421Hiiii~ Another commisioned chapter is here!
Not much to say other than a very VERY late Happy Halloween! Next update is Fate Coiling Sword.
That's all,
Author NimtheWriter out!
Beta read by Opal and FabledLife.
-Midchilda-
The sense of belonging had always been a tricky emotion to navigate. Not everyone had the courage or insight to confront it and find a clear answer, and some spent years—sometimes decades—searching for it.
To feel at home, to trust those around you, to find joy and comfort even through the hardest times—such moments were rare treasures in themselves. Many unfortunate people traversed life without ever finding that answer, but for those who did, protecting that place and those people became a sacred duty. It was a responsibility, as heavy as the sky itself, fueling the will to keep this cherished sanctuary safe, the familiar smiles of friends and family gleaming like stars in the night.
These thoughts had weighed on Fate's mind for days, bringing forth memories of a distant past when such an obstacle presented itself… in a way, she still worked hard to keep this treasure safe even now.
A never-ending duty, where each end of the line only made way for a bigger threat than the last. Ever since the unexpected attack by enemy forces. A swarm of drones had breached their territory, seemingly with a singular objective: to reclaim one person.
The higher-ups were skeptical of this simple motive, but on the surface, it appeared that way. Jail, the treacherous doctor, had failed in his attempt, his schemes collapsing with his efforts to retrieve the young child now residing with Shirou.
Though Fate saw the child as Shirou's protege, there was an unmistakable sibling bond of sorts between them. The older one tried tirelessly to make her days lively, with endless food, games, and activities. And though she maintained her usual stoic demeanor, the girl followed along with his plans, never once refusing. She seemed to enjoy it, even if she didn't openly show it—at least, that's what Fate perceived, though she couldn't be entirely sure.
"Done at last." Fate leaned back in her chair, the sound of her spine cracking faintly in the quiet room. Hours of writing and organizing her report from the day of the attack had left her stiff.
Paperwork that drained more energy than even the most brutal of battles she encountered in this past year alone. And to imagine that Hayate had to deal with similar affairs on a daily basis made her secretly grateful for not seeking any higher-ranked positions so far.
"Finished with your report?" A voice cut through her thoughts, and a warm cup of coffee appeared on the edge of her desk. Fate turned to find Nanoha standing there, a gentle smile on her face as she sipped from her own cup.
"Yes," Fate replied with a sigh of relief. "Took me long enough, but it's finally done. Hopefully, this is enough for Hayate to work with."
After the incident, every member involved in defending against the attack was required to submit a detailed report of their actions that day. It was a tedious task, draining nearly a full day, but everyone understood the necessity. From Hayate down to Subaru and Tiana, each report was essential to forming a complete picture of the battle.
"The others are still finishing theirs. It'll be a while." Nanoha took a seat beside Fate, looking tired but content. "Why don't we get something to eat in the meantime?"
Fate didn't need convincing. With a nod, they left the office together, heading toward the cafeteria. But as soon as they stepped into the hallway, a middle-aged man came into view, striding toward them with a furrowed brow. The air between them cooled, and the easy camaraderie they'd just shared faded. Nanoha's eyes sharpened with a hint of caution, her previously lighthearted demeanor suddenly guarded.
"Good morning, Lieutenant General Regius." She called out and greeted him with a polite tone and a short bow to which Nanoha did so as well. "How may I help you today?"
"I have read your report."
He didn't waste any time with pleasantries and spoke with them using a stern, almost displeased tone which both girls had grown used to at this point, especially when she witnessed the man's interactions with Hayate which were much colder.
Safe to say, for him to come over to them only meant they were bound to deal with some headache-inducing conversation. "Good morning to you too, Miss Auris."
Behind the man, almost hidden from view due to Gaiz's large stature was a bespectacled woman with brown hair — his ever so faithful secretary.
"Captain Testarossa," the latter greeted her curtly with a small nod. Even after working together multiple times on certain occasions, she remained as detached as always. Not that the blonde minded and respected her wishes, but a part of her was curious if the woman harbored the same kind of opinions Reigus had for her to remain as cold as this.
"It is not every day Midchilda of all places suffer an attack of any sort from enemy forces." The man said, his hands clasped behind the back. "I have been made aware by certain sources that the spark that started this whole fiasco is none other than that newbie you found on Earth; Emiya Shirou. Recently brought to Midchilda and already let to participate in team excursions with trained cadets."
He then turned his attention to Nanoha, "Instructor Takamichi, I do not need to elaborate myself to point out the flaws with your decisions that started all of this."
"I believe we already had this discussion," she hummed at first, not showing any displeasure, and answered calmly. "Emiya Shirou has gotten an extensive background check done with his abilities tested and recorded by various trustworthy agents. If you are insinuating that he was behind the attack by intentionally leading the enemy forces to us then you are mistaken."
"I would not have pursued this matter were he the only one." The man did not back down. "There is a second one this time, this individual just as responsible if not more so than Emiya Shirou. All two of them were brought in by your department, a former member of the enemy no less!"
Not willing to let her friend handle the entire thing by herself, Fate stepped forward to take control of the conversation. "And what exactly are you trying to tell us, Lieutenant General? We followed protocol and kept those two under constant surveillance by our two cadets, leaving them no room to contact the enemy forces or leak out any sensitive information they don't even have access to."
"And yet this incident occurred, it has become clear that maybe your efforts are not enough. Which is why I am asking you again to reconsider the previous offer I extended to Commander Hayate."
