Escalation
"Get in the busses, everyone. It's time to leave. Say your goodbyes, kiss your mother on the cheek, and hug your dad. Come on, they are waiting for us in Hikone. When you get back, you can show off your new swimming-certificate."
Kishimoto-Sensei's words echoed over the parking lot, but they went almost unheeded by the enormous horde of over-excited students moving around in whatever direction was convenient for them.
Among this horde, Ryuudou Issei was doing his best to get to his destination, the bus he had been assigned to for the journey to Hikone, but the massive crowd made it very difficult for him to move in the direction he wanted. Ultimately however, he made it to his bus, and from there, he had an opportunity to study the crowd in peace.
There were students of four different schools present, as well as many teachers and parents that were supposed to look after the children on the trip. Kishimoto-Sensei and Katsuragi-Sensei, the swimming instructors, were also coming along, claiming they wanted to cheer their students on and see everyone pass.
The confidence they had in their students was heart-warming, and Issei approved completely of their calm and easy-going demeanour, showing that they fully expected everyone to pass.
What he didn't approve of however, at all, were the seating arrangements. True, he could acknowledge the practicality and convenience of separating the students by school and by class, but that left him in a bus without Emiya-kun and with Tohsaka!
Yes, that Tohsaka. The witch. The vixen. The one that was adored by practically everyone except those who could see beyond the shining exterior. That Tohsaka was in his bus!
It wasn't even that she was just seated in his vicinity, no, she was assigned the seat right next to him! Who could be responsible for this… this travesty?
He wanted to scream his rage to the skies above, to curse whatever up there was mocking him like this. The one person who he absolutely did not want seated next to him, was now seated next to him.
Of course, being a well-mannered monk-in-training, Issei made sure to not show this animosity to Tohsaka and had instead sat in polite silence so far. She was after all a friend of Mitsuzuri-san, so he would try his best not to antagonise her needlessly.
Especially since he had to admit that his dislike of her was rather unfounded and perhaps even illogical. Tohsaka wasn't a bully, she didn't abuse her popularity, and she never made any trouble for anyone.
For all intents and purposes, she was exactly what she seemed: the perfect school-idol.
Of course, he knew the persona she displayed in public was merely a mask. Anyone who bothered to pay attention could see that.
Issei could live with that though, since it was clear that she was not a bad person underneath, just less perfect than most people thought she was. Entirely understandable of course, nobody was perfect, and to expect such from idols was both cruel and unrealistic.
What did rankle him about her however was the inexplicable 'feeling' that he had around her. She felt unnatural, like she was not completely human. It wasn't as bad as the feeling he got from the cave near the temple –a good thing, for he would have broken out the exorcist-equipment already if it was– but it still made him feel rather uneasy.
Matou Shinji also exuded such a wrong 'feeling', but far less than Tohsaka. Matou Sakura on the other hand had no such feeling coming from her, or at least, he hadn't noticed any of the sort.
The third offender however, and also the reason why he was hesitating on condemning anyone who exuded such a feeling, was Emiya-kun.
Most of the time, Issei didn't notice anything wrong about his friend, but sometimes, when Emiya-kun was tired or otherwise not in top-condition, Issei felt like tiny blades were scraping all over his skin when he was in his friend's presence. It didn't hurt, but it was definitely strange.
The redhead was nevertheless one of the best people Issei knew, always ready to help, expecting neither reward nor praise for his efforts, always kind and supporting to people in need, and he had never, as far as Issei was aware, broken a rule in his life.
Emiya Shirou was a good person, there was no doubt about that.
In other words, just because someone felt wrong to Issei's senses didn't mean they were bad people.
Issei had theorised that this phenomenon might be caused by past trauma. It certainly fit Emiya-kun, but it also meant Tohsaka and the elder Matou had perhaps experienced similar traumatic events in their past.
It was not something that was particularly pleasant to contemplate.
Generally, Tohsaka's 'aura' was stronger than that of the other two. Issei didn't know if that meant anything, but it was just a fact that she felt more unnatural to him than Matou or Emiya.
Except that one time, where the wrongness had been far more discernible in Emiya-kun than it had ever been in Tohsaka.
It had happened very recently. Emiya-kun had been morose for some reason, despite Matou-chan's best efforts to cheer him up, and Issei, being the good friend he was, had taken it upon himself to visit his redheaded friend.
They had spent the afternoon talking, after which Emiya-kun had accompanied him home, to the temple. They had continued talking on the way, until they reached the foot of the hill on which the Ryuudou-temple had been build.
The subject they had been talking about was modern slavery, and the effects it had on society.
Eventually, Issei, in a rare emotional outburst, had proclaimed all slavers to be monsters, and had professed that they should all be executed for their deeds.
That was the moment Emiya-kun suddenly exuded an aura that was so wrong that Issei had nearly been thrown off his feet by it. For the shortest of moments, the redhead walking next to him hadn't just felt wrong, but utterly and inconceivably alien.
Then the Aura had vanished as fast as it had appeared, as if it had never been there.
Horrified, Issei had only been able to stare speechlessly at this friend. Whether the redhead had noticed his stare or not, Issei did not know, for his friend had continued the conversation, telling him 'it wasn't that easy to condemn someone to death'.
Apparently, Emiya-kun didn't just politely disagree with Issei's statement, he violently disagreed.
Issei had been stumped on what to do for a while but had eventually decided to learn from the experience. If his theory concerning trauma was right, he might have caused the sudden alien feeling himself by pushing all of Emiya-kun's buttons at once with his callous remark.
He would have to watch his tongue in the future. Professing such a morally ambiguous thing as to summarily execute criminals without a trail wouldn't be good manners to begin with, let alone to someone as kind as Emiya-kun.
Still, even though he might have steeled himself and decided to ignore the wrong feelings, that didn't mean he was comfortable being near Tohsaka. Just being in her presence made him feel as if he was about to be drowned, buried alive, burned, and cut by blades of wind, all at the same time.
Why, it was enough to make a man-
"Is there something wrong, Ryuudou-kun? You haven't said a word to me since we left." Tohsaka suddenly said, looking up from her book to give him a concerned glance.
"Oh?" Issei responded, momentarily bewildered that she spoke to him at all, before he remembered that he and Tohsaka were supposed to be friendly acquaintances. "No, nothing is wrong, I was just overthinking things and lost myself in thought."
"Aha." Tohsaka said, looking impassively at him, though there was a hint of concern there too. "Well, I hope everything is alright despite that?"
"Oh yes. Don't worry about me, I was just concerned for Emiya-kun, he's been a bit down recently."
"…He didn't look his best, indeed. I had wondered what could be bothering him, but I wasn't sure we were close enough for me to ask. Besides, his mood seems to have improved already."
"He does appear happier today. I have no doubt he'll be fine soon." Issei assured her. While he knew most of the concern Tohsaka displayed was just her idol-act, he liked to think at least a small part of it was genuine. The only one who could confirm that with any surety however was Mitsuzuri-san, and she wasn't present right now.
"On a completely different note, are you quite prepared for the exam?" Issei continued. "I have complete trust in you, as do the others. You have trained more than enough."
They all knew Tohsaka was having doubts about her capabilities, so Mitsuzuri had asked them all if they would help the black-haired girl gain some more confidence.
