Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Different Fates

Chapter 10

Shirou replaced the mop, broom, and other implements he'd used to clean up his classroom after class. It had been unusual for Takahashi – usually a studious student – to skip out like that for a date, but then again teenagers would be teenagers. Learning magecraft aside, it wasn't like Shirou couldn't relate.

"Oh well…" Shirou thought as he closed the storeroom door. "…that's done, so I guess I can go home now."

He turned his head and glanced out at the burning skies of the late afternoon, already shifting to the pastels of dusk. "And just in time too." He thought. "At this rate I should be home a short bit after it gets dark."

Nodding with satisfaction, Shirou turned and began to walk away. He'd barely taken a few steps when he felt…something, or someone, behind him. They weren't too close, but his gut was telling him he couldn't just keep his back turned, or keep walking. That person was also unmoving, as though waiting for his next move.

Shirou sighed. So that's what this was. Did she have a hand in Takahashi slacking off? Did he even have a date at all? And if not, did she find out and simply take the opportunity right in front of her? It didn't matter. Shirou turned and stared down the corridor at the enemy.

"You've got good sense Emiya-senpai." Sakura cheerfully remarked. Shirou stayed silent, and she chuckled. "I did warn you, didn't I? It was only last night too. Since you are Matou-senpai's apprentice, and she is my enemy in this Fifth Holy Grail War, you are also my enemy. Outside of ordinary existence, those were my words, weren't they?"

"They were." Shirou confirmed. "You sure move fast, don't you?"

Sakura laughed. "Tenken-ryu favours speed and mobility over power." She said. "I merely apply those concepts."

"Humph…" Shirou snorted. "…so what now…? Are you going to attack me to get to Rin? I know you and her don't get along but…!"

"She and I go back a long way." Sakura interrupted. "Suffice to say we've both left our mark on each other. Unintentionally on my part…I never wanted to hurt her…"

Shirou looked surprised at that, and Sakura blinked as she realized she'd let something slip. "Well…" she said with an apologetic smile. "…it's not for me to tell. The scales are tipped towards her end. To tell the truth Emiya-senpai, I personally find it bad form to get at others through their friends and loved ones. If you were simply her apprentice, I'd have largely ignored you until you were directly contributing to her campaign. And you aren't right now. But…you're not just an apprentice, aren't you?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes. "So you know." he asked. It wasn't a question.

"I don't blame you or Matou-senpai for joining the war." Sakura said, pushing off the wall she'd been leaning on. Shirou looked even warier now, noting the sword clipped to her waist. "Considering the prize at stake, not just magi even ordinary people would do everything and more that it takes to win. I have to wonder though: how will you split the prize? Only one Master can touch the Grail."

Shirou smiled. "That's just it isn't it?" he asked cryptically, and Sakura laughed.

"Fair enough…" she conceded. "…keep your secrets I have mine of my own. Moving on, I'll give you a piece of advice. Bluffing as you are doing is pointless at this point, or rather much too risky, especially considering the abilities of the Archer, Assassin, and Caster Classes. I only did so during the earliest stages of the war because we're not supposed to engage each other until all seven Servants have been summoned. But then Lancer's Master went on a rampage, necessitating…tighter security."

"Lancer did that…?" Shirou gasped, every word filled with realization and fury. Sakura nodded in confirmation.

"Yes he did." She said, and then tilted her head. "So I abandoned the bluff and closed the gap in my defences. Now as for you, won't you do the same, here and now?"

Shirou smirked. "Where's your Servant, Tohsaka?" he asked.

Sakura laughed. "Away…" she said. "…it only takes a thought to bring him to my side in an instant. And I suppose the same could be said for you. A fair fight, isn't it?"

"I think we can agree on that." Shirou said, his respect for the younger girl growing somewhat. Generally-speaking magi were capricious and treacherous, so it was a bit refreshing to see someone who wasn't.

Though, the only magi I know are Rin and her grandfather. And I've only met the latter once…and he certainly seemed, off, somehow.

"Just one question though…" Shirou said. "…how far did you go to set this battlefield up?"

"Well Matou-senpai will figure it out soon enough, so why not?" Sakura replied with a shrug. Inwardly a still and clear pool reflecting the waning Moon was shattered in waves of silver by a single drop of water, prana pumping through her circuits in the aftermath. "Shinji-senpai's cooperation tricked his sister away, and a bit of…persuasiveness, on my part managed to get Takahashi-senpai to delay you: the weak link in your alliance with the Matou."

