Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Chapter Three: Destiny in Fuyuki City

Rin Tôsaka gazed out at the dark city from the roof of the school building. "There's something stirring," she murmured. "Do you feel it too, Archer?"

Her guardian materialized at her flank. "Yes, Rin. There is someone planning some unpleasant sorcery in this city."

"Can you locate them?"

"I'm afraid not…they are masking themselves well. We shall have to continue our observation for some time longer, and hope that our enemy slips up."

Rin sighed. "I was afraid of that. I was hoping to leave this place sooner rather than later, but it can't be helped. We'll just have to keep our eyes out." And she turned and headed for the stairs.

Archer glanced back at her, then stared briefly back out over the city. "Yes…this feeling. It definitely feels like something is stirring. The call of destiny, perhaps? Somehow it feels…nostalgic…." Then he vanished as he allowed his presence to follow his master.

And so fell the sword of fate….

8-8-8

The young man, not unusual save for his very short red hair, awoke, bright and early, turned off his alarm, and with little reluctance rose and stretched. Thus his hard daily routine began; he had his morning training to do, he had to prepare breakfast for himself and the freeloader who always bothered him in the morning—not that he ever honestly considered her much of a bother—and had to ready himself for school, and even so he usually had agreements at school to fulfill and thus had to rise early.

And he paid recognition to his departed father, in the traditional Japanese shrine.

His abode was impressive—a traditional Japanese home, on an impressively large lot, as this 2,500-square-meter house had on its grounds a dôjô and small storage building. He didn't really consider himself wealthy—material possessions meant nothing to the boy—but seventeen-year-old Shirô Emiya had what many young men his age would consider a privileged and extremely fortuitous lifestyle.

He finally brought his food into the main living room and, to his complete lack of surprise, he saw a woman lounging about on the couch, watching the morning news. "Mornin', Shirô!" she greeted the youth without turning around.

"Good morning, Fuji-nee," Shirô returned to his de facto guardian, Taiga Fujimura. He set the food down, and still without looking, the woman reached behind her and grabbed a piece of toast. Shirô set himself down and finally turned his attention to the program that had captivated Taiga. The news was reporting a strange gas leak that had victimized a few apartment buildings. Noting the location, he murmured, "That's…not far from here…."

"There have been an awful lot of them recently," Taiga sighed. "It's depressing, Shirô…what's wrong with the safety protocols of our town…?"

('It is disturbing…it reminds me of that fire nine years ago…the fire that changed my life.

('The destruction was so intense, I don't remember anything that happened before that. My earliest memories are lying on the ground in the middle of that inferno, in pain and even dying. But then…he stepped out of that inferno and came to me. He was the 'Hero of Justice' who saved my life. So many others perished, but I was saved. That man, Emiya Kiritsugu, adopted me and named me Emiya Shirô. He wasn't from Fuyuki City originally, but he settled here after the fire, on some land he had inherited. He had one close friend in town after that, Fuji-nee, Fujimura Taiga. After he died a few years ago, Fuji-nee has basically become my guardian. She's also a teacher at my high school, Homurahara Gakuen, my homeroom teacher.

('But not even Fuji-nee knows the secret my father imparted to me before his death…that he was a mage. He had ideals of using his magic to become a 'Hero of Justice', but in the end he failed…he could only save me. Even so, it's left me somewhat obsessed with the idea…if I can become the 'Hero of Justice' he failed to be, perhaps he can rest easily on the other side.

('He never really tried to make me a mage like him…I don't really have the talent for it. He only taught me a few spells, but…it doesn't matter. My life was spared while so many others were killed. I have no right to do anything but make the most use of that spared life…whatever I can do, I will become it…the 'Hero of Justice'.')

8-8-8

"Hey, Shirô," the boy greeted his classmate as he entered the school grounds. The addresser had short blue hair and glasses, and a bit of a bishonen appearance about him.

"Good morning, Issei," Shirô returned. Issei Ryûdô was the Student Body President for the school…a man who often called on Shirô's subtle unique services.

