Just a head's up: There's a short Q and A section at the very bottom of this chapter after the A/N, steer clear if you're like some of my friends and cannot stand even the slimmest of potential spoilers. Enjoy the chapter!

Extra Note: Had some formatting problems but things look a lot better than they did. Should be good now, PM if you see any major issues I don't and I'll tackle it this evening once I have time.

Chapter One

In a large cement shed, Shirou Emiya sat alone. He was surrounded by the clutter of dozens of failed or in-progress projects - miscellaneous tools, broken electronics and pieces to them, as well as lengths of wood and pipe. He was bathed in the bright beams of moonlight that shone through an elevated window. In his hands rested a thin rod of iron, and his eyes were closed in intense and careful concentration. In his mind he could see and understand the composition of the metal, as well as how it was made.

He slowly began filling the rod with mana, making it stronger and harder. Its abilities soon advanced to match that of modest steel, and he struggled to slow his output of mana, carefully trying to determine just how much more the bar could handle. After a time, the metal's strength was approaching that of a very well made steel. He tried to drop his reinforcement to a trickle and failed.

The iron bar became oversaturated and it burst, breaking into a few shorter lengths with jagged ends. A small piece of shrapnel gave his hand a short but deep cut, but he shrugged it off and wrapped it in a small piece of clean cloth. He always healed quickly, and there likely wouldn't even be a scar in the morning.

The loss of focus ruined his initial steps. The magical conduit, carefully and painfully formed from one of the nerves in his back, lost its properties and again became a mundane organ. He would have to restart the process. He sighed, disappointed but not intending to give up. After a brief rest, he positioned himself to be a bit more comfortable before setting his focus back on his work, grabbing a piece of wood this time.

"Senpai… Senpai, wake up. I've already started breakfast."

Shirou stirred himself to wakefulness, a bit sore from sleeping on the concrete floor. His eyes fluttered open and he wiped the built up grit from the corners of his eyes.

"Senpai, you need to stop falling asleep on the floor. At least bring a blanket out here, or you'll catch a cold", said the soothing, recognizable voice beside him.

"Good morning, Sakura", he managed. "Is Taiga here yet?"

"Good morning, Senpai", said Sakura with a small smile. "She's not here yet, but it shouldn't be much longer. Go clean up and I'll finish breakfast, okay?"

Shirou nodded and Sakura left, presumably heading to the kitchen. She was a great friend, and Shirou liked her company. "I should take her advice, really", he thought.. If he kept up this habit, she was going to dominate the kitchen and surpass his skills. Unacceptable. His kitchen was hallowed ground, and he was the high priest; his pupil would not take his title yet.

Already a bit behind and determined to get back on course, Shirou hurried himself through his morning routine. He'd have to skip his morning exercises in the dojo, but if he was fast enough he may even be able to contest a place in the kitchen. It was far too late to play head chef for the day, but he may be able to squeeze in a side dish both to help out Sakura and to indulge in one of his own pleasures. Cooking was one of only a few pastimes that Shirou truly enjoyed. It made him happy to see other people happy as they enjoyed the food he had prepared with his own labors.

Finished, he made his way through the classically designed hallways to the kitchen, one of the few rooms completely modernized. Sakura was hard at it, diligently monitoring the many processes of her preparations as she went about making breakfast. Her efforts had filled the kitchen and adjoined dining area with a wonderful melody of scents and sounds, heralding to the third person in the room that her supreme appetite could soon be sated.

Speaking of that person, she was suspiciously quiet today. She was sitting at the dining table with her head buried in a newspaper. To top it off, she wasn't fawning over the kitchen island to look at the food and take in its scents from point blank range while guessing what was being made. To put it simply, she was acting like the adult she was supposed to be.

"Definitely suspicious", thought Shirou. He wouldn't remark on it yet and startle the beast, but he put himself on guard for a surprise attack. "It could come from anywhere." He took a quick inventory of the room and, seeing nothing out of place, stepped into the kitchen proper to examine Sakura's handywork.

His previous judgement had been correct; she had everything under control and the main meal as well as complementing sides would be done soon. White rice was cooking and miso boiled lightly. A pan of seasoned meat and another with a vegetable mixture sauteed in butter sizzled pleasantly. Beside those, Sakura was currently handling a skillet filled with what appeared to be a the start of a fluffy omelet.

