Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Fate series.
A big thanks to Shrapnel893 for beta-reading this chapter.
I was incredibly surprised and pleased at the large response to the first chapter of this story, so thank you. I received a few reviews expressing concerns over certain characters or situations, but all I'll say for now is that everything so far is completely intentional and that you'll have to wait to find out more.
Sakura glanced around in confusion. Where was she? She did not remember how she got here. She could not even describe what here was. Her mind was slow. As if clouded in a fog. Her surroundings were blurry. Without form. Somehow she knew that there was a group of people here too. She could not recognize even their most basic of features of size and shape. There was only one clear image in this indistinct land. It was the figure within the center of the group. She recognized this figure. It was Rider. Rider looked younger. Sakura called out. There was no response. Sakura did not panic. Her emotions were muted. Dulled. Her reactions slowed. What was this place? Sakura realized she knew how Rider was feeling in this moment. She did not question it. She watched the scene for some time. Sakura turned her focus inward. Feeling the emotions she was receiving. Rider was proud. Surrounded by this group. They gave her praise. Yet. Rider was resentful. These people. They did not know her. Her whole image was a mask. Rider was not this person. The one these people thought her as. Rider was not perfect. She was not all good. She had thoughts that were different. Darker thoughts. The crowd did not realize. Rider could be dangerous. She was-
Sakura woke up to the sound of raised voices nearby. Looking to the doorway, she could see the argument taking place between Rider-neechan and Shinji.
"-and I still don't see why you felt the need to barge into Sakura's room Shinji," Rider said.
"And I already told you. We have school today and Sakura needs to make breakfast. As the older brother, it's my job to make sure she's doing what she's supposed to," Shinji stated angrily.
"Even so, that doesn't give you the right to-"
"It's fine, Rider," Sakura interrupted, "Shinji's right, I need to get ready for school." She got out of her bed and made her way to the dresser. A triumphant smirk crossed Shinji's features.
"You heard her," Shinji crowed, "why don't you stay quiet and keep your nose out of family business like a true Servant."
"I think," Rider said menacingly, "that you need to remember that I'm not your Servant. You don't have any way to make me do anything and the only reason you're not bloodied and bruised right now is Sakura here. So maybe, just maybe, you should be a bit more grateful to her for saving your worthless hide." Shinji involuntarily backed out of the room with fear in his eyes.
"Tch," he blustered, "whatever. Just make sure you have breakfast ready Sakura." After getting in the last word, Shinji quickly fled the room.
Rider turned to face her Master, seeing Sakura retie the customary ribbon back into her hair caused Rider's expression to visibly soften and a reproach to die on her lips. Instead, Rider decided on a gentler course of action.
"Why do you even have to be up so early anyway, Sakura? School is still hours away," the Servant stated exasperatedly.
"Grandfather prefers to have breakfast early. Plus this gives me the time to go to Senpai's house and help him out."
"You go to his house every morning?"
"Well, not every morning. It's just, his father passed away and he lives all alone in that big house and he sometimes forgets to sleep in his bed since he's working in his shed and…and I think he needs my help, is all."
"You really like him don't you Sakura?" Rider said, it was more of a statement than a question. Sakura began to lightly blush with a small smile on her lips, until she felt a small twinge of pain in her chest, then her face immediately shut down into an emotionless mask. She silently turned to walk out of the room. Rider though, was concerned by her worrying expression and quickly grabbed Sakura's hand to stop her from leaving. Rider turned Sakura around, seeing the blank expression still on her face caused Rider to grow even more concerned.
"Hey," Rider spoke softly, "what's wrong, Imouto?" The comforting tone of Rider's voice and the concern that Sakura could see in her eyes caused Sakura's stony visage to relax ever so slightly. She shook her head at Rider, indicating that it was nothing, and continued out of the room to prepare breakfast. Rider followed, unconvinced that Sakura was fine but unable to understand what had caused that blank mask to appear.
Shortly, the Master and Servant pair arrived in the kitchen. Shinji was nowhere to be seen, it appeared he wasn't willing to chance another conflict with Rider this soon, and Zouken was likewise missing from the area. Seeing Sakura bring out breakfast pans, Rider offered her help in the cooking. Sakura declined with a smile on her face; cooking was one of the few things that she genuinely enjoyed and she already wasn't able to do it as much as she would like, Senpai was often stubborn and insisted on performing the cooking himself.
