Chapter 11
In the morning, at the Emiya residence
All of the residents near the Fujimura Yakuza clan were being questioned for what happened last night at the Matou residence. Since everything was burned to ash and not much evidence was left to figure what had caused the fire other than an accident, questioning the alibis of the gangs in Fuyuki was a good start... even if this meant they weren't exactly finding something.
This was how Shirou found Sakura being questioned by the police. And worst still, when they found out she was a Matou, they asked where Shinji was at.
"Wait. You're not suspecting Shinji did it, are you?" Shirou defended.
"Shinji Matou, nephew of Kariya Matou. He is the prime suspect right now, as he lived in that house and is the only other person who had access to it alongside Sakura here."
"But just because he lived alongside her doesn't mean that he actually did it. I refuse to believe that he could have done that to his own sister. He didn't seem that depraved."
The police would nod in confirmation to his question.
"Well, we are suspicious of him since his name is attached to the Matou family, and we've had past dealings with him doing stuff like this. But for now, we're simply trying to figure out if he's alive or dead. May I know why you're seemingly upset about this?"
"My brother left the day before yesterday. He hadn't come back, and I doubt he wanted to come back just to start a fire. The last time we spoke, he said I should get away from grandfather if I didn't want to deal with his wrath since I'd be on my own now."
The officer writes down Sakura's statement about Shinji's disappearance in the notebook he was writing in. Then he nodded, accepting her statement as a missing person's report as well.
"We'll still investigate the fire and find out if anyone is responsible for it. But I'm still treating it as an accident for now; let's hope he really is alive and well, though with the way you describe your grandfather and uncle, I'm not sure that will happen..."
"But just to make sure, you're not going to continue believing he is the sole suspect, right? Just because the Matou family is considered a... dark one, that doesn't necessarily mean that Shinji is too. It's like saying that all people of a certain nation are evil just because of some people of that nation being villains. You know what I mean?"
The officer nods, simply wanting to keep the peace as Shirou was connected to Raiga, and he didn't want to upset the head of the Fujimura Yakuza clan.
"Very well then, we will begin filing a report for Shinji Matou. Please do have patience as we try to find him."
"Okay... at least there is no real evidence that he did it, even if they're suspicious of him."
Shirou had a feeling that he was actually right, that Shinji couldn't have done something so awful to his own sister. This feeling was also backed up by his own personal assessment of the situation, and Sakura's own words. He was beginning to worry for Shinji's wellbeing.
"You're right, there is no evidence to suggest that Shinji committed the crime. But at the same time, the fire at the Matou residence is incredibly suspicious and likely was made by someone for some sort of reason."
"That still doesn't mean Shinji is responsible for it, you know? It could've been anybody. Maybe a random intruder, someone with a personal vendetta against one of the residents, or something else entirely."
Sakura stepped in, noticing how things could get out of hand. "Shirou, just let the officer finish his job."
"Yeah, you're right, Sakura. I apologize for being too rash." Shirou takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down before he could speak again. After taking a couple of seconds to compose himself, he looks back at the officer. "I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. Please forgive me."
"It is fine. I appreciate that you are willing to admit your mistake. But I do want to ask you something."
The officer asks if there were any other people in the residence here, to which fortunately, Medea has hid both herself and the two Stand users, Polnareff and Midler.
Shirou could only say that his roommate was here, but he had likely gone to see his girlfriend early today.
Abraham leaving early in the morning, especially before 7, did raise some ideas in the officer, but he asked instead of how Abraham was as a person instead of accusing him of having a possible connection.
He didn't want to get Raiga Fujimura mad by angering Shirou afterall.
"So, it was only you and your roommate Abraham here? You said he was already out of here when you woke up early in the morning. Does he typically do this often?"
"Mmhmm. Abraham is always up and gone by 7 a.m. every day except for Sundays."
Sundays were the days he set aside for the people he was close to, as Shirou was told by the hispanic adolescent.
It was also Shirou's training day where Abraham would teach him more on Ki, but he wouldn't say that, so the other part, the fact that his girlfriend had at times asked him to meet her in the past, was what he told the officer.
"Your roommate Abraham seems like quite the busy person. Does he have a job? Some other responsibility that requires him to be up at 7 a.m. every day of the week?"
"He's working on an engineering project of his. It's for the internship with the Speedwagon Foundation he's trying to get to."
Of course, that was what Shirou was told, but he didn't know anything else.
"Hmm. I see. And what do you do for a living? You said earlier that you were connected to Raiga Fujimura, I believe? Are you employed by him?"
Shirou was still a high school student, and took odd jobs when he could to supplement himself. Everything was paid off by the money his late father Kiritsugu left for him, which is what Raiga Fujimura handled for Shirou's wellbeing.
"Ah, I see. So, you take odd jobs for some extra cash? What kind of odd jobs do you take? And what sort of relationship do you have with Raiga? Are you affiliated with the Fujimura family?"
"I do random minor part-time jobs here and there mostly as a side job. As for my relationship with Raiga, he's a close family friend who is kind of like a grandfather to me, so it is a rather close relationship. And the Fujimura family is very kind to me, helping me out when they can."
Satisfied, and feeling like there was doublespeak in that sentence there, the officer stops and thanks Shirou for his compliance.
He then leaves, letting Shirou and Sakura return to what they would have done today.
"I still think I should head out and find Shinji."
"The authorities are on this, Shirou."
The school term was also getting close to the end, and their winter break was just about a fortnight away.
Even though Sakura was worried about her adopted brother Shinji, the boy had some way of taking care of himself as he was overseas in his childhood.
Shirou sighed to himself as he relaxed a bit now that the officer was gone, but he still felt worried about Shinji. He probably was worried over nothing, but he hated that uncertainty of not knowing anything about a family member's well-being. He then turned to Sakura and smiled at her slightly, trying to hide what he really felt about the matter.
"Okay, sure. Yeah, you're right; the authorities are on this. I'm just worried about it all; but you're right, it's in their hands now." 'I know the authorities are already in charge of the investigation, but I cannot just sit here and not try to do something! I have this nagging feeling that maybe they won't find him!'