It was something that would take little effort, so Issei had agreed.
He only got a huff in return though.
Well, no matter. There were plenty of other things they could talk about to fill the five-hour drive to Hikone, and they both had brought books in case they ran out of subjects.
And since Emiya-kun had packed them lunches, food wasn't a concern either.
Once they had fallen into a comfortable silence again, Issei's mind started to wander once more, eventually landing on wondering how the rest of their little group was doing.
Shirou was seated at the very front of the bus, next to Kishimoto-Sensei.
There were an uneven number of students, so one of them had to sit next to the swimming instructor. As no one else volunteered, and he didn't have anyone he really wanted to sit next to instead, Shirou had taken that spot.
Kishimoto-Sensei himself turned out to be quite pleasant company. While normal teachers would never have dreamed of engaging in friendly conversation with a student, the instructor's laid-back attitude allowed him to do just that with Shirou, and he had a lot to say indeed.
The man was a veritable expert on all things involving water sports, from surfing and swimming to water-skiing and even beach-volleyball.
Their conversation pretty much consisted of Kishimoto talking about his hobbies, while Shirou listened politely and asked questions here and there. His Sensei seemed very happy that someone was listening to him and didn't even mind Shirou spacing out most of the time, as long as he remembered a few key points.
Shirou didn't mean to space out of course –it was a rude thing to do when someone was talking to you– but he had other things on his mind. Or rather, one other thing.
It had been several weeks now since he had ended Oni's life.
The past month had been… difficult for Shirou. He was realistic enough to know the day had been bound to arrive sooner or later, but now that it had actually happened, it felt like a burden on his soul nonetheless. Like something was dragging him down.
Fortunately, his friends had readily supported him, Ayako and Sakura most of all. Their concern for him, despite not even knowing what was bothering him, had been heart-warming, and had eased the burden a great deal.
Shinji had bluntly told him to 'stop feeling sorry for himself and get over it', while Issei had expressed 'complete confidence in Shirou's integrity, meaning that whatever he was feeling bad about was most likely not his fault', and even Tohsaka had contributed, telling him in no uncertain terms that his behaviour was pathetic and altogether unbecoming of him.
Harsh, but it did help.
He still regretted killing of course, but he had found that he didn't regret killing Oni. He'd had several weeks now to come to terms with it, and he could conclude that most of the blame for his death fell on the man himself.
Oni had been a monster, who had intended to kill himself and take two innocent girls with him, purely to spite Shirou. That, in combination with the countless other heinous crimes he'd committed, meant that there were few people that, for a lack of a better word, 'deserved' death as much as Oni did.
It didn't completely take the guilt away, but it helped.
Anyhow, Shirou couldn't change the past. What was done was done, and he just needed to be more careful in the future to avoid killing again. He'd moped enough, it was time he pulled himself back together.
"And that concludes my story, though I don't think you really listened to any of it."
The amused voice of Kishimoto-Sensei broke Shirou out of his contemplations, as the teen realised that he had zoned out completely during most of the man's latest story.
When he tried to apologise however, Kishimoto-Sensei waved it off.
"You seemed to have a lot on your mind." He said with a careless shrug. "I cannot fault you for being lost in thought. If anything, I'm just happy your mood has improved. You seemed so sad during the lessons over the past month."
"A-Ah, yes, I'm happy about that too." Shirou muttered, impressed the man had picked up on that. "Regardless, I apologise for not paying attention."
"It was a dull story anyway." The man said dismissively. "I assume your own life and whiles are far more important than my rambling. Now, I won't pry into the cause for your mood during the past month, but I will tell you that it is perhaps time to either ask for help or move past it?"
The man then threw up his hands. "I mean no insult with my words. I know how it is to wallow in guilt, but I can tell you that it serves no purpose at all. Best to move on."
"Yes, I suppose it is." Shirou mumbled. It was regrettable that he had killed, but it was something inevitable. Even if he was going to do his damnest to avoid more deaths, he knew that it was unrealistic to expect no casualties during his quests.
Didn't mean he wouldn't still try to save everyone though.
"I hope you feel ready for the exam." Kishimoto-Sensei went on, as Shirou finally gave him his full attention. "But even if you don't feel ready, kid, believe me, I have seen you go, you are ready."
"Thank you, Sensei." Shirou replied. He had the fullest confidence he would pass the exam with ease, but the instructor's words were appreciated nonetheless.
"But do make sure to give your all. You in particular can't slack off; you have your admirers watching you after all." Kishimoto-Sensei grinned, flexing his arms in obvious macho-poses. "Can't disappoint the ladies when they want to see the gains."
"Uh? What do you mean with admirers, Sensei?"
The completely warranted, in Shirou's opinion at least, question was met by an incredulous gaze from the teacher, who looked at Shirou as if the teen had told him the sky was purple.
"What do you mean what do I mean? I meant your girls. Those who have been staring at you every lesson. Those admirers."
"I still do not know what you mean."
Shirou was completely lost. His Sensei spoke of admirers he had apparently never noticed? But surely, he would have noticed if someone he wasn't familiar with had been staring at him every lesson?
Seeing his clueless expression, Kishimoto-Sensei shook his head in consternation.
"Those girls must be desperate by now." He groaned, looking exasperated with the redhead's cluelessness. "But even though I do pity them a bit, they are going to have to do this themselves. End of the subject. Time to talk about something else."
And from there, Kishimoto-Sensei went back to speaking about his hobbies, completely ignoring Shirou's repeated requests for an explanation.
When Katsuragi had been requested to give swimming lessons to the youth of Fuyuki-City, he thought Christmas had come early for him.
There were several reasons for this, such as the fact that he'd be teaching youngsters an essential skill that might save their life one day, but the most important one was that it was one of the easiest and most well-paying gigs he'd ever had. His salary for these three months of work was incomprehensibly high, and he had been promised a considerable bonus on top of that if he did his job correctly.
The rich guy paying for everything, one mister Yonder, really had to be both very rich and very much a philanthropist to pay for all of this without even cashing in on the reputation boost. Not that Katsuragi was complaining of course, he would gladly reap the rewards.
He wasn't in this just for the money though. He also genuinely felt pleased that he was preventing drownings through his work. Lots of brats would be safer because of him, and watching those brats pass their exams one by one did inspire a feeling of pride in him, as well as happiness that the months of teaching hadn't been for nothing.
Not a single one of his students had failed the exam so far. There had been some occasions where one almost didn't make the cut, like that Tohsaka-girl, who, despite her hard work and immense dedication, just didn't seem to have any talent at swimming, but her skill had been deemed as passable, and that was enough.
On the other hand, several of his students, Matou most prominent among them, were a cut above the rest. The purple-haired girl had done all the exercises to perfection and had left with top marks all around.
When the last student, that Emiya-kid, climbed out of the pool, it was officially confirmed. Everyone had passed. The children all had their certificates they could hang above their beds, Kishimoto and he would get their money, and the council had done their good deed of the year. Happiness all around.
Once the certificates had been handed out, they had left for the hotel. They would be staying the night at hotel Maihame, which was one of the better hotels in Hikone. Normally, Katsuragi wouldn't dream of spending a night at such a place, but mister Yonder was footing the bill, so it was alright.
