Rin sat down on the bed, awaiting Archer's return. There was something that was on her mind that she wanted to talk to him about. She was concerned about Archer's noble phantasm, as of currently, he hasn't used it, or even shown any sign of knowing what it is. She remembered he said that he wasn't sure of what his was, but it's been a few days since then, maybe something has clicked in him. With the number of contestants in the war diminishing, the difficulty of their opponents increases as well, and having a noble phantasm would be essential in taking them down. She tossed some ideas around in her head for a short time before Archer stepped foot back in the room, pushing the door open and then closing it behind him. By this time, Rin had sprawled herself out as she laid backwards on the bed.
"What's got you so lost in space?" Archer joked as he approached and sat down next to her. She sat back up upon hearing the sound of his voice and let out a sigh once she was upright.
"I've been thinking about your noble phantasm, have you been able to determine what it is yet?" She brought her eyes over to his and leaned backwards on her hands. He let out a sigh in response and rested his hands on his knees.
"Unfortunately, no. I still don't know what it is yet, or even what it could be. I have spent some time thinking about it, but nothing comes to mind…" He let his voice trail on, hinting that maybe there was something he wasn't saying. Rin was quick to pick up on his tone.
"Nothing at all?" She tilted her head a little forward and narrowed her eyes a little. Archer could tell that she knew there was more to the story.
"Well… there is one thing, but it's pretty far out there."
"At this point I'm open to any ideas, anything that could help us at all try to determine what it could be." Archer sighed once more before leaning backwards and lying down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Well, I'm thinking that my noble phantasm is buried somewhere in a memory that I haven't recovered yet. Ever since Illya mentioned the grail and my memories possibly being linked, I've considered this a real possibility." Rin took in what he was saying, and it did seem to make sense, but there was something that didn't set right with her about his idea.
"I think that could be it, but then that raises the question, how would memories of when you were alive decide what your noble phantasm as a spirit is? It's still not impossible, it just seems unlikely to me." Archer rolled his head over on the bed and looked up at her.
"Well, for example, take Lancer and Saber. Their noble phantasms are related to their weapons, Lancer's spear and Saber's sword. Whatever power they unleash with them must come from some kind of tie to when they were alive, you see what I'm saying?"
"Yes, I can see where you're coming from, and it's a good point. However, I don't think your phantasm would be something to do with your weapons. You see, both Lancer and Saber probably used their weapon at some point in their human life, having full knowledge about them and how to use them. Your weapons come from projection magic, and you've said yourself that they're not yours, that they come from your previous servant, so it would make sense that they wouldn't be related."
"That's true… well at least we're making progress," Archer paused and let out a chuckle. "Maybe we should just figure out what it's not, it'll probably be easier." Even though Archer continued to chuckle, Rin considered this as a real idea.
"Maybe we should," She concluded, tilting her head down towards Archer, looking into his eyes. His face was frozen as she looked at him, it was taking him a second to absorb the fact that she was serious.
"Are you kidding? There are so many different things that it probably isn't!" His voice slipped into that of a whiny state.
"That just means that there are fewer things that it could be!" Rin smiled and brought her hand up to Archer's chest, giving it a couple playful slaps as she spoke. He let out a sigh of defeat, knowing that there would be no reasoning with her. "Although," She continued to speak, "In order to figure out what it could be, we'll need to determine what your maximum mana cap is. If you have a smaller mana pool, then it rules out longer duration phantasms. On the other hand, if you have a larger mana pool, it opens the door to a few more possibilities without ruling very many out…" She brought her hand up to her chin as she thought about it. Archer let her think for a few seconds before he sat back up.
"If we were to do this, how does one calculate their maximum mana? I'm not really good with the whole math thing so if it involves some X and Y stuff then that's all you," He laughed again, playfully nudging her shoulder with his. She smiled upon receiving his nudge and then stood up off the bed.
"Well, I have an old gem back at my house that could help us. If you crack it open and drink the liquid inside, it goes through your body and essentially finds your magic circuits. There are different spots in your body where more mana is stored than others, for instance, your hands probably have more mana in them than your shoulders because you do a lot of your fighting through your hands what with your projection and all. A little bit of magic residue is left in your veins after you use your power, and what the liquid does is light up your veins that have the most mana in them. The more spots that light up, the more mana you have, after that we're just making a rough guess as to what the actual limit is."
"That sounds like a lot of work…" He hung his head down in front of him.
"As if! All you have to do is drink a liquid!"
"Yeah but then we have to go alllll the way back to your house and then come alllll the way back here, and I'm just not ready for that kind of movement yet." Rin clenched her fist a little in anger.
