ACT V - Cloak and Dagger
The next morning Shirou woke up to find that Saber had already left before him. He got dressed and headed out to the living room to be met with (completely sober) Rider. Rider was sprawled out on the couch reading a book with the television on, her long purple hair was draped over the back of it and her glasses rested lightly on the bridge of her nose. "Good morning Rider. You look unusually well rested this morning." Rider looked up from her book and nodded. "Yes, Sakura and I were up all night speaking with Rin. Speaking of which, she and Rin will be out for most of the day today so you'll have to take care of things yourself." She said in a sultry sounding tone of voice. Sakura rarely went anywhere without Rider so Shirou wondered if the two of them went out for some "sister time" or something; or perhaps Rider just offered to stay back to keep an eye on the place.
"I'll start breakfast then, you and Saber can just relax and I'll let you know when it's done." Rider nodded and thanked Shirou with a smile before returning to her book. When he was about to turn into the kitchen he saw Saber enter the sitting room, he gathered she must have just gotten out of the bath as her hair was down and she hadn't put it into it's normal bun yet. She looked surprisingly beautiful with her hair like that and Shirou could feel his heart beating faster than normal.
"Good morning Shirou." She turned and smiled at him, practically making his heart explode through his chest and claim Saber for itself. "Good morning Saber, breakfast will be ready shortly so just relax until then. Sakura is out with Rin so it'll be just you, Rider and I for the day." Shirou said and turned quickly into the kitchen to start cooking. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Saber sit and look at him questioningly as he began to start breakfast.
After the three of them had eaten Rider returned to her book, leaving Saber and Shirou to their own devices. "Hey Saber, let's go to Shinto." Shirou suggested suddenly as they were outside in the sunlight doing chores. Saber perked up her head at the sudden question. "What purpose would that serve Shirou?" she asked curiously as she hung a sheet out on the line. "Servants and Masters don't make moves during the day, so there's really not much for us to do. So I thought we could go to Shinto and have a little fun before sunset." Saber smiled and brushed the creases out of the sheet. "Alright, I agree with your proposal on one condition." She said as she raised her index finger to indicate her sincerity.
Shirou raised an eyebrow, "Condition?" Saber nodded "Yes, the condition is I would like to visit the zoo and see the lions." She nodded her head in affirmation. Shirou chuckled slightly, "Is that it? Alright, lions it is." The two of them finished up what they were doing, and Shirou went inside to make the two of them boxed lunches (At the request of Saber). "Rider would you like to come along with us? Saber and I are going out for the day." Shirou turned and asked as they were about to leave, she raised her head and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "I appreciate the offer but I think I'd rather stay here." she said before returning to her book. Shirou shrugged and the two of them left for the bus station.
Dispite not being a major city Fuyuki did in fact have a decent zoo. It was a little out of the way and the couple had to change buses at the Miyama station to get there. Shirou wondered if Saber had ever been to a zoo before, they didn't have them in medival England so he was curious where she'd heard the term before.
It wasn't long after they'd gotten to the zoo that Shirou and Saber were walking side by side along the concrete paths. Saber was actually quite good at following the signs to find the proper direction. Not much was said between the two but despite that Shirou was still enjoying himself. It was a very nice day and the sun was glinting of Saber's hair making it shine like gold. "Shirou, it's a little embarassing if you stare at me like that." Saber said after awhile, snapping Shirou out of his dream world and back to reality. "Oh, erm sorry." he said while slightly flustered and stared straight ahead.
"Come to think of it, you used to have a lion cub didn't you?" he asked, trying to start up a conversation. Saber smiled as she was remembering something pleasant, "Yes I did, I loved playing with him. He was rather mischevious at times though and liked to claw at the curtains." She and Shirou both chuckled lightly. "Sounds like he was a handfull." Shirou said urging her to continue, she looked very happy talking about this particular part of her past and he liked seeing her like that.
It was then that Shirou witnessed a miracle. Saber giggled, a sweet sound passed between her lips and entered his ears making his very heart melt and sink into his toes. "Yes, he did get into quite a lot of trouble it is unfortunate that he had to grow to adulthood and I was no longer able to care for him." Saber said with a sad look as if recalling how it felt to lose a loved one. At that moment Saber stopped in front of a large paddock with several large rocks here and there and a few trees. It was clearly designed to look like the African savannah.
"Ah, Shirou look there they are." Saber exclaimed happily as she pointed into the cage towards a tree. Under a tree he could see several shapes lazing around in the shade of the tree. Every so often one could here a low throaty growl come from one of the lions, Shirou deduced it was some kind of lazy yawn as the three lions rolled about in the grass occasionally batting at each other's tails with their large paws. "They really are gorgeous animals." Shirou commented but he couldn't help but notice that Saber often lays around the house in the same manner, further fueling his theory that she was a lion in a past life. "The king of beasts indeed." Saber said quietly as she happily watched the animals lay in the sun.
