AN: Yeah, no, with three routes to do, I'm not going to spend a long time on giving a slow(er) buildup for each heroine. The dynamics get boring if all I do is "and they talk" and each story is mapped out to complement the other, so things you read in this one will start to make sense in others. Also, part is the limitation with the first person perspective, as I couldn't adequately explain Hisui's perspective and choices. Which is a failing of the VN too, so, whatever.

And no, the Touzaki are not meant to represent any kind of actual threat. This is a Shirou that has access to a full-blown Noble Phantasm. Again, external threat is not the issue here. If you hadn't noticed, what is the issue has to do with the self-destructiveness within the Tohno house. Even in the Tsukihime VN, SHIKI is a secondary threat to the problems caused by Kohaku and Akiha.

Fate/Far Side: Healing Hands

Chapter 8

Darkening Desires

It took me a few minutes to get used to riding the motorcycle, especially one that had a lot more than a mere 50 cc engine. I also had to shake off the feeling of being followed when I passed a police box. Not having a license…well, I don't think Fuji-nee would appreciate me calling in with the revelation that I'd been put into jail.

When I pulled onto the street that Tohno-san had directed me to, I Reinforced my eyes and scanned the street. There were no limousines or cars that screamed "rich people" to me, so I throttled up and hoped I could make enough time to catch up.

"I think, if you truly believe in your decision, you won't regret the outcome."

Idiot, it's like you were telling her to go!

I swerved past a number of cars, a large number of families about, probably out to visit family in the brief interim they had before school started again. Hopefully, when I found Hisui, I could somehow get them off the road…

Yet these hands will never hold anything.

That…that's where you're wrong.

Swerving past an eighteen-wheeler, I leveled the bike as the road straightened and gave me a clear view for miles. I caught sight of a few expensive cars and two different limousines that could be them, but had to get closer to read license plates or see into windows.

I once gave Fuji-nee a lot of trouble over speeding on her bike…guess I really am a hypocrite.

I gunned it down the road, glancing about to make sure that no police were around to cause further chaos. The cold air really started to prickle at my face and I put it to the back of my head that if I ever did this again, I should make sure to secure a helmet first.

The first limousine only had one passenger, flapping away on a keitai and drinking something probably only the rich deceived themselves into thinking they liked. Two of the cars—both Rolls-Royce—likewise only had a single passenger each. I sped past them, ignoring the glare one of the drivers gave me as I passed him.

The second limousine had two of those rich-people-cars mirroring speed, quite possibly as escorts. When I was close enough, I looked to the license plate—the same one that I had seen in front of the Tohno estate. By the time I was maybe ten or eleven seconds behind them, I could make out figures beyond the tinted windows and could vaguely see one occupant had red hair.

Perfect.

I peered ahead toward the signposts that gave information on checkpoints and ramps off the road. If I could get this timed right, we could get it off this thoroughfare and into a more secluded area.

That took another ten minutes or so until we started approaching a small enough exit that I doubted many people would be getting off with us, a service road that was pretty much equidistant between Misaki and the next city over.

Now, to hope these guys didn't have guns or wouldn't risk them in the open.

I throttled up again and made to pass their little convoy as fast as I could, hoping to catch them off-guard. If they were paranoid and in radio or phone contact, it was possible they had already spotted me, a suit-wearing guy on a motorcycle, and were watching me carefully. If I pulled this off fast enough, it might force them to react more hurriedly and give me room to maneuver.

Miming that I was reaching across to the side of the bike they couldn't see, I brought Excalibur to mind and carefully reproduced every step. On foot, I was fairly comfortable now fighting with the swords I knew of, but doing so one-handed while driving a motorcycle was new. I hoped that, in the sword's history, Saber had engaged in battle from atop a horse—

"Trace, on."