His offer?
Both Fate and Nanoha looked at one another with confusion flashing before their eyes. However, it did not take long for the blonde to recall certain details from past meetings and turn her attention back to Regius. "You are still trying to have him transferred to your department."
"It is the best course of action and the safest. Not only shall he receive a safer resident but he will be kept away from the public eye."
"I would argue he is safe enough with us," answered the blonde, finding it odd why this man who initially did not want Shirou to be present within the headquarters suddenly grew so interested in him. "Also, he is not some kind of beginner mage who cannot protect himself, Shirou is more than capable of protecting himself with or without us. So while I believe your offer is appreciated, at the end of the day, it is unneeded."
Not to mention, making such decisions behind his back did not feel appropriate.
Furthermore, Fate truly believed Shirou did not need this man's help whatsoever. The first reason is that she highly doubted Regius truly desired to help the otherworldly red-headed. Fate witnessed his battle prowess and magecraft in battle many times to come to that conclusion, this conclusion was further strengthened when she tried to save him last time against those individuals who called themselves numbers.
Women who were powerful enough to catch her off guard, with a single one posing a far bigger challenge than even an entire group of drones. When she finally was able to shake them off and even incapacitate a couple, she was surprised to find him surrounded by several of them with wounds and cuts all over their bodies. While he himself seemed to have sustained some injuries, it was still a shocking scene.
"Humph, this is a matter of security concerning the entirety of the Time Space Administrative Bureau. We cannot afford to be biased with strangers if their existence here will threaten to attract more trouble. Any more of such incidents and it will only be a matter of time before he ends up at the Midchilda South-Sea Asylum."
Fate's smile stretched ever so slightly. "If that were to happen then the Riot Force Six will be up and ready to deal with them. You don't have to worry about anything, in general. You should be aware we are not easy to deal with."
Unfortunately, he did not seem like the general understood her words. "We shall discuss this matter once again in the future." Without giving her or Nanoha a chance to respond, he turned his back and walked away with Auris quickly following along.
Still, their conversation was brief, barely lasting less than a minute. It still made the previously cheerful mood dampen quite considerably. "Quite the personality isn't he, Nanoha-chan?"
The brunette chuckled, not giving her an answer but her reaction was more than enough. "I somewhat suspected he would behave like this. He has been awfully quiet for the past few days, I even started to believe he went away on a vacation."
"Maybe a vacation will make him less… prickly than he usually is." Fate tried to use a less offensive word to describe him.
"I doubt that. He has been pretty much against us even since Hayate-chan started working for the Time Space Administrative Bureau."
"I would like to see his reaction if one day Hayate ends up getting a position higher than his."
Nanoha shook her head, "Our dear Lieutenant General might just end up retiring altogether."
Both chuckled as their conversation revolved around the general till it slowly transitioned to other topics that came to their attention these past few days — especially concerning people related to the recent battle. "How are the newbies doing?"
"Thankfully no bad news this time, Fate-chan. Subaru and Tiana participated and destroyed quite a few of those drones, They performed exceptionally and improved compared to their past selves. Especially Subaru, she went beyond her limit this time."
"Is it because of the ground sergeant Nakajima's presence?"
"I believe so, it is natural to want to show your best to your older sibling at times like these."
"Well Ginga did teach her everything about Shooting Arts, so it makes sense why Subaru was so energetic." Nanoha smiled, recalling how much those two had grown up. "Teana will also soon show progress, she is already in a semi-rivalrous relationship with Shirou, so if Subaru gets too ahead then she will not accept being left behind."
"Erio has also performed wonderfully. I read Caro's reports on how he single-handedly handled an entire squadron of drones all on his own when he heard that Shirou was being attacked." She knew why the young boy behaved like that, for he personally believed to still owed a debt to the redhead after the latter saved him during their first mission.
"Hopefully things start to calm down a little now that we forced Jail to retreat and even to down a large portion of his army. It should take a while for him to fully recover so better use this time to our advantage and recoup our strength as well." When speaking of the scientist, another matter came to mind. "I remember Hayate asked for us to meet her after we are done with our tasks, will you be going to her now or after?"
"In an hour, I have to go over the reconstruction progress of the underground tunnels near our headquarters. And I also need to check up on the field both Caro and Erio found a few days ago. Were you thinking about going there as well?"
"The girl?"
This matter had honestly escaped her mind, Fate was embarrassed to admit it but the avalanche of paperwork and matters she needed to handle with the aftermath made her momentarily forget about the strange case of both Caro and Erio discovering a young child holding onto a relic within the tunnels when they were searching for Shirou.
She remembered Hayate gave the responsibility of handling this case to Signum.
"Now that you bring it up, I'm curious to meet this child. I heard from Ginga that she is an artificial life made within a pod hidden in the underground. A remnant of Doctor Scaliageti's experiments I suppose… Yes, let's go together to meet her."
The case made Fate draw many parallels to Erio's case, and she knew how terrified and lost the child must have been upon first awakening.
"Great! Then let's go together after lunch, I'll drive this time!" Nanoha smiled, already showing a small key fob within her grasp which made Fate briskly touch her pockets and realize she had been pickpocketed without even realizing it.
"Ah, that's my car, you know?"
"I only got to drive it once!"
"And I want to drive it more since I just bought it recently!"
"It will be like having your own personal driver."
Fate rolled her eyes amusedly, imagining Nanoha in a suit along with a driver's hat, and nearly burst out laughing. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not in the market for a personal driver, especially one that just learned how to pickpocket."
