Lunch was a roaring success, Ritsuka decided. Everyone seemed to enjoy his version of Emiya's food, if the empty plates he and Shirou were washing together were any indication.

"That was really good, Fujimaru," Shirou spoke up for the first time in a while. It was weird, now that Ritsuka thought of it, just how quiet Shirou had been during lunch. He almost thought that Shirou didn't like his cooking, but thankfully that wasn't true. "Just wait for dinner tonight. I'll make something that'll blow your socks off," Ritsuka was almost taken back by how competitive Shirou sounded, but he had to admit he didn't dislike it.

"Oh? Then I look forward to it," Ritsuka responded with a wide grin as he handed Shirou a dish to dry off. "So, how's the study crunch going?" Shirou sighed to himself as he took the dish.

"I feel like I'm learning so much and yet nothing at all at the same time," Shirou admitted. "I've been doing it wrong for so long…,"

"Eh, you're probably doing better than me," Ritsuka commented with a shrug. "I didn't actually start doing magecraft until about three years ago, and it took me almost a year to do a basic curse, let alone anything fancy," He handed Shirou a plate. "Just relax. You'll be fine, and you'll come out the other side better,"

Shirou nodded as he looked at the empty sink, sighing to himself. "I think I need a bit of a break though," He muttered. Ritsuka nodded, looking at the two leftover dishes he wrapped up.

"Well, I was going to go to deliver this food to a friend of mine," Ritsuka said as he picked up one of the wrapped plates. "How about you come along with me, get some fresh air? We can even do a patrol of the area. It's important to make sure things aren't getting worse," Ritsuka noticed Shirou seemed to perk up at the idea of a patrol.

"Yeah, alright, that does sound good," Shirou nodded as he dried off his hands. Ritsuka did the same, picking up the food and walking to the door.

"Hey, Tohsaka, Emiya and me are gonna go for a quick walk!" Ritsuka called out. "We'll be back soon!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Rin yelled, as she peeked around the corner. "I thought you said it was important that we get him ready to summon as soon as possible! No time to waste!" Ritsuka chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, yeah, but at this rate, he's not going to retain anything he's learned, so just a short break. Thirty minutes, tops," Ritsuka argued.

"Us too! Us too!" Jack said as she ran up to them.

"Ah, not this time Jack," Ritsuka bent down, pulling her close as he handed her the Book of the False Attendant. "I need you to watch over our things, just in case Shinji comes home before me, okay? Make sure he doesn't touch anything," And with Jack holding the book, he wouldn't have to worry about it, plus he was pretty sure Shinji wouldn't think of the possibility of Jack holding it. "Can you do that for me?"

Jack looked down at the book, staring at it before nodding, running back to Ritsuka's room. He stood up, stretching.

"Alright, Fujimaru, I suppose he's earned a short break," Rin caved in as she nodded, not mentioning the fact this would let her talk to Archer without Ritsuka or Shirou there.

"Alright, sounds good!" Ritsuka waved as he and Shirou headed out, closing the door behind them. Rin sighed as she sat at the table, waiting as Archer materialized into the room.

"So, Archer, anything to report about our mystery man?" She asked as Archer leaned against the wall. Archer was quiet for a few moments before he spoke up.

"He has some unusual gear in the bag he took to his room, but nothing too worrying. Spare Mystic Codes, the cooking set he used earlier, simple things. As I said before, he is taking care of an injured woman, and when he went out on his own, he didn't do anything shady. Now granted, perhaps he suspected I was following him and was trying to keep a low profile, however… it seems someone else was following him as well, although any time I tried to get close to see who it was, they'd slip away. Even my eyes couldn't catch them,"

Rin nodded as she digested this info. "So, he's basically what he presents himself as…," Rin muttered. "Then if he isn't part of the Grail War, then he isn't dangerous,"

"Don't say that, Master," Archer commented. "He could be disguising his true nature very well. And even if he isn't, just because he isn't connected to the Holy Grail War doesn't mean he isn't a danger to you. After all, I was unable to figure out what exactly he was investigating. I have a feeling he doesn't know either,"

Rin's head met the table as she began to pull her hair. "Why does this have to be so difficult?!" Archer only let out an amused sigh as he watched Rin. "That's it, tomorrow, after we take care of Caster, I'm going to grill him until I get some answers from him!"

