Here I bring you the new chapter of the week and end of the month, and I must tell you that it will be one of my favorites before I write the banquet of kings. I hope you enjoy.
By the way, from here on, I'm going to remove the Author's Note since it won't be necessary.
Chapter 26: The little adventure of Kon and Rin part 1
1/05/2022
It was already two in the morning. Any self-respecting person should be at home in bed in this ungodly hour. Much of the Shinto commercial District was deserted with not a soul in sight and only the quiet and darkness of night reigned over the cold streets, though there was always some light provided by the countless streetlamps around highways illuminating some neighborhoods. However, this did not serve to remove nyctophobia even for those who believed themselves to be the bravest.
Due to the curfew put in place by the Fuyuki police throughout the neighborhood, there weren't any nighttime passersby strolling in the area let alone when there is a dangerous serial killer on the loose causing a reign of terror and blood everywhere as if this city it was his and he could do what he wanted. In fact, no one dared to venture through the cold streets of the night anymore if they did not want to cross paths with him and there was no one brave enough to stand up to him. At least not for this case.
Little Rin Tohsaka was the only one who decided to dare to travel alone to one of these dark neighborhoods when she got off the bus that had transported her here.
'So this is Fuyuki at night, huh?'
As the daughter and heiress of the prestigious magi Tohsaka family, it should be logical to remember that one day she will have to make this city her responsibility since they are also the second (traditional) owners of Fuyuki. However, despite that, she wasn't really here to take a simple tour so that she would one day have to memorize the land like the back of her hand or go on some kind of night excursion.
'Now I just have to find Kotone-chan…'
The main reason for her daring to go on a little adventure through the night city was to try to save a friend of hers.
It all started a few months ago when her great and admired father was preparing for an event that she had never heard of before, although it was going to take place here, the so-called Holy Grail War, so he was very busy most of the time without see his wife and daughter. Her father didn't tell her many details about this war, but it must have been something very important. She wanted to know more and if possible, to be of some help, but her father flatly refused saying that he was still too young to know. Those words had upset the enthusiastic young heiress and it was a blow to her pride.
Ever since she could remember, Rin had started practicing some basics of magecraft like Juwelen Magiekraft (Jewel Magecraft) under the tutelage of her father, of course. As the future heiress of the family, it was her utmost responsibility to learn some basic tricks at a young age of 5 so that the day would come when she was to succeed her father as head of the family, second owner of Fuyuki, and most importantly, to arrive up to the Root. In fact, Tokiomi have better expectations that his daughter could one day be a great magus, and better than him, due to the fact that she was born with an abnormal number of magic circuits and until 2 years ago had made her a Magic Crest, something without precedents in the history.
Anyway, with everything she had learned so far, she believed that this kind of magical ritual would be like a first step for her career to become the best magus that her family would be proud of, but once again, her beloved father said no and that was how Rin had grudgingly accepted that she wasn't ready to be by her father's side yet.
But despite that, little Rin couldn't help but be so overly concerned about her father's well-being. She still didn't quite know what her respected father had to participate in, but it did seem to be a dangerous thing considering that he had forbidden her under any circumstances to get involved in this and to stay as far away as possible together her mother.
Those words fell very deep in the girl's mind so she couldn't help but fear that something would happen to her father, or worse, that he would never return home in one piece, and for that there was not a time that she didn't worry for him. However, despite the uncertainty in her mind, she told herself not to worry. Her father was the greatest magus she knew. He was bound to win this War, Rin believed that with all her heart.
Even if it meant working with that jerk, Kirei.
It was so that once her father had made the preparations to install his base of operations in their mansion, Rin and her mother Aoi Tohsaka were forced to seek refuge somewhere far from Fuyuki so as not to be involved in the conflict. Mother and daughter moved to the residence of Rin's maternal grandparents, the Zenjous, who turned out to be senile and unpracticed in magecraft, and despite temporarily living as refugees outside the city, Rin was able to go to school without any problems as the war did not affect in any way the lives of those not involved, in addition to the fact that the fighting only started in the middle of the night.
But even though she and her mother would not be involved in the conflict, that did not mean that she did not stop worrying about her father despite his reputation and much more next to that strange suspicious-looking priest, but she swallowed it at least while she was with her mother and in the middle of class where she conveyed an air of confidence and security.
In fact, in her class, she was quite a celebrity among her mates, not simply because her family is multi-millionaires, and they were the original owners of Fuyuki even shortly before the Edo Period ended. Confident and prideful, the young girl was one of the best students in her class as she aced every single lesson and test. Many commented her dedication in her studies, some of her peers even watching her in awe and as a role model to follow.
Some might say that would be a lone lifestyle, yet Rin was happy with her only best friend, Kotone, who she got along with very well.
It was thanks to her company that the little heiress Tohsaka was able to enjoy herself quietly without worrying about the events of that Holy Grail War and always believing that in the end her father would be victorious. However, her peaceful days ended abruptly when she began getting a bad feeling at her school. Kids were failing to show up, teachers were talking, even some classes were cut short. Though most of the others were delighted with the latter development, Rin grew unsettled. Especially when she overheard a news report from a television about recent kidnappings in and around Fuyuki City. Rin considered herself a clever little lady, but even an idiot would've considered there to be a connection between the report and the Grail War.
And then her best friend Kotone didn't show up for two days.
At first, Rin had tried to keep calm about it; maybe Kotone had just come down with something. She was a meek, friendly girl, after all. But when she tried to call her house and find out if she was okay, no one answered. And that was the final straw for her to collect what gems she'd managed to charge with her mana, purchase a cable car ticket, and head into Fuyuki.
Rin couldn't ask her father to help her with this. The Grail War was an important event, and he represented the Tohsaka name in it, just as she would have to one day. Besides, he had already given her what she'd need to find Kotone as an early birthday gift: a mana compass that pointed to the highest concentration of magic around.
To tell the truth, little Rin couldn't say if this was the best decision to sneak out of her house without her mother's consent and she could only imagine how worried she would be if she found out about her daughter's absence at home. Normally Rin was a very obedient child towards her parents, and she had never disobeyed them. Well, hardly ever, but this was beside the point. Her concern for her kidnapped friend of hers was great to the point of her breaking her oath of obedience and risking going to a huge city in the middle of the night and probably already a battlefield. She will have time to apologize to her mother and face the punishment imposed her once she saves her friend.
