(AN) Sorry for the delay, but here is the new chapter. This is an unedited chapter, so there may be mistakes here and there. This a calmer chapter compared to the previous ones but I hope you guys like this chapter.

(((Finding oneself)))

A sea of bright red flames encroaching the entire city.

Hearth and wreckage as far as the eye could see. A reality splitting tear hanging midair right above a temple situated atop a hill as it continued to pour dark red fluid onto the earth. And then, an ethereal being towering both the temple and the town as if it were reaching for the heavens.

It was certainly not a pretty picture by any means. Death and despair hung around in the air. The scene seemed far too familiar from her past, but she was sure she wasn't watching a page taken from her history.

She couldn't control the oracles that occurred to her at strange times, but they still offered her catch a glimpse of what was to come. They mostly served as a foreboding or a warning at best.

She rested a hand against the cold glass encompassing the huge window in the hallway, amethyst eyes peering through the window into the backyard. Eyebrows knitted as the headache from earlier persisted. She observed the teen from morning sort through some stuff in the garage, most likely shuffling through some weapons as she could spot a few shuriken and scrolls. Lancer was hovering over his shoulder, engaged in some talk with his master.

Somehow she felt like the teen she was looking at was connected to the graphic scenery from earlier. She had no proof; maybe a hunch at most. But, still, as a Ruler who received revelations at times they least expected, this wasn't something she could ignore.

And she could only wonder what Sasuke was planning when he earlier informed her of going to school.

Out of the corner of her vision, she could spot traces of magecraft on one of the branches of a tree near the garage that Sasuke was at. It was not noticeable to her eyes at first but she could tell that there were small familiars hidden amongst the leaves that were observing her. They were probably insects if she had to take a guess.

However, it looked like the teen was blissfully unaware of the familiars that were in the area. It didn't appear like all the parties in the war believe that Ruler had died despite the declaration Sasuke had made. Or perhaps they were trying to make sure of it since to the onlooker she was at best a mage due to the casual clothes she was wearing. It wasn't like she could take a spiritual form even if she wanted to.

"Ah, you are awake. You are looking well."

Jeanne blinked and turned to her side to see the old man from yesterday walk up to her, with a short wave of his hand. He was wearing a beige cardigan with a red scarf around his neck, a warm smile on his lips as the corner of his eyes wrinkled.

"I am doing well. Thank you for your concern," Jeanne said, giving a small bow of her head. "Also, thank you for giving me a ride to Fuyuki City. I was not able to properly thank you yesterday due to… few circumstances."

The doc smiled before stopping beside her, "It's no problem, Laeticia-san."

His response and eyes were kind and frank though so she doubted if he knew about the Holy Grail war or magecraft in general. There were still a few things that were unclear about Sasuke and the old man's relationship as the old man beside her was not a mage but Sasuke certainly displayed the abilities of one in her clash with him.

If their relationship was father-son, then perhaps it's a dying bloodline that somehow rejuvenated with the son? Jeanne shook her head slightly as if to snap out of her thoughts. The bond between them was personal and none of her business.

"I am sure this is all surprising to you as much as it to me." He smiled wryly. "It's a good thing Sasuke came when he did and saved you."

"What?" Jeanne's jaw stiffened slightly by what the kind doctor just said. Saved by Lancer's master? What does he mean?

"Oh, sorry. You had just woken up and I am already nagging at you with things…" The old man sheepishly smiled, while also looking at her in concern.

He was probably berating himself for being inconsiderate. The old man was under the impression that Sasuke and Lancer had saved her from someone yesterday night. Not that she was attacked by the said pair. It seemed Sasuke had filled the old doc with a lie but had shared knowledge regarding Lancer. So did that mean her identity was kept a secret from the doc?

"It's fine. I am, uh doing well. Sleep had given me enough rest and energy."

"That's good to hear." The man's smile was genuine before he turned to face in the direction she was looking at. His smile did drop slightly as he appeared to be looking at Lancer but hadn't said anything.

