Author's Note: Apologies for the last chapter's cliffhanger. And for the info dump it kinda became at the end. It may have been a little boring but it's out of the way now so we can get onto the more fun things from here on out that I've been looking forward to writing since I started this thing.

About comments regarding how "bloodthirsty" Shirou seems. I think this chapter will shed some light on why he's that way and what he's actually going through right now. I know he was OOC there and it was done intentionally. Though I didn't expect so many comments and straight up flames. Maybe I over did it a bit, but we'll see what the response is to this chapter.

Also, a small forewarning. Keep your favorite version of "Emiya" ready to play. You'll know when to use it to enhance your enjoyment.

Chapter Seven

"Your incantation… I am the bone of my sword. I hate it. Not even a curse should be that cruel…" she said to me. The love of my life.

"He said you could save everyone but yourself. If that's true then let me be the one to save you. I won't let it happen to you. As long as I live I won't let it. You won't be that man. I won't let you make his mistakes. I won't let you be betrayed. I won't let you be surrounded by people who will turn their backs on you when you need them. You were my hero when I needed one. Let me be yours."

"These are good people we've found. You and her fight together like you were born to do it. She won't let you down. That man though is so much like you that you might not ever be able to get along with him anymore than you could get along with him but I think we should stick with them."

"We've come a long way. We been through so much. But I don't regret anything. I like my life with you. I want it to continue. Always."

"I love you," I said to her. Wishing I said it more often.

"I love you," she said to me as she often did, but every time, it was the same as the first time.

"Marry me," I asked of her.

"Yes!" she exclaimed to me.

"You won't ever become that man. I don't know what his life was like. But we have a family now. I don't think he ever did. All he ever had were reasons to fight and never any reason to live. That's why you're different people. He isn't your fate. You can make your own now," she said to me.

Shirou looked closely into the mirror where he carefully examined his eyes, so far there was no sign of any changes. But it was the roots of his hair kept which pulling his eyes up to them. Caving into his frustrations he opened his drawer under the sink and retrieved a hair dying kit to get to work on it.

"I won't become that bastard… No matter what happens. I won't regret a thing," I said to myself.

"That kind of thinking is where this all began. Before long. You'll wake up and find you've become me."

Shirou rubbed the dye into his hair with plastic gloved hands, thoroughly and aggressively working it in to ensure no trace of that man's white hairs could be seen.

"No. No way that's ever going to happen." I said to myself.

"But in the end you're a fraud. And your hypocrisy can't save anyone. How could you when you never knew who you should save to begin with? And look. This is the result. You can never be a savior. You never had anything to save! You became the embodiment of justice… And justice can be cruel!"

"That is not true… I have a lot to save!"

He removed his gloves and threw them into the trash bin. He then put his hands on the sink, he looked up and glared with hatred into the mirror while the dye did its work.

"If you can't live without that dream. Let it drag you down and drown you…"

"I'll use every ounce of my strength, to defeat the part of me that's you!" Shirou said through tightly clenched teeth. He balled his fist and punched the mirror as if it were Archer's face, shattering it and sending shards and blood drops hurtling all over the bathroom.

"Stop screwing with me you bastard!" yelled Shirou while staring into the remains of the broken mirror.

"Shirou… I'm sorry I can't protect you anymore… Take care of our daughter… and thank you. I couldn't have wished for a better life... than the one I had with you. I love you… I'll always love you."

He fell onto his knees, cutting them on the broken shards and sobbed quietly into his hands.

Meanwhile Kotori sat on the veranda overlooking the courtyard with Ciel as they found it to be a particularly beautiful day. Tohka was in the yard playing with Len and the two seemed to be having a good time with each other.

"I'm worried about your father…" said a wistful Ciel.

"Me too… He's been so withdrawn since that night. We've barely said anything to each other for days now," Kotori said while staring into her tea. "Has he ever been this way before?"

Ciel shook her head, "No. This is something new. I've never seen him so high strung. He's usually so carefree and charming. Idiotic, reliable, stubborn, brave… Frustratingly selfless. But being withdrawn like this… This is new."

"I wish I knew what to do…" she said before sipping from the tea.

"I don't think telling him what you told me would be a very good idea right now," said Ciel before sipping her own tea.

"What do you think I should do about that?" she asked the older woman.

"About your problem?" Ciel asked rhetorically before sipping from her tea and gathering her thoughts, "You're dealing with something pretty heavy there. I'm just glad you felt like you could confide in me. You shouldn't carry that alone."

"Naaa. Nothing heavy about it. Hearing from my best friend that I may have been the one who burnt my own hometown to ashes and killed her parents-"

"The operative word there is 'may' you don't remember what happened," said Ciel before Kotori could continue with her train of thought. "By her own admission her memories are hazy at best. There's no way to be sure that's what actually happened."

"I can barely control my powers Ciel. Even though I don't remember any of this it isn't a stretch! When I just try to light the wick in a lamp I end up melting the whole thing down."

"Maybe you're going about it all wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Kotori asked with a curious gaze on Ciel.

"Your mother, as much as I love and adore her, was very set in her ways. I remember when she was trying to teach me some magecraft she was very rigid and inflexible in her method of teaching,"

"That's an understatement…"

Ciel nodded in agreement, "My point is, I wanted to learn, but the way she had me going about it just wasn't working for me. We all learn in different ways. And magecraft also has other complications. What if your spirit power doesn't work the same way as regular magic?"

"How could it not?"

"Well. Without knowing more about your specific problem I don't know how helpful I can be. But I'm willing to bet good money there's someone else in this house who probably does know a lot about the subject," she said while gesturing to Tohka.

Kotori looked over at the other spirit chasing a ball across the yard.

"You're thinking she's way too naive and immature to be of any use to you. Looking at her right now, I can't blame you for coming to that conclusion. But you did risk your life for a chance to meet and talk to her about your spirit powers. But since she's been here you haven't approached her at all about it. Why is that?"