However, one of the biggest problems she had to face was how to find her way around a big city in the middle of the night. While her mother, often took her for a walk around, but only in the traditional district of Miyama, and they rarely visited Shinto, which is where the kidnappings happened and where Kotone was kidnapped somewhere. Another thing was that she still did not know who the kidnapper was, where he was hiding and, above all, how dangerous he is. The only thing she knew (at least suspected) about him was that he was probably a magus, because just today, the city had become the main stage for a magical combat ritual only at night, and the kidnapper was also acting by himself the nights.
If that were so, she could locate him thanks to this compass and find him somewhere in this vast city. But even if he managed to locate his lair and find Kotone, she couldn't say what to do next. It would be easy to say that once she found her friend, she wouldn't waste any time getting her out of there and running away to some faraway place like a police station and trusting the police to protect them, but she also didn't know if that would work if, instead, she come face to face with him and have no choice but to confront him. Despite her carefree and self-confident character, Rin was still a little girl who still knew almost nothing about the world of adults and the dangers that she brought without the guardianship of her parents, so the young magus-apprentice girl would have no chance of facing a seemingly dangerous adult whether or not he was a magus.
She knew that she had made a wrong and unwise decision to risk secretly sneaking out of her grandparents' house to start a dangerous quest to try and save her friend and she might be regretting it later, but she also knew that it was too late to turn back.
She had made a decision, she left her grandparents' house away from the eyes of her mother and grandparents, took a bus to Fuyuki and left her completely alone in the middle of the night at a bus stop next to a park in the middle of the night of a practically desert-looking city surrounded by several buildings and some skyscrapers that were dimly lit, so there was no turning back.
Now she just had to move forward taking her first steps that would take her further away and focus on her mission to save her friend.
For Kotone.
And so, her little adventure begins...
"Let's see." She said the little girl first inspecting the magic compass that she had as a pendant that would help her locate Kotone. The first thing she saw was to her surprise that the compass had started to beep at the same time the needle had started to spin freely in a full circle with no sign of stopping as if it had gone crazy or something.
'I've never seen it react like this.'
According to what her father told her when he gave it to her was that the compass works instantly depending on the intensity of the mana around it. If there is only one source of magical energy in a single direction, it would only indicate said direction, but if the source was so tense that it spanned an entire area, or if there were multiple sources, the needle would point in all possible directions, just like she was seeing now.
'Does that mean there are mana traces all over the place?' Rin asked as she looked in all the directions around her that she was supposedly pointing at the needle.
This was going to be a big problem. She already knew once she got this place, this wouldn't be as easy as playing hide-and-seek since she would have to search every part where magical energy came from in all the surroundings, and to know how much it would cost her to find the one where Kotone was. She knew this would be a real waste of time and didn't want to search every last bit of this district until dawn as by then it might already be too late, and everything she had done so far to get here it would have been in vain.
No. She wouldn't let it all go to waste and disappoint her parents. She had to move forward and find her friend once and for all.
With that decided, she first crossed one of the streets to get to the other side and began to run along the dimly lit sidewalk to find a shortcut that would take her to the fountain that echoed around her. She did well to run quietly since she didn't want to attract attention. One of the big risks of a little girl like her being isolated in the middle of a big city is that she might run into some thugs like thieves, child kidnappers (like Kotone's case), murderers or a police patrolling the area.
The last thing Rin wants is to be caught snooping around these eerily quiet neighborhoods in the middle of the night without the protection of her parents, and even if the latter (the police) do a good job of taking her in to get her to a safe place, that obstreperously hampers her mission and she could only hope that her disgruntled mother would show up to pick her up and everything she had done would be in vain.
'I hope no one sees me.' She thought as she continued to run down the sidewalk and from time to time, glanced at her compass to see if there was any hint of more latent magical energy.
It was not until after going through an entire sector, she stopped to stand in front of a possible shortcut in the form of a dimly lit alley that led to another neighborhood. Rin stared it hesitantly until she turned her attention back to the compass. She saw that it was still beeping, and the needle was still spinning, but there was a pattern that caught her attention, and it was that every time the needle pointed down the alley its tip would light up red for a brief moment when it was no longer pointing down the alley and would light up again when it pointed down the alley.
Despite her initial hesitation to enter one of those dark alleys, she decided to take a chance and swallowed her fears before taking a few steps inside. As she surveyed the almost dark environment around him, Rin just focused on the activity of the compass and see if it pointed to a different direction, but it seemed that everything was the same and she kept walking through the darkness.
"Damn you Ichigo, how could you do this to me?" Kon grumbled annoyed as he walked alone along a pavement in the streets of Shinto. "If you were only here, I'd give you a good beating for letting me fall to the ground."
The unfortunate Mod soul couldn't be in the worst possible situation because while Ichigo along with Saber and Uryū were running through the streets of Shinto in search of that maniacal serial killer and his sidekick, Kon had clung tightly to the shoulder of the orange haired boy all the time until he suddenly stopped abruptly causing the stuffed animal to slipped off the suit and fall to the ground. The reason for that sudden movement was because they saw a police car approaching on guard duty, and since they didn't want to be caught in the middle of the street, the teenagers wasted no time turning the other way so quickly and walking away from the scene leaving poor Kon just recovered from his daze.
It was only thanks to the patrol car's spotlight that brought him back to reality and he wasted no time running away and trying to catch up with Ichigo as well.
as his legs could go
Kon desperately tried to catch up to his owner/friend as fast as he could, but no matter how much he ran and yelled at Ichigo, he found no sign of the orange-haired teenager, the 4-eyed Quincy, nor the wild tomboy knight anywhere as if they had disappeared from the face of the Earth.
It was after a little while that the Mod soul stopped his run realizing that he had lost his way and that the group of morons must be far away, who knows where. Knowing this, Kon cursed his luck and this fucking shitty universe for putting him in this situation. He knew very well that he couldn't go back to the motel anymore since he didn't know where he was and worse still, he was lost in the middle of a big district that is possibly bigger than Karakura. He really was in a pretty fucked up situation and didn't know what to do about it except walk since he didn't want to stand here in the middle of the night and try to find Ichigo or have them find him first.
