"Oh… well, my senpai made these for me,"

The moment these words were uttered, across the entire city of Fuyuki, inside of a classroom in Homurahara Academy, Sakura Matou's hand twitched. Something felt off, but she couldn't figure out what. In fact, this entire day just seemed wrong.

It started innocently enough. Senpai wasn't coming to school today because he wasn't feeling well. That was very weird now that she thought about it. She couldn't remember a single time he ever got sick, but there was a first time for anything. She could tell he wasn't faking it either, as he seemed to be moving stiffly, and was sweating quite a bit.

She offered to stay with him and help take care of him, but he told her that she shouldn't miss school. She knew it probably wasn't much, but she couldn't help but worry. Still, if she pushed it, it might annoy him… so she listened. Whether that was a good thing or not was up in the air. After all, there was a hot new rumor floating around the school, and while it wasn't something she would normally concern herself with… this one was different.

Apparently Tohsaka Rin, the prim and proper honor student, had an older brother. He just appeared today, looking for her. Back from overseas studies, according to the rumors the school was now full of. It seemed ridiculous, but he looked so similar to her that everyone swore that they had to be related. There were just a few problems with the rumor that only Sakura was privy to.

The Tohsakas did have another child, but it wasn't a boy. It was her, and while she didn't live with the family for a long time, the entire time she was there, there was not even one mention of another child. However, there was an angle people considered, one that she didn't want to consider, but had to.

What if he was an illegitimate child?

The boy was described to be older than her, so it wouldn't be out of the question that the Tohsaka head slept with someone else before she was born. If that was the case… then why would Rin accept him, but not her? Why wouldn't she be saved…?

A sharp pain ran through her body, bringing her out of her thoughts. It felt as if fire was running through her nerves. She thought she would get used to it after her last treatment in the worm pit a month ago, but the pain never really went away. The only thing she could do was distract herself for now, and the easiest way to do that was piece together the puzzles of this rumor.

The final puzzle piece confused Sakura. They said the name of the boy was named Tohsaka Ritsuka. She had met a Ritsuka just yesterday, and now that she thought back on it, he looked remarkably like her sister. But then why did he introduce himself as Fujimaru Ritsuka?

Maybe that was his mother's maiden name…? Or maybe… maybe he knew who she was and lied to her. After all, if she didn't know about him, then he didn't have to worry about her, some illegitimate half sister. Of course he'd want to contact the beautiful and talented sister… the one that was worth something.

It all made too much sense. And what could she do about it? Nothing… there was nothing she could do to him… no way to get rid of him, no way to save herself.

All she could do was fall deeper into despair.


Shinji grumbled to himself as the final bell for school rang. Things were not going well for him. He needed something to solidify himself as a reliable ally to Fujimaru. At this rate, Rin would replace him, and he wouldn't be able to do anything. So how would he go about that?

He had a very sour look on his face as he walked to the Archery Club, one that caused everyone to avoid him. Well, everyone but one person.

"Hey, hey, Shinji!" Hane walked up to him from the school exit, throwing his arm over Shinji's shoulder. "What are you doing with such a sour look on your face?" The redhead asked cheerfully. "Did Tohsaka reject you again?"

"No, she didn't," Shinji snapped, venom seeping from every word. Hane only laughed at Shinji's bark.

"Did the other Tohsaka reject ya then?" Hane asked, causing Shinji to shake his head.

"I'm not gay, Hane," he muttered.

"Oh, I never implied that. I pegged you more for bi," Hane joked. "For real though, you're looking distressed. Lemme guess, you're afraid now that your friend found his popular sister, you're afraid he'll ditch ya, and you'll be stuck with your two redheaded step-friends, Emiya and good ol' Hane, right?" Hane inquired as he pointed at himself.

"... Something like that, yeah," Shinji admitted, not really wanting to dive deep into his issues with Hane.

"My intuition wins again!" the boy cheered. "Well, here's a word of advice. People are likely to keep ya around if you're useful. That's why people like Emiya, ya know? Figure out something he needs and provide it,"

Shinji's eyes narrowed as he listened to the advice. Was Hane trying to help him out? That was the most obvious thing in the world! The problem was that he couldn't think of what Ritsuka would need-

Wait a minute. There was something. He could do something Ritsuka was too busy to do while he was trying to help Emiya. "Hey, Hane, you're free today, aren't you?"

"I'm always free, man. What's up?" Was the response, causing Shinji to grin widely. "Oh god, you got that look on your face again,"

"I just need to do some research, and if I'm right, I'm going to need your help doing it," Shinji explained as he walked with Hane off school property.

"... We're doing something illegal, aren't we?" Hane asked as he looked at Shinji.

"No, no, we'll just be… borrowing things for a while. Without permission," Shinji assured his friend, patting him on the shoulder. Hane grinned at that.

"Cool, I'm in,"