Chapter Three
April 21st, 2027

Taiga yawned loudly as she entered the living room. "Kuro-chan? What's for break-"

She stopped in her tracks when she saw the purple haired boy in the kitchen. "Haru-kun! I haven't seen you here in a long time!" exclaimed an excited Taiga.

He was wearing his school uniform and over that was Kurumi's red apron, adorned with a little heart near the top.

"Well, I heard Emiya-san was out of town. So I thought I'd drop by and help out with breakfast since my dear Suima-san isn't a big morning person."

"Kuro-chan is many things, but a morning person, she is not," agreed Taiga.

She dashed up to the kitchen counter with a bright smile, "Oh wow! Seeing you here, making breakfast. Oh that brings back so many wonderfully happy memories of your mother working in that kitchen! And now here you are, your mother's son, through and through!"

Haruto smiled brightly at that remark. "Sensei. You have no idea how badly I needed to hear such a wonderful compliment today. Thank you so very much."

"You don't have to call me that at home! Come on, just like you used to before I was your teacher!"

"As you wish. Taiga-san."

"Much better!" exclaimed Taiga as she wandered over to the dining table where she picked up her newspaper to read.

"Ohayou gozaimasu," said Origami as she walked into the living room, dressed and ready for the day. "Matou-san? I was going to make breakfast."

"It's fine, Tobiichi. You know I love cooking just as much as Kurumi does. But if you wanna help, could you keep an eye on the fish while I prepare the soup?"

"Certainly," replied Origami.

"Just keep moving it around so it doesn't stick," he said while she approached, once she was close enough to him, he leaned over to whisper. "Did she get any sleep at all?"

Origami shook her head. "No… I am uncertain if she will be able to get through the day. I've insisted she stay home, but..."

"But she's being stubborn?"

"Yes."

Origami nodded, "I don't know what happened, but thank you for protecting her, Matou."

"Don't you think it's about time you started calling me Haruto? Haven't we known each other long enough?"

"You have a point. But on some level I still perceive you as a rival for Kurumi."

Haruto glanced at Origami's serious face and then started snickering. "Are you serious? I've known her all my life, if there was anything there, don't you think it would have happened a long, long time ago? No my dear, she only has an eye for you."

Origami looked over at Haruto with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't believe you actually think that, Origami-chan!" said a snickering Taiga who was now leaning over the kitchen counter. "I didn't think you were prone to jealousy at all. That's sooooo cute!"

Origami's cheeks flushed red.

"You are so lovely when you blush!" exclaimed Haruto with his best bishōnen impression.

Origami leaned away from him with a puzzled expression.

"Wow! If only I were ten years younger!" exclaimed Taiga.

Haruto turned around to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Wouldn't that still be illegal? Aren't you almost fifty?"

Origami palmed her face while a growl began to rumble in Taiga's throat.


The black cat wandered into Kurumi's room and transformed into her human form once she'd crossed the threshold, then she closed the sliding door behind her. The paper barrier unfortunately did nothing to muffle the roars of the raging tiger in the kitchen.

The familiar looked to the middle of the room where she saw her master brushing her hair.

She walked up to her and held out her hand.

Kurumi looked up at her familiar with a puzzled look in her crimson eye before she slowly nodded and handed over the brush. Len took over sorting out her master's hair for her while she sat cross legged on the tatami floor.

"What happened?" asked Len in a low, even tone of voice.

"I killed my schoolmate…" said Kurumi in a very low voice. She then went on to explain the events of the night while struggling to keep herself together.

Len gave a slow nod. "You did nothing wrong…" she said in a soft and emotionless voice.

"How can I walk around in school and-"

"Seperation..." said Len.

Kurumi raised an eyebrow at her familiar. It was exceedingly rare to have a two way verbal conversation with Len, but this wasn't exactly the time to point that out.

"Separate personalities. The Second Owner protected her city. The student is innocent."

Kurumi gave a slow nod of her head. "I used to think it was easy to do that."

Len shook her head.

"No. I suppose nothing is ever easy when you're…" she paused and took a deep breath to keep her emotions in check while Len set down the brush.

The demon scooted closer to Kurumi and nuzzled herself up against her master. Kurumi responded by embracing her familiar tightly. "I love you so much, Len."

Len's response was to squeeze her master just a bit tighter. No matter how much Kurumi had grown up since they formed their contract, to Len, she was still the same child she was back then. In her life, Len had three masters. Her first died centuries ago, the second only a decade ago. But she remembered them both as if she had just seen them yesterday. Wherever they were now, she hoped they were both proud of her.

As for her current master… Len gently repositioned herself until she was sitting in Kurumi's lap and rested her head against her bosom. Kurumi in turn placed a hand behind her head and held her close and affectionately. It felt like only yesterday that Kurumi was the one sitting in her lap to be comforted.

Still, it felt good to know her master still relied upon her as a source of emotional security. Even now that she has a lover she could draw the same from, and a little sister to give the same to, it made Len feel happy that Kurumi still needed her support. It made her feel safe that their bond was never something she would outgrow.


Kurumi stumbled into the living room while muttering a good morning to everyone.

"There's coffee ready for you," said Origami from the kitchen as Kurumi passed by.

"Onee-sama… You really need to sort out your sleep, you're going to have a really lousy day today."

"I know… I know…" muttered Kurumi while sitting down next to her sister. She then reached out to pick up her coffee and brought it up to her nose where she inhaled deeply of the fresh creamy goodness. "Mmm, just the way I like it," she said softly before taking a sip.

Haruto leaned over to whisper to Origami, "Umm, Tobiichi. Where should I put Len's breakfast?"

"I'll sneak it to her room. Could you distract Fujimura-sensei?"

"Easier said than done. But I think I can..." he whispered back while holding his hand towards the floor. "Sorry about this, Tiger-san..."

Taiga picked up her newspaper and started to read. A giant hornet then landed on her newspaper and seemed to stare at her. Taiga met the creature's eyes and froze in terror.

"Someone get some bug spray… Please… Quickly!" Taiga said while struggling to remain calm.

"What's wrong, Oba-saaaa! Holy crap!" exclaimed Kotori. "Okay! Hold still! Don't move a muscle!"

"What's going-" started Kurumi when she saw Origami slip past the scene with a plate of food, heading off towards Len's room. She then looked towards Haruto who held up his hand with a finger to his lips. The ravenette sat back down and smiled.

"Haruto! You're good with bugs and stuff, can you deal with a giant hornet?!" asked Kotori while backing up to the kitchen.

"Yeah. Sure thing. Just stay still, Taiga-san," said Haruto while walking to her.

Haruto reached out and gently picked the hornet up with his fingers. "There we go. No problem," he said while taking it outside.

Taiga breathed out her anxiety, "His mother's son, always dependable no matter what!"


Kurumi yawned loudly as she, Kotori, Origami, and Haruto were walking out of the house on their way to school for archery practice.

"So. What happened on your little adventure last night?" asked Kotori. "I know you snuck out. Haruto being here means you got into trouble."

Haruto sighed while reaching out to pat Kotori on the head, "There's no keeping you in the dark, my dearest flamethrower."

Kotori rolled her eyes, "Are you going to answer my question?"

As soon as she saw the gloomy look on her girlfriend's face, Origami linked arms with Kurumi and started walking as close to her as she could.

"Ara ara! You're being very possessive all of a sudden," remarked a wide eyed Kurumi. "If people see us walking like this, they'll get the right idea about us," she said while she continued walking at a leisurely pace.

Haruto chuckled, "I think it's cute. I actually wish you two would be more open about your relationship. I mean, you don't have to advertise it on billboards, but you could not hide it anymore? At least among your 'acquaintances'?"

Kurumi reached up to tug at the bow around her collar. "I'm sorry, Haruto, how silly of us to be discreet about our sexuality. All this time I was under the impression that the crucifix motiff on our uniforms was just for aesthetics."

"Guess you've got a point. But it's worth remembering that only the principal is actually Catholic."

"Don't forget Sister Caren," replied Kurumi.

Kotori groaned to herself, "I'd love nothing more than to forget about the fake nun… But don't think I haven't noticed all of you conspiring to change the subject!"

Haruto wrapped his arm around Kotori's shoulders, "Sorry about that, Koto-chan. I'll tell you what happened. Last night I spotted some kind of creature roaming around the city. Your sister and I took it out. Now it's just a question of finding who made it."

"And kicking them out of our city!" growled Kurumi.

"Exactly. So there's nothing to be concerned about. It's just business as usual. So there's really nothing to be concerned about."

Kotori sighed, "Fine, if you say so, I believe you… Now could you let go of me before someone gets the wrong idea?"

"What wrong idea?" asked Haruto while pulling her in closer. "Awww! Are you afraid someone special might think we're dating? Who is he? I'm insanely jealous!"

"Haruto! You're embarrassing me! I just don't want any rumors flying around!"

"You can't live your life being worried about what other people think, Koto-chan."