"Just be sure not to cook him alive, Master," Archer teased, closing his eyes. Perhaps talking to Ritsuka would let him solve the mystery of the stranger the Master of Chaldea knew.


"So… why did you keep pushing forward?" Ritsuka suddenly asked as he and Shirou headed back to the marketplace, a plate of snapper and rice nicely wrapped up for Lancer.

"Huh?" Shirou turned to Ritsuka, a little confused.

"The way you were doing magecraft… that sort of pain, it's… well, let's just say that if I was in your shoes, and that was my first experience with magecraft, I'd quit on the spot. But not you. You kept pushing despite that pain. Why?" Ritsuka looked at Shirou expectantly as the redhead rubbed the back of his neck, thinking to himself.

"I just… wanted to help people," Shirou said simply, shrugging. Ritsuka's brow furrowed when he heard that response. There were a lot of different ways to help people without magecraft. He knew that, he knew Shirou knew that, so why was that his answer? How did he go from this to Counter Guardian EMIYA? It was a mystery Ritsuka wanted to unravel, but he didn't know how. He felt if he kept pushing, things might not end well right now, so he decided against it. Instead, he just patted Shirou's shoulder.

"Well, now you'll be able to," He assured the boy, causing Shirou to smile softly. They had made it to the market with no incident, so Ritsuka was feeling that today was going to go great, but then, Shirou stopped walking, causing Ritsuka to look over curiously. What he saw caused both him and Shirou to freeze up.

Illyasviel von Einzbern was tugging on Shirou's sleeve.

"Found you Onii-san," She said playfully, which caused Shirou to break out of her grip and stumble back in a panic.

"Don't tell me you intend to fight us here," Shirou choked out, causing Ritsuka to blink. Fight? It wouldn't be a fight, it'd be a slaughter. Illya frowned, which wasn't a good sign.

"You're saying strange things. We can't fight while the sun's up." Illya commented as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth. Shirou raised his eyebrow as he looked at her, unable to form a response to that.

"Y-You're… I… wait… I never got your name…" he finally seemed to decide on that as the topic. Illya thankfully humored him.

"Ilyasviel von Einzbern. It's long, so you can call me Ilya. So what's Onii-san's name?"

"Me…? I'm Emiya Shirou,"

"Emiyashirou? That's hard to say,"

"…It's the first time I've heard it pronounced like that too. No, if you have trouble remembering it, you can call me Shirou. That's my name."

"Shirou? Oh, so it's an easier name than I thought. I see, Shirou. …Yeah, that sounds good. It's simple, but it sounds aloof." Illya was smiling again, and it seemed the ice was broken between the two. That was good, but there was still something on Ritsuka's mind.

"Sorry to cut in here," Ritsuka commented, "But why are ya here, Illya?"

"Oh, well, I just wanted to see how the summoning is coming along," Illya explained. "After all, I have to make sure Onii-san isn't trying to run away," Her voice got low as her expression darkened. "I'd have to kill both of you if that happened," Shirou gulped as Ritsuka sighed, nodding.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Ritsuka muttered. Illya's face brightened up as she suddenly moved close to Shirou.

"Hey, let's talk. I have lots of things I want to talk to you about." She changed the subject on a dime.

"Wha-!?" The girl clinged to Shirou's arm as naturally as if she were holding her father's. "Hold on, hold on, hold on! What are you doing all of a sudden?! Is this some sort of new scheme?" Oh, this was likely to go bad quickly.

"Oh, come on Emiya," Ritsuka said in a teasing tone as he went down on a knee to get on Illya's level. "Look at her. You wouldn't refuse the request of a cute girl like her, would you?" He internally pleaded with the gods that Shirou would get a clue and play along. "A little sister came to see her big brother. The least you can do is talk," He looked down at the plate he was carrying, sighing to himself. "Sorry Lancer," He muttered to himself before addressing Shirou again. "Here, she can eat this, and we'll have a nice conversation, yeah?"

