Lyrical Sword Chapter 1-7 (Patreon)

So, I am adding this here for convenience sake for the readers and also because it does not look like I didn't write/update anything for a while. i usually just update this on fanfiction. This is a commissioned story for those who don't know....Chapter 1: A Magical Girl?-???-Space held many hidden dangers to the myriad of planets and trillions of living beings in a single galaxy alone. From nightmarish monsters that tear through space and flatten lands without effort to groups of people causing havoc on certain civilizations just to further their own goals and the unknown horror of worlds disappearing into the void of space and time. Keeping track of all of these dangers was nearly impossible for a normal planet, let alone some of the weaker civilizations that hadn't achieved space travel yet.For this reason, many worlds banded together with a union to form the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, officially Administrative Bureau and commonly abbreviated as TSAB. Sworn to protect the galaxy and different worlds as a military-like force, keeping track of a planet's technological advances and providing relief in case of disasters — especially the ones caused by Lost Logias or happened to be magic related.Lost Logias, magical items with varying potential for power where even the weakest one held power beyond anyone's imagination. To be described in a few words, one could describe them as legacies from lost civilizations — most originating from the lost civilizations of Ancient Belka. Weapons of mass destruction that the TSAB swore to keep away from the wrong hand.Their duties never ceased, there was no break or resting for even a minute of negligence could mean the difference between life and death for millions of living beings. And this day wasn't different, for one of the spaceships belonging to the bureau, Maia, hovered right at the border of a red planet classified as hostile and dangerous due to being infested by ghoul-like monsters recently.All units were warned of how the majority of the civilizations inhabiting the planet K7498-n7 in sector 7 were killed off in a matter of days, leaving only a fraction of the population alive and in need of immediate rescue.The higher-ups issued an order for mages only B-ranked or above could go on this mission and find out the root cause of this disaster. Officer Nanoha Takamachi, a nineteen years old S-rank mage and battle instructor who specialized in air combat and user of Raising Heart volunteered for the particular mission."Agent Nanoha, we have discovered a Mana reading in the northern hemisphere at coordinates 48.8584 N and 2.2945 E. We have detected multiple presences of the infected monsters, please be careful. We've deployed A and B-ranked mages to rescue any humans they can find." On a large screen, a girl with blue hair appeared talking directly to their sole specialist on board capable of dealing with such cases by herself. "We've gotten permission from the superiors to remove your limiter and let you operate freely. Are you ready?" She asked the woman sitting all by herself inside the hangar.Watching the state of the planet coupled with casualties and corpses of people she was too late to save, the brunette shook her head. This wasn't the time to get distracted with grief and sorrow for the people below, she needed to focus on saving those that still needed her help."I'm all good to go, Rein." Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her intelligent device and walked to the loading area waiting for the doors to open."We have entered the atmosphere, gates are opening in 3… 2… 1… Good Luck, Takamachi Nanoha."The metal doors opened with her being greeted by a red sun and dark clouds blanketing the sky below her. She could already see the smoke and fire all the way up here coupled with the extreme heat from the dying planet."Let's go, Raising Heart!"[As you command, master. Activating Device Mode.]The small red marble flashed with a bright white with the device activating. Her previous white suit disappeared before getting replaced with a barrier jacket and her ponytail hair changed into a twin tail. As the transformation ended, Nanoha didn't waste any more time before immediately flying out of the spaceship with Raising Heart held firmly in her hand.…(August 8th, 0075)Safe to say, Shirou wasn't having a great day. One could even say that his last week had been nothing short of hellish. A reality that was further reinforced when a ghoulish monster rushed towards him with a cry that sent goosebumps all over his skin. With nothing but hunger and thirst for blood visible in its eyes — it was clear to him that all trace of humanity had vanished from this person.A nearly desolate land one filled with the past traces of humanity and a prosperous civilization now turned into a version of hell itself overrun by these creatures that feasted upon the flesh of the living."Trace, on!" With the familiar sensation of Magical Energy coursing through his 27 Magic Circuits coupled with Magical Energy gathering around his palm, Shirou held two dao swords which with a single strike cut the monster's head cleanly off of its body."..."Did he feel remorse? Of course, he did, these ghouls used to be regular humans from what he understood. People he couldn't save in time and was pushed to the corner… forcing him to take extreme actions.Shrk!With another swing with his other arm, the redhead threw Kanshou through the air, the blade rotating with great speed and killing two more ghouls with ease. A few seconds later, it came back without much trouble."Dammit Rin, just where did you send me!?" Shirou shouted for the nth time in an hour. This couldn't have been Earth, with the few regular people he could find, he quickly realized the truth.An alien planet!He found himself somewhere that really shouldn't have been possible yet here he was. Though the Mana was a bit denser, it wasn't to the point of overloading his circuits and cooking him from the inside out.He had long since given up finding questions like; How did he survive for so long? Where was this and contacting Rin? All that mattered now was protecting the handful of still normal people to survive whilst also doing his best to stop the advancement of these creatures."When are these reinforcements coming!?" Shirou asked one of the people he kept safe behind him, having found them not a few hours ago grouped with other survivors all heading towards a newer location for safety reasons as more of these monsters kept appearing. He encountered them soon after arriving at this place where he saw them fending off a horde of ghoul-like monsters — so of course, he helped.At first, they believed him to be a member of the Administrative Bureau, sent here to save them and fly them away from this planet. Though his confused stare and question of where this planet was ended up crushing their hopes within seconds. Fortunately, seeing him handle more creatures with ease they grew happier. One of the elderly men, grateful for his action, decided to answer his questions to the best of his abilities. It was after hearing this that Shirou truly realized how dire his situation was.At first, he wanted to deny it, call it a bluff, but the evidence and a clear look around him were more than enough to force him to accept the reality that this wasn't Earth."Did she somehow end up sending me outside Earth!" He exclaimed angrily, putting the matter there was human-like life on other planets that were technically real aliens by his understanding to the side. He knew that Rin messing with that particular spell she learned from her mentor on him was a bad idea.There wasn't much he could do aside from accepting the current situation and moving forward whilst also trying to find a way back. It wasn't long before the group was getting stalked by a strange creature from the shadows, hiding like a predator ready to attack its prey. His senses were telling him to run to a more open area as quickly as possible, so he urged the group to rush forward while keeping watch on the surroundings."Trace, on!" Repeating his aria, Shirou Traced both Kanshou and Bakuya. Grasping their handle and slowly retreating with the group. It wasn't until his eyes spotted a shadow on the ground did he turn around swiftly and throw one of the blades in the sky — which ended up beheading a ghoul mid-air in one fell swoop.Shirou and the rest of the survivors made haste, the latter telling the boy that if one of these was present then it meant more would come soon. Still having many questions about these things, he focused on the present and made sure to keep these ghouls at bay as more of them showed up. Again and again, he was forced to put his uncomfortableness at how closely they resemble humans aside and slash his blades."Look, over there! More are showing up!" Shirou was brought back to his present thoughts with that one person screaming in fear at a sight far in the distance. A large number of ghouls composed of easily hundreds if not thousands of them all rushing like an army of ants that just spotted food. A chill ran up Shirou's spine.'How am I going to take them all out without endangering the people behind me!?'During his time at the Clocktower, he realized that despite the knowledge and experience he basically stole from that man — he still couldn't reach his level. He couldn't even deploy his Reality Marble without Rin's help due to his low Magical Energy reserves.But given his current situation, he had no choice but to use something else. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he recalled a singular weapon that was ideal for killing targets at a distance while using as little of his Od as possible. "I have no other choice." Light flashed in his hands before a large black bow materialized into the world.One would believe the weight to be too much but its material had yet to exist making it as light as a feather and many times stronger than any steel. He still hadn't gotten fully familiar with western archery, but Shirou was confident that he would cause some damage to the horde.{Break}Flying through the red clouds, Nanoha looked at the spot marked on her map. She discovered that near the trace of Magical Energy was also a beacon set up by most likely the remaining survivors.Passing past the red clouds, the woman gasped at the sight before her. A ruined city with fire and carnage everywhere she looked, not a single trace of any living being. Quite the opposite in fact, there were thousands of corpses on the streets.Some were so gruesome to look at that she avoided her head."Raising Heart, did you find any living being nearby?" She asked her trusted device, watching the red gem glow as it began analyzing the surroundings.[I have found no living entity in our general radius. But there are signs of people having passed through this location.]The robotic female voice of Raising Heart answered her master, making the latter sigh in relief as she wasn't too late."I need to find them quickly." With her heart further hardened by the resolve to save anyone she could find, Nanoha poured more Magical Energy into her Flier fins and burst through the tattered city skyline. She noticed a figure moving down below, her heart skipped a beat when she believed to have finally found a living person."Wait, something feels wrong here…" the moment she descended from the sky, she noticed the darkened and rotten skin of the 'human', upon further inspection, she noticed bits of flesh stuck on what looked like claws and even heard a low growl."Is this one of the monsters?"She didn't have to wait for long to get an answer, the ghoul turned around with its haunting crimson eyes staring right at her with hunger."Raaaargh!" The monster jumped in the air, almost reaching her if she hadn't reacted in time.[Protection!]A red shield formed around her body which successfully blocked the attack, she backtracked a bit and watched in disgust at the creature in front of her… no, calling it a moving corpse would be more appropriate."What… what is this thing?"[Scanning… this entity is of foreign nature and not of this world. Categorized as ghouls who consume human and other living species' flesh and are known to attack planet from planet for more food.]A ghoul huh, looked more like a zombie if she were honest."Is it an entity from a Lost Logia?" Just hearing its origin made her very wary, Nanoha watched as another one of these ghouls appeared from the streets.[Negative, the likelihood of it being the case is below 0.001%. Extreme caution is advised when facing this creature as they travel in large groups.]Having confirmed its origin, Nanoha's face turned into a frown as she decided to quickly take out these two monsters. Mana gathered around her palm, concentrating into a single ball of light which she shot straight to the first ghoul.Bang!It killed the monster effortlessly, blowing up its upper torso to smithereens. The second one tried to scale a building to land an attack on her which she easily dodged. "Shoot!" Another small ball of energy was shot from her hand and obliterated the ghoul's head.[I have found a large concentrated signature of ghouls in the southeast area at about two kilometers.]"Thanks!" If these things were attracted to humans then a large horde would definitely go after the remaining survivors. Nanoho flew for a few minutes till the dense city started to give way to a desert willed with more corpses. But what she saw shocked her, thousands of ghouls are rushing at a single man with a bow and arrow. Facing all of these monsters without a trace of fear on his face as he pulled the string, the black material bending slightly while green circuit-like patterns covered his hands."He's planning on handling them all by himself!?" She observed in disbelief as he stayed behind while the group of people behind him continued to retreat.Pa!The arrow was released, traveling faster than she expected as it nearly became invisible to her eyes. What followed was the projectile hitting a ghoul with enough force to carve a large bloody hole in its torso before doing the same with four more monsters behind it."—!"Nanoha was speechless at the show of power, that single arrow was as strong as a sniper! She watched in fascination as the red-headed boy's hands already pulled the string of his bow with another arrow already read to be shot. It appeared out of nowhere and looked like it was formed out of magic?"This man is a mage…" Was it a transformed device like hers? No, if that were the case then he would have had a barrier jacket around his body. Now, all he wore was a white shirt with a blue jacket and a tattered pair of pants. Even calling him a mage seemed odd, not a single magic circle appeared as he used his bow, but it was a form of magic of some sort. She began to suspect this man to be a rogue mage who was not registered in the Time-Space Administrative Bureau."He'll die if he doesn't move!" Even if his attacks killed a handful of ghouls every second, there were just too many of them rushing like an endless crimson tidal wave. Yet he didn't seem to care, holding his position while shooting continuously.Then as she was about to intervene, the boy waved and stopped."Oh, no! His Linker Core must be out of mana!"She was immediately proven wrong as with a wave of his hand, something unexpected happened before her eyes.Swords.Not just one, dozens of swords of many different shapes and forms appeared around him — floating in the air as their pointed tips aimed at the monsters. It was an unusual spell, but then again, every planet had its own unique type of magic. Not to mention, Chrono had a similar magic with his Stinger Ray spell."What… What is he going to do with these swords… He can't wield them at the same time, can he?" For some reason, Nanoha thought he would summon puppets or use telepathy to control multiple weapons at the same time — but none of that happened.Then he grabbed one of the swords between his fingers as if it was an arrow. "Using a sword as an arro—what?" The sword in question started to change, bending and twisting into an abnormal arrow-like shape. Becoming thinner with cracks spreading around the surface.Fwish!The arrow along the many swords around him were fired simultaneously.At this point, Nanoha gazed at the bow with slight suspension. That thing… could it have been a Lost Logia? She didn't dismiss the possibility that all of this was his own personal magic. It lacked in power in her opinion, but it more than made up for it with speed and accuracy. Nevertheless, she wasn't here to just stand by the sidelines."Raising Heart, we must help him." She issued a mental command to her device, feeling the Magical Energy within her Linker Core flow from her chest to her hands and then the device. It grew brightly before it spoke again. "Scan one last time for any signs of unaffected local lifeforms presence inside the city."[Of course, I have checked everything and have found nothing. Proceeding to deploy Shooting Mode.]The gold section of Raising Heart's head dematerialized and reformed into a more squared shape with two prongs. Far more mana started being sucked from her core, an amount that could have killed any regular mage.Swish!An angry red aura enveloped her body, with a large magic circle platform forming beneath her feet. She aimed Raising Heart straight at the horde, a dense and steady stream of Magical Energy gathered at the tip of the weapon which grew bigger every passing second.From a small marble to a fist sized sphere to then growing larger than a ball and becoming half her size. The space around her shook, the winds created by the power causing her hair and clothes to flutter. Her magic showed no sign of slowing down, continuing to grow at an astonishing rate without even exhausting her Linker Core.She held her breath."Divine Buster, Full Power!"The entire sky turned pink.{Break}"They just keep coming," back on the ground, Shirou commented helplessly as he continued to fire another nameless Noble Phantasm without stopping his rate of fire with his bow. His body started to burn with the heat of his Magical Energy flowing through his circuits without stop.He wondered if in the end he would be forced to attempt firing Caladbolg II. Ever since the Holy Grail War and his battle against Archer, Shirou had gained plenty of knowledge from that hateful man. One of these beings using the Noble Phantasm belonging to Fergus Mac Róich, twisting the beautiful weapon into a warped arrow before pushing his reinforcement on it to the point of creating a Broken Phantasm.Having never been forced into such a situation after leaving Fuyuki, Shirou never attempted to try this technique once. He couldn't even use his Reality Marble without Rin's help and his body couldn't handle the strain for long even if he could. Even if he could, it wouldn't have lasted more than a few seconds before crumbling due to his still developing reserves.Twitch!His nose twitched, goosebumps spreading all over his body with an acute sense of dread filling his being. "W-What… is that?" Up in the sky, a red light shined brightly to the point of casting a red haze across the ground below. It grew in size which further made his heart beat harder.Shirou dismissed his bow, at this moment, he knew something far more dangerous was upon him and all he could do was defend himself."I am, the bone of my sw—" Boom!Unable to even finish the first verse of his aria, the red light turned into a giant wave of pure energy that covered a large chunk of the city in front of him and the horde itself. With his own shocked eyes, Shirou witnessed what was a calamity that could ruin an entire civilization and turn into ashes in a matter of seconds. The shockwave itself sent his body flying, nearly rupturing his eardrums if he hadn't covered them. The people behind him were far away to not have suffered from the aftermath but many still fell to their butts."Wah!"Shirou landed a few meters away from his initial position, heart racing and with a pale face he couldn't help but wonder how he was still alive."What the heck was that!?" An attack of this scale was no different than something a Servant could produce! It went even beyond what he had seen caster use during the war — not that he doubted that she wasn't capable in the first place. The large ghoul army he was sure to overwhelm sooner or later was gone.Under the dense cloud of smoke, sand and fire, Shirou coughed as he tried to make his way out of the area. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before the dust was forcefully removed by an unknown force."Don't worry, I'm here!"Out of nowhere, the voice of a woman reached his ears. Looking at the source, Shirou was at a loss for words when he found a young girl around his age in what could only be described as a magical girl outfit flying above him with a… sniper?"My name is Nanoha Takamachi, I've been sent by the Time-Space Administrative Bureau to rescue any surviving locals. Are you a mage?""..."Hundreds of questions popped inside his mind from those words alone, he couldn't even begin to imagine where to start with and stood there with his mouth agape. Not to mention, what was this Time-Space Administrative Bureau thing she was talking about? Was she talking about the Clocktower? Atlas? He heard the people he was accompanying just now mention it, but the man didn't expect that members of this organization would be dressed in such a manner. Not to mention, Shirou was certain the Clocktower hadn't expanded to other worlds at all.There was no shock in her finding out about his identity as a Magus. Just the attack earlier trumped anything he could output and the fact she was flying without any sort of jet propulsion system attached to her body whatsoever. On top of that, she must have seen him using his Tracing a few seconds ago, so the worry of a regular civilian witnessing magic didn't even cross his mind once. Still didn't stop him from growing speechless.'Rin, really… where the heck did you send me!?'"Hello?"{Break}"Hello?"Nanoha waved her hands near his face, confused and worried about his lack of response.The man looked like a human from Earth with the clothes she saw on him — which wasn't that uncommon with different worlds having the same style of clothing — and resembled someone in his early twenties."Are you okay?" She asked, checking his body for any signs of injuries or burns. Her attack was powerful, even though she took every precaution to avoid injuring any innocent bystander — the girl still worried she might have accidentally bruised him. Though she didn't have a choice, the horde was getting closer by the second and if she hesitated any longer then his life would have truly been in grave danger along with the people behind him."Y-Yes… I'm… I'm fine." He whispered, coming back to his senses then slowly getting up from the ground.'Tall…' was the first thing Nanoha thought when she was forced to lift her head just to see his face. Even going so far as to notice his amber coloured eyes. She wanted to move and help him but it didn't seem like he needed it."Um, who are you exactly? And the Time-Space Administrative Bureau?" Now he was the one who asked her a question, not surprised by this given not everyone knew about her or the TSAB.Raising Heart returned to standby mode, gaining the attention of the redhead, his eyes widening at her device — a reaction she has grown used to seeing from many denizens of different words. Just from its general appearance, one wouldn't expect such a harmless looking staff would hold so much hidden power and abilities that rivaled battleships and even surpassed them. A weapon of mass destruction some would call it, but she preferred to see it as a tool and companion of sorts who helped her save the lives of her friends and the countless people in the galaxy.She made a light salute, "I'm Nanoha Takamachi, a S-Rank mage and member of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau who are responsible for the safety of the people in the galaxy and the one in charge to find and contain forgotten weapons from fallen civilization among many other responsibilities." The girl paused a bit, not wanting him to get overwhelmed by her explanation and giving him time to digest the information. "I came here to bring back any surviving locals to safety as well as containing, or in this case, eliminating these creatures."The shock on his face grew, with a trace of disbelief flashing across his face for a split second."Is this Time-Space Administrative Bureau associated with the Clocktower?"Nanoha tilted her head in confusion. Clocktower? True there were other smaller and recluse organizations around the galaxy that basically had the same goal as the TSAB. But in most cases, they were not officially recognised or were just considered as a small group ruled over by a single planet. This Clocktower did not sound familiar to her whatsoever, maybe Zwei, Hayate or Fate would know something about this.But before they could continue with another topic, there was one thing she wanted to know."Are you from this planet… K7498-n7 perchance?" She wanted to confirm his identity given he could be a mage sent here from another planet."K74…what? No, I'm from Earth. Oh, and my name is Shirou Emiya." Despite everything that had happened so far, the man… Shirou Introduced himself politely."Eh?" Nanoha wasn't expecting that answer from him, so he was from Earth…"Right, I still have some questions but this is not the place and time."He nodded, "Yes, more of those ghouls could come at any moment. We need to bring these people to safety."Not long after that, a passenger spaceship descended from the sky followed by the main ship which she came from as well. The near hundred people started crying from joy from the fact that they were going to survive and not get eaten or starve to death — everyone boarded the ship with haste....She couldn't leave the planet yet, there were still many cities to scout and search for other survivors. Fortunately, she wasn't the only one dealing with such a duty, hundreds of mages just as capable as her scoured the many regions across the planet this very second. just in case they needed help or reinforcement, then she would rush to help them. For now, Nanoha waited aboard the spaceship, Maia, awaiting further orders and also caring for the mage that followed her; Shirou Emiya.From his name and mention of being from Earth, Nanoha guessed that he should have been from Japan like herself.The entire time since they boarded Maia, her mind returned to bow and his swords. She witnessed the bow breaking down into motes of light, leaving nothing behind. It didn't transform into a smaller form similar to Raising Heart like she expected. Was it a magical construct from the beginning?'He must be an A-Rank or AA-Rank ground mage.'Following protocol, he was checked from head to toe by the guards but they didn't find anything on him aside from a phone, a wallet and a red ruby necklace. Nanoha's attention was drawn to that last item in particular as she believed it to have been his original device. But she soon filed that thought for later, this wasn't the most important matter at this moment."Thank you again, if you hadn't been there then…" the man spoke, making her slightly flush from the gratitude."No, no, you were doing amazing yourself. It takes a lot of courage to stand your ground against a horde of monsters." She both admired and respected people with such conviction to save lives, so safe to say, Nanoha already had a good impression of Shirou despite only knowing him for less than an hour.She then saw him gaze at the window worriedly."Listen, it's nice to meet you and all, but is it alright for us to talk like this instead of scouting for more survivors?" He asked worriedly. Nanoha understood his reasoning, she herself couldn't sit still until it was certain everyone else was saved. But, as a member of the TSAB, it was vital for Nanoha to trust her colleagues and be certain that they would accomplish their duties."Nanoha-chan!" A small girl flew inside the room, making Shirou jump in surprise by her appearance — his reaction making Nanoha giggle. "I'm so glad you're okay! I never thought this planet would be filled with those scary monsters! Good thing we have plenty of mages working all around the globe to secure any survivors. But so far, you've most likely dealt the most damage to them as from the reports we've gotten so far, there aren't more than a hundred of these monsters in each city." Rein said she noticed Shirou looking at her weirdly and decided to introduce herself first."Hello! My name is Reinforce II but you can call me Rein. I am an Air Sergeant Leader and examiner working for the bureau — nice to meet you!" The small girl gave a small bow which Shirou returned."I-It's nice to meet you too." He said, returning the bow."From what I've heard, you're not from this planet. We're more than happy to help you but can you answer a few questions?"Nanoha nodded her head. "Yes, I was about to ask, how did you get here and your purpose?"{Break}Now this was a dilemma.After spending so long living with Rin and working with the Clocktower, Shirou came to understand that keeping the existence of magic and information about the Mage Association as a secret. If broken, death would be the most likely punishment.Yet, these people certainly weren't regular people and actually used magic of some sorts. Especially the staff that resembled something straight out of a magical girl cartoon he had seen on TV a couple of times in the past. Even the clothes Nanoha herself wore at this moment just further increased his confusion over where the heck did he end up!When he tried to use Structure Analysis on the staff, Shirou genuinely felt fear over this… thing. The material itself wasn't anything originating from Earth, it was ancient and held an immense amount of power. Other than that, everything else was just an incomprehensible jumble of data; he couldn't make heads or tails of it whatsoever. He quickly averted his eyes from the staff and grew even warier of these people. They weren't evil or had any bad intentions as far as he could see, but that didn't stop him from keeping his guard up.Realizing how his increasing paranoia was threatening to take over, Shirou stopped and took a deep breath.'What am I doing? Maybe spending all this time with Rin in the Clocktower messed me up a bit…'Now out of nowhere, a small girl flew by and once again made him experience a sense of wonder and shock as she looked straight up like a fairy from those children's books he had seen in the past.Shirou was beginning to wonder if all of this wasn't just a dream of some kind and Rin was outside messing with his mind as an experiment to relieve some stress. He once caught her trying to influence his dreams by whispering to him when sleeping!"Um, Shirou?" Nanoha called him, breaking him from his train of thoughts."Oh, sorry about that, I was getting lost in my thoughts there…" he remembered the questions asked and carefully formulated an answer in his head first. How did he end up here? Mostly Rin's fault, she was experimenting with a spell she had learned recently and he ended up getting caught in it."Umm, it was a freak accident. I was… teleported? Yes, teleported to whatever planet this is and as for my purpose… I don't technically have any. I was confused the entire time and couldn't stop myself when I saw those people needing my help — I had to save them no matter what." His stern voice coupled with his conviction made Nanoha unconsciously smile, she out of everyone here could understand his feeling. She herself recalled the first time she saved Yuuno and wanted to save him and the people in her town from the jewel seed monster despite not having known about Raising Heart."I do have a request, if it's not much of a bother to you." Shirou said awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. "Can you… drop me off on Earth?"It felt weird saying that, as if he was asking someone for a ride home with a car rather than cruising through space with an alien ship like this.Then again, not like his request would be accepted so easil—"Of course!" Nanoha answered without hesitation. "I am from Earth as well, Japan to be precise. Which town are you from exactly?""Fuyuki." Shirou answered without missing a beat. If they could drop him off then he would be immensely grateful. Though, the matter about human life on other planets with civilization and advanced technology existing made him wonder if he should reveal it to Rin. Furthermore, would she even believe him?A chill crawled up his spine thinking about the danger he would be in if other Magi groups were to find out about this event. Would they slap a Sealing Designation on him and study his body for any possible changes? Not like they would listen to him if he said that nothing happened. No, keeping this entire thing a secret was his best option."Fuyuki?" Nanoha's eyes narrowed, thinking about any town with such a name but nothing coming up in her mind. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with such a place.""Eh, really?" Well, Fuyuki wasn't that big and popular to begin with. So it wasn't that surprising that Nanoha wouldn't have known about it. "Though no need to worry, you can drop me off in London instead. I was there initially for my studies before ending up here.""Leave everything to us!"…After everything was decided, Shirou was escorted to his room in the ship. Of course, he was once again checked for any infections or pathogens he could have carried on his body from the infected planet. Shirou complied with every procedure and soon found himself alone in a white room with a single bed, a small table with two chairs and a large screen? He wasn't sure as the technology seemed very advanced so it could be anything else, not to mention the weird language he couldn't read made everything that much harder for him.His blank eyes watched the ceiling for the next few minutes. A small window of peace his mind was given after everything that happened so far. A small moment of silence where he didn't feel in danger or close to death.He didn't know what to do now, Nanoha mentioned that wandering around the spaceship on his own would be a bad idea and she needed to return to the planet to help out the other mages. But when he asked if he could tag along, she refused. He tried asking her again and again yet it failed in the end.Minutes turned into hours, yet he remained in his room. This time, Shirou was practicing his magecraft, tracing both Kanshou and Bakuya as they became second nature to him. They were his most common weapons, barely used any of his Od to trace and didn't use any Magical Energy to use for what it offered offensively. The combat style he gained from Archer grew more polished, he still had room to grow and hadn't reached his limit yet. Yes the situation around his origin and nature of his body made it little to impossible for him to practice anything else other than his tracing he discovered, but that didn't mean the redhead would stop training at any point in his life.When they found out about his particular case, he remembered Rin giving him a weird stare. Muttering something about, "Someone like you managed to take on a Lancer Servant, somehow."Shirou awkwardly reminded her that it technically wasn't really him, but the girl just ended up dismissing him. Admitting Archer's identity still left a bad taste in his mouth, he was sure that the bastard would start laughing the moment he did so."Oh right, I'll be late to help Luvia…"Luvia Edelfelt was an old friend and rival of Rin, both were gifted magi who excelled with gem related magecraft. It would be natural to believe that in a normal situation they would have had a friendly relationship going on between them. But no, those were like ice and fire butting heads at any chance they got and generally leaving a trail of destruction whenever they fought. He ended up cleaning up after their reckless behavior more often than not — condemning him to a glorified cleaner."I promised her to help out with some other experiment she had. Guess we'll have to reschedule that for another date." To be honest, Shirou suspected that the woman just wanted him to spend a day with her wearing a butler suit. She was surprisingly quite nice towards him, much to Rin's dismay.Nevertheless, this was just a small part of his daily routine, the majority of it was spent keeping those two at bay."Yes, he's definitely laughing at me right now." He could feel it in his soul, that white haired idiot was having the time of his life watching him having to deal with such things on a daily basis! Now stranded on an alien planet with the revelation that human life somehow spread outside the Earth and successfully formed an advanced civilization? Yeah, even Rin would join him and end up laughing as if his life was a comedic show.Ding~!Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from his door.Ding~!It was like a doorbell, was someone waiting for him outside?"Yes… come in."The metal door opened, and standing there was Nanoha holding a platter filled with food and a drink. But what caught his attention was the change of clothes, she now wore a sort of tight fitting secretary clothes? Or maybe it was a business suit for the people here… regardless, it looked quite good on her. The previous magical girl dress as he liked to call it made it hard to discern anything really.Not that he would ever mention such a thing. Ever."Hello, Emiya-san, I brought you some food. Sorry about how long it took, we found many survivors and having a ship prepared for them took a while." She walked inside and placed the tray on the table, though instead of leaving, she took a seat and showed that she had a small sandwich for her.Did she want to have lunch with him?"Um, thank you for the food." He sat down, tasting some of the dishes and finding it average at best."I never got the opportunity to ask, are you a mage part of some organization on Earth?"Should he reveal information about the Clocktower? Well, she wasn't a civilian and could use magic so it wasn't against the rules."You can say so, I'm more a user of magecraft than a true Magus, but I still conduct my studies at the Clocktower with a friend of mine. You can think of them as the Mage Association on Earth.""A Magus? Mage Association? I honestly never heard those terms when on Earth. Not to mention, finding someone who could use magic is quite rare. I only know one other person like me born with a Linker Core. With you, that'll make three people."The more she spoke, the more confused Shirou got. The part about her not knowing about the Mage Association was a bit weird but not uncommon. There existed practitioners of magecraft who weren't that informed of the world outside their small bubble. Though the term 'Linker Core' was completely alien to him, there was a possibility she was referring to Magic Circuits and this was another name for it."May I know how you managed to learn magecraft?" Shirou asked, feeling curious about how people outside Earth viewed magic and how Nanoha was able to use it."Ah, that was many years ago, more than a decade now that I think about it. I was still in primary school when I first met Yuuno-kun and got handed down Raising Heart." She caressed the small red orb pendant around her neck. "There was a monster attacking Uminari city and I was given Raising Heart to seal it away."What? For so long? He remembered the name of the staff, so seeing Nanoha mentioning her pendant made Shirou wonder just what the heck this weapon was. It could change forms and then become an unassuming piece of jewel. Certainly technology or a form of magecraft beyond anything he had seen so far. Also, he never heard of Uminari city at all. Shirou was confident of his general geographic knowledge about Japan and the many different small towns and prefectures — but this name didn't even sound familiar.Just what was going on here?"Going back to Earth will take a couple of hours, I'm sure your family is worried about you."The moment she said that, Shirou looked away slightly, "Umm, that won't be a problem, I'm an orphan." It was a simple way to describe part of his story without having to go into unnecessary details.To his surprise, Nanoha reacted more emotionally than he expected."I-I-I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought up such a tragic past."He waved her worries away and tried to lift up the atmosphere. "Don't worry, that happened many years ago and I've moved on from it. It's not a big deal.""You shouldn't say it like that!" Nanoha couldn't help but scold Shirou over how easily he put the matter to the side. Having been Fate's friend for so long, she knew how hard it could be for someone to move on from their past. His response didn't seem right to her."E-Eh?" Shirou was caught by surprise, was his answer that bad? He was just telling the truth, Kiritsugu died very early on in his life while he couldn't remember his past life due to the fire. Shirou never really stayed hung up with his death, as he promised his dad to one day fulfill his dream of becoming a hero in his stead. Even after everything that happened during the Grail War, he never stopped pursuing this path.Now coming back to Nanoha, Shirou didn't know how to respond to her. If he brought up the Fuyuki fire would she be even more emotional?"It really is not that big of a deal, Nanoha-san." He tried to placate her with his arms held up coupled with his still present smile. "I do miss my father, but his teachings still remain with me to this day. So instead of being hung up with his death, it would be better for me to become better every single day and live my life like he would have wanted.""I see, then I'm glad for you, Emiy—wait. What about your mother?"Ah, damnit he should have kept his mouth shut!"Oh, I forgot to ask you. But what kind of Magecraft do you use, Nanoha-san? And please, call me Shirou, Emiya sounds too formal." He tried to divert the topic before he could dig a bigger hole and trap himself. He wasn't trying to gain pity with his past, so better to keep it hidden."Eh, magecraft? Oh, you mean the magic I've used against those ghouls?"It worked!"Yes, yes, that one!""Well, since I am a user of Raising Heart, most of my spells come from it. My magical device helps me to cast spells without going through a near endless amount of calculations and also protects me from all sorts of danger. That attack you saw me use, Divine Buster, is one of my most powerful attacks in which I pour my mana from my Linker Core onto my magical device and unleash it all at once. Raising Heart, please greet our guest."