Chapter III:

The Den of Kings

"Oh, smile a little for Heaven's sake! There's no need to glare at the crowd like you are waiting for someone to jump at you with guns ablazing."

Touko's half-teasing remark fell on deaf ears. I would've paid my weight in gold to whoever promised to get me out of there on the spot. The stench of Cuban cigars made my nostrils flare up and the persistent chatter of the surrounding crowd was too much to bear. Everywhere I turned- in each and every direction- pompous gits and their dolled-up arm-candies mingled around with vomit-inducing smiles plastered on their faces. The whole charade of masquerading predators was a joke. For all the filth, impregnable darkness and nonstop rain, at least people were honest down on the streets. You went down the wrong alley, you got knifed. Plain and simple.

But not in that den of kings. Etiquette seemed to be the most important thing of all. Apparently you were supposed to smile and bow even when you looked someone in the eyes and inwardly wished for him to end up face down in some gutter by the time the sun rose in the morning. In that god-forsaken club where the crystal chandeliers never went off and top-class martini ran like a river, where even the Devil himself would be ashamed to enter, lurked the deadliest and most treacherous predators in the whole city.

Touko had kept her promise alright. After I had shown up at the right time driving the right car (a certain crimson cabrio borrowed from a certain close 'friend'), she had dragged me off to some art exhibit of hers. How exactly a bunch of puppets set up in rather… dubious positions could pass as art was something I still had to figure but it seemed that the rich folks thought it was all the rage. And that had been enough to earn her a posh reception at the Babylon of all places. Plus free entry for whoever was the lucky sod hanging off her arm that night.

It wasn't only her… art that had gathered such a crowd of wealthy gentlemen around her at the reception. A filthy liar was the lad who would say she was anything short of stunning. The glasses were all but gone and, finally out of that ponytail, her fiery hair went down in waves over her bare shoulders. And that red dress of hers with the longest of slits and only two silky pieces of cloth meant to cover up her… assets was the cherry on the top of the cake. Frankly, I was half-sure that she had agreed to let me come only to use me as an excuse to ward off the suitors that didn't make the cut.

I would've been fine if that had been my only role but apparently Touko felt obliged to introduce me to every Tom, Dick and Harry in shoes of snake leather that neared us. Not even in my wildest dreams had I imagined that there could be so many people in this world that could make me want to punch them as much as Archer but in the short span of several hours my old partner had acquired unbelievable competition. And speaking of that stick in the mud…

An all too familiar glimpse of slicked-back white hair hidden among the crowd caught my attention as Touko was bugging me to at least pretend to smile and pushing yet another glass of champagne in my hand. I had half a mind of 'excusing' myself and going off after him but in that particular moment the crowd chose to go silent.

The momentary pause reserved only for when the sleaziest among the sleaziest entered meant only one thing. One of the bigshots had chosen to be fashionably late and was just now arriving at the party. Parting like the Red sea before Moses, the whole crowd was divided in two before the small entourage that had just entered through the gold-colored double doors. Leading his people like a wolf leading his pack, Kiritsugu Emiya strolled in like he owned the whole place, clientele included. Which wasn't that far from the truth. As owner of Heaven's Feel Industries, Kiritsugu was certainly one of the richest men in the city and willing to deal with only those of similar status. It was widely known that important people went to him when they had problems and, like a magician in a cheap magic show, he solved them almost in an instant. How exactly Kiritsugu made those 'problems' disappear was still a mystery for the ages. From what the police knew he was as innocent as a new-born pup and, frankly, many lads at the station didn't want to learn anything more than that.

Apparently the Universe had decided that I had to be her bitch in that particular night because instead of heading to speak business with some of the other sleazy gits, the infamous Emiya chose to head in our direction. Him congratulating Touko for an exhibit well done meant her introducing me, so I somehow ended in a conversation with possibly the most dangerous man in the city. Over two glasses of champagne and a borrowed Cuban. But since wonders never seemed to cease around me those days, yet another well-known face chose to join our little gentlemanly chit-chat.

"And what do we have here? The infamous old friend of mine Kiritsugu Emiya!" was the shout that was seemingly supposed to come off as a greeting. The speaker was none other than Commissioner Waver Velvet. And judging by the condition of his breath that I could pick up from a mile away, the pals at the bar had been busy up 'till now.

Thankfully for him, Velvet wasn't alone. A young lass with short black hair was there to keep him from further embarrassing himself but from her looks she wanted to be anywhere but there. That was probably his reporter girlfriend. She was certainly a catch that one- dressed in a baby blue cocktail dress way more conservative than what Touko was currently wearing now. But by the way Waver's lady was eyeing the girly-looking blond lad with the pony-tail who played bodyguard to Emiya, she wanted nothing more than to have an immaculate black suit like his on. Or just preferred the younger kid to Velvet, not like I particularly cared.

