Beta read by Shigiya
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Room #2-
"Hm…"
Shirou woke up to see the sun rays shining in through the windows of the suite.
The sun had just risen as it was still a bit dark outside. The sound of the waves crashing and the distant sound of the room's AC running for the entire night were all heard by him as he slowly opened his eyelids. He wasn't used to such noise. He would normally wake to the sound of birds chirping and Sakura's calling out for him. With the smell of grilled fish or aromatics as she would cook for him nearly every day. Now, there was none of that, and he had already begun missing it.
"Hm. I'm really not good in the mornings," he said while rubbing his eyes.
Many would mistake him for being an early bird with how regularly he would wake up sometimes. But Shirou didn't do so because he liked the early mornings. Quite the opposite, in fact, the redhead just followed a strict schedule he followed through nearly every day.
He got up, trying not to be defeated by the morning chill, and quickly folded up the blanket which he used while sleeping on the sofa.
Why was he sleeping on the sofa?
"Muu… Shirou… another bowl, please…."
Yeah, Taiga was sleeping on the main and only bed in the room after returning late at night drunk. Though she initially invited him to sleep next to her like they used to in the past, Shirou immediately rejected that offer. He wasn't a kid anymore, mostly, so he couldn't just sleep around a grown woman so easily. Despite her personality, Taiga was still a beautiful woman, and Shirou was a growing boy whose body could react outside his control, not that the boy thought it would happen in the first place, but he wasn't willing to take the risk.
'Better safe than sorry as they say.'
It was five-thirty in the morning.
The only people awake at this hour would probably be the staff and the cooks. Literally, everyone would be asleep at this point.
One of his many strengths was to wake up at this time, no matter how late he went to sleep. Shirou did sometimes make mistakes and ended up waking up late like his previous morning in Fuyuki. Thankfully, Sakura was there to save the day as usual.
Why not use an alarm clock some would ask?
Never, he hated them with every fibre of his being! He'd rather be caught naked by his neighbours than have one of those abominations of machinery set up in his room. Shirou was very strict on the usage of magecraft in certain places. Using it in the living room rather than in the shed was a big 'no no' for him. But he had on many occasions projected a knife or anything with mass to hurl it as the ringing sound of hell to shut it up.
Even Taiga did not expect him to act so hostile to such a mundane item.
But any other sort of alarm outside the use for waking up from bed was alright with him, especially when it came to cooking as he used a timer for the kitchen.
"It sure was fun these last few days."
Along with learning more about combat skills and some general knowledge about magecraft with the Edelfelt family heir, Shirou also spent an equal amount of time enjoying a week-long vacation on the cruise. Taiga loved swimming. She never wasted any time jumping in the pool at the earliest time possible and tried several times to drag Shirou with her. Though the activity did make her very hungry in the end so they would eat at a different place every day.
In the evening, he would join Luvia for his daily training. Their time was short, so he made sure to learn and remember each lesson was important. What he did find a bit weird was the girl's obsession with teaching him wrestling. She was a juggernaut in a fight, and could probably give a few pro-wrestlers a run for their money. Her reinforcement far surpassed anything he could muster with his own use of the spell when doing one of their matches.
He just kept getting used as a punching bag for a week straight.
In Luvia's own words.
"It's important to learn how to take a hit before throwing one."
And boy, did he learn how to take a punch to the face, limbs, and torso or face her devastating suplex, which he got nightmares about every time someone stood behind him.
"That girl is too into wrestling. It doesn't fit her image at all. Maybe that's a good thing since her enemies won't be ready for her to pile drive them into the ground." he said to himself, shuddering at the image.
Now that today would be their last day, Shirou felt kinda depressed about it. He knew this would be a temporary thing. Alas, a part of him yearned to continue this amazing vacation with his new 'teacher'.
"I wish I could cook my own breakfast."
Not that the food here was bad by any means, he learned a lot from the local chefs and even managed to hone his cooking arsenal with new recipes. Most of his skills revolved around Japanese-style cooking, and he didn't have that much experience with European and Chinese, so this was a good opportunity for him to try out new styles.