Shirou would bring this up to Abraham and ask him to help find Shinji. He was likely to know where to start to find the guy.
At the Tohsaka Estate
Rin was again treated to a high class breakfast by her boyfriend. She honestly didn't have an idea of how he was this skilled, especially since this required years of experience, but she set it aside as one of the things he would have from his past.
This furthered her desire to know and open up to Abraham about her secret life as a Magus. They both knew about magecraft, but neither of them spoke of it. It was like they were trying not to break the unspoken rule, despite knowing they were safe in her home.
Rin ended up getting agitated by this foolish play of theirs. She was the Second Owner! She had immediate authority and say here, so why was she afraid?!
Rin was right that she had full authority at the Tohsaka estate; she was, after all, the one in charge of all the house's functions. But the reason why she was afraid was quite simple: it reminded her of her father's behavior in regards to the Tohsaka Family's image. In her mind, she feared that if she showed her true personality to anyone else, people would assume she was arrogant. This fear wasn't baseless, as in her father's eyes, she was nothing more than a tool to keep her family's legacy intact. She began realizing this over the decade in which Kirei was appointed as her legal guardian by her father's will, so Rin was disappointed with how her family was broken down from its former legacy. She wouldn't break from Kirei's attempts, though.
Rin would endure, and prove to herself that she was more than just the heiress of her father, as she'll build up the family with her own means.
After finishing up his own breakfast, Abraham looked a bit at Rin, noticing her frustrated expression. He raised an eyebrow as his mind started to work upon noticing her agitation. It was pretty obvious that it was a topic she wished to discuss, but either was hesitant or held back for some reason.
Abraham decided to break the silence after observing her for some time. He knew perfectly well that Rin would not speak up first, not with their sort of relationship, which was at the start more around keeping the other thinking positively. That was something he needed to change to make it a good relationship for Rin.
"Is there anything that you wish to talk about? You look very frustrated right now."
She flinched slightly upon noticing that Abraham had spoken up, as though she hadn't anticipated him saying something. She then took a moment to look back at her boyfriend, before looking away and speaking quietly.
"It's nothing, really. Just some issues that I've been thinking about lately."
'I'm sure he would understand if I told him my frustrations, but could I really tell him what's really bothering me? I have always kept my mouth shut, but could I really break that cycle?'
Rin was surprised that Abraham had actually picked up on that, despite the fact that her agitation was rather subtle. After some thinking, she figured he was right in asking; there were several things she wished to talk about with someone, but she held back because she thought that Abraham would be upset with her, but he was also carrying memories about her from his own past, so he was likely to know her well. This is what bothered her, as she wanted to know more about him, and not be in the dark of his thoughts towards her. She then sighed and spoke, though she did keep her gaze to her side as she was a bit embarrassed to say how she felt.
"Actually, yes... there's... something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a while now..." She would see that Abraham was waiting for her to continue when she said 'yes', so she took a deep breath and looked back at Abraham with her blue fiery eyes.
"There's... something I want to get off my chest. Can I tell you? Please?"
"Please do. It's hurting you that you're keeping yourself from saying it."
"Okay. There are a few things I wanted to bring to you. One, being how I see this relationship, and the other being a matter of my secret life as a Magus."
'I am a bit nervous to share this with Abraham, but I hope that he would understand me and not view me as some arrogant brat.'
He reacted more at the statement to her view of the relationship, rather than her secret life.
"Do you have a problem with me that I need to change?"
She quickly wondered if she could use this as a way to transition as to why she didn't get informed by him being knowledgeable of the Moonlit world.
"Oh, no-no-no! Of course not! You're amazing!"
'Great. I have probably made this even more awkward. Abraham didn't exactly do anything wrong; he was actually quite respectful and was the exact opposite of arrogant. Perhaps now would be the perfect time to transition.'
She realized that she could try to transition the conversation from this conversation into a conversation about her secret life, but he would probably notice what she did. She then spoke quietly, but clearly and with confidence.
Rin notices that he isn't buying her defensive statement. "Do you really want me to answer your question first, or move on to the other topic?"
"This will sound weird... but... remember when I told you about the girl I used to tutor, but she later ended up dead?"
Rin tensed up as she was hearing her boyfriend speak about his past. The past that she was interested in and had an idea of now that she had the knowledge that the girl was herself.
She shouldn't have knowledge of this yet, so she did her best to act as if she was ignorant of the information.
Rin was rather surprised to hear Abraham bring that up. He probably didn't realize that she knew about her yet, as otherwise he wouldn't have told her. But he did, so her acting skills would have to work in full capacity.
"What about her? Why are you bringing her up?" 'Oh god. Does he think that I didn't notice? Would I get caught? No, don't overthink this. I know everything now, so play this cool and natural.'
"It's just that... it feels dishonest keeping this from you." He knew that they were two different people, just from the same starting point. You could say that this was like seeing twins, but really… "And when I first met you, I felt like it was a dreaded, torturous dream accumulating to disappoint me."
'Oh god. Is he talking about me now? He thinks that it's disappointing that he met me or that I am not my predecessor or something. Why does this have to be so difficult! There's no way that I'm telling him at all. My acting skills have to go into maximum overdrive right now…'
"I... I understand that you have a few regrets about your past, but~ What do you mean by that? I don't quite understand what you're getting at." Rin was very tense internally. The truth was that it was true about the similarities between her and Abraham's late female student. After all, she had lived the same childhood that the girl had before things turned sour for both of them.
"Rin, I'm not really a simple foreign exchange student. In fact, you could probably call me a foreign being to your 'timeline' to be technical."
Rin's eyes widened upon realizing what Abraham had just said. He wasn't just a simple foreign exchange student, but rather from another timeline? She felt a bit relieved that she guessed right with her hunch, but she felt an intense curiosity about Abraham rise up in her.
"So, what you're saying is..." 'Did he just mention timelines?'
