A/N: This chapter was rushed out without a good proofread, so expect some errors . I'll try to fix them ASAP. Let me know if there are any errors I haven't caught.

A place which I'm not familiar with.

This is just a dream. My dream. But where am I? I can't move my body. I can only watch the scene that's in front of me.

A man runs towards a castle. He looks just like Caster. There he sees a woman with red hair… She looks just like Lancer. She's holding a red spear. As the man comes closer, she hands him the spear.

"Perhaps… I wanted to be killed at your hands." She says in a serene voice, like a prayer. She gives the man a smile.

"I give up. Better die before that happens." She gives out a hearty laugh in the castle's gardens. The man seems sad though, judging by the look of his face.

"If only you were born a little earlier... Young, still young... Sorry. Somehow, it seems I got sidetracked a lot."

The man replies to her.

"Were you training me just for me to kill you? Why?"

"When you live as long as I do, you get bored of life you know? Seeing people that I'm close to die while I'm stuck living hurts. But eventually I got used to it. All the times I tried killing myself didn't work, so it's not your fault that you can't kill me. Some kind of gift immortality is."

She gives out another laugh as the man looks down, feeling helpless. The man laments the fact that he can't fulfill the single request of his teacher: to end her life.

I wake up.

"Agh… "

I glance at the clock. There's still around an hour or so till I usually prepare for school. Scanning the room, I see Lancer is still sleeping. Her arm is wrapped around my chest. This is awkward…She must've moved around a bit in her sleep. What did I see in my dream? There was a blue and red haired person. What interests me the most is that red spear… It looks just like Lancer's, yet different. Perhaps… I should try projecting it?

I slowly get Lancer's arms off of me, tiptoe across the room, and slowly head my way towards the shed. I walk towards the end of the wall and lay my back against it. As long as I follow what I did last night with Lancer with my circuits, I should be good when projecting the spear.

"Trace, on."

I turn my circuits on. I do my best to remember the dream. In order to project it, I need to make the spear anew using my own mana. This is what I have to do.

"Ha…"

I breath in. This is harder than I thought it'd be. I could project things I've seen...but from a dream? I can't do this. But I won't give up just yet. I do my best to remember the scene. The woman who gave the man the spear. I look at it. It's crimson colored. This must've taken many lives. Something which is like veins or thorns run through it. To use such a spear, one must be fit enough to wield it. I don't think I can use this.

I grasp the imaginary handle of the weapon that has yet to exist with both hands. The weight is great. I cannot handle this weapon. Perhaps I could though? I bring out the weapon from my dream into reality.

It appears in my hand. My projection was successful, but only barely. In this state, it'll probably shatter if I tried to hit anything with it like when I fought Berserker. For this spear, its weight is definitely difficult to hold. I attempt to stand up while holding the spear, but I can't lift it up. This spear is really too heavy for me. Or perhaps I'm doing something wrong. I use the spear to hold myself up and slowly lift it up the ground. I manage to carry the spear. I take up a stance I don't know of. This is much better. I can stand and use this spear now.

This spear is named...

I hear footsteps. I need to destroy this spear before anyone sees me. I instinctively take the spear, and break it over my right knee. It shatters in half, before disappearing. I see Lancer.

"Emiya? What are you doing here early this morning?"

What do I say to Lancer? That I was playing with a long red spear that I projected? That sounds wrong out of context. Plus, I don't think she'll react kindly to my projection attempt.

"I was just practicing my magic."

Lancer closes her eyes and smile at me. "I see… Are you sure this isn't an excuse for something else, Emiya? I know you're a healthy young boy. No need to hide it. If you need privacy, just ask."

"No, I didn't mean that! I really practiced magic earlier. I woke up early, so I decided to practice magic and exercise. It's nothing to be worry about."

"You're acting awfully defensive."

Lancer continues to keep her eyes closed. She really likes messing with me. I don't think I can continue to argue with her. Nor do I think I can win any arguments.

"Can you please leave me alone for now, Lancer? I can't concentrate. Thanks."

Lancer snickers.

"Okay. I'll leave you alone for now. Next time, wake me up and let me know if you're doing something. We don't want any surprise attacks to happen to you again, do we?"

Lancer leaves the shed. I take a deep breath. I wait till I can't hear her footsteps anymore. Since I'm still up, I might as well practice, both my magical and physical skills before I go to school. That was close though. Lancer almost caught me with that red spear. Now, if I can project that spear, perhaps I could project Archer's swords?

