o. o. o.

After roughly half an hour of screaming, things being thrown, and a combination of Sirius' great strength and Waver using slightly stronger than advised hypnosis, the natural disaster that was drunk Taiga Fujimura had finally been put down temporarily and was now sleeping in a ball in a guestroom of the building. In the aftermath, the older men and Sakura sat in the messed up living room and Shirou cooked in the kitchen.

"Sorry bout tat lass." Sirius sighed as he rubbed his eyes again. They were still killing him from the spray that Taiga had blasted into his face. "Ah didn't tink tat ta lad would be havin people over."

"I-it's ok. You couldn't have known." Sakura shyly replied, keeping her eyes down.

"At least that woman is out of our hair now." Waver sighed, examining his clothes to see what needed to be replaced before glancing at Sakura. "So you're Sakura Matou…" He mused before glancing at the kitchen where Shirou was trying to make a big and fast dinner. "From how Shirou's been acting near you, he doesn't know that you're a magus in training too…"

The girl's body froze, breathing and all.

"Come off it lass." Sirius sighed. "We're not gonna hurt ya. Yer a friend of ta lad. 'Sides, ta Waver is damned familiar wit ta Grail War here."

Sakura shivered as she looked at Waver skeptically. "Y-you know of the last war?"

"Worse, I was fairly involved with it too." The twenty-one year old rolled his eyes. "Dumbest thing I've ever done in my life. Second is helping the Archibald clan stabilize after Kayneth died and talking to that brat who's the next heir. " He paused as the frowned and began to think to himself. "Right, the Matou's usually have a participant as well. From what I know though, the only servant whose Master I didn't know of back then was…" He paused and shivered. "Ah, so Berserker was controlled by your family. That clarifies things a bit. Should have figured it out sooner."

"Ya know, yer gonna have ta tell ta lad about ya bein a magus sooner or later lass." Sirius looked at the shivering girl gently. "He's gonna find out sooner or later. Ta only reason why he hasn't already is because he's still pretty new at sensing latent prana in livin tings. He's actually more sensitive ta our craft tan most…"

Sakura looked down again ashamed. "B-but I just want to keep things the way they are… b-because when he finds out…"

"Ah. Ah see." Sirius nodded solemnly. "Ah happen ta know a bit about yer family's magic an tat old man Zouken." He shook his head as the girl looked at him in shock and fear. "Nasty stuff it is. Ta old bastard isn't much betta. A soul like you shouldn't have ta be put through tat… but Shirou ain't like most magi. He's a pure an honest lad. Ya don't have ta explain everythin to him. So long as ya let him know yer a friend he'll probably not care about ta small stuff."

"The Makiri magic…" Waver mused, using the original version of the Matou's name before they moved to Japan. "Absorption, or to be more specific "the binding of another onto oneself". It's the foundation of the Mysteries that bind Servants to masters in the Grail Wars. Yes it is a rather unusual line of spells to delve into, attributed to water aligned magic I believe. Dangerous, especially if used on a large scale. Still… it is nothing that Shirou would judge you on."

"Who… who are you?" Sakura asked with mixed curiosity and fear at the two older men that knew so much about her family and the ritual.

The two men looked at one another before putting on smiles that screamed that they knew more than they were letting on. "Just some friends of Shirou's father, occasionally helping him practice magic a few times a year and make sure he doesn't do irrational things in his studies." Waver shrugged casually. "Judging from the bandages, we still have to work on the latter a bit. Don't worry, we won't do anything regarding your relationship with Shirou or try to pry into your personal life."

"Don't tell old Zouken tat we're here though." Sirius stage whispered. "He creeps me out. Ah met him once a very long time ago. Nuff said. Jus' tell 'em tat his neighbor brought some gusts over fer diner. It's true since ta lass had some of her friends bring us here from ta airport."

"R-right…" The girl mumbled. She figured she shouldn't ask any more questions of the men. From what she learned, granted that her magical "education" was very different when compared to how the majority of magi are brought up, most magi don't like divulging any more secrets than what was necessary but still frequently had the urge to gloat about their accomplishments. The fact that they only told her their names but didn't tell her if they were part of a clan or not was proof that what they were doing was secret.