Nanoha ended up giving the key back with reluctance.
"Honestly, why don't you and Hayate just get your own vehicle? I have even begun letting Signum borrow the car."
"Well, it is a nice-looking model."
"Why thank you~!"
Fate took pride in her taste for her choice of vehicle.
"Also, it would be a waste when you already have one. Those things are not exactly cheap."
"..."
These two…
…
(A few minutes later)
-Saint Church's Orphanage-
After having lunch which only took about ten minutes, the duo drove to a separate end of the city, getting further away from the main headquarters and closer to the residential area where they soon reached their main destination.
The only orphanage in Midchilda.
"Sister Schach will be welcoming us from what Signum mentioned. Last I heard from her, she mentioned the little child was already in good health and only needed a bit of time before awakening.
"She has been busy studying the girl according to Signum. According to the latter, the examinations showed an exceptional amount of magical power within her body but it's nothing strange for a child to have under the right circumstances."
"But she is still an artificial human," mentioned Fate, a worried expression gracing her face. "We don't know nor have found any clues as to what the reason was behind her creation in the first place, but it is clear that there had to be a reason for Jail to create her."
"I agree, But for now it is best that you focus on her well-being more than anything else." No matter what the origins of the young child, Fate did not want to discriminate suspect the young one, or treat her any differently Just because of who created her and for which purpose.
However, as they continue to confess to one another, Fate noticed the weird lack of response from the other side "It's a bit quiet don't you think so?"
"Sister Schach?" Fate noticed how long it was taking
Before she began to believe in a possible attack, the screen flickered and the familiar face of the nun appeared. Though much to their confusion, she clearly looked ragged and distressed. "Instructor Takamichi! Captain Testarossa! I am very sorry for the late response but we currently have an issue! Vivio has disappeared and we have failed to find her for the last hour!"
She didn't waste a second and immediately shared that worrisome news with both women. Their eyes widened and slight disbelief with Fate wondering if the child already held magical abilities she could control to be able to hide from competent mages working withthe Saint's Church at the orphanage.
"We will help in finding her as well, open the door and both Fate and I will start investigating! Has Signum been notified of this matter?"
"Y-Yes, She is also here aiding us in finding her."
That was a surprise to both of them, if even Signum was unable to find her for an entire hour then the situation was more grave than they anticipated. So without wasting another second, they rushed inside and started to look everywhere. Nanoha took to the east side where there was a large expanse of trees and fate wandering near the water shore.
"Signum!" Fate greeted the pink-haired woman who came over followed by Schach, both of their expressions on the edge from the constant searching they had done. "Any luck on finding clues on where Vivio could have gone?"
"No, I searched the entirety of the building and basement but found not a single trace of her. Even those outside mentioned not having seen any girl wandering around."
Half an hour passed and not a single one of them was able to locate the young child. Faith in particular started to wonder if rather than escaping from them, someone perhaps kidnapped the young Vivio.
What was supposed to be a simple visit to the orphanage where they could give the young girl a quick visit and also get to know her a bit more turned into a blind goose chase with several parties doing their best but failing at finding her. Fate compares the situation to finding a small needle in a haystack.
Perhaps due to the stress brought by the situation, she bit the tip of her fingernail, "If we are not able to locate her in another half an hour then we should contact Hayate and ask for backup to expand the search area since it's clear she's not here anymore."
"Can we suspect this being the handiwork of Jail?"
"Maybe, but we can't be sure yet." This place was well guarded and not even a single person could enter without being verified by multiple cameras along the road. And she was certain that both Signum and Schach must have checked the cameras for any person who could have entered this place in the last twenty-four hours.
"Just where are you… uh?" Right as she reached the river bank, Fate noticed some footprints on the sand that were suddenly dragged into the water by force almost.
This wasn't good.
{Break}
While this group was scrambling around trying to locate the young child in every nook and cranny, the duo consisting of Shirou along Lutecia were in the middle of a completely different environment.
Completely separated from the bustling city of Midchilda, surrounded by nature and dense greenery near a river — a quiet place both found by pure luck.
All by themselves, sitting near the water with the young purple-haired girl sporting an expression of pure concentration while she held onto a fishing rod. Shirou nearby reeling his line that had a large fish that resembled a Crucian Carp from Earth. Throwing it into his bucket which was already filled to the brim with captured fish while Lutecia's own bucket was completely empty.
Something that irked the girl for quite a while.
"..."
Seeing the frown on her face get more pronounced after his sixth catch, he couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly. "You don't have to treat this like a competition, just stay patient and I am sure sooner or later you will catch something."
"I will not lose."
"I just told you this wasn't a competition," he repeated with a sigh, shaking his head at the burning competitive spirit this girl had developed with such a simple activity. This was supposed to be a normal outing where he could lighten the atmosphere a tiny bit after what happened recently. To put away any worries she might have had concerning Jail and his next move.
"I brought you here so you could relax a bit. Not get stressed over not getting a catch just after an hour."
"Two hours."
"It has been that long already?"
Subaru was surprisingly The one who recommended this activity in the first place with Teana telling him about this location in general. Dressed in their regular clothing that consisted of his usual white and blue long-sleeved shirt coupled with regular pants and a large straw hat to block out the sun.
Lutecia on the other hand wore a simple red blue dress with a straw hat that was maybe a size or two too big for her head. Not that she seemed to mind or care, refusing to have him replace it with something more fitting. "It's fine, I'll grow into it soon enough."
