Fate/Stay Night: Umbra Bello

Merry nondescript holiday season to all! And to all, a happy new year!

Normally, I wait until the next chapter is ready to release the next one... but since it's nondescript holiday season... I think I can make an exception. Enjoy everyone! And have an amazing holiday!


"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders."

- Lao Tzu


Chapter IV- Setting The Stage

Date: Saturday, 01/17/2004

Time: 8:17 am

Location: Fuyuki City, Miyama District, Ayame's Motel

..wh-

...wha?

Nrrrarrgh….. I hate this bed. It feels worse than usual…

I tear myself from the sleeping world, and force my eyes to open.

It's a fight to stop my body from pulling me back to bed, and back to sleep.

Whatever. Not like I got a choice anyway. It should be Wednesday… probably. I can't really tell. The days really blend together, and I'm only partially awake at this point.

Either way, gotta force myself into the routine. I probably got school today.

I sit up on this awful bed aaand-

"This isn't my room." is the first thing my sleep addled mind noticed. The second thing was-

"That wasn't a dream." the third thing was-

"Ah, Ohayōgozaimasu Master!" Okita peeks her head into the room.

"...ffffuuuuu-"


Theme Song- Chosen Ones/ Mountains vs machines


Twenty minutes later, I was showered, and sitting across from Okita at the Western style table in the next room. Unfortunately, I didn't have a change of clothes. So I was still wearing the torn up crap from yesterday.

I was not completely functioning without coffee, so, I made due with some tea that seemed to be complementary with the room. English Breakfast I think.

"Ok. Let me start off by saying, I'm sorry." I apologized with my head down in disappointment with myself. "It was wrong of me to dump all of... that, on you. Yesterday was… it wasn't easy, but that was no excuse."

"It's fine Master. Really. Just… don't be so hard on yourself. I can't exactly say from experience… but I can say that even though I was trained my entire life, the first time I was in a fight for my life… it's a feeling most aren't completely prepared for. Anyway, all's forgiven!" she exclaims, all cheery, "But if it's all the same to you, I'd like to know what we're supposed to be doing next?"

"Right... Planning. Grail War. Stopping Gilgamesh. Stopping Kirei… Greaaaaat…"

"Master?" I turn to Okita. Who was now wearing a more serious face. "Don't get caught up. Just focus on what you need to do."

Just focus on what I need to do.

Focus.

What do I need to do?

Ultimately I need to disable the Grail.

Blow it up? So far as I know, most of Okita's abilities can't do it. The only person I know for sure that can is Saber, and she's… she can be convinced, but it won't be easy. That, and if the Grail appears in a populated area like in the 4th war, it will likely kill hundreds.

If it comes down to it, and it's either those hundreds, or the rest of the world I'm currently in…

In other words, I need to turn it off, or stop it's completion without destroying it. I don't know how to do that right now. I'll have to do some digging. Next Question!

What stops Gilgamesh?

Emiya. He's the only person I know with an effective counter to the Golden asshole. So, I either need the one here and now, or I need the future one contracted to Rin.

Both carry their own concerns, risks, and considerations. And pursuing an alliance with one may cancel the possibility of allying with the other.

Still, I need to find them first. Next Question!

How do I stop Kirei?

Well, Lancer is one option. Buuut I suppose any Servant would do. Ultimately, the man is just human. The big concern I have is the plans he set in motion, and the ally's he's gained, or could gain, rather than the man himself.

So, the Kirei plan is mainly just moving him into a vulnerable position, away from his Servants. Unfortunately, the man has no reason to move out of that Church early in the game. Especially without safeguards. I may have no choice but to wait him out.

Actually, that might be a good thing. Striking first against him, when he's the overseer of the war, would only draw suspicion from the other Masters. And not onto him. And right now, his word is better than mine.

So, the Kirei plan is mostly just going to be waiting for him to spring his plan into motion, and being ready to react when he does. Nothing I can do immediately but-

Play along.

… that might not be a bad idea. If I start acting out early, start probing into where I shouldn't be, it attracts attention. And likely not any good kind. Especially if I don't really know what I am looking for. If I play the part of a Master. If I pretend to be another character in this play, it will lure Kirei into a false sense of security. And give me a chance to set up my own plans to stop him behind the scenes.