Once they'd arrived at the hotel, Kishimoto called all the brats together again in order to make several more announcements and to give them the rundown on the rules they had to follow during their stay.
"Alright then." Katsuragi's friend called loudly, easily talking over any mutterings from the students. "Welcome to our hotel. This is the place where we'll stay for the night, and as such, this is a place that deserves your respect. We are guests here, and we must follow the rules they have set for us. Additionally, we have several rules for you ourselves. Take them to heart."
Now everyone fell silent, the anticipation thick as everyone waited.
"First of all, you have all made groups before we left on this trip. That is the group you will share a room with, no one else. Swapping groups at the last moment is not permitted, and any attempt to do so will be punished. You will also all be in your rooms by eight o'clock. This will be checked, and failure to comply will result in a lot of trouble. It is also heavily advised to be in bed by eleven. We cannot enforce this, so it is not an order, but since we are leaving tomorrow at eight, it would be the wise thing to do. I hope you all understand. Now, off to your rooms everyone."
The first thing Sakura did upon entering her room was pick the bed furthest away from her sis- Tohsaka. Fortunately, that girl had the same idea, picking the bed on the other end of the room and practically forcing Ayako take the bed between theirs.
The brunette herself just looked at them with a disappointed expression, before accepting the fact that she was to be the buffer between them, as she practically always was.
Sakura knew Ayako really wanted them to get along, but that was impossible after… after what happened. Fortunately, the brunette had eventually seen that as well and now just tried to deal with it as well as she could.
Like right now. While Sakura was unpacking the very few things that she had brought with her, Ayako was holding a conversation with Tohsaka that was very much not mentioning anything related to Sakura.
"But Tohsaka-chan, you can totally trust me not to peek on you while you change, really."
"Well, forgive me for still locking the bathroom door, Mitsuzuri-san."
"Okay, you are forgiven, this time, but I do want a hug as compensation."
"Wha-? N-No, get off me, you insolent-"
All in all, a fairly normal conversation for those two, if a bit more daring than normal, but that was probably because of the excitement Ayako was feeling. They had all passed the exam after all, even Tohsaka.
Sakura herself had done very well, perhaps even better than anyone else. Her Senpai had been very proud of her and had spent the entire walk back to the hotel praising her.
It was maddingly annoying that the trip had been so incredibly short.
Granted, he also spent some time praising Ayako and Ryuudou-san, but that was completely understandable. They too had past the exam and Sakura would be the last to deny them praise for it.
She could have done without the praise towards Tohsaka though. She acknowledged the girl had done well, but that could have been said in one sentence, after which Senpai should have gone back to praising her.
In the end though, it mattered little. There would be more than enough praise coming her way the coming days. After all, Sakura was the one who came over to Senpai's house every day, while Tohsaka had to spend her mornings all alone-
Sakura promptly shook the dark thoughts out of her head. That had gone too far. Senpai would have been very disappointed with her if he had heard those thoughts, and that was a good indication that she wasn't doing the right thing by thinking them. She had been cordial with the girl up until now, she could continue doing so. For Senpai's and Ayako's sake if nothing else.
Speaking of Ayako, the brunette was already smiling in Sakura's direction now that Tohsaka had entered the bathroom, indicating she wanted to talk.
"Heya Sakura, well done getting your certificate." Ayako beamed at her after having pranced over to her side of the room. "Now we are masters at swimming. None shall ever doubt our capabilities again. Why, even mermaids cannot- "
Sakura placed her hand over the brunette's mouth, giving her own beaming smile to the girl. "We indeed got our certificates, Ayako, but we are not masters. This was a course of only a few weeks after all."
"True, true." Ayako lamented after the hand was removed, before grinning at Sakura again. "That's how it is for most of us. You on the other hand might just be the best in the entire city. Didn't you hear how much they sang your praises?"
"I did." Sakura mumbled, feeling a pleased blush come to her cheeks. "I-I just think they exaggerated, you know. I hardly think I am the best."
"Are you fishing for compliments now?" Ayako huffed, before spreading out her arms. "Cause if you are, I've got something far better than compliments for you right here."
With those words, Sakura was swept up in a big hug.
She had been prepared for that since the brunette walked up to her however, and immediately responded in kind, wrapping her own arms around her friend and returning the hug.
The two stood like that for a while, hugging contently, though Ayako's expression took on a thoughtful and embarrassed tint after a while. Unseen to Sakura, she seemed to contemplate something…
Until the bathroom door opened and Tohsaka stepped out.
She was looking behind her, fortunately, and as such completely missed the other two girls separating from their hug like they had burned themselves. A good thing too, for her teasing would have been brutal if she had seen what the other two had been up to.
"Bathroom is free, girls. I suggest you two change into your sleeping wear."
"Right." Ayako squeaked, while Sakura nodded, both trying to look inconspicuous.
About ten minutes later, the girls were seated around Ayako's laptop, all three clad in their sleeping wear. Sakura wore a purple nightgown, Ayako a light-red yukata, and Tohsaka black pyjamas.
Ayako was currently reading the news in an online paper with Sakura watching along over her shoulder, while Tohsaka was still marvelling at the laptop itself.
Not a lot of note had happened in the world. A minor Earthquake in Kyoto, a large fire somewhere else, a hurricane was on its way to Florida again, the usual.
A bit more noteworthy were the multiple accidents that had happened on the roads from Hikone to Fuyuki-City that very evening, but the paper stated that the wreckages would be removed before midnight, so the trip back the next day was not compromised.
For the rest, it was all gossip and nonsense.
Eventually though, they arrived at a bit of news about a very hot topic, that being Japan's brand-new vigilante, Rakurai. He had apparently struck again in yet another city, where he had delivered large numbers of criminals to the police's doorstep. Business as usual for him.
Of course, many people had already commented on this article, as Rakurai was one of the most discussed and controversial topics on the internet.
Most people in the comments expressed happy surprise that Rakurai was back to work again. Ever since the body of the gang-leader in Inuyama had been found, about a month ago, he seemed to have decided to lay low for a while, much to the disappointment of his fans, who were thus delighted to see him back again.
Sakura herself didn't really have an opinion on the matter though. She only ever heard of the vigilante from Fujimura-Sensei, Ayako, and sometimes the news whenever she bothered to look, but she didn't actively follow him or anything. She had other things to worry about.
Tohsaka, who had joined them once she finished inspecting the laptop, didn't really seem interested in the topic either, but Ayako was, so neither Tohsaka nor Sakura made any disparaging remarks.
"It says here that this is a link to the biggest of his fan websites." Ayako said in glee as she pointed at said link. "I have to see that. Would you mind if I…?"
"Go ahead." Sakura smiled, before holding up a pack of cards. "We'll wait until you are done, and then we can perhaps play a game?"
"Of course. "Ayako beamed, before clicking on the link. "Just let me check this out and I'll join you right away."
After Ayako clicked the link and the program finished loading, Sakura looked over her shoulder for a moment. The site seemed very well made, with a nice background that had a lot of superheroes on it, with a lot of reading material and videos as well. She didn't look any closer though, as she had a table to move.
Ayako giggled while reading, but Sakura ignored her, dragging the table from the corner to the middle of the room. She then started shuffling the cards, something Fujimura-Sensei had taught her a while back.