Soon, the smell of food cooking began to permeate through the air. As the smell of breakfast spread, Shinji and finally Zouken took their seats at the dining table. Sakura served food to the two males of the house while once again declining assistance from Rider. Sakura had not prepared any food for herself; she would eat at her Senpai's house, as had become custom in the few years she knew him. The meal passed in silence; Zouken was perfectly content to eat in silence though Shinji appeared as if he would begin another tirade against Sakura, but a look from Rider quickly convinced him of the foolishness of such a notion. Sakura stood by, patiently waiting for the two to finish their meal, with Rider nearby. Shinji finished breakfast first, muttering a quick thank you to Sakura after a glance in Rider's direction, and dashed upstairs back to his room. Zouken continued to methodically work his way through his own meal. When he had finished, Zouken pushed his plate forwards and waited for Sakura to collect it. After Sakura had drawn closer, Zouken faced her and spoke for the first time that morning.
"Sakura, I have allowed you a night to reflect on your earlier disobedience. Have you reconsidered handing over your Master status to Shinji?" he asked.
"…"
"Of course she hasn't," Rider stated. "Out of all this family, Sakura is the best possible choice of a Master for me."
"Compatibility or not, Sakura does not possess the proper mindset to fight effectively in this War." Zouken refuted. "She is too soft. Unable to make the difficult choices required to win the Grail. In this regard, Shinji is clearly the preferred choice. I don't know what ideas you have in your head, Servant, but you're here to win this Grail for the Matou, not make friends with your Master."
"None of which would matter if I can't fight at my best because of a shortage of prana. With Sakura as my Master, I receive a more than adequate amount for fighting any Servant I encounter. Even you cannot deny that I would be much weaker with a non-Magus, such as Shinji, as my Master."
"The Master-Servant connection is not the sole way for a Servant to obtain power. Indeed, there are many other options available that will allow you to build up magic, as well as remove potential witnesses to the War."
Rider clenched her teeth in anger. "That may be true, but the efficiency for such a method is very low. Why are you so determined for Shinji to be my Master anyway? Do you really believe Sakura has no chance of winning this War?"
"Sakura is an extremely valuable asset to the Matou. As such, it would be the height of foolishness to risk her in conflict at her age."
"I see," Rider stated with realization in her eyes, "Shinji doesn't have any magic power so he's expendable. Is that it? In any case, it doesn't matter. Short of attempting to forcefully remove the Command Seals from Sakura, which might be the last thing you try to do, there is no way to transfer her Master status without Sakura's consent."
"Yes, so what exactly does Sakura have to say about this matter?" Zouken turned to address Sakura suddenly, "Are you going to continue with this foolish disobedience or perform your duty to the Matou, Sakura?"
Sakura looked uncomfortable with the attention shifted back upon her. She had been quietly watching in surprise as the argument broke out between her Grandfather and Servant. The purple-haired girl looked at each of them; seeing that they were staring at her and waiting for an answer, she quickly dropped her eyes to the floor. She appeared conflicted for a moment then, suddenly, her expression became determined as she made up her mind.
"I've decided. Grandfather, I'd like to remain as Rider's Master," she stated with conviction.
"I see," Zouken said, "if that is your decision, of course I have no choice but to accept it."
Sakura immediately relaxed, tension that she hadn't even noticed bleeding out of her slim frame. Zouken moved away from the table to exit the room.
"Oh," the old Magus stated from the doorframe, "don't forget about your session tonight Sakura. I hope you don't think that being a Master in this War will excuse you from your current duties to the family."
Sakura's eyes widened, then the expressionless mask once again fell across her face. "Of course not, Grandfather."
"Good, good. Well run along now child, don't want to be late for that boy of yours. Emiya? Wasn't it? And keep that Servant close, I hear there have been a lot of disappearances lately. Wouldn't want anything to happen on your way," the eldest Matou stated. Zouken disappeared from the room after that last comment, a malevolent smile upon his lips.
Upon hearing this, Sakura's eyes dulled from their usual vibrant shade. Rider watched all this in increasing worry, "Sakura-."
