Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Transposition

Chapter 9

Golden afternoon light shone down over the suburbs, gently washing through the paper walls of the Emiya mansion and softly illuminating the rooms within. In one of the guest rooms, Saber and Shirou sat on the floor, the latter telling the former about Sakura's offer of an alliance, and how Shirou had already given tentative agreement depending on Saber's opinion.

Saber closed her eyes in thought for a few moments. "The decision is ultimately yours, Master." She finally said, opening her eyes. "Though, I am grateful that you would consider my opinion on the matter."

Shirou smiled gently. "Well," he said. "The Master and Servant thing isn't or shouldn't be one-sided, should it?"

"Indeed it should not." Saber agreed with a smile. "While there probably are those who would think Servants should be completely subordinate to their Masters, I would think of it as closer to the relationship between a knight and his lord, with both having obligations to the other. Master and Servant, not master and slave."

Shirou nodded, and then held a hand up in an asking gesture. "I think so too." He said. "But, what do you think about Tohsaka's offer?"

"I think we should accept." Saber said. "While she may be an enemy in the future, I do not think she is the kind to betray us suddenly, and will openly break the alliance before becoming the enemy."

Shirou looked troubled. "What makes you say that?" he asked.

"She invoked the truce of parley last night." Saber said. "Furthermore, the way she did so while under the shadow of my sword indicated that she did so not out of desperation, but out of true understanding and respect for the ancient tradition of parley. If nothing else, I believe that shows proof that Sakura Tohsaka is an honorable character, whether as foe or ally."

"…yeah, I think I get what you mean…" Shirou softly began. "But, I meant more…what do you mean she might still be an enemy in the future? I mean…"

"Did you forget, Master?" Saber interrupted. "There can only be one victor in the Holy Grail War, one Master, and one Servant. Even if we stay allies with Sakura Tohsaka until the very end, the contest won't truly end until either I or Archer fall at the hands of the other, or perhaps even…"

Saber trailed off as Shirou sighed and scratched irritably at his head. "This is just…" he began, only to shake his head. "It's nothing."

Saber said nothing more for a couple of moments. "Another reason why you should accept this alliance is that it would allow you to improve your skills, Master." She added. "You did say she offered to help you with your magecraft, did she not?"

"Yeah, she did." Shirou said. "I don't really care much about that though. Still…"

Shirou trailed off and sighed again before smiling. "So in short," he said. "You think we should accept the offered alliance then?"

"I do, Master." Saber said with a nod, and Shirou smiled wider.

"Alright, then. I'll tell her tomorrow." He said, and Saber nodded again. "Oh, and one more thing. You don't have to keep calling me 'master', I have a name after all. Shirou Emiya, so…just Shirou will do."

"Very well, Shirou," Saber said with a small bow. "I will do as you ask. It's certainly easier to address you by name than as my Master."

Shirou nodded, and Saber smiled at him, causing Shirou to pause. It was the first time he'd seen her smile and…

The sound of the front doors opening in the distance and Rin's voice drew his attention, and he briefly glanced in their direction. "Sorry," he said while getting up. "We'll talk some more about this later. I have to go and help prepare dinner, you see."

Saber nodded, and turning, Shirou opened the doors and closing them behind him, walked away to leave Saber in the growing dark.

Archer sat in an armchair in the Tohsaka mansion's living room, staring at the big bowl of ramen placed in front of him. He glanced at Sakura who stared back at him. He glanced back at the ramen, and then back at Sakura. "What's this?" he asked, pointing at the ramen.

"It's ramen." Sakura answered.

"I can see that!" Archer said before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "What I mean is, what's this all about?"

Sakura leaned in. "If you don't want it," she said, her hands clasped behind her. "Then give it back."

Archer placed his hands protectively on the bowl, and Sakura beamed. "Just kidding!" she said, and causing Archer to face-palm as the girl erupted laughing.

"Sorry, sorry," Sakura said while stepping back. "In any case, that's my apology to you."