Even though the man didn't say anything, Ruler could still understand what he was feeling to an extent. Any normal person would if they witnessed someone as powerful as Karna leveling the entire highway effortlessly. It's easy to be fearful and paranoid of things that one didn't understand and having someone like that inside his home would be enough to keep anyone on edge.

The man beside her was innocent. He was not a mage. She could try to erase his memories for both his sake and for the sake of keeping the grail war a secret but considering how composed the old man looked despite the obvious fear of Lancer, she wasn't sure yet. Perhaps he was thinking of helping the teen?

If that was the case, she can stay her hand for a while but she needed to be at least sure about her identity.

"Pardon me. I know this isn't the right time but how much do you know about me from last night?"

The old man shuffled his feet to look at her. "Not much if I am honest. However, it was odd to me that someone possessing these extraordinary powers was after you without any reason. Is it something you can share?"

"I am sorry," her tone was contrite.

He looked at her with tired eyes but smiled earnestly.

"It's quite alright. Seems like you have things you can't talk about as well. I am not entirely sure what transpired between you two and how it actually went down, but," The doc said, turning to look back at the teen in the backyard. "I can assure you Sasuke is pretty sincere and is a good kid at heart. It's just that he is often unable to express himself well so he tends to be misunderstood by others often. So, please be don't too harsh on him."

"I understand." Jeanne nodded, offering a small smile to the old doctor.

A growl escaped from her stomach at the same time. Her cheeks flushed red with slight embarrassment as the doctor laughed.

"Haha, where are my manners. You haven't eaten anything since you woke up, did you?"

"Oh, no—I shouldn't trouble you."

"It's fine. Just follow me."

Jeanne started walking towards the diner as the old man nudged her along. The headache from earlier was still present. She was still unsure as to what her visions entailed to and what the Uchiha was planning to do with regards to the doctor but she felt like he was someone she needed to keep an eye on for now. At least until she could dissuade her anxieties and confirm his wish for the grail.

(((Finding oneself)))

Sasuke knew they were being watched.

He doubted his intuition referred to the hushes and whispers that had been coming from behind him for the last few minutes as he continued to walk towards the school with Ruler, who was in her casual attire—a school uniform from France—and Lancer who was in astral form.

He had no concrete proof regarding it. He couldn't tell the position from where they were being watched nor did Lancer inform him anything regarding it yet. But it seems Lancer was of the same mind as he felt Lancer leap away from them in a single jump to a close-by building, perhaps to get a better grasp at their surroundings.

Sasuke moved a hand casually towards his back pocket, once again finding himself searching for a kunai that was strapped to a belt underneath his school jacket. He never buttoned his muddy-colored school jacket but due to the weapons he kept on himself today, he had to button his school uniform to conceal the them.

He left the top few buttons unbuttoned though since he didn't want to feel like choking on himself.

"It is just remote watching. No other servant is in the vicinity aside from Lancer, so you don't need to be on guard at the moment."

"I see," Sasuke replied with an even tone as if he had not just reached for a weapon. He moved his hands back to his front pockets, craning his head behind him. He raised an eyebrow at the blonde who continued to walk uncertainly a few meters behind him. "But why are you so far away?"

Jeanne gave a small smile, looking slightly apologetic. "I, err… not I per se, rather Laeticia seems to be conscious of men. So it is hard to interact normally if I am any closer."

"Is that so?" Sasuke drawled, slowing down to match Ruler's pace so that she was beside him now. "It's fine to maintain distance since it is something I try to actively do as well but I can't have anyone else dropping on our conversation. Not when it's something concerning the Holy Grail war."

Being reminded of the Holy Grail from him seemed to have brought some normalcy to Ruler's behavior. At least what he deemed normal given his interaction with her from the morning.

Jeanne looked at him, a frown on her face. "I talked with Dr. Futaba in the morning. I heard from him that you told him I was 'saved' by you from someone. But we both know what happened."

Sasuke was silent as she continued.