Apparently she had, as the sword moved out into a perfect arc, shearing the right-rear wheel like a needle to a balloon. The limo swerved as the driver attempted to regain control, and I saw in the rearview mirror that the escort car behind us was now gunning its engine to close the distance between us.

The limo continued to swerve as the wheel gave out completely and the naked tire rim started dragging along the pavement. I goosed the motorcycle up so I was even with the engine block and raised the sword above my head. The driver, still trying to regain full control, swerved hard to the left as I did so to avoid the attack—and we started drifting out toward the ramp leading off the road.

I also managed to catch it just right, as the car escorting them from ahead was caught already further down the road, unable to merge onto the ramp. The one behind us, though, was following closely, and a glance back told me they were readying weapons of some kind.

The ramp took us on a curve toward a narrow road and one sign said there was some kind of power station out in this direction. Hopefully it meant nobody else would be taking a detour this way.

I sped up ahead of them and they started to slow down in return, while the pursuit car pulled up behind them. They eventually skidded to a stop—that rear wheel must be red hot by now—and doors started opening. I pulled the motorcycle to a halt and kicked out the stand.

The driver of the limo, a passenger, and two guys from the pursuit car disembarked. Two started pulling gun—one from each vehicle—and the other guys pulled those strange bone-swords. I heard the click from gun safety switches being flicked and I hoped that this would work.

"Trace, on."

Excalibur in my left hand, Caliburn formed in my right, again using the motorbike to block my magic from view. Once it had formed, I dismounted and readied for these guys to make their move.

They held where they were. I eyed them carefully, the ones with guns in particular, until the reason they waited became apparent—one of the limousine occupants then peeked his head out from behind a door. He was short, balding, liver spots marring his forehead and cheeks. Though they didn't look particularly alike, I could not help but tense up a little at the brief thought, momentarily, that I could have been looking at Zouken Matou. "You have our attention," the man said in a clear voice, despite his age. "What is it you want?"

"The girl." I'm not really sure what possessed me to do so, but maybe I was trying to get into character more. "She's mine." Although, the resemblance to Gilgamesh made me feel sick inside.

The old man's eyes widened. "That's it?"

It occurred to me that taking this whole thing that direction might actually play to my advantage. I thought of that damn smirk Tohsaka's Servant had given and tried to mimic it as best as possible. "You think there's anything else I'd want?"

He wasn't even looking at me, and I started to follow his train of thought. "That Tohno brat sent you, right? Wielding swords like it were the Warring States period. You think I don't see her move?"

I tried to broaden my grin as much as possible. "You think I care what some outdated has-beens think of her?" I gave both blades a quick twirl. "Yeah, what you're thinking is right. I'm her new hire. The one that'll make your little knives obsolete. You want power, go get it from someone else. We don't need some tiny branch family living off us like a parasite, waiting for the moment we grow weak."

And I hoped that Tohno-san would be okay with the liberties I was taking.

"You think those fancy Western pig-stickers are anything? Ippei, Ueshi, go show him."

The limousine driver and one of the guys from the pursuit car moved in on me, drawing that short swords I had seen before. Both readied themselves in a Jigen-style stance, the sword held high and over one shoulder with both hands, and then they both charged in toward me, one behind the other. I guess these guys had some real serious training.

Jigen combat always went for a one-hit-kill cut, and I think they meant to completely sunder my blades with one swing each.

Good luck.

I swung upward to meet each, Caliburn smashing into the first guy's strike, Excalibur to the second, both men tumbling to my right and left respectively. Both of their swords had snapped, while neither of mine looked any different.

Somehow, I could just picture Saber, standing there, one hand on her hip, as if to say, is that it?

The look on the old man's face—and the looks on the faces of the bodyguards—were in the opposite direction. I suppose it was valid, as their swords were superbly made, and from everything I could tell, would probably have wrought the same kind of damage onto any modern-day weapons. There was a faint magical presence about them, not quite Noble Phantasm level, which made me wonder if they were made out of some kind of bone that had been under an enchantment from magi or taken from a Phantasmal Beast.