"Her powers are so different from mine that I seriously doubt-"

"Stop right there," demanded Ciel which pulled Kotori's undivided attention. "You sound just like your mother now. When she got stumped on something, she had to solve it herself. She was always too proud to ever ask for help. When the idea was suggested to her, she would just make an excuse for why she couldn't. Don't be that way. That was one of her character flaws you're better off without."

"Alright, you win Ciel. I'll talk to Tohka about it. But first let her finish playing with Len. They look like they're having too much fun together,"

"It's rare to see Len playing around with anyone. But I guess Tohka brings out all of our childish sides. She's a grown woman in a lot of ways. But in many other ways, she's just a big kid with infectious enthusiasm for everything."

Shirou walked out onto the veranda and cleared his throat to get their attention, "I'm going out to do a job. I should be back in three or four hours. Alright?" he said emotionlessly.

Kotori and Ciel both just stared at him, both noticed is bandaged hand but neither said anything.

"Aright Pops. See you when you get back," said Kotori.

He nodded and walked away.

"I love you!" she yelled after him but got no response.

Kotori stared at the empty hall behind her and turned her head downwards. It was a long moment where she fought back tears before Ciel pulled her into a hug and held her close while she cried.

"I hate being so powerless…" she said angrily through her tears.

Shirou placed his hand on an old washing machine in the back of Ryuudou temple. "Trace on," he said to himself with his eyes closed.

As I suspected… This is going to be messy.

Shirou set about disassembling the machine when Issei walked into the back. "Any luck?" the priest asked him.

Shirou stood up from the machine with an annoyed grunt, "Yeah. I've had a lot of luck. It's just that all of it is bad. The outer tub cracked. I could try and find you a new one but it won't be easy. The maker went out of business while we were still in High School, so I'll have to try and find you something compatible if I can't find the part from any of my sources."

"So it can be fixed?"

"I'm cautiously optimistic that it can. Yes. Once I get it open and clean out the gunk that's been building up in it, I'll know more," Shirou said with a smile.

"You're a good man Shirou. Ayoko didn't want to trouble you so she called a random repairman, he took one look and said it was hopelessly obsolete and should just be replaced," explained Issei.

"Obsolete. Maybe. But not useless. Not yet at least. I'll get it running again. Might take some time, but it'll live again."

"Glad to know I can always count on you. But I insist you let me pay you for this trouble," the man said while holding out an envelope to him.

"That's really not necessary Issei. Just pay for any parts its needs. My labor costs are always waved for you."

"I can't just accept that Shirou. A man should be compensated for his work. It's only proper."

"What if the enjoyment he gets from his work is his compensation?" asked Shirou while looking up at his old friend.

"I'd tell him that he can't eat his good feelings and insist he take the money."

Shirou cracked a smile, "Tell you what Issei, I'll accept that money, but in return, you have to keep it and put it towards one of those charities you fundraise for, alright?"

Issei sighed in resignation, "You're impossibly stubborn Shirou. Do you know that?"

"I do. They say it's part of my charm," he said with his signature smile, eyes closed and all.

Shirou's phone rang as he was walking down the stairs away from the temple. He then raised a surprised eyebrow at who was calling.

"Good day to you Kusakabe," he said politely after answering the call.

"So formal? What's my name Shirou? Come on. Say my name."

"Ryouko," he said into the phone with a roll of his eyes.

"Much better!" she cheered into his ear. Her tone then suddenly shifted to a lower more normal one, "I'm not calling at a bad time am I?"

"Nope. I just finished a job and I'm walking right now."

"Are you maybe free for an hour or two?" she asked hesitantly. The tone took Shirou by complete surprise.

"Umm… I can be? Did you have something in mind?" he asked with a curious eyebrow raised.

"I always have something in mind. I wanted to make up for having to cancel on you the other day, so I would like to invite you to lunch. No wait. That's stupid. I don't know what I was thinking. You're a better cook than any restaurant employee… How about we… umm…"

"Take a breath Ryouko. It doesn't have to be this complicated. I'm fine with anything you want to do," Shirou said in a firm yet polite tone.

"How about I come get you and we make it up as we go along?" she offered.

"Sounds like a plan. I'm just walking down the steps of Ryuudou Temple right now. I'll be home in about twenty minutes, if you can pick me up in forty five I'll be changed and ready to go."

"What are you wearing?" she asked in a saucy voice.

"I'm wearing the spoiled remains of a set of work cloths. My old friend's washing machine broke down and it needed emergency surgery… Right now I smell like whatever passes for laundry detergent that his wife uses. So yeah. I need to clean up and change,"

"Not a chance Shirou! I'm in my work cloths too and I'm not letting you go home and get into a tuxedo…" she then changed her voice to sound like a cheesy movie villain, "Very foolish. Mr. Bond."

Shirou raised an eyebrow, "Oh so you get to dress like a proud military officer while I look like the mechanic whose test riding your car with you after servicing it?"

"Pretty much yeah," he could hear the sound of an engine rumbling as she stepped on the gas. "I'll be at the bottom of those steps in exactly ten minutes. Be there!" she demanded before hanging up.

Shirou blinked at the car which pulled up beside the temple steps. She wasn't just into cars. She was insane about them. It was a black Nissan GTR decorated with brand names for whatever custom parts she had under the hood and large stickers of what was probably her favorite anime character on the doors which seemed familiar to him but that he couldn't recall at the moment.

"Seriously Ryouko?" he sighed, "Pop the trunk so I can put my tools away," he said while walking to the back of the car.

After putting the tools away into a corner so they wouldn't slide around he got in on the passenger side and shut the door gently beside him.

"So how do you like my wheels?" she asked with a grin.

Shirou looked around the car, but in such a way that he could also take note of her appearance. She was wearing dark green army fatigues in contrast to his mostly stain covered light blue work suit.

"This was everyone's dream car when I was in High School."

