Fate/first order derivative
Part I.6
⇒ restart: iteration 16, day 1, early night
Wokay, all right. Don't touch the blood-red magic glyphs. See, I'm learning things. This is good.
⇒ most people wouldn't need to learn that you know
Well, those people clearly aren't scientists. Anyway - new loop. I've had time to think about my pitch. Let's get it right this time.
⇒ skip forward twenty minutes
Shirou answers the door when I knock. "Uh... yeah?"
"Hey, Emiya." I cut him off before he can ask. "It's Tomonaga. Listen. About a half an hour ago, you accidentally summoned a woman named Saber. She and Rin Tohsaka are sitting in your kitchen right now telling you about this Holy Grail War you're now involved in. It has probably been the single weirdest night of your life, and that was before I showed up. Hi, Not Actually Satan," I add, glancing up towards Archer on the roof. He narrows his eyes.
I look back to Shirou. "I would now like to honestly explain to you and everyone how and why I know all of this. Can I come in, please?"
He stares at me for a moment. Then pushes open the door all the way.
I let out a deep breath. "Thanks." I walk inside.
⇒ skip forward
"Oh, yeah. Those things," Rin says.
We're sitting in Shirou's kitchen again. They've decided to hold off on meeting Kotomine until the morning, since I told them about Berserker this time. Not that they believe me, exactly, but Shirou apparently ran into the creepy murder child himself at some point, so that's enough to raise some warning flags.
Otherwise, it's kind of interesting how much more easily Saber and Rin listen to me with Emiya around (not to mention conscious.) You'd think being so trusting - to the point of maybe being naive - would be a strike against him. But at the same time, I guess people want to trust him and his judgment? Wish I could figure out how he pulls that off.
Anyway, so I just finished telling them about the killer magic circle thing. "So what is it?"
"It's a sigil linked to the bounded field around the school," Rin says. "I just found it earlier today. Set up by one of the other Masters, no doubt."
"... to protect the students?" Shirou asks.
"Oh, of course not," Rin says cheerfully. "When it's set off, it'll turn the entire school into a bloody abattoir, killing everyone inside and funneling their souls directly into their Servant as raw mana. Pretty standard tactic, really. Classic Murder-Death-Kill 101." She sips her tea calmly.
Shirou and I exchange a glance.
"Oh, don't give me that look. I'm going to stop it. Besides, it's not even complete yet." Rin pauses. "In fact... for you to actually set off one of those glyphs ahead of time, before the caster triggers it..."
She thinks for a second. "Give me your hand."
"Uh... me? Okay, I guess..." I scooch around the table. She makes a motion in the air, then takes my palm. Okay, I think. Now don't blush. Don't blush. Fuck. Don't blush, dammit -
ZZRRRP
⇒ download complete
He puts his hand upon her head. She smiles up at him. "Come home soon, Father..."
ZZRRRP
I blink. "Woah, hey, I just got something. Dude with a goatee. Red smoking jacket?" My eyes focus on Rin. "Was that your dad?"
"Tssh." She makes a sort of annoyed grunt and lets go of my hand, crossing her arms. "Well, that settles it. Looks like you have a few Magic Circuits of your own."
"I... do?" I blink. "So... what? I'm a mage?"
"HA! No. It's funny that you'd think that, actually." She covers her smirk with one hand. "You've got even less mana than Shirou does. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole memory-reading trick is the only thing you can do."
So much for spamming fireball, then. "... memory-reading?" I look down at my hand. "I'm psychic?"
"I guess that makes sense." Shirou rubs the back of his head. "Come to think of it... that thing you mentioned you saw when we shook hands. That sounds a lot like the Great Fuyuki Fire ten years ago."
I raise my eyebrows. "You were there?"
He nods. Jeez. I didn't know that.
"The truth is, Magic Circuits are more common than people realize." Rin shrugs. "Every now and again, they'll show up in a family as a result of some random mutation. Living in a mana-rich area like Fuyuki raises the odds some. Without training, though, most never even realize they have them. And even if they do, they usually just amount to a simple trick. It takes a lot more than that to be able to call yourself a mage."
"Okay... so... why does mine keep randomly kicking in?" I tilt my head. "And why hasn't it happened before now?"
"Who knows? If I had to guess, though..." She thinks. "Since you don't know how to control your Circuits, they probably just flare up whenever you touch a source of mana stronger than you. It's like air pressure. You've got less, so the energy flows into you.
