Shirou breathed out deeply as he began to concentrate, working on a new Project that he had been keeping secret from his parents. He knew from Irisviel that working on new types of Magecraft or improving existing Magecraft was usually not only incredibly difficult but also incredibly dangerous.
However Gradation Air was a simple process which, for what he was attempting, really didn't even use that much Prana. The ways that he could screw it up were incredibly numerous, but the ways he could do so that posed a significant threat to himself? Basically zero.
Slowly feeling his Magic Circuits heating up he began to direct his Od towards his slightly parted hands. The twinge of pain from some of the bruises on his body barely even registering in his mind.
"Trace On" He muttered to himself, feeling the heat production of his Circuits die down as they stopped overworking themselves, the production and manipulation of his Od suddenly becoming laughably easy in comparison to what it was seconds before.
'Hypothesizing the basic structure' He began mentally, using the first of his newly created steps to Projection.
Between his hands, in his mind's eye, he could see the wireframe blueprint of the knife he wished to create. One of the new set that Irisviel had gifted him for his birthday.
'Imitating the skill of it's making' This step he wasn't a big fan of, if he was honest, the idea of having to imitate the skill of a machine to make such a blade made his lips curl on instinct.
Once he got more practice in the forge, and got better at metallurgy and swordsmithing, he would absolutely be changing this step. Probably a few others along with it if he was honest, after all he didn't deign to think that he had magically picked the best/needed steps to take Projection to the higher level that he wanted.
'Sympathizing with the experience of its growth' This step was the last of his three "revised" steps to Gradation Air, and once again, he was already planning to change it.
The change for this particular step was due to a breakthrough in his Structural Grasping that he had seemed to achieve in the last couple of weeks. Having known Structural Grasping as one of the two spells he knew for just a week short of a year at this stage, he used it relentlessly. To the point where Structurally Grasping anything the size of a car or under was so painfully easy he almost found himself having to be careful he didn't just do it subconsciously.
And as of a few weeks ago, his relentless practice seemed to be paying off. Now, whenever he Structurally Grasped something he began to receive more information. Pieces of sentences or phrases and flashes of images that were still slightly blurry and out of focus. It was enough that his Projections seemed to improve slightly whenever he focused on them while creating, but he definitely knew that he could do it better.
Slowly opening his eyes he looked down at the Projection of his brand-new cooking knife, looking it up and down appraisingly. It looked good, much better than his first usage of the spell, but that didn't mean it was where he wanted it to be. Quietly muttering his new Aria he felt the blueprint of the knife appear in his mind, unlike with other objects where it was like a download.
Golden-Amber eyes narrowed and his tongue clicked as he thought over the new blueprint in his mind. It was definitely strong enough that he could cut something, but it was still so disgustingly brittle that he'd likely shatter it in the process.
"Heh. Still better than normal Gradation Air though" He muttered before snickering and shattering the Projection mercilessly.
"Trace On" Only to begin re-casting the spell immediately.
Even though he already had future improvements in mind. He wanted to get his Gradation Air 1.2 down to the point that he knew there wouldn't be any other improvements he could pull from it.
Would any other Magus child practice a half-baked improved Magecraft so diligently? Not if their parents had any form of dignity as Magus. So it was a good thing that Shirou didn't care about any of that. He was the last of the Muramasa after all, they were all about creating things.
XXXxxxXXX
5 Days Later
Rin Tohsaka could feel her eye twitching madly as she stared at the, admittedly fairly large, property on the older side of town. She had been chasing down this mystery Magus for months and they had the audacity to live in such a large and wealthy property? To not even try to hide beyond a couple Bounded Fields?
….She could respect that, in a 'I-hate-that-I-would-do-the-same' type of way.
After all, who would expect a Magus hiding from a Second owner to live in such a large house? Usually they would have small properties or those outside the actual limits of the town. Or just blatantly defensive/powerful Bounded Fields. Instead, this house had a very subtle, easy to miss, Bounded Field around it that seemed more geared towards detection and hiding them than defense.
Once again, she aggravatingly couldn't fault them for that. Defensive or Retaliation type Bounded Fields tended to be a lot more noticeable due to their size or mana drain.
Not that it made a difference. Because after six months of searching for whoever the owner of this property was. When she finally found them and arrived, at the very early time of 11am. THEY WEREN'T EVEN HOME!
