Back to Basics with Professor Rin
DISCLAIMER: Fate/stay night © TYPE-MOON. This story is mine.
(the hidden secret switch inside your head – how do I shot web)
A vein was standing out in Rin's forehead, and she could feel the muscles in her face twitching. Most of it, she hoped, was hidden behind her hand, but her expression probably still showed.
"Let me get this straight. You—Matou Sakura—the heir to the Matou house—Rider's Master—the Fuyuki Holy Grail—MY LITTLE SISTER—does not even know how to switch on her own Magic Circuit?!"
Silence.
Rin peeked through her fingers, actively chewing her lip. Rider had folded her arms and was staring Rin down impassively, while Sakura sat and fidgeted, glancing away, obviously uncomfortable.
"Well, it's not like you had a normal education by any stretch, but still…" This was going to be Shirou all over again. Someone had better kill her now.
"Um… Nee-san."
Rin forced a breath out, smoothed her hair down, and smiled awkwardly. "Don't make that face, Sakura. It's not like I'm mad at you or anything." Frustrated was all. But she couldn't push Sakura too hard, after all—she still remembered her sister swathed in shadows with scarlet eyes and bleached-white hair screaming for Rin to love her. She wasn't sure how well Sakura could read her yet.
"Nee-san… Rider said—that I might not have to worry about it because my Magic Crest is almost always on anyhow." Sakura said this very slowly, like she wanted to make sure she had the right words.
Rin made a face. "Well, that's not very good for your body to begin with." Even with a heretical Magic Crest like Sakura's, that was a physical scar through her entire body instead of a tattooed crest. "And besides, with the amount of prana you take in and give off every day, you stand out like a beacon to any magi around. And if people ever come to bother you about it—well, I might not be here to beat them up. And if Rider and Shirou aren't around to help you beat them up, you'll have to beat them up yourself. You probably won't like doing it, either.
"So just do yourself a favor and learn to use the switch, okay? It'll make life easier on you if you do."
Sakura was staring at her with such a look of wonder that Rin was worried she'd said something weird—all this being nice all the time put too much flab on her mind—but then her little sister broke out in a brilliant smile and even giggled.
"Okay, Nee-san. If it's all right with you, I'd like you to teach me."