A/N: Yea... it's been a while since the last update. I'll explain after this, but for now... here is the next chapter!


Chapter 8: Fight or Flight

Chifuyu Orimura seemed relatively calm for most of the situation, though her blunder of putting salt in her cup of coffee revealed otherwise. While the outward appearance of calm and collectedness was present, she was definitely worried, especially for her younger brother. However, Ichika wasn't the only one. Glancing at the second feed below, it showed the second male IS pilot running through the halls, Shirou Emiya. While the redhead wasn't present at the academy for very long, Chifuyu was still a teacher, and a teacher worries about their students.

"What is Emiya-san doing?" Cecelia's voice brought all the women in the room to look at the feed of the male redhead.

Everyone saw Shirou stop at a room. As he went inside for only a moment, he came out wearing what looked like a metal power suit; however, Chifuyu recognized it immediately.

"Emiya's IS, it seems he'll face the rogue IS with his own suit."

"But, Sensei, Emiya-kun hasn't even practiced with a training IS, let alone his own personal unit," Maya pointed out, "Will he be alright?"

Chifuyu's lips subtly thinned. Looking at the two feeds on the screen, she knew her brother could hold his own for longer because he had already experienced piloting an IS and has Lingyin watching his back. Shirou had no one. Taking a glance at the two female students transfixed by the camera feeds, Chifuyu made a decision.

Shirou was currently running towards what he hoped was the rogue IS. A small map showed his current location and another dot where the other IS should be in the corner of his HUD. The magus was initially surprised when his suit aided him in running faster through the halls, but he didn't complain.

Turning at another corner, Shirou couldn't help but frown at his predicament. Sure he had gotten his suit; however, he hadn't had any experience piloting it at all, let alone practice with its weaponry. However, he couldn't just leave his fellow students to fend for themselves, and the redhead just acted without thinking. Whatever drove Shirou to do it seemed more of an obligation than a whim, though he couldn't figure out why. To the magus, it just felt right.

Seeing a split in the hallway, Shirou glanced at his HUD and saw the other cursor. Taking a left would lead him closer to the IS, and he proceeded to go in that direction. The boy continued to run, taking any necessary turns needed. It wasn't until he saw the other cursor down the next hallway that Shirou suddenly stopped just before the turn. Taking a peek around the corner, the magus saw the IS facing what appeared to be a steel door. It had one of its arms extended and appeared to be cutting the door open. Several muffled panicking noises were heard on the other side. Shirou realized where the door led to, the stands where some of his peers were trapped.

Glancing down at his HUD, he brought up an information screen of his weapon of choice, his bow. He saw what looked like a compound bow of sorts on his HUD with what appeared to have some kind of rifle barrel composed of metal and clear rings and a rifle body attached where the rest mount for an arrow should be. Confused about how absurd his weapon looked, Shirou could only think of how to deploy it.


Shirou was about to say that was it for him; however, the redhead thought of one question and decided to ask it now. "Well, besides the obvious flight capabilities and eventual integration with a bow, what else can this suit do if it's trying to pass as an IS?"

Tabane couldn't help but smile as she heard the boy's curiosity and opened her mouth to speak. "Like last time, Shikkun, your suit can fly and augments your abilities in strength and speed. However, you do not have as strong of an energy shield due to your suit being much smaller than a normal training IS. While you did point out you will have a weapon attached to your suit; you will still need to deploy and retract it."

The magus then felt a bit confused, "Uh, I noticed when I couldn't train with the others that they can make their weapon appear and disappear?"

"That's exactly deploying and retracting their weapon Shikkun!"

"But, how do you exactly do that? The last time it happened, the training model deployed the katana independently."

Tabane thought for a minute, "Well, most students in training IS usually just have a mental command and think of it in question. Those with a personal unit have their weapon named by either the one who designed their IS or the pilot names the weapon themselves to make it easier to deploy."


Remembering the childish woman's words, Shirou glanced at his HUD at his weapon's information window and found the name of his bow.

"Iannsair… Rionnag…?" the boy thought, hoping he wasn't butchering the name. Taking another peek at the IS, Shirou's resolve solidified once more before hiding his head behind the corner. Glancing at his bow in his HUD, then looking at his left hand at his side, the magus focused on his weapon's name. "Deploy, Iannsair Rionnag!"