I glance at the clock. I still have time to prepare for school. I turn on the T.V.

"Breaking news: There has been reports that the count of missing persons are increasing."

For the past few months, the news been saying that there's been disappearance of people. I really want to do something about it, but I don't know what to do. With no clues at all, the police are stuck and can't stop whoever is doing this. I wonder if there's a murderer or something here in Fuyuki who's hiding the bodies? I can't get upset over this. At least our school is doing something about the murders. Recently, they're starting to let students go home earlier. After the incident of a student who was walking home and disappeared, we've really ramped our security at our school. Somehow Lancer bypassed all of that and became a teacher at my school.

I heard the bathroom shower turned on. Is she taking a shower? I still need to make breakfast for us, but I can start that later. My curiosity gets to me. I slowly walk my way to the bathroom room and put my ear to it. She's humming a pleasant tune while the shower is on. As much as I'd like to listen to her humming, I should go cook soon. As I take a step away from the door-

"I know you're there, Emiya."

I stop in my tracks. I look at the door, and there seems to be something carved on there. Did she place a rune? Seems like it.

"Are you trying to enter the bathroom while I take a shower? I knew it. Sorry, but I won't allow it. That's why I set a rune on the door. It allows me to view whoever is around the door. Anyways, you should be cooking for us you know. Unless you want me to give you more homework."

I do not want to get on her bad side. I take a step forward but I fall down. Ugh, this is embarrassing. I hear Lancer's giggle.

"Did the blood from your legs go to somewhere else, hmmm?"

Not. Funny. I stand up and dust myself. The door rings, and I went to open it. It's Sakura.

"Hey Sakura."

"Hello Senpai. Where's your guest? "

"She's taking a shower right now. I guess you heard, huh? "

"That she's a teacher at our school? Yes. It went around the whole school. And they said she talked to a orange-haired student? It's you, isn't it?"

I didn't expect all of that from Sakura. But she's not wrong.

"Yeah. While we're still talking, mind helping me make breakfast? I'm kinda out of focus for today…"

"Sure."

And so Sakura and I prepared breakfast. Lancer was already out of the shower, with a towel wrapped around her head. She looks dressed for school already. Her outfit is similar to yesterday's, except this time she isn't wearing a coat. She wears a white long sleeved button up shirt with all the buttons closed. That shirt is tucked into her skirt, which length is between her knees and thighs. She's also wearing sheer leggings.

"Thanks for the breakfast." Lancer says to me.

"I guess you'll be teaching again today?"

I ask Lancer.

"Yeah, like I said before, I'll be at school again. Though, I would love to explore the school grounds a bit more. Perhaps I'll visit your other classes too?"

Please no. Don't do that Lancer. I'd rather keep the little sanity I have left, thank you.

"Shishou?"

Sakura gets Lancer's attention.

"What's with yesterday? I heard rumors about you talking to Shirou after class."

"Oh? I just wanted to let Shirou know that I'll be subbing for Taiga."

"And Taiga is okay with that?"

"Yup."

Sakura stops for a moment, taking this all in. She smiles.

"Okay, thanks for answering my questions."

Lancer nods at Sakura. The food is getting colder each second. We better start eating.

"Let's eat."

"Go ahead, Emiya. I'll be there before the bell rings."

Lancer said that to me so Sakura and I went ahead. The walk to school didn't take that long.

"Senpai? How do you deal with another person in your home?

"I'm pretty used to living by myself. So having another guest isn't all that bad. She can take care of herself just fine so more or less, I don't have to help her out with anything that much. "

"I see…" I wave to Sakura as we split up on the school grounds. I see Issei walk towards me.

"Yo."

"Hey Issei." I wave at him.

"Could you help out with something? We have a few broken appliances which needs fixing. As far as things go, I've been busy recently so I wasn't able to ask you earlier this week."

I nod. I'm used to fixing everything at my school and I don't ask for anything in return. Issei and I walked to the student body room, where I fix the broken appliances.

"Hey...Shirou?"

"Hm?"

I don't take my eyes off of what I'm fixing, but I'm all ears.

"So I saw the new substitute we have…"

Oh no. I have an idea of what Issei is going to ask me about.

"Shirou, what's your association with that woman?"

I drop my tool. I knew I was going to be asked that question from Issei, but I really don't know how to answer him.

"You could say I knew her a while back..."

