EDIT: Away! And out with you! This is my editing corner and I'll fight for this small space to express myself! Editor Berix's corner will persevere!

Hello everyone! Would like to first apologize for the late update. This week, I've had 5 midterms one day after another and the assignments for all my courses hit at once. As a consequence, this chapter and the next will be slightly delayed. G.S Pheonix for claiming the 200th favourite. It's an important milestone to me personally, and I hope you can all share some of my appreciation for the event.

On the same vein as milestones, we'll reach 200k words with the release of this chapter! 200k down, many more to go. It seems like you all enjoyed the last chapter, so I don't have much to say beyond: Enjoy this one as well!


Kiritsugu revealed his vast intellect whenever he planned for a combat encounter. It was incredible to watch him consider every variable and handle issues and complaints with well-thought-out counters. It was almost like he had planned for something like this in advance although, knowing the Magus Killer, he likely had.

Everyone sat around the table was involved. The planning had begun once Shirou, Rin and Sakura arrived and it continued while Shirou made dinner. Kiritsugu had initially intended to allow Shirou's rescued guest to make an appearance, but that had been moved to the back burner as the more pressing matter took front and center. A meal was delivered to her by the old man himself seeing as how she was most familiar with him at this point.

Kiritsugu was a firm believer that plans never survived initial contact and that the best plan didn't rely on location. Since the enemy could strike at any moment, a continual state of mind and readiness was required. The old man began by establishing a response plan should anyone be attacked. He reached a blockade when he tried to determine how everyone could transmit a signal to everyone at once while maintaining secrecy. Thankfully, Rin had the perfect solution.

Using formalcraft and abusing Fuyuki's ley lines, she could create gemstones with a certain frequency that would verify their own state based on the state of other gems on the same wavelength. If one gem broke, all gems on that frequency would simultaneously shatter. After giving genuine gems with a defined frequency for each individual person, Shirou could trace and replicate the gems and possibly even alter them into rings or bracelets for easier handling.

Rin would spend all night crafting seven gems in total for Shirou to replicate - one for each person involved, and an extra for herself so she wouldn't have to make unnecessary contact with Shirou. She would leave them at a specified inconspicuous dead-drop location for collection when Shirou went to school tomorrow morning. Sakura was in a similar position to Rin. Theoretically, she should have no knowledge of Shirou so she would only require one "distress gem" like Rin. Both girls would avoid any contact with either Emiya to minimize their risk of injury. Besides, only Illya, Kiritsugu and Shirou were major worries.

With Illya being placed under house arrest, she would have protection from Kiritsugu and Bazett should their home ever come under attack. Shirou was the only one in any real danger, but he could handle himself decently well. His goal, if he were attacked, would be to return to the Emiya house as soon as possible for reinforcements. Shirou was to avoid speaking with Rin or Sakura and was to take a very specific route home every day until they were sure an enforcer wasn't on their tail.

During the night, Shirou would be training double time to greater prepare for the incoming threat. This would be accomplished through Kiritsugu himself. It was supposed to have been a punishment for Shirou's actions but at this point, it was a test of readiness. The old man wasn't the most skilled combatant but he was different than Bazett, Rin or Illya in many ways beyond unpredictability.

"This isn't much of a plan." Rin huffed, drifting off to lean against Shirou in exhaustion. Sakura gave her a glare from across the table but due to the Tohsaka's closed eyes, she couldn't see it.

"Trying to stick to rigid plans gets people killed. You overlook new variables and growing issues when you expect everything to go as expected." Kiritsugu took a sip of coffee and Bazett copied the action. "Keeping a plan as open as possible is best when we have no idea what the threat could be. Minimizing the possibility of losses is our highest priority."

"Then why doesn't Senpai stay at home for a while as well?" Sakura asked quietly, sitting rigidly with her hands folded on her legs. It was her subtle way of expressing how much she disliked the entire situation.

"Because that would be abnormal and would indicate that we're expecting an attack. Our best bet is to dissuade the enforcer by appearing purely mundane," Kiritsugu replied calmly, getting a slow nod from Bazett.

Shirou wondered how Kiritsugu had heard about this predicament almost at the same time as him but that had been quickly explained by the Irish woman herself. Just before Shinji had encountered Shirou, she had gotten a call direct from her contract manager of a freelance mage who needed to be "handled". The pay was great, almost to the point of absurdity, but with it came the warning of extreme risk. Even after being in retirement for more than fourteen combined years, the Magus Killer was still equivalent to the Boogeyman in the magus community. The possibility of him still roaming the Earth unsettled a considerable number of magi within the Clock Tower. Apparently, several magi families had funded a bounty on his head.

Back to what was important, Bazett had declined the contract. She claimed she had done it out of respect for the man and a sense of pity. The old man wasn't doing anything wrong, he was just trying to live with his family…for the most part, anyway.

"So why can't I go to school?" Illya pouted, leaning against Shirou's other side, emulating Rin as best she could. Shirou could visibly see Sakura's irritation growing.

"Because a four-foot tall girl with pure white hair and demon-red eyes is hard to miss," Bazett snapped out, only making the demon-girl in question pout harder.

"What are you going to do, Bazett?" Rin asked, slowly closing her eyes against Shirou. He was tense and trying his best to distance himself from the situation but if he moved in any direction, all three of them would fall over.

"I'm still an enforcer of the Clock Tower, so I'll be doing my best to hide with Illya so whoever shows up won't realize I'm working alongside Kiritsugu. Should I be found out, I'll have no choice but to engage and kill them before they can send word back to the Tower." Bazett's face was neutral, flat and emotionless even though she had just spoken of murdering someone. "I'll also be making sure your old man still knows how to fight, just in case."

Kiritsugu held a wide grin. Was it because he was reminiscing about his training with Maeve? Or did the prospect of a fight entice him that much? "I'm certain I can still hold my own. Back to the matter at hand, there will be no communication between us all until things have settled down, understand?"

Everyone gave an agreement in varying states of exhaustion. Once everything was concluded, Rin and Sakura said their goodbyes, offered Shirou a combined hug, then left together to head home.

Sliding the front door closed, Shirou let out a great sigh and allowed his shoulders to fall in exhaustion. So much had happened at this point in his life that it was becoming a little overbearing. Rin and Sakura, school work, Shinji, weird projection magecraft, an enforcer hunting him down and soon he would have all the stress associated with getting an education at the Clock Tower.

Shirou had finally decided on going. Rin had made it very clear that it was too valuable of an occasion to pass up. He could find new conceptual weapons or enhanced blades there. He might even be able to learn from a master in projection, should there be one. The only problem was how Kiritsugu would take it. Shirou hadn't let anyone beyond Rin know of his final decision.

He expected the old man would be furious, that he would fight against it and claim Shirou was jeopardizing his and Illya's safety. If the old man would just listen to what Rin and Shirou had planned he would see that all the bases had been covered.

That conversation would happen after this enforcer was dealt with, whenever that happened to be. Unknown to most, Shirou hated waiting. He was patient, but only because he could understand when waiting out the clock was a necessity. Shirou had always tried to get things over with as soon as possible, so having to hold himself back from looking for the enforcer was a strange feeling.

Tomorrow was a new day, a significantly worse day considering that he couldn't eat lunch with Rin or walk home with Illya. Shirou paused for a moment, running that specific thought through his mind. He would eat lunch alone.

A broad smile slowly crept along his face. That meant he could eat his whole lunch for once.

… … …

… … …

… … …

Three days passed uneventfully. The gemstones from Rin were in the correct place and had been collected by Shirou right after school. To keep the package inconspicuous, they had been carefully embedded to the bottom of a water bottle with "Shirou" etched into the side. Should anyone witness the collection, it would appear that he had just found his lost bottle.

The colours of the gems were matched to the person they were intended for. Rin had a deep red gem, Kiritsugu took blue, Bazett snagged Irish green without hesitation and Illya grabbed a milky-white stone.

When Illya first touched the gem, it exploded violently in a spray of magical dust. Shirou had made a shocked expression and with equal surprise, told her he hadn't traced the gem yet. The look on her face was hilarious. She was absolutely mortified at the thought that she may have single-handedly demolished the old man's carefully crafted plan. When Shirou told her he was just joking, she couldn't have been more relieved. After all the teasing she had given him over the years, little chances to get back at her were major victories.

With all the gems claimed, Shirou took the bright orange stone and left the purple rock for Sakura. Since only he and the Matou would ever be in public until this was sorted, he didn't bother crafting anything incredibly fancy for the other members of his house. It took some effort, but Shirou formed solid gem rings with everyone's primary colours as the base. Then he embedded the gems of everyone else on the surface so they wouldn't have to wear six rings at a time.

Sakura was a special case. Seeing as how she was a non-combatant, he had made her a single earring in dark purple that she could hide beneath her hair. It was collected - so he presumed - early the next morning.

Shirou, on the other hand, had to wear every colour and he couldn't let it be visible either. It had taken a little over an hour but he had made a very intricate, miniature version of a blade incorporating each colour of gem. The blade design was only so that it could be traced with such fine components. The gem was attached to a silver chain that he slipped over his neck. It would rest comfortably beneath his shirt over his chest.

Each gem operated in the same way. They would all remain intact until someone decided to break their respective colour. At that point, every gem of the same colour would explode in a puff of dust like Illya had demonstrated. Shards of gem did grenade outward, but they weren't large enough or fast enough to cause real damage. They were broken as soon as mana was sent through their form, something Illya was having difficulty with.

Due to the homunculus' extraordinary mana reserves, contact with her skin seemed to be enough to set the crystals off. In order to wear it, Illya had to actually create a small bounded field to rest between her finger and the ring.

With their alert system established, everyone settled into a slightly paranoid routine. Knowing Shinji as well as he did, it was easy for Shirou to avoid the Matou at school, and on his way home for that matter. Today, Shirou had paid a good friend of his a visit in the Student Council room. Today was the only day he could because Shinji had class at this time. Issei expressed some concern over his activity over the past few days but Shirou passed it off as a little stress. Ryuudou casually mentioned that it might have been the result of messing with Rin, to which a civil debate began over why Issei seemed to dislike Tohsaka so much.

"Haven't you ever noticed?" he asked. With one finger, he pushed his glasses into place and dexterously snagged a small piece of tamagoyaki from his bento.

"Noticed what?" Shirou narrowed his eyes, chewing the last bits of food in his mouth. It was Saturday, a short school day thankfully. Unlike most schools across Japan, Homurahara Academy was clinging onto Saturday classes. Although, according to Taiga, they were going to be forced into abolishing the weekend class this coming April.

