During the fight with Yomi
''What a disappointment.
The thought honestly shocked me. I was disappointed that my opponent, who I'd been vaunting in my mind, lacked in every quality. Since I had first laid eyes on Karasuba, my blood had rushed a little faster. I provoked her a little more, and reacted to her sharper. I wanted to fight her. I wanted to test myself against the literal heroes of my youth.''
Shattered Blade
by Drake Valkyr is a recursive fanfic/inspired by the fanfic In Flight by Gabriel Blessing, which itself is a crossover of Fate/stay night and Sekirei.
It also has two companion pieces, Fragments and Reforged, focused on omakes and fleshing out the early parts of Shirou’s relationship with his family respectively.
Shattered Blade centers around the relationship between Shirou Emiya, the idealistic (if tarnished) Hero Of Justice, and Karasuba, the nihilistic alien warrior-woman and enforcer of the multinational bio-tech conglomerate Mid-Bio Informatics.
See Fate/stay night and Sekirei for the tropes of those respective universes.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- A-Cup Angst: Benitsubasa is very sensitive and self-conscious about her relatively flat chest in comparison to many other Sekirei. Haihane’s chronic teasing of her over said topic, and in one omake Minato’s sekirei laughing about how small someone would have to be to wear one of her bras they found, probably doesn’t help with her sensitivity to the issue.
- Animal Motifs:
- Karasuba’s nickname is ‘MBI’s dog’ and comparisons to an attack dog are made about her.
- Shirou notably compares Karasuba to a big cat on a few occasions.
- Sekirei in general are compared to birds thanks to their name translating to ‘wagtail’, which is a type of bird.
- Musubi is regularly compared to a bear.
- Asshole Victim: Two examples of this thus far with more likely to follow given how some of the canon cast members of Sekirei can be.
- Yomi is a sadistic, violent, murderous, and over confident brat with a superiority complex. The only person who is shown caring about her death is the notably innocent and soft hearted Minato.
- Junichi Tanigawa is a violent, lazy, foul mouthed good for nothing who carelessly abuses his Sekirei and has no sense of when he’s dealing with people above his weight class. His off screen beating at the hands of Shirou and Natsuo is a well deserved one.
- Badass Crew: Shirou and his sekirei, and to a lesser extent the Disciplinary Squad in general.
- Best Her to Bed Her: Played with.
- Karasuba only winged herself to Shirou after she realized that Shirou was about to kill her.
- Haihane started reacting when Shirou proved that he can match her in combat.
- Beyond the Impossible: As far as most of the sekirei are concerned, Shirou’s ability to absolutely wreck any of them in a fight should be impossible.
- The fact that Karasuba has also actually gotten an ashikabi on her own is viewed in a similar light by some. Kaho thought that because Shirou is a mercenary that they had to pay him to be Karasuba’s ashikabi.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Shirou Emiya, as is the case in most stories featuring him. Shirou is an incredibly kind, helpful, empathetic, incredibly domestic, hospitable, and generally affable individual who cares very deeply for his friends and family. That lasts up until someone threatens either a large number of innocent people or someone he cares about. If that happens you are quickly introduced to a man who has spent several years traveling the world as a brutally efficient and pragmatic mercenary and Enforcer/Executioner-for-hire for The Clocktower and The Church who also survived a death match between mythical figures in his teens and can functionally pull magical weaponry out of thin air.
- Big Brother Instinct: Shirou has developed this towards Minato and Yukari, having become very protective and indulgent of both his recently discovered younger siblings.
- Blood Knight: Karasuba is a gleeful example of this. Relishing in fighting and bloodshed, she practically embodies this trope, resulting in her reputation as The Dreaded of the Sekirei Plan and The Disciplinary Squad.
- Shirou is also one, but to a much lesser extent. While he dislikes conflict and would very much like to avoid it, he’s very good at combat and it’s unfortunately a solution that he has to fall back on with far more frequency than he’d like. The fact that he also approaches combat with a very brutal efficiency only serves to give and reinforce this impression of him in others.
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Bonus Material: The author of this story, Drake Valkyr, has written two companion pieces meant for showing snippets of different turns the story could have taken, comedic omakes, and rewritten versions of the early chapters of the story from before his hiatus. - Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Shirou decides to spare Karasuba, despite the threat she poses, due to her being more useful to his plans alive than dead.
