Fate/stay night 1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"What is she to you, Emiya?" Issei asked as though he were a detective investigating a crime.

"She's a friend's sister, and a friend herself," Shirou responded before taking another bite of the leftovers he had packed for lunch.

"It doesn't make sense, Emiya. She's so different from you. She doesn't seem your type at all." Issei stated matter of factly.

"She isn't as bad or as frightening as everyone thinks that she is." Shirou retorted, though his tone signaled that he wasn't entirely sure he believed what he said.

"Everyone thinks of her that way because she is so cold and harsh to them. She's abrasive and abusive without fail and the fact that you can't seem to see that only proves that she has you in her thrall."

Shirou wasn't sure how to respond, because he did have feelings for the girl beyond those of friendship. He knew it was wrong to feel the way he felt about the girl that so mercilessly bullied one of his close friends and feuded with his other, but he couldn't help the way he felt. Before he could acknowledge his feelings Issei started his line of questioning again.

"So what do you see in her that others don't, Emiya? What makes you feel the way you do about her?"

"She's strong, stronger than most, b-but she's cute and she has a shy side that few see. She builds walls between herself and the outside world and pretends to be this frightening force, but she's still lonely and vulnerable. She is like a cat caught out in a storm, feigning independence but craving someone to take it in from the rain."

"So that's it."

"What's _it_?"

"You, Emiya. You and your attempt to help everyone is _it_. I've told you before that you need to be more selective in whom you try and help or you'll only end up getting taken advantage of. She's a dangerous woman, Emiya, and you're going to get hurt if you keep at this. Let her fix her own problems."

...

...

Darkness surrounded the girl, concealing the thousands of writhing things in the shadows. Silently, she lay there as the unseen horrors violated her body as they had done on many occasions prior. As was normally the case, she retreated deep into her mind rather than face the monsters in the dark, but this time she didn't go to a place where she was all powerful and where no one could hurt her anymore. No, instead she retreated to a memory from earlier in the day, a memory of when she felt more vulnerable than she ever had before.

Atop the roof of the school she sat eating her lunch quietly beside a boy who wouldn't stop inserting himself into her life. He was her pathetic worm of a step-brother's friend and for some reason he had felt the need to try and help her.

The boy was looking at her and smiling, a disarming smile that only fueled her annoyance with him even further. Her gaze sharpened and without raising her voice she asked, "Why do you care?"

"huh?"

"Why does the way I treat my brother matter to you? Why do you pester me about how I'm feeling? Why do you stand up for me when others talk ill of me? Why do you think there is more to me than what everyone believes?"

"Because I believe in you."

It was a quick retort that caught the girl off-guard. There was no reason for the boy to believe in her, she'd never consciously done anything to make him think anymore of her than anyone else did, but still he believed in her.

"Why?" she asked angrily, demanding an answer from the ridiculous boy.

There was a pause and for a moment the girl thought that he wouldn't answer. His face contorted slightly as through he was struggling to breath and a faint blush began to become evident around his cheeks until he finally spoke.

"I care about you"-the weight of the words felt as though they were going to crush the girl upon their impact-"and because I care, I want to believe in you."

It was the girl's turn to blush, but she wouldn't let the boy she her weakness, she wouldn't let anyone see her weakness.

Turned away from him she refused to look at his face while she spoke. "Idiot"-she angrily responded-"you shouldn't care about me. All I care about is hurting others"

"I-I don't understand?"

"Exactly. No one understands the suffering I have been through. No one knows what it's like to be as powerless as I have been. People make promises that they can't possibly keep, they betray the trust of people who believed in them and then leave them to be consumed by the shadows. If you're strong then you don't need the false promises of failing words, so I want to be strong. To be strong you need to be cruel, so I want to be cruel. I want to make sure that everyone feels as weak as I do, even if only for a moment. That's all I care about, Emiya. It's all I want; it's all I've ever wanted!"

Shirou was silent for a long while and in his silence the girl began to wonder whether or not he was disgusted by what she had said. It felt as though they sat there for hours in silence, even though it could only have been a few moments. Finally, Shirou broke the silence.

"My father was a hero, and not just because he saved me. He was a man dedicated to saving everyone, but in the end he was unable to achieve his goal. He told me that to be a hero you had to choose who to save and who to leave behind. I have an ideal, a dream I strive towards. That ideal is to succeed where my father failed. I want to be a hero, someone who saves everyone. Because of that, I couldn't possibly ignore what's going on right in front of me. Because of it, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to save you, Matou-san."

