Well... here we are so first things first...
Here is my gift to you for the Vernal Equinox.
Second thing... let's get on with the chapter.
Rin couldn't stop herself from sighing in defeat at the current situation.
She was going to Emiya-kun's house for dinner… after finding out he was technically a user of magecraft (albeit, clearly not a particularly good one).
The fact he was a master was a bit of an issue but at the same time, he clearly had no intention of treating everyone like an enemy and even admitted that he wouldn't mind fighting on her side if anyone attacked her… provided she wasn't the one to initiate the confrontation in the first place.
That particular condition wasn't something she was going to begrudge him, after all, he seemed like he genuinely did want everyone to get along peacefully and his naivety was somewhat comforting to her.
Of course, the whole conversation before had been… less than ideal in her eyes… he had managed to completely bypass her guard on multiple occasions just by being such a considerate person… she was just happy Archer wasn't there when she had spoken to him… otherwise she was certain she'd never live it down.
And that servant hadn't exactly been easy to deal with so far either.
Talking to him was like running headfirst into a maze filled with razor wire… avoiding all the barbs was almost impossible.
And she'd only known him for one night and morning!
Eventually, she reached her house and swallowed nervously… she wasn't sure how her Servant would react to her revealing that she agreed to attend dinner with Emiya-kun but it was something she was going to have to do.
Opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of the white-haired asshole lounging around in a pair of trousers and a shirt.
At least letting him shop for himself hadn't resulted in a massive disaster… plus, his original clothes weren't completely outlandish and just made him look like he belonged in a bike gang.
"Welcome back Rin," her servant spoke with a smirk that immediately got on her nerves, "enjoy your day at school?"
She almost growled at him at that.
Of course she didn't enjoy her day at school, having to leave him there because he couldn't astalize had meant that she was at a constant risk throughout the entire day.
Especially when she had been making her way to and from school, she had been completely open during those trips and was just lucky that no one had attacked her while she was undefended.
"Shut up and get ready to go out," she commanded with a growl in her tone at the man who was treating her home as if it was his own.
"Oh?" the Servant sounded almost interested in her declaration, "I would've expected us to patrol later."
"We're not going on patrol," she answered with a twitch, earning a raised eyebrow from the tanned asshole, "we're…" she stalled as she considered what she was about to say, "we're going to Emiya-kun's for dinner."
Silence reigned after she made that announcement and she found herself looking at the servant who was just blinking owlishly at her.
"W-w-what are you looking at me like that for?!" she asked, worried about that expression on his face given how he had previously treated her.
"We're going to dinner at that boy's house?" he honestly sounded surprised at that, "when was that decided?"
"At lunch today," she admitted with a frown at the question.
"So you had lunch with him?" the man sounded almost amused at that.
"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, concerned about where this conversation was going.
"Did you enjoy your date with him?" she felt her face heat up at that question and found herself opening her mouth to deny his accusation.
"W-wha, I-I, i-it…" she tried to compose herself and deny it, but the knowing smirk the servant wore only irritated her even more, "s-s-shut up!"
She finally decided to just tell the snarky bastard to shut his mouth before turning away from him.
"And get ready… we're going to Emiya's house and I don't want us to be late," she finally managed to grind out.
"Already trying to give a good impression to him are you?" she grit her teeth as she glared at the servant of the bow who simply let out an amused grunt before rising from his seat, "fine, let's get going then."
And without any further comments, the man that was frustrating her to no end proceeded to quickly walk past her and she once again found herself walking beside the white-haired man while wondering if bringing him along was really such a good idea.
XXX FATE/GOLDEN ORDER XXX
Okay, this was boring.
That was the only thing that went through her mind as she walked along the street, both of her maids accompanying her due to the obvious absence of her stalwart protector.
Not that it was that big an issue in the first place, if she ever needed protection she could always just use a command seal and bring him forth in an instant anyway.
But her maids refused to let her go on her own... well, at last Sella refused to, Leysritt was only coming along because her sister made her.
However, regardless of that, the real issue was what had happened the previous night.
Everything had been turned on it's head courtesy of that Golden Servant.
Even worse still, was learning that her adopted brother was completely ignorant of many different things she had assumed he'd have been told by their father.
Hell, there was even the revelation that he didn't even know how to open his magic circuits!
It was a far cry from what she had believed the boy would be... her father's replacement for her.
And he seemed to be... almost naive, what with how he had immediately accepted the explanation and invited completely unknown magi into his house without a second thought.
That all combined to make her very uncertain of the other mission she had outside of being a Master for the Grail War... her mission to kill Emiya Shirou.
…she would wait.
That seemed like the best option right now, wait and determine whether or not he was genuine in everything or if it is just a ploy to make people drop their guard.
So for now, she would just continue to check out the streets and see if there was anything interesting… after that she would probably go to the Emiya Household to check and see how things were going…
Or maybe not.
She could do little more than blink as she noted her adopted brother walking not far away with a casually dressed Saber, Edelfelt and Demon Archer.
The way the other master looked so... relaxed around him, made her immediately wonder what had happened... or if they had known each other from before.
It wouldn't surprise her if her father had worked with the Edelfelt before and Shirou had met the heir when he was growing up due to those connections… but that shouldn't have caused her to look as relaxed around him as she currently did.
Confusion flooded through her as she tried to figure out why the blonde girl seemed so relaxed but quickly decided to shake her head clear.
There was another way to find out after all.
"Onii-chan!" she called out while waving her hand in the air to try and attract his attention.
"Ah, Lady Illyasviel, are you certain that's a good idea?" the voice of Sella asked from beside her but she simply nodded, even if it turned out Shirou was just pretending to be nice, they were in the middle of the street and he was unlikely to attack openly.
She found herself frowning as he proceeded to ignore her.
Her eye twitched.
"Onii-chan!" she called out once again, this time with a bit more force… and once again, she received no response.
She found her temper growing at that.
Without any further thought, she charged at her adopted brother and with a mighty thrust, proceeded to tackle him with as much force as she could muster, knocking him off his feet and to the ground.
"Ahh!" he sounded shocked as he lost his balance and hit the floor but she didn't care as she pinned him down, drawing the attention of everyone that was currently passing by and a cautious stare from the Saber Class Servant and the Edelfelt heir.
"That's what you get for ignoring me!" she proclaimed with a glare of her own, before noticing the boy blink in surprise.
"Uh… what do you mean?" the redhead sounded confused as he frowned in response to her statement.
"She called out to you twice but you didn't respond to either," Saber spoke up and Illya found herself internally thanking the servant to pointing it out for her.
"R-really?" he seemed almost as shocked by that as did by the tackle.
"Honestly Onii-chan," she started before stalling slightly upon seeing the look of realisation spread across his face.
"Oh yeah… I forgot I'm a big brother now," he seemed to mutter to himself and she found herself internally laughing at that interpretation.
It wasn't like he knew she was older than him after all.
"S-so that was you calling out for your brother?" he asked and she found herself easing slightly at that.
It did make some sense that he wouldn't be used to being called that given that they'd only just met the previous night.
"Well... I guess I can forgive you for it this time," she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, "but I expect you to notice next time."
"Y-yeah," he sounded almost uncertain as he made that acknowledgement.
"Well... if you two are finished with your sibling bonding," the Edelfelt heir spoke up and she found herself looking at the blonde, "we were about to restock Shero's provisions."
Illya found herself narrowing her eyes at the familiar way the European magus referred to her little brother.
"Oh… and what exactly were you doing with my Onii-chan anyway?" she asked, deciding to continue feigning being the younger sibling.