"If we're having lunch in the usual place, I was wondering if I could ask a favor today," Issei continued.

"Is that so?" Shirô smiled. "What needs fixing this time?"

"Our DVD/Projector is going on the fritz," Issei sighed. "We don't have the budget to replace it, but if it isn't fixed, we won't have it for the Presentation next month…."

"I get it," Shirô assured him. "Don't worry about it. I'll take a look. I can't make any promises, but…."

He felt something, something unusual…something he hadn't felt before. He paused, and took in the sight as the girl passed by, primly ignoring all the others around her even as she generated stares from others besides Shirô. The piercing blue eyes, the long black hair with those strange pigtails, the beautiful face and fine form evident beneath the school uniform…Shirô was completely unsure if this sudden sensation was a predictably normal male reaction, or something else, but even so, there was something different about her….

Issei caught his look, followed his gaze, and narrowed his eyes in disapproval at what he saw. "Issei…who is that?" Shirô asked. "I don't remember seeing her here before."

"Tôsaka Rin," the Student Body President replied promptly. "She's a third year, in class E. She just transferred in a week ago, and she's already made an impression on nearly everyone around her. She is beautiful and brilliant…she's the envy of every girl, and the desire of every boy, but don't let her pleasant visage fool you, Shirô. She's obviously a devil woman, and if you let her cast her spell on you, she'll devour you, body and soul." He shivered and began to make strange passes over his body with his hand while uttering some kind of mantra.

Shirô sighed in exasperation; Issei was a child of a local Buddhist temple, raised with aesthetic training and ideals, and it was not the first time he had decried the evil of the female sex. It was hard to take his displeasure at face value…but still…what was it about that girl…?

8-8-8

At lunchtime, Shirô began to examine the Student Council's video equipment. "So, what's up with it, Shirô? Can it be fixed?"

"Hmm." Shirô considered the machine. Then he closed his eyes and began to recite the chant within himself. ('Trace: On.') The mana surged up his magic circuit, and the images began to flow into his mind. In seconds he had his answer. He opened up a part of the machine. "This wiring here…it's old and frayed, and has become disconnected. I can replace and fix part of it; it's not a permanent fix, but it'll keep it going for a little while longer. It should be enough to last the year."

"Ah, thanks, Shirô! You're a real life saver. Your skills at repairing things keeps us going even within the confines of our budget, and your incredible cooking keeps us well fed! What would we do without you?"

Shirô almost smiled. Issei's aesthetic lifestyle never applied to Shirô's cooking. ('But even that won't really be enough…I have to use my second spell to get by as well. Reinforcement, which allows me to enhance the physical properties of an object, making it stronger and more durable…and I can use that spell to help this old bird go on a little longer. That's all I can do, magic-wise…identify the properties of objects with Trace, and enhance them with Reinforcement. But, at least it helps me be useful….')

8-8-8

Shirô's useful actions continued after school, when a friend convinced him to clean up the archery dôjô for him. Shirô had once been part of the Kyûdô Club, a club that Taiga supervised, but he had eventually quit it, for no appreciable reason, as far as his former comrades could ascertain. Still, friendly and helpful Shirô could never refuse a request from the advisor or any of the club's leaders. The president usually asked him to fill in on instructing underclassmen and leading drills; his friend Shinji, as he had this day, lazily asked Shirô to do tedious and menial tasks so he could go out with (a gaggle of) girls.

It was clear Shirô was being used by his 'friend', but Shirô didn't care. He was in all truth eager to help out; there was not a task that Shirô would find tedious or beneath him. Working, especially doing anything that was of benefit to others—and in this case, it was an aid to the other members of the club as much as it was to Shinji, keeping their dôjô clean—was always intensely rewarding to the young man. As far as he was concerned, he was living a borrowed life, one that had already ended, and the only recompense he could make was to spend what time he could in the pursuit of helping others—small measures until he could become a 'Hero of Justice'.