"Even mine," she said with a wink. "Believe it or not I bought this thing from a junkyard after some rich guy wrecked it and brought it back to life."

"Ahh. I was wondering how you could afford this on an army salary. Very impressive work. I doubt my Benz will ever be able to keep up with this, so a race is out of the question," he said while grinning to her.

"It's not the car, it's the driver!" she exclaimed while shifting into gear, spinning out the back tires and taking off along the twisty road.

Shirou's eyes widened in horror as she drifted through the turns. "Ryouko! There could be cars coming that you can't see! Shouldn't you slow down?"

Ryouko pointed at the GPS navigation screen. "It'll show me if there's anyone ahead. Just relax Shirou! I'm reckless but not completely irresponsible! I know what I'm doing!" she happily exclaimed while turning on her stereo which started blaring some popular new rock song.

Believe me woman, I know. I've seen you work! Wait… Why do I know this song… Oh she can't be serious…

"Isn't this the opening from that Gundam show?!" he asked incredulously.

"Oh? Another Gundam fan?" she asked with a bright smile.

"Not by choice… I have a fourteen year old daughter and an almost forty unmarried surrogate sister who both love anime…" he stated while holding the door handle tightly to keep his butt in the seat as she slid through another turn.

"Ahh. So you didn't recognize the character on the vinyls? That's Kirino Akiyama, from Gundam Imperium. She's my favorite!"

I wish I could tell her I've seen her cosplay as a sexy scantily clad mobile suit while trying to kill me… But she did look really good doing it so… maybe I won't snark about it if it ever comes up. Damn it... Don't tell me I have a costume fetish as well now?!

"Do you really have to slide through the turns?!" he asked while holding on so tight he was afraid he might rip the handle clean off.

"I'm from Tokyo remember? I need my drift fix! This is the only road in all of Fuyuki you can drift through that's actually fun! Relax and enjoy yourself a little! I'm really good at this!"

Shirou's hand and nerves finally relaxed as he got used to her wild driving. "EX rank riding skill, for sure…" he mumbled.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you!"

"You're really good at this!" he said louder.

She could be a Rider or Berserker class if she ever became a Heroic Spirit… She'd be great at either.

Ryouko drove them up to a road side cafe at the end of the long winding road. Shirou hadn't ever been here before and was surprised to find that Ryouko's wasn't the only tuned up car parked here. Besides sports cars in every color of the rainbow, there were also motorcycles and things Shirou would have to call 'works in progress'. This was a place that seemed like it was here to cater to the underground racing scene which he never realized Fuyuki actually had.

"Wasn't that fun?" she asked him with a grin before getting out of the car.

Shirou bobbed his head around thoughtfully for a moment before opening the door to get out of the car. "It wasn't boring," he finally said while going to walk beside her.

Once inside they sat down at a table where a waiter came up to them to take orders.

"Bottle of Kirin please," she requested.

Shirou looked over at what the bar had on tap, "Guinness," he said.

"The black stuff?" Ryouko questioned.

Shirou shrugged, "I came into my drinking age in England."

"Origami mentioned you studied there when she was convincing me to meet you. I bet that was fun."

"It wasn't boring," he said with a smile while unconsciously playing with his wedding band.

Ryouko glanced at the golden ring, "Was that where you met your wife?"

Shirou suddenly became very self-conscious of the ring and covered it up with his other hand. "Uhh. No. We were in High School together. She was the one who wanted to go study in London. I just went with her."

"Sorry. I probably shouldn't bring it up…" she said while mentally kicking herself.

Shirou shook his head, "It's alright. If she ever saw me getting upset about it or letting her memory hold me back from my future, she'd kick my ass. So don't worry about it," he said while the waiter served them their drinks.

Ryouko held up her glass to Shirou, "So you think I'm your future? Very presumptuous of you," she said with a smiling laugh.

"I presume nothing. I'm just being open minded," he smiled back while knocking glasses with her before they both took a long sip of their respective brews.

After a couple beers and light snacks the two emerged from the establishment and started walking back to her car. "So where do you wanna go next? I've got another hour to kill before I need to start back to the base," she asked in a happy voice.

"I've no preference. What would you do if I wasn't here?"

"Race someone. What do you think?" she asked while gesturing with open arms at their surroundings.

"Yeah… Dumb question. So how about we-"

"Give her back! Please!" Shirou heard the small voice of a young girl tearfully pleading with someone. "You're hurting her!"

The two turned around to look behind them where they saw a couple young men playing keep away with a little girl who was jumping desperately to try and get something back from them. She was wearing a green bunny eared hooded coat over a white frilly dress with matching green boots.

"Your foul mouthed puppet said something he shouldn't have! So you can't have him back until he apologizes!" said one of the young men while tossing a white rabbit puppet to the other man.

"It's a her. She just told you to stop picking on me…"

Shirou and Ryouko both raised their eyebrows while walking towards the scene.

"Sounded like a him to me," one of them said in response.

"Excuse me!" shouted Ryouko, "Would you two kindly give her back the puppet? Before I break every bone in your pathetic bodies!"

Shirou looked surprised at the viciousness in Ryouko's tone but folded his arms and smirked. "Better do what the lady says. She could probably get away with it if she followed through."

"What's this? Soldier Cosplay and her greasemonkey? Is the rabbit girl with you? Then you apologize for your little bitch!" one of them yelled while holding the white puppet up high away from the little girl who was trying to jump and reach it but just couldn't.

"Cosplay… He thinks I'm cosplaying…" she said while rolling up her sleeves on her way towards them.

Shirou then quickly reached out and held her back with one arm. "Before we go straight to fisticuffs, maybe we can reason with them?"

"This little kid has no respect for her elders so we have to teach her a life lesson. Stay out of it!"

Shirou started walking up to them, his tall and lean physique not intimidating either in the slightest. "Whatever she did, I apologize for her. Just give her back her puppet and leave her alone."

"Not good enough. Bow and apologize!"

