Author's Notes: This was originally supposed to come out a week ago. But after some revisions to my drafts that lead to a spiral of revisions to keep everything else consistent, I can confidently say that it was worth the delay. Expect weekly uploads from now on. Probably Mondays or Tuesdays at the latest. Also, for any FGO players, Gilfest and Summer 6 won't be affecting my schedule since I made sure to farm 40 resets already. Now all I'll be doing in FGO for the foreseeable future are rolls with my savings.
In any case, I hope you enjoy.
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It was an undeniable fact that resounded in her mind. Every day, every hour and every minute of the week that passed only served to further solidify that opinion into an unshakable truth.
Kirei Kotomine was a monster.
His fighting prowess aside, Rin Tohsaka firmly believed that the Priest was actually enjoying the beatings he had been forced to deliver upon her in the name of training.
'I am merely honoring your Father's and my Teacher's final wish' he had said. Even with a missing hand, the man was terrifyingly fast and strong. So much so that it took everything she had to merely stand up five minutes into their daily spars.
She had already gotten used to her Family Crest and the pain only flared up right before she lost consciousness, a relief in and of itself.
Her daily routine consisted of general academics, Magecraft studies and Magecraft application, most of which was supervised by Kirei himself. He had to make sure she was safe after all.
But all that didn't matter when the time came for her self-defense tutoring.
Like a relentless beast, he came at her with everything he had, repeatedly slamming against her guard and only stopping when she could no longer stand. She was actually surprised that he had the mental capacity to not hit her while she's down all things considered.
No, he received far too much enjoyment from doing that mentally to also do it physically.
All in all, Kirei Kotomine was the worst teacher a 10 year-old kid could have. But Rin Tohsaka wasn't any regular 10 year-old.
What she lacked in strength and endurance, she made up for with persistence.
Even after countless hours of struggle and study, she always stayed up after dark, honing her skills and practicing her Magecraft.
She would be damned if she didn't land a single hit on him before next spring. She had enough on her plate to worry about to still be concerned with the whims of a person like Kirei.
So as she rummaged around in her Workshop, wincing at the bruises slowly healing underneath her bandages, her mind drifted once more to those aforementioned troubles.
Namely her dear younger sister's public interactions with what appeared to be an Einzbern Homonculus.
Everything from her hair to her eyes checked out, and despite how much Rin wished to trust in her sister's judgement of character, the Tohsaka heir couldn't dismiss the similarities as mere coincidence when the girl literally proclaimed herself to be an Einzbern to everyone.
Kirei had informed her that the Einzberns were no more and that she and the Matous alone would be responsible for representing the original Magus Families during the next Holy Grail War. This clearly wasn't the case but for some reason, the news didn't shock Kirei.
If she didn't know any better, she would have assumed he had lied to her. But since he had never done so in the past, she had no reason to distrust him as of yet.
Even so, Rin never seemed to be able to approach the Homonculus on her own. She always stayed close to either Sakura or that one kid in her class that was close to Shinji.
After asking around, it was revealed to her that the red-haired kid was named Shirou Emiya and that he was the Einzbern's so-called Brother. Not much else was known about him and that fact didn't escape her attention.
A quiet and relatively down-to-earth kid like that Emiya would be a perfect target for a Homonculus attempting to infiltrate Fuyuki to capture and alter their memories, making them believe they were related as an alibi in the process.
It made total sense to her. For the love of God they weren't even remotely alike. Both their personalities and appearance were like night and day. The kid was probably completely at her mercy.
Well, Rin Tohsaka had stuck her nose into other people's business before and ended up uncovering a Master's hideout and rescuing a group of kids in the process. Her instincts were telling her to confront this Emiya and lift any spell the Einzbern might have casted on him.
Surely he would have some answers to give her, and if nothing else, she might learn what that Homonculus is planning to do with her dear sister in the process…
No matter. She would have time to go through her plan tomorrow. For now, she had some more studying to do.
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Kiritsugu gave another pained sigh as he put down yet another log of records. His body gave him more and more trouble as the days went by and he could feel a sense of dread steadily creeping up at him.
Gently, he laid his hand on the projection of Avalon that laid by his side. He guessed that the relic still had about an hour before it dissolved into nothing. At the rate Shirou was progressing, a projection of Avalon every day was merely a part of the kid's daily routine. It helped ease Kiritsugu's pain and with every new copy, the effects grew stronger. It still paled in comparison to the original, but that was besides the point.
