Chapter 9

Shirou felt that now would be a perfect time to run and hide. From what he's heard Zimbabwe is rather lovely around this time of the year.

The only sound that permeated the room was the scrapping of the wooden spoon he was using inside the pot. It wasn't an awkward silence, Shirou just didn't know how to grouse the topic. For some reason, Fuji-nee had maintained an adamance about him going to school from the first moment that he had gotten back into Fuyuki.

"I was just wondering if it would be okay with you if I start at a later date." Shirou stated, "After all, it would be a moot point for me to join with only a few weeks left in this term. That and I don't really feel all that comfortable being thrust into such a new environment after being away for so many years." It was true, ever since he was saved by Kiritsugu he could count on a single hand how many consecutive weeks the duo had been in Japan. Granted, they had made multiple visits, however, that did not mean that they were here long enough to make any lasting impact. Perhaps this was the reason for his lack of social tact. Kiritsugu was a rather blasé man that was pretty upfront in his attitude. Well, when he was with Shirou that was the case, there wasn't much that the man didn't discuss with Shirou.

"My little Shirou is shy, isn't he?" Fuji-nee stated with a teasing lilt to her tone, as she tapped her nails on the table. Even with his back turned, Shirou could tell that a large, shit-eating grin was spread across her face. This was a battle that Shirou was going to have to concede. All for the sake of protecting the lives of innocent people, Shirou was such a martyr.

"Hilarious Fuji-nee, but you caught me." Shirou threw his hands up in defeat as he cracked open his fridge once more. Sadly, his food stock was bone thin at this point; the two gluttons behind him were a hundred percent going to be his pack mules here later.

'Rude Shirou.'

'Yeah, yeah stay out of my head.' Shirou grumbled back ignoring the sharp glance Saber threw at him. It wasn't his fault, just because they were in a war, and Saber was supposed to be his partner, that didn't mean that she was above helping out when the situation demanded it. He wasn't misogynistic by any means; more hands meant more help, and the two of them were partners after all; partners meant that they both had to give 50-50 in their relationship.

"Aw, my Shirou is so cute. I'll see what I can do for you alright." Fuji-nee shrugged, "As much as I want you to get a proper education, and into a role of normalcy, I can see why you would be so hesitant. I think if I discuss it with the board, I can get you in for the next term; however, you will have to take a placement exam at the beginning of the summer so that they have an idea about what year to put you in."

So that was the root of Fuji-nee's adamance then, Shirou felt a small genuine smile adorn his face. Despite all of her eccentricities, Fuji-nee was working her butt off to make sure he came back into a more permanent and stable home. Perhaps this was her way of making up for the gap in years between Kiritsugu's death, and his first landing at the airport in Fukuoka. He would have to do something big for her to make up for all time that he had spent away. Regardless, that was something for when this Grail War was over, and things were more peaceful, for now, he would make do with meal prep and teasing her relentlessly. After all, Shirou was just an exceptional younger sibling.

"Foods ready," Shirou announced as he plated everything up and placed them before their respective owners. Shirou had splurged a little today and had gone for more tempura than usual. Sadly, he had just missed a few end of season sales for a lot of different fish by a few weeks. Thankfully, shrimp is almost always in season. While the trio ate, Shirou kept revolving back to the affairs of last night, and the deal that he had formed with Tohsaka and her Archer. Tonight, there were too many places to watch all at once: first was the quarantined zone at the pier, and the surrounding area; most obviously he wanted to focus on the temple, however, he had no way of approaching that beast at this time; then there was Lancer and his unknown Master, Ilya and Berserker, his agreement with Tohsaka, and three other completely unknown elements. Add on the fact that Shirou had to be exceedingly careful about drawing attention from innocent bystanders. Last night was extremely dangerous, he didn't want to think of the repercussions of a random passerby stumbling upon them; loathe as he was to admit it, Shirou knew for a fact that Ilya would have had Berserker gut them.

