There was a level of energy in the Emiya gym that would have been almost unheard of months ago. Actually, even six weeks ago Shirou probably wouldn't have believed the transformation that had taken place. The evening air was ringing with the sounds of a healthy gym in full swing. Rhythmic grunts of exertion were accompanied by the bell-tone of metal on metal, as weights settle back on racks to be pushed off again in the steady repetition that built muscle. The pleasant sound of leather on leather told of the struggle boxers had with their own limits, always trying to get better, faster, and stronger.
Of course, it went without saying that while his gym had a newfound appearance of health, at this level that was no longer sufficient to save it. It might be likened a man who, long starving, comes across a wholesome meal. It may be delicious going down, but it is too little, too late to stave off the previous deprivations that had been endured. Where Shirou was at now, if he had no debts at all, his students and the members of his stable might have brought in enough money to provide a living for the Emiya gym. But debt was a powerful and tireless opponent, and Shirou had been staring across the ring at it for too long now. Being able to eke out a draw in the 12th round was futile if you lost the first 11 rounds.
Then again, Shirou thought to himself, if that's your situation, you put everything on the line and bet it all on a single punch!
The thought brought a smile to Shirou's face. Currently, his "punch" was in the ring, squaring off with a rather dashing woman in peculiar attire, her face set in a look of furious concentration. Unlike their first training match, Bazett was wearing her mouth guard, and they were going at it full throttle.
Also, unlike the first match, the red-haired woman was fighting for her life.
"Put her on the ropes!" Shirou called out, rather superfluously, as Saber was already working her left hand to force Bazett into the vulnerable position. Bazett felt the cloth on her back, restricting her movement, and retaliated by trying to parry an incoming hook aside and launched a fierce jab towards Saber's chest. Too late, Bazett realized there wasn't nearly enough force on the hook; a feint. Saber caught the jab on her free hand and used the opportunity to dip and then rise up, channeling force from her feet into a furious hook into the red-haired girl's sternum that lifted the taller girl off the canvass for a moment. At that, Saber actually re-chambered and threw the hook she had faked with a moment ago, a tighter, lower-damage punch that Bazett was able to turn aside, but doing so prevented her counterattack opportunity as Saber stepped outside.
Bazett tried to clear the ropes, but Saber stayed with her, trying to herd her towards the turnstile. Bazett noticed with weary satisfaction that Saber's hands were in their new guard position. Over the last week Saber and Bazett, along with Shirou, had worked on improving Saber's block with the Heartthrob in mind, and now Saber's traditional high guard was a little lower, and her low guard was a little higher, the window where Hound Dog would have to strike having been reduced thereby. Bazett had yet to land a strike in the killzone today. Actually she was getting more benefit by feinting a jab to the chest and catching Saber looking than she was actually getting close to landing the match-ender.
She did just that, prepping a jab and telegraphing the punch. Saber took the bait and dropped her hands just in time for Bazett to push off the ropes behind a sharp hook that jarred Saber's balance. Her follow-up cross went wide, but at least she was able to get clear and back into the center of the ring.
Shirou watched from the sidelines as the two began to mix it up. If Bazett had one flaw, it was that she enjoyed fighting a bit too much. It had probably been a long time since she had a match, longer still since she faced an opponent who could challenge her. Occasionally Shirou had to remind her to use Thousand Barbs. Today though, her and Saber were all business. He let them go at it for about half a round longer before blowing his whistle, calling an end to the bout.
…This resulted in a pair of chagrined and slightly annoyed looks turned his way from inside the ring.
"Sorry ladies," Shirou said, with a sunny smile that showed off his mood. "Fight night tomorrow, can't risk a pulled muscle."
Saber honestly tried to suppress her annoyance. It wasn't that she didn't understand, but a half-finished fight, even a training bout, left a bad taste in her mouth. It didn't make her feel any better that Shirou had been acting odd all day. She had caught him grinning at odd moments, even during the rare moment when he had chided her for being off form.