Shirou sighed deeply and was about to comply when Ryouko stopped him, "No Shirou! What're you thinking? I won't allow you to put yourself beneath bullies! I hate bullies more than anything!" she yelled before rushing the one with the puppet where she punched him in the gut and snatched the white puppet out of his hand.

When his friend tried to intervene it was only to be meet with a vicious kick to his chest which sent him to the dusty ground.

Damn… Definitely Berserker class.

Ryouko then took the little girl by the hand and started walking away from the scene. But before she could get very far the one she punched pulled a knife and started running towards her. Shirou's eyes widened and he ran for it with reinforced legs, he pushed Ryouko out of the way of the impending stab and took it in his shoulder before grabbing onto the man's hand and brutally twisting it until he was rolling through the air and face first onto the ground and lost consciousness on impact. Shirou then twisted the arm some more until every bone in his hand and arm was broken before relieving him of his weapon.

He then stood while Ryouko rushed to his side. "Shirou! Oh my god you're bleeding too much! I have a first aid kit the car, come on!" she said loudly while pulling him along with her. She then shouted towards a growing crowd of onlookers who were taking pictures and videos of what was happening with their cameras. "Could at least one of you morons call the police and an ambulance before you update your anti-social fucking media?!" she screamed at everyone.

"Do you know what you're doing Ryouko?" he asked while sitting on the back of the open trunk of her car while she put on a latex glove from her first aid kit, she then placed a clean cloth over the stab wound and a held it there tightly. "No idea what so ever…" she groaned sarcastically.

Eyeing his now exposed chest after getting his shirt off and letting the top of his work suit hang behind him, she couldn't not notice the many wounds which had been inflicted upon him in the past. Stabs, gunshots, burns, and deep lacerations.

"Looks like this isn't the first time for you," she said while looking at a particularly nasty one right over his heart. "How are you even still alive?"

"That's a very good question…" he said with a long sigh while taking off the jeweled necklace he was wearing and moving it into his pocket. Ostensibly so it would be out of the way.

"I guess the life of an aid worker is rougher than I imagined," she remarked coldly.

She doesn't believe a word she just said… She's not an idiot. Don't treat her like one.

"The bad guys very seldom allow you to go help their victims, just now was a good case in point," he said to her.

It's not a lie. It's very true in fact.

"Umm… Thank you for helping me and Yoshinon," said the quiet little girl standing behind Ryouko.

"Yeah! That was so cool! You two are like superheros!" said the white puppet.

Ryouko and Shirou both turned their gaze to the the girl and her puppet in surprise.

"You totally saved us from those losers! They were messing with Yoshino the way grown men aren't supposed to mess with little girls if ya know what I mean. When I told them off they started doing what you kicked their asses for!" the puppet said.

"Umm… Yes… Thank you very much," the girl said after the puppet she was holding.

"She's a ventriloquist?" Shirou wondered aloud.

"Pretty good one too," remarked Ryouko while still holding the cloth over Shirou's stab wound. She then turned her eyes back to his injury and lifted the bandage off. "The good news is that it doesn't look very deep. The bad news is it'll still need stitches. Want me to do it for you or would you rather wait for the ambulance?"

"Don't you have to be getting back to work?" asked Shirou with a raised eyebrow.

Ryouko them smacked him upside the head with her free hand. "Don't be an idiot. We still have to deal with the police. I have subordinates who can cover for me."

"What about her?" asked Shirou while gesturing to the little girl with his eyes.

"Oh yeah… Umm. What was your name again?" she asked her.

"My name is Yoshinon!" exclaimed the puppet.

"And what's her name?" asked Ryouko calmly with a smile.

"I'm Yoshino…" she answered shyly.

"Yoshino and Yoshinon. I got it. Where are your parents? Since they haven't shown up in a panic looking for you from the crowd, I'm going to go ahead and guess you're here by yourself?"

Yoshino looked away from Ryouko and the puppet said nothing. It was in that moment, for only a split second, Shirou could sense the slightest hint of something off about the girl. It was faint, subtle, but he'd been around it enough to know it, even in an instant.

Like theirs. She's a spirit. She's somehow masking her power though. That's probably why the mecha-mecha… Now I'm doing it too… It's why Ryouko's soldiers aren't coming after her. They can't detect her like they could with Tohka.

"Shirou would you mind?" she asked while gesturing to the cloth she was holding over his wound.

"No problem. I'll try not to bleed on your car," he said while replacing her hand on the wound to continue applying pressure.

Ryouko knelt down to be on eye level with the kindest face she could wear for her. "So you're all alone here?"

The little girl nodded.

"How did you get here? Do you know where your house is?"

The girl said nothing. But looked visibly saddened.

That was when Shirou sensed it again. Whatever she was doing to mask her presence probably took a lot of concentration which this line of questioning was breaking.

"Ryouko…" said Shirou in a low voice which got her to stand up and lean close to him to listen. "I've seen this kind of thing before. The way she's acting. I've been there myself. So has Kotori. And a lot of kids I've seen around the world… Something happened to her she doesn't want to talk about. Don't press it."

"I kinda sensed that… Origami is like that too sometimes. I should probably tell the police to run a background check on her or something when they get here. We can't just leave her like this."

Shirou nodded, "I'm not saying we should. But do you think that's really the best thing for her? She'll probably be thrown into an orphanage somewhere. I can bring her home with me and look after her."

"No Shirou. I kinda took responsibility when I got us involved. I should be the-"

"Ryouko. We both involved ourselves. Besides. You work almost all day every day. I have a big house and a lot of support."

"Don't argue with me Shirou. Origami and I can look after her until we figure something out."

"Do you really think you can look after a little girl like her?" asked Shirou skeptically.

"Do you doubt me?" she asked him back in a firmer voice.

"Yeah, kind of," he said while glancing to where the little girl had been standing.

Ryouko looked to see that she was gone. In a panic she started running around searching the parking lot.