"Good. Now onta more important matters…" Sirius grinned, deepening the wrinkles on his face. "Ah can tell lass. Ya have a ting fer ta lad."

The girl blushed and froze in an instant, causing both of the men to chuckle in amusement. "Wh-wh-wh-" She stammered.

"It's not hard to figure out." Waver smirked. "You were clinging onto him like a lifeline for a while. Then there's the looks you were giving him." He waved his hand and sighed aridly. "Considering how dense and stubborn Shirou can be to things, I doubt he would notice unless you slapped him upside the head and told him to his face how you felt. He's that kind of person."

"Ya mean like yerself?" Sirius smirked, causing Waver's confident demeanor to crash instantly. "If ah remember correctly, 'twas only ah few weeks ago tat ya got a confession yerself from some lass tat everyone else 'round yer age pretty much knew liked ya."

"But I almost never even talked to her and…" Waver began to throw out excuses before glaring at Sirius. "Hold on. How the hell do you even know of that? I never told you!"

Sirius chuckled. "Ah'm old lad. Ah have connections and ah keep mah ear to ta ground." He looked at his fingers casually. "… Like how ah know which o tem lazy stuck up bastards ya've impressed an which ones are actually gonna give ya sometin special soon… sometin along ta lines of a position or a title if mah sources are right."

"Dinner's up!" Shirou called as he walked into the room with several plates, interrupting Waver's further investigation into what he would be receiving in the near future. Looking around as he put the plates down he noticed Sakura being more rigid than normal. "Sirius-jiji, did you do something that scared Sakura?"

"Wha?" The old man sputtered, his mouth half full with food already. "Ta hell lad? Why did ya automatically gun fer me ta moment ya tink sometin's off?"

"Because other than Fujimura, you're the one that responsible for things getting chaotic most of the time." Waver smirked as he began to fill his plate with fried rice and some quickly warmed up meat.

"Ya wound me lad." Sirius dramatically held a hand to his chest right over his heart. "Ya wound me deep."

"Just play along with these two Sakura." Shirou sighed. "They're both really good guys… if not a bit weird at times."

"Says ta lad who wants ta be a superhero." Sirius snorted.

"Stop bringing that up already!" The boy shouted defiantly. Clearly this wasn't the first time he was made fun of for this particular subject "I just want to help people!"

"Right. Sidekick it is." Waver smirked before putting some food into his mouth.

"Gah!" The boy threw his hands up in the air before going into the kitchen to bring out more food.

"Sempai, wanted to be a superhero?" Sakura tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Yeah. He was really into it too." Waver smirked. "Kept on fighting bullies and stuff like that a lot. Really got on Kiritsugu's nerves after a while." He drank some water. "From what I've heard he's toned it down a bit, but he still gets into trouble every now and then."

"Ta lad is funny tat way." Sirius laughed. "He can take a beatin like no one else an still get up. An believe me ah know tat fer a fact. But, when it comes ta wee tings like his habits an his dreams he can crack under a fetha."

"Sirius-jiji." Shirou growled as he sat down at the table. "Remember one of the rules you and Dad told me about when going to someone else's place for meals?"

The old man paused for a moment. "Always wash yer hands afta goin to tha loo?"

"He was talking about never messing with the guy that prepares your food you old fool." Waver corrected as he continued to eat. "But please do keep washing up as well. You look enough like a homeless man. No need to smell like one."

Sirius paused before laughing sheepishly. "Ah. Right. Sorry lad. My bad."

The rest of the dinner continue as such. Light hearted and rather energetic. Sakura remained quiet throughout the entire thing and while she only smiled a very small amount, Shirou could tell she enjoyed the atmosphere greatly. Shortly after the meal was finished, the girl returned home and Taiga was taken to her home by Sirus, albeit reluctantly since the old man didn't want to be near the girl again so soon after nearly blinding him.

After that though, it was time for an evaluation.

"So lad, how have yer studies been doin?" Sirius asked curiously as they all stood in the boy's back yard.

