Beta read by Opal
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-Midchilda-
The atmosphere in the Time-Space Administrative Bureau's meeting room was somber as the high-ranking officers gathered to discuss critical matters relating to their budget and ongoing wars on different planets. The holographic screens displayed charts and graphs, highlighting the strain on their resources and the growing conflicts that demanded their attention.
Commander Graham Specter, a seasoned veteran known for his strategic acumen, leaned forward, addressing the room. "The tensions over scarce resources on planets Kandov, Tinerth, and Oler are escalating," he said, his voice tinged with concern. "We need to allocate more manpower to support our ground forces there in case any group decides to cause trouble for the locals. Though I think it would be a better outcome if we find a way to resolve the underlying problem of lacking food and water."
General Melissa Armstrong, the stoic and efficient head of the Bureau's logistics division, nodded in agreement. "We can divert some of the funds from the research and development department and allocate more resources," she suggested. "Their current projects are not as time-sensitive as the situations on those planets."
Regius Gaiz, a Lieutenant General known for his strict demeanor, raised his hand, signaling for the discussion to halt momentarily. His gaze swept across the room, his steely eyes filled with a sense of duty and responsibility. "Before we proceed any further, I'd like to bring a matter to the forefront that has come to my attention recently," he said, his voice commanding attention before having his gaze fall on his brown-haired colleague who had been silent since the beginning.
Hayate sat at the head of the table, her expression composed yet attentive. She nodded at Regius, acknowledging his request to address the issue.
Regius continued, "It has come to my knowledge that a certain individual named Shirou Emiya has been registered as an officially recognized mage within the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, despite not being from our reality — an 'outsider' if I had to give it a name."
The revelation sent shockwaves through the room, and many officers exchanged puzzled glances. The concept of someone from an entirely different world being involved in their operations was both fascinating and concerning.
Regius looked at Hayate, seeking confirmation. "Is it true, Commander Yagami? Do you affirm that this Shirou Emiya is not from our world?"
Hayate nodded solemnly. "Yes, it's true," she confirmed. "Shirou Emiya hails from a parallel reality. He was brought to our attention when we detected a powerful anomaly that led us to him on planet K97498-N7, a ghoul infestation that nearly wiped out the local population. Instructor Nanoha Takamachi who found him keeping the few remaining survivors alive and the monsters at bay."
The assembled officers murmured among themselves, their curiosity piqued by this unforeseen development. The concept of parallel worlds and dimensional anomalies was not a new one to the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, but it was rare to encounter someone who had crossed over from another reality.
Regius frowned, his true intentions still not as evident. "And why was this individual presented as an unknown element to our military forces without consulting everyone first?" he demanded. "Such actions could have severe consequences."
Hayate's eyes hardened as she defended her decision. "I did not take this matter lightly," she retorted firmly. "I have personally evaluated Shirou's powers and background, and I can assure you that he is not related to any criminal forces."
She produced a stack of papers and placed them on the table for everyone to see. "These documents contain details about Shirou's abilities and his actions in this world so far," Hayate explained. "He has a proven track record of defending others and standing against evil. That's why I chose to have him integrated into my Riot Force 6 team."
A curious general raised an eyebrow. "But why did you personally take the initiative to evaluate him? We have special ranks for individuals like him. He could have easily stayed in Midchilda secure and safe while letting us handle matters on his behalf."
Hayate shook her head with a small smile. "Shirou Emiya, from what I managed to decipher his personality so far with my own observation and reports from Instructor Nanoha Takamachi mostly, is that Shirou Emiya requested to help out the team rather than just be kept safe inside a room." She explained patiently, remembering everything Nanoha mentioned about him. "He believes in taking an active role in protecting others — I have to agree with him on that as we can witness more of his foreign magic system closely. Besides, our missions often involve fighting criminals and dealing with various threats. Having a clear understanding of what he can do is essential in deciding how and when to deploy him."
The room fell silent as everyone absorbed Hayate's explanation. It was clear that she had thought through her decision thoroughly and had Shirou's best interests at heart. Her confidence in him and her belief in his abilities resonated with some of the officers.
Regius, while still apprehensive, nodded in acknowledgment that seemed more like frustration as he witnessed others agreeing with Hayate. "Very well," he conceded, "but let us remain vigilant. We need to monitor this situation closely and ensure that Shirou Emiya is not a threat to our forces."
Hayate nodded, accepting the cautionary approach. "Again, he is not," she replied. "I will personally keep a close eye on Shirou and ensure that he remains an ally to our cause."
As the meeting continued, the topic of Shirou Emiya and his involvement with the Time-Space Administrative Bureau dominated the discussions. Some officers voiced their concerns, worried about the implications of having an outsider with unknown powers among their ranks. Others, however, saw the potential benefits of his unique abilities and experiences.
Hayate, as the Commander, fielded their questions with confidence and composure. She presented detailed reports on Shirou's abilities, his combat skills, and his magic known as "reinforcement". Though one of them brought out another point, "From the footage shared by Instructor Nanoha, he seems to hold another magic than reinforcement. He brought forth a sword, twisting it into an arrow and having it contain enough explosive energy to destroy a rather large group of monsters. What do you have to say about this?"
"We are still in the midst of studying his other spells and capabilities. Though from our observation, these constructs do not seem light-based like that of Chrono Harlaowns. So our researcher concluded it's potentially a spatial storage spell of some kind. But we have yet to confirm this with Shirou Emiya and results can only be delivered if he is allowed to be present in an environment where he can use his magic." The officers' skepticism began to wane as they were presented with concrete evidence of Shirou's prowess, his potential contributions to their missions, and the mysteries that intrigued them.
One of the younger officers spoke up, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Why did you personally take an interest in Shirou, Commander Yagami?" he asked, genuinely curious. "Surely, someone of his caliber could have been evaluated and integrated by our specialized teams."
