CHAPTER 2
Rin checked her watch again. An irritated sweat dripped down her hair. Damn, public airports' lines were way too long. Apparently, it was more discreet to travel this way – as to not alert any experienced mage (she just thought they were saving budget).
"Don't worry. We're almost there," Shirou had realized his girlfriend annoyance and gripped her hand in assurance.
She pushed away the hand and grimaced, "Hopefully the payoff is worth this horrid wait otherwise "
Shirou shook his head. That girl could be really spoiled sometimes. Especially with her generally favourable upbringing. When they finished this mission, he'd have a word with Rin.
"Aah, here we are." The couple handed in their tickets. Thankfully (for Rin anyways), they had tickets for a Business Class flight.
After a few more processes, they had finally reached the hardest part of the airport.
Luggage check.
Whilst magi have been around for ages and neither Rin nor Shirou doubted that some of people working here may have had some magical relatives, the use of spellcraft was still a mystery to the public eye. It was the reason why regular people would cast the residue made by Holy Grail War as natural disasters. So, to avoid any suspicions, they had asked a close friend to cast a cloaking spell on their magical items.
Well, all but one.
"What… is… this?" the police said, not sceptically but more in amusement.
Rin began to stutter at the sight of a familiar red stick, "Uh… it's a toy. Yes that's right – a toy – for a niece!"
This time, Shirou looked at her sceptically. A few weeks ago, they'd found out that Sakura Matou – an old friend – was actually the biological sister of Rin Tohsaka. He hadn't seen her since his arrival in England although they'd kept in touch and she had never mentioned a child. Then again, they hadn't called in a while and a lot could've happened in that time.
Letting it slide this one time, he said nothing and quietly walked to the waiting station.
"Argh!" the white-haired girl screamed in frustration, "Why are things so hard to find!"
It had been a full week since the Servant attack and Winter's visit to the library. Throughout those days, she had desperately looked for a catalyst to summon a Servant. Going to the library and researching on the internet had hardly helped her on her search.
Defeated, she steamed back into her sunken single-seat couch. She had recently gotten a pay raise at the pizzeria and decided to make the most of it as well as to calm herself down. She picked up her phone and, ironically, ordered a pizza. The guy at the other end told her it would take five minutes for the meal to be delivered. Immediately, she sunk back onto her sofa.
Bored and irritated, she began playing with her hands. And then her cheap watch. And then the key around her neck. And then- wait, key? A sudden realization hit her like a high speed bullet train. That was it – the key! How could she be so stupid to forget about it? It may have been the key (A/N: That pun was totally intended) to summoning a Servant!
Excited, Winter sprinted down into her basement to do some searching.
In spite of all of its expenses and praise, Business Class wasn't all it cut out to be. Rin looked disdainfully at her book as the seat failed to recline once again. She had half the mind to sue the flight company for misleading advertisements. But that would have to be saved for a later time.
Noticing, once again, Rin's frustration, the orange haired man tried desperately to change the conversation, "Uh, Rin?"
"What?" she said.
"You said you sold the Tohsaka Manor, right?"
"Yes. So what about it?"
"Then where are we staying at when we get to Fuyuki?"
Rin sighed deeply, "The Association just told me that we were going to stay with some magus downtown – Something Fu, I think. According to them, she has already been contacted…"
This piqued Shirou's interest. He had remembered hearing the surname Fu circulating campus, mostly by his underclassmen or the younger teachers. He was about to say something but was quickly cut off by Rin.
"…And they did say that she had resigned under… less favourable circumstances," Rin said absently minded, "She might be a troublemaker. I'll have to look out for her.
Less favourable circumstances, Shirou thought to himself. Again, he had heard about a student being expelled. Hell, it had been the big news for a while. Maybe he'd have to look out for her, too. He decided to lock that thought inside the vault for the time being. He would deal with it when it happens. Then he closed his eyes, mostly to catch a nap, but also to tune out his girlfriend's angry shouts after the seat failed to recline again.
Shirou sighed.
Dealing with women like Rin was hard.
Winter threw aside the endless amounts of cardboard boxes to the side, trying to find the right one. Goddamn, even the sharpest of eyes couldn't find shit in this mess. She had though that her 1R apartment was messy. However, the basement was a literal eyesore.
Winter had stored away all of her magical items and other junk inside the basement.
Not a very good idea.
For starters, she had amassed quite a large treasury of useless items ranging from broken mirrors to hydration jewels (don't ask why) during her short time as a professional mage (is that even a profession?). Secondly, she was quite lazy when it came to packing and cleaning so, well, she just tossed everything in random boxes and tried to jam them in.
Again, not a very good idea.
"Come on, come on," she said, exasperated, "it has to be here some- Ah! Here it is!"
She grabbed the box on both sides. It was quite heavy and Winter struggled to bring it up the short case of stairs back to her room.
She placed the chest onto the coffee table, trying to catch her breath. She reached for the pizza that had been slipped under the door. Opening the box, she realized that it was cold – showing how long she'd been down there.
She put the pizza into a microwave oven and sat back down on her seat.
"Okay, time to open this chest," she said to no one in particular.
The wooden trunk in front of her was Winter's mother's last gift to her before she… they said she killed herself although she couldn't bring herself to believe that, even still. She had told winter to open the box whenever she required a ritual item.
