Autumn Experiences

"Everyone, I would like you to meet Illya von Einzbern, my sister." Shirou said proudly, introducing the white-haired girl, whom he had just taken out of his Vault, to his family and friends.

It was the morning after his return to Fuyuki, after the party, and after Rin had officially become his third girlfriend, and Shirou had already gathered everyone again for another celebratory occasion, giving rise to jokes about how they never should have disbanded in the first place.

Fortunately, it was not hard to gather everyone. Sakura, Ayako, and Rin had already been at his house, Taiga lived right next door, and though Issei lived a bit further away, the Ryuudou-temple was still well within walking distance of the Emiya-estate.

He had assembled them in his living room and asked them to take an hour or two out of their schedule, so they could meet Illya and get to know her a bit. She would be staying with him after all, which meant it was for the best if all his family and friends at least had a passing familiarity with her.

In short, he wanted to get the introductions over with immediately, especially those between Rin and Illya, considering the animosity between their families. He didn't think either of them put much stock into that animosity, but one never knew what quiet resentment might still slumber beneath.

"Also, these are Sella and Leysritt, her maids." Shirou continued, now gesturing at the two Homunculus women in maid outfits, whom he had also retrieved from his Vault a few minutes before.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Sella said calmly, executing a perfect curtsy towards all people in the room. "It is an honour to meet Lord Emiya's inner circle."

"You look nice." Leysritt clumsily copied her big sister's curtsy, giving a short remark as she did so. "Happy to meet you."

"Inner circle?" Ayako parroted Sella's earlier phrase, sounding a bit puzzled, though in an amused way. "And what's that about Shirou being a lord? You are making him sound like an anime villain, Sella-san."

"It is only appropriate to address him with respect, considering Lord Emiya's station." Sella replied calmly, though she didn't elaborate further. Shirou had requested of her not to mention Magecraft or Sorcery during the introductions, and Sella, being a dependable person, had no trouble following through on that.

"Right." Ayako nodded, realising why Sella used the terms that she did. The brunette knew all about Shirou's Sorcerer-like talents after all, and also why they were considered so special. The same went for Sakura and Rin, and Taiga vaguely knew that he was an important person in the Magus Association now. Only Issei didn't have the faintest clue why Shirou was supposed to be a lord, but the monk-in-training didn't bother asking. If it was important, Shirou would volunteer the information, and otherwise, it was none of Issei's business.

Safe to say, Issei was easily the wisest person in the room.

"Thank you for your introductions, Sella, Leysritt." Shirou said, nodding at the maids, before he looked behind him. "Do you want to introduce yourself as well, Illya?"

At the moment, his little sister was hiding herself behind him, pressing her face against the small of his back as she tried to stay out of everyone's sight. It was surprisingly bashful behaviour from the normally so audacious girl, but Shirou guessed meeting five strangers at once was more than she'd ever experienced before.

Still, his question made her look up, and when he gave her an encouraging nod, she took a deep breath, before she stepped out from behind him.

"G-Good morning, e-everyone." She said, stuttering only the tiniest bit as she made a perfect curtsy, just like Sella. "I-I am Illyasviel von Einzbern, Shirou's little sister. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. P-Please be kind to me."

For a few seconds after Illya gave her greeting, it remained silent.

Then Taiga raised her hand.

"Hey, Illya, can I hug you?" She asked bluntly, giving the little girl a very eager smile as she held out her hands like claws, ready to make a grab for her. "Because you are so adorable I could just eat you up."

"Can I go next?" Ayako asked, her eyes shining in anticipation.

"And me?" Sakura's gaze had fixed itself upon the small girl, her eyes burning bright in a way they normally only did when cute bunnies were in sight.

'U-Uhm…" Illya clearly did not know what to say in response, and she looked at Shirou again for help.

"Control yourself, Fuji-nee." He said sternly, frowning at his big sister. "You as well, Ayako, Sakura. Illya has just arrived. Please don't make her uncomfortable."

"That was not our intention." Sakura immediately broke her fixed stare, hastily looking somewhere else, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "I'm sorry for startling you, Illya-chan."

"I-I am sorry too." Illya rushed to say. "It's not that I dislike you! It's just that… being hugged by strangers…"

"We completely understand." Taiga's mature big sister instincts had taken over now, and she calmly kneeled, bringing her at eye-height with the white-haired girl, letting her arms hang by her side. "I'm sorry for making such a sudden request. I shouldn't have done that."

"I-It's alright." Illya assured them, breathing an almost inaudible sigh of relief, before she held out her hand. "M-Maybe you want to shake hands though?"

"Absolutely!" Taiga cried out in pretty decent English, before stepping forward and taking Illya's hand. "Oooooh, just as soft and delicate as I imagined!"

"Let me next!"

"And me!"

Ayako and Sakura wasted no time in stepping forward too, and Illya, who still looked a bit overwhelmed, but also happy with the attention, obediently shook their hands as well.

In the meantime, Sella and Leysritt had placed themselves to the left and right of Illya, slightly behind her, like guardians, although their soft expressions took away all intimidating airs they might normally have possessed.

After the girls, it was Issei who stepped forward.

"Good morning, Einzbern-san. My name is Ryuudou Issei." He spoke formally, also shaking Illya's hand, though with much more seriousness than the girls before him. "It is a pleasure to meet Shirou's little sister at last. He has mentioned you numerous times over the years.

"You are from the Ryuudou-temple, right?" Illya asked cautiously, her eyes turning sad as she looked at the bespectacled teen. "Where papa is buried?"

"That is correct." Despite the sudden and rather delicate question, Issei did not fumble for a moment, though his expression became very sympathetic. "My condolences."

"C-Could I visit his grave?" Illya asked, her tone becoming even softer than before.

"The Ryuudou-temple is always open to visitors." Issei assured her kindly, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. "Come by whenever you like, and I will show you to Emiya-san's burial place myself."

"Thank you, Ryuudou-san." Illya curtsied again in gratitude, and Issei gave her a short nod in return.

After that, a lively conversation was started between the five of them, and with every minute that passed, Illya seemed to come out of her shell more and more as she learned that her big brother's family and friends were all very nice people.

Not that she had expected anything else, but hearing about something and actually experiencing it were two very different things.

However, one person did not contribute to the conversation, choosing to remain in her seat from the very start of the meeting, not saying a single word.

Rin was looking at the proceedings with a careful eye, closely studying Illya and her maids, trying to find out their motives and plans. It seemed the Einzbern-name had made her wary, and now, she was watching their every movement, to the point where Leysritt was already looking back at her. For now, things seemed fairly friendly, a Magus and a maid sizing each other up, but there was no telling when that might change.

"Hey, Rin, is something the matter?" Shirou asked as he sat down next to her, breaking her focus and making her look at him. "You haven't said a single word yet."

"Hm." Rin made an unhappy noise, before looking back at the trio of Homunculi. "I'm sorry, Emiya-kun. I am aware I am being rude, but I need to be careful around the Einzbern."

"I understand that a centuries-old rivalry is not forgotten in a day." Shirou allowed, before gently taking Rin's chin and turning her face back to him. "But that has nothing to do with Illya anymore."

"…I know." Rin nodded after a moment. "And frankly, I don't have the time or the energy myself to sustain rivalries when it isn't necessary. However, I cannot allow myself to trust her after only one meeting."

"Nor do I expect or ask you to." Shirou said softly. "All I want is that you can peacefully coexist in the same room without arguing or glaring suspiciously at each other."

"…Well, if that is all you ask." Rin let out a breath, before smiling at him. "She seems perfectly cordial, so I will behave the same."

"Will it be a mask?" Shirou asked, cocking his head to the side.

"At the start, yes." Rin confirmed shamelessly. "But in time, if she proves reliable and trustworthy, it may not be a mask anymore."

"Fake it until you make it?" Shirou huffed in amusement, before leaning in and capturing Rin's lips in a short kiss. "I'll take that for now. Thank you, Rin."

"I'm not doing this for you." The black-haired girl huffed in response, before taking his hand off her chin. "Well, I suppose I better greet the newest princess on the block myself then."

"Be nice, please." Shirou put his hands together and gave her his most pleading expression.

"I will." Rin assured him, making a small waving motion with her hand, as if to brush away his worries. "Haven't you heard? I am an idol. Perfection itself. My kindness is legendary."

"I had indeed noticed. That is why I fell in love with you." Shirou laughed, and he was rewarded with the sight of Rin turning away from him to hide her slight blush.

Then she walked away to join the conversation, and Shirou smiled when she greeted his little sister with the kindest of smiles and the friendliest of words.

It seemed Illya's acceptance into the family was going almost seamlessly.

Now all that was left was Nasu's ritual.

"And that wraps it all up." Osaki said out loud to no one in particular, putting his signature below his report with an extra pronounced twirl, before he picked the report up from his desk and put it in his bag. He'd take it to his direct superior, who could then decide what to do with it.

Considering that this was the report of the Carlton Paris-case, and that Osaki had not only made sure to mention, several times, that the man had been a gigolo, but also that the likely culprit was one of his extremely rich, extremely well-connected clients, he heavily suspected that the report would never see the light of day again after entering his superior's office. It would disappear immediately, and no one would ever hear the name Carlton Paris again.

Which was just fine by him. The case had become an absolute clusterfuck, way more trouble than it was worth, and frankly, as far as Osaki was concerned, the real culprit was dead, eaten by a dark god or something, and it wasn't necessary to punish anyone else, least of all the girl who had been manipulated by the real culprit and had only ever acted to protect her family.

Maita Hiroko certainly needed psychological help to deal with her murderous impulses –considering her go-to solution for problems seemed to be to kill someone– and the inevitable trauma, but she wouldn't receive that in prison. Better to let her expert mother or one of her mother's colleagues deal with that and keep the police off her back, provided there wouldn't be any more incidents.

If there were more incidents however, and Hiroko proved to be an actual danger to society, Osaki would take responsibility and bring her in, but until that moment, he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt.

With that, the case was over as far as Osaki was concerned. All that was left was, as said before, delivering the heavily revised report to his superior and checking up with Hiroko occasionally to make sure she stayed on the straight and narrow from now on.

Not normally a task for a detective, but that was what they had agreed on with Maita Rei, Hiroko's mother, after discussing the recent events surrounding her daughter with her.

After the 'incident' in the cavern under the Ryuudou-temple, when the whole case had been laid bare by the monster responsible for Paris' murder before said monster had fallen prey to its own schemes, Osaki and his partner Yomaura had taken Hiroko with them and brought her home.

There, at the Maita-estate, they'd found Rei standing outside, going mad with worry over her daughter, clutching a phone in her hand while frantically looking around.

"Senpai, are you sure about this?" Yomaura asked, looking at the young woman they'd laid on the backseat of the car, fast asleep, undisturbed by the vehicle's movements as they drove away from the Ryuudou-temple. "You heard what the Wraith said. Hiroko not only killed Carlton Paris and her own father, but also tried to kill the Mitsuzuri-girl and even you. Would it not be better to bring her in?"

"And then what?" Osaki grumbled, not any happier with the current state of affairs than she was. "We have zero proof that Hiroko did any of that, except for the word of a monster, who was, as you might recall, eaten by a bigger monster. Any judge out there would throw the case out the moment we presented it."

"She would probably confess if we pressured her a little." Yomaura countered.

"Probably." Osaki acknowledged, before he shrugged. "But I don't want her to."

"Why not?" Yomaura frowned.

"Because with things being as they are, Hiroko will end up carrying the can for that monster's deeds and for protecting herself and her mother. You heard it too, Taya, her father was a terrible human being, and Paris was apparently barely better. I do not wish to punish her for doing what was right."

"But she tried to kill you." Yomaura protested, and Osaki realised that that was the thing that bothered his partner the most about this. "I do not care about her father or Paris. In fact, good riddance to both of them. However, she tried to kill you, a detective, a good man, and I cannot let her get away with that."

"…You may have a point." Osaki admitted after a moment. "But I still don't think throwing her into prison is the answer. I'd rather that she got professional help to deal with her… issues. Her mother is a psychiatrist, right?"

"So she'll get help from her own mother?" Yomaura remained sceptical for a few moments, but eventually, when she saw he wouldn't budge, she let out a very deep sigh. "Fine then. If you don't want to make a problem out of it, Senpai, I won't do so either, but I do insist that we keep an eye on that girl. If she steps out of line again…"

"Then we'll arrest her and throw the book at her." Osaki nodded. "Committing crimes because you were manipulated or out of self-defence is one thing, but dangers to society must be dealt with."

"Yes." Yomaura looked a lot happier now, but only for a few seconds, as her dour look returned fairly quickly. "How are we going to tell her mother about what happened though?"

"I just wanted to tell her the truth." Osaki responded calmly. "All of it, as straight up as possible."

"You never did have any time for beating around the bush." Yomaura jested, though she still didn't look very happy. "It's going to be quite something to tell her about the Moonlit World though."

"You heard the Wraith. Rei is unusually resistant to Magecraft, indicating she is somehow involved with the Moonlit World. I think she deserves to know what she is a part of." Osaki argued.

"Yes, I know, especially if creeps like Paris are going to be targeting her because of it." Yomaura nodded to show her agreement. "I'm not arguing against that."

"Then we shall go to the Maita-estate without further delay." Osaki nodded, before sneaking a glance at his Kohai. "That is, after we've stopped by your apartment on the way."

Currently, Yomaura was clad in a large cloak that she'd securely wrapped around her body, covering her from head to toe, but Osaki was nevertheless extremely aware that below that cloak, she wore nothing but her panties.

During the fight with the Wraith, Yomaura had engaged it in hand-to-claw combat. With her exceptional battle-instincts and experience, she had been able to avoid taking any debilitating wounds during the fight, taking only scratches that, while annoying, were not fatal or even threatening in any way.

However, these instincts clearly did not extend to her clothes, as those had been shredded to tiny pieces that had been scattered all over the cavern floor. The only thing that had survived intact were her, rather sheer, panties.

In other words, she'd been just about naked, and although Osaki had done his best to cover his eyes and look away, he hadn't been able to avoid sneaking a few looks at her after the Wraith had been eaten by the thing hiding in the Grail.

Now, had he sometimes wondered what his partner's breasts looked like when they were bare? Yes, he had, he was still a straight man after all. He just hadn't expected that he'd get his first good look at them because a monster from a horror story had slashed her clothes to bits while trying to murder her.

It had been an… interesting experience, and Osaki did not know what to think about the fact he'd purposefully waited with telling her about her nakedness for several, incredibly long moments, nor did he know what to think about the fact that Tohsaka, Matou, and Mitsuzuri had also neglected to tell her, seemingly as some kind of demented favour to him.

She had of course realised herself after some time that she was as good as naked, and like the mature, coolheaded woman she was, she hadn't screamed or panicked, but had immediately taken steps to cover herself again.

She had 'Projected' a cloak to wrap around herself for that purpose. Actual clothes would have been preferable, but those were apparently too difficult for her to envision and create.

Tohsaka and Matou hadn't been able to help her with that either. Apparently, 'Projection' was actually quite a difficult spell, and the difficulty increased exponentially when the object you wanted to create became more complicated.

A cloak was essentially just a piece of cloth. Projecting that was doable to most Magi, including Yomaura and Tohsaka. Actual clothes, like trousers or shirts, were already much more difficult, and Projecting objects with moving parts was something only beholden to true masters of the art.

Projecting Magical Items was apparently entirely impossible, bar possible irregulars who violated every law in existence.

According to Yomaura, she could try her hand at Projecting trousers and a shirt, but those would be of such poor quality, speaking in Magecraft-terms, that they would fall apart seconds after being created, which would defeat the whole purpose of using them to cover herself.

So a cloak it was. Such a thing would at least last her a while.

Unfortunately, 'a while' was definitely not the same as 'all the way'.

