ACT II - Kaleidoscope
After a few minutes of speaking with Arcueid, he convinced her to let him say goodbye to Rin, Sakura and Rider before they left for wherever they were going. Saber however was still wary of Arcueid and not ready to let her out of her sight while in Shirou's company, and she was not up to the idea of going with her at all. Saber clearly had a few things to say but was also not up to speaking much while around Arcueid.
"Look Arcueid, why don't you just go home for the night alright? I'll go back to the cave tomorrow night and we'll talk more then." Shirou said as he looked up at the night sky, it seemed like they had been in that cave forever but in reality it had only been a couple of hours.
"Tomorrow night? That's too late, what about tomorrow morning?" She suggested making Shirou give her a confused look.
"Morning? Aren't you a vampire? I thought they couldn't go out during the day." Shirou asked while tilting his head in confusion. Saber also seemed to be interested as she dropped the cold gaze she was giving Arcueid and seemed generally interested in the answer.
"I told you I'm not a typical vampire. Geez, you sound just like the boy I'm dating." Arcuied sighed and crossed her arms. "Well see you Shirou. I'll be back in the morning so you'd better be ready." Without waiting for Shirou's answer she turned and began to walk away, leaving with calling him by his first name.
Shirou and Saber looked at each other. "Did she say dating?" Saber asked as she tilted her head and watched Arcuied walk away. "Who could fall in love with such an odd person?"
"She's rather forceful isn't she?" Shirou said to himself and brushed a hand through his hair, his skin looked whiter than it had before and he glanced at his arms. He had just now noticed his appearance had changed back to what he used to look like; he wondered what the purpose of such an action was.
"Shirou?" Saber had started to walk passed the gate of the Emiya residence but she turned back to look at Shirou who she realized wasn't following her.
Shirou snapped back as he heard Saber call his name. "Sorry, right behind you."
The couple passed the gate and walked across the lawn together and opened the door. Inside the house was dark and Shirou gathered that everyone had already turned in for the night. Shirou was sort of disheartened at the fact since he wanted to speak with everyone. He walked through the dark hallways and opened the sliding door that was next to his room, in the darkness Shirou could see (surprisingly well thanks to his new power) Sakura and Rider sleeping on futons next to each other. Sakura's breathing was slow and even, indicating she was asleep.
Shirou closed the door quietly with a sigh and he turned around to see Saber behind him. "You can talk to them in the morning Shirou, but for now let's get some rest." She placed a hand on his shoulder.
Shirou nodded and the two of them returned to Shirou's old room. Shirou left the room as Saber changed and he went to the bathroom to do the same. As he returned and slipped into the futon that lay next to Saber's, he realized that this might be the last time that he may get to stay in his own house for a long time. He thought of Sakura, Rider, and Rin and what would he say to them in the morning? Sakura would no doubt take the news of him leaving badly.
"Shirou, are you sure your body is fine? You seem different." Saber turned in her futon and asked, one of the straps on her shoulders hung off and her hair which she had let down was hanging just passed her shoulders. She has a curious look in her eyes. She'd seen Shirou die, and she was still worried if everything had gone alright in his re-creation.
"I do feel a little different, but nothing feels wrong or out of place." Shirou replied, reassuring Saber who started crawling closer to him. She'd been acting differently since Shirou had returned, for example she seemed more like Sakura who was worried about him all the time. It most likely had to do with the fact that she was forced to watch him die painfully and she didn't want to experience that again. "Saber, what are you doing?"
Saber had crawled next to him and she laid her head on his chest, her right arm on his shoulder. Her eyes closed as if she was listening to his heartbeat. "At least this is something that won't ever change." she whispered as if to herself and fell asleep.
"Saber..." It seemed her real feelings had started to come out now that she was tired. Shirou raised an arm and rested it on Saber's back. He closed his eyes and released a relaxed sigh, he felt oddly comfortable with Saber lying against him even though bits of her hair were tickling his collarbone however he soon fell asleep under the warmth of her body.
***
Shirou awoke the next morning to the sound of birds outside of the window. He opened his eyes and stretched out his arm finding that Saber wasn't there. "Hm, it's not like I expected her to stick around. She probably got embarrassed and ran off when she woke up." He smiled to himself and rolled out of bed, got dressed, and put his futon back in the closet. He walked through the hallway and to the living room where he found that Sakura and Rider were already awake.
"Good morning Senpai." Sakura poked her head out of the kitchen and greeted him with a large smile before heading back into the kitchen. Shirou attempted to help her cook but Sakura wouldn't have it. "Just relax this morning Senpai; you had a rough night from what we've heard from Saber-san." It seemed as if Saber had been awake long enough to fill the two of them in on the night's events. Shirou didn't think Saber had told them of his plans though as Sakura didn't seem to be sad. Shirou uttered a sigh knowing in the end he'd have to be the one to tell them.
"Is Rin awake yet?" Shirou asked as he attempted to sneak through the doorway of the kitchen to help Sakura.
