Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.
Resolution
Chapter 2
The Fujimura-gumi.
A 'charitable organization' formed by various businesses and enterprises owned wholly or in part by the Fujimura family of Fuyuki City, in Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture. These businesses and enterprises ranged from real estate, financial services, contract labor, and even retail and import/export franchises, among others.
In short, they were an organized crime syndicate, or at least that's what westerners would call them.
To the Japanese, they were just the local yakuza, and of the old-fashioned variety at that.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Taiga Fujimura gushed as she crushed an exasperated Sakura against her with a hug. "IT'S BEEN SO LONG! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"
She wasn't the only one, mind. More than a few of the otherwise stern-looking men in dark business ensembles and shades standing at attention nearby looked similarly exasperated. For one thing, their boss was already over fifty, and for another thing, while usually able to stay serious and focused – ruthless – on her responsibilities, every once in a while, she still acted like a child. Then again, what could they – or Sakura – do?
Besides, it wasn't as though she was completely irresponsible. Anyone who underestimated Taiga over her occasional bouts of childishness and selfishness – and there had been a few in the past – never lasted long. Sakura had never heard of Taiga sending people to swim in the Mion River encased in concrete suits, but she had heard of at least one loan shark who had ended up crippled from the waist-down after an 'accident' and had to retire early as a result.
Said accident had apparently involved tripping and falling over the safety railing on the middle of the bridge across the Mion River.
In the middle of the night.
With no witnesses.
People called him lucky. And considering what other yakuza did to dishonest contractors, he probably was.
"It's nice to see you too, Fujimura-sensei." Sakura said, smiling as she returned the hug. "And sorry for taking so long to visit."
Taiga shook her head while stepping back and looking Sakura over. "It's alright, I understand." She said. "You've been away for so long, you probably had a ton of things to look up and go through before you had any free time. Priorities…always priorities…all part of growing up."
Sakura's lips briefly twitched at the irony, before she picked up the bag at her feet. "I brought you a present." She said.
"Oh, a present!" Taiga said, clapping her hands happily before taking the bag and rummaging inside. Then she pulled out the bottle inside, and she gasped as her eyes widened at the label. "Remy Martin Louis XIII…! I've had foreign alcohol before, but nothing like this! I can't wait to have a taste…wait, no. Something like this should be saved for a special occasion…"
She trailed off then, looking back at the smiling Sakura, and smiled back. "Thanks, Sakura-chan." Taiga said, giving Sakura a one-armed hug. "This is…it's good to see you again."
Sakura just nodded, and slipping off her shoes before slipping on a pair of indoor slippers to follow Taiga as she led the way further into the Fujimura mansion. As soon as they were deep enough, the cat walking next to them shifted to Rin in Human form, causing Taiga to pause and look over a shoulder.
"Huh…so that's what you look like now?" she asked. "Shirou told me about how you…evolved, from a simple zashiki-warashi into a nekomata, but seeing it for myself is something else entirely."
Rin grinned and struck a pose, fingers formed into v signs. "I've grown into a woman." She said, causing Taiga to laugh.
"It sure looks that way." She said.
Rin tilted her head. "Hey," she began. "Is it alright if…you know, I visited your grandfather's grave? I mean…he was always nice to me, so…I'd like to pay my respects, for old time's sake."
Taiga blinked, and then nodded in agreement. It was true. Even back then, when Sakura was still a student and Rin still a zashiki-warashi (as far she knew, Sakura and Shirou keeping the supernatural an open secret like this with their mutual…family friend, through the lens of traditional folklore), the late Raiga Fujimura had been very indulgent to then-Little Rin whenever they ran into each other. Almost like a doting uncle, with Taiga not far behind herself.
And having been busy in Europe along with Sakura at the time of Raiga's death, they hadn't been able to attend the funeral, unlike Shirou and Ayako.
"Yes, of course." Taiga said. "Let me just put this away, and I'll take you both to the family grave."
"…thanks." Rin said.
"Will you be staying long?" Taiga asked.
The three of them stood together in a private cemetery, their surroundings quiet but for the occasional chirping of birds. Stone memorials rose up from the ground all around them, evenly-spaced, and each with a name carved into the stone. And while many other families patronized this cemetery, this portion though was reserved for the Fujimura's dead.
Sakura had offered her respects, of course, even before her sister. A pot with chrysanthemums of various colors, along with a number of incense sticks, before giving a short prayer. Rin, though, had been closer to Raiga, and had offered more than just incense and flowers. She'd actually opened a small can of beer as an offering, and after wiping the memorial clean, had sat down in front of the memorial, and started talking about some of her and Sakura's adventures in Europe.
