A.N. If you haven't realized yet, this is a sort-of sequel to another story series of mine called Argus Magus. It's a crossover story where an SI is turned into Rin Tohsaka and sent to Remnant without knowing how or why. The latest chapter in case Atlas just revealed some answers to that, and this story was born because I wanted to head straight into Rin's adventures in the Nasuverse. Because the main story has yet to be completed, this could be considered a what-if story that might or might not be canon. I'll still continue writing Argus Magus, but I'll also take some time to update this story as well.
(HEAVY SPOILER WARNING for Argus Magus series)
Route (1) - Home
The last thing she remembered was Salem trying to drag her away.
Waking up, Rin realized that she was sprawled on what appeared to be a sandy beach. The sounds of the surging waves accompanied the bleak darkness of the night sky. Her body was covered in minor cuts and stung with pain as salt water clung to her lithe form. A breeze blew past her, causing her to shiver and hug herself for warmth.
"Huh, I'm still alive."
For some reason, that came as a shock to her. She had been sure that she would meet her end when Salem grabbed onto her near the conclusion of the battle. The spell she had used to banish her was supposed to take her to a different layer of the planet where only beings like her could survive. Any regular human would have simply combusted due to the dense and pure mana native to the realm. So the fact that Rin was unharmed meant that she was probably somewhere else.
Gathering her wits, she began to take in her surroundings. The endless roar of waves was her first hint that something was wrong. Rin recalled that there was no ocean within a reasonable distance from where the final battle occurred, so she must have traveled a long way. Neither was there supposed to be any form of civilization within proximity. Yet contrary to that belief, she caught sight of multiple large buildings in the distance proving otherwise.
Checking her pockets, she winced as she pulled out a soaked and cracked Scroll. There was no fixing that kind of damage, and her attempts to turn it on resulted in failure. That went her plans to call for help, not that she expected her luck to allow that much.
Dragging herself along, she began to walk toward the direction of the city while dripping wet. Time passed in a daze as Rin tried to figure out where she was. Even as she walked through rows of snow-covered storehouses and ruined buildings, she still had no clue where she was. Nobody was around this late at night, and the places she walked through didn't appear to be areas with high concentrations of pedestrian traffic.
That soon changed after she continued her journey parallel to the river since she first appeared on the estuary. The river seemed to flow through the city, dividing it into two halves with a single bridge in the distance connecting them. She couldn't recall there being such a city this big with a notable landmark like that on Remnant. Was this one of those larger settlements in Sanus or Anima that kept to themselves instead of being involved with the Kingdoms?
Still, something felt wrong. And that wasn't because she was wearing thin clothing in cold weather. Maybe it was the feeling of the air, or it might have been a trick of the mind. But somehow, Rin couldn't help but feel that something was different about the world around her.
Time has done its job of letting her clothes dry, but it did nothing for the brisk chill of the night. She spotted a restaurant up ahead that looked open, the sign above telling her that it was a ramen shop. Frantic for some warmth, her teeth chattered as she rushed forward for the promise of shelter and a warm meal.
"Welcome."
The shop owner looked intimidating due to his harsh expression and large stature which did nothing to hide the fact that he was in impeccable shape. But that wasn't what caused Rin to flinch back in shock. No, it was the overwhelming sense of familiarity she got after seeing his face that caused her to stare warily at him.
Before, he had greeted Rin without looking up from whatever task he was doing. But hearing no response from her, he finally turned his gaze toward her and froze. The next second, his face morphed from apathy to something akin to wariness.
"Hm, it seems I have quite the unusual customer."
He maintained a calm facade, but Rin couldn't help but notice that he was gripping a butcher knife tightly in his hand. Still, she stood her ground and stared at him. "I could ask the same thing. You seem to recognize me for some reason, but I have never met you in my life. Why the hostility?"
"You…" His words trailed off. "No… You're not another one of his dolls, are you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Forgive my rudeness. I mistook you for someone I used to know. As an apology, would you care for a meal? I'm afraid that is all I can provide as repayment, although I doubt you would refuse an offer of free food in your current state."
Well, there was no denying that. "Much appreciated."
"I'll be ready with your order in a minute."
The man went back to work, and Rin took that opportunity to settle down in one of the shop's seats. Even though the situation was slightly strange, ordering some food in a restaurant wasn't exactly an unusual thing to do. That piece of normalcy allowed her to relax while her thoughts began to wander.
"May I have your name?"
His question almost caused her to give her name without conscious thought until she realized something. Due to her actions during the war, her name had become slightly widespread across the four kingdoms. While she wasn't unused to her name being known, Rin figured that it would probably be best to lay low until she learned more about her situation. For now, she decided to give an alias that she used in the past.
"Zenjou."
"Your meal will be done soon, Miss Zenjou."
A thought crossed her mind. "Are you sure that I can have it for free? I have some lien if you're worried about payment."
"I'm afraid we do not use that type of money here."
Really? Lien was used for all transactions around the world, regardless of which kingdom you were in. It was literally a supercurrency, so unless it was some backwater village that decided to use some alternate form of payment, no place on Remnant did not accept it.
"Here you go."
Before she could think more about that, he pushed a plate in front of her. Her nose was met with a powerful aroma, and tears began welling up in her eyes immediately even as she stared in horror at the dish before her.
"What is this!?"
It was red. Too red. So red that there was no way you could call this food unless it was filled with tons of artificial coloring or worse.
"Mapo tofu." He had the gall to say that with a straight face. "Eat it while it's still piping hot."
