DISCLAIMER: Type-Moon owns the Fate/ series.
Chapter 1:The Peculiar Case of Shirou Emiya.
...
Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archdukes of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg.
The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.
Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut.
Repeat every five times.
Simply, shatter once filled.
-I announce.
You shall be under my command. My fate is in your sword.
In accordance with the resort of the Holy Grail, if you abide to this will, this reason, then answer me.
Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance!
...
And then, there was explosion.
"BOOOM!"
...
...
Tohsaka Rin, the number one school idol in Homurahara Academy, coughed profusely as the smoke enveloped the room that she had used to perform her ritual.
It was night time. To be more precise, it was the time when her power is as its peak. And so, it was the time to perform the most important ritual that she will ever perform in her entire life.
The ritual to summon a Servant, A hero from the time long past or the yet unreachable future. A necessity for a magus who was considered as worthy enough to participate in the battle royale between a number of exceptional magus and the hero that they summon.
A necessary ritual to be done by her, for her command seal showed up some time ago, indicating that she had been chosen as one of the participants of the prestigious competition created by three well-known magus families to try to reach Akasha, The Root of All Things.
The Holy Grail War.
Seven heroes separated into seven classes shall be summoned from the Throne of Heroes, the place where they resides after death because of the legend that made them known in the world by seven chosen magus as their Masters...
Then after all of them is summoned, so shall the War begins... and the victorious pair shall receive the prize of wish fulfillment, anything that they desire shall be granted by the Holy Grail, the near omnipotent artifact coveted by the contestants that is able to do nearly anything with the amount of energy contained within it.
Which is the reason why a magus chosen by the Grail to participate in the War would and should feel honored and expectant.
But, despite being one of them, Tohsaka Rin felt a little bit apprehensive and disappointed when she saw that there was no hero, no person that has been summoned from the Throne of Heroes to be her partner on this War, no one was there except for her.
"...Did I fail?" she uttered with a nigh-imperceptible twitch on her right eye.
She couldn't believe this, she had done everything right, she had prepared the summoning circle correctly, her power is at its peak during this precise moment, there should be a Hero standing right in front of her instead of an empty space!
...But then again, she didn't use a catalyst...
For a magus to summon a specific hero from a specific legend, he or she must use a catalyst to summon that certain hero, perhaps a shred of cloth from the piece of garment that the hero used to wear when he was alive, a piece of the legendary weapon that he once holds, in essence, things that could be identified as something that once belonged to the hero, or things that could be linked to the hero's legend.
But to obtain these catalysts, a magus needs to have a vast amount of wealth and resources, for they are items so rare that their existence might not be known to the public, relics thought to be lost for being thoroughly consumed by the ravages of time.
And thanks to her family's... financial conditions... she wasn't able to get a proper catalyst to summon a certain hero.
So she had left it to luck. She had hoped that the hero that she summoned would be a well-renowned hero, and hopefully, if she's awfully fortunate enough, the hero would be of Saber class as well.
Which is why if one of her schoolmate saw her current expression, it would ruin her reputation as an elegant young lady who would never let any situation get the best of her.
But, in her defense, her current expression is fully justifiable.
For she had never expected this to happen.
She was about to let bygones be bygones and go to sleep before she heard something from the room near the room where she currently is.
The raven-haired girl went towards the door leading to the room and opened it hastily.
And she saw a man wearing an intricate-looking onyx armor beneath a unique red coat that only has a pair of long sleeves that covered his arms and the lower part of the coat, the 'tail', as it were.
The man's skin was tanned and his short and spiky hair was white, he had a pair of gray eyes that gave him a rather piercing gaze that could be likened to that of a stare an eagle is able to give.
The man sat rather arrogantly as he placed one of his legs over the other and leaned back on the sofa that lies amidst the debris that she had undoubtedly caused, and when he saw Rin, he smirked knowingly, as if he had predicted her arrival, "Hm... it appears that I have been summoned. I am Servant Archer. Tell me, are you my Master?" the man asked of Rin.
'...Archer...? Damn it!' Rin cursed her luck inwardly, because despite being one of the three knight classes other than Lancer and Saber, Archer class wasn't the one that she wanted to summon. Especially because of the tactical disadvantage in combat situation, considering that he and Rin both excels at long-range combat situation.
Because she already had a plan. If she had summoned Saber, then the dynamic would be quite balanced, as she would be able to participate in combat by taking a support role from afar while Saber would be the one to initiate close-up combat.
But nevertheless, he had been summoned here because of her, and so she answered; "...I guess I am."
"Hm, I had expected great things from my Master," said Archer with a scoff, "But it seems that someone who summoned me is a magus who barely succeeded in the summoning ritual."
"..."
Though Rin didn't say anything, not even a retort to what the Servant of the Bow just said, her twitching eye and the subtle sound of teeth gnashing was an indication that his statement hits a bit too close to home than he might've thought.
And also, the place where he materialized and the scene of destruction that accompanied his summoning are the physical clues that there indeed was a hiccup in the summoning ritual.
"But still..." he said with a rather dramatic sigh that seemed rather sarcastic, considering how he did it, "The fact that you've summoned me despite all odds speaks a lot about your talent... I guess I shouldn't be too hasty in judging you after all..."
He then gave a rather confident smile and said; "I shall give you what you desire Master, the Holy Grail. After all, it's the least I could do to a Master who summoned me without even meaning to do so..."
Rin's eyes narrowed at the Archer, glaring at him with a stare that could wilt someone of her age due to its intensity.
But to Archer, it only amused him further, he smirked and said "Come now Master, you know as well as I do that such gaze will not work on me."
She kept her silence for a moment before she turned her back away and walked to the door.
"Master?" asked Archer.
"...I am going to go to sleep." she said, "This has been one disappointing, and not to mention, confusing night... and you." she pointed at Archer, "You will clean all of this mess. Come morning, I expect the house to be spotless and clean with a capital C, understood?"
Archer sweatdropped at her orders, "Oi oi, Master, are you seriously asking a Servant to clean the household?" he said with a 'you gotta be kidding me' tone of voice.
"...Do you want me to use this to make you obey?" she asked with a dangerous tone as she pointed out the currently glowing Command Seal on the back of her right hand.
...That immediately shut Archer up.
"Good. Now do a good job, I'll be sleeping." she said before she exited the room and closed the door rather roughly.
After she got out, Archer drew out an exasperated sigh as he placed his palm on his face to cover his eyes, "My my... such a troublesome Master I have..."
The tan-skinned man looked towards the scene of destruction around him and felt a lingering feeling...
A feeling that dictates him to immediately clean the mess. Not because of an order given by his Master...
But because of a principle that he holds dear.
The Servant of the Bow sighed before saying; "Well... this is going to be a long night..."
...
...
The next morning...
"So you really can't remember who you are?" asked Rin.
When she woke up after the summoning of Archer, she was pleased that the Servant did what he was told, the place was clean, everything has been re-arranged to their proper place, all and all, he did a marvelous job.
Had been pleased enough with his work, Rin then decided that she should know more about her Servant, who he really is, at what era did he come from, what his abilities are... Practically, the things that she needs to know for being his Master.
But then he dropped the bomb.
He doesn't remember his past life.
Not a single shred of memory. And that means Rin couldn't possibly know of his legend, that is, if he has a very recognizable one.
After all, his choice in clothing provided many possibilities as to which era that he hailed from, as what he's wearing doesn't exactly fit to any era of the past that she know of.
Archer shrugged, not even showing an ounce of concern of his memory loss and said; "It doesn't really matter either way Master, my abilities are still intact, this is just a simple obstacle to overcome." smirking confidently, he then stated: "And besides, it shouldn't be much of a problem to you, isn't it Master?"
It took a moment for her to create a proper response, "...O-of course. It's a simple trifle, nothing to get me concerned." she said, rather charmed by Archer's implied compliment.
Though she also noticed that his compliment wasn't something really genuine, she cares not for that fact.
"So, what shall we do next, Master?" Archer asked the magus with an expectant smile.
She flashed a confident smile that seems to mirror Archer's own and said...
"Make me lunch."
"..."
Archer got nothing on his repertoire that he could use as a response to that.
"It's almost noon, and I'm hungry, can you cook?" she asked the tan-skinned Servant with a rather adorable smile that seems rather innocent to someone who had never seen her true self.
But Archer wasn't that kind of person.
"Oh don't worry." Rin said as she waved her hand to placate his worries, "We'll make plans later, right now though? I'm famished. I really hope you know how to cook, I expect something good out of you Archer, if not? Well..." she left what she's going to say hanging, making it so that there would be some things that she can do to punish him if he does something wrong with the food.
Archer closed his eyes to calm himself, the left one twitched several times in the span of two seconds before he said, "...I'll see what I can do Master..."
Rin merely grinned mischievously while Archer couldn't help but think...
'She's still hung up about not summoning the right Servant isn't she?'
He had an idea that he wasn't the right Servant that she had wanted to summon and that she had expected some other hero, but come on, can't she just put a bit more faith in him?
He is her Servant after all...
...
...
Several hours later...
A pair of gray eyes looked towards the lit-up area of Fuyuki City from a the highest viewpoint available within the area of Miyama, the half part of the city that contained the residences of the city.
