CHAPTER 5:

TRUTH AND DARE

As time went by, Harry found himself ever more disquieted by Sakura. He wasn't sure what was wrong, save that she wasn't happy at home. And given his own upbringing, he was sorely tempted to either ask Sakura what was going on, or start nosing around, if not downright storm into the Matou Manor, which wasn't very far from the Tohsaka Manor.

Over the next couple of months, Harry kept an eye on Sakura and her adoptive brother. He was careful to hide any looks towards her, most of the time, but he noticed a disturbing resentment in his features at times. And Shinji had a smarmy nature, one that he covered up with superficial charm. Harry had the displeasure of meeting him a couple of times, and found that he was like Malfoy too much for his liking. Draco, anyway. Kirei seemed rather like Lucius in some regards, except not quite. Fawkes seemed to stay well away from Kirei, though he tended to prefer to spend time in Tokiomi's old study when he was in Fuyuki (Fawkes seemed to like heading back to London to spend time with Hermione, Luna, and, oddly, Arc when she was in London).

Harry spent time as a go-between for his sisters, as well as helping Shirou out with his magecraft, and generally educating him on the society and mores of Magi. Through that, he learned of how terribly, terribly warped Shirou was: he discussed his own life with Shirou, of how he became a hero, and of the troubles and pratfalls. Shirou refused to budge on his ideal of becoming a Hero of Justice, and the way he spoke, he would sacrifice himself in a heartbeat to save another. He had no self-preservation instinct whatsoever.

This wasn't to say that Shirou was either insane or bad. It was more than he had no ability to prioritise himself over others. Harry could understand part of it: Shirou carried a lot of survivor's guilt from what happened in the Fuyuki Fire, and Kiritsugu, turning his back on his mercenary ways, had instilled a better set of morals in his adopted son. But they were still twisted. He just hoped that educating Shirou about his own life would temper the adopted Emiya's semi-suicidal nature. Nothing wrong with being a hero, as long as you knew what you were letting yourself in for.

Of course, Shirou seemed to appreciate Harry's presence, as a sort of big brother figure and even a mentor. He didn't quite fanboy over Harry (and he did NOT want another Colin Creevey, or worse, a male version of Ginny, thank you VERY much!), but he had latched onto Harry.

Harry began to realise, too, that his youngest sister had a thing for Shirou, and it took a few pointed questions to realise Shirou was wholly oblivious to that. He wasn't stringing Sakura along, he just didn't realise she was smitten with him, albeit in a quiet way. Then again, Harry couldn't talk in the 'oblivious to love' stakes. Oh, he wasn't oblivious to infatuation, but love? Then again, considering how much love the Dursleys showed him (that is, sod all), not to mention having a Horcrux of Voldemort, a man unable to love, in his noggin, was it any wonder he had trouble with that?

Harry sat Shirou down, and explained. Naturally, Shirou was confused, and took while to accept that. To his credit, he didn't dare take advantage of that (one, he was too nice, and two, Harry threatened Shirou with a shallow grave…or being sent by express post to Altrouge Brunestud with instructions that Shirou become Primate Murder's personal chew toy), and indeed, the two grew closer.

During one dinner (Taiga being under the weather, so she wasn't present, much to Harry's relief), the three of them were discussing Sakura and Shirou's relationship. "So, what is it about Shirou you like?" Harry asked. "That he's your personal knight in shining armour? Hey, you know, with Projection, you could probably make your own swords."

Shirou chuckled a little at Harry's joke, but he noticed Sakura looking down. "Sakura?"

"…I wouldn't mind having a knight in shining armour," Sakura said quietly. "But…I don't want them getting hurt for me. Uncle Kariya ended up dying because of me."

"Uncle Kariya?" Shirou asked.

"Kariya Matou," Harry said. "Shinji's uncle as well, and the Master of Berserker in the last Grail War. He knew the Tohsakas pretty well, actually. The problem is, Berserker is probably the most mana-hungry Servant you can get, so it probably did a number on his body. I heard he didn't want to be a Magus, but came back for…" He shot Sakura a look, before concluding, "Reasons."

Shirou had had something of the situation explained to him, and had been sworn to secrecy by Harry and Sakura about Sakura being related to the Tohsakas. "He thought you needed saving from the Matous?"

Sakura nodded. "But he died. I saw him die right in front of me."

"The Grail War was only nine years ago, so…oh God, I'm so sorry," Shirou said.

"Don't apologise, Shirou," Sakura said sadly. "Uncle Kariya, he…he tried so hard, and he…"

Harry gently drew his sister into a hug as she wept. "Sorry," Shirou said. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Don't apologise, Shirou," Sakura said. "I'm glad you don't walk the path of a Magus, not the way others do. It's a road of misery and pain and horror and…and…magic doesn't do anything to help the world. Magi are just so…monstrous."

"What about me? Or Harry? What about Rin?"

Sakura stiffened in Harry's grasp at Shirou's words, before she said, quietly and coldly, "Rin is too much like her father."