She wagged her finger and frowned at him. "No, she's not awake yet Nee-san isn't much of a morning person. Now go sit back down." Defeated, Shirou returned to the sitting room where Rider and Saber were watching the news on T.V.
"Good morning Shirou. You were rather late last night." Rider said as she turned around to greet him. Saber turned around to greet him as well.
"Sorry about that Rider, I won't be so late next time. Were you able to sleep well?" Shirou asked as Sakura finished breakfast and brought out a large tray. Rin almost never showed up to eat breakfast. Shirou kept telling her it would be better if she ate as much as she could, but Rin always insisted on skipping breakfast even if she was awake. After the four of them ate and spent a little time chatting Rin walked into the room.
"Good morning everyone." She said as Sakura poured her a glass of juice. She yawned loudly and began to sip at her juice; even though she was dressed Rin still resembled a newly risen zombie. Clearly she wasn't a morning person.
Shirou thought it would be best to wait to explain what happen the night before to everyone after Rin was fully awake, so he just continued to chat amongst Saber, Sakura, and Rider though Rider was never very talkative.
After a few minutes a loud knock came from the door. Shirou got up to answer it however he had no idea who it could be as he wasn't expecting anyone. He opened the door to find Arcuied standing out front. "Arcuied? What are you doing here?" Shirou didn't think she knew where he lived but she must have followed him the night before.
She stood in the doorway and put her hands on her hips. "I told you that I'd come back in the morning didn't I?" Shirou thought back and realized she never gave him a chance to answer her question anyway, she just took it upon herself to show up here.
"Senpai? Who's at the door?" Sakura came up behind him and saw Arcueid standing at the door. "Do you know this person Senpai?" She eyed both Shirou and Arcuied. It wasn't strange for him to come back with some strange girl, but it was another thing for her to just randomly show up. What's more she was a beautiful foreigner.
"Shirou, is that your girlfriend? Can I come in and see your house?" Arcueid asked excitedly and looked over Shirou's shoulder at Sakura, who blushed at her question.
"No, she's not my girlfriend. I guess you can come in and meet everyone, I have a lot of explaining to do now." Shirou sighed and let Arcueid through the door who seemed to bounce happily as she looked around the living room before sitting down next to Saber. Shirou didn't think she'd just show up randomly like this, it felt like he was being rushed out of town. His felt a churning of the spirit of Alaya within him. "Yeah, yeah I know." He said as if it would listen to him.
Shirou went to the living room and sat between Saber and Sakura, he began to explain everything that happened the night before. As expected Sakura seemed worried about his well being after she'd heard that Shirou had died in that cave. Sakura, Rin, and Rider casting side glances at Arcuied after hearing about what she'd been doing and about her cause for everything.
"We're coming with you Senpai. You're not leaving on your own again." Sakura insisted. The idea seemed crazy to Shirou, he didn't think she'd realized the gravity of the situation he would be in.
"Sakura... this is the most dangerous thing I'll ever do. I can't allow you, Rin and Rider to be put into even more danger for my sake when I'm putting myself into it for all of you." Shirou pleaded with her but Sakura wouldn't hear it, in fact she seemed to get angry.
Sakura leaned over and slapped Shirou across the face and everybody else at the table gasped save for Arcueid who sat and watched the spectacle with interest.
"I'm tired of hearing you say that! For once in your life can't you be glad someone is willing to step in and help you!?" Tears began to stream down her face as she poured out all of her feelings onto him. "You leave for years, never sending any word that you're okay and then you come back into my life and make me remember the happiness we shared though high school! Now you want to leave again and leave me alone when I have the power and ability to fight along with you!?" Sakura couldn't understand why Shirou wouldn't let her come with him. She and Rider had saved his life more than once and proved that they could help him, friends and loved ones should fight side by side not leave each other out. That was her view on it.
"Sakura..." Shirou started but Sakura held up her hand and Shirou shut his mouth.
"Rider, Nee-san and I are coming with you. I will not sit by again while you knowingly put yourself into situations where you come home hurt." Spewing all of her anger and sadness onto Shirou she finally gathered up the courage to say what she'd always wanted to but never did. After she took a deep breath she stood up and stormed out of the room with Rider at her heels no doubt to calm her down.
Shirou was left completely speechless by Sakura's outburst. Never has he seen her like that, Shirou knew he wouldn't be able to refuse her now. Even Rin, who could always think up something to defuse a situation was at a loss for words.
"Shirou... Sakura does have a point. She feels left out, she wants to be by your side just as I do. Would you deny her?" Saber placed her hand on Shirou's back and looked at him seriously.
Rin finally regained her composure and spoke up, "So if there was a way to make Sakura and I as powerful as a Servant then you would have no complaints about letting us go with you?" Apparently Rin too was insistent on going with Shirou and her eyes lit up as if she had some kind of idea.
"Rin, what are you getting at?" Shirou asked curiously. Clearly she was up to something.
Rin smirked widely. "You remember the Gem Sword? Well I managed to recreate something similar called a Kaleidostick. It will give its user extreme magical knowledge and extra prana from alternate universes using the Second Magic."