As a Master, I will have an opportunity to form an alliance with either Tohsaka, or Emiya. And get the Unlimited Blade Works on my side for when the time comes. And be able to… direct them into seeing him for what he is.

Kirei believes all the Masters are actors in his play. That he is in complete control. That he knows every factor. They aren't. He isn't. He doesn't.

I know my enemy. I know his plan beforehand. He doesn't even know I exist. I am simply Master of Assassin. Not an enemy aware of his goal.

I can tear his plan apart.

And maybe. Just maybe. I can stop some unnecessary deaths.

Souichirou, the people Rider and Caster hurt, Illya.

... actually, when you think about it, the death toll was rather tame this route, despite the stakes. So long as you don't count the already dead Heroic Spirits.

"For now, our plan is to play along. Kirei thinks everyone is playing his game. That he is in control of the outcome. We'll let him think that, until it is time to strike. When he is alone, when he is exposed, we will end him. We will not give him reason to believe that we already know. This also gives us the opportunity to ally ourselves with the greatest counter to Gilgamesh, Emiya. Whichever one is easiest to access. As for the Grail itself, we simply do not allow them to complete it, and thus force them to make a move on our terms. This is also something that can be done with allying with the younger Emiya, as he seeks to end the war himself, for his own reasons. That, or allying with the Einzbern Master, and stopping them there… but that's a whole other issue." I paused to take a breath, and think on what our immediate next step is.

"Right now, we act as a standard Master-Servant pair does. We pretend to assume nothing is wrong, and register at the Church. This also lets us confirm a few things. I have a few questions for the priest anyway that only he can answer." mainly how much longer we have to prepare, "After which we shall perform recon. Set ourselves up, and determine which Emiya is easier to gain access to. Assuming we do have time, I need a crash course on magecraft. Evidently, I can do it. I'm powering a Servant after all." Oh yeaaah… magic. That's a thing. Letting that sink in… "Aaaand that's about it for now."

Clap-Clap-Clap-

I turn to Okita again, who is currently celebrating.

"Yes! I knew you had it in you!" I'd normally go crestfallen at this. Said by anyone else, it would seem patronizing, by her it came off as sincere. I could only smile, embarrassed.

"Well… Jury's still out on that.." honestly, I'm not always that bad. That was… just a particularly bad day. "On that note… I think before we do that, we're going to need to run a few errands… namely taking care of this." I tug at my ripped up clothes. Can't show up to Church like this, can I?


Three hours later, and we were out on the town. The Shinto shopping district to be exact. And I was now wearing something at least a little bit more presentable. Black flannel shirt over a red tee shirt. I have no idea if that's fashionable or not, but it's what I tend to wear.

"Alright, I guess I'm all good here. I think the map showed the Church was that way, so let's rip off this bandaid… O-oookita?" when I turned to see her catching up to me, I felt the heat rise immediately to my face.

She went off a few minutes ago, felt the need to switch up her own look. Apparently, kimonos weren't casual wear, who knew? What she was wearing now was a loose white blouse with something pink beneath it, with navy blue leggings.

"You okay Master?" Okita…teases? I think that's the tone. Am I being messed with right now?

"Yes, I'm fine… (you look good by the way...)" I say that last part as quietly as possible. But apparently, she had super hearing, and twitched in surprise. Then smiled again. "A-Anyway-! I think it was this way, forward! March!" I lead us in what I think is the direction of the Church.

"Hai Master!"

I could see that dark clouds were rolling in from the direction I said we were heading. It looked like a snowstorm was coming soon. At least, that's what the newscaster proclaimed earlier. We were about ten minutes from the church when-

Grumble-Grumble

W-What was... oh.

"... you ~suuure~ you're ok there Master?" Yup. That's teasing.

"Oh, uhhh, yeah, I just..." I try to shrug off the feeling, but I'm cut off by-

Grumble-Grumble

"...I... haven't eaten in a while…" I'm only human ok? Only the tea was complimentary...

Okita starts looking around for something for a few seconds, then grows a smile.

"Come on, I think I've found an old favorite."


After collecting a bag of… something, from a street vendor, we picked a spot in a nearby park to take a bite out of… er...

"So um… what exactly are these things?" I'll eat just about anything put in front of me. In fact, I'll try anything at least once, but I like to know what exactly I'm putting in my body. I'm not exactly a health freak, but the only reason I haven't completely ballooned out with my activity level is because I don't let crap in my body.