"Naturally, as Shero decided to grant us Masters that had no previous arrangements a place to stay, I was going to finance this shopping trip," the blonde magus stated without hesitation.
"Oh? And why are you referring to him in such a familiar manner?" she asked earning a frown off the Edelfelt heir.
"It's fine Illya," her attention was drawn towards the boy that was still laying beneath her, "me and Luvia just came to an understanding."
"And what type of understanding is that?" she decided to pry.
"Private!" and with the sudden and firm statement by the blue clad magus, she found her mind trying to race towards what could possibly have happened and why the Edelfelt Heir considered it to be something she shouldn't know, "now, release Shero, he still has a large amount of shopping to complete and meals to cook."
"Oh? And why does he have to cook anything?" she asked the blonde with a frown.
"Uh… Illya… they need to eat too," the voice came from beneath her, "and could you please get off me so I can get back to my grocery shopping?"
Illya found herself silently wondering just why he was talking about it as if it was natural for him to go out of his way to feed the other masters.
"So?" she decided to asked without hesitation, "they could easily get something themselves."
His frown in response said it all.
"That would be a waste," his voice was annoyed as he made that claim, "besides, it's natural to feed people who stay with you."
"Indeed, Shero is clearly a gentleman who understands the concept of propriety," Edelfelt spoke up with amusement in her tone, "something his sister clearly failed to grasp."
Illya immediately found her eyes narrowing at that claim by the blonde magus.
"What was that Edelfelt?" she practically growled out as she stood up and prepared to face off against the human girl.
"H-hey, come on," Shirou called out uncertainly as he got off the ground, "there's no need to get aggressive."
"I suppose you're correct Shero-kun," the way the Edelfelt heir seemed to immediately concede to his statement made her frown.
Luviagelita Edelfelt was not supposed to concede so easily.
And beyond that... there was the way she referred to him in such a familiar manner... especially by Japanese standards.
Certainly there was the possibility that she was unaware of those standards... but that was highly unlikely given her family and their tendency to travel all around the world due to their mercenary work.
"Fine," she decided to accept the statement herself since she didn't want to come off as unreasonable... even if she felt more than justified in continuing with her feud given the comment that had been made.
But burning bridges right now wasn't the way to go.
"Okay… well, then do you want to join us for dinner Illya-chan?" she found herself somewhat perking up at that, sure she would be going into a building filled with Servants and masters, but at the same time, it would give her the opportunity to get to really know her adopted brother.
Plus, he had called her Illya-chan so that was another point in his favour.
"That sounds like a great idea," she admitted before turning her attention back towards the pair of maids that were standing ready, "come on Sella, Leysritt, we're going to join Onii-chan for dinner."
She received a pair of nods in acceptance from the duo before noting Shirou turning towards them with a look of… was that embarrassment?
"S-sorry, I didn't notice you there," he spoke up and it became obvious he was more annoyed at not noticing them than anything else, "I'm-"
"Emiya Shirou," Sella cut him off with a clear sense of distrust in her tone, then again, she was the more severe of the two maids, what with how she was built for general duties as opposed to combat… and becoming the Dress Of Heaven, "I already know who you are."
"Ah," he didn't sound too certain of how to respond to that so Illya found herself deciding to help him out.
"Don't worry about that Onii-chan," she spoke with an amused smirk on her face, "Sella was hired to serve me, so she can be a bit overprotective."
Never mind the fact Kiritsugu had previously betrayed the Einzbern family and caused them to register Shirou as an enemy of the family due to association anyway.
"Ah," Shirou's reaction was obviously uncertain before his gaze moved to the other member of her maids.
"Hi," the one who had actually been created to fight seemed far less concerned about the current situation... and seemed to earn a twitch of annoyance off her sister in the process.
"Uh... hi?" Shirou for his part, seemed uncertain of how to respond to her far less aggressive tone.
"That's Leysritt," Illya decided to point out, "she's my bodyguard."
"W-well, it's nice to meet you," the red-head eventually responded with a small bow.
Honestly, it was rather amusing to see him acting that way towards her maid.
"Uh..." he sounded uncertain before speaking up once again, "I know we've only just met... but are either of you any good at making Curry?"
"I am familiar with most forms of meal," Sella admitted with a frown as she looked at the boy.
Of course, it was perfectly natural for Sella to be capable of cooking most types of meals given that she had had the knowledge directly integrated into her when she was created.
"Ah, then I'm sorry to ask this... but could you possibly help me with the cooking later?" the boy asked and she found herself frowning at that.
"Why do you want me to help you?" the sterner of the maids asked with a frown.
"Ah, because Ciel-san wants Curry and... well, I'm not that experienced at making it," Illya found herself frowning at that.
"So what?" she asked with a frown, "if she doesn't like the food you make then she can just buy her own."
"Obviously you missed the fact that unlike you, Shero takes his status as host seriously," the half-homunculus found her eye twitching as the Edelfelt spoke up yet again.
"It's fine Luvia," Shirou spoke with a sigh, "she has plenty of time to learn about that stuff."
A pang of pain appeared in her chest at that.
Plenty of time.
As if a year could qualify as that.
Then again, it wasn't like he knew she only had that long to live.
"I doubt your sister is unaware of proper manners," the blonde magus spoke up once again, "it is far more likely she simply doesn't care for propriety."
She found herself bristling at that, while it may have been somewhat true… there was also another matter that she felt needed to be pointed out.
"So? Onii-chan is already doing more for them than he should be… so why should he go out of his way to prepare their favourite meals?" she asked with a condescending expression adorning her face.
"Why wouldn't I?" she almost lost her balance at his immediate question and the way he sounded completely confused by the concept.
She honestly didn't know how to respond to his obvious earnestness and ended up finding herself just staring at him with a slack jaw.
"Uh… are you okay Illya-chan?" his voice broke through her stupor and she quickly removed the thoughts from her mind, it could be dismissed as him being too nice after all.
"Y-yeah," she quickly acknowledged before looking away at the realisation that her adopted brother was probably not really thinking about their relationship as much as she was.
"Hey!" Illya found everyone's attention drawn towards the Servant wearing red who seemed almost annoyed as she pointed at Shirou, "why are you wasting time arguing when you could be getting food?!"
"Okay, okay Archer-san," he spoke with a sigh of defeat, "I guess we should finish up the shopping, shouldn't we?"
"Indeed Master," the Saber class servant quickly agreed with a tone that almost sounded almost eager, "the longer we waste here, the longer it will be before dinner."
The way the servant said that made Illya frown.
"Well, come on, we've got to finish our shopping and head back," Shirou responded without any hesitation as he turned and started to continue on his way down the street, prompting her to follow him while everyone else also moved with the red-head.
But at least she was getting to have dinner with him, so that was a nice surprise.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Waver Velvet could do little more than release a sigh as he sat at the table of the Emiya Residence and watched his King play a video game he had gotten just earlier that day.
The fact that Emiya had a relatively modern Television was a bit of a surprise, even more so when he realized the kid had a DVD recorder plugged in and clearly knew how to use it if all the recorded shows he had were anything to go by.
Admittedly, the complete lack of pornographic material among it was a bit of a surprise when he had first noticed it, but then again, with someone like Fujimura Taiga acting as his legal guardian, it wasn't all that surprising that he wouldn't risk letting her see anything like that.
Of course, that wasn't the only matter on his mind.
While Emiya had been gracious enough to let him use the household phone the previous night, it didn't change the fact that the conversation he had had on it was… hard, to say the least.