Shirou saw something materialize in his left hand via an accumulation of white particles. Once it appeared, he saw that his weapon was folded up into what looked like a rectangular-like grip that confused the redhead. However, the boy's confusion was short-lived as he saw it quickly expand into the holographic model he saw on his HUD before, except it was shiny silver, similar to his own suit.

Glancing at the compound bow, Shriou noted the drawstring was connected to a solid tab resting on top of a tube connecting to the rifle body. While the rifle body itself had no ammunition clip, the magus noted that the barrel had clear sections that gave a soft glow. Deciding to take a chance, Shirou quickly peeked around the corner, aimed at the IS's head, pulled the drawstring back, and fired. The boy's eyes widened in surprise when a projectile of pure energy shot out of the rifle body. While it was slightly off his initial mark, it still hit the mech's head dead-on.

Parameters: 82%

Shirou also noted that his shield energy dropped by two points when using his weapon. Bringing his attention back to the rogue IS, the redhead saw the mech turn its head towards him; it stopped cutting through the steel door, raised its hands, and fired two beams from the palms at the male pilot.

Parameters: 85%

Shirou could only duck behind the wall as the twin beams barely brushed the corner of the wall, grazing the plaster on the corner as it quickly melted. Once the beams stopped, Shirou promptly peeked around the corner and fired two shots from his bow. While he was quickly getting accustomed to his new weapon, the magus knew he couldn't keep doing the same thing for long. Seeing the IS slowly creep towards him, Shirou could only continue to fire his bow. While the projectiles were doing some damage to the mech, it did not flinch from the redhead's constant barrage.

Parameters: 90%

Seeing the mech coming in closer, Shirou could only think of two things, either run with the mech following right behind him or stay and fight with… other means. Seeing the mech coming around the corner, Shirou quickly backed away, rapidly firing his bow at the rouge suit. However, just like before, the IS barely flinched to the multiple projectiles and continued moving towards Shiou. The rough IS then raised its arms, energy building in the palms before firing at the magus. Seeing the two beams come at him, the redhead had to duck under both of them before he regained his composure and continued to back away while firing his bow and the IS slowly walking forward.

Parameters: 95%

The repeated cycle of Shirou backing away and the rouge IS slowly making its advances towards him continued for at least a minute before the mech started to gain speed in its movement. Seeing the IS was beginning to gain ground on him, Shirou considered tracing swords, not because his current weapon wasn't bad, he needed something more effective. Before he could decide, he felt something coming up from behind, and the boy quickly leaned to the right as a stray blue energy shot struck the mech, knocking it prone. Seeing the suit temporarily knocked down, the redhead glanced behind him and was surprised at who he saw. Cecelia Alcott was in her IS as she stared down the scope of what appeared to be a large, blue laser rifle.

Narrowing his eyes, Shirou felt a slight tingle in his mind as the name of the blonde's weapon came to him instantly, "Blue Pierce, not a bad name…" the magus thought as he filed that information for later.

"Seems like I made it in the nick of time. Are you alright, Emiya-san?" the blonde asked as a com channel instantly opened up between her and Shirou.

"Yea, just about. Thanks for the save," the redhead replied. "Though she could've aimed a little bit higher."

"I believe you should get out of here, Emiya-san. I can hold this intruder off until the teachers arrive."

Shirou weighed his options. While it was true he was still getting used to his suit and weapon, he still couldn't ignore the panic-muffled cries from the sealed door he had heard earlier. The magus replied to the blond, "You can keep her distracted until I can get our peers out of there."

"Wait, what are you-"

Cecelia didn't finish her question as Shirou quickly ran around the downed mech and around the corner. The British representative was about to call out to the male when she noticed the rouge IS slowly getting up. Knowing that she had to face her opponent regardless, Cecelia prepared her rifle once more, hoping the other teachers would arrive soon.


As Shirou rounded the corner, he quickly ran up to the steel door the rouge IS was trying to cut through. While the door still held firm, the magus saw the initial cuts already showing melting traces. Shirou heard a few shots in the background, and as he turned towards the corner down the hall, he saw a few flashes of light. Cecelia was holding on to her own, at least for now. Turning back towards the metal door, Shirou placed the side of his head on the door, ear right against the warm metal. The magus could hear muffled sounds of panic and curiosity as he heard several pairs of feet shuffle around on the other side.

Hearing that his peers seemed relatively okay, Shirou decided to make himself known as he knocked on the metal.