Hayate smiled, her eyes softening with warmth. "Because Shirou isn't just a mage with extraordinary powers," she replied. "He's a person with a strong sense of justice and a deep desire to protect others. He doesn't just want to hide behind our ranks; he wants to be on the frontlines, making a difference."
"He reminds me of the ideals we stand for," Hayate continued. "The courage to stand against injustice, the will to protect the innocent, and the determination to face any challenge head-on. Shirou embodies those principles, and I believe he can be a valuable asset to our team, and our organization as a whole."
The room fell silent again as Hayate's words resonated with her subordinates. They could see the sincerity and passion in her eyes, and her belief in Shirou's potential was contagious.
One of the older members cleared his throat, breaking the silence once more. "Very well, Commander Yagami," he said, his tone monotone. "We will trust your judgment in this matter. But remember, our TSAB is a vast organization with many responsibilities. We must ensure that Shirou's presence does not compromise the safety and security of our operations."
Hayate nodded in agreement. "Of course, Lieutenant General," she replied. "I will take every precaution to ensure that Shirou's integration into our ranks is seamless and beneficial to our goals. And to add further to this discussion, Riot Force 6 will be going on a relic-related mission tomorrow. You can see for yourself how effective Shirou Emiya is."
With that, the meeting continued, with a smiling Hayate ignoring the heated glare she kept getting from a certain individual sitting on the opposite side.
{Break}
-Riot Force 6 male bathroom-
The bathroom was well-lit and spacious, with the sound of running water from the faucet filling the air. Shirou stood at the sink, meticulously brushing his teeth. He glances at the reflection of his new teammate. Erio Mondial was a young boy with striking red hair similar to his own, which wasn't that surprising for but rather how young he was. Their reflections appeared side by side, each silently minding their own business with an awkward air atmosphere settling in.
'I just can't get over the fact they let a ten-year-old join the military.' Shirou thought privately, not knowing what to think about the TSAB anymore. Fate assured him that they did not actively recruit young kids and Erio was an extremely special case… It didn't help that all three of Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate themselves started at a young age.
He really was having mixed feelings about this.
On the other hand, Erio couldn't help but steal curious glances at Shirou, trying to process the idea of someone from a completely different reality working with him.
He spoke first, curiosity evident in his voice.
"So, Shirou, how did you end up in our reality? It's just so strange to think about." Their leader gave the main team a general resume of Shirou's background with the latter's permission. Of course, it was a bit hard to imagine such a thing being real, though given how seriously both the Commander and Fate presented this information — he had to believe it. "But why does everyone know about your origin? Not that I mind it, of course, just curious."
"I don't really have a reason to hide it," he answered honestly. "Even if I did, my circumstances would have been discovered by everyone sooner or later. So might as well open the seal from the beginning."
"I see," Erio nodded, giving the redhead a thumbs up. "Regardless, I'm grateful that you decided to trust us even if we just met. I'll be sure to do my best to help you in any way possible!"
Shirou chuckled, finding the boy's drive to help him both adorable and admirable. "Forget about that, it's not something you should be worried about." He said while patting Erio's head.
"Hey, stop treating me like a kid!"
"But you are one."
"..." Erio has no way to contradict that statement. "Anyways, how did you even get here in the first place?" He asked while continuing to brush his teeth.
"It's a long story, but the short version is that a friend of mine was practicing some highly advanced spell without much experience using it beforehand and used me as a test dummy. Next thing I knew, I was here, in a world I had never seen before surrounded by crumbling buildings and ghouls chasing after people."
Erio raised an eyebrow.
"That's certainly chaotic, I can't imagine how your state of mind would have been. Also, that's a weird friend you got there… you're sure it's not just some distant planet you discovered? There are many planets in the Galaxy similar in appearance to Earth."
Shirou pauses before sighing, "I wanted to believe that as well in the beginning, but after spending some time there and witnessing the differences, I knew this was another reality entirely. The magic system alone is vastly different from what I know."
Erio nodded, trying to understand the concept of parallel realities. He finished brushing his teeth and leaned against the sink, crossing his arms.
"It's still hard to believe, but if you're sure, then I'll take your word for it. I've seen my fair share of strange things in TSAB." He said contemplatively, his own past alone made him experience plenty of extreme scenarios.
"I understand how bizarre it must sound. But, Erio, I'm here now, and I want to make the most of this opportunity. I'll do my best to contribute to the team."
"But don't you feel lost?" He asked, unable to understand how the guy could keep smiling or even have such a positive attitude when there was no guarantee that he could ever make it back. Relating to his circumstances to some extent, the boy found it difficult to believe that Shirou wasn't immensely affected by this in some way.
"I did in the beginning," Shirou admitted. "When I first realized about my situation, I didn't know what to do anymore. I'm not a genius Magus like my friend so I couldn't attempt to come up with a solution to go back — on top of that my talent with magecraft is non-existent with a single exception."
"Regardless, we'll make sure to help you out as much as possible." Shirou appreciates Erio's resolve and nodded gratefully. He found it weird how everyone in the Time-Space Administrative Bureau was so friendly and open toward him. Even though he hadn't met that many people, their welcoming nature still astounded him.
'At least I don't think I need to keep my guard up constantly like in the Clocktower.' Back there, some families still harbored great resentment towards his father and both he and Rin made sure to keep his past hidden from the general masses. They were especially wary of the families related to the fourth Grail War like the Archibalds. "Here no one knows about the Magus Killer given he never existed."
A curious thought in his mind as he thought about that, given this Earth seemed like a copy of his old one. It made Shirou question if it had another version of Kiritsugu or even himself.
As they exit the bathroom, they continue their conversation, their footsteps echoing through the corridors of the TSAB headquarters.
