A Heroic Night Guard chapter 2: Full chapter

There were a number of things to remember before attending any kind of job interview. Perhaps one of the more important ones to remember was the importance of presentation. 

Not to say one needed to show up in a suit and tie. But an effort should be made to look presentable. Clean clothes, showered… Little things like that.

Which is why Shirou felt distinctly uncomfortable as he walked up to the doors of the pizzeria. No shoes, no shower, wearing sweats and a t-shirt. 

The redhead sighed as several parents gave him a wary look and shuffled their kids away.

He’d contemplated tracing some new clothes, but there wasn’t exactly a good place to do it out of sight. That, combined with what Zelretch said regarding this world’s magic? 

No, He’d heard way too many stories from Rin. Shirou needed to do some tests in private before he tried anything like that. For now, he had to focus on getting hired. 

As he walked through the doors, Shirou looked around with a frown. It looked… Well, pretty much like what he expected. Tacky linoleum flooring, dim lighting, cheesy music, with an underlying smell of grease in the air. Further in, he could hear the sounds of children playing, music, and cheering. 

Shirou had to repress a shudder at the feeling of the floor. He was going to need to wash his feet thoroughly after this. If he didn’t have access to a shower, he’d find a nearby stream.

The smell of disinfectant washed over Shirou just as he was about to make for the front desk. Turning, he saw a large man wearing a bland uniform stomp over to him. 

“Can I help you?” The man grunted, looking down at Shirou, eyes narrowed with a practiced air of menace that was very out of place in a children’s eatery. 

The smell implied janitor, but the way he was standing… Doubling as security perhaps? The man was certainly built for it, and Shirou noted the instinctive stance the man got into. He had training. 

Unfortunately, Shirou couldn’t complain about being singled out - already he could see several parents pulling their kids aside while giving him a wide berth.

The woes of being part of the local homeless community…

“Yes.” Shirou responded. “I’m looking for a job and heard there was an opening for the night guard.”

The janitor looked surprised for a bit before it transitioned into pity. 

Which… Ouch. Cheeks burning, Shirou very determinedly did not look at his current outfit. Seriously, why did Zelretch have to leave him with nothing? 

“You’ll be wanting to talk to the manager then.” The man grunted with a scowl, turning on his heel. “C’mon, office is just over here.” 

“Thank you.” Shirou immediately followed as they went past the front desk, where a teen was manning the desk (and also giving him a pitying look. Seriously, first thing, new clothes.) “May I ask your name? And what exactly do you do here?” 

The large man gave him a side eye. “Bob.” He replied brusquely. “I clean up ‘round here. Keeps me fairly busy.”

Shirou very carefully did not comment on the grimy and dirty walls, nor the greasy tiles. 

They probably didn’t care as much about this area, since guests wouldn’t come here. The other areas were probably cleaner. 

Hopefully. 

It was only a short walk before Bob knocked on a door and opened it to reveal a small office with a man sitting at a desk. 

The manager was a portly man, balding with a small mustache. The shirt he was wearing was… Probably white once(?), but was now a shade of yellow. Looking up, the scowl on his face transformed into a smile that was practically the personification of the phrase ‘have I got a deal for you’ the moment he spotted Shirou. 

“Well now, how can I help you today, son?” He asked jovially as he stood up and walked over, no sign of irritation on his face. 

“Hello sir, my name is Shirou Emiya,” Shirou introduced when Bob simply turned and walked away. “I’m here about an ad I saw in the paper? For the night guard position?”

If possible, the smile on the man’s face got even brighter. “You’re in luck son, that position is still available! Here,” he grabbed Shirou by the arm and pulled him in.  “Come on and sit down, and we can discuss it.”

The ‘office’ was on the small side. With one wall taken up by a large filing cabinet, the other by a bookcase, it was the definition of the word ‘cramped’. A paper strewn desk sat in the middle, at which the man sat down while gesturing for Shirou to sit as well. 

“Now then, I’m the manager here at Freddy’s, but you can call me Stan.” He introduced cheerfully as he adjusted himself. “So, night guard, eh? May I ask why that caught your attention?” 

Shirou shrugged, “I need a job, and it’s the first one I saw.” He replied honestly. 

Stan just nodded sagely. “Well, ‘seek and ye shall find’, that’s always been my motto. Always glad to see people being proactive these days! First, just gotta get a few pesky questions outta the way.” He shuffled a few papers around. “Hmph. Ok, so, got any prior experience in a guard position?” 