Tohsaka took place at the table as well, not even glancing at Sakura, which suited the latter perfectly well. She divided the cards into three heaps, before pushing one of them towards Tohsaka and taking up another herself.
After a few minutes of reading, Ayako shut off her laptop and put it away, before joining them at the table and taking up her own cards. After Sakura explained the rules of the game, the three of them started playing, while chatting about whatever came to mind.
"Everyone is really singing Rakurai's praises there." Ayako shook her head in consternation. "I don't understand why the police just lets that website exist, I mean, aren't they supposed to be against Rakurai?"
Both Tohsaka and Sakura smiled and nodded at her words, though neither really cared all that much. It was mostly for Ayako's sake that they were still listening.
"The mods do try to remind everyone that vigilantism is a crime and that it would be very foolish for normal people to try and copy him, but it doesn't seem like anyone is really listening. The founder of the site, miss Lighting Bolt, doesn't really help either. She does try to discourage worshippers and possible copy-cats, but she regularly calls Rakurai a superhero herself."
"Miss Lightning Bolt?" Tohsaka asked incredulously, looking up from her cards. "What kind of name is that? Please tell me she didn't change her name just for this?"
"Ah? No, of course not." Ayako huffed, as if the very thought was preposterous. "That's just her alias, the fake name she uses when on that site. It isn't her real name, that's obvious."
"Alias?" Sakura pitched in, not very proficient with the internet herself. "You mean she is hiding who she truly is?"
"That's standard procedure on the internet." Ayako responded with a shrug. "You should never tell anyone your real name on the internet. There are all kinds of creeps and greedy businesses out there. If you aren't careful with your personal information, then before you know it, you get all kinds of scary messages and advertisements."
She said it all very solemnly, but Sakura saw the corners of her mouth were twitching. Ayako was making fun of them again, somehow, but Sakura wasn't proficient enough in 'internet' to understand how.
Annoying.
"Alright, enough of that." Tohsaka proclaimed, looking peeved. "We have talked enough about the internet and Rakurai now. I propose we go back to discussing interesting things."
"You don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do you?" Ayako grinned at the black-haired girl, who quickly looked away again. "You didn't even know what a laptop is. Oh, I'm in one room with two ignorant heathens, what do I do? So much ignorance surrounds me."
"I-Ignorance?" Tohsaka spluttered. "Just because I do not wish to talk about those boring subjects does not mean I am ignorant of them. I merely wish to converse about more interesting subjects, like… like the swimming exam, or school projects, or international events if you must. J-Just no more of the internet please."
Ayako bowed deeply to Tohsaka. "As my queen commands. Not one more word about the forbidden subject shall be uttered in your majestic presence. This humble one begs your forgiveness for her acts."
Sakura thought the brunette was laying it on very thick there, but Tohsaka seemed happy enough to accept the praise, haughtily sticking up her nose, clearly preening a bit at Ayako's words.
As expected of a Tohsaka, arrogant and callous as they all were.
Shirou was ready to go out and scour the streets of Hikone. The swimming exams being held here granted him one night in the town, and he intended to make the most of it.
Even just one night was better than none after all, and he might stumble on something if he was lucky, which he was actually carefully optimistic about. For good or for bad, no one could deny his luck was heaven-defying.
Hikone was the last city on his list, the last city that he knew the Magi had visited, and his last chance to find a trail leading towards them.
He had been on several missions over the past week after getting over his angsty phase, visiting cities he hadn't been to before, but none of those cities had been able to help him in any way when it came to the Magi.
On the upside though, his fans seemed happy that he had gotten back to work.
Now, to be clear, Shirou did not care what his supposed fanbase thought of him. It was embarrassing and confusing that he had one in the first place. Frankly, it was a scary thought that there were so many people who would spend their time practically worshipping him instead of doing something productive.
Was this how Tohsaka-san felt all the time? If so, he clearly wasn't respecting her enough for actually putting up with it on a daily basis without losing her patience even once.
Their happy reaction to his re-emergence had however helped him understand that he was being foolish. Just because other cities might not hold any clues relating to the Magi did not mean they weren't worthy of being helped. They also had criminals that needed to be dealt with, and a hero would not refuse to help them just because they couldn't give anything back.
So for the past week, he had been going around again, visiting cities chosen at random to deal with gangs and criminals, even though they were almost certainly not related to the Magi in any way.
Now though, he was in Hikone. Now, he had an opportunity that wouldn't present itself again for a long time. He couldn't afford to waste time. As much as it grated him, he would have to skip past the random criminals and gangs in the streets and go straight for the leaders of the local underworld, the ones with the biggest chance of actually having useful information about the Magi.
It was against every ideal he had to let evildoers get away, but he had to be practical here. Dealing with the Magi and preventing them from abducting and murdering more people was more important than catching a few small-time criminals.
Of course, neither would happen if he didn't leave his hotel room soon, but Shirou couldn't leave just yet. Before he could slip out of the door, he would have to…
"Oi, anyone want to play poker with me? Don't worry, I've got fake money aplenty."
…wait until his roommates were asleep.
"Now, while I would normally reproach you for gambling, I believe playing with fake money is acceptable, Mitsuzuri-san." Issei said. He had looked shocked for a moment when Minori had offered to play poker but had mellowed once the fake money had been mentioned. "Just don't make this a habit. You can lose a lot of money in games like this if you play with real money."
"Ease up a bit, Ryuudou, some of us just want to have fun." Shinji called from where he was lounging on his bed. "Count me in, Mitsuzuri. What about you, Emiya?"
Shirou pondered it for a moment, before agreeing to participate. They would play with or without him anyway, so he might as well join in.
After putting the table in the middle of the room, the four boys took place around it. While Minori shuffled the cards, Issei addressed Shinji again.
"I must compliment you on obtaining the certificate, Matou-san. I have never seen you swim, but you seemed proficient enough."
"Eh? Thanks. You didn't do all that bad yourself, so congratulations to you as well." Shinji replied, looking distinctly uncomfortable with the compliment. "By the way, did you guys know that Sakura was that good?"
"Sakura is the best." Minori immediately professed. "She beat everyone during practice and now again. The teachers even say she could go professional if she wanted."
Shinji blinked in surprise, glancing over at Shirou, who nodded with a smile. Sakura was indeed really good. She had proven that quite handily just now and Shirou had made sure to praise her for it, as much as he could.
"While I agree that Matou-san's display today was impressive without a doubt, you shouldn't lose your focus, Mitsuzuri-san." Issei interjected, pointing at the cards Minori still held in his hands. "We were going to play a game?"
"Right." Minori said sheepishly, turning back to the cards and the money. "Let me just divide the money, and shuffle the cards some more, does everyone know the rules of the game?"
Alas, only Minori turned out to know those rules, but teaching the others went well enough. It took about twenty minutes, but then everyone was ready to play.
Another hour later, Shirou held all the money, while the others had nothing anymore. The redhead had won the game completely.
"Damn Emiya, you are good at this." Shinji laughed, not the least bit bothered about his loss. "You really had good cards; I'd almost say you were cheating, if I didn't know you to be utterly incapable of such a thing."
"Very well done indeed, Emiya-kun." Midori said with a brittle smile. "Enjoy this win, it might be your last."
