Matou Shinji and the Price of Victory
A Harry Potter / Fate Stay Night Story
Disclaimer: Though I wish it were otherwise, I do not own or in any way, shape or form hold a legal or moral claim to elements of either the Nasuverse, the Potterverse, or other works I may reference in the course of this story.
Summary: It is a dark time for Matou Shinji. Though his performance at the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship was certainly impressive, his achievement was not without cost, as his actions in publicly using the Killing Curse, acting as a spy for Durmstrang, and otherwise defying British Law have finally caught up with him. On the cusp of being outmaneuvered by the authorities, the lone rebel bargains for a last-minute reprieve, gambling his life and freedom on hope of singlehandedly facing down the forces of an invading army. Yet, in the coming conflict, the boy who calls himself Matou Shinji will soon learn that the line between friend and foe very easily blurs, and that even victory carries a hefty price.
Chapter 7. Mission Improbable
As he made his way back toward the entrance of Diagon Alley with Hilde - Emilia, rather – the boy who called himself Matou Shinji found his mind troubled by a number of questions. Some of these involved the specifics of the mission that Lockhart had assigned him, since from what he could remember of his third year, he hadn't exactly parted with Hermione Granger on the best of terms, and Tohsaka, ah…
'She and Granger will probably get along about as well as a burning oil slick on a stormy sea.'
Which was to say, the flare up would probably be very visible, very destructive, and amount to nothing good in the end, especially if Tohsaka didn't realize – or couldn't grasp – the value of having the press (and propogandists) on their side. Which was likely, given that he himself hadn't much cared about public opinion when he was a Champion, just doing what was right.
In his capacity as a squad leader for the Home Guard, however, that might not be possible. After all, it was rather hard to protect people if they didn't want to be protected. In that sense, reputation mattered quite a bit.
'I suppose Emilia will be helpful in navigating these strange waters,' he mused, glancing at the busty white-haired young woman. 'She seems to know what she's doing if Lockhart trusts her and has recommended her to me. Though even if I'm willing to put her past aside, I have no idea how Tohsaka will react to her…'
He suspected that part of that would depend on how the tanuki acted towards her, though another part…well, she already seemed rather unhappy towards Mashu for some unknown reason, and he couldn't think of any reason she would dislike the kind and competent Agent of Atlas.
With regards to the tanuki's behavior though, given how the youkai's demeanor as Emilia was quite different from how she had been as Maeve, he wasn't sure he really had enough of a grasp on her personality to know what she would do in her current state.
He didn't know what she had been through between the time of her defeat as Maeve and the present, aside from what little he had read in her dossier. The last he'd heard, she had taken the name of Hilde, to replace Maeve, but why was she now Emilia?
Was it the name of the person whoseappearance she was borrowing this time? Was it an alias she'd chosen for herself? Was she now Lockhart's familiar, and no longer Pansy's? And given that she was apparently an infiltration specialist, why had she chosen such an eye-catching form, instead of something more…nondescript?
…of course, that last bit might just be Lockhart's influence, given that the Assassin did seem to enjoy using his good looks (especially that award winning smile) to win people over, or his striking appearance to distract them from the various intrigues.
'I wouldn't have thought he was plotting all of this with how…visible he seemed at Hogwarts, but maybe that was the point. No one would expect Gilderoy Lockhart, the adventurer and storyteller of conspiring with the Goblins to overthrow the Ministry, though he must have been for quite a while.'
Whatever else he was, Matou Shinji wasn't exactly an idiot, and so he knew that an army capable of repelling a force like the one that had hit London didn't come from nowhere, especially not if it deployed in good order, and apparently had enough of an internal structure that it didn't simply amount to Lockhart's personal forces.
'For goblins to accept a practitioner of witchcraft as their marshal – I can't imagine how much negotiation must have been needed to make that happen.'
The boy couldn't imagine the extent of the backroom dealings that must have taken place for the goblins to not only support this endeavor, but essentially go all in on it. What had he promised them? And how could he have…
'…ah. I suppose that's when a body double would have been useful.'