That was how the hapless Mod soul was walking on the pavement for a sometime since he separated from Ichigo, and he still didn't find even the slightest trace of them as if he had been abandoned like a dirty rag. This situation was much more screwed up when the entire rescue team arrived inside the Seireitei and had to separate into groups (Kon had been assigned with Ichigo and Ganju) since now he had no partner by his side or to talk about what he knew he conformed still grumbling and cursing fate for his situation, and the worst thing was... HE DIDN'T GIVE A SHIT IF A CASUALLY STROLLING NIGHT PASSERBY HAPPENED TO STOP AND SEE A STUFFED LION WALKING AND TALKING NON-STOP GROWLING!
This is a world of magic, isn't it? Here at this time of night there must have been a number of wizards and their respective Servants strolling around as well and he didn't think they would mind seeing a Mod soul inside a stuffed lion.
'I'm just hoping to found those morons to let them know the shit I'm suffering from.' Kon thought as he pondered how to carry out his revenge especially against that orange-haired dumbass.
Yeah, when he gets the first chance, he'll give him a hard shake in the face that-
Suddenly, his train of thought was abruptly interrupted when he heard a loud sound that sounded like a solid object like a bucket tipping over and falling to the ground causing Kon to stop abruptly on his feet stopping his march. He then turned his head towards the source of the sound while all trace of frustration and anger vanished like the wind and were quickly replaced by shock and fear.
"What was that?" Kon asked fearfully as he kept looking at the place where he was supposed to have heard the noise being a dark alley where several garbage cans could barely be seen.
If only he had a real throat and tongue, he would have swallowed hard thinking fearfully what had caused that noise. He almost wished it was a stray cat from the zone that could have done it by accident or was simply fighting with another for territoriality. He also wished it wasn't a big dog as they are quite aggressive and who knows what it would do to him if it noticed him and decided to use his delicate little cotton body to tear him to shreds with its teeth and what would be left of him would just be a messy bundle of fill in the middle of the street. That would be the last thing he wanted to happen.
'Or worse yet… what if it was one of those Servants?'
It could be a possibility, and a very high one. As it happened, it was still in the middle of a war between magi and their respective Servants, and despite the fact that there was now a moment of pause, some of them did not give a shit about the rules since all they thought about was taking advantage and taking advantage of the underdogs.
If that was really the case, Kon began to reflect on the possibility of crossing paths with one of them in an unfortunate twist of fate. He began by drawing up a list of possible candidates that he might come across.
He first remembered that Lancer guy from that night, and from what he saw, he seemed like a guy who didn't like to abuse the weak, someone who always thinks of honor like any good knight. Maybe if he finds him, surely, he won't do anything to him and would leave him alone to his relief.
But what about his Master?
All he remembered about him was that he was a real asshole and a shitty teacher who liked to bully his students like Waver probably for some twisted sadistic pleasure, and he went too far to force poor Lancer to team up with Berserker and fight against the other Saber despite Lancer begging him to fight by the latter's side. He certainly couldn't get any meaner than that.
But putting that aside, Kon thought about the chances of coming face to face with him.
A small and helpless Kon was forced to look up at the macabre face of Lancer's Master wearing a vile smile plastered on his face looking at the poor Mod soul as a vulgar worm that could be crushed with such ease. Once again, Kon would have swallowed hard if he could in this possible predestined situation. He really hoped that this was not the case.
Continuing with his list of Master-Servant candidates that he could be found, he focused on the case of the other Saber's Master. He didn't know much about her except that she was an albino woman, and though she didn't seem to have great boobs, she made up for it with extraordinary unearthly beauty.
She really seemed to be his type, and he could almost fantasize about lunging at her to hug her and feel her warmth (if he can feel, that is), only to be interrupted by the swing of an invisible sword that hit like a baseball bat the plush body out of the woman's reach and crashed into a wall. His attacker would be that other Saber (supposedly Mordred's father) putting on a defensive stance, not allowing the little pervert to touch even get close to her Master under any circumstances, typical of a knight protecting a lady.
Next, he thought about the possibility that he is Archer's Master. To begin with, he knew almost nothing about the Master except that according to Kisuke's descriptions, he seemed to be a respectful gentleman, but his Servant was just the opposite. From Kon's perspective, Archer was a completely pompous guy who seemed to be a fan of fashion and luxury if his gold-plated armor was any indication of his flamboyant personality. He was really self-centered and arrogant that even Kon seriously annoyed him by the believing himself superior to everyone. It was almost refreshing to see how Berserker had put him in his place for a moment and that he had retreated with his tail between his legs.
However, what if he was the one who had just caused that noise and he will meet him? He could only imagine the expression of an imposing Archer looking at him with the same vile look and big cruel smile like the shitty teavher's, and the poor Kon impaled from the bottom to the top by one of his weapons being at his mercy. The mere thought of meeting that tension made him want to melt if he could.
Last but not least, what if he ran into Berserker and his Master? Until today he still hadn't seen that madman's Master, but his real concern was his Servant which was definitely a wild and relentless beast that reminded him a lot of the feared captain of the Eleventh Division. The mere idea of meeting with him would have given him the same fear and terror that Archer would have given him, and he would run away half a turn as in the case in which he fled from the Grand Fisher when he mistook him for Ichigo (at that moment he was in Ichigo's body).
In short, none of the chances of who he might meeting were good and it was just his luck that he probably ran into any of them. He almost had the urge to swallow but couldn't as he continued to stare at the darkness emanating from the alley waiting for whatever would emerge from it. The tension was very high with each passing moment, and he was almost on the verge of losing his mind.
Fortunately for the hapless Mod soul, it wasn't long before a stray-looking cat with all its fur standing on end suddenly emerged from the darkness and growled savagely at Kon like a dog or an intruder, and this sudden reaction caused Kon to scream in fright before running off in a hurry. The Mod soul inside a stuffed lion ran as fast as his legs could go as if he was being chased by a terrifying hollow.
"HOW I HATE THIS WORLD!"
In the end, Kon got even more lost in the streets.
Rin peered into an alley and felt her face scrunch up in disgust. She glanced down to the magic compass and breathed in relief; the needle was pointing to the left, away from the trash. 'Good on two counts' She decided before moving on.
About 15 minutes had passed since she arrived here on her little rescue mission and since then she had begun to venture into every possible corner of the most modern district of her city, peering through the darkest streets and alleys, where the needle sang.
