AN: Do not expect chapters out as fast as Escaping Fate. I have more projects now than when I started that, and school is going to start soon, with Fall Quarters always the busiest.

My Tsuki-Fu is not as strong as my Fate-Fu, so music is probably going to be heavier on the FSN side. Also, I actually own FSN music, so I know what to look for in reference.

Note that people need not post a response like "I choose option 3!" because I'm doing this in a pre-determined order. The choices are present to segue into the three routes once I have them all done, as in Escaping Fate, god help me.

Fate/Far Side

Chapter 0

Near Side II

Misaki City gave me quite the nostalgic feeling when I stepped off of the train and headed into the city.

It was one of the few places I remembered the old man taking me, where he had been visiting a physician that specialized in the health problems he suffered from. Now that I understood what those health problems had been caused by, it made me wonder if he actually had been visiting a doctor, or if there had been some secretive purpose he had kept hidden from me. One of the very reasons I had come here instead of heading to the other places he had taken me was to explore that curiosity.

We had taken time to merely explore the mundane wonders as well, though. I vaguely remembered the direction of the marketplace we had passed by as well as the hotel we had stayed at, so, shouldering my pack, I headed for those familiar grounds.

The early spring air felt nice as I hoofed it for a while, wandering and allowing myself to get lost before finding my way back onto a main road and major thoroughfare. Trees were showing the earliest signs of blossoming while the streets had clearly been cleaned of salt in assumption that no further snow would come. Kids were getting out of school by the time I was through the larger metropolis portion of the city, passing me on their way toward after-school entertainment with friends. I imagined that many of them would be cramming in time together if they were seniors, about to venture off to get jobs or head for college or any number of other directions.

The downtown area behind me, I continued on past the uniformed students, chuckling at a trio of girls talking about some singer and a pair of boys following said girls with leers apparent in only the way teenage boys had mastered. More passed by, hardly aware of the world as they typed out mail on their phones. I shook my head as one girl passed, her fingers moving over the keypad with the speed I associated with professional abacus competitors: it was less an individual typing and more like a contiguous motion and sound until her entire thought had been processed by the device.

A girl led a boy by the ear past me, and I felt a greater sense of nostalgia and longing for those kinds of days.

Sighing, I forced my mind from that line of thought.

My stomach growled, and I thought back to the onigiri I had many hours ago on the train, and decided to seek sustenance. Briefly I considered returning toward the downtown area, but I could vaguely recall a marketplace ahead, which probably had more to offer than fast food anyway.

It only too maybe half an hour to find the arcade of family-owned stores that Kiritsugu had taken me through before. A bicycle shop, a housewares shop, and other amenities made up the street end I came to, but I spotted a sushi shop and liquor store further along, so I figured there must be a local grocery at some point, though I couldn't recall exactly where. Some of the kids from the same group I had passed earlier on were also returning home, and I espied one inside a floral shop throwing on an apron to help with their family business.

Something in me thought that perhaps, Kiritsugu also felt nostalgia upon seeing everyday things like this, and I wondered if he brought me to such places to experience it for that very reason.

A kimono shop made me pause; probably in preparation of the blossom viewing season that would soon come, a variety of colorful outfits had been placed out on hangars and showcased, along with a range of purses and parasols to accessorize. It reminded me, somehow, of Tohsaka, and I considered the logistics of purchasing a kimono and sending it back to Fuyuki, though I rather doubted Tohsaka would be inclined to go to a viewing this year, especially decked out in full traditional outfitting. She might appreciate the gesture, though—

The smell of something freshly baked overtook that thought. I mentally marked this place for further consideration and wandered back toward the far end of the arcade, where I could see the bakery luring me in. I avoided the fast food places downtown only to be drawn into a bakery full of Japanese confections. How traditional of me.

The kaitenyaki they had freshly prepared trapped me, and I left the store with a bagful of them. I made my way toward the marketplace they had across the street anyway, since sweets would not sustain on a stomach that only had onigiri the entire day.

I munched while shopping for more substantial foods and decided that I would be renting out a more substantial hotel than the capsules I'd been using in other cities. It had been a good month since I last prepared something substantial, and that needed to change.

The little market was nevertheless well kept and I continued to find many things until the basket hanging from my arm was over capacity. I contemplated replacing it with a full-sized cart or just leaving while I still had the chance when, upon turning a corner, I almost crashed headlong into a young woman zipping through the next aisle with the energy of a fox about a chicken coop.

