It was a dream he had seen many times before, one of fire and destruction. The city burned around him, and the air was so thick with black smoke he couldn't breathe. In the distance, the roar of an unknown monstrosity shook the earth itself, sending a wave of terror to his core.
But it was different this time, where before he had been helpless, now he was strong. At his feet numerous hilts stuck out of the ground, a sea of blades stretching out in every direction. Wherever he looked, more swords filled his vision.
The monstrous beast rose up, it's blazing red eyes cast down on him. But Shirou Giovanna was unafraid; he could defeat a creature like this with his own power now. At his command his swords rose into the air, shooting like cannons towards the beast.
But it wasn't enough; an attack of that magnitude would never defeat such a powerful enemy. He needed something more; just the normal swords at his disposal weren't enough. Raising his hand out before him, Shirou imagined a blade. A blade strong enough to defeat the monster before him, one that could cut down anything, nothing else would do.
A silver hilt appeared in his hand, and an intense white glow emanating from blade threatened to blind him. He couldn't make out the shape of the sword from within the light, but he could still feel its power. Shirou clutched the ornate basket hilt with a strange pointed pommel that almost resembled a cat's ears, drawing it back to strike.
Before the blackened giant that had haunted him for as long as he could remember, Shirou finally felt at peace, the blade in his hands would lead to victory, he knew it would. He rushed towards it, leaping up to attack the monster directly.
The sound of Shirou's morning alarm cut through his dream, and before he had time to understand what was going on he was staring at his ceiling. The vague images from his dream began to fade as soon as he opened his eyes, but the image of that sword hilt stuck in his mind. He couldn't remember ever seeing a blade like that before, and he had certainly never created one with his Stand, so just what was it?
That strength he had felt in the dream… how could he achieve it in reality? Shirou held his hand out above his head, his palm outstretched, before clenching it into a tight fist. He had pushed his training even more then ever since he had learned his new destiny, but would it be enough?
"The Holy Grail War huh, it sounds too ridiculous to not be true." Shirou stood up, touching the star shaped mark on his neck. He almost expected it to be gone, but the mark was still there. A Command Spell, the mark of one chosen by the Holy Grail to be a 'Master' to a powerful hero of legend.
He had seen many strange things since becoming Giorno's companion, but the idea of this war was still something hard for him to comprehend. And really, did magi always have to do things in such a roundabout way?
Quickly pulling on his school uniform, Shirou headed out into the hall. It had been almost a year since he had gained the Command Spells, but yet nothing had happened. Giorno had said that many Masters are chosen well ahead of time, but the lack of knowing put him on edge. Had other Masters begun to move yet? Were Servants already being summoned, or was it still too early?
Shirou had no idea, and he couldn't stand not having any idea. It was the exact opposite of his battle strategy, to know everything ahead of time so not to be caught off guard. Maybe he should ask Shinji, who was actually a magus unlike himself. He hadn't told Shinji about being selected as a Master on the off chance they became enemies, but perhaps he was being overly cautious.
As he entered the main hall Shirou's body stiffened, a subtle shift in atmosphere sending a shock through his nerves. His honed instincts picked up on something few would have ever noticed, and before he could determine the cause his body was already moving in response.
Shirou spun around, throwing a tight straight punch directly behind him. A blow aimed for his own head passed easily across his own strike, stopping barely an inch from his face. In contrast, his attack would have had no chance of connecting if he had actually taken that counter.
The two men stood, locked in a combat stance. The older of the two was perfectly calm, seemingly as still as a statue. Shirou on the other hand was breathing heavily, and his entire body was shaking from his nerves.
"You've improved; just a few months ago you wouldn't have noticed my hostile intent." Retracting his arm, Giorno Giovanna looked stoically towards his apprentice. "You've made remarkable progress, a bit more and you might even be a match for me."
Shirou relaxed his guard, finally realizing it was just the Boss. While Giorno had begun to throw unexpected surprise attacks into their training routine, Shirou couldn't get over just how real Giorno's killing intent felt. He might be trying to train him, but he wasn't pulling his punches anymore.
"Don't even joke around like that, Boss." Shirou replied, turning back towards the kitchen. "I doubt I could catch up to you in two lifetimes, you're just too strong."
The two men headed into the kitchen side by side, their frames having become remarkably similar. Shirou had been a bit on the short side for his age, but the more he trained his Stand the more his body grew, was it a mutation like his hair color? Natural growth spurt or not, he was now easily the tallest boy in his class, possibly the school, and he rivaled Giorno's stature.
"Don't underestimate yourself; your combat intuition is about as good as it can be without real battle experience." Giorno strode to the fridge, dramatically swinging the door open and bringing out a variety of ingredients. "And in terms of effectiveness, your Stand is vastly more suited to close combat than mine."
Giorno turned to the counter before him; the knife in his hand flashing faster then Shirou could follow. Giorno quickly transformed the raw ingredients before him into an omelet that looked far more professional than it had any right to.
The two sat themselves at the dining table, the large omelet split into thirds and placed around the table. Almost as if summoned by a spell, the third guest appeared for breakfast in a blur of movement that easily exceeded human ability.
"Morning, Arturia." Shirou turned to the girl, greeting her between a bite of his breakfast. He wasn't sure when he had gotten used to this, but it now felt like she had always been a part of the household. Too entranced by the food, she didn't even respond to him in words, merely nodding in his general direction.
"Well, I'm off. " Shirou stood up and headed for the door, grabbing his school bag from the hall without looking back. Leaving the base of Passione that served as his home, he passed a man with dyed blonde hair dressed like a stereotypical Japanese gangster. "Yo, Angelo!"