"Calm yourself, Mitsuzuri-san." Issei said, adjusting his glasses while giving the youngest boy a stern look. "Emiya-kun has shown himself a gracious winner, so you can at least make an effort to be a gracious loser in turn."
Minori glared at Issei, and seemed about to retort, before he was cut off.
"Enough already." Shinji called with an annoyed look on his face, apparently taking on the role of peacekeeper today. "We are bunking in one room tonight, and as such, we are stuck together until morning. Please don't ruin the mood. If you want to argue, save it for later."
Issei and Minori seemed properly chastised after Shinji's reproach, and Shirou himself nodded to show his agreement. No need to spoil the evening with needless conflict.
"Now, shuffle those cards again. I want a retry."
And with that, another game was started, won by Shirou again, and then yet another, which was won not by Shirou, but by Shinji instead. Shirou had to admit though that he had played to lose. If he had tried, he might have won again.
He really had a lot of luck while drawing cards.
Their games continued for the rest of the evening, as the boys peacefully talked with each other, until their conversation landed on a topic Shirou had really wanted to avoid.
"So, you guys ever heard of Rakurai?" Minori asked, looking as if he'd wanted to ask that for a long time. "You know, the cool vigilante?"
"We all have." Issei nodded, his gaze firmly fixed on the cards he held in front of him. "With how often he's in the news these days, it's hard to miss him."
"Even I heard of him, and I watch the news only very sporadically." Shinji chimed in. "Why do you ask? You a fan of his?"
"I am." Minori gushed, looking extremely pleased. "I've been a fan since the beginning. Rakurai is just so awesome! He's like a shounen-hero, but real!"
"Rakurai is indeed completely real." Issei sighed, looking up from studying his cards to give the younger boy another reproachful look. "And may I remind you that he is a vigilante and therefore a criminal? You shouldn't speak of him as if he is your personal hero."
"Rakurai isn't a criminal!" Minori argued, glaring back at Issei. "He's a hero! He has the balls to do what is needed in this world. The police can complain, but even they have to admit he is doing good work. Do you have a problem with that, Ryuudou?"
It was… unexpected to hear Minori be so spirited in defending Shirou's alter ego. The redhead almost found himself morbidly curious as to how the boy would react when he learned Shirou and Rakurai were one and the same, but he would rather that the younger boy never figured that out.
"He did kill a man though. Folded him in half even, or at least, that's what I heard. Is that also awesome or do you think he might have crossed a line there?"
Shinji sounded not so much mocking as genuinely curious while asking that question, but Minori seemed to take it as an insult regardless.
"He killed a monster." The boy countered heatedly. "Have you read what that man has done? It was terrible, and they even said they left out the most heinous things he did. He is the only one Rakurai has killed, and really, Rakurai couldn't have picked a better victim."
It was a little strange for Shirou to hear his own thoughts and reasonings echoed by the younger boy, but he was glad others agreed with him on the matter of Oni.
"Killing is still wrong." Issei argued, which Shirou also had to agree with. "I acknowledge one bad deed does not cancel out all the good he has done, but can we please agree on the fact that Rakurai went too far in literally folding a person in half?"
"Fine." Minori sighed petulantly, looking close to pouting. "He's still awesome though."
After the discussion was resolved, they all went back to talking about lighter subjects, until, several hours later, Issei declared it was time to go to bed.
After having changed into their sleeping wear and having brushed their teeth, Shirou and the others climbed into their beds. Shirou did not know how long it would take before the other three would fall asleep, but he was willing to help them along if need be, even though it left a very bad taste in his mouth.
It turned out to be unneeded however. Shinji, Issei, and Minori fell asleep after barely fifteen minutes of lying in the dark. One of them snored, but Shirou couldn't see which one of them it was.
Getting out of bed, Shirou projected a set of his vigilante clothes and changed into them, after which he applied several enchantments to his bed, among them an illusion to make it seem he was still there and a 'discouragement' for the others to look closer.
After that was done, Shirou opened the window, summoned Mjolnir, and flew outside, flying almost straight upwards for a nice bird-eye view of the city. From there, he would try to locate suspicious activity going on.
Before he got far however, he stopped dead in mid-air, before instantly turning himself around to look down instead, his gaze drawn towards the main entrance of the very hotel he was staying at.
He smelled a Magus.
An actual Magus was somewhere down there, stationary in front of the hotel. It wasn't Tohsaka, she smelled much bette- eh, different, but as far as he knew, there were no other Magi in their group.
It had to be someone he didn't know, but that made it very strange that this unknown person was waiting in front of the hotel.
Just as he thought that however, the mysterious presence started making its way into the hotel itself.
That couldn't mean anything good.
Brunevis couldn't help but smile at how smoothly everything was progressing.
For his current gig, he'd been standing outside of hotel Maihame for close to four hours already, hidden in the bushes planted there, patiently observing the coming and going of guests, staff, and guards.
He had assembled a fairly accurate picture of the flow of people inside the hotel, having catalogued everything he saw, and he was confident that infiltrating the place and then leaving with his victim in tow should be doable for him.
Said victim, the heir of the Tohsaka-family, was already present in the hotel, meaning that the time had come for him to strike.
Before he went in though, he reviewed his plan one more time. He would go in, determine her room number, take the stairs up, force his entry, subdue her non-lethally with the sleeping agent he had obtained specifically for this kind of missions, and then be out before half-an-hour had passed.
On his way there, he would do his best to avoid any unnecessary deaths, though that wasn't a priority. He would prefer to do things stealthily, but if needed, he would gladly blow up the entire hotel.
Activating his Circuits, Brunevis stood up from his seating position, dusted himself off, and began walking towards the hotel, taking care that no one saw him coming out of the bushes.
Entering the hotel was a matter of simply walking through the door, but getting Tohsaka's room number would be significantly harder. The receptionist, a young woman with nice black hair, was unlikely to just give him that information, and she had two guards standing a few meters away, ready to interfere at her signal.
Not deterred by such a thing, Brunevis first approached the guard on the left, pretending to ask for help before Hypnotising the man, and then, pretending he couldn't get the information he wanted from that guard, walked to the other and Hypnotised him too.
Only then did he walk up to the black-haired receptionist, who clearly disapproved of his actions.
"Sir, you are supposed to come directly to me for questions, instead of asking the guards first." The woman told him with her polite smile still plastered on her face. "Guards are not meant to be spoken to, they are here for security-purposes only and the management doesn't appreciate them getting distracted."
"Really now? I'll keep it in mind for the future." Brunevis replied, making sure to look sheepish and apologetic. "I just wasn't sure if I could bother you with my problem. I will gladly accept your help though, as I do need it."
"Of course, sir." The woman beamed, apparently having forgiven him. "Have you lost your key or your room number? Has something been stolen from your room? Do you wish to extent or cancel your stay?"
"Actually, I want the number of the room where miss Tohsaka Rin is staying." Brunevis told her, watching how her smile shrank at his request. "If you could provide me with that, I'd be most grateful."
"Eh, w-we aren't a-allowed to provide such information to just anyone who asks- "
"I assure you; I would be most grateful." Brunevis repeated, adding a lacing of Magical Energy to his voice as he looked into the woman's eyes.
She didn't resist for even a moment, instantly falling under his thrall. Without another word, she looked into her paperwork.
