53A/N: This took so much longer than anticipated; I'll explain it in the end. For now, enjoy!
Chapter 2: A Chance Encounter
Shirou's eyes opened to the room around him. The blue sky revealed the early hours of the morning. The redhead could only sigh before starting his day as he changed into clean clothes composed of a green tunic and brown baggy pants. Quickly walking out of his room to the common area, Shirou used the sink behind the bar to wash his face. Drying his head with a clean rag nearby, the magus started taking stock of supplies for the Charming Fairy Inn. While taking a mental note of what Shirou needed to get, he wondered how he got into this position a week ago.
True to their word, Jessica and Scarron had aided Shirou in searching the town for the redhead's sister. But while searching, Shirou noticed a peculiar sight, or rather something he did not fully notice until he looked at another shop sign. The words to him he could understand, but that was it. The letters he could not fully recognize, but the fact that he somehow could understand what they were caught the redhead off guard. It was then Shirou made the connotation that he picked up the vocabulary, grammar, and syntax immediately.
He could only think of two reasons. One was due to his constant use of the EMIYA install in the Grail War, and the other was Holy Grail itself. The first was due to a side effect of using the Servant Card, inheriting skills and tiny flashes of memories. In one of these flashes, he saw an older version of himself learning a language that sounded similar to what the people spoke in this world, but the letters were vastly different. The second reason was how else he would appear in a world with two moons in the night sky and how he could see a severe lack of modern technology.
Shirou could not help but sigh. If Miyu wished for him to escape, the Grail might have done it in the most extreme way possible. Whatever it was, both options were possible regarding how the redhead could speak fluently with the locals when he was transported. For most of the morning, Shirou tried to look wherever he could and ask if any of the townspeople had seen someone even similar to Miyu's description, but no one had. Seeing the sun reach almost noon, the magus could only sigh and turn back the way he came. While the magus would've continued his search, Jessica insisted on coming back to eat something before continuing their search.
The redhead's search ended empty-handed after only two days as he looked throughout the city. Miyu was not in town, and Shirou could only go outside the city gates for so long. While he was debating on going out on his own, he thought against it due to not knowing where to start looking, and the chances of the magus seeing his sister again were slim. Even if Miyu did come to this world as he did, he would need to prepare for a long journey beyond the city regardless, hence his current predicament.
At the end of the second day of his search, Shirou felt he had to repay Jessica and Scarron's hospitality. So he decided to help serve the customers that night by assisting with what he knew best, cooking. It was when the customers' tried the food did Shirou notice the generous amount of coin they left as a tip for the staff and the chef responsible for "the best delicacy" they had ever eaten. After that night, Scarron offered Shirou a job, and while the latter was initially against it, his logical side won out.
If the magus was even going to find his sister, let alone be in this world for an unknown amount of time, he had to adapt. Over the week, the redhead had discreetly tried to learn more about his current predicament. From what he heard from the many patrons that would frequent the tavern area to eat, nobles or royalty were the backbones of specific regions and society. It was then Shirou learned that he was in the kingdom of Tristain, specifically its capital, Tristania. As the magus gathered more and more information, he heard about rising tensions between Tristain and another kingdom, Albion, and the possibility of war between them.
Shirou wanted to know why a war would break out, but the reasons were not clear or conflicting from what he heard from overhearing several patrons. There was also the possibility of people being drafted to support this possibility, but what made Shirou frown was the age of people being drafted, which was sixteen. Growing up and traveling with Kiritsugu, Shirou had seen this practice before, but he could not help but feel sorry that some people were forced into these situations. It was different here as the nobles could choose to abstain from fighting themselves, but the common folk was not so lucky. Unless they had critical professions like a farmer or someone of leadership, most of the common folk would be drafted to be front-line troops.
As for the nobility, there seemed to be an unspoken rule of a noble family's pride on the line. In times like these, the youth would volunteer willingly despite the choice to abstain. Shirou could not help but frown at something so trivial as their family name would drive people despite the lack of knowing the dangers and the consequences.
From the amount of information he had gathered about this world, one topic intrigued him the most, magic. He heard that humans, particularly aristocrats, could use one or more of the following four elements: wind, water, earth, and fire. This was about as far as he could learn about magic, as many of the patrons were not well-versed or called a 'nosy-plebian' by others that were not very sober. The last bit of information the magus learned was that magic could only learn through private tutors, family lineage, or go to a magic academy.
