Shrimp tempura. Fried chicken. Spaghetti salad. Agedashi tofu. Sweet cheese gyoza.

As he headed home with Saber and Sakura, Shirou concentrated on the menu he'd be preparing when he got home. It was more elaborate than he'd originally planned with Mamako, but he wanted to do it. Taiga and Saber would definitely eat everything he made, anyhow. They were bottomless pits. And Sakura would help him, and it would be just like ordinary life for a little bit longer.

All he had to do was ignore the silent streets as they walked home.

Oh, and Rin and Archer would be joining them soon. Miso glazed eggplant and omelette rice. He'd have to go to the market tomorrow, though—

Could he bake something? A sponge cake. He'd ask Sakura if she had any ideas.

"Senpai?" Sakura held his hand tightly, but she lagged behind him.

Saber said, "Shirou—" and Shirou realized it was he who was holding Sakura's hand painfully tightly, dragging her behind him as he ran. He stopped abruptly, breathing hard.

"Sorry. I… I was thinking about what to cook for everyone."

Sakura's violet eyes searched his face. But all she said was, "Yeah. Me too."

The Emiya residence was only a block or so away. His feet felt like lead. "They were making dinner in the second house. I turned the oven off, but I had to leave the food there. I think there must be a lot of ovens still on."

"Let's go see Fujimura-sensei, Senpai. Your oven is the only one we need to worry about now, okay?" Sakura started forward, tugging him gently after her. With Saber behind him, he let Sakura lead him to the house.

"We're home!" he called as he opened the door. Taiga didn't reply. "Sleeping under the kotatsu again, Fuji-nee?"

But the living room was empty, although the light and the tv, displaying only static, were both on. It was so like the other homes they'd investigated that Shirou's planned menu evaporated in a haze of panic.

"Fuji-nee?" he shouted, and pulled away from Sakura to hurry through the house, looking in all of his adopted sister's favorite spots: the bedroom she stored her 'treasures' in, the bathroom, even the roof. As he searched, and then searched again, he kept seeing Kiritsugu's face when the man had found him alive after the Fuyuki Fire. Surely Taiga was somewhere, napping in a strange place, and when he found her, he'd smile the same way—

"Shirou!" called Saber. She grabbed his arm as he rushed past the living room again. Sakura was in the kitchen, quietly prepping ingredients. But without Taiga—

"Shirou!" Saber repeated. "I went to the dojo. Taiga's shinai is gone. Is it possible she went out after the storm?"

He stared at Saber and then exhaled slowly. "That must be it. Fuji-nee's never been the sort to wait at home when something odd is happening." He thought about that more. Doubts? He had plenty. But the Bounded Field of the residence remained intact. He could cling to that.

Glancing at the kitchen again, he almost smiled. Sakura had the right idea. All they could do now was make sure there was plenty of food to lure Taiga home again. Besides, Rin and Archer would be here soon. Definitely.

Everything was going to be just fine.

[earlier]

Taiga dozed under the kotatsu as the evening news went on about the recent gas leaks around the city, along with the rash of attacks on young women. She woke up enough to sleepily worry about Sakura. But Mamako would deal with it. She woke up a second time to think cranky thoughts about Shirou, who had promised her a feast and was now neglecting her… why? Something to do with magic, she gathered.

Stupid magic. It had taken Kiritsugu away from her too soon, somehow, and it would take Shirou away from her too, if she let it. If only she had some of these Magic Circuits…. She drifted back to sleep again, and dreamt of magenta lightning.

It was the television playing white noise that woke her for real. She jolted upright, staring at the snow-filled screen. "That's not right," she muttered. She escaped the gravity of the kotatsu and poked at the television. "Shirou, the tv's broken!"

But Shirou didn't respond, and Taiga woke up further, enough to remember that Shirou had gone out and broken his promise to fill her empty tummy. Making an angry face, Taiga grabbed for the phone and tried to call Mamako's cellphone.

The phone was dead, too.

Taiga stared at the phone and then slowly hung it up. Then she hurried to the kitchen and started checking all the snack stashes.

Every single one of them was empty, even her super-secret one that only Shirou knew about.

"It was probably just that Saber," Taiga told herself. But she couldn't help wondering if instead she was in a nightmare. She slapped her face a couple times, remembering other strange dreams she'd had before.

She didn't wake up, but that only convinced her she was in a dream. It didn't make sense. She didn't care. It was just a dream.