"Come on, you hang around her enough to realize that she has multiple personalities." Issei leaned forward, accusingly glaring at Shirou as if the question would decide his fate in a murder trial. Shirou offered a look of confusion before snorting. With a shake of his head, he grabbed a wad of rice and stuffed it in his mouth. "Hey!" the usually timid man shouted, getting Shirou's attention. "Don't tell me she's got you under her spell too!"

With one hand, he covered his mouth so he could laugh without offending Issei with a mouthful of food. "Her spell? Is she some sort of witch now?"

Issei slammed his open hands on the table, rattling both of their bento boxes as he stood from his chair. "I'm serious, Emiya! Her and that sister of yours both make my skin crawl." As if emphasizing his point, the man shuddered before sitting back down.

Shirou leaned forward, wrapping one hand around the other which still held onto his chopsticks. "Then this is really serious, you know what it means don't you?" The Ryuudou looked confused, giving a partial shake of his head with an agape mouth. "Well, it could mean a few things. But I think it means one of the two has rubbed off on the other, or they're so close that they've started to seem identical."

Shirou hid a smile as the boy visibly paled. "You think..? B-but, I told Miss Einzbern my thoughts on Rin last week when she cornered me in the hallway." Shirou wanted to be concerned. That scenario sounded far from innocent but knowing both Issei and Illya, it likely wasn't deviant.

"I thought you watched Rin like a hawk, you should know she comes over to my house to get Illya to help with her classes." There was a soft thump as the pale boy planted his head on the table.

"You're right, how could I forget such a significant detail?" he mumbled, lifting his hands to sit on the back of his neck in silent anguish. "There's no other explanation, they've magically altered my memory with their witch powers."

Shirou laughed, a bright smile on his face as he cleaned up the scraps left of his lunch. "Come to think about it, I've never seen them during a full moon. Maybe they perform rituals in the forest near Ryuudou Temple."

The boy snapped upright, fiercely glowering at Shirou. "You seem to know an awful lot of details, are you sure they haven't trapped you in one of their spells? Have you drank anything in strange vials from them recently?" Ironically, he had. A couple of weeks ago, Illya had tried her hand at her family's craft - alchemy. It went as well as expected from a novice alchemist and severe vomiting ensued for the following five minutes. Once he had finished expunging his lunch, his mind had felt much sharper than usual at the very least.

With another bout of laughter, Shirou tidied up his lunch and put everything back into his bag. "Not that I know of. But if I was truly under their spell, why would they leave the memories of their meddling behind?" The glasses wearing boy lifted his head, thinking over the question at length.

Issei raised one finger to his lips thoughtfully. "Good point. Illya and Rin would be very thorough." Offering another analyzing glare, Issei sat back and finished the rest of his lunch. "You're clear for now, Emiya."

… … …

"Have you remembered anything yet?" Kiritsugu asked, moving into the room to offer their guest some breakfast. Over the past few days he had been trying to jog her memory or unblock it somehow. Cold as Kiritsugu was, he wasn't going to let a woman with absolutely no memories wander aimlessly around the city.

"No, I'm sorry," came a soft voice in reply. The tone was similar to Aoi's if only a tad stronger or confident. There was a rasping quality to it, but it hardly detracted from the overall message she tried to convey.

"That's unfortunate. We may have to try other avenues if your condition does not improve soon." By that, Kiritsugu meant that someone would have to manually unblock her memories using magecraft. It was crude, jarring, dangerous and it would force her into the magus world, but it was better than being a mindless drone.

Memory manipulation was a risky procedure which could kill both parties involved if it were to fail. Only a skilled first-rate magus like Rin would be able to pull something like that off, but at the moment she was isolated from them. "Hey Missy, how's it going?" came Bazett's unusually considerate voice from behind. The woman gained a sad smile upon her arrival, stating that things were no better than yesterday. "That's a damn shame. Hope the old man here can fix your problem quick-like." With unexpected force, she punched his shoulder and offered them two a surprisingly genuine smile.

"I'm sure I can retrieve your memories with a little more time, Missy." The woman did have a name. While more of a nickname, it served its purpose for the time being. Bazett had thought of it and the woman seemed to respond approvingly. "Now if you could excuse Bazett and I." He offered a short bow and moved to the door, gesturing for the Irish woman to follow.

Once outside, he realized her face held an almost imperceptible smirk. "Did I hit you too hard?"

He snorted, giving his head a shake. "Inform the Clock Tower that the Magus Killer can easily be taken down by one with the strength of a stray dog."

Bazett's face flattened, telling Kiritsugu that his bait had been taken. "You want to go for another round, old man?"

Kiritsugu found himself smirking. For a prodigious enforcer, Bazett was incredibly easy to manipulate. "You have to ask?"

… … …

Shirou yawned as he neared the doors to his property. It had been a long day with little to stimulate him. He hadn't felt any strange presence or eyes on his back, nor had he been approached by odd characters. Since he didn't have to attend archery club any longer, he was able to leave school as soon as it ended which meant he had watched Rin leave.

Just how long was this enforcer going to take? Playing the waiting game like this was getting tiresome and growing worse by the hour. Opening the door to the front gate and stepping through, Shirou was suddenly assaulted by a blast of magical energy. It was as if two tidal waves had crashed together and he was trapped in the epicentre. The sound of rushing air and heavy impacts was steadily flowing from the back yard. Without hesitation, Shirou ran around the side of the house to get to the backyard as quickly as possible. Nobody had broken their gems, so what was going on?

Rounding the corner, he stumbled upon an extremely devastated yard and located the source of this energy. Bazett and Kiritsugu were locked in a spar, throwing wild attacks that Shirou could hardly track. Shirou came just in time to watch the old man grab Bazett's arm. Sensing the follow-up attack, the Irish woman swung her leg up around his neck and threw him over by falling on her back. The two popped onto their feet and without pausing for a second, re-engaged. The old man had decided to use his coat for the occasion and judging by the magical energy flowing through every fibre, he was pushing it to the limit.

Bazett threw a cross which was barely halted by Kiritsugu's forearm. The impact made the sound of a moderate explosion and the ground around their feet cracked with the sheer power. With a shudder, the old man seemed to blur as one arm forced her away and the other impaled itself in her abdomen. After striking, he released a controlled breath and his body seemed to twitch as it righted itself.

Launched back, Bazett landed on her feet before collapsing on one knee to grip at her stomach. Neither of the two were pulling their punches. Kiritsugu had used Time Alter to pull off that attack and as a result, Bazett was coughing blood onto the grass. "For an old man you're still a pretty good spar, I'd say we kick it up another notch but I wouldn't want to level your house," Bazett commented, pushing off her knee to stand. Unceremoniously, she wiped the blood from her mouth with the sleeve of her suit and donned a vicious smirk. The old man in question hadn't broken his stance, glaring back with steeled, calculating eyes.

"So you're admitting defeat, again?"

The Irish woman laughed haughtily, competitive desire burning deep in her eyes. Shirou was all too familiar with women and their competitive natures, he knew this wasn't going to end well. To get a better angle on the fight, Shirou moved to take a seat on the engawa where his father always settled. He was surprised to find Illya there already. Noticing his presence, she offered a bright smile. "Hiya, Shirou! How was school?"

Seating himself beside her, he spared a confused glance. "You're watching a fight like this and that's the first thing you say?"

The homunculus made an affirmative noise, kicking her feet in enjoyment. "Daddy's winning and he has been from the start. Bazett hasn't noticed that she's outmatched yet so she keeps trying." Illya's words were emphasized by a warcry as the Irish woman lashed out another barrage of blows. Kiritsugu was actually struggling this time, having to use the trailing bottom of his coat to slow some of her limbs before he could deal with them properly. An unexpected hook kick caught him in the abdomen and sent the old man tumbling along the grass.

"She's trying so hard because they're tied," Shirou commented with his eyes glued to the battle. This was what a fight between real combat magi looked like. It totally eclipsed his spars with Rin and Illya but to be honest, it wasn't very much different than his training with Bazett. There was far less power involved in those instances, but it was at the same speed.

"What do you mean?"

"The old man and Bazett have been fighting like this for a couple of days now. They've battled four times in total and each of them has won twice. Whoever wins this settles the tie and becomes the champion until next time." The old man used Time Alter to snake behind Bazett, delivering a painful jab to her liver. No matter the amount of reinforcement, a strike like that would drop someone to the ground and Bazett was no exception here. "I think it's been good for Bazett. If you haven't noticed, she's been much more lively around the house."

Illya slowly moved her eyes from her brother to the fight ahead. "Oh, I just thought she was getting used to us."

Shirou snorted, leaning forward as his interest in the outcome grew. Watching fights had the potential to be an incredible chance to learn, especially when you were able to examine their every move and trace it to memory. Both parties were wearing their specially crafted gloves so every motion was being recorded on a medium Shirou could exploit. The old man had his fist caught and as a consequence, he was thrown onto his back. With a mighty hook, Bazett attempted to plow his head into the dirt. With one arm being held, escape seemed impossible. At the last second, the Magus Killer turned on his side and narrowly avoided the blow by centimetres. As Bazett's fist impacted the dirt, a massive explosion of dust and magical energy clouded the entire backyard.

Illya made a noise of shock and shielded her face from the oncoming chunks of dirt while Shirou tried to peer through the haze. Reinforcing his eyes offered a slight increase in visibility but the dust was too thick to cut fully through.

Shirou thought he saw the glint of metal and his suspicions were confirmed when the slash from a blade disrupted the dust cloud and cleared the area. Kiritsugu's right hand held a combat knife that had unsuccessfully tried to sever Bazett's throat.

They really weren't holding anything back. Although, with Illya nearby, it wasn't as if there was any danger of death from such an attack. Bazett caught his wrist, twisting downwards while rotating her body in an attempt to break the limb. Rather than stubbornly try to hold her back, Kiritsugu moved fluidly while rotating his entire body to keep his arm straight-ish.

"Do you think Daddy and Bazett want to hurt each other?" Illya asked from his side, offering distraction to this much anticipated spar.

Shirou offered her a comforting smile. "I don't think so. For them it's probably a form of stress relief. The old man has been cooped up in the house with nothing to do for so long and Bazett has never had the chance to fight someone quite like him."

Illya hummed, carefully fiddling with the ring on her finger. The loud noises of impacts, grunts and shouts filled the silence as Illya digested the thought. "I miss school already," came a whine, although Shirou knew it wouldn't end there. "I miss all my friends and even homework. Then I thought about daddy and how he's been alone for so long and how-"

"And how he never leaves the house, yeah I've thought about it too," Shirou admitted, returning to absently watch his father fight. "He's doing it to protect us. He doesn't want his name to come back and hurt us in the future."