When he heard of magic, Shirou decided to try how his magecraft would behave. The redhead noticed how dense this world's energy was when he tried to apply Reinforcement on a knife he used to chop vegetables. The result was a very sharp knife that could easily cut through the vegetables… the cutting board… and left a noticeable divot in the countertop. Shirou could only apologize to a very confused, surprised, and angry Jessica for "not paying attention to his strength" as he continued the prep work that night. This led to the redhead's current predicament, him taking stock and replenishing low supplies today while Jessica was out to buy a replacement countertop.
It did not take long for the magus to take a mental note of what to buy before he grabbed a cloak to keep warm and a small bag of coins as he headed out into the street toward the local farmer's market. Most stalls were already set up and ready to serve any passerby by the time the redhead arrived. As Shirou looked around for the items he needed to buy, some local folk recognized him as the recent hire for the Charming Fairy Inn, while a few remembered him as someone looking for his younger sister.
The first item on his list was shopping for fruits meant for some dessert dishes he and Jessica were planning to make later in the day. It did not take long for Shiou to find a stall that sold a plethora of different apples, though as he looked for which ones were ripe, he spotted a peculiar sight out of the corner of his eye. While the stall owner was preoccupied aiding customers, Shirou noticed a small boy dressed in rags eying one of the tree fruits. Taking a closer look at the details, Shirou noted how frail the boy looked, one of the signs of significant hunger. The magus could feel the yearning for nourishment from the boy as he tried to blend into the crowd, waiting for an opportunity.
The magus let out a sad sigh and was about to reach his cloak for the coins he had brought when someone else seemed to beat him. A hand reached out towards the apple and held it delicately. Shirou saw a taller individual wearing a hooded cloak near the hungry boy. The person under the cloak knelt to the boy's eye level before holding the apple towards the boy.
"Here you go," the person said in a gentle tone. Shirou noted that by the pitch alone, the individual was female. The hungry boy quickly grabbed the apple and, with an appreciative smile, ran off into the crowd.
"I hope you can pay for that, miss," the stern voice of the stall owner startled the cloaked girl as she looked up and saw a burly man staring her down. Realizing the predicament she got herself into, the girl could only gasp in fear before the stall owner's hand grabbed her wrist, subduing her. "Looks like we have a thief here. The town guards would make an example out of you."
"That won't be necessary."
The stall owner and the mysterious girl looked toward the sound of the voice being none other than Shirou. The redhead spoke up without really thinking about it, but seeing the cloaked girl in trouble made him quickly act. Ignoring the stares from the other people present, the magus reached into his cloak, took out his small bag of coins, and paid the exact amount for the apple, two small copper.
Seeing the metal coins, the stall owner looked at the redhead with a scrutinizing gaze before releasing the hooded girl, pocketing the money, and turning his attention to another customer. The several onlookers drawn to the commotion quickly dispersed, leaving the two individuals to themselves. Shirou noted that the hooded girl was only a bit shorter than himself, but the cloak covered most of her features other than locks of purple hair obscuring the top half of her face, notes of a white dress poking from the bottom hem of the coat, and white high heels on her feet.
"Thank you," the girl uttered softly.
"It's no problem, though you should have brought money before going out." While the cloak made the girl look suspicious, Shirou seemed to deduce she did not have any ill intentions, though he kept his guard up just in case.
"I-I'll be sure to remember that next time."
Shirou would've said more, but a peculiar growling sound came from the girl. While vehemently denying it, the sound repeated once more.
Raising an eyebrow, the redhead looked curiously at the cloaked figure before sighing and speaking to her again.
"Do you… want something to eat?"
Deciding to finish his shopping later, Shirou led the girl back to the inn. When the two entered the front door, the redhead led the hooded girl to a nearby table as he went to the back counter to prepare a simple meal. While the magus got to work behind the counter, the hooded girl could not help but fidget in her seat. She was not planning to be out for very long or buy anything, so she never brought any money. Initially, she wanted to take a relaxing stroll to take her mind off recent events and ended up here. While it was better than the alternative of getting arrested and promptly scolded, her mind drifted to why she went out in the first place. Her lips formed into a thin line as the feeling of grief came over her.