This led Sakura and Taiga both to step out of earshot, as a sign of respect for the relationship between the dead and the spirit.
"For at least the rest of the year." Sakura replied. "There are a few things I need to see to, and in person at that."
"I see." Taiga said with a nod.
Sakura briefly hesitated, and then sighed. "…my stepfather will probably arrive soon," she admitted. "If he isn't here already."
"As I recall…his name was Kariya Matou…right?" Taiga asked.
"…yes."
Taiga was silent for a long moment, deep in thought, and then she set her jaw and sighed. "…I hate to admit it," she began. "But a part of me is…jealous? Awed…well, something like that, at the story of Aoi and Kariya Matou. Childhood friends separated by family obligations, only to find each other again and find happiness together as adults…it's like something out of a romance drama."
"But that's just the thing, isn't it?" Sakura sourly asked. "It's like something out of a romance drama, but while it looks and sounds good on paper or the big screen, in real life…"
Sakura trailed off, her expression turning even sourer, and Taiga couldn't really blame her. To get that romantic ending with her childhood friend, Aoi had abandoned her daughter by her first husband, simply walking out of the door one day and never returning.
"…well, look on the bright side." Taiga said. "If your mother hadn't left you, you wouldn't have met Rin. I mean, she moved into your house because you were all alone and…lonely, inside, weren't you?"
Sakura chuckled before looking at Taiga, amusement dancing in her eyes. "That," she began. "And she had the same name as my elder sister who died from the flu as a baby, right?"
"Well…yes…but what I meant to say was even if your mother abandoned you…okay, yeah, this sounds really insensitive…"
Sakura laughed. "It does, yes." She said with a grin. "But I don't mind. I've made my peace with my circumstances a long time ago. And I wouldn't trade Rin, not her presence in the present, or all the memories we've made together growing up, for anything."
Taiga nodded in approval. "That's the way." She said before her expression turned serious. "That said…your stepfather coming back…I'm guessing it has something to do with Old Man Matou's death back during that freak storm last winter, right?"
"Inheritance stuff, yes." Sakura said with a nod before narrowing her eyes. "Apparently, the old man never actually formally disowned his son. He might have forbidden Kariya from coming back home, but Zouken never actually struck Kariya from the family records either. That, and Zouken doesn't have a will either, meaning that according to the law…"
"…as the only surviving legal child of Zouken Matou, Kariya Matou inherits all his father's assets." Taiga finished.
"Yes." Sakura said.
"…you alright?"
Sakura briefly closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm not so petty as to stick my hand into the Matou inheritance issue." She said. "If Kariya wants it, he can have it, so long as he goes back to Osaka afterward."
"And if he stays here, and brings his family with him?" Taiga asked.
"Well, now," Sakura said with a dangerous light in her eyes. "That's something else entirely."
Taiga hummed, but in the end just sighed and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "It's not my place to tell you what to do," she said. "But if you'll take a piece of advice from your old schoolteacher, don't go too far, Sakura-chan."
Sakura snorted and then smiled gratefully at Taiga. "Thanks," she said. "For caring, Fujimura-sensei."
Taiga just smiled and nodded back, before the two of them turned to look at Rin getting up in the distance, and pressing her hands together to pray before turning to join Sakura and Taiga both.
"Have you seen any of your friends from school ever since you came back?" Taiga asked after they returned to the Fujimura property, and sat down for some lunch together.
"Hmm…?" Sakura hummed as she helped herself to some pickled vegetables as an appetizer. "Only Shirou and Ayako-sempai so far. In fact, I spent most of yesterday with them. We had lunch, talked about all kinds of stuff…things like that."
Taiga nodded in approval. "That's good." She said. "Things change as people grow up, but while that isn't a bad thing, it isn't good either to just give up on and forget about old friends."
Sakura snorted. "As if I could ever forget Mister Superhero." She said.
Taiga snorted in her turn, and then burst out laughing. "Oh, right…Mister Superhero…oh, how I've missed that." She said, wiping a tear from an eye. "Not just your teasing Shirou by calling him that, but also how he used to obsess over saving everyone in the world like some shounen or superhero movie character. Oh…good times…"
"Well, that's why I call him Mister Superhero." Sakura said while helping herself to more pickled vegetables. "That said, weren't you always chiding and fussing over Shirou also because of that? Something about being worried about his future with his unrealistic goals?"
"That's because he was so…so…chuuni at the time!" Taiga protested.
Sakura snorted again, and then laughed her head off, Rin not much different next to her. The laughter proved contagious, Taiga joining in on the laughter soon afterward, which went on for nearly a minute. "Yeah…he was something of a chuunibyou at the time, wasn't he?" Sakura admitted. "But hey, he grew out of it."
