Saeko bit her lip and suppressed a moan. Shirou was moving his hands in a circle, spreading her lower cheeks open and close, over and over again. She could feel herself getting wet between the legs but she wanted to torment him a bit further.
"How about you change position? Straddle my legs and keep going as you were."
"I'm not sure I can…"
"Shirou, Shirou, Shirou," she chided. "This is your punishment, remember? Do as you are told. Do remove your clothes as well. It's not fair that I'm the only one unclothed here."
He nodded and removed his yukata as well. His face was completely red as his erection was now completely exposed, but Saeko didn't comment. She just smiled and licked her lips.
Shirou sat on her thighs, straddling her legs and returning to his previous activity. His mouth was dry like the desert. From this angle he could see every inch of her most private places and they were absolutely lovely.
Her pussy was moist with arousal, although Shirou didn't know whether it was because of his massage, from ordering him around or both.
"Alright, that will be enough of that," she said after a moment. "Work your way up again."
A bit disappointed, Shirou dutifully obeyed, shifting his ministration upward. Eventually, as his body was shorter than hers, he had to move forward with his entire body. "Alright, focus on that spot," she said at one point. Again, Shirou obeyed and only a moment later he realized that the tip of his cock was now pushing against her butt.
"What is it? Why did you stop?"
"N-nothing," he stuttered as he resumed rubbing her shoulders. Now, every time he pushed his hands against her back his dick would also rub against the smooth skin of her ass creating a delicious friction.
Despite having a self-control that belied his age, it didn't take long before instinct prevailed and his hips gave a sharp thrust forward.
He and Saeko held back a moan, both pretending nothing had happened. The former out of shame and embarrassment, the latter because she wanted to lure him further. Shirou kept massaging her back, but now his dick was laying perfectly on the crack of her butt and every motion of his upper body caused him to rub his length against her smooth skin.
Eventually, almost without noticing, the movement of his hands slowed down and that of his hips picked up.
Saeko bit her lip, clutching the futon with her hands. She hadn't planned the entire event. She only decided to embarrass and dominate him a little, knowing that in spite of what had already transpired between them, he would not go an inch further that she allowed him. This was the power her beauty had on him. Enough to make him lose control to the point that he would use her ass to please himself.
She would have punished him for this transgression if she hadn't been so busy contemplating how he made her feel. Dirty and beautiful all at once. Indeed this was why she loved him, because he could let her relish in her own depravity without ever being anything less than splendid in his eyes.
Or perhaps she was simply mad for laying with a child-man as he was, but if that was how madness felt she could understand why some people were so happy to embrace it.
These contemplations were interrupted by Shirou's soft gasp. Both of them had failed to predict the obvious results of letting the situation run its course to its natural conclusion, but Shirou could see them clearly now, white on pink across his teacher's back, just as she could feel them, wet and searing hot against her skin.
She turned to look at him, eyes fluttering and cheeks red in drunken lust.
"I'm sorry Sensei. I didn't mean to-"
"Shirou," she said with voice that was both firm and sultry. "I see that you have a hunger for punishment, haven't you?"
"I... yes, Sensei."
There was no eagerness in his voice, no matter what anyone would say.
Shirou nearly missed the last bus home as they lost the track of time, busy as they were doling out and receiving punishment. Shirou felt a little bit ashamed of himself. He usually stood up for himself but when it came to Saeko, he was basically putty in her hands.
Through the course of their love-making, his [Sexual Interaction] skill had reached level 4, which made him last somewhat longer and led to Saeko taking more time to punish him to her heart's content, which caused him to nearly missing his ride back home.
Shirou was mildly sure that he wouldn't have survived spending the night at Saeko's place and not because of the restless ghosts that haunted the mountain.
Still, he thought that if he'd have to die one day, he wouldn't mind if it was because of something like that.
On the trip back to Fuyuki, he did his best not to indulge in thoughts of Saeko's luscious form, but it took an intense effort on his part.
Eventually, when the bus dropped him at the outskirt of the city, it was too late for any other ride to commute to the residential district where he lived, on the other side of town. He decided to walk, seeing as how he needed little to sleep with his Gamer Body.
The night over Fuyuki was cool and pleasant and as he made his way home, fewer people and cars could be seen passing by.
Eventually, he reached the riverside park and from there the stairs that climbed the bridge over the river.
The walkway was almost completely empty even during the day and it was a pretty desolate place all around. Hanging a dozen meters below the street level, the infrequent cars failed to cast any light over it. Only the waxing moon provided any amount of light and even with that Shirou almost didn't see the figure ahead of him.
That is, if he couldn't see the name floating above its form clear as a day.
[Shihōin Yoruichi]
[Lv. ?]
Someone whose level was much higher than his own had appeared. That alone wouldn't trouble Shirou overly much, if not for the fact that it wasn't a human, but rather a cat.
A black cat, to be more precise. It was lying on on the ground, blood dripping from a gash on its side.
Putting away any reservation about this creature disproportionate power, Shrou stepped forward and kneeled by its side.
"What happened to you?" he murmured. He wasn't a forensic expert by any stretch of the imagination, but the wound was clearly a cut, done by a blade of some kind.
