AN: I just want all of you to know, figuring out the logistics on this story sucks. You'll see why…in about 25 chapters.

Fate/Far Side: Healing Hands

Chapter 3

Long Journeys

The repair work Hisui had to do was not anything large like I had expected, but a bunch of smaller tasks, everywhere from replacing a damaged piece of crown molding to repainting a windowsill that had various cracks along the finish. Such little things baffled me, though I really had nothing for comparison; maybe this really was just standard operation with such an affluent family.

Hisui did have me help cut some lumber for a bigger project, though I'm not really sure what she was up to exactly. One piece included a 2x4 as tall as me that had one end sharpened like a wooden stake.

"Going vampire hunting?" I asked.

"I do not know of any vampires in this city," Hisui said in her usual monotone.

I did chuckle at her response, though, since the average person would say, "vampires do not exist." Hisui was apparently of the opinion that whether they did or didn't exist was irrelevant if she had no personal knowledge of them.

Most of the questions I posed to her were answered with terse little replies and any further attempts at joking seemed to pass through one ear and out the other. The rest of the time, she was generally quiet, and I watched her for slips in her expression, though none came while we worked.

All tirelessly, despite the lack of sleep I had caused her.

"Anything else?" I asked when we had finished cleaning the gutters. Well, actually, Hisui cleaned and she delegated me to keeping the ladder steady, which I suppose was fulfilling the proper need to keep me from doing any major work while still keeping me useful.

"No, that is all the cleaning and repair work that needs to be done," Hisui said, climbing back down. Once down, she lifted the later and brought it down sideways so it could be carried.

I grinned at the reminder that she was used to doing these sorts of chores alone. "All of it?"

"For the springtime, yes."

"By the way, why doesn't Kohaku help you?"

There was a faint twitching of her cheek and I wondered if she was holding back frustration, amusement, or something else. "Nee-san becomes very distracted when she does cleaning work and often leaves things very untidy."

Very untidy. I held back from a laugh. "I see. Well, no need to disturb her for further work, I suppose, until the summer heat rolls around then?"

Hisui nodded, then glanced around. Carefully, she said, "Which is the best help you could give."

I stared at her, and she took on the tiniest of red in her cheeks. I see. Seems even Kohaku has a weakness. I would have to file it away under "do not disturb" however, since I didn't want to get Hisui into trouble.

Dinner was again a rather stunning affair, as Kohaku proved she was certainly my better at Chinese food. Her steamed eggs were delicious and even Tohno-san seemed surprised at the preparation. "Kohaku usually does not make Chinese dishes," she had said. "I think she means to break your spirit before you even try to assert yourself in making a dish."

I grinned. "Takes more than this to break me." I took another spoonful, then said, "though I am pretty intimidated at this point."

"You better believe it!" Kohaku said over Tohno-san's shoulder.

When dinner was over and Tohno-san retreated to bed, Kohaku walked me up to my room, grinning the entire time. "So Hisui told me you helped her out all day?"

"Yeah, though I didn't really do much, unfortunately." What we did went through my mind, and I asked, "Do you know what she's doing with a huge wooden stake? Do you have a fence post broken or something?"

Kohaku looked pretty funny at that, possibly because I'd swear the first thing that went through her mind before I brought up the fence post was, like it did for me, vampire. "Not that I can think of."

"She wouldn't tell me, but if you can wheedle it out of her I'd like to know. Somehow, as strong as Hisui seems to be, I don't quite imagine her going out and hammering that thing in herself."

That set Kohaku off into a fit of giggles. "You're probably right on that," she said between her hysterics. "I don't want her trying that on her own either. Mainly because she wouldn't stop trying until whatever it was had been done to perfection."

"That sounds about right. Anyway, the ground is still pretty cold and hard out right now, so I'll probably be gone before she tries anything, but you might keep it in mind and ask for some help or something." I recalled the missing-in-action member of this family that Tohno-san had brought up. "Isn't Tohno-san's older brother going to be back?"

Kohaku calmed down, her nose wrinkling still at the thought of Hisui's epic battle with a wooden post. "He's in Europe with his girlfriend. I'm not sure when he's coming back."

"Regardless, you might see about getting someone taller to help." An image of Berserker cropped up in my head, and I shuddered.