"Uhm." Osaki made a warning noise when he saw that Yomaura's cloak was starting to fray at the edges, indicating it was close to falling apart into Magical Energy again, but he was too late.

From one second to the next, the cloak disappeared into a shower of sparks, leaving his partner bare again, and Osaki found himself incredibly grateful it was the middle of the night and no other cars were around, for his driving became a lot sloppier in that moment.

"Again?" She groaned, as it was already the third time she'd lost a cloak, before closing her eyes and holding out her hands, preparing to Project yet another one, for the fourth time.

"You can just take my coat." Osaki offered, also for the fourth time, hoping she'd accept, but she resolutely shook her head, rejecting the offer yet again.

"I should be able to manage this by myself." She hissed, her face scrunching up in concentration, and the next moment, she held another cloak, which was immediately wrapped around her body.

Osaki let out a sigh at her stubborn behaviour, and then returned his focus to the road in front of him.

About ten minutes and two more cloaks later, they arrived at Yomaura's apartment, where they both exited the car.

"I'll stay here to keep an eye on Hiroko." Osaki said, gesturing at the unconscious girl on the backseat. "You never know what might happen."

"That is fine, Senpai, I hardly think I'll need you to get to my own apartment." The redheaded woman laughed, before turning around to make for her home, and Osaki's eyes widened when he saw sparks falling again, before-

"I hate Projection." Yomaura hissed when she was left bare once more, burying her face in her hands. She didn't stay down for long though, and prepared to make another cloak, but Osaki had had quite enough of her stubborn pride by now.

"Take this." He said, resolutely throwing his coat around her shoulders, before holding up a hand when she made to protest. "I should have done that far sooner. Just take it for now, put on some actual clothes, and then return it to me."

"…Yes, Senpai." Yomaura nodded demurely, her cheeks turning slightly red, before letting out a soft sigh. "Thank you, Senpai."

"Like I said, I should have done that far sooner." He repeated. "Now off you go."

She indeed left, and returned twenty minutes later, wearing proper clothes and holding his folded coat under her arm.

"Thank you for lending this to me, Senpai." She said as she handed the coat back. "I really should have accepted it sooner."

"It would have saved us a lot of embarrassment." Osaki nodded, though inwardly, he couldn't quite bring himself to feel mad about it, or disappointed, or any other negative emotion.

"Did you at least like what you saw?"

The sudden question from his Kohai made him freeze for a very long moment, his brain frantically racing to determine the proper way to react, wondering if she'd read his mind, before he turned his head slightly, to look at her, hoping to gauge her mood.

Surprisingly, her mood seemed pretty good. Her eyes were half-narrowed and her fists were planted in her sides, but the corners of her lips were twitching, indicating she was trying to suppress a smile, and he didn't sense any aggression from her, like she was about to give him a slap in the face or something.

She just seemed genuinely curious.

"I did like it." Osaki admitted, wondering if he'd just signed his own death-warrant, but Yomaura merely nodded, before she strolled back to the car.

"Then at least this whole episode wasn't for nothing."

"What was that?" Osaki asked, not having caught her soft whisper.

"Nothing." She shook her head, before waving him over. "Come on. We have to deliver Hiroko back to her family."

"Ah, right."

The drive from Yomaura's apartment to the Maita-estate did not take long, especially not now that Osaki could properly focus on the road without any distractions sitting next to him, and they arrived at the Maita-estate to find Rei standing outside, looking around frantically with her phone in her hand.

Osaki parked the car near her, but she barely gave it a glance, instead continuing to look around whilst typing on her phone, before holding it to her ear, as if trying to call someone. The person on the other end clearly did not pick up though, as she lowered it again seconds later, looking even more worried.

It wasn't hard to guess who she was worried about. Her eldest daughter hadn't come home that night –considering she'd been at the Ryuudou-temple with them– and unless Osaki was very much mistaken, she hadn't told her mother where she was going.

"Rei-san!" Yomaura called as she and Osaki stepped out of the vehicle, and Rei, upon recognising them, looked so relieved and happy that Osaki felt almost awkward.

"Detectives!" She cried, rushing towards them as fast as she could. "Please, you have to help me. Hiroko has disappeared! She is not in the house, and not with her friends, and she didn't say anything, and I have no idea where she is-"

Rei began making her plea for help, but was knocked completely silent halfway through when Yomaura lifted her daughter out of the car.

For a moment, her face showed a mixture of immense relief and happiness upon seeing her daughter alive and well, but then it was replaced by even more worry and stress, as Hiroko was still unconscious and ruffled up.

"Hiroko!" Rei cried, hurrying over to place her hands on her daughter's face and neck, desperately feeling for a pulse, for body-warmth. "Detective-chan, what happened to her?! Was she attacked?!"

"Yes." Yomaura nodded, before quickly continuing when true panic entered the woman's eyes. "But she wasn't hurt badly. She has a few bumps and bruises but is mainly exhausted."

"What happened?" Rei asked, not letting go of her daughter for a second. "W-Who did this?"

"What happened is that she ambushed us to stop us from investigating the murder of Carlton Paris any further." Osaki replied bluntly. "As for who did this to her, we and our allies probably did most of the damage."

Mainly Tohsaka with her first exploding gem.

"What?" Rei clearly didn't understand at all what he meant, so he gently took her hands off Hiroko.

"Why don't we go inside first." He suggested kindly, before gently though insistently leading her into her house, Yomaura following closely behind with Hiroko still in her arms.

Sighing deeply at the memory, Osaki got up from his chair, tidied up his desk, and grabbed his bag, making his way over to his superior's office to hand in his report.

"Osaki-san, you are just in time." His superior, whose name was Yagami Soichiro, greeted him kindly when Osaki entered his office. "I was just about to leave for the day. Please tell me you don't have too much work for me. I promised my husband I'd be home early for a change."

"Nothing too bad, sir. Just the report on my latest case." Osaki said soothingly, handing over the stack of papers. "You don't have to read all of it. I wrote a summary on the last page."

"Good man!" Yagami grinned, taking the file from him. "Well, let me have a look then. Anything particularly interesting you want to tell me verbally?"

"We did not manage to track down the murderer." Osaki said apologetically. "And it seems the trail has gone cold by now."

"Don't worry too much about it." Yagami casually waved the matter away. "If you ask me, this was a spot of foreigner-bashing by some hooligans. Those types of murderers are always hard to track, because they usually have no relation to the victim at all. Add to that the fact the murder happened six months ago, and you had the deck stacked against you from the very beginning."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Osaki nodded, keeping his face carefully neutral.

"No problem, we all have cases that we could not solve." Yagami smiled, before dismissing the topic. "Is there anything else you want to tell me right now?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Then you are dismissed for the day. I'm sure there are many other things you'd rather do this evening than staying in my office." Yagami laughed, clearly hoping to send Osaki on his way so he could go home as well.

Fortunately, leaving the office was exactly what Osaki wanted to do right now, so he jumped on the opportunity.

"Then I wish you a good evening, sir." He said, before leaving the office, while Yagami opened the report on the last page to read the summary.

The man was a remarkably fast reader, for Osaki hadn't even left the office yet when Yagami's face became pale in shock and dismay. Before Osaki could even close the door behind him, he could already hear the paper shredder in action.

It seemed the case was closed forever, if Yagami had anything to say about it.

Which meant Hiroko and Rei were now fully safe again, as he had promised them the night before.

"Hiroko killed Carlton?" Rei whispered, her face anguished as she tightly gripped her unconscious daughter's hand. "And she killed Touka, m-my husband, as well?"

Hiroko was currently laid out on the couch in the living room of the Maita-estate, while her mother knelt on the ground beside her, her gaze fixed upon the girl's sleeping face.

"She did." Osaki confirmed, taking no pleasure in having to bring the news. He and Yomaura were standing at the other end of the room, feeling that it would be prudent not to stand too close. It might come across as intimidating if they did. "She confessed it all to us, and we are inclined to believe her."

Rei didn't respond vocally, instead lowering her head in grief and pain.

"She had an accomplice for the murder of Paris and the attempted murders of detective Osaki and Mitsuzuri Ayako, but he has since passed away." Yomaura took over, not going into detail about the nature of the accomplice or the manner of said accomplice's death. "The murder of Maita Touka was something she did entirely on her own however."

"Then…" Rei whispered, turning to look at them with empty eyes. "What will happen to Hiroko now?"

"Nothing." Osaki responded bluntly. "We will leave her to you."

"Huh?" Rei blinked in stupefied shock, gaping at them as if they'd told her the sky was now purple.

"There were some… extenuating circumstances to this whole matter." Yomaura said slowly, carefully weighing her words. "Circumstances that will make it difficult for the court to find Hiroko guilty of anything, and that also greatly complicate the underlying factors of the case."

"At this point in time, we feel it is unnecessary to incarcerate your daughter." Osaki added. "It would not have any added value for society, and having her tried by a mundane court would not allow us to include several pieces of evidence that would either exonerate her fully or at least mitigate her guilt."

"Excuse me, detectives, but are you saying you'll let Hiroko go? Just like that?" Rei still looked surprised, but there was also a glint of hope visible in her eyes. "You won't arrest her?"

"We won't arrest her, that is true, but to say that we'll let the matter slide entirely is inaccurate." Yomaura huffed, crossing her arms. "We will need to severely reprimand her and ensure she does not engage in such foolish behaviour again, which is something we will need your help for-"

Unfortunately for the redhead, everything after 'we won't arrest her' was lost on Rei, and the next moment, the detectives saw a black blur heading for them, before the grateful woman embraced them both.

Rei was taller than them, which made it a bit awkward to be hugged by her, but Osaki bore it stoically, having expected such a reaction already.

"Thank you!" The woman gushed, tears of happiness streaming over her cheeks. "I will make sure she never does something like that ever again! I won't betray your trust! I swear it!"

"Right." Osaki mumbled, feeling grateful the woman wasn't strong enough to lift him off the floor in her exuberance, because she would have if she could, and that would have been really embarrassing.

"Before we can leave this matter behind though, there are several things we need to inform you about." Yomaura said once Rei had released them again. "Most notably, why Hiroko chose, or rather, how she was persuaded, to kill Carlton. I fear this might not be easy for you to hear."

"Did he do something to her?" Now Rei looked nervous again. "I-I knew they didn't get along, but are you saying…?"

"He did something to you." Yomaura corrected her gently, taking Rei's hand. "Something Hiroko could not possibly accept."

"What? No, I already told you, everything Carlton and I did was consensual." Rei shook her head, looking very sure of herself. "He did nothing weird or wrong to me."

"But he did." Osaki said sadly, preparing himself for a long conversation. "He did."

When Osaki walked out of the police station and onto the street, he found Yomaura already waiting for him there, in the car. She had gone on ahead sometime before, while he'd been finishing the report, to get the car from the garage.

"Did you hand in the report to Yagami?" She asked once he'd gotten into the passenger seat.

"I did." Osaki nodded, tightening his seat belt.

"And?"

"He was already disposing of it before I'd even left his office." Osaki laughed, combing a hand through his hair. "Diligent as ever, our dear superior."

"Undoubtedly eager to get home to his husband." Yomaura huffed.

Yagami Soichiro was not actually married to another man, as Japan didn't recognise same-sex marriages, but he'd lived together with his partner for so long they just referred to each other as husband now.

"He will undoubtedly make the case disappear entirely as soon as he possibly can." Osaki continued. "With some luck, no one will ever mention it again, leaving Hiroko in the clear."

"Legally speaking then." Yomaura scoffed, narrowing her eyes. "Because I am certainly not going to let her off easy."

"Do take some pity on her." Osaki pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears. It seemed his partner was still wroth about Hiroko's murder attempt on him.

Without saying another word, she started the car and drove off, straight towards the Maita-estate, where they would get a progress report on Hiroko's every action from Rei.

Osaki supposed it was fortunate his own daughters were still at their summer camp, as this was likely going to take a while.

It definitely wouldn't end before they came back either, the process of trying to rehabilitate Hiroko, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

If necessary, he'd just take them along. Hiroko, Aya, and Kazuhiro were good kids, and he had no doubt his daughters would get along with them just fine.

"Alright then, Rin." Shirou smiled as he stepped into the living room with a huge plate full of snacks, finding the girls already waiting for him. "I think it's time to tell you the truth."

The truth in this context being his life story. Not the redacted, half-true version he'd told her before, in which he was just a skilled Magus who might be a Sorcerer, but the actual truth, with his demigod nature, sentient Divine Tool, and alien friends included.

It was for that purpose that the girls were assembled again. Issei wasn't present this time, nor was Taiga, but all the others, Sakura, Ayako, Rin, Illya, Sella, and Leysritt, were there to hear his story.

With so many people present, his living room was starting to get rather cramped. For now, everyone had been able to find themselves a place, but only because Sakura was sitting on Ayako's lap, Illya was sitting on Sella's lap, and Shirou sat down on the floor in front of Rin, who was perched on one of the sofas.

Shirou already had an idea though to deal with the lack of space, but that was something for another time.

"Oh, it's finally time to tell me the truth, is it?" Rin asked with some heat in her voice, crossing both her arms and her legs to show how displeased she was. "Took you long enough after you left out such massive parts last time."

"I am very sorry." Shirou apologised after putting the plate down, bowing his head, though more to hide his smile than to show how contrite he was. "But there was just never the right time."

"Yes, I have heard that before." Rin grumbled, giving him a displeased glare, before she mellowed slightly. "Just promise me you'll tell me everything this time, okay?"

"I promise I will tell you everything." Shirou placed a hand on his heart to show his sincerity, and Rin, after looking into his eyes for a moment, nodded quietly. "Though I have to warn you that 'everything' is quite a lot."

"And when Shirou says 'quite a lot', he means it." Ayako added, already munching on one of the snacks Shirou had brought, her arm around Sakura's stomach to hold her in place. "Seriously, it took him, like, a few hours to tell me everything, in multiple sessions."

"Nee-san does have the advantage of knowing about Magecraft already." Sakura countered. "So we'll be able to cut some time there."

"True." Ayako nodded, finishing the snack, before immediately taking another, though she did not eat that one herself but instead tried to make Sakura eat it. "I suppose that does save some time."

"It does not matter how long it takes." Shirou shook his head, trying not to stare at the scene of Sakura nibbling daintily on the piece of cake that Ayako held in front of her mouth. "I promised to tell Rin everything, so I will."

"As you should." Rin nodded imperiously, before glancing over at Sella and Leysritt. "I'm sure the maids are also interested."

"Lord Emiya can tell us as much or as little as he likes." Sella replied, her voice perfectly even and controlled, showing off how skilled a maid she was. "My and my sister's desires or levels of interest play no role in this."

"Even so, you do want to know." Rin stated, and Sella, unable to deny that without outright lying, inclined her head in silent agreement.

"Can I get started then?" Shirou asked, cocking his head to the side as he gave Rin a smile. "I won't get very far if you keep interrupting me before I can even begin."

"Yes, I'll be silent now." Rin nodded with a small huff, before holding up a hand. "Ah, but before you start, I would like to know one thing."

"Which is?"

"Are you actually a Sorcerer?" Rin asked immediately, her expression hardening as she leaned forward, towards him. "I do not have many contacts in the Clocktower, but the few I do have informed me that there were rumours going about in the Magus Association, rumours of you being able to wield the Heaven's Feel. They also said you yourself confirmed it on several different occasions."

"I might have done something like that, yes." Shirou nodded, thinking back on the interrogations he'd been subjected to at times, by Sophia Edelfelt, by Lady Barthomeloi, and even by Waver, to name a few. At all those occasions, he'd either not denied being a Sorcerer or he had even confirmed it outright.

"So it's true?! You are actually a Sorcerer?!" Rather than being shocked or impressed, Rin buried her face in her hands, her body language radiating shame and embarrassment. "I truly missed the rise of a True Magician in my own backyard! How stupid am I-?!"