At once what respect Shirou had for Sakura ebbed to a low point. He could understand that using mental interference on ordinary people by magi was unavoidable, usually when it came to keeping magic secret, but this…? This was simply coercion for self-interest, pure and simple.

"You reduced them to tools…?" he growled. "Just to get at me…?"

Sakura tilted her head again. "It seems I've struck a nerve." She said neutrally. "Alright then, I'm guessing the small talk ends soon. So I'll give you until the count of three: Emiya-senpai, surrender your command spells!"

"Like hell…!" Shirou answered.

"One…!"

"Trace on." Shirou said softly while holding his hands out in front of him. Prana flowed glowing to take on a lattice-like frame of red-gold before flashing a shinai into existence.

"Two…!"

Glowing blue lines flickered over the shinai's body, reinforcing its structural integrity, and Shirou stepped into a traditional kendo stance. "Three…!" Sakura shouted. "Emiya-senpai, your answer…?"

"No!"

Sakura's response was a high-speed volley of Gandr rounds from her right index finger, and Shirou charged in, shouting a traditional kendo battle cry. He jinked from side to side as he charged, most of the Gandr rounds missing by inches or a hair, the rest breaking against minute parries of his shinai.

"I knew he used to be part of the kyuudou club…" Sakura thought in surprise, standing her ground as Shirou closed the distance. "…but this is…!"

Shirou closed, the shinai swinging towards Sakura. Sakura sidestepped at the last second, and gently grabbing one of Shirou's arms and his back, threw him clear. Shirou cried out in surprise, and then in pain, as he flipped through the air to land heavily and painfully on his back.

Even then however, he retained enough awareness to roll clear of a Finn shot that gauged an inch off the ground where he'd been lying on just a moment ago. Rolling to a crouch, he charged in low, Sakura again sidestepping. Only this time he was ready.

As she grabbed at him, he released one hand, and holding it palm outwards traced another shinai into existence. It jabbed into the girl's torso, throwing her back hard against the wall, her head slamming back to crack the glass of the window. Sakura cried out in pain and surprise, and Shirou winced.

She was an enemy – at present – and was trying to beat him – and not shy of causing heavy damage if the Finn shot from earlier was any sign – but hurting girls wasn't something that he exactly relished. "Tohsaka, are you…?" he began.

Sakura just glared and quickly brought up her hand. Finn shots rapid-fired, several rounds blowing a small hole through the wall and into the classroom behind as Shirou fled with a yelp.

Sakura relented, gingerly getting to her feet as Shirou vanished down the corridor and around and down the stairwell. She rubbed her torso and the back of her head, and glanced at the cracked glass of the window which her head had struck. "Pretty sturdy…" she conceded grudgingly. "…for Gradation Air, that is."

With a flicker of afterimages and divots spraying dust in her wake, Sakura flashed to the stairwell before making her way down with cautious haste. As she stepped onto the ground floor landing, she paused, and placed a hand on a wall.

She closed her eyes, prana pulsing through the wall's conceptual structure and down the corridors and along the walls and ceiling until she found what she was looking for. "I've found you." She said.

Flashing to the front of the classroom, Sakura pulled out several gems when she heard the crash of breaking glass. "You won't escape!" she said, throwing a gem to blow in the door and most of the surrounding wall. A cry of alarm could be heard through the sound of falling debris, and Sakura narrowed her eyes before entering warily through the clearing dust clouds.

She never expected a solid stone fist shot through with glowing lines of prana to burst through the clouds from her left. "What the…?" she barely had time to say as she crossed her arms protectively before her face. And then she was flying through the chalkboard and across the adjacent classroom.

And then darkness fell.

"Got her…!" Shirou said triumphantly. He was kneeling on the ground, near the back of the classroom. A simple magic circle was written in chalk beside him, though much of the surrounding ground had sunk a couple of feet. The matter that had filled the space had been altered into a giant fist of stone rooted in the middle of the crater, empowered by prana, and then thrown in a punch at the belligerent female magus.

Remember Shirou: so long as you can conceptualize it as a sword, your alteration and projection will be without match.

"Heh…" Shirou chuckled weakly. He glanced at his handicraft. "…I don't think Rin would find a 'sword' made from cement and concrete to punch out her rival very impressive. But I think it works fine."

Shirou struggled to his feet, and shook his head to clear it. Unlike Rin, he didn't exactly have a lot of prana. He looked across the ruined classrooms to where Sakura Tohsaka was lying sprawled out and motionless, and briefly wondered if he should go help her.