Illya made a short noise. "What's wrong with his name?"

Whoops. Shirou had never actually told Illya her father's nickname. In fact, he had made a point to keep it from her as long as he could. If she was asking questions of this nature though, maybe she deserved to know about her father's ugly past. "Kiritsugu is pretty well known by magi around the world. Over the years he's gotten such a reputation that they've given him a name, the Magus Killer."

… … …

… … …

There was a soft thump as his back was slammed against the wall. His head rebounded off the concrete in the same motion which made his mind thick and breathing difficult. Stars floated in his eyes and the world became a blurred mess. Shinji had practically been ambushed after school, lead to a back alley by a strange woman in a dark suit who claimed to want to speak with him. Damn his good looks! Why did good looking women always flock to him?

"I-I told you all I know, I swear!" he desperately shouted, trying to calm the woman currently roughing him up.

"Don't lie to me you seaweed-headed son-of-a-bitch," she hissed, leaning close to his face with a deadly grimace. "The information you provided is garbage. There's no homunculus and this Shirou Emiya kid is as bland as could be. You said you were friends but you can't even find him at school, and nobody seems to agree with your story."

"W-well…" he stammered, mind racing in an attempt at creating a story that could get him out of this. That damned red-head! Shirou must have purposefully avoided him at school and changed his route home. There was no other explanation for why the bot had seemingly vanished. "Why don't you ask my sister or Rin Tohsaka? They're both good friends of his, even if I'd couldn't find him they certainly would!"

The woman pulled him from the wall only to slam him against it once more. "Your sister goes to junior high and investigating a Second Owner without probable cause would cost me my job or my life." Carelessly, she tossed the boy to the side. He slid along the damp concrete onto someone else's boots, a man in a bright getup that was rather effeminate in design.

"It also appears that neither of the two are communicating with each other. From what I've witnessed, it's like they don't even know one another." He huffed, lifting his leg and kicking the boy onto his front.

With some coordination, the woman reached down and lifted his head before it could smash on the concrete. "How about instead of yanking us around by having us follow you, you show us where the Magus Killer lives and we take things over from there."

"Y-you aren't here for Shirou?" Shinji ignorantly asked, getting a scoff.

"Why would I care about some pissant little kid and his sister? The bounty is for the Magus Killer. One hundred million to the magus that can claim his head. What his kids do after he's gone means nothing to me." With a rough slap, the woman sent the boy against the wall. "Come up with something. You've got two hours before we come back and start putting a little effort in our interrogation."

Without waiting for him to input a single word, the two turned tail and walked away from him like he was dirt. Was that all he was to these people? A worthless pile of flesh that served only to accomplish their goals? Shinji had expected a reward or at least some recognition for ratting out that red-headed Emiya. Being manhandled by some suit-wearing dominatrix and her rainbow coloured boy-toy hadn't been on his list of expectations.

Grumbling in steadily rising rage, Shinji picked himself up and dusted himself off. He had been thrown around like a ragdoll, disgraced and rolled around the ground like a piece of garbage. Who did those two think they were? These two were almost as vexing as Shirou, if not worse. Going to beg the old man for help against them wasn't going to do any good. Knowing Zouken, he'd just laugh at him and call him a failure. Besides, he had already asked one favour, going for another wasn't a good move.

Pressing a palm against his forehead, he stamped one foot against the cold pavement below. What was he to do? He needed concrete evidence, not just the fact that Shirou existed, but that he had special powers and that his father was the supposed Magus Killer.

Clawing at his hair, Shinji wracked his brain for a plan. What could he pull off in two hours besides…knocking on his front door? His eyes opened slowly and the desperation left his body as he thought the plan over. At the very least, it wouldn't make things any worse.

"I know you two are watching me." He spoke to the alley, looking up and around like a madman. "Just watch, I'll show you where he lives and if you want the old man, I'll show you him too!"

… … …

… … …

The battle had ended in a stalemate. With several solid impacts but a distinct lack of decisive strikes. Bazett and Kiritsugu had tired one another out before resorted to grappling. Surprisingly, they were about equal in height and weight ranges which meant they stalemated there as well. Eventually, the two asphyxiated one another in a mutual hold and they simultaneously passed out.

Both of the combatants were pleased to hear that the score was still tied, and they were equally anxious to go another round. Shirou then pointed out that they were currently waiting for an opponent of indeterminate strength to come bashing down their door and that seemed to sober the pair. With Illya's healing, the two were on their feet running the fight over together to point out flaws and areas of improvement.

Illya also helped Shirou repair the backyard. After the large-scale battle, the entire area was devastated and it would have taken Shirou several hours with a shovel just to put the lawn back into a decent state. Using a spell Rin had taught her, Illya reconstructed the majority of the soil, using her memories to return it to a previous state.

"I really ought to speak to the old man about extending the bounded field to the ground as well," Shirou mumbled to himself, manually fixing some of the soil that Illya's spell had missed.

"Or~" Illya sang from somewhere behind him. Without warning, the rake in his hand was suddenly yanked downward and drug beneath his feet. Awkwardly stumbling over the front, he turned to see a strand of Engel Note dragging the tool away. "You could just let me handle it. I know you're not very good at magecraft but this sort of stuff is easy for me," she shrugged. The rake slid along the ground to her side where it righted itself for her to lean on.

Shirou blinked once, putting out one hand and projecting the very same rake with a cloud of golden sparks. "Four days ago I asked you to help me with something big for the first time ever and look at how that ended up." The two of them both flinched, Illya because of the sharp reminder and Shirou because his tone had been significantly harsher than he intended. "I don't want to ask you for anything in case I put you into another situation like that night. I don't want to get you killed."

When Illya remained silent for some time, Shirou focused on fixing up the rest of the yard. When she finally responded it came unexpectedly. "That wasn't your fault. I know you might think it was, but it was mine. I should have noticed that something was off about him. I thought I would be fine because I'm a magus but I overestimated myself and fell into a trap." Shirou continued levelling the soil in front of him, stubbornly trying to retain his resolve. That night was his fault, he shouldn't have ever put Illya in danger. "I don't want you beating yourself up over it or thinking that I can't do something as simple as fixing the yard."

In mid-rake, Shirou sighed and lowered his shoulders. He didn't believe her of course, but saying he did would get her off his case. He could only avoid her lie detection in this occasion due to being positioned with his back to her. "Alright, I get it. I won't try to shelter you just because of what happened then."

He could almost hear the smile grow in her face. It was certainly evident by the change of her voice at least. "Good, just because I'm your little sister doesn't mean I can't protect you once in a w-"

The chime of a bell stopped Illya dead. Without even thinking, Shirou dropped the rake and sprinted to the dining room where he knew Kiritsugu and Bazett would be. At the same moment, he accessed the bounded field to see where the threat was originating.

The front door? The signature was a very small amount of malice, but it had been enough to trigger the alarm. Shirou was just about to open the dining room door but it had been slid open for him. "Focus on the front door, we're ready if things go south so don't worry about us," Kiritsugu assured while the chime of a doorbell rang out. Illya shot up behind Shirou into the dining room with the old man while Shirou himself casually walked to the entrance. From the far end of the hall, Shirou could see the doorway and somebody was definitely on the other side.

The guest's silhouette was clearly visible through the door. They were a little bit shorter than Shirou, likely five foot eight and of slim build. That was all the deception he could really decipher at the moment. Their hair, clothes and the blurred nature of a silhouette made it rather difficult to determine whether they were male or female. As casually as he could, Shirou shouted that he would "be there in a minute" while deliberately slowing his steps to make it appear as if he had come from within.

A thought suddenly occurred to Shirou. Why would a trained enforcer try to battle a magus in his own territory? Why would they try to walk through the front door while broadcasting their presence? With that in mind, he felt a little more confident in opening the door, if only slightly. In one smooth motion, Shirou slid the door open and was met with the sickening sight of a smiling Shinji.

"Hey, my good friend Emiya!" He threw both his arms up in a wide gesture. He might have been prepared to offer a hug but Shirou had taken a step back out of his range.

So everything he was going to say was a lie, was it? Shirou could already tell that this interaction was going to be a sham from start to finish. Through the smile that failed to meet his eyes and the fact he had called him "friend" when just the other day they were declared enemies. "What do you want, Shinji?" Shirou asked in the most inhospitable voice he could manage. If someone was watching this interaction, it would be best to appear like rivals. Subconsciously, Shirou slid the door a little bit closer to himself, eliminating any chance the blue-haired boy had of slipping into the house.

"I was just in the neighbourhood and I wanted to see if your old man was around. Grandfather wanted to have a word with him about something pretty important." The smile that spread across his face revealed something rotten. That important thing was Sakura most likely. Was this some sort of ultimatum? Sakura or Kiritsugu?

Shirou did his best to control his emotions, going so far as to reinforce the skin around his face so that it wouldn't shift or twitch. "Well, I'm sorry but he's not here. He went out a few minutes ago to buy groceries for tonight's dinner. I have no idea when he will be back but it isn't likely to be soon." Shirou could only hope that someone much more dangerous wasn't eavesdropping on this conversation.

Shinji's composure faltered a moment, edges of his lips flickering. "So you're alone then. Care for some company? Why don't we go out to watch a movie or something?" he asked all at once, pitifully trying to lead Shirou outside.

The redhead frowned, closing the door just a little more. "I don't know what's gotten into you but I'll have to pass. Maybe you can try asking your sister." Without waiting, Shirou slid the door closed. Just as he was turning, Shinji made one last snorting remark.

"At least my sister isn't a bitch."

The word made Shirou wince and it took all the willpower in his body not to turn around and throw himself at the Matou through the door. Instead, he closed both eyes and took a deep breath, trying erase the words from his ears as if that were even possible. If Shinji was being observed by whoever the Clock Tower had happened to send, a reaction like that might be just enough to inspire an investigation. As far as their names were concerned, they weren't related. The two wouldn't show up in any record system as siblings either. "You've been acting funny for a while now, Shinji. You should get yourself checked out because I've never had a sister."

Tracing the bounded field again, Shirou watched the Matou slowly leave the property. A long breath he hadn't known he was holding slipped out of his lips. There was little doubt in Shirou's mind that their house was being watched, now more than ever. Shinji had likely lead them straight here and while Kiritsugu's bounded field prevented sensory access, it was far from unbreakable. Moving to return to the dining room, Shirou rigidly stopped in place as the doorbell rang again.