When she turned around a warm smile greeted her and even in the face of recalling her birth father's betrayal, Kariya's failure to save her, and her horrendous treatment at the hands of Zouken, she couldn't help but trust Shirou.

"Idiot" she mumbled, trying to conceal her blushing face behind her long purple hair. Her comment half directed towards Shirou and half directed at herself for feeling so open and unprotected.

"Don't call me Matou-san." She said finally regaining her composure and looking at him.

"If I can't call you Matou-san, what am I supposed to call you?"

"Rin."

It was Shirou's turn to shy away again. He cared for this lonely and angry girl he's known since junior high, but he wasn't sure he was ready for that level of familiarity and he was caught off guard by the suddenness of the request.

"A-Are you sure, Matou-san."

"Yes, if you insist on sticking around, I insist that you use my name, Emiya-kun."

"Alright." he finally said while smiling back at her.

In the darkness, as unspeakable things writhed across her body, she quietly mumbled "Idiot" and smiled for a brief moment at the remembrance of Shirou's smile and the warmth it gave her.


	2. 1-31 Part 1

A year and a half later

1/31

"Empty…what an idiot." Rin mumbled out loud. After finding the kitchen quiet and unoccupied, she had looked in Shirou's room for the boy and found nothing.

"Idiot," she grumbled again as she slammed the door shut and began to make her way through the house to the backyard. Shirou would most certainly be in the shed, likely having exhausted himself training the evening before. Not that that was an excuse that she would accept. Breakfast was something that he should have had ready upon her arrival; he knew that as well as she.

The heavy metal door opened with a creaking sound and as she had expected, he lay sleeping on the cold floor of the shed. Her anger and annoyance with him over the lack of breakfast seemed to wash away in a moment as she looked from him to the metal rod not far from him. Seeing him and the proof of his unbending will drained her of her ability to deride him. She hated that about him, she hated that he made her feel open and vulnerable; she hated that the stupid boy with his stupid ideal of saving everyone had decided to try and save her. The life she had been forced into wasn't fair, but she had become accustomed to the horrors and pain of it all. What was truly unfair was that after she had hardened herself to the world to prevent further damage and to prevent onlookers from seeing how fundamentally broken she was, the stupid boy had forced his way into her heart and had made her feel vulnerable.

"Emiya-kun," she quietly called.

"Emiya-kun," she said again, this time at a normal speaking volume, but still to no avail.

"EMIYA-KUN!" she yelled loudly, finally rousing him from his slumber.

Groggily, he looked around, his meeting eyes with her's and smiling.

"I'm sorry, Rin, I guess I over slept. I'll get right on making breakfast. Could you help me up?" He asked.

Taking his hand, Rin helped him to his feet, only to stumble on one of the machine parts scattered about. As she fell backwards, she felt Shirou grip her arm tightly and pull her back towards him. Her footing not yet secured, she found herself pressed against Shirou's chest.

Feeling Shirou pressed against her body sent an electric shock of excitement through her. She wanted nothing more than to throw him to the ground and fulfill all of her carnal desires, to act out every lewd thought she had ever had, but with Fujimura-sensei likely on her way over she had to suppress her desires and push him away before she lost herself.

"Idiot, look at yourself. You're dirty and unkempt, and breakfast isn't even ready yet! What will Fujimura-sensei say when she gets here and sees you dressed like this in the kitchen?! You're making me have to start on breakfast while you get ready for school. You realize that, right?"

Her forcefulness didn't catch Shirou off-guard; nearly a year of dating Matou Rin had prepared him to deal with her mean spirited jabs and her teasing.

"Thank you, Rin. I promise that I'll make it up to you." He said with a smile, before dashing off to the house before she could react.

She was left standing in the doorway of the shed, her face flushed red with excitement and annoyance targeted at the ridiculous boy that she cared so deeply for. After regaining her composure, Rin returned to the house to work on breakfast.

"I'll make a Western style breakfast...That'll punish him." She mumbled.

While pulling the various ingredients out of the fridge and the cupboards she thought about the metal rod that lay next to Shirou and remembered the first time she had stumbled upon him practicing his magic.

