Fate: Bonds Beyond Humanity

by Apprentice of Life

In a world where all can be real, what does it mean to be human? What is the meaning of humanity? A meeting between a human and a devil will have them discovering the truth while chasing their dreams. My take on the combined worlds of Fate and DxD with characters from other franchises if they can be adapted to it. Harem.

8. Chapter 8

Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity

…..

8- Aftershock

…..

Rias was pissed off, no, she was furious. Someone dared to harm Shirou, her magician, and he was gravely injured, the only real reason that she didn't need to resort to reincarnation was thanks to both her magician's own skills and her minor proficiency on healing magic he was going to be fine.

When she was called for an emergency she expected a fight but the fight was already over and Shirou needed both extraction and medical attention, fast. Fortunately everyone there was connected to the magic circle in the clubroom and once they got back Rias immediately retrieved EM and used as much mana as she needed to close Shirou's wounds.

But her magician wasn't enterally out of the woods just yet, since his resources couldn't heal his bones she would have to use her own. Moving him to one of the extra beds in the club, Rias starts to take her clothes off while Liz does the same to him. After they were naked Rias laid to his side giving him a hug to make sure she had the most contact with his skin possible.

To the side of the bed Leysritt stood, watching constantly while Rias administered the devil's version of healing magic. By injecting and manipulating her mana into Shirou's body, the pureblood was able to heal his bones, neutralize any pain and replenish his mana reserves with her own.

The difficulty of using such a method, especially on a human, was that she needed to focus extra to filter her malevolent energy and turn it on a more beneficial brand for the human but that didn't matter to her.

Mana can be dangerous in excess but it is also necessary for living. Running out is not only dangerous but it can make the process of recovery difficult with its absence. So Rias needs to focus on fixing his bones and restoring his mana while keeping hers 'pure' for him in a process that can last the whole night.

Hours passed during the procedure and in the middle of it the other members of the club arrived to help, Akeno helps patching up Setsuna, Kiba gets water for his King while standing on position with Liz, just in case anything else was needed, Koneko takes care of examining Shirou's condition by feeling the flux of mana on his body.

The petite girl didn't like to use most of her abilities, but that was just mana control to both monitor the situation and help her master's own control by allowing the woman to take her mind out of the process of purifying her own mana which would allow her an easier time and continue her work under Koneko's watch.

With her mind a little more at ease, but still worried, Rias can't find in herself to relax. Instead she asks Setsuna what happened. The hanyou tells the whole story, skipping out the date since it wasn't relevant. In any other situation they would call her out on that but not this one.

It was without a doubt that they were after Shirou because of his father's… baggage. But that didn't matter since Rias knew for a fact that there was nothing connecting Shirou to the Magus Killer, even if he truly was the man's son. Either way, they would need to wait for the magus to wake up to ask more questions but for now his health took priority.

As the Gremory heiress thought on all the ways she was going to punish the ones responsable the first thing on her mind was tending to Shirou, even with all the help she had on it, the biggest workload was still hers and she wasn't slacking off.

When his breathing evened out and she was sure there was nothing else she could do, Rias separated from him and dressed herself. "Koneko, stay with Liz and keep an eye on Shirou. Call me the moment he wakes up." She wanted answers and it was time to get them. "Akeno, I need you to go to the rooftop Setsuna described and check on the huntress, if for some miracle she is still alive I want her here."

"I will go with you." Setsuna said while getting up but Rias shook her head.

"You need your rest and it is almost dawn-"

The girl with less red in her hair interrupted the redhead. "I also want answers and it will be faster if I am there to show where it was." The fact that hanyous were resilient and that Setsuna was already properly healed influenced Akeno to give her own suggestion.

"Let her come with me, Buchou. It will get us what we want faster. Besides," Akeno's aura was almost sparking around her, "if the bitch is still alive I will make sure she will regret that little fact."

Realizing that her Queen was as much furious as she was. "Permission granted but make sure she is alive to bring her here. Kiba, come with me." The two women moved to leave the building and return to the crime scene while Rias took Kiba to her office. Once there she looked for a document on her desk and once she found it she gave it to him. "This is a list of authorities that work for us. Get them active as fast as possible. I want names, to know where these people came from and who I have to kill to teach everyone to not mess with my magus!"

Kiba could see the rage in his King's eyes, he can't blame her since he felt a similar degree of rage about the circumstances himself but even not that much. "Yes, Buchou." He retrieved the list and moved to the circle for a reverse summon himself on one of those houses. They knew that the moment they invited a devil to their house the door would always be open for them.

To secure the control of the city there were deals made that used the favor system or 'we scratch your back now and in the future you scratch ours'. The devil's didn't demand souls or anything of the type for milenia, but the favor was help and information of any goings on in the city.

It was a caution that every devil had access to, an extra help to control the supernatural elements around. What Rias wanted was to make sure everything about the incident would go to her first and foremost.

The procedure was simple, Kiba would go to one of the houses of their clients, or their office if that is where the agreement was made for such instances, and after dealing with the first one, he would run to the others to avoid returning to the club and teleport everytime. The way that both Fuyuki and the list were set up meant that he would only have to move into a straight line with liberal use of hypnosis if needed.

Checking the first name Kiba began teleporting, the first contact being the police chief of the region. Once her Knight was gone Rias picked up a special paint kit in a drawer on her desk. While the itens them were valuable they were easy to make.

After getting a blank piece of paper she opens the kit separating its contents. The black paint holder was small but the most important item and she placed it to the side to get the brush. It was black on the handle but was made using hair, her brother's hair to be more precise. The paint was made using a droplet of his blood as well.

The kit was made by him with the intent of communication, she only used it twice before; once to talk about Shirou and other for the Tohsaka situation. Now she was using it again, the third time in the same year. She needed him, not his help but his permission because she is almost sure of who is responsible for Shirou's condition.

'Deep breaths.' Rias calms herself and focuses, to make such a magic circle she needs to draw it perfectly, there is no time to be angry at the moment and a mistake means delayed retaliation and she is going to retaliate.

By the time she was done, the birds were already singing outside her window. Even if it was Sunday there was no rest for the wicked and she knew her brother must be already working. Looking on the bright side it would be 'afternoon' on the Underworld at the moment and he would be more rested than her.

Time for the last step; establishing a connection. For that there was only one way and it was brute force, unlike with a phone or internet that has cables or satellites this one needs to travel between dimensions. So to solve the distance problem the only real solution is power, to make the spell powerful enough to reach the target regardless of distance or barriers around them.

Focusing, Rias starts to pump her mana into the spell. Beyond the cost of making such method work there is also the fact that she already worked most of the night in helping Shirou and now she was doing another exhaustive process with mana and little rest. If Sirzechs takes too long to answer the call then she will need to stop and try again once her reserves recover.

*Ri- h- are -u?* Fortunately her brother always answered her as fast as he could, even if the static was not helping since it meant that she needed to add more mana.

"Onii-sama," she said with all respect and love it was due, "it's an emergency."

In that moment she felt the burden of the spell being severely reduced. *What is wrong?* With his considerable power and control, Lucifer was now powering up the communication personally.

"Shirou had been attacked." Rias goes directly to the point. "I am sure it was Rutal."

*Do you have any proof of the accusation?* By his voice it was easy to tell the man was all business.

"Not so far but the investigation is already in progress." She reassured him. "But it was the only logical explanation. Regardless of who Shirou's father is, the fact is that he was attacked and we both know the only one who would benefit from it." That was not to say that the whole family would be on it but the Phenex clan was the only one who would celebrate his death.

Now Sirzechs didn't become the actual Lucifer for his power alone. It is accepted that he is the strongest devil but it took more than that to be a leader and his mind was sharp both for combat and politics.

He also had access to intel that Rias was not privy to, including that any assassin entering Fuyuki undetected spoke more of their influence than it should and worse even if they tried to kill Magus Killer son. Yes, his death would be harmful to his parents but in reality it would be worse for everyone else with the path of blood they would make.

With all that in mind, yes, Rias is correct that only one party who would benefit was the one that she hated but it didn't explain how the assassin passed by their precautions, even most strays are caught on their 'net' before they became a problem with only the very skilled ones being able to fool the system or if they got lucky since it was impossible to monitor everything.

On the Underworld, sitting down in his office, Sirzechs allowed himself to hit his head on his desk. 'Please tell me it's not some scheme of your Kiri!' Instead he said. "I need to make some calls to make sure that the Phenex didn't have anything to do with that." 'And also make sure that my hunch is wrong or else his wife will hear from mine!'

Sirzechs Lucifer is a handsome man, like his sister he inherited the hair and eyes of their father and the facial structure of their mother but was taller and more muscular than his sister. He was wearing his 'working clothes', a black armor with gold highlights and big shoulders with a black cape.