Having to explain to Reines why he had just left the country without even telling her had rubbed her the wrong way, even after he explained his reasoning for why he didn't inform her.
Things only got worse when he explained the situation to her.
The Fifth Grail War had been cancelled and all the servants, a full ten of them this time, were being summoned to act as weapons to enforce another servant's rule over mankind.
Thankfully, he had managed to distract her with the idea that the person that was currently "hiring" him was The Gilgamesh and owned all the Treasures in the world and was therefore the richest person around.
He had also managed to avoid revealing the name of his current benefactor when it came to lodgings… though he was confident she would find out sooner or later… probably sooner knowing his luck.
That may end up being the hardest part of this entire ordeal… revealing to her that the adopted son of the man that destroyed her entire family's legacy, was now technically an ally of her retainer.
He certainly did not look forward to that meeting.
He was cut from his thoughts upon hearing the door open and a voice call out in Japanese.
"Hello? Emiya-kun? Are you here?" he had to think a few seconds before he recalled where he had heard the voice before, it belonged to the last Tohsaka he had met just the previous night.
"He isn't home yet," he responded immediately, "but I don't think he'd tell you to leave so come on in."
It didn't take long for her to appear in the largest room in the house with her servant following right behind her, wearing a rather simple outfit of black trousers and a white shirt.
"Greetings Lord El-Melloi," she spoke without hesitation while giving him a small bow, "I am sorry for any intrusion but Emiya-kun invited me to join for dinner tonight."
"What is your relationship with him anyway?" he asked out of curiosity, it was obvious that they knew each other without taking her word choice into account when talking about him.
"We go to the same school," she answered without hesitation, causing him to raise an eyebrow at the speed of the response but decided to dismiss it.
It wasn't like it was his business what their relationship was anyway.
"Well, given how naïve he seems to be, I'm not surprised he decided to invite you," he admitted after a couple of seconds of thinking.
"Naïve?" she almost sounded offended by what he said, "does that mean you're just taking advantage of him right now?"
It looked like she may have a protective streak concerning the boy.
"I'm definitely taking advantage of his hospitality right now," he admitted without shame, "but it doesn't change the fact that he invited a series of magi into his house without a second thought… and that is naïve at best."
Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that the kid had apparently not even opened his circuits until the night of the summoning, he'd have expected it to be a trap… but now he was certain that the boy was just that damn nice that he hadn't even considered the potential danger to himself when he had invited them to stay.
The grimace on the Tohsaka's face told him that she thought the same thing as he did concerning his decision to invite them into his house.
"Still… the kid seems nice," he continued, "and I don't think anyone is thinking of betraying him right now."
"What makes you think that?" she seemed curious now.
"Well… the Fraga, Edelfelt, Executor and Blue are Spellcasters more than Magi, while the Eltnam seems more focused on personal issues… making me the most traditional of the magi that came here," he explained, "and even I'm considered an oddity back at the Clock Tower."
"… so, most of the magi who were selected as masters are less likely to backstab him for no reason," she concluded for herself.
"Yeah… on top of that, there is the fact that everyone knows he's a rookie with no mysteries worth studying due to Gilgamesh opening his circuits at the summoning," it was another important point.
In the end, betraying him held no benefits for anyone there.
"I suppose that's another point," she sounded almost relieved at that piece of information.
"So, what is your connection to him?" he decided to dig a little deeper.
"I told you, we go to the same school," she responded without hesitation.
"If that was all there was to it, you wouldn't be so concerned about him," he pointed out, earning a minor grimace off her.
"That's all there is to it," she insisted.
"Then why is he still alive?" he asked causing her to jerk in response, "if he was just someone who goes to the same school as you then as the Overseer of the area, you should've punished him for practicing magecraft without your permission by now."
"It isn't his fault his adopted father didn't tell him anything," she rationalized.
He found himself inwardly agreeing but he doubted that was the real reason… not given how defensive of him she sounded when talking about them taking advantage of him.
Of course, the fact that her Servant was smirking in clear amusement wasn't helping her attempts at brushing it aside.
But at the same time, pushing too far wasn't a particularly smart thing to do.
"Fine, let's just go with that," he decided to humour the girl.
"So, where are the other magi that decided to freeload off the kid?" the Archer class servant asked, possibly in an attempt to change the subject before his master could start arguing again.
"Well, Ciel had some things to take care of with her superiors at the church," he answered without much concern, "my apprentice and Eltnam are currently in their rooms, the Fraga is looking for work, Miss Blue is looking around town and the Edelfelt went to assist Emiya in his shopping."
He noticed the twitch that the girl gave upon hearing where Luviagelita was and found himself inwardly smirking at just how obvious she was being.
"And what about Saber?" the Archer asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Both her and Demon Archer are with Emiya and Edelfelt," he responded with a shrug.
The girl who was still in her school uniform seemed rather uneasy about that but there would be plenty of time to tease her later.
"I see… I suppose that means he's in safe hands," the girl responded with an undertone of it being forced.
"I suppose so," he responded to her claim without much concern, "well… I'm sure Emiya wouldn't mind you making yourself at home."
The girl seemed unsure of what to do but soon proceeded to sit at the table while keeping a careful eye on him.
He honestly couldn't blame her.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Shirou found himself releasing a sigh of relief as he and the rest of the group he had gone shopping with reached his house.
Even with himself, Luvia, Saber, Demon Archer, Sella and Leysritt all carrying the groceries, he found that he'd ended up getting more than he had expected due to wanting to avoid having to repeat the process the following day.
"So this is where my grandfather bought for dad during the war," Illya's voice spoke up and Shirou found himself frowning in confusion before remembering that the situation he was in was very unusual.
"Why did your grandfather buy it for dad?" he found himself curious about that, he remembered hearing that the house was bought with Einzbern funds, but he didn't really understand why it was.
"As a base of operations during the fourth grail war," the little girl stated with a soft smile directed towards him.
"Why buy it though?" he found himself asking, "wouldn't it be easier to just rent it?"
That seemed to get an amused giggle from the girl.
"It was easier for them to just buy the place," she proclaimed, "I mean, us Einzbern's are some of the richest magi in the world."
That statement received an annoyed grumble from the blonde haired magus that was with them.
"Well… can you open the door for us Illya-chan?" he found himself asking, after all, she was the only person who wasn't carrying something in each hand, "it should already be unlocked."
Without a seconds hesitation, his little adopted sister proceeded to do just as she was asked, allowing him and the others to enter the house without any further delay, "thank you."
That seemed to draw a smile from the little girl.
"We're home!" he called out as soon as he crossed the threshold into the Emiya residence.
"Welcome back Emiya," the voice of Waver called out and he found himself moving through the hallway without hesitation as the rest of the group followed him.
Upon entering the living room, he found Tohsaka sitting at the table with Waver, while Rider played a video game on the TV and Rin's Archer sat in the corner watching everyone.
"Hello Emiya-kun," the girl said without hesitation.
"It's nice to see you made it Tohsaka," he said even as he moved towards the kitchen.
"Oh, Tohsaka is here too?" he heard Illya's voice cut in without delay.
"Einzbern," Rin sounded suspicious as she responded to his adopted sister, "I see Emiya-kun decided to invite you as well."
"Indeed," the little red eyed girl admitted without a moments thought, "but then he is my brother, so it's only natural he would do so."
He noted the way Rin didn't look too happy at that, but he decided to just ignore it.
"So, where is everyone?" he asked Waver who simply shrugged.
"They're out doing their own things," the man responded easily, "they should be back for dinner though."