Uhm, he was usually acting as overwatch when he was working with the inquisitors… Then there was that tomb where he had to stand watch to prevent graverobbers or archeologists from accidentally going in and finding an actual Mythic Code… Then there was the time he bargained two months of being Luvia’s bodyguard for access to some texts on Avalon she had…

“Nope,” Shirou shook his head, mentally preparing himself to have to use hypnosis, “I’m afraid I don’t.” 

“Kay, kay, sounds good.” Stan looked… Surprisingly unphased at an untrained person asking for a guard position. “Can you provide any ID? Drivers license, something like that?” 

One set in his luggage under his bed. A fake set in a separate duffel behind a fake panel in his closet, just in case. And a third set back in Fuyuki in a safe house in Fujimura territory. 

“I’m afraid not,” Shirou grimaced. 

Did he use hypnosis now? Or at the end? 

“I see, I see.” Stan nodded thoughtfully. “References? Anybody that knows ya at all?”

All an entire universe away. 

Shirou shook his head, feeling pained. 

Stan tapped the desk with his pencil, giving Shirou a piercing look. Meanwhile, Shirou began to prepare to hypnotize the man, letting the power build up gently as he braced himself. 

The two stayed like that for several seconds before that beaming smile appeared once more on Stan’s face. “Well, that’s good enough for me! How soon can you start?”

Shirou blinked, the power dissipating. “What?”

He hadn’t even attempted hypnosis yet!

“Is tonight too soon? I can walk you through the basics. It ain’t difficult.”

“That’s it?” Shirou asked, feeling completely adrift. 

Stan let out a boisterous laugh. “We here at Freddy’s believe in giving people a chance. Even those down on their luck. And son, that includes you.”

… Had Zelretch already hypnotized the manager? There was no way it was this easy. 

“Now, I can see you’re a bit down on your luck…” the other man mused, giving Shirou a once over, “So how bout I give ya some clothes we got in the back. Employee’s move on to bigger and better things, and sometimes leave stuff behind. We’ll take it outta your first paycheck.”

Zelretch had to have. There was no way it was this easy. It was that, or he was walking into a trap. 

“You probly don’t have a place to stay or anything,” Stan mused thoughtfully, “So tell you what. After your first shift come see me and I’ll see about giving you some of your first paycheck upfront. Help ya get settled. That sound alright to ya?”

Shirou blinked in confusion. What exactly was this? “Do, uh, I need to sign anything?” Shirou managed to ask, feeling completely adrift. 

Stan shrugged. “Normally? Yeah, but I’ll be honest with ya Shirou. Without any sorta ID, that’s just gonna lead to a lotta pain on both our sides. Better we settle this under the table, ya hear?” 

That was actually the one bit that truly did make sense to Shirou. 

“So, got any questions for me?” Stan asked with an expectant look. 

Shirou looked around for a bit, still feeling distinctly unsettled. This was going way too well. Things never went this well unless he was being led into a trap. And then after the fact Rin would end up berating him on how stupid it was. But at the moment, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out where the trap was. 

In the end, Shirou sighed and just accepted that whatever was going to happen would happen. He’d just have to be prepared for when things actually did crash and burn. “The ad said from twelve to six, right?”

“Of course!” Stan gave him another beaming smile. “Now, if that’s all let’s go check out those clothes, see if there’s any that’ll fit ya.”

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A short while later

Shirou was never the best with people. 

It wasn’t like it was that big a deal, in his opinion. Even if it did cause Rin to want to punch him because he didn’t understand that she meant ‘this’ even if she had explicitly said ‘that’. 

He might have gotten better about it over the years, but it was very much a learned skill, not inherent. The interaction he’d just had with Stan hammered that in. 

But fixing things? That was something that Shirou understood. And on the other side of the coin, he understood how to damage them. 

Which is why he was extremely skeptical when he saw the state of the clothes.. 

“Were all of these clothes left behind by employees?” Shirou asked skeptically as he grabbed another purple shirt with signs of having been shredded from the back. 

Single slash - made by something with a sharp point, but dull edge. Mended, but it was difficult to hide the required stitching. 

Most of the clothes had similar damage. The slash was common, others had torn sleeves or edges, like the person was being dragged by it and it tore. Others still had holes across the entire garment, as if they’d been pierced with something. 

Either Freddy’s got these clothes from a very sketchy thrift store, or there were a lot of people that died in these clothes. 