"You have got to be, hands down, the laziest person in the world!" Archer moved closer to Rin and tossed his arms around her shoulder, pulling her close to him and squeezing her.
"Come onnnn, isn't there any other way? Possibly one that doesn't involve me getting up off this bed?" Rin pulled his hands off of her and pushed him back down on the bed letting out a sigh.
"There probably is, but I want to do it this way. You can stay here if you want, my house isn't that far away. I'll go grab the gem and come right back." Rin stood off the bed and headed towards the door. "Maybe while I'm gone you could go find Illya and have her help you finish up washing your clothes. I've got your uniform washed, but the clothes we bought the other day still need to be dried."
"Do you not trust me in being able to finish something simple as laundry?" Archer laughed and looked at her, but her face was unmoved and she was giving him a look of doubt. "Yeah you're probably right," Archer chuckled and stood up off the bed as well. He joined Rin by the door, and as she went to open it he put his hand on it and pushed it back shut, placing his other hand underneath her chin and turning her face towards his. He placed his lips on hers for a couple seconds before pulling back.
"If something happens, don't hesitate to call for me." Rin moved her eyes from his, down to his lips, and then back to his eyes. She smiled sincerely at him and placed her hand on his, the one that was on the door.
"Don't worry, you'll be the first person on my mind," She blushed softly and pulled his hand off of the door. She gave him one final look before stepping out and making her way down the hall, towards the front door. Archer watched as she walked down the hall before disappearing around the corner. Once she was out of sight, he pulled away from the door and went back towards the bed. He was searching around in the blankets for a few minutes, searching for something when he heard a knock on the door. He turned his head around to see Illya standing there.
"Oh, hey Illya," After he said his greetings he turned his attention back to poking through the sheets.
"Hello!" Her voice was so cheerful and loud it made him jump a little when she opened her mouth. "Rin said she had to run home and grab something and mentioned something to me about helping a hopeless servant with his laundry, know where I can find somebody like that?" Archer chuckled and shook his head.
"She is so cruel to me…" He paused his search and hung his head, letting out a sigh. Illya giggled and stepped in the room, approaching Archer at the bed.
"Whatcha looking for?" She poked her head over his shoulder, her eyes scanning the bed for anything out of the ordinary.
"Stuff. Things." Archer avoided giving an answer with short, playfully blunt words. Illya narrowed her yes at the back of his head.
"Stuff and things huh?" She asked annoyed.
"Yeah, you see anything that could resemble stuff and things?" Archer turned himself around with a smile on his face. He reached out and placed his hand on top of her head, messing up her hair.
"Stop it! I just got my hair like this!" Illya swatted her hand off of him and puffed out her cheeks as she readjusted her hair. "I feel bad for Rin having to put up with this all the time," Illya put her hand on Archer's stomach and pushed him away. Archer laughed and lifted his eyes up from Illya and began to scan the room.
"Ah! There it is," Archer pushed Illya aside as he walked up towards the dresser in the room. Sitting on top of it was the two pictures that were of him and Rin when they went out around town. He took the one that belonged to him and stuck it back in his pocket before turning back around.
"Was that a picture? Let me see! Let me see!" Illya was reaching for the other picture on the shelf when archers hand was placed on her forehead preventing her from getting closer.
"Don't we have some laundry to do little lady?" Archer began to walk, pushing Illya along with him.
"Oh come on! That's not fair! Just a quick peak, I promise I won't tell! Just show it to me!"
Illya was now reaching for the picture that he put in his pocket. Archer bent his waist and pulled it away from her.
"Not a chance. You probably couldn't handle the sight of it anyways, it'd probably blow your fragile little mind," Archer continued to push her out of the door. Once they were out He reached behind him with his free hand and closed the door.
"Please! Rin doesn't have to know that I've seen it, I can keep a secret!"
"Would you sto-"Archer stopped his sentence as he looked down the hall and saw Saber standing at the end of it sipping on a cup of tea, looking strangely back at them. Archer then turned his eyes back to the current situation and tried to picture it from her point of view. He still had his waist pulled away from Illya as she was reaching for, what he knew to be his pocket, but from Saber's point of view, it could clearly be confused for something else. His hand was still on her face, pushing her away from him, and then he thought about the conversation they had. His face lit up red as he shoved Illya off of him and straightened out his body.