I should…I know I should.

But she's an enemy. And she tried to kill me when I tried to help her earlier.

Well I did use her head to break glass back there, but we were fighting. And she started this fight.

But can I really leave an unconscious girl all by herself? And what about all this…damage? It'll be trouble if it's still here tomorrow, won't it?

I could just leave it to Tohsaka after she recovers. If she recovers…what if she doesn't?

That question was answered as Sakura groaned and began to stir. "She's alive." Shirou thought with mixed relief and alarm. "And she'll be pissed. I've got to get out of here. Hopefully cleaning this mess up will tie her down for a while. And if she sends her Servant after me, then I can always call Saber."

At that thought, Shirou turned and fled.

Sakura stirred fitfully, coughing as she rolled prone and then got up on all fours. She struggled to stand, wincing at the pain in her head and across her body. Considering her past experiences, it was an inconvenience at worst, but one she did not need in a battle with a fellow magus.

"You're not too shabby are you, Emiya-senpai?" she growled at the giant fist that towered mockingly in the air. "I should have expected this from nee-san's apprentice. I won't make the mistake of underestimating you again."

Not knowing any healing spells on her own, she reached into the Tohsaka Crest, leafing through five generations of stored knowledge before pulling out and actualizing an appropriate healing spell. Her crest flashed, and with the help of a swallowed gem fixed her body up. Cracked bones, bruised and strained muscle and flesh, clots and ruptured blood vessels mended, and Sakura wiped her eyes clear of dirt.

"The game's afoot." She said, rushing from the classroom, kicking down the door as she went.

Through the windows which faced out toward the quadrangle, she spotted Shirou Emiya running for the school gates. "We'll see about that." Sakura thought, placing a hand on the glass and altering it to sand which fell to the ground.

She then pulled up her skirt, exposing a leather holster strapped to one thigh. Opening it, she withdrew one of three 'explosion' conceptual arrows she'd brought along as a last resort.

The brush moved fluidly and solidly, drawing out in black ink on white paper the characters for 'bakuhatsu': explosion. Sakura worked methodically, replacing each sheet as she finished them, placing them on a separate table to dry.

Not all of the papers were inscribed with the characters for explosion. Some for instance was inscribed with the characters for 'fuhai': putrefaction. Others were inscribed with 'eikyou': impact. Others yet were inscribed in characters for other concepts, the ink sparkling with powdered diamond as they dried.

Sakura herself wore a traditional three-layer kimono for ritualistic purpose: plain red at the first layer, followed by dark blue with silver flowers, and finally white with red leaves. An obi was tied around her waist, gold with elaborate silver embroidery. Traditional straw slippers kept her feet from the ground, jade earrings adorning her ears and white cloth tying her hair back in a ponytail.

Putting away her calligraphy materials, Sakura took the papers and arranged them in a circular pattern around a small Japanese drum on another table. And then cutting open a finger, she coated individual diamonds with her blood which she placed in the middle of each and every sheet of paper.

Once that was done, she healed her finger, and took her place in front of the table. She held a fan in one hand, its ribs lacquered in gleaming black varnish and the paper of the fan painted with a phoenix being reborn in flames. And then she simultaneously opened her circuits and her fan, and theatrically began to speak her aria while using her fan to mask the lower half of her face.

Paper and Ink, Blood and Diamonds, Form and Essence

So I Declare by the Power of my Life and Blood

The Many with no Purpose shall become the One

Embodying a Declared Purpose

An Instrument of She Who Commands Power

By Her Command let the Immaterial become Material

By Her Command let the Immaterial Material have power over the Material

Hear now the Words Which Command Power

As the Words are spoken

Cherry Blossoms Dance in the Breeze

As the aria was chanted, the diamonds glowed through the blood and the ink, prana coalescing in minute motes in the air over the sheets of paper. And as the aria concluded, Sakura closed her fan shut, and struck the drum once with a resounding note.

At once, the diamonds flared bright, dissolving and releasing the prana stored within, resonating with the magus' purpose. It reshaped the paper, rendering it meta-fluid, flowing and folding into a long and narrow form with a sharpened head and feathered rear.

At the same time the World echoed with beliefs that went back to the dawn of Human civilization, when scholars in China and later on Japan and Korea would inscribe simple thoughts, reflections, and concepts in ink on paper, making them real, essence and principle given form. In turn, the powdered diamond in the ink echoed the billions of years of forging their existence in the fiery depths of the Earth, and passed those echoes on.

