Shirou Pendragon wasn't a man who favored competitions. Oh sure, he loved finding and sparring now and again. A worthy opponent to match his blade or bow with was something he always looked forward to. The problem was that, in his mind, he was too good. So good that he would overshadow his compatriots. Those were honestly petty thoughts. The archery team needed him, but the school would only ever talk about him when the archery team came up in conversation. How he was so good at it or his looks. No one ever talked about anyone else in the sport and that bothered him.

Like, for example, Ayako Mitsuzuri. She was a big reason why he was still part of the archery team. Strong. Capable. Rather pretty, she knew how to twist him to continue fighting alongside the other archers. An arrow hit bullseye and she smiled at him. He blushed slightly and smiled back. She was great and deserved a lot of credit.

A harrumph on his other side did a good job of reminding him they weren't alone. He turned to see Sakura, his childhood friend, huffing and hitting the bullseye as well. She glared over at Ayako.

"It's not that hard," Sakura said.

Ayako narrowed her eyes in a challenging way. Shirou wasn't sure why they seemed to fight a lot but he didn't get in their way when they did. They were still friends and got along. It's just they were really competitive.

"Oh please girls," another feminine voice called out, "You're both pretty!"

Shirou glanced over at his older sister, although you wouldn't be able to tell at a glance. Illya Pendragon had long white hair and red eyes like her mother. She was an ethereal beauty and the talk of the school whenever she showed up. However, she was rather short. She had been able to grow taller with some magical aid, she still looked like a young teen with her build at the age of eighteen.

Ayako snorted, "I already know that. Geez Illya, let us have a bit of competition without butting in."

Illya rolled her eyes as she walked up to the group, "Yeah, but sometimes it just gets annoying. I know you both want to get into Shirou's pants-"

"No we don't!" Ayako and Sakura shouted, red in the face.

Illya just laughed and pointed at their faces, "Your faces say otherwise, ha!"

Shirou sighed as he watched the trio argue. He was thankful to have a loving sister and two good friends. Perhaps he should look into getting more guy friends aside from Issei. He'd never voice that out loud of course and, well, it was actually nice to be surrounded by beautiful women.

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched. For within one of the nearby rooms, two individuals sat and watched the events of Shirou's day with rapt attention. Before two school girls, a small familiar creature played the events going on a screen. They couldn't exactly watch in person. That would just make everything awkward and one of these girls was very keen on keeping her distance from any of them.

Rin Tohsaka idly watched Shirou and the others perform. She honestly didn't care about Archery. You just fired arrows into targets. Nothing fun about that. It wasn't nearly as interesting as magic could possibly be, yet she found herself watching it nearly every day. Of course, she did so to keep an eye on Sakura Matou. As the youngest member of an 'allied' clan, she was a candidate for receiving a servant in the next Holy Grail War. As such, she had to keep track of her skills and movements. She would not be caught flat footed by someone like her.

Beside her was her trusted friend, Kotone. She was basically the only person Rin could trust so she shared everything with her. She was always there for her and she needed that. To be honest, Rin couldn't imagine a life without her best friend.

"So it would seem that Sakura's skills are improving," Rin idly noted.

"Yes," Kotone nodded, "She's become great with a bow thanks to Shirou."

"Indeed," Rin narrowed her eyes, "What do you think of Shirou?"

"He is quite nice and helpful," Kotone smiled, "He'll go out of his way to fix anything for anyone. He's said to be too selfless for his own good."

"So you think he's just helping Sakura out of the goodness of her heart?"

Kotone frowned and looked at her friend, "You make it sound like he's preparing her for the Holy Grail War."

"He could be," Rin rubbed her chin in thought, "Whether on purpose or he's being used by the Matou girl."

"Sakura doesn't seem like the type to use anyone," Kotone countered.

Rin glared at her with a sideways glance, "Don't defend her. She's an enemy to be. Mother made sure to drill that into my head growing up and I'm not about to throw her advice away. She's planning something and I will be ready for it. Whether Shirou aids her in the war is up in the air, but I will not disregard any possibility."

Kotone nodded, "Right. At the very least Sakura's not a master yet."

Rin was pleased with that. There were no markings on her hands. While it was possible to hide them, magi knew a few tricks or two to bring anything hiding into the light. Sakura was indeed not a master. Yet. A small part of herself was happy. She didn't want to fight her. Not now. Not ever, but she beat that part of herself back into place. Thinking like that would get her killed. Her mother and mentor had done a good job of explaining that to her growing up. She had to be ruthless. She had to do whatever it took to win, even if it made her sick.

"Maybe we should go talk to her," Kotone offered, "I'm sure-"

She was silenced by a glare from Rin, "Kotone, drop it." Rin's voice was dripping with acid.

"But-"

"Ever since you've found out about her being a blood relative to mine," Rin kept going, "You've been pushing me to talk to her. I don't need to talk to her. She's not my sister. She is a potential enemy. So drop it."

Kotone frowned and looked away, "I just wanted to make you happy."

