Well, it's taken twice as long as it should have to get here, but... Chapter 6! I apologize for the delay, and hope you enjoy it!
Also, special thanks to Doctor Blood. I feel that you really need a few mental scars to write properly in the Fate/ fandom, and he has generously provided.
Chapter 6: Changing Stance.
"Why did you bring so many boxes?" Shiro asked, carefully stacking one of the cardboard containers Archer had brought in the hall closet. "And why are they all full of glass?"
Rin crossed her arms. "Part of your training," she said simply, "but we'll talk about that later. Do you know what that girl's doing in the front yard?"
"Ranma, you mean?" Shiro asked, walking over to the front door and briefly opening it. Outside, between the dojo and the house next to where she had set up her tent, the redhead was moving slowly and deliberately, her free arm making graceful movements as she stepped. "Looks… sorta like Tai chi," he guessed. "When I asked, she said it was meditation."
"That isn't meditation," Rin tapped the fingers of her right hand on her left elbow, irritably.
Shiro just shrugged. "Well, that's what she said."
"I guess it doesn't really matter," the black haired girl huffed. "It's getting kind of late, what's for dinner?"
"...Right, you're staying for dinner," Shiro said, turning from the door and almost jumping as he noticed Saber suddenly standing next to the taller girl. "I'll see what I can put together." Moving past the two, he entered the kitchen and felt himself relax slightly.
He guessed it was natural that Rin would expect to be fed, she was fairly clearly under the impression that he was causing her a lot of work. He grimaced, opening the fridge and looking for something to feed four people, including Saber. As he rummaged, he continued thinking. Even if Rin wasn't a fan, he was happy that another master had allied with them, even temporarily, and had stepped in so readily at school. It meant that there was someone else who probably wouldn't horribly abuse the grail the way that priest had said it had been ten years before.
Nodding as he caught sight of something that would probably do, the red haired boy reached into the fridge.
HR.
Ranma winced as her stance faltered, the carefully ordered kata she'd been practicing suddenly off pace. Frowning darkly, she stopped, lowering her arm to her side and taking a deep, somewhat shaky breath.
She'd started working as soon as she got back to Shiro's house with her supplies, carefully running through the events of every fight she'd had since her Chi had started vanishing in reverse order, until she'd eventually gotten to that one. The one whose last moments and aftermath would probably be burned into her memory for the rest of her life.
Those two final attacks, the fall to the ground, the desperate pleading for Akane to wake up even though her eyes had completely closed, and then the heat. Moments before, he'd still been recovering from the bone numbing cold of the Gekkaja, but suddenly warmth seemed to suffuse his body in patches, the water surrounding them almost seeming to resonate as it did. Ranma had pretty much ignored this, still holding and pleading with Akane, until the warmth had increased to burning, as if half the nerves in his body had been directly lit on fire. He'd screamed, falling forward over her, and then… she'd opened her eyes.
The aftermath of that, whatever it had been, hadn't been fun. He'd barely been able to walk for the next day and a half, one arm still completely numb, but had managed to hide it by walking slowly and avoiding movement whenever possible. Eventually, feeling had returned, but now, with what she'd learned about magic, the whole series of events took on a different meaning.
Had he somehow used magic to bring Akane back? And once that opened his circuits, they kept on popping open when… She frowned, glaring at the house in front of her. She still had no idea why it was happening. Closing her eyes again, she began moving, running through the events at the end of that battle once more. Despite how uncomfortable it was, she kept running over Akane's return, feeling for something, anything that would…
Her eyes flew open and she looked down to see a blue-green line running down her forearm, a slight warmth tracing its path, as well as several others all over her body. As she looked, the circuit flickered out, but at least it was progress.
HR.
Rin Tohsaka was trying not to be impressed, as she leaned on the sliding door that lead from Shiro's living room to the side yard, observing the martial artist before her, who had shifted from slow, deliberate movements to a quick, precise dance of fists and feet that somehow didn't look awkward despite one arm being bound to her chest.
The most impressive part about it, however, was the blue-green lines of magic circuits that glowed along the girl's arms and legs. "Did I just watch someone learn body reinforcement in half an hour?" She grumbled, her eye twitching.
