Kyoko sat in the classroom, hardly listening to the teacher's lecture as she continued working on the diagram in her notebook. It was the same rune she used for her Flame Step, name pending, but slightly smaller and adjusted to be placed on the shaft of her spear. In theory it would give her an explosive force behind some of her attacks, she just had to figure it out how to do it without blasting her body in the process.

Maybe nab a couple of familiars and use them as test subjects? She certainly had plenty of energy still left to burn. Last night's hunt with Archer was standard, almost boring in fact. She was almost looking forward to a tough fight or, failing that, the excitement of experimentation. Apparently, she had become quite the mad scientist in recent years.

"Emiya, perhaps you'll know the answer to example four."

Kyoko continued scribbling as she opened up the textbook with a single hand and quickly went to the correct page to read the problem.

"50π^3"

Compared to the problems she had to solve while doing Magecraft, math classes in her last year of middle school were practically nothing. Granted it didn't really help with English, or Classical Japanese, but at least her Math and Science grades rounded it out so that she had good grades overall. Not that she really cared, but Archer had demanded that she continue her education and maintain at least a B average.

"Correct. Impeccable as always Emiya."

She nearly smiled upon hearing the name that had been given to her by Archer. It was a good name and it seemed to roll of her tongue every time she said it. Much better than Kyoko Sakura.

Kyoko Sakura was a fool that ended up destroying herself and everything she loved with her beliefs. She was dead, burned in a house fire. Good riddance at that.

Kyoko Emiya would be the smart one. The one that wouldn't suffer trying to play the hero. Instead she would be the one who survived and lived a nice long life for herself. It also rolled off the tongue better.

She continued working on her rune up until the bell finally rang and class ended. She quickly packed up and got ready to head home. She was already wasting enough time at school, time that could be spent Hunting witches or studying her Magecraft, so she had no desire to join any afterschool activities despite encouragement from the teachers.

It was also less time she'd have wear the damn uniform. The black skirt was just too long, while the black blouse and white undershirt were too stuffy and constricting. The quicker she could get out and change in the nearest public restroom, the better.

"Emiya"

Kyoko sighed as she was intercepted by another girl at the door. What was her name again? Yuri? Yako? Wait no, that one was that was a character from that old Western Cartoon. Apparently it got a reboot recently, she'd have to give it a shot sometime. "I'm not joining yer club."

Between hunting Witches and Archer's training she had become one of the physically fit people in the school and that was without any magic. It got to the point where every sports club kept trying to get her to join their team, no matter how many times she said no. What did she have to do so they'd learn their lesson? Burn the gym down? Actually, that was sounding pretty good right about now.

"No, it's not that…" the girl replied. "I just wanted to ask about that… man you've been walking around with."

"Archer?"

"How do you know him?"

"We live together." Ever since they had changed her identity and forged the adoption papers, Archer had essentially become her legal guardian. It was why they were able to live in such a large estate without child protective services knocking on their door.

"Oh!" the girl lifted her hand to her lips. "Are you two… intimate?"

"No!" It took everything Kyoko had not to empty her guts on the spot. "Why would you think that? The dude just takes care of me, nothing like…" she gagged, "That."

"So, does that mean he's available?"

Jesus Christ!?

"I'm sorry?"

"Just…" Kyoko struggled to find the words. "Do you know how old the guy is?"

"I mean the age gap won't matter so much in a couple of years."

Wow just… wow. And this wasn't the first time this happened either! Apparently, his status as a dedicated chick magnet didn't go away even when he became a Servant. Honestly, she wasn't too sure if he was still as oblivious as he was when he was teenager or was just now really good at ignoring the advances of his would-be suitors. Hopefully the latter, she wasn't sure if she could handle the repercussions of him being as dense a brick.

"I'm just going to go home now and flush my brain out with some bleach," Kyoko said as she tried to make her way past the door.

"Wait," the girl gently grabbed her by the arm and it took all of Kyoko's self-restraint not to clock the chick right there. She would've if she didn't risk getting suspended and getting Archer's, I'm not angry just disappointed look. He used that look a lot. It was very effective. "Could you give this to him," she held out a neatly wrapped envelope.

"Fine," Kyoko replied as she quickly snatched the damn confession and walked out the door. Once she was out of school, she quickly lit it up in her palms and turned it into ash. Archer might not have showed any interest in any girls that approached him- honestly if it wasn't for the dreams, she would've assumed he batted for other team like she did- but that didn't mean she was going to bother him with this. Besides he was her Servant, no dumb floozy was going to take him away from her!

Dumb floozy?

Kyoko flinched. When did you get back?

An hour ago.

So, any news? She asked hoping to change the subject.