Slowly turning to face the doorway, Shirou spotted two distinct silhouettes on the other side. Scrunching up his face, he ran a quick trace and discovered that Kiritsugu's bounded field was having difficulties discerning the exact position of these two. Their presence seemed to bounce between each other or flicker outward like a shadow in a moving light.

A sense of unease slowly draped over Shirou. This situation was already strange and he hadn't even opened the door. Slowly returning to the entrance, Shirou opened the door to a peculiar sight. There were two people standing casually at the door. One man about five feet eleven inches tall and one female around the same size. The woman wore a three-piece suit in dark grey, a fine article revealed by a trace to be made in France, as well as retain some sort of magical-interference properties. Enhancements on their clothes were likely the reason why Shirou's bounded field had a difficult time relaying their location. A deep blue tie and pocket square added a touch of colour to the ensemble, colour not found anywhere else in her attire. She wore black, uncomfortable-looking dress shoes polished to a mirror-like shine. Shirou could actually see his distorted reflection on their surface.

Her face continued this colourless palette. Cold, nearly grey-looking skin and thin but long black hair which descended to mid-back around her head. She wore small glasses which had no bottom frame that barely seemed to fit properly on her nose. Even now as she stood near motionless, Shirou could see they were slowly falling off. Her features were an odd blend between sharp and rounded. An extremely angular jaw and cheekbones contrasted with a small button nose. What really caught his attention was her eyes. They were a bland gray which reminded Shirou of hardened steel. Perhaps they were blades in disguise, they certainly seemed to cut like weapons. Shirou felt naked standing under her gaze and that was without the man beside her also glaring him into the ground.

Like north and south or hot and cold, the man was the antithesis of the woman. For starters, he wore significantly less clothing. On his chest was a near-transparent tank top cut off just below the nipple line. Around his waist were a pair of hotpants in similar material. Both pieces of clothing were decorated with random asymmetrical shapes in assorted rainbow colours. Looking at the design for too long actually made Shirou feel a little lost. Just like his clothing, his face was inverse to the woman's with a soft jawline and cheekbones and a sharp nose that offered him an effeminate look. If it wasn't for the fact that his body was absolutely shredded, he might have passed off as a girl. Every inch of his body featured toned, stone-like muscles which he enjoyed flaunting if his attire was any indication. His hair was separated into two segments. One side parted off to the left, draped over the side of his head in smoky blue. The other side was bright green, stuck upright in gravity-defying spikes. The right side of his head just above the ear had been shaved with an electric razor, leaving an undyed patch of blond hair behind. This was likely his natural hair colour because his eyebrows were a matching shade.

Like the woman, this man wore glasses although they were in an entirely different style Shirou had never seen before. Bright flaming oranges and yellows that completely obscured the eyes and reflected the sun painfully. They were angular sports shades that made it seem as if the man was permanently angry, or at least that was how Shirou saw it. A strange feature actually shared by the two was the bizarre odour of wet dog which seemed to come in waves.

"Good afternoon," the woman began curtly, breaking Shirou's attention from recording their appearances. She spoke English with a rather thick British accent. "We're freelance agents hired by the Mage's Association under the Clock Tower." So they weren't enforcers, but that didn't disprove the possibility of these two being dangerous combatants. Kiritsugu was a freelancer and he put up a good fight against Bazett even in his old age. "My associate and I are looking for a Kiritsugu Emiya. His last known location was this city and seeing as how you bear his family name, we were curious on whether you know the man or not." She spoke the old man's name with a sharp, unhidden venom that almost burned in his ears. While odd that they would approach him personally, Shirou supposed that it was their only option beyond waiting even longer for something that might not come.

As he considered his response, he realized that Rin was right. He really would need a mask if he was going to pull off lying to magi. If they were all like this, he would spill all his secrets to the first person he spoke to. Since deception was impossible in his current state, he would just have to tell the truth. He let out a quizzical hum, nodding slowly. "The Magus Killer, right? Don't really know him too well but he rescued me when I was very young."

"Rescued you?" the man interrupted, leaning against his suit-clad partner like she was a stone pillar. She didn't even budge from the sudden weight, making it obvious which of the two was the real powerhouse.

Shirou nodded, carrying on with his story. He wasn't used to English still, so he had a tendency to slur his words as he was thinking of them. It might not have helped appear honest, but it was the best he could manage."There was a massive explosion at what is now known as Central Park. I was heavily injured but Kiritsugu saved me before I died. As I said, I was very young at the time so I don't remember much of then, and I had lost all the memories of my life before. Rather than leave me to fend for myself as a child, he adopted me, purchased a home and found me another guardian before taking off after a couple of years. I only know about his nickname because he left a letter for me to let me know something like this might happen."

The woman hummed thoughtfully, crossing her arms across her chest. "Can we see the letter?"

Shirou offered a genuine smile. "I would be more than happy to let you read it, but as soon as I let the paper go, it lit on fire."

Another hum, a curious glower. "It's not very often that someone loses all their memories as a child and becomes a magus, how do you explain the bounded field?"

Shirou laughed, but his mind was panicking. Rin had taught him an incredible amount and Kiritsugu had offered just as much, if only on a different avenue. In the magus world, people don't just fall into magecraft, it's passed down over generations. "Before he carried on, I begged him to teach me magic. As a child, it seemed incredible. Even though he was hesitant to start, he seemed to grow to actually enjoy teaching." Shirou scratched the back of his neck, hoping and praying that all of this was coming across as genuine and aloof. "I'm not very good at magecraft so don't expect anything crazy. The field just detects visitors and lets me know when they're approaching."

That was a partial lie. It did detect people, but only when they held a sense of malice or anger. The less these two knew, the better his chances were for an inevitable fight to end in victory. If the fight were to be at his own house, that was.

"You're being very forthcoming with information. Not many magi are so willing to speak of themselves in this manner," the woman pointedly commented, squinting her eyes a touch. She was right there. Far and few magi would ever reveal the details that Shirou had given so willingly.

"Well, you might be able to guess, but I'm not really a magus. The old man just taught me the basics and I've had to slowly learn from there." Shirou had to choose his words very carefully. He wasn't too sure how much he could get away with, but they weren't fighting at the moment so that was good in his book.

The rainbow man hummed, then sighed and pushed off the woman to stand properly. "So you don't know where the Magus Killer is and you haven't for years?" His voice was deep with a smooth quality. It was also much more westernized than the woman, lacking the more identifiable English accents.

"Nope, I couldn't tell you where the Magus Killer was if my life depended on it." Battling a game of subjectivity and relativity like this was convoluted to say the least. Shirou had, in fact, told the truth, he didn't know where the Magus Killer was as that part of Kiritsugu was supposedly locked away.

The two gave each other a glance, returning their attention to Shirou to speak in unison. "We'd like to search the house." The woman waited a beat then added a polite, "if you don't mind."

He had been expecting them to ask such a question for a long time. Casually, Shirou stepped back and offered a smile as they stepped into his home. They were about to step directly into the house with their shoes on but Shirou quickly made a noise and stopped them both. "You said you'd only look around, not track mud through the house."

The pair shared another brief glance before silently acquiescing to the demands. The two removed their shoes before continuing deeper into the house. With the duo leading, Shirou was able to trail behind and think about the situation.

He had only been expecting one person to come at Shinji's request. Two might pose a problem if they both happened to be skilled combatants. If they were individually on the same level as Bazett, Shirou couldn't see how they could survive without her help. Shirou certainly couldn't handle someone like Bazett going all out and Kiritsugu only had a fifty-fifty chance at victory revealed by the win-loss ratio of their spars. Even if the old man eliminated one with his Contender, the other might be able to take him out regardless.

That wasn't even including any special abilities either one of them might have. Shirou could tell that their glasses had magical properties. Both of the agents were hiding something. A memory suddenly played out in his mind.

… … …

… … …

Shirou felt like he had been submerged in rigid gel. Every inch of his body was stationary regardless of how much he strained his muscles or tried to move. Beyond the simple halting of his muscles, a creeping numbness was crawled through his body. It began at the ends of his appendages and steadily rose to his shoulders and hips. It was growing increasingly hard to breathe since he couldn't force his chest out to gather any air.

"That's good, Illya!" came the congratulatory voice of Rin. "You're able to hold Shirou much better than yesterday."

The homunculus hardly moved or responded, continuing to stare openly at her brother. "I've been practicing with Shirou ever since. Daddy said this would be a good skill to have," she mumbled.

"Trace, on-!" Shirou struggled to get out, a herculean effort to barely move his jaw and throat. The hammer of a gun fell and his circuits came alive with a pleasing green glow. The image of a hollow blade came to mind and slowly it went through the process of actualization. Upon forming in a few seconds, it fired out toward Illya and diverted her attention to the oncoming weapon. She stumbled to get out of the weapon's oncoming path but the brief break in eye contact was enough to free Shirou from his bindings. All at once, his body returned to him. He took a sucking breath, form snapping forward to close the short distance between her and Illya. The weapon he had fired earlier missed, hit the ground then exploded in a cloud of bluish-gold sparks. Shirou could see her eyes contract as she realized she had been deceived. Turning her head and forcing mana through the circuits across her body, Shirou was refrozen near instantly.

Illya took large huffing breaths as she focused on staring deep into her brother's eyes. She seemed nervous, but perhaps that was due to the blade in his hand being a hair's breadth away from cleaving her head in two. The bright crimson etchings on her face and body receded, leaving smooth porcelain in its place. Shirou's arm and hand holding the sword were shaking gently, a sign of the effort he was putting into striking her.

"Huh, I thought he would have had you with that," Rin commented from the side. Extending one arm, she flicked the side of Shirou's blade and the entire thing poofed into golden blue sparks. "Your Mystic Eyes are getting much stronger, but if you want to bind a magus like me you'll have to continue training."

With a turn of the head, Illya snapped her eyes onto Rin and the Tohsaka flinched visibly before locking into place. Shirou on the other hand, collapsed as the weight of his body spontaneously returned to him in his awkward mid-strike positioning. Taking gasping breaths as his chest was allowed to expand, he was able to watch the effects of Illya's magecraft on someone else for a change. "I'm sorry Rin, what were you saying? I couldn't quite hear you." Even collapsed on the ground behind Illya, Shirou could tell she was smiling.

