Wrought King of Iron

Chapter 26: Sacrifice

The boy's eyes looked into mine, but it felt as if he was gazing past me, rather than at me. His expression lacked much emotion, and he seemed quite aloof. 

'That's right, I am a friend of Kiritsugu. I apologise for intruding so late at night. I just couldn't wait to see him.' Such an obvious lie, which allowed me to prolong the time I didn't have to kill him. 

We sat down together, exposed to the outside breeze in the summer night.

'If that is the case, I apologise. Kiritsugu's sleeping right now.' He pointed to the room I had previously seen.
'I ask that you please wait until next morning to speak to him.' The way in which he said those words, led me to believe there was some fallacy in his words.

I looked back to the room in which I could see a person through the window. Compared to before, where I could make out a distinct amount of lines and points of death from that room more than others, it had definitely decreased. The man in there was eternally sleeping now.

Turning back to face Shirou, I said, 'Alright then, I will do so. But, can I ask, who may you be?' I knew the answer but having seen what I had just seen, I wanted to talk to him more.

'Well, it makes sense that you may not know who I am. I'm Kiritsugu's adopted son, Shirou. I'm 12 years old.'

'Adopted? I see. What events led him to you, if it isn't too much of a painful thing to remember?' I wanted to learn more about him.

'The Fuyuki Fire that occurred five years ago, burned down most of the city. Kiritsugu saved me before I died in that fire, and he gave me a life that I could live.' I should have stopped with the questioning there. I knew that if I kept on going, it would get harder and harder to kill him. But I continued.

'How come you are still up at this time. If Kiritsugu's gone to sleep, shouldn't you have by now?'

'We were staying up so we could watch the stars. I talked with Kiritsugu about his dreams and aspirations he had as a child. He told me something sad - That it is harder to become a Hero of Justice as you get older. Isn't that such a sad thing? A hero of justice shouldn't be a time locked thing. Do you agree with what he said too, mister?

'I don't think I'm qualified to give an opinion, but, as one gets older and gains more experience, we become more selfish. We gain things in life that become important to us and so we end up valuing certain things more than others. When that happens, it becomes harder to help others as we only want to focus on certain things at a time. For me, I have brought suffering to a number of people so that I can be with the person I love the most. I would say it becomes harder, for me at least.'

Indeed, in my obsession to reunite with her, I fought many enemies who I thought would have the answer. I made them suffer for my own sake. I cannot call myself a hero of justice, but I never intended to be. I just wanted to live a fulfilling life, and I wanted to be with her to do so.

'But, just because we have someone especially important to us, or things we value the most, doesn't mean we can't help others. It may take more effort, but I want to save everyone. That is what I promised to Kiritsugu. I will carry on his dream for him.' 

'Is that way of living something you want for yourself, or are you doing it to repay Kiritsugu for saving your life?' I didn't want it to be that this child took on a heavy burden out of a sense of obligation.

'No, it isn't like that. Just because it was his dream first, doesn't make it any less my dream. He may be the starting point, but in the end, it is still something I want to do.'

'If that is the case, then it is fine. As a child now, it may be easier to see the world through a more optimistic lens. But when you grow up, if you find that ideal too difficult to uphold, you must evaluate what is most important to you and choose what to do with that ideal. But I pray that you can continue to live the way you want to from now on.'