Kurumi playfully elbowed Haruto in the side. "If you want to flirt with my sister, Haruto, you have to duel me for her, right here, right now."

"Eeeep!" exclaimed the purple haired boy while quickly releasing Kotori from his grip. "It's not what you think, Suima-san! I would never elope with Koto-chan without your blessing!"

"Haruto! Not so loud!" exclaimed Kotori.

"Oh? What have you two been up to behind my back? Hmm?" asked Kurumi while looking over with a narrowed eye.

"Nothing! Onee-sama! He's just messing around! There's nothing going on!"

I wish there was, but there isn't!

"You've found me out. I've been in love with Kotori from the moment I first saw her…" said Haruto while stepping out ahead of Kurumi. "I challenge you for her heart, Suima-san!"

Wha.. What… What's happening?!

"Haruto! What the hell?! Onee-sama! There's nothing going on! Honestly! He's just screwing around!"

Kurumi and Haruto both held their hands out to each other, she could feel their magic circuits become active and ambient mana being gathered from around them.

Origami released Kurumi from her grip and stepped back while tensed up.

"My great ally and master, Darkness, gather before me that we may smite this upstart," said Kurumi with a small smirk and a sinister glint in her eye.

Haruto looked up to the sky, "Heaven, open thy gate and lend me thine power, grant me strength to defend the world from this villain!"

Kotori started sweating nervously. "What the hell?! What's this?! Seriously?! You're really going to fight with magecraft in the middle of the street?!"

Kurumi and Haruto then gave each other a high five.

"We got them," said a smirking Kurumi.

"We got them good," replied a laughing Haruto.

Origami stepped over to Kotori and started pulling her along by the hand. "Come on, Kotori. Let's pretend we don't know these chunnis."

"Origami! You can't abandon me like this!" cried Kurumi.

"Why not?" she answered indifferently.

"Kotori! You're the Juliette to my Romeo! The Isolde to my Tristin!" cried Haruto.

Kurumi raised her voice, "Origami! You're the light in my darkness! The cream in my coffee!"

"Start taking it black…" said Origami. "Kotori is getting the cream now."

"Okay wait. That was so wrong on so many levels…" remarked Kotori to the white-haired girl pulling her by the hand.

If only Haruto really meant all that crap!


Tokyo

Not even a moment after her alarm clock began to ring did her dogs rush into her room and leap onto her bed. Crushing her lithe body under their big fat paws while they licked her face. She tried to swat them away but she knew neither would relent until she was out of bed.

"Deku… Natsu… Get off me… Fine! Fine! I'm awake! Just get off me already, I can't move!"

Obediently, the dogs stopped smothering her with their morning affection and jumped down off her bed. Misaya Reiroukan then sat up in her bed, her face covered in dog slobber. She threw off her blanket and then drowsily proceeded to stumble towards her ensuite bathroom.

After washing up and getting dressed in her school uniform, the first thing she did was go into her kitchen. She turned on her stove and set a cast iron pan down on it before she went to get two big steaks from her fridge and set them aside while the pan heated up.

"Deku! Natsu! Come!" she commanded.

The two dogs came up to her and sat down in front of her. She picked up a big brush from inside a drawer and then seated herself at her kitchen table. "Alright, let's go reverse alphabetically this morning. Natsu, you first."

One of the two dogs came up to her and sat down. She then started to go through and brush his fine black fur. Calupohs were well known for being elegant, loyal, and above all, fierce. However, they weren't low maintenance and needed their daily brushings.

"Who's a good boy? Hmm? Who's a good boy?" she said in a babying voice while brushing the beast.

After she finished with Natsu she called over Deku and began to brush his fur, but unlike Natsu, Deku grumbled about it with a whine and growl.

"I know you don't like it, but if I don't brush you properly, you'll shed all over the furniture and it'll be a big pain in the butt to clean up. So bear with it for me, alright?" she said with a smile before petting his head.

After brushing the dogs, she grilled the meat and then served them two plates on the ground.

"Eat!" she commanded. The dogs then proceeded to have their freshly grilled steaks. "Good boys," she said with a happy smile.

She then turned her attention to her own breakfast, a granola bar, and some yogurt. She sat down at her kitchen table and prepared to snack while waiting for the dogs to finish devouring their meals.

In her mind she pictured herself kneeling, in her hands she held a knife which she used to stab herself in the throat and activated her magic circuits. She filled her granola bar with magical energy before she started eating. It was the very epitome of laziness to use strengthening magic to improve the nutritional value of her less than ideal breakfast but she simply didn't have the time to cook for herself and the dogs, there was simply too much to be done.


For the first item of the day, Misaya proceeded to her basement with her dogs walking behind her. She flipped the light switch and turned her attention to a man in his mid to late twenties sitting in a wooden chair. He had dark brown hair, a face covered in spots of caked blood. His arms and legs stuck to the chair with copious amounts of duct tape.

"Ohayou, Sensei," she said cheerfully. "Did you sleep well? Are you feeling more cooperative today?"

"Fuck you…"

"Sensei! Such language!" she asked while holding a hand to her chest, clutching her imaginary pearls.

Sensing their master's affront, the two dogs bared their teeth and began growling at the man in the chair.

"What are you going to do? Feed me to your dogs?" he asked.

Misaya stepped up to the man and punched him across the face. "I don't let them eat out of the trash or drink out of the toilet, you think I'd let them eat you? Don't insult my doggies!"

He turned his head back up to her and spat blood into her face. "Go to hell."

Misaya sighed and walked away. She picked up a paper towel from her workshop's table and used it to clean her face off. "Good thing I don't wear any makeup to school, or else I would have been very upset."

After cleaning off her face she turned to glare at the man. "This is your last chance, sensei. Tell me who sent you to kill me. If you don't answer, I'm going to place a curse of pain on you. Then I am going to leave you here and go to school. You will spend the entire morning and afternoon in so much agony that even your ancestors are going to feel it. Now ask yourself, is whomever you're protecting really worth it?"

"You should just kill me because I will not talk. You're only wasting your limited time."

Misaya clenched her teeth and picked up a straw doll from her table, she then pulled a nail out of it. With furious stomps of her feet, she walked up to the man and stuck the nail into his thigh, causing him to begin screaming in pain as the curse placed upon the nail became active. Every nerve in his body simultaneously sent every type of pain signal up to his brain.

"See you later, sensei," she said coldly before she turned her back and walked out of her basement workshop, dogs following behind her.


Now that the dogs had been fed and groomed, and torture inflicted, the next part of her morning routine could begin. She leashed the dogs, and took them out for their morning walk.

Halfway down the street from her house she saw another girl wearing the same school uniform as her locking the front gate of her home

"O..Oh…" she stuttered before her head sank low, "Ohayou gozaimasu…" she finally said in the meekest of voices.

Misaya shook her head and kept moving with the dogs walking ahead of her.

Could she be any more pathetic?

Her first destination was a large open park where she could (legally) take the dogs off their leashes and let them run around for their exercise. From her backpack she got out a frisbee which she threw out for the dogs to chase and bring back to her. After a good half hour or so of playtime, she brought them to a public water fountain which had bowls available for pets to drink from. While Deku and Natsu drank their fills, Misaya pulled a large water bottle out of her backpack and started filling it for herself to drink from.

"Nice dogs, may I pet them?" asked a stranger.

Deku and Natsu began to growl.

"Only if you don't mind being mauled…" she said indifferently before walking away from the water fountain.

Both dogs remained, baring their teeth at the stranger before she called them to her. Both dogs resumed their usual friendly demeanor and ran to catch up to their master.


Earlier that morning; a few houses down the street from Misaya's, another teenage girl was preparing to begin her day. Seated at a table in her living room she silently had her breakfast, a simple meal consisting of one fried egg and some vegetables which she ate while working on completing an assignment she had been putting off, but couldn't any longer.

"Self assessment…" she muttered while pushing up her glasses with a single finger. "Please complete the worksheet and return it to the counselor upon their next visit…"

This person visits a dozen schools and reads hundreds of these, I'm not special.

"Name and class:" she read.

"Sajyou Ayaka, 2-3" she wrote.

"Briefly describe how you get along with your family."

I don't have any family... Should I lie and say I do?

"No problems…" she wrote.

"Briefly describe how you get along with your friends..."

I don't have friends…

"No problems…" she wrote.

"Briefly describe what activities you perform for self-care. Ex: Exercise, eat healthy, play, get enough sleep."

"I eat healthy…" she wrote.

"Briefly describe what you do for your own emotional wellness… Ex: Spend time with friends or family, practice a hobby, etc."

No friends… No family… No hobby…

"I take care of my garden…" she wrote.

"In your own assessment, are you a person of good character? What do you feel are your most positive attributes? Ex: Do you look good in your favorite clothes? Do you achieve the grades you believe you can get? In what areas do you believe you excel? Ex: Spots, video games, classwork."

In my own assessment, my character is the worst. I'm depressed, I'm a coward... But worst of all, I'm hopelessly average. I do not stand out in any way.