"Th-that probably sounded extremely weird out of context! But it's not what you think, we're just talking about what I've got in my pants!" Saber's eyes opened up and she took a step back. Archer brought his hand up to his face and smacked his palm across his eyes, instantly regretting his choice of words. Illya was slowly connecting the dots and after studying Archer's face and Saber's reaction, she realized the situation she was in. She quickly jumped away from Archer, her face bright red and let out a very high pitched, innocent scream.
"No! I-it's not that! Not that at all!" Illya screamed, extremely embarrassed. Saber walked down the hall towards them, closing her eyes and sipping at her tea.
"What the two of you do together is none of my concern. I must admit though, I didn't think you would try something this foul on someone so young." Saber formed a devious smile in the corner of her mouth as she walked past them.
"Saber you know that's not how this is! Come on, hear me out!" Archer yelled out to her. She continued walking though until she was at the opposite end from where she started, not saying anything, but as she turned the corner, Archer thought her heard what sounded like a soft laughter coming from her. Once she was gone, he turned his attention back to Illya.
"Come on you, before you get me in more trouble," Archer sighed as he walked past her, motioning her to follow him. Illya's cheeks were still red as she slowly nodded her head and began to follow him.
"T-the laundry is already outside, it just needs to be hung up to dry," Illya spoke softly, still clearly embarrassed about the previous scenario that happened.
"Why don't you go and get started hanging it up, I'm going to grab something to drink really quick. I'll meet you outside." Archer turned his head over his shoulder as he looked behind him and spoke to Illya. She nodded her head, and headed outside. Meanwhile, Archer made his way into the Kitchen where Saber was sitting at the table. She still had that mischievous smile on her face as she looked at him as he walked passed the table. Archer headed towards the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk, setting it down on the counter as he pulled a glass out of the cabinet. As he was pouring the milk into the glass, he heard Saber speak to him.
"Shirou informed me on all of the details from the previous night. He said that you defeated Berserker by yourself, tell me, is that true?" She set her cup down on the table and looked into his eyes. Archer finished pouring a glass of milk, putting the carton back in the fridge and then walked over towards where Saber was sitting.
"More or less. It's a little complicated, but yes, I did take him down. That's why Illya is here with us," Archer replied, taking a sip from his glass.
"Shirou attempted to explain to me your past, but his explanation was poor and I didn't quite understand. I realize it's none of my business, but I would like to ask you about it." Archer let out a sarcastic 'hmph' as he set his glass back on the table.
"Like I tell everybody, you can ask, but receiving an answer is another story. I still don't know a lot about it myself. I'll try to answer what I can, but just understand that there are some things I just don't know."
"Fair enough, I appreciate you sharing this with me, since we are still enemies."
"You keep saying that, and while it's true, I prefer to think of us as frenemies. Friends until the end, quite literally, you know?" Archer smiled at her, but she was unsure how to respond. She had never really thought about it, but she supposed that she could consider Archer and Rin a friend. Even though they're supposed to be enemies, they've all saved each other more than once.
"I understand that you were once a master in a war different than ours, I also understand that you had a command seal still remaining on your hand when you first came to this world, and you still had your servant with you even though they didn't have a physical form. What I don't understand is how that is possible, I've never heard of such a thing occurring."
"Well then that makes two of us. I don't know how it happened, I can only guess that when the grail grated my wish to live on, it brought me to this world with him still with me. Unable to create two bodies, it just put him inside me. As for that seal, I did have it when I came here, but I used it to combine mine and my servant's power for a short period against my first fight with Berserker, and ever since then he's been gone. Used up the last of his mana to save me and with no seal binding him to me, he faded away."
"So then, if you didn't have your increased power the second time you faced Berserker, how is it that you were able to slay him?"
"I wish I knew… I could hear Rin calling out to me, her voice shaken and weak. I wanted to protect her, even though I just got handed the beating of my life, I needed to make sure she was okay. He voice kept getting louder and louder until I was engulfed in a summoning circle and transported directly to her. I had such an adrenaline rush at the time, which was the only reason I could move. When I popped up, I was staring down Berserker again, and it felt like my body was moving on its own. I just conjured up my bow and arrow and took a shot, but something was very different about this arrow that I shot, it was pure mana. I have no idea how I did it, it just happened. The arrow shot right through Berserker and took him down for good. Afterwards we picked up Illya, and well, you know the rest."
"I see… it clears up a little confusion anyways. Like I said before, I appreciate you sharing this with me." Saber pulled herself away from the table and stood up, picking up her glass. Archer did the same.
"Don't mention it, it's not like I told you anything that nobody else knew." He went to walk back out the door but stopped just as he reached it. He turned back around to Saber and spoke to her. "There is one thing I want to ask you though Saber."
