AN: Sorry for the slower update, was away from regular net access for Thanksgiving.

I thought that the Excalibur thing should be clear at this point; Shirou, now in possession of Saber's Dragon Reactor, now has the direct connection necessary both for Avalon and Excalibur. One of the reasons that Shirou is incapable of reproducing Excalibur is the fact that he doesn't have the prana output to activate it, which is now solved, nor the clear "image" in his head, which, with Saber so close to him now, both metaphorically and physically…

As implied in the past interlude, Shirou is actively using his connection to Saber to recreate Excalibur. In Healing Hands, after transferring her connection to Akiha, he would be unable to reproduce Excalibur again.

Fate/Far Side: Origami Blades

Chapter 5

Black Carnation

Maybe because it was easier to talk about it without staring someone down, I kept my back turned the entire time I explained the story, kept my arms around me like a barrier. It was not difficult to explain, though; it played out in my mind's eye so regularly I could measure the exact distance between Berserker and I the first time we were attacked, the exact seconds of the minute of the hour that Assassin appeared, the number of weapons Gilgamesh shot at me. Voicing it, though, made it somehow feel tangible, like the true name of Noble Phantasms being called before tearing the city apart.

So, your Noble Phantasm would be called "The Holy Grail War" then?

Makes sense, though. It might be the only thing that I could claim is truly mine, after all.

"And that's it? Now, you're never alone?"

I went to grin, glancing back to Tohno-san, but I met her eyes as I did so. She stared out from behind her hair, her head bent in such a way that she just seemed tinier, younger. Even if only a year or two separated us—

Hah. Maybe, with Saber's presence always so close, I've started to carry around some of her sense of agelessness. I ought to remember that I had yet to even break twenty years myself.

"I don't know if 'that's it' really covers 'it' all, but, yeah." I nodded. "I'm still here because she's with me."

Yes.

I guess, multiple times over, I've lived because she has sacrificed much for me.

"It must be nice, to never be alone like that."

She looked very lonely, saying that, standing there, and I sighed. "I haven't really thought of it like that, though." Giving a shrug, I glanced back up at the ceiling, at the space where, at that time, I could have seen Assassin bearing down on us, at Berserker's sword coming down, at Gilgamesh's blades raining down. "I've always thought more about having survived, at how much that has cost others."

"You think they regret it?"

I gave a helpless shrug. "If they were still alive, it makes sense that they would have regrets. But I can't really make my way through life thinking about that if I plan on getting anywhere." While Tohno-san mulled that over, I darted over and grabbed her by the wrist. "Now, as for regrets here, I certainly think Kohaku and Hisui would be upset to know you're up and about all sleepless without asking them for help. Like it or not, I don't think we should give them that kind of regret."

Tohno-san huffed, though she allowed me to pull at her arm and guide her toward her room. "Not that Hisui would show any kind of regret. And Kohaku could stand to be a little more serious," she muttered.

I snorted. "You know what they say: don't let your daughter-in-law eat the autumn eggplants."

"A little too late for that," Tohno-san muttered. I glanced over my shoulder at her, but she was looking away, off to one side, like she could stare beyond the walls of the house to the darkness beyond.

I was helpless.

Considering my history, there's not a lot I can do about it. I look at the world with such a different, strange view that I have a hard time understanding what can make people cheer up. Sure, I can fight off the bad, I can listen, and I can sympathize, but I'm pretty ill-equipped to handling actively cheering someone up. What little experience I do have was pretty disastrous and things are still awkward with Tohsaka because of it.

Wandering around town the next day, I was faced with more irrefutable truth on the matter. Sure, I had attended birthday parties before, been out with friends occasionally, things like that. Back when Shinji and I still got along, I went to a birthday party for him at the end of junior high. I was dragged along to Mitsuzuri's celebration for being elected captain of the Archery club. Fuji-nee and I baked a cake for Sakura's fifteenth—

Well, I guess it was more like, I baked a cake, and Fuji-nee was my backseat chef.