"Is everything alright?"
The girl brought herself out of her stupor. Turning her head towards the voice, she noticed the redhead boy pausing from his food preparation behind the counter to look at her in concern.
"O-oh, it's n-nothing," the girl managed to stutter out quickly.
Shirou could not help but frown. It did not sound like it was nothing, though it seemed like a sore subject, so he left it alone. Turning his attention back to the food items he had prepared, the magus began preparing and cooking a simple breakfast for himself and the girl. As he continued to cook, he did not notice the girl begin to stare at the table, a distant look in her eyes.
Her lips began to quiver as her thoughts shifted to someone she knew…
"Promise that you will forget me and love another man."
..and loved. Behind her bangs, the girl's eyes began to water.
"No, I can't! To make such a promise is impossible!"
"I don't have a lot of time left…"
A few tears slid down her face.
"Then promise me," she began as her sobs overwhelmed her ability to speak properly, "promise me that you will love me forever!"
Her hands that rested on her lap began to tremble.
"I wish I could, but a dead man cannot make a promise for eternity…"
A soft whimper escaped her lips.
"I love you…"
The girl shut her eyes as she tried to force her feelings down. From time to time, she would take a walk and even sneak away from prying eyes to meet the one she loved for walks around town or the forest. Her reasoning for sneaking away came to the forefront of her mind—a walk to grieve and remember her love for the last time.
The sound of something being placed before her made the girl look up, and she quickly blinked away her tears. The boy she met was holding a small tray with a simple breakfast made of sausage, scrambled eggs, a few apple slices, and a cup of warm milk accompanied by utensils.
"Here is your meal, miss," the redhead offered.
"O-oh, you can leave it on the table p-please," the girl could only mentally berate herself for stuttering as Shirou placed her tray in front of her. The girl shakingly reached out, grabbed a fork and knife started to cut the sausage before her. As she cut a slice off, her hands began to tremble as she tried to feed herself.
Seeing the girl's shaking hands, he asked again, "Are you sure you're alright, miss?"
The girl stopped moving her hand, frozen in place. She wanted to insist that she was okay, but that was a lie since the redhead nearby saw her trembling hands. She knew what she felt, which brought overwhelming sadness when she thought of her favorite meeting spot, a certain lake in the forest. Considering who she was, the girl could not show her face to this random stranger. What felt like an eternity to the girl, while only a few seconds in real-time, did the girl take a deep breath before setting her fork down.
Hesitantly, she gathered her thoughts before sputtering, "H-Have you felt the pain of losing someone y-you love?"
The quick question the girl asked made Shirou stop and blink a few times. That was something he did not expect to be asked though it is probably why the girl was trembling and seemed to space out while he was making her food. The few times he lost someone of that caliber had been when Kiritsugu passed and…
"I'm sorry, Senpai…"
…when she was killed in front of him.
Shirou's face turned somber. That smile, her long violet locks of hair, and her willingness to help him. If certain circumstances never came about, Shirou wondered if he would have returned that girl's feelings. But the answer to the question was obvious.
"Yes, I have," Shirou said plainly. This brought the cloaked girl's attention to the boy, not expecting a confirmation, let alone an answer.
The girl was about to respond when Shirou continued. "We were dragged into a war that neither of us wanted to take part in. She wanted to protect me…" The boy took a deep breath, "And she did—at the cost of her life."
The hooded girl saw the boy's grim expression and considered her next choice of words with a bit of hesitation. "H-how were you able—to get over her?"
The redhead paused and contemplated the girl's words carefully. Now that Shirou thought about it, he practically threw himself into the Grail War to avenge her and save his sister. The magus figured he would die by the blonde Ainsworth's hands or be captured once his sister had left his world, and instead, he was found unconscious on the cold ground of this city. He never really got over her— he never really had the time or place to do so.
"I didn't," Shirou said slowly. "But I know I would not be here if she didn't protect me." Shirou had to pause to gather what he needed to say next. "She always wanted to ensure I was happy, even if she would no longer be the one to provide that."
The boy's final words rooted themselves into the hooded girl. She thought of her former lover's words as he passed in her arms along with Shirou's.