"Apology?" Archer echoed.

"Yes." Sakura said. "I was thinking I might have offended you by making an alliance with Emiya-sempai, and by extension with Saber. And I did say it was because you're not fit for battle right now…oh I said it again, didn't I? Sorry…anyway, you might consider yourself unwanted or unappreciated, so…I made you dinner!"

Archer stared exasperatedly at the beaming Sakura for a couple of moments, and then with a sigh he smiled at her. "Thank you very much." He said. "No, really. I appreciate the thought and effort."

Sakura's smile faded to a more natural one. "You're welcome." She said before prompting him. "But?"

"You needn't have bothered." Archer said. "I'm not offended, really. It's the truth after all. As I am right now, well, as you can see I can take physical form without collapsing on the spot, but against every Servant except Assassin and maybe Caster, I wouldn't stand a chance. You making an alliance with another Master you can trust and with an effective Servant of their own is only common sense."

Archer sighed. "I haven't come this far without being able to see and accept the truth, after all." He said with a veiled tone of bitterness that caught Sakura by surprise, and after a moment, Archer glanced at her in realization. "No, it's nothing but an old…hero's, regrets, that's all."

Sakura's smile vanished, and she looked sad as she stood silent for a few moments. "Everyone has regrets." She said softly.

"Yes, they do." Archer agreed, smiling sadly at her. "Some more than others. Thanks for the sympathy but…"

Archer trailed off, and briefly closing her eyes, Sakura nodded. "Anyway," Archer said. "What about you? Aren't you going to join me for dinner?"

"Oh right!" Sakura said, before running off. She came back after several moments with a pair of small plates, saucers, soy sauce, and a platter of steaming dumplings that had Archer raising an eyebrow. It rose even further when she ran off yet again, coming back with hot tea and cups, and then running off again had Archer's eyebrows going up as high as they could as Sakura arrived with another bowl – as big as Archer's own – of ramen.

"That's a big bowl." He observed as Sakura removed her apron, and tossing it to another chair, sat down at the couch.

"Hey!" she protested. "I burn through a lot of carbs every day. Don't judge me."

"True," Archer said while picking up his chopsticks. "Sorry, and thank you for the meal."

"No problem." Sakura said with a laugh, also picking up her own chopsticks and giving thanks.

The sounds of slurping filled the living room for the next minute or so, Master and Servant digging into their hot noodles. "This is really good." Archer eventually said. "Who taught you?"

"I taught myself." Sakura said. "It drives my guardian mad."

"Your guardian?" Archer asked. "Why?"

"He says if I had the time to become good at cooking Japanese food and noodles and dumplings in particular," Sakura answered after slurping up some noodles. "I could have used that time to become good at cooking Chinese food and mapo tofu in particular."

"Come to think of it," Archer thought. "Rin was good at cooking Chinese food…and yeah, as I recall, Kotomine did have a fondness for mapo tofu."

"And what did he say?" he verbally asked.

Sakura finished chewing on a dumpling and swallowed it before giving an answer. "I told him I preferred Japanese food to Chinese food, and left it at that." She said before giggling evilly. "He gave me the stink eye and stalked off after I brushed it off."

Archer joined in on the laughter, having no qualms enjoying the discomfiture of one of his old (or not so old) enemies. "You're mean." He accused.

"I don't like mapo tofu." Sakura remarked. "Okay, it's not that bad, but Kirei is obsessed with the stuff. I'm not sure if he does or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does eat that stuff at every meal every day."

"Huh…" Archer thought to herself. "That…that is very like her, to rebel in such a way. Sakura Matou rebelled against Zouken's expectations of her becoming a mindless puppet to his every whim by burying the core of her character deep down, and not letting Zouken snuff it out. It's a very…awkward, comparison, I suppose, that this Sakura rebelled against Kirei's expectations…"

Archer sighed as he continued to eat ramen, but glanced at Sakura with narrowed eyes. "Though," he thought. "I have no doubt now, why Sakura is like this. Growing up alone with only a sinister priest for company and with all the pressures of a magus lineage on her, she decided to stop being so…introverted, and rebelled against the state of her life by letting others near her."

