Prologue

. . . . . . . .

The rope which was digging into my neck and crushing my esophagus was extremely firm. I had hoped that the sudden snap would kill me, but as luck would have it, my sturdy body held up and now I was slowly being strangled. I tried not to gasp for air which would prolong the inevitable, but my body fought my will and I managed a tiny, miniscule gasp of air before the pain started all over again.

Besides the rope digging into my neck, I had numerous other injuries along my body. An arm was definitely broken, numerous bruises were scattered across my body, my left eye was swollen shut and bleeding profusely, and many of my teeth were either cracked or missing. The tatters which couldn't even be called clothes anymore barely hung to my body.

I struggled to gain any kind of vision in my right eye and fought through the blood and tears to finally make out one figure within a crowd of cheering people. His face was genuinely satisfied happy like he had just completed a job with his own two hands and determination. He looked like a rabid dog and his eyes mocked me as they bore into my sorrowful figure. This man was truly what one would call evil.

Through the gasping and choking I managed a sardonic snarl, which the man noticed and was visibly shocked by.

The reason I was smiling was quite simple and kind of was like a line from a really cheesy hero movie.

"I've faced more evil things than you," I gargled out. He didn't hear it and calmed his nerves, returning to an all the same calmer expression, albeit one which didn't hold as much glee as it did earlier.

I closed my eye again. How long have I been hanging here? Seconds? Minutes? I know it's not something like hours because a third-rate magus like me could never accomplish something like that. Yes, by all means, I could never do that; I'm a failure by any magus' standards.

While pondering how long it had been, I reminisced over the events that led me to this point.

. . . . . . . .

The sirens in the air were melting my head. I have already surpassed my limit. Any further and I would die. I could feel death just around the corner and still I pushed on.

The people which lied at my feet were still unconscious and the reactor could go off at any second. There had to be at least a hundred civilians left on the premises and if I didn't stop this they would die. My circuits were burning from all of the projections I was forced to do earlier. Getting through the perpetrators of the meltdown proved to be more of an arduous task than I thought. It also took a great deal of effort to dull the edges of my blades as to not kill them; they would receive capital punishment later.

As I entered the control room, the reactor was exuding extremely thick smoke which stung the open wounds on my arms. There were several control panels around the room with screens on the walls. I'm not a genius, but when they're all flashing red I'm pretty sure that means bad.

As I glanced over many buttons and screens, I realized that there was no way I would be able to shut this down. I was out of energy and already one foot in the ground. I had no idea how to work any of this, even with Structural Analysis. There would be no way to destroy it without blowing this place to kingdom come. I was positively screwed.

I collapsed to the ground on my knees in defeat. I tried. I really did, but there was nothing I could do. This kind of thing always happens. I'm being held back by my limitations and I'm not going to be able to save anyone.

Despair washed over me and I closed my eyes in defeat, waiting for the end.

It was at that moment when, from out of thin air, a brilliant and radiant, bluish light flashed in front of me. The light's entrance was sudden and violent, but when it remained in that one spot where it formed, the light flowed and danced calmly like waves. The world slowed to a crawl and darkened, the alarms becoming only dull echoes.

The sheer amount of awe in my eyes was only matched when I felt it speak. It didn't speak in the normal sense of giving out sound, but seemed to speak by giving off certain signals into my head which formed into words.

"Do you want the power to protect and save these people?"

The light extended forward in a thin line, only branching out at the tips, mimicking a hand.

"I can give it to you, if you sacrifice your afterlife to me. As you are now, you wouldn't be able to save a single person here."

The line of light touched my tan forehead and soon other lines of light gently caressed my body. They branched out in a vein like pattern over my body and I felt a warm sense of love wash over me. It reminded me of the warm feeling I got when I stared into Saber's eyes. It was the feeling of "everything is going to be alright."

"All you have to do is agree to the terms of the contact and I'll give you miraculous powers."

I focused on the center of the light and knew my answer immediately.

"You would give me miraculous powers, huh? Sorry, but what kind of hero would I be if I couldn't save people with my own power. I'm going to save these people with the little strength I have left."

