"Aren't you just the cutest baby in the world."
Everyone doesn't know if Takami is complimenting or being sarcastic as she held baby Sakura as they ate dinner. After some explanation and placating the angry landlady with Shirou, Takami successfully officially joined them in dinner.
"Please don't hold Sakura-chan like that." Miya crisply said, watching the supposed grandmother hold the infant up as if expecting a subject in her lab. Not like Miya is wrong, far too many times she saw the woman do the same thing on the Sekirei embryos MBI studied.
"I know what I am doing." Takami gruffed, still holding the baby up. The poor confused infant can only tilt her head in confusion on who this strange woman is.
In her baby mind, she is not food that's for sure by how daddy felt for this stranger. She smelled funny like the rest of the house though.
Miya could only grumble and mutter at the woman's attitude. Not only Takami barged into her home, forced Shirou to accommodate her to meet her granddaughter but also stole her time in feeding the baby girl! It's her quality time, damn it!!!
On the sidelines, the rest of the house sans Musubi watches the unfolding timebomb tick by, wincing at the subtle barbs thrown and the silent competition for the infant's attention between women. Uzume and Homura are wincing every time Miya accidentally broke her chopsticks in anger, before quietly asking for replacements from Shirou who became a chopsticks dispenser in this dinner. Meanwhile, Minato took this time to actually talk to his long lost brother. On his side, Musubi ate while listening to them.
"So... you're my brother?" Minato nervously asked, looking at the older teen.
"By all accounts and DNA testing done by Takami? Yes." Shirou responded, handing another pair of chopsticks to Miya after Takami hid the infant with her body away from Miya.
'Seriously? These two are just being childish.' Shirou thought.
"How did it happen? The separation I mean. Mom never really said anything on how you..." Minato trailed off, remembering the shrine dedicated to Shirou back on their family home. His older brother supposedly died when he's little despite being just a year apart in age, he doesn't remember much at the time.
"Fuyuki Fire. Takami said I was with my grandparents when the fire happened."
"Wait! You mean the Fuyuki Fire, the one which is recorded to be the biggest urban fire in the history of Japan only to be usurped this year by the same city after said city burned down entirely?!" Homura interrupted with morbid awe as he stared at Shirou.
"Yeah. That's the one." Shirou smiled, "Didn't know you're knowledgeable about that tragedy, Homura." He asked the male Sekirei, making the man fluster.
"Well...It was a very big fire. I'm a bit interested in history, especially big events like the Fuyuki Fire." Homura explained with a blush.
"What's the fire? Was it really bad?" Minato immediately winced as Homura gave him a pointed glare and before nodding his head to Shirou's direction. Minato realized he might fucked it up a bit with his insensitive question.
Something that Shirou probably realized with his next words.
"No offense taken, Homura, Minato's just asking." Shirou told the fire Sekirei, "As for the fire, it was really bad. A huge chunk of the city was torched to the ground. So much so that they had to make a park out of the unreclaimed land after the fire."
"But for me, the fire was something else." Shirou muttered, remembering the flames that claimed his first life.
"While everything was burning, I simply walked through them. I saw burnt corpses, homes turned to ashes and those who tried to survive like me. They mostly died before they could escape the blaze. I would say I was one of the lucky one's. Those people who died in the fire paved a path of safety for me to traverse through the burning hellscape. Yet at the time, I'm still a child. All the smoke and ash is suffocating for a child like me back then. Ignoring the smell and burnt husks while traversing that hellscape was easy but continuing on wasn't. I did try to push forward, bit by bit until I collapsed. That's when my adopted Dad found me, crying and smiling in relief after finally finding one soul to save." Shirou smiled, remembering the first fond memory of his father.
Noticing the silence, he looked around to see that everyone's engrossed with his little tale. Shirou felt sheepish, he might have done it again. Rin and Luvia really hated it when he talked about the fire.
"Looks like I do really owe that bastard." Takami clicked her tongue.
"Language." Miya lightly hits the woman for her improper words in front of the baby but she is right.
"Maybe we should talk about something else." Shirou muttered sheepishly.
"Yeah, Bro. That was too intense even for ya." Uzume agreed, before her lips curled.
"What about Sakura-chan's mom? Sakura's a cute baby but I can't see anything about her relating to you yet. Maybe she's too young to show some of that Emiya genes so I bet her looks mostly came from her mom, right?" Uzume said.
"Yeah. I agree with Uzume. Your girl doesn't look much like you, Shirou." Homura agreed, "Did she get her white hair from her mother?"
Shirou sighs with a wry smile, "You are all right. Sakura-chan mostly takes after her mother." He revealed, looking at his baby currently nursing a bottle while Takami and Miya argue about the proper way to cradle the infant.
"Could you tell us about her? Her Mom." Minato asked.
"Certainly." Shirou replied softly.
"Sakura's mom is Sakura Matou, a girl I look after meeting her once."
"Sakura-chan is named after her mom-ouch!" Homura elbowed Uzume before she could finish the sentence, letting Shirou continue.
"She's a quiet girl. Alone and solemn when I first met her while she's being bullied. After dealing with them, I simply invited her into my home and just…became her friend. Everyday, she visits me and I treat her. I taught her how to cook and we end up having competitions on which one is better. At first, I never really saw her romantically or saw her advances. I was in fact a dense brick, an idiot who can't see what's in front of him as my other friends once said to me." Shirou let out a chuckle, remembering the Lancer giving him an earful after finding out his ignorance.
He promised her he wouldn't be the same ignorant boy ever again.