[It is nice to meet you, Shirou Emiya.]"It spoke!" No wonder this thing felt weird, there were so many things hidden inside it, even an actual AI or a spirit of sorts. Still, that big attack was all her!? Just thinking about the ridiculous amount of Magical Energy required for such a thing made him dizzy, not to mention how Nanoha didn't even seem tired when she found him afterwards.Could Rin be capable of such an output? He didn't know, but Luvia was said to be even more superior in that aspect than her rival.'Yet here I am barely capable of firing a few Broken Phantasms and nameless swords before feeling exhausted and overheated.'He couldn't even use his Unlimited Blade Works without an external battery of Magical Energy to assist him. The last time he used it was against that arrogant King of Heroes which he got help from Rin."You really are amazing,I have never seen someone as powerful as you…" Rin did teach about the existence of a certain person known as the director. Barthomeloi Lorelei, a freak of nature said to have something called Blue Blood which allowed her to channel a monstrous amount of Mana. He heard stories about how a simple spell which would normally slightly injure a person could obliterate an entire house in her hand.Of course, Shirou never saw her once nor did he wish to do so.Rin and Luvia were a big source of headaches already. He even had to deal with keeping a low profile with how much infamy his name carried in the Clocktower. Being the son of the Magus Killer was a trouble magnet which would attract the attention of Kiritsugu's old enemies. Even though more than a decade has passed since his death, Magi were known to keep their grudges."Fufufu~! No, I'm not that amazing, there are many more mages who surpass me. For example, the superior of Rein is classed as an SS-Rank mage.""SS-Rank? I heard you mention you being an S-Rank. Are there more above an SS ranking?" This was a good opportunity to get a general grasp of the system these people were used to."Given you aren't familiar with our system, I'll give a basic rundown. A mage is put into one of 11 power grades, designated with letters: F, E, D, C, B, A, AA, AAA, S, SS and SSS. If you want to be more precise, then the plus and minus symbols mostly refer to an upper or lower rank. Does your Mage Association have a system like this?" She asked curiously which Shirou was about to decline at first before remembering that there was indeed a ranking for mages."Yes, but it's not based on your lettering system and is more complicated to explain. I myself don't have a rank since I am but an assistant to another Magus." To be fair, he counted as a Frame which was the lowest rank. But he never was recognized or has any documents proving it, so he just didn't bother.Nanoha dropped her nearly finished sandwich. "You're unranked? How's that possible? I've seen you use powerful magic back there! You should at least be equivalent to a Rank-A or B mage."That sounded more impressive than he was willing to admit. Shirou didn't think he deserved such a high evaluation from her, his Tracing was powerful but it had limitations."Hehehe, you're overpraising me, Nanoha-san. I'm really not that good with magic, you could even call me an extremely poor mage. I can't do much aside from the very basics."Nanoha felt her eye twitch at how he kept denying his capabilities. Did he really think himself that low? That didn't sit well with her, she wanted to show him just how powerful he was. She could see this man was a humble soul, a kindred spirit who shared a similar origin that she could relate to like with Hayate."Shirou-kun, if you consider yourself as a poor mage who could only do the very basics then I should count as a below average mage." She looked at him with a deadpan face.Kun? He didn't expect her to get this familiar with him."I didn't mean that, you're obviously a talented mage with immense potential.""Then so are you!""I wasn't joking when mentioning my lackluster spell repertoire. I can only use less than a handful of spells…""You literally bombarded a horde of monsters with a bow and arrow." She wasn't going to let this slide, her cheerful eyes now narrowed as her smile remained. Which honestly started to scare the boy."That… was a special case. I'm magically inep—""Don't demean yourself!""I'm really not…" he was being truthful."Muuu, why must you be this stubborn?" She pouted, which made the boy flinch.Shirou sighed, there was no point arguing with her. Calling him stubborn? She was being the stubborn one in this case! Really, he had a hard time dealing with such women in his life… It didn't help that there were plenty of them as well."Haa… Fine, you win." He relented, smiling bitterly when he saw her pouting face return to its cheerful state."There you go, it wasn't so hard, was it?""You didn't give me a choice there.""Well you were being too humble, which can be detrimental for your confidence in the future, Shirou-kun." She said that with a stern face, giving him the impression as if he was facing Taiga who was teaching him a lesson. Her posture coupled with the white suit made her look like a teacher as well.And so, they continued to talk for the entire journey. Nanoha talked more about her childhood and a little more information about her role as a mage and the Time-Space Administrative Bureau. To Shirou, this organization sounded more like a space military than anything. He on the other hand didn't have much to say about his life.His childhood wasn't exactly the best, his life after that was quite boring until the Holy Grail War. And during his time in London, he only trained and aided Rin with various projects. Though there were times he helped some enforcers for certain missions across the globe, those were rare instances.'I'm going to miss her, she's a good person to talk to.' In the Clocktower, he barely socialized or even made any friends other than Luvia. There was Lord El-Melloi with whom he had certain conversations from time to time but nothing to show they were on friendly terms. Some Magi hated his guts for a few reasons, some understandable while other reasons being completely nonsensical.It truly was a den of snakes as Rin liked to say.[We are approaching the Solar system, please proceed to the cargo bay.] An announcement came over the radio, startling both of them."Oh my, it seems like we've been talking to each other for quite a while." Nanoha said in disbelief. It felt like they had only been talking for half an hour at most."Looks like this is my final stop, I want to thank you again, Nanoha-san. Without your help I would have been stuck on that planet for god knows how long.""Hehe, don't mention it, I'm glad we managed to help you out. In fact, I have a proposal for you!" Shirou raised an eyebrow as he watched the woman excitedly retrieve a card from her pocket and hand it over to him. "This is my contact details. If one day you ever decide to become part of the TSAB or just want to explore outer space, then don't hesitate to get in touch with me!"Shirou didn't decline and gratefully accepted the card, he saw her watch flash with a blue light before a holographic projection of a large screen appeared before her.'Wow, they really are very advanced.'She tapped a few times, before having the screen turn into a timer. "We still have about 10 minutes. I would be glad to accompany you to the cargo bay but I need to talk with my colleagues for a bit.""Sure, no problem."{Break}-England-Standing near the window at the ship's lowest level, Shirou gazed at the city below passing him. He was a bit worried that people might start pointing at the sky at the flying spaceship which could catch the attention of the Mage Association.To his relief, he learned that Maia, the ship's name, had a cloaking system that hid it from view.He was dropped off near a wheat field a few kilometers away from London at his request and to find a landing area large enough. It was better this way as he could just walk back."Goodbye! Thanks again!"He waved at Nanoha and the little Air Sergeant Leader floating near her face. Both girls waved back, watching his distant figure growing further away, Nanoha felt like this day had been quite interesting."I can check up on him later when I have some free time." Nanoha was curious about this Mage Association on Earth, namely to see how different they were from the mages of the TSAB.Jiiiiiiii~She felt someone staring at her, looking around she found Rein suspiciously looking at her."Is something the matter, Rein?""I should be asking YOU that question, Nanoha-chan!" Rein exclaimed out loud, flying around her head. "You've been alone with him for 5 hours in his room!""Eh, it couldn't have been that long…" Nanoha had the decency to look a bit embarrassed, she couldn't help it. Their conversation was going well and she lost track of time. "I was curious about this Mage Association from where he came from, I never knew there existed such a thing on Earth."Rein crossed her arms before giving the girl a skeptical look. "And that was enough for you to speak for so long? You even handed him your card… I didn't know you had one in the first place!"The brunette tilted her head, confused at Rein's weird behavior. "I always had one on me, what are you saying? And I wanted to give him a way to contact me if he ever needs some help. You're overthinking things, Rein." Nanoha said before walking back to her quarter."..."..."Here it is." Shirou said, walking in front of a large apartment complex where he and Rin shared a single bed apartment. "Did they repaint the whole complex?" Something felt off, the entire street looked cleaner and renovated from the last time he'd been here. Could they have cleaned up the area during the time he wasn't here?He got inside, then saw another change. The notice board was different from what he remembered and the janitor inside wasn't the person he remembered. He wasn't gone for that long, barely a day had passed since the incident.An unsettling feeling came to his heart, Shirou rushed upstairs reaching the fifth floor in a matter of seconds. His complexion turned progressively pale when he began finding more and more unfamiliar sights. He recognized none of the neighbors as well.Many of the people he knew were Magi like him and Rin, yet all of these people he came across the halls were just regular citizens.When he reached the fifth floor, Shirou ran to door 5B, picking up the keys in his pockets and trying to open the door. But to his horror, they didn't work.Bang!Bang!"Tohsaka!" He shouted, hoping to see a frazzled girl open the door and throwing him an annoyed glare for waking up so early in the morning. "It's me, open the door!"Click…A smile surfaced on his face, but it quickly died the moment he saw an elderly lady face him. Not only that, the inside of the room was completely different and looked like someone had been living inside for years."Can I help you, sonny?" The old lady asked.He didn't want to believe it…"E-Excuse me… d-do you know a certain Rin Tohsaka who used to live here yesterday? Did she move out?" He knew it wasn't possible, they lived together and she couldn't have moved out while having someone else move in so quickly."Rin who? I think you have the wrong apartment. I've been here for a decade and never heard of this person. Have a good day."Bam!The door slammed to his face, his current reality soon settling inside Shirou's mind. His legs became weak, forcing him to have his back lean against the wall and slowly descend to the ground. A few minutes passed, and the people passing by him didn't pay Shirou any attention."No…" he grabbed his phone and dialed her....[The number you've composed does not exist.]He called Taiga.[The number you've composed does not exist.]Then Luvia.[The number you've composed does not exist.]Even Issei, that boy always picked up his calls.[The number you've composed does not exist.]"Why… Why me?"With his head covered with his hands, Shirou slowly muttered."Just where did you send me, Tohsaka?"At this moment, Shirou never felt so lost in his life. (Just something to better seperate chapters and avoid confusions)...Chapter 2: New Beginnings -London-(A few weeks later)In a large harbor were rows of container ships where the stationer was a team of labor workers carrying large boxes and other miscellaneous items from the boat's cargo to the storage facility on land. Some were doing checks for any damages, counting, and inventory, and a few lazing around smoking cigarettes. "Hey kid, want one?" James, one of the labor workers, offered a blunt to a new recruit who joined a few days ago. He worked for hours on end while doing a large part of the heavy lifting whilst only taking a quick ten-minute break to eat before starting once again. A youngling who wanted to prove himself, a sight James had seen many times in the past. Just because their bodies were young and strong they barely paid any attention before regretting it heavily in a matter of a few years and even months for those who pushed themselves a bit too far. The new kid was a foreigner, probably a student who tried to earn enough money to pay for his studies and rent. He respected such a mentality and wanted to help the redhead with his burdens a tiny bit.Shirou turned his head at the middle-aged bald man offering him the last remaining cigarette inside the pack and politely refused. "Thanks but I don't smoke, I appreciate the gesture though." "Good, you shouldn't smoke when young, that's my bad." James took it for himself, lighting it up and taking a large puff. "Fuuu, you should rest more, Sherou, your body needs it. I know we're getting paid by the hour, but if you're so pressed for money then me and the buddies can treat you to a meal and drink at the pub down the road after every shift." "It's Shirou," he sweatdropped at the name, even in another world it kept following for some reason — though he didn't mind when Luvia used it. "You don't have to worry about me, I'm indeed lacking money but it isn't that urgent. I'm just working hard to take my mind off of some things."He couldn't help but sigh inwardly again at those words, a hardship he has been going through for the last few days. When brought back to Earth by Nanoha and soon after discovering this wasn't even his original reality — Shirou felt lost. Afraid, worried, and stressed over his current case and how he could go back without the assistance of Second Magic. Without a place to live anymore, he didn't sleep the entire night and went to the local library to research Fuyuki. As expected, not a single mention of the city, a fact that further pushed him down a despairing road. Would Rin come for him? Could she pinpoint his location and take him back? He hoped so, that was why Shirou had been waiting. Hours turned into days, then days, weeks, and nearly a month passed since his arrival to this world and his hope continued to dwindle with each passing day. During the passage of time, he couldn't just stand around and do nothing. First, there was the issue of getting money to feed himself and finally finding a place to live. His Projection could technically allow him to print money, but it was both wrong and went against his beliefs — so he just went job hunting until an opportunity presented itself to work at the harbor. As for his living arrangements… Shirou returned to the old lady inside the apartment where he and Rin lived and asked her if she was willing to let him stay for a little bit. At first, she once again closed the door to his face until he used his own cooking and house-cleaning skills to impress her. "Must be some messed up thing that happened to you if you're pushing yourself this far. Did you go through a breakup? Found your girl cheating on you? Dead relatives? Wait, it must be the stress from your education. I went through the same bloody mess back in my teenage years. Crazy time." James said, already halfway through his cigarette. "Still, you're quite strong for a kid your age, I saw you pull that giant broken anchor chain. It usually takes two people to do that. Yet I just can't see where you're hiding all that muscle."Reinforcement was sure useful in everyday life, especially in such a work environment. Another difference he noticed in this world was the Mana density and abundance. Not by a large extent compared to his old world but definitely higher. This led the boy to experiment at first before his old training habit kicked back in. Continuing to practice Tracing in his room in the middle of the night for hours. 'I'm still quite far away from using my Reality Marble with my current reserves and magical circuits. It'll take a few years for them to reach their full potential and to fully mature.' He followed some class back in the Clocktower, so Shirou learned that he wouldn't need to forever rely on a secondary source of Magical Energy to summon Unlimited Blade Works. He just wished that the time his body could reach that threshold would accelerate. "Alright, I'm done with my lunch break. I should go back." He packed up his bento box before rushing back to help others. No matter his current situation, if he had the opportunity to lessen the burden of others then Shirou wouldn't miss it whatsoever. He wondered how Nanoha was doing...."Ah, welcome back, sonny. I baked some cookies!" Back to his apartment, Shirou found the old lady happily going through the kitchen baking with a large smile on her face. Other than cooking and house cleaning, he also helped her financially and it seemed that this allowed her to splurge on activities she enjoyed. "I'll be sure to try them out, let me take a quick shower so that I can start with dinner soon." He said before walking inside his room.The inside of the room was basically the same as his old one. Quite Spartan with barely any decorations or furniture. A simple desk with a plastic chair and a bed. Dropping his bag filled with his uniform, Shirou gazed at the card sitting on his desk — the one Nanoha gave him. He collapsed on the bed with his eyes facing the ceiling. Looking outside the sky had darkened with heavy dark clouds that showed that it was going to rain soon. The light of the lamps and cars illuminating the streets with a small neon sign of a small pub turning on at the same time each day. A routine he grew used to seeing for years since he came with Rin to study in the Clocktower. But now… the sight didn't bring him any sense of familiarity whatsoever. Everything was so foreign, so cold and distant. This room wasn't his, the apartment no longer held any significant place in his heart and each day in London was a trial in itself.Shirou realized he was living a lie, a mere illusion of a world that held no attachment to his heart. No different than if he was left on the dying planet with aliens, a place that wasn't comfortable to live in. "I can't go on like this." He said quietly, watching the clock tick every passing second. His gaze locked onto it for the next five minutes. Could he truly escape his current reality by overworking every day? No, Shirou had a limit like anyone else. "But… what can I do?" Waiting in limbo like this until something happened… it wasn't a life the boy was willing to live. It wasn't until the wind from his window blew that he watched the card fall into the ground. Nanoha's name and contact details written clearly on the front with the logo of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau probably printed in the middle. 'There are still people out there who need to be saved…' In the infested world, if he hadn't reached the planet in time, then what would have happened to the inhabitants? They would have died, eaten, and consumed by those ghouls. Nanoha was powerful and very capable from what he'd seen and understood of her Rank — but even she couldn't be everywhere at once. Searching for purpose in an alien world, wasn't this the perfect opportunity?Shirou was certain that his current self possessed no ability anywhere near Nanoha's to recreate the same attack as before. Flying remained out of his reach, a form of magecraft that even if he tried to learn would be impossible due to his Origin and overly specialized magecraft. "Though Luvia did give me the idea to test whether I can stand on my swords before launching them… didn't turn out well." He tried it as an experiment, but standing on a slippery blade going at the speed of sound wasn't the best idea and he ended up getting a concussion. Nevertheless, his current self lacked a lot, but Shirou was certain he could help in a pinch. He was willing to help them in any area, as long as… as long as he could leave this place for now. Shirou didn't feel comfortable staying here for now, it brought back many memories of the past. With a sigh, he picked up the card and soon realized that there wasn't any number or email on it he could use to contact her. Confused, the boy tried to read the card from different angles — yet it still came out blank. Beep!"Woah!" Light flashed from the card as a holographic screen appeared before him, showcasing a keyboard along a message screen with Nanoha's name on the top. Hesitantly, he touched one of the keys and the letter device registered his input. "Does this count as advanced alien technology? And how does she get the message without internet or signal?" So many questions passed through his mind, Shirou was by no means an expert when it came to technology but he has had his fair share of interest in the latest products and his tendency to help people by repairing their machines like cars, air conditioners and much more gave him a better understanding than the average person. So it came as no surprise that this small card that felt like it was made of hard paper would actually be a communication device with no use of magic. A quick use of Structural Analysis showed layers and layers of microscopic-sized chips and motherboards so infinitely small embedded inside the material. There was even a battery-like object inside… "Can I make some of my own? Wait, I'm getting distracted here!" Still, his hand touching the phone inside his pocket, Shirou wouldn't let it go anytime soon. That item thankfully survived the journey from his original world and served as important memorabilia. "I wonder if the timezone is different from where she is right now? Do they even have the same Monday-to-Sunday system over there? It is a different planet after all." Thinking about what he should write, Shirou decided to keep it short just in case she was busy — he didn't want to needlessly stress her out for his case."Ah, there is a word limit, I'll need to write something short and simple." {Break}-Midchilda Central-At the headquarters of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, specifically in the city of Cranagan which was the capital holding countless skyscrapers and training facilities for the upcoming mages and long-time veterans. From restaurants with cuisines coming from all around the galaxy, hotels that attracted tourists from countless planets, and a general thriving economy that added another layer of prosperity to the planet. Within the main area where the TSAB held their main offices was a young lady happily typing on her keyboard while looking over the details of the latest mages taking the exam. Teana Lanster and Subaru Nakajima.  "Hummm~♪" she hummed a song while reading their bio, accomplishments, and qualifications. "They're quite talented, don't you think so, Fate?" By Nanoha's side was her longtime enemy turned best friend, Fate Testarossa."Yes, they've shown remarkable team spirit and even their previous examiners mentioned how they're capable of becoming A-Rank mages. Teana Lanster, a user of the Midchildan magic system and a telepath at that. Proficient in shooting from the reports, we'll see more of it during the exams. With Subaru Nakajima using Belkan Magic with rollerblades, I've seen a lot of types but her case sure is rare. Her hand-to-hand mastery is superb and sharp instincts that will be crucial during battle." Her eyes focused on Subaru's profile. "Though if I remember correctly, I understand she happened to be one of the fire victims you've saved in the past. Will you look over their examination?" The incident that happened all those years ago, four years to be more precise, was an event where barely anyone knew that they were involved in the rescue operation. This was due to them having not announced their presence there officially — thus not making the local authorities give them the proper credit. In the end, neither she nor Nanoha cared about such a minor thing, so they didn't try to change anything.Nanoha nodded, "Of course, I wonder how she'll react when seeing me." "Ecstatic, you're her idol after all. Though the girl will wonder if you even remember her in the first place." "Fufufu~, Of course, I remember her, the day of the fire was quite a harrowing experience, and I'm glad I could manage to save her in time. She was a brave child, glad to see Subaru grow up into such an accomplished mage." Nanoha couldn't help but feel a sense of pride coming from her heart, seeing the younger generation bloom right before her eyes was a feeling few things could replicate. 'I sounded like an old person…' Given how long she has been working as a mage it certainly felt like a long time. 'I wonder how's Shirou doing?' The matter from them still occupied her mind, especially the young redhead. Coming back to Midchilda she tried to research the town he mentioned, Fuyuki, and once again came up with nothing. And even Japan's database which she asked to get temporary access to for research purposes didn't hold anyone under the name Shirou Emiya which further puzzled the young girl. In the end, she left this matter to concentrate on her current work. Perhaps she was overthinking things once again as she usually did. "Hayate has invited us to her apartment for a sleepover after the exams for the new recruits are over, are you free?" Fate asked, reading the message she just received. "A sleepover? Sure, I don't mind coming over." Her device beeped with a message notification. "Ah, that must be Hayat—"Nanoha's words died down her throat as she read the message. It wasn't a message from her friend, but rather from a person, she was just thinking about not that long ago. "Eh, Nanoha? Is something the matter?" Fate noticed the sudden change in the expression of her friend. She glanced at the screen, curious to find out the cause, and grew confused when reading a single message on it.'I'm in trouble, need your help.'Trouble? The message looked ominous enough for Nanoha to get up from her chair quickly and grab Fate's shoulders with a worried face. "Fate-chan, is your ship available? I need to take it and leave for Earth!" She would have used the teleportation pods to directly get to Earth, but the usage of such devices was heavily restricted, and getting permission to use it outside a battle environment necessitated an extensive procedure that would take longer than just traveling there by ship immediately. Unless… "Um, it's in the workshop getting its monthly maintenance, you can ask Haya—" "Yes! Hayate can help me!" Not giving Fate any time to respond or even react to this unexpected change, the brunette left the room with hastened steps leaving the blonde all by herself. ***The first thing Nanoha saw when entering the entrance hall of the headquarters was a familiar figure standing in front of a large door — a fellow brunette and her longtime friend, Hayate Yagami."Hayate-chan, thank you for coming over." The two mages gave each other a quick hug. "I know you're busy with your role and duties, but there was no one else I could count on coming here so quickly." "Oh don't worry, I wasn't doing much, to begin with. Truthfully, I've been trying to negotiate certain matters with Regius, you know how sensitive matters can be when it comes between him and me." She said calmly, though Hayate was a bit worried over how unusual Nanoha was behaving, there was a tension in the background she managed to discern.A sense of urgency."The meeting was adjourned due to small complications on Regius's side, we decided to reschedule for another day. So, your message came at the perfect time, given I have nothing to do, for now, I accepted." Nanoha winced, hearing the person her friend had to deal with. Regius Gaiz, a general in charge of cases related to criminal mages and maintaining order in Midchilda. He and Hayate shared a rather infamous dynamic, she knew full well that the man disliked her friend and held an immense amount of distrust as well.  All of this because of the latter's involvement with her past — calling her the former master of the Book of Darkness on many occasions. "A-Ah... Sorry about that, it must have been hard." She immediately apologized, the last thing Nanoha wanted was for her rash action to cause unnecessary trouble for her old friend. "It's nothing," she tried to placate Nanoha, "don't worry about it, I'll handle this myself. Besides, Regius isn't evil or a bad person by any means, he just has suspicions over my presence given everything he had to deal with as a general, so I don't blame him." Soon enough, her face became serious, "So, what happened? What did you need my help for?"Nanoha smiled at her friend, relief washing away her. "Well... It's a bit complicated but I want you to lend me your help and let the higher-ups give me the authorization to use the teleporters. I just need to go home to Earth as soon as possible. Someone I know is in trouble and I promised to help them out!"Hayate's eyes widened, "You mean that Shirou Emiya from Japan?""Ah," she was caught by surprise with Hayate already knowing about Shirou. "How did you know about him?" "Rein told me, remember I get a full report of every deployment she's involved with — including yours." She actually wanted to discuss this matter with Nanoha at one point in the near future but never got the chance with her increasing workload. Rein mentioned how this Shirou Emiya was a mage from Earth who somehow ended in the infected planet through unknown means. As the 2nd ground commander of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, she was in charge of many different things, including but not limited to information gathering. An interesting piece of news was how long Nanoha spent talking to him, for the entire journey according to Rein. It wasn't that shocking given the girl naturally wanted to help people and accompany them if they were feeling uncomfortable in a foreign environment. Still, it didn't stop her from getting the idea to tease her friend for fun.Nanoha blinked, surprised at the information. "R-Really?" She momentarily forgot that Rein worked directly under Hayate thus would give her the full details. "Anyways, can you help me? Please!"Hayate chucked, "Come on now, we're friends, why would I ever not help you with such things, Nanoha-chan? Let me make a quick call." She went to the side before starting to talk to someone on her communication device. In about five minutes she came back with a complicated face. "Now, we have a small problem but not really. The teleporters inside the headquarters here are strictly used for approved missions and I'll need it may take a day to get them to accept for you to use them. Fortunately, I was granted permission to use another teleporter but this one is a bit far away, so let's stop asking such questions and follow me." Taking a car, the pair drove off into the main hangar bay situated on the East-side of the capital. As a commander, she was given access to the facility's inner region and multiple privileges to utilize a spaceship without the need to fill out paperwork. "Arthra is quite a beautiful spaceship," she said. "I believe Chrono should be its current captain." Nanoha agreed, the white-coloured ship not only held a beautiful design that always captured the attention of many whenever deployed, but its firepower and reliability were also second to none. "I've heard that Arthra will soon be out of commission given it has reached its half-a-century-long lifespan — can't believe it's that old." "One could see it as a well-maintained jewel. I actually opposed the decision to retire the vessel. It still can run a few more decades without any issues. Some of its components may be outdated but a few replacements can easily boost its performance." A smile appeared on the ground commander's face as she gazed at the spaceship, many memories were made inside it, and nearly every adventure she had been a part of involved the presence of Arthra. To see it get scrapped and repurposed was a future she wanted to avoid and delay as much as possible. Nanoha looked at Hayate suspiciously, the way she said it gave her the idea that she was trying to get control of the ship and become its captain. Perhaps so, she also didn't want to see the vessel destroyed and stripped of its material. They drove past it and parked near a hangar at the edge of an empty field. Inside was a much smaller ten-person ship used by high-ranking officials to travel to different planets for diplomatic relations or other work-related trips. It had a teardrop shape with only two weapon systems and a basic forcefield capable of withstanding bullets and weak magic attacks — but not any sort of powerful explosions or high-powered magic cannons. Coloured in a deep blue reflective coat of paint — it was a true jewel. "Did you..." "Buy this? No, even with my salary I can't purchase something like this so easily.  This is a vehicle I'm borrowing from one of the generals, she never used it anyways. Come on, the teleporter is further inside the building, we can check out Kaguya later." "Kaguya?" "Heh, just a name I gave to the ship, even got the general's permission to make it official." With a single press on her watch, the doors opened and the two headed inside a room with a large pod which Nanoha recognised as a slightly older version teleporter. "This should be enough to send you to Earth, we'll need to set the coordinates.""Set it for London, near Big Ben." "Got it, though give me a few minutes this system needs to be put up to date so you can use it to come back or I can just pick you up later on with Kaguya — your choice." Hayate sat near the computer and started the procedure. Nanoha didn't waste any time and got inside while touching the red ruby around her neck. "So, you haven't told me what's going on with this Shirou fellow?" Her friend asked, while typing on the light keyboard. "Since you've read the report, you must know that he's a fellow mage from a rogue organization of magic users on Earth. I believe he called it the Clocktower? Aside from that, he knew nothing of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau and our system. I didn't get the opportunity to bring up what sort of spells and the magic system he used as it was our first time meeting and I didn't want to be too intrusive. He's a good guy, risking his life like that to save those people, he showed a lot of bravery and skill that would class him easily as a C or B-rank mage." "That's impressive, such people are rare, especially when it comes to our home planet. Anything else?" "Well no, he did mention coming from Fuyuki, do you know such a place?" "I'm afraid this is the first time I'm hearing about it." She answered."Exactly, I too never heard of this place. But it could be a village for all we know. Nevertheless, he was equally curious about myself and the mages beyond Earth. I gave a small summary and introduction to what our role is — to save people and races all across the galaxy and maintain order. He was quite impressed with what I was seeing so far. I gave him my contact card in case he wanted to know more or desired to pursue a different sort of career.""Eh?" Hayate looked at her baffled, making Nanoha wonder what the weird expression was about. "Since when did you have a contact card? You never gave one to either me or Fate!""Not you too," the girl whined, unable to understand why the others were having such a reaction over a small thing such as this. "I ordered them after becoming an instructor officially and I never gave one to you or Fate-chan because you both already have my details." "I see," Hayate didn't continue that topic, it was a minor curiosity after all. "By the way, do you have any idea what's going on with him to elicit such a response?"Nanoha had some thoughts on what it could have been and the idea itself was vastly horrifying and she prayed that it wasn't the case. "When I first met Shirou it was on a planet overrun by some ghouls. So I'm dreading that such creatures might have followed him there or it was an entity from a sort of infection spreading through the population."Hayate frowned and brought a file on another screen and read it while continuing to prepare the last bits of command to activate the machine. "From what I'm reading, there was no particularly dangerous virus or pathogen from what we discovered. And Rein did mention how his body was checked beforehand and cleansed. You're worrying too much, Nanoha." With the last bit done, the pod started to glow with an ethereal pale blue color. "Still, be careful!" Nanoha nodded, seeing her body start to glow before she disappeared completely.{Break}-Earth-"This is too expensive," back on Earth, Shirou now stood in front of a vendor in the farmer's market picking up a few fruits for the elderly woman who let him live at her place as a thank you gift. Also because he discovered just recently that the lady was suffering from an illness due to her advanced age that made her forget simple things from time to time. She even forgot who he was a couple of days ago and almost called the cops on him as an intruder or burglar."I still can't believe that she remembered me by tasting one of the leftover dishes I stored in the fridge." The boy whispered, chuckling a bit when recalling the chaotic morning back then.Let's see, he cooked a hotpot, and shepherd's pie and made her favorite dish; jellied eels this morning. This was pretty good despite its unappetizing appearance, just needed a bit of red chili sauce on the mash. The cooking distracted him from his messy thoughts from last night. Writing the perfect message to Nanoha was harder than he expected, Shirou didn't know what to say or convey in the message.Saying something like, 'Hi, I just found out that I'm from another Earth in a different reality than this one. Could you come back to pick me up?' was ridiculous. He doubted the girl would even believe him given he didn't have any proof of such a claim aside from his missing record — but that hardly proved anything. The redhead worried that Nanoha wouldn't believe him and recommended to visit a psychiatrist.That would really push him to end up crying. He contemplated buying a ticket back to Japan and once again tried to search for Fuyuki and other towns to also find the existence of people he knew. Though this plan came with many issues, first being his lack of sufficient funds and an actual plan when in Japan. Second was the fear of being slapped with the cold reality that he truly was all alone with no one he knew. "Boy, a bag of apples for three quid is quite reasonable given it's no longer the season." The middle-aged seller said, not wanting to reduce the price in the slightest. "Tell you what, buy two of 'em and I'll give it to you for five quid, deal?" "Alright, thanks," he paid the price before packing up and walking out. "No problem, come again!" Having already bought some flour coupled with some sugar and other ingredients to bake an apple pie for the elderly lady. As he wasn't planning on staying for long, this would serve as one of his many appreciation gifts for letting him stay. Today, Shirou had a free day from work, this giving a lot of free time. Shirou did try to search for a second job for such a moment but was unable to find out. "Hmm?" To the side was a narrower road that he remembered using in his past world, a path which acted as a shortcut to his apartment. "Guess I'll take it, it's almost sundown." Would Nanoha come by spaceship like last time? The possibility of traveling through space was something he looked forward to actually, as last time he didn't get the opportunity to see much of the outside given he was in his room the entire time. Though the question came of how would the girl contact him? Not like she had his number or contact, a small worry of his. StepStepA sound of footsteps came from behind along with a small group of people, four men, on his path on the other side of the road. All of them were wearing hoodies and beanies.He didn't remember the street being this crowded or dirty for that matter, though chalked it up to another difference between his old world and this one. Given the Clocktower's presence, the nearby neighborhood was quite clean and less crowded. "..."The people in front of him stopped moving, blocking his path. "Wagwan fam, went for some shopping man see. Where's your phone at? Want to know the time, see."'Damn it,' Shirou wasn't dense enough to not realize what was happening to him. Trying to turn around and leave the other side he found another group of three people making sure he wouldn't escape. 