The light sat and flowed calmly just as it did before my answer. The silence was deafening and the alarms echoed lowly in the background.

"If you are to reject my immense kindness as such, then I shall make it sure that you die in a brutal and nightmarish way, alone with no one to come to your side and comfort you. You will be alone until the utter end."

"I'm fine with that. After all, heroes aren't supposed to have happy endings. I learned that a long time ago."

The light was still calm.

"So be it. You seemed promising Shirou Emiya."

The light disappeared in a violent flash, the world resumed normal motion, and the blaring alarms filled my ears again. The warm comfort was gone and with that, the pain of my injuries returned, renewing my focus on the task at hand.

I turned back at the hallway which I entered through, taking notice of the unconscious people lying motionless there. I didn't know them and had no reason to save them, but I just felt like I had to. If Rin were here, she'd definitely be calling me an idiot by now.

I got up off my knees and stared down the reactor. I raised my right arm and firmly secured it with my left. All of the mana was being sucked from the air around me as I spoke.

"I am the bone of my sword."

. . . . . . . .

Back in the present, I was still choking and sputtering. As I came out of my little daydream, I noticed my vision had grown significantly darker. My eye was open, but I still couldn't see. The cheers and sounds from the spectating crowd had now grown more distant.

After stopping the meltdown, the people who had started it had me arrested and I was convicted as a traitor. The man who was taking great joy by watching me slowly die was the actual bad guy here. The event had made worldwide news, branding me as the mastermind of a great plot which almost claimed the lives of one hundred innocents and forty armed security personnel. The reason I'm being choked by the rope digging into my neck right now is because today is the day of my execution.

I got another miniscule gasp of air and a little of my vision returned. I looked lazily at the crowd and my eye snapped open at the sight of a certain someone in front of me. She had tears in her eyes and she was wearing her signature red sweater, even in the smoldering, desert heat. It was probably to help me recognize her. We didn't exchange words or even a slight gesture, just two and a half seconds of meaningful stares. My vision darkened again and she was gone.

It seems that mysterious light was wrong. There was someone to comfort me at the end of it all.

I have no doubt she knows I'm not guilty.

I also have no doubt she would reassure Fuji-nee and Sakura of this fact along with taking care of them.

Oh, I wonder how the children from the village are doing. Matin is probably drinking his daily milk like I told him to. If not his little sister would beat the snot out of him.

When did the crowd go silent? When did my injuries stop hurting?

Am I dying?

It seems that way.

Even as I'm seconds away from death, I strangely still hold no animosity towards the traitors or humanity.

I feel freedom and bliss. I feel calm, like I'm staring deeply into Saber's loving eyes and being held by her strong yet gentle arms.

. . .

. . .

Tell me…

Did I achieve it?

"Did I become a hero for you Kiritsugu?"

. . . . . . . .

The last words of Shirou Emiya were very audible despite his choking and sputtering earlier. After he had uttered those words, he left this realm to head to another. It was broadcasted live from the Middle East and everyone from around the world who had heard about the act of terrorism tuned in to watch.

Everyone who had heard those words were quite confused, especially if they didn't understand Japanese.

After this, the world went about it's business as usual and quickly forgot about Shirou Emiya….

That is, until a certain loudmouth, twintailed magus uncovered the dark plot of the actual masterminds. They were swiftly punished and the truth was uncovered. The world remembered Shirou Emiya as a terrorist, but came to know him as a hero who saved nearly one hundred and fifty people from a reactor meltdown. How did he do it? The world still doesn't to this day, but they have decided to remember him and award him for his heroism, even if he has been freed from the world of the living.

In Fuyuki city, in a certain park, where twenty years ago a great and horrific fire broke out, a statue of the Japanese man stands there, wearing the same idiotic smile he wore in life. It was the least the people of the world could do for him.

The world still didn't know the meaning behind his last words, but they knew one thing…

Shirou Emiya became a Hero of Justice.

. . . . . . . .

Prologue

END