In response, Shirou instantly traced seven swords around him and fired them all off at once at the wood pile he had been practicing on the night before.

Sirius whistled, clearly impressed. "Not bad lad. Tat ta most ya can do? How far can ya project tem things from yer body?"

"At best I can make around ten before I start making mistakes on the tracing process." Shirou explained. "From what I can tell it's mostly in the excelling the manufacturing process. Doing the same weapon repeatedly rapidly makes it hard to make everything exact on that step. As for how far I can make them from me…" He frowned in concentration as a sword was made roughly four meters from his body. "That's my limit so far, but I've been getting better at it."

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"Impressive." Waver mused as he looked at the swords lumped in the wood shatter all at once. "Is there anything else you've been working on?"

"I've been experimenting with bounded fields and I think I'm ready to start testing out some basic security and prana leak prevention barriers in case I ever need to make a workshop alone somewhere else." The boy began to think. "Also other than basic repairing spells and my reinforcement improvements, I've gotten pretty good at basic healing spells too… but that's only because I've had to use them on myself so much…" He paused and looked at his arms. "Well I could use your help on something Sirius-jiji."

The old man raised an eyebrow. "Eh? Sure. Tat's what ah'm here for. What do ya need lad?"

Shirou responded by producing his latest attempt at a bow and his modified sword-arrow. "I've been trying to get this bow to shoot my altered sword like an arrow, but I can't get the bow right. Reinforced ones aren't strong enough, and no matter what ones I try to come up with despite the materials I try to implant into the duplication material composition step, I end up with a bow that either isn't strong enough or just blows up in my face."

"Shooting swords as arrows…" Waver shook his head as Sirius took the bow to examine it. "I want to say I'm surprised, but I can't after seeing the Archer of my war in action."

"Ah, ya've used an interestin' compound fer dis bow…" Sirius mused as he examined the modified weapon. "Usin alteration ta give a normal projected bow ah modified shape an den alterat'n it again ta infuse it wit stronger materials… a bit heavy in terms o prana cost ta make, but all tings considered it's definitely sometin worth continuin' ta research since yer projections are so damn bloody good…" The old man mumbled to himself, both spells and comments, as the bow was magically gutted in his eyes and mind. "It's too brittle. Close ta what ya want lad. T'would fire off a normal arrow wit gusto, but it would still blow apart if it shot sometin big enough… which ah'm guessin happened already."

"Good guess." The boy looked at the fellow red head with no amusement in his eyes or tone.

"Hmm, have ya tried carbon tubing lined plastics yet lad? Ah've heard tat they're pretty solid an strong…" Sirius began to bounce ideas off of the boy.

"Some, but so far they haven't given me the strong recoil I need to launch the sword." The boy sighed. "I've also tried reinforced fiberglass with carbon fiber lining, but that just broke apart the moment I tried to pull it back."

"Fiba glass sucks as a magic conducta lad." Sirius commented. "It's so full of gaps tat if ya try ta fill tem in wit prana it only makes it more brittle in the process of hardening it." He pulled the bow back again several times to test how strong it was before taking the altered arrow and examining it for a bit as well. "I see… so ta strength an ta flexibility have ta be tat much, but still retain ta original shape afta release even afta bein fired a bunch a times…" He shifted both bow and arrow so that he was holding both up with one hand and the other was checking his pockets. "If tat's ta case… ten… ta bloody hell did ah put…"

He mumbled to himself as his massive hand sunk deceivingly deep into each pocket, no doubt much larger inside due to some sort of bounded field that he had set up in all his pants. "Aha!" He cheered as he withdrew the massive hand from one pocket to hold a rather large slab of what seemed to be like a black plastic. "Found it!" He beamed as he showed it to Shirou and Waver, no doubt expecting praise of some sort.

"Um… congratulations?" Shirou said confused.

"It's a large black brick." Waver stated bluntly.

"Ah ta hell wit bot of ya." The eldest of the three shook his head. "Dis is a new plastic ah've been workin on in me spare time. In addition ta makin mystic codes, ah also occasionally try ta make new materials an compounds ta make new products. Ya know. Fire enhancing cloth. Metal fer daggers tat don't have lightning sub element feedback, stuff like tat."