A wounded animal wouldn't be so nonchalant about being approached no matter how used to humans they were. If that wasn't enough, Shirou knew that this creature was something close to a human level of intelligence when their eyes met.
It had a calm, inquisitive gaze. It was screening him as if to judge his worth, while Shirou took out a spare shirt from his backpack and ripped it to create a makeshift bandage.
"I'm going to stop the bleeding," he explained. "Please bear with the pain."
The cat kept staring at him without fussing, while Shirou delicately wrapped the newly made bandages around its body. He had only about finished when he heard a muffled thump behind him.
A huge man stood some dozen meters away, face hidden under a hood, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere. His arms were exposed though, and they were each about the size of Shirou's torso.
[Wei Kang]
[Lv. 30]
Somehow, Shirou knew, this guy was trouble. He got further confirmation when he heard more thumps and looked the other way. From the bridge above, several figures jumped onto the walkway, landing gracefully, whereas an ordinary human would have broken several bones, if they were lucky.
Each and every one of them was at least level 20, all bearing the Wei family name.
So, here he was, on a narrow walkway suspended several dozen meter above a river, in the dead of night, with some wounded super-powered cat in his arms and surrounded by shady figures.
"Yoruichi Shihōin," the first man, Kang, said with obvious glee in his voice. "It is my fortune that I was the one to find you in this conditions. Bringing back your head will make me a very rich man."
"Brother, what about the kid?" another one asked. Shirou felt Kang's eyes shift from the cat in his arms to his face.
"Collateral damage," he said shortly. "Now bring her to me."
Shirou didn't like getting into a fight without knowing the circumstances, but since that guy said that a random kid on the street was just collateral damage without even being contrived about it, Shirou at least knew who the bad guy were.
He reached that conclusion in a split second, just as two of the Wei people dashed at him.
"Apologies," he said to the cat. "It's gonna get a bit bumpy."
He kicked the ground, where he had dropped his bokuto, next to his backpack. The wooden sword came flying up and he caught it in mid air. There was a brief flicker of surprise in the eyes of his assailant, but they did not slow down. That was a mistake.
Before they were on him, Shirou moved. He threw himself in the direction of one of them so that he could face them one at a time. His opponent wasn't expecting that kind of reaction, or that kind of speed, and he was caught entirely off-guard.
Shirou's bokuto came up from below in a sharp arc. Wood met chin with a loud crack and the man's head snapped backward.
[CRITICAL HIT]
[Wei Enforcer 1 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]
He did not have time to contemplate his victory or the EXP gain. Instead he jumped on the railing, narrowly avoiding a downward punch from the other Wei Enforcer while he counteracted in the same fashion and hit the man right on the head.
[CRITICAL HIT]
[Wei Enforcer 2 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]
Dumbfounded silence descended over the bridge. Even Shirou was at loss for words. His opponents were all at his nominal level, at the very least, but they went down way too easily.
'I see. This is because I trained my physical STATS and sword skills separately from my actual level.'
Indeed, most of Shirou's STATS were higher than normal for someone at level 20. He had relentlessly trained his body while his EXP stagnated for a long time. Moreover, he was using a sword, a weapon for which he had a great talent, while they came at him barehanded. Furthermore, he had learned the Busujima-style, which emphasized facing several opponents at the same time, even though he was using only one hand as the other still cradled the wounded cat.
"Careful, he's no ordinary kid," that Kang fellow bellowed.
"Yeah," Shirou agreed. "So what about you go back where you came from before more of you get hurt?"
"Kill him," he growled in response and the remaining Wei Enforcers jumped him.
"Worth a shot," Shirou grimaced. "No choice but doing this then."
He didn't have the upper hand. Not really. Unlike the vengeful spirits on top of the mountain, these people had coordination as a team. They were used to working as a group and they would no longer underestimate him, leaving themselves open for a counter.
Still, he wasn't just a swordsman.
"Trace On," he declared and pain surged through his body in response. "Reinforcement!"
[Nerve Circuit creation: Success]
[Reinforcement: failure. HP: -200]
He gritted his teeth, and persevered.
[Reinforcement: failure. HP: -200]
[Reinforcement: Success!]
[STR x 1.5 , DEX x 1.5]
And then, he moved. Following the already ingrained precepts of the Busujima-style, Shirou blurred into motion. Rather than counteracting, he opted to land one-kill shots before they could actually get on the offensive.
[CRITICAL HIT]
[Wei Enforcer 3 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]
[CRITICAL HIT]
[Wei Enforcer 4 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]
[CRITICAL HIT]
[Wei Enforcer 5 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]
[CRITICAL HIT]
[Wei Enforcer 6 (low tier) defeated - EXP gained: 500]
'So many critical hits… is this the bonus from the [Hero Complex] title? It has to be.'
In a flash, they were all lying on the floor, unconscious. Shirou had purposefully avoided hitting vital points. Still, they would probably be sore when they woke up.
All that was left now was…
Shirou's eyes widened. He felt the tremor on the floor just in time to rotate himself and put his bokuto between his body and the huge fist that was coming at him.