"She is currently staying in room 435, sir." She said monotonously. Brunevis waited for a few seconds for more information, before he was reminded that Hypnotised people only did the very minimum upon receiving orders.
"Give me the key to the room." He hissed at her. "Tell me the schedule of the guards and everything else of note."
The woman complied, giving Brunevis what he desired and informing him that there were no guards in the hallways. There did seem to be two other people in Tohsaka's room, but he had no reason to doubt his own capability to deal with two teenage girls.
Now provided with the key, which turned out to be some fancy card-thingy that he had to put into the lock, he was free to go to room 435. He took the stairs of course, as no self-respecting mercenary would allow themselves to be caught in an enclosed space like an elevator.
Reaching the correct floor, he wandered around for a bit, following the directions on the walls, until he arrived at the correct room.
Listening at the door revealed there was no sound coming from within, indicating that the girls were probably asleep. Well, even if Tohsaka was not, that's what the sleeping agent was for, and he could just kill the other two.
Grabbing the sleeping agent and a length of rope from his pockets, Brunevis put the card into the lock, waited for the little light to become green, and slowly pushed the door open-
PAIN!
Brunevis' head exploded in agony as something impacted it from the side, sending him flying through the hallway, before coming down a good ten metres from where he had been standing.
With the small part of his mind that could think through the splitting headache, Brunevis wondered who the hell suddenly attacked him, and why.
His question was answered moments later, when a black-clad figure walked into view. The person wore black clothing, black boots, a hood over their head, and a mask in front of the lower face. The person's golden eyes were completely visible though, glaring down at him.
Brunevis then felt a hand grab his throat, cutting off his air-supply and making him choke and wheeze in the person's grip, as he was lifted up until he was at eye-height with his assailant. Brunevis was absolutely convinced he was going to die right there, closing his eyes in fearful anticipation…
"What were you planning to do in that room?"
…When the artificially heavy-sounding voice of his assailant cut straight through the panicked haze in his mind.
For a few moments, Brunevis merely stared at his captor, astounded he was not dead yet, not even noticing the hold on his throat had loosened enough for him to breathe again.
He was reminded of his predicament however when his assailant shook him back and forth.
"I asked what you were planning to do in that room. Answer me!"
For the shortest of moments, Brunevis contemplated on what to do, before he decided that he was not going to endure torture or anything similar for his idiotic employers in their little castle. Loyalty was well and good when everything went according to plan, but he much preferred to keep living.
"I'll tell you, easy." He thus proclaimed, before promptly being shushed by his captor.
Right, they were still standing in the hallway of a hotel.
"Right." Brunevis continued with a whisper. "The name is James Brunevis. I'm a mercenary. I was trying to get into that room in order to abduct Tohsaka, the black-haired girl, for my employers."
"And what would your employers want with her?"
"Beats me." Brunevis shrugged his shoulders, not about to violate the secrecy of Magecraft. "What would anyone want with a pretty teenage girl?"
"You don't know?" The sceptical voice let Brunevis know his assailant wasn't buying it. "So it has nothing to do with the fact you are a Magus and you specifically wanted to abduct the Second Owner of Fuyuki-City?"
…Shit.
The guy knew of Magecraft. He knew what Brunevis was and he knew why the girl was important. That wasn't good, that wasn't good at all!
If this guy was a fellow Magus, he could alert the Clocktower of what Brunevis tried to do, and while he doubted they would really care about an Eastern Hedge-Mage, Second Owner or not, he still had several lords after his hide who would only be too glad with an excuse to make him pay.
"Hey, man, wait a moment there." Brunevis rattled, now really feeling the urgency of getting on his attacker's good side. "L-Let's not be too hasty here. How about I cut you a deal? I tell you everything you want to know, and you let me go after. Sound good?"
Brunevis felt his heart sink into his shoes when the guy shook his head.
"No. From how experienced you seem to be, I doubt this was the first time you have done something like this. I cannot let you walk free, as you will almost certainly continue your line of work if I do."
"If you won't let me go, I won't tell you anything." Brunevis blustered, putting up a strong front. "You can't force me either. I can resist torture, and Hypnotism doesn't work on Magi."
"Hypnotism through Magical Energy doesn't work as well on a Magus as it would on a mundane person, but Magical Energy is hardly the only option I have." The assailant's mouth was covered, but Brunevis didn't doubt for a moment that he was smiling viciously. "Now, tell me everything you know about these employers of yours."
Brunevis nodded at the order. Yes, that seemed like the completely logical thing to do. He didn't even know why he had been so difficult before. Clearly, this person should know everything and should be obeyed to the best of his ability.
"They hired me to kidnap the Second Owner of Fuyuki-City, Tohsaka Rin, though I think you already knew that. They didn't give me much on the specifics though, only that I needed to take her from the hotel without anyone noticing me and that I had to take her to them as soon as possible."
"You knowingly accepted a job to kidnap a Second Owner?"
"She is Japanese, Asian, Eastern." Brunevis explained patiently to his new friend. "No one really cares about the Hedge-Mages of the Far-East, you'll notice that once you get to the Clocktower yourself. Besides, they offered to pay me in gems and I really like gems."
"I'll take your word for it." His interrogator huffed, before continuing again. "Where are they located? What are their names? What else can you tell me?"
"One question at the time please." Brunevis sighed at his new friend's impatience, before he started talking.
He told his new friend everything about his employers, beginning with the correspondence he'd had with the one called Waudenstad, which consisted of a number of letters sent to each other, in which some of the details had been hashed out.
After that, he went into the details of payment and other such administrative things. Those were very important for any mercenary to know. Brunevis didn't exactly get the impression though that his new friend was all that interested in those details. That was alright, such things weren't for everyone.
Lastly, they arrived at the conversation he'd had with their boss, a man called Richard Burgon, an old idiot who thought he was so smart and manipulative, but clearly couldn't read anyone who was even moderately skilled at deception.
"Those Magi are located in a town called Hiraizumi." Brunevis told his friend. "Well, they don't actually live in the town itself, they are holed up right next to it, in one of those fancy castles from five hundred years or so ago."
"I see." His interrogator-turned-friend seemed very interested in that information. "You wouldn't happen to know a man called Alva there, would you?"
"Never met the guy, but his name was mentioned multiple times in the letters. Alexander Alva or something like that. Don't know any other details about him though."
"That's fine. You have answered every question I had. Do you have anything else you want to tell me?"
Brunevis thought deeply for a moment, before he remembered the gem he had gotten as his down-payment.
"Yup, certainly. I have here in my pocket…" He dug around in his pocket for a moment. "…A gem that was handed to me by Burgon. I don't know why he gave it to me, but he said it was because he 'approved' of me, but I suspect the truth is different."
"It is." His new friend said, looking at the gem. "I can sense a tracking spell on that thing. It seems that this Burgon didn't approve of you as much as he said he did."
Oddly enough, that did improve Brunevis' opinion of the man a bit. Of course, he wasn't happy with being tracked, but it was good the old man wasn't completely senile.
"So." Brunevis asked after a few moments of silence. "What now? I have told you everything I know, and I suspect you want to see me behind bars for my many misdeeds. Turning me in to the normal authorities won't work however, I'll just escape. I also strongly suspect you don't want anyone to know of this conversation, so I think killing me is the best option you have. Strike hard, my friend, I have a thick skull."