Such was the dangers of the Moonlit World: exposure meant complete silencing, no exception. Still, the crux of the matter remained about where it is that he really wanted to start first. He had made a fairly thorough sweep of the city in the past couple of days, and he has a general layout of the temple; however, he was still hesitant to go up those steps, even if he had Saber at his side. He wasn't stupid, that Bounded Field was a hundred percent a trap meant for both offense and defense. One way in and one way out, not to mention the fact that if they did manage to infiltrate it successfully there was no telling if they would be able to actually get out. Shirou always found Magus's Workshops to be nuisances; especially with his subpar ability to disrupt other practitioner's Magecraft.

Shirou didn't just say he was third-rate for the sake of being different; he was just genuinely bad at a lot of things, disabling Bounded Fields included. That and the sheer scale of the Bounded Field meant that it was not actually the Magus that had set it up. There was no way that the Magus in question had that much Magical Energy in reserve to keep it sustained while constantly feeding their Servant. Which meant Shirou was going up against the machinations of the Servant themselves. Shirou was going off the assumption that the Servant either held their Master in high regard, and wished to protect them fully, or that the Servant was using the Master as a proxy to draw attention to the temple.

He didn't know if he were slow or dense, but the more he thought about, there was only a single Servant who could fit into this criterion of having absurd amounts of Magical Energy at their disposal: his opponent had to be the Caster-class Servant of this respective Grail War. Despite his lack of knowledge of the nuances of the war, Shirou was an exceptionally good listener. Also, because he didn't want to deal with a more irate Tohsaka. Of the seven classes, the Caster-class was the most in line with modern-day Magus's; the difference being, that most Caster-classes come from an era when the Age of Gods hasn't fully ended yet, and the rise of modernity and scientific thought had advanced humanity beyond their static beliefs in the supernatural. In short, the Caster-class was made up of potent pureblooded Magicians, and not replicas like the modern-day Magus.

That meant that Saber would be more than a match for Caster if they were to have a one-on-one bout; however, they were still stuck at the starting line of actually drawing out Caster. Whoever they were, were being extremely cautious, if what he and Tohsaka discovered was any indication. Well, cautious but simultaneously offensive, the sheer volume of energy that they were siphoning from the residents of this city was drawing the attention of all the Masters in this war to the temple. It was almost like they wanted the others to break through their Bounded Field, which meant it was a hundred percent a trap. That was a no go on Shirou's part then, he wasn't going to be the first one in this war to fall; he still had questions that he needed to find answers too. This meant that his best course of action would be to either: look the other way and into the whereabouts of the other Masters, or to stick close to Tohsaka and her Archer, and strike a deal to assault the temple together. Two Servants facing off against one Servant was always going to be in the benefit of the former.

That still left him completely open for tonight, though. He could still go and find Tohsaka, or he could just go out and sniff out other unique magical signatures. He had familiarized himself with the cloying, overbearing scent at the temple, and the fragrant but flint-hard scent that was unique to Tohsaka. He had also somewhat familiarized himself with the harsh and slimy scent that reeked off of that Sakura from their first meeting. Well, it's more like he was not going to be able to forget that scent for the longest time; there was something immensely wrong with her, and he didn't want to have a single thing to do with it. He was also somewhat familiar with the scent of the bond that connected him to Saber, it rough and sharp yet soft at the same time: like a well-maintained and polished blade.

Seems like tonight Shirou was going to become a bloodhound. He really hoped that he didn't come across Tohsaka then, because he would have to come up with a grating nickname for her, as well. How many fingers would she break if he called her flat-chested?

"You're thinking bad things over there, aren't you Shirou?" Saber's neutral voice broke him from deep thought.

"…No, I wasn't actually." Shirou shrugged deferentially. He didn't know how Saber knew, because he hadn't been thinking a single thing to her the entire time.

"Yes, you were, I can see it in your face." She stated seriously as she set her chopsticks down. "I bet it was something to do with a woman, correct."

'What is she… psychic?' Shirou raised his hands in front of his face as he was caught under the scrutinization of both Saber and Fuji-nee. 'Geez woman, I'm already behind in the game for most insults against Fuji-nee, don't make this harder for me, I'm in it to win.'

Shirou sighed quietly before he turned his attention more fully towards the rice bowl in his hands. He knew that Saber was joking, but he also knew that she was one that would progress something, no matter what it was: Honestly, I was just thinking about an annoying little brat, you don't need to worry about anything. I'm being cordial in my thoughts."

