'Tohsaka-san…?'

Murmurs filled the room, and Rin realized she was standing at her desk. Arturia was looking right at her with as much confusion as the rest of the class.

What the hell!? Is it…is it really…?

Rin blinked, slowly lowering herself only because of Arturia's – no – "Lily's" seeming lack of reaction beyond perplexity.

She doesn't…recognize me?

There was no doubt in Rin's mind. None whatsoever. This was Arturia. It wasn't some lookalike or descendant. It couldn't be. Rin knew her king too well – had gazed upon her so carefully so many times – to make a mistake. However, the fact of the matter was that Arturia was either hiding her true identity, or simply…didn't remember Rin. The latter possibility made the Tohsaka heir lightheaded almost immediately. What was the better scenario? The loss of Arturia completely, or her return only to further torture Rin with hope unfounded?

'Something on your mind, Tohsaka-san?' Taiga pressed. She had seen Arturia before, hadn't she? If however briefly acquainted, wouldn't she recognize Lily as Arturia as well? Possibly not. Enough time had passed, and foreigners tended to look similar to most Japanese people if they had overly identical physical traits.

'I…simply wished to welcome you, Pendragon-san.' Rin felt her throat tighten as she forced the words out. Lily's reaction helped matters little, for she smiled cutely, tipping her head slightly to the right in an overly endearing way, but excessively unlike anything Arturia would have done.

'Thank-you…er…'

'Tohsaka. Rin Tohsaka.'

'Rin…Tohsaka?' Lily blinked, and Rin's heart leapt.

Was that…a reaction?

Or was Lily simply unsure of how to pronounce a Japanese name unknown to her and whatever lessons she had endured to learn the language?

This is the worst. I hate it. I'm immediately nauseous. Elegance is the last performative trait I can enact in this goddamn situation…

'It's nice to meet you.' Lily bowed quickly, her eyes lingering on Rin for but a second longer before she began scanning the class in search of a seat, perhaps.

Rin's insides turned over, and she consciously took deep breaths as subtly as she could to diminish the chance of making a scene. Months had passed since Rin had seen Arturia, and she had honestly lost hope of ever having her in her life again, yet here she was – some new version of her anyway. Rin managed to calm herself to an acceptable level of presentation with the plan to at least make contact with Arturia first before she started losing her head over the thought of her king having no memory of her.

'There's an empty desk in front here, Pendragon-san. It's all yours.' Taiga indicated, and Arturia nervously took a seat, even her mannerisms like a completely different person to Rin. Was Arturia truly that good of an actress? The likely answer caused Rin another wave of sickness.

'U-um…You can call me Lily, Fujimura-sensei.' She turned to the class, her cheeks red and mouth practically trembling as she spoke. 'Everyone can call me Lily, if you'd like. It would make me more comfortable, honestly. T-thank-you.'

Finally, the boys cheered, their excitement more than irritating to Rin. They didn't deserve to be in Arturia's presence. Not even a little bit. Rin's head throbbed as jealousy overtook her. During the war, Arturia was all hers, but in this setting…

'Shut up!' Taiga threw a piece of chalk at a particularly loud boy, his last-minute evasive maneuver of ducking near his desk saving him from possibly a nasty looking bruise on his face. 'We still have a class to get through, got it?'

The male students all quieted down after the example was made, and Taiga huffed with superiority, her hands on her hips.

'I understand it's exciting to have a new classmate; especially one as interesting as Lily-san,' Taiga winked at Arturia, and she nodded with seeming thanks. 'But that doesn't mean any of you get to slack off while I'm in charge. There will be plenty of time to introduce yourselves to Lily-san when your teacher is not trying to prepare you for a half decent future. Now, open up your copies of "Lord of the Flies". We're going to start where we left off yesterday and then complete some comprehension papers. Who wants to be our first reader?'