So she was left waiting by the gate of the property since she had neither the need, nor the lack of decorum, to break onto the property itself or break down the front gate. Not to mention the noise the latter option would create since it would technically be outside the limits of the Bounded Field.
But it was no matter, she had sent a pulse of Prana into the Bounded Field roughly about five minutes ago so if they were a proper Magus, and still within the city, they should already be running their cowardly legs off to get here.
Seven minutes later, her assumption was proven correct as she heard the rapid thumps of feet against pavement. Moving closer to the gate and crossing her arms, carefully constructing the image of a pissed off, yet regal, heir to a noble Magus family.
Turning the corner, Shirou skidded to a halt as he noticed the pissed off form of a girl that looked strangely his age standing in front of the gate. The closer he got the slower he moved so that he wouldn't end up running into her or the gate, idly running some fingers through his red hair and removing some soot from it.
"Ahhh. Can I help you, miss?" He asked kindly, not noticing the look she gave him upon seeing the slight soot marks all over his upper body.
"Hmmm. Busy, Magus?" She accused him in a haughty voice.
"Actually sorta but not really" He began conversationally, as if being outed as a Magus and being glared at by a girl with knowledge of such things was an everyday occurrence "I'm finally allowed to work on some stuff my parents won't let me- Oh I'm sorry. Would you like to come in and have some tea?" he turned and stared at her with Golden-Amber eyes, blinking owlishly at her shell-shocked expression.
"I-I….ok? I-I mean. Of course! You can prepare me tea and clean yourself up before you explain why you've been hiding from me!" She ordered, getting a sheepish expression from him.
"Aahhhhh, sorry sorry. I probably look a bit messy at the moment, huh?" He laughed, opening the gates and walking in, closing them when he felt the girl enter the property behind him.
Meanwhile, Rin was currently panicking trying to figure out where to go from here. She had expected lies, panic, even for them to try and attack her to either run away or get her out of the picture. The one thing she hadn't expected was for this- this- whoever this was! She had seen the flash of recognition after she had ordered him to explain. She knew he knew who she was! Yet he was acting as if this was business as usual! Did he think she was weaker than him or something? Well she'd show him! She was the last of the Tohsaka dammit!
A few minutes later, as she kneeled at his table sipping some tea and waiting for him to return, she could admit in the darkest, most shame filled, corner of her mind that he at least knew how to treat a guest. The thought that he could be running at the moment not even occurring in her mind. Not that it needed to, as when she placed the cup down, the form of her 'prey' stepped out into the living room with new clothes and no soot stains in sight.
"Finally, you deign me with your presence" She drawled, raising an eyebrow at him as he sat opposite to her at the table.
"Well you seemed like someone that cares about image and all that stuff so I wanted to make extra sure all the stains were gone" He explained simply, pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Well, as you likely know. I am the Second Owner and the Heiress to the Tohsaka family. Image is very important after all" She said haughtily, practically preening herself as she did so.
"Ah. So you are Tohsaka, I thought so. The Matou still have their previous head after all so if you had been from that family that wouldn't have really made sense" He muttered, more to himself than to her but still loud enough for her to hear "Too bitter. Would you like some new tea?" He griped, looking up at her with a curious expression.
"I- sure? Wait no! Sit! You're explaining why you saw it fit to sneak into my territory!" She shouted out, glaring at him as he was mid standing up.
With a sigh and scratching the back of his head he sat back down, exhaling slowly as he took another sip of his tea and held his hands, and cup, in his lap.
"I'm not sure what I can tell you about my birth family. The Fuyuki Fire lead to me losing all memories from before it" He said blankly, staring into her eyes with a gaze so empty she couldn't even muster up the thought that he was lying "But, if nothing else I know that they've been in this location for a very long time. Based on journals my adoptive father found in their workshop"
Rin rolled her eyes and asked a question while raising her cup to her lips.
"And how long was that exactly?"
"Since the 1500's"
The tea had barely touched her tongue before it was violently sprayed out of her mouth. The black haired girl beginning to cough violently and pound a fist against her chest.
"T-There's no way!" She denied quickly after coughing a few more times, seeing him offering a napkin out for her and snatching it out of his grasp.
"Based on multiple journals it is. Sorry if that's upsetting? How long has your family been here? Maybe our families made a deal in the past?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.