Now that felt like a stab to Rin's heart. If there was one person on the planet she didn't want to see upset, it was Kotone. "W-Well I'm glad that you feel that way. I just… Oh! Stop frowning. It makes me feel bad and you know I hate it when you do stuff like that."

Kotone's eyes widened and her lip quivered, "But I made you upset. I'm a bad person."

Rin put a hand over her heart, "Kotone, that's not true. I think you're a lovely person," she took her hands into her own, causing Kotone to blush. "I couldn't do anything without you, you know that."

"But sometimes I mess up and you get angry with me."

"But I'm never angry at you," Rin pleaded, gazing into Kotone's eyes. "I'm just frustrated with this war is all. It's a lot of stress and controlling a servant is more work then I could have imagined."

Kotone nodded, "My servant is a bit of a handful."

"He doesn't deserve to have such a wonderful woman like you as a master," Rin said, "So don't take me too seriously. You know how I can be about certain subjects."

Kotone nodded, "Alright, I understand."

Rin smiled, "I knew you would~ You are the best friend I could hope for."

Kotone giggled, "No, you are the best friend one could hope for."

Rin moved closer and rubbed her nose playfully against Kotone's, "No, you are the bestest friend one could have."

Kotone nuzzled against her, "No you are."

"No, you~"

"No, you~"

"No, you~"

"No, you~"

And this went on for a while, with a lot more nuzzling and cuddling.

Unknown to either party, a third party was watching from the shadows. A creature scurried in the dark. If one was unlucky enough to get a good look at it, they could tell it was not of this earth. It was small but deadly. With leathery skin, the creature moved about on four spikey legs. A long tail with two spikes at the end swayed in the air. Its three eyed head was massive compared to the rest of the body, full of sharp pointed teeth. It trilled slightly in an alien tongue and scurried about to get better angles.

From within the church, Kirei Kotomine looked through the eyes of one of his servant's summons. It was pretty unique of a creature. Vile and malicious. Just how he liked it. All of his servant's creations were just like this, with various abilities that would give him an edge in this war. He wouldn't of course tell anyone but the essential people of this. He needed to seem like an impartial figure after all in this conflict.

He smiled as he looked over the young magi of the city, "So young and brimming with life. I wonder what horrors await you in the coming war, my young masters." Oh Kirei just knew they were going to be selected and he couldn't wait to see them fall.

"I do not understand why we do not take them now," a chilling voice spoke inside his head. He turned to look at his servant. The servant, Foreigner, was a grotesque being. A large and bulbous body floated in the air with a stretched human face on one end. Several spiked tentacles waved from its sides. Truly, he wasn't of this Earth or any Earth. "It would be much more efficient to remove any unnecessary competition."

"We shall wait for them to summon their servants," Kirei spoke as he turned his wheelchair to face his servant. Around him were several large, pulsing pods. He knew there were larger pods elsewhere. All the creation of his servant. Each one carried a creature to serve their needs. "If we kill them now, another master will take their place. It would be hazardous for our plans if we have a number of esteemed mages on our doorstep. It is better to let the foolhardy teenagers fight amongst themselves and die.

"If that is what you wish," Foreigner spoke before looking over his creations, "I will need more material however. We have enough for a small army but one must be careful with some servants."

"That can be arranged," Kirei nodded. He had many candidates. Now that he was in charge of an orphanage, no one would really miss one or two orphans. Who would suspect the local priest of taking them for his own use? Or better yet, who cares for the people on the street without homes? No one really. He idly played his hand on one of the pods. Yes, these people served a better purpose now.

Kirei could hear someone humming and down the steps came the lovely Aoi Tohsaka. With her were young children, boy and a girl, in shabby looking clothing. His eyes were blank. Ah yes. After the fire that had devastated the city, there were so many orphans and homeless people. He had done his best to 'take care' of them. Which really meant to put them in stasis. Originally, they were meant to power his servant in a traditional sense. However, they now had a new purpose.

"I brought you something to help with your project," Aoi said. "I know how busy you two are but a little extra never hurt."

Kirei smiled, "Thank you, Aoi. We are running low on our stock. Perhaps you could find us some more 'recruits'."

"That is a charming idea," Aoi smiled. "I'll get right on that."

Kirei smiled. Seeing Aoi so sinister like she was actually aroused him. Taking her honestly brought a smile on his face. To think of her submitting to him. It was like spitting on Tokiomi's grave. How wonderful. He snapped his fingers and two creatures scurried into the room.

They were grotesque little things. They had no eyes and had hard shells covered the top part of their body. Four horns, one large and one small on each side, stuck out from the back. Six spindling legs and a sturdy tail were all the creature had outside of a small, jagged tooth filled maw.

"Take them," was Kirei's orders.

The creatures sprung quickly. They pushed the children down and stung them, infecting them with the Chimeran virus. Before anything else could be said, they started to spin a substance around them, cocooning them like the other captives, ready to turn them into a Chimeran soldier to use. They aptly lived up to their names of Spinners. Yes, soon he would have the necessary minions to take the grail and turn the world to his ashen paradise.