"If I was back in the house, I would have cooked some rice and made a bowl of miso soup. Maybe leaving behind the radish and carrot combo, instead using the onion and potato miso ingredients. I would have also made the usual rolled egg and broth boil and be done. Hmm, I hope the ingredients I left in the fridge haven't gone bad at this point… I forgot to check the expiration date with how much in a hurry Fuji-nee was with the trip."
The fabric on the bed rustled with Taiga mumbling something in her sleep.
"Hmmm… Shirou… more… miso…."
Even in her sleep, the sleeping tiger would react to the mention of cooking anywhere near her.
"Guess I should leave before she wakes up. It's still very early."
Shirou threw a glance at the analog clock on the bed table.
"Yeah, I guess I can train a bit if I have this much time."
The morning exercises were his daily routine, so he prepared himself for the private gym Luvia somehow managed to reserve for themselves alone, whether it was through the use of hypnosis or money—both were viable options for Luvia. Moving my body a bit would help him wake up from his drowsiness and make sure to keep his muscles in top shape. He wore a simple black cotton shirt and red shorts that he brought with him. His favourite white shirt with blue sleeves had some blood on it after some light sparring, so he was forced to burn it. No way he would give it to the cleaning staff and create a bigger misunderstanding! And Taiga would have a heart attack if he found out that he got hurt enough to bleed.
The black and red combination was not his favourite, but it wasn't like he was going to a fashion show, so he just put that thought aside.
He filled his bag with enough bottles of water and an emergency kit just in case something goes wrong. A hand towel, hygiene products, and enough sweets and snacks for two people.
"There, everything is packed up. Time to leave."
Carefully, he walked out of the room with a snoring Taiga in the background, mumbling about food. He closed the door before walking to his destination.
The cruise ship had a splendid studio room which was filled with thin foam mattresses, dozens of exercise machines, and finally, a small box arena with multiple cracks on the floor and a literal fist print on one of the walls belonging to a certain blond.
Unlike his dojo in the Emiya residence, which was created for pleasure when the house was built, this room felt more practical and served nearly every need someone would have.
"I'm a bit shocked that Fuji-nee hasn't visited this place. She always practices with her Shinai in the dojo and exercises regularly. Well, I guess she's been doing a lot of swimming, so that counts at least."
The dojo served as Taiga's playground even before Kiritsugu found him. But after he became his old man's student and started using the place a lot, she did end up becoming a bit annoyed about it back then.
"Well, here we go again!"
There was only one thing to do now that he was here. Even a magus could not neglect to train their body. As they say, a strong body would create a strong mind and discipline. One of the requirements for a magus was to have excellent physical abilities with great stamina and overall strength. Just like muscles, magic works the same way as the more one were to use it, the stronger it becomes. A fit body would work in tandem and create an overall better result. Furthermore, Magical Spells like reinforcement needed on the Magus' body itself needed a suitably trained constitution for it to work perfectly.
While Kiritsugu was alive, they had many matches and spars. Well, it was pretty much the old man beating a younger Shirou to the ground, even in his weakened state, so he didn't learn anything about how to win in a fight—just how to survive. Shirou knew that there was much more his father wanted to teach him, but time was once again not on his side.
It would have helped against average magi, but Luvia was anything but average.
Now having learned how to spar against an opponent like Luvia and having her give him tips and lessons, he came to think that he at least earned the difference between a fight and a battle. Or, more accurately, he was taught the difference between killing your opponent and beating your opponent. Both of his teachers stand at opposite ends of the spectrum.
He didn't doubt the Edelfelt heir could change her style into something far more lethal, but it was obvious that she actively chose the other route.
Thinking back to his old man, Shirou noticed something.
"As long as you learn magic, you might destroy yourself, and times will come when you have to fight. For a magi, a fight means killing each other. So I think what Kiritsugu wanted to teach me was to prepare my mind for the prospect of facing death—aside from survival."
And Luvia was trying to do the same thing as well.
"Alright, I need to get some light warm-up done before she gets here."
Doing some light exercise before inevitably having his guts smashed or his spine nearly broken by a pro-wrestling Magus. He started with simple things like push-ups, sit-ups, and stretching. Not too different from the morning practices he did with Kiritsugu and Taiga.
{Break}
(An hour later.)
"Huff, eighteen… Huff, ni-nineteen… Argh! Tw-Twenty!"