"By the way, Erio, you're quite you—wah!" His speech got interrupted as a shadow leaped from around the corridor and grabbed onto his face.
"Kyu!" Stunned and in shock, Shirou fell onto the floor and tried to get the little scaly creature away from him. "Kyu!" It stubbornly held on, munching on hair much to the dismay of the redhead. "F-Fried!? Not again!"
Friedrich, the same creature with birdlike wings and the body of a lizard with a dragon with a horn at the end. A phantasmal creature that he'd never seen in his own world given dragons were no longer roaming Earth anymore. Though this one wasn't the size of a house like he read and didn't breathe Magical Energy… yet at least.
"Ah, F-Fried!" Came the voice of a young girl, rushing down the corridor with a reddened face and heavy breathing after having to chase the little things for a while. "I-I'm so sorry, Emiya-san! I don't know why he's reacting like this, this is a first…"
"It's okay, Caro, this little fella is just too friendly," Shirou said, hoping the girl wouldn't run away from him like last time out of embarrassment. Caro Ru Lushe, a young girl around the same age as Erio and a member of Riot Force 6 like him. A mage specialized with summoning from what he understood, though it bugged him initially why these two were here and exposed to great danger at such a young age — he knew he couldn't do much aside from making sure they wouldn't get hurt. Unlike with Teana and Subaru, he had no idea how good these two were, Fate mentioned that Erio was a spear user and possessed a lot of talent as a mage.
"Maybe he's curious about your nature as someone from another world?" Erio suggested, chuckling at the sight of Shirou struggling. Suddenly, he recalled a message he received from Nanoha. "Oh right, we're getting our new devices today! We should get going, I think the others are also waiting for us."
Helpless to remove the little dragon who made his head its nest, Shirou released a heavy sigh before accepting his fate.
"H-He likes you, Emiya-san." While on their way, Caro tried to start a conversation with him, still a bit shy and timid.
"I don't know whether having a dragon like me is a good thing or a bad thing."
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"So these are our new devices?" In the equipment room, all five recruits gathered and watched in marvel at the items presented before them. With stars in her eyes, they couldn't help but ask the brunette researcher again.
"Yup, these were made thanks to the help of Fate-san, Nanoha-san, and Hayate-san. All of them have been carefully tailored to suit you and your style as much as possible. Though of course, without testing there is bound to be some area that may be lacking so we will fine-tune them along the way."
Each device had a design small enough to be carried in their day-to-day lives. Erio resembled that of a watch, Caro had a bracelet with a shiny pearl, a necklace for Subaru, and a card of some sort for Teana. As for him, Shirou if someone was playing a prank on him as his turned out to be a device that bore a striking resemblance to Rin's pendant — it was basically the same appearance-wise.
"Did you like yours?" Rein flew over his head and looked at him curiously. "Your case was a bit unique given we had to start everything from the start and come up with something entirely new to work with your body. But thanks to the help of our researchers and myself we managed to come up with a prototype; Rubin.
"But why this item in particular?" He asked, having used Structural Analysis to get a better understanding of the device in question. The necklace, though it looked quite small visually, held an enormous amount of components. So much so that Shirou had a hard time imagining how this thing could even work in the first place and let alone turn into a barrier jacket. Truly, the technology in this world had come to a level he could have never imagined.
"Well, given you along with Erio and Caro have no experience dealing with personal devices for long, we chose a rather simple design to ease their usage during field combat. For now, yours in particular only comes with a modified barrier jacket without any weapons I'm afraid. The jacket alone took all of our technical department's effort to produce and we didn't have any time for a weapon." She said with an awkward face, thinking that he was disappointed which was not true at all. "Unlike the rest, there isn't any limiter on the device in particular as it's merely a barrier jacket. So you have access to the full power of the device."
"A-Ah, please don't say it like that, I'm more than happy with this and actually prefer for it to be kept this way as I already have my weapons." Having a physical weapon on him was a bit redundant given the existence of his Tracing. Just like a barrier jacket, it would use his Magical Energy to stay active, he already had Noble Phantasms which used next to nothing to call forth — not to mention he didn't need to send a constant flow of energy to keep them active. "Also a limiter?"
Before either Rein or the researcher next to him could answer the question, the door to the room opened as Nanoha walked inside. "Yes, each device comes with a limiter that puts a certain threshold on mages that cannot be exceeded without permission." She said, giving him a basic understanding of what Rein meant.
"Eh, does that mean you also have a limiter placed on you?" Subaru asked, sending a chill up Shirou's spine when he once again remembered the attack Nanoha used against the ghouls. If that was her being limited to a certain extent then he dreaded imagining her at full power… it just made him question what kind of monster she was. And apparently, there were people above her!
"Of course, it is a standard rule for all mages without exemption." She glanced at Shirou before scratching her chin, the latter tilting his head in confusion. "Okay, maybe with one exception. But anyways, this limiter causes us to lose a few ranks. In my case, I go down by two levels and count as an AA-rank mage while Hayate remains an S-rank. If we want to access our full power then that requires permission from the higher-ups."
Shirou nodded his head, getting more and more familiar with the way TSAB functioned. At the end of the day, this place was still a militaristic organization first and foremost. Despite his initial doubts about it being the same as the Mage Association, time and exposure proved differently. But that of course did not necessarily mean they were more easygoing or harsh, they had their own rules which he was reminded to read up on soon enough.
"Will I get into trouble?" He asked, not looking forward to his presence bringing unnecessary trouble to the group.
"Don't worry, Shirou. If this was in the beginning then there would have been some hiccups along the way, but Hayate-chan and Fate-chan made sure to take care of everything. You won't have to deal with some nosy higher-up." Nanoha assured him with a smile, earning a sigh of relief from Shirou. "Now, let's go and test these dev—" In the middle of her speech, Nanoha's voice got shadowed by the sound of a blaring siren.