Maybe if she could get the tv working again, she'd be able to find out more about the dream. She spent some time messing with the tv itself before deciding to check out the situation on the roof. After scrambling up there like a cat, she poked at the various bits and bobs up there like she knew what she was doing. The truth was, while she napped on the roof sometimes, she'd learned long ago to overlook all the extrusions up there. Why bother when Shirou was around?

Everything looked normal to her untrained gaze. Maybe that was the problem? Maybe that rod there should be bent a little?

"Hey there, lass," said a male voice behind her. Taiga shrieked and spun around, thinking of Ayako and the other young women attacked recently. A man in blue leggings, red tattoos and not much else crouched behind her, looking up at her with amused curiosity. "Color me just as surprised. Ah, excuse me, I need to check something."

He then drifted through the roof, vanishing into the house below.

Because he was a ghost. She knew it. As soon as the tv and phone went dead, she'd known it, though she'd tried to pretend otherwise. This might be a dream, but it was the bad kind of dream, with ghosts and monsters and where she was all alone, with ghosts.

She even heard the bell Kiritsugu had hung to warn of unwelcome spirits ringing. Not that she needed it. Taiga knew a ghost when she saw one, even if he was super hot and half naked.

Why was she on a roof when a ghost was around? That was stupid. She was going to end up the lead in a murderous ghost story. She was doomed. But she'd sure as hell go out fighting.

She edged to her safe route down, but when the ghost rose up through the roof again and said thoughtfully, "Hey, lass, mind if I ask you some questions—" she squealed and scrambled back to solid ground as fast as she could, bruises be damned.

Rolling to her feet, she dashed to the dojo and grabbed her shinai.

"Aw, come on, I'm trying to be nice," called the ghost. It sounded like he was coming closer. Taiga looked down at the shinai in her hand. She felt better holding it, but she wasn't entirely sure it was a good weapon for fighting ghosts who could walk through walls. Looking around, she noticed for the first time how the dojo didn't really have another exit, either. Could she hide?

The ghost appeared in the dojo entrance. "Hey now. I'm not going to kill you. Given it's this house you probably wouldn't stay dead if I tried, anyhow." He smiled wryly, like he was making a joke.

"Go away," said Taiga, her voice shaking. She really hated ghosts. They had the worst senses of humor.

Instead he stepped inside the dojo and crouched down once again. "See? I don't even have my spear." He gave her a look of sympathy. "What happened to everybody else bunking at this house?"

"They're out!" said Taiga defiantly. "You can't eat them!"

"Ah," said the ghost, and his look of sympathy intensified. "So they left you here all alone, went out tonight, and now they haven't come back? You poor lass. They really left you up a creek."

She lowered her shinai, peering at him in puzzlement as he thought. Then he said, "Was that woman Mamako with the orange-haired kid when he went out?"

"I don't have to tell you!" quavered Taiga, raising the shinai again. "And when she gets back, she'll make you regret ever becoming a ghost!"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered the ghost. "She wouldn't be the first." He frowned, looking at her for a long moment and mused, "I wonder what I ought to do with you? I'm not taking you to him, that's for sure. That'd be worse than…"

He trailed off and then stood up. "Well, lass, if you hide inside this house, there's a chance you'll survive whatever's coming. I'll try to swing by to check on you now and then." He gave her a little wave.

As he turned to leave the dojo, Taiga squeaked and ran after him. "Hey, wait! What are you doing?"

He glanced over his shoulder, quirking a smile. "Going away. It's what you want, hey?"

"Nonono!" Taiga stomped a foot. "You can't leave me alone here!"

"Can't I?"

That was it. Taiga's eyes flooded with tears. "Wh-wh-what if the next ghost to show up is a creepy old man? A hot ghost like you is much better company!"

The ghost in blue turned back toward her again, reconsidering. "What's your name?" When she didn't answer—the thought of giving a ghost her real name made her freeze up—he shrugged. "All right, fair enough. 'Kitten' it is. You can call me Lancer, 'k? You might as well come with me for now."

Taiga's eyes widened. "Where are you going? Back to the land of the dead? Because—"

"Kitten, we're pretty much in the land of the dead right now. Y'can come and see, or you can hide here alone, but I've got work to do."

"I'll come!" said Taiga quickly. "I'll definitely come."

Lancer nodded. "Thought so." Then he eyed her shinai. "Do you have a real sword?"

"I don't need a real sword, " said Taiga proudly, swishing the shinai through some basic attacks.

"Yeah? Hit me a few times." He crossed his arms.