("More like adapting a pre-existing technique.") She didn't jump, or yelp in surprise as the comment butted in on her musing. Anyone who said she had would be asking for a Gandr shot between the eyes. ("The principles of Mana and Odic enhancement are very similar.")
("Of course,") Archer continued, as the redhead fell out of stance, and then her knees buckled. She barely caught herself on her one shaking arm, panting. ("She's overdoing it a bit.") The twin-tailed girl winced in sympathy. She'd only ever overstrained her physical enhancement once, while fighting Kirei. It felt like she'd pulled every muscle in her body, including a few she didn't know about.
"You'll rip yourself apart if you keep pushing your circuits like that," she offered, arms crossed over her chest.
"Yeah, well," Ranma responded, slowly hauling herself to her feet. "Sooner I stop this magic stuff from screwin' me up, the better."
"Stop it from screwing you up?" the mage asked, frowning irritably. "What's that supposed to mean? Magic is the most valuable gift you can have."
Ranma snorted, reaching for a towel she'd hung over the top of her tent and wiping her arms and face. "Right, Chi that feels like it's burning and puts way more strain on my body for less result, great gift."
"Physical enhancement isn't the best use for mana," Rin said, defensively.
"Oh, so what is?" Ranma asked, slumping down on the porch Rin had just vacated.
"Well, there are a lot," the dark haired girl replied. "This Grail War is powered by mana, for one. It can create bounded fields with effects like defensive wards, or environmental advantages, and can be used for healing. The true magics can even be used to travel dimensions, or even bring someone back from the dead."
"Wait, so you can bring people back to life?" the redhead asked, eyebrow raised.
"Well no, I can't, I can't do any of the true magics, only a few Magi can."
"Okay, so maybe the healing and wards and whatever are useful," Ranma admitted, "but none of it's that good for fighting. I mean, if that thing you shot me with is your best projectile attack, I can match anything you can do in combat. Only thing it's really useful for there is I apparently need it if I wanna fight Servants."
"You want to fight Servants?" the dark haired girl demanded, the emphasis very much on the second word. She knew it was possible that she might have to fight them, and it was why she was keeping her gems in reserve, but to actively want conflict with one was… "You're insane."
The redhead only tilted her head, and was about to open her mouth when a voice cut her off.
"Everyone," Shiro called from inside the house. "Dinner's ready!"
By the time Rin turned back from locating the voice, there was a gust of wind and her conversation partner was gone.
HR.
"Hey Shiro, this is really good," Ranma praised, leaning back slightly and sighing in delight. The red haired boy had prepared a variety of Japanese dishes, which was good. She'd been afraid that he'd make smaller portions, but evidently Saber liked to eat as much as she did, so there had been plenty. "Can I get the recipe for this stir fry? Kasumi'll probably like it."
"Sure, I'll write it down after dinner," the red haired boy replied, looking up from his own plate.
The table lapsed into silence for a short while after that, and Ranma found herself looking around speculatively at the other three. Shiro and Rin seemed to be eating normally, but the blonde Servant across from her was staring at her plate intently, her chopsticks moving in steady, mechanical motions.
Ranma's hand twitched towards her own. Curiosity burned at the back of her mind to find out exactly how good the white and blue clad woman was, and the chopstick sparring technique would probably do some of that, or at least get her some extra food.
"So who's Kasumi?" Ranma's hand twitched as Shiro's question cut across the silence, and she looked up to see him looking at her. Had he known what she was going to do?
"Um, I live at her family's dojo in Tokyo," she explained.
"You… really don't strike me as a city kid," Rin interjected.
Ranma shook her head. "I'm not. I spent most of my life on a trainin' trip with my old man, but he brought us to the dojo 'cuz he promised his son would marry one of the Tendo daughters, and I've been livin' there ever since."
"So you're married to this Kasumi?" Saber asked.
"Kasumi? No," Ranma almost choked, then shook her head so hard her pigtail slapped against her back. "That'd be weird. And I ain't married to anyone, yet."
"I see," the blonde woman said.
After a moment, Ranma couldn't restrain herself, her hand twitching towards the chopsticks again before asking "Can I get a spar in with ya after dinner?"
"Shiro and I will probably be training for most of that time," the blonde shook her head.