Rin looked like a statue, eyes glaring down at the albino girl while she tried to move her arm. Unlike Shirou, Rin actually retained a steady, continuous motion of her appendages like she was stuck in slow motion rather than frozen stiff. That was until Illya put in a little extra effort and enabled the entirety of her circuits again. The tribalistic crimson lines splayed across her entire body and like a switch, the Tohsaka stopped entirely. The way she was stuck now, it almost looked like she was reaching behind her back for something. "You look upset, is it because I've finally gotten better than you at your own game?" the girl giggled, placing both hands behind her back while rocking on her heels. "You're too weak to deserve Sh-"

Then an explosion collided directly with Illya's face. Rin had never intended to actually reach for anything in particular. She was merely positioning her open palm in the proper direction in anticipation of Illya doubling her efforts. After being frozen entirely, Rin managed to mouth a spell with what little motor function she retained.

The blast wasn't large enough to cause major damage or destroy anything, but at that range it had knocked Illya out cold. Her limp form was laid out cold on the ground, expression of pained shock on her face. Since her circuits were still active, the crimson markings across her body had yet to vanish. "Guess I put a little too much into that one."

Shirou blinked, moving along the ground to make sure his sister was alright. A large patch of soot had stained her cheek but she didn't seem too injured. With one thumb, he wiped the mark off her skin and gently lifted her - and himself - from the ground. "You think?" he asked sarcastically, giving Rin a glare.

The Tohsaka shifted under his scrutiny, cheeks turning a shade of rose. "You know how hard she makes it to breathe, I was just defending myself."

Shirou sighed, looking at his unconscious sister with some concern. "At least nobody got hurt." Spacing for a moment, he realized that this might be a good time to let Rin know his concerns. "Ever since she started using her Mystic Eyes, they've been growing stronger. I've noticed that even her normal gaze is starting to affect me."

Rin hummed softly, eying the girl in his arm. "If she loses control of it, she'll have to wear special glasses is all. They're known as Mystic Eye Killers to the Mage's Association, but they're just fancy glasses that block magecraft." The Tohsaka offered a small shrug, turning her attention to Shirou. "Just keep an eye on how her eyes develop, if you find the binding effect growing stronger, we might have to do something about it. For now, let her be."

… … …

… … …

So that's what kind of power they were dealing with, some sort of Mystic Eye. The thought was concerning. If they were on the same level or even greater than Illya's, he might not even be able to move, let alone fight with a sword. That was assuming they were Mystic Eyes and Binding in the first place.

"Quite a large house you've got here. You could probably host a dozen people comfortably, any reason why?" the man asked, opening a door to reveal a prepared room. Shirou had done his best to continually ensure that all the rooms of his home were ready for guests. It was easier than having to make up the room when someone appeared. It might have looked strange to have so many beds made and rooms clear but Shirou was very orderly and clinical in his room maintenance.

"Kiritsugu never told me why he bought this house, at the time the question never came to mind. If I were to guess now, I'd say it probably had to do with how cheap this place sold and the location. As for what I do with the size, occasionally my guardian sleeps over or friends from school stay the night. I've had evenings where friends and their families have all congregated here for dinner." Shirou laughed, scratching the back of his neck nervously again. "I also just love cleaning."

The woman hummed, sliding open a door carefully to look within. Most rooms of the Emiya estate was small enough that a proper investigation by stepping within wasn't necessary. "Pretty rare to see someone your age that likes to clean," the woman mumbled, getting another chuckle from Shirou.

"I'm certainly not your average boy, for sure." The rainbow man slid open the dining room door and took a cautious step inside. From the hall, Shirou could watch him take a quick peek at the corners, then lean over the kitchen divider to look on the other side. Satisfied with his findings, or lack thereof, he plodded back to the hall.

"I hope you don't mind, but I would like to establish a small bounded field over the rooms we've already searched to prevent anybody from doubling back and hiding from us." Judging by the woman's tone, this wasn't a question or an option. In fact, she was already casting the spell before Shirou could make any response at all.

Stupefied, Shirou shrugged. "So long as it's just a detection field and you remove it when you leave I suppose it's not an issue." Cracking a bounded field wasn't an issue for him, but the fact that they wanted to place their own within a pre-existing one was strange.

It took a few seconds, but the woman finished the spell without issue and she turned to resume the search. Shirou really wished that he had a way to talk to Kiritsugu silently, to let him know that they were sectioning off the house and making it impassable. If the old man tried to loop around to an already cleared area, he'd trigger their alarm. Hopefully, his ears were still sharp in his rising age.

"Carry on, I'm sure you have other places you'd like to investigate while the trail is hot." Shirou tried to sound simple, carefully walking behind the duo as they split their investigation efforts to cover more ground. After every few rooms, another segment of their bounded field was laid down to ensure the already searched rooms remained void. Eventually, they got to Shirou's room, taking a little more interest than the other empty rooms. The man's eyes seemed to lock onto something behind his dresser and without even asking, he reached behind to withdraw Taiga's projected shinai.

Turning it over in his hands, he mumbled to himself, "huh, a cursed weapon made entirely out of mana." The man turned and held it up towards his partner and the boy himself. "Where'd you find this, kid?"

The kid in question offered a brief smile, a moment to buy him time to craft a half-truth. "It was something I stole from an old kendo partner of mine. It had a nasty bite to it and I took it away so it wouldn't hurt any more people."

The man hummed, replacing it behind the dresser before squeezing past the boy back into the hall. After seeing the way they acted and getting a better look at their faces, Shirou would guess them both to be in their mid twenties.

If their seamless cooperation was any indication, they had been partners in this sort of work for a long time. They obviously had morals as well. If they didn't, they would have just bombed the entire house, casualties be damned. That was something Kiritsugu would have done, anyway.

The two checked the old man's room next. Shirou and Kiritsugu had made a point to clean it out entirely. It was better to make it appear as if nobody slept in the room, that way Shirou wouldn't have to make excuses. Unfortunately, the old man had improperly made his bed and a couple creases lined the sheets. Leave it the man who dislikes housework to "Bed looks used, mind telling me who might have slept in it?" the woman asked, pulling open drawers in the desk unique to this room.

"Just the other night my guardian came over for dinner and she stayed over. She must have forgotten to make her bed properly before leaving." Shirou shrugged, expecting the next question to be which day specifically. As planned, the woman bought his bait and with a half-beat pause to reflect a genuine response, Shirou informed her it had been Wednesday.

"I do all my cleaning on Sunday, my day off. That's probably why I've missed it." Shirou explained the reason while moving forward and flattening out the sheets. Even though Kiritsugu's room used a Japanese style for decor, he had elected to awkwardly jam a western bed into the corner. He had claimed it was easier to get in and out of and Shirou would regretfully have to agree. Shirou liked Japan, it's culture and its history. But some things thought to be tradition were difficult when they didn't have to be.

The man opened the closet door and Shirou's heart reflexively beat faster. The one thing that hadn't been cleaned out was the closet due to the fact that they had no space for his clothes. Even from this less-than advantageous position, Shirou spotted the thick black felt of his father's iconic trench coat. The boy prayed that the pockets had been emptied out at least. What sort of incriminating items did the old man keep in that coat? The better question was how he could explain having a coat the Magus Killer was known to wear in his closet. Since he was going with the supposed "devoted to my saviour" route, he might as well stick with it. As expected, the man asked what the article was and Shirou adorned his smiling facade.

So far, the two appeared to be believing of his story. Then again, if they weren't, he'd likely be in the middle of some torture process right about now. "Kiritsugu always wore a coat just like that one. I liked it so much myself that I had one replicated but it doesn't fit my style very well."

Looking over the article in his hand, the man haphazardly threw it towards Shirou. "Yeah? Why don't you throw it on and let me see?" Catching the coat with slight surprise, Shirou folded it over in his hands to find the front. The rainbow man's plan was obvious but rather cunning. If Shirou had gotten the Magus Killer's coat replicated, he would have gotten it fitted to his own body as well. If the coat happened to be improperly sized, then Shirou could be called out on his lie. Shirou didn't even have to trace the article to know this coat would be too small. Shirou was larger than his father in nearly every area so the jacket would need to be altered if it were to fit.

But alterations were one of Shirou's specialties. The only thing he needed was a distraction so there wouldn't be eyes on him as he did what he had to. At the moment, both of the freelancers were staring directly at him with bated breath, lions waiting for a gazelle to stumble into their trap.

Shirou had never been so thankful as to have previous projections lying around. Taiga's shinai was still projected in his room, as it had been for years now and all of the data regarding its current form was resting comfortably in the back of his mind. He could exploit that knowledge by projecting something nearby to cause a commotion.

As if on cue, a loud clatter sounded from the next room and momentarily distracted the freelancers. Both turned their heads to look toward the sound and Shirou quickly capitalized on the moment. His father's coat was familiar to him, so the blueprint snapped into his mind in an instant. Incorporating dimensions taken from a self-trace, Shirou altered the measurements of his father's coat to fit his own body properly.

It only took a second but that was hardly enough time. Just as the alteration finalized, the woman snapped her head back to give their suspect a glance. Shrugging with a face just as confused as the woman, the boy moved to put on the coat as he was previously instructed.

"I'm on it," the man casually mumbled, stepping out of sight into Shirou's room again. The woman was left alone to watch Shirou slip on the coat. It was a little tight around the wrists simply due to the hasty alteration, but that could be excused by his growing body. In a few seconds, the man returned. "Must have put that stick down wrong because it fell over." He gave Shirou a good look over and clicked his tongue, likely an involuntary response to his suspicions becoming unfounded.

The woman crossed both arms over her chest again, eying the boy over like a piece of meat. "You're right, it doesn't suit you." She smirked, then walked past her partner. "Come on, we've got more ground to cover."

… … …

… … …

"Rin!" came a call from above. Aoi was such a soft-spoken woman that Rin often wondered how much effort it took her to shout. It wasn't normal for her mother to raise her voice but she had on occasion when Rin was working in the basement study. Aoi decided shouting was easier than climbing down the stairs herself, but the real reason might have been because she disliked everything to do with magecraft. Although, with how she had been forced to give away one of her daughters because of it, Rin could see why.

Setting her instruments aside, Rin pushed her chair away from the table and stood. She had been working on this project since the Shinji dilemma. Her research looked into Shirou's projected jewels and their differences compared to genuine gems. Like she was dissecting a lab animal, she had taken apart one real and one projected gem to learn the precise makeup of each one. According to Shirou, his projections would be identical copies where only the mana within would be different since he simply didn't have the reserves to fill the jewels.

But that wasn't the case. Sure Shirou's jewels operated in the same manner as their physical counterparts, but they were different at the same time. They held mana, they could take on mana and they released it as if genuine. Only, they couldn't seem to do any of these things quite as efficiently.