'I should have taken the longer path.'"What endz you from, my gee?" Another one asked him, having a twisted smile on his face. A few of the men chuckled around him, he could feel their gaze sizing him up and his items. "You an outsider, innit?" Nevertheless, it was best to dismantle the tension peacefully, he didn't want to fight them and unfortunately was incapable of using any hypnosis spell. "Hey, I don't want any troubl—""You're pissing me off, fam. Did you not hear my question?" "Hah," Shirou sighed, unafraid that these people would hurt him or anything like that. He suffered enough crushing defeats in hand to hand combat against Rin and Luvia that dodging became one of his better skills at this point. "Listen, I don't want to hurt anyone here. I'll give you my groceries if that's what you want along with all of my money — which isn't much, to begin with. But I'll be keeping my phone." Giving away his phone was out of the question, it held hundreds of pictures of his past world and everyone he knew. It was the only tether that connected him to his original reality and carried more value than anything he owned.Unfortunately for him, his response only seemed to have triggered the people in front of him. "You think this is funny? A joke?" A man wearing a dark blue hoodie snarled while coming up to him. He didn't even laugh or say anything related to that. "No, I just want to go back home," the irony of those words was not lost on him. "Then don't waste man's time and take out your phone and wallet, now!" Right, looks like they weren't going to let go of his phone. Shirou was willing to hand over his clothes even but these people would obviously not listen or care. So instead, he shook his head. "Again, I'm afraid I can't give it to you… it's very important to me."Their response came from all seven of them taking out knives from their pockets, further worsening the atmosphere. Now having faced a weapon like Gae Bolg and even having his heart carved out once, coupled with nearly dying by facing a certain golden king or that white haired bastard — Shirou wasn't afraid. His face showed helplessness over his bad luck, though the others saw it as a sign of terror which made them smirk. "Afraid to get shanked? Too late for regrets!" The same man who spoke to him at first made a move. His arms extended forward for a simple thrust attack which Shirou evaded by simply turning his body sideways.'Simple knife bought at a local store, forged with cheap stainless steel and a plastic handle. He attacked five people with this, only one of them resulting in a death.' Information swarmed his mind from just a glance of the blade before he stepped back and avoided a slash to the face. 'His movements are filled with faults and his stance is weak.'Shirou's completely calm expression just further infuriated the attacker as it looked like the redhead was looking down on him."You messing with man here!?" "I'm honestly not." With a loud roar, he swung the blade a couple of times which his opponent kept moving out of the way and dodging easily. 'Left, going for my arm. Ah, he nearly tore through the grocery bag.' He berated himself from overlooking the items he carried when moving out of the way. It would be a shame if the fruits were to get ruined by the end of day. "Stop fucking with me!!!" 'Getting angrier, Luvia-san did mention that such people would become easier to predict and strike down. Though I think she was just trying to trigger Tohsaka back then.' Still, her advice was proven right as the next attack was far too predictable with the hooded man telegraphing his moves way more than last time.'He changed it to a reverse grip. Trying to stab my chest. Shit, I can't step back with the three other people behind me. They'll be able to backstab me easily if I'm not careful.' He quickly glanced at the people behind him. 'Hm, none of their blades were ever used to hurt anyone for that matter, bought this week and quite new. Probably when they joined this small group, so just for show and they might not harm me.'"Haa!" "Watch out!" Since he couldn't go back, he bent down with his knees folded. With a loud clang the man's knife continued to sail forward and almost stabbed someone else. Both guys fell with their knives now having fallen on the ground."Woah there, nearly dropped the apples.""...""...""...""...""..."All the remaining five guys were rendered speechless. Both at the humiliating scene that their leader experienced and how this redhead sounded more worried about dropping his groceries than his own life!"Fam, is this one of those old Kung Fu masters you see in them movies?""Don't know, Will. This guy is crazy, he made Jimmy look like an idiot. Also, this lad barely looks over twenty.""Shhh! Don't say it out loud or else Jimmy will shank ya to death. Also, you may never know, he might be wearing makeup to look young or did one of them plastic surgeries." Shirou didn't know whether to laugh or cry when hearing such things from the others. They certainly feared their leader, that was apparent enough. He tried to sneakily walk away…"Where do you think you're going!?" The guy who he now knew was called Jimmy got up with a red face. Probably furious over what happened and looking at him with enough killing intent that Shirou started to contemplate whether he should land a few hits or not. "You're dead, you hear me!? Dead! And what are you idiots standing there like that!? Get him!" "You really don't have to do this," said Shirou with an exasperated expression. Seeing the entire group now glare at him with the intent to attack evidently in their eyes — he decided to get a bit more serious. He would only use reinforcement and try not to go overboard. Seven people no matter how skilled he turned out to be was not something he could end with one hit alone with his skills. Unlike Rin who excelled at Bajiquan and could probably break all of their bones in a matter of seconds without using reinforcement, he wasn't so talented with hand to hand martial arts. 'Hmm, I can use reinforcement to end things with one hit rather than dragging things out unecessarily.'"Trace, o—"Fwish!Before he could even finish uttering his magic trigger, he saw the sky lit up with a large pink magic circle the size of a human body."Accel shoot!" Everyone was shocked but couldn't even scream as one by one each began to drop to the floor. Seven different balls of light impact each and every one of them to the head with enough accuracy and force to knock them out. Shirou swayed when a few of these almost hit him as well, though at the last second they swerved around and only aimed for the people around him. After that, the attack dissipated leaving him confused and on the edge as he didn't expect to meet another Magus!In spite of that, Shirou gritted his teeth and continued to push past the feeling of uncertainty and tenseness until his eyes widened when a familiar voice came to his ears."Shirou-kun!" Ah, his eyes caught a white dress along with winged shoes descending from the sky. A pair of hands resting on the side of his shoulders with surprising strength to prevent him from moving. Cherry blossom coloured energy washed over his body which slowly dissipated the agitation he felt before. It was her."Nano…ha?" Why was she so distressed?His vision slowly went back to normal as he gazed at the brunette who saved him in the past. "Are you okay? Did the mage association try to hurt you? Are you bleeding!? Have you caught a virus or disease from the previous planet? I tried to find you but the card was left in your room, I panicked and I-I thought the worst…" A flurry of questions were shot coupled with a worried face. "Quick, we need to take you to a hospital!" His body felt… lighter? As soon as he fully came back to his senses, Shirou noticed his feet leaving the ground and immediately realized what was happening. "Woah! Calm down, Nanoha-san! I'm fine! I'm fine!" He hastily tried to calm the anxious girl. "I'm n-not in any danger, th-those people didn't even get t-to touch me. Can you put me down, please?" The idea of suddenly getting flown all across the city by a girl dressed as a magical girl was a bit… weird. And there was no need to seek any medical attention, even if he did get hurt such injuries didn't pose any issues to heal over.Also, the idea of someone spotting Nanoha using magic by flying was a big red alarm in his mind. Even if this world was different from the last one, it didn't change that Shirou didn't want to take any unnecessary risks."Eh?" Confused at his words, Nanoha stopped and looked at him. "Then why did your message mention; 'I'm in trouble, need your help.'? I thought your life was in danger!" "Ah!" Embarrassed, Shirou wished he could only slap his past self for not having written a better message and instead ended up causing this weird misunderstanding. "Um, I think I have a lot to explain first."{Break}-Cafe-After making sure the cops came to pick up the unconscious group who tried to rob him, Shirou brought Nanoha to a cafe. A place where he could discuss matters with her peacefully without having the worry about other outside factors that much. A nice place he and Rin would frequently visit after their work in the Clocktower. Located near a park where barely any cars would pass by at this hour. Now they sat facing each other whilst also having ordered some coffee. Nanoha still had a concerned face on her face which she couldn't hide with a forced smile. "Before we begin, I would like to apologize about the previous message I sent to you. I didn't think about it well enough and sent it without giving it a second look.""So, you aren't in any trouble, Shirou-kun?" "Well… no, but I kinda am," said Shirou, making Nanoha tilt her head at his response. "Also just call me Shirou." "Did someone try to kidnap you?" Shirou spurted some coffee out of his mouth. "W-*cough* w-where did you get such an idea from!?"When she first arrived on Earth, she honed in on the card she gave to Shirou. She tracked it to a small apartment complex, but when rushing inside she found an old lady, and the card was left on a desk. The room itself was empty, having no belongings of the redhead aside a bed and the table. When she asked the old lady where Shirou was, the woman didn't even know who Shirou was and denied there ever being someone living inside the room!A terrible thought surfaced in her head as she believed that he had gotten kidnapped. He talked about a mage association to her back then, maybe they took him away and erased the woman's memories! 'I even was about to call Hayate and Fate-chan to send reinforcements,' she thought, figuring that with the help of her friends Shirou would have been saved in time. Though as she flew across the sky, having Raising Heart scan for anyone remotely similar to Shirou's appearance — she had finally found him surrounded by a group of people which she mistook for his kidnappers.When the girl explained the whole story to him, to her surprise he just facepalmed himself and started muttering, "Not again…" "Is there something I should know?" She asked, wondering what was going on here and the whole story in general. She saw Shirou taking a deep breath,"Alright, might as well say it now rather than avoiding the subject." His eyes sharpened, the air around him changed as a heavy atmosphere descended upon the two."Nanoha-san, I don't know how to bring this up in a way which won't make you look at me as nothing short of a madman or a crazy person who needs medical attention… but I seriously can't think of any other way to reveal it to you.""Please don't say that," she said, a bit sad that he didn't think she would believe his problems or have such an opinion. Being part of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, Nanoha had seen and met people from a myriad of different origins and backgrounds, many having to deal with problems no one could even imagine. "I know that this is only our second encounter, Shirou, but you can trust me. If there is any problem or people that are bothering you and putting your life in danger then it is my duty to make sure that as a fellow Earthling and friend that you remain safe."Wow, he didn't expect such an earnest reply from the girl. It was enough to make him fluster and a bit speechless on what to say next. Nanoha obviously looked like she cared and genuinely wanted to help out, so he gathered his wits and just decided to spill everything."Nanoha-san, the part I said in the past about me being a magic user was the truth.""And I believe you, as a fellow mage this isn't something that shocking. Though Earth does have a small number of people like us, it isn't to the point where I would doubt your claims. Also because having seen you use a bow and those magic arrows to blow up those ghouls more than proved your words regardless." "Right… well that's not the part I was going for." He made sure no one was nearby to eavesdrop. "You see, the issue starts with my friend who was working on some spells she just learned from her teacher on me. The same spell that teleported me to the alien planet filled with those creatures and where you found me. You remember when I mentioned how I was from Fuyuki and you never heard of such a place?" She didn't know where he was going with this but still nodded in agreement, "I believe you also didn't know about the place where I came from, Uminari City." "Yes, I have indeed never heard of it beforehand. Nevertheless, I didn't pay much attention to it back then and asked to be dropped off here in London. After coming back, I walked back to my apartment and noticed a few different details. The road looked more used than I remember. The building was a completely different color, walking inside I was met with people I had never seen before and a layout that was completely different. At first, I thought I must have entered the wrong building, but no, I hadn't made any sort of mistake with that." The more he spoke the darker his face became. Nanoha could hear just from his voice that something painful must have happened to him. So she stayed quiet, her heart palpitating with unease when processing his words. A different looking building? Different streets and people? A somewhat outrageous idea emerged in her mind which she discarded immediately.'No… It can't be something as ridiculous as that, right?'"I was beginning to panic, so I ran up the stairs and continued to see more and more differences. My panic turned into fear… after I reached my apartment room. I called out for my friend who I've lived with for years. I was expecting her to open the door and be greeted by her furious red face or a shocked one given she was the one who sent me to another planet entirely. I was waiting to be met with a messy room as she never was one to clean up the house with me there… guess I spoiled her too much. But no, none of that happened as the one who opened the door was that same lady you met before suffering from short-term memory loss." His voice had turned into a whisper as he gazed at the cup of coffee in front of him, mindlessly stirring the spoon. Nanoha's eyes had widened as her fears were proven correct… but, it was just so unbelievable that she was having a hard time grasping how such a thing was even possible. After all, Shirou did mention that he hadn't even spent a day on the ghoul-infested planet and the journey back barely lasted six hours. Maybe she was overthinking things and he was about to say something else entirely disproving her wild imagination. But the following words were the final nail in the coffin that sealed everything."I asked her where my roommate had gone, and whether or not she moved somewhere else. Rin can be quite eccentric so I wouldn't put it past her doing something like that." His chuckle sounded so hollow to Nanoha that her eyes began to tear up. "You know what she said to me? She said that no one aside from her lived there for years and that I must have made a mistake." Shirou retrieved his phone and put it on the table. "I called everyone on my contacts, yet I always received the same response. That the number didn't exist." He said while showing a few pictures. "Just further proof to back up my claim. This is my hometown, Fuyuki. The high school I graduated from, Homurahara Academy. My home, my guardian, the same apartment that I used to live in." Her eyes focused on some of the pictures he was in along with a girl with a darker shade of brown hair tied in a ponytail. Both of them smiling whilst sitting in a picnic somewhere outside along with another blonde girl.The next scene made her heart stop, as Shirou put on a smile that looked so wrong and lost."I… I don't know what to do, Nanoha-san. Can you help me, as this isn't my world? If possible, can you take me with you away from this place? I-I can help you with any problems and cases like the ghoul incident, my magecraft hasn't reached its full potential nor is it as versatile and powerful as what you've shown back then… but i can still—" "I accept!" She didn't wait for him to finish, just wanting to help him as soon as she could. Safe to say, Shirou was caught off guard by her immediate response. "E-Eh? I thought you would ask me for more proof of my claim." Someone you just met mentioned that he was from another world was something that even he would have had a hard time to accept. "Of course I trust you, Shirou!" She said sternly, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "I promise to help you." Oh, Shirou was beginning to understand what type of person this girl was. For all his words that could have easily been fabrication, she chose to believe him regardless. To take a path even he doubted he would have been capable of walking.She believed him.And just for that, he realized…'Nanoha-san is a good person.'{Break}Click!The door to the apartment opened, it was the dead of the night and an old lady woke up from her nap. "I'm back, Miss Brown." "Ah, sonny, you're finally back. And who's this girl?" She asked, seeing the boy be accompanied by a rather beautiful girl in a white and blue uniform that looked like something from the army.Nanoha felt awkward, they had spoken before but it looked like she had forgotten her. "H-Hello, my name is Nanoha Takamachi. I am Shirou Emiya's friend." The girl proceeded to give a quick bow which surprised the lady."My, how polite you are. She's a keeper, boy, mark my words and don't let her go. Please come in, make yourself at home!" She said to Shirou, the latter shaking his head and laughing at her words. He whispered a small apology to Nanoha while scratching the back of his head. "It's okay, I don't mind it, she looks like a sweet lady," "If you say so," after their conversation back at the cafe, Nanoha mentioned how they could leave at any moment and even right then and there. But he declined.Having promised Miss Brown to bake her an apple pie, Shirou also couldn't leave so suddenly without saying his final goodbyes to the person who helped him in a tough time. So he invited Nanoha back for dinner as well, feeling the desire to thank her in his own way. "Miss Brown, I know this is sudden but I'll be leaving today." "So soon?" His statement shocked the elderly woman. "I don't mind you staying a few weeks or even months, sonny. You don't need to feel any pressure to leave." "Hahaha, you're too kind to me. But it isn't about that. I… I have some duties to attend to. My time here has been like a vacation to get my thoughts sorted out and it's time I return doing what best at. Though before that, I wanted to throw a feast and bake the promised apple pie." "Hohohoho, you're such a gentleman, dear. You've spoiled me with your cooking, I will certainly miss it a lot." Nanoha watched the conversation between those two. Unconsciously smiling at the scene she considered as wholesome. She didn't anticipate Shirou to be so good with older people, watching him assist the older woman across the room to the dining room with both patience and care was cute. "Do you need any help with cooking?" Not wanting to sit around and do nothing, Nanoha decided that it would be better if she participated with the preparation. As she was about to hold the knife…Fwish!"Eh?" Shirou moved faster than ever before and snatched the cutting tool before she could even get her hands on it. "Come on, you didn't think that I would let a special guest like you do any work, right?" "B-But that shouldn't be a problem, Shirou. I know how to cook and can help you with preparations." She insisted, feeling bad to let a boy who just was about to get mugged this morning and suffer with the reality that he was in another world with all his friends and family gone. "You should know that my best points are cheerfulness and my cooking skills!" He chuckled, "I don't doubt that, but leave such work to me while you relax." The way he looked at her made the girl feel that she was being treated as a small kid. "But you almost got stabbed today…""Don't worry about it, I got used to it, I can handle things by myself. Please, join Miss Brown and let me do the work — you're a guest after all." He said, bringing the stunned Nanoha to the dining room where he sat her down then ran back to the kitchen. "What just happened?" She whispered, making the person next to her start laughing at her face. "Hahahahaha! Shocked, right? Sonny treats everyone like that, he likes to do all the work by himself and have everyone else just relax all day. Sometimes I feel like a child talking to my mother, he even scolds me like my late ma when I forget to take my meds!" That… wasn't something she was prepared to see with Shirou. Looking over, she saw cut onions and other vegetables at lightning speed, the knife blurring to her eyes. The scene alone gave Nanoha some anxiety with how easily he could get hurt. Though it seemed like Miss Brown managed to read her thoughts."Don't worry about him getting hurt or cut. I was in your shoes at first but the boy kept proving me wrong with how skillful he is. I swear he has the capabilities to become a Michelin star chef." It was like watching a performance, Nanoha's eyes glued to the sight, not believing Shirou could be so skilled. Watching his movements was like a dance, each movement precise and sharp. She felt awe with admiration, her mouth half open in surprise.He really did look like a pro when he was cooking. It was like he was born with it.The fragrance alone made her mouth salivate, she could smell the aroma of spices. Nanoha was already full from lunch but she had with Fate to be honest, but the girl couldn't stop her stomach from rumbling with hunger.Shirou returned to the dining room carrying a tray with many bowls and another one with a pie on it. "Miso soup to help you with your digestion, along with some rice, grilled fish and a new dish; ratatouille. For dessert we have the apple pie I promised you. Also Nanoha-san, I hope you're okay to use a spoon and fork, we don't have any chopsticks here… I forgot to buy a few pairs." "It's not an issue," Nanoha nodded along to his words as he placed the dishes then sat down beside her. Her eyes felt like they were playing tricks on her as the food looked so dazzling, it had been a while since she ate some Japanese food and she never tried ratatouille in her life. "Delicious!" Miss Brown exclaimed when taking a single spoonful of the miso soup. "I never get to try foreign food like this, I'm really going to miss you. This is honestly the best thing I had for decades!" "Hehehe, thank you for the compliment. Also don't forget to take your medicines, I won't be here to remind you like before." As those two kept talking, Nanoha took a bite of fish and ratatouille. The world turned pink and colorful, a party was happening inside her mouth and she enjoyed every second of it. Every time she chewed, a new flavor burst forth that she just kept wanting more of. This was dozens of times better than the food served in the cafeteria. 'I should ask him if he can cook something similar for Hayate. The poor girl has been very busy and overworked lately. Having a taste of home will be a great experience for her, especially when it's this good.' "Hm?" When she went for more, her spoon touched the end of the bowl. Disappointment filled her being as she had unknowingly consumed everything so quickly. "Here, have some of the pie," Shirou said while giving her a slice when noticing her expression. "You can eat this slowly, the food won't run away." She pouted when seeing a smirk on his face. A small blush formed on her cheeks soon after....(An hour later)"Well, this is it." After having said goodbye to Miss Brown, Shirou and Nanoha left the apartment and headed for somewhere more quiet and secluded. She offered to fly him over but he preferred to just take a cab instead or walk. The boy did wonder how teleportation even worked in the world. He wasn't an expert with magecraft in this department like Rin and other Magi, but he had heard many times how difficult it was to achieve teleportation. Shirou didn't really have any thoughts on it, all he knew was that it was possible to do it since the command seals were capable of bending space to summon a Servant straight to where the Master was if used. "Yes, I don't see anyone here so it should be safe." Nanoha said, still in her uniform rather than the magical girl outfit as he liked to call it. "Give me one moment." She tapped her watch where a screen appeared. "Hayate? It's me, I'm ready to be teleported back. Oh, and I also have a guest with me. Yes, it's the person we were talking about, I'll explain everything to you later. Just trust me on this… what? You're here!? Oh… you wanted this moment as an excuse to drive Kaguya didn't you? I knew it." The screen disappeared."Wait, so someone else is teleporting us? You won't use that… pendant?" "Fufufu~, no, I can't use Raising Heart to teleport myself inside the Midchilda, it's not capable of such a thing. And teleportation in general is quite restricted in that space, so only an approved device can call us back. Now, given this is your first time then you may feel some intense nausea — but fortunately for you, we're not going to use any teleportation." Her watch beeped, that was the signal which she was waiting for. "She's here." He did, a second later, a large vessel descended from the sky. A blue coloured teardrop shaped spaceship, smaller than the last one he'd been in. "Here we go." Light flashed before his eyes, as the doors opened. Shirou saw another girl walking out of the ship, having neck length brown hair. She wore an identical uniform to Nanoha but in a similar color to her hair with black accents. Though on her shoulders was a tiny person which he recognised from the spaceship, Rein, he believed her name was."This is quite the surprise, my name is Hayate Yagami. It's nice to meet you, Shirou Emiya."  ...Chapter 3: Initiation Part 1-Midchilda-The light of dawn seeped inside Shirou's room, rousing the redhead from his sleep. The man rubbed his bleary amber eyes and slowly opened them to be met with an unfamiliar white ceiling. His memories were blank for a second before everything came flooding in. His accidental teleportation to another reality entirely, meeting a Magical Girl called Nanoha on a ghoul-infested planet, the days he spent living with Miss Brown, and finally his second meeting with the brunette. To think so much happened in a relatively small amount of time, though it wasn't nearly as crazy as the Holy Grail War. "Hmm," Shirou stretched his arms, grateful that the girls managed to secure a room to sleep for the night. He remembered Nanoha inviting him to her apartment, even if it was for a single night, Shirou still declined as it was a bit too awkward given they were still barely acquaintances. "Hayate-san is quite generous, to be able to let me stay in such a place…" The woman he met yesterday, Hayate Yagami, a friend of Nanoha, was apparently a big figure who held a high position in the Time-Space Administrative Bureau. The boy did not get to speak with her much during the ride inside the spaceship, he and Nanoha were discussing his next course of action and any plans he had for the future. Honestly, he had no idea how he would be of help to the girls yet, having almost no knowledge of how this organization worked. But with the little he learned beforehand, it was no different than a policing body responsible to maintain order and stability in many worlds. Finding and securing weapons of mass destruction, helping planets and civilizations in need. As for why those who worked for the TSAB, the mages, ended up having Magical Girl outfits was something Shirou decided to ignore. He walked to the window, opening the curtains to see a pearly glow of the sky. Futuristic-designed skyscrapers with countless holographic screens appearing mid-air somehow. It really looked far different than anything he had seen on Earth, he even spotted mountains in the distance along with the greenery blending perfectly with the architecture. "Everything just looks clean." The room itself was big, the bed itself being King sized which far surpassed his expectations. This space alone was probably as big as the apartment that he and Miss Brown lived in, it was a bit too much in his opinion. Wearing his old clothes, Shirou left the bedroom and onto the living room where the kitchen was, a coffee would do him a lot of good. He was curious about how food and beverages would differ from Earth."Hm, I'm not familiar with this kind of coffee maker… where are the buttons?" Feeling completely out of his element, Shirou blinked a couple of times as tried to comprehend how this particular machine worked. "Was this how Tohsaka felt when dealing with technology?" That girl was terrible with technology, far more so than a regular Magus, as Luvia regularly used a phone throughout the entire day and even had a laptop. Lord El Melloi himself used one and recorded much of his research on both paper and digital. At least those two didn't fire a Gandr at objects that frustrated them."Just hover your hand over the lid and it turns on by itself." "Ah, I see, amazing!" Following the voice's instructions, Shirou did as mentioned and saw the coffee maker turn on with a holographic menu popping out with various options for different kinds of beverages — even fruit juice. ...Wait a minute, a voice?"—!?" Snapping back to reality, his earlier drowsiness dying with a single burst, Shirou's turned to find Hayate Yagami sitting near the counter table with a big smile on her face as she waved at him."Ah, finally noticed me? Good morning, Shirou Emiya-san, I hope you had a great night yesterday." She said calmly, leaning against the table with dark bags under her eyes followed by a yawn. "The fridge is stocked with eggs and vegetables. If you want to cook some meat or some fish then check the freezer, I think I bought some yesterday." While she acted nonchalantly, Shirou's mind was in disarray where only a single phrase managed to squeeze out of his mouth. "W-W-Why are you here?""Hm? Well, it's because this is my apartment." Her apartment? Then what was he doing here!? Looking around, Shirou finally noticed the small details he had not seen before. A small picture on top of the coffee table with Hayate in a wheelchair, another picture on the wall near the entrance of the Brunette joined by Nanoha and a blonde woman and a pair of high heels near the living room."..." Speechless about how he could have missed such an important detail when he first came inside the apartment, Shirou could not help but blush, hoping to jump inside a hole and stay there for eternity. He could hear the phantom laugh of a certain white-haired archer. Not wanting the boy to faint, the tired Hayate waved his worries away with a simple gesture of her hands and explained, "Let me give you the details first. Coming back to Midchilda, I had a few meetings scheduled with my superiors along with overseeing a certain project of mine. Given I was going to be missing for an entire day, I thought it would not be a problem to let you sleep here instead for the night. Though I have officially organized an apartment for you somewhere else, it won't be as luxurious as this place — but that's all I could do. Sorry." "N-No need to apologize!" Shirou hastily said. "I'm the one who should be apologizing for giving you so much trouble. Still… it is not wise to let a stranger in your home." The girl nodded her head, not disagreeing with him in the slightest. "That is true, I would have never brought a stranger to my house even if it was for a night's stay while I'm away. But you, Emiya-san, are no stranger to me and Nanoha trusts you a lot, so I extend that judgment to you as well. Yesterday may have been the first time we met face to face, but I read your report from Rein and Nanoha. So I had a grasp on your character to some extent and you did not strike me as a criminal — at least I hope so." Shirou laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. Completely at a loss for how to steer this conversation with this person. Still, after knowing how she hadn't slept all night due to work and seeing the dark circles under her eyes, he swiftly prepared her cup of coffee and presented it to her. Hayate thanked him and took a sip before widening her eyes from shock."Eh," she gasped, taking another sip only to repeat the same reaction."Hm? Is there something wrong with the beverage?" Given this was technology that he was not familiar with yet, the redhead feared that he might have potentially ruined the flavor. "A-Ah, nothing, I just never managed to make it so good. The flavor isn't too bitter while not too sweet as well, it's perfect!" She could not go to sleep yet, at least until her duties were not sorted for the day. Nevertheless, she did not focus on the coffee the entire time and returned to face Shirou while retrieving a file from her bag. "Almost forgot, this might seem weird to you but we have documented everything about you and your past. At least… the scraps we managed to find." Relieved at the change in topic, Shirou stopped everything he was doing and went over to read his files. Name: Emiya Shirou?Age: 19?Origin: Earth, Japan.Magic: Confirmed magic user but unknown which type it is.Rank: B or A according to witnessesAssociation: UnconfirmedHistory: UnconfirmedPast transgression: Unconfirmed First appearance: Planet K7498-n7Goals: UnconfirmedThere were a dozen more questions about himself.After this was more documents detailing his battle against the ghouls, the weapon he used, and even the details of his conversation between Nanoha and himself. Some parts were crossed out, trying to make multiple guesses of the type of his magic but coming up with no conclusive answer. Though one thing that bothered Shirou was the lack of information on his file, he remembered answering clearly to Nanoha when they first met.Given what he revealed to the girl yesterday, it made him wonder if she kept it a secret from the others. "Um… Yagami-sa—""Just call me Hayate, Yagami is too formal for me.""Right, Hayate-san. I don't know if Nanoha-san gave you any details about my…" just how could he bring it up to her? Somehow it felt easier with Nanoha as back then he had no choice and also because they had met previously. Hayate on the other hand was still a stranger to him, though she gave him a room to rest for the night which made him grateful so maybe he could tell her.Fortunately for Shirou, his worries prove to be unfounded as the woman seemed to have read his mind. "If you're worried about why any details about you being from another reality are missing from the files then don't worry — I made sure of that." There was a weird tension that continued to prevail in the room, Shirou did not know if it was only him who was experiencing it. "So you believe me?" "I do," Hayate replied instantly. "..."Again, Shirou was smacked in the face by how… different the people in this reality were. They believed him so easily that it made him start to doubt everything! The boy expected there to be some kind of interrogation and various tests done to his body and mind to see if he was telling the truth or not a crazy person who needed help. "So easily?" Again, he couldn't help but ask, just this entire process went so smoothly that it confused the boy. Maybe this was all a set-up and men in black suits would appear out of nowhere and apprehend him before conducting various experiments on his body! 'No, she is a friend of Nanoha's, I'm being too paranoid here.' After dealing with various mages with hidden agendas in the Clocktower, Shirou realized that he needed to separate the people from his word and this one. Hayate yawned again, rubbing her eyes while feeling the drowsiness increase."I trust Nanoha, we've been involved with many crazy adventures in the past and still deal with weird cases every so often. While I agree that unlike us, many of our superiors may find your case very intriguing and suspicious — we only want to help you out. This brings me to the next matter at hand, you asked Nanoha if you want to help out and work for the Time-Space Administrative Bureau?" "Well, I didn't exactly say work for the TSAB, but if helping out requires such a thing then I'm willing to join." He said without hesitation, despite how quickly time seemed to pass by from the moment he discovered his case to now, Shirou extensively thought about his future and what might happen afterward. There was just little he could do back on Earth now that all records of him vanished. He could create fakes, but at what end? Fuyuki no longer existed so he was homeless, aside from Miss Brown he knew no one in this world and even if he managed to go back to Japan — each day would be a reminder that he was all alone. To push through the loneliness, to focus on his dream and nothing or no one else… That was not a path Shirou wished to take, for he had seen what awaited him at the end. "What position would I have?" He asked, curious about this matter since the mage system worked differently here. "I don't know if this will help but if the paperwork or the upper-ranked officers are against me joining the TSAB then I can be helpful in other areas." "There is no need to worry about that, Emiya-san. I hold the position of second ground commander in the administration, I may not be the highest but my rank holds enough authority to take independent decisions concerning such matters." She finished her coffee, sighing in delight from the mildly sweet and bitter taste that made the drowsiness slowly fade away. "To help you with your case, we need you close by and can't have you turn into a janitor or mechanic. That would be both an insult to your capabilities as a mage and for the Time-Space Administrative Bureau. So I came up with this idea… why not just become my temporary assistant, Emiya-san? We can't send you to different worlds on missions even as a mage, yet. You'll be tested along with two trainees to see your actual current level and settings where you can perform at your best and to see if you are able to work with other mages who are going to be part of my division."  "Just Shirou is fine." He said, repeating the same reason she gave him previously. "As for an assistant, hmmm, I never really had a job similar to it nor am I familiar with what I may need to work on. Won't my lack of experience and novelty to this world compromise your work? I was a butler on a couple of occasions, I'm not sure if that counts." There was a large possibility that he could mess up and create trouble for the girls, being an assistant to a high-ranking officer could not be an easy task in his opinion. Shirou was used to manual labor and chores which did not demand much aside from a strong body and basic common sense. Coupled with his experience working on various vehicles and machines using his Structural Analysis and Reinforcement would allow him to work with the ships he'd seen so far.They were complex from the brief point he examined them, but a bit of research and familiarization with the machine would bridge that gap. Though there was that one time he managed Copenhagen for a month when Neko-san got sick. "Wait, hold up, you were a butler?" Before she could placate his worries, her mind was stuck on that specific part. "Like, did you work in a butler or maid cafe?" Shirou scratched his head, "Heh, I can understand why you might be confused. But no, I was asked to become a 'real' butler by a friend of mine. She helped us out quite a lot and I was more than happy to serve her for a few days. Though my roommate was less than happy because both girls had an… intense rivalry — yeah, that's the only way I can say it." Just remembering how much destruction those two caused during their spar, sometimes he wondered if they had achieved Servant level strength just to beat the other one to the ground. Safe to say, Shirou never tried to get between them during such moments for he grew to treasure his life and the feeling of not having nearly every bone inside his body broken to pieces. "Just what kind of people did you hang out with? Were they mages as well?" Hayate asked, getting curious about Shirou's past life in his old world. Then something clicked inside her head, he was obviously talking about two girls and one of them was his roommate… Shirou continued to speak, "Hahaha, they were quite chaotic at times but were easily one of the strongest Magi I've met. Rin was already seen as a prodigy so I learned a lot under her, at least I tried." There was no need to mention how his over-specialized origin and element did not allow him to learn anything aside from Tracing and the basic spells like Reinforcement and Structural Analysis. "Then there was Luvia, she was somehow a more gifted individual and a true monster. Both used the same magic and were equally as destructive as the other. Their fights could easily lay waste to the city if left unchecked." Soon, Shirou realized that he was rambling for too long and apologized. "Ah, sorry about that. Going back to the main topic, I ask you again. Are you sure that I would be ideal as an assistant for a commander like you? I have never worked in a militaristic environment before.""Oh, don't worry about that! Both Rein and I already manage most of our paperwork just fine. All you'll need to do for now is just help out with the smaller aspects like organizing a few papers, delivering messages, and helping out anyone with minor issues in my stead. On top of getting a place to live in, I'll grant you a monthly salary as well, can't have you work for free and we will create a real identity for you — now you're no different from a ghost." Despite gaining some energy from the coffee, Hayate yawned with her eyes getting more tired. "To tell you the truth, work has been piling up for me quite a bit recently. Rein and I can only do so much before we can no longer keep up. There's this project I'm working on and truly believe it will bring a lot of good to countless planets." The words she said resonated with Shirou, the idea of not just being able to help a single world but multiple was not something he could let go of so easily. His mind screamed at the boy to accept and get started immediately, but as Rin mentioned to him many times in the past — always act reserved and not desperate. "If you believe that I will be able to help you out in any way shape or form, then please." He bowed his head, surprising Hayate at his gesture. "I'll be in your care, Hayate-san." Seeing his earnest smile and those eyes burning with determination and the will to perform his best, Hayate couldn't help but smile. The redhead reminded her a lot of Nanoha, just from this small conversation her trust in him grew. "I just wanted to ask you something about what you mentioned about your friend's magical prowess and how powerful they were. Then what about you?" Hayate asked, hearing all of this information about other mages but still very much in the dark when it came to Shirou's magic.There was still some skepticism over his origin left in her mind. The records backed his words as there was no Shirou Emiya with his facial traits and characteristics anywhere on Earth's database. Rein mentioned if there was a possibility that it was just erased or purposefully altered. That notion was quickly dispelled as no such changes could occur without leaving some traces for an organization like theirs to miss. The reason Hayate stayed awake the entire night was partially because of this, to research one last time and find information that validated his claims. Or rather, the lack of information just brought more credence to his claims. The other factor that further hammered the nail inside the coffin was his magic. Unlike Chrono's magic, he did not seem to carry a device when watching the footage and could create real weapons instead of light constructs. Though now sitting close to him, her eyes trailed down to his neck where he had that red necklace. Nanoha confirmed that she had similar speculation but never asked him to confirm her theory. So, going through a few hurdles she managed to have Shirou scheduled to showcase his magic and what he was capable of. That also meant she butted heads with Regius, the latter growing a bit too curious about her research.He was the primary reason why she kept Shirou's origin from another world a secret for now; there was a possibility that man would use it against her and make the creation of her project that much harder. "My magic?" He said while tilting his head, deep in thought as to how he could give her a basic explanation without going much into detail. "If you must know, I'm just a third-rate Magus." "A third rate?" Hayate had to ask again, wondering if she heard him incorrectly. The title sounded quite derogatory and demeaning for what she had seen from the footage. She just could bring herself to believe such a ridiculous claim. "But…your magic was powerful enough to potentially class you as a B or A rank mage, I don't see how that can be considered as a third rate in your world." Unless the standard mage in his world were more powerful than the mages here… a simultaneously fascinating and dreadful thought. "It's complicated, that's all I can say without this becoming a long discussion. How about telling you the details after you rest?"Hayate agreed, tomorrow would be a busy day. She was lucky that not much happened today or else her sleep schedule would be skewed further. "Alright, before I show you your new living space, let me be the first to welcome you to the Time-Space Administrative Bureau and the first honorary member of Riot Force 6, Assistant Shirou Emiya!"Shirou straighten up at her tone, "Happy to join, bos— *cough* Commander Hayate!" She giggled at his slip up there. "And as your assistant, my first order of duty will be this."To her dismay, the redhead took away the woman's twice refilled cup right out of her hand. "Eh?" "Hayate-san, you are obviously tired and can barely keep your eyes open. What's more important for you is to get some rest now and recover your strength. Drinking any more coffee to force yourself awake is not a good idea and will affect your health." He said with a frown on his face while lecturing her about the dangers of too much stress and caffeine in the system. "..." The girl was speechless, just a few seconds ago he was behaving all meek and reserved but now it felt like a switch had been flicked in his personality.He was the one who served her a cup of coffee and was now taking it away?"I-I'm fine, Shirou, this is not the first time I've done an all-nighter and sometimes I can even stay for three days without sleeping." She said while puffing up her chest as if it was a notable feat. The display only served to make Shirou's eyes twitch further, her workaholic behavior eerily reminded him of a certain twin-tailed girl…It did not help that their voices sounded so similar!Shirou crossed his arms and gave her a disapproving stare, "You say that now but in a few years, your body will suffer the consequences of your actions. Your hair might start getting prematurely white and you will have wrinkles." Overwhelmed by his words, Hayate could do nothing but give up and accept defeat. "You're taking your role as an assistant more seriously than I imagined…" Both Shirou and Nanoha started sharing more similarities in her eyes, as the latter had on multiple occasions forced her to stop overworking at times with Fate agreeing with the brunette. "But of course, you and Nanoha-san helped me far more than anyone should have, and taking advantage of your kindness is not something I want to do. So, I'll make sure to perfectly fill my role as your assistant and try my best. Also, you can write the address to my apartment on a piece of paper, there is no need for you to go out after being so tired. I'll manage myself."{Break}-Midchilda southern park-There was a person she always admired for years, taking inspiration from her past and current achievements.Subaru still remembered that fateful day as clear as day, the raging all-consuming inferno threatening to burn away everything it touched — including her. She was a small, helpless child with no way to escape. Tired, injured, and despairing over her demise which she believed peeked at her from the corners. A traumatic event that nearly scarred her for life, a memory she would have reminisced with both fear and anxiety. Yet that was not the case.All because that person came and changed her fate. She was strong, cool, and kind. With but a simple phrase, 'Everything will be alright, I'm here.' That person did the impossible and cleared away all fear, holding a white spear with a crimson orb in the middle and a white barrier jacket standing from the sea of crimson red fire. She acted as a beacon of hope and strength for the young Subaru Nakajima. That day, something bloomed inside the young girl's heart. A flame similar to the ones that nearly killed her, but this one was different. It allowed her to create a goal, a dream that motivated the blue-haired girl for the following years. Subaru wanted to cast away her shell, to move past the weak, timid, and regular little girl to something more. To get stronger she practiced nearly every day, pushing her body and mind by practicing various martial arts. Learning to become more outspoken and confident in herself. All of this with the hopes to one day catch up to the woman who saved her, to stand side by side as equals — that was the girl's goal.She trained again and again with all her might, through blood, sweat, and tears Subaru pushed herself to her limit nearly every single day until she finally achieved the rank of Private Second Class along with her initially roommate, now best friend — Teana Lanster. As a front attacker, she gained enough experience and merits to qualify for a promotional exam to a higher-ranked mage. But then the most unexpected event happened that day, she finally got to meet Nanoha after four years during the end of the exam. It was a dream come true, she was her idol, a person Subaru strived to emulate. The best part was how the brunette still remembered her after all these years… she had honestly expected Nanoha to have forgotten a small girl from back then. "Man, I'm so pumped!" She said excitedly, punching her gauntlets together. "Who would have thought in a million years that not only would we be invited by the bureau but also by the Ace of Aces! Gah! I should have asked for an autograph! I would have kept it in my room as a trophy!" "This is the third time you're complaining about such a pointless issue." Sitting next to her at a park was none other than Teana, her friend, and a gifted ranged mage. Having first started on the wrong foot, both now we're an iconic duo — having helped people in many fire-related incidents and rescue missions. "Hah, thank god we passed the exams. I thought the combat instructor came over to announce that we failed or something." Teana admired Nanoha like many of her classmates, but who wouldn't? But she also held an equal amount of fear when facing the living legend. Having that person announce that she and Subaru had failed the exams would have been a nightmare. "Did you pull a muscle? You've been moving your arms around a lot lately. And is your ankle better?" Subaru asked, worried about her friend's health. As far as she was concerned, Teana played a pivotal role in the exam, mostly providing coverage from the auto-spheres and dummies scattered throughout the battlefield. In the end, Subaru failed to notice an auto-sphere and nearly got disqualified if it weren't for her best friend here. "I'll be fine, I told you that it's already healed and there weren't any worrisome injuries to begin with." A few days passed since the promotion exams and her ankles stopped aching. She berated herself for not being careful and falling for such a rookie mistake. "And can you stop fretting over me like I'm some fragile vase? We've been through worse scenarios than the exams, just last month we nearly got buried under a building in flames.""That was different, I barely managed to react in time and save our lives.""You punched the ceiling out of anger and through sheer luck, it split right in the middle and did not hurt us. I guarantee you that if we weren't lucky then one of us would have suffered from burns and a broken arm at best." That was just one near-disastrous incident, there were dozens of other similar cases when their teamwork still needed work. Of course, she knew that even now they weren't perfect and needed time and practice to reach that level of teamwork. "Also, we'll have to perform a last checkup on our devices tonight, tomorrow's test run will be crucial for us to join Riot Force 6." "Don't worry about it, we'll pass whatever trial this is with ease!" She said, "We aced the exams despite our little hiccup there, we'll go beyond this time." Teana sighed at Subaru's energy-filled aura, she was probably looking forward to once again showing off to Nanoha Takamachi for a second time. Both now sat outside a park near their new apartment complex, eating their lunch after having worked out. Subaru decided to practice her reaction time and footwork, her gauntlet was checked for the third time for any possible damages — thankfully nothing was found. Teana continued to improve her aiming skills and shooting speed, hitting her target with great accuracy. What she struggled with was rather the timing of spells, each taking longer than she would have liked. "Don't you think this is a bit weird? First Instructor Nanoha came over and initially asked that we be invited to the team and would carry a training session with the other new recruits in a matter of days, now suddenly this changed to another trial tomorrow." She said, a bit annoyed with the news as it caught them unprepared and gave them very little time to prepare and strategize."But it was not Instructor Nanoha who said that, those orders came from Sergeant Major Rein and she even said that it was not a big deal — just some light sparring. Heh, whoever they are, we'll crush them in a matter of minutes.""Quite confident of you, don't start underestimating our opponent just because we were just promoted to B-ranked mages. Don't let this rank get to your head so easily." "You know me Teana, I would never do such a thing." Subaru said nonchalantly, taking a bite of her sandwich. "It'll just be like a good old time in the academy, hah… how time flies by." "It hasn't been that long, barely a few months. You sound like an old person, Subaru." The light brown-haired girl said with a deadpan. "Neee… you're going to ruin my upcoming motivational cool speech I was going to give you with that attitude, Tea." "I doubt I would have been motivated. I remember you secretly practiced those speeches back in the academy for the time you would eventually join the Rescue Corps and Disaster Management. Though I don't ever remember you using them during our time there, probably because you were too shy. Or maybe you're planning on using them in front of Instructor Nanoha to impress her?" She said with a dry tone, her words causing her blue-haired friend to blush from embarrassment.She was indeed thinking about doing that."...N-No?""You suck at lying." "Oi!"Both girls continued to bicker back and forth, this being their daily routine. After that, they both had a packed plan for the day, one of which included setting up their apartment with all of their belongings. Teana had already finished arranging her room but as usual, Subaru barely even started and begged her to help out at the end of the day. "Um, excuse me? I need some help…" A voice interrupted them, both girls turned their heads and noticed a man standing near the stairs while carrying a single box and a few bags filled with new clothes and daily necessities. Someone who looked like he was in his early twenties, with red hair and golden eyes, neither remembered there being a person with such traits living in this complex. He looked quite tired and was sweating a bit from the heat."Yes, can we help you?" Subaru said without missing a beat, more than ready to help out anyone. He presented them with a paper with an address written on it. "I am looking for this apartment complex, I'm not sure if this is the place… I have been searching for it nearly all day." "Hehehe, I understand your pain, the city can be quite confusing to travel around for newcomers. But yes, this is the place, mister, let me help you out!" "Ah, there is no need to do th—"Before he could finish his phrase, Subaru had already taken the box from his hands. "There, that should be easier for you." She was not prepared for the weight and nearly made the whole thing tip over."...""..."Teana resisted the urge to laugh."Will you be okay with that?" The redhead asked."I-I'm fine, totally okay here." Subaru tried to dismiss what happened before and started fast walking inside the building but halfway there she stopped and sheepishly looked back. "Um… what is your apartment number again?" Rolling her eyes, Teana looked at the paper the stranger just passed over and noticed an interesting detail. "You're from Earth?" She asked, surprising the boy as he looked at her with surprise. "How did you know?" She showed him the paper, "The note here is written in Japanese. Though it's not uncommon to see people in Midchilda use languages from other worlds, in most cases they are newcomers. So I just made a guess and you confirmed it with your reaction." The man looked at her with surprise evident in his eyes — impressed by her deduction. "Also, my name is Teana Lanster, and that klutz over there is my friend Subaru Nakajima." "Hello!" Right on cue, the girl turned around and gave him a bow, having most likely cooled off from the previous event. "Nice to meet you two, my name is Shirou Emiya — just call me Shirou — and yes, I'm from Earth. Japan if you want to be more specific, though I guess that wasn't a mystery. Are you two also from Earth?" He asked, especially looking at Subaru with her name. "Nope, our homeworld is Midchilda. Born and raised here." Shirou wondered if that was also the case for Hayate, he did not think to ask her as it was not relevant back then. Nanoha knew that he was from Japan as she confirmed it herself, so there was no mystery there. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your mage rank? Both Subaru and I just passed the mage promotion exam to B-rank." "Wow, B-rank? That's amazing!" Shirou said with awe and amazement. Granted, he did not have any reference to how powerful a mage in this level was aside from Hayate ranking him around this level and A — which he believed was way too high. But the memory of Nanoha using a single spell to lay waste to an entire terrain filled with thousands of ghouls in less than a second remained engraved in his mind. She was an S rank if he remembered correctly, so if these two were B rank then they were truly very powerful at such a young age. Both girls, despite mentioning how they would not get overconfident and arrogant over their increase in ranks, couldn't help but puff up their chests. It was always hard to ignore such compliments and feeling prideful was unavoidable. "Hehehe, don't worry Shirou, even if we are B ranks you can ask us for any kind of help anytime." Given he was a newbie and how impressed he was with their ranks, both Subaru and Teana guessed the man must have been a D or C rank mage at best. "I am a close combat ground mage using Belkan magic, my primary weapon are combat gauntlets which I use to basically smash things to pieces!""Hoh, that's quite rare, I rarely met mages like you." This was the truth, aside from training with reinforcement in the Clocktower, most magi used long-ranged spells as their primary style. He met a few enforcers, magi, and spellcasters who used their fists and mystic code gloves capable of blowing a bullet to dust with a single punch. Though such cases were rare and most relied on weapons and spells rather than a gauntlet. "It'll be an honor to have to see you in action, Subaru-san, I'm sure you're an amazing fighter." The girl blushed at the comment, "Hehehe, you're overpraising me~! Ah! Forgot to ask, but what is your fighting style and magic?" Teana's ears twitched, she was also curious about his magic. If they were going to see each other more often and he required a helping hand, then she would not mind doing some research to help the man improve his magical capabilities. She did not see a staff or any kind of device on him and the box was only filled with clothes and minor items for his daily needs."Mine? That's a hard question to answer, but I guess I'm both good at close quarters with my swords and long range with my bow." Over the years, he refined both his swordsmanship and his archery skills to fire Noble Phantasms. The Clocktower had many facilities for different sorts of practicing his magecraft and he made sure to use them to the fullest extent. In the end, his proficiency with the same bow Archer used grew fast enough to catch up to his swordsmanship and now even surpassed it.Rin did find it ironic given his magecraft but also weirdly logical given she was that bastard's Master. "Ehh! You're a ranged mage as well!" Subaru exclaimed looking at the intrigued Teana with a big smile. "That's perfect! Teana is a gunner and THE most talented long-ranged mage I know! She can hit a target across a dense forest with her bullets which can maneuver around the trees!" Seeking bullets? Now that was a dangerous attack when in the right hands. "Subaru is just exaggerating, I'm at most a decent shot and still have many flaws to correct in order to become an A rank mage or beyond that in the future. Also, you mentioned using a sword and bow both as your primary weapons. A bit unconventional but unique I must say. Though I'd advise practicing one style first rather than focusing on two different styles at the same time." This was too big of a hurdle for someone who possibly just started out as a mage, mastering one weapon was hard enough but two was just asking for trouble. "You think so? I don't really have that problem for now." Teana shook her head, he was obviously not going to change his style just because she said so, so the only way would be to show him during a sparring session the error of his ways. Soon, all three of them reached the apartment where Shirou would be staying. Funnily enough, it was just a few doors away from the girls' room down the corridor. "Oh, looks like we're also neighbors." Subaru said, dropping the box on the table and looking around the room. It was smaller than theirs, being big enough for a single person to live comfortably in. With a small kitchen, living room, and bathroom — a cozy place. "Alright, it was nice to meet ya, Shirou. If you need anything else then don't hesitate to knock on our door." "I will, thank you again for everything." Shirou said with a smile, he was grateful to have net two genuinely nice people who helped him out in a heartbeat. Both girls said their goodbyes and left, closing the door behind them and leaving Shirou alone by himself. "..."The smile on his face slowly died down, the redhead walked to the balcony where he gazed at the city with a trace of sadness evident in his eyes. That same sensation of loneliness and loss returned bit by bit, it was not as severe as during his first few days in this world after discovering the truth but it was still there. "Sorry, I can't call you anymore, Fuji-nee. You're probably turning all of London upside down searching for me. Rin is probably hastily trying to fix things with Luvia's help, those two bicker a lot, like oil and water, but under pressure they become an unstoppable duo. Issei has most likely learned of my disappearance and might also be in London with Fuji-nee and the entire Fujimura group." He chuckled imagining the chaos his guardian would be causing to the city. Knowing her, she might even accidentally uncover the Mage Association and force them to intervene for damage control. "Hah, I can't get stuck on these thoughts… you need to get yourself together, Shirou." He smiled in front of everyone, having only shown his true feelings once to Nanoha after asking her for help. But in reality, he missed the people from Fuyuki… his home. "Did you know, Fuji-nee, Magical Girls actually exist in this world and are part of a militaristic organization that acts like a police for the galaxy. If you knew about this, I wonder how you would have reacted. Happy or horrified? The funniest part is how I managed to unofficially join the Time-Space Administrative Bureau as an assistant. You'd be disappointed that I didn't get a special wand that changed me into a dress and had sparkles all around me." Now that he thought about it, Nanoha also did not have any twinkling sparkles around her body when in her combat gear she called a barrier jacket. "It would be pretty ridiculous if I managed to Trace something like Raising Heart, but even if I could… I don't think I have the Magical Energy reserves to use some of those attacks more than once." Shirou said dryly, he was not someone like Rin or Luvia who possessed the capabilities of using such a device and also how the magic system differed in this world. “Trace... On.” Judging the concept of creation Cyan energy started to burst out from the young man’s palm, blazing and swirling gently around his body while swaying his hair back and forth. Without the abundance of Mana, any Magus would have an easier time using their magecraft here or even on Earth.  Hypothesizing the basic structure The soft and bright aura paused for a moment as if time around it had stopped, then it resumed and began to expand, taking the shape of a single curved sword. Duplicating the composition material The color of steel morphed around it, the greenish-wispy aura slowly becoming solid such that it was tangible now. One of the two swords that he regularly used for training and any situation in general. Something that required little to no Magical Energy to create but still held excellent craftsmanship from its creator. Shirou did not know how or when Archer came across these swords, maybe he encountered them during his time as a Counter Guardian? That was the most logical explanation he could come up with. Regardless, the boy was grateful to have seen these blades as he loved their craftsmanship and awed at their beauty. Fighting without them did not feel right when done for too long and he always reverted back to these after going through a few Tracing.  Imitating the skill of its making He remembered the sounds of gears and wheels spinning resonated inside that man's Reality Marble, a future he promised himself and Run to never become. The image of a dead wasteland covered with swords flashed before his eyes, its sky filled with colossal gears but with a faint amount of sunlight pushing through the dense smog. He pushed all of that away to bask his mind on the scene of a sky illuminated with an ever so zephyr-like twilight that shined with everlasting hope. Shirou Emiya would never become the Wrought Iron Hero, betrayed by his ideals and himself. A regretful and pitiful entity that symbolized a dream that failed.Yet as he peered inside, there appeared a barren wasteland with little to no noise or change. Quieter than ever before, the dust filling the atmosphere which grew thicker than what he last remembered. Shirou's heart shook before he pushed forward and focused on the blade within his grasp. Sympathizing with the experience of its growth From the moment it was created, it held little to no purpose. Not even made for war or combat. Just created for the sake of creating something. Reproducing the accumulated years A sword that came from a regular blacksmith forced to sacrifice everything to bring it to life. From the use of human qi given from the willing sacrifice of his wife and the years’ worth of blood, sweat, and tears. Excelling every manufacturing process “Bakuya…”The blade looked as mesmerizing as ever before, the weight and feel of the weapon bringing a sense of comfort to the boy who longed for it. So he swung the blade once, its shape and form offering little air friction and resistance as it slashed faster than ever before. Hayate mentioned how this complex had a training area suitable for any kind of weapon user, so maybe he could ask those two girls to take him there tomorrow.Shirou Traced Kanshou, performing more moves with both blades with quick speed, letting his body familiarize itself with the feel and motion of the Noble Phantasms. "I'm not sure how strong the barrier jackets are against such weapons, so I'll have to be careful tomorrow if my opponent is a mage." After a few more sessions and getting his body warmed up, Shirou dismissed the blades and started unpacking. After basically scolding Hayate to bed because she was having second thoughts and was preparing to leave for work again, he managed to convince her to rest. Though before that she gave him a bit of funds to buy some clothes at the shop near the building and wrote down the address on a piece of paper. That girl was going to ruin her own body and health with that kind of behavior. Perhaps talking to Nanoha about this issue would be a good idea, they knew each other longer and maybe her words would have a bigger effect in the long run than his methods. "Well, I guess this is my life now," Shirou said while looking around the apartment, slowly taking everything in and then clapping his hands once. "Alright, time to clean this place up." No matter how lost or melancholic Shirou felt, he still had to get along with his day and move forward. People like Hayate and Nanoha helped him this far and he would not let their efforts go to waste. Whether it be in this world or the last, the redhead's desire to help and save everyone stayed as strong as ever. {Break}"She's a magical knight of the Saint Church Knight as well as a member of the Administrative Bureau's board of directors, Carim Gracia. I never met her in the past, so I don't know what kind of person she might be." Sitting inside an office, Hayate and Fate overlooked a largely abandoned battlefield that served as the perfect ground for trainees and mages, in general, to conduct their examination. "But I have heard many good things about her, from both my coworkers and the news in general.""Carim is a great person for sure, though we differ in our beliefs and values, our goal is the same in the end. It was thanks to her that I managed to hire so many recruits for my division and make this once small dream of mine a reality." Hayate said while looking at the blonde next to her, she called her to oversee the test and have Fate share her opinion on certain matters concerning the people who would participate today. "She made it possible for me to bypass Regius's skepticism over my project and greenlight it with the remaining superiors." Fate chuckled, "That man feels like your shadow, he always appears wherever you are. Sometimes I wonder if his sole reason to join the meetings between commanders is to just block you at every turn." "Hah," sighed Hayate. "He's not being difficult on purpose, each and every point he brought up in objection for the creation of the division were valid and were not points I could callously ignore. It's just that his distrust extends to me more than anything. So to soothe his worries, I even offered him a position equal to mind in the Division — but he declined."Fate gave Hayate a suspicious stare. "Something tells me you already knew what answer he would give, which is why you asked such a question." For all her innocent demeanor, Hayate was quite resourceful and cunning with her work. Having reached such a position would not have been enough with strength alone, the girl had many trump cards hidden under her sleeves."Eh, I wonder~?" To see her friend act so innocent made Fate shake her head with a smile. "Still it's nice we got a trustworthy superior for this project." "I don't know about the superior part, but yes, Carim and I knew each other for nearly eight years by now, I think. Aside from the power as a member of the board, she's also a friend more than anything. So you should meet her at some point, Fate, I'm sure you two would get along quite nicely. I'll be paying her a visit very soon, you can accompany me then and I can have you two chat for a bit. She knows a lot about you and your stories, so I feel it's fair to hang out a bit and officially become friends." "Speaking of friends, I heard you met the person Nanoha was stressing about previously?" Out of everyone, Fate felt as if she was more out of the loop than the rest and wanted Hayate to fill her in with the details. "Oh yeah, we traveled to Earth using a ship Carim let me borrow for a few days. It was to retrieve that man Nanoha found stranded on the ghoul-infested planet. He was first dropped in London before calling through Nanoha's card and asking to become part of the TSAB." "Since when did she have a card?" "That's what I said as well!" Given her position, Hayate had cards made just for fun and she even gave one to each of her friends. So she did feel it to be unfair that the brunette did not give her one as well in return. "I heard he's a competent mage from Earth." "Hard to say, aside from a few seconds long footage we don't have any idea what his prowess is. Though we know so far that he's most likely a ground mage with a ranking between B and A. Of course, these are just speculations and we can't confirm them without having Shirou participate in such an event.""Why not just have either Vita or Sigmun test him out?" Fate asked. "I did consider that plan as both were available, but Shirou is to be my sort of unofficial assistant, so it's crucial he gets to meet the team first. I've already talked about this to Nanoha and she was happy to help. So consider this a killing two birds with one stone kind of scenario." On the screen in front of them, two girls appeared in front of the entrance leading inside the artificially created city. "The initial plan of having Nanoha face Subaru, Teana, Caro, and Erio was pushed back. Erio went to the airport to pick up Caro, so there's that as well. But I've had Rein inform those two that this isn't an exam and more of a training regiment with other mages and Nanoha." Fate found something weird about her plan. "But you're planning to test him with two B ranked mages? Isn't that a bit too much for a newcomer? At least Vita and Sigmund have experience training new recruits and are able to hold back enough."Hayate hesitated for a split second before shaking her head. "She told me he was at least an A rank mage and if that's true then this environment would be ideal to have him go all out. Plus it's a good way to bond with both recruits Subaru and Teana. I want to see what they are capable of for each side." "So what do you plan on making this test about? I can see it being like last time with Nanoha testing their basic instincts for dodging and attacking at the right time just until someone managed to touch her barrier jacket or cause the slightest bit of damage."It sounded very simple to anyone who was not familiar with Nanoha. Though given the girl's long range of experience fighting in many different scenarios gave her an unfair advantage which many were not aware of."That I trust her to make the accurate judgment. She saw him perform his magic, so giving her the power to decide is the best course of action. If he's truly an A rank mage then it will make things easier for me." Hayate said, watching the screen flash with color as Nanoha descended from the skies donning her full barrier jacket with Raising Heart in its staff form held firmly in her hand. "She's here, this is going to be fun." Fate knew her friend, the latter was a relented combat instructor who could bring out the best in anyone. And she was curious what this Shirou fellow was capable of given how highly the others were saying him to be. "And it looks like she is looking forward to it as well, I can see the anticipation from here." "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Shirou is from another parallel world," Hayate mentioned nonchalantly, sipping the same coffee Shirou unjustly took away from her and kept it in the fridge — it was just too good to throw away. ..."What!?" ***On the other side of the building where the training field was, Subaru and Teana made their final preparations while Subaru was jumping around like a toddler high on caffeine. "Seriously, it's so early in the morning and I'm not in the mood to have you act this way, Subaru," Teana mumbled under her breath. She stayed up all night to strategize what kind of trial or opponent they were going to face today. Given it was personally overseen by the one holding the title of Ace of Aces, the trial was bound to be either extremely different or near impossible. Subaru barely seemed to feel the pressure as she watched with starry eyes the floating figure of her idol descending in her full combat gear just like last time. "Good morning girls, I hope you had enough rest for today's trial." "Yes Ma'am!" Both girls replied loudly with a stiff stance, years of training in the military making their response come out automatically. "Fufufu, you certainly look quite ready, Subaru." "Of course! I trained my whole life for moments like these and I won't lose!" She exclaimed with her hands punching the sky. Teana shrunk at her friend's behavior and kept a cool and composed face. Her warryness about the test grew when she saw her combat instructor come forward in her battle gear with the legendary Raising Heart in fully deployed mode. "That's good to hear. I know you'll perform magnificently and surpass my expectations with little effort. You too, Teana, you both need to use your ability to work as a team more than anything to pass. Normally there should have been two more people present today but they couldn't be present for today, unfortunately. You'll meet them later on during a training session and I'm sure all of you will get along nicely."Two more people? Teana wondered who they might be, it made sense there would be more mages joining the division so she was curious about their identities. For the most part, she kept her focus on the Instructor in front and the environment around her. "I see you are ready, well then, let's not waste time." Subaru's face turned from jovial to focused, sharing the same expression as her friend as she paid close attention to the upcoming words. "First of all, as you may have guessed, this will be a combat-related test. You will not be going against orbs or dummies at any point in the area, rather your opponent will be a mage." Both girls tensed at that part, so it really was a battle. Subaru was feeling excited to possibly fight Nanoha, everything she accomplished from her youth till today would bear fruits as she could show off everything she learned. "You will be allowed to use your devices without any restrictions and have a time limit of ten minutes. Everything will be monitored and recorded to analyze and be used to enhance your fighting style for future training, so don't accidentally attack a passing drone orb. Even if there are no restrictions on your strength I'd still advise you to be careful as accidents can happen. Yes, Subaru?" She noticed the blue-haired girl raising her arm and allowed her to speak what she had in mind. "Are we going to fight you!?" The S ranked mage shook her head much to the dismay of Subaru and Teana's relief, the latter preferring to handle dozens of mages at the same time than to go up against a powerhouse like Nanoha who had an enormous advantage with her ability to fly, both of them were ground mages after all. Subaru could use her rollerblades to roll on magical constructed platforms and try to hit Nanoha who could easily just move out of the way. Her shots were a viable option but she honestly doubted they could even reach the woman without the latter either casting a shield or just dodging with her speed. It wasn't like they had zero chance as with a good enough strategy and plan of attack, there was a real chance to actually land a couple of hits on Nanoha by catching her off guard. At least she hoped so. The best-case scenario was for Subaru to somehow damage her barrier jacket. But whether that would have counted as a win or not remained to be seen."I'm afraid that for today, I will not be your opponent. Only when all four members are assembled will I find it fair to participate. Instead, your opponent will be this person. He is a powerful, competent individual so I advise everyone here to not underestimate anyone in this small duel." She gestured to the right where a person had made his way to the group without the two girls even noticing his arrival. Teana and Subaru looked over and their minds went blank. The last person they ever expected to see today was standing there awkwardly waving at them. A person they believed to have been a lower-ranked mage who they promised to help him in his training. The familiar redhead coupled with those amber eyes, wearing the same white shirt with blue sleeves and still not holding any device. "Uh, hey guys… I didn't expect to see you two here. Um, let's have a good fight?" Shirou really didn't know what to say to these two as he was as flabbergasted as them."...""