This is my first ever fanfic. I have not written anything besides school papers before. I'll listen to criticism but not uncouth bashing. There's a difference. If you don't know the difference, I suggest you learn it so that your opinions may be heard with any modicum of respect.

These chapters are subject to change since I'm basically writing without a plan in mind.

Hopefully this first chapter isn't too dreadful. I admit to not being the best critic of my work since no matter how competent or atrocious the piece of writing is, I will personally think it's terrible.

The formatting of documents when uploading them on this site is way too overcomplicated. I'm sorry if the text looks weird or if there are missing spaces between lines. I tried to get them all but I might have missed some.

Enjoy.

Chapter 1

He lost.

Not a battle of strength but a battle of philosophy. Of ideals. Convinced by his younger self that their dream wasn't a one way ticket to suffering and hypocrisy. How ridiculous.

In front of a cliff, beaten and battered, so low on mana it was a miracle that he hadn't departed from the world, he could only feel melancholic acceptance at his own weakness.

"Archer!"

Hearing his Master's voice, he spoke in his typical neutral tone.

"It's unfortunate, but this is the outcome. You should give up on the grail this time, Rin."

Hearing not a reply, but a frustrated groan in response, he couldn't help but snicker.

"What?! This is hardly the time to be laughing!"

"Sorry about that. I was amused at how sorry you and I look right now."

Once again, not responding to his words, she nervously gripped her hand where her command seals were.

"Archer, make a pact with me again."

"Sorry, I can't do that. I don't have that right. Besides, I no longer have a goal. This is where my fight ends."

"But … ! But that means that no matter how long you wait, you will never be saved!"

Her words surprised him. Something which rarely happened given how well he knew her.

"Oh man … Rin. Look after me. As you know I'm a bit hopeless. Give that hopeless fool a shoulder to lean on."

"Archer … Yeah, I know. I'll try my hardest to make sure he doesn't end up a twisted asshole like you. I'm sure I can get him to like himself, so you should do the same."

"I have my answer. I'll try my best from now on as well, Tohsaka."

He found himself smiling, genuinely smiling for the first time in an eternity, his answer causing Rin to choke up and shed tears for him.

'I'm not worth it ... but it feels nice.'

And like that, he was gone. Archer, who was a copy of Counter Guardian Emiya, never expected to exist again. After all, his memories of this event would just merge with the original, who was still sitting on that lonely hill, surrounded by blades, waiting to be deployed by Alaya.

But something interesting happened. Whether it was due to the malfunctioning grail, Zelrich playing games or his E Rank luck acting up again, his servant body did not feel like it had dispersed and faded. No, it felt like a large maelstrom of gravity was ripping him apart at the seams.

'!'

Archer attempted to cry out in pain, but found that he could not make a sound. His fate, taken from his control as usual, was now in the hands of whatever or whoever had alternative plans for him. Intriguing, exciting and worrying under most circumstances, but due to the level of pain he was experiencing, he hadn't the convenience to feel any of those.

Eventually the pulling on his soul began to subside, but the feeling of falling did not.

'Okay, what the hell is going on?'

Attempting to look around, he found that whatever void he had found himself in was completely devoid of light, sound, or really any stimulus besides the noises and sensations coming from his own body.

Quickly tracing a blade which emitted light, he found that even with the ability to see there was nothing but a void to see.

'Still more darkness?'

He attempted to throw his illuminated sword off into the void as a test, only to find it eventually traveled far enough that even with reinforced vision he was hard pressed to see it.

'So this place is quite large.'

He figured it was but it never hurt to test a hypothesis.

With nothing around, it was difficult to tell on sight that he was indeed falling. Although he could probably stop his descent using magecraft, he was curious as to his destination and decided to accept the fall.

And fall he did for an indiscernible amount of time. He found that his internal clock was all screwed up in this place.

Eventually though, a small simmering light grew to engulf his vision as he continued to fall towards it. After having to close his eyes due to its brightness, he inadvertently lost consciousness directly afterwards.

Waking up, his rational thought came back to him before he opened his eyes. Noticing that the ground was coarse and rough, he immediately identified it was concrete. Slowly his other senses came back to him.

First his hearing, allowing him to hear the flapping of a bird's wings, then his smell, which he could have done without as his nostrils were filled with a revile sent of garbage.

There was an annoying peck on his face as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light of the bright sky above him.

He looked down at his chest and saw a bird on his chest pecking at his face. Shooing it away, he took stock of his surroundings and found …

'So that's why I smelled garbage.'