"I feel like that is a fair request, go ahead."
"While you and I are still enemies in the grand scheme of things, Illya isn't. Not anymore. It'd mean a lot if you could try to warm up to her a bit. This probably isn't the best way to say this, but only one of us is going to come out of this in the end, and she's going to need a friend. Think you can do that?" Saber turned her back to him and went towards the sink. She turned the water on and began to wash out her glass and a couple others that were left there from breakfast.
"I will try," Saber muttered quietly. Archer smiled upon hearing her response and then turned back around and walked out of the room, heading now towards Illya. She was outside beginning to hang up some clothes.
"Need any help?" Archer asked as he came up behind her. The sound of his voice caused Illya to jump, she must've been lost in her own thoughts.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" She shouted back at him, her face was still a little red from the earlier scenario. She turned and looked at him, he was walking towards one of the laundry baskets on the ground.
"All we're doing is just hanging these up right?" He reached down into the basket, and as he did, Illya began rushing over to him.
"N-not that one!" She tried to reach out to him and stop him but she was too late. He reached into the basket and pulled out something pink. As he looked at it, he realized that it was in fact a pair of underwear that had a heart in the middle. His face lit up just as much as Illya's once he was aware of what was happening.
"I see you didn't waste any time revealing your true intentions," Saber's voice chimed in from behind them in the hallway. She was walking past them, sipping at her cup.
"I-it's not what it looks like! Saber!" It was too late, she had disappeared down the hallway. While he was shouting at Saber, Illya made her way over and snatched the article of clothing out of his hands.
"Why don't you let me handle this," She said still flustered. She placed her hands on Archer's chest and began shoving him back inside.
"I was just trying to help!" He cried back. Illya didn't stop though, she pushed him inside and turned her back to him, heading back towards the baskets of clothes. Archer let out a sigh of defeat and began to head back towards him and Rin's room. He went down the hall, and as he turned the corner he crashed into somebody sending them both down to the ground.
"Sorry about that," Archer said standing back up, offering his hand out to Shirou.
"I guess I wasn't paying much attention when I was walking," Shirou replied laughing slightly. He accepted Archer's hand and pulled himself back up to his feet.
"How are you feeling?"
"Well, the body is still pretty sore and I still feel pretty drained, but I'll be alright. I feel better every second," Archer flashed him a sarcastic smile.
"Well that's good. You had us all pretty worried, especially Tohsaka. I've never seen her like that before, she's always so calm and collected, but for a little bit she was a complete mess." Archer's sarcastic smile faded into a genuine one, he was happy to hear Rin was so worried about him.
"Can you blame her? I mean, don't you remember how you reacted when it was Saber?"
"O-of course I was worried about her! She is my friend after all!" Shirou blushed slightly as he spoke. Archer continued walking past him, towards his room.
"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" He laughed as entered his room, leaving Shirou standing in the hallway with a puzzled look on his face, he wasn't sure how to react to Archer's comment.
Upon entering his room, he went over to the bed and plopped down into it, letting his body become absorbed by the mattress and his face sink into the pillow.
"This is so comfy," Archer mumbled, letting his mind drift away. He closed his eyes and must've passed out for a little bit, but it wasn't long before he was awoken by Rin. He could feel her sitting on the bed next to him, her fingers running down the back of his head.
"Hey, I'm back." Her voice was quiet and calm as she spoke. When he heard her voice, he inhaled and exhaled deeply and then turned over so he was looking up towards her.
"Welcome back." He reached out and grabbed onto her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers.
"Have you been sleeping since I left?"
"Well, I tried to be helpful, but it didn't go so well so I just gave up and came back here." Rin laughed and shook her head at him, afterwards she pulled her hand away from his and reached over to the bag she had sitting next to her.
"I got the gem, and if you don't mind I'd like to get started as soon as possible," She paused as she pulled out a decent sized gem from her bag. She cracked open the top of it and handed it to Archer. "Drink this. After a few minutes, the veins in your body will start to glow, revealing where your mana pools are." Archer looked at what was in the gem, inside was a fairly dark liquid. He put his nose down to it and sniffed it, after determining it couldn't be that bad he downed the entire container; only to once again feel instant regret.
"Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick…" Archer put his hand over his mouth and hung his head down, trying to concentrate on not puking. Rin let out a slight chuckle upon seeing his reaction.
"You'll be fine," She stopped and put her hand on Archer's back. "I'm going to need you to take off your shirt and socks so I can see the mana spots." Still feeling a little uneasy, he slipped off his socks and began to take off his shirt.