..."They were speechless. ...Chapter 4: Initiation Part 2-Midchilda-Shirou wasn't a stranger to awkward interactions, especially when it came to conversations with his neighbor. Back in London, the times Rin accidentally blew the room due to a malfunctioning spell and other types of the experiment was a dime a dozen. Complaints stormed in despite the numerous bounded fields they set around the perimeter, she always found a way to break them. The brunette on the other hand barely cared, leaving him to handle everything and if things started to spiral too much out of control — she would be this close to resorting to memory-erasing spells and on rare occasions… shooting a Gandr straight to their faces. Of course, he stopped her every single time, furthermore, Shirou suspected she knew it as well. Though such things would happen only whenever she and Luvia would meet. "Uh, hey guys… I didn't expect to see you two here. Um, let's have a good fight?"He had to admit, their shocked reaction did give him the urge to smirk which he suppressed. The blue-haired girl — Subaru if he remembered — had her jaws opened like she had seen the most unbelievable sight ever. Honestly, that expression of hers did feel a bit too extreme, they only met once!'Oh right, they think I'm a beginner mage, so having to fight against me must be a shocker.'Tea's reaction was much more tamed and normal, only her eyes widened at his arrival. "Shirou?" Subaru spoke first, the look of confusion getting stronger. "Erm, are you lost? You may have ended up in the wrong training ground." "Yes, this is the ground for B-ranked mages. The D-ranks are not scheduled until another day if I remember correctly." "..."Shirou was not one to show off or care if someone underestimated him as a Magus. Given he was a third-rate mage, that judgment was valid — so he didn't know how to feel or even respond to these two, there was a saying that actions were louder than words. So better wait and let them judge him again after their fight.Nanoha who was watching their reaction from the beginning couldn't help but wonder how these three met each other. She knew that Shirou and Hayate got to know each other better thanks to her helping him out with a living arrangement, but how that made him familiar with the newest recruits was a mystery to her. Maybe Hayate instructed them to each other? That did sound like something she would do. "Shirou, have you met before?" "Huh, yes, we met yesterday while I was trying to find my apartment. They were very helpful and guided me and my luggage to my room." "Guided? Yesterday? But… then where did you sleep the night you came to Midchilda? Hayate mentioned that she successfully managed to find you a place to live upon arrival…""Ah," Shirou stumped, his mind going through countless mental gymnastics to formulate a phrase that wouldn't make things awkward if he revealed that he slept in her apartment. No matter how he twisted and turned the words, it sounded weird regardless of how he would say it. "M-my bad, she actually had me sleep in another r-room the first day."Yes, that sounded good enough in his opinion. Meanwhile, Nanoha narrowed her eyes, one aspect of the redhead she came to recognize was his lack of talent at lying — he was horrible at it. Now suspicion arose as to why he needed to lie to her in the first place even. But, this was not the time for an interrogation, the training needed to carry on as they were on a time limit along with her other responsibilities for the day. She also promised Fate to help her out with some work and introduce the blonde to Shirou. "If you say so…" better to think about these matters later. "Alright, then since you've already met each other then this makes my work easier for me. Subaru, Tea, and Shirou here has yet to get an official ranking as a mage. He is new to our system and has never been tested in the past, though given what I've personally seen of his prowess, he's more than capable to take on B or even A-rank mages. This will also be a test for you two, to examine your ability to not only work as a team but also your mastery over your devices in real combat. There will be no time limit, the winning requirements will be if either side forfeits or is unable to go on."They nodded, making sure to remember each of her words. "Oh, and before I forget, Shirou, this is for you." Nanoha brought out a box within it a large white belt consisting of a large blue gem in the middle. "This is a standard device I requested for you that will summon a barrier jacket, you'll need one for the duel as it'll protect you." She provided further explanation by explaining to him the details which he made sure to memorize.'What an interesting device,' it made Shirou compare it to a Mystic Code. Then again, it might as well be one with what it offered and how it worked. As he took the device and wore it around his waist. His Magic Circuits came to life as it channeled a steady stream of Magical Energy within the piece of equipment. "..." Nothing happened. "Is something wrong, Shirou?" Nanoha asked, wondering if the device was faulty or if Shirou didn't feel well. "If there is any trouble then we can reschedule the duel for another time." He laughed awkwardly, turning around he spotted Subaru's smile dimming down and her back hunching over with gloom that she instantly tried to hide the moment the girl spotted his gaze. 'This won't do.' Frowning, he pulled all his focus on the belt and decided to try something more drastic. Instantly, he sent a large amount of his energy within the device, making sure to not go overboard and actually blow the piece up. The gem flickered for a brief moment, until slowly a white barrier jacket formed around his body. 'Ah, there we go.' "Is everything okay?" Nanoha said, looking around his body suspiciously. "I never saw a barrier jacket get activated so slowly." Was it truly faulty equipment? Shirou gave her a thumbs up, "Yeah, I was unfamiliar with how the device worked but managed to figure it out in the end. Sorry it took so long.""Really? Normally this is an easy step as the barrier jacket passively draws mana from the Linker Core. It shouldn't be this slow or even have any trouble unless you were low on mana to begin with. But then again, given your circumstances then it's probably normal.""Hahaha, yeah, I think so too. Thankfully it's working now and there is no need to worry.""If you say so, I guess such things can happen." Nanoha whispered, questioning whether she was being unnecessarily too paranoid just because it was Shirou. "Alright, let's continue then.""Wait!" Subaru raised her hands, having regained her previous smile. "Before that, isn't this too unfair for Shirou here? I mean, B or even A rank or not, it's still a two versus one battle!" She raised a good point in Shirou's eyes, even if he was confident in both his magecraft and skills, there was still no guarantee he could win a fight against one of them let alone two. With little to no knowledge of how powerful the mages in this world could be, with the only scale of reference being Nanoha herself didn't aspire much confidence in the man's heart. If either of them were anything like the magical girl over there then his chances of victory were slim… almost nonexistent. Though Tea did mention she was a ranged combatant, if that was the case and her power didn't come anywhere close to Nanoha then he could see himself win."I understand, but this is more of a training session than anything serious." "I see…" Even after listening to her words, Teana on the other hand still held some doubts. "Well, if you say so then I guess you can see how it turns out." She said while doing the last check-up on her gun while Subaru followed suit and performed a last inspection on her gauntlets. Nanoha spoke up, "Each group will take up their position on the opposite side of the field. Team A with Subaru and Teana will start on the East side, while Shirou will start on the West. You have ten minutes to get ready and when the timer hits zero, the duel will start." With that mentioned, everyone left the area leaving behind Nanoha. A transparent screen flashed before her eyes as she watched the live footage of the drones following each group and assessing their skills. "Any opinion?" She asked the two other people watching this duel along with her. "This is an unfair battle no matter how you look at it. According to the records, Subaru and Teana were ranked top in their classes for their synergy. But, I can understand why you decided to make such a match-up after seeing the footage." Hayate's voice came from the device, a hint of amusement present in her tone as she was equally curious about how Shirou would handle this battle. On the other hand, Fate had differing opinions. "I still believe this to be a bit out of the norm, if we needed to check his level then I'm sure either of us could have had a one-on-one duel." In the end, she knew that nothing would change the outcome of what was about to happen next. Still, she decided to trust their judgment and didn't add anything else to the conversation, choosing to continue watching the screen with keen interest. ..."So, what is our plan of attack, Tea?" Upon the rooftop of a dilapidated ten-story tall building, both girls set up their position there with a bird's-eye view of their side of the terrain. With little time left before the timer ended, all they could do was to wait for the timer to hit zero. Meanwhile, Subaru was curious as to how her friend wanted to handle the battle. "From what I remember, Shirou is a ranged fighter like me so this might end up being your fight for the most part." A ranged mage's worst nightmare was to deal with a person like her partner. With both speed and power by her side, she might not even need to participate in the battle aside from scouting out his position. "Let me find him, after locking into his coordinates I'll relay them to you. Move fast, I'll provide cover in case he tries to shoot you, and take him out as quickly as you can." "Ah," Subaru didn't look that happy with the plan. "Wouldn't it be better to give him a chance to show off his magic and skills first? Like this is only a form of training for us while it being a special test for him. We're his neighbors… imagine the awkwardness if we ruined his chance with the Time-Space Administrative Bureau." Again as to why Nanoha would proceed with such a decision baffled the girl, though just like Fate and Hayate — she trusted her. Perhaps Shirou truly was an A-rank mage who grew up in a foreign world outside the control of the administration and was recently discovered by Nanoha maybe?"We can, but our intentions will be clear to everyone watching and Shirou himself. It's very possible for him to get offended or even angered that we intentionally held back. Though I do agree with you to some extent, we don't need to go too far. Let's just treat this as any other battle we've been through in the past, we'll worry about the details later." said the blonde. "Got it!" The loud siren ringing announced the beginning of the test. Like the hammer of a gun snapping, Subaru rushed to the edge of the rooftop with Teana remaining behind — her eyes carefully scouring the terrain before her, watching for any movement within the hundreds of windows or any signs of the redhead coming for them."Coast is clear!" She shouted, giving her friend the green light to proceed forward."Let's go!" Her mana-driven rollerblades sparking with the friction against the concrete, Subaru leaped at high speed with enough momentum to oppose the building before smashing through one of the windows. Without losing any of her speed, she continued to head forward, jumping through the obstacles of the structure to reach the ground at record time. "Structure is clear, no presence of any boobytraps or robots roaming around the area." She communicated with Teana telepathically, a form of magic they learned to perfect with time."Good, Shirou has most likely already started moving as well. Don't wander around in open areas and keep your cover, I'll be keeping watch on your position." While her partner could come off as childish and somewhat immature, Subaru always had a unique approach to combat. With great combat instincts and countless hours of training against foes of all sorts — she was more than capable of completing this battle by herself in Teana's opinion. A near master practitioner of the Shooting Arts which used in tandem with her gauntlet device. With her acting as both a support and stricker, victory was basically guaranteed. Yet for some reason, she was unable to shake off the uneasy feeling she kept getting at this very moment. Was this going to be truly an easy fight?***Back in the main office, the two individuals overlooking the footage expressed a visible expression of interest and pride at what they had seen so far. "They make a good pair, don't they?" Fate mentioned, impressed by the strong beginning of Subaru and Teana. "Making sure that they inspect their surroundings and keep a lookout for Subaru just in case she gets surprise attacked. They have the potential to become A-rank mages in the near future."Hayate agreed with her assessment. "That may be the case, but the battle has yet to begin so I can't say for sure if their current level will suffice.""You think so? In their last assessment for the B-rank mage examination, they managed to take down the Large Scale Auto Sphere which was quite an infamous obstacle for having taken down more than half of the examinees last time." In Fate's eyes, even if this Shirou Emiya held the ability to fire powerful projectiles, it wouldn't necessarily be enough to take down his opponents. Even if hypothetically he was born with a Mana Core powerful enough to equal her, Hayate, or Nanoha — it wouldn't matter if both girls managed to outmaneuver him with skills. And she heavily doubted this boy, who according to the reports Nanoha gave her, called himself a "third-rate magus", it only served to reinforce her doubts. She turned to the other screen, showing the camera locked onto his back, wondering what he was planning to do. "A bow…" The very same bow she saw him use before from the footage provided. It looked quite simple, it wasn't even a device now that she looked at it carefully. "Is he… is he going to use a regular bow against those two?" "I'm not sure if we can call it a regular bow. It appeared in his hand and has shown incredible strength to fire projectiles at great distances." As Hayate mentioned, both saw a black arrow now appear in his other hand. Made from a translucent blue motes of mana from what they understood. In a way, they even wanted to call them beautiful with how they formed with Shirou's mana.There was no hint of worry or concern on his face, amongst the concrete forest, he managed to stand out in the eyes of the blonde. While Subaru was making her way to his location, Shirou calmly brought the bow and arrow together before slowly pulling the string. His muscles bulged just to pull the string of such a contraption. "He won't be able to hit them," Fate had to comment on the absurdity of the scene before her. The arrow did not give her the impression of being anything other than a simple wooden projectile with a rounded metal tip. Putting that aside, where he stood was still many kilometers away from Subaru, and without some spell to discern her location it would be impossible to hit her. "I'm not sure what he's planning on doing." Try as she might, Fate had to stop thinking about the case and found it better to sit back and watch with a heavy sigh. "How confusing." Hayate continued to smile, "This is going to be interesting." Years working for the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, she managed to learn a few tricks from various friends and colleagues to pass the time. Right before he summoned that black bow, her screen showed Shirou's face in detail, gazing at his lips which moved to form two simple words she managed to read. Trace, on.***"Damn it, just where is he!?" Back on the field, Subaru's annoyance continued to rise as half an hour later she still couldn't find a single trace of her target. "Still no luck, Tea?" "Unfortunately no, I haven't found anything yet." "Tch, this is a waste of time. We should gather and just f—gah!" It happened in an instant, faster than she could react, before her mind could even comprehend what happened — she felt a gut wrenching strike hit her right in the stomach. The world stopped for a split second, her widened eyes staring in shock at the arrow that came out of nowhere. 'He's close.''Tea missed him.' 'Where is he?''Should I regroup or take him on here?''I didn't even hear a sound.' 'I'll have to create a smoke screen!'One question after the other barged through her mind, her body hadn't even hit the ground before she already started scanning her surroundings. Finding nothing but more empty buildings and destroyed streets, the girl had little to no idea where he could have shot her from.She heard Teana's panicked voice shouting her name through their telepathic link, though none of the words afterward made sense as she paid no attention to them. At the corner of her eyes, she spotted a single glint of light."—!" Bang!At the very last second, she brought her hands up and blocked another arrow, "Kah!" The second impact sent her body hurtling a couple of meters until her back hit the walls. Air was pushed out of her lungs but it didn't hurt as much as before. "T-Tea!" She couldn't catch his position, but her partner who kept watch the entire time should have seen something. "It came from your left! Move!" That warning came just in time for her to push back against the ground and dodge a third arrow that struck the area she was in before. Subaru activated her rollerblades, pouring as much mana as she could to give her a burst of speed sufficient enough to leave the area and not get hit again. She blasted forward.A magic circle formed beneath her feet to form a platform that stretched in the air. A glint of light reflected from the distance, "Not this time!" Her arms cocked back, the gauntlet coming to life, spinning from a simple command. "Load cartridge!" As if loading a bullet into a chamber, Subaru's device continued to spin at greater speed with a small ball of mana formed above her hands. "Revolver… shoot!" A single shotgun blast rang as she fired the blast, recoiling slightly from the wind it generated. The ball traveling headstrong straight for the fourth arrow and hitting it with sufficient accuracy to cause both objects to explode. Teana immediately stepped forward from where she was stationed to follow along with Subaru's attack. Tracing the trajectory of the arrow which blew up, she sucked a lungful of air with clear disbelief visible on her face. "T-That far!?" It came from the rooftop of another building, yet that particular structure was two kilometers away from them! Even with her eyesight, the girl could barely make out the small red dot of the boy standing there. "Kargh!" And without warning, a red beam slammed into her guts similar to Subaru. Though unlike her partner's higher pain tolerance and defenses, Tea couldn't land back down properly and fell off the rooftop. "He's aiming for me too!" Pushing her shock to the side, she aimed her gun to a piece of rebar above and fired a grappling hook from her gun, the line extending and wrapping around the part she aimed for. "I got you!" As her fall started to slow down, Subaru came forth and caught the blonde right on time. "Behind you!" Tea screamed as she brought up her gun and fired at another arrow which nearly hit Subaru's head. The latter's jaw dropped when she noticed dozens of arrows in the sky, which all of them headed straight for her with terrifying precision. "That bastard," she smirked, unable to suppress her emotions at how ruthless and effective this guy was with his bow and arrows. "Is he a gatling gun!?" Left, right, riding up magic-constructed platforms, swinging across the whole field thanks to Tea, and jumping from one window to another — this was what both girls ended up doing for the last few minutes. Minutes that to them felt like hours. This became no different than a game of cat and mouse where they were able to hold on for now, using their surroundings as a barrier in case the arrows became too numerous, and using the short time Shirou stopped firing to shorten the distance between them.Though Teana couldn't help but feel something was amiss here. He looked far too calm with how the battle was turning out.***"..."In the office, Fate was left speechless at the event before her. The entire time, she believed this to have been an easy match for the girls and a challenge for Shirou. But the complete opposite occurred.He was dominating the field with his range alone, something neither Subaru nor Tea could replicate. Using greater speed to keep those two from getting too close and stacking the pressure on them with the never-ending flow of arrows. Regardless of how powerful Subaru's punches were or how lethal Teana's shots were, as long as they couldn't hit their opponent then this would become nothing more than a one-sided battle."Fascinating, he is able to not only shoot a target at a distance of two kilometers, but to do it with so much accuracy!" Hayate exclaimed, "with his speed and accuracy alone, Shirou should have the minimum necessary qualifications to become an A-rank ground mage. He hasn't yet brought out the more dangerous arrows he has shown in the battle against the ghouls, so this should be a clear-cut victory." She wanted to root for Subaru and Teana just as anyone else. But the circumstances presented before her made that notion difficult to exist. "That's not clear yet," said the voice of Nanoha, the image on the screen turning to the brunette floating in the sky watching the battle below her with a smile on her face. "The duel has not ended yet, I trust those two still have ways to win this fight.""Hoh, I was under the impression that you were expecting for Shirou Emiya to win, Nanoha-chan." She didn't deny her claim, "I am, but that doesn't mean those two have no chance of winning. There are many factors we must take into consideration and our mages here still have many tricks up their sleeves." Fate agreed and so did Hayate. It would be foolish and disrespectful to already come to such a conclusion without waiting till the end. They all fought such battles in the past, against opponents who were not only more skilled than them, but those who possessed far more power as a whole. Hayate turned her head, welcoming the arrival of a person who knew would be present to watch the current fight. "What is your opinion about this, Signum?" She asked the pink-haired woman, the latter watching the fight with an interested expression. "I see Vita couldn't join us today.""She's busy taking care of matters concerning the staff for Riot 6." Hayate nodded in understanding, that the project of hers was nearing its completion and she was grateful for everyone who was giving their all to make it a reality. "I see, shame, she would have enjoyed the fight.""Where is he from?" Signum questioned, "that bow is not a device, merely a weapon made of a durable material capable of creating so much force just to shoot a single arrow. And to do it so quickly requires immense physical strength." "Mah, you can ask him these questions yourself. I don't believe it's my place to share them in the first place." "If you say so." Regardless, it was clear to her that this boy was not a newly formed mage. Putting aside his power and magic, the experience alone already told her enough. {Break}"What the hell!" Subaru shouted in frustration, "Is this guy for real!? What kind of person can use a bow like a freaking sniper!? And he keeps aiming for my guts!!!" At this point, she evaded at least a hundred of arrows but unfortunately, a few reached their target. Thankfully, Tea was around to support her and shot at the oncoming barrage when she was struggling to get up. "He's playing with us!" Subaru noted, she prepared herself for another stream of arrows that would inevitably rain down upon them, hoping that she would be able to dodge them like last time. She was weak, suffering from a burning sensation to her gut from all those arrows that hit her, and her clothes were drenched in sweat. The last time she was pushed to such an extent was against her sister, 'Though her fists hurt far more than his arrows.' That phrase she promised herself to spit it back into his face after successfully punching his face."I'll distract him, you go and get close to him!" Teana said, having reloaded her gun and firing in quick succession at a few arrows. "If he focuses on me then you'll have enough chances to get close enough to stop him from using that damnable bow of his!" "Be careful, those arrows pack enough punch to break a bone if you're not careful." Of course, she knew, having experienced the pain firsthand made Teana shiver at the thought of experiencing that kind of attack again. It was a miracle how Subaru managed to stay up for so long, even with a barrier jacket those things hurt tremendously. "In 3… 2… 1!" They split ways, the gunner running to an open area close enough where she could see Shirou up there with his bow."Over here!" She screamed, firing a couple of shots near his surroundings and some straight for his head. Unfortunately, they all got destroyed by his ridiculous shooting rate. Though she prided herself on her accuracy, Teana still managed to miss some shots while the others were casually taken care of by Shirou. He stared at her from a distance, with enough intensity that she felt as if he could see right into her eyes. Yet his action baffled her, as the boy turned his head around to aim for Subaru again. "Shit!" She cursed for the first time since the battle began, a rare case that only happened under high enough stress. "Subaru, watch out!" But then, for an inexplicable reason, he didn't do anything afterward. "Huh?" His gaze returned to her, Teana's body tensed as she saw him pull the string of his bow a bit more slower than next time. The wind whistled with a high-pitched sound, she turned her head just in time to dodge a familiar red beam that she felt touched the surface of her skin. However, even with her shooting like a madman, Shirou still managed to keep a steady balance with her. Whatever he did, Teams started to understand the frustration Subaru felt back then. More of her shots were immediately dispensed with little to no effort by the guy. In fact, even his firing rate had visibly slowed down, casting thousands of ideas course through Teana's mind. "This is my chance, he either ran out of ammunition and must be running out!" With that idea in mind, she was about to leave from the corner only to be met with those golden brown eyes that converted little to no intentions. "This is my chance!" Either Shirou grew tired by running out of mana or material, she had to seize the chance!As soon as she took another step forward, "GAAAH!" A painful blow hit her ankle, and on her knees, she barely dodged a second strike for her other ankle this time. 'Just have to deal with the pain for a little while longer.' Honestly, she had long since stopped questioning how he could fire arrows with so much power and protection with a normal bow. All of her focus was only on keeping that monster's attention on him and nothing else. Her eyes darted around the battlefield, seeing her partner get closer to him only served to fuel her desire to keep his attention on her. "Why don't you dodge for once!" In anger, she fired three shots. The first one got destroyed by one of his arrows, another one missed by a hairbreadth, and the last shot finally made him move. Meanwhile, a grin etched onto Subaru's face at the opening she was given, she threw all caution to the wind. Her teammate wouldn't hold onto his attention for long if she wasn't fast enough. Originally, it was supposed to be only her fighting Shirou in a one on one battle, but given that could no longer be the case, the girl knew she had to give it her all now. The distance between them kept getting shorter, Shirou's entire attention immersed on Teana as the latter kept making him dodge her shots and stop him from doing anything else. Just to get a slight boost, two gunshots rang from her gauntlets, propelling her forward even faster than before. Loading another cartridge would take more time, so she preferred to just sock him to the face! Her rollerblades reached the end of the platform, she jumped forward with her right fist winded back and ready to strike him. There was no way he would have enough time to react or fire another one of those arrows at her. "Sorry about this, Shirou, but I'll have to beat you up for all those shots to my stomach!" She would treat him with a gift later on as an apology, by now, Nanoha-san must have seen enough of his abilities by now. "Hah!" In an instant — he materialized a short black blade, having the bow break down into pieces of light and blocking her attack using the flat side of the weapon. A loud screeching followed with more sparks, he kept his ground without getting overwhelmed by her strength. Unable to process what happened, she gave Shirou ample time to deflect her fist before sending a powerful kick to her stomach accompanied by a small shockwave.She coughed up saliva, clutching her guts which burned as if it was on fire. She swore that by the end of the training, her belly would be all black and blue. Pushed off her platform, the blue-haired girl ended up free falling from the sky.Bzt!Shirou wasn't done yet, he recalled his bow and sent a flurry of arrows towards her in a single burst. Many of which were aimed for her guts and head."Give me a break!" Subaru complained, as she tried to protect her body, the attacks rained down mercilessly till she was sent crashing to the ground, forming a crater twice her size. "Subaru!" Hiding behind a wall, Teana cursed that man at the last second changed his aim, and went for her head. She had to dodge the arrows which gave him enough time to turn his attention back to Subaru. The salvo of projectiles she saw hit her friend made a chill run up her spine, Subaru was strong enough to casually get up after getting rammed through a concrete wall. But if such a thing were to happen dozens of times then it would exceed her limit. Her eyes widened at how a single one of those arrows managed to destroy a boulder into fine powder, there was no way she was getting up from that any time soon.And he was also a sword user!"Hah, calm down Teana, you can do this." She wasn't much of a fighter, but that didn't mean she was completely incompetent in that area. Now, her priority was to get back to Subaru and retreat somewhere where they could lose the guy and rest for a bit. "Thankfully, there is no time limit so better use that to our advantage." There was no need to rush, they shouldn't have stormed headfirst without carefully analyzing their opponent in the first place. "Deep breath." A red arrow whistled near where she hid, grazing her shoulders. Teana hissed, going further behind while clutching her bruised area. "At least those arrows are blunt, but they still hurt. At least now I know he's still there and got his attention on me." She focused, clearing her mind of all negative thoughts, and focused her mana, drawing as much as she could whilst adding a new cartridge inside the barrel. A shooting spell of which she grew very proud of. Like many shooting spells, several magic spheres were produced, floating around her body. She tightened her hold on the gun and jumped to the side whilst aiming for the area Shirou stood before. "Cross Fire Shoot!" Woosh!All ten spheres turned into beams of light, traveling faster than any of her previous attacks and bombarding the rooftop, destroying a large part of the building and engulfing it in a sea of fire.  A quick reload later, she fired again without missing a beat. "Cross Fire Shoot!"This time, only five spheres were shot, carrying less destructive energy. But they were nonetheless dangerous enough to completely obliterate the entire upper section of the building. "Hah… Hah… Hah," panting, she could feel her head getting lighter. The stress of evading his arrows for so long while trying to close the distance between them drained her mentally. "That… should… have been enough…" Seriously, to think she thought of him as a D-ranked mage in the past was laughable. She chuckled self depricantly, wanting to smack her past self for assuming such a thing. In a real-life scenario, it would have been a deadly mistake."Hm?" Teana got back up, something didn't feel right. The smoke from the rooftop started to clear as she watched with bated breath, her heartbeat drumming loudly. And finally, horror surfaced on her face as she found not a single trace of Shirou anywhere. 'Did I go too far?' Her hands were shaking, this couldn't be possible, right? Instructor Nanoha was paying close attention to the fight, surely she would have intervened if things went too out of hand, right? The idea of something tragic happening just because she wasn't careful enough was too much to bear."N-No… it can't — " "— Behind you." "—!" His voice sounded from behind her back.Impossible.How did he get there without her noticing? At the corner of her eyes, she saw another blade's pummel swinging right for her head. There was an annoyingly pervasive thought that no matter how hard she tried, there was no way she could beat Shirou on her own. "DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME!?" BANG!Much to the blonde's surprise, the ground beneath them broke apart with a bruised Subaru bursting upwards with a cocky smirk. Her feet swung around and kicked Shirou full force to his stomach. The sound of glass shattering spreading across the area as white shards flew away from Shirou's stomach."This is payback!" A second attack came forth with her plunging her other foot right to his face. "Plus interest!" Her gauntlet came to life, mana wafting off the device as it formed a single ball of blue energy. "Revolver shoot!" "Cross Fire Shoot!"Realizing that she had mistakenly assumed the worst beforehand, Teana retracted her previous shock and followed Subaru's example. Using the sliver of an opening by her partner's distraction, Teana rushed to close the distance. She spun her gun, the pistol's barrel lighting up with an angry green hue of mana, creating more intense mana orbs which she fused to fire another round of destructive spheres. 'Are his eyes glowing?' In the head of the moment, Teana saw a change in Shirou's eyes that she couldn't describe with words. They looked far more dangerous."I a—th—bon——y—ord!" ...Shirou wanted to make this fair, he entertained the idea of firing a Caladbolg II but instantly dismissed it. So he chose the simpler approach, to bombard those two with enough arrows to overwhelm the girls to make them quit or render them unconscious. "She's persistent." From the days of the fifth Holy Grail War, his skills with the bow grew by leaps and bounds. A large part of it thanks to Archer's memories and finally the countless hours of training he did at the Clocktower. At a distance of two kilometers, he could comfortably achieve a bullseye ten times successively without missing once.But to cause any unnecessary enmity with his neighbors, he only aimed to take down Subaru first by making sure she wouldn't be able to get up. He wasn't sure how good her defenses were so he avoided the head. Teana was a dangerous foe as she was the mastermind behind each move and a ranged fighter. Though her defense and senses were lacking as a single arrow was more than enough to catch her off guard. Unfortunately for him, Subaru came to her rescue and now both of them were coming for him. "Eh?" As he patted his clothes, Shirou noticed a small change in his barrier jacket. "Cracks?" The gem on the belt flickered, making the jacket grow ever so slightly dimmer. At that point, Shirou realized that if he didn't hurry… then the barrier jacket would stop working on him. "Hm, I guess I can bring it up a notch." This time, he traced a simple nameless sword not even powerful enough to be considered a mystic code let alone a Noble Phantasm. The steel twisted into the shape of an elongated twisted arrow and in less than a second it was being pulled and fired at a greater speed than his previous arrows. The projectile hit Subaru right in the stomach, fortunately, he made sure that the tip wasn't that sharp in the slightest so as to avoid any grievous wound. "But a broken rib or two is unavoidable." Yet again, those two proved to him how great of a team they were. While the blue-haired girl needed some time to get back up, she fired a special type of bullet that hit any arrows coming too close to them before dragging her friend somewhere safe. This cycle continued for a couple of times, him tracing the same sword just to hit Subaru in the same spot again and again to the point that even he was getting flabbergasted at how tenacious that girl was. Barrier jacket or not, that much pain surely would have put anyone down by now!By the end, those two got close enough to force him to bring out Kanshou which surprised Subaru long enough for him to smack her away and send her back down with a hail of arrows raining down on her body. If that fall wasn't going to make her unconscious, then surely this would."Damn it, I should use something else." After years of practicing his tracing, Shirou got used to bringing out Kanshou and Bakuya through instinct alone. But given he didn't know how well their defenses would hold up against the edge of a Noble Phantasm, he immediately dismissed the weapon and instead brought out a silver European longsword. "Now, where is Teana? Ah, she's hiding." A sound strategy, but their distance, he could just end it with a quick strike from the sword's pummel. Shirou fired one last arrow that managed to strike her shoulders, Magical Energy streamed inside his limbs and with the use of Reinforcement, he jumped straight to the other side quietly. Good thing he did so, as the girl came out with dozens of floating spheres around her and fired them where he stood before. The redhead felt goosebumps spreading over his body, that kind of attack would easily put him out if he wasn't careful. There was only so much Reinforced clothes and body could withstand without the use of proper armor. "N-No, it can't be!" She seemed distraught, panicking even to the point of not noticing his presence which he wasn't even trying to hide in the first place. 'Does she think that I…' He almost chuckled, though it still felt bad to have her react like that and he didn't want to use this opportunity to his advantage given this wasn't a genuine fight — so might as well announce his presence. "Behind you." Her body tensed up, but it was far too late as his blade's pummel was already nearing her temple. These clothes she wore provided a defensive spell that would have shrugged off his attack most likely, but did it also protect her head? Well, the only way was to see and find out.Bang!"What?" At the last second, Shirou lost his balance with the floor beneath him crumbling apart. He watched with shock as the previously thought unconscious Subaru burst upward with a giant grin on her bruised-filled face. Even after everything she experienced, she still looked so energetic and enthusiastic. So much so that even he couldn't help but smile at the girl's contagious energy. "Eurgh!" Though that smile was short-lived as he experienced a burning kick to the stomach, the sensation being especially painful due to the rollerblades threatening to dig into his flesh. White shards of light burst around Shirou's body, a detail which the girls failed to notice. "This is payback!" A statement he couldn't deny, he did intentionally target her stomach the entire time. The fact that she could still move was no different than a miracle, or perhaps she had a stupidly powerful abdomen that could withstand a heavy amount of blunt damage. 'Just like Luvia… I lost count of the number of times Rin pummelled her to the ground and stomped the girl for long enough to entirely destroy the floor itself.' Just by thinking of that memory, the familiar laughter replayed in his mind with the mocking sound of 'Miss Gorilla' playing over and over again. 'I really hope these two aren't similar.'  Though it didn't just end there, another foot stomped his face. The taste of blood came to his mouth, that kick even chipped one of his teeth due to the rollerblades acting as another weapon. Shirou spun on his heels to disperse as much force as he could and felt his hair stand up with an imminent feeling of grave danger. The light emanating from Subaru's gauntlets and Teana's gun was no different than a death sentence if those hit him. "Revolver…" "Cross Fire…"Every single fiber of his being screamed at him to move, but it was already too late. Finding himself in a similar situation to Teana from before, a position where he could do nothing but take the attacks head-on. He couldn't hold back anymore.With Magical Energy surging through his circuits, Shirou's arm lit up with the circuit patterns traveling all through his limbs while he brought it up to face the two incoming attacks. When was the last time he felt such a great sense of danger? "I am the bone of my sword!"""SHOOT!"""Rh—"A ball of fire and light came to life, spreading all over the rooftop and blinding anyone watching the fight. The screens in the offices turned white with everyone on the edge of their seats wondering what the heck just happened. Nanoha swooped in, an expression of worry showing on her face as she hoped things didn't escalate too far. She noticed how Shirou was holding back and wanted to dissuade him from doing so as it could easily backfire on him. But a part of her wanted to trust the boy's judgment as he proved to be good at taking the right decision at the moment. She shielded her eyes from the intense pale pink light.As it died down, she and everyone else watched as the smoke cleared and watched as Shirou stood next to a fallen Teana with a struggling Subaru held firmly in a chokehold. The girl barely had any energy to move let alone pry herself off from the equally tired and heavily bruised redhead. A sword having pierced her left gauntlet to the ground, rending that arm immobile, and a few more blades trapped her legs from going anywhere as even the slightest movement could cut her skin. A few seconds later, seeing how it was pointless to resist. She sighed, tapping his arms around her neck signaling that she could no longer go on. "I give… up." She whispered, using her last bit of energy to say those words. "You were amazing… both of you. I nearly lost there." He said, gently putting her down on the ground and laying next to them. 'No, you didn't.' Subaru wanted to say, but couldn't. The last image appearing inside her mind as she closed her eyes was that of a beautiful blooming sakura petal. 