He tapped the plastic in his hand, making a dull sound in the process. "Dis here is plastic tat is rich in ether, mixed wit carbon tubing, about half a dozen oter secret materials tat ah had ta lift from several government research facilities in order ta make just right. Very flexible an very resistant ta prana fueled attacks, but is still bloody hard ta put a dent or a crack in or permanently bend outta shape witout ta proper method ta do so. Ah was originally gonna make an armor outta dis stuff but the bloody fool of a lord tat ordered it got himself killed recently on an Apostle hunt." He shook his head before sticking it in front of Shirou's face. "Try alterin tis stuff inta a bow an tell me what ya tink lad."

Shirou blinked before irritably grabbing the surprisingly light plastic and channeled his prana into it. The material may have had some resistance to things like swords and magic fueled fireballs, but the material was still rather compliant to being molded via prana. Giving the material the concept of "bow" and reinforcing it rather quickly, the boy soon had in his hands an exact model of the bow he had loaned Sirius, only this one was completely black. Once more he tested the experimental weapon, the strength, the pull, the flexibility. It all passed. A quick examination into the structure and composition of the bow told the boy that the material itself was definitely not something that could be easily made or accessible to. Most of what he found in it were things he had never seen or come across before in any other object he had found ever.

"Well?" Waver asked curiously. "How is it?"

"Other than the fact that I've never even seen anything close to half the things in this stuff…" Shirou started off skeptically. "… I can't see anything wrong with it at the moment, but I have to actually test it out first to be sure."

"Well ten what are ya waitin for lad?" Sirius asked as he tossed the boy his modified sword. "Test 'er out."

"Excuse me for being hesitant after three weeks of having these things blow up in my face." Shirou grumbled under his breath before notching the bow with his arrow and took aim at the pile of wood, drawing back the string with his enhanced strength, taking aim…

… and watching in stunned silence as the released spinning sword drilled through not only the logs but halfway through his bounded field enhanced concrete Japanese style wall that separated his property from the streets next to it.

Waver whistled, clearly impressed. "Not bad for a first shot. You could do some real damage with that thing if you keep practicing with it and not blow your cover of being a magus. I'm almost eager to see how strong it could get if you put a prana burst behind the arrow when you fire it off." He looked at Shirou. "Let's see, give him a tan… a headband, throw a little dirt on him… and I do believe we have a child Japanese version of Rambo on our hands."

"Gahahaha!" Sirius laughed at Waver's joke. "Why not? He even already has a girl chasin' after 'em!"

"Not funny!" Shirou yelled defiantly. "Sakura's just my underclassman! There's no way she has those kind of feelings for me!"

This only caused to Sirius to laugh even harder.

"Damn it I said stop laughing!" Shirou yelled as he projected and launched several swords at the old man. Unlike what would normally happen to a human that was hit by several flying swords head on at roughly sixty mph, these swords merely bounced off the old man's skin doing no damage. They did however make the old man stop laughing and glare hungrily at the boy.

"Ah, so since ta lad tinks tat he has a few new tricks he can start ta orda me around. Is tat it lad?" Sirius grinned dangerously as he began to walk threateningly to Shirou. It was at that point that Shirou remembered why Kiritsugu didn't like arguing with Sirius or getting on his bad side:

Sirius McGinty. Master of reinforcement magic, structural based magic, and rune based magic. Mystic Code crafter. Average One.

With his vast comprehension of material based magic combined with his ability to utilize all five primary elements, Sirius was capable of making weapons for just about everyone that came to him for help. He knew enough about warfare that he made exactly what his clients needed to suit their style and was capable of testing them out to the extremes, no more no less.

However when he himself wanted to fight, he utilized the magic he enjoyed the most: reinforcement. Taking the relatively simple spell to levels that to this day are unheard of anywhere else, the man was supposedly a juggernaut on the battlefield, toughening his body to a point that it was said that he once went toe to toe with a rather powerful Dead Apostle Ancestor of all things using only his fists back in his prime.