Artoria was also seated in a chair behind him and her gaze was pointed at the projection in his hand. She sighed before standing to move beside him.
"A copy it may be, but I'm still in awe that it could be replicated in the first place. The blessings of the Fae are potent, even when diminished."
"Is that a warning aimed at me or praise for Shirou's skill?"
"Both. You've been relying on it's effects more and more. Perhaps your condition isn't improving after all."
Kiritsugu shook his head.
"I never said it would. I only said it would delay the inevitable. Everyone knows it already, including you."
"Indeed. But I fear the result won't be worth the trouble this time."
Kiritsugu turned to look at her.
"What do you mean"
Artoria lowered her head and placed her hand atop the golden relic as well, a somber yet gentle smile gracing her lips.
"Avalon is an ever distant Utopia. An ideal that can't be reached by normal humans. It is inherently beautiful and pure. That much you know already."
Kiritsugu nodded before she proceeded.
"But memories of our loved ones, the ones that are with us and the ones that have long since left should be just as beautiful and pure. Therefore, I don't believe that prolonging your pain is what's best for the children."
"You don't want them to remember me suffering."
"Yes." she replied simply.
"That isn't my intention. But it is necessary. To prepare them better, to give them everything I can possibly offer them. So that they can have a better chance of making it through a war that I can't stop."
His words were sincere despite the pang in his chest. Kiritsugu was sacrificing yet another part of himself for his loved ones and Artoria could see that this has always been the case for the man known as the Magus Killer.
"Your cause is noble. I would never diminish the efforts of a father supporting their children. But what Shirou and Illyasviel need isn't your support. You have given them more than enough. The greatest gift you can offer them is a sense of normalcy."
"Speaking from experience, Artoria?"
With a nod, she continued.
"Indeed. My reign wasn't the longest and the battles I fought were numerous. But in times of peace, the fondest memories I could recall were always the normal days. Days of growing up, tending the horses and living with my adopted Father and Brother. Those memories are a person's greatest strength. It gives them the courage to face any hardship so long as it leads to them reaching those normal days once more."
"People don't fight wars for the hell of it. They fight to end them and live peacefully for as long as they can. A beautiful notion, although I'm not sure how much of that applies to their situation." Kiritsugu said as he stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.
"Exactly. You may however find that their circumstances are more alike than you think. When that time comes, how will they have the strength to persevere if their reason for fighting is simply because they have to. As we have both seen, the Holy Grail War can break a person entirely."
Before Kiritsugu could reply to that, the relic in his hand dissolved into motes of light, leaving no trace that it was ever there in the first place.
"That's… odd. Usually, Shirou's projections last longer than that. You think something happened at school?" Artoria inquired and Kiritsugu rubbed his chin.
"He may have simply lost his focus. Let's just hope it was nothing serious. If you're feeling worried however, you're free to pick the kids up in a couple of hours."
"Yes. I think I will…"
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"Alright then, see you tomorrow Emiya."
"Bye Shinji. Don't forget to bring me back that Bento box."
"Don't worry about it. I'll bring it with me tomorrow."
Rin Tohsaka rolled her eyes at the sight. Shirou Emiya had been unexpectedly almost as hard to approach as the Einzbern Homonculus.
Following him around after class didn't lead to much since once again, he had been joined by Shinji Matou. Which was also quite unexpected considering Shinji was probably among the most popular of kids while the young Emiya was… well, not popular at all.
Whatever the case may have been, they were finally saying their farewells for the day. Now she just had to wait until he was isolated and she would make her move-
"Hey can you come out now? I've been getting this sensation of being watched for so long it's starting to get annoying…"
Shirou called out in her direction and Rin was startled into backing up from the corner she was using as cover.
Into an empty bucket lying around for no reason other than the incompetence of the staff responsible.
Falling backwards with a yelp, the thud of her body hitting the floor immediately alerted Shirou and he rounded the corner, only to be introduced to the sight of Rin Tohsaka rubbing her sore head.
"Are you hurt?" he carefully approached her before crouching in front of her, waiting for her response.