"How is it Archer?" asked Rin as she too watched over the landscape of the city with her Servant, "Is this building tall enough for you to evaluate the battleground?"
"Hm... I would prefer somewhere even taller, but this is good enough." answered the Servant of the Bow, "I have enough information of the battleground, and now I know where are the best places for me to utilize my abilities to their fullest."
He then pointed towards the bridge that connects the area of Miyama and Shinto, which is the metropolitan district of the city, complete with modern skyscrapers and the like to give the impression of a bustling modern city.
"That bridge would be an ideal location for me to fight, it provides no cover for the enemy and an eagle's nest providing three-hundred and sixty degrees of view would be ideal for an Archer like me." said the white-haired servant, "If we can lure an enemy Servant there, it would be best."
He then turned his gaze towards the tallest building in Shinto district near the bridge, and said this as he pointed towards the skyscraper; "As for the ideal place for me to observe the city in its entirety... that building should do it for me."
Rin looked at the skyscraper that he pointed and raised her eyebrows in slight confusion, "Isn't that building too far away? And how would you be able to see something so distant from that position?"
He closed his eyes and smiled, "No. It is not a hard thing to do with my ability. I can see quite far with my eyes Rin, I'll be able to see everything in the vicinity of the city by standing at that building, do not worry too much."
She then nodded in understanding. Even though she hadn't seen any ability that he has, the words from a Heroic Spirit shouldn't be doubted too much. After all, their great deeds and abilities, whatever they may be, allowed them to enter the Throne of Heroes.
If he said that he could do it, then he could, that's all there is to it.
...But, there is one ability of his that she already knows first hand.
Because if Cooking can be counted as one of the prominent abilities that a Hero has, then his rank at that particular skill must be at least 'A'
It was the only reason that she didn't use her Command Seal to humiliate him or anything of the sort. As much as she hates to admit it, her cooking seems rather sub-par when compared to his.
And let it be known that she is a good cook. Living by herself and knowing a certain priest who liked food that are spicy beyond belief required her to be a good cook if she wants to eat something that wouldn't burn her stomach.
"Now, Rin..." Archer said as he turned towards Rin, "Shall we patrol the city and look for enemy Servants tonight? I doubt that this is all that you want to do for the first day of the War."
She smirked confidently and said; "You bet Archer. C'mon, let's see if we can find ourselves an enemy Master." she said as she walked towards the door to begin her first day as a Master in the Holy Grail War.
Archer smiled and sighed before he disappeared from sight as he astralized himself.
...
...
The next day...
Rin is... somewhat bored.
Though she's able to maintain her focus to the teacher who seemed to drone on and on about something that happened somewhere that was caused by someone, she did so with no small amount of willpower to keep her mind at the subject that the teacher's talking about.
Her patrol last night didn't result in something useful, no Servants nor Masters showed up to fight Archer or her, which wasn't something that is unwelcome, but... at the same time, she couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.
But still, it was only the first day, this time, she will encounter a Servant, that much she is sure.
She just wished that the teacher in front of her would be a lot more interesting in how he teaches his student.
Considering his lack of expression and his monotone voice, it's apparent that being interesting is not really his forte.
...
After the sound of the bell rang throughout the school, Rin packed her bags and left the class almost immediately, intending to prepare herself for the next night patrol.
As she navigates through the hallways of the school, she, -as part of her school idol persona-, politely greeted back to everyone who said hi and began to try and have a conversation with her.
She turned them down of course, she had some work to do and she can't afford even the slightest of delays.
But that was the reason why she managed to bump into someone on her way out of the school.
"Oof!" said the person that she bumped.
"Oh I apologize for not seeing you there, I was in a-" she stopped when she saw who it was that she bumped upon, "Oh, Ryuudou-kun."
"Geh! T-Tohsaka!" said the named Ryuudou as he took a step back out of fear when he saw her.
Ryuudou Issei, the President of the Student Body, he had always been someone who's rather infamous in the school for his well-known adversity towards her. Though most of the students in the school don't have any idea why he's afraid of her instead of having a crush on her like most guys, she knew exactly why.
He's some kind of a psychic. That has to be it.
If he's not a psychic, then at the very least, he's someone who can see through people's facade and fragments of their real self that they contained within them. This instinct of his is what led him to fear her, due to the fact that he can see glimpses of who she actually is despite of the fact that she's not blatantly showing him her true personality.
It was also the thing that made her wary of him, even to the point of quitting the membership of the Student Body when she realized his ability.
But, she maintained her school idol persona even when around him, because there's no reason to abandon the facade of normalcy when most of the students and teachers within the school don't exactly follow Issei's disposition towards her.
"Good afternoon to you Ryuudou-kun." she said politely before turning to the one standing beside...
...Oh, it's him.
She was still and silent for a moment before she regained her bearings, "...And to you too... Emiya-kun."
Shirou Emiya, the Fake Janitor of Homurahara Academy.
Unlike her other colleagues within the academy, she could almost proudly say that she knows something about the redhead that others do not.
The redhead is a magus, a relatively unknown magus whose ability still remains unknown to her.
A fact that she's bothered with, due to the fact that she is a Tohsaka, the family of magus that is supposed to overlook the city as its Second Owner. And this young man had slipped under her radar to the point that she doesn't know of his existence until when she saw him several years ago at the ceremony that welcomed her and him along with several others to Homurahara middle school.
Her first impression was that Shirou Emiya is a rather timid young man who would do what anyone told him to with a smile, especially if the task is to help someone. She was right in that regard, after all, that's how he got the name Fake Janitor.
But, something about him doesn't feel... right.
Perhaps she's channeling her 'Ryuudou-sense' as she once called it as, but she had a feeling that he is not what he seems like.
Unlike Ryuudou who saw glimpses of her... less than idol-like personality, something that she saw within him was... much more... grander.
Like staring at a prince who disguised himself for a pauper.
...And speaking of princes, yes, she knows about the second nickname that was given to him by some of the girls who fancies him.
After all, standing at 175 centimeters, he is quite tall for a boy of his age, and his kind demeanor helped adding more popularity to that nickname of his.
Though his posture does play down his height for a bit, not to mention that he doesn't really have the intimidating aura usually possessed by a tall person.
But his eyes...
She can certainly see where those girls would get that idea for a nickname.
"Afternoon, Tohsaka." the redhead said with a smile that matched her own, though lacking in insincerity like hers, "You're in a hurry." he remarked.
She nodded, "Yes, I am. So if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." she said to defuse further conversation and went on her way.
He bothered her, but not in the same way that Ryuudou bothered her, it's... different.
It feels both pleasant and unpleasant at the same time.
She shook her head, 'No, now's not the time to think about that, after all this is over... ...maybe...' she thought to herself as she began to quicken her walking pace.
...
...
Same day, Night-time...
A pair of aqua-colored eyes scanned the surroundings of the school from the rooftop, and found nothing but the empty environment of Homurahara Academy staring back right at her eyes.
But through her other senses, she can feel an enemy's presence nearby.
A trace of another Servant, approaching closer and closer to the proximity of the school.
"Do you feel that Archer?" she asked her Servant.
Archer merely nodded in response, and so Rin continued to speak; "Get yourself ready Archer, this will be your first fight in the War."
He smirked and said; "I've been ready for quite some time Rin, instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself."
"I can take care of myself." she replied hotly as she glared at Archer.
"Against a Servant?" asked Archer rhetorically, prompting Rin to seal her lips. He then sighed and said, "When the enemy Servant comes, find some place safe to watch, if you don't want to watch, it's also fine. Either way works."
She turned her head away from Archer before answering; "Fine..."
She didn't see him smirk rather knowingly at her response.
...!
The pair looked towards the school's courtyard in unison when they felt that pulse of magic.
"Archer." she said.
"Hm." he nodded.
And both of them immediately goes as fast as they could towards the source of the pulse.
...
When they arrived at the courtyard, they saw that there was a blue-haired man with an equally blue skin-tight bodysuit along with a set of steel pauldrons that protected his shoulders. He wield a crimson spear on his right hand, the indication of what his class is, and most likely, his Noble Phantasm.
"Yo!" he greeted them with a grin, "I am Servant Lancer. Now, if we can just get into the fighting, that would be great."
"Where's your Master, Lancer?" Rin asked the spearman as other than him, there was no one in sight.
He grinned and wagged his finger, as if reprimanding her, "Now now little lass, it would be rather rude of me to tell you where she's located." he said, prompting Rin to get somewhat annoyed, "But, what I can tell you is that she's nearby. And that we noticed you and him yesterday when you guys were scouring the city in search of a Servant."
Rin's eyes widened, she turned her head slightly towards Archer and whispered; "Did you-?"
"No, I didn't notice them." answered the Servant clad in red, "It seems that they're capable of reconnaissance to a degree, and I'm willing to bet that his Master used some spells that helped concealing their presence as well."
"Yeah." confirmed the Lancer, "And as a precaution, we also kept our distance, and after we found out that you're in this place and about to begin your second patrol, I thought that we might as well introduce ourselves. Though she opts to stay at a safe zone in the end, she agreed to my recommendation."