"No." Shirou said, clearly and decisively, not about to let Rin insult and degrade herself. "You missed nothing of the sort. I am not a Sorcerer."

His strong denial took aback not only Rin, but also Sella and Leysritt, who hadn't yet been informed about the fact his 'Sorceries' were actually acts of Divine Might.

"You're not?" Rin rose her head again to stare at him in clear surprise. "But the rumours…? And your confirmations…?"

"My 'confirmations' were nothing but lies." Shirou admitted, feeling somewhat bad about having lied, though not too bad, considering it had been very much necessary. "And the rumours are false. I am not a True Magician. That is the truth."

"But Lord Emiya-" Sella began to protest, undoubtedly remembering the acts he'd performed that seemed reminiscent of the Second and the Third Magic, but she fell silent when he held up a hand.

"Emiya-kun-" Rin also wanted to say something, but she too stopped talking when he raised his other hand.

Leysritt hadn't said a word, but she was watching him like a hawk, her normally ditsy eyes laser focused and sharp as she awaited his explanation.

"I know this may be hard to believe at this point, after I pretended and lied for so long." Shirou said, having anticipated their reactions. "But I truly am not a Sorcerer. Yes, I did things that are supposed to be impossible through Magecraft, but not through the use of any True Magic. I used something else."

"Something else?" Rin asked, lifting an eyebrow, still looking utterly incredulous. "Like what?"

"Is that even possible?" Sella asked before Shirou could reply to Rin's question. "I-I am hardly an expert on the subject of Magecraft or True Magic, as the Einzbern never thought it necessary to give me that knowledge, but I am rather sure the True Magics are unique."

"The True Magics don't have a monopoly on their effects, Sella." Shirou decided to answer Sella's question first. "Let's take teleporting as an example. Teleporting can be done with the Second Magic, but if a Caster Servant were to teleport as well using their Crafts from the Age of the Gods, it would not mean they were using the Second Magic. They would be using something that was infinitely close to it, but not the Kaleidoscope itself. I do the same as that hypothetical Servant, I use something infinitely close to the Second and Third Magics, but not those Magics themselves."

"I… see." Sella mumbled, realisation entering her eyes. "So essentially, you are conning the Magus Association by pretending to be a Sorcerer, even though you only wield a similar craft. That is quite deceitful of you."

"Harsh as always, Sella." Shirou deadpanned at the maid, who wasn't even paying much attention to him anymore.

"What is it that you use, Emiya-kun?" Rin pulled his attention back to her, slightly breathless in anticipation as she leaned forward, looking seconds away from jumping off the sofa. "What allows you to mimic the Third Magic?"

"That's of course the main question here." Shirou nodded, falling silent as he pondered about what he should say and where to begin. He didn't need to begin at the very start, like telling Rin and Sella that he was a Magus, or explaining what Magecraft even was, but he also didn't want to accidentally skip anything important. "But it is a question that is not that easy to answer."

"Just show them Mjolnir and take it from there." Ayako suggested, something Sakura clearly agreed with, as she nodded a few times, her mouth still full of cake.

"Ah yes." Shirou shot the brunette a grateful look, before materialising Mjolnir in his hand, the hammer once more appearing in a dramatic shower of sparks. "Behold, the reason I am capable of mimicking the True Magics!"

"…"

It remained silent following his declaration, as Rin blinked once in surprise, Sella frowned in confusion, Sakura and Ayako tried to hide their smiles at both Shirou's dramatic behaviour and the unimpressed reactions of his audience, and Illya giggled openly about the situation.

Only Leysritt appeared to be taking it the slightest bit seriously, as her eyes had narrowed to slits as she stared with clear caution at the hammer in Shirou's hand.

"…A hammer?" Rin asked slowly after a few seconds, cocking her head to the side.

"A Mystic Code." Sella corrected her, though she didn't sound particularly impressed either.

They both seemed like they were waiting for the punchline, for Shirou to tell them he was joking, and the longer that moment didn't come, the more confused they seemed to get.

"Ah, Shirou, I don't think they quite get what you mean." Ayako seemed to consider the situation to be hilarious, as she was grinning broadly.

"You should explain it a bit more, Senpai." Sakura added, being a bit more polite as she covered her smile with her hand, though she did nothing to conceal the fact her eyes were sparkling in amusement.

"Yeah, maybe I should." Shirou nodded, realising that Mjolnir in its calm state did not give the impression of a particular unique or powerful weapon. "Rin, Sella, Leysritt, this hammer is not a Mystic Code, as you assumed. It is a Divine Construct."

"…A Divine Construct?" Rin repeated, her expression becoming very conflicted as her natural instinct to summarily reject his ludicrous claim fought with her knowledge that he wouldn't just lie to her about something like that.

Seeing her look like that actually made Shirou quite pleased, as it showed that she deeply trusted him, enough to hear him out at least, which, under the circumstances, was really a show of immense faith.

He had half-expected her to laugh in his face, which was what every other Magus, including Waver and Lady Barthomeloi, would have done. That she didn't, well…

It made Shirou feel warm inside.

In the meantime, Sella looked extremely sceptical, but she was a maid, and therefore, did not speak up to refute him. That would have been unbecoming of her. Her silence did not hide the fact though that she clearly did not believe him at all.

Once more, it was only Leysritt who seemed to take him seriously, as she looked at the hammer in a new light, with a gaze that seemed both respectful and cautious.

"I can see you are having trouble believing my claim." Shirou said after a few seconds of silence, during which Rin's conflicted expression and Sella's obvious scepticism hadn't changed.

"Well, I-" Rin began to say, looking to explain herself, but Shirou again silenced her by holding up a hand.

"That is only natural." He assured her, giving her an understanding smile. "I wouldn't have believed myself either. Fortunately for me though, I can back up my claim."

At times like this, there was nothing better than a good old demonstration. As said before, Mjolnir did not look very impressive now, making it hard to believe it was a Divine Construct. So, in order to show Sella and Rin that he was serious, Shirou would have to show them something that was in fact impressive.

To that end, he channelled the Mysterious Power into Mjolnir and into himself, making the power radiate outwards from him, allowing Sella and Rin to feel that it was not standard Magical Energy, but something very different, something alien.

More and more power he channelled, until the very air seemed to distort under the pressure of it all. Shirou let all his shields fall away, all measures he normally took to seem like nothing but an ordinary teenager, showing them beyond any doubt that he was no longer fully human, but that he was becoming something far more.

Outside, thunderclouds gathered overhead. The wind picked up, and even inside the Emiya-estate, a firm breeze started circling through the room, a breeze generated not by Magical Energy, but the Mysterious Power.

Shirou's armour materialised on his body, glowing blue lines running all across it. His eyes became an electric blue, except for the centres, which remained a solid golden colour. Lightning flashed from Mjolnir, and the air became noticeably heavier as the power he radiated almost seemed to condense from how thick it was.

Right now, he wasn't Emiya Shirou, a simple teenager, student, and possible Sorcerer. He was Emiya Shirou, successor of the God of Thunder, an Alien God in the making, someone who possessed sufficient Divine Power to mimic some facets of multiple True Magics.

He didn't continue the demonstration for long though. Shirou merely wanted to reveal his new nature, not needlessly brag about his power. As such, he quickly stopped showing off, and dismissed both his armour and Mjolnir again, returning the situation to what it was, save for a few pieces of paper that had been dragged along by the wind and some ruffled hair.

Within a few seconds, the Mysterious Power was gone again, his shields were up, and he seemed like a normal human again, as if nothing had ever happened.

The reason he had gone so far overboard was because it was necessary. Ayako, Sakura, and Illya had believed his claims about him owning an outerversal version of Mjolnir and becoming a god, but they were very much exceptions. They trusted him enough to take him at his word, even though he hadn't shown them much concrete proof.

For Sella and Rin though, it was different.

It wasn't that they trusted him less, certainly not. They had just been raised, or programmed in Sella's case, with the knowledge that gods and their weapons were gone, that Divine Power was a thing of the past, and that the Age of the Gods in general had ended a long time ago.

Shirou was up against a decade of knowledge and education here. Knowledge and education that stated that someone like him could not possibly exist.

In other words, he had to go a little overboard to overcome that education that would deny his existence. He had to create a spectacle that was sure to blow them away, something that no Magus could possibly copy through Magecraft alone.

In this, he was helped by the fact that both Sella and Rin were able to sense Magical Energy, and were thus capable of telling that the power he used was not Magical Energy at all, something that massively improved the effectiveness of his demonstration.

"Do you believe me now, Rin?" He asked, looking first at Rin and then at Sella, spreading his arms as if to display himself.

Neither of them reacted at first, their expressions frozen in looks of slack-jawed shock.

Then Rin's eyes rolled back, and she fell back into the backrest of the sofa, out like a light. Shirou wished he could say he was surprised, but it was a fairly appropriate reaction for a Magus who had just learned that their boyfriend was a demigod.

At the same time, Sella flopped forwards as all strength left her body, prompting Illya to quickly jump off her lap. The older maid would have smacked face-first onto the ground if Leysritt hadn't caught her in time, propping up her unconscious body.

The ditsy maid, for whom Shirou's reveal should have been as much a shock as it was for her sister, looked a bit surprised herself, but judging from her calm demeanour, she was handling it pretty well, surprisingly well.

"Already suspected something was off about you." She muttered when she saw him looking at her, carefully laying her elder sister down on the ground, placing her head on her lap for comfort. "Did not expect Divinity though."

She certainly wasn't easily fazed, that Leysritt.

Then Ayako started applauding, looking deeply impressed by the show he put on, quickly copied by Sakura and Illya.

"That was really impressive, Senpai." Sakura said, beaming at him with unreserved admiration. "I didn't know you could do that!"

"There was never a reason to show it to you, and I normally only get like that in a fight." Shirou explained, laughing a bit in embarrassment. So far, it had only happened two times that he'd channelled so much power as to seem inhuman. One time to destroy the Phantasmal Beast Nokken, and the second to kill Zouken and save Sakura. "It's only since very recently that I can show off like that in a controlled fashion."

Warrior's Madness was not something to play around with, but with some effort, Shirou could mimic the visual aspects of that Berserker-state, and it were those visual aspects that he'd wanted to display here.

"Like Sakura said, it sure was impressive." Ayako grinned at him. "I never doubted your story about being Thor's successor, but even if I did, this would have convinced me completely."

"That was awesome!" Illya cheered, raising her fists into the air as she ran up at him for a hug. "You went all glowy, and super powerful, and Godlike!"

"Godlike indeed." Sakura nodded, her enthusiasm dimming quickly as she looked on with half-closed eyes as Illya jumped into Shirou's arms, something she'd wanted to do herself.

"I think you managed to convince both of our dear sceptics here that you were telling nothing but the truth." Ayako added, before stepping towards him. "Now give me a hug as well."

"And me!" Sakura had gotten over her dimmed mood and was back in the game, also going for a hug.

"Girls." Shirou laughed, pushing them back gently before setting Illya down again. "Your words are nice to hear, but please give me a moment. I need to tend to Rin and Sella before we do anything else."

As far as he knew, fainting from shock was not particularly dangerous or damaging to the brain, but he didn't want to take any risks. Fortunately, a quick check proved they were both fine, and rousing them was a simple matter. Shirou simply snapped his fingers in front of their faces a few times, and soon, both Rin and Sella were seated again, rapidly recovering from their fainting spell, helped in no small part by the glasses of water Sakura had fetched from the kitchen.

Then all hell broke loose.

"What the hell, Emiya-kun!?" Rin screamed so loudly that Shirou had to cover his ears, and she lurched at him, grabbing the front of his shirt as she pressed herself against him, glaring up at him with eyes that seemed to be spitting fire. "What was that?!"

"That was a demonstration, Rin." Shirou replied calmly.

"A demonstration?! What kind of demonst- How could you even- What did you think…!?" Rin was so agitated she could barely form sentences anymore, and eventually, she just gave up and gave him a pleading look, begging for answers.

"I demonstrated my power to show you that I am speaking the truth. I knew words alone wouldn't be enough to convince you, so I tried to give you irrefutable proof." Shirou explained, keeping his tone gentle. "You have to admit, Rin, that what I just did was clearly not Magecraft, or True Magic for that matter. It was-"

"Divine Power?" Rin finished in a soft mutter, slowly letting go of his shirt again as she took a step backwards, pressing a hand against her temple in a clear sign of confusion. "But that can't be. Divine Power is gone. You used… You just used… That was… Oh Root, that wasn't Magical Energy. That was… I don't even know what it was."

"I have been referring to it as the 'Mysterious Power'." Shirou supplied, gently taking her shoulders to support her, as her legs were now shaking slightly. "But essentially, it is Divine Power."

Rin looked at him with wide eyes, her scepticism all but gone now that she had been confronted with irrefutable proof of Shirou's claims.

"You are… You are actually a Demigod?"

"Correct." Shirou nodded, before amending his statement. "Of sorts. I'm not entirely sure what I am right now. Still mostly human though, I can assure you of that."

"So that's how you-?! That is why…?" After noticing she was stuttering too badly to be understood, Rin took several deep breaths to calm down, before trying again. "So that's how you could mimic the True Magics? Because you are a demigod?"

"Correct again." Shirou confirmed, pulling her a bit closer to him, though he did not hug her yet. "That is how I became so powerful, that is why I have so many different powers and abilities, and it is how I can mimic the True Magics to an extent."

"…Unbelievable." Rin whispered, but even though she said that, she clearly did believe him now. "Incredible."

She seemed rather out of it, and after a few seconds, leaned forward, pressing her head against his chest as she processed the new information. Shirou made grateful use of the opportunity to hug her, gently but firmly, trying to set her at ease a bit.

In the meantime, Sella had been staring ahead blankly for a while, but Illya had managed to snap her out of it and was in the process of explaining things to her maid, all while Leysritt listened attentively, showing a mental resilience anyone would be jealous of.

Once Sella had been brought up to date, both she and Rin needed a few minutes to collect themselves again. Even though they did believe Shirou now, the notion that an actual demigod could exist in modern times required them to make some careful adjustments to their worldview.

They were both hardy and resilient ladies however, so after those few minutes, they were back in the game.

"Emiya-kun, please tell me how you obtained this power." Rin got straight to business, zeroing in on the most important matter of the moment, while Sella also paid close attention, quite keen to hear Shirou's answer herself.

"Like I said before, I obtained my power through Mjolnir." Shirou repeated, once more showing the hammer to them. "It is a Divine Construct, the hammer of Thor."

"And how did it come to be in your possession?" Rin continued her questioning. "I assume you did not travel to the Reverse Side of the World to steal it from Thor?"

"That would have been quite something, but no, it wasn't nearly as cool as that." Shirou laughed, placing Mjolnir down on the table. "It came to me, as it had decided I was to be its new wielder."

"It decided that? By itself?" Sella chose this moment to interrupt, but Rin didn't mind, as it was a question she herself had wanted to ask as well.

"It is fully sentient." Shirou revealed, which clearly unnerved both the Magus and the maid, as they both looked at the weapon with gazes full of apprehension. Sentient objects were usually bad news in the world of Thaumaturgy after all. "I received Mjolnir about six months ago, when it suddenly came down from the sky. I picked it up, and by doing so, received the power of Thor."

"How? Divine Weapons usually don't transfer the wielder's power." Rin asked the most important question right away. "I have studied Norse Mythology. Few people could lift the Mjolnir at all, and those who could, did not receive any power from it. At most, they had a cool weapon to swing around."

"That is exactly what I thought." Shirou nodded eagerly, remembering how he'd said pretty much the same when he'd just found the hammer. "But this case was different, and that was because Thor himself made it so. He stored his power in the hammer, for it to be transferred to the first worthy person to lift it."

"Worthy?" Rin was confused again by his words, which by now was annoyingly familiar to her.