Bam!
A large barbell fell to the floor, with each side having a large 20kg plate, making the grand total about 40kg. Shirou leaned against the wall, covered in sweat and a red face. He'd reached his limit. It was supposed to be a regular warm-up, but he got too impatient and started lifting a bit too much. He already completed two sets prior to his third one just now. Before starting to lift, he worked on cardio and a few more exercises to train his stamina and endurance.
"I hope I haven't damaged my muscles… Luvia's gonna be so mad at me if I hurt myself from just exercising."
Indeed, Shirou knew the dangers of doing too much at once, but his goal was to push himself to his limit.
He could have used reinforcement to multiply his strength and breeze through the lifting exercise, but that felt like cheating. Shirou wanted to improve his base strength before going beyond it. Furthermore, he trained his magecraft on a daily basis, so it wasn't like he slacked in that area.
Speaking of Luvia, she hadn't shown up at the agreed-upon time. She was already an hour late. It made him wonder if she was busy with something. Maybe he could go and check up on her to see if she was okay?
She didn't look like someone who liked to be late for anything.
"Shirou Emiya."
Out of nowhere, a deep voice called out to him, scaring the redhead out of his wits.
"Wah!!" he jumped away, having lost all of the previous fatigue and muscle soreness, and quickly moved to a fighting stance.
Just as he was about to attack, he recognized the person in front of him.
"Heh, Clown!?" Shirou grabbed his palpitating heart, letting down his guard. The man was passed two metres tall and wore an all-black suit which easily stood out from the contrasting white walls, yet he still managed to get so close to him undetected. Shirou entertained the possibility that the man must have used some kind of invisibility Magical Spell, or else even fast speed couldn't explain some of the things he could do.
No wonder he was chosen to become Luvia's bodyguard.
"You scared me!" he said, looking around and still not seeing any signs of the young blonde. "Is everything okay?"
"My lady needs your help."
Oh no, did something bad happen to her? No wonder she wasn't here on time. He should have realised it earlier!
"Is she okay? Did she get hurt?" he couldn't help but ask, approaching the intimidating man.
The man shook his head.
"No, it's much worse."
A horrible feeling sunk into his heart.
"I'm heading over!"
Not wasting any time, Shirou ran out of the room, leaving his belongings in the room along with the butler, who weirdly did not join him and merely continued to stand there with his emotionless face. Neither looked worried or concerned over the well-being of his mistress. Grabbing the bar with the weights with a single hand, lifting it effortlessly, the man commented.
"Weak, but he's improving."
{Break}
Running at full speed after working out so much did make his lungs burn slightly, but it was a minor distraction as his thoughts were focused on saving Luvia and making sure that she was okay.
Fortunately, it was still quite early in the morning, so there weren't many people in the hallways as he rushed through them in a hurry. Some of the staff tried asking if everything was okay, but he just ignored them, leaving them flabbergasted over his actions.
Reaching the Royal suite, Shirou went straight for the first door on the left.
"Luvia!"
Not bothering to knock, as he just barged through the door, and was ready to face anything that might be a threat.
When finally got a look around, he was stunned.
"What happened here?"
The room was an absolute mess.
Piles of clothes and trash are scattered all across the room, with hundreds of old books lying on the floor. The walls were covered with scorched marks as if someone had shot some kind of magical attack at them. As he walked forward, his foot stepped on a piece of jewellery on the ground, one that he remembered Luvia wearing quite often. It looked as if a tornado had passed through the room and devastated everything inside. Even the TV screen had a large hole in the middle with flickering arcs of electrical current.
"—!?"
In the corner, he saw a frazzled-looking Luvia huddled up in a corner, with tired sunken eyes as if she had not slept for days. Her hair was an absolute mess along with her clothes in disarray.
She lazily turned her head and looked at him dead in the eyes.
"Oh, Sherou… it's you…."
Even her voice sounded hoarse and hollow.
As he was about to help her out, in the corner of his eyes, he witnessed something horrifying. A sight he expected to never see in his life, one that made him stare in disbelief.
His charred laptop.
'Wha-what…, What happened here!?' thought Shirou in confusion, while getting Luvia off the floor.
