DxD:the fake Dream

The master of the third of the great families that created the ritual would be… his daughter, Illiyaseviel Von Einzbern. The thought of which both flooded him with dread and joy due to the fact that putting the girl into such a situation that would most likely kill her was also the best bet he had at separating her from the oppressive magus family in the first place. He had no doubt in his mind as well that her partner would be the Berserker of the war in the form of the legendary Heracles as well. The Einzbern family was always very thorough in their attempts in obtaining strong servants by finding the appropriate catalysts to summon them through. He could attest to that first hand when the family had delivered to him the actual long lost scabbard of Excalibur itself so he could summon King Arturia as Saber. It was a shame he had seen what the fate of the monster had become in each of the 3 scenarios. He truly was the mightiest of servants in this war alone even if his mind was no longer present.

Then there was Kotomine. Kiritsugu had no doubt that the despicable priest would somehow make himself a part of the wars in one way or another and force himself to be the master of one of the other servants… secretly manipulating things from behind the scenes. The Golden King of Heroes was not much better, flaunting his power as soon as he saw it appropriate. Kiritsugu knew that making a move against either one of the two before the war was the equivalent to suicide. Even if he had a sniper rifle and a clear view of the church, the man had no doubt that the priest would either be protected by some church devised bounded field or by the servant himself.

Speaking of the uncertainties however, there were more than a few that had him unnerved to a degree. The first of which was the identity of Archer in this oncoming war. Having the future version of his son would be an immense boon to his efforts, but even then the man would most likely try to kill Shirou in an attempt to create a paradox and not be a counter guardian any more. If another Archer appeared… well Shirou would just have to deal with that when it happened.

The Matou family in general was another wild factor. Keeping Sakura alive with the possibility of becoming a dark grail was a very big risk… one he really didn't like. Zoken was just as bad, being a withered old demon barely in the shape of a human… That did not mean however that he had not prepared plans with them in mind.

The identities of the servants Lancer, Caster, Assassin, and even Rider were uncertain to him. He did not know how or who summoned them in particular for the most part, and if different catalysts would be used. For now though he would just have to assume that they indeed were the ones that would eventually be summoned.

Kirei and Gilgamesh… well there was more than enough to say about them… Thankfully though, it seems as if Kirei at least seems to want to stay back and watch for the beginning of the war…

Kiritsugu had already formulated several plans for the battles, each one depending on certain factors and possible outcomes of steps that occur. Some were more important than others, yet the end result and the main goals would be the same:

The grail war would end.

Ilya would be saved.

Shirou would not die.

As few innocents would die as possible.

What happened to the rest of the participants was really up to the heavens and how things turned out. He had given… most of them at least… a chance in his plans to survive, but their survival was up to them in the end…

Shirou had been getting the hang of his training for a while now. He had begun to practice his projecting in earnest in addition to his structural grasping training. When Taiga was around the two would practice sparring in the dojo… much to his amusement and the boy's reluctance, and Shirou in the mean time still went out of his way to help others in school without asking for any compensation even though he's only in 5th grade…

The base for the boy was there now. So long as he kept in those habits the boy would at least be in satisfactory condition for when the war comes. Kiritsugu had no doubt that should the archer in the war be the boy's future self still, Shirou would no longer take so long to inherit and adapt to the man's memories physically or mentally.

Still… that was not enough to ensure victory by a long shot. A few years of slightly specified training for a boy going into his teen years would not protect him significantly from an experienced magus, let alone a Heroic spirit. Shirou's abilities would not be able to pose a significant threat unless he laid eyes upon a noble phantasm or at least trained to project Avalon, and that was still years from now, years the ex-assassin did not have.

The boy needed an ace before the fighting even started… and after much thought and planning…and experimenting a small amount with the boy's projection abilities one day a week earlier… Kiritsugu had come up with a solution…

"Are you going again?" Shirou moaned as his father closed his bag filled with clothes, notes, and a small wooden box.

"Yes." The father smiled gently, knowing why the boy was so down trodden. He tended to be gone for spans lasting almost a month at a time whenever he left in his attempts to see his daughter again. Unfortunately his efforts were constantly stopped by either the Einzbern's guards or the barriers surrounding the isolated castle that took forever to get to and from… they never bothered to listen to his warning that the grail was corrupted by the spirit of Angra Mainyu… the source of all the evil in the world…

A small smirk appeared on the man's face. He wondered if they still had that computer he had set up in the middle of their cathedral still. He remembered how irritated he had made the elder of the family, bugging him about how it would increase his chances of victory in the 4th war if he had it until he had finally given in… Odds were that it was utterly destroyed upon word that he had betrayed them. Oh well… these newer models were much better than the one there anyways.

"Is it the same place as always?" The boy asked with a sigh, already resigning himself to the fact that his dad would most likely be gone for a long period of time again… even though Kiritsugu never actually told Shirou where he went in the first place.

"No." The father shook his head. "I have some business I have to take care of elsewhere this time. I should still be gone for a while… but not nearly as long as I normally do. Be good and keep Taiga-chan out of trouble." He patted the boy gently on his head, knowing exactly what he had just said. "Keep to your studies and your routine. Don't try any difficult magic while I'm gone other than your projection, small bounded fields, and reinforcing objects. If you can show me some improvements when I get back, I'll start to teach you how to reinforce your body…"