"You know I'm starting to think you're just looking for excuses for me to take off my clothes," He laughed as he tossed his shirt onto the floor.
"Please, don't flatter yourself."
"Me? Flatter myself? Never."
"You're ridiculous…" As Rin was shaking her head at Archer, his body began to glow. It started in his hands, and just like Rin had predicted, there was a mana pool located there. The stream that was going through his veins was a light blue color that went up from his hands, up his arms and to his shoulders, revealing another mana pool in each one. From there it went down his chest, revealing two more pools in his pecks. It continued down his stomach, past his waist, and into his legs. Going down, there was another mana pool in his knees and finally ending with two in his feet.
"This is… unbelievable," Rin said, admiring the lights on his body.
"What are you looking at? Cause you know you have to pay for tickets to the gun show," Archer laughed, flexing his biceps. Rin smiled softly before speaking again.
"From the looks of it, you haven't even tapped into most of these mana pools yet. If you look close, you can see where the ones in your hands and feet are slightly darker than the ones in your shoulders, chest, and knees, indicating that these ones are sitting fairly low on mana. Even the stream that's going through your veins is pretty dense, a lot denser than what it normally is." Archer lifted up his arms and looked at the blue light that was running through his body.
"So what's this mean? That I've got more mana than what I'm using?"
"Yes it seems so, but because the others are so untouched, I'm guessing you don't know how to tap into them." As Rin was speaking the light in his body started to fade.
"Looks like it's wearing off, do you have another one?"
"I don't think we need another one. I've learned a lot from just this one."
"So what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that we should unlock those circuits in your body. If we can get those open, you'll have access to a huge amount of mana."
"And how do you propose we do that? Rin paused for a moment and rested her hand underneath her chin.
"Well, I could try the same thing that I did with Shirou and Saber, but instead of transferring circuits we'll be trying to open them. I don't know if it'll work for sure, but I think it's worth a try."
"If you think it's worth doing then let's do it. What do I need to do?" Rin turned to him and put her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down onto the bed.
"All you need to do is lay here. There's a couple things I have to do to prepare, but it won't take very long, so just close your eyes and relax" Rin said, removing her hands from him.
"I think I can do that," Archer replied, getting comfy. He closed his eyes like Rin instructed him and began to relax. Even though his eyes were closed, the only thing he could see was Rin. He was reminiscing the day they went into town together, all of the things that they did that day. His thoughts were broken though when he felt Rin lay on top of him. He opened up his eyes and was staring into Rin's as she looked down to him. Her hands were softly pressing down on his shoulders and her hair was hanging down past her face, the ends of it slightly brushing up against his face.
"Hey good looking," Archer smiled at her as he stared into her eyes. Rin smiled back at him and brought her head down so it was underneath Archers chin. He was going to continue talking to her, but he felt something click inside of him and whatever it was made him extremely drowsy. Unable to fight the urge, he tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes, quickly becoming unconscious. Rin was quick to to join him, feeling herself drift away as well, it wasn't long before she was also unconscious.
When Rin opened her eyes, she knew that she was probably dreaming. She woke up on the floor of a school building, she knew it wasn't her school though, the layout was different. After picking herself up and looking around she recognized it as the one she had seen earlier in Archer's dream.
"Are we both dreaming this..?" Rin's voice sounded like an echo as she spoke out loud. She walked down the hall of the school, heading towards a door that was slightly cracked open. She slowly pushed it open and poked her head inside. She looked around the room, it seemed like it was an arts room, specifically for film and video. The lights were off so it was kind of hard to see but she did notice that there was an old projection reel set up in the middle of the room. She walked into the room to get a closer look, and ended up approaching the reel. She reached her hand out to touch it, and as she did, the wall in front of her lit up with what looked like a video playing, at least, that's what she thought but the reel was still powered off, not projecting anything. She was going to play around with a little more when the projection on the wall started to play. She turned her attention to the wall and ended up taking a seat on a folding chair that was leaning against the side of the stand the projector was on.
Once the picture became clear, it reveled Archer standing in the same room she was, but he looked different than normal. He was back in his school uniform staring at the same wall she was, but what he was watching was very different. He was watching what looked like two servants doing battle, one of them was a huge goliath, dressed in all black armor with two red feathers hanging down from his helmet. The person he was fighting against though, she did recognize, it was Lancer. His opponent showed no emotion on his face, but Lancer had a look of worry on his.