"Ow ow ow… damn maintenance staff…"
"Uh…"
Rin carefully tried to stand up on her own before grasping at Shirou's body for support, slightly wincing in pain. Finally, after rising to her feet, she gracefully dusted herself off and raised her gaze to meet Shirou's.
"I've been better. Thanks for that by the way."
"Thanks for what? Stalking people isn't fine you know. If you wanted to talk, you can just ask like a normal person…"
With a twitch of her eyebrow, Rin crossed her arms in front of her.
"How rude. I'm perfectly normal, thank you very much. And for the record, you should be apologizing for making me trip over."
"I think I'll pass. I had nothing to do with that anyway. In any case, I'm Shirou. Shirou Emiya."
He casually mentioned and she once again turned to look at him before sighing.
"You're more stubborn than you look. Most people would have fallen to their knees begging for forgiveness had they been in your position."
With a flick of her twin-tails, the girl gave a small smile.
"My name is Rin Tohsaka, and since I was the one who wanted to speak with you, I suppose it's fine if we could skip the formalities."
She offered a handshake and Shirou instinctively reached for it when suddenly he felt a small surge of Magical Energy in the air.
Not even a second later and a thorough analysis of the situation made things painfully clear to him.
No wonder the name was familiar. It should have been instantly recognizable.
The girl was a Magus, and a member of one of the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War.
What she wanted with him was irrelevant at this point.
Without warning, Shirou leaped backwards to make some distance between them and fired up his Magic Circuits, the mental trigger in his mind going off.
Rin's eyes widened. He saw through the spell instantly. The moment their hands met, she would have taken control and attempted to lift any mental alterations present. She didn't expect him to react at all, let alone as fast as he did.
"My, that Einzbern Homonculus really did a number on you. Has she programmed you into defending against further tampering by other Mages? It isn't a common practice, but I've heard of other failsafes like these before…"
Shirou's eyes narrowed. Einzbern Homonculus? She couldn't possibly…
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not being controlled by anyone and certainly not Illya. She's my sister!"
Rin carefully gave one last look behind her shoulder to make sure the coast was clear. Good. It appeared that the school was mostly empty by now. If a fight were to break out now, it would be over by the time someone made it here.
"No matter. I'll manage to break through those defenses by force if I have to…"
Rin closed the gap in an instant, taking hold of Shirou's arms and attempting to restrain them behind his back, but he rolled backwards and out of her hold with zero effort. However, he didn't arm himself.
Rin charged at him again, this time going for his legs, sweeping at them while using her hand for support.
Shirou fell on his back but quickly rolled away from the upcoming blow.
"Can't we just talk about this? This has to be a misunderstanding!"
"Huh, pacifying features, that's a new one."
She threw a high kick at him and he raised his arms to block but before he could grab on in an attempt to throw her, she used her other leg to kick off of him and get some distance.
So much for the Tohsakas being cool, collected and elegant. Shirou's thoughts on the topic were completely shattered when Rin used the distance between them to engage in long range combat, employing Gandr shots aimed at his limbs.
He had no way to close the gap and the shots were getting too fast to dodge consistently so he made a quick retreat into a classroom that was still unlocked.
"You know, I'm beginning to think you never wanted to talk in the first place!"
He called out as he quickly barricaded the door with a nearby desk.
Rin scoffed. This was a joke. He had no way to defend himself and nowhere to go.
After checking her pack for the specific gem she was looking for, she activated it and proceeded to blast through the glass over the door with a Gandr shot, chucking the gem through the hole.
The emerald colored stone emitted a strange smoke upon hitting the ground and Shirou realised that locking himself inside maybe wasn't the smartest idea.
Capture wasn't an option. Clearly Rin was hostile towards Illya and she believed that he had information regarding her. Escape wasn't an option either, the windows on the other side of the classroom leading to the outside were 3 stories high. Even with reinforcement, the odds of making that jump unscathed weren't all that great.
The gas spread through the room at an alarming rate and Shirou could feel his limbs becoming numb. His eyelids fluttered and soon, the strength needed to stay upright left his body.
Rin knocked the door down with a Reinforced kick not a minute later, her Family Crest proudly lit around her arm. The last thing Shirou saw before losing consciousness was the sight of Rin's pleased expression as she approached him.
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Artoria had seen Illya and Sakura on her way to Homurahara. They were heading towards Shinto after classes and while the King of Knights was pleased to see Illya was fine, she was disappointed to know that Illya hadn't seen or heard from Shirou since that morning.