Those were the words she mentioned.
"You can do it, Lulu! Fight!" A small voice cheered on the young girl, floating around until she turned her attention to him and showed an expression of pure fury. "You! This is your fault! Why did you have the need to show off so much in front of her?! Just because you got lucky doesn't mean shit!"
An explosive personality this one turned out to be, the bat-like wings and tail didn't help her image. This coupled with her appearance that consisted of red hair like his style in a twin-tail and crimson eyes. Wearing a rather riské outfit that resembled a swimsuit more than anything else.
A unison device named Agito, according to Lutecia, appeared right at the end of the attack by Lutecia's side, claiming to have been sent on a mission by Zest, which initially made him wary of her. Her presence was not mentioned by anyone as she kept herself hidden from everyone's gaze except for himself and Lutecia.
And to say she had a bad impression of him was an understatement.
"Oi, what's with that look!?"
She flew near his face, hands from being replaced on her waist for she grabbed his face and stretched them out without him resisting her actions. Her figure was tiny enough that he could hold her in his palm, the size of a figurine just like Rein.
"I can tell you are looking down on me like I'm some annoying fly! Don't even try to deny it."
Wow, he wasn't aware these devices were capable of mind-reading.
"That shurts… Ahito…"
"Of course, it should hurt you, sword bastard!"
Had it not been for Lutecia, something told Shirou that his face would have already been burned by this little bratty device that held a grudge against him for some reason. "I bet you must be feeling really proud of yourself. How the hell are you the same person who beat Zest last time? If he saw you right then I bet he wouldn't even recognize you!"
Apparently, she knew about his battle against Zest but Shirou didn't recall seeing her at all. Nevertheless, that fight seemed to have left a somewhat twisted image of himself to her. A sword maniac out for blood cutting through hundreds of drones with a single move.
Where she got such an idea he didn't know.
"Want a snack?"
"I will not be swayed by your snacks!"
So she said, yet she wasted no time snatching the cookie he made small enough for her size away from his hand and started to munch on it with glee while sitting on his head. Crumbs fell onto his hair, forcing another sigh of pure delight with her cheeks bulging like that of a chipmunk.
"Mmmn, acceptable, I will look past your actions this time. But don't think I'll be as lenient on you as last time!"
"How frightening, I am shaking in my boots." He said dryly, resisting the urge to swat the thing off his head.
"Heh, as you should be! That is the emotion you should feel the next time you encounter Zest, he will dominate the fight with me present next time." Her small hands tapped his head, "Also call me Agito-sama next time, I am to be treated with more respect as the greatest device alive. Surely you must be jealous of now being my Master~!"
Not really, Rubin was more than enough for him.
"I don't think it's wise saying such things to your 'enemy' while sitting on his head and spilling crumbs everywhere. I will drop you into the toilet if you don't clean up the mess."
"... You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
She didn't say anything afterward, continuing to finish her snack while he ignored her existence for brief moments. Though he suspected it was not because of his words but rather her new master getting shocked as the end of her reel seemed to have caught something.
"—!"
"Shirou!"
For the briefest of moments, her face showed an expression of pure joy that made sense to see on someone her age, though it only lasted for that long until it disappeared once more behind her expressionless mask.
Still, he was glad she was starting to get more comfortable around him and instantly went to her side. "Keep a tight grip on your fishing pole and slowly pull it back. If you do it too strongly then the bail will be pulled away, if you do it too slowly then the fish will escape. Just calm down and slowly reel it back like this."
He grabbed her hand and showed the young girl the steps. Making sure she didn't get pulled into the water by holding onto her shoulders till she was in a better position.
"Hn!" The girl struggled, her arms shaking by what appeared to be a rather big fish from the looks of it. "It's fighting back!"
"Let me help you, I'll burn it to death!" Agito exclaimed, about to fly away to wear the line, and was hooked but ended up getting caught mid-air by Shirou. "H-Hey! D-Don't squeeze me like that! It feels weird!"
Her struggle was adorable but futile, he immediately put her down on the ground and she immediately flew over to throw a barrage of soft little punches across his chest with a crimson face. "Lutecia can handle this, also if you use fire like this then it will ruin the fish."
"You can't order me aroun—mmph!?" She tried to resist only to have her face get stuffed by a large cookie the size of her body. Staring bloody murder at the perpetrator, she mentally swore vengeance on him.
He didn't pay any attention to that, continuing to help Lutecia as she started to reel in the line closer through great effort.
"I-I can do it."
She stood up, using her entire weight to pull whatever fish this was with Agito cheering her along in the background, he followed suit while also keeping tabs on his own fishing pole.
"I bet she caught a shark, as expected of Lulu!"
"I don't think there are any sharks here with the water being this shallow," he added dryly, getting punched by the little sprite though he barely felt her touch. "Perhaps it's a fish or an object that got stuck under some rocks."
"Shouldn't you help her?" Agito asked, having already finished half of her meal and taking a seat on his head.
Agito had a point, if he helped her then this would be easier, but when he looked at the small girl struggling to pull the rod making faces she never showed in the past with even a vein bulging on her forehead… he couldn't help but smirk.
"It's kinda funny seeing her like this."
"..."
Not much was said after that, he just sat back on the ground and waited. The shadow in the water got larger as the fish was pulled closer to the shore. He doubted they'd be able to eat all of it, his own bucket was filled with plenty of fish to last a week. But then again, with Subaru and Teana that number decreased to maybe three days at most.