What happened next was Shirou doing a speedy clean-up of the room. With a trace of magical blasts and scattered gems, Shirou just couldn't let the staff do the clean-up, and he needed to relieve some of the stress over his destroyed laptop. Luvia, meanwhile, was on the bed, avoiding eye contact and trying to look as small as possible. Speaking of the laptop, he had left it in Luvia's room yesterday after having spent hours talking about spells and how they would keep in contact with each other. The computer was left in the room as he trusted the girl enough to guard his things, and he would show her how to use email messaging the next morning.
After about another hour of what amounted to another type of workout, Shirou managed to get everything cleaned up, at least mostly. The TV still had that hole in the middle, and some of the damage to the wall couldn't be hidden with some cleaning.
How did he not hear the commotion from his room next door? Maybe Luvia had put up a strong, bounded field that hid any use of Magical Energy from the inside.
"Luvia," he walked in front of the flustered girl with a stern gaze as he held what remained of his laptop in a plastic bag. "May I know what happened here to cause my laptop, which I had bought after saving up for nearly an entire year, to be destroyed to smithereens?"
He tried to smile, but even that couldn't hide the dissatisfaction he felt over this situation. A year, an entire year of hard work, and the little he managed to save to buy this device which he didn't even get to use that much, was wasted. Granted, he wasn't a very materialistic person, but there were times he splurged a bit on himself once in a blue moon. Like that new countertop for his kitchen and some of his kitchen appliances. At this point, he wanted to cry, but no tears came out.
"A-Ah, i-it's not my fault!" Luvia weakly defended herself. "I-I just got curious over this co-contraption so people use it so often that I wanted to see what the big hype was all about…."
Shirou gave an incredulous stare.
"And this led to everything being destroyed because…."
"..."
"Don't you go quiet like that, young lady." he used his inner disappointed parent voice.
Who would have thought he would use it against someone other than Taiga?
"Because it was driving me crazy!" she uncharacteristically shouted in anger, seeming to let out her frustration. "Open windows, connect the mouse, empty trash can and ethernet not connected just made no sense! When I tried to close it, the thing started playing music on repeat and wouldn't stop for the entire night! Touching those random buttons just continued to make things worse and ruined my beauty sleep! I snapped when I noticed the sun rising and destroying that spawn of the devil!"
At the end of her rant, her face was flushed with fury before she dropped back onto her bed, finally running out of steam.
"You could have just called me, you know? A few knocks on the door, and I would have helped you in a matter of seconds." Shirou said, no longer feeling anger. He just felt pity for the poor inept girl.
She didn't do it out of malice, and he couldn't be angry at her for too long even if he tried to. He just hoped something like this wouldn't happen in the first place.
"You aren't good with technology, it seems."
A prior conversation with Kiritsugu resurfaced in his mind. One that mentioned how some Magus families rejected the concept of modern technology and did their best to adhere to the old traditions. They lived secluded lives far away from any signs of civilization, and in most cases, he would find a simple fax machine being their only piece of modern technology.
"I guess the Magi really do reject technology," he said with a sigh, looking at the shattered remains of his laptop.
"Ah, no, it's not like that. I… I just messed up, that's all."
"Hm?"
"Considering you didn't have a teacher for a long time and most things you know are probably outdated by now, it makes sense why you'll think we Magi are bad with modern technology."
"So, Magi don't hate modern devices?" Shirou asked, curious.
Luvia hesitantly nodded, looking unsure.
"Magi, don't reject modern technology. They just don't focus on it because there's no point. These things you use on regular cell phones simply do not have the mystery needed to do anything magical, unlike our collection of hundred-year-old artefacts that can perform similar feats but are powered by Mana. Nothing in our lifestyle prevents us from driving a car or using a computer like any other person. Clown and I regularly visit showrooms to buy the latest limousines or exotic cars. For a lot of the more conservative Magi, it's more of a principle or pride thing because the advance of science declines mystery. So some of us obviously dislike the practice and study, but that doesn't mean we can't and won't use them."
She explained more of the culture regarding the Magi and their views on modern times.
As time went on and humanity kept advancing modern technology at a faster rate than ever imagined, the current Magi started following the trend to some extent and started using things like phones and cars—but even then, it was limited.