Saber hummed briefly as she brought her thumb to her lip. 'It's Archer's Master isn't it.' Shirou didn't react, aside from the minuscule drop of his shoulders, clueing his Servant into the validity of her statement.

'Just thinking about how many fingers she would break if I called her something that I had in mind.'

'You were thinking about insulting her as a woman weren't you. It is bad form to insult a lady in such a way.'

'…ladies stretching it for her, and seriously, stay out of my head when I'm scheming against that gorilla.'

Shirou turned back into the real world as he observed the casual conversation that Fuji-nee managed to strike up with his Servant. Judging from the calm almost smile on Saber's lips, it's safe to say that she approves of Fuji-nee's presence. Shirou was glad that Fuji-nee was who she was; she was the eccentric but calming presence that all households need. The night ebbed on peacefully as the three of them ate and talked about anything of interest. Once the chill of the night had set in, and the distant gleam of the winter moon encompassed the world, did the trio finally decide that it was time to settle in. Which meant that it was up to Shirou to kick his sibling out without raising any alarms.

Shirou had amazing luck.

Literally, as luck would have it, Saber was an extremely influential person and held great sway with everything that she said. That, and she all but called into question Fuji-nee's opinion on Shirou's integrity when Fuji-nee decided that she would be better equipped to stay with them for the night. Once everything had quieted down, after the ruckus Fuji-nee kicked up trying to point out Shirou's strong points. The duo waited for the night to ebb on a little bit longer, and for the world to quiet down further so that they didn't draw any more attention. Once more they took to the streets, a quiet vigilance connecting the two. The only sound that echoed into the night was their heels clicking against the ground and the soft clink of Saber's silver armor.

If Shirou were being honest, he didn't know completely what he was looking for. The scents that permeated the area were the ones that he was most familiar with: the overwhelming stench of the Magus on the hill, the subtle licks of residual mana from the vein below their feet, and the polished smell that rested easily between the two. No tonight the only thing that Shirou wanted to find was more unfamiliar scents; a clue into the remaining Masters, and their Servants, or, even better, a direct path that would lead him back to their hideouts. Shirou's tentatively formulated plan was to expand his contacts and alliances, at least temporarily, to counteract Caster. That, and it would be to his benefit to gauge the strengths of the others.

Yes, he could easily irradicate the temple with the assistance of the brat and her Servant, alongside Illya and Berserker; however, he wasn't a person that took half-measures. He wanted to have his alliances to ensure that the largest current threat is wiped out and to make sure that he knows where everyone stands, and what their abilities are when the time comes to eliminate them.

Of everything that Kiritsugu had taught him, the ability to utilize your opposition to your benefit was the most impactful.

Shirou kept his nose to the air as the duo walked, ignoring the pensive look Saber kept giving him. There wasn't anything of note in the streets, the occasion civilian walking home with their heads tucked into their chests, most of the houses light up in glaring electric lighting, the occasional stray crossing their path, or staring at them from the corner of a person's fence. Everything was normal, quiet, and safe. Shirou was sure that something was going on somewhere, but he couldn't make out where it was. As the duo stopped at the intersection between the old and new sections of Fuyuki's residential district, did Shirou completely turn into a bloodhound and let everything flood his nose and mouth. All he needed was one difference, and he would know exactly where they needed to go, anything at all.

One scent did flare up and it was quickly approaching: a very familiar slimy scent, but with another one interweaved, giving it another cloying fragrance.

"Ah Emiya, you're out tonight it seems." The suave voice of that girl Sakura's older brother called out to him from across the intersection.

There in the lamplight was Shinji Matou dressed casually in a jacket and pants, the same small grin adorning his face. Shirou was a little suspicious – a lot suspicious – of the other scent that was hanging around him, but he couldn't quite make out the presence of any other hostile entity in the area, which meant no Servant, and he was paying careful attention to Saber, who had the tact to quickly dematerialize her armor. She, however, still held her blade at the ready, Invisible Air making it extremely easy to conceal that she was holding anything at all. If things got bad then she was still more than prepared, even without her armor.

"Shinji was it? Fancy seeing you out here tonight." Shirou stated casually, not bothering to move from his position.

