Shortly after dinner at the Emiya Residence on the first day of the project, Rin had left the Emiya Residence to head back home. Shirou had promised to walk her all the way to the central shopping district of Miyama town. It was at the street just before the central shopping district where the scenery transitioned from the traditional Japanese housing of the North side of Miyama town to the South side of Miyama town where the European Mansions were based.

As they were walking, Rin noticed that the sky had gone dark. She had never gone home this late before. In a way she was glad that Shirou had escorted her thus far. Compared to the European side of the town, the traditional Japanese portion differed in infrastructure. Aside from the style changes, the streets were darker. The silence was deeper. There weren't obvious indications of life on the street she was on. There were no cars, no people. They were the only ones here. She wasn't sure if she wouldn't have gotten lost in such an environment if Shirou had not escorted her back to the streets she was familiar with.

Rin thought about her first visit to the Emiya Residence. The house that Shirou lived in was not what she had expected. Shirou had mentioned that he had lived at the North side of Miyama town where such buildings were located but she always had an impression that her friend had lived in a more reasonable housing as opposed to something more similar to what she lived in.

The Emiya Residence was huge. While it could not truly be described as grand for it lacked the furnishings and intention to be so, it was rather sizeable. It wasn't very obvious that it was the house of a Magus. Due to its open nature, the magical energy in the air was left to flow freely. Was it not for the bounded field, one would have to be within the premises of the Emiya Residence in order to detect any trace of Magical Energy.

The bounded field that surrounded the Emiya Residence was different to what she was used to. She did not have much experience with bounded fields. Prior to the death of her father, he had educated her on the basics but had not planned to teach her more until she was of a more advanced age. The only knowledge she had of bounded fields were the ones on the Tohsaka Mansion as well as what she was taught by Kirei.

As far as she could tell, the bounded fields on the Tohsaka Mansion were similar to the one's on the Matou Mansion. They were offensive in nature and once fully activated in times of the Holy Grail War, they held the potential to be lethal to any intruders. More than the offensive similarities, the bounded fields of the Residences of two of the founding families of the Holy Grail War were also similar in the aura they gave off.

They lacked a human presence. The only presence they gave off aside from the basic Magical Energy powering the defenses were a feeling of lethality and coldness. Rin thought that the cold presence one could feel from the respective defenses were one's that the residents living within had also experienced by living there. The Bounded Field that surrounded the Emiya Residence was different.

It was not an old bounded field. She could tell that by its power. As time passed, things grew in mystery and thus power. The few centuries of mystery of age on the Tohsaka and Matou bounded fields had served in enhance their lethality slightly. Such mystery gained through age had not been present within the barrier of the Emiya Residence.

She could tell it was relatively new. The bounded field had to be less than a decade old. Even so, it had a unique human presence to it that even 'better' barriers lacked. The unique presence was tied in to the magical energy of the bounded field. The bounded field was well made, although it had no offensive capabilities, it was extremely effective for its purpose. It would warn of individuals with malicious intentions and would definitely be successful unless directly disabled by an excellent Magus.

Its detection powers were excellent and there was a human element most likely gained through the emotions of what the Magus felt for its potential inhabitants when it was created. It had a human presence that felt of concern for the inhabitants. Even though the bounded field wasn't sentient, not even partially so, it felt as if the defenses itself wished for the inhabitants to be safe in any situation of peril. Such a sensation was unfamiliar to the Tohsaka.

With such a defense attaining an emotional quality that was not to be found in a typical bounded field of a regular Magus family, the residents within were indeed also different from the regular Magus. For as long as Rin Tohsaka had known Shirou Emiya, she knew that he only had one goal. He wanted to undo the Curse that his father was obviously feeling the effects of and prevent his likely death from the Curse.

It was not a normal goal for a child of ten when she first met to possess. For one, it was unlikely for a regular Magus to be under such a vicious Curse but the true anomaly was that it was atypical for a typical Magus. It was an emotional goal. Sure, even at their coldest, most Magus families acknowledged emotional bonds and this wasn't that absurd a quest to have when considering familiar bonds but there was something beyond that.