"Whosoever lifts this hammer, if they be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Shirou recited the lines that had been written on Mjolnir's side, turning the hammer slightly so Sella, Leysritt, and Rin could read the words for themselves. He'd of course converted them into English, which they all three could read.

"But why would a god do such a thing?" Sella spluttered. "Were they not callous creatures with an utter disregard for mankind?"

"They were." Rin nodded strongly, twisting her head around to look at the maid, before turning back around to meet Shirou's eyes again. "A god would never share their power with anyone, least of all a modern human."

"No, you're right. The Thor who's in the Reverse Side of the World would never." Shirou agreed.

"Well, then-"

"But this Mjolnir is not from that Thor." Shirou continued, talking over Rin. "It is from another Thor entirely."

"What does that mean?" Rin asked, and Shirou could see how she braced herself for another huge shock. Behind her, Sella was doing the same.

It was very smart of them, anticipating another surprise, or perhaps it was just experience after a while of dealing with Shirou, but in the end, it did not help them much.

By the time the redhead had finished explaining that his Mjolnir came from a different Multiverse entirely, and that 'his' Thor was actually a super-evolved alien, both Rin and Sella had passed out again, and this time, Leysritt wasn't looking too hot either.

"And you haven't even shown Rin the Vault yet." Ayako laughed, gently brushing Sella's hair out of her face.

"Or told them about Nasu-Sama." Sakura added, referring to the Watcher Shirou had 'befriended', having placed Rin's head on her lap.

They were both right of course, and Shirou sighed, preparing himself for an explanation that was going to be far longer and more complicated than he'd expected.

He'd known that his life and circumstances were strange, but he'd severely underestimated just how strange they would be to a Magus, even more so than to a normal person.

What an interesting irony.

"And that's that." Mirei sighed in satisfaction as she placed the last file on top of an already massive pile of them, before lying back into her chair as she put her hands behind her head. "All the paperwork concerning the Purge of the Meluastea and their followers has been completed at last."

The 'at last' was completely warranted there. Between the arrest warrants, the retroactive killing orders, the processing of prisoners, the trials, the necessary reforms now that a ruling family had effectively disappeared overnight, and much, much more, Mirei and her small army of paper-pushers had been working non-stop for almost a month now.

For all that the Purge itself had been finished in under a day, it had resulted in an administrative nightmare, and even working day and night had only allowed Mirei to barely stay on top of the situation as it unfolded in a semi-structured manner.

But with the signing of this final document, one that finalised the marriage-agreement between Lord El-Melloi II and Marianne Archelot, the matter was finally over and done with. The special circumstances were over, and Mirei could finally enjoy a proper night's sleep again.

Life in the Clocktower could continue as normal, sans the Meluastea and their cronies of course.

"Indeed." Lorelei didn't groan, but she came awfully close as she too placed her last document on the pile in front of her. "Let us return to our normal duties then."

Mirei laughed inwardly as she looked at her direct superior. The girl looked positively exhausted –in Barthomeloi-terms of course– far more than she'd ever been following one of her hunts.

It seemed that, for all of her strength, the paperwork was still pushing her to her limits, especially since this was the first time that she'd ever joined such a large administrative effort.

And hadn't that been a pleasant surprise? For Lorelei to actually lend a hand in dealing with the post-battle clean-up? True, she might not have been worth much as administrator –even the junior bureaucrats under Mire's command were at least three times as efficient– but her presence and impact had a great positive effect on the drive and motivation of the other workers, allowing them to really give it their all to finish their tasks.

"Now that the paperwork is done, we can indeed return to our normal duties and pastimes." The elderly lady nodded to her young superior. "There is no need to remain in the Clocktower anymore, and I'm sure there are many hunts you would like to embark on as soon as you can."

"I will begin making arrangements for a Dead Apostle hunt at once." Lorelei nodded, her mood visibly improving at the thought of slaughtering non-humans, before she frowned. "I would have liked to invite Fujimaru as well, as I promised him I would teach him how to properly hunt monsters, but since he has already left, that will have to wait."

She was clearly unhappy with that, and Mirei had to smother another laugh at the sight. Lorelei had been, for the lack of a better word, 'moping' about Fujimaru's departure for days now, and even more about the fact that he had given his contact details to Lord El-Melloi, but not to her.

It was likely only her sense of propriety and decency that stopped her from marching to the Department of Modern Magical Theories to demand those details from Lord El-Melloi, and even that sense of decency would not stop Fujimaru from getting the cold shoulder from her for at least a few days after he returned.

Unless he properly apologized. Likely, that would cool Lorelei's wrath quickly enough.

"Fujimaru promised to return in December for a stay of about three weeks, so I'm sure you'll get your chance to invite him on a hunt." Mirei assured her, still not sure whether the boy would be as happy with Lorelei's lessons as the girl herself seemed to think. "Do remember though that you promised to accept his friend as your apprentice, and that you will have to arrange things before she arrives."

"Rin Tohsaka." Lorelei nodded, before motioning to the hand-held mirror lying at the edge of her desk. "I am awaiting her call. Once I know what she expects out of a sponsorship, I can start making arrangements. I have already oriented myself on proper sponsor-conduct as well, and the forms are ready to be filled in to make the arrangement official."

"Excellent." Mirei nodded in satisfaction, pleasantly surprised by how much preparation Lorelei had apparently already done. "We'll make a proper bureaucrat out of you yet."

Then she had to forcibly suppress a peal of laughter as Lorelei's face twisted in a mixture of revulsion and fear. She was such a child sometimes, so afraid at the notion of coming to enjoy boring work.

"I jest." She assured her superior, who noticeably calmed down again, just about letting out a sigh of relief. "You can just focus on your hunts. I'm sure the Dead Apostle community is wondering where you have been over the past month."

"They must have grown fat and lazy." Lorelei seemed personally insulted by that hypothetical, not at all proven statement. "It is time I let them know they cannot act with impunity, not anymore."

"Atta girl." Mirei cheered in a deadpan, getting up from her chair, though she did not leave the office yet. "But before you go, there is something I would like to discuss."

"Speak then." Lorelei said imperiously. "It is a matter separate from the Purge, I hope? You declared only minutes ago that it was handled and finished."

"Yes, that is correct." Mirei nodded, holding up her hands in a soothing motion. "This is about something else. I received a letter from your family yesterday."

"Once more?" Lorelei asked wryly, coming very close to rolling her eyes. "If this is about my marriage, you can tell them nothing has been decided yet, as no one has been able to defeat me in battle."

"I am well aware of that, my lady, I was there for all your battles with your would-be suitors." Mirei sighed. "Nevertheless, your family is adamant you marry. They write they are willing to consider your opinion on your prospective husband, as long as you choose someone soon."

"If they are truly willing to take my opinion into consideration, then they shall respect the fact that I have not yet found anyone who appeals to me." Lorelei still sounded entirely dismissive, but Mirei could only focus on one particular word the girl had just said.

"Yet?" She asked, wondering if she'd misheard. "You have not found anyone 'yet'?"

Did that mean she was intending to get married?

"Yes." Lorelei nodded, looking at Mirei as if she was the one not making sense. "None of my suitors have yet managed to impress me, but that may change at any moment."

"Pardon me for saying this, but your family and I were under the impression that you did not plan on getting married at all." Mirei said carefully, probingly.

"Then you were under an incorrect impression." Lorelei looked away slightly as she said those words, as if she was embarrassed by the topic. "I am aware I must continue the line of the Barthomeloi, and that it is my responsibility as 'strongest Magus of the Modern Era' to have as many children as possible, but I would like to choose for myself whom I shall do so with."

"I… Your family will be delighted to hear it." Mirei laughed without humour, wondering how she could have misread the girl to such an extent. "But if the pool of prospective husbands is limited to those who can defeat you in battle-"

"It is not." Lorelei interrupted her. "Should one of my suitors manage to suitably impress me with their personality, I shall hand victory to them in the arena."

"You would throw the fight?!" Mirei's eyes boggled in shock at the girl's words. She, the Clocktower's most dedicated warrior, would lose on purpose?

"Yes, I would 'throw the fight', should my prospective husband appeal to me sufficiently." Lorelei nodded, and Mirei had to sit down again before she would faint from the shock. "Though I would prefer it if I didn't have to."

Mirei had thought that she'd had the girl figured out completely, that she had a relatively simple personality, but it seemed Lorelei had more layers than she'd anticipated.

"The recent lack of suitors vying for my hand is an issue however." Lorelei continued, a frown forming on her face. "I have not been approached in months. It seems I am not sufficiently desirable for worthy men to step up. It is something I will have to work on in the coming months."

"No. I am pretty sure your desirability is not the problem here." Mirei deadpanned. She was the Vice-Director of the Clocktower and head of the Barthomeloi after all, and a beautiful girl with a forthright personality at that. "Rather it is your stipulation that they need to defeat you in battle which causes men to avoid you. After you so thoroughly humiliated the Lords Brevik and Hansen in the arena, no one dares to approach you anymore."

"Lords Brevik and Hansen were exceptions." Lorelei protested, a bit indignantly. "Lord Brevik disgusted me with his very presence, and lord Hansen only cared about the money in the possession of the Barthomeloi-family, nothing else."

"Nevertheless, what you did to them scared away any other prospective suitors." Mirei repeated. "It is unlikely that any will approach you again."

Lorelei stilled, and then blinked once in response to Mirei's words.

"You need to show some initiative yourself." Mirei huffed, rising from her chair again now that the strength had returned to her legs. "Choose several eligible men who seem like they may impress you, approach them, get to know them, and pick the best."

"I-"

"The Barthomeloi already requested me to prepare a list of eligible bachelors in the Clocktower. I shall present it to you before I send it to them." Mirei promised, to which Lorelei gave a grateful nod. "The list will be on your desk in a month or less."

It would be some work to track down every unmarried, young man in the Magus Association and compile a report about every single one of them, but since Lorelei had shown herself unexpectedly cooperative, at least it wouldn't be an issue to make her read those reports.

For a second, Mirei wondered how she'd suddenly become a matchmaker, but she resigned herself to her fate quickly.

Now there were several questions to ask in order to put together a good list for her superior.

"Is there a maximum-age you are willing to accept in your suitors?" She asked Lorelei, taking an empty sheet of paper to make notes on.

"Forty. No, thirty-five." Lorelei replied immediately, which was perhaps logical, considering she was only twenty-six herself.

"Is there a minimum-age?"

"…Twenty." It took a bit longer for the brunette to answer that question, so Mirei marked it down as less stringent a rule than the maximum age.

"Any requirements for looks?"

"No, as long as they are at least well-groomed, and put some care into their appearance."

"Nationality?"

"Entirely irrelevant."

"Family?"

"Entirely irrelevant."

"Talent as a Magus?"

"As long as they are not hopelessly incompetent."

"Anything else?"

"I would prefer a man who would be a capable father." Lorelei said, and Mirei lifted an eyebrow, before obediently writing it down. "He must be confident as well, and capable of joining my hunts, even if only in the background, to either aid me or cheer me on."

She wanted someone with a backbone. Mirei had expected as much. No one would enjoy having a marital partner who was afraid of you and your hobbies.

"Very good. I will make a list of all eligible bachelors, and with the criteria you have given me, I will put them in order from worst to best." Mirei said, to which Lorelei nodded. "That was all. Good luck planning your hunt."

"Thank you. I wish you the best of luck in your duties."

And with that, Mirei left her superior's office.

The first thing the elderly lady would do was send a letter to the Barthomeloi to tell them the good news. Lorelei wasn't against marrying, as they had all thought, but she simply wanted to find the right man.

It was almost childish, waiting for a prince charming, but if you were as powerful as that girl, you could get away with acting childish sometimes.

After that, Mirei would have to get to work to compile the list. Her informants and servants would probably be surprised when she told them to start gathering information on eligible bachelors, but they would do as she told them nonetheless.

The only question now was whether she'd include Fujimaru in the list as well. If it was even a question, that is.

"Rin's out again."

Shirou sighed at Ayako's casual report of the situation, and he turned around to find that the black-haired girl had indeed fainted, and that Sakura had once more taken her head onto her lap, smiling in deep amusement as she gently combed her big sister's hair with her hands.

"I suppose that was to be expected." He pinched the bridge of his nose, before Projecting an actual comb and handing it to Sakura, who gratefully accepted it. "This is quite a sight after all. It almost knocked me out too when I first saw it."

They were currently standing in his Vault, in the middle of the gigantic hall. They were surrounded on all sides by mountains of unimaginable riches, and beyond those mountains, even more treasure was waiting for them.

Shirou had taken Sakura, Ayako, and Rin into his Vault to show it to them. Surprisingly enough, he'd never taken either Sakura or Ayako in there before, and of course, neither had he taken Rin, so he'd decided to rectify that as soon as possible.

Illya and her maids had declined accompanying them, as they had seen quite enough of his pocket dimension already over the past weeks. They were still at home, watching the anime on tv that Illya had always wanted to see but was never allowed to before. Last he'd seen, she was watching something about a dungeon and picking up girls.

After Illya had refused to accompany them, Shirou had pulled his girlfriends close to him and had activated the Bifrost, teleporting them into the Vault.

To be entirely frank, he had expected that the trip alone would be enough to knock Rin flat again. Travelling through dimensions with a rainbow bridge was not exactly normal after all, especially since a rainbow was normally also the symbol of the Kaleidoscope.

She had surprised him however by taking the shock fairly well. Yes, she had been shaken, but not immensely so. Apparently, she had actually expected something like that to happen when Shirou had told her he'd be taking her to the place where his treasures were stored, and had steeled herself sufficiently not to faint again.

Her newfound resilience hadn't lasted long though after she looked around and saw the riches in the Vault, including but not limited to mountains of gold and silver, heaps of precious stones, numerous Mystic Codes, uncountable intricate tapestries, statues of the finest of marble, blocks of materials that did not exist on Earth at all, and works of art that brought tears to the eyes of anyone who saw them.

By that point, she'd already been a bit off-balance, and when she saw the immense number of high-quality gems lying around, gems very much fit for Magecraft, her legs had become rather unsteady.

She hadn't fainted yet though. No, that came when Shirou told her that she was free to take as many gems as she wanted, for they were hers now as well. That was what had sent Rin straight into dreamland as she promptly collapsed backwards, where Sakura had fortunately been able to catch her.

Or well, 'fortunately'… The plum-haired girl had already anticipated such a reaction from her big sister and had strategically placed herself to catch her.

With that over with, the plum-haired girl and the brunette looked over the Vault themselves, also seeing it for the first time ever.

"This is so awesome!" Ayako laughed as she twirled in place between several piles of gold, trying to take in as much as she could, her smile so wide it threatened to split her face in two. "I have never seen so much gold in my life!"

"Feel free to take some if you want." Shirou offered, which got him a beaming smile in return. "Just don't take too much. I don't want to ruin the gold-market."

"What I take won't be for sale." She assured him, before picking up a solid bar of 24-karat gold. "I only want it because it is pretty."

"Then take as much as you want." Shirou smiled, before turning to Sakura. "That goes for you as well, Sakura, and for Rin, when she wakes up. You can take anything from here you want."

"I don't need anything, Senpai." Sakura shook her head lightly, before beaming at him as she placed a hand on Rin's head. "Nee-san though will probably take as many gems as she can carry."

"There are convenient chests standing around, so she can fill one and take it with her." Shirou nodded, gesturing lightly at a chest nearby, which was big enough to hold a thousand gems. "In fact, I think I'll fill one for her."

"I think she would appreciate that."

Shirou promptly went to work. He grabbed one of the chests, carried it to the nearest mountain of gems, using wind-based Magic to lift a pile of those gems into the chest, and then closed and locked it again.

The whole process didn't even take a minute, and if he had to guess how many gems he was now taking with him... It had to be well over a thousand, and it was still less than a percent of a percent of a percent of what was in the Vault.

It truly was ridiculous.

