Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fanfiction.
.
.
.
"Tohsaka, you know you don't have to follow me all the way home, right?" Shirou said to an infuriated Rin walking behind him heavily restraining herself from raining a barrage of Gandrs on this insolent fool.
"Shut up and walk, we need to have a long conversation when we get to your house."
"But are you sure? You know walking into another mage's territory is asking to be killed right?" Shirou casually said, unthreatened by the ominous aura of magical energy behind him.
"You wouldn't dare, I have my servant on standby, one command and he'll be on your throat." Rin replied with confidence.
Shirou whistled at that.
So you summoned a servant. Tohsaka managed to summon a servant. Huh...
"Well fine then, welcome to my humble settling!" Shirou replied with not one bit of hesitation in his tone. He unlocked the door and instantly dodged right as a bird made out of white string blew past him and almost hit Tohsaka.
"Onii-chan what do you think you're doing with that barbarian?!" A pissed Illya jumped out of the door and punched Shirou in the chest.
"Ouch! I had no choice, you angry little snowball! she was threatening to kill me!" Shirou fakely staggered at Illya's punch.
"Hmph, you could have killed her couldn't you? You just didn't want to." Illya said again.
Rin went pale at that last comment, he could have killed her? Shirou?
"Yes, but why would I kill her? I am not a participant in the Holy Grail War yet. Maybe once I summon a servant?"
Shirou? This is the boy she was looking up to? This is the guy she wanted to be her first date?
"Archer, come here." And a tanned man with white hair appeared next to her. He stared at the scenery in front of him, looking at the boy in front of him earned him nothing but uneasiness, and the small girl next to him just outright blew his mind.
"Master, permission to engage the enemy."
He said as he projected a pair of swords.
A pair of Chinese swords, although nameless in history and having no impact on any particular legend. Archer mained those two swords, they fit his fighting style and were projected by him too many times that it became basic muscle memory , Kancho and Bakuya, the black and white twin swords.
Shirou immediately took a battle position and stared at the swords in Archer's arms before he copied them and projected a similar set. Only the colors were different. Instead of pure black and clear white, bloody red and ocean blue.
Archer cringed at the sight, they are not supposed to be this strong, Shirou's projections are fast and precise, he shouldn't be like this, and what's with Illya? She is supposed to be the master of Berserker! Yet here she is, playing imouto.
"Stop Archer, we won't fight them now."
Good choice, Archer thought.
"Listen here, Emiya Shirou. I will not kill a master without a servant, so hurry up and summon yours as quickly as possible. Otherwise you will die by my servant's sword."
"Ho, interesting claims. Nice servant you got there by the way. A very nice one indeed."
Archer staggered at that, he knew who he was didn't he…
"Master, let's go, we're done here."
"Yes Archer, I believe we're done here."
.
.
.
"Wait Sensei, where are you going?"
"I told you, my role is over, it's all up to you Shiki."
Aoko opened the door of the red sports car she drove on their way here.
"Wait! You're going to just go?"
Shiki grabbed her shoulder in an attempt to stop her, and surprisingly, it worked.
Aoko turned towards Shiki and gripped both his shoulders. She smiled honestly, a smile of a caring older sister. That same smile she had on her face eight years ago, the smile of the woman who saved him from going insane.
"Listen to me Shiki. I will always be by your side and you know it. Take good care of yourself. Do not get too indulged in this war that you forget what I taught you. And always think of your family that is waiting for your return. Do not fret if you fail and always keep moving forward."
She leaned forward towards his cheek and gave him a short kiss. "Take care Shiki, let's meet again if we are fated to do so."
.
..
…
…..
The sound of a running engine was heard in the distance.
"Yes, I will do it Sensei, I will not disappoint you."
"Now I need a place to sleep and God I'm tired, oh shit I'm also broke…"
"Let's just take a walk and see what's going on, I have a bad feeling about this night anyways."
And so, the young boy who can see death strolled along the streets of Fuyuki in the evening, and while he was at it, he saw a familiar face.
"It's that girl that was staring at us when we first arrived. I wonder what she's doing this late outside by herself… Well, Shiki, you know this cannot be a coincidence. She's obviously a master."