That something was the lengths her friend went through to attempt to succeed at what was most likely an impossible quest. Most Magi wouldn't have gotten as far as he did. The moment they comprehended what an impossible task this was, they would have given up. Moreover, they would have more selfish desires. Their first priority would be for any unlearned magecraft of their predecessors to be passed down and learned.

Shirou was different. This quest he had been on. It had become an obsession for him. Rin could comfortably state that most of his life was dominated by this issue. His personal advancement in magecraft was fully engineered towards how far he would be able to help his father if he had learned a particular aspect of magecraft. He neglected most other aspects of his life. He neglected himself even.

She never did understand what kind of bond she had with his father. She had never met his father. All she knew was that Kiritsugu Emiya was the saviour of her friend from the Fuyuki Fire that culminated at the end of the fourth Holy Grail War. She had always thought it was some instinct of gratitude for Shirou to repay the debt of life that had occurred. What she learned today was different.

Around his father, Shirou seemed to be more complete as a human being than he normally was. His worries seemed to fade away somewhat and he seemed to become less of the determined individual she had always known him as but rather more like a typical twelve-year-old boy around his beloved father.

Similarly, while she had not known Kiritsugu Emiya before this, she could see that he too had also become more complete a human being when around Shirou. She had seen him in that instant before he became aware of Shirou returning home. That Kiritsugu Emiya was different to the one she had talked with over dinner.

That Kiritsugu Emiya was what she felt could only be described as having a tortured existence. While she was not the best at determining emotions from a single look alone, it was obvious that Kiritsugu Emiya could be summarized by the word despair. That had changed when he became aware of Shirou.

His stress and whatever haunted him in life seemed to have mostly disappeared. He no longer looked as though he had lost all hope in all facets in life. He looked at Shirou with a kindly fatherly expression full of affection. It was something she herself had only seen very rarely in her own father. But that look alone from Kiritsugu to Shirou had served to inform Rin or part of the reason of why Shirou had been so determined on his quest throughout the entire course of their relationship.

As she pondered on her findings of the day, she noticed that they would reach the Miyama central shopping district in a few streets where they would split off. They had been silent thus far in their walk.

"You are very close to your father. I didn't think that I would expect that. I guess that I understand you a bit better now."

"It is not out of gratitude that I wish to save him from the Curse…" Shirou said as he nodded in reply to Rin's statement.

"I know that now but I suppose that I expected a colder relationship as he was a Magus. While my father had still been a fatherly figure for me, he wasn't as open normally and he often had to be colder and stricter at times with me and saku… *cough**cough*"

"Are you okay?" Shirou questioned as Rin suddenly started coughing.

"*Cough**cough* Erm… Yes. It is a chilly day at night isn't it? You don't have to walk me any longer S-S-Shirou, I can make my way back now." She said as she started to walk quickly away from Shirou, almost as if she was escaping the conversation forcefully, leaving him standing on the walkway they were talking on.

Shirou narrowed his eyes as he looked at her disappearing figure. She had coughed just as it seemed she was about to mention another name when describing her relationship with her father. Did she have another family member, perhaps estranged? He made a mental note about this interaction.

He didn't have much time to think about Rin's behaviour. From the look his father gave him as he was leaving the house, he had wanted to have a chat with him when he headed back home after escorting Rin. He quickly turned his way back in the opposite direction and quickly jogged back to the Emiya Residence.

As he slid open the door to the living room, he saw that Kiritsugu was there as expected. There were also two cups of tea on the table on opposite sides. It seemed that he had made a cup for Shirou. While his father was hopeless at cooking, he was acceptable at preparing beverages. Shirou took the cue of his father and sat down opposite of him, taking a sip of the tea before looking at his father.

"Shirou, it is nice to see that you have made some friends in school. I was worried for you in that department."

"Ah yes. I have some other friends other than Rin as well. You don't have to be worried about me Kiritsugu." Shirou said as he scratched his neck with his hand by reaching behind his head, transitioning suddenly into looking like the sheepish twelve-year-old that he actually was.

