Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity
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17- First Incident: Step Up and Dance
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A couple of weeks have passed and Shirou can honestly say that his life has reached a new state of normal. It wasn't necessarily bad but it is different compared to the previous status quo with a good mix of shenanigans that makes him worried.
Shirou can say he was surprised that nothing happened over that first weekend, Yoruichi came back but there was no change. He half expected to have to fight for his life after his conversation with Gilgamesh. Yet, nothing happened. He worked as he normally would, cooked like he normally would and with the exception of Luvia sending him a huge number of roses with a card nothing much happened in his opinion.
They ended up planting the flowers around the garden, senjutsu once again proving its utility as the once taken out flowers were able to be replanted with new roots. Koneko still didn't like it and Yoruichi tried to talk with her, to help her understand senjutsu and how it wasn't harmful. The girl rejected every single one of the woman's requests for conversation and she hesitated for reasons Shirou could not comprehend.
Whether to join her in training or to just listen to what she has to say, Koneko refused. It is coming to the point Shirou wants to do something but Yoruichi insisted for him to let her handle the situation, saying that she had an inkling of what happened, nothing certain yet since she didn't want to pry in Koneko's past and the investigation is ongoing but understood enough that she has a suspicion.
When Shirou asked why she just didn't ask Rias if she was going to investigate anyway, Yoruichi replied that the past didn't matter if the girl didn't want to face it. The situation is delicate and the yokai is trying to avoid something horrible from the way she talked.
What the nekomata wants is to have Koneko open up just a little so, enough for a conversation so she could try and show her that senjutsu is not bad. The main problem is that, if Shirou's suspicion is correct, Koneko is traumatized.
Once he told that to the nekomata she nodded, trusting his judgment. She agrees with his assessment and is the main reason she is taking her time since dealing with trauma can't be rushed without the risk of worsening the situation. There is always a risk in such cases and since Yoruichi can't stay in Fuyuki full time Shirou is the one that has to continue and try talking with the girl.
It was during the next week of classes that Shirou started to notice some changes, most obvious of them all is that Luvia insists in staying with them at least during school hours, never asking to go to the clubroom but Shirou always ends up inviting her for dinner anyway, much to Rin's irritation.
"There are still clubs left for Setsuna to look at?" Yoruichi wonders as the car arrives in Kuoh.
"It is not like we can just show up and she can make a decision." Shirou explained easily enough. "We need to give people time to explain their activities, how their club works, their hours and anything they consider relevant. Usually we only see one or two clubs per week and in a school like this there is a surprising lot."
There are also times Setsuna returns to a club or another more than once because she is legitimately interested and was almost convinced to join only for her to not join for a reason or another.
Or in some days she is just not in the mood to look at clubs and they would spar instead since she finds it fun. It was the main reason why she didn't join any 'combat' clubs. Sports can be exciting for those that take time and effort to train for them but since she is a hanyou she needs to hold back instead of having fun, at least not the kind of fun she wants.
And so they turned to the arts side of the school. "I think today is one of the few that she may like. It is the dance club." As in they practice dancing for fun and sometimes competitions with many dancing styles.
Instead of having multiple clubs with the many aspects of the art, the school folded all of them into one and gave everyone a huge space, trusting that the students would cooperate and be able to try each other's different styles.
Took some time but it worked. The students and teacher involved managed to make schedules to coordinate what would go each day and used votes in certains days of the month for extra styles at their leisure.
Plenty of clubs had to make this kind of concession since they also catered to college students but fortunately there is not much fight for space thanks to the structure of Kuoh. "I will be surprised if she joins such a club, her father is not much of a dancer."
At Yoruichi's comment Shirou only sighs. "She wants to try new things and naturally she isn't her father." The cat checks the area and starts to jump in the cars. "See you at lunch?"
"Sure." The cat departs leaving Shirou and Liz to walk to school. "Say Liz...do you think I should talk with Rias about Koneko and Yoruichi?"
"No." She answers in an instant.
"It is just that I think she knows something that could help her out and the discomfort Koneko is feeling…"
"I know it's bothering you." The maid says, eyes firmly on her way to the school. "But if you go around her to talk with Buchou then Koneko can be upset and that will only be worse."
"Yes, I heard that before." It is the only reason he is not in front of the heiress demanding answers. "I just want to help her."
Liz gives him a small smile. "You always want to help."
Denying that is something that Shirou is not going to do, especially when the situation involves someone he cares about. "It is just frustrating. Not knowing why she is like that. Everytime that Yoruichi shows up she looks ready to run or attack. I could understand if she knew Yoruichi's identity or true power but she always makes sure to hold back."
The only time she let more than she should out was in Gilgamesh's presence and the guy is so powerful that it covered the whole area anyway. Even if it didn't, Koneko felt his power before she is less afraid of him than she is from Yoruichi.
"Patience. Koneko will talk with you, just give her time." He nods, accepting her advice for the moment.
As usual Shirou arrives early but a pattern began to emerge in the last few days where he is not the first to arrive anymore. Already glaring at each other but keeping their distance are Rin and Luvia with the addition of Setsuna who is readying a book.
The reason why the three of them have the habit of getting to school earlier than him is because of the competition that is going on between them, technically. Rin refused to get any later than Luvia so the european mage made a point of arriving earlier and also using the extra time to talk to Shirou, something that Setsuna saw as a cunning plot and started to adjust her schedule to allow her to get there early as well.
"Good morning." He says to the three at the same time.
"Shirou." Rin says, giving him a nod.
"Morning Shirou." Setsuna is relaxed on her reply and returns to the book after complimenting him.
"Shero! How was your weekend?" Luvia is more animated and unlike the others that he sees during the weekend she doesn't show up at the club on saturdays..
"Nothing much, a normal weekend." He places his bag on his desk and sits down. "Yours?"
"Also pretty normal. Sebastian and I started to look into properties around Kuoh to expand my family's influence." Luvia says with pride. "While the city is growing there are opportunities about to be taken and I am sure we can start another chain of stores before the end of the year if the growth keeps going."
And considering that the growth is because of the ley lines and that in a few more years Fuyuki is going to become a huge city if the rhythm stays consistent then it wouldn't be a problem for her family to expand.
"Just what Fuyuki needs, another mall." Rin comments, a fake whisper by her tone.
"Jealous much Tohsaka?" The blonde begins. "It is not my fault your family is in unfortunate times and cannot enjoy the benefits of a growing city."
In their little disputes it is generally agreed that one lost when they devolved to insults first. Something that wasn't decided and isn't written anywhere but the two ladies are aware of that fact even if they don't say it outloud. "Oh, it is nothing like that." By the way Rin was talking it indicates she has the means of getting the upper hand this day. "I am sure the Edelfelt is an upstanding family and wouldn't use a boundary field to compulse people to buy more than they should."
"And why wouldn't we?" Luvia asked with confidence. "The masses usually go to the mall to spend their hard earned money and all that our gemcraft and design is to make sure they spend it on ours."
"Isn't that ...brainwashing?" Shirou asked, a little disturbed, something that Luvia managed to pick on his tone of voice.
That was something that everyone, even Shirou noticed about Luvia, while she is confident in her actions it gets greatly reduced when it is something that the redhead doesn't approve of and influencing the minds of people falls in the category.
"No, it is not." A moment passes as Luvia tries to articulate a follow up to her denial. "We just incentivize them with minor probing. Nothing that someone can't shrug off."
All true, the way that Shirou prefers his dealings. It is something that Luvia likes, his sensibilities are not the same as of a noble or aristocratic, even as a magus he is too nice and kind. A simple man, the kind of man she prefers.
But there lies in the problem, she is a magus and her family has used magecraft in many ways to earn their fortune throughout the years, many of which Shirou definitely would disapprove but he didn't asked, he couldn't since he is still grappling with his own parents story and dealing with their shady dealings.
However, hearing that such a thing is going to happen or is potentially happening with innocent people, normal people that in general can't defend themselves against the moonlit world, is not something he can do silently and even if he doesn't directly scold Luvia he is going to make sure to understand what is going on.
And she can't lie to him, that is something he never does and doesn't like. Lying to him is not a grave sin and with the right reasons he can understand but he won't forget that the person lied anyway.
Luvia has affection for Shirou, she doesn't want his disappointment on any level. "All we do is poke what is already there. A boundary field made of gems and careful positioning to make sure they are interested in using all the premises have to offer. Not much different from propaganda."
"Weeeeeeeell, that is certainly possible." Rin says with satisfaction and smugness. Luvia knows that she is being provoked. "Honestly, most of the time the weaker minds are the ones that fall for such cheap tricks. Mind manipulation is something beyond such boundary fields that are not in the proper class."
'Damn you Tohsaka!' Luvia knew she had been played. If she disagrees with Rin it would play on Shirou's fears, if she agrees she is saying that her family's work is not really up to par.
In reality her family doesn't use mind manipulation, it is just a nudge, nothing more. If she explains to Shirou he would understand that is not much different from having something shine on TV tricking people into buying things that they don't need. Unethical in a certain point of view but not really forceful.
"Yes, Tohsaka is right." And it is not a lie. "My family can make such boundary fields, but they wouldn't since we don't need such cheap tricks to sell." Their actual fields would need to be modified so she is speaking the truth. "All we need is to attract them and our products will sell themselves! Hohohohohoho!"
"Ah, that is fine I suppose." His reply reassured her but she could see Rin's smile from the side.
"Indeed. It is not a problem attracting clients. I am sure building such a store here wouldn't be a problem." Setsuna says with a smile. "Maybe Shirou and I could go on another date when it opens."
Another challenger arising, Luvia doesn't retreat, especially since she can use it to change the subject. "I believe that, once we eventually open, I should be the first to show Shirou around. I am sure we will have plenty of fun."
Rin smiles as Setsuna and Luvia begin discussing in a more tamed way if it was with her involved. The hanyou, knowing or not, is Tohsaka's ally when it comes to tormenting the blonde. Shirou getting in the middle is not something she wants, the young man is someone she actually respects, but he is the target of both girls affections and she wants Luvia skirming.
So Rin sits there and watches the show as Shirou tries to calm the women before the class starts, it won't take long for the other students to arrive and she can enjoy the little show while it lasts. Unlike her conflicts with Luvia, Setsuna is not someone that raises her voice in a debate and both tend to stop when other people are closer.
It took some time for more people to arrive, Rin quietly observes the other students. Most of them are devils and yokais with only six magicians in the class, the other magicians haven't tried to approach Shirou yet with only Luvia attempting and having success.
In the past there were plenty of magicians but now they all are gone, moved to the other class or kicked out of the program for many reasons, the lack of potential or wish for improvement being the main ones with Waver Velvet personally choosing his students.
The man could have attempted to do what his old teacher was doing but he preferred to do things his own way, even if he annoyed some of the noble houses. Not that they can do much with Velvet in Japan.
Of the six magus in the class, two are a mess, three are talented and one is the real prize. Svin and Flat are both from europe and good families but their circuits and magic are odd in a sense, most teachers gave up on them but Waver picked them up telling anyone that complained they were the best ones of those left out.
Rin watches as the two blondes talk to each other with Svin turning to look at Setsuna from time to time, a look of longing on his face. Tohsaka choses to say nothing about the boy's reactions. During the first week she noticed the looks the new student directed to her friend and decided to just see what he would do.
For now he had done nothing but Rin finds amusing his stolen glance and nervous demeanor. More than once she thought about approaching him and giving some advice on how to talk with a girl. Except that she suspects that Setsuna's reaction is going to be a rejection.
In a way it is kind to let him dream until he gathers courage to talk by himself, then once he is rejected, if he is, he will be more prepared in her opinion.
Flat is a mystery to her. He appears as an animated person with a cheerful demeanor and an attitude she is sure would grate her nerves if she was exposed to it more than just if she hadn't just seen him from a distance. Every now and then she caughts him talking about stuff with his friend that she doesn't understand like video games and other terms beyond Tohsaka's comprehension.
Still she has nothing against him so far and doesn't believe he is going to approach Shirou with any intentions other than his hobbies, that is the kind of person she deduced he is.
Looking back to her friends and Luvia talking she wonders. 'I still can't believe that they met on the first day back. How lucky can Edelfelt be?' It frustrated her since if she had met her rival first then she could have stopped her from joining their group. But she also needs to consider the Devil's Luck from Rias in the equation. 'How much is Luvia meeting Shirou, her own luck or Rias' acting up? She may be someone important in the future with her family being rich and, even if I refuse to admit it, my equal in skill.'
Even recognizing the other magues, if only in her mind, felt like she swallowed a bitter pill.
'I can't disconsider that she is competent.' Tohsaka thinks to herself. 'And if she is going to expand in town maybe it will bring more means of profit to the Gremory household. There is an argument that she is qualified for Shirou as well since the Edelfelt Crest can both join another family with some restrictions and stay on their main one…Just remembering that thing exists gives me a headache!'
It is a remainder of why she is in her actual situation in the first place. Rias can be a generous employer, she is nice and doesn't demand anything outrageous but that doesn't change the fact that the Tohsaka family is in her pocket for at least her lifetime and her children's lifetime if she doesn't do something.
Snapping her out of her thoughts is the entrance of the last magus in her class, Olga Marie Animusphere, the youngest student in the class but also a talented and intelligent magus. Unlike the majority that is in their teenage years she should be in the middle school division but her grades and skill with both mundane and magecraft allowed her to skip ahead and join highschool much faster.
Her white, almost silver hair is long, covering her back without any issue with an orange ribbon on the side keeping some of it off her face. She keeps a cold expression but for some time now Rin can see the girl is nervous, much of the classroom is non-human and she is not used to the environment.
Regardless of age Rin, can't deny that Olga Marie is smart, always trying to please her teachers even if they are mundane and even if she is keeping distance from the other students there is no doubt that she is also here for Shirou.
'I think that, like Svin, she doesn't know how to approach him. For different reasons.' Rin observes the girl sit down in her place in front of the class and organize herself. 'Can't deny her diligence either way. That girl looks like she could use a break.'
Returning her attention towards her friends she can see that things calmed down, the devils and yokais have already filled most of the room and all seems fine at the moment, nobody is approaching their small band.
'I really wish that Rias hadn't asked me to keep an eye on things. Most of the time I can only report when Gilgamesh shows up, something that Kiba can do as easily.' Speak about him and the devil appears, running in a bit late but still before their teacher. 'I think she only just gave me that order to distract me from fighting Luvia.'
Not that she can deny its effectiveness. By having to 'protect' Shirou from bad influences as Rias brought up, Rin's mission is to not allow another 'Lord El-Melloi' incident and stop Sihrou from insulting important people that can kill him, aka Gilgamesh.
So far she haven't done much, since her work is to not let Shirou say something stupid but he keeps himself more to their circle of friends. 'I am just glad he is busy with his projects these days.' Rin thinks with some relief. "How annoying would it be if he did the same things he did at Homurahara."
"Something wrong Rin?" Shirou turns to ask her while their other friends conversed.
"Nah, just thinking of the past. Remember when you used to work as a janitor in our old school? Why did you stop? Got bored?" Hearing her question the redhead scratches the back of his head.
"I haven't had much to do actually." Rin blinks.
"Huh?" It is the best way she found to express her confusion.