"You'll kill yourself doing that if you're not lucky." She had called out to him, catching him off guard. The panicked look on his face was incredibly amusing, but it didn't compare to his painfully contrived attempts to explain away what Rin had seen. The expression on his face upon finding out that she was a magus had been equally as entertaining. In revealing herself as a magus, Rin had participated in a minor act of rebellion against her grandfather's orders of simply observing Shirou and instead became an active part of his life and his training. It wasn't long after that that she had made her feelings for Shirou known by asking him out on a date. She counted it as a personal victory that her grandfather had accepted the relationship without protest, but remained wary of the fact that he had so easily accepted it.

Rin's thoughts turned away from the early days of her relationship with Shirou towards the more pressing issue of the Grail War, temporarily banishing the happy memories from her mind. She would win the war; she knew that to be the truth. She wouldn't win it for Zouken, or for herself, but for Shirou. The old worm would get what he wanted and she would move on with her life with Shirou. They would be happy, the ridiculous boy would never have to take upon himself the suffering she had endured, and he wouldn't have to throw his life away trying to defeat Zouken.

She began to sort through the cupboard for dishes when a hand brushed past her own and grabbed a plate.

"Let me help you with that. It's the least I can do since you're making breakfast."

"Idiot," she muttered as she stepped aside to let him gather the dishes.

On his second trip back from the table he glanced to her hand and saw an odd red bruise or injury.

"You should have said something if you hurt yourself, Rin. Did you burn yourself cooking?"

"What?" She asked, puzzled by his concern.

"Your hand, it looks like you have a bruise. I can go grab medical wrap or bandages if you need anything."

Rin was quick to cover up the unusual mark on her hand, dismissing it as nothing more than a sore left from falling asleep on it. It was enough to dissuade Shirou from inquiring about the mark any further, which she was thankful for.

The news played in the background, catching Shirou's attention at the discussion of another dangerous gas leak leaving dozens hospitalized. Rin could tell by the expression on his face that he was worried about them; she was worried as well, albeit for an entirely different reason. She knew that there was more to the gas leaks than what was being reported. Another Master must have been using the unsuspecting citizens of the city as sources of prana for his servant. In a way it was reassuring as it meant that the Master was a weak magic user, someone she would stomp into the ground, but it put the lives of innocent people in danger. She couldn't have cared less about the lives of strangers, but if Shirou found out he might do something characteristically stupid. She couldn't afford to let him discover the cause of the "gas leaks" and by extension the Holy Grail War, not when she needed to be focused on winning the War. Whoever this Master was, she would need to deal with them quickly to keep Shirou safe and ignorant of the conflict that was about to consume the city.

"It's getting dangerous with all these gas leaks. Maybe you should take the next couple weeks off of work and stay home, Emiya-kun."

"You know I can't do that."

"And why not?"

Before she could get an answer, the front door shot open, announcing the arrival of Fujimura-sensei.

It had taken time for the woman who had effectively raised Shirou since the passing of his father to accept Rin into their household. She knew of Rin's troubled past and her aggressive and antagonistic behavior and was wary of letting her get close to Shirou. Rin was not one to care what other's thought of her, but for Shirou she put an effort into attempting to reconcile her differences with Taiga. Things had been going smoothly until one evening four months prior when Taiga had unexpectedly returned after forgetting several papers behind and found the two half undressed and in a compromising situation. She screamed and raged for hours that evening, chiding Shirou for allowing himself to be taken advantage of and scolding Rin for seducing him. It had taken nearly two months to get back in Taiga's good graces and even then, she was suspicious of Rin and prone to blaming any issue with Shirou on her.

"Good morning!" Taiga gleefully called out as she entered the room.

"Good morning, Fujimura-sensei."

"Good morning, Fuji-nee."

Taiga's chipper attitude seemed to take a hit when she looked to the table and the kitchen and let out an audible sigh.

"What's wrong, Fuji-nee?"

"Rin-chan made breakfast?" Taiga asked, her voice filled with disappointment.

"Yes, Emiya-kun woke up late, so I was forced to make breakfast." Rin cut in.

Taiga looked frustrated as though she wanted to complain about something, but couldn't find the words. In the end she grumbled, "I forgot to grade some tests, so I have to leave soon." After that she began scarfing down her breakfast and she rushed out of the house, calling back to them, "Don't be late for class you two!"

