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

Transposition

Chapter 13

Sakura ran into the corridor, only to promptly stagger at the sight and scents that met her. Indeed, if not for Archer bracing her, she'd probably have fallen.

All the way down the corridor, doors leading into residential units hung hastily-opened, bodies littering the ground where they fell. The air stank of a strange mix of ozone and iron, from magic and prana, and together with the bodies of the floor's residents gave the impression of a massacre. All that was missing were the bloodstains…

…now if only her imagination was less active.

"Are you alright?" Archer asked.

Sakura didn't answer at once, gagging and struggling to breathe. The prana – no doubt leached from the residents by Caster's magecraft – saturating the air was not helping at all, making it seem as though plenty of blood had been spilled.

"Don't push yourself." Archer added, and would probably have said more had Shirou not shouted from further down the corridor, the boy having run on ahead in alarm while Sakura struggled to keep her composure.

"Sakura, they're still alive!" he shouted, and the girl blinked and swallowed heavily.

"Y-y-yeah…" she said, pulling herself free of Archer and shakily running over to Shirou. Sinking down to her knees beside the older boy and the unconscious victim on the ground, she held out shaking hands to begin patting the latter down.

"Your hands are shaking." Shirou said with a note of worry. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"I…I think I am." Sakura said with another swallow. "It doesn't matter. We have to help these people, so…"

To Sakura's surprise, Shirou took her hands and held them tightly. "Calm down," he said, leaning in close and meeting her eyes. In the gloom of the corridor, he couldn't see the automatic flushing of her cheeks at how close he was, not that she realized it herself. Instead, she just focused on Shirou's golden eyes, unflinching and resolute despite the atmosphere of death around them. "Take deep breaths, and just focus on what you need to do. No one died, and we, no, you managed to take down Caster's spells. So you can take your time helping these people. And don't worry: me, Archer, and Saber have your back."

Shirou offered her a smile, and after a moment Sakura nodded, and took a few deep breaths. And then nodding and smiling back, she pulled her hands free of Shirou's own, and turned back to the victim on the ground.

Hands no longer shaking, Sakura patted down the victim's body as Shirou looked on, and after a few moments pulled out a jewel. Raising it, she was about to cast a spell when she hesitated. "What's wrong?" Shirou asked.

Sakura didn't answer at once, instead looking down the hallway at the other unconscious victims lying around. "Healing them one by one is going to take too long and would waste a lot of prana." She eventually said.

Shirou blinked and lowered his face slightly. "So," he said. "What do you plan to do?"

Sakura again didn't answer at once, instead crossing her arms in thought. "I should be able to restore their vitality or at least some of it so as to remove the risk of them dying…" she eventually said.

"Can you handle it?" Shirou asked with evident concern. "Archer did say you almost collapsed earlier from that spell of yours."

"I have to try at least." Sakura said. "I'll have to be more precise, and I think I can do it…"

"…something you haven't done outside of a laboratory before either, huh?"

"Actually…I came up with this on the fly but…" Sakura thought, but didn't say aloud. Instead, she just nodded. Shirou sighed before looking around himself. Sakura did likewise, and took a deep breath to try and keep her composure at the sight of the bodies of the victims, all the while struggling to ignore the stink and taste of iron in the air she was inhaling.

"Well, the spells you used earlier worked, so I guess I can trust in your confidence this time around again." Shirou eventually said with a sigh as he looked back at her. "And I imagine you don't have that many gems to help these people one by one, do you?"

Sakura smiled weakly while lowering her head. Shirou sighed and nodded. "Alright," he said. "Let's do it. Do you need any help?"

"Yes," Sakura said with a nod. "Can you go and count how many people there are on this floor? Check inside the rooms too."

Shirou nodded. "Right," he said before running off. Sakura sank to her knees, and pulled out a stick of iron-infused chalk to write with, followed by a ruby, and a pair of jade beads. Behind her, Archer and Saber looked on warily, and a few minutes later Shirou came back. "Twenty-one people," he said. "That's how many people I counted."

"Got it," Sakura said with a nod, already drawing her magic circle. "Fortunately, when we knocked out Caster's bounded field, any prana not yet drawn to their hideout was released into the environment. This way, I only need to use my prana to start the spell, and part of the prana in the air to maintain it while guiding the rest back to the victims."

Shirou nodded. "That will help, won't it?" he asked.