"Well, unlike our old school, most of the equipment here is top of the line and they have substitutes and maintenance teams. There is also the fact that the ley line here is quite healthy making it harder for something to go wrong to the point that they just need some cleaning, something the clubs can do themselves." Shirou explains with a small smile. "Not even adding to the fact that this place is both a school and a college. They have so many personnel to work on so many things that the moment something goes wrong there is already someone there to fix it in an instant."
"Well...I suppose. This place is gigantic." More than once to check a club they have to check if the club is in the school area, has its own space or is in the college area. "But maybe it is because they want to avoid problems. Too many people in one place is practically asking for something to go wrong."
"Kinda pessimistic of you Rin." Shirou points out.
"Just being realistic." She replies. "But considering they have boundary fields around here and the place only accepts the best of the best there is reason to believe that they have measures in case of emergencies."
"What are you two talking about?" Kiba wonders in curiosity.
"They were talking about their old school." Setsuna reveals.
"Oh." Luvia exclaims in surprise. "How was it? Was it much different compared to Kuoh?"
Both former Homurahara students look at each other and reply. "It was a mess/falling to pieces." Looking at each other again, they nod, both correct.
"'Falling to pieces'?" While it was Rin who said it was the impression that stayed with Luvia. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well there was this stray-"
"That school had 101 problems." Rin interrupts Shirou's explanation. "Every other day the equipment broke apart, the lights would go off and our sports teams also sucked for the most part." Not that she cared for the last one. "And this busybody," she points at Shirou, "had the habit of going around and fixing them. He was the brownie, the janitor, the guy everyone could count on to solve their problems." Rin then lets out a smile, surprising everyone. "The place wasn't bad, the people were nice, the teachers a bit eccentric, like the one of them we are to have a class with later. It was fun."
Fondness, that is how Rin sounded when she talked about her old school. "Yes, Rin is right. It was fun." Shirou also smiled, remembering the past. "But here is fun too. I even have more friends now."
It was easy for him to admit since he only had Issei as his friend in the past while the others were just club members he talked to during activities and classmates but most of the time he just had one person to talk with.
"I can't disagree with it." Luvia comments. "It is good to not have to watch my back with everyone around me...for the most part." She throws a glare at Rin.
"Humph. If I was going to do something with you it would be by the front." Tohsaka replies without hesitation.
"I believe you two shouldn't start this now." Kiba says, his usual smile present. "I am pretty sure Velvet-sensei is already losing patience with your...disputes."
Their fights have a tendency to escalate and even Waver is losing his patience with them, something that most students find baffling since he managed to hold on for more than a week and they are the first pair of students he still hasn't let his frustrations out even if they are managing to push his buttons almost everyday.
He hasn't screamed or used magic but everyone can tell that their homeroom teacher is reaching his breaking point, it is close and everyone wants to see what the man will do once he loses his temper.
"I appreciate the concern, Yuto-san but there is no need to worry." Luvia says while fixing her hair with a hand.
"Yeah, Kiba. No need to worry at all." Rin says while resting her head on her hand.
Then they spoke in unison.
""It is not like this one is any danger to me.""
It isn't the first time they spoke at the same time, with those two it happened more often than not and it would always end in the same way.
""What did you say?"" Both women are on their feet, glaring at each other and mana starting to flow around them.
Instead of normal insults, a way that means the loss to the other in their 'conflicts', when they want to insult someone it is more about calling them inferior in diverse ways.
That is a trait that both share and the reason why many of their fights start. They refuse to let the other get the upper hand at any time and the way they usually insult is diminishing the other is something neither can let go.
"Who do you think you are, Edelfelt? You wouldn't be able to win a fight if I had both my hands tied behind my back."
"I think you are talking about yourself Tohsaka, or are you forgetting that a fight needs more than just brute force."
"I am not the one that tries to throw money at all my problems!"
"Only because you don't have any!"
More and more mana starts to pour out, more than usual. Because of Shirou or Rias' presence the two haven't traded blows yet, there was always someone in position to split or distract them before the situation truly escalates.
But, now that the things with Gilgamesh were settled for the moment and they had a week to fester in their emotions, they are already reaching the boiling point of their relationship. Magic spells are going to fly if someone doesn't do something.
"Calm down you two." That is Shirou's mission, he is the last line of defense present, someone that Rin respects and Luvia feels affection for. "Class is about to-"
""Stay out of this Shirou/Shero!"" They turned to him and let out some of their animosity, enough that the redhead took a step back, and then turned back to each other.
The moment that Shirou retreated was the moment that everyone turned to watch the proceedings. They all knew that this was bound to happen someday, the distaste that the girls carry for each other would end with a fight for real and when it comes to the moonlit world things can end explosively.
Everyone starts to prepare for the impact, barriers, raises of defense, fortifications with mana and even partial transformations. Every single one of the students present can feel the tension in the air growing in increments as the two ladies prepare.
Shirou is ready to make another attempt but Setsuna pulls him back. "At this point you wouldn't be able to stop them without hurting someone."
"She is right." Kiba raises a sword at their side. "It was bound to happen eventually. Now it's like two trains that are going to crash. Look at their mana!"
And everyone was looking, the intensity of the energy around both girls is high enough that most can see it and it is only possible because both of them are top tier magi with the best circuits and with a quantity that most people would have some envy, not accounting to their crests that raise their potential even further.
Then gems appear on their hands. "Looks like you were ready for this." Rin comments.
"Of course, same as you." Luvia raises a sapphire while Rin raises a ruby. "Time to finally see who is really the STRONGEST!" She mana surges inside the gem.
"Took the words out of my MOUTH!" Rin raises her own gem.
"IT'S GONNA BLOW!" Someone screams in despair but the pair ignores them and-
All the mana suddenly turns against both girls as runes appear around the room and act like chains tying them both up together back to back as Waver Velvet walks inside the room. "You know, I was really hoping that if you two fought it wouldn't be on my watch. Maybe a spar. Maybe outside. But not on my watch!"
The fact that Waver raised his voice is enough to snap the two women to attention. "Sensei we-" Another chain made of runes ties Rin's mouth.
"No. No excuses! You two were about to fight in the classroom and that is strictly forbidden even on the normal school rules!" His impatience is showing.
"But-" Luvia couldn't conclude her argument before she also is muzzled.
"No buts! If I wasn't prepared we would have to erase the memories of who knows how many people! I expected more from the two of you!" One of his other students, slowly, raises her hand and like with a flip of a switch Waver talks more calmly. "Yes, lady Animusphere?"
"How did you neutralize them?" She asked with a firm voice even if her hand trembled a little as she lowered it. "I didn't even feel the spell until it had already happened."
An educator first and foremost, the teacher replies. "I have been teaching this classroom for a year now and when most of you leave for your club activities or to go home there are days that I prefer to work here." He snaps his fingers and the walls, the ceiling, the floor and even their tables glow with letters in many languages. "I don't have a mistic code but specialized myself on the interpretation and application of spells in the modern days, Modern Magicraft if you prefer. Thanks to my research I managed to join many forms of written magecraft to maximize the power I can flow in one area.
"So wait. We are in your workshop?" One of the students asks, even if not a magician he was still impressed by the set up.
Waver nods. "Not my main place of work but a place I use to practice my writing and manage the flux of mana. It is also a precaution in case of," he turns his full attention back to the still tied up girls, "problematic students. Now I don't want to see or hear you two talking with each other unless it is with the best courtesies. Am I clear? Nod if you understand." They did. "Good." With another snap of his fingers he let both of them go. "One more thing; You two are going to have detention."
"What?" "Sir?" The two jewel magecraft users can't believe what they heard.
"You heard me right. Detention! Both of you! And I won't hear anything else about it!" He gives them a minute. "Sit down!" They obeyed. "Now, let's continue with the lesson from last week."
The rest of the class remained silent, only talking when they had a question.
While Waver Velvet is a calm man with lots of patience they now know that everyone is on his territory and that if their teacher wanted he could put many of them down and not break a sweat.
As far as they know that is. In reality, holding the two hothead girls from killing each other almost exhausted Waver. 'Those two are really strong. If I hadn't taken my time to enter the room I would have failed to stop them.'
But he kept his composure for the whole first period and the students could only be impressed, not knowing he was on his last legs.
When the first class was over he rushed to the teacher lounge to drop on the couch, much to the surprise of his colleagues. His next class ended up getting a replacement for the day.
…
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" "NYAHAHAHAHA!"
Rin and Luvia can't help but blush, as a blonde and a cat laugh at their misery. They were sitting in their usual circle with one extra addition, the descendent of the King of Heroes himself and for the first time he and Yoruichi are on the same page, laughing at the misery of the pair of girls.
It is another change that happened during the last week, Gilgamesh's presence. When the man said that he wanted to have more debates he wasn't kidding and at least once a day, be at lunch, in the hallways before class or at the end of classes before he got to the clubs with his friends to find one for Setsuna, the blonde would always show us with a question or another for Shirou and him to discuss, usually with him ignoring the presence of everyone else around.
But at least the descendent of the First Hero didn't impose on his time, he arrives when Shirou is not busy and leaves before the redhead goes to the ORC.
And Shirou can't deny that sometimes he enjoyed their talks. They are better than Lord El-Melloi's attempt to get him to change classes. Not that he enjoys these talks always, by any stretch of imagination, there is plenty to disagree between the two of them.
Some of the topics consist on the habits of many other beings and how to integrate them better with regular humans like vampires could receive a stock of blood easily enough so they wouldn't need to live entirely on animal blood or which beings are not dangerous to humanity and how they have nothing to do either way, like unicorns that can be considered in the same category as horses if not with some special powers.
Both agree that some creatures are simply good and there is no danger either way since it would be the same as threatening an animal in a forest. The fact that Gilgamesh can agree that not everything is out to get humanity is progress in Shirou's eyes.
"Can you two please stop laughing?" It wasn't a demand but a request. Rin knows that the two people in front of her can destroy her ten times over easily.
"And why would we do that?" Yoruichi questions, controlling her laugh.
"I agree with the cat!" Angelo says, taking a sip of wine with his lunch, all in a golden bento, cup and bottle. "The situation is just funny! You two pretend that you are ladies but are actually gladiators, waiting to rip each other's throats off! But you forgot that you are students and the teacher is also a magus! And then got punished for it! How is that not funny?"
Both women feel shame for their actions, admitting in the privacy of their minds they lost themselves a little too much in their rivalry and now were going to pay the price. There is no real way of knowing what detention is going to be with Waver, the punishment not exactly something either ever have to do in their lives.
"Kuro, Angelo, stop teasing them." Fortunately for them Shirou is the only person that both listen too.
"Ah, come on Shirou." Yoruichi looks at him, her cat form helping her making doe like eyes. "It's just so fun to tease someone. You should try. Please~"
"No thank you." He looks at them both, half impressed with their attitude. "Give them a break already. Isn't it already enough what Rias is going to do with Rin later?"
That made the two tailed hair magus shiver. "You think she is going to punish me?" She asked Kiba since he is the one that knew the pureblood devil for longer.
"Not directly I would say." The Knight stopped to think for a moment. "But I think she isn't going to do any of the paperwork you should be doing for your family finances and recent investments." That made the magus' shoulder drop a bit. "There is also your share of managing the reports of the month," he raises one finger and starts counting, "the request to use Shirou's leftovers that she may reconsider to an extent, the use of the funds she provides to the Tohsaka family and other things that she may let for you to work in your free time."
Every statement was enough to let Rin more depressed and Luvia a little happier. "Such a shame Tohsaka. You should let your superiors have the final word."
Setsuna didn't like the confidence Luvia was displaying. Not only did the hanyou knew Rin for longer but also Luvia is somewhat of a rival at the moment. "Shirou, what do you think of the behavior of both of them?"
"Disappointing." To Luvia, Shirou's words cut deep. Now that the adrenaline has receded she can pay attention to him once again. "Neither of them should have let their emotions cloud their judgment like it did. If they hadn't almost blown up the classroom they wouldn't be in detention."
"But I- We-" Luvia has no reply, what Shirou said is absolutely right and as a person that she respects, and her assignment, his opinion counts for a lot in her mind. For all the intents and purposes she has her sights on him and if he is not content it means she is failing.
And the Edelfelt heiress is not used to the idea of failure, leaving her in a condition similar to Rin.
"Bah, they don't need to go to detention if they don't want to." Angelo brushes off the concept.
"They have too or else their next punishment can be worse." Shirou points out.
The blonde just shook his head. "They can ignore that too. There is no real consequence if they decide not to go."
"Maybe for you who don't care about school, but they do." Shirou says, taking another bite of sushi. "There is also the fact that Velvet-sensei has contacts in the Clocktower and his lessons are important there."
"Maybe they shouldn't go there. What is the point anyway?" The man gave a shrug. "It is known that the goal of the majority of that association is to reach the Root. Well, nobody there got it. So why bother catering to them?"
"It is not much different from a college." The redhead tries to rationalize. "Most of the stuff you really need to learn you are only able to with experience but the institution is there to give the basics of the trade you theoretically want."
"Plenty of people get success without them." He got a nod for the observation.
"True, but they have ideas and practice in what they already want to do." Shirou complemented.
"And ambition." Angelo added. "Can't forget that. If you want something, you can learn it. Still, the two of them," he motions to Rin and Luvia, "are quite capable on their own and have resources outside that can help them start their own careers."
"One can argue that if they lose their temper they need something to instill some patience in them." The comment sounds hurtful but it is not Shirou's intention. "It also depends on the school and the vein of education. Some are better than others."
"I had a class with this Velvet, he does look like he knows what he is talking about." Observed Angelo. "But patience can be acquired by other means than just sitting down in a room all day."
"For some people, yes. For others? No."
"So you once again argue the 'case by case' basis." Angelo sounds amused. "It is your conclusion for everything."
Shirou nods. "Because it is impossible to say something or create a rule that covers every aspect of life."
"True." Admits Angelo. "But we can make one that covers the majority and leave the minority to do what they see fit. And before you say it," he stops Shirou from interrupting, "yes, I agree it is more complicated than that."
"Fair." That is how the majority of their conversations usually goes. They just talked normally about the merits of anything and the descendent of Gilgamesh makes a point to press when their opinions are diverging.
The rest of their circle tend to just listen to their talks, some intimidated while others just know that Gilgamesh wouldn't bother to hear their opinions. If it was something considerable he may acknowledge them for a moment before moving on.
"I personally never had gone to school before." Yoruichi comments calmly. "It was mostly training with family and nobles on how to do this and that, studying by myself. I would have liked to go to school, a chance to meet more people."
The yokai doesn't fear Gilgamesh, if because she is confident in a fight or because she just didn't concern herself with him is hard to say for anyone else but when she is present in the conversations she has no problem giving her input.
"That is a good point." Shirou says with a smile. "Meeting new people and expanding your horizons is something that not all environments are suitable for. While school can be boring there are moments like this that help."
"Meh. You can meet new people anywhere." Angelo says with a frown.
"I like school. Lots of stuff to do." Another not intimidated is Setsuna. "I haven't gone to one before this year and I am having fun. It can be boring sometimes but here I made lots of friends."
The smile she gave prompted Shirou to smile as well and it was contagious since most of their circle of friends smiled, including the oldest student. The only exceptions are Rin and Luvia, still dealing with the realization and consequences of their actions.
"Fine, fine. I admit defeat on this." Angelo says with a shrug. "School is not for everyone but it is for some people. Fair enough."
