Fate: Hammer Time

Chapter 18: Pest Control

'Could I have known about this before today?'

That was the question that rang out in Shirou's mind over and over and over again, completely drowning out everything else.

Guilt and self-recrimination raged in his breast, his stomach was coiled so tightly it hurt, and unbridled fury threatened to burst through his perilously thin self-control any second now.

Shirou was angrier than he'd ever been before, and it was all because of what Shinji had just said.

Sakura, his childhood friend, that gentle, ever-sweet, loving, kind, and amazing girl, had Crest Worms implanted in her.

Actual, living, breathing Crest Worms. The familiars of the Matou-family. Accursed creatures that consumed the flesh and power of their hosts. Foul parasites that had horrifically killed Kariya Matou during the Fourth Grail War. Disgusting crawlers that even Kiritsugu in his prime considered 'one of the worst things he'd ever seen'.

Those things were currently living inside of Sakura?!

What foul beast could have even considered doing that to such a kind girl?! What demon of a man could be responsible...?!

Zouken.

Of course. Who else could it be than that foul worm, the derogatory nickname far more fitting for the monster than Shirou had ever suspected?

He wasn't just abusing Sakura, he was torturing her, while Shirou stood by and watched, not even realising what was going on.

Still frozen in place, Shirou barely noticed how his rage, more intense than anything he'd ever felt, began reshaping the world around him.

His power began to leak out, forcing Shinji to stumble back from the sudden pressure, whirlwinds formed all around them, thunderclouds, blacker than the night, appeared in the sky, and even the ground itself quaked.

But even as a red mist descended in front of his eyes, Shirou knew what he had to do.

He needed answers, and he was going to get them.

Now!

Before he realised it, he had thrown himself at Shinji, throwing him backwards against a tree and lifting him up by the throat as he had done with so many criminals before.

Fortunately for both Shirou and Shinji, the redhead was able to reign himself in just in time, stopping himself from crushing his friend's neck on the spot.

Instead, he pulled the blue-haired teen close to his face, until their noses were almost touching, and roared his question.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?"

Every bit of cropped up frustration and anger resounded through that roar, and it should surprise absolutely no one that Shinji's ears began to bleed from it.

The blue-haired teen didn't even notice though, his mouth slack and his eyes wide as saucers, seemingly unable to form any sort of coherent thought or sentence as he was held in the air, only able to stare at Shirou in stupefaction.

Shirou, losing his patience with the silent, dumb look, shook him a few times, and that seemed enough to jumpstart the teen's mind again.

"Emiya! You're a Magus?!" Was the first thing he asked, probably not even having registered Shirou's earlier question, a glint of terror appearing in his eyes as that little fact sunk in.

"YES!" Shirou snarled, not having the patience to be interrogated. "Answer my question!"

"You are a Magus." Shinji repeated, the terror in his eyes increasing steadily. "You, of all people in the world, are a Magus?"