"Sakura…" Harry said quietly. "Rin is trying to reconnect with you. I'm trying to make sure she's a much better kind of Magus than Tokiomi. And I promise you, I refuse to abandon you. If I can find a way to get you out of there, I will."

"You can't…" the Matou girl whispered. "Nobody can defy grandfather…"

The evening had been soured, and Harry, after dinner, took Sakura back to her home. As they made their way through the city, Harry said, "Rin told me she thinks that Zouken's immortal, that he was the Zolgen Makiri who founded the Grail War alongside the von Einzberns and the Tohsakas. Is she right?"

She didn't reply verbally, but her shiver told her all he needed to know. Or at least that she was afraid of Zouken. Deathly so. And the way her eyes kept flitting around nervously, as if expecting to be overheard, was telling.

"Sakura…I'm not saying wanting immortality makes you evil…but there's something about your grandfather that worries me. I want to help."

"You can't help," she murmured. "Shirou can't help, and Rin won't help."

"Sakura," Harry said, gently putting a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Please."

"…If you tried to defy grandfather, you'll die," Sakura said. "Just like Uncle Kariya. The worms ate him alive from the inside out."

"Worms?" Harry asked.

"…I've said too much," Sakura said. She looked at Harry, and gave him a sad smile. "Don't worry about me, please. I'm not worth it."

"I'll be the judge of that," Harry said, but by this point, they had reached the Matou Manor. And Sakura went through the gates and into the house with only a hurried goodbye.

Harry saw someone peering out at him from one of the windows…or something. It looked like a particularly ancient-looking man with greyish wrinkled skin, dressed in Japanese robes. He didn't see many more details, as the man was silhouetted in the light from the window, but he got the feeling of intense scrutiny. Harry matched what he was sure was a stare with a glare of his own, before heading back to the Tohsaka Manor…

The next morning, Rin came down to the dining room to find Harry sleeping, in danger of staining an open book, one of many, with drool. She shook him awake gently, before going over to make some tea. "You know, when you got home last night, you didn't really talk to me," Rin said. "You just started pulling books on familiars and magical creatures from the bookshelves and looking through them. What got a bee into your bonnet?"

"Sakura," Harry said. "She's afraid of Zouken. What's more, she said something about how Kariya died, being eaten alive by worms."

"Worms?" Rin asked. "But that sounds like…oh no." With a moment of dawning horror, she headed to the bookshelves and pulled one ancient-looking tome down, and opened it. "God, I hope I'm wrong," she muttered.

"What? What?!" Harry demanded.

Rin peered at the page, and then showed Harry a page, with a rather phallic-looking worm in an illustration. The text was in German, and Harry only knew a few words, so he couldn't understand it. "Rin, what does it say?"

"Oh, right. These vile things are Crest Worms, the lowest of the low when it comes to familiars. Oh God, if Zouken is really using these…Father, what did you do? I hope he didn't know about this, because if he did…"

"What? What's so bad about them? I can't read German, Rin." Okay, they looked sinister, but still, he needed to know.

"…Crest Worms are parasites. They give you mana in exchange for feeding on your body. In males, it's nervous tissue and bone marrow, and unless you're strong in will and body, you'd be lucky to live for a month afterwards. If Uncle Kariya had them in him during the last Grail War, that'd explain a lot. Mother described him to me after he rescued me from that serial killer. His hair had gone white, and he had part of his body and face paralysed. But in females, it's worse. Much worse. They're like something out of tentacle porn."

Harry blanched. He was, by now, aware of such things. "You're fucking kidding me."

"I wish I was. They prefer to feed on the lining of the uterus. The relationship is more symbiotic than in males, but…after a certain point in the victim's life, they require…" Rin grimaced, and said, "They require sexual stimulation to prevent them from acting up. And she's probably had them in her body since we gave her to the Matous. I think I'm going to be sick."

"You're going to be sick?" Harry demanded in disgusted anger. "If she's got those things inside her, we've got to get her out of there."

"And how are we going to do that? We don't have any proof. What's more, even if he was doing that to her, remember what I told you about the Magus Association? How much influence Zouken has there? The police won't be able to help. Exposing his use of Crest Worms will do little, except have him hurt Sakura more! Magi may have standards, but I don't think even Crest Worms will get him a Sealing Designation, not without one being slapped on Sakura as well. And I do NOT want to have Sakura trading one prison for another, locked up in a cell beneath Clock Tower for the rest of her life! We need to do this smart! We need to do this like a Magus. And if we can't kill him…then we outmanoeuvre him!"

"But how?" Harry asked.

Rin smirked. "I have an idea. You have friends in high places too. And if there is one person Zouken Matou would never refuse, it'd be Zelretch. Remember how you said you'd contact him? Apprenticeships with him are prized, even if many people fear him turning them into nervous wrecks."

Not Luna or George, Harry reflected. Between Luna's lateral thinking and near-insanity, and George's love of pranks, they'd get along famously with Zelretch, even without Luna being used to him already. In fact, Luna was off on an adventure in a parallel universe, and had dragged Hermione (much to the annoyance of Waver) and Arc along for the ride…and they had taken Kaleidosticks. Sentient magical focuses with perverted attitudes that gave them ridiculously skimpy outfits based on magical girl anime.