"When Hisui is ready to talk about it, I'll be sure to," Kohaku said. "I try not to pry…too much."

I grinned at her fox-like expression. "Yeah." I bowed and took my leave at the door to my room. "You're a good sister. Goodnight, Kohaku-san."

"Goodnight, Shirou."

Had I closed the door faster, I might not have caught the glimpse of the oddly blank look Kohaku gave me.

And an odd sense of déjà vu hit me.

The next day I went into town to ask around about local physicians, trying to track down the one that Kiritsugu might have been communicating with. Unfortunately, my searching proved about as successful as trying to get the empty look Kohaku had given me out of my mind. The former was easy to explain: I couldn't exactly go around town asking, "Have you spoken in the past with a magus about the hellish miasma he was doused in twelve years ago during a secret war between legendary heroes?"

Kohaku…bothered me for a different reason. The expression I had caught was much more like the one I'd finally remembered from when Kiritsugu had brought me to this city before. It was very clear in my mind now that yes, I had met her, and yes, she had carried a look that I very much recognized when I looked in the mirror sometimes: the expression of someone who felt empty inside.

I had thought Hisui had carried it now, for some reason, but I got that Kohaku really was the one I had met and they weren't somehow pulling my leg. It bothered me, though, the reason she seemed so cheerful otherwise.

It was…

The warning bells that had failed me before in life seemed to be working now, at least.

Slightly murkier weather than before crept up as the day went on, so I decided to head back to the Tohno estate before sundown and caught sight of a car and a limousine outside of the main gate. I understood that Tohno-san was driven to her school in a car and the time was about right for her arrival, but the limousine threw me: Why take two such vehicles to and from school?

I rounded down the street that passed the main gate and brought myself to the South-Eastern corner of the estate wall, keeping watch from the corner. It would probably trouble Tohno-san if I just waltzed right in and she had to explain anything, but something told me to keep an eye out.

The backside passenger door facing the estate was open, and Tohno-san was in front of it, addressing someone still seated in the car. Tohno-san's expression was extremely displeased and the way she stood suggested that she was even physically wary of these people. A black-suited man stood behind the door, a servant of some kind holding it open for whoever was within, though when he started to look my way I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I pulled my gaze behind the wall.

Some kind of bodyguard, then, if I was reacting to some sort of perceived danger. I clutched the pendant beneath my collar briefly and then glanced back out.

Tohno-san had her arms crossed now, and she looked outright mad now, though she was nodding to something the person inside the car said.

I could Reinforce my eyes to see better, but I hadn't quite perfected the hearing and often blew my ears out afterward when I tried in situations like this, so I refrained from an attempt this time around. I'm not sure I could easily explain why I had suddenly become deaf.

There seemed to be some kind of agreement that passed between them, and Tohno-san stepped back and allowed the door to the limousine closed. There, I caught sight that the man standing at the door had—

My eyes went wide. These types didn't strike me as Yakuza, but the man was carrying a short sword with a blade two shaku and two sun long, and more than that he'd flicked the blade out of the scabbard, ready to be drawn.

The blade…

Just…

I am the bone of my sword.

There was no helping it, and I ducked back behind the corner. My hands, as if moving on their own accord took grip of an invisible length. "Trace, on."

The blade formed in hand and I stared at it in odd fascination.

It literally was made out of bone.

Glancing back out toward the gate, the bodyguard had slipped back into the car himself and the limo was raring up to go. I caught sight of the license plate and etched it into my head, only belatedly realizing I probably would not be coming across many limousines about these parts.

Paranoid habit, I guess.

I dismissed the blade and rounded the corner as the limo drove off, Tohno-san watching it go with a scowl. When it turned beyond sight, she glanced over her shoulder at me. "Sorry, we were right in the way, huh?"

"It is your house," I said, shrugging. "Is everything okay? I don't want to pry, but they looked…well, kind of mean."

Tohno-san gave a very unladylike snort. "I suppose they do. No, it is nothing to be overly concerned about. They are distant relatives, I suppose you could say."

"No, I couldn't say it. Tohno-san doesn't look anywhere as mean."

Another snort, though now accompanied by a smirk. "Flatterer."

"Relatives carrying swords around, though. Kinda scary."