Though the heavy duty cleaner they used definitely implies the latter. Shirou used something very similar to get the blood out of his own clothes.

But… Why? 

“Oh, well, you know how it goes,” Stan huffed with an unconcerned wave. “When people leave for bigger, better things they don’t always want reminders of the past. Easier to leave ‘em behind. And you know what I always say, ‘waste not, want not.’”

Shirou looked down at the sheer number of stitched up clothes before looking up at the manager again. “Does this job have a high turnover rate?” He asked blandly. 

Zelretch specifically said there were ‘several tortured souls’. Shirou assumed they were children, seeing as how this was a children’s restaurant. Luring kids away and kidnapping them would be fairly easy. But based on these clothes…

He didn’t have enough information. Nothing made sense at the moment.

“Ehhh,” The manager shrugged, “Don’t worry yourself about the numbers. Bein’ a night guard isn’t exactly a career job. Most just use it as a stop gap to bigger, better things.”

Well, if one believed in an afterlife that had the potential to be true. 

Shirou frowned as he grabbed a couple shirts and pants that would fit him, and the manager nodded approvingly. “Got what you need?” he asked needlessly with a cheerful grin. “I’ll go ahead and let ya get dressed, and then I can show ya the ropes.”

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“Now, first of all, it would be an absolute crime if I didn’t introduce you to the star attractions!” Stan beamed at Shirou as they walked into the main room, having to speak up a bit over the noise of the kids and music as he swept his hand towards the stage in a theatrical gesture. “Freddy and his friends!” 

Shirou looked over the three curiously. To be honest, they kind of reminded him of some of the cheaper golems in the Geology Department back at the Clocktower. High-end golems could be startlingly life-like, with the majority of them looking roughly like statues. Since most golems were created for manual labor, there was no reason to prioritize their aesthetics. Instead, the focus was strength and durability. Which meant these animatronics were somewhere in the middle of that scale. 

But what he didn’t quite understand… Why did they make them look like animals? 

Not seeing Shirou’s confusion, Stan was still smiling proudly. “On the left there, the big purple one with the guitar, see? That’s Bonnie the Bunny. Then we got Chica the Chicken on the right there, and in the middle is Freddy himself!” 

Shirou stared at them for a bit as they continued to perform, and he had to admit they were impressive by non-magical standards. Their movements, while stiff, looked fairly realistic. And judging by Bonnie’s fingers, he was either actually playing the guitar, or he was very good at faking it. 

As he was observing them, Freddy seemed to spot him and the manager, followed by the other two. Their eyes were fake, and it was only for a moment, but Shirou was surprised at how there seemed to be actual weight to their gaze, something akin to distaste as they saw him. 

And then they were back to looking at the kids, continuing their performance. 

Stan coughed uncomfortably. “Alrighty then! I think that that’s enough of that. Why don’t we continue on then?” He said as he quickly shuffled away. Looking at him with slight confusion, Shirou followed as they came into another room. 

“Now then, that door over there leads to the kitchen. As a new employee, you get a discount on all pizza’s, so there’s that to look forward to!”

No. Shirou was not looking forward to that. 

“Those are obviously the bathrooms right next to the stage, though I do wanna caution you that dozens of kiddies use em all day. You trust you to make the proper inference from that. Then, that door there leads to the backstage. No need for you to go back there, just some spare parts and other crap for the mechanics.” 

Shirou made a mental note to visit backstage as soon as possible. Any place where people say ‘no need to go there’ instantly makes it a place to investigate.  

“Those purple curtains over there lead to Pirate Cove. Used to be another play area for the little gremlins. Even had another one of our animatronics, Foxy the Pirate!” 

“What happened to the area?” Shirou asked, noting the sign and the clear signs of disuse in the area.  

Stan grimaced. “Oh, that. Well, there was an accident a while ago. Tragic stuff really, had to close it down.” 

Shirou raised an eyebrow and looked at the obvious age of the sign and the surroundings. “Looks like it was shutdown a while ago.” He noted.  

Stan coughed once more, looking even more uncomfortable as he ushered Shirou along. “Yes, well, you know how it goes. Budget cuts and all that. We’ll get to fixin’ him eventually I’m sure, but as it stands you probably don’t wanna check it out. Unsafe and all that.” 

Another mental note was made to check that area out. 