"T-They've been here long enough! And the Mage's Association made the Tohsaka the Second Owners of this city so they better have!...Wait. If you don't remember anything before the Fire how did you set up that Bounded Field?" She questioned with an owlish blink and turning her head to look in the direction of the property entrance despite a wall being in the way.
"Oh my tou-san set that up. With help from Kaa-san. Not me" He denied with a shake of his head, not wanting to take credit for someone else's work.
"What do you mean they set it up!? I definitely don't know about them!"
"I'm….sorry?" He attempted only to give a sheepish expression as she glared at him.
"Well. There's nothing I can do about your birth family. Not that it matters if you've been adopted into another one" She muttered dejectedly "But you and your family are living here without permission from the Second Owner and using Magecraft. If I told the Mages Association things could end badly for you" She said, giving him a smug and sly smile as she placed her left elbow on the table and rested her chin on the back of her left palm.
Shirou on the other hand began to feel slightly uncomfortable at the sudden shift of atmosphere within the room, the first time he had felt this feeling since this girl had shown up.
"Ex…cuse me?" He questioned slowly.
"That's right. Sneaking into land claimed by a Second Owner and performing Magecraft can be considered a very serious crime you know?" She finally had the upper-hand in the conversation, and boy was Rin going to milk it for everything she could.
"S-Surely we can sort this out?" He tried to placate her, lifting his hands up slightly.
"Oh I don't know. Can we? I don't believe you have anything of use to me"
"Well I mean I'm learning to be a weapons and Mystic Code create-"
"That's nice and all. But I'm the heiress of the Tohsaka family. No kid my age could beat what I can just buy" She waved his offer off, immediately noticing the tensing around his jaw and knuckles.
'Ohhhh? So that hits a nerve' She thought to herself, her grin curling up ever so slightly to show off slightly more of her teeth.
"What family do you even come from?..." She asked arrogantly.
"Its Shirou" He gave his name and nothing else.
"And I'm Rin. You didn't answer my question"
"Do I need to?..." He asked hesitantly.
"Hmph. With a reaction like that it's probably a Third-Rate family" She said aloud with a very predatory gaze "However if you don't tell me than any hope of staying in this city without retaliation is out the window~"
If she thought his demeanor before had been pissed off then the glare she was currently receiving showed that he had barely been annoyed by the jab at his pride earlier. His eyes narrowed and seemed to harden as his teeth grit and his lips curled slightly, showing one of his incisors and some of his molars.
"You know. I thought you were pretty ok. But it looks like Kaa-san was right about Magus. Heartless" He muttered angrily, causing Rin to flinch back as if she had been slapped "My birth family is the Muramasa clan. Threaten my family again and my nice attitude goes out the window"
"M-Mura- Muramas- Haaaaaah?" Rin breathed out limply in shock, knowing of the stories surrounding the original Muramasa and the swords he had created.
Shirou, meanwhile, just stared impassively at her. His anger from before had given way to an empty Golden-Amber void that seemed to even suck the emotions from the rest of his body. Everything about him giving off the impression that she was sitting across from nothing, or some inanimate object instead of a living, breathing person.
"Now that you know. Leave my family alone" Shirou ordered, his voice flat and blank yet as cutting as any knife in the kitchen to their side.
"I-I still don't have anything-"
"Tohsaka. I don't know what you're expecting. I really don't. We have nothing to give you that you wouldn't already have or wouldn't care about" Shirou said, sending a catastrophic crack throughout the façade of the perfect Magus she was trying to keep up.
"I-I- W-Well-"
"And as much as I don't want to. I would sooner fight you than let you try to bring some sort of attack down on my family"
"F-Fight me with-" Whatever Aria he muttered was completely lost on her as she watched him Project a knife in his grip "A-A Projection? Hah! M-Muramasa-kun h-how do you not know how w-weak they are-"
Her next word was cut off by Shirou slamming his hand down, shattering the blade but creating a deep gash in his table by doing so. The sight of the Knife actually damaging something before shattering, making her shut up immediately and gulp.
"I-I stand corrected" She muttered weakly, complexion a bit paler than it normally would be.
"Is this conversation over Tohsaka?" He asked, the slightest hint of exhaustion seeping into his otherwise dead tone "Because I really need to make some better tea and do some training"
A spark lit within Rin. She could still save this situation! She still had something she could get that would keep her with the upper hand.
