I don't own Fate. Fate is the property of Type-Moon, and no financial gain is made from this or is sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

Before the Dawn

Chapter 2

"Kiritsugu Emiya…?" Kirei Kotomine echoed curiously, and Rin nodded from where she was sitting on the couch in his private quarters' living room at Kotomine Church.

"My mother told me you might know something about him." She said, and Kirei shared a glance with his daughter. The glance was enough to arouse the magus' suspicion. "What have you been hiding from me Kirei?"

The priest sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, I was aware that Kiritsugu Emiya had taken up residence in this city." He told Rin, the magus' face hardening at the implied cover-up. "However before you get angry I must tell you that my father confirmed shortly after the Fourth Holy Grail War that Kiritsugu Emiya had lost all magical ability."

Rin blinked in surprise, her anger effectively short-circuited. "What?"

"Precisely what my father said." Caren Hortensia said. She'd moved in two years ago after her grandfather's death, supposedly to help her father out in his duties. "Apparently by the end of the war, Emiya-san had been cursed with a most malevolent malady of the soul, one that neutralized his magic circuits and had a debilitating effect on his physical condition. At least that's what grandfather's notes tell me."

"Notes which I don't recall letting you see." Kirei observed, and a ghost of a smile briefly flickered on Caren's lips.

"I don't recall you telling me not to look at them either." She quipped, and Kirei rolled his eyes before giving a cough.

"So Kiritsugu Emiya was a Master…" Rin murmured, deep in thought only for her eyes to widen a moment later. "…wait a minute, if he was a Master…!"

"A reasonable suspicion…" Kirei said with an approving nod. "…but it is ultimately fruitless. My father and I had a similar sentiment, and in exchange for attempting to counter Kiritsugu's curse – fruitlessly I might add – we pried into his experiences during the war. And from what we found out, it seems that he was the victim of the same Servant which took your father's life."

"Caster…?" Rin spat acidly. "Well now, that is interesting. It seems that Shirou Emiya and I have something more in common apart from being magi."

"Shirou Emiya…?" Caren echoed. "I see. So he had a son. So that's why you brought up Emiya-san out of nowhere."

"This all still leaves the question of why you allowed him to remain." Rin asked after a moment calming down: it would not do to allow her rage against the previous war's Servant of the Spell to cloud her reason.

"The man was broken and in pain." Kirei answered. "And he'd lost all his magic. The man was also apparently just a spell-caster as opposed to a true magus, but I'm certain that the loss of his magic was a blow in itself. Father felt that letting the man retire in peace here with his wife – though they weren't married at the time – was a tolerable risk."

"And his wife…? Is she a magus?"

"No, she is not." Kirei said with a shake of his head. "Maiya Hisau however was a long-time associate of Kiritsugu Emiya. She probably knows enough about the theory to teach their son the basics. I presume that the man is dead?"

"Shirou Emiya told me that he left a while back, though he didn't specify how long ago, and he never came back."

"Ah, I see." Kirei said before thinking the matter through. "Anyway Rin don't you think that this is an opportunity?"

"An opportunity…?" she echoed in confusion.

"We understand that magi do not allow their personal mysteries to be uncovered by their fellow practitioners…" Caren put in. "…but we also know that the sharing of general knowledge in a two-way fashion is not unheard of, and is actually encouraged in scholarly circles."

"Are you suggesting that I take him as my apprentice?" Rin asked deadpan.

"Hardly…" Kirei said with a smile, a smile matching his daughter's own much to Rin's distaste, as it was simply unnerving how much father and daughter resembled each other. "…you have to admit that you would not match the criteria required by the Association for a master-apprentice scenario."

"What was that?" Rin hissed with a profoundly-offended expression and tone.

Caren coughed and drew the outraged magus' attention from her father. "While my father could have worded it better…" she said in a conciliatory tone. "…he does make a good point. However what we suggest is that perhaps you could take him as a study partner? Hone out the imperfections as it were from his likely-basic understanding of magic, and then perhaps teach him some of the higher-level but general mysteries known to all magi?"

"It would be an excellent exercise or shall we say rehearsal in inter-magi relations at the personal level should you choose to enter the Clock Tower in the future." Kirei opined. "And you might even learn a few insights by interacting with the Emiya boy and his magic."

"You both make good points…" Rin conceded grudgingly.

"On another note…" Caren put in. "…he might become a useful ally once the Grail war rolls in within a few years. Two heads are better than one after all, and even if he is probably far behind you in terms of magical training he could still prove useful for additional support. After all, father and I have to be discreet in our support of your effort in the war. He will not."