Kiritsugu smiled at him. "You know, I never had too many friends as a child and perhaps I am not the best person to tell you this, but be sure to cherish them, you never know what might happen…"

Shirou nodded, taking his father's advice.

"Shirou, there are some things that are important to remember in life. I have made many regrets in life. As such, there are some things that I have learned from my failings. Don't ever forget that boys who make a girl cry will end in ruins." Kiritsugu Emiya said this with a serious tone, his eyes had momentarily darkened with bitter memories before returning to a fatherly expression when looking at him.

"Kiritsugu!" Shirou whined. "Rin and I aren't in that type of relationship!" Shirou clarified. His cheeks were red. He had already heard enough at school. He didn't mind it then but it was another matter when his father was the one commenting on his friendship with Rin.

"I never said you were. Though it is nice to have some confirmation that you aren't getting too ahead for your age. You should still take note of my advice regardless." Kiritsugu laughed slightly as he replied.

In that same week of Rin first going over to the Emiya Residence, she had also made other trips daily to the Emiya Residence to work on the project. It was now the final day of the project and the final day Rin would come over to the Emiya Residence for this assignment. Today was a weekend. Rin had asked Shirou if it was okay to come over on a weekend. He had agreed but he had also made sure to caution her about coming. He had not stated what she should be wary of but just that she should be prepared mentally for something alarming.

She had wondered what would be so alarming that would happen on a weekend to require a warning from shirou. She had still made the trip to the Emiya Residence anyway. While Shirou had given her a warning, it was in the spirit of still expecting her presence on a weekend anyway. It was the last day of their project after all, it would be nice for both of them if they could complete the project in due haste.

The project had not been challenging so far. But they had both enjoyed the project for it was catered to their tastes. Rin had thought that the project itself and them completing the project together had been enjoyable so far. She could tell that while Shirou had wanted to complete the assignment as fast as possible, he had also been having fun in the rare moments where the quest he was so obsessive over had momentarily slipped his mind.

Today was the final part of the project that they would complete. They had divided the project into multiple portions. Today, the final portion was about History. They had decided to base this part of the project on mythological history. It was a topic that was easier for both of them as they had some exposure to this subject in studying magecraft.

Traveling to the Emiya Residence was a routine by now. While it wasn't the quickest of trips to make from the Tohsaka Mansion, it was a shorter trip than going to school. Kiritsugu had also gotten used to her going over. He never said too much to her, but he always displayed a kindly and welcoming front whenever he spotted her in the residence.

They would complete the project in record time. Half the day had not passed and they had already finished the project. It was time for lunch and the only thing left for the project was a few small touches either of them could do alone. Rin had promised Shirou that she would complete the final checks on the project herself. She decided that it would be time to leave the Emiya Residence to head back home after having lunch.

Today Rin had been allowed to help Shirou prepare lunch. It had taken them a while to prepare dinner, longer than she had expected. This was due to the portions. When preparing the meal, Rin had noticed that Shirou had cooked an abnormally large portion for just three people but she had not thought too much about it and questioned the portion sizes. The earlier warning by Shirou to be mentally prepared today for something alarming had already slipped her mind.

After preparing lunch, they had set the table and after Shirou had called Kiritsugu, they had sat down to eat. It was just when Rin was about to take her first bite into the dishes that she heard loud thumping footsteps as well as panting. A loud shout proceeded to ring out just as a figure barged into the living room.

"SHIROU!"

A teenage figure with light brown hair and eyes wearing jeans and a simple striped yellow shirt rushed into the room. As the figure rushed into the room, she slammed the sliding door to the side, causing a loud thud that Rin thought may have broken the door. After rushing into the room, she had proceeded to point a finger at Shirou.

"How could you start without me? How could you be so cruel? How could you… Eh! Who is this girl sitting beside you Shirou?"

As Rin was processing the arrival of the unknown figure who appeared to know the Emiya pair, she spotted Shirou sighing next to her in resignation and placing a hand on his head, rubbing it. It appeared that this was not a rare occurrence and that whomever this individual was, Shirou was used to such behavior.