"... I want to talk to Onii-san alone," Ritsuka looked at Illya, seeing her red eyes were glowing, and she didn't look happy.

"Sure. Take the food anyways though," Ritsuka handed the plate to Shirou. "I'll… be here, waiting then, I guess," Ritsuka shrugged as he backed away from the two. Shirou sighed, before looking at the little girl clinging to his arm.

"Alright, we'll talk. You have somewhere you want to go?" Shirou finally caved in.

"Yup! There's a park over there. I just went to look at it, but there wasn't anyone there." Illya ran ahead with dancing steps. Shirou waved to Ritsuka as he walked away, Ritsuka waving back with a smile. The Master of Chaldea took a deep breath, relieved that everything turned out okay, but then froze when he felt a hand on his shoulder, an all too familiar voice calling out to him.

"So, we meet at last, mongrel," Ritsuka slowly turned his head to see the face of Gilgamesh staring at him, dressed in casual clothes with a wide grin on his face.

"... K-King Gilgamesh?" What started as a normal morning had suddenly turned into a very dangerous situation.

"Oh? It seems even stargazers have the decency to recognize their king," Gilgamesh let go of the boy's shoulder, turning around and walking away. "Come with me! Your King wishes to speak with you about things the commonfolk don't need to know!" Ritsuka released a breath he didn't even realize he had been holding. He couldn't believe it, but… it seemed that things had gotten even more complicated than it first appeared. He looked over his shoulder, watching as Shirou and Illya disappeared into the distance, causing Gilgamesh to look back. "Are you deaf, mongrel? Your King is granting you an audience with him,"

"I-it's just I was with some people, and I should let them know I'm about to-,"

"Ooooh? Are they more important than what your King commands you?" Gilgamesh asked with a malicious look in his eyes. Ritsuka gulped, shaking his head. "Then come along! We do not have all day!"

In the end, Ritsuka had no choice but to follow the first hero. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with Shirou, but he had to focus on surviving this first. Still, why was Gilgamesh here? He couldn't be connected to the Holy Grail War, right? After all, Emiya was here, so the Archer slot was taken, and Medea was on the mountain, so there was no Caster. Maybe… maybe he was a Rogue Servant? That thought took a burden off Ritsuka's mind and replaced it with another completely.

Would he have to rebuild his relationship with Gilgamesh all over again?

The walk itself was quiet, Gilgamesh not even paying attention to the people they passed by. Their walk soon came to an end when they came to a park… the same park he met Shinji, Ritsuka noticed. Gilgamesh walked to the center of it, snapping his fingers as a gate from the Gate of Babylon opened, dropping a staff that instantly projected a Bounded Field.

"There. Now no prying ears will hear us, magecraft or otherwise," Gilgamesh stated as he turned back to Ritsuka, folding his arms as he stared at the boy. Ritsuka blinked, before slapping his forehead.

"Medea has some insane scrying magecraft, right. I can't believe I didn't even consider that,"

"Your entrance to this world was subtle, mongrel. Even I would have overlooked you if it was not for Sha Naqba Imuru," Gilgamesh commented, causing Ritsuka to blink. Sha Naqba Imuru was an insane Noble Phantasm, allowing Gilgamesh to perfectly see into the past, present, and future, and occasionally other timelines. He never liked using it because it made things way too boring, and to a king like Gilgamesh, that was the worst thing.

"... But you keep that restrained like… all the time. I've only ever seen you use it once, and that was because Tiamat was threatening to take down Uruk while you were alive. Heck, Beast I burned down all of humanity and all you used it for was to find out who did it and then mock him by changing into the Caster Class!" Ritsuka by all means should have been more afraid, but all he could feel was confusion.

"Oh, that's a good one. Truly, I am a comic genius," Gilgamesh laughed as Ritsuka could only sigh. He wasn't going to get an answer, he knew that. Sometimes he had to wonder why he tried. "Now that those trifling pleasantries are done," Gilgamesh leaned in close, scanning Ritsuka's face, looking for something. "Tell me, mongrel. How was Uruk?" Ritsuka tilted his head as he was asked, images of Ishtar and Gilgamesh fighting in the throne room and the many, many monstrosities he fought flashing before his eyes.