"Up until now, you probably just haven't encountered a big enough mana source to activate it. Like me or Emiya. Or those sigils. Sounds like they're probably linked to the Servant they're supposed to channel mana to..."
"So... what should I do?" I examine my hands. "Should I just start wearing gloves all the time? Like the Psi Corps on Babylon 5?" Kinda like that idea, actually. Chekov was a total badass on that show.
"Oh, you don't have to go to that much trouble!" Rin smiles nicely. "I don't care about what memories you pick up from Shirou. And if you touch me again, I'll just murder you so hard, you won't be able to come back! Ever!"
I hastily raise my hands. "Okay, okay! Message received!" In retrospect, it might have been a mistake spoiling the whole Grail wish thing to Shirou earlier. Though it's not like he wouldn't have heard it from Kotomine eventually, right?
"Well..." Shirou scratches his chest awkwardly. Come to think of it, he already has this huge bloody gash through the front of his jacket, even before meeting Berserker. I wonder how I missed that before. Behind him, I notice Saber eying me. She doesn't say a word, but something about her look gives me the impression that Rin's no-touchee-or-else rule should go double for her. "If learning to control it will help... I guess there's one or two basic things I could show you."
Rin coughs. "Blind leading the blind," she mumbles under her breath.
⇒ skip forward: iteration 16, day 2, afternoon
So after they go to see Kotomine, I start my Jedi training with Shirou. He wasn't kidding about it being basic. To start with, he just shows me how to meditate. I work on that by myself for a few hours while he goes to drop off Ms. Fujimura's lunch - one of the teachers at school; I guess she's his legal guardian or something? - and comes back.
"So is this what you do all the time?" I ask at one point. We're out in the tool shed behind his house. It's littered with all sorts of half-dismantled junk. I sit cross-legged on top of a minifridge that's missing its door. "Just hang out and train?"
He shrugs. "Well, I've got a part-time job... but otherwise, yeah. Basically."
"Training for what, though?"
He scratches the back of his head. "It's... kind of complicated..."
"Wait..." Something from that batch of memories I absorbed from him tickles at the back of my mind. Hero of justice... "Are you trying to be Batman?"
"What?" Shirou blinks. "No, of course not. That'd just be silly, I mean..."
I look at him.
He shifts his eyes. "... maybe."
⇒ the dork knight rises
There is only one possible way I could react to this information. "Awesome," I state, certain beyond all doubt that I speak the objective truth.
Shirou looks up. "Wait. But Batman doesn't have any powers."
"Okay. So you're trying to be Low-Level Magic Batman." Would that make him John Constantine? Eh, nah. I really can't see Emiya as any sort of con artist. Guy's way too Lawful Good.
"I... guess?"
I grin. "Dude. That's freaking amazing!"
Shirou raises his eyebrows. "You really think so?"
"Hell yeah! Who wouldn't?!"
"Huh." He slumps against the wall contemplatively. "Most people tell me it sounds kinda dumb..."
"Whaaat." That makes no sense to me. "Fuck that noise, man."
"Heh. I guess. Besides, it's not just for my sake, you know?" He shrugs. "Back when I was a kid, my dad told me he had this dream he was never able to achieve. He really wanted to be this ideal hero of justice - someone who could save everyone in front of them. He was pretty sick at that point. So I told him I'd do it for him."
I nod solemnly. "Respectable origin story. Like the whole passing the torch theme." Bonus points for being a tragic orphan, too - though even I know better than to actually say that out loud. "So you're halfway there, though, right? You've got training... stuff you can use to make gadgets..."
"See, exactly! Thank you!" Shirou throws up his arms. "Everyone else just calls me a hoarder."
"You've got the big house... and..." My eyes go wide. I clap my hands over my mouth. "Dude. Dude."
"What?"
"You've got an Alfred now!" I'm so excited, my voice comes out as a kind of hissed squeal. "Even better! Hot Lady Alfred!"
He gets a pained expression on his face and rubs the back of his neck. "I... really don't want to think of Saber that way, you know?"
"But it's so perfect!" Bet she'd look good in a tuxedo, too. I mean, damn.
⇒ you're not wrong
"So... wait..." Shirou pauses. "Wouldn't that make you Robin in this metaphor?"
"Nah, I'm not -" My face goes pale. "... oh. Oh, God. You're right. I think it does." There are a few revelations about one's place in the universe that there's no coming back from. Realizing that you're one of nature's sidekicks is one of them. "It's okay, though, right? Maybe I can work my way up to Nightwing? Eventually, I mean?"