Taking the key around her neck, of which she'd been wearing for as long as she could remember, she put the it into the keyhole. She tried to turn the key and…
Nothing happened.
She tried once more. Still, nothing happened. Winter stared at the blankly at the box. It was probably jammed. Oh well, she couldn't use the key then. After a moment's thought, she came up with another method of opening the crate albeit more destructive.
Winter stood up and pushed the sofa behind her. Then, she spread out her legs and held her shoulder, for support. Raising her hand, Winter's magic circuits began to light up, causing minor red sparks to fly. She closed her eyes, beginning to scan every molecule that made up the chest. After about two seconds, Winter snapped open her lids and uttered one word under her breath.
"Eclater."
Shards and remnants of the chest flew in every direction. A wooden splinter had only narrowly missed her. She looked back at the coffee table. On it was a wheel looking thing. Cracked, but still in decent shape. Less could be said for the room. Winter looked around her; there were pieces of wood stuck in the walls. Thank god, her flat neighbours had conveniently left the day before.
She took the wheel and ran into the basement for a second time. She had studied rituals and incantations for the past week and was excited to test it out.
Absent minded, she said, "Okay, let's see how this Servant thing goes."
Shirou casually walked out of the airport. The flight had taken about twelve hours and, although they were crossing time zones, the orange-haired man felt no jetlag.
Taking a deep breath he said, "Aah! Fuyuki City! Good to be home!"
Rin looked as him as if to say 'it smells exactly like London'. Literal as ever she seemed.
As they were trudging down a path, Shirou remembered a question he was going to ask since the plane trip concerning their lodging.
"Hey, why are staying at this Fu household instead of Sakura's place?"
"Oh yes, I was about to tell you. Sakura has moved to Tokyo to settle down with her daughter."
Shirou stopped in his tracks, "wait Sakura Matou has a daughter!"
"She never told you? Had a rough day and met a guy who helped her and, well, I think you can figure out what happened from there."
"I thought you were lying about having a niece!"
"Why would I?"
The conversation stopped then and there, with Rin walking on with a smug look on her face.
Dealing with women like Rin was hard.
It was about 8:00 pm by the time Rin and Shirou had reached downtown Fuyuki. They looked around for a bit. The area wasn't the best, but it was respectable enough to not seem suspicious. After a tad more walking the decided to stop and take a break at a nearby bench.
"Hey Rin, do you know where the apartment is?" Shirou asked.
"No. Didn't you get the address?"
"I was only told the basics of the mission."
They looked at the sky and groaned in unison at their situation. Shirou, being an optimist, tried to think of a solution.
"Maybe someone around here knows where she lives."
Rin nodded lightly. They immediately turned to the library from across the street.
It was small but fashionable with stories filling every inch of the room. Shirou recognized some of the books as magecraft instruction booklets for aspiring magi.
"The librarian here must magus," Shirou picked up a book entitled 'Magecraft Instruction Booklet for Aspiring Magi', "maybe she's the person we're staying with?"
He spun around and saw Rin talking with a middle aged red-haired lady. She must've been the librarian. Walking up to them, he resaid his question to Rin.
"No, I don't think so. This is Ms McRemitz. We're looking for Fu-," Rin was abruptly cut off.
Ms McRemitz had a warm voice, "Fu? Do you mean Ms Winter Fu? She makes occasional visits."
"Yes, that's the one. Do you know where she lives?"
"Oh no, but I do have her phone number."
"Thank you, can we please have it!" Rin said.
Ms McRemitz wrote some numbers on a piece of paper and handed it to Rin. She snatched from the older lady's hand (Shirou would have to have a talk with her about that too) and took out her smartphone. She quickly dialled the number.
The response was almost immediate.
Winter was part-way through setting up the ritual when she felt a vibration in her pocket. A phone call. As she was taking the smartphone out of her pocket, she began wondering who it was. Most of her contacts were from the Mage's Association and her ties with them were (mostly) cut when she got expelled. So who could it be?
She checked the caller. Anonymous. Despite what her brain was telling her, Winter decided to accept the call anyways.
"Hi, Winter Fu speaking."
"Hello, my name is Rin Tohsaka."
Rin Tohsaka. That's right. Winter had gotten a call recently from the Association that two magi were going to stay in her flat. Tohsaka and Emiya – she thought those were the names.
"You must be the one of the two magi staying at my place."
"Yes."
"Do you have Shirou Emiya with you?"
"Of course."
Winter could hear some faint yells of pain and some shouting from Rin, "Uh, is everything alright there?"
"Yes, yes… Get here Shirou!"
Winter literally jumped back at the scream.
"Oh hey, you must be Winter right- Ow my hair, my hair!" a more masculine voice said through the phone.
"Shirou man up!" following Rin's voice was a soft bump, "Oh, sorry there Ms Fu, my boyfriend is being a bit of a nuisance so now he is… uh… asleep."
So they were a dysfunctional couple eh? Winter made a mental facepalm.
Dealing with those two was going to be hard.
This took WAY to long to complete! Holy damn! From exams to PC problems to losing inspiration (which happens a lot apparently) the second chapter is finally here. If you've checked my profile, it tells that I've changed my identity and all that jazz. Anyways, I suck at doing these A/Ns so I hope you enjoy the actual story!