"It was… lively," Ritsuka began. "No, that's underselling it. It's hard to put into words. I faced some of my biggest challenges there, nearly died so many times, but… the memories of it aren't bad. You told everyone in that city that they would die, that a great calamity was coming their way, and instead of falling into despair, they rallied together, lived their lives to the fullest as they took a stand to protect their home. It… it's inspirational," Ritsuka explained. Gilgamesh could only smile as what looked like a sense of nostalgia filled his face as he looked to the sky.

"Even a modern human can see the value in my Uruk," Gilgamesh said. "Now mongrel, answer me this," he turned his head to look back at the Master of Chaldea. "What value does modern humanity have?"

At those words, Ritsuka's blood went cold. There were so many red flags from that one statement, it was hard to keep calm anymore. "... W-why do you care?" Ritsuka asked, before a horrible thought crossed his mind. "... My King... are you… incarnated?"

"Oooooh?" The First Hero had an amused look on his face as he leaned in closer to Ritsuka, invading his space. "What makes you think that mongrel?"

"... The dead should not lead the living. If I learned anything, it's that humanity should forge its own path into the future. Even if Heroic Spirits and Servants are great guardians, they should never lead those who are still alive," Ritsuka explained. "My King is the one that taught me this lesson the most, and the one who follows that saying the closest. To ask me the value of modern humanity… you wouldn't care unless you were among the living,"

A resounding laughter from Gilgamesh told Ritsuka he had hit the nail on the head.

"Yes, mongrel, you have guessed correctly!" Gilgamesh complimented. "Ten years ago, at the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, I was given a new life!" Alarm bells began to go off in Ritsuka's head. There was something about the Fourth Grail War, but what was it?

"Wait… wait… I forgot something important. Something really important. Crap, crap, crap!" Ritsuka muttered to himself. Gilgamesh looked over, an eyebrow raised. "This isn't my first time here in Fuyuki… in a different timeline, Chaldea interfered with the Holy Grail War… the Fourth Holy Grail War. And in that Grail War, where King Gilgamesh fought in… the grail was corrupted!" Ritsuka smashed his palm into his forehead. "Dammit! Shinji told me last night this was the Fifth Grail War. This is a timeline Chaldea didn't interfere with… meaning that Grail is still corrupted!" He turned to leave, but as he went to run off, weapons of all sorts fell from the sky, crashing into the earth in front of him, blocking his way.

"I didn't give you permission to leave, mongrel," Gilgamesh's voice took a dangerous tone as he took a step towards Ritsuka. "Your King has plans for the corrupted grail. I have shown you mercy so far for what you have done for Uruk, but if you stand in my way, I will strike you down," Ritsuka turned, staring defiantly.

"What sort of plan could you have with that wellspring of evil?!" Ritsuka shouted, only to receive a warning shot from the Gates, a weapon scratching his cheek as it flew by him. Ritsuka paid the attack no mind, instead staring at Gilgamesh, demanding an answer. Gilgamesh only sighed as he stood up straight.

"Six billion curses reside in the Grail, and six billion people live on this planet. I will unleash these curses on the Earth, and rule over the humanity that survives. Only those that can withstand those curses are worthy to be ruled by me. All others are simply a surplus," It was an outrageous plan, a plan only Gilgamesh could come up with and believe was good. It almost wanted to make Ritsuka laugh, but he was far too angry for it. Gilgamesh could see the anger on Ritsuka's face, grinning in response. "Well, mongrel? Does that answer-,"

"I can't believe you," Ritsuka spoke up, interrupting Gilgamesh. "There's no way… no way my King could be so stupid!" It took Gilgamesh a few seconds, his mind processing what Ritsuka said.

"You dare, mongrel?!" Gilgamesh yelled, his gates opening. "You dare to insult your king when he has shown you mercy?! I will bring about a new age of prosperity for humanity!"