"I'm ready." Ayako then reappeared, holding two gold bars in her hands, several golden bracelets around her wrists, a golden coronet on her head, two golden necklaces around her neck, and about ten golden rings around her fingers.

She was very golden.

"Ayako, no." Sakura pressed a hand against her mouth, looking very disapproving. "That looks so gaudy. You can't wear that!"

"I know." Ayako assured her, giving her an easy smile. "This is only to carry them. I am not going to actually wear all this at the same time."

"Oh, phew." Sakura let out a soft sigh of relief, and Shirou had to agree. With all that gold on her, Ayako looked like an absolute fashion disaster. There were a few people in the world who could pull off a solid golden outfit, but their brunette girlfriend, as much as he loved her and considered her one of the most beautiful creatures in existence, was not one of them.

"How is Rin?" Shirou then asked, seeing that the three of them were pretty much ready to leave again. "Do you think we should wake her up and show her the Vault again?"

"I think she has had enough surprises for today." Sakura asserted, hugging Rin protectively. "I think we should return home. That chest of gems will surprise her plenty already. No need to strain her even more."

"I suppose fainting three times is more than enough for one day." Shirou agreed, before stepping closer to the girls, gem-chest in hand. "In that case, we shall leave."

And with that declaration, he teleported them out of the Vault again.

Back home, Illya was still engrossed in her anime, sufficiently so only to say a quick hello when they appeared in the living room again, without ever looking away from the tv.

Wondering what fascinated her so, Shirou took a look himself, and saw that a white-haired boy was being beaten up by a blonde girl. It didn't immediately seem all that interesting, but Illya clearly disagreed with that notion, as her gaze didn't waver for a second. In fact, she didn't even seem to blink.

Leysritt was sitting next to her in the same state, but Sella, reliable as she was, found the time to turn to Shirou and give an apologetic bow of her head, before wordlessly asking if they could leave.

Having no problem with that, Shirou took his girlfriends to the dojo of the estate, so they wouldn't disturb Illya and the maids. No one liked it when people talked over their favourite programmes after all.

"I think it's time you woke up again, Nee-san." Sakura said once they were in the dojo, addressing Rin, whom she held in a bridal carry. "You have slept for long enough now."

"I don't think that is going to work-"

"Uhm?" Exactly at that moment, as if to prove Ayako wrong, Rin began stirring slightly, and Sakura quickly placed her on the ground again, though once more with her head in her lap.

It wasn't a minute later that the black-haired girl fully woke up, regaining consciousness once more, for the third time that day. Unlike the two times before however, she didn't look very okay now. Her eyes were still slightly glazed, her movements were sluggish, and she didn't seem to be all there yet.

"Emiya-kun." She nevertheless wasted no time in addressing Shirou. "Was that a dream?"

"No." Shirou answered bluntly, before showing her the gem-chest, opening it to display its contents, feeling it was best to get that over with quickly. "The Vault was very much real. These gems are yours now by the way."

"…Thanks." Rin nodded after a few seconds, not reacting much in any way, before she slowly sat up again, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, my head."

"Are you alright, Nee-san?" Sakura asked worriedly, scooting closer to her sister.

"Not really." Rin admitted, rubbing her temples. "I suddenly have a killer-headache."

"Have some water then." Ayako said, handing her one of the water bottles that Shirou had standing around in the dojo. "I heard dehydration can cause headaches."

"Maybe." Rin sounded sceptical, but she did open the bottle and downed a little over half of it. "Or maybe it was the fact I fainted three times."

"That does sound more likely than dehydration right now." Ayako sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, before shrugging. "Even so, drinking water is always a good idea, at least according to my coach."

"My headache is still there though."

"Hold on." Shirou leaned down and pressed a golden-glowing finger to Rin's forehead, applying some healing power. "Is that better?"

"Oh yes, much better." Rin nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Emiya-kun."

"No problem, Rin." Shirou smiled, taking his finger off her forehead, before softly patting her head. "I suppose today was full of surprises. There's no need to feel ashamed of not feeling well."

"Don't patronise me." She told him sternly, looking up at him with flashing eyes. "I am not a child, Emiya-kun, who can be satisfied with head pats."

"Of course. I'm sorry." Shirou nodded, immediately retracting his hand. Or at least, he would have, had Rin not grabbed his wrist.

"I didn't say you could stop." Rin huffed, pouting at him. "In fact, you should continue until I feel better again."

Shirou didn't reply verbally this time, nor did he smile, knowing that would only set her off, so he put on his most dutiful expression and resumed patting her head, to her obvious satisfaction.

"Actually, there are some things I wanted to discuss with you." Rin spoke up after half-a-minute or so of patting, and when Shirou removed his hand from her head, she let him go this time. "Mostly business-related."

"Ayako and I will leave you two alone for a while then." Sakura offered, and Rin started slightly, apparently having forgotten the other two were there.

"Where will you go?" Shirou asked, looking back at the main building. "Watch anime with Illya?"

"Haha, no, Senpai, I don't think so." Sakura shook her head with a laugh, before she began to pull Ayako to the dojo's door. "We'll just go shopping now. We still need several things for tonight's dinner, and Illya would probably enjoy a few snacks with her anime."

"You don't have to leave." Rin protested. "It's not like I have any secrets."

"It's probably for the best if we don't hang around needlessly." Ayako agreed with Sakura. "I'm sure you'd like some privacy."

"…Thank you." Rin nodded gratefully at them.

"Good luck shopping." Shirou told them, smiling warmly at them.

"We'll manage, but thanks anyway, Shirou." Ayako grinned, and then Sakura pulled her through the door, before closing it behind her, leaving Rin and Shirou alone in the dojo.

"So, Rin, what did you want to discuss?" Shirou decided to get to business immediately, correctly sensing that Rin wasn't in the mood for small talk right now.

"Several things." Rin replied, seamlessly switching from her personal mode to her business mode. "First of all, are those gems really mine now?"

"They are." Shirou nodded. "You can do whatever you want with them."

"Even sell them?"

"Sell them, destroy them, give them away, use them for decorations, or for showing off, that's for you to decide." Shirou shrugged, giving her his best roguish grin. "They are yours now. I have no say anymore in what you do with them."

"I…" Rin began to say something, but she thought better of it. She remained silent for a moment, pondering her next words, and then she started again. "The gem-market of the Moonlit World has collapsed."

"I heard something about that." Shirou nodded, recalling a discussion between Lady Montmorency and Lady Barthomeloi about that topic. He hadn't really listened, but he'd picked up enough to know roughly what was going on.

"Some of the biggest gem-suppliers fell away when the Meluastea were purged, and demand has risen exponentially now that the richest Magi are trying hard to hoard and stock as many gems as they can." Rin continued, gritting her teeth in displeasure. "I already did some calculations, and I found I would not even be able to buy a single gem anymore with my currently available budget."

"Rin…" Shirou wasn't sure what to say. He was partially responsible for the current crisis, for the collapse of the gem-market, and even though he didn't care much for other Magi who might have to be stingier with their gems, he did hate the fact he'd made things more difficult for Rin.

"Don't look so down, Emiya-kun." Rin huffed, smiling playfully. "You already more than made up for ruining the market by giving me these."

'These' being the gems in the chest.

"They are very much welcome, and I'll make sure to repay you for them." Rin continued, bending down to take a handful of gems out of the chest, admiring them in the light that fell through the windows in the roof, before dropping them back with the rest again. "But I only need a few hundred for myself. The rest, well, I could sell them. With the current prices, that would bring in a lot of money, and… Well, I could really use that money right now."

"Like I said, you can do whatever you want with them." Shirou repeated, walking up to her to place a hand on her shoulder. "If you want to sell them for the highest price you can get, then by all means, do so."

"Thank you, Emiya-kun." Rin said warmly.

"And don't worry about running out of them. There were plenty more where those came from, so you can ask me for more gems at any time."

"Oi, stop it." Rin suddenly frowned, swatting his arm. "There is such a thing as being too generous, you know."

"Not when it comes to my beautiful girlfriends." Shirou grinned, and he was rewarded by the sight of Rin stiffening slightly, before she turned away with a huff. "But that's enough about that. You said you wanted to talk about multiple things? What's the second thing?"

"The Grail." Rin replied calmly, turning back to him with a serious and honest expression. "I have made my decision, Emiya-kun. It is clearly corrupted beyond saving, and I will help you destroy it."

"That's great!" Shirou grinned again, far wider than before, taking Rin by her shoulders. "Thank you, Rin. I know that decision can't have been easy."

"On the contrary." She scoffed, appearing rather pleased by his reaction, as she straightened up and lifted her chin to smile benignly at him. "Considering what the Einzbern did to my Grail, it will be my utmost pleasure to destroy it, and that dark god along with it. I want to hear Angra Mainyu scream, Emiya-kun, for everything he did to us."

"Ah." Shirou's grin became a bit pained at that point, his conscience playing up a bit. "Rin, have you ever looked into Angra Mainyu? Into his mythology and origin story, I mean?"

"A bit." Rin replied, cocking her head to the side with a curious expression. "He was the Devil in the Zoroastrian religion, right? The source of evil?"

"That is mostly accurate, but he isn't like Satan or any other demon from Christianity." Shirou pondered for a bit on how to properly explain it, before he let out a sigh, deciding to just tell her what he knew. "Angra Mainyu is a scapegoat. He is a single person, a human, who was chosen to bear all the World's Evil. He was not evil to begin with, still isn't, but has been driven mad by all the sins that have been piled upon him, all the sins of humanity, which, over time, turned him into a god of evil."

"Forced to bear all the sins of humanity?" Now Rin looked outright worried, easily seeing what that meant. "But… But that is monstrous! That would be torture beyond belief! Especially now, with so many of us."

"Indeed." Shirou confirmed, his lips pursing at the thought of being subjected to all the evil of humanity for years and years, unable to ever escape. "It is that monstrous torture that has turned him into a monster himself, lashing out against everything around him."

"Then, he wasn't evil to begin with?" Rin flinched at the notion, before letting out a conflicted breath. "Then my remark just now was in very poor taste. I… There is no need to make him scream, Emiya-kun. I-I take that back."

"Indeed. Angra Mainyu is something to pity, not hate." Shirou nodded, rubbing the back of his head, before scowling in displeasure. "I will destroy him, Rin, I swear it, but it will be an act of mercy, not of hate. I just cannot bring myself to hate him, no matter what he has done."

"R-Right." Rin muttered, most of her anger having left her, before she clenched her fist. "Then, more so than ever, I promise to aid you. Whether it is out of hate or pity, the fact remains that he needs to be destroyed and the Grail dismantled, before something terrible happens."

Shirou didn't reply in words this time. He simply pressed his forehead against hers, trying to convey how much he appreciated her, and Rin pressed back, giving him a content look, one that made his heart beat faster.

"But there is someone I cannot forgive." Rin continued after a few moments, her eyes blazing again. "And this person does not have any excuses to escape from my wrath."

"Who?"

"The fake priest." Rin's voice became little more than a snarl at the mention of Kotomine, even more so than it had while they had been discussing Angra Mainyu. "It is high time I confronted him."

When Rin and Shirou had compared notes of the Fourth Holy Grail War, Rin had been unpleasantly surprised to find that her father's Servant, Archer, had not died with her father, but had switched allegiance to Kotomine. Apparently, the priest had kept that from her, which was suspicious, to say the least.

She had wanted to confront him right away about his lies, but Shirou had managed to convince her otherwise. He had still been in London at the time, and he was deeply worried about what Kotomine, and perhaps even Gilgamesh, would do to Rin once she began making accusations. Thus, he had convinced her to wait until he was back.

"You are back now." Rin said sternly, placing her hands on her hips. "Which means it is time I demanded the truth from that man. He has been lying to me for all of my life, and I want to know why. Most of all though, I want to know what he has been hiding."

"Hm." Shirou didn't react much aside from nodding. "I agree."

"Preferably, I would do it with just the two of us." Rin continued, before smiling wryly. "But I don't think Sakura and Ayako will let us."

"Likely not, no." Shirou smiled back, though his smile was a great deal less wry. "They'll want to back us up."

"Are you going to be teaching them Magecraft? Because you should. They keep involving themselves in dangerous matters, and if they want to survive, they need to be able to fight back against Magi and other opponents."

"I am planning to start giving them lessons within the next few days, depending on when we have time." Shirou replied, before frowning. "I won't be able to teach them anything useful before we go to the church to confront Kotomine though."

"Then we'll just have to protect them ourselves from whatever tricks that man has up his sleeve." Rin sighed, before nodding at him. "That shouldn't be too difficult. The fake priest is strong, but he has never shown me anything that suggests he can fight you for longer than three seconds."

"Nevertheless, we must not underestimate him." Shirou said sharply. Kotomine had been his father's most fearsome opponent after all. "That man is dangerous, and taking him any less than completely seriously will give him the opportunity to slip away and strike when we least expect him."

"Yes." Rin suddenly gave him a smile, an extremely kind and approving smile, as if he'd just passed an important test. "I'm glad you don't let yourself be lulled into over-confidence by a compliment from a pretty girl, Emiya-kun."

"Hm? Well, of course." Shirou lifted an eyebrow at her. "Why? What else was I supposed to say?"

"Nothing." Rin beamed. "What you see is what you get with you, and I like that."

"…Okay?"

"I suggest we confront Kotomine tomorrow." Rin became serious again, as her smile disappeared and a warlike expression took its place. "I am long overdue for some answers."

"That is fine, but after the lunch. I already have something for tomorrow morning."

"I can accept that." Rin nodded. "I have waited for eight years already. I can wait a few hours more."

"Then that is settled." Shirou squeezed Rin's shoulder lightly. "We'll get the answers you want, Rin. I promise."

Rin breathed in deep, closing her eyes as she nodded in acceptance.

"Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" Shirou asked after a few moments, feeling that she wasn't done yet.

"Yes." Suddenly, Rin seemed to become embarrassed again, as her gaze flitted away from him, and she took a step back. "Our relationship."

"Oh?" Shirou lifted an eyebrow, unable to suppress a twinge of worry. "In what sense?"

"Emiya-kun, what am I to you?"

The sudden question, asked with complete sincerity, took Shirou by surprise, but even though he hadn't expected it, he could answer it easily enough.

"You are my girlfriend, Tohsaka Rin." He replied, before cocking his head to the side as she frowned. "Is that not so?"

"…Emiya-kun, this is a bit difficult to just ask out of the blue, but…" Rin hesitated, which was very uncommon for her. "I wanted to… That is, I must… What I mean is…"

"Take your time." Shirou said gently, closing his eyes so he wouldn't see her looking uncertain. She hated it when people saw her like that.

As such, he could only hear how she took a deep breath, how she gritted her jaw and gathered every last bit of willpower she possessed, before she just spoke what was on her mind, almost shouting as she made her request.

"Would you be willing to enter a formal marriage-agreement with me?!"

Shirou's mouth dropped open in shock, his eyes opening wide to stare at her in unhidden surprise and bafflement. Not in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Rin would be proposing to him, but apparently, she just had.

"I am not saying we should get married immediately." Rin was quick to explain further, not allowing an awkward silence to fall. "Nor am I saying that such an agreement is binding, but I would like us to have some sort of documentation of our relationship, i-in preparation for l-later."

"Later?" Shirou repeated, immediately realising what that meant. "You mean, you want to marry me?"

"I do." Rin admitted bluntly, which made his jaw drop once more. "W-When we are of age of course, in a f-few years, though for now, I would like us to be engaged."

"So essentially, you want me to be your fiancé?" Shirou asked, remembering Eduardo and Sophia and their arrangement.

"Exactly." Rin nodded quickly, before placing one hand on her hip and raising a finger with the other in a lecturing pose. "Boyfriend and girlfriend are terms that hold no value whatsoever in the Moonlit World. If we want to show to other Magi that we are in a relationship, we need to be engaged at the very least."

