Darkness.
Darkness and heat surrounded him. He couldn't move a muscle. It was getting harder to breathe with each passing second. He could dimly hear flames crackling close by, but somehow, he took little comfort from that. Fire, right now, was bad. Something heavy fell to the ground not far from him. Sounded like metal.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed into dirt soaked with ashes. He tried to move his arms, but it was as if he'd forgotten how. He could barely make out his left hand lying limply in front of him. Still attached… for now…
What had happened…? How did he end up like this? Where was he?
…Who was he?
His eyelids felt so heavy, like he was falling asleep. Or… maybe he was waking up. Waking up from a nightmare… Yeah, maybe if he closed his eyes now… everything would be okay when he opened them…
Everyone was smiling.
It was bright, so bright she could barely make out anything that wasn't right next to her. But that wasn't important. Father was smiling down at her. Mother stood close by, looking the happiest(? Or was it hopeful?) she had been in one year. She rushed off to the manor's front gate, [her big sister right behind her,] and was met with a pat on the head [and a gentle hug from behind].
Father was telling her something, offering her a tome. He was placing his trust in her even as he was about to head off [with Jade], still taking the time for her. She couldn't be happier, [especially when she could feel her sister's faith washing over her].
But then as she looked up from the book, he… they turned and walked away. The light seemed to retract with them, and she felt lonely all of a sudden. She wanted them to stay here, with her and Mother, but she didn't call them back. They were heading off to fight. They needed to fight, for the sake of the Tohsaka family. She couldn't weigh them down now with her own selfishness.
Besides, they were going to win. Both of them would return soon enough.
So, clutching the book to her seven-year-old chest, she whispered after them. "See you soon, Father.
["…Keep him safe, Jade."]*
The garden looked so much happier, she found, as she meandered her way through it. Flowers of nearly every color bloomed in neatly organized patches while the thick, mighty trees stretched out their vibrant branches above Sakura. Even so, the sky in all its blue was still wonderfully visible through the leaves, a sun shining down upon the flora and fauna to warm all its occupants. The culmination of ten years of hard work, persistence, and many beautiful fireworks.
Yes, even a few animals were now wandering the woods in the ten years Sakura and her friend/teacher/Atto had been tending to it. Squirrels chased each other up and across the trees; birds flew high above the girl's head with happy chirps; she could even make out a pair of deer grazing together on her right. Are any of them real, though? She wondered idly while lifting her right hand to let a butterfly with green wings flutter down and land on her index finger. The gentle creature certainly felt to her touch. What else can appear in my dreams? Did they first appear when I wondered if he was getting lonely? …Is he real?
Sakura sighed to herself as the butterfly flapped away again. Such thoughts kept visiting her sporadically over the years… and they usually intensified the closer she stepped towards one particular place.
She hesitantly looked about; sure enough, the trees had taken on dark, twisted shapes and the grass was ashen grey. Before her lay the path drenched in shadows, the one area of the forest that remained unchanged no matter her and Atto's efforts. In fact, with how bright and lively everything else had become, this seemed all the darker for it. The animals didn't dare to wander about in it, and even he couldn't enter its borders.
Of course, Sakura had yet to try herself. Unlike him, she seemed to have no trouble stepping in and out of the dark area. The opposite, actually; something from the shadows seemed to… beckon to her, and the closer she came to it, the more it called to her. Sakura had once walked six paces into the dark area and only stopped on the seventh upon hearing a bird's cry.
Even now, as she stood there at the border, she could feel the pull somewhere in her mind… or her soul. And even though she had yet to recover her memories of that year, Sakura couldn't help but wonder if they were as terrifying this feeling. This darkness scared her, for all its enticing nature. She wanted nothing to do with it one second, and the next, she grew tempted to head in just so she could clear it all away, get this nightmare finally out of her dreams.
Sakura's fingers curled into fists, her nails slowly digging into her skin. What was it about this area…? Why couldn't she just find a way to end it once and for all?
"Some things simply cannot be rushed."
A smile instinctively crossed the girl's lips at that voice, and her body relaxed again as she turned towards its source.
Unlike Sakura or her dreams, ten years had seemingly done nothing to change Atto. He still wore the pristine white robes that matched his long hair and beard so splendidly. His staff was immaculate and humming with magic as ever in his grip, a stark contrast to the one of a simpler brown in his other hand: her training staff. She accepted it with a quick thank-you, her fingers running along the smooth sides and knots up to the tip shaped like a flower bud.
"If you do not feel ready for this, you should not force yourself." And those blue eyes still shined with timeless wisdom as they peered down at her. They had changed, though, in having somehow become softer, kinder, and Sakura loved them all the more for that. One look into them, and she felt like all of her anxieties were washed away by a soothing stream. "And you know that even if I cannot venture in, I would stand by you all the same." Maybe the only thing kinder than the old man's eyes was the smile framed by that soft white beard.
Sakura stepped into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "I know, Atto. Thank you." She felt his own arms against her back, and for a little while longer, the girl and the old man simply enjoyed each other's company, safe in the forest's light. …At least until they parted ways again with two familiar phrases.
Inside Miyama Town, three young souls slowly awakened to the dawn of a new Monday morning, one that would herald a series of events, fortunate and unfortunate alike, that would change their fates forever.
Fate/Stay Night: Paradoxical Blade Works
Inside a certain plush bedroom, an annoyingly familiar ringing sawed through the last dredges of blissful sleep. Cloth rustled about before one turquoise eye peaked out to glare at the cause, a red alarm clock perched atop a nightstand. "Oh, shut up, turn off!" A hand reached out to fling the stupid clock across the bedroom where it bounced off the chair's backrest and landed on the floor.
…But the ringing persisted. "Give me a break…" Covers had been pulled over to try and block out the noise, but to no avail. "Be gentle with me, I was up late last night." The alarm clock didn't care about her pleas, as it was fulfilling the duty for which it had been manufactured. And the desire to sleep and pride could only do so much to counter said duty. Thus, the covers were pushed off as Rin Tohsaka clambered out of bed. "Ugh, you're so cruel!"
With a click, the infernal thing was turned off, but the dark-haired girl continued to scowl at it for another second. She eventually pushed herself sighing off the carpet, placed the clock beside a worn book of Hobbits and flowers, and made for the door, pausing to place her feet into slippers the same creamy color as her nightgown. No point wasting her ire on a stupid machine, time was a precious commodity.
Rin quickly bounded down the stairs of the Tohsaka home and walked into the dining room. "Sakura?" she called out upon registering the quiet. "Mother? Aren't you awake yet?" Silence was her answer, and then she remembered. "Oh, right. They moved over to our grandparents' home yesterday evening," she reminded herself while heading for the kitchen. It was a necessary precaution for what was about to happen. Rin couldn't risk her family becoming hostages, and no matter what Mother thought, she needed to do this-
She stopped. Tucked in between the oven's door was a slip of paper, one she discovered carried a simple message: Good morning, Big Sister. Best of luck.
Rin opened up the oven to find a complete breakfast, wrapped up in aluminum foil and made last night from the smell of it. A smile flitted across her face, one that grew as she saw the teabags had been restocked. She quickly prepared the kettle and laid out her food onto a plate, now all the more assured of her decision. Sakura had been through enough, and for her to do something like this… Rin would keep her safe and achieve victory for their family's sake. For now, though, she settled for enjoying her unexpected breakfast.
Otherwise, she went through her usual morning routine with practiced ease. A few minutes of freshening up, then Rin slipped on her variation of Homurahara Academy's school uniform for girls: standard brown vest over a white shirt with red neck ribbon, dark skirt over black leggings, then her red overcoat. She pulled her long hair into twin tails held together with red ribbons, the same way they had been all her life, though her fingers had inadvertently begun to braid it before she caught herself. I hate it when they do that… Rin spared an extra two seconds to glare at her mutinous appendages, then checked her image in the mirror. Immaculate as ever; good. "Always elegant," such was the Tohsaka creed.
She retrieved her bookcase and reached instinctively for where Sakura's would be, then stopped. Right. Safe at our grandparents'. Rin straightened and made to leave when she remembered something else. "Oh, the pendant…" A quick trip down to Father's- her workshop, and the young magus found the object of her desire: A vibrant ruby affixed to a long silver chain, nestled atop a black velvet cloth. Only a proper magus could recognize its potency extended far beyond material value.
She picked it up with a fond smile. "It hasn't officially begun, but just in case…" She slipped the precious item safely into her pocket and returned to her preparation for school. The chain's links clinking together brought about a flutter of anticipation, but Rin kept her cool. She knew what was coming, and she knew what she had to do.
Morning sunlight trickled in through the shed's windows, illuminating some of its interior. Cardboard boxes were neatly placed and stacked all over, but there was a distinct method to the madness. It had taken a long time to sort through the accumulated junk inside, and the work was far from done. There were still things yet to be uncovered in here. Still, the shed's most frequent visitor had yet to give up on it.
Speaking of which, a young teenaged boy was lying on a working mat right in front of the entrance. Partially disassembled machines and assorted tools were strewn around him as he slept in dark blue sleepwear. The shed's door was slightly ajar, allowing for a crack of light ran in front of him.
The door slowly opened with a slight rattle of its hinges, but they, too, were kept in pristine shape. A little sunlight was touching the boy's body now, though not enough to reach his face. A small shadow then traveled through the open door and moved up to his side, avoiding the pieces with a sort of carefulness that seemed natural. Not a sound was made as the newcomer halted right in front of his face.
The shadow loomed over his prone body for the longest time, the boy still slumbering blissfully unaware of his company. But that state was bound to change. Something red and glistening with moisture flicked out to prod the boy's face, drawing a groan from him. He shuffled about on his "bed" in an effort to escape, but the wet sensation persisted. The struggle went on until a hand finally reached sluggishly out and met something fuzzy. One eye peeked open, and Shirou Emiya moaned, "Alright, alright, I'm up," to his friend.
Even as his brain slowly rebooted from the last dredges of deep sleep, he glanced up to find a pair of dark highlighted eyes narrowed at him disapprovingly for a split second before they softened again. He offered their owner, a small hound with drooping ears and the kanji for "shinobi" on his forehead, an apologetic glance and a pat, but the canine just retracted his tongue and nuzzled him in greeting. "Morning, Shirou."
Now, most people would've been baffled at a dog speaking fluent human, but the auburn-haired boy had grown comfortable with it after five years. "Good morning, Biscuit." Shirou picked himself off the hard floor and stretched with a slight grunt before rubbing his hand through tan fur. "I know, I know, I shouldn't sleep in here. Especially not when I have a perfectly good futon in my room." He then quickly began packing away the tools and projects he'd been working on; his (human) living mates didn't like him leaving his messes lying around here. If I fall asleep before finishing my work, I've really got to focus better…
"Apparently not good enough," Biscuit huffed back as they walked out the shed and through the backyard. "I swear, one of these mornings, we're gonna find you buried underneath a junk avalanche in there."
"Then you'll just dig me out." A paw swatted against Shirou's shin. "What? Everybody knows dogs like to dig." This time, the reply he got was an unimpressed ruff. A precautionary measure Biscuit and his seven packmates took in case of normal people… well, people unaffiliated with magecraft being nearby. But he'd spent enough time with each of these softies to get a decent idea of their intent without them speaking. Heck, Bull never talked, and his grunts and barks were like perfect Japanese to Shirou and the pack's official owner/alpha/mommy.
Speaking of which… "Aunt Maiya's done all the morning chores?" He figured rousing him to get ready was the reason Biscuit had been summoned, and the bark that followed confirmed it. Shirou scratched his head with a guilty huff before reaching the main house's door. I should've taken care of them myself, she's got enough on her plate… He slid open the door, stepped in and let Biscuit follow before closing it. Damnit…
Before freshening up, he performed his morning 120 pushups and 100 vertical sit-ups in the house's small dojo. Physical exercise was a vital part of a magus' training, not to mention it always helped to keep in shape. He couldn't let up just because he'd left the archery club. Once done, he showered and donned his brown school uniform, coat unbuttoned with a white-blue shirt underneath.
The aroma of freshly cooked fish greeted Shirou the moment he slid open the door to the dining room. The table was already set, a certain feline burying her nose in the paper with her back turned to him and a dog curled up on her right. The TV was broadcasting the morning news. Biscuit trotted in after the boy and made his way to the counter where a bowl of dog food waited, happily tucking in. Shirou spared a smile at him before calling to the one manning the stocked stove, "Good morning, Aunt Maiya, sorry I made you handle all this by yourself."
"Don't worry about it, I was up early anyway." Even while facing the cooking food, her voice came relaxed and sincere, though with an endnote that brokered no argument. Shirou knew better than to insist, so he relented by heading over to the table's other side.
Pakkun was seated beside his cushion, greeting him with a friendly rumble that intensified when Shirou scratched underneath his chin. "Good morning, Bis Sis Fuji. Morning, boys." He made himself comfortable beside the pug while the third member of their household walked over with another bowl.
"Morning~" Huh, she sounded a little preoccupied.
Shirou shrugged, still a bit too tired to puzzle out why. "Thank you for the meal." Then he prepared himself a bowl of rice and yams with some sauce on top and picked up his chopsticks.
Behind her paper, Taiga Fujimura's lips curled onto a cat-like smile. Two dogs snickered quietly to themselves.
Shirou popped some rice into his mouth… and his morning immediately took a turn for the worse.