*I doubt that he would have conditions to establish contact by himself. Unless he managed to return to the Underworld for a day or so it is almost certain that Rutal acted alone.* He would agree with her observation. But that was not the main problem.

"For him to go for Shirou means that someone talked." He gave his sister a minute to process what he said.

After a while Rias let out a sigh. *I should have used Seekvaira's method. At least then nobody would know about Shirou.* By parading him and revealing their connection she got herself into this mess in the first place. Instead of avoiding people attacking him she let herself open for people attacking her by trying to get him.

"What is done is done but it's not all your fault. Rutal is not playing fair." Attacking a magician with a pact that is connected to a whole family? That just wasn't done without consequences. "He probably covered his trail and unless someone admits something-"

*Two of the assassins were killed, I have Akeno checking the third one but…* From her silence he could guess the odds were not good on that front.

"What do you want to do?" He decided to ask. The reason why Rias had left the Underworld was to be more independent, this is her chance to show how much she has grown.

*To rain fire and brimstone on that bastard and show him he is not as immoral as he thinks!* After taking a deep breath she then said. *But most of all I need Shirou safe. Killing can come after.*

Pride sparked on the older devil's heart, he approved of her decision. "You have a plan already." It wasn't a question, it didn't need to be. That was the modus operandi their family acted; 'first protection, then vengeance'. If Rias was already thinking about the latter, she already has a plan for the former.

*I had a lot of time to think while treating Shirou and I just wanted to run this idea by you. If you say that no one is going to complain then I will go with it.* He stayed silent for a while and she took it as a sign that he was willing to hear the idea.

In her own office Rias was frowning. She didn't want to do anything drastic but she realized that if she didn't another devil could try something. It isn't like she could watch over Shirou 24/7 and as such she needs to react decisively. Her plan was direct but it played with the truths of the Underworld, the truths of being a devil.

*Are you sure you want to do this?* Once he heard her plan he calculated the odds of something going wrong. The reality was that the worst had already happened short of Shirou dying.

"It will protect Shirou, send a warning and get Rutal out of my life." She was decided and in her view it was the only way and that gave Sirzechs pause.

He was happy for his sister, she found her determination and was taking steps to secure the protection of her people. But she was going to use brute force and lots of it. There were alternatives that were more subtle but they would take somewhat longer and give Rutal more opportunities to do real damage. Not to mention that her plan didn't solve the problem that he already knew about Shirou.

*Yes, your plan will work but only if you push him into a corner while not doing any permanent harm to him.* At least to an extent. As the supreme leader of devils, a race that made their bread and butter to bend the rules, Sirzechs had to learn all the laws of the Underworld back and forward so he wouldn't be tricked. He knew what Rias wanted but she was leaving herself open in some fronts. *However, I ask you again.* He paused. *Are you sure you want to do this? If you just gather evidence and wait a while we can solve this more diplomatically. Either way, once Rutal is back in the Underworld the Phenex clan will have the information and even if they can't do anything on your side they can still get something here.*

His warning given Sirzechs stays silent to allow Rias to think, even reducing the flux of mana to show that he would find it really difficult to hear any decision she makes unless she wanted to.

He barely had to wait a minute before the spell was properly powered again. "I won't let him hurt Shirou again." Rias had a fierce look on her eyes.

Her decision was made.

…

Fire. That was all he could see around him. Fire everywhere, fire and death.

Pain runned through his whole body, his legs were heavy, so heavy.

But he needed to keep walking… Why does he need to keep walking?

He couldn't remember anymore. Why was he walking?

He just needs to keep walking, to pass by the fires and ignore the bodies.

There were so many bodies. Big and small, adults and children.

There was a mother trying to protect her son but he was already dead. He ignored her.

There was a man trying to save his lover. Both would soon die from their wounds. He ignored them.

There was screaming, lots of screaming, coming from all directions. These were some people's last words.

He ignored everything, ignored it all and kept doing his short strides. Everything hurts.

To ignore he had to forget, to discard, to abandon, to throw away.

...What did he forget again?...

Finally the heat got to him and he fell to the ground.

Why was he trying to run?

Why was he trying to get up?

Why does he feel so tired?

Turning around he looks to the sky and all he can see is smoke.

Not a single star in the middle of hell.

He was starting to find it hard to breathe. For some reason he wanted to still get up and start walking even if he didn't know why.

Trying to get up he fails. His arms refused to move, the spirit was willing even if he didn't know why but the body had finally reached the breaking point.

He starts to close his eyes, still hearing them, the screams, there were so many screams. Everything was just growing more and more dark.

He couldn't see anymore. Even the smoke was gone and he could only see darkness.

Darkness and screams, that was all he had.

…

Shirou opened his eyes in a panic. He could feel that he was laying on a bed, a bigger and more comfortable one than his own. 'That nightmare again…' It was not as much a nightmare as it was a memory, one that he hated to have.

"Shirou? You are awake." The voice to his side was a familiar one but when he turned to look he felt he was in another nightmare. "Calm down. Here, some water." She moved to offer a cup to the side but Shirou had on reaction.

"Liz, let me do it." Koneko was at the side getting the water of the maid's hands, the very much stained hands with dry blood. "He is awake now. Go rest."

"Shirou needs me." Leysritt said leaving no room for discussion but allowed Koneko to approach with the water. Shirou didn't hesitate to drink it, anything that gave him time to organize his thoughts. "You need to call Buchou."

The devil knew that Liz was right. "I will go get her." Then the small girl looked at Shirou. "I will be back." And left the room to call her superior.

"Do you need more water?" She asked with care but Shirou was distracted.

"Liz," his voice sounded so low to himself, "please go change yourself."

She shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. Rest." But Shirou was not having it.

"Just… go." He said softly, trying to not take his eyes from her face. "You need to get something clean." Trying to give her a smile but it looks forced.

"Are you going to stay in bed?" After he nods she says. "Okay. I will ask if there is something proper to dress."

She didn't realize yet that the problem was not the kind of clothes she was wearing, Shirou was already used to her more relaxed way of dress that showed plenty of skin and he knew Rias wouldn't have a problem with it. The problem was the blood, there was too much and even the smell was making him feel dizzy.

"Go… take a shower, I will ask Rias for something when she arrives." Because Liz was covered in dry blood, her hands and midriff had been soaked in it. And every time his eyes drifted away from her face he could see how much of it she batted in.

She accepts his order and steps towards the bathroom inside the room. After a few more seconds, he could hear the shower turn on. Shirou had to hold himself back from jumping out of the bed to find a trash bin, he was fighting his stomach and the need to puke.

'That was real! The man, the arrows, the werewolf and the explosion! That was all real!' Fighting to control his breathing Shirou looks around. 'Koneko was here. Am I in the club? And Setsuna! Is she safe?' Looking around he got up, he said he would stay in bed but he wanted to know if his friend was safe first.

He took three steps in the door's direction when it suddenly opened.

"Shirou!" Entering the room was Rias followed by Koneko but the smaller girl stayed at the door while her King approached him. "How are you feeling? Do you need something? Maybe some food?"

Her touch was smooth and warm on his skin. "No. I'm fine. Is Setsuna safe?"

"Yes, she only had minor wounds. You on the other hand had all kinds of bruises, broken bones and was bleeding, both internally and externally." Rias looked more frustrated than irritated, still Shirou couldn't help himself.

"Sorry." Raising an eyebrow Rias sighed, no in resignation but in self loathing.

"It wasn't your fault. Setsuna explained that you were attacked." The devil starts to gently nudge Shirou. "You should stay in bed. We managed to patch you up but you must be tired."

"I'm fine." No he wasn't. "I just want to know if-"

"Setsuna is safe." Rias immediately reassures him. "Now you go back to bed and rest for a bit, okay? I will just ask a couple of questions and if you need anything Koneko or Liz can get them." Then she looks around. "Liz is in the shower right?" She could hear it.

"Yes… she will need some new clothes." That was really important for him, only less than his friend's security.

"Koneko will get some." Rias looks back and sees Koneko at the door with a red face and avoiding to look at them. "Koneko? Something wrong?"

"Shirou also needs clothes." As all the younger devil had to say, Shirou looks down and blinks. Quickly he uses some of the covers on the bed to cover his waist.

"I am sorry!" Tilting her head, Rias just shrugs while Koneko stood there a bit embarrassed, she liked Shirou enough to want to respect his privacy.

"Koneko, go get some clothes as well as a towel for Liz." The girl raced out, her embarrassment giving her an extra bit of speed. "Honestly, it is just skin." Shirou wanted to disagree but he was too embarrassed to do so. "Now… tell me what happened. In detail, Setsuna already told me her side but if you have anything to add I will listen."