Still, nothing compared to weapons of the faeries.

"Yeah, you see it now, huh?" I waved the swords around. "I really don't care about your secrets in sword-forging. I have my own, and they're better. So you hand over the girl, you leave Akiha Tohno alone, and we won't have problems. I don't even need to bother with you otherwise." I realized that Gilgamesh really didn't quite talk like this, but that Shinji had. I would have to thank the guy for having such a blueprint to emulate, even if now he was nothing like this.

The Touzaki man looked split between outrage at being so insulted and fearful at what my words entailed. I couldn't blame him; if someone hung over my head like a theoretical Damocles, I'd probably chafe too, even if I was afraid. Still, he motioned back to the guards, who scrambled back his way.

They unloaded a suitcase and dumped it out in the space between me and their vehicles. The old man ducked back into the car, and in his place, Hisui stood, her face about as red as her hair. I motioned for her to come and sit on the bike as I absently mounted the vehicle again. We would have to come back for her luggage another time.

As they piled into the undamaged car, the old man turned to fix me with a stare. "I won't be forgetting this," he said.

"I didn't think you were smart enough to!"

With an absent toss, I flicked Excalibur at the largest tree to the side of the road. The blade embedded itself into the trunk to the guard, and the unnerving crackle of the wood within being torn apart sounded. The tree toppled over and atop the limousine between us, and they hurriedly closed the door to their car and kick into reverse.

When they were out of sight, I sighed, looking to the car-carnage. I'm pretty sure that if she were here, Tohsaka would be screeching into my ear right about now over my disrespect toward potential monetary investments.

"Why?" Hisui said, looking away when I turned back to her.

I scratched the back of my head. I'd thought of all kinds of things to say to her when I caught up, but now that I was confronted with it, they all escaped me. I could remember them, sure: that I wanted to pursue this thing between us, that I didn't want her to feel like she was replicable, that I thought she was still needed with her family, that she should be given more of an opportunity to actively decide her life than given merely two options. I thought it all, and really, thought none of it at the same time—I wasn't in the position to tell her what I wanted, nor what she should do when I was stealing choice out from beneath her feet myself.

So, I just did what I felt came the most natural and put my arms around her shoulders, and when she looked up to me, pressed my lips to hers.

Softness encircled me, and I grinned into the kiss, and faintly, ever so faintly, I could feel her lips curl slightly as well. I had my answer.

"Because," I said, shrugging.

We drove back to the mansion, Hisui's arms wrapped around me, her cheek pressed to my back just below my neck. Every once in a while, she would squeeze harder, and I smiled each time.

Curiously, the garage was still open when I got back, though I thought Tohno-san would have closed it behind me. I shrugged, though, and pulled the bike up into the spot it had been before. "I'll go back to get your things, but for now we should probably go talk to the boss about what just happened."

Hisui looked at me, the same stoic face as before, though even now I was beginning to detect some of the traces of amusement there. "Boss?"

"Yeah, well, with how I had to tell those guys off…"

I trailed off as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Something in the back of my head seemed to trigger, that same feeling that true danger could lie around the corner. It wasn't something palpable, though time spent sparring with Saber or even glaring down Tohsaka's Archer I think had rubbed some more acute senses onto me. I glanced around to try and discern if anything was different or stolen.

Hisui picked up on my change in attitude. "What is wrong?"

Had they circled back to the mansion before us, to try and take revenge? I shook my head. Cross that bridge if you came to it. "I don't know, just something."

I went for the door and peeked into the house, though nothing struck me amiss there either—it was still quiet. I didn't see any signs of a break-in, nor scuff marks from running shoes or the like.

Keeping an eye in every direction, I stalked out into the main hall, Hisui two paces behind, when what felt off became apparent.

Akiha Tohno's body on the staircase.

Healing Hands: Darkening Desires, End