It is a weird phenomenon to Shirou, he already noticed that Angelo acts more kindly towards Setsuna than Yoruichi or Kiba. He can't pinpoint exacly why he treats her diferent just yet but he has theories, theories that would explain why Illya is somewhat accept by an organization that wants the genocide of non-humans.
It still didn't leave his mind the potential danger that the Khaos Brigade can possess but he hopes that by changing their minds, one by one if necessary, they can avoid conflict.
In the end he can only hope for the best.
"Hey, you two don't need to be so depressed." Angelo said with a smile. "If you want, I can give you a sip of wine." He motions with his bottle.
"Not on school grounds you won't." Shirou interrupts the attempt.
"Ah, don't be a spoilsport. They need that to pass the time."
"They are minors. Most of us are. Drinking age in Japan is 20 years old."
"Fine, fine. I will drink alone then." He takes another sip. "I am sorry ladies but you two are going to be bored later."
"To be fair we don't know what Velvet-sensei is going to do." Kiba decides to say. "He is a magus right? Maybe he is going to use the time for something useful." That uplifts the girls' spirits.
"That is right!" Luvia exclaimed with some happiness. "Waver Velvet is considered one of the best teachers in Clocktower. Even if many teachers and nobles reject his studies, every student he ever had only sings praises about him."
"Yes!" Rin also is excited by the prospect. "As a magus, he understands the value of time. Even when he makes us deliver our projects to try and get good grades without tests he always comes with advice for the next time."
"It's good to see you two recovered but I must remind you that is going to be a punishment, not extra lessons." Yoruichi said shamelessly, making the two of them lose a little of their joy.
"Was that necessary?" Shirou asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No. But it's fun how their temperament shifts on a dime." Yoruichi says unapologetically. They enjoyed the break for a few more minutes until the signal. "Looks like it is time to go." She gets up while Shirou picks up her bento. "See you guys later."
"Truly a stray cat." Angelo's demeanor changed, it was Gilgamesh who was talking now. "Why make her food again? She just comes and goes as she pleases."
"She helps me at home." Shirou commented.
"Ah, yes. Training senjutsu." Gilgamesh takes a hard look at Shirou. "I haven't met a human who has been capable of using it in a decent manner. Are you sure she isn't tricking you?"
"I am sure." Shirou says, no doubts on his mind or voice. "Besides, I like cooking. Do you want me to cook for you too?"
This isn't the first time he offered but the reply is always the same. "Hahaha! No thank you. We may be friends but we aren't allies just yet. It would be wrong for me to partake in your table." He gets up, his food and drink disappearing. "Besides, I have servants to tend to my needs and it would be a shame if they had nothing to do on this little vacation. See you all tomorrow, Faker."
After Gilgamesh leaves, Rin turns to Shirou. "Is he bipolar or something?"
"No, he just acts differently depending on the occasion." Shirou replies, everyone helping gather their stuff, Shirou undoing the towel they generally use to sit during lunch. While Shirou took care of the food it was Rin who brought the tea since Sakura has a particular great skill with it.
"Then it is like a persona?" Luvia asks in wonder. "But...which one is his true self?"
"Both." Shirou replies calmly. "He doesn't lie to himself. Everything he says and does and with confidence. So both sides are his personas and both are him." After putting the bentos on his bag, debating getting a bigger one since things are a little cramped, they head down to class. "Now let's go, especially you two. Detentions are not something to sniff at."
The two mentioned girls nod, accepting their fate. Detentions are not that common in the japanese school system but Waver is not japanese and he may have a plan for it.
…
"You two need to learn to work together." Their teacher stated bluntly, glaring at Rin and Luvia, the only students left in the classroom. "I know your families have past grievances and I know you two dislike each other but I will not tolerate accidents or conflicts on the school ground during classes!"
Waver Velvet is the mastermind behind the project where a normal school can be used to advance early those that wish to implement magic. Any success that stems from it benefits him but failure can hurt his reputation more than any success.
Having a good reputation on the Clocktower made him enemies and many sharks, including former colleagues and teachers, want his place now that it has succeeded in one of its goals, connecting the pureblood devils with pacts and incentivizing them in an efficient manner.
Sure most of it had nothing to do with him in reality but he is helping in Shirou's education and that just gives him more credit and many want that.
But any incident that can expose the moonlit world to the masses is a risk. The Joint Education Project has many members of their world involved, many being that a normal person can only call unnatural. Therefore there must be consequences when someone attempts something that could expose them.
And he will make sure the two students sitting side by side know it. Putting his square glasses he gets to work.
Writing on the blackboard of the class, Waver starts from corner to corner until the whole thing is full. It is one single equation that used runes, math and many elements of diverse cultures to culminate in a masterpiece of a genius long gone.
"Sensei...what is that?" Rin asks in wonder, never seeing the formula before.
"This is one of Da Vinci's." The revelation didn't surprise the girls much, it is well known that the genius of renaissance was a magus. "To be more clear this is the formula of 'Elevation Of The Human Comprehension', a first step towards the understanding of the universe as he proposed." After finishing everything he turns to them. "Solve it."
Silence, the two students look at each other then back to the equation. "How sir?" Luvia asks.
"However you can." He says easily.
"But...I just understand half of it sir." He nods at her answer.
"Yes, but it is an equation and if you two work together there is a good chance that you will find a solution." He relaxes on his chair, picking up a book and begins reading. "Get started, you two have until midnight to find something."
"Isn't that way too much after school hours?" Rin questions, a frown on her face. "I don't think you can hold us for that long sir."
"Oh, I am not holding you here." He points to the closed door. "You can go whenever you want. Go get dinner or just leave, your choice."
That had the girls confused. "Isn't this detention?" Luvia doesn't hold back, looking between the door and equation.
"Yes, it is. And if you leave before solving the equation you are out of the class."
"What? You are serious, sensei?" Rin got up, not holding back her frustration.
"Yes, I am." Waver just reads his book, not bothering to look at his students. "You two almost exposed the secret of magic, maybe the boundary fields around the classroom would have held your attacks back but this is not the right environment for a fight and the risk was there. I even considered getting the two of you expelled over it." Rin sat back down again, her and Luvia shocked by the news. "Now you two have a choice, until midnight you either solve this equation or leave this class. There is no other way around it even if I managed to stop you before things really escalated."
Both turned to Da Vinci's equation once again, trying to make sense of the many parts of it. They were confused and it was hard to find a point to start.
"What are you two waiting for?" In an instant both get their notebooks and start writing the equation on paper to make it easier to pick it apart and build something. 'I wonder if those two will get it?' Waver reflex for a moment. 'I modified the equation a bit to make it easier for comprehension. If one pays attention they will be able to tell I broke it in two parts, parts that I know for sure both of them know one thing or another.'
The goal is to make them work together and not fight so much, if they don't recognize the need to work together, Waver is sure they are going to fail and if that happens he is going to lose two good students.
'Well, it can't be helped.' Waver's decision is already made, if they solve the equation they can stay in his class but if they fail then they are out. 'Now let's see how long it is going to take for them to realize the other knows some parts of the equation. They have hours to work on it.'
…
Meanwhile Shirou, Kiba and Setsuna are going to the dance clubroom. Even if some of their friends can't join them there is no need to change the plans they had already agreed to. "So...any expectations?" Shirou asked Setsuna, the girl shaking her head.
"No, just want to see if it is something that I can enjoy." Kiba chuckles at that.
"Like usual?" She nods. "Shirou, want to bet if she is going to try this one?"
"No thank you. I already lost five times." Because of his optimism, Shirou has betted on 'yes' every single time. "And you always go for 'no'."
"Not my fault if I am sure that Setsuna is not going to find something she likes. Odds are in the 'no' camp for the moment." The blonde says with a smile, a group of girls passing by and stopping to admire his smile.
"I thought that you were going to try music, Setsuna?" Shirou tries to change the subject.
"I was planning that but my sister said that I should try stuff to move my body first." The ravenhead says pensive. "Maybe because that is how she prefers to have fun but it is worth a shot."
The boys look at each other, Kiba giving Shirou a smile while the redhead rolls his eyes at the blonde's reaction. In the human mind he ponders what Setsuna said. 'Is this her way to try and stay close to her sister?' Siblings is a concept he was trying to avoid thinking about since the reveal of Illya's allegiance. 'Is she even using the telescope?'
As the last project they managed to finish together, it was one of the last things in his mind for after he heard the truth. Now he can't help but wonder if she even bothers with it since she isn't in London.
'Is there even a sky in the Dimensional Gap? And the other dimensions?' The Underworld had one that resembled the mundane world from what Rias explained, changed with magic to help the former humans to adapt and limited to certain areas. The rest looks like a dark sky without stars.
Shaking his head, Shirou focused on walking their way to the most recent attempt from Setsuna to find a club. The dancing club building is actually closer to one of the many snack bars open to the college students. Those in highschool can also eat there but the time it would take for them to get more varieties of food could end with that person getting back late to class since the time between classes is less in school.
Setsuna stops for a moment and turns her head to the side, taking in some smell. "Something wrong?" Shirou asked.
"No...I just smelled something...pleasant? It is sweet and I have never come across something like that before." She keeps sniffing the air and both boys look at each other once again, taking a moment to attempt to do the same.
They felt nothing but considering the hanyou species of Setsuna is not strange, with her advanced sense of smell she can theoretically detect something miles away from her current position. "Setsuna?"
Shirou's call snaps her out of a daze, making her realize how focused she was on the smell. "Sorry. We should keep going." It is clear that the hanyou maiden is distracted, either by the smell or something else. Still her friends followed as they walked the path to the 'dance studio'.
Once they were close enough Shirou felt a smell as well, something sweet that he also was unable to describe. It was nice and foreign but nothing that would make him stop. They also began to hear loud music. 'Must be practice.' The redhead thought to himself before he felt a chill run down his spine. 'Mana?'
He wasn't sure but he could feel his nose react to the energy, it was mixed with the previous smell in a way he never felt before in his life. It reminded him of some plants and herbs but he couldn't put a finger on a name or anything similar but he could tell it was familiar.
Music, a rhythmic beat, is heard around the considerable big building. It is smaller than the school by a considerable margin with the same size and structure of a gym for exercises with the addition of the music that is going around even with closed doors and no visible open windows.
"Do you guys feel anything?" Shirou asks his friends but receives no immediate reply which prompts him to stop. "Guys?" No reaction. "GUYS?" Kiba stops as well.
"Something wrong Shirou?" His eyes were unfocused for a moment but once he stopped Setsuna did as well.
"Come on guys." The hanyou says with cheer. "We are close! Maybe this is the club for me." She begins to run and Kiba follows behind leaving the redhead no choice but to follow as well.
Now Shirou is officially confused. When Setsuna wants to show her excitement she is more calm and collected than that, he saw it many times when lunch or dinner is close and she can't wait to eat. Normally her head is a little higher, her smile doesn't leave her face but she remains calm.
Now she is running in the direction of an unknown building where he is feeling things that concern him, like the smell of mana mixed with something else and that worries him. Kiba also didn't hesitate a second before following her, the Knight also acting weirdly compared with his usual self.
"Guys wait a bit!" Shirou tried to stop them again but it was useless. Setsuna approaches the door and opens it, loud music explodes and lots of colors run around inside. A party, or a rave, those are the words that come to Shirou's mind as he sees people jumping around and dancing. "What the hell?"
"This looks fun!" Setsuna shouts as she heads inside.
"Wait-" Shirou tries to stop her but she begins to do small jumps and joins with the dancers.
"Come on Shirou! Let's GO!" It was the first time he heard Kiba scream outside of combat and he sounded like a kid being let loose in a candy shop.
Observing his surroundings while his friends disappeared inside the crowd. Many of them look lost in an estate of euphoria and joy, dancing like mad and letting their bodies lose.
Some are in school uniform while others were in normal clothes with a good number of those looking older than the average highschooler leaving the redhead to deduce they are from the college division.
Men and women danced together in some parts, in others they looked ready to fall but kept dancing, the beat leading people to lower their inhibitions. The kind of dances that some people were doing was enough to make the redhead blush but he looked away, trying to find his friends in the mass of people.
Picking his cell phone from his pocket Shirou tries to call Kiba's number, then Setsuna's. Both gave no reply not because they are not hearing the ringtone or not having their phones to vibrate and alert them of the calls but simply appears his phone didn't connect even if it was telling him that it has a signal.
Immediately Shirou tries to call Rias, the situation already suspicious enough that he doesn't hesitate in calling reinforcements only to get no response once again.
Now, with his suspicions on the rise, Shirou looks around frantically to try and find his friends only to come up with nothing.
The loud music, the flickering lights in various colors, there is even a giant disco ball above making an effect that is disrupting his search. Most of the windows of the place are covered and he can also see sound boxes in every angle, both on the ground and the walls.
Also there is a stage with two huge tables and four boxes, two huge and two small above the bigger ones. The table had discs and they were put to play, made sounds and then traded themselves alone. 'Definitivally magic.'
"HEAR ME MY PEOPLE!" Took a moment for Shirou to find the source of the voice, it was a man with black hair and a sharp nose. He is dressed in what Shirou can only describe as an Elvis cosplay with an open black shirt, white jacket and pants with a chain around his neck. He had a microphone on his hand and the redhead could hear him clearly even with the beat of the music still going. His hair has a tuf that looks like it is jumping as he dances as well. "MORE DRINKS AND FOOD ON THE TABLE! GET YOUR STUFF GOING! SHAKE IT MORE! DANCE MORE! KEEP! THE! PARTY! GOIIIIIIIING!"
Shirou has to cover his ears as the dancers celebrate and start to dance more if it was possible, the excitement around renewed. On any other day or in any other place he would be happy to see people having fun but this is not any other place and he already identified that there is something suspicious happening. The fact that he couldn't reach Rias even if they were still in Kuoh makes him more worried since he is sure that there is magic involved.
Now Shirou realizes he has two choices, he can leave the building, try to get help and then come back. The negative of this is that he doesn't know what is really happening, what is the goal of the caster or the spells influencing these people. Whatever it is both Setsuna and Kiba also fell for it making the situation worse since their own power should protect them from any outside influences.
His friends are the reason he can't leave, not only them but everyone else is basically a hostage or a prisoner since he doesn't doubt that no one would have good intentions in setting up this kind of trap.
If he leaves, maybe he can get help, make a plan and come back with a way to help everyone. Except that he has no idea what is the final goal of all this, if he leaves there is a chance he comes back to find nothing or worse.
'Can I get everyone out?' Shirou reflects, moving around the sea of bodies still trying to find his friends. 'At least I need to take Setsuna and Kiba out. Once they are far enough the effects of whatever is affecting them must disappear. I hope.'
Still he needs to find them, either that or find the responsable. Then the situation got worse when he noticed a girl with raccoon ears dancing and with fluff tail showing up from her uniform, another girl suddenly had a beak instead of a mouth and a guy's neck got too big for it to be called human.
Emiya was about to panic but nobody reacted to the strange events, some more happening and people were just dancing, not caring or realizing that there were yokais in their midst.
'Is that a good thing or a bad thing?' On one hand it means the secret is not out, on the other it means everyone is under a really strong influence since they didn't react at all. 'Long neck is making out with a girl from college, there is no way she isn't noticing him.' The yokai is around her neck and kissing her from the side.
Walking around is difficult, people are pushing and shoving each other, their dance is messy, Shirou takes a punch in the eye before he is able to move on. He retreats back to the entrance, using the wall to go around and finding out that there are less people away from the dance floor.