…alright…" Rin said after a few moments thought. "…I'll think about it. No scratch that, I'll ask him his opinion, and then I'll make the decision."

Caren watched from a window as Rin Tohsaka strolled away for the day's classes. "You didn't tell her why Kiritsugu Emiya would seek assistance from us…" she said to her father behind her. "…even though he suspected that we were allied with the Tohsaka."

"She didn't ask as to why he would ask for help from the Church." Kirei replied. "She probably found it suspect that a magus would seek assistance from us. But I did say that the man was a spell-caster. No doubt Rin believed that he would have less reservation with seeking help from us, even more so given his condition at the time."

"What of the man's allegations?"

"I saw no need to bring up dismissed claims." He said. "The Grail is responding to my commands and inquiries now, and the same went for my father at the time. Even the early start of the fifth war can be explained by prana buildup caused by the fact that multiple Grail wars have occurred without success, and the system was never designed to be repeatedly used over such a long period of time. By all rights the Second Holy Grail War should have been the last one."

"I see your points." Caren said, but inwardly she felt concerned given who Caster had been. "Do you think she will seek an alliance with the Emiya boy?"

"She probably will." Kirei said after a moment's thought. "Rin doesn't show it, but she is lonely. I'm not certain if she will allow their relationship to become more than professional, but she will probably be swayed by the idea of having someone she can relate with at hand. A new ally for the future conflict will further add to the appeal of the idea."

"There's also the fact that she dislikes the Matou." Caren added. "I can't blame her though. Even if you've been keeping all you and grandfather knew about them from me and the Tohsaka girl, just what I do know makes me uncomfortable."

"Then count yourself fortunate." Kirei told his daughter. "There are some things that are better not to know."

"Even for the Association Supervisor…?"

"The girl has a kind heart." Kirei said. "She is very much unlike her father in that light. So much so that it's better that she does not know everything about her family's traditional allies. She'd probably storm off to confront that walking corpse Zouken, and God knows what might happen after that."

"She's not that hotheaded." Caren objected, and Kirei snorted.

"You didn't know her as a child." He said. "She hides it quite well now but I assure you: she is quite excitable if you know the right buttons to push."

Caren smiled. "You know her quite well." She pointed out. "Do you care for her that much?"

Kirei shot her a pointed glance, and the silver-haired girl laughed softly at his expense. "Just like you father…" she said while beginning to walk away. "…I take such amusement in finding and pushing people's buttons."

Kirei set his jaw for a moment, and then he laughed as well. "Well that is to be expected." He said. "You are my daughter after all."

"Was there ever any doubt about that?"

"Emiya…" Shinji Matou said, walking up from behind his friend as he walked down a hallway during lunch break. "…can I ask you a favor?"

The way it was said was less asking and more of commanding, but Shirou just took it in stride. That was just how Shinji was, and he knew better than to comment on it. Shirou might hope that Shinji would mature over time, but pushing the matter would just cause the other boy to lash out, and he didn't particularly want that to happen. It was better to let sleeping dogs lie.

"What do you need?" he asked instead, and Shinji smirked in his usual fashion.

"The thing is Fujimura-sensei asked me to clean out the archery dojo but…"

Shinji trailed off as Shirou stopped walking and stared impassively at him. "Were you bullying the newcomers again?" he asked exasperatedly.

"…of course not…! I was just…"

"Shinji…" Shirou interrupted. "…you might call it 'seeing what they can do', but lining them up to get humiliated and for you to show off your skills is bullying. And if Fuji-nee asked you to do it because of that, then sorry but I can't do it for you."

"Oh come on Emiya." Shinji continued while placing an arm around Shirou's shoulders, the magus feeling an unaccustomed sense of irritation at the overly-familiar gesture. Sure they were friends, but they weren't that close. "I promised Maki-chan that I'd…"

"The answer is no, Shinji." Shirou said firmly while prying Shinji's arm off of him. "I'm not going to fill-in for you just so you can go on a date. You made your bed, now lie in it."

Shinji ground his teeth at Shirou's stubborn refusal and opened his mouth to give a retort when another person entered the conversation. "Trying to run away from responsibility Matou?" Rin asked coldly. "That's so like you, isn't it?"

Shirou cringed inwardly at that, almost literally seeing Shinji fume at Rin's words. It was no secret that Rin Tohsaka disliked him, even to the point of publicly-humiliating him by verbally rejecting his advances and slapping him off when he tried to press the issue.