Though…how long had Emilia been working for Lockhart?
It could only have been a few months at most, given the timing of when he, Lestrange, and Pansy had subdued her, meaning that Lockhart would have had to find other ways to sneak off for meetings, unless he had…
'Wait. The Wizard Marshal…who might that be?'
That had to be a long-time associate of Lockhart if the Assassin trusted him with command of Albion's military forces, but that name…who would choose such…
'…someone familiar with the Tower, or the titles assigned to high ranking magi who led the Association's armies.'
Someone who was ambitious, someone who no doubt was a fiend in battle, who—
'…it's Tomas, isn't it?' The boy almost groaned at this. Of course, the puppet created from a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul was involved in a plot to overthrow the Ministry. That…he supposed it was a given that Tomas would be amendable to such a scheme, though the fact that the puppet hadn't insisted on taking the leader position was interesting.
Perhaps in his time with Aozaki Touko, the puppet had become more comfortable with not being in charge of things, so long as he had a given role? Or had there been some promise Lockhart had made to him as well?
'Though that goes back to Hilde too, and what her relationship to Lockhart is that he would trust her as a body double? I wonder…what information about his plans is she privy to? And what has he promised her – or what hold does he have on her – that she would join a side in what will probably end up turning into a civil war?'
Perhaps the biggest question, however, was why she was willing to go from being one of Lockhart's most trusted agents to simply joining a squad led by…someone with no command experience whatsoever.
'Especially when last I remember, she didn't really like me. Probably still doesn't, actually.' He frowned, glancing over at the young woman again. 'Is it the mission, then? Or…is there something else going on that I'm not aware of, but should be?'
"You have questions?" the young woman prompted, noticing that the boy kept looking over at her, and not to focus on her figure. "If so, you might as well ask. I might even answer, if you're cleared for the information."
"...you could tell?" he asked, raising an eyebrow – not that she could see that, due to his "blindfold." "And what's this about being cleared…?"
"First, humans aren't that hard to read," Emilia answered, her tone perfectly neutral. "Especially when they have many things on their minds. Secondly, even if you are a Squad Commander, that does not mean you are privy to all of Albion's secrets, Commander." She paused. "Or mine," she added after a moment.
"You don't much like me, do you...Emilia?"
"I don't see how my feelings regarding you matter particularly," was the response. "Unless you'd like me to have some special feelings for you...Commander?" she added, almost as an afterthought, a hint of sultry heat and wicked promise leaking into her voice. "After all, I can be anyone you want me to be, a fact that my former...master often took advantage of this for his own ends, as you know."
"I...no, that…that wasn't what I meant!" Shinji answered, his face flushing beet red at the insinuation. He took a moment to compose himself, carefully avoiding her eyes – or looking at her rather curvy figure. "Will...will it affect..." he hesitated. "Will you obey my orders?"
"You command this squad, so as long as you give me a lawful order, I will obey," was the reply.
"And who decides if an order is lawful?" the boy asked, deciding to leave the question of the limits of his authority for later.
"Ultimately, the military courts, who will evaluate an order in accordance with the accepted rules of war and the code of military justice, as well as the accepted limits of an officer's authority," Emilia answered matter-of-factly. "Something that you should likely familiarize yourself with, Commander."
"...there's a code of military justice? For Albion?"
"There is," Emilia responded. "It is...not as comprehensive as the one the non-magical folk are supposed to follow, but regardless, there is one, yes."
"...I suppose I should read up on that then, so I know what orders I can issue," the boy muttered. Far better to know the rules so that he – or his subordinates – didn't break them inadvertently than to have to defend himself by pleading ignorance.
'If I wasn't responsible for someone else…'
If he was only responsible for his own well-being, then he would probably be fine doing what felt right, but with him responsible for Tohsaka's conduct…something told him it would be a good idea if he knew what was appropriate and acceptable, so he could make sure she knew and didn't get him into a world of trouble.
"It would not be a terrible idea," Emilia agreed, tapping the side of her blindfold, as a document appeared in his view. "Oh, a piece of advice, Commander."
"Yes?"