After making himself comfortable, covering himself from the waist down at the very least, Shirou thinks on how he would tell the story. "They wanted to kill me because of my father." At seeing his fellow redhead nod Shirou then hesitates before saying. "There is a reward as well… they acted like they weren't certain I was my father's son."

Rias blinks before saying. "Shirou, your father has gone to great lengths to protect you and the rest of your family."

"The boundary fields?" Thinking for a second the devil tries to elaborate.

"No- Well, yes. But there is more, he made sure that your family had a whole cover, including another person as your father. I know for a fact that, yes, your father is Emiya Kiritsugu, also known as the Magus Killer, but if you go into official records there is another person in every picture, an effeminate man with shoulder length hair. Either way, it is really hard to find who your real father is." In both senses.

She would know, she tried.

"So… my father really is a killer?" That gave the pureblood pause.

"Is that a problem?" Shirou's eyes when looking at her were filled with confusion.

"How it isn't? My father kills people for a living." He shakes his head, part of him still not believing it. "I know I heard that before but now, after meeting some of his victims… it sounds so real now."

That part of him was still in denial, even when his mother said her piece, it didn't want to accept that his father was what she said he was. But he met people who truly hated his father, Shirou could tell by the way they spoke, the way they looked at him. Even when they didn't have any real confirmation, they wanted to hurt him to get to his father.

"Maybe that is true in the 'normal world'," Rias pointed out, " but in the moonlit world there are many times that you can't second guess yourself. Monsters come in more ways than just with teeth and claws and hesitation can cost more than your life. I won't say that being a killer is something commendable but it is still better than to just lay down and die."

After hearing her, Shirou didn't know what to say, he was still having difficulties to associate the image of his 'dad' being some kind of monster that killed indiscriminately. For a time he thought that there must be some reason why and his mother's attitude supported that idea in his mind, that the man who saved him was a good man, maybe not always considered or an overly nice one but a good man.

Now that came crashing down with the fact that the actions of his father definitivally were real and they brought suffering to other people. Rias watched all that, she didn't agree with the way that Shirou was acting but he was human and she could understand that, in some way, he was distressed by the whole situation.

"Killing sometimes is necessary, especially with good reason." Rias said, hoping that her words would help. They didn't but she refused to give up. "Do you want me to look into it?"

"Huh?" That snapped Shirou's spiralling thoughts.

"If you want, I can have someone look into it. Don't worry, the information will be as legitimate as they can be." She reassured him. "But they will mostly be from reports, informants and a lot of it can be painted either positively or negatively.".

"In other words; neither may be the truth." She nods at that.

"It is your choice." It would always be his choice first and foremost.

Thinking about the encounter with his would-be-assassins made him question himself, once his mother made the same offer and in a way, most likely it would also be a recount from her perspective with her views. If he wanted the truth he would need to go for more than one avenue of pursuit but before that, before anything else…

"After I talk with him." Shirou decided, remembering the nightmare- memory. "I want to talk to him first, to hear his side. This can be just a misunderstanding."

Like a good son Shirou refused to lose faith in his father, to abandon the reality where he had some semblance of peace, and Rias decided to allow that to pass both because in her point of view the Magus Killer had done nothing wrong and because she could clearly see that Shirou was distressed.

"Anyway, your date yesterday may have had a… unexpected ending. But I must know exactly what happened to make sure that whoever ordered the hit faces justice." Shirou nods and starts telling the story.

…

While the magus and the pureblood devil talked, the rest of their club was moving around town to try and figure out exactly why the events of the night before had transpired. Kiba had finished entering into contact with every mundane power in the town hours ago and had joined the raven haired duo of Akeno and Setsuna.

They told him that the huntress Selene had met her end in the hands of another party who was still unidentified as of the moment and they were now resting after having practically run around the whole night. "If you want, you can go home to catch some sleep."

"There is no need, Akeno-senpai. Hanyous like me can go days without rest." Setsuna observed while she ate an onigiri. They were also eating lunch while they copilated a report to deliver to Rias.

"Until the mundane authorities identify the bodies we won't have a place to investigate." Kiba observed while taking a bite of a sandwich. "There is also the killer of the huntress. At the very least that means there is another player still running around."

"Should we inform the other Second Owner?" At Setsuna's question Akeno smiled and shook her head.

"While Sona wouldn't mind helping, Rias would get… upset if we informed her without input." That was an understatement in the Queen's opinion. "Besides, she would only use the same resources."

It was the mustering of those resources that had the Knight running around the whole night. From the mayor to the police chief to anyone that had power, a deal of some kind with the devils in any way shape or form and also had power in Fuyuki. They knew about the moonlit world to a minor extent even if they weren't a part of it and everyone was now on high alert. Kiba wouldn't deny his legs were hurting a bit from the exercise.

While they waited on a bench in the park since there was little that they could actually do. They debated on returning to the club but then they may have to just teleport back anyway depending on how fast the mundane side of the investigation goes.

"That is why you should go home and rest." Kiba decided to say. "This could take a good while and it also may result in nothing."

Setsuna frowned. "Did you contact the investigators from Kyoto?" She changed the subject while also mentioning another party who could help.

"I tried but their leader was out checking some registry and they aren't moving without the approval of a superior." Kiba sighed. "I managed to get other people on board because Rias already had deals with them but none has a really long story with this kind of work."

"If we just had a direction to go." Setsuna complains. "I just need to be close enough to find Selene's trail to her lair." The hanyou doesn't forget a smell that easily and with her heightened senses all that she needs is a place to look.

"We can do nothing but be patient now." Akeno said while picking apart some of her yellow jelly. "Besides, we don't need to rush. Let the others do their job and then we do ours."

None could deny that the break was also helping them recover, they did spend the night following Rias' instructions. But they are restless and want to find the responsables as fast as possible. Setsuna could hide her impatience on her face but the way that she was tapping her foot was a strong indicator that she was annoyed.

Kiba noticed and quietly looked to Akeno who was on the other side of the bench. The Queen noticed her companion's look and just looked back until Kiba motioned to Setsuna. Akeno raised an eyebrow in return and the Knight rolled his eyes, making the only daughter of Himejima smile and decide to just do what he wanted.

"So, how was the date yesterday?" It wasn't the route Kiba would go for but he would trust Akeno's expertise on this one.

"It was a disaster." Setsuna replied almost as if it was a question about the weather.

"Besides the whole assassin thing?" The question got a nod from Setsuna.

"We don't… know how to go on a date. The assassins were after it was over… or maybe not… Shirou would have cooked us something." And the way her eyes shined and the others having knowledge of Shirou's culinary skills was enough for them to know that it would have saved the whole thing even if it was a disaster. "I also took too long to take down the huntress…"

Upon seeing her kouhai feeling miserable Akeno changed tactics. "Then you wouldn't mind if I go on a date with Shirou myself, would you?"

Instead of the expected reaction Setsuna gave her full approval. "Of course, do it. Just don't pick any advice for what you should do, instead do stuff you find fun from the beginning. That was our mistake." She said in acceptance.

"Great… I thought you were going to fight back a bit there." Akeno observed.

"Why? You want to go on a date with Shirou, I want to go on another. We want the same thing and we don't need to fight for it."

"... I was kind expecting to become a mistress in your relationship." Quickly Akeno remedied what she wanted to say. "Not to break your heart or anything like that, I just find the idea of being one arousing."

"Are you a mistress if the relationship is approved by the girlfriend?" Setsuna asked in curiosity.

"I… don't know that one actually… Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend now?"

"I don't know? Are we?..." The hanyou looked like she found the world's most complicated puzzle.

"... Can I be the mistress of your relationship?" Part of the Queen felt she was cheating by asking.

"Sure, I can understand why you would want to; Shirou food is appealing." Akeno raised a hand before she lowered it down.

"It is not just about that but sure, I will take what I can get."

Even if Kiba was not exactly normal he felt he just witnessed something most people would never in their lives. 'If everyone is happy...' He thought resigned.

"Hey, maybe we should ask Kiba-kun here if he can give us some advice on how to take a boy on a date." That comment from Akeno basically told the blonde he didn't want to be here anymore.

"I never have gone on a date myself, you know." He tried to dodge the subject but Setsuna had an epiphany.

"Maybe that was my problem! I didn't have a single boy give me advice, they were all from girls." Setsuna turns to Kiba and waits for his input.

"Yes Kiba-kun, tell us your opinion." Akeno's smile told the only male present exactly what was happening.

"I must reiterate that I have never been on a date before."

"Nonsense Kiba-kun, you are a man like any other and must at least know something." The smile of the Queen just looked more devilish. "Don't you agree, Setsuna?"

"Yes." The way that the hanyou was looking at him made Kiba feel almost as if he was being studied. "Tell me Kiba, how would you do if you were on a date yourself?"

"Yes, Kiba-kun… Tell us." The Queen's smile made him tense.