She also spotted Kiritsugu Emiya also not being surprised by such an occurrence. He had a slightly different expression from Shirou however. Instead of watching with exasperation and slight annoyance, Kiritsugu was instead shaking his head slightly fondly as a slight smile made its way on his lips.

"Must you come in so violently every time?" Shirou said in exasperation as he continued rubbing his hand on his head.

"This is Rin, she is a friend and classmate from my Junior High school, she has been coming over the past few days to do a project with me for our school term grades." Shirou then gestured to Rin

"Rin, this is Fujimaru Taiga, a menace who interferes in my peaceful life too frequently and also my self-proclaimed elder big sister." Shirou stated this in a deadpan voice as one of his eyebrows appeared to twitch.

Upon hearing Shirou's introduction, the figure, Fujimaru Taiga proceeded to adopt an exaggerated betrayed expression. Rin, still alarmed by the appearance of the figure, had proceeded to place her chopsticks down on the table.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Taiga." Rin, proceeded to nod slightly as she greeted his sister.

"Ah… Yes. It is nice to meet you too Rin." Taiga said hesitatingly as she narrowed her eyes at Rin, apparently searching for something that Shirou could not tell. She continued to stare at Rin as she retrieved her portion of Rice and soup from the kitchen at the back of the room and take a seat in front of Rin, beside Kiritsugu.

As she placed her portion of her meal down on the table, she looked at Shirou with an atypical serious expression as she proceeded to give Shirou a question in a serious tone.

"Shirou Emiya. Are the two of you a couple?"

"No. Of course not. Ignoring our current age, we are certainly not a couple…" Shirou said this as he stared daggers into Taiga with a menacing tone.

"Oh! That's fine then. Let us eat!" Upon hearing his reply, Taiga proceeded to change her serious expression into a cheerful one as she disregarded Shirou's stare and became the first one to dig into her meal.

The rest of the meal had gone by peacefully. Taiga had been continuously questioning Rin with Rin trying her best to answer in a normal way by constantly providing safe answers under the onslaught. Taiga had been also making small talk with Kiritsugu. Shirou had just been staring menacingly at Taiga throughout.

There were no more complications and major surprises from the woman until Rin was just about to leave the Emiya Residence after lunch to head back home. Taiga had bombarded her with a request to stay for a chance to get to know Rin better. Rin, in the interest of courtesy and lacking a reason to leave had reluctantly agreed. Shirou had not been successful in preventing Taiga from proceeding with her antics.

Throughout the rest of the day, Taiga had proceeded to grasp all of Rin's attention. Shirou's attempts at distracting her away and discovering her motives at bothering his friend was unsuccessful. Rin's several discreet attempts at moving the conversations towards a point where she could make a polite exit were also unsuccessful. The pair of friends were drawn up into Taiga's momentum when she had remembered that it was time to spar with Shirou in Kendo.

Due to Shirou wanting to fend Taiga away and concentrate on his quest, he had avoided Taiga's previous attempts in the recent months to initiate a spar between the two of them. Shirou would have fended off today's attempt as well if it had not been Rin who had expressed some interest in watching Shirou spar with her.

It was part of their routine to spar together without weapons as practice for Reinforcement often but she had never known Shirou's expertise at swordplay. She was intrigued as to what Shirou's skills were at sparring with a weapon. While Shirou had mentioned that he was far better with a sword than barehanded, she had never had a chance to discover how much better he was. Today, even with all its weirdness was a perfect opportunity to find out.

They gathered in the dojo. Shirou stood at one end of the dojo, in both his hands were shinai, the bamboo practice swords they now used in kendo. Rin wasn't sure as to what the legality was regarding dual wielding in actual official kendo sparring but it seemed that this was acceptable to both the current participants. Taiga on the other hand had only one shinai clutched tightly between both her hands as she got into a stance and faced Shirou with a serious expression.

After a moment of solidarity in which both the opponents made eye contact, Taiga made the first move by rushing across the dojo with an overhead slash. Shirou spun as he used the sword in his left hand to intercept Taiga's blow, using his sword in his right hand to attempt to strike her body. Taiga's greater power had broken through Shirou's interception of the blow but she had to back away to avoid getting hit by his other sword.