"Regardless of your legal authority, it is never a good idea to issue in order that you know will not be obeyed."
"...is that a threat, Emilia?"
"Merely a piece of advice, Commander," the young woman replied. "After all, to lead – to command – is a matter of trust, yes? Especially if your subordinates are not familiar with you. They can only trust you have the wisdom to understand a situation and give appropriate orders, just as you trust them to obey the orders you give. If you give orders you know will not be obeyed, orders that seem unreasonable, then that trust is broken."
"And what happens then?"
"Many commanders who fall victim to that end up losing their lives when their squad fails to obey in a life or death situation."
Shinji was silent as he mulled these rather chilling words in his mind.
It wasn't pleasant to think about, but Emilia…had a point. When it came down to it, most relationships were built on trust, so it made sense that the business of commanding was also deeply rooted in trust, because the point was to ensure that in precarious situations, where obedience could spell the difference between life and death, people listened.
Being rather unused to this whole business of command, he supposed he should be thankful his new...squad member was helping him out, whatever her other motives.
"Whose form are you borrowing this time?" he asked, deciding to start with something less controversial.
"That of Miss Suoirtsulli, the First Citizen's secretary," was the response, with Shinji blinking. "Though the clothes I am wearing were created by your fashion house, and are not part of her usual attire."
"I notice you don't have a briefcase or anything like that," Shinji observed. "Do you not have many possessions of your own?"
"No," came the response. "I own very few things, given what I am. Few possessions suit me in more than one or two forms, and I cannot remain in one identify forever so…it is hard to justify owning things. Even these clothes are only mine in that they were assigned to me as one of duty uniforms being prototyped for the Home Guard."
Shinji blinked.
"…I never thought about that," the boy remarked. "That sounds like a very different life than I'm used to." He shook his head. "Is there anything you call your own then?"
"Only a ring," the young woman responded after a moment. "I do not know quite what is made of, but it is infused with the essence of a spirit of the wind. The band will grow or shrink to fit the owner, who may use it to conjure a barrier of wind, so long as I have the prana for it."
"Sounds useful. How did you come by it?"
"It was a gift from the First Citizen for…services rendered," was the reply. "He believed it would be useful for me to have some way of defending myself that was not reliant on the form I wore, something I much appreciated."
"I see…"
"I keep it because it is one of the few things useful to me in any form," Emilia agreed. She chuckled then, showing a trace of herself beyond her more serious façade. "The First Citizen is quite an unusual man…no, perhaps I should say an extraordinary man? He is quite considerate of my limits as well as what I most appreciate."
Her voice was almost tender as she said this, which seemed…odd to Shinji, though he didn't want to dwell on it.
"I have a ring somewhat like that," he said instead. "Only instead of a barrier of wind, it allows the wearer to use fireballs. Perhaps you would appreciate having an item that gives you some offensive capabilities regardless of form."
"…what would I have to do for it?" came the cautiously interested reply.
"I'll offer it to you as a show of good faith – and a way to put whatever…bad blood we may have behind us, if you agree to do the same," the boy answered. "You're on my squad now, after all, and so my responsibility."
"Is that all?"
"I mean, I could impose some kind of geas or write up some kind of contract, but since we are starting over in a sense, I'll believe you if you give me your word," Shinji stated. "That, and I doubt the First Citizen has assigned you to me to sabotage my efforts."
"True enough," Emilia observed. "My word, you say? You have it. I will do my best to support the squad and bring it success in its endeavors.""
"Wonderful. Then the ring will be yours once we reach the house."
The two fell silent for a while, with Shinji's mind going over a number of things, including how odd it must feel to essentially transform part of yourself into clothing, before settling on the fact that Lockhart apparently had a very sexy secretary – and had Emilia wear her form.
'I suppose I know the Professor's tastes now.'
"…is she a foreigner, this Suoirtsulli?" the boy questioned, frowning as he went over the different practitioners he knew and found no matches.
"No," Emilia responded, closing her eyes for a moment. "She was born and raised in England, though she apparently spent time around Mediterranean, in India and around the Pacific, conducting various field operations."