...Sometimes she wished she was a bit smarter. She felt someone like Tohsaka Rin would have easily been able to figure out what was going on. Actually, even Taiga probably would have been enough. Tohsaka could have figured it out just with ability, and Taiga would have just put him into a headlock and tickled him mercilessly till he fessed up whatever the secret was.
That mental image brought a incongruous smile to her face, to match the larger grin Shirou was still sporting.
"Will we be having a run then?" Saber hazarded a guess. The fight had ended earlier than the usual last-day training, so Saber thought maybe they intended to run out Saber's muscles to keep them stretched and loose; Shirou occasionally included little schedule changes like that in order to avoid overly repetitive -and therefore boring- training sessions.
That had apparently one of Kiritsugu's flaws: that he always arranged things mechanically, with an eye toward pure maximization of a fighter's physical ability. Saber blessed her lucky stars that she had not been born 10 years earlier; if Kiritsugu had been her last hope, as Shirou was, she certainly would have fought for him too, but she was sure it would have been a nightmare.
"Sorry, nope!" Shirou said, growing even more animated. "I gotta start getting dinner ready. Why don't you and Bazett-san have some tea and go over your training. It's the last chance before the match, right?"
"All right, that sounds good. Sorry for intruding again." Bazett said, leading Saber off. Bazett had eagerly taken them up on offers of dinner. Though she really just seemed to appreciate free food, as opposed to enjoying shirou's good cooking, Saber had an idea that Shirou could plop down something horrible, like a plate of hamburgers or something, and Bazett would wolf it down just as quick and with the same (lack of) enjoyment she displayed at everything Shirou had served thus far.
"You know what's going on, don't you?" Saber found herself accusing suddenly.
Even she wasn't sure how she knew, she just had an intuition, and Saber always trusted her instincts.
Her jab struck clean though, as Bazett settled herself in to lean on the wall outside the dojo, a cup of cold oolong tea in her hands. Bazett wasn't really used to dealing with people and was terrible at hiding her emotions. The way she suddenly flushed and then glanced away quickly confirmed her suspicions.
"...Can't tell you anything, sorry."
"Why not?" Saber huffed at once, aggrieved that even Bazett already knew what was going on.
"...Because Shirou is the one paying me." Bazett stated with finality.
That caused the green-eyed girl to nod mutely. Since her manager was the one signing Bazett's paycheck, it made sense which of the two she would side with. But that belied an even more pertinent question.
"How do you even know?" Saber asked, disgruntled.
The older women and Shirou had a strange rapport; admittedly, they had bonded when they first met, but she didn't think they were so close that they were carrying each other's secrets.
"Um...that's..." Bazett started. It was clear even to Saber she was somewhat lost for words. After a moment, she continued haltingly, "I arrived a little early today, and I ran into your manager cleaning. He was whistling. I have never heard him do that, so I asked him if he was feeling alright, and he..."
"...Well?" Saber prodded after a moment where Bazett trailed off.
"He said he had to tell someone or he would explode, but he made me swear not to tell you, please don't ask anymore!" The Irish woman begged desperately.
In the ring, Bazett was a nightmare, a fiend. She could have fought in the tournament herself.
...But when it came to dealing with people, she folded quickly. She was the type of person who didn't know how to solve a problem without her fists.
"...All right, I understand." Saber backed off mercifully.
Bazett perked up immediately. "Really, you don't mind?" she asked.
"It doesn't seem like it is anything bad. Besides, my manager is not good at keeping secrets." Saber smiled, almost secretively.
"For example," she began, "I noticed Shirou started dinner tonight early. But he is pretty strict when it comes to rich food on the night before a fight, so I don't think he is going to prepare a banquet for me tonight." The little blond explained, the barest hint of regret in her voice. "So...am I correct in my belief that there will probably be extra people joining us for dinner?"
Bazett's dismayed silence was the only reply.
A little later, just as Saber and Bazett were finishing getting changed, the door was kicked open without even being knocked on. And what stepped through was a certain brown haired girl with a energetic smirk.
"Let's eat!" Ayako called from the entryway, closing the door behind her.
