Chapter
Once Yuno had dragged Shirou a couple of blocks away from his confrontation with Illya, she pulled him into a small alley between a pair of three story tenement houses. "let me take a look at that arm, Shirou-kun" she gently prodded at his shoulder
"It's ok - I am a fast healer" Shirou protested, looking at Rin for assistance.
"Let her check it out, idiot. If you don't take care of minor injuries, you can tear something, and then you'll have to go to the hospital." Rin added in exasperation.
"Fine", Shirou sighed, undoing his shirt.
"Hmm" Yuno took a look at his shoulder "it's not too bad" she said, prodding his back some more.
"Um, in that case, can I put my shirt back on?" Shirou asked trying to glance over his shoulder to see what the pink haired weirdo was doing.
"Yeah. Go ahead" Yuno took a step back, "You're in pretty good shape." she added.
Shirou shrugged, embarrassed, "I guess." He saw no need to mention that when he had been part of the archery team, his daily regimen had including lifting weights in the morning and firing two hundred arrows with an 85 pound draw bow in the afternoon, and since then he still worked a lot with his hands, helping out at the restaurant and around the school.
"Ok, let's go" Rin said, pretending she hadn't been looking at Shirou's chest.
"We need a jacket or something, to cover the blood stains" insisted Yuno.
"Right, right. Give me a moment" Rin began an Aria. Soon, a spiral of blue light encircled her. In the daylight, it was barely visible, but it appeared to be made up of glowing letters. She then reached out and touched Shirou's arm. the blue drained from the air, seeping into the shirt and staining it a bright red, a shade very similar to Saber's half-coat. "That should hide it."
"Is this permanent?" Asked Shirou, incensed.
"Of course it is", replied Rin "You think I would do a half assed job?"
"But I don't like red." Shirou whined.
"Well, that's what you get. Or if you don't like blood red, I could make it shit brown!" Rin was radiating annoyance.
Yuno tittered, despite herself, at Rin's swearing.
Shirou glanced at Rin to see if she was serious. To prove her point, Rin bent down and scooped up a handful of mud and then quirked an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Ah, no. Red is fine. I like red."
"Good"
The group was half way to the Emya Residence when Tohsaka reluctantly said, "and here is where we part ways. Remember, next time I see you, you're a target."
Shirou stopped and turned around, "But we still need to talk about how we will take down the bounded field at school."
Rin waved the objection away, "I can do that on my own."
"Yes, let her do that on her own" seconded Yuno.
"But what if you can't? You said you're not certain how powerful the field is - what if somebody gets hurt? I would like to help."
"And do what? As a magus, you suck." replied Yuno.
"Well, I don't know, but I can make us some dinner and we can talk about it."
Rin paused. Shirou.. make dinner... Hmm.. "can you make the same stuff as last night?"
"Sure, though I was thinking of cooking western tonight."
"No, you will make the same as yesterday." Rin replied imperiously before continuing on towards Emya's house. "Coming?"
Yuno's eyes narrowed in thought. as they did, a buzzing sound came from her cell phone. she flipped it open and sighed, 'so poisoning her won't work. Not until I dispose of Saber'
FSD*FSD
Shirou was hard at work in the kitchen, as Fujimura chatted with the girls. "So, Yuno - tell me about yourself. Do you have a boyfriend back home?"
"Oh, yes - Yukiteru Amano. We're going to be married" Yuno gushed, sounding slightly vapid.
"So tell me about him" asked Rin, curious despite herself.
"Well" Yuno continued to smile despite the panic that started to well up within her - she couldn't remember what Yuki looked like! Or almost anything else about him. "He is tall (at least for a Japanese man) and well muscled, even though he claims that he never worked out. He's very nice, though he needs somebody to take care of him."
"Sounds a little like our Shirou - he's always helping people, to the point that he forgets to look after himself." At this point, Shirou brought out the first set of serving dishes. As Fujimura heaped food on her plate, she continued, "did you know that he wanted to be a superhero?'