Rin's eyes went slightly wide as she took in her boyfriend's statements. He did mention it, and he did refer to a different Rin. She remembered acting like a complete tomboy when she herself was five, but she also remembered that she was an extremely kind girl who always got hurt, and now she had a new mask on to not get hurt ever again.
"You saw me when I was five?"
"Not you precisely. There are subtle differences, and the biggest is that in this timeline, the planet you live in is called Earth. I come from Eudora."
Rin would have to take this in; Earth, Eudora, a different timeline altogether... this knowledge was new to her, even though she did have some suspicions. But how to begin responding?
"W-Well... this timeline is certainly unique compared to yours."
"Different, yes. It's strange how it's similar to mine. Eerily similar, and yet vastly different. Your world never had a second 'Age of the Gods', Rin. It also has this fallen empire, Rome, which seems like a failed version of the nation that's in my timeline. The nation of Kairne."
Rin was now wondering just how many differences there were between the two timelines, as it seemed like almost every minute thing about them, and the history of said timelines, were different. She felt like asking about these differences, but she didn't want to get lost in the weeds of her curiosity while in this conversation. She did want to know why Abraham came to Earth now though, as she was certain that there was a reason behind it.
"So~… you came from your timeline to Earth for certain reasons huh."
"Yeah... certain reasons I had little control of changing."
Rin felt that this was an open-ended answer, but she decided to push a bit further, though the curiosity did not die out just yet.
"Hm, I see. This is a bit personal, so you don't have to answer, but may I ask what those reasons are?" Rin tensed up upon hearing this. The Great Fuyuki Fire was not something to really mess with; it was one of the most catastrophic events that happened in Fuyuki's history. But if the reason was far worse… It caught her off-guard and she didn't know what to say. "S-so… what happened where you were from then? What could have been worse than that?"
Abraham didn't want to tell her all of the things he knew that were far worse than that which he kept stored in his Memory Archives, so he did the easiest method to answer her.
"You remember my novel that I was telling you about. The one with the protagonist named Darryl, and that Super AI that wants to get into the Akashic Records?"
Rin knew the Akashic Records more as The Root, but the term he used was publicly known, so she had thought he was borrowing the concept for his story and nodded silently. She thought that what Abraham had said could just be a coincidence, but the connection was actually rather spot on. The Akashic Records, also known as the Root, served as a library for the records of every single possible event or future that can and will happen. That made her think though; if he wasn't really a simple foreign exchange student and his timeline really was different, could it be that the events that he is talking about, actually happened?!
"Well, yes. But why are you bringing the Akashic Records up now?"
"Darryl Galapos is an alias I used. The novel is based on real events."
Rin was now surprised at Abraham's answer: The novel, which she thought was fiction, was in fact a book based on real events that happened in a different timeline, not too unlike her own. She couldn't believe it though. It sounded so surreal. It really was like Abraham said: the world she lived in was a nightmare compared to his world.
"So, you had lived through the events that happened in the book?"
She wondered if the fact that Darryl was described as a Master Assassin was also applicable to him. Then if he actually killed a 500 year old parasitic vampire from a time long past, when the world used to have technology close to placing civilization at type 2 on the Kardashev scale.
Her eyes raised when she realized that maybe he was associated with the burning of the Matou residence last night.
'Oh God. Sakura was living with a parasitic vampire over the last 10 years and no one knew how much danger she was actually in!'
Rin felt like a terrible sister for how she didn't treat her biological sister any more than a stranger when in public. Why did she follow her father's behavior on this matter when she hated her little sister being sent away in the first place?
'I've-I'm a terrible sister, aren't I…'
She felt guilty and remorseful towards her sister, as only now she realized how dangerous her life was. She didn't know what to say, so she just went silent.
Abraham put his hand on hers to calm the girl down.
Rin wondered how many more things her boyfriend has experienced that she hasn't. Things such as those were out of her experience; she felt like she was actually not in a normal relationship, but that she was with someone with experiences beyond her wildest dreams. How was it possible for things like being a master assassin and killing parasitic vampires to actually happen?!
Drying her tears threatening to fall, Rin continued to inquire for her mind to calm. "Just to make things clear and to calm my curiosity and my mind: you actually did all that? You killed people and fought monsters in your timeline?"
"It was not something I wanted originally, but I did it because it was necessary. The Counter Guardians were failing their jobs, so I stepped up and did what they were supposed to, and did it more efficiently and safer than they did."
She let out an audible gasp upon hearing the confirmation of what Abraham just said. She never would have believed that he would be an assassin and did the job of Counter Guardians. It seemed like a ridiculous thought, yet it was also a real thing… he really did all of that.
"Counter Guardians?"
Rin herself barely knew about the role of Counter Guardian: a person sent from the Root to ensure that what needs to be done, will be done. But now to think that she had a boyfriend who was just that… It was unbelievable.
"It's because of this that Kirei suspected me to be more than meets the eye." He then slowly pulled his hand away. "I'd tell you more, but then you'd have trouble keeping the truth and telling Kirei what he wants to hear. What I said still applies. I'm a 'hunter' so he's not going to suspect that you're lying to him."
Rin had many more questions on her mind, but Abraham did have a point, so she decided to drop the question for now. Instead, she wanted to make it feel more natural with a question she had wanted to ask him before the whole "timelines" thing was brought up.
"So, uh…"
'How do I make it sound natural? Just ask a random question or something! Don't think.'
Rin decided to just say the question directly.
"May I ask you a very personal question?"
Rin wished to ask about him. Specifically how he coped with all of this. Rin felt very anxious and tense upon asking him the question. Will asking this give away anything? Was this an ok question to ask? She wouldn't know until he answered.
"Have you ever felt hopeless or lost before?"
He frowned. "Immediately after I found out that the Rin I tutored died, I was in severe depression. To be honest with you, she died tragically young, about the same age you would have been 10 years ago. The last thing I remember her telling me was that she loved me."
Rin was surprised at Abraham's revelation.