"Huh…" Shinji grunted. "And she's not a practitioner of witchcraft, I take it?"
"She is not."
"I see," the boy noted, reasoning that the young woman – the real one – was probably one of Lockhart's fellow Assassins. He supposed it would make sense for him to bring on someone he trusted as his secretary, since she would have access to everything he did. "Enough about her though. Tell me about you," Shinji said, changing the topic. " Why did you join Albion anyway? I doubt you have any great affection for the people of Britain—"
"—I don't—"
"So…"
Emilia was silent for a moment as she looked at the boy.
"I suppose part of it is personal loyalty," the tanuki admitted. "As for the rest, the land that the First Citizen seeks to build is far better than that which has resulted from the Ministry's machinations" was the answer she gave eventually. "Why did you, when your last action before this was to defend the people of the Ministry?"
"...I just needed something to do," Shinji replied, shaking his head. He'd been in between roles and places when Lockhart had given him this offer, one that Sokaris supported, so it seemed as good an idea as any. "That's all."
"Is that so?" Emilia questioned coolly. "I'm sure there were other reasons. Something you sought to learn, to achieve, to become."
"...there might have been," the boy admitted. "But I'm not sure that's really your business."
"It might be, and it might not, considering my specialty."
"I don't think I'll be needing a body double," Shinji replied, raising an eyebrow. "...or will I?"
"There are situations where one might be useful, but I leave whether you will…partake of the services I am willing to provide up to you," the tanuki commented, with Shinji swallowing as his mind went elsewhere for a moment. "But if you don't wish to talk about yourself, then tell me of our squadmate."
"You mean Tohsaka?"
"I do," Emilia observed. "Why did she join?"
Shinji was silent for a moment as he thought about Tohsaka's motives.
"…I think she wants to make something of herself," he said eventually. "To repay the debt she owes me."
"The debt, you say?"
"The one she believes she owes, anyway," he amended. "From the house I bought for her to live in, to me giving up my mentor so she could apprentice under one of the most skilled magi in the world…where would I begin?"
"You do quite a bit for your lover," Emilia noted coolly. "Your girlfriend, I suppose the word would be."
"S-she's not my girlfriend!" the boy protested, his face going red as he said this. "We…we're just friends. Squadmates. Allies. That's all."
"I hope for your sake that this is true," the young woman observed. "Having a romantic relationship with a subordinate in your chain of command is a violation of Albion's code of military justice, after all."
"Ah…is that so?"
"It is."
"I see."
"Anything else you wish to tell me regarding our colleague, Commander?"
"…only that Tohsaka lacks patience, or an understanding of her limits," the boy related. "She's…from the time she was young, she's been used to being treated like a prodigy, since she's an Average One, capable of using the five major elements. But she's…" he hesitated. "She's inexperienced, and doesn't know how much she doesn't know."
"…is she capable of following orders?"
"…that I don't actually know."
The trip back to Shinji's manor was fairly uneventful, with Mashu meeting the duo at the door and welcoming them in and Emilia, interestingly, showing more deference to the Agent of Atlas than one would normally show to a simple maid.
More than she showed to him, even, which implied…
"Do you know…" the boy asked, as he showed her to a guest room, not wanting to say more in case Tohsaka was around, or in case she didn't actually know of Mashu's actual identity.
"I know enough," Emilia confirmed. "I have been present at meetings the First Citizen has had with her."
"I see," Shinji noted, revising his estimate of her importance in Albion up a notch or two. "As a negotiator, an observer or—"
"Both, though initially, I was furniture."
"Fur—what?"
"While more suspicious individuals might look for enchanted items or eavesdropping devices, few would suspect that the furniture itself was listening in," came the reply. Emilia's face lost all expression for a moment after that. "Though it hardly matters when one's powers let them see the true nature of things. Comprehension is a necessary precursor to transmutation, after all."
"Huh…she knew what you were?"
"She mentioned to the First Citizen that it was only courteous if all parties involved were sitting at the table, instead of being sat on by those at the table." Then her expression turned sly. "Not that I would mind her sitting on me again."