She pointedly ignored the very large part of her that flooded her system with relief at not having to keep up the cold-hearted Magus persona. What she was about to offer was still manipulative, yes, but what she had threatened beforehand had made every ounce of her shiver and squirm in disgust and hatred. Like her very being was fighting against every word that left her lips.
"H-Hmmm. Fine then Muramasa-kun. I do have something you can do in exchange for me not ratting your family out to the Mages Association"
"And that is?"
"You become my assistant in Magecraft!" She chirped, clapping her hands together.
"huh?"
"My assistant in Magecraft. It means you'll come over to the Tohsaka Estate and aid me in advancing my Magecraft and training"
"Y-You can't be serious!" He yelled out in shock, eyes widening and jaw dropping as every ounce of emptiness left him for shock and confusion instead.
"Serious as a Grail War!" She responded with a nod "It's you be my assistant or nothing Muramasa-kun"
"F-Fine. I'll become your Assistant in Magecraft…..For how long?"
"Until I say so!"
"That's not fair!" He accused, pointing a finger at the very smug eight year old girl.
"You already agreed! No take backs!"
"You didn't explain that!"
"But you still agreed!"
"Because there was no other option!"
"Buuuuuuut you still agreed~" She said in a sing-song voice, grinning in satisfaction at the extremely disgruntled look that she got from her new assistant.
"You can keep that tea. I'm making myself some better tea"
"Get me another cup!" She held her empty cup up.
"Not your butler" He grumbled, standing up with the teapot.
"But you are my assistant!" She shot back teasingly.
"And this isn't Magecraft" He shot back just as teasingly, getting a pout from her as she crossed her arms on the table and rested her chin on her forearm.
Glaring cutely at the kitchen for a few moments she fully exhaled in the form of a huff and let her cyan eyes slide away from the kitchen to roam around the room. Eventually they settled on the new scar in the otherwise pristine table and felt a flood of guilt welling up inside her at remembering why he had been brought to such a point.
She was sort of like his Master in terms of Magecraft now right? It'd only be proper to take care of and make up with her assistant…
When Shirou returned to the table a few minutes later, the sight of a softly smiling Tohsaka and a completely undamaged table met him.
"You should probably know my name if you're going to be my assistant now huh? I'm Rin Tohsaka" She held a hand out to him.
"…Shirou Emiya, pass your cup over" He shook her hand before sitting down.
"I thought you weren't my butler?"
"You're still on thin ice. But if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you" He said, pouring the both of them another cup of tea.
XXXxxxXXX
2 Days Later, Tohsaka Residence
"It's 9am. How are you so awake and already injured?" Rin griped as she rested her head against the countertop of her kitchen.
"I was training with a family friend. She's brutal with a sword"
"Oh what do you know. We share family friends with brutal training"
"You know Taiga?"
"N-No I meant we both have brutal teachers that are also family friends" She corrected, looking at him as if he had just said something incredibly stupid, which he sort of had.
"Oh. That makes sense. So why am I here again?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Well. You're my assistant. You're helping me with Magecraft" She mumbled, yawning slightly and brushing some hair out of her face.
Shambling into the kitchen like a zombie she began to reach for the container holding the coffee supply of the house only for it to be snatched away before she could.
"H-Huh? Give that back Shirou!"
"Have you ever had coffee before?" He asked, cocking the hand holding the container and raising an eyebrow.
"No but I need it!"
"Then you can wait another couple of years. Coffee at a young age stunts growth"
"Shirouuuuuu!" She whined, stamping a foot and yawning again.
"You said Magecraft training right? Where's your Workshop we'll get started on that" He said suddenly, putting the container down and beginning to pull her by her arm without waiting for an answer.
"T-This isn't even the right direction! Let me go Shirou!" He started going in the opposite direction.
As he walked he hummed for a moment before letting her go and stopping, looking back at her with an innocently blank expression. Watching her as she made sure she was standing properly before wiping her skirt down and giving him a pouting glare.
"Idiot. We're training outside anyway. Don't want to maybe bring down the whole house" She scoffed as she began to walk, hearing Shirou following behind her.