With the opening initial offensive failing for Taiga, it was the time for Shirou to reverse the situation. He steadily advanced, making opposing slashes with both his swords, gaining ground while not allowing Taiga to attempt to block a blow for fear that the other sword would take advantage of the preoccupation and strike her. Taiga was off balance from the calculated onslaught, another few slashes from Shirou and he would drive her back enough to exit the agreed upon sparring area.

It was not game over however. Taiga had figured out that she had to break Shirou's rhythm by attacking. She regrouped from the offensive and started smacking away the next few strikes of Shirou's with her greater strength and then she started to go on an offensive herself. Due to her greater strength, her strikes would drive the swords Shirou was holding beyond his control. As such, Shirou would not be able to use his other sword to strike Taiga as she was striking as that would have made him vulnerable to more of the momentum of the strikes and thus compromise his stance.

Taiga's momentum suddenly gained from her offensive had gone as quickly as she started. After Shirou's had initially reacted to the strikes, he started to slowly control the momentum and gain the upper hand once again. He did this by starting to instead parry the strikes in a different manner, barely touching Taiga's sword. He kept spinning around and parrying her strikes at weird angles, bleeding off the force of the strikes and exhausting Taiga while not wasting energy needlessly and completely nullifying the force of Taiga's offensive.

The rest of the spar had gone on similarly. Taiga would try to use her physical advantages to dictate the pace while Shirou would quickly get the situation under control by controlling the pace with his greater skill at swordplay. Shirou would vary the rhythm and speed of his responses, occasionally surprising Taiga and prodding her reaction to his feints.

Just as the spar was reaching several minutes, Shirou had launched an offensive with a strike directly targeting Taiga's sword that was uncharacteristically strong. Before this critical strike, he had started to slowly lower his strength used in previous strikes, luring her into a false sense of his true strength and thus allowing him to surprise her. This strike forced Taiga to stumble backwards which Shirou quickly took advantage of with several slashes at her feet and body before rushing at her with a greater offensive that forced Taiga to the ground. She had been exhausted from her offensive and this had just been the final nail in the coffin.

The spar had ended with Shirou holding one of his Shinai at his side pointing at the ground and another pointing at Taiga's neck. She soon surrendered and ended the spar. At the end of this, Taiga was sweating and breathing heavily while he looked like he had just taken a peaceful walk. It was apparent that despite all of her advantages, Shirou far outstripped her in skill at this point.

Rin observed the scene before her, Taiga was looking at the ground with a defeated but resigned expression. This must have not been the first time she had suffered a defeat to a boy many years her junior. Shirou was still putting on his typical serious expression. He was still ready for another few rounds should someone offer.

Rin never thought that Shirou would be so good in swordplay. This was weird for she sparred with him often, albeit without weapons but she still should have a better general idea as to Shirou's skill was. Shirou had gotten incredibly good at hand to hand combat from their sparring, better than her in pure skill even. But him using a sword had appeared to hit another level beyond what she thought his capabilities were.

For the past two years that she had sparred with him, she had made several observations about his progress. When they first started sparring, while it was apparent that Shirou had no skill or even basic training as to how to fight without weapons, he had still been able to prevent her from trouncing him with his faster and more agile physique as well as uncanny instincts and great footwork.

Rin had been surprised by the degree of proficiency in which Shirou had been able to use his steps in both offensive and defensive moves. Just by using his swift footwork he had been able to often bleed off most of the force of her strikes even with reinforcement, similar to what he had done to Taiga today.

She had been able to determine that those were not regular martial arts stances but it wasn't until Shirou had mentioned as an afterthought that he was quite proficient in swordplay had she knew where Shirou obtained his skill from. Still, to adapt that skill from the realms of swordplay to bare handed combat was largely a result of his natural instincts for combat.

Beyond his footwork, his instincts were the most dangerous parts of his skill set. Rin had gotten a lot better at martial arts across the time she had known Shirou, honed by regularly sparring with him. Even Kirei Kotomine who far outstripped her in skill and potential within this aspect had praised her progress in martial arts. It was Shirou's instincts that were able to even stand against her growing skills without much trouble.