- Chef of Iron: 100% Shirou. Shirou is well known among his family and friends as a great cook, but as is proved when Karasuba presses his buttons, he won’t hesitate to use mundane kitchen implements like knives and chopsticks as potentially lethal weapons.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Karasuba. She proves to be a very possessive and jealous character when it comes to Shirou.
- Combat Pragmatist: Shirou wastes no words or movements in a fight, and has no issue fighting dirty.
- Crossover: This a crossover story between Fate/Stay Night and ''Sekirei'.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Shirou, in Karasuba’s words, completely dismantled Yomi in his fight with her.
- Death by Adaptation: In Sekirei Canon Yomi was merely removed from the Plan when she had her crest removed by Musubi. Here she is all but disemboweled by a righteously angry Shirou.
- Death of the Old Gods: Directly called out by Shirou when Minaka talks about ushering in a new 'Age of the Gods'."The Gods are dead." I snapped, almost cutting him off. His lips didn't so much as twitch as he held his smirk, though the emotion behind it died away at my vehemence. His eyes widening behind his glasses was the only visible reaction to my statement. "And humanity is better off for their absence."
- Entertainingly Wrong:
- Karasuba, after getting surprised by Shirou pulling out weapons that he should not have, noting his far above average strength and speed, witnessing Shirou dismiss and re-trace copies of Kanshou and Bakuya, and noting that Shirou’s age places his birth firmly in the several year gap between the awakening of Miya and the awakening of the first of the single digits, starts to theorize that Shirou is some kind of genetic abomination born of early experiments with Sekirei DNA.
- When Karasuba muses about the fact that Shirou is obviously uncomfortable with not knowing where the members of his flock are for long periods of time, she concludes that it’s probably because he’s clingy.
- Experienced Protagonist: Shirou Emiya survived a magical death match between several other experienced mages, a handful of legendary heroes and villains, and his absolutely pissed off and self-loathing alternate future self at 17. He has spent the last 7 years after finishing school working as a mercenary for both mundane and supernatural organizations. Calling him ‘experienced’ is almost an understatement at this point.
- Food as Bribe: Rather than argue and give Karasuba reason to cause further trouble, Shirou gives into her demand of getting a double serving of food to cease any further attempts to attack him over her mistaken assumption that Musubi had winged herself to him rather than Minato.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Shirou has a starburst shaped scar on his chest and back from when Lancer stabbed him through the heart during the Grail War.
- Guy on Guy Is Hot: Akitsu, Haihane, and a reluctant to admit it Benitsubasa think it’s hot when Shirou and Natsuo really get into their bantering.
- Happily Adopted: Shirou is glad to have met and gotten to know Takami, Minato, and Yukari (his biological mother and siblings), but he couldn’t really care less about who his biological father is. As far as he’s concerned, Kiritsugu is the only father he really needs to know.
- Healing Factor: Shirou gets minor healing benefits from still having Avalon in his body.
- Hidden Depths: Hinted at with Karasuba through several of her thoughts and actions, implying there’s more to her than a blood soaked misanthrope. Or at the very least that there’s reason why she is one.
- Hidden Supplies: What Shirou plays off his penchant for pulling out bladed weapons that he by all rights shouldn’t have on hand as.
- Implacable Man: Shirou, once he got word of Takami being hospitalized.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Karasuba's interest in Shirou is initially sparked by his lack of reaction when she tries to intimidate him, and later when he demonstrates a proficiency with combat unequaled by any human or sekirei she's ever met.
- It's Personal: People tend to overlook this, but nothing gets Shirou on the warpath faster or more unhesitatingly brutal than making his issue with you a personal one. Hospitalizing his recently rediscovered mother is a damn fast way to make it personal.
- Jerkass Gods: After telling Minaka that humanity is better off for the absence of the gods, Shirou mentally goes through a whole check list of individuals who were deeply wronged by the gods.
- Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: An option considered by Shirou to contain the damage of a new "alien Type" being unleashed in Shin Tokyo.