"Let's go, Rider," Sakura stated. She turned from the room and walked out the door without looking back. After a moment Rider followed after her, leaving the Matou house in silence. After they had walked a short way past the door, Rider turned back to look at house. The dark and eerie sense of the house contrasted sharply with the bright morning sun. This fact, combined with its unnatural silence, had caused many young children to believe it was haunted. After a moment of contemplation while staring at the Matou residence, Rider suddenly clenched her hand into a fist, turned around with a frustrated huff, and stalked forwards to catch up to Sakura. 'Soon,' she promised herself, 'Sakura will be free from that place.'
Rin watched the scene in a daze. How long had she been here? She didn't know. She tried to look around. She couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she could only stare forwards. Rin felt as if she should be panicking about this fact. She wasn't. Before her, there was a large group of people. Why were they here? Suddenly, her perspective changed. Rin was within the group of people now. Her mind did not deem this unusual. She could see what the people were centered around now. It was a strange rock. Something was sticking out of it but her mind glossed over this and she ignored it. Standing near the rock, was a teenager. Rin could not determine the gender. The teenager approached the rock. The crowd tensed. Some looked hopeful. Others jeered at the teenager. Ignoring them all, the teenager grabbed the something that was in the rock. Not knowing how, Rin could tell the teenager was nervous. Nervous, but filled with determination and resolve. The teenager had a strong sense of duty to these people in the crowd. After a short pause, the teenager pulled on the thing in the rock. Slowly, ever slowly, it started to rise. The crowd stared on in disbelief. Undercurrents of hope crashing through them. Finally, the thing was pulled completely from the rock. No, stone seemed better somehow. The object was pulled from the stone. The teenager held it aloft. Waiting for a reaction. The crowd did not disappoint. There was a brief pause. Then the area exploded into sound. Cheering. Laughing. Crying. The people could not hold their reactions back. Their hearts were filled with happiness. This continued for some time. The teenager standing before them with the object still held. Suddenly, Rin noticed an old man. He wasn't cheering like the rest. Instead, he looked upon the teenager with approval. As quickly as this notice came, it disappeared. Her attention returned to the teenager. The scene began to fade from view. One emotion stood out from the rest. Not because of the size of the feeling. But because it was nearly the opposite of the general feeling of happiness of the crowd. Amidst all those feelings of duty and pride within the teenager, was a tiny twinge of disappointment.
Rin awoke to the smell of food. Momentarily confused, it took her a few moments to remember the events of the previous night. She briefly considered resuming her sleep, but the pleasant aroma of breakfast in the air convinced her otherwise. After stumbling down the stairs and into the kitchen, still in her nightgown and hair unmade from her previous slumber, Rin blearily opened her eyes to take in the scene before her. Archer was standing by the stove putting what she could see to be the finishing touches on this morning's breakfast. He was still dressed in the same armor as the previous night, but with the addition of a white apron with the text 'I am the Bone of my Skillet' imprinted on the front. Her other Servant, Saber, was seated almost patiently at the table. Almost, because Rin noticed that Saber's eyes never left the contents of the cooking pan, even straining her neck when it was briefly covered by Archer's body. Normally, the ridiculousness of the scene would have caused Rin to laugh loudly or attempt to make a teasing comment as payback for the embarrassment the two Servants caused her earlier. Due to the early morning hour, however, Rin instead tiredly stared at the pair for a moment before moving into the seat next to Saber and laying her head on the table.
She remained in this position, listening to the gentle tinkling of Archer preparing plates of food, until a slightly louder thunk caused her to look up and notice the warm cup of tea in front of her. Sitting up straighter, the dark haired magus gently cradled the cup in both hands and slowly sipped on the tea. Glancing about the table, Rin almost performed her first spit-take in years. Fortunately for her dignity, the memory of her father lecturing her on etiquette rang through her mind, 'Tohsaka's must always dine with the utmost dignity and grace. Not spitting out their meal like an uncivilized buffoon'. The reason for this behavior was caused by Rin seeing the arrangement of plates at the table. While Archer had set Rin's own plate to the side of her tea and he was contently eating his own, Saber had a total of six plates placed haphazardly around her. And 2 were already picked clean! Unable to look away, Rin watched as Saber regally devoured the food in front of her. Eventually, Rin was able to tear her eyes away from the scene; she resolved to ask about it later when she wasn't as tired, or at least when Saber wasn't currently eyeing the contents of Rin's plate like a hungry predator. The Tohsaka heiress returned to her own food, marveling at Archer's obvious skill in cooking. Not normally a skill associated with Heroes, but she wasn't complaining. After finishing that great breakfast, Rin thanked Archer before returning to her room to complete her morning nuptials.