"Whoa!" I halfway exaggerated moving my basket overhead so the contents would not collide with anything and spill. The woman let out a startled "eep!" and needlessly ducked under my move. "Sorry there," I said.

The woman bowed her ribbon-clad head. "No really, my fault, I should look where I'm go—" she abruptly cut off, though, when she raised her eyes to look up at me. "Shirou Emiya?" she whispered.

I blinked, giving her a closer look. Pale red hair and rather bright eyes met mine; she wore a kimono that looked well-kept and a blue ribbon that added to her girlish disposition. I thought hard but could not really recall her from anyplace. "Do I know you?"

Blushing furiously, the woman took a step back and raised her free hand, waving it before her like it would ward off further embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry, you just look a lot like someone, uh?"

"No, my name is Shirou Emiya, I just…" I wish I had a free hand to protect myself from embarrassment as well. As it was, I could only hold out a shopping basket or a paper bag with hotcakes in them. "I'm sorry, I'm not from around here, so I don't know how we've met?"

She tilted her head and then grinned sheepishly. "O-Oh! Sorry, I, yeah, that makes sense." She glanced toward the entrance of the market. "It was a long time ago. You walked me home one night when it was raining."

It had been nearly ten years since I was last here, and my memories of that time are pretty hazy. I remember walking the streets here mainly because I remembered trying to emulate the old man, tried to take in my surroundings in the same way he seemed to. Of course, that only proves how much of a failure I was at that, since I don't even recall meeting anyone.

I suppose it sounded like something I'd do, and she knew my name, but, damn my memory. Too full of swords, probably.

Well, they say memory is tied to sounds and scents just as much, so maybe if it were raining…

"Sorry, I really don't remember, miss…?"

"Kohaku," she said, grinning. "Like the color. Or the fish." She giggled.

My mind immediately conjured up the image of a koi wearing a ribbon and kimono. I shoved it violently from my mind. "Yeah, Kohaku-san, sorry. I'm pretty terrible with faces."

"That's alright, and just Kohaku is fine." She glanced at my basket-full of food. "So, you're not from around here you say? What brings you back?"

I shrugged, trying to figure out a way to explain it without, well, explaining it. "Just passing through, to be honest. I graduated last year and thought I'd wander the country a little bit. Visiting places I haven't been to in a long time mostly."

Someone brushed past us and I decided to return to my wanderings down the aisle as originally intended, though slowly to not give this Kohaku the brush off. Actually, it was rather interesting to hear this story about myself I couldn't even recall that she somehow remembered so well that it included my name. Did she have an eidetic memory or something?

Kohaku swung her own basket behind her and demurely followed, even though she had just come from this direction. Well, flown might have been a better verb. "And in that entire time, did you not eat or something?"

I grinned, glancing at the food I had piled up, from early fresh asparagus and fennel to kumquats and lemons, plus some local poultry. It did look more like a home meal than a traveler's diet. "Haven't had a chance to cook anything in a while. Thought I might try tonight."

"You have a place to stay, then?"

I shook my head. "Na, I was going to check into a place later." I shook my head again, this time ruefully. "Probably looking really weird with a bunch of food."

"Weeeeeell," Kohaku grinned in delight, bouncing to my side and bowing slightly to look up at me from a posture that reminded me significantly of Illya. "You could always come stay at my place. We have tons of guest rooms and never anybody to patronize them…"

My eyebrows rose. "Do you work at a ryokan then?"

"No, I work as a live-in maid at an old family house. I'm real good friends with the head of the family, though." She squeezed her eyes closed and wrinkled her forehead. "Besides, she's finishing up with school herself and hasn't been around as much. I have nobody to appreciate my good cooking!"

I tried to hold back a snort; it came out something like a protracted sneeze. "Are you trying to get me into trouble? It sure sounds like it."

She grinned again. "No, really, I don't think she would mind."

"You hardly know me. I can't believe you'd just invite a total stranger to your home."

Her expression softened from the exaggerated levity to something a little more appropriate for a normal person. "I know your name, Shirou Emiya. And you might not remember it, but I'd like to thank you for before, since I have the chance." She winked. "Besides, how can you turn down a maiden's pure wish to thank her savior?"

I honestly tried to keep my smile, but the way Kohaku seemed to lose a tiny bit of the energy in her own expression upon seeing mine meant I probably didn't make it all the way. A maiden's pure wish sure sounded nice like that. But I relented. "Alright, just-Kohaku-is-fine, you win." I held up my basket. "Though I'll have to see about cooking for you, just to upstage you one again."