Angelo waved at him wordlessly, leaning against the estate's outer wall with a cigarette loosely hanging from his lips. And finally with that, Shirou was out into the world. As he walked towards school, his thoughts drifted back to the fragments of his dream.
He tried to picture the sword, but he couldn't make out the full shape. From the hilt, it could be assumed to be a rapier of some sort, but imagining it as such didn't quite feel right, even if he couldn't say why. Shaking his head, he tried to forget about it, it was just a dream. His real focus should be on improving his actual abilities, not chasing some fantasy.
Before he knew it, he was walking alongside one Shinji Matou. It was such a common event he didn't even pay him any mind and continued to silently head to school. His thoughts turned towards the impending Holy Grail War, a looming dread taking root in his heart. Was he really ready for something like that?
"-rou, Shirou!" Shinji's hollering voice finally cut into his train of thought, jolting him back into reality. The young magus stared at him, his face not even trying to hide his annoyance. "Stop daydreaming for a minute, will you?"
"Ah, Shinji… sorry, I just have a lot on my mind."
"Listen up, there's this first year girl I've got my eye on…" Shirou, used to Shinji's playboy nature, started to tune out when he began to describe his newest target. When it sounded like he was getting to the point, he started to pay attention again. "So, she won't go out with me alone, and we need one more for the pairings to be even, can I count you in?"
Shirou wouldn't get a chance to reply however, for the two were interrupted by a boy their age with neatly styled black hair. Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he walked over to them. Shinji audibly sighed at the sight of him, and Shirou wasn't pleased either. He was the student body president, Issei Ryoudou. Shirou didn't have anything against him personally, but his somewhat delinquent nature clashed heavily with how proper Issei was.
"This is no time to be talking about girls, Shinji, you'll be late." Issei focused his attention on the Matou boy, having long abandoned hope for Shirou. In their first encounter, he had tried to enforce the school's rule against dying your hair blonde, and he hadn't listened to Shirou's claim to it being his natural color for the entire first year.
If he was being perfectly honest, he was glad for the interruption. Shirou wasn't really interested in whatever Shinji had been talking about, and he had already forgotten what it was. With a slight bow towards Issei, Shirou sped up his pace and rushed to his class, leaving Shinji behind.
Feeling eyes glaring at him as he walked through the hall towards his class, he turned around to see the afterimage of someone dashing behind a corner. His first instinct was to assume danger, but he quickly stopped himself. The likelihood of there being an enemy in school was next to none, and it was probably just one of his admirers. Shrugging, he entered his classroom without a second thought.
The murmuring of his class was more energetic than usual, and after a few minutes he finally had to know why. Asking the nearest student, her response was that they were apparently getting a mid year transfer student. It made sense for them to be talking about that, it wasn't a common time of the year for transfers.
"Man I hope it's a cute girl, right Shirou?" The student beside him, a boy named Gai Gotou directed his comment at Shirou. On the young gang-star's mind was nothing a normal student should be worried about at this news, but he couldn't shake the strange feeling he had.
The timing was too convenient, was this connected to the Holy Grail War? He wouldn't let his guard down, but it was still too soon to assume they were the enemy. He couldn't help but feel like he was becoming paranoid, but the threat of the war was looming closer every day, and it would definitely begin soon.
Dashing into the classroom like a wild animal, their teacher finally arrived. Looking like she had just sprinted all the way from her home she braced herself against the blackboard, barely avoiding collapsing. Taiga Fujimura was anything but punctual, a trait most of the class wasn't too concerned with, as they themselves had no reason to rush.
In contrast to the wild entrance of their teacher, the figure that followed her in carried themselves with perfect grace. Seeming incredibly out of place in this school, the transfer student seemed like she should be in a high end private school.
While Shirou wasn't obsessed with women like some of his friends, especially Shinji, that didn't mean he couldn't recognize attractiveness, and if he was asked right at this moment he would likely have called her a 'perfect beauty.' Not that she was the most beautiful women he had seen before, but merely for the fact that she had no visible flaws.
Brushing her hand through her long black hair, which was tied in a half-up style in the back, she didn't bother waiting for Taiga to say anything before she introduced herself.
"Misaya Reiroukan, pleased to make your acquaintance." Bowing, she smiled at the class. It wasn't a kind expression however, feeling more arrogant than anything else. Shirou was suddenly reminded of another student in the school, though from a different class.
Yeah, this girl was a lot like Rin Tohsaka, he wasn't sure how he had gotten that impression so quickly, considering she had only said one thing so far. Both held themselves with a level of composure and grace well beyond a public high schooler, but was that it? No, it was deeper than that, like he could sense something about their basic nature that was similar.
Lost in thought he hadn't noticed that Misaya had approached his desk until it was too late. He could suddenly feel the angry glares of the other boys in the class, as if their eyes were saying "Why is it always Shirou?" He himself didn't have an answer for them, but it seemed the stronger he became as a Stand user the more women were drawn to him, was this another drawback to having power?
Without warning the transfer student Misaya Reiroukan leaned over his desk, getting uncomfortably close to him. Through the cry of outrage from his friends he heard her whisper something into his ear.
"Don't worry, I'll wait until you summon yours." With a coy smile she turned away from him and took her place at the empty seat in the back.
Shirou felt like his heart had stopped, or that maybe his blood had turned to ice. Whatever it was, he was frozen in place by a cold feeling coursing through his body. He would have attributed it to fear, but something about it felt unnatural. But just as suddenly as it started, it had passed, leaving him unable to comprehend what had happened.
Regardless of what he had just experienced, her words confirmed something, she was the enemy. The real question is how she had known he was a Master, was it so easy for a true magus to figure something like that out? If so, his earlier hesitation was gone, he had to recruit Shinji before it was too late.