"Yes. I am good at cooking, and I am good at gardening," she wrote.

And I'm a liar… I can't ever be honest with anyone about anything.

"What do you believe you most need to improve about yourself?"

My magecraft is too weak. My looks are average. My grades are average. My body is average…

"I wish to improve my handwriting…" she wrote to justify her shaking hand as she wrote lie after lie.

"If you could do anything you wanted to do, what would it be? Ex. Go on vacation. Take a day trip to a hot spring?"

I would want to find out who killed my father and my sister and kill them… But I'm not like my sister or my father. I couldn't do a thing like that. I'm helpless, I'm just average. So very average.

"Hot spring…" she wrote.

After cleaning her breakfast plate and teacup, she walked through the empty house until she got to a large greenhouse which was filled with a large diversity of different plants. Trees, herbs and even flowers. There was also a flock of her crow familiars flying around. The greenhouse was also overflowing with pigeons. Dozens and dozens of white pigeons nested in every tree with pigeon feces littering the ground beneath them, at least her familiars had the sense to leave their droppings outside, but the pigeons were messy creatures.

Nonetheless, she picked up a large bag of bird feed and went around filling bowls she had scattered around for all of them to eat from.

After feeding her avian housemates, she walked over to a space in the back which served as her workshop and prepared for a morning ritual. The same thing she had done every morning for as long as she could remember. She would open a cage and pull out yet another pigeon and hold it down over a chopping board before pulling out a butcher's cleaver. She grit her teeth and held the blade high over her head, she took several deep breaths as anxiety built up within her. She lowered the blade and then took several more breaths before raising it back up, feeling prepared to strike down and decapitate the little winged rat. The cleaver struck, but the pigeon remained unharmed.

I still can't do it...

She let go of the bird and let it fly off to join the ever growing flock of other sacrifices she failed to make for the sake of her magecraft.

I'm sorry father… I couldn't do what you told me to. I'm such a failure…

She put the cleaver back where she got it from and pulled out a small knife and began to examine her fingers, each having cuts in various stages of the healing process. She looked closely and decided on her right hand's middle finger. Without hesitation she made an incision and let the blood flow out into a container with which she would use to perform the required daily ritual.

I should never have become a mage…


Ayaka stepped out of her house and locked the door behind her. She then walked across a path through a garden in the front of her mansion towards the front gate, she opened it and then stepped out, locking it behind her. There wasn't any real purpose to locking it really, the bounded field around the property made it impossible for any common thief to get near, but for the sake of public appearances, she locked up.

She turned to start walking up the street to school when she saw another girl coming towards her wearing the same school uniform who had two big black dogs with striking yellow eyes walking towards her.

I'll do it this time!

"O..Oh…" she stuttered before her head sank low.

I'm so pathetic...

"Ohayou gozaimasu…" she finally said in the meekest voice she had ever allowed to escape from her mouth as Misaya Reiroukan passed her by without even acknowledging her existence.

No wonder she pretends I don't exist. I may as well not exist at all.

Ayaka walked up the street with her head held down. Her medium length dark brown hair fluttered in the chilled wind. She couldn't help but wonder how Misaya could walk around in this weather wearing nothing but high stockings on her legs, Ayaka wore thick leggings but it was still cold. Maybe that was just a benefit of having long legs like Misaya? Maybe she just didn't feel the cold like average people did.

Looking up for a moment to see where she was going, Ayaka spotted a very muscular man with snow white hair wearing a plain black t-shirt and jeans. Beside him walked a very beautiful black haired woman wearing a black tank top and old faded jeans. Maybe it really was the case that beautiful people could wear whatever they wanted regardless of the weather? In this case, they dressed to match.

The man dropped something he was shoving into his back pocket and kept walking without realizing he had dropped it. Ayaka walked up to the item and picked it up. She saw that it was an address book, probably important for him, so she ran after the man. She tried to yell to get his attention, but the meekness of her voice simply couldn't reach his ears.

The couple started crossing the street but by the time she caught up to where they had been, the lights changed, and the cars started moving. So she had to wait.

I'll be late now…

After a few anxious minutes of staring at the light and mentally ordering it to change colors, it finally turned green and she jogged across the street. But she couldn't find them. She closed her eyes and followed an imaginary path which led her to the eyes of one of her crow familiars flying overhead. Through its eyes, she sought the couple out. They had taken a left turn. She opened her eyes and started moving again, her feet started to ache from trying to run in her loafers, which weren't even comfortable for walking.

Finally she caught up to him, this time she didn't even try to raise her voice to be heard and instead just poked his side. He turned around with a raised eyebrow.

She held out the item to him and bowed respectfully. "Y… You.. You dropped this."

The man reached out to accept the booklet which he then inspected for damage before properly putting it into his back pocket.

"Thank you very much, young lady. I really appreciate it."

"Oh, Shirou, how cute is that? We found the only other do-gooder in the world," said the woman.

"Don't tease her, Ryouko. Ignore my friend. Keep doing what you do," he said to her.

Ayaka nodded meekly and blushed profusely.

"Awww, she's shy too," remarked an amused Ryouko.

"Like I said, ignore her. You're a good kid, don't change," the muscular man said while he pulled his friend away by the arm.

She stood there confused for a long moment.

Who even still uses an address book?


A little while later, Shirou entered the apartment of Ryouko's mother and waited patiently at the door while his friend went through the happy reunion. After a moment, the woman pulled away from her daughter and looked over the tall, lean, and muscular figure which was Shirou Emiya. He was wearing loose fitting jeans, but his black t-shirt clung tightly to his form leaving no room to doubt that this man was in peak, above-average, physical condition.

"Oh wow! Ryouko-chan, is this man your boyfriend?"

"No! This is Shirou. I told you about him!" she exclaimed defensively. Too defensively, which made Shirou fight to suppress an amused smirk as he bowed to the woman.

"Good morning. I'm Shirou Emiya."

"Such a strong name for such a strong and handsome young man. Ryouko-chan, you should marry him immediately."

"Mother… You're embarrassing me," she said through grit teeth, "We've been over this. We're not like that!"

"Then it can't be helped. If you won't marry him, I will."

Shirou lifted up his head and saw the woman winking at him with her hand reaching out towards him. He quickly took a step up to her to take a hold of her hand. "Your proposal is accepted," he said before bending down to place a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

The woman blushed a bright red, "Oh my, Ryouko-chan, why didn't you introduce me to this fine young man a long time ago?"

"You unbelievable man-whore! Stop flirting with my mother this instant!" yelled Ryouko.

"No need to call him names, Ryouko-chan. Just call him, 'Otousan'."

Ryouko's mother linked her arm around Shirou's and escorted him over to her dining table, "Come along, I've made you both a very nice breakfast. We can't start our work on empty stomachs. And I can't wait to see what my future husband thinks of my cooking."

Shirou bit his lower lip so as not to burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter right then and there. He had to milk this for all it was worth!

Shirou finally turned his head back to look at the ravenette with a wide toothy grin which visibly infuriated her so much that even her ears turned red.

"Mother! This is so unseemly!"

Shirou leaned down to speak in a low voice to the older woman, "Thank you for this. You have no idea what she put me through on this trip."

"Give me a little credit," she said while playfully patting his arm. "I raised that speed demon. I know exactly what she's like. And I know the look of a man who's desperate for petty revenge."


Fuyuki
Homurahara Academy

Kurumi felt her heart beating in her throat as she approached a solemn looking Taiga who was waiting outside the school with two men whom she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt were policemen.

"Here they are now, officers," said Taiga. "Just give me a moment. I should be the one to tell them."

"Tell us what?" asked Kotori.

Origami stepped back over to Kurumi, setting aside the little game she'd been playing and took her by the hand in a show of support. She then looked up into Taiga's eyes. "Tell us what happened, Sensei."

Kotori stepped over to her big sister and wrapped her arms around her waist while Haruto stepped up behind and put a hand on the shoulders of both sisters.

Taiga nodded, seeing how quick they all were to rally and support each other in the face of what they knew would be horrible news. She couldn't help but feel proud of them.

"It's Yuuto Mitsuzuri. He was found in the river early this morning… The police think he was murdered."

The teenagers all held each other tightly.

"Kurumi. If you're feeling up to it, they want to ask you a few questions about him. You were the last person to see him alive yesterday, after practice."

The ravenette nodded and then turned to face her companions. "I'll be alright here. Why don't you all go get ready and get practice going. The keys should be in my shoe locker."

After a few nods and lingering hand holds, the three left Kurumi alone with Taiga and the policemen.

"Emiya-san. I'm very sorry about your friend," said the policeman.

Kurumi shook her head. "He wasn't exactly my friend. I had actually just kicked him out of the club yesterday."

The man nodded and pulled out his notepad and wrote something down. "I see. Could you elaborate on that?"

Kurumi shook her head, "I don't know if it's right. To speak ill of the dead."