There are still some people doing a diverse number of things, from smoking to making out, but they all ignored him, all still moving in a way or another with their heads or feet.
Sticking close to the wall he also finds the bathroom with people going in and out but he saw no problems there. He saw some people reclined close to a table full of food and drinks, some looking exhausted.
Deciding maybe he could talk with someone he got closer to the banquet, plenty of dancers swooped around and got the many kinds of snacks from sandwiches to rice balls, sodas, chips, cupcakes and other foods that were just to fill the stomach, nothing really nutritious.
Yet he approaches and once he does, the realization dawns on him that the people before him were not just exhausted, some of them were close to dying. Sprinting the rest of the way he gets closer to the first person that he can reach, a guy who is dragging himself to the table to try and get more food.
"Hey, hey." He turns the guy around and his face is pale, lips dry. Running to the table he gets a soda since he couldn't find some water and gets to the guy on the ground. "Are you alright?" He offers the drink and the guy chugs it down.
"Dude, thanks." The guy's voice is extremely weak and his eyes are closing, his conscience leaving him.
"Hey, stay awake." Raising the man up a little, he places the can on the ground and gives a couple of small slaps at the man's face. "Come on! Stay awake!" Shirou hoped the guy could hear him with the loud music.
At least he is still conscious. "Just need…" Not being able to hear properly, Shirou approaches his ear to the man's mouth. "Just need to rest for a bit. Have to get to the party."
"You are exhausted! No, it is worse than that even!" And he is not the only one.
Shirou can see plenty of students from both highschool with the uniforms and those he suspect were from college, spread around on their backs or front. Even with the loud music they are unconscious and he fears the worse.
"The beat…" The redhead turns to the man on his arms. "The beat...is so good."
"Beat? Are you talking about the music?" Shirou couldn't ask any further, the guy passed out. "Oi! Wake up!" But it was pointless and Shirou moves the man away from the table so he is not trampled by mistake and lays him against the wall.
Checking the other the magus lets out a sigh of relief, no one was dead so far, even if some were starting to stink. He finds another one barely conscious, an older man that looked like a teacher.
"You alright?" He tries to help but when the man gets up he immediately dances a little before falling to the ground again.
"Have to...party. No classes...until monday." He said barely with a whisper, making Shirou more worried.
"Today is monday!" He tries to inform the potential teacher but gets no reply as he also passes out. "Damn it!"
Thanks to the new piece of information he gets now he can understand why so many were on the ground and barely moving, this is not a one day incident and at least it has been happening since the weekend.
"I need to stop this." Turning to the stage he can see the instruments still working by themselves. "There is magic there. And the other guy spoke of a beat." Looking to one of the sound boxes, Shirou nods to himself. 'If there is someone here doing this they maybe guarding the table but I can stop the music if-'
"SHIROU!" He almost didn't hear the familiar voice but he turns to see Setsuna in a vision that is both dangerous and that got his blood boiling.
Approaching him with a sway on her step and some buttons loose from the top of her shirt letting him see her dark blue bra and cleavage, is one of his best friends. Her hair looks more salvage and her ponytail is undone with her canines more pronounced, claws in her hands and a smile on her blushing face.
Her smile was seductive and Shirou finds it as beautiful as the one she gave him on their date even if in a different way. Before there was an innocent and gentle nature behind her smile that made him feel good while finding it precious.
Now there is an edge, something feral behind it but still attractive to him in a way he can't help but blush as she approaches like a predator about to catch her prey. "Setsuna?" Once she is closer he can see there are purple marks on her cheeks that look like claw marks.
"Shirou! I am so happy to find you!" She embraces him, her arms around her neck. "This party is so awesome! Come on! Let's dance!"
In his ears it sounded like she wanted more than just dance. "What? No! Setsuna, listen to me! There is something wrong here!"
"Of course there is!" She says to him getting closer. "You aren't having fun!"
Setsuna gets closer and he can feel her arms pulling his head towards her. 'She is-? Is she trying to-?' Time seems to slow down for him as she approaches, closing her eyes as her lips are ever close to his.
Shirou manages to place his hands on her shoulder to stop her. "Huh?"
"Setsuna, you are not in your right mind right now!" Her head tilts to the side and he believes she understood him. "There is something terribly wrong happening here! These people-"
Before he can continue, Setsuna moves towards him fast and licks his neck making him shiver before she follows up with a kiss on the same spot. "I always wanted to do this." Then she bit him and Shirou has to hold himself back so he doesn't flinch.
Even when he could feel his blood being drawn.
"I want you." She looks him in the eyes, even with the loud music he heard her clearly. "And you want me." It is in his eyes, a desire that he won't deny. "What is the problem with us getting together now?"
Setsuna kisses where she bit him, then she starts delivering small and constant kisses while making a trail going up his neck towards his face, from time to time licking Shirou's blood before going back up his neck.
He can feel her warmth, his skin feeling a heat that was compared to his forge if not hotter in a way that felt so good he wished to just let go and melt on her embrace, touch her lips with his own and feel even better.
'It feels so nice.' Shirou thinks to himself, he was feeling the effects of the smell, not of the place but from the girl with him. His hands move up, he wants to touch her, to feel her more. It is with great pain that he places them on her shoulders again and pushes Setsuna back.
"Shirou?" She sounds confused.
"The beat Setsuna. It is still playing." He says despair in his voice. "I have to stop it."
With that declaration, he avoided looking anywhere that wasn't Setsuna's shoes. Then Shirou turns around, hearing her call his name as he heads towards one of the corners of the huge place.
'That was close.' He was sweating, and almost in a panic but focused. 'I have to stop this, whatever it is. I don't know why it isn't affecting me like the others but I will stop it! I swear!'
Shirou doesn't care if it was the artefact he has or the curse he survived or even the fact that his origin is weird but he is the only one still with his mental faculties intact and it is his job to stop whoever made the trap.
To him the beat that is enchanting everyone else is not the call to a party but a dark drumming that is making everyone go mad by basically existing, to him it is not the sound of something joyful or is prompting him to dance in cheer but making him want to move faster and stop it before something goes terribly wrong. People are already close to dying and he won't allow it to happen.
Getting to the first corner, Shirou doesn't waste any time and traces a sword and stabs the first sound box without hesitation. After that he makes one of his special knives, throwing it above to become a fireball and get rid of the second box.
The impact results in an explosion of flame and sparks but that didn't scare people or anything similar. Instead he heard shouts of fun and screams of celebration like fireworks had just been let out and everyone was just admiring the flying colors. 'At least that shows it won't be easy to get everyone out of here.' Shirou thinks, already moving to the next corner.
"HEY!" Shirou heard clearly and could tell that the voice was calling for him. Stopping and turning around to the stage. Everyone else is still dancing but the Elvis impersonator is standing, glaring at the redhead. "DUDE! YOU RUINING OUR PARTY!"
"YOUR PARTY IS HARMING PEOPLE!" Shirou screams with all he could but all that the impersonator did was turn his ear in the redheads direction.
"HEH? TALK LOUDER! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" The magus rolls his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't anyway with the loud music. Discussing matters would be just a waste of time anyway unless the music stopped so Shirou kept going. "HEY! DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!"
Technically Shirou is showing his side but that didn't matter as he arrived on the next sound system and cut it in half with another sword, tracing another knife and repeating the process he did on the previous corner.
"YOU FUCKING PARTY POOPER!" A green aura starts to leave the Elvis impersonator body, making Shirou give the man his full attention.
"At least I know he is the one responsible for this mess." The music is not as loud as before and Shirou can tell that the events around him are losing steam. They lack the energy they had before. There were only two corners and the central controler to take care of and he is sure that this guy isn't going down without a fight.
"HEY! LISTEN UP PEOPLE!" While dancing, everyone still turned to the guy who pointed at Shirou, a smile on his face. "THE REDHEAD THERE WANTS TO END THE PARTY! SHOW HIM OUT!"
"This can't be good." Shirou didn't feel a shift in the air or anything similar. From nowhere everyone turned towards him and he knew that something was wrong, they were all still smiling, dancing or similar things but now they are going in his direction, still jumping and moving with the beat of the song.
For a moment Shirou didn't react much, taking a couple of steps back until he noticed his back was against the wall with the horde of people slowly approaching.
From the side someone grabs his arm and tries to pull him. It is a couple, with both grabbing the same arm but Shirou pulls back and they fall easily on the floor, surprising the redhead.
That didn't deter them as they still smiled and tried to grab his legs, Shirou moving a little to the side only to feel another hand grab his shoulder, and then another pull his shirt, his hair, arm until the first couple managed to grab a leg.
Realizing he can't just let them do what they want Shirou throws the first punch, easily knocking a random guy down without much effort. For a moment Shirou stops to reflect why that was so easy but feeling more people trying to rip a limb or his hair snaps him out of it and he starts punching and kicking those around him.
Immediately after he started Shirou decided that Reinforcement is off the table. He is easily defeating and kicking back everyone that approaches him with small punches and kicks. Even with years of condition and training his speciality is not fighting bare handed. Give him a sword and he can defeat any modern day master and many of those that lived and died by the blade, the same cannot be said if he just uses his hands.
But the glassy eyes, the frozen smiles and the fact that weak punches and kicks are beating many people without real effort made clear that those present are not in the best condition.
The majority of them have been dancing for days in abaddon, stopping to eat and the minimal necessities but being sustained only by a magic command and the fact that their minds are not in control since their bodies are in the very limits of what a living being can sustain before breaking down.
Shoulder tackling to one side, Shirou gets in the middle of a group and swipes some of their legs with his own. More than five people fall easily and Shirou is legitimately fearful for their lives since they can't even stand once again, regardless of magic or commands.
He launches a back hand to the side, knocking a woman down before one of the yokais present grabs him from behind, fur covering their arms. Headbutting them, Shirou turns and throws a back kick with a little more force making the giant fall and taking another group of people with him.
More started to grab him and he can tell by how they are pushing and pulling with little more strength. 'I really wish I could use a sword.' Shirou picks a direction and starts pushing as hard as he could, some falling to his charge while others ignore and try to hold or stop him. 'I need to be careful. Everyone here is innocent, a victim of that mad man's games.'
Before he reached the wall so he could start aiming for the music he felt himself stop. Someone grabs him by the neck, the raccoon girl he saw before. She starts to pull him back, making it harder for him to breathe.
'Think! Think!' Shirou feels another person grabbing his arm and legs, by that point he has only one free hand. 'I must have made a sword that can help with this! Something that won't kill!"
There are some but all of them are steel, good, sharp steel. If he traces even a single one of them and makes a mistake Emiya Shirou will be responsible for some poor soul death. In a bind, he refused every sword and weapon he ever made, every single one of them had an edge of some sort with spears being the only option that can help but not when he has only one free hand.
'Am I going to die?' The thought actually didn't scare him as much it irritated him. 'No! I still have stuff to do! I have to find who made that blasted ritual! Talk with dad! Talk with Illya! I refuse to die!'
Mana runs on his circuits and he headbuts the raccoon girl on the face before spinning, kicking and punching more people around him. But they didn't fall this time, many being yokais and being able to spend days worth of energy and still be able to keep going even with reduced capacity.
"A sword!" Shirou shouts to himself as more of the horde approaches. "I need a sword!" Even in better condition than everyone else present, both in mind and body, Shirou knows he can't defeat an army fighting with just his hands.
Maybe if everyone around him were normal enemies he wouldn't hesitate as much, maybe he would try to negotiate or even run away.
But this is not a normal army, these are controlled people, their faces still stuck with wide eyes and smiles as they march in his direction on the same rhythm as before following the same beat. If anything it is the most incompetent but coordenated army ever made.
He needs a weapon but the only weapon that fits the criteria he is looking for are the wood swords from his days on the kendo club. The problem is that he never analysed them or used any magic on those in any way so he doesn't know how to trace it out of nowhere. 'It is cheating.' He used to say and avoided using magic on them like a plague.
It is then that a memory jumps to the forefront of his mind, there was an exception, a single kendo sword he did use Structure Analysis on and then Reinforcement. Funnily enough it was against another horde in the past.
Before anyone else could reach him, the sword was already ready and hitting that person on the face. It is a memory, a gift his friends offered him on the last day of their club and he never received it from anyone, finding it abandoned. It was made with care and carried a charm with the symbol of yin yang in a white charm.
A smile grows on Shirou's lips, confidence soothing his spirit now that he has a weapon on his hands. "Now that is more like it." He can never forget the bokken of his last day in Homurahara and the day he met Rias.
Still following the command to 'show him out' and pull him apart since everyone is going to try at the same time, they charged. But now Shirou lost any fear, with a sword in his hand and the opponents at their limits without a mind of their own to strategize he feels he can win easily.
His first move is to hit the closest person on the head. That is also the second and third move, his posture perfect for kendo with both hands on the handle and one foot in front of the other. The goal is to knock everyone out as fast as he can with minimal effort, the sword Reinforced so it can't break easily.
Shirou sees from the corner of his eye someone coming from behind and spins in a foot, hitting the target on the shoulder. In his ears he can still hear the music blasting and he knows from experience that everyone there is still in a trance, following the accursed song for every move.
That changes with the music, it stops for a moment and he turns to see the Elvis impersonator. His nose looks more pointy now and his hair is starting to unveil from the haircut. "TIME TO SHIFT GEARS!" He screams as the music changes, the beat is still there but with a much faster tempo.
And the horde responded, charging at Shirou in a run.
In these circumstances Shirou once again picks a direction, Reinforces his legs and runs in a direction hitting anyone on his way. A blow to the head, followed by a stab in someone's stomach and a kick on the back when the fastest runner almost gets him.
It is then that Shirou sees Kiba. "Sorry my friend, time for us to go!" He said with the same smile as the rest of the horde but with a friendly tone Shirou is familiar with all the while moving much faster than any of the others. The redhead almost had no time to raise his sword to intercept the Knight's arm and then hit him on the chest.
Unlike everyone that was in the place for much longer, Kiba had entered with Shirou and was much more well rested when he first stepped on the building. For that reason, unlike the others he got up much quickly and charged at his friend again while the magus was busy feeding off another guy trying to tackle him. A sword on the face solved that problem but the blonde grabs Shirou's arm and tries to disarm him.
Fortunately the blonde positioned himself badly, the influence on his mind dulling his instincts and allowing Shirou to just elbow his friend on the stomach to make him let go and proceeding to hit a Reinforced wood sword on his face hard enough to draw blood.
But before Shirou could finish Kiba off the bigger problem showed up, Setsuna tackled him to the ground with a smile. "Come on Shirou! Let's leave and have fun at your place!"
"Kinda forward of you!" He knows his friend is not in her right mind and part of him hopes she forgets the events of the night but that didn't help with the fact she is stronger and faster than him. With Kiba at least Shirou knows he can defeat in a context of brute force, the fact his friend isn't making a sword severely reduces Kiba's threat level, but Setsuna is the opposed unless he can outsmart her. "Fine, we can go!"
The moment he said it, Setsuna's eyes began to shine. "Really?" He needs to say it fast before the rest of the horde gets him.
'Since she has a single minded goal mixed with her emotions.' The magus has nothing to lose. "But to leave we need to open the way and we are surrounded!"
"I'll deal with THEM!" The way his friend sounded excited scared him a little but not more than she just jumped away from him and started to punch and kick everyone else around them.