'She told him she loved him? But… she died tragically young, so…'
Rin wanted to ask many more questions, but she wasn't even sure if she should keep bringing up her late predecessor's memories. She was curious about Abraham's own memories, not the dead girl's.
Rin would be shocked by this revelation. Abraham's first love was someone who was just like her, not just from the other timeline but someone who is nearly identical to her. It was almost like having a vision of what her future could be, but more tragic. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"Loved you?"
"Rin Tohsaka, the girl that I was informed to tutor in physics, which was a highly regulated subject in my timeline, was a magus heiress. She wanted the information so she could get a headstart on her knowledge of the 5th element magecraft, which you know as True Ether and Ether. In physics, this is Quintessence but she didn't know what she was really getting into."
"That sounds… really serious. Quintessence… is that a term in real life physics? Abraham, how is this timeline different from our current timeline? You said it has technology far similar to the Type 2 civilizations in the Kardashev Scale, right? Why is physics so heavily regulated?"
"In the novel, I wrote about how technology has regressed. That also happened."
"You mean they also made bioweapons?! Things that could easily cause humanity to have gone extinct 500 years ago because of how reckless they were with starting wars and handling their weapons?"
He spoke to her with a stern tone now. "Correct. They made xenomorphs. All of the examples of the stupidity of humanity was seemingly within this Regression War era. Since technology was progressing faster than regulation, the governments globally agreed to return technology back to an easier time to regulate, and each century, the era was moved up a decade of the technology used. Only if all governments agreed would this improve earlier. By the time you and I were born, Eudora was using technology like it had been 700 years ago. In terms of earth's history for reference, I guess the decade would be when you were 8 years old."
Rin's eyes widened at the revelation. A global war where humanity regressed its technology to avoid the threat of self-destruction? Xenomorphs, a biological species that could easily destroy humanity if left unchecked? Abraham had indeed lived a really harsh life. So harsh to the point where Rin wasn't sure she wanted to ask about his past anymore if it would just bring him down.
"I-I... you've really gone through a lot, haven't you?"
"It wasn't harsh for me... not when I had you around in my life for the 3 years I knew you..."
"Me?" Rin froze up the moment she heard Abraham said that phrase. She never thought he would say something like this to her. It made the girl blush and blush even more so when she realized how much he had come to care for her.
"Yes. Rin Tohsaka, daughter of Aoi and Tokiomi Tohsaka. Older sister of Sakura. She was the person I knew that understood me and did what she could to know me better. In return, I wanted to protect that bright, lovely smile, and in a sense, that expands to you. You too have the same childhood history, but the changes arrived when I was in the life of my timeline's Rin... whereas I wasn't in your life during your childhood."
He then slowly turned away. Unsure of how he would explain things, he went with the simple things.
"Were you ever happy again since Tokiomi had given away Sakura to the Matou?"
Rin felt her heart sink as Abraham brought up the traumatic event of her life. Tokiomi sending Sakura away all of a sudden, the death of her father, the constant neglect she had towards her sister's wellbeing, and ultimately the death of her mentally impaired mother Aoi, all of them had left a heavy scar on Rin's psyche. To be reminded of all of this, now on the brink of opening a new chapter of life, brought her great sadness.
"Yes… I thought I was happy. I had convinced myself that I was…"
They remained silent, both knowing that this was a subject that couldn't be handled casually.
Rin may have been strong, but she wasn't comparable to how Abraham was, and he couldn't and wouldn't compare himself to the girl in need. Not when she was having her life suddenly flipped like this.
"What did you want to do when you were growing up... besides making your father proud of you?" Abraham softly whispered.
She stayed silent as his question hit her. She had spent so long trying to become the daughter she wanted her father to be proud of that she never stopped to ask herself what she truly wanted in her life. It was a moment that made her reflect upon herself: not her father's daughter, but Rin Tohsaka.
"I… I wanted to make friends and… be happy."
Rin had always been working hard to be a proper Magus. To follow the footsteps of her ancestors before her, and to do what she could to keep the family afloat. The life of a Magus did not allow much in life, as it was a small esoteric society in comparison to the rest of the world, and it meant Rin would live two lives. To be a Magus is to walk with death. That was how she was raised to know Magecraft by her father, and that meant she had to continue the reenactment of preexisting phenomena, and ultimately meant that it was incompatible with science.
If magecraft was "That which governs the skills of past humans that science could not explain" and Science is "That which gathers the technology of future humanity that magecraft cannot reach", then Rin should not be seeing her boyfriend at all. The mindsets are incompatible, if you'd consider how it is explained on paper.
Yet, he understood her, and now wanted to know what she wanted in life. Not just a simple question of whether she was following her ancestors path of Magecraft.
Rin had always been focused on learning, honing her magecraft, and following her family heritage as a powerful Magus, but was this all she wanted? She had only been doing all this in pursuit of making her father proud of her. But was this truly what she wanted? The girl stayed quiet as she tried to figure this out. Abraham was right, she didn't know what she wanted in life.
"I..."
Rin was finding it difficult to put the question in a single, simple answer. Abraham's words were starting to make her think deep.
Rin had always been focused on learning, honing her magecraft, and following her family heritage as a powerful Magus, but was this all she wanted? She had only been doing all this in pursuit of making her father proud of her. But was this truly what she wanted? The girl stayed quiet as she tried to figure this out. Abraham was right, she didn't know what she wanted in life.
"I..."
Rin was finding it difficult to put the question in a single, simple answer. Abraham's words were starting to make her think deep.
"What do you want in life?"
It was a question that was innocent, but it was something she felt was helpful for her. Her boyfriend knew a lot of things, and seemed wise enough to know what path he was taking and was right for him. Perhaps it would help her understand a bit more if he could answer her question.
Abraham's question left her speechless for a while. For some time in her life, she had never considered what she wanted, only going through the motions to appease her late father. She needed to think.
"Abraham... Can I ask you something else? Something personal?"
He subtly nodded. It wasn't his expectation for the girl to know how to answer him, so he was patient with her.