'Eh, where's his barrier jacket?' "Raising Heart, are they okay?" She asked, hoping that they were alright."All three vital signs are stable." A heavy sigh of relief escaped her mouth, the magical girl landed next to them and waved her device. "Round Shield." Their bodies got surrounded by a translucent field of magic, protecting them from any residual danger. She smiled at the otherworldly Magus comfortably resting inside her shield. Hovering next to him followed by a friendly wave. "How are you doing?" She asked."Could have been better, I have a new fear of rollerblades from now on." He touched his face, feeling it sting from the previous kick and even spit out a broken tooth. "Even getting punched in the face never hurts as much." Or having to experience a Gandr, even a low-powered one hurt like hell on Earth. "Fufufu~! You can speak like that means that you still have a lot of energy left in you.""I would argue the opposite, Nanoha-san." "I might just throw you back there to face Sigmun-san, I'm sure she would be more than happy to test you out." He had no idea who this person was but given how she was saying it made him already wary of this individual. "Hehehe, I'll pass on that. I don't think my body can afford getting nearly blown to bits again."Both shared a laugh, glad that nothing bad happened. Shirou pushed himself up to a sitting position, stretching his arms and hearing a popping noise with each movement. He groaned and arched his back for a similar thing to happen again. "Now, now, you're not going to tell me that you're becoming too old for such fights?" Nanoha joked, bringing them back to a safer location where they would get treated. "Oh, I'm already seeing a white stand here, Shirou. You might have a full head of white hair in a few years." The girl continued to tease the boy."Humph, trust me, you won't like that version of me. He'll be nothing but a big grumpy cry baby. A true bastard." "Eh?""Nothing," he ruffled his hair, grabbing a single strand of white amongst the sea of auburn. "Just an inside joke. Also, you have great eyesight, to spot a single strand on my head… kinda weird." And pulled the strand off before discarding it. "Hehehe, I just got lucky… ah! I forgot to congratulate you on your victory, Shirou! You defeated two B-ranked mages! That should officially grant you the ranking of an A-rank." "Defeated? Barely." He didn't like that word in this context. "They could have beaten me if they tried hard enough. Especially with how good their teamwork was.""They lost because they not only underestimated you, but they lacked sufficient planning and headed straight for the attack. It doesn't matter how you won, it doesn't change the outcome. And don't think I didn't notice how you were holding back a lot compared to what you've shown me when we first met." "I wasn't going to use Caladbolg on those two." He said with a stiff expression. "Then my point still stands, you had more than enough opportunity and firepower to not only defeat them from the beginning but also escape if things got too intense — but you continued to stay in your place." She pointed her finger at him, already guessing what he was about to say. "And if you still disagree with me then I'll schedule you for another duel and this time, your opponent will be me!" "I humbly accept this victory." He followed instantly, not wanting to face this nuclear-powered monster any time soon.Nanoha nodded at his changed attitude, Shirou was too humble at times. Meanwhile, Shirou looked at both Subaru and Teana, cringing at how bruised and beaten they looked. His initial goal of ending this fight as quickly and painlessly as possible turned out to become the complete opposite. He regretted his actions at the end, perhaps there was another quick way to proceed with the battle if he had only taken his time to plan things out.Soon, a group of paramedics came with three stretchers ready to bring them to the care center to treat their wounds. Shirou insisted that he was fine much to Nanoha's dismay. "Shirou, this is not the time to be acting stupid. Your nose was bleeding from Subaru-chan's attack; you could possibly be suffering from cracked ribs." "You're exaggerating, I went about my regular day with worse wounds than this." "That doesn't make it better!" She whined, contemplating whether to tie him up and drag him inside a hospital. "And why did you say that as if it was some sort of achievement to be proud of?" Shirou scratched his head, "I-It's really not that bad, I just need to take a nap and I'll be as good as new." She was beginning to experience a headache with how resistant he was being.As those two continued their conversation, another group of three people arrived on the helipad to greet him. One of which he recognized as Hayate, the woman giving him a thumbs up. Behind her stood a tall woman with pink hair, with a stoic face that barely showed anything. "Sigmun." Was all that she said with a slight nod. He guessed it was an introduction of sorts."Um… Emiya Shirou." Then the third person, she came forward and extended her hand which he awkwardly shook. "Glad to meet you, Emiya Shirou. My name is Fate Testarossa, I'm a long-time friend of Nanoha and a Forward Lightning Commander." The boy didn't know what to say, not being an expert in interacting with new people he just smiled and nodded his head. I like Nanoha and even Hayate to some extent, he didn't know this person so had little to no idea how to steer the conversation."Your skill with the bow was impressive, may I know what magic you use?" She asked out of simple curiosity. "Ah, you mean about my accuracy? That's not magic, I just trained a lot to hone my skills to this level." "Eh, really? That's even more impressive!" As she was about to ask him more questions, Nanoha came along and rested her hands on the blonde's shoulders."Fate-chan, we can talk with Shirou later, now he needs to get treated for his injuries." "Ah, of course, let me help you." Fate proposed, joined by Hayate and Signum agreeing with the brunette. In the end, Shirou could do nothing but let himself get carried on a stretcher to the hospital. The battle was intense, especially towards the end. Those two gave him a good challenge and the next time it would probably not be as easy for him. "Also, Shirou. What happened to your barrier jacket?" Nanoha asked with a dark frown on her face. "It broke apart right as Subaru kicked you… have anything to say to me mister?" He flinched, a dreadful chill going up his spine as he watched the not so friendly look on the girl's face. "Hahaha… who knows, maybe I wasn't paying a-any attention an—""The Barrier jacket doesn't require for the mage to consciously keep it active. It's a passive spell that stays active without the need of someone's attention." "..." "Don't lie to me," the closer she got the paler he got. Hayate and the rest also had similar expressions as Nanoha and it didn't make it easy for him. "Or else."So with a sigh, he explained the reason why the jacket didn't work for him. Suspecting that given he didn't have a Linker Core and instead had Magic Circuits, it would make it impossible for the device to properly work for him. Heck, it was a miracle in itself that he partially managed to activate it in the first place.A vein throbbed on the brunette's forehead, the girl flew to his side, grabbed the boy by his collar and shook him violently."Why didn't you tell me this initially!? YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN SERIOUSLY HURT, YOU IDIOT!" She couldn't believe the boy noticed such important details and didn't stop the duel when he had the opportunity! "A-Ah, w-well I couldn't ruin Subaru-san and Teana-san's test for such a small re-reason. Hehe… and I wasn't planning for Subaru to hit me in the first place." She resisted the urge to facepalm herself. "Ara… I don't think I've ever seen her get this angry before." Hayate commented, though even she was unhappy with Shirou's actions. "Then again, it's my fault, I should have taken into account the difference in the biological magic system from a foreign human like him." "You can worry about that later, let's bring them to the hospital first.""You're right, Fate-chan." Perhaps she could look into this case later and try to have the department create a device compatible with his body… but they'll need to study his body first.{Break}(A few hours later)"—ru."A voice rang in her ears, it was loud and annoying, making it hard for her to sleep. "Hmmn…""—aru!"It came again, louder than before. She wanted to ignore it and continue indulging in the comfortable embrace of her warm bed. It was cold outside, yet inside the covers, the temperature was just right. Her body felt immensely sore, probably after spending a few hours too long training like many times in the past. Did she have any classes today? Probably. The girl couldn't be bothered to remember or even think about anything else but her warm lavender-scented pillow.Weird, it never smelled this way in the past. Even her shampoo was odorless which made her pillow usually reek of her sweat — much to Teana's disgust. Oh, it was probably her pillow, she must have taken it by mistake in her sleep. Oh well, her partner had enough of them, not like she would miss it."SUBARU!" This time, the voice was loud enough to crush any and all feelings of sleep as it rang right next to her ears."AAAARGH! What!?" She shouted, covering her ringing ears, it felt as if she had an encounter with a banshee. "Can't a young woman like me get a simple full night sle…ep… huh?" Subaru's words died down her throat as she opened her eyes. The warm blue wall color of their room covered with countless pictures and posters was now replaced with a blank white wall. "Hurgh!" Her nose got immediately assaulted by the intense odor of pure alcohol and other types of chemicals which burned away any remaining remnant of her drowsiness.  "Where… are we?" She asked no one in particular."Hey, finally awake." The blue-haired girl turned to see her partner sitting on a hospital bed covered in bandages from head to toe and drinking a cup of tea. "I grew tired of hearing you mumbling and snoring for the most part and had no choice but to wake you up, dummy." "Hospital? Snoring!?" Teana rolled her eyes."Yeah, hospital. Don't tell me you don't remember what happened before… Do you even remember who I am?" Seeing her confused face, the blonde sighed and massaged her temples. "Great, now I have to deal with an amnesiac girl who can barely take care of herself. Just my luck." "Oi! Who are you calling ambit… amnesti… amma… amnesiac? Yeah, amnesiac!?" Subaru crossed her hands with a pout. "If you had to know, I was just trying to remember what happened before." "We had our own spells blow up on our faces," Teana said with a dry tone, continuing to keep her eyes on the cup of tea while occasionally sneaking glances at the news screen on the other side of the room. "More like that happened to me while you suffered from not getting enough oxygen to your brain.""Huh?" "You were choked to the point of losing consciousness.""Ohhhh," Subaru nodded her head. "Now I understand. "Sure you do." She knew that her friend over here hadn't yet remembered the event of the past yet so she gave her a few more seconds. 'In five… four… three… two… one.'"Ah, now I remember!" There it was, right on time even. That was a new record now that she thought about it, maybe she needed to keep a record somewhere. Meanwhile, Subaru was slowly recalling every single moment which led her to her current situation. From her meeting Shirou, finding out he was their opponent the next day, having to fight him, getting kicked in the guts many times and the last memory was a bit blurry. 'Was that… a flower?' It sounded absurd, but she was certain that before everything went dark, she saw a scene that would forever remain etched into her brain. 'But was it real, or was I imagining things?' Many questions occupied her thoughts, though many of which would remain unanswered. "Where is Shirou?" Fortunately for this one, she didn't need to wait for long to get an answer."I'm right here." "Gya!" Caught by surprise, she almost fell off her bed. "Shirou!?" Similarly to Teana, the boy was sitting on his bed with a good part of his body covered with bandages and he was also drinking a cup of tea while watching the TV. "What are you doing here?" "Resting." "For how long?" "Don't know." He shrugged, having not paid too much attention to the time. Though given the sky outside was now painted a deep orange color, soon to turn dark from the disappearing sun — it had been at least five to six hours. "Why didn't you say anything?" "I was drinking tea.""..."Well, that was obvious enough for her, rather she wanted to know why he was there. "You won, I remember now." "That may be true, but it doesn't mean that I didn't sustain any injuries from that fight. Remember, you smashed your rollerblades to my face and to my guts before shooting a full-powered magic blast at point blank. My body has survived many injuries in the past but an attack like that was bound to take me down if I hadn't reacted in time." The channel he watched along with Teana was in English, apparently, the station broadcasted the same news in multiple different languages for people from every corner of the galaxy who didn't necessarily know the same language as the people from Earth. "A flower…" Subaru blurted out, catching his interest as he turned around to face her. "There was a flower… something similar to a flower that blocked the attack." Teana sneakily paid attention to the conversation as well. Honestly, she couldn't remember what exactly happened in the end and the explanation she gave Subaru initially was her repeating the same words uttered by the doctors who were briefed on the training by Nanoha-san. "A flower?" Shirou was amused that Subaru reacted to what he used during the fight. Though he understood where she was coming from, he had a similar reaction as well when he first witnessed it. "I guess you can call it that, it was designed after one so you're not wrong. And to answer your question, it's a defensive… spell, yeah, a spell." Trying to describe a Noble Phantasm let alone that particular one was going to be far too troublesome without there being hundreds of follow-up questions. So he just took the easy way out and just called it a spell. Teana gave him a suspicious stare."Wow, that's amazing. So you can not only use a bow and sword, but also defensive magic? That's crazy.""If you think that's crazy then I am more than curious about what you'd think of Nanoha's powers." Right before coming here, she clearly showed her ability to create an energy-based shield which only served to lengthen the list of powers he noted on her. And all of it originated from that small orb of hers; Raising Heart!'I wonder if she can also use healing spells.' That was probably a no given she didn't use anything similar on either of them. Clang!The doors to their room opened, and Shirou expected to see another nurse or doctor to come in and monitor their recovery. Though unexpectedly, the one who came was that blonde woman he just met, Fate Testarossa. "Subaru-chan, Tea-chan, I'm glad to see you both recovered so quickly." She said kindly, "I have kept watch on your battle alongside Nanoha-chan and Hayate-chan and all of us were impressed. You truly deserved your recent promotion, and I can't wait to work alongside you two." "Working with us?" Everything started to click inside Teana's mind as she looked with unhidden joy at the woman before her. "You don't mean…""Yup! I will be joining the Riot 6 group just like you two," her eyes turned to Shirou. "And you as well." "Eeeehhhhh!?" Subaru exclaimed. "You're part of the group as well!?" "I guess so," he did accept Hayate's invitation last time, so given she was most probably the leader then he did in fact become a member. "Please take care of me, you two." ...Chapter 5: New Friendships-Apartment complex-"It smells so good!!!"A few days passed since the initiation battle, more specifically two days. Since then, not much happened with Shirou aside from laying on his bed inside the hospital and recovering. The same applied to both Subaru and Teana. They were in a worse shape than him in his opinion, given he only suffered from a fractured rib and his bruises weren't that bad. But they kept denying his words and instead worried about him the entire time, Subaru going so far as to even apologize extensively for having kicked him in the stomach and not having noticed the destroyed Barrier Jacket. Teana, sharing Subaru's guilt, also asked for forgiveness; she felt that it was her duty to take into account any changes and react accordingly. Had she not been so distracted and swallowed by the moment then the orangette could have avoided such an outcome. Safe to say, the atmosphere afterward was awkward. Having to placate both of them and keep reassuring Subaru that all of this was no one's fault but his own. It took a full hour for both to begrudgingly accept his words and he even had to throw in the promise of a small dinner invitation to show them that he wasn't mad about anything. This promise led to his current position where he witnessed Subaru inhaling the food on her plate like a vacuum cleaner. Teana by the blue-haired girl's side hiding her face away to not show her embarrassment, a sight that amused Shirou quite a bit. 'Their personalities are the opposite of each other, yet they are best friends.' "Woah, I didn't know you were such a great cook, Shirou!" Subaru said, her cheeks bulging and filled with pieces of steak and potatoes. "I don't mind getting sent to the hospital if it means you'll invite me for dinner again, hehehe—!" Pa! Her friend's fist came crashing down like a sledgehammer and hit the poor girl's head. Teana now had a veins throb on her forehead as she was getting increasingly annoyed and embarrassed by Subaru's shameless behavior. "Oi, we are invited guests, behave like one! And don't start planning to get more food, you make it sound like we eat garbage." Despite saying that, Teana had to agree that none of the dishes they ate so far came close to what Shirou prepared for them. It wasn't like Midchilda didn't have restaurants with galaxy-renowned chefs — their dishes just cost a lot of money neither she nor Subaru found it logical to spend. "I won't be against paying another visit to you again." She whispered, taking a bite of her dish, her eyes widening as she wasn't expecting for the food to be this good. "Glad you liked it, I was afraid my skills wouldn't be up to par with this world's cuisine." "Were you a chef before becoming a mage?" Subaru asked, curious about Shirou's past. "Ah, not really. I did work at a bar in the past, the owner was a good friend of someone I knew and it made it easy for me to get a part-time job. Aside from that, I mostly just worked around fixing cars and bikes with my neighbors and doing small odd jobs. Though surprisingly I never took a position in a kitchen. After that, I just continued my studies at university and now I'm here." "That sounds nice, you've been very productive from the sound of it." "Yeah, I just don't find it comfortable staying at home all day and doing nothing." "But wait," Subaru entered the conversation. "You've been doing so many activities from what I understand but when did you have time to train your magic? Cause the way your arrows struck my stomach no matter where I ran tells me that there was a lot of training involved. Oh, but don't worry, it's all healed, see?" She lifted her shirt to show off her spotless stomach, he did blush like Teana as the boldness of this girl but given how much she displayed while wearing her Barrier Jacket then this was nothing in comparison. "That's… good to know." His eyes drifted away, looking at the ceiling. "And to answer your question, I did have a shed where I practiced my magecraft often, on top of that I was a member of the archery club back in high school. So I had plenty of opportunities to practice my skills.""Aaah, I see. No wonder you prefer a bow. But still, don't you think it would be better to use a gun? In your case, I think a sniper would suit your style very much and it'll make reloads that much faster. Though this is just a suggestion, I noticed how you were able to fire multiple arrows in quick succession." Teana said, being a fellow long-ranged mage as well wanting to exchange tips. "A gun, huh?" Honestly, he never thought about it until recently. After learning a lot about his old man, Shirou grew curious about what kind of weapons Kiritsugu used and did at one point rummage through his belongings. That's where he found a couple of stored away guns collecting dust and sealed away no longer to be used again. It was a shocking discovery, he never realized there were firearms hidden in his house. "I think I'm just too used to the bow. I'm not sure how good my aim and skills with a gun would be given I never used one." "I can lend you one of my old devices and we can have a test run," she proposed an idea he knew was bound to fail. Already hit with the reality that the magic system in this world differed from his own, the chances of her weapons working for him was minuscule — like what happened with the Barrier jacket. "I appreciate the offer, I can even teach you archery in exchange. Are you interested?" Not wanting to disappoint her by turning down the offer, Shirou agreed while showing courtesy and suggesting something in return. "Eh, really!?" Teana's reaction was more energetic than he anticipated. "I would like that very much!" A part that mesmerized her from the duel was Shirou's accuracy and timing. Teana acknowledged her lack of mastery over her gun despite what others thought. Firing powerful shots at a long distance took time for the spell to be ready and that was on top of using a device that simplified the whole process. While Shirou did also use a device, his firing speed eclipsed anything she could do at a far greater range. If learning archery meant improving her pre-existing skills then she was all for it. "Pft!" Subaru chortled, "Tea using a bow, just attack some spiky ears and you'll have the perfect elf cosplay!""Hey! At least I'm trying to get better, you on the other hand still need to improve your speed or else you'll become just another mobile target for Shirou here." "Hehehe, don't worry, I got plans for that." "... If you say so." Knowing Subaru for years, despite her childish and slightly immature behavior, Subaru was still one of the most hardworking people she knew. So when she said to have a plan then Teana believed her. "Ah, speaking of training, I heard you'll be attending the training hall with Fate-san and Hayate-san tomorrow. But why? There shouldn't have been any need for it given you've shown enough during the duel."Shirou scratched his chin, thinking about how he could bring up the matter of him being from another world thus not having a Linker Core like the others. If the Time-Space Administrative Bureau wanted to equip him with equipment and devices that worked with his Magic Circuits then they needed to perform tests. 'Well, I can just tell them directly. There is no harm in that, but I'll keep the more important details vague for now.' "You see, I come from a faraway world and the magic system isn't like yours," he mentioned."That's why your Barrier jacket broke!" Teana's reaction was well expected, the question that plagued her mind. "It all makes sense now…" "Wah Shee," Subaru tried to speak with her mouth filled with food. Shirou couldn't help but chuckle at the display, they sure were a fun bunch to hang out with.  They continued to converse all night, minutes trickling down to hours until it was well over three in the morning. Given they lived in the same building, the girls didn't mind staying late and they had a free day. One thing Shirou learned about Subaru first was that she actually learned her martial arts and technique from her older sister who also worked in the Bureau as a criminal investigator. Teana on the other hand was strangely quiet about her side of the family, choosing to stay quiet the entire time and merely throw a few comments at Subaru's story about their past here and there."What about you, Shirou, any siblings?" Subaru asked. "Yes," Though they weren't related by blood, Shirou considered Fuji-nee as his big sister. Since the beginning she has always been there along with Fujimura-san to help him out and his dad. Though he was fairly certain that woman initially had a crush on the old man at first, not that he ever brought it up to her attention unless he wanted to get smacked with that damnable tiger-stripped shinai. Sure, she lounged around, leeched for food every day, and always acted immature at times — she still represented an important pillar in his life. "A big sister."  "Really? That's awesome! Is she a mage like you?" "No, Fuji-nee was a normal woman… somehow. She's an expert national-level kendo practitioner, I can't tell the number of times I was at the receiving end of her moves whenever she thought I did something bad. I learned how to dodge dangerous attacks from her." Subaru shivered, "Let's hope she doesn't aim for my stomach like her little brother.." "You're not going to let that one go, aren't you." He said, sighing at Subaru's grinning face. "Fine, whenever I'm home you can come over for lunch and dinner." His response was met with a joyful squeal and a hard slap on the back. "You won't regret this, I promise to put a ton of extra effort in our training so we'll both benefit from this." He severely doubted that claim, and she started to remind him of a certain gluttonous tiger of Fuyuki. "Though it won't be easy this time, I'll make sure to get to you without those pesky arrows shooting me down." "Careful there, you don't want to repeat the same accident by breaking another one of Shirou's ribs don't you, Subaru? You have a bad tendency of getting carried away during battle and going too far. "That only happened once—""Thrice.""And she was perfectly fine after that!""By that, if you mean suffering from a mild concussion and a fractured bone or two, then yes, perfectly fine indeed," Teana said, amused at Subaru's reaction while trying to not show it on her face. They had their back and forth for another ten minutes before realizing that it was very late already and they needed to go back."Thanks again for the meal and snacks, Shirou. I promise to bring you something in return and we'll invite you for lunch or dinner in the future as well. Subaru and I aren't on your level, but we can cook." "Goodnight, Shirou!" He waved them goodbye as well, sending them off while standing at the front door and seeing the girls off. They were a fun bunch, energetic, and knew how to make every moment entertaining. Shirou yawned, feeling his drowsiness creep up on him and he decided to crash on the bed for today. ClickThe door closed, with the redhead now lying on his bed and falling asleep soon after. {Break}(Tomorrow morning)Early the next morning, despite having gotten that many hours of sleep, he woke up full of energy to start his day. The girls were still sleeping as were most of the neighbors, the roads were mostly quiet with some cars starting to appear."Mmmm, I'm supposed to meet the others at the Time Space Administrative Bureau in two hours, but where is that place even?" Standing on the balcony, the boy spoke to himself while holding a cup of coffee and a phone-like device made for people like him still new to the technology of Midchilda. He had gotten a message from Hayate, the girl stating that he needed to stop by the main headquarters to assist the teams with the creation of devices that would work with his body. She already mentioned that aside from the Barrier jacket, he needed to already start planning for any other device he might use in the future and inform her in advance. "She's asking this before they even start to create anything to suit me." Honestly, there was a lot of skepticism roaming around his mind for the creation of a device like that. Given just how vastly different Magic Circuits were from a Linker Core. "Isn't this just a mana core?" Given the feat of power Nanoha showcased, he was forced to admit that she was indeed a peerless mage with enough firepower to surpass a large chunk of every Noble Phantasms' blueprint he owned. "I wonder how other mages back in my world would react to the concept of Linker Cores being so common amongst the mages here. It's not like they aren't aware that a parallel world with life existing beyond our own space with the existence of second magic. They'd probably be envious of the abundance of mana of this place, and of the mages of this world not having to worry about magic being a limited resource"Many would surely be quite jealous of him right now, especially Rin. "Some of the more eccentric Magi back there would surely try to implement a Linker Core inside their bodies somehow. Or they'll be more interested in devices like Nanoha's Raising Heart. It's practically a Noble Phantasm-level tool capable of mass destruction." As he put more thought into the matter, Shirou came to understand that he was getting it all wrong. "No, Nanoha herself is someone who possesses immense reserves of Mana to use those devices to that extent. I've lived amongst the Clocktower's mages for long enough to understand they only care about something if it helps them in their research to reach the Root. And so far, I'm pretty certain the devices don't have that capability."Still, the idea that put him on edge was the fact that most likely every mage on this planet possessed a Linker Core, Nanoha probably just being one of many. Though Hayate mentioned that her friend achieved an S+ rank mage classification from her own effort and talent — it didn't mean everyone would be like her. In a sense, this world held the potential to be more dangerous than his own. Here, Mana has shown to be an unlimited resource and coupled with the unknown dangers from outer space made it that much more unsettling. Putting these thoughts aside, he wondered how Hayate and the rest would tackle the issue with devices not working properly with his Magic Circuits. Was a single day enough to not only come up with a working model but make it work with his Magical Energy? "Who knows, I'm no expert in this kind of field so better leave it to the professional."  The image of him wearing a barrier jacket similar to Subaru or Nanoha made him chuckle. 'Hopefully, they won't make it red…' From the brief explanation he got from the girls, Linker Cores and Magic Circuits were not completely different for them to not share any similarities. Linker Cores acted more as reservoirs that stored the outside Mana for later uses while Magic Circuits could generate Magical Energy on their own. He didn't know much to call one better than the other, so Shirou decided it would be better to move on, as long as it worked, that was all that mattered "Better give her the benefit of the doubt. They might question me about the details at the training facility, and perhaps even test me further, I think." He said to himself, yawning once before going to bed for the day. ..."Hah, this must be the place." He stopped in front of what could only be described as the tallest structure he'd seen in his life. Cranagan, the capital sure turned out to be far more advanced than he imagined. His hands shook, not out of fear or joy but rather his nervousness seeping to the surface. Despite having battled countless mages and bested both Subaru and Teana, still Shirou could not shake off this feeling from this foggy future he blindly headed towards. "No, I should trust my guts and keep on walking. I don't think they are nearly as bad as the general Magi population inside the Clocktower, hopefully. If I'm really unlucky and they turn out to be similar, then I'll have to stick close to the girls for a while and not stick out too much." Taking a deep breath, he walked inside holding nothing but a small bag that held a few items like spare clothes and a water bottle. He didn't have much on him so this was all he could bring for this event or any other activities Hayate had planned for him. Given both swords and bow were easily Traceable by him. Walking through the glass doors, Shirou found himself entering a large reception hall filled with hundreds if not thousands of people, all of them vested with military uniforms. "This is kind of intimidating." He approached the front desk where a young lady greeted him. "Welcome to the Time-Space Administrative Bureau Headquarters — how may I assist you?" "Hello, my name is Shirou Emiya. I'm here to meet Hayate Yagami and Nanoha Takamachi-san. They asked me to come here in the morning and give my name to the receptionist." The woman hummed, continuing to smile, and typed his name on the holographic keyboard. 'Woah… this place just won't stop surprising me.' First, it was the card he got from Nanoha and Hayate's hovering car.This world was truly advanced, as someone who had a great interest in technology and dabbled in circuitry from time to time, Shirou was honestly amazed by these light construct computers. "Maybe I can try getting one for myself. I already miss my old laptop, not that I could buy one with everything I had to deal with initially and the lack of funds" That reminded him about the different models he used during his time at the Clocktower. The ones he had were both destroyed by Luvia and his twin-tailed roommate. The former was an honest accident while the former hit it with a Gandr after failing to use it after a full day of attempts. "Perhaps I'll get those watch computers that can create holographic images. I think I saw a few people using it."When he first arrived in London in the new world, Shirou had nothing on him or even any cash for that matter. Trying to use projection to create counterfeits did not sit right with him and even then those notes would have been the same copies of each other which would have gotten him caught by the authorities. This was why he started working odd jobs whilst being grateful for Miss Brown having given him a place to stay. Shirou still felt hesitant splurging what little he had on a laptop when more pressing matters occupied his thoughts back then. The majority consisted of him coming to terms with this new reality and trying to find any lead on what to do next "Yes, I see your name here. Ah, you are a new trainee from what I'm seeing under the division of the 2nd Ground Commander. Please head to the elevator down the hall and choose the button leading to the training facility. There you'll find a large open field where the commander is waiting for you." Thanking the lady, Shirou followed her direction and finally reached his destination in a matter of minutes. "Wow! This place is beautiful."The elevator didn't move underground or to any of the upper floors; rather it brought him to another area completely going south to a large open area where he spotted three people talking to each other. "You're finally here Shirou! Hope you didn't experience any trouble finding this place?''"Ah, don't worry about it, the place is kinda hard to miss." Seriously, he suspected the headquarters could even be spotted from space! "It sure is, I hope you had a wonderful time and a good night's rest to heal from any remaining injuries." "Oh, don't worry about me, I wasn't that bad, to begin with, and I even got to spend more time with Subaru-san and Teana-san, and we got to exchange plenty of stories with each other." "Heh, I'm glad to hear that!" Hayate said, clapping her hand with joy visible on her face. "Those two are great mages and have the potential to one day replace both Nanoha and myself. I know they were feeling quite a bit guilty these last few days for having hurt you with the barrier jacket incident. Fortunately, I already told them that this was no one's fault rather than my own for having neglected to perform proper checks.""No, it's my fault, I should have given a heads up about my condition beforehand. Anyways, it's a matter of the past, so let's not worry about it anymore." He hastily said, not wanting her to blame herself in the first place. "If you say so, but I'll still take this incident as a lesson to pay more attention next time." Before he could say anything else, Shirou noticed a woman standing behind her, someone he only met once right after the duel — if he recalled, her name was Signum. She noticed his gaze and slightly nodded at him, "We meet again, how are you doing, Emiya-san?" She spoke, her tone both stern and strict. Aside from knowing her name, Shirou had no other idea of what kind of person Signum was. Given neither Nanoha nor Hayate ever brought her up in a conversation so far. But if he had to take a guess factoring her looks, mannerisms, aura, and throwing in some random guess — he assumed her to be a very serious kind of person. "I see you also brought some extra clothes, that's good, we might spend a few hours here today just with the physical testing." Finally, the third person came forward, the only blonde in the group and someone he already heard about from both Nanoha and Hayate"How are you doing Fate-san?" "Fate is alright, there is no need to be so formal with me. You sure are full of energy today, well you're going to need it. We'll be conducting a few tests on your magic and how it works to get a better picture of everything. Followed by checking the difference in your body compared to us and your general skills outside the use of magic. You might get tired, so I've brought some snacks you can enjoy and we even have a facility here that will help you recover faster." He was still unsure how they were going to analyze him, hopefully, their methods would differ from the Clocktower and its Sealing Designations. Where mages with magecrafts impossible to replicate would be studied and even have their bodies dissected — just a handful of accounts he heard from Luvia made him sick. Not to mention stories he heard about Mages buying humans from the black market as guinea pigs or lab rats for their research.  Another reason why this whole situation made him very wary in general. Thankfully the people around him back then were nothing of that sort, though Rin did entertain that idea from time to time. The girl, thankfully, explained that she was just joking with him…Right?Signum spoke again "While they will be studying your magic, I will focus more on the physical side by gauging your skill level with archery and any other martial arts you may be familiar with." He was about to ask if she wanted him to have another spar, but Signum already predicted his question. "This is not a spar if that's what you are wondering. And neither will I be testing your magic or even you, I'm too old-fashioned so my specialty lies with getting close and personal against an opponent. As a knight, I do master archery, and it's due to that I can't teach you much given there is nothing more to add. Which is why I'll be focusing on swordsmanship for the most part.Shirou scratched his head, wondering if he should mention the fact that he wasn't solely an archer. Though he never showcased his swordsmanship against Teana or Subaru, so he could understand where they got that impression. "I understand," Shirou nodded. "Then I will be under your care.""Great!" Hayate exclaimed, leading the group further inside the facility until they were standing next to what looked like a target practice range. Hayate took out a clipboard and Fate prepared one of those robots which recorded everything — all of them waiting eagerly for him to start. Signum on the other hand just crossed her arms. "So we know how good you are with a bow and arrow, but I want to see how consistent your accuracy actually is. You see that target over there, the blue floating target? That will be your main target. It will not move around in the beginning so this test will only focus on accuracy on an immobile object. Oh, and please don't use your magic for this one." Signum retrieved a large steel case and dropped it between them. Opening it, his eyes came to rest on to recurve bow and hundreds of blunt arrows. She grabbed the weapon along with the bolts and handed them over to him."Given devices won't work with your case, I prepared these for you. The bow is made from a simple alloy that is both light and durable, not many mages in Midchilda use bows which are not devices outside of training — so I didn't have much of a choice but to get you the standard equipment. Take it, now shoot." "Eh, but—" Ring! The buzzer rang, the target glowing a bright blue color with the number 0 appearing above it. 'Shirou Emiya may proceed shooting whenever he is ready.' A synthesized voice spoke from the machine. Well, Signum did mention to not use his magecraft — not that he needed to just for simple shooting — and just to test his standard skills.Tightening his hold on the weapon, the material felt very light, almost too light as if it was plastic. Thankfully, just a single squeeze and pull of the string showed him the sturdiness of the object. It almost made Shirou think about Archer's bow but both were not made from the same material. "Surprised?" Fate mentioned as she noticed his reaction. "Even if this is a standard practice bow, not many people use it here. So it's mostly brand new, still, we make sure that everything we have it's made with good quality material for the trainees. Unfortunately, given how sudden this was, we didn't have time to prepare something better for you.""It's okay, no, it's perfect." Being a simple demonstration, Shirou didn't require much as even a wooden bow would have sufficed. "Here I go then." Without wasting any time, his eyes focused on the shining target in the distance. 