"One problem solved for now." Shirou says while getting up and noticing he is still far away from the sound boxes and the main controller, the guilty party for all this mess not paying attention to him but trying to shout orders to have Setsuna stop. She didn't. "Okay, I should have practiced this more but no use crying over spilled milk."
On his left hand a simple bow appears while on his right the sword he was using gives place to an arrow that he immediately notches. Unfortunately one of the dancers gets in the way of his aim and he needs to hit the guy with the reinforced bow while others try to get him as well, Setsuna just using punches and kicks instead of her youki to deal with the threats.
All she can do is the basics, her senses also are a mess because of the condition of her mind incentivizing Shirou to try and finish things faster.
Kiba appears once again, bleeding but still smiling. "We need to go, Shirou!" He grabs the bow and tries to push Shirou to the door.
"You can go! I need to wait for Setsuna to finish!" He said, hoping that Kiba's condition was similar enough that he left or stopped harassing him.
It was in vain. "We can wait for her outside! Let's go!" He pulls the bow hard but Shirou resists a little, just enough to take a step closer to his friend and hammer his nose with the weapon and knock him down.
"Sorry!" He shouts the apology as he stomps Kiba's face to knock him out. That just gives him a temporary reprieve as four guys tackle him to the ground at once like they were in a game of American Football. What makes it harder was that at least two of them are yokais with one having bull horns and the other having blue skin.
When hits the ground, Shirou manages to look around and notices that Setsuna is almost done with everyone else. Not hard since even the yokais are not in the same condition as her and she is a fighter while the majority of the others are the equivalent of common citizens going against a trained warrior.
Gritting his teeth Shirou employs reinforcement once again, pushing with his full strength and dislodging the people on him.
Once one of his arms is free he punches the one with horns, the strongest, on the forehead. He has no time to hold back and once the first one is down Shirou manages to push him off himself and kick and punch the rest.
Making a bow and arrow again, he doesn't hesitate and fires, hoping that the Elvis impersonator, clearly a yokai since his human form is looking more feral by the minute, doesn't notice the shot going to the DJ table.
Unfortunately again his suspicions from early are proven true when there is a barrier surrounding that. "Oh, come on! This can't get any worse!" Shirou didn't notice he tempted fate for five seconds.
"SHIROU!" He turns, seeing Setsuna walks towards him once again, trying to be seductive since he is sure that she is moving her hips a little too much. "Your place or mine?"
"HELL YEAH! GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" The moment the Elvis impostor, with a long nose, wings like a bird's and what Shirou suspects is a tengu, said that Setsuna smiled more.
"Wait a minute, Setsuna." When Shirou litts his left arm he felt a sharp pain. "We still have to-"
"No!" She shouts, getting on all fours. "We are leaving!" Setsuna charges at him full speed and Shirou barely has time to roll to the side as she hits a wall, breaking it apart and leaving a huge hole behind.
Letting go of the bow and arrow Shirou avaliates his options; there are people all around hurt and exhausted, the mastermind is watching while behind a barrier that he has no idea how to break and Setsuna is turning around, ready to charge again.
Before she does, Shirou turns and starts to run, trying to get some distance between him and his friend. 'She is way faster in her more feral form.' He hears her approaching and jumps to the side, avoiding Setsuna by millimeters while the floor is damaged. 'If this keeps going it's just a matter of time she hits someone, probably me.'
Setsuna slowly turns around, her smile would be the image of dreams only that the situation made it the stuff of nightmares. But smile she did and Shirou knows that if he doesn't do something quickly things are going to get worse.
"Shirou~!" The hanyou charges once again, Shirou hadn't time to get more distance to make his dodge easier and had to react fast. Making his bokken once again he stops her. "Neh~ Let's go Shirou!" Her face gets close to his, he is sweating both from trying to keep her back and his nerves.
"I-" He knows she isn't really attacking him, not even pushing him too much. This is not much different from a game and he is losing. 'I can just leave with Setsuna, have her calm down then come back.'
He managed to gather that the tengu isn't able to give real commands, only suggestions that people can get behind with the scenery it was constructed. This is a party and Setsuna, or at least some part of her, wants to do this or something similar. If it wasn't for that Shirou would have been dead already.
"This makes no sense." He whispers.
"Huh? What?" Setsuna hears him and stops, her face centimeters from his.
"Why is this guy throwing this party? Why do all this?" He honestly doesn't expect an answer or anything similar but he can see that Setsuna blinked for a moment, her eyes regaining some focus. "Look around you Setsuna," Shirou motions with his head, "there are people hurt, some may be dying."
The ravenhead blinks again. "I- Shirou-"
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" The tengu shouts in the mic. "GET YOUR MAN OUT OF HERE! THE PARTY MUST GO ON!"
The smile Setsuna gave at the order wasn't something that he wanted to see ever again, it can only be called fake. Then she grabs him by his left arm and begins to drag him through the floor, pain distracting him as he can now feel that his shoulder was dislocated and he had been wounded in his chest and back.
Once again the thought of just leaving and coming back later passes by his mind, it lasts until he sees that more people are trying to get up. To follow the new order that was given, regardless of exhaustion.
That fills him with rage but he takes a deep breath, Setsuna still dragging him, having him push other bodies to make way to the hole she made previously. 'If I want to stop this madness…'
An image of Muramasa appears on his mind, his hand already ready for the sword. It would be so easy to just cut Setsuna's hand and knock her out and deal with the tengu after.
But he refuses, she is her friend, someone precious to him and she is not in her right mind. Even if hundreds of lives are in danger he won't harm her in such a way without knowing what she would remember later or lacking the means to attach the hand back himself.
'Think Shirou, think! There must be something that I can do! That table is letting the music play and also has a barrier! Probably the magic around also created the smell that made Setsuna act weirdly before! I just need to get close to destroy it! Either that or throw enough power that the barrier will break!...Damnit! I wish Setsuna was freed already! She has enough- THAT IS IT!' An idea, that Shirou isn't sure it will work but didn't cost anything to try to make itself known in his mind. "Setsuna wait! We can't leave just yet!"
"We can't?" The words sound foreign to her but the young woman is strong enough that the fog of the hypnoses allow Shirou's words to reach her. "But we have to leave."
The redhead knows she is still affected but he already figured out the rules, at least enough of them to be able to use it in his favor. "I have a gift for you!" He tries to not let the panic show in her voice.
This is a party, people don't just panic at a party.
"What gift?" Setsuna lets him go and turns to him, her eyes shining.
Slowly and with a fake smile that he can only hope she doesn't notice, he gets up from the ground. "I hid it here earlier! Since we were coming to this club today!" He is lying and the way his face is contorting he knows that in her normal state of mind Setsuna would notice.
His smile, already fake, is more forced, he has a frown that he can't stop from escaping and is sure that he sounds less convincing. It is a known fact that Shirou can't lie, not because he can't tell a lie but because everyone can see it without problems, even someone that doesn't know him can tell he is lying.
And he doesn't like to lie or, better yet, he likes telling the truth, to pit his beliefs against anyone that disagrees and either be proven right or grow by learning something. Lying has its place but he can't do it properly either way.
But he needs now because his only hope is for Setsuna to listen to him just enough to save everyone. "Where is it?" She believes in him and looks anxious for whatever gift he has for her.
Looking at her now, so eager, made him want to pat her on the head but there is no time. "First I need you to do something for me." She nods, trusting his words completely. "I need you to let out as much youki as possible then I will show you where you can get your gift."
"Okay~" Then Setsuna begins to let her energy out, no more questions or doubts left as she charges everything that she can. It is her confidence in Shirou, something that she developed with months of interaction between them and a passion that grew and is being nurtured even now.
Shirou cares for her, cooks for her, treats her well and listens to her when she has trouble. They shared from their spars to their date the two shared enough moments that even with her mind unfocused it still holds on the prerogative that Shirou is not going to hurt her if he can avoid it.
"WOAH! WHAT THE HECK!" The tengu notices, only the Elvis-like clothes remain from his disguise. "WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING! GET YOUR MAN AND GO!" He can feel the power leaving Setsuna and he knows he can't beat that much energy.
But his command fell on deaf ears as the girl is technically obeying that command already, only that Shirou's influence added another step of 'getting the gift before they go'. So she prepares her youki, doing as Shirou asked so she could get the gift and they could go.
Meanwhile the redhead fixes his shoulder, ignoring his aching muscles to prepare for the final confrontation; he knows it's coming if things go as planned. The tengu is not moving, only screaming commands but Setsuna is not listening, much to Shirou's relief, her youki running wild.
Comparing Setsuna's raw power with others he can say for certain that she is weaker than Rias and Akeno but stronger than anyone else, even Rin, just in terms of raw power that is. Normally she wields her power like her naginata, with precision and grace, almost like a professional dancer on a stage and still keeping perfect steps.
But like her appearance at the moment the power is untamed, uncaring and destructive. The poison that she can make is missing and only power is leaving her, per his request. Youki pours out of her like if a dawn had broken, uncontrolled but still enough for what he needed her to do.
"What now?" Setsuna sounds more serious. Either the hypnosis is weakening because of her power or using that much snapped her out of it. Either way Shirou smiles at her
"Are you seeing that stage?" He points to the place with most of the sound system and a really furious tengu. Setsuna nods. "Smash it! Everything!"
Once again her smile is back, more feral than ever before. She places both her hands on the ground and in all fours she leaps, more youki pouring out of her. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"NONONONONONO!" The tengu sees the missile going in his direction and takes flight while Setsuna smashes the stage with her whole body.
The impact breaks everything apart, the tables, the disks, every equipment that was on the stage is broken together with it as it falls apart. While the lights are still working, the music disappears completely and Shirou can't smell the mana in the air anymore, much to his relief.
A cloud of dust covers where the stage once was and Shirou rushes inside it. "Setsuna!" The way to the stage are many bodies but he manages to reach the wreckage easily while the tengu just glares at the redhead, an aura of youki and murder surronding him. "Setsuna! Are you alright?" Shirou gets rid of some wreckage, digging his friend out.
"Urh, Shirou? What happened?" Setsuna tries to get up but almost falls down until Shirou holds her. "My body feels like I just ran a marathon."
"You let out too much energy without any control." He tries to explain. "What do you remember?"
"I remember?" The hanyou looks at Shirou, especifically his neck and her face starts to get red. It was a small blush at first but soon her whole face was red with her ears practically letting out steam. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?" Embarrassed and afraid, Setsuna covers her face with her hands. "Kya! I am sorry! I am sorry! I am sorry!"
'Kya?' His mind couldn't help but point that out. "Hey, calm down." Shirou says with a small smile. "It wasn't your fault-"
"But the way I acted was completely outrageous!" She sees Shirou's face again for one moment before the shame was too much and she turns around. "I am SORRY!"
"Calm down, alright?" He places a hand on Setsuna's shoulder. "For now we need-" Shirou stops talking and moves to stand in front of his friends, a huge shield appearing on his hands as he blocks a huge gust of wind. "I thought he would have run at this point!" Shirou complains and Setsuna can see why.
Standing a few meters away from them is the tengu from before, a mad look in his eyes and a huge feathered fan on his hand. "YOU RUINED MY PARTY!" Screamed the tengu in rage while launching another gust of wind that Shirou blocked.
"Imaizumi?" Setsuna questions while staying behind Shirou and his shield.
"You know this guy?" Shirou questioned while holding back the wind, for a moment it died down only for it to come back at full strength a second later.
"He was one of the suitors after my sister's hand in marriage." Setsuna replies, her face serious as her focus changes to the present problem.
"Really? At her age? What is with you nobles and engagements?" He questions, finding the notion a little ridiculous since Setsuna is his age and her sister is her twin.
"He dropped out of the race since the man himself never had interest in getting married. He left last year for college outside of Kyoto- DOWN!" With some effort, Setsuna pushes Shirou to the side while a giant green shuriken breaks his shield apart and then gets stuck on the ground.
Another gust of wind is released and both highschool students get together as Shirou makes another shield. "What else do you know about him?"
"He is a wind user but I don't know much." That was obvious to Shirou at this point. "He also has some good skills at youjutsu... THIS BASTARD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THIS!" Never before had he seen Setsuna so angry but while she looked ready for a fight when she tried to call her youki it failed and almost failed to stay standing. "It makes sense," she whispered with grimace, "the smell from before and the beats were channeling his magic." She tries to take a step forward as Shirou places an arm around her waist to stop her from hurting herself.
"You used too much energy already." Shirou explains to her, the barrage of wind stopping and he raises his head to see the tengu extending his hand to the side, the shuriken returning to his hands.
"His family is one of my father's vassals." Setsuna comments while Shirou holds her thighly with one of his arms. "Shirou?" Because of recent events she can't help but blush.
"Get ready to jump!" As he anticipated the giant star flew in their direction, now he can see the wind around it giving more size and power. "NOW!"
It is easy to dodge, the attack was telegraphed for how much Imaizumi needs to prepare before launching it. But Shirou can tell that Setsuna is having more difficulty than he is, sweat was pouring from her forehead and she was breathing hard while her body was half slacked from the efforts of the day, something that rarely happened to her.
"Setsuna, you need to get to the club and call Rias, you need to tell her what happened." Shirou waits for the angry retort while making a giant sword to block the wind.
She does not disappoint. "What? Shirou, what are you talking about? We need to stop Imaizuimi!" Her complaint doesn't take into account how tired she is but Shirou is not upset.
He also has the perfect excuse to get her out of here. "Look around us Setsuna! There were too many people that almost danced to death! We need to get help quickly!" That helps her to realize the gravity of the situation. "You are faster than me and I am sure he wants my head!" The girl bites her lip, she knows he has a point and just a small push and she will go. "Besides, it is already night and we need to act fast if I will have time to make dinner."
That is when the hanyou can see through the hole she made before how the sun had already set, they stayed there for too long and there were people that stayed on this 'party' for longer. She can already tell that they will need a lot of help but someone needs to stay to protect everyone else.
Looking at Shirou she can tell he has been a little rugged by the whole debacle but is still in condition to keep fighting while her used all her youki to 'get a gift', the memory was in a haze but she can remember clearly all her actions and that is enough to push her up. "You are right." She receives a nod in response as the shuriken returns to the tengu's hands. "I will run outside and call for help."
"My cell phone wasn't working earlier so I don't know if it will work now. Either way, next time he throws, go for the exit." Since that is the plant Setsuna knows they don't have much time and offers him a piece of advice.
"If you can avoid going outside, do it. He is more limited here than there-" Before she could finish the green giant star is sailing in their direction again.
As planned they split and Shirou was correct that he would be the main target, Imaizumi completely ignoring Setsuna in favor of sending another gust of wind on his direction and she blames herself for her own weakness, if she had a little more mana she would rush him from the side and make him pay for ignoring her.
But she doesn't and easily exits the building, turning in the direction of the ORC only to almost fall to the ground. She is exhausted, the expenditure of youki was too much because she didn't control it properly and it damaged her body. Still she stood and began to run as fast as her legs allowed. 'Please Shirou, don't die until I get back.' While on the back of her mind she questions why Imaizumi is doing all this.
Shirou once again manages to dodge and he keeps dodging the winds that try to crush him, not making any other shields or defenses since he had no one to protect anymore, only an enemy to defeat.
That didn't make everything easy since the attacks are constant, the opponent using wind with minimal cost to his mana as he throws it with great ease, every passing of the fan is another attack to try and rip him apart.
