Author's Note: I apologize profusely to anyone who ends up with one or both songs stuck in their heads. I ended up with both songs stuck in my head and they're presently waging all out war against each other.

I also apologize profusely if I misunderstood how some of the Nasuverse mechanics work. I did my best to research and understand some of this stuff but in some instances I wanted to expand a little or incorporate a different character's magecraft onto an already existing example of the same mystery for story telling purposes. So I may have taken certain liberties with the mechanics.

With that being said. Let's begin our date!

Chapter Fourteen

"I really need a drink right now…" he said before taking a big sip of his tea.

This just wasn't a night for tea, he needed a clear head even more than he needed a stiff drink, so Shirou resolved to stick with the green tea.

"Mind if I have one too?" asked Kurumi with a grin.

"You're still underage..." Shirou said back to her sternly.

"If you want to get technical right now, I'm older than you. By a lot."

"Doesn't matter. Stick with this timeline until you're twenty and then I'll be happy to share a bottle of the good stuff with you. Until then you're still sixteen," he said back before taking another big sip of his tea.

Origami sat quietly beside Kotori while Kurumi sat to the right of Shirou and Tohka sat at the head of the table and took a moment to refill everyone's tea cups.

"Thank you Tohka…" he said before taking another sip of his tea.

Kotori stared at her father, "Are you finally going to say something Pops?"

"The last time I had any dealing with someone from the future it didn't exactly go so well for me. I don't anticipate this being much better," he stated dryly.

"If it's worth anything. Time can be pretty embittering. Believe me I know," remarked Kurumi.

"By the way Kurumi. Are you, you know, you right now? Or is this the other you?" asked Kotori.

"We're all me silly. We're all the same. Well. Actually I suppose there are subtle differences which you pick up on over the years. But no. You're right. She doesn't behave like me at all sometimes. Probably because she does whatever she wants and I do what I want. We have the same goal, we just go about them in different ways which causes me no end of grief at times..."

"One of you says 'Oh my' and the other says 'Ara ara' that's kinda how I tell you apart now. Well. The original you and the you you can't get rid of. I don't think I've met any of the others yet."

"Really? I hadn't noticed that… I thought I stopped saying 'Ara ara' a very long time ago… Very interesting."

"Whatever. I suppose it doesn't matter," said Kotori before taking a sip of her tea.

Kurumi looked at Shirou who still had a blank expression on his face, "You probably have about a million or so questions for me right now Emiya-sama."

"Oh... At least that many. But experience has taught me that the less I know the better off I'll be. So I'll thank you not to answer any of them."

After a moment of tense silence he took a breath and spoke up again, "Anyway. Kotori, and Tobiichi. Ryouko and I were talking today, and we decided that it would be a good idea for the two of you to leave town for now until things settle down."

"What?!" asked a stunned Kotori.

"Agreed."

"What?!" asked Kotori again but to her friend this time.

"There is very little we can do, and going away for now would be the best path forward for us. Strategically speaking one can not plan an effective counter attack without first securing their position. Or else they themselves will be vulnerable to surprise attacks."

Shirou nodded, "Listen to your friend Kotori. She's thinking exactly the same way I am about this."

"This doesn't make sense to me. We haven't even tried to fight back yet!"

Kurumi was the next to interject, "Think about it rationally Kotori-chan. Right now your only contribution to any efforts your father makes in this war is to serve as a vulnerability to him. They've tipped their hand and shown that you're their target. Which means that resources would have to be expended to protect you here. Which means less resources for the front lines. Make sense? Right now, removing yourself from danger is the best way you can help your father fight back."

"Neither of us are defenseless!" she protested.

"We are though Kotori. Without a wiring suit and a realizer I can't perform magic. I'm not a Magus. All I have to defend myself with is a nine millimeter pistol and fifteen bullets. Against Wizards and Mages, that is worthless. And you are still a novice yourself correct? What can you do against someone like Ellen? Who's trained her whole life to perform magecraft and who helped design the Combat Realizers and tactics the Wizards use and has more actual combat experience than you or I. Your father, Ryouko, Kurumi, and Tohka are the ones who have to fight this right now."

Kurumi held out her hand to Origami, "That reminds me, may I see your piece? I might be able to help you with that."

Origami reached around behind her and pulled out her pistol, but removed the magazine and rechecked the chamber before handing it over to a smiling Kurumi. "You still don't trust me? That hurts you know."

"You know me. I don't know you," she stated with indifference.

"If I wanted to shoot you, I wouldn't need your gun to do it. I have my own," she said with a wink. "I need your bullets as well or this will be pointless," she added.

"It's alright Origami. If you can't trust her, trust me," said Kotori with a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Origami looked to Shirou who, after a moment, gave her a nod.

Origami sighed and then handed over her magazine, plus the extra bullet she then pulled out of her pocket.

Kurumi gave Origami a quick nod, "Now I just need a strand of your hair."

Origami looked at her quizzically before looking around the room as if asking for an explanation.

Shirou nodded at the girl in response, "It's alright Tobiichi. I think I know what she has in mind."

Origami finally relented and picked out a strand of her white hair and tore it out to then pass over to Kurumi. "What are you going to do?"

Kurumi picked up the pistol first and held it flat on top of her hand before closing her eye and flooding her magic circuits. She then set the pistol down and then repeated the process with the magazine and bullets before she started extracting them and setting them down across the table in front of her. Then she pulled out a strand of her own hair to twist with Origami's and activated her magic crest, the strands of hair began to glow and merge before breaking apart and bonding to the bullets.