As the Rin giggled, Yuno scowled at Shirou, "that's stupid. You need to look after your own interests first. Nobody else will". Yuno faintly recalled that she didn't used to speak her mind, but her her long (centuries? decades?) long stay in Akasha had eroded some of her social rules.
Saber, who was hovering incorporeally over Rin's shoulder, narrowed his eyes. Not that he didn't agree that Shirou was an idiot, but in terms of altruism, this Yuno was a bit too far in the opposite direction.
"If you don't do something useful with your life, then what's the point of living?" Shirou retorted angrily, "I said the superhero thing when I was a kid, but I stand by my statement that if you aren't helping people, that if all you do is just float through life, that your life is worthless."
'That's something new. So if you're helping people, then your life has worth?' Saber watched his alternate.
"Hmm" Rin finished chewing a morsel and added, "what about Yuki? Is helping him ok?"
Yuno's face changed from scowling to radiant in a moment, "Oh, that's different. He's going to be my husband after all. His love gives my life meaning, so I would do anything to keep him safe." She gushed, "If anybody tried to hurt him..." Her scowl returned and her knife slammed down forcefully into an egg roll, squirting food across her plate.
Fujimura took a bite of rice, 'that girl isn't playing with a full deck. Good thing she's only going to be here for a week' "So, Yuno, when is your mother coming back?"
"Oh, sometime. She has her own business to attend to."
"Well, I'll just hang out with you guys until she gets back."
As dinner wound to a close, Fujimura again asked, "so, you want to call you mother and find out what her ETA is? It is not appropriate for boys and girls your age to be under one roof without supervision."
Rin sighed. As she turned to Fujimura, her eyes glowed red, "Why don't you take a nap. You can wake up in the morning"
Taiga nodded, "Why don't I take a nap. I'll wake up in the morning" She stood up from the table and made her way to the living room couch.
As the teacher started to snore, Rin wiped her mouth "no need to thank me."
"Can you show me how to do that?" asked Shirou in surprise, "My magecraft is pretty limited."
"What can you do?" asked Rin.
"I can trace stuff." At Rin's puzzled frown, he explained, "I can get a detailed map of something, and use my magic to repair or enhance it. Here, I can show you"
He stood up and lead the two women out to his workshop. "see, I have been practicing here" The workshop was littered with broken radios, a motor and several vacuum cleaners, as well as several objects that had started life as made from wood, but now gleamed as if steel. "I've mostly had to teach myself. My dad didn't want to train me in magic."
Rin shook her head. She didn't know if she should be amused or horrified, "This is pathetic. I don't understand why any Magus worthy of the name wouldn't do a better job of passing on his skills"
Shirou shrugged, disappointed at Rin's response, "He said that Magic just brought sadness. But I think he was just was sad that he couldn't accomplish his goals. Come back in, I'll serve dessert"
"No, thank you. If I eat another bite, I'll get fat" Rin bowed to her host "Thank you for the dinner. Remember, tomorrow I will try my best to kill you."
As she walked out, Yuno turned to Shirou, "I can follow her home. I bet she's going to send her Servant out to hunt for other Master's hideouts.. I can kill her then."
"Yuno," Shirou sighed, "didn't you hear what I said - I'm in this war to save people, not kill them."
"You actually mean that nonsense? I thought you just said that to put Tohsaka off her guard."
"Of course I meant it! Who cares about winning this stupid grail war."
"I do" Yuno hissed, "After I win, I will be reunited with my Yuki."
"Ok, fine. but if in order to win, you end up having to kill a bunch of people, would you still be happy winning it?"
"Yes" Yuno replied simply.
Shirou just stared at her.
"How about we compromise: I will do my best to win the Grail war, but we won't kill anybody."
"That's the same as losing the war." Yuno replied angrily, 'If only I could just get a better master...'