But he has a sword to counter that. "Trace on!" Circuits flare as a sword appears and his next words command it. "STORM MONARCH!" Once the green blade is in his hands he easily cuts the next wind barrage and charges, trusting that the weapon on his hand will protect him.
The strongest wind sword born from Sword Birth, Kiba's sacred gear. The bastard two handed sword is not the strongest blade that Shirou can make but it is the perfect counter against an opponent who is a wind user. It can control wind to an extent and in spars where two of them clashed they tend to nullify each other's ability.
Imaizumi eyes, still full of anger, puts more power on his fan and swings but that is no problem for Shirou, his sword cuts the wind away while he doesn't lose his stride.
Instead of waiting for Shirou to reach him the tengu spreads his black wings and takes flight once again, hitting the rooftop with his back. Once he was high enough the yokai started to channel more youki in it before swinging again but this time it wasn't just a strong wind that was released in his direction but a small hurricane that Shirou couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
Channeling mana on his sword, he raises Storm Monarch above his head to act as a cushion to stop the wind from hitting the floor where many people were still unconscious, the sword's ability nullifying the blunt of the attack.
However it didn't stop the tengu from flying down and hitting Shirou from the side. "YOU RUINED MY PARTY!" He screams as Shirou is smashed in a wall, blood leaving his mouth but the redhead only looks at the tengus eyes with rage.
"I DON'T CARE!" The magus hits the tengu's chest with his knee before swinging his sword, every intention of cutting the yokai in half.
Imaizumi raises his fan and the feathers are as strong as steel since they stop the blade, the tengu using his other hand to try and decapitate Shirou with his huge shuriken. The redhead kicks the yokai with one leg to avoid death before going back to swing his blade, Reinforcement covering both his arms.
The yokai tries and fails to repeat the previous block and ends up getting cut in the chest, it didn't diminish his anger, if anything it enhanced it as he uses both arms and weapons to create another hurricane point blank at Shirou's face only for the winds to fail as Storm Monarch cancels the attack and allows Shirou to stab the yokai, a stab that is diverted to the shoulder because of the weapon in front of the chest.
"YOU BASTARD!" Imaizumi shouts as he takes flight once again, getting away from Shirou's reach, the redhead not daring to let go of his sword. "YOU RUINED MY PARTY!"
"I HEARD THAT ALREADY!" Shirou can't help but scream back which just makes the yokai more angry, the fan disappearing from his hand as another giant shuriken replaced it.
"DIE!" Instead of throwing them both in Shirou's direction the weapons find their way to the walls at the side, confusing the magus. That was until a loud sound started to go out and he was hit by something invisible, the process happened again to his other side which forced Shirou to concentrate mana on the Storm Monarch to create a wall of wind around him. "DIE DIE DIE!"
Shirou can see his wall move as projectiles made of wind hit them constantly, the impact generating a boom that bothers his ears but instead of being detained and deducting that the attacks are coming from the weapons, he runs forwards only to still see his barrier being affected.
'The walls then?' Turning all the extension of the wall into a tunnel of wind but keeping it invisible wasn't something he ever saw done. Shirou has to stop his advance as he almost gets too close to one of the knocked out students around. "Setsuna suggested staying indoors but I have little choice."
Accepting that he is at a disadvantage and needs more space to try and do something, Shirou undoes the barrier to not hurt those around him and races outside using the hole Setsuna made.
"COME BACK HERE YOU PARTY POOPER!" The tengu demands, following right after the redhead but the whole is too small for the yokai to pass without flying lower, something that Shirou hopes to capitalize.
Planting the sword at his side, Shirou traces the bow and an arrow once again with the objective to shoot down the yokai when he makes a pass to pursue him, reinforcing the weapons for good measure even if he is not used to trying and amplifying an arrow but it is the best he can do since he lacks range.
"Really should have practiced this more." He takes aim and the moment that Imaizumi appears, both hands carrying his shurikens and with little room to maneuver as Shirou lets go of the arrow only to watch as it breaks apart against an invisible shield. "Note to self; get better arrows."
He had no time to dwell on it for much longer as the tengu went for a swipe on his head. "YOU RUINED MY PARTY!"
"Okay, that is just weird." Shirou observes as he dodges the attack, grabbing Storm Monarch willingly making the bow disappear. "Why are you so obsessed with that party? Do you have any idea how many people you hurt?" He questions while blocking the next attack.
"YOU RUINED MY PARTY!" It was all the yokai said as he attacked with a rampage with his weapons, again and again. Shirou is starting to get annoyed with how single minded his opponent is. He just doesn't have much time to ponder since said opponent wants to cut his head off.
Blocking one of the shurikens, Shirou dodges the other. Imaizumi movements are aggressive and fast with little regard to defense with only the fact that he is faster than Shirou is what is allowing him to block and defend the blows going in his direction while keeping up with a steady retreat, waiting for an opportunity to counter attack.
The problem is that his opponent is too aggressive and the only openings Shirou is going to get are those he also overextends, something he doesn't need to. "Storm Monarch!" With his call the sword creates the wind shield that is its main form of defense, forcing Imaizumi back by force.
Time is on his side, sooner or later Setsuna is going to come back with help and the fight will be over since his opponent is not that strong in the first place. All he has to do is hold the tengu in place.
Freeing one of his hands to make his special knives and throwing them in a practiced motion, knowing that they were little less than a distraction.
And he is right, Imaizumi's expression doesn't change as a wall of wind blocks the attack easily. If an arrow shot by a Reinforced bow wasn't going to get the tengu than a bunch of knives Shirou threw had even less of a chance.
But they give Shirou the opportunity for a counter since Imaizumi retreats back and he can use his sword to pass by the barrier and get a clean hit.
Shirou swings his sword, putting his full strength on the attack and empowering it even more with the sword ability, the wind of the barrier breaks under the wind of the sword only for the strike to fall as both shurikens are used to block and lock the weapons.
That is when Shirou can take a good look in the eyes of his opponent and he doesn't like what he sees. His eyes were much like Setsuna's, Kiba's and everyone else in the building behind him. They were stuck looking in his direction, there was anger in them but they were practically frozen in their expression. "Don't tell me-"
The distraction costs him as Shirou is hit in rapid succession with a kick on his side then his chest. Imaizumi is using his wings to keep his balance as he lets out a sequence of three more kicks, each pushing Shirou back before being followed by the next before the final one throws him at the wall.
Imaizumi then goes for the kill and tries to skew Shirou with both his shurikens, only the redhead's fast reaction saves his life as he activates his sword's ability once again repelling the attacks but they were too close already and Shirou is still hit with a slash on the chest and stap on the shoulder but getting the opportunity to also stab his opponent on the belly even if his aim is a little off and not getting much, the weapons pierced flesh but nothing vital for either side.
"You are hypnotized?" Shirou demands to know as the tengu flies back again, ignoring his wound, the magus tries to chase but he is much slower as he bleeds but shakes it off to continue the fight.
"YOU RUINED MY PARTY!" And that reply pretty much answered Shirou's question. Imaizumi takes flight and Shirou can do nothing but watch as he flies higher and higher, to what ends the magus doesn't know.
All he does know is that he is not really fighting the mastermind of this whole mess and his white uniform is almost as red as his shirt. 'How can I stop him? The best option would be to aim for the head or the wings, tie him up and wait for help if it wasn't for his blasted wind.' Shirou bites his lip, trying to stay calm as his opponent begins to gather mana on his weapons. 'There is no music anymore, no boundary fields either. The chance of people seeing us is getting higher by the minute and I have no idea how or why someone is controlling Imaizumi.'
Even the hypnosis is different than the others, more focused and giving more freedom while locking the victim in a single order that if Shirou would throw a guess it would be 'have a party' or something similar, the details escape him but that means the tengu is also under some sort of control and the redhead has no clue of how to break it or how to win the fight in the first place.
'It explains why, even with this level of wind control, he is trying to kill me with his own hands. Since I lack range the obvious strategy would be to keep his distance.' Shirou doesn't take the eyes of the yokai while he gathers mana, trying to figure out what is his next maneuver. 'My best bet will be if he does the same thing as Setsuna did and throws everything all at once, but that also will depend on the orders he received.'
Commands on hypnoses can't be complex and mostly can't be things that people are not inclined to do by themselves. Setsuna did say he likes parties and he getting mad about one being ruined has some logic with the command only making him blind with rage instead of a more calmer option.
The more complicated and extreme the control is, the bigger is the cost and the skill needed to be implemented. But Shirou can't detect anything besides the presence of the enemy he already has to deal with. And that is all taking into account that the yokai must have some resistance towards such tricks by his biology and mana.
'There must be some trick or some reason why Imaizumi is still under someone's control.' Shirou then looks around, trying to see if there is someone close or observing the events, realizing that if the responsible was around he could be issuing commands even at the present and Shirou couldn't even be noticing. The area is mostly empty, no places to hide as far as Shirou can see and he can't look for much longer once the mana above him spiked in density.
Holding Storm Monarch he waits for another wind attack but realizes his folly once that instead of wind the youki begins to split and transform in multiple versions of the tengu, all equal to him and all armed with two giant shurikens, glaring at him with eyes full of hatred.
In total there are now ten of the yokai in the sky, every single one of them was in the same position and pointed his weapons at him, giving credence that they are just an illusion and something that a youjutsu specialist would do. """"""""""GET READY TO DIE!"""""""""" The idea died when all of them spoke, their voices echoing as they were all present and ready for the fight.
Back against the wall Shirou prepares as all the versions of Imaizumi fly in different directions, flying in a pattern to confuse the magus as he tries to keep track of them all.
Even if he can see them all he can't tell which one is the real one, the messed up flying pattern just making him more confused since he lost sight of the one that was on the center previously.
Then Imaizumi begins his attack, every single one of the tengu starts to dive in his direction, weapons at ready. "IT WON'T BE THAT EASY!" Shirou declares with a roar, planting his sword on the ground. "I am the bone of my sword!"
His magecraft is his best asset in a situation like this where the numbers are against him but he has a clear target. Circuits flare on Shirou's body as swords appear around him and above his head at a distance that he knows he is going to counter all the targets as they approach.
There are over fifty swords traced that Shirou had summoned to cover as much area as possible, all of the swords are a copy of Storm Monarch and every single one of them has mana running to pierce the windshield of the original. "Please try not to die!" He shouts his warning, hoping it would catch the original's attention.
Once all the tengu are close enough a trigger goes out on Shirou's mind and the swords fall with no real aim and only gravity to lead them in the direction of their targets.
Not all of them found their mark, the tengus had enough awareness to dodge and block most of the swords. But they are too much, fifty weapons and Shirou predicted that some would be blocked so he staggered the height of some of them so the swords that followed after would get Imaizumi and his clones, the idea is that the original would be more cautious than the copies which raised his chances of survival.
Faster than Imaizumi could react, all his clones are hit and Shirou watches, ready to trace EM once the real one shows himself. The first hit is pierced right through the heart and disappears as leftovers of the energy that made him turn into simple wind. The second is pierced on the head, the third is on the stomach while the fourth is cut by three swords on the shoulder, leg and then the head.
All of them disappear but Shirou can't stop his attack, the tengu being far too dangerous to allow him to run around under someone's control. He is still counting on the fact that the original would have enough self preservation to protect himself.
The fifth, sixth and seventh were destroyed like the rest. While there are only two copies of the tengu left since they all managed to avoid his swords, they still hadn't stopped their attack.
Which didn't surprise Shirou, he kept his hands on the first Storm Monarch and the others made sure that he had time to pull it out and attack the closest one and cut him in half, letting the mana and wind pass by him harmless.
The second was even more careless even if slow, just pushing his weapons at Shirou's direction and flying like a torpedo. It was impaled by a sword that Shirou traced the moment he realized that wasn't the real one. The blade appeared between the arms of the clone with little space to maneuver as it met its end just before its shurikens could reach Shirou's flesh.
All that is left is the last one, who was advancing at him, a little slower than the rest. Shirou deduced that even with its mind lost Imaizumi still struggles to survive, exactly what the redhead wanted as he jumped to meet his opponent.
The extra swords disappear as Shirou aims to cut the shoulder of the yokai and knock him out to wait for the others.
He didn't account for the tengu throwing his weapons at him but the redhead has enough skill to deflect the shurikens, especially since those now lact the wind that made them deadly.
It is then that a gust of wind shoots from behind Imaizumi, making him hit Shirou with his whole body and throwing the both of them to the ground, an arm on pushing Shirou's chest with the redhead's hand trying to force the yokai to let him go as Imaizumi's other hand keeps the sword at bay, the two still moving and his back getting hurt in the process.
The magus below is dragged for a couple of seconds on the ground before the yokai take both to the air at full speed, Shirou having no time to react as he can feel his arms getting locked into an embrace that was close to breaking both of them, his sword away from any position to stab his adversary.
Like when Shirou and Kiba spar, both sides attempt to use the wind and are nullified by the other. But Imaizumi still has wings and Shirou ends up letting go of his sword to try and make another one once his hand is in a better position.
"YOU RUINED MY PARTY!" Shirou could almost feel his ears blowing up by the volume of the shout.
"Change the record!" He shouts back, trying to force the arms open with Reinforcement only to fail as the yokai squishes him harder and for a moment the magus thinks he is going to be crushed to death so he struggles to get free, first trying to headbutt his opponent only to get no reaction. Then he tried to make a sword or a dagger to stab the yokai and force him to let go only for the wounds he managed to make not bother his opponent who kept going up, the wind helping him to reach greater speeds now that Shirou had given up the sword that was stopping it.
It isn't long before Shirou sees the clouds as they pass by them and now he knows he can't just kill the yokai in front of him, they are too high and the magus has no wings or swords that would allow him to fly.
Once they pass by the clouds completely, Shirou realizes how much trouble he is really in and tries to think of a solution to his predicament. He is sure that the tengu also needs to breathe, he can hear the harsh breathing even at this moment, both sides had taken serious damage during the fight but the tengu is going for the 'coup de grace'.
It is a simple idea in reality, something that a lost mind wouldn't have difficulty realizing if they had some freedom but he realized nonetheless with enough time and attempts to take the magus out. Shirou can't fly, for all intents and purposes he is a human,even as a magus and he had shown no skill or ability that would allow him to challenge gravity.
Ironically, if Imaizumi was free from any influence, he may suspect that Shirou could have something or just be disguising himself as a human and avoid trying such a maneuver. Such a hypothetical situation would still have the implication that they wouldn't even have a reason to fight in the first place but that doesn't matter in the actual situation since the lost mind of the yokai is trying to go for the easiest solution it could find.
It is getting cold at this point, Shirou can feel it even on his bones. "Imaizumi! Wake up!" Unlike Setsuna, Shirou doesn't share a connection with this particular person, all he got in reply was.
"You ruined my party!" He sounds much weaker than before, the cold getting to both of them. "Now die!" Imaizumi let Shirou go.
The redhead realized his predicament, understood that he needed to grab the yokai as fast as possible or else he was going to die. It is in vain as the wind barrier from before blows Shirou away and towards the ground as the tengu smiles, not a cruel smile but the same fake one that everyone else had at that party.
Imaizumi watches as Shirou passes by the clouds once again, entering terminal velocity during the fall and being unable to do anything. His smile doesn't change, if anything his more yokai like characteristics start to disappear as he goes back to normal, looking like an Elvis impersonator with wings and a long nose.
