The Grave

"Morning already…?" Rin groaned, his head still pounding as though someone was beating his brain against the inside of his skull. Groggily, he pulled the sheets off his head, and the previously soft light became more intense and made the inside of his eyelids glow a red tinged white.

Even though he wanted to get off the bed, his body was too heavy to allow it. He tried to pull himself up by his arms, but they gave away beneath him and he plopped back into the bed.

"Oh well…" He muttered before briefly going back to sleep.

The summoning ritual yesterday and his little… "tantrum" took a lot out of him. He hadn't realized that he had used up so much of his prana.

"Good morning." A feminine voice cooed sarcastically.

Rin groaned and attempted to retreat back beneath his sheets. He heard an exaggerated sigh.

"Master, it's already eight in the morning." The Servant said, and even though Rin couldn't see her, he was sure that he was being smirked at.

Deciding that his pride was worth more than a few more minutes of sleep, he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I hope you were on lookout last night." Rin said with as much grace as possible.

"Yep." Was the curt reply. Rin nodded in response.

Rin leapt off the bed and announced, "We have a busy day ahead of us, so be ready. We'll be scouting Fuyuki today so you can get a good feel of the area."

Rin stretched to loosen his body before addressing his Servant again, "Oh, I forgot yesterday, but I'll have to check your stats as well."

"How lewd of you, Master." The white-haired woman said cheekily, much to Rin's dismay, "You could just ask me about my three sizes… Not that it's any less lewd to ask a woman you've only known for one night about her sizes."

"Spare me your self-flattery." Rin replied drily, "I'm not interested in women my mother's age."

"Excuse me!?" Saber asked, offended.

"Oh, sorry." Rin said in a monotone voice, "I forgot that you're a Heroic Spirit. You must be ancient. Probably even older than my grandmother would be if she was still alive."

There was a brief silence as the air of the room seemingly became ten degrees colder. The Servant wordlessly dematerialized, and Rin started to change into his usual clothes.

He pulled out his favorite black v-neck t-shirt and vermillion cloth jacket and a pair of black pants to go with them.

He went downstairs only to find his tea-set set up beautifully on the table facing the sofa. There was steam coming from the spout of the teapot, and a light flowery scent wafted from there, indicating that some tea was brewed for his benefit.

He sat himself on the sofa, and poured himself a cup of rose-colored tea. The brew was perfect; it had preserved the flowery and slightly grassy aroma of the tea, and the sweet and wooden notes were just strong enough to not overwhelm each other.

He poured himself another cup, and was satisfied that his head felt a lot better after having the tea.

"Saber." He called in his mildest voice.

The Servant materialized beside him, a scowl etched on her face. "What can I help you with, Master?"

"Thank you." He said, smiling at the woman, "The brew was excellent!"

"You're… welcome." She said, expression softening.

"I'm surprised. You don't look like someone who'd be interested in things like tea." He said, pouring some tea into a second cup and handing it to the Saber.

"Oh, thanks." She said as she took the cup of tea and sat down on the chair placed directly in front of him. "Well, I did have a life outside of the battlefield." She said lightly, "And sometimes even very simple things like good tea can bring morale up considerably in hopeless situations."

"Hmm… I guess." Rin said, feeling rather relaxed.

"I guess we should get onto fixing that wall." He mused to himself after he had finished his second cup of tea.

"Don't bother," Saber said, "I already did it."

"Thank you… That was oddly gracious of you." Rin replied, feeling a little guilty at having such a low opinion of his Servant at first.

"Don't misunderstand," Saber started and Rin cut him off, ""I did it because it was getting boring waiting for a nonexistent surprise attack.", or something of the like, huh?"

"Well…" Saber paused, looking a bit awkward.

"Saber's a tsundere." Rin joked, only to get a glare in return from Saber, "What!? That was a classic tsundere retort! It's obvious."

"You're the one to talk." Saber replied drily in voice that screamed "shut up or I'll do something unpleasant."

"Okay, okay." Rin said, rolling his eyes. "Let's skip to the part where I check your stats."

"Be my guest." Saber said, and Rin concentrated as he scanned his Servant. A status screen appeared in his head:

Saber:

Alignment: True Neutral

Streangth: C+

Endurance: C+

Agility: C+

Mana: B-

Luck: D

Class abilities:

Magic Resistance: C

Riding: B+

Rin scanned the basic stats thrice. He felt like he was punched in the face every time. This was the strongest Servant, Saber?