"I understand how you feel, but we need to know everything we can about everything that happened to him in the hours leading up to his death. I know it's difficult, but if you could please tell us as much as you can remember, we never know what little detail could help us to uncover the truth."

Taiga stepped closer to Kurumi and wrapped her arms around her, "Kuro-chan. It's going to be alright. Just be honest, and tell him everything you know."

"May I ask what your relationship is? Fujimura-san?"

"I'm her Aunt."

"I see. Emiya-san? Do you feel ready to answer the question?"

Kurumi gave the man a slow nod. "Mitsuzuri had only been with the club for a short time. Since the start of the year, which is… two weeks I think?"

The policeman nodded.

"In that time, he had shown a bit of a rough attitude. Not uncommon for freshmen, so we just brushed it off. Yesterday was especially bad. In the morning he was being disruptive during practice. So my friend, Origami Tobiichi, took him aside to give him a lecture about etiquette in the dojo. I had to step out during that time to take my little sister to the nurse's office because she hurt herself with a bow string…"

"I see. So what happened next with Mitsuzuri-san?"

"After the lunch break, he returned to the class he shares with my sister and he bullied her. When I was told about it, that was when I decided to kick him out of the club. Which I did after practice in the evening. I wanted to punish him for picking on my sister, so I made him stay after to clean the dojo by himself while the rest of us went home. I gave him my keys, and told him to put them in my shoe locker after he was finished."

"Who did you go home with?" asked the officer.

"My aunt," she said with a gesture to Taiga. "My sister, and my friend Origami Tobiichi."

"Did you go anywhere else after you returned home?"

"No sir. Once we got home, I made dinner, we ate, we did our homework, we took baths. We watched some TV, and then we all went to sleep. Including my aunt, she stayed the night because my father is in Tokyo, with my friend's guardian. They're helping her mother move into a new apartment."

"You don't look like you had much sleep," observed the policeman. "It looks like you haven't slept in days."

"Well…" started Kurumi with a blush. "The other night I stayed up playing a game and only had an hour of sleep. Last night I was up late… with my 'friend'..."

"Kurumi…" started Taiga with a stern tone. "We'll talk about that later."

"Please be clear. What were you doing all night?"

Kurumi wrapped an arm around herself and held her other arm while blushing profusely. "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

"Yes. And I'll need your friend to corroborate it."

Kurumi sighed heavily, "She's my girlfriend and we were making love. All night. I think I got about another hour of sleep before it was time to get up and start getting ready for school. Our friend Haruto, the boy with the purple hair, came over this morning to help with breakfast and walk with us to school."

"Why did he do that? Was he also up all night?"

Kurumi shrugged, "He was being nice. Since my father's away, he came over to help with breakfast. We've known each other since we were little babies, so it's not unusual."

"Haruto's mother was a very close friend of Kurumi's parents. So their children all grew up together," explained Taiga.

"I see. Last question," he said while tapping his pen under his left eye. "How did you injure your eye?"

Kurumi sighed and pulled off her eyepatch, revealing the empty eye socket to the policeman. "This happened when I was very little."

Taiga lightly dropped the bottom of her fist over Kurumi's head. "Kuro-chan… You're supposed to be wearing your prosthetic eye!"

"Sorry, Oba-san," replied Kurumi. "I just hate it."

"She had retinal cancer when she was five and they had to remove her eyeball. Any more questions, officers?"

"Not at this time no, but we would like to speak to some of the other club members and-"

"Sensei!" exclaimed a young boy.

"What is it?" asked Taiga.

"The dojo! It's a mess. It's been wrecked!"

Taiga looked at the policemen who were already turning to walk into the dojo.


Kurumi, Origami, Kotori, and Haruto all started walking back home. Whatever happened in the dojo, was enough for the police to seal off the building and order the school to be closed until further notice while they investigated.

"The keys weren't in your locker. So I guess whatever happened to him, happened in the dojo," explained Haruto.

"I see…" replied a dejected Kurumi.

"So… Mitsuzuri is really…" started Kotori.

"Try not to think about it, Koto-chan," said Kurumi while putting her hand on the redhead's shoulder and held her close as they walked.

"Yesterday he was so mean to me, and today he's…"

"Listen to your sister. Don't think about it. Nothing good will come of it. What happened to him had nothing to do with you," added Haruto.

"He's right, Koto-chan," added Kurumi.

"I know you're right. It's just really freaky. Yesterday he was a total jerk, and now he's dead. It's so surreal."

Origami took a hold of Kurumi's hand and gave it a tight and supportive squeeze. "I'm sorry about the dojo. I'm sure we'll be able to repair the damage."

"It'll be expensive. The place was totally ruined. All the awards, the pictures, the history of the place. It's all gone… That's what's most depressing," replied Kurumi. "If only I didn't leave him there all alone, maybe-"

"Don't start thinking that way. If we had all stayed, whatever happened to Mitsuzuri could have happened to us as well," supplied Origami.

"She's right," added Haruto. "We all need to get our heads out of this dark space. So we should go and let Suima-sam get a little sleep, get refreshed, and then we should go have some fun!"

"We should practice," said Kurumi. "There's no excuse for us to slack off on practice. I vote that we go to the dojo in New City."

"In your state of sleepiness, Suima-san, archery is a terrible idea. It's Friday, and you've got that tournament tomorrow. So you need to be well rested."

Kurumi palmed her face, "I completely forgot about that."

"I agree with Matou. You need to sleep," said Origami.

Kurumi squeezed Origami's hand in her own, "And what're you going to do all day while I'm sleeping?"

"We'll practice…" started Kotori while her eyes shifted about to make sure nobody could hear them, then she finished in a lower voice, "We can practice some magecraft."

"Not without me to supervise you aren't…" said Kurumi with a firm tone.

"I can supervise them, Suima-san. There's nothing to worry about."

Kurumi puffed her cheeks with her eye narrowed in drowsiness and dejection. "I suppose that's fine…"

"You don't trust me to make sure they're safe?" asked a suspicious Haruto.

"It's not that… You know I trust you completely. It's just that I'm not used to the idea of them practicing without me there. You know I'm a control freak."

"Just like your mom," replied a smirking Haruto.

Kurumi sighed, "Yeah…"


Tokyo

Ayaka finally arrived at school and entered the main building. Dreading what could happen if she didn't arrive ahead of certain other people, she braced herself before entering the main building. She opened her shoe locker and found something she never thought she would see in her life. There was a letter inside waiting for her, sealed with a heart shaped sticker. She felt her heart beating in her throat while she carefully opened the envelope, she extracted a slip of paper from inside and read it.

"Did you really think you would get a love letter?" it said.

She crumpled up the paper while a group of girls behind her all started laughing.

She changed her shoes and proceeded to silently walk past the laughing girls and then up the stairs to the second floor.

"Do any of you know what happened to Takagi-sensei? He just started working here this year and now he suddenly just vanished into thin air," she overheard.

"No idea. But I don't mind the self study period."

Ayaka shook her head and kept walking. It had nothing to do with her. She entered her classroom and sat at her desk where she would mind her own business until classes began.

"Hey, Sajyou, aren't you going to go meet your boyfriend?" asked a snickering girl after entering the room.

Ayaka just looked down at her desk and ignored her while she and her friends all started laughing together.

"What's so funny?" asked Misaya after entering the room.

"Oh, Reiroukan. You should have been there. Sajyou thought she got a love letter in her locker but it was just a prank! Haha!"

Misaya rolled her eyes, "How incredibly dull…" she said while taking her seat.

"Hey, Reiroukan, do you know what happened to Takagi-sensei?" asked one of the girls.

"Why would I know?" she asked aloofly. "Do you think I'm keeping him locked in my basement?"

"Haha. No, it's just that you talked with him the day before he disappeared."

The ravenette blinked curiously, "Yes, and?"

"And… I just thought maybe he said something to you that might be a clue to why he hasn't been to school..."

Misaya leaned back in her seat and shrugged, "He just saw my dogs and he wanted to know about them," she replied with a sugar coated voice. "He probably just got tied up or something. It's none of our business."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."


Shirou grunted while lifting up a heavy box which he then carried all the way out of the building and then set it down gently in the back of a rented moving truck. He then climbed up into the truck to slide it forward and fit it neatly into place among several other similarly sized and weighted boxes.

From his back pocket he pulled out a small towel and used it to dry the sweat from his face before he stepped over to the back of the truck and then jumped back down onto the street while Ryouko brought out another, smaller, box which she set down on the back of the truck bed. Shirou had to keep reminding himself not to let his eyes linger on her in those tight fitting jeans because he was sure she intentionally chose them to highlight her greatest asset.

"This could take a lot longer than I anticipated..." she said to him.

"It's not a problem."

"Sorry you're doing all the heavy lifting."

"What did you bring me for if not for that? Unless you really did just wanna hook me up with your mother?"

Ryouko smacked his arm and then started shaking her hand while crying out in pain. "What the hell?! Are your arms made of stone?"

Shriou smirked at the woman, "Steel is my body."

"Pfft. I don't know how you manage to be so charming while also being so stupid."