Shirou meanwhile just followed Rin on auto-pilot. A skill born of his increased perceptiveness from his training, and the periods of time in the first 3-4 months after the fire where his mind would wander off. Trapped in an ever-repeating memory of his steps through the fire and mud. The thick feeling of the atmosphere and-
Shirou snapped back into reality as he instinctively circled around the suddenly still form of Rin as she stopped on the grass in the middle of the small courtyard built onto the property, the rest of the Tohsaka residence surrounding them on all four sides like additional walls of privacy. Having stepped around Rin since she stopped so suddenly, he raised an eyebrow as she completed her spin on the ball of her foot, a finger in the air already with her other hand supporting her elbow.
Only to pause and blink, stupefied at the complete lack of Shirou despite being almost certain he had been following her the whole time. Her wide-eyed expression and stunned silence soon gave way to a piercing shriek as Shirou suddenly tapped her shoulder from the side, the girl nearly jumping Shirou's height in front and stumbling back upon her landing. Honestly Shirou was just glad that there was likely the same noise-cancelling Bounded Field around the Tohsaka residence as there was around the Emiya, otherwise he's fairly certain police would have already been called for a murder based on Rin's scream.
"Y-You…you….YOU…..YOU ASSHOLE!" She screeched as she hopped forward and punched his arm, getting a wince from Shirou from the surprising amount of force behind it.
"Ow…Where'd such a refined Heiress learn a word like that?" He couldn't help but ask, the pain loosening his snark a bit.
"My guardian is a terrible influence" She grumbled, glowering at him for a moment before fixing her stance to try and appear more noble "Now. Since this is our first time working as Master and Apprentice-" She pointedly ignored the flat-eyed stare he gave her as she said that "We'll be figuring out what you know and what you're good and bad at"
"Right" He nodded, that at least made sense.
There'd be no point in her trying to get him to help with something that he had no knowledge on or skill in, after all.
"Let's start simple. What spells do you know?"
"Structural Grasping and Gradation Air"
"T-That's it?" She asked in surprise, her eyebrows rising incredulously.
"Those are the one's I know. I have plenty more I can cast in my family's Crest"
"Well at least not all hopes lost…" She muttered under her breath.
"If you remember, I have amnesia from the Fuyuki Fire. I technically only have one year of Magus training under my belt" He pointed out.
"That….Ok that explains more. But only those two in a year? Have you at least used some of the spells in your Crest?"
"A couple. My parents aren't too happy with me trying to dig too deep into it" He explained, getting a raised eyebrow from her.
"Why? Magic Crests are simple" She said, her age and lack of knowledge shining through, not that Shirou realized that either "Magic Circuits and specific spells that are passed down and inheritable" She said, lifting her left arm and showing the Magic Crest there.
"So that's what yours looks like? It's pretty cool we both have ours on our arms. My dad has his on his back" Shirou explained.
"Well don't just stand around dumby, show me your Magic Crest!" She ordered with a hand motion for him to hurry up.
"Ok ok, no need to try and rush me" He muttered.
Rin didn't know what she was expecting, she'd been meaning do try and do some research on the Muramasa family since she found out his family lineage. Except she'd gotten side-tracked since she had finally managed to complete a Jewel spell and hyper-focused for the last two days. However, the complicated series of glowing green lines that lit up the skin of both of Shirou's forearms definitely wasn't within her expectations. Just one of his arm's had a Crest that could match hers! And his Crest was spread over the both of them!
'You know. He did say his family had been here since the 1500's….' A small part of her mumbled in her head, she ignored it.
"What is that Crest, Muramasa!?" She yelled out in shock, staring at the glowing Magic Crest.
"Oh? Is it smaller than it should be? Magecraft seemed to always be a secondary goal for my family"
"What?" The speed at which she went from stunned awe to disgust was impressive in and of itself "What the heck does your family deem more important than Magecraft?"
"The goal we inherited from our ancestor. Senji Muramasa" He explained, as if that alone would make her agree with him.
"All Magi use Magecraft to try and reach the Root. There's no way your family could create a Magic Crest like that thinking of Magecraft as some sort of tool" She grumbled, glaring at him with her arms crossed.
"Well they did?" Was his response as he shrugged "I don't know what else to say Tohsaka. Creating the ultimate sword has pretty much been my families only reason to go after Magecraft"
"U-Ultimate sword?" She looked at him in confusion, getting a blank look in return.
