Chapter Text
It was the next day as Illya was in her room as she was resting on her bed as she was reading the Notes that Opal made for her while ruby was complaining that she didn't need to learn Magecraft since she had her but she ignores ruby as she continues to read Opal's notes.
"Hmm?" Ruby floated over "What did you say, Illya-chan?"
Illya shook her head "I said that we should ask Archer and Opal for help." She then adopted a more thoughtful expression as she picked up the Walkie Talkie that ruby had as she pressed the button. "Hey, Archer?" she spoke as she wondered if Emiya was awake.
"Yes, Illya?"
"I was going to take Ruby out and practice flying for tonight. Can you help?"
"...I can't fly Kid..."
"I can help if you want to fly, Archer-San." Opal replied as Illya had to suppress a giggle as she could imagine his face right now.
"No, I mean Help with training. You know, avoiding stuff being fired at me!"
"You...want me to shoot you with arrows?"
"Illya-san... That is highly dangerous and very risky." Opal helped try to persuade Illya to reconsider the idea of this training
"It'll be fine!"
There was a sigh over the call before Emiya replied "...Very well."
"Ruby." Illya turned to the Kaleidostick "Archer said he would help with training." she stood up before making a face of realisation "Rin-san also left the Archer Card with us, maybe we could get Archer to teach us how to use a bow?"
"He seems very grumpy though...he's probably a cheapskate when it comes to teaching." Ruby replied with a sigh.
Illya pouted "Archer is nice and reliable, he'll help."
"Sureeee…." Ruby made an exaggerated reply "Never lose that positive attitude, Illya-chan!"
"Maybe using the Card will let us find out who Archer is?" Illya shrugged.
"Probably not, he said he doesn't have a Noble Phantasm... At least that's what I think... although he might also be a liar." Ruby shrugged her wings "Maybe he was one of those future nasty Heroic Spirits."
"Archer doesn't seem like a nasty Heroic Spirit, Ruby" Illya frowned at the stick "He's offered to help me, so he must be a nice person."
(Meanwhile)
Emiya, meanwhile still recovering from their Escaped last night, was staring at the mansion next door. The bounded field set up prevented any access without alerting the Magi inside. He could disable it with Rule Breaker but that would be far more obvious for the entire field to go down than it would be to trip the alarm.
In the end it wasn't worth it for some vague curiosity of what the Miyu girl was, he would keep an eye on her while he was here but unless she did something more suspicious he wouldn't resort to extreme measures. Yet.
He saw movement and turned his head to see Luvia and Miyu leaving the house.
'Early start…' He thought to himself, he checked the streets to make sure no one was around before reappearing just near enough to the pair to get their attention.
"Archer-san. Opal. Good morning." Sapphire noticed him first and greeted him and her sister, he really did prefer this Mystic Code to the other one.
He made a grunt of acknowledgment before turning his attention to Miyu and Luvia, who at this point had turned to face him. Miyu looked impartial while Luvia had a brief look of surprise before composing herself.
"What can I help you with, Archer?" Luvia questioned him before smirking "Here to ditch that cow Tohsaka and work with a proper Magus?"
Archer raised an eyebrow "No, I am only associated with Rin because Illya was basically dragged into this mess." He shook his head "However I am slightly curious about these cards."
"What about them?" Luvia raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"They are certainly leagues above what I would expect an average Magus could create, yet they are scattered about the town instead of in the grasp of the Association, why?"
"The Mages Association detected distortions in Fuyuki two weeks ago." Luvia adopted a more serious posture "When they sent a team to investigate, they discovered the existence of the Cards. The Lancer and Archer cards were taken care of by another operative before the task was passed on to Tohsaka and myself."
Emiya narrowed his eyes "Then...these cards just appeared one day?"
Luvia nodded, Emiya looked to the side slightly before nodding his head "I suppose that is enough for today. I will allow you and your apprentice to carry on."
