Chapter 60

"Shirooouuuuuu."

The tiger stalked the empty hallways, ready to pounce the moment it spotted it's prey. Yet no matter how loudly it growled, her prey never appeared, even after it went through each and every room in the residence, including the miniature dojo and the shed that he loved to sleep in.

"SHIIIIRRROOOOUUUUUU!"

Sakura bolted through the door when she heard the tiger roar, rushing in to see what was going on, and if her Senpai was in danger of being mauled by one hungry tiger.

On the other side of Miyama Town, Shirou woke up with the sensation of something warm pressed to his side. The diffused sunlight coming through the paper screen walls perfectly illuminated the growing blush on his face as he realized that there was an attractive female pressed against him in a vulnerable position, and the physical reactions in his lower body when he woke up weren't helping either. To make matters worse, the dress Caster had lent her was a tad too small, only going up to her mid upper thighs, while the dress was slipping off one shoulder as well.

"Ahhh, she smells nice."

The stray thought entered his head as he accidentally took a whiff of the smell coming from her luxurious golden hair, let down when she went to bed. In the position they were currently in, her hair was splayed across his right arm and shoulder as her head rested close to his chest, just slightly below his right shoulder. His chin could touch the top of her head if he tried to look downwards, and her right leg was resting across his own legs diagonally, while her right arm was also draped across his stomach, her fingers tickling the elbow of his left arm.

As Shirou struggled to think of a way to extricate himself out of this awkward position before any of the monks or Kuzuki and Caster found him, his mind turned to how stubborn she had been last night to sleep next to him.

"Master, I won't be able to protect you if I sleep too far away from you."

Saber knelt on the ground in the clothes Caster had lent her, obstinately blocking Shirou from picking up her futon and moving it somewhere further away.

"Look, I understand that you're trying to protect me, but we're already under Caster's protection, so there's no need to sleep so close to me."

Of course, there was also the fact that he just couldn't sleep in peace next to a girl like Saber. He was desperately trying to keep his blush from showing on his face, but a small hint of red still leaked through, although Saber was unable to pick up on the hint.

"There's still a chance that an enemy could break through or sneak in, and when that happens I need to be as close to you as possible to protect you."

Saber was unwilling to budge, especially since her insufficient mana supply drastically weakened her, which forced her to stay next to Shirou in order to receive as much mana as she could while also conserving the mana needed to travel to his side and react to any sudden surprise attacks.

"You can just sleep next door. Hang on, I'll go ask Souichirou-sensei about it."

Heading into the chilly night, he closed the shoji behind him, before he realized he had no idea where sensei was. Shouting for him seemed to be impolite to do, since most of the monks were asleep, and it didn't seem right to trouble the monks by waking them up, so he could only search the rooms one by one to see where he was.

Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Caster rushing from one building to a room close to theirs, carrying a long white object in her hands. Thinking he'd be able to ask her about the rooms, he followed her to the room.

Caster opened the door and shut it behind her, with shuffling noises coming from inside as Shirou approached it. Just as he was about to knock on the door, he heard Caster speak in a serious tone.

"Please lie down on the futon."

After that, he heard the sound of the futons fabric being crinkled as someone laid on top of it, the rustling of the skin and fabric reaching him in the quiet grounds of the temple. His fist stopped, and then lowered, the unknown situation inside the room causing him to hesitate.

A few moments later, a brilliant glow lit up the shoji and walls, a warm light seeping through as shadows danced against the walls, turning it into something like a shadow puppet show.

"Ngh."

Upon hearing sensei's grunt of pain, Shirou almost threw open the doors, but then he heard the sound of a metallic object clattering onto the tatami mats, as well as Caster whimpering while she apologized. But he managed to display a rare show of restraint, instead exercising caution as he slowly cracked the door open by an inch and peeked into the room.

What he saw was the golden scabbard, the sheath they had called Avalon earlier lying on the ground, as well as a scalpel near the stump of-a stump!?

Taking a second glance at sensei's left arm, he realized that it was actually severed from the elbow downwards, and it was a fairly recent injury as well, judging by the state it was in.

A scalpel lay close to the stump, while Caster's wrist was gripped by Kuzuki as he stared into Caster's eyes.

…

Shirou slowly and silently closed the doors, making sure not to alert them to his presence, then carefully made his way back to their room.

"Master, I am-"

"Let's go to sleep Saber."

Saber mouth opened slightly at him agreeing so readily, before she slipped into the futon next to him, leaving a space of one body between them.

"Then, goodnight Master."

"Ah, you can also call me Shirou. Master is a bit, ah, uncomfortable for me."

Saber mulled on it for a while.

"Goodnight, Shirou."

"Goodnight Saber."

With that, she went to sleep almost immediately, and Shirou passed out almost instantly as well from the exhaustion of the day's events crashing down on him.

Which led to the two of them entangled together in the morning. Seriously, how had she gotten here? She didn't seem to be the type to roll around in her sleep at all, but in any case he was in a bad spot. How should he get her off without waking her up?

*shak*

"Emiya-san, are you-ah, I'll come back later."

Caster averted her eyes when she saw Saber in a state of undress clinging to Shirou, quickly dashing away after she shut the door, amazed at how far their Master and Servant had come in a single night.

"H-Hey! Come back, don't misunderstand this!"

Back at the Emiya Residence, Sakura mentally contacted Rider to search for her senpai, while Taiga got on the phone with her father.

"Yeah, he's missing, and there's fricking holes and blood on the floor and walls! Something must have happened here, so tell the boys to get their asses out there and start canvassing the neighbourhood for him pops!"

She stuffed the phone into her pocket after hanging up and grabbed her beloved wooden shinai that had beaten countless opponents, the tiger charm glinting ominously under the sunlight.

"Grrrrr, I'll make whoever hurt you regret it, Shirou."

A dark smile graced her face as she jumped on the scooter and went to search on her own.

Meanwhile, Sakura stood in the kitchen with an empty, lifeless face, her eyes directed at the spot that her senpai would always be when making breakfast with her.

"Senpai…"

Within her, the worms squirmed as they fed off her despair and fear.