Kurumi then began to load the bullets back into the magazine. "I just reinforced your gun and bullets, and partially infused your ammo with my origins. Since you're not a magus, I added my own power to the rounds so when you fire them they'll use my mana to actualize the mystery. All you have to do is point and shoot. But it will only work if you're the one firing the rounds."

Shirou turned a heavy stare on Kurumi, "I've heard of Magecraft like this before…"

"Yes. I thought you might recognize it. Origin rounds can do all sorts of interesting things depending on the origin of the person. With these rounds, they simply can't be stopped, well, at least their fake magic shields won't stop them, it's complicated. Until I found a better way of going about it this was pretty much the only weapon I had against the Wizards. Believe me, cutting out your own own bones to fully infuse your ammunition with your origins is messy, painful, and very ill advised. The good news is that my whole plan was a bust because when I reversed my own time to restore the damage I did to myself, the bone I cut out just went back where it was, and I couldn't use any of my clones because they don't get my origin. Well. Except for the one..."

Everyone around the table suddenly winced at the thought of what she just explained.

"Did you actually use her to make these 'origin round' things?" asked Kotori with her temper about to flare.

"Of course not. Like I said the whole thing was a bust, for a lot of reasons. I didn't fully think that one through. Like what I would do when I ran out of ammo. Some bones are just more valuable than others in the long term. But anyway, by the time she came around, I'd already moved on to using my jewel shots, which turned out to be much more efficient."

"Can you show us how to do that?" asked Shirou.

"I can. But it won't help anyone but me. My weapons are Mystic Codes that only work for me, and my spells will similarly only work when fired from my guns. DEM Wizards aren't invulnerable. You've discovered that for yourself by now. The only ones of us who'll have a problem breaching their defenses is Kotori and Origami. They just have to brute force it. Tohka's Sandalphon is particularly vicious when it come to annihilating magic, and I don't know why."

Shirou nodded, "I've experienced that. So. Tomorrow I'll bite the bullet… Metaphorically speaking… And call Shiki. Then I'd like to get the two of you down there by tomorrow night at the latest. Tobiichi, if it's all the same to you, I'd like you to stay over with us tonight. Tomorrow we can go with you to your place and help you pack if Ryouko isn't back before then."

"That is acceptable. Thank you for your hospitality," she said politely to Shirou.

Kotori nodded, "I don't like it. But. I suppose it's for the best."

"Good. Now that we've settled that. Just one more question…" he then turned his full attention back on Kurumi. "What are you going to do now?"

Kurumi grinned, "I, am going to stay here to kick some ass. You're welcome to join me. But you have to do as I say."

Shirou chuckled at the girl, "Oh really? I have to do as you say? It doesn't work that way I-"

Kurumi groaned aloud, "Don't even start with me old man. Doing things your way is what got me into the mess I'm in to begin with. I've fought these people more times than I can count. I can win every battle now. It's just finding the way to win the war that's elusive. But once Ciel gets back, we'll be able to do a lot more. For now, we just need to defend ourselves. Nothing more."

"Ciel suggested the same thing. What's she found?"

"I could tell you but I'd rather wait and see the look on your face when you see for yourself. It's always priceless," she said with a wink. "For now, you should take Ciel's advise," said Kurumi while standing up. "I'll go post some guards while you cook us dinner. Sound good?"

"Now I'm just the designated chef to you? You're in my house young lady. Where did you learn your manners?! Or your strategy?" he said while standing up and looking down on her.

Kurumi stood up to talk back to him in the same the same sort of condescending tone he took with her. "The same place you did! The School of Hard Knocks! Just like you I was a valedictorian! I've had my ass kicked enough times to know my business!"

"You have to actually win a war to consider yourself a graduate!" he barked back.

"I've fought and won more battles then you probably have!" she yelled back.

"So what's your strategy then?" he asked her with her arms crossed and looking down on her through a narrowed eye.

"I have sentries at the army base, the DEM Headquarters and Dormitory. I'll know the moment they make a move. Now if you'll excuse, I need to to post some around the immediate area."

Shirou nodded to her, "Alright. This I want to see."

Shirou, Kotori, and Tohka all had their eyebrows raised while Origami crossed her arms seeming unimpressed.

The clones all initially appeared in her orange and black gothic styled astral dress, but after they got into their positions they all held up their hands and became enveloped in shadows. After that they were all dressed in old styled military uniforms, except with bright orange coats and black trimmings. They were also notably missing hats.

"Alright! You bunch of- really… Attractive young women," she said to a paraded formation of two dozen of her musket wielding copies. "You all know what to do!"

"Desendez Arms!" yelled one clone who seemed to be in the officer position. The clones all lowered their weapons until the stocks of their muskets were resting on the ground to their left sides.

"Baionette aux Canons!" she yelled and all held their rifles slightly forward while shadows gathered and expanded along their barrels until each had a fully formed bayonet attached to it.

"Show off…" muttered Origami.

"Portez arms!" They responded by lifting their bayoneted muskets to the shoulders.

"Par le flanque gauche, a gauche!" she yelled and all turned to their left in unison.

Shirou scratched the side of his head while Tohka furiously rubbed her eyes and Kotori tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"What the hell am I looking at?" Shirou finally asked.

"It's her power. Apparently she can make copies of herself. Lots of them," answered Kotori.

"Our courtyard has become some kind of military reenactment…" he said while the clones started marching towards a very dark corner of his courtyard.