He was surprised to find that it was already evening, the sky beginning to darken, by the time he finished. "Ah…I lost track of time. I should get home….Fuji-nee has probably already given up on dinner tonight, or helped herself in some way…."

8-8-8

Rin stood on the roof, gazing out at the darkening sky, her arms crossed, one finger tapping against her other arm. The feel of mana in the air of the city was thick, and it was sickly…dark and sinister. Not as dark as she had experienced recently…but it was clear that someone was working dark, diabolic sorcery….

Archer materialized behind her. "The circles are all in place?" she demanded curtly without looking at him.

"Yes. The spell is ready to cast at your leisure."

She nodded. "Now we can cast our web, and see if we catch anything. We'll track down this dark magus and deal with him promptly…."

"That simply won't do. You should be careful when you cast webs to catch flies…you may catch more than you bargained for."

The voice materialized out of thin air, and Rin was almost stunned by how close it was. There was one safe play…Rin immediately leapt off the roof, swiftly vaulting the small wall in front of her. "Archer!" she snapped. Archer faded to the more spiritual plane and instantly his presence was following Rin down. "I'll leave the landing to you," she continued, and as Archer's magical power slowed her fall to the point where her landing was lazily slow, she began to prepare a spell of her own.

Even so, she was just preparing to finish when the evil red spear came lancing out at her. Archer materialized with his swords first, however, and repelled the attacker. Rin stared at the assailant as he backed away and observed his prey—tall, thin but strong and wiry, almost bishonen in his face and wearing dark but vivid blue armor, with hair of almost the same hue. And that spear—the entire weapon seemingly of steel or some stronger, rarer metal, and entirely red.

('That incredible speed, that impossible stealth, and that mana he emanates….') "There's no way you're human," Rin growled.

"Heh. Maybe." The attacker assumed an aggressive posture. "But it's interesting I'm facing someone who is an Archer…a being that actually has a class. I do, too, so you can think of me as nothing more than a Lancer."

"Lancer?" Rin considered this. "Then you're a Heroic Spirit as well?"

"Not 'Heroic Spirit'," Archer denied. "This one, at least, never was human."

"Then…." Rin's eyes widened in shock. "A conjured spirit warrior!? What kind of magus could manage a spell like that!?"

"Who knows?" Lancer scoffed. "Die in ignorance, mageling!"

He charged, but Archer intercepted him with his blades. "How very interesting," Lancer continued as they traded blows. "An Archer opposes me with swords…I wonder if you're truly possessed of self-awareness."

"Your abilities of perception are great to identify my class so easily," Archer countered. "Of course I have some skill with the bow, but I have many skills, and in this case I am certainly at the most use defending my Master in direct combat…so that she can fight as well!"

He pushed Lancer back and danced aside as Rin threw a gem at the spirit-warrior. The blue crystal burst into a storm of ice as she snapped out a quick German phrase, but Lancer vanished before the storm and reappeared several meters distant.

"Ho…you do have skill, mageling," Lancer complemented her. "There was some bite in that spell. I can't let my guard down…perhaps I'll have to be serious…."

Then the group, all three combatants, froze as they noticed that an interloper had arrived. Shirô stood yet some distance away, but he was close enough to see the moonlight glinting off the weapons of the two spirits, who stood out most to him, eclipsing even Rin's presence. ('W-what is this…? What's going on here…? This feeling…this is bad, very bad! These people are dangerous!')

Shirô had lived his life with survivor's guilt, believing his life was only borrowed and hardly worthy of any attention, but now, as cold instincts informed him that he was staring death in the face, he truly felt fear and in his heart blossomed a sincere desire to continue living, to not greet death so swiftly.

Lancer scowled in irritation. "Tch. A witness, eh? Even now, we can't have that…you'll have to die first…!"

Shirô turned and began to run…and from the positioning that had arisen from all their movements, the safest place, directly away, led him straight towards the main school building. Lancer began to pursue.

"Archer!" Rin snapped desperately.