'I feel almost like I'm surrounded by sharks.' Between Akeno who was setting him up to do something she would find funny and the eager Setsuna who was ready for a legit lesson on how to date, Kiba didn't know what to do. "I- honestly-"

*Dududu*

'Thank the Hells!' He breathed in relief as he pulled out the cell phone in his pocket. It wasn't his personal one but one that was given to him for work, it had all the contacts of his special clients that earned enough credit to be able to call him as well as the numbers of anyone considered important on Fuyuki. "Looks like we have a hit."

"What is it?" Setsuna's demeanor didn't shift even if her focus did, much to Akeno's disappointment.

"Someone found the hotel Selene stayed in. The cameras managed to pick her up leaving a hotel with a tall man, at least three to four times everyday for a couple of weeks." A picture shows up on the phone. "That is her right?"

"Yes." There was no way that she would forget that face. "She is dressed more normally but that's her." Looking at the other person in the picture she comments. "That must be her partner, he really doesn't look like the gunman."

Kiba then messes with his phone for a bit to bring out a preliminary report. "The report of the incident from the police says that neither of the two bodies has been identified yet but I believe that we can guess this guy must be one of them."

"Since the two bodies officially found were burned and damaged, we need more information to know which one is which." Akeno says with a pensive face. "Either way we should thank whoever found the hotel, it gives us something to do… but it is weird that the first thing which we get is from a body that shouldn't have been properly investigated."

"Since they are talking directly to us they know it is important." Kiba rationalized. "Either way we should go and scout the place out."

Neither of the girls disagreed and they started to walk while eating. The journey wasn't long since the town wasn't that big, there were less than a dozen hotels around and the one that the huntress had chosen was neither the best nor the worst, a good hiding spot in the sense that it was simple and not something to catch much attention.

It was just a small building with at least thirty or so floors, entering it they could see it was clean and well staffed with security and two receptionists, two women dressed neatly with business suits and small scarfs. Looking around it is possible to see that some people are concerned. A nearby television was showing the news of the 'accident' of the parking lot, praising the first responders while mourning the two unknown bodies.

For the most part the general public was acting normally since the official story was that an unfortunate set of circumstances caused a chain reaction which resulted in the many explosions because of a fuel leak on some cars. It was a flimsy story at best that only becomes passable because the authorities are going to make it impossible to find anything else, but anyone outside their scope piecing the events together would be able to tell that something was definitely wrong.

Even if Rias didn't want to work with Sona or Seekvaira, it was inevitable that at the very least the student's council vice-president would know that something happened without need of being told. In fact it was a matter of time for someone to just tell her and the other devils because of their own positions.

But that was not important at the moment, they now had a place that they needed to check and for that they needed a plan. This was not a big hotel but it was a decent one and without someone to at least guide them to the right floor it would take too long for them to find anything. Noticing that there wasn't anyone they could call in a favoron this one, the leader of the operation goes for the 'plan B';

"Well Kiba-kun, it is up to you." Akeno said with a tired smile as the Knight sighed and placed his best smile possible and then moved to the reception.

"Why are we sending him alone?" Setsuna couldn't help but ask.

"Because he has a way with older women, these are usually his main clients and his experience there is unmatched." Akeno bragged while Kiba approached the two receptionists.

First there was a polite reaction from them but the Knight knew how to be a prince charming when he wanted to, not only in looks but also in demeanor. Took him a few minutes or so and one of the ladies needed to go attend a guest but the other was eating on the palm of his hand.

Soon he returned. "We have permission to enter the hotel and take a look into a room. Kimeki-san will show it to us."

"Wasn't it faster to just hypnotize them?" At Setsuna's question both devils just looked at each other before Akeno ended saying.

"We will do that once we have a room but it is too crowded here for any kind of magic." Not being able to disagree, the hanyou nodded.

"It is only a matter of time." Setsuna said, confident they would find a clue soon enough.

Once the receptionist found a substitute she guided them to an elevator to help them on their 'class project'. Once inside, the more experienced devil used her magic and the face of the receptionist changed from a cheerful disposition to a dull stupor.

"Please take us to any floor where someone rejected the room service or any cleaning." It was not something common but it happens and if the person who requested was important enough everyone would have to know about it.

"I am sorry miss, but I have no knowledge of that kind of information." The students looked at each other as Akeno shrugged.

"Worth a shot."

So the process of examining floor after floor began, everytime they stumbled into someone Akeno would make a hypnotic suggestion for them to ignore the students and move along with their business. All they needed was for Setsuna to say when she found something.

It finally happened on the 4th floor. "I got a scent." She exclaimed a few steps inside the floor.

"You sure?" Kiba asked and once Setsuna nodded he approached the receptionist. "Kimeki-san, you helped us so much today but we don't want to keep you from your job any longer."

"I am happy to have been of assistance, Yuuto-san. I hope that the structure of our hotel was useful to your project." The excuse that Kiba used plus the hypnoses was enough for the woman not to suspect the situation, she just said her goodbyes and left.

"Hypnosis is scary." Setsuna couldn't help but say it. "But impressive."

"Don't yokai have hypnosis?" At Kiba's question, the hanyou shook her head.

". We are more in tune with our natures and hypnosis is not something someone is born with since it is about controlling the nature of another." Not to say that there aren't some who learn methods to control someone but, like with hypnosis, there are ways around it.

Setsuna takes point and guides them to the right door, the scent was faint but she was sure that was the right one. Akeno approaches it and places a hand on the door handle and focuses while having her friends cover her.

It takes her a couple of seconds by both making sure her circuits didn't flare just in case someone saw her and also because she is not a master of the skill yet but by using Reinforcement to overload the structure just enough for it to break apart.

"Neat." Akeno admires her own handwork as they go inside.

The room had two beds, a bookshelf and a bathroom. Basic, simple and efficient. What really caught their attention was the wall to the side of the beds, away from view from the door. "At least you were right about them not wanting to let anyone in." Kiba said.

"That is a lot of pictures." Setsuna approaches and picks one of the pictures in the wall "They had some of us but mostly are Shirou's."

Not only of the redhead but his house, his route to school, schedules from his classes and even a timetable of when he goes to school or not. The images of the devils had notes to the side, same with Setsuna and the hanyou looked a little annoyed that she was classified as a 'non threat'.

In fact, the only threats in these reports were Rias and Liz with the rest just being disregarded in general. "Someone was really sure of their own ability." Akeno says in jest. "And obsessed too. Was she strong, Setsuna?"

"No real fire power to speak off." She and the devils start to dismantle the wall. "But her partner could have been stronger."

"She was really a huntress alright." Kiba found himself saying this when he picked up a map from the wall. "Every spot here is a place that Shirou frequents. Besides our school there is the market, some stores, and on the school grounds there is our club and the main building."

"Did she get inside Kuoh?" The Queen shook her head at Setsuna's question.

"No, from what I can tell these notes are from someone looking from the outside, maybe with spy glasses."

"There is more stuff here." Kiba picked up a picture of a man who Setsuna recognized immediately.

"That is him!" She said with conviction. "That is the first guy who attacked us yesterday."

Both devils look at the picture. "If Liz wasn't completely focused on Shirou she could probably say he was one of her victims." Akeno pointed out. "And if that is the case…"

"Selene's partner would be the other." Kiba completed. "Isn't this… a little bit too easy?"

"Like the fact this was all in the wall for us to find?" The Queen looked pensive.

"Selene was confident in battle, she expected to return." Contributed Setsuna.

"We still have nothing on the third party." The Knight reminds them.

In the end Akeno came to a decision. "Maybe there is something to all of this. Either way we better destroy anything we don't need and take the rest since there is plenty of information about us."

Seeing no reason to disagree they tore down, ripped apart and destroyed most of the notes, keeping mostly the ones about Edward since it was the only thing that was odd for them.

"The third party… Are they friend or foe?" Setsuna threw the question out to see if she got any reaction.

"We have no proof of either." Akeno replied while using lighting on the papers and thrash to start a small fire. She kept an eye on it while the others started to discard the rest. "Either way we better take precautions. I will suggest Buchou to increase the guard around Shirou-kun, at least for a few days." They had something in mind previously but now it was going to be for another matter entirely.

Setsuna was about to suggest that she do it but Kiba took the wind of their sails. "There is no need to worry. We have something planned already, it will probably be Koneko who will be guarding him."

Akeno pouted when Setsuna just nodded and kept working on the disposal, once again the younger girl's reaction was underwhelming for the Queen's tastes. There was plenty of information about Shirou all around, including about the boundary field and Liz. If anything else that there was to say about the now deceased woman was that she knew how to do a stake out.

Nothing was missed and there were plenty of warnings and theories on how she would try and approach Shirou or snipe him from a distance. Only Liz's presence acted like a deterrent of sorts and she didn't dare to step inside Kuoh where every devil was considered a variable. Even an attack outside the gate was discarded for that reason.