I tracked the witch down all the way to Kamihama before I had to turn back.

Kamihama?

A large city, much bigger than Kazamino, with an unusually high number of familiars and Witches. Usually the Magical Girls there are enough to handle them, but with the recent influx of Witches they're starting to get overwhelmed.

So basically, free pickings then. I don't they'll mind if we take a couple if they're getting swarmed. When are we leaving?

I'm going to continue scouting. It's too dangerous to go with what little information we have. We have no idea what's attracting the Witches in the first place.

I can handle a Witch or two Archer.

There are a lot of then and they're much stronger than usual. Even the familiars are tough. Strong enough that even I have trouble taking on a labyrinth by myself, at least not without taking a few injuries.

Damn. If Archer had trouble with those witches, then the situation down there must be even worse than she thought. Are you alright?

Minor injuries, nothing to a Servant, but it is still worrying that they are able to injure me past my Mind's Eye. The Witches are stronger, take more hits, and can be notably tricky to deal with.

How do the Magical Girls there handle them then?

The vast majority of them fight in teams.

What? Magical Girls rarely worked in groups. It was a dog eat dog world and there was never enough to grief seeds to go around. It was why she was able to sell them for such a high price to desperate girls.

Just the sheer number of witches and the strength of the grief seeds they drop are more than enough to support them. The situation there now necessitates strength in numbers. A few of the groups I've observed showed some impressive teamwork and strategy for girls their age.

How dangerous are they?

Dangerous enough that they can effectively fight off Witches with comparable Servant level strength. We can probably escape or turn it around if we do get into a fight with them… but they're still a threat and I heard that there are some experienced veterans leading them.

How experienced are we talking here?

A few who have been at it longer than Tomoe, with comparable strength too.

Damn. She might've split ways with Mami a long time ago but that didn't mean she didn't keep tabs on her. Her old mentor had grown a reputation as a veteran and was now considered to be one of the strongest Magical Girls in the surrounding areas. And apparently there were several Magical Girls in that city that could compete with her. That also wasn't considering just the sheer number of girls in one location.

Though Archer could definitely take on Mami himself, the results become much muddier if he had to fight three or four of them at the same time.

Which is why it's safer if I scout by myself for the time being. Archer told her.

How long will you take? Kyoko asked.

I'll need another two days to get the lay of land and get a read on the situation there. Fortunately, everyone's too busy with the lack of Witches in their areas to bother with us. It should be safe enough for you here as long as you don't look for trouble.

Okay I get it. No picking fights with other Magical Girls, I'll just focus on hunting the Witches we still have.

Kyoko…

Fine, no hunting Witches. Kyoko lied. She was still going to hunt Witches.

Why don't I believe you?

I'll be fine. Just go already.

First, we're going to have lunch together. Then I'm going cook you enough food to last you a few days. So, you don't starve without me.

You realize I can always just order take out?

Really? Have you seen the nutritional value of what they serve around here? Even if there were healthier options in our area, you'd still gorge yourself on junk food and snacks if I left it to you.

I'm not that bad.

Don't think I don't notice all the Pocky and chips you eat outside of the house. You're going to destroy your taste buds, appetite, and body stuffing all that junk into it.

Uh, and here came the Heroic Spirit of the Housemother class ready to lecture her over her eating habits. Again. If there was one complaint Kyoko had living with the man… Just tell me where we're going for lunch.

I found a fairly good sushi place nearby.

Turns out the sushi was good and affordable. It was enough that even Kyoko was still filled up by the time the sun set, and she found herself sitting on the highest building in the city. She dangled her legs off the roof as she watched the city for any Witch activity. Call it a habit she picked up from Archer, but she quite enjoyed standing from a high vantage point to gaze at everything below her and in the horizon. Even if she did have to make sure to avoid looking in the direction of a certain ruined church.

Sadly, the only notable thing that did happen for her to witness was a car crash on the nearby highway. There was a big fire that a bunch of ambulances were heading to, but that wasn't her problem. Apart from that there was really nothing else of interest that she could see from up there, even after several hours of waiting.

Welp. Time to jump around and see if she could run into something.

Kyoko Reinforced her legs and leaned forward off the edge of the roof, soon dropping into a free fall. Halfway to the ground, she pushed herself off the wall with her legs and bounced to the top of a shorter building. A simple flip in the air was all it took for her to land neatly on her feet and then jump from roof to roof.

She hadn't expected to suddenly run into the entrance of a labyrinth after a half hour of jumping around, but apparently Gaia was smiling on her for once.