The process wasn't easy, of course. More than once, the little girl had to duck out of sight from a passing police car. She knew a curfew was in effect because of the kidnappings, and that she'd be brought to her father if the cops picked her up. That couldn't happen. Not yet.
She still had to find her best friend Kotone and if possible, the rest of her kidnapped classmates as well. However, despite her determination, little Rin had begun to think that this was becoming a waste of time since, despite having a mana detection device in her hands, it was of little use to her. It wasn't that it wasn't working for her, because what was happening was that, due to the large amount of mana spread around, she had a hard time orienting herself.
Rin sighed wearily at this thought. This really turned out to be a setback in her search and one would think how long this would last until she found her captive friend. Maybe one night or-
'No! Don't think about that now.'
She was right. She couldn't afford to give up now that she was still here and there was no turning back. She had to keep moving forward relying on her compass directions until she found her friend and saved her once and for all. With that renewed resolve, the young heiress Tohsaka entered another alley, one where at least there were no trash cans apart from 2 bins attached to the wall, but Rin didn't mind too much as she walked inside towards another street.
Just as she was about to reach the end, she suddenly stopped abruptly in surprise at the sight of another police car passing in the street that made her take a few steps back. The car barely stopped right next to the alley forcing Rin to take refuge in one of her containers so she wouldn't be discovered. Once safe, she Rin held her breath to hear if one of the policemen could have seen her. To make sure of this, she poked a bit her face out to see the car still standing in its spot and she could barely see its drivers despite the strong red and blue flicker dancing in unison.
Seeing that there was no movement inside the car, Rin allowed herself to sigh in relief that they hadn't been see her.
'That was close.'
Still, she knew this was getting more and more complicated. She kept seeing police cars prowling every road she passed and although they weren't regular, the entire district was swarming with them. She wondered if this squad of policemen would be enough to locate the kidnapper's lair and rescue Kotone. That was a very good possibility, but she quickly retracted it.
No matter how well they did their job and effort in locating the kidnapper's hideout, she doubted they could do anything about it against him or them. According to what she knew about them, the entire Fuyuki police force are not magi and therefore they are completely ignorant of the world of magic and of course of that Grail War in which her father participates. Instead, somehow, she knew that the kidnapper was some kind of magus, and he was using his sorcery to commit these crimes and mass kidnappings around the city with no one being able to stop him. As such, she did not believe that even the Fuyuki police could do anything to stop him.
It would also be useless to try to collaborate with them since non-magi are very ignorant regarding that field and they would not want a little girl to help them either and would surely take her back to her mother and end her little adventure.
She couldn't afford such a thing until she found Kotone and saved her and then they would go to the police for protection and return to their respective homes. That was how she saw it and so she waited for this annoying obstacle to get out of her way.
...
Suddenly, Rin's ears caught a light sound in the air that didn't sound too heavy but served to alert her, so she immediately turned her head back, where the sound had come from. When she did, she at first saw that there was nothing that had caused that sound throughout the rest of the alley. The girl cocked her head in confusion at that. Had she been a cat or a rat? She hoped it wasn't the last.
Suddenly, her eyes focused further down, to the ground, and finally caught sight of something lying in the middle of the ground. Something inside Rin told her that this wasn't there as she entered the alleyway and out of curiosity, she cautiously walked back the way she had come earlier towards the object on the ground. The closer she got, the more apparent it was who it was.
A stuffed animal. A stuffed lion lying face up on the ground for some reason. When Rin stood in front of the stuffed lion, she took it with both hands by the shoulders and lifted it up to her face to examine it better.
It usually looked like a not very realistic looking animal doll as it looked like it was straight out of a children's cartoon series as well as being bipedal in shape. The doll has a light tan body with seams running up and down the entire thing. Its head is round and has a brown, spiky mane atop its head. It has two beady black eyes and small ears with pink inside of them. Its arms and legs each have four white, flat claws which serve as its fingers and toes. On its belly it has a large white button that hides its navel and behind it it has a tail.
Rin just looked curiously at the stuffed animal in her hands wondering what he was doing lying here on the street.
'Has someone lost it?'
Without her being aware of what she was holding right now, the seemingly 'inanimate' stuffed lion was thankful that this human girl didn't have powers to read his thoughts so he could reflect on his new situation.
'What the hell is this little girl doing here in the middle of the street at this hour?'
Getting lost in this damn city was more than exhausting for the poor Mod soul who didn't even care that a mere passerby caught him off guard, but he also didn't expect that he would meet into a little girl of all things wandering around here. He did well to stand still in her usual inanimate way as she continued to stare at him.
After his sudden run started by the sudden scare that damned alley cat gave him, Kon ended up in another corner of the neighborhood and stopped running to continue walking and continued to curse his luck until he ended up in this alley. When he walked in, the first thing he saw to her surprise was this little girl hiding behind a container avoiding a police car to see her. Kon wanted to hide from her too, but then he felt that he tripped over something and fell on his back to the ground. That was how the girl saw him and ended up in this situation in her hands, carefully inspecting him.
In that time, Kon kept wondering while maintaining his facade of being 'inert' why was there a little girl here in the middle of the streets without her parents or an adult to accompany her. Will she have separated from her mother, and she will have been lost? Or maybe she is one of the kidnapped children and somehow, she has managed to escape? That last seemed like a good possibility, but he wasn't entirely sure. Then, in a moment of contemplation, he noticed the object she was wearing like a necklace or something and he knew exactly that this wasn't the last thing.
'Doesn't that look like that compass that tracks mana?'
Maybe he have not seen much about that strange object that Kisuke gave Ichigo in order to track down Caster and his Master, but he more or less remembered the shape and color, and the round object that the girl wore as a pendant was very similar.
But why? Why was she wearing a magical artifact? She didn't believe that she had taken it from Ichigo. The orange-haired dumbass might be mentally clueless from time to time, but he wasn't stupid and slow enough to let a little girl steal him easy and even more so when he needs it more than anything right now.
It was then that he could only come up with a tangible explanation. This little girl a magus or something? He could not continue to reflect when suddenly a spotlight hovered over the little girl's back and covered almost her entire form from head to ground. The girl turned her body back and when she did, she immediately raised an arm over her eyes to avoid being blinded by her glare.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Asked an adult voice that sounded with obvious surprise in her voice.