His aunt watched bemused as he spat out the food, flopped about on the floor and crashed into the wall behind him while Pakkun hopped safely out of range. Her wish for an explanation was nipped in the bud as Shirou glared at the bowl in his head. "Th-this isn't soy sauce…! You don't put any other sauce on top of rice with creamed yams! Least of all oyster sauce!" The offending liquid trickled from his lips like blood.
A cackle revealed the perpetrator behind this grievous crime. Taiga happily cast aside her paper to spring up in a T-pose in her green jacket, yellow shirt with black stripes and dark jeans. "That's because I switched the labels on the bottles!" She twirled around before flashing them her tongue with a wink.
"Who does something like this first thing in the morning?!" An annoyed Shirou wiped his mouth between his scolding. "Turning twenty-five this year, and you haven't grown up one bit, Big Sis Fuji." Then he turned his glare to two chortling hounds rolling about on the floor. "And why didn't either of you warn me? You were right next to me, Pakkun! And you, Akino, would've sniffed out the sauce a mile away!"
"I bribed them with extra treats~" Taiga swung about her rear while bending down to give her co-conspirators a thank-you smooch. But her triumph came to an abrupt end when a spoon bounced off the side of her head, causing her to yelp and tumble to the mats. "But he started it, Big Sis!"
From the front of the table drawled a female deadpan, "Children, behave or I will ground you all." Shirou allowed himself a brief half-smirk even as he quickly got up to get some appropriate sauce (and something else), the brunette across from him hastily returning to her own meal. They'd both learned long ago that Maiya Hisau never made an empty threat.
Thus, the rest of breakfast proceeded in silence with no further pranks. Even the dogs behaved themselves, though Shirou still gave two of them a stink-eye in-between drowning out the awful taste with tea. Taiga glared playfully back at him with her brown eyes before turning to Maiya. "I was just paying Shirou back for yesterday! He had it coming for calling me 'Tiger'!"
"So, that's why you've been so quiet…" Shirou grumbled. "You were plotting this."
Maiya huffed as she set down her bowl and chopsticks and turned to him. "Shirou, you know Taiga hates that nickname. Provoking her only makes her double down on her antics, you ought to know that after spending ten years with her."
"I've got to fight back somehow," Shirou defended himself before smirking. His surrogate sister's own smile flickered and then faltered completely at the sight of what else he'd collected from the kitchen. "But we'll always defer to your fair and unbiased judgement, Aunt Maiya." With that, he revealed a plate of three chocolate square brownies American-style, still fresh from yesterday's batch.
Maiya's dark eyes immediately narrowed at the offering, just as Shirou had predicted. There was a reason he'd developed his baking skills over the years, and seeing the woman who had raised him brighten on account of her sweet tooth always scored literal brownie points.
He set down the plate, and Taiga desperately made a grab for them, but Maiya trapped her in a one-handed arm bar before she or Shirou could blink. Maiya eyed the younger woman flopping about in her grip while taking a victorious bite out of one brownie. After a little chewing, she nodded. "Shirou's motion stands in light of his testimony." Bribe would've been a more accurate term, Shirou knew, but she had taught him to fight resourcefully, and he wasn't arguing with the results as his dear aunt released a sulking Taiga.
Maiya had managed to gain one final growth spurt in the ten years they'd been together ("It's because of Shirou's cooking!" Taiga often joked), leaving her about one centimeter taller than Shirou at full height, and when she was displeased, she towered over her living mates. Despite keeping herself in shape and her "baby sister's" best efforts, she insisted on wearing neutral clothing: this morning, Maiya was dressed in a baggy grey sweater and brown pants that hid her honed muscles along with most of her natural beauty. She also refused makeup, jewelry, or anything else that would make her stand out save for one detail. Her dark hair was still in a bob cut, but for about eight years now, the left side barely reached her earlobe while the right came down to her shoulder. Shirou and Taiga had always puzzled about her choice of hairstyle for its asymmetry. But whenever someone asked Maiya about it, she'd just give a tiny enigmatic smile.
Taiga secretly believed it was in memory of a lost love.
For now, though, the energetic teacher was preoccupied with scooping up the bespectacled dog beside her and burying her faux-teary face into his fur. "Akino, your mommy's so mean to me!"
Back when Maiya had first introduced her pack to Shirou, they agreed that Taiga didn't need to know about the hounds' special talents, but keeping their presence in the Emiya household a secret would've been impossible with how she practically lived here. So, they made up a story of them being eight strays who lived close by and popped in every now and then to enjoy Maiya's hospitality. If asked why they didn't stay in the house full-time, or why Taiga couldn't take them in, the answer was, "They prefer their autonomy."
Five years had passed since Shirou had first met these canine "familiars"; it had been only three days after… the funeral. He must've been looking particularly glum back then, because Maiya had led her charge into the living room and told him, "I want you to meet some… family of mine." Then she bit on her thumb hard enough to draw blood, cast five handsigns, and one Poof later, eight hounds were sitting before him.
He may've come around to accepting their intelligence and capacity for speech, but there were still times he wondered just what else Pakkun, Akino, Biscuit, Urushi, Shiba, Guruko, Uhei and Bull were capable of.
The cuteness routine Akino was putting on now, wide eyes behind his shades and high-pitched whimpering, that Shirou knew all too well. He wasn't even the target of Taiga's grab for power, and he was still tempted to dig out a box of curry-flavored treats; Akino's favorite. As for Maiya, though, she'd developed a much higher tolerance for her "babies'" antics. Probably because she'd known them for a lot longer… Either way, fake cuteness didn't work on her, as evidenced by a cocked eyebrow and the warning, "Traitors don't get dessert for a fortnight," she gave in-between nibbling the brownies away.
Akino promptly stopped his routine and trotted over to his mommy's side, only pausing to give Taiga an apology lick. She in turn pouted. "One day, I will have subverted them all and overthrow you…"
"Challenge me as often as you want, I'll put you in your place every single time." Despite her smirk, Maiya offered her half of the last brownie, which her "little sister" pretended to refuse for only two seconds. The second half was given to Shirou who saved it for afterwards. Unlike the two ladies, he preferred to keep his snacks separate from his meals. Oh yeah, I've got to talk with Sakura about that souffle recipe…
He wasn't the only one with school-related topics on the brain: Taiga straightened in her seat. "Oh yeah, I got so caught up in that prank there are still a couple tests for me to grade!" She quickly scarfed down the last of her breakfast. "Gotta go quick, thanks for the meal!" She plunked down the last bowl and made to get up when she halted in her tracks. "Oh yeah…" Taiga's energy faded a little. "Isn't your trip today, Big Sis?"
Maiya sipped some tea before nodding calmly, all fun gone. "Yes, my ride departs soon. I'll be heading out a little before you, Shirou." The boy inclined his head at that as she patted her sister's hand. "Don't worry, Taiga, it's just a little personal business. I ought to be home again in two days, three at the most."
Taiga pounced onto her with a big hug, one the three doggies slipped into. "I'll still miss you! Ya need me and Shirou to cover the shop while you're gone?"
"Don't worry about that." Maiya patted her back and accepted the many nuzzles. "I've already talked it over with Mr. Watanabe, and Shoji promised he'd handle my shifts. Just take care of yourselves, you hear me?" That last part wasn't just directed at the younger woman, as all five fixed Shirou with the same stare. He silently raised his hands to concede; he'd have swung by for a quick peak in the shop. Just in case.
As for Taiga, she was back to her usual bubbly self. "Alright, good luck then! Bring me a souvenir back!" She skipped away to grab her coat, helmet and goggles before heading outside. Maiya, Shirou and the hounds watched her start up her yellow scooter with a slight rumble. Good thing I changed the motor oil, Shirou mused upon hearing the engine's sounds. "See you at school, Shirou!" His grinning big sis called to him. "Don't be late, and you better not fall asleep again!" She flicked down her goggles and zipped out the front gate, "Don't forget that souvenir, Big Sis! Love you boys!" Aaaand she was gone in a puff of smoke.
They headed back inside, the doggies barking in goodbye, the humans rolling their eyes. "I know Big Sis Fuji is our landlord's daughter," Shirou grumbled as he cleared up the dishes, "but does she really have to eat here every day? She's only gonna mooch off here more while you're away, Aunt Maiya."
"That's just how she is, Shirou." Water splashed inside the sink as she accepted his load and began washing the dishes. "And your buying my impartiality aside, what did you think would happen if you uttered her nickname around her?"
"It was an accident!" Maiya shook her head, long since used to the bond siblings' back-and-forth's. Biscuit scampered over to deposit his bowl with a grateful bark while she could hear Akino and Pakkun scurrying about in the dining room. "And I hope you liked her bribes because you two won't be getting any snacks from me for a while!" Both doggies scoffed at his threat; they knew his vow wouldn't last long.
Meanwhile, the newscaster on TV had just finished wrapping up a story about a minivan with faulty brakes. "In other news, a group of workers in Shinto passed out and were admitted to the hospital last night. A representative of the police informed us that they suspect the cause to have been a gas leak due to the patients being diagnosed with hypoxia. However, they recommend extreme caution in light of a possible link to a similar incident a month ago."
Shirou frowned at the news. "Another gas leak in Shinto, huh? Pretty crazy." He absentmindedly stroked the nearby Akino's head. "Guess we need to watch out, too."
"Eh," Pakkun scratched his ear in dismissal, "so they need to get a couple spots in the city up to code. Knowing you, you'll have triple-checked the gas valve anyway." Shirou rolled his eyes at the playful jab, thereby missing how all three hounds exchanged a glance with their alpha before Poofing away.
Their disappearance didn't surprise the boy; according to his teacher, that technique could only summon contracted animals for a given period of time, dependent on the summoner's od as well as their own. Shirou himself could only call up two dogs, three on a good day, for a couple of minutes before they had to leave again to… wherever they were when not summoned. One more thing on his list with room for improvement.
"Either way, I trust you all to be careful while I'm gone. Don't do anything rash and be at home on time. You have my number, Shirou, so if anything happens, leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Maiya cleaned the last of the dishes, then shut off the sink before stepping away. "Be seeing you then."
Shirou exchanged a nod with her, which she expected. What she didn't expect was the hug he suddenly pulled her into. Maiya blinked even as her arms moved on autopilot to return the gesture. "…And what's this for? I'll be back soon."
"I know." The boy she'd cared for ten years now rested his head against her shoulder. "But you look like you need this."
She smiled at that, squeezing him a little more before releasing him so they could look each other in the eye. "Always worrying about others instead of yourself… We really need to work on that." A still smiling Maiya patted his cheek in mock admonishment. "All the same, thanks."
"Anytime, Aunt Maiya." For a moment far too brief, Shirou smiled back at her, and Maiya had long since learned by now that look on him was something to treasure for as long as possible.
For it was quickly gone again, and the boy had his usual determined frown as he made to get ready for school. His surrogate aunt went for her bag with a little sigh. Shirou hadn't been one to express joy easily in the decade she'd known him; not that she could blame him after what he'd been through, but ever since Kiritsugu had… passed, Maiya could count on one hand the number of times her ward smiled, genuinely smiled, per month.
And not once, no matter how many times her boys licked or nuzzled him, had she ever heard Shirou make a certain sound. Her (somewhat) defrosted heart lurched just a little more every time this fact came to mind.
Maiya shook herself and made for the door. Now wasn't the time to dwell on such thoughts, not when "gas leaks" were only the prelude to what was about to happen in this city. She'd seen the signs, known that foreign magi had arrived at one point or another. She had tried to prepare; a quick glare at her bare hands. But despite her most fervent wishes, she sensed that things would go even less smoothly than last time.
Outside, she slipped into an alley and bit into her thumb. One way or another, if Maiya was to protect her family, her home, she needed a weapon. She needed help. But she couldn't leave without taking precautions.
With a light Poof, two hounds appeared before her. Their happy panting stopped as soon as they saw her expression. The bigger one, a heavyset bulldog with dark fur, released a low whimper at her expression.
Even in the time before her family, Maiya probably would've had a hard time maintaining her resolve at the face he made. "I know, but I have to go, Bull." The woman reached down to rub his head, drawing a little rumble. She then petted the black Mohawk-like tuft atop the smaller dog's head at his eager ruff. "He said they'd help me, and if we want to keep Shirou safe, I can't let any opportunity slip by. It's already started up again, just like they said." She glared at the bare spot on her hand for a moment. "I want to keep Shirou out of this if I can, but it's too late to send him away, and he wouldn't fall for just any excuse. So…"
"Better to prepare for the worst, right?" Shiba finished for her with a huff. He squared his little shoulders. "Then go do have what you have to. We'll watch over Shirou until you get back." Bull barked in agreement.
Both were promptly pulled into a tight hug as Maiya nuzzled both of their snouts. Ten years had passed, and they had barely aged a day biologically, as had their six packmates; probably because they were technically familiars. But the former child soldier's skill with the Summoning Jutsu had evolved to the point where she could have them about for days without loss of strength for summoner or summoned.
"Goodness' sake, I don't deserve you furry little angels…" And her love for the pack had only grown, too. Is this how you felt, Kiritsugu? Back when you fathered a child with Irisviel…? Still nothing concrete of him…
"We love you anyways." That comment, plus their snuggles, made Maiya beam down at them. She gave first Bull a kiss goodbye, then Shiba, and released them so they could bound off into the shadows.
The woman permitted herself one final moment of basking in this fuzzy feeling of family. But all moments have to pass, and as she turned on her heel, the Mage Killer's protégé rose to the surface.
Once again, it was time for war.