"You know women, Shirou?"

"Yeah."

"There's just something different about her. I don't think you can trust her."

What does he mean by that? Can he sense that Lancer is a Servant? I know Issei doesn't get along with Rin, let alone any female student, but still…

"I'm not sure I get what you're saying."

"Women are scary, Shirou. You can look at Rin. Under that personality of her, she's a wrathful person. And I feel the same way with the substitute teacher. I think you should get away from her."

By sheer coincidence, I just notice Lancer standing at the doorway. Was she listening to our conversation about her?

"Emiya Shirou. Please leave the room for a bit. I'd like to talk to your friend."

I quickly stand up and speed out of the room. Lancer closes the door. I don't think it's a good idea for me to eavesdrop on them. I'll just take a quick walk around this part of the hallways… As I head back to the room, I see Lancer outside. I enter the room, Issei's face looks drained.

"Forget what I said about that substitute, Shirou. Just forget it."

Did Lancer scare Issei? I wouldn't want to know what she said to him if he's this afraid. The bell is about to ring, so I better head to my first period class.

It's first period. We're working on an assignment in class, with Lancer at her desk to observe us. I tap my pencil on the desk, thinking about what I did this morning in the shed. That spear… The shape of it is similar to Lancer's spear. But what does this mean? As if Lancer notices that something is wrong in my mind, she goes in front of my desk.

"Are you okay, Emiya? You seem out of it."

Lancer walks over to my desk and bends over in front of me, as we're now eye to eye. I can feel the stares of my classmates around me, piercing me as if there are daggers plunging into me right now, waiting for my response. My female classmates look at me with judgment in their eyes, weighing if my life is worth keeping safe from the wrath of the opposite gender who look at me with hateful jealousy.

Her crimson eyes meet with my golden eyes. My heart beats faster and faster. I smell a feminine scent. She seems to be using perfume. When did she bought perfume, yesterday? Her hair is still a bit wet, and it's not only her perfume I can smell. Her hair has a nice smell to it too. My mind's going crazy with her near me right now. The person in front of me isn't the Lancer I know of, she's someone else.

"Are you sick? Your cheeks are turning red. Need to go to the office?"

She breaks my gaze.

"It's nothing, Shishou. I apologize for wasting your time."

Lancer looks unamused.

"If you say so. You haven't done work at all for the past thirty minutes."

I glance at my paper. Aside from my name, date, and period, I haven't written anything down. Time passes by fast indeed.

"I'm sorry… I'll get to work. I'm just tired."

"Alright, if you need anything then just ask."

I move my pencil and start writing on my paper. Lancer goes back to her desk, and I no longer feel any stares going in my direction. I take a few deep breaths. I shouldn't act embarrassed around her when I already know how Lancer is like. I think I should show that I appreciation her. I know what to say. I'll have to find a good time to get back at her, but it might go something like...

"Oh, Lancer?"

"Hm?"

"Back when you asked if I was okay at school… I was thinking you scent is really nice."

Lancer's cheeks redden. "Get back to work, Emiya."

The rest of the day was a blur to me. As my mind wandered throughout the day, I couldn't really pay attention to my classes. Rin asked me between passing periods to meet her on the roof, so I head over there.

"There you are."

"What is it this time, Rin?" I get straight to the point.

"Well. I've been thinking yesterday... "

The only thing that comes to my mind is something related to the war.

"Since Archer is injured, I'll need to wait for him to fully heal before I can really do anything. So I was thinking, would you want to form an alliance with me?"

I knew it. I was considering asking her instead of the other way around, but I thought she wouldn't accept it.

"Yeah. An alliance sounds good. I'll be sure to tell Lancer about it later."

We both shake each other hands. Though...perhaps there's something I should ask about her.

"Will you be sleeping at my house, Rin?"

"Oh? Why do you ask, Shirou? Do you need to know if I might interrupt something between you and Lancer? I didn't know you're into older woman. I always thought you were into Issei. I mean, you both eat lunch together every single day in the student body room. And don't you make lunch for him too?"

Rin giggles at me. Wait a sec, me and Issei…?

"What? What about about me and Issei?"

"How should I put this... A lot of girls at our school seem to pair you up with him."

Oh. Is it possible that Issei is really…?

"Tohsaka. Whatever you heard from those students is a lie. Issei and I are just friends."

"Hmm? But Issei only gets flustered around you, Shirou. Whenever any other girl tries to talk to him, he just acts indifferent."