"Maybe we should sit in on that, though," Rin cut in.
Saber looked uncertainly at Shiro, who fidgeted with his hands before sighing. "Yeah, I guess that'd be okay."
HR.
'Why didn't I say no?' Shiro thought, as he ran quickly through his warm up exercises. It'd taken the group a while to clean up the dinner dishes, but after that they'd proceeded directly into the dojo, and now he was about to let Tohsaka and someone he barely knew watch him get chucked into a wall by Saber.
For a fleeting moment he wondered if Tohsaka knew what was going to happen and had suggested it for her own amusement. She was a dangerous woman, after all, the idea suited her. Shaking that off as he walked to the side of the room and picked up his usual wooden training sword, he took a deep, cleansing breath and turned back to Saber, noticing the two other girls sitting along one wall.
"You're ready, Shiro." It was less a question and more a demand, as he'd been used to in the last few training sessions.
He nodded, getting his blade up to guard as she charged forward. He was getting better, he knew this, if only because it took a full ten seconds for her to send him slamming into a wall, after he parried or moved out of the way of several strikes. He'd just stepped to the side and tried to reset himself, but hadn't done so quickly enough as a blow across the chest threw him into the wall, his weapon flying in the other direction.
He looked up at Saber, who was merely waiting for him to get back up, and then over at Rin and Ranma. It'd been Rin's expression he'd been worried about, but Ranma's that caught him. The redhead's eyes were narrowed, flicking rapidly between his recovering form and Saber, a look of deep concentration on her face.
The boy shrugged this off, walking over to pick up his blade and getting back into stance.
Three falls later, he heard the sound of footsteps. Looking up, he blinked as he saw Ranma approaching the middle of the room, a bokken in her hand.
"I said I couldn't spar with you right now," Saber said, a small frown crossing her face.
"Not plannin' on it," Ranma returned, as she picked up Shiro's dropped weapon and walked toward him, stretching out both blades.
"Huh?" he asked.
"Just take 'em," Ranma ordered.
The red haired boy did so, gripping a hilt in each hand.
"Now fall into stance," Ranma continued. Shiro did so, surprised at how easy it felt. The other redhead walked around him, looking him up and down. "The bokken are longer than whatever you're used to, right arm out and down." He obeyed. "Okay, Saber, try it now."
The blonde looked at both redheads dubiously, but obligingly lunged forward as Ranma got out of the way. The next engagement, inevitably, ended in Shiro flying into a wall, but it took considerably longer as the extra blade helped him deflect her blows and bleed off their force. Still, Saber hit like a truck, and eventually a block failed.
"That... worked," the blonde admitted, her face dark, though the glare was aimed at Shiro. Ranma had been the one who'd interfered, why was he in trouble? "You didn't tell me that you had previous weapons training," she said, as though answering his unspoken question.
"I... didn't, really," he said, uncertain. "Some practice with a bokken or shinai with Fuji-nee, that's it."
"Nah," Ranma disagreed. "you're rusty at it, but that was a good two weapon stance, and pulling those off right is a pain in the ass, especially with weapons you're not used to. Not a surprise Saber's methods didn't take that well, she was fighting your previous training."
"And what method was that?" Rin asked, now leaning against the wall. "All she was doing was hitting him with a stick. No teaching at all."
"That'd be the 'make the hurting stop' type of training," Ranma made a quoting gesture with one hand. "You learn, or you get covered in bruises."
"I... wouldn't put it that way," Saber looked uncomfortable, "but the description is accurate."
"It's a good method," Ranma smiled fondly. "Unfortunately, you want him defendin' himself fast, and it takes too long."
"What would you suggest?" Saber asked, curiously.
"Teach him how he should move," Ranma replied. "Let him figure out why when he's not in so much danger."
Saber considered this for a moment as though it were a new idea for her, and then nodded, stepping forward. "Into stance," she ordered, walking around him the way Ranma had earlier as he did so, and grabbing his limbs to adjust them slightly. "Now, strike left." He did so. "Again, more quickly." Ranma fell back to the wall, watching once more.
The lesson went on like this for several minutes, Saber acting much more like the previous Sensei Shiro had had, though that mercy eventually came to an end as she called for another spar. This time, after he flew into the wall, she began listing the flaws in what he'd done and his stance... and Tohsaka was still watching. Damn it all.
