Taiga was annoyed. It was the morning of the fifth day of the Holy Grail War. Including that day, there were six remaining until the Grail would give birth to the monster inside it. Since the reveal of the fortress encasing the caves was discovered, everyone decided to take time to prepare for the war in any way possible. Lord El-Melloi, the overseer, and some of the other magi were mainly thinking about how to handle the castle so it doesn't lead to everyone being drained and or dead by the time the main fight started.
As for Taiga herself, she had taken some time to train and contact whatever remnants of the Fujimura Group still existed. Most of her men got slaughtered by the Tohsakas and Edelfelts, as was most of her family. Only those out of town on other jobs remained. That should have been more heartbreaking for Taiga than it was. She lost her loved ones, but they were also the ones that dragged her into the life of a yakuza. It was their fault that she was miserable and so she couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at their demise. The Fujimura Group was functionally gone now and so Taiga was free to do what she wanted. In hindsight, it seemed so simple a solution to her problems. Just kill her entire yakuza family and she'd be free. Of course, that sounds easier than it is practically. Murdering an entire syndicate of training killers would be no easy task for a normal human, especially when some of those killers were people who raised you. Taiga no longer had any obligations except to herself. Her wish was granted. Now she just needed to protect the world from getting flooded with curses.
Would it be weird for Taiga to thank the Tohsakas and Edelfelts for their help? Probably.
After assessing her situation and eating a meal worth seven people, Taiga was taking a break and thinking about the steps she'd have to take to become a teacher. She'd spend as much of what remained of her family's wealth on the best English tutors to help her hone her craft. It would take a few years to actually get certified, but what was a few years at this point? As long as she wasn't spending those years as a yakuza, she'd be in bliss.
To answer the question of why she was annoyed at this very moment, it was due to an external factor. Taiga decided to relax in the church's courtyard, her back leaned against a wall and her arms crossed.
Also in the courtyard was Artoria and Illyasviel who were currently sparring, the Servant wielding a stick and giving swordsmanship advice while the albino girl used a wrapped up blade. It was clear that the blonde was trying to mentor the homunculus in the ways of the blade, but there was a glaring issue at hand.
Artoria was not a good teacher. Her method of educating her student involved just sparring a lot and giving bits of advice that were far too general to be useful. Lessons were best when they were flexible, able to be tailored to the individual needs of the students. You can't just say things and expect your students to understand and apply everything without actual guidance. You need to make the topics discussed grounded and specific, offering hints while never giving the complete answers so the student can arrive at the truth on their own. That way the knowledge sticks in their mind and they feel accomplished.
Watching this failure of a swordsmanship lesson was leaving Taiga vexed to put it mildly. She wanted to walk over and give the homunculus proper guidance on how to wield a sword. The issue was that Artoria and Illyasviel hated Taiga after she kidnapped Chloe and caused their loved ones to die. In all honesty, Taiga and Assassin had played a big role in the Holy Grail War becoming the disaster that it now was. If it weren't for them, Irisviel might not have lost control to the Greater Grail.
To try and help Illyasviel now would be insulting, as if Taiga was trying to sweep her wrongdoings under the rug.
At the same time, Taiga couldn't bring herself to just walk away and let the travesty of a swordsmanship lesson be out of sight and out of mind.
Taiga just stayed in the courtyard and let herself endure the appalling teaching techniques of King Arthur.
"Don't forget about your surroundings!" Artoria said.
"Why don't you tell her how to do that? Give tips. Hints. Anything." Taiga mouthed while her brow tightened.
"Your blade is an extension of yourself. Treat it that way!" Artoria said.
"What does that even mean? It's too vague to be meaningful." Taiga was shaking and her hands gripped her sides.
"If you can't push me back this round then you'll have to do pushups as a punishment!" Artoria said.
"Punishments aren't a good way of motivating students, it just makes them anxious and thus more prone to making mistakes." Taiga's teeth were grinding against each other.
"Try harder!"
"That's it!" Taiga couldn't take it anymore.
"What?" Both Artoria and Illyasviel stopped their spar.