Rin thought on what to ask Abraham the most. There was a lot of things she just wanted to know so she asked the most straightforward one of all:
"Are you happy, after everything you went through in your life?"
"No. Not exactly... but I'm not upset with what I experienced, just the circumstances that made me have to experience them."
"But you're not really at peace with them, are you?"
Rin had always imagined Abraham to be a man of no regrets. The assassin had a "get things done" approach to his lifestyle, so it was the opposite of what she thought it was really like. He seemed fine on the outside, but on the inside, he was still tormented by the past.
Rin couldn't help but feel sorry for Abraham. She knew he had gone through a ton of trauma, but she really felt like she wanted to comfort him and hug a lot. Her empathy was telling her to do so.
"You're a really strong person, I can see how much you suffered through your life. Yet you never gave up, even when it probably would have been the easier way out."
Abraham had let the blue eye girl speak her mind. Her current state of mind was the priority here, and whilst he knew his health was also required to complete his mission.
"Nothing worth doing is easy. Whether it be physical labor, or resource bound, there's always a cost of equivalent exchange."
"You really are a wise person, you know that?"
Rin couldn't help but feel amazed by how much Abraham knew about life. He had experienced so much, and yet he never gave up nor became overly pessimistic on the way, becoming even more experienced as he grew. She felt grateful that he was still talking to her as opposed to cutting the conversation off to deal with his own problems.
He chuckled. "Not really. You could say I'm half an idiot. I was sort of like Emiya, but I was more realistic and logical towards life. He's always striving towards his goal to be a Hero of Justice, and yet the way he does things is mowing down his own life capacity with the manner he doesn't think so far ahead. I'm lucky that my mentor has been there to guide me. And, you know? I'm thinking of starting that mentor apprentice cycle once more with Emiya. He's been risking death with his improper use of Magecraft so I decided to finally step in and guide him to a better path."
The fact that Shirou had Magic Circuits caught Rin's attention. How did she not realize that there was another magus, although an improper one, in her territory for 10 years?
"You're joking…"
Rin was stunned with disbelief. Shirou Emiya, the one she knew was a normal person, was actually a magus all this time?
She knew that surname was the same as the Magus Killer, but Shirou had a kind spirit, unlike that of the man known to hunt down rogue Magi that went too far.
"Is he at least aware of what he's doing? Or competent with magecraft?" Seeing his head shake made her feel a strange mix of relief and responsibility. "Damn it. What is he thinking?"
Rin couldn't believe what she was hearing. Here she was, thinking Shirou was a normal person without any sort of knowledge of Magecraft, and here he was actually doing things with a complete disregard towards his own safety. And worse, he didn't know how to utilize Magic Circuits. That was the epitome of recklessness. Did he not realize that his actions could get him noticed by dangerous Magi?
"Don't blame him, Rin. He's following the steps of his father's dream... and unfortunately... that man was too far gone to have tried a good method of handling Shirou's mindset. The kid has tremendous survivor's guilt, and I've noticed it from my observations of him. Which is why I'm thinking of taking him as a student, and pushing him away from Magecraft as much as possible."
"Tremendous survival… guilt?"
Rin was completely baffled by what Abraham was saying. She knew Shirou had lived life with a single guardian: Kiritsugu Emiya and that his death had been tragic. But she never would have thought the young man's attitude came from such a heavy cause. His life had suddenly become clearer to her. And when her boyfriend mentioned the last part of his words, Rin's eyes widened.
"What do you intend to do? Make him quit magecraft?"
"Your ancestor, the founder of the Tohsaka Magus Clan, tried to reach The Root via Breathing and Walking, back when he was practicing martial arts and before meeting Zelretch. I'm going to teach Shirou that aspect, as I'm already a master of that in some regards."
Rin was curious how Abraham could be like that. Breathing and Walking, the key concept in Martial Arts, took a lifetime for people to master, and unless he was born with it, then...
Her eyes widened.
He... Abraham was... he was born with the proper breathing and walking, wasn't he?
"Breathing and Walking, you say…"
She thought about the way her boyfriend moved. It was graceful, and the way he spoke his words had a rhythm to them as well, and there was also the fact he had never spoken of his own past…
"… You… were born with the concept of Breathing and Walking, were you…? Did your ancestors master martial arts in the past to the point where it was imprinted in your lineage?"
Rin's breath was taken away as she processed what Abraham was saying.
Martial arts, breathing and walking. Even the knowledge of magecraft. She didn't think that kind of combination was even possible. It was something that many warriors spent their entire lives trying to grasp, and yet a man who was supposedly just an assassin had not only acquired that knowledge, but had mastered it, and even had information in other fields beyond it.
This was incomprehensible to any regular Magus. However, Rin thought it was clear what Abraham meant: he was special. The guy was a polymath.
"I'm unsure whether it's in my lineage. It's true that I'm from a family that, like I said in front of Shirou and Ayako when we were making up our history relationship between our families for as to why we have a contracted engagement, is not really properly educated, so their status made my ancestors care more about living day to day rather than paying attention to their ancestral roots."
However, there was one thing that he would be capable of telling Rin: he was a quick learner, for in 5 years, he already had a multitude of PhDs when he was 10 years old, and could handle himself in fights against masters of different disciplines of Martial Arts.
"I see. I understand." 'PhDs? At the age of 10?!'
She was more surprised every time Abraham kept talking, but this was by far the most shocking fact. The guy was extremely talented and skilled, even for a talented young adult. Rin couldn't even comprehend how someone could reach that level at that age, no matter what the circumstances were. The girl's mind continued to be completely blown away by her boyfriend. There was indeed not a doubt in her mind that Abraham was special in every imaginable way.
Rin was truly amazed by not just Abraham's martial prowess and intelligence, but also by his humble and modest attitude. Despite him being an intelligent individual capable of handling himself in a fight, he was never boastful, and always seemed to keep his arrogance in check. She noticed how he wasn't flaunting his knowledge on martial arts, nor how he had multiple doctorates before he was a teenager. Abraham's life seemed to keep interesting aspects the more he spoke.