Shirou shimmied up beside her to check the meat and vegetables. He stirred them and added a little more seasoning according to his nose. He stepped aside to tend the soup as Sakura began filling the omelet with the concoctions.

They had stopped needing words in the kitchen and instead silently trusted the other to assess the situation, improve where they felt they could, and generally assist each other without any major mistakes. It made for quick and efficient work, which was nice considering they were daily preparing such things for three people, one of whom counted as two people and needed to be fed accordingly.

In a matter of minutes the food was complete. Shirou dished out rice and soup into bowls while his companion flipped the last omelet onto a plate. They quickly cleaned the pots and pans while the food cooled and then set the plated meals on the table, eager to dig in.

Taiga Fujimura, Shirou's guardian, language teacher, and self-proclaimed big sister, still kept herself hidden behind the morning news. One hand snaked around from behind the paper to grab a spoon and begin on her soup, but otherwise remained silent.

At the very least, Shirou decided, the quiet was an unexpected and pleasant change to the start of his morning. The usually boisterous woman tended to stir the mood up while shouting about one thing or another, before being brought to heel by the food before her. She would promptly destroy the meal in a matter of minutes before returning to her natural, wild state.

So Shirou basked in a moment of morning peace that was usually reserved for days when Taiga was absent for some reason. He sampled his omelet and found it to his liking. He reached for the soy sauce to flavor his rice. He tipped it to pour… and the entire lid popped off, showering his rice, the table, and part of his omelet in the dark condiment.

"Ack!", he exclaimed, surprised by this turn of events. His shock caused him to fumble the bottle further. He scrambled to stop the flow, but only managed to splash more on himself before the bottle ran dry.

Sakura squeaked in surprise and pulled her dishes away from the expanding flow. "I'll grab a towel!", she explained, running for the kitchen drawer.

From behind a newspaper, a slow laugh began to rise. "Ha! Ahahahaha! I got you this time, Shirou!", shouted Taiga as she set aside her newspaper and settled in to truly begin her meal. Tears of mirth filled her eyes as she continued to laugh and giggle like the child she wasn't. "You never even saw it coming! You should have seen your face! Hahaha!" Eventually her giggles died down and she sat with a smug look on her face, seemingly proud of making a mess of the table.

Shirou stared at her, his eyes dead and empty. He could be angry, he could scold her, he could shout and try to teach her a lesson, but he knew it would do no good. Instead, he set the bottle down gingerly and waited.

Sakura, worry etched on her face, returned with the towel and began to diligently clean the mess before it could spread further. He quietly thanked her and continued his soft glare at the perpetrator. Taiga continued to smugly enjoy her omelet, unaware of her mistake.

"How's your rice, Taiga?", Shirou asked innocently.

"Hm? Oh, I'm not sure yet, can you pass the soy sauce?", she requested.

Shirou just stared.

Taiga smiled back pleasantly.

"Um…", spoke up Sakura nervously. "That… was the last bottle we had."

Taiga nodded a few times with a smile. "Oh, I see, I see." Her smile shifted to a frown. Soon, small whimpers could be heard coming from her, and a single tear dropped from her face.

"The best lessons are the ones we teach ourselves", thought Shirou.

Soon after, Taiga had dejectedly informed them that she had a staff meeting to attend that morning and left ahead of them on her motorized scooter. Shirou left with Sakura after cleaning up the dishes and putting on a fresh change of clothes. They were always the type to arrive to school early, Sakura for her daily practice in the Archery Club, and he to spend some time with his friend, Issei, the Student Council President, and possibly help him out with his work. Today he was intending to try fixing a small space heater that had allegedly reached the end of its life.

At this point in the morning, the road to school was still quiet and nearly empty. The only other people heading this way were students from their neighborhood who also had morning responsibilities. They kept to themselves or spoke in small groups of two or three while maintaining their leisurely pace.

"Senpai", Sakura spoke up, breaking their amicable silence. "Would you like to visit the Archery Dojo today? I doubt anyone would mind."

Shirou considered the proposal. "I suppose it's been a while since I saw Ayako and the others." Ayako Mitsuzuri was the current captain of the Archery Club. A tough girl with a friendly, go-get-em attitude, she was in the same grade as Shirou. They had joined the club at about the same time in their freshman year at the highschool, Homurahara.

Ever since Shirou had quit the club and she had been promoted, she had been desperately gunning to get him back, saying things like, "We need our star member back!", and, "How do you expect us to win the regional tournament without you?" To which Shirou would reply, "I was never that special", and, "You have a lot of good members, I'm sure you'll do great." Her pestering never got to him. She was just trying to do her best as captain and lead the team to victory.