Some kind of innate teleportation spell… That was damned impressive. I barely even sensed the mana surge when she did it.

Kotori closed her eyes and focused on the mana running through her magic circuits, when it was ready she ignited the wick and shattered the glass top of the lamp.

"This is what happens every time. I only ever get maybe, one in thirty right," she explained to the other spirit.

Tohka put a hand to her chin and considered the matter. "I don't get what you're trying to do. When I use my powers it's easy. I just feel the energy around me and give it form before doing something with it. It's easy."

Kotori took a deep breath and tried to explain it all again. "Alright… I don't know if I'm really competent enough to take you through the entire process of every little thing I do in a way which you'd understand… But… I take power into my magic ci-"

"Yeah yeah. I got that the first time. I'm not a dummy, dummy," said Tohka with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Dummy?! Who're are you to-" Kotori took a very deep breath. "Alright… If you get all of it. Then why don't you tell me what I'm doing wrong?"

"Pretty much everything… You're just making it all too complicated. You're trying to make it happen there first instead of here. That's the difference between what I do and what you're doing."

"How can that be? There's only one way to enact a mystery and that's by using your magic circuits to-"

"To carry the magical energy into the 'system'. Yeah yeah. I paid attention. Like I said I'm not a dummy!"

"Well pardon me for stating the obvious but the evidence to the contrary is quite against you there Tohka!"

"Grrah! I don't know anything about the world or how humans behave or any of that kind of stuff but I do know how to pay attention and learn stuff! So stop thinking of me as stupid child you little dummy!"

"Little dummy?"

"You're smaller than me, so you're a 'little dummy' dummy!"

"Alright then you big dummy! Why don't you tell me then what I'm suppose to do to control my powers!"

"Hmph! Fine, now you pay attention and learn you little dummy!"

"Hmph! Fine I will!"

Tohka held out her finger towards one of the lamps and started gathering her power on her finger tip. "I can't make fire, but I can cut stuff up really good! So… Take off the glass. I'll cut the little rope things."

"Wicks…" Kotori grumbled while doing as Tohka asked. She removed the glass covers from three of the lamps and then stood back beside Tohka. "Go ahead then."

Tohka nodded and then with a slash of her finger to the air sent a thin line of purple energy out towards the targets. All three were sliced and the energy immediately dissipated after impact before it could strike anything it wasn't meant to.

"I could sense you're using mana the same way I am. But I can't understand what you're doing differently."

"Isn't it obvious little dummy? First make the fire. Then control the fire. You're trying to make it do what you want after it's already done what it wants! If I tried to make this happen anywhere but on myself first it'll do all kinds of craziness!"

Kotori blinked at Tohka.

That doesn't make any damn sense! But could that really be it? Was that what I've been missing all along? It just can't be that simple!

Kotori looked down at her hand and closed her eyes, she drew in the mana and flooded her magic circuits, a ball of fire then erupted into her hand and she held it there.

"Good. Now make it do what you want it do. Don't think of it as a power flow, or a system, or whatever. Think of it as… I don't know, just boss it around!"

"Boss it around? I guess I can do that," Kotori closed her eyes and then held out the flames towards the lanterns stacked up before her, she visualized them in her mind's eye, she felt anger rising in her as she continued to flood herself with power to maintain the flames. "Ignite those wicks damn it they've been pissing me off for too long!"

Suddenly her flame erupted into streams of fire which all jumped from the single ball and into the wicks.

When Kotori opened her eyes it was to find all the lanterns burning steadily, completely undamaged. "I did it! Finally! I did it! Pfah! Screw you lanterns! How did you all like that huh?!"

"Yay! You can be Kotori again instead of 'little dummy' now!" said a smiling Tohka while clapping her hands.

Kotori breathed in and out with her teeth clenched and a big smirk on her face. "That felt so good… What else can I do? Teach me Tohka! Teach me!"

"I really don't know Kotori. I just take my power and make it do whatever I need it to do. I can use it to cut, I can use it to smash, I can use it to protect, I can use it to fly…"

"Fly? You can fly?" asked Kotori while turning her scary looking grin onto Tohka which had the woman sweat drop nervously.

"Uhh…Yeah... Something I just did when the mecha-mecha squad came for me one time. I was so annoyed that they could fly but that I couldn't so I just jumped up and started flying… But it's not really flying it's more like..."

"More like what?" Kotori asked in an almost demanding tone.

"Falling and not hitting the ground. I just use this energy to basically stand on. I'm not actually making myself fly, I'm making it fly for me. If that makes sense?"

Kotori blinked, "It does actually… Hot air rises… So if I…"

Kotori closed her eyes and visualized while conjuring up two more fireballs in both of her hands.

Boss it around… When I think of it as something to be ordered around instead of something to be manipulated with elegance and precision… It actually works. I can feel the fire responding to me.

Kotori commanded the flames to take form around her in a spherical shape. "It needs to be bigger… But there isn't enough room in here. Let me try something else instead. Last thing I need to do is accidentally fly out of the Bounded Field and bring the mecha-mecha squad to us..." she said while pulling the flames back into her hands where she allowed them to fizzle out.

It's like the fire is part of me. It's so easy to control it. Why did I never pick up on this before now?

"Wait a moment. You said you figured out you could fly because you were angry that the mecha-mecha squad could fly and you couldn't. Right?"

"Yes. That's what I said. Why? Is it important?"

"It could be Tohka… It really could be. What else did you just figure out you could do because of the fights you were in?"

Meanwhile, Shirou and Ryouko were driving around the area after giving statements and contact information to the police and having Shirou's wound examined by the paramedics who determined Ryouko's first aid was sufficient but advised him to see a doctor later for a professional follow up.

The army captain then insisted they search for the little girl and despite Shirou's doubts that they would find her again, she still refused to simply give up. He found it highly admirable. It was also worth noting that she respected his judgement enough not to drive him to a hospital for that follow up immediately. Either that or she trusted her own training. Possibly both. Whichever it was, he was glad she had a good head on her shoulders.