He turned himself invisible as he also made sure that Opal was invisible as well, leaving Luvia and Miyu behind as he made his way across the street back to the Einzbern residence.
'Seven Class Cards appear from out of nowhere, and they just so happen to mimic the summoning for a Grail War?' This was too strange, it was as if some Magus had attempted to kickstart a Grail War with a different summoning system but failed. It can't have been the Mages Association otherwise Rin or Luvia would have been made aware of it and there was sufficient magic theory that went into the cards which stumped Emiya, he couldn't see who created the cards. Only which Spirit they contained.
He shook his head, he'd rather not deal with this. As long as it remained a failed Grail War then that was acceptable.
"Shirou!" Sella called out as Emiya entered the house as he made sure to not let the maid hit him or Opal, he turned to see her storming down the stairs "You'd better not be in that Kitchen again!"
"But I just wanted to-" Shirou began only to be cut off by a glare from Sella and dragged out of the Kitchen.
"I told you! I cook weekends!" she shooed him out.
The idiot slumped his shoulders, and Emiya turned away. He didn't like looking at him.
Illya came bounding down the stairs dressed in casual clothes, he could see Ruby hiding in her pocket.
"Sella!" She called out "I'm going out today! I'll be back later!"
"Have breakfast first!" She replied from the Kitchen "Then make sure you're back before Lunch."
"Yes." Illya replied before skipping into the dining room.
(Later)
"I think this should be far enough out." Illya nodded to herself as she and Ruby came to a stop in a clearing in the woods "Archer, you can come out now." Emiya reappeared, leaning next to a tree under the shade.
"Okay!" Illya smiled "Now we can start!"
Emiya watched the 'Transformation' into a magical girl with a blank expression, if gaining Magi powers came at the cost of dressing like a clown, he'd rather she just learnt proper Magecraft. At least she had opal's notes to read, cause knowing the Con-Artist. it's better she learns Magecraft from her better, more well mannered sister, Rather than Ruby and her constant attempt to make Illya only dependant on her.
Illya floated into the air before making a face of remembrance "Oh, right." she turned to her servant staring up at her from under the tree "Archer, Rin-san left the Archer Card with me!"
Emiya squinted his eyes as Opal Wondered what type of power Emiya has as a Heroic spirit."Did she? Why?"
"She said I should practice using the Class cards and Miyu already has the Rider and Lancer cards so…" She trailed off and shrugged at Emiya "I was wondering if you could teach me Archery?"
Emiya raised an eyebrow "Illya...would that not make any training you receive more complex and redund-"
"Include!" She cut him off and tapped the card onto Ruby.
Emiya held his breath slightly before letting out a sigh of relief as a Reality Marble didn't manifest around them. He watched with slight curiosity as Ruby transformed themselves into a scaled down version of his Nameless Bow.
"Look Archer!" Illya cheered and smiled at him "We match!"
"Awe~ That so cute!" Opal cooed as she floated around illya as Emiya could have sworn he saw an aura of happiness radiating around opal.
"That's...very nice Kid." Emiya kicked himself off of the tree and walked into the clearing "Where are the projectiles though?"
"There aren't any." Ruby's voice brought about an awkward silence as Illya, Opal and Emiya stared at her.
"What?" They all said at the same time.
"It's just the bow. There aren't any arrows." Ruby clarified.
"What's the point of having a bow with no Arrows!?" Illya shouted as the card unincluded itself and Ruby returned to her regular form.
"I think you should manage your expectations, Kid." Archer sighed to himself "That trash Mystic Code will always find a way to disappoint you."
"Hey! It's your power as a Heroic Spirit!" Ruby shouted back "It's not my fault that it's useless!"
"Ruby-Nee! Stop making people hate you!"
Emiya scowled as he secretly projected Rule breaker and made a reply when Illya cut them both off "No Fighting!" the pair turned away from each other as Emiya dismissed the Blade.
"Good." Illya smiled "Archer, we'll just have to train like I said earlier."