A swing, a lunge, and return to the basic stance. Sakura Tohsaka repeated the drill twice before relaxing with a satisfied sound. She placed the training staff alongside its kin while wiping some sweat from her brow, though with chilly the morning was, the katas were an excellent way to stay warm. Not to mention they helped clear her mind and prepare her for the school day.
Homurahara was one of the few remaining schools that offered a Sojotsu club as well as Kendo and archery. Rumor had it that Makidera-senpai had pressured multiple teachers into keeping the club going when it would seemingly be disbanded; interesting, considering the self-named "Black Panther of Homurahara" divvied her time between it and the track team. Still, Sakura for her part had shocked more than a few of her fellow students by signing up for Sojutsu. Of course, they didn't need to know why she was so keen on wielding a staff for self-defense.
"Ah, Sakura!" She paused on her way to the lockers at a familiar voice calling her. The dark-haired girl turned to find one of her seniors smiling and waving at her. Ayako Mitsuzuri's brown hair shifted slightly amidst the breezes, but she seemed otherwise unbothered by it in her archery garb. "Done already for this morning? Smacking around my brother isn't much of a challenge anymore, huh?" Her teasing grin blunted any edge her words might've had, and Sakura already knew how close the Mitsuzuri siblings were.
Thus, she shook her head while smiling back. "Oh no, he's been keeping himself in shape. I only managed to disarm him three out of five times in our last spar." "Only" three times, Ayako mouthed, her grin widening as her kohai continued. "But what about you, senpai? Finally stepping down as team captain?"
"I wish," the sigh Ayako made became visible in the morning chill, "ever since Emiya quit, I've been short my prime candidate. It'd be nice to kick back a little, take one responsibility off my plate! Matou's still badgering me for the position, and he'd be a decent fit skill-wise if he weren't looking at the whole thing as a vanity project." She shook her head before fixing a scrutinizing eye on Sakura. "Say…"
"For the umpteenth time, senpai, I'm not switching teams, no matter how nicely you beg." Sakura giggled.
"Hey, I never beg!" The older girl pretended to deflate, but her eyes gave her away. "Too bad… you'd have made captain in no time… Well, can't blame a girl for trying," she conceded, the dark-haired girl not budging despite the flattery. She couldn't fault Sakura, having spent some time learning how to wield a naginata herself. They both made to go their separate paths when Ayako remembered something. "Oh right, I saw your sister just now."
Sakura stopped walking and glanced back. "Really? I didn't see her… Wouldn't have expected Big Sister this early, either." Plus, she always gets cranky when someone mentions staff-fighting around her… she added privately. Rin hadn't outright argued with her choice of club, but she didn't visit her during sessions.
Ayako snorted. "Apparently, her alarm clock went off an hour early. Guess mistakes can happen for even the school idol." Sakura's turquoise eyes blinked. Despite her best efforts to keep up appearances, her Big Sister did indeed make mistakes. But the manor had plenty of clocks, and between the two of them and Mother, they always managed to keep them all in sync. Rin would've surely noticed a discrepancy…
Then Ayako's voice broke through her musings. "Alright, I need to get back to the court." She flashed Sakura a two-fingered salute. "Thanks for humoring me, see you later."
"My pleasure, senpai!" Sakura waved back, her smile returning. "Please have the work ready so we can meet up before class." She turned around again and made for the locker room; now was the time to focus on schoolwork. Don't know if I should be worrying about a faulty alarm. Rin wouldn't let that stop her…
The older Toshaka sister was currently having a discussion of her own, though one far less pleasant.
"Well, hello hello, Tohsaka, wasn't expecting to see you here at this hour." The last person she wanted to interact with had popped up near the entrance where Rin had wanted to slip quietly in, and the time mix-up hadn't made her any happier to hear him. "Looks like this is shaping up to be my lucky day." Even with her back turned to him, she could hear the smug lilt in his voice that always made her want to punch someone when it reached her ears.
Such behavior was regrettably unbecoming of a model student like her, however, so she settled for a quiet sigh and put on her courtesy smile before facing him. "Morning to you, too, Shinji Matou. You're rather early yourself."
"I have to be as team captain," the boy bragged as he sauntered a step closer. Rin couldn't help but notice his wavy indigo hair glistened slightly, likely freshly gelled. It matched with how there wasn't a spot or crease in his uniform, and he probably applied lotion to his hands regularly, too. He was of a decent height and had a fit build nicely shaped by the clothes (though there seemed to be a bandage peeking out from beneath his jacket's collar), plus some girls would certainly find those confident purple eyes of his attractive.
But even if Rin had been one of them, the way they kept roaming up and down on her was a definite turn-off. "You're just vice, idiot," she grumbled quietly, not that Matou would've heard her. He was too in love with himself for that. And she didn't owe him any more than this. "Bye." Thus, Rin made to head inside.
Matou apparently didn't get the hint. "Hey, hold on a second. Why don't you come and watch our morning exercises?" His voice was drifting annoyingly closer, and she could hear his footsteps.
"Thanks, but no thanks." Rin scoffed, not even bothering to turn around. "I wouldn't want to bother all the real archers during practice."
"Oh, don't worry, nobody would mind…"
Can't this moron take a hint? Rin barely managed to turn the snarl in her throat into a cold, "In case you didn't get it the first time, I'm not interested." She deliberately dropped the politeness; apparently, it was giving off the wrong impression. "Truth be told, I never cared much for it anyway."
Shinji cocked an eyebrow at her, a motion he'd practiced and successfully used on more than one girl. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed." He inched just a little closer, making Tohsaka step twice as far backwards to his inner amusement. "And all this time I thought you were interested in archery. After all, didn't you keep popping up during the afternoon sessions?"
Rin bristled as this slimy excuse for a boy was suddenly in her personal space. "There must've been something going on that caught your attention," Matou continued, his hand reaching around her. "Or someone… Right, the Sojotsu club's time slots often link up with archery club's. Squeezing out what time they can get…" His smirk widened, wide enough to fit her shoe, she bet. "But that makes it easier to watch both sweet Sakura and me at the same time, right?"
"Stay away from me," the last of Rin Tohsaka's neutral expression melted away while she smacked his arm away with a bit more force than necessary judging by how Matou winced, "and stay the hell away from my sister." She jabbed a finger at him as he stumbled back in surprise. Whether it was from the poke or the glare she shot him, Rin couldn't have pretended to care. "I don't even want to hear her name leave your rotten mouth, Matou. In fact, let's get some things straight while we're at it: My sister is. Off." Another poke. "Limits." Alle gute Dinge sind drei. "I have zero interest in archery, and I have even less interest in you. I honestly never noticed you during the sessions I checked out." All one hundred percent, rock-solid facts. "I doubt I'll notice you in the future." That she planned on making fact.
(Though her reasons for lingering near Sakura's practice and ducking out towards that team were her own.)
Matou gaped at her for a moment like a gasping fish before his mouth shifted into a snarl. The fish look had suited him better. "Who do you think you are, Tohsaka?"
His fists balled as he closed the distance again, but Rin had had enough of dealing with this worm. "Oh, and a word of advice: Try dialing down the personality. Or better yet, get a new one. Anything's better than what you have now." And with that, she turned her back on him and marched into the school, not wasting a second thought on some spoiled jackass from that family. Well, I'm fully awake now, so maybe putting him in his place wasn't a total waste of my time, Rin huffed to herself as she made for her locker.
"Not as cool and collected as everyone says she is…" Outside, Shinji's anger melted smoothly away as he straightened, idly inspecting the hand Tohsaka had struck. "Either she's an Oscar-worthy actor, or she really didn't notice a thing." He smirked at seemingly unblemished skin. "I'm willing to bet it's the latter. Perfect."
His smirk faltered as a bolt of pain shot up his arm, but he forced it down with a deep breath. "Settle down, damnit." Shinji hissed to himself, discreetly checking to make sure he was alone. "It's almost time…"
Two other male students were currently in a club room inside the school, but their intentions were far less sinister. "I swear, the school budget's a complete mess."
"No kidding, most of it goes to the athletic clubs, and the rest are left with the dregs." Shirou replied to his friend's lamentations while he fiddled with a torch and a space heater. An outdated one, at that.
"With priorities like that, it's no surprise that the rooms for the non-athletic clubs are all falling apart." Sitting in a chair in front of him was Issei Ryuudou, dark-haired president of the student council and every bit as responsible as was expected of the position. "They're easily pressured into keeping the Sojutsu club going despite so few actually being part of it, and meanwhile, not a thought is spared for our faulty stoves."
Shirou paused in his work to glance up to the other student. "Are there any other broken heaters?"
"Unfortunately." Most people would've been disheartened at an answer like that. But Emiya, Issei knew, wasn't like most. In ways both good and bad.
He ran a hand along the dark metal surface, muttering, "Thought so. Age has caught up with this one, that's all."
Issei wasn't surprised by the diagnosis or how quickly it was made; his red-haired friend had a knack for machines. It was a talent he was counting on. "Can you fix it, Emiya?"
"Sure."
"You mean it?" Shirou noticed Issei subtly relaxing just a little behind his glasses, then turned back to the heater.
"Do you mind waiting outside, Issei? Shouldn't take me long to get it running again." Not when he had his special tool at his side. But as his mentors always stressed, better to not let normal people see it.
Fortunately, Issei trusted him enough to let him do his own thing. "Not a problem." He stood and walked towards the door, sliding it open before calling back, "Take your time, Emiya." The door closed again.
With that, Shirou Emiya was alone. "Now then…" He calmed his mind and smoothed a palm over the heater, his Magic Circuits lighting up with energy that flowed into the machine. As the magic pulsed through it, the young mage imagined he could see inside the heater, all of its components and how they worked or didn't work. "Two parts about to give out in the heating element… No problems with the transfer pipe… A little electrical tape ought to be enough for the power cord for now." He deactivated his Structural Grasp, one of the only spells he was any good at, and picked up his screwdriver.
Meanwhile, Issei Ryuudou was waiting patiently outside when a certain thorn in his side walked up the stairs and came into view. He flinched involuntarily before he could catch himself. "Tohsaka…"
Rin had still been fuming a little over her encounter with Matou, so Ryuudou's reaction was a welcome opportunity for her to get back into a good mood. "Why, Mr. School Council President himself," she placed a hand on her hip and took on an easygoing demeanor, "doing a little early-morning patrol of the halls, are we? Or are you handling maintenance for the club rooms?" His brows twitched slightly behind his glasses' rims: bingo. She shrugged. "Well, it's none of my business. You're a hardworking student as usual."
Ryuudou grunted even as he recomposed himself. "And what are you plotting this morning? Why else would you be here so early, when you haven't joined any clubs?" There it was, that suspicion he always aimed at her since their days together on the student council in junior high. Like Rin Tohsaka was always one step away from setting a classroom on fire or instigating a school rebellion.
"I just felt like it." Rin's casual explanation was answered with a disbelieving frown; no matter what she said or how she said it, Ryuudou simply refused to lower his guard around her. She couldn't show the student council president any outright disrespect, not that she cared enough to try, and Ryuudou wasn't the kind of guy to make a fuss over another student without evidence, but he didn't trust her.
Which was exactly why she enjoyed riling him up by doing precisely nothing.
He was already drawing breath to likely begin yet another argument between them when the room's door slid open. Then out popped Emiya carrying a space heater. "Okay, Issei, it's fixed."
Rin watched as Ryuudou immediately chilled out again and moved to join the school's resident handyman. "Ah, thanks." His left hand raised in apology, he kneeled next to the heater. "I asked you to help me and you took care of everything. Sorry, Emiya."
"It's alright," Shirou assured him; truth be told, he'd heard the conversation outside and sensed that another spat was about to happen. Hence his timely interruption. "Where's the next heater?" he prompted, trying to keep both Issei's attention and his own off the girl standing over them. "There's not much time."
"Over in the A/V room…" Rin quickly lost interest in whatever Ryuudou was saying as she idly studied the other boy. Emiya had developed a reputation around school for being willing to help with any problem. A lamp needed fixing? Ask Emiya. Could use a second set of hands to carry stuff from one room to another? Ask Emiya. While looking about the same as Matou in height and build, the two couldn't have been more different. Oh yeah, Rin recalled as her eyes inadvertently met his earnest golden-yellow ones, Mitsusuri mentioned he'd quit the club. Meant Rin wouldn't be spotting him at archery anymore. Ah, well…
Then his eyes turned back to Ryuudou, and she picked up on their conversation again out of boredom. "…can't fix it if it's dead. It'd be easier to just buy a new one." Rin suppressed a smirk at that; so even Homurahara's legendary "fake school janitor" had his limits, eh?
"Fair enough, but I'd appreciate it if you checked it anyway…" She decided to walk off, already confident Emiya would give in. But as she'd told Ryuudou, none of this was her business. That was going to take all of her concentration, she reminded herself as she barely registered the sound of him standing up.
"Okay, I'll take a look." As Tohsaka walked past him, Shirou made to speak up but hesitated. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd talked, but that was due to circumstance and usually just consisted of greetings and/or questions requiring one-word answers. That was more than he deserved. Rin Tohsaka was out of his league, that was like saying "water's wet." What could someone like him say to someone like her?
She was nearly out of hearing range when Shirou spoke. "…I wasn't expecting to see you at school this early, Tohsaka." Inwardly, he cringed at what he just said. Smooth, Emiya. You sure have a way with words. Shirou ignored the look Issei shot him and busied himself with the heater. Machines, he knew how to interact with. Sometimes he wondered if that was the only thing he was good for…
As for Rin, she turned her head slightly while reaching the end of the hallway. "Was that him trying to say hello…?" she mumbled under her breath. The prodigy girl spent another seven seconds mulling this over before shaking her head and moving on. She had enough on her plate that she couldn't waste any more time.