'Around sixty meters away, this will be easy.' He notched the arrow, taking a deep breath. It barely required much strength to pull the bow and given Shirou grew used to pulling Archer's bow which required an exceeding amount of force — this in comparison felt weird. Fwish!Releasing the string, the arrow disappeared, sailing at great speed and hitting the target perfectly in the middle with a loud clang. The buzzer rang loudly with the number of hundred showing up right before the word 'bullseye!' got displayed proudly to everyone. All three girls behind him hummed in agreement, taking notes as they expected such a result. After all, even if he used magic back then against Subaru and Teana, Shirou was able to put the former in the same spot again and again. He rarely — if ever — missed his shots, so it was common sense to assume that even without magic he would have a great amount of skills in his archery. "Nice shot! Now, try as many times as you want so we can get an average percentage of your accuracy. You can shoot at least 10 to 20 times if you want to." With that, he shot the second arrow far quicker, using less time than before, and just like that it hit the middle once again. The same scenario occurred with the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh all the way up to his tenth arrow.None of them missed and hit the target at a hundred percent accuracy!"Hold!" Signum shouted, making the focused Shirou flinch with shock. She tapped a few commands on a tablet which made the target fly further behind. Increasing the distance to now one hundred meters. "It's obvious that anything under a hundred meters will be a walk in the park for you. Not a viable test to test your range and accuracy. So now, if you hit a bullseye five times, I'll add another fifty meters until you can't hit it another, understood?" "Yes ma'am." Those words came out of his mouth so naturally that he didn't even notice it at first. A few seconds later his face reddened with embarrassment while both Hayate and Fate giggled in the background. Signum did not react to his way of calling her and waiting for the boy to continue. Shirou continued to shoot as many arrows as possible in a short amount of time. His aim did not deteriorate or miss once, even after another few dozen of projectiles, not a single arrow hit any other places other than the bullseye. It continued on for minutes all the way to an hour where the machine had already created a distance of half a kilometer away yet even now he kept hitting the mark every time. He showed no sign of straining or even fatigue in the first place, in Signum's critical eyes, the redhead was as relaxed as he was in the beginning. She checked carefully again making sure that he wasn't using magic in secret or unconsciously. None of the sensors around him notified her about any detection of magic usage whatsoever, meaning he was indeed using only his skills and strength. The other two women who had been monitoring his archery at first were very impressed, the ability to only rely on the skills alone without the aid of magic and still hit the target so accurately was amazing. But soon their surprise turned into shock then disbelief. "I…I can't imagine how many hours, days, and years of training he would have needed to achieve such a level." Commented Fate. "No wonder Subaru-chan faced so much trouble during the battle, even without the aid of his spells he would have been able to keep her at bay if she was alone." Hayate had to agree, "Though it does make you wonder if he used any other spells other than summoning more arrows along with the bow and arrow. Shooting from more than a kilometer away requires superhuman amounts of strength just to pull back a string with enough tension to fire the projectile. Or, he imbued his arrows with a honing spell that always struck Subaru, though I doubt the latter." "It does make sense, the bow he used was quite big, too much even. But we won't know the answer unless he tells us." "Or we just wait and see how far he can go in his current state." Hayate patted herself on the back for having cleared up her schedule for the day. They hadn't even gone through his other fighting styles, if he knew any other than archery, they still had to analyze his body and find a solution for a device to work with his system. Such a thing wouldn't happen in a single day, perhaps three more days would suffice if she got all the available hands to help her out. There wasn't much time for wasting in the future, given she had her project to work on as well."Ah, he stopped?" Mentioned Fate as both women turned to look at the field where Shirou lowered his bow no longer trying to shoot the target before him. "Have you perhaps reached your limit?" Asked Signum, showing no changes in emotion on her face whatsoever. "I can shoot further, but that will require the use of my magecraft. You said that I was prohibited from using it so this is what I can achieve without any spells" Then he pointed at the bow, "This bow as well can't shoot any further or it'll break." Since he wasn't allowed to use Projection and Reinforcement there was nothing else Shirou could do to improve his current range.  The pink-haired woman understood his reasoning, "If I were to allow you to use your spells, how far could you shoot up to?""Hmm, with the right bow, use of my magecraft, and vantage point— I'd average around three kilometers." "That's… impressive." She noted, her tone showing a hint of surprise. "For you to get such a result without the use of a device is beyond my expectations. Makes me wonder what else your world's spells can accomplish compared to ours. Also, about your results, overall I can't say much. Rather I don't have complaints or anything to correct you on. Your archery is already at a high level, so that isn't surprising. Aside from archery, what other skills do you possess?" When she said that, Shirou believed that this would be the perfect moment to bring up his swordsmanship. "I do know a bit of swordplay.""Oh, you do? Ah yes, from the videos I have seen and rewatched, you could summon blades." She pondered, going silent for a few seconds before sighing. "I'll do the inspections on that myself tomorrow, today it's not ideal as we still have many other issues to work on first." "I'll be sparing with you?" "Or me," Fate interjected. "While Signum is a master in close combat, I'm no slouch myself. Whether it be scythe, longsword, double-ended blades, and greatswords — I can use them all." She said proudly, making Shirou wonder if this girl possessed the same abilities and power as Nanoha back on the infected planet. If so, then he dreaded the upcoming day."All right, it's time to check and study your body carefully so that we can create a device suitable for you." Hayate came over, making the two girls agree to her suggestion and lead Shirou into another building. Signum had other duties to attend to, so she had to leave earlier than expected. "Alright, stay safe, Shirou, Hayate, and you as well, Ma'am.""...""..."Both the redhead and brunette looked at Fate with a weird expressions while the latter just sighed helplessly. "It's been half a year since we've seen each other, but she could just call me Fate or Testarossa." "Well, it is better than 'you'." Commented Hayate.They didn't comment much on this matter and proceeded forward. Compared to the open field he was in a few minutes ago, this place looked more like a hospital than anything else. Surrounded by dozens of machinery that reminded the boy of CT scans accompanied by the heavy stench of disinfectant. "Welcome to the Research Bay, it won't take long as we will just analyze your body, track the movement of Mana and see the difference." Following her instructions, Shirou changed into a loose hospital gown before lying down on a metal surface. The cold sensation sent a chill up his spine, though he stayed calm as the mechanical ring around him started to rotate with lights flashing across his eyes. Having a red laser beam scanning every inch of his body from his head to his feet. Hayate who was sitting on the other side with Fate and one of the research personnel surveyed the data showing on the screen. "All right Shirou. If possible, can you do something that will activate your magic?"Something simple? Given he had many options, he preferred to start with a basic use of reinforcement to his arm. The people on the other side of the room instantly saw the changes appear on the screen."The machine detected a spike in body temperature. Wow! It's a lot more different than I imagined." The young researcher exclaimed. "It bears heavy resemblance to several different branches covering every part of his body — basically like a secondary set of pseudo nervous systems in appearance. While I do see a concentration of energy gathering around his arms, it's not exactly Mana…"Hearing their description, it was clear to Shirou about what they were talking about. "These are Magic Circuits." "Can you elaborate, Mr. Emiya?" Asked the researcher, showing a great amount of interest towards this unknown being before her. The redhead on the other hand just gave her a basic explanation, "Well Magic Circuits have two functions overall, first they gather Life Force Energy and then they convert it into Magical Energy. I heard you mention the unknown energy inside my arm, that is Magical Energy. Though these lines don't show up visibly on my body unless I really push myself." He said to the girls as they peered at his Magic Circuits on the screen of the scanner.""Oh, a converter! How peculiar, are you perhaps knowledgeable as to why it needs to do that? The mages here are capable of using Mana directly for spells and different device applications. Though I should take into account that the Mana in this world might differ from the 'Mana' in yours, perhaps the natural life energy in your world poses harmful effects upon oneself which forced the human body to create these Magic Circuits. Oh, it could even be due…" the researcher started to ramble without end, getting lost in her many theories about the origin of Magic Circuits and the reason behind their existence. "Tell me more!" She nearly grabbed him by the collar if Fate hadn't come to his rescue and calmed down the excited woman. "Now now, our friend over here still hasn't finished his explanation. Don't make him uncomfortable or we'll have to search for someone else's expertise." "No!" She shouted, "I-I'm calm! I'm calm… just got a bit curious, that's all." Both Hayate and Fate rolled their eyes. Shirou didn't know how to say it, but he actually found her enthusiasm quite similar to a few Magus he met in the past. So to a certain extent, her excitement felt very familiar to someone who studied in a Clocktower for a while. Not keeping them waiting, he continued with what little he could provide. "I should add that even if it uses Mana from the greater source to create Magical Energy, Magic Circuits by themselves can also generate the same thing but at a smaller scale. The second function of Magic Circuits after a certain amount of Mana has been converted into Magical Energy is for the user to access the Greater Magic Formulae otherwise known as magecraft in my world — basically spells. In this case, I've used this Magical Energy and poured it in a specific way inside my arms to make them sturdier and be able to generate more strength. This is called Reinforcement and it can be applied to objects as well. Improving a knife's ability to cut, increasing the defensive capabilities of a shield, and strengthening a bow to shoot father without breaking.""Wait, really!?" The researcher exclaimed, having this crazed look in her eyes. "C-Can you use this magecraft on devices!? Wait, why stop at devices alone… what about Linker Cores since they are part of the body!?"He quickly put his hands up to calm down the woman and hastily said, "I-I can't do that! To use reinforcement, I need to have an innate and perfect understanding of the said object, a single error could lead to destruction and this becomes many times harder with body parts less so a Linker Core which I have no understanding of whatsoever. I-It's not that impressive of an ability as you're thinking!" Plus the chances of irreversibly harming a person through his use of Reinforcement on them was a guaranteed scenario. He was never going to agree to ever experiment with such a thing or even attempt.Hayate meanwhile recalled the footage of Shirou shooting down batches of ghouls by shooting them down using arrows traveling at incredulous speed. And then how he did the same thing with Subaru, if it were a normal bow then the girl would have been able to dodge them without any problem. 'Since he mentioned it can make a knife cut better and turn a shield sturdier… wouldn't the same concept apply to a bow? Have it shoot an arrow farther and faster by making sure the main body would tolerate more stress without breaking and by possibly adding more resistance to the string. But still, Shirou would also need to Reinforce himself.' Taking all these into account, a question popped into her head. "Just how big of an improvement are we talking about here? By stronger and sharper, do you mean perhaps twice its original properties or even ten times?" "It depends, there are many factors to take into account and each case is different — like how good a person is using this magecraft in the first place. But generally, it's about twice or more. But I can't do too much, or else it will cause a lot of harm. Filling my limbs or any object with too much Magical Energy will cause it to explode… that's not an exaggeration." Their faces turned slightly pale at the imagery of such an incident. "Hehehe… moving on! What else can you do?" Asked Fate, admittedly growing curious about Shirou's other magical abilities. He laughed awkwardly, "Honestly, the list isn't that big in my case. Aside from Reinforcement, I can do Projection and Structural Analysis… that's about it.""Projection?" The researcher tilted her head, waiting for an explanation. Instead of giving her another explanation where he feared to skip over many important details — Shirou decided to just show it to them by Tracing a weapon they'd seen before. "Oh, that's the sword you used against Tea-chan at the end!" It was only for less than a second before he changed it with a longsword, but she remembered that scene perfectly. "Is Projection a hidden space where you can store weapons?" Would his soul count as a hidden space? If yes, then she halfway guessed it right. But for the sake of making it simple, he felt that explaining the basics of Projection would suffice. "Not really, I use my Magical Energy and mold it into the form of anything I can imagine. In this case, this sword. It could have been anything from a cup to a fishing rod." The boy already guessed what their reaction was gonna be, especially with the researcher so he quickly added. "Projection magecraft is giving any object in my imagination a form and then using Magical Energy as the base material to construct it. It's not 'real', magecraft can't create something from nothing. So with enough damage or when I want to, it'll disappear. Like this."He dismissed the blade into motes of light before creating a mug that fell to the floor and broke into many pieces. The girls watched in fascination as the broken pieces showed a similar scene to when he dismissed the blade. "Since they are fakes, these items tend to be weaker than the original project. And lastly, Structural Analysis is as the name implies, a magecraft that allows me to map out the inner workings of let's say a machine and a few other details. So if a screw gets loose or a wire short circuits, I'll know where it is instantly.""Amazing, those are very useful abilities to have," Hayate said, looking at the two other girls. "So what do you think, will it be possible to have a device made that will work with his Magic Circuits.""It should be possible," she said. "But before that, I noticed how during the scan, your Magic Circuits were in a dormant state before you used Reinforcement. Does it require an activation?" "Yes, a mental trigger is required, if a Magus tries to use them for too long then it will overheat and could potentially lead to death if pushed too far." "Hmm, this is a tricky part to deal with, I'll admit. Devices tend to draw on Mana inside the user's body passively without them consciously putting any thought into it. Would be quite inconvenient if you have to constantly do that, and that risks your Magic Circuits overheating. I think I have a plan but I'll need to experiment with it for a bit."  She said before going back inside her office, too wrapped up in her thoughts to say anything else and leaving the three behind. "You know, I believe we have forgotten to address an important point here." Said Hayate, garnering both their attention. "What is it, Hayate-chan?" "Well since Shirou will work for the Riot Force 6 and have the details of his magecraft recorded in our database… wouldn't they count as rare skills?" She suggested, finding it very likely that such an outcome will happen and arouse the interest of many higher-ups — a few of which she preferred not to meddle with Shirou "Ah, you're right!" Only now did Fate realize this. "His Magic Circuits already disregards our magic system with its foreign nature and as far as I know, Projection alone should be enough to count as a singular rare skill." This was an important piece of information that they needed to discuss further. "Rare skills?" Being outside the loop, Shirou had no idea what they were talking about. So seeing his confusion, Hayate quickly gave him a summary. "Rare skills are, as the name implies, unique skills that are not part of any known magical system. While most of them originated from Ancient Belkan, some can even emerge in the modern era, even if very rarely." She pointed at herself. "I myself am a user of such an ability unique to me. In your case, no one in this world should be able to use it given the lack of Magic Circuits along with the differing magic system… all three of your magecraft — that makes you a holder of three rare skills. "Is that a good thing?" He asked. "It is, this makes you a unique individual that will earn a lot of attention from everyone and you will have an easier time climbing up the ranks in the future — though it may still take a few years. The bad news is, it will earn you a lot of attention." She said cryptically. "Though you won't have to worry, under my command nothing should happen to you. No one can force you to follow orders without going through me first." "I'm honestly fine working any post, Hayate. I don't want to bring you any trouble." "You're overthinking this, it's a small matter." All Three entered an elevator, Going back to the headquarters and leaving the building soon after. "So, if your other test with Signum is tomorrow then you shouldn't have any plans for today, right?" "Yes, I don't have much planned today aside from going back home and cleaning up the apartment. I couldn't do much last time as I called over both Subaru-san and Teana-san for dinner." "Eh? But that's pointless, there is no need for that, Shirou. We have staff members who will stop by and clean up the place spotlessly so you don't have to worry about such things." She looked at her watch to check the time and spoke again. "Oh, I have an idea, let's go to lunch, it's already noon." True, he checked the time and discovered the time had already reached noon. The demonstration and check-up must have taken longer than he anticipated. In his mind, barely an hour passed and everything happened so quickly. "That's a great idea!" Commented Fate. "I'm all for it, and I'll even invite Nanoha-chan. She needs to know what happened with Shirou's inspection, that girl has been very distracted recently. You can tell her yourself how everything went." After sending her a quick message, Fate brought her car which both Shirou and Hayate got in before the blonde hit the pedal. {Break}"This…This is quite delicious! " The trip to the restaurant turned out to be more fruitful in his opinion. One aspect to note about the capital was that the many different people who all originated from different worlds all brought in a wave of exotic and dishes and ingredients Shirou had never heard about or tasted in his life. "See? I told you it would be amazing." Next to him, Fate and Hayate both were eating the same dish as Shirou and we're enjoying his reaction. "I agree that Earth has vast diversity with food and ingredients, but so do many other planets. This is both my and Fate-chan's favorite spot to dine as it's close to our office and has amazing food. In fact, one of the chefs here will be part of Riot Force 6 support staff." "Ah, you guys started without me!" Right next to the table came Nanoha, wearing her usual TSAB uniform. She waved at everyone and took a seat beside Fate. "So, how did it go? Fate-chan refused to tell me anything  so don't keep me waiting." Shiro and Hayate both explain to the brunette everything that has happened so far. From his archery skills demonstration put in place by Signum and the explanation of his Magic Circuits and Magecraft. "You'll have Signum assess you? That's surprising, she usually likes to stay out of these matters normally. This is good news, as she is one of the few people mostly focused on swordsmanship rather than spellcasting. And as far as I know, she rarely if ever lost in a battle. To be fair, she is an expert when it comes to swords given her centuries' worth of experience."Eh, centuries? Did he hear that right? He began wondering if he had heard her correctly while Nanoha continued to speak with the others, then got to learn about another matter Hayate brought up previously."Rare skills, huh? I should have known when you told me about your origin back then. Guess that thought escaped my mind, but still, it's a good thing as it will help you climb up to a higher position quicker than someone without a conventional style. Hayate got a similar treatment so it's not out of the question for you to become our peer in a few years, Commander Emiya."She teased him, showing a fair amount of joy at the news overall. Shirou did not comment on the uncertainty of whether he'd even be here that long. Still, the fact that they were happy about such a prospect put a smile on his face. "Like I said to Hayate, even if I don't get a high position it's okay. I'm even fine working as a janitor and being part of the support staff. Now that I think about it, I could help you guys out even as part of the support staff, right? So this is probably a good idea without having the higher-ups worry too much about my inv—""Denied," Hayate shot down his idea instantly without an ounce of hesitation. "First of all, it's absolutely prohibited for the support staff to be pushed to the front line of combat-related events or in missions. Even if such a rule wasn't in place, using your time and effort for chores around the ship would be a tremendous waste of your potential. So don't even think about it.""I have to agree with Hayate-chan," said Nanoha. "While I haven't seen you in action much, after hearing the type of magic you wield really makes it apparent what your role should be. In fact, you'll only be achieving the opposite of your goal and attracting even more attention. Just go with the flow and join the others, since Subaru-chan and Teana-chan will also be present, they'll be happy with a familiar face working alongside them." Their conversation continued for a while, from noon all the way till the evening. They did nothing but talk and joke around. At first, Shirou felt quite unsure and awkward around the girls. Of course, he trusted them and considered them as even good people, but they still only met a handful of times — making it unreasonable for him to see them as friends or even acquaintances. This excluded Nanoha, as they met prior to his arrival in Mid-Childa and she helped him out a lot. The redhead honestly felt a tremendous amount of debt towards her that he wished to repay one day. Fate he learned was actually a former Admiral and an S+ rank mage. He found it even more shocking when Hayate revealed that she and Nanoha started out as enemies, having engaged in battle a couple of times before ending up as friends. She even called her a former tsundere. "Hey, don't reveal any embarrassing stories of my past, Hayate-chan. I can say embarrassing things about you as well! Neh, Shirou, did you know Hayate over here actually enjoys fondling the breasts of her female friends or subordinates? How shameful." The grin on her face couldn't be any bigger and hiding it behind her hand didn't help. "Pft!" It was unfortunate that he was in the middle of drinking his beverage, this news which came completely out of nowhere and made him spit his drink.Everyone's face turned crimson with Hayate panicking, "I-I only do so with permission!" "You're not denying it!?" "Ah…" Safe to say, they had a lot of fun that day. For a moment, Shirou had completely forgotten about his current predicament that's been on his mind all this time. The fact he was so far away from home with little to no way back to see his friends, this new environment that held unknown dangers and an uncertain future. He smiled and laughed genuinely after a long time, these people were quite funny and he wished to have more moments like these. {Break}(Next morning)Early morning the next day, Shirou woke up and prepared himself for the welcome ceremony held for the establishment of the new Riot Force 6. According to Hayate, everyone was going to be there including Fate, Nanoha, Subaru, and Teana. And given he already accepted to be part of the team, it came as no surprise that he also needed to be present there. Hayate also mentioned that she would hand him over the papers of his official mage rank and position after the ceremony. He was curious to see what rank he got just from having these rare skills she called them. But given they hadn't seen his Tracing in its fullest capacity, he was waiting for probably a B rank or even a C rank mage. In the end, the redhead didn't put much thought or importance into this matter. At the end of the day, if he could help people then that was more than enough for him. "I wonder if this is okay?" He said while adjusting the collar of his new uniform. It did feel a bit tight around his joints and uncomfortable to move in but he figured with time, he would get used to it and the material would loosen up. "Alright, time to go." The route was the same, the event would be held at the headquarters on the upper floors. As he reached the main area, Shirou bumped into someone and apologized. "Ah sorry about… That… ?" Words refused to come out of his mouth as the person before him was not an adult, but rather a small child who barely looked like she was about ten years old. With pink hair and a hooded robe, in his eyes, she looked extremely out of place here. "What is a child doing here…" He whispered, not wanting to believe that this force was allowed to recruit someone this young! "Are you okay?" He got down and gently picked the girl up to her feet, she seemed shy and meek, reminding him of a certain purple-haired girl. "Did you get lost?" "N-No, I was just l-looking for someone. P-please excuse me!" She bowed and quickly rushed through the crowd before disappearing. Shirou tried to catch up to her until he felt someone grab his arm. Looking to his right he found Subaru wearing a similar uniform impatiently pulling him another way. "It sure took you a while to get here. Quick! Hayate-san's speech is about to start!" She led him to a place where a few dozen of people were gathered and Teana was amongst the crowd as well. Each group was divided according to their job and roles in the team.'It seems I got here in time.' On cue, Hayate got up and garnered everyone's attention with what looked like a speech."I am the sixth mobile division's chief, this unit's commander, Yagami Hayate. As a division of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, the protectors of peace and stability. I would like to thank in advance to our Mages mechanics and support staff for all their upcoming efforts and appreciate you being here. Our job will not be easy, and I won't try to hide, nevertheless, I believe that everyone here can work together and overcome any and all obstacles. Well, since I don't like long speeches, that is all for now. Chief and commander of the six mobile division, Yagami Hayate." She bowed once before leaving the stage, her eyes roaming around the crowd till she spotted him. Shirou gave her a thumbs up which made her giggle. "Ha! I can't believe we really are in the same team, Tea! We'll do it just like our time in the academy, beat everyone's butt and climb all the way to the top!" Subaru was visibly excited, eager to finally start her journey to one day stand by Nanoha's side. "And you too, Shirou, we'll get to spar more often and don't forget about the meals you've promised us!" "You're still on that?" He said, amused to her reacting like that just for food. "Of course I am! My stomach hasn't stopped making weird sounds since this morning and no matter what I eat it doesn't bring me the same sort of satisfaction as that day..." Oh, guess she did indeed like his cooking that much. He'll make her extra food for today as a celebration. But after this, he still had the meeting with Signum for testing his swordsmanship. So maybe he could invite her as well for lunch."Ouch!" Out of nowhere, the boy felt a sharp pain from his chest, as if something sharp just stabbed his skin. To his shock, his clothes rustled and soon he realized the presence of something moving around on his stomach. With caution, he peeked under his clothes to meet a pair of red eyes peeking at him curiously. "Kyu?" It spoke cutely, yet as soon as Shirou saw the wings and small yet sharp fangs inside its jaws, he got frightened."WAAAAHH!?" ...Chapter 6: Drone AttackBeta read by Opal...-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." ..."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 are two unidentified variants which we can't identify." 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!" ..."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 a person from another reality 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."    ...Chapter 7: Familiar Face-???-As the sun began its descent over the tranquil world of Midchilda, a sprawling cityscape stretched out before them, painted in hues of orange and pink. Shirou Emiya and Hayate Yagami stood side by side on a serene balcony atop a towering building. The gentle breeze tousled their hair as they gazed out at the breathtaking view, lost in the beauty of the moment."Hayate-san," he began, his gaze earnest, "there's something I've been meaning to ask you. Would you be able to assist me with a small request? I'm considering changing the color of my device." A small matter that shouldn't have been a problem for him initially, but the striking resemblance it gave him to a certain bowman pushed the redhead to a level of uncomfortableness that he did not like at all.Hayate turned her attention to him, a cup of coffee in her hand with her eyes dancing with curiosity and confusion. A small smile played on her lips as she tilted her head, a teasing note in her voice. "Oh? Don't tell me you're not a fan of the color red. I always thought it complemented your hair quite nicely."'Rather I don't want to be reminded about that bastard every time I see my reflection.'Shirou chuckled, scratching the back of his head. How could he even begin to explain the relation between his dislike of this design and color? "It's not that I dislike red," he explained, his gaze thoughtful. "I just think it would have been better if I had white like the others, red makes me stand out too much and makes it feel like I'm getting the special treatment.""But you are," she answers quickly. "It's not every day that we get someone from another reality." Hayate mentioned while giving him a side glance. "It's not every day we get a mage from another reality helping us in our mission. Exceptions and differing treatment should be expected to some degree. Treating you the same way as Subaru-chan or Teana-chan is basically impossible when most of the higher-ups are aware of your existence."Painting him in red colors within a group of white uniforms didn't really help his cause, he hoped she realized that. Shirou sighed, "I… I understand that, it's not that big of a deal if you are wondering. Just wanted to ask first and see… I'm just not used to being singled out in a team. Speaking of teams, where are the others? I've been searching for them for the last hour but can't find anyone.*"Oh don't worry about them, they went to check out another training field where you all will be training. You'll be brought there soon after our talk as well, I believe someone will be coming to pick you up." Hayate stretched her arms above her head, her movements fluid and relaxed. She let out a soft yawn, her actions casual and unhurried. Shirou's brows furrowed slightly as he watched her, a sense of concern for her well-being tugging at him."Are you feeling alright, Hayate-san?" he inquired, his tone laced with genuine concern.Hayate lowered her arms, her smile returning, albeit with a touch of weariness. "Oh, I'm fine. Just dealing with a bit of bureaucratic hassle from the higher-ups," she admitted with a wry grin. "Endless paperwork seems to have become my new pastime. Putting that aside, have you been able to get familiar with your new device?" She asked while pointing at the crimson pendant around his neck. "Well, I can finally understand why you and Nanoha were so insistent on me having a Barrier Jacket. I barely feel hurt after getting hit and it doesn't consume as much Magical Energy as I expected." He hadn't used it much since their last mission, though he was planning on changing that soon with his meeting with Subaru and Teana this evening. There wasn't much he could compare it with from his world, Magus mostly being researchers rarely if ever bothered to create armor in the first place. 'Wish I had this during the war, would have helped to not get as hurt as often and possibly not have a spear go through my heart? Oh wait, I'm not sure if it could have stopped a Noble Phantasm like that… at least I could have used it against Rin's spells and possibly ended up offending her more somehow. No wonder Luvia calls her a tsundere gorilla.'"Of course, these are meant to save the lives of those who wear it in combat. They aren't just for show even though it may look like that to an outsider. The devices can be seen as a computer with some level of artificial intelligence, when not taking hits from various sources it will lower the consumption on your reserves. Did you not talk to Rubin?" "Talk?" Shirou was stumped, fiddling with the small jewelry. "I thought only Nanoha and your devices could talk…" He had seen Nanoh speak with Raising Heart before and issued commands and assumed the same applied to Hayate. "All of the devices we gave you and the team can communicate. Ah, then this might be the perfect opportunity for you to talk with Rubin!" She said excitedly, putting a sense of pressure on the young man, who awkwardly looked at the object in his hand. "Um… hi Rubin?" Odd, no other way suited to describe his current case. The object which from the outside resembled a crystal clear piece of carved gem attached to a string, yet useful abilities. Its surface glowed softly, casting a gentle light that barely illuminated his hand. A calm, machine-like voice resonated from the device. [Greetings, Emiya Shirou. I am Rubin, your assigned device. It is my purpose to assist and provide support in your various tasks as a mage in the Time-Space Administrative Bureau.]Shirou's curiosity piqued, and he leaned in slightly, in awe at how he was actually talking to his pendant of all things. "Try asking it for its functions, it's better you know everything from the beginning rather than trying to stumble into them during a battle." The brunette instructed.He nodded, "Nice to meet you, Rubin. Can you list your functions to me, please?"[Certainly, Emiya Shirou. My functions encompass several aspects of magical operations. I am equipped with a comprehensive data analysis module, which aids in assessing magical energy levels, environmental conditions, and potential threats. Additionally, I possess the ability to generate and manipulate protective barriers for defensive purposes.]The image of Nanoha deploying those domes of energy around him during the test emerged in his mind. "Defensive barriers, huh? That sounds useful."[Indeed, they are,] Rubin replied. [These barriers can shield against various types of magical attacks and physical projectiles. They adapt to the nature of the threat, providing optimal defense.]Shirou's interest grew as he considered the implications. "And what else can you do?"[I am equipped with a communication module, allowing me to interface with other devices and establish connections across networks.]Shirou's expression brightened. "So, can you help me communicate with others as well?"[Correct, Emiya Shirou. Communication is one of the fundamental features of my design.]Shirou nodded, processing the information. "That's quite impressive. It seems like you have a wide range of functions."[I am designed to assist users in a variety of magical endeavors,] Rubin affirmed. [My purpose is to enhance your capabilities and ensure your safety  on engagements you may face during a mission.]Shirou extended his hand toward the device, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, Rubin, it's good to know I have you by my side. I'm looking forward to working together."[As am I, Emiya Shirou. Should you have any questions or require assistance, do not hesitate to reach out to me.] With that said, the device grew dim before returning to its normal appearance. "Hehehe, how do you like it now?" Hayate spoke with a grin on her face, leaning towards him with a knowing look. "While these functions are basic, I made sure that our department's devices could use as many of the small necessities as possible." "Mmm, it's better than I imagined." He admitted, he no longer felt that bad about the color choice. Once again he grew grateful for how far the people of this world were willing to go in order to help him. Taking so much while providing next to nothing did not sit well with him, and he hadn't even had an opportunity to thank Hayate or Nanoha yet. 'Wait, I got an idea.' He thought, and turned towards the young woman next to him."Hayate, do you mind if I ask you something?" {Break}"Shirou should be here," said Nanoha, while looking down at the time in her PDA while standing in front of the door to Hayate's office. Having just left the area of the training field, she left Teana and Subaru to continue their training without her. Having tested their reaction time and evasion with a few uses of Accel Shoots, the girl had to admit that those two progressed at remarkable speeds, seemingly having improved every time she saw them.Fate stayed behind since she wanted to keep working on Erio and Caro's stamina and having them go through the standard academy routine. While Caro possessed enormous talent and potential with magic, she lacked in basically every other department given her young age didn't give her much time to develop. Erio, though talented in close combat thanks to his spearmanship, lacked enough battle experience in general and thus needed to refine what he already knew before learning anything new. "Fate-chan got her work cut out, hope she won't get overwhelmed, that workaholic." She said while being completely oblivious to the irony of her own words.She knocked on the wooden door and waited for a moment or two before sighing, pushing it open a second later, and entering her friend's office. "Hello~!"There, she found the familiar redhead mage leaning against the balcony outside with Hayate next to him, neither having noticed her arrival and happily chatting with giant smiles on their faces. 