yamaboshi | ( open ) emiya shirou voice-testing post

[In Ruby City, there is a pleasant little cafe. Quiet, peaceful, and with no indication of the certain imminent disaster to come. Because at a pleasant little table in that pleasant little cafe was a person most would call highly unpleasant.]

[There was a priest sitting alone at a table near the back, calmly drinking a cup of coffee. (To say he was 'enjoying' it would be a lie, of course.) He seemed to be in his late twenties, with slightly disheveled brown hair and dark eyes that...didn't seem to carry any expression whatsoever. There was a perpetual small frown on his face, but that seemed to simply be his default appearance rather than a look of dissatisfaction.]

[Something really just wasn't right about him; the priest was a highly abnormal person doing a completely normal thing.]

[ Emiya Shirou didn't usually enter cafes. If only because they were deemed unnecessary to him; he was a ~~housewife~~ chef, after all, and he tended to cook his own food. But being lost in a city that he didn't know — that he didn't remember — wasn't necessarily a good thing, so it was best to get used to his surroundings first, if anything.

Just in case of an emergency.

As he subconsciously grabbed onto his left arm, covered in the Shroud, he felt a sense of dread. Dread that came with a heartache, one that made him want to scream and run away. But instead, he was frozen in place, not knowing what was causing it. Jerking his head both left and right quickly, trying to reel himself in to figure out what was going on — was someone attacking him? was he going to be killed? — he finally saw the reason behind it. ]

Kotomine.

[ He gritted his teeth, frustration boiling throughout the course of his body as he found himself walking closer.

Why?

Things didn't make sense here. He couldn't remember why he got here. That was normal. He had been forgetting things even before arriving at this place. That alone didn't change.

Why?

The question was still in his mind, but he didn't say it aloud. He couldn't say it aloud. It was incomprehensible. It didn't make any sense. He recognized him, he knew him, but there was something wrong with him.

No, it wasn't that there was something wrong with Kotomine Kirei. There was probably something wrong with him, Emiya Shirou. He must be hallucinating. That's what he thought. That's the only possible answer.

There's no way he could be alive, there's no way he could still be here, there's no way— ]

What are you doing here?

[ Yet he asks the question that comes out of his throat, pain burning in his chest, as if those words on its own were taboo. After all, he remembered. He remembered killing him, with his own two fists. ]

...?

[Kirei looked up--far from the constant smile that never reached his eyes, he just seemed blank. There was no recognition on his visibly younger face, missing a decade of age and long nights that would turn his facial features sharp and ice cold. The only clear change in expression was the faintest look of confusion on his face--another one that recognized the Kirei Kotomine that had previously been in the city? That was beginning to prove itself annoying.]

That should be a question with an obvious answer. [He calmly set down the coffee cup, empty eyes focused on the newcomer as he tried to determine why his own presence would cause such a reaction. Was there anger in that voice, or was it killing intent? Kirei carried thirteen Black Keys hidden in his clerical clothes, so the latter would hardly prove itself a problem.]

Can I help you?

[That was the strangest thing yet, even more so than blatantly not recognizing Shirou...Kirei seemed to speak as few words as possible.]

[ Shirou's expression soon becomes more deadpan as he narrows his eyes. There's a part of him that want to tell him angrily who he is and that he should know exactly who he is. But that thought soon fades as he realizes.

This is Kotomine.

But this is not the Kotomine he knows. His mind knows that much, so it's unnecessary for him to ask at all. Even though he was similar, Shirou could tell by his appearance alone that he was different. Younger, perhaps. From a different time, perhaps.

But the expression on his face told him enough. That he was still just as messed up as he was. Maybe he already had Angra Mainyu in him. Even if he did, Shirou wouldn't be able to tell the difference. He wasn't a formal magi, after all.

Though it is strange that he doesn't speak much. It's unlike him, but in a way, it kind of relieves him from hearing long monologues that took forever. Emiya Shirou always wished that Kotomine would get straight to the point. Although he's tempted to say no, to reject his question, he'll ask regardless, with gritted teeth, his left hand tensing up slightly, curling up into a tight fist.

He needs to restrain himself for now. ]

Yeah.

[ He won't sit down. He won't take a seat. He'll just ask, standing. The only relief is that he's not eating mapo tofu, nor is he asking him to try some. Shirou's not in the mood to eat, after all, and he wants answers. ]

You know where this place is, don't you? [ A serious, yet tense voice. He wasn't going to fight Kotomine unless he really had to. But he adds: ] And I don't mean this cafe.

[There was still a living and beating heart in his chest--of course there was. Why wouldn't there have been?]

[Kirei regarded Shirou with impassive eyes for a long moment--perhaps it was only less than a minute, but that empty stare must have made it seem like hours. Why exactly did it seem as though he was about to be openly attacked?]

[...well, if he was it would be easy to handle. It would be better to opt for nonlethal methods, since outright killing him wouldn't answer the question of why he seemed set on fighting Kirei in the first place.]

Something impossible. [The answer came simply, Kirei finally breaking that stare to pay more attention to the coffee in front of him.] A location in which parallel universes and timelines collide and individuals from them become trapped with no sign of an exit.

...Impossible, huh.

[ Shirou opts to glance away from Kotomine as he gets right to the point. Instead of sounding confused or surprised, he sounds eerily calm. Almost as if he had seen this coming.