After a few minutes the couple found a bench not too far away from the lions' pen and Shirou brought out the lunches he'd made for the two of them. Saber munched on a sandwich while continuing to be mesmerized by the lions, who had moved right next to the viewing window and one of the females began to lick the window for some unknown reason while the one male just laid in the shade of a rock.
"Don't you wish you could go and play with them?" Saber said as she took a sip out of a box of juice. "Eh, I don't think that would be a good idea. I think their idea of playing might be a bit rough for my taste." Shirou joked and Saber just chuckled back lightly. They walked around the zoo for awhile and looked at some of the other animals. As the afternoon heat built up, Shirou thought it would be a good idea to treat Saber to some ice cream.
He handed her the cone and she looked at him inquizatively. "Shirou, how do you eat something like this?" She asked confused. Shirou looked a bit surprised, "I thought they even had ice cream back in your day. Well you just lick it like this." Shirou raised his cone and dragged his tongue along the cold and sweet snack. "But you have to be a bit quick, because it melts quick and can get a bit messy." Saber nodded, still looking a bit confused but she copied Shirou's movements, pressing the tip of her tongue along the ice cream and bringing it back into her mouth. She had a surprised look on her face, "It's very cold, but sweet." She commented and Shirou only smiled and continued eating his ice cream.
Saber finished hers first but looked over at Shirou's as if she wanted to try it. Shirou saw her lean in out of the corner of his eye and Saber licked his ice cream just as he did, their tongues got so close they almost touched and Shirou's heart started to pound in his chest. "I think yours was a bit better than mine." Saber said as she pulled away, licking the excess off her lips. "I'll uh... keep that in mind." Shirou stuttered, his face slightly red. Shirou wondered if she realized she'd almost kissed him just now, or maybe it was better if she didn't know. About that time the sun had started to set and the two of them left the zoo behind and returned home to prepare for patroling tonight.
Upon entering the door to his home he saw Sakura, Rider and Rin all having tea at the table. "Have a nice date did you?" Rin asked teasingly as they entered the door, taking a sip of her tea. The couple blushed and Sakura giggled at the two of them. Shirou went back into his room and changed into the armor Tohsaka had made for him and returned to the sitting room with the girls. "Well aren't you eager to get out there again." Tohsaka commented as Shirou sat between Saber and Sakura. "I want to find out more about your brother so I plan on staking out your house tonight if that's all right with you." Shirou said, hopefully. He was banking on the fact that Akihiko would be back now that Rin was out of the house and Shirou had a few questions for him.
"Well if you're doing that then I'm coming with you." Rin said as she finished up her tea and Sakura took the dishes back as she and Rider had also finished theirs. "Sakura, will you and Rider be alright here?" Rin called into the kitchen at her. "Yes nee-san, Rider and I will be fine. Just make sure the three of you come back safely." Rider "Mm'd" and nodded in agreement. Rin stood up and Shirou and Saber followed suit, "Might as well get going then." Rin said and started to the door ushering Saber and Shirou through first. "Be safe you two." Shirou called back at her and the two smile and waved at him before the three of them left down the dimly lit street.
"So what did you and Sakura do today?" Shirou asked sparkig up a conversation as they walked side by side. Rin shrugged, "Girl things." she said slyly with a wink in Shirou's direction to which Saber puffed out her cheeks and Shirou's ears turned a little red. "What about you two? What exactly did you do on your little date." She said looking back at the couple who looked at each other trying to come up with a good answer. "It wasn't really a date per se..." Saber said embarassadly with a slight hint of pink in her cheeks.
After some more casual talking in the group they finally quieted down as the neared the Tohsaka house. "So you said you saw him trying to destroy the house?" Rin asked as they crossed the lawn of the mansion. "That's what it looked like to me, but it could be that he was looking for something also." Shirou said quietly as he scanned the area with his eyes. "Saber, do you feel the presence of any Servants?" Shirou asked her to which she shook her head. "I do not." Saber said turning to her cold, serious demeanor after a moment.
"I need to head inside and grab a few things that I left. Do you mind if I borrow Saber for a moment?" Rin asked as she stood by the front door. "Please do, Saber I'll stay out here. I'll keep an eye on things from this end and I'll call you if something happens." Shirou said and looked back at her. She nodded, "I shall return shortly." She said and the two of them disapeared into the house. After a few minutes of exploring the outside of the mansion, the hairs on the back of Shirou's neck stood on end and a tingle went up his spine. It felt as if he was being watched by someone. But it couldn't be Lancer as Saber hadn't sensed any Servants. "Hang on... I definately feel as if I'm being watched. And since Saber can't sense them it could only be...Crap!" He barely got the last word out as he caught a glympse of something falling from the roof of the house, land behind him and press a blade to his throat.
"Move and you're dead, Master of Saber." A deep throaty voice whispered next to his ear but when Shirou turned his head he saw a man dressed all in black, only his shining eyes were visible through a small slit in the wrap around his head. "Master of Assassin I presume?" Shirou choked out quietly, unable to move as he was effectively disabled. "Correct." The man whispered back and at that point Shirou was hit hard on the head, he let out a sharp grunt of pain and then the world around him swirled and went black.
