Archer, the Sorcerer

Chapter I: Can I Hold My Newborn Brother... With Infinity?

In front of him was a beautiful sunrise.

The end of a journey that was the Fifth Holy Grail War, which marked a new beginning for him.

He'd fought as a Servant for a stubborn and annoying Master, who always had pushed him around doing all sorts of things... some not even related to the War itself.

Truly, he couldn't have had a better Master.

Even though what he'd wanted was to free himself from the shackles of being a Counter Guardian by any means necessary, he never envisioned an ending where he was enlightened, slightly, by his younger self... who was also someone he'd wanted to kill.

'Well, it wasn't such a bad ending... especially after putting an arrow between his eyes,' he thought while imagining the sorry state of the King of Heroes' last predicament.

He'd had once denied himself to be 'Shirou Emiya', but now, he knew that, even though he would try his hardest to admit it... he would always be 'Shirou Emiya'.

"Archer!" someone familiar to him shouted from behind, her ragged breaths and tired legs running had already been heard by him quite some time ago.

"It's unfortunate, but it is how it is," he said, without looking back, "Give up on the Grail this time, Rin."

After saying that, he heard the usual disappointed sound that Rin Tohsaka was signature of.

He could only chuckle after that.

'You idiot... you've technically won. You were the last Master standing, and I, the last Servant...' he thought about their predicament.

"What's with that?!" she asked with annoyance, clearly bewildered by his laugh. "This is hardly the time to be laughing!"

"Well, sorry. I couldn't help it... given your state," he replied while turning his body to her. "I was amused that you and I cut such sorry figures."

"Archer..."

"Make a pact with me once again?" she asked him while touching both of her arms and the wind blowing her long hair.

Her asking made him ponder about it.

"I can't do that..." he said, while looking away from her. "I don't think I deserve it."

Truly, why would she ask him to make a pact with her again, after all the traitorous things he did to her?

"Besides, I no longer have a goal," he continued. "My battle ends here."

It was truly not a bad ending at all for him.

"But... this means you'll..." Rin sadly said to him with tearful eyes. "No matter how much time... passes, you'll never be... saved."

What she said shocked him enough that he slightly gasped and turned to her

'She still wants to save me, huh...'

He knew, deep in his heart, that him being saved from the grasp of the Counter Guardian role was a near-impossible feat... that it would take more than a miracle to grant it.

All he could do now was be at peace with his choice, and tell his Master what he wanted her to do.

"Rin," he called her with a small smile on his face, and she quickly looked at him.

"Look after me."

"As you know, I'm a bit hopeless..."

"So, give me a shoulder to cry on."

He ended his list of what he wanted, and Rin could only be shocked at what she was hearing.

It shocked her to hear that her idiot, suicidal, traitorous, and stubborn Archer... basically admitted that he was Shirou Emiya.