Splash!
With a final full, she managed to draw it on the surface.
"I-It's here! I got you no—"
At that moment, all three of them were expecting to see a giant fish. The biggest catch of the day or perhaps just a random piece of heavy debris the hook got stuck into. In either case, all parties found their expectations to be led completely astray with what turned out to be attached at the end of the hook was neither a fish nor a piece of metal.
Rather it was hooked into what resembled a ripped apart rabbit doll that belonged to a dark blonde-haired child around the same age as Lutecia. Her face, was covered with algae, and her own damn hair covered most of it. Firmly holding onto the doll whilst sobbing at the sobbing simultaneously.
"Uuuuuh, Usagi…" she cried at the ruined state of her stuffed doll.
"Shirou."
"Yes?"
"This is not a fish," she said dryly, the prior expressive face gone leaving behind the familiar detached face that showed no surprise whatsoever. But rather held a trace of disappointment.
"I can see that."
Unless this planet had alien fishes that resembled human children.
"Is this normal?"
"... Would be very concerning if this were considered normal, so no."
"I see."
Much to his shock, rather than pulling her to land, Lutecia lowered the pole and let the girl fall back into the water slowly till bubbles rose on the surface. "I'll catch a fish next time for sure."
"Oi, wait!"
His senses returned and Shirou rushed ahead without wasting a second, jumping into the water and quickly bringing the girl back to the surface.
"Pua!"
He emerged onto the surface with the girl held firmly within his arms, swimming ashore and carefully placing her onto the ground. Taking deep breaths he grew relieved to see that the girl was at least conscious without suffering from having any water enter her lungs.
"Lutecia, next time to find someone like this, just pull them to shore next time?"
"Next time?"
"You know what I mean."
Looking down at the unknown girl, her body wasn't in a state that would suggest she had been in the water for a long. Her body shivered slightly from the cold so he wrapped a towel around her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and he came to stare back at not just one but two different colored eyes. Both red and green heterochromatic eyes.
"U—uh…"
There didn't seem to be any injuries as he made quick use of structural analysis. No broken bones or ripped tendons, just a few bruises on her feet. Lutecia's head and Agito peeked behind him, observing the young girl with some curiosity.
"She looks kinda familiar," mentioned the red-headed talking device. "I'm pretty sure I saw you somewhere but I don't remember… weird. Does she ring any bells for you, Lulu?"
"I don't think so."
Regardless of whether she looked familiar or not, this wasn't the ideal place to be and she was bound to catch a cold if she remained like this. "We will figure it out afterward, for now, can you walk?"
"A-Ah…" the girl hesitated, looking at the people before her and even showing some fear. Though she understood his words and tried to get up on her feet, "Ah!" Only to fall back down.
"I'll take that as a no. Um, what is your name?" Shirou asked, wondering Just what led to this child friend herself within the river. Perhaps her parents were around and were searching for her as well.
"I-It's Vi—"
"Vivio!"
Soon, he heard the sound of footsteps drawing closer and turned to find Fate rushing toward them with a frantic look on her face. Startled, Agito quickly flew inside Luticia's clothes and hid from view — not wanting to be seen by others.
"Oh thank goodness you're safe," the blonde came over and hugged the child, the latter at first showing some fear before calming down. "We were worried you were kidnapped, everyone has been searching for yo—eh, Shirou? What are you two doing here?"
Finally, she noticed his presence, tilting her head in confusion.
"I caught her instead of a fish," Lutecia answered first, further increasing the confusion between them.
"Ah?"
{Break}
Soon the group returned to the orphanage, which just happened to be near the spot where both Shirou and Lutecia were previously.
The girl he soon found out was named Vivio now sat near him with completely new clothes and nearly combed hair. Absent-mindedly gazing at Lutecia next to her who used her insects to distract the girl. Not even paying any attention to the food on the table, much to the dismay of the sister who greeted him.
"She is a homunculus?" He said, having heard the story surrounding Vivio and her being discovered by both Erio and Caro during the attack. An artificially made life… It sounded very similar to what he knew about the Einzbern.
"Perhaps you can look at it that way. I don't know how it differs in your world, but as far as we can tell, Vivio was created and grown inside a life tube." Fate answered his question, Nanoha had to return as soon as she received a call from Hayate leaving him and Fate alone at the orphanage. Signum borrowed Fate's car to drive the brunette back to the headquarters. "Who was behind her creation, we don't have any conclusive answers but I suspect it to be none other than the man who attacked our base."
"Him again."
"He is the only one who was specialized in such a field, from Erio to many others, Jail had pioneered the science behind artificially made life for years till he was caught and fled away. Some of his labs remained undiscovered for many years, and Vivio just happens to be one of them."
It was honestly jarring to learn that people here were capable of creating life through science like this without any alchemy. According to Fate, Vivio was examined to possess a normal body that wouldn't break down after a decade or two. Capable of living as long as a regular human being.
"What do you plan on doing with her?" He wasn't particularly worried now that both Fate and Nanoha were involved. He placed his truth in them many times in the past and never did they let him down once. "Since she was created by Jail, I wouldn't be surprised if others are asking to lock her or put her under quarantine to be studied."
"Not as many as you're thinking. In fact, you're the one that keeps popping up whenever we have a conversation with our superiors." A faint chuckle escaped her lips when she saw his stunned reaction.
"Seriously?"