If Taiga thought Rin lacked focus the day before, the Tohsaka heir was thankful she wasn't called upon to read aloud now. As much as she was sure she could manage regardless, she felt everything else in her life was simply in the way of verifying who Lily Pendragon truly was. All throughout the remainder of first period, Rin couldn't resist the urge to stare at the back of Arturia from the top of her shoulders and up at regular intervals. True to the character Rin knew, Arturia was studious, following along with the class and sitting with perfect posture the entire time. She even volunteered to read the final passage of the day, her hand extended straight and upward with such precision and commitment to Taiga's request that even Fujimura-sensei seemed taken aback before calling on her.

'Actually, having a native speaker in the class perform a reading isn't a half bad idea. Take it away, Lily-san.'

'Thank-you.' Arturia's voice still threw Rin off a bit. It seemed higher. And again, her shoulders were slimmer, her entire stature somehow smaller in every way despite being precisely the same height as the Arturia from Rin's memories, surely.

'Ahem. Ralph disentangled himself cautiously and stole away through the branches. In a few seconds the fat boy's grunts were behind him and he was hurrying toward the screen that still lay between him and the lagoon. He climbed over a broken trunk and was out of the jungle. The shore was fledged with palm trees. These stood or leaned or reclined against light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air. The ground beneath them was a bank covered in coarse grass, torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying coconuts and pale saplings. Behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar. Ralph stood, one hand against a grey trunk, and screwed up his eyes against the shimmering water.' Arturia paused, glancing around the class tentatively. 'Um…Should I continue?'

'No. No, that's fine. Exceptional, even.' Taiga eyed Rin. 'Guess you got some competition now, don't you, Tohsaka-san?'

There was an applause as Arturia took her seat, hands pressed in-between her legs shyly as she turned bright red, as far as Rin could tell.

The fact Arturia could read English well wasn't necessarily the impressive part of her participation. The reason she had garnered such praise was due to her oratory skills at their core. While her classmates witnessed an individual who could read flawlessly with the proper intonation and breaks as the author intended his work to be read, Rin felt the presence of her king's commanding voice capable of not only charming any who heard it, but also of inspiring men in arms to fight and die for her. King Arthur Pendragon was there within "Lily" somewhere, of this Rin had no doubt. The details only needed to be properly extracted as soon as possible…for Rin's sanity, if anything.

Rin managed to at least complete her comprehension worksheet for the latest pages read. Thankfully, that brought her to the end of class, the bell notifying everyone that it was time for their next subject. Inevitably, because of the small break between first and second period, Arturia's desk was immediately swarmed with at least 70% of the class, Kaede included in the bunch. Ayako, on the other hand, made her way to Rin's desk instead, something of a strange saunter in her step.

'Feeling more jealous than anticipated?' She smirked, taking the now vacant seat in front of Rin and holding on to the back of the chair as she turned to meet Rin's gaze.

More than you know.

'I'm intrigued, to say the least, of course.' Rin admitted. 'But envious of being the center of attention? Not quite.'

'Then why do you look like you sort of want to murder somebody?'

Rin had to consciously relax her brow. She was scowling. When did that happen?

'Because I think Lily-san doesn't want a mob around her on her first day of class in a new country. I imagine it's overwhelming.'

'True. That would be a bit much.' Ayako was still grinning. 'Maybe you could go say something. If anyone could get our classmates to disperse, it'd be the Rin Tohsaka stepping in when she usually keeps her distance from most things.'

Rin met Ayako's sharp gaze and wondered just how perceptive this usually flippant girl actually was, at the end of the day. She supposed there was a reason they had gravitated toward one another to begin with, but Rin may have underestimated her.

'It's…not really my place. If I were the Student Council President, that would be one thing, but I'm not.'

'Even though you easily could have been.'

Rin blinked. Why was Ayako pressing her so much today? Her timing was poor. Rin had much larger matters to contend with.

'Alright. Alright! That's enough, everyone. Hey! Give the girl some space!' Taiga's volume increased with every word before she was flailing her arms and on the verge of shoving her students away from Arturia's desk. 'There will be plenty of time to get to know your new classmate. For now, school is still in session, and I just need to assign a couple of you to Lily-san to give her a nice welcoming tour during lunch break. Any volunteers? You might not have as much free time during the break, but there's a treat from the cafeteria in it for you if you help me out here.'