"They'll be tired and groggy when they wake up," Sakura said, glancing at Shirou. "But it won't be as bad otherwise. And none of them should be in any risk of dying."

Shirou smiled and nodded, and Sakura returned to her work. Once the magic circle had been drawn, she placed five addition jewels – two emeralds, an opal, and a pair of moonstones – around the circle while holding the three jewels from earlier in one hand between her fingers. The other hand she placed on the circle.

"Here we go," she said, opening her circuits with the mental image of a bunch of sticks breaking in half. Prana flooded her circuits with a familiar heat, jewels glowing while shadows outlined the lines and symbols on her circle before running out in flowing lines of darkness to touch every last victim on the floor. "Ein roter, ein grüner, fünf blauer, Blütenblätter tanzen im Wind, die Hexe zieht dan Netz, Blütenblätter sammeln sich an alle Kinder, fünf blaue, eine grüne, eine rote."

The jewels flashed and then shattered, the shadows surging as the stink of iron in the air all but vanished. A moment later and the shadows likewise dispersed, the air lightening from both the spell reaching its conclusion and the loss of the ambient prana. "Did it work?" Shirou asked.

Sakura immediately turned back to the first victim, and after a couple of moments of examination she nodded at Shirou. "He's still unconscious," she said. "But he's not as badly off as earlier."

Shirou smiled warmly, kneeling down and patting Sakura on a shoulder. "Good work, Sakura." He said, causing her chest to grow really light at his praise. "Still, there are more people here we need to help."

Sakura nodded in agreement and smiled back at Shirou. "Yes," she said, getting to her feet. "We should get moving."

Shirou nodded, and with a nod at their Servants moved on to the next floor. But even as they did so, a belated realization struck Sakura, as she thought back to earlier. Specifically, at how Shirou didn't seem affected at all by the stink of blood filling the air, or the sight of bodies littering the ground.

Could it have been just sheer nerve or determination?

Or…

…is it something else?

Sempai…

"Are you alright?"

"…I can manage."

Shirou didn't say anything for a while, just focusing on helping Sakura along. They'd finished going through the ten floors of Residential Complex 321b, and helping the residents who'd been victimized by Caster within.

By the end of it all though, Sakura was tottering on her feet, breathing hard and sweating a cold sweat. A glance to the side showed her crest glowing fitfully, the inherited magic circuits of previous generations of Tohsaka magi being used not to augment and stabilize spells as they were usually meant to do, but to bolster their inheritor's faltering body.

Behind the two Masters, Saber and Archer followed at a respectful distance. The two Servants were like night and day, one tall and dark and brooding in black and red, while the other was short but resplendent in silver and blue. Both wore similar expressions of neutrality, but in their eyes could clearly be seen worry and concern for Sakura.

Finally, they managed to reach the top of the staircase leading to the roof, and Shirou nodded encouragingly as he led Sakura out into the open. A breeze had kicked up, cool and crisp, and Shirou smiled to himself as Sakura, after briefly shivering at the cold wind's touch, seemed to perk up at the fresh air.

"Better…?" he asked after a few minutes.

"…somewhat…" Sakura replied, before taking a deep breath. Relinquishing her grip on Shirou's arm, she took a step forward before her vision seemed to swim, and nearly fell had Shirou not caught her.

"Alright, come on, don't push yourself."

"I'm fine…"

"No, you're not." Shirou interrupted. Blinking once, he placed a hand against her forehead, and narrowed his eyes in concern. "Definitely not – you're burning up, Sakura."

To Shirou's alarm, Sakura automatically reached for one of her vest pockets. "That's something I can…" she began, only to blink and stare as Shirou gently but firmly caught her by wrist.

"No, Sakura." He said with a shake of his head. "I mean, I'm an amateur magus, but even I know that using magic puts a strain on the body, and the more complex the spell, the greater the strain. You've been using five and ten-counts all night long, and now you're using your crest just to keep you standing. No more magic tonight, even if it's to…well, heal your condition or something. In fact, seeing as you're the way you are now from doing too much magic, I'll say using healing magic on yourself would probably have the opposite effect you're looking for."

Sakura stared at Shirou's resolute face for a few moments, and then she sighed. "If I don't do this," she began. "If I can't manage this much, then we won't be able to stop any more attacks tonight."