With the Tohsaka family affinity and Rin's dedication, she could get the storage conversion from personal mana to jewel storage to an eleven to ten ratio - for every eleven units she transferred, ten would be stored within each gem. Shirou's projected jewels on the other hand, had an unmoving five to three. No matter what she did to make the process more efficient, the ratio simply would not budge. That wasn't too much of a problem on its own, but the projected gems were also limited in capacity which definitely was a problem.

One third of the full capacity was lost during projection. A projected gem would never be as powerful as the real thing and Rin was determined to find out why. Shirou could project swords that were the exact same as the original, enchanted items with their magical properties intact and even atomic-scale defects on original swords. The boy could do all this, but couldn't perfectly copy a gem? Then again, who was she to complain? She was selling his copies overseas and buying real gems that came pre-charged. Alone, she was barely able to fill two gems to capacity, but which Shirou's help, she was buying a half dozen and filling three to capacity each year. It helped that Shirou alleviated some of the burden by projecting his gems with a meagre charge already within.

Purging the thoughts from her mind, Rin clambered up the winding stairs to meet her mother at the top with an inquisitive smile. "Someone wants to speak with you, they wouldn't say why." Immediately Rin was put on edge. Nobody should be looking for her. Not only did her bounded field actively dissuade non-magi, but it was also threatening enough to repel magi as well.

Something stranger yet, the bounded field hadn't even gone off. It was supposed to tell her when a magus had entered. What was at work here? The smile on her face had faltered and the unnerved one that took its place seemed to spread to her mother. "Should I be worried?"

Rin took a moment to think about the question, instinctively reaching into the small pocket of her skirt to thumb the crimson jewel within. Was this going to be an attack? Scrunching her face nervously, Rin looked in her mother's eyes and nodded slightly. "Go to the kitchen, wait near the door. If you hear any strange noises or if you don't hear back from me in ten minutes, run to the Emiya household," she instructed, moving toward the door with her mind prepared for anything. She could hear her mother pause before obeying her demand. Aoi likely didn't want to leave her daughter, but since she wasn't a magus, she was useless in a fight.

Her mind flickered back to the day Kiritsugu rang her doorbell: a dark silhouette standing just beyond the glass, rain pouring outside to make the scene even more dreary. Tonight there was no rain, it was far from the evening and she was no longer some naive child. Bracing herself for what might lie on the other side, Rin casually opened the door to find- -

A little girl?

She was barely five feet tall, wearing some sort of outfit in pink that reminded Rin of princesses she had seen in those cartoons Illya often watched. It was unbearably frilly, gaudy and accented with pristine white accessories. Namely, the frilled elbow-length ballroom gloves and equally as garish petticoat. The woman was petite like Illya, but unlike the albino, she lacked the refined features and sense of style that seemed exclusive to the Einzbern. Comparing the two girls was like comparing a child who was playing dress-up to a real princess. Her face was soft but angular simultaneously. Large pouting lips, large, soft emerald green eyes and a cute little nose surrounded by flowing golden blonde hair. Currently, that hair was intricately braided to hang loosely over her shoulder and down her front. Little pieces of cloth and precious stones were wound up in the braiding to pay homage to what Rin could only assume was her royal background. "Greetings, Miss Tohsaka." She spoke in very clear, pronounced English with no detectable accent, similar to Kiritsugu whenever he spoke in English. "My name is Elizabeth Velum and I've come from the London Clock Tower, no doubt you've heard of me?"

Rin blinked slowly. As second owner, she was more or less forced to help any member of the Mage's Association, regardless of how arrogant and insulting they might be. The fortunate thing was that she didn't have to be nice about helping. Smiling in her mind, Rin donned a thoughtful expression. "You know, I might have heard about someone like you once. You sell grandfather clocks, right? Not interested," Rin calmly responded while closing the door at a slow rate.

As expected, the petite woman stopped the door and shouted for her to wait. Re-opening the door, Rin was delighted to find the woman with an aggravated bright red face. "Did you just try to slam the door in the face of an enforcer?"

Rin feigned a look of realization. "Oh, you're an enforcer?" The girl's face rose a few more degrees in temperature and Rin had to do her best not to laugh. While that would get her angrier, it would also let her know that Rin had consciously been toying with her. "In that case, what can I help you with?" Casually, the Tohsaka leaned against the door, folding her arms in front of her chest.

The princess-pretender seemed a moment away from exploding in anger. Both hands were clenched into fists and her entire body seemed to tense like an elastic band. It was only a matter of time before she snapped and all that pent-up energy released. The woman closed her eyes and released a frustrated breath. "Do you have any knowledge of magi residing within the area?"

Rin nodded softly. "Of course, that's my job after all. Beyond myself, the Matou are the only other operating magi within Fuyuki."

The petite blonde hummed, turning her head off to the side and narrowing her eyes. "So she's going to be useless as well," she mumbled aloud as if Rin couldn't hear even though there was barely two feet between them.

Clearing her throat, the princess seemed to realize that she had been heard. "Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?" Rin blinked once more and a wave of irritation crashed into her. The Tohsaka opened her mouth to speak a fragment of what was on her mind but the miniature monarch waved her hand and distracted Rin long enough to resume. "Oh well, I'll forgive you this time." The blonde imitated Rin by crossing both arms haughtily over her chest. She even went so far as to close her eyes, lift her head and snort.

Frustration was building within the Tohsaka until she reminded herself that this was how normal magi operated: like idiots all full of themselves. She had grown so used to Shirou's accepting and friendly nature that she had nearly forgotten how hostile the magus world was. Forcing her emotions down, Rin's mind cleared and all the training of magi etiquette came back to her. "If you don't mind my asking, what is it you are here to investigate?"

The petite princess opened one eye, giving Rin a sharp questioning glare. "I suppose since this is your city, you have a right to know," she sighed, dropping her arms and opening the other eye. "A few days ago, information regarding the location of an infamous contract killer was released. Apparently, this individual has been living in Foo-yuck-ee for several years right under your nose."

Rin physically cringed at the gross mispronunciation of what she thought was a rather simple city name. Putting that aside, for now, Rin focused on the important questions. "Is this contract killer anyone I would have heard about?" Eyes widening a touch, Rin remembered that her mother would still be waiting at the back door to leave. Turning her head and speaking in Japanese, she gave the all-clear before returning to the princess ahead of her.

She seemed upset at being ignored even for a couple of seconds but the blonde didn't voice any particular irritation. "Possibly. He's known as the Magus Killer to most but the Association has released his information to the public. Kiritsugu Emiya, previous freelance agent under the Clock Tower with two-hundred-seventeen confirmed magus kills and who knows how many undocumented murders he's made. Kiritsugu's been all around the world and has manipulated people even smarter than myself into working to his benefit." The blonde looked genuinely concerned, an emotion that didn't suit her faux royal features.

Rin actually found her concern contagious. If Kiritsugu was such an evil person, why did he seem so kind and caring toward his family? Then again, he had gotten Rin to teach his son and daughter magecraft for next to nothing. Having your children instructed by one of the three founding families of the Grail War was something noteworthy alone. Thinking things over, Kiritsugu had manipulated her in some capacity. She would have to speak with him when things died down if only to determine what the man truly believed.

"I'm sorry, I don't have anything to help you with but if you find something I can do to assist I'd be more than happy to do it." Rin offered a practiced "genuine" smile to express her cooperation.

"Actually, a pair of freelance agents have taken the contract as well. I was wondering if they had come to speak with you any time soon." The petite princess held one hand over her mouth, deep in thought no doubt.

With a shake of her head, Rin's face returned to a neutral position. "You're the first person to speak with me about the matter. If freelancers are in Fuyuki, they haven't notified me." While it wasn't mandatory to notify the second owner when entering their residing town, it was certainly good manners. However, if the visiting magi wanted to avoid enforcers like this, Rin could certainly see why they would avoid her.

The Tohsaka actually wished she had known where the freelancers were. Enforcers and freelancers were like oil and water. Separately they were fine, but they refused to mix. It was a consequence of the money-driven market surrounding heretic and sealing designate hunting. While freelance agents could net significantly more money for their contracts than enforcers, they had no assistance or backing, and their actions weren't officially condoned by the Mage's Association either. A benefit of being a freelance agent was that there were no rules or regulations to abide by. This freedom rapidly turned into a liability when enforcers took on the same contract.

The main goal for enforcers was to claim the contract and recover their work so that they could get paid. If a freelance agent happened to fall during their contract, they were simply marked off as an unfortunate casualty. This resulted in animosity between enforcers and freelancers. While enforcers could make the first strike and kill a freelancer, freelancer's couldn't attack enforcers without being labelled an enemy by the Clock Tower.

"Damn, hopefully they aren't ahead of me, I got here as soon as I could," the princess mumbled to herself, sighing in exhaustion. "Thanks anyway, if you hear anything just use my card." A glove-clad arm snaked beneath the collar of her dress, reaching down the centre of her chest to withdraw a seemingly average business card. Rin grasped the card between two fingers with trepidation, curious as to where she had pulled it from.

Before she could really ask, the woman turned on one heeled shoe and strode off toward the street. Left standing in the door with the card in her hand, Rin looked over the card before stuffing it into her pocket. With squinted eyes, she watched the enforcer leave through the front gate and carry off into the afternoon.

Rin turned around to see the sad smile of her mother standing just some distance behind her. "This is something to do with that Emiya boy, isn't it?" she asked, closing her eyes slowly.

Rin grumbled and cast her head to the side. Her mother was a very perceptive woman, she could see through Rin as if she were made of glass. Just how she managed such a feat was beyond her. "Unfortunately, the little idiot messed with someone who never once considered consequences."

Aoi giggled slightly. "You always look so determined whenever Shirou is brought to mind, it's almost like you're trying to accomplish a goal that's just out of reach." Her mother took a few soft steps forward and laid a hand on Rin's shoulder. The contact made Rin face forward, eyes looking deep into her mother's with some surprise. "You've always made me so proud, Rin. Even if I haven't done much to help you grow, you've become such a strong woman with so much potential. If your father were here…" she trailed off, looking down between the two before returning her gaze and smiling a little wider.

Rin waited for her to finish, but the end never came. Aoi let her hand fall from her shoulder and took a short step back. Rin thought about it for what felt like an eternity but was only a few seconds at the most. Would he be proud of her accomplishments? Would he be happy that she was living a somewhat normal life? What would he say about the red-headed boy and albino she was teaching most of her secrets to? He'd be upset, likely. Placing so much faith and trust in another person, let alone a magus, was never his way. He would have let the two flounder around uselessly, Kiritsugu's deal and subliminal threatening be damned.