"Dr. Futaba is not a mage, and he is not supposed to be involved in the war. I want to know what you are planning to do with him." Ruler moved her eyes at her feet, one of her hands clenching the strap to her bag. "If you are worried that he had found out about Lancer, I can erase his memories of that night. It is not too late."

Sasuke's expression didn't change as he took in a breath.

"As expected of a Saint, I guess."

Ruler frowned. "Listen here-"

"His son was murdered in the last Holy Grail War by one of the masters."

Jeanne blinked at the odd response from the former avenger.

"You might not know about that since it was a war from 10 years ago and I doubt a Ruler was summoned at the time. But still, it was one of the masters from that war that ended his son's life and it is something that affects the doc to this day," Sasuke said, looking ahead and stared off into nothing in particular. "It might not be much, but he deserves to know the truth at least. Even if I can't share everything, this is the least I can do while also keeping your identity a secret."

Of course, if he had a choice, he would have hunted the previous Caster's master himself but the man was found dead in the same war a decade ago. The person who killed him might have also been a master from that war but he felt gratitude nonetheless in a strange way towards the man.

"…I see. That's surprisingly thoughtful of you."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted non-committedly and spared a glance at Ruler who looked to be in some thought. He didn't need to say, but since she was the Holy Maiden, he felt like he needed to. "You need not worry about the old man. I have taken measures to keep him safe."

He was trying to keep the old doc out of this as much as it was possible. It had already been a few days since the war started during which there was a direct attack on him that he managed to thwart thanks to his 'magic'. However, the party keeping an eye on him might have witnessed his interaction with the doc. There was no saying as to how low they would stoop so he didn't want to take a chance.

"Wait- Is this..."

"Hm?" Sasuke looked beside him to find no one. He looked behind to see her transfixed in her position at the school's gate as she stared at the school's massive main building with wonder in her eyes. Her expression glistened with wonder as if she was finding out something for the first time.

It seemed strange to him.

"What? Are there no schools in France?"

"No, there are." Jeanne shook her head and walked towards him. She coughed awkwardly as if she was trying to be formal. "It's just my first time attending a school. I mean, I do have Laeticia's memories and she did have some education so I do too in a way, but uh, you know-"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," Sasuke replied simply. He pushed the school's main door, allowing Jeanne to enter and take in the school's atmosphere. Despite her answer, he could see in her posture and expression that she was a bit too excited to be attending the school.

Hmm, maybe because of the thought of attending the school, she didn't speak with the same reservation she held in the morning. If he were in her place, he would have been more cautious or hesitant. Or maybe it's precisely because it is her—A Holy Maiden—that she was able to forgo her conversation with him from the morning.

But while Jeanne was busy taking in the dirty school locker in full stride as if it were a Sakura tree shedding its leaves, he noticed that the busy corridor for some reason quieted down to murmurs. And the reason for that today at least was not him.

"I wonder who she is."

"Oh, wow. She is so pretty~."

"Must be a foreigner. Damn, I envy that guy."

"Why is he of all people with her!?"

Sasuke's gaze was enough to make the bystanders silent. Sighing at their behavior, he removed his shoes and left it in the locker. Ruler observed him after a moment, completely unaware of the students watching them, and awkwardly mimicked him.

"Follow me." Sasuke signaled her once she left her shoes in the locker as well and started walking towards the stairs. "Since it is your first time attending this school, I know someone who can get your papers sorted out without much hassle."

"Oh, that's great-" Jeanne exclaimed before she caught herself midway. She coughed once again, a noticeable blush on her cheeks due to embarrassment as she tried to compose herself. "I mean, it is well appreciated. However, my duties as an overseer would be the priority so I don't really need to attend you know."

He didn't respond verbally and continued to walk towards the staff's room. And she continued to follow him despite what she just said. It was obvious that she was very much in delight about attending a school.

Perhaps she never really had any formal education when she was alive.