"W-what?!
"Nevermind. Perhaps I could have some time to freshen up, while you get Tohsaka so I can brief her, as well as getting the ring?"
"Yes," Shinji agreed. "Do you want to change, or…?"
"As this is Albion business, the Home Guard uniform will suffice," the tanuki replied. "You are free to do as you wish, Commander."
"Very well. I'll see you in the sitting room in an hour?"
"That will do."
"No."
"Tohsaka, what do you mean—"
"I mean I don't understand!" Rin protested, clearly having trouble grasping what Emilia was telling them. "You're a hero, Matou. Why are you – we – being sent to do something like protect some…some actress?!" she sputtered, sounding quite outraged.
"Because the First Citizen considers Miss Granger a useful asset, whatever your feelings about her, and as a member of the Home Guard, you are to carry out his orders," Emilia responded professionally.
"But…there are monsters out there!" the magus complained. "Actual threats. So why is the First Citizen wasting our time?"
"He does not consider it a waste of time," the busty blindfolded woman replied coolly. "And neither does your commander."
"She's right," Shinji cut in, looking like himself again in the comfort of his home. "I mean, Emilia's right, Tohsaka," he clarified, realizing that there was some room for confusion in his words. "Lockhart has his reasons. Emilia, continue, please."
"You're siding with her?" Rin demanded. "You're a hero. You—"
"And you are not, as our spar proved quite well," came the boy's reply, a response which made the girl flinch. "It's not a matter of taking sides. It's a matter of accepting the responsibilities entrusted to us, and trusting our superiors see things more clearly than we do."
"But what if they're wrong?" Tohsaka protested. "We can't just blindly follow orders!"
"Tohsaka – you enlisted in the Home Guard. That means that unless the orders we receive are unlawful, we do have to follow them," Shinji answered, raising his hand to forestall further comments from the Japanese girl. "In any case, perhaps we could let Emilia finish talking, as she knows the specifics of the mission far better than we do."
"Thank you, Commander," the white-haired girl responded. "Before I was so rudely interrupted, I had mentioned that our mission was to protect Miss Granger while she remains at the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts, yes?"
Shinji nodded.
"Why won't she leave?" Rin asked, frowning.
"She believes she does not deserve special treatment," Emilia responded. "That any resources spent guarding her would be better served protecting the people of Britain."
"She's right about that," Tohsaka rejoined. "She's one person – not a hero, not a fighter, not even a shopkeeper or a leader. She's just an actress – someone our age! How important could she be?"
"Miss Tohsaka, while I acknowledge that you are largely ignorant of the political realities of Magical Britain, I had hoped you would be willing to refrain from advertising said ignorance by opening your mouth when your betters are speaking. Apparently, I had expected too much from—"
"From what?!"
"From someone who the Commander had acknowledged as a valuable asset."
"Wha—" But Tohsaka went quiet as her brain caught up with her mouth. "Uh, M-matou-kun said that?"
"Yes," the tanuki stated. "May I continue?"
"…please."
"In that case, as I have chosen to trust our Commander's perception of you, rather than my own first impression, perhaps you would be willing to trust the First Citizen's impression of Miss Granger?"
"I…I suppose I can do that," the young magus allowed grudgingly. "Is it that it then? We have to be her bodyguards?"
But Miss Emilia merely shook her head.
"Unfortunately, that is only the first part of the mission, though a necessary part, as it is likely the Ministry may move to neutralize her, either by assassination or capture," she said apologetically. "The second part of the mission involves persuading her to move to a more secure location and accept a permanent bodyguard."
Tohsaka blinked.
"So the mission is to protect her until we change her mind and get her to move somewhere safer?" she clarified.
"Yes."
"That doesn't seem too hard."
"Oh?" Shinji questioned, raising an eyebrow, with Rin looking non-plussed as to why he seemed confused.
"To put it simply," Rin declared, raising a finger as if to lecture the others, "all we have to do is get her to change her mind, and that's simple enough."
"Is it?" Miss Emilia questioned.