"Um… Saber, are you sure that you're a Saber?" Rin asked in a restrained manner.

Saber raised her eyebrows in response.

"What do you mean?" She asked coolly.

"Well… None of your stats or skills are greater than B." Rin said matter-of-factly.

"And…?" Saber said as though she couldn't see what's wrong with the supposedly statistically-strongest class having such sub-par stats.

Rin suppressed the urge to blare at his Servant. But he still smacked a hand onto his forehead in exasperation. "I should've guessed the moment you opened your mouth…"

"Excuse me…?" Saber asked flatly in the exact same way Rin did last night.

"I mean to say that, "What one lacks in bite, one tries, and fails, to compensate with bark."." Rin said simply.

"So, you're implying that all I can do is talk tough?" Saber asked giving him a quizzical look while crossing her arms beneath her chest.

"I was also implying that you were a bitch last night, but yeah that aside you pretty much have the gist of it." Rin said without thinking. He almost regretted it when met with a venomous glare from his Servant.

The keyword here being "almost".

"I'm not taking it back until I actually see you do something impressive." Rin said, disregarding the glare and giving a withering look in response.

"I can't help but point out that you're judging me based on my stats alone." Saber said coolly, "I guess you're either shallow or stupid to a suicidal degree."

"Oh, so I guess you have some special personal skill or Noble Phantasm that makes up for your horrendous Stats and Magic Resistance?" Rin said, a condescending sneer playing on his face.

"Even if I did, I doubt I'll reveal them now." Saber retorted. Her jaw was set and her stare icy, and Rin didn't doubt his Servant's threat. He could always use a Command Spell, but that would undoubtedly increase her rebellious spirit rather than curb it.

"No matter." Rin said lightly. He crossed his hands beneath his chest in his signature manner; left hand beneath the right and the index finger of the left hand resting on the right elbow while the rest of the fingers were wrapped lightly around the end of his forearm.

He paced around the living room for a bit, thinking intently. He ignored his Servant's glare and tapped his index finger onto his elbow in a fast beat.

"Okay…" He suddenly said and stopped on his tracks. He turned on his heel to face his Servant and asked, "What does that plus beside your Riding skill mean?"

Saber raised an eyebrow but remained silent. After a minute of what amounted to a staring contest, the Servant relented and replied, "I can Ride most vehicles with over average skill, but the skill doubles in effect when I ride motorized vehicles. Which basically means that my fighting capabilities are treated as rank-up."

"Hm… So you're a relatively young Heroic Spirit. No wonder…" Rin thought intently, lifting his left hand to touch his chin with the back of the hand. A smile appeared on his face.

"So basically, you'll become less mediocre if I arrange for a mount?" Rin asked.

"Medi- tch!" Saber snapped before dematerializing, "You can fight the damned War on your own for all I care!" her disembodied voice said.

Rin sighed exasperatedly while waving his free hand airily beside his face. "Can't take what you dish out, huh? Well, no matter."

Rin briefly went back to his room to fetch his wallet and picked up all twenty-five of his jewels along with his father's pendant from the basement workshop. He paused for a bit to admire Saber's handiwork; the wall was as good as new.

"Good job, Saber." Rin said, trying his hardest not to sound sarcastic. He had the faintest feeling that Saber was still following him around in spirit form.

There was no reply, to which Rin shrugged and made to leave the house but was stopped by the ringing of the phone.

He picked up the phone in the living room, and as he anticipated (read: dreaded), he was met with a deep and monotonous voice which he'd come to hate, "Hello, Rin."

"Hello, Kirei-sensei." He said with every ounce of sarcasm and disdain he could muster.

"Congratulations on summoning your Servant. I was beginning to wonder if you'd decided to forfeit this time."

"There's no way I would do that," He replied coolly, "it would be a disgrace to the Tohsaka name."

"The Tohsaka name, eh?" The Fake Priest replied mockingly in a voice which almost sounded amused, "You'd do that for a name you've come to resent?"

Rin gripped the receiver tightly to calm himself and replied as calmly and detachedly as possible, "Of course. It's called "Filial Piety"; have you ever heard of it? I daresay Kotomine-san's soul would be able to rest in peace if you'd had even a modicum of it."