"Everybody alright?" the boy asked loudly, hoping his voice was coming through to the several students on the other side. Hearing several confirmations and sighs of relief, Shirou continued to speak, "Just hold on, I'll get you out; just stay away from the door."

Backing up from the locked metal door, Shirou dropped his bow on the ground, gripped the two halves, and tried to open the sliding door forcefully, but to no avail. While his suit did give him more strength, it seemed that the sliding door would take a lot more, and to Shirou, it felt like the door was continuously forcing itself shut. If strength from his suit wasn't enough, maybe he could try something else. Glancing down at his armored arms and the door, Shirou closed his eyes and focused.

"Trace, on."

The redhead felt the energy of Od flowing through his arms as reinforcement took effect on them. Opening his eyes, the young man saw slight hints of green stemming from his wrists as he felt his arms warm up tremendously. Feeling his strength being augmented from the spell with the combination of the suit, Shirou then proceeded to try again to pry open the sliding door. To his astonishment, the door started to give way as the two halves were slowly but surely being pushed back by the combination of his reinforced arms and the suit's augmented strength.

As he slowly made the opening in the doors bigger, the young magus felt his arms slowly warm up. While the feeling did not go unnoticed by Shirou, he took note of it and filed it away for later. Right now, he had to get his fellow peers away from the rouge IS currently engaged with the IS Representative of England, not too far away. Five minutes in, Shirou began to feel his arms start to burn up from the inside. However, it was enough as the redhead had made a wide enough gap for students to escape in pairs.

Dismissing the spell on his arms, the redhead said through the opening, "Leave in pairs, quickly!" Turning back towards the hallway he came from, Shirou picked up his bow and quickly ran back towards the corridor where a certain blonde was still dealing with the initial threat, leaving his peers to escape through the door quickly and evacuate in the opposite direction.

It didn't take long for Shirou to reach the rouge IS and a certain blonde who was currently in combat with. As he approached the exact corner, the redhead quickly took cover by the wall and peered around the corner, and sure enough, Shirou saw both Cecelia and the rouge IS not too far down the hall. Despite the smaller corridor, the British representative was holding quite well on her own. Shirou noted that around the girl were four blue arrow-like drones hovering in front of her. From the small information he received from looking at the drones, they were part of her wings but also equipped with the ability to shoot lasers similar to her rifle. Currently, the two combatants appeared to be in a sort of a standoff. However, Shirou noted the charred lines and smoking holes in the walls that both were fighting with their ranged attacks, and while Cecelia's IS had taken some damage, the rouge IS had also taken a fair amount.

While it seemed like an even match, Shirou noticed Cecelia was taking deep breaths, showing minor fatigue, and her opponent didn't seem to bat an eye, that is, if the rouge IS had a visible face. Noting his classmate's predicament, the young magus went through his options. Quickly thinking of a plan, Shirou mentally commanded his suit to open a com link to Cecelia.

"Alcott-san, are you alright?" the redhead whispered.

"E-Emiya-san?! Yes, I'm alright, but what about you?" Cecelia almost blurted out loudly, but she was able to contain her surprise, leaving it in a loud whisper.

"I was able to help our peers and are evacuating the stands as we speak," he began as he prepared his bow, "thought I should come back and lend a hand."

"Well, if you can keep her busy, I can disable her with my rifle as long as I have a clear shot. I know you haven't fully experienced piloting an IS, but I can't operate my drones and use my main weapon simultaneously."

Shirou bit his lip in uncertainty, knowing full well of his inexperience with his suit. However, it was the best option. Steeling his resolve, the redhead quickly gave the confirmation and held the change in his bow for much longer. The magus then stepped out from his cover and fired. The projectile was much bigger this time and hit the IS square in the back.

The unknown mech stumbled forward a bit before regaining its footing and looked right back at Shirou. Sensing the new threat, the IS quickly aimed one of its arms at the male and repeatedly fired multiple beams from its palm as it began to move toward the redhead. Seeing the powerful projectile originating from the boy in the gray suit, it deduced Shirou as the bigger threat. However, that was what Cecelia wanted.

Mentally commanding her drones to return to her, the blonde quickly readied and looked through the scope of her rifle. The British representative aimed for the head of the mysterious IS and fired. The shot landed on the back of the head, and the IS only stumbled a bit before collapsing just before it reached Shirou. The two students waited in anticipation, wondering if the rouge IS would suddenly move. However, after a tense minute, the unit remained still, giving Cecelia and Shirou the all-clear to approach their downed opponent with caution.