"You mean shooting arrows at you?" Emiya raised an eyebrow, his mouth in a thin line.
"Illya-san, I highly ask you to reconsider your choice!" Opal said in worry as she knows there is a large gap between Illya and Emiya and she worries that illya might get hurt.
"Yeah! You shoot arrows and I practice dodging! Ruby will protect me from harm, won't you Ruby?" Illya turned to the Kaleidostick.
"Of course!" Ruby exclaimed in reply "As if Satan over there could hurt a Magical Girl of your calibre!"
"See Archer?" Illya turned back to the Ex-counter guardian "It will be fine! So don't hold back!" She smiled an innocent smile, completely unaware of what she just asked.
*Sigh* "I'll prepare the healing spells in case you go overboard." Emiya scratched the back of his neck as he can feel the Exhaustion in Opal's voice as he knows that she doesn't approve of this type of training and he couldn't blame her.
"Very well, prepare yourself." Emiya projected his bow and a single blunted arrow "Cause I will begin now." He drew the bow back and fired.
(A Few moments Later)
"AHHHH!"
Nearly two minutes later Illya was desperately flying through the sky to evade the hail of arrows being launched by Emiya. They were never ending and Illya discovered very early on that even if she was protected by Ruby, being hit by an arrow moving at supersonic speeds hurt. A lot.
"I told her this was a bad idea" Opal let's out a tired sigh as she flinches at Illya's pained screams.
"You need to strike back, Kid!" Emiya called out as he sent another dozen arrows at her in quick succession.
"R-right! Ruby!" Illya dodged another barrage of arrows before firing off a beam at Emiya. There was an awkward silence as Emiya stopped firing and stared at the crater nearly seven metres from him.
He raised an eyebrow and looked back towards an embarrassed Illya who was hiding her face behind her hands "I-I panicked!"
"Well...at least your missing now rather than later…" Emiya sighed before noticing something else, rapidly falling towards the ground.
He jumped into the air to avoid being caught up in the impact which kicked up a large cloud of debris and made a rather sizeable indentation in the ground.
"Wh-what was that!?" Illya shouted as she flew over to the crater. Emiya dismissed his bow and traced Kanshou and Bakuya as he landed back on the ground and walked over to the hole as the dust began to clear.
"All mana was redistributed to prevent physical damage." A voice called out from the cloud, the dust settled and Emiya and Illya could see a rather pale looking Miyu sat in the centre. Emiya dismissed the blades and crossed his arms.
"Are you unhurt, Miyu-sama?" Sapphire asked, Miyu shakily got back to her feet.
"Y-yes, thankfully."
"Miyu-san?" Illya tilted her head in confusion, Miyu looked up to see Illya and Emiya staring down at her.
"She's flying." Miyu said, Sapphire replied immediately.
"Yes, she's flying with great ease."
Illya floated down and landed on the ground in front of Miyu, the two stared at eachother for a few moments.
Miyu made to say something but stopped herself, "Miyu-san." Illya spoke, a small smile on her face "Um...do you want to train together? We won't stand a chance if we can't fly." the smile got wider and more encouraging "So let's train together!"
"Miyu-sama." Sapphire spoke the single word, the girl look a little conflicted when she eventually, and hesitantly, replied "Please teach me...umm...how to fly…"
"Sure!" Illya positively glowed before taking off into the air "It's like going 'Wahh' like this!" She then did a small spin in the air.
"I don't think I'll be able to help you much when it comes to flight." Opal said as she and Emiya turned to Miyu and shrugged "Also Illya…" he turned back to Illya who looked at him in a quizzical manner "That's probably not the most informative teaching method."
"R-really?" Illya looked slightly downcast at being told that, nonetheless Miyu attempted it.
And fell flat on her face.
Repeatedly.
"Stop…" Emiya pinched his nose as Miyu fell on her face again "This is getting use nowhere…"
"Indeed." Sapphire agreed "Illya-san, you said that all Magical Girls could fly, correct?"