She explained more of the culture regarding the Magi and their views on modern times. Shirou realised that most things Kiritsugu thought of him weren't wrong but just outdated. And his cases of Magus hating technology only seemed to apply to the old secluded families. Then again, he used guns and weapons despised by the bunch to kill them during his missions.
"And from what I gathered, you're only familiar with things like cars and not electronic devices?" He questioned, having sat next to her during her explanation.
"More like your computer was too recent, and I just hadn't caught up yet." She muttered with a pout, still looking embarrassed with the whole ordeal. "For your information, my family is quite modern compared to the rest of the other families. We have a TV in all of our living rooms and guest rooms. And I even have my own TV where I watch my favourite weekly shows of pro wrestling. My sister, on the other hand, is the only one clinging to old traditions. Even our grandfather isn't like that—at least he keeps a radio in his office when he wants to listen to Baseball."
"Baseball?"
"Yes, Grandfather is a huge fan of the sport. He doesn't know that everyone in the family already knows of his guilty pleasure or how some of his business trips are just excuses for him to go to a game."
She sounded like a princess from a super-rich family.
He sighed. What happened today was just an unfortunate accident.
Shirou scratched his head, wondering how much he had saved up in his savings and how long it would take to buy another laptop. Maybe he could build a desktop in his room, but he quite liked the portability of a laptop whenever he used it in the shed or when he did his homework in Copenhagen.
Maybe he could borrow one from Shinji… somehow he doubted the latter would lend him his in the first place.
Did Sakura have one?
Shirou never noticed her using one, and he never visited her home after his dad forbade him to do so when he asked if could go see her.
"Are you mad at me, Sherou?" Luvia asked, her voice quiet while not looking at Shirou.
Noticing how low her voice had gotten, he couldn't help but feel the need to comfort her.
"No, it's okay. I can buy a new one in a few months."
"Why not in a few days when you return to your home town? Are you perhaps lacking in funds?"
No, with what his father left him before his passing, Shirou couldn't call himself financially unstable. Taiga and her father regularly called him over for maintenance and overpaid him intentionally. While Neko-san tended to be generous with his wages even after he told her that she didn't need to do so. But, his consciousness wouldn't let him use the money he didn't earn through his effort on stuff like this. He kept them aside in case the time came when he would really need them and didn't have any other choice left.
"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about that."
"That would not do!"
Luvia jumped off her bed, her eyes no longer tired but rather filled with determination.
"Whether you have the funds or not, and not matter when you plan to buy yourself another computer does not matter to me. It is my duty to mend my mistakes and correct my mistakes. As the heir to the Edelfelt family, I will not sully our name and reputation over such a minute issue. Fret not, my dear Sherou. I will fix everything faster than you can imagine!"
"Heh? L-Luvia, there is no need to—"
"—SILENCE!" Shirou flinched and went quiet.
"Clown!"
Voom!
Once again, that large man appeared in a split second outside the door in the hallway. The man was so big that even the door frame couldn't show his entire body. Shirou noticed another worrying detail about the man. More accurately, his eyes zoned in at his left hand holding the shirt of a random terrified person!
"W-what is g-going on? A-Am I being kidnapped!? Are you g-going to kill me!?"
The middle-aged man shouted in delirium as he tried to get away from the ironclad hold of Luvia's butler to little success. Furthermore, in between his hands was a brand-new computer that Shirou recognized as the model as it was the newer version of his now destroyed laptop!
"Oi, Luvia, you don't have—"
"Shush!" she cut him off with her finger on his lips. "You are cute when you get so worried about others, Sherou. Rest assured, no harm shall come of this man, for I have a rather lucrative proposition for him."
His cheeks reddened by both her action and compliment, and he decided that it was better that he remained quiet and see how this would end.
"You!" Luvia pointed her finger at the frightened man. "I see you have a magnificent-looking computer in your hands. Sell it to me!"
She extended her hand forwards, waiting for him to just give it to her.
"..."
"..."
Both Shirou and the man turned quiet. The latter couldn't believe what was happening. He was peacefully enjoying his breakfast in the dining hall when all of a sudden, he was pulled by the back of his shirt by this large gorilla of a man. Crying for help proved to be useless as no one even soared him a single glance! Even the staff passed by them as he clamoured for help and treated them like they were invisible!