Kohaku stood full erect and gave me an exaggerated look of challenge. "We will see about that, good sir. I hope to strike you dead with one blow of my cooking charm, though!"

I was really, really full.

Kohaku had brought me to the mansion she lived at—it really was a mansion, Western-styled and freaking huge—and had settled me and my things in before retreating into the kitchen to prepare her "cooking charm."

The house had struck me, though, vaguely recalling a memory of walking someone to someplace like it. It was really hazy in my mind, though, and, well, I remembered nothing about this Kohaku, really. I don't remember the person I met talking at all…

Dinner had been a nice affair, though, between the two of us; Kohaku's sister apparently was busy with some project and the head of the house Akiha Tohno would not be in until late. She showed me to the absolutely enormous dining room where we ate kitty-corner amidst the table and she brought out a brilliant dish of roasted lamb that was heartier than anything I'd had in probably the last six months.

So I ate much, and Kohaku, schemer she seemed to be, had managed to wrest out information from me. I wondered if she worked for the Japanese government and I was under suspicion for tax evasion or something.

"So, you live in Fuyuki, graduated last year, and worked part time as a mechanic. You love cooking but think your Chinese cuisine isn't up to par. Your father took you to a few cities and you've been retracing his steps for nostalgia's sake while trying to find some direction in life. And your girlfriend Rin Tohsaka is waiting for your return. Anything I missed?"

I had rolled my eyes. "Tohsaka isn't my girlfriend."

"That's what they all say. It's called the tsundere-denial, I think, when you play off the relationship as nothing more than friendship, when everyone else can see it. First time I've met a tsundere like you."

Apparently, Kohaku liked to watch television. Weird television.

After stuffing myself full, I had retired to the room Kohaku had shown me and tried to remember how long it had been since I'd had interaction like that. True, I sometimes phoned back home to talk with Fuji-nee or Tohsaka, but really, this was the longest I'd spoken with anyone since leaving on this not-so-little-anymore-trip.

We really had eaten and talked a long time, though, as the clock next to my bed read 10:12 PM when I took note of it. I kind of wondered what project Hisui, Kohaku's sister, was supposed to be working on or what this Akiha Tohno was doing at her school so late.

It had, though, been a few days since I had the space and privacy necessary to do a little practice. So, despite my curiosity once I heard voices elsewhere in the house, I decided to stay in and feign having gone to bed already.

"Trace, on."

I pulled the necklace out from beneath my shirt, running my fingers along the red ribbon that held the two devices there in place: the ruby heart-shaped gem and the blue keychain charm. My eyes closed and I took a deep breath.

Imagine it.

"Finishing resonance of possessed experience."

The vision I wanted sprang to mind, the blue grip, golden guard, silver edge…

"Processes completed. Projections standby."

I opened my eyes and the blade sat in my lap, as if it had always been there, gleaming with the golden light of promised victory.

Yet no enemy to battle, nor its true possessor in sight.

The weapon slowly disintegrated as if made of dust, and I let the golden lights scatter like fairy dust over the Darling children's room.

"Trace, off."

I rolled over in bed, and eyed the clock.

5:02 AM.

I glanced to the window, but only belatedly realized the curtains had been drawn. I had gotten a good six hours of sleep, so really, I ought to get up. Complacency, Saber would have said, is the enemy, and I chortled at the thought of the blond warrior saying so with such a straight face. Still, I was a guest, and I might not even be welcome to roam the house even if I did get up.

I…

Might as well sleep in. It's been a while since I've had the opportunity. (Proceed to HH Chapter 1)

Better get up. Haven't even greeted the master of the house yet. (Proceed to OB Chapter 1)

Wonder if I can sneak into the kitchen and surprise everyone first. (Proceed to SB Chapter 1)

Fate/Far Side, Near Side II, End

花見 Hanami, lit. "blossom viewing." What Shirou and Sakura promise to see together in HF.

Kaitenyaki: Think small cakes filled with a kind of jelly, about the size of a biscuit but made with waffle batter. A lot like taiyaki without the fish-shape.

Look up capsule hotels. Then laugh. They look like stacked washing machines!

Kohaku's name is "amber" but also a homonym for a kind of carp.

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese-styled inn, as opposed to a Western hotel. Rooms have tatami and traditionally-styled furniture, as in the Emiya household style as opposed to the Tohno household. Guests are often given yukata—summer kimonos—and eat traditional food, and the proprietors are often dressed suitably, much as Kohaku usually dresses.