"I suppose I could stop by for a bit", he decided. "Issei is going to be busy with the Student Council for a while before I can help him anyways."

Sakura's face shot up in joy. "Okay! I'm sure the others will be glad to see you, too!"

Shirou simply nodded in agreement. He knew many of the people there, but he really only considered Ayako, Sakura, and on a good day Sakura's brother Shinji, to be his friends. Many of the others, and Shinji too if Shirou was honest about it, were quite upset that he abandoned the club. While almost no one was hostile to him, his leaving, coupled with a new generation of members joining, was slowly making him feel more and more unwelcome.

As they neared the school, Sakura had lost none of the bounce in her step. They went through the front gate before parting ways. Shirou had to take a small detour to put his bag in his locker while Sakura changed into her archery outfit, then doubled back outside to the dojo where the club held its practice.

Shirou liked the dojo. It shared a classical style that reminded him of the one at his home, at least in aesthetic. The scent of the well maintained and polished hardwood floors often lingered, and today was no different; Ayako ran a tight ship.

Shirou stepped inside. Sakura was just finishing putting a glove on as she spoke with Ayako, likely informing her that he would be coming today. He placed his shoes on the rack and stepped into the training area proper. Ayako noticed him come in and greeted him with a big grin and a wave of her hand.

"Oi, Shirou! Finally decided to come crawling back, yeah?", she asked, knowing his answer already.

"Good morning to you too, Ayako", he replied. "Everything going okay with the club?"

"Eh, some of the newbies could use a little more discipline, but that's a problem I can solve. The dojo hasn't changed much since your last visit, so I'd say we're in good shape."

Shirou watched a few of the members take shots down the range. A few hit, a few missed, but only Sakura's hit close to the bullseye, landing just at its edge. Her nearby teammates congratulated her on the great shot, and when she looked Shirou's way he gave her a simple thumbs up rather than try shouting from across the dojo. Sakura received the message clearly and beamed at him.

"She's been working harder than most of the others combined", Ayako said quietly. "She'll be one of our best, almost as good as you, if she sticks to it through graduation."

"She's a surprisingly hard worker", Shirou agreed. "Most people don't realize that with how quiet she is."

Ayako nodded once. "Come on, I'm thirsty, let's grab some tea before I try convincing you to join again."

Shirou cocked an eyebrow at that. "And I'm going to make it, aren't I?" Those who knew of his culinary prowess often thrust him into the position of chef, tea brewer, or whatever other slot need filling at the time.

"Hm? Oh, no, no, no!", Ayako assured him with a laugh and a wave of her hand. She made her way to the wall opposite the entrance. A counter ran along it with many doors, holding some of the equipment needed for the club. Atop it was an electric kettle, already steaming and releasing the distinct aromatic scent of green tea. "Our dojo fairy is here today, so this one is on us."

"Dojo fairy?", Shirou asked incredulously as he followed her. He had heard nothing of this. "Is this some strange new ghost story?"

Ayako chuckled lightly and rolled her eyes. "That's just what I call her in my head now", she explained, gesturing toward the back wall. "Says she likes the atmosphere of a dojo, so she just hangs out here and 'observes' about once a week. Started a few months ago out of the blue. Honestly I thought it was a bit weird at first. She doesn't cause any problems though, so I let her stay in exchange for making the tea - girl makes a killer brew. Not to mention all the guys put in extra effort when she's here… Seriously, if a couple bullseyes was all it took to win a girls heart then you'd be swimming through them in the halls."

Shirou followed her gesture to the back wall. There he saw a familiar girl with long red hair, a past and current classmate he had seen around regularly since middle school. Misuzu Kusakabe was sitting in seiza upon a cushion and held a cup of tea in her hand. She silently regarded the ongoings of the club with a relaxed but distant gaze, as though distracted by other thoughts. So still and quiet was she that Shirou had missed her entirely upon entering.

He knew her to be reserved and distant toward most people, but she was also intelligent, insightful, and she worked well in groups when school demanded it. She was also a bit archaic when it came to her attitude and speech - direct, formal, exceedingly polite, and using an abundant though sometimes odd vocabulary. Many suspected that, because of those traits, she came from an old, wealthy family, but she never talked about it much. She took a sip from her cup, catching Shirou's gaze as she did so.