I was holding what seemed to be five dumplings on a stick in my hand, covered in what might be some kind of caramel sauce from the look, or something soy based on the smell.

"Dango!" Okita exclaims between bites of her own stick, "They're real good! They're basically sweetened rice balls. The ones I got you are Midarashi. The sauce on em are sweet, and salty at the same time, give it a try!" She really seemed to like the things. I'll definitely give em a try.

Hm… based on the description, I'm picturing nougat with salted caramel sauce?

Taking a probing bite now…

Savoring… Savoring…

Huh.

"...I can see why you like em." they're like… the rice is definitely there. The texture is chewy… but not overly so. Yeah, the dango themselves are just like she said. Slightly sweetened balls of rice. Not sweet like the cavities in wrappers we call candy.

Ah, lollipops, also known as cavities on a stick...

The sauce was… again, like she said, sweet and salty. With the viscosity of fresh caramel, but the taste seemed more of a soy glaze.

"Right? When I was alive, at least once a week, I got some from a vendor just down the street from our station. This guy, Yukihara? He usually had this kind, Sanshoko, even though it was usually a blossom festival thing. I loved going there when my shift was out…" hm, she seems… particularly relaxed for a Servant.

Then again, what I know about them is from their time in the anime (Which mainly consisted of fighting, and talking philosophically), and their legends. Small talk about food preferences is one of the things I'd never imagine having a talk with a hero about.

Also, it was kinda weird hearing such a person talking about their shifts at work. Kinda brings an air of normality to them-

"Of course, that was before Kondo found out he was a spy and we had to kill em… I heard it took stabbing him fourteen times before he finally went down… 'hehe', he was a fighter." she remembers nostalgically.

Or… maybe… not?

Anyhow, the dango were pretty good, and would hold me over for a few hours.

I finished mine soon enough, and we were back on the road.


We were here.

The Kotomine Church was… actually a lot smaller than I thought. Then again, it basically only takes one guy to run the thing.

"Be careful Master. If you're right, you'll be stepping right into the Lion's den." Okita warned me.

She couldn't come in with me. Grail War etiquette. No bringing weapons into the home of the supervisor. Fair enough I suppose.

I nod to my Servant, who vanishes into particles. Presence Concealment in action. If something went wrong in there, she'd try to rush in and save me, but there really wasn't much she could do if Kotomine has Gilgamesh in the wings.

Taking a breath, I step into the chur-

Bzzzt-Bzzzt-Bzzzt-Bzzzt-Bzzzt-Bzzzt

I had to shake of this feeling… this… pressure. Must be something magic.

Yeah, that must've been whatever that feeling in that mansion was.

I push the door open to the Church, and… it was pretty much what I expected. A standard Catholic Church. But, there he was, in all his deviousness.

Kotomine Kirei. Currently speaking with one of the parishioners of the Church. He paused to look over to me.

I put on my best business face, and flash my command seals. That says enough, and he says a few words to the woman, who proceeds to walk out.

Bzzzt-Bzzzt-Bzzzt-Bzzzt-

As she walks past me, we both notice something off, and turn to the other.

They were shorter than me by at least two inches, but I still felt short in stature by comparison. She was wearing a business suit, but I got the feeling she could move around in it just fine.

She was a Magus. I can't say how I know, I just do.

She glared at me… no. That wasn't a glare. She was analyzing me. This was a trained fighter.

I was doing much of the same. And I wasn't sure what more to make of her. I know she's dangerous, but that's about it. Can't really get an adequate reading on her abilities.

"Bazett, I'd like to remind you that the Church is supposed to be a neutral location. Do you really want to be remembered as the Master that broke the truce before the war even started?" the priest warned. Wow, that voice. That was… not what I remembered in the dub…

"Um…Kirei? I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around telling people these things?" the woman, Bazett, growled. Upset the man just blew whatever cover she might have had.

To be fair, I assumed she was probably a Master. If the Masters in this war remained the same as the one I saw… she was likely the Master of Lancer.

Hm. Looks Irish. Vague hint of an accent too. Makes sense.

Then again, if Masters summoned their Spirits based on their heritage, I'd probably have summoned either an American, or Italian spirit.

