Awake a couple of minutes early, for a change, Shirou lounged abed, considering what he'd learned about this looping War.
It wasn't a natural effect of the War - there'd been four prior ones, presumably without this problem, since neither Rin nor Kotomine knew anything about it when he'd questioned them. All asking had done was make them more nervous about him. Presumed madmen had that effect, he knew. It also seemed to have very specific rules. If he died - things reset. If he tried to leave Fuyuki - things reset. If he killed himself, things reset slightly differently - the same if he attempted to avoid the effect by placing himself beyond it. And if he attempted to avoid participating in the Grail War, things reset.
. . . Well, at least he assumed they did. He had a vague memory of Rin casting a spell - like the memory of a dream - and the memory of his attempt in the last repetition to avoid the War. He'd decided that since the effect seemed centred on him, maybe his participation was the cause, and pleaded with Fuji-nee to stay with her while his house was being fumigated. Being nowhere near the school when Lancer and Archer fought, away from the workshop where Saber would emerge, and any of the areas of power that the War involved, he'd considered himself relatively safe.
The strategy had worked for three days, until Berserker burst through the front door. He'd killed Fuji-nee, and at least three bodyguards her grandfather had watching the place. Shirou had managed to kill him eleven times before he finally slowed down enough for Berserker to clock him. Avalon kept him alive, as it always did now, but the time spent healing was long enough for Ilya and her maids to capture him.
So Shirou resigned himself to the idea that he was going to have to fight his way through the War, if only for self-defence . . . unless he figured out how to alter the loop to the point where Ilya wasn't a Master. But while he'd managed to nudge things a little in how it all played out, the principals in this struggle always remained the same. That kind of major change seemed beyond him.
What did he have to do to break this cycle? He'd helped Saber, Archer, Sakura - destroyed not simply the corrupted Grail, but the corruption in the Grail. Who or what else could do this to him? What else had the power?
Caster, maybe, he admitted. Most of the Servants he'd met were warriors, with abilities capable of destroying cities in a matter of minutes. A magus powerful enough to become an Epic Spirit had to be frighteningly strong - and he'd already seen her break Servant bonds and create pocket realms. If she was behind it, than she was his new priority.
Sakura raised her hand to knock, and was surprised when her sempai opened the door before her knuckles landed.
"S - sempai?" she gasped.
"Sorry, Sakura, gotta go!" he called in mid-run.
If he was going to get to Caster before she had a chance to come across Kuzuki and come up with her plans, he'd have to hurry.
__________________
This, Shirou admitted, is not exactly what I had in mind.
"There!" Caster exclaimed, pleased. "Don't you look handsome!"
Shirou gazed at his reflection, where he was now wearing a tunic and long pants of expensive quality, with a long jacket similar to Caster's own cloak, so dark a purple it was nearly black. He admitted to himself that he did look good - the former princess of Colchis and self-styled "Witch of Betrayal" had an eye for fashion. She also had a knack for enchanting things. This new gear was nearly as tough as Saber's armour - and he'd learned how it was done, so he could replicate the trick in future repetitions.
. . . Of course, he was hoping there wouldn't be any, but by now he'd learned to expect the worst.
Still, so far things were going well. Caster found him more congenial company than her original Master, and he'd managed to curb some of her nastier impulses. Killng Ilya, for example. But while it looked as though things were going to go reasonably well, and - if his theory was right - break him out of this trap, there was one thing that really bothered him.
"It's very rude to ignore a lady, you know," Caster said dangerously.
"You're right," Shirou said quickly., and bowed. "Thank you very much for the lovely gift."
She was suddenly all smiles, ruffling his hair. "Such a good boy!"
He'd dealt with Saber, Rin, and Sakura's romantic impulses. He'd dealt with Ilya's big-brother complex. He'd even dealt with Fuji-nee's elder sister reflexes. Any of those, he could have handled. He'd seen Caster's reactions around Kuzuki, too, and was prepared for them.
. . . So, of course, instead he awoke her maternal impulses.
Oh, well. It was kind of nice, being mothered. And if it got him out of this endless repetition, he could easily put up with it.
Iteration # 29
Shirou awoke to a familiar ceiling.
". . . DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!!"