"My King was made long ago, a being that was part human, part god, for the sole purpose of chaining humanity back to the gods, since the gods didn't like humanity progressing without them!" Ritsuka shouted back. "Instead of bowing to them, he severed the ties of god and man, bringing the beginning of the end to the Age of Gods! It's thanks to my King that the Age of Man exists! But now, now I hear that he wishes to wipe the world? To kill those he deems unnecessary, for what? Because he misses Uruk? He misses how people lived back then? Uruk was indeed a great city, but its time has passed! People have a new way of living now, and to chain us to the past because you don't like humanity's direction makes you no better than the gods you first rebelled against!" Ritsuka stared at Gilgamesh, clenching his fist. "If this is the direction my King has decided, then I have no choice but to stand against him! To fight until he sees reason once more!"

"You would risk your life for this?!" Gilgamesh motioned to the world around them. "A world where people's lives have next to no meaning, where a million lives barely amount to the same value as one citizen of Uruk? You would fight for this world of stagnation?!"

"You are not the one that decides the worth of our lives!" Ritsuka snapped back. "Only the generations that come after us can truly decide how much worth we had! And stagnation?! I have traveled to many worlds of stagnation, and this isn't one of them! Just because we're moving slower doesn't mean we're not moving at all!"

There was a tense silence as the two stared each other down. Ritsuka knew there was no turning back now, that the next few seconds would determine not only his fate, but the fate of his world. Suddenly, the silence was broken by the golden king's shoulder shaking, a soft laughter coming from him. The laughter grew louder and louder, until Gilgamesh threw his head back, laughing maniacally to the heavens.

"Fwahahahahahaha! Ten years! For ten years I have been surrounded by yes men! I forgot what it was like to have someone speak frankly and oppose you! Rejoice, mongrel, for the entertainment you've provided me has spared your life!" Gilgamesh, of course, didn't like being compared to the gods, but he could tell Ritsuka was not just hurling insults at him. "If you will not stand with me, then let's make this a game, mongrel," A malicious grin spread across his face as he continued. "I will not kill you here, instead-," He paused as he looked over Ritsuka's shoulder, a frown appearing on his face.

A rain of weapons fell from the sky, skewering a mud woman that was sneaking up on Ritsuka, destroying the monstrosity instantly. Ritsuka turned to see the creature turning into dust and being scattered in the wind.

"... That wouldn't happen to be part of the Grail, would it?" Ritsuka asked.

"No. No it is not," Gilgamesh answered seriously. A grin spread across his face once more. "Alright, mongrel, the Holy Grail War has not started yet, as the Saber Class has yet to be summoned," he explained. "If you can defeat whatever the source of that abomination crawling around in my garden is before four Servants are defeated, then I will stop my plans. However, if four Servants are defeated, then I will throw you into the Grail's curses first," He smirked, not even asking if Ritsuka agreed. After all, it wasn't a bet, it was a command. "Be sure to entertain me with your struggles, mongrel," Gilgamesh walked away, the staff he used to protect their conversation vanishing into the Gates.

Ritsuka could only stand there, watching the golden king leave before falling to his knees, beginning to dry heave. That was too terrifying! In his head, millions of scenarios depicting exactly how that could have gone wrong. It was too much, way too much.

"What the hell is wrong with this timeline?!" Ritsuka screamed to the heavens. He was sure this timeline would kill him with a heart attack before any actual evil creature got to him. He closed his eyes, remembering his training. Deep breaths to calm his nerves. The strength had barely returned to his legs, letting the Master stand up and walk back to the market.

The walk back to the market itself wasn't pleasant. Ritsuka's nerves wouldn't leave him alone, his fight or flight screaming to him that things were going to get worse right away, that all hell had officially broken loose now that Gilgamesh was a factor. It took almost everything he had to not just make a mad dash back to the Emiya house and throw down every Saint Quartz he had in hopes he'd get someone powerful enough to help against Gilgamesh.

He soon found Shirou waiting at the spot Ritsuka said he'd meet him at, looking very confused.