This also meant I was looking at someone who would be dead soon.

Feels… a bit cold in here…

"Um, Bazett? You both just figured it out on your own. Now go along. We'll meet later after it is done." he told her in an almost condescending voice.

"Um, Kotomine? I don't appreciate you taking that tone with me." She talked back.

"(Am I interrupting some kind lovers quarrel right now?)" I mumbled under my breath.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though they both heard that, and turned to me.

Oh shit, super hearing is spreading! Quick, someone! Call the CDC!

"... shutting up now."

"...on that note, we should continue this later. We can… catch up, then." Kirei said with an unnerving smile that Bazett did not seemed concerned about. "Just remember to keep the truce at least until the war starts."

"Fine. Let no one say I'm a bad sport." she starts to walk out of the Church. But as she lightly opened the door- "Hey kid?"

"H-Huh?" she talking to me?

"Don't die too soon." she leaves with that.

"Um… ok..?" wasn't planning too… maybe she wants to fight me in particular? I don't see why she would… Or did she just say that to sound cool?

The door closing behind her left an ominous echo.

Step. Step. Step. Step.

Step. Step. Step. Step.

I turn around to see Kirei no longer in the spot he was before… in fact… what was he doing? He seemed to be circling around me like a shark.

"Uhhh… am I… standing in your way or... something?" I ask, realizing I was right in the middle of the isle.

"Oh don't mind me… I'm just predating." Kirei states as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Predating..?" like… animals?

"I'm simply getting a sense of whom I'm speaking with…" he explained.

"(...beginning to think she wasn't kidding about the lions den…)" I mumble once again. Maybe looking for intel here was a worse idea than I thought...

"Now… what can I do for you young man?" Kirei finally asked, now standing in front of me.

"Um… yes, well, as you probably guessed, I'm a Master here to register for the Grail War. And I was told to come here if I had questions."

"You were told correctly. My name, is Kirei Kotomine, and I am the overseer of this Holy Grail War. May I have your name for the official record?" he switched to business tone.

"It's Robert. Robert Orso."

"Orso… it's not a name I'm familiar with. Might I assume that you are not from a significant Magus family?"

"You can. Before yesterday, I was aware of the world of magecraft, but I wasn't a part of it. Actually, I didn't even intend to summon a Servant." no harm in small talk here.

"Unsurprising. The Grail always draws in stragglers to fill in the empty spots in the roster. Although…" a spark of interest grew in his eyes, "usually this is done only when no other Magi are around to take the spot. Last time this happened, the Master was a serial killer trying to summon a daemon… are you a serial killer?" he asks almost hopefully.

Dear god, why is he hoping I'm a serial killer?

"If I was, would I tell you?" I ask rhetorically.

"He would have. But, one shouldn't expect consistency with the deranged." Ain't that the truth… wait, is he calling me deranged, or just complaining about crazy people in general? "May I ask which Servant you summoned?"

I probably shouldn't tell him… but he'll figure it out himself soon.

"Assassin is my Servant. Although I'll choose to keep their true name to myself." I know how important that is.

Servants often go by their class rather than their true names because it helps conceal their weaknesses. Like if I summoned Achilles, if everyone knew who he was, they'd know his Achilles' heel is his Achilles' heel.

My greatest ally in the Grail War right now is the information I hold on the other Servants. And the lack of information on me. A great card to play that any other Master would kill to have. If there's anyone I'd tell her name to, it won't be him.

"That's your choice. Now that the formalities are out of the way, you had questions?" the entire point in being here in person. I could have just done this over the phone, but then I couldn't ask a few important things.

I ask a lot of questions Shirou would soon ask, just to confirm this is the same war, and to craft the backstory of a newbie to the magical world. He seemed to be buying the idea, but I can't really get a good read on him.

After about ten minutes I get to asking the real questions I came here for.

"A few more things… first, you said the war hasn't started yet. Do you have any idea when it's supposed to start?" I need as much prep time as I can get.

"Technically, it's already begun, but there is no purpose to fight yet. It's not so much a set date, as it is that it starts when it starts. Or, at least, it starts when the vessel is ready to receive their energy." he explains, "Right now, including you, only three Masters have summoned their Servants. Although the ideal time for summoning is supposed to begin three weeks from now. That's when the Grail begins supporting the summoning, and maintenance of Servants the most. That's also when the vessel will be prepared. Without it to receive their energy, Masters fighting would be pointless."