He made a short, polite bow of greeting from where he was, and she nodded from her position in turn.

"Here's yours", Ayako said, returning Shirou's attention to the tea. "Sugar?"

He took the cup and thanked her, declined the sweetener, and blew on the liquid lightly to help it cool. He took a sip, and was pleasantly surprised to find it was quite good.

Ayako shot him a knowing smile. "Some say it's better than yours", she jibbed.

Shirou tried the drink again, really tasting it. "It's very well made. The only things holding it back are the conditions of preparation and the cheap leaves used."

"Hey!", squaked Ayako, affronted. "The club is on a budget! You start making donations and then you can complain."

Shirou shrugged. He wasn't wrong. "I'm not complaining", he defended. "But the box on the table there says Lipton, and that's just sad, Ayako."

"Yeah… uh-huh", replied Ayako distractedly, looking over his shoulder towards one of her underlings. "I'm sorry", she said, setting her tea aside. "Excuse me while I do my job for a bit." She walked off toward the range, saying something about someone's feet being too close together.

With Ayako occupied and Sakura still taking practice shots, Shirou was suddenly left feeling distinctly isolated with nothing to do in the otherwise busy environment. He quietly sipped at his tea for a while, watching the club put shots down range, making a game of predicting where they would land as soon as they were fired, with incredible accuracy on his part. He grew bored of it quickly and turned to refill his tea cup from the kettle. He was mildly surprised to find the brew master standing right beside it as well, for the same reasons.

"Ah, good morning, Misuzu", he greeted politely.

"Hm", she replied with another nod and a faint smile. "A good morning to you as well, Shirou. The tea is to your liking?"

Shirou nodded before taking another fresh sip of the hot drink, humming lightly in satisfaction. "Ayako gave you wool, but you've spun gold. I'd be hard pressed to match it without a few practice attempts."

Misuzu quirked an eyebrow in appraisal. "You imply that you could, though. Do you brew your own tea regularly, then?"

He nodded in affirmation, a little surprised she hadn't known yet considering their proximity the past few years and his own reputation. "I've been cooking for myself since I was young", Shirou explained. "Most of my meals I make myself, along with handling most of the other housework." He gestured with his cup toward Sakura. "I can't take all the credit though. Sakura is a childhood friend of mine; she visits often and helps with a lot of the work, so she's become quite capable herself."

"You're surprisingly self sufficient for a boy your age", she noted. "Most of the others are busy with games, social circles, and…", she trailed off, her eyes glancing at the entryway of the dojo. Her calm and pleasant expression quickly became a small frown. "…wooing members of the fairer sex", she deadpanned.

Shirou followed her gaze to find Shinji in the entryway. He walked in without taking off his shoes, scuffing the polished floor. The boy had a scowl on his face, and Shirou knew what a Shinji in a bad mood meant for those around him. Shirou's expression became concerned, but before he could decide what to do, Shinji had already begun.

"Hey, you!" Shinji immediately set his sights on a meek looking freshman. The boy startled, and the arrow he was preparing to shoot flew well off course, landing two lanes down near a different target. "What kind of shot do you think that is?", he asked haughtily. "Are you even practicing here or just making an appearance to say you were in a club?" His tirade continued, and Shirou began to frown as well.

"Forgive me, Shirou, I should take my leave", Misuzu said. He could see her mood had only soured further in the short time since Shinji had arrived. "It was nice speaking with you." Her farewell made, she turned to leave as Ayako stepped up to put Shinji back in his place.

Shinji just scowled at her, his frustration rising now that his 'venting' was being denied. He turned away, ignoring her words in favor of finding another outlet. Ayako moved to follow him and continue his scolding, but then stopped in favor of consoling the poor boy who had been unceremoniously chosen as a verbal punching bag. Shinji's warpath led him toward the door to leave, only to be brought up short when he encountered Misuzu doing the same. His mood seemed to brighten immediately as his scowl transformed into what might be described as warm and pleasant smile by those unfamiliar with it. Shirou knew this expression though. It was the wide smile accompanied by a sauve shift in his voice that he used for his shameless womanizing.

"Ah, Misuzu! You stopped by again, I see." He leaned an arm against the door frame, blocking her exit while striking up a conversation. "Were you bored with the average performances today? I'm sorry I wasn't here to show you a better time."