Archer moved to intercept, and did succeed in slowing down the aggressive spirit, forcing him to turn and give his attention to his foe; but Lancer did not engage him in combat. He immediately spun his spear around and released a burst of energy, forcing Archer back…and although he recovered with rapidity, Lancer had already vanished.

"Let's go!" Rin insisted. "We have to stop him!"

8-8-8

Shirô sat and leaned against the wall, panting for breath. His flight had taken him up the stairs and to the third floor. He considered that he had eluded death, at least for now; there was no sound or sight of anyone having successfully followed him, and from here he should have advance warning of their arrival. At that point it would be easy to slip past them, back down the stairs and out to freedom….

His mind reeled over what he had seen. ('Fighting with swords…and a spear…in my own schoolyard? What is the meaning of this? What on earth is it about? And this feeling…somehow…it reminds me of that fire…and more than that…I never really felt it outside of my practice with it before, but the feel of magic was in the air…were they real mages…?')

"You run pretty well, kid. It's too bad, really. If you hadn't been in the wrong place at the wrong time, you might have lived a little longer."

Shirô stared in wide-eyed shock, because with absolutely no warning the spear-wielder was suddenly there in front of him. Before he could move Lancer stabbed him in the heart. His eyes still wide in disbelief, Shirô sank and fell over onto his face without a sound. "Sorry about this. It's nothing personal; but no witnesses, mages or mundanes, can be allowed to see anything of my Master's operation, including seeing me, and live. Don't worry; I'll make sure you won't be lonely in Hell tonight." And then he faded away, leaving Shirô there alone, still and bleeding out far too swiftly.

8-8-8

"Their signatures led to here…." Rin froze as she entered the hallway and stared at the dark, still form lying on the ground, the stain of blood pooling out underneath him. "No…." Her eyes widened in shock as she further recognized him.

"How unfortunate," Archer murmured. "That spirit is agile and has excellent senses. He left immediately…it seems he's temporarily retreated to prepare an ambush."

"Don't give him time," Rin snapped. "Go hunt him down. I know you're strong enough to deal with him…don't let him have an opportunity to narrow the gap between you."

Archer focused on Rin. "And what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll catch up soon enough. Go!"

Archer obediently faded away as Rin stared at the dying—or perhaps already dead—young man. She had seen him in the school, once or twice—and something about him had also caught her attention. In Shirô's case, the truth was that Rin was the first mage he had encountered since his father's death, and he had somehow sensed the magic in her, something that did not happen often; even though natural magical sense was a common attribute of those with magic, sensing the magic within other mages was impossible without direct sensory spells. Excepting extreme cases such as the current Kain Lockeheart, that magical energy, that mana, simply wasn't strong enough. But something had somehow triggered between Shirô and Rin, allowing him to sense her magical presence, and he, already ignorant of much of the magical world, had been unable to understand what he was sensing, what had attracted his attention. And in Rin's case, it was something much more mundane…a casual glance had revealed far too much behind the doors of his eyes. Rin was a girl with a rather tragic past herself, and with her own travels in Arcanus Myrror she had seen enough of those who lived in despair, with haunted pasts, with death and misery in their memories. Outside of her circle, however—her peers, like Kajirô and Tear, who were connected by that tragedy ten years past—normal high schoolers she knew in abundance were far removed from such dark pasts. Yet here was another one…seemingly an ordinary, unimportant boy, but one whose short life had already seen far more despair than any human should fairly face.

She thought about this, and furthermore about the heroes who had prevented those tragedies from spreading to the rest of the world…Kain Lockeheart and Kalan Lockeheart. For several reasons—for her family, and for her own satisfaction, and because of the example she had seen in her life—her goal was to earn the title of Archmage, to become someone like them. "It would just seem an unimportant life, an ordinary person I've never known and never would know," she murmured. "But either one of them would not agree, no? All lives are important, aren't they?" She drew out a jewel, her most powerful mana battery—the item she had used to summon Archer, as well. "He would probably say this was a waste," she murmured. "It might not even work…but the attempt…they would believe it would be worth it, wouldn't they?" She poured her spells into the jewel, activating it and letting it fall toward the still young man. It fell in slow motion, its momentum slowed by the magic, and turned into a ball of light and disappeared inside the man's body. Then Rin turned and hurried for the stairs, using her magic to sense out the presence of her spirit and his prey.