… himself laying in an alleyway between two buildings with a dumpster next to his head. Looking down the alleyway, a street with cars and people passing by, luckily not turning their heads and noticing him.

'Where am I?'

Noticing that the people were Japanese, his first thought was that he had been summoned into another grail war. It's not like his arrival into this world was any less graceful than when Rin summoned him.

However, after casting Structural Analysis on himself, having noticed his servant body felt strange, he noticed it wasn't a servant body at all. In fact, he was human.

'How the hell?!'

Firing up his circuits and quickly tracing a silver sword to act as a mirror, he was thankfully met with the sight of his older face, and not that of his younger self.

'But how was I reborn? And more importantly, for what reason? Is this the result of Rin's wish for me or ...'

Given his summonings into different times as a counter guardian, finding himself in strange places wasn't anything new. However he always had a mission objective, a purpose for being there. Which he was severely lacking right now.

'I have no information, no money, no resources, and only my combat outfit. Great, as if I'll be able to blend in with a civilian population like this. Luckily I'm still in Japan, so hopefully I'm just seen as a cosplayer.'

Not wasting any time, he stepped out of the alley warily and surveyed his surroundings. Sighing in relief, Archer was glad to see that it was a world and time period he recognized.

It wasn't. But he didn't know that yet.

Instantly, people began staring at his strange clothes, with whispers like cosplayer and convention being thrown around.

Good. At least he wasn't drawing any negative attention. Though he realised that his odd skin tone and hair color might prove to be a problem later on once he procured regular clothing.

As he began walking down the street, listening intently to passing conversation in order to collect information, he noticed a trend. Granted, not everyone was talking about it, but he heard on more than one instance. A single term.

Demi-human.

Now, he could infer slightly what that meant. They were the modern entertainment version of phantasmal species that used to walk the earth during the age of gods. So perhaps a particularly popular film or Tv series featured demi-humans and that's why people were mentioning it often.

Rounding the corner, he spotted a giant screen overlooking the plaza advertising an idol group of demi-humans. ANM48, they were apparently called. Not that their group name was of any particular importance to him, but rather their appearance.

One of the member's had cat ears. And the other members appeared to have the ears of various other animal species as well.

While ordinarily he would assume them to be a part of whatever demi-human fad seemed to be trending in Japan, something about the way in which this idol group was advertised seemed off.

'They're advertising this group as if they are real.'

Archer might have been completely out of touch with modern pop culture, but he doubted that his home country was so far gone down the path of insanity that they were deluding fans into thinking these girls were real. Well, at least he hoped.

Filing away this information in his mind for later, he set off to find a public library. If he was going to survive long term in his new human body, he would need a job and a place to sleep. In order to find these two things, a public computer with internet access was necessary.

Not privy to the idea of wandering the streets searching for one, he planned to perch himself on the tallest building to look around. However, before he could make his way into an alleyway, to hide his reinforced jump onto the nearest rooftop, he froze.

'You've got to be kidding.'

Jogging past him, giving a bright smile while she did so, was a girl with dog ears and fur covering her body. Wearing seemingly normal exercise clothing - except tailored to accommodate her tail - and, ironically, a collar-like choker, she had zero problems fitting in with regular society. At least fashionably, that is.

Archer couldn't help but stare wide eyed at her retreating figure, his body tensing up as he forcibly stopped himself from going into combat mode.

'A phantasmal species just wandering around?! In human clothing! Impossible! I can tell the age of gods has ended, given the amount of mana in the air! And the people! How is no one flabbergasted at such a thing?!'

For a moment, he considered that perhaps she had a low level illusion disguising herself as human and that, as a magus, only he could see through it. But if that were the case, he would've felt mana radiating off from her. But there was none.

No, like, there was none at all, meaning she absolutely couldn't be a phantasmal species. Even a low level beast like her would've been flooding his senses with mana if she were one.

"Then how the hell … no way."

Having said this out loud, the people around him noticed his wide eyed stare at the passing kobold.

"What's wrong?" a random passerby asked. "I know seeing a demi-human for the first time can be a bit shocking but don't you think you're staring a bit much?"

Archer turned to the man with an analytical look.

'He isn't surprised by her presence in the slightest. Which means …'

Archer released a loud sigh and continued walking without responding to the random passerby. His mind hadn't the energy to spare to form an answer for him.

An understandable state of being when one finds themselves in an almost alien world. But Archer, having seen weirder things than this, came to accept the truth rather easily.