"Yeah, he did." Taiga proudly said. "He's grown up into a fine young man, and a good father and husband at that. If Kiritsugu's ghost were to greet me when my time comes, I can proudly tell him that Shirou's doing well."
"Hey, now." Sakura said, knocking on the wood of the table. "Let's not tempt fate, alright?"
"Still so superstitious, Sakura-chan?" Taiga asked. "Then again, what was it you said back then? All superstitions have at least some truth to them, which is why they stick around for so long?"
"Yes, and I stand by what I said back then." Sakura said.
"Besides," Rin said while nibbling on a slice of pickled radish. "You're having lunch with a nekomata. Compared to, well, me, what's a superstition or two?"
"Fair enough." Taiga conceded, the conversation stilling as maids arrived with hot rice, a soup made with eels, tofu, and various vegetables, as well as fried dumplings. The maids then bowed themselves out, while Taiga began serving her guests, playing the role of a gracious hostess. "I know I said I have some business to attend to this afternoon, but there's no need to rush. If need be, I can make them wait a little bit, or even just reschedule entirely."
"I don't want to be an inconvenience…" Sakura began, only to trail off as Taiga made a dismissive gesture.
"Nonsense!" she said. "It's been a long time since I've had some quality time with one of my old students! Besides, I'm the head of the Fujimura-gumi, so I'm allowed to bend the rules every once in a while."
"Don't you mean you are the rules?" Rin asked with a smirk, and Taiga smirked.
"That too." She said, causing the three women to start laughing again.
"Thanks for dropping me off, sensei." Sakura said, as she got off Taiga's up-armored black Toyota, Rin jumping out and past while in feline form. "And sorry again for making you go out of your way."
"You're welcome." Taiga said from inside the Toyota. "And again, it's no trouble, Sakura-chan."
"Well, then, until we meet again."
"Right. Take care."
"You too."
Then Sakura closed the door, the Toyota driving off escorted by another pair of Toyotas. Then she was turning away, and narrowing her eyes at a greying man approaching from up the street. "Well, now," Sakura said softly. "Look who's here…stay discreet, Rin."
"Will do." Rin said, padding through the gateway of the Tohsaka property before sitting on her haunches, yellow eyes focused on Kariya Matou.
"It's been a long time, Kariya Matou." Sakura said.
"It sure has been." Kariya agreed before narrowing his eyes. "It's quite the coincidence, isn't it? You coming home to Japan and Fuyuki after years of being away, and soon after you arrive, the old worm just rolls over and dies."
Sakura's lips curled in amusement. "How very surprising!" she mockingly remarked. "I was under the impression you and your father were long past the point of speaking terms. And yet, here you are, making such insinuations…"
Kariya snorted. "A pity the two of you didn't simply kill each other." He sneered. "It would have saved the rest of us so much trouble."
Sakura smirked. "Now, now," she said, making a chiding gesture with an index finger. "We can exchange threats and insults as much as we want, but if we did that, we'd be stuck on this sidewalk for the rest of the day. Unlike you, I have more important things to do."
"You mean lock yourself away in your basement," Kariya snapped. "And waste time and money on meaningless things…but what else can I expect from you? Your father might have hated you in the end, but I guess that just adds to the irony of it all. Like fucking father, like fucking daughter…!"
Kariya abruptly broke off, his contemptuous expression turning confused as he reached up with a hand to his neck. Then confusion turned to fear and desperation, his face turning blue as his fingers worked vainly at his neck, choking sounds coming from inside his throat. He fell to his knees, eyes bulging from their sockets before he collapsed forward, weaking scrabbling at the ground and at Sakura's feet.
"Watch your tongue." Sakura said, eyes and voice as cold as winter in her Finnish homeland, even as she opened her fist, allowing Kariya to breathe again. "I am nothing like Tokiomi Tohsaka."
Kariya didn't respond at once, too busy rolling over onto his back and heaving great gasping breaths. Sakura sniffed in contempt before turning away and heading into the Tohsaka property, but not before Kariya had the last word.
"You…you're right about that…" he gasped. "…Tokiomi…he was a right bastard…but…at least he was Human…you…you're a monster…GAH!"
Kariya reeled, clutching at his leg and jaw, Sakura telekinetically breaking a tibia and shattering a wisdom tooth before leaving him to writhe in agony on the ground outside.
"You didn't kill him." Rin said, staying in feline form as she walked next to Sakura.