"U-um, Yes?" Illya replied.
"What was the source you based this assumption on?"
"T-the source…" Illya froze and looked away, cheeks flushing in embarrassment "Umm...well…"
(A few moments Later)
"A...cartoon…" Emiya said slowly as he stared at he TV in disbelief, they were fortunate that everyone else hadn't come back home yet, therefore Emiya could reappear without incident, which meant he and Miyu could see what Illya wanted to show them "You based...your advanced magical theory of flight…on a cartoon?"
"It's...an anime." Illya said, turning away from Emiya in an almost ashamed manner.
Emiya pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled "I...shall leave you and Miyu to your...anime." Emiya said as he turned and prepared to go invisible.
"Wait Archer!" Illya stopped him, he turned to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, Kid?"
"Rin-san got you some clothes and left them with me!" She ran upstairs and returned moments late with a small bag, she handed them to Emiya who sighed.
"Kid, I told you. The clothes are unneeded."
Illya pouted at him "Archer…"
He sighed and shook his head "What an unreasonable Companion I have…" His outfit shimmered, changing from the red and black costume to a black button up shirt, dark grey trousers and black shoes.
Illya gaped "Eh?"
"Wow... I didn't know you could do that." Emiya had a small smirk on his face as he could see how Opal was admiring his Magecraft.
Emiya raised an eyebrow "You didn't think I was limited to simply projecting bows did you?"
"B-but that means..." Illya then pointed accusingly at Emiya "What was the point of Rin-san buying clothes then?!"
Emiya smirked as he began to head towards the front door"There wasn't one."
(Le Time skip)
Emiya walked around the park without aim, he still had some kind of muscle memory about Fuyuki City even without remembering much of his old life. He found it a peaceful distraction from it all.
He'd much rather be looking for the remaining cards but it was better being here doing nothing than charging head first into dangerous situations.
"Oof!" He felt someone hit him on the back as he turned around and saw who it was.
"Nooo...! My Bento!!" Low and behold it was the Tiger of Fuyuki and her recently deceased Lunch.
"I waited hours for that..." He saw that Taiga was at the brink of tears and a part of him felt broken when he saw her in this state.
"P-Please *Hic* Please... P-Please..." He heard his Taiga barely containing her tears and sorrows as she pointed a gun at him.
"Fuji-Nee... Please... Step a side and let me through..." He could feel himself being torn apart as he saw how his Old care taker refuse to listen to him.
"H-He Needs Her Shirou, H-He Needs Her." He could see how desperate she is and he couldn't blame her but he couldn't allow this to continue.
"... I-I... I can't... I'm sorry..." He soon heard her gun clicked but she wasn't fast enough as he raised his gun at her and fired but it would soon be his last and greatest mistake.
He saw taiga fell to the floor as her blood began to pool around her as she let's out her last breath as it soon broke him.
" I'm... sorry..." And with that, Taiga passed away and it soon broke him as he screamed in agony and sorrow for he had finally lost everything.
Emiya shakes his head as he stared at taiga as he could see her crying over her fallen lunch, Emiya bent down to her as he held his hand out to her.
"I'm sorry for that miss, I should have looked where I was going." Taiga looked at Emiya as she soon became embarrassed as someone saw her crying over her lunch.
"N-N-No, I-It was my fault for not looking! I swear!!" Her embarrassed state made Emiya chuckled a bit as he helped her up.
"Well it was still my fault that your lunch was ruined miss..?" He knows her name but decided to pretend that it was his first time meeting her.
"T-Taiga, Taiga Fujimura..." She stutter as she looked away embarrassed.
"Well then Ms. Fujimura, how about I buy you something for ruining your lunch." He gave her a gentle smile as she turned around just so he couldn't see her red face.
"W-W-Well if you say your buying then let's go!" She began to walk away as she was to embarrassed to look back at him and so Emiya followed suit, he doesn't know why but he would make sure she'll never cry out sadness or in pain ever again.
Ever.