What she said was true. The heroic spirits were people of the past who had already lived their lives. They were summoned to this era for a reason, to fight on behalf of their contractor and to have their wishes full-filled or to be summoned to oversee a war in Ruler's case.

Still, he could see how the heroic spirits would be fascinated with the current world's technology and state and can try to make the most out of this second life when they can. Heck, he even witnessed his stoic Lancer fumble around with technology earlier, mumbling about the achievements of the modern era. Not that he could boast of being well adept at technology either.

He slid the door to the staff room open. Thankfully, only Fujimura and another teacher—Kuzuki was it?—were in it.

"Fujimura."

"It's Fujimura-sensei to you, brat-" The overly vivacious teacher stopped midway once she noticed it was him. "Oh, it's you Sasuke-chan! And who might this be?"

Sasuke's brow twitched slightly at the –chan that Fujimura added at the end of his name as Ruler looked on curiously at him.

He corrected her many times before but she was, for lack of a better word, an idiot. So eventually he gave up trying to correct her since he could not deal with her never-ending enthusiasm. Oddly, she often reminded him of someone because of her behavior but he did not know who.

"This is-"

"Wait, let me guess!" She chirped, interrupting him. "Is this your girlfriend that you came to brag to me about!?"

Ruler blinked. "Eh- no, it's not like that. This is not-"

"First Shirou brings a foreign girl to our home, and now you, Sasuke-chan. Our boys sure are growing up fast. Gosh, I feel old now!"

The scene was utterly chaotic in front of him. Fujimaru kept nodding to herself as if everything in the world started to make sense to her despite Ruler's interjection who looked like she was about to faint.

He sighed deeply.

(((Finding oneself)))

Sasuke took his seat in the classroom after leaving Ruler to her own devices with their sensei, not minding the jealous stares of his classmates and the screeching of his fangirls. He didn't care as to what they whispered about—probably something stupid anyway—and instead went over in his mind over what he read in the scrolls so far.

There wasn't much description regarding the basics nor did he find any words related to mana, prana, od, or even magical circuits in general. The scrolls were written in such a way that they already assumed one was well-versed with the fundamentals of the magecraft. The writing in the scrolls was mostly his, at least in the ones he had read so far, so it wasn't probably a hereditary thing that was passed down to him.

An image of his parents lying dead on the floor flashed across his mind, causing him to wince and catch his head.

Yeah, they are already dead anyway. As if my father can teach me these things, he thought wryly. It was probably no use pretending that the dead couple in his dreams were anything other than his parents.

He forced his mind to focus back on the contents of the scroll he had gone through, not wanting to mentally break down in his class thinking about his dead parents and their killer that stood over their corpses.

The lightning discharge he had used the other day against the dead creatures, and the lightening infused blade against Ruler. That was a simple application of him channeling his mana and following what Lancer said. He did find some details and descriptions in the scrolls that matched the techniques he used, however, they were locked behind certain hand-seals and explored ways to reduce the number of seals it would take to invoke the technique.

But, the other day he used without invoking any hand-sign in particular, so perhaps it was more of putting in concentration and the high amount of mana it takes to perform without one. That may explain the need for hand signs and why they were generally used since one doesn't usually have enough breathing space to concentrate and actively change nature midst battle.

Or, perhaps it was because he had used these techniques so extensively, it might be possible he subconsciously did the channeling that his hand signs would have done. After all, if it was possible to reduce the hand-signs it takes for a technique, then this was surely a possibility.

He watched the open palm of his left hand in thought before closing his eyes and lowered them behind the desk from the field view of others.

The feeling he got back then was of pure power and strength. It was intoxicating honestly; the feeling that he wasn't so powerless, his mind picturing wielding such destructive power in his hands. He was standing in an open field for a moment, the chirping of the birds surrounding him and his parent's killer standing in front of him. The killer's face was shrouded by a fog except for the red eyes but that didn't matter. He was here in front of him.

Just when a spark flew out of his hand, the raven-haired teen snapped out of his concentration after hearing a particularly loud voice calling out his name.