Shirou started whistling the tune of The British Grenadiers, he couldn't help himself.

When the copies of Kurumi all heard him they all stopped in place and started giving him dirty looks.

Utterly oblivious, a moment later he started singing the lyrics, "Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules. Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these. But of all the world's great heroes, there's none that can compare, with a tow, row-"

"No no no no! Stop that!" yelled the original Kurumi while stomping her foot down in annoyance. "Ladies! Show him how it's done!"

The clones then started singing loudly and very happily as they started marching away again, so loud the whole neighborhood couldn't not have heard them. Also of course proving that she really couldn't carry a tune. "Mais pas d'oignons aux Shirō! Non pas d'oignons pour ce chien! Mais pas d'oignons aux Shirō! Non pas d'oignons, non pas d'oignons! - Au pas camarade, au pas camarade! Au pas, au pas, au pas! Au pas camarade, au pas camarade! Au pas, au pas, au pas!"

Kotori palmed her face. "I don't have the words for this level of insanity…" she said with a groan.

"I do…" started Shirou with his arms crossed irritably. "I call this 'par for the course'."

"I don't get it. Why won't they let you have any onions Shirou?" asked Tohka.

It was Shirou's turn to palm his face before lowering his hand and then looking at Tohka curiously, "Is that what it meant? By the way Tohka… Exactly how many languages do you speak?" he asked her in English.

"I don't know… Lots and lots. I've always been able to understand and communicate with everyone who's attacking me anywhere I ended up. Why?"

"Exactly how do you know so many languages?"

Tohka shrugged, "I just do? I can't really explain it," she answered sounding very much like an American woman.

"It's interesting. That's all."

"This is why I wanted to learn to play instruments. Could have had drummers in my 'Kurumi Brigade' and all that good stuff. But alas… It was not to be," she said sadly.

Kotori had withdrawn to her room to begin packing a suitcase while her father cooked dinner. On a whim however, she picked up her phone, and strictly on a whim, she dialed a number and waited impatiently while it rang.

"Emiya?" asked Tonomachi, "I hope everything's alright?"

"Of course it is! Why wouldn't it be?!"

"Eeeesh! No need to yell. It's just that the last time you called me it because of a catastrophe. But it's nice to hear from you if there's nothing bad happening."

Kotori felt her heart shatter and put a hand over it. "Yeah… About that…"

"See? You do only call when there's something going on. Tell me what it is. Whatever I can do to help I will."

"Yeah… About that…" she repeated. "There isn't anything you can do to help, but I just wanted to tell you I won't be at school for a while…"

What the hell was I thinking making this call? How the hell am I supposed to explain this to him?

"Emiya…" he said with the most serious tone of voice she'd ever heard from him, then she heard a door shut. "Talk to me. Whatever it is. You can talk to me."

"I don't know how to tell you… I don't even know why I'm telling you. I just…"

"Take your time, I have as long as it takes," he said. She heard what sounded him him sitting down in a chair.

Kotori sat down on her bed with a long drawn out sigh. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this… So you'd better keep it to yourself or I swear I'm going to set your ass on fire!"

And I hope that tone tells him I mean it very literally!

Tonomachi suppressed a laugh, "I swear it Emiya. Anything you tell me is just between us."

Kotori was silent for a long moment while she considered her words, "I have to go away to another city tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll be back," she finally just said plainly.

"The way you sound right now. I'm guessing you don't want to go?"

Kotori shook her head, as if he could see her do that.

"I can't actually see you nod or shake your head. You'll have to talk to me," he said with an amused voice.

Kotori growled irritably into the phone, "Of course I don't want to go but I don't have a choice."

"I'd tell you something like how you always have a choice or something. But before I do that, may I ask why you're going? I'm sensing this is something more than just an impromptu vacation."

"Something like that… I can't actually tell you what's going on. If I did I'd have to kill you,"

I mean that literally too…

Kotori sighed, "All I can tell you is that there are some problems. I can't tell you what they are. I can't tell you anything at all. I don't even know why I made this call! Grrrrah!"

"Take a breath Emiya. I get you. Believe me I do. Probably more than you know. If you're calling me about this you must have really run out of people to confide in and I appreciate the trust you've given me. Let me give you some in return, alright?"

Kotori couldn't keep a small smile off her face, "Alright. I can accept that."

"My life isn't exactly pleasant. I'm sure you've figured that out. There are times I'd like to just go away to another city and not look back. But, I don't have anywhere to go. If you have somewhere to go that'll get you away from whatever it is that your problems are, and I'm not saying they're the same as mine, but if they were, I'd tell you to go."

"I'm not sure if we have the problems Tonomachi. My problems aren't coming from inside my own home. They're coming from outside of it. That's why I have to go. But if your problems are what I think they are…"

"We don't have to talk about it. It's probably better if we don't. I guess all I'm trying to say is that if you need me, I'm here for you. I might be a nuisance to you, but for my part, you're my friend Emiya. If I can help you, I will, if you just need to talk, I'll listen, if you just need to rage, I'll listen to that too."

"Be careful what you wish for Tonomachi. You might get it."

"I'd be happy then. So where are you going?"

"I can't tell you that. But I can call you when I get there. Maybe by then I can put more thought into what I can actually tell you."

"So we have to be miles apart before you'll start talking to me normally?"

"Be grateful I'm talking to you at all!"

"I am… Believe me."

"Good! And no checking out Mana while I'm gone! I'll know if you were!" she yelled.

"Haha! Don't get me wrong, Mana is pretty. But she's got no personality."