"What?" He looked around to see red lights flashing inside the room with the monitors displaying an emergency sign. Already, he was getting a bad feeling from this, guessing that their first mission came sooner than he anticipated.
"A level 1 alert?" Nanoha said with a frown, gazing at another screen where the red emergency background changed into the image of a blue-haired man. "Griffith, what happened?" She asked.
"We have received Intel from the Saint Church about the localization of possible relics they have been searching for."
"Where is it exactly?"
The comms turned on with Hayate's voice, "At the district of Aelim Foothill, the 3rd railway to be precise." The screen changed to show him and the team footage of a moving train.
"Eh… what are those things?" He asked, pointing at the small drones with tentacles embedded inside the moving vehicle. Sparks flew as the convoy continued to travel at a dangerous speed.
"We have confirmed the presence of multiple drones, at least thirty, both outside and inside the train. They have bypassed the security and have taken control of the system while blocking us off. On top of that, there is an unidentified variant located at the center."
Thirty… that certainly sounded like a lot, but he had no idea how dangerous a single one of these drones were. He touched his new device since it provided him with a barrier jacket that could take multiple shots from powerful projectiles like what he saw with Subaru then that gave him an extra layer of protection. Using his defensive Noble Phantasms required a large amount of Magical Energy compared to any similar ranked weapon.
"I know this is a major task for beginners. But I trust you all to have the capabilities and teamwork to handle this case. Can I count on you?"
"You can trust us."
"Let's smash them all!"
"Yes!"
"I-I'll try my best!"
Teana, Subaru, Erio, and Caro respectfully all agreed, bringing a smile to Nanoha's face.
"Shirou, I know that you've just joined the team to work alongside us for such occasions. But this happened abruptly and I'm not sure if you ca—"
"I'll go," he answered without hesitation. "I'm not a beginner with missions like these that involve retrieval of precious relics and dealing with hostile enemies. I have experience working in such fields and this will also be a perfect opportunity for me to test my new device." He wasn't the same person from during the Grail War who just learned to properly use his magecraft for the first time.
Nanoha smiled, "Good, since you already have a basic understanding of Teana and Subaru's teamwork, I'll have you temporarily become part of the stars team; stars five to be more precise." Though immediately her expression turned serious. "Though you may not have a limiter, I, as your captain, will take the liberty to ban you from using attacks like the one you fired against the horde or ghouls."
Ah, he knew what she was talking about. "Don't worry, I won't." Caladbolg alone not only carried immense destructive potential when exploding but even twisted the space around it to decimate any and all entities unfortunate enough to be standing near it.
"Thank you for understanding, it's just if such an attack were to go off anywhere near the train then it would cause too much destruction and may even hurt someone on our side." She said before having everyone rush to the helicopter. "Fate-chan and I will be clearing the skies from any other enemies so all of you must focus on the drones."
Rein floated before them to continue explaining the strategy. "The relic is found within the 7th carriage and heavily guarded by those machines which include the unidentified variants. The plan will be…." As she continued with the explanation, Shirou noticed Caro by his side who had a dazed look. Fried, who had been quite energetic before now flew by the girl's side quietly.
"Is everything alright?" He asked. "I guess you're also feeling nervous since this is our first deployment." Of course, she would be nervous, Shirou reminded himself how young she was in the first place. Though Erio on the other hand did not show any of such emotions, fully focused on Nanoha and Rein as they continued their explanation.
"N-No, it's nothing." She shook her head, forcing a smile on her face while her hands continued to clench her clothes. "I'm just… I just want to be helpful to others and not cause any problems or harm." At her response, the dragon went over to her shoulders and its face against hers.
"You're putting too much pressure on yourself," most likely from feeling a heavy burden or responsibility to contribute to the group. Maybe she was hesitant about her own abilities and thought she couldn't do much — he couldn't tell. "You know I acted similarly to you when I was first sent on my first mission back in my world?"
"—?" She looked at him with confusion.
"You see, where I come from, people are more… strict? I don't know how to put it, but they take their work very seriously to the point of being willing to do anything to achieve it. This applies to a large part of the magi population as well." Working alongside a few executors from the Church, he learned many lessons, some of which nearly cost him his life. Some of them were nice to him while others barely acknowledged his existence at first. Not that it mattered since they accomplished their task in the end.
"Were you nervous?" He felt like she wanted to ask more than that.
Though nervous? In a sense, he was, though, for the most part, he was always focused on his goals to improve his magecraft and continue building upon his dream of becoming a true Hero.
"Definitely, I was in a new environment with little connections, and working with dangerous elements on the field can make you think like that." He also got to meet a few enforcers, those individuals were just as terrifying as executors. Despite studying in the Clocktower with Rin, he barely encountered these people outside his missions — Rin did mention that it was better that way. "By then, I had already mastered the basics of my magecraft but I wasn't at the same level as my current self."
Though he could already use his Reality Marble, so calling it basic was a bit of an understatement. So he didn't feel it necessary to bring that forth with her.
"Did you… did you ever have an incident where you accidentally hurt those around you?" That question came out of the blue for Shirou and he momentarily didn't know what to say. Though from her reaction, it was evident that she also blurted that without realizing it at first.
She waved her hand around, panicking. "A-A-Ah, I-I didn't mean it like that! Don't mind me, I j-just… just… ah, Emiya-san!?" She got flustered when the boy started to pat her head.
"Are you perhaps worried that you'll hurt someone, Caro?" He took a shot in the dark, going by the little hints and guesses available to him. "You know, I never actually asked before because I never found it to be appropriate and we just met. But what magic do you use?"
She flinched ever so slightly, confirming his previous doubts to a certain extent.