Shiki walked towards her, placing his hands in his pockets.
Rin was too absorbed in thoughts to notice the approach of a person without magical energy.
"Excuse me." Shiki said.
"Huh?"
"Do you know of a nearby hotel?"
"Hotel? In Miyama? No, hotels are actually in Shinto."
"Ah, I see… Well thank you anyways."
"Wait, don't tell me you're heading to Shinto from here on foot? It will take you an hour and you might not even find a room."
"There's no other choice now is there? I have to find a place to spend the night."
"I can already tell that you're not from here, where did you come from?"
"Misaki town, I came here… let's say for a certain job."
"A certain job huh."
Shiki noticed the magical energy rising quickly in front of him so he instinctively leaped back.
"I knew it! Reveal yourself, Archer!"
And the tanned white haired servant appears in front of Shiki.
"W-WAIT!"
Shit shit shit!
Shiki leaped back once again but was followed by Archer this time.
Archer projected his twin swords and proceeded to swing at Shiki, he dodged the first two swings but was scratched by the third at his left arm.
Shiki stopped dodging and took out his small knife to which Tohsaka chuckled.
"Do you think you can beat a servant with a weapon like that? Don't underestimate me! Archer…!"
"Wait, stop! Rin! This boy is not an enemy!"
Archer said in a huge shock.
"Huh?"
Shiki said.
"Huh?"
Tohsaka said.
"Archer, explain yourself, how is he not our enemy?"
"This boy is here because of the interference of Zelretch. You know what that means?"
Rin facepalmed at that, but regained her composure fairly quickly and asked Archer.
"And how can you possibly know that?"
"Call it a gut feeling."
Shiki was just standing there, speechless.
"You there!"
"Y-yes?"
"Is it true?"
"Yes, it was that old man who told me of this war."
Rin carefully examined his hands, he had no command seals…
"Did you try summoning a servant?"
"Yes and I failed."
Rin placed a hand on her face and started pondering.
Archer also made his weapons disappear. He looked at Shiki closely in pure curiosity, he didn't seem to have an ideal to cling into, although their past is pretty similar. Well, he's been through a lot at least…
"Well then, come with me and it'd be good if you tell me your name too."
Rin declared while pointing at Shiki.
"What? Oh my name is Shiki, Tohno Shiki."
"Tohno huh? I never heard of this family
before… Well it doesn't matter. You will come with me."
"Okay." (After all, there is nothing else I can do.)
Archer disappeared into particles.
"My name is Rin Tohsaka. I am the second owner of this land and thus must keep track of all magical activities in Fuyuki."
Tohsaka? One of the founding families, no wonder she already summoned her servant.
"So tell me Tohno-kun, where does your family stand in terms of magical activities?"
"Oh? You misunderstood, I am not a Tohno by blood, I am just an adopted child. I am not sure but I think my original family was called Nanaya."
"Nana-What! The Nanaya family?! But they went extinct one generation ago!"
"Yeah, I know… I don't have any evidence of that other than this knife."
Shiki took out his knife and handed it to Rin who examined it with great interest.
"Wonderful, this knife is originally a Nanaya product! An extinct bloodline's entire legacy is engraved in this knife and it's well preserved."
Rin continued talking about the Nanaya family while Shiki found a great resemblance between Rin and Akiha, not only in looks but also in the way of speech.
"We're here."
Rin stopped in front of a modern mansion and said.
"This is my home, you can stay here until you summon a servant."
"Wait what? I will be staying in your house?"
"Don't 'what' me, if you want you can sleep on the street, although I think it would be a waste with someone of your caliber."
"But, are you really fine with that? We literally just met!"
"Yeah I'm fine, I'll have Archer murder you if you try anything funny though."
.
.
.
This chapter was pretty longer than the others mainly because this is how the story is better told, from now on the prospective will be on Shirou's side or Shiki's side only, other characters will get their spotlights via Interludes that will come in between Chapters.
Enjoy and see you in the next chapter or Interlude! A Bien Tôt! (Hopefully I didn't masacre that.)
Edit: Better spacing and writing format will be implemented in future chapters, I may also be late to upload for some time because the word count per chapter will also increase.