She had gotten frustrated regularly in their spars. Often, she would attempt to find some way to try to surprise Shirou and allow her to gain a victory over him. None of her attempts had ever worked. He would always be able to see through her attempts and in the instances where he was truly surprised, he had been able to adapt quickly.

What she saw today, was no different. The only thing of note was that the capabilities Shirou showed today were far greater. Even when she knew nothing about armed combat, she could see that Taiga was no mere amateur. Her strikes were calculated, she was skilled. She had been using her advantages at ever point of the spar to the greatest capabilities yet they were all fruitless against Shirou. His skill within the sword was simply supreme. Even Taiga's great skill which even a regular bystander would be able to tell, was made to look like child's play against him.

Shirou simply was just so much better in swordplay against Taiga that it was foolish to contemplate that he could ever lose against her. It wasn't that Shirou could be holding back in their hand to hand spars, Shirou just appeared to hit another level when there were swords in his hands. For the moments where he was in sync with his strikes and not holding back his skill for tactical reasons, he appeared to be one with the swords themselves.

Rin would have tried to dig deeper into this phenomenon but it took but a minuscule amount of time for Taiga to get over her defeat and resume hounding Rin. Taiga had bombarded her about her thoughts and observations on the spar in which she tried to give only safe and uneducated answers for she wasn't sure how this eccentric woman would react if she revealed that she had sparred with Shirou often even without mentioning magecraft.

She was stuck in a loop where she was not able to get into contact with Shirou to find a way to fend off this woman whom she was confused as to why had been so obsessed over her presence at the Emiya Residence. Shirou had also not been able to direct Taiga's attentions elsewhere. The only respite she had was when it was time to leave. Even then, she hadn't been able to help Shirou prepare dinner before she was hounded by Taiga while waiting for dinner to be ready. Fortunately, she had been able to leave after dinner and it appeared that Shirou too had gotten exhausted as to the antics of his sister figure today for he had signaled Kiritsugu to distract Taiga while making an excuse of escorting her back away from the Emiya Residence as a way to get away from Taiga today.

"I am very sorry about Taiga today. I have no idea what has gotten into her. She isn't normally so… Taiga-like. It must be hard for you to undergo that." Shirou had started apologizing once they had got out of the doors of the Emiya Residence. He had truly been embarrassed as to the impression this gave his friend.

"It is fine Shirou. I believe I had an enjoyable day today even if it was a bit strange and alarming. I don't think you should apologize on behalf of her. She is part of your family after all. Even if they are a bit weird, even if we are Magi, you should cherish those experiences." Rin spoke this to Shirou in an uncharacteristically gentle tone. The expression she was displaying was the same as conveyed through her tone. She was looking gentle and just a bit melancholic.

"Oh… I know. It is just… It is just that I hadn't expected such a response from you." Shirou was surprised by her words. Even now after his reply, he was expecting her to return to her usual self and berate him for being astonished that there was this side to her.

"I know... It is unlike me but you do have a great family. Both Kiritsugu and Taiga really care for you."

"It must be hard for you… I know you have been working on something that you believe will work. I have full faith in you as well even if you are hiding what you have been working on from me. Still… there is a part of you that thinks of the worst-case scenario. Kiritsugu doesn't have too much longer left does he?"

Shirou was silent. Not denying nor acknowledging her words.

"You know… I can sympathize with you. I don't think you know this. You couldn't have known… I wasn't immediately an orphan after the fourth Holy Grail War…"

"During the Holy Grail War, my mother and I were to live at my maternal grandparent's home to be kept safe and out of the way for the duration of the war… I ran back to the city for an incident and she had to come back to look for me… She was fine after we had reunited but a day after, she had to go out for a meeting…"

"I wasn't with her for the meeting. But after the meeting, she had not come back and there was no news. It wasn't until days later when Kotomine had arrived at my grandparent's home that I had been informed that my mother was in hospital and somehow hurt due to the war and that the war was over and my father had been a casualty."