"It's… it's summoning magic." She whispered, a part of her hesitating to speak more than this.
"Oh right, Friedrich… I should have known, hehehe…" he laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head and berating himself for having forgotten such an obvious fact. "Sorry, I think I got hit in the head by Subaru a bit too hard, and made me forget things."
Unfortunately for him, Subaru happened to hear that part and lightly hit him on the shoulders. "Oi, want me to show Caro pictures of the bruises on my stomach?"
"Bruises?"
"You didn't know? Ha!" Subaru laughed, eager to tell the girl everything about her spar against Shirou. "Don't think this guy is innocent just cause he acts all nice, but he has a fetish to aim at a young maiden's stomach with his ar—mmpf!" A blushing Shirou quickly covered her mouth with his hands.
"Hey, don't say such misleading stuff in front of a child!"
"What misleading? I'm just being honest!" She said with the biggest grin on her face. "What are you gonna do about it?"
With an annoyed face, the redhead was just about to give up before he remembered an important weakness of the girl next to him. "No more food for you for a week."
"What!? You can't do that!"
"Oh I most certainly can, Teana will be getting your part instead." His voice couldn't be any dryer.
"I'm all for it." The gun user agreed, showing a thumbs up much to Subaru's dismay as her friend's betrayal. "Can you make it something light? I feel like I've been eating too much lately."
"Food?" Interested, Erio asked what they were talking about. "You can cook?"
"I can, I'll make you one as well with Caro. You both are still growing kids and need a lot of nutrition."
"...I told you to stop treating me like a kid." He couldn't wait to spar with the redhead and show him what he was capable of as a 'kid'.
"Not fair~!" Subaru whined, pouting and looking out the window.
"Pft!" Caro, no longer able to hold her laughter at their interaction, started chuckling. Her previous nervousness was practically gone as a warm feeling settled in her heart as she looked at her team members.
"Feeling better now?" Shirou inquired, happy to see the little girl was in a better mood.
"Yes," she said silently, "My summoning art is called the Dragon Summon, a form of magic I learned back in my tribe." But bit by bit, she spoke about her prior life before coming to Midchilda. Where a young girl born with incredible talent in the field of summoning managed to call forth more than one creature of exceptional strength at the tender age of six. Both of these facts frightened the elders who she called family, leading them to basically push her away fearing that her powers would attract harm to others.
"Bunch of idiots."
"E-Eh?" Caro was caught off guard by Subaru's blunt response to her story. "B-But they are right! I can barely control my summons aside from Fried and—"
"So?" Subaru commented while crossing her arms. "The same applies to all of us. We weren't born with perfect control over our magic and to reach that level requires a ton of training. To expect a ten-year-old to fully master their summons doesn't make sense, If it were that easy then you'd see more people using similar summoning arts. Heck, you already have reached a level of control that even I couldn't reach when I was your age — so you're technically ahead of us!"
"T-That's not…"
"Subaru is right," Teana spoke afterward. "We both had to attend the academy to train and master using our devices. On top of that, practicing separately on our own and much more."
"Exactly! Furthermore, if you're having trouble controlling your dragons then you can always rely on us to have your back. We're a team now! Isn't that right, Shirou?"
"Of course," he nearly added that he had a few dragon-slaying Noble Phantasms in case he ever needed to use them. But he immediately shut his mouth when realizing that it was the last thing the young girl needed to hear from him.
Caro felt her eyes moisten at the encouraging words, holding back as much as possible she wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "Yo-You *hic* guys…" Did she really deserve to have such caring teammates? It honestly felt surreal to feel how trusting and confident they were towards when they just met.
Determination surged within her heart, the idea of letting them down just because of her own insecurities and thus leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy of her accidentally hurting them disgusted Caro. 'Yes, I must be better.'
She still had time, that much became clear to her.
"Kyu!" Wanting to show its support, Fried once again rubbed its face against hers.
"You too, huh, Fried." The smile on her face grew more radiant. "I promise I'll do my best!"
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"Ehem!"
"—!"
Everyone flinched, slowly turning their heads around to find Nanoha with a strained smile on her face with the live footage of the train behind her and Rein still continuing to write down strategies on the board.
Oh right, they stopped listening without realizing it.
"You all seem to be getting along quite nicely." She mentioned, finding the sight of their guilty faces amusing. Especially Caro who now blushed crimson red, she just looked even more adorable. Nanoha noticed her weird behavior before and was just about to go over and try to comfort the girl with a few words of encouragement before Shirou beat her to it. "I feel a bit left out with how well you all are getting along." She said with a mock hurt look.
'It was cute how he managed to handle Caro like that.'
"A-Ahahaha… sorry we weren't paying attention, Nanoha-san!" Teana spoke first, followed by Subaru and the rest nodding their heads enthusiastically.
"Fufufu~ I don't doubt it. Nevertheless, we shall proceed with the mission. So get ready, we are approaching our target." A sound came from her earpiece, a message which made Nanoha open up the exit hatch of the aircraft. "Fate-chan is nearby. As I mentioned before, both of us will be clearing the skies while you guys focus on the train. Got it?"
"Aren't we still quite high up?" Shirou asked, wondering when they would descend and near the train for them to jump on. Because right now, the aircraft flew near the clouds and he could visibly see a large part of the land below.
"Hm? You just jump off." Nanoha said as if it was the most natural answer in the world. To Shirou's shock, she started sprinting and before his eyes jumped right outside with her uniform.
"Nanoha!" His body moved on its own and rushed to catch her hand. But it was too late as she was already too far away by now. "Is she crazy!?" The girl didn't even activate her device yet and Fate was nowhere near to catch her.
"What are you freaking out about?" Subaru asked, pointing at the brunette below with a grin. "You probably haven't seen a device getting activated, look."