"I wonder what that was about?" Shirou asked.

As the two turned their attention to their own breakfast, Rin once again turned to trying to keep Shirou as far away from danger as possible.

"Why can't you take time off from work?"

"How am I supposed to pay for food if I don't work?"

"I already pay for half the cost of our food; I can pay for it all if need be.

"I couldn't accept that. It wouldn't feel right."

Rin was growing irritated at Shirou's defiance; she'd seen him fail enough times at high jumps and risk killing himself practicing magic enough times that she knew he wouldn't back down. She feared that if she kept pressing the issue it would raise Shirou's suspicions. If that were the case he might try and get involved, and she couldn't allow that. She could knock Shirou out and lock him in the shed until the war was over, stopping by to give him food and water, but Taiga would get suspicious and it would probably take a considerable amount of time for Shirou to forgive her. With that in mind, she resigned herself to silently accepting Shirou's decision, at least for now.

After breakfast the two silently made their way to school. Though they walked side by side, neither of them made an effort to speak to the other and neither reached out for the other in a display of affection. Their time together had not changed Rin's view on the rest of the world, she wouldn't let them see her vulnerability and so by extension they wouldn't see her love. Still as they walked up the hill they would steal glances of each other. When at last the silent pair arrived at the school Shirou smiled at Rin and silently took his leave while she went to her morning archery practice.

...

As he made his way into the school building, Shirou turned and stole one last look at Rin before she disappeared from his sight. Instead of only catching a fleeting glance of her, he saw that Rin had barely moved and that she too was looking back over her shoulder at him. Silently the two stared at each other for a brief moment before Rin called out, "Goodbye, Emiya-kun."

After her uncharacteristic send off, Rin turned her head and walked off to archery practice. They would see each other again when class arrived, but for now Shirou was off to the student council room to assist Issei. While making his way to the student council room he thought about the goodbye. It had been nearly a year and a half since Rin had told him to start calling her by her first name, and nearly a year of that time they had been together as a couple, but she still didn't call him by his first name. When he tried to bring the topic up, Rin would dodge the question or find something to get angry at and so the matter never got fully discussed.

The walk through the hall was a brief one and before he knew it, Emiya stood in front of the door to the student council room.

"Issei, you there?" He called out, as he opened the door.

Rather than hearing Issei's voice or silence he was greeted by the chipper voice of one of his juniors.

"Ryuudou-senpai is out at the moment, senpai, but he should be back soon. You were running late, so he went out for a moment to handle something for Kuzuki-sensei."

It was the student council vice-president, Tohsaka Sakura. She was a very beautiful young woman that, despite her quiet and reserved nature, was fawned over by many. Shirou's dealings with her had been fairly limited, but he had heard good things about her from Issei, which meant a lot considering Issei's attitude towards women in general wasn't particularly favorable.

"Good morning, Tohsaka. Will the other members of the student council be joining us this morning?"

"No, they don't have the same dedication as Ryuudou-senpai."

"Or you apparently," Shirou said.

Tohsaka blushed a little at that comment.

"To be completely honest, senpai, the only reason I made it to the meeting this morning was because the clocks in my house were an hour early for some reason."

"Really? All of them?" Shirou asked inquisitively, the unlikelihood of all the clocks in someone's house failing at once having raised his interests.

"Yes, it was strange, but in the end it was probably a good thing."

"If you want I could take a look at them to see if I can figure out what the problem might be."

"Thank you, senpai. I don't think it will be necessary, but it is nice to know that I have the option in the future." She said with a smile.

In the silence that followed Shirou struggled to think of something to say while they waited for Issei to return. It wasn't that he wanted to keep the conversation going. Rather it was because he felt awkward being alone in the room with Tohsaka and maintaining a conversation might relieve the room of the sense of awkwardness that filled it. While he wondered what to say, the girl broke the silence for him.

"What about your morning, senpai? Was there something that caused you to be late?"

Relieved by the break in the uncomfortable silence, Shirou responded, "I fell asleep in my workshop last night and didn't get up in time. You and Issei can thank Rin for making breakfast while I cleaned up, otherwise I might not have made it until even later."

"Matou-senpai was at your house?" Though Shirou was sure that it was a question he couldn't help but feel that her tone reflected something other than that.