"It's justified," she said, but didn't elaborate further. "Come on inside." She motioned to the car driver, giving a little wave of dismissal. The driver inside gave a quick wave back, then started it up and took off down the road.

Strange, since I swore they had a garage here. "Kohaku isn't the one driving you to and from school?"

Tohno-san gave me a grin, this time with teeth as we made our way back to the mansion interior. "Can you imagine her behind the wheel of a vehicle?"

Well…now that she says it, yeah, I can imagine that might be dangerous.

Like Fuji-nee on a scooter.

"I hire a driver from town—Hisui!" Tohno-san honed in on the maid immediately upon entering the mansion as Hisui held the door open for us. "Did you know about this?" She motioned back the way we had come; I suppose Hisui would have been watching from the door.

"Yes. We received letters regarding it some time ago," Hisui said.

"Some time…" Tohno-san bit her lip. "And you felt this had nothing to do with me?"

"We did not want to worry you, Akiha-sama."

Tohno-san huffed and glanced over to me. I could not help but wilt a little under her stare and be reminded of Tohsaka. "Tell me, Emiya-san: if one of the two live-in maids you relied upon were suddenly being taken away by another branch of the family without your knowledge, would you feel it had nothing to do with you?"

I blinked. "Taken away?"

"Those people outside were here to pick up Hisui. They thought she was moving in with them!"

Something about all of the work we had done yesterday clicked in my head, and the realization must have shown on my face: Tohno-san looked somewhat relieved since it was evident she was about to get support, while Hisui blushed faintly and looked down at her feet. "So you had work to get done yesterday because you thought you were leaving today?"

Hisui kept her eyes on the floor.

"What's happening now?" I asked.

Tohno-san shook her head. "I told them the situation had changed and I still needed her until school let out." She paused, then frowned. "Of course, I am done with school tomorrow."

Wow, that really reminded me of Tohsaka. Thinking fast on one's feet to come up with a plausible excuse, and then completely bungling it when the excuse is self-defeating. "Nothing you can do?"

"They were very insistent," Tohno-san said.

I looked to Hisui, who was still avoiding eye contact with us. "And you were going to just pick up and leave without a fuss?" I asked.

"It is my duty," Hisui said.

Those words…really make me mad.

Tohno-san leaned to one side and I followed her gaze to a suitcase off to one side. "Then you can do your duty now and go take your stuff back up for now," Tohno-san said.

Hisui bowed, still looking away, and went to cart her things back to her room. When she was out of sight, I said, "It seems I helped her try and get away cleaner and quieter. I must apologize."

"No, do not worry," Tohno-san said. "I thought something of this sort might crop up. Just…unexpected as to how it came about."

I looked at her. "You thought a branch of your family would randomly show up and ask for Hisui one day?"

She nodded, though I could see her eyes moving, as if gazing right through the wall toward the street. "Not exactly that per se; however, that something strange would happen."

"Not sure I understand."

"Yeah, I am not sure I do either." Tohno-san turned to regard me. "I hate to ask this, but you seem to have built up a bit of a friendship with Hisui."

I smiled. "Guess you could say that. Though it's mostly I talk, she listens."

"Good enough."

"You want me to ask her to stay?"

Tohno-san shook her head. "No. I just…" she paused and carefully thought out her words. "You have been on a trip for a while, no?"

"Yeah."

"Then you probably understand better than anyone else here, the prospect of leaving. Hisui gives a very brave face, but she has not actually stepped out of the grounds of this mansion for many years."

I frowned. That was news to me.

"She probably feels prepared, but…you might try and ready her. See if she will take advice or the like." A small expression creased Tohno-san's lips, a strange mix of melancholy and hopefulness. "I would like to support her and her sister making these unilateral decisions, but they have nobody but each other to rely on."

"I see." And I really did, now, at least insofar as to Tohno-san's feelings. Master and servant they may be, it seemed she really cared for the maids like family.

That…was something I understood.

"I'll do what I can," I promised.

Healing Hands: Long Journeys, End

Japanese sword measurement goes by shaku and sun. 2 shaku 2 sun is about 66-67 centimeters or a bit over 2 feet.

Japanese schools end in March and begin in April. Akiha would have already had her graduation ceremony and is on her last days of class.