"Alcott, Emiya, are you alright?" a voice was heard through both pilots' ears, but their HUDs revealed a shot of Chifuyu currently on call with the two students. "It seems one of the IS has been dealt with."

"Yes, Orimura-sensei, but I'm also wondering about Ichika dear and Huang-san's status with their opponent?" Cecelia replied in a serious tone. The blonde ensured their now disabled opponent stayed on the ground with her rifle at the ready.

"Orimura and Huang are currently still engaged with the other IS and may require back-up," Chifuyu began. "Alcott, I think it would be best to stay with your initial target. The teachers should arrive shortly to handle the rest. Emiya, while I do not know the full capabilities of your IS, you should have enough speed and mobility to get to the arena the fastest."

While Shirou was not against this, he looked around the live video feed on Chifuyu's end when he realized something or lack of a certain girl. "Wait, where's Shinonono-san?"

Hearing and seeing their homeroom teacher sigh did not sit well for the magus, and taking a glance at Cecelia, the blonde also noticed it too. "She seems to be one step ahead of you but does not have a personal IS."

Just as Chifuyu finished her sentence, Shirou began to full sprint down the hall towards the arena before activating the suit's jet boots and flying down the corridor. The redhead felt the force of the air pressing down on his face as he continued to zoom down the hallway. The redhead didn't take long to get close to the launch bay. When he was only a few feet from the entrance though, Shirou saw the familiar figure of Houki just at the edge leading to the open arena. The redhead gripped his new bow tightly as he sped on through the massive area and past the girl, the bowstring already pulled back.

Time seemed to slow down to the magus as his eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden change in brightness. He quickly saw in the corner of his eye the far-away figures of Ichika and Rinin in their respective IS looking at him in surprise, and in a crater in the middle of the area, the other rouge IS. While the one Shirou had faced in the hallway not too long ago had a sleeker design and only had two cannons in its palms, this IS was bulkier, bulbous, and appeared to have similar armaments mounted on its forearms and shoulders. Seeing the IS have its arms in preparation to fire what appeared to be either him or Houki, Shirou quickly aimed and released the bowstring. Although clumsily, the energy projectile still hit the big IS head-on—a cloud of smoke engulfing the mech from the resulting explosion from the projectile.

Parameters: 96%

Shirou quickly flew towards Ichika and Rinin as their opponent was momentarily shrouded.

"You guys alright?" Shirou asked while also keeping an eye on their opponent, currently in the thick plume of smoke.

"Yea, Shirou, thanks!" Ichika replied, sounding relieved before turning towards the dust cloud.

"Any idea how we can take this one down?" the redhead asked.

"I have one, but it will require me to get close."

Shirou contemplated his roommate's words before piecing their meaning, "You're going to use Ignition Boost?"

"Not exactly," Ichika began, "My IS has an ability called Reiraku Byakuya. While I don't know the specifics, I can essentially bypass an opponent's shields and hit the IS directly."

Shirou raised his eyebrow in fascination and concern, "What about the pilot?"

"I don't think that IS has a pilot. It feels like it's moving a bit too mechanical from the amount of time Rin and I have been fighting it."

That bit of information made Shirou look at their opponent in slight shock. Can an IS operate autonomously?

"Even if the slight chance it isn't, the fact that she hasn't responded to any of us telling her to stand down and instead has been using lethal force. I can at least disable it so it can't hurt anyone else," Ickika finished seriously.

Shirou mulled over his roommate's words before coming to a decision, "Alright, what's the plan?"

"Both you and Rin can keep it distracted. Rin, when I say so, you fire at that IS directly. I can handle the rest."

Shirou could only mentally sigh. Being a decoy was the last thing he wanted, considering what he had gone through earlier, but he complied. When the smoke fully dissipated, revealing their opponent once more, the three students got to work.

Shirou dove down to the arena surface, where he began to fire his bow at the rouge IS while staying at a safe distance from it and continued to circle it around using his jet boots, although a bit clumsily.

Parameters: 99%

At the same time, Rinin took to the air along with Ichika as the former provided cover fire for the redhead while the other male readied his sword. The rouge IS was divided between the two long-ranged students' constant barrage and had one arm firing at each. However, it didn't take long for the IS to asses that Shirou was the easier target due to how clumsily the magus was dodging its blasts.