So, I've got about under a month..

Could've been much better, and much worse.

"Ok… I just got one last question, and I'll be out of your hair… Do you happen to have something like… a beginners guide to magecraft? I said earlier that I was new to this whole thing." can't hurt to ask.

Actually, that's a lie. That smirk he's giving is giving me chills.

"I might have something from when I was training my ward in the backroom… but before I give it to you I must know one thing..." there's only a few things more I'd be willing to tell him.

"Are you sure this is what you want? The Grail does not choose Masters without a reason to fight. But, you must ask yourself if this reason is worth it. Magi train for years with the mindset of killers willing to do anything to obtain their desires. Do you truly believe your reason, your wish, is of enough value to you that you'd kill to achieve it?"

I paused. I had to rethink my purpose for a second. Why was I choosing to fight?

I was fighting because something dropped me into this world, knocking the natural course of this timeline off track. And as a consequence, made the possibility of the end of the world a very real one. And as I currently live in this world, I'd rather that didn't happen.

Now, there is a possibility that Shirou and the gang manage to do things right on their own. But… I wouldn't want to rely on it. I don't know if plot armor is actually a thing here. So, in the interest of self-preservation, I chose to take the Fate of the world into my own hands.

I'm not naive. This war is dangerous. And in the end it could likely end up killing me anyways.

Again, trapped between a rock and a hard place. I could either die because Shirou fucked it up, or because I fucked up. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'd rather pick the first option or not, because at least that way there's a semi-comforting thought that my death wasn't my fault. But, I also feel that that's something of a lie, as I'm getting the choice now to take my life into my own hands.

Actually, if I'm being real, I think I'd rather die knowing I at least gave it a try…

As for killing other people, I'm kinda torn. On one hand most of the people I think I'd end up fighting know what they're getting themselves into, and aren't exactly good, upstanding individuals (lookin' at you Matou!). On the other hand, they are, y'know… people? I can't claim self defense here. I'm choosing this war as well. Although, I do know that there's an even worse consequence for not fighting. I could kinda claim the 'the needs of the many' argument, but that wouldn't make the idea of taking a life easier… If it were my life (or the life of someone I care about), against the life of guy trying to kill me(them), I'd take his in a heartbeat. But I'd still feel pretty shitty afterwards.

In summation? Yes. I'll do what it takes to see this war through, though I won't be happy about it. It is merely the less terrible choice.

...I have an odd feeling this won't be the last time I have to choose between two bad decisions.

"I'll do what I have to in order to win the war. Whether my desires are worth it or not… it doesn't really matter. This is just something that needs doing." I answer vaguely.

"So, you say that you join this war out of obligation?" the priest… his expression is unreadable.

Obligation? That's not exactly the right word.

To me, obligation is more of a thing you have to do because it's part of your position, or part of a promise you made. I never made any such promise to this world, and I personally wouldn't blame anyone else for just running away if they were in my shoes.

If I could leave this world right now, just pack up and leave, head home, I'd be smart to do it. But I'd feel like I'd be responsible if something terrible happened in this war. And… if someone does wish for the apocalypse, I'd rather not have 6 billion damned souls on my conscience because I wanted to turn tail and run home. Even if I have no real obligation to a world not my own.

At a minimum, before I leave- if I leave, I want to at least make sure nothing goes screwy with the war.

I guess the closest phrase for my reasoning would be 'a sense of responsibility'. Responsibility being something someone should do, but doesn't have to. Because it's at least vaguely the right thing to do.

Does that make any sense? Or am I just rambling again?

Anyway, in short-

"I would say I join this war because this is what I feel I should do. Beyond that, my reasons are my own." I say firmly. No reason to reveal more than that.

"If that's what you want." the priest conceded. "Wait here…"

He talked into the backroom for a few minutes, then emerged carrying a book.

"This should give you an idea about what you need to learn. However the resources to perform much of the training you'll have to acquire on your own." Kirei hands me the dusty old book.

"That's fine… this is already helping me more than I thought I'd get." partly thinking I'd have to start from scratch, and memory on how to do this.