"Truly, your intelligence is something to take note of. A person who could obtain all that knowledge within such a short amount of time could easily learn anything he/she wanted."
Rin was both shocked and amazed. She herself had spent her childhood trying to master the basics of magecraft. In one day, she had learned more information about her boyfriend that she had never thought was even possible.
"May I ask you a more personal question?" He nodded, and Rin continued with the question. "Do you know your Origin?"
"No."
This answer took her by surprise. She knew that mages' origins were tied to their inner core, their inner soul, of a sort. For someone to be unable to predict his origin meant that he was never connected to any sort of origin magic. But why would he not be connected to any origin? Was he born without a core?
"First off, philosophically I'm not a magus. I have no Magic Circuits, even though what I do have, Ki - which is a concept that's pretty much what Breathing and Walking is - allows me to figure out how to reach the same result of magecraft in the end, since it is essentially Od."
"Wait, what? You're able to harness prana through your mastery of breathing and walking? How is that even possible?"
Rin was utterly shocked by Abraham's revelation. Was this a lie or was his statement about ki not being magic really true? If he could use the magical energy of prana through his ki, why was that not considered magecraft?
"I was taught to control my Ki. My mentor took me in and thanks to him, the Mage's Association couldn't place a Sealing designation on me in my world despite the large amount of power I had, which would be overt and noticed because of my anger issues as a child. I didn't have Magic Circuits, but my mentor taught me magecraft in order to recognize and defend myself against any Magus that would try something against me. Besides that, I don't follow the Magus lifestyle."
"That's definitely interesting…" Rin was truly stumped. If Abraham could master the use of ki - something that was the essence of a living body - and if he could use it to the point that he could harness the energy of prana without a set of magic circuits, he was already more than enough of a mage, or so she thought. She wanted to know more about her boyfriend's unique circumstances. "So your mentor… was a magus?"
Abraham's mentor wasn't exactly a Magus. He was what people would call "El Philosophus de Mundi Naturali" or in other words, the one who was the Greatest in both the Worlds of Science and the Arcane Worlds.
"My mentor was more of a scientist than a Magus, as he was the one in charge of Kairne in need of crises, El Padrone. He wanted to figure out the secrets of the universe, how things worked, not become a deity."
"I see. Your mentor's goals were more… scientific... rather than magical… and despite all that he could accomplish through the use of his vast intelligence, he was not interested in any kind of status within the mage's association?"
"For the most part. He did interact with the United Nations, which in my world is more effective."
"The United Nations…"
Rin was intrigued by this. The United Nations, an organization focused around world peace, cooperation between nations and ensuring world prosperity in various forms. If her boyfriend's mentor was a member of such an organization, then he must have had a great influence over the world.
"'For the most part'… so… his goals were not entirely scientific, correct?"
"Do you read comics books, Rin?"
She didn't have the leisure to freely spend her time like that because of how her life was.
"Not really." She was slightly curious about why her boyfriend had asked such a random question to start off with. She didn't like comics as much as she liked various other forms of entertainment, but she didn't dislike them either. Rin responded with an honest answer. "Why do you ask?"
"Comics originally are based on real life before they become too ridiculously fictional that it seems like a children's story."
He then proceeded to tell Rin how the west, which was - in her timeline "The United States of America" - based a character off of his mentor in a negative light. He informed Rin about Dr Doom.
"A cartoon villain was inspired by your mentor?"
Rin had a hard time believing it. Dr Doom was an extremely famous villain known for trying to use science and magecraft in order to achieve his goals, which were often world domination and universal conquest. So the idea that the character was inspired by Abraham's mentor was rather unexpected.
"Wait, let me see if I got this right... Dr Doom, the evil mastermind, is based off of your mentor in your timeline?"
"Yeah. So you can see how I learned what I had since I was a child."
Rin's jaw dropped as the pieces of the puzzle all fell into place. While Rin wasn't the best in terms of history, she knew some famous characters from the World of History. Abraham had explained that he acquired his unique ability to harness prana through his mentor, and then proceeds to state that said mentor is basically the inspiration for Dr Doom. This meant that he had basically learned everything he knew not only from a mage, but also from one of the most famous scientists possible. Suddenly, everything made sense.
"The person who taught you all of this was the inspiration for Dr Doom. I see… I guess that would explain why you're such a versatile person. You have managed to learn the ways of a mage, the arts of martial arts and even the concepts of science due to how your mentor taught you."
"Mmhmm. Which meant that had things been better, my first student, your counterpart from my timeline, would have learned more than the physics lessons I tutored her in. She would have been with much more prowess than the simple Tohsaka Jewel Magecraft and knowledge she wanted for the 5th elemental magecraft 'True Ether and Ether'."
Rin's face remained serious as she began listening to what Abraham was telling her about her potential.
"I see… so you're saying that had she lived, my alternate self would have actually been more powerful than a Tohsaka mage?"
"I'm certain your potential is incredibly high, even without me in your life. You're just a diamond in the rough, which Kirei has ignored for his entertainment."
Rin's breath caught in her chest, as her boyfriend had told her the cold, harsh truth of her life. Despite being the last magus in her lineage, Rin had never received any kind of genuine attention for her talents. That was something that had always frustrated her, as she knew that she could have been so much more if she had been given the proper focus and training.
"Y-You really think I could have been more than a simple Jeweled Mage…?"
"Of course. Jewel Magecraft is a discipline which is pretty expensive. Conversion of power, which I'm certain you excel in as part of your family discipline, is quite versatile if used with other objects besides spells and other mysteries a magus aims for."
"So… it's possible that I received proper magecraft training from someone other than... well, Kirei…. I would have been able to become more powerful than a Tohsaka Jeweled Mage? Wait... since I have the ability to convert power, does my discipline give me the advantage over other magi?"
"Rin. If you recall the law of equivalent exchange and how modern physics still speaks of this in Kinetic and Potential energy, it means that you have the capability to possibly use any source of energy you could get yourself a hand of and have it for your own use. Of course, limitations such as how much Od you have at a time will still exist, but it's a skill that you already excel in that can become your most efficient ability for fights."