“This here’s the West Hall.” Stan gestured as they reached the corridor. “First door there’s the supplies closet. Only people who use it are Bob and his boys, holds all their cleaning supplies. But you? You my good fellow get the best room in the house.” As he finished, they walked into what Shirou assumed to be the security office. 

It was about the same size as Stan’s office with less clutter. There were a few drawings hung on the wall, a clunky computer rested on the desk alongside an old phone and a fan, and a leather swiveling chair. 

If it wasn’t for the faint smell of bleach on the floor, Shirou would say it was nothing special, but that was fine. He didn’t intend on staying in it for very long. 

“Now Shirou, your job is quite simple.” Stan gave him the approximation of a stern look. “That computer there is linked up to all the security cameras in the building. Just check them over occasionally.” 

“Seems simple enough.” Shirou noted cautiously. 

Good thing Zelretch hadn’t sent Rin here. He was pretty sure she’d manage to destroy the computer within the hour. 

“Now then,” Stan got Shirou’s attention again. “These here are for emergencies.” He tapped the top one, and a large metal door instantly slammed down with a heavy thud, shaking the floor. 

The suddenness of the impact startled Shirou enough he almost projected a dagger into his hand. 

What the heck? 

Stan chuckled at Shirou’s reaction. “Yeah, they tend to scare people first time.”

“Why do you even have this?” Shirou looked at the steel door in confusion, “This looks like it belongs in a nuclear power plant.” 

Or a discount version of one at least. The nuclear power plant he’d visited in the past had one that was a bit more advanced.  

“For protection your protection of course!” Stan almost sounded offended at the question. “Got it for a steal several years ago. And like I always say, better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it, am I right?”  

Shirou frowned at the doors. If somebody were to hack into the building security they’d be able to get at the door controls and activate them at will. This so-called ‘safe room’ could very easily turn into a kill-box. 

His determination to use this room as little as possible increased. 

“Anywho, the higher button brings down a barrier, and the lower button’s just the hall light.” Stan continued. “The other door has the same system.”

“Why would I need a button to turn on the hallway light?” Shirou asked. 

“Power conservation.” Stan stated. 

Shirou looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“I ain’t joking. No real sense in paying to keep the power running all night, so you’ll only have a limited amount. Gotta keep costs as low as possible.” 

“I see.” So he needed to purchase his own flashlight as soon as possible. Got it. 

“Now, I think that that’s the last of what you’ll need to know!” Stan looked at him expectantly. “Any questions for little ol’ me?” 

Quite a few actually. But as Shirou looked Stan over, he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be getting any answers out of him. 

“No, I don’t think so. Thank you for helping walk me through this.”

Stan beamed at him. “No problem at all, trust me, you’re doing me a favor. Now, your shift doesn’t start till midnight, but we officially close at ten, which is in four hours. You can go ahead and hang out around here till then, get a feel for the place. I’ll swing by in the morning, and if you’re still around I’ll give you half your pay upfront like we talked, alright?” 

Shirou nearly sighed in relief. Having a bit of cash, however little, would make him feel so much better than Tracing some money. That, and he’d be able to start investigating a little before his shift started. If he could ensure some privacy, then he’d also be able to test his ability to Trace, and how being in this world affected that. 

“That sounds perfect, thank you very much.” Shirou replied with a smile, sinking into the chair as the manager wandered back to his own office. Turning on the computer, he began looking through the cameras, having already made a mental map of the pizzeria.  

Once midnight hit and his shift started, then he’d be able to start his investigation in earnest.

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Author's Note:

Something important to remember - when I thought of the idea for this story, it was never with the premise that Shirou would be getting jump-scared. Nor is it going to be Shirou fighting everybody. Shirou is trying to figure out what's going on. He doesn't plan on being in the kill-box of a security office for very long at all, he's too busy being everywhere else. And if you're wondering why Shirou wouldn't fight the animatronics, there are two reasons: The first is that there's a rule against harming the animatronics, and if they're harmed there's a good chance he'll get fired. But the second and more relevant reason is... Shirou won't feel very threatened by them. Sure, if they ever got ahold of him they might do some damage if Shirou doesn't reinforce himself fast enough. But otherwise, they're too big and clunky (Foxy is an exemption and is very fast, and there is an interaction that I want Shirou to have with Foxy that I'm excited for.)

Anyways, let me know if you guys like it or not! Also, if you guys want me to work on a story in particular, feel free to message me. You all are the ones supporting me, and I am more than happy to lean towards what you guys would like.