8-8-8

The weapons clashed again as the two spirits dueled. "You're very persistent," Lancer insisted, his voice halfway between annoyance and admiration.

"The same to you," Archer responded. "It's very difficult to find an opening in your fighting style. For an artificial spirit, your skills are first-rate."

"I'll take that backhanded compliment. You talk big, but it's not like you're really a Heroic Spirit yourself, right?"

Archer smiled grimly. "Ah…so you can see even that, eh? Even so, I won't allow you to do what you like. You will fall here."

Lancer suddenly repulsed Archer and jumped away defensively. He frowned as he glanced briefly out at nothing. "Strange…I would have sworn it was impossible to fail to kill him. Where's he going now…?"

"It's dangerous to turn your attention from me!"

Archer came charging in, but Lancer faded away swiftly, his voice lingering on the air: "Sorry, but with my orders, it's imperative I eliminate threats as swiftly as I can before turning my attention to more difficult ones. We'll resume shortly."

"Archer!" Rin came hurrying up as the spirit stared after his vanished foe. "What happened? Did he flee again?"

Archer turned slowly back to his Master. "Rin…you saved his life, didn't you?"

"I tried," she snapped back. "Kalan Lockeheart would insist it was worth trying…as would Kain. Why?"

"Well, I suppose I cannot fault you for that…but this spirit has exceptional sensory abilities. If his prey escapes death once, do you really believe he'll just give up?" Rin's eyes widened in realization, and he continued, "It appears the boy has revived and fled…and that Lancer has gone after him. You spared his life just so that he could lose it once again."

8-8-8

Shirô had indeed revived and, confused over his sudden liveliness, fled the scene and returned to the safety of his home. Specifically, he went to the stoutest location of his property—his storage garage, a building too sturdy and large to simply call a shed. For him, it doubled in importance because it was here that he secretly practiced his magical skills.

"What was that?" he murmured, now that he had a safe and peaceful moment to consider his continued existence. He stared down at his chest and felt at the tear in his shirt. It was certainly bloodied and stained, but the flesh underneath was perfect, fine, with no piercing, no wound, no mark that he had ever been injured. "I was certain I was dead…the pain was all too real. It's clear I was hurt…but now, nothing. So how did I survive…?"

"I'm wondering that myself…but it's even more unfortunate. If you'd had the good sense to die, it would have been the end of your pain."

Shirô started as Lancer was once again there behind him, and he whirled on the spirit, eyes wide. Whatever else was happening, this madness wasn't a dream.

"Now, this time, die!" Lancer lunged forward.

Shirô managed to dive and roll aside, came to his feet swiftly, and grabbed a rolled up map that was the closest item to hand.

"Ho…you really think you can fight back with something like that?" he chortled as Shirô briefly closed his eyes and brought the map up to a sword-like ready guard. "You're certainly not dull, even if your persistence is irritating."

He lunged forward again…and Shirô blocked with the map. Lancer stared, stunned that the seemingly flimsy item survived the contact. Shirô took the opportunity to strike back with an unpracticed swing, but Lancer fielded the attack easily. This aggression also broke Lancer from his amazement, and he swept Shirô aside. "Well…so you, too, are a mageling, if untrained and unpracticed. Too bad it is not enough to save you!"

He dashed in again as Shirô began to recover. Shirô again managed to block, but it was just a playful feint, and Lancer lashed out with his leg, kicking Shirô through the wall.

He hit the ground in the yard outside and rolled several times before coming to a stop. He struggled for breath, and to return to his feet, as the spirit warrior slowly stalked outside towards Shirô. Shirô's mind numbly contemplated the reaper as his death slowly, lazily approached…then a figure dropped from above onto Lancer, twin swords flashing.