Then the blue-haired spearman performed a combat stance and said; "Now... let us fight." he said to Archer.
Archer narrowed his eyes before he said to Rin, "Master, get to a safe distance."
She nodded and with an impressive speed, she dashed to a place safe enough for her to observe the fight. When she stopped and turned, she also had to keep herself aware of Lancer's Master, who is supposed to be nearby.
But, as the Lancer charged towards Archer, she couldn't help but be mesmerized.
Instead of a bow or some other ranged weapon that would suit his class, Archer summoned a pair of chinese swords, black and white, as if mirroring Taijitu, the symbol of harmony, of Yin and Yang. And with it, he met Lancer's attack head on.
"Huh...! A swordsman... You must be Saber!" stated Lancer.
Archer smirked smugly at his statement and said; "I guess I am."
Then, as the two combatants fought, Rin watches their every move.
Every time their weapons clashed, every time their movements become so erratic, fast, powerful, and yet harmonious due to the skills that they have accumulated during their lifetime, every time, the surroundings seemed to shudder as the two warriors' clash.
It was such a sight to see, despite the fact that her Servant isn't supposed to be able to fight just like a Saber would, he still managed to go toe-to-toe with Lancer, who's supposed to be the most agile of all classes.
The sight was so mesmerizing that it made her mind too distracted from noticing some things that she should have...
And in this case, it was the arrival of an unintended witness.
"Ck! A witness...!" said Lancer as he turned his red eyes towards the intruding visitor.
Rin also turned to the direction where the Lancer is looking, and she found...
...Oh damn it...! Of all the people in this school that could've stumbled into the fight between her Servant and the other, why does it have to be him?!
...
...
"Ck! A witness...!"
When Archer heard that the Lancer saw a witness, he involuntarily turned towards the place where the witness' presence is located.
There was this strange feeling that he had experienced this before... perhaps some of his memories have returned and the events that happened helped them to recover somehow?
He did not know, not yet at least.
But when he saw the one who witnessed their battle, the strange feeling returned with a vengeance.
It's as if he should know about the watcher, the redhead boy with his amber eyes, who bore his gaze unto the lanceman...
The gaze that Archer felt misplaced, it's as if he knows that the boy shouldn't have those kind of eyes... It was the eyes of a hardened warrior of war.
He saw the redhead stared at Lancer for a split second before he ran away, not out of fear it seems, as apparent by his gait and his calm but stern expression as he did so...
He heard the blue-haired Lancer clicked his tongue before he began to pursue the boy.
Archer watched as Lancer went out of sight in his pursuit.
He then heard the sounds of footsteps coming from behind, the indication that his Master, one Rin Tohsaka is currently looking towards the direction where the Lancer had taken off in trepidation.
"Damn it...! I thought that everybody have left the school already..." she uttered out.
Archer sighed at his Master's oversight, "It doesn't matter, Lancer will take care of him anyway." he said nonchalantly.
Somehow... he doesn't like that red-headed boy. Who was he and why did he hate him so much?
Such questions can only be answered if he has his full memory...
Rin turned to her Servant, and she gave him a glare that showed how she doesn't like what her Servant said. And so, the armored Servant said; "With all due respect Rin, he just witnessed a battle in what supposed to be a secret War, if he's not eliminated, the existence of magus as a whole wil-"
"No, you don't understand! He-" she stumbled on her explanation for a moment before she regained her bearings and said; "He's a magus, like me."
Archer raised his eyebrows and asked her; "How do you know?"
"...I saw him using his magic circuits on accident." answered Rin, "It was when I was staying late at school and happened to come upon a scene where he's fixing electronic appliances out of whim on Student Council's room ... I know it sounds weird that he's willing to do such a thing, without pay even. But... at that time, the sight of him using Structural Grasp made me realize how he's an adept at fixing things... he used a low-ranked spell to figure out the problem that afflicted the machine and fix it with the knowledge."
...Archer felt apprehensive for the first time since his summoning. Why is it that the thing that the redhead did annoyed and bothered him so much?
But he ignored the feeling for now and said; "Then what do you want to do now, Rin?"
She was silent as she contemplates, and after a couple of seconds filled with silence, she said; "We'll save him. He doesn't need to die because of this."
Archer once again sighed, not out of disappointment, but because he had expected such a thing from her, "As you wi-"
"CLANG!"
Then, it happened.
"KRRRRSH!"
The Master and her Servant heard the cacophony of clashing steel that echoed throughout the school, and it came from the rooftop of the main school building.
'...How did he get there so fast?' she wondered about Shirou Emiya's ability to sprint at such speed, as considering the distance from the courtyard to the rooftop of the main building doesn't allow even the fastest of runners to overcome it in just a few seconds.
But the sounds... they're not unlike the sounds that Archer and Lancer made when they were having a bout.
"What the hell is going on there...?" Rin muttered out. She then turned to Archer, glared at him for a split second in a non-verbal way of giving orders before she ran with all her might towards the main school building.
Archer sighed once more before he too began to follow his Master.
...
"Curse these goddamn stairs!" cursed Rin as she began to feel tired of navigating the stairs of the school building to get to the rooftop.
The sounds of clashing steel stopped not a few moments ago, and it forced Rin to quicken her pace as it seems that her fear has come to pass.
'No. No, he's not dead, not yet.' she assured herself as she pushed her physical strength to its limit
As she was about to climb the last set of stairs leading to the rooftop...
[!...!_!...!]
She heard a roar, so inhuman in its nature that it made her hair stand on end and halted her progress slightly.
But before she could even compose herself, there was another thing coming...
"BOOOOOM!"
Mainly, an explosion that shook the building slightly, she could hear the sounds of concrete being destroyed around her, and she nearly fell off the stairs when it happened so suddenly.
"What the..." she uttered out before she took a glance downstairs...
There were smokes everywhere... and there seems to be quite a large amount of debris that covered the hallway on the level below.
Rin was thoroughly stunned by the event that transpired, the Lancer's Noble Phantasm is quite fearsome, to be able to cause such destruction. And that roar...
She dare not to think deeply about it.
But she decided to ignore the scene of destruction for now and proceed to go to the rooftop.
When she opened the door, her eyes widened at what she saw...
For what she saw was the figure of Shirou Emiya with his legs bent to give the impression that he's kneeling, and his spine hunched to the point where his head is on the same level as his chest, his arms looked as if they're just hanging on his shoulders. His back was facing her, and he was deathly still...
She also noticed that the floor made out of concrete in front of him was destroyed, it formed a pair of straight lines leading to one of the edges of the rooftop.
Ignoring the destroyed concrete, Rin ran towards the boy, and when she saw his chest...
She gasped as she placed her hand on her lips to cover her mouth.
There was a massive hole in the place where his heart should be, a hole that continue to leak out blood that began to soak his school uniform.
He is dead.
She shook her head to throw away her shocked state, she then heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and when she turned, she saw Archer approaching her.
"...We're too late." said Rin as she turned towards the still kneeling corpse of Shirou Emiya.
She then proceed to make him lie on his back before she examined the wound.
After a few minutes, she heard her Servant sigh, this time out of disappointment, "There's nothing that we could do Rin, let it go." said Archer without even a slight amount of emotion.
And what he said annoyed her.
"Shut up Archer." she said sternly before she took out the pendant that she had brought with her since yesterday. The pendant was a ruby hanging off on a silver chain, the red jewel contained a lot of prana, and it was a specially prepared jewel she had prepared, it was supposed to be used in a tight situation during the War.
But it seems that she had to use it for him.
'...He wasn't even a participant... he's innocent...' she thought to herself before she knelt and placed the boy's head on top of her bent legs.
She then raised her pendant slightly using her right hand while her left hand is placed over the boy's wound.
After closing her eyes, she then activated her magic circuits to channel the large amount of prana contained within the jewel into her...
And then use it to heal the boy.
Though she knew that her father would've reprimanded her for wasting such a precious resource on something like this, at that moment, she just doesn't care.
She wants to save him.
And she will do everything she can and give anything that she has to do so.
...
...
"It wasn't a good decision Rin." said Archer as they walked back to her residence after healing the boy and fixing the damages on the rooftop and the level right below it, "To use such a resource on the boy would mean that you now have one less advantage that you can use against your enemy."
She gritted her teeth before she turned to Archer, "I know, and I don't care Archer!" she shouted, "Look, we'll just get some more jewels from my house, then afterwards, we'll go to Emiya-kun's house, he should've woken up right about now and I'm sure that he would go to his house after he recuperated a bit."
"When we're there, we need to explain some things to him. He needs to know why he was targeted by Lancer, he's a magus so I think he'd understand." she explained her plan to Archer, who doesn't look like he's placated by her explanation.
"...Rin... do you harbor some feelings for the boy?" he asked her.
She nearly fell to the ground when Archer said that, she regained her posture not long afterwards and turned to Archer and shouted; "N-no I do not! Don't kid yourself Archer!" ...Her blushing face didn't help the denial of course.
She then quickly turned away from Archer and began to quicken her pace.
Archer merely shook his head and sighed at his Master's feelings that might've cost her the War. 'You're too soft Rin...' he lamented inwardly.