- Long-Lost Relative: What brings Shirou into the story, as he discovers that Takami is his mother and didn't die in the Fuyuki Fire.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: How Karasuba views Takami in regards to Shirou, even if she refuses to acknowledge the ‘love’ part of the trope title.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Heavily Averted. Shirou winged Karasuba and Haihane without any idea that The Winging is in fact a form of mating ritual. When Haihane clears up that understanding after bringing up her expectation that they’d be having sex, Shirou freaks out.
- Master Swordsman: Shirou Emiya, who while minimally reinforced managed to completely dismantle a Sekirei in close combat, as well as fight Karasuba to a nominal draw and later beat Haihane in a spar.
- Mistaken for Spies: Mentioned as the inciting reason for Shirou meeting Takami and Karasuba at the airport.
- Nice to the Waiter: Shirou is cordial and respectful to all the MBI employees he encounters, especially compared to the dismissive attitude that all the Disciplinary Squad Sekirei treat the security forces with.
- Oh, Crap!: Shirou’s response when he finds out his recently rediscovered little brother has been dragged into a city wide death match between supernatural entities.
- Older Than They Look: Miya was apparently taken out of stasis sometime before Shirou was born (25 years in the past), but still appears to be a young woman in her 20s.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: All but literally called out word for word in Karasuba’s narration during Shirou’s fight with Yomi.“At that point, I knew he couldn't lose. Not because he was stronger, faster, or more skilled than his opponent, but because if he did then he couldn't fight me next.”
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Usually, all but gutting a terrified young woman would be a horrific and unforgivable crime. That becomes less the case when said young woman is responsible for the brutal and remorseless murder of several people, the hospitalization of Shirou’s mother, and the attempted kidnapping and forced winging of Kusano.
- Person of Mass Destruction
- Karasuba is a potent example thanks to her generally bloodthirsty nature, penchant for violence, and Sekirei physicality.
- Kusano is also a potent one thanks to the destructive potential of her abilities shown in her introduction.
- Pragmatic Hero: Describes Shirou to a T. Doesn't monologue, doesn't waste time or effort with flashy moves, and isn't afraid to get dirty.
- Professional Killers: Shirou has spent the last seven years working as a gun for hire. He’s even called out as one by both Matsu and Karasuba.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated:Both examples related to Shirou.
- Thanks to the sheer destruction of The Fuyuki Fire, Shirou’s amnesia, and Kiritsugu’s very quick adoption of Shirou everyone had understandably assumed that Takami’s oldest son died in the conflagration. At least right up until he got flagged by an experimental piece of technology MBI was testing.
- After Karasuba and Shirou’s fight drags them out of the clearing and away from Minato and the others, Karasuba comes back alone. This gives Minato and co the impression that Karasuba killed Shirou. Homura gets his misunderstanding cleared up quickly by Matsu, but as of chapter 10 Minato is still operating under the impression that his recently rediscovered brother is now actually dead.
- Sex Is Violence: Karasuba is repeatedly confused and in denial about her arousal in response to Shirou’s combat ability.
- The Nose Knows: Shirou’s ability to detect magic and other abnormalities in the world is translated as his sense of smell. Through this he is able to pick up on any Sekirei in his vicinity and get an idea at what their abilities are likely to be.
- A Threesome Is Hot: Haihane brings up a few times how she could get behind sleeping with Shirou and Akitsu at the same time.
- Unreliable Narrator: The story is told from the perspectives of the characters and as such the narration is subject to the biases, incomplete knowledge, and/or naïveté of whichever character the story is following at that time.
- Unwanted Harem: Definitely the case here. Shirou has some serious baggage relating to Rin, Sakura, and a woman named Rebecca making him uncomfortable with the idea of any romantic relationship already. He also wanted to avoid actually winging any Sekirei after Minato got involved in The Plan so that he wouldn’t have to risk being pitted against his brother. Karasuba screwed that up by shoving her tongue down his throat just before Shirou was about to kill her and strong arming him into winging Haihane.
- Weak, but Skilled: Shirou Emiya, even with magecraft, is weaker and slower than your average Sekirei. The reason he’s able to stand toe to toe with them so easily despite that is because of his sheer skill, experience, and versatility in combat.
- Would Hit a Girl: Shirou has no compunctions against killing Yomi or fighting any of the other female Sekirei he’s encountered.
