Effecting Fate

A Sheath Stirs

Shirou - age 16

Mindoir - year 2170

Located in the Attican Traverse, Mindoir held a special place in the hearts of humanity, for it was the first human colony to be founded for no other reason than to serve as a home for those who no longer wished to live on earth.

Not out of necessity, escape from oppression, overcrowding, or for more resources. Simply another home.

Founded by the Mindoir Colony Corporation LTD in 2153, the planet was originally settled before the First Contact and served as an agricultural settlement of 100,000 settlers. Now, years after the First Contact it continued to be focused on agriculture, but it also did decent trade with Illium, and currently could boast of having 350,000 citizens across several cities.

Despite it being extremely early in the day cycle, one could still see several people working the various drones and machinery in the fields. Away from the fields however, the road was empty save for one man enjoying the brisk air.

Kiritsugu Emiya walked down the road at an unhurried pace, making his way to the shooting range while enjoying the early morning air. In the past, he had only been able to come home sporadically, and he felt guilty for leaving his wife to deal with their two kids.

Necessary perhaps, with his job, but something that he regretted nonetheless.

They had had little Ilya years ago, and due to complications in the pregnancy Irisviel had been unable to have any more kids. Not that that slowed his wife down at all, and some years later she expressed her desire to give Ilya a younger sibling.

One visit to the adoption center, and they had adopted Shirou into their lives, a poor boy that suffered from amnesia.

She never complained about having to raise their two kids almost by herself, but he knew that it must be difficult, even with the money that he kept sending to help. That was why he was grateful that he was able to be more in their lives these last few years.

Even if the reasons for such a thing were... Less than ideal.

He stopped his walk as he felt a stab of pain in his chest, forcing him to cough violently into his hand for a few seconds. Once he got his cough under control he began walking once more, ignoring the wet feeling on his hand as he brushed it against his dark clothes, already knowing that he'd see blood there.

For as many advancements that humanity made in the medical field, it seems we still do our best to ensure that the ways to kill people always keep pace Kiritsugu reflected.

Though his future was bleak, he had already managed to live past what the doctors had anticipated, and he would push past even further if he had anything to say about it.

He arrived at the shooting range and smiled ruefully when he saw that the door had been hacked open. Walking in, he heard the steady thump in the back and followed the sound, eventually leaning against the door and watched his son as he shot distant targets using an Omni-bow.

Years before, when they had first adopted Shirou, his class had asked all of the students what they wanted to be when they grew up and why. There were the usual answers - an N7, an idol, an actor... stuff like that. The reasons were also rather standard - it looked cool, they were amazing, etc.

It didn't surprise Kiritsugu - They were kids after all.

When they got to Shirou the answer that he gave, without any doubt or hesitation in his voice, was a hero.

Afterwards, Kiritsugu had talked to him to ask him about his answer. While not an unusual answer for an 8 year old, it was the reason why that had him confused. When asked, Shirou had given one of his bright smiles and replied that he wanted to save people, and so he could meet the pretty lady.