"Hey, s-s…," Ritsuka sighed, taking a deep breath again. "Hey, sorry about the wait. Did I keep you waiting long?" Shirou gave him a questioning look, but shook his head.

"No, I got here only about five minutes ago," Shirou stated. "Did something happen?" Ritsuka paused, unsure how to word his next sentence.

"I made some headway into my investigation, but it's not something we should talk about in the open," Ritsuka admitted. "Come on, let's get back home," With a nod, Shirou headed off to the direction of their home, Ritsuka taking one last deep breath. "So, what did Illya and you talk about?"

"Hmm? Oh, that? We were just talking about what we got from our parents," Shirou admitted, causing Ritsuka to blink.

"What an odd conversation…," Ritsuka muttered. With a shake of his head, he began to jog. "We should get back as soon as possible," Shirou responded by picking up his pace, keeping up with Ritsuka's brisk jog.

As it turned out, both were in very good physical shape, not needing a break as they jogged. They soon learned that this was not the case with Shinji, as they found him and his friend Hane right outside the Emiya house, huffing as they leaned against the wall. On Hane's back was a bag that seemed to be full of papers, and the next to the two was a bulletin board they had presumably dragged all the way to the house.

"I am… never… borrowing… another thing for you… again Shinji," Hane managed to get out between breaths. "Who… 'borrows' a bulletin board and a bunch of newspapers from the public library?"

"Ah, stuff it, you... were happy... to... flirt with that librarian," Shinji muttered.

"Y-yeah, and now… I'm gonna feel guilty… in the future, when I flirt with her again," Hane commented as he finally caught his breath. He looked up, seeing Ritsuka and Shirou approaching them. "Oh crap, oh shit, Shinji, they're here, we didn't get it inside yet!" Shinji groaned, shaking his head.

"Whatever… I don't really… care anymore," He stood up straight and waved at the two.

"Shinji… what… what is all this?" Shirou asked as he approached them. "You… stole all this?!"

"No, no, I borrowed it. I fully plan on returning all this," Shinji replied. "Just… the newspapers may not… be back in one piece," Shirou's eyes widened.

"Shinji's that's-,"

"Look, I'm not doing this for no reason," Shinji snapped. "Now help me get this all inside, and I'll show you what I found out," Ritsuka raised an eyebrow, quietly moving forward.

"How did you even 'borrow' this stuff?" Ritsuka asked, to which Hane held up a finger.

"The less you know, the better," was the simple answer. Ritsuka rolled his eyes as he grabbed onto the bulletin board, Shinji taking the other side.

"Emiya, get the gate," Ritsuka commented as they pushed the bulletin board. With some difficulty and grumbling, they managed to get the bulletin board through the gate and into the house.

"Hey, nice place you got here, Emiya," Hane commented as he slipped off the bag on his back. "You should invite more people from school over, this place could hold a whole sports club," He turned his head to see Rin sitting at the table, snacking on tangerines. "Oh… nevermind, I see you're way ahead of me there, ya lucky dog,"

"Emiya?" Rin spoke up, ignoring Hane, who shrugged and went to raid the refrigerator, "What's all this?"

"Trust me, I wish I knew," Shirou muttered as Shinji pushed the board in front of the TV, motioning to Ritsuka to hand him the bag, which the boy did by throwing Shinji the bag. To everyone's surprise, Shinji did actually manage to catch it.

"So, as you all may or may not know," Shinji began. "Fujimaru here is investigating something but he has yet to find out what that thing is," Shirou blinked and looked over to Ritsuka, who gave him a look that said 'I'll explain later'. "He had a few leads to look into, but trying to help our stupid idiot Emiya with his magecraft left him with precious little time to do so. Luckily, you all have me!" Shinji bragged as he grabbed a large map of Japan, pinning it to the board.

"I don't mean to be an ass, but do you mind getting on with it?" Ritsuka asked, causing Shinji to sigh.