"Remove yourself from my vicinity immediately", she demanded as politely as she could. "I have neither the mood nor the patience to tolerate your routines today." Normally this would be considered a direct assault, merciless and straight for the heart as it was, but she delivered it as a mere warning blow. Shirou saw her hands clench at her sides.

Shinji's facade faltered for an instant, but he wouldn't be deterred so easily. "Routine? Come now, I'm not half as bad as you seem to think. My friend's and I are going out tonight for dinner and a bit of fun around town. Why don't you come with? It'll be my treat", he finished with his best smile.

"Wretch! Cretin! Licentious simpleton!", she declared loudly, pointing at him accusingly. Shirou couldn't see her face, but he assumed it must have been a mixture of outrage and disgust. "You flit around like a hummingbird in a flower garden, constantly seeking your next mark. I've met dogs with more grace and tact. Your intentions are transparent and your advances undesirable. I will not tolerate your presence or debaucherous invitations a second longer!" With a mere flick of her wrist, Shinji's arm was tossed aside with surprising ease, clearing her path to leave.

Shinji, dumbfounded and unexpecting of his forceful removal, stumbled to the side and fell squarely on his rump on the hardwood floor. He watched dumbly as Misuzu made a swift departure, then stared at the door a few moments longer, flabbergasted. His senses finally returned and he stood up before gazing around the room at the many faces staring at him. His expression darkened, but when he set his sights on Shirou it became absolutely fierce. He looked around the room again, frightening a few of the younger members. "And what the hell are you all looking at!", he shouted furiously before storming out the door and slamming it behind him.

Everyone stared at the door for a few moments, before hushed chatter slowly started to spread around the room. Shirou was particularly shocked, as he had never seen Misuzu unleash such an outburst in the years they had been acquainted. Surely there was some greater issue here.

He looked to Ayako, who could only shake her head in exasperation. Sakura was looking at her feet, unsure of how to handle her brother's actions and more than a bit embarrassed by his outburst.

Shirou decided Sakura might have some insight on the situation. He set his tea aside and walked over to her. "Hey, are you alright? What's up between those two?", he asked, both genuinely concerned and curious.

Sakura glanced up at him before frowning and looking back to her feet. "I'm fine", she replied meekly. "Shinji is just… troubled at the moment. He had a disagreement with grandfather. It should only last a few weeks at most, I think." She finished with a faint smile, but Shirou could see it was forced. "As for what happened… This was a confrontation in the making. Ever since Misuzu started showing up Shinji has been… pursuing her", she explained with a blush. "She's been taking things in stride until now and just leaving if it became too much of an issue. I guess today he just went too far."

Shirou was surprised. Shinji was never shy about his advances, and the three of them, Shinji, Misuzu, and himself, shared a classroom. It was odd then that he hadn't seen Shinji trying to make a move during lunch or some other piece of free time.

"Do you think I should try talking to him?", Shirou asked. Usually his friends actions, while a bit unsavory, weren't so disruptive or offensive. If this was going to become an issue, he would do his best to smooth things over now.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea, unless things get worse. Like I said, just give him a few weeks and he should be back to normal."

"Okay, I'll trust you on this one, then", he agreed. "But let me know if it gets out of hand."

She smiled at him again, this time in honest gratitude. "Thank you, Senpai."

It was not long after that Shirou found himself examining his morning project. Issei had invited him to the student council's meeting room to work on a dying space heater, and Shirou had been happy to assist. Shirou's friend was straight-laced, serious, and dedicated. Good qualities to have for his position in the school. He was about Shirou's height with blue hair and glasses that completed his studious look.

"Do you think it can be saved?", asked the bespectacled boy. "The Literature Club was hoping to save some money this year. They have one of the coldest rooms in the school, and this would set that back considerably…" He looked over Shirou's shoulder curiously as he poked around the machine's internal components.

"Well…", Shirou mumbled as he finished his cursory examination of the machine. "They might need to get a new fan for it soon, but I think I can give it a temporary fix with some cleaning and soldering one of these worn out wires. I can't be completely sure yet though."

Issei nodded in satisfaction. "I imagine they'll be glad to hear that. Are you okay to handle this yourself, then? I hate to leave you, but I have to meet with Mr. Kuzuki about this morning's staff meeting."

Shirou began digging out the tools he'd need for the task. "That's fine. You know I prefer to work on this stuff alone anyways. This should be a pretty simple fix, so I'll try to have it finished before classes start."

