Work Text:
“Dr. Akagi, I believe it’s time we deploy our special project.”
<>
The world around him was damp, and suffocating, creating barbs in his lungs and making his skin itch to an extreme.
This was the first thing noticed by the teen.
The second was the whispers that seemed to charge the air with static and danger. He could feel them vibrating across his skin, making his hair stand on end. Something–no, a pair of things were staring at him. Questioning, observing, possibly even wondering why he felt so different from the rest.
The ground shuddered around him, rumbling. He was crouched, knuckles laid flat on the ground, and kneeling.
The third, and final thing he noticed, was the strum of Od coursing through his body.
It seemed that the little gambit they’d bet on was paying off after all, even if the price of admission was too high to pay.
Nothing else need be said.
His body coiled up, launching him from the ground and towards the nearest enemy. The world shook as his feet collided with the angel, sending it tumbling to the ground and rolling away from its partner.
There was shouting, like a gnat in his ear that he had to ignore, and his attention lasered in on the one that still stood. He brought himself around, willing his Od farther, and farther, feeling the burn of a partial crest on his skin.
Deeper, further, stronger.
“Come on, Archer.” He whispered, feeling his Od finally begin to resonate with the Unit he commanded. “Put our history aside and let me fight.”
The pulse he sent was returned with another, and a grin split his face.
“Trace On.”
His skin was set alight with sparking connections, the world bending and snapping to his will as something from long ago was summoned in each hand. He paused, just slightly, still unused to the ease at which his projections were formed and how little force there was against them.
He couldn’t think about that now, so he pushed it from his mind. Here and now was where his mind needed to be, as empty as possible so he could stay alive for the fight ahead.
Crossing the twin blades in front of his chest, he took a single step forward, rearing back each hand and throwing them both–
<>
“What the hell was that?!” Asuka shouted with enough sound that it made some of the nearby technicians wince. It was the first thing she’d done once they’d gotten back, having been cursing up a storm in a language most of them didn’t know, on the entire way back.
“No, better yet; who the hell–?!”
“I believe I can answer that for you.”
Their attention was drawn to the sound of Dr. Akagi’s voice, who was followed by a boy that neither Shinji nor Asuka had seen before. He wore a plugsuit, which seemed to let a multitude of scars hide beneath its edges if his neck was anything to go by.
Strangely enough, however, was the white that streaked his crimson hair, and the golden eyes that seemed to accompany it.
“Shinji, Asuka.” She came to a stop just before them, holding a hand out to gesture at the boy. “Meet Shirou Emiya, an Evangelion pilot like the two of you, and the last living Mage on the planet.”
It took a whole ten seconds, maybe less, for that to process for the both of them and for the shouting to begin.
As Asuka rambled on and on about something or other, and Shinji looked Shirou up and down, Ritsuko leaned over to the tall boy and whispered.
“They’re taking this better than I thought.” She hummed. “Think you can get along?”
Shirou chuckled, a melancholic feeling settling over him as he viewed his two juniors.
“I think we’ll do just fine, Doctor.”
It took another minute for the redheaded girl to finally calm down, and her gaze immediately turned accusatory when she did. She jabbed a finger into the boy’s chest, barely even noticing the height difference between them.
“And where have you even been this entire time? ”
Shirou blinked.
That… wasn’t the question he had been expecting.
“My…” He snuck a glance at the Doctor, who just shrugged– as helpful as ever –before formulating an answer. “My Eva wasn’t finished when they found me, so I hung back.”
“And they just didn’t see fit to tell us about you?” Asuka scoffed, looking at the Doctor with a gaze that would probably melt steel if it had the power.
“There wasn’t a good time for it–” And wasn’t that the truth? “–especially since I was stuck doing tests for the majority of the past month.”
The last bits of his sentence were set with a bit of heat, which didn’t go unnoticed by anyone currently in the cage. Although, if the Doctor seemed to care, she didn’t deign to show it. There was silence for a moment, before Shinji stepped forward, inclining his head to look into Shirou’s eyes.
“You’ll be deploying with us from now on?” He asked, his voice so quiet, so nervous as if he feared he would be struck just for speaking. Shirou narrowed his eyes, forcing himself not to look up at the deck where he knew Gendo Ikari was standing.
“Yeah, I will.” Shirou squared his shoulders as he answered. “But, that doesn’t mean everything will be easier for you. I didn’t kill that thing, just disabled it for a bit. If we want to win; you two are gonna need some serious training.”
Shinji seemed to take that in stride, although the look in his eyes shifted a bit. While Asuka, on the other hand, seemed to relish the idea of stepping into a simulation with the newly introduced Shirou Emiya. He laughed to himself a bit, keeping it hidden behind a calm facade.
Asuka may have been piloting for a long while, but his experience far outstripped hers.
He clapped Shinji on the shoulder and gave Asuka a nod before turning to the Doctor.
“There are empty units in their building, correct?”
The Doctor looked him up and down, letting out a huff before she actually found an answer to give him.
“There should be.” She said, clicking her tongue as she did so. “I take it you’ll be commandeering one?”
Shirou smiled.
“That was the thought, yes.”
The Doctor shook her head, and he could see a small sparkle of fondness dancing in her eyes, before waving her hand as if to tell him to do whatever it was he thought best. She left them after that, and the two pilots peppered him with questions.
He answered a few as they walked, and promised more over a dinner of his own making. The whole time, however, he felt as if a pair of eyes were on him. It wasn’t an unnatural feeling, or an unfamiliar one, but it told him that a certain conversation need be had before he left the building.