"Commissioner Velvet! And pretty little Maya! What a pleasant surprise," greeted Kiritsugu much more quietly and lifted his cup at Waver's direction.

"You two know each other?" blurted out Touko, the reddening of her cheeks showing that she wasn't nearly as resistant to alcohol as she was to nicotine poisoning. "She interviewed me about the exhibit."

"In a business like mine, Miss Aozaki, it is a necessity to have… associates everywhere," said Emiya and took a sip off his glass. The narrowing of his cold black eyes- like a cat toying with its prey- seemingly went unnoticed to anyone but me. Some part deep inside of me was currently glad that alcohol no longer affected me the way it had. A small part, tho, I assure you.

"And good thing Maya was there for poor Velvet when the old Commissioner… passed away," continued Kiritsugu with a smile. "I don't think he could've survived such tragedy on his own. And to think how he managed to cut away all that corruption that was plaguing the police like cancer just shortly after that… as if you dedicated your efforts to old Kayneth, right?"

For some reason Emiya's words were enough to sober Velvet up, at least a bit. Narrowing his eyes and clutching his glass to the brink of shattering it, the Commissioner mumbled a curt 'Indeed' and dragged off his lass somewhere else.

"So, Kiritsugu, how's family? Those boys of yours- you readying them to inherit the business?" asked Touko and leaned a bit on me to keep her balance.

"I've already given up on Archer. Police's everything for the boy so I guess I'll have to make do with his younger brother, reluctant as Shirou is."

To this day I wonder how I managed not to spit all over the suit of the most dangerous man in the whole city when I heard those two names. My mind felt like being split in half, unable to decide which statement had been more absurd. The fact that my old partner was apparently the firstborn son of Kiritsugu bloody Emiya or that said man's pup had somehow managed to pull one over me and fool me with a fake name. One thing was certain- the investigation just kept getting more and more complicated…

"Archer's probably off loitering around with Tokiomi's daughter again. But if I know my boy she would've told him to bug off already. He can't keep his social life and job separate for the life of his so he is probably interrogating his favorite dame about little Sakura. And you know how those two girls were- like joined at the hip or something."

… And more and more and more…

In the short span of around a minute I had been given so many clues that I felt the need to go out on the balcony and hope that the fresh air would be enough to get my excuse for a brain to sort them all out. The annoying chatter refused to be left behind but at least the evening wind was there to greet me. It was the wind of the city- with its entire stench and smells that assured a grizzled dog like me that even so high up in the realm of the rich, the streets would never let down one of their own. I could see the whole city from there- a parade of man-made giants of all shapes and sizes stretching as far as the eyes could see, like dominoes just waiting to be toppled over. The lights of the city glittered into the night like some cheap counterfeit knock-off of the stars hanging above.

"Majestic isn't it? The view."

To my great fortune or utmost lack of luck, the speaker turned out to be a gorgeous lass. The purple cocktail dress that didn't shy to show off her naked back was hiding from view a certainly stunning body. The moonlight caressed her ivory skin like a jealous lover and by the way she coyly tucked back one of her twintails, the girl certainly knew her value.

"Archer warned me that you would somehow get in here to question me. Apparently he thinks you are stubborn enough to find a way into the Babylon but he did seem more keen to bet on you charging in here guns ablazing," said the newcomer and left her wine cup on the railing, turning to stare at me with a pair of dazzling eyes that seemed to cause roots to sprout from the ground and bind you on the spot.

"He has a way of underestimating me," I replied with a shrug and leaned back on the railing. "So what's the reason you wouldn't listen to our mutual friend, Miss Toshaka?"

"Just Rin," said the girl and her delicate crimson lips formed a smile so seemingly divine, that even I knew only a demon could pull it off. "I would never treat a friend of Archer like a stranger after all."

Her gaze clawed right at my soul and the way her lips stayed barely apart, as if waiting for a kiss, made my skin crawl and my heart skip a few beats. The cool evening air suddenly was as heavy as the one in Sahara during drought season and each and every fiber of my being screamed 'Danger!'. The old dog was getting beaten by the kitty before a confrontation had even started. Rin seemed the same age as the little goddess- probably not even twenty and certainly barely legal for Archer to loiter round with her. The fact that I had to remind myself that the same rules applied to me made me ashamed of myself.

"So… Rin," I started slowly, trying out her name. "What was your connection to the late Miss Matou?"