HR.
"I'm not sure if he's that interesting," Ryoga offered, stepping up next to Archer as the white haired Servant glared into the yard of the Emiya residence, specifically at a boy who was standing on the deck that circled the house, staring across at a small shed.
The other merely grunted, his gaze not wavering until the boy turned, re-entering the house. "Almost a decade," he said, after a minute of silence. "He spent almost a decade entering that shed and putting himself through ridiculous levels of pain, desperate to master the magical arts despite being convinced that he had absolutely no talent. And now, even after he's been convinced that it's self-destructive idiocy, he's still thinking of continuing to do it."
"He's... determined, I'll give him that," The lost one offered, uncertain of where this conversation was going.
"Determination to excess is just idiocy, especially in such a pointless goal," The white haired man countered. "In that time, with that level of dedication, how far do you think he could have gotten in your art? In any art that he understood the least bit?"
Ryoga grunted, having to concede the point.
"And this is the master mine's decided to bind herself to," Archer growled, crouching down on the rooftop.
"If you're trying to convince me to strike out on my own, it wasn't likely before and it's even less so now," the Assassin said.
"Less likely now?" Archer asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ryoga only looked back to the Emiya home's yard, and the tent set up near the shed. "A decade of work on a pointless goal? Yeah, that is stupid," he admitted. "On the plus side, at least he won't be congratulated for it after he finds out how stupid it was."
The white haired man's eyebrow twitched.
HR. - ?/?/20?.
He had to keep running. His muscles trembled in protest, and the sweat ran down his back in a river, mixed with blood from a lucky hit that still burned like fire. Even still, he chuckled. At least the damned thing had hit him with a curse that would do less than nothing to him, as it'd found out when he'd driven a bolt of purplish energy through its chest.
Noting that he'd seemingly opened up some distance, unable to hear the crashing it made lumbering through the forest after him, he swung his weapon off his back, the massive weight snapping a nearby tree at the base of the trunk, the sounds it made in the darkness telling him that he'd gotten a few ghouls who'd been waiting in ambush.
Taking a moment to sense the world around him and the energy that had been woven through it, he drove his foot down into the ground, and then began running again, a bolt of mana shrieking past his ear.
A moment later, he saw his destination. Where he had started, a clearing near the edge of this near impenetrable forest, the body of one of the association mages who'd been sent in with him still pinned to a tree by some of the damned thing's knives, and to his extra senses, a pinkish-purple spider-web of lines waiting slightly off-its center.
"Never working for these guys again," he panted, Clearing the edge of the open area as a conflagration burst to life behind him, catching part of his travel pack. Almost tripping forward, his right hand came down into the center of the web of lines, index finger extended. As it drove into the ground, a pulse of energy raced down the lines, and he waited.
Just as he heard the thing entering the clearing, a roaring, rumbling noise seemed to rush in on him from every direction, leading a shockwave, and then a massive wall of debris before everything went dark.
HR. 02/07.
"Mornin', Saber." The blonde Servant turned at the sudden voice, doing her best to hide her surprise at the pigtailed girl who leaned against the entrance to the dojo.
"Good morning, Ranma," she replied levelly.
"So, you're not training' Shiro right now," the martial artist said, expectantly.
"I'm not," Saber nodded.
Ranma stepped into the room, walking over to take a position across from the Servant and falling into a fighting stance.
"You aren't going to get a weapon?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ranma shook her head, and the Servant took that as her cue to move, pushing off and lunging forward. The next few minutes would be an odd sight for people to watch, as the fist-fighter proceeded to dance around and strike her opponent with single fingers, the sword-wielder steadily increasing speed in response, until the two got into a comfortable rhythm of fast paced blows and counters.
"Why are you poking me?" the blonde demanded as the two relaxed slightly after a rapid flurry of strikes.
The redhead snorted. "Can't hurt you anyhow, real strikes are a waste of effort."
"Plus precision," Saber offered, gaining a grin and nod from her opponent. "You know, you'd have better reach with a sword, especially with your arm immobilized like that."