Combine that with the vast amount of equipment he has hidden on his person and his access to all five elements and you had one of the most dangerous magi to ever step into a fight period. It is said that even the enforcers are wary of angering the old and powerful man, but no one is dumb enough to ask them if it was true.

Thankfully, the old coot was a bleeding heart and an overall nice guy once you got used to his rough personality.

Shirou knew that there was some merit to those rumors that Waver had told him. During his training in England, no matter what Shirou did to his projected weapons, not a single one was able to do any sort of damage to the old man's stronger hide during the spars that left the boy exhausted and somewhat injured on the ground. He had hoped that his projected and fired swords could at least stall the old man…

Obviously he had forgotten how ridiculously tough the old man's skin could get in an instant.

"C'mere lad! Let's wrassle!" Sirius shouted with sadistic glee as he charged at the boy, eager to remind the redhead of his place.

Panicking greatly, Shirou instinctively brased himself. His first thought was to reinforce himself in order to reduce the damage, but a small pull in his mind most likely induced by his recent progress steered him to do a spell that so far had yielded no results. He honestly didn't know how to enact the spell in the first place or what it did exactly.

He only knew that it was the truth. And it helped him think clearer whenever he recited it. Just like when he was with Kiritsugu that night.

"My body is made of blades…"

However unlike last time, new verses had somehow come to his mind, reminiscent of how he thought of himself and how others described him.

"He can take a beatin like no one else an still get up… an believe me ah know tat fer a fact… but when it comes ta wee tings like his habits an his dreams he can crack under a fetha."

"Remember Shirou. You are a sword. You are strong, but you can still break if you aren't taken care of. You have to remember that you are a human as well. In that way you are more fragile than either one of those two things alone."

"Iron is my blood, and glass is my heart…" He whispered with unknown conviction...

Just before the disproportionately large Sirius tackled the disproportionately small child with the glee of a small child.

Waver's eyes widened, and not because he just saw a massive old man tackle a small child with superhuman strength. "That was…" He whispered in disbelief before a shout of pain reached his ears… from Sirius.

"Ta bloody hell?" The old man picked himself off of Shirou and patted himself down to examine all the scratches on his body. "Feels like ah just tackled a metal cactus!" He glanced down to see an unconscious Shirou passed out on the ground from the blow, his clothes having similar cuts to the ones on Sirius, but his body was more or less unmarred.

"Sirius, did you hear that spell he was chanting?" Waver asked warily as he walked to the two males.

"He was mutterin' sometin', but ah was a tad bit too excited ta hear em." The old man scratched his head sheepishly, that is, until he noticed the sharp look in the boy's eyes and knew something was up. "What's wrong lad?"

"Sirius, he just recited the first lines of THAT aria." Waver stated ominously.

The eldest of the three froze momentarily before looking back at the boy. "… Ah… ah see." He grunted darkly. "Musta instinctively an accidentally set up an innate bounded field on his body ta replicate ta first line. Kiritsugu told us tat was one of his Reality Marble's powers, but ah didn't tink he'd accidentally do sometin so complicated an advanced so soon."

"That makes two of us." Waver nodded. "In a way it is a good thing that he is one step closer to utilizing his reality marble to its fullest potential. But on the other it's a huge risk to allow someone so young to start studying innate bounded fields. Remember what Kiritsugu told us about when he used the Emiya family's crest? Merely doubling his speed was enough to nearly break him down completely. If the boy tried that with the three circuits he has on him…"

"Ta lad would tear himself apart ta moment ta spell would end." Sirius nodded solemnly, knowing of magi who had ended up in such a condition utilizing similar spells. "Good ting we got here when we did. We were gonna bring him back wit us for ta summer break in a few days… but now…"

"It's fine Sirius." Waver interrupted. "We'll just make sure that he doesn't practice any dangerous magic while we're here and explain everything when we get him to your other place. It's too much trouble to change the tickets now. You said yourself, you got Shirou a combat teacher right?"

The old man nodded. "Aye. Ah just wonder how lenient wee Bazett is gonna be on ta lad when she realizes tat I dragged her away from her missions ta teach a brat she might have ta hunt in ta future."