That gave the three present a weird impression. "Did she…" Setsuna froze when she found a map of the mall with all its exits. "Did she know about the date?"

"Calm down." Akeno said immediately. "Kiba, help me sort this out." While putting out the fire.

It took longer than they wanted and in reality they didn't need to do it but the hanyou was obviously upset since it looked like the date was a setup for the assault. But the pictures, positions marked and even the building that the huntress chose, everything was optimized to give her the best shot possible.

Everything was planned and Setsuna was getting more angry the more she noticed it. Her hands started to expel youki, melting the papers she was holding. "Who?" She asked knowing she wasn't getting an answer.

Akeno gave her one anyway. "We don't know. Maybe they used hypnosis on the students so they gave the right suggestions."

While the comment was an offer to try and calm the younger woman down it failed. 'That means that me asking around was part of the trouble.' Something that made her wish that she could have broken more than just a leg.

"For now, let's take this to Buchou." Unlike the information on Shirou, that was definitive proof that someone in Kuoh was feeding the assassins information and Akeno knew that Rias would both be livid because of it but also happy since they have a likely suspect.

…

Hassan didn't believe in coincidences, he liked to think that there are actions that one can't perceive that had ramifications big enough that they looked like coincidences. Such was the picture that he 'leaked' to a middle level government employee that had a deal with devils. Leaked as in, he placed the file between the most visible ones. He could almost hear the guy exclaim; 'What a lucky break.'

If the picture was properly checked it would be possible to notice that there was no camera on that angle but that was irrelevant. Hassan knew all would be moving as intended the moment the picture showed up..

Giving everyone involved some credit, it only had taken a few hours for them to show up on the place. He calmly kept watching the TV while the devils separated one of the receptionists.

Hassan had already removed any mention of himself and even added a note or two to give them the right direction without giving the straight answer of who was the mastermind behind the whole thing. There was just no reason since the clues were more than enough at that point and he didn't want the Gremory heiress to think her brother was babying her.

Sirzechs would want to flail him alive if his sister suggested such a thing, not to mention that it would give Kiritsugu less to bargain with when the devil eventually confronted him about the whole thing.

After watching the devils leave with some papers Hassan moved to his room to collect his stuff. While he had no problems staying in the country for a small vacation, he was the kind of guy that couldn't stay quiet and in a place for long.

So he packed his briefcase and got ready to leave. "Checking out Altar-san?" The receptionist asked when he arrived to check out and return the key.

"Yes, my business in Japan is done. Time to go home." He replied with a smile. Hassan didn't want to be around if someone messed up.

…..

During the afternoon Shirou felt well enough to get out of bed, his body was fine but he was starting to feel restless. He asked Rias if he could go and cook something and the devil didn't hesitate to stipulate that he would be cooking for everyone from the club except Rin who was using Sunday to rest from both her job and lessons.

Both knew he would welcome the task, the opportunity of cooking gave Shirou something that he desperately wanted; a distraction. Or at the very least an opportunity to do something simple and clear his mind

But the main reason why he wanted to try and relax for a bit was following him wherever he goes. Liz refused to leave him alone, even at the clubhouse. The only moments that she left his side once she had finished cleaning herself was when he needed to go to the bathroom.

Dressed in a tracksuit she watched him like a hawk which made him more unerved but he avoided saying anything at the moment, trying to cook and organize his thoughts. If he wasn't careful his state of mind would ruin the dish and he refused to allow that.

But Shirou couldn't just forget what happened the other night, not the attempt on his life but what Liz did. To him it was overly brutal but he still didn't know how to broach the subject, especially with how Liz was acting.

Besides watching him she was actually acting… fairly normal. She asked to taste the food and mostly just sat around the kitchen while he worked. Usually she would be reading something or watching TV or even doing some of her work for the school while he cooked but now she just… looked at him.

It wasn't a glare, she just didn't take her eyes off him. Every move he makes has her full attention. 'Is she worried?' Ignoring what happened at the end of the night she was just acting protectively. 'I understand that she was protecting me but… I don't like how she could do that.'

While thinking he tried to focus on his cooking, since most of the club was in and it was a weekend he decided to make pizza, just for the heck of it. He was getting the mass and cheese ready, not forgetting the oven.

For what he could garther, most of the members were taking a break while Rias was working on compiling all the information they gathered together with anything they could get in the suspect. The young woman was making calls and going back and forth to her office to get something from the Underworld in record time.

Either way he would trust her while he relaxed in his happy place. If there is a place he can say it was his favorite in the whole school it was the kitchen of the club. Besides being huge it had everything, the most modern appliances possible, the best ingredients and the table for eating was at the side at a good distance away. Two whole rooms were turned into a mega kitchen for Shirou to play with.

And it was for him indeed since Rias made a point of doing the reforms once she saw how good he was at cooking, before that the kitchen was good, after it became the 'best kitchen money could buy' in her own words.

She even had made the offer of upgrading his house, not only the kitchen but the whole place, only for him to shoot it down since she would have to ask his mother and Iri liked the more compact house.

Regardless it was a kitchen he enjoyed using but it was failing to distract him from the fact that yesterday had happened and Liz did something that he didn't approve of.

But the way she was acting… It was the same as always. She was more protective but she was still Liz. If anything the one with a problem is him and he wants to talk about it, he really did but he had a little problem.

'How do I talk about it?' Shirou wondered to himself as he was still preparing the bases of the pizza, he was also making his own sauce but hadn't even turned on the oven yet. In fact his pacing was atrocious. 'Focus!' He slaps the sides of his face. 'Just go and ask… What do I even want to ask?'

Between cooking and thinking Shirou was splitting his focus too much and his arm ended hitting the flour, covering the ground in white. Liz sees it happens but besides that barely reacts while Shirou just sighed.

'I better clean this up a bit before getting back on track…' While he was cleaning it up a thought popped into his head. "Damn! This is not working! Just ask her something already!'

"Need some help?" Looking up from the cleaning he could see Akeno with a smile and dressed in white chef's clothes which he couldn't help but stare at. Her hair was still in a ponytail but lower with the same ribbon.

"Akeno? Need something?" Without hesitation she also starts to clean up the mess on the floor.

"Well… as you know I finished my basic training with Rin…" Yes, he had heard of it.

"Indeed you did. It's impressive how fast you caught up with magecraft." He said with a smile full of sincerity. "I just wished that I could have been more useful to teach you. Rin must have been an excellent teacher."

Shaking her head, Akeno replies. "Your teachings helped me a lot. There were times when I found myself going back to what you told me about focus… that and watching you working on something gave me lots of ideas."

Shirou smiled. "Glad to help but that doesn't answer my question."

"Fufufu, it really doesn't." Once they finished cleaning she asked. "So… what are we making?"

"Pizza." Shirou just accepted that Akeno was going to work with him. "In this case, mozzarella and tuna today."

"Great! Teach me!" She sounded really excited by the prospect.

"Don't you already know how to cook?"

"Not like you." Akeno's smile was gentle as she lowered her head a bit. "Would you kindly teach me how to be a great cook, chef Emiya."

Finding himself willing to do it, Shirou was ready to say 'yes' but before that he had one question. "Is this why you wanted to learn magecraft?"

The Queen gave him a mischievous look. "Guilty as charged." Before her face turned serious. "However, I must admit that there is a lot more of magecraft than I knew previously. It is hard, complex but also useful and fun in its own way." She gives him a shrug. "But I still want to learn how to cook like that. A meal that can be so good and nutritious that even to us devils it feels close to heaven."

He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't flattered by the whole thing. "Well… if you want to learn feel free to stay while I… try to be your teacher again. " Shirou didn't believe that he was good at it.

And Akeno noticed that. "You are not great at theory but you are better at giving motivation and gentle prodding." Because Rin sucked at it. "You are also the first one to figure Reinforcement out like that so, realistically, no one else can teach it. Maybe discover it. I would find it best to learn from you."

"Okay." Shirou wasn't going to refuse her. "Pizza is not the best food to teach that, since the toppings and the mass are not ideal to reinforce internally but there is a part of the pizza that is equally important and ideal for this. Can you tell me what it is, my dear student?"

Liking the direction that Shirou was taking with this 'class' Akeno smiled and made a pose to demonstrate she was thinking. "That would be the sauce, sensei?"

"Correct. Full marks." He said trying to do a Waver impression. "Any great pizza needs an excellent sauce. Without it, you aren't eating a real pizza." He then starts to sort the ingredients. "To this one in particular we are going with tomato sauce, a classic. I will show you how I apply Reinforcement to vegetables…

Shirou relaxed more while he explained his method for cooking. This was truly the place and the situation that he is more comfortable in, with a kitchen while cooking something that he knew people would enjoy. This is where he is at peace.