"SASUKE!"

The former avenger blinked, looking around once to register that he was still in the class, not in the open field. Not in front of the killer. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked around to find a distressed Shinji frantically walking towards him.

"Seriously? I don't want a headache so early in the morning," Sasuke said without batting an eye at the purple-haired teen.

"Do you think you are in the position to demand something from me right now? What did you do with the package that was supposed to be delivered to my grandfather?" Shinji demanded as he fumed with anger. His face had few bruises and a bandage was plastered over his nose.

Sasuke's face then morphed into realization but before he could even do anything he heard a blood curdling scream from Shinji. He looked at Shinji trying to calm down at a bright ball of fire that illuminated from Sasuke's bag.

"What—" Sasuke mumbled to himself before looking down at his hand.

Was it because of me?

The students present in the classroom quickly rushed to his desk on hearing Shinji's cries. Sasuke was caught up by the commotion for a moment before he too helped them put out the fire.

Once the fire died, leaving his bag a charred piece of cloth, he watched Shinji frantically search through his burnt bag as he murmured, "Not here. It's not here." Shinji finally managed to get hold of a box before pulling his hair out and screaming, "NO! IT'S BURNT."

The corner of the Matou's eyes filled with tears as he glared at Sasuke, "It's your fault this package is burnt!"

The gears in Sasuke's head turned as he looked at the electric socket that was present near his bag that possibly short-circuited and caused this particular accident. "I think this thing must have short-circuited and caused the fire."

The truth was Karna's catalyst was already burnt the day he summoned him. But that didn't mean he wouldn't use this situation to his advantage.

"I don't care! Now, what am I supposed to say to grandfather?"

"I came to give it you, but this is rather unfortunate. It's not my fault that my bag decided to set itself on fire."

"Save it for your boss," Shinji yelled, before trembling. "Now how am I going to answer Grandfather?" Shinji exaggerated in desperation. Sasuke watched the annoyed male leave the room with a trail off curses before being followed by a couple of his fans.

The students murmured something like what was that about and began to disperse. Just when he got back to his seat and thought his day couldn't get any more eventful, he once again took the class's attention.

The doors to his class were opened and a girl with twin pigtails marched in as all eyes were on her. He signed, resting a palm over his head as she stood proudly in front of him. She had a sweet smile on her face which appeared fake as hell to him.

"We need to have a word in private, Uchiha-san. Can we talk outside?"

(((Finding oneself)))

The redhead furrowed his eyebrows while his hand rested on his chin. His eyes focused on the solid school floor in concentration as he did not bother with the weird stares from the students in the hallway. Some amused at how he didn't bump into anyone yet while few simply avoided walking into him.

His body was physically present in his school but his mind kept wandering back to the night prior. He couldn't shake off the odd feeling he felt at the entrance of Sakura's house. It was all fine until she went in, he could feel a burning stare boring holes at the side of his face.

He still remembered the wind howling around him but he doesn't think of the sound of the raging storm. He could only recollect the chirping of the insects stinging at his ears. If it was a cool summer night where he would've just sit on the balcony listening to them as the cold breeze brushed past his hair and face like a gentle lullaby then he would've reminisced it as one of the best summers he ever had.

But after that eerie feeling which sent shivers down his spine and the thick, suffocating tension in the air which blared warning signals all around his head. He knew he had to get out of there. Fast.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard noise from his classroom just down the hallway.

Weird.

That room was always noisy but it seemed like it was two times louder than usual. He slipped past the usually prying eyes of his classmates. He half expected to find Shinji at the center of the commotion again, which usually involved one other person from his class.

To his surprise, he found neither in the class. He didn't know if it was a good thing or not since he had to eventually face him anyway. Perhaps not now, since they were at school and it was a normal day.

He made it to his seat but the guy who shared the chair beside him greeted him loudly immediately followed by a question, "Shirou, did you do yesterday's homework?" He asked enthusiastically as his eyes sparkled in a way it does when people ask for a favor.