"It was unnecessary." Sakura said, donning a safety helmet before continuing onward, dozens of workmen bringing down entire portions of the Tohsaka mansion to prepare it for reconstruction. "At the end of the day, he's just another worm, like the rest of his worthless family. I don't need to go out of my way to step on him, not when there are more important things to do."
"True." Rin said, shifting into Human form and putting on a safety helmet as well. The bounded fields kept the workers from noticing her…unusual features, or even her presence at all. If she ever registered to them, all they would remember would be a nondescript woman trailing after their employer.
"Look alive up there!" Sakura shouted, before returning the foreman's bow, the foreman leading them to a nearby shed where the chief engineer was waiting. "Progress looks good."
"It does, Miss Tohsaka." The chief engineer said with a bow. "In fact, we're about two days ahead of schedule."
"Now, that's what I like to hear." Sakura said with an approving nod.
"Now then," the chief engineer continued, taking a rolled-up blueprint and unrolling it on a long table. "Onto the details…"
"Everything's going according to plan, then." Rin said as they teleported to their temporary domicile later in the evening, what with the Tohsaka property being rebuilt in accordance with Sakura's vision for the future. Specifically, the penthouse suite of the Fuyuki Grand Hyatt Hotel. "No, more than that. Ahead of schedule, even."
"About time some things started going our way." Sakura said, as she strolled into the bedroom, and opening the closet, started rummaging around. "Getting Operation FH moving was a huge pain in the neck, taking months to get the proper permits, organizing a workforce, preparing the necessary materials…things like that."
"Now, now," Rin said. "Don't be like that. Like I said, Operation FH is ahead of schedule, and before that, Operation TL was a stunning success. Likewise for Operation GZ…the other cats in the city practically worship the ground I walk on."
"Let it not be said that Sakura Tohsaka does not honor her promises." Sakura replied, pulling out her sister's swimsuit and tossing it at her. "I promised them I'd give them good fortune in exchange for helping put down a vampire, and that's what I gave them afterward."
Rin chuckled. "Manipulating the ley lines so the cats in the city will enjoy good fortune." She said. "I wonder what our ancestors would say?"
"I care nothing for our Tohsaka ancestors' opinions." Sakura said. "The Edelfelt ones, though…knowing them, they'd be laughing their heads off at how we used actual, literal cats as acolytes in a grand ritual."
"Well, duh." Rin said with a roll of her eyes. "It's a family tradition. For an Edelfelt, so long as it works, nothing is too audacious or unconventional. Especially if there's plenty of loot involved."
"Yeah, like Romania." Sakura remarked, and Rin grinned.
"Yes, like Romania." She said, Sakura grinning back at her, having finally found her own swimsuit. "Off to take an evening dip, are you?"
"The suite has an outdoor pool." Sakura said, already starting to disrobe. "Not just that, it's a heated pool. And there aren't any buildings around close and tall enough for voyeurs to watch from, not that there'd be a chance of them being able to do that even if there were."
"Yeah, considering all the bounded fields you placed around the penthouse." Rin agreed. "Off to shower first?"
"Yes…care to join me? I'll wash your back if you wash mine."
"I don't see why not."
Sakura nodded, gathering her discarded clothes and tossing them into the hamper before vanishing into the bathroom, Rin following shortly after.
A/N
Starts out slice-of-life at first, before starting to get serious. Kariya returns to pick up the pieces of Zouken's death, and accidentally sets Sakura off. At the same time, it's Sakura turn to have a colossal scheme up her sleeve, after spending the past few stories knocking out the spokes from other people's schemes.
All those codenames she and Rin mentioned…they're not supposed to reference anything. That is, a good codename isn't supposed to hint at the secret at all. A good historical example is Operation Uranus, the Soviet operational plan to trap the German Army at Stalingrad in WWII. A bad historical example, in contrast, is Fall Weiss (Case White), the German operational plan to invade Poland in WWII. Uranus does not hint at anything the Soviets might have wanted to achieve. Fall Weiss, in contrast…Poland's national emblem is a white eagle. Hint, hint, the OKW might as well have gone.
Back to Rin and Sakura's codenames for the latter's schemes…who could have guessed that TL was a plan to conduct a grand ritual aimed at killing Zouken Matou? Likewise, GZ was a plan to alter the flow of mana through the ley lines to grant cats in Fuyuki good fortune?
That last bears elaboration. In RPG terms, all feline NPCs and PCs in Fuyuki City now enjoy PLUS ONE to their luck stat. They also gain an extra Fate Point (FP). Finally, they gain rerolls for every test, ranging from initiative, leadership, spellcasting, to hit, to wound, cover save, armor save, and invulnerable save, among others.
Not a bad deal for helping Sakura stomp a worm/s flat, isn't it?