"Mana has plenty of personality! Are you trying to say she's not good enough for you?"

"She's like a total brocon! Besides, I thought you hated her!"

"I don't hate her! I hate you checking her out!"

"Like I said. She's pretty. And she doesn't bludgeon me for looking at her. Unlike someone else we both know."

"What? You don't think I'm pretty? You made your Date A Live girl look like me!"

"Did you miss the part about you bludgeoning me?"

"So you don't think I'm pretty?"

"I think you're pretty violent."

"Well you'd be right!"

"Unbelievable! We agree on something!"

"I wouldn't agree with you on the color of an Orange!"

"It's orange…"

"Not after I bash your face with it!"

"So if I asked Mana out you'd be alright with it?"

"Why would I have a problem with that? I don't care who you choose to get rejected by! As long as it's not me!"

"Does that mean you would or wouldn't reject me?" he asked curiously.

"It means her big brother might beat you up if you asked his little sister out."

"I don't care about him. Would you beat me up if I did?"

"Find out. If you've got the stones!"

"Damn it Emiya are you just incapable of taking a hint or do you just actually not want to-" Tonomachi's voice was cut off by the sound of a loud crashing noise. "Damn it all… Why now? I gotta go Emiya. Be safe and call me when you get a chance or else I'll be the one who gets mad!" he said before hanging up the phone.

Kotori blinked at her phone once the line went dead before laying back on her bed with her arm draped over her eyes.

Damn it Tonomachi… What the hell is going on in that house of yours right now?

Tohka set the table for dinner while Shirou was making his final preparations to dinner. Kurumi sniffed the air a few times, "Mmm… Are you making Hambagu?"

Shirou nodded, "That's exactly what I'm making. It's Kotori's favorite."

Kurumi smiled, "That's sweet of you. Aren't you just the best dad ever?"

Shirou snickered at that remark, "I know you're just being sarcastic. But I try to be."

"My favorite is Kinako Bread!" Tohka exclaimed while setting out the placemats and cutlery.

"Sukiyaki…" said Origami while looking at the pictures on the walls.

"Beef Teriyaki… But I also really like Sukiyaki," added Kurumi with a little grin at Origami.

"Both of which happen to be specialties of mine. Since you had my Teriyaki last time you were here, next time Origami is over for dinner, I'll make Sukiyaki."

"You don't have to do that Emiya-san. I'm fine with eating whatever you make. The dinner we had with Ryouko was very good," said Origami.

"I know I don't have to. But I like cooking things that people enjoy eating. Seeing my food being enjoyed is what I like most about cooking," he said while bringing out plates to set on the table.

Tohka rushed towards him and carefully took them from him, "Let me do this Shirou. You cooked everything, you should relax a little before we eat."

"Awww! How sweet is that!" remarked Kurumi. "Tohka would just be the best wife ever!"

Tohka was caught like a deer in the headlights with a big bright blush on her face while she set the table and then instead of saying anything in response rushed back to the kitchen to bring out more of the plates as Shirou set them on the counter.

"Awww… She's speechless," said Kurumi to milk it for all it was worth.

Shirou growled lowly in annoyance before chastising the Spirit. "Knock it off Kurumi. Don't come into our house and start making people uncomfortable."

"You didn't deny it…" she said with a grin.

"Why would I deny it? Tohka's a wonderful and outstanding woman, any man would be lucky to have her affections."

"Score…" said Kurumi while watching Tohka's face turn red as a tomato.

Origami looked from one particular picture on the wall and then back to Kurumi before walking over to the table, she sat down at a set place beside the dark haired spirit and them took a moment to lightly smack her in the back of the head.

"Owww! Why did you hit me?" she asked with a pleading puppy eye at Origami.

"You shouldn't tease like that. It's mean spirited."

"Was that an attempt at a double entendre?"

"However you chose to take it doesn't change the fact."

"The last three times we've met, you tried to kill me. Now you're hitting her on the head for making fun of me?"

"The first two times, we were enemies. The third time was more complicated than that. Today we are allies. Or do you still have a battle to fight with me?"

"You shot Kotori. I won't forgive that," said Tohka in her most serious voice. "But as long as you don't hurt her or anyone in this family ever again, I'll have no quarrel with you."

"I am grateful for that," said Origami with humility as she lowered her head to Tohka.

"Well… Before this room gets even more awkward…" said Shirou. "Tohka, would you mind checking on Kotori? Let her know dinner's ready?"

Tohka nodded and quickly stood up to go but before she could leave the room her attention was pulled to the entranceway of the house as footsteps came running through it.

Shirou waved Tohka off it while he walked towards the entrance where Taiga ran straight into him and started hugging him tightly. "Shirou! Shirou! Help me please!"

Her voice was broken, and utterly desperate. Nothing like he'd ever heard from her before.

"Fuji-nee… Take a deep breath. Tell me what happened," he asked while holding her comfortingly.

"My father Shirou…. They… They… They killed him! They killed everyone!" she said before sobbing and fainting before he could ask her any questions.

Shirou caught her in his arms and picked her up. "Tohka check the front gate and wait for me there. Origami, I need you and Kotori to look after Taiga."

Origami didn't say anything, she just stood up and began following him.

"I'll bring out some more of me to patrol the streets around the area and watch your back while you discreetly investigate her home, but I'll stay here to guard the house," said Kurumi with her eyes closed and a hand pulsating with darkness.

"Good call, you're not an amateur after all," he said to her as he passed by, "Kotori! Need your help here quickly!"