...
After reaching the residence of the Tohsaka family and taking what she needed, she and Archer then walked towards the direction of Shirou's house.
Archer was still astralized like before, but this time, he opted to stay silent and observe. Which was all fine with Rin, since she kind of want the rather peaceful silence for the moment.
Now that she has calmed down a bit, she began to retrace the chronological events that had happened during this night.
First, Lancer arrived at the school declaring a fight, and Rin and Archer agreed.
Then, Shirou Emiya stumbled on the scene and ran, prompting Lancer to chase him first as Rin and Archer stayed and discussed a bit on what they should do.
Afterwards, they decided to intervene, but they were too late and found his lifeless body on the rooftop which was partly destroyed by... something. Rin promptly healed him in the nick of time, preventing him from passing on, but she did so with a cost.
Then finally, she went back to her house to get some things before she and Archer walked towards Shirou's house to discuss about the Holy Grail War with him...
Now, the events that had transpired wasn't all that confusing, however... there are some things that bothered her so much.
First was the sound of steels clashing that resounded over the school, it indicates a fight, and so the Lancer must've met some resistance from Shirou. 'Even though he died in the end... it seemed that he did go out fighting.' Rin thought.
Usually normal people would've run away in fear after seeing the fight between Servants, even a normal magus would've been afraid at facing one of them head-on as enemies.
This means that Shirou is not unlike a warrior, he would rather die fighting than die running from his enemy. A bit confusing, considering his usual demeanor at school, but not something too outlandish to assume.
But the second part is a bit more difficult to comprehend...
Judging by the scars of battle that the rooftop has suffered, Shirou's fight against Lancer was great enough to cause that scale of destruction, this made her think that Shirou Emiya is a talented magus, perhaps even more talented than her if he's able to stand his ground against a Servant.
But what is his ability that was able to cause such a destruction...?
Rin's first thought was that he had some sort of a Mystic Code, a magical artifact that is usually used by magus as a weapon, an extension of their Thaumaturgy.
But known Mystic Codes usually belonged to famous families, like the Archibald, Tohsaka, Fraga, and so forth. Emiya Shirou is a magus whom she didn't even know existed until a couple of years ago, and considering this information, the possibility of him having a very powerful Mystic Code that allowed him to fight a Servant evenly is quite little...
Not impossible, only close enough to zero percent that it might as well be considered as such.
Still, he must have a lot of question when he wakes up, she will answer it all... As long as he answers hers.
And so, when she was only a couple of feet away from his house, she was taken by surprise...
"BOOOM!/CRACK!"
When she heard the sound of an explosion followed by the sound of destroyed concrete.
"Wha.. what the...?" she uttered out in shock as the noise managed to make her locked in place.
Then after awhile, Archer said this; "Rin, it seems that the boy is being attacked by Lancer again."
"What?! Damn it!"
She then pushed her legs to sprint for the rest of the way to Shirou's house.
...
...
...
...
At roughly the same time... Emiya Residence.
"I am Servant Saber of this Holy Grail War... and I ask of you... are you my Master?"
Despite his exhausted state, Shirou understood that this girl in front of him is a contestant of the game that allowed for the summoning of heroes to fight each other. A Servant...
And he had inadvertently summoned her...
But how?
He looked back to the shed where he was thrown into and saw that there was a remnant of a Summoning Circle in there, and he realized that the blood that is leaking out from the hole on his shoulder must have activated it and summoned her in the process.
He knew that such a ritual could be performed without any kind of incantation but...
The notion that he would experience it firsthand never came to his mind...
"...I guess so." he answered tiredly. And inwardly, he now understands why he felt so exhausted, his prana had been fully drained from the summoning and the first verse of his personal aria, after all, he had unconsciously activated nearly ninety-five percent of his Magic Circuits' total amount.
But he's a bit placated by the fact that now he has a name to give to this competition.
Holy Grail War...
...
Why does that term seemed familiar to him? And why does it make his head burn with rage?
Something doesn't feel right...
Then he felt something else, he turned to his left shoulder and he saw that his wound is beginning to close itself, at a faster rate than it should be. 'Hm... now that's interesting...' he thought.
'What could've accelerated the restoration process?' he wondered.
Shirou's train of thought was cut off when he heard the sound of shifting rubble, and when he turned to the source of the sound, he saw that the blue-haired spearman is currently trying to get himself to stand up. The spearman was quite wounded and bruised, and not to mention that he's also bleeding from his mouth.
When the lanceman saw the blonde woman besides him, he clicked his tongue in annoyance, "...Damn it! You managed to summon your servant?!"
Saber, perceiving him as an enemy, was about to perform an attack on the lanceman, but then Shirou said, "Saber, stop!" he shouted to prevent her from doing so.
She turned towards her Master in confusion, "Master?" she asked him.
Shirou didn't answer Saber's unspoken question, he instead turned to Lancer and he shouted; "Lancer! Tell your Master that I have summoned my Servant! And if you want to come challenge us again, do so when you're at full power." he then grinned and ended with; "We'll be glad to oblige you."
The lanceman's eyes widened for a moment before the edges of his lips turned upward and formed a grin, "Hehehe... hahahaha...! Aahahahahahahaaa...! I really like you kid! Very well, this shall be a momentary farewell between us, kid! I won't forget what you said!" he shouted back excitedly towards the redhead.
He then turned his back away from them and jumped away from the proximity and then vanished without a trace.
Saber turned towards Shirou with a stern yet thoroughly befuddled expression, "Master, why did you do that?" she asked him like a parent asking a child about an act of mischief that they had done to them, "...And who gave him such injuries?" she added.
Despite his wound, he grinned, showing his partly bloodied teeth, and said; "I did."
Her eyes widened a fraction, and her response was instant, "It's impossible Master, you're a human being, you can't possibly-"
Her rebuttal was cut off when she felt a presence within the proximity of the residence, "Master, stay here, there are intruders entering the ground."
He felt them too.
A bounded field has been placed here by his father, a bounded field designed to make the owner aware of who is entering the place. Shirou would've been a bit worried if it was a hostile presence, after all, most of his prana supply has been drained.
Though he did end up worrying.
And it was because of what Saber said next; "I shall take care of them."
Then with a burst of speed, she ran towards the entrance.
"...Oh goddamn it."
Shirou knew that what the Servant Saber meant by taking care of them means that she's going to kill them, whoever they may be.
It's not something that he could abide by, now is it? After all, the intruder might not have any malicious intent towards him, and unless he knows that it was the opposite...
He will not allow what the Servant of the Sword is going to do.
Despite his weakened state, he Reinforced his body and used a shortcut to the entrance by jumping to and traversing the roof of his house.
When he reached the edge of the roof near the entrance, he saw that there were two intruders, one of them is the man clad in red who fought Lancer before, and the other was...
...Hell, she won't kill her on his watch.
The man clad in red was wounded by Saber, who seemed to be wielding an invisible sword, one made out of air, he idly suspected that it was used to conceal its true form. It's as if she's hiding her true sword that would give some kind of clue to her enemies if it's real form were seen.
When the man clad in red is defeated and vanished, she turned to the other intruder, who was taken aback by fear and made her fall on her posterior.
When Saber dashed towards her, he wrung out every last bit of prana that he had left by imagining himself being struck by a particularly fierce lightning and said...
"Trace...ON!"
The sound halted Saber's advance, and it provided Shirou the time to jump, grab the grip of the weapon that he just traced...
"SCHWING!/GRSSK!"
And embed the massive sword right between the intruder and Saber so that the Servant could not harm her.
The sword wasn't the curved sword that he had used to fight the Lancer, it was a double-edged sword which is slightly taller than Shirou himself, and its width nearly reached thirty centimeters. Its blade, hilt and pommel were covered in golden-tinted steel, but yet its grip and its edges was covered in onyx steel.
The blade part of the sword had seven golden circles imbedded on it, each of their diameters was three centimeters, and they were set in a rather esoteric pattern, with three being set on a vertical line, one on the top near the upper edge, the middle and the bottom, near the pommel. And four pairs placed in two separate horizontal lines, placing them near the side edges. The first two was aligned right below the topmost single circle but right above the middle circle, and the last two was placed slightly above the lowest golden circle.
The most remarkable feature of the sword is its pommel, because of the sculpture of two pair of wings and horns jutting out on its upper and lower side of the pommel respectively. It wouldn't be too farfetched to say that he sword's creator must've been an artistic blacksmith, one that could create a sword that exude such majestic aura and making it look like a sword fit for a king...
...or a god.
A second afterwards, Shirou landed right in front of the sword, he grimaced as he looked at what he just traced, "Damn it, I should've been more precise in projecting a weapon, this is too powerful to be used just for this...!" he uttered out in frustration.
"Master?" Saber asked her Master in confusion. She saw as he turned to her and lift his hand up and raised his palm towards her, a gesture which served as a warning for her to not continue her attack.
"Saber, stop. She's of no threat to me or to you."
"But Master, she's an enemy Master." said Saber, trying to explain her actions, "She is a participant in this Holy Grail War, like you. And her intrusion is basically a declaration of attack."