Even though he technically parried it, the difference in sheer mass sent Shirou flying backward several meters, where he skidded to a halt with his sword broken.
"Well, crap," he muttered, looking at his broken weapon. 'I should have reinforced the bokuto as well.'
"Now, you die," Kang promised with a vicious smile.
Shirou threw away the hilt of the bokuto as he wracked his brain for a solution. He didn't have any escape-related skill. He could jump into the river beneath but he didn't know his odds of survival against the currents.
'I need a weapon,' he thought as he looked around the bridge for anything that he could use in guise of a sword, but there wasn't anything at all and Kang was approaching fast.
Well, no choice but to risk it. "See ya," he saluted as he jumped over the railing.
"Wait! You little shiiiit!"
Kang's shout was drowned out as Shirou plunged toward the Fuyuki river. His reinforced body hit the water hard and disappeared under the surface.
Up above, Kang scanned the river but didn't seem them emerge. He let out an enraged shout in the empty night. Dead or alive, his prize had gotten away.
"Bwah!" Shirou gasped as he broke out of the water on the river bank. The current had been stronger than he had anticipated and the water was freezing cold, even though it was already springtime. Thank goodness his Gamer Body was tough and he wasn't really affected.
More importantly, he had learned the new skill [Swimming] simply by putting himself in the conditions for it to be necessary and leveled it through sheer stubbornness up to level 6 just by refusing to drown.
In any case, it had been a very close call but he still thought his odds had been better than facing that Kang fellow on the bridge without a weapon. He might have been able to cross the level gap because of his stacked bonuses and STATS, but not without a sword.
Furthermore, Shirou himself wasn't one to fight for the sake of fighting. Between two equally dangerous choices, he'd pick the one where less people would be hurt. That was just the way he was.
Sighing at the way the night had turned, Shirou looked at the shivering form in his arms. The cat, Yoruichi, was now completely unconscious. He needed to run home and put it somewhere warm. Then, maybe, he'd try to figure out what this whole mess was all about.
It took him nearly half an hour running at full speed to reach the gate of his home. There, he immediately grabbed a towel and gently wrapped the cat in it. Once the creature was settled he disrobed and dried his own drenched body.
Well, he hadn't managed to get a bath after his… intercourse with Saeko so he made up for that. Still, an unexpected dip in the river mid-spring wasn't exactly high on his to-do list.
After he was properly dry, he slipped inside a set of pajama and went to check on the cat. It was sleeping peacefully, breathing regularly. Shirou decided to redress the wound with proper bandages but when he removed the old ones, he found that it had already closed.
"Definitely not an ordinary cat," he decided. He delicately put it on a cushion and retired to his bedroom, where he deposited it on his futon before he slipped under the cover himself.
Before he fell asleep, he recalled having left his backpack on the bridge. Fortunately, there wasn't anything in there that could be used to identify him and track his living place, so they should be safe.
Feeling more at ease, he promptly fell asleep. A few minutes later, the sleeping cat's wound was completely healed and with that, its body started undergoing a dramatic, although silent, transformation.
Come dawn, Emiya Shirou would wake up to a very unexpected bedfellow.
EMIYA SHIROU]
[THE GAMER]
[LV 20 - 2100/20000]
[HP: 2000][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 790][SP: 5]
[STR: 39][DEX: 40][INT: 21][WIS: 31][CHR: 77]
Shirou woke at dawn to the sunlight peering through the rice paper of his bedroom door.
[You have slept in a bed. HP, ST and MP completely restored]
That's what the usual message prompt said. Shirou, however, did not bother reading it. Or rather, he was in no condition to read it.
As soon as he opened his eyes, his field of vision was occupied by two pear-shaped mounds of tanned flesh with perky pink buds on top.
'Breasts,' his brain supplied helpfully. Having acknowledged that, he let out a sigh and closed his eye briefly. They shot back open immediately, nearly bursting out of their sockets.
Slowly, he dragged his gaze upward where he met a set of amber-colored eyes.
"Good morning, champ," the breasts-owner greeted with a mischievous grin.
On that day, Emiya Shirou discovered that a human body can ricochet if propelled with enough force at the right angle.
He shot himself away from the futon, crashing against the wall behind him, bouncing toward the ceiling and from there onto another wall, only to finally crash on the tatami on the opposite side of the very naked woman, who leisurely rolled on herself looking highly amused.
"Well now, that reaction is a new one."
"W-w-wh-," Shirou stuttered as he scrambled backward, waving a panicked finger at his bedfellow.
"Hm? What is it, boya? Out with it."
"Why are you naked?" a red-faced Shirou managed to get out at last.
The woman's grin faltered. "That's your first question? Not who are you or what are you doing in my bed? That's odd even for a Magus."
"I already know. You are Shihōin Yoruichi."
"Huh, so you already saw through that," she said as she slowly rose from the futon, covers sliding over her smooth skin and exposing what was left to expose. Her long dark hair fell down along her back and the few strands that had covered her front she casually pushed away with the back of her hand. If that wasn't enough, she proceeded to stretch her arms above her head, letting out a silent yawn.
Spoiler: Yoruichi in the morning
Shirou's eyes really threatened to burst out of his skull.
