I won't let anyone have her.
She's mine.

That feeling I had that night before fighting with Gilgamesh...
No, even before. The moment she healed me, though I hadn't entirely realized it then. I'd been afraid to admit it to myself.

It's been growing in me.
Not obviously, not to the naked eye, but my chest goes hard when others look at her with gazes suggesting more than mere friendliness. A fire springs up in me when it happens. My hand clenches in a fist and there is in me an overpowering urge to swing it. But for her, I don't.

I've told her about it. Half trying to warn her, half asking for help, and Rin only rolls her eyes, calling it "a result of the territorial male". Then she attempts to instill in me the irrevocable difference between grass and woman, namely that one you can urinate on and the other you have to kiss. Then she closes her eyes and puckers her lips and I ask if she prefers it yellow or clear.

And it's not just simple jealousy. When we kiss, it rises up in me again. A need to possess her. An empty hole inside me that can only be filled by knowing /she is mine/. So the kiss intensifies, and my fingers grasp her neck, pressing, and I go farther and deeper... and then she holds up a hand, she winces at the roughness of my grip and shame overcomes me, restrains the ardent flame. And Emiya Shirou can exist again.

And so, I love her.
But I'll never tell.

"What is this! How did she do it?!"

Issei's pretty lively.

I eat the bread I bought from the cafeteria and observe him quietly.

"Emiya!" He shouts, slamming his hands down on the table. "Tell me, how is it Tohsaka always manages to ruin things with no evidence of her true evil intent?!"

We're on our usual lunch in the Student Council room. It's been a calm, uneventful morning aside from the glares and glances of fellow upperclassmen. But Issei is the unseen storm rushing down the horizon.

"What did she do?" I ask calmly, trying to appear as harmless as possible.

"The teachers! Somehow she's got them over to her side!" He chewed his thumb, pacing. "Is it some devil magic? Some evil witch spell she's cast over them?"

"Magic?" I force a laugh. If only Issei knew… "That's a pretty hefty accusation."

"You don't know the half of it." He glared.

I chewed the bread thoughtfully.

Issei sighed and sat in the chair across from me, though the anger remained present on his expression. He's usually quite calm, though Rin's always been an exception to that rule.

"Remember the fundraiser I got together? The one that finally gathered enough funds to level the forests of the Einzbern family?"

I nodded. It had been a piece of good news. After Illyasviel's death, the magic-using family had completely pulled out of Fuyuki City and the forests were just a place kids from school went to do drugs. Leveling that raging inferno before it happened was one of the best ideas Issei ever had as Student President.

"Well, the Devil managed to convince the Faculty Board that those funds would be better spent in 'providing a modern education to the people of the school' and that 'wasting such precious funding on destroying nature was hardly a good message to send to the future generation of the world'." He groaned, dropping his head into his arms. "She had the entire Faculty eating out of her hands!"

Hm.

That's odd.

Why would Rin want to keep the forest around?

"As soon as they passed the bill, you know what she did?" He growled. "She smiled at me and said 'It's been fun, President.'" He made a strangling motion. "I swear I'll expose her! I'll expose her and ruin her!"

She seemed glad about the idea when I told her the first time.

"She can't hide anything from me!" His hands ran through his hair in a continuous motion. "I'll find it! I'll find that devil's weakness if it's the last thing I do!"

The thought that I should ask her on the subject presented itself, and I welcomed it through the doors of my mind, placing it in a seat of honor and showering it with gifts.

Just then the door opened, and she walked in.

"Oh my, Mister President. Are you all right?" She pushed one pigtail back behind her shoulders and stood, one hand on her hip and a perfect smile on her face. "Your hair is completely disheveled. Perhaps you should use a comb before coming to school and setting a bad example before the entire student body."

Issei growled like a caveman.

"I see. Perhaps now isn't a good time."

He growled again.

"Alright, I'll be coming back later, then. Emiya-san, if you would be so kind as to hold my bag?"

She held it out to me, and I took it. Then she spun on her heel and left.

I guess that means I should follow her.

"Emiya…" Issei stopped me. "Whatever she's got on you, I'll find it. I'll save you."

He sounded pretty tired. It was probably best to leave him alone, let him get his thoughts together. And besides, there was something I had to ask Tohsaka.

I nodded and followed the footsteps of my dear girlfriend.