Shirou was silent before he continued with; "It doesn't matter, there's still no valid reason for you to kill her." when she was about to explain further, he stopped her with; "Saber." he began, "I know that you're worried about me, I understand that. But we will not be the one who attacks first. If an enemy in this competition is hostile and attacks us first, then we'll fight them, understood?"
"But Master-!"
"Saber." he called her name calmly to stop her from speaking further, "I will not let you attack someone recklessly like this, even if it was a potential enemy, understood?"
Her expression was one of discontent, but after awhile, she relented as she tilt her head down and lower her invisible sword, "...Very well Master."
Shirou sighed in relief before he made the massive blade disappear, he then turned towards the intruder and said; "Tohsaka, are you alright?"
"...I'm fine... Emiya-kun." the twin-tailed girl wearing her long-sleeved red sweater and a -scandalously short- black skirt completed with a pair of equally black stockings greeted him with a rather... annoyed expression. But the word annoyed seems rather tame, so it could be said that her expression is one of irritation and slight anger.
And he also noticed that the way she said 'Emiya-kun' was laced with a bit of venom within it.
Something that interests and scares him somewhat.
She lifted herself up and patted off the dusts that was rather glued on her skirt when she fell,"You don't seem surprised by my occupation as a magus Emiya-kun." she stated, "I wonder, did you already know that I was one?"
If that was the case, if his intuition is indeed that impressive, then he is much more fearsome than she had previously thought.
"...I just know about it now actually." he answered.
And it took her off-guard, "W-what? Then how come you're not shocked?"
"I had always known that your idol persona is just a mask." Shirou answered, shocking her even more, "Your demeanor always felt... off, at least to me. I didn't know the reason why you're masquerading before, but when you said that you're a magus, it all just... clicked." he said, "That's why I'm not that shocked."
...Okay, she has changed her initial evaluation about him, his intuition is quite-, no, very scary.
"Well, regardless..." she changed the topic of conversation to try and hide her shock, "That was an impressive show there Emiya-kun. Gradation Air, correct? The sword was very... regal, but you do know that such thing wouldn't be able to be used against her right? She is a Saber after all, the best class of all the other Servants."
He sighed and said; "You're correct, that was only half-done." he confirmed her assumption.
"...Half-done?" the raven-haired girl asked.
"Yeah, I'm a little bit low on prana, so..." he said as he gestured his hand towards where the spot where the massive blade was imbedded before, "That was the most perfect that I could achieve in this condition... but even so, I think that blade could withstand a few attacks from her."
She shook her head, "Emiya-kun, you do know that Gradation Air is a spell to make an object made out of prana right? That blade can't possibly hope to match a normally-made weapon, let alone a magically-created one."
He then gave her a look of confusion and said; "Who said that I was using Gradation Air?"
"...What?" she asked in befuddlement, what is he talking about? "That was... you projected that blade, right?" a nod. "It was made by your prana, right?" another nod. "And it was a copy of an original that you once saw, right?"
"Right." Shirou answered with the final nod, "But it wasn't Gradation Air."
"Then what was it?" asked Rin who had gotten very curious as to what exactly that he did. Not to mention a little jealous, as she's supposed to be a genius magus but yet she doesn't know about the particular spell that he just did.
"...Tracing." he answered.
...
"...I've never heard of that spell." Rin answered after a few moments of silence.
Shirou smiled mischievously and answered with; "Good. It should be unheard of."
"...Wait, what is that supposed to mean? Is..." she trailed off as her eyes widened due to one assumption that came on her head, "...Is that your family's specialty? A specialized Gradation Air?"
The redhead's answer was; "...It's like that, but... a bit different." he said as he ruffled his hair sheepishly.
"...Then wha-"
"I'll explain it to you later." he said as he raised both of his hand to prevent her from speaking further, "For now though... seeing that you're also a Master, I would like some explanation about this whole Holy Grail War thing." he then turned towards the garden...
...Or more specifically, towards the destruction that he and the Lancer had caused due to their fight.
"But... this needs to be fixed first." he grimaced.
...
...
"By the way, that was quite amazing, Tohsaka." Shirou said with admiration apparent in his voice as he, Rin and Saber are currently entering his house, with Saber observing Rin quite zealously, intending to prevent her from attacking Shirou if she ever saw an opening.
Rin had taken the liberty of fixing the aftermath of the redhead's fight with Lancer, but she had thought that all of that was made by Saber and Lancer instead of Shirou, and it only took her a couple of minutes to get them fully repaired, and afterwards, Shirou invited her to his house, which she agreed.
...Well, it took sometime to convince Saber though...
"Normally it would've taken me a couple of hours to fix all of that."
She turned to him, and he saw that her expression was one of disbelief, "What?"
Seeing that face, Shirou couldn't help but be confused, "...What?"
"You... you have a specialized Gradation Air, and to fix just all that would've taken a couple of hours for you?" she asked incredulously.
"Well, yeah." He answered it instantly, "I'm more of a specialized kind of magus, the only magecraft that I know of is Reinforcement, Structural Grasp and Tracing. I make up my limited knowledge on other spells with mastering those which I'm actually good at."
Shirou then opened the door leading to the guest room and entered.
Meanwhile, Rin could barely believe what she's hearing, "Shirou, besides Tracing which I don't know about, the other two spells are very basic, why didn't your teacher teach you more?"
He turned his head slightly to Rin and said; "Other spells just doesn't suit me." he answered with a smile.
He then gestured Rin to sit on one of the chair while Saber in the other which they obliged. But the former asked this after she sat down, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well... let's just say that the path of jack-of-all-trades isn't available for me. Instead of a Scholar, I'm more of a Battlemage, I think." he said as he sat on the chair directly opposite to Rin.
He saw that she's a tad confused, and he assumed that it was because of the terms that he just used, so he said; "It means that I'm a magus more suited for battle due to my skills and certain spells that I've mastered."
"No no, I get that. You're saying that you're a lot more suited to be an Enforcer." answered Rin, "But what I'm confused about is the fact that you're already specialized in your age, most specialized magus that I know of are... old."
"Well, my Shisou(Mentor) already knew about my Origin and Element... so going from there, he already knew about the teachings that I should receive." he answered, "And in case you want to know that or anything else about my skills, why don't you analyze me?" he said as he held out his hand to her.
She looked at Shirou with a deadpan stare; "...Are you... serious?" she asked.
"I am. Why?" asked the redhead.
"Magus are supposed to be secretive, a magus should not offer a magus with no close relations to him a chance to know their skills so easily, what you're doing is just... just...!"
"Crazy?" he helpfully provide an answer.
"Well, yes!" she said, bewildered by his nonchalance, "I mean...! (sigh)... You're a strange person Emiya-kun..."
"I've been told that by my Shisou once." he said, "He said that I reminded him of himself." he then grinned and said; "I guess we're both equally strange, huh?"
She shook her head and sighed, "Very well... here, let me analyze you." she said as she held his hand in hers. She closed her eyes and began to analyze his body.
...
...
...?
...What the...?
...
...What the...?!
Rin opened her eyes abruptly after a a couple of seconds and the twin-tailed girl stared at Shirou with an expression akin to fear.
"...E-Emiya-kun, wha..."
Shirou became confused at her expression and said; "What is it Tohsaka? Is there something wrong with my Origin and Element?"
"N-no, there's... I-I didn't... I don't know what they were yet, I... I..." she then let go of his hand rather quickly, "Emiya-kun... wha... what are you?" she asked breathlessly as her eyes seemed to say that what she's seeing in front of her, that is, Shirou Emiya, is some sort of a demon.
"...Tohsaka?"
Her body began to shake as she said, "Whe... when I used Structural Grasp, I managed to take a look at your body's inner workings before I check your soul." she began, "And I found that... there was something there... a system that isn't supposed to exist in your body..."
'...Oh, that.' Shirou grimaced as Rin asked...
"Emiya-kun... Why... do you have a large number of Magic Circuits... on your physical body?!" she all but shouted the question.
...
Magic Circuits... the link between the physical world and the astral plane, the system that circulates a person's lifeforce and enable them to convert it into prana for multiple purposes.
It was a common knowledge that Magic Circuits are located within one's soul, and that it was a system invisible to naked eye and can only be detected through magecraft.
And that was the reason why Rin was mad, and it even made Saber turned to Shirou with a shocked expression, they didn't expect that he would contain such a thing within himself.
He raised both of his hand to placate the currently fuming Tohsaka, "Now calm down Tohsaka, I can explain."
"How?! How did this happen?!" she demanded as she stood up, "Magic Circuits are supposed to be located in the soul! How did it materialize inside of you?! At that amount no less!" then her expression turned to horror as she said; "...Did... did you perform an experiment on yourself? To force the circuits to materialize inside of you? Is that it?!" she asked with utmost fury apparent in her tone of voice and expression.
"T-Tohsaka, please sit down and let me expla-"
But she didn't let him finish as she then slammed the table and glared at him with her narrowed eyes that seems to promise eternal torment, "Emiya Shirou! WHAT IN THE NAME OF AKASHA DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?!"
"Tohsaka, I can-"
"WHAT?! WHAT IS IT EXACTLY THAT YOU DID?!" she demanded.