He nodded at that.
"Well, I'm going to get started on everything," he stated easily, "would you be able to give me a hand Sella-san?"
The stern maid simply looked towards Illya who proceeded to nod in acknowledgement.
"Very well," the woman in white responded once she had received confirmation from her mistress.
"Thanks, normally Sakura would be here to help me, but she's got more archery practice today," he admitted.
"Both morning and evening?" Waver's voice called out and he found himself nodding in acknowledgement.
"Yeah… MItsuzuri is pretty strict on them," he admitted, "she wants them to make nationals this year."
"From what I heard," Tohsaka's voice called out, "they would've made it last year if you didn't injure your shoulder and quit the club."
He found himself flinching at that.
Mainly because he knew how much Mitsuzuri hated his decision to quit… he had heard that she chewed Shinji out quite a bit for the comment on his shoulder scar.
She seemed to think that was the only reason he had quit.
In the end, it had just been one factor, with the other being that he had found he couldn't really improve any further in the club.
"Hn," without another thought he proceeded to start the preparations for dinner with the red eyed maid that had come with Illya moving to aid him.
"Oh?" Luvia's voice called out and he found himself glancing at her in response, "I'm surprised you didn't deny it."
He found himself releasing a sigh at that.
"It's because I can't," he admitted.
"Oh? So you're a good archer?" the voice the Rider sounded from his place near the TV.
"I guess," he acknowledged.
"Oh? Well what is your miss rate?" Nobunaga asked with a raised eyebrow and he found himself growing nervous.
"I heard from Ayako that you've never missed a target," Tohsaka's voice called out.
"She's wrong," he told her without hesitation.
"She told me you'd say that," and he found himself grimacing, "that you'll claim you missed once… but she doesn't count that."
"W-why not?" he asked, causing her to grin.
"Because you muttered about missing before taking the shot," the girl said with a grin, "something along the lines of 'I wonder what it feels like to miss'."
He found himself groaning at that.
He honestly couldn't deny that even if he wanted to.
"That is rather impressive," Saber stated with a curious expression adorning her face.
He found himself simply looking away as he continued to make dinner preparations.
"What's wrong Onii-chan?" the voice of Illya spoke up and he found himself schooling his expression before turning to face her.
"Nothing," he responded as he looked at the girl.
"It doesn't look like it's nothing," she stated bluntly and he found himself simply chuckling.
"Sorry, I just don't like talking about that sort of stuff," he decided to admit, causing her to blink in response.
"Why not?" it was a simple question but he found himself cut off by Luvia.
"Perhaps it is simply humility," the European magus suggested without hesitation, "Shero-kun seems to be uncomfortable with bragging."
"Shero-kun?" he noted that both Rin and Waver sounded surprised by the way she addressed him.
"Master and Edelfelt-san came to an understand earlier," Saber claimed with a frown of her own.
"Tch," was that Tohsaka?
"Oh? What is the matter Tohsaka-san?" Luvia's voice sounded almost teasing as she spoke up, "you look quite irritated."
"It's nothing you need worry yourself with Edelfelt," the native magus said with a tone that sounded like she was talking through gritted teeth.
Honestly, it made Shirou wonder just how badly dinner would go.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Sakura couldn't stop herself from worrying.
She may have had archery practice, but she wanted to return to Senpai's house to make sure everything was all right.
It wasn't that she didn't think he was in any immediate danger, but bringing so many magi into his house was not a smart move.
And even if it turned out that everything was as it was claimed to be, she found herself worried for another reason.
The number of beautiful women that had entered his household.
She didn't expect him to love her, but it didn't stop her from thinking about it… and if he ended up being involved with one of these other women, then she wasn't sure how her heart would react.
And beyond that, there was the issue of her grandfather.
The 'man' was currently tasking her with finding out as much information as possible about the current situation.
He appeared to care only for winning the Grail War after all… and to find out that it was potentially being called off clearly did not sit well with him.
Not that many things did.
After all, Matou Zouken was probably the single most inhuman creature she had ever had the misfortune to know about.
Even what little she knew of Dead Apostles made him look even more monstrous.
Because when even Vampires appear more pleasant than someone, it was obvious that the world would be better off if someone exterminated them.
But in the end, killing her grandfather was a nearly impossible task, most likely completely impossible without killing her first… so she was simply going to continue being trapped under his control regardless of how much she wanted to escape her situation.
"Come on Sakura!" Fujimura-sensei cried out even as they walked towards Senpai's house after they'd finished with the Club Activities.
"Coming Fujimura-sensei," she acknowledged while speeding up.
It didn't take them long to reach the house and she noted the smell already wafting from within, meaning Senpai had already started cooking without her.
Entering the house was no unusual experience for her and she soon found herself moving to make her way to the kitchen.
Her heart skipped a beat upon entering the living room and seeing Rin sitting at the table.
She hadn't expected to see her there.
The way the older girl proceeded to glance away at her gaze made it clear there would be some awkwardness between them.
"Hello Sakura, Fuji-nee," Senpai's voice came from the kitchen and she immediately turned to see him cooking with some unknown figure.
"Eh?! Tohsaka-san?" Fujimura-sensei's voice cut in and she found the woman looking at the new person in the house with shock, "what are you doing here?"
"Emiya-kun invited me to have dinner tonight," her sist… the girl in red said without hesitation.
"Who is that?" another voice cut in, one far less familiar to her, leading her to look at the white haired girl who she had only met once before.
"Eh? Who are you?!" her teacher cried out upon seeing the Einzbern magus.
"I am Illyasviel Von Einzbern," the girl responded with a small curtsey, "now answer me, who are you?"
"That's my legal guardian," Senpai spoke up without hesitation.
"I see," and with that, the smallest girl in the room nodded in acknowledgement.
"Shirou!" Fujimura-sensei cried out after a few seconds, "why is a little girl in your house?!"
"Because she's Kiritsugu's daughter," he responded immediately, causing their English teacher to stall for several seconds.
"WHAT?!"
It was obvious she hadn't expected such a response.
Sakura however, decided to simply head towards the kitchen.
"B-b-b-b-but Kiri never said he had a daughter!" the older woman said with shock in her tone.
That seemed to make the girl sink in sadness.
"Yeah… it seems he was hiding quite a bit from us," Senpai spoke up and Sakura found herself internally smiling at the way he said that.
There was no bitterness in his tone, as if he was just talking about the weather.
It was just more proof that he was truly a pure person, even when he found out that his adopted father had kept secrets from him, he refused to give in to anger or hate.
He was truly someone she could look up to.
"That's… that's…" it appeared that the brown haired teacher was having trouble even considering such a thing as possible, but she already knew that it was more than possible.
After all, when the situation she had been living in for the past ten years was so easily hidden, then that was nothing.
"There's no way that girl can be related to Kiri!" Taiga proceeded to cry out eventually, "if she was, then why didn't she live here?!"
"I don't know," Illya spoke with a bitterness in her tone, "my grandfather told me dad abandoned me for Onii-chan… but he also told me that Onii-chan meant to steal dad from me, so I don't think he can be trusted."
That explanation made it clear that the girl wasn't sure what to think right now… then again, from what that explanation said, it seemed that she was made to believe that Senpai was a cruel person… which was about as far away from what he actually was as was even possible.
"If that's so, then why are you here now?" her teacher asked with suspicion clear in her voice, earning a shrug off the little magus.
"Grandfather sent me over here to do something," it was a simple statement but Sakura found herself wondering just what this task was.
