In The Core of the Jewel

Chapter 14: A Random Encounter

Author's Note: Based on the Unlimited Blade Works Route

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Original Game: Fate/Stay Night

Original Concept: Type-moon

Written by: wrathie

Author's Notes: Eh? Mirror-moon? I didn't think i was emulating them. Should I credit them as well?

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Rin froze, of all the questions she did not expect this and she looked away fearfully as if she herself did not want to know the answer and that only made Lancer press her even more, putting a hand on her shoulder and lifting her cheek with the other to look at her.

They were inches apart, their breaths on each other and Rin flushed a little at the close proximity, her mouth opening to call him to back off when he did it before she could force him too.

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"Nah, I guess it's too soon."

He shrugged and made to leave when Rin called him back.

"What is that for, Baka!"

She screamed at him and ran towards him, pointing a finger angrily at his face, jabbing it at his chest.

'What is that for, Lancer! W-why did you have to do that? Why ask that in the first place? Answer me, Lancer!"

She was shaken, visibly and mentally so and Lancer regretted asking it. But he did have to ask, this is a question that she will face eventually and although he could have chosen a better time, he figured sooner was better.

Perhaps he was wrong as Rin started crying, beating her hands on his chest as she tried to find the right words to say to him.

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"Tell me now, Lancer! Why do you ask that? Why must you ask me that? It is none of your concern! I… I… Archer to me, to me is just as a betrayer! He betrayed me! Must you keep reminding me that? LANCER! IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"

She screamed as she rested her head on him and after a moment, he brushed her hair and pushed him away.

"I've already got my Answer, Rin."

It was the first time Rin remembered Lancer saying that and for once she didn't mind as she looked at him, his eyes not showing what he was feeling for the first time as he slowly guided her back to her room, wiping her tears and bidding her good night.

(OOC: I think so, I forgot.)

"And I'm sorry, for raising that. Won't happen again, I promise."

And with that last bit of conversation, he left her staring at his back and closed the door behind him.

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And the girl, standing by herself in that lonely room just sobbed by herself on her bed, repeatedly calling someone an idiot while she just tried to coax herself to sleep. A moment's pain and regret can grow to one that will haunt one forever and in her heart is the fear that the seed of that pain has already been planted inside her.

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"Good morning…"

Waking up early, Rin went to the kitchen again to grab some milk and waved to Shirou, who was preparing breakfast while rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning, Tohsaka."

He replied with a smile, finishing his preparations of the breakfast they had agreed on, simple toast with eggs and bacon and she sniffed the air in delight. It is delicious and she smiled even more at him, who was serving it up for everyone.

"Ah!"

She paused as she saw Lancer heading into the living room, dressed in his casual clothes as he headed towards Saber, who was sitting and waiting with an impatient look on her face. Avoiding him, Rin turned and literally ran to the bathroom to get dressed and washed up.

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"Good morning Rin."

"Yo, good morning Ojou-chan~"

Controlling herself to behave as normal, Rin went to the kitchen to help Shirou bring out the plates of food seeing he was probably tired from last night and from the cooking and she suggested that she cook dinner again when Shirou said he would cook dinner.

"It is my fault that I ended up at this state; if I had trained better I would not be in this state in the first place."

He gritted his teeth before placing a sizeable portion that she took it for Sabers and prepared to serve it up when Shirou mentioned that it is for her.

"You seemed to like it, you were sniffing around earlier. I took it easy on the salt for you, Rin."

He smiled and Rin blinked before smiling back in thanks, she needed the energy after all, after that sleepless night she had.

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"Saber, here you go. Lancer, here is yours too."

She tried to smile at him but it appears Lancer was busy with Saber, Saber was teaching him on how to eat with chopsticks. The Irish hero is having difficulty grabbing the concept and looked on the verge of giving up when he saw breakfast till Saber tapped him on the head.

"Lancer, not finishing what you started is not fitting of a Hero."

"Eh? Saber, you are just using that as an excuse!"

"In that case, you do not deserve this breakfast. Till you master eating with the chopsticks, I shall enjoy your breakfast. Ittadakimasu."

Clapping her hands, she started to dig in and Lancer looked at Rin for help. True, Lancer did not need to eat but he admitted that the food Shirou prepared was much better than he had ever eaten before. She could not imagine how life would be like if one does not get to eat good food.

"Ojou-chan! Say something! Your Servant is getting starved!"

It was the same old Lancer, the Lancer that vowed to protect her and the same Lancer that made life a mess. But she couldn't help but appreciate his presence nonetheless.

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"Saber is right, if you are going to live in this country, you must learn their customs. But…"

She smiled as she slid some of her food to an empty plate and handed it to Lancer just as Shirou entered with a plate of his own.

"I wouldn't want you to go out hungry, Shirou is a great cook, but I am on a diet as well."

She winked at Shirou who just blushed and looked away while Lancer took the plate and after a moment grinned.

"Aw, hell yeah, I feel much better with a pretty girl motivating me. See, Saber! That is how you should motivate your students!"

Leaning over to her, Rin can see that the relations between Saber and Lancer have definitely improved by leaps and bounds. The two of them were barely on speaking terms a day before but now they are indeed getting along, Saber reprimanding him on how he held the chopsticks when he dug in again.

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"Tohsaka, what do you like to eat?"

The question pop out of nowhere and left Rin thinking while Shirou started clearing up, helped by Saber who silently piled the plates together.

"Ehm… I have no preference for Dinner, But I would like to eat Japanese food, I've heard from Sakura that you are very good with it."

"Eh you knew Sakura?"

"Mm, I met her a few times in the Archery Range, I heard she was visiting you in a regular basis."

A devilish smile as Rin covered her face a little to judge his response but to her surprise Shirou just nodded.