"It is isn't it, Emiya."

Silence fell between the duo as Shirou calmly breathed in the fragrance dancing off of Shinji; he was trying to work out what the new scent was that was being overwhelmed by the slime-like smell he had equated to Shinji. The only luck he was having was that they were both fairly similar; the other fragrance was more muted and a lot smoother, however.

"Tell me something, Emiya, how have you been?"

An empty question with little regard for Shirou's opinion; merely a formality, "I've been fine, busy. What about you and your sister?" Shirou wanted to probe for more information; even if it was surface-level at best, all good forms of surveillance relied on the ability to work out what wasn't being stated from the other person. Shinji was a book that had a surprising amount of chapters to it, as well. Shirou would have to keep pressing on, regardless of disconcerting nausea he felt for their current exchange.

Shirou watched as Shinji slowly shifted his weight from foot-to-foot his hands still casually in his pockets; reading his body language would be a little more difficult, however, Shirou still had all of his face and eyes to work with. A person's true thoughts are always readily available through their eyes if another person paid enough attention.

Why do you think poker tournaments took so long?

"Been pretty busy, school has been a real killer after all." Shinji shrugged casually, his shoulders hunching in the slightest amount.

"Is that so, have you been giving Mitsuzuri a hard time? Last I heard from her, you were being a little bit of a rebel." The first rule of extracting information was to get them flustered, make it so they can't form fully involved thoughts; Shinji was an easy person to rile up, especially when his pride was called into question. From their single encounter, Shirou was certain that Shinji only cared for surface-level appearances.

"Mitsuzuri huh," Shinji began slowly, "I wouldn't believe everything that she tells you Emiya. You're new but she does have a penchant for stretching the truth."

"Oh, is that a fact, well I suppose it is my fault then for taking her at face value." Shirou shrugged, "However, Tohsaka had said something similar, so I'm not sure." 'Sorry brat, please don't kill me.'

"She did, did she? What else did she say? Anything at all?" Shinji began, Shirou nearly broke out into a grin at this reaction; people's emotions were easy to manipulate when you dangled something they wanted in front of them. Tohsaka and her opinion is an extremely enticing motive for Shinji; Shirou would use her more often when dealing with this man.

"I mean you were there, after all." Shirou shrugged once more, his hands hanging calmly by his sides. "I haven't seen her since then, but I felt that she didn't have the highest opinion of you. I wonder why that is?"

Shirou mused over this quietly as he watched the expressions flicker across Shinji's face; he must have struck a nerve because Shinji was slowly starting to twitch. Come on, just give him what he wants. He needed to know what that other scent was. Perhaps it has something to do with the Matou and Sakura. It wasn't hard, he wanted to see if there was a Servant that was bound to Shinji that isn't here at the moment. It would make logical sense, considering that this was a completely new scent from the other two times that the duo had met. Granted, Shirou had been completely overwhelmed the first time by Sakura; however, no possibilities can be ruled out, especially when it comes to someone that he had familiarized himself with, it has the added benefit that he knew for certain that, at least, Sakura was a Magus.

"Is that so? Well, Emiya I don't see how you could know about that. I happen to think that she and I hold a fairly good relationship." Shinji stated tersely, "Now, if you will excuse me, I'll be heading off now, you have a good night."

"Good night!" Shirou waved in exaggeration as the other teenager disappeared in the direction of the school.

"We're going to follow him, Saber," Shirou stated to the completely silent Servant that remained at his side throughout the conversation. The good thing about Shinji was his single-mindedness; Shirou was certain Shinji wanted to question him about Saber, however, he couldn't see past the apparent slight against his pride. This was beneficial because Shirou still maintains his anonymity, however, it was also a detriment because there is the slight chance that Shinji was a competent Magus who could tell that Saber wasn't of this world.

It didn't matter, if Shinji is indeed a Master then Shirou's poorly-formulated cover would be blown, more than last night did.

"Come on," Shirou waved over his shoulder as he began to slowly trail behind the small back of his potential enemy. Saber nodded briefly as her armor materialized once more. The first stretch of the walk to the school was entirely uneventful, Shirou was seriously tempted to start kicking rocks down the road. However, something changed in the person that he was following: Shinji decided he wanted to try out for Cross Country and broke into an all-out sprint to the school.