"Of course. As overseer of the war, it is my duty to help Masters in any way I can that does not interfere in the conflict. It would be a shame to see a Master fall so quickly due to being completely defenseless. That and I find this… interesting. It is not often that the Grail would choose such an… under-qualified individual." Clearly, he hasn't met any of the other Masters besides Rin yet, "I'm curious what this war has in store for you, Robert Orso."

I guess I'm supposed to take this to mean he's going to be watching me to see how the underdog performs in the war? I mean… he's not necessarily wrong about the under-qualified part…

"You and me both pal…" I say/sigh.


The door closes behind me before he can give me anymore creeps, and I stepped out into the currently snowing cold.

Now, with an old tome in tow, I made my way outside the Church's 'bounded field'.

Y'know… when I said I wanted a beginners guide, I didn't mean I literally wanted a book called 'Magecraft for Dummies'.

"So? Did you get what you needed?" Okita asked as she appeared from thin air.

"Mostly, yeah. I know we got at least three weeks before the war truly starts now, so there's that." That's certainly seems like a long time to prepare, but when you consider how much time I'll have to make up in terms of training…

"Perfect! Couldn't ask for more." I mean, she's not wrong. If I can't get what I need done in a month done I'm probably not getting it done… ever.

"I guess… I mean… every little bit of time counts. I'm supposed to be catching up to people who have practiced some sort of deadly art for years in under a month…" I trail off, "when we get back to the motel next thing I ought to do is try and plan out how the mage stuff is gonna work out. More than that… I'd say I have to get back into shape… but to get back into to something, you have to have ever been in it to begin with." I say, quoting a certain freelancing agent. "Mage stuff is definitely gonna be the priority though, particularly defensive abilities." I say, remembering how Shirou was practically defenseless against mental attacks. "It doesn't matter how strong you might be. If your enemy can simply hypnotize your mind into making you do what they want, like forcing you to give up your command seals, it's basically game over."

Offensive Magecraft might be useful on paper… but it's really not practical in a Grail War. Especially for me. The Servants are basically immune to anything I could come up with, and the Masters will be too strong for me to put up a true offense. I can only hope to hold either of them off long enough for Okita, or some other ally, to come to my rescue.

Actually, it might be worth it looking into support magecraft. Stuff that can alter the battlefield to my favor, empower my Servant without command seals, bolster my allies abilities… the possibilities are an unknown, but certainly interesting. Based on what Kirei briefly explained offscreen, the possibilities of bounded fields sounds promising…

"That sounds like an oddly specific example... But you're not wrong Master. Magic isn't exactly my specialty. That makes it one of the few things I wouldn't know how to protect you against. (Although... I could try tying you up, so you can't do anything self-harmful…)" she began to mumble ideas quieter than I could hear.

"Uh… Okita?" steering it back here...

"Huh? Oh, er… in general, it's as good as any plan right now. Though, I'd like to mention you shouldn't shirk physical training. I can tell you now that there's going to be a lot of running around, and having you break down out of shortness of breath would not be good." she nods along in a lecturing tone.

Tough to disagree there. Running out of breath nearly killed me the other day. Or at least contributed to my experience. If I'd been able to keep running maybe I could've…

Heh, what would I have done? I honestly have no idea. Probably die tired.

"So? What do we do right now? I think you said something about this… Emiya?" Assassin recalls.

Right… him.

"This… is something we're not going to talk about standing around here. Actually… none of this is…``I turn back to the Church directly behind us. Talking about our plans for the war in the open was probably a poor idea. "Let's return to base. We'll discuss this more there."

"Ah… you have a point." Okita realizes.


45 minutes later…

Back at the motel, we were sitting around the same table as last night.

"Right, Shirou Emiya." I try to bring my thoughts together. "All things considered, if we have any hope at all of beating Gilgamesh, it's with him at our side. Or… at least one of him." I try wrapping my head around the temporal paradox that is Archer.

"About that... you haven't been very clear about it. First time you said it, I thought you meant there were two different Emiya's as in a Mage family getting two Masters, just on different teams. But the other day you made it sound like they're the same person, but there's two of them, and one's a Servant?"

Right… that might need a bit of clarification.

"Well you see… ok, how do I put this… you know how the Throne of Heroes is on another plane of reality, entirely separated from time and space of this one?" I try to start it off.

"Yes. Heroic Spirits are made aware of that, and are made to understand it… at least to a point." Following me so far.