"Of course, it is," Tohsaka insisted, "we just knock her out and alter her memory, or weave some compulsion while she's unconscious, so she agrees to go somewhere else. There's no need to bother with protecting her in that case, or wasting more time than we have to."
"No. We won't be doing that," Emilia responded immediately.
"What. Why?" Rin asked, confused and looking to Matou for support. "It's the most efficient way to do this."
"Tohsaka…it's not about doing what is most efficient, but what is right," Matou Shinji said, shaking his head. "Besides, there are some downsides you're not seeing?"
"Downsides?"
"First, have you modified anyone's memories or laid a geas on anyone before?"
"Well, no but—"
"Then we don't want your first time trying it to be on the person we've been assigned to protect," Shinji interjected. "I appreciate your suggestion, but the risk of damaging her mind is too great." He sighed, shaking his head. "Emilia, you have a proposal for dealing with this, I'm sure?"
"Indeed, Commander," the white-haired young woman responded, with a deferential nod of her head.
"Let's hear it, then."
Emilia quickly sketched out the basics for what she had in mind, a plan which took advantage of her skills as an infiltration specialist, as well as the fact that the attack on London had created quite a few orphans who were to be sent to WADA for school.
"To WADA?" Shinji asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why there?"
"Because its only institution which can really house them, long-term," Emilia explained. "These are the children we have not managed to place with living relatives outside the magical world, or with relatives loyal to the cause of Albion."
"…what about relatives not loyal to the cause of Albion?"
"The First Citizen will not permit us to place children with families loyal to the Ministry, given the likelihood that they will be conscripted into the British army," was Emilia's statement on the matter. "Neither we, nor our allies, would approve of conscripting child soldiers."
"…just hostages and volunteers, huh?" Shinji questioned, shaking his head. "Well, whatever works, I suppose. Go on."
"As mentioned, WADA, being a boarding school, is set up to house and educate these students, giving them an introduction to the magical world, and some semblance of a normal life away from the war. You may be interested to know that Hermione Granger has volunteered to be the mentor for these children, to show them the ropes, as it were."
"Now that is interesting," the boy murmured. "I assume you plan to take advantage of this somehow, given your unique skills?"
"You assume correctly," Emilia said with a dip of her head. "I propose the following. I will pose as a frightened muggleborn girl left orphaned by the attack. In that form, I will get close to her and win her trust."
"You think that will make it easier to persuade her?"
"I think it is more likely she will respect the wishes of someone she volunteered to look after, as opposed to that of a bodyguard she neither wants nor believes she needs for herself," Emilia replied.
"And our role in this grand plan would be…?"
"Bodyguards, though officially, you would be assigned not directly to Miss Granger, but to the children," the young woman explained. "You would still be able to carry out your mission, while not rousing her ire."
"You may be forgetting that Miss Granger and I did not part on…the greatest of terms," Shinji offered. "And if I remember correctly, part of what triggered this was…" He glanced over at Rin.
"You will both be disguised and using aliases, of course," the tanuki commented.
"Isn't that just lying to her then?" Rin spoke up. "If you're just arranging things to make her choose what you want her to choose, why not just change her mind directly? Why go through all of this bother and nonsense, where we aren't even doing what we're assigned to do, just…looking after children?"
"Miss Tohsaka—"
"Besides, once she finds out we were there, lying to her this entire time, then won't she just go back to WADA?"
"If she found out that we had been deceiving her, what you say would indeed not be an unlikely turn of events," Emilia admitted, with a vindicated-looking Tohsaka about to say something further, only the white-haired young woman never gave her the chance. "Which is why she will ideally never learn that Matou Shinji, Tohsaka Rin, and Emilia were there."
"And how do you plan to accomplish that?" Shinji questioned, curious about what she had in mind.
"Through layers of planning and preparation. We have two weeks – I suggest we use them to do several things. Of the utmost importance, each of you should identify any obvious mannerisms or patterns of speech that might give you away, as well as any signature combat techniques. The reason for this is that you do not want Miss Granger – or anyone with one iota of intelligence – to make a connection between you as you normally are and what you do when you are disguised."