"And killing people is the same as losing your humanity. You may think that winning at any cost will bring you happiness, but I think that in the end pursuing your ideal at any cost will just make you more sad and unhappy."
"Maybe you're right" Yuno smiled, "I'll think about it" 'I wonder how long I can remain in this world if I kill him... best find a good master first.'
Yuno helped Shirou clear the table and wash the dishes. Yuno washed, Shirou dried and stacked. It was a soothing routine, and soon the Grail War seemed like a distant problem
"Oh, It's good that you are so tall," Yuno mentioned as Shirou put a stack of dishes on the top shelf, "I can't really use the highest shelf in my house."
"Oh,? what sort of house did you live in?" Shirou asked, making casual conversation.
"Actually, it's a traditional place, like yours, except the grounds are better maintained. My parents have a beautiful garden in the center."
"Hmm. My foster father bought this place. I think he was trying to escape from the stress of the modern world. He was dying, you see, and he wanted to spend his final years in peace."
"Ah, so that is why you live here alone." Yuno mused.
As the two split off to go to their own rooms, Yuno called out, "tomorrow, I make dinner"
That night, Shirou again dreamed of loneliness, but this time, there were bodies everywhere, and everything was splattered with blood.
FSD*FSD
At breakfast the following morning, Sakura insisted on cooking a western meal with Shirou. And she insisted that Yuno sit quietly out in the dining room with Fujimura and the imposing bulk of Murmur masquerading as Yuno's mother.
"I can't believe that I fell asleep like that last night" Taiga groused, "I must be really out of shape."
"Hmm. I know how you feel. I was very surprised to see how large I have become" Murmur said as she reached for the coffee. Yuno spread some butter on a piece of toast and handed it to Taiga, before serving Murmur and the rest.
'Hmm. She's so polite. why did I think she was a weirdo yesterday?' Taiga shrugged and ate her toast.
After the usual morning routine, Shirou and Sakura headed for school (and Yuno followed a few minutes later, to hang out at the Starbucks down the street, in case Shirou needed rescuing). "So, how is it having Gasai-san and Gasai-chan staying at your house? I know you have gotten used to living on your own."
"It's not too bad. Gasai-san is out most of the day, so I rarely see her, and Yuno tries hard to be polite. But she's a little... odd."
"She hasn't tried to do anything inappropriate?" Sakura's eyes narrowed, though her tone of voice stayed gentle as always.
"No, no!' Shirou waived away her concern, "She has a boyfriend back home" 'Or something'.
"Ah" Sakura smiled, "I am glad to hear that - having somebody you care about is important. Very important" she glanced at Shirou to see if he caught her subtle hint. But he was Shirou, who didn't think it at all odd that the majority of his friends were attractive girls. So no, he was still oblivious. Sakura blushed "Ah, well, I have to turn off here. I'll see you tomorrow Sempai"
As Shirou entered the school grounds, he was again assaulted by the noxious smell. This time it was strong enough to make his stomach churn.
Shirou was barely able to pay attention during school. He got used to the smell over time, but periodically, it wafted stronger, distracting him from his classes. 'I need to talk to Rin about this - If I'm smelling that boundary field or whatever, it's getting much stronger.'
FSD*FSD
After the last bell rang, Shirou packed up and set out to find the school Idol. Rin wasn't in her homeroom, so he set off to search her likely haunts - the roof, any classrooms where after-school clubs met, etc. 'I should have gotten Tohsaka's phone number. That would have made this so much easier.'
He was just heading towards the stairs leading down from the fourth floor when his phone rang "Hello?"
"Shirou - Tohsaka is going to try to kill you in about a minute. RUN" It was Yuno's voice. She sounded like she was running.
Shirou sighed, "You said the same thing yesterday. You shouldn't be so mistrustful. Tohsaka is a nice person" As he hung up, he exited the stairs onto the 3rd floor to see Rin waiting in the empty hallway. "Oh, Hi, Rin, I have a question for you."