"You have no idea," Fate twirled the straw of her drink, thinking about the conversation she had with Regius. "Think about it, from a parallel world using a different form of magic different from what we've seen. It's both similar yet very different, relying on physical characteristics like those magic circuits you mentioned that we don't possess."
"You make it sound like it's impressive but having a mana core like yours is more convenient honestly. And my reserves are very limited compared to you all. Were it not for you, I would have gotten buried under the rubbles back then, so thank you, Fate."
"Oh that was nothing, you still had Rubin didn't you? A barrier jacket would have kept you safe under those circumstances long enough till help arrived."
"Which was already at its limit," he reminded her. "Any updates on those individuals we fought?"
"Numbers." She mentioned, "Unfortunately they all disappeared as soon as the tunnels started to collapse. I did manage to incapacitate a few of them before reaching you, but when I returned to that spot they were gone."
He looked at Lutecia, since she used to aid Jail with his plans then it made sense for the girl to be familiar with these Numbers as well. Having not asked her yet to provide him with information about these people, Shirou wondered if he could ask about them and hopefully get something useful. "So about Vivio…"
Once more he turned his attention back to the small blonde girl who was now trying to catch the flying insect controlled by Lutecia. Smiling and laughing while allowing the purple-haired mage to eat her food quietly. His eyes twitched when he saw a tiny arm pop out of her clothes and sneakily take a piece of potato.
She better not make a mess of the clothes with grease. Did entities like her even need to eat in the first place?
"Oh right, well we can't leave her alone. Right? She must be very confused and lonely, also we don't know if Jail might try to send someone to kidnap her."
Indeed, whatever that man was trying to create initially didn't feel like a good idea. And since he was willing to go through this much just to get Lutecia, then nothing stopped him from doing so against Vivio.
But as he waited for Fate's answer, he found the woman staring at him intently with a small contemplative frown visible on her face.
"Yes?"
"Tell me Shirou, How are things going with Lutecia after you took her in?" She asked to which he grew confused at first but decided to answer honestly nonetheless.
"Not That's hard as you might suspect. She is a bit quiet at times and rarely asks for anything, but most of the time we just hang around the apartment or with Subaru and Teana. She got to know them better and I'm hoping for them to become friends. It's been mostly peaceful despite what happened a few days ago."
"I heard different stories about you two from Subaru and Nanoha. You have a knack for such things, from far away you two look like siblings almost." A smile graced her face as he scratched the back of his head. "You did a great job."
"It's thanks to you, Hayate and Nanoha."
"Which is why I'll need your help!" She announced, Her words taking him by surprise as he wondered what she meant by that. "Seeing you get along so well despite having met not that long ago, I got the idea of doing something similar myself. I plan to adopt Vivio, or just become her legal guardian."
A few seconds of silence passed between them.
"... What?"
.
.
.
"UWAAAAA!"
The ear-piercing cry of a despairing child rang within Shirou's ears. Forcing everyone around to momentarily flinch, the sound loud enough to be compared to a banshee. Fortunately no monster, but just Vivio desperately grabbing onto Lutecia's leg.
"DON'T GO! STAY HERE! WAAAAAH!"
Both Shirou and Fate were surprised by the scene just like everyone else, it turned out Vivio got very attached to her new friend quickly and did not want to see her leave so soon. Some of the onlookers laughed at the scene, finding it cute and amusing. Shirou and Fate were part of this group while Lutecia on the other hand had a dark face, exerting a lot of force to free herself but failing to overcome the vice grip.
"Shirou, I'm being held back against my will." She said with what sounded like an emotionless tone but held a clear trace of annoyance.
"You don't have to make it sound so dramatic."
"I am being detained in place by a stranger who I fished out from the river."
"Still sounds weird. Anyways, to me, it looks like you made yourself a new friend. Congratulations."
Of course, he wouldn't fail to use this opportunity to tease the girl a tiny bit, going so far as to take some pictures. "Here I was worried there was no one around your age for you to hang out with."
"This is not funny." Wiggling her legs proved to be futile, Vivio held on like a koala.
"You found her first, so take responsibility."
"She's not an animal," a quick glance was spared at the child who had snot and tears streaming down her face which ended up smearing her clothes. Forcing a look of disgust to flash on her face as the cold wet sensation spread across her socks. "Never mind, get this thing away from me."
"Smile for the camera."
"Shirou!"
Her previous stoic expression broke and was replaced with that of pure frustration. Yet he savored the moment even more, happy to see the girl break out of her prior shell bit by bit. "I-I-I'll come back again, so let me go!"
"No, you won't!"
"This…!"
She was helpless, Vivio continued to cling stubbornly while the person she grew to trust betrayed her. Just as she was about to reach her limit and summon Garyu to peel Vivio away as a desperate measure, Shirou came over and patted her head.
"Alright, I'll help you out. Don't worry, I was just having a bit of fun."
She shot him a half-hearted glare at that last bit but stayed quiet, watching him get down on one knee to be on Vivio's level.
"Hello there, I just realized I haven't introduced myself yet, but my name is Emiya Shirou. Yours is Vivio, right?"
The girl in question nodded her head with some hesitation.
"You don't have to worry about Lutecia not coming by, she lives with me for now. Whenever we have free time, I'll make sure to bring her over here or you could just visit us yourself whenever you want to, both Fate and Nanoha know where I live. Right?" He said, turning his head to Fate who came over with an amused smile.
"Of course, soon Vivio will be living with me and Nanoha-chan. We live close to Shirou and our colleagues so you can even visit them daily."