Worry crept up on her and she made her way to Homurahara with haste.
If Shirou had gotten into trouble, then it was no wonder his Projection had disappeared earlier than usual.
She just hoped it was nothing too serious.
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Rin Tohsaka was furious. No. Absolutely livid would be more appropriate.
She should have been pleased with herself. She had easily resolved a situation that had spiraled out of her control rapidly and with satisfactory results.
Only she would have been even more pleased had she actually found any trace of tampering spells or anything of the like after a thorough inspection of the unconscious boy.
She couldn't have made a mistake, right? Yet again, he had been perfectly willing to talk things through but she had been too engrossed in her own theory to consider the possibility.
The cool breeze was starting to give her chills now. The school Rooftop was drafty at all times but now it was starting to get dark and she had nothing to show for her efforts aside from an unconscious 10 year-old who may or may not even be a Magus.
Luckily, she was distracted from her musings by the sound of Shirou's groans as he slowly opened his eyes.
Using his hands to rub the sleepiness off his face, he looked around frantically before noticing that he was still at school and not some crazy Magus' workshop. Breathing a sigh of relief, he slumped back against the wall and turned to look at Rin, who was now actively avoiding his gaze.
"From the look of things it doesn't seem like things went exactly as you expected." He called out to her and a fierce blush of embarrassment colored her face.
"Shut up! It made perfect sense when I thought about it!"
She pointed an accusing finger at him, as if the whole ordeal had been his fault in some way and he sighed in turn.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot."
With a slight struggle, he managed to rise to his feet, this time offering a handshake to the stunned girl.
"I'm Shirou Emiya, adopted son of Kiritsugu Emiya and brother to Illyasviel von Einzbern. I'm a Magus. Now it's your turn."
Rin stared at his face, dumbfounded at the unprecedented interaction. She never would have expected to be talking to another Magus in school, let alone one as forthcoming and straightforward as this one.
With a shake of her head, she forced herself to focus before timidly accepting the offered handshake.
"My name is Rin Tohsaka, heir of the Tohsaka Magus Family and official Second Owner of Fuyuki."
With a nod, Shirou let go after a brief moment before raising a hand to his chin in thought.
"What did you do to me while I was out?"
With a groan, Rin lowered her gaze and retreated awkwardly. She had some explaining to do before she could get any answers...
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Review Corner Time!
Iarmmason: I'm glad people seem to be enjoying the Illya/Sakura interactions, I was worried that such a fresh take on two characters that imo have too much in common to just ignore would be more controversial. I have great plans for the both of them and I hope you will continue to enjoy.
Also Gilgamesh hasn't had the time to be as disappointed as FSN Gil with Humanity as a whole. But whether or not the end result will be the same after all that time remains to be seen.
The Loud Person: I am perfectly capable of accepting any kind of constructive feedback regarding my decisions and writing. Even harsh ones. Although, in this specific instance, all of their complaints had been addressed in thorough discussions with a lot of people in previous Review Corners already. As such, addressing them again was purely a waste of my time. You needn't worry :)
Sinner and Redeemer: What a fascinating question. I can't say anything regarding the nature of the Reality Marble, but be certain that everything from the chant, to it's appearance and explanation have been given the utmost of attention. I can't wait until everyone sees these play out.
SentinalSlice: I'm so sorry to hear that. Hopefully it's been long enough that you at least feel better and I hope that I can continue to provide everyone with something that is able to lift their spirits when they are feeling down. Stories and fiction in general are usually crucial for people going through hardship and entertainment plays a major part in that. In any case, I wish you all the best :)
NotSpecialDude: You raise so many great points. I don't know if you've listened to the Garden of Avalon Drama CD but there are tons of hints in there that allude to how Shirou will be interacting with that figure.
Secondly, I don't want to reveal anything aside from a fact that I confirmed in previous Review Corners. The Einzbern legacy is mostly dead and buried. In Illya's words, anything that is related to that showing up would be like "showing you a Miracle".
And lastly, Rin's dynamic with the trio of Illya, Sakura and Shirou. That kind of drama will have to be developed over time. After all, she barely knows anything about Shirou and Illya or their circumstances. However, you're very close.
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That does it for this Chapter. As always I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to stay safe :)