She reached into a small pack at her side and began pulling out a large metal rod. The rod continued extending out of the pack until she pulled put out the sharp metal blade. She twirled her favored spear in all its glory. It was no Noble Phantasm, but it was a reliable weapon that Archer had crafted. Not a Projection but an original that he had made and designed for her specifically. The shaft was a bit thicker than usual to allow her to block and deflect tough blows with the strength and leverage it provided. The tip likewise was also very thick, large, and sharp. It was designed to stab deeply into Witches and create thick gashes into their bodies with a single swipe. Overall, it was a very deadly weapon with its only weaknesses being its extra weight, which she could easily handle thanks to Reinforcement.

Pumping a tiny bit of power into the spear's tip, Kyoko lifted her weapon up and casually sliced into the barrier. She then entered the labyrinth through the Kyoko shaped hole that she had neatly created.

Inside was some sort of strange hedge maze, a literal labyrinth with walls made of vines and thorns that reached to the very ceiling of the witch's domain. No jumping over that and trying to squeeze through would get her ripped apart by those thorns. It would be feasible enough to set her spear aflame and cut through them, but it would likely take a considerable amount of energy to break through a single wall.

Left with little choice she ran down the maze, watching for familiars the entire way. After taking two lefts, a right, then another right into a dead end before backtracking and going left, she found a large clump of familiars.

Sunflowers in flowerpots essentially, except the center of their heads were gaping black circles leaking some sort of fluid.

They didn't seem too threatening for familiars really. Just use the length advantage of a spear to keep them at a distance an- Woah!

Kyoko jumped back as their necks suddenly lengthened and they slammed their heads where she had been standing. The fluid that seeped from their heads melted the concrete floors but stopped once it reached the dirt underneath. The familiars then spread the leaves on their stems and what was apparently their arms shot out and tried to entangle her.

She quickly began cutting them apart as she considered her next move.

These things had some sort of corrosive acid, really long necks, and vine arms that attempted to grab her as she retreated. She then glanced back and realized that these familiars were trying to corral her into a dead end where she would be cornered.

Okay screw cautious spacing, best to charge right in.

She began to run forward and twirled her spear as flame began to cover her left arm. Od in her body to ignite the flames and Mana of the World to keep it burning. Fire was not just her affinity in Magecraft, it was personal to her. It was what made her who she was, what defined her being, and what she would use to kill anything that stood in her way. To bring them the same pain that it had brought her.

With a swing of her arm, her flame became a whip and swiftly lashed out on the first line of familiars in front of her. She then closed the distance, cutting the necks with her spear as the flames floated away her arm and coalesced into a ball above her. The ball shot out spikes, slashes, and pulses, made of flame as it followed above her.

An even larger group began to appear from the nearest corner.

Kyoko thrust her arm forward causing the ball to shoot ahead and explode into their center. The resulting explosion burnt the majority of them while the rest were sent flying in all directions.

The way was clear.

She took a deep breath as she gathered heat under her heels. Heat was created by friction, by atoms and molecules bumping into each other and vibrating as they became more active. Heat then could be used to generate energy which was compressed into those two spots under her feet. She released that energy and rocketed herself forward.

With each step she traversed a great distance. Not as fast as Archer could be, but enough to get her past the remaining familiars.

She called it her Flame Step technique and stuck with that name despite how much Archer called it stupid. Like Triple-Linked Crane Wings or Nine Lives Blade Works was any better. It wasn't like she shouted out her the name of her moves in the middle of a fight anymore. That was just plain stupid and an embarrassing habit that she had picked up when Mami had still trained her. Apparently, the blond Magical Girl still did that, which would've definitely killed the crush Kyoko had had on her if any of those feelings still existed.

Anyway, continuous use of Flame Step was risky due to the high cost and strain on her body even past Reinforcement. Since it couldn't be used continuously for traversal it was instead reserved for quick maneuvering and repositioning as necessary. Useful for catching an enemy off guard with a sudden burst of speed or simply getting out of the way of an incoming attack.

Once she had made sufficient distance from the familiars, she began running normally. It was almost always best to conserve Prana by ignoring the stragglers and heading straight for their source.

After running into a few more dead ends Kyoko finally found a light at the end of the tunnel. Against all common logic she charged straight for it and found herself in a flower field. It was bright, pretty, and something she could almost admire if it wasn't for the giant eyeball plant a short distance away.

The Witch, and it had already claimed a few victims. In front of it were two dissolved corpses and a young girl in green who seemed frozen as she stared at them.

Tch… civilians always made things complicated. When dead they would just feed the witch and make it stronger. When alive they would get in the way or annoy her with their constant screaming. Always expecting to be saved, that they should not have to die, even though the world was never that kind.