He passed the rest of the day in a daze, barely remembering anything that had happened. Finally, the time had come, and he found Shinji as he was headed to club activities. For some unknown reason to Shirou, Shinji had taken up archery in high school, and was now the vice captain of the team.
"Hurry up with it, I'm going to be late." His arms crossed, Shinji growled at Shirou, who had forcibly dragged him behind a storage shed for the athletic clubs. "What's so important it can't wait until practice is over, Shirou?"
"Shinji… do you know about the Holy Grail War?" Not sure where to start, Shirou asked a question that seemed incredibly stupid after the fact. Shinji was a magus, and one that lived at the site of the ritual, there was no way he wouldn't know about it.
"Who do you think you're talking to, I'm the greatest magus in Fuyuki, of course I know about it. How the hell'd you learn about it?" Shinji's expression changed from anger to shock, having likely jumped to the correct conclusion. "Wait, you're not even a magus, so how?!"
Shirou backed away from his friend by one step, feeling an unmasked malice within him. They were friends, but when Shinji lost his temper things still tended to get ugly, and he would rather avoid tangling with the self proclaimed strongest magus in the city. His retreat was short lived however, when he tripped over a sudden obstacle, falling flat on his back.
A small animal jumped on top of him as if to pin him to the ground, though it wouldn't be much trouble for him to force the creature off of him. It was a young fox, the animal that served as Shinji's magus familiar. Shirou remembered when he had created it, he had been happier than he'd even seen Shinji before… or since.
"Nice work, Koma." At the sound of Shinji's voice, the fox leapt off of Shirou and landed on Shinji's shoulder with unnatural agility. "Can't have our friend skip out before he explains himself, now can we?"
As soon as the fox was off of him, Shirou jumped back to his feet. Every muscle in his body tensed, his well honed combat instincts kicking in before he had even realized it. If he was careful he would be able to avoid a physical conflict with Shinji, but he wouldn't ignore the possibility of it coming to blows.
"Was that really necessary? I'm not your enemy here Shinji, you know that."
"But do I really though? After all, the grail can only select one winner."
"Of course you were picked too, I should have expected that." Shirou sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I was hoping we could work together, but if we're both Masters I guess that won't be possible."
Shinji's body trembled, his hands closing into fists. The tension in the air between them was enough that Shirou could hardly breathe. Shinji stared at him, not uttering a single word.
"You're probably shocked, huh? I mean, I'm not even a magus." Shirou's gaze fell to the ground, no longer able to handle the intense stare from his friend's eyes. "I know we're meant to be enemies here, but together there wouldn't be anyone who could stop us!"
"Heh, when did you become such a comedian, Shirou?" Shinji threw his head back, letting out a sarcastic laugh. "Why do you think I even need your help? I can win even without summoning a Servant; it would just hinder my magecraft."
"What are you saying, Shinji? A Master without a Servant doesn't have much chance of winning…"
"I know that!" Shinji's eyes bulged and he his teeth clenched in anger. Moving faster than Shirou's eyes could follow, he closed the gap between them, grabbing Shirou by the collar of his uniform. "How dense are you?! Just looking at you feels like I'm being mocked! How could you be picked over me when you're not even a magus?!"
The young magus, his blue toned hair blowing slightly in the open air looked to be on the verge of bursting into tears, but he steadfastly resisted. Shirou recognized the pained look on his face; he had felt it many times before. His friend's face was one of powerlessness, someone without confidence in his own strength.
"Shinji… I didn't choose this; I'm not trying to mock you." Shirou could feel his words falling on deaf ears; he couldn't get through to his friend. He could only imagine how betrayed he must feel, for his long time friend to have revealed this to him so suddenly. He should have told him as soon as he got the command spells, why had he waited until now?
Shinji released his grip on Shirou's shirt and lightly pushed him away. Holding out his hand towards him, his expression changed.
"Then relinquish your spot, if you retire before summoning a Servant, the Grail will be forced to choose a new master to fill your spot." Shinji smirked, a subtle darkness within his eyes. In this moment they weren't friends, the magus's frustration and jealousy had overwhelmed him. "Give up, let me take your place. Wouldn't that be so much easier?"
"Shinji, I…" His logic, while borne out of his feelings of betrayal was sound. Shirou had been a nervous wreck as the war approached; it would be so much easier if he just let the actual magus take his place, but… "I'm sorry, that's not something I can do. I've already decided to see this through to the end."
"Yeah, I thought you might say that." Shinji turned away from his friend, his voice taking on a cold tone. "That's just like you isn't it? Can't quit something once you've started it, that's the Shirou way."
Without warning, Shinji turned around rapidly, throwing a quick jab at Shirou. His fist hardened with reinforcement magecraft struck with an inhuman force, sending the gang star to the dirt at their feet.
"The Grail didn't pick me… but that's normal, nothing has ever been handed to me easily." Standing over his fallen friend, Shinji's still raised fist shook with anger. The surge of emotions within him threatened to come unleashed, but the boy managed to retrain himself. "I don't need the Grail's approval, I'll find my own way to take it! I won't keep living in your shadow, you hear me?!"
The feeling of always being a step behind one close to you, Shirou understood it all too well. Ever since their friendship had begun, it was always Shirou who showed up to save Shinji. It came so naturally to him to try and help that he hadn't even considered he was doing something unwanted.
"So long, Shirou Yovanna," Shinji turned and began to walk away, leaving his friend lying on the ground. Glancing at his familiar, Koma, he could feel nothing but disdain for the thing. Even after all he went through; his intense training to learn his family craft… it still wasn't enough. The Grail was telling him clearly that he wasn't ready; he needed more power if he was going to achieve his goals.
Shirou crawled to his knees, not bothering to stand up right away. Staring at the ground he felt more powerless then he had in a long time, he couldn't do anything. His friend was hurting, it was clear even to him, but there was nothing he could do to help him.