She was certain that if the Einzbern's grandfather was anything like hers, then it would be something needlessly cruel and selfish.
"And what is this task he gave you?" it was clear Fujimura-sensei was suspicious too.
"Secret," the response was made without a moments hesitation or concern.
"… you're not helping your position here," the Yakuza granddaughter said with narrowed eyes, earning another shrug off the girl.
"So?" it was obvious the red eyed girl really wasn't concerned with the English teachers questioning.
"Shirou! How can you trust this girl when she's so suspicious?!" it was an obvious appeal to the redhead but he simply shrugged.
"Well, if it's true then it doesn't hurt to give her the benefit of the doubt," he responded without any problems, "and if she isn't, then it'll come out eventually and we can deal with it then."
"Shirou…" the older woman let out a groan of frustration.
"That's how things are Fuji-nee," Senpai responded firmly, it was something that was really impressive, how he was generally thought of as being a pushover at school, but most of the people there didn't know just how firm he could be if he actually disagreed with something.
In the end, he wasn't a pushover, he just didn't have any issues helping others whenever they asked for it.
And with that, the conversation about his adoptive sister came to a rather solid end and she found herself flowing into the work flow that had formed between Senpai and the red eyed woman in white.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Ciel couldn't stop herself from feeling tired.
Travelling to the Church's base of operations in Japan wasn't all that difficult, however, trying to explain the situation to the Vatican was much, much harder.
On one hand, they still wanted her dead, and now that Roa was gone for good, she was no longer immortal like she had been back then.
On the other hand, she was the one chosen by the Grail to act as a master for this new organisation that was being formed by a renegade Servant of the previous war.
Of course, the fact that she had ended up summoning an Avenger Class Servant wasn't something she had wanted to pass on to them, but naturally they demanded answers.
So now, the higher ups all knew she had summoned an Avenger, though given that she hadn't managed to wrangle his name out of him, she couldn't pass on that information.
At least she had managed to get away with simple instructions on what to do, mainly that she was to continue observing the situation and if the statement Gilgamesh made about them performing another summoning was true, the church would be preparing a catalyst for her to use.
At least that would mean she wouldn't have to deal with someone else as abrasive as Avenger was being.
After all, if she had to listen to any more Servants trying to make her give in to her anger and hatred, she was pretty sure she'd snap and do just that.
On their necks.
She had already gotten her revenge after all, so trying to make her give into that quest again was just going to make her lose the contentedness she felt at finally managing to let go of the baggage that came with her connection to Roa.
So why couldn't that bloody servant just shut up already?!
She took some calming breaths, it wouldn't do to get worked up when the bastard wasn't even there… she should just enjoy her peace while it lasted.
And if he ever got too infuriating for her… well, she could just sic him on that thieving Vampire.
It didn't matter who killed the other in that fight, it would probably be a win for her either way.
Though she would definitely put her money on the Vampire, especially since Shiki would probably help her kill the Servant.
She shook her head clear of those thoughts as she came upon the residence she was currently staying at until the Church arranged suitable accommodation for her.
It was certainly strange, to be welcomed into the home of a magus and not find her food poisoned wasn't something she had been expecting, neither was she expecting the mage to be so welcoming of everyone, even going so far as to claim that he'd try to make her some curry but that he wasn't experienced in that style of preparation.
The worst part was that she knew the name.
Emiya, the same name as Emiya Norikata, a magus who wiped out a small island researching Dead Apostles before being shot to death by his own son.
A son that later went on to become one of the most successful mercenaries among the mages association until he vanished off the face of the map for almost ten years before returning to participate in the Fourth Grail War before vanishing once again.
Twenty years with practically no exposure had dulled the concerns of most magi, from what she was aware, only those who had been directly affected by Kiritsugu even bothered to pass on the stories of him to their children these days.
But she was old enough to remember what he was capable of.
Destroying an entire hospital to get a single Dead Apostle, shooting down the plane carrying his own adoptive mother… the man was certainly ruthless.
Yet she got no indication that ruthlessness had been passed onto his adopted son.
The boy was naïve, hadn't even opened his magic circuits and seemed more focused on keeping everyone content than anything else.
She would probably have thought it was a trick, that the boy was lulling them into a false sense of security… but everything she saw indicated he truly was trying to help everyone.
But in the end, it was possible that she might end up having to kill him.
The same standard applied to everyone else in the house, what with how they were all magi that were selected to act as Masters in a very unusual variation of a Grail War.
And as masters, it was only natural that they would probably have to kill each other eventually.
But for now, she would accept Shirou's hospitality and try her best to not cause any trouble in the house.
Upon opening the door, she immediately noted the scent wafting from the kitchen, but called out a greeting anyway.
"I'm back," it was a simple call but she found herself surprised to hear responses from within the house, prompting her to take off her shoes and move further in, "sorry if I'm late… I had business to take care of with the Church."
"The Church?" she noted that the woman from the morning was sitting at the table and looking surprised at her statement.
The fact that the woman was unaware of the Supernatural side of the world would make skirting around the subject of what she was doing there necessary.
"The current priest at the Church here died not long ago," she proclaimed, causing the woman's eyes to widen, "since my group was on coming here anyway, I have been asked to relocate."
She made sure to apply a subtle hypnotism to stop the woman from asking too many questions, feeling herself grow thankful that it worked as the woman dropped the matter.
"Anyway Ciel," Shirou's voice called in and she found her attention drawn to him, "Sella here is making the curry."
That was both worrying and reassuring at the same time.
On one hand, it was worrying because there was what was clearly an Einzbern homunculus preparing a meal, and reassuring in that the boy was prepared to give tasks he wasn't up to, to others more suited to it.
"Thank you Sella," she proceeded to thank the homunculus even if she wasn't comfortable with the idea of being served something she wasn't certain of.
That was certainly one of the disadvantages of finding a reason to want to live when you had finally lost your immortality.
"Hmph," she found her attention drawn towards the Einzbern master as the girl displayed clear displeasure at the situation, "you should be grateful Onii-chan is so soft… if he wasn't you would have to find your own food."
"I know," she responded without hesitation, just because she was prepared to have to kill him as a fellow master, didn't mean she was going to ignore how much his hospitality was currently aiding her, "and I thank you for lending your maid to aid him too."
Of course, with an uninitiated person in the vicinity, she left out any comments about not poisoning her.
That would almost certainly draw some rather serious suspicion after all.
"You should be," the red eyed girl stated with a frown.
"Illya," Shirou's voice called out and the little girl seemed to simply frown even more, "please don't harass any of my guests."
The girl simply started to sulk in response to being told off by her adopted brother.
It would probably be cute if she had some suspicions concerning the girl.
After all, white hair and red eyes may have been an indication of Albinism among normal humans, but when an Einzbern was involved, it usually meant a Homunculus.
It was even likely that the only person who didn't know about that titbit of information was Shirou himself.
But it wasn't as if it was her place to question the situation.
And so, she simply proceeded to take a seat as she waited for the meal that was to come.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Dinner had been a rather interesting affair as far as Shirou was concerned.
Admittedly, not everyone had appeared before the first batch of people had had their fills, but everyone did eventually trickle in… with the exceptions of Hans and Avenger.
That the two of them were clearly not normal made him somewhat happy they hadn't appeared, however, it simply meant that he had to take the meals to their rooms.
Hans unnerved him, everything the boy said seemed to indicate that he knew more about him than he was comfortable with the boy knowing… it was as if he was an open book that the boy could read in an instant.
As for Avenger… Avenger was abrasive.