⇒ existential crisis on infinite earths
It's okay, I tell myself. You can make this work. And you don't have to wear the green underpants. That hasn't been a part of the costume for years, right? I don't actually know. I've never really read the comics. Just watched the cartoon.
Shirou gives me a sympathetic, if somewhat unconvincing, nod.
There's a knock. Saber slides open the door and comes in with a teapot on a tray. "I made myself tea," she says. "I thought you might like some."
"Oh, perfect. Thanks, Saber." Shirou takes a cup as she places the tray on the floor.
"Of course." She stands up solemnly. "Now... will that be all, Master Shirou?"
We both stare at her with wide eyes. I don't think I even breathe up until I finally detect the tiny hint of a smile she has on her face.
That's when I start laughing.
Can't help it. Oh, God, Shirou's face - it's priceless. He looks like a mouse that's just wandered into the middle of a lion convention. He finally manages to squeak, "Saber..."
"I regret that I no longer have access to formal wear." She raises her eyebrows thoughtfully. "If you like, though, I could start growing the mustache..."
Still laughing, by the way. "But how - you're a freaking Viking or something!" I gasp out between convulsions. "How do you - how could you even - shit!" I overbalance and fall off the minifridge.
⇒ skip to: iteration 16, day 2, evening
So it turns out that Grail Servants get a certain amount of modern pop culture knowledge downloaded into their heads when they're first summoned, along with stuff like modern Japanese and how to use indoor plumbing. Makes sense, I suppose.
⇒ you know
⇒ for someone who said people were out of your wheelhouse
⇒ you don't seem to be doing too bad at the whole social thing
Huh. You think?
⇒ uh yeah
... guess I really haven't thought about it all that much. At the start of things, I was so worked up, I just kind of forgot to give a shit, you know? I've more or less been riding that wave of anxiety ever since.
But let's be real here. I mean, it's not like I'm charming the socks off of anyone. They just barely trust me right now, and I'm pretty sure that's only because I come across as mostly harmless. Well, okay. Emiya might be the exception, but he's easy mode. I'm pretty sure he'd bend over backwards for anyone who asks nicely.
⇒ true but still
⇒ maybe you just think you're bad with people as opposed to actually being bad at it
... maybe. I remain unconvinced. Anyway, let's pick this up later. I need to talk to Rin now. You're gonna mess up my groove, you know?
⇒ okay okay
⇒ walk up to the tohsaka residence
So in spite of me ruining her "in" with Baeber last night, I'd still managed to talk Rin into looking up the Animusphere address for me again.
⇒ sigh
What?
⇒ nothing
⇒ go on
I knock. "So how goes boot camp, maggot?" Rin asks by way of greeting when she opens the door.
"Uh, okay, I think?" I adjust the gloves that I had - very carefully and deliberately - chosen to wear. "Seems pretty simple so far..."
"Filthy casuals," she mutters.
I raise my eyebrows. "Huh. Didn't think you were the video game type."
"Video what? Oh, never mind - here." She passes me a familiar slip of paper. "Now get out of here. You know your teacher and I are at war now, right?"
I check the slip to make sure the address is there. "I know you wind up allied with him again tomorrow night."
She scoffs. "Don't be ridiculous."
"Bet you a thousand yen."
"You're on."
⇒ is that really a good idea
C'mon, please. For all her talk, you really think Rin has it in her to actually fight and/or kill Shirou? That's not going to change just to spite me out of a Noguchi.
Um. Probably.
She studies me for a second, her eyes narrowed. "... you said your name was Tomonaga, right?"
"Uh, yeah? Why?" Hold on, this seems familiar.
"Never mind. It's nothing. Try not to get yourself killed on the way back." She starts to close the door.
⇒ time to play 'follow that event flag'
"Wait wait wait." I put my foot in the door. "That doesn't sound like nothing. What is it? What about my name?"
She crosses her arms. "Fine, whatever. It's not a big deal or anything. I was just wondering...
"... did you know a Shin Tomonaga?"
AUTHOR'S NOTES
In case anyone's worried about how Tomasu measures up to the other magic-wielding characters: the TYPE-MOON wiki ranks how powerful mages are by the number of Magic Circuits they have, with your average magus possessing around twenty. Rin, by comparison, has forty (as well as maybe an additional thirty granted to her by her family crest, I think?). Shirou has twenty-seven (though they're said to be of relatively low quality.) I haven't settled on an exact number for Tom yet, but it will be somewhere in the vicinity of five.