Lucky Shirou.

"Well, that's rather incriminating don't you think, Saber." Shirou mused sarcastically glancing towards the other Servant.

"Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt, Shirou?" Saber quipped sarcastically, Shirou felt a small measure of pride swell in his chest; Saber was learning not to be such a prude.

"We're not going to rush though, I don't want us to get involved when he is still fresh, let them wear each other down a little."

The duo slowly made their way to the school; the air around them becoming rifer with bloodlust and the occasional outpouring of mana. The newest addition to the school was what gave Shinji's Magus status away; Shinji had decided to use the school grounds as his Workshop.

"Be ready, Saber, there are definitely other Servants here," Shirou stated, his once calm air giving away completely to a cautious approach as he drew the blades that he had used against Berserker last night; two short, however, because he had to repair the others that were fragmented by Berserker's flesh. The grounds of the school were scorched and pot-marked all the way across the quad and back behind the building where Shirou remembered the sports fields to be. Shirou couldn't find where Shinji was, but he could hear the distinct sound of metal clanging against each other.

The duo wasted no time and darted across the quad towards the sound and slide to a halt when they noticed two very familiar presences: "Lancer!" Shirou breathed when he noticed the familiar red spear that had almost poked him in the wrong spot last night. Across from the blue warrior was the straight-backed presence of Archer, who was casually twirling one of his blades. Neither Servant was necessarily injured, however, they did show some signs of fatigue, and a clear lack of regard for a little bit of property damage.

Shirou was sorely tempted to start created a tab for everything Lancer destroyed: first his wall and now the school.

"Ah, kid Saber what's up," Lancer stated casually as he tapped his spear against the ground briefly, "Are you here to join in on the fun too."

"No, we were following someone that happened to come through here, did you happen to see anyone?" Shirou stated, weary of the presence of both Servants, scanning their surroundings for any sign of Tohsaka.

"Nope, sorry kid, you happen to see anything little Red?"

"Did you just call me 'Little Red'?"

"Yep, you like it, I feel that it's rather fitting for you."

"I have rather mixed feelings about being called that."

"What else do you want me to call you, you're wearing a lot of red after all. I mean I could call you something else, I just gotta think of something with a lot of red involved, you gotta give me a minute here."

"Satan," Shirou mused, thinking about the depictions he had seen of the Judeo-Christian interpretation of the greatest body of evil; an entity associated with the color red.

"I like that kid, actually Satan, but I think I'm gonna stick with Little Red, I feel that it's more fitting for him."

"I mean, I don't see any problem with it, Little Red is a pretty good name."

"I'm going to kill both of you."

"Don't be such a hard ass this is where it gets fun, after all," Lancer stated with a grin splitting his face. "Now that Saber is here, we have the three best classes here. It's only fair that we go all out."

"If you insist then I shall answer your resolve with my blade, Lancer. A rematch from last night."

"Sorry, but we can't we're still looking for Shinji after all. Besides aren't you worried about Tohsaka, Archer?"

"No, I'm not she's finishing up things in the school now." At this Archer sighed and slowly dematerialized his blades. "However, I feel that things are getting a little to out of hand; it would be in my best interest to return to my Master's side."

"Giving up, are we? I'm ashamed it was starting to get good." Ancer groaned as he loosened his stance and propped his spear on his shoulder.

"Giving up first is an art, and I believe that I have become a master of it in my time." Archer shrugged as he astralized, no doubt once more at Tohsaka's side.

"What a hard ass," Lancer groaned, "well kid, Saber, nice seeing you two again, but I've gotta go it seems, my Master was already mad at me for exposing myself to one Servant; I wonder how they are going to act when they find out we talked, huh." Lancer chuckled loudly, "You guys have given me a lot of information that I needed as well, till next time."

"What exactly just happened?"

"I don't know Shirou, but I get the feeling that you and Lancer have much in common, it is rather scary." Saber began, "Now I believe it is time that we go and look for this Shinji."

"Right."