Akeno's presence, her questions and attitude helped to keep him from thinking on more complicated stuff that was haunting him since he woke up. He would have to face them later but for now the magus could relax and show someone he appreciated something that he loved.

In the end that was the best lesson that the devil could ever get on magecraft, something that she only noticed once that the dish was interaly done and she managed to taste the results of Shirou's labor.

Using Reinforcement on food is similar to how he uses it on forging, Shirou knew that but didn't bother to mention it while Akeno never saw him actually forge something while looking at what he was working on. As it stood Shirou was breaking the most fundamental rule for a magus and revealing the nature of his research.

But he was doing it to someone that appreciated the more mundane aspect of it, the work being done to bring out happiness to others. Akeno couldn't help but admire that.

Throughout the afternoon she tried to make her own sauce and if she succeeded they would have used hers. But she didn't, not that she minded much since the whole experience was fun for both of them. If she could say that she succeeded in something was spend time with Shirou and distract him from both his troubles and Rias' planning section.

Tonight was going to be a busy one indeed but at the very least everyone in the club would be going with a full stomach.

…

"I don't need a bodyguard." Shirou declared but Rias was not having it. Every devil, together with Shirou, Setsuna and Liz went outside the club, moving to the school gate with full intent of seeing Shirou to his home.

"I already explained that there is an unknown third party running around which we don't know their intentions. Besides… They have in their possession a Noble Phantasm." And Rias could say for sure that it was a bigger headache than she is letting show.

After Shirou had told her everything that happened that night Rias couldn't help herself and let out a groan right then and there in front of him and Liz who was watching the debriefing. Noble Phantasms were powerful and problematic, the fact that there was one in town and they missed it was beyond frustrating.

She had no choice, Rias needed to contact her brother a second time that day to tell him about it together with any details Shirou had gleaned of its power. Queen Anne's Revenge had been summoned in the middle of town and only by someone's interference was that the moonlit world wasn't exposed. Now Rias was sure that the third party was there watching the fight.

"Buchou, if you want I can take him home myself." Akeno said, all smiles and giving her King an opening to approach the subject a bit better.

"Yes, Shirou! Let Akeno go with you, or at least Koneko." She was trying to convince him naturally before using any drastic measure. Meanwhile the smaller devil nods in confirmation, ready to protect Shirou if needed.

But he had no intention of having that. "I wasn't attacked for weeks before yesterday, even with them knowing the route to my house, you said it yourself." The only real combat before all this was with the stray devil and that was it.

Rias lets out a sigh, not being able to disagree. Liz's presence is usually enough to keep dangerous elements at bay and with that fact the pureblood knows that she shouldn't be worried about Shirou while he is close to her.

Maybe she is overreacting. "I agree with Rias." However Setsuna's voice tells her maybe she isn't. "While it is true they are afraid of stepping into your territory, it may be because they haven't found a counter to the boundary fields surrounding your house yet."

"That… could be the case" Shirou admitted. "But the fields are strong and have an alarm system… honestly, the protections in my workshop are better and if things get really dicey I could just hide there." Not that he would but he was trying to calm his friends, not prove their point.

"Your workshop is better to withstand attacks, that place can probably withstand a bomb." Rias admitted. "But don't be overly confident in them; there are plenty of beings that can break them apart, either by force or skill." She herself being one of such beings.

But Shirou wouldn't relent. "Look, this third part did nothing so far-"

"Except hide your fight and take a Noble Phantasm from the scene." Rias pointed out. While the first thing was not bad since it stopped normal people from getting involved, the second was terrifying.

If they have someone with enough capacity to use that Noble Phantasm then they now have a very dangerous weapon on their hands. However, that opened the possibility that the weapon was the goal and, if that was the case, Shirou was safe.

But the devils didn't know for sure and Rias wanted to take every precaution, at least for a while. She feared that if she lowered her guard something would happen. The heiress couldn't deny she was worried about this third party, in her mind if they were allies of some kind they would have come forward already even if only out of courtesy.

Liz observed the events while standing behind Shirou, saying nothing. If Shirou wanted extra protection she wouldn't disagree but at the same time she wouldn't force the issue. Either way, her eyes never left his back when he was turned and her attention was both on him and in their surroundings.

Setsuna steps forward. "Shirou, I get that this must be annoying to you but we can't take any chances." Her voice was even but her eyes were the same but the magus couldn't help but hear concern in her voice. "It doesn't have to be for long, just today if anything… please."

Shirou could clearly see that his friends were worried and Setsuna's request, the way that she said it, showed that she was also feeling guilty about the whole thing. In any case Shirou hated to see the worry on everyone's face and decided to offer a compromise. "If I carry a pamphlet with me-"

"It doesn't work on your house, the boundary field would block us." Rias cuts him out, she was as determined to see him safe. "While It is true that anyone hasn't done anything as of yet, it doesn't mean that someone can't be aggressive later. I just want you to be safe."

The magus had completely forgotten that the fields around his house blocked teleportation. After a sigh Shirou says. "What do you have in mind?"

Rias smiled at that and gestured to Koneko. "You have room for more people at your home and your mother approved it. Koneko is going to stay with you for the foreseeable future and she has a certain degree of skill in detecting people. Just in case they pass by the boundary field around the neighborhood you all can go to your workshop while waiting for reinforcements to arrive."

The redhead male felt his eyebrow twitch and held back a grown. 'She could have led with that…' He felt himself almost crying. 'Rias wanted me to accept first so I had no excuse... damn it mom!' He already pretty much said yes and there was no running away.

What she didn't say was that Koneko made such a request before the events from the previous night. It doesn't change the fact that Koneko was the best of them at detection and would do her best to keep Shirou safe.

The request still sounded too paranoid for Shirou but there is an argument that Rias was just not taking any chances. Koneko on the other hand moved to stay by Shirou's side and nodded her head, ready to depart.

"She doesn't have any of her stuff." A magic symbol appears to his side and Koneko now has a big briefcase. "..." Shirou was not amused. "Let's just go home."

The fact that Shirou didn't spend even a minute with pleasantries was proof of how shaken he actually is by the whole ordeal. Rias thought that he was frustrated that they didn't trust him to watch over himself but that wasn't necessarily it.

Shirou could understand 100% that they were worried and even if he was confident in his capabilities he was not arrogant enough to not accept help.

No, the source of his frustration is pretty much the reason why he was sure everything was going to be fine even if he was attacked. And he was looking right at her as she walked on the front. Usually they would go home by car but that one was at the house since they came straight from the mall.

He wanted to talk with Liz, alone, without the chance for interruptions and with Koneko around things will be a little more complicated. But that was still fine and he can do it, especially if it is just for a day.

The rest of their friends watched them leave and stayed in silence until Rias spoke up. "Are you sure you want to be a part of this?"

Setsuna realized that the question was for her and she nodded. "I called my caretaker. He approved and even offered to help."

"Is he good at making boundary fields?" The heiress asked, her voice firm and cold. Setsuna's guardian had a reputation but she wanted to make sure.

"Yes, really good actually." Setsuna turned to the president of the ORC. "Jaken is the best boundary field creator in the whole of Kyoto, a yokai who dedicated his life to my family and the personal assistant of my father."

"You told him what we are going to be doing." Once Setsuna shook her head Rias made a request. "Call him over and let's tell him. If he can help this go much more smoothly then we should have him on this."

"Then I suppose I should ask if you are sure." The hanyou observed.

"Of course I am. Even if I technically didn't have the law at my side I would go with it anyway." Rias was letting her anger show at that moment. "Rutal… he is going to pay for what he has done. I refuse to let that coward run around my town one single more day!"

The reason why she hadn't kicked him out before was because she had nor reason, even if he was spying on her he was doing nothing illegal. And he technically still didn't, but he did something that the laws of the Underworld allowed her to retaliate.

While the Underworld society had changed with the new government many of the old costumes and rules still apply. One of the things that no one wanted to mess with is with the question of duels and pride. If someone messes with the business of another devil then there is an opening to demand compensation.

Recently those can be done by the means of Rating Games since it is the official form of combat promoted for and by the actual government… Rias can't have Rating Games yet, she is too young and in the case of such actions she could have another member of her family to represent her on this matter of honor.

However her father was on the Phenex corner for the most part and if Rutal could spin a good enough story to avoid such an outcome or just send someone that will win but not punish the transgression in the way that Rias wanted. But she has an advantage that she can capitalize because of this specific situation and her brother confirmed that she can do it since the laws haven't really changed, only adapted to a certain extent.

"I will call him then." Setsuna steps back to call for Jaken while Akeno approaches Rias.

"Are you really sure about this?" The King looked to her Queen and raised an eyebrow. "Let me rephrase that; Is this the best course of action that you can take?"