"And you know that the Throne has heroes from the past, and the future on it?"

"Yeah. We don't- oooh! I see where you're going. So Shirou is-"

"Ya-huh."

"And Archer is gonna be-"

"Yup."

Okita considers this for a moment.

"So what makes Archer a problem? Does he get a difficult Master?" she carries on piecing it together.

"No bu-... Actually yeah. Rin has… her moments… But Archer… his problems are something else entirely." I thought for a moment on how to explain his issues.

"...When he was alive, he tried living up to an ideal that just kept destroying him. At the end of the last Grail War, the Master of Saber ordered the Grail's destruction, causing a massive fire that killed a lot of people. Shirou was a survivor of that tragedy, and since then, due to a pretty nasty case of survivors guilt, and because of the influence of the man who adopted him, he always wanted to be a superhero that saves people." sounds like an origin story if ever there was one. "After that, his story began something like this-"


POV Switch-?

Meanwhile…

"'A...Ahhhchooo!'" 'crackle' "Oh Shiii-" 'Shattering Glass!' "'gah'! 'Grrr' damn you! Stupid Clock! You never believed in my dream like pipes do! From this day forth, I swear vengeance! It will be swift! It will be righteous! Or my name isn't Shirou Fucking Emi-"

"Hey Emiya? Is everything okay in there?" someone called from just outside the room.

"Oh, uh… yeah. Ahem."

"'sigh', Yeah, everything is fine Issei. Just… this thing got busted a lot worse than I thought…" got distracted for just one second and it all went to hell…

"...is it still salvageable?" Issei, the President of the student council tried holding on to hope, but was wavering. They were on a budget after all, and could only afford so much in the way of damages every month.

"Have to check that for a second…Trace…On." scanning the components…

"Well… probably, but this one's gonna take a bit more time," heh, puns, "and a nice, smooth touch up."

"...your methods never ceases to confuse, and amaze me Emiya. Take as much time as you need." at this point, Issei, who walked into the room after Shiro was done performing his craft, had given up trying to understand his classmate. He just knew that his methods worked, and saved the Council money.

"Still, gotta ask, how exactly did it get so banged up? It looks like it got used as a club or something." the damage on the metal was dented in such a way that showed it hit something hard.

"It was."

"...Shinji?"

"Shinji… Well, him and that damn Witch." The president sighed in exasperation at the drama that unfolded earlier today.

"Oh… so… what did Rin do exactly?" seemed a little out of character for her to get… 'physically' violent.

"Well… no one is exactly clear on the details. But most say Shinji tried asking Rin out, she refused, then that somehow lead to Shinji starting to talk about her family, and things started to escalate from there. Words got thrown around, voices got raised, and people were too scared to really break them up. Most say Shinji started the violence too… but there's lots of conflicting reports. Eventually, the clock got knocked off the wall, and Shinji started swinging it at Tohsaka, who punched it out of his hands. Aaand that's how it got knocked around." Issei finished the tale of the clock.

"Geeze. I knew they didn't get along, but that all seems a bit excessive."

"I know. So far no one's pressing charges. But I wouldn't be surprised if someone suddenly got pulled out of School for it. With our luck it would probably only be one of them though…" Issei's dislike if Rin was well known, and he had a particular distaste for Shinji as well. As did just about everyone in the school.

"Anyway, I got to start heading home. Mr. Kuzuki has apparently gotten himself betrothed… or something to that effect, it wasn't exactly clear. Point is he's got a woman from Europe moving into the Temple with him and they'll need help with settling in." Issei seemed torn on something. Not surprising actually, he doesn't really get along with strangers to well.

"Huh. Surprised anyone can understand him well enough to actually get that attached." Mr. Kuzuki was… let's say, eccentric?

"There's someone out there for everyone I guess. Who knows? Might even be someone for you."

"Heh, like that's gonna be happening anytime soon."

"Anyway, don't stay too long. Still got school tomorrow." Issei began to leave.

"Right see you soon." As soon as Issei left, Emiya's work began.

"Just you watch, today, I save this clock, tomorrow, I'll be saving everyone!"


End Theme: Fate/Grand Order: Nisha Senitsu (二者穿一) by Rokka (六花)

Yeah, you all know what that was, and what this is gonna be.