—and all the work I did for the student council seemed to cheer Issei up. But doing something specifically and only for the sake of cheering them up, without a celebration event to share in or something specific to fix or help with, I was at a loss. Too, I didn't know Tohno-san that well, so it wasn't like I could just pick her up a gift that I knew would make her feel better.

What did girls like, anyway? I mean, all I ever heard from Tohsaka was complaints about money—and that did not seem to be an issue with Tohno-san. Sakura liked just doing things, whether going out to shop or even just sitting around cleaning the Archery supplies we used for club. For the brief time she spent with us, Illya just wanted entertainment, whatever that meant, so long as it was new and interesting. I never paid much attention to Mitsuzuri, and of course Saber and I had a lot to pay attention to elsewhere that hobbies never really came up. Fuji-nee…well, I won't go there.

I wandered around a shopping arcade for a bit, trying to find something that struck me as perfect—but it really did seem pointless. Tohno-san did not strike me as the type to, say, ride a bike for pleasure. Getting her a kimono was too intimate, and I didn't have body measurements to go by either—

Actually, that's untrue; I remember some details quite vividly, even if I will never admit that aloud.

—while doing something like a box of sweets seemed too impersonal. Here you go: a box of sugar, maybe it will stand in for actual thoughtfulness and personal concern. Yeah, no.

I ended up further downtown, my mind unable to process any further ideas. I supposed I could bring her out around town, though that seemed like a date, and I had a feeling such a proposal would not go over very well. Too, I really did not want her to think I was going to try in any fashion to take advantage of her supposed weakness—she was not feeling well for whatever reason, and I wanted to just try and be friendly for her, since it seemed like she didn't have enough of that in her life.

I found myself snorting when I passed a sign advertising a host club. No, that wouldn't do either, plus awkward did not even begin to explain that sort of lead-in. I grumbled to myself, wishing Tohsaka were here to give me some help.

Wishing she were here…

Giving help…

Together…

Hmm.

I burst into the kitchen so fast and loud that Kohaku, already there to start preparing dinner, jumped half a meter into the air and fumbled something in her hands. "S-Shirou? Is something wrong?"

"We're teaming up for dinner!"

It honestly looked like Kohaku were a robot and my words had just pulled the plug on her power source, the way she froze in place and stared at me in her incomprehension. "Huh?"

I grinned, so wide a grin that I felt like it might split my face.

The only sign Kohaku gave that she was, in fact, a living, breathing creature was the faint sheen of sweat that formed on her forehead.

"This. Is. Wonderful." Tohno-san nodded in approval at her meal, a deconstructed oden bowl that was actually cooked in a shabu-shabu style of preparation. Normally, I would never try such a thing, but…

"I'm glad you like it," I said, smirking. "Kohaku and I had quite the challenge in conjuring it up."

Tohno-san paused with the next bite halfway to her mouth. She glanced to Kohaku, who was blushing behind her serving platter; the maid was playing coy, but obviously happy with the results. "She let you back into the kitchen?"

"Isn't it great, the kind of things one can do when teaming up? Relying on someone else?" I could not help but say so with a kind of over-the-top self-effacing tone, like I had just at this moment come up with the moral of the story. It was stupid and probably a little immature of me, but, well, I couldn't help it.

The predictable narrowing of her eyes and pursing of her lips came, though it was offset by the fact that she was still taking bites from the food. "Kohaku?"

"Ehehehe," the maid snickered, "I'm sorry?"

"Not sorry enough, traitor."

Though Kohaku gave a helpless shrug, it was Hisui that spoke up from her place over Tohno-san's shoulder. "Emiya-sama makes a valid point, though, Akiha-sama. You should rely on us more, not concern yourself so much. Especially when you are not feeling well."

Propriety would not allow Tohno-san to just slam her forehead onto the table, though it seemed like she was fighting off the urge. "And now everyone teams up on me." It was a half-hearted complaint, though, since she had a sort of puffed-cheek expression with it that was, well, rather cute, taking the edge away from her words. "And Emiya-san? Should you not be, you know, heading on your way?"