Well the corpses couldn't scream, and that girl seemed quiet at least, so Kyoko tossed her a bone. That bone being her spear which skewered several vines that had been trying to grab the kid.

With the Witch's attention now on her, Kyoko Flame Stepped forward and dodged the first few vines sent her way. The rest were immediately cut down by a flame whip at the end of her Step. She jumped into the air, grabbing her spear that was still embedded in ones its vines, and cut it free. Armed properly, she began the mundane yet much necessary work of weed whacking.

Kyoko's spear danced as she chopped apart vine after vine, tearing everything that had tried to grab her to shreds. Soon enough all that was left was the giant eyeball as it struggled to regrow its lost limbs. She would never give it that chance.

With one last charge, she leaped into the air and thrust her spear straight into the center of its eyes. It tried to shake her off, but she stepped on its eyelid and used that as leverage as she thrust her weapon in even deeper. Then as a bit of a finishing touch she channeled flame through the spear and began burning the witch from the inside out.

She continued burning it, even as it thrashed and tried to shake her off, until it was nothing left but a charred-up husk on the floor.

She took a few deep breaths with the job done, but otherwise she hadn't strained herself too much.

It wasn't a particularly strong Witch, just a bit tricky with its territory and familiars. It also helped that her flames were really well suited to burning it down completely. Type advantage, turns out, didn't just apply to Pokemon. Though she had yet to find something that Archer's steel couldn't cut.

Once she caught her breath, Kyoko looked at the two corpses on the ground. Both had been killed recently, but that wasn't something that bothered her.

If people caught in a labyrinth lived because of her then fine, but if they died it was no issue either. No point in risking herself for random strangers. In the end, going out of your way to help people would only just bring you pain.

The world collapsed on itself as the little girl with green hair continued staring at the corpses. They were soon returned to an empty block at the edge of the city, but the girl still wouldn't move.

Kyoko sighed as she picked up the grief seed. Normally she would just leave the survivors alone, but even she had a soft spot for little kids. "Oi brat."

The kid remained silent.

"It's a shame, huh. But that's the way it is… no amount of crying will bring your parents back to life. You survived why don't you give some thanks for your good luck."

The kid still didn't answer.

Hmph. Whatever.

Kyoko took out a lollipop and popped it in her mouth. She then turned around and began to walk away.

Someone would eventually notice a lone child in front of a pair of bloody corpses and get some help. There was nothing else she needed to do, nothing else she wanted to do. This kid would just have to find her own way to live. To move past this… incident that ended up taking away her parents.

This tragedy that left her alone with no one else there to help. No sullen, ever present guardian to save her from the flames.

Big Sis

Kyoko hardened her eyes and forced herself to turn around. "With a face like that, no one will come to save you." She walked up to the girl's back and held her lollipop in front of her face.

The girl finally reacted and lifted her head to look up at her.

Kamihama was… an anomaly. Archer hated having to use the Incubator's words, but that was the best way to describe how strange this city was. Even by Magical Girl standards this place was taking the cake.

It wasn't like this the last time he had been here years ago, yes full of Witches but that was standard for every large city. Now though his nose was getting near overwhelmed by this pervasive sense of the supernatural that seemed to permeate the air. The rumors that spread along the general populace when the existence of Magic was supposed to be a secret certainly didn't help either.

This was going to take more than a few days for him to fully grasp what was happening here, but unfortunately his Independent Action had limits. He had to get back to Kyoko to replenish himself before he could do anymore investigating.

Something was brewing here. It might take some time, a year or two probably if his intuition was to be relied on, but once it did erupt the consequences could be quite catastrophic for the area. It likely wouldn't affect them if they stayed in Kazamino though and losing a couple of Witches to hunt would be fine from a financial standpoint. He could always take up a job again if needed.

The issue was Kyoko. Though she claimed she would live for herself, she was also a reckless and curious person by nature. A very dangerous combination. If he told her what was happening, she would likely pop her head in the city just to satisfy her curiosity.

The last thing he wanted was for her to come here alone. There was the option of bringing her with him, just so that he'd have more time to investigate, but that still meant bringing her into the middle of all this.

Archer jumped from building to building, making his way back to Kazamino.

It might be best to feign ignorance for now. At least for the time being. He should also find something for her to do, a hobby, club, or something else that could catch her interest. Outside of Witch hunting she was becoming increasingly idle. That was not a good thing, especially for her. If she was busy, then she was less likely to get into trouble or explore.

He was likely the first person that had realized that something was strange with the movement of the Witches. It wouldn't take long for the other Magical Girls in the surrounding areas to notice though and track that activity back to the city. However, that was still time that he had to prepare.

He just hoped that it would be enough for him to find a way to keep Kyoko out of it.