"Yes, she comes by in the mornings and evenings and I usually prepare us breakfast and dinner." They did other activities, but the less said about those the better.

"Matou-senpai is very lucky to have someone like you to take care of her, senpai." There was a tension in her voice that went largely unnoticed by Shirou because of the very genuine looking smile that she gave him afterwards.

Before he could say anything a voice from across the room replied, "Indeed, that woman was very lucky when she ensnared Emiya."

It was Issei, finally having returned from the errand Kuzuki-sensei had sent him on.

"You were late, Emiya. How very uncharacteristic of you. I assume Matou is to blame."

The antagonism between Issei and Rin went back several years and despite Shirou's relationship with Rin, he had been unable to make the two see eye to eye on anything. All he could hope for was to minimize the conflict as much as possible.

"No, as I was telling Tohsaka, I was up to late in my workshop and overslept. It is because of Rin's archery practice that I made it here before the start of school."

Issei huffed a little, but he had been disarmed and would have to vent his vendetta another time.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but unfortunately there is something else that requires my attention. Tohsaka-san could you please show Emiya to the problem heaters for me?"

"Of course, Ryuudou-senpai," the girl energetically responded.

"Thank you, Tohsaka. I'll see you in class, Emiya." And with that he left as promptly as he had arrived.

In the empty classroom Tohsaka sat not far from Shirou as he worked on the opened heater. The silence was more palatable now that Shirou was working on something to distract himself, but it still felt strange to have the girl silently staring at him.

"What's she like?" Tohsaka asked.

"What's who like? And could you hand me the conductive tape?"

Tohsaka grabbed the tape and brought it over to Shirou and asked her question again.

"What's Matou-senpai like?"

Despite it being fairly well known that the two had been dating for a year, few people ever approached him about his relationship with Rin. Most people were afraid of Rin and as a result were afraid of inquiring about her.

"She's driven, and she's very special. I don't think it's my place to go any further. If you want to know what she's like, you should try and hang out with her."

Aside from himself, Rin was friendless, her antagonistic, rude, and sadistic nature having long since driven off anyone that might attempt a friendship with prospect of Rin finding a friend in Tohsaka appealed to him, as it might mean that Rin was getting better.

"Oh, I-I couldn't do that. We're very different; she and I, and I don't think we would work well together." Tohsaka responded, her head hanging down and her voice sounding far less energetic than was normal of her.

"I think you're more similar than you may think and you'll never know until you try."

"W-what do you mean, senpai?" She said, her voice raised and sounding a little bit shocked.

"You're both very strong and dedicated. I think you two have a similar sense of drive."

"Oh."

"I'm almost done, you can head on to class if you'd like."

"I'm sorry if my question was to personal, senpai. If you want me to leave because I've offended you I'll go immediately." Sakura responded, her voice sounding both panicked and apologetic.

"Don't be stupid, there was nothing wrong with your questions. I just prefer not to have any distractions during this last part, because it's very delicate. You can wait out in the hall for me if you'd like, I'll be done in just a moment."

"Oh, okay." She said, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing faintly.

"Tohsaka, the repairs are done." Shirou called out as he stepped out of the classroom into the hall.

"Thank you, Ryuudou-senpai and I were supposed to help you, but you ended up doing everything yourself. I feel sort of useless."

"Don't feel bad, I was glad to help."

"Will you be joining us for lunch in the student council room... I think a few of the other heaters will be brought over." That last part sounding slightly like it was tacked on at the last minute, as if to try and create an excuse for Shirou to come by the student council room.

"I'm sorry, I have plans with Rin, but I can come by after school and work on them."

"You could bring Matou-senpai along with you, if you'd like."

There was a faint sound of desperation in Sakura's voice that went unnoticed by Shirou who was laughing to himself at the thought of Rin and Issei in the student council room together. Putting the two in the relatively small confines of the student council room would be asking for disaster.

"Maybe another time."

"A- alright. I should probably head to class. Have nice day, senpai."

...

The winter breeze on the rooftop nipped at Shirou's ears, but it didn't seem to do anything to Rin. As was normally the case, she sat quietly beside Shirou eating her lunch. Despite the silence, it was nice to just be around Rin. As they ate, Shirou recalled Tohsaka's interest in Rin and decided to bring it up.

"Do you know Tohsaka Sakura?"