"It's a gift," he answered before his phone bellowed out the sound of a roaring tiger.

Ryouko couldn't help but laugh. "Your sister?"

"My sister…" he muttered while answering the call. "Shouldn't you be in class right now?"

"I wanted you to hear this from me first. The school's been closed down by the police. The reason for that is, Yuuto Mitsuzuri. The police found him in the river this morning. They say he was murdered last night. But they think it happened at the school."

Shirou's eyes widened at that, he snapped his fingers to get Ryouko's attention after she started walking away, and then waved her back over. "What else?"

"This morning when I got to the school, the police were there asking around for anyone who knew him. They asked Kurumi, Kotori, and Origami some questions about him. Also when we opened the dojo, it was totally wrecked. Like a bomb went off in it. Apparently, he had stayed behind all alone to clean the place up. I have no idea what happened to him, and neither do the police from what I can gather."

"Where are the children now?"

"They went home."

"Good. What about you?"

"I'm still at the school. The faculty had to stay and turn away all of the students. I'll be here for another hour or so, after that I'll go straight to the house."

"That's good. Thank you for letting me know I'll-"

"Shirou! Don't even think about cutting your trip short. There's nothing to be worried about. I'll keep you informed."

"You know me too well, Fuji-nee. Alright, I'll leave it to you."

"Good boy. I'll talk to you- Oh no, someone catch Muras-"

With that, the line cut. Shirou looked bewildered for a moment before he turned to Ryouko to begin explaining.


Fuyuki
Emiya Workshop

"Alright, Tobiichi. Just take a moment, relax, and clear your mind," said Haruto.

Origami held her hand over a broken drinking glass on a wooden table. In her mind, she pictured herself drawing her bow and launching an arrow straight into her own heart which then activated her magic circuits.

"Now just visualize and then actualize."

Origami took a breath, and then slowly nodded. She held her hand over the broken shards and then closed her eyes, in her mind she visualized the glass being reformed before the pieces of the glass actually began to recombine.

Haruto observed with a satisfied smirk until Origami's magic circuits fizzled out, the glass shards fell apart again in a heap of disappointment.

"Arrgh!" she cried out in pain while rubbing her arm.

"Alright. It's time for a break."

"I can try again," she said through clenched teeth while moving her hand back towards the glass.

Haruto quickly got up and grabbed her hand, which he then pulled away. "No! Don't ever over do it. You've been warned about that. If you damage your circuits you're done as a mage. They don't heal, and they can't be repaired."

Origami nodded and sat herself down in a stool beside the table where she continued to rub her aching arm. "I don't understand why I can't do this. This is meant to be the most basic of magecraft, isn't it?"

"To be brutally honest, Tobiichi," started Haruto. "Because of your magic circuits, you'll probably never advance beyond the most basic of basics."

"Is it truly impossible to improve one's-"

"Yes. It is impossible. You have the magic circuits you have for the same reason you have such spectacular legs," explained Haurto. "You're stuck with what you were born with."

"I knew that. I just hoped for a different answer."

Haruto stepped over in front of Origami and gazed straight into her azure eyes. "What are you even trying to achieve with magcraft? What drives you to endure that pain time after time with almost nothing to show for it?"

Before she could respond, the door to the workshop forcefully opened and in stumbled Kurumi with a hand on her shoulder. Origami stood up and rushed to her side, but Kurumi just pushed past her. Haruto instantly got up to his feet, immediately knowing what was wrong and rushed to a drawer on the other side of the table while Kotori just watched her sister collapse into a seated position on the stairs leading up to the second level of the workshop.

Len was not far behind her master, and quickly started gathering materials from around the shop while Origami watched helplessly in anger and despair over how useless she felt.

Eventually, Len was at her Master's side, helping her to remove the t-shirt she was sleeping with. Origami finally caught sight of Kurumi's face. It was an expression she had never seen on her girlfriend before. She had seen her in pain before, but this wasn't just pain she was in. This was nothing short of searing agony.

Kotori came over to Origami's side where she put a hand on her arm. "Don't worry. She'll be fine. Len and Haruto can take care of her."

"I should be capable of caring for her…"

"You are," said Kotori. "Just not with this. When it comes to this kind of stuff, Len is the expert. She's been with my sister since she was very little, she knows exactly what to do. But if you want to help, wait until the worst of it is past, and then talk to her and help keep her mind off it…"

Origami observed while Len was crushing medicinal herbs together in a stone grinder, she closed her eyes and clenched her fist while rubbing her own still aching arm. "Everything to do with magecraft truly does involve pain and suffering…"

Kotori looked up at the white haired girl, "Yes."

"Why did you choose to become a mage?"

Kotori pulled a lollipop out of her pocket and started unwrapping it. "Because I have a dream. My sister is the heir to my mother. But me, I want to be my father's heir. Someday, I want to be a hero of justice, just like him. And I want to make sure what happened to me… No, what happened to us, never happens again. That's why I practice with fire every day. Why I've devoted every moment of my study of magecraft to fire. Like my father is to a sword, I strive to become the personification of fire. Then I'll be able to fight and defeat anyone or anything. Even fire."

"I wonder if there is such a path for me to follow to develop my thaumaturgy."

Kotori looked up at Origami, "There is. You just need to find it."

Origami turned her eyes back on Kurumi while Len and Haruto worked together to wrap bandages soaked in the herbs around her arm. "I've never seen her like this before. I know her magic crest causes her pain sometimes, but this seems especially bad."

"Yeah. It happens from time to time. You see, normally, a magic crest is transferred in small parts over a long period. She got the first part of the crest when she was six, and another when she was ten. The year after that though, was when our mother died. To save the crest, the transplant had to be done more quickly, she got all of what was left in two stages six months apart. Because of that, she'll have to live with this pain until the crest fully sets in, which will take years."

"That's horrible..." said Origami through clenched teeth.

"My mother had the same problem. When our grandfather died, she had to receive the whole crest when she was really little. That herbal treatment is the same one our mother used to help with her pain. It smells disgusting, but it works."

"I believe I've smelled that on her before…"

Kurumi reached out and pulled Len into a hug after she finished the bandage on her arm. "Thank you, Len."

The little girl said nothing but affectionately cuddled up to her master.

Haruto went over to Origami and Kotori. "Let's give her some space. Why don't we all go down to the store and get some ingredients for lunch?"

"Sounds good," replied Kotori.


Tokyo

The final bell rang and the class began gathering their belongings.

"Reiroukan, do you wanna come with us? We're going to the cinema."

Misaya shook her head, "I'm sorry. I would love to, but I have some things I need to sort out that I just can't put off any more. I'm really very sorry."

"It's fine, you gotta do what you gotta do."

"Thank you for understanding," she replied with a sweet smile.

Ayaka got up from her desk, bag in hand and quickly made her way out of the classroom while the bullies were all busy engaging with Misaya, who was the most popular girl in the school. If nothing else, she unwittingly shielded her retreat.

After leaving the building, the brunette started walking down the street when she was confronted by the sight of two big black dogs walking up to her. She froze in fear as they approached, one of them let out a low growl which caused Ayaka to imagine a crow preparing to squawk and activate her magic circuits. However, the dogs both started to sniff and then let out some low pitched whines as they playfully approached her and began to nuzzle their snouts up against her in an affectionate manner.

With only slight hesitation, she reached out a hand and pet one of them. When he allowed it, she reached out to pet the other one. "Hello to you too."

Both dogs suddenly stopped moving then suddenly stepped around her and started running fast towards the front gate of the school. Ayaka turned around and saw the dogs running up to their master. She turned back around and got a big startle when she saw a tall, slender, silver haired man in priestly garb standing in front of her.

"Good afternoon,"

"I told you never to come near my school…"

"I came to give you a warning. You should prepare. You may soon be called upon to honor your family allegiances."

"Whatever my father was into has nothing to do with me. Please leave me alone," she said while stepping around the man to walk away at a brisk pace.

"You have no choice," the man said while keeping pace with her. "The magic crest within you is bound."

"I never asked for this. I never had a choice in anything. But I made a choice when I told you I wanted nothing to do with any of this. The church, the world of mages, moonlit world, whatever you want to call it. None of it has anything to do with me. I'm not a mage, and I'm not a christian. So please go away."

"And yet you still practice magecraft. Why?"

"That's none of your business… Go away!"

The man grabbed her by the shoulder to stop her walking and then leaned down close to her ear. "You will do your duty, heretic, because if you don't, you have nowhere to run..."

Fully comprehending the implications, Ayaka's eyes widened and she gasped in shock.

Suddenly the two dogs started barking. The silver haired man looked up to what was behind Ayaka and found Deku and Natsu growling, sharp teeth widely exposed, and both stood ready to attack the moment their master gave the word.

"She told you to fuck off," said Misaya over the barking of her dogs.

The silver haired man raised his hand, in which he held three black key hilts, but hadn't drawn them yet.

"Please try it," she said in a firm tone. "My boys would like nothing more than to maul a degenerate priest."