He was giddy, the trance he is in sending a feeling of joy and satisfaction from defending his party and getting rid of the 'party pooper'.
Imaizumi feels true happiness for a few moments before his primary directive inserts itself once again. "Have the greatest party ever, for as long as you can. Make sure it keeps going and don't let anything or anyone get in your way. Make sure as many students come to it as possible." That was the order and the command he received days ago and something inside him is still enforcing it, as if the voice of the person who ordered him to do that was still whispering in his core.
The tengu begins to descend rapidly. To keep the party going for longer he must redo his barrier, fix the sound system and restart the magic.
If he was in a normal state of mind he would realize that at this point it is impossible and that the party is over anyway. His body is exhausted, lacking sleep for days, the fight itself cost him the rest of his reserves, the building and the sound system are too damaged and he doesn't have the proper tools to even begin fixing them, even if he had the knowledge.
But the most damning fact is that someone escaped, left the party, and they will logically come back with reinforcements, those strong enough to resist any kind of magic that he could put up.
Imaizumi doesn't have the capability to think about such things. He can only do as ordered and the orders are for the party to go on and so he will attempt to make it work, completely unaware that he is bound to failure anyway.
Once the tengu is close enough to the ground he notices something, something that can be damaging to the party and so his mind focuses on it completely. It is a body and it is close to the party while looking really damaged.
A hurt person is not welcomed in a normal party, a dead one even less and so Imaizumi approaches the body, his fogged mind not being able to recognize that he is the killer and that is his victim, Emiya Shirou.
So he gets close, his mind not registering that he dropped the body of an altitude high enough that he should be only a puddle of blood instead of a full body, not realizing that the person he fought before is the one he is about to move.
Not realizing until he is close enough that Emiya Shirou is still alive and he moves fast to stab Imaizumi's leg to the ground with a silver sword, the yokai barely have time to scream as Shirou delivers the final punch to his face reinforced to the maximum, finishing the fight and breaking both the nose and parts of the cranium of his former opponent.
The magus then falls on his back, exhausted and hurt taking deep breaths with a smile on his face. He is bleeding all over and doesn't have enough mana to make an EM at the present moment, every scrap of it had gone to the sword he used and its identical siblings that had broken during his descent, Wolfsbane had saved his life but wasn't easy.
It wasn't his best job, only being truly strong offensively against werewolves and those with weakness for silver but defensively it proved to be a excellent at cushing, diminishing the speed of his fall many times over, breaking dozens of times while trying to hold the energy of his fall and then being recreated again to do its function once more.
Shirou never in his life thought he would use Wolfsbane like that, to hit himself and stop his own momentum but it worked, cost a lot of his remaining mana and almost failed but he is alive and he can't complain.
"Note...to self...making a lot of those lately...get wings...or something." Because Shirou can admit that he got lucky, he should have died for all intents and purposes, the last sword barely managing to slow his fall enough for him to end on a roll and let him spread most of the damage.
He remained there, laying on the ground for a few minutes, not noticing that the tengu's mouth had opened and a bug started to leave it. It looks like a mixture of a fly and a praying mantis with a dark blue glow around it and it was minuscule to the point of being smaller than dust.
The but then starts to contort and twitch, not being able to breathe properly the air around it. Once it was a larva able to survive the open environment but now it had evolved to live inside a body and without a host all it has left is death.
It decays, a couple of steps away from its former host, unable to sustain itself. It breaks apart fast and without ceremony. Then it was gone, not a trace left behind and none the wiser as devils approach the vicinity. Shirou can hear his friends calling for him and he smiles as he lifts his arm to show where he is while the owner of the insect feels its passing.
…
Matou Shinji has changed the location of his workshop. Once it was close to his room, a couple of steps away and somewhere easy to access.
Now he needs to go down several sets of stairs and walk a long way down the basement and he also had to move some of his things, not much really, just some tables, tubes and his own insects, inspired by his ancestor's work who gave him some extra lessons to improve his creations and better assimilate their little project.
And Shinji took the lessons with gusto. He feels a huge satisfaction as he watches one of his larvae develop.
It is another of the children of his special insect, not the first but the fourth and it is still growing. At its side there are three other jars with one empty and other two with larvae of the same species.
The first one was hastily grown on his excitement and he can't claim to have perfected the process just yet, only able to make sure his commands hold at a distance and not activating its main function.
But that is fine for the young Matou, it was his first work and he is still working the kinks of his new condition. 'It doesn't matter if it was incomplete or not.' Shinji thinks with a smile. 'I will get my revenge on Emiya. He won't even know what hit him-'
Suddenly the young man falls from his chair on the floor, a sensation of pain running through his spine. For a moment he is confused by what happened, a dizziness affecting his mind for a moment until he can feel on the back of his head something missing, something that has been on his head for the last couple of weeks.
"It died?" The boy complained, his hands going to his blue hair as he can feel a tremendous angust inside him. "How? That shouldn't have happened! It should live for at least another few days! Did the heiresses find the party already? I was sure that it would take at least a few more days before anyone noticed the people missing! Shit!"
Shinji goes around, breaking some of his jars and tubes with less important insects. He rages by the facts that his plans got delayed, having made extensive research for the host of his first insect before implementing it.
"It was too soon! The heiresses won't have any problem now that I couldn't get any of the yokais there! Worst of all, I didn't get a source of mana!" He hits the table in frustration.
All around him the insects he created and nurtured his whole life reacted, they have enough intelligence to understand that something is deeply wrong with their master and that for the last few weeks he has been different.
Meanwhile, Shinji lamented that he couldn't complete his plan. 'It was such a good plan too! I would have the heiresses busy with the fallout while I would get plenty of mana from the yokais. I just needed to wait for them to be tired enough to get some!'
Finding Imaizumi wasn't actually hard, the guy bragged about his skill to his friends when one of his insects was close enough to catch the conversation and he had the exact skill set that Shinji was looking for at the moment. Fortunately for Matou, the tengu didn't have a high mental resistance regardless of his skills and was weak enough that Shinji could defeat him with his new powers and implant his larva.
Hatred fills his heart. He wants to go and find the person responsible for ruining his plans. To torture them until death. To kill them with his own hands.
A sharp pain runs across his chest reminding him why he can't just go and get the mana himself. He needs it, every single scrap. All to feed his new friend who is sharing his body. Zolgen warned him that if he isn't careful the insect will consume him to further its evolution.
The pain gets sharper and Shinji falls to the ground for a moment before dragging himself to his old projects. "It's fine! Everything is fine! I still have time." His voice starts to get weaker as the insect starts to spread on his body more, making his nerves feel like they are on fire. But that doesn't stop Shinji.
He grabs one of his old works, the butterfly that he had showed Rias months ago, his attempt at a pact. Opening the jar where his old project was he grabs it by hand, the small being trying to fight back the whole way while Shinji takes care to not kill it. For a moment the bluehead looks to the fruits of his labor, a look of contemplation on his face.
Then Shinji puts the small being on his mouth and starts to chew. 'Shit! I thought I had more time! I thought I had one more day!' Which he had but his agitation also agitated the insect living inside him, forcing it to prioritize its survival.
All his works have prana stored in them, an attempt to emulate the magus of old. If he consumes everything he can buy himself a couple of weeks, maybe months. He still needs an alternative source or he is going to starve before the worms inside him reach their full potential.
Swallowing at last, he takes a deep breath. "I know, I know. We need more. Calm down. Getting that bastard yokai off guard again is going to be impossible like this." Before he had ambushed the tengu and defeated him quickly with the use of some of his new power. But his consumption is now literally much more than his body produces and he can barely cast a spell. "I need the others. And I will need to go for easier targets. But once I get one working properly things are going to be much easier."
A sinister smile grows on Shinji's lips and he can't even tell, his ambitions blocking the facts he doesn't consider favorable for himself. All he can think of is the goal and the plans to reach it.
"So what if someone powerful found the boundary field?" Shinji is still smiling. "Let them get this small victory. Next time I won't rely on just exhausting people. My next children are going to be sending mana to me directly. Just a few more months, a couple more and then Sakura is going to be all mine! Kukukukuku."
Shinji already has a list of people he hopes to catch off guard and influentiate, but that will depend on how much mana he can get in the next couple of months. If possible he wanted to get his father but the man is knowledgeable enough on the Matou craft to protect himself.
But his existence is not an obstacle at the moment, all Shinji needs to decide once the first larva matures is if he wants to go for the more risky route to gather as much mana as possible or the slow side but in secrecy. "Why not both?" The spellcaster asks himself amused, a plan forming in his mind.
…
"Seriously Shirou? Seriously?" Rias is exasperated while Akeno is treating Shirou's wounds with a smile on her face while he sits on the ground, it is clear that the Queen is enjoying checking if his bones are all in place. Keeping watch at Shirou's other side is Liz, completely calm considering the situation but on guard just in case. "How can your luck be this bad? Do you have the opposite of my Devil's Luck or something?" The redhead devil was massaging her head while the human was scratching his. "Sona, please give me good news."
Her best friend approaches with a smile. "Well, no one died." Shirou let out a breath of relief and he wasn't the only one. "Seek is still checking but besides exhaustion and some confusion, almost everyone is ready to go. We are going to erase the memories of the mundane students and make some calls but since the majority is in college it is easy to just fabricate a group project they had to work on or something. The main problem so far is Imaizumi was really being controlled and he can't remember anything." They all turn to look at the yokai who are being guarded/interrogated by members of the Sitri's peerage, Truthbearer in the bishop Hanakai Momo's hands, he truly looks sad about his actions to the point one would think he is depressed. "What we could get from him is that he was responsible for the creation of the boundary field and the beats that both Shirou and Setsuna described had an effect on the other students, especially the of the yokai variety. Yuuto-san was affected by the beat for the same reasons that the human students were, he is too weak magically."
"I apologize for my weakness." Kiba says while sitting in seiza position on the floor. He had a busted lip that was already healed, courtesy of Shirou, but the most wounded part of him is his pride. "Shirou...As your friend I have no excuse. I will understand if you don't want to talk to me again."
"Don't exaggerate!" Shirou says immediately. "It wasn't really your fault."
"Not everyone is strong enough to resist certain things." Yoruichi, in her cat form, says with a sigh. "Since the boundary field had a smell to especially attract yokais, only those with considerable power and resistance would be able to fight back. Besides the suggestions weren't things that you would consider wrong per say," anyone can tell that she is smiling, "isn't that right Setsuna-chan?"
The hanyou in question winced, again another action she doesn't do much. She also is sitting on the ground in seiza but she is avoiding having to look at Shirou, her face still blushing much to Yoruichi's amusement.
"I thought you were supposed to protect Shirou." Koneko, who also had been called to deal with the crises, says.
"I didn't expect this school would be so challenging." Yoruichi replies, still smiling. "But you are right I suppose. From now on, while I'm on these grounds I won't be exploring but keeping an eye on our resident chef."
"You are all exaggerating." Shirou's protest fell to deaf ears as nobody cared.
"But I feel the need to remind everyone that I can't stay in town 24/7." Yoruichi says mildly annoyed. "I want to but I have work in Kyoto."
"Looks like it is up to us to join them after classes, right buchou?" Akeno comments with a tiny smile, touching his shoulders with care to his back. EM had healed him but she was still checking what it didn't..
"Looks like it." At Rias' reply Shirou pauses to think for a second.
"Hey, why didn't you two joined us for lunch before?" It was something that the redhead never bothered to ask to avoid being intrusive but it was odd when he thought about it.
"I like to use the lunch break to do my homework." Rias says with pride but Sona just looks at her in frustration.
"And ends up rushing and needing your Queen's notes to make sure you did all right." Rias pouts at the accusation.
"That is not true. Akeno just has better notes than I do and she also uses my own from time to time, especially history." Said the Gremory King while the Queen just keeps working on Shirou. "Anyway, to make sure Shirou doesn't get into trouble, again," Shirou is about to protest when he feels a pinch on his arm, Akeno is still smiling, "I and Akeno will join them on their 'club hunting'. Who knows? Maybe I will get a new hobby too."
"That won't be necessary." Setsuna says gaining the attention of all present. "I think that this was the last time."
"What?" Shirou is fast to protest. "No! You are not blaming yourself for this!"
"But Shirou-"
"No." The redhead says with finality. "If you feel that there isn't anything else to look at then fine, we stop but you like trying new things Setsuna, I can tell by the way you smile even if you haven't found the club for you."
"It- I don't-" The girl blushes more and turns her head to the side.
"Okay, that is amusing and all but I believe I should clarify something." Yoruichi says, still finding the situation hilarious.
"Yoru- I mean, Kuro-san, please don't." Setsuna tried to stop her, knowing her next words are going to make feel worse in some way, but it was useless.
"Setsuna, that is going to leave a scar." the cat says, pointing to Shirou's bite mark with her tail, "After all it's a 'love mark.'" That just made Setsuna blush more and cover her face.
"'Love mark'? That is the first time I heard about it." Sona asks with curiosity. Everyone is waiting to hear what the nekoshou has to say.
"It's a trick we yokais have to mark our mates. It basically is our way of saying 'you mess with them you mess with me', and can be used by anyone with a minimal knowledge of senjutsu." Yoruichi is loving every word she is saying.
"That is a lie!" Setsuna immediately says, getting up and glaring at Yoruichi. "It is a complete falsehood! Something like that doesn't exist!"
"I don't know~" Akeno approaches Shirou's neck to take a good look. "I think it is one of the legendary 'love marks' or should it be called a 'love bite'?" Setsuna blushes again.
"A love bite sounds more like an apt name." Rias follows her Queen in the teasing. The hanyou blushes more.
"Indeed." Even the serious Sona can't help herself. Setsuna's ears are already scarlet.
"Guys, stop." Shirou attempts to end the teasing.
"And the shining knight in armor comes to intercede." Yoruichi is not going to allow that. "Did you try to kiss her to break the curse? It might have worked."
Considering all that Shirou passed today and how much he already had to deal with he is completely unamused. "You guys done?"
Rias chuckles at Shirou. "Sorry Shiro. I just needed to get some of my frustration out considering the whole situation we had today, or better yet the last month." A little of her mana starts to leave her body. "Not forgetting we need to find the actual responsible for this mess in the first place."
"Don't remind me." Sona doesn't bother to hide her frustration. "We have a criminal on the loose and no clues. I swear if I get my hands on the responsable I will drown them."
While not on the same level as Rias, Sona is also letting out a considerable amount of energy. Their reaction is not a surprise to anyone, in reality when their territory is the one under threat and they have something to prove and those that know it decide to not comment on the subject.
"Where are Rin and Luvia?" Liz questions everyone, wondering where the two magi were. "They wouldn't have trouble with such a situation."
That nobody can really argue with her, almost everyone present knew of Rin's proficiency with magic and while Sona didn't know it she had received the applications and then the reports of both hers and Luvia's feats. The Sitri is still looking for a pact.
"They are in detention." Kiba decides to say since Setsuna wasn't in any condition and Shirou is silent. "The two almost had a fight in our classroom and Velvet-sensei decided they needed some punishment." The Knight flinched when he noticed the aura around his King rise in power.
"Oh really?" One couldn't see by her tone but the eyes of Rias Gremory told a different story. It was almost like all light was trying to flee from them but stayed because of her power it was forced to stay as a shadow gained prominence. "Looks like I will need to punish those two."