Naturally, plenty of Rin's classmates were more than willing, their hands raised and pleas for selection a noisy mess of sounds. Rin practically rolled her eyes, but when she caught a glimpse of Arturia within the crowd, her small form seated still and shoulders raised a bit to indicate she was uncomfortable, the Tohsaka heir couldn't stop her own arm from extending upward as well.

'Oh?' Ayako hummed with obvious interest, turning to the front of the class and raising her hand as well. 'Fujimura-sensei! Over here!' She called out.

Although part of Rin hated the fact her supposed friend was drawing such attention to them, she had far less time to be annoyed when Taiga stepped away from the mob at the front of the class and pointed to Rin and Ayako dramatically.

'Aha! Perfect! You two are hired! Thank-you!'

Groans of disappointment followed Taiga's selection, and when the next teacher appeared to take over, Rin's classmates were forced to come to terms with the decision swiftly while taking their seats.

'Guess we're tour guides come lunchtime, Rin-san.' Ayako chuckled, also going back to her desk.

Rin wasn't sure how she felt about that, but a proper analysis of "Lily" was certainly possible regardless of her feelings, and she found some solace in that knowledge. Nonetheless, when Arturia turned to face Rin and place her hands together as if in prayer, mouthing the words "thank-you", Rin's heart sped up all over again. If Rin's fate regarding her relationship with Arturia knew any kind of mercy, she would get to the bottom of "Lily's" existence soon enough.

Rin nodded to "Lily", and she turned back to face the front, her blonde hair continuing to torment Rin's memories and emotions in every possible way.

When lunchtime finally came, Rin sluggishly stood up at her desk and gathered all the elegance she could to proceed as needed to find out the truth about "Lily". She had tortured her mind, naturally, throughout the remaining classes between homeroom and lunch, barely able to register what her teachers were attempting to lecture but at least feigning attention enough not to be called upon more than a couple of times. Now, Rin was mentally exhausted from every venue she had explored no less than hundreds of times as she awaited this moment. While she approached Arturia's desk, she cycled through the possibilities anew, finally able to at least categorize them in a digestible manner with the appropriate measures she would take should any of her three considerations be true:

Firstly, "Lily" could simply be a descendant of King Arthur Pendragon that bore a striking resemblance to her distant ancestor. Rin struggled to believe this to be the case due to just how much "Lily" did look like Arturia, but it was certainly a possibility. The fact "Lily" had travelled from London all the way to Fuyuki City and to Rin's exact school seemed far too coincidental to be just that as well. Therefore, while Rin acknowledged this possibility, she wasn't certain it was the most likely scenario.

The second conclusion she had drawn was that this "Lily" was the Arturia Pendragon Rin knew, but was simply hiding as much for the time being to allow for a smoother integration into Rin's life. How this might be possible is where Rin ran into something of a problem. Was Arturia, as the technical winner of the war, granted a wish as well? Perhaps. But also difficult to believe. Rin and Arturia had agreed that Arturia would use her wish for her original desire. Clearly that hadn't come to pass. The chance that Arturia decided to use her wish to reunite with Rin was a potential path, but one Rin didn't see coming to fruition considering her king's commitment to her people and legacy.

That left the third option, which Rin was beginning to believe more and more, but had just as many holes as the prior two. "Lily" could very well be a reincarnation of Arturia with only vague memories that managed to guide her to this point in time and place. However, even as a reincarnation, would "Lily" look so much like Arturia? That wasn't a guarantee. Thus, Rin suspected there was much more to it all. Nonetheless, this theory seemed the most probable, which left Rin in a difficult position of hope and despair.

With all this being said, Rin understood her own trepidations when approaching "Lily". She would get an answer soon, and as she knew far too well at this point, sometimes a glimmer of possibility was more than enough to keep her going. When there was no chance of reconciliation whatsoever? That cavernous abyss had proven almost too much even for the heir to the Tohsaka name.