"Would you cover yourself already?"
Yoruichi glanced at him sideways, smacking her lips as she relaxed her body, evidently woefully unconcerned with her nudity. She put a hand on her hips, while the other arm dangled at her side, looking as casual as humanly possible.
After a moment, she took a step toward him and he pushed himself further against the wall.
"O-oi! Didn't you hear?"
She kept advancing until she stood right in front of him, where she sat down unceremoniously, legs crossed loosely. The posture did nothing to hide anything, even less so when she leaned forward with a playful smile.
"I can hear just fine, brat. I can also see fine, and for all your appeals to modesty you have made zero efforts not to stare at my tits. Perv."
Thus, as his face became red enough to self-combust, Emiya Shirou felt like crawling into a hole and die.
It was the first time in his life, but it would not be the last.
"Mwah ha ha ha!" Yoruichi laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.
She was still comfortably naked but Shirou could not see her, as he was sitting seiza, facing the wall and repenting for his crimes.
"Don't sweat the small stuff, brat," she condoned, laughter subsiding. "It's not like you'll wear out my body just by looking. Besides you got me out of a real tight spot last night. Only this much service is not really enough to pay you back for that."
"I don't need to be paid back anything."
"Oh?" she wondered, moving from her seating position and crawling on all four to where Shirou had confined himself. He didn't see her coming until her head poked into his field of vision next to his arms. "You sure about that? I wouldn't mind letting you do something more than just looking."
Her low voice was mellifluous, inviting, tempting. Sweet honey on dark chocolate. He firmly refused to meet her eyes and stubbornly started at the wall in front of him.
"Y-yeah. I'm sure."
Yoruichi smile grew even further, whether amused or pleased, he didn't know. She pulled away and resumed a sitting position.
"No wonder Saeko-chan took a liking to you."
Shirou's head whipped around so fast he inflicted himself 1 HP damage and another one when he hastily forced it back toward the wall.
"Ack! You know... You know Busujima-sensei?"
"Let's just say that we've met," she said noncommittally.
"Is that so? ... Wait, how did you even know that I know her?"
"Well, if using the Busujima-style last night wasn't enough of hint, the fact that you had her smell all over you was a dead giveaway."
The blood that had just started draining from Shirou's face rushed right back to it.
"About time she loosened up and got herself a toy-boy, though I didn't think she liked them this young."
"Please, don't jump to conclusions," he implored.
"Hm? I don't care much about that. Age doesn't necessarily reflect maturity. More so for those that dabble with the supernatural. Isn't that right, Magus boy?"
"I-I suppose," he conceded tentatively.
"Well then. As you already know I am Shihōin Yoruichi. Do I get to know the name of the guy who saved my life or are you going to play Mister Mistery Hero with me?"
"Ah!" he exclaimed, realizing that through this entire debacle he had not yet given her his name. "I'm Emiya Shirou. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
He bowed, although he was still sitting and facing the wall.
Yoruichi rolled her eyes. She put both hands on his shoulders, spun him around and forcibly shook his hand.
"Yo! Let's get along nicely, Shirou."
"Let's. Now, would mind getting dressed, please?"
Yoruichi sighed good-naturedly. "You do realize I had no clothes with me to begin with, do you?"
Shirou blinked once and then palmed his face very, very hard, its echo drowned out by the sound of Yoruichi's laughter.
At least, Shirou told himself, things couldn't get any weirder or embarrassing than they already were. He couldn't have been more mistaken if he tried.
"It's a nice place you've got yourself here, Shirou," Yoruichi declared as she strolled leisurely on the patio of the Emiya household, feet bare as the rest of her body.
She disregarded all of Shirou's plea to put on something -anything at all - and declared that she'd take a look around the place. Shirou could only follow after her as she poked her head everywhere she pleased.
He could not comprehend her behavior. He momentarily likened it to Saeko's but they were nowhere similar. Sure enough, they were both stunningly beautiful women but they were as different as night and day and it wasn't just a matter of skin tone.
Whenever Saeko bared her body to him, it was a purposeful, measured act to get a reaction out of him. Yoruichi on the other hand was simply supremely confident in her own nakedness and cared little for what Shirou's thought about it.
In fact, she completely ignored anything he said and proceeded to do exactly as she pleased. She was almost exactly... like... a cat.
For the second time in the span of a few minutes, Shirou palmed his face hard.
Yoruichi looked back at the source of the noise with a half-smile.
"Something patently obvious dawned upon you again?" she asked.
"Something like that," he grumbled.
"So, you live in this huge place all by yourself?"
"What? Oh, yeah."
"No relatives at all? Zero parental supervision?"
"My father passed away a couple of months ago," he said evenly.
"... that's rough," she replied shortly. "Well, that's not good. Just one person living in this big mansion is a complete waste."
"Well, you are not wrong, but that's how it is."
"Right. I'm moving in then."
"I see... -WHAT?"
She grinned at his flabbergasted expression. "I've got to lay low for a while somewhere until that mess blows over. Plus, I was looking for a place to stay in Fuyuki anyway. It's a win-win."
"Wait, wait, wait. You can't just move into my house," he protested vehemently.