"Hmm…" Shirou hummed unhappily, and after several moments sighed. "Yeah, I know. But, think about it. Saber and I could take on Caster's familiars easily enough, but we can't really do anything about their magic. And we certainly can't help the people they've attacked, at least not directly. Only you can. If you completely burn yourself out tonight, then we won't be able to help anyone for who knows how long. But, if we stop now, go home and rest and recover, well…not only can you recover for tomorrow, but you can use what you learned tonight to improve your spells, and well, not wear yourself out as much as you did tonight."

Sakura stared at Shirou with an unreadable expression on her face, while behind them, unnoticed by either Master or by Saber, Archer had an eyebrow raised in surprise and curiosity. This was something…unexpected, in more ways than one.

Finally, Sakura smiled weakly and briefly looked away. "Long-term planning, is it?" she asked.

"Well, I guess you could call it that." Shirou said, and Sakura nodded slowly.

"You're probably right." She said. "So, we're going home?"

Shirou nodded, and then blinking as a thought occurred to him briefly led Sakura over to the railing to lean on. And then to her surprise, he turned his back and crouched down. "Come on, I'll carry you." He said.

"W-what are you saying?" Sakura said, her cheeks ablaze. "That's so…"

Shirou laughed and smiled over a shoulder. "It's fine." He said. "I don't mind. And if you're worried for some reason that someone might see, well, it's late, and I doubt anyone we know is out like we are, so…"

Shirou trailed off and shrugged. "Come on," he said. "You're worn out, so it'll be better if I carry you. It's not that I think you can't walk on your own, it's just that it'll be less of a strain if you don't."

"But…"

Shirou didn't say anything more, just smiling at Sakura over his shoulder. Finally, after several moments of fidgeting, Sakura sighed and gave in. Carefully stepping up to and getting on Shirou's back, she wrapped his arms around his neck while he braced her legs against him behind her knees, Shirou noting with approval that Sakura had turned her crest off.

With a small grunt of exertion, Shirou got up, and after a moment fixing his balance, glanced sideways at Sakura. "All set?" he asked, and she nodded silently. "Alright, let's go."

Sakura nodded again, before gingerly resting her chin against Shirou's shoulder. "This is going too fast!" she thought to herself. "I mean…I don't mind…I really don't…this is just…I've always…but still…"

"Come to think of it," Shirou began as they made their way back down the stairs. "Earlier, you called me by name didn't you?"

"Eh?" Sakura started, jolted out of her flustered thoughts. "I…when did…?"

Shirou chuckled. "After Saber blasted through those familiars on the ground," he said. "And before you and Archer went to the roof. You told me to get to Saber, and called me by name."

Shirou, go! Get to Saber!

Sakura's face flowered in a deep blush, and she briefly looked away before turning back to Shirou, though she kept her eyes from his. "S-s-sorry…" she stammered out. "T-that was really rude of me, and I…"

Shirou chuckled again. "It's fine." She said. "You let me call you by your first name, don't you? I mean, yeah, only recently, but still: if you let me call you by your name, I can't really stop you from doing the same for me, right?"

"That's…I…I'm your underclassman, so…"

Shirou snorted. "And you're my senior in magecraft," he pointed out with a smile. "I'd say it evens out, so it's not really a problem no matter how I look at it."

"…"

Shirou sighed and nodded. "Well, I understand if you're uncomfortable with it." He said. "So I won't force you. But, if you ever get comfortable enough to call me by name, it's alright."

Sakura nodded in silence, and sharing a smile between them Shirou adjusted his grip and continued to walk on, Sakura carried on his back.

He's so kind…kind and warm…but…because he's like that…can I…can I really…

Rider followed her Master with a disinterested air, the two of them strolling down the darkened corridors and up shadowed staircases at a relaxed pace. The humming of insect wings droned in the background, and despite her disgust for the school of magic practiced by her Master's family, she had to admit it was…effective.

Caster had had plenty of familiars in the residential complex she'd attacked, enough to have overrun Rider and attack her Master directly while Rider was tied down dealing with the skeletal constructs. They might have been weak and pathetic things, their weapons not even close to capable of piercing her armor much less actually hurting her, but there were many of them, enough to at least get in her way.

That had been quite annoying actually.

Had they been beings of flesh and blood, the carnage Rider would have wreaked as she tore through their ranks would have been glorious. But as it was, all they did was break like dry wood or crumble to dust, rendering what could have been an enjoyable exercise of arms into an annoying chore.