"Promise that you will forget me and love another man."
"She always wanted to ensure I was happy, even if she would no longer be the one to provide that."
While her former lover's final words hurt, he still wanted the cloaked girl to be happy, even if he could no longer be the one to make her happy. That man she loved still wanted her happiness over his own. The pain in her chest remained, but it felt tremendously lighter than before.
"I think I understand," the girl's lips turned neutral. "Losing someone close will always be painful, but they would want you to keep going, even if they cannot be there anymore."
Shirou gave a slight nod, feeling a bit relieved he somehow was able to help out. Though could not help but feel a bit sad, considering who he was talking about. The feeling was short-lived when he heard the hooded girl speak again.
"Thank you, uh…" the abruptness from the girl made the redhead realize he had yet to introduce himself.
"Shirou."
"Mr. Shirou, thank you."
"You're welcome, miss. Enjoy your meal." The magus bowed and returned to the kitchen, leaving the girl to her meal. While it cooled off, the meal still looked delicious. Picking up her fork, the girl ate in peace, and a bit of her grief lifted.
The cloaked girl quickly ran across the grass of what seemed to be a large and lavish lawn garden. She did not have to run for very long as she encountered a long piece of rope going up a stone wall. Taking a few deep breaths, she steadily climbed the rope up to a balcony leading to an open glass doorway to a rather large and luxurious bedroom.
As her heels touched the floor, the girl quickly pulled the rope up and hid it behind a nearby potted plant. Walking inside the bedroom, she quietly closed the glass doors behind her before removing the cloak covering her. Without the mantle covering her, the girl wore a simple but elegant white dress with tight sleeves reaching her fingers with matching white high-heels, purple hair that came to her shoulders, and teal blue eyes.
Walking to a nearby drawer, the girl pulled out its sole drawer revealing a silver diadem. Placing the jeweled wreath on her head, the girl looked at a nearby mirror as she quickly smoothed out her dress and adjusted the crown before a knock came from the door on the opposite side of the bedroom.
"Come in," the girl said evenly. In response, the door opened, revealing an older woman with short orange hair, a white collared cape, and a green combat dress.
"Your Highness," the woman bowed before continuing, "my squad is prepared to leave for the academy."
"Thank you, Agnès. You may go do as we discussed."
"Of course," the woman, Agnès, bowed again before walking towards the door; however, she stopped before opening it. "Princess Henrietta."
Hearing her name addressed by her bodyguard, Princess Henrietta gave the knight her undivided attention. "Yes?"
"Next time, don't take longer than an hour for your unannounced walks. I can only cover for your mother and servants for so long."
The girl, Henrietta, sighed, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Agnès, it won't happen again."
The orange-haired woman offered a nod before adding a final comment. "I'm just glad you are feeling better, your Highness." The woman knight left the bedroom, gently closing the door behind her.
Henrietta let out a long sigh of relief as she sat at the foot of her bed. Her original plan had been to sneak away to walk around the town for at least an hour to clear her head. However, it all changed when that boy helped her escape a particular predicament that could have ended with an awkward talk with the town guard.
The princess's thoughts then went to the redhead she met due to all of this. She was indeed thankful for lifting her spirits from the recent loss of her former lover and wondered if she would have the chance to meet him again to at least thank him without a cloak disguising her.
Little did she know this would be one of many times she would encounter the unknown commoner redhead named Shirou.
Word Count: 3,564
A/N: That's a wrap for this one! As I said before, this took so much longer to write out. To be honest, balancing a new job that I REALLY want to keep with my health and writing as a whole, something had to take a back seat... again... There had been times when I had the time to write, but the willingness to wasn't entirely there. I only write for fun and to improve my writing process, and while this writing contest has been fun, I prioritize my mental state and enjoyment above that. If what writing for fanfiction has taught me is that forcing yourself decreases the quality and overall happiness.
I haven't fully advertised this, but I started a ko-fi. If any of you want to support me and like my writing, the link is towards the top of my bio. Last but not least, if you enjoyed this story so far, leave a favorite; if you want to keep up to date on when this story or my other stories update, drop a follow. Constructive criticism and positive reviews are appreciated, and any flames will be ignored and doused. I'll see you in the next one, stay safe and stay cool!