Issei bowed to his friend. "Thank you, Shirou. You save the day again. Let me know at lunch if there's anything wrong that I can help with."

Shirou waved his friend off with a smile. "It's fine. Anyone with the same skills would do the same."

"Regardless, thank you. I'll be heading out." As Issei was closing the door, he suddenly lurched back and raised an arm in defense. Through the half open door, Shirou could see his expression shift from his normally cool and collected self to one of shock and combativeness. "Y-you!", he stuttered out. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, good morning to you too, Student Council President."

Shirou's ears perked up in recognition. He knew this voice, and he also knew what it meant for his friend. Shirou was convinced that Issei's interactions with the girl, as president and vice-president of their middle school, were solely responsible for Issei's general lack of trust in women. Few people knew of the social shadow war that raged between these two titans of school politics.

On one side, his friend, defending the virtues of kindness, equality, and honesty. A style that promoted a common unity among students. Opposing him, his arch nemesis, Rin Tohsaka, championing the harsh truths of judiciousness, efficiency, and cold pragmatism. A type of leadership that was conducive to competition between the clubs it oversaw, but also showed incredible results in productivity. The two agreed on the rule of law, but their interpretations became tangled, and the two frequently found themselves at odds. On the rare occasion that they saw eye to eye, the results they produced were always golden.

Issei was lucky when Rin had backed down from her position upon entering high school, but now he struggled to save the portion of the student body that was wrapped around her finger. 'Deluded' he would call them. 'A being of lies and deceit' he would describe her as.

Shirou wasn't so sure. He had never seen the girl do anything to harm anybody, and she appeared to be the perfect honor roll student. She was usually happy, friendly, athletic, and often willing to help other students if they had the strength of will to approach her. All things considered, Shirou was inclined to take Issei's warnings with a grain of salt. While the two might not be able to get along with each other, there was no reason to assume Rin was a generally bad person.

"What business do you have here?", demanded an irritated President, instantly put on high alert by the girl's mere presence.

"None", responded the now haughty Rin. "I'm passing by on my way to class, I'll have you know. It's not my fault that your room is right next to the stairs."

"Hmph. I suppose I may have overreacted", he retorted.

"My, what a humble President we have. And you call me the problem student."

Shirou could see Issei's frown deepen from where he sat. A bad start and a worse follow through had him solidly on the losing end of this light altercation. He'd have to bail his friend out on this one and restore peace to the otherwise quiet hall before Rin really riled him up. He already had to deal with one social outburst today, perhaps he could put a lid on this one before it overflowed? He devised a quick, if a tad humiliating, plan as the argument continued.

He walked to the door and began opening it to lean out. "Hey, Issei, do you know where… Oh, hey, Rin", he greeted in mock surprise once he had her in sight.

Her normal tone returned instantly and her bewilderment at his sudden appearance flickered on her face for only a second. "Good morning. How do you do, Shirou?", she answered.

"I'm well, thank you." His eyes flickered between the two of them quickly. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No", Rin responded with a pretty little smile that tugged gently on his heart. "I was just leaving, actually. Have a good day in class, you two." She then made a quick turn on her heel as she headed for the third floor.

As Shirou watched her go, his gaze lingered just long enough for his friend to catch it.

"Stay away from demons, Shirou", Issei warned seriously. "They wear beautiful guises to get close, and the beast within will consume you…"

Shirou gave him a deadpan look.

Issei sighed and shrugged. "Fine, don't believe me. Ignore history. You've always been the type to learn through experience anyways." He took a deep breath to mellow himself. "Did you need something, then?"

Original mission successful, he straightened himself and asked, "Did you see my screwdriver?"

"It's in your left hand, if I'm not mistaken…"

Shirou looked at the hand. "Oh. Thank you." The situation made him look the fool, but it was all he could come up with in the limited time. "Sorry to hold you up."

"It is no problem. Good luck in your endeavor." Issei walked away, leaving Shirou to his devices.

With the crisis averted and peace restored, Shirou shut the door and turned back to his task. There was a reason he almost always handled these projects alone. He sat beside the partially dismantled machine and laid his hands upon it.

The reinforcement techniques he had been practicing last night were of a level of thaumaturgy that pushed his limits as a magus. It required a level of mana manipulation that he was only recently starting to get a hang of. His practice was slow going without a proper instructor, and with that in mind he was quite pleased with any progress at all. What he would do now was much easier for him.