When the focus shifted further down, away from her eyes, Rin moved her arm away so she could get a good look at her captors, and when she did, she froze in surprise to see that it's 2 policemen officers as she had feared.
'Shit!' Both Kon and Rin growled at the same time.
The 2 policemen who had gotten out of the car continued to look at the little girl until one of them spoke.
"Are you lost? Where are your parents?"
Too shocked to speak or answer, Rin just stood frozen in place staring at the 2 policemen not knowing what to do now that they had caught her. She felt the need to back up, turn around and escape from these adults, but for some mysterious reason she couldn't.
Seeing that she could not ask a question, the 2 agents decided that the first thing they had to do was take her to a safe place before questioning her.
"Are you okay?" He asked before he and his partner started walking towards her.
At last, Rin felt her legs draw back as the 2 adults began to approach her and felt the grip on the stuffed animal, she was holding earlier open, letting it fall to the ground where she found it. Kon simply stayed in his inert object cover as he watched the girl retreat further and also saw the 2 agents walk past him, and thankfully without stepping on him.
"I-I…" Rin stuttered doing her best to maintain her composure as the 2 men were already almost on top of her.
"Don't worry. We're a police officers, we won't do you any harm." The agent assegured looking at her gently trying to reassure the frightened girl. "Tell us what you're doing around here. Are you lost?"
Rin had a bit of trouble formulating a word as she desperately searched for a way to escape from these men. She knew they weren't bad people, or so she thought, and they were here to track down the kidnapper, but she didn't know if he was going to let her start her own search.
"I-I'm not lost." She finally said. "I'm here too to find that kidnapper and rescue my friend."
The 2 agents adopted surprised expressions, unable to believe what they were hearing. Was this little girl who could be six or seven years old lost in the middle of these dark streets trying to save a kidnapped friend?
"Say what? Are you serious?" The other agent asked in disbelief.
"Y-yes." Rin answered with barely any hesitation, regaining a bit of courage. "I'm looking for my friend Kotone-chan who hasn't come to my class for days like other children in my class. I heard that there is someone who is kidnapping many children around here, and that's why I decided to run away from my grandparent's house to go look for her."
At the end, the whole environment turned into an awkward silence between the little girl and the 2 adults who kept looking at the girl with an indecipherable expression that said they were still trying to digest the explanation she had given them. Needless to say, this silence also made the girl uncomfortable. However, she regained some initiative to speak again.
"Etto, can you help me find her?" She asked her to make the most tender face that she could.
"Wait, wait. Let's go through this step by step." One of the agents reacted immediately managing to get out of his stupor. "You say you left your house to try to find a friend of yours, right?"
Rin nodded before the policeman continued.
"So, you're not one of those kidnapped kids, are you?"
Again, Rin nodded, but this time in denial.
"And what about your parents?" Asked the other.
"Oh, my father is busy with some church work." She answered to cover up the real 'business' her father was running. "My mother is at my grandparents' house, and she doesn't know I'm here."
The agents absorbed this in bewilderment upon hearing that.
"Wait, are you saying you snuck out of your house and your mom and grandpa don't know about it?"
"Uh, yeah. I didn't want to worry them, so I sneaked off and like I said before I took a bus to get here." Rin confirmed a bit uneasy at the bewildered looks of the agents who looked at her as if she was a freak.
In fact, both agents were a little stunned by the audacity this little girl made to venture alone in a big city like this and without the protection of an adult and even more so with the presence of a dangerous serial killer and kidnapper of children loose.
"Well? Can you help-
"Have you gone crazy!?" She exclaimed an agent a little louder than he intended for the girl's recklessness. "Are you really not aware of what you're doing? Little girls shouldn't be here in the middle of the streets, much less at night."
Rin barely flinched from the agent's volume and tried to fight back.
"I-I haven't gone crazy! I already told you that I'm trying to find my friend who-
"That is no excuse." The agent interrupted. "Don't you realize that you're in danger here? What will happen to you if that kidnapper finds you and who knows what he would do to you?
"Yes, can't you see you're lost?" The other agent argued.
"I'm not lost. Look at this." Rin said as he showed her mana compass to the agents. "I have a magic compass."
The agents observed with some curiosity the object that the girl had.
"Is it some kind of toy?"
"What? Of course not! It's a compass my father gave me, and it can track anything. With this we can find the kidnapper and save the children."
Rin really hoped that these 2 adults would believe her, no matter how exaggerated and crazy it sounded since they are not magi, and that they would collaborate with her, however, after a moment's pause, it was clear that these 2 non-magi adults did not believe her and decided not to waste any more time.
"Come on, you'd better stop playing games and come with us." The agent said bluntly surprising Rin. "We'll take you home right now."
Catching this, Rin turned around and started to running trying to escape from these idiots. However, the 2 adults were faster, and it didn't take long for her to reach her and catch her.
"Nooo! Let me go!" She yelled Rin desperately trying to free herself from the grasp of her captor who kept her motionless by grabbing her arm.
"Listen to me well, you shouldn't be here alone in the middle of the street. It's very dangerous." The agent holding Rin exclaimed.
The little girl scoffed at such a ridiculous statement. As if she didn't know.
"But I still can't go home!" She protested once more.
"We don't care about your opinion! You'll come with us whether you like it or not."
At this point, the young heiress Tohsaka saw all was lost and there was little she could do to persuade and get rid of these idiotic non-magi. If she had at least learned more tricks from the magecraft, more than what her father was teaching her, she might have been able to knock these idiots out and be on his way. She could have defeated that kidnapper and saved Kotone and the rest of the children. Not only that, but she could also be helping her father in this Grail War business and who knows about her, maybe he could be prouder of her.
Unfortunately, reality dictacted that she was not yet fully prepared to enter the world of magic since she was still just a little girl in training. All that was very frustrating, but the worst thing was that her search for her best friend was completely frustrated because these 2 idiots discovered her and since they didn't want a little girl to help them, they decided to take her home where she would surely be waiting for her with an expression of concern and utter disgust at her daughter's recklessness.
Once again, she wouldn't have minded if her mother had punished her as long as she had achieved her goal of saving her best friend, but in the end, her mission seemed to be doomed because of these idiots and all she had done would be in vain. But the worst part would be that she would probably never see Kotone again.