"Why not? Have you got anything better to do with all this empty space?"
"I don't but-"
"And I'll make sure to keep you out of my problems as as well."
Shirou's frantic thought process ground to an halt and was suddenly his mind was clear of confusion. He had been completely swept up her overbearing character and he had momentarily forgotten that just the previous night someone had tried to kill her.
[NEW QUEST: Can I keep it please?]
[Objective: Accept Yoruichi request for shelter and deal with the consequences]
[Reward for failure: none - Reward for success: Lots of headaches, ?,?]
[Accept?]
[Y/N]
Of course a Quest Prompt would show up now and of course it had to be so damn cryptic. There would be no consequences for turning down Yoruichi, or at the very least none that his Gamer Eyes could divine.
Yet he had already found her once wounded and bleeding. Were his Gamer Eyes all knowing all seeing, after all? That was one thing that always troubled Shirou. The Mystic Eyes of Game Perception knew or read things that Shirou himself didn't know, like the names of the people in his field of vision. Where did that information come from? What about Quests objectives and rewards?
Going on with the assumption that his eyes saw everything there was to see was a risky proposition.
[+1 INT for thinking things through]
'Fuck,' he swore inwardly. Pointless musings did not mete out INT rewards. Like any other STAT increase, they came from successfully clearing a relevant challenge.
He looked up at the Quest Prompt again.
[NEW QUEST: Can I keep it please?]
[Objective: Accept Yoruichi request for shelter and deal with the consequences]
[Reward for failure: ? - Reward for success: Lots of headaches, ?, ?]
[Accept?]
[Y/N]
It had changed! The consequences for turning down Yoruichi were no longer none but had become an unknown instead. Just like Saeko's quest had no option for refusal because to Shirou himself refusing wasn't possible. Now that his perception had changed so had the Quest Prompt.
Careless. He was being way too careless with an ability that he did not fully understand yet. He was lucky to have realized his own blindness before he let something bad happen.
"Are you still with me?" she asked as he had fallen silent all of a sudden.
"Yes. Sorry, I just recalled something important. Fine, you can stay but we're gonna have a talk first."
"Huh?" She blinked in surprise. "Just like that? I thought you'd be harder to convince. Even though you are a little pervert, you really strike me as the uptight sort."
"I don't think that an exhibitionist has any right to call anyone a pervert," he replied with a deadpan glare, even though he had yet to stop blushing at her naked form. "Anyway, I'd like to ask some questions first."
She crossed her arms across her chest. Shirou did not acknowledge the way such gesture pushed up her breasts in any outward manner. That was no accomplishment on his part. His face just couldn't get any more flushed that it already was.
"Questions and I don't really get along," she replied sounding as miffed as she suddenly looked.
"Just one, then."
"Just one," she agreed, glancing at him sideways. "What is it?"
"How likely is that those people would harm bystanders to get at you?"
"... that is what you want to know above all?" Yoruichi asked back, disbelief evident in her voice.
"Yes. Why?"
"No, nothing. Anyway, no more and no less than anyone affiliated with the Moonlit World would. Unless they get in the way like you did last night, they'd rather sneak past ordinary people than harm them."
Not indiscriminate murderers then. Shirou was satisfied with that much.
"Alright. I'll set up a room for you in the detached building over there," he jerked his thumb at the aforementioned building.
"Hold up, are you sure it's fine just like that? You are not going to ask what I did to have people trying to kill me?"
"If you wanted me to know, you'd have told me by now, and if I had asked you'd have just evaded the question anyway."
"I'm not saying that you're wrong about that, but what makes you think I wouldn't just make up a story instead?"
"Would you even bother?"
Yoruichi sighed. "To be seen through so easily after all this time... You really got sharp eyes, Shirou."
He shrugged. "The Moonlit World isn't a place you can live in without paying attention to the details."
"I thought I already gave you enough details to pay attention to." Shirou's eyebrow twitched. His evident annoyance was offset by the color of his face. "Anyway, I thought you'd ask about my cat form, at the very least."
"Yeah, I'm curious about that, but it seems like a very personal thing to ask. If you want to tell me though, I'm all ears."
"You're putting a whole lot of trust in someone you just met," she remarked.
Shirou frowned at her. A woman confident with being naked front of him in his own home had problem processing his hospitality?
"You are not used to the kindness of strangers, are you?" he blurted out almost randomly.
Yoruichi made a complicated expression. Amused, yet bashful.
"To think that I'd meet a guy that couldn't be satisfied by looking at my naked body but would want to reach even deeper. How greedy of you, Shirou."
Shirou was so taken aback by the sudden vulnerability in her voice that he completely missed her double entendre. Clearly this woman had no problems exposing her body, but the same could not be said about
her heart.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend."
"It's not..." she trailed off and then sighed. "Gee, we sure are an odd pair."
"Seems like it," Shirou agreed.
They lapsed into silence. Awkward, yet not uncomfortable.
If waking up to a naked beauty who the previous night was a cat wasn't surreal enough, here they were, two almost-strangers having threaded onto sensitive topics almost by accidents.
"Looks like I have been careless, though," she said after a while. "I simply thought that Saeko-chan liked 'em young, but you actually charmed off her panties on your own, huh?"