Now out of her archery gear and in her school uniform, Ayako permitted herself one last stretch just before she walked down the halls. Nothing like a little bow-and-arrow action on a wintery day to wake oneself up. Too bad Emiya had quit the team, leaving her and the others all alone with Matou… Ayako sighed to herself. She'd try talking sense into him another time, maybe even play on his tendency to help others a little. It was dirty, sure, but if it meant they got back the best candidate besides her for team captain…
But for now, it was time for broader high school curriculum. Other students were rapidly filling the classrooms, and Ayako still had a little paperwork left for the student council. Good thing that group had a reliable junior assistant, she reflected upon hearing a familiar voice in the classroom she was looking for.
Sakura was humming a little tune to herself as she worked. "The road goes ever on and on," she sang quietly while skimming through a collection of papers, "Down from the door where it began," she put that stack down and retrieved another, "Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can."
Ayako walked into her line of sight with her usual smile. "That's a beautiful song, Sakura," she commented, drawing a blush from the dark-haired girl that made her look even cuter. "Where'd you learn it?"
Sakura bit her lip in apparent thought. "…Oh, just a little something I must've heard over the radio years ago." She shrugged good-naturedly. "It keeps popping up in my head every now and then. You know how it is, senpai."
"Don't we all," Ayako huffed, smile still in place, "the danger of a good song turning into an ear worm."
Minori, Ayako's younger brother, entered the room. Despite their ages, he was taller than his sister and less social as well. Still, he was always courteous around others (especially with Sakura, as Ayako privately liked to tease him) and made for a good sparring partner in Sojutsu with his build. "Good morning again, Tohsaka." Minori greeted her as he headed for his desk.
Sakura made to return the greeting, then stopped as another memory came to mind. "What do you mean?" She grinned slyly.
The sudden question made the boy stop mid-step and turn haltingly back towards her. "Er… P-pardon me?" He asked, hoping she'd give him time to come up with a better reply. Ah, the naivety of a school crush…
"Well, do you mean to wish me a good morning, Mitsuzuri, or are you telling me that it's a good morning whether I want it or not?" Sakura shrugged, grin still in place. He made to speak, or at least hoped he could, but she couldn't help but go on. "Or maybe you mean to say you feel good on this particular morning. Or are you simply telling me that this is a morning to be good on?"
Minori stared at her for the longest time, his mouth opening and closing rapidly like a fish on caffeine, then his cheeks slightly reddened. "Uh… all of them?" The resultant laughter around him didn't help his embarrassment.
Fortunately, his big sister came to the rescue, though not without a giggle or two of her own. "As if there was any doubt that you're Tohsaka's younger sister."
Sakura's grin faltered for a moment, so brief Ayako might've sworn she'd imagined it, then she was bowing her head to Minori. "I hope neither of you take offense, Mitsuzuri, I just couldn't resist. Sorry about that." Both siblings accepted her apologies gracefully (much to her private relief), then Sakura accepted the documents meant for the council. Honestly, sometimes, Ayako wanted to hug her kohai until she squeaked.
Outside the room, a certain girl passing by with her hair in red ribbons, too, was working all the harder to keep her smile neutral as ever. Oh, for goodness' sake… Still loved Kirei's face when she pulled that on him.
While both senior girls slipped into their respective classes, Shirou and Issei had ended their repair work (well, Shirou did most of the work, but he never complained) and were conversing as they approached their own desks. "I can't check on the one in the art club until lunch," the red-haired boy noted to his friend who nodded in acceptance. They both needed to focus on schoolwork now. Too bad I can't just send a clone…
"Well, aren't you a hard worker this morning, Emiya." They both turned to find Shinji Matou playing with a lock of his hair and trying to look as cool as possible. "And here I was worried you'd have nothing to do after quitting the club." His grey eyes leered at Shirou. "But you've gone and become the student council president's personal gofer, huh?"
Issei made to tell off his classmate but was halted in place by Shirou himself. "You're welcome to ask me if you need help with anything, Shinji," the latter replied politely. "I'll do my best if it's something I can work with. You always had trouble mending bows and affixing strings."
It was meant as an honest offer, not a jab at his abilities. The two boys had been friends since middle school, and Shinji had never heard a single insult come out of Emiya's mouth. Even so, irritation flickered inside him. "Help from you? Don't make me laugh!" He jabbed a finger at his oldest friend. "And don't even think about setting a toe into the dojo if you're not a member!" He then turned his back to them.
"That's rich coming from the one who forced Emiya out of the club in the first place." Even facing away, Shinji could perfectly hear Ryuudou's rebuttal. Sure, go ahead and defend your assistant/secret crush, Shinji snarled internally. Stuck-up nerd lets a meaningless position go to his head-
"Don't worry, that's just Shinji being Shinji." But of course, Emiya himself didn't get riled up over that. "The longer you know him, the more you get used to it." The heir of the Matou family had almost reached his desk, but then he turned around and sauntered back, his good mood returning a little.
"And no matter what anybody says or if they're taking advantage of you, you'll help them out anyways, huh, Emiya?" Issei glared warily at Matou, privately wondering how anyone as nice as Emiya could tolerate an attitude like this. The blue-haired vice-captain of the archery team barked a surprisingly less hostile laugh. "I swear, you're still the exact same moron who would singlehandedly redo the culture festival's signboard and not even half-ass it!"
Shirou shrugged, half a smile curling on his lip. That was the first time they'd met, starting with Shinji mocking him and ending with Shinji proudly laughing at the board and his diligence like he'd done it himself. "Guess it's a good thing I have friends who will support me in turn."
Shinji shook his head with his own smirk before glancing to the side. "Huh, looks like something's bugging Koda," He noted, eyes on the back of another student sketching away in his notebook.
Shirou looked over. "What makes you say that? He's always drawing something."
"Sure, but it's usually a variant of that badass samurai with the eyepatch. Take a look now." Exchanging a glance, Issei and Shirou shifted their positions slightly to see better. Their quiet classmate was deepening the lines of some kind of dark creature with tentacles. Lots of tentacles. Shinji mock-shuddered a bit. "Like something right out of a Lovecraft book."
"The ones with the… Cufulu stories you told me about?" Shirou scratched his hair, himself a little weirded out by the picture.
"Cthulhu, but yeah." Shirou noticed Issei eyeing Shinji a little baffled now. I know the feeling… Even after all these years, Shinji still surprised him from time to time with his ability to pick up details like this. Plenty of people dismissed him as a vain jerk, but Shirou knew his friend always managed to net himself a position among the top grades in just about every class. Sometimes, the two still joined up for study sessions.
"Regardless, Koda's a little too fixated on his drawings sometimes." Issei adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps he's suffering from nightmares. I could teach him a few mantras to help him handle these images." Shinji rolled his eyes and even Shirou shook his head a little at their president's priest upbringing rearing its head yet again. Any excuse to convince somebody to spend a night in that temple, both drawled to themselves.
The trio's musing (and their classmate's scribblings of tentacled horrors) ended as they all heard the morning bell. "Well, here comes Fujimura-sensei," Shirou huffed while moving to his desk, the others doing the same. The students collectively braced for the Tiger's daily exuberant arrival.
A gust of wind shot through the hallway, and you-know-who whirled cheerily into the classroom, textbook in hand. "Good morning class~! Everyone, take your seats!"
And so, just another day of lessons and schoolwork began.
The first half of the day went by without anything noteworthy, students diligently taking notes (or goofing off, teenagers are idiots, after all) until it was lunchtime. Issei and Shirou had brought their lunches into the art club meeting room, but only one of them had actually been eating. The president sipped some tea as he noticed the other bento's state. "You might want to tuck in quickly, Emiya," he cautioned his friend, "or lunch break will be over before you've eaten."
"Don't worry, I've almost got it." Shirou didn't even look up from his work. A thin trail of smoke wafted up before him.
Issei eyed the disassembled machine. "Fixing the stoves would've been enough, you didn't have to work on the rest, too."
"It's fine." He finished his work with the torch and set it aside. "As the saying goes, 'in for a penny, in for a pound'."
That idiom prompted a sigh from the glasses-wearing boy. "You know, there is such a thing as being too generous." Shirou paused slightly but tried not to sigh himself; he had an idea what Issei was going to say next. "It's good that you're always ready to help, but you really ought to say 'no' sometimes. You're a little too quick to help everyone, Emiya."
Yup, he'd heard this kind of scolding from Maiya before. In more than one kind of variation. "Do you really think I'm that inconsiderate?"
"No, but you're running the risk of inconsiderate people exploiting you," Issei countered. "It's alright for you to turn down a request every now and then." And if anyone else had been there, he'd have owned up to his own hypocrisy for asking favors of Shirou. He'd have accepted his requests being refused, too.
Shirou for his part didn't bother thinking about hypocrisy. "What're you saying? It's good to help others. Besides, you've got enough on your plate as heir to a temple."
"Still, you take helpfulness a bit too far, Emiya. Keep it up, and sooner or later, you're going to wear yourself out."
"Noted." Not the first time he'd heard that, either. Pakkun practically had the warning down in song. Satisfied with the machine's insides, Shirou replaced the lid on top. "There, done."
While pleased with his friend's work, Issei still wasn't satisfied about his lack of self-esteem and indifference towards that, but any further argument was forestalled by a knock by the door. "Come in," he called reflexively, and the door slid open. "Ah, Sakura. Is there something I can help you with?"
"There you are, President. Sorry for bothering you during lunchtime," the younger Tohsaka sibling bowed her head before offering a sheet of paper, "but I only just got the latest report from the track team's captain, and I figured it'd be best to pass it on to you immediately."
"Fair enough, thank you for your diligence." Issei accepted the document with a cursory scan. Everything seemed relatively in order; spoiled as they were budget-wise, the athletic clubs tended to be unrepentantly sloppy in their paperwork. He then nodded in gratitude to his junior. "Apologies that you had to give up time during our break." His disliking of Rin Tohsaka aside, Issei Ryuudou was not as misogynistic or woman-fearing as many rumors made him out to be. And he had absolutely nothing to complain about with Sakura. She was kind, hardworking and always respectful, a prime future candidate for student council president.
Unaware of her senior's musings, Sakura waved it off. "It's fine, I was finished with my own meal anyway." She then turned to Emiya who had just packed up his tools. "Fixing more appliances, senpai?"
"Just a little patching up, that's the best I can do with most of them." Shirou wiped his hands clean before retrieving his bento. "The student council has enough to worry about." That earned a slight chuckle from Sakura, a sound that would've made most boys at Homurahara go nuts. Rin Tohsaka was at the top of her class and an epitome of the school ice queen: graceful, elegant and unreachable. But Sakura was no slouch herself in terms of intelligence or looks, plus she was more approachable; a few perverts even had the guts to (privately) determine her superior to her older sister in certain… categories. Which Tohsaka was prettier was a running debate amongst boys (and some girls) of all ages.
Shirou Emiya and Issei Ryuudou recognized her attractiveness, too, but they both had better manners and respect for her. For one, Sakura was their kohai. For another, Issei was a senior co-worker while Shirou often helped her out with a few handyman jobs. The latter had built a friendly rapport with her, one that truly bloomed over an unexpected topic. Speaking of which, his face brightened. "Oh, by the way, thanks again for that souffle pancake recipe."
Sakura beamed back, delighted about the topic. "My pleasure, how did they turn out?" About four months ago, the red-haired senior had overheard her talking to a classmate about her struggles with a soba dish. Emiya being Emiya, he'd offered to help, and they had spent a few afternoons cooking noodles together until Sakura could look upon the result with pride and insisted on repaying him with a lesson on how to make salmon daikon. Since then, they had developed a small habit of exchanging interesting recipes.
"You should've seen their faces when I served them." Shirou's own smile wasn't quite as big, but there was an endearing sort of warmth to it that rubbed off on anyone who saw it. "There one second, gone the next." His aunt and sis had nearly come to blows over them (Maiya would've won), Uhei and Guruko had gone so far as to lick the plates clean, and the other hounds were still a little peeved they hadn't gotten to sample the goodies themselves. I've got to make it up to them soon, lest I find another "present" on my pillow… "I let the batter rest for about fifteen minutes, like you said, and there was another tip from a cooking show about adding some water to the pan. The steam helps the batter cook quicker and can add a nice crust."
Issei's stomach rumbled just a tiny bit as he listened, to his minor embarrassment, and an eavesdropping Rin quickly ducked further out of sight to wipe the drool from her lip.
"Really?" Sakura hummed to herself at the information. "I'll have to remember that. It'd make for a good surprise come mother's next birthday…" She rubbed her chin seemingly lost in thought for a second, then smiled again at Emiya. "Thank you for the advice, senpai."
"Thank you for the opportunity, Sakura." After he and Issei said their goodbyes and the dark-haired girl left, Shirou finally began eating his own lunch to his friend's relief. Though he did pause in between bites of rice to say. "See? Helping others is the right thing to do. You don't scold Sakura for helping."
"She hasn't reached your level of all-accommodating. Not yet anyways, but if she spends a little more time with you…" Issei tried not to smirk at the stink-eye his friend shot him. "Besides, Sakura at least returns the favor when you help her, Emiya. I'd rest easier knowing you'd receive at least something in return."