Kurumi sat on the veranda, her musket resting on the ground propped up against the ledge, and her pistol beside her as she watched the night sky with a mug of tea in her hands. "So much for a nice quiet dinner…" she muttered to herself.

A moment later Origami came out and quietly sat down beside her.

"How's Taiga?"

"She's still out. Kotori is with her now, there's nothing I can do there. Did you know this would happen?"

Kurumi shook her head, "It's exactly like I told you. The moment I mess with a time line, all bets are off. This never happened before. I meant it when I said that the last trick I had was for you. From here on out. I know as much as the rest of you. Except maybe I know a few of the players that you haven't met yet, but I have no idea what moves they'll make now."

"I see. So at what point will you be telling them the truth?"

Kurumi huffed in annoyance, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Interesting. You tell me the truth of your connection to me. But not them. I don't know why I deserve to know more than they do."

"You'll figure that part out eventually as well," said Kurumi in a soft voice.

"You're assuming I intend to keep your secret. I'm honestly shocked that Kotori hasn't put it together yet."

"She probably has. That girl is anything but stupid. I think it's just something holding her back from realizing the truth. Or maybe she's just not admitting it to herself? Who knows. She's a complicated one."

Origami scoffed, "You don't have to tell me that. But I do have another question for you."

Kurumi pulled up her black ruffled dress a little so she could swing her feet up onto the deck and sit with her back to the pillar and face the white haired girl. "I suppose you deserve to have a few of your questions answered, go ahead."

Origami shook her head, "My questions are selfish ones I suppose."

"The first thing you did when you sat down here was look after your friend's best interests. I think you're allowed to be selfish after that. Isn't that sort of the definition of putting others before yourself?"

"I suppose it is. And I suppose that answers my first question. My second question is… Can you actually prove any of this? You know things about me that nobody else does. But is there any physical evidence of this?"

"If you're asking me if I have a hidden stash of selfies somewhere the answer is no. We weren't really into that kind of thing. I used to have to phone with a few pictures of us together, but over time I noticed that I vanished from the photos. In the end, everything about me vanished from my own phone. It was so frightening… But anyway, I don't want to talk about that. Our mutual interest was Kuydo. Beyond that, we actually have nothing in common. Hehe. I like to play video games, and I'm a complete and utter slob. You're a top student, and the single most disciplined person I've ever met."

"Then that takes us to my third question. What was the attraction?"

Kurumi looked down at the grass and away from Origami. "Heh… It's interesting. After all I've been through, all the pain I've endured. That single question hurt me more than any physical wound I've received. Even the ones I got from you in the past between then and now."

"You'll have to forgive me. Perhaps even asking you about this was insensitive. It was another life, one which I didn't lead and can't recall."

"What if there was a way you could? Would you even want to?"

Origami took careful note of everything about Kurumi as she spoke before considering her response, "No. I wouldn't."

"May I ask why not?"

"Because if Kotori doesn't get that privilege. Then I don't want it."

"That was the attraction. For me at least. Once you give your loyalty it's utterly unbreakable. Once you know what you need to protect you'll do whatever it takes. The only problem is that if someone knows how to exploit that about you, you fall for it every time."

"Is that what you're trying to do to me?" asked Origami with suspicion.

"If I were you'd never know it. I'm talking about Ellen right now."

"Point taken…"

"For you… I never knew what attracted you to me. I was so unlike your ideal partner in every which way. I never knew what it was I wanted to do with myself, or what it was I wanted to achieve in life. But you had your life completely mapped out. You knew where to go to college, what you wanted to study, and then you wanted to join the army. Later of course I found out you were already in the army. You just wanted to qualify to officially be a part of it. You wanted to earn it, not have it handed to you. Though it always bothered me why you only plotted out ten years worth of things you wanted to achieve."

Origami took two fistfulls of her school skirt.

"You never told me. I had to find that out by accident."

"I see… My final question then…"

Kurumi nodded and took a breath to brace herself for whatever was to come.

"Do you believe that this time you will have the outcome you're striving for? And if it isn't. What will you do? Try again?"

Kurumi bit her lip and closed her eye, "I can't give up. Not on them, not on you, not on anyone else. I'll do whatever I have to do."

"I suppose that answers my other question then. I believe I know what attracted me to you now. But I'm also going to hazard a guess that you didn't volunteer all this information because you want to rekindle your romance with me."

Kurumi shook her head, "No. I'm not the same person I was back then. All I have is a past that nobody will ever remember. I don't have a future. I sold that away for power. I don't have a soul anymore. I sold that away for more power. When my clock stops ticking, so do I. When I'm gone at the end of this. You won't even remember me, or this conversation. Absent my existence, your mind will just make up whatever it wants to fill in the blanks I leave. You might remember that you sat here tonight, but you won't know why. Just like when you see Splash, you didn't know where it came from. If he's even still there at all after I'm gone. That's what it means to give up my own time to fuel my power."

"And I always thought Spirits were selfish and evil beings who didn't care about the destruction they brought on our world…"

"You're not wrong. At least not about me. I am a selfish and evil being. That's what I had to become to do what I do…"

"I don't believe that."

Kurumi looked up at the moon in the sky, "You'll see for yourself sooner or later… There's still so much more you don't know about me. Mark my words. Just as I told you before that you'd be Origami to me again before I was done talking. You won't be able to look at me before this is all over."

Origami stood up into the garden and then stepped over to Kurumi, standing in her line of sight.

"The way the full moon lights your hair… It's breathtaking…"

"Kurumi… When you found out about what DEM did to me, what did you say to me?"

