This is a Shirou/Rin one-shot. It takes place a year after the events of Fate/Stay Night, following the story of the Unlimited Blade Works True End. I do not own the Fate series or any characters. I hope you enjoy!
Beginning of a Journey
This is bad. We have to leave for London now but Rin is still sleeping. I know I have to wake her up but... damn, I don't want to! Rin is not a morning person and she isn't going to be happy about me making her get up. What else can I do though? If I don't get her up now, we won't make our flight. Taking a deep breath, I muster all the courage I can while standing outside the door to her room in my house. I close my eyes as I start banging on the door and calling out to her.
"Rin! Wake up, Rin!" I yell.
I do this relentlessly. I don't let myself think about anything and just continue with what may be a suicide mission. Then suddenly the door opens and I thankfully manage to stop my hand from coming down to hit her door that has been replaced with her face.
"What?!" Rin glares death at me.
I swallow thickly. Did I mention she's not a morning person? Rin is completely disheveled and looks like the devil herself.
"Ah, um... London today." I manage to get something almost intelligible out.
Thankfully, it's enough for Rin to understand. Her anger disappears and she curses at the realization. She tells me to get everything ready at the entrance and slams the door in my face. Well, that's fine but... I already did all that. There's nothing left for me to do except wait for Rin. I put off waking her up as long as possible. As a result... I'm just standing out here silently.
Before long, Rin is coming out with her luggage. When she sees me there she looks like she's about to strangle me. I smile weakly and take her luggage. I tell her not to worry about it and just finish getting ready. That calms her down and she rushes ahead of me without comment. I walk to the front door and set her luggage alongside mine. In under 10 minutes Rin is standing in front of me, prim and proper. It's probably a world record. I smile at her.
"Ready to go?" I ask.
"Yes, now hurry up!" Rin snaps.
Rin takes about half the luggage before I can do anything and is already out the door. With a quiet chuckle, I grab the rest and follow her. I told her she should get a later flight but she ignored me and this is the result. I'm not about to tell her "I told you so" though. Rin will skewer me alive if I do. So I just follow her with a smile.
With Rin rushing us to our destination, we get there with plenty of time to spare. Only when we enter the airport and I tell her we still have a little over an hour until our flight is going to arrive does she relax. We search for the line that will take us to our flight. Finding it, we prepare ourselves for a long wait. I take Rin's hand while we wait for the line to move forward. She smiles at me.
It takes a bit over a half hour for us to make it to the receptionist. Rin does all the talking, showing the woman on the other side our tickets and everything. She nudges me when I need to show my passport and when all of that is sorted out I pass our luggage through. I take our carry-ons and Rin grabs my hand, pulling me along in a hurry.
I smile at her back. Rin has an air of superiority about her and looks beautiful as she walks on with definite steps. Still practically an idol even after graduating high school, she's nothing like the person she makes herself out to be. We go through our security check with minimal problems-some magic items kept setting the alarm off. Rin was really pissed off because it was only happening with her. Of course, I don't own anything magical in the first place so there's nothing for it to react to.
Hm... well, unless Rin's pendent counts. I used to carry it around with me in my pocket, as a good luck charm I would say if asked. That's not true though. It's because it's Rin's and it saved me. Anyway, it fell out of my pocket once and I almost lost it. I nearly had a heart attack. Now I keep around my neck at all times. Rin used to tease me all the time about it but I've been wearing it for quite some time now so I guess she got bored of it or it being there just became normal to her.
Anyway, other than Rin setting off every security alarm possible, things went smoothly. I patiently waited for things to be worked out and was snickering in the background the entire time. Rin didn't appreciate that at all and would send nasty looks my way. Actually, I think she scared the security personnel and I ended up having to calm her down. We managed to figure out what the problem was and then continued on.
That doesn't mean I've been forgiven though. Rin's still annoyed with me for laughing. I scratch the back of my head and wonder what I should do. We're in the waiting room now. There's another twenty minutes until our flight is supposed to arrive. I glance around and see a café. I suggest going there to Rin. The food should help cool her down. She nods and briskly walks over to the café. I meekly follow behind her.
There's a bit of a line. I can tell that the last thing Rin wants to do is stand in line or talk to anybody. Gently placing my hand on her shoulder, I tell her I'll get everything and she can save us a table. Rin looks up at me and the tension finally leaves her again. The frustration dissipates too. Rin nods and tells me what she wants, snatches the carry-ons from me, and settles down at a small table in the corner. I smile at her from across the room but turn my attention back to the line when it starts moving.
To my chagrin, the girl at the counter tries flirting with me. I try to politely turn her down, hinting at being here with someone and all around trying to tell her I'm not interested. She doesn't appear to notice and Rin is glaring daggers into my back. I can't see it but I can feel it. The atmosphere changes and I see that people have become unsettled, sensing a murderous intent in the air. Not knowing what else to do, I eventually make things crystal clear.
"I'm sorry, but I have a girlfriend." I say.
That should be enough right? It should be. She'll get the message and back off now. Then Rin won't kill me. Maybe.
"Oh, I see... Is she the girl in the corner glaring at you?" She asks and when I nod adds, "I was wondering what was up with her."