Tuning out their chatter, Rin leaned against the corner with a cool face on the outside, though inwardly, she was pleased. Well, I can trust Emiya not to try anything with Sakura. Guess I can cut back on the spying. Just a little… A tiny bit of red gathered in her cheeks before she collected herself with practiced ease.
But as she made to leave, a familiar voice rang out. "Oh, Big Sister?" Rin stilled and turned a little to see Sakura walking towards her. "Sorry, did I pass you just now and not notice?"
"Not at all," Rin turned to face her younger sister with a smile slightly less reserved than the ones she gave the girls who wanted to be her lunch companions. "I was just having a little walk after my meal and happened to come across this corridor." She giggled slightly at the accusing look sent her way. "I wasn't spying on you, sister mine, who do you think I am?"
"You're the one who brought up spying, sister dear," the younger Tohsaka countered playfully. They continued their chatting while walking together through the halls, Rin subtly checking to make sure they were alone and growing slightly more relaxed when that proved to be the case. It perplexed Sakura at times how much the most important girl in her world put so much stock in her self-image. "Always elegant," sure, but did elegant have to mean aloof? Would it really be so bad if their classmates saw the real Rin Tohsaka?
Do I even know the real Rin Tohsaka? Sakura wondered even as she talked about her day, followed by a mental cheek-slap. She didn't like such thoughts, and she especially didn't like how they kept cropping up in the last couple weeks. Even as her mouth was on autopilot, Sakura took a deep breath, like Atto had taught her, and reminded herself: Her big sister was still a teenage girl despite her best efforts to be otherwise. Case in point, the art club's room was a fair bit of distance from Rin's classroom for a little exercise.
A tiny grin flitted across her face so quickly Rin couldn't have noticed it. She just happened to walk around the spot where Emiya-senpai was working, eh? Sakura giggled to herself. She hadn't missed her straying oh so often near archery sessions or Sakura's cooking practice with the boy, either. And the kicker was Rin herself didn't seem aware of these habits. Ah, Big Sister… So keen, so dishonest. Even to yourself…
Regardless, it was enough for her to regain her good mood, and what Rin said next eased it further. "Thank you for breakfast, by the way. It was exquisite." The smile she made wasn't the one she donned for classmates who weren't currently around, and it definitely wasn't one of the sneers she'd throw at Kirei Kotomine. "But, Sakura, you know I'm perfectly capable of cooking for myself. You didn't have to do that."
"I know," was all Sakura said while smiling back. Times like this, Rin struggled with an old urge to wrap her arms around her sweet little sister and hug her until her face matched her eyes. Unfortunately, they were in public, and neither was of single-digit years anymore. And she couldn't afford to show vulnerability in a time like this. Ah, to be young again… Aaand with that thought, I age twenty years.
Besides, Sakura was giving her the "I am your sister, not your plushie" look she'd cultivated shortly after her ninth birthday. Is that when she learned how to read my mind? Rin snarked to herself as her sister asked, "By the way, Mitsuzuri-senpai mentioned you showed up here an hour early because your alarm clock made a mistake. Is that true?"
"…Sort of." Rin pinched her brows together, briefly wondering if she should take even such a small risk, but one glimpse into Sakura's eyes told her she wouldn't be budged. And it was a small risk. "It wasn't just my alarm, but every single clock in the house. They all just jumped to one hour ahead overnight."
"All of them?" Sakura crossed her arms with a frown, unwittingly emulating her sister, as she mulled this over. "Mother keeps them running on time like a Swiss accountant. And they were fine when we left last night… For every last one to speed up on their own…" She glanced about just in case before lowering her voice. "Could there be… something else in play?"
Rin nodded, switching to a whisper herself. "Right after you left with Mother, I finished deciphering Father's will and found this." She pulled the red pendant partially out of her pocket, just long enough to show Sakura, before stowing it away. It could've remained in her coat inside her locker, but Rin wanted to keep an eye on it. Plus, it was better than carrying around that rotting snakeskin… "It's definitely potent, and there could've been something in his will that triggered a little dilation effect when I unlocked it." She frowned to herself in thought. "I'm not sure, but… I think Father might've been testing me."
Something flickered in Sakura's gaze, there one instant and gone the next, so Rin couldn't have been sure what it was or if it had even been there. As she spoke, though, her tone only conveyed worry. "Test or not, this whole situation seems to be getting more complicated with every passing day, and it hasn't even officially started, right?" Sakura fidgeted slightly. "Are you really sure about this, Big Sister?"
"Sure or not, it's too late for me to back down now." Rin stared down at her right hand balled into a fist. The back of it was still bare, but she had been feeling an odd sort of prickling there for the last couple days. "I'm the only one of us who can qualify as a Master. That makes it my responsibility to fight for our family." She raised her gaze again to find her little sister standing quite tense and not making eye contact. Rin gripped and squeezed her right shoulder. "Look, this really is for the best. I can take care of myself, so don't-"
"Don't worry?" Sakura preempted her with a sad little smile. "Remember what Mother said when you told her that?"
Rin winced at the memory of Aoi Tohsaka frowning at her with crossed arms and unshed tears in her eyes. "…Touché." The sisters' mother had reminded them both last night that she'd already been forced to experience this situation once, and it had not included a perfectly happy ending. Father promised the same and didn't come back… And so much for her promise-
Rin Tohsaka closed her eyes and forced her breathing to steady. She opened them again, though a second too late to see her sister had been doing the same exercise. "I have to do this, Sakura. And I know I'm asking a lot of you, but please… stay with Mother, and stay safe. I…" She hesitated but pressed on. "I need to know both of you are safe. So I can keep a clear head." Did I have to add that? Gah, I'm so selfish…
Sakura, luckily, chose not to dwell on the last sentence. She'd had enough experience with Rin-speak to understand what she was really saying. "Leave Mother to me," she assured her. "We'll take care of each other. Just… be careful, alright, Rin?" Her sister shifted at hearing her name; Sakura had her full attention. "Promise me that you'll watch yourself… that you won't take stupid o-or unnecessary risks."
That prompted a smile from the soon-to-be Master. "I promise." She patted Sakura's shoulder and released it, the sisters exchanging goodbyes before walking to their next classes. Lunch break was just about over, and they both needed to keep up their school images. It was also kind of relaxing, too, this… normality.
But a great many things still weighed on both Tohsaka's minds.
The school day drew to a close, and Homurahara's front gate quickly became cluttered with students. Some like Sakura and the Mitsuzuri siblings stayed behind for their respective clubs' sessions, others like Issei had additional duties. A few like Shirou didn't have an official reason to remain on school grounds but did so for the sake of their own business. The majority, though, eagerly seized the opportunity for freedom.
Well, not so much freedom in Rin's case, but she quickly donned her coat and made her way back to the Tohsaka estate just the same. She deftly stepped through her family's Bounded Field and unlocked the door to find everything just the way she had left it. Good; her home's defenses were in pristine shape, of course.
After taking off her shoes and setting aside her school case (she'd already finished what homework she'd been assigned), the heir to the Tohsaka family passed by the answering machine, one of the few pieces of technology she tolerated in this world, only to notice its button for voicemail was blinking. Her eyes narrowed even as she pressed the button. "You Have One Message," an automated voice reported. "Recorded January 31, 3:21 pm." Then came the usual ping, followed by a deep voice. "Rin, it's me."
Just hearing that man speak soured whatever good mood Rin might've developed today. It was even worse than listening to Shinji Matou's squealing; she'd been enduring Kirei Kotomine's presence in her life and Sakura's for ten excruciatingly long years, and her seven-year-old opinion of him hadn't improved. If not for Mother being a mighty counterbalance against their "guardian," who knows what Rin might've done to him.
"I surely needn't remind you that tomorrow is the last day for proper entry." That priest's smug voice droned on, but Rin forced herself to pay attention. He tended to disperse nuggets of important information among his prattling. "It would be best now you decide quickly and decisively. Only two standard slots remain, Archer and Saber class of our world. They require Masters as soon as possible."
Lancer's already taken, huh…? Rin thought before she could stop herself.
She gripped her head with a snarl, as if she could squeeze out these annoying thoughts that kept persisting, even while Kirei's message continued. "…little time left for you to summon your Servant and claim your Command Seals. Of course, none of this is relevant should you choose not to participate in the Holy Grail War. There's no shame in valuing your life, and given the unusual-" Her finger snapped out to terminate the rest of the message.
"I don't need you telling me what I have to do," Rin muttered darkly before storming away from the phone. Two Servants left, one of which was the strongest class of the seven. And the time for the soon-to-be Master's best circumstances was rapidly approaching. Perfect. She allowed herself to smirk in anticipation. The Saber-class Servant will be mine, and with it, victory will be in the bag for the Tohsaka family.
Day quickly gave way to night in wintertime, and it was already dark as Shirou walked home after another couple hours of after-school maintenance. The streetlights made it easy to see the road, and he'd walked this route so many times he could find his way back to the house in his sleep. I wonder if Aunt Maiya made it to her destination okay, he mused before adjusting his scarf as a particularly cold wind rippled past him.
That's when he noticed someone standing on the road just ahead. "Huh?" He walked closer, but the person didn't move a single step, so when he had almost reached the next streetlamp, the light made it easy to see her: a little girl, maybe eleven if that, in a dark purple overcoat that reached her ankles and purple boots. She also wore a purple hat atop her long, slightly shaggy hair as white as the scarf around her neck. The hair color was odd enough, and given her pale skin tone, Shirou couldn't have been sure of which nationality she might've been. A tourist, maybe…? And the eyes made it even harder; red as blood and staring at him with something he couldn't be sure of. Her little smile seemed cute, but somehow, it didn't make him feel any less uneasy.
Then she finally started walking herself, and they began to pass one another. Shirou drew his jacket around himself even more. It was as if something was prickling down his spine.
"You better hurry up and summon yours, Big Brother, or you'll die."
Shirou stopped in his tracks at the light voice and spun around, but the street was empty, much to his increasing confusion and slight worry. What the… He looked about, but no creepy girl in sight. He loosened his scarf and set back on his route. Must've been my imagination or something…
Meanwhile, a certain girl in purple was somehow two streets away and calm as ever. As she walked along the streets, a voice echoed inside her mind. 'So, that's Shirou Emiya?' She frowned ever so slightly at the name. 'He doesn't strike me as particularly dangerous, Servants or no Servants.'
The girl's crimson eyes were fixed straight ahead. "It could be a trick. Grandfather warned us to expect the unexpected as soon as we arrived in this city."
'Your grandfather isn't the one fighting in this War.' The words carried a sort of bluntness which rattled inadvertently against her, but she shrugged it off. She'd grown used to it after two months. 'He's still your priority target, then?'
"Of course, he is," she snapped at seemingly no one. "He's going to tell me everything, and then he's going to pay. Father mightn't be around anymore, but I will-" Her breath hitched, and her head hung forward, but the girl quickly collected herself with a deep breath before straightening. She wouldn't shed tears here. "…Either way, I'm here to win this. And between you and Berserker, there's no one who can stand in my way."
The voice didn't answer, but the girl still felt a silent skepticism leveled at her. Her smile returned; she had such a serious buzzkill for a familiar, even when he was so powerful. Teasing him for this quality had quickly become a fun way to pass the time.
Illyasviel von Einzbern set off for home with a spring in her step. "Come on, Big Bro Saber."
And Master and Servant headed confidently for the outskirt woods of Fuyuki, a shadow silently watching them from the rooftops and telephone poles.
In the Zenjou house, Sakura stood by the stove carefully monitoring the two pots in front of her. She liked cooking and did it often for her family. Some of the happiest memories she had in the last ten years were of her and Rin working together in the kitchen, trying all kinds of recipes while their mother watched carefully. It's been a while since things were like that, Sakura noted a little sadly.
Aoi Tohsaka set the table in the dining room, the slight cluttering the only sign of her inner thoughts. Her mother had passed away of old age seven years ago, and her father had followed only a few months later. Both had been peaceful ends, but it seemed like Father had simply little interest in living without his wife anymore. Perhaps the final testament of how happy their marriage had been. That's a luxury I couldn't afford, Aoi reminded herself so as to not dwell on this.
She relaxed as a fresh aroma wafted into the room, followed quickly by her youngest daughter and their dinner. "For goodness' sake, I don't know where you and Rin got your culinary talents from," Aoi laughed. "Omelets are about the height of my skill, and well, let's just say it wasn't your father who'd surprise me with breakfast in bed."
"Hard work and a little enthusiasm can go a long way." Sakura smiled back at her, managing to suppress any reaction to Father being mentioned. She'd had even more practice with that than with cooking. Shame I can't cook for Atto, either… It was a secret wish of hers to surprise him in their little garden with a meal all made by her, but for all her efforts, she hadn't yet been able to conjure up a fully functional stove or a spice collection. And it's not like I can bring a picnic box with me. She'd tried.
She set down the bowls while watching Mother settle into her chair with the slightest hint of weariness. She had grown a little thinner over the years. The lines in her face were slowly pronouncing themselves more, and she used makeup to hide the rings around the eyes. Even the smile she wore looked so tired. "The Magus Association has been badgering you again?"
Aoi started at Sakura's question. "No, they're showing a little more restraint for the moment. Well," she clicked her tongue, "aside from that letter wishing our family all the best with the upcoming War and assurances that they had complete confidence in your sister, of course." Sakura echoed those last two words with a subtle eyeroll only her mother could've picked up. "Did you… speak with Rin today?"