"It was my mentor's doing, alright?!" he shouted back. "Now calm down a little and-"
"Your mentor?!" she shouted, "He performed such a dangerous experiment on his student?! What kind of a teacher is he?!"
"Tohsaka, relax! He did this with my permission! There's no need for you to-"
"Oh! That makes everything better then!" she shouted the sarcastic remark.
Shirou sighed exasperatedly before saying; "Tohsaka, calm down. You're blowing this way out of proportion."
"No, as a matter of fact, I am not." Tohsaka answered succinctly before she brought her face closer to his with an expression akin to fury, "Emiya-kun, what your teacher did was reckless, and not to mention dangerous. To materialize the soul requires a practitioner of the Third Magic, and even the family who had them lost them a long time ago."
"But he succeeded." Shirou retorted with an intimidating glare equal to hers, "The Third Magic, Heaven's Feel? It's not outside of his reach, that's why I allowed him to do this. Even my father gave his consent, because he knew about his abilities."
"...What?" she said with a more subdued tone of voice, her body began to lose strength at that information "He... your teacher... he... he's capable of Third Magic?"
"A variation of it at least." Shirou confirmed, "He said that such a system isn't perfect, but it was rather similar to his own, with the difference in the system's location." he answered, "He told me that it would be easier for me to use the spells that I know if my Magic Circuits were materialized, not to mention that it would be a lot more powerful and easier to do, and so I asked him to materialize it."
He then looked rather sheepish before saying; "Although it took quite some effort to withstand the pain... But as you can see, it all worked out in the end."
That made Rin fell down on her knees, the information drained all of her physical energy, "...But... that's impossible... the practitioners of Third Magic from the Einzbern family are all but lost... what is he?"
"Master." Saber interrupted the flow of the conversation, "What is his name?" she asked, rather curious about his mentor as evident by her expression.
He smiled sheepishly and said; "You won't believe me, even if I told you."
"...Well this changes things..." said Rin as she tilted her head down and then her expression changed to an expression of a person filled with despair, "...Haha... hahahahaha... wha... what is this...? What kind of monster has physical Magic Circuits? And that many no less...?" she asked to no one in particular.
"...Um, Tohsaka, I'm right here..."
"This idiot... he doesn't even realize the power that he holds... what makes him so special? Why did his mentor choose him out of all magus? Why give such a power to a third-rate magus? ...And did he even know what would happen to him if the Association caught up with this? Did he even care?"
"...Ano, Tohsaka...?"
"...Aaaah... it's all worthless... All the teachings on the books that I've read, all those preparations... it's all worthless... this War's his now... there's no way that you can win against a Saber and her monster of a Master..."
"...And all those research that the Einzbern did that end up with nothing after they lost the Third Magic...? They didn't even know that there was a practitioner of their lost arts... outside of their family no less... if they heard about this their family head would go berserk..."
"Haaaaah... I don't know what to think anymore..."
As she goes on and on about her lamentations, Shirou turned to Saber, "...Right, um... Saber, stay here and guard her, okay?" he said as he stood up.
"Where are you going Master?" she asked.
"I'm going to make some dinner." he answered, "That'll get her out of this. And besides, I'm kind of hungry. Do you want some too, Saber?" he asked her.
"Master, as a Servant, I do not require such sustenance, I will be fine without." she rejected his offer.
"...You know what? I'll take that as a yes." Shirou said rather sternly as he began to exit the room.
Saber was surprised by the sudden anger in his tone, but yet she tried to stop him, "Wait a moment, Mas-"
"Saber, you are going to eat dinner." he said as he turned to her, "Do not think yourself as a Servant, think yourself as a person, a person needs to eat, okay?"
"Master, I am a Servant before I am a person, I do not need-"
"Saber." Shirou cut her off, this time he was a bit more serious, "Please, do not think of yourself that way." he said to her with a hint of pleading apparent in his tone.
Seeing his concerned face looking at her, Saber couldn't help but relent, "...Very well, Master."
He nodded before he went to the kitchen, leaving the Servant of the Sword rather flustered. 'Why does he care so much? I am his Servant, nothing more than his weapon for him to wield, I-'
"Do not think of yourself that way." his words rang inside her head, like an echo of a shout that was made by a mountain range.
He cared about her, more than a Master should. It irks her, offends her, and yet... she's also slightly happy about it, his concern for her gives such a delightful feeling in her heart.
She placed her hand on her left breast to try and quell the slightly quickened rhythm of her heartbeat. She frowned as the unexpected feeling enveloped her very being. Such a reaction does not suit a Servant like her... but yet she couldn't stop it even if she wanted to.
And though she added to herself that her Master needs to be taught a lesson about how he should treat her, she couldn't stop the pleasant feeling of elation within her.
And so the despaired genius of a magus and the flustered Servant sat obediently in the guest room, thanks to a certain specialized magus with a red hair.
...
...
Moments later, the delicate smell permeated throughout Shirou's house as his cooking is about to be finished.
The aroma was enough to bring out the despair that had been plaguing one Rin Tohsaka just recently, thanks to the information that a certain magus had given her.
And not a second later, Shirou was there, bringing some plates that contained beefsteaks which were cooked medium, and some baked potatoes covered in slightly melted butter to go along with the dish.
"Tonight is a western-style dinner night." Shirou explained with a smile as he placed the dishes right in front of Rin and Saber, "Hope you like them."
He then sat on the table opposite of Rin and nearby Saber.
He looked at Rin and grinned when he saw her looking at the food rather hungrily, 'Well what do you know? That brought her out of the funk even before she tastes the thing.' he thought to himself.
"Well... Itadakimasu."
And then they began to eat.
When Saber and Rin took their first bite, their thought process immediately halted as their eyes widened.
"...This is really good, Master." Saber praised his skill with such a beautifully bright smile.
Rin's reaction was one of silent awe as she slowly chews the tender meat and savoring its taste, her blue eyes clearly shows how pleased she is with his food.
And Shirou smiled in both satisfaction and gratefulness. While the reason for the former is obvious, the latter is because he finally had someone else besides his kouhai who tastes his cooking by savoring its taste first before gulping them down.
...Unlike a certain Tiger...
But what Shirou didn't expect was that Saber ordered seconds... and thirds... and fourths...
It got to the point that some of his supply for the next couple of days is thoroughly used to satisfy the Servant's somewhat gluttonous appetite.
And there's one more thing that he didn't expect. It was the fact that someone can eat something so fast but look so regal and proper while doing it. Looking at the way Saber ate made him rather curious as to how it was possible.
Well, perhaps the fact that she's not really a normal human being helps...
After their stomachs are completely filled, Shirou turned to Rin and said, "So Tohsaka... are you lucid now?"
She blushed out of embarrassment as she remembered how she acted after he dropped such a news.
The girl was rather disappointed in herself, 'I should've kept my cool... I'm an idiot...!' she chastised herself while she answered Shirou's question with; "...Yes, I am."
"Good. Now, I want to speak about this Holy Grail War thing, but first..." he then took something out of a pocket on his pants and showed it to Rin. "I believe this is yours."
He held a pendant, a very familiar pendant to Rin, and she was both surprised and shocked by what she's seeing.
Shirou smirked when he saw her expression, he then said; "I found this on the school's rooftop when I woke up there... When I touched the jewel I felt that it contained prana once, and I deduced that this was used to heal me." he explained, "I didn't know who it was at the time though. But when I figured out some of the rules of the war such as the summoning of heroes and Servant and Master pair and such on my way back home, I thought that this must've belonged to the other Master, the one who summoned that man in red."
His smirk then turned into a grateful smile, one that made the raven-haired girl blush, "And my thought back then was that I must give this guy my gratitude if we ever meet again. So now that you're here, thank you Tohsaka, I owe you my life."
She then took the pendant once more, grasp it in her hand and turned her head away from Shirou so that he wouldn't see her flushed cheeks, "Hmph, it was nothing. It's my job as the Second Owner to prevent needless casualties, after all."
As usual, she couldn't say that there was another reason besides that, a reason that involves her disposition towards him.
"Regardless, thank you." said Shirou, rather oblivious of her obvious cover-up.
She huffed before she turned her head to face Shirou once more, her blush fading but didn't disappear just yet, "Anyway, you want some explanations about the Holy Grail War correct?"
"Yes." Shirou answered.
She nodded and then she began to explain the basic rules of the War, about Servants, Masters, the rules of engagement, Servant's trump card called Noble Phantasm, crystallization of their legends, their weapon as a Servant, and she also explained how their Noble Phantasm would be connected to their class, a sword for a Saber, a bow for an Archer, a spear for a Lancer, and so forth. And finally, about the Command Seals, the ace in the sleeve for a Master in the War.
Shirou looked at the back of his right hand, and he saw an intricate looking tattoo that seemed to glow faintly, "Three orders for a Servant... orders so powerful that could even break the rules of the world huh? Such as instantaneous teleportation and things like that?"
"Correct." said Saber, "For example, if you ever find yourself in danger, Master, give me an order to come to your aid, the Command Seal will instantly send me straight to your location to help."