She didn't wait to be convinced. One thing she'd learned at her grandfather's knee growing up was that if somebody worrying offered you a free shot, you took it, and you did your best to hit them a lot harder than expected. In a flash, she attacked Lancer. It wasn't a sporting attack, either.

He neither dodged nor fought back, although he was very solid when she struck him on his shoulder, his torso, his hip. She didn't pull her blows, either. A well swung shinai wouldn't slice flesh, but it could leave deep bruises and even break bones.

But on Lancer's bare shoulders, she didn't even raise a welt. He weathered her blows until she finally fell back panting, no more marked than a steel post. She complained, "It's because you're a ghost, that's all. If you were a real man, you'd be cowering right now."

That made him smirk. "You're half-right, at least. Here, gimme that and I'll make it a little more effective against ghosts."

Sullenly, she handed him the shinai and watched as he concentrated and slowly drew burning sigils along the blade with his finger. After a few minutes, he exhaled and handed it back to her. "Now, try again."

Once again, he crossed his arms. Once again, she attacked him. This time when she struck his shoulder, she saw a red bruise flower. Encouraged, she swung at his ribs and then went for his thigh before he unfolded his arms, flowing forward to grab her by the wrist and wrench her around so her back was to his chest. With one hand still gripping her wrist, his other hand snaked around her waist.

She could escape this. She knew how to escape this! She was Raiga Fujimura's granddaughter, dammit. But he was a ghost, and a hot one, and so Taiga's breath caught in her throat instead.

"Half-right, kitten," he murmured in her ear. "A ghost, but definitely also a real man." Then, before the butterflies in her stomach had a chance to do more than flap, he released her and spun her to face him again. "There we go. The kitten now has claws. But if we meet any other ghosts, you're probably better off running away."

"Is that what you'd do?" she demanded.

He laughed. "No way." Then he sobered suddenly, as if remembering something. "At least… well, I'd rather fight. But that Mamako…"

"I'll run away if you do," Taiga decided, at which point her stomach growled. "Uh… is there food in the land of the dead?"

"Yeah," said Lancer, amused. "Come on, let's take a walk."

Taiga found a bounce in her steps as she walked down the dark street at Lancer's side. The land of the dead looked pretty much like Fuyuki, which made her think once again that this was a dream. Not one of the normal 'only inside her own head' dreams, though, but the kind of dream where real things could happen. She'd had a few of those before, too.

However the main thing was that accepting that this was a dream of a Fuyuki-like land of the dead made her feel very cheerful. Maybe it was because she'd attached herself to somebody as powerful as Lancer, although she normally liked to think she was more independent-minded than that. But it seemed like it would be an insult to be terrified while at his side. And it was always wise to avoid insulting ghosts, right?

Right.

"So what are we doing? Besides finding me food. We're finding me food, right? What kind of job do you do in the land of the dead? Are you a mage?"

"Hah! No!" He held out his hand and a red spear that radiated pure malevolence appeared. "I kill things, kitten."

Taiga considered. "Living things or dead things? Things that need to die, or things that want to exist? Oh, and why?"

He ignored these questions, but that was okay, because Taiga suddenly thought of another one. "Am I dead?" Her heart squeezed, imagining poor Shirou all alone with nobody but all those teenage girls for companionship.

"Nope," said Lancer easily. "You talk way too much to be dead."

Taiga beamed up at him. "Aren't you a sweet-talker? I've figured out that this was all a dream, though." She considered. "Maybe I ate all the snacks and passed out and this is a near-death-experience." Laughing, she added, "That's a weird kind of ghost story! It was you all along!" She stopped suddenly and then shivered. "Right, never mind that."

She walked along beside Lancer for a while, looking at the familiar buildings. Some had lights on, and some didn't, but no silhouettes moved against the shades. The tall man walked with a swinging, easy pace that she had to hustle to keep up with, but unlike with Shirou, she didn't feel like complaining would achieve desirable results.

"Here we go," announced Lancer, and she realized they'd come to the corner store. It was exactly like the corner store back in waking Fuyuki, except completely empty of customers and employees. But that didn't stop Lancer from opening the door and gesturing her in.

"Snacks!" said Taiga happily as she went inside. The hot food display was even on, with some fried chicken and fries in the case. She was debating between that and ice cream to start when a tiny bit of the conscience she tried to instill in her students twinged at her. "Should we just take this stuff? Don't convenience stores have staff in the land of the dead?"

"It's your dream, isn't it?" asked Lancer, grinning at her.

"True!" She decided on ice cream, because she knew Shirou would be making fried chicken for her when she eventually woke up.