"Some people have no appreciation for theatrics, I see," Shinji reached back into the bag, this time pulling out a newspaper clipping. "So, I went looking through the newspapers, until I found this," He held up the paper. "This is an article of a woman who disappeared all of a sudden. No one knows where she went, and there was no body found. No ransom note, not even a scene of a crime. The only reason people knew it happened at all was because her family noticed she didn't come home that night and filed a police report the next day," He took the newspaper, and pinned it to the very top of Japan, in the far Northeast. "This happened a month ago, the first of its kind. And as I found more and more articles… well,"

He began to pin papers, each organized by when they happened, and the map was slowly filled. For every day a new reported disappearance happened, it happened a little further south and a little closer to the west from the first kidnapping. After about ten minutes of Shinji meticulously filling the board, the entire map of Japan was covered by newspaper clippings, all except one area. That area was the point farthest to the south and the farthest to the west… the area around Fuyuki City.

The group was quiet as they stared at the board, a horror dawning across all of their faces.

"Shinji," Shirou asked quietly. "How many incidents have there been?" Shinji sighed, looking over to Shirou.

"Over 500 reported cases,"

It was so silent in the room, they could hear a pin drop.

"500 people?" Rin muttered.

"Not people, women," Shinji stressed. "Every disappearance has been a woman. No man was ever taken,"

"500 women?" Shirou muttered. "How? How could 500 women disappear without a trace?" Shinji shrugged.

"I don't know. And frankly, I don't have an answer. No matter how deeply I looked, there was no pattern. Young children, successful business women, school girls, housewives… all sorts of people have been taken and there's no link between any of them," Shinji admitted. Ritsuka paused, thinking to himself.

"I think I know how they were taken," Ritsuka spoke up. "The woman in my room-,"

"Da what?" Hane spoke up, who was quickly ignored.

"-When I found her, her house had been invaded by a thick swarm of insects," He explained. "I had to fight them off in order to save her. And my Servant mentioned having to kill a different swarm when they tried to invade some little girl's house," He recounted. Upon hearing this, Shinji began to bite his thumb, thinking to himself.

"You think bugs are kidnapping women?" Shinji asked.

"If insects were doing something like that," Rin interjected. "Then it's likely they're actually familiars, and some mage is capturing women to do… something with,"

"But 500 of them?" Shirou muttered.

"Something like that isn't just for experiments," Ritsuka added. "This has to be some sort of ritual or the like. The question is… what kind of ritual would need 500 women?" Maybe someone was trying to do a miniature version of Ars Almadel Salomonis? But what would someone want to do with a miniature version of that?

"I... I'm beginning to think I'm hearing things I really shouldn't," Hane stated nervously. Rin looked up, sighing.

"Oh, you're still here. Hang on," She stood up, walking over to the other redhead as she held out her hands. Hane backed away in a panic, but Rin grabbed both sides of his head, anchoring him in place as she began to work her magecraft. Hane's eyes glazed over as he stared into Rin's eyes.

He soon walked out the door in a trance, headed back home.

"Back to the issue at hand," Rin turned to the others. "So do you think this is what you were sent to investigate, Ritsuka?"

"It's very possible," Ritsuka admitted. "Without figuring out who's behind this though, I'm still just wandering around in the dark," He sighed, walking over to Shinji. "Honestly man… this is amazing. Thanks for the help, I never would have figured this out on my own," He patted the boy on the shoulder. Shinji himself seemed to be a bit distracted, as if he thought of something.

"Y-yeah, you're welcome, Fujimaru," Shinji muttered.

Ritsuka suddenly let out a big yawn, a huge wave of exhaustion coming over his body as he began to sway on his feet. "Ah, dammit… too much excitement… not enough sleep…," He muttered. "I… I'm gonna fix that. Wake me up when the sun goes down," He stumbled away, heading down the hallway. He paused as he stopped in front of the room he picked. He couldn't sleep there, but he was internally debating just doing it anyways.

In the end, even his sleep addled brain knew that was a bad idea, so he headed to a different room, opening the door. Luckily, there was a bed to sleep in! He stumbled in, collapsing on the bed, shimmying his way under the covers, sighing in relief as he felt its warmth. Quickly, the Master of Chaldea fell asleep, the night slowly approaching.