After some time, Rin met her Servants in the main living room of the large house, dressed in her Homurahara Academy uniform with her favored red jacket over it and her hair done in its usual twin tails style. "Don't think you two are off the hook just yet. I still want to know your fighting capabilities and history, but it will have to wait. I need to continue attending school in order to keep up appearances, so go into astral form and guard me invisibly. We'll start our first patrol after school and we can have that discussion while out. That reminds me. You said earlier that you two weren't able to be too far apart without difficulties?"
"That is correct Master," Saber replied, "because of our unique situation, your prana is sent to both of us collectively. The farther apart we are, the more energy it takes to split that prana into two separate parts for each of us."
"I see, what is the maximum range you can be separated before I feel the strain?"
"We do not know."
"You don't know," Rin deadpanned.
"The Grail did not see fit to inform us of the size of this limit, only that it existed. As you know, Master, each magus has differing amounts of prana capacity and output from each other. Therefore, the limit would be unique to whoever our Master was," Saber clarified.
"Hmmm, alright. Then that's the first thing we do to prepare for this War. During school, we can use the mental connection between Masters and Servants to explore the distance of this range. I'll have one of you stay near me and the other move away until I begin to feel the extra prana cost of maintaining the both of you," Rin decided. So saying, she walked out the door and towards the school, her two Servants moving into their invisible, astral state and following after her.
Sakura and Rider completed the journey to the Emiya household in companionable silence. In the same moment that the old fashioned Japanese house came into view, the two were able to sense the subtle Bounded Field that surrounded the property. It was unnoticeable to most because of the quality of its construction and the lack of many functions a typical Magus would require of their own Bounded Fields. The one around the Emiya lands had few functions, but did those extremely well and with great subtly. Unlike most, its purpose was not as a defense or even an alarm for the residents of the house. Instead, the Bounded Field masked the presence of magic within the property. In this way, Magecraft could be performed within the grounds of the Field under the notice of most all other Magi. In essence, the Bounded Field traded protections and defense for concealment and the ability to hide in plain sight.
Sakura had come over to her Senpai's house so often that one day she had eventually been able to notice the subtle Bounded Field. On that day, Sakura left for her own house early where she had proceeded to cry in the relative privacy of her room over the new knowledge that Shirou was a Magus. After she had emotionally exhausted herself, Sakura came to the conclusion that even though Shirou practiced Magecraft, he was not a Magus. He was not cold and cruel like the other Magi she had known, instead he was warm, and kind, and nice. Resolving to not let this new information change her relationship with Shirou, Sakura was able to return to the Emiya home the next day and carry on as normal. As for Rider, her increased magical ability allowed her to immediately sense the Bounded Field around the property.
Before entering the house Sakura turned to speak with Rider, who was currently in astral form as to draw less attention. "Ah, Rider," Sakura began shyly, "would you mind waiting outside? Senpai is not part of the Grail War and it would be rude to have invisible guests within his home without his knowledge."
"Oh, I see. You want to have some personal, intimate moments with Emiya-kun without me there as a third wheel. I get it. I'll guard from outside so you two can have your privacy," Rider said with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"W-What? S-Senpai would never- And Fujimura-sensai would be there."
"Oh? You let your teacher watch? What kind of Master did I get?" Rider bemoaned theatrically.
"N-No. That's not-," Sakura stuttered, panicked, her face becoming increasingly red.
"It's fine. I was just teasing you Sakura," Rider interrupted.
"That wasn't very nice, Rider-neechan," Sakura said after calming down a bit.
"Well maybe you just need to get used to having a sister, Imouto."