He let out another sigh.

'Demi humans are real in this world. A strange notion, but ultimately more worrying than anything.'

Being a counter guardian, his first thought was about their threat level to humanity, and how Alaya viewed them. After all, if the will of humanity saw them as a problem, then it would likely be his job to eradicate them.

'Here's to hoping that the 'human' in 'demi-human' means that Alaya views them in a positive light. At the very least, the dog girl seemed peaceful and friendly enough. But then again, so do many Dead Apostles upon first greeting.'

Ultimately, Archer's lack of information prevented him from forming any real opinions beyond speculation. For now, he would merely observe the situation while he figured out his own situation.

'Guess I need to find a job. And for that I need presentable clothes and identification.'

The latter would be hard to procure considering his lack of skill with hypnosis, but he would somehow manage. Somehow.

'It's never easy, is it? Damn my E rank luck.'

Late in the evening, with the sun at his back, the counter guardian turned heads due to his exotic looks on his walk home from work.

Six months had passed since he arrived, and though, after a great deal of trouble and hard work to become a legal citizen with a fake background, job, and residence, no mission from Alaya had been given. For which he was eternally grateful.

Archer never particularly cared whether he lived or died as long as he could be free from being a ruthless killing machine. Though, having been allowed to live, he couldn't exactly say he was thankful for the opportunity, especially after Rin told him to like himself. His new life was boring, mundane, and above all, peaceful, even having found a job position at a local restaurant doing the one thing which he genuinely enjoyed: cooking.

Not to mention this new world he found himself in was strange enough to keep him interested. Demi-humans, the non-magical equivalent of phantasmal species, came out of hiding a few years before his arrival and announced to the world of their existence. Apparently the government's of the world had hid them away in the past and only recently was it decided that both humans and demi-humans could benefit from peaceful coexistence. Thus, the cultural exchange between species bill was passed by the Japanese government.

Honestly, Archer didn't believe it. Government's rise and fall all the time, and unless every new government that ever came into existence also decided to keep the secret about demi-humans buried, there was no way that the public would be ignorant about their existence for centuries. Well, not unless demi-humans only recently came into existence, but that kind of evolution wasn't done overnight.

No, instead Archer had a theory.

Somehow, these demi-humans were the descendants of breeding between humans and phantasmal beasts, and for the last millenia or so magi have been keeping their existence a secret from the mundane world. Either through careful control over their population or through mercilessly hunting them down and thus forcing these creatures into hiding not unlike dead apostles.

Only something recently went wrong, alerting the governments of the world to their presence and having their intelligence agencies claim that they were keeping demi-humans a secret the whole time. Likely, the goal behind this was to avoid panic, confusion and claims about incompetence for not discovering them sooner.

Archer understood completely. The same thing would likely happen if the moonlit world was discovered by the public as well. Any competent government would try to appear in control of the situation to appease their citizens.

'Though I can imagine the sheer pandemonium that would ensue should the existence of blood drinking, corpse defiling apostles ever be discovered. At least demi-humans are weak and harmless and have no intentions of eating humans.'

For if they did, Archer would have begun tracking them down and purging them from the world without hesitation. However, he had a hard time imagining such a scenario coming to pass after having passed that dog girl - learning from an enlightening conversation with her that her species were called Kobolds - out on her jog everyday on his way to work. From their interactions, instead of a beast or a monster, she gives the impression of an earnest hyperactive health nut.

Sighing at the many surprises which have come his way over the last few months, Archer opened the door to his new house.

Due to receiving a decent starting salary upon being hired, and finding a mid-sized house for a cheap price, he jumped at the opportunity to rent it. Sure, he had to spend almost every bit of money he had earned to make the down payment, but it didn't matter since he lived frugally. Besides, the value of his newly acquired privacy outweighed other concerns.

Switching out of his work clothes into something more comfortable, he quickly cooked a meal for himself and checked the local news for any important updates. Then, like he had every night, left once more and briefly patrolled the city from the rooftops for any signs of the moonlit world not staying hidden. Finding nothing, and trusting the second owner, whom he had tracked down recently, to do his job should any threats to humanity be discovered in his territory, he went back home and retired for the night.

The next morning, Archer rolled out of bed and quickly began to do his morning workout routine. Since his body was human once more, he thought it prudent to keep it in shape should trouble find him, which it always did.