"Yeah?..."
"What would that even entail?" She asked, the thought of even trying to imagine the abilities of such a blade making her head hurt from the possibilities.
"Dunno" He shrugged again, getting Rin to trip in place, her arm's going out at odd angles to try and stabilize her during her moment of instability.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW!?"
"How are you supposed to reach the Root?" He asked, remembering Irisviel's brief explanation of what the Root was a month or so ago.
"I-I…..S-Shush!" Rin's cheeks flared red in embarrassment and her cyan eyes averted from his form, not willing to look at him in-case he was giving her some kind of mocking expression.
Everything was quiet for a moment, both of the children standing in the courtyard as a small breeze flowed down into the area from the sloping of her mansion's roofs.
"But I dream of it sometimes you know?..." Shirou muttered, loud enough for Rin to hear.
"Dream of it?.."
"The Sword. Well, Weapon for me. Nothing in my dream is 'real' yet" He tried to explain "Like…the room doesn't know quite what it's made of. And the blade and swordsmith are always changing"
"That's….weird" She said, seeming to slip into heavy thought for a moment before suddenly shaking her head and slapping both of her cheeks "Ah! Later, later. Ok! Do you know what spells are in your Crest, Muramasa?"
"You know you can just call me Emiya right?..." Shirou pointed out with a dry expression, one finger held up.
"That would be smudging the pride of your family! They deserve to be respected, Muramasa!" She yelled out, knowing the Prestige he would have if someone from the Clock Tower found out about him.
Ooooooh she could use that. She could definitely use that. The issue would be getting into the Clock Tower and keeping Shirou a secret long enough to establish her place. She could already see the wealth and prestige she'd accumulate with Shirou tied to her and only her.
Meanwhile, Shirou just looked at Rin strangely as she suddenly went quiet before developing a scheming, evil look and then proceeding to start cackling while bending back. He had recovered quite a few emotions since the fire, but he wasn't quite sure if he ever wanted to know which emotion that was or even try and understand it.
"Tohsaka?" He called out, getting her to go silent and freeze up before suddenly snapping upright and clearing her throat cutely into a closed fist.
"Right. Well what spells have you used so far, Muramasa?"
"A spell to heat things up. A spell that turns any dirt within a certain area around me into mud and clay. Some sort of weird air gust spell and I haven't used it. But I know there's a fireball spell in here somewhere" He said, holding up his left arm in particular and tilting it back and forth as if he was showing it off.
"Ok. Try using the fireball spell" Rin instructed him, pointing at a stone pillar that appeared to have a couple scratches on it but otherwise appeared immaculate.
Shirou didn't say anything and just nodded, turning on the spot to face the pillar and holding up his left arm in an almost uncaring manner. The Circuits of both of his forearm's beginning to glow brighter.
Floating right above his palm, a spark sprung to life. A small burst of heat that began to grow in size and power within a couple seconds until it was just smaller than the size of his head. Contained in a sphere as it was, Rin couldn't help but be slightly captivated.
Basic fire spells, like a fireball, were so common that nearly every Magus that could cast one had a different variation to it. The one that Muramasa's ancestor used to seemed to be more of a contained variety, similar to her gandr. As an 'Average One' the chance to learn a fireball was incredibly attractive to the young girl, so seeing one in action already put her mind to work on what she would like to do with a fireball instead.
With the same uncaring stance and expression, Shirou fired off the fireball, the ball of fire impacting the pillar and bursting out into flames. However unlike what the both of them expected, it wasn't an explosion. It was more similar to if a glass ball full of water had been thrown at the stone pillar; the Prana keeping the fire in the shape of a sphere dissipating the moment it hit something and letting the fire burst out following it's already established momentum.
"Huh. Don't fireballs usually create explosions? Like in the cartoons?" Shirou asked, turning his head back to look at Rin.
"…Dumby. There are heaps of different types of fireballs. Your ancestor apparently didn't like it being too big of an area it damaged"
"Oh. Neat." He said dryly, watching the flames die down due to having no more fuel source thanks to the stone the pillar was made of and surrounded by.
"That's a pretty handy spell to have though Muramasa. It might help with any affinity spells" She chirped, proud to have managed to meet Shirou early enough to 'stake her claim' on him.