"I can also just erase your memories!" His friend hissed, almost rearing back in shock at Brunevis' words. "Also, with the ease you accepted a job to abduct a Second Owner, I wouldn't be surprised if the Clocktower already had a warrant out for you."
"Why, they do. Good thinking boss." Brunevis replied with a nod. "I may have overstepped my boundaries concerning how much violence was allowed against the uninvolved during a few of my missions for the Clocktower. Endangered the secrecy and all that. I also have insulted several big shots, which wasn't all that smart now that I look back on it."
"So if I were to deliver you to a priest working for the Burial Agency…" His friend asked leadingly.
"Then things should sort themselves out." Brunevis confirmed with complete confidence. "I think the Church would be eager to deliver me to the Clocktower, in order to obtain a favour from them or something."
"I see. Thank you very much." His new friend said. "You have truly helped me a lot. Now, let me just remove this conversation from your memory."
Brunevis was just enjoying the feeling of having helped his friend, when his thoughts suddenly grew very hazy, his memories of the past minutes escaping his grasp, before pain exploded again in his skull, this time only stopping when everything went black around him.
Standing over the mercenary he had knocked out, Shirou had to admit he was feeling slightly creeped out.
Contrary to what many people believed, it was not impossible to Hypnotise Magi. It was significantly harder, as their innate Magical Energy rejected the foreign influences, but with enough power and skill, such a defence could be overcome. Caster-Servants for instance would be able to do it.
In contrast, Hypnotising the mercenary with the Mysterious Power had been hilariously easy. Rather than overpowering the man's innate Magical Energy, the Mysterious Power had simply ignored that Magical Energy as if it wasn't even there.
It was a really powerful skill, though it did come with a drawback.
That drawback was the fact that the chance of the Hypnosis succeeding seemed entirely based on the victim's willpower. If the victim was weak-willed, taking over their mind was easy. On the other hand, if the victim was strong-willed, they could easily shake off Shirou's influence.
Brunevis had succumbed to Shirou's attack on his mind, but the redhead was willing to bet that Tohsaka would resist his Hypnosis with ease, Sakura and Ayako too, and Issei of course, and probably Shinji. Actually, most people he knew had sufficient mental strength to resist it.
The fact that he could Hypnotise particularly weak-willed Magi wasn't what creeped him out though. Rather, it was the incredibly helpful behaviour that the man, Brunevis, had shown that was particularly unnerving.
Brunevis was supposed to become a puppet, a monotone drone that did as it was commanded, nothing more. Not someone who acted like he was Shirou's informant, best friend, and loyal employee all at once. That was not how it was supposed to be, yet that was what had happened.
Then again, since Mjolnir had arrived, very few things had been as they were supposed to be. He was probably better off ignoring this oddity.
So instead, he focussed on what the mercenary had told him, dismissing the creeped-out feeling from his mind.
If the mercenary could be believed, he had finally found the Magi. Okay, he didn't have them in his sights yet, but he now had the most solid trail to date, and it had been dropped directly into his lap too, in the form of a mercenary sent by those very Magi.
He could only thank whatsoever was listening that he had noticed the man's scent just in time, before he left the hotel, or he would still have close to no information and an abducted Tohsaka on top of that.
That thought, the thought of Tohsaka being abducted by this… fiend, made anger bubble up inside of him, and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. The mercenary would pay for his actions, Shirou would make sure of that, and the Magi would too, so there was no need to lose his cool.
Right now, he needed to decide what he was going to do with the unconscious mercenary, who was still lying in front of the girls' room. He would bring the man to Kotomine, with a note explaining that he was a wanted mercenary, but the question was how he was going to get the guy to Fuyuki.
He couldn't put him in a suitcase, he couldn't hide him in the bus, there was no way he could convince this mercenary to come to Fuyuki himself, and trying to drag the body along with him in the open would create some very embarrassing situations.
That left him seemingly without options, but Shirou needn't have worried.
Once more, it was Mjolnir who provided him with a solution, as the hammer had done so often before.
Before Shirou's surprised eyes, the hammer opened a portal, apparently leading to Shirou's very own personal, freaking pocket-dimension! According to the hammer, it was perfect to carry unconscious criminals that needed to be brought along, as they would be placed into stasis.
"…Mjolnir, how long did you have something like this available?" Shirou asked, looking at his hammer with an almost resigned gaze.
The silence he received in response was very telling.
Choosing not to comment on it, Shirou placed the man inside the pocket-dimension(!), looking on as it closed afterwards. He also felt Mjolnir hand him the control over the pocket-dimension(!), making him capable of opening and closing it at will.
The hammer then informed him that it was called 'the Vault'.
'That happened.' Shirou thought, completely certain that a sweatdrop would have appeared on his head had he been an anime character. 'Best get back to my room now. This took quite a bit of time already, but maybe I can do some research into Hiraizumi before the others wake up.'
Harsh knocking on the church's doors had him looking up from the projects he had been working on, slightly surprised at the rudeness of whoever was outside. He contemplated on ignoring it, but ultimately found himself too interested in who it could be, and what reasons they could have for being here.
Kirei wasn't used to people knocking. If they wanted to enter, which few enough people did in the first place, then they could just push the doors open. It was a church after all, where everyone was welcome.
But now someone had chosen to knock instead and didn't even enter afterwards.
Momentarily grateful that Gilgamesh was absent, as the Golden King would not have taken the harsh sound well, which would have resulted in another earful about mongrels for Kirei himself, the priest walked towards the doors.
He could confidently say he was prepared for anything. For overly polite believers or visitors, for enemies wanting to ambush him, for children playing a prank, for Gilgamesh playing a prank, and much more.
What he wasn't prepared for however, was to see an unconscious man, tied hand and feet, lying on the porch. Kirei actually needed a moment to process that, and then promptly added it to the list of things he needed to be prepared for.
Idly noticing a note on top of the man, he bent down to pick it up, assuming it to be some kind of explanation.
Reading it carefully, he lifted an eyebrow, before smiling down at the man who he now knew to be a mercenary, one wanted by the Clocktower.
"We got ourselves in a bit of trouble, huh?" He asked rhetorically, picking him up and carrying him into the church. "I had best call little Rin for this."
As he had anticipated, the girl reacted with scorn initially, assuming he had called her merely to check on her progress, but she mellowed out quickly when he informed her of her failure to pay attention to the coming and going of supernatural elements in her town.
She came over in a flash, not bothering to knock, nor did she greet him, instead demanding to see his new 'guest' at once.
"Where is this supposed Magus, fake priest?" She hissed at him once she had stormed through the doors of the church. "This better not be a joke…"
She fell silent once her eyes landed on the mercenary, still unconscious and tied-up. After checking both his pulse and his magical aptitude, she had to concede Kirei had been right.
"Alright, so he slipped into town without me knowing of it. Didn't you already take care of him though?" She asked, looking oddly pensive. "How long has he been holing up here in my city anyway?"
"Why do you think I am the one who 'took care of him'." Kirei asked dryly, still fully enjoying his student's plight at her failure. "Would I not have informed you first? Or is that not part of the correct procedure?"