"Your father wasn't as cold as you think, Rin." Aoi shook her head, breaking Rin from her thoughts. "He was always thinking of you and Sakura, always trying to give the two of you the best lives he possibly could. That was why he had to make the unfortunate decision to give Sakura awa-"

"But why!" Rin shouted abruptly, surprising even herself at the emotion in her voice. She could feel the heat rush to her face and the hot feeling in her eyes, but she forced it all down and tried to retain some of her decency. "Why did father have to give Sakura to the Matou? We could have lived happily together, even if she wasn't a magus, she still would have been my sister." Even through all the resistance Rin had put up against her emotions, a tear sneaked its way through and where one came, many more followed. "Do you know what life has been like for her ever since she's lived there?" Rin asked, allowing the tears to drop down her face.

Aoi slowly shook her head, still in shock at her daughter's explosive release of emotion. "It had to be done, we had no choi-"

"She's being raped by worms every day," Rin interrupted, silencing the room in one sentence. Rin closed her eyes, preferring not to watch her mother's reaction to the knowledge. There was a long period of silence as the sentence settled like a dense fog. "Every day, the Matou training throws her naked in a pit full of writhing worms that crawl around and inside every inch they can get at." Reflexively, Rin curled her arms around her chest, disgusted at her own description of what she had seen time and time again.

More silence filled the room, placing an unbearable pressure against her ears and heart while the soft patter of two sets of tears on the floor broke the silence. In a very soft, almost broken tone, Aoi calmly asked, "How do you know?"

Keeping her eyes shut fast, Rin took a shaky breath. "Years ago, I secretly put gems into Sakura's things. They were a special type of gem, designed to provide a glimpse into the surrounding area. I've seen how she lives at home, how her classmates treat her and what that old worm Zouken has spoken to her about, but I never saw her go into the basement until recently." There was a pause as Rin swallowed thickly. Going over the details again, Rin wondered how she hadn't seen the clues.

Rin had purposefully abstained from mentioning the times when she had watched Shinji beat and violate his own step-sister whenever he so desired. Rin didn't want to completely shatter her mother's perceptions of her daughter. Sakura didn't even put up any resistance, allowing him to do whatever he pleased with her body. "When she and I were sleeping at Shirou's house weeks ago, I snuck into her room and placed a sigil on her body using one of these gems as a source medium. Rather than being in her clothing or bag, it would cling to her skin and follow her everywhere." Rin would never forget the first day she watched as her sister calmly strode down the stone steps into the basement, towards those writing, foul things all teeming to reach her.

It hadn't been a one-time event, either. To Sakura, it was daily routine. Every day, at a specific time when she happened to be home, she stepped into that basement for hours at a time only to leave as if the event had never happened. It sickened Rin to watch her sister go through the torture, it sickened her to know that she could avoid it if she really desired. She could simply stay at Shirou's, as the old man always allowed her to go out whenever she so desired. Was she punishing herself by staying in the same house as Shinji and Zouken? Or did she pity the blue-haired boy and torture herself for his sake?

Opening her eyes and wiping the tears from her face, Rin looked over her mother. Her legs were wobbling and her skin seemed deathly pale as if she were about to faint. With some haste, Rin wrapped her mother up in an embrace as she collapsed under her own weight. Even without reinforcement, the woman was light enough to make supporting and moving her to the couch a simple task.

When her mother was laid out comfortably, Rin stood and realized that she had fainted. Likely, the thought of her daughter living through hell every day had been too much for her. Sighing, Rin collapsed herself into the nearby chair, sniffling and wiping the tears from her eyes. Sakura wouldn't suffer much longer, would she? Shirou had always said that if a situation arose where she could be rescued for good, Kiritsugu would leap at the chance. The man had succeeded once, but that success was temporary due to the old worm's essential state of invincibility and his overwhelming potential as a magus.

Leaning her head over the back of the chair, Rin took three long breaths to calm herself down. With her body, her tears and her emotions all under control, she returned to her natural composed state. It wasn't common for her to break down, but Sakura was a very touchy subject, to say the least. Looking over her still unconscious mother, Rin stood up from the chair and casually walked to the kitchen.

Grabbing a class from the cupboard and filling it with water, Rin took a long drink before stumbling onto the landline. It was a device Shirou had more or less forced her to install in her house after explaining all sorts of benefits to her. The primary advantage of having this useless pile of electronics in her house was a magus-free connection between them.

The two could communicate without worry of their conversation ever being tracked or intercepted by another magus, especially since most magi avoided technology like the plague, Rin included.

Picking up the receiver, Rin punched in Shirou's cell phone number and held the cool plastic to her ear. It rang three times before a rustling noise filled her ear.

"Shirou Emiya speaking." His voice was different than she was used to. It was a little deeper but flat at the same time, more like his father's.

"It's Red, just calling to let you know an enforcer showed up at my house asking questions about freelance agents. Don't know if you've seen anything strange but I thought I'd give you a heads up." During the meeting at the Emiya house, Kiritsugu and Shirou had decided on codenames for everyone based off their respective colours. While basic, it was effective for the time being.

There was a short pause, then the sound of rustling again. What was that boy doing over there? His voice had brightened an octave and there seemed to be more emotion in his words as he recognized someone he knew was speaking on the other end. "It's nice that you called Mitsuzuri, but I'm a little held up with something right now."

Rin blinked, straightening from the counter and placing one hand on her hip with the receiver resting in the other. She opened her mouth to comment on the blatant misnaming but stopped herself short. "Someone who can't know about us is there with you, aren't they?"

… … …

Shirou looked between the two freelance agents currently searching one of the larger rooms just before Illya's. "Yes, I'm really quitting archery for good." Rin was a smart girl, she should be able to pick up on the subtle meaning behind the coded messages he was sending.

There was an audible breath from the Tohsaka. "Well you haven't broken the gems so I assume they're being nice. I don't know how you manage to skirt danger like this but keep it up. If we can somehow bait the two together, they're bound to start fighting amongst themselves." She paused once more, deciding on continuing anyway to alleviate the awkward silence. "The less we have to get our own hands dirty, the better."

Shirou watched the brightly-coloured male throw open a wardrobe drawer and look over the contents before proceeding to put things back in order. When he was satisfied with his search, he gave a crisp nod to his companion. The two simultaneously glanced towards the boy on the phone before moving onto the next room, Illya's. "Cleaning up the dojo might be a little harder, but I can give you some hints on how to make it faster."

Rin hummed against his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. "You've got a plan then, I presume? I guess I'll leave things up to you." There was a pause, then the sound of an inhale which stopped Shirou from responding. "Hey, if they're searching your house, where are you hiding Black and White?"

"Alright, sounds good. I hope your Sunday goes well, see you tomorrow!" Ignoring the angry shouting coming from his cellphone, Shirou snapped the device closed before stuffing it in his pocket.

"A classmate?" The woman mumbled, halting her search to stand in front of him accusingly.

Shirou nodded and offered a kind smile. Rin technically was his classmate in magecraft, so he could confidently say "yes" without hesitation.

The woman squinted behind her clear spectacles, whose steel-grey eyes trying to search for any clues that might have been splayed on his face. "Well, it looks like we're done with the house. You've got two buildings in the backyard, mind if we check those over as well?" She asked, trying to get some sort of rise out of Shirou.

Cool as a cucumber, Shirou shrugged. "I've got no problems if you've got no problems."

Humming, the brightly-coloured man shoved past Shirou, intentionally pushing him aside for one reason or another. Shirou scrunched up his face in confused irritation but let the act slip. "I'll check the concrete shed, you can check the other building," he called back to his accomplice.

The two entered the backyard and split as decided. Since the storehouse held his workshop, Shirou elected to follow the brightly-coloured man rather than the woman. "While I don't want to make it seem like I'm guilty of anything, this is my workshop, so I'd rather you not look at my work too extensively." Thinking of something to further dissuade the man, Shirou thought up a quick excuse. "Some of my projects are rather personal."

That comment unsettled the bright man, as he took a half second to glance back toward Shirou with a hundred unspoken questions. Since Shirou couldn't see his eyes, it was difficult to tell what his true reaction was. "Yeah, sure kid." Carefully, he pushed open the weighted door, making a loud, continuous creak as it opened.

The investigation was quick, thankfully. The man looked around, investigated each corner of the shed and then decided that nobody was, or could be, hiding within. His search was very concise. The only point that gave him pause was at the large steel safe in the back corner of the house. Shirou didn't blame him. The bounded field protecting it was quite intense. According to Kiritsugu, it would violently explode if someone even attempted to mess with it. Shirou valued his face and hands, so he had left it alone.

As far as Shirou knew, it was the only thing the old man hadn't given him access to. Whatever was inside must have been pretty important to hide away from his son of all people.

"Still nothing?" came a female voice from behind. Turning, Shirou spotted the suit-clad freelancer. Now that Shirou thought about it, what was it with female magi and suits? Bazett and this woman both opted to wear traditionally masculine attire. In Bazett's case, the choice made some sense at least. A suit covered the entire body and with Bazett's runecraft, she could reinforce the entire outfit. But this woman had no such enchantment on her attire, Shirou would know.

A hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing just a little too tight. "Well kid, looks like you're clean. Hope you don't mind but we'll be keeping a close eye on you just in case the Magus Killer pays you a visit..." Shirou was still looking toward the woman, but his true attention was being paid elsewhere. In his peripheral vision, over the woman's shoulder outside, were three people scuttling across the roof.

Shirou had to keep his eyes locked on the freelance agent so he wouldn't inadvertently expose his family while they relocated. "If that's what it takes to clear my name, fine by me." Shirou offered a tiny smile, getting the woman to narrow her eyes suspiciously. A red and black shape carefully moved over the peak of the roof out of sight but the smaller white shape was lagging behind. If the freelance agent turned around, they'd be found out for sure.

"Well, I suppose we should be going then. I'm sorry for the intrusion." The freelancer's foot scraped against the concrete floor and Shirou's eyes widened. Illya still wasn't over the top of the roof and the woman was about to spot her.

"Wait!" Shirou awkwardly shouted, halting the woman in mid-turn. She raised one eyebrow, pushed up her glasses with one hand and calmly asked what the problem was. "Well…" He paused, grasping at straws for a distraction. "You can't be so busy that you can't stay for a cup of tea?"

The woman looked over her shoulder into the eyes of her accomplice. "I hate tea," came a half-growl from his side.