"I suppose I should remind you that Luviagelita does not belong to your household." Sona says, no fear on her tone as she looks at her best friend but Rias turns her head slowly to her fellow devil and whispers.
"She eats at my table, she is getting punished." And everyone heard the whisper, nobody wanted to challenge it.
Nobody needs to as Seekvaira approaches the group and sees that Rias is about to lose it. "Ahem!" She cleans her throat loudly to make sure that she is noticed and once everyone's attention turns to her she talks. "I have finished the superficial investigation. The whole incident is the result of youjutsu, a special technique that Imaizumi was developing to help make parties more lively mixed with a special melody to amplify it. The other yokais are furious and are going to make sure that something like that can't happen again, controled or not."
"Can you blame them?" Sona says, fixing her glasses. "Losing their inhibitions like that and losing days without consciousness is a thing that no one likes."
"What is going to happen with Imaizumi?" Shirou asks and Rias is quick to answer.
"Since the incident involved his research then he is going to have to turn over everything related to it so we can make sure that it doesn't repeat or that there are ways to identify it quickly." Rias stops for a moment, debating if she should say the bad news.
Sona hadn't the same hesitation. "He is probably going to be expelled."
"Expelled? But he didn't do it on purpose!" Shirou tries to get up but Akeno holds him down. "He was being controlled and-"
"And his research, especially one like that shouldn't be made this close to mundane humans or younger yokais, which he admitted doing." Sona says with some sympathy in her tone. "The Kuoh College has allowed yokais for longer than the school and there never has been an incident like this because the students follow the rules for the most part. He broke them, told people about it and someone heard it, someone with evil intentions. I can understand the idea of being the 'life of the party' but his actions were reckless and to a certain extent amoral."
Shirou couldn't disagree with her argument. "He is going to be sent back to Kyoto." Yoruichi affirmed and Sona nodded. "If it was in an area with more masters of youjutsu around, this wouldn't have escaped unnoticed and nobody would have risked their lives." The cat shakes her head. "The idea of leaving Kyoto for other 'pastures' is not a new one but if it is to use their powers like that there needs to be some control and he is going to be judged by his actions."
Rias can see that Shirou is understanding even if he didn't like it so she tries another approach. "It is like if you decided to bring one of your swords here and someone steals it and uses it for evil purposes. You still are responsible for the sword, even if the standards of security of the moonlit world are more relaxed than the mundane." She can see he understands what she said and decides to conclude her thought process. "He worked his research here without taking the proper precautions and this happened. Also we don't know if this is an isolated incident or not."
"If it helps he won't be arrested or anything like that." Yoruichi says. "It's punishment, yes, but besides being locked into Kyoto for a while, having his work examined by specialists and some work to compensate for any damages, Imaizumi will be mostly fine but as a citizen of Kyoto he broke our rules and his permission to stay away is going to be definitively revoked."
"We are going to have to check all the clubs and students now, more than ever." Sona points out with a groan. The other two heiresses avoid her eyes but the Sitri turns to Rias. "That is my boon!" She declares with a shout and Rias groans as well. "Are you going to back out?"
"Of course not!" Rias sounds offended. "I just don't think you need us to patrol with you everyday."
"That is if the culprit is going to actually do something wrong in such a short time." Seekvaira points out. "They just failed in whatever they were doing here. It may have been a one time thing."
"Doesn't matter, we must make sure that none of the students are in any danger." Sona says with a passion that impresses everyone.
"But if they are in college then there is no way we can find them easily." Rias tries to argue.
"I will talk with the teachers as well. And with the main direction of the college." Sona decides. "We must make sure such a thing doesn't repeat again. I am also sure we can have the boundary field around Kuoh fortified against mental attacks."
"It already is." Rias reminds her friend. "Whatever happened here was too different to the normal methods." The heiress of Sitri can't disagree with her friend. "Listen Sona, we are going to help you, I am sure we can get something out of this mess but we are going to need to talk with our contacts and get more boots on the ground."
"We improve the boundary field and call our contacts. Anything else Sona?" Seekvaira asks gently. "Covering this much ground means we need to call specialists. I am sure Jaken-san can get us someone."
"I have contacts with Yoruichi-sama so I can ask for such a specialist." Said Yoruichi smugly, loving the fact that she can use her name like this, getting everyone impressed. "I will go back to Kyoto tomorrow and ask for someone to help with the boundary fields. A master in youjutsu can stop this situation from repeating."
"I feel I must ask but who is this cat?" Sona Sitri frowns and gives a glare to the beginning she had avoided truly recognizing until now. "And why is he dropping the name of one of the leaders of the Yokai faction so casually?"
"Oh, she is Shirou's friend and bodyguard since he did a job for them during the summer." Rias explains. "Her name is Kuro." The cat gives a small bow with a paw below her neck.
"Humph." Sona then turns to look directly at the cat. "I will talk with Jaken-san either way. No offense but he is a famous retainer of Sesshomaru-sama and there is a greater chance he is going to be able to get someone capable. Again, no offense."
Shirou gasped as Setsuna managed to suppress her shame enough to hold herself back from commenting. Sona is basically saying that Jaken is more respectable than Kuro for being a known retainer from one of the yokai leaders, but the cat is Yoruichi, one of said leaders.
"Of course. I will still talk with Yoruichi-sama, don't worry about it." The smile the cat gave was like if she had told the world's greatest joke ever.
"Do as you wish." Sona is still sounding dismissive and Yoruichi is about to laugh at her face from what those who knew her real identity could tell.
"Okay!" Shirou speakers loudly. "Since everything is solved I think I should go make dinner. It is already kinda late." He is right on the matter, dinner time is long gone at this point.
"Oh no you won't." Rias decides to run interference. "You just fought for your life. Today you are resting."
"But-"
"Don't even try." Rias glares at Shirou, she is not in the mood for this discussion. "You are resting today. Akeno has been practicing with you and she can make dinner tonight."
"I can-" Rias doesn't give him a chance to finish.
"You are resting and that is final." While the devil already admitted loving his cooking, Shirou's health is her priority and understanding that has him lowering his head, accepting Rias' judgement.
The Queen claps her hands in joy. "Yes! I will be happy to do it!" There is a sense of despair that covers Shirou's face but Akeno embraces him. "Don't worry Shirou-kun, it is just for today and I am sure you will enjoy it. So rest easy and leave everything with me." Then the Queen looks at Setsuna, making sure the other ponytailed girl is looking back before she whispers in his ear. "It will be like we were husband and wife of a big family."
Shirou blinks and blushes again, he was not ready for that and he wasn't the only one who heard her. Koneko looks disappointed for a moment but accepted that Akeno must be able to still cook delicious food, Kiba didn't hear anything but he still walling a little on guilt for his actions, trying to talk to Rias and ask for punishment but the pureblood didn't want to hear, it wasn't his fault while Liz and Yoruichi are just waiting for everyone else to go since they are considerable hungry.
Watching all this at a distance are the other heiresses and Sona has a question on her mind. "Aren't you going to talk to him now?" She asks without needing to say who the question is about.
"I have nothing to offer that Rias can't herself." Seekvaira replies with a frown, her eyes on Emiya Shirou. "It is a shame that his grandfather broke the agreement with my family. The ability to make Noble Phantasms like that is really a first."
"Yet, here you are, not talking with him." Sona points out, thinking about Shirou's creation, the Truthbearer. "He has more to offer than just creating Noble Phantasms."
The Agares heiress turns to look at one of her oldest friends with shock, her mind trying to process what could be better than Noble Phantasm creation. "What do you mean?"
"He made a sword capable of knowing if someone is lying." Sona replies, still impressive with the accomplishment.
"And? There are other ways to do the same." The blonde raises a hand and starts to count up. "Certain magic spells, geas, sacred gears. That sword is not that special."
"Except that anyone can use it and that it is not as permanent as a contract, which allows the argument that it is not as invasive." That made the older devil stop to think, her eyes wide. "You realize it now? No loopholes, no tricks besides omission, something that the questions themselves can account for. Imagine that, a world without lies."
"It would be chaos." Was Seekvaira's response. "Many people love their secrets."
Sona nods in agreement. "I believe that is why Rias didn't have that sword mass produced, it would be like asking for a war." That doesn't mean that she isn't going to ask for one of those for personal use. "A pity. If she could use that one then she would already be free from Riser."
"Speaking of unwanted engagements, how is yours going?" The blonde devil is grateful for hers having already been settled, less headaches. "Any plans?"
"He is confident. Really confident." The Sitri is avoiding using the word arrogant, she has to respect her fellow noble if only for courtesy sake. "I will stroke his ego for a bit, promise the sweetest things and then I will challenge him for a chess match."
"That is so cruel of you Sona, choosing a game where you have all the advantage." Her friend sounds proud.
"In chess both sides start equally. I will hold no advantage whatsoever." The vice-president says, fixing her glasses.
"Yes, sure. The game you play every day for hours without end." Both alone and with other people. Sona really loves chess, her number of wins is staggering and only once in a while the other Kings or Queens can snatch a victory. "Completely fair." Sarcasm was present but only in jest, she knows who she will be rooting for in a match. Seekvaira can still see that Sona is worried. "Don't worry, we are going to find the person responsible for all this."
The younger King nods, her eyes moving to see her friend's peerage working with some of the victims. "I hope so. And when we do I can rip them to shreds."
…..
Waver looks at his wrist watch and a sigh leaves his lips. 11:32 PM, midnight is near and he has a feeling that he is about to lose two very promising students. He wanted to say that never before he met people so stubborn but he studied and worked at the Clocktower for the majority of his life, stubbornness only lost to arrogance in that place and only because most of the arrogant people didn't feel the need to be stubborn about anything.
'Here I am, giving my students a simple challenge, giving them the chance to mend bridges for the sake of a common goal and what do they do?' Waver thinks a little more than exasperated as he lowers the book he was reading just enough to see both Rin and Luvia working in the equation, stopping for a moment to glare at each other and then getting back to work. 'They made a competition out of it. The same thing that landed them in detention in the first place.'
The teacher goes back to his book with a sigh, there are classes tomorrow and unlike the majority of the magicians around he likes to turn in early to get the work done the next day. In his opinion, research shouldn't compromise a healthy schedule.
But he made promises and he is willing to keep them, regardless of how irritating the two students can be. 'I am going to need to make clear to Archibald that they can't be promoted back to any of the special classes.' Waver realizes, returning to his book. 'Maybe I can use the fact that I let him talk with Shirou without making a fuss as a favor? Not that it helped much since the man chose the worst approach possible.'
Still, Waver never said anything either in favor or against his teacher. He learned during his time at the Clocktower that his words hold no weight on that place and to the nobles there, if they did then his project wouldn't have been in Japan but in London itself by having the integrations of two classes of students.
At least he managed to use the heiresses presence to get the ball rolling and all he needs to do is to make sure nothing goes wrong, which entails making sure that the two young women in detention don't repeat the almost catastrophic incident again.
"At least I will be able to separate them once they fail." Waver whispers, raising his book as he turns a page.
""FINISHED!"" The english magus almost fell from his chair in fright from the shouts and the fact that two hands slammed on his desk with two considerable stacks of paper.
Both women were glaring at each other and then looked back at him who then looked at the papers and to his watch. 11:48 PM. "Are you two telling me you managed to solve it?" They nod in affirmation. "By yourselves without working together?" They nod once again and Waver takes a deep breath. "Fine, let me see them."
In the end what would determine the girls continuation on the course are their answers and even if he finds it hard to believe they would be able to reach the solution individually there was still a very real possibility of it happening and Waver considered it even before he threw them the gauntlet.
Now he is staring at two massive piles of paper with parts of the equation being solved in similar methods with the application of various sciences with the goal of reaching the correct outcome.
'They used almost the same method to break the equation apart.' Waver thought amused. "Instead of working together you two decided that it was a good idea to finish the equation in your own way." Here he got no reply. "All you two had to do was work together and you managed to deduct not only the equation yourself but the parts that the other already knew about."
The fact is that it was easy with how much he put in the blackboard, it was something basic that Da Vinci later used on his magecraft and plenty of magicians already knew, at least those that work with the stars and the position of the planets.
"All you did in reality is figure out the language that the other already knew." He can't see a hint of shame on the girls faces, they knew exactly what they did. "Do you truly hate each other that much?"
"No." Rin is the one who answered. "But we prefer competing rather than working together unless we have to. I knew I could do it with enough time."
"And so did I." Luvia says with conviction. "If it is any consolation professor, we won't cause any more comotion in your class or close to the mundane. And for that mistake I apologize."
Even if he hadn't finished correcting the work, both are confident they cracked the equation. Waver gives a nod and turns to finish the work, the two ladies standing, waiting for his verdict.
To see if their nerves are under control he takes his time, getting a black pen and making sure to mark and circle one thing or another. If they are going to promise not to let their fights get in the way of their education he is going to push them to see how much pressure they can take.
There wasn't anything wrong, the two used the hours well and managed to use all they had to build the equation by focusing what they knew and building it out from there, connecting the pieces little by little, using the known as a guide for the unknown.
That is when he notices something. "You two peek at each other's work." There is a pause at Waver's exclamation. "That is why you managed to arrive at the right conclusion so fast. It also explains the timing." The teacher chuckles. "You were competing even then." He wanted to laugh about the whole situation.
Here he is, trying to teach his students a lesson about teamwork and they found a way to cheat a simple task just to keep the appearances that they wouldn't work together. The statment is there and so is the will but they are willing to work together to some extent since one didn't rat the other.
"Whose idea was this?" At Waver's question both stay silent. After a pause he decides to say. "I will allow the one who thought this first to stay."
"If both are right then we both stay." Luvia affirms and Rin nods at her.
"Huh. I suppose I promised that." He can't disagree since he gave the term. "Well, since you two managed to deliver the assignment both of you stay." Both smiled at that. "However both of you lost any and all privilege that you have accumulated with your projects," he says pointing at Rin, "and both are also on thin ice. Next time I won't be so generous." Before they could say anything he continued. "Also, I feel that I must remind both of you that this is not the Clocktower, you don't have the same protections and privileges here and a mistake means you are out. The devils will make sure of it."
It is them that Rin realized that her punishment is not over. "Rias is going to be mad." She can't even think of all the extra work she is going to have once the Gremory heiress knows why she missed today.
While Luvia doesn't have the same problem she has a similar one, nobles talk and if the devil heiress decide that they don't like her there is a big chance that her family isn't getting any pacts on her lifetime, or her children's since devils lived really long lives.
"With all that said," Waver takes out his glasses and begins to leave, "I can't wait to see you two truly working together." His comment shocked the girls. "Sooner or later, something will happen and you both are going to have to discard that pride of yours. You are too alike for it to not be something that also bothers the other," and they glare at each other again and then at him, "and when that happens, both of you are going to be a force to reckon with. Who knows? In another life where you both were sisters under the Edelfelt with their crest, maybe you would have conquered London."
The crest that allowed both sisters to be head of their family, the crest that allowed them to share power and knowledge, one of the rarest crests in the other. When both girls look at each other again there is still a lot of frustration but the idea, the possibility was there now, on their minds.
However there is still their hate for their similarities, disgust for their differences, their pride and competitiveness most of all is still there to stop any hope of them working together.
Waver is laughing on his way out. Either way, if they go to the Clocktower he won't be there and all he has to do is last three years with them. England will have at least five.
…..
