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Fate/Divergence Luvia 2014/11/12(Wed)18:23 No. 601854 ID: e1000c

He knew something was wrong from the moment he woke up. If the crackling of burning wood hadn’t been enough, or the reddish glare of flames, the smoke-covered ceiling would have told him as much. Even then he might have tried to go back to sleep, certain it was a dream, if he hadn’t started coughing the moment he sat up in bed.

He dropped back under the smoke, eyes widening as he tried to process what was going on.

His room was on fire? But… Mom, Dad! Miyu!

Takanashi Shirou, age seven, rolled off his bed and tore out of the room. Behind him, unnoticed and forgotten, the first few flames started licking at Teddy the comfort bear.

===

He’d thought she was ugly when he first met her. A ‘wrinkled, screaming bag of skin’, those were his exact words, and he’d meant them. A month later he’d added ‘parent-stealing’.

He’d been five at the time, upset at no longer being the center of the universe, and scared she was going to be his replacement. Having been an only child up until then, he’d never thought he would need to share his parents’ attention with anyone.

Looking back, he could never put his finger on when that had changed.

Maybe it was because her first word was “onii-chan”?

Maybe it was the way she clung to his feet no matter how much he told her no? At the time, that had just made him more annoyed.

Maybe it was the way she always looked at him to see if she was doing it right, even if Mom and Dad were right there? He had to admit, it was nice to have someone looking up to him, and he’d never been able to fool her. He just couldn’t make himself try.

Maybe it was Dad’s speech after he’d started school. “She’s your sister. Cherish and protect her.” Just seven words, but they’d made an impression, and by that time he would already have grudgingly agreed that she wasn’t all bad, even if he wouldn’t admit to liking the shrimp. But, that had been a year ago.

He didn’t know when it was he had changed.

But for a certain, back then, he could never have imagined how much he would come to love her.

===

Inferno, that was the word.

This isn’t the time to be proud of your vocabulary!

The living room walls were covered in flame, and he had to dodge around spots on the floor that had caught on fire. Worse, glancing upwards, the entire ceiling had caught. If anyone was using the guest bedroom, he was sure they’d be trapped, but that wasn’t his problem. He could scarcely keep himself from running away as it was; only the thought of his parents and little sister stopped him, and why hadn’t they come out yet?

Miyu still slept in the master bedroom with Mom and Dad. She was only two, and it was too early for her to get her own room. Right now that meant there was only one place to look, opposite to his own bedroom, but that’s where the flames were strongest.

His eyes were tearing up. The smoke was too much, he could barely see, and he was having trouble breathing. Mom had told him to run if there was ever a fire, and Mom and Dad would be fine, but—

The room shook, a ceiling beam on one side breaking in two and collapsing to the floor. He didn’t spare it a moment’s thought, because immediately afterwards—

“Onii-chan! Help!”

—He heard a heavier thud from inside Miyu and his parents’ room, and a startled scream—

“Help! It hurts!”

—He ran like he’d been shot from a cannon, ignoring the pain from his feet as he took the shortest possible path to Miyu.

The scene on the inside was enough to make him despair. The scorchingly hot smoke had stopped him from calling out to her, but it hadn’t stopped her from pressing up against the side of the crib closest to the door, and he could see why—the other side was on fire. So was her bedding, maybe even her pyjamas. He hoped—

—She was trying to climb out, her face covered in snot and tears, and she wasn’t strong enough to make it over the edge—

—His parents were still in bed, and the reason why was that a large wooden beam had fallen on it, pinning them. He didn’t understand; the bed was on fire, they should be getting out, or at least saying something, but they were totally silent. There wasn’t time to wonder, and he knew they’d be fine. Nothing could hurt Dad.

The same beam separated him and Miyu. The bedroom was roughly square; if you put a compass over it and divided it in four, then he was in the southern section, his parents were in the northeast, Miyu was due north, and there was a window to the east. At some point the window had broken, and now there was nothing there but jagged shards of glass.

There was also the roof beam, which was on fire, blocking his path to anywhere but the window. He spun, trying to find a way through, but there was nothing he could see. Just the wardrobe, right next to him—

“Onii-chan!”

Miyu’s scream brought his focus back to her crib. She was looking straight at him, her eyes filled with desperate hope.

What should he do?

[ ] Force your way through. Ignore the burns you’ll take.
[ ] Write-in

A/N: So, this happened. I can’t guarantee the update rate, though if everything goes right there should be at least two updates this size per week. I also can’t guarantee I won’t get tired and go away, but right now it doesn’t seem likely.

Now, for the ones who haven’t already figured it out. The two characters in this prologue are otherwise known as Emiya Shirou and Miyu Edelfelt… and the Fourth Grail War just ended.

Default options may not be traps, but they’re very rarely optimal.

Good luck!