Rin looked torn for a moment. Biting her lip, she raised her hand and pronounced "gandr". A ball of black energy shot out of her fingers at Shirou
"What the?!" he ducked back into the stairwell.
"I told you, Emya-kun. Today, we are enemies" another black ball shot at Shirou and he started to run up the stairs. Rin sprayed two more gandr shot at him and then followed up the stairs.
Shirou ran down the corridor and slammed into the first available classroom. Thinking quickly, he slammed the door shut and jammed a chair under the door handle. 'Oh, god, she's trying to kill me!' Shirou glanced around for any weapon. There was a pole for opening and closing the window shade. He grabbed that and hid behind an overturned desk.
The odd thing about this battle was how quiet it was. The gandr shot made a quiet hissing sound as it flew through the air, but that was all.
The door rattled, but did not open.
"Trace on" pain, like a needle being forced down his spine coursed through Shirou. He called on his magic and used it to reinforce first the desk and then the rod.
"Shirou, I just want your command seals. I'm not going to kill you. If you come out, I take them peacefully, otherwise I will have to hurt you, and then cut off your arm. But that's still better than dying, which is what will happen to you if an incompetent like you continues in the Holy Grail War." a spray of gandr shot hit the door, and the door warped and twisted, until it popped off its hinges and fell into the room.
More black spheres splashed against the reinforced desk, making it shake and warp. Shirou ducked down and clutched his makeshift weapon, getting ready to dart out and do... something.
His cellphone buzzed with an incoming text message 'Shinji's lying - Yuno'. Shirou was confused. Tohsaka was the problem, Shinji was nowhere around.
"Surrender your command seals, Emya. It's for the best" Rin prepared a barrage of gander shot that would be strong enough to destroy the desk. They would probably do some serious harm to Shirou as well, but he would survive, and in a few weeks, with some medical care, he would be back to normal. She refused to dwell on the image of herself nursing him back to health that popped into her mind.
Just as she was about to release the barrage, three streaks of putrescent black energy slammed into her, knocking her into the wall. She collapsed, disoriented, and began vomiting.
Shirou got up, holding his metalized rod like a sword "Tohsaka?" he approached slowly. Before he reached the incapacitated Rin, Shinji Matou stepped into view.
"Hey, Shirou. Guess who saved your ass?" He smirked.
"Shinji? You're a magus?"
The smirk slipped off his face, "Well, I'm a Master in this war" he struck a pose. "Seriously, with the sort of Masters competing in this war, the two of us need to team up if we have any hope of winning"
"What?" Shirou, "You know who else is a Master?" 'Maybe he knows something about the bounded field around the school'
"Well, there's Tohsaka, who's one of the most powerful magi in the country, plus there's whoever is operating out of Ryudo Temple" Shinji shrugged nonchalantly, attempting to appear knowledgeable and suave. Like James Bond.
Rin started to push herself up. Shinji quickly held up a book that Shirou hadn't seen him holding and threw purplish-black something from it at Rin. She slumped back down to the ground, looking dazed. Shinji looked very pleased. His gaze wandered over her prone body for several moments.
"What are you going to do to Tohsaka."
"Nothing. I'm not going to hurt her." Shinji replied, but something in his voice was off. Shirou recalled Yuno's text message, 'She was right about Tohsaka attacking me'. He stepped over to the prone Rin, and held his rod defensively.
"I'll think about it. But I think you should leave now. I'll take care of Tohsaka."
Shinji quirked an eyebrow before smirking oddly, "are you certain you don't want some help 'handling' her?"
"My servant is on her way. I'll be fine" Shirou still kept a wary stance.
Shinji stood for a moment, clearly debating what to do, before sighing, "Just don't forget - us second raters need to work together." He turned and walked off.