"I will not lose… I cannot lose… if I lose, then so will you!" A voice shouted. Rin didn't know this voice, nor did she know the face of the girl who was speaking. Her skin was a tanned color and her purple hair was tied up into a ponytail. The picture zoomed out and showed that the girl was talking to the girl that looked like her, the Rin from Archer's world. She had a panicked look on her face as the battle arena they were in began to flash red and an alarm was sounding in the background.
"What's going on? What's happening to them?" Archer turned to look to his servant who was standing next to him, panic was present in his voice.
"It seems we've got a sore loser. From the looks of things she tends so eliminate herself and the other girl at once." His servant crossed his arms as he continued to watch the battle unfold. Archer clenched his fists as he too continued to watch.
Back on the battlefield Lancer rejoined his master's side, asking what the plan was.
"I… I don't know. Give me a second to think!" The girl snapped back at him.
"Well think fast, time is running out!" Lancer grit his teeth as he looked at the deranged look the purple haired girl was giving them.
"…We're saving her," Archer muttered as he saw the nervous look on Rin's face. His servant looked to him surprised.
"Excuse me?" He replied.
"We're saving her!" Archer turned to his servant angrily, smashing his hands on the desk that was in front of him.
"You do realize what that means right? You have to use two seals, one to get us in there, and one to make sure Berserker doesn't beat me to a pulp while I buy you time to get her and get ready to leave."
"Yeah I know, but I don't care. We're going." Archer raised up his hand and one of seals that was on it vanished, and the two were transported into the arena. His servant quickly dashed over to Berserker as another seal left Archer's hand. He clashed blades against the giant, and in the meantime, Archer had run over to where Rin was. She was standing in shock, unsure of how he got there.
"Come on, we're leaving!" Archer said reaching out and grabbing hold of Rin's wrist.
"What do you think you're doing? How'd you even get here?" She sounded annoyed as she pelted him with questions.
"No time to explain," He paused and looked over to his servant. "Archer let's go!" His servant looked over his shoulder and leapt away from Berserker just as his attack came crashing down into the ground. He ran over and picked up his master and the girl. He was about to leave when Berserker came charging at them. He was cut off though by Lancer who dashed in front of him, twirling his spear in his hands.
"You guys get out of here, I'll hold him off," Lancer smirked as he stared down Berserker.
"Lancer, no!" Rin shouted as she reached out after him. Her arm was quickly pulled back by Archer as he held on tightly to her.
"Archer!" He screamed at his servant. Hearing his master call to him, he pulled his coat up over them and they were transported out of the arena, leaving Lancer to have a final showdown with Berserker. As they disappeared out of the room, the projection on the wall faded as well and the room Rin was standing in began to change. It shook violently, knocking her to the floor. When she stood back up she was in a different room, it looked like a classroom. Standing back up, she looked around at her new surroundings. She saw Archer sitting in the window sill, staring outside. He had his hands interlaced together resting behind his head and his legs making a figure four formation. His servant was also in the room, sitting in what appeared to be a throne made from the desks and chairs in the room. He was leaning on the arm of his throne, his hand against the side of his face looking over towards his master.
"Tell me, I've been wondering why you felt the need to save that girl?" His servant spoke up, sounding annoyed. Archer continued looking out the window for a few seconds before giving a reply.
"I don't know… I've had to unwillingly kill enough people already, and I couldn't just sit there and watch another one die knowing that I could do something about it," Archer replied, his gaze never leaving the window. His servant smirked in his seat, making a 'hmph' noise as he did so.
"Sounds noble enough, now tell me the real reason you saved her." Rin noticed a smile form on Archer's face upon hearing his servant's response.
"Nothing ever gets passed you, does it?" Archer paused for a moment and took in a deep breath, exhaling it very slowly. "Well, I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't know, it's just something about her… something about her eyes, something about her face, her personality… everything about her just… intrigues me."
"Is that it? You gave up two command seals and risked your life because you've got a stupid high school crush on her?" His servant's voice became angry. "I don't know if you've realized this yet, but this isn't a game! You mess up and you're dead, no second chances. You need to start taking this more seriously, start thinking with your brain, not your heart. You've got no time for insignificant things like this-" He was cut off by Archer furiously turning himself towards his servant, raising his voice as well.