As for Shirou, he indeed was struggling with his suit. While he could fly around quicker, he was still getting used to his suit, let alone fully adjusting to it. And as a stray projectile almost crossed the boy's path, he quickly reversed in the opposite direction, taking his eyes off of the rouge IS.

But that was all it took.

The rouge IS quickly moved its bulky arm from Rinin right at Shirou and fired another blast aimed into the redhead's current flight path. Sensing the danger, the magus saw the incoming bolt of energy. Running on pure instinct, Shirou could only pull up his bow and fire a quick shot point-blank, an explosion of red engulfing him.

"Shirou!" Ichika yelled. Seeing his roommate getting blasted in front of him angered him. "Rin, do it now!"

"R-Right!" Rinin quickly complied, pushing down the shock from her face as well. As she was ready to fire her shock cannons, the girl saw Ichika stop right in front of her. "Oi, get out of the way! Do you want to get blasted too?!"

"I'll be fine. Just fire!"

"Fine! Just don't come crying to me when all of this is over!" Rinin retorted back as he fired her shock cannons at full blast.

Ichika began to rocket down towards the rouge IS as the impact of ShenLong's shock cannons impacted him from behind, boosting him forward and engulfing his IS in an orange glow. Taking his sword, the raven-haired boy took his chance and sliced one of the arms of the bulky IS cleanly. However, it still left him open as his opponent quickly backhanded the male pilot into the large crater.

Opening his eyes, Ichika saw the rouge IS still functional with its remaining arm aiming at him. Thinking he would have to take another blast from the IS, Ichika prepared for the worst. Suddenly, a red blur came in from the corner of the boy's vision as he saw the blur bisect the IS's remaining arm and part of its helmet. When the blur stopped, Ichika's eyes widened in shock and awe. It was none other than Shirou, but his suit had completely changed.

While it was initially silver when Shirou wore the suit, it was now composed of several hues of red and circular silver accents on the forearms, knees, and shoulders and thin black lines outlining the silver. Ichika also noticed something else. While the redhead was not holding his bow anymore, Ichika saw the shining blade in his roommate's hands.

The sword Shirou held was a sword the raven-haired boy never saw before. While the blade seemed to cast off its own glow, the intricate gold and blue hilt equally stood out. The sword's overall appearance seemed normal, but to Ichika, he felt there was much more to it.

With Shirou, he couldn't help but let out a giant sigh of relief. Quickly glancing down at himself, he noticed his suit's color change and slight slimmer appearance. Turning to the sword in his hands, Shirou knew he traced Caliburn with the options he had, but seeing his friend in danger made him quickly dismiss caution of using his magecraft.


Opening his eyes, Shirou saw smoke around him. Blinking his eyes, he focused more and realized he was lying on the ground. Quickly standing up, he saw the smoke start dissipating though he could only see the familiar silhouette of the large IS he and his friends were facing.

"Oi, get out of the way! Do you want to get blasted too?!"

"I'll be fine. Just fire!"

"Ichika?" Shirou thought as he saw another silhouette of another IS slash the much larger one. This led to the latter backhanding the smaller silhouette, dissipating most of the smoke as Shirou saw his roommate slam into the large crater wall.

Seeing the large IS slowly approach his roommate, the redhead quickly went through his options. His bow, while present, was still ineffective unless he charged the shot, which would take way too long. Noting how Ichika had used his sword, the redhead's thoughts went to his magecraft. Seeing how the rouge IS still had one functional arm, the magus made his choice.

Shirou steadied his breathing as he felt himself quickly look through the hill of swords he had always dreamed of. The redhead was drawn to a peculiar sword he had initially traced once before. Unlike the last time he did, Shirou knew he could not rush the process. This time, he had to do it right. Feeling the foreign yet oddly familiar steps that seemed natural, Shirou dismissed his bow, closed his eyes, and focused on his hands.

"Trace, on!"

Judging the concept of creation and hypothesizing the basic structure. A steel longsword ornately decorated with gold and blue on the hilt.

Hypothesizing the basic structure and imitating the skill of its making. Steel mixed with silver as a man forges the blade, many small creatures of magic enchanting the sword as it took shape.

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth and reproducing the accumulated years. A memory of a lone woman who pulled the forged sword out of the stone. Flashes of battles of the woman who became the king of England as she fought bravely for her subjects.

Finally, excelling in all manufacturing processes. Shirou's eyes opened wide as the sword formed in his hands from blue motes of light. The longsword brought a sense of warmth as the redhead held the blade in question.

The Sword of Selection, Caliburn.