"O-Oh… so I can basically use any source of energy around me to boost my power?"
Rin was now starting to understand the full potential of her power. If she could use her Conversion magecraft to use any source of energy around her, that would give her the ability to use things like the energy derived from the sunlight, or that could be found in a mage's spell, and use it to increase her own power. This suddenly opened a whole new world to her.
"How were you taught the conversion magecraft?" 'If it was via bodily fluids, she's going to need to have a crash course. Maybe even the Ki knowledge and perhaps spiritual energy lessons I've collected from what one of my other timeline counterparts found.'
"Oh... well, it's a bit weird. Kirei mostly just had me drink his - I mean, he would just tell me to absorb the magic energy in the surrounding environment, and then I could use that power for myself."
Rin had always found the method of how she performed her Conversion magecraft to be rather strange. It was like Kirei always gave her incomplete explanations on exactly how the process works. He'd tell her to drink the fluid, and then boom, she was allowed to use that magical energy for herself.
"..." Abraham was internally screaming.
"Why? Is there something wrong with what I said?"
Rin didn't quite understand why Abraham was giving her such a puzzled and horrified look. She didn't think there was anything particularly unusual about what she had described of her Conversion magic, so she was confused as to why Abraham was reacting in the way that he was.*
"Did I say something odd just now?"
Rin was now slightly confused as to why Abraham seemed bothered by her way of converting magic energy. She knew that he would know more than her about magecraft, but there was something about his reactions that made her feel as if she had gotten something wrong. However, she was just as curious as to what exactly her mistake was.
"…What…? Is something wrong with how I learnt it? Kirei never really explained anything in depth about it."
"D-Didn't Tokiomi, your father, guide you in putting prana into gems when you were younger? To open your magic circuits and slowly pour that energy into the object, as if you were opening your soul?"
"Oh, yeah! He taught me how to pour my magic energy into a gem."
Rin had almost forgotten about that, but now that Abraham brought it up, she did remember Tokiomi teaching her early on how to use her Conversion magecraft in a more… "proper" way, if that was the way to describe it. She was relieved to know that Kirei hadn't been the only person to ever teach her how to use her conversion magecraft, even though she would have liked to learn more from her father...
"But… that was only for helping on opening and switching on and off my Circuits, right?"
Rin suddenly realized that she might have left out some key details about her background. While she did get her circuits opened through a basic magecraft that her father did, she thought that it wasn't really pertinent to the subject matter at hand.
"Wait… you mean to tell me that doing that with my Circuits was really a part of Conversion magecraft?"
'Kirei Kotomine will get a death of the very definition of brutality.' Abraham was internally seething with rage.
Rin was now even more confused than before. She didn't realize that the way she opened her Circuits was part of Conversion magecraft! If that was really the case, it meant that Kirei had lied about how Conversion magecraft actually worked, and that she could have learned a lot more from her father had she only realized that opening her Circuits had basically been the most basic form of Conversion magecraft! Her fury was growing by the second, but she remained silent for the time being. She needed to know more.
Rin began to have an unpleasant realization: it seemed that she had essentially been misled about the full nature of her Conversion magecraft when she was a child, being told that the Conversion technique which her father had taught her was solely for the purpose of opening her magic circuits and nothing else.
"…Did Kirei know that the Conversion technique was also used for storing prana, and just chose not to tell me? Did he really lie to me?…"
Abraham, ignoring the inquiry as his anger was taking hold, sternly demanded with cold fury the missing knowledge of Rin's lessons. "What did Kirei make you drink?"
"W-Well…"
Rin looked at Abraham with a rather embarrassed and ashamed expression. She knew what he was hinting at, but the mere thought of revealing the ugly truth made her blush and squirm from embarrassment. She didn't want to say it out loud… but since Abraham was her boyfriend, she felt obligated to tell him anyway.
"U-Um… he made me drink his blood… And... well..." Rin was trying so hard to hold off her anger. She was really starting to see just how much Kirei had lied to her about what Conversion magecraft could do and how it worked. She always believed him to be kind of misleading, but this really took the cake. "He also shared with me another fluid. I believe he called it 'liquidized Od'... He made me drink that."
Abraham was furious, though he hid it well under his regular, "Calm and Collected" manner of dealing with the people he didn't feel like messing around with as he didn't have time for them.
What Rin would reveal to him next could make or break him.
"Did it feel sticky?"
"Y-Yes?"
Rin froze in discomfort when Abraham asked her if it had felt sticky. She didn't dare say any more for a moment, thinking she might accidentally anger him if she said the wrong thing. But she knew she had to tell the truth to him. Yes, she was certain that Abraham would definitely become livid if he were to learn that Kirei was feeding her his fluids as he had told her that it was a "special liquid".
Rin felt her cheeks darken even further as Abraham asked about the Od-fluid. Even though she knew full well that it was a valid question, she just felt so awkward about discussing it.
"Y-Yeah, it did… it felt kind of sticky…"
She was still a little flustered when talking about the Od-fluid, as she had been trying to hold back her embarrassment, but something that Abraham said made her pause and go completely silent.
With a cold fury, and speaking in a low volume, Abraham's words were still audible to Rin. "I'm going to kill Kirei Kotomine..."
"Wait, what?!"
Rin was so perplexed and confused by Abraham's response that she had completely forgotten about her blush. She had expected him to be shocked, yes, but she hadn't anticipated that he would outright state his desire to kill the priest. She could sense the growing fury in his voice, but what exactly had made him so seething with anger that he was ready to take Kirei's life?
"Magi, well trained, are capable of honing their Od and expelling it into things when they need to use it. It's the spiritual connection that they use, as is the reason why the Mage's Association does not consider someone without Magic Circuits a Magus. That "Spiritual Organ" is what allows them to use Magecraft properly. The method you were taught is the physical one, and it's only done these days by the followers of tantrism, meaning that you were given a definite risk of catching an STI/STD."