"And just what would you know? I don't know if you realize this yet, but I don't get a second chance, even if we win! I don't have a life to go back to, I don't get to just magically wake up! This is everything I have, and everything I'm going to have! Even If I get a wish granted, I don't have a body to return to in the real world, I'm nothing more than ones and zeros. So what if I've got a school boy crush? I'm still alive right now aren't it? We're still in this tournament of death aren't we? I've never shown any signs of slipping up or being distracted, every week in that elimination match I give it everything I have and we've always walked away victorious," He stopped his rant and resumed his earlier position of looking out the window. "I don't have a chance to do anything good after this, so just let me do what I can while we're still in it." His voice became normal again as he finished his sentence. His servant was left speechless in his seat, maybe he had stepped too far. Unknowing what to say, he just closed his eyes and sat in silence, awaiting future orders from his master.
"I was pretty pissed off huh?" Rin was startled by a voice speaking from behind her. She turned around to find Archer standing there talking to her. He looked just like the one that had been sitting in the window sill, still dressed in his school uniform. His voice wasn't as low as it usually was, it had more of a lively tone too it.
"Archer..?" She asked quietly as she approached him. He smiled at her and replied,
"The one and only."
"You look… different." Her voice was still very soft as she reached out and placed her hand on his chest. As she did though, she quickly pulled it away when his body flickered in the spot she touched him. It flickered a green color, like a computer does when it glitches out. Seeing Rin jump away, he put a frown on his face and walked over towards the window, it was at this time Rin noticed that the other Archer and his servant were no longer present, it was just her and Archer. She watched as he leaned up against the window and stared out of it, but there wasn't anything on the other side, just a void of white.
"This is me, the real me," Archer spoke up softly. "Broken and incomplete, not meant to exist. A program glitch making a NPC self-aware in a system that was set up to be a game for everybody except the players. Lost in an unknown world, no understanding of who you are, a life designed with hundreds of questions. A life of dancing flames and bloodstained dreams, a life of poison and consumption. A life where you can only dream of a better future…" His voice trailed off, becoming softer and weaker the more he talked.
"Archer…" Rin said softly as she walked up behind him.
"You know, I have to admit, that when I first came into your world I was so happy when I saw your face. I thought that maybe you were her, that maybe I had actually done something good with my short life, but as my memories started coming back, and the more time I spent with you, I came to realize that you weren't her." Rin had a sad expression on her face as she withdrew her arm from Archer and placed it on her other one, joining him in staring out the window into the white nothingness.
"You must have had strong pretty strong feelings for her." Rin's voice was very quiet as she spoke. Archer never shifted his gaze from the window, even as he spoke.
"It'd be a lie if I said that I didn't come to love her. She was all I had in the Moon Cell, well her and my servant. She helped me out more than I can thank her for, I owed a lot to her. She was the one I wished for at the end, I wanted her to get out, back to the real world. As long as she lived, I'd be happy. I'd already accepted my fate in the Moon Cell, but there was no reason that she had to as well."
It was difficult for Rin to hear Archer talk about another girl like this, even if this girl was just like her. Rin wasn't really the type to get jealous, but she could see how deeply Archer must have cared about her, and that made her feel insecure. He risked his life to save her, even gave up not one, but two command seals to ensure her safety. He used his wish from the grail to make sure that she would be okay; he gave up so much for her. Who was she to think that maybe they could be something? That even if they win the war he would want to stick around with her? Sure they had gotten very close since the war began, but where would the line be drawn?
"It actually didn't take me very long to figure out that you and her weren't the same, there was just something about you that was different than her," Archer's voice pulled Rin away from her thoughts. She looked over to him again, sadness in her eyes and all over her face. "Something that made you and her so very different. Something that made me fall in love with you from the moment we met." Archer's words made Rin perk up a bit, he had never said anything like this to her before, he'd never said he loved her before. She was a little taken back by him saying it, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything back, she just let him keep talking.
"When I spend time with you, when I talk with you, hell, even just looking at you… you make me feel human. You make me feel like I'm not just a bunch of numbers; you give me hope that I can have a shot at life, a real life. You are all the motivation I need to win this thing, the only reason I fight." For the first time since he began talking he broke his gaze from the window and looked over towards Rin, a genuine smile all the way across his face. Unknowing to her, Rin's eyes slowly started to fill with water and a tear came rolling down her face. Archer made his way towards her and placed his finger on her cheek, wiping away the tear. Without thinking, Rin threw herself into him, now able to wrap her arms around him without his body flickering. She held onto him as tight as she could, and he returned the embrace, placing one hand around her waist and the other on the back of her head.