Saber, with a smile on her face, left Bazett to finish trying to pull off her Luvia outfit and walked as quickly as dignity would allow to meet her.
"It's good to see you," she said, meeting the easygoing girl as she took off her shoes.
"You too, Saber." Ayako greeted the blond haired girl. "Sorry to barge in like this."
"It's no problem," Saber replied warmly, "I should have known you would be one of the people Shirou would invite to join us."
That causes a ripple of confusion ton ripple across Ayako's brow.
"Oh...he told you about it?" Ayako began, a bit disappointed. "I thought he was planning to surprise you with the..."
Ayako's words were interrupted by the desperate face of Emiya Shirou as he came sprinting down the hallway. From the frantic way he was waving his arms, she gathered she was about to say something she shouldn't. As a result, Ayako forcefully swallowed the words she was about to say.
Naturally, this lead to a somewhat dissatisfied glare from Saber towards Shirou and Ayako.
"...Is there something I should know?" she said, after an awkward moment.
"Errr..." Shirou started, obviously trying to think of something plausible. "Well, I invited Ayako over for dinner! I thought you would be happy to see her again!" he responded after a slightly too long pause.
But it seemed Saber decided to be merciful, because instead of replying she simply nodded to her brown-haired friend, and together they began to walk to the dining room. As soon as they passed, Shirou couldn't help but clutch at his chest and sigh heavily.
Man, was that close... Shirou thought to himself. Yet just as he was turning around to follow his boxer and his friend, there was a crashing sound as the door flew open once more; and behind them was an unstoppable force of nature.
"Shirou-chan! Where are my tickets!" The woman in green cried out at the top of her lungs.
As before, Shirou tried to shush her, but there was a huge difference between Fujimura Taiga and Ayako. That being the ability to take a hint.
For Shirou, and Ayako too, it was like watching a car wreck in slow motion. You could see it occurring, but had no power available to stop it.
"Come on!" The woman in green continued joyfully, paying no attention to Shirou's furiously waving arms he was repeatedly making an X sign with. "I want to see them! You said you got Ayako and I great seats, but where are they? Are they in the front row!?"
By this point Shirou was holding his face in his hands, looking rather comically tragic. Ayako and Bazett, who had arrived just in time to see the commotion, sported a pair of twin sympathetic looks in their eyes. And Saber?
"I get it!" Saber said, snapping her fingers with a pleased smile. "You bought them tickets to my fight with Hound Dog! That's wonderful!" Saber exulted happily.
"Close." Shirou riposted, recovering. Or at least trying to. "I actually bought tickets to all your matches, including the final one with the Golden Boy. Also, they are in the third row, not first I am afraid." Saber's managed finished, nodding at Taiga.
"That..." Saber was flabbergasted. "That must have cost..." Saber couldn't even finish. It was true that tickets to matches that weren't set in stone were cheaper, since you were buying tickets to something that might not occur if Saber were to be eliminated, but that was beside the point. This late in the tournament the only place to go for good tickets would be scalpers.
"Yup." Shirou nodded, seeming surprisingly easygoing. "We are just about broke again. But don't worry, we were always betting on winning this thing. If we beat the Golden Boy, the money we got from the Blood Writer will seem like chump change. And besides..." Shirou went on, glancing at Ayako out of the corner of his eye. "No matter how much raw fighting spirit you have, there is nothing quite like having a smiling face you know to cheer you on and push you forward, right?"
Saber's smile was like the sun coming up.
...But the moment was broken up by a sharp outcry, just outside the door of the Emiya residence.
Fearing trouble, Shirou and Saber were just ahead of the others as they rushed out to the porch. However, the sight that they encountered there was outside of anyone's expectations.
"It's mine! Considering how much he owes me, it's practically mine already!"
The girl had attractive dark hair, aquamarine eyes that were never without a tinge of covetousness, and an overly sharp tongue. Though Shirou wasn't expecting Tohsaka Rin, it was not completely unexpected for her to barge in every once in a while, but then again...
"Eet vas nefer jours! Nor vas eet onii-chan's, ven mein fazzer died, eet zhould haff been comink to me!"