Ranma shook her head. "In a situation like this, I'd probably be best off with guns." Noting Saber's surprise, she continued. "Probably smallish, keep my mobility. Larger caliber semi-automatic, treated somehow since I'm dealing with Servants. Might be able to figure out how to do that with magic, I guess. Then an automatic for crowd control and such."
"That's…" The blonde's eyes were now wide, an unreadable expression flitting across her face. "You'd want to use that kind of tactic?"
"Nah," Ranma replied, simply, walking back over to the door and picking up a towel she'd left there. "I just said it'd probably be the most effective. Not really my style, though."'
"What is your style?" the Servant asked.
"Not swords, either," Ranma tossed off, wiping sweat from her face and neck.
HR.
"Hey Shiro, you got breakfast?" Ranma asked, walking through the side door into the living room only to come to a stop staring into the face of a surprised woman with light brown, bordering on orange, hair.
The two stared at each other for a moment, before the woman bolted to her feet. "Another one?!" she demanded, pointing at the martial artist dramatically.
"Another… what?" Ranma asked, blinking and pointing at herself.
"Shiro's got another girl here!" the woman yelled. "First Kiritsugu's old friend, then Rin Tohsaka, and now some other girl I don't know! Are you running a harem here or something, Shiro!?"
"If he is, I ain't part of it," Ranma growled, glaring at the older woman.
"Oh, then why are you here?" she demanded. During all of this, Shiro had been sitting at the table across from her, trying to open his mouth to say something but being interrupted every time he tried. Rin, on the other hand, was just leaning back, grinning at the situation.
"Ranma's just a wandering martial artist, Fuji-nee," the red haired boy finally managed to interject. "She's staying here for a little while."
"A wandering martial artist?" the older woman asked, studying the person in question intently. "I didn't even know that still happened."
"Yeah, well, it does," Ranma fidgeted under the scrutiny.
"Ah, I see!" Fuji-nee exclaimed, raising one finger. "You came thinking that you could challenge the training hall here, and Saber went a bit too hard on you, huh?"
"What?" Ranma asked, blinking, the same sentiment coming from the blonde who was entering behind her.
"So Shiro offered you a place to stay until you could travel safely!" the older woman rattled right along, gesturing at Ranma's bound arm.
"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened!" Rin nodded, getting confused looks from both Ranma and Shiro. Saber had apparently decided to ignore this conversation in favour of the food on the table.
"Alright, then," The light-brown haired woman said, cheerfully. "I'm Taiga Fujimura. I look after Shiro here, and I'm a teacher at the local school."
"Ranma Saotome," the martial artist replied, cautiously, before sitting down at the table.
"So, a real wandering martial artist, hmm?" Taiga mumbled, as Shiro passed Ranma a bowl. Grinning, she asked, "I don't suppose you go around saving maidens, doing the hero of justice thing?"
"...Hero of Justice?" Ranma quoted, noting that Shiro was starting to look uncomfortable for some reason. "Beaten up a few thugs, helped with some sealings. Pop says it's a martial artist's responsibility to deal with spirits and such," she said, slowly. "Hero of Justice is kinda overblown for that, though."
"Wow," Taiga chuckled. "You really are just like out of a period drama or something."
"What's that supposed 'ta mean?" Ranma asked, eyes narrowing.
"Well, you have to admit that talking about spirits as if they were actually a thing is a little strange," Rin said, glaring at the martial artist so intensely that Ranma could practically feel it.
"You don't go in for tradition much, Hmm?" Taiga glanced over at Rin before pushing her bowl towards the center of the table. "Well, I'll see you later, wounded hero. I should probably get to class."
"We're having class today?" Shiro asked. "I thought after yesterday…"
"Like I said earlier, the doctors said that most of us weren't affected too badly. They won't be pressuring students to be there, but I'll probably lose my job if I'm not. Incidentally…" She turned towards Shiro, eyes narrowing. "You'd better show up!"
The boy raised his arms in a warding gesture. "Okay, I've got it, I'll be there!"
"Right!" Taiga nodded decisively before hurrying out of the room.
When the front door slammed behind her shortly after, Rin exploded across the table, a snarl on her face. "What the hell was that?!"
"Huh?" Ranma asked, blinking, though not taking much more notice of the immensely angry mage.