"I've never been in a situation like this… I'm not always going to know what to say, and I'm not always going to know how to react to things that you do, but I do know that I'm glad you're here with me. I didn't realize it myself until I had almost lost you that you were more than just a servant to me. You are probably the first real friend I've had in a long time, and the first boy I've ever gotten this close to…" Archer tightened his grip around her waist and pulled his head away from her so he could look down at her. She felt his movement and looked back up to him. Archer leaned in towards her and gave her a kiss on the lips. Rin welcomed the kiss and moved her arms from around his waist to behind his head. She pulled him as close as she could and put a lot of passion into the kiss. As they pulled away from each other, Archer's body started to glow a very bright blue color, and soon he was completely engulfed by the light and he disappeared. She closed her eyes and brought her arms up in front of her face to shield her from the bright light that was in front of her, and when she reopened her eyes the light had faded from in front of her and was now emanating from up in the front of the classroom, on the throne of desks. Eventually the light faded, and it revealed a body sitting in the chair, it was Archer, but it wasn't the same one she had been talking too just now and it wasn't the same she had fallen asleep with; this was a new Archer. He had his legs crossed over his lap in the figure four and had his arm resting on the arm of the throne. His knuckles were pressed against the side of his face as he sat there with his eyes closed. His hair had changed from its normal color to a new white color and his outfit had changed as well. He still had his normal armor on, but the new addition was the red and black trench coat hanging down from his shoulders. The boots he wore had changed so that they went up to his knees and had white belts around them, strapping them tightly around his legs. As Archer finally opened his eyes, he revealed that they too had changed. His eyes were now the same bright aquatic color that Rin's were. They remained staring at each other for a few seconds, but soon the world that they were in began to fade away, and they were returned back to the real world.
Opening her eyes slowly, Rin began to wake up. She rolled over on the bed, looking around for Archer. She knew she passed out on top of him, but he wasn't there anymore. She sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes; she then took another look around the room. She found Archer sitting at the edge of the bed looking down at the floor.
"Hey," Rin mumbled, her voice still sleepy. Upon hearing her voice, he looked back to her with a smile on his face.
"Well good night miss sleepy head," He replied standing up from the edge and walking over towards her.
"Good night..?" Rin let out a yawn as she waited for Archer to explain himself.
"Well I can't say good morning when its ten o'clock at night. It would seem like we slept the entire day away unlocking the circuits."
"Did we really? I hope Shirou and Saber didn't run into any trouble while we were out."
"I got up about an hour ago and found them sitting in the living room with Illya just hanging out and talking, so I think today went fine." Rin suddenly perked up in bed and got closer to Archer who was now standing by the bedside.
"So did it work? Can you access the other mana pools?" Archer answered her question with a smile at first and then took a step back.
"I dunno, you tell me," As Archer spoke, a sudden swirl of light surrounded him for a second before enclosing him, and just as quickly as it appeared it faded away, revealing the new Archer that she saw looking back at her from upon the throne in the classroom. He stood in front of her in his new state for a few seconds before letting it go and reverting back to normal.
"Do you think that this is your noble phantasm?"
"I don't think so. While I definitely feel stronger, I don't think it's significant enough to be considered my noble phantasm. However, our opponents don't need to know that," Archer shot a playful wink at Rin as he ended his sentence. She responded with a chuckle before letting herself slide back down into the bed.
"You know for sleeping all day I still feel exhausted…" Rin's words became mumbled as she rolled over and buried her head back into the pillow.
"Well to be fair we weren't really sleeping, just in a tranquil state of unconsciousness. Our bodies were still very much active during that time, mainly our minds." Archer looked down at Rin in the bed and leaned over and grabbed the blankets, pulling them up over her and tucking her in. He started to pull back afterwards when Rin reached her arm out from under the covers and grabbed hold of his hand. She pulled him down towards the bed and wouldn't let him get back up. She didn't say anything, she just looked at him with a smile on her face. Archer smiled and sighed, caving in very easily. He got himself into the bed and snuggled up next to Rin, putting her arm around her. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest.
"Oh, by the way… it's Hakuno." Archer spoke softly as he let his fingers run in and out of her hair.
"Hakuno..?" She mumbled back, her voice sounding like she was on the verge of passing out.
"That's my name, Hakuno Kishinami." Rin smiled upon hearing his name, but she didn't say anything, mainly because she was about to fall asleep. She tightened her grip around him and snuggled her head onto his chest and within a few minutes she was asleep.
*AN* Looks like the ice queen isn't as icy anymore! Everybody has a soft side to them, doesn't matter who you are. The pieces are in place as far as Archer's noble phantasm, and I'm really excited to write about it whenever I decide is a good time for him to use it. Thanks everybody for following along, keeping leaving reviews and sending the PMs, that kind of stuff is extremely helpful for motivation! Updated 4-28-2017