I grinned at her. "Maybe. Though I kinda like it here…"

Tohno-san scowled, again, in an exaggerated fashion.

"Yeah, I know." And really, it was true. Though I was glad to perhaps give her something to think about now, though. "So long as you keep my secret?"

Those words evoked a hilarious, nearly cartoony reaction from Kohaku, whose head perked up like she had just been physically pinged by radar, her gaze turning my way like a hawk. "Secret?" Her eyes almost felt like they were telescoping into my head.

With a belligerent wave of her hand, Tohno-san said, "Yeah, yeah, I will not tell anyone. Not even the evil, conniving blackmail master, here."

"I resent the implication that I would be a master at such things."

Tohno-san eyed the maid in the exact same way I did, a sort of unspoken question clearly hanging in the air: you're not going to deny the evil, conniving blackmail part?

It was hardly perceptible, but even Hisui gave a long-suffering sigh from her side of the table.

I stayed up that night, until one, and checked to see if Tohno-san was going to be worrisome again. Instead, I found Hisui in the living room, the maid looking suspiciously like she was on guard.

"Emiya-sama," she said when I peeked my head in through the entryway, "what are you doing awake?"

I looked carefully at Hisui's setup, sitting in a chair out of the way, but from where she could see the entire room as well as peer into the antechamber that led to the stairs. The chair did not look comfortable—even the opposite, it could possibly be stiff and uninviting. Perfect for keeping awake, insofar as furniture could assist in the matter. "The same thing I assume you are," I said. "Making sure Tohno-san doesn't have a repeat performance?"

"Nee-san told me what you told her," Hisui said. "It is my duty to make sure Akiha-sama is cared for."

I gave her a disbelieving smirk. "Really?"

"I am concerned for her," Hisui said. It was stated with such factual clarity, one might not be able to read anything from it.

But I could tell what was there, just by nature of this situation. "I'm glad that she has people like you around, then," I said, smiling. "Just be sure to keep it up is all I can say."

"Of course," Hisui said.

Despite the late hour getting to sleep, I was still up half-past five in the morning to get my things together. I wanted to see if I could help with breakfast again, then pop into town one last time and speak with Jinan-sensei again, this time about Tohno-san. While the doctor certainly couldn't tell me information about her, I could try and keep him informed and hope that he could use the information to keep his charge healthy.

A knock on my door came before I could manage to charge out on my own for the kitchen. Hisui stepped in and took a bow. "Emiya-sama, good morning."

"Good morning. Something wrong?" I really hoped the maid had managed to find some time to sleep.

"Yes," Hisui admitted. "Nee-san is not feeling well this morning and requested that you be asked to handle breakfast duties."

I stared for a minute, a little surprised. Huh. Did someone hear my prayers? Oh, no, that wouldn't do, I didn't want Kohaku to feel ill for this to happen. "That's fine…is Kohaku alright?"

Hisui said, in the same monotone as always, "Her temperature is marginally high and seems congested."

The flu? It seemed odd that she could catch anything from someone here, unless Tohno-san was actually suffering from a prolonged bout of the flu amidst this all…

Well, no, I suppose she could have caught it from me. I may not get sick, but I could be a carrier for the everyday sort of germs and whatnot.

"I'm fine with making breakfast, though I am surprised you would ask." Hisui did not seem like the type to request help, even if it was offered freely. Unlike Kohaku, she seemed to take this master-servant relationship very seriously. Not unlike someone I used to know.

You, be quiet.

I grinned, fingering the necklace absently.

Hisui seemed to take that the wrong way, giving a faint scowl. "It is not because I am an incapable cook," she said. Even as flat as her statement was, the fact that this was the first thing that sounded defensive out of her told the real story. "Nee-san and Akiha-sama do not share my tastes, however."

I…see. "Sorry, I wasn't laughing at you." I nodded. "I'll get right on it."