"Where around here would a little girl like her go?" she wondered aloud.

Shirou closed his eyes and scratched his chin as if he were thinking about it. In reality he was trying to sense her spirit powers. It was a long shot but if she slipped again, he might pick it up.

He didn't expect to detect anything, but he did. Subtle, faint, but definitely the same.

"If you keep going up this road we'll reach a residential area. If I remember, there was a playground somewhere in the middle of it. That might be worth a shot."

"You know this area well?" she asked.

He pointed out the window with his thumb as they drove by a large house. "That was my wife's former home. So yes. I know the area."

"I'm sorry…" she said with a flinch.

"It's alright. I'm focused on the task at hand. Besides, if it's worth anything. She probably would have liked you. You have a few things in common with her."

"Like what?"

You've both tried your hardest to kill me?

Shaking off his first thought, he gave voice to his second, "You're both immovable when you've made up your mind to do something. When you have a goal, there's nothing that'll get in your way. Not if it knows what's good for it."

Ryouko laughed at that, "She sounds great. Wish I could have met her," she then bit her tongue and inhaled sharply, "Set a boundary for me Shirou. I knew coming into this that the fact that you're a widower would be an issue, and I feel like I'm being an insensitive idiot. I don't want you to think badly of me because I don't know how to touch this subject and I don't want to-"

"Stop it Ryouko. Don't do that to yourself. It isn't fair. I don't have to set a boundary for you because you have every right to ask anything you want to know about me. Don't feel like you're going to ask me the wrong question and make me think badly of you for it. That isn't going to happen. I loved Rin very much. Yes, it hurts to think about her. Yes it hurts to talk about her. But if you ever ask a question about something I can't or don't want to talk about, I'll just tell you and it won't be a big deal. Alright?"

"Alright. I just think it's better to be clear about these sorts of things…" she said while taking a turn and moving down a long street.

"Keep going up this road until we get there. And believe me Ryouko, making our feelings clear isn't going to be one of our problems. I think we made that abundantly clear to each other from the moment we met."

"Heh… Subtlety isn't something I'm good at. Sorry."

That's an understatement…

"It's alright. I tend to be a bumbling idiot when it comes to girls I like. But with you… How to put this? You just let me by myself and I don't feel afraid of being stupid. I just wish I knew how to make you feel the same way with me."

"I do feel that way. It's just the one topic I don't want to screw around with is all… I like you too and I don't want to mess this up, I tend to mess up a lot of things I get involved in and I don't want you to be one of them," she said as they pulled up to the local playground for a look around.

"Instead of apologizing for things you haven't done wrong, let's just take it one day at a time and deal with any issues as they come up," he said while opening the door and stepping out to look around.

"Good idea," she said while doing the same. "I think it's a good sign that our first dispute was about whether or not to go straight to violence against those bullies. And that our second was about which of us would take care of a child in need,"

"I couldn't help but notice how much they pissed you off. It upset me to see it too, but you had murder in your eyes. You really hate bullies a lot don't you? They're a nuisance to everyone else, but you seem to utterly despise them."

"I do. There's nothing I hate more in this world than a person who only feels good about themselves when they're putting other people beneath them. I hate it!"

"Something tells me there's a story behind that," he observed with caution.

"I'll tell you one day. We have something else to focus on," she said while looking ahead to the little girl they'd been searching for. She was sitting on a swing and conversing with her puppet.

The two slowly walked up to her and examined their surroundings. There was nobody else around that they could see. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon there were no other children here to play. Shirou was immediately on edge. Something just felt wrong to him. From the look on Ryouko's face, something had set her on edge as well and their eyes met, silently acknowledging that fact to each other.

As they drew closer from behind the girl, Ryouko spoke gently to her, "Yoshino?"

The girl quickly stood up and started backing away from them. "Please… Don't hurt me."

Ryouko and Shirou both stopped in place and put their hands up in a non-threatening manner. "Of course we're not going to hurt you. What would give you that idea?" said Ryouko.

"We just want to talk with you. That's all."

"Oh sure! That's what they all say! But people only ever try to hurt her. Yoshino's never hurt anyone or done anything bad to anyone, but they all wanna hurt her anyway! Well I ain't gonna let ya!" the puppet aggressively exclaimed.

"We need to calm her down. Go one at a time. You first," Shirou said to Ryouko, she nodded while he stepped back and she took a step forward.

"I'm really not here to hurt her Yoshinon. Please believe me. I just want to help her if I can. That's all. I promise you. It's true."

"The scary girl said you'd come here! She said you two would never give up. But she also said you can't protect Yoshino. That you never could no matter how hard you tried. She said things would be very bad if you got involved so it was better if you just left her alone. And I agree! So just go away!" demanded the puppet.

"I can't… I can't just leave her here alone. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that. So please. I just want to talk to you," she said after finally standing a comfortable distance from them and kneeling down to be at eye level. "So please tell me. Who's the 'scary girl' you mentioned? How does she know us and what did she tell you about us?"

"She said not tell you…" Yoshino spoke softly.

"That's alright. You don't have to if you don't want to," she said in the softest and kindest voice she could muster.

Yoshino looked at her puppet for a long moment, "Yohinon? Can I tell them a little?"

"If you really want to. I won't stop you. But just be careful…" the puppet replied.

The little girl nodded while Shirou cautiously approached and knelt down beside Ryouko.

"She was scary but she wasn't bad. She saved me from the people who were trying to hurt me. Then she took me away again while you two were talking about me. She told me about you both. She seemed to know a lot about you. She said you would try to help me. She said you were nice people but she said you wouldn't be able to. She said if you tried, it would only make things worse. So please…"

Ryouko and Shirou looked at each other curiously for a moment, "Yoshino. There wasn't anyone else there except for the three of us?"

Yoshinon then spoke in her place, "Yeah, she didn't want you to see her. But she really did know a lot about you Shirou Emiya and Ryouko Kusakabe."