"Not really"
"Oh. Is your affinity something that goes badly with fire, Muramasa? Like water or earth?" She asked with a curious expression, folding her hands behind her back and leaning forward.
"It's not one of the ordinary elements" Was all he said, the Crest Circuits lighting back up as the ball of fire appeared again and began to charge once more.
"What is it?" She asked curiously, her attention grabbed and now making her unwilling to let go.
"Don't worry about it" He fired the fireball at the pillar again, watching the fire dance and fade out of existence as it simultaneously cooled and lost its fuel source.
"What? You can't just say that and say nothing!" She stamped her foot while pumping both arms parallel to it.
"I don't see how it affects your Magecraft" He muttered, getting a pout from her.
"Fine! Test is over! Down to my workshop!"
"H-Huh?" He blinked owlishly at the sudden change in demeanor from the girl.
"If you want to help me with my Magecraft so badly then follow me before I use you as target practice!" She shouted, stomping out of the small courtyard and towards a door into the house.
"…Jeez. What a confusing boss I have now" He muttered to himself, scratching the back of his head.
"I HEARD THAT!"
"Heard what?" He started to follow after her, using her sudden halt in walking to catch-up to her.
As Rin turned around to yell at Shirou for his comment about her she watched him catch-up to her….and keep walking. Going further into her house and now being the one leaving her behind.
"Huh?...G-Get back here!" She chased after him, huffing and refusing to talk to him as she grabbed his shirt and started to drag him through her house.
XXXxxxXXX
Two weeks later, Emiya Residence
"Hey, Muramasa. How long are your parents meant to be gone again?" Rin asked, sitting next to the boy who was currently downing a bottle of water just like she had been.
"Couple months I think. We aren't even through the first month and I think Tou-san said something like 4-5 months?" He replied, adopting a pensive expression as he tried to remember the exact wording Kiritsugu had used when telling him about his and Irisviel's 'trip'.
"What are they even doing? Going to the Clock Tower or something?" She asked rhetorically while snorting, wondering what exactly it could be that would keep two Magus away from their home for so long.
"Don't think so. They probably would have told me if they were. Not to mention that Kaa-san kept saying things about how the Clock Tower wasn't the biggest fan of Tou-san whenever we went over it in lessons" He mused to himself, placing his empty water bottle next to one of the wooden supports of his house and standing up again.
"Ready to keep going?" He asked, getting a tired and exasperated sigh from the girl.
"How do you have so much energy Muramasa? It's just Reinforcement" She whined, lying across the very well maintained and cleaned wooden deck.
"I'm never going to be able to cast a lot of spells. So the spells that I can use I want to get as perfect as possible!" He said, determination blazing so brightly in his eyes that Rin couldn't help but feel a second-wind come in.
With a dainty groan and sigh she sat up before pushing herself up and onto her feet. Following the red haired child further into the grass of the Emiya residence backyard.
"First to three?" He asked, since that had been the 'sparring' rules they had been following all morning so far.
"Of course. You might finally win a round" She giggled teasingly, said giggles only getting louder at the dry expression he gave her.
"The last time you made that expression I leg swept you" He pointed out, watching her face go from superior arrogance to an embarrassed blush.
"Ánfang" Rin uttered, deathly still while her cyan eyes bored holes in his head as if trying to physically injure him.
In the time it took Shirou to blink the glowing lines of Od were already visible and vibrant from underneath Rin's skin. The slightest tensing of her back leg and the sudden beginning of a shift in the air were his only other warnings that she had no intention of waiting for him.
"Trace On!-" The Aria had barely left his lips before the knuckles of his training partner struck his crossed arms.
Air hissed out from between Shirou's teeth as a shock rang through his body, the Reinforcement now running at full capacity through his body having barely been initializing upon first impact. Uncrossing both of his arms he forced the girl back, running at her and lashing out with two punches towards her torso.
With skill that Shirou didn't yet have, Rin knocked both punches off-course and threw a palm-strike at his head that he tried to catch. He missed, of course, but the momentum from his own arm caused hers to veer off the side and skid along his reinforced cheek. Using the moment in time she instinctively took to pull her arm back he moved forward at the same speed and threw a controlled but not overly skilled jab towards her stomach.
Said punch just barely clipped her as she stumbled back, quickly re-entering a fighting stance as Shirou seemed to take a moment to assure himself that his Reinforcement was still engaged.