Shirou crouched down to help Rin sit up. At the same time, Saber materialized, a falchion in his hand "next time, we do it my way." He rumbled. He pulled back his arm to take off Shirou's head. Shirou stumbled back, falling on his rear end 'Yuno, Help! Come here!' He panicked. Unseen, the second of his command seals flared and faded from sight. At the same tome, Yuno materialized in front of Shirou, knife in hand.
Before Saber could attack, Rin wheezed out, "No.. not him. Shinji blind sided me"
Saber's eyes narrowed. He glanced at Shirou, then Rin, and back, "You take care of her. I'm going to going to take of Shinji"
"Don't kill him!" called out Shirou.
"I won't" lied Saber before dashing off.
"Help me up - I need to get the taste of that magic out of my mouth" Rin croaked. As Shirou helped her over to the water fountain, she added, "That was... nauseating." She rinsed out her mouth and then drank deeply.
Yuno watched as Shirou stood next to Rin, "We should kill her now" she pulled out a knife and approached the incapacitated magus.
"NO! What is wrong with you? We aren't killing anybody. We agreed on that last night!" As Shirou yelled at his servant, Rin stepped back and prepared a spell.
"No, you talked about it. I just listened and smiled" Yuno replied, exasperated, "because it's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. How are we going to win if we don't kill anybody?" The familiarity of the situation struck Yuno like a shock of of cold water. She suddenly had a vivid memory of Yuki insisting that they not hurt anybody in the future diary game. 'How dare he imitate my Yuki...'. Anger started to boil, deep under the surface.
"We.. We don't have to kill anybody. Servants are already dead - they're just Spirits made flesh, so if we defeat them, they will just go back to Akasha. No harm done." Shirou stood, relief at having solved the conundrum obvious on his face.
Rin watched, bemused, 'the idiot is planning to have Assassin face off against Saber? He's not much of a threat.'
Before Yuno could give Shirou a piece of her mind, Saber came back in, "I lost the little bastard. His Servant scooped him up and ran. Incidentally, it was a woman with purple hair and wearing a blindfold. She wasn't carrying any obvious weapons"
Before anybody else could say anything, Rin pronounced, "Shirou and I are going to work together for the time being" At the same time, she sent silently to Saber, 'Shirou want to only fight Servants. and with Assassin, he's no threat to us. And her abilities could be useful for finding other masters' hideouts'
Saber nodded 'Are you certain? Shirou's an honorable sort, but Yuno is a loose cannon. I don't trust her' Saber was very surprised to find himself defending this alter-Shirou.
'I think it's worth the risk, for now' Rin turned back to Shirou, "Ok, since we're all here, we might as well take a crack at taking down this bounded field." She stood up straighter, but she wasn't able to take her trademark lecturing pose, as she was still feeling a little queazy. "We need to find the anchor points for the bounded field. For one this big, there are going to be more than one. The best way to do that will be to split up."
"How will we get in touch? Do you have a cell phone?" Shirou asked.
"Of course," Rin proudly pulled out a little black rectangle about the length of a pack of gum, but twice as thick. She had bought it at the start of the school year. The sacrifices she made to maintain her 'school idol' persona. Though it _was_ a very cute phone, she had to admit.
"So, what can it do?" asked Yuno, curious.
"What do you mean? it's a phone," answered Rin.
"I mean can it go on the internet, or can it play mp3s, or does it have a diary feature?"
Rin started to go cross-eyed as Yuno used words that she wasn't familiar with. Her smile became wooden.
'Since when does an ancient heroic spirit know about the internet?' Asked Saber suspiciously
That gave Rin pause.
"Ah, does Saber have a cell phone?" asked Shirou.
"No, but I can contact Rin, and she'll phone you."
Shirou nodded, "In that case, let's get started" As they split up, he took another glance at Rin, to make sure she was ok.
FSD*FSD
Shirou founded it slightly odd - he was working together with Tohsaka, who less than an hour ago, had been trying to kill him. Well, maybe not kill, but seriously injure 'I guess that goes to show that with a little effort, you can find the good in anybody.' He was currently on the roof, following a scent. Since the Bounded Field had a smell for him, he was literally sniffing around, trying to find the source of the smell, in the hope that it would lead him to the anchor. It was kind of like trying to find a dead mouse rotting somewhere in your home.