"She was out of the hospital several days later in time for my father's funeral but she was never the same. Due to the incident that had caused her injuries, she had been confined to a wheelchair and had suffered brain damage…"

"She had continued to suffer for several years… while I was able to help her during that time, it was hard to see her slowly deteriorating from her already terrible state and eventually pass… I hope you will have a better result… Shirou…"

She left him on the walkway once again, much like the same way she did several days ago. It was a different situation this time. She had tears in her eyes as she walked away. This time, Shirou was not looking at her. He was not looking at anything. His eyes were screwed shut, his fists were held by his side and clenched so tightly that he was beginning to feel the pain in his muscles and bones.

That could not happen. He would do better. He had to. He had known more about what Rin had gone through now. He knows her motives and is touched by the sentiment of her trying to help him mentally but this was not what would happen. He had to be better. Starting from now. He had to be better. Whatever suffering Kiritisugu would undergo would now each be a greater sin on himself. He had to stop hiding from the reality of the situation. It was urgent. He had to do better. He had to be better. Starting from now.

Authors Notes:

We resume this chapter by immediately carrying on from the previous one. Rin makes her observations on the defense of the Emiya Residence as well as its residents. She revisit Shirou's interactions with Kiritsugu and correlates it with what she knows of him.

Rin informs Shirou of what she thinks of his quest now and almost accidentally mentions Sakura when stating her past experiences within her own family. While Tokiomi is a father that is also a Magus with all the caveats attached to those roles, he does have his moments even in canon. Shirou notices her slip up but doesn't dwell on it for he has to rush back for a chat with his own father.

Kiritsugu expresses his own relief at Shirou's social progress while also conveying his limited advice on such matters. He diverges on a tangent while thinking about the female friends he has had. The phrasing of his advice makes Shirou think that he has gotten the wrong impression, causing much embarrassment. Kiritsugu does stand with his advice though.

Next portion is Rin coming over for her last day of the project. Shirou gives her a warning about coming but doesn't discourage her not to come. She is aware of the warning but is confused as to why. The rest of the day goes fine. Perfect even. Shirou's warning has slipped from her thoughts. Since we have skipped two years in the past chapters, Taiga makes her appearance.

Taiga causes her usual chaos before questioning Rin and his relationship. Unlike in the case of Kiritsugu getting the wrong impression, Shirou is not embarrassed by the question since he kind of expects it as opposed to the surprise that Kiritsugu was going there. He is annoyed by Taiga's antics today since he is trying to make a decent impression on Rin even if he isn't actively trying anything to do that.

Taiga is extra annoying to the pair today but Rin backs her up when she runs into a suggestion of sparring. Rin is curious about Shirou's skill when actually armed and thus encourages Taiga. The spar commences and Shirou trounces Taiga pretty easily by now.

Shirou has started beating Taiga for a while now and his skill is still rapidly growing. Part of his skill set is his instincts. This is due to his other Origin, Sword. Instead of just manifesting in swords, he is also more in sync when using a sword and has a limited clairvoyance granted by the combination of both his Origins. When someone uses a sword, there is a concept in how they decide to defend or go on the attack. This awareness on their degree of aggressiveness and the way they use the sword combined with his inherent understanding on the ways to use the sword grants him a instinct or clairvoyance that allows him to see through moves and plan better moves in advance easily. He subconsciously knows all the best ways to parry and the possible moves that can be made with a sword. This all combines to allow him an easy victory even against a decently skilled opponent in Taiga.

Rin in her own observations can also notice that Shirou is on another level of competence when using a sword.

The spar is over and the rest of the day passes without much fuss beyond the usual Taiga-ness. Rin is still being hounded by her and Shirou eventually has enough and offers to escort her away from the Emiya Residence to get away from Taiga. An emotional chat occurs due to Rin trying to get Shirou mentally ready for the eventuality that he might fail. She also offers her own experiences as a way to sympathize with him and to let him know that he has someone who can know how he feels if the time comes. This is all meant to help him feel better. This may have backfired though by acting as a catalyst for Shirou to become more determined. Too determined.