"Maybe," Sakura stated softly. She turned and walked through the doorway into her Senpai's home. Rider stayed for a short moment before smiling softly and making her way onto the nearby roof; it would make a good vantage point to set up watch at. Sakura continued into the Emiya house and, not hearing the tell-tale sounds of cooking, concluded that Shirou had not woken up yet. She walked towards his room and gently pushed open the door. Not finding him there, and with his bed undisturbed, a small frown appeared on Sakura's face as she realized that Shirou had fallen asleep in the shed out back, again. She walked through the back door of the house and approached the small building in the yard. Opening the door, a gentle smile made its way onto her face as she observed her Senpai peacefully sleeping on the floor of the shed with tools and mechanical parts scattered about him, his red hair contrasting with the darkness of his surroundings. She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder and softly spoke, "Senpai. It's time to wake up Senpai." Noticing him begin to stir, Sakura sat back and waited for Shirou to open his golden eyes.
"Nnnggh, good morning Sakura," Shirou tiredly stated.
"Good morning Senpai. You should get ready for school, I'll have breakfast ready by the time you're done."
"Do you want any help Sakura? I feel bad about making you do the cooking alone most mornings."
"No, I like cooking Senpai. In fact, you should let me cook dinner tonight too."
"Sorry Sakura, but that's not happening. Dinner is my time to cook. Besides, you know I enjoy it as much as you."
"See, you already get dinner all to yourself. Don't try to take over breakfast too, that's my turn."
"Alright, alright. I'll get ready for school. Is Fuji-nee here yet?"
"No, I didn't see her when I came in. Knowing her, she'll probably show up right when the foods ready."
"Yeah, that sounds like Fuji-nee alright."
Shirou and Sakura walked towards the direction of the house. Upon reaching, it they split up; Sakura towards the kitchen to begin breakfast and Shirou towards the dojo for his morning exercise.
By the time Shirou had returned to the dining area, he noticed that Sakura was almost finished with breakfast and that Fuji-nee was sitting at the table watching the news. Taiga Fujimura, or Fuji-nee as Shirou called her, had been a part of Shirou's life for years. Originally, she had watched over Shirou when his adoptive father, Kiritsugu, would leave for jobs in Europe. That all changed when Shirou had discovered his skill in cooking. Since that time, Taiga could be found at the Emiya household for every meal that Shirou, and later Sakura, cooked. When Kiritsugu had passed away Taiga was appointed as his Guardian, although with her often childish antics it was almost like he was the elder of the two at times. She didn't live at the house, but instead recognized that Shirou could take care of himself and usually just checked in a couple times a day. That these times were during meals was a complete coincidence, of course. Only Taiga's short brown hair could be seen when Shirou first entered the room as she was focused upon the news. Upon hearing him enter though, Taiga turned to greet Shirou before returning her attention to the television. Shirou sat down at the table and patiently waited for Sakura to complete the finishing touches on her cooking. Shortly, Sakura served breakfast and the three began to eat their meal in companionable silence.
"It seems to be getting dangerous out lately," Taiga stated, referring to the news story about the recent gas leaks in the city, "you two make sure to be careful ok?" Seeing their consent, Taiga quickly finished her meal. "I'm going to have to head over to the school early today. I need to finish grading some of those papers before the next classes start. The food was great as always, Sakura." So saying, she hopped onto her moped and sped away to her job as an English teacher at Homurahara Academy.
"Thanks for the food, Sakura," Shirou said after finishing his portion, "you just seem to keep getting better and better at cooking."
"It's probably because Senpai is such a good teacher," Sakura replied with a small blush.
"You were a very fast learner, and you had lots of natural talent. Don't sell yourself short Sakura."
After the two had finished their meal, they cleaned the dishes together before beginning the walk to school. Sakura sensed that Rider had invisibly joined them as the two had left the grounds of the house. Along the way, Shirou and Sakura chatted about inconsequential topics. Most people would not think such a time special, but Sakura treasured these moments. A peaceful, happy walk with her Senpai, away from the trials and pain that filled her home life. It was made even better with Rider-neechan here as well. For Sakura, this was all she needed to be happy, being surrounded by the people most important to her. In what seemed like no time at all to Sakura, the small group arrived at the school.
"I'll see you later Sakura. Have fun at archery practice," Shirou said.
"Ah, maybe you would like to stop by the dojo Senpai?" Sakura asked.
"I have to go to the student council office this morning."
"O-Oh, of course. Sorry, forget I asked. I'll see you later, ok?" Sakura made her way to the archery dojo for club practice.
'I'll stay outside and set up watch on the rooftop, if that's ok with you Sakura?' Rider spoke through the Master-Servant mental connection.
'That's fine Rider,' Sakura replied.