Giving a terse bow, Hisui saw herself out, the faintest sign that she was displeased echoing in the heavier, harder steps that she took and the not-quite-slam of the door as she closed it behind her. I could not help but grin again, this time at the maid. It was probably a good thing I wasn't staying here longer: teasing her would probably be too much fun, much as it was with Saber.

"Where is Kohaku?" Tohno-san asked when I put a very Japanese-styled breakfast before her. The meals we had at breakfast time before had always been Western-styled, so I wanted to see how this difference would work.

"Nee-san is feeling ill," Hisui explained from her customary spot nearby. "She asked that Emiya-sama prepare breakfast."

"She did, did she?" Tohno-san seemed amused at that. "Not that I can fault her. You are a fine cook."

"Thank you," I said.

Tohno-san shook her head. "You really should not look so pleased with that kind of complement. It is like you are content with being a servant." She seemed to give the word servant a faint emphasis, though I could not quite tell for certain.

"If that's my fate," I said, shrugging, "might as well get used to it?"

"Indeed."

As she settled into her meal, I darted for the kitchen, then came back out with another plate. I said, "Hisui, while I'm here, you might as well take a load-off as well. Why don't you let me serve you as well?"

Hisui stared at me intensely, as if she could knife me with her eyes. "That would be inappropriate."

"You might as well let the man be a gopher while he pleases," Tohno-san said, looking to Hisui. "It is not every day that you will get a man to do his duties."

Hisui did not rise to the bait. Instead, she turned that intense expression to Tohno-san, though now concern ebbed into her gaze. She seemed unsettled. "Akiha-sama…are you feeling well?"

"Just fine, no thanks to you," Tohno-san growled.

I blinked at the statement, at the change in tone. This was not a joke like the banter yesterday had been, but I could not place my finger on what exactly had changed. I circled around to Hisui's side of the table, ostensibly to put the food down before her and coerce her into the chair, but also to get a good look at Tohno-san. Now that I took a closer look, it did seem like she was paler than usual. "Tohno-san?"

She jabbed her chopsticks into the rice. "What?"

"You are looking a little pa—"

It was as far as I got. The girl swept her arms into the dishes and flung them at me, forcing me to back off or get silverware to the face.

I put myself between Tohno-san and Hisui, something in me giving me fair warning. I could not help but feel as if the other could detect it as well; the keychain at my neck felt warmer, as if alert.

The dishes fell to the floor and Tohno-san smacked her hands atop the cleared space. "Don't concern yourself with me, you faker. You're not nii-san, so stop acting like it."

Her brother? Where did he come into the picture? "Tohno-san…"

Tohno-san's head twitched in this skin-crawling sort of way. I was reminded of that earlier comparison I had made the other night, of Sadako Yamamura, the unnatural sort of movement that was associated with that wrathful spirit. "Stop, just stop!" She clutched her chest, hard, as if suffering a heart attack, and I thought to reach out and put my hands on her shoulders—

No, Shirou!

For a moment, I thought I saw something, a faint flicker of red.

I reached back and grabbed Hisui by the hand. Simultaneously, I cocked the hammer to the gun in my head, opened the circuit.

There was this sudden stinging feeling in the air, and I didn't think twice: I plowed right through the wall next to us and pulled Hisui on through. My Reinforced body slammed right through the plaster, the molding, the wooden frame, and a water pipe that probably led to an upstairs bathroom. The pipe broke as I pushed through, spewing liquid down like a fire-control sprinkler, and I pulled Hisui through—

Something lanced through the air and into the water after us, sizzling. It was like some kind of serpent, alive and dangerous.

And it lanced out at the both of us.

Origami Blades: Black Carnation, End

The proverb here, akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna, is a saying that equates to "don't let someone take advantage of you." There's a little bit of a pun here, since the character for "autumn" is the same one used in Akiha's name. So not only is it a comment on using her well-being to evoke concern from Kohaku, but also a joke on Akiha being consumed in the process. What of Akiha gets consumed, I'll leav—*is shot*

Yeah, I'm gonna stop explaining dishes and whatnot. If you want to know, go find a Japanese restaurant and try it. Seriously. I love me my Japanese cuisine.