"Any suggestions?" Rias asked calmly while Akeno just shook her head.

"Not anything immediate but Shirou may be right. That could have been the only attack as far as we know." The redhead lets her shoulders drop, just a little bit but the Queen could see it.

"Or there will be one tomorrow if we give Rutal time to get more people in this." The heiress was not upset by her best friend's questions, if anything she welcomed them.

"But is this the only way? Are you sure that you won't get into trouble if you do this?" Rias gave her Queen a smile in retort.

"My brother confirmed that the law will be on my side on this. If we take into consideration that someone in the school had manipulated students to nodge Shirou and Setsuna to the mall that only leaves Rutal."

"And the magician he contacted, if he ever did?" Akeno decided to point it out. "You are giving Rutal all the credit. But even if he was the one who got the mercenaries, someone had to give him reason for his attack on Shirou-kun."

Rias nodded at all that. "Yes, but there isn't a magus family in Japan with such broad contacts across the planet. We had a wandering killer and criminal on Edward that worked mostly in the coast of Africa and Selene who had a habit of sticking to Europe. He probably has a magician as an ally but the only one that fits the bill in all this is him."

"Very well." Akeno had nothing else to disagree with but she still had concerns. "And aren't you going to call the others?" Rias knows who her friend was referring to and just gave her a deadpan stare as an answer. "At least you could rest for a minute."

"I will rest once that bastard is out of my hair." The determination in her voice left no room for discussion on that point. And that worried Akeno.

While they talked Kiba said nothing and just watched, he had no problems if Rias was going to use a more extreme route for vengeance even if there were other alternatives, he was all for it, but he felt he should remind them. "We should get ready to go, Buchou."

As in, they should get dressed with clothes they didn't mind to lose because stuff could go wrong. "Yes, you are right. Are you going to need an extra uniform Akeno?"

"Even if we can get each other easily I will go with a more traditional garb for myself." Most of them would use the Kuoh Academy uniform because it would be cheap to replace, Akeno however wanted to use something different from preference.

"Suit yourself."

…

Once they arrived at the house at the Emiya household Shirou took Koneko to Sella's room, his mother decided that would be the best for her since it was the most spartan of all the absent with no personal belongings since the maid had left. Shirou still kept it clean though.

Arriving at his house Shirou felt uncomfortable, he had no chance of talking with Liz and after showing Koneko around he could only watch as both her and Liz sat on the couch and turned on the TV.

Being a good host he asked both white haired women if they wanted something to eat or drink. Both accepted and he got some tea and cookies. He had a plan to talk with Liz alone and it resumed to wait for Koneko to go to bed. It was still relatively early in the night but he was sure he could outlast her.

The other option would be to go to sleep at a time closer to when Liz goes to make sure to wake up early enough to talk with her in private. That was his second idea and he could go with either or. His only hope was that he could get to talk with her without bothering Koneko.

That hope lasted until close to ten when he felt himself getting tired while both the other presents were still normal. He forgot that Liz is a homunculus, a combat one at that, needing less sleep to function if she had enough mana or food. He also forgot that Koneko was a devil and the night was more her environment than his and could stay up the whole night only sleeping a little though the day.

Maybe that was a sign he should just let it go and go to bed since he was still not fully recovered, his body may have healed but his mind needed more rest.

However Shirou knew he wouldn't be able to relax, not before he talked with Liz about what happened. He didn't want to bother Koneko, especially since she went out of her way to move to his house to protect him.

Realizing he had no choice, Shirou decided to do the same thing he is going to do when he talks with Liz. "Koneko," once she turned to him showing he had her full attention he continued, "I need to speak with Liz alone for a bit, okay?" Then he turned to the maid. "Can you please follow me to the kitchen?"

Shirou looked Liz in the eyes to show he was serious. He didn't need to bother since the second he finished with his request she was already up and going for the kitchen. In the end it was him who followed her.

There was no door to block the sounds or anything like that, Shirou would have to trust that Koneko would respect their privacy and once they got inside he took a deep breath before letting out a small, "Why?"

"'Why' what?" She was tilting her head in legitimate curiosity, Liz truly didn't understand the question.

"When you saved me- thank you for that before anything else." She nods in acknowledgment of his appreciation. "But when you saved me… why were you so… brutal?"

"What do you mean?" Her expression didn't change, she was not understanding the problem.

"You just showed up… and started killing." It was like the life of those in front of her were akin to insects or even less. "You snapped a person's neck after he was disarmed and you kept plumeling the werewolf even when he was defeated. Damn, you turned him into a stain on the ground."

Liz dominated that fight from start to finish and Shirou could see, even with his barely conscious brain, that she had won the moment she stepped into the battlefield. All she had to do was finish disarming the guy and knock him out. Maybe there was no other choice but to kill the werewolf, he was sure that with her strength she didn't need to beat him to death the way she had done it. Shirou couldn't take the image and the sounds of bones breaking from his mind.

"So I just want to know… why? Why did you kill them like that?"

"Because they hurt you." Liz was never one for many words and long explanations, she just said as simple as it was.

"But... did you need to do it like that?" Trying to tell her that killing those two was useless, even if he didn't care that much for himself he could understand that she cared for him and acted on it. Didn't change the fact that it was overly brutal.

"I was angry." That was the first time he ever heard Liz say those words.

"Angry?" She nods at his question and elaborates.

"They hurt you. They shouldn't have hurt you. It is my job to protect you." Shirou didn't like her words.

"Please don't treat this like just a job." He was holding himself back from shouting. "I thought we were family."

"We are." That got a reaction from her as she lowered her head. "I'm sorry. We are family, you aren't just a job."

Shirou licks his lips, feeling thirsty all of sudden. "Then… can you promise me to not do that again."

"If it is to protect our family, I will." She said with conviction. To Shirou it still was better than how she was that day and there lies the problem.

"Liz… you looked like a machine back there. A robot. And the way you were covered in blood…" The scenery was too nightmarish for him, not only because of his own past but because he hated to see a person he cared for like that. "Why?"

Now that she could understand a little better what he was asking Liz couldn't stop herself from looking to the ground in shame. Shirou felt his heart hurt just by looking at her like that but he needed to persist.

"I will not tell you what you did was wrong… it was my fault for not being able to take care of myself-"

"No!" Liz startled him with her interruption. "You are not at fault. I am! I was made to fight like that."

That he wouldn't allow. "Don't say that." Shirou placed both hands on Liz's shoulders and looked at her firmly in her eyes. "The Liz that I know is not a cold hearted killer, the Liz that I know is a lazy bum that spends too much time in front of TV willing to leave work for everyone else."

He wanted a reaction, a laugh, a cry, anger at him, anything but anger at herself. But the homunculus didn't indulge him, she just looked resigned. "It's my nature." She turns and steps towards the fridge and opening it she pulls out a chocolate bar.

Shirou waited for her to finish the whole bar, it took only a couple of seconds but once she had finished Liz turned around to look at Shirou and he could see that her eyes were the same as that day, glassy… robotic…. he was starting to hate those eyes.

"My sister and I… we are the last homunculus created by the Einzebern family before its downfall by the hands of your parents." That was the first time Shirou was hearing this and his face couldn't hide his shock. "In a bid for power, they planned to start a ritual on this city that would summon powerful beings to fight, for that purpose they hired your father to help them make it all go smoothly."

"But that didn't happen... " A dark realization dawned on Shirou. "The fire?"

Liz shook her head. "He learned that someone else was trying something similar, at that point he had already destroyed the Einzebern and freed us, Irisviel-sama and Illya. We barely moved to Fuyuki when it happened. He attempted to stop them but it was too late."

The magus felt a great sense of relief hearing that someone else was responsible for that catastrophe.

"He is a good person." HIs relief must have shown on his face because Liz said it with a small smile, almost saying that she knew what he was thinking. "Your father is not a good man, he kills, he can be cruel and he never hesitates in doing such things. Yet, when he saw a pair of homunculus that would have died without his assistance he helped us, had Irisviel-sama take care of us and gave us a home to live in."

That was the first time that someone spoke of his father's nature like that to him. Even his mother hesitated, still… "We are getting sidetracked. Why do you say that is your nature?"

"In the ritual there would be conflict and I was supposed to fight in it as well. My parameters were made so I could fight and defeat a small army if necessary." It was the way she said that convinced him that she was telling him the absolute truth. "I used to be like that the whole time…" She spoke reminiscing.

"I remember that…" Shirou's heart was tighter at that moment. "What changed?"

"A lot…" She told him with a smile and gave him a hug. "I can't promise that I won't do it again if it means protecting you."

Shirou returns the hug. "I don't like this." He couldn't help but say. "I don't want you acting like that again, you scared me Liz." She thighs the hug with the admission. "Please, just don't. Don't let yourself become that."