Shirou clenched his fist and punched the ground below him. Letting his frustration flow out of him through the strike, he finally stood up. The sun had begun to set in the distance, casting a mellow orange glow over him.
This was bad, he hadn't expected things to turn out his way, but it couldn't have gone worse. If he wasn't careful not only would he lose a friend, but he could end up facing him in the war. His heart beat loudly in his chest at the thought; did he have the resolve to face his friend on the battlefield? Well, hopefully things wouldn't come to that.
Too distracted with the events of the day, he didn't notice the pair of eyes that had been watching him since the morning as he left the school grounds. His attention focused on the enemy in front of him, this transfer student Misaya Reiroukan had caused his honed instincts to develop a rather worrying blind spot.
"So, this kid is a Master huh?" A deep male voice spoke out to no one in particular as they watched a certain blonde gang-star leave the school. "Looks like he hasn't summoned a Servant yet, it would be so easy to finish him right now… But I guess I should play along with her orders for now."
The mysterious man shrugged, his body disappearing as if he were nothing but an illusion.
The Holy Grail War was a battle royale between seven Masters, each using a summoned aspect of a heroic spirit in the form of a Servant. It was a grand ritual that had been put in place by her ancestors, so it was obvious she would become involved with it at some point. But still, Rin Tohsaka wanted nothing to do with it.
The ritual did nothing but spread destruction and misery, and was directly responsible for the deaths of her entire family. She detested the system and wanted nothing more but to see it dismantled, but even so the grail had chosen her as one of the seven. Was the grail under an obligation to give her command spells due to her bloodline's connection to it, or did the grail simply have some sense of irony in picking a girl whose wish is to end the war?
Either way, she only saw one logical course of action after she was picked. Join the war as a Master, defeat the other six, and wish for the total annihilation of the grail war system. She had been planning this since she was a child, but she hadn't expected the next war to begin so soon. The abrupt ending of the fourth war had caused an aberration in the system, and it had started up far too early.
But she couldn't afford to lose just because of that, she would give it her all and win. The first step was to summon the most powerful Servant class, Saber. At least, that had been the plan. Instead, she had ended up with exactly the class she didn't want, Archer. While it was one of the stronger classes in the war, it carried with it the rather annoying ability of independent action. This made it much harder to control said Servant, and if they were going to stick with her plans it would take that much more effort on her part.
"You do understand what the Holy Grail War is about don't you, Master?" The servant Archer, his arms crossed looked over towards her from his position on a large chair in her living room. Something about the way he said master when addressing her pissed her off, was he doing it on purpose? "I mean, I'll follow your orders, but you're really making things harder on yourself to go down this path…"
"I understand what I'm doing, Archer." Rin raised a western styled teacup to her lips, taking an elegant sip before placing it back down. "If you don't like it, find another Master. As long as we're a team however, those are the rules. If I wanted to murder the opposing teams I would have summoned Assassin."
"I got it, I got it, I won't target the magi and focus only on the Servants, Master." The man ran his tan hand through his white hair, which stood out against his otherwise youthful appearance. "But really, it's just my luck to be summoned by such a stubborn girl."
Ignoring her Servants complaining, the young head of the Tohsaka household stood up, brushing a lock of her brown hair from her face. Her Servant continued to grumble as she left the room, but he soon followed, entering spirit form behind her.
"Are you ready to tell me your true name yet, Archer?" pulling on her school uniform's jacket, she turned towards the door. Her Servant had claimed upon being summoned that he couldn't remember his true name, but she still found it hard to believe.
"Even if I did know, I have a feeling it wouldn't make much difference." Archer's nonchalant response was exactly what she had come to expect from him, even after only talking with him for a single day. "Why are you bothering to go to school anyways, shouldn't you focus on finding the other Masters?"
"Unlike you, my life doesn't revolve around this ritual, I can't just stop going to school." The door to her sizable mansion closed with a click behind her, and she slowly walked along the path leading out to the street. "Besides, this is part of locating the other Masters."
"You suspect there are others in your school? Wouldn't that be a bit… convenient?"
"A few years ago I would have said the same, but it's pretty much guaranteed that there's at least one. After all, Shinji wouldn't let me forget how much better of a magus he's become since we first met."
The thought that Shinji, that slimy, awful excuse for a magus had managed to somehow awaken his supposedly dead circuits had been enough of a shock for her, but it didn't end there. He had become a magus that could compare to her, possibly even best her in some areas of his knowledge, it was humiliating. But it made things easier for her, he was also from one of the three founding families, so she was sure he would be picked.
The murmuring of the crowd of students soon drowned out any attempt of communication with her Servant, and she couldn't exactly talk to herself either. The rest of her conversation with him would have to wait for later, and the young magus quickly hurried to school.
Rin was suddenly stuck with an unusual sense of anxiety, sure anyone in the crowd could be an enemy at this point, but she wasn't one to concern herself with those kinds of thoughts. The cause became apparent when a young man passed by her, moving even faster than she was towards the school. His distinctive slicked back blonde hair clearly marked who he was, but even without it she would be able to recognize him.
Shirou Giovanna had a bizarre atmosphere about him, almost like he wasn't human. After her first encounter with him she had largely avoided the boy for this reason, fearing he was some kind of demon, but even that didn't seem right. No, his aura was somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.
Before she realized it, she was following him through the halls of the school. They were in different classes, so her actions couldn't even be passed off as coincidental. But somehow, she thought following him felt natural, a hazy memory crossing her mind. Her surroundings changed, and she was lost in a forgotten event from nearly ten years prior.