"And you want to be engaged with me?" Shirou still couldn't quite comprehend it, with how fast they were suddenly going. "A-Are you sure?"

"I have a list of characteristics I want my husband to conform to." She replied, once more very bluntly, with her eyes closed and her fists balled at her sides. "You meet every single one of them, easily. So yes, I want to be engaged with you, marry you, and bear your children!"

By now, Shirou was blushing furiously, and Rin's cheeks were also noticeably red.

"I-I realise that you also have Sakura and Ayako to think about." Rin quickly went on, rubbing the back of her head. "A-And I am willing to negotiate about the precise terms and conditions of our relationship, with each other and with them, but… At least consider my request?"

"I-I will." Shirou mumbled, before shaking his head and gathering his own willpower, injecting more confidence into his voice. "I mean, yes, I will, Rin. If this is important to you, I will give it every bit of consideration it deserves."

"Thank you." Rin let out a sigh of relief, both because he had accepted her request and because the embarrassing part was now over with, before smirking slightly at him. "Oh, and before you get any delusions, those ideal-husband characteristics I mentioned? They are things like Magical power and wealth. Don't go thinking now you are attractive or sexy or anything like that, because you aren't."

"Harsh as ever, Rin." Shirou laughed, relieved the tension was gone again, before, in a sudden impulse to prove her wrong, he casually took off his shirt, leaving his upper body bare.

"Eh?!" The move took Rin by complete surprise, and it took her no less than four seconds to remember she wasn't supposed to be staring. "W-What are you doing?! Put your shirt back on!"

"It's too hot in here to wear a shirt." Shirou made a dismissive motion with his hand, before gesturing around the dojo, which was indeed quite hot. "That often happens in the summer. The windows in the roof increase the sun's strength too much. The only way to stay cool is by taking off my clothes."

"What about the air-conditioner?!" Rin spluttered, pointing at the machine in question, looking everywhere but at him.

"Turning it on while we're only here for a short while would be a waste of energy." Shirou easily deflected Rin's protest, before he walked up to her, coming close enough to hug her should he be so inclined. "But Rin, is there something wrong? You are suddenly not looking at me."

"There's nothing wrong." Rin hissed, immediately looking back at his face, doing her best to keep her expression neutral and uninterested, though her eyes twitched noticeably, as if they wanted nothing more than to look down again. "You are just so shameless I didn't know what to do for a moment. There's nothing about this that I-"

"Rin." Shirou placed a finger on her lips, and came even closer to her, leaning in until their faces were close enough to feel each other's breath, enjoying how Rin's cheeks slowly became red, before he brought his lips close to her ear. "You can look if you want."

For five more seconds, Rin resisted.

Then she suddenly launched herself at him, grabbing his sides as she looked straight at his abdomen, giving in to her baser desires.

The lecherous grin was a strong indication that she liked what she saw.

"Oh my, Rin." Shirou did his best to act the shocked maiden. "What are you doing? I thought you said you didn't consider me attractive?"

"Did I? I don't recall ever saying that." Rin huffed, before letting go of his sides to push against his chest. "Lie down on the ground."

Shirou obeyed, lying down on his back, after which Rin promptly perched herself on his hips, from where she had a first-rate view of his bare torso.

"Very nice, very nice." She mumbled, placing her hands flat on his abs, feeling the muscles twitch underneath the skin, before sliding them upwards. "And the pectorals? Oh yes, those are very nice too."

"You really know how to make a guy feel proud." Shirou smiled at her, watching as Rin licked her lips, wondering how much effort he should put into preventing an embarrassing reaction down below. Yes, Rin was sitting on his hips, meaning she'd immediately notice if he had a 'reaction', but Shirou honestly wouldn't mind it that much if she knew what effect she had on him.

Maybe it would even prompt an expression of adorable surprise.

"You are not quite muscled like the models you see on those bodybuilder-shows." Rin suddenly remarked, still letting her hands slide over his skin. "They have a lot more definition."

"Yes." Shirou nodded, knowing that he still fell quite short of those professional musclebound strongmen. "But then again, I'm fifteen, or maybe sixteen."

"Oh yes, I am not saying that it is bad." Rin said, removing her hands from his pectorals, only to start tracing small figures on his abdomen with the tips of her fingers, which was honestly much more stimulating. "Those ridiculously defined abs you see on bodybuilders are actually very unhealthy. They indicate a critical lack of fat and water that the body needs to keep functioning. Apparently, those bodybuilders starve themselves and deprive themselves of all fluids to get that look, after which they need immediate medical attention."

"Sounds like they don't have much endurance." Shirou replied shortly, being entirely occupied by the tender fingers stroking his skin, doing their best to find a ticklish spot.

"They don't. I imagine five minutes of fighting would have them down for the count." Rin nodded, before giving him a somewhat annoyed look. "Though that only goes for humans. I have no idea how aliens deal with a water- and fat shortage."

"Five minutes of fighting is very long though." Shirou mumbled, before smiling. "And I am still largely human, Rin."

"Then laugh already when I tickle you." Rin grumbled, increasing the viciousness of her attacks, outright pinching his sides, though Shirou still didn't feel tickled at all. "Is this even doing anything?"

"I am not ticklish, Rin." Shirou shrugged as well as he could. "I've never been, even before Mjolnir."

"Oof." Rin pouted, before she shrugged as well. "Ah, whatever. It is how it is."

"Quite." Shirou nodded, before looking down at his abs again. "As for my muscles-"

"Just make sure to stay as you are now." Rin interrupted him. "I'm not an expert, but I think you have the ideal balance between muscle and fat right now."

"I will continue eating and exercising the way I am now." Shirou promised her, before frowning when Rin pulled a face. "Rin?"

"Oh, sorry, nothing to do with you." Rin shook her head, taking her hands off his body to cross her arms. "You just reminded me that I haven't properly exercised in a while."

"Why not?" Shirou asked, as she didn't look like someone who would skip training merely because she wasn't in the mood or anything like that.

"Because the fake priest is usually the one who aids me with my physical training."

"Kotomine?" Shirou blinked in surprise.

"Yes, he is my teacher, in both Magecraft and physical exercise." Rin groused, clearly not happy with that. "In terms of Magecraft, he's an absolute failure of a teacher, but he's really good at the physical stuff, as much as it pains me to admit it. He's been teaching my karate and other martial arts."

"Oh, he is good at fighting alright." Shirou hissed, remembering how Kiritsugu had told him that Kotomine had easily crushed his heart in one blow.

"Too good!" Rin complained loudly, rubbing her arms. "My muscles hurt like mad every time I finish practising with him."

"Hurt like mad?" Shirou suddenly felt rather worried. Rin was not someone who lightly complained about pain, so the fact that she used that phrase, which she had undoubtedly taken over from Ayako, meant that her exercises really had to hurt fiercely. "What does Kotomine make you do?"

"Running, jumping, shadowboxing, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and more stuff like that." Rin summarised quickly. "Usually, it takes about four hours, or three when he doesn't have much time."

"What about warming up beforehand? Cooling down afterwards? Do you get any breaks in-between?" Shirou almost dreading asking it, and his dread was confirmed when Rin gave him a confused look.

"What are you talking about?" She asked with genuine curiosity, and Shirou made a decision on the spot.

"You will be training with us from now on." He dictated, raising his upper body slightly. "I was going to teach Sakura some self-defence anyway, and Ayako has her own training, so you can join us. It seems there is much you need to learn about proper exercising."

"So the fake priest has been teaching me the wrong things?" Rin pulled a face again, instantly accepting his words. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"From what I hear, he made you ruin your muscles." Shirou sat up even more, reaching out to grab Rin's arms, feeling her biceps. "Yes, there are a lot of knots and sprains here that I can sense. This really isn't good."

"O-Oh." Rin looked rather nervous now, paling slightly at his disapproving expression. "So if I had continued like this…?"

"You would have become strong." Shirou admitted, before he gave her a serious look. "But not nearly as strong as you could have been, and the process would have been utterly miserable too."

"Story of my life." Rin grumbled softly, before shaking her head. "Then I gladly accept your offer of help, Emiya-kun."

"Good." Shirou nodded sharply, before he also inspected the muscles in her lower arms, again not liking what he found. "I really need to do something about these knots though. Would you accept a massage from me?"

"…A massage?" Rin parroted, her eyebrows flying upwards. "You mean, a massage-massage?"

"Yes, a massage." Shirou nodded, giving her an odd look. "You know, when you lie on a flat surface, and I rub your muscles-"

"I know what a massage is." She interrupted him, before crossing her arms with a huff. "So you are offering to give one to me?"

"Yes."

It remained quiet for a very long moment, as Rin considered his offer, before she shrugged, the corners of her lips twitching upwards.

"I don't see why not." She accepted, before looking around the dojo. "Though I don't believe you have a massage table-"

"I do now."

"And so you do." Rin nodded, looking at the massage table that had appeared right next to them. "So, do I just lay down on that?"

"You'll have to strip as well." Shirou said, before holding up his hands when Rin turned to give him an accusing look. "You don't have to remove your panties."

"But I do have to remove the rest?" Rin asked, keeping up her accusing look for a few moments, before she smirked evilly. "Fine. Emiya-kun, you brute. If you insist, I'll take off my clothes for you."

With a sharp movement of her head, she flipped her hair, still done up in their usual twin tails, back behind her shoulders. Then she sat up straight, shifting slightly on his waist to ensure she wouldn't fall off.

Next, Rin grabbed the hem of her shirt, before, in a single movement, pulling it over her head.

She didn't give him a single second though to admire her flat stomach and well-shaped shoulders, as her next move was to reach behind her back, undo her bra-strap, and take off her bra, all within one second.

She casually tossed her bra aside, still smirking evilly, though Shirou didn't see any of this. He was fully occupied by her breasts, which were now visible in all their glory.

Round, perky, and about hand-sized, they looked absolutely wonderful. They were smaller than Sakura's, but just like Ayako, Rin proved that they didn't need size to be unreasonably attractive.

As Shirou stared, he noticed that her nipples were slowly becoming hard. Since it was quite hot in the dojo, that hardness could not be caused by any kind of cold, and the knowledge that it was him who was making her react like that inevitably made Shirou hard as well.

"Oh!" Rin's eyes flew open wide when she registered his reaction, her cheeks reddening, before she realised what was going on and smirked even more evilly than before.

She leaned forward, more and more, until she lifted herself up from his waist entirely and came to sit on her hands and knees, right above him, with her face now at about equal height with his.

This meant he could now look her straight in the eyes if he gazed directly upwards, but he did no such thing. His focus was on her hanging breasts, which were now so close he could easily reach out and touch them.

Rin wasn't finished though. One of her hands reached down to unzip her skirt, and she grabbed its hem to pull it off too, before seemingly thinking better of it.

"Emiya-kun, you take it off." She told him instead, and Shirou obeyed, grabbing the skirt and slowly pulling it down Rin's legs as best as he could from his position, his focus shifting from her breasts to the creamy-white thighs that now became fully visible.

Fortunately, Rin was cooperative, and she shifted and moved around in order to allow him to completely take off her skirt. She then also made him take off her stockings, during which Shirou made sure to slide his fingers all across the length of her luscious legs.

At this point, Rin was completely naked aside from her panties, yet there was not a trace of redness to be seen anywhere on her cheeks, nor was there a single sign of embarrassment in her expression. There was only smug enjoyment.

Shirou on the other hand was blushing furiously, and it became even worse when Rin sat up on her knees and placed her hands on her own breasts, gently kneading them and moving them around, giving him a salacious grin as she did so.

Not for long though, as she quickly rose and turned around to walk to the massage table, showing him her delectable bottom for several precious seconds.

When she had laid down on the cushioned table, her head angled to the side so she could look at him, her expression was a mixture of delight, smugness, sadistic enjoyment, and pleasure, an expression that would knock her fans flat on their backs should they ever see it on her face.

"What are you waiting for, Emiya-kun?" She asked him, thoroughly enjoying his flustered state. "Weren't you going to massage me?"

"R-Right." Shirou mumbled, trying to regain his bearings after the show she'd given him, before he too got up from the ground and walked over to the massage table.

Of course, the first thing he noticed was Rin's panty clad bottom, now completely bared to his eyes, but, knowing he'd have to concentrate from now on, Shirou quickly and discreetly slapped himself in the face once, before taking a deep breath to cool off.

It was difficult, more difficult than almost any other thing he'd ever done, but in the end, he managed to suppress his rampant desires and get his mind back into focus.

Rin's muscles really did need treatment after all.

"I-I will start now then." He announced, and after she'd nodded as well as she could with her head on the table, he retrieved a bottle of massage oil –part of an exercise-starting kit that Taiga had gifted him years ago– and carefully warmed both the bottle and his hands with a quick application of fire magic.

Once the oil was sufficiently hot, he slathered a generous amount on Rin's back, before starting the massage, carefully feeling around to get an idea of what state the muscles were in.

"Warm." Rin muttered with clear approval in her voice, making Shirou crack a smile.

As he rubbed his hands over her skin however, searching for knots, he suddenly noticed something odd. Instead of the pale, smooth, and unblemished skin that her many fans claimed her to have, there were numerous tiny scars spread out all across Rin's upper back and shoulders.

Scars that could only have been caused by a pox-like disease.

They were small enough not to be visible unless you were mere centimetres away, and they had faded with time, but now that Shirou was rubbing his hands over Rin's shoulders, he could feel and see them very clearly.

"I became very ill when I was young." Rin explained unprompted, having realised that he was looking at her scars. "I don't know what disease it was, whether it was magical or mundane, but it was what made my parents have Sakura, in case I died, which looked very likely then."

"Hm." Shirou made a non-committal noise, even as he had to pay careful attention not to squeeze Rin's shoulders too hard in his agitation.

"I recovered in the end, leaving my parents with two children, but I kept those scars." Rin continued her short story. "They faded over time, but they never disappeared completely."

"I see." Shirou muttered, temporarily halting the massage to trace the scars with his fingers instead, something that sent noticeable shivers through Rin's body.

"Do you find them displeasing?" She then asked clinically, as if she didn't care about his answer, but Shirou could easily detect the undertone of worry in her voice. "I know men prefer women with smooth skin-"

"Nonsense." Shirou dismissed her words, leaning in to press tender kisses all across her shoulders and upper back. "They are not displeasing at all."

"You don't -ah- have to spare -ughn- my feelings." Rin said, unable to suppress the small sounds of pleasure. "If you dislike them-"

"I don't." Shirou cut her off again. "They are nothing but a sign of strength, showing that you survived past the illness. They are a part of you and have been for almost all your life. That means I love them as much as I love every other part of your body."

It remained very quiet for a few seconds, and Shirou felt more than he saw how Rin tensed up, before she relaxed again, letting out a deep breath.

"That sounds very perverted." She snarked eventually, making Shirou burst out in laughter, before he left her back for what it was and instead kissed the back of her head.

"You truly are delightful, Rin." He whispered into her ear, and she stiffened again. "Never change, okay?"

"Y-You don't have to tell me that! A-As if I would c-change for you!" She spluttered, pressing her head into the massage table, making her next sentence come out muffled. "Why are you talking so much anyway? Just give me a massage in silence!"

"As you say, Rin." Shirou nodded, quickly smothering his laughter, before he resumed massaging her.

It seemed showing her half-naked body to him was no problem, but a genuine compliment got her up in arms immediately.

That was so much like her.

Still laughing quietly to himself, Shirou gently rubbed her shoulders, stroking the slightly marred skin, making sure to apply deep pressure only at the points where it was needed and would not discomfort her. Her muscles, previously so tense, eased up under his ministrations, allowing him to carefully rub out the knots, sliding his fingers up and down and from left to right as he carefully treated the deep tissue.

Judging by the soft groans Rin was making, she approved of what he was doing.