<>
“Gendo Ikari.”
The man had yet to return to his office, or rather; he was in the process of doing so when he was confronted by his own special little project.
Shirou Emiya stood just outside his door, watching him approach with golden eyes that promised more than any teenager should ever need to. He stopped, mere feet away from him, and looked back at him from behind his glasses.
The message was clearly received, as the teen backed away from the door, allowing for Gendo to enter–with Shirou following just behind. He muttered something as Gendo sat behind his desk, and the man watched in subdued fascination as a soft blue glow traced his fingertips.
“Good news; you don’t have any bugs to worry about.” He joked as he flicked his hand, willing the light to disappear.
“What do you want?”
The question was harsh, but he knew the teen was many things, and a fan of social calls wasn’t one of them.
Shirou looked at him, and the air suddenly felt thicker than it had been just moments ago.
“I know about SEELE’s plans, and yours.” He began, and Gendo gripped the armrests of his chair tight. “And after working through it; I’d like to offer you an alternative.”
The man considered Shirou, not moving a single muscle aside from those it took to lace his hands in front of his face. This was a good thing, actually, the fact that he hadn’t been dismissed outright was a blessing for Shirou.
“Elaborate.”
Shirou nodded, holding up a hand and searching through his Reality Marble for the very weapon he sought. Not one for killing or fighting, no. This was a far simpler weapon, one that slipped between the ribs, twisting swiftly and decisively.
A weapon that took all forms of contracts, magecraft, and otherworldly phenomena, and returned them to their original state.
Rule Breaker appeared in his hands with a sweeping wave of magic. It unsettled him, even now, after all had been said and done months ago. Then, if the slight shift was anything to go by, Gendo seemed to be unnerved as well, despite not knowing what it was.
“You know my abilities.” Shirou began, holding the dagger horizontally as he held it with both palms. “What you don’t know, however, is the story of how I stole a weapon from a Witch.”
Gendo leaned forward, a tell that he would have rather kept hidden. Yet, as Shirou continued to tell another tale of his own personal war, he couldn’t help but let some form of kindling take light in his bones once again.
<>
Shirou sighed as he looked up at the stars, taking in how much different they looked here than back at Fuyuki. It was the middle of the night, and after a long, long debate with Gendo Ikari, they had come to an agreement of sorts. One which, if it worked, would benefit them all in the long run.
He considered the two teens down below, sleeping in their guardian's apartment as he sat on the roof. Sleep wasn’t calling for him, it hadn’t in a while now, there was simply too much to think about.
He hoped they never got to where he was now, just shy of being an adult. He hoped they never had to make the choices he had made–kill the people he had to kill.
“Heavy stuff for a late-night think session.” The sudden appearance of another man didn’t surprise Shirou, in fact, he had felt his approach. Furthermore, he could tell when the man had suddenly made himself manifest. It was, after all, a perk of their contract.
“Lancer.” He tilted his head to the side as the man took a seat right next to Shirou. “Everything went well?”
“About as well as sabotaging a shadow government can get.” The Heroic Spirit sighed, cracking his neck and mumbling something Shirou didn’t quite care to hear. “Though I doubt they’ll be very happy to hear that their production will be slowing down for quite a bit longer than they’d like.”
Shirou let out a sigh of his own, a weight being lifted off his shoulders that he hadn’t even known about. There were many things he regretted about how the war turned out, and how he had to depart from Fuyuki so fast.
Yet, doing what he could for Saber, getting to know Lancer through their pact, and working together with Rin; none of those he had any guilt over. Hell, he could still feel the warm pulse of the partial crest woven into his very being.
“I heard you got a few little chicks, though.” The man elbowed him, and Shirou pouted. “Didn’t think you’d be the one to pick up being a teacher. But, hey; as long as you don’t turn out like Saber…”
The man shuddered, and Shirou suppressed a laugh. Neither man was inclined to step back into the training hall with the King of Knights, now or back then. Lancer's face suddenly turned wooden, though, when the laughter began to die down.
“You know, I hate to say this, but this espionage would all be a lot easier if Archer were still kicking.”
Shirou’s mood soured, remembering the man–for good and for bad, but he was able to shrug it off quicker than he would have been able to back then. His mind, and soul, wandered toward the Geofront, where an Eva of his own sat deep within its core.
He swore he could feel it, even now; empowering and corrupting him from within.
“He had his part.” Shirou shook his head. “It wouldn’t have worked out any differently.”
“…I suppose.” Lancer allowed, after a moment. “Anything’s better than working for the fake priest, I guess.”
“Now you’re starting to sound like Tohsaka.” Shirou grinned, giving the Servant a pat on the back–something he wouldn’t have tried a few months back, nor would the man have allowed it.
“What can I say?” The man grinned. “She has such a stellar personality.”
Shirou nodded, leaning back and looking up at the stars once again.
“That she does.” He sighed, longing to see her again. “That she does…”
<>
I am… the bone of my sword.
“It's crazy to think what the two of you might be able to do…”
Steel is my body and fire is my blood.
“I mean if you were fighting in tandem…”
I have created over a thousand blades.
“Powering each other up and fueling your own development…”
Unaware of loss, nor aware of gain.
“You possess the ultimate trump card when it comes to tactics…”
Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one’s arrival.
“Always able to learn, adapt, and come back the victor in the second round…”
I have no regrets. This is the only path.
“If you two were able to sync, as one…”
My whole life was…
“Who’d be able to stop you?”
Unlimited Blade Works.