Harry could almost hear Hermione's annoyed groans from across dimensions.

"So…we'd be giving Sakura an apprenticeship with Zelretch?" Harry asked. "Can he remove those things?"

"We don't even know if she has them, though given that she's their heir, I'd put money on those things being in her. That'd explain why Shinji has a chip on his shoulder about her too: he's basically what you'd call back in your world a Squib, so he'd be jealous of her being the heir, as well as having magic. As for removing the Crest Worms…well, I'm not sure even Zelretch can remove them safely. They're basically living magic circuits, Harry, removing them would potentially cripple her, even kill her. And they're easily aggravated. What I'm hoping is that Zelretch knows of a means to change them into normal magic circuits permanently, or else at least reduce the side-effects."

Harry wasn't satisfied, not completely. But at least Rin had a good idea. He wished he had thought of it. He readily admitted, Rin was smarter and sharper than he was, especially when it came to magecraft and Magi politics. And in the end, she cared about Sakura, even if she didn't show it as much as he did. He may have been a Gryffindor with maybe a few Slytherin traits, but Rin was a full-blown hybrid of Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Sakura was wrong. She was worth defying Zouken. And Harry and Rin intended to prove that…

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry and Rin have learned the truth about Sakura, and are making plans. Slytherin plans, as opposed to Gryffindor ones. They're buying her time away from Zouken. We can hope.

Keep in mind, Harry not charging in to save Sakura from a fate worse than the cupboard under the stairs is not meant to be construed as apathy to her plight. Harry is a little wiser for his actions in Magical Britain, and he'd prefer to fight smarter than harder. He doesn't want to rescue Sakura, only for things to get worse for her.

You guys will be pleased to know that up to Chapter 14 has been written, and Chapter 15, marking the clash between Saber, Caster and Berserker, is partially written.

Review-answering time! Yorae Rasante: Sadly, I don't know enough about Tsukihime to be able to bring in Shiki Tohno. However, Assassin WILL be a surprise.

kagemoto: While I used the AK scenario against Zouken for Ex Umbra in Solem, I'm not using it here. Harry doesn't know if it'll work on a Crest Worm (in just about every fanfic that I see, anyway, the Killing Curse only works on individual Horcruxes).

merendinoemiliano: Kirei is a somewhat complex character, and while much of him revels in his evil, some of him still remains disturbed by it. Remember, this is a guy who, while he takes delight in suffering, once thought that to be disturbing. I also added that Kirei, for all his wanting to kill his father (as Gilgamesh points out in Fate/Zero), also respected him. I'd imagine Risei Kotomine was the closest thing to a person Kirei loved, more than even Claudia Hortensia, his wife. As for how Potterverse witches and wizards, I'm going by the standard fanon theory of a magical core. Harry developed that by dint of Blood Adoption, so he has both a core, and underdeveloped magic circuits, allowing him to use both Potterverse and Nasuverse magic, though he favours the former. He will use Gandr curses in the upcoming fight against Illya, though. And I did something similar before when Sakura is Blood Adopted by Harry in Gorgon and Thanatos.

Astrobot1745: Actually, Frankenstein's Monster is (tentatively) going to Bruce Banner in the Light the Blue Touch Paper sequel. I mean, the Hulk is a Berserker, Bruce is a scientist, and I can see him being protective of the very adorable Frankenstein Berserker. As for the circuits and core thing, Harry may have more magical stamina, but despite his experience and cynicism, he's also not as ruthless as most Magi, and would hesitate to use a Killing Curse unless he knows he needs to. He also has to watch out for the Servants as well, so while Potterverse magic is pretty broken compared to the Nasuverse, Servants are on another level entirely.

Mister Rei: Kirei was mostly trolling Harry a little. He doesn't want Harry to die just yet, as he's too interesting.

Guest (regarding having Akitsu from Sekirei): Read my profile. See what it says about giving me story suggestions. In a word: DON'T. Anyway, I generally try not to meld more than two franchises together for crossovers, aside from cheeky references.

The Shadows Mistress: Not that I know that much about School Days, but what I do know suggests that a LOT of endings are better than a School Days ending. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that filled with twisted, yandere characters?

aliestrikehero: Nanoha as a Berserker. Noble Phantasm: You're Gonna Be Befriended. And Kenshiro…are we talking the guy from Fist of the North Star? Noble Phantasm: You're Already Dead. Yeah, I know his martial art has a different name, but that's cooler.

piddle: I think of Tokiomi as being basically Lucius Malfoy, only without the xenophobia or evil. He's just amoral, and holds those who reject magecraft like Kariya did in contempt. That being said, I think that, if he actually knew about the Crest Worms, he'd find an alternative in a shot, like he did in Gorgon and Thanatos, for example. He's amoral, but I think he'd care about Sakura enough NOT to subject her to that if he knew.

No numbered annotations this time.