The other one was entirely unexpected, though Shirou had met her once before. White hair and red eyes, balanced upon an innocent face. The nymph of the snow-covered forest, a dangerous blend of hard ice and sweet sugar, Illyasviel von Einzbern.
"Bezides," Illya continued, pressing the attack, "Eef zere eez a debt to pay, zen I vill pay myzelf ven I take ofer. Zen you can haff no complaintz!"
"That's...but…" Rin quailed, stumbling. Seeing Shirou on the porch though, she rallied, pointing an imperious finger at Emiya Shirou.
"Right, Emiya-kun! You call him onii-chan —you aren't even Japanese; hell, you can barely pronounce it— yet you still do! If he is really your brother, then the gym belongs to him, and he signed the contract with me, so butt out! The inheritance goes to the eldest son, so is he your brother or isn't he?!"
The counter attack caused Illya's cheeks to puff out in an almost cute pout, but she regained her footing quickly.
"Zat eez not fair!" She protested hotly, "I haff practized for hourz to be saink 'onii-chan', I even had a maid listen to a recordink uff an anime to be zure I vas zayink eet right! ...Vait, zat eez not vat eez important. Zees gym eez mein, Onii-chan eez mein, undt I vill beat zees Zaber vith mein Heracles, undt zen I vill make him a zlave!
At that, Illya paused momentarily, placing a tiny white finger to her lips.
"Vell, he did buy me zee ice cream, zo I vill make him a butler instead. Ja, zee butler, he vill serven me for ten jears, and zen I will forgive him."
Saber expected Rin to fire back a retort, but something in what Illya said had momentarily caught her off balance, and she gave Shirou an odd look that reminded Saber of something.
...What was it though...?
Oh, that's right, it actually looked strangely similar to the look Shirou had on his face when he was picturing Bazett in that maid costume.
...Hmm...Shirou as a butler costume...
Pink bubbles swarmed through Saber's consciousness despite herself.
"Welcome home mistress!" Her kind butler met her at the door of her fine mansion.
He wore a pressed and starched dark suit, that matched well with the sharp white undershirt that showed at the top of his chest and peaked out from the sleeves of his tuxedo. A black bow tie wrapped around his neck, accentuating the look of a professional servant.
"Would you like dinner first, or a bath, or perhaps..."
"Dinner!" Saber exclaimed happily.
Saber was only barely able to suppress the groan of approval that threatened to escape her lips. Fortunately nobody seemed to have noticed her lapse in concentration. Shirou appeared to be trying to corral the situation.
"Why are you two fighting ofer...I mean, over my gym? No, before that, what are you two even doing here!?" Shirou said with some heat.
"Vell," Illya answered, with a small curtsey, "I came to zee you undt haff dinner vith my kind onii-chan!" Then without changing expression, she leaped forward and clung to him around his waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Jour imouto eez very very hungry onii-chan, jou vont turn zees hungry leetle girl avay, right onii-chan?" Illya said with tears glistening in her eyes.
The little minx had actually worked up crocodile tears?! And judging from Shirou's rapidly softening expression, Saber thought it was working.
"Undt, ven I arrived, I met zees grandma voo vas standing undt staring at zee door."
"I wasn't staring I was just...wait, grandma?!" Rin's stance widened almost imperceptibly. Saber recognized a fighting stance when she saw it, though given the structure of Rin's muscle and mass, Saber was inclined to think it was probably some kind of Japanese...no, Chinese martial arts.
"Nuzzing but an old hag, zees Reen!" Illya cooed to Shirou, cuddling up even more to the red-haired boy's side. "Zee bueaty of youth eez fadink fast, undt she must use zee make up undt zee plasteek surgery to hide all zee wrinklez, ja?"
The vein appearing on the forehead of Tohsaka Rin looked like it was about to explode...
...Except someone else exploded first.
"CAN WE EAT NOW!?" The raging Tiger roared, her howl enough to overcome even the formidable powers of Illyasviel von Einzbern and Tohsaka Rin combined.
"Hey!" Illya started to huff at being yelled at.
