Okay, here's a little extra chapter for those Rin X Archer fans again.
Let me just give an explanation of the song I'm inserting in this fic.
The title is Tonghua which is Chinese for Fairytale. And yeah, it's yet another of my signature character death fics.
Okay, let's start.
Song acknowledgements will be written after this story.
DISCLAIMER: The characters of fate/stay night belong to TYPE-MOON and Kinoko Nasu.
Fairytale
A few minutes past midnight, a figure of a man walked through the living room of the mansion.
His navy blue eyes caught an item draped in a huge cloth. As he lifted up the cloth, it revealed itself to be a piano.
Opening the covering for the keyboard, he rested a few fingers on it. He began to play a crooked tune of it.
Archer was not a really good piano player.
But he had remembered how his curiosity had given him some proficiency.
'That's not how you play the piano!' A girl had once screamed at him for making the defeaning voice through the mansion.
Shirou Emiya, or actually Archer's past self, was startled at her. He had only touched a few keys on the piano, but the twin ponytailed girl before him was a bit cranky.
She held his hands, guiding his fingers to the correct keys and pressing on them to make the right tune.
'Tohsaka, that's great of you,' he exclaimed as Rin Tohsaka slowly guided his fingers, playing out a melodic tune.
'It's just a piano,' Rin answered like it was no big deal. She noticed her hands were still in contact with Shirou's skin. Blushing, she pulled them away. 'What do you think you're doing?!'
The orange-haired boy look at her confusedly. She had only guided his hands for a while yet she behaved like he had already violated her body.
He gave up on the idea of arguing back. Rin could always think of a way to rebutt his arguments.
'It's getting late,' she spoke finally after some silence. 'Go back before it gets too dangerous outside. And I don't want Saber to get worried about you.'
He nodded, getting up from the seat of the piano.
'Thanks, Tohsaka.'
She opened one eye to look at him.
'Why are you thanking me?'
'The piano.'
'It's just useless skills' she replied him bluntly. 'It's just like fairytales. Someday you'll have to realise that everything in it is just fake.'
Shirou bowed before heading for the entrance.
'I'm not seeing you off!' She shouted out from the hallway.
***
'Archer,' Rin's voice reached out to her servant's ears. It had been years since that day of Rin taught him how to play the piano. Archer was standing at the balcony, with Rin resting on a large armchair beside him.
'The time is near.'
Archer looked at how frail she had become. It was an inherited curse.
The eldest member of the Tohsaka family in each generation would have an untimely death. That was the reason for the few number of children per generation it it.
When one assumed the head of the family, the curse was inflicted.
But Rin was still going strong. The night was serene, with a large full moon illuminating the sky.
'At least I helped to delay your transition to a counter guardian,' she uttered weakly.
That was right, as Archer thought. The moment Archer/Shirou had been executed by the person he had saved, Rin did the summoning to bring back his soul.
But now, the curse was on her. Soon, she would wither away, leaving Archer to start his eternal duty as a counter guardian.
'You know,' she continued. 'At least I could feel how your father passed away now.'
Archer's father, Kiritsugu Emiya died by the mana poisoning by the Holy Grail. The curse of the Tohsaka family was, too, at random. By coincidence, she had her internal spirit poisoned by a fake Holy Grail which emerged half a year after the events of the real one.
'Could you play the piano?'
He nodded, turning to the piano in his master's room.
Opening up the cover, he sat down, resting his fingers on the piano. He began to play the tune which Rin had taught him when he was Shirou.
Wang le you duo jiu
(I've forgotten how long it has been)
Zai mei ting dao ni
(Since the last time I heard you)
Dui wo shuo ni zui'ai de gushi
(Telling me your favourite story)
Rin got up from the armchair, slowly moving and sitting beside him.
'You've got the wrong note again,' she criticised him.
She took his hands and began to guide his hands to the correct notes to press on.
Wo xiang le hen jiu
(I have thought for a long time)
Wo kaishi huang le
(I started to panic)
Shi bu shi wo you zuocuo shen me
(Wondering if I have done something wrong again)
Archer began to feel like he had gone back to the times when they were still teenagers. The feeling of Rin touching his hand and guiding it to play the piano.
'Playing the piano is just useless,' Rin blurted out suddenly. 'They're just like fairytales. Useless stories with idealised hopes.'
Ni ku zhe dui wo shuo
(You told me as you cried)
Tonghua li dou shi pian ren de
(That everything in fairytales are all lies)
Wo bu ke'nen shi ni de wangzi
(I couldn't possibly be your prince)
Ye'xu ni bu hui dong
(But perhaps you don't understand either)
Cong ni shuo ai yi'hou
(Ever since you told me you loved me)
Wo de tiankong xing'xing dou liang le
(All the stars in my sky have brightened)
Rin paused for a while, before guiding Archer to play the piano.