Can I get through anything like that again? Hell, I wasn't even through it at all. I'm still struggling by the day. Another mortal blow to my psyche might really be it for my sanity.

Yet, Rin approached who she committed to viewing as simply Lily for the time being lest she lose her mind entirely with thinking she really was Arturia Pendragon before any substantial confirmation.

It's just…better this way, I suppose.

'Lily-san? Are you still up for a bit of a tour?'

'Mm!' Lily nodded enthusiastically, packing her books into her bag and desk before standing up at attention. Her height hit Rin in the gut, as she stood precisely where Arturia had before her; ever so slightly shorter than Rin. 'Thank-you for taking the time to help me, Tohsaka-san. I hope I don't take away from your time to eat too much.'

Rin's mouth tightened. Her second scenario was looking less and less likely. Rin just didn't pin the Arturia she knew as capable of such a "cutesy" act for so long, especially when she had the briefest of chances now to give Rin some kind of reprieve that it was really her behind the guise.

'It's not a problem. I don't usually eat much anyway.'

'Oh. That makes one of us.' Lily giggled, making a funny face for a moment as if she had been caught doing something mischievous. It was…terribly adorable. Rin almost had to reach and grip at her chest. Was she going to be okay doing this? Being so close to her, even if she wasn't certain Lily was Rin's Arturia, still reminded her of what had been lost. Was this…possibly what Arturia had been like before becoming king? It was definitely not out of the question.

I'm in trouble.

'It shouldn't take us too long if we just go over the important parts of the school.' Ayako stood next to Rin now, nodding to the entrance to the class. 'Should we head out?'

'Yes, please!' Lily beamed.

Rin and Ayako thus led the way, entering into the third floor's hall of the school and indicating the various other classrooms available. Even though many students ate within their classes, there were still a decent amount that had to make their way to the cafeteria to purchase their lunch. Because of that fact, traffic wasn't exactly light, and thanks to Lily's presence, said traffic slowed sown notably as Rin and Ayako attempted to show the new girl around.

'Hello.' One particularly brave boy attempted to speak in heavily accented English. Lily kindly replied with a smile and wave that surely made the young man's day.

'Hi! It's nice to meet you!'

Wherever the small group went, hushed discussions of excitement and intrigue were had, Lily's golden blonde hair and gorgeously green eyes more than enough to draw attention let alone her angelic visage and tiny, pleasing features within the brown, black, white, and red uniform provided to her.

Rin had to continuously check her brow, its furrow practically permanent as she and Ayako proceeded from the second floor of the school to the first, explaining to Lily how Homurahara Gakuen was laid out and where to find the basic facilities such as the washrooms, the nurse's clinic, the principal's office, the cafeteria (where they received their free treats), and so on and so forth.

Lily herself was a joy to be around, her enthusiasm to learn her new school obvious and agreeable nature hard not to instantly become endeared with. Rin sometimes felt her Arturia within the girl, especially when she pressed for solidified information regarding the nurse's hours or the capability of the principal's aptitudes. It was hard to say why, exactly, but Rin gained a familiar sense of the woman lost from her life, and wished upon wished that Lily would still somehow turn out to be the Arturia she loved.

Eventually, the group made it outside of the school, circling around to get to the recreational side of the grounds. Rin's mana circuits tingled as she stepped close to the piece of land that had housed the first true fight in the fifth Holy Grail War, where she had also found Shirou on the verge of death. How would Lily react? Would she understand the significance of this place? Did Rin want her to?

'There's a pool, a decent track area, a field for soccer and that kind of stuff. We even have a pretty solid Archery club, if you're at all interested. I'm in that one, personally. You'd be more than welcome.' Ayako was a nice buffer to Rin's apprehensions. She wasn't sure how to act around Lily, her emotionally compromised state of being belying her of the usual levelheadedness the Tohsaka heir was capable of.