"Did we give her our names?" asked Shirou to which Ryouko shook her head.

Shirou felt his heart pumping in his throat as he turned his gaze back to the little girl and her puppet. "Who is she?"

"She didn't tell us…" said Yoshino in a low voice. "But she said that if you wouldn't go away, that we should say something about… What were the names?"

Yoshinon then took over speaking, "Oh yeah! Kotori and Origami!"

Shirou and Ryouko's eyes both widened in shock. "You have to tell us who she is Yoshino! Please!" she cried out.

"She didn't tell us. Didn't we already tell you that?" said the puppet.

Before the conversation could go any further there was a noise from the sky above them. A sound Ryouko and Shirou both immediately identified.

"CR Units…" she muttered almost inaudibly before turning to look up and see two people she didn't recognize. A teenage boy and girl.

Sirou eyed them both over carefully. Their equipment was drastically different from the ones used by Ryouko's troops and the others he fought before. The girl's was black with yellow glowing lines running through it, her armored feet were like a bird's talons. The boy's was white with blue glowing lines through it. She was armored like a flying tank and he seemed built for speed. They each seemed to favor close combat weaponry which didn't bother Shirou at all. They would be in for a rude awakening if they wanted to pick a fight here.

"Onii-chan! You see? I told you we'd find her here!"

"You win Mana. I'll make you whatever you want to eat. But why would the Hermit come here?"

"Who cares? Let's just tag her and bag her already," said the girl.

Shirou stood up protectively over Yoshino. "Ryouko, who the hell are these two?"

"What makes you think I'd know?!" she exclaimed while standing up and moving behind Yoshino with her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Identify yourselves!" she yelled up at them.

The two flyers gently landed on the ground and Shirou managed to get a closer look at them now. Each had dark blue hair and brown eyes. The boy's hair was scruffy and unkempt, probably due to flying around more than a lack of maintenance. The girl's was tied up in a ponytail similar to Ryouko's. But they were siblings without a doubt.

"Who are these two Shido? They shouldn't be here! The territory is suppose to make people want to avoid being here now..."

Territory? The way she describes the effect it sounds like she's talking about a Bounded Field...

"No idea sis… But you know the rules. No witnesses," he said while deploying two parts of his backpack onto his arms while the girl unfolded a large sword from her back into her right and loosely held out another large… Something attached to her arm with a purpose Shirou couldn't quite make out. But her sword was a physical one, and one which he could trace if he needed to.

"I'm Captain Ryouko Kusakabe of the Ground Forces AST! Who are you kids? Where did you get those Realizers?!"

The girl nodded her head, "I'm Adeptus Three, and this is Adeptus Two. We're Mana and Shido Takamiya. DEM Special Sorcery Service."

"I've never heard of you… But Adeptus… That I have heard before… Adeptus Five" she said through clenched teeth while holding the girl she was protecting closer to her.

"Origami Tobiichi was Adeptus Five, the one who left us for the army... " said the boy with a quick nod. "So you're the one she ended up with. Too bad. She must really like you to have turned her back on the Triple S."

Ryouko stared daggers at the two kids in front of her. "We're all supposed to be on the same side here!"

The two shook their heads. "We have our orders. Anyone involved with the Hermit has to die too. Sorry," the young girl said in response.

"Ryouko… They're not on your side. They're here for her," said Shirou while holding his hands out to his sides and mentally preparing something to trace. Something serious which could breach the shields he knew this equipment could produce.

"Is that true? What do you want with this girl?!" she demanded.

"She's a Spirit the AST is too incompetent to deal with. We're here to clean up after you."

"A spirit? Her?! Impossible there wasn't a spacialquake or any spirit wave reactions!"

"Ryouko… They're not here to debate. They're going to try and kill us both along with her. But what they said is true. She is a Spirit. You need to pick a side now. I can protect us if you can protect her."

"Shirou? What are you saying?"

"Wait. Shirou?" the boy said with a blink while holding out a glowing sword to point at him. "I thought I recognized you. Are you Shirou Emiya?!"

"Yes… I am…" he answered cautiously while Ryouko looked even more confused.

"Dude. You're like required reading for us! Oh man this is the best day ever!"

"You think we should test ourselves against him onii-chan? See how we measure up?"

"Hell yes I do! This is gonna be so great! We can get the Hermit any time, but you only get a chance like this once in a lifetime!"

"So you two know who I am and what I've done and want a duel against me then? Is that right?"

Shido and Mana both eagerly nodded.

"I'll agree on one condition. If you win, you don't hurt them," he said while gesturing to Ryouko and Yoshino. "Is that acceptable?"

"I guess he already knows he won't be able to put a scratch on us…" said Shido with disappointment.

"We can't accept those terms. We still have our mission. Sorry," the girl added.

"Oh really? Not even a scratch you say? Let's see if I can make one then. On each of you. If I do that. You both go away. Is that acceptable?"

"That we can accept!" the boy said proudly.

"I can respect that! Let's do it onii-chan!"

"Gathering Cloud Sword Style!" they said in unison.

"Shirou! What're you thinking?! You're not a soldier?! You're not even armed! You have no idea what that equipment they're using is capable of!"

Shirou turned around and grinned to her. "I assure you Ryouko. I'm better armed than any modern military you can think of. Just stick with Yoshino and protect her. I'll handle this. Then… We'll have a lot to talk about," he said before he took off running at the siblings who in turn started hovering just above the ground and started encircling him with their respective swords ready.

Shirou held out his hands and traced the swords he'd selected for this fight. This wasn't just a duel. It was an opportunity. One to learn everything he could about the equipment they use and how to effectively counter them.

The siblings then rushed him from the front and back.

"Trace on!" he said while tracing Kanshou and Bakuya. The best way to start a fight is at one's best. He then ducked down and rolled back along the floor and allowed the two siblings to intercept each other for him.

