Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night.

The New Guy

by ChoppingBoard

Rin was entertaining herself with the clear blue sky outside the classroom, but was interrupted with what would've been Archer's third attempt of clearing his throat. It wasn't that he was trying to get her attention too; this was purely by sheer coincidence. The homeroom teacher called him to read page twelve of their Literature textbook, but he was reduced to a mess of ehems. On his fourth try, he could only let out a raspy "sorry". Miss Taiga Fujimura, their teacher, promptly responded, "Ah, that can't be helped. Issei, can you accompany Archer to the school clinic?"

Issei Ryuudo pushed his glasses upward and promptly closed his book. He is currently the Student Body President, and thus, was an easy target for teachers for when they need to ask favors. "Hai, Fujimura-sensei."

Archer groggily set aside his book and stood up, following Issei as he exited the classroom.

"And we resume..." the teacher said, earning grunts from a few students. "Koushirou, as we were. Page twelve."

Rin's eyes gravitated towards Archer's now empty seat. She was mentally torturing herself if she was to be blamed for his sore throat. She recalled Saturday's 'lunch date' and felt uneasy recalling the parfait of doom which led to Archer's demise. She did make him finish more than half of the dessert, insisting it was he who refused to return it to the kitchen. She had a hard time looking elsewhere while her classmate recited Matsuo Basho's popular haikus.


The lunch bell rang and Rin briefly glanced on Archer's empty desk before exiting the classroom. Issei had returned to the classroom more than an hour ago, and yet, there was no sign of Archer. She could ask Issei but their relationship is hostile at best. She never understood nor cared why Issei glared at her everytime their eyes met. She couldn't even remember any confrontation or problem that they had in the past.


Not my fault. Not my fault. Rin was fixated on this mantra as she queued for the school cafeteria.

Not my fault. Not my fault. She repeated as she peeled off the plastic packaging of her lunch. She must've looked ridiculous as she had her eyebrows furrowed bite after bite of her curry katsu.

Not my fault. Not my fault. She had been staring hard at the vending machine near the school gym. I didn't make Archer sick. It wasn't my fault. She had her mantra again, but her hand already pressed the button to get a water bottle. She looked to her left and right, before retrieving her purchase.


It was a good fifteen minutes before break ended and Rin was trying to make sure that their classroom was empty. She peeked on the glass of the back door, then entered sighing, thankful that there was no one around.

Not my fault. Not my fault. Yet her hand was trembling as she set down the water bottle on Archer's desk.

The door opened suddenly and Rin bumped on a few desks trying to get away.

"My, my Rin Tohsaka. I didn't think you were this jumpy. Who knew?"

Rin turned and scowled as she recognized the intruder. "Bug off, Issei." She angrily spat out at him while she hurriedly fixed the desks. She thanked Kami that the desks didn't fall and there hadn't been any items which would have fallen off.

"If I remember correctly. That is your desk." He pointed a few desks from where she stood.

"That's correct. You want an award for that?" She responded as she slowly moved towards the door.

"Excuse me?!" Before Issei could fully respond, Rin was already out of the classroom. He was angrily returning his bento box to the desk compartment when the door opened again. He pushed his eyeglasses upward and prepared to lash out, but his features softened when he saw silver hair. "Oh it's you."

Archer had a questioning look when he glanced back.

"Are you feeling better now? What did the nurse say?" He tapped on his bento as if to invite him.

Archer cleared his throat and let out a raspy response, "I should probably be heading home." He slumped his shoulders and proceeded to walk towards his desk. He lifted the water bottle and turned around to ask Issei, but he was on his way out.


Rin looked thoughtfully at her terrarium. She was memorizing detail after detail in hope of acing the project. Their teacher mentioned that the criteria was more on creativity, but appealing on presentation skills wouldn't hurt anyway.

Beside hers was Archer's, and she couldn't help but think of his empty desk. She was glad that the water bottle was gone indicating that someone managed to get it, but she hasn't seen him the rest of the afternoon.

She let out another sigh when she heard the door creak, "Ahh Rin, I am glad you have your project ready."

"Hai, Ishida-sensei. I am terribly sorry I had to turn this project late." She frowned and acted out her role of playing the girl with the broken project again.

"No worries at all. Let's proceed then, shall we?" Her teacher walked up in front of her project and started scribbling on his notebook.

"Ummm sensei? Aren't we going to wait for Mister Takahashi?" With her teacher, she felt she can ask his whereabouts without being too obvious about it.

"Ahhh, not anymore. I heard he was nursing a sore throat so he won't be able to join us today."

"I see." Rin sighed for the nth time that day.

"I think he went home a little after lunch time?" Her teacher responded. "Were you perhaps looking forward to his attention this afternoon?"

Rin immediately blushed, "Absolutely not!" Sensing that she must've raised her voice, she tried again. "No, not at all, sensei."

"No worries, I've heard he has become popular with the female population since he enrolled." Her teacher chuckled. "Anyhow, let's proceed to the matter at hand, shall we?"

...to be concluded

A/N: This chapter is too short! But, the next scene on my mind would be too different, hence, the awkward cut. But, good thing about this, is I'm writing this slowly but surely. Yes, this will be a slow burn. Thank you for your patience :)

Re: reviews, here's what I have: no magic in this AU; good to also see an affirmative on the LancerxRin bit :)

Anyhow, my time is also spent on reading Digimon fics (Mimato forever!), thus the names of the OCs.