"You have no idea how to teach someone!" Taiga stomped over to the failure of a teacher and the victim of a student. "You keep giving advice that is poorly worded or just confusing, and your methods of motivation are ineffective at best and actively harmful at worst! You need to be specific about things while not giving away all the answers, yet also not leaving your student with too little information to be able to figure things out on their own! Oh, and for God's sake, don't tell your students to 'try harder!' It is the least helpful thing ever! You think your student is gonna go, 'oh, I wasn't actually trying that hard, that's my problem' do you? Effort without direction means nothing! Work smart, not hard!"
"I apologize for my rudeness in saying this, but this is none of your business." Artoria held an arm out between Taiga and Illyasviel. "We may be on the same side right now, but Illyasviel is my daughter and you nearly got her killed."
"I get that you're pissed, but your daughter won't improve if you keep teaching her like this."
"She's making progress."
"And it's too slow. We don't have more than a few days that we can wait before we have to face the Grail. Do you think she'll be strong enough to protect herself when the time comes? At this rate?"
Artoria's hand balled into a fist, but she didn't have a response to give.
"How about…" Taiga took a breath. "I teach your daughter. I studied teaching techniques and I'm a skilled swordsman. Plus, the sword Illyasviel's using more closely resembles a katana than the kind of swords you probably use based on how you fight."
"I don't want your help." Illyasviel said. "I'd rather die than be helped by you."
"Well, that's not right." Artoria's anger gave way to anxiousness. "I'd rather you train under Fujimura and live than refuse and die."
"There's no way I'll accept her help!" Illyasviel glared at Taiga, the air around her whipping up as her magical energy emitted from her as an aura. "She kidnapped Chloe! She got mom, Gray, and Mordred killed! She's taken nearly everything from us! She's lucky we haven't turned her into a red paste yet! I still might!"
"Illya, I understand how you feel." Artoria faced her daughter and put her hands on the homunculus' shoulders. "The problem is that Fujimura is right. You aren't ready yet for the battle ahead. She might be better at preparing you for it. It's worth giving her a chance"
"I don't care!"
"I do."
"This is my decision! I'm a grown adult! I don't need you making decisions for me!"
"I-" Artoria released her daughter and stepped back. "You're right. I shouldn't try to control you."
"Thank you."
"Illyasviel, I have a question for you." Taiga said.
"And why should I care?" Illyasviel's indignation was going to give Taiga a brain aneurysm.
"I hope you'd care about this one for your mother's sake."
"What?"
"Illyasviel, if you refuse to accept my help and you die, but your mother lives, how do you think she's going to feel? I get that you're so pissed at me that you'd be satisfied with that result, but how would your mother feel knowing you could have survived but didn't? Would she accept that?"
Illyasviel's magical aura dissipated and the courtyard went from hosting a consistent gust to being distractingly still. The homunculus looked at her mother whose uncomfortable expression spoke volumes. The girl's pale hands grabbed her hair and squeezed it and she gave a frustrated groan.
"Fuck. Alright, you can train me, but if it ends up being bullshit, then I'm backing out."
"I'll try not to disappoint. Let's start with a spar, you and me. I want to gauge what you can do. Also, no using magecraft or anything else to boost our abilities. This has to be pure swordsmanship." Taiga pulled out her sword with the sheathe still on it. "Artoria, you act as referee."
Illyasviel grunted as she readied herself.
Both swordsmen got in their stances.
Artoria raised her arm.
"Fight!" The king's arm swung down and the match began.
Illyasviel didn't move. She was waiting so, taking in consideration the thin blade she was wielding, she was probably using a style focused on parries and deflections. She wasn't going to act first, so Taiga took the initiative. The former yakuza ran in and thrust her katana which Illyasviel parried before following up with a riposte. The wrapped weapon stabbed for Taiga, but the master swordsman just needed to adjust the angle of her arms slightly to reposition her sword, her blade's guard now in the way of the thrust. The homunculus' counterattack was caught dead in its tracks. Taiga pushed with her weapon, causing her guard to push Illyasviel's own sword back into her. The butt of the handle jammed into the newbie's chest and knocked her off her feet. The whole exchange took less than a second.
"Fujimura wins." Artoria said as Illyasviel hit the ground.
"What kind of sword technique was that?" Illyasviel sat up and rubbed the area of her chest that got hit.
"It isn't one really. It was improvised."
"That's not fair." The homunculus got to her feet. "You can just make stuff up and get yourself the win."