After eating half a pint while standing in front of the freezer, she wandered along the aisles until she found Lancer at the adult magazine section. Judging from the opened wrappers, he'd looked through several of them while she'd been stuffing her face. As she approached, he showed her the one he was looking at.

"Does that look like Mamako to you?"

Taiga squinted at the picture. If it had been any other situation, she might have at least pretended at maidenly delicacy. But she was both a high school teacher and the granddaughter of a yakuza boss; maiden she might be, but delicate she was not. "I… maybe? Who is that? Is that why you're looking for her?"

"Naw," said Lancer and stuffed the magazine back on the shelf. "My boss wants to see her. He probably wouldn't appreciate the joke if I brought him that though. The other guy, though…" he trailed off before his distant gaze snapped back to Taiga. "What do you have there?"

"Chocolate chip ice cream, but I can't eat anymore. You want it?"

"Sure. Are you done then?" He accepted the container from her and licked the spoon she'd been using.

She gave him an offended look. "This is a convenience store in my dreams and everything is free. I've barely begun."

"If you stuff yourself so that you can't walk, I'm leaving you here," he warned.

After thinking about that, she wandered off, grabbing two bags of chips, a few meat sticks, and then stuffing some onigiri in her pocket. "All right, let's go."

He raised his eyebrow at her and then put yet another magazine back. "At least grab a shopping bag. How are you going to use that bundle of twigs otherwise?"

"Ooh, good idea." Taiga went and found a canvas shopping bag, put in her supplies, added a few candy bars and then waved her shinai at Lancer. "Ready!"

As they went out the door, he said, "So where were Mamako and the kid going, do you know?"

But Taiga looked over her shoulder, distracted. The fried chicken in the case looked so lonely and abandoned. Yes, Shirou would be making her delicious food when she woke up, but who knew when that would be?

"Just a minute!" She ran back inside, packaged up all the fried chicken and the fries, and ran back out again, pushing the fries at Lancer. "You can have those. I won't have room." As he smirked at her, she added, "It's like a video game, I bet. You might as well take the food when you find it, right?"

"I guess I'm glad they didn't have a wheelbarrow." He accepted the fries and ate one before making a face.

She ignored it. If he was a real man, he'd eat what he was given. "So what were you saying about Mamako and Shirou?" Eyeing him, she wondered if he disliked the fries because he preferred human flesh. But if that were the case, why hadn't he eaten her?

This ghost stuff was way too complicated.

"They were just wandering around Fuyuki, I think. They don't really tell me much about this magic thing they've got going on. Oooh, are we going to go find them?" Taiga bounced on her toes, the canvas bag on her shoulder bumping against her hip.

"Meh," said Lancer after eating a few more fries. "I guess we should. But I'm not actually in a hurry or anything. Let's look around some and see what's going on now that everything's gone to hell."

As they walked along, Taiga speculated to Lancer on whether the sun would be rising in the land of the dead, what kind of boss Lancer had, if that red spear was also a ghost, if the manufacturers of the chips would give her a lifetime supply if she brought back proof of eating them in the land of the dead, and if it was possible to get tv that worked here. Lancer listened to her without giving her many answers, striding down the middle of empty streets, moving steadily toward the river.

After a while, Taiga fell silent, thinking quieter thoughts. Lancer glanced at here and said, "Still here, kitten? You're not getting sick off that chicken, are you?"

"Hey, Lancer," she asked seriously. "Is this the land of the dead? Or just a land of the dead?"

He stopped, cocking his head as he looked down at her. "Why do you ask?"

Taiga looked down, twisting her toes against the pavement. "Oh… just wondering if I might be able to find somebody I know who died, that's all."

Lancer hesitated before asking, "A lover?"

Pressing her free hand to a hot cheeks, Taiga shook her head furiously. "No, no. I've never… no. Shirou's father. Kiritsugu. I go and visit his grave and tell him how Shirou's doing sometimes, but I thought he might like a more direct report if I was in the neighborhood."

"Huh," said Lancer, and tipped her chin up with one finger until she met his crimson eyes. "Is that how you ended up tied down to a brat like that kid? Can't say I think much of this Kiritsugu guy."

Taiga pulled her head away from Lancer's hand. "He was a good man. He saved Shirou and he taught me English and he never stopped trying to accomplish… something." Her brow furrowed. "I think it killed him in the end."

Lancer's mouth twisted wryly before he started walking again. "Can't exactly criticize that. Anyhow, I doubt he's here, but hell if I know. I didn't really expect to be in this situation myself—"

"Hello! Hello my beautiful listeners!" came a loud, feminine voice from somewhere nearby. "If you can hear me, come out! I have a wonderful surprise for you!"