As for her Master…well, Caster certainly had had lots of familiars. Rin however, had had more. Blade Wing Worms she called them, creatures which resembled locusts with oversized fangs. Individually they were weak, but in the swarms Rin unleashed them in they overwhelmed Caster's constructs and drained them of their prana.

From there, they swept into the building, ignoring Caster's victims to focus on destroying those of Caster's constructs inside, and allowing Rider and Rin to advance, and up the building to the roof. Apart from the Blade Wing Worms though, there were also those beetles flying around Rin, strange things with jewel-like shells that glowed with inner fire.

Rider was no magus. But she was perceptive and intelligent in her own way. She could see that the Blade Wing Worms were little more than chaff, meant to overwhelm by sheer weight of numbers, and upon reaching the enemy either tear them to pieces physically and or drain them of their prana.

And if needed, to serve as a sacrifices to protect Rin's beetles by keeping enemies from reaching them and their maker. Rider didn't know how they worked, or what they were capable of, but from the way the beetles were positioned around Rin and how she kept them back and allowed the Blade Wing Worms to do all the fighting for her (something an irritated Rider bored with Caster's constructs had joined Rin in), they were clearly special.

As if the light from their shells wasn't a hint to that.

Her entire family's magic is unnatural, but there's clearly something more to those beetles than meets the eye.

Finally, Rin and Rider reached their destination, stepping out onto the rooftop. As they stepped past the threshold, one of Caster's constructs which had somehow been missed by the Blade Wing Worms tried an ambush.

Rin caught its sword arm with one hand, and slammed her other palm-first into the construct. It didn't break, instead being enveloped in wisps of ethereal light that flowed around it and Rin. After a moment it crumbled into dust, its prana absorbed by the magus.

"Caster doesn't seem too formidable." Rider observed.

"Her familiars aren't formidable." Rin corrected. "Caster's probably a completely different beast. Casters are magi who wield magecraft surpassing those of or forgotten by most magi."

"Forgotten?" Rider echoed with a shrug. "Forgotten doesn't mean superior."

Rin made no indication or sound for a few moments. "Perhaps," she eventually said, and then walked over to the middle of the roof.

As Rider looked on, Rin placed what she was carrying on the ground. It was a large, wooden barrel bound with iron straps running near either end, and a large patch of paper attached to one side. A circle had been drawn on the paper in what looked like blood or some other bodily fluid, in the middle of which was a strange and jagged symbol. Cursive script ran along the outer side of the circle, and along with the symbol must be related to the Matou magecraft or something, as the Grail's provided knowledge on contemporary alphabets and languages was of no use in deciphering the text.

Rider had already dismissed it already, despite the vague answers she got from Rin when she first saw it earlier and had asked her inquiries. What mattered was what it was meant to do, and the answer was satisfying enough: the next step in a series of preparations for the war going back a year, and – as Rider suspected – for when the time came to challenge Archer and his Master.

It might be personal on her part, but then again who am I to judge something like that?

Rider blinked and looked on as beetles landed around the barrel in five groups of five, spaced equally between themselves and from the barrel. And then as one they spread their wings, light flashing from beneath and continuing to come forth even as a magic circle flashed into existence around them and the barrel.

Slowly, Rin began to chant softly, in an older Russian dialect that Rider could identify but not understand through the Grail, and the barrel began to glow a sickly red. A slight breeze picked up around them, but within moments Rider realized this was illusionary.

The air wasn't moving, only giving the impression of such as wisps of ethereal white flowed through the air. It came from below, through the concrete floor, and up the walls from windows. Caster's bounded fields collapsed, their prana drained along with the prana already leached from the people living in the building.

In an act of surprising decency, Rin declined to drain any more from them.

Instead, she just took what was already in the air, and from that locked within Caster's bounded field. It flowed in streams up towards and around her, part of which sustaining her mystery but mostly flowing into the barrel.

Rider took a step back, growling as she sensed something…wrong, lurking inside the barrel, feeling her bloodlust spiking as instinct warned her. Whatever was in that barrel, whatever Rin had been preparing…

Gods above and below, what is my Master plotting?

Resisting the urge to draw her sword and destroy the…thing, that was feeding on prana from inside the barrel, Rider focused on her Master. Rin was no longer chanting, she was singing now, softly…sadly even, one hand clutching at her chest, the other held imploringly out before her.