Sakura seated herself to her left and squeezed her hand reassuringly in hopes of dispelling the guilty tone in Mother's words. "She understands your worries, Mother. But…" She couldn't help but sigh. "Big Sister is dead set on doing this. I didn't have a chance of talking her out of it."
"You shouldn't have had to try," Aoi lamented. "It's my duty in the first place, and no matter what I might've said…" She didn't need to continue. Tokiomi Tohsaka's ghost continued to linger over the three women even ten years after his passing. His widow shook her head, then told Sakura, "Well, the only thing we can do now is place our faith in Rin and… wait for her to return." She nearly said, "see what happens," but tried to insert a little optimism into her words. Both for Sakura's sake and her own.
Her daughter put on her own smile. "Well, if anyone can beat the odds, it's Big Sister, right?" She nodded towards the food. "Let's keep our chins up." Mother smiled back at her in gratitude and a little relief, the sight making Sakura feel a little guilty. It must've been so hard for Mother these years, especially when she didn't have any magecraft and thereby could only do so much for them. Now the second Grail War in her lifetime had arrived, and she had to watch Rin strut proudly off to battle. She must feel so powerless… Sakura chewed on her rice while watching Mother eat with stilted movements. I guess her only consolation is that she thinks I'm as powerless as her. The thought stabbed at her stomach despite the good meal.
On days like this, Sakura Tohsaka couldn't wait to go to sleep.
Around the same time at the Emiya home…
"I keep telling you to head home early, Shirou!" Taiga scolded her surrogate brother while he laid out their dinner. "Didn't I say loud and clear in homeroom that town's gotten a lot un-safer these days?"
After setting down bowls for Urushi, Shiba and Bull, Shirou sat at the table while avoiding eye contact with her. "Well… something came up at school." Even he knew that was a feeble excuse.
The canine trio all shot him disbelieving stink-eyes while tucking into their meals, and Taiga simply sighed. "I bet you got that from Kiritsugu…" Shirou hung his head a little at the mention of his adoptive father, and he thought he could hear Shiba whimpering a little. "Making your big sister worry about you when you're always trying to help others." She tugged the closest hound, Urushi, to her side and began playing with his head's fur. "But that's the Shirou we've always known, isn't it? He can't just ignore a person in need, can he? Can he, Urushi?" She got an affirmative bark in answer before wiggling back out for his food.
Traitor, Shirou pretended to glare at him while she prattled on between her bites. It seemed Taiga really was trying to win over the pack while Maiya was away. Good luck with that. He'd only summoned Urushi as practice, she must've left the other two behind for his protection. Geeze, I'm not a little boy anymore…
"…He even once wrote in an essay for school, 'When I grow up, I want to be a Hero of Justice'." A deep chuckle rumbled up from Bull, a sound that increased when a giggling Taiga rubbed his head.
Shirou suppressed a groan, glad they didn't host guests here often. She just loved trotting out that detail whenever she could. "What can I say, I had you around, didn't I, Big Sis Fuji? Immature adults tend to put weird thoughts in kids' heads." He picked up some meat but not without a smirk and a parting shot. "You're free to cook your own meals if you don't approve."
Taiga flinched away like he'd actually struck her, then she put on the same fake tears act as this morning. "How could you be so cruel to your loving big sister…?"
"Like you're any nicer to Aunt Maiya." That earned him a chorus of barked chortles and a vindictive grumble from his "loving big sister." He couldn't help but smile a little at the evening's atmosphere.
Then dinner was over, Taiga said her goodbyes, Urushi Poofed away while Bull and Shiba sprang out for their patrols, and Shirou headed back inside. He took a breath out of habit, then brought up his index and middle fingers into a t-formation while concentrating his od. An exact duplicate emerged beside him in a puff of smoke. "Mind handling the dishes?" He asked his double. A redundant question, but it felt right to ask.
The Shadow Clone nodded, his expression the same as the original. "I've got it covered." He then walked into the kitchen while Shirou stepped out into the yard. It had taken him nearly a whole year to get the hang of this spell, but with encouragement from Kiritsugu and Maiya, his persistence had long since paid off. He was still nowhere as skilled as his aunt who could call up a dozen doppelgangers without breaking a sweat; four clones max was Shirou's current limit. All the same, it really was a handy trick for taking care of chores, homework and other things simultaneously. This spell alone gave him a chance to do so much more.
But creating Shadow Clones wasn't the only spell he needed to learn, not if he really wanted to save others. Hence his marching towards the shed to continue his training, sparing a fond glance at the dojo as he passed it. Solid walls and closed-off spaces were according to his teachers the best conditions for implementing one's magecraft. Shirou didn't really get the explanation behind it, but the dark storeroom was a good, quiet place to work undisturbed with a clear mind.
After shutting the doors behind himself (one of the dogs would probably check on him if he stayed inside too long again), Shirou sat down, retrieved a metal pipe and uttered two key words. "Trace… on."
In his mind, he envisioned a splash of white in the dark with the personal incantation. Tracing the basic structure. He could feel the od coursing through his fingertips as his hands hovered over the metal. Envisioning component materials. Each step appeared in his mind, a steady process to help him achieve the result he hoped for. His hands touched the metal, and he let the magic within flow into it. Altering basic structure. Such was the concept behind the spell Reinforcement: channeling one's magic into an object and enhancing its basic abilities. In this case, Shirou was trying to make the pipe sturdier.
"Enhancing component materials." Sweat trickled down the boy's brow as he felt the metal trying to mingle with the power charged through it. He imagined the many lines running through it like the Magic Circuits in his body, and for a moment, it felt like they would snap in one spot. Then he remembered his lessons with the Walking-On-Water exercise and steadied himself. Soon, the "circuitry" smoothed itself out, and the Reinforcement held.
…For about five seconds, then he ran out of energy. Shirou breathed heavily from the exertion; it was like he'd jogged around all of Fuyuki in one setting. "Well, I've gotten a little better at this, even with half my od," he muttered picking up the pipe and turning it over in his hand. "Still kinda sad that it takes me this much effort to do something so basic." He swung the pipe a few times experimentally before setting it down. "And with Aunt Maiya not teaching me more spells, I'll probably never be more than a novice." Not that he didn't appreciate his guardian's lessons, but they weren't so much about learning how to cast spells.
The adopted son of Kiritsugu Emiya let himself fall back against the cool stone floor. "I wonder if this is enough to become a Hero for Justice…" He rolled over on his side to ruminate a little more tonight. "…Am I being true to your Will of Fire, dad?"
With one last grunt, Rin shoved away the heavy stone table in her workshop, revealing the magic circle beneath it. There we go, and not a line out of place. Excellent.
She dusted her hands and smoothed out the wrinkles in her red blouse; one of Kirei's "gifts" as the white cross beneath the collar indicated. She'd changed from her school uniform to the blouse and a black skirt, retaining her tights, precisely so she could clear away the books, artifacts, and assorted equipment inside this dark room for the moment that would change her life. "Preparations complete," she declared upon inspecting the circle again, then she checked the clock inside the workshop. "Perfect timing." Carefully securing all of the workshop's contents had eaten up a good many hours, but Rin had accounted for that in her plan. She gripped her wrist and concentrated, mana pulsing along her skin. "Wavelength optimal."
Servants. Heroic Spirits called forth from fabled legends to battle under the will of their Master. The best way to summon a specific Servant was with a catalyst, an artifact connected to their legend. The more directly, the better. But catalysts weren't the only way to summon a Servant. Performing the ritual without one tended to net a fellow who was close in "character" to the summoner, though it also increased the uncertainty level.
Still, Rin knew what she was doing. She had calculated every step of this plan. "2:00 in the morning brings my mana to top level; at peak condition, I can get the Servant best suited for me." She gathered a collection of gems and inspected them, sensing the mana bubbling inside each one. It had taken Rin painstaking time and blood to cultivate these little beauties, but a good magus could do a lot of things with them.
And Rin Tohsaka was a prodigy.
She checked inside her pocket to confirm Father's pendant was there as well. Good, may come in handy. Thus, she stepped into the circle and rallied herself, casting off any final doubts. "Just watch me."
"For the elements silver and iron. The foundation of stone and the archduke of pacts, and for my great master Schweinorg." Her fingers curled around the jewels while she uttered the invocation she'd memorized, the rocks slowly becoming a liquid the same color as mana. They trickled through her fingers and splashed onto the magic circle's crimson lines. "Raise a wall against the wind and close the gate of four directions. Come forth from the crown and follow the forked road leading to the kingdom." Soon, the entire drawing began to glow blue-green, illuminating the dark chamber. "Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill." Still Rin kept her eyes closed and her attention on the spell. "Repeat five times, but when each is filled, destroy it." One slip-up could compromise everything. "Set."
Then the magical color shifted to a warm orange, like the dawn of a new day. "Heed my words. My will creates thine body, and thine sword creates my destiny." A flutter of excitement rippled through the girl at uttering "sword," she could practically picture the swordsman soon to come. "If ye heed the grail's call, and accede to my will and reason, then answer my summoning!"
The yellow in the orange slowly began giving way to red. Rin's favorite color. "I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all evil in the world!" She could feel the power beneath her, swelling up and rippling around her. She heard papers fluttering about, so powerful were the energies she controlled. Pain shot through her right hand.
"Seventh Heaven clad in the great words of power." Bolts of energy zapped across the room, turning silver for a split second and then shifting to other colors as Rin reached the final step. She took in a deep breath and released it with the words, "Come forth from the circle of binding, Guardian of the Heavenly Scales!"
The winds burst out around the circle, scattering paper and other things loose enough across the workshop. Rin fell to her knees as the circle returned to its original color, fighting for every breath. But she couldn't help but smile despite her exhaustion. "Perfect… That was perfect!" She flipped around her right hand, and there it was: a red incomplete circle surrounding a slightly smaller one, a straight line pointing to them. Her Command Seals. "I did it! I just plucked the most powerful card in the deck!" She almost squealed for joy before reminding herself a Tohsaka doesn't squeal, and then her brain registered one odd little detail:
There was no Servant. She was all alone in the workshop.
But not in the house, apparently, as suddenly a heavy crash sounded out above her. "What the…?!" Rin bounded up the stairs, her head still spinning a little from the ritual and its apparent failure, but she had enough sense to pinpoint where the commotion likely originated. Her feet practically squealed to a halt as she reached the door to the living room. The door which turned out to be stuck. "Come on…!" Rin struggled with the handle. "Move it, you stupid-!" Finally, she simply knocked it out of the frame.
The room was a mess. It was like a tornado had suddenly sprung up in the middle of the room and blasted the furniture to every corner. Books, broken pieces of wood, cotton and specks of metal were strewn across the battered carpet. And slouching casually atop the epicenter of this chaos was a man.
A tall, lean man, Rin surmised by the length of his legs and his muscular chest covered in black armor. He wore over the armor a striking red coat that covered his arms but stopped over the armpits, silver tassels hanging there and linked to one another. Silver metal circles were sown over the wrists by his sleeves. His black pants ended in thick black boots strapped down with leather bands and steel buckles. A wide red band had been affixed around his waist and hung around him like a skirt; only the front was exposed.
His skin was a deep tan, and his face had sharp features. His hair was swept back and a clear silver, but Rin doubted the color was due to age; the man looked like an adult in his prime. Of course, physical age meant nothing where Servants were concerned. His eyes had been closed the entire time she studied him, only to slowly peek open. They widened upon seeing the girl, a surprise that was rapidly overshadowed by a confident, calculating gleam. One eye, sharp and silver, remained open and aimed at her while his mouth shifted into a smirk.
Seeing that expression was enough to rouse Rin from her stupor. Namely, it triggered her irritation at this entire situation. The man was clearly a Servant, a smug one at that, but he should've been standing in the magic circle once she'd completed the ritual. So, why the hell is he up here demolishing our living room-?! Her eyes drifted to the mangled grandfather clock standing crookedly behind the newcomer.
The clocks… They were all running an hour early this morning when I woke up… Rin realized to her rising frustration that she'd gotten so excited about setting up for the ritual, she'd forgotten to set her clocks back to the right time. It's not 2 am, it's 1 am! "Oh, not again!" She tugged on her tails frustrated at yet another slip-up to add to her resume. The sheer weight of this made the new Master turn away and fall to her knees, grumbling, "And there's no chance of a do-over… Ah, Father, why'd you have to burden me with this?"
She allowed herself another couple seconds of stewing in her frustration, then sighed it all away. No use in crying over spilt milk. Besides, her little tantrum had an audience, Rin reminded herself as she quickly turned on her knees and took on a dignified appearance for the seated Servant. "Fine, then. Who are you?"
The man shifted slightly in his "seat." "Really? That's the first thing you have to say to me?" His words rumbled with amusement. "Well, it looks like I've been paired up with some Master." Rin frowned; that didn't sound like a compliment. "No, on second thought, I've gotten the short end of the stick."
Oh, yeah. He was mocking her. Rin stood up visibly unamused. "Just so we're clear, you're my Servant, whoever you are?"
"And I guess you're supposed to be my Master?" He scoffed. "I didn't see you anywhere during my summoning."
"Oh, I'm sorry," an edge slipped into Rin's voice, "was I supposed to greet you with a parade and a banquet? Please, you're a big boy." She sighed, trying to gain some control over the situation. "Alright, let's get something clear: You really are my Servant? Mine alone, answering to no one else, right? Master/Servant connections are clearly established from the start." Or at least, they're supposed to be…
The Servant inclined his head a little, not quite enough to convey respect. "Sure, that much is correct. But how can I know for sure that you're my-"
His last word was cut off as something rippled inside the room. A great surge of mana erupted between the two like a pillar of light, the sudden brightness forcing Rin to close her eyes. Her Magic Circuits flared up as well, and for some reason, her left hand seared with pain. Even the man in red held up a hand for a moment before the lightshow ended.