After an enjoyable time at the archery club, Shinji's unwillingness to make a scene combined with his fear of Rider caused him to mostly ignore Sakura, she entered the main school building for class. As she was walking down one of the hallways, Sakura was alerted to a small pulse of magic from her concealed Command Seals. Looking around, she noticed Rin Tohsaka coming from the opposite direction. 'Of course, she must be a Master too, by now,' Sakura thought. The confidence she had gained from being allowed to continue being Rider's Master caused Sakura to not shyly ignore Rin like she normally would.
"Good morning, Tohsaka-senpai," Sakura greeted. Ignoring the startled glance from Rin, Sakura continued on towards her class, feeling secretly proud of herself.
Rin was lost in thought, speaking to her two Servants, when she felt her hidden Command Seals give off magic at the same time as she heard the words, "Good morning, Tohsaka-senpai." Startled, she looked back to find that it was Sakura who had spoken to her. She stopped, watching Sakura's back moving away from her. No matter how much she wanted to deny or refute it, the traitorous thought still remained in her mind. 'I-Is Sakura a Master too?'
'Are you alright, Master? You went silent,' Saber asked her.
'It's nothing. Keep moving out Archer, I haven't felt the extra prana drain yet,' Rin answered.
Soon, classes ended and the students began to leave the school for home or to their various clubs. Rin felt that the day had gone as well as could be expected. While she would have rather spent her time in preparation for the War that would be starting very soon, she had to think of her life after the War ended. So she stayed, keeping up the appearance of school idol. Fortunately, Rin's two Servants were able to find the distance they could be apart without causing too much strain on her. Their experiments showed that Saber and Archer could be about 400 meters apart from each other in any direction before Rin would feel any change in the amount of prana she was supplying to them. The difference was not very noticeable at that distance, but the prana drain increased exponentially from that point until about 800 meters when it became truly difficult for Rin to supply prana to both Servants. At that point, some of the students in Rin's class expressed concern that she looked sick because of the effort it took to channel such a large amount of prana. Using this information, it was decided that Saber and Archer should remain within the 400 meter mark barring special circumstances such as battle where they could go no farther than the 800 meter limit for Rin's safety. After that limit had been found, classes continued as normal and Rin headed to the roof after school to begin the patrol with her Servants.
"Alright, the purpose of this patrol is to find enemy Master-Servant pairs and either gather information or fight them. Since you two already know the layout of the city that saves us a lot of time which we can use to have that discussion about your abilities as Servants." Rin stated after her servants had materialized before her.
"Very well Master, if that is what you wish," Saber said. "As you could expect from my identity, I am greatly skilled with a blade. Using my swordsmanship skills and my ability Prana Burst, which allows me to send a burst of prana through my limbs or body to provide a surge of speed and power, I am able to defeat most opponents. In addition, my blade is concealed through the use of concentrated wind making it very difficult for enemies to identify my combat range," Saber finished.
"While I am also skilled in swordsmanship, though not to Saber's extent, my talents lie more with my abilities as an archer. I never miss a shot with my bow unless I deliberately choose to. Using my Tracing magic I am able to recreate any weapon that I have seen within my lifetime, though this ability is at its greatest with swords. This method also allows me to copy the skills of the previous wielders of those weapons, which is how I am able to stand against other Servants in short-range combat," Archer said.
"I've never heard of Tracing," Rin stated. "Also, you can use magic? And you didn't tell me, the Second Owner of this city?" she said angrily.
"Tracing is my own form of magic, combining Structural Grasping with Projection magic. And you found out about my magecraft before I began to develop Tracing," he placated her.
"Right, time travel. So the present you doesn't have these skills?"
"Correct, right now my present self can only use Structural Grasping and mild Reinforcement."
"Hmmm, I'll let you off the hook for now. But I'll have to have a little chat with Emiya-kun after this War is over."
Elsewhere, Shirou Emiya suddenly experienced a cold shiver running down his spine while he was moving boxes at his part-time job at one of the local restaurants. The resulting spill gave the owners an excuse to make him end his shift on time for once, citing "rest" as their reason.
"That gives me a good general idea of your abilities," Rin continued, "now what about your Noble Phantasms?"
"Come now, Master. Surely, you don't want to spoil so many surprises this early?" Archer began.
"Spoil!?"