Archer laughed inwardly. "It's the complete opposite of what her counterpart did," he thought. "But it's just like her, to fight as best she can against something that she doesn't agree with about the way things are, and what's expected of her. Rin though…"

Archer sighed inwardly. "Rin just went with the way things were." He thought sadly. "Her lineage and talents led to expectations that she would and should stand above others, and she did as was expected of her. Even though it only worsened the loneliness and isolation she suffered…she just accepted it. And now that she's a Matou…that…way of just falling in line of hers…"

Archer went back to eating, but thoughts were running fast in his head by this point. "Though with that said," he said. "Sooner or later, Rin will be pushed to her limit, and admit how she really feels. Everything she's locked away to do as expected of her, to follow the line…"

Archer poured himself some tea and took a calming drink. "What will happen," he thought. "When the resentment, hatred, anger, and all the emotions she must have felt and still feels at how Zouken treats her and she locks away, are unleashed when she's forced over her limit?"

Archer took another drink. "The Rin I knew…the emotions she locked away…" he thought. "They stopped her from killing her sister, provided her with a core of morality lacking among magi in general, and allowed her convince her sister that yes, she was loved once and still was. But Rin Matou…"

Archer closed his eyes as he lowered his cup. "Rin," he thought. "What will you do, when you reach your limit here?"

Archer opened his eyes, and tightened his fingers around his cup. "Or," he thought. "Have you already passed the limit, or even changed yourself like Sakura has, and are already plotting something against your tormentor?"

"Heavy thoughts?" Sakura suddenly prompted.

"Not really," Archer replied. "Just thinking about the future, that's all."

"Is that right?"

"Yes." Archer said. "And speaking of which, the alliance with the kid and his Saber aside, what's your plan for the future?"

"Nothing too far ahead," Sakura said, placing her chopsticks down. "We don't know what might happen on the battlefield after all. But currently, I want to focus on Caster."

"Not Lancer?"

"Lancer's a problem for later." Sakura said. "But right now, Caster's attacking people across the city, draining them of their life force to provide him or her with prana. Not only is this against the rules, it draws unnecessary attention. We've got to put a stop to it, one way or another."

"Agreed," Archer said, taking a dumpling with his chopsticks. "But, unless we find their hideout, all we can do is respond to Caster's actions. To put an end to their actions, we need to find them, and end them for good."

"Yes, that is a problem." Sakura admitted. "With that said, I'm already working on a possible solution."

"Oh?"

"It needs a bit more work," Sakura said. "But I think I can use Imaginary Numbers to track the flow of prana to where Caster is."

"Is that even possible?"

"It should be." Sakura said with a nod. "Imaginary Numbers are especially effective when applied to spiritual bodies, entities, and other things which operate on a conceptual level. Its core concept after all, is 'that which is possible but not on the physical plane'. With that said,"

Sakura broke off and sighed. "I'm working in the dark here." She said. "My family has barely any lore on Imaginary Numbers, so, creating a spell or spells based on Imaginary Numbers to follow and trace the flow of prana from Caster's familiars on the field back to wherever they are, is more than a bit hard to do. Still, I'll do my best."

Archer nodded sagely. "There's nothing wrong with that." He said. "Way back, you mentioned that the Matou girl was a genius, didn't you?"

"I did, and?"

"A genius is just someone with a head start." Archer said. "Nothing's stopping anyone from catching up, or pulling a lead on them. All you have to do is work and study hard. At least that's how I see it."

"Is that right?" Sakura said with a smile, also picking up her to chopsticks to get a dumpling of her own. "That reasoning runs into trouble given the way magi breed specific traits and talents among…"

"Talent and genius are not one and the same thing." Archer interrupted. "And even in the case of the former, it's pointless without investment of labor and effort to turn talent into achievement. A man with talent who doesn't invest enough into them will never be able to come close to someone average but does their all and at their best. You understand what I'm saying, don't you?"