"Mmm, she came to help out when my arm was injured. She was a great help and I appreciated it very much."

But at the end he scratched his head and seemed embarrassed, hereby proving to her that Shirou was indeed conscious of Sakura and she smiled happily.

"I'll prepare Japanese food for dinner then. I'll be relying on you, Saber." Shirou nodded to Saber who just went to wash the dishes. Due to the conversation and the strategy meeting they had earlier, they were running late and as Shirou still has to go to school, he has to change as well.

It is a different case for Rin, who is taking leave from school due to many reasons but she is keeping up with her school work, emailing her teachers and sending in her work. Kotomine knew she is alive and thus there is no need to hide but she still believe that protecting one's base is important.

Her plans were drawn, firstly she would visit her home and procure some items while Shirou and Lancer check for anomalies.

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"Shounen."

It was mid-day, the time has just flew by and out of the blue Lancer called out to Shirou and he tensed up. He felt the air seemingly turn thicker and redder.

The scent of honey was getting stronger as well. It is like being in the interior of a carnivorous trap where they draw insects to their bodies to be digested for a slow and painful death.

Rin and Saber had explained it to akin being in the stomach of one of those plants, the people in the bounded field would melt into flesh and bones by Rider if she activated it in full power.

Thanks to one of Rin's jewels, Shirou was able to delay it even more by destroying one of the core foundations, at the Archery range. With it gone, the power of the Boundary field would definitely weaken and that would buy some time.

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"But, the boundary field will still be able to be activated. There is nothing stopping it, but what we can do is to weaken it and to stop it from working perfectly."

He should have suspected Shinji at the start when he saw him in the woods despite not being present in class. Despite his attitude, he seems to still wish to take classes as a normal student.

That was on the same day as he spotted the Bounded Field as well. How could he be so dense?

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But as Lancer put it to him over a troubled lunch, there was no use worrying about the past.

"The future is yours to make kid, don't waste it by worrying about what can be."

A sound advice and Shirou had cheered up and started thinking about another issue. As he had pointed out to Rin, he is unable to sense the presence of other Magus and from Lancer's report, he too was unable to sense any other magus.

But Rin distinctively said she was able to sense another magus beside her.

If that Magus was not Shirou as he is not a magus, it must be Shinji. But there is one final flaw in that premise. Saber and Lancer both were certain that Shinji is not a magus as well. There must be another final Master in this school.

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"The masters I know are you, shounen, Ojou-chan, that white child, Ilyasviel?"

"Yes, she said to call her Ilya. She is the Master of Berserker."

"Hah, I wonder if Berserker likes little children…"

Lancer joked as he looked at Shirou eating when he continued.

"Kotomine that bastard and Matou Shinji. That leaves Assassin's Master and Caster's Master. One of them is here."

"It'll be odd to have Caster send her Master here if she knew of our identity. But she can teleport to safety… If Shinji did not tell us this Boundary field is hers, I would say this is made by Caster."

"Nah, Caster is one to not take such a direct approach. Caster is more subtle, this Boundary Field, though strong is just screaming for attention. It is not like her to do so, Shounen."

"So it could be Assassin's master here?"

"Might be."

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They had tried to track down the Master but had given up when Lancer commented that yet again, Rin's presence was too strong. He could imagine that Rin would just fly into a temper and go into a long spiel about how she had forgotten that useless magus like Shirou existed and would be chosen by the Grail as a Master.

Oddly, she seemed to be in his thoughts frequently now…

"Let us go, Lancer…"

He nodded to him and ran towards the second floor and just as when they stepped on it, a resounding crash signaled the arrival of Rin and Saber. They had apparently taken the building at a run but they were fine and as Rin looked around her, she looked to Shirou and asked for an update of the situation.

Before they had made their move, Shirou and Lancer had affirmed that everyone else who was not a magus was down for the count, some were in more critical situations then others, their skin starting to melt just like Rin said and that made Shirou more determined than ever to stop Shinji in his tracks before he hurt someone.

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"It started, let's go, Tohsaka!"

He was eager to go, holding a chair leg that he has reinforced on their way here and after a moment of consideration, Rin agreed.

"The boundary field is still weak, we still have time. Let's go, Shirou."

Taking off, Rin and Shirou were stopped by Lancer and Saber as they pointed behind them. There was an army of skeletons that were advancing towards them, their intent clear, to eliminate them.

"Looks like we got company, Ojou-chan! What's a dance without some dancers, eh?"

Grinning, Lancer twirled his spear and decapitated one who got too close while Saber slashed at another with her invisible sword with a nod.

"This is nothing to us, Rin, Shirou. However…"

"Ah, you sensed it too eh? As expected of Saber. There is a Servant on top of us."

Enemies spread across three floors and only four of them. No doubt Saber and Lancer can hold their own but they can't possibly cover all three floors no matter how good they are. The skeletons were reforming at their feet and if they left them unchecked, the students were at risk.

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But it was Rin who saved the day again by making the call and calling the shots.

"Lancer, take the top floor. You will be able to match Caster and Assassin. Saber might do well with Caster but she needs to conserve her strength. Don't take on what you can't, Lancer. If you need help, Saber, go and assist him."

She looked at him seriously and Lancer grinned, telling her it is his trade.

Saber nodded as she slashed another skeleton to bits, it clattering to the floor while Rin and Shirou took the 1st floor.

"Saber!"

Shirou called out in concern but Rin remarked that Saber could take a thousand of them and won't fall.

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"If Archer is right and Dragon teeth is what made those skeletons, we are probably dealing with Caster. Saber can smash those familiars away easily, let's go Shirou. We have to stop Shinji!"

A moment's hesitation is a moment's loss for those students and Shirou nodded, covering Rin as they descended to the 1st floor.

Author's Notes: Might not be updating for a while :

So R&R~