She almost felt like crying, something unbecoming of a Tohsaka heiress, but she couldn't stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes. Without a doubt this would be remembered as the worst moment of her life.
This never should have happened if she hadn't noticed to that stupid stuffed lion she found lying on the floor! She cursed the moron who left it lying around!
Once all attention to him was gone, Kon allowed himself to drop his charade of being inert and carefully got up off the ground so as not to cause any noise. Fortunately, the 2 policemen were too busy trying to take the little girl away to notice the raising of a living stuffed lion. Once on his feet, Kon decided to waste no time in taking his chance to escape away from them and leave them to his own business. However, just when he was going to do it, he decided to take one last look at the scene, seeing how the little girl continued to struggle against the policeman's grip who had her by the arm, insisting on letting her go to go look for her kidnapped friend or something like that.
'What a strange little girl.'
The truth is that he was also surprised as to that she was wandering around alone. And to think that she was one of those children kidnapped by that maniacal serial killer when she was really just looking for her apparent friend. He had to admit that, despite her young age, she was very brave to go alone through the streets without the company of an adult. He wondered who could have raised her like this.
Anyway, let's be realistic. Even despite her apparent bravado she was of little use to her if by some chance he managed to meet that murderer or that madman of Caster. Who knows what them could do to her, but he chose not to think about it.
He watched as the little girl was still stubbornly trying to free herself from her captor, insisting on letting her go to save her friend. He was honestly surprised at how persistent she was, and he felt a little sorry for her too. But once again, let's be realistic. These 2 police officers are just doing their job in safeguarding the missing children from the danger outside, including their own stupidity. There would be doing her a good favor in getting her out of harm's way and keeping her from killing herself like certain orange-haired dumbass.
Once Ichigo and Saber take care of that bastards, theirs'll make sure that girl's friend is safe and sound so she can go home, and everyone's happy.
Just as he was about to resume his walk, he suddenly remembered that he too was lost in the middle of nowhere and didn't know how to find Ichigo and company. Kon internally growled at his situation and didn't know how to get back to the motel either.
'If only I had that compass.'
Suddenly, when formulating that line of thoughts, Kon remembered that while that little girl was inspecting him before, he noticed that she had a very familiar object being that golden compass very similar to the one that Kisuke gave Ichigo before and in the end, it was confirmed that indeed it was a magical compass that tracks mana. He was still wondering why she had a compass until he remembered her mentioning it was given to him by her father. If that was so, then that means she was a magus, right?
Either way, if that compass really worked and pointed to whatever one wanted, then it was possible that he could find Ichigo and company. That could work, but the problem was that the compass was held by the girl who was still refraining from going to the police and there was no way to get it with this mess.
His options were very limited, but in the end, he came up with an idea.
He needed that girl's help so that she could help him in return, and for that he needed to distract those jackass.
"This is Unit 02; we are in the Kusakabe Ward where we found a girl of about six or seven years old in the middle of an alley." An agent reported speaking into his communicator. "For all we know-
The man didn't get to finish his sentence when suddenly his head was jerked forward violently as if he had been hit by something from behind leaving him dazed and his cap fell to the ground. His partner looked at him puzzled and Rin stopped her fight in her tracks for the same reason.
"What the hell!?" The policeman yelled recovering from the blow and looked at the ground to see that there was a stone that had been used to hit him. He then looked further ahead where he guessed the stone was thrown. When he did, he saw that no one was around. The 2 continued looking without being able to find the person responsible for the stoned.
Without realizing it, hidden next to one of the containers, Kon was waiting for the reaction of the policeman he had just thrown the stone at. Whether she liked it or not, the Mod soul decided to help the little girl get rid of these guys so she could help her at least use that compass and find Ichigo. Of course, he was also aware of the consequences of taking this action. He shouldn't interfere in police business, and he shouldn't prevent them from taking the girl away from this since he would be doing her a favor to keep her safe, but he needed her at least for now.
"Who's there!?" The policeman surely at the one he hit yelled. Rather than make a verbal response, Kon picked up another rock and waited instead.
As he expected, the policeman began to cautiously approach the place where the bastard who threw the rock at him was supposed to be hiding and drew his weapon for action. When he turned his body to peek behind the container with his weapon at the ready, he saw to his surprise that no one was there. Too confused and off guard, he couldn't see where the next blow came from when it was too late. The next stone went straight to the groin causing the policeman to scream in pain and take a few steps back.
But it didn't end there when Kon rammed his body and hit his crotch again causing the man to stumble and fall to the ground in a daze. His partner was very taken aback staring wide-eyed and didn't do anything about it.
Rin, who was just as confused by these unexpected events, felt the man's grip loosen a bit and decided to use this opportunity to free herself from her captor and kicked as hard as she could in the man's shin causing the latter to scream in pain and Rin finally managed to free herself and wasted no time running away from them.
"OI!"
Rin ignored him and ran out of the alley to continue running down the sidewalk followed by Kon shortly after. Both of them were running for a long time until they felt that those men were not following them, but they kept running until she found a shelter to hide.
Heart pounding and chest heaving, Rin panted exhaustedly like an animal and allowed herself to rest by sitting hidden in another alley. Her forehead was sweaty, and her legs were dusty after running that intense marathon. She had never run so hard and long in her life, and she reminded herself that she would serve as a lesson for future marathon competitions. Either way, she now seemed to be safe without those cops chasing her.
Her last gasp took the form of a sigh of relief, truly relieved that she had escaped her captors and that she no longer had to run to wear down her weary legs. She was really very close to losing everything because of a small oversight called distraction due to something irrelevant in her mission and that he could be regretting it later if she did not manage to save Kotone, or much worse never return her, and this misfortune would be added more with the severe punishment that her mother would impose on her.
She couldn't tell if it was a miracle or sheer luck that she managed to escape from those policemen, but she still had to act more cautiously from now on. Now they knew that there was a little girl wandering the streets and it was more than likely those 2 would report it to the rest of their companions who patrol the area and immediately go to do a more effective search to locate her. It would just be her luck that there are going to be more obstacles in her way, and she wouldn't be so lucky if she got caught again. She only hoped to find Kotone sooner.
Rin sighed again, but tired. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.