And now this crazy European girl just asked him to sell him his laptop!?
"Are you crazy!? Like hell, I'd give anything! Just wait and see, I'll call the police, and you'll all be detained and jailed for lif—pa!" he was silenced by something slapping him across his cheeks.
To Shirou's shock, it was a large stack of cash!
"Ara ara, how noisy of you. I agree that having Clown forcefully bring you here was not my intention. He can be quite unpredictable at times. Nevertheless, I offer you this small sum of money as compensation for your time, and…" she slapped another stack of cash to his face. "This will be for that computer you're holding. I'm sure you wouldn't pass on such an opportunity. With what I'm giving you, you can buy yourself and a few more and have the entire trip covered!"
The man looked stunned, speechless at what just happened.
Was this real?
Was he dreaming?
Somehow, this felt like a trap of some sort. What kind of person would just hand out so much money and treat it like it was paper!?
"I can see that you're still hesitating." Luvia noticed the girl just smirked and slapped the man with the third stack of cash! "There, this is my final offer. If you decline, then I'll just find another good samaritan who will oh so graciously accept my proposal."
Those three slaps seemed to have changed the man's perception of reality. As he stared at the pile of money in front of him, he couldn't help but gulp. Maybe he really should give it up. Not like it had anything of importance aside from some irrelevant documents he planned to delete.
"I see you are not willing to guess. I'll just…."
"Wait!"
The man shouted in a panic.
"Here, take it! I don't want it, not like I'm much of a computer kind of guy!" he said as he threw his laptop at Luvia, the latter easily catching it mid-air.
"Excellent! Clown, you can bring this gentleman back to wherever you found him, hohohohoho!"
Her bodyguard nodded before bringing his hands on the man's head and rendering him unconscious. He then took both the man and pile of money and went to drop them off at the dining hall.
"..."
In the back, Shirou couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. The woman sure was an eccentric individual. At least she didn't steal it and actually bought it from the man.
At this, he was just trying to make excuses and just try to forget everything that just happened.
"I should have just stayed on the sofa…."
At this point, he was both physically and mentally tired.
And it wasn't even ten o'clock.
{Break}
And just like that, his days on the cruise came to an end soon after. They finished their seven days trip across the Greek isles and soon returned to the port where he and Taiga first boarded the ship.
"Haaaa… it feels like we barely spent a day, and then boom! An entire week passes, and now we have to go back." Taiga moaned in sadness.
Unlike the first time she came, her skin now was quite tanned with how frequently she went swimming and slept under the sun for an entire week.
"Well, at least I get to see my previous students again. God knows the boredom they must suffer without my presence. I just hope that Souichirou-san managed to deal with my students—they can be a rowdy bunch."
Shirou was beside her, carrying both of their luggage. He just returned from saying his goodbyes to Luvia and Clown as those two got inside a black limousine that waited for them.
"Oh, Shirou! Gave your final goodbyes to your girlfriend? I hope you keep in touch with her young man!" she asked.
"She's not my girlfriend, Fuji-nee. We're just friends and just hung out for a while. And yes, I did share with her my contact details. We'll keep talking through email." he answered.
Teaching Luvia how to use the internet and a web browser proved to be a bigger challenge than he expected. She nearly blasted his 'new' computer a second time out of frustration, but he managed to save it in time. Thankfully, a few minutes before they reached their final stop, Luvia somehow got the hang of it. They promised each other to keep in contact with each other, and the Edelfelt heiress even promised to pay him a visit in the future after learning about Fuyuki. Apparently, she was acquainted with someone over there and found it to be a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and just visit both of them.
They didn't agree on any specific date, as both Shirou and Luvia were occupied with their current schedule.
Still, he was grateful to have met Luvia and learned so much from her. Shirou gave his word that he would continue to apply her teachings to his training and improve his battle prowess the next time they met.
'I missed Sakura's cooking. I hope she won't be too mad with my prolonged vacation.' Shirou thought as he followed Taiga, waving to a nearby taxi.
Their flight to Japan would leave in a few hours, so they had to make haste.
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 2 Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword having 3 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise and Snafu.