Cú Chulainn looked into those eyes.
There was sorrow in those eyes, pain and fear... but all of it was buried at the very bottom. What floated on top was stubbornness and tenacity.
Who did they resemble?
An honest-to-goodness man.
"Kid, think this through. You'll get dragged into battles, face danger, and come infinitely close to death."
But Shirou only asked, "Then will you protect me, mister?"
Cú Chulainn said, "What?"
"Will you protect me? If you will, then I'm not scared. Not even of dying!"
Cú Chulainn looked at the boy before him. A little brat who liked to act tough, but a man all the same!
He laughed heartily from the bottom of his heart. "Good!"
He jumped down from the wooden crate and crouched in front of Shirou.
"Kid, let me tell you-Cú Chulainn never lies. If you become my Master, I'll protect you. No matter who comes, whoever they are, I'll beat them into the ground."
He held out his hand. "But there's one condition."
"What condition?"
"Since you want to be my Master, you have to see it through."
Light gleamed in Cú Chulainn's eyes. "Even if you get scared later, regret it, cry and scream that you want out-I won't stop. I'll keep fighting, keep killing, keep doing what I have to do. Because once you've said it, you have to follow through."
"Can you accept that?"
Shirou held out his little hand and clasped that large one.
Having been on the brink of death, young as he was, he understood what truly terrified him: that helpless feeling of "I can't do anything."
"I can."
Cú Chulainn laughed boisterously. At that moment, he accepted Shirou.
"Good!"
He stood up, took out Ryunosuke's severed arm, and traced a complex rune in the air.
Runic script.