"I am in agreement with Archer on this matter," Saber said, "that is not information you need to know at this point."
"Plus, do you really want to waste a second Command Seal before the War even starts?" Archer added.
Rin looked between the two Servants for a moment. "Fine, I guess I can wait for the surprise. But they better be good ones, alright?"
"You are our Master, how can we be anything but the strongest Servants?" Archer teased.
"W-Well, moving on. You two won't be able to remain in astral form the entire time while we're patrolling, so we need to come up with some disguises. Saber will probably be fine, but we need something to hide Archer's features or he might be recognized as Emiya-kun, especially with that distinctive hair color," Rin said while looking at Archer.
"Leave it to me, Master, I have the perfect disguise," Saber stated proudly. "Now look away so that you can receive the full effect."
"I'm impressed, Saber. You are very prepared," Rin said while turning around.
"Of course, Master. Preparation is key on the battlefield."
After a brief moment where Rin could hear the rustling of cloth and the shifting of her Servants, she turned back around to see the disguise. Immediately her expression shifted from one of expectantly hopeful to shock. For standing before her was Archer, dressed in the exact same clothes and armor except for one glaring difference. He was wearing a bright, yellow raincoat with the hood pulled up over his regular armor.
"What kind of disguise is this!?" Rin exclaimed, "It's absurd. Now he draws even more attention. And where did you even get that raincoat from?"
"I thought it was a good disguise," Saber pouted.
"I know, I know," Archer consoled while rubbing her back. "Ours is a cruel Master indeed."
"Hey!"
"It's probably because this disguise doesn't fit in with our Master's color style. I bet she would have liked it better if it was red or black," Archer said.
"That's because red and black are much less noticeable than bright yellow! Not because of fashion."
"Of course Archer, we would not want to ruin our Master's image," Saber agreed sagely.
"Are you two even listening to me!?"
Archer removed the yellow raincoat and handed it to Saber. She took it in one hand and proceeded to move it behind her back. Not one second later her hand returned to sight, now holding a hooded black coat. Rin's rant died with her mouth remaining in an open-mouthed position as she saw this phenomenon. 'Was that her Noble Phantasm?' the ridiculous thought appeared suddenly in Rin's mind before she came to her senses.
"Is this better, Master?" Archer asked while putting on the black coat.
"You-whatever, let's just start our patrol already," Rin said. "We'll start with the downtown area, return here as a temporary base, and then finish with the business section. The Masters won't want to risk attention in the housing district, so we can probably ignore that area for now."
Rin had underestimated how boring patrolling actually was. After the initial excitement of finally beginning the Grail War had ended, she found that it was very dull. Sure the jumping around on the rooftops was fun, but that didn't hide the fact that they were just watching a whole bunch of mundane people doing mundane things. No hints of any Master activity, not even those mysterious "gas leaks" she had heard the students and teachers at school talking about. Still though, Rin refused to become discouraged. She was a Tohsaka! She was born to win this War.
Soon, the small group was passing the Fuyuki Zoo. It wasn't overly large, but still contained a variety of animals. At the moment it was closed, due to the late hour, but Rin remembered fond times at this zoo with her family before the Fourth Holy Grail War. Before her father was killed, her mother crippled, and her sister, Sakura, sent to be adopted into the Matou family.
"Hey, Archer. What's your favorite part of the zoo?" Rin asked in an attempt to alleviate some of the dullness of patrolling.
"I don't know. I've never actually been to the zoo," he replied.
"You've never been to the zoo?"
"Yeah. My old man was pretty sick and weak, so he never really had the chance to take me."
"Oh, I assume that means you haven't been either, right Saber? Saber?"
Saber was staring intently down into a portion of the zoo, too focused to hear Rin's question, before she turned to face Rin.
"Master, we are going down there," she stated in a forceful tone that brooked no arguments.
"O-Ok."
Saber jumped down from the nearby rooftop they were stationed at and made her way into the zoo, Archer followed after her while carrying Rin down from the roof. Saber resolutely walked to her destination, sparing no glance to the passing animal habitats, so focused was she on her goal. Shortly, the trio reached the area that had caught Saber's attention.
"Saber is that…?" Archer asked.
"Yes, Archer. Are they not magnificently regal?" Saber said with a hint of tears in her bright green eyes.