Then another thought crept into her head as she pondered what happened before she ran away from the police. She recalled that someone had thrown a rock behind his head and then hit him 2 times in the groin stunning him. In the midst of her shock, Rin had only taken advantage of it to hit the one who grabbed her, and she hadn't bothered to see or find out who had caused this unexpected distraction that helped her escape from them.
'I wonder who it was and why.'
She may never know. Or maybe yes.
"Oh, I finally found you."
The little girl almost jumped to her feet again when her ears picked up a new voice, except this time it didn't belong to any of those policemen. But the thing about her that caught his attention from her and worried him about her was that it was coming from very close to her… right next to her.
Rin vigorously turned her head from side to side to look for the supposed person who was standing right next to her or nearby. She was really sick and tired of running into people who could hinder her mission and certainly those policemen were a headache that she would never want to live with again. She would just be her luck to run into others again and she wouldn't know what to do. However, the only thing she saw around her was nothing but nothing. There was nothing that even remotely resembled a human silhouette anywhere and this caused the girl's confusion and anxiety to grow.
"What was that?" she asked with nervousness in her voice.
"Hey, I'm here."
Rin instinctively lowered her head upon hearing the same voice that this time seemed to come from below, on her legs, and when she did, her gaze remained blank, focused on the supposed owner of the voice who… the truth was that she did not expect what she was seeing.
In front of her, under her legs was the same stuffed lion that she had previously found abandoned and it was the cause of her carelessness that those 2 policemen caught her. However, she now had a new perspective on the doll and that was that she was now just standing on her hind legs and looking up as if she was looking at her.
"Hey, I'm glad you're fine."
…
The atmosphere had now dropped drastically as now Rin's eyes were focused on the strange talking stuffed lion creature that had just spoken to her, and her poor stunned mind was still doing its best to try and collect what was there seeing.
Meanwhile Kon was waiting for the girl's reaction, but he couldn't help but get a little nervous because of the pale expression she was giving him as if she had seen a ghost or something. He understood why.
"Well, I…
"AAAAHHH!"
The entire alley and surrounding area were filled with the girl's shrill, high-pitched shriek, so loud that if Kon had had eardrums, they would surely have ruptured. But that wasn't what bothered him so much.
In her panic and shock, Rin backed away until she tripped and fell on her butt while still looking at the talking stuffed like a monster or something. She pointed her finger at him as if it were a sign of ill omen.
"A-a talking stuffed animal!"
Kon almost frowned at her reaction. It wasn't his fault he was in this stupid cotton body. Putting that aside, he tried to reassure her.
"Hey, calm down, I just...
He tried to get a little closer, but it turned out to be a misstep when the girl started picking up stones and throwing them at the stuffed animal.
"Stay away! Go away! GO AWAY!"
Panicked, Kon moved his body from side to side trying to dodge the thrown stones with difficulty, although he could not prevent some from hitting the target, but he was thankful that his container had no bone or any organic feature to feel pain. Still, this was getting quite annoying.
"Stop it…" Kon tried to speak as he continued to 'dance' or try to dodge the things she was throwing at him. "Stop it…" He continued.
"I SAID STOP IT!"
And after that scream, the girl stopped throwing things at him, although she looked at him with fear and suspicion at the stuffed animal. Once the barrage was over, Kon pulled himself together and glared at the girl almost angrily.
"Hey, what's your problem!? Is this how you thank me for saving you from those jackass!?"
Rin just blinked confused by what he said and from the beginning she didn't understand what he meant until at some point she did.
"Wait, was it you who attacked that policeman?"
"Of course. I did it to create some kind of distraction so you could escape." Kon explained before pointing accusingly at the girl. "You should be glad he did if you didn't want those jackasses to have taken you away."
Despite the understanding of his words, Rin for a 7-year-old girl, was not at all grateful and remained skeptical. Having gotten over her shock and fright at seeing a talking stuffed lion, she pulled herself to her feet and continued to look askance at Kon.
"Well, what exactly is it you? Why did you save me?"
"You are a magus, right?"
That caught Rin by surprise as she didn't expect him to ask such a trivial question.
"You said earlier that that thing you're wearing is a magic compass that detects mana around it, right?
"Well, so what? You still haven't answered my first question; what exactly are you?"
For a moment, Kon didn't know how to respond to that. Certainly, he couldn't tell her that he was a manufactured product of a spiritual world known as Soul Society since in this universe there is no such Soul Society, and therefore Modified Souls, so it would be very complicated to be able to explain it to her and the conversation would be very long like when Ichigo told Waver, Saber and Rider his story.
He took his time trying to think of something convincing that wouldn't take too long to explain, something to do with magi. It was then that he fortunately remembered something similar to Substitute Souls, but from this world, and could use it to cover up his true origin.
"You see, I… I'm a familiar."
Rin's eyebrows arched in surprise at that.
"A familiar?"
"Yeah, you know, I'm one of those animal-shaped devices magi use to perform tasks for them." He responded by remembering every detail of what Kisuke explained about the workings of those things that had some things in common with Artificial Souls, especially Modified-type ones.
The little girl didn't seem too convinced by the statement. She had certainly heard of familiars used by magi, albeit relatively little. According to her father, a familiar is just a separate extension of the magi's influence as they exist as a mental and physical connection. According to what he explained to her, the form and appearance of the familiars varied, but they are always dead animals to which instilled the leftover thoughts of an already departed soul, of a dead human, and soon after the magus has to transmit a part of his essence to give it life and establish a spiritual link for it to work.
Although of course, her father never mentioned to her this would work on stuffed animals or that it could talk.
"Are you really a familiar?" She asked with some skepticism. "Who is your owner?"
Kon took a quick moment to think a bit about how to respond to her, and quickly came up with a very valid response.
"My owner is a magus named Kurosaki Ichigo."
Rin took in the name, though it was unfamiliar to her.
"Okay, so why are you here? Did that Ichigo send you on an errand or something?"
"No, no. What happened was that I was riding on his shoulder, but the dumbass almost ran into the police so I fell when he stopped dead, and then we had to spread out so we wouldn't get caught." Kon explained, not happy to recount his accident of getting lost.
The little girl silently assimilated that without showing any apparent reaction, although inside she couldn't help but think how strange that would be.