A flash of silver aimed towards her, blocked by a man in an outrageous purple suit. This was undeniably a memory from the past Holy Grail War, and those larger than life figures had to be Servants. The man in the purple suit had defended her, his golden blonde hair swaying nobly in the wind. Rin remembered what she had thought that night, a feeling lost to time. She had thought quite clearly then, that he was the perfect image of a 'hero'.
Rin shook her head, forcing the memory away, why was she thinking about that now? What relevance at all did it have to her inadvertent stalking of Shirou Giovanna? Well, from behind at least Shirou sort of looked like that Servant, they had similar hair colors but that was about it.
Shirou stopped sharply in the hall, almost as if acting out of instinct. He began to turn around, and Rin quickly dashed behind a corner, had he realized she was following him? Even so, the aura he had put out when he stopped had made her heart skip a beat. In that second the only thing she could feel from him was pure, unrestrained bloodlust.
"Is he one of the seven? that seems too convenient…" Inadvertently parroting her Servant's words, Rin pondered the implications of his reaction while mumbling under her breath.
Rin hadn't realized it yet, but she had completely forgotten about the far more obvious threat of Shinji Matou, her thoughts now firmly aimed towards Shirou instead. All throughout her morning classes she mulled over her course of action until the lunch break. As soon as class let out she rushed to the rooftop, which was predictably vacant.
"Archer." She called out to the empty air, the red clad form of her Servant soon appearing to her call.
"Is this about that blonde kid you followed earlier?" Archer crossed his arms and leaned against the fence surrounding the roof. His guess was quite accurate; did he have some form of mind reading capability?
"Yeah, it's probably nothing, but he's too suspicious to ignore." Turning around, Rin's fingers closed around a link in the metal fence, her gaze listlessly aimed towards the town. "Follow him in spirit form and report back if he does anything strange, but don't kill him."
"Still going with the pacifist plan eh, Master?" The white haired Servant sighed, an action she chose to ignore.
"It's not pacifism, I'm prepared to fight, it's just…" A pain filled her chest, her words catching in her throat. Now wasn't the time to lose focus, hadn't she already decided how to handle the war years ago? "I just don't want to kill anyone if it isn't necessary. If he is a master, I'll deal with him as best I can."
Nodding, Archer faded back into spirit form. No longer able to feel his presence behind her, Rin felt unexpectedly exposed, like she had just taken off a protective set of armor. Sitting down on the ground, she pulled her lunch out of her bag and began to eat in silence.
Was she really doing the right thing? Letting the war continue, acting as a Master in it, wasn't this exactly what she didn't want to happen? But she didn't see a way out of it, the war was already starting. Now all she could do was minimize the damage it caused, prevent another disaster like the previous war.
Rin clenched her fists tightly, a single tear rolling down her face. The pain she suffered at the hands of the previous war... she couldn't let that happen again. If there was someone, anyone in her sight that she could protect, she would do it. Did that mean she fancied herself a hero? Hardly, it was merely her duty to live up to her noble lineage.
But the image of that man, that Servant, never left her mind. She couldn't forget his strong posture, which was unyielding against the enemy. She couldn't forget his cold eyes that hid his emotions, but still managed to feel kind when they looked down upon her. The face of the student she had been tailing before, Shirou Giovanna, passed through her thoughts once more, were they really that similar?
The rest of the school day passed Rin in a flash, her mind lost in a fog of thought. Returning to the roof before she went home, she found her servant waiting for her. Explaining what he had seen, she almost couldn't believe his words.
"S-Shirou is a Master… but Shinji wasn't chosen?" Her eyes widened in surprise at Archer's report, that couldn't be right. "Shinji is a magus that, as much as I hate to admit is on par with myself, and of the founding families! For him to not be picked… does that mean that old worm is taking part himself?"
"Isn't this better for you, Master?" An arrogant smile crossed Archer's face, was he looking down on her? "Now you don't have to fight acquaintance. It should be far easier to defeat someone you don't really know, yes? And from the sound of things he hasn't summoned his Servant yet, we can take him out of the running in a flash."
Rin gritted her teeth, was her Servant trying to antagonize her? Unless he was exceedingly dull witted, which he didn't seem to be, it should be impossible for him to be unaware of her intentions. But yet, he continued to say the same things.
"Archer… How many times do I have to tell you?" Rin glared at her Servant, who merely shrugged in response. "I won't target other Masters, even if it would cost me my own life."
"Now who said anything about killing the poor kid, aren't you jumping a bit ahead of yourself?" The tall Servant crossed his red clad arms over his chest, leaning back against the roof fence. "It didn't really seem like he wanted to be a Master any more than you do, so if you talk to him now you might be able to talk him into retiring prematurely."
"Huh, that's surprisingly levelheaded of you, Archer." Rin placed her hand on her chin, absorbing what he had just suggested. "Even if he retires now, a seventh master will have to appear, though I would rather it not be a fellow student… alright! Let's try that, good idea."
Rin had a vague understanding of where he lived; she supposed everyone at school did. It wasn't easy to be low profile when you're related to the biggest criminal organization in the city, after all. If she hurried she could probably catch him on his way home, so without hesitation she rushed to the stairs and quickly exited the school.
Archer moved to follow, but he stopped mid step, his expression flashing surprise.
"Shirou… could he be?" Archer shook his head at the idea, re-entering spirit form. "Nah, I shouldn't jump to wild conclusions."
The sun began to set as he approached his destination. The blue haired boy, the Magus Shinji Matou, walked towards the docks downtown. He kept watch around him, as if he expected to be ambushed at any moment. When he had confirmed he was indeed alone, he pushed open the door of an old warehouse by the harbor, entering it as quickly as he could.
Inside there was exactly what you would expect, endless walls of wooden crates lined the building like a maze. His pace speeding up with each step, Shinji Matou made his way to the center of the building. He was no longer alone, the atmosphere shifting at the arrival of a new presence.