"That's where you're making your main mistake." Taiga extended a finger to the sky. "You're looking at swordsmanship as a series of techniques. In sports there are rules you have to follow and so it's easy to categorize all possible legal actions that you can take into named moves, but real combat isn't like that. There are no rules and so you can't restrict yourself to specific kinds of actions. The way you responded to my thrust was a textbook counterattack, but that's the problem. You don't know how to adjust your style to unconventional situations. This isn't chess where every possible board orientation has a statistically optimal course of action. A real fight is amorphous like water. Things can be unpredictable, an enemy can attack you in any way that is physically possible, not just in a certain set of ways that follow particular guidelines. You need to move beyond memorizing how to perform certain techniques and instead learn how to master moving your sword and your body. You need to have precise body control so you can position yourself and your sword in any way you might need to for any situation you may find yourself in. Are you following me?"
"I think so." Illyasviel didn't have the same bite to her words as before.
"Let's look back at the point where you lost, me pushing your sword back into you. Try to think of what you could have done to have prevented your loss at that point."
"Prevent it?"
"Right as I was pushing your sword back at you and you realized it, what could you have done in that moment to respond? What could you have done that didn't involve implementing pre-existing sword techniques?"
"I don't know. I could have tried pushing back against you, but I'm not physically strong enough to overpower you. Maybe I could have adjusted the positioning of my sword so the hilt didn't push into me, or at least hit somewhere that would have been less damaging."
"That's a good suggestion. That might have worked. See, you're capable of figuring out these out of the box solutions. What are some other things you could have done?"
"I can't think of anything else." Illyasviel looked at her weapon. "I don't see how else I could have moved my sword."
"Don't get too caught up in the fact that you're learning swordsmanship. You're limiting yourself."
"But isn't learning how to use a sword the whole point?"
"Let's see." Taiga crossed her arms. "Think of this less as learning swordsmanship, and more as incorporating a sword into your fighting style. The sword is just a new extension to yourself."
"An extension?" Illyasviel saw where her weapon sat in her hand. She moved her arms around and her legs tensed. The homunculus' eyes widened. "I get it. I could move the other parts of my body. I could have caught the butt of my sword with my free hand to dampen the force of the blow, or I could have jumped back as I was getting pushed so I'd move with the hit rather than against it. If I twisted my body just right, then I could have sidestepped you. You would have continued forward while I would have already repositioned to be at your side where you'd be vulnerable."
"You figured it out, good job. You catch on quick." Taiga snapped her fingers. "You get so caught up in using your sword and the idea of this being a sword fight that you disregard the rest of your body. It seems silly to forget the rest of your body, but tunnel vision is a Hell of a thing."
"I get what you mean when you said I was too focused on learning specific techniques." Illyasviel rolled her shoulders. "I've got a whole body and I can move it in so many ways. If I can master how to reposition myself, then I can adapt to almost anything."
"You're spot on. Adaptability is the name of the game in a real fight. You need to be constantly thinking of all your options and how they'd affect your current situation. That goes for whether you're using a sword, gun, yours fists, whatever. You have a whole body to play with. I've never liked how much people focus on specific techniques or styles when it comes to swordsmanship. It's needlessly limiting in my opinion."
"You got that right." Illyasviel began moving around her arms and legs in weird ways while she held her sword, seeing how each position felt.
"It's good that you've got the theory now, but next is practice." Taiga clapped her hands. "Time for more specific instruction."
Thus Taiga began mentoring Illyasviel on swordsmanship and combat in general. She gave her tips on the different ways she could hold her sword and position her legs to maximize how much force she could output and in what directions. She explained the physics behind different aspects of swordsmanship and how these principles could be applied in different situations. Taiga did her best to be hands off, allowing Illyasviel to figure things out on her own, the former yakuza dropping hints whenever it was necessary. Artoria watched from the sidelines, sometimes giving her own input which was appreciated. After a few hours, Illyasviel was drenched in sweat, but still enthusiastic.
"Good work, Illyasviel. It's time to test how far you've grown. Let's spar."
"I'll kick your ass this time." Illyasviel got into a combat stance again, this one being slightly different. It looked more comfortable than her original one.
"Artoria, call it." Taiga got in position.
"Fight!" Artoria said and this time both fighters closed the distance.