"What changed?" Uzume asked, finding herself invested in this story. A fact that everyone at the table and their little eavesdropper shares.
"I got Sakura pregnant and I learned some horrible truths about her family." Shirou muttered.
"...You got her pregnant while in your teens?" Takami sneered, "Ever heard of protection?" Shirou immediately raised his hands in surrender at the angry woman. Even Miya herself is looking at Shirou with a disappointed expression.
"I will admit, it's my fault but it wasn't really an accident." Shirou began, trying to reason with both women.
"I just found out about Sakura's family abusing her and I was so angry at the time. So when she arrived at my home at night while covered in bruises and wet from the rain, I had to comfort and take care of her. One thing led to another and Sakura-chan was conceived that night." Shirou explained the heavily censored and alternative events of that night.
He was actually assaulted by the girl. It was the time when they confirmed Sakura and the Shadow are one by Gilgamesh's statement. No one trusts each other yet so everyone went their separate ways that night except for Saber and Medea who escorted him home. Arriving at the empty house, they came to a horrible realization that Taiga was swallowed by the Shadow after seeing her shoes yet the loud owner is missing. That's when the Shadow struck, dragging Saber out and trapping Medea in a shell. That's when he saw and talked to her, Sakura.
The girl he had failed to protect.
"Who's the main instigator?" Homura asked darkly.
"Her grandfather mostly. He's a strict old man, old money and all. Don't worry though, he and I had a very long talk and made it all work in the end." More like threatened and coerced the old man to cooperate or die in Sakura's hands.
If Sakura wasn't eating everyone indiscriminately at the time, he would love to watch her chase and devour Zouken.
"And yet here you are. What happened, Shirou?" Takami softly asked, curiosity getting to her. On the side, Miya turned her head away, remembering what he told her.
Alone in the park with an infant in his arms in the cold night.
"It was a complication in Sakura's birth. The doctor can only save one of them, so Sakura decided to save the baby. I…named the baby after her so I won't forget. Afterwards, the second Fuyuki Great Fire happened. Sakura's grandfather didn't make it in the escape."
"Oh Shirou." Takami gasped, covering her mouth. Takami is still angry yet a tinge of respect goes to the late girl.
"That's rough, Bro. Still, you have Sakura-chan." Uzume said, trying to cheer up the somber tone that befell on the table.
"That I'm grateful for." He nodded in agreement to the girl.
"Let's move on from that, how about I tell you about our sister, Yukari?" Minato cuts in.
"We have a sister?" Shirou asks in surprise.
"I knew I forgot something." Takami muttered, her hands free after Miya stole Sakura-chan from her.
"All right then, let me tell you about our darling little…"
The conversation continued on peacefully right there. It was a sense of calmness and warmth that Shirou hadn't felt for a long while. In the presence of his long lost family, he couldn't help but feel relaxed and safe despite the presence of Sekirei whom he hasn't fully trusted yet. Despite that, the entire dinner reminds him of the time hosting the chaotic roster of the Grail war.
A bunch of strangers gathering together in camaraderie even though they would one kill each other the next day.
It felt…nostalgic to him.
"So what's your relationship with my mother, Homura-san?" Shirou suddenly asked mid-conversation.
Immediately, both addressed parties stiffen. Shirou narrowed his eyes while Minato looked at the two with suspicion as Shirou pointed out. Both brothers gave each other a look before taking action.
"Uzume, pin him down."
"Musubi, don't let him go."
"Wait! Let me explain a bit!"
"Did you sleep with this man, Takami?"
"Shirou!"
"Mom! What the hell?!"
"Not you too, Minato!"
"Oh my, how scandalous. Preying on young men these days, Takami-san?"
"Don't give me that lip, Miya!"
"Wow, didn't know Homura likes them old."
"Goddamn it, Uzume let me go and it's not what it looks like! Musubi, I think you're going to break my arm!" "Who are you calling old, brat!"
"Am I doing it right, Minato-sama?!" "Keep it going, Musubi. I want a confession from this guy."
Watching the table go into chaos, Miya smiled. In her arms, Sakura-chan yawned. It's almost late now, time for her to sleep. Meeting eyes with her young father, Shirou recognized his daughter's sleepiness. He gave her a nod before they both slipped out from the chaotic dinner table to tuck in the child. Shirou took her off her arms and almost immediately the infant fell asleep in his arms. Miya pouted at the ease he made her fall asleep by his presence where she had to sing and rock the girl to sleep. She's definitely not jealous.
Together, they climbed up to the 2nd floor before finding Shirou's room. Miya opened it, entering and getting the necessary pillows and blankets for the infant's bed. She navigated Shirou's room with ease with a sense of familiarity, finding the items immediately and making the baby's bed. On the side, Shirou watched as he rocked the infant to sleep. After Miya made the small bed, he laid the sleeping infant and made his own bed to which Miya already laid out too.
"Thanks, Miya."
"No worries. It's a pleasure to take care of little Sakura-chan." Miya giggles.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Aren't you gonna return down there and try to rein them before they destroy the dining table?" Shirou asked as silence reigned between them as they stared at each other.
"Ah! Forgive me absent-mindness. I will return to them now." Blushing, Miya stood up and walked out of the room.
But before reaching the door, Miya stopped and turned her head towards the young man lying close to her daughter.
"Goodnight, Shirou."
"... Goodnight, Miya."
She then left, footsteps echoing faintly on the floor before disappearing.
[Are you gonna address that?]
No. She's still grieving like me. She's just confused.
[Keep on telling yourself that. You're the only one who's gonna regret it anyway. Just remember that I warned you.]
I know, Archer.