"No." The answer was cold and abrupt, and her tone made it clear that she didn't want to discuss the girl any further. Perhaps Rin did know the girl and didn't want to talk about it. There were many parts of her life that Rin kept secret, and while Shirou hoped that one day the secrets would be out in the open, he wasn't going to pressure her about them. With that in mind he went back to eating in silence, expecting it to last until they finished eating.

"I'm spending the night tonight." Rin calmly stated.

Shirou's faced reddened with that statement and he almost choked on his food, as he knew exactly what she meant.

"Do you already have a change of clothes at my house or are going to stop by your house after archery practice?"

"I need to go to my house first, so you don't have to wait around after school for me. I'll be expecting dinner to be ready by the time I get there."

Sex was something Rin treated very coldly, as though it were just another task, like breathing or eating. At the same time it was very special to her, as it was when she was her most vulnerable. Their first time had been strange, and unexpected; Rin had returned after having been walked home by Taiga and had practically forced herself on Shirou. Sometimes they made love, other times Rin was dominant and animalistic, it was without a pattern and without warning. It's not that Shirou didn't enjoy their extracurricular activity; he was a teenage boy so he enthusiastically took part, but he wished that he could make sense of it all.

As suddenly as their conversation had begun it ended and the two went back to eating in silence under the clear winter sky.

...

He was late; Shirou had stayed at the school working on the old heaters until dark, despite having promised to have arrived early enough to have dinner ready by the time Rin returned. Rin would be furious and Fuji-nee was likely already their making a pest of herself.

As he approached the house he saw the lights on, showing that his suspicions were confirmed. He couldn't do anything about it now. He had to accept his punishment like a man and move on. With that he made his way into the house.

"I'm home!" he announced.

"Hello, Shirou!" Fuji-nee called out to him from her seat at the table, a plate of food sitting in front of her.

They must have already started eating, which meant Rin must have cooked again.

Unlike Fuji-nee, Rin didn't make an effort to greet Shirou. Instead she sat at her seat eating in silence.

"Rin-chan, aren't you going to greet Shirou?"

"No, I don't think I will." Rin responded in a cold and deadpan voice.

"Oooh, Shirou, what have you done?"

Shirou was taken aback by this. Normally, he could count on Fuji-nee being on his side.

"He inconsiderately promised to have dinner read for me when I got here."

"I'm sorry, Rin. I wish I could have been home sooner." Shirou said.

"The food's in the kitchen if you want to make yourself a bowl." She responded coldly

"O-okay."

After washing up and getting his food he took his seat at the table. Rin was clearly more upset that he'd arrived late than he had expected her to be and he wasn't sure how to relieve the tension.

"You know there was a murder not too long ago, and we talked about the gas leaks this morning." Rin said.

"What? I don't follow you?"

"Idiot…You said you'd be here with dinner ready and you weren't here. I was worried." She said, her voice not raising above a normal speaking level.

The realization that Rin's anger wasn't because he had failed to make her dinner, but instead because she was worried about his safety made Shirou feel even worse.

"I'm sorry, Rin. I didn't mean to worry you. I didn't realize that I would be kept so late working on the heaters."

Rin huffed a little, but didn't reply.

Even Fuji-nee was uncharacteristically silent in the face of the tension between Shirou and Rin.

"I don't want you to go to work for the next couple weeks." Rin said calmly after taking another sip of tea.

"What?" Shirou asked, surprised that she was bringing this up again.

"You heard me. It's dangerous and I don't want you walking around the city after dark. I think Fujimura-sensei would agree with me that it is safer if you stay in."

"I told you this morning I can't do that. I have responsibilities that I need to take care of."

Rin's hands balled up into fists upon hearing that. She looked at him with anger he hadn't seen from her in a long time.

"And what about your responsibilities to me?! What do you think would happen to Fujimura-sensei and I if anything happened to you?! Why is it that your responsibilities to everyone else take precedence over your responsibility to me?! " She yelled, standing now, her face flushed red, and deep purple eyes drilling holes into Shirou.

Shirou was too taken aback by Rin's rage to answer her questions. Before he could formulate a rebuttal she had stormed off towards the door and put her shoes on.

"Rin, wait!" He called out.

"I'm leaving. I'll see you in the morning." She said as she walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Fuji-nee didn't make any jokes or play any pranks, the atmosphere of the house was too somber for such things. Instead the two finished their meals in silence.