Shirou simply smiled in return, responding with a soft tone, "I didn't unfortunately. I couldn't find the time to do it. By the way, I heard we have a new student today from Fuji-nee. Do you know where she is? I'm supposed to show her around the school."

The redhead asked as he removed few textbooks from his bag for his coming classes of the day. The guy beside him just sighed as he mumbled few things about wanting to get close to the foreign student. Shirou was about to remind him that he still didn't get an answer to his question when the door to his classroom opened.

A pretty girl with blonde hair walked in as her eyes darted around the room. Nervousness was evident from the way she stood. The class went quiet, so quiet to the point anyone could hear the sound of a pin if it was to be dropped at the moment. Most of the students from his class immediately crowded her. Shirou could see her maintaining a distance from the boys as she subconsciously leaned towards the girls at the entrance.

The blonde could only smile at everyone in response not knowing what to do and he felt that was enough for the guys in his class to start a new fan club like Tohsaka's own.

So, this was what they meant when they said a foreign student was joining their class. She was most definitely a European, and looked a bit similar to Saber. Looking at his classmate's reactions, he could only wonder how they would react to Saber attending the school as well. It was probably not a bad idea if he thought about it aside from the technical difficulties of having her identity and papers ready.

Shirou stood up from his place and made his way towards the foreign student. The boys in his classroom observed his every move while a few silently cursed at him as they deemed that he was shamelessly making a 'move' on her.

Ridiculous.

He smiled and introducing himself, "Are you Laeticia-san? I am the one who is supposed to show you around the school today." The gears in the Ruler's mind seemed to turn as her eyes lit up when she realized who he was.

"Oh, the sensei down told me. Shirou-san, right?" She proceeded to speak once she got a nod from him confirming his identity, "I'll be in your care." She said, bowing her head.

The redhead could only chuckle as he bowed back as well.

She seemed to be aware of the Japanese etiquette to an extent. He could still sense that she was nervous but was trying her best not to show it. This was refreshing. Certainly different compared to the last time he showed the school to someone new around.

As he stood straight again, he watched her gaze linger on his hand. All too suddenly, he felt the atmosphere change to a cold, thick tension. He followed the line of her vision and met with the red command spells on his hand glaring back at him.

As if on instinct he hid the back of his right hand with his left hand. Shirou's hands clasped together as he threw a tense smile at her. It was as if they came to a silent agreement to ignore that the past one minute ever happened.

She knows!

Shirou was pretty sure the blonde in front of him knew about the Holy Grail war. That reaction spoke volumes that she recognized everything that had to be there about the war.

Is she an enemy servant? Or, is she a master?

He watched her clear her throat.

"Please don't be startled," The foreign girl said in a calm, soothing voice. "I wouldn't have needed to trouble you if he were around but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case."

He blinked before realizing that people were watching them. Perhaps that is why she didn't say anything about the war or servants. Or, he was just over imagining things.

Shirou's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked at 'Laeticia'. He also found it weird that this person already knew someone from the school. She was new to the class and she already had an acquaintance? The redhead slightly shook his head as if to snap out of his thoughts before responding, "You already know someone who goes to this school?"

Jeanne nodded, "Yeah. He is your classmate, Sasuke."

His eyes lit up but they dimmed soon as his face morphed into a conflicted expression. Shirou recollected what Rin told to him the previous day that Sasuke was also a participant of the Grail War.

Oh, right. He's a master too.

He was probably indulged in his thoughts way more than he intended to because the next thing he noticed was Laeticia's worried expression in front of him with a concerned 'Are you okay?'

"Yeah, I'm fine," He smiled, but he was not sure if he was trying to assure her or himself. "It's funny because I was the one who showed Sasuke around the school when he first joined too."

"Oh," She made a small nod to herself, as she appeared to be in some thought. He could sense her hesitancy as she asked after a moment, "Was Sasuke always like he is now? Compared to other students I saw so far, he seems… a bit different. He doesn't act like his age."