It was a Saturday, a while that didn't mean he took the opportunity to sleep in, it also did not mean his morning routine was apace as usual. No, Archer savored these calm, non-chaotic mornings. He savored the peace and quiet as much as possible, as he did not know how long it would last.

Little did he know, it wouldn't even last the day.

While cooking a later-than-usual breakfast for himself, the doorbell rang. Archer furrowed his eyebrows at this, not having expected a visitor this early in the morning. With his quiet interrupted, he felt a pang of annoyance. He made no movement to answer the door.

'Maybe if I just don't answer …'

Ring! Ring! The ringer of the bell became a bit more insistent.

That pang of annoyance grew, as he realised that whoever was at the door wouldn't leave without him answering.

'To ring someone's bell so early in the morning … how do they know I wasn't sleeping or not home?'

He had a feeling he wasn't going to get along with whoever was outside.

Opening the door, Archer was greeted by the sight of two women. Both were beautiful, with one wearing an incredible formal business suit and sunglasses, making her look like the typical stereotype of a government agent. However, the other woman standing to the left was who drew his complete attention.

She had light red hair with yellow, reptilian like eyes and scales on her cheeks. She had the torso of an incredible voluptuous woman and the lower body of a … snake.

'Is there a reason a Lamia is at my door?'

The phantasmal species Lamia were weaker than most of the other species, but they were incredibly cunning and excellent hunters, similar to real snakes. Still Archer was confident he could kill one if need be. And he was even less scared of the non-magical version of such a creature.

Having lived in this world for half a year, his body didn't instantly prepare for battle and instead gave the people at his door a curious if annoyed look.

"For what reason has someone come knocking on my door so early in the morning?" he asked, not bothering to remove the grouchy tone from his voice.

"What are you talking about? I'm your cultural exchange coordinator Smith-san, and this is your new house guest."

"Eh?"

Miia was nervous.

Sitting in the back of a white van, or rather laying down as she couldn't fit into a human seat, she was on her way to her host's residence. While externally, she managed to keep her expression of nervousness to a bare minimum, on the inside she was a mess.

As a representative of her species, and as a house guest, she had to make a good first impression with her host, which was exactly the problem. She knew that Lamia had a high chance of being feared and discriminated against, due to their snake characteristics. With her family depending on her to be a gracious guest and bring back a man who could mate with the village, along with being shy and weak-hearted in general, she couldn't stand the thought of being turned away at first sight by her host.

'Mama and Smith-san said it'll be fine. But …'

She hadn't been told much about her host, or really anything at all. All she knew was that he was a man, in his early fifties. However, the person she cared about making a good impression on was his son of nineteen years. That was who her mama told her to seduce. She didn't think she had much of a chance though.

Feeling the van come to a halt, she waited for her cultural exchange coordinator to open up the back to let her out.

Once she did, Miia slithered out onto the ground and took a look around. It was a quaint neighborhood with a vastly different style and feeling from her home village, and different still from the princess stories she used to read.

Smith-san let out a pain filled yawn. "Ugh, I think I drank too much last night. Anyways, this is the house," she said, pointing at the house on the driver's side of the van.

Miia, roused from her musings about the surroundings, eyed the place she would be staying in. A bit small, considering her size, but Smith-san guaranteed the house would be renovated for her later on.

However, none of that crossed her mind as she made her way to the front door with Smith-san at her side. The closer she got, however, the more nervous she became.

'What if … no he'll definitely hate me.'

Preparing herself for disappointment as Smith-san rang the doorbell, her nervousness came to a climax when the door finally swung open after a long wait.

Emerging from inside was … an incredibly handsome man!

"Waah …" she couldn't help but voice, though quiet enough that she didn't think he heard.

This was her host?! This specimen whose face looked like it was chiseled from stone rather than born from any womb. And his clothes, while baggy and comfortable, couldn't hide the amount of muscle hiding underneath them.

Although thinking her homestay might be more enjoyable than she once thought, her nervousness also increased two fold.

'I don't want someone like this hating me!'

Her hands fidgeted, unable to keep still. She noticed his face morph into a look of curiosity and annoyance. Was he already irritated with her?

"For what reason has someone come knocking on my door so early in the morning?"

His barraton voice, laced with a grouchy tone, not to mention his analytical hawk-like eyes, made her feel small while under his gaze.

"What are you talking about? I'm your cultural exchange coordinator Smith-san, and this is your new house guest."

"Eh?"