The woman rolled her eyes. "While I do enjoy tea, it wouldn't be fair to my partner to force him into it. Beyond that, we should really continue our investigation while the information is still warm.

The man laughed, stepping beside his partner and offering a vicious smirk. "Sometimes, to crack a difficult case, you have to go over the source material a little harder as well."

The two shared an eerie smile before refocusing on Shirou. With the two of them in the doorway, he couldn't see if Illya had made it over or not. He was operating on blind faith at this point. "Well, I wish you good luck. If what you say about my adoptive father is true, it's best that you stop him before he can hurt anyone else."

The boy nodded, holding that small genuine smile for as long as he could. The two freelancers exchanged a glance before turning and walking out of the shed. Shirou almost sighed in relief when he noticed that the roof was clear.

… … …

Shirou gently slid the front door closed, releasing a breath he had been holding for the past hour. He had never felt so tense in a situation before. His shoulders and neck were actually sore from how tight he had kept himself through the entire exchange. A soft impact noise from the backyard stirred him from his own worries. Lightly jogging to the back, he spotted Kiritsugu and Bazett helping Illya down. The homunculus leapt off the edge of the building into their waiting arms with surprising grace.

"I don't think they bought the story very well," Shirou commented, sitting down on the edge of the engawa.

Kiritsugu snorted, ruffling Illya's hair as he spoke. "Anybody with more than half a brain could see through any tale we gave them at least partly. There's too much here that coincides with Shinji's story, too many pieces that add up."

"Mix that with a pretty unbelievable cover story and the quick memory wipes we've done across Fuyuki and things start looking more suspicious than usual," Bazett added, stepping up onto the engages beside Shirou.

"We've got other problems. Tohsaka called, an Enforcer came to her house asking questions about the Magus Killer." Shirou placed his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands over his mouth as he mulled the thought over.

Bazett stopped abruptly, stiffening. "Did she say what the enforcer looked like? Maybe even gave a name?"

Kiritsugu shrugged impassively. "What's important is that they have nothing solid to go off of. Depending on how by-the-book these freelancers are operating, they might not be able to attack without concrete evidence." Illya looked between her father and brother before sighing.

"You both get the same look when you're planning like this, I don't like it." Casually, she stepped away from her father to follow Bazett inside. Shirou followed her path inside with his head and when he turned his head back, Kiritsugu had moved forward to grasp the collar of his coat.

Thumbing the material between two fingers, he looked his son up and down and made a deep hum. "I don't think it suits you very well. Besides, you might send off the wrong message at the Clock Tower if you wear the Magus Killer's coat."

Shirou felt the blood drain from his face. Opening his mouth to speak, he found that he couldn't get any words out but the overall message was still the same: "You know?"

Kiritsugu gave a warming smile. "I might be old, but I'm not old enough to miss the obvious signs. I know Bazett spoke to you about the matter and you've been avoiding speaking about magecraft with me ever since." He stepped up into the engawa, standing still at Shirou's side. "I'm not going to stop you, you're old enough to make your own decisions and you're smart enough to think things through." He paused, silence and the chill of early evening settling over them pair. "Before you go I want to give you something important but we'll have to deal with these enforcers and freelance agents before I can."

Shirou looked down at his knees, considering their options. "Either way it looks like we'll have to fight."

Kiritsugu hummed, laying one hand on his son's shoulder. The old man hardly ever showed such affection through contact like this. It was actually rather foreign, though far from unwelcome. "Sometimes it's the only option."

With that passing wisdom, he left to enter the house, leaving the red-headed boy to his own devices. With time alone, Shirou contemplated the near future, how he would handle two separate groups both seeking to claim his father's head.

… … …

… … …

Sakura didn't really like Sundays if only because of her schedule. Everything seemed to land on the day and as a consequence, she had to rush around trying to get everything done. Her day began with school, then she had to rush across town to the junior Kyudo dojo before ending with her picking up groceries for the week. To be fair, she could have bought food some other day in the week but Saturday always left the market open. Stepping out of the dojo, she made a little sigh before reaching up to fiddle with the ribbon in her hair.

It was a nervous tick really and she ought to rid herself of it. The habit was difficult to throw aside, however, especially when she was given another toy to fiddle with. As if her body was attuned to her thoughts, the same hand moved further back to feel the glossy surface of her new earring.

Sakura knew it had been made with a purely tactical sense in mind but deep down she liked to believe that Shirou had meticulously crafted the gem specifically to her tastes. She wasn't one for gaudy, flashy trinkets and she couldn't bring herself to buy anything that made her appear worth more than she really was.

Her earring coincided with both of these points. It was simple but symbolic and it could easily be hidden away so it's value would never be realized. Thinking about the gift and Shirou brought a curl to the edges of her lips. Sakura hoped this whole issue Shinji had started would blow over soon. She could only see Shirou again once everything calmed down and even though it had only been three days, she was getting a little anxious.

Visiting Shirou was her guilty pleasure, her last light in the abyss that was her life. Autonomously following the well-remembered path to the nearby market, Sakura gently lowered her head and allowed her body to take over the journey.

It wasn't five minutes before she bumped into a wall. Blinking, she wondered how she had managed to lead herself the wrong way. Looking up, she realized that she hadn't wandered off the path, but someone had wandered into hers.

She reflexively apologized before trying to move around the individual, only to find someone else had moved in to block her path. Looking up to their faces, Sakura found two strangers beaming down at her with an unfriendly glower. "Afternoon, Miss Matou. Might I ask where you're heading?" The woman spoke first, thin lips and cold skin unnerving Sakura slightly. There was something strange about the glasses she wore, but Sakura couldn't quite place what it was.

Stuttering in surprise, Sakura took a half step back before regaining some composure and speaking normally. "I'm on my way home, my family is expecting me soon," she lied. If these strangers were kidnappers, it was best to feign expectancy.

"Oh?" began the man to her left. He couldn't see his eyes very well due to the strange reflective sports glasses he wore, but she could feel his piercing gaze regardless. Judging by the time of his voice, he knew her story was a lie. "Isn't your house in the opposite direction?"

Sakura paled, mind turning to static at the chilling comment. They knew who she was and where she lived, this wasn't normal, this was the start of a nightmare. Were these the people from the Mage's Association that she was supposed to watch out for? A million questions on what they might do and what she should do flickered behind her eyes but before she could move, she had already been trapped. A hand landed ominously on her shoulder, squeezing tighter than she was comfortable with.

This was bad and it was going to get worse before it got better. Activating her magic circuits, the sound of shattering glass assaulted her ear. It was better to be safe than sorry. Sakura could only hope and pray that she was overreacting, or that Shirou would find her before it was too late.

There was a slight pressure against her neck before the world suddenly went dark and she was sent to that dark place deep within her mind, that hell that never left her for a moment.

… … …

All at once, four gems exploded in a puff of glittering violet shards. Silence descended over the dining room as everyone took a second to acknowledge what that signified.

Shirou was the first to move, practically jumping up from his seat and bolting toward the door without a word. In three seconds, he was out the front door. the door and running down the road in the dim light of sunset. It was Saturday, but what time was it? Pulling his concentration away from running, Shirou reached into his pocket to check the time on his cell phone - as he didn't own a watch.

Roughly quarter after five, meaning Sakura was leaving junior Kyudo to get groceries. Shirou didn't know the entire path she took from the dojo, but he was certain he could lock onto her trail after arriving there. The tracing technique that he had used for Illya couldn't be applied, but his nose certainly could. Unlike anyone else in his life, Sakura had a pronounced, distinct scent that seemed to cling to her skin: Fresh flowers, a light and pleasant aroma which had been with her ever since Shirou knew the girl.

With his sensitive schnoz, he could easily follow her trail so long as it was fresh. Three blocks away, such a small distance but even short spaces could take so much time to cross. It reminded him of his earlier flight through the streets of Fuyuki in search of his sister. How such short distances could appear so far was confusing and frustrating simultaneously. If magecraft was as incredible as Rin claimed it to be, why hadn't anyone developed a teleportation spell?

Slowing his sprint to a jog as he neared the dojo, he took a second to catch his breath, changing his focus to smelling the air. Within seconds, he was able to catch onto the nearly dissipated aroma of flowers. Jogging to keep his pace up, but his nose active, he followed the trail to a specific spot on the sidewalk. From here, the trail took an awkward turn to the other side of the street. Crossing, the scent grew stronger with each step. She was nearby, likely being lead or carried at a slow, inconspicuous pace. Even with magecraft, it was best not to attract more attention than necessary.

Taking two corners, Shirou spotted the perpetrators. One in a suit, the other as bright as a spotlight in that rainbow getup. He could see, even from behind the pair, that the woman was carrying Sakura bridal style. What made them guilty as charged was the fact that they were heading away from the Matou manor.

Feeling a sense of anger boiling within, Shirou's voice shouted out before he could consider what he was doing. "Hey, freelancers!" After speaking, a minor sense of dread washed over the boy. What sort of stupid mistake was he making? Was he really challenging two freelancers to a fight for Sakura alone?

The two turned, both holding expressions of confused surprise. The woman seemed to clue into things faster than the man, furrowing her eyebrows and scowling partly. "I had believed you didn't know the Matou girl, but it looks like you've been paying close attention to her safety." She paused then, settling Sakura gently on the cool concrete below. "What else have you lied to us about, boy?"

The story was crumbling, Shirou would have no choice. These two knew he was hiding something, he'd have to deal with them both. Behind their backs, over the horizon, the sun offered its last few minutes worth of light. "Everything I've told you has been truthful. Neither of you asked about Sakura."

The man snorted. "Then let me ask a different question. Is Kiritsugu Emiya, otherwise known as the Magus Killer, still alive in Fuyuki?" He crossed both arms over his chest, continuing to glare while Shirou stood there dumbfounded.

He couldn't answer such a well-worded question. There was no inch to offer a half-truth or anything he could say to deny it. If he lied, his face would give it away and if he told the truth…

"Tch, that's what I thought. So that coat was the Magus Killer's." The woman rolled one shoulder. "Well, no better way to draw out the man himself than by torturing his son until he cries out his name."


The next chapter might be a bit delayed, but the future for both myself and my beta looks pretty open so I should be able to put out chapters in less time. (Theoretically anyway)

As for questions, I don't really have anything to ask you guys. Maybe you could tell me what you think about the freelancers and the enforcer or try and figure out what kind of abilities they might have. While I've made it kind of obvious for the freelancers, the enforcer is relatively unknown to you.

Anywho, remember to favorite, follow and review. All your input encourages me to write more. :)