"Sakura and I were two of a kind. Both heiresses to old and important families, both the same age and bored dead of our lives. She was like the sister I never had," admitted Rin with a sigh and ran her finger over the edge of her wine glass. I tried not to ask myself how the red lipstick staining it tasted.

"We could be ourselves together, away from the never-ending masquerade that had surrounded us our whole lives. All those secrets that suffocated us- we could entrust to each other. It didn't matter that there was a cold war between our 'rival' families. What mattered the most was that here in the Babylon, we could find a kindred soul."

Rin's ruby lips let out yet another drawn-out sigh before finishing off the rest of the wine in a single gulp. The glass was now limply hanging between her lithe fingers.

"So did she mention any… concerns about her well-being? Anyone who could've targeted her personally? Has she been distant or… has she seemed scared or spaced-out lately?"

"Not a bit. Well, she was a tad concerned on how Shinji would react on her going out with Kiritsugu's son now that their father wasn't there to rein him in but anything else? No."

I continued my improvised interrogation.

"Why would her brother be angry? Did he have a rivalry with Shirou or something?"

"Not… precisely. He has been sort-of friends with him from what I know but the core of the problem was Sakura. She, well… let's say that she and Shinji liked to keep it in the family and her big brother apparently wasn't very happy upon learning that Shirou has been getting some of it as of late. He learned just the other night and after telling her all those horrible things, Shinji stormed out of the place and from what I know, no one has seen him ever since."

"Jealousy is a strong motive," I said, dragging out my words to buy time for thinking. Rin had just shattered the pedestal upon which I had placed the little goddess into thousands of tiny bits, as if it wasn't anything more than a cheap glass pane decorating the nearest convenience store. Why did it have to be incest of all things?

"I know Shinji," cut me off the raven-haired girl and continued fiddling with the glass in her hand. "He may be a royal pain in the ass, he may be outright cruel and violent sometimes but the… the way Archer told me you've found her isn't his style. Shinji's rash and cowardly and he'd sooner run away after doing it and not stay there and set up something like that."

"Do you have any idea who it might have been then?"

"I don't. But she had… another confidant," Rin replied after a little hesitation and shot me another one of her judging looks that made you think she was looking straight into your soul. "Sakura certainly wasn't the saint everyone made her out to be. She had a particular… hunger for earthly pleasures and she had somehow gained entry for a very special club that provided just what she was looking for. One of the girls there was her favorite… Rider or something. From what I gather Sakura told her those family secrets that a Tohsaka just couldn't pass by without exploiting."

And once again, with just a few words of those ruby lips, my mental image of what the little goddess had been in her life was grinded into dust and spread to the four winds. Still, a clue was a clue and that one seemed as good as any other.

"Right. Thank you, Rin. Now if you would excu-"

Her gentle arm cut me off before I could even finish, holding me back and using it as an excuse for the black cat to draw a bit closer to her prey for the night.

"Stay a bit. It so awfully boring now that Archer's away," drawled out the girl and oh-so-slowly twirled the tip of one of her twintails between her fingers.

"I sincerely doubt an old dog like me can alleviate your boredom in any way, Miss," I said while trying to keep the sweat from pouring out from beneath my skin.

"Aww, there you go being so dreadfully formal again. I happen to like dogs," almost purred the girl before leaning closer and whispering in my ear. "And older men."

"And I happen to know when to play and when to fold 'em," I somehow managed to cut her off, my senses fighting to keep the feeling of her scent out of my mind.

"You're no fun," proclaimed the raven-haired beauty with a perfectly-faked pout before diving back into the crowd of predators inside. I was left behind with only her lingering scent and the mocking laugher of my old self to keep me company.

"And what do we have here?"

It was one of those moments that one reads about in the books or watches in the movies. The fateful moment when two men meet and from the moment they set eyes upon each other, they know that they want nothing more than to see the other one dead, maggots crawling from his eye sockets. Even before my brain had finished registering that grating drawled-out voice, even before I had caught a glimpse of the unruly golden hair and red eyes of that bastard, my canine instincts had gone and decided that I hated nothing more in this world than him.

That night Archer was forever booted from the top spot in my 'Guys I Want to Beat into a Bloody Pulp' list.

"You didn't answer me, mutt," repeated the newcomer with an almost casual grunt and leaned on the railing not that far away from me.

"I'm investigating," I said and kept on staring straight forward towards the crowd, preferring the sleazy gits compared to looking at him in his precious Armani.

"And what, pray tell, would a mutt like you investigate in my club?"

"Just the gruesome death of an innocent girl, Mr-"

"Just Gil. If you are so stubborn as to insist on addressing someone like me in any way, at least I won't let you stain my family name. Or maybe you would settle for 'Your Highness'?"