There was a brief pause where his menacing aura diminished a bit, and Rin smiled to himself victoriously. But suddenly a small chuckle came from the other side, "You've learned well, Rin. You're becoming more and more like your dear sensei every day."

"I'll never be like you, Kirei." Rin hissed in a venomous voice.

"Hmm? If you wish." Kirei replied in an offhand voice, "I just called to inform you that if you lose your Servant or wish to withdraw from the War, come to the church. As the overseer, I shall grant you sanctuary."

"Reluctantly, I presume. I know how fond you are of mindless carnage and suffering."

"Sharp of tongue as always, I see."

"Why, thank you. Having someone like you as a guardian is excellent practice. There's nothing quite as satisfying as giving a pathological bully and sadist a tongue lashing."

"You flatter me so. But the offer is genuine, as it is my duty as Overseer to make sure casualties are at a minimum."

"How nice. Showing common human decency out of duty."

"I know that you're not taking this conversation seriously, but discretion is the better part of valor." There was a short pause where the menacing aura became palpably potent, "You already witnessed what overreaching one's limits can cause. You wouldn't want to end up like Kariya Matou and Tokiyomi-sen-"

Rin slammed down the receiver violently. His body was shaking from all the emotions gushing inside him and not one of them were pleasant. In fact, most of those emotions are ones he actively tries to suppress. He took deep breaths to calm himself, and noticed dully that his hand was still gripping the receiver tightly to the point that his knuckles had turned white.

There was silence for a long while, in which he composed himself. While he was almost sure that Saber was with him at the very moment, he wished that she hadn't witnessed that disgraceful display.

He went out of his house and locked it from the outside, simultaneously erecting the protective Bounded Field to keep intruders away. He hesitated a bit as he mentally debated his next course of action. After a moment of deliberation, he broke into a purposeful stride.

He walked in almost a trance-like state, scarcely looking anywhere but his feet. After what seemed like just a few moment, he arrived in front of the cemetery on the outskirts of Miyama City near the area with Western-style houses.

He closed his eyes for just a moment, as though bracing himself before entering though the front gates. He passed row after row of graves, each one of differing ages. Some had fresh flowers or bouquets lovingly placed upon them, and he was rather surprised to find it mostly empty. Almost halfway to his destination, he reached the section where he refused to enter… at least, for now. So he avoided that particular row, but he couldn't help casting a glance towards the direction of those two graves…

He was finally there. At a secluded and empty corner of the cemetery was some empty space. A single mound marked with shabby sticks, which looked quite out of place in this western-style cemetery filled with handsome grave markers, stood looking quite forlorn. In fact, a few more rain showers would probably wash away the mound, sticks and all, and make it just another piece of land still unoccupied by a grave.

Rin looked at the "grave" he had made so many years ago… He meant to bury a lot of things in it. But it was a shrine to his ultimate failure, and most grievous betrayal and a memory of a person he's still unable to understand.

"Matou Kariya… The Holy Grain War is beginning again." Rin began slowly, carefully measuring each and every word. It was silly; he wasn't usually this sentimental. In the years which this "grave" existed, he had never bothered coming to visit it after building it out of a whim. He was surprised that it still existed to this day.

But hopefully it'll wash away in either rain or melting snow in the near future, and he'll soon be able to wash away all his regrets as well.

"I've summoned my Servant, and am ready to face anyone who comes in my way." He breathed, not quite sure the reason he was telling the "grave" this. There supposedly wasn't anything left of Kariya to bury, so it's not like he was speaking to the Matou's remains. But he still pressed on, "I won't run away. Not like last time."

Rin could feel himself begin to tremble slightly, "The night… The night you killed my mother, I was there and I ran away. You didn't even have the decency to stay alive long enough for me to face you and get revenge."

"You always were kind to us, me and Sakura." Rin exhaled heavily, and his breath nearly caught in his chest, "Okaa-san as well. But you still strangled her. You didn't even show her an ounce of mercy. And the only thing I could do was watch before running away."

"You know the worst part? The last thing she heard from me was that she was cold-hearted and I hated her." Rin attempted to chuckle, but only a strangled kind of coughing noise came out of his throat. "Sounds like something out of H.C. Anderson's fairy tales, huh? But it's true."