"Silence!" The beast cut her off at once.
At that, Shirou and Saber exchanged a mute look. For some reason the sight of the tiger yelling at Illya seemed somehow...right. Like a missing piece of the universe was suddenly being filled in.
"If you are eating with us, then get inside and wash your face!" Taiga went on severely." Somehow, through sheer force of personality Illya was swayed, and meekly went into the Emiya residence, stopping only to take off her shoes.
Everyone involved decided not to make an overt issue of the fact that she walked straight to the bathroom without directions, though Shirou couldn't help but remember the fact that Illya had once considered burning down the building, and wondered how detailed her plans had been at the time.
"Tohsaka-san," he said instead, turning to Rin, "do you...want to join us for dinner?"
Rin seemed a bit unsure, but after a moment she nodded. "I don't want to let that brat have the last word." She sulked, going in.
Shirou wondered if maybe Rin was the type of girl whose anger turned inward when she was deprived of an opponent. At any rate, it was a new side of her.
"Are you...are we..." Saber began, a little unsure how to voice her present concern.
"A good chef always prepares his meal as if there will be people he did not expect." Shirou responded calmly, he and Saber walking just a little behind the red-and-black-clad girl. "Don't worry, there is plenty to go around." Saber nodded, brightening at once.
Dinner preparations were a raucous affair. He hadn't lied to Saber when he said there was enough food available, but he hadn't admitted that the actual meal itself would need work. Illya was a little girl and preferred sweets, so he had to scrounge for some tea cakes and a few oranges to slice up to suit her palette, and he wasn't sure what Rin would like, but he suspected the fare of an accomplished manager was probably a higher grade than his own, so the plate he made for her had some extra seasonings to hopefully mask the relative cheapness of the ingredients.
He did have to stop Ayako and Saber from getting into another eating contest. Saber was disappointed, but it was the night before a fight, there was no way he was going to let her overindulge. Thus it was Taiga who jumped out to an early and insurmountable lead. After she had finished her second plate though, was when it happened.
"Geh!" Taiga said, a little rice flying out of her mouth in surprise, "This girl is Kiritsugu's daughter?!"
It seemed she had totally missed that earlier due to hunger. Shirou saw her cast a look towards the gym... and the picture frame that rested within.
"What are you willing to sacrifice?"
She had an almost wistful look on her face for a moment before she snapped back to reality, pointing at Shirou and Illya, who had firmly and unarguably ensconced herself at his side when dinner began.
"Wait, some unknown girl is Shirou's sister?"
Unlike Illya, the tears that rapidly beaded up at her eyes were not faked.
...The Tiger always wore her heart on her sleeve.
"W-well, Shirou said mollifyingly, "She..." Shirou was stopped in his tracks when Illya's head swung around to him so quickly it left swirls of hair in the air.
He would have to choose his next words carefully. Both Saber and Rin were looking at him with varying degrees of sympathy and amusement, while Bazett and Ayako were busy eating.
"Well..." Shirou carefully stepping into the minefield. "Right now it's a bit complicated, since we are in the tournament. Actually, the next time we meet, Illya said we would be enemies?" Shirou tossed a questioning look at the little girl, who could not be any closer unless she actually moved into his lap.
But the bloody-eyed look that she returned held nothing but malice, and her voice was filled with ice.
"Vat?" She asked plainly, without emotion. "Do jou vant me to keel you now?"
In a way it was even worse the Blood Writer. Illya could kill him in the next moment, or not kill him, and it wouldn't make any difference to her. Across the table, Saber became a knot of tensed muscle.
"Well..." Shirou stammered, "I-I am feeding you aren't I?"
After a moment the chill seemed to leak out of the white-haired demon, to general relief.
"Hmm. Zat eez true," she replied happily. "Actually, zees eez really good! Eef you feed me zees vell every day, I veel theenk about letting you off zee leash in just vone single jear!"
"Oho, how generous!" The voice was Rin's who hid a large smirk imperfectly behind one hand. "Isn't that great Emiya-kun? It was ten 'jears' as a butler before, now it's just one!"