The enclosure before them contained a small pride of lions. One male, two females, and a small cub. Archer smiled, having known of Saber's love for this particular animal. In her time as King, Saber had once taken care of a lion cub for a short while. The happiness she had experienced in forming a bond with the cub had translated to the species as a whole. Often, Saber had wished that she had been able to stay with that cub longer. Though she had seen stuffed lions since that time, this was the first instance where she could interact with real lions again.
Quickly, Saber hopped over the fence and into the lion enclosure. Rin looked startled for a moment, but soon figured that a Servant was in no danger from any mundane animals. The lions stirred as Saber approached them without hesitation. Slowly, the leader of the small pride moved forwards to confront her. The two stopped a short distance from each other, examining each other closely. Saber kneeled down and began to stare into the lion's eyes. After a short stare-down, the lion moved its head forwards and softly rubbed its cheek against Saber's. Saber quickly gathered the lion into a hug and began to gently stroke it. After seeing the approval from the pride leader, the two females and the cub also moved to join in. In its excitement, the small cub jumped onto Saber. She allowed herself to be pulled down by the cub's weight and began to happily pet it while it was resting on her stomach. Soon, Saber was surrounded by the lion pride on all sides. She gave off a loud, happy laugh as each of the four lions attempted to convince her to pet them.
"Shirou! Rin! Come on, join me!" Saber exclaimed excitedly.
The two made their way into the lion pit and began to near Saber and the lion pride. The pride leader glanced up and began to cautiously watch the pair as they approached until Saber forced the lion's attention back onto herself and stared into the leader's eyes once more. After another moment between woman and animal, the lion dipped its head in deference to Saber. Archer headed to one of the two female lions and began to softly stroke its head. After a short time, he leaned onto the body of the lion and began to pet it fully. Rin approached the other female much more hesitantly, even a Magus had reason to fear these large predators without the proper precautions. She would have rather pet the cub, but it was still firmly enamored with Saber. She stopped a short distance away from the lion and seemed unwilling to move closer, until Saber noticed and gently guided her over to the female lion. Sitting behind Rin, Saber placed her hand over Rin's and guided it onto the lion's flank. She moved Rin's hand slowly over the fur of the lion until Rin began to take over. Stepping away, Saber saw that Rin was entranced by lion and had not seemed to notice that Saber had even left. Smiling, the blonde haired, former King returned to the male lion and small cub.
After spending a relaxing hour with the lions, the trio decided it was time to return to their patrol. During their time there, each had decided they wanted to name the lions. Saber named the male Cadwaladyr in honor of his position as pride leader and the cub Linus for his playfulness. Archer decided to name the lion he spent time with Rika for her regal poise, while Rin called the other Mai representing the lion's elegance.
"We must do this again sometime, Archer," Saber said.
"I agree. We may not find time again during the War, but definitely after that," Archer replied.
Since they had not found any evidence of enemy Servants in the downtown area thus far, they began moving back towards the school before they would continue onto the business district. Knowing that it would be difficult finding Servant activity in a particular spot, the group had resolved to patrol many different sections of Fuyuki City as often as possible. Along the way to the school, they discussed their plan for their future patrol.
"Since we'll be patrolling the business distract that means there will be many large buildings in the area. We should use the higher vantage point that the roofs of those buildings would afford us to scan for any evidence of Servant activity from a distance," Rin stated.
"It is a good plan, Master," Saber agreed.
"True, with my Archer's eyes I will be able to see any evidence, no matter how high we are," Archer added.
"I'm going to gather the supplies that I left in my bag on the school roof. We can begin the patrol after that," Rin said.
Archer dropped her off on the school roof while Saber set up guard on the grounds. Rin sent Archer to also watch the grounds of the school, saying it would be more efficient to guard the area than to guard just her. Gathering her additional supplies would not take long so they would be able to continue their patrol shortly. Rin had just finished collecting her supplies and was about to mentally call out to her Servants to return, when she heard a voice behind her that made her blood freeze in fear.
"Well, well. Isn't it a bit late for you to be out, little Master?"
This chapter came out a little later than I was expecting. Hopefully, as I continue writing I'll eventually develop a better schedule. Next chapter will contain the first fights of this story so I'll probably be spending a big chunk of time just coordinating that, but I should still be able to post it relatively soon.