"Well, that's why when I looked at you up close while you took me, I noticed that you had a compass very similar to Ichigo's, the one that can detect mana." Kon continued as he pointed to Rin's compass.
"And?" Rin questioned, still not knowing what her compass had to do with this stuffed-familiar or his owner.
"Then an idea occurred to me. If that compass really worked, maybe you could help me find Ichigo who would also be prowling these streets. The truth is that I've been lost here for I don't know how long, and I don't know how to get back either. That's why I saved you from those jackasses so you could help me. What do you say?"
Rin's mind was still reflecting on everything she had heard and a part of her was plunged into disbelief when she heard that this strange familiar was lost and couldn't return. It's a joke? According to her parents, familiars are specialized to serve as a reconnaissance force to explore her entire surroundings and was endowed with such a good memory that it would be remotely impossible to get lost. Well, surely that would depend on each type of familiar and she didn't know anything about the stuffed type.
She wondered what kind of magus this Ichigo was to implement a soul inside a simple stuffed toy instead of something more conventional like a carcass of an eagle.
Well, in any case, it didn't matter now, since she didn't have time to help this strange lost familiar and she had to get on with her original mission.
"Well? Can you help me-
"Sorry, but I can't help you with that." Rin interrupted resolutely, sounding almost indifferent to the doll-familiar's situation. Of course, Kon didn't take this well at all as he let out a light "Eh?" taken aback by the little girl's sudden and indifferent response.
"I'm in a bit of a hurry so I don't think I can help you." The girl continued to talk when she immediately started to walk out of the alley past Kon.
"Wait a minute!" Kon yelled suddenly almost panicking turning around to look at the little girl. "Are you really going to stand me up when I save you from those 2 cops?"
The girl turned around and looked at the annoying stuffed animal with a frown and put her hands on her hips.
"Hey, it's not that I want to leave you here abandoned and you can't find your owner, but I have my problems since I have to save a friend who has already been kidnapped for God knows how long, and I can't waste time with you. I'm sorry, but my friend is important."
"Wait, you say you're looking for a friend who was kidnapped by that bloody serial killer who's been wreaking havoc all over town, right?" Kon mentioned to remembering the reason why the little girl had ventured here alone.
"Yes, do you know something?" Asked Rin losing some focus if by some chance the familiar speaker knew something about it.
"Uh, yeah. It just so happens that Ichigo is also after that bastard to save those poor kidnapped kids."
The surprise came to the little girl's face when she learned that she was not the only one wandering the streets to find the kidnapper's lair and save the kidnapped children. An instant later, however, her puzzlement turned to doubt as she wondered if she was cheating on her. One of the qualities that she had despite her age was that she learned not to trust what anyone except her parents said.
"Are you serious? And how do I know it's not a lie?" She asked skeptically, arms crossed.
"I'm serious!" Kon insisted vehemently. "Ichigo and I saw on TV the children that have disappeared lately and this one couldn't take it, so he decided to go outside with a compass identical to yours to be able to track them down. Believe me he will be able to find them even before you do."
Even so, Rin remained skeptical of Kon's claims, especially that there was a magus out there who was doing his best to find the kidnapped before her. She didn't know who exactly this magus was or if she had any kind of relationship with her father, but she was surprised by how determined she was to save her friend and the rest from this murderous maniac. Maybe it's worth collaborating with him since it would be much faster and easier to locate the kidnapper's lair than to continue wandering aimlessly through the district infested with annoying policemen as she had been doing before and she would not have to wait so long.
For that, she would have to meet that Ichigo and ask for his help, but she didn't know if she should trust him either. She, too, had no choice in the matter, and it would always be much better than wandering all night without finding anything at all. She just hoped he wasn't as stingy as those cops from earlier.
"Okay, if what you say about that boy being willing to find my friend and save her, I'm in." Rin said deciding to collaborate with that magus for the time being until she found Kotone.
Kon drew the biggest smile he could when he saw that the magus little girl finally wanted to collaborate with them. Now it only remained to find Ichigo.
"Well? How do we find your friend?" She asked next.
"What? Aren't you supposed to find it with that compass of yours?"
"Well, yes, but how am I going to find him? From what I see on my compass, there is a huge trail or multitudes of magical energy sources everywhere and I don't know where to focus."
Kon viewed this setback with bewilderment as he did not expect to encounter such a difficulty. Still, it didn't matter. They had to move as fast as possible and not give up.
"Never mind, you keep checking each area and I'm sure you'll find him." Kon assured trying not to lose hope.
Still, Rin continued to view this skeptically, but she also had no other choice. She at least she won't be alone this time.
"Okay, let's go."
"All right!" Kon exclaimed excitedly before running towards her and the latter couldn't react in time when the stuffed-familiar landed under her legs and started to climb up to her shoulder just like it did with Ichigo.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?" Rin asked half perplexed and annoyed by the action of the talking stuffed now mounted on her right shoulder.
"Sorry, but since we're traveling together today, I thought it would be cool if I'll ride on top of you." He excused herself smiling sheepishly. "I hope you do not mind."
Rin was not amused at all that this strange little toy animal was perched on her shoulder like she was playing piggyback or like a pirate's parrot. She just hoped no one was looking at her like that. It would be an embarrassment that she couldn't bear later on.
Pushing aside her embarrassment, Rin focused on her mission now and looked at her compass to see that the needle was now pointing north and started walking there immediately. She was lucky the strange familiar perched on her shoulder didn't weigh so much as it would slow her down to a crawl.
"By the way..." Kon suddenly spoke as the little girl kept walking. "We haven't met yet. My name is Kon, although you can call me Kai. And you?"
The little girl looked at him out of the corner of her eye and barely refrained from answering him, but in the end, she decided there was nothing wrong with doing so.
"Rin... Tohsaka Rin."
And so, begins the little adventure of Kon and little Rin Tohsaka.
As you can see, the chapter itself was set in the first place in our favorite tsundere and then Kon. The truth is that I quite enjoyed writing about both of them, their histories and all that until they meet and work together to find the kidnapper's lair. It could be said that this chapter is like one of those anime filler episodes (not canonical) set in the secondary character, and the truth is that I liked it.
From the beginning I had thought of extending the chapter until they find Ryūnosuke, but that would be quite long so I decided to cut it until the next chapter. I hope to post it some other time.
Ja ne!