In their brief respite, Rin took a moment to wince at the, mild at best, flare of pain that came from her stomach. A problem she had found in the last two or so hours of physical training with Shirou was that his pain-tolerance was absurdly high. Like, she's fairly certain that nothing short of severing one of his limbs or stabbing him straight through with some form of Mystic Code would make him legitimately pause in pain.
Said attribute made it increasingly difficult for her to keep edging out wins in their little exercise. Created by two children with access to Magecraft and no real supervision, they had decided that a good way to train their skill at Reinforcement would be to hit each other until somebody's spell gave way. So far, only Rin's skill at unarmed melee combat and greater experience with Reinforcement let her keep winning.
Though with every fight the gap between them kept getting smaller as she got worn down more and more and he just kept tanking through all of her hits. Something which she wasn't exactly pleased with, to say the least. Though she did take solace in the fact that even if he won this round, she was still winning by 9.
This time it was Shirou that ran forward. Small legs carrying him the distance at a speed that could match an Olympians as he cocked his right arm back.
"Stupid! I can see that coming from a mile-" Her taunting was cut off as he got far too close for the kind of punch he had been lining up, his reinforced left foot stomping onto her right.
With a cry of pain she began to instinctually try to move away, left leg pushing off the ground and her upper body leaning back and away from him. However, she realized her mistake once she had already hit the point of no return, her eyes widening as she watched the muscles in his shoulder visibly tense before his fist began to charge forward. It had all the grace and technique of a raging bull but Rin wouldn't be surprised if it felt like getting hit by one as well, given their positions.
Bringing her arms into a guard over her torso she grit her teeth feeling his knuckles impacting her guard and forcing her momentum to greatly increase in a single second. The following impact of her back against the grass indented her into the ground and cracked it slightly around her, her breath leaving her lips forcibly as she bounced ever so slightly before collapsing out of her hasty guard.
With a sound like the cracking of glass and a sudden, brief, brightening of Rin's Magic Circuits, her Reinforcement shattered into motes of light that drifted off of the suddenly jerking and gasping girl.
"Rin? Rin are you ok?" He asked worriedly, sighing in relief when she finally sucked in a breath.
"Hate….you" She muttered weakly, giving him a weak glare that still got a nervous laugh out of him.
Meanwhile, off to the side, staring at the two with a cool, almost completely uncaring, gaze were a pair of crimson eyes that were barely fit to be used by a human body. Somewhat slitted pupils gazed at the two children as the owner of said eyes leant against the wall of the Emiya residence storehouse.
'So you're the only other one that was able to push away the curses? A mere child?' A cocky smirk spread the lips of the figure 'Is it ego, willpower, or something else? Hah! Well it's not time for his King to appear before him yet, a couple more days shall suffice'
XXXxxxXXX
Hello one! Hello all!
I have returned with chapter 3 at long last. As of posting this chapter. Chapter's 4-6 have all been finished and edited, which means that you'll all be getting a chapter once per month for at least 3 months. And that's if I don't work on or stockpile any other chapters before I post chapter 6.
In future chapters I may write some Omake's between the end of the chapter and these Author's Notes. So that's something to look forward to? Regardless. I hope you all enjoyed!
Discord code: ctMzhq3
Zero Vader Sparda Alucard: That she has! Also, yes. Shirou's servant has been picked out and finalized.
NotSpecialDude: Very right you are. And thank you for the follow xP
DiaTales: Accidental flexing still counts right?
Josegeronimo Lujan: I realize that this is in Spanish but I'm still going to reply. This Shirou shares a little bit of personality from both Miyu's and Illya's Shirou's from Kaleid. But more shared from Miyu's than Illya's. Additionally I will absolutely be exploring more of the world since Fate just has so much to offer! Thank you for your review and I hope you continue to read and enjoy!
TheSlySage: To be honest. I'm still undecided on whether Shirou is going to have Mystic Eyes or not. I enjoy the idea but unless I can find my own way that fits into my story, I don't want to add them in even though FFD did.
RandomDude15: So the idea for more Circuits than canon actually came from having him come from a fairly active and in all honesty somewhat thriving Magus family. Also thank you for the grammatical errors. I don't have enough beta's that read fate ;-; And finally I'm glad you enjoyed what I've done so far and continue to enjoy it going forward!