Taiga attacked first with a thrust like last time. Illyasviel didn't counter it, instead sidestepping it. It was just like one of the possible responses they discussed earlier. It made Taiga disappointed that her student was just doing exactly what they talked about instead of coming up with a new plan. Her worries were proved unfounded when, instead of attacking Taiga herself, something the former yakuza prepared for by pulling her sword back in to block with, Illyasviel instead grabbed at the weapon with her free hand. It was easy for Taiga to pull her katana out of Illyasviel's reach, but the homunculus clearly intended for taiga to react that way as she simultaneously raised her knee which hit the hilt of Taiga's blade. The surprise blow knocked Taiga's weapon far enough away from her torso that she was left wide open. Illyasviel gripped her blade's handle with two hands and thrust with it right as her raised leg fell to the ground again, the movement causing the homunculus' body to naturally move forward. This motion caused the entirety of Illyasviel's body weight to be focused in the direction she was moving, meaning the maximum amount of strength she could utilize would be concentrated on her sword's tip. It was a brilliant combination of moves that only failed because Taiga reacted with a side kick to the homunculus' arms which knocked them off course and caused the thrust to miss. Taiga utilized the fact that her arms were far from her torso by using a wide sword swing that knocked right into Illyasviel's head and left her out cold. The spar lasted a little more than a second.
The unconscious homunculus was caught by her mother who lifted her into her arms.
"Sorry for being so rough. She really caught me off guard." Taiga wiped some sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.
"It's quite alright. Thank you for teaching my daughter. You've caused her to make explosive progress."
"I just tapped into her existing potential. I wouldn't have bothered if she were a lost cause."
"It was still thanks to your teaching skill that her potential was unlocked at all. I'm not suited to the field of education the way you are. I must admit that I wasn't expecting a professional criminal to be a supernal pedagogue."
"I actually wanted to be a teacher rather than a yakuza growing up. I plan to be one now that my yakuza family's all but annihilated."
"I see." Artoria adjusted her grip on her daughter. "I do not know your life circumstances and I can understand what it's like to be forced into a situation that requires you to art immorally. That said, I can never forgive you for the pain you caused my family. Like my daughter, I wish to kill you."
"I'd be weirded out if you didn't have a bone to pick with me after what I've done." Taiga took a melon bread out from her jacket and opened its packaging. "I obviously don't plan on dying, but I'm open to other kinds of atonement."
"That's appreciated. Despite our grudge, I hope we can focus on the greater good for now. I also hope I'm not too selfish in asking you to continue mentoring my daughter in swordsmanship."
"I'm happy to do it. Even if I do end up dead by the end of this, I can be satisfied knowing I managed to teach one person something. It's all I've ever wanted." Taiga smiled for the first time in a long time as she took a bite out of her melon bread. "By the way, Illyasviel's learning to use a sword because the blade she has is able to kill Servants in one hit, right?"
"That's correct."
"Where'd she get something that powerful? Is it a Noble Phantasm?"
"No. It's something she made by combining some specific materials she had, her Alchemy, and her Origin."
"Assassin told me some things about Origins and how they work. What's hers?"
"Sword."
"Sword?"
"Sword."
"If her Origin is Sword, you'd think she'd be naturally talented at using them."
"She would if her Origin was Swordsmanship, but her Origin is Sword specifically. It is the concept of swords themselves, not the art of using them, that is core to her being."
"You're sure her Origin is Sword?" Assassin appeared in the courtyard. He finally stopped using Presence Concealment.
"I am. I checked." Artoria stared daggers at Assassin. Her animosity for Assassin had yet to be restrained in the same way it had when it came to Taiga.
"How is her Origin Sword?" Why was he so curious?
"Avalon's inside her. We discussed this at the meeting."
"She had it in her long enough to alter her Origin?"
"Yes. Why are you so interested?"
Assassin was quiet for a moment, his eyes contemplative. He chuckled.
"I think Taiga isn't the only one who has something to teach Illyasviel. Assuming her Elemental Affinity also changed to Sword, I might be able to teach her how to make best use of her Origin."
"And why is that?"
"I guess It's time I explain who I am." Assassin removed his head wraps to reveal his dark face and white hair. "Let me tell you about a different Fifth Holy Grail War."