He had never met anyone who seemed so focused on hating everything as thoroughly as that servant seemed to do.
The malicious grins and killing intent only made staying in the beings vicinity more uncomfortable.
Of course, there was also the issue of Fuji-nee being around.
For all he adored his sister-figure, he didn't want her to get involved with the mystical side of the world and that meant that Luvia's attempts at teaching him, Sakura and Gray how to learn new languages the Magus way was being pushed back.
"So… when are you planning on leaving?" said teacher asked the group.
"Well, I am currently working on reclaiming some property that my family owns in this city," Luvia stated with a practiced ease, "once that is done, they'll need to be surveyed and have any issues repaired… then I shall move into one of them."
"And how long will that take?" it was a simple question and Shirou found himself deciding to listen properly.
"I am unsure," Luvia responded with a sigh, "there are some issues with the organisation we left the properties in the care of… and even then we don't know how well they've been looked after these past seventy years."
"SEVENTY YEARS!"
The rather loud response by his guardian made it clear she hadn't expected it to be such an old property.
"Yes, my family hasn't had much interaction with this country since then," the blonde said without hesitation, "so we left it in the care of an organisation we held close ties to."
The dazed look in Taiga's eyes made it clear she was struggling to comprehend the idea.
Maybe she was more surprised that the properties hadn't simply been sold?
"But for now," and with a simple raise of her hands, Luvia muttered something under her breath, prompting his legal guardian's eyes to glaze over.
"What are you doing?" he found himself asking with narrowed eyes.
"I am simply going to send her back to her home," the girl in blue stated with a calm tone, "we cannot proceed with the lesson until she is gone."
Shirou found himself releasing a sigh at that.
It was true, but it didn't mean he liked the fact that she was hypnotizing his sister figure.
"Now, Fujimura Taiga," the European Magus spoke with a commanding tone, "return to your home and get some sleep."
Without a seconds hesitation, the brown haired teacher rose from her seated position and started to leave the house.
"And now Shero-kun, Gray and Matou," she started to talk immediately, "come, you have lessons to attend."
"And what lessons would those be?" a voice that dripped with suspicion called and Shirou found himself glancing at Rin as she almost glared at the Edelfelt.
"Learning Languages," Shirou decided to explain before anything could erupt between the two.
"What?" now Rin looked puzzled.
"My dad never taught me how to learn new languages like a Magus," he told her with a sigh of frustration, "and apparently neither Gray or Sakura have been taught either."
"So Edelfelt decided to teach you?" he could hear the scepticism dripping from the pigtailed girl's voice.
"Indeed, the substandard tutelage they have all received in something so basic is something a magus of my calibre cannot overlook," Luvia's response seemed to earn a twitch from the other girl.
"Well if that is the case, then you won't have anything against me supervising the lessons, will you?" it was obvious that Rin was issuing some sort of challenge if her tone was anything to go by.
"Oh? You need not concern yourself with such petty concerns," the girl in blue said without hesitation.
"How about we all just watch," he found his attention drawn towards the Caster summoned by the Irish magus.
That seemed to draw the attention of everyone in the room.
"What?" both Luvia and Rin sounded surprised by that idea.
"You're not teaching any of them anything that could be called a secret," the blue haired man continued before issuing a small grin, "so why not let everyone watch?"
The duo seemed unable to respond to such a suggestion.
Shirou however, found himself deciding to cut down that idea.
"Sorry, but no," he stated, causing everyone to turn their attention to him, "it will probably make it harder for us if we have to deal with the pressure of a crowd watching."
"Point," the first caster said without much delay.
"Yeah… plus, wouldn't siting around watching them be boring?" he found himself drawn to the Japanese Warlord as she asked that question and found himself agreeing.
"Indeed, watching people learn a new language is boring," Iskander piped in without hesitation.
"I want to watch though," Illya's voice spoke up and he found himself swallowing nervously at that, the idea that his adopted sister wanted to see him try to learn a new language was somewhat intimidating after all.
"Why?" he found himself asking, prompting the girl to give him a bright smile.
"Because I want to see what Onii-chan can do," she told him and he found himself growing more uncomfortable.
It was one thing to have Luvia, Sakura and Gray witnessing his attempts, since he had an understanding with Luvia, Sakura was someone he trusted almost completely and Gray… Gray seemed so quiet and non-confrontational that he doubted she even had the capacity to mock him about it.
"I too shall attend the lesson," Saber spoke up firmly and he found himself turning to face his Servant.
"W-why?" he found himself asking in shock.
"So that I can remain close enough to defend you should the need arise," it was a response he should've expected, but he was still struggling to grasp the idea that no one trusted each other.
"I have no issues with Saber attending," Luvia spoke up without hesitation, "provided she is the only servant attending."
It was only then that Shirou noted the position of the beautiful woman that had been summoned by Sakura, standing over her in a manner that appeared almost protective.
"It's all right Rider," his kouhai told the servant with a soft smile, "senpai won't hurt me."
He couldn't shake the uncertain gaze that was being levelled his way from behind the Servant's glasses.
Of course, the fact that Sakura was so confident in him despite knowing he was a magus only showed that their trust of each other was a mutual matter even if Sakura hadn't revealed to him that she was a magus.
To be fair though, he didn't tell her he was one either.
"I suppose I could accept that servant as well," the girl that was planning on teaching him stated with a hint of uncertainty, "however, they're the only two."
"Then I shall go as well," the lavender haired woman responded without delay, earning a soft smile off of Sakura in the process.
"Now, is there anywhere in this house suitable as a classroom?" Luvia asked.
"Well, there is the dojo," he offered, earning a firm nod of acceptance from the European magus.
"Then we shall go there," she told him without hesitation.
With a nod of his own, Shirou found himself rising from his seated position along with Sakura, Gray, Saber and Illya.
However, he also noted that Tohsaka was rising to follow as well and he found himself focusing on that.
"You don't need to come Tohsaka," the blonde said with a hint of annoyance clear in her tone.
"Perhaps," the school idol responded without hesitation, "but it would be shameful of me to not make sure the magi living in my area are properly educated."
"Oh? Then you must be awfully ashamed of their current states, no?" it was clear that the Edelfelt magus was more than happy to poke at that, and given the way Rin seemed to twitch at that remark, he had a feeling she had just gotten one over the other magus.
"T-that's why I must make certain you're not giving them substandard teachings," it was clear to him that Rin wasn't prepared to admit defeat, but he found himself simply releasing a sigh.
"Sakura, Gray," he spoke up, drawing the attention of the two others who would be learning with him, "are you all right with Rin watching?"
Sakura looked surprised but nodded, while Gray simply nodded without any real indication she was considering anything.
"Well, it appears that no one is against me observing," Rin's voice sounded almost triumphant as she said that.
The fact that Luvia's expression seemed to darken a little made him decide to ask something that seemed like it might be important.
"Why are you two fighting anyway?" he wanted to know just why they were clashing in the first place, however it wasn't one of the two girls who spoke.
"Because the Tohsaka and Edelfelt have been feuding for about seventy years now," Bazett told him without hesitation.
"Really?" he found himself wondering just what the cause of that was.
"Yeah, they had a confrontation during the Third Grail War," Illya stated with an amused grin, "I heard it was because of one of the heirs of the Edelfelt being defeated in the Third Grail War by the Tohsaka Master... with the Tohsaka learning the Edelfelts Magecraft after that."
Shirou found himself blinking at that.
"How would that even work?" he asked, earning a sigh off the little girl.