The boy was using two swords attached to his arms, while the girl used a single long sword. He could block her easily, the boy would probably fight similar to how he would fight and would require more of an effort to counter effectively. The energy swords were his biggest concern. He couldn't trace and comprehend them.

The siblings easily avoided each other but in the time it took them to correct their movements and begin their counterattack he'd already started moving to exploit the opening and locked swords with the young girl. Shirou had to admit, for someone so young, probably the same age as Kotori, she knew exactly what she was doing. She pulled back and re-engaged. She didn't delude herself into thinking she could overpower a bigger and much more experienced fighter. She used her disadvantages of height and strength as assets. With enhanced speed from her gear she crossed swords with Shirou Emiya and came out even. To her greatest credit though, she didn't just stay and push back like he thought she would. She withdrew and opened the way for her brother who came rushing in at high speed with his swords ready to swing.

Shirou rolled to his left to move out of the way but the girl had already started moving to intercept him where he would end up. Again he blocked her with both of his swords, and again she withdrew.

Shirou anticipated another attack from her brother and quickly rolled forward to engage the girl again, repeatedly crossing blades several times in a short space before she again retreated from him. A moment later her brother came in and engaged in close combat. The boy wasn't stronger, or faster than Shirou was. But he wasn't stupid. His technique was aggressive, but not reckless. He attacked with one, and blocked with the other. He didn't over extend himself or take any chances.

A moment later he disengaged and in came the sister with an attempt to impale him on her sword. Then they switched places again, and again. They had a strategy, it worked for them, they executed it flawlessly. They adapted to the situation as it changed. Switched places, pulled feints, but never pressed too hard, they would not allow themselves to be caught in a disadvantageous position. Shirou would have to work hard to create one for them.

They're amazing. The way they fight. You can feel the unconditional love and trust they have for each other. Their attacks are perfectly coordinated and synchronized without the need for any cues from the other. They just instinctively know what to do to set up and execute their attacks for each other. It's just like when I'm fighting beside Ciel.

Shirou glanced over at where he felt the boy would strike from but instead of an attack he held his position in the air. Shirou was about to make his next move when he was suddenly entombed in a sphere of green light.

What's this? He projected his shield away from himself and onto me..

Shirou looked up at the boy while striking the shield with his swords. It wouldn't penetrate.

"Sorry Emiya-sama! I guess you didn't realize we can deploy our territories onto our targets and trap them. This is checkmate!" the boy said to him.

Shirou looked over at the girl and saw the large thing attached to her arm was a long range weapon, and by the way it was charging, it was an energy weapon, probably a very powerful one.

The boy saw Shirou muttering something.

"What's that Emiya-sama? Are you begging for your life? I can't wait to tell the others about that!"

"Imbecile! I said 'dodge this' fly boy!"

"Big brother look out!" the girl cried out while rushing towards her elder sibling. All thoughts of shooting at Shirou now gone from her mind.

The boy heard something coming at him from behind and quickly turned around to redeploy his shield onto himself, but it was too late. A second set of Kanshou and Bakuya came flying through the air behind him and struck him, cutting into his sides before passing him by.

Shirou threw the swords he was wielding up at them both but the girl used the large cannon on her left arm to block them both before returning fire with it. Shirou started jumping and rolling around in the air and ground to avoid the shots while allowing all his swords to dissolve and then tracing his bow and a Black Key.

"Amazing…" Ryouko and Yoshino said together while watching him fight.

Shirou morphed the Black Key into an arrow and loaded it into his bow and as he landed took a kneeling position while drawing the bow before releasing it at the young girl floating in the air protectively shielding her wounded brother.

"Protect Territory deploy!" she cried out which activated her shield around herself, but the Black Key simply went through it and into her shoulder which in turn caused both siblings to fall down and hit the ground between Shirou and Ryouko.

Shirou traced another set of his two favorite swords as he approached them.

I guess now I know where Archer learned those moves he used against Caster back then...

When he was close enough, he raised up his swords for one final strike before pausing.

He saw the boy, bleeding, battered, and broken holding his unconscious sister under his body to protect her while staring into Shirou's eyes with nothing short of pure hatred.

The tall copper haired man, bleeding from the wound he received earlier which he'd reopened during the fight, but otherwise unharmed by them, looked into the boy's eyes and silently acknowledged him with respect while slowly lowering his weapons and allowed them to dissolve.

They'll come back, again, and again, and again… But I can't kill them… Not after what I just saw. I won't be that man…

"Not going to finish us?!" the boy spat at the man.

"I said I would make one scratch on each of you. My objective here was to protect them from you. My policy is to avoid unnecessary fighting. Besides. I respect you both. The way you fight tells me everything I need to know about who and what you are. You're not my enemies. No matter how hard you may try to be."

"What do you mean?" the boy asked. "We tried to kill you!"

"Yes, of course you did. But neither of you were willing to sacrifice the other for the sake of victory. You fight together, and you die together. There's no middle ground for you in that. The love you each have for the other shows in every move you make. There are beings greater than all of us who'd break down and weep tears at the beauty of such a fighting technique."

"So you're just going to let us go? Even though you know we'll come back stronger and more prepared?" he asked of Shirou.

"You can come back as many times as you want and I'll fight you off as many times as I have to. But I'm not going to become the thing I'm fighting against. That's almost happened to me recently. But never again. The way you two fought just now reminded me of what it was I'm striving for, and where it was I deviated from my path. I owe you for that. Now take your sister, and go."

The boy got up onto his knees and picked up his little sister into his arms before activating his jetpack and taking flight.

Ryouko slowly walked up to Shirou with Yoshino beside her, there she folded her arms and glared at him.

Shirou gulped and and turned to fully face her. With one hand he scratched the back of his head while mustering up his signature charming smile. "Well… I suppose it's time for that talk…"

"Yes. But first…" she said while poking the stab wound in his shoulder and making him wince in pain. "I have to restitch you!"