The man put away his weapons and then stared into Misaya's crimson eyes. "Do not forget yourself. How much longer do you think you can stand when the only allies you have are these mutts?" he asked in a cold voice.

"We'll just have to wait and see. Won't we?" she replied in a tone to match.

The priest left, and once he was far enough away, Misaya commanded the dogs to stand down, after which they relaxed and came to stand next to her while she leashed them.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" asked Misaya while staring directly at Ayaka.

The brunette turned around and started running.

"She's so pathetic…" said an exasperated Misaya, her dogs each let out a pathetic whining noise as if to agree with her.


Ayaka burst through her front door and slammed it shut, gasping and panting out of breath, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper with a thaumaturgical formula inked into it. She stuck the paper to her door to reinforce her bounded field and bar any entry before she ran into her living room, she fell down onto her couch and covered her entire body with a blanket.

It has nothing to do with me.

The world of mages and their wars…

I told him it has nothing to do with me.

Why are they trying to involve me?

I'm not my father!

I'm not my sister!

I can't do what they did!

"IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!"


Tokyo, Shirou and Ryouko's Hotel Room

Shirou lay back in his bed and stared at the TV while Ryouko was showering in the bathroom. He took a moment to count his lucky stars that the room they were in had two beds, and then cursed his luck when he remembered that he was still sharing a hotel room with a ridiculously attractive woman.

He couldn't help but wonder when exactly it was that he had become comfortable with the idea of other women being attractive. Or was it just Ryouko's 'forbidden fruit' appeal?

She was, after all, the one suitable woman in his life who checked all his boxes. It was just that she also happened to be the legal guardian and soon to be adoptive mother of his daughter's girlfriend.

In a romantic relationship with Ryouko there were just too many ways for everything to go horribly wrong. Setting aside the double life he led, which he had no way of knowing if Ryouko could handle the truth of, his relationship with his eldest daughter was difficult enough as it was…

Kuro-chan, I love you more than anything, but I need you to get out of my house, disown me as your father, drop out of school, and run off to the Clock Tower, or ask Raiga for a job.

He didn't have to actually say that, but announcing to his daughter that he was sleeping with Ryouko felt like it would be a much less wordy way of telling her the same thing.

Rather than continue on that train of thought, he opted to get off at the next stop. He picked up his phone and dialed the one person he hoped would give him an honest assessment of the situation in Fuyuki.


Fuyuki City

Caren Ortensia lazily reached out to pick up her buzzing smartphone. She checked to see who was calling before she picked up.

"I'm surprised I didn't hear from you sooner."

"I didn't have a chance to talk properly until now. How are things?"

"There was a minor disturbance last night. One student died. The problem was taken care of. There are no indications of further problems as of yet. So there's nothing for you to be concerned about."

"You'd better not be lying to me, Caren."

"Come on, Shirou. I'm a Nun. I don't tell lies."

"I know you well enough to know when you're hiding something."

"On a scale of one to ten of things we've all been through when we were their age. Eight being your grail war, and three being my first exorcism, and ten being our first adventure together, what happened last night doesn't even rate on the scale."

"That doesn't tell me what it was."

"I have no idea. I've never seen or heard of anything like it before. Kurumi and the Matou boy eliminated it. I suspect whatever happened led to the demise of the other student, but I don't know all of the details… Before you say something snarky about my skills as an observer… I was unable to maintain my surveillance. I stayed as long as I could, but whatever it was triggered my special 'attribute' so I had to distance myself."

"Are you alright? Are you in pain? Tell me the truth!"

"That's sweet. If I wasn't alright would you hop on the next plane and rush to my bedside? I still have my old exorcism outfit I could wear for you. Believe it or not, it still fits, for the most part, my breasts have gotten bigger."

"Since I've known you, have I ever not been there when you needed help? Have I ever not been there to take care of you when you're hurting?"

"So boring. You never take the bait, no matter what I throw at you."

"God damn it! Cut the shit, Caren! Just tell me if you're alright! I'm worried about you!"

"Please forgive my pagan friend, Lord. His heart is in the right place, but he knows not what he says…"

"Grrr… Caren…"

"It wasn't too bad. Just a few bruises and some minor bleeding. Really it's nothing that a few bandages, ice, and a glass of wine can't treat. I see worse injuries at the school caused by gym class accidents."

"I also know how you tend to downplay the extent of your injuries… If I find out you're doing that right now, I swear I'll-"

"Shirou! I'm fine. Really. Thank you for your concern, but there's nothing to be worried about. That is the honest to God truth. I was even going into work today. If I was in bad shape, I would call Kurumi and ask her to bring that cat over. Okay? But I'm not in bad shape. This is really nothing. I have had much, much worse."

"Just because you've had worse isn't a reason to suffer with less. But fine. I trust you."

"If you trusted me, you wouldn't have been grilling me nonstop since I picked up the phone. See, this is why I never bothered to get married. I don't need a husband, I have you to relentlessly nag at me."

"Fine. Trust was a stretch, so I'll just say that I believe you're telling me the truth. But if you're not, you know I'll eventually find out and I'll be pissed off. So I trust you not to want to subject yourself to that."

Caren chuckled to herself, "Yes, Shirou. You can trust that I don't want to trigger your big brother instincts and see you pissed off with me again."

"Good. Now is there anything you want from Tokyo?"

"I'm not sure. What could I want from there that I can't get here? Just surprise me."

"Alright. Call me if anything changes, and take care of yourself or I'll have you kidnaped and taken care of."

Caren giggled, "Only you could say something like that and mean well by it. That's part of what makes you so annoyingly lovable."

"Love you too. Be sure to change your bandages regularly, and if you need help getting to the ones on your back, just call Kurumi, don't let them get infected again. Gangrene is an ugly color on you," he said before hanging up.

"I really do hope he bought it…" she said while picking up a roll of gauze and then carefully stood up on wobbly legs to walk over to the farside of her barren living room.

She carefully leaned back against the plain white wall and then leaned forward again. She then unwrapped her gauze to her full arm's length and then, roughly aiming for where the first blood stain was, she pulled it around her back and then wrapped it around her front, tediously repeating the process over and over until she had them all bandaged.

"I suppose she really did deliver on her promise. Next time, I'll be sure to specify that I want to see creative and interesting injuries on other people."


Fuyuki
Emiya Residence

Kurumi rolled her eye while bringing the phone up to her ear, "Moshi Moshi."

"Kuro-chan. What are you doing right now?"

"I'm in the workshop. My magic crest was acting up, so my arm's covered in herbs and I'm self-isolating to spare everyone the stink while doing the finishing touches on a long-term project. What about you?"

"I heard about what happened last night. Are you alright?"

Kurumi sat herself down on one of the stools at the large work table and sighed. "Is it safe to talk? Talk properly I mean."

"Just a moment. Ryouko could come out of the shower at any time, so I'll step out onto the balcony…"

"Otousan… Why would Ryouko be using the shower in your room?"

"Because we have one room… With two beds! The hotel only had one room, even though we booked two… Don't worry, nothing's going to happen between us. Alright. It's safe to talk. So tell me, are you alright?"

Kurumi's eye started to water. "Otousan… I did something horrible…"


Tokyo

Shirou balled his fist tightly as he listened to his daughter's retelling of the battle she fought.

"Kuro-chan. Listen to me. You did not do anything wrong. Do you hear me? You did nothing wrong. I am very, very proud of you for the way you handled yourself. Your mother would have been very proud of you as well."

"How can you say that? I killed him!"

"No. You didn't. Whoever made him into that monster killed him. You just stopped the situation from getting so much worse. Remember what you said about how Haruto found out about it? Imagine your friend had been outside instead of inside? What would have happened to her, do you think?"

"He could have killed her…"

"Exactly. He could have caused a lot of harm. But you prevented that. I know it hurts. Believe me, I know how much it hurts. But you did not do anything wrong. It's alright to mourn for him, but don't blame yourself. You did your duty as the Second Owner. What happened to him was not your fault. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I hear you. I understand what you're saying. But it still feels so bad…"

Shirou pressed his fingers into his eyes, as if that would stop his own tears from flowing out of his eyes.

"Kuro-chan… I want to be there with you. I want to be there to hold you, and tell you it will be alright. If you need me to, I'll get on the next train and come back."

"And what would you tell Ryouko? What would she tell her mother? I can't ask you to do that, I'll be fine. I'm not alone here. I've got Len, and I've got Haruto I can talk to about these things, and you and I can talk about it when you get back."

"You have your game tournament tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. That should help me keep my mind off of this."

"I'm sure you'll kick all their asses."

"Damn right I will."

"Can I ask you for a favor, Kuro-chan?"

"Of course you can."

"If it isn't any trouble. Could you take Len and go check on Caren?"

"Oooh… Please don't tell me she was stalking me last night…"

"Not you specifically. Whatever it was you fought triggered her masochism thing. That's what she was stalking."