Indeed, Shirou didn't know it but Rin HATED the Matou Clan. She just knew that they had something to do with her sister's disappearance and possible death, given that they had been entrusted with her custody. And if she ever found proof…well. If that happened, then she certainly wouldn't hesitate to use every ounce of her authority as the Supervisor to hound them out of Fuyuki at the least.

At any rate, Rin just raised an eyebrow at Shinji's strong-sounding but ultimately hollow retort telling her to stay out of their conversation. "Really…" she responded mockingly. "…however seeing as Shirou here has already refused your requests I daresay that your conversation is over."

Ignoring the spluttering Matou she then turned to Shirou. "Shirou…" she began while ignoring Shirou's twitching eyebrow at her unsolicited use of his given name. "…we need to talk about a few things, so meet me at the rooftop if you please."

Without another word the girl strolled off in her usual confident manner, and after another moment Shirou sighed and then with a half-hearted wave and apologetic smile at Shinji followed after her, leaving the other boy alone and seething with impotent rage.

"Sorry about using your given name back there." Rin apologized as Shirou joined her at the school roof.

"You do realize it's just going to make him think that we're closer than we really are, right?" Shirou asked, and then looked around as he felt her bounded field fall into place.

"Don't worry…" she reassured him. "…it's just to keep anyone from listening in. And yes, I know that. But I'm sure that if he tries to give either of the two of us trouble, either or both of us are more than capable of handling it and him."

Shirou sighed and scratched his head. "Do you really have to piss him off?" he asked. "I know you don't like him – you made that quite clear to everyone – but this seems a lot like going too far."

"It's not that I don't like him…" Rin began while leaning against the rail. "…I just don't have any respect for him. He doesn't deserve it, considering he has little respect for either his peers or superiors, and none at all for the female sex."

Shirou looked taken aback. "How can you even say that?" he asked, more than a little outraged for his friend's sake.

"The guy dates girls just so he can sleep with them." Rin said angrily. "Once he's bored with them he dumps them and when he gets the 'itch' for them again he charms them back. And I'm pretty sure that at least two of his paramours had to get abortions done. Do you really expect me to respect someone like that?"

"You mean Yoshiko-san and Otome-san?" Shirou said in disbelief. "Those are just…!"

"I assure you Emiya-kun that they are not rumors. I've checked."

"Why…oh right, Supervisor…"

Rin raised an eyebrow at Shirou's words. "So you know that they're magi." She said neutrally.

"…yeah…" Shirou said, still shaken at the exposure of his friend's skeletons. All of a sudden his mother's warning came to mind, even if they were meant against another aspect of the Matou Clan. "…mom warned me about them after our meeting the night before last."

"You might want to listen to her then." Rin said, and then she sighed. "Anyway let us get to the point. Emiya-kun, how much do you know?"

Shirou raised an eyebrow this time. "About magic…?" he asked neutrally. "You don't seriously expect me to answer that, do you?"

Rin smiled warmly, much more so than he'd ever seen her smile before. It was actually quite a nice smile, and Shirou understood why so many boys were after her. "Perhaps you aren't as much of a novice as I thought you were." She said.

Happy feeling gone…

"Thanks…I think." He said, and she laughed at him.

"Oh come on, don't be like that. You know as well as I do that it was a complement."

"Yes, I know that, except it didn't sound like a complement."

Rin thought about it for a moment, and then she shrugged. "No I suppose not." She conceded. "Anyway, I'd like to offer you an opportunity to study magic with me."

"Wait, what?"

"It's precisely what I said. I'll help you polish what you know, and maybe teach you a bit of the more advanced stuff. Of course I won't be teaching you the Tohsaka-exclusive mysteries, but if things go well I might consider taking you as an apprentice in the future, in which case you'll get the opportunity to study some of the exclusive things."

Shirou stared blankly at Rin, clearly astonished at this turn of events. Rin for her part was quite nervous herself. She welcomed the opportunity to have someone she could relate to – with both her sister and the Matou pretty useless in that regard (the former was gone and the latter she distrusted) – but at the same time worried that he might reject her offer. Magi after all didn't usually work with each other outside the bounds of blood and the Mages Association or any other magical organizations.

"I'm not refusing mind…" Shirou finally said after pinching himself – much to Rin's amusement – and confirming the fact that he was in fact awake. "…but what are you getting out of this?"