"Yes, and you can even have regular sleepovers. I can make you anything you want—ouch!" Shirou stopped mid-sentence when he felt his sides getting pinched with a surprising amount of force. "E-Eh? Is something wrong?"
"... Nothing," Lutecia answered without meeting his gaze. "We already have two freeloaders."She whispered that last part quiet enough that he didn't quite hear what she said.
To him, it was clear she had something else to say but for some reason refused to elaborate further. Fate on the other hand chuckled, perhaps having figured out what was going on.
"B-But… can't you stay here… for a bit longer?" Vivio asked, looking at Lutecia with a sad face. "I want to play with Mister Insect again…"
Ah, it was then he recalled a detail he missed. When pulled out of the water, the girl was holding onto a rabbit doll that was torn into pieces. Vivio accidentally dropped it into the river, when she tried to get it back, she lost her footing and fell into the stream of water where the hook miraculously managed to grab onto the doll by pure luck. With most of its stuffing lost and completely unusable — it had to be thrown away.
It was worrisome that a child managed to get into such a dangerous situation when under the care of the orphanage and Sister Schach apologized many times over for allowing such a thing to even take place under her watch.
So to calm the girl down, an idea came to mind.
"How about this, I will prepare many toys for you to play with when you visit us, and in the meantime, you can have this." Right before wide eyes, he projected an exact copy of the doll she lost.
"Usagi!"
Just like he hoped, the girl was ecstatic and immediately hugged the stuffed toy. Successfully letting go of Lutecia, the latter seeking refuge behind his back. Cautiously looking over his shoulders at the girl as if she were a dangerous animal. "Ah, please be a bit more careful. If it gets damaged then the entire thing will disapp—"
"—That was amazing! You made it out of thin air! Can you make more?"
"I can, I will make as much as you want when you come over for a visit. So in the meantime, just be a bit more patient, is that okay with you?"
She nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! Thank you, Shirou!"
After that, all three of them left the orphanage with Fate accompanying him along the road.
"I never knew you could use your magecraft to make something like that, I don't know why I kept imagining it was only for weapons and barriers. It was sweet of you, I am sure she will be very happy with what you have given her."
"Ah, it's nothing really. Projection magic is mostly recreating replicas of items using my magical energy. With sufficient damages the item in question will disappear so I plan to buy real ones when she comes over rather than make constructs. So let's hope she doesn't damage it too much. Was Erio also like that?"
Fate's expression dimmed, "I suppose I can tell you the story. Erio's case is a bit… different from Vivio's. For Erio Mondial was a real person who was born into a wealthy family in the past."
"Was?"
"He died," that answer caught him off guard. "The one born within the Mondial family more specifically died in his infancy. Unable to cope with the loss, the couple searched for ways to bring back their dead son through any means necessary which led to the creation of a clone — that of the Erio we know today. When I first found him, he was freed from a facility that was experimenting on him. Filled with distrust and anger, he would lash out often. I never held it against him, he had all the reason in the world to behave like that. He only stayed under my care for a brief moment till he decided to become independent."
It was an unexpected revelation, the boy she described was very different from the one he met. Polite and charming, the complete opposite of the one in this story. "Looks like you did an amazing job at taking care of him given how he is currently, Vivio will be happy to have you as your guardian."
"You think so?" She said with uncertainty. "I… I tend to be very busy dealing with many missions. While I plan on giving my absolute best at raising her properly with Nanoha's help, I still don't know if things will go smoothly. Heh, I even had the thought of asking you to take care of her in my stead."
Her gaze trailed down to Lutecia who returned the look with her own while slightly frowning. "Fufufu~! But I can see you already have your hands full. It's amazing to see how close you two became in such a short amount of time, I hope… I really hope that I am up to the challenge."
Though she smiled, she didn't bother to hide the rising amount of doubts and uncertainties growing within her. Even with Nanoha willing to aid her in raising a young child like Vivio for the years to come.
"You will be an amazing guardian."
"We don't know about that. Nanoha has more experience training young folks than I do due to her time as an instructor. Even having experienced what it is like to have grown up in a proper family. I feel like she will be far more capable than I am."
There was plenty he didn't know about both Nanoha and Fate about their personal lives. Just from this tidbit of information, it was obvious that Fate's past was not one without plenty of hardships. Yet seeing how worried she was over Vivio back when he found her made him realize that she was overthinking the matter too much.
"Back when I was a kid, my dad couldn't cook even if his life depended on it. Struggling to use the gas stove and somehow ruining simple tea. He would regularly go on week-long travels and would leave me to take care of the house. Of course, there was someone who regularly came by to check on me, but overall, my old man wasn't what you'd expect to see from an ideal father." He remembered telling tidbits about Kiritsugu to Nanoha, but he never went into details.
Fate listened to his story attentively, same with Lutecia and Agito, the latter two who were the most curious since this was the first time they heard anything about his past at all.
"Despite all of his flaws, I know he did his best to raise me right. There were some mistakes along the way, but I managed to sort them out in the end. He gave me a dream before passing away, a purpose and till this day I am very grateful he was my father." He turned to look at Fate, "If he was able to raise someone like me properly, then you and Nanoha would be excellent guardians to Vivio. I know it."
She opened her mouth, trying to say something but was unable to do so. A few seconds passed till she couldn't help but let out a slightly helpless laugh. "... Hahaha… sometimes I wonder if it's alright for you to be so trusting with me given we barely interacted with one another in the past."