"What an idiot…"

"She told me she's fine, but I don't believe her. Could you make sure?"

"No problem. I'll get the first aid kit and go now."

"Thank you. I'm sorry to put this burden on you."

"It's not a burden. I might not be as close with her as I am with the Tiger, but I know how much she means to you. So of course I'll go check on her for you."

"Yeah. Sorry to make you do this."

"I get it. You're worried about her. I'll go make sure she's alright, and then I'll call you back and tell you everything. I promise. Just leave it to me."

"Thank you, Kuro-chan. I really appreciate it."


Tokyo
Reiroukan Residence

When Misaya returned to her house she went straight to the basement. She found her 'teacher' exactly where she left him, still writhing in agony. She walked up to him and pulled the nail out of his leg to lift the curse he was under.

She went over to her work table and sat down in a draftsman chair which she then rolled towards the back of the room, upon a shelf stood several vials of liquids which she carefully looked through, selecting one and then kicked off from the wall and back to her work table.

"Not going to ask questions?" the man asked in a weak and hoarse voice.

"You already know the question. It's up to you now, either you answer, or I'll test this on you."

"Gen Takeuchi…" the man said.

The Second Owner himself. Who would have thought he'd act so brazenly?

"Really? You endured all of that just to protect that pathetic excuse for a man? What's wrong with you?!"

"So what now? Will you kill me?"

"I haven't decided yet. Can you think of any reason I shouldn't?"

"If you don't, he will."

"I'm sure he probably will. You failed to kill a high school girl. That's pretty pathetic."

"Don't get cocky. Because I failed, things will escalate for you."

"Why do you think I'm preparing for war? Arrogance may be one of my short-comings, but stupidity isn't."

Meanwhile, the man on the chair reinforced his limbs and struggled against his restraints.

"Don't bother, I reinforced the duct tape and chair. You'll never break it," she told him.

"It was worth a try."

"I suppose," she said before her phone rang. "This is tedious enough without interruptions…" she groaned before answering the call, "Hello?"

"Am I speaking with Misaya Reiroukan?" asked a man speaking English.

"Yes. With whom am I speaking?"

"You don't need to know that. All you need to know is that I have information which may be helpful to you."

"And what do you expect in return for this information?"

"Nothing. I owed a debt to your father, which I will now repay by helping you. So listen to me carefully because I will repeat none of this. Do I have your undivided attention?"

"Yes."

"Good... The Mage's Association has declined to send any Enforcers. They will remain neutral in the little war brewing in Tokyo. However, the Church has labeled you a heretical mage. You should expect Executors to begin interfering in your work, but more than that, I have been informed that there is a Templar in Tokyo at this very moment. If I were you, I would prepare myself for a very difficult battle."

"I saw something today that gave me the impression the chess board was being rearranged for me. But how do you know any of this?"

"I cannot reveal that. Now there is one last thing. Presently, there is a man in Tokyo who can help you. I would recommend you hire his services, you will need help to accomplish your goals."

"You're not giving me a good reason to trust you."

"If I wanted you harmed, I wouldn't have called. If you want to live long enough to become a student at the Clocktower, you'll take me up on my offer."

"Very well, how would I go about hiring this person?"

"Through me. If you would like to hire him, I can set it up. This is a one time offer, and it expires when I hang up this call."

"How much will it cost me?"

"You may negotiate that with him when you meet. What is your answer?"

"Very well. I'll accept your offer."

"Wise decision. This concludes our conversation. I wish you the best of luck."

Misaya looked at her phone to confirm the call had ended before hanging up. "Okay. That happened..."


Fuyuki
Caren Ortnsia's Apartment

Kurumi knocked for the last time on Caren's door before she just went for the handle and opened it, shaking her head, she entered the apartment.

"Unlocked. Unbelievable… Caren! It's Kurumi, and Len!"

As soon as she crossed the threshold, Len immediately pinched her nose.

It wasn't long after she shut the door that Kurumi's nostiles caught the scent and she too had to pinch her nose. "Ara ara! It smells like something died in here…"

Caren lived in a one room apartment, the doorway had a small corridor lined by the kitchen and bathroom respectively. A cursory glance at the kitchen area revealed the culprit, the sink was full of dirty dishes, and the counter had a basket full of rotten fruits. She didn't dare examine the rest of the kitchen.

"Len… Am I this bad of a slob?"

The little demon looked up at her master and gave her a small nod.

Kurumi rolled her eye and advanced to the living room where she groaned in disgust at what she saw.

Caren was seated on a blood stained couch, a wine glass in her hand, and the wine spilled out on the floor. The walls were covered in blood trails. The floor was littered with bloody bandages.

Kurumi walked over to Caren and poked her in the shoulder. "Caren. Wake up. You're not allowed to be dead."

Caren half opened one eye and looked weakly up at Kurumi. "You never call me 'Aunt Caren'. Why is that?"

"Because you never act like an aunt to me, but you do act like a burdensome little sister to my father. You tell him you're fine, and then I come here and see how you live… What is wrong with you?"

Caren couldn't even muster up a response, she just drifted back into unconsciousness.

"Ara, ara. Can you believe she's supposed to be our school nurse?"

Len shrugged and moved to help her Master deal with the woman.


Len handed Caren a cup of tea and then went over to help Kurumi scrub the blood off the apartment wall.

"How many times do I have to say this isn't necessary?" asked Caren.

"As many times as you like," replied an indifferent Kurumi. "But we're still going to finish this."

Caren rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her tea, and then her phone rang.

"You'd better answer that."

"When did you even have time to call your father?" asked Caren while getting out her phone.

"You were out for about an hour. I had plenty of time," replied Kurumi while scrubbing the wall. "Uuugh! Why does blood have to be so hard to clean?!"

"He says to use baking soda and water," said Caren.

"That's what I'm doing. I'm not an idiot."

"You're on speaker, Shirou," said Caren.

"Kuro-chan, how bad is it?" asked Shirou.

"Bad enough that she can kiss her security deposit goodbye," she answered her father. "We can make this place liveable, but these walls need to be repainted."

"I'll make time to do that when I get back."

"Shirou, you don't have to-"

"Shut up, Caren!" yelled Shirou. "You always do this, you always lie to me. Do you know how much that hurts?"

"I just didn't want you to be worried when there was no reason to be worried," replied Caren.

"I'm always worried about you! You consistently prove you're incapable of taking care of yourself. I should just make you move in with us."

"So you can have your way with me every night?"

"I'm still here!" exclaimed Kurumi. "I'm standing right here! In front of you!"

"Two Emiyas with one stone. It's not every day I get this opportunity..."

"Otousan? How do you put up with her?" asked Kurumi in a loud enough voice for the phone to pick up.

"Sometimes I wonder…" replied Shirou. "Look. I have to go. Just do the best you can, Kuro-chan. And Caren…"

"I know. I know. You're going to tell me to take better care of myself or else you'll punish me with whatever random thought crosses your mind."

"No, Caren. I really mean it. If you don't, I will bring you to live with us. Just like the old days. You'll be our live-in maid."

Caren scowled at her phone. "Fine. Shirou. You win. I won't get blood on my walls anymore."

"That's not what this is abou-" Shirou started yelling before Caren hung up the phone.

"Why'd you just hang up on him? That was rude," said Kurumi while wringing her washcloth into a bucket.

"I've been having this same conversation with him over and over for longer than you've been alive," Caren answered flatly.

"He says what he says because he loves you. I'm tough on Kotori sometimes too, but it's because I love her more than anything, and I'm always there for her no matter what."

"Neither of your parents on their own were very good at the emotional stuff. They sort of relied on each other to nudge and kick one another into expressing their feelings. Your father is only good at solving problems with a sword, that's what he knows how to do. My life isn't something that can be fixed with a sword and neither of us ever really knows what to do. I'll never understand why he always stands by me…"

"It's because he loves you," replied Kurumi. "That's all there is to it. Yes, we both know he's too thick headed to understand that we sometimes need him to show us we're more important than whatever random strangers he's off fighting for, but despite that, I know he loves me, and you too."

"I don't doubt that he loves me. I know he does… He's the only person in the world who does. The only person who ever could, or ever will."

"It's like you think I hate you or something."

"Don't you? I'm a bother to you."

Kurumi sighed and set her washcloth on the side of the bucket, she then pulled off the rubber gloves she was wearing to keep her hands clean before going over to sit down beside the white haired woman on the couch.

"No, Caren. I don't hate you. I don't call you 'aunt' or anything because you've never been around that much, not like Taiga. But I do love you. I thought you knew that."

Caren shook her head before taking a sip of her tea.

"Well, I do. I guess that's on me for not showing it or saying it."

"Why? I've never done anything to deserve it. You said it yourself, I'm not around for you, or your sister. I know for sure that Kotori hates me."

"No. She doesn't. I won't lie, you're not her favorite person in the world, but that's because you weren't around much after she joined the family. Birthdays and holidays, and that's about it, and probably because my father forced you to come."