'Archery. Hm.' Lily cupped her chin as the group did a lap around the school to better advertise its abundance of extracurricular possibilities. 'I might prefer something like…kendo? I read that's fairly popular in Japan still?'

Rin felt her heart skip again. This was too much. Lily came from London, had a healthy appetite, and liked kendo on top of her striking resemblance to Arturia? This was looking less and less like a coincidence. It couldn't be. But then, how was Rin supposed to verify anything with Ayako around? Lily didn't react to the first battlefield of the Grail War, but Arturia hadn't been actively involved in that fight either. Perhaps the street where they confronted Berserker? Would that help? Was Rin's best path to take Lily to any place that bore significance to Arturia and hope for the best from there?

And what if…she still doesn't recall anything?

Rin was uncertain she could handle yet another heartbreak. Her current one was not even close enough to healing for her to endure a second. Third? Was it best to…simply take Lily at face value and torment herself no further?

As if I could do that. Damn it.

Once Rin, Ayako, and Lily returned to their class, Rin noted that they really only had about fifteen minutes or so left to eat. It would be a rushed lunch after all.

'Come sit with us over here, Lily-san.' Ayako ignored the immediate buzz of classmates that began approaching the girls the moment they entered, announcing the seating arrangement loud enough to deter individuals who might have had the courage to invite Lily to sit with them. 'You might as well. You don't know anyone else besides us for now. We'll keep today simple.'

'Oh! Thank-you! That would be wonderful.'

Rin wasn't sure whether or not to be grateful, but she didn't really have a choice either way, and was more thankful for Ayako's assertiveness than irritated by the idea of being so close to the girl that caused her insurmountable turmoil from the moment she had entered the classroom.

'Nice! I'll get our desks together!' Kaede was impressively quick to take action, likely thanking her luck that she was very much included in any gathering that Rin and Ayako created.

In no time at all, Rin somehow found herself sitting with Ayako, Kaede, and Lily. It felt like one of the hundreds of dreams she had experienced as of late, yet she knew this was real. Someone who looked frighteningly like Arturia sat across from Rin in her school's uniform, and despite spending the better part of lunchbreak with this girl, Rin's mind still struggled to merge the two worlds she had known until recently. As Lily took a big bite of the melon bread she had gleefully obtained from the cafeteria's store, Rin's chest pinched at the memory sparked, and part of her wished there was more of a reaction from the other girl save for an emphasized hum of delight.

'So, hope that little tour helped you out. Feeling more comfortable with the place now?' Ayako asked.

Lily nodded, taking another bite of her bread before answering almost as if fearing it might disappear completely on her.

'Yes! Very! It was quite educational!'

'You guys might want to keep an eye on poor Lily-chan here though, because I already heard a few of the guys making plans to ask her out on a date.' Kaede kept her voice low, leaning in to avoid inevitable eavesdropping.

'Pardon?' Rin heard herself say with more indignation than she would have normally planned.

'Right? Talk about desperate.' Kaede seemed to agree.

'A…date?' Lily blinked. 'They don't even know me yet. That's strange.'

'They know enough.' Ayako grinned devilishly. 'I don't know what it's like in London, but it's pretty common in Japan for guys to ask a girl out first and determine if they actually like her or not later. Not always the case, but isn't exactly rare either. Just ask Rin-san here.'

'Oh? Have you been courted many times, Tohsaka-san?'

Rin didn't realize she was gritting her teeth still. The thought of Lily being approached in any way lit a fire in her heart she was struggling to diminish. Worse yet, the very notion of Lily even accepting said proposal was beyond Rin's capability of enduring.

'Er…enough to know it is a fairly common tactic, yes.'

'Hm. I can see that. You're very pretty.' Lily blushed immediately following her words, covering her reddening face. 'I-I'm so sorry! That was much too forward of me! It was just…like commenting on how beautiful the evening sky is, right? A natural observation! Ah! I'm making it worse!'

Kaede and Ayako laughed openly at the perceived blunder, Ayako even nudging Lily playfully as she helped calm her.