"Oh… oh no…"
Rin began to feel the severity of the situation come to fruition. She had never actually researched Magecraft to this level on her own before, but the way Abraham was talking about Od now gave her a sudden realization. And she suddenly felt completely disgusted by the actions her instructor had committed.
"And let me guess, he's told you to use your own fluids to put all of your magical energy into the gems because that would be the most effective method since it will be constantly contacting the fluids. Meaning you're buying syringes to pull out your blood when you feel like you've recovered your health enough to repeat the method."
Rin was becoming even more uncomfortable as Abraham's statements got closer and closer to the truth about her method of conversion. She was too terrified to speak for a moment, for she didn't have the courage to acknowledge the accuracy of his statements.
"…Yes, he has. How did you know?"
Rin was absolutely astonished at how close Abraham was in his guess. She really was buying syringes to remove her blood. But what really shocked her was how exactly the man had picked apart the nature of what she was attempting to do. She was simply following what Kirei had said. And as you guessed previously, it was all because he had led her to believe that it would be more effective than any other alternative.
"I may not be a 'Magus' in the eyes of the Mage's Association, but I studied and learned all that I could thanks to my mentor and his connections. And if there's one thing I can say with confidence about Kirei, he is a sadist."
Rin flinched at Abraham's mention of Kirei being a sadist. That was a trait that she had noticed Kirei had early on, but she had no idea that it was this severe.
"Kirei has always been a bit... 'sadistic', yes. But I didn't think he could ever be referred to as such. But, now that I think about it, he does seem to take great pleasure in tormenting others. I still can't believe that he was able to deceive me like this..."
"What color was the 'special liquid'?"
Shyly, she answered him for her safety. "It was clear."
He calmed upon hearing that. At least Rin wasn't violated to that point that he worried about.
"Good, good."
Abraham breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that the special liquid was clear. It was bad enough that Kirei had fed her his fluids; if the latter had been of a different color, then it could have meant that something much more unsavory could have happened... Luckily, it wasn't the case.
Shakedly, she looked down at the ground as her blush began to grow more pronounced. "I- It was clear. Kirei said that it was a 'special liquid' that was part of "the mana transfer technique"… I was too focused on learning and mastering the technique to really think about it further…" 'And the fact that I could sell any extra mana to the association if I had to.'
Rin was feeling quite shaken and disturbed by the reality of her situation, the truth about Kirei, and the dangers associated with it. She was glad that she had told Abraham everything, as she could only imagine how worse her situation would have been had she kept her mouth shut. She only wished that she had told him sooner… but she didn't have the strength to tell him back when she was still loyal to Kirei. Thankfully, she has moved on from that part of her life… and now she has the greatest friend in the universe.
"But... Do you think it was a good idea to continue using this sort of conversion method that Kirei taught me? Especially since... I... I really don't know what else there is to do besides the spiritual connection method, and that's not something I'm great at yet."
Abraham seemed to remain calm and composed as he spoke, but when he heard what Rin was implying, he once again grew angered. There was no way he was just going to let her continue using that method. Not while he still had something to say about it.
"I'm going to teach you. You're the one I love, and as your friend, I am not going to let you be lackluster when your potential hasn't yet been realized."
"Oh... um..." Rin was caught completely off guard when she heard that Abraham was offering to teach her a proper magecraft technique so that she could abandon the misleading one that Kirei had lied to her about. She didn't really expect him to offer that to her; she had thought that he would simply accept her current method. But she was pleasantly surprised that he was so concerned for her well-being and growth as a mage. And she was thankful that she now had a mentor who was better than Kirei in every way. "You mean it, babe?"
She was a little surprised at how willing Abraham was to teach her about conversion magecraft properly. She had known that he was a brilliant mage, but she didn't think that he was willing to give her any lessons as a favor. She was beyond excited at the prospect, but she didn't want to get her hopes up just yet.
"There are more ways to have conversion done than just magecraft, Rin. It's a vast concept that many have looked into, and to be honest with you, what we are dealing with here is what scientists are currently trying to figure out how to break past the limits of a battery. Just because you were taught one way... doesn't mean you can learn another way later and apply the methods of one onto the other. This may allow you to figure out how to improve yourself beyond what you think is your peak."
Abraham was going to get Rin to learn the "Yardatian Spirit Control" which was how Rin would learn to utilize more of her soul in a natural way, bypassing the current limits her Magic Circuits had kept her at thanks to the wrong lessons Kirei gave her. Rin had high quality Circuits, but the terrible lessons would not let her be well should she not have her resources - the funds or gems.
"For one to be great, they'd have to be dangerous without their main tools. Why do you think people joke around that Jackie Chan's worst nightmare is an empty room?"
"O-Oh…"
Rin was speechless for a moment as she processed the magnitude of what Abraham had just revealed to her. She had known that magecraft was a vast concept that could be explored in numerous ways, but she hadn't been aware that her soul itself was the source of her potential as a mage. She had always thought that her magic circuits were the limiting factor. But the fact that she could improve beyond that limit, all due to her soul's true power, was a truly fascinating and thrilling concept to her.
"Wow…"
Rin was filled with awe and inspiration as Abraham spoke about the many different ways to convert Od into Magical Energy. She had never thought that there could be more methods than just magecraft. Now that she thought about it, there were many different ways to convert Od other than just using Magical Circuits. She was also surprised when Abraham said that it was comparable to the current concept of breaking past the limits of an electrical battery. Rin was intrigued with the whole concept of "Yardatian Spirit Control", and was excited to begin learning it.
"So, there are other ways of performing mana conversion besides magecraft? I- I see... that makes sense. And, 'Yardatian Spirit Control'..."
Rin was intrigued by the sound of this technique, as it seemed to be something that was completely separate from magecraft but could still allow her to channel more of her Od. She also found the comparison to Jackie Chan quite funny and amusing, but she was mostly excited about learning a new method to use her Od effectively.
"For now... I'll need to find out to what extent your potential is behind. I guess I'll be spending the day like a typical doctor's visit. Let's get you through a crash course, Rin."