The duo didn't bother to comb the grounds and made their way into the school where they were certain to link back up with Archer and Tohsaka. Floor after floor the duo swept through until they came to the end of the floor, where one of the classroom walls burst through with an unfamiliar woman's body being buried under the rubble.

Tohsaka padded out her hackles raised and a Gandr Shot charged aiming at the rubble.

"Tohsaka."

"Emiya-kun." Tohsaka tipped her chin the barest amount, eyes still glued to the rubble.

Archer was once more by her side, his blades at the ready with the barest hint of blood glinting off of the polished white one. The rubble shifted completely as the unfamiliar woman pulled herself free. She wasn't like anything Shirou had ever seen. Perhaps it was her height, because she had everything in the group beat by a few inches. Perhaps it was her hair which swept the floor in cascading waves. Perhaps it was the tube dress that she wore, leaving little to the imagination. No, actually, the most stand out thing about her was the blindfold over her eyes and the mark upon her forehead.

Shinji's Servant.

The woman had blood slowly dripping from a wound in her right side, but she remained vigilant and strong crouched low with her hackles, like a prowling panther. Shirou could tell that her fight or flight senses were veering more towards flight as she noticed the newest addition of him and Saber. He needed to find Shinji first and foremost, that would be the only explanation as to why she revealed herself.

"Ah, Emiya, Tohsaka." Speak of the devil and they shall appear.

Leaning against the wall furthest from them was Shinji, the same small smile adorning his face.

"It seems that this is rather poor timing," Shinji began with his arms spread, "Why don't we just put everything down and talk things out."

"Right and allow you and your Servant to run rampant with the students in this school," Tohsaka muttered furiously. "Like I would allow you to use this Bounded Field on the people in this school."

"Do you mean…?"

"Yes, just like the city."

Shirou's hackles raised at her words as a frosted calm suffused his system; there was another Master that would stoop to such despicable means.

"You know something, Matou, you might as well give up, I'll be merciful and other take a few of your fingers before I bury you." Tohsaka stated, "It is, after all, two on one, and I highly doubt you can keep up."

"Wait… you mean…you and Emiya…?"

"Yeah, we've been partners since before the Grail War."

"I…I… let's just be rational then, why don't the three of us form an alliance." Shinji began, hatred boiling up as he glared at Shirou. Shirou gave him his own nasty look, however, for the complete opposite reason.

He did not have any feelings for Tohsaka, nor did he have much consent and sway in their partnership, thank you very much.

"An alliance, you say, dismantle your Bounded Field and then we will talk."

"Yeah… yeah… I understand," Shinji slowly padded over towards the Servant, "Rider…

Kill all of them."

Shinji's words were accentuated by an explosion of Magical Energy from the book that he pulled out of his coat pocket. The red sigils on the front glowing ominously, as the newly named Rider disappeared in a blur of speed; she appeared almost instantaneously between all of their guards and forcedly separated the duo. Tohsaka and Archer were blasted back into the room, and Shirou and Saber made a fairly sizeable hole in the floor several dozens of meters away.

"Saber," Shirou began once he was stood and looked at his Servant, she wasn't injured at all. "Deal with her."

Saber disappeared in a burst of speed as her blade contacted the slender silver dagger that Rider was equipped with. Moments later, Archer joined the fray, making an already lopsided fight more one-sided. Rider was pushed back further and further by the combined might of two of the Knight-class Servants. From Shirou's vantage point there was absolutely no need for either he or Tohsaka to get involved. While he watched, Shirou could note the minute change in the new Servants posture, as she crouched and turned swiftly to grab Shinji and disappear completely from their view.

The battle's end was rather lackluster.

"Emiya-kun, I think we're going to have a talk."

Shirou couldn't agree more.

Sorry about the delay one of my family members tested positive, and we were all helping him recover. That and I'm in between jobs right now, so I'm on the job grind. I'm kind of tempted to start creating more of an online presence and see if that would benefit me. I know a rather anticlimactic ending, but not every chapter should end on a cliffhanger. We're getting closer and closer to Arc 2, and that's when things really hit the fan.

Note: I'm not sure on chapter length, because I don't post short 2,000-word chapter; so, I can guarantee that the story won't go to 90 chapters, but I'm fairly certain it'll be about 30-40.