Structural analysis it was called, an offshoot of his reinforcement abilities. One of the only two mysteries his late adoptive father had instructed him in. It came to him quite naturally and although, as his father had said, it was a pretty pointless and limited ability, he had made it his own and put it to work helping him in his tinkering. With this ability he could sense the structure and material composition of an object, allowing him a greater familiarity and understanding of an object than someone holding a blueprint of it in its current state.

He examined the machine in this way, going over all the internal pieces that made the machine tic and searching for any problems. His visual analysis had been mostly right. The fan was nearing its end, he needed to do some cleaning, and he found an extra electrical connection that needed a touch up that he had missed. Simple work for one who knew what he was doing.

Having finished his work, he headed to his classroom for homeroom roll call. He was actually just a bit late, the bell finishing its chimes as he opened the door to the room.

Luckily, his homeroom teacher was none other than the same Taiga Fujimura who had 'pranked' him that morning at breakfast. While she was a good person who truly enjoyed her work, she was often a bit of a lazy airhead, meaning that she was usually rushing to make it to class on time.

Today was no exception, and as Shirou took his seat the door leapt open to reveal a slightly disheveled Taiga. She was carrying slightly more baggage than usual, Shirou noted. She shook off her previous demeanor and entered her teacher mode, something normally reserved for when she had begun he actual teaching in class.

"Good morning, everyone~! I trust you all had a good weekend? I have something a bit special today so let's hurry through roll call this morning." Whispers broke out around the room while she quickly started going through the list of students. As names were called, replies of 'here' cut above the chatter.

Though he hadn't noticed until that point, Shirou was not surprised when Shinji didn't respond to his name being called. The boy had an ego that the school could barely contain, and with the humiliation he had experienced earlier in the dojo, it was no wonder he had skipped out on class.

What was surprising was when the crimson assailant herself was also absent.

"Misuzu?", Taiga asked the air and looked around the room. "Misuzu Kusakabe?" She frowned to herself before marking the 'absent' box on sheet, the first time in her memory that she had done so for the girl. She completed her check in and looked at the room again. Her tone became a bit more serious, which was about as serious as Taiga could be in a normal situation. "Okay, everyone! I know it's not time for my English class yet, but since I'm your homeroom teacher you guys will get a little more notice than some of the other classes today. No one's going to be happy about this but you were warned from the start of the semester."

The class was silent for a moment before it clicked. A quiet groan could be heard to rise throughout the room.

"Now now it's not that bad", she reassured, waving her hand as though to dispel the foul mood. She shifted into business mode again as she began her explanation. "As a reminder to anyone who may have forgotten, we have a group project this semester. According to new educational standards, you need to do enough of these by the time you graduate", she explained with a slight grimace. "Something about a business oriented world and interpersonal skills… It has fallen upon yours truly to handle one of these this semester." She walked down the rows handing out papers to each student.

"You'll be in pairs or groups of three for this. If you do a group of three, I expect a little more effort, which is explained in the paper I'm handing out. To make things a bit easier, you have options on exactly how you want to do your project, so pick a medium that suits your strengths. This is worth a significant portion of your grade this semester so don't slack off on it", she said in a warning tone. She completed handing out the papers. Returning to the podium, she looked at her class expectantly. When nothing happened she frowned slightly. "What are you all waiting for, hm? Pick your groups!"

Shirou looked over the paper as the class sought out their friends, hoping to get grouped with people they knew best. He wasn't concerned about the pairings; he got along with basically everyone so he'd just group with whoever was left at the end. The assignment seemed to be a fairly straightforward class presentation about one of the stories they'd read in class that year. They could choose to do a poster outlining the story, a slideshow presentation, or a short skit acting out a scene, each with its own set of rules and grading criteria.

He finished reading through the paper and looked up to see who was left or otherwise willing to partner with him.

"Alright, everyone got a group?", Taiga asked cheerily. "Let me write down who is with who."

Shirou was about to object but realised Shinji was absent. The two hadn't exactly been on the best of terms lately but the boy would need a partner. While Shirou noticed a few of Shinji's friends in two-man groups that might be willing to pick him up, he knew from experience that Shinji was, frankly, a terrible person to be partnered with. Shirou didn't mind though. It meant a little extra work for him, but he'd be able to help pull up the boys struggling English grade up, which he felt was a good thing. With that in mind, he waited for Taiga to finish scribbling down the other groups.

"And lastly Ryo and Akihiko", she concluded. "Okay, did I miss anybody?"