"You mean, I have to change the way I fight?" Rin asked incredulously, her face a mask of disbelief. "Why would I do that?"
"…because you don't want to jeopardize the plan?"
"I don't see why we would go with a plan like this anyway," Tohsaka protested. "It's too complicated. Too much effort for one person."
"Tohsaka…"
"Even if she's important, why do we have to go this far?" the Japanese girl demanded, whirling on Shinji. "You, you brought this…stranger into our house. You're just listening to her. You're ignoring everything I have to say. Why? Why won't you listen to me?"
"Tohsaka, Emilia came personally recommended by the First Citizen," the boy replied, feeling more than a hint of ire creep into his voice at her petulance and refusal to know her place. "She's an infiltration specialist, who does this sort of thing all the time – she's even been his body double. The least we can do is hear her out."
"Then why not me?" Rin demanded. "She's...she's asking us…anyone can look after children. Matou, that's…I chose to join this...Albion just so I could be at your side, fight by your side, watch your back. But instead of fighting, instead of doing something meaningful, we're…watching children? Why? Why should we listen to this…person when she's making us do these meaningless things?"
"Because you know nothing, Tohsaka," Shinji snapped, with Rin flinching at his tone and his words. "You are completely inexperienced when it comes to working as someone's agent, or being part of a larger organization. This isn't Fuyuki. You're not the Second Owner here. You're a rookie who answers to me, so stop embarrassing me in front of our newest squadmate. Oh, and embarrassing yourself."
"Matou…" Tohsaka whispered, swallowing as her expression tightened. "I…even if Granger is so valuable, why can't someone like Miss Emilia just pose as her? If she is good enough to pretend to be someone else, why not Granger?"
"If it proves necessary for me to impersonate Miss Granger due to…unforeseen circumstances, I am not unwilling," Emilia interjected, with the magus looking over at her, startled. "But unless we have no other options, that would not be something I wish to do."
"A good point," Shinji agreed. "I assume we should also look into disguises?"
"Yes. Feel free to make them memorable – though I think we mostly need to do that for Miss Tohsaka, as you already have a very serviceable one."
"Good enough," the boy said with a decisive nod. "I'll put you in charge of this mission, since I don't think either Tohsaka or I have the expertise to act as lead."
"Your confidence in me is appreciated, Commander," Emilia replied with a small, but lovely smile. "As is the ring you offered me," she added, almost as an afterthought, words that seemed innocuous, but—
"You…what?!" Tohsaka screeched, her face pale and her skin…cold and clammy. "Matou, it…it's not true. Tell me it's not—"
"Tohsaka, I think I've had about enough of your behavior for the night. You are dismissed."
"Matou, I…"
"Perhaps you did not hear me. You are dismissed."
"Oh…o…kay."
Like a broken automaton, or perhaps a lost, little lamb, Tohsaka tottered off, leaving Shinji alone with Emilia.
"And as for you…"
"I will make arrangements for Albion to issue identity papers for our aliases, as well as handling the other logistics needed. Unfortunately, no special equipment has been authorized for this mission, but I doubt we'll need it."
"I…that works." The boy sighed heavily, shaking his head as he felt it begin to throb. "How long do you think the mission will take, once everything is ready?"
"Two weeks to a month, most likely."
"I see. And are any other forces already at WADA?"
"An ALF squad, yes, tasked with protection of the school."
"And Lockhart thinks Hermione needs extra protection?"
"He has reason to believe that the Ministry will try something soon," Emilia noted. "And so he wants both of us on site, just in case."
"He doesn't trust the goblins to repel an assault?"
"If there was a direct assault, they'd certainly repel it. A covert op, however…"
"I can see how that could be trouble," the boy sighed, shaking his head. "This command thing is going to be more troublesome than I thought, isn't it?"
"Perhaps," Emilia said sympathetically. "On the note of preparations, I will be heading into Magical London tomorrow to handle some of groundwork. Would you care to join me? You could meet some of the orphans and learn a bit about them before the mission."
"…you know what, why not? It's a date."