The light faded, excess prana expelled into the air. Polished black carbon gleamed, from the barbed heads along the smooth stems to the soft feathers to the rear. Conceptual arrows lay ready to be used.

With a thought, Sakura projected a hankyuu bow in one hand, and with another thought reinforced it. Falling into a stance, she notched her arrow, took aim and drew back. For a moment she aimed at Shirou's back, and then thinking better of it, aimed elsewhere and let fly.

The arrow soared through the air, black carbon flying to strike at the pillar to the left of the gates and crushing it with the concept it carried. An explosion blew the entire section to rubble, and sending Shirou flying back through the air shouting.

He rolled as he struck the ground, and getting up on all fours shook his head. He stared in belief at the broken ruins of the gate, and then at the school. Visible through a window was Sakura, holding a bow, and notching another arrow. "You've got to be joking!" he said, getting to his feet and running.

Moments later another arrow struck the ground behind him, sending up another explosion and sending Shirou flying again. A third arrow flew as he got to his feet, this time blowing up the ground in front of him.

"D-d-damn it…" Shirou coughed as he spat out blood, battered and dazed by the explosions. Rolling off his back and trying to get up, he spotted Sakura climbing out of a window and out onto the quadrangle. "…she's out of arrows…?"

Growling in frustration, Shirou wrote out his magic circle in blood, and slamming his hand down altered the surrounding ground with a surge of prana. Craters flowed downward into the concrete, concrete spikes erupting out to fly at Sakura.

"Grapeshot…!" she barked, throwing a gem and then shooting at it. The Finn shot blew the gem apart, which unleashed a volley of multiple of Finn shots in a wide spray in front. The stone spikes were blown apart, and Shirou shouted in pain as he was blown back by several hits.

Sakura aimed and fired, but again Shirou rolled clear, and staggering to his feet ran for the trees. He jinked as he ran, throwing off Sakura's aim and fighting the pain as several shots struck him in the back, until finally he passed the treeline and jinked back and forth between the trees for cover.

"He took several Finn shots but he's still going?" Sakura remarked incredulously. "On top of concussion from several explosions…? Just what the hell is senpai made of? Iron…?"

Sakura fumbled for a bit, and then realization struck her. "Reinforcement…of course…no wonder he could take so many hits and stay standing." She muttered. "Not bad at all, senpai. You reinforced your clothes and body both, reducing the effect of Finn and the explosions alike. Well two can play at that game."

With a thought Sakura reinforced her clothes and body, and after checking Muramasa at her side rushed after Shirou into the trees. As she passed the treeline another thought occurred to her. "Ambush…?" she said softly. "I don't think so. Cherry blossoms dance in the breeze."

Sakura's body flashed with light, and then vanished into a blizzard of cherry blossoms drifting between the trees.

For his part at this time Shirou was hiding behind a tree, breathing hard and trying to catch his breath. His body hurt, every nerve screaming with pain from the explosions and the Finn shots alike. But with every ebb and heartbeat the pain subsided ever so slightly, and in any case compared to walking in a sea of fire this was as nothing.

As his breathing calmed down, Shirou took a look around the tree. He couldn't see or hear Sakura, but he'd no doubt she was hot on his heels. He'd managed to surprise her more than once, and even managed to score hits against her, but she'd managed to keep up and even increase the pressure.

As a magus she's far above me…but underdogs can win too!

I won't betray Rin and Saber by losing! Not like this…! Not right now…!

"Trace on." Shirou murmured, holding out his hands. A shinai appeared, and he held onto it. Again, he looked out from around the tree but there was nothing but the trees.

Shirou blinked. His gaze climbed up a tall tree trunk, up into the canopy, and an idea came to mind.

Why not?

Discarding his shinai, Shirou picked up a nearby branch that had fallen on the ground, and concentrated. "Trace on." He murmured, and the branch glowed and shifted until he held a hankyuu bow of his own in one hand. He picked up another branch, held it, and murmured his aria.

He now had an arrow.

Moving the shinai to another spot as bait, Shirou then altered several branches into a forest-patterned cloak complete with hood, which he draped over his shoulders. Covering his head, he climbed up a tree, crouched down on a particularly thick and sturdy branch, and leaned close to the trunk.

