Chapter 139

The sun had already set by the time they reached the safehouse, the windows dusty and unlit from the outside. It looked the place had been abandoned for quite a while, with wild grass growing around the estate and weeds springing up in great numbers. Vines wrapped some the walls, some sections completely obscure by the leafy growth, and the roof was in a state of disrepair as well, the open air veranda missing several parts of the safety fence that encircled it, most of the paint having flaked away to let the iron within rust.

Rin could tell that the architecture was distinctly Western, just like her own house, but beyond that there wasn't really anything to make it stand out besides its sorry state of disrepair. Still, it did fit the description they had given her of the first safehouse, and the directions had led her here. There was only one way to find out whether this was the right place, and whether they were here or not.

Pressing her hand against the stone pillar that flanked the wrought iron gates, shut tight against the outside world, she concentrated and activated her Magic Circuits. Raising her other hand, she held up the smooth pebble in her fingers, engraved with a single rune, a symbol shaped like L, but positioned slightly sideways like it was spun clockwise by a small amount. She whispered under her breath, the codeword taught to her. Meanwhile, Archer watched her surroundings, his eyes piercing the night to spot any threats or spies watching them.

"Kena."

The rune glowed for a split second, then returned to normal, the iron gate opening smoothly and soundlessly despite it's aged appearance. There was no other indication that she had succeeded, but Rin could sense the invisible Bounded Fields lowering the moment she performed the correct procedure. Stepping through the open gate, she instructed Archer to stay outside, entrusting her back to him.

Just as she was about to reach the wooden door, she felt something activate, and her body was frozen in place, her hands stuck midswing as she was forced to stay in position. Only her eyes were barely able to move, instantly darting all over the place to see what was the trigger, and whether she could disarm it or not. She could hear Archer manifesting behind her and drawing his weapons, his boots scraping against the asphalt of the road as he cautiously approached her, staying vigilant against any unseen threats.

Their caution proved to be needless as the door swung open with a bang, the previously silent and dark house turning bright as she realized the windows were just illusions to make it look unoccupied, a simple glamour to mask the truth. The door was a rectangle of light, in contrast to the dim windows.

"Hey, Miss Tohsaka! Everyone's been waiting for you, just come inside!"

Flat's enthusiastic door opening almost made Archer throw his blades, but he managed to retract his weapons just in time after seeing the young magus's face. The magus didn't seem to notice his near miss with death, grinning at the Servant as well.

"Mr. Archer, good to see you too! Well, though we lost a lot of stuff earlier today, it's still nice to see you guys alive and well."

His smile faded when he remembered the injuries of his fellow magi and ex-classmates, but he abruptly realized Rin wasn't moving and turned to her with a quizzical expression.

"Um, Miss Tohsaka? Don't you want to come in?"

Then it finally struck him, as he stared at her awkward position and posture.

"Ah, the automatic defenses! Sorry about that, the Bounded Field was made to freeze anyone coming through the front door, regardless of being friend or foe. Just lemme undo for it you, wait a sec."

He swiftly passed his hand through the air, his fingers making a sign in the air as he traced out the command. When his fingers made the last downward stroke, Rin's arms finally fell to her sides, the muscles slightly stiff from keeping them in position against her will. She was slightly annoyed at herself for being caught in something like that, but she hid it under her mask of a face.

"Thank you, Mr. Es-Flat-kun, are the others here as well?"

Flat had refused to respond to her until she gave in and called him that, but it felt weird calling him Flat-kun and the other members of the Clock Tower team Mr and Miss.

"Yep, they all managed to make it here, one way or another. Some of them have severe injuries though, so they'll be in the rooms resting. Only me and the Professor are still good. Oh, and we have guests here as well."

Rin listened to him as she walked in, Archer following behind her. Hearing that most of them were incapacitated, including Gray, was worrying, but at least none of them had died. Her ears perked up at the words 'guest', in the last sentence, then her eyes caught sight of the numerous wrappers in the kitchen.

"Why are there…"

The words trailed off as she saw the guests Flat had mentioned. One was currently stuffing herself silly with black bean bread, a veritable mountain of sweet bread and treats from convenience stores next to her, while the other was watching 'Chibi Maruko-chan' on the old television set and nibbling on some strawberry daifuku.

"Illya, isn't pure red bean filling in daifuku better? The chunky red beans and the chewy mochi outsides are leagues above the tartness and citric taste of a strawberry."

"You have no right to tell me that when all you do is eat red bean, black bean or chestnut paste filling bread."

"I never try the others because I know they're inferior."

Rin's eyebrows twitched as she tried to contain her emotions, while Archer did his best to hide a grin at seeing Illya like that.

"Oh, those are the guests I was talking about earlier."

At the sound of Flat's voice, the two sitting at the dining table turned around to look at Rin and Archer.

Illya almost spat out the daifuku in her mouth as she turned to face them, instantly adopting a regal air and tightening her facial expressions as she did a proper curtsy, her smile like a fairy if it wasn't for the white starch staining her lips.

"Illyasviel von Einzbern, Master of Berserker, nice to meet you, onee-chan."

Berserker did no such thing, simply nodding at them and then returning her attention to the bread and the TV.

"I'm Tohsaka Rin, successor of the Tohsaka line and Master of Archer. Nice to meet you, Miss Illya."

Rin's comment made Illya puff her cheeks up and glare at the Tohsaka heir.

"Call me Illya-chan!"

Rin wondered what was up with these foreign mages, first it was Flat-kun, now it was Illya calling her oneechan and wanting to be called with the chan suffix. Did they fall in love with Japanese culture or something? She could tell that the young Einzberns Japanese was quite fluent though, unlike Flat and the other mages of the Clock Tower who either used translations spells, or had a very basic grasp of working Japanese like El-Melloi and Flat.

Well, there was no point in angering her, and it wasn't like it was an absurd request anyways.

"Sure, I-illya-chan."

At that point, her stomach growled, rather loudly in fact.

She hadn't been able to eat for quite a while, walking and talking with Lancer, setting up the detection field in Shinto, and then searching for the safehouse had taken a lot of time, with Lancer stopping her attempt at snagging a burger ruining her only chance of sustenance earlier.

Her face turned a slight tint of red.

Berserker grabbed a bread off the table and held it out to her.

"Want a bite?"

Slowly, Rin reached out her hand and took the offered food, looking at it suspiciously before sitting down at the table and slowly opening the plastic wrapper to have her first meal in a while.

Archer couldn't help but smirk, then he looked at the kitchen, and wandered over to it to see if he couldn't surprise them with something.