Taiga's eyes widened. "Who's that?"

Shaking his head, Lancer said, "Not somebody I know. Yet. You come with me while I go see?"

With a grin, Taiga skipped ahead of him, calling, "I hear you!"

Lancer groaned behind her and caught up quickly. "I was thinking we'd be a little more subtle—"

"She's not," said Taiga.

"Hello! Hello! Hello!" The voice rose in pitch with each repetition, until the final time made Taiga want to clap her hands to her ears. The owner rounded the corner: a young woman in a pink sweet lolita dress with a striped pink top hat over dark pink hair. A herd of tiny stuffed animal toys flowed around her, but she seemed heedless of them as she rushed toward Taiga.

"Oh my goodness, aren't you precious?" demanded the sweet lolita girl.

Taiga looked down at herself. She was in her ordinary clothes, with her striped shirt and her jumper dress. If the word precious applied to anyone, it was the girl in the cosplay outfit. "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm your fabulous entertainment for this apocalypse, the beautiful, talented… uh, Lancer." She pouted. "That's just my temporary stage name, you know."

"Another Lancer, eh?" said Taiga's blue Lancer from behind her. She heard the thrum of his red spear as he whirled it.

"The only real Lancer, thank you very much!" said the pink Lancer, tossing her head. "What are you, some wannabe?"

"Pretty sure I was here first, missy. Kitten, you're gonna want to step out of the way."

But before Taiga could obey, the pink Lancer grabbed her by the arm. "No! She's mine! I'm going to take her to my castle! Look at how beautiful her skin is!" The pink Lancer dragged an ice-cold hand down Taiga's cheek, and only then did she realize that the blue Lancer's arms had been warm when he'd briefly held her.

A matching chill ran down her spine.

"Um, thank you for the compliment, but I'm not interested in castles at this moment—" she gabbled.

The pink Lancer paid no attention. "You are a virgin, right? It's important you're a virgin. I don't know why that matters, but it does. Believe me, I've done experiments. If you're not a virgin, all I can do with you is make a mess."

Taiga flushed and tried to wrench herself away. The stuffed toys tumbled over each other and her feet. "None of your business!"

The blue Lancer snorted. "Her? Hardly." The casual remark made Taiga turn so red she thought her head might explode. What was he talking about? Was it because she hadn't called him a pervert for looking at the adult magazines? But that wasn't fair—

The pink Lancer released Taiga, her nose wrinkling. "You're sure? She smells like… but I guess if it happened recently… well, I suppose you'd know." She sighed before dismissing Taiga from her attention and immediately brightening up again. "But you, fake Lancer. I'm going to prepare a special concert just for you. Bring your Master too, okay? I'll impress him so much he'll give up fighting in this war!"

Taiga quietly stepped out of the pink Lancer's reach as her blue Lancer moved forward and said, "And what war is this?"

The pink Lancer pointed a long polka-dot fingernail at something in the distance. Taiga turned, peering, and realized that a tower she'd never seen before loomed over Fuyuki near the river. It was very dark, a silhouette against a magenta-tinged sky.

"The war to defeat all of you fakers," said the pink Lancer. "So that my Master's great ritual can complete."

"What's in the tower?" Taiga asked.

The pink Lancer rolled her eyes. "All of my Master's new toys. Except for these, of course." She kicked at some of the stuffed animals rolling around at her feet.

"Is that what happened to all the people in this city?" asked blue Lancer.

"Hmm?" said the pink Lancer, watching the toys fight at her feet. "What? Yes, I suppose so. It's really too bad. They would have enjoyed hearing my concert more if they were still human. Hey, do you want a sample now?"

Taiga blinked. Then she thought about her dream thus far.

"Nah, I think we'll pass," said blue Lancer.

"Oh well. I'm going to go look for more audience members," said pink Lancer, unfazed. "Don't forget to be there for the show, fake Lancer and fake virgin!" She waved a hand and a spray of fliers appeared to flutter around them. Then she ran off down the street, once again caroling out an invitation to anybody who could hear her.

Taiga's Lancer seemed like he was thinking of going after her, but Taiga grabbed his arm with her own iron grip. "Lancer, why are you looking for Mamako in my dream?"

He glanced back at her and then ran a hand through his hair. "You got me, kitten. It's not a dream."

Taiga hauled him closer until she could shake him. "Do you mean all this is real? And Shirou is in that tower?"