"Hm... useful to know." Shirou remarked before he turned to Saber once more, "And Saber?"
"Yes Master?"
"Call me Shirou." he ordered her, it was not a request.
"...I'm sorry?"
"Call me Shirou. No more of this 'Master' stuff." he said. "I am Shirou Emiya before I am your Master."
Being an observer of Shirou giving an order to Saber, Rin could barely believe that the young man in front of him is the one nick-named as the 'Fake Janitor.', he stared at Saber with an equally powerful gaze that seemed to make even the proud-looking Servant of the Sword relented.
"...Very well Ma-Shirou..." she corrected herself.
Saber, on her part, felt that her Master can be rather persuasive, as evident by what he just did. It's as if he's channeling his prana to make himself more intimidating somehow but... that wasn't the case.
It was an inborn trait of his.
Rin cleared her throat to make them turn to her once more and to compose herself, "Anyway, Emiya-kun... now I'll explain the reason why the Masters and the Servants seeks the Holy Grail, and that is because-"
"Wish fulfillment." Shirou interjected, "The Holy Grail can grant a wish to the victorious pair that was left out of them all." the redhead answered.
"...Yes, exactly. How do you know?" asked the confused Tohsaka.
"I just guessed." Shirou answered with a shrug. "I have thought about some things that could be held as the grand prize in this War... but there's nothing more seductive and alluring than wish fulfillment... and considering magus society as a whole, it just makes sense."
"...You are one scary man, Emiya-kun..." Rin remarked. "But... yes, you are right, the grail has the ability to fulfill the winner's desire."
"Hm... has anyone fulfilled their wish yet in the previous Wars?"
"No." Rin answered, "For whatever reasons, the previous Wars have no winners, and there was no chronicler at the time of the first and second War that could give an idea to whatever happened that made it that way. There's nothing that could tell us what exactly happened during those two Wars."
"...Alright... so what's yours?" he asked her next.
"...My wish?" she asked rhetorically, "...Well, I want to reach Akasha, the metaphysical place where all the information in the universe is stored, from the past, the present... and every possibilities that lies for the future... such is the reason why this War is created after all."
Shirou smiled before nodding, "That's a good wish. As expected of you I guess."
"Oh? And what do you mean by that Emiya-kun?"
"You seek knowledge, that's why I called it a good wish. And considering how well your performance in school is, I would guess that you're also a great magus of your age as well. I guess it is to be expected that you would use the Holy Grail to fulfill your thirst for more knowledge." he answered her question.
She cleared her throat as she blushed once more, she finds herself rather flustered thanks to his keen insight on her character and his compliments, "Yes, well... anyway..." said Rin as she then continued with; "Now's the time for me to ask you some questions."
Shirou nodded, already expecting this would happen eventually, "Alright, shoot."
"Okay, first of all... how exactly did your mentor create those Circuits?"
He shrugged and said; "Don't know. I wasn't exactly lucid at the time. He said that it would be painful, so he sedated me... the next thing I know was that I had a set of Magic Circuits in my body. The pain that I felt when I first tried to trace with the physical Circuits was rather agonizing. But as time goes by, it gets easier for me to do. But if I pushed myself too far, there would be some pain, it usually originate in my head first before spreading down towards my whole body."
"...Okay, do you at least know about its procedure?" she asked again.
"Only a gist of it, it involves a lot of prana to be performed... something that is abundant within him. It also involves the materialization of the soul, the inclusion of Third Magic... And it also involves a delicate control over prana... But I don't know exactly how it was performed."
"Was there any tools involved?" she asked.
"No, just him and his prana." Shirou answered.
Though the answers gave a certain degree of clarity as to how his mentor actually managed to do such a thing, Rin could not prevent the headache that began to plague her head. "Alright, next question, does it help you do anything better than most magus can?"
Shirou mulled over that question for a moment before he said; "Absolutely. Considering that it's overlapping with my physical body, I can enact any thaumaturgy at a stronger rate compared to when the Circuits were in my soul and increase the overall limit of thaumaturgy usage." he explained. "For example, Reinforcement. Because of the Circuits' direct connection with my brain, it would only take a reaction out of me to instantly enact low-powered Reinforcement or any other thaumaturgy. And if I do it consciously and with a mental image, well, Reinforcement with nearly three-fold amount of power than average would be rather easy to do."
"W-wouldn't your body break under that amount of pressure?" she asked, befuddled by what Shirou just said.
"Normally, it would. But considering that the circuits are overlapping with my nervous system, and by proxy, my physical body, I would only feel slight amount of pain as it was not counted as an imperfect augmentation by the soul trying to interfere with the workings of the physical world. Enhanced Reinforcement, I called it as."
Rin's eye nearly twitched at that information, 'Unfair! Cheater!' she yelled in her mind, but she managed to keep it under control and not blurt it out, "...Then what about that technique of yours? Tracing? Is it helped by the physical Circuits?"
"It also helped, in regards of augmenting the durability of an object or the time needed for it to be fully traced of course. But I still need to do it consciously if I want to summon something specific, something powerful."
"...So Tracing is just like Gradation Air? You see something, you know its blueprint, and you can create it using your prana."
At this, Shirou merely smiled rather mysteriously. "Something like that."
...She knew that he's still going to keep that card close to his chest. She then sighed before saying; "Alright, final question. Why you?"
"...Why me?" Shirou asked again in a rhetorical fashion, "Well... he said that out of everyone here... I am the only one he could trust for this... Even now, the real meaning of what he said is still unknown to me..."
"Here? As in what? In this house?" she asked.
"...Hm... now that you said it, I'm not sure..." he said, "Sorry about that. Despite the amount of time that I spent with him, there are some things about him that are still a mystery, even to me. ...However..."
"...What?" Rin asked.
"He told me that it would help in improving my combat capability." he answered. "But that was obvious, considering the conditions that is entailed with the presence of my physical Circuits. As to that other reason, well... I'm afraid I don't exactly know what he meant."
Rin sighed before she then said, "Alright, well... if you don't know, then there's no point in asking." Then she stood up and continued with; "Now that you know what there is to know about this War and it's getting rather late anyway... I think it's time for us to go."
"Where?" asked Shirou.
Rin grimaced and answered; "...To the Church."
...
...
Shinto District.
"So, mind telling me the exact reason why we're going to the Church this time of night, Tohsaka?" asked Shirou.
The redhead has changed his clothes to cope with the somewhat cold weather in Fuyuki City, he has worn a buttoned dark blue jacket which has a 'tail' long enough to reach his knees over his long-sleeved white shirt.
Rin was somewhat unnerved by the fact that Shirou's choice of clothing mirrors that of her Servant, the difference being the inverted colors, blue for red and white for black. And, if she squint her eyes and imagined him with his hair being slicked back she could almost see him as Ar-
'...No, that's just not possible, you're over-thinking it Rin...' she chastised herself before she answered his question, "The Church had been supervising the procedure of the Holy Grail War since its second one, and it is the rule for a Master to bring him or herself to the Church so that everyone is accounted for. Even though that rule wasn't always followed by all the participants... considering that I'm the Second Owner of the city, it's my job to get you registered."
"Hm..." Shirou hummed as he digests the information that was given. Then he turned his head slightly to look at the one behind him, "By the way, you sure you don't want to walk beside us Saber?"
"No, Shirou." said Saber from behind him, she's currently wearing a blue jeans coupled with a white button-up shirt and a pair of black shoes to go with it. The clothes once belonged to Shirou a couple of years back, but when his growth spurt hits, it was no longer wearable. Thankfully, it was able to be worn by Saber, thanks to her... small stature. "This position is preferable, as I will be guarding your back."
She had said to them that she could not turn into astral form, and so she must be outfitted with a civilian attire. Luckily, Shirou had something that doesn't look out of place despite being worn by the opposite gender.
The redhead then sighed at Saber's seriousness, "I am not completely helpless, you know?" he asked as they walked down the street.
"Nevertheless Shirou, as I have said before, against an enemy Servant, a Heroic Spirit, a normal human stands no chance. No matter how much power one has." she stated the fact.
Shirou then smirked rather smugly before saying something that he said to Lancer recently, "And who says that I'm normal?"
...Though the line sounded rather cheesy, Rin couldn't help but agree with him, after all, he isn't normal, considering his physical Magic Circuits, approximately one hundred and eight of them, in fact. More than five times the amount that an average magus has. High-quality circuits they are too... Impossibly high, almost as if they were the Circuits that came from the Aozaki bloodline...
'...God it's just not fair... he has Saber as a Servant, a damn physical Magic Circuits, and a massive amount of prana to spend to not just his Servant but to perform his family's thaumaturgy as well. What was it called...? Tracing, yeah that's it.'
"Considering what you are Emiya-kun... I believe I have to agree that the word normal doesn't define you, at all."
The redhead smirked at Saber and pointed to Rin and said; "See?"
...
After nearly an hour later, they arrived at the Church's complex.
Now, Shirou is not really a devout follower of christianity, and as a matter of fact, he's not a devout follower of anything, really. Except for following the path that he has made for himself, of course.
But he had a thought that being in a church is supposed to bring some peace to one's mind and soul, but this one church feels wrong somehow...