Jumping down in front of him, they landed like a wild animal on all fours. Standing up to full height, they shook their wild orange hair from their face and hopped onto a nearby box. The new guest looked like a normal young girl, but the aura she gave off was anything but ordinary. Even now he found himself getting nervous around her; just standing by her made his breath turn shallow.
"Shinji, ya still scared of me?" The girl laughed, her open mouth flashing a set of unusually sharp canine teeth. "It's not like I'm gonna eat ya or anything, you know?"
"I'm not scared; your energy is simply… unnerving." Shinji turned away from her, looking off into the distance aimlessly. "Is he here?"
The girl didn't have time to respond before a third figure made their presence known. Shinji's entire body stiffened up, worse then the aura of the girl, this man terrified him for the exact opposite reason. No matter how much he tried, Shinji could never detect him; it was like he didn't exist. But yet, when he was around him, he could feel something, something extremely off with him. He cursed his misfortune that led him to this moment, surrounded on both sides by monsters. But it was the price he paid, if he wanted power, he had to sacrifice everything, and this was part of the process.
The third member of the group remained in the shadows, which Shinji didn't mind one bit. The less he had to look at him the better. A shiver shot down his spine as he slowly turned to face the man, still veiled in darkness.
"Report your status," The cold voice that greeted him was expectedly distant. He had no interest in actually aiding Shinji, merely using him as he saw fit. That was how it had been ever since he gained a second chance at being a magus, and nothing would change it now.
"I-It's done; I've distanced myself from Shirou." His entire body was shaking as he spoke; his nerves just wouldn't calm down. "I still don't understand why you of all people asked this of me, but I'll follow your commands."
"Good, keep your distance for now, but let him think there's a chance of reconciliation." The figure disappeared into the darkness without another word, leaving Shinji with the mysterious girl.
"What should I do, Boss?" She cocked her head to the side, almost like a dog looking up at their master. "I've been itching for some action, give me a good order!"
The girl jumped off her makeshift chair, raising her hands into fists. Throwing a few shadow punches, she looked eagerly towards Shinji.
"Since I can't play the part of Shirou's friend any longer, I can't keep track of their movements easily anymore." Shinji crossed his arms, letting out a long sigh. He knew it was all a part of the plan, his quest that would allow him to avenge her. But this current step was making things difficult on him, everything suddenly seemed far more complicated than it needed to be.
"So… you want me to go spy on 'em?" The girl scratched her head, further messing up her already untamed mane of hair. "I guess I can do that, you're the boss."
"Infiltrate Passione, but be careful." Shinji steeled his resolve and approached the girl, nervously placing his hand on her shoulder. "They're no normal gang, if they suspect you for a second, pull out of there."
Shinji turned and walked towards the door, not looking back until he reached it. His hand closed around the handle and with a short glance behind him, he left, speaking one final time.
"After all, I can't do this without you."
Rin's heart beat loudly in her ears as she ran down the street, her legs carrying her as fast as was possible. Finally, she caught a glimpse of blonde hair in the distance and called out to him.
"Shirou Giovanna!" Through her rough breathing her voice barely managed to reach him, but he stopped in his tracks.
His school bag through casually over his shoulder in one hand, Shirou turned to face her. From his expression it was clear he was bewildered, and she could understand why. This was possibly the first time she had actually spoken directly to him since the first day of school, seeing as she had avoided him quite effectively until now.
"Huh?" Shirou tilted his head in confusion, staring blankly towards her. "This is quite a rare event; is Rin Tohsaka talking to me?"
"I… I need to talk to you about something, it's important." Rin averted her eyes from his intense stare, a red tinge appearing on her cheeks. Wait, what exactly was she feeling embarrassed about here?!
"If it's not urgent do you think it could wait, Rin?" His blunt response caught her off guard, everyone tended to act reserved around her. "I've got somewhere I need to be, can we talk tomorrow?"
"Eh? Well, I guess that's alright…" She hadn't planned for this reaction, what should she be saying here? "Then, can we meet after school tomorrow, on the roof?"
"Sure, that works." Shirou nodded and turned away from her. Waving his free hand casually he walked away without looking back. "See you then."
And so Rin was left standing alone in the street, unsure how to continue. At the very least she had set up a meeting with him, but something was bothering her about the exchange. The entire walk back to her estate she continued to stew over what happened. Finally, upon entering her foyer, something clicked in her mind.
"Did he just blow me off?!" Her eyes widened in shock, just who the hell did he think he was? Rin was no narcissist, but she was aware of her status as one of the more desirable girls in her grade, most guys would kill for a chance to talk to her, but he ignored her so easily!
"It's possible he already suspects you of being a Master, it's not necessarily that he finds you unattractive."
Ignoring the snide remark from her Servant, the irritated young magus marched into the living room, wasting no time in flopping face first into a large couch.
"Master, were we not going to patrol the city tonight in search of other masters?" Archer materialized in a chair across from her position, his legs crossed in a relaxed posture. "Well, I'm fine either way, but I thought you were in a hurry to finish things."
"I'm too tired for that now, next time." Rin sighed, pulling a pillow tightly against her chest. "Archer, go guard the perimeter. I doubt anything can slip past the bounded fields, but you can't be too careful."
"Yeah yeah, I'll go be your watchdog then." Archer hopped to his feet, stretching his arms out in front of him, fingers interlocked. "Wouldn't want my precious master's beauty sleep to be disturbed, would I?"
As he left the room Rin suddenly wished he had summoned a Servant who was mute, perhaps she should have tried for berserker. At one point she had considered using a command spell to force him to be less snarky, but she had decided it was a waste at the last second.