Rin looked annoyed for a moment, before she realised just what he had implied. "You didn't do this? Then who did? Don't waste my time, fake priest and just answer me."
"I do not have the faintest clue, nor is it in any way my duty to know what Magi are doing here. That is your job, Rin." Kirei admitted, again watching with glee as Rin's cheeks reddened. "I found this man this very morning on the porch, with a note attached that said he was a wanted man, and that any rewards I would receive for his capture were mine. Naturally, that reward is yours."
Oh, how he enjoyed seeing her squirm at his words. She knew very well that she needed the money, but she also didn't want to be grateful to him. It was clear he was doing her a very large favour here though, and not being grateful was 'unelegant'.
"Well, thank you." She eventually said through gritted teeth, taking the blow to her pride to obtain more money for her magical experiments.
"What was that?"
"I SAID THANK YOU."
Kirei took a step backwards at the shout, still thoroughly amused. Riling up his apprentice never got old, especially when she knew she had done something wrong. She was a lot more fun than her father was, that was certain.
"I will deliver this man to the Clocktower." Kirei said, still with his genial smile. "In the meantime, I advise you to search the city for anything abnormal. This man had to have been brought here by someone."
Another growl answered him, as Rin looked down in something akin to… shame? How odd for his spirited apprentice.
Interesting. It was a shame though that she would never tell him what was bothering her. He'd try to find out later, when things had cooled a bit.
"Anything else, fake priest?"
"How are your studies?"
Kirei couldn't help but laugh out loud as Rin clenched her fists at his question and marched right out of the church, not even bothering to spare him a goodbye. Not that he had expected one of course.
How fun. Time to call his contacts. He did take his duties to the Church very seriously, and delivering a wanted man to the Clocktower was excellent bargaining material for his superiors.
He briefly entertained the thought of trying to track down the deliverer himself, but that wasn't his job, so he ultimately decided against it. Who knew what risks were connected to that anyway?
He would just watch on as Rin tried to find them. Should be good for a laugh if nothing else.
He would help her if she got into trouble of course, but there was no reason he couldn't first enjoy her plight before stepping in.
Poor Rin, only having him looking out for her.
Several days later
Several people were forced to jump aside as a man ran past, not paying attention to anything but his destination, not caring about who he ran over as he went.
Despite this very impolite and unsightly behaviour however, no one dared to say anything about it, as this person wasn't just anyone. He was a lord.
This lord was beyond elated. His men had finally managed to locate their target after searching for so long. Vincent Balefor was within reach now and nothing would stop the lord from delivering some long overdue justice.
The lord really wanted to be the first to get to Balefor, and it was to his fortune that the Clocktower was only too happy to delegate the task to him. He was a lord after all, if not a particularly influential one.
The wanted mercenary from Japan that had been delivered by the Church just the day before had been a godsend for him. The mercenary, who was wanted for multiple crimes by the Clocktower in general and several nobles in particular, had immediately sang like a bird once he saw where he was. His mercenary career was over, one way or another, so it mattered little if he saved himself some pain by talking.
It had been an enormous but very welcome surprise to hear that he had been working for Balefor, and the lord thanked everything up in the sky that his men had been put on the case, instead of some random other Enforcers.
Balefor was apparently holed up in Hiraizumi, which was now the lord's intended destination.
He and his men would catch the first plane to the Far-East. He even had managed to get the Fraga to come along. He would get that Crest back and avenge his friend, that was almost guaranteed now.
He could only pray he would be the first to arrive there, but he was willing to forgive others for killing the scum, as long as they handed over the Crest to him afterwards.
The rest was ultimately inconsequential.
There, we are done.
VERY IMPORTANT: The lord here has had Brunevis interrogated, but the scene you saw here is days after Shirou himself interrogated him in Hikone. Meaning that as the lord leaves to Japan, Shirou already dealt with everything. The timeline becomes a bit wobbly here.
It is not as long a chapter as usual, but there wasn't much to tell. Next chapter deals with Shirou and the Magi, along with some other things.
Okay, as for the chapter itself.
We see Issei, who is definitely feeling the unnaturalness around him, but doesn't know what to do with it and eventually decides to ignore it.
We have Shirou getting over his first kill. That has been processed now guys, he is over it.
There are things discussed in the hotel rooms, also involving Rakurai, who, by popular request, now has several websites dedicated to him, as well as a solid fanbase.
The mercenary tries to enter Rin's room, but Shirou intercepts him.
He then uses the mysterious power (Shirou-Force) to interrogate the mercenary. This works, but it has limits, which I already mentioned in-story. Don't expect Shirou to suddenly start Hypnotising all the Magi now too. Mind-Control was never Thor's forte and also not Canon-Shirou's forte.
The pocket dimension is going to make a return. It's basically an inventory, but without the convenient panels that show him what's in it. Remember it well. Some of you Marvel-fans might already know a bit more about the Vault.
A hint, it involves an upset farmer, Asgard floating around blocking out the sun, and Thor feeling that he has to take responsibility.
Kirei receives a little present, and Rin gets to keep the money. Everyone is happy, including our favourite lord.
OMAKE
TedTheRabbit was just casually writing on his laptop, bothering no one, writing his next chapter, when CrazyLich79 suddenly entered his room.
"Ted, I want to become an author too, just like you." The skeleton proclaimed. "I know I can do it, just give me a chance. "
The guy was spirited and motivated, but Ted had already seen his heart. Lich was passionate…for a while. He would never be able to finish a single story as he was now. He needed to learn patience, consistency and the value of practise. He needed to be tempered. He needed to keep editing Ted's story since finding a beta-reader on your own is a hassle.
"No." Ted thus said making sure to keep his voice even and his back facing the undead so it wouldn't see the sweat on his brow. "You are not ready at all. You are impatient, reckless, foolish even, if you overestimate yourself this much. Disappear from my eyes, until you have found some humility."
With that, Ted went back to doing what all men do, not seeing the lich's eyes filling themselves with hate and spite.
Lich made his way over to the perfect solution. 'Not ready', what nonsense. He'd show Ted who was not ready, by completely proving him wrong.
Fortunately, he had read the old myths, or he might never have known about his perfect solution.
It was evening already once he entered the building at the very edge of town, where his solution was waiting for him.
Grail-kun.
"Grail-kun." Lich proclaimed upon seeing the weirdly-shaped creature, kneeling before it while dropping his meagre pocket money into the bowl placed at its feet.
"What's wrong, Lich-san?" The construct asked with its high-pitched voice.
"Ted says I'll never become an author, what must I do?!" Lich whined, waving his arms around, and kneeling deeply after asking his question.
"You're so hopeless, Lich-san." Grail-kun said with a closed eye smile.
Then, a knife landed point-first in front of Lich, and Grail-kun proclaimed the solution in its childish voice.
"BEHOLD! The Authormaker!"
Lich blinked upon seeing it, but then Grail-kun started whispering.
"You'll become an author by dealing with Ted, permanently."
Lich blinked once more, before he began smiling with a deranged look, socket-less eyes slowly gaining an eerie red glow.
Please save me…
This Omake was planned and co-created by LukeSky001, Crazylich79 and FenrirNifelheim.
The chapter was editing and proofread by Crazylich79 and liamrodhudson331. Many thanks to them.
Ted shall take his leave.