But when it did, there was a third person in the living room.
Rin blinked away the white spots in front of her eyes to see a red figure right in front of her. Her vision cleared enough a second later for her to realize the person was standing with her back towards the magus and wearing a long red cloak, the hood pulled over their head. They stood about a few centimeters taller than Rin, and there was a strange sensation emanating from her, a feeling of energy, of action. Rin inclined her head just a little to look past the newcomer and to the Servant; yes, it was a little less pronounced due to the distance between them, but he, too, exuded the same presence. Another Servant in my library? The man was also staring perplexed at their visitor, to Rin's slight relief.
He, however, recognized two things the sole human in the room hadn't:
One, the new Servant wasn't actually as tall as they -no, she, he corrected himself upon taking a closer look at her body's shape underneath that cloak- appeared.
Two, the reason for her additional height was because she was standing on top of a thick tome.
Unfortunately, the Servant herself only realized the latter detail in that very moment.
Rin's eyes widened as the red-wearing figure started tilting to their left, then their right. "Whoa…" A high-pitched voice sounded out, and two arms reached out to spin around like pinwheels. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…!"
Something red hurtled towards her, and she tumbled back from the sudden blow to her forehead.
The freshly established Master for the Tohsaka family was now on her rear, cradling her throbbing head and biting back a repertoire of curses that would've utterly shattered her Homurahara image. She could dimly feel a presence over her, hands hovering like they didn't know whether they should touch her. A prudent hesitation. "Ohmigosh, I'm sorry, are you okay?" Rin blinked away the spots in her eyes (Tch, deja vu…) to peer up into a pair of shining silver ones. She briefly wondered if that jerk who demolished her shelf was helping her, but how had his voice jumped up so many octaves?
Another blink helped her recognize that the one kneeling in front of her was the newer newcomer. She was a young girl, probably around Rin's height and age (if that), with pale skin in contrast to the other Servant's tan. That wasn't the only difference between them: Her red cloak was fastened around her neck by a hand-sized silver buckle in the shape of a rose, and underneath that was a dark-red corset over a white high-neck blouse, leather wristbands, a black skirt with red rose-like tulle and a black belt slung over it. Ammunition and small packs were strapped onto the belt, and she wore red thigh-high stockings with rose patterns on her legs that ended in large black boots with four straps and buckles each.
The cloak's hood had been pulled down, revealing neck-long, black unruly hair with red tips. And while the girl's eyes were silver like the man's, hers seemed brighter. Full of life and, at the moment, concern.
Her mind still reeling from all this, Rin couldn't help but say the first thing that came to it. "…What the hell do you keep under that hood?!"
"My head…?" Her nervous chuckle quickly died down from the venomous glare Rin shot her. "Okay, got it, not the right time for jokes… Look, I'm really sorry about that, I didn't know you were standing right behind me and I was a little rattled when I got here so I didn't notice the book and I really really really didn't mean to hit you so maybe we can try and start this over?" Well, if her head wasn't spinning before…
The man hadn't moved from his spot, seemingly content to sit back and watch this play out with a contemplative frown. Then again, his shoulders had straightened, and his hands seemed ready to ball into fists. Now he spoke. "Alright, one: when do you breathe? And two: what are you doing here?"
The girl turned around to return his stare. "I… got summoned? You know, voice calling out to me, big flash of magic- sorry, mana, that's gonna take some getting used to…" she mumbled briefly to herself before snapping her hands up. "And Poof! Here I am! Wasn't it the same for you?" She turned back to Rin. "You are our Master, right? The voice I heard was yours?"
The other Servant's frown deepened a little. Obvious surprise aside, he was particularly irked by how open this girl was. Another Servant within her vicinity, both clearly here to participate in the Holy Grail War, and yet she disclosed information and acted so casual around him? His eyes narrowed. No… She was kneeling loosely before Rin as if to shield her, her legs looked ready to jump at an instant, her left hand had been positioned the entire time to behind her hip like she could draw something hidden in her cloak, and she was making sure to keep him within view. This girl is a fighter. She's had her guard up since she arrived.
This conclusion did little to ease the man's confusion, though. Or his displeasure. "Our Master?"
The girl returned his frown. "Uh, yeah? She's the only one around here with Command Seals, last I checked, and you're obviously a Servant like me. So, if we got summoned here to the same place with only one Master around," her silver eyes narrowed while she leaned forward, "or if you're really an enemy who snuck in here, trashed the room and is just playing dumb to take a cheap shot at her-"
"Wait, wait…" Still massaging her forehead with her left hand, Rin raised her right in front of the girl. "Stop talking for one minute and let me sort this out. I summoned… both of you?" That earned her a nod. "How? I only meant to acquire one Servant for myself, not two!" Rin shifted her glare from one Servant to the other, clearly seeing their respective parameters hovering around them as Father's instructions had described. Was this another side effect of her blunder with the time? Then her eyes fixed onto the male Servant. "Come to think of it, she has a point. Maybe she's the Servant I was supposed to summon, and you're an imposter."
"Oh sure." The Servant rolled his eyes scoffing at the accusation. "I'm an enemy Servant sent to eliminate a Master-wannabe, and my assassination technique consists of loudly tearing up a living room, sitting on top of the wreckage and waiting for my target to just run up to me while another Servant pops up right in front of my face." Rin took just a little solace at watching his smugness give way to indignation, but his words offered little comfort. "If I wanted you dead, girl, our plucky little friend here would've arrived to find me gone and your corpse bleeding out all over the carpet." He stood up and crossed his arms, glaring down at the both of them. "So, I ask again, Red Riding Hood, what did you mean when you said, 'our Master'?"
The girl rose to her full height, too (thirty centimeters shorter than the man), though she seemed marginally less suspicious now. She was more irked at being called little than the moniker he gave her, too. "You mean you didn't get the memo from the Grail? About this War's special circumstances?"
"What special circum-" The man's eyes shot wide open as though a bolt had just struck him, then they flattened again. "Ah. Those special circumstances."
Rin's eyes darted between them anew, her irritation increasing with each passing second. "What are you two talking about now? What special circumstances?!" Maybe she had actually blacked out from the strain of the ritual, and this was all just some fever dream…
"Apparently, the Masters of this Holy Grail War don't just have one, but two of each of the standard seven Servant classes assigned to them," the man explained in a heavy, slightly surprised tone.
"And the extra Servants all have an X at the end of their class names," the girl continued audibly more enthusiastic about the subject, "like me," she thumbed proudly at herself, "because we come from the stories of other universes, not this one!" She was bouncing on her heels now. "That's right, I'm from a completely different world!" She paused while eyeing their damaged surroundings. "Well, not totally different…"
"Yippee for you…" Her counterpart grumbled while massaging his temples.
That fever dream-theory was looking more plausible with every second. "I… have the two of you," Rin flicked a finger between them incredulously, "as my Servants." One nodded brightly, the other just sighed. "No, that… that can't be right. I only have one set of Command Seals for one Servant." She waved her right hand's back to them to emphasize her point.
"Yeah, on that hand." The girl gestured to her left side. "What about your other hand?" Recalling the flash of pain when this one had appeared before her, Rin tentatively lifted her left hand. Sure enough, there was a crimson rose emblazoned there exactly the same as the girl's cloak accessory. Which the latter confirmed by tapping her finger loudly on it. "See? I'm your X-tra Servant." The girl tried to giggle before wincing. "Ugh, I sound like Yang…"
Rin traced a finger along the lines of the rose. The Seals were definitely genuine, and crazy though this whole scenario was, she was actually starting to believe it. Still, fourteen Servants instead of seven? Half of which came from alternate universes. This was sounding like the stories Father told her about the Kaleidoscope. And why didn't Kirei mention any of this? Tch, of course, he'd omit these crucial little details… "Hold on, what about the cost of maintaining you two? As the Master, I'm responsible for providing mana so my Servant," she huffed, "or Servants, in this case, can remain in this reality."
The man/normal Servant answered this time. "Apparently, that detail has also been covered by the Holy Grail. Mana expenditure has in general been cut in half for each Servant. You only need to provide fifty percent of the usual Magic Energy that you would for either of us, though certain abilities and attacks of ours will naturally require a little more. But getting back to our original point of discussion," he stared at the lone human, "even if those other Seals make you her Master, where's your proof that you're mine?"
"Are you blind or just an idiot?" Rin showed him her right hand again. "I have all the proof right here."
But the sight of those markings only made him sigh pityingly. "Oh, you poor girl, do you really think that's enough? You think you can assert authority over me with such a meaningless token? Those might be enough for our little hooded tourist here, but what I want to know is if you have the right to be my Master."
"Excuse me?!"/"Who're you calling a tourist?!"
The two girls' outbursts stumbled over each other before Rin snapped a finger at her. "You, shush." Then that finger pointed at the jerk. "So, you don't think I'm good enough to be your Master?"
"Pretty much." He sauntered closer to tower over her with a smug expression. "But even though I couldn't be any more disappointed, I'll accept you as my Master. However, this comes with the condition that I can refuse any orders you give me in the coming War at my leisure. I decide how I fight, it's only fair, no?"
He turned his back on the both of them while Rin fumed at his disrespect. "I see…" She bit out as her gaze dropped to the carpet. "You'll acknowledge me as your Master on paper, but you'll refuse any input about strategy or orders from me? Even though you're supposed to be my Servant?"
The man's smirk had returned. "Like you said, your status as my Master is on paper. So, I have no real obligation to listen to you. I don't need anyone to lecture me about strategy, either, especially someone with no practical experience. So, I suggest you hunker down in some basement while I go and win the Holy Grail War for you. Maybe you should have my 'partner' here keep watch over you, that way, I'm positive even a rookie like you will survive." He peered over his shoulder to find the spirit girl glaring at him and the human girl trembling. "Oh, did I upset you? Well, don't worry about my loyalties. After all, I came to this place for the sake of my Master's victory. My victories are your victories, so you automatically reap the fruits of my labor. Sounds fair to me, which means you delicate young ladies can keep yourselves safe and leave the heavy lifting to me. I don't expect anything from either of you."
"Hey, first of all, I'm not 'delicate,' tough guy, and second, you're being awfully unfair to our Master right now, especially seeing as we all just met!" The girl had closed their distance to glare up at him. "I mean, sure, she's a little crabby, and for some reason, her voice reminds me of this crazy little old lady I got in trouble with at the end of my life, but it's not like we've been making a good first impression…"
Rin's ire had been raised so much the only things she heard were, "crabby, crazy little," and that proved to be the final damn straw. "THAT'S IT!" Both Servants ceased their bickering to watch as the shaking girl glared with all her might at them. "You two think you can mock me and get away with it?! I'll teach you who's the Master around here!"
They inadvertently took a step back from her, further inciting the Master's fiery decision. "Vertrag…! Ein neuer Nagel," she practically snarled as the Seals on her hand glowed red.
The man's eyes widened. He chanced a step forward. "What…? No, stop!"
"Like hell I will!" Rin stomped her foot. "Ungrateful scum…! Ein neues Gesetz! Ein neues Verbrechen!"
The girl raised her hands placatingly. "Okay, this is getting really heated, so maybe we should all take a moment to chill out and…"
"Shut up!" The Tohsaka prodigy snapped through her pleas. "And pay attention: You're both my Servants. I expect total obedience from you! That means you do everything I say!" Crimson light pulsed out toward the Servants, the man instinctively crossing his arms in front of himself. As the light washed over them, their bodies glowed, and they both dropped down to one knee in front of Rin. For just a second, the sight of these familiars bowing down to her felt so damn good, and she allowed herself to drink it in.
But then the man glared up at her, running the moment. "You idiot! Do you seriously just waste a Command Seal for that?" He made to say more but could only grunt from the sudden smack to his shoulder. The blow nearly sent him sprawling on the floor, but it wasn't as surprising as who had dealt it.
"Look who's talking!" Any further protests he or Rin shriveled up as the female Servant stood up, puffed out her chest and lowered her voice mockingly. "Oh, I'm so muscular and macho, I don't need a Master or a partner to beat all the other teams!" She glared down at him, and he actually flinched a little from the steel in her silver eyes. "How did you expect her to react when you go mouthing off like that? You're lucky you ended up with me, anyone else of my team would've launched you right out of this house for all that misogynistic garbage." The man simply stared wide-eyed at her. "Yeah, I know big words, what a shock!"
Privately, she thanked her old partner for the extra lessons. You were right, Weiss, they come in handy.
Rin almost smirked at the scolding before finding herself the target of that disappointed look. "And did you really have to fall for his hazing? He was totally riling you up, I've seen it all the time back home! It's classic schoolyard swagger!" The Servant groaned up at the ceiling. "And everybody calls me immature…"
Her rebuke was like a splash of cold water on the tension, and a red-faced Rin's aggression was quickly giving way to embarrassment. And to think she looked so cute and gentle, she grumbled internally while inspecting her right hand. The upper ring had faded away, a sign she had indeed expended one of her Seals merely because of textbook hazing. "L-let's continue this discussion somewhere else." She turned towards the door-less exit. "Follow me."
The girl acquiesced with a shrug and the man stood up, stepping aside for his partner. "For the record," the latter stated, "I'm not a misogynist." Two skeptical eyebrows were cocked his way, prompting a conceding snort from him. "Fair enough, I crossed a line."