And just like that, the magic was gone.
Embarrassment renewed, Shirou palmed his face for the third time in a row.
"Oh? What have you figured out this time?"
"That you are the kind of woman that's always going to have the last word no matter what, and trying to change that will only make me more miserable."
She ruffled his hair playfully. "Keep it up and we're going to get along just fine."
As the first of the promised headaches started to onset, Shirou wondered whether or not going along with this woman would be a good thing at all.
It wouldn't be the last time he'd ask himself that.
[br]
In the following days, Yoruichi moved in Shirou's place seamlessly, though perhaps moving in was too big of a word as she did not seem to own a single thing, least of all clothing. At least he had basic toiletries to spare for her.
However, after the first tumultuous morning it was almost like she wasn't there at all.
She didn't show up for meals, fortunately, since Taiga would be there too and Shirou wasn't looking forward to explaining Yoruichi's presence to his foster sister.
She did however accept any snack he came bearing but sometimes stuff disappeared mysteriously from the fridge. Shirou didn't bother asking if it had been her doing since she'd just admit it and keep doing it anyway.
He gave her a room in the detached building, but to the best of his knowledge she never used it. During the day she would laze around the house, napping under the sunlight on the patio in her cat form, or tanning on the roof in her human form.
At night, however, she was nowhere to be found. Shirou excluded that she would hide from him specifically at that time, so he assumed that she went about her business under the cover of the darkness.
He would see her again infallibly every morning. In his room. She would either be on top of the covers as a cat or underneath them as a human.
That made waking up a very awkward experience.
At the very least, Yoruichi didn't call him out or tease him about his evident arousal. In any event, Shirou couldn't decide whether waking up with her arms and legs wrapped around him was heaven or hell.
It took Shirou every bit of his Magus discipline not to act on the instincts he was becoming more and more familiar with, not in small part because of Saeko's sweet punishments.
Between the two women, Shirou's head was filled by lewd thoughts almost all day long. To make matter worse, he finally found the downside of having a [Gamer Body]. There was no separation between ordinary and sexual stamina, therefore as long as he had even just one ST point left in his system, his arousal would manifest full-force. Moreover, his stamina was already beyond what he consumed during the day with the exception of when he trained with Saeko. Although, to be completely honest, it wasn't the training that drained most of his stamina.
In any event, he was extremely troubled. Anyone else would have lost themselves to hedonism, but Shirou was far too dedicated in helping others to spend hours on end to relieve himself.
Still, once everything was said and done at the end of the day, in order to manage to fall asleep, Shirou had to empty his stamina or it would take him a very long time before he managed to close his eyes for good.
However, once again the Gamer Body showed exactly how double-edged it was, considering that during one of such "stamina-draning" sessions a message prompt showed up.
[Sexual Interaction has reached LV 8]
Even though his mind was half-blank from the self-imposed climax, Shirou still grimaced. It seemed like nothing was safe from the power of the Gamer Eyes and Body.
Still, leveling up a skill, how bad could it be?
"Hnn..!" Saeko stifled a moan as yet another orgasm shook her. It was her third that day. The second since they moved from foreplay to full intercourse.
It had been already three weeks since the two of them had started this immoral relationship. Three weeks since she had been saved. Three weeks since she had been liberated.
Almost a month. More than enough time to get used to something. At the very least, more than enough for the novelty to wear off, to lose its luster.
It wasn't the case. Rather than diminishing, it had become more intense. Both of them had come accustomed with the act, losing the initial awkwardness and thus becoming able to enjoy themselves more.
However, a disparity was starting to form between them.
Shirou was lasting longer and getting better at it each time. It took Saeko a great deal of willpower to maintain her composure while Shirou kept thrusting inside her even though she had already climaxed twice while he still hadn't.
It didn't help her that his troubled face as he lost the battle against instinct was so adorable. It made her want to torment him more and more with her body, even though she was the one whose consciousness was being eroded faster.
If he kept improving like that before long she wouldn't be able to resist him, much less punish him.
'Fuh uh uh,' she chuckled in her head. 'It looks like that even this will turn into a battle between us, after all.'
To think that he would end up rousing her fighting spirit and her lust at the same time...
She had already admitted it, but she was being forced to acknowledge it yet again. Emiya Shirou was truly something else. Even if she'd end up losing to him, she probably wouldn't mind. However, she wasn't willing to give up the upper hand just yet.
Little did she know that the greater the difficulty level, the faster Shirou would progress. Still, it wasn't like she'd regret it either if it would end up backfiring on her.
[EMIYA SHIROU]
[THE GAMER]
[LV 25 - 1300/25000]
[HP: 2500][MP: 35][MC: 27][ST: 810 ][SP: 10]
[STR: 41][DEX: 42][INT: 22][WIS: 31][CHR: 77]
Time passed, without anything worthy of notice happening. Shirou kept grinding his STATS, doing simple Quests around town and fighting undeads on top of the mountains during the full moon.
Destroying those manifestations of malice net him more experience points in a single night than several weeks of doing quests in town. On that night his level had reached 25 and he finally maxed out the Busujima style of swordplay.