Shirou raised his hand. "Taiga, I…" He was cut off by the death glare he received from his teacher. "S-sorry", he apologized, trying to laugh it off lightly. He would occasionally forget that they were in school, where he had to watch how he addressed her. The threat of her old Kendo shinai popped in his head, and he suppressed a shudder of fear. "Ms. Fujimura, I haven't gotten a partner yet, I wondering if…", he was stopped short again as the classroom door slid open.

"Pardon me, Ms. Fujimura. I apologize for my tardiness. I had some issues this morning, and I was late because of it. Forgive me."

And in walked Misuzu, apologetically bowing to Ms. Fujimura.

"Ah no!", exclaimed Taiga happily. "You're timing is perfect. Shirou, you didn't have a partner, right?"

"Ah, yeah, that's correct", he answered, already seeing what was coming.

"Perfect! Then you two can be partners. I have high expectations from two A students, though." She wrote down their names and handed the girl a sheet of instructions.

Misuzu bowed to Shirou. "I look forward to working with you." She then took her seat, two rows over from his own.

"That just leaves Shinji", Taiga announced. "Would anyone like to add Mr. Matou to their group?"

The silence was palpable.

Taiga looked about the room, and when no one replied, she made eye contact with Shirou, knowing he was one of the only students who could put up with the boy.

Realizing what Taiga was intending, his eyes widened in horror. He slowly shook his head so that, hopefully, only she would notice. He couldn't let both Misuzu and Shinji end up in the same group after that morning's conflict; the results would be catastrophic. Shinji would have to fend for himself.

Taiga, misunderstanding why he didn't want Shinji in the group, smiled wryly at him. "Well, we'll figure that out when he's back, I suppose." The bell rang at that point, signaling the end of the homeroom period. As Taiga left, she left the class with of last piece of information. "During my class later I'll be answering questions, assigning which stories you will be using, and giving you all some class time to get started and brainstorm with your partners. I'll see you all in a few hours!"

A/N: Welcome back, everyone. I hope you liked the chapter! I know not a lot happened this time but I felt it was an important basic setup chapter and it gave me some practice writing with the characters before we reach some of the meatier chapters. It also let me think about some of the relationships that the characters have in deeper detail which is going to be important further down the road.

I felt compelled to establish a baseline relationship between Shirou and Misuzu early on rather than force it along the way like I did last time, since I still intend to have them working together. Shirou and Rin got along well enough through a mixture of Rin's overbearing and frankly manipulative personality and Shirou's ability to go 'yeah, sure' and roll with it for most things. In the 11eyes VN, the whole main cast ends up working together mostly from the circumstance of finding themselves facing the same challenges. I figure I can do something similar here, and since they both have such strong beliefs regarding protecting others (though for different reasons) their partnership should bloom naturally from there. I hope. We'll see. I try really hard.

It has been, sadly, about three months since the prologue chapter. I hope to upload a bit faster than that in the future. I had a lot of distractions the past couple of months, including reading the 11eyes VN for the first time. Thank you very much to the guest user who pointed me in the right direction - being able to read that is going to help this story so much that I can't even thesaurus up a good word for it. Like most VNs, the anime did not do it proper justice.

Lastly, questions about the story from last chapter's reviews. Please leave a review if you have questions, comments, or concerns for next time, or if you just want to show your support! Have a good day everybody!

Stop here if you don't want any spoilers from the Q/A section.

Q: Will I be working with more 11eyes characters?

A: Absolutely, but not for the foreseeable future unless I do decide to include a few in the background of the Grail War, which, honestly, is rather likely.

Q: Misuzu seemed underpowered in the original fic. How strong is she going to be?

A: Well I would like to answer "Wait and see, haha!", but if you're really that interested in knowing my thoughts - Yeah, she can probably hold off or even beat some of the weaker servants if she plays her cards right. I didn't think that in the original fic because I hadn't read the VN yet. Girl has more tricks than a circus…

Q: Will Liselotte make an appearance?

A: Short version: Yes. Longer version (Maybe a bit bigger of a spoiler idk?): If you haven't read between the lines yet, the story will ultimately be separated into a large Grail War arc followed by the 11eyes arc. If I feel like it, there might be another, shorter, original arc in the middle for me to have some fun with, we'll see. Liselotte will not be touched upon until the 11eyes arc unless I have a major change of heart on what I want to do with this story.