"And you're sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes Miss Fujimura. I'll be fine, so take care of your business."

"Alright, alright. I'll visit later then. Goodbye Sakura!"

"Bye..."

This was the situation playing out in the Infirmary. As Taiga left, Sakura looked around the room. Nothing much has changed, she thought. Same green walls, same wooden chairs, same occupants, same... Senpai.

It had been two weeks since they were both admitted, and in that time Sakura awoke to the sad atmosphere of the room, before being made aware of the situation.

Of the people that knew Shirou, Sakura seemed the most saddened at his condition, only surpassing Illya's own sadness on the basis of guilt.

She was barely able to remember the events that occurred, but she remembered her pleas for Shirou to save her. So, she blamed herself for him being in this condition.

Thinking of her, Sakura looked to the occupant near Shirou's bed. It wasn't just her condition that's changed. Everyone else had as well. Illya spent all of her time at Shirou's side, just keeping watch over him. She was asleep now, but if one looked at her they would see the bags under her eyes.

Taiga had been visiting every morning and afternoon. She normally spent all her time with Sakura, but she occasionally looked over to Shirou with a quick flash of sadness appearing in her normally energetic eyes.

Kota would visit every now and then, but was normally busy on missions or with his team. Same with Sakaki, although he only visited the once and seemed confined to his lab after that.

Saber had begun to avoid the Infirmary, normally taking missions at all times with an expressionless look on her face. But Sakura occasionally saw her hanging near the entryway with a guilt-ridden look on her face. In that regard, Sakura felt she could relate.

It was Rin that really acted weird. Sure, she visited, but normally for very short periods before living. It threw Sakura for a loop, especially because, even though they don't formally know each other, Sakura knew Rin cared for Shirou.

Sighing, Sakura looked back to Shirou, muttering senpai, before she closed her eyes to wait for her period of light walking around the Den to begin.

*Page Break - A few hours later*

Sakura had been walking around the various pathways of the Den for almost an hour. Glancing to the timer she was given, she saw that her time for walking was coming to a near end.

Leaving the hallway, which she recognized as some sort of maintenance hallway, she entered into another, shorter hallway that ended in an elevator. Reaching it, she called it to the Laboratory floor, before having it arrive and entering.

Selecting the Den, she then waited, listening to the song playing in the background. A sad melody, that almost feels like something more. Shaking her head of the depressing thoughts, she thought on how irritating this naming convention was.

There were two elevators, leading to both sides of the Far East Branch. Most people only use the right elevator, but there are floors similar to the right side on the left. The left side was mostly for extra storage, but some side staff worked and lived there. The issue was that both sides shared the same name for all elevator locations. Makes instructions slightly confusing.

Arriving at the Den, she quickly made her way to the elevator on the other side of the floor, before entering and pressing the Laboratory button. As the doors began to close...

"Wait! Hold the door!"

A large tan hand grabbed the door, soon followed by an Armlet wrapped in bandages, a muscled forearm, an upper arm covered in a rolled black dress shirt, then a face that looked strikingly familiar.

Snapping out of her surprise, Sakura hurriedly reached for the button that opened the elevator doors. As she hit it, the door opened and the full man walked in with a sigh of relief.

"Hah. Thanks for that, Miss. It really would've sucked to have to wait for the elevator to arrive again."

Mutely nodding, Sakura investigated the man's features more closely. Fully tan, with white, slicked back hair and steel-grey eyes, he was a handsome man. But it was his face that really threw her off. So familiar, yet not.

Before she could really sink into her wondering, she was interrupted by the man continuing.

"So, why are you going to the Laboratory floor Miss?"

Blinking at the question, she stuttered slightly before answering,

"U-Um. I-I... I'm going back to the Infirmary. I'm still a patient, but I'm almost done healing. Why are you going?"

"Um... Well, I need to visit Doctor Sakaki about a friend, so..."

With a now slightly awkward silence, the two just waited for the elevator to reach its destination, before Sakura said,

"This music... It's sad, isn't it?"

Blinking in confusion, the man took a second to process what she said, before thinking on it and answering,

"I suppose... But I think it's also a slightly happy song... Bittersweet is what I'd call it."

"Bittersweet?"

"Trust me. If you ever listened to the song with the lyrics, you'd understand."

On that note, the elevator was once again filled with silence, but a comfortable one this time.

As the elevator reached its destination, the two got off. Moving down the hallway, they both reached the Infirmary. As they did, the man paused, before holding out his hand, saying,

"It was nice to meet you. What's your name?"

Surprised at his question, Sakura stuttered, with a blush this time, before taking his hand, answering,

"S-Sakura. Sakura Matou. What's yours?"

"Sakura, huh? You can call me Archer. See ya later."

Saying such, he then let go of her hand before turning away, walking down the hallway to Sakaki's office. Sakura watched him, puzzled, but feeling slightly happier than she had earlier.

As Sakura entered the Infirmary, closing the door, Archer stopped, before thinking aloud,

"That's her and Rin. I guess I should speak to Saber next."

Looking up, he then said,

"Honestly. You sure are a troublesome wielder."

*Page Break*

Thank you for reading. This is Cee and, I've figured how this is gonna work. You should expect another two chapters like this, maybe three, then the plot will continue. Or just go back to the present. Whichever. This story would've been so much better if it just followed chronological order. Ah well.

Second, the design of the Far East is different. I'll say that the left side has always existed, it's only in recent years that they added an elevator for the left side.

Thank you to LoverOfArtemis and idea.getthe for favouriting or following, and thank you to ptl again and Glory over a new dawn for reviewing.

Goodbye.

Word Count: 1025