"But I'm stronger now. I don't intend to let anyone die in front of me during this war." Rin told the grave resolutely, "And I don't intend to become twisted by my goals like you. Both of the Tohsaka siblings will be visiting their parents' graves by the end of the War, I assure you."

Rin finished; there was nothing more left to say. He closed his eyes for a moment as though in prayer, and turned to leave. He looked back briefly and said, "Good bye, Matou Kariya. This is the first and last time we meet like this. Unfortunately, I'll not be visiting you again when I come back to notify my parents about my victory in the Holy Grail War."

Rin trotted off, and just like that he was at the entrance of the cemetery again.

"Master…" He nearly jumped when Saber's voice flitted in from nowhere.

"…So you were eavesdropping, huh?" Rin muttered coolly, "If you intend to show some condescending sympathy, save it for someone who actually wants it."

"No." She replied calmly, "I simply want to point out that there's still a very important part of our contract left."

Rin raised his eyebrows as he started walking towards Shinto. "And that would be…?"

"Your name." Saber said simply.

"Hmmm…?" Rin frowned as he vaguely remembered something, "I think I remember you calling me by my name. Didn't I tell you earlier?"

"Nope." Saber said curtly.

Rin shrugged. "Okay. My name's Tohsaka Rin. Call me anything you want."

"Hmm… The name suits you nicely, Rin." Saber said in an unusually chipper voice.

"We're already on first name basis? I can't decide if it's flattering or creepy." Rin said in what was supposed to be a sing-song voice, but understandably, it sounded rather flat.

"Fickle creature, aren't you?" Saber joked, seemingly not fazed.

"Nope," Rin said, "Just impossible to please."

The sun was soon down, and the lights of Shinto flickered into life. Rin and Saber had just finished scouting and having a brief overview of the city from the roof of the highest building in Shinto.

"There aren't many places where Servants can have battles. Well, unrestricted ones." Saber concluded as he scanned the whole city. "The commotion would surely attract attention."

"Yeah." Rin said, standing at the edge of the roof to get a better look at the busy street in front of the building. A light wind picked up, and Rin shielded his eyes. "But then again, Shinto's as good as a ghost town after ten. Even Miyama City doesn't get as deserted at that time."

"This area is probably one of the best places for Servants like Archer." Saber said, "The high vantage point and relatively clear view it grants to the surroundings makes it an invaluable place for any Archer. I bet competent ones could use their Noble Phantasms to aim as far as across the bridge."

"Really?" Rin said, quite impressed. "I guess we should set some traps here, then?"

"I wouldn't advise that." Saber said seriously, "Archer is one of the Knight Classes, remember? They'd most likely have high enough magic resistance to nullify any trap weak enough to not be detected by another competent magus."

Rin frowned, "You're right…"

"The best course of action would be to keep to heavily populated areas at a far enough distance to make sniping us down impossible." Saber advised Rin, turning to give a meaningful look at him.

"Saber, I refuse to use civilians as shields." Rin said, scandalized. "I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that a callous enough master wouldn't care about casualties as long as it took us out."

Saber looked at Rin with an odd expression.

"What!? I'm all for pragmatism, but I can't drag innocent people into this!" Rin snapped. He was amazed when Saber began chuckling good-naturedly.

"Geez, I couldn't ask for a more perfect Master." Saber said appreciatively. "So, Master, listen closely since I'll only say this once: as long as you stay true to yourself, my sword will be yours to command."

"…Thanks." Rin said, blushing a bit. "And… I'm sorry for all the things I said this morning. It was childish of me." Rin said in a small voice, refusing to look at the scarlet-clad servant.

A sound of snickering from his Servant made him bite the inside of his cheek in embarrassment. "A-anyway, let's go. I have this feeling that I'm being watched."

Saber nodded. But instead of turning to go back down the stairs as Rin expected, she wrapped her arm around him and leapt off the building with such and amazing amount of force that they were rocketing towards the next building.

Rin was caught off guard, but the brief flash of terror was replaced by an adrenaline-fueled exhilaration as he felt the cool wind slap against his face and weightlessness. He nearly voiced his exhilaration, but decided against it. He didn't think he could take another bout of embarrassment in front of his Servant that day without lashing out again.