The blade started to glow as Shirou focused on his opponent, the rouge IS. With unprecedented speed, the magus burst from the smoke shrouding him as he closed the distance and slashed.


Feeling the rush of adrenaline start to wear off, Shirou noticed a message on the lower left side of his HUD.

Parameters: 100%
Exeter Primary Shift Complete

"I guess that explains the suit's different appearance now." Shirou mused before turning his attention to the armless IS in front of him. It remained motionless when the magus slashed it. However, he saw part of the helmet fall off, which revealed an empty suit.

"So no one was piloting it after all," Shirou noted. Shirou then heard an alert go off in his HUD,

Enemy IS, Rebooting

"Uh oh," Shirou quickly flew backward as he saw the IS start to spasm out of control, and the cannons on its shoulders began to fire in random directions. Ichika almost got hit as well, but he was able to fly a safe distance away from the IS. As the two continued to fly away, the boys were able to regroup with Rinin.

"What are we going to do?" Rinin asked worriedly.

"We have to deactivate it somehow," Ichika replied quickly. "Rin, do you have any more energy to get a clear shot?"

"I don't. That was my last round. I would be a sitting duck if I took another shot and missed!"

"Maybe I could-"

"If you get close, you could also get hurt," Rinin let the meaning of her words hang as the IS continued its random onslaught on the immediate area.

Shirou looked at the rampaging IS on the arena floor. While it continued to fire in random directions, with an occasional wide shot towards them, it did not pose an immediate threat anymore; however, he wasn't sure how long until the teachers would arrive. Glancing at the blade in his hand, the magus felt a minor headache in his head as his mind drifted to the memory of the heavily altered sword of Caladbolg heading straight towards the giant titan.

"I might have an idea, but you both should move back in case things get worse," Shirou said, getting the attention of the other two pilots. However, one particular girl was skeptical.

"What are you going to do? Throw your glowing sword at it, or launch a charged shot from your bow?" Rinin asked rhetorically.

"Something like that," Shirou said seriously as he held Caliburn in his right hand and, with his left, sent a mental command to his suit to deploy his bow. Looking at the weapon, the redhead noticed it wore a similar color scheme to his suit. The magus took a deep breath and focused his energy on the two items in his hands.

"Trace, on…" he muttered quietly. Splitting his focus into both items, he felt his mind fill with an image of his bow and Caliburn. The former, he wanted to remove the rifle parts and make it into an ordinary bow. As for the Sword of Selection, he wanted it to be an arrow while making it more potent to the point of breaking.

When Shirou opened his eyes, he was astonished to see the results. For his bow, gone was the strange rifle mechanism and instead looked akin to a metal bow with red accents. Glancing at his other hand, the projection of Caliburn had gone under a drastic change. The blade had thinned out remarkably, streaks of gold lined the edges to the tip, and the crossguard shrunk and changed to be akin to two gold and blue shark-fin fletchings. Before Shirou could comment on his luck, another alert appeared on his HUD.

Extreme Weapon Tampering Detected
Weapon Auto-Dismissal in 30.0 sec

Quickly dismissing the alert, though the timer remained in the upper right corner of his view. Shirou quickly notched the "arrow" into the bowstring. Noticing his peers were still present, he gave the two a final warning.

"I told you, get back! I'll be fine!"

20.5 sec

Ichiak and Rinin could only glance at each other before reluctantly retreating farther away from Shirou and the still rampaging IS.

16.8 sec

Seeing his peers get the message, Shirou turned his attention to the unmanned IS. Pulling back the bowstring and adjusting his aim to account for the height and distance, the redhead steeled his mind as he aimed for the head.

10.0 sec

Feeling the enormous strain on his bow, Shirou quietly ushered the "arrow's" name as he let go.

"Caliburn!"

The "arrow" launched forward and made a wide arc down as it impacted the rampaging suit. An ample bright light engulfed the mech, followed by the sound and shockwave of a giant bomb rippled through the arena. At the same time, the bow snapped in half, and several cracks appeared on both limbs as the two halves flew behind the magus. When Shirou turned away from the light, another alert on his HUD appeared.

Heavy Damage on Weapon Detected
Weapon Auto-Dismissal Engaged

Shirou saw the flying two halves of his bow disappear in white motes. As the light faded behind him, the redhead turned around and saw the aftermath of his work. The rampaging IS was in a giant crater and no longer moving. Several chunks of its armor crumbled away as the mech toppled over, the remaining limbs falling apart at the joints.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Shirou flew back towards his two classmates, who were shocked at what he had just done.