"What are you tal—" his next words died in his throat as a multitude of light rays burst from the girl down below. His jaw dropped as for a split second the clothes on her body disappeared… no, more accurately, a strange rainbow energy covered every inch of her figure which barely hid anything. Then white fabric appeared out of nowhere, forming the familiar dress he saw her wearing in the past along with a long staff holding the red jewel in the middle. And just like that, her transformation came to an end as she flew straight back up and started firing balls of condensed energy at the enemy.
"Pretty cool, right? That's basically how our devices get activated. It's a bit weird how you haven't seen anyone activate it… oh right, a different reality." Then she recalled how when they met Shirou for a second time on the field, both she and Teana already had their barrier jackets deployed. "Anyways, just yell 'set up' and call out your device's name. Like this! Stars 3, Subaru Nakajima!"
After getting confirmation from the pilot, she got ready. In a similar fashion to Nanoha, Subaru jumped off the plane, "Set up, Mach Caliber!" She shouted and much to his chagrin had her clothes disappear from her body for a fraction of a second. The fact that she needed to strike a few poses further caused his mental state to take a hit.
"You can't be serious, this is a Magical Girl suit-up." For the thousandth time, the redhead asked himself how Rin managed to send him to such a weird reality. Did it send him to the world conforming most to her taste? Probably, he did see her watching some Magical Girls anime once, but that was more out of boredom than anything else.
"Don't take too long, or else you'll miss the landing." The orangette placed her hand on his shoulders as a form of encouragement. "It may look daunting at first but the devices will cushion your fall, so you don't have to worry about getting injured."
Yeah, that was the last thing he was worrying about at this moment. "Um, don't you find it a bit…" Could he mention 'embarrassing'? Probably not the ideal word to use in this case. "... weird how the transformation works? I won't lie, I'm a bit embarrassed to use it."
"What do you mean?" She looked genuinely confused by his question which further worried Shirou. "Ah, since it's your first time then I understand your hesitation. For the device to protect you and work as intended, you need to trust it. Like me, Stars 4, Teana Lanster! Set up, Cross Mirage!" She exclaimed after jumping out of the plane.
At this point, he facepalmed himself as Teana's transformation took place. 'Again, what's with the short moment if then being all naked? Perhaps they don't feel anything or got used to it…' Instead focusing on Rubin. What was with these devices and stripping the girls of their clothes… "Don't tell me the same thing will happen to me as well?" The weight of the ruby necklace around his neck felt heavier as he now dreaded the idea of activating it in the first place.
Not to mention the fact that their mission was being broadcasted to Hayate and possibly a few other higher-ups.
"I can snipe the drones from up here, the train is within three kilometers so I shouldn't have any issues. But I'm helpless to take care of those inside, and it's risky shooting deadly projectiles when the others will be moving around in such a closed-up space." Not that his aim needed work as Shirou knew he could pull a bullseye every shot but it still sounded risky.
"Is everything okay, Shirou?" Erio and Caro came by his side and inquired. Misunderstanding his hesitation for fear, Erio offered his hand. "You can hold mine, I'll make sure that you feel safer."
"M-Me too!" Caro grabbed his other hand while giving him an encouraging stare. "Now it's my turn to help you!"
Hah, this was getting embarrassing for him. Having two kids comfort him because they thought he was scared of jumping — that didn't sit right with him. "Alright, whatever, I'm doing this!" It was pointless to talk to them about the transformation since it probably cemented itself as a normal sight in this reality. So while gritting his teeth, Shirou assured the two that he was fine and jumped out of the aircraft.
What was a bit of nudity when it came to saving others? Right, nothing. He faced unbeatable enemies from Servants holding anti-world Noble Phantasms with an endless vault of destructive weapons shot straight at him. Back then, he didn't flinch, and the same was going to be applied here!
Woosh!
The wind howled against his ears, the cold biting his skin as he plummeted from the sky with barely any control over his body. Practically skydiving without a parachute, how frightening this would have been in another scenario aside from this one. "At this rate, I'll reach the last part of the train. I don't see any drones, it should be safe to land there." Yet despite his rising heart rate, Shirou took a deep breath before holding the necklace around his neck. "I don't know how exactly this works, but all I hope is that you work correctly. Set up, Rubin."
The jewel grew warmer, looking close up he watched in wonder as the item almost melted away within his grip and took form around his body. He sighed a heavy sigh of relief realizing that none of his clothes disappeared. "This…" he noticed something off about the barrier jacket that started to take shape around his body. A large coat covered his arms and reached his feet. It certainly was quite big and already he could feel a weird sensation from within his body. "It's able to draw upon my Magic Energy without needing me consciously supply it?"
The technological progress of this world continued to astound him. This was literally just a defensive Mystic Code made in a matter of a few days. Though he noticed how compared to Subaru and Teana his device took a lot longer to take shape. "I need to make a move now!" The train approached and if he fell without any protection to absorb the impact then his back would break regardless.
His mind scoured the near-endless field of Noble Phantasms, searching for a solution to his current crisis. "Wait, I can try another method!" His eyes noticed the distance between him and the side of the mountain. "Trace, on!" His magic circuits surged to life with vigor as he pictured two different weapons to call forth.
Light shined within his right palm as a thin, almost needle-like dagger formed linked by a chain to another dagger. "Hah!" With a single move, he threw the first dagger with great strength toward the side of the mountain.
"Now." As the weapon stuck against the surface, Shirou pulled the chain which changed his path. His other palm closed with blue motes of light forming into the shape of a black twin sword that pierced the rock as he firmly held onto the grip. His momentum forced the sword to easily cut through the rocks as if it were butter. "Hn!"
The speed of his fall slowed down considerably and with a single push from his legs he managed to safely land on top of the train with Subaru and Teana amazed at his moves. "This is a joke…" his elation and sense of wonder soon turned into shock and horror as the barrier jacket finally reached the end of its transformation.