Shirou raised his eyebrows before shaking his head. "I don't think that. He just has a lot going on in his mind and he has no reservations speaking his mind. That is something that not a lot of people can do, and I think it's admirable."

Sasuke was the center of attention from the moment he joined their school. But not a lot of people dared to talk to him. He always had this aura around him that made it difficult for others to approach him, but Shirou never paid any heed to it from the start. He was the one who volunteered to show him around the school when he joined as well despite the bad rumors that surrounded him at the start.

Few people even coined their relationship as 'friends' seeing as only Shinji or him were often seen around Sasuke, and Shirou did see Sasuke as a friend of his but he didn't know if he could say the same thing about Sasuke's views on their affiliation.

Laeticia opened her mouth again as if to ask a question but she got cut off when one guy from the classroom shouted, "Hey guys! Look!" And everyone present in the class ran towards the window to peak down at whatever was going on.

The two teens could just look at each other and shrug before going towards the crowd to see what the commotion was.

(((Finding oneself)))

The Uchiha looked at the pale, thin fingers curled firmly around his wrist, his eyes glancing back at the twin tails of Tohsaka swaying in the air as she lead him down the stairs. There were strange looks from the students who were glancing at them, incessant chatter filling the crowd just as soon as they leave an area.

The reason for the gossips could well be due to Tohsaka's attire. There were slight smudges on her red coat covering just over the sleeves of her uniform, and to be honest it was almost negligible if one was not paying keen attention as he was. Her hair, despite looking tidy to an extent, was still uneven, not what one would expect from a top student like her. This was not like her, and he might be finding out why.

He knew how it looked to the bystanders. Hell, even he would have assumed something had he not been on the receiving end. But, he still decided to play along since this wasn't like Tohsaka, their school idol. She was rather careful, and shrewd when it comes to matters concerning her, and this was without a doubt something that had to do with the Holy Grail War.

The door behind the building was roughly opened by the girl in front of him, and she released his arm once the area looked clear of any prying ears. He could not vouch for the same for the eyes though.

Sasuke curled his fingers around his wrist, his lips curling downwards.

"I thought you were one of the sensible ones but seems like I had misjudged you."

Rin rested one of her hands against her hip, the other hand brushing a hair bang behind her shoulder. "I should be saying that Uchiha-san," she said, her brows creasing together.

"So what is this? Is this a way of isolating me from the crowd to take a shot at me?" Sasuke questioned. "If it really was that, you did a poor job of leading me away secretly."

"W-What do you take me for?" She huffed, crossing her arms in defiance as she mumbled. "I am not going to stoop that low, you know."

Perhaps.

He wasn't able to hide the smirk to see her lose her composure but this was still worrying. Although she did say she was not going to stoop that low, that Archer of hers was dangerous and unpredictable. For all he knew, that red archer probably had him under his aim already.

Sasuke looked up to see the terrace of his school building and spotted few students peeking through the windows at them. The ruckus made by students was a bit distracting but thankfully, they seemed far enough to hear the conversation they were having.

He looked further up and found no one aiming their bow right at him but her Archer was certainly capable of long-distance shooting all the way from the other side of the town.

He cannot drop his guard around her yet since the red bowman seemed to act on his own without orders being specifically given to him, and if the servant saw a chance, he would most certainly be ready to pounce on it.

After all, Archer had shot a nuke level blast at Shirou mere moments after Berserker being incapacitated a couple of nights ago. The bowman may probably not shoot an arrow of that level at him with a school full of students behind, and with Rin right by him but a stealth shot was still an option. At least that is what he would have done if he was in her place.

"What is this about, anyway? Surely you did not bring me here for idle chat."

"That is right. Where were you last night, Uchiha-san? And what were you doing?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her before shrugging, "I was at my part-time work."

"I contacted the place you work at, and apparently you have been skipping work for the past few days."

Oh. He never believed she would go as far as to dig info on his background and where he'd worked, especially since he believed her impression of him wasn't that great. And that he was an immature master participating in this war but perhaps he had been underestimating her.