"You know Ms. Fujimura isn't a mage, right?!" the black haired girl growled. "Why'd you mention sealing spirits to her?"
"Actually, I had no idea if she was a mage or not, but what's that got to do with spirits?"
"What does it have to do with…" Rin sputtered. "Non-mages shouldn't know about the supernatural! Hell, there's a standing order from the association that a civilian who sees a magical battle is to be dealt with, we're just lucky that Ms. Fujimura took it as a joke!"
"Dealt with?" Ranma narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean?"
"In this case, we could probably just hypnotise her to forget it," Rin answered. "But some mages tend to be a lot more drastic."
"Well, then these guys have been doin' a fairly crappy job of it." Ranma snorted in disgust. "Sure, stuff's rarer in the city, but on the road I couldn't go more than ten kilometers without runnin' over a pissed shrine spirit, or magic soup that made your hair grow, or whatever. As for… drastic, anyone tries that around here 'n I'm breaking things, got it?"
"Hey, I wouldn't…" Rin stopped herself, and started again. "I mean, I would if…" She groaned in frustration. "Just try not to reveal things like that so casually. Shiro and I have to get to school."
"Wait, you're actually going to school?" Ranma asked.
"You heard Ms. Fujimura," the mage replied. "Besides, it's best to keep things as normal as possible until we're ready to make our move."
"And when are we going to do that?" Shiro asked, as he started clearing up the table.
"When I fix whatever you've been doing to your magic circuits, or if Caster makes the first move," Rin snapped. "Now let's go already!" With that, she got up and headed for the door.
"...I didn't say anything…" Shiro mumbled, before sighing and picking up a few more plates.
END.
Taiga Dojo.
(The Dojo background is criss-crossed with the white filliments that characterized Eri and Illya's combat magic in Zero and UBW, concentrating on Taiga's side.)
"Lemme go!"
"Not until you tell me what you meant about a Ranma Shiro pairing!"
"Look, it was only a stupid Omake the author wrote during the conceptualization of the fic. Things have changed enough it doesn't even fit, anyways! There's nothing to worry about!"
"I'll be the judge of that, now let's see it!"
"Yeash, fine. I was going to congratulate Shiro for avoiding a bad end at dinner this time, but I guess Illya-chan's determined. I hope you readers don't mind. Here ya go!"
Stupid Omake theater.
2/0X, scene - Fate's/Gate.
I wiped my hands dry as I walked out to the training hall, having just completed lunch preparations, and slid the door open to the sight of Saber and one of my newest allies, Ranma, dancing across the wooden floor in a quick flurry of blows. While Saber's strikes were as flowing and elegant as ever, she was holding back, as she did while training with me, and using a wooden training sword.
It irritated me slightly that she was doing so a bit less with her current opponent, but I dutifully studied her motions and committed them to memory, thinking that they would be useful later, marveling once more at her grace and power in combat. It was only when I saw her block a strike from a slim, delicate fist that I took in exactly how Ranma was fighting her.
The other master was, for some reason, in his cursed female form and was answering Saber's attacks with bare fists, a sharper, less elegantly flowing display but one that was impressive in its own right, as a small sheen of sweat built up along her exposed skin, a rivulet of it I noticed dropping down the side of her pale, slender neck... and she was a dude.
I jerked my train of thought away from where it had been wandering, continuing to observe as she bounced around the much more stationary Saber, lashing out with punches or kicks in one location before jumping away from counter-attacks, her uninhibited breasts bouncing freely inf- She was a dude.
I smacked myself lightly on the side of the head, and switched my gaze to the new combatant's face, studying her expressions to see how she was doing. Her eyes were narrowed, a small V of concentration between her eyebrows, pale, pink lips tight together as if in a slight pout and God damn it, she was a dude!
"Um, lunch is ready!" I yelped, violently. The reaction of the two fighting before me was more violent than my yell, both turning towards me as if in perfect synchronization, and nodding. Saber barely took the time to place her training sword back on the rack before the two of them charged past me towards the house.
End Omake.
"See? Totally harmless."
(Illya sulks in a dark, purple tinged corner.)
"Ehehehehe... Anyways, everyone, we hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let us know what you thought. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I have to go deal with Illya."