Those beetles not on the ground flew in concentric rings above the magic circle, lights flashing in precise patterns from their shells. "Not too different from her family then…" Rider thought before briefly closing her eyes behind her visor. "Certainly, at face value she's not as…disgusting, as her 'grandfather'. But beyond that…"

Rider grit her teeth. "Well, no matter," she thought. "So long as I get my wish granted, then this is fine. This is fine…isn't it, father?"

Finally, Rin's song ended, not in a rising crescendo or a striking note, but fading into silence. The beetles flew back into formation around their mother, while the barrel stood where it was.

"No…that's not quite right…" Rider thought. "It…it's bloated, and there's something leaking from the seams. And whatever was written on it before…the paper's been burnt off, and the central symbol burned into the wood."

As Rin picked up the barrel and took it with her, Rider sighed behind her visor before looking up at the stars peeking through the clouds.

Just what am I getting myself into?

The following day dawned cloudy and dull, not that that applied to the young woman who energetically burst into the Emiya residence. "GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!" Taiga greeted at the top of her voice, before slamming the door behind her. Replacing her shoes with slippers, she swept into the house, and thence into the dining room. "Good morning, Rin-chan!"

"Good morning." Rin said with a nod from where she was setting the table.

Taiga blinked at the unenthusiastic response…though it wasn't particularly unusual. Something was off here though, she just knew it.

"So," Taiga said with a cough. "Where's Shirou? And Sakura-chan?"

"They're both in her room."

Oh he did not…

Rin blinked in surprise as Taiga swept from the dining room, and then shrugged before returning to what she was doing. As for Taiga, she swept like a proverbial goddess of divine retribution through the house, causing even Saber – who was sitting to one side outside of Sakura's room – to double-take at the aura of sheer, righteous fury that surrounded the woman.

Wood slammed hard against wood as Taiga slammed Sakura's doors open, half expecting her little brother cuddling naked beneath the sheets with the Tohsaka girl who'd apparently tricked her into thinking she was a good girl. Well now, if that was the case, they had something else coming to them.

"Fuji-nee, do you mind?" a fully-dressed Shirou said with a reproving gaze and tone from where he was sitting next to a clearly uncomfortably-sleeping Sakura.

Divine wrath quickly went out, to be replaced by concern. "What's happened?" Taiga said, approaching to sit next to Shirou, and noting the basin of water with a wet cloth floating in it beside him.

"Sakura's caught a fever." Shirou said, as Taiga placed a hand on the girl's forehead. "It's not too bad but…"

Taiga nodded. "I see." She said before glancing at Shirou. "Did you give her anything yet?"

"I heated some miso for her when I went to wake her earlier and found she'd come down with something." Shirou said.

"Miso?" Taiga echoed.

"Well, you're not supposed to take medicine on an empty stomach, are you?"

"Good point," Taiga said. "Oh dear, Sakura-chan, what happened to you?"

Sakura unexpectedly opened her eyes at that, and causing the siblings to start. "I'm not that sick, you know." She said, trying to sit up only to fall to one side as her world spun. Groaning, she clutched at her head with one hand while Shirou helped her up.

"You were awake?" he asked.

"Someone slammed the doors, so…after that, yes."

Shirou glanced at Taiga who apologetically rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry," she said. "But, are you really alright, Sakura-chan?"

"It's probably just the flu." Sakura said, waving Taiga's concern off. "It'll pass in a day or so."

"Hmm…" Taiga hummed in thought. "It does look like it, but even so, you won't be able to attend school today."

Sakura nodded, and then winced as the motion set off her dizziness. "Seems like it, doesn't it?" she said. "Fujimura-sensei, can you help me get dressed?"

"Eh?"

Sakura smiled weakly. "I can hardly ask sempai to help me get dressed can I?" she said. "I can join you at the breakfast table, at least."

Taiga nodded a few times. "Yes, I see what you mean." She said while shooing Shirou away. "Alright, up we go."

A/N

Translation for Sakura's spell: one red, one green, five blue, petals dance in the breeze, the witch draws the web, the petals are caught one and all, given to the children, five blue, one green, one red.

Blade Wing Worms; basically Kariya's familiars. Rin can make and use them too among her other familiars and alchemically-bred abominations.

As for those who question if Rin's going yandere…what do you think?