At dawn, after he and Saeko returned to her place, she gave him his graduation present.
"Here, you can have this, Shirou," she said as she offered him a long-shaped object wrapped in white cloth.
Shirou received it with both hands and unfurled the satchel, exposing the hilt of an elegant-looking katana.
[Shisui]
[DMG+150]
[Description: A blade passed down the Busujima family since time immemorial. The one wielding it is recognized as the next head of the clan. After being used for generations to cleanse the souls of the damned, it has achieved an affinity against the supernatural]
[DMG against supernatural entities x1.5]
"Sensei, this is..."
"That sword is called Shisui. It was my father's blade and his father's before him. It belonged the Busujima family since the foundation of our clan."
Shirou knew that. His Sword affinity had already told him as much. He also understood what receiving the sword meant.
- Become my family -
"I cannot accept it," he said, returning it back to her.
"I knew you would have said that, but may I ask you why all the same?"
"I have made a promise to my late father. To become an ally of justice. A hero that can save everyone."
He said it completely seriously. It might have sounded like a childish dream, particularly coming from a kid his age.
Saeko did not laugh, though. Had anyone else said it, she would have thought it silly, but a woman who had already been saved by him didn't have that right.
She would not belittle his dream, but she would not lie about it either.
"Such a thing is unattainable, Shirou."
"Yeah, I know that already," he replied without missing a beat.
"Then, why?"
"Because I think it's beautiful. Even if it's something that cannot be reached, it's still something that's worth pursuing."
"To live for an ideal."
"Yes," he nodded solemnly.
"You never cease to amaze me, you know that?" Saeko smiled.
"I'd hate to become a man you would consider mediocre, Saeko."
Saeko's face blushed prettily. "Now, now, Shirou. Saying something like that after rejecting me it's just mean."
"Sorry," he scratched his cheek, looking away. Sometimes words escaped his mouth before he could think them through as result of his high charisma and wisdom. Still, he did not regret it. Saeko's blushing face was very charming.
"It's fine," she shook her head. "And it's also fine for you to keep that sword."
"But..."
"Father wouldn't have wanted for it to be left to rust, and I believe he wouldn't have found fault in the man I chose to wield it either."
"I'm honored."
"I ask only one favor in return for it."
"What is it?" he asked eagerly. If he could, he'd repay her in any way.
Saeko smiled mischievously and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
Shirou's jaw slackened as he processed her words, face paling at first, then reddening rapidly and lastly settling in a resolute frown.
"I definitely will!"
Saeko smiled and kissed his lips sweetly.
Emiya Shirou had long since chosen to live for the sake of helping others, regardless of the hurdles that would come his way. Nonetheless...
- When you've become a hero, help me rebuild my clan. -
... some promises he was looking forward to fulfill more than others.
[You have slept in a bed. HP, ST and MP completely restored]
"You've gotten stronger. Much stronger than yesterday."
That's what Yoruichi said when he opened his eyes in his bed the next morning. She was on all four, limbs tense, like a cat in human form would. Her butt was sticking up in the air and her breasts dangled in his vision.
It would have been a powerfully erotic image, except it was anything but.
The intensity of her gaze was unsettling to the point that Shirou forgot all about her nakedness and their position.
He was being scrutinized, measured, judged.
"Cliche as it may sound, I have no idea what you're talking about," he admitted.
Her eyes narrowed. "Don't play coy with me. I'm very good at telling people's strength and you've gotten much more powerful than yesterday. I would say About 25% stronger."
'Whoa. Accurate,' he thought as he recalled going from level 20 to 25 in the course of fighting undeads the previous night.
"Your point being?" he asked.
"No one can improve that much overnight. Even Magecraft cannot provide permanent increments in power like that."
"True, but I still don't see your point. You are accusing me of something, but I don't know what. If you'd stop speaking in riddles maybe I could understand what I might have done to upset you."
"No need for words."
Yoruichi threw off the covers of the futon. Shirou had no time to move that she pinned him down by the neck. Yoruichi other hand went for his chest and ripped open the shirt of his pajama, only to stop at the sight of his unblemished chest.
"... no hole. Why?"
"I think... I'd have noticed if there had been a hole somewhere on my chest, Yoruichi-san."
Her eyes returned to his, still scrutinizing yet uncertain.
"How have you become so much stronger all of a sudden?" she demanded to know.
"I have my own secrets, you know? You don't see me prodding at yours, so kindly return the favor."
She tightened the hold around his neck. "Have you killed Saeko-chan?"
"... Hah? What? No! What are you talking about?"
"There is no way for power to be created from nothing," Yoruichi explained while searching his eyes for something. "But it is possible to take somebody else's strength for oneselves."
"What? That's ridiculous. How would anyone go about doing something like that?"
"By killing them and devouring their soul."
Shirou's eyes narrowed and his face morphed into a snarl.
"Are you saying that there's people who would do something like that?"
"Obviously. Which leaves me with quite the conundrum seeing a kid, who on top of being stronger than he has any right to be, suddenly got even stronger in the span of a few hours."
"I'd never do something like that."
"Yes, I think so too," she nodded, finally releasing the grip on his neck. "If you were the type of person who would do something of the sort, you would have tried to devour me already."