"Either the Tohsaka master stole the Edelfelts magic crest and all the knowledge stored within," Waver spoke up and he found himself listening carefully, "or… the defeated Edelfelt married into the Tohsaka and took their knowledge with them."
Shirou found himself blinking at that.
He wasn't familiar with the concept of a magic crest so he had no idea how that would work.
But beyond that, looking at Luvia and Rin, he found himself easily believing they were related… both because of how similar their facial structure was and how they seemed to match each other in temperament as well.
"… I can definitely believe they're cousins," he found himself admitting out loud.
The way the two girls seemed to almost crack at that admission made it clear he had just said the wrong thing.
"E-E-E-Emiya-kun…" the strain in Rin's voice was clear and he could see her turning to face him with a strained smile on her face, "why on Earth would you think I am related to that Hyena?"
"Oh? You think that's bad?" Luvia seemed to take offense at that question, "imagine how I feel being accused of being related to an uncivilized barbarian like you."
"Uncivilized?" Rin now seemed even angrier than before, "you think a bloodthirsty scavenger like you has any right to call me uncivilized?"
"H-hey! That's enough," he called out, trying to get both to stop.
"Enough!" and with that one word, both of the teenage girls stopped arguing and simply froze in response.
"Thanks Red," he found himself thanking Aoko without thinking about it.
"Just try to not get them going again," she responded even as she continued to sit at the table.
"I'll try," he acknowledged, he honestly didn't want the two to argue again either, "maybe it would be better if Tohsaka stayed here."
That seemed to earn a twitch from the girl.
"It probably would be more productive if she didn't go," Illya spoke and he found himself releasing a sigh at that.
"T-that's…" the brown haired girl sounded rather put out by the situation.
"Don't worry about the lessons," the white haired girl interrupted, "I'll be able to tell if they're up to scratch or not."
That didn't seem to reassure Rin, but she eventually gave in.
"Fine…" he didn't understand why she sounded so upset about that, "however, if anything happens, I expect it to be dealt with properly, am I understood?"
"Of course," the girl in the purple dress responded with a small curtsy even as the group started to move out to the Dojo.
"Sorry Tohsaka," he decided to say, causing her to jerk slightly at his voice, " but if you and Luvia get into another fight then that could push us further back."
The way the girls face seemed to soften at that, made it clear that she was placated by that explanation.
"It's fine," she responded, "I will just stay here for now."
And with one last smile towards the girl, he left the room.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Rin couldn't stop herself from internally screaming at herself.
She had almost completely destroyed any chance she may have had with the one boy in their entire school that she found herself actually interested in.
Not that it was hard, the only real competition he had was Issei, who hated her due to ungodly instincts and Shinji… the less that was said about him the better.
She honestly had no idea how Emiya-kun could possibly be friends with that delusional bastard.
The fact that she had recently discovered he was already aware of the supernatural world only made her previous misgivings about him die down.
But here she was, invited to have dinner at Emiya-kun's house and she had ended up letting her long standing family rivalry with the Edelfelt to get the way.
"Well… that was amusing," Lord El-Melloi said with a smile tugging at his lips.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked him with narrowed eyes.
"You're really not that good at hiding it you know," the man continued and she found her ire growing.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, ready to deny whatever the Clock Tower Teacher said.
"Your crush on Emiya," she was however, caught flat-footed when it wasn't Lord El-Melloi who spoke up.
"Wha-?!" she didn't know how to respond when the person who spoke was none other The Blue herself.
"It's pretty obvious," the red haired woman continued without hesitation, "especially with how focused on let leaving him alone with Luvia you are"
If it had been anyone else speaking right now, she would've been arguing, denying every claim made about her.
But that was The Blue herself.
She wasn't prepared to pick a fight with a person considered to have power on par with Dead Apostle Ancestors and Servants.
"Yeah, though I think you've got some stiff competition if you want him," Lord El-Melloi said and she found her eyes narrowing at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked with a note of warning clear in her tone.
"That Matou girl is definitely after him too," the man said and she found herself blinking… for a second she thought he was talking about Edelfelt, "and given how comfortable they are around each other, I think she's got a pretty good shot at him."
She found herself unsure of what to think about that.
On one hand, the idea that she had competition was annoying, but on the other hand, if anyone deserved to have something good happen to them then it was probably Sakura.
However, she wasn't prepared to let anyone know that.
"It doesn't matter," she stated as bluntly as she could, "you are mistaken about all of this anyway."
"Heh," she found her attention drawn towards her own Servant as he outright chuckled at her declaration, "the only people you're fooling are yourself and the boy himself."
She found her irritation only growing further when she noted the way everyone in the room agreed, with the exception of the two Homunculi and Sion's Lancer, who seemed to be completely unconcerned about the conversation full stop.
Honestly, the mere fact that even the servants who acted like morons nodded in agreement made it even more insulting.
"Just… just shut up," she commanded, causing her Archer's smirk to grow even more amused.
"You know, there's nothing wrong with being interested in a guy," she found herself once again focusing on The Blue as she spoke up.
"I'm not interested," she tried to argue, but it was clear that no one believed her.
"You should probably shut up before you dig your hole any deeper master," her servant claimed and she found herself gritting her teeth in even more irritation than before.
However, she found she couldn't truly argue with her servant's logic on this matter.
And so, she decided to stop fighting it and simply sit down.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Gray wasn't sure what to think as the group entered the Dojo.
The mere fact that Luvia was going to teach her something her master hadn't was strange, but then again, she was used to only being taught by her master.
The fact that she was going to be learning beside a couple of relative strangers was also strange, even if both Shirou and Sakura seemed like really nice people.
The white haired girl named Illya was also an interesting person to have watching, mainly because she hadn't seen many people with that colour of hair and eyes even during her time in London.
"Now, the first thing we must go over," Luvia started to speak and she found her attention moving towards the blonde haired magus, "is the process of using magecraft, Shero, can you tell me what is required before you can actualize a mystery?"
The expression on the boy's face made it clear he was lost by what the girl in blue said, at least until the purple haired girl said something to him in Japanese.
"Oh…" he said as a look of realization crossed his face and he spoke again, "it needs you to have a strong image in your head."
"And what is used to put that image in your head?" it was a simple question but it was obvious that Shirou hadn't been trained properly if his questioning stare was anything to go by.
"Uh… an Aria?" he responded, before frowning, "wait… no… the Aria is just the trigger for the image…"
The boy seemed to think for several more seconds before he came up with an new answer.
"A form of Self Hypnosis triggered by the Aria?" he was clearly unsure in his answer as he sounded like he was asking a question more than answering one.
"Correct," the Edelfelt Magus said without hesitation, "and that is the magi's method of learning a new language."
Gray found herself frowning at that.
Shirou however answered once more.
"Do you mean we hypnotize ourselves to learn a new language?" he sounded somewhat confused, but the nod in acknowledgement made it clear he was correct.
"Correct," Luvia said before continuing, "a magus learns new languages not by practice, but by using their experience with self-hypnosis to create associations within their minds that can be accessed at a moments notice."
"So we use hypnosis to connect words?" he asked only to receive a shake in the negative from the Finnish magus.
"No, you use hypnosis to connect the words to the concepts that they represent themselves," that statement made her frown, but Luviagelita continued, "that way, there is no delay in thought processes when speaking that language."
Huh… if that was the case then it would make some sense.
However…
"Excuse me," she decided to speak up, causing Luvia to turn to her and nod, "but if we do that, then won't we get our languages mixed up?"
The nod she received for that question made it clear it was a legitimate question.