Sakura was silent for several moments, and then she began laughing. Archer smiled as she laughed, and then a few moments later, Sakura stopped laughing and nodded. "Yeah, I get what you mean." She said. "My dad could be called an example."

"Oh?"

"He was neither a genius nor particularly talented." Sakura said. "But through hard work and honest effort, he was certified as a fourth rank at the Association, and if he'd more of a presence at the Clock Tower, I don't doubt he could have reached third rank."

Sakura laughed a bit more and nodded again at Archer. "You can be cool if you put your mind to it, aren't you?" she asked, and Archer chuckled.

"If you say so." He said, returning to his ramen. "But, I'm just being myself that's all."

"How modest of you."

Master and Servant shared a laugh at that.

"Wow Rin-chan!" Taiga gushed as she sat at Shirou's dining table. "You've really outdone yourself this time! Everything looks so delicious!"

"You say that so often, it's flattery pure and simple." Rin said with a smile from where she was sitting. "But thanks anyway."

"Come to think of it," Shirou thought from where he was sitting. "Saber's been stuck inside that room of hers since this morning. This doesn't seem right."

Shirou blinked as Taiga held out her rice bowl. "Oh right," he said, making to sit down, only to pause as he saw an empty spot at the table where Saber could sit at. A glance from the corner of his eyes at the plentiful food on the table made him think how there was more enough to go around, and how Saber might feel being left out like this.

"Hey Shirou," Taiga impatiently prompted Shirou, waving her bowl in the air at him. "Stop spacing out already, and let's eat before the food gets cold."

"Right, right," Shirou said, taking the bowl and filling it up.

"Is something wrong, Emiya-kun?" Rin asked. "You don't usually space out like that."

"No, I'm just…a bit distracted, that's all." Shirou said while handing Taiga's bowl back to her. "Sorry."

No, this isn't right at all.

Rin just stared at Shirou with a veiled expression on her face, while a happily-muttering Taiga cheerfully divided the number of meatballs between them. "Alright!" she said loudly. "There's twenty-four meatballs, so that's eight each for us!"

Shirou made his decision. "No, wait a bit." He said while getting up. "I'll be back soon."

Ignoring Taiga's concerned questions, Shirou rushed off, not noticing at how Rin narrowed her eyes at his back. Making his way through his house's shadowed corridors, Shirou finally arrived at Saber's room, and opening the door found her sitting in the dark. "Hey, Saber." He said. "Let's go."

"Did something happen?" Saber asked.

"No, I just want to introduce you to everyone, that's all." He said, taking her hand and trying to pull her to her feet, only for Saber to resist.

"Wait a moment, I don't think this is a particularly…"

"It's not right for you to just sit here in the dark while we're eating up." Shirou said, still trying to pull Saber to her feet. "And besides, I shouldn't have to hide you like this, do I?"

"But you said…"

"I know what I said, but I'm sure I can find a way to keep Fuji-nee and Rin out of the war without treating like this, now come on." Shirou said, finally pulling the confused Saber to her feet. "Let's go before dinner gets cold."

Rin and Taiga stared at Saber and Shirou as they stood to one side, a meatball falling from slackened chopsticks back onto the spaghetti in Taiga's case. Shirou looked uncomfortable if resolved, while Saber was cool as a cucumber, unfazed by the attention on her.

"So um," Shirou began. "This is Saber. She'll be staying here for a little while."

Shirou paused and glanced at Saber. "Saber," he said. "You can sit here next to me."

"I still have my doubts about this," Saber observed. "Are you certain…"

"I'm sure." Shirou interrupted, sitting back down at the table. "It'll be good for us to eat together, and so if you're going to be staying here you're going to eat with the rest of us. Oh, and that means six meatballs for each of us."