"... That's why you were clinging to me every night," he realized. "You were baiting me."
She nodded. "No Hollow would miss the chance to consume someone who is several times stronger than themselves. Not if they stumble upon them while defenseless."
"Hollow?"
"The name given to those who consume other people's souls to steal their abilities and lifespan."
Shirou squirmed as she wiggled away from underneath Yoruichi. "I've never heard about them before."
"Unsurprisingly. Unlike beings such as Dead Apostles, they aren't territorials and don't kill just anyone. They only pick those with enough strength that they would benefit from it." she explained. "They also don't act as an organized group. In fact, I doubt most of them know who the others are."
"So, you thought I was one of them," he concluded.
"Indeed. You are far too strong for how young you look, but that would only be normal if you had slowed down your aging process by consuming human souls."
"You've suspected me from the start?" he asked.
"I was almost sure you were Hollow the moment we met, but instead of eating me right there and then, you protected me and that threw me for a loop. Hollows can be some very twisted individuals though so I figured you were the type who'd play with his food first. Yet you rejected all of my advances and never took advantage of any opening I've left on purpose. That worked in your favor, I admit, but you had no background prior to the fire from five years ago. Pretty convenient for someone who's not aging, isn't it? In addition your foster father, the famed Magus Killer died from an undiagnosed illness and you, who are not related by blood and thus shouldn't have been able to inherit his Magecraft are a Magus yourself."
"You thought I ate Kiritsugu's soul?" he asked in shock. Then he registered what else she had said. "Hold up, Magus Killer?"
"You didn't know?" she tilted her head. "Your dad was pretty infamous in our circles."
"Dad was... he didn't want to teach me Magecraft at first and he didn't talk much about his past either."
She shrugged, uninterested about his personal drama. "I was really confused about you. Everything pointed at you being Hollow, but your behavior was completely wrong for one. Attending school diligently every day, putting up with that nutjob of your guardian, spending days helping out people around town with no evident benefit -"
"You have been following me?" He hadn't noticed it, even with his [Detect Presence] and [Sense the Unnatural]. How good was she?
"- so I was about to consider you a mere abnormality," she continued, "but then your returned home with a power boost that only being Hollow could explain."
"So, why do you think I'm not?"
She tapped his bare chest with a slender finger. "After they consume a human soul, a hole appears on the Hollow's chest. It's why they are called such in the first place. After a few weeks, it disappears, but it's impossible to conceal right away. I thought I had you, but there's no hole."
"I'd say. I would never do something like that."
"Hm. That's what I would have liked to think too," she nodded. "But then, how are you like this?"
"I have a special constitution," he explained trying to remain vague. "Unlike ordinary humans who need time for their physical strength to grow, I'm only bound by the amount of effort I put in regardless of time."
That was what sold his particular brand of Mystic Eyes. Humans couldn't get stronger just by investing effort. They needed proper nourishment and proper rest. The Gamer Body bypassed it entirely and made getting stronger just a matter of grinding or leveling up. If a normal human tried it, forget about getting stronger, they would hurt themselves instead. It was only in shounen manga and videogames that one could get stronger by training like a madman day and night. No wonder Yoruichi who could tell people strength apart had suspected him of being one of those people who cannibalized human souls.
"Huh-uh. Sounds like bullshit."
"Also, my Element and Origin are both Sword," he admitted begrudgingly, hoping that it would be enough an explanation for her. He'd rather not speak of the Gamer Eyes.
Yoruichi blinked. "Well, that would go a long way to explain things. You are a little sword prodigy, ain'tcha?"
"Something like that. Those people the other night, were they Hollows?"
"Who, those chumps?" she laughed. "As if. Their grudges had nothing to do with my job as a Shinigami."
"Shinigami? Death God?"
"Lofty title, huh?" she shrugged. "That's what Hollows call us. Those who bring them the death they have cheated. We're just glorified sweepers, though."
"So, who were they?"
"Let's just say that my people aren't above squabbling among themselves. I got a friend out of a spot of trouble with the law, so to speak, and got myself exiled from my clan in return. Some people decided that lacking the protection of my family gave them the opportunity to settle some old grudges without reprisal and they found me right after I got out of a fight against a very tough Hollow. That's as much as I'm willing to share about the matter."
"Well, alright. As long as you're sure you can handle it yourself, I won't pry. That being said, would you mind telling me what you know about my father?"
"Sure, it's not like I knew him personally anyway."
"Also, get some damn clothes on now that you're done trying to tempt me."
"Who said anything about being done?" she snorted. "I still enjoy messing with you."
"Yeah. I had figured that part on my own, thanks," he sighed. Of course, why did he expect any different from her at this point? This was a woman who did precisely everything she wanted. Shirou had no doubt in his mind that helping a fugitive from the law had been just an excuse for her clan to finally throw her out. Knowing her, they had been probably as vexed with her as he was right then.
Unaware of his thoughts, Yoruichi kept smiling at his obvious discomfort.
At least, he'd get to know more about Kiritsugu. He supposed it was a small price to pay for that.
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Last edited: Jul 29, 2017
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