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It had been several hours since the 5th Holy Grail War officially ended. The bloody conflict left several hospitalized, and many more dead. For the two mages who both saw and ushered in the Grail War’s end, it was a mixed feeling as they made the trek back home, or at least one of their homes. As the sun rose upon the new day, they soon reached the home in question, that being the home of one Shirou Emiya.
“Here…” The boy said as he opened the door, “I got the door.”
His companion, a girl named Rin Tokusa, gave the smallest of smiles and stepped inside, “Thanks Shirou…”
“And don’t worry about food, I’ll make breakfast,” Shirou said as he entered, closing the door as he entered. He didn’t even think to change his tattered shirt nor clean the blood on him as he walked into the kitchen to get to work.
“You don’t have to,” Rin said, “Besides, you should get cleaned up.”
“I could say the same for you,” Shirou countered, “Considering you went through miasma and black mud to drag Shinji out of that fleshy amalgamation of evil the Grail made…”
Rin blinked before looking at her own clothes, sighing soon after, “Fair, fair…” She then took a seat at the table, waiting for the food. Silence filled the air as the two focused on their own things, with the sound of eggs sizzling on the pan and rice being prepared being the only thing filling it. Eventually, Rin spoke up, “What was it like… Beating a Servant with your own Magecraft?”
“What do you mean?” Shirou asked, the question not sinking in fully.
Rin huffed, “You know exactly what I mean! You faced the King of Kings and came out alive!” What little anger shifted to concern, “You… You had to have won, right?”
Shirou stopped cooking as he thought back to the fight, processing it all finally, “It… doesn’t feel real.”
“It doesn’t?”
Shirou shook his head as he returned to work on the food, “No, it doesn’t. I didn’t really defeat him… Well, maybe I had. I was able to cut off his arm before he could use that strange sword he pulled out… But even then, I couldn’t land a finishing blow. The destroyed Grail finished him off along with Archer.” Shirou paused again and looked at his hand, “Part of me doesn’t believe he’s gone. It’s like I’m expecting Gilgamesh to return…”
“I guess I can understand that feeling,” Rin said, “Even after seeing Saber and Archer fade away, it feels odd that they aren’t here… I’m half expecting them to return with news.” She sighed and looked at the table, “But the Grail War’s over, possibly for good… Saber and Archer are gone, returned to wherever they were summoned from. And the aftermath… At least we stopped a repeat of the last Grail War’s end.”
“I don’t think I would have been able to live with myself if that happened,” Shirou said, finishing up the food, “At least it never came to pass.” He then walked over to the table with the finished food, handing Rin’s to her as he did. “We won the Grail War…” He then said, “Even if we destroyed the Grail, we still won the war. After all, our goal went from getting a wish to destroying it to which we did.”
“Right,” Rin said as she started to eat, “We won the Grail War.”
“We won…” Shirou said, “So why… Why doesn’t it feel like a victory?”
Rin looked at Shirou, worried about him. The Grail War would have been hard on anyone, but Shirou had his ideals tested to their limits in it. It was only fair that he’d feel this way. “We couldn’t save who we wanted to,” Rin said, “Illiya was killed at Gilgamesh’s hands to create the Grail, Lancer died saving me… So many more died as a result that could have been saved. Pushed to the brink, we only barely scraped by the win, thanks to several miracles. Even I find it hard to celebrate the win.” Rin paused before slamming a fist on the table, startling Shirou, “But I know Lancer wouldn’t want me pouting on his account and I’m sure Illiya wouldn’t want you upset either!”
“Ah…” Shirou thought back to the girl that was effectively his little sister and the brief peaceful moment they shared before they were ruined. “Yeah, you’re right, she wouldn’t,” He said, a smile slowly appearing on his face.
“Not only that, but we did save Shinji, even if he is an udder jerk that deserves his teeth kicked in,” Rin said, “By the way, you know anything about who’s looking after him?”
“Sakura will be,” Shirou said, “I called her the moment we got Shinji to the hospital to let her know he was there. I also apologized for everything…”
“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Rin said. She took a few more bites of food before saying, “Why don’t we celebrate the win in a few days, for those who can’t be with us. Saber, Archer, Lancer, Illiya, Berserker, all of the allies we made in this fight. A victory celebration to honor them all!”
Shirou laughed a bit, “That sounds good to me. Though we’ll have to find a way to do it that doesn’t give away the secret of the Grail War if Sakura and the others will be there.”
“I’m sure we can find a way,” Rin said with a smile, “Then after that, I’ll start looking into Mage Academies to go to. Will you come with to better your Magecraft?”
“Honestly… I just might,” Shirou said with a grin, “Don’t know how long I’ll stay there though.” As he ate, a question popped into his mind. “Hey Rin, what would you have wished for if you were able to?”
Rin closed her eyes and smiled at Shirou, content with things currently, “Whatever it was, it doesn’t matter now.”