'Don't worry about it, Lily-san; Rin is literally the princess of our school. She's used to that kind of thing. Although that was a unique way of putting it. As natural as the evening sky, huh? What do you think of that, Rin-san?'

'I-it's fine.' Rin attempted to keep her voice leveled and expression calm, but she could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks.

'Whoa! You actually got a reaction out of Rin-chan!' Kaede shouted louder than desired.

'A fine achievement for your first day.' Ayako added.

'That's enough.' Rin demanded flatly.

'Sorry, Tohsaka-san. I didn't mean any offence.' Lily apologized again.

'I'm not upset.' Rin hesitated, but swallowed her pride and haphazardly made a move she wasn't completely confident in. 'Why would I be? To be complimented by someone arguably even more attractive than myself I will take as a small victory.'

'W-wah…!?' Lily covered her face again. 'N-no way!'

Rin grinned to herself. She wanted to flirt with Lily. Hell, even if she wasn't her Arturia, there had to be some form of connection between her and Arturia based on their last name, right? Perhaps getting close to Lily was the best path available for now. Perhaps this was the first step to some form of compromise in Rin's life. She still held out hope that Arturia was within Lily somewhere but, worst-case scenario, befriending someone that helped sooth the wound in Rin's heart wasn't a terrible semblance of consolation either.

'For Rin-chan to say something like that you know it's true!' Kaede giggled.

'I think you guys are just teasing me.' Lily took a poutful final bite of her melon bread, but than smiled and laughed as well. 'But thank-you, Tohsaka-san. That was a really nice thing to say. You have all been so kind to me this afternoon. To be honest, I was so very nervous about starting school today I hardly slept last night. But now I'm excited for the days to come!'

'Speaking of which,' Ayako held a fairly large rice ball in her hand as she spoke. 'Your Japanese is actually really good. You obviously studied hard to speak it so well. What made you want to come to Japan? Or, more specifically, I guess, Fuyuki City?'

Rin froze, not wishing to make a sound since she feared missing Lily's answer. She wanted to silence the entire class, but there was no real need, for there was something of a hushed anticipation from those close enough to the four girls to overhear the question Ayako had posed for the foreign exchange student.

Lily looked up to the ceiling, as if searching for a reply. She shrugged thereafter, tipping her head to the side and smiling lightly.

'Hm. You know what? I'm not really sure. I just…knew I needed to be here. It's been a goal since I could remember. Strange, huh? But now that I'm in Fuyuki City, I know this is exactly where I want to be. My heart feels…home. Weird, isn't it? I…don't know what else to say.' Lily herself seemed confused, but when her gorgeous eyes met Rin's, however briefly, Rin's chest tightened and her own heart hammered into it.

Rin wasn't so foolish as to deny herself the hope that had been creeping into her soul since the moment Lily appeared. No. This was the clincher. There were simply too many "coincidences" to ignore that which literally stared directly at her. Those emerald-green irises couldn't be refused for much longer. If Rin weren't in class, with more than the majority of her classmates' eyes on her, she wasn't sure what she might have done in that moment of heightened anticipation of what Lily's presence meant. Instead, she simply mentally calmed every facet of her being, and nodded to the other girl with a smile of authentic joy.

'You don't need to say anything else, Lily-san. We're happy you're here as well.'

I'm happy you're here.

'True. You're certainly bound to keep things interesting.' Ayako chuckled knowingly.

'If you need anything at all, make sure you ask us, okay?' Kaede winked and pointed at herself with her thumb before lowering her voice. 'Especially if any boys start bothering you.'

'Oh. Right.' Lily bit at her lower lip apprehensively. The sight picked at Rin's protective nature for this girl, and she crossed her arms, heat filtering through her whole body as she made a proclamation she prayed she wouldn't regret.

'It won't be a problem.' Rin found Lily's wonderful eyes again and almost faltered. But she couldn't. Not until she had answers. And the only way she would find those answers, it seemed, was if she had the opportunity to seek them. 'Because I'll be escorting Lily-san home.'