That seemed to snap Taiga from her stupor. "OUTRAGEOUS!" she roared, prompting Shirou to cover his ears (he was sitting next to her after all).

"Shirou!" Taiga demanded, pointing a finger at Saber. "What's wrong with you? You can't just bring random girls into your house! This isn't a hotel or a motel or whatever you know!"

"Well, no," Shirou admitted before rallying. "But it's big enough to be, so what's wrong with one or two?"

"One or two?" Taiga echoed. "Are you saying there's more?"

"There's more?" Rin demanded in a scandalized tone.

"NO!" Shirou responded loudly. "Of course not! Why would you even think that?"

"But she's…"

"Look, Saber's…"

"Where exactly did you pick this girl up anyway?" Taiga demanded.

"I didn't 'pick her up', she's a…well…a relative."

Taiga actually laughed at that. "Distant relative, huh?" she asked. "Yeah right, you're going to have to do better than that, Shirou."

"It's the truth!" Shirou insisted, inwardly slapping himself at the first thought – well lie – that slipped out. "Look, I don't know the details, but she's connected to dad and came here because of him."

"You don't really expect us to believe that, do you?" Taiga asked. "There's no way Kiritsugu would have…okay, so he might have had foreign connections I didn't know about…"

"See!"

"But that's not the point!" Taiga ferociously stood her ground. "It's still improper! You! Why are you really here?"

"I already told you…!" Shirou began only for Taiga to stare him down.

"Shirou, be quiet! This is for your own good!" she thundered before turning back to Saber.

Saber glanced at Taiga from the corner of her eyes, and narrowed them slightly before giving an answer. "I am here," she said. "To protect Shirou from his enemies, as per Kiritsugu's will. That's all there is to it."

Something about the steely glint in Saber's eyes unsettled Taiga, and she briefly faltered before rallying. "I-is that so?" she stammered out. "Alright then…!"

Shirou and Rin blinked as Taiga got to her feet. "If you're really here to protect him," she began. "I say we see how good you really are!"

"What?" Shirou and Saber asked.

Taiga grinned, and flexed one of her arms for effect. "Let's see what you've got."

"The only way I'm letting you stay here is if you – somehow – beat me."

The four of them – Shirou, Saber, Taiga, and Rin – were gathered in the dojo. Shirou and Rin standing to one side, and Taiga and Saber facing each other in the middle.

"But if you lose," Taiga continued. "It's off with you."

"Very well," Saber said. "Though I must say, this is rather unnecessary."

"Can't we just talk about this over dinner?" Shirou asked. "It's getting cold too!"

"Shirou, be quiet!" Taiga shouted at him. "Can't you see I'm doing this for your sake?"

"Shall we begin then?" Saber asked calmly. "If I must prove my worth protecting Shirou, then I will do so to the best of my ability."

Something about that just ticked Taiga off, prompting a vein to throb at her forehead. "You're rather full of yourself, aren't you?" she snarled, before swinging up her shinai and stepping into a stance charged at Saber. "Let's go blondie!"

Shirou glanced at Saber, and blinked as he saw one of her hand flexing as though holding a sword. Taiga closed, and then with the sound of two hard surfaces striking each other, her shinai went flying to her shock and surprise.

Flipping through the air, it landed in Saber's hand, the blonde somehow having stepped past Taiga and opened up the distance between them much to Taiga's shock. "Are you satisfied?" Saber asked.

For a few moments, Taiga just stared at Saber in shock, and then chuckling to herself reached behind her and into the back of her dress. "As if!" she shouted, pulling out another shinai as she did so. "I'm just getting started!"

Shouting as though she was in a match in a kendo tournament, Taiga smoothly slipped the shinai into a proper grip while charging, and taking her shinai in both hands, Saber stepped into a stance of her own. But then the shinai burst, revealing itself to be some sort of joke item much to Saber's surprise.

"I've got you now!" Taiga shouted, swinging down.