Both let go of the hug a bit and Liz looks at Shirou again. "If it is to protect you. I will be whatever I need to be."

"Then I will grow strong." Shirou declared. "I will grow so strong that you won't have to worry about protecting me. I lost that fight yesterday but it won't happen again." His determination had been lit like the strongest fire.. "So please, don't be like that again, I prefer you when you are smiling."

She knew that, she knew it very well.

…..

She was sitting down on the couch dressed as a proper maid of the Einzebern with her white dress and a hat. But she had nothing to do, unlike her more functional sister, Leysritt was not really good at any common tasks.

She was a weapon, made to fight a war, to kill, murder and break. But what use is a weapon without a war to fight? There was the option of joining Kiritsugu on his exploits. Instead of a command she was given the choice to do so, she is not used to this.

So she just sat there and did… nothing. All she did was sit there, keep an eye on things and save energy. If anything she was the security of the house but even that was superfluous since no enemy knew where they lived and keeping guard like this was mostly worthless.

"What is your favorite food?" The question made her turn her head and look to the boy at her side, he was looking at her with eyes full of curiosity. He was small, with short red hair and tilted his head when she didn't awaser for a while, repeating the question. "What is your favorite food?"

Shirou had just started in the ways of the kitchen and was experimenting on what to make or not. His father's favorite dish for instance were hamburgers but that was not something healthy to eat everyday by any stretch of imagination. Deciding to do something different he decided to ask the other present resident of the house her favorite dish.

But Leysritt just looked at him in confusion before saying. "I only require food for sustain, there is no need for it to be anything specific." Obviously the growing boy didn't like the answer by the face he was making.

"But if you eat something you like it can be even better…" For someone that was twelve years old that was the best thing he could come up with. "Is there something you like?"

"No." Simple, blunt and direct. That was how the homunculus acted around the house.

For her the matter was settled and she turned back to look at the wall, her senses extended just in case she heard anything that shouldn't be there.

But the boy was insistent. "Come on. There must be something that you ate and you liked so much that you wanted more."

"I have not eaten much besides my sister's food and your experiments." She affirmed.

"What? How? You must have eaten something else in your life right?" It was then that something dawned on her, the youngest member of the house was only recently embarked on the journey of the moonlit world, he doesn't know what she is.

"I am a homunculus created by the Einzebern approximately ten years ago, my functions are combat and security. I have no need to 'taste' food." Shirou looked at her in shock.

"Wait! You are younger than me?" She really didn't look like she was both tall and a well developed adult in his eyes.

"Yes." It was the thing that definitively distinguished homunculus creation from cloning. A clone, even perfect, is a blank slate while a homunculus was born already knowing their master and purpose.

Shirou stood there in shock for a minute and Leysritt returned to her silent vigil. For her it wasn't a problem, he wasn't a threat and was the adopted son of the master of the house, he could stay wherever he wanted and if something happened she would protect him all the same.

"Wait here." He rushed to the kitchen, as Leysritt returned to her previous state. "Taste this." He returned a few seconds later with some cookies that could be bought in a supermarket.

She did as commanded and started to munch one of them. But Shirou just lets out a frown and leaves while she had just taken one cookie. A few minutes later he returns with a sandwich just recently made but once again, after the process is repeated, there was no real reaction.

That repeated almost every day. Shirou would help in the kitchen every time he had the chance to have the chance of making something different, something new and then would serve it to Leysritt in search of her favorite food.

Once the other residents noticed this Sella was the first to act. She took him to the side and tried to explain that Leysritt was not made to recognize the nicests things in life, she knows what is happening but outside of combat she is not that much different from a wall.

The boy ignored her and kept going, kept pressing; he made panqueques, waffles, the most varied types of meats that he could use. He bought ice cream and when that didn't work he learned and made ice cream himself but once again nothing.

If Leysritt was more 'aware', she would have informed the boy that he didn't need to go to such lengths, the food was keeping her in good condition and helping with her mana reserves but he shouldn't dedicate himself everyday to make something just for her.

But she wasn't that 'aware', to her it was something that someone important was serving and she would eat as commanded and that was it. If nothing else, she recognized that her body was in optimal state because of the meals.

Without seeing a reaction Shirou was growing frustrated, he considered it his personal failure that Leysritt wasn't reacting to the food he made and it got to the point that his mother finally interceded. "Shirou, that is enough." Iri approached him with a gentle smile while he was studying a cookbook for something new to make.

"Something is wrong, mom?" He didn't take his eyes off his next idea.

"You need to stop, Shirou. Look at you, you are running yourself ragged." His hair was a mess and his eyes had signs he had slept very little. "You need to rest. Every day you go to school, then to the cook book and then your magecraft lessons. That is too much for someone your age."

"It's not everyday… I have no school on the weekends." Iri lets out a sigh at the weak excuse.

"You have been doing this for weeks now, you need to rest. Just let it go, Shirou." By the frow on the child's face, he was ready to protest.

"But mom… I'm this close." He raised a hand with his fingers almost touching."I can feel it." Iri raised an eyebrow.

"You are close to failing some stairs in the way you are going. I swear that you are as obsessed as your father." Shirou didn't mind that. "It's not a good thing, Shirou."

"But there isn't a real problem right? My grades are good and I'm practicing my magecraft." She wasn't believing in that one.

"When are you practicing exactly?" Because he was constantly in the kitchen when not doing any of his obligations.

"I'm using it on the ingredients to try and make them better." The adult in the room did a double take.

"That… okay... That is a first. But I don't think you are studying properly. Anyway, just stop for a bit and go have some fun." In Iri's opinion Shirou should be acting more like a child, playing games or something

"But cooking is fun." He said with a pout.

She almost giggled at the sigh. "Yes, but you are getting burned out." She points out while getting him off the chair. "You are exhausted, Shirou. Go and rest a bit or watch television." The parent book that Iri read said that she should keep him away from TV but this was a different set of circumstances.

Realizing that his mother is not going to relent he does as he was told while she goes to find Sella to tell her she was cooking alone for the day. He sees Leysritt sitting on the couch, doing nothing and decides to take a different approach. "Do you have something you want to watch?"

"No." Again, simple and blunt. She has no preferences whatsoever. Deciding that he wanted to watch something fun and less depressing than the situation he found himself in he started to change channels trying to find a show that could make him laugh. "You should stop."

"Huh?" Her voice almost scared him and he ended up dropping the control. "Stop what?"

"Stop making food for me, you are harming yourself." The maid said. "My duty is to protect this family. To protect any of you from any harm. But I cannot stop you from harming yourself. So stop harming yourself."

That just left Shirou confused. "But… don't you want to find something you like?"

"Irrelevant. My job is to protect you."

"But… you just can't be like that… liking nothing…" He didn't know what to say other than that.

"It doesn't get in the way of my job." The boy was getting upset from what she was saying.

"But- but… that can't be all of it. You have to like something." Her red eyes focused on him and she asked.

"If I say that I like something will you stop?"

"Not if you don't mean it." And with that the boy decided to just go to bed.

The next day everyone woke up from a scream from the kitchen and the whole family ran down to find it a mess, dirty with a lot of stuff out of place and Sella petrified in the midst of the destruction.

But that was not what caught the family attention. "Shirou," Kiritsugu, still not stepping into the kitchen, looks at his son, "explain."

The boy turned around and he was holding a small cake. "Took me a couple of tries but I did it." While he smiled everyone could only see the mess of the kitchen, food all around and lots of glasses and plates either dirty or broken.

But Shirou was still smiling and holding the cake.

It was a small thing and looked made of pure chocolate, Illya was the first to step up. "Can I taste it?" She just woke up and wasn't feeling hungry until she saw the cake, for a first attempt it looked delicious.

"Only after Liz has a slice first." No one was surprised by the request but they were surprised by the name.

"Liz?" Iri asked, a little confused.

"Short for her name… you and Illya have one, why can't she?" Nobody would disagree with that logic and they watched as Shirou placed a small plate on a table and pulled a chair for the maid. "Here you go, Liz."

Once again the homunculus takes the offered food, it was small but well made and by the way the rest of the residents were looking at it they really wanted a piece too. Either way she was going to eat what was being offered. It was food anyway and food was energy so she took the first bite.

Then a second, a third and a fourth… She was feeling something, something pleasant, something nice. She never had felt that before. 'This feeling… What is this…?'

Everyone watched as the maid ate with gusto, some jaws even hitting the floor and no one complained when she picked the rest of the cake and started eating it as well without stopping until the whole thing was done.

Then she turned to Shirou and he couldn't help himself but smile because she was smiling, happy, satisfied and content. "Thank you Shirou. It was delicious." Her smile could only be called 'precious'.

To everyone else it was unbelievable, to Shirou it was satisfying. Like watching the dawn, after a night without stars.

…..