(a/n) - sorry for the sudden break in updates. actually, i'm not sorry. i was at anime expo and i got to see the miku concert. not sorry at all! hahahah!

*ahem* back to business i suppose. the 'school of hard knocks' mentioned is from Syroc's Omake (fanfiction . net /s/7056610/12/). for those of you who might not remember, reiko is the emiya clan's version of a slider. or at least her future self is. ALL omakes are canon!... sortof.

Emiya Clan - Nerima 08

"Father, I would like to request training."

"We'll talk about this later, Koyuki. You should get some rest."

Father left. He wouldn't let her do it. Not anytime soon. She needed training now if she were to have any hope getting to the level she wanted. She turned her head and watched the chaos around her as Chiyo-nee left to find Chiho-kaasan. Her eyes fell on Takeshi-nii, on Haru-nii, on Musubi-kaasan and Karasuba-kaasan. They came to rest on Arika-nee before she succumbed to the shock of her injuries and darkness began to nibble at the edges of her vision.

I will seek training... elsewhere. She decided as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Koyuki flew through the air. She wasn't graceful. Twisting her body, she just managed to get her feet underneath her and break her fall, only to trip on her heels and slam in to the ground on her back.

Or she would have, if the ground hadn't erupted into a cushioning mass of writhing darkness. Sakuya glared from across the field as her shadows gently lowered her sister to the ground. "You idiot," she yelled, "her arm's still not better yet!"

"She should learn to land on her feet then," Arika pointed out bluntly. She turned her head slightly. "Koyuki-chan?"

"I am fine." The snow girl looked back at the sidelines, where most of the Emiya children were sitting, watching, cheering. Keeping her discomfort from her face, she rose to her feet and moved back into position near her elder sister.

"When you're airborne like that, try to get your arms like this." The eldest Emiya daughter demonstrated the position and Koyuki mimicked it. Most of the adults were away from home. Musubi was still at school officiating an intra-club sporting match, which left Arika running her sister through simple unarmed-combat drills. "You need to be able to control your spin and reorient yourself as soon as possible in order to stick the landing." Arika tilted her head casually as she checked Koyuki's stance, then grabbed her arm - her uninjured arm.

Unfortunately for Koyuki, the Emiya Clan's idea of 'simple combat drills' took a page from the fabled 'School of Hard Knocks' Reiko had once told them about. Musubi and Karasuba, of course, had been ecstatic about the idea. Ever since then, hands-on learning took on a whole new meaning for the family.

With a brief application of reinforcement and a judicious use of mana burst to increase her arm strength, Arika spun into a circle, pulling Koyuki off her feet and flinging her into the the sky once again like an olympian's shot put. Once again, the snow girl flailed her limbs as she flipped end over end through the air, this time managing to control herself properly enough to drop into a textbook three-point landing. She skidded across the ground as she shed her momentum, but drew herself back up as she slowed, shaking out her hand.

Emiya Clan Combat Lesson One: Learn How to Fall

Lesson Two: Learn How to Redirect Attacks

Koyuki rapidly brought her arm up, shoving Arika's knife-handed thrust off course and just past her torso. Unfortunately she wasn't able to get that same arm back up in time to catch her sister's followup attack, suffering a chop to the junction between her shoulder and neck which sent her to her knees.

Arika frowned. "You should have used your other arm for the first strike, rather than trying to do a cross-body parry."

"It's still broken, you moron!" Sakuya shouted from the sidelines.

"Ooh, right..."

Koyuki gasped as she clutched her shoulder.

Lesson Three: How to Dodge

Takeshi and Keiko frowned as they stood in front of Arika.

"I really think this is a bad idea," the eldest son commented.

"Really bad," Keiko echoed. "...and that's saying something, especially coming from me."

Arika waved her hands dismissively. "Nonsense, I'm sure Musubi-kaasan would agree with me."

Takeshi narrowed his eyes, "I really don't think Musubi-kaasan is the best example to be going with here..."

Keiko turned to look over her shoulder. "Are you okay with this, sis?"

Koyuki eyed the repeating crossbows her two siblings were carrying with an uncertain expression. "Ah... uh..."

"She'll be fine," Arika insisted. She pointed towards the field. "Now get out there and do your stuff. I want arrows that will blot out the sun!"

Koyuki gulped nervously.

Lesson Four: Improve Physical Conditioning

Arika ticked points off of her fingers. "Need to improve your speed, your reflexes... hm... you may not need to improve your strength just yet. We should work on your stamina."

Koyuki was on the ground, flat on her face.

"Oh come on! That was barely eight kilometers!" Arika fumed at the poor showing.

"Maybe it would help if you let her take off the ankle weights?" Karin asked archly. The rest of the children were still present, watching the 'training' in horrified fascination.

"It's only five kilograms," Arika insisted.

"Um..." Kumako interrupted nervously. "I know Koyuki-neechan is a snow lady, but is she supposed to be turning blue like that?"

Lesson Five: Take Care of Your Body or Els- OH SHI-

"What's going on here?"

Arika paled and turned towards the house. Chiyo and Haru were standing on the steps with a look of shock on both of their faces as they stared at the comatose snow girl and the blonde teen barking at her like a drill sergeant. Chiyo's expression rapidly darkened, her mouth curling into a kind-looking smile. Haru gulped and took several long steps to distance himself from the girl.

"Eheh, Chiyo-chan!" Arika laughed nervously. "This isn't what it looks like... I can explain!"

"Take her carefully to the infirmary... again," Chiyo directed Sakuya. She turned towards Riko, "Find Mother, please, and let her know what's going on."

The two purple-haired girls nodded and departed to their respective tasks.

"And as for you..." the eldest Emiya daughter gulped as the second daughter turned back to her.

Whatever she was about to say was interrupted as the wall on the far side of the property abruptly exploded. The rest of the children were on their feet in a flash, all orienting themselves towards the dust cloud raised by the destruction.

"What the hell?" a voice shouted from within the cloud. "I could have sworn I was in a cave, why is there suddenly grass in here?" A stocky boy with a large traveling bag slung onto his back stumbled into view. He blinked at the apparently unexpected sunlight, looking around at the wide field around him. His eyes fell on the assembled crowd and his mouth twisted into a grimace, sharp canines pinging with reflected light.

"Where the hell am I now?"