"Oh no!" Illya said, looking shocked. "No, zat vas not a...oh, vat eez the verd. Um, zat vas not a saying. Zat eez right, zee leash eez leeteral. As in, I haff a leash."
...Pretty much everyone at the table blinked in surprise.
"Ja, I haff a leash, eet haz onii-chan's name on it. Vone off my maids haz a wreest-holder zhe can loop eet on too. But eef he is good, I vill zink about letting him take eet off after just von jear!" Illya finished gaily.
"...Emiya-kun" Rin started, a complex look on her face.
Shirou looked mutely at her.
"...I don't think I am mad at you anymore. I feel like...maybe you deserve my sympathy instead."
Illya stuck her tongue out.
After dinner, Shirou was cleaning up, having already said goodbye to his guests, and Saber was helping him stack dishes. Actually, given the time, he would normally have commanded her to her bed so she could rest up for the match, but she had been quiet all dinner, so he thought she might have something on her mind she wanted to discuss with him privately. And just as he was considering asking her about it, she spoke up herself.
"Shirou..." Saber started hesitantly. "I have a question; well, just something I am wondering about. It's...about your sister."
Ah, that made sense. This was the first time Saber had met her, and Illya took a bit of getting used to.
"Look, I know Illya can be a handful, but..." Shirou started to justify the strange affection he had for the red-eyed girl.
"Not that one," Saber interrupted him quickly. "Your other sister, Taiga."
"Oh?" Shirou prodded curious.
"W-Well...it's just that...why did you buy her a ticket too?" I am grateful, don't get me wrong!" Saber stammered hurriedly, "it's just that..."
Shirou decided to take pity on his struggling boxer and filled in for her.
"It's just that you already have a lot of fighting spirit, so Ayako, whom you are closer to, would probably have been sufficient, right? The difference in benefit is a lot higher from zero to one than from one to two, so I should have saved my money for next week's style trainer, since someone specializing in the God Hand style is going to be ludicrously expensive. Is that about right?
Saber nodded almost numbly. She was happy he understood, though she felt it was not very loyal of her to raise the question when Shirou had sacrificed a great deal to give her an edge, even if it was just a small one.
"Well" Shirou began, making an exaggerated motion of peering around the room as if to spot a certain yellow-and-green-clad person listening in. "That's because..." Shirou leaned in close to Saber's ear as if to share a powerful and dangerous secret.
"Because," he whispered, "If Taiga found out I bought someone else a ticket to the boxing matches...and I didn't buy her one, she would have killed me!" Shirou laughed, stepping back. He had a warm smile on his face.
"Come on, it's late, I'll finish up here. Big day tomorrow," Shirou said, nodding vaguely towards Saber's room. "Get some rest," he finished, walking towards the kitchen with an armload of trash. "Night, Saber!" he called back over his shoulder.
Saber thought over what he said. Earlier today, she had wished she was smarter. Well, wishes like that weren't easily granted, but she did know her manager. Knew him well, for the short time they had been together. And one thing she was dead certain of was that he had told the truth...and lied.
Oh, Taiga's reaction would have been something to see indeed; at the very least, Shirou would have suffered a noogie that would last for hours, and probably more besides. But Shirou was the type of person who would not let his personal suffering stand in the way of his ideal. In a peculiar sense, he glorified in his own struggle, as if he defined himself by how much he sacrificed and by how much he suffered in the pursuit of it. Therefore, while Taiga may indeed have made him see hell for not giving her a ticket, that wasn't the reason he had bought her one.
But, Saber was pretty sure she knew what it was. Maybe even Shirou didn't know. It was the kind of thing he might not want to admit even to himself. Ayako had been brought along to boost Saber's fighting spirit, but Taiga was not there for that reason. Then there was only one other option. Somewhere in the back of the mind of Emiya Shirou, he had bought Taiga a ticket to boost his own fighting spirit, because a loud-mouthed cheer from his older sister would push him forward.
...But there was no need to tell Shirou any of that. She just let a small smile tease at the corner of her mouth.
"Night, Shirou" she replied, turning to seek her bed.