The Lord of Flies [Fate/Stay Night, Shinji Matou SI] (Patreon)

A Rude Awakening

Maybe crossing the street with earphones was not the brightest of ideas. With a splitting headache, maybe a literal one at that, as I laid down on the cool hard floor. With parts of my body numbed and my head in pain, I felt panic slowly overwhelm me. I fucked up badly.

“License Plate-! Get,” I slurred out as I laid there, unable to move a muscle. My thoughts felt sluggish as well, my mind barely able to string along inside my head much less speak them out. So fucked was I that I swore I started hearing someone shout Japanese.

“Nii-san! Nii-san!” A young woman called out as I heard her run towards me before I felt soft hands against my body. I let out a gurgle of pain as she tried lifting me up while my limbs flopped about. I wanted to scream and push the girl away but my tongue sat there inside my mouth, unable to move.

Thankfully, the woman's misguided attempt would not last long as the deep, croaky voice of an old man shouted over her hysterical cries, “Move aside, he cracked his head open. Move him more and you’re definitely going to kill him” I heard him shout before my world exploded into pain as I felt bony hands dig into my head.

I let out a strangled cry as I felt cold hands dig into my skull and down at the soft meat below. It was excruciating in a way I could not describe. My stomach lurched at the feeling and the sound of something jelly like being stirred around inside my head. “Useless, must I do everything myself?” The cruel voice snarled out before blinding white agony coursed through.

I felt something burrow inside my head, biting and pulling me back together, as feeling returned to my limbs. WIth a roar, I jolted up, tearing away at the hands and scrambling away. Crashing into the hard wall, I wince as I push myself up, leaning against the hard surface for support as I try to get my breathing under control.

“There,” The old japanese man spoke up, and I could understand him, before I heard them walking up to me, “If that doesn’t fix that, at least his body would be of use down at the pits,”

I felt an unnatural sense of terror wash over me as he spoke up but I ignored it as I felt myself up, running my hands over my head. I could deal with that strangeness later but for now, I had far more pressing matters at hand.

My hands felt warm and sticky yet I felt no marks or wounds, in fact, I didn't even feel remotely hurt at all. Rubbing the tears off my bleary eyes, I looked up, trying to figure out where I was.

“W-where-!” I managed to croaked out before freezing as my eyes landed upon the fearful look on a woman’s face and her locks of purple hair. Sakura, my adopted sister, my mind whispered as I felt my mind reel as a wave of lust and revulsion spread over my body. I… I knew her, she looked familiar… Why did she look so familiar?

Before I could even process it all, I felt a sharp jab of a cane against my ribs. Turning, I found myself frozen as I realized why I knew her. “Boy!” the old voice called out as I found myself face to face with someone more akin to a withered old husk than a man, the being that Sakura called her grandfather, Matou Zouken, in the flesh.

I felt all my hairs standing up as my skin crawled at the sight of the man. I felt cold sweat pour over my form as my heart raced, my back against the wall as the animalistic part of my brain screamed for me to run, to flee, to get as far away as possible from this man, now, this creature. But before I could even move, Zouken was already marching up to me as he spat out in disgust “Have you hit your head so hard falling down that stair that you’ve lost your mind? Oh how our family have fallen, to have one of my own taken out by mere stairs,”

“W-what?” I squeaked out, my heart racing as he reached up to my face and grabbed me by the cheeks with his vice like grip. He then pulled me down to eye level, forcing me into his gaze.

Glaring up at me with those black pits he called his eyes, Zouken then asked, “Has all this time in your precious archery club taught you nothing about balance?” Turning my head side to side, checking me out for any injuries, he’d sigh before he muttered out, “It seems that you’ve not yet fully healed up, let me just fix you up then,” as he raised his hands which started to split apart, turning into a grotesque bundle of flesh while worms crawled out.

Fearing for my life, I pulled away, earning myself a look of confusion as I raised my hand and shouted, “I-I’m good! I’m good,” Stumbling away, I shook my head before letting out a shaky smile, even as the reality of the situation was setting in. Dread was setting in but I powered through, I had to power through, as I assured the man, my grandfather “I just need to breath,”

I wanted to puke, to curl and scream that it was all a dream yet I could not for I knew it would spell my end. If even for a second he assumed I wasn’t who he thought he was, I was going to die. I… I might have died and woken up in another body or I might be dreaming as I lay in some bed but I didn’t want to take any chances, not when I was before this monster.

As I stood there, I felt the man’s judging eyes over me while the seconds ticked away. It felt like an eternity as the moment stretched out, the horrible ticking of the clock all over the house sounding like portents of doom before he scoffed as he turned away.

“Suit yourself,” The man spat out, his hands returning back to its original form as he held it behind his back. “But don’t come crawling back to me when you suddenly find half your body turning numb,” he then added as he started walking away, passing by Sakura who finally got the courage to move once more.

“Y-yeah. I’ll be careful… grandfather,” I called out as Sakura attended to me, apologizing profusely as she did so. I felt lead form inside my stomach as the man paused, turning towards me with a confused look. For a second, it thought my cover was blown but it seemed it wouldn’t be as the man just shook his head before continuing on his way, muttering darkly as his form melted into the dark hallways of the old house.

I let out a sigh of relief before wincing as a lance of pain shot up my neck. I might have some injuries from that fall. Even so, I need to get out, despite the danger. I’d rather just power through this that I want to experience that one ever again.

Stumbling forward, I pushed myself away from Sakura, eager to get away, or atleast get somewhere more private. However, I would soon feel firm yet soft and gentle hands held me back. “Nii-chan, you need to rest. You’ve hit your head pretty hard,” Sakura cautioned.

I knew she meant well yet something overcame me, this bitter hate and envy bubbling up and overwhelming my senses. I saw red as I yanked my hands away and shouted, “I’m fine!” before I paused as I saw the fear in Sakura’s eyes as she shrank away. Those foreign emotions I felt were quickly buried beneath self loathing and shame.

“I’m… sorry,” I whispered out, looking away from those doe eyes of hers as I turned away, “but I’m fine. I just need to gather my thoughts, alone,” I insisted before walking away, hurrying along and letting my body guide me to the nearest place I felt safe.

It was a blur but eventually, I’d found myself outside. Feeling the cold air fill my lungs helped me clear my head. I… I wasn’t safe, not when I’m still within the walls of the Matou residence. So many questions whirled around in my head, why? How? Is this even really real? Yet all of it would melt away as my eyes found the still water of a small pond in the garden.

“No, please no, please tell me I’m not really him,” I whispered as my heart raced once again, dread filling my veins as I tried to shake off what I knew. Like my life line, I scrambled towards it, hoping that I was wrong, that I was just hallucinating it all. The face that greeted me there however, the youthful and handsome youth with a head full of blue hair made my stomach turn.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” I cursed as I slammed my fist against the stone framing the pound for the cruelty of it all. All it did however was make my arms ached as I let out a silent scream of pain. Sliding down to my knees, I clutched my hand as I realized how deep in trouble I was. Of the pain and suffering that was going to come my way in the future if I were to even make a single mistake.  

I wanted to wake from this nightmare but as I stared down at my broken hands and the stinging pain left from my stupid decision to punch stone, I realized that this has now become my waking reality. I was now Shinji Matou and this was going to be my life now.

A/N:

For those old followers of mine, yes, this is technically a rework of an old fic of mine. I might have a few more chapters worth of dialogue. Should I flesh those out? It would involve learning Magecraft (or rather Formalcraft) from Zouken Matou and trying to make alliance with Rin even before the war starts. I could spend another day on this but I do need to work on the winner of the this months poll.  Comment below on your thoughts.