"Not a chance, punk," I cut him off with a snarl. It was a miracle the glass in my hand still hadn't shattered under the pressure. "And is there some chance that you would know something about all this?"

"Such trivial matters are of no concern to me," proclaimed the king of the city and waved off a girl's death with a casual wave of his hand. "But I know Shirou well-enough. Unlike most people he is open-minded and willing to see the bigger picture. He would never stoop so low as to murder the one he loved, I assure you."

"And what may that bigger picture be, Gil, ole' pal of mine?"

Hearing him gritting his perfect pearly teeth from all the way there made me happier than I had been in ages.

"To reality, of course! What bigger picture could there be? Just look at them- the mongrels supposedly reigning over today's reality," Gil spat out in anger and gestured towards the still-chatting crowd huddled in his lion's den.

"Lazy, corrupt, insignificant, betrayers all! All they know, all they can do is drag their fat carcasses around, scheming and backstabbing and just thinking what more they could possibly steal while not knowing that they are already dead! A living plague to society in the form of one big leech that just saps more and more of its life day after day after day! Young and old, they are all doomed. Doomed to be bloodsuckers to the very end, able only to play their little game of stealing and betrayals, passing the torch from one to the other and not even realizing how they have trapped themselves in an endless circle out of their own will. Shirou… Shirou was willing to acknowledge that and break the accursed circle. 'A Hero of Justice', he said. Well, I welcome any and all who are willing to sweep the filth off my city."

"And each and every night you welcome them in your own house despite all this," I reminded him with a low chuckle.

"And each and every night I restrain myself from poisoning all the drinks despite all this," he echoed with a smirk of his own.

"Y'know, you aren't the best of informants, Gil."

"Get out before I have you thrown out. Off the railing."


The drizzle descending from the grey clouds was like a heaven-sent kick in the guts. It made the ground all muddy and all the people sour and jittery. The family had pulled one of their many sets of strings to get the body to be buried as early as possible but Mother Nature seemed hell-bent on ruining the service for everyone involved. Bitch was jealous of the little goddess's beauty, if you ask me. As any normal person, I hated funerals, even more than I hated hospitals. The constant wailing of the women was making me grit my teeth and the speech of the priest went unnoticed by most, preferring to concentrate on staying dry than paying their respects to someone already not of this world.

Back then was when I realized how the core of the Matous had really dwindled away when only a lone old coot bearing the name was the sole relative present to send her away on her last journey. The majority of the rest was actually members of rival families and that Shirou lad, flanked by the same goons who had guarded his father the night before. He didn't seem to notice me and I didn't bother looking for his attention. Both I and the lad knew that out of all those present, there was a big fat chance of someone being the one who had plucked that delicate flower in her bloom. And damn him or her for making me so sappy and sentimental but all I wanted back then was to twist the murderer's neck and, in a form of poetic justice, dump the body into the freshly dug grave.

A lone woman stood a bit away from the crowd, umbrella limp in her hand and her waist-length purple hair drenched from the rain.

Only she and Shirou lingered on a bit after everyone had used the oh-so-convenient excuse of the rain to slither away in their hiding holes, proud that he or she was now in the morally right ground for coming to the funeral.

A funeral fitting for a goddess?

Not a bloody fucking bit.

But what right did I have to rage at the others when I myself had failed to find her on time? Gritting my teeth even harder in a vain attempt to subdue my anger, I stared at the tombstone that even lacked an epitaph. Pathethic.

"You will get a cold staying here in the rain."

Frankly, I am not surprised that the priest had managed to sneak up on me, even with an umbrella in hand. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that even a sixteen-wheeler slamming right into me wouldn't have caught my attention, much less the rattle of the rain on the umbrella. And besides, the old snake had always been too sneaky for his own good.

"It warms my heart to see that you care for me so much, Kirei."

"Bazett would never forgive me if something happened to you when I could have prevented it," explained the priest with an even voice and just kept standing there, unwanted.

"Stop talking like she's still here," I said and bit my lip as my nails drew blood from the clenched fists hidden in the pockets of my trench coat.

"She loved you enough to forsake her old live, even leave her job with Emiya-"

"Don't remind me."

"- she deserves to have left behind more than a drunkard ex-cop who is unable to solve even a single case anymore."

I prayed to all the Gods that were willing to listen and to all those that refused- to shut him up before I ended up increasing the count of the graveyard's residents by one. Be it because of some twist of fortune or the git had finally grown half a brain, Kotomine just kneeled before her tombstone, left a single figurine behind and once again vanished somewhere behind the veil of the rain.

Yet again, I was the only one left at a shrine of the goddess, a shrine desecrated before it had even been built.

And only the lone onyx figure of a hooded angel was there to keep me company in my vigil.