The roof was as freezing cold as ever, and the wind swooped down with vengeance, cutting through my uniform and setting my teeth to chattering.

"I gather he's already told you." Tohsaka accepted the milk tea quietly, holding it close to her lips and taking little sips.

Tohsaka stood there, by the rail, her legs crossed and a single eyebrow raised in quiet challenge.

Alright, then, Tohsaka. Let's try and make this as painless as possible.

"Why don't you want the forests taken down?"

"He told you about that?" She stared at me in plain astonishment. Then she looked down, hand to her chin in thought. "I've misjudged him…"

"What?"

"I had two underclassmen cleaning the hallway floors during break period. They were nearly trampled." She said it quietly, lost in thought. "I healed them, secretly of course, but this was a small triumph for him, but… Apparently…" She shook her head, sighing. "He's a lot harder to distract than I thought."

So she hadn't been planning on having me find out about her involvement in Einzbern's forestry project. A sinking feeling settled in.

"Rin…" I began, but she quieted me with a shake of her head.

"It's nothing big, Shirou." She looked me in my eyes. "There's just a slight disturbance I have to get rid of before people can start safely destroying things in the immediate area. It'll just take tonight, and I'll be through with it."

"They weren't planning on starting the demolishment until early Spring." I pointed out. "Why stop them if removing the disturbance is so easy?"

She froze, caught in an obvious lie.

"Emiya-kun." She said. "It's complicated. I wasn't planning on getting you involved until tomorrow, at the earliest. And if at all."

I folded my arms and stared her straight in the eye.

And so, blinking first, and with a sigh of resignation, Tohsaka Rin gave in.

Some magical energy had been circling the forests the past few days, growing ever stronger and ever larger. This wasn't abnormal, since Tohsaka hadn't removed all the seals keeping the place under guard just yet, but what was abnormal was what happened last night.

At midnight exactly, the magical energy just disappeared. Like a raging typhoon that suddenly dropped out of the sky, it was gone.

And then, just as suddenly, it sprung up again, but like a sword erupting from the earth. It was, rather than fluctuating and wild, a concentrated point of pure magical energy.

"I don't know if it's something the Einzbern family put together following their disappearance, or if it's some defense mechanism against the students that commit illegal acts in the forest." Rin hesitated. "In the worst case, however, it's something else entirely."

"Something else?"

"…Not something likely or within the normal scope of consideration, so you don't need to worry about it. All we need to do is find the seal supporting the energy and get rid of it. Then we can go home and get a good night's rest." She smiled at me.

I smiled back, but only in reflex. In my gut, a swirling nervousness had taken place. Rin wouldn't have taken such drastic action if she didn't think it was very likely something dangerous was growing in the forest. She was still hiding something from me, but from the serious look in her eyes, now was hardly the time to ask.

And besides, I was happy just to be by her side.

In this dark forest, dangerous things can happen to girls. Even if you're a ridiculously talented, ridiculously intelligent magus like Rin, you're still a girl. Even if she thought it was safe, I didn't. Creeps and Rapists stick to the shadows, and nothing is more covered in shadow than the Einzbern forest in the dead of night.

Keeping Rin safe was objective number one. Discovering what she was hiding from me was objective two, as it tied closely with one. From there, I'll figure things out.

After pointing out the approximate area for the influx of magic, Rin established the strategy for finding whatever it would be. She would take to the trees and cast a spell on her eyes that caused magical seals or points of origin for magical energy to shine like light. I would remain on the ground and follow the river down to the great oak tree, and let her know if I felt anything strange like that 'sickly-sweet honey' sensation I had when Shinji covered the school with a life-draining seal.

Seemed simple enough.

And it was.

Up until a giant boar came raging right at me.

It came charging from out of nowhere, squealing and grunting. Hooves the size of watermelons, it snapped saplings and tore apart the dirt the wake of its path. Sounds not unlike thunder boiled out from it, and its eyes were wide and staring in madness.

"Shirou!" Rin's voice called out, frantic.

"I know already!" I yelled back, concentrating. Ten seconds before imminent death.

"Trace-on." My mind focused, remembering the shape, the feel of it. My hand felt the cool metal as the bow came into being.

Three seconds before I was torn to ribbons.

I loosed the arrow just as it materialized. Guided by Rin's magic, it slammed into the creature's eye, and its head snapped back. Hoof sliding, it collapsed, but the momentum sent it rolling, right towards me.