He rounded an air-conditioning unit and gagged. "Rin? I'm on the roof. I think I found one" he put his phone away and walked to the edge to get some fresh air.
FSD*FSD
"So how were you able to find it so fast?" Rin demanded suspiciously. Not that she suspected Shirou of being involved with creating this Bounded Field, but she didn't like being shown up. She was a talented Magus, and her detection spell could easily cover several dozen square meters, but somehow, Shirou managed to show her up. Though he still needed her help to blast the anchoring rune.
"Can't you smell it?" he asked. At Rin's puzzled look, he continued, "all magic has a smell for me, so I just followed my nose." He took a couple of sniffs, leading the way to a spot no different than any others, at least to the unaided eye.
Rin followed, bemused, 'maybe he sucks as a magus, but he makes a good bloodhound', "Ok, let's see what we got here" She quickly cast her detection spell, and a complex rune a foot across came into view. It was red colored, and looked to have been drawn with smeared blood.
Rin pronounced another aria, and a three foot tall tornado materialized over the rune, scouring it off the roof. "Ok, that's one. Lets go find the next. You sniff them out, and I will blast them".
As they set out, Shirou pausing and sniffing periodically, Rin smiled, 'Maybe I should get a leash and a dog collar.' The image that popped into her head made her blush, but fortunately, she was walking a few steps behind Shirou, so he didn't see.
The two teens spent the rest of the afternoon like that, and they managed to remove another 5 runes.
"How many anchors does this bounded field have?" Rin was exasperated. Who ever had cast this field had done a very thorough job. Their work this afternoon had delayed the field, but there were still enough anchors in place so that the bounded field stayed up. "Ok, If we're going to work together, I should do something about making you less useless."
Shirou looked surprised, "and what does that mean?"
"I'll train you in magecraft. In exchange for dinner."
"Oh, that's fair. Thanks!" Shirou beamed.
FSD*FSD
"Ok, so let's see some magic" Rin was sitting next to Shirou in his workshop. They had decided to start work on his spell casting before dinner, as Shirou was eager to improve. Rin had cast a small monitoring spell on the incompetent Magus, so she could better see what he was doing wrong.
"Trace on!" Shirou convert a nerve into a Magic circuit and drew prana. He didn't hear Rin's sharp intake of breath. He then poured the prana into the rusty rod in front of him, converting the rust back into good steel.
"How was that?" he asked, holding up the shiny piece of metal.
"I can't believe you are doing something so stupid!" Rin almost yelled.
"What? I have been practicing this spell for years - it's what lets me repair stuff."
"Not that - I mean why on earth are you using your nerves as magic circuits? One screw up and you will fry your brain. And it must hurt like hell!"
"Um yeah, it hurts a little,but it's no big deal, " 'not like the Fire', "How else would I get prana?"
"You have functional Magic circuits. Not many, but enough for basic spells."
"Really? How do I find them?"
Rin rolled her eyes. "Here, I'm going to prime them. That will let you sense them" She put her hands on either side of Shirou's head and sent a jolt of energy into him. "Feel that? Now use THOSE when you cast a spell, instead of playing Russian Roulette with your nerves."
"Ok!" Shirou promptly reached out for another piece of scrap - an old rag "Trace On!" The rag stiffened and gained the consistency of steel. The edges started to disintegrate, though "Wow! I think I overloaded it. That was so much easier"
"Idiot," Rin smiled affectionately, "Why don't you go start dinner - I want my payment."
"Don't worry - Yuno volunteered to cook dinner tonight."
Rin sweat dropped, 'Shit - she's going to try to poison me.'
Dinner was a tense affair, as Rin made sure to only eat from dishes that Shirou had already taken from. The food itself was good: it was a simpler meal than Shirou's masterpieces, but well prepared.