"Really? I don't share your opinion on this. I believe the few interactions we had so far were more than enough to convince me of the type of person you are. You already behaved very motherly from what I've seen, Vivio is lucky to have you take care of her. Heh, in the future when I won't be able to stay here any longer, I might ask you to take care of Lutecia as well."
The purple-haired girl frowned and squeezed his hands with more force, even panicking a tiny bit. "Don't leave, Shirou."
"Ah, I was saying this just in case. I won't be gone anytime soon, hopefully. At least not until you are reunited with your mother."
"..."
Fate watching their interaction sighed a bit, "Ara, with you having so much faith in my capabilities makes it clear I can't afford to disappoint you. Even with Nanoha helping me, I will give it my best."
"That's the spirit."
"But, it would be nice to have another pair of helping hands guiding us along the way, don't you think so, Shirou?" She asked cutely, not expecting the redhead to take her words seriously with his following answer.
"Yes, whatever trouble either of you or Nanoha might face in the future, I will always be there to assist both of you. No matter what it is, I will come running."
He answered confidently, truly grateful to everyone who helped him so far, wanting to take any opportunity to pay back the enormous debt he owed them.
"A-Ah… yes, right! I am looking forward to working with you from now on, Shirou. Let's do our best raising Vivio and the adorable Lutecia-chan over here." She was a bit hasty with her words, but Shirou didn't give it a second thought. "By the way, I am feeling a bit thirsty right now. Would you two like to accompany me for some drinks? I will drop you off at your apartment after Signum comes back with the car."
Not hearing his excuse about using public transport instead, Fate brought them along to a small cafe near the orphanage. Both spent another hour talking about various subjects concerning matters related to the Time Space Administrative Bureau and from his own world.
The more she spoke with him, the more the blonde woman started to realize how similar the redhead turned out to be to her best friend. Finally getting an understanding of how these two managed to get along so quickly in the past.
He mentioned the activities and get-togethers he, Subaru, Teana, and Nanoha had regularly at his place. And the more she listened, the more Fate started to feel a tiny bit left out. It sounded fun, and now that she thought of it, it was an excellent opportunity to have Vivio make new friends.
Signum finally returned with the car before sundown, driving both Shirou and his young protege back to the residential area.
"Oh, you are also stopping here?"
Seeing her also get out of the car, Shirou could not help but ask.
"Yes, since I am already here I plan to have a brief conversation with Subaru concerning some matters related to her sister. Don't make me hold you up, I know where Subaru lives."
"Hm, then follow me. She might not be in her room right now. No wait, it's already almost dinner time, so she is definitely not in her apartment."
"Eh?"
Confused with what he meant by that, Fate followed him into the elevator until they reached the floor where he resided. She wasn't someone who regularly but this certainly wasn't the floor where they lived. Still, she remained quiet and followed him as he led her to his own apartment door. Already without having even opened the door, she could hear people talking inside along with the sound of the television turned on in the background.
"These two…"
Opening the door and leading her inside she was shocked to find Subaru wearing shorts and a tank top leisurely sleeping on the couch with a half-eaten pizza on the table. Even though the outfit was not outrageously revealing, it still showed plenty of skin.
Not only that, but even Teana was present sitting at the dining table munching on some snacks while working on her computer with her hair down. Wearing more conservative but still relaxed clothing than one would have inside their house.
"Oh, welcome back, Shirou. How did the fishing trip go—cough! F-Fate-san!?" She nearly choked on her drink when she saw the person standing behind him. Quickly standing up from her seat and smacking Subaru on the head. "Wake up! We have company!"
"Eum… wasdsh…five more minutes…"
Pa!
Seeing no other way, she ended up slapping her friend's head. "You idiot! Captain Testarossa is here!"
That seemed to be enough to shake up the blue-haired girl from her slumber. "What!?"
Her body fell to the ground when she tried to turn around, almost hitting her head against the table and hastily picking up her uniform that was scattered throughout the living room. Shirou watched all of this with a twitching eyebrow, having just cleaned up the entire place this morning alone before leaving.
"Fate-san!? Why is she here?" She whispered quietly though everyone heard the question.
"Like I would know! Just stop talking and wear some damn clothes on or else you will embarrass me!"
Seeing these two here, Fate had many questions and turned to Shirou to answer them.
"I just gave them the spare key for whenever they feel hungry or if I'm late. We tend to have dinner together." He shortened the distance between them to whisper in her ear, "And this is a good opportunity for Lutecia to socialize a bit."
She did hear from Nanoha that these three were pretty close, having seen them hang out together on multiple occasions. But this wasn't what she expected at all. Sure she and Nanoha also shared the same bedroom but this felt a bit too odd, to say the least — he was still a boy!
Not to mention how relaxed Subaru looked to be with such a scene easily able to cause a misunderstanding for any passerby.
"Since you are already here, why not join us? I can show you how to cook some dishes Lutecia likes so that you can make them for Vivio as well."
"I… I don't know if I should be intruding…"
"It's fine, Fate-san!" Teana added hurriedly, "Shirou's food is the best and you won't regret it."
Faced with both sides, her uncertainty broke and she found herself walking inside the place. All the plans she had prepared for the rest of the day were thrown right out of the window.
'... I'll call Nanoha and Hayate later. They can manage without me for a day.'
After setting aside such worries, she closed the door behind her. If there was any urgent matter then Hayate would have called her a long time ago.
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