Lancer whirled and blocked the attack. "Still you chase me, false bowman? You should have prolonged your life by leaving be when you had the chance! Why now sacrifice yourself for a nothing like this cub?"

"I sacrifice nothing," Archer returned. "And I hardly need to fight you for him. My only goal right now…is killing you."

Shirô stared at the battle as Rin hurried up next to him. "Are you all right?" she demanded.

"A-ah…?" Shirô turned to stare at her. "You are…."

"Yes, well, never mind that now. You should get back…it's dangerous right now, and I have work to do." She raised a hand, fingers outstretched, and laid the left arm across her outstretched right. She began to chant in German and magical power began to build as Shirô watched in amazement.

Lancer glanced back over his shoulder briefly at Rin, annoyance marking his features. ('Damn. So many distractions…no matter how I try, I cannot break the guard of this infuriating Archer, and now that little mageling girl is going to try her luck again. I have no choice—my Master did not wish me to use it at this time, under these circumstances, but if I'm going to kill these impediments, I must.') He suddenly began to release a surge of power as he focused on Archer. "Star Strike – Spear from the Heavens!" he cried, and suddenly plunged his spear into the ground at his feet.

A meteor in the shape of a glowing, purplish-pink spear of gigantic proportions fell from the sky. Archer leapt back to avoid the impact, but the force of the blow drove him back further and far from the fight. At the same time Lancer was already rounding on Rin, moving with inhuman speed and preparing a second magical assault. "Gae Bolg – The Lance Which Pierces Hearts!"

Rin recoiled, canceling her attack spell and desperately trying to prepare a defense, but she knew any measures she had time for would be insufficient against the power now roiling out from the spirit. To her further shock, Shirô suddenly sprang up and threw himself between them….

And golden light exploded as Lancer's spear connected with Shirô. The light strained against the attacker's power for several seconds, then won out, blasting Lancer back and away. He and Rin both stared dumbfounded at Shirô, who looked rather surprised himself. Shirô was still radiating a strange, palpable power. "Impossible…my ultimate technique, the perfect one-shot-kill strike of Gae Bolg, stopped…what the hell is that power!?"

He sprang back and away again as Archer attacked. He stared grimly at the three as he and Archer readied themselves to resume combat. ('This is madness. Nothing makes sense. Not once, not twice, but thrice I've failed to kill just that mere boy when it should have been as easy as whistling. Now all I can do….')

'That's enough, Lancer. Withdraw.'

Lancer was dumbfounded at the mental command that entered his mind. 'W-what!? But, not only have they witnessed me, these three have even seen my techniques! To allow them to live…!'

'I said withdraw, Lancer. They have won this round…we underestimated them and must prepare more carefully for the future. Besides, they have pricked my interest…especially that boy. We will have other opportunities.'

Lancer cursed under his breath, then relaxed his guard. Archer looked at him in surprise. "Well, it seems I failed to kill any of you…a failure that galls me greatly. But my master has deemed that your lives are to be spared, at least tonight. We shall see if you are so lucky next time."

"You think we'll just let you go!?" Archer shot back, preparing to charge.

There was an explosion of power, and Lancer was gone, leaving only his laugh lingering in the air.

Rin stared after him for some moments, then finally recovered her senses and sighed. "That spirit is dangerous…his Master must be a powerful mage indeed. But now…." She turned a serious stare at Shirô, who regarded her almost fearfully. "What are we going to do with you…?"

8-8-8

Rin sat on the sofa, looking around at the accommodations of the living room. "So this is your house? You seem rather well-off," she remarked candidly as Shirô politely entered with a tea tray, laden with all the usual, including three cups. She thanked him and took a cup for herself, adding a healthy amount of sugar. "You are also quite a gracious and thoughtful host." She took a sip, then continued, "Well, we should introduce ourselves properly. I am Tôsaka Rin. And you are…Emiya Shirô-kun, are you not?"