I laugh nervously and the girl finally takes pity on me and hands me my order. I quickly pay and rush over to Rin. She doesn't stop glaring and I kind of want to cry right now. Rin "hmph"s at me and turns her head away. Then she grabs her tea and sips at it, staring at the people uninterestedly. I know better than to think that everything is okay from that. I can still feel her dark aura.
"Um... Are you mad?" I ask something obvious.
"Hm? No, not really." Rin says, looking at me. "Not with you anyway."
"Oh, that's good." I sigh in relief.
"Though you could have been quicker about it." Rin snipes.
"Er... I was trying to be nice." I mumble.
"I know, which is why I'm not upset with you." Rin says.
"Even if you say that..." I mutter.
It doesn't feel like you aren't mad at me. Why even make that comment in the first place if you aren't upset with me? Ugh, I don't know what I should do. Since she's denying it, she'll calm down on her own with time and it'll be forgotten but that doesn't help right now. Rin gives me a look and I decide that I'll just keep my mouth shut and not say anything until we have to get on the plane. Haa... Maybe I won't talk on the flight either if she is still irritable then.
We eat biscuits together in silence. Geez, and I'd just managed to calm her down too. What a long morning. I leaned on a hand and stared off into the distance unseeingly. My mind is pretty blank right now. When I hear that our flight is now boarding I look up at Rin to find her staring at me. I blink in surprise and she looks away with a blush at being caught. Uh... What just happened? Well, at least I know she isn't in a bad mood anymore.
We get up and my pendent flutters in the air before hitting my chest again. Huh? When did that fall out? I tucked it under my shirt this morning. Oh. Is that why Rin was staring at me? Hm... but that's weird. It's not like she doesn't know I wear it. There's no reason for her to be staring at it. I'm about to tuck it back under my shirt but then I send Rin a sidelong glance. She isn't looking at me, maybe too flustered to do so, but that's fine. I drop my hand with a small smile. Since it seems to make her happy, I'll wear this proudly where everyone can see.
I grab the carry-ons and Rin's hand. She looks up at me in surprise and I give her one of my carefree smiles. Rin glances away for a second and then smiles back at me. Her eyes descend to her necklace and her smile softens. Oh. I was right then. Rin likes it when I wear the pendent like this. I only kept it under my shirt because it's more secure there and it honestly doesn't really suit me but I like the look on Rin's face right now. That's more than enough reason to flaunt this gem around.
Within seconds, Rin is taking charge again and leading the way. I smile with a little amusement at her. She has a control complex. It's okay. I like that about her. Rin likes to take charge of the situation and I'm content with that. It's kind of nice to be pulled around by her. We get on the plane and find our seats without any trouble. Rin takes the window seat and I'm right next to her.
Before sitting down, I put our carry-ons away. When I do sit down, Rin has something in her hands. Ah. It's a PSP. I don't know what game she's playing but she's already immersed in it. Rin's amazing at games too and she really enjoys them. I lean over a bit to watch her. Even as engrossed in her game as she is, she still notices this. Rin leans over to me and our arms press together. She makes sure I have a clear view of the screen and offers me an ear bud so I can listen.
With a small smile, I take it from her and pop it into my ear. The upbeat music rings clearly. It sounds nice and then she moves her avatar forward, presumably looking for something. I want to ask but decide not to. I'll figure out what she's doing eventually and I'm happy with things as they are right now. I'm content watching her and feeling her warmth against me.
After a while, we start talking to each other while she continues with her game. Well, we are talking about the game. It's more adventure than fighting. There are little puzzles and challenges you have to beat and we do them together. We have fun working together like this. Rin has taken a habit to buying games they we can play together. That makes me happy.
When we're done with the game, meaning Rin has gotten bored with it, she looks up at me and asks, "Are you looking forward to London?"
I blush a little because I know what she's insinuating, the underlying-the real-question; are you looking forward to living with me? I answer all the same
"I don't know about London but," I smile, "I'm definitely looking forward to being with you."
Rin makes a surprised face. She probably expected a lot of blushing and stuttering on my part. Well, that's understandable. I am blushing a lot and I don't know how I managed not to stutter while saying that. Maybe it's because I've been around Rin so much. I've gotten used to being embarrassed. When Rin absorbs what I just said, she smiles at me. She doesn't say anything, just smiles. But the smile is enough to tell me that she feels the same way. The way she interlaces our fingers after doesn't hurt either.
It still gets to me. Her teasing and all the little things she does. My heart still beats faster whenever she's near me or we're touching. It isn't as bad as it used to be but it's still there. Just like now, as I close my fingers around hers my heart is going pitter patter in my chest. Then Rin drops her head onto my shoulder and my smile broadens. This used to affect me a lot at first and it was hard to be near her because I thought my heart would rip out of my chest.
I'm not sure if that's really stopped or if it's just become normal to me so I don't notice it as much anymore. Either way, I'm happy about it. I'm looking forward to being with her, whether it's in London or anywhere else. I'll follow Rin wherever she goes. Maybe Archer couldn't make his ideal come true but he didn't have Rin to help him. So, I'll continue to chase after my ideal with Rin at my side. And our journey will start in London.