"So, tomorrow we will continue taking down that bounded field"
"But that's only a stalling tactic - you said that we probably won't be able to take it all the way down" countered Shirou.
"Saber is trying to find who cast the field. we just need to buy some time for him. And afterwards, I can show you the correct way to cast spells." Rin said as she ate a cherry tomato. Or at least, tried to, but Yuno snagged it off her chopsticks.
"What?"
"That one has a bad spot" Yuno promptly got up and dumped it into the trash.
FSD*FSD
Later, after Rin had left, Yuno helped Shirou clear the table.
"That was a very good meal. Thank you" Shirou said as he turned on the water to wash the dishes.
"It wasn't as good as the ones you make"
"If you want, I can show you what I do."
"Hmm." Yuno was tempted, but she had a job to do, "Let's focus on winning the Grail War." She took a freshly cleaned dish from Shirou and dried it. "I need to be closer to you during the day - what happened in school today was almost a disaster."
"And how will you explain your presence? You can't just follow me around the school. People will notice, and you'll get kicked out. Besides, everything turned out ok."
'Does this idiot view EVERYTHING through rose colored glasses?' Yuno smiled, hiding her exasperation with long practice. Before she could say anything, Shirou continued, "besides, now I am allied with Tohsaka, so she can help if something comes up."
'She better, or I'll gut her like a fish', "How well do you know Tohsaka, anyway?"
"Not very well, actually, but I am a pretty good judge of character, and she seems like an honorable sort, that is, since she agreed to partner with us, she's going to stand by that agreement and do her best." Shirou thought before speaking, 'And I am certain that deep down, she's a good person, but if I said that, Yuno will laugh at me.'
"Ok, I guess that's the best we can do" smiled Yuno. 'This idiot is worse than Yuki. At least Yuki was easy to take care of. He knew he needed me. Shirou thinks he can actually take care of himself.' "And I will have Murmur scouting around the school, looking for any unexpected servants."
"Thank you" There was a slight pause as the teens finished up the dishes. "So, you're a heroic spirit, right? But, no offense, I don't think I've ever heard of you. Can you tell me about who you are?" Shirou asked tentatively.
"There's not much to tell," Yuno smiled winningly, "I grew up in a traditional house, but then my parents died, and I had to fend for myself. And I had to protect myself and Yuki from enemies that were trying to kill us. How about you? You seem to have a similar background."
"Huh. I guess. My original family died in the Fuyuki fire ten years ago. I almost died as well, but dad - Kiritsugu Emya - rescued me. After that..."
"Did you ever feel guilty about all those people dying?", asked Yuno in a small voice.
Shirou finished drying a couple more dishes before replying, "Yeah, all the time. But I figure if I can rescue others, I can make a start of paying my debt back"
Yuno paused thoughtfully, before pulling herself out of her musings, 'He's just an idiot'.
FSD*FSD
That night, Shirou's dreamed about walking through an empty school. He could hear the voices of students in the background, coming from inside of classrooms, but whenever he looked in, the classroom was empty. There was the sound of running footsteps around a corner, but when he ran to take a look, there was nobody there.
FSD*FSD
The rest of the week followed the same pattern, with Shirou attending school, and then meeting up with Rin to slow the Bounded Field.
As the weekend approached, Rin became more and more frustrated, "Saber still hasn't found who cast the bounded field, and we are losing ground - it could activate any time now." The two were having a hurried conversation before homeroom. "Maybe Yuno should help search"
Shirou sighed "We already talked about this: She can't disincorporate, so she's not going to be able to cover much ground"
"Yeah, and how can any guy resist when a girl smiles sweetly like that and insists she wants to stay close by" Rin smirked.
"It's not like that!" spluttered Shirou, "Look, nothing's going to happen over the weekend with this Bounded Field, not while the students are away, so we will all be able to help Saber search. Maybe by Monday we'll have our culprit." Shirou tried to put the best face on the problem.