Okay, that is strange. Rin is getting me curious about Issei too. Perhaps I should ask him about what he thinks of me? Man, Rin's getting to me now!

"Oh? Are you thinking about Issei right now?"

"Yes I am-wait..."

I facepalm. Rin snickers at me. She's just like Lancer. But Lancer is worse than her. Much much worse. "Well, just wait for me after school. I'll walk with you to your home today."

I enter my Chemistry class. I don't see anyone else around besides my teacher so I must be early. That's strange, why is Lancer here?

"Hello Hyde. I believe you're also a substitute teacher here?"

"Yes I am. I believe you're called Shishou?"

Lancer nods. She then looks at my direction. Currently I'm sitting down at the corner of the room.

"Ah… I see you have my student, Emiya Shirou."

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

"Yes. We were looking at the periodic table yesterday and he was fascinated by it. Especially all the metals on there. "

I can't believe what I'm hearing. I lowered my head and hide myself from Lancer. Footsteps approaches me. With no choice, I look upwards. It's Lancer.

"Hmm? Emiya, are you focusing more in Science than you are in Math? Don't tell me that you're failing Math because you have a metal fetish."

"But I don't!"

"That's not what I'm hearing from your teacher."

Lancer crosses her arms.

"To think that you'd be distracted…by metals of all things! Not even by Rin, Sakura, Issei, or Taiga!"

Hey now. Don't include Issei and especially Taiga into this. The bell rings, and the hallways are noisy now.

"Hmph. See you later, Emiya."

Lancer walks off to her class. My teacher walks over to me.

"Well, Emiya."

He's right in front of me.

"Seems like one of your teachers has an interest in you. It must be hard to deal with her, huh? If there's one thing I learned… It's that you should never get between that which a woman wants and the woman who wants it."

Just on the edge of my right eye, I see that Lancer is still on the doorway.

"Hyde, you said something?"

Lancer says to my teacher. With that tone of hers, it sounds like she would kill my teacher. In an instant, my teacher shudders.

"No, nothing..."

"Good~"

My Chemistry teacher and I exchange a brief glance as Lancer then leaves, and then we both sigh. It seems no one can escape Lancer's hold...

Issei asked me to stay after school again. Last time that happened I got killed by some hooded guy called Caster and ended up summoning Lancer. But this time, Lancer is with me. I'm sure I won't be killed by any Servants again.

"Hey, Lancer?"

"Hm?"

"Just to let you know… I accepted an alliance with Rin. You know, Master of Archer?"

Lancer nods at me.

"I see… Will she be staying at your home?"

"I'm not sure yet. Though I think she'll be waiting for me."

As if on cue, Rin walks towards us, with her servant Archer materialized.

"Tohsaka?"

"There's a reason why I told you to wait for me after school. You're staying after school to fix the equipment again, aren't you?"

I place my tools to the side.

"Yeah. I can't say no. Who else is going to fix them?"

"I know you do your best to help people but you have to say no sometimes. Eventually, someone who you would help wouldn't be kind to you. They might betray you, and you won't be able to do anything."

Rin has a point. I know my ideal is impossible to achieve. But I know that even though it's possible, I can't give up. This is what Kiritsugu wanted me to be, a Hero of Justice.

"I know, Rin. But I can't stand just doing nothing. If I can help anyone, I will do so with no hesitation."

Rin sighs. Lancer and Archer were quiet. Did something happened between them? Archer breaks the silence.

"What kind of person accepts anyone's help, even if you don't know them? That's asking for something bad to happen to you."

"There's nothing wrong with that, Archer. Right, Lancer? " I say in response.

Lancer is in deep thought. If she's trying to think of what exact words to say, she puts her index finger on her chin.

"If you think it's the right thing to do, then it's not wrong, isn't it? Though people's perception of what's exactly is the right thing to do is different, as long you believe it's the correct choice to do, then you're not wrong."

"Even if you do what you think is right, if what you encounter at the end of your journey you find out what you believed in is wrong, then it's all for nothing. Emiya Shirou shouldn't be doing these things."

Archer crosses his arms. What's with his responses? It angers me. He's wrong. There's nothing wrong with what I think is right for me. This is what I want to do, and he's stomping all over it. I don't like it. I decide to respond to Archer.

"What do you know Archer?"

"A lot more than you think I do."

Rin is getting visibly angry. She sighs.