"I told you that it didn't matter. Ten years, twenty, a hundred. Every single moment with you is precious to me. I told you I'd rather spend ten years loving you with all my heart instead of spending the rest of my life regretting it if I let you out of my life. But that was before I came to really appreciate what a single moment in time is actually worth, then I realized how utterly selfish I was being to make you love me the way I did."

"After her first date with-"

"You can say it…"

"After her first date with your father, I asked Ryouko why she was so aggressive with him. She told me that she only agreed to go because I'd never asked her for anything before, but I asked her for this. So she didn't want to disappoint me, so she set out with the intention of humoring me. She never expected to actually like him. She told me that if I ever met someone who inspires passion in me, that I should be as, if not more aggressive than she was. I understand now what she was talking about. Though her definition of aggressive isn't the same as mine."

"I don't know about that Origami. I remember one time you wore this set of doggy ears for me and the school swimsuit. You can be pretty aggressive when you know what you want."

"I must confess I had a few lingering doubts about the truth of your story until you mentioned that…"

Kurumi gave her a devilish grin, "One time I got myself a set of kitty ears, just to see what you'd do. Can you guess what you did?"

"Do I want to?"

Kurumi started belly laughing at her, "You chased me around your apartment… Barking at me!" she said loudly, but still discreetly.

"Somehow… I can imagine doing that…"

"It made me feel so warm inside to know that my precious Kuudere girlfriend had a secret wild side that only I ever got to see."

"And you believe that whatever we had before, isn't worth pursuing again because you have an expiration date?"

Kurumi nodded, "It isn't fair to you. I shouldn't even be telling you any of this. I wouldn't be talking to you like this if the other me kept her damn mouth shut."

"What if she was right? Perhaps it was for your own good."

"Pfft. Yeah. Sure. What good could possibly come of this?"

Origami took Kurumi's hand and pulled her down from the ledge until she was standing face to face and looking into her crimson eye under the bright moonlight. "Moments. Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. Years… Whatever precious time I have with you, I'd rather spend it loving you, than living my remaining time in regret for letting you out of my life."

Kurumi looked into Origami's blue eye, a single tear glistened in the moonlight, "You won't even remember me..."

"That's my problem. Maybe I will forget you. But I've seen evidence of the fact that this feeling I have for you will not just fade away. That even after you've tampered with time itself, I'm still able to feel something in my heart for you in spite of everything. If you don't believe that, you need only look at the void you've left in this household for proof. You've faded from every photograph except the one. In every other photo there's an empty space where you once stood. When I think of my own life now, I can also identify almost every single instance where something happened that you should have been there for. I can't remember why, but they were happy moments."

"That's not possible Origami…"

"Why won't you admit it to yourself? Whatever this power of yours is taking from you, it can't take everything away. I did not just take up the practice of Kyudo on a whim. I did not choose to sit alone and feel happy and content at that cafeteria table for the whole first year I was at that school before she started sitting with me. Kotori does not just see me as a big sister because we share a common tragedy. It's because we each share a common love. And now I know that K E is not Kotori Emiya."

The tears streamed down her cheek. "Damn your stalkerish level of attention to detail…"

"Perhaps one day I'll look back on this moment and wonder why I was just standing here like I am now. But when I do, I'll remember that I was happy here in this moment. That will be what stays with me long after the memory of Kurumi Emiya has faded from my mind."

Kotori wiped her eyes and looked out the window again, she blinked a few times as well. Unable to believe what she was seeing as Origami and Kurumi had their lips locked in a tender kiss.

"They don't waste any time do they?" she asked herself before turned away to check on her Aunt and give them privacy.

Meanwhile at the Fujimura house, Shirou called out his swords and brought out his battle clothing while Tohka held Sandalphon but didn't bring out her Astral Dress as per Shirou's instructions. It was a gamble, but he was betting on the fact that it took more than just the sword to call attention to the Spirit.

The front gate to their compound had been blown apart but there was no sign of an explosive device used on it. There were a few dead guards littered about the front gate. One had his throat slit, the others had holes through them big enough to fit one's arm through, another poor bastard was little more than a puddle.

"What could have done this Shirou?" asked Tohka with a hand over her face, her eyes shaking in horror at what she was seeing.

Shirou looked around. There were a number of shell casing littered about, and blood stains where some people had obviously died but there were no bodies to be found. "I don't know Tohka. I've never seen anything like this before. Stay close to me and keep on your guard, whomever or whatever did this might still be here,"

Tohka nodded and tightened her grip on Sandalphon while Shirou did the same with Kanshou and Bakuya.

Once inside the house, Shirou knelt down over the body of old man Fujimura and gently closed the man's eyes.

"Taiga saw this… Why did she have to see this?" Shirou spoke mournfully.

Tohka grit her teeth and snarled, "Who does this?!"

"I don't know. I just don't know. It doesn't make any sense. It couldn't have been a rival gang. The Fujimura's were too widely respected for anyone to make a move on them like this. Yes they were-" Shirou bit his tongue and sighed deeply, "They just didn't deserve this. Nobody deserves this."

"What should we do now?"

Shirou went over to one of the dead bodyguards and pulled out his phone, he then used it to call emergency services. Before they could ask for any of his information he hung up the call and wiped his fingerprints off the device before leaving it beside the man.

"There's nothing we can do here. Let's just go home."