...

Alone in his shed Shirou tried to concentrate on practicing, but Rin's words kept blasting in his head. He had his ideals and the path that he had chosen, but he also had to accept that he was more than just himself. He had to accept that there were others who relied upon him being there for them. Was it selfish to put his desire to fulfill his father's dream above the needs of those closest to him? Or was it selfish to put the needs of a few above the many?

"Why do they have to conflict?" he asked himself silently. He wanted to help everyone, but it felt like he couldn't even find a way to balance the responsibilities of having a girlfriend with working.

Sitting on the floor contemplating everything, he didn't notice the arrival of a figure behind him.

"I shouldn't have yelled." A soft voice from the shadows called out.

"Rin?" Shirou said as he turned around to see her silhouetted against the moonlight.

"I'm not going to apologize for how I feel though." She said, firmly.

"I-I didn't think you would come back."

"Idiot, I told you I was spending the night." She said, stretching her hand out to Shirou and inviting him to take it.

...

Rin walked through the moonlit halls of the Emiya household; she was fully dressed again and preparing to leave. The night was still young and there was a servant to hunt, even if not all the servants had been called forth. Coming again to the front door she looked around to make sure that Emiya was nowhere to be seen and then quietly called out, "Rider."

At the call of his master, Rider materialized before her.

"Yes, Master?" The silver knight replied.

"We're going out."

…  
...


	3. 1-31 Part 2

1/31 Part 2

Despite its two lunch time occupants, the student council room was largely silent. The occasional flipping of a page and shuffling of a chair providing the only background noise for the room's two occupants as they ate their meals. Neither Issei nor Sakura actively sought conversation with one another when there wasn't something important or school related to talk about. Perhaps it was this kind of passiveness and quietness on Sakura's part that contributed to why Issei was able to get along well with her so well. She was a beautiful girl, who, despite being popular enough to win an election, was quiet and reserved and didn't spend much time with her classmates. Instead she always appeared to be dedicated to some other task; whether it was school related or involved something else of a more personal nature.

While Issei cycled between reading and eating his lunch, Sakura thought about the boy from earlier; worried about her conversation with him in the hall. Had she been too forward when she'd asked him to come to the student council room for lunch? Was her prying about Matou-senpai too invasive and off putting? The boy had been so polite to her and had apologized just in case he'd given her the wrong impression, but she still couldn't help but worry. The boy hardly knew her, "Why should he inconvenience his girlfriend at the request of someone who is practically a strange to him?" She silently thought to herself. After all, her involvement with him was largely tangential, with Ryuudou-senpai interacting with him far more than she ever did. Still, she wanted to know him and to know Matou-senpai by extension.

She wanted to feel happy that Matou-senpai had someone like Shirou taking care of her. Yet, when she thought about the two of them, she couldn't help but feel a little jealousy well up inside her. It wasn't right of her and she often chastised herself for thinking such things, but that didn't stop the daydreams. Even as she picked at her lunch she thought about the kind hearted boy. Shirou was a caring, dedicated, and strong willed person; he was the kind of person someone could always call on for support, no matter what. The kind of support Sakura desperately yearned for.

For someone who had been as alone as Sakura, the presence of somebody who would aid her at every turn was something she'd wanted since she was a small girl. Her childhood had been stolen from her a decade earlier and she'd been forced to grow up without anyone she could turn to for emotional support or guidance. She had Kotomine-sensei, but there was no father figure to be found in the priest. No, Kotomine wasn't the kind of man to offer emotional support to a young girl in need. Rather than being an understanding surrogate father, the priest had often chastised her for trying to desperately hold onto any semblance of her childhood. He often called her selfish for wanting nothing more than to be allowed to be a child and do what children do.

She was selfish,or at least that was what she had come to believe over the years. To try and counteract her selfishness she'd thrown herself headlong into her studies, both the mundane and the magical, and into the church. She didn't particularly care about any of these things, not really, but that was because she was a bad person and no number of good works would make up for that. Not when they were all done selfishly rather than as a sign of true faith or repentance. That was another fact that Kotomine never grew tired of reminding her.

As she sat silently eating her food and secretly coveting the boy that she felt could save her, she thought of the upcoming war and what it meant. There was no doubt in her mind that she would face Matou-senpai on the battlefield. She was far less certain about whether or not she would defeat Matou-senpai and whomever else she would have to face.