'If I weren't around,' Archer spoke out. 'You could have won the war and used that Holy Grail for your own good.'
'Don't be silly,' she reprimanded. 'The essence within was evil.'
Wo yuan bian'cheng tonghua li
(I'm willing to become the one in the fairytale)
Ni ai de na'ge tianshi
(That angel you love)
Zhang'kai shuang'shou
(I extend this pair of hands)
Bian'cheng chi'bang shouhu ni
(And turn them into wings to protect you)
Ni yao xiangxin
(You must believe)
Xiangxin wo'men hui xiang tonghua gushi li
(Believe like we'll be like we are in a fairytale)
Xingfu he kuai'le shi jieju
(Where blessings and happiness is the ending)
'You got that tune wrong again,' she pointed out.
'...'
Ni ku zhe dui wo shuo
(You told me as you cried)
Tonghua li dou shi pian ren de
(That everything in fairytales are all lies)
Wo bu ke'nen shi ni de wangzi
(I couldn't possibly be your prince)
Ye'xu ni bu hui dong
(But perhaps you don't understand either)
Cong ni shuo ai yi'hou
(Ever since you told me you loved me)
Wo de tiankong xing'xing dou liang le
(All the stars in my sky have brightened)
Wo yuan bian'cheng tonghua li
(I'm willing to become the one in the fairytale)
Ni ai de na'ge tianshi
(That angel you love)
Zhang'kai shuang'shou
(I extend this pair of hands)
Bian'cheng chi'bang shouhu ni
(And turn them into wings to protect you)
Ni yao xiangxin
(You must believe)
Xiangxin wo'men hui xiang tonghua gushi li
(Believe like we'll be like we are in a fairytale)
Xingfu he kuai'le shi jieju
(Where blessings and happiness is the ending)
'Archer, I'm cold,' she moved closer to him. It was spring in Fuyuki city. She crept up closer to his body, feeling his warmth and closed her eyes to concentrate on feeling and hearing.
Without being affected by anything, the white-haired servant continued on the melody.
Wo yao bian'cheng tonghua li
(I will become the one in the fairytale)
Ni ai de na'ge tianshi
(That angel you love)
Zhang'kai shuang'shou
(I extend this pair of hands)
Bian'cheng chi'bang shouhu ni
(And turn them into wings to protect you)
Ni yao xiangxin
(You must believe)
Xiangxin wo'men hui xiang tonghua gushi li
(Believe like we'll be like we are in a fairytale)
Xingfu he kuai'le shi jieju
(Where blessings and happiness is the ending)
The command mantra on Rin's hand was turning faint. As Archer continued to play the keyboard, he could see his fingers were turning a little translucent.
The time was drawing near.
Nevertheless, he continued on it.
Wo hui bian'cheng tonghua li
(I will become the one in the fairytale)
Ni ai de na'ge tianshi
(That angel you love)
Zhang'kai shuang'shou
(I extend this pair of hands)
Bian'cheng chi'bang shouhu ni
(And turn them into wings to protect you)
Ni yao xiangxin
(You must believe)
Xiangxin wo'men hui xiang tonghua gushi li
(Believe like we'll be like we are in a fairytale)
Xingfu he kuai'le shi jieju
(Where blessings and happiness is the ending)
The command mantra on her arm disppeared completely, leaving only the flawless skin colour.
The grip she was holding on to Archer gave way.
Archer paused for a while before playing the last note.
Yi qi xie wo'men de jieju
(Together we can write our own ending)
He closed the cover.
Carrying Rin in his arms, he laid her to rest on the bed. She was just like she was sleeping peacefully.
There was a expression of peace on her face. It was something not seen often.
She would often smile or either display her tsundere traits at times.
'Rest well,' Archer spoke to her limp body. 'Tohsaka.'
A shadow overcast on his face as he left the room.
As he walked, he took out the ruby pendant she had given him and put it back once again into its former place in his pocket.
***
Archer crashed head down into a room.
Someone who had summoned him was a little unskilled in doing that.
He had a fuzzy memory since the summoning was a little unskilled too.
Fragments of his memories lied in his mind. They were too fragmented to be pieced together for now. But as time goes, he would be able to connect them together.
The door flew open, revealing an adolescent girl with twin ponytails. She had kicked it open.
As his eyes met the girl's, he felt a sense of familiarity within him. But she gave him the image of an unexperienced mage.
'I see I have been summoned by yet another substandard mage.'
She gave a startled yet pissed look at him.
For now his mind was only filled with one thing. And that was of a certain orange-haired boy.
Somehow his heart told him that killing that boy had some positive relation to the girl standing before him.
He smirked back at the girl.
THE END
Acknowledgments:
Title: Tonghua (Fairytale)
Singer: Guang Liang