After an uneasy night and an even less calming day however, Rin arrived at the moment she had been anticipating. Her hesitation increased with every step as she climbed the stairs, what if he wouldn't listen to her? What if in the time since yesterday he had summoned his Servant, and was now her enemy?
When she arrived on the roof of the school building the only thing that greeted her was the orange glow of the setting sun, it looked like he hadn't arrived yet. Sitting down, Rin closed her eyes and began to wait. After around an hour she started to wonder if he wasn't going to show up, when she heard footsteps approaching her. Finally, it was now or never. Opening her eyes, she stood up, dusting off her skirt with one hand as she turned towards the sound of the new presence.
But what she saw wasn't Shirou Giovanna. Her body force at the sight of the figure before her. She understood exactly what kind of situation she was in, for she recognized the person standing in front of her.
Wearing a black business suit with a red tie, the person before her was obviously not a student. Her short magenta hair combined with her serious expression and poise was enough to tell Rin who she faced.
"Bazett Fraga McRemitz…" Rin's instincts told her to run away, but her legs didn't respond to her commands. "The association certainly picked a monster to represent them this time."
Well known within the Magus Association, the Fraga clan was already infamous enough for its strength, but she went well beyond even that. Having worked as an Enforcer for the Association, her magecraft was well tuned to combat, particularly against other Magi. She was the perfect choice of Master in the war; she stood a good chance of being capable of defeating every opposing Master while her Servant held off her enemy's own.
The older woman reached into her suit pocket, retrieving a pair of black gloves with ancient runes inscribed on their backs. Pulling them on in silence, Bazett's eyes finally locked on Rin's.
"Rin Tohsaka, it was quite foolish of you to let your guard down in public." The Enforcer took up a hand to hand stance, the magical energy around her shifting as the spells in her gloves activated. "I apologize, but it seems I must eliminate you here. After all, that is the nature of this ritual, is it not?"
"You can go ahead and try, but I won't make it easy!" Rin boasted, but her word felt empty. If she didn't even believe it there was no chance it had an impact on her opponent.
Bazett stepped in, moving so fast as to almost disappear from Rin's view. Her body, enhanced with rune magecraft, moved unlike any human should be able to. Her fist drew back, a strike that would easily blow away the young Tohsaka.
Pouring her own magical energy through her body, Rin crossed her arms in the hopes of blocking at least part of the attack. Bazett's punch hit her with unbelievable power, shooting out like a bullet. A force not dissimilar to being struck by a speeding car smashed into her guard. Had Rin not reinforced her body it would have instantly shattered her arms.
Ever after blocking the attack however, the strength of it forced her back, her body only stopping when it hit the fence around the roof. Rin clenched her teeth through the pain, forcing herself to remain standing. She had heard rumors of Bazett's strength, but the truth was almost more absurd than she could have imagined. She was completely outclassed, in both magecraft and martial prowess.
But she wouldn't give up; there was still a chance for escape. Ending her first encounter of the war in retreat was humiliating, but she had no choice. Reinforcing her legs, she made a dash towards the left. Bazett easily caught up to her, but it was all part of her plan.
The Magic Crest that covered her left arm lit up as she flowed her mana through it. The accumulation of her family's magecraft, it possessed many powerful spells that could be cast by simply running power through the appropriate section of the crest. The spell she chose was an old Germanic curse, Gandr. Normally only a spell to inflict illness, the Tohsaka Gandr had developed into a form that blasted things apart with physical force akin to a handgun.
Firing a barrage of Gandr shots towards Bazett, Rin swiftly changed direction and ran towards the stairs. She didn't expect any of her shots to do any damage, but if they could just slow her down for a moment…
"..!" Rin instinctively leapt to the side, avoiding some unknown danger. A crimson arc cut a swath through the air where she had just been, slicing a chunk out of the concrete roof.
"Not a bad dodge, for a magus." The source of the attack was a red spear, held lazily in the hands of a tall and muscular man. He was clad in a blue bodysuit that looked completely out of place in the modern era, and the weapon in his possession was a good indication of why that was.
"L-Lancer…"
"That's right, girl. I am the Servant of the spear, Lancer." The man smirked, throwing his head back. His long blue hair that was tied back in a ponytail fluttered against the night's breeze. "I'm not really interested in fighting you; it would be over too quick. So why don't you call out your Servant already, little girl?"
Somehow, he was even more condescending than her Servant, was that a common trait of Heroic Spirits? But as much as she didn't want to admit it, she couldn't win without him. Hell, she couldn't even defeat Bazett, let alone a Servant.
A rain of light interrupted her standoff against the enemy team. Each source of light was an arrow fired from above, which an obvious origin. Lancer leapt back, parrying a few arrows with a twill of his crimson spear.
"Rin, get out of here!" Landing in between herself and lancer, the servant in red appeared, a black bow in his hands. "I'm not sure if I can fight two enemies at once, but I'll give it a shot."
Rin nodded and prepared to escape, when the unthinkable happened. Rushing past her own servant, Bazett Fraga McRemitz charged Archer. Only a madman would attempt to fight a servant themselves, but this woman had done so without any hesitation. But what followed was even more unbelievable.
Rin stood in shock as the human magus before he blew away a Servant in one punch, the impact sending a shockwave across the roof. Archer was slammed through the roof fencing, tearing it straight from its mounting. Just what kind of absurd monster had the association called in as their Master?
But there was no chance that had actually killed him, and the fact she still felt her connection with him confirmed it. Seeing a chance open up before he, Rin leapt off the roof without hesitation, using the broken fence as a new route of escape.
"Archer, you better catch me!"
A flash of red from below quickly caught up with her, and the strong arms of her Servant carried her safely to the ground. Rin stared at him, a scowl on her face and her arms crossed.