'They sure hit it off quite well on the first meeting.'Honestly, Nanoha did not foresee that out of everyone, Hayate would be the one who'd become the most friendly with Shirou. Having believed that it would either be herself since she had interacted with him the longest, or even Subaru's because of her openly vibrant and friendly personality. Hayate on the other hand had to spend most of her time working within the proper procedures and dealing with all the paperwork and red tape required to establish the Riot Force 6 division, so the brunette expected that aside from some small talk and small interactions — there wouldn't be much going between them. "Hey, I think she was right, you do look better with your hairstyles backward." Said Hayate while Nanoha did her best to walk, without interrupting them, trying to be as silent as possible. "Oh God, not you too, Hayate-san." Shirou moaned with his hands covering his face. "I like my current hairstyle, thank you very much.""So, you won't change it even if I asked you to do so?" Hayate said."That's right." His answer was swift and left no room for negotiation. "I'd rather go bald." Well, he'd never do something drastic like that since he quite liked his hair, but if it helped from keeping her away from doing anything stupid then he was willing to do that small sacrifice!"Then what if I use my position as your superior and order you to do so?" "You're willing to go so far over such a small thing?" "Well, my job can be quite stressful at the worst of times, and boring at the best of times, really. But pulling rank is one of the perks that come with the job, so don't blame me for doing so from time to time." She said teasingly."I'll talk to Rein so she stops giving you any coffee in the mornings, it's making you more unhinged…" His response earned a momentarily shocked reaction, something which nearly made him smirk at finding out her weakness but held back while showing a poker face. "I'm sure not drinking any coffee for let's say a week or even a month would do a lot of good to your body and mental health given some of the crazy things you're saying right now.""Hey~! I was just joking, don't say such scary things while smiling so innocently! I need that to keep me going with all of my work or else I'd be no different to a walking zombie — and what did you mean when you said 'more', uh!? I was joking!""Haha, good to know, because I am serious." His dead serious voice did not help her."Shirou!" Hayate cried out in faux offense.Who would have expected the innocent and polite boy who gave her the impression of never doing wrong could be so devious? "Also, why would Rein listen to you? She works for me after all.""I have my ways." He didn't, hoping she would just believe his lies.Nanoha didn't know whether it was just her imagination playing tricks on her or something else, but the way Shirou conversed with Hayate sounded more informal than when he spoke to her.Good for them…"Ah, Nanoha-chan?" "—!?" Hayate calling her out of the blue surprised the distracted brunette which caused her to flinch. "H-Hi there you two, I arrived… I'm not disturbing anything I hope?" "Oh don't worry about that, Shirou-san and I were just making small talk. Alright, take care of you two, I have another meeting in about an hour from now, so be well." Without saying much, Hayate gave them a small wave and walked out of the room, leaving them behind...."I didn't know you had a car," Shirou remarked, settling into the plush seats of the sleek black vehicle.As they made their way through the city en route to where the team was, Shirou couldn't help but first appreciate the sleek, futuristic design of the car, but it was once he used Structural Grasp that he was truly awed at its mind-blowing components. Having spent time as a part-time mechanic, his senses were drawn to the intricate details of its advanced engineering."Eh? Shirou, do you like cars?" Nanoha asked with a chuckle.Shirou's eyes lit up. "It's not like I'm a car enthusiast, but this car is amazing!"Nanoha smiled. "I think so too, but unfortunately, it belongs to Fate-chan. I'm just borrowing it for a bit." There was a brief pause before she spoke again. "You know, I just realized that this is the first time we've had a chance to talk alone since our meeting in London. A lot has happened since then—you've even been on a mission with the team. How are you feeling about… everything?"Shirou took a moment to consider his response. "Honestly, it doesn't feel like much time has passed. Everything's been happening so quickly, and I've been trying my best to keep up. It's kind of surreal and perhaps that's why I haven't been completely overwhelmed by it all yet, but I guess I'm used to being in crazy situations. I've been through my fair share of them."Nanoha arched an eyebrow. "So, getting thrown into a completely different reality is a common occurrence for you?"Shirou let out a chuckle. "No, not exactly. What I meant is that I've grown accustomed to getting caught up in events that put my life on the line. Being a Magus comes with its fair share of danger by default, and I used to be part of the Mage Association as a freelancer helping enforcers on some occasions, which is a magus that deals with what you'd call the criminal side of the magical community, so there's that. There's a saying I used to hear back when I studied at the Clock Tower—it goes, 'To be a Magus is to walk with death.' There's always something happening that threatens your life, and unfortunately, even if they don't have to deal with the crazier side of the moonlit world, many Magi end up meeting their end while pursuing their craft."Nanoha's brow furrowed. "That sounds quite morbid, and what's the moonlit world?"Shirou nodded, his expression serious. "That's just what we call the magical side of the world, and yes, It can be at times. You asked about researchers—well, many Magi dedicate their lives to researching and perfecting their magecraft in pursuit of the Root. Sometimes, they take risks that push the boundaries of what's possible or sane, and that can lead to tragic outcomes."Nanoha's gaze raised with a hint of worry evident in them. "Still an unfortunate ending in my opinion," she commented. "You mentioned researchers and the root in the same breath, can you elaborate on that?" She didn't know Shirou for that long, so most of the information from his world remained a mystery aside from what he already mentioned. "Just think of them as scientists who spend their time inside a lab researching their field. It's not all that exciting, as one might expect, most don't even do half of the training I've seen here. The Root is... well, the simplest way to explain it would be as the origin and final destination of all souls, time, space, knowledge, and events past, future, and present across the multiverse."She managed to resist stopping the car, but did give him a weird look, "You're not going to go full-on mad scientist on me are you?" "Of course not!" He exclaimed, "At least I hope not, who knows what the future holds, since the abundance of Mana in this world I just might go through a phase." She was momentarily caught off guard by his words, almost missing the joke until she noticed his smirk at the end.Nanoha giggled, "Too bad for you though, there are three wonderful Magical Girls near you to keep that from happening, plus your teammates — plus I feel like Shirou is too nice to be an evil, inhumane magus obsessed over some weird religious thing.""Was that an insult disguised as a compliment?" He smiled, deciding it was probably for the best that she just glassed over The Root and dismissed it as some pseudo-religious new age nonsense only the magus of his world believe in."Oh my, I could never do such a thing. But if it did happen then I'm sure that getting befriended via magical blasts from Raising Heart will be enough to bring you back to your senses.""You're doing it again…" he said with a wry smile, feeling a chill crawl up his spine with the idea of facing any one of Nanoha's stronger attacks. While he did have a few defensive Noble Phantasms within his Reality Marble that have helped him along the years of his time during the Fuyuki Holy Grail War and working for the Clocktower. He'd rather deal with a horde of undead and monsters than a powerful attack from that absurd device of hers. "Also, what do you mean by befriended, and why do you make it sound like just a thing that happens?"Nanoha's playful tone persisted as she continued to share her experiences. "Hehehe, don't worry. It's a bit ironic, but I actually ended up fighting against most of my closest friends when I first met them. Well, Hayate was a bit of a different case…Though I did have to go up against the Wolkenritter." She glanced at Shirou, her eyes dancing with mischief. "But don't worry, I promise not to go all-out on you during your befriending."Shirou's deadpan expression remained unchanged, his thoughts a mix of curiosity and incredulity. "There's that word again, and you make it sound like sparring with your friends is a common pastime."Nanoha laughed lightly. "Well, in our line of work, it is normal to spar as a way to stay fit and battle-ready."She leaned in a little closer, her tone conspiratorial. "Plus, it'll be fun to experience firsthand what Subaru-chan and Teana-chan went through when they faced you. Trust me, they've told me some stories."Shirou's response was immediate and unwavering. "Absolutely not."Nanoha pulled back, a mock hurt expression on her face. "Eh, why not?""Hayate mentioned to me that you tend to get… overly enthusiastic in battles sometimes. She used the term 'battle maniac,' if I remember correctly. The last time I had to deal with someone with similar traits didn't end well for me. I'd rather not end up needing a full-body cast after sparring with you and your impressive device." As he said that, the phantom pain of a spear going through his heart came back, his mind momentarily recreating the sensation of that moment as he recalled the details. Honestly, Lancer actually, technically did kill him, while Archer and Berserker only 'almost' killed him, come to think about it. He once asked Rin how Lancer ended up dying given how big of a threat he was — even Archer and Saber struggled against him. The knowledge that he died by Kotomine's orders to kill himself made the redhead feel uncomfortable and sad. At the end of the day, he did not hate Lancer nor thought of him as a bad guy, since he helped them quite a bit after Archer's betrayal. "Ah," Nanoha's cheeks flushed a bright red, a mixture of embarrassment and mild indignation coloring her expression. She mentally berated Hayate for being so candid about her combat style."T-That's not entirely true," she protested, her voice carrying a hint of defensiveness. "I mean, sure, I enjoy a good scuffle, but I do know my limits. We can keep it controlled and focused on practicing techniques. I won't unleash anything like the Divine Buster on you. Probably~♫"'Don't give me that cute expression while saying something so frightening.' Shirou thought as he noticed another detail with what she just said. "Oh, did you just copy my response from before about going evil researcher on you?" Shirou sighed and regarded her with a nod. "Regardless, I appreciate your reassurance. It's just that after my experiences, I tend to be a bit cautious around… combat enthusiasts."Nanoha let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, a small smile forming on her lips. "I understand. But I assure you that instead of being in pain, you'll also have fun the entire time. I can have Fate-chan join; and Signum is very interested in the way you fight, from what I heard.""Signum-san?" He recalled talking to a pink-haired woman during his test a few days ago. "Why?""Well, she is what you would call a traditional Knight since she uses swords and bows to fight. It shouldn't be hard for you to realize why she might be interested in your fighting style given you both share the same taste in weaponry. But be careful, she is very strict and professional in general, she might seem upset with you at first but that is not the case at all." "Ah, I see, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." As they began approaching their destination, a question surfaced. "By the way, have you gotten any leads about who or what could have made those drones to try to steal those relics?" He hadn't heard any news about this matter since the group's deployment and forgot to ask Hayate about it, but hopefully, Nanoha knew something. The brunette frowned, "I'm afraid it's not that easy." Their conversation took a different turn as Shirou shifted the topic. "Oh, by the way, I finished getting completely settled into my apartment yesterday. I didn't have much to begin with, it didn't take that long, and Subaru and Teana helped me with some missing essentials.""That's good to hear," while Shirou gave her a weird look when she mentioned how she became great friends with multiple people by battling them first — it probably hasn't dawned on him yet that he happened to do the same thing. "Well, if you're interested, how about coming over this evening for dinner? It'd be great to catch up and share a meal.""Eh?" Nanoha's surprise was evident, and her mind raced to consider her schedule. She was aware of her commitments and responsibilities, but her memories of the delectable food she had enjoyed in London were difficult to ignore. She hesitated momentarily, then smiled as she replied. "I would love to!"Shirou's smile was warm and inviting. "Excellent. Subaru and Teana will be thrilled to have you join us."Nanoha's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, there are others too?"Shirou nodded, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Yep, they regularly come by my place these last few days… no, they basically live there at this point, since Subaru just hangs out on my couch and naps there.""..."{Break}-Training Field-It didn't take long for Nanoha and Shirou to return to the training field, much to Shirou's amazement as the redhead beheld a site that had been little more than a ruined cityscape that wouldn't have been out of place in the most over-the-top disaster movie, now turned into a luscious forest with greenery everywhere he looked. "Are we… Are we in the right place?" Shirou asked with uncertainty, unable to reconcile the sight before him with the apocalyptic landscape of his memories. Touching the foliage and breathing the fresh air made the boy question just how advanced the technology in this world was… or was this just some form of magic? "Can you change this place into any kind of setting?" "Yup," Nanoha answered, enjoying seeing his reaction. "The training field has a dynamic environment simulation system. It can transform into various settings to help us practice different scenarios. From lush forests to arid deserts, urban landscapes to open plains, this field can mimic them all."Shirou's eyes widened in amazement as he looked around, taking in the vibrant scenery. "That's incredible. It's almost like a Reality Ma... like a world within a world."Nanoha grinned and gestured for him to follow. "Indeed. And today, the team is practicing combat maneuvers in this forest setting. It'll help them adapt to different terrains and conditions."As they walked deeper into the forest, Shirou couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything this field can't simulate?"Nanoha chuckled. "Well, it has its limits. Extremely complex environments or very specific scenarios might be a bit challenging to replicate. But for the most part, it's a versatile training tool."Nanoha brought him deeper, going past areas where Shirou noticed some burn marks and deep gauges on the soil or the trees, marking spots where a battle must have taken place. "Hm?" His ears twitched with the sound of shouts and grunts coming from somewhere ahead of them, followed by a loud explosion. "Oof!" A blue and white figure came his way at great speed and slammed into his torso, the impact pushing the air out of his lungs and though it didn't knock him off his feet thanks to him reacting fast enough to catch himself, it still caused him to slide backward. His arms wrapped around the body of none other than Subaru, somehow ending with the girl in a princess carry. "Subaru?"He called to the exhausted girl, her white shirt covered in dirt and tears as she panted loudly. "Oh, hey S-Shirou… thanks for catching me!" She said with a small, shameless grin, the glow of the device on her hand slowly disappearing as she deactivated it."You didn't give me much of a choice, there. Are you alright?" he asked. 'I would have done another round at the hospital if I hadn't done something.' He thought with a groan, wondering who could have thrown Subaru so far and with such force. "Now can you get off me? It's getting uncomfortable." "Hey, are you calling me fat?" 'Well, I'm not calling you lightweight either.' He smiled, too polite to say it out loud, and smart enough to fear a retaliatory punch to the face. Once upon a time, women were a mysterious bunch, but experience had taught him that jokes and banter were right so long as he abstained from bringing up any of the Three Great Taboos. Weight, bust, and age — not that he ever did so personally, just some knowledge he picked up from observation. "Of course not, but I don't exactly have the easiest hold on you right now." His polite smile was enough for Subaru to believe him and get him off with Nanoha's help."Hurgh… Vita-san is gonna be the death of me.""Vita?" As soon as he said that, a young redheaded girl with twin-tails walked out whilst holding a large smoking hammer with a grin on her face. "Not bad, you managed to block my attack, but didn't take into account how much force was behind it. Try deflecting and redirecting the force instead of tanking it from now on." Her gaze then turned to Shirou, sizing him up while doing a couple of rounds around the confused young man. "Hmm, so you're the new recruit Hayate has been talking about, I watched your little duel with this girl and her friend — you were okay I guess."'Hard to take such words seriously when they came from a little brat,' and he almost blurted 'Is this a lost kid?' But refrained from doing so because the idea of a hammer strong enough to put Subaru in such a state coming after him was scary enough. Now that he thought about it… basically, all of the girls around him in both worlds were dangerous.  "Thank you, I was just trying to do my best." Well given she spoke like an older person despite looking like someone from primary made Shirou associated her being either a special case like Erio or another being like Rein. "Ah, you are…""Vita," she answered quickly. "Similar to Nanoha here, I'll be in charge of molding you all into shape and making sure you're able to handle any bad scenarios you're dropped into. Both Signum and I were supposed to give you all some pointers before your first mission but we know how that turned out." She went over and grabbed Subaru's heel before dragging her away whilst the young girl tried to cling onto Shirou's legs. "Uuuuu, help me, Shirou! I don't have any energy left for another beating…" Pulling his leg away, Shirou could do nothing but wave at the girl while giving her his condolences. He didn't know what kind of teacher Vita was, but the bruises all over Subaru certainly helped. "Vita is having fun, I can tell," Nanoha commented. If that was her having fun then he truly prayed for Subaru's wellbeing. "Hey, want to take this opportunity to spar with m—Shirou?" Before she finished her sentence, the redheaded man already hastily walked in a random direction with a cold sweat. "Oh would you look at that, I think I heard someone else cry of pain coming from this area! Let me check out and see whether they are alright!" To his utter shock, the random direction he chose ended up against a large explosion coming from the other side of the trees with Teana's grunt. "Ah," reacted Shirou with incredulity as this time he moved out of the way just in time to see the orange-haired girl fly past him and crash against a few trees. "..."Were they purposefully aiming for him or something!? Oh, hey Shirou." Teana greeted him just like Subaru did, and stood up with a smile. "Ah, thanks." She said as he reached out and helped her up, then she dusted herself off. Unlike her partner, she at least looked in a better overall shape. "You're alright?" He asked."Well, it could have gone better but I'm alright. I'm still getting used to having Cross Mirage." She said while checking her gun, opening the chambers, and inspecting her weapon. "Ah, Nanoha-san, welcome back!" "Are you able to continue?" Another voice came from the other side, walking over was a person Shirou recognized, given Nanoha just talked about her on the ride with her, and about how she was interested in his fighting style. "Nanoha, Shirou." Sigmun greeted the two with a curt head nod. Unlike Vita, she wasn't wearing a combat outfit or wielding a weapon of any type, instead holding a PDA. "Sorry about the commotion, we were just working on testing her reaction speed, spatial awareness, and accuracy against moving targets. Given she trained with you this morning, I did not want to repeat the same exercise again." Sigmun spoke calmly to Nanoha. As she finished, a multitude of drones caught up, hovering in large groups around them. Shirou's eyes widened as he briefly confused them with the ones they fought on the train — except these ones did not possess any moving tendrils. "I did not expect the explosion to be that big. The first ones did not even detonate when I shot them!" The orange-haired girl protested. "By the end, some even started moving out of the way the moment my weapon's muzzle moved in their general direction…" "But of course they did. In a battlefield, you can't expect your enemy to stay still the entire time you are aiming at them and so each of these drones is equipped with a system that learns and studies your movements and attack patterns before coming up with an optimal evasion strategy. In short, they are meant to teach you how to handle fast and skittish foes, and recruit Teana." Signum's voice was cold, calm, and measured — giving as much information as possible while maintaining her composed demeanor.Nanoha chimed in, "That's right, Teana. It may even seem like mild bullying, but that's because we're purposefully targeting your weak spots during training so that they won't be weak spots in real, life-or-death combat situations. That's the idea, anyway."Teana nodded, understanding the importance of these exercises. "I'll keep that in mind, Nanoha-san. Thanks for the advice." As she got ready for another round, the girl stopped in her tracks before turning to face Shirou. Wait, are you here to train as well?" "I'm not sure, I sort of just... tagged along." A light flashed within the girl's eyes as she remembered a previous conversation Both Subaru and herself knew about his archery skills by now, already having seen him use the bow before, and thus having a pretty clear idea of how ridiculous he was with his weapon of choice. Almos- no, borderline overpowered. "Hey, remember the talk we had before about me teaching you to handle guns?" He did, though Shirou had honestly thought she brought up the idea as a way to start a conversation and didn't really think much about it. "Uh, yeah, I do. But I don't think this is the right time since I've never used a gun, let alone been good with one. I'll just waste your valuable training time. I should probably do a weapon safety course first and then give it a go at a shooting range instead of coming anywhere near a live fire training situation with a live weapon I know nothing about, right?" Did he ever consider using a firearm? Yes, multiple times in the last few weeks before the accident that sent him here. While his Tracing did not consume that much Magical Energy and he mostly used Kanshou and Bakuya — both of which he was so familiar with they were practically no drain at all to project in the first place — regular swords and sometimes some nameless Noble Phantasms to use as projectiles. Only rarely was he pushed hard enough to bring out the heavy hitters or even deploy his Reality Marble. Years of practice brought him ever-so-close to being able to use it without external assistance, and it was only recently that he managed to do so… and even then, it wasn't for that long. "I'm fine with this," instead of Teana, Signum answered in her stead. "I've seen what you're capable of with a bow and while I am curious about how you'd handle a gun, I am perfectly happy to test your swordsmanship, given we didn't see much of it during your last mission. And yes, I will be your sparring partner."Shirou hesitated when Signum challenged him to spar with her. He glanced at the female knight before him, feeling a sense of unease given how blatantly similar to Saber she was. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for a fight with you, Signum-san. My swordsmanship is different from my archery or projection magecraft. You see, it's a bit hard to explain, but basically unlike my skills with the bow which is something I've learned, my ability to use the sword mostly comes from my ability to copy weapons and skills associated with those weapons while I'm holding it. Going against you will most likely end up with me trying to imitate you and creating a fake version rather than improving my personal skills or what I already know. But… I wouldn't mind getting some pointers to improve what I already know." Of course, said skills and technique vanished the moment the weapon disappeared. He couldn't keep all the prior knowledge without actually learning them from scratch which was another story in itself.Signum raised an eyebrow, "That's an impressive form of magic you have there, Shirou." 'Magecraft…'"But that does not deter my goals. You may see it as unfair but in my eyes, this is just expanding your repertoire. The more you know, the better it is as my fighting style can be helpful against certain kinds of opponents. And I won't be bothered if you copy me, rather, I'll be proud that my teaching will help you stay alive." Shirou was shocked by her attitude about his ability, her patience and understanding surpassing what he believed before. "Also, it's a spar, not a battle to the death. We're here to learn and improve." She did not back down, making the boy lament why the girls here were so battle-hungry? Looking for a way out of this, he looked at Teana, the latter still waiting for his response, and got an idea. "You know, I've always been curious about using a firearm and wouldn't mind trying it out first." "That's great!" She exclaimed, glad to have him accept her proposal first. But then again, whether he did so as a means to escape Signum did not register in her mind. "In exchange, you'll help me improve my aim and accuracy since you're quite good at it." "Um, I can try? No promises though, since you know… different magic systems and all that." "We can always try." Her contagious enthusiasm got to him, as he found it hard to deny her words if he wanted to. "I'll tag along as well," Nanoha said, curious to see how he would fare with a different weapon. ...With Teana's guidance, Shirou found himself on a field with multiple drones floating in the air, acting as targets. The gun device, Cross Mirage, was Teana's main device so he could not use it. Still, she managed to prepare a set of different weapons on a table and some of her own former firearms she no longer used. Grabbing a random one, the item felt unfamiliar in his hands — far too different compared to a sword. 'It's about the same weight as a regular sword.' Teana began explaining its mechanics and operation in more detail. "Alright, Shirou," Teana started, her tone patient, "similar to Cross Mirage, this is a specialized gun device for Midchildan-style magic. It works with cartridges that contain the spell formulae. To fire, you need to focus your magical energy on the cartridge and then pull the trigger. Let's start with a simple shot spell, envision the spell in your mind, and channel your magic into the cartridge."Shirou nodded, trying to absorb the information. He had seen magic devices in action before, but this was his first time actually handling one. He took a moment to center himself, focusing and channeling his magical energy. With a cautious grip, he pulled the trigger.ClickNothing happened.Teana blinked in surprise, then took the gun device from Shirou to inspect it closely. After a few moments, she seemed to figure out the issue. "Ah, looks like the cartridge wasn't loaded correctly. My mistake. Let me fix that."'I should have known.' It dawned on him that barrier jackets were not the only devices that wouldn't work with his circuits, this difference accounted for every magical device in this world. {Break}'It should now work, right?' Teana hoped it would work this time, she had been looking forward to teaching Shirou the usage of a gun. He was a formidable bow user, the best since she knew no one else using such a weapon for long-distance attacks. According to him, none of his shots back during the duel were guided projectiles like she believed, all were shot with nothing but his aim and force behind the arrow. Which honestly seemed very incredulous to think about as she distinctly remembered some of the arrows curving or ricocheting at the end to hit Subaru every single time as if they had a mind of their own. 'A shame he didn't use the bow again during the mission, it would have been nice to see it.' But her disappointment back then barely lasted that long before Shirou brought out a pair of blades so beautiful and exotic-looking that she thought it was his new device. But no, according to Hayate, Shirou's Rubin only served as a basic barrier jacket and nothing else. Which meant that the blade was a creation from his own world… a weapon that cut through an anti-magic field as if it was butter!'If he had used it back then, then we would have suffered far more serious wounds.' It brought the question of what else he was hiding. He never talked about those blades again aside from stating they were his go-to weapons and main close-range weapons. "No, it's another problem," Signum stopped Teana when she attempted to reload the gun. "Don't forget that Shirou's case is different when it comes to devices." Her eyes widened as she accidentally forgot about that part, embarrassed, she looked at the man who continued to inspect the weapon within his grasp. "Ah, sorry about that…" Hah, guess they would need to work out another solution at a later da—"No need, Shirou can't use a device aside from Rubin but that is not a problem with regular guns." A drone approached carrying a briefcase and presented it to the redheaded, Teana got curious about what it was and watched as he opened the case to show two actual revolvers and a row of six bullets."Wow, I didn't know we had these." She commented, shocked to learn that they had such weapons in the first place. "They look so old school." "They are old but well maintained, our armory does hold weapons from different worlds and time periods. A firearm like this is still regularly used on Earth so it's to be expected we would have a few in stock. Of course, this is just for Shirou to use once and we'll have to return this after today's testing." Teana sighed a bit in disappointment, wanting to try out the weapons for herself a bit too. "Alright, how do you find them, Shirou?" She asked him, first wanting him to become comfortable with the weapon beforehand. She could see Shirou carefully examining the revolvers, his eyes tracing the intricate details of their design. "These are quite different from what I'm used to, but I can adapt," he replied with a focused expression. "The concept of a firearm isn't entirely foreign to me. It's all about precision and control."Teana nodded in agreement. "That's right. And since you're already skilled in long-distance aiming, this should be an interesting addition to your abilities."Signum stepped closer, "Nanoha-san, would you like to offer some assistance?" "I would love to!" The brunette replied without missing a beat. Raising Heart glowed a bright red light and changed into the form of a staff. Though her uniform remained the same, quickly after, a myriad of different-sized balls of light swirled around her from green, red, and blue — all at a different distance from Shirou. "Alright, treat these as target practice, start with something." Teana noted how the green targets were closer to Shirou, the red hovering right above Nanoha and finally the blue blending in with the background high up in the sky. 'This is going to be hard for him since this is the first time he is handling a gun, he isn't used to dealing with the recoil and aiming.' Her observation further cemented those doubts as Shirou awkwardly held the gun with both hands. "Ah, Shirou, you hold it like this." Not wanting him to underestimate the recoil and accidentally injure his hands or hit himself, Teana quickly rushed to his side and showed him how to better handle the weapons. "Don't accidentally pull the trigger so keep your finger out of it." After giving him a quick explanation, she went back and nervously watched as the man exchanged glances with the smiling Nanoha. Those orbs waited patiently for him to fire whilst staying mobile in the air. "Are you ready?" Nanoha called out, and he nodded. "Three!" Hitting the green orbs was going to be tricky even if they were the closest, using a bow masterfully did not translate to handling firearms with ease. "Two!" Even when she first started training at the academy, her first accuracy scores barely reached fifty out of a hundred, taking her multiple weeks, months, and even years till now to reach her current level. "One!" 'He'll probably miss the first few shots, at least with a device the recoil isn't as bad and the ability to change bullet types helps a lot. This basic weapon will probably have him earn a similar result to myself back then.' Bang!"—!" Teana nearly choked on her saliva as he fired the first bullet and hit a green orb perfectly. ""W-What?" Ah, she was caught off guard, of course, he could hit those green orbs so closely. She underestimated a bit on that end. It was still a good shot, getting three targets out of six was the best result she could hop—Bang!The sound of gunfire echoed five more times as all green lights shattered without him missing a single one of them. "..." This couldn't be… he hit all of them in quick successions no less!? He must have used a gun before coming here!"Ah, I'm out of bullets," Shirou exclaimed, only to have Signum pass a small box of ammunition to him. "Thank you!" She watches as his hands move expertly, reloading the chambers with bullets at lightning speed as if he had done it dozens of times. "Huh… so that's how you reload." She nearly pulled her hair when those words came out of his mouth, was he actually a newbie with guns!? He was messing with them! And why were Nanoha and Signum reacting to it as if it was something normal? Neither showed that much surprise!"Are you ready for round two?" "I am!" 'Calm down, Teana. It's probably beginners' luck as they say and it seems like his skill with the bow did indeed help him aim better. But even I would need to concentrate on fitting the blue and red orbs, going further if they were mobile, so the chances of him getting all of them as a beginner was near zer—Another five sounds of gunfire spread across the battlefield, hitting two red and three blue orbs, this time shocking even the other two women. Teana had her jaws open, speechless to utter a single word about anything that happened right now. "Hm," a contemplative expression crossed his face as he clearly aimed way off his initial mark and fired the last single bullet which didn't hit any of the remaining orbs. "So that's how it feels… It's the same in my opinion, I'd rather stick with a bow and arrow. Thanks for teaching me how to use a gun, Teana, I'll be sure to help you out as much as possible." A decade's worth of dedication to polish her gunmanship, years of grueling training at the academy, and real missions she took part in. Facing many types of enemies and opponents that pushed her beyond her previous self. All of this culminated to the level she possessed today…Yet here she stood watching a man who never held a firearm before, she believed that they would become like an unofficial master/student duo where he taught her to become better with aim and accuracy while she showed him how to use a gun. And now, not even after a five-minute explanation, he managed to not only reach her level but do it so nonchalantly as if it wasn't a big deal… What kind of freak did they find on Earth? 'He's sincerely thanking me for the words I gave him.' It hurt her pride the more sincere he looked. "Shirou, why did you miss the last shot back then?" Signum asked the man as he returned the gun. "Um, the reason is kind of dumb if I have to be honest. You might even think that I'm weird if I tell you." "Nonsense!" She exclaimed with a determined face. "I would never stoop to such an extent when learning about the actions of another. This is merely curiosity, I am not judging nor do I have the right to do so." Spoken like a true knight, was what everyone around thought. "Well… you see I used to practice archery frequently at my club back in high school. You can say that I was good at it from the beginning, some of the members even tried to have me participate in tournaments which I would decline every time." "How good are we talking here?" Nanoha asked. "I really don't want to make this sound like a brag because I'm aware of how it may come out, but every time I fired an arrow, from the beginning of my journey till my last day at the club, I never actually missed a shot. I reached a point where I could no longer make any progress with my technique or form, repeating the same moves over and over again with the same bullseye every time. I wanted to change that, to experience something I hadn't since the beginning… so I purposefully missed a shot." "...what?" All three girls showed the same expression of confusion and incredulity. He continued, "So when I was using the gun, I kept getting the same feeling, and just to make sure it wasn't just my imagination, I missed the last shot just to see how I would feel. See? I told you it would sound weird.""...""...""ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Yep, she was correct, they somehow found a monster of ranged combat.{Break}-Midchilda park-"I wonder why Teana screamed like that at the end, did I do something wrong?" Walking on a path inside a luscious park surrounded by verdant fauna and a general tranquil scenery, Shirou mused to himself as he snacked on some chocolate he brought from the store. "Maybe I shouldn't have missed at the end, it could be the reason why she got angry." A hard puzzle he couldn't solve even while asking Nanoha and Signum what went wrong. The latter only shook her head with a trace of amusement evident on her face before she told him to not mind it and return to his house for the day. "I didn't get to meet Erio and Caro unfortunately, I hope they are doing well and not pushing themselves too much. They are kids after all." The idea of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau recruiting young children still bothered him, he could only hope to keep them safe on the battlefield. Last time Erio nearly got wounded badly by the robot — and Shirou swore he wouldn't let it happen twice. "Hm?" He stopped, his eyes widening for a split second as he spotted a figure sitting by herself on a bench. Though that alone wouldn't have earned such a reaction from him, but rather her face, or rather part of her face as the upper half was covered with a dark cloak. Long light purple hair and the lower part of her face which brought forth the image of a person he'd fought in the past. Holding needle-like daggers chained together, someone with whom he traded blows for a single time before finding her dead at the hands of Caster's Master. No, it wasn't Rider, that was impossible, but the similarities were close enough for him to find himself unable to turn his head away. "Is she alone?" Hesitant to approach her, as it could be possible for the girl's parents to be nearby and accidentally view him as a creep if he approached their daughter. So, without even realizing it, Shirou sat on the other side, occasionally looking over to see if she was alone or not. Also making sure she wouldn't be targeted by some unsavory people just in case.'Wait, right now I'm definitely behaving like a creep.' He just wanted to make sure she wasn't a lost child and help her in case she couldn't find her parents. Seconds turned into minutes and an entire hour passed with no one coming over to pick her up. The girl in question barely moved even, sitting there quietly almost as if she was asleep. Shirou feared that his initial doubts would turn out to be true as she might be a lost child. "Should I just go over and bring her to the nearest station?" It was a no-brainer question, and he didn't want her to stay alone all by herself without anyone in a park like this. While Nanoha mentioned that Midchilda was a safe haven for anyone visiting, it still wasn't a good idea to leave a kid in a vast open area.So, there was only one thing he could do...."Hey, want some chocolate?" He said to the girl while handing over a piece he bought just now. Trying his best not to look suspicious and put up a friendly image, rarely dealing with children did not give him the experience to know what move would be ideal."..." She didn't say much, or even acknowledge him for that matter. She continued to sit on her spot, with half of her face hidden by the cloak and the sounds of other kids playing in the background.He nearly face-palmed himself after saying those words, forget about looking out for any creeps getting to her, he actually became one of these creeps! He half expected her to pull out a whistle and have the police or the equivalent on this planet detain him for further questioning. Rin did always tell him that he lacked common sense when dealing with certain matters. Humph, as if someone who destroyed his laptop with a Gandr just because she somehow managed to end up on an adult website whilst trying to copy some notes had the right to say that to him. Or worse, when she blasted him away because he was secretly having fun seeing her struggle to use a Blu-ray player — shouting that he was just as bad as that guy."I-I just happened to pass by and saw you all alone, I thought you'd been hungry and brought you something." He quickly raised his hands to show the girl he was harmless.  Perhaps bringing over a bottle of water would have been better because this painted a bad image of him as someone trying to lure young kids with sugary treats. "If you don't want it then I won't push you, if you want, I can call some people who can help you find your parents." Yes, if more people got involved then she'd feel more at ease! Excellent thinking on his part, Shirou patted his own back in his mind."..." She wasn't saying anything, this was getting awkward. Maybe she didn't understand the language? "Right… um… my name is Shirou by the way," he did not ask hers just to make the young girl more comfortable. "I'll leave this here, if you need help then you can come over there and talk to me." Better for him to keep his distance and not make her suspicious of him. But just as he left, a small whisper of a voice graced his ears. "Lutecia…" He turned around, seeing the girl had taken the treat he left her. Once again he was taken aback by just how similar she looked to Rider, always like a younger version of the Servant. Put on a blindfold then she would become a smaller copy of that woman."My name is Lutecia." Her voice was meek, not exactly shy but rather detached? It really just made the similarities between the person in his mind grow every second. But Shirou shook these thoughts away, this was not the time or place to compare a young child to a dangerous Servant who nearly killed him. He smiled, getting on his knees, and met her eyes on the same level. "Nice to meet you, my name is Shirou Emiya… want to hang out with me for a bit?" She looked sad even upon closer inspection, maybe he could help her feel better.