"What else do you want me to say? Surely you know I have been busy recently. And why I was skipping my work," Sasuke said.

Rin shifted her weight onto another leg, her finger tapping against her arm. "Yeah, I know. Let me cut to the chase. Were you behind yesterday's blast that occurred at the highway connecting to Tokyo?"

"The highway?" He paused, eyeing the windowpane of his class for a moment. He caught sight of blonde hair with red hair, curiously peeking at them along with other students. He let out some breath and turned to look at Rin. "But why are you curious about it? I heard that no one was injured in it."

"Just answer my questions," Rin said, appearing to be frustrated by his lack of cooperation. "Were you also behind the disappearance of the three students that have been missing for a few days now?"

The three missing students.

He remembered the incident she was talking about. Three missing students from Archery club… it was a major incident at their school and he remembered one of the lecturers asking him as well if he had any clue as to what might have happened. That was a mystery, and also the reason why club activities in the evenings were canceled at the moment.

At that time, he gave no thought to it but after being recently contracted as a master to participate in this Holy Grail War, and with Rin asking him such a thing, maybe the war had something to do with their vanishing?

"Do you mean to say this war has something to do with their disappearance?"

Rin didn't answer his question immediately, maybe because she did not trust him. Not that he trusted her either. He wondered if he was never really selected as a master to fight, would he still have been this skeptical of her. If all of this truth had not been revealed to him?

Tohsaka took in a deep breath through her nose, shifting her coat as she stood straight. "Alright… I will give you the benefit of doubt here. There are… certain ways masters who are unable to provide mana to their servants can overcome that difficulty."

Other alternatives through which masters can provide their servants with mana…? If there were other ways, it was worth looking into it.

Rin continued, "I know you are not a mage, and typically novice masters who are unable to provide sufficient mana generally try to compensate their shortcomings by forcing the servants to consume the soul of humans since that is also a way to obtain and strengthen your servant."

The raven-haired teen now understood what she was on about and why he was dragged all the way back here. To think that she suspected him of doing such a thing… that thought itself was enough to disgust him.

Even if that were a viable option, it was useless if it was not something that came from his strength. If he were really that desperate, he would have taken up on Kirei's offer or he would have approached the Matou's and formed a contract with them.

He closed his eyes, halting from showing his emotions too much on his face, and looked back at her with a near-perfect stoic face. Perhaps she was trying to do good by investigating this but he was not in the mood of being cooperative after she insinuated him of doing such a thing. Although she did not outright say it, it still annoyed him.

"I don't like repeating myself, but since you are under some delusion, Tohsaka, let me be clear." He slid a hand into one of the pockets of his pant, "I don't know of what you are talking about nor do I have to do anything with what you are suggesting. But if that is all you wanted to say, I am leaving."

Without wasting another moment, he walked back into the building, leaving the girl silent behind him for a moment before she recovered. She probably hadn't expected such a cold reply from him but wasn't going to play nice after being accused of something like that. He was pretty sure she was pissed at him, and his responses probably only increased her suspicions of him, but he didn't really care what she thought of him.

The matter of consumption of souls on the other hand… was worrisome. He did not consider himself as a pious person and did not try to solve all problems and voluntarily offer his help, unlike a certain someone he knew. But now that the old man was back in the city, he'd like to avoid such a dangerous individual lingering around in the city.

His hand clenched by his side.

I will not let a repeat of what happened last year… this time for sure.

(AN) The amount of feedback I received for the last chapter was honestly overwhelming and its great that so many people still read the chapter despite it being updated after ages :D I think I even achieved a personal landmark with it.

That only increases the guilt for not being able to update sooner. The update schedule is really a pepega moment. Definitely not what I had in mind with the update speed but it is getting hard to juggle work with writing. Hopefully the next update comes out faster since I have been wanting to write that part for a while.

Hope y'all are safe and continue to remain cautious.

Next Chapter: Rin vs Sasuke?