"What kind of mapo tofu is this?! Forget hot, this dish looks like it'll burn out my tongue and throat! I might spit fire out of my mouth once I eat this."
"Are you refusing a free meal?"
As he said that, the glint of his knife shone and Rin realized that she had no choice. Pushing her complaints down, she cried while she forced each spoonful of the vile substance down her throat. For a second, Rin considered strengthening her mouth with magecraft until she realized that it might enhance her taste buds if she did.
She coughed. "S-So, Mister! You said that you mistook me for someone else earlier. Wanna tell me who you were thinking of?"
"A young girl that I used to take care of when I was younger. She was my teacher's daughter, and it was my duty to oversee her studies whenever her father was busy."
"Like tutoring?"
"I suppose that would be an apt description. Everything I taught her was taught to me by her father, so I suppose I owe that family a lot. Your resemblance to them is quite stunning, even to the point that I could ask if you're related to them."
"Unlikely," Rin replied. "I don't have any family left in this world."
"Then I suppose it's only a coincidence. Although, your name…"
"Yes?"
He shook his head. "Never mind. I suppose you are from out of town then?"
"That's right. I'm only passing through, then I have to meet up with some friends later."
Pyrrha, Weiss, Ruby, and everyone else who participated in the attack against Salem. Were they still alive, or did Salem's forces overwhelm them like the rest of their armies? Not knowing was killing her, so Rin was feeling impatient to get back and find out what happened.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Scroll. "Sorry, but would you happen to know if there's a nearby place where I can repair this?"
"I doubt it. Fukayama Mall had most of its shops closed in the past few years, and I doubt that there's an adequate repair shop anywhere in the city that can fix your device."
"And let me guess? There aren't any places where I can buy a new one either?"
"If you only have 'lien', then I doubt you would even be able to purchase it even if there were any for sale."
Damn it. And since she didn't bother memorizing any of the numbers on her contacts list, there was no point in asking him to borrow something to let her call her friends. That was an oversight on her part, but nothing about it could be done now.
"Well, I suppose my next problem now is to find a place to stay for the night. I don't suppose you know of anywhere I can crash for free?"
"The church accepts all into its doors, even if there is no use for faith any longer."
That was an understatement. With the reveal of the truth behind the Brother Gods, religion was a mixed bag among people when the fact was that their world had been abandoned by them. Still, it was good news to learn that she would be able to sleep under a roof tonight. She didn't want to risk her chances of sleeping outside in the cold with the current weather.
"I'll be closing up shop soon, so you can wait for me here until I escort you there."
She thanked him. The man said nothing else as he went back to tending his shop.
Despite his words, barely an hour passed before he finished cleaning and packing everything up. During that time, no other customers had come and Rin was left to herself and her thoughts. Once she noticed that he was ready for her, the two exited together and began making their way down the road.
"By the way, I didn't know how to bring this up earlier…"
"Are you curious about the giant crater in the center of the city?"
Rin gave a hesitant nod. At first, she didn't realize that there was anything off about it when she passed through the city. But she soon realized that the perimeter of the crater was surrounded by ruined buildings. That meant that it wasn't a naturally occurring part of the landscape and that it was likely caused by something else. The only other comparison she could make to it was the Mantle Crater underneath Atlas, although that had been filled with residents and shoddy houses.
"Several years ago, something ignited a vast untapped natural gas reservoir beneath the city. It was a disaster that caused the loss of countless lives, which is why you'll see almost nobody else walking the streets. The population has yet to recover from that tragedy, and the effects of that incident are still felt to this very day."
Something about his words tickled her mind. "That teacher you mentioned earlier… did his family also get caught in that disaster?"
"They did."
Again. That same sense of familiarity from before was surging forth once more, and Rin felt that there was something important she was missing.
"How long ago did it happen?"
"Five years ago." His words caused her to freeze in place. "The catastrophe happened half a decade ago, and since the government was worried that there are still pockets of natural gas still buried underground, an evacuation order was issued so that nobody else would be able to enter the city."
Something cold pressed against her neck.
"That's why I'm curious," he said even as he held a blade at her. "As to exactly why you are here while carrying that name and face. The fact that you know nothing is suspicious enough, and worse yet is that you carry a trace of something foreign about you."
Rin didn't even dare to swallow. The sword in his hand was right next to her throat, and the look in the other man's eyes showed his willingness to kill her if she made one wrong step. Ignoring the fact that he pulled the blade from seemingly out of nowhere, she stared at his face once again and put into words a suspicion that had been forming for a while now.
"Who are you?"
He quirked an eyebrow. "I believe you already know the answer to that question, Miss Zenjou."
There was no denying it now. So many hints were presented before her, but the mapo tofu had been really obvious as to what his identity was.
"You're Kotomine Kirei."
"That's correct," Kirei replied, the Black Key pressing deeper against her neck. "Now the real question is who you are because you certainly can't be the person I'm thinking of."
"There's a complicated answer to that…"
Because now she fully understood her situation. Honestly, she was embarrassed that it took her this long to piece together the clues. She knew for a long time that she had been trapped inside the box, but the realization that she was finally free was something that did not seem possible to her.
This was Fuyuki City, and Rin Tohsaka was finally back home.
"Does the name Ainsworth mean anything to you?"
The name After Life in the Box is based on the omake series After Life on SpaceBattles and the fact that Rin has lived for five years inside Pandora's Box. Since the main series has yet to be completed, this story will only loosely follow its prequel and will not have many mentions of Rin's time on Remnant.