witch shinji 1

shinji is a witch who got interested in magic when he was extremely young and began snooping around in his family estate! while his lineage suggests an intimidating clan of practitioners once existed, generations more recent have decreased and the remainder of them moved from russia to japan and changed their family name. now it's just his uncle and father, and they both seem to reject any acknowledgement of magic. shinji's home life is rather desolate and he grew up without much in the way of care or attention.

finding the name tohsaka in one of the books in the library, shinji seeks out the tohsaka residence closest to him. he meets tokiomi, head of the house and a practicing witch of the ancient tohsaka clan. he's happy to welcome shinji into his home and they have frequent long conversations about magic and lore. tokiomi encourages his studies and provides him with advice and tools that shinji may not have access to. so! shinji has a mentor. tokiomi's middle school aged daughters often wonder why some punk-looking kid is skulking around and talking to their dorky dad so much.

overall, shinji's social skills leave a lot to be desired. there isn't much engagement at home and at school, he's too focused on how his studies can help his studies in magic to socialize too much. he seems cold and even a little mysterious, as he isn't part of any clubs and never seems to spend time with any of his classmates. when there is interaction, it's smooth and and superficial. when he finds himself caught in a way that he can't fake his way out, he quickly becomes angry and snappish. (like, say, a classmate calling him out for reading grimoire behind actual school material he's deemed boring.)


but. shinji is lonely. he doesn't have friends except for his mentor and he and his family are mentally estranged despite living together. eventually in his studies with tokiomi they get to discussing the purpose behind and art of summoning spirits from other realms. this piques his interest, if only because it would be amazing to have conversations with people from other time periods. he could learn so much??? tokiomi suggests that shinji isn't quite ready for things like that just yet, because they require a lot of stamina and understanding of natural balance. shinji takes some offense, but agreed not to practice it without tokiomi's supervision.

shinji tries it at home that night anyway, but to no avail. it leaves him frustrated and exhausted as he passes out in the library almost every night. it isn't until his next lesson with tokiomi that he realizes what he's been doing wrong. his summoning catalysts haven't been personal enough. seeing that tokiomi's study is a veritable treasure trove of what look to be antiques, maybe he'd have better luck if he just... borrowed something for a little while.

a necklace with a red gem fits into his pocket perfectly. ✨

that night, shinji summons archer. a tall man with tired, sunken eyes and a deep red-purple mark around his throat. it takes a while for him to speak, but eventually shinji initiates conversation with him and they talk all night. this continues on for a while, with shinji rushing home from school to summon archer and talk with him until he was too exhausted. the more shinji imposes his presence, the more he gets archer to open up. their bonding is very slow, but genuine.

archer's tale is an impossibly sad one and it creates so many feelings for shinji that he eventually (and possibly unconsciously, at first) begins ignoring everything else for more time to spend with him. first he stops going to visit tokiomi, then he stops going to school all together. archer voices his concerns as he notices changes in shinji, but ultimately they are two lonely souls seeking companionship.

it's shinji who cracks first, admitting that he has feelings that he wishes to act on. archer wants to tell him that he could be confused and that feeling that way about a dead person is not a viable option, but. he's a fool and he feels the same. he tells shinji to reconsider for his own sake, but it's already obvious neither of them can go back. they spend gentle moments together with light, barely there touches and kisses until it's time to recharge.

and eventually that isn't good enough either. though archer protests, shinji begins to obsessively research for a way that he can bring archer into this realm for good, so they can be together at all times. the concern that the cost or method may be too high is ignored. shinji is too far gone. he needs archer to be with him. the research inevitably tumbles into darker types of magic that neither of them are ready to deal with, but their strong and desperate feelings for one another make them feel like they don't really have much choice.