"You jumped way over the line," the girl huffed, her humor returning. "The line was just a dot to you." He inclined his head to her, an indirect apology which she seemed to accept. Rin, though, wasn't going to let either of them off quite so quickly. She needed to make sure they understood the pecking order.
Therefore, she led the two of them through the house and up into what was once Father's study and was now hers. Well, officially hers, but Mother had been using it more. It was much the same as he had left it; Mother possessed no magecraft and knew better than to go fiddling around with his artifacts. The documents had all been cleared off the desks and properly stowed away. Not that Rin expected either of these to understand or care about dealings with the Magus Association, but tidiness was a virtue in more than one aspect.
She walked over and sat down on a couch while the man inspected a device on one of the lower bookcases and the girl sat atop a chair's arm, kicking her feet idly. All three of them seemed to be weighing what they should say next. Then the male Servant took the initiative, his tone much more approachable. "First of all, you both have my sincere apologies for my ham-fisted approach, but I wanted to get a good read of my partner and our Master. But just to be clear, you do understand how valuable those Seals are, right?"
"Talking down to me like me…" Rin grumbled to herself, hugging her legs atop the couch. "So much for total obedience." Both Servants were watching her, so she straightened slightly and raised her voice. "Of course, I understand. The Command Seals allow a Master to completely exert their will over their Servants."
"Listen," he sighed, "Command Seals force a Servant to perform specific commands. For example, I can't teleport from this spot to anywhere under my own power, but if you were to order me somewhere with a Seal, it would channel both of our mana to make it possible." He nodded to her hand. "What you carry is the crystallization of High-Thaumaturgy, power which surpasses the limits of flesh and blood. And now you're down to two Seals."
"I know all that," Rin defended herself even as she turned away so they couldn't see her flushing cheeks. "What's your point? I put the first one to good use. Besides, I still have two Seals I can use on you, and all three for your partner."
"Um, about that," the girl raised a finger, "I think you used up one of my Seals, too." Rin prepared to deny this, as if she would waste something so potent or other such mistakes, when her eyes noticed that the upper left portion of the rose symbol on her hand had, in fact, dissipated. She blushed even further while the cloaked Servant kept talking. "For the record, I really don't have that big a problem with following orders," she thumbed at her partner who was side-eyeing her, "he was the only one complaining here-"
"I wasn't complaining, I was just airing my doubts about how she expected this to go."
"…Yyyeah, that sounds like complaining."
"Hm, agree to disagree." She giggled slightly at that, and Rin sensed there wouldn't be any bad blood between these two anymore. But before she could decide if that was a good or bad thing, the man continued. "Anyway, I miscalculated a little. Command Seals diminish in effectiveness the more vaguely a command is given. That's why your command just now didn't work as you intended. You could use a hundred Seals for an order like that, and it still wouldn't get complete obedience in word and deed from a Servant."
Rin listened grudgingly to this. "Are you telling me that my command was pointless?"
"I don't think so," the girl chimed in, her legs no longer swinging. "Like I said, I can take orders in general, but ever since you gave us this order, I feel… I dunno, like I have to listen to you now. Maybe I can still disobey you, but it wouldn't do me many favors." She glanced over to the man. "Same for you?"
The other Servant frowned but nodded. "Irritatingly so. That's what I meant when I said I miscalculated. It seems you're an extremely gifted magus."
That made Rin frown back at him. "If you think flattery will make up for your taunts back there…"
"I'm not, I meant it when I apologized to you and my partner." He stepped up to the table so both girls could see him fully. "And I take it all back: You might be young, Master, but you are very talented and powerful despite that." He turned from a flustered Rin to the other Servant. "And calling you 'delicate' was a big mistake on my part. I thought you might be naïve, but you asserted your strength and stood up to me when I was in the wrong." He placed his hand over his heart and bowed to them like a hero of old. "I hope you will both give me a second chance."
"Oh, uh, that's okay," The girl hurriedly got up and apparently couldn't decide whether to bow or curtsy, leading to an awkward combination of the two with a lot of flailing. Rin instinctively shielded her forehead until she righted herself again. "I think we all got off on the wrong foot before," she chuckled slightly before whispering, "at least I didn't explode this time…"
"…What?" Both asked in unison.
But instead of explaining her utterance, she walked over to her Master and stuck out her hand smiling. "Let's try this again: I'm Ruby Rose, aspiring Huntress and Leader of Team RWBY. …And yeah, that does confuse people often. Nice to meet you both."
Rin's eyes drifted down to the hand, then up to her face. The other girl's sincerity rapidly brought forth her own smile, and she stood up to her full height accepted the handshake. She's definitely the nice one. …And the cute one. "Rin Tohsaka, heiress and Master of the Tohsaka family. Thank you for answering my call."
The man watched their exchange with an odd sort of look on his face: not exactly a smile, but too gentle to be the same smirk he'd shot them in the living room. It quickly faded as they both turned to him with expecting looks. After glancing between them, he sighed. "I do look forward to working with you, but I'm afraid I can't tell you my True Name right now." He closed his eyes for a moment. "Because I have no idea who I am."
"Huh?" They asked in unison before exchanging confused looks. Then Rose stepped closer to him. "What do you mean? Do you have amnesia or something?"
"Or has all this been just another one of your games?" Rin narrowed her turquoise eyes at this perpetual aggravation on two legs. "Were you setting us up with all of the apologies and compliments?"
"Not at all," he raised his hands placatingly, "and I'm not trying to pick a fight with you anymore, Master, but it's because of that faulty summoning of yours. I wouldn't call it amnesia like Rose suggested, but… my memories are all jumbled up inside my head, and I can't determine my own identity." One of his listeners nodded in sympathy while the other remained doubtful. "Fortunately, I retain enough so it's not a big issue."
Rin frowned at him. "Not a big issue? How am I supposed to adapt my plans for you when I don't even know who powerful you are?" Knowing a Servant's True Name was of great importance. After all, the more widespread the name and the legends associated with said name, the better chance one had of gauging what the Servant was capable of. That was why Masters worked so hard to discover enemy Servants' identities, but it was equally important that they know their own Servants'.
"Hey, no need to get too worked up about it." Rose stepped between them, her smile back. "I think what my partner is saying is that he still knows how to fight, right?" She turned to him and got a nod, then faced Rin again. "And that's a good first step as any. We just have to cross-reference his style and weapons," she bounced a little in anticipation at the word, "then help him sort out his memories. You would've had to adjust your plans anyway now that I'm here, and you don't know anything about me either." She planted her hands confidently on her hips. "I've taken on worse odds than this, and if we help each other, we can definitely pull this off."
Her words were all sincere and so sickeningly optimistic, Rin and the other Servant groused, and worst of all, they were actually working a bit. "How can you be so confident about this? You don't know him or me."
Rose grinned a little cheekily. "Why shouldn't I be confident about you? Aren't you the super-magic girl who summoned us here?"
Rin's cheeks flushed anew, particularly when Archer hummed in agreement. "She makes a fair point, Master. We're the Servants you summoned, so we ought to be the most powerful team of all."
"Oh, stop it, you!" Thank goodness Ruby had gotten bashful herself, her swatting her partner's bicep helped Rin cool down again. Then the smaller Servant locked eyes with the bigger one. "But I'll do everything I can to help you figure out who you are. I mean it, partner."
He flashed her that odd not-quite-smile again. "Partner, huh… I seem to have lucked out in that department, too." He offered her hand, which she happily accepted. "I look forward to working with you, Rose."
"You can call me Ruby, too, you know."
"Hmm, maybe… Ruby does fit you." He eyed her attire before smirking. "As much as Rose, of course."
Rin tuned out their back-and-forth to process this new information. Not the most ideal circumstances, but Ruby had a point: Seven of the Servants in this Holy Grail War, her included, didn't have to worry about their True Names because there were no legends about them in this world. The Master would have to surmise their capabilities from their performances. The same for him, then, and he'd already given an inadvertent clue in addressing Ruby by her last name without "Miss" or other honorifics. That was a Japanese custom, narrowing it down a bit, and add that with his class…
She stopped her train of thought upon realizing a key detail she'd missed while learning about these Servants. "I don't suppose either of you are Saber class?" Both Servants turned to her at the question.
The man shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't carry a sword."
"Which makes you Archer," Rin muttered disappointed before looking to the other Servant in hope.
But Ruby scratched her head a little sheepishly. "And I'm officially Lancer X, sorry."
Rin's posture tightened for a single moment, then she forced herself to relax again. Still a knight class, she may prove useful. Though given her physical age… Even so, her spirits dropped. "All those gems and hard work, and I didn't even get a foreign Saber. Well, it's my own fault for botching the ritual. Guess I'll just have to make do…" Rin turned to consider the possibilities…
"Excuse me?"
She turned around to find both Servants quite affronted. "Make do?" Lancer X stomped her foot before pouting. "You don't even know what we can do, and you're already writing us off as failures?"
Archer had crossed his arms, too, and closed his eyes, one of which now glared petulantly at her. "You will eat those words, but no matter how many I'm sorry's you throw at us, I won't forgive you. That I promise you." The Servant traded a look, nodded and synchronously turned their backs on Rin with a "Hmph!"
On one hand, Rin wondered if one of the two had some kind of "Contagious Childishness" Skill. It would certainly explain Ruby Rose's erratic behavior. Or maybe Archer was just humoring his partner…
To be fair, she had been a tad insensitive. Both Servants had acknowledged her as their Master, and she had gone and complained right in front of them that they weren't of the class she wanted. The decent thing to do would be to apologize for her insensitivity.
Rin smirked and sauntered to in front of them despite them turning their heads. Then again, that wasn't her style, and she had something more fun in mind. "Okay, go and prove to me just how capable you are, Archer, Lancer X. If you impress me, I'll gladly take back my words."
As expected, the pride of Heroic Spirits was tickled by her challenge, and they both faced her again with strong grins. "We'll hold you to that, Master," Archer warned her, Lancer X nodding fiercely beside him.
"Happy to hear it." Rin was walking back out of the study and beckoned them to follow. "In the meantime, I already have your first assignment lined up." She flicked the lights on in the hallway.
Lancer X perked up at her words and skipped after her. "Oh, we're already heading for the battlefield? Awesome!" She pumped her left fist high. "Go Team Red!"
It was in that moment that Rin recognized that both her and her Servants' predominant color scheme was indeed red. Leave it to Lancer X to come up with such a childish name. She giggled to herself while the Servants trailed after her, half-lost in thought. Then again, "Team Red" does have a catchy ring to it…
"Putting us immediately to work…" Archer by contrast was displaying a more sardonic amusement. They quickly walked down the stairs. "We've got quite a merciless Master. So, who is our enemy?"
Something brown flew out at him, and he barely managed to catch the broom before it could've collided with his noggin. Two steps below him, Lancer X yelped while juggling the brush and dustpan she'd just acquired. They stared at the cleaning utensils in their hands, then the shorter one asked, "…You want us to fight dust bunnies?"
"Among other things." Rin smirked up at them from the bottom floor. "Clean up the living room. You tore it to pieces, so it's your jobs to put it all back in order."
"Hey!" Lancer X protested. "That was all Archer, I had nothing to do with that!" He shot her a cold leer.
"No, but you did crack my skull with your dramatic entrance. Start sweeping."
Archer stepped past his sputtering partner. "Now wait a minute, what exactly do you think Servants are?"
Rin's smirk widened slightly. "You're familiars, aren't you? The only difference is that you're both a lot noisier and stubborner than the usual kind." With that, she turned her back to them so she could turn in. It had been a long, eventful night, and she needed all the sleep she could get. It's time, Father. Ten years I've been readying myself for this battle, and it's right around the corner. This time, the Holy Grail is mine.
"Fine," the Servant of the Bow grumbled while she left. "We'll do as you say, Master, and you can go to Hell."
An elbow nudged him. "Oh, lighten up, partner." Ruby was flashing him that smile again, and what a deadly weapon it was. "At least neither of us have to clean up the room all by ourselves. We'll have it tidied up in no time together!" Thus, she began heading for the living room with a maddeningly contagious enthusiasm.
He stared after her for a moment, then sighed. "You're a glass-half-full kind of Servant, aren't you?"
She spun around to him while going backwards and shrugged. "That's me, I keep moving forward." Rose petals suddenly fluttered about Archer's vision, then Lancer X was gone. No, he heard her further away…
This… will probably be harder than I thought, the Counter Guardian groused before brandishing the broom.
Okay. Buckle up, Ladies and Gentlemen, cause here we go with the next story!
Thank you for all your patience, I swear to do my absolute best not to disappoint youse. Truth be told, I've been sitting on pins and needles to start writing this, and now I think is a good time to at least get the ball rolling. I have a general plan, some of it will be similar to canon at first, but please be patient.
Preliminary warning: while I was writing this chapter, I realized that this story is going to be a fair bit more mirthful than its predecessor. What with the Servants I've chosen and certain elements like Saber being more open via her development, plus plenty of the Masters here are all much younger than the Zero ones; me adding more humor to the story is unavoidable. But hey, Zero was darker than Stay Night (except for Heaven's Feel), so it matches up. Don't worry, there's still gonna be loads of serious moments. And some heartbreak, which is unavoidable.
*The lines in brackets were supposed to be crossed out, but the format doesn't translate on this site, or at least I don't know how it works.
Anyways, welcome back, and a Merry Christmas 2024. Wish me luck!