Again, there was the sound of two hard surfaces striking each other, and Taiga's shinai went flying. And again, it landed in Saber's hand, who'd once again stepped past Taiga and opened up the distance between them.

As Taiga stared and stammered incoherently in shock and disbelief, Saber tossed the joke shinai away, and hefting the real shinai a couple of times began to walk towards Taiga. "If you wish to continue," Saber began. "I'm more than willing to oblige. However, I'm fairly certain the outcome is quite obvious by this point, is it not?"

Pausing as she came within reach of Taiga, she lightly struck the teacher on the head once, and caused her to collapse – almost comically – to her knees. The only way it would be more comic that it already was would be if she started crying, even more so as she wailed out.

"Some weirdo stole Shirou from me!"

"Weirdo? Really?" Shirou asked no one in particular, palming his face. Rin likewise palmed her face and shook her head.

"What?"

Shirou just stared incredulously at Taiga, Rin, and Saber in blue and white yukatas, Rin setting up three futons in the one of the larger guest rooms as Taiga faced off against Shirou. "You heard me." Taiga said, ignoring Saber standing to the side adjusting her yukata. "I can't just let a young man and woman of school age to live alone together. So I'm staying the night until I'm sure you can be left on your own unchaperoned."

"Look," Shirou began heatedly. "I understand your position, but this is just ridiculous. There's no way either Saber or me are…"

"No matter what you say, I've made my decision so leave it be, Shirou." Taiga firmly interrupted.

"The futons are ready." Rin added deadpan, and with a nod, Taiga turned towards her while making way for Saber.

"Okay, thanks Rin-chan." Taiga said cheerfully. "Saber-chan, why don't you take the futon in the middle."

"While I appreciate your position and responsibility," Saber began. "If I am to protect Shirou it would be better if I spent the night in his room."

Taiga just growled before closing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, and prompting Shirou to step closer to Saber. "I think we should just let this go." He said softly. "She's already given a lot away, so, might as well."

"But, Shirou…"

Shirou smiled, and leaning closer, began to whisper to her. "In any case," he said. "There's a bounded field around the property so we'll know if anyone unfriendly or otherwise shows up. I'm just a few rooms away, so…"

Shirou trailed off, but Saber nodded in agreement. "Very well," she said, and Shirou stepped away.

"Alright then," he said cheerfully. "I'm off to my room, so good night everyone."

"Good night, Shirou!" Taiga said with a grin, and Rin nodded as well.

"Good night, Emiya-kun." She said.

Shirou nodded, and turning opened the doors to leave. Closing them behind him, he'd only taken a few steps when the doors opened behind him, and Saber stepped out. "Shirou," she began, closing the doors behind her before walking closer. "There's something I must ask."

"Huh?"

"Why did you introduce me to them?" Saber asked. "You know it only puts those you care for at risk, don't you?"

Shirou stayed silent for a few moments before he sighed. "Yes, I know." He said. "But, even so, it didn't feel right, leaving you all on your own, while we're enjoying ourselves. As for the risk, well, let me worry about that, alright?"

"Shirou…"

Shirou nodded and turning left down the corridor, and after another moment Saber likewise turned, and returned to where Rin and Taiga were waiting.

A/N

Again, more filler, but necessary to bridge plot points. Not everything can be all excitement and glory, blah, blah, blah…

…ahem, look on the bright side, we get plenty of EMIYA, and him channeling his inner Shirou (though he'd sooner die than admit that at heart he's still the Shirou Emiya we know and love) and how hard work trumps or at least equals genius. He's like Tokiomi in that way, as canonically he was just average in terms of talent (admittedly so in fact) but achieved a high level of magical achievement and prowess on pure effort alone.

And speaking of Tokiomi, well we don't know his actual rank in the Association, so I gave him the fourth rank (equal to Lord Waver El-Melloi II) on the basis that as an Association Supervisor he has at least some political credit to his name, and as I've already mentioned, he's a powerful magus despite being average in potential.