"I'll be frank with you Shirou." She said with a smile. "I've every intention of getting into the Clock Tower. However I've no experience with interacting with other magi ever since my father died. As such…"

"You want to practice working and communicating with other magi with me." Shirou finished, and Rin nodded. "Hmm…I'm not saying that it's not understandable, and I'm not refusing your offer, but I'm getting the feeling that I'm being used here."

Rin laughed again. "...you think too much, Emiya-kun." She said, and despite himself Shirou laughed afterwards.

"Didn't I tell you the same thing in the past?"

"So you did." She said with a nod. "Anyway just think it over by yourself, and should you choose to accept you know where to find me."

With a nod, she dispelled the bounded field before making her way back into the school.

"I don't like this." Maiya said, and Shirou found himself quailing slightly at the steely gleam of his mother's eyes. This was a side of her that he'd never seen before, and the cool, deadly hints in the tone of her voice made him very uncomfortable. "Rin Tohsaka's offer has merits, but I can't help but feel there's more to this than meets the eye."

"You think she's hiding something?" Shirou asked, and Maiya rolled her eyes.

"She's a magus." She replied. "They all hide a few things. So do you in fact, if what you told me about your earlier conversation was correct."

Shirou flushed and scratched his cheek at his mother's words, but Maiya smiled reassuringly at him. It didn't completely work, given that her eyes still had that gleam in them, but it did work to an extent. "No…" she finally said. "…I don't think little Miss Tohsaka has ulterior motives behind what she's offered you. On the other hand…"

Maiya trailed off, and then after several moments she shook her head. "…for now you should accept her offer and take advantage of this opportunity." She told him, her words clipped and business-like, and Shirou was eerily reminded of when she'd run-off a small gang of older boys who'd tried to bully him when he was younger with just a glare.

Where did mom learn to glare like that?

"However…" Maiya continued with narrowed eyes. "…be careful, and don't let yourself get lulled into getting complacent and over-trusting."

"I know to do that much already." Shirou responded. "Most likely we'll be studying over at her house, and I know quite well that entering a fellow magus' home is something of a gamble unless you're really close to your fellow practitioner."

"It's good to see that you understand." Maiya said with a nod while getting to her feet. Shirou stared up at her.

"What are you planning mom?" he asked, and she smiled without mirth.

"I'm going to try and find out what else is behind this."

Aoi set down her teacup, and she regarded her daughter closely. "I see." She said. "Do you think he will accept?"

"He probably will." Rin replied. "He seems a bit naïve and idealistic to be honest, but I've noticed that he's also a very determined and responsible person. Those are useful traits for a magus, although how much he'll be of use to us will depend on his degree of magical potential."

"Don't start treating people as tools Rin." Aoi warned her. "That's a quick way to lose friends."

"I concede the point." Rin said with a faint smile. "At any rate, if he does accept I have to admit that I'm looking forward to working with another magus of my own age. I just hope his magecraft isn't anything weird."

"There's that too." Aoi conceded. "However there is one thing I'm worried about though…"

"The Holy Grail…?" Rin asked, and Aoi nodded.

"...you're going to have to tell him eventually Rin." She said. "He does live in this city, and his father was apparently a casualty of the previous war, so I daresay that he deserves to know."

Rin made a grumbling sound, but assented with a nod. "You're probably right." She said. "If that's the case and assuming he accepts my offer, I should probably give it to him straight from the start."

"Look on the bright side…" Aoi pointed out. "…if you tell him, he'll probably consider it a gesture of trust and goodwill, an additional olive branch in an already-offered hand of friendship. It will only make your relationship work for the better in the long run."

"That's another good point." Rin said before she sighed. "But ultimately this isn't worth much if he doesn't accept."

As if on cue the phone rang, the two women in the room glanced at it and then at each other. Aoi smiled and nodded encouragingly at Rin before the younger woman stood and walked over to the phone. "Hello…?" she said after picking it up. "This is the Tohsaka residence, may we help you?"

"Tohsaka-san…?" Shirou's voice emerged from the telephone and for some reason Rin felt something light bubbling up from inside her. "About your earlier offer…"

A/N

As requested, something on Kirei and Caren (Risei having passed on). I hope they weren't OOC, given that it's hard to write a genuinely-annoying yet helpful person like they are (it's a gift), and here Kirei isn't supposed to be evil but not exactly good either.

IzanagiMikoto: with regards to Shirou, well he's still pretty much his normal self, except without all the 'Hero of Justice' nonsense.

Selias: considering how old-fashioned magi are, it makes more sense to use it. It also makes it easier for me to consider their ages.