"Ah…yes," Shirô admitted, surprised that this newly-arrived beauty queen would know him by name. "Emiya Shirô, 3rd year. I am in Class B." He looked around warily. "Ah, but…that man…?"

"Archer is a Heroic Spirit, a spirit of magical power," Rin explained. "He isn't human, so he doesn't need to eat, drink or sleep like we do. He also can exist outside of this world—in fact, that's easiest for him. He's keeping an eye out for me right now from the magical plane, just in case an enemy returns. It seems we've driven them off tonight, but it's important to be vigilant."

"A magical…spirit…?" Shirô murmured. "I never heard of such a thing…of course, my father never told me much about that side. Then, you are a mage, Tôsaka-san?"

"Hmm. Yes, I am…and that way of asking the question shows that you are aware of magic, if only a little. That's rather surprising. But you still seem ignorant about a lot…what kind of teacher did you have?"

"Well…my father was a mage," Shirô admitted. "Emiya Kiritsugu. He's only my adoptive father, actually…but he told me about magic. He only taught me a little bit…he didn't really want me to become a mage, but thought that I should be able to do a few things for myself."

"Emiya Kiritsugu…I don't know if I've heard of him. Where is he now?"

"He died, a few years back."

"I see…that explains a few things. He adopted you when you were orphaned, but he wasn't married himself, was he? That's why you never talked about your mother, since you've never had one. So now you've inherited all this for yourself…Emiya-san must have been a powerful mage. He obviously had some wealth. And now you…." She stared at Shirô judiciously.

Shirô returned her stare without evident discomfort. "Then, the reason you transferred suddenly to our school…it's because you're a mage? You came here…to fight that guy with the spear?"

"Well…after a fashion." Rin sighed. "This is far more troublesome than I like…far bigger problems than I expected finding. Although…." Her look again returned to one of curiosity, but she continued, "I work for the Magic Council of the Kanto region, and I have come here on assignment. Nine years ago most of the mages in charge of this region were wiped out in some sort of disaster. We still don't know much of anything about it, but since then there hasn't been a lot of magical presence in this region…which is probably how someone like you slipped through without notice. But now, there's some sort of sinister magic at work in this town…and I've been sent here to sniff it out, and put an end to it." She watched Shirô's face again, saw it harden ever so slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"Nine years ago?" Shirô murmured. "That…the fire that destroyed this town…that cost the lives of so many people…was that related…?"

"Is that how you were orphaned and adopted by Emiya Kiritsugu? Probably. There was something mysterious going on here at the time as well…most likely, the instigator survived and is trying to repeat whatever they did before…perhaps what they failed to do. However, that's all just conjecture on my part. So, what are you going to do now?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Well, technically, you shouldn't be involved…but that dangerous Lancer has his eye on you now, and he'll probably try to kill you again."

Shirô was silent for just a moment. "If that tragedy is going to be repeated…it has to be stopped. I don't know how much I can do, but I can't let that continue. If I can help in some way…."

"A very foolish idea." Shirô looked over in surprise as Archer materialized. "You should realize after seeing it…this kind of battle is far beyond you. What are you going to do about it?" Shirô's face hardened, but he didn't reply for several long moments. "You see it, don't you?" Archer challenged him. "You have some kind of instinctive ideals, but you have no power to enforce them…and that kind of thinking is the most dangerous. Ideals without strength will only get you killed."

Shirô lowered his eyes. "Yes…that might be so. I thought that…I cared nothing for my own life…that it was worth nothing, especially to me. But…tonight…I was really frightened for my life. I earnestly thought…I didn't want to die. But that was instinct…real human instinct. I guess I must have natural human feelings…it's human to fear death. But…if I gave into that feeling and ran away…and other people died because I did nothing…then it would be worse than dying. I can't let anyone else suffer like that…never again."