Miia saw him become quite confused by Smith-san's words, which subsequently made her just as confused as well. Shouldn't he have been informed about her? Or that every least told that a guest was coming to stay with him? Smith-san apparently didn't notice or didn't care about his puzzlement.

"You signed up for the program and got approved, so here's your cultural exchange homestay guest. She's a Lamia and her name is Miia. Go on."

Realising that was her cue, remembering Japanese etiquette, she bowed her slightly, no doubt looking quite flustered as she did so. "Ah, hello, my name is Miia. Please take care of me from now on."

She thought she sounded sincere enough, but to her horror she only saw his face turn into a confused scowl.

"Wait just a moment … eto … Smith-san. I think there's been a mistake …"

She knew it. He's acting like this because he was expecting a more likable species.

"If you're upset about her being a Lamia," Smith-san said outright, not noticing Miia flinch at her words, "don't worry, we'll renovate your house at a later date. It'll be of no inconvenience to you."

'That's … not what people would worry about when hosting a Lamia, Smith-san.' her thoughts never reached the coordinator. Apparently, her host thought along the same lines as her as his face went from scowling to exasperated.

"That's a pretty big inconvenience! Especially considering that you've got the wrong …"

He never got to finish those words.

"Oh, would you look at the time? I am swamped at work and need to get back quickly lest it piles up. I'll be back to discuss details about the renovations and other paperwork you need to fill out. Don't worry, we'll pay for all of it. You take care of Miia. Bye. Ugh, my hangover is killing me …"

And like that, she was back in the van and speeding off before either Miia or her host could get a word in. The lamia turned back to the man she had figured out was not her real host. She wanted to say something, but was still ultimately too nervous to speak up, especially when he was glaring at the retreating van with malice.

"Why me?" she heard him say, which only made her feel worse.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with me. I promise not to be a bother."

Her host turned his intimidating gaze towards her, causing an "eep" to escape her mouth. His stare didn't last long before he sighed and ran a hand through his white hair.

"Don't worry. I can tell by how awkward you are that you didn't exactly want to be here either."

While not the main reason for her nervousness, she couldn't deny it was the truth.

"Anyways, come inside and sit down at the kotetsu. We'll discuss what to do until your real host is found."

Walking back inside, Miia meekly followed him and sat down near the low table which he identified as a kotetsu after she asked. He placed himself across from her, the intensity of his gaze having not subsided.

"Do you know the name of your real host?"

"... No"

"That's a problem for you and Smith-san to sort out then. Well, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Emiya Shirou, I'm 28 and work as a chef."

"O-okay. Emiya-san then."

Her voice sounded shaky in answering. Even earlier when she was nervous, her voice hadn't done so. Only then did she notice that due to cold sweats she had lost a fair bit of body heat, causing her to shiver.

"W-well, you already heard my name is Miia. Once again, I didn't mean to intrude. Smith-san will likely be back in a few days, so you won't have to put up with me for long."

"Good. We wouldn't want you to be separated from your host family for long."

Translation: I'm glad you'll be gone. Miia could read between the lines and interpret the meaning of his words. Especially with the way he was staring at her tail, she could tell that he felt disgusted by her presence.

'What kind of cultural exchange coordinator was that?! You can't just hand me some random girl and leave! Unlike my younger self, I won't take care of someone just because they asked!'

Yes, Emiya Shirou had a pension for taking girls into his home. Even Archer himself had lived with Rin and Illya during his life. And he accepted them in without thinking despite the financial and living space troubles it would bring about.

After bringing the Lamia girl inside, he noticed her shivering as he sat down. Likely because Lamia's were cold blooded, they got cold rather easily. However, his house was set at a reasonable temp, so he didn't think it was the only reason.

No, it was very obvious that the girl was incredibly nervous, given how her tail swayed and figited behind her. Actually, looking at her body language, she was fearful of him more than anything, and he could guess why. Anyone with the lower body of a snake was bound to face prejudice.

Honestly, he thought that such a thing should have been the least of her concerns. Instead, the far larger issue was the danger of leaving a young girl like her alone at the strange man's house. Of course, Archer wouldn't do anything, but how could they know that? Even if Lamia can typically over-power humans, a single dose of a date-rape drug would solve that issue.

"Good. We wouldn't want you to be separated from your host family for long," he said, his words having no deeper meaning. She wasn't his responsibility and thus should be with the person who had taken on that responsibility. After all, Archer was not trained or equipped to host a Lamia long term.

At the time, he wasn't aware that most host families weren't either.