And Saber felt it too as she frowned and said; "Shirou, this place... it doesn't feel right." she said with an apprehensive tone of voice as she looked around her surroundings warily.
"I agree." Shirou said, his eyes narrowed, and he kept his guard up as he walked towards the church's door. "This place gnaws at your very soul, it's really making me uncomfortable."
"Oh you're exaggerating Emiya-kun." said Rin with a wave of her hand, "I've been here multiple times, I admit, it feels rather off somehow... but I'm sure it's nothing."
Though Shirou didn't seem to buy it, he nevertheless took the raven-haired girl's nonchalance as a sign of reassurance, that perhaps this dreadful feeling is nothing to be afraid of after all.
Unbeknownst to him however, Rin took his apprehension as something not uncalled for, she had a gut feeling that the priest that dwells within the church is not really a benevolent man and so she thought of his occupation as a priest -even though he's a magus himself- as something strange.
'But I never felt this dreadful feeling that he spoke of...' she thought before she shook her head, 'Nah... it's probably nothing...'
She then turned to Shirou, "Come on Emiya-kun." she said as they reached the church's door.
"Shirou." Saber began, "I shall remain here to keep watch, an enemy might take their chance to attack us. ...And be on your guard, this place reeks of danger."
Her Master nodded before he and Rin entered the church...
"Kirei! Where are you?" shouted the girl as she entered.
"Ah, Rin." said a deep voice that belonged to a man sitting on the seats in the front row. "What brings you here?" he asked as he stood up.
The man's cassock beneath the dark purple longcoat and the cross necklace that he wore was an indication that he is the priest of this church, he smiled rather wickedly as he said; "And who is this young man that you've brought with you?"
Rin's answer was instant, "He's a Master in the Holy Grail War, I brought him here so that he is registered."
"Hm." said the priest as he looked at the young man...
...Who is currently giving him a rather harsh glare, as if a child who is seeing something that he doesn't like. But the priest ignored that and said; "I am Kotomine Kirei, the head priest of this church and the supervisor of the current Holy Grail War, what is your name young man?"
"...Shirou." he answered succinctly.
"Do you have a family name, Shirou?" asked Kirei who found himself rather irked and challenged by how he's looking at him and thus, reciprocated kindly to the gesture.
"...Emiya."
The priest's eyes widened for a second before their size returned to normal, "Shirou Emiya... very well. Do you know what you have gotten yourself into? The reason why you have to fight?"
"I do." answered Shirou, again, he answered it rather quickly, as if he is restraining something within him...
"Do you know that you will have to kill in this war if you wish to participate? There is still one last chance for you to back out. If you relinquish your Command Seals and remove yourself from the list of the Masters, I shall grant you asylum in this church."
"I refuse to quit."
The priest chuckled and said; "If so, then I bid you welcome to the Holy Grail War, Shirou Emiya."
Shirou abruptly turned his back from Kirei and began to walk rather fast towards the door as he said; "We're done here, let's go Tohsaka."
Rin was somewhat befuddled by Shirou's demeanor, gone is the well-mannered yet rather charismatic young man, and on his place, there was a warrior-like figure who is currently restraining himself from going overboard.
When he opened the door, Rin was the first to get out, and the priest then proclaimed; "Rejoice, Shirou Emiya, for your wish shall be-"
He never got to finish his sentence because Shirou quickly bolted out the door, grabbed the doors and began to quicken the closing of the doors by pushing them inward. But before they got fully closed, the redhead managed to do one last thing...
Which was to give the priest the one finger salute.
When the door was fully closed, Kirei found himself far from being offended. He was rather amused by Shirou Emiya's demeanor towards him, it was not as pleasant of a feeling as seeing somebody's suffering or tasting his favorite meal, but it was somewhat close.
...
...
"Emiya-kun, why did you do that?" Rin demanded as she were walking at a rather fast pace along with him, "I mean, I get why someone would dislike him, he's creepy as all hell and his preference in food is atrocious, but why are you so rude to him?"
"What happened there?" Saber asked the twin-tailed girl, who is also rather curious as to why Shirou looked so angry.
"I don't know...! he just treated Kirei, the supervising priest, like he's holding a grudge against him!" answered Rin. "Shirou, I want to know why you seem to hate him so much, you guys just met right?"
Shirou slowed down for a bit when they finally exited the church area, and after a few moments of silence and walking, he said; "I don't trust him."
"...Why?" asked Rin who is still confused, "Shirou, not only that he is a member of the Church, which is the neutral party in this war, he's also a veteran, he was involved in the previous War and knows about its workings, it would be foolish of you to not trust him."
As a response, Shirou pointed his index finger upwards and said; "There is only one man that I can trust who had eyes like the ones that the priest has." he stated before he put down his hand and continued, "...And he is no longer of this world now."
Hearing his rather solemn tone, Rin briefly wondered who it was that he spoke of. And what did he meant by the priest's eyes? Was there something weird about them?
Before she could ask anything further, a new voice interrupted them.
"You should heed what he said, little child."
The trio turned towards the source of the voice, and they found that there was darkness that enveloped a rather large tree, making it hard for them to see who spoke.
But it was clearly a woman, a woman with a rather deep, rich voice, indicating that she is a mature woman.
"Who's there?!" asked Rin, not liking the fact that a potential enemy had caught her off-guard. Saber also became rather tense as she looked towards the darkness that covered the speaker's identity.
"You are far too trusting." she said, not answering Rin's demand for an answer, "The boy's insight is invaluable, even someone such as I have to admit that... and it would do you good to listen to him."
Then suddenly, the darkness was unveiled by the shining moon as the clouds above dispersed, and it allowed the three to see who she was.
And they saw that there was a woman with long blonde hair and a pair of crimson eyes sitting on one of the lower branch of the tree as she gazed at them, the woman wore a black button-up shirt with black pantsuit, a pair of black-colored heelless dress shoes, and a long-sleeved white coat with a tuft of white fur on its collar.
"But then again, you are his daughter after all..." the woman remarked.
Saber's eyes widened before she instantly moved in front of Shirou, changed into her battle dress, and drew her invisible sword once again, "Archer...!" she hissed out as she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
Rin instantly got confused by the name that Saber's using to call the red-eyed woman, "Archer? Saber, she's not my Servant. Not to mention, that Archer's a he, not a she."
And the raven-haired girl is also wondering what the blonde woman meant by she being his daughter... does she know about her father? And why did she felt as if she was being mocked when the woman said that?
However, the Servant of the Sword didn't give an instant reply to what Rin said as the red-eyed woman jumped down from the tree branch gracefully and walked closer to the other blonde woman.
The two of them stared at each other as they were a few inches apart from each other, Saber's anger and trepidation was rather apparent in her expression as she glared at the red-eyed woman who was a few centimeters taller than her, but yet the other blonde merely smiled confidently as she gazed into Saber's eyes, her posture shows how relaxed she is, it's as if she knows that nothing that they can do could hurt her.
Saber, still glaring at the unknown woman, said to Rin, "She's not an Archer of this War, that I can tell you. However, make no mistake, she is a Servant."
"...What? But that means..." she narrowed her eyes at the red-eyed woman as she moved closer to Shirou, she began to sweat out of fear as she realized what the woman really is, "...The power of the Holy Grail... it's abundance of energy could provide a True Incarnation for the deceased...!" she exclaimed, "I can't believe it... she's a resurrected Heroic Spirit, a Servant who won the last war!"
The red-eyed Servant then moved her gaze from Saber, and towards the one standing behind her, the one who is currently staring at her without fear in his eyes. And her smile widened when they made eye contact, "So, we meet once more my boy..."
Saber turned her head slightly to look at Shirou while Rin did the same, and to their surprise, they saw that Shirou is not scared one bit despite hearing what the twin-tailed magus just said. "So it seems..." Shirou said without anger, fear, obliviousness, nor arrogance. "To think that you really are a hero... it seems that I should've listened to my instinct back when we first met."
"You were not as mature as you are now, my boy. You can hardly blame yourself for such oversight." said the resurrected hero. "But you are an interesting human nonetheless, at least... for a product of a disappointing era."
"I'm glad that you think of me as such then." he said neutrally.
She chuckled and said; "As you should be, my boy... After all, one should not take a king's interest lightly... lest they suffer the consequences..."
...
...
End of Chapter 1
And... done.
So, how about that? What do you think about the physical Magic Circuits? And did you see the arrival of Gil-ko coming from a mile away?
Well, if you want to know what's going to happen next, stay tune for the next chapter!
By the way, if you're wondering what kind of voice that Gil-ko has, just imagine her being voiced by either of these Seiyuu(Japanese VA):
-Marina Inoue (who voiced Yozora Mikazuki in Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.).
-Megumi Toyoguchi(who voiced Sola-Ui in Fate/Zero and Chifuyu Orimura in Infinite Stratos.).
-Shizuka Itou(who voiced Hildegarde in Beelzebub and Kaori Kanzaki in Toaru Majutsu no Index)
-Yoshiko Sakakibara(who voiced Sir Integra in Hellsing Ultimate)
Anyway, that was the end of my little rant. See you in eight to nine days from now for the next chapter.