Archer tsk'ed but did not continue. Instead Rin said, "Well, that's…an admirable sentiment. Somewhat familiar. This enemy is more dangerous than I first thought; it might be rude to you, but perhaps I could use your help. You have…some kind of special magical power. If we were to cultivate that, perhaps you could be of help. And then you could do your part to prevent the tragedy of Fuyuki City from repeating. Is that what you wish?" Shirô's look of determination was enough, and she continued, "Well, then, we'll give it a shot. So, first off, tell me: what kind of magic do you practice?"

"Well, not very much…I can do Trace and a bit of Reinforcement."

Rin stared in shock. "What? That's all?" She sighed. "What a baby bird of a mage. Well, nothing helping it." She rose. "In any place, this is a nice place to use for a base of operations while we work. I'll make some preparations for training you to be a proper mage. Come back here immediately after school tomorrow." She glanced over at Archer. "I assume that, since you're here, all the wards are in place?"

"Of course. This place is now secure…at least for now."

"That's enough. We'll take our leave now. I'll see you tomorrow, Emiya-kun."

On the way back to her own apartment, Archer asked her, "Are you sure about this, Rin? That boy…."

"He seems simple and he's criminally untrained," she agreed. "Goodness, what was his father thinking, only teaching him that much? But still…you saw, didn't you? There's some kind of inhuman power inside of him. He shouldn't have recovered that quickly, that perfectly, just from the jewel I used…I'm not any kind of healer, not even as powerful as Tear. But he was still in perfect health…and when that attack should have killed him, and probably me, too, a power came up out of him, a power strong enough to neutralize a Hôgu of that caliber. There's something there…and if we can bring it out, we might both get what we want."

"Hmm. I suppose. But we wary, Rin; you might not like what might come forth…."

F I N

Author's Note: Character Introduction: Shirô Emiya

I thought this mini-arc would be two long chapters, but after going this far, I've decided on 3 short chapters instead. Introduction, Build-up, Climax/Finale.

Obviously, this is a Fate/Stay Night-centric arc, pushing Rin Tôsaka more into the limelight. It's the base, but like several of the stories I've integrated, I've also eviscerated it. Gone is the Holy Grail War—there's no place for something that intense in such a minor arc. I simply have the skeleton to build around Shirô and Rin; other than those 2 and Archer (oh, and I guess Fuji-nee), although there may be similar characters, there won't be anyone else directly from Fate/Stay Night.

This mini-arc is similar to the Bleach presence in my story—since I decided to make Rin slightly more formidable by giving her Archer, I had to build something around Archer to really justify and explain him, and that's really the purpose of this arc. People familiar with the Fate universe—and even those who aren't, if they've been paying attention—can probably see right through my plan right now. If not, no worries, it will be coming out quick.

Anyway, Shirô Emiya is the protagonist of Fate/Stay Night. His past is as described in this chapter—in fact, as he is the real main character of this arc, he has been quite well-represented, so I actually don't have too much more to add at this time. Again, my own subtractions affect him the most—no lovely kohai named Sakura in love with him (she would just complicate matters, and I'm trying to wrap up MSK, not embellish it too much further), no evil best friend Shinji (he sort-of appeared, but he's not a mage relation at all and will have no other bearing in the story; the same principle was simply convenient to keep Shirô at the school to witness the fight) and most especially, no Servant Saber. Obviously, Saber already exists as Artoria, and part of the reason for that is to get away from the weird female King Arthur motif to begin with. There will be some connection…again, Fate veterans might suspect it. Shirô will have to rely on his own powers, not those of Saber, in order to help Rin out.

I simply decided to have an evil mage with magical 'class' servants be the villain here, attempting a forbidden ritual of power in Fuyuki City. That's the opponent, and these servants aren't the Servants from Fate…they are more like artificial souls, similar to how the original Assassin was simply the 'idea' of the mythological Japanese swordsman. Thus, they have no other names ('they' of course means that Rin and Shirô will have to face more than just Lancer) and they are simply warriors of magical origin.

I think that's enough for now…let's continue with this distraction.