However, his transparent words were obviously interpreted a lot differently than intended by the Lamia. She flinched and bit her bottom lip, her tail drooping slightly as she seemed to be rather hurt by his words.

'Why would she be hurt by that? Wouldn't she want to be with her host family?'

Not wanting to make her cry, he stood up, an idea having come to mind. In fact, he should have done this from the start.

"I'll be right back."

And like that, he left the room. Although he said he would be back, Miia couldn't help but think he was trying to escape her presence. Her mood became even more dour and the chills in her body grew worse.

Holding back from wanting to cry, she tugged on the sleeves of her shirt to alleviate some stress.

'Maybe I should just leave,' she thought. While she didn't know how to contact Smith-san, if she could borrow a map, then finding her way back to the coordinator's office might not be terribly hard. She hoped.

However, her host re-entering the room brought her attention back to reality.

"I didn't know what type of food Lamia's eat, but I assume human food is alright, yes?"

"Huh? Oh, yes it's fine …"

That's when she noticed what he was carrying. Two bowls of rice with seasonings and vegetables, and a side plate of fish. Setting them down on the kotetsu, he exited the room once more, carrying a cup of tea and a blanket.

"Good. I don't know if you're hungry but eating will help warm you up a little."

He set the tea cup down in front of her as he approached with a blanket

"H-huh? What are you …?"

"I realise my hospitality needs work, so I hope you're okay with my rather crude treatment of you up until this point."

Without waiting for a response to his words, he draped the blanket gently over her shoulders with a kind look in his eyes. The close proximity of his face and her own cause her to blush slightly.

"I know some might treat you with prejudice, but I promise you won't receive any of that here," he said bluntly, revealing he knew of her anxieties. She quickly turned her head to face him, unable to suppress a surprised expression. "So relax and eat so you can get your body temperature back up. I can't have you going into hibernation on my floor."

He joked with a mirthful smirk. However, his light hearted and caring attitude struck a chord with Miia.

'He … he doesn't hate me? Or find me scary?'

If only she knew what counted as scary for him.

She watched him sit back down across from her to dig into his meal. His cold disposition from earlier having been replaced by a kind, if somewhat distant, radiance. He noticed her staring and put on a deadpan expression.

"This breakfast was originally all for me. So if you don't eat it, I will."

"Wha? Oh, sorry."

She looked back down at her food and took a bite. And what she experienced was bliss.

'This is the best thing I've ever tasted! This is just breakfast?! Wait, he did say he was a chef. But even then, isn't this way too good for me?!'

Her flushed expression did not go unnoticed by her host. Looking up at him once more, she could see the hint of a proud smirk wanting to form on his face.

"It was that good, huh?"

At his teasing, her face went red with embarrassment before she continued to dig into the small breakfast which he had served. And dig in she did, eating at incredible speeds, allowing her to finish her food long before he.

"I know snakes tend to eat their prey whole, but next time you still might want to chew slower lest you choke."

Once more, she blushed at his teasing, but she never stopped smiling. His teasing was comforting in a way as it held no malice. It was … warm. His cold steel colored eyes couldn't hide the kind look he had when facing her. And their intensity didn't feel as … condescending as before.

'Was it like this? Was I just too scared to see?'

No, he definitely was treating her better than earlier since his annoyance had subsided, but she hadn't a need to know this.

'When he was staring at my tail and scales before, it must've been from curiosity and not animosity. Otherwise he wouldn't treat me like this. He even noticed I was cold and afraid, despite not knowing anything about me.'

As he continued to eat, she watched his every movement.

After breakfast, he quickly showed her around the house, revealing the room where she would be sleeping. He then let her know his schedule and any rules of the house she would need to abide by. All in all, a pretty standard tour of one's home, but she couldn't help but notice his attentiveness. Apologizing for smaller spaces and removing anything from the walkways in order to accommodate her larger size. He was also more than willing to give up the master bedroom to allow her not only sufficient space but also privacy. He explained he would never force her to do any chores while she was there besides keeping her own area tidy, and told her he would cook all three meals of the day, and would make extra food specifically for her since she had a larger appetite.

All in all, despite none of it being his responsibility, in typical Emiya fashion he was willing to go the extra mile for her during her stay. Despite his teasing and distant attitude, his kindness and warmth almost made her choke up.

'He's not my host. He's not my real host, but I don't think I would mind staying here. It's too bad I'll have to leave.'

Little did she know that Archer's E rank luck would end up granting her wish.