Red.
The first color he noticed as the barrier jacket fully came into view. A long coat, a bit loose on his arms than the image he had in mind and quite a bit longer — but the resemblance was too much for him to feel comfortable. "Why is this red?"
"You like it?" Rein spoke within his earpiece. "The designs were chosen specifically to mirror your captains. As for the color, Hayate added that change as she felt it suited you more."
"..." He didn't want to say no, Hayate did him a major favor and went through many troubles to introduce him to the team. So mentioning that he preferred another color would be too disrespectful. "I-I like it." He lied through his teeth,
"Hehehe, I knew you would!"
'Bah, I'll discuss this with Hayate later. Better to focus on this for now.' Hovering in the air, a swarm of drone machine robots released a relentless barrage of laser shots toward him. "Careful!" Subaru shouted, having used her greater agility and speed to dodge the attacks.
"Shoot!" Teana provided support by taking down the drones farther away. "Clear!" With a determined expression, Shirou gripped the twin blades, Kanshou and Bakuya. As the laser shots closed in, his blades moved and accurately cut through the attacks, while also twisting and turning to evade those that were too close.
"Wow, I've never seen anyone cut through attacks like that," Subaru commented, occasionally sneaking glances at Shirou to make sure he was okay. "Then again, it's easier to just smash them!" Her gauntlet grabbed onto one of the tendrils of the drones which she harshly pulled. "Hurrya!" The collision between it and her fist brought an explosion of flames and smoke.
'I can use that!' No time to waste, he used the smokescreen to close the distance. He leaped forward, propelling himself from one floating machine to another, using them as stepping stones. With each landing, he executes swift strikes, slicing through them with ease.
The drones attempt to retaliate, but their shots only meet with Subaru and Teana catching up and launching their attacks on each of them. "
"This guy is acting like bait." Subaru noticed, watching Shirou as ran to the middle of the train with all the drones honed in him. Even with his own barrier jacket, he never let a single projectile hit him. Knowing when and where the next came as if he had eyes behind his head. "That bastard was going easy on us previously, wasn't he?"
Even though he looked mainly like a bow user, both Subaru and Teana could not deny that he possessed an equal amount of skill with swordsmanship.
Teana nodded, agreeing with her friend's observation. "Anyways, we shouldn't let him do all the work."
His movements become a blur of steel, as he dismantled one drone after another. The sound of clashing metal echoes throughout the mountainous area. More machines emerged from within the train. The drones begin to lose their formation, struggling to keep up with the three of them. Soon, their numbers diminished until barely any were left.
"Hm?" Out of nowhere, Shirou's eyes widened as the ground beneath him started to bulge, turning red with the heat melting the metal. "Look out!"
Boom!
The explosion that followed destroyed the roof. "Argh!" Shirou and Subaru who were the closest had their stomach get hit by a robotic limb. "Hm?" But to the Magus, his initial shock turned into disbelief as the pain barely lasted a second before disappearing completely. The attack had only pushed him a few meters away. "Woah, a barrier jacket is more useful than I expected."
"A surprise attack?" They got ready, to face off whatever came out of the 7th cabin. But then their expressions turned to shock as from the smoke a body flew backward and landed right next to their feet. "Erio!"
The boy looked in a bad shape, covered in bruises and burns. Fortunately, he hadn't lost consciousness and struggled to get up. Shirou quickly went by his side to support him. "Did you get badly injured?" He asked, making sure to check for any deadly wounds on the boy.
"B-be careful it ha—ah!" He couldn't finish his phrase as his body got picked up by Shirou who narrowly avoided a large tendril that crushed the metal roof where they were before.
From the smoke emerged another drone, though this one far bigger and deadly looking than the previous ones. Following its arrival, a high-pitched noise spread across the area which affected everyone nearby. "Ah, Cross Mirage!?"
As Teana was in the middle of shooting a round toward the newest arrival, the sudden action of the robot managed to erase her spell within a second. It dawned on her why Erio was in such a state. She looked forward with surprise as Shirou already started moving, intending to take on the drone with his swords.
No, she had to stop him!
"Wait! There is an anti-magic field that will render your blades usel—what!?"
As she initially believed, seeing Shirou approach the drone released another high-pitched attack that previously disrupted her spell. Her magic circle around her gun had been once again dismantled right before her eyes as she tried to help Shirou. But instead of his blades bouncing off the surface of the drone, it cleanly cleaved through it as if it were butter — cutting it in half before anyone even had the time to process what happened.
"Eh, did you say something?" Shirou looked back, checking his surroundings to verify if there were any more drone variants.
Erio and Subaru watched with their mouths open, especially Erio who remembered how he couldn't even leave a mark with his device.
"I'm so glad you didn't use that sword against me…" Subaru said with a wary face, a chill going up her spine with the mere thought of facing that weapon again without her barrier jacket. Her attention went to another weird sound coming from the robot. "Eh, something is wrong with that thing." She alerted everyone, all noticing the sparks of lightning getting more and more rampant with a disturbing feeling rising within their chest.
"It's going to blow up!" Shirou exclaimed, "Everyone, get behind me as fast as possible!" Maybe it was better if they jumped off, but right at that moment — a large shadow flew over his head.
"Kyu!"
He heard the family sound of Fried. "Is that Fried?" Shirou couldn't believe his eyes, the little dragon he'd seen before had grown into a giant behemoth with Caro sitting on its back.
"Fried, get rid of that bomb!" She asked her familiar, the latter agreeing with her command. Its large claws grabbed onto the items and chucked it full force to the ground below. It plummeted for a few seconds only to end up exploding with enough force to shake the vehicle. The others braced for a few seconds, holding onto each other until it finally ended.