He then went lower, to her upper back, where he curled his fingers and began applying pressure with the tips, following her major nerve-bundles while his thumbs pressed gently into her spine.

Rin let out a sigh of content, relaxing even more, and Shirou took that opportunity to really rub the deeper muscles in her back, applying sufficient pressure to have an actual impact, though he made sure it wouldn't hurt her.

It seemed Rin really liked it, for her toes curled in pleasure, and Shirou too was having a very good time, sliding his hands over her back, feeling every inch of the soft skin.

He continued downwards, to her lower back, still following the nerve bundles. He carefully traced the muscles, locating knots and tense areas, before carefully rubbing them out, using the tips of his index fingers for the smallest ones and the palms of his hands for the larger knots.

Then, he moved sideways to her left arm. He started with the upper arm, gently squeezing and kneading it, trying to remove the strain on the biceps in particular, before moving on to her lower arm, giving it the same treatment, though a bit gentler.

Lastly, he carefully massaged her hand and fingers, gently squeezing them one by one, before rubbing over them with his thumbs, trying to get the digits to fully relax. He wasn't sure at first whether Rin would like that, but since she remained perfectly still, not moving a muscle, he would assume she didn't dislike it at least.

He then started all over again with her right-arm, going from the upper arm to the lower arm and then to her hand.

Once that was done, he started all the way at the bottom, with her feet. He dared to be a lot rougher with them than with her hands, really pressing his thumbs into her soles to work out the knots and sprains.

Her fine, fine ankles were in surprisingly good condition though, and Shirou only rubbed the tendons lightly.

Her calves on the other hand were a right mess.

"When you practise martial arts, do you mainly use your legs?" Shirou asked out loud.

"I do." Rin confirmed, a wry smile audible in her voice. "Is it that obvious?"

"It is. The muscles and tendons there are not in a good condition." Shirou said, before taking a strong hold of her left calf. "I'm sorry, Rin, but setting them right is not going to be fun."

"Oh dear." Rin muttered, before her hands grabbed the side of the massage table. "Whatever, I'm not afraid of a little pain."

"I'm sorry." Shirou repeated, before he began pressing into her calf with his thumbs, twisting and turning the digits viciously, trying to undo the damage. Rin took it very well, barely making a sound, aside from a hiss or two whenever he was particularly vicious in rubbing out a knot, but even so, she clearly did not like it at all.

Fortunately, it didn't take very long, and once the muscles were no longer knotted and sprained, a small dose of healing power took care of the rest.

He then repeated the process for the right calf, and then he was done.

"Alright, that is over with." He sighed in relief, quickly copied by Rin, who dared to relax again. "I hope your thighs are in better condition."

"So do I." Rin groused, looking back at him as he took hold of her thighs.

Shirou then began feeling around, squeezing and kneading her plump, meaty thighs, searching for knots. He didn't find any right away, nor could he determine the muscles' condition yet, but what he could say with full confidence was that Rin's thighs were amazing.

They felt simply wonderful, pliable yet firm, and spry enough to bounce a coin off, providing just the right amount of resistance against his squeezing fingers for the experience to be optimally satisfactory.

He kneaded and then kneaded them some more, sliding his hands all over their length, sinking his fingers into the soft flesh, admiring their form and suppleness, while he also-

"And?"

Rin's question broke him out of his trance, and once he realised he'd been a little too focused on her legs, he quickly coughed once while he tried to recollect himself.

"Your thighs seem to be in good condition." He replied seriously, putting on his most concentrated expression, trying to pretend he was still entirely professional and had not just been practically hypnotised by those wonderful, wonderful thighs. "If I had to guess, I'd say you put too much strain on your calves during your training by jumping around too much and by landing wrongly. Your thighs seem to have endured it pretty well though."

"Then why are you still massaging them?" Rin lifted a single eyebrow, the corners of her mouth pulling up slightly.

"…Because they feel amazing?" Shirou replied, continuing to massage her thighs, pretending not to see her smug smile.

"Oh, do they now?" Rin purred, but Shirou was still pretending not to see or hear her, acting completely innocent.

While he was acting innocent however, Shirou suddenly found himself looking at her pale, full bottom, which, if he continued, should be next body-part he would massage, as it was the only part he hadn't yet. The prospect made his fingers twitch in desire, though he wondered if Rin would be alright with it.

He looked at her and she looked right back, immediately realising what was on his mind. Her smile went from smug to almost challenging, as if daring him to do it, and Shirou had almost worked up the courage to reach out and touch her bottom when-

"Senpai, Nee-san, we're back!"

Sakura's voice sounded from outside.

Shirou had never seen someone rise as fast as Rin did at that moment, nor had he ever known it was possible to put one's clothes on that quickly, but before Sakura had even reached the door of the dojo, Rin was fully dressed again, her expression once more completely composed.

The massage table was promptly karate-chopped in two, which made it fall apart into motes of Magical Energy again.

And as Sakura and Ayako came into the dojo, happily striking up a conversation with Rin and him, Shirou let go of his disappointment.

He might not have been able to massage Rin's butt today, but judging from her reactions during the massage, he would very likely get another chance eventually.

The next day, the inhabitants of the Emiya-estate, Rin included, were standing outside of the house, just in front of the gate. It was morning, only three days before school would begin again, and Shirou thought it was high time to deal with a rather pressing issue.

At the moment, there were seven people living in his house, sometimes eight if Taiga was present, and that was a bit of a problem. Not because of money, or because some of them had clashing personalities. It was simply an issue of space.

The Emiya-estate had been built to house five people, six if they were a little creative about it, but seven was just too much, and eight even more so. They just didn't fit comfortably inside the house anymore.

There was a lack of space in the living room, the dining room, the dojo, the bathroom, and there were too few bedrooms as well.

For now, the issue with the bedrooms wasn't too dire, as Shirou, Sakura, Ayako, and Rin all slept in one room together, and Sella, Leysritt, and Illya shared a room as well, leaving two bedrooms empty, but the single bathroom was definitely a point of worry, as were the dining room and the living room, which were definitely felt cramped when they were all together.

Fortunately, Shirou had accounted for that when he brought Illya and her maids with him to Fuyuki. Granted, he hadn't counted on Rin becoming a de-facto housemate as well, but ultimately, it changed little.

He would just have to enlarge his house on the inside, like he did to his suitcases.

He would enlarge the living room and the dining room, add more bathrooms, more bedrooms, several storage rooms, and several other things that the girls had requested, such as a larger dojo, a large room styled like a fancy restaurant, a second Workshop for Rin in addition to the one she had at home, and a Workshop for Illya.

His plan was received positively by everyone, and no one doubted his ability to deliver. Even Sella and Rin had by now accepted the fact that he could do something like that, and the maid was standing back a little, looking on with a neutral face, while Rin had a notebook and a pen ready, to make copious notes for her research.

Just before Shirou had started though, he realised his plan had a weak spot, which was the reason he had taken everyone outside.

"If I just enlarge the house, we'll be left with an awful amount of empty space inside." He told them, putting his hands on his sides. "I simply don't have enough stuff in the estate."

"Can't you just buy or Project more furniture?" Rin huffed, lifting an eyebrow at him. "Either of those shouldn't be too difficult for you, mister Billionaire demigod."

"True." Shirou nodded self-confidently, making Rin deadpan at him. "But why would I go through all that effort when I can also just connect the living quarters of the Vault to the house and get instant furniture that way?"

Essentially, he'd be keeping the estate largely the same, though slightly bigger, but he would connect his pocket dimension to the hallways, so that his house and the Vault would essentially become one. This would give him more space inside his house while at the same time giving all inhabitants access to his possessions.

"You're going to connect dimensions together inside your own house?!" Rin looked at him as if he was crazy, which was perhaps fair enough.

"One of those dimensions is just a pocket dimension I am going to partially manifest, Rin. A pocket dimension that's under my complete control." Shirou explained as best as he could. "It's not as difficult as actually connecting two dimensions together."

"Even so!" Rin spluttered, her voice shrill from shock. "That's still insane-!"

"Instead of complaining, shouldn't you be taking this as a learning opportunity, Tohsaka-san?" Illya interrupted her, giving the black-haired girl a kind smile. "I recall my grandfather telling me that your family has a special interest in the Second Magic."

"An interest…?" Rin fell silent, her eyes going wide in realisation, and then she brought her notebook up again, her expression turned deadly serious. "Emiya-kun, I'll be stalking you for the rest of today in order to improve the craft of the Tohsaka-family. Thank you for your understanding."

"That's fine, I guess?"

"We'll also accompany you, though I wouldn't call it stalking." Ayako huffed in amusement. "I'm rather interested in what will happen. If it's anything like when we travel to the Vault, it will be quite amazing to see."

"Will there be a lot of rainbows?" Leysritt asked hopefully.

Everyone weighed in on the matter, all of them expressing their intentions and hopes, and Shirou felt almost regretful he'd have to let them down.

No, scratch that, he actually felt regretful, period.

"I'm just about finished already, girls." He said apologetically, having just connected the Vault with his house with Mjolnir's help. "I have been doing the connecting over the past few minutes. That's why I wanted us all to go outside."

"Huh?!" Rin turned towards him with wide eyes, swiftly copied by the others. "You're already done?!"

"Well, yes, like I said, that's why I brought us all outside." Shirou rubbed the back of his head, giving them an unsure smile. "Did you think I brought you outside just to discuss my plans?"

"W-Warn a girl before you do something like that!" Rin cried, jumping at him to grab the front of his shirt, but only for a second, as she promptly let go and stormed into the house again, apparently having decided that seeing the results of his work was more important than scolding him.

"Rin, wait up!" Ayako swiftly followed the black-haired girl, in turn followed by Sakura, Illya, and the maids.

Shirou shook his head fondly at their enthusiasm, before he went inside at a more sedate pace, already knowing what he would find.

As planned, the hallway, the living room, and the dining room had not changed much, aside from becoming slightly bigger on the inside to easily and comfortably accommodate up to ten people instead of five. Additionally, the doorway to the garden had not changed, nor had the garden itself been altered much. It was after all the most visible part of his house to passers-by and should thus not be tampered with in any obvious way.

The shed and the dojo on the other hand should have undergone massive changes, which was what Shirou was going to check first.

When he stepped through the shed's door, he immediately saw that his attempt to enlarge it and connect it to the Vault had been successful. Instead of being met with the sight of his actual shed, which had been dark, slightly cramped, and stuffed to the point of bursting, he found himself in a massive hall easily as big as three football fields, filled with all kinds of equipment, well-lit by the lamps hanging from the ceiling.

Workbenches were standing along the entire length of every wall, whole cabinets full of various tools, Magical and mundane, were standing around at regular intervals, there were so many tables Shirou could walk over them from one side of the shed to the other without ever touching the ground, and the number of Mystic Codes and other special materials would have given the Magi of the Clocktower a collective heart-attack. His old stuff was there too, most notably his books and his motorcycle, standing in the corner.

This was no longer an improvised Workshop of a Third-Rate Magus hidden inside a dingy shed. This was a Sorcerer's Workshop, and Shirou couldn't quite suppress a flash of pride at the sight, indicating his time at the Clocktower might have corrupted him more than he had expected.

He found himself almost eager to try out all the new applications, just for fun, but he resisted the temptation. Thoroughly checking the new shed out could come later, as he had more to do today.

So it was with regret that he left the shed, closing the door behind him, before he headed to the dojo.

Once there, he found that the door was already slightly ajar, indicating someone had gone in before him. Upon stepping inside, he found that that someone was Ayako.

Her presence was hardly surprising. The brunette was the most ardent user of the dojo, even more so than him, so it wasn't strange she'd go to check up on her Sancta Sanctorum before anything else.

Shirou just hoped she liked the new design.

Just like the shed, the dojo had undergone a massive change. Instead of the small hall filled with tatami-mats that it had been before, it was now an enormous complex, far bigger than the new shed, with the ceiling being dozens of metres high, periodically supported by pillars carved into weapons, bats, tennis rackets, and other sports equipment.

The walls didn't have any windows, but the roof did, and the sunlight falling through those windows lit up the dojo so brightly that it seemed as if there was no roof at all.

It was the new contents of the dojo however that really drew his eye.

There was still an area with tatami-mats, for a variety of sports, but it was now at least three times bigger than before. There was an area filled with gym-equipment, as well as a racing track, an actual football field, an Olympic swimming pool, an athletics range, a tennis field, and numerous other areas that were fitted for sports Shirou didn't even know the name of. All of it spread around in such a way that they didn't interfere with each other.

Furthermore, there were fields of actual grass growing at several places, there were biking tracks with differences in altitude, mimicking small hills, and there were even training robots available that would act as either coaches or sparring partners, depending on what you wanted at a given time.

In short, it was a sportsman's paradise.

"Good gracious, Shirou." Ayako laughed once she spotted him, hopping over to him with a grin so bright Shirou was almost blinded. "You really do know how to spoil a girl."

"I'm glad you like it." Shirou smiled, putting his arm around her shoulder to pull her close and kiss the side of her head, relieved the changes had been approved. "Use it to your heart's content, and if there's anything wrong, let me know immediately so I can fix it."

"I'll be sure to." The brunette grinned, rubbing her head against his chest for a moment, before she dislodged herself from him and ran towards the fencing area. "I'll get started right away!"

"Be careful! Those swords are very much real!" Shirou called out.

"I know." She called back, giving him a quick thumbs-up in acknowledgement of his warning, before fearlessly drawing two swords at once out of the rack and turning towards a nearby sparring robot, which also pulled out a sword.

Shirou shook his head in fond consternation and amusement, before he decided to leave Ayako to her sparring.

It was time he went to check on the kitchen.

"Hello, Senpai." Inside the kitchen, Shirou found Sakura meticulously going through the drawers and cabinets, neatly cataloguing the effects of the recent changes. "I'll be with you in a minute."

The kitchen hadn't undergone as radical a change as the shed or the dojo, but it had still tripled in size and had at least ten stoves, five microwave-ovens, and an ungodly amount of equipment added to it. Naturally, it was all state of the art, sparkling, and ridiculously expensive.

In fact, considering the universe of Thor had been incredibly advanced in technology, far more so than Shirou's own world, he was willing to bet most of the new kitchen appliances didn't even exist in his world yet.

Large, hypermodern, and state of the art, this was no longer the kitchen of a Japanese estate, but the kitchen of a top-class restaurant, ready to serve the world's best food to at least fifty customers. The envy of every famous cook, without a doubt.

Unlike with the dojo however, Shirou wasn't sure whether that change was a good one.

"Do you think I went overboard with the changes, Sakura?" He decided to ask his fellow cook, who had at least as big a stake in the kitchen's design as he did. "I mean, bigger isn't always better, and we may have lost a lot of personality now that I have made it look so professional, if you know what I mean."

"I understand, Senpai." Sakura nodded, before giving him a reassuring smile. "But you don't have to worry. I like that it looks more professional now. I have no doubt we can cook far better meals in here than in our previous kitchen."

"And the personality that we lost?"

"We'll create more." Sakura flexed her arm, showing off a lovely bicep in a strongwoman-pose, giving him a wink. "We can do it, Senpai! We'll just have to work hard and cook for hours every day! For at least a month! Then we have made our mark on it."

"Nice try, but school begins again in three days, and we won't be playing hooky." Shirou scolded her lightly, gently flicking her forehead.

"Ouchie!" She complained, before pouting at him. "But Senpai!"

"No." He told her sternly. "Cooking is important, but school even more so."

"…Oof." Sakura, being a smart girl, of course knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it, and she petulantly crossed her arms to show her dismay.

It only made her look adorable though, and Shirou promptly took her in a tender hug.

"Senpai?"

"What? Do I need a reason to hug my cutest girlfriend?"

"Well, I suppose not." Sakura admitted, her frown disappearing, before she leaned into the hug a bit more, letting out a contented sigh.