He didn't have to wait for long. Less than ten minutes later and Sakura appeared, warily moving from tree to tree, and casting her eyes from shadow to shadow. Shirou didn't blame her. The afternoon was almost over, giving way to the dusk, though the Moon was rising early tonight. It wasn't as bright as the Sun, but it would provide plenty of light of its own.

Shirou stayed silent and still, watching as Sakura noticed the shinai on the ground. As she cautiously stepped forward, picked it up and examined it, Shirou quietly notched his arrow, pulled back, aimed, and let fly.

The arrow should have pierced her thigh, crippling her. Shirou would then jump down, knock her unconscious, patch her up (he knew First Aid), and then take her back to school. No doubt her Servant would probably be on its way back by then, and Shirou would then slip away while they were concerned with his injury.

At least that was the plan.

'Sakura' shouldn't have shattered into sparkling motes of light when Shirou's arrow struck her. And the explosion which toppled Shirou's tree certainly wasn't part of the plan.

The tree toppled with a resounding crash, Shirou jumping clear several feet up. He landed badly, and found himself shouting as he tumbled down a steep slope, taking bruises and scrapes as he struck rocks and roots over and over again.

Finally he came to a halt, and struggling to his feet ran through the trees, holding his cloak close. And then he tripped on Sakura's foot, and he cried out as he fell on his face. Guided by instinct he rolled to the side, a Finn shot sending dirt flying. Again moving by instinct, he scraped up dirt as he rolled into a crouch, and threw it into Sakura's eyes.

The girl cried out in pain and surprise, staggering back and clutching at her face. A part of Shirou felt guilty at the sight, but he forced it aside. Carving his magic circle into the ground, he poured prana into the earth, making an earthen embankment several metres long on either side and a metre thick between him and Sakura.

Knowing that Sakura would be able to get over the obstacle in time, Shirou scrambled to open up the distance. At the same time he knew he needed to end the battle quickly, sensing his own prana reserves running low. He needed a weapon, something that could end the battle now.

His thoughts then strayed back to the battle earlier, and he remembered the brief glance he had of the second explosive arrow he'd seen Sakura notch onto her bow. And as strangely was the case, when he applied 'sword' to it, the memory supplied him with what the weapon was.

"Seriously…?" he thought at once. He dodged behind a tree, hearing Sakura's growled curses as she tried to climb the embankment. "Throwing around conceptual weapons like that, is she crazy?"

But…it can end the battle all at once.

But…if I use it…she could…

No…I don't need to hit her. I just need to hit close, closer than me earlier. If I could judge the distance right, she could survive like I survived, but be knocked out by the force.

I'll win and end this all at once.

Nodding to himself, Shirou quietly crouched down, grabbed a branch, and held it up. "Trace on." He said, imaging the conceptual weapon he'd seen Sakura use – she called it an 'explosion conceptual arrow' apparently – and traced it on the branch. The branch glowed as it flowed fluidly to take the form of the black arrow he'd seen her use.

"Amazing…" Shirou thought as he briefly reflected on how Sakura had made them. And then he heard Sakura's footsteps, and taking a deep breath Shirou notched the arrow, dropped down into a crouch around the tree, simultaneously aimed and pulled back.

He saw her eyes lock onto him, and then go wide at the sight of the arrow notched onto his bow. He saw her lips part in disbelief, and he let fly, confident in her ability to dodge. And dodge she did, Shirou seeing anger, disbelief, and resignation as she realized she was too close.

The arrow struck the tree behind where she'd been standing moments ago, the explosion rocking the forest as the Sun set, and night fell.

A/N

To be continued in the next chapter!

Shirou is Rambo! Towards the end, that is.

Sakura's magecraft focuses on Oriental breathing and walking, based around three skillsets shown here: jujutsu, kyuujutsu, and kenjutsu. The latter two are the pre-Meiji terms for archery (kyuudou) and swordsmanship (kendo), but where kyuudou and kendo are sports, kyuujutsu and kenjutsu are combat-focused. Western magecraft is meant as a supplement for her.

Guest: actually her one-way diplomacy is deliberate. Sakura aspires to be a samurai, but while there are samurai who understood the carrot and stick approach like Toyotomi Hideyoshi ('if the cuckoo doesn't sing coax it to sing') or Tokugawa Ieyasu ('if the cuckoo doesn't sing wait for it to sing'), most fell under the same category as Oda Nobunaga ('if the cuckoo doesn't sing kill it'). It's also why the bushido culture of pre-WWII Japan meant they were poor when it came to diplomacy: they had difficulty using the carrot, and waved the stick around too much.