"Did… did I do good?" Caro asked, getting off her dragon, and went over to check Erio's condition. "Erio-kun!"
"I'm fine, just wasn't expecting that anti-magic field. Also, you did amazing, thanks for saving me from falling off back then."
"Yeah, you did amazingly, Caro! Both you and Fried looked so cool back there."
The girl blushed, unable to handle the many compliments showered on her by her teammates. Though Fried on the other hand seemed to enjoy it and puffed its chest with pride, the dragon was more than happy that both itself and Caro were getting praised.
Teana sighed, dusting off her clothes and jumping inside from the destroyed rooftop. "Ah, we should retrieve the relics soon. I don't trust this train to not explode as well from a hidden trap. Subaru and I will take care of it."
While both girls went inside, Shirou, Caro, and Erio sat down to recuperate some of their energy. He didn't really feel tired as this little battle barely lasted a few minutes. The only weapons he traced were Kanshou, Bakuya, and Rider's chain daggers. And he barely needed to use Reinforcement the entire time. He looked at Caro, the girl making sure to once again check Erio and himself.
"See? Your powers aren't as dangerous as others told you." Maybe it was a habit that started to creep in or just how adorable she reacted, he once again patted the girl's head. "Just be more confident with yourself."
"Did you experience something similar, Shirou?"
"Not really, my friend told me that I am too much of a boneheaded idiot to be afraid of anything." He joked, making the mood lighter and having the two kids before him chuckle.
"Those swords of yours are amazing," Erio said, pointing at Bakuya next to Shirou. "Even my device couldn't pierce through the outer shell. Your world's technology and magic are amazing!"
"Haha… you think so? Yeah, they are quite good." There was no need to reveal any details about these blades. Trying to explain his origin as an otherworlder was one thing — attempting to talk about his Reality Marble and Noble Phantasm was a whole other can of worms.
"We're here!" The group turned their heads to find Fate and Nanoha flying over after having dealt with the enemies on their side. "I heard from Hayate-chan that you managed to complete the mission incredibly quickly — I'm impressed."
She then observed Shirou, her stare lingering longer than he was comfortable with. A small smile graced her face as she landed next to him and circled around him. "Um, can I help you with something?"
"It looks good on you, Shirou."
"What?"
"The barrier jacket, the color goes well with your hair." She hummed in contemplation. "Try styling your hair a bit to the back, you'll look much better." Her hands almost reached up to his head until he caught it. She tried to apply some force but he made sure to not have her hand anywhere near his hair.
"Please don't, also, I'm going to ask Hayate to make it the same color as the rest."
"Eh, but why!?"
"I have my reasons." The less he resembled that bastard the better.
"Can I make you reconsider?"
"No." He wouldn't falter, even if she showed him those puppy eyes! And for some reason, he knew Hayate was not only watching them but having fun with those whole things.
"Mmmmm," she pouted, unable to understand why the boy kept being so stubborn. "Your hair will get in the way when using your bow."
"It never has in the past, so I think I'm good."
Nanoha sighed with defeat, seeing the boy staying firm on his decision. Not like she was planning on giving up, there had to be a way…
On the side, Caro and Fate watched the two interact with keen interest — almost as if watching a TV show they couldn't avert their eyes from. Erio on the other hand saw the aircraft approaching, "We should get on bo—mmf?"
"Shhh!" Caro shushed him with a slight frown. "We need to keep watching."
"I hope Hayate-chan is also watching."
Erio's confusion continued to grow with how these two girls behaved.
Was he missing something here?
{Break}
-???-
Within the confines of a dark room, a hand tapped a few keys on a keyboard which brought forth multiple recorded footages from multiple angles all showing the same scene of the newest members of the Riot Force 6 coming forth and battling against the drones.
"Hmmm," the man whose face remained hidden by darkness grew interested the longer he watched. "Shooting arts, huh? Must be related to Ginka." The screen focused on Subaru as she destroyed a few drones before changing the attention to Teana.
But by bit, he analyzed her moves and attacks, studying and recording each move and spell used by the girl. "Not bad." Though he complimented her efforts, the man's tone did not sound the least bit impressed. "I shouldn't expect anything less from a couple of B-ranks."
The real threats at the end of the day were those within the ranks of Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa. Both even with their limiters posed a major hurdle that these small mages didn't offer.
"Though they also have a Dragon summoner within their roster… impressive. Though she's still too young and inexperienced to fully utilize her familiars — so not much worry there." His observation continued, a smirk appearing on his face as Erio attempted to take on the variant drone on his own. "Foolish child, without your spells those devices are basically useless against the reinforced shell."
And just as he predicted, the boy got overwhelmed and got hit by a stronger blast which put him out of commission. The radius of the anti-magic field canceling not only his magic but everyone around was quite a fun sight to watch. Their shocked expression was a memory that would stay engraved within his mind for ages.
"Hm?" To his surprise, one of the mages he couldn't identify failed to get the memo and actually tried to attack the variant drone. Having taken note that this boy was not only the fastest but also the most efficient weapons user in the group did not perturb the man. Just like Erio, he would see the fault in his actions and come to sorely regret it. "Humph, not like he'll — what!?"
The man got up from his chair in shock, his face coming to light showcasing long blue hair and green eyes that widened at the sight of the sword cleanly cleaving the drone into two pieces despite the anti-magic field still being active and the reinforced outer shell posing no resistance whatsoever. Instantly, the footage came to an end as he started to digest what just happened.
A few questions came up in his mind.
Who was this new addition to the team? His records held no such individuals and that sword did not resemble any device he was familiar with. The possibility that TSAB tried to recreate another perfect artificial mage in secret did not elude him, though with no way to confirm that idea made him uncertain.
"I'll have to look him up more carefully."
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters and To love a sword having 4 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, Broly and Snafu