Caren gave a small nod behind her tea cup. "I don't know how to be part of a family. That wasn't in my life experience."

"It's about being there when it matters. Not just when it's expected. I still remember when I was little, I was seven or maybe eight? Whatever it was. My parents were off somewhere on one of their adventures. Len and I were all alone."

Caren turned her head to stare into Kurumi's crimson eye.

"Taiga was supposed to be with us, but I have no idea what happened to her, she wasn't there. Then you showed up."

"Your father didn't tell me they were leaving…"

"Exactly. And you saw Taiga wasn't around, so what did you do?"

"I sat down at the table and made myself at home…"

"Exactly, and we all got to hang out together. You, me, and Len. That was the first time I had a chance to get to know you properly."

"I was a worthless babysitter. I hate children."

"Please. I never needed a babysitter, Len and I could always take care of ourselves. You were the only one who never treated me like a child. That's why I liked you so much. With the exception of Haruto, none of the other kids my age understood me and kept their distance. But you-"

"Are you comparing me to the other children in your elementary school?" asked Caren in a flat tone.

Kurumi laughed, "Of course not! I'm just trying to tell you that it meant something to me that you understood me and how I think. It was a nice feeling. It's not like I could ever talk to Taiga about the things which really worried me. But you understood, and you helped me learn how to not be worried about it all."

Caren gave a small nod before taking another sip of her tea.

Kurumi scooted over and wrapped her arms around the woman, hugging her affectionately. Caren raised the arm holding the tea cup and then set it down on the table before awkwardly sitting there, being held by the teenager.

"I'm not going to treat you like a child either, Caren. But I do need you to take better care of yourself because you matter to me and it hurts me to see you like this, and I know exactly how my father must feel because he loves you every bit as much as I love Kotori, and if I saw Kotori like this my heart would shatter."

Caren rolled her eyes, but then put her arms around Kurumi. "Fine. I'll try harder."

"That's all I can ask," replied Kurumi. "Who knew you were so insecure?"

"I'm not insecure…"

Kurumi giggled at the denial.


Tokyo

Shirou was sitting opposite Ryouko at a restaurant in downtown Tokyo when his phone started to ring. He checked the screen to see an unknown number calling him.

"Excuse me," he said to her and then answered the call. "This is Emiya."

"It's been a while, Emiya. I trust you're well?"

Shirou's eyes widened when he recognized the voice, "Waver? This is a surprise. What can I do for you?"

"I'll make it brief. There's a problem, and it requires your talents."

"You have my attention."

"I'm going to send you an address, there's a young girl there who needs your protection. The Church wants her eliminated. The Clocktower almost decided to do the same, but I managed to convince them that we should remain neutral in this matter."

"Can you tell me why?"

"She's Reiroukan's daughter."

"Oh."

"The situation is complicated, and I don't have the time to fill you in on everything. Get her to explain it to you. But you need to hurry because according to my inside man, Gen Takeuchi is disregarding the Association's neutrality and will be sending his men to assassinate her, tomorrow night."

"Alright. I'll figure it out."

"I'm sorry to drag you into this."

"It's alright, Waver. I owe you, and even if I didn't, I'd still do this. I'll call you later and let you know how it's going. I gotta go now, I'm with a friend and I don't want to be rude."

"We can't have that. Best of luck, Emiya."

"I'll be in touch," he said before hanging up.

"Problem?" asked Ryouko.

"No. Just a friend who heard I was in Tokyo and asked if I could help him with something."

"Do you ever turn anyone down when they ask you for help?"

Shirou shrugged her broad shoulders, "It's rare, but it has happened."


Fuyuki
Emiya Residence

Later that night, Kurumi and Origami laid out their futons. Kurumi went and turned off the lights and then went and lay down beside her girlfriend. She took a deep breath and exhaled very heavily.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you," said Origami while cuddling up with Kurumi.

"Caren is even more of a slob than I could ever-"

"That's not what's bothering you. Don't deflect."

Kurumi took a deep breath and then held onto the other girl a bit tighter, "I'm the one who killed him…"

"I suspected as much. You already knew why the police were there before anyone else did. So did Matou."

"The monster we killed last night was him. It was Yuuta Mitsuzuri. Whatever happened to him in the dojo, turned him into some kind of monster."

"When did you know it was him?"

"After he was already dead."

"I suspect you've heard this already, but you did not do anything wrong. If the monster was dangerous, and needed to be put down, you shouldn't feel guilty."

"I can't help it… I've never killed anyone before. I've always known that the day would come when I would have to, but I just wasn't prepared for it when I saw him. When whatever spell he was under was lifted, and I saw his face..."

Origami pressed a kiss to Kurumi's cheek. "You did what had to be done."

"I hurt Caren too…"

"How?"

"She has this kind of power. It reacts to people who have been possessed by things like this. She... She feels the pain they feel," said a trembling Kurumi. "Her body is wounded the way they're wounded. Like an idiot, she went to follow and investigate it, and didn't think to tell me, or my father."

"That… is moronic. She should know better," said Origami.

"Yes. She should. But I couldn't chastise her, I think my father already did. I just tried to talk sense into her, and make her feel better."

"You did the right thing."

"Oh. I almost forgot what I was doing when all this started tonight. Just a moment, my love," said Kurumi while nudging Origami to untangle herself.

After Origami unwrapped herself from Kurumi, she crawled over to her TV stand and picked up a small box, then she crawled back over and sat up on the futon. "I have something I was planning to give you tomorrow, but I think now is a better time."

Origami sat up and scooted forward until she was face to face with the ravenette.

Kurumi held her hand up to the lightbulb above the room and activated her magic circuits. The lightswitch flipped itself and illuminated the room again. After that she went and opened a box from which she pulled out a necklace. The chain was silver, and dangling at the end was a blue-green gemstone cut in a diamond shape framed in silver. Kurumi took Origami's hand and gently placed the necklace in her palm.

Origami lifted it up and examined the details of the chain, something she concluded was a masterwork of craftsmanship. The gemstone was perfectly cut, the metal frame surrounding it was free of any visible imperfections.

"It's so beautiful…"

"It's white gold, and the stone is a topaz. One of our birthstones, and also a symbol of love and affection. Topaz is said to help improve concentration and creativity. It also wards off nightmares, and it's been said to be an effective talisman against fire."

"That is very thoughtful, my love. You really know a lot about gems."

"I should, I specialize in them. But, of course, none of that is the reason I'm giving you this particular gem."

"You put a spell in it?"

Kurumi nodded, "I actually started working on this from the first day of school last year. It took a whole year to make it. I was hoping it would be ready for you on the first day of school this year, but it wasn't quite done yet. I just finished it tonight."

"That's a lot of effort. I am very grateful. What does it do?"

"If we're ever separated, and you need me to come find you, activate it, and I will find you. No matter where you are in the world. I was going to make it activate with a drop of blood, but since you started learning magecraft, you can do it the proper way by running some magical energy through it."

"You spent a year making the thaumaturgical equivalent of a GPS locator?"

"Exactly. Because I would rather die than ever be apart from you again with no way to find you. That's why I decided to make this necklace for you. We were finally together again. I fell in love with you at first sight back then, even though I didn't know what that emotion was at the time. I just knew... I knew in my heart and soul that I wanted to be with you. And when I saw you again, I knew that I had to do everything in my power to ensure nothing could ever keep you away from me ever again."

Origami gazed into Kurumi's ruby eye. Her azure eyes became wet with tears, and then she leaned in, wrapped her arms around Kurumi's neck and shoulders, and pressed their lips together.

Kurumi wrapped her arms around Origami's waist and reciprocated the kiss with all her love and passion.

They pulled their bodies together and held each other close, their cheeks warmed and reddened as their tongues began to dance.

After a long and passionate moment, their lips parted, both girls gasped for air as ruby and azure eyes gazed into each other's souls. Origami held out the necklace to Kurumi with one hand, and with the other she lifted her hair and slowly turned her back to her lover.

Kurumi smiled and took the necklace, she then put it on her before leaning in to press a soft kiss to her neck. "Wear it in good health, my love."

"Allow me to properly express my appreciation," Origami said before she turned around and then pounced onto the ravenette, pushing her down into the futons.

"Oof! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" asked Kurumi.

"I've been waiting all night and all day, and all night again, to finish what I started on you before Matou interrupted me. I intend to ensure you sleep restfully tonight."

Kurumi grinned from ear to ear, "Ara ara! Topaz is also supposed to help people control their lust!"

"There is no power that could ever control my lust for you," Origami said flatly before passionately pressing her lips to Kurumi's. After a long moment she pulled back by mere centimeters, "Don't even think about attempting any 'selfishly selfless' antics tonight. As long as you cooperate, and do what I say, this will be enjoyable. But if you want to be stubborn again..."

"Then… what?" asked the amusedly smirking Kurumi.

Origami moved over and took a little of her earlobe into her mouth to tease with her tongue and teeth, causing Kurumi to giggle excitedly before she whispered something to her.

"Ara ara! I like where this is going!"