I yelled and jumped to the side, but the thing was too large, too fast. There was no way I could escape.

So I closed my eyes again, concentrating. My hand hovered in the air as I poured magical energy into the only hope I had.

A shield materialized in front of me, and the creature slammed into it. The shield cracked, caved in, and disappeared, and the creature rolled on top of me.

Luckily, the shield I projected managed to abate its rush enough that its fat was the main thing on me. I could squirm out from under this, easy.

The creature was ridiculously huge. It was at least twenty times the normal size of a boar. I shuddered at the thought of Rin being caught by this thing alone. What was she thinking?!

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She landed beside me. "What were you thinking?!"

"I didn't have a lot of options there," I said, struggling to move out from under the beast.

-THUD-

Pain erupted from my shoulder.

She kicked me.

I'm completely defenseless. I'm trapped under a giant freak of nature, and she kicked me.

"You had plenty of options!" She yelled. "Why didn't you project a shovel and dig a hole!? The creature was dead, all you had to do was get out of the way! What did you think a shield was going to do against this thing?!"

I coughed, kicking up dust as I pulled my leg out from under it. "It's hard to devise an immediate flight plan when a giant pig is trying to eat you."

"Idiot..!"

Sighing, I looked at her.

And forgot myself.

There was a clear wetness in her eyes that she quickly swiped at with her sleeve. Glaring at me, she let out another "Stupid!" And turned away, arms crossing at her chest.

Warmth sprouted in my chest, and I felt suddenly embarrassed.

"Hey, Rin…" I reached out and put my hand on her back. "I'm okay."

She rolled her eyes.

"You'll be okay after you stop jumping into every death trap you manage to find." She said angrily. Her mouth was set in a straight line.

She shook my hand off and starting walking ahead of me, towards the darkness that was congealing deeper in the forest.

"Shouldn't you go up in the trees?" I asked softly, not wanting to upset her more.

"And leave you to fall on the first weapon you see?" She scoffed. "No, you need someone responsible to take care of you."

What?

"Responsible. You." I said. "This coming from the girl that can't even manage making her own lunch."

Rin smirked. "I bring my own chopsticks." She looked sidelong at me. "Besides, how else am I supposed to get you to come up to the roof with me?"

"Besides starving? Well, there's this thing called 'asking'. It's really interesting, too. Apparently if you pose something as a question, people answer it. And usually they say 'yes'."

"If it were that easy, I'd ask Shinji to eat tar before talking to me. That would solve at least half the problems we've got around here."

Oh man, I wanted to kiss her so bad.

She held up a finger suddenly, then waved me down, dropping into a crouch. Silently, she moved behind a nearby tree.

Copying her movements precisely and having come upon my own tree, I shot her a look of absolute confusion.

She glared at me, pointing into the darkness impatiently.

I made a move to walk into it, and she shook her head furiously, making an 'x' with her arms. She lowered her head, lips moving silently, and her hand pushed towards me.

The forest was suddenly as bright as day. I gasped and fell back a step, eyes adjusting. Shaking my head to clear it, I looked into what was once pure darkness.

Now, it looked like the sun.

Light streamed out of a point in the earth, erupting from it like a geyser. Pure magical energy. I glanced at Rin, worried. This was nothing but bad.

A shadow was moving across it, not unlike that of a man's.

The light was circling around him, like he was a vortex or a vacuum, sucking it all up.

Then the shadow stepped out from the blinding power.

I immediately memorized his face.

Dark, long lashes. Bright blue eyes. Long, curly black hair that came down to his eyes. He had a chiseled face, handsome like an actor or a model. He was tall, easily a half-foot or so more than me. There was a decidedly cocky look about him.

He turned around. Raising a hand above his head, he chanted a spell. His hand lowered, pointing at the mess of light erupting from the earth. It slowly streamed down, as though being it were water down the drain.

I stared in fascination, but was brought back to reality by a soft touch on my shoulder. Rin.

She motioned, and I fell into place beside her as we left the forest, covered in Rin's airtight stealth spell.

A/N: killed my epic formatting ;-;

Will continue dis.

Hopefully. Plz let me know if u liked, and what parts in particular. :) will update once every 1-2 weeks, omitting holidays. Thank you for reading! :)