Chaos Theory/YMMV

Fate/Stay Night Fanfic

• Crowning Moment of Awesome: Archer vs. Rider vs. Saber (Chapters 3-5).
  • Saber reading Shinji the riot act in chapter 9. And incidentally keeping Sakura from killing him.
    • Cut to next scene, and he's stumbling away with a bloody nose and broken ribs.
  • In Chapter 4, Shirou gives Shinji a scathing lecture, and threatens to beat him unconscious if he doesn't shut up. When the idiot tries to talk back, Shirou calmly asserts that he was serious. Shinji shuts right up.
  • Chapter 15: EXCALIBUR. That is all.
• Crowning Moment of Funny: In Chapter 5, Berserker has made short work of Rider and is prepared to do the same to Rin. Shirou won't have this and leaps in front, fully expecting to get skewered. And then Berserker... stops his descending sword, picks up Shirou "with the air of a gorilla lifting a kitten", and gently deposits him to the side. Everyone falls silent in shock... And then Berserker proceeds to continue (trying to) kill his opponents.
  • In Chapter 6, we get to the customary "Shirou asks Saber to train him scene", where he promises to be her best pupil ever:

Shirou (smiling widely): "Bring it on, sensei. I can take whatever you can dish out!"
-Four Hours Later-
Shirou is bruised, sweating and gasping for breath.
Saber: "Would you liked to continue?"
Shirou: "... maybe... we... should... stop... for... lunch."
Saber: "That would be acceptable, yes."

• • Chapter 7, after Shirou arrives home 5 hours late to face Saber and Taiga:

Shirou stood before the Judges of Hell, and knew that he was amongst the damned.

• • Watching Shinji getting battered in various ways through Ch3-5.
• Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Put simply, just about every interaction between Ilya and Shirou either has or is one of these. So far:
  • In Chapter 1: Shirou has just met Ilya, and has no idea of who she is, why she gave him a cryptic warning... nothing. Yet despite this - and an instinct screaming him that approaching her would be risking death - he reaches out to her. He puts on a big-brotherly expression, he offers to walk her home or lend her money for the bus service, he compliments the hair she inherited from her mother... and in the end, the part of Ilya that still yearns for affection wins over the ten years of cynicism drilled into her by the Einzberns.
  • In Chapter 6, he's out to get supplies for lunch (for Saber, among others), and runs into Ilya again. After some small talk, she asks - and then begs - him to give her a tour of the town just to spend time with her. Despite knowing he'll get in trouble if he delays getting back, he cannot resist the urge to make her happy. Following that...well:

The brief moment of shock at his acceptance, followed by the practical flood of joy into the girl's eyes as she latched onto his arm like a vice clamp, convinced Shirou that he had made the correct decision.

• • And then, he promises to meet her again tomorrow - and despite being sick from prana drain, he keeps his word.
  • Unrelated to Shirou and Illya, Saber protecting Sakura from Shinji is both this and a Moment of Awesome.