"If they were simply unorganized then that would indeed be the case," the Finnish blonde said without hesitation, "however, that is why you assign them to an overarching mindset that you can switch to whenever you need to speak that language."
"So we'd need to trigger the mindset if we want to understand the language?" Shirou asked and Luvia simply shook her head.
"Not quite, since it is simply a different set of associations as opposed to something powerful like a magecraft image, simply hearing the language should act as a trigger to change to that mindset," it was a rather simple explanation but it was clear enough for Shirou to understand if his nod of acknowledgement was anything to go by.
"Now, I'm not sure who will have a harder time learning here," Luvia stated and she found herself wondering just what she meant, "on one hand, if Gray wishes to learn how to read Japanese then that will require a lot of associations to be created due to the systems used to write it… however, both Shirou and Sakura will have to learn how to speak far more syllables than they ever learned in this country."
That made her confused.
"What do you mean?" she decided to ask, hoping for some clarification on the matter.
"Japanese Kanji takes a long time to learn due to the sheer number of symbols there are," the blonde magus said before continuing, "however the number of syllables in Japanese is only about one hundred… while English has over ten thousand."
That… was a massive difference.
"That is why Shero and Sakura have so much trouble speaking English fluently," the girl in blue continued, "they were simply not taught to make most of the syllables available to a native speaker."
That made sense.
"So the main issue Shero and Sakura will have is learning how to form the appropriate syllables when speaking," and with that finalized, Luvia addressed the group as a whole.
"Now, I believe we have spent enough time with the explanations of how you will be learning," her voice was filled with a confidence that was perfectly normal for her, "now it is time to teach you how to learn."
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Almost everything was wrong.
That was the only real thought that went through the head of Counter Guardian EMIYA as he sat in the corner.
His summoning was wrong, in that it actually went right for a change… and beyond that, he had been summoned directly in front of Gilgamesh and ten magi, some of who already had servants at their call.
He recognized them of course, one of the advantages of the Unlimited Blade Works was the knowledge it granted him post mortem, so he knew who all the other servants were, if not because of already having the weapons stored in it, but due to having recorded meeting them in alternate universes or timelines where he was summoned.
Or at least, his ability was.
Naturally he found himself hiding that knowledge, after all, he doubted any of them would appreciate having the identities of their servants revealed by a stranger.
Plus, it would raise the question of how he knew who they were in the first place.
Beyond everything though, the mere fact that Gilgamesh was creating an organisation to protect humanity was outright anathema to what he remembered of the arrogant king.
But here it was, happening right before his eyes, while everything else was twisted out of the shape of a Grail War and into something alien to a universe he stemmed from.
At least there were some consistencies between the worlds.
Namely that it seemed the Rin and Sakura of this world maintained their crushes on his younger self, Luvia too seemed to be growing fond of his younger self at an astounding rate even for him, Illya was still his adopted sister and Saber was still Kiritsugu's old Servant.
Oh, and Bazett still summoned Cu Chulainn, even if he ended up as a Caster instead of as a Lancer.
That would make fighting him annoying.
The Irish Hero may have been stronger as a Lancer, but he was better equipped to beat him as a Caster, simply due to the variety of abilities he was capable of with his ancient runes.
In the end though, he doubted a new Grail War would erupt.
Mainly because Gilgamesh wouldn't bother wasting his time if this wasn't genuine.
It didn't stop the situation from being strange though.
There was just the question of what he should do concerning the other version of himself.
It was plausible that they'd synchronize if they were both around too long even with the presence of the servant bonds trying to prevent that.
But was this version of him going to suffer the same as he did?
He had no support after all, and here, here his younger self had a more permanent connection to Saber, along with an organisation that was being collected by someone else for a purpose that matched his goals.
Was it possible that this other version of himself wouldn't suffer like he had?
Only time would tell.
XXX Fate/Golden Order XXX
Shirou couldn't stop himself from releasing a tired sigh as they finished up their lessons for the night.
Learning how to form new syllables was hard, that much was for certain, but Luvia at least showed a level of patience he would not expect from the girl.
She had certainly looked like she was about to lose her cool, but she always managed to swallow it down and explain things in a simpler and more concise manner.
He was still a long way from being truly fluent in the language, but he was at least managing to ingrain the memories of syllables he'd never formed before in his head.
"Well, I suppose that didn't go as badly as it could've," the girl in blue said even as they rose from their positions with numb legs.
"Sorry," he found himself apologizing, causing the girl to blink.
"There is nothing to apologize for," she proclaimed calmly, "not everyone can learn new languages in such a short span of time."
He immediately thought of Sakura and how she was simply progressing so much faster than he was even after such a short time frame.
"Yeah…" he acknowledged even as he felt himself progressing too slowly for his liking.
As the group left the Dojo and started to make their way back towards the living room, Shirou found his attention drawn to a couple of shadowy figures resting quite some distance from each other.
One was clearly the regal Lancer summoned by Ciel, his spear nowhere to be seen.
The other was a person he found himself wanting to have minimal contact with.
Avenger.
At least it was dark out, so they weren't standing out like a neon signs.
He did however decide to do what he could to ignore their presence as he walked back into the house and saw that Illya and Rin were still there.
"Oh… hey," he found himself greeting them in surprise, "I wasn't expecting you to still be here."
He found himself admitting, but he earned a couple of scoffs off the girls.
"It would be rude to leave without first thanking you for your hospitality," Rin's response made him blink before a grimace crossed his face.
"Ah, sorry," he hadn't thought about how spending so long learning would affect the others but it seemed it had done just that.
"And I want my goodnight hug!" Illya spoke with a bit more enthusiasm and he found himself deflating as he found himself giving in without too much hassle.
"All right then, come here Illya-chan," with little more in the way of actions, he proceeded to move towards the girl who now moved to meet him before wrapping both of his arms around her gently, "now, when you get home, be sure to go straight to bed… okay?"
He noted the way the girls face was slowly flushing at that, but dismissed it.
It was probably one of very few times she had been treated like a normal girl.
"O-okay… can I come by tomorrow Onii-chan?" the girl asked and he found himself letting out a soft smile as she looked up at him.
"Of course," he conceded without hesitation, earning a radiant smile off the white haired girl.
"And I will probably see you at some point too Emiya-kun," Tohsaka said and he found himself swallowing nervously at that.
After all, this was Tohsaka Rin talking about seeing him again.
Sure it was only as fellow masters and magi, but it was still not something he had expected just two days ago.
"Yeah," he acknowledged her statement before noting Sakura move past him.
"Goodbye Senpai," the girl that had been helping him so much said even as her Servant followed, "see you tomorrow."
"Thank you for all your help today Sakura," he chose to thank her without hesitation, "and yours as well Sella."
The maid that had helped him with the cooking merely blinked in response before offering a small bow.
"Well, see you later Onii-chan!" and with that said, the group that were not staying the night proceeded to leave.
Now he just had to get some magecraft practice in before bed.
"All right then," he said without any hesitation, "I'm going to go and work on my magecraft and then go to bed."
"Heh, well then, let's see what you've got," he found his eyes widening as the blue haired Irishman spoke up in response to his claim.
"W-wait! Caster, you were serious?!" Bazett asked her servant with wide eyes.
"Hey, it's nothing much, just some basic stuff," the man responded, "I said it before, he has an interesting scent."
Shirou found himself confused by that.
"I… I see…" the woman who was still wearing a business suit responded uncertainly.
"Now Shirou," the man continued with a small smirk gracing his lips, "let's go."
And that's all for today.
Shadow Out.