"Archer and I will wait outside for you, Shirou. Looks like you can't really focus with me or Archer around."

Archer turns into spirit form as Rin leaves the room. Only Lancer and I are in the room now. Lancer faces the floor and sighs.

I finally finished fixing all the appliances. I place all of them at the corner of the room. Hopefully I won't have to fix them again while this war is going on. Lancer asked me if I needed help, but I declined. I can do this myself. Lancer looks troubled.

"Is something wrong, Lancer?"

"Don't worry about it."

We both walk outside and see Rin. Archer isn't there.

"Hey, where's Archer?" I ask.

"He's in spirit form right now. I apologize on my servant's behalf. The way he spoke out to you was rude."

"Well, it's fine now. Let's go."

We all walk. Lancer and I are walking shoulder to shoulder, while Rin is slightly behind us.

"If you don't mind if I ask again. Why can't Lancer turn into spirit form, Shirou?"

Rin asks a question which was a repeat of that night. While Archer is able to disappear, Lancer cannot. Her question is also in my mind. But that's the least of my concerns right now. I need to figure out how I can go through this war with the least amount of civilian killed in the crossfire.

"I have no idea Rin. Didn't Lancer said that she's not getting enough mana to be able to turn into spirit form?"

"That's correct, Emiya." Lancer speaks out. "Due to the lack of magical energy I'm receiving, I can't turn into spirit form. After all, you did summon me under conditions which weren't ideal, no?"

Lancer has a point. Instead of being what a normal summoning would be without any inferences, I summoned her while I was being attacked by a Servant. So something must've been wrong during that time. As I wasn't intending on summoning her, if anything at all, there could be something wrong with our connection.

"Well, when you fixed my body, does that make our connection better, Lancer?'

"Yes. I can feel much more mana flowing between us now, compared to back then when you still did your old way of using your circuits."

Rin takes an interest to her statement.

"What happened with Shirou and his circuits?"

"Get this. He tried to create a new magic circuit each time he did magic by converting parts of his nerves for the past ten years."

Why did you have to tell her, Lancer? I take a long look at Rin's face as we walk out the school's gate… She looks disappointed.

"Shirou… The fact that you even managed to survive ten years doing something so stupid that you didn't even know about surprises me."

"My teacher never told me I was doing it wrong... " I say to her.

"I see… Well, at least it's not your fault. Just mostly."

Way to be nice to me, Rin.

"Anyways, do you need me to teach you, Shirou? If we're in an alliance, the least I can do is help you out."

To have Rin's help, huh? While her help is nice, I don't think it's needed. Lancer is already teaching me and I've advanced more than where I was previously at.

"I think I'm good, Rin. Lancer's already teaching me magic."

"Oh? Your Servant knows magic as well, Shirou? Perhaps I've underestimated her."

With Lancer being mentioned, she speaks out.

"Even though I'm a warrior, you could say that I dabbled in magic as well. I'm summoned as a Lancer, but I also fit the Caster class as well."

"That's interesting. I don't know much about heroic servants who could multiple class requirements, though those who do are talented. A Lancer who could also fit the Caster class as well. I definitely would be okay with having you as my Servant. But Shirou needs you more than I do, if he can't even get the basics of magecraft down."

I'm right here you know. And Archer's here too. I wonder how he feels about this?

"Okay Rin, you can stop making fun of me now."

"Sorry Shirou. It's just too fun."

She really is devious. I remember back to our previous conversation while on the rooftop. That's right, I still have to ask her. She might've changed her mind.

"Are you planning to stay over?"

"To answer your question… I'll be staying over starting tomorrow. I'd need to pack up my things after all. But for today, I can just visit your house and walk home with Archer."

I better prepare my home then...And this time, tell Sakura and Taiga in advance. Perhaps they won't act surprised like they did when they find out about Lancer. Though explaining that a school idol is staying over at my house is going to be difficult to explain.

"Okay, I'll prepare the rooms for you then."

Lancer was quiet throughout our conversation, only saying something when she's called out.

"Something wrong, Lancer?"

"No. I just don't think I should say anything right now. This alliance is new after all."

Ah, so she's still watching out if Rin will do anything to me. I don't think she will. Rin won't do anything like that.

"You don't need to worry about Rin, Lancer. I know she won't do anything bad."

She accepts my answer quietly. As I look ahead of us however, I stop. There's someone near us who I feel uneasy around. A man with gold hair and red eyes.