"I better go and see what Illya and Rin are up to." Shirou said after a minute or so. "Will you be alright here?"

"Oh yes, I will." Sakura nodded, letting go of him again and twirling around, pointing at all the new applications. "I think getting properly acquainted with our new friends will take quite a while."

"I'll join you as soon as I can, so we can get started on making lunch." Shirou promised her. "I just have to check the house and find everyone first."

"Then hurry, Senpai." Sakura beamed at him. "I'll be waiting for you."

Before starting the 'renovation', Shirou had pondered for quite a while about what he should do with the bedrooms. Unlike with the dojo, the shed, and the kitchen, making the bedrooms bigger had little added value, considering they weren't meant to hold a lot of people or a lot of things, and frankly, they had been perfectly serviceable and cosy the way they were.

As such, in order to still create more room for possible future guests, Shirou had simply added more bedrooms, choosing quantity over quality.

Before the renovation, all of his four bedrooms had been located along a single hallway on the left side of his house. After the renovation, that design was still the same, but Shirou had increased the hallway's length, making it stretch on for at least a hundred metres, with the new bedrooms located on either side of it.

It was about fifty metres down this hallway that he found Rin, looking between four open doors and gaping in absolute astonishment at the casual violation of the rules of physics.

"Emiya-kun, these rooms, where are they even located?" She spluttered once she saw him. "This hallway is so long it should have gone into your neighbour's house already!"

"We are in the Vault now, Rin." Shirou explained, before gesturing towards the start of the corridor. "This hallway begins in my house, but as you continue walking through it, you step into my pocket dimension."

"Nonsense!" Rin reflexively denied his claim, looking a bit woozy again. "Y-You cannot build a hallway across two separate dimensions!"

"Allow me to prove it then." Shirou gently took her arm to pull her into one of the bedrooms. "I will show you that I am telling the truth. Don't be startled, I'm going to hit the wall now."

He did as he'd said, swinging his first into the back wall of the room, easily slamming a hole into it, before showing Rin what lay behind it.

If the bedroom had been a room in the real world, there should have been another room on the other side of the wall, or perhaps the outside world, but that was not what Rin saw.

"…There's nothing there." She muttered, gazing forward into the white expanse that was visible through the hole. "Nothing at all."

"Indeed." Shirou nodded, before repairing the hole with a quick wave of his hand. "This room exists in my pocket dimension, and there is nothing beyond it."

"…That's almost scary." Rin laughed with a rather empty voice. "What if this place collapses? Will we cease to exist?"

"The Vault cannot collapse, Rin. It is an actual place, just like our own world." Shirou tried to reassure her, though he wasn't sure where the existential dread was suddenly coming from. "The only thing that can collapse is the connection between them, and in that case, you'd end up on the side you are on at that moment. Sakura, who is in the kitchen right now, would end up in the real world, while we, being in the bedrooms of the Vault, will end up in the Vault."

"…If I get stuck in the Vault on my own, you'll rescue me, right?" Rin asked pleadingly, taking his hand.

"Of course. That goes without saying."

Rin let out a sigh of relief, letting go of his hand, before she slapped herself in the face once and put on a brave smile.

"In that case, I'm going to explore this place further. It isn't every day I see a connection between dimensions after all." She laughed. "Please leave for now, Emiya-kun. I'll need my utmost concentration for this."

"Good luck, Rin." Shirou nodded, before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Let me know when you have mastered the Second Magic."

"Clear off!" She spluttered, glaring at him as he walked away.

Before the 'renovation', Shirou's house had had two storage rooms and a shed, although the shed was used more as a Workshop than as a place of storage.

After the renovation, there were still two storage rooms and a shed, but one of the storage rooms was now directly connected with the main hall of the Vault, where all the treasures were stored. In other words, it had become a direct connection with Shirou's pocket dimension, eliminating the need for any other storage spaces.

It was there, in the main hall of the Vault, that he found Illya and Sella standing in front of one of the massive piles of treasure. Not Leysritt though. Despite his best efforts, Shirou was unable to locate her, indicating she was absent from her mistress' side.

"Haven't you seen enough of this place by now?" He asked curiously. "You have been staying here for three weeks already."

"Yes, we know." Illya nodded, though she didn't look away from the object she was holding, a small lantern that could reveal the presence of ghosts. "We are just checking whether we can actually move stuff from this place into the real world."

"You can." Shirou confirmed for them, gently prodding Sella in her side, as the maid appeared to have been stunned into silence again. "Now that I have made the connection, you can pick up something from here, take it through the door, and bring it into our world."

"Travelling through dimensions with the ease of stepping through an open door." Sella murmured, smiling emptily, much like Rin had. "This truly is the power of a god."

"I'm still mostly human." Shirou defended himself, as that remark actually stung for some reason. "And like I said to Rin, I'm only connecting our own dimension to one that I have absolute control over. It's not that impressive."

"Don't even reply to that, Sella." Illya said sternly, giving Shirou a look that was a strange mix between consternation, exhaustion, and pity. "This one's common sense is clearly long gone."

"Long gone?" Shirou blinked in surprise, before he frowned. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with my common sense!"

"Sure, sure." Illya smiled blithely, and even Sella managed to put on an indulging smile. "There's nothing wrong with your common sense at all."

"…Where's Leysritt anyway?" Shirou ultimately decided to ask, wise enough to know when he was fighting a losing battle. "It's rare for her to leave your side."

"I think she went to check on the bath." Sella replied, the expression on her face both fond and exasperated. "That girl does love her baths."

"Then she will love what I did with the bathroom." Shirou grinned.

Of all the places in the Emiya-estate, it was perhaps the bathroom that had undergone the biggest change of them all.

Before, it had been nothing but a standard bathroom, with a bathtub, a rack for towels, and a sink for rinsing oneself before one could soak in the hot bath.

Now, it was not so much a bathroom anymore as it was a bathhouse. It was, like most other places, a lot bigger now, and had been divided into one main hall and numerous smaller, separate rooms.

Inside those separate rooms, there were changing areas, either for individuals or for groups of varying sizes, but also towel-storages, cabinets full of shampoos and other such bathing products, shower-rooms for the actual cleaning, and even small baths, like the one Shirou had before, for people who wanted absolute privacy while bathing.

But all those rooms were nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to the main hall, which had become large enough to hold the entirety of Homurahara High.

Beautifully patterned tiles covered the floor, the ceiling, and the walls, periodically interrupted by a painting of a scene from fairy tales that Shirou vaguely recognised. The ceiling was held up by marvellous marble pillars carved into statues of boars, goats, and ravens. Several opaque windows in the roof and walls let sunlight through, brightly illuminating the hall.

Throughout the hall, there were multiple baths spread around, each of them large enough to resemble pools. They weren't as big as the swimming pool in the dojo –that would be ridiculous– but they were certainly big enough to comfortably swim in.

The baths weren't all the same though. There was one with cold water, for the health-fanatics, one with hot water, for the casual bather, and one with scalding hot water, for the fireproof people. There was also a bubble bath, a lazy river of all things, and a shallow lounging pool, filled with hot water and floating waterbeds on which people could, as the name of the pool suggested, lounge.

In a corner of the room, there were several benches placed near showerheads, along with a table full of soaps, oils, sponges, and clothes, together forming an area that was rather obviously meant for people to wash each other.

The steam wafting up from the scalding hot bath warmed up the hall itself as well, and Shirou let out a soft sigh of enjoyment as that warmth seeped into his bones.

As he walked through the bathing hall, he also noticed that all the baths had a slanting bottom, at their left being shallow enough for even Illya to be able to stand with her head above the water, while at their right being so deep Shirou couldn't even see the bottom.

From about halfway to the right, the baths also had a protruding edge located around one metre below the water's surface, perfectly fit to sit on while still having everything but one's head under the water.

It was on that protruding edge in the scalding hot bath that Leysritt was currently seated, only her head coming up above the water, though the water's clarity still allowed Shirou to see that she was completely naked.

Her clothes were lying around the pool's edge, having been hastily discarded by the maid in her hurry to sample the bath, and a towel had been placed nearby, for when she was done bathing.

"Hey, Leysritt." He greeted her once he was standing at the bath's edge, only a single metre away from her. "Enjoying the bath?"

"Yes." She sighed, her voice so content that it was clear she wasn't going to come out any time soon, not making any sort of attempt to cover herself up. "Finally a bath that is not cold."

Shirou gave her a curious look, before looking at the steam that was rising from the water. He then checked the temperature for himself, and raised an eyebrow at the results.

"You must be fireproof." He huffed, looking Leysritt over, really surprised by the fact she wasn't as red as a lobster yet. "Are you really sure you're okay in there?"

"I am." Leysritt nodded, before finally opening her eyes to look at him. "Could you tell lady Illya and Sella that I'll stay in here for a while?"

"I will." Shirou promised, and Leysritt closed her eyes again in deep content.

The redhead then looked around the bathing hall one more time, before he decided that he could explore the place later, with his girlfriends. Undoubtedly, that would be a lot more fun than if he did so on his own.

"I can sense your perverted thoughts." Leysritt suddenly remarked, and Shirou, feeling rather exposed by her sudden insight, decided to retreat before she read any more of his thoughts.

He'd come back after she left.

In the end, the changes to the Emiya-estate were unanimously approved by the inhabitants.

Ayako was over the moon with her new dojo, Sakura had already claimed the kitchen, Rin had taken four of the bedrooms to convert into her second Workshop, Illya and Sella had filled the larger living room with beanbags and body pillows, and Leysritt had decided that the bathing hall was now her favourite place ever.

Taiga also gave it her sign of approval once she stopped by. To be frank, she'd fainted at first, but once she was back up, only a few seconds later, she'd been very enthusiastic about the new form of the Emiya-estate.

All's well that ends well.

But with that matter over with, there was something else to address that day, something much less fun.

"Fake priest!"

Rin pretty much rammed in the doors of the church, shouting loudly for Kotomine to show himself as she stormed inside, her face set in a thunderous expression.

"Fake priest! Show yourself!" She repeated, marching past the pews and towards the altar, glaring with unrestrained fury at the statue of the cross that hung from the back wall. "I know you're in here!"

She was followed closely behind by Shirou, Sakura, and Ayako, the first two because they had questions of their own for the priest, and the brunette because she didn't want to be left out of the action.

"Kotomine!" Shirou also called, though with a far calmer voice than Rin. "Please come out, we only want to talk!"

"We won't harm you!" Sakura added, hoping that such a promise might prompt the priest to emerge.

"I make no such promises!" Unfortunately, Rin immediately undercut it. "You have been lying to me! Depending on the truth, I will be very mad at you!"

"And the longer you're going to hide, the madder she'll get!" Ayako jeered, clearly enjoying the situation very much. "Come on, face the consequences of your own actions like a man!"

Their shouts echoed through the empty church, but there was no response. Nothing at all, not even the creak of a door opening or the footsteps of a man running away.

The church was silent as the grave.

"Do you think he left?" Sakura eventually wondered out loud, at a more normal volume than before.

"That can't be." Rin shook her head however. "He almost never leaves this church, and he always warns me in advance if he does leave."

"But you said you haven't spoken with him in quite a while." Ayako countered, crossing her arms with a thoughtful look. "Maybe he left without telling you?"

"At the very least, I cannot sense him anywhere." Shirou said, looking around in an attempt to find a trace of Kotomine. "This place is abandoned."

"But… Even if he would leave without telling me, then why? Why would he leave so suddenly?" Rin asked, more to herself than to the others. "Nothing special should be happening today, nothing of importance happened in the city, and I would know if he was replaced with another priest."

"Nevertheless, he did leave." Shirou stated again.

"I believe you." Rin assured him quickly, glancing at him for a moment, before she placed a hand on her chin. "But I don't know why he would have left."

"Because I told him to."

Shirou almost jumped in fright when an unknown voice suddenly sounded through the church, and when he turned around to face the owner, every hair on the back of his neck stood on end as the bottom of his stomach fell away.

Because there, on one of the church pews, sprawled out against the backrest, a figure was seated, a figure who had clearly been present from the moment their little group had entered the Church but had gone completely unnoticed by them all.

They had fully hidden themselves from his senses to a degree no one had ever been able to before. Until they had spoken up, Shirou hadn't had the faintest clue they were there, which had never happened to him before.

A thousand possibilities flashed through the redhead's mind, from another Wraith to a Demon, but when the figure rose from the pew and stepped into the light, revealing himself fully, Shirou realised the truth was worse than anything he could ever have come up with.

Golden hair that looked as if it had been spun from sunlight framed the figure's supernaturally handsome face, while deceptively ordinary clothes covered his perfectly sculpted body. Lips as red as blood were shaped into a smug grin, and hands looking worn but splendid held two cups of wine.

The figure exuded an aura of power and control, of might and magic, and the shining red eyes spoke of an immense Authority that was best likened to that of a god.

An Authority that had once ruled humanity's first city, and perhaps even the entirety of the ancient world, that had rejected the advances of the goddess of love and war, and that had spurned the Age of the Gods itself.

It was a vision of nigh-perfection, and even if Shirou didn't have his father's description, then Ayako's angry snarl, Sakura's huff, and Rin's pale face would still have revealed the figure's identity right away.

"Gilgamesh."

The golden demigod took in a deep breath after Shirou stated his name, and then the smile became much, much wider.

He took a step forward, and it took everything Shirou had not to take a step back in response. In fact, it was taking everything he had not to either grab Mjolnir and take a swing at the figure or grab the girls and run as fast as he could.

Because he could see, clear as day, that this was the worst possible version of Gilgamesh imaginable.

This was no longer a Servant, summoned by the Grail, but a Spirit Origin made manifest through forces that should never have tampered with it. A manifested Servant that had been changed into an absolute mockery of himself, like some kind of demented parody that Angra Mainyu might have come up with.

This was not Archer-Gilgamesh, or Caster-Gilgamesh, or even the actual Heroic Spirit-Gilgamesh. This was Gilgamesh at his very lowest, at his most cruel, his most sad and most desperate. At the darkest points in his life's journey.

The grief over the loss of his only friend at the hands of a being beyond his reach. The anger at both the world and the gods. The arrogance and entitlement of a young king. The deepest revulsion for humanity that Gilgamesh had ever felt in his darkest moments. The utter despair when even his mother had turned away from him.

The worst qualities of every stage of the king's life had been combined into one form, turning him into an evil caricature of himself that had never actually existed.

He hadn't been corrupted, not really, but he might as well have been.

Every muscle in Shirou's body tensed, Mjolnir only a single thought away from manifesting, and even the other Magical blades he'd seen in his life, Monohoshi Zao at the front, were clamouring to be called into existence.

For a moment, it remained quiet between them.

Then the golden figure opened his mouth.

"At last I have found you, godling."

This seems like an excellent place to end the chapter, and to tell you that I am going on an indefinite hiatus. My internship is simply taking too much of my time-

I kid! I'm only joking! I'm not going on a hiatus. I'll keep writing. I just couldn't resist messing with you all.

Beta note (Cali) - I damn near had a heart attack reading that.

Beta note (LukeSky) – I was going to end this man's whole career.

Now, I know not a lot happened in this chapter, but I did warn you about that. This is an interlude of sorts, mostly focused on being the bridge between arcs. That is why we have Shirou not doing much in particular aside from introducing Illya and making his house bigger.

Also, this chapter may have become a bit lewder than planned, but then again, they are a bunch of horny teenagers living together, so studiously avoiding all lewd stuff would be weird. I suppose you all will have to live with it.

Once more, we mostly say goodbye to Osaki and Yomaura, who exit on stage left. They have served their purpose once more, and may return once I have need of them again. In the coming chapters, they may have one or two more scenes, but that's it.

Lastly, the elephant in the room, Gilgamesh. He is here, he has found Shirou, and it is time for a confrontation. How will that go? You'll see in the next chapter.

Cheerio, says Ted.