After coming back out of the house Tohka and Shirou walked side by side towards the splintered gate when there was an unidentifiable noise. Tohka hit the ground. Shirou turned around and raised his sword to block an incoming projectile which broke one of his swords. He quickly replaced it and blocked two more shots. The shooter was on the roof, in the darkness. He couldn't see them, but he could make out the gleam of their weapon's barrel in the moonlight.

"Tohka?" he asked the woman who was slowly pushing herself up off the ground. "Are you alright?"

"It's not so bad. I can still fight!" she said while holding the wound inflicted on her left shoulder.

Shirou stood protectively between Tohka and the shooter. "Then get ready."

"Adonai Melek!"

After Tohka conjured her Astral Dress she stood ready with her sword held out to her right, her left arm useless to her after being shot.

A moment later the shots resumed, Tohka raised her shield to block them. When the Gunfire ceased Shirou called out into the darkness. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Who the hell am I? That's what you ask me?" he heard Kurumi's voice yell back from the darkness before she stepped out into the moonlight and then down off the rooftop, walking towards him with her pistol pointed at them and her rifle held behind her back.

Shirou clenched his teeth, "I should have known better than to trust you…"

"You were never very good at that. It's just your rotten luck. Rather than ask why everyone from your future wants to kill you, you just keep going with your selfish and hypocritical ideals without sparing a moment to think about what they might do to you or the people you love."

Shirou's grips on his swords tightened.

"I'd love to have a lengthy dialogue in which I explain exactly why I'm doing this, but I just don't have the time…"

"Who the hell are you?!" he asked her again.

"I am the shadow on which I stand!" she yelled furiously before squeezing the trigger of her pistol which then fired a shot that utterly destroyed Tohka's shield making the spirit cry out in agony as she fell down onto the ground.

"Tohka!"

Before he could let his concern for her overtake him Kurumi brought out her rifle and started firing both weapons at Shirou.

"Rho Aias!"

Kurumi and Origami shared a laugh over another amusing story when Kurumi suddenly stopped laughing and tensed up with her teeth tightly clenched.

"What is it Kurumi?"

"Unbelievable… How could she… How did she even..." Kurumi picked up her rifle and pistol while standing up. "I'm sorry Origami. I have to go now. I have to stop myself from doing something stupid. Keep an eye out and protect her. Will you do that?"

Origami stood up and grabbed Kurumi by the arm to stop her leaving, "What the hell is happening?"

Kurumi shook her head, "Just one more thing… If I don't come back for some reason…" she then leaned over to speak into Origami's ear for a moment.

Origami froze up and started looking at Kurumi with shaky eyes.

"Don't forget it. I can't prove it yet. You just have to believe me that it's true."

Kurumi then took off running towards a dark corner of the courtyard, but before she vanished into the shadows she had one last thing to yell, "I love you!"

Kurumi continued firing at Shirou who narrowed his eyes, he traced a set of four swords above him and launched them at Kurumi who started running backwards while still firing her pistol at him.

Shirou traced his falchions again and started running at Kurumi while she was still bringing her rifle up at him. She fired wildly at him but he managed to block the shots with his sword, this time the swords remained intact.

Whatever special shots she's using, she probably has to load them each time. Her standard shots aren't all that strong.

Kurumi started running backwards to get distance from him but he was quickly catching up. She leaped up onto the rooftop while tossing a gem at him which exploded on the ground in front of him and forced him to stop chasing her. Giving her the precious time she needed to load another gem into her pistol.

"Time Alter, Double Accel!" she said loudly while loading a gem into her pistol and then using the ramrod to drive it in.

Shirou threw his swords at her while she aimed the weapon and fired.

"Rho Aias!"

The swords cut into Kurumi's sides while the shot impacted the Aias and shattered three of its seven layers before he let it vanish again.

I can't keep guzzling mana like this...

But Kurumi wasn't done yet, a moment later she got back and leapt down from the rooftop to the ground, the swords barely missing her on their return. Shirou caught the blades and started running at her.

"Affix Bayonets!" she yelled.

The two then started clashing blade to blade with Kurumi occasionally shooting at him with the pistol or rifle.

How the hell is she fighting like this with a rifle and pistol?!

"Why are you doing this?! I thought you wanted to help us! To protect Kotori!"

"Grrrah!" she yelled in response while swinging at him with her Rifle's bladed end, on the come back she ended up with her pistol pointed at his head. Shirou knocked the pistol away with his sword as she pulled the trigger and then took a second swing at her toso. She backed away and was only just grazed by it.

"I can't be killed. Not by you. Not by her!" she yelled before going to try and impale him with her rifle.

She's one of the copies. What's the real her doing right now? I left her at home with everyone… I gotta finish this fight quickly! Tohka's still out of it. I have enough for plenty of projections. As long as I don't have to keep falling back on the Aias I should be in good shape here. This should be an easy fight. But her skill is unreal, and the wounds she's taken aren't slowing her down at all.

After a few more exchanges Kurumi jumped backwards and started pelting Shirou with gunfire from both her weapons. Shirou used his swords as a shield to stop the bullets as he closed the distance. "Alright. I'm really getting sick of this now! Trace on!" he said before launching two swords from above him at Kurumi which forced her to run forward to evade and helped close the distance.

"That's it. Come to Daddy," he said with his swords waiting.

"Time Alter, Square Accel!" she yelled again and the suddenly Shirou found himself very much on the defensive before being cut three times by her blades which he could barely dodge in time.

The next thing he knew he was kneeling on the ground with a severed tendon in his leg and had a musket pointed at his face. Kurumi was bleeding out of her eye, nose, ears, sides, and breathing heavily, "Who's your daddy now?"

