Fate: Emiya the Host

Before the 100-meter race, System Shirou was cold to the extreme.

He was like the final dark night before dawn, determined to carry himself through to the end.

And Hercules was that war god bathed in the morning light and glory.

The sunset's last afterglow climbed onto the track.

The moment before catching up to Shirou, the starting pistol fired.

"Hah!"

Hercules exploded with all his strength, like a beast breaking out of its cage tearing the air apart.

With one step he crossed a distance of three meters.

This was the determination of the mighty hero to defend his honor.

However, a red lightning bolt that could pierce even darkness flashed past in the corner of his eye in an instant.

'Impossible!'

Hercules' eyes widened.

Wind howled in his ears, as if listening to a storm.

The people around, the coach firing the gun, before the image entered the nerves, had already been left behind.

The finish line ahead became the only focus.

It was a very strange experience.

Every time his step landed on the red-brick-colored plastic track, Shirou could see a person's back.

At this moment, time seemed to overlap.

Tick-tock! Tick-tock!..

The one running side-by-side with him was no longer Hercules.

It was the god who once, at the Olympic Games, draped in the flag, cut through thorns, crossed countless hardships to ascend the throne.

'So this is the scenery they saw!'

'Their opponent was never others, but history itself!'

From this, his consciousness returned to his body.

His arms swung with his stride.

'Continue, continue, fast! Faster!'

Constantly surpassing, surpassing, surpassing again.

Until, surpassing the black lightning that turned the impossible into possible.

Shirou glanced back, and that person turned back with the same posture.

And then…

"WOAH!!!"

The whole crowd erupted.

People screamed, "High jump boy!!"

They shouted loudly.

Looking at that stopwatch frozen at 9.58 seconds.

"So strong, high jump boy, so strong!"

"I want to give you mon—"

"HIGH JUMP…"

That man didn't finish before a few expressionless girls jabbed him away.

"Shirou!", Illya's small face was red with excitement.

"So cool!", The four gods of the campus felt the real charm of running for the first time.

But the one receiving the cheers didn't smile at anyone, instead gasping for breath.

Sweat dripped from his forehead and temples.

At the last moment, he gave up the enhancement magic used by the system.

Instead, he used magical energy to squeeze his potential, raising agility to A for a short time.

Different from strengthening his eyes, the moment magic was forced into his muscles, it was like cells being cut apart, muscle fibers being severed.

Every millisecond he endured immense pain.

Was it worth it? If it was purely for victory, aside from the 10,000 meters, the first two events could have been easily achieved with magic.

But he chose the stupidest method.

So stupid that he couldn't tell whether he was overdrawing his future or his present.

Fortunately, his legs were still under control when slowing down.

Even if countless ants crawled and bit on his calves and thighs, it didn't matter.

As long as he could still move—

"What's wrong, Hercules?"

Shirou stood before him, "Just because you lost once, you plan to give up?"

"Of course not!", Hercules was enraged, igniting his fighting spirit, "Good, Emiya Shirou! Next, I will pull you down from the ladder to the king's throne, watch closely!"

"I look forward to it," The tone of pain hidden behind cold words. Shirou forced himself to appear at ease.

When the 110-meter hurdles track was set up, amid everyone's anticipation, Shirou and Hercules stood on the track.

This time, not a single person cheered.

They held their breath, watching this, as Merlin called it, death match.

Standing on the track again, Shirou abandoned everything, leaving only agility.

'You must jump over for me!'

Gripping his thigh hard, letting his fingers sink into the flesh.

When the coach said "ready", he decisively crouched, posture kept perfect for running.

Before the pain arrived, after the gunshot, 'Sprint!'

13.72 meters flashed by in the blink of an eye. The first hurdle was right in front.

'Lift leg, jump!'

The shadow ahead was overtaken, shattered.

'Second hurdle, lift leg, leap!'

'Third, fourth…'

Every leap keeping the speed unchanged would surpass the once-famous athletes in history.

But that was still not enough.

The pain had already surpassed the limit.

'Yet… still not enough!'

'I still haven't… seen that flash of red.'

'Only that person, and only him!'

He definitely wanted to see, definitely wanted to know, the feeling of running side-by-side with him.

'So, just a little faster!'

'Faster!'

Didn't see it at the seventh hurdle, eighth, ninth…

It seemed to end there.

Suddenly, he saw under the five rings the 1363. And that high-spirited young man, holding the flag, running on the track with the wind.

'I… don't want to surpass him.'

'I just… want to keep up with him!'

'If this is still not enough, then burn!'

At this moment, the image seemed to overlap with that instant. And seemed to be given only to himself. A young man, under the setting sun, leaping, running, straight until his figure overlapped with that silhouette.

"Ahhhhh!"

In the breathless silence of countless clenched hands, they once again saw a miracle.

"Leap of faith!"

Someone roared, "I saw the leap of faith!!!"

"Truly incredible," Makoto sighed, "Alright, though this body belongs here, your soul must be red."

Crossed the finish line?

'But still can't fall, not until the end.'

'System-san, I'm counting on you, I might need to rest a bit.'

Entering Hosting, System Shirou was only silent.

He slowly walked to the near-breakdown Hercules.

"Don't worry!"

Hercules raised his head, face firm, "I will fight to the last moment!"

System Shirou stayed silent, turned, staggered, almost falling.

Even AI couldn't control it anymore, showing just how much this body had burned itself.

He wasn't even sure if Shirou had slept, or if he could wake up before the next race.

If he didn't wake up, System Shirou would forfeit.

He had already calculated that, whether he ran or Shirou ran, they would collapse halfway.

"I have something to tell you," Black hair fluttering, Tohsaka Rin appeared before him.

Her gaze flickered bright and dim.

"What?", At the limit, Shirou awoke.

Tohsaka Rin didn't waste words persuading, but said, "It's about your limit now, isn't it? If you just wanted Hercules to acknowledge you, you've already done it."

"No, that wasn't me."

Shirou turned around.

"Now, I am completely, entirely, just me!"

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