"Shirou, what…?" Ichika was at a loss for words.

"It's one of my IS' abilities, though it does destroy my bow when I use it," Shirou replied with a small but tired smile.

"That's your one-off ability?!" Rinin yelled. "Why didn't you use that in the first place?!"

"Last resort, my bow is broken, and my sword is destroyed, remember?"

"Ehm…" the Chinese representative couldn't make a rebuttal at that. Shirou then noticed the large double-bladed scimitars in her hand.

"Souten Gagetsu, a pair of scimitars that can also combine into the double-bladed form it is currently in," Shirou mulled over the limited information he gathered from the blades but did not speak about it.

Ichika decided to say something, "Let's just head back. The teachers should be here to handle the rest."

The other two students couldn't agree more as the trio headed back towards the launch bay, where a familiar pony-tailed girl was waiting for them.

Houki's face had shown worry when she saw her friends return to the launch bay, but most of it vanished as she saw them come in with relatively minor injuries. However, her immediate attention was drawn to a particular raven-haired boy.

"I-Ichika, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a bit sore," the boy replied with a small smile, making the girl slightly blush. However, that didn't seem to sit well with someone else.

"Oi, Ichika, what about our bet?" Rinin asked abruptly. Shirou noted that the question made Houki slightly scowl at the representative.

Ichika's face turned somber at that. Turning to Shirou for any help only resulted in the redhead giving a slight shrug in response. The raven-haired boy turned his attention to both girls, then focused on his second childhood friend specifically.

"Actually, Rin, could we talk about that in private?"

"W-what?"

"Ichika!"

Shirou remained neutral, but he did see the reactions of both girls. Rinin was of surprise and a bit embarrassed. As for Houki, the redhead saw the girl's face of immediate shock, followed by a bit of emotion the magus saw traces of before.

Fear.

The Chinese Representative recovered part of her confidence first, "Y-yeah, s-sure. Uhm, w-where do you want to t-talk about it?"

"Here is fine."

"Uh, s-sure," Rinin recalled her IS, ShenLong, as she landed lightly on her feet. The girl proceeded to walk to another part of the launch bay. Ichika also recalled Byakushiki and followed after her.

Houki barely noticed the two leaving before she regained her bearings. Turning to the back of her childhood friend, she was about to protest.

"W–wait, Ichika-" a hand rested on her shoulder, stopping her.

The brunette-haired girl turned and saw the neutral look Shirou was giving her before shaking his head. Houki's eyes darted between her housemate and Ichika's retreating form several times before she lowered her head, her bangs covering her eyes. Before Shirou could say anything, the girl walked out of the room.

Turning towards his roommate, Shirou could only remain neutral before he too walked out of the room to return his suit. However, that wasn't at the forefront of the redhead's mind.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Ichika. Good luck," the magus thought.

With Ichika, he could only sigh. His talk with Shirou made the male pilot realize what his second childhood friend meant by his promise to her all those years ago. While he had thought about what he wanted to say, it still made him uneasy. It wasn't what Ichika was planning to say that made the boy feel this way. It was what his friend would do after.

Ichika then looked at the girl in question. Seeing Rinin's slightly embarrassed and confused expression did not make his unease disappear. But the boy knew he had to confront this one way or another.

"So," the Chinese representative began, "what about our bet did you want to talk about?"

Ichika thought of what he needed to say before opening his mouth to speak.


Final Word Count: 6194

A/N: And that's a wrap for now. Yes, it has been almost 8 months but a lot has happened. My last year at university wrecked me mentally. Even after I graduated, I had to deal with another issue that should be resolved. I am currently applying for a job which is another reason why I haven't updated sooner as well.

As for the result of the poll, here are the results:
"Should I keep most of the slapstick/harem shenanigans or omit a good portion of them for more character development?"
- Yes, keep the slapstick: 3
- No, omit some of them: 9
- Up to me as the author: 15

Not too many people voted for this poll. As for my decision on what to do, that will be kept under wraps. But for now, that's all that I have. Again if you enjoyed this story so far, don't be afraid to leave a favorite. Follow this story if you want to keep up to date. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and any flames will be ignored.

As for the next chapter, I'll only give the name. "Chapter 9: The Third Pilot"

Stay safe, stay cool, and I'll see you in the next one!