"Yeah, well, I think we need to have this solved by Monday, or it will be too late" Rin sighed, and then stood up straighter, putting on her 'school idol' persona before walking off.
Class went on without interruption until just before lunch. bzzt, bzzt. Shirou glanced at his phone to see who the text message was from "Shirou, GET OUT! - the bounded field will activate in 5 minutes, killing everybody inside - Yuno"
Shirou glanced up - the teacher continued to lecture about differential equations, without any concern 'What do I do..' He made a decision.
Everybody looked up in surprise as Shirou ran out of the room. A few moments later, the fire alarm went off. Some of the teenagers were confused, others were delighted to have the time off, but they all made their way out of the building in a controlled chaos. They knew the drill.
Shirou called Yuno as he ran, "Yuno, text Tohsaka as well, I'm going to need her help!"
Shirou was one of the first out of the building, and he stood watching as the other students filed out 'Oh, no - the assembly points are on the school grounds - they're still inside the bounded field'. He took a deep breath and yelled "I smelled gas - the buildings could explode - everybody get away from the buildings!" He ran for the school entrance. A few of the older students followed hesitantly, looking uncertain if they should be breaking the evacuation rules like this.
Shirou and a handful of others were outside the grounds when the Blood Fort Andromeda sprang up. Students inside the bounded field staggered and slumped down. Shirou reached across the bounded field to pull a boy who was almost at the gate out across the threshold.
As the teens outside the grounds looked on in confusion, Yuno ran up. "Whoever cast the bounded field has to be close by to harvest the prana. This is our best chance to get them." Yuno glanced down at her phone, "Murmur says that there is somebody in the park east of the school."
Shirou nodded and darted for the park that edged the school.
Yuno caught up easily, "no idiot. stay back and cover me - I'm going to take the lead" 'The only reason you're here and not locked up in a safe somewhere is that I need your perceptions for the Master Diary.'
Instead of replying, Shirou pointed "there they are!" as the two turned to run deeper into the heavily wooded park, Yuno side stepped and knocked Shirou to the ground just as a spiked chain flew through where his head had been. As Shirou rolled to his feet, he grabbed a stick and reinforced it (carefully) with his new Magic circuits.
Yuno was darting from tree to tree trying to close to melee distance with a blur with purple hair that jumped from branch to branch, lashing out with spikes that were attached to her body by chains.
'Wait - purple hair? does that mean..' "Shinji! Come out" Shirou yelled, glancing around - 'there - there's somebody over there' "Shinji! lower the bounded field. People are going to get hurt.
"Hurt?" Shinji's voice echoed out, though the man himself was still hidden, "They're going to get _liquified_!" He laughed.
As Shirou made his way towards where the voice was coming from, a spiked chain flew at him, and he barely deflected it in time. Another came right after it. Soon Shirou was staggering from blow after blow. They were all glancing hits, as if the servant was playing with him "You are as pathetic as your Servant. What were you hoping to accomplish, little boy?"
Another spiked chair flew out, this one wrapping around his neck. As Shirou grasped at it, the female Servant dropped to the ground in front of him, pulling on the other end of the chain (which was looped over a branch above). She smiled as she hoisted him up into the air, "Master ordered me to make you suffer". Then she suddenly looked to the left and dashed off.
Shirou dangled, slowly suffocating.
A black gander shot struck the chain, rusting it away to nothing. Shirou dropped as Tohsaka ran up. "Are you ok?"
Shirou nodded his ascent, "We need to find Yuno.." he whispered.
Before they could go anywhere, the pink haired girl staggered into the clearing, holding her hand to a gash in her side. There was blood all down her front. Despite the obvious pain in her eyes, she smiled cheerfully, "Don't worry, I got Shinji to drop the Boundary Field before I killed him". She swayed and collapsed.
END chapter
Please review - It's really helpful for me to fine tune the story.