"Are you trying to make me look bad? Letting that women get an attack in, she's not even a Heroic Spirit!"
"I was only momentarily caught off guard, it won't happen again." He turned back to face the school, his expression hardening. "But we have more to worry about now, don't you think?"
Archer's bow disappeared from his hands, and in its place appeared a pair of curved Chinese short swords, one white and one black. Rin tried not to let her surprise show on her face, was he going to engage them in close combat? It wasn't really like his Class to fight hand to hand, had he gone mad?
"Archer, are you sure about this?" Rin reached out towards his back, but her hand hesitated.
"Leave Lancer to me," He started towards them, his swords held loosely at his side. "Don't get beaten too quickly, I can't be in two places at once."
The weight of his words sank as soon as he disappeared from view, reappearing next to the approaching Lancer. The fight quickly turned into something normal humans couldn't interfere in, not even Bazett would be able to do anything. This meant that Rin was left to deal with the second half of the tag team. She reached into her pocket and clutched the magical gemstones within it, would they be enough against such an experienced foe?
"Under different circumstances I would commend you for surviving this long, but you're only prolonging your suffering." Bazett slowly walked towards her, how had she gotten to the ground floor already? No way, had she jumped off as well?!
Raising up her left hand, Rin unleashed a barrage of Gandr shots, already preparing to run away. Fighting evenly with Bazett was quite frankly one of the more suicidal things she could think of at the moment.
The Enforcer didn't flinch at her assault, instead diving straight through the blast. A rune-enhanced glove slammed into Rin's stomach before she had a chance to react, sending her flying across the school grounds.
Not giving Rin a second to recover Bazett rushed in again, aiming a kick at the downed Tohsaka. Her fingers closed around one of her jewels, a mystic code that stored her excess magical energy. Each gem was a priceless piece of equipment with several months' worth of mana within it, but she had no choice.
Throwing the ruby in her hand, she unleashed the magic stored within it. It was a crude use of the gem that could barely be considered a spell, but it allowed her to create a powerful effect with no preparation time.
The explosive burst of mana threw the Enforcer back, but it wasn't enough to stop the berserker of a woman that Rin currently faced. Even with all of her training she could barely keep up, they were in totally different leagues. But Archer sounded like he had a plan, so she would hold out until then.
It was insane, she realized immediately, but it was because of how terrible an idea it was that just might work. Reinforcing her body as much as she could, Rin launched into an all out sprint towards her opponent. The Tohsaka family philosophy had always been to train both the mind and the body, so she was no slouch when it came to martial arts. But there was no way she could stand up against Bazett, what was she thinking?
Rin threw the best punch she could muster, but the far more experienced fighter easily ducked under it, hitting her with a swift uppercut. Rin crossed her arms over her face, barely blocking a powerful straight punch from Bazett. Each of the veteran Enforcer's hits was inhumanly destructive, even with her magecraft Rin couldn't afford to keep blocking them.
"There's still time to back down, Rin Tohsaka," Bazett calmly addressed her as if they weren't in the middle of a heated battle. "I don't wish to cause unnecessary harm, but if you insist on continuing this struggle I can't promise your safety."
"Sorry, but as the overseer of this city and one of the founding families… I can't give up when it's just begun."
"Very well, try not to hold the results against me, then." Bazett's fits clenched tighter, and her expression seemed to harden. Having evidently been holding back before, the Enforcer finally became serious.
Rin was hit with three near simultaneous blows, none of which she could even see, and each even more powerful than before. Her vision went completely white at least two times before she found herself leaning against the wall of a school storage shed.
She coughed, a not insignificant quantity of blood spilling from her mouth. She tried to stand, but quickly fell to one knee. If she didn't get up she would die, but her body wasn't listening to her. Several of her ribs were cracked for sure, and her left arm was dangling uselessly at her side.
Was this the end, was she really destined to fail right out of the gate? She had prepared for almost her entire life, and for what? She couldn't win against such a strong enemy; she was foolish to even try. In the distance she could still hear the sound of her Servant locked in battle, if she called him with a command spell perhaps they could still escape.
But her body was frozen; she couldn't even call for help at this point. Was it fear of her impending fate? Or shock at her failure? She didn't have time to contemplate it before the sound of footsteps notified her of the oncoming end. This was it; there was no way out of it now. Even if she released the power of all of her jewels in a suicide attack it probably wouldn't kill that woman, she was too heavily enchanted.
"Merda, I'm a bit late and this is the result?" an unexpected voice cut into her thoughts, his bizarre use of Italian as gratuitous as always. She must be more hurt than she thought, she was hallucinating now.
But wait, why had Bazett stopped moving? Rin opened her eyes, seeing something she would never have imagined. Wearing casual clothing instead of his school uniform, the blonde boy she had intended to meet with this night stood in front of her, his hands casually in the pockets of his bright purple jacket.
"S-Shirou?" She stuttered, unsure of what he was doing there. In the moment she had forgotten even inviting him here in the first place, so his appearance seemed utterly bizarre. "What are you… Y-You have to get out of here, it's too dangerous!"
As if he hadn't heard her, the young man turned his back to her and faced the Enforcer, Bazett. He should have just witnessed what she was capable of, how was he acting so calm?
"Another magus? No, you're something… different." Bazett held up her fists once more, but remained cautiously apart from him. "Are you her ally?"
"I wouldn't exactly call it that," Shirou stepped forward, closing the gap between them. "But I have some unfinished business with her, so could you back off your attack for the time being?"
"I'm afraid I cannot, I must complete my mission." Bazett replied coldly, her attention completely on her new opponent.
"Well, if you insist." Shirou removed his right hand from his pocket, holding it out to his side. With a burst of blue flames,a Chinese straight sword appeared in his hand. "That makes you my enemy."