Shirou grit his teeth.

"I won't let you screw things up ever again! This time there won't be room for any mistakes! Don't worry about Kotori though, I'll keep protecting her."

As she squeezed the trigger her hand was suddenly blown off her body and she jumped back to stare in the direction the shot came from.

"What have I told you about monologuing?" asked the original Kurumi while walking out of a dark space in the Fujimura's yard. "It's what got you in trouble the last time you pulled a stunt like this. I really thought we were over this beautiful. What changed?"

"What the hell is going on here?!" he yelled at both of the girls.

"Why do you always ask questions to which you already know the answer beautiful?" asked the wounded Kurumi with her normal sultry tone of voice.

"It seems I don't always know what's going on in this head of mine. Your plan was good. With all the copies I had to bring out of the shadow I was spread pretty thin. My full attention focused on keeping an eye on DEM. But now I also know why you provoked me into having that conversation with Origami today. It almost worked. I was too distracted to notice what you did here. But then you had to pick a fight with him of all people. That was where your plan fell apart. At the rate you started guzzling my mana did you really think I wouldn't notice it?"

"What makes you think I didn't count on you showing up here?"

Kurumi raised her eyebrow and held out her hand at her other self, but the other Kurumi grabbed onto Shirou and held her Bayoneted pistol to his throat, ready to slice it. "If you want to pull me back in, you'll have to send him in too. And we both know what'll happen if you do."

"I made you… And I will unmake you! You've screwed with me for the last time!"

"What are you going to do about it? Shoot me and you'll risk killing him. And it's pointless since you can't kill me no matter how hard you've tried!"

Kurumi rolled her eyes at the other her. "What the hell do you even hope to achieve? You're just a flawed copy of me created with Zafkiel's magic! A moment from my past bound to serve me as nothing more than a familiar."

Shirou raised an eyebrow at that statement.

She's not even talking to the other one anymore… She's being so specific about how her copies work though… I understand. She wants me to use that on her. Heh. Alright then.

"I'm more than just a copy of you beautiful. I'm a perfect recreation of you from the exact moment you were at your very best! Have a little pride," she said almost salaciously.

"I suppose it's only natural for you to think of yourself as me at my best. Your existence depends on that flawed perspective. You can't break the rules. So why don't you just fall in line again?"

"You're right beautiful. I can't break the rules. But I do happen to know someone who can," she answered her other self with the biggest grin she could muster.

"Trace on!" yelled Shirou.

"Oh no! DON'T DO IT!" yelled Kurumi in desperation.

But it was too late. Shirou had already impaled the clone with Rule Breaker.

The original Kurumi dropped her guns and covered her yellow eye with both her hands. She bellowed out an ear piercing scream of agony and horror as her Astral Dress vanished from her body and she finally collapsed naked onto the ground.

Shirou quickly stood up as he traced another set of his swords and took a swing at the exact spot where the other Kurumi had been standing not an instant ago, but she was gone. No trace of her left.

When he turned around again, the original Kurumi was still lying unconscious, he looked around and saw that Tohka, at least, very thankfully, was starting to wake up and look around.

"What did I miss?" she asked curiously.

The next morning, Kotori peeked into the room where she saw Origami was still sitting beside Kurumi.

Even though there was nothing anyone could do for the unconscious girl except find her some clothes and make her comfortable. Kotori had tried to encourage her to get some sleep, she even brought an extra futon into the room so her friend could sleep there.

But Origami wouldn't sleep, she couldn't move from her spot. She sat patiently and watched the other girl sleep.

"Origami? Would you like some breakfast?"

Origami shook her head but said nothing.

"You need to eat. You can't help her if you don't take care of yourself. She'd be the first to tell you that."

"I will eat when she eats. Not a moment before."

Kotori sighed and stepped into the room where she sat down beside Origami and took her into a hug. "You can't take things to such extremes. I know you're worried about her. I know you care about her."

"It's not just that Kotori. Yes. It's part of it. But not all of it. She told me things last night. Things she trusts me not to repeat so I can't. All I can tell you is that she's given up a lot more than a night's sleep and a small meal for all our sakes."

"Technically you two have only just met. You realize that right?"

"I can't explain it. Both because I don't know how, and because she trusted me not to."

Kotori nodded, "Alright then. I'll set aside some food for the two of you to eat later. I'm sure she'll be pretty damn hungry when she-"

Kurumi picked that moment begin stirring in her sleep and both girl watched her with held breaths.

A moment later she shot up in bed and started waving her hand infront of her face. "No… No… No!"

She then quickly stood up and put her hand in the air, "Elohim!" She lowered her hand and looked at it for a moment before screaming at the top of her lungs, "Zaaaaaaaafkiiiiiiiiiiiiel!"

Kurumi then fell to her knees while holding a hand over the eye which used to have her clock inside of it. "This is impossible…"

Kotori and Origami slowly moved over beside her. "Kurumi… Your Spirit Powers..." said Kotori in a gentle and cautious voice.

"Yes. They're gone…" she said through tightly clenched teeth. "That bitch! Somehow, she figured out a way to steal Zafkiel from me! I'm going to kill her!" she stood up and spat loudly at one of the shadows in the room. "Do you hear me?! I'm going to kill you!"

Edits: I made a small change to to the explanation Kurumi gave on how she adjusts Origami's bullets. One reviewer pointed out my mistake and thankfully I managed to come up with a work around that didn't require me changing the whole scene.