Oh Lily (Fate/Stay Night X Fate/Grand Order)

5 - Fake it Till You Break It

Imitation is the highest form of flattery; to be at such a level that people attempt to recreate something you've done or made, at the end of the day, a fake can never surpass the original in quality without fundamentally changing what it was.

However,

There is no rule that dictates that a fake cannot surpass the original; it's simply a matter of implausibility; it's just something that is hard to do, maybe something that'd require more effort than it was worth, but it was possible.

That being said, what about imitating? What happens then?

Well, it's simple: the best imitator wins.

Shirou couldn't sleep.

It had been a long day, and yet he couldn't sleep. After Ritsuka arrived, everything seemingly went back to normal. Ritsuka showed Shirou his room and left him to his own devices. He spent most of this time thinking; his mind wandered to many places, even things he felt.

"Oh, thank you, Mother."

Embarrassed about it, he started to become flustered in remembering it; it was such a strange thing, even in context, it still confused him. How did Saber being her father apply to him being her mother? That was quite the jump from someone who was just trying to kill him!

He couldn't help but feel guilty. Did he cause that girl to latch onto her? He hoped not.

He began to walk around the dark, empty hallways of Chaldea. All the rooms were soundproofed, and for emergencies, they had alarms attached to them.

The area he was now in was near the training area.

.

His train of thought wasn't exactly going anywhere until he thought about his purpose. If he had already reunited with Saber, what was his purpose now? Was all that was left but to become a hero of justice? It seemed that way, but something seemed off, as if this wasn't deserved or earned.

"Because you don't deserve it."

A voice behind him chimed in, a voice Shirou was far too familiar with.

"Archer..."

Shirou said lowly. He'd been getting a bad feeling down his back for a while now, and it seemed that the bad feeling just revealed itself. He wanted to feel thankful for the advice Archer had given him, but he couldn't help but scowl.

Archer simply smirked back.

"You don't deserve this, Emiya Shirou; it's as simple as that; Artoria Pendragon deserves this, not you."

He said it as if it were fact, and it was: Shirou hadn't earned his place as a heroic spirit, at least not yet.

"Why are you here, Archer?"

Archer's smirk dropped and turned into a scowl.

"To keep you from becoming a hero."

Archer then kicked Shirou's stomach, sending him into the training area. He walked through the door and locked it. Shirou stood up, both confused and not surprised at all. He felt like he was subconsciously expecting this to happen.

"Trace-"

Shirou starts-

"-On"

Archer Finishes.

The two projected the ying-yang swords of Kanshou and Bakuya. Archer smirked at his decision in projection.

"Hoh? my own weapons? I'd almost be surprised if it was anyone other than Shirou Emiya."