He didn't, but he's used to impossibilities. He's been through so many. ]

I see. Then all of this makes sense.

[ All of his words that he returns to Kotomine are completely cold, and almost without emotion as he loosens up his fist. There's no need to fight him if he's not dangerous. Shirou can't tell, but there's no hostility in him. None at all. ]

It would certainly explain why you seem to recognize me.

[Calm as anything, of course. Kirei's own words carried no more than a matter-of-fact inflection. There was no need to be upset over things that couldn't be changed--idly he noted the threat of a fight seemed to have become an unlikely occurrence.]

I'm afraid I don't know your name.

[ OH BOY.

Here came the moment of truth. Of course, he knew that this would come eventually, but he knew that it would simply be rude if he didn't introduce himself properly, especially considering that he recognized him. Though he'd be lying if there wasn't some slight hesitance as he says his own name. ]

Emiya... Shirou.

. . .

[Emiya? None of Tokiomi's reports had indicated Kiritsugu had any relations at all outside of the Einzberns. But then again, considering how impossible he'd just admitted this place was...it answered several questions and raised a thousand more. How did he know Kirei at all? Was he prepared to kill him because Kirei did--would--fight and defeat Kiritsugu after all? Did that even apply to him as an individual considering the nature of parallel worlds themselves?]

[As it was, Kirei seemed to be having a processing failure as he stared at Shirou with the first real show of emotion: not hatred, anger, or even smug satisfaction, but astonishment.]

. . .

[ Shirou is caught slightly off guard. Not because he's not saying anything — which, truthfully, is a surprise in itself — but because he's actually showing a shred of emotion that he had never seen before in the man's face.

And it's just plain strange. At the same time, he doesn't exactly want to remain quiet. Just the idea of sheer silence in a room with Kotomine Kirei makes him feel more uneasy than when he's actually talking. With a nervous gulp from his throat, he decides to bring up the question.

Even if he already knows the answer. ]

Is there something wrong with my name?

[The implications of the situation at hand felt like a swarm of hornets; numerous, loud, and just a little terrifying. What had he done--would he do--to Emiya Kiritsugu to earn something like killing intent from his...son? (That was Kirei's best guess as to their relation, at least. Shirou looked nothing like the one picture of Kiritsugu he'd seen, but it still seemed the most likely possibility.)]

It's...one I've heard before. [He made a visible effort to regain composure, taking a breath and trying to focus. Killing whoever this was would accomplish nothing; if it was Kiritsugu himself this would have been a very different scenario. He stood to gain nothing here--except information, if he was lucky.]

[As it was, Kirei didn't show any sign of open hostility.]

[ Hearing his eerily calm voice still made him feel unease, though he knows that Kirei's not going to strike. There's no reason to here unless he openly showed hostility, and as far as Shirou himself could tell - and he was good at telling at this point - he wasn't.

And as long as there was no Holy Grail, as long as there was no conflict between the two of them, things would work out just fine. ]

You're speaking about my old man, aren't you? Emiya Kiritsugu.

[ It was the only explanation, after all, but he won't pry too deep. There's no need for that. He already knew enough about the Kotomine Kirei from back home, there was no need for him to know too much about the man.

Delving too deeply would just cause him unnecessary pain that he didn't need to have. Especially from this fake priest. ]

...You can sit down, if you like.

[It wasn't an answer to Shirou's question. It was, in a way, confirmation that there was no point in hostility between them.]

[Kirei seemed entirely calm, but at the mention of that name his grip on a half-empty cup of coffee had turned suspiciously rigid.]

[ Shirou feels rather uncertain about sitting with Kotomine - not that he hasn't done it before - but it's probably just nerves getting to him. Even though his anxiety dropped slightly as he pulled himself together. If worse comes to worse, he'll just take off the Shroud around his arm and Project.

He can do it at least one more time.

But without a word, he pulls out a seat, sitting down. He's still rather tense, but... at least Kotomine's not trying to do anything to him. Yet. ]

So it goes without saying that you know Emiya Kiritsugu, then.

[Violence wouldn't really be of any use here. It hadn't helped interrogate the Einzbern homunculus, and Kirei doubted it would accomplish much here. So his voice was quiet and steady--unnervingly so--as he spoke, empty eyes fixed upon Shirou.]

[One thing at a time. If fighting right now would accomplish nothing, then he'd seek information through simply asking.]

Tell me about him.

[Even so, it wasn't a question.]

That's right, I do.

[ Although he wasn't as tense as he was before, Shirou is still rather wary of Kotomine's actions, but harmless so far. But he doesn't really want to talk about Kiritsugu himself if mostly because

A) He kind of betrayed Kiritsugu's ideals
B) He's not exactly sure why Kotomine's asking

Which is why he'll do the obvious choice in this scenario! ]

Why do you want to know?

[Kirei was very quiet as he considered how to answer this, folding his hands and continuing to watch Shirou with those empty, dark eyes.]

[Did he have anything to lose by speaking honestly? Logic said no, but being particularly forward about these matters was a concept completely foreign to Kirei Kotomine. He didn't even understand himself, so how could he expect anyone else to?]

...There is...something I am searching for. I believe that I can find it through Emiya Kiritsugu, and so I need to know more about him.

( open ) emiya shirou voice-testing post

hit me with HF if you're comfortable with it?

you got it!

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