Shirou looked interested, "Would you mind showing me? It sounds interesting. If it passes my inspection I'll consider letting you and Sakura go with me." He cast a glance over at Acruied who seemed to be indifferent in the situation. In fact, she still looked a bit shook up at Sakura's scolding.
"Sure, I'll be right back." Rin got an excited look on her face and hurried out of the house and across the lawn to her room in the outbuilding. Shirou and Saber looked at each other, wondering what kind of display of power this "Kaleidostick" would put out. Soon Rin returned with what looked like a Gem Sword. "This will be interesting, I haven't tested it yet." She said as she swung the blade through the air, the air seemed like it was vibrating around Rin and the Kaleidostick started to glow brightly. Shirou could practically feel the energy pouring into the blade from the other universes.
Soon the blade transformed into a magic wand-looking stick and Rin began to sprout cat ears and a tail (with a small bow and a bell on the end of course). Her clothes changed as well, now she was wearing long, red leather boots that almost went up to her inner thighs and a large yellow bell around her neck. Rin's shirt also turned into a red coat with the bottom ending at her waist. A pair of red leather gloves with finger holes also appeared on her arms, the long gloves ending at her elbows.
Shirou watched the transformation and once she was done he couldn't believe his eyes. Was something like this on purpose? Did Rin have some kind of costume fetish that Shirou didn't know about?
"Rin?" Saber asked her while Shirou just stared dumbfounded at what Rin had become.
Rin perked up her cat ears at Saber's question. "Nope! I'm Kaleido Ruby!" Rin struck a pose much like some magical girl off of a television show.
"Rin is it supposed to turn you into a cat?" Shirou asked as he stared at her tail which was wagging about of its own accord.
"I told you, I'm not Rin. I'm now Kaleido Ruby. I was transformed by the Kaleidostick, I made one for Sakura too but who knows what she'll turn into. By the way, while I'm like this I can probably fight evenly with a Serv- waaaaaah!" Rin stepped forward and tripped over herself falling towards Shirou and landing right on top of him. Shirou had smacked his head on the table and somehow Rin's lips ended up attaching themselves to Shirou's.
While Shirou lay there unconscious Saber pulled "Kaleido Ruby" off of Shirou. Saber looked at her angrily, "Rin what's gotten into you?" she glared at Rin. She'd never say so, but Saber was angrier about Rin kissing Shirou than knocking him out.
Rin rubbed the spot on her head where she'd hit it. "Owwww. Sorry about that Shirou... oops." Just then she seemed to realize what she'd done. She crawled over to Shirou and began to pat him on the cheeks. "Wake up Shirou!" she called out to him and Shirou finally opened his eyes.
"Rin? Oh boy, I wasn't dreaming was I?" Shirou said in a rather dazed voice as he looked back up at Rin.
"Hold on Shirou, I'll go get Sakura." Shirou was still a little dazed and Rin was for some reason in no condition to be looking after him so Saber took it upon herself to get Sakura who followed her out to the living room. She stopped in her tracks once she saw Rin.
"Nee-san? What in the world are you doing?" Sakura asked Rin who was on her knees in front of Shirou.
Rin waved her arms, "It was an accident Sakura, I tripped and fell on Shirou. He's hit his head pretty good." She nervously scratched her head. It almost seemed like she had a different personality while under the influence of the Kaleidostick, hopefully Rin would be able to reverse it as her new persona seemed rather klutzy and danger prone.
Sakura knelt next to Shirou and took a look at his head. "I appreciate the effort, but I think I'll be alright." Shirou sat back up and the world spun once. "Whoa." Apparently he was more dazed than he thought; at least the craftsmanship of the table had proved itself against Shirou's hard head.
Arcueid watched the scene with interest and even looked a bit concerned as Shirou hit his head on the table. "So Zelretch's teachings have reached you have they?" she said seemingly to herself with a chuckle. She then hopped gracefully off the chair and looked at Sakura and the others. "I'll be back later to speak to you all. Until then have fun, I have something I need to do. Bye bye." She waved at them and strolled out the door.
After Arcueid left Rin seemed to gain a bit of control over her Kaleido Ruby persona and started acting more like herself. "Sorry about that everyone, that was unexpected and rather embarrassing." She blushed as she remembered that she'd accidentally kissed Shirou. "Anyway, I have one of those for Sakura too." she pointed at the table where a second Kaleidostick was sitting.
"Um, maybe I should just use it when I have to?" Sakura suggested, a little reluctant to try her sister's invention seeing as what it did to her.
"Sakura, I apologize for earlier. You have every right to be angry with me if that's how you've been feeling." Shirou spoke up and apologized to Sakura feeling that now was as good a time as any.
Sakura smiled. "That's okay Senpai. I've already forgiven you for that. Just promise me that you and Saber won't sneak out without us."
Shirou nodded. "Alright, I can't say no after what you said earlier." Shirou's thoughts turned to Aiah. She should have reached her homeland by about now, he wondered if he would ever see her again. He watched Sakura leave and Shirou thought that Sakura had changed; it was kind of refreshing to see her speak her mind for once.