What if she did?

"Senpai will be sad if Matou-senpai dies." She silently reflected. She would be sad as well, given that she didn't really want to fight the older girl. If anything, she wanted nothing more than to be close to her. She wanted to be her friend… no, that wasn't exactly right. She wanted to be more than her friend. She wanted to be her sister, but that was the stuff of childish hopes and dreams that had long since been dashed.

No, she wouldn't be Matou Rin's sister; instead she would be her rival. She would clash with the older girl and when all was said and done she would comfort the boy and maybe, with the passage of time, he would learn to love her. That was an awful thing to hope for and realizing that such a thought had come to her, even if only for a moment, made Sakura feel ill.

How could she wish for something so cruel, when she knew firsthand what it was like to have someone near to your heart ripped away from you?

She found no answer within herself or within the lunch that she had been staring blankly at since first pushing it away in revulsion at her own thoughts a minute earlier.

"Are you alright, Tohsaka?" Issei asked, glancing up from his studies after noticing Sakura's sickened expression.

"I'm fine, Ryuudou-senpai, I'm just not particularly hungry." She replied, using another of her patented false smiles to hide the self-loathing and personal doubt that had welled up inside her.

...

The dark, fetid, Matou dungeon was alive with the buzzing sounds of hundreds, possibly even thousands, of unseen flying and squirming insectile horrors as they moved about in the shadows. The restlessness of the revolting monsters came from the return of the one they knew as their mother, their lover, and their host. They had fed upon her for years; growing fat and strong in the darkness, now they would be of use to her in the upcoming confrontation they sensed drawing ever nearer. They would act as her eyes and ears in the shadows and they would be her weapons of war as well.

In a dimly lit portion of the dungeon, their mother and the Old One stood around an ornate circular symbol etched upon the stone floor. In the center of the strange circle sat a mangled iron horseshoe which originated from a far distant land in an era that had long since passed. Unfamiliar words in an unfamiliar tongue were spoken by their mother as she recited an incantation that meant nothing to them. The horde of monstrous insects felt their mother touch them with her mind and draw upon them to bolster her own strength for the summoning. Once upon a time, they had been like gluttonous vampires, feeding upon their mother and giving her nothing in return, but now they gave to her as they had always given to the Old One.

Connected in consciousness, as though they were of a single mind, they all felt as some of the weaker members of their swarm perished under the strain of being called upon by their mother. Those that survived felt no more malice towards her than an amputated limb felt towards its former owner; they would die for her a thousand times over, if need be. They had been nourished by her prana, her body, her hatred, and in recent years her love. Yes, their mother loved something. What that thing was they didn't know and weren't intelligent enough to care even if they did. Still their connection to their mother made them feel connected to this thing, whatever it was. They felt that love for the thing was why their mother had chosen the horseshoe. There was some connection between the two, some kind of a similarity. What this connection was, was impossible for them to articulate, but it was there all the same.

The nightmarish blade wing worms and their vile larva temporarily withdrew to the darker reaches of the dungeon in an attempt to shelter themselves from the brilliant flash of light that was emitted from the circle at the end of their mother's incantation.

When the brilliance faded, the swarm of hellish gnats and writhing maggots returned from their hiding places and observed a new companion. A man that was very unlike a man now stood in the midst of the circle, towering over their mother and the Old One. He was taking from her, stealing what she would give to them, but there was no hostility from their mother towards the figure. In the darkness they could see the stranger clearly, but still some buzzed ever more closely to man. A thick mane of long silver-grey hair draped down onto the silver pauldrons that guarded the man's shoulders. Similar armor adorned much of the silver knight's body, though his chest lay bare to the world.

One of the horrifying insects drew too near to the towering figure and in an instant found itself crushed beneath the great silver knight's heel.

"Are you my Master?" The silver knight asked of the swarm's mother.

"I am Matou Rin and I am your Master." She replied coldly.

The burly silver knight took a knee and spoke, "I am your Servant, your sword and your shield."

With that, a thin wicked smile graced their mother's face.

...

"Huh…?"

Sakura was confused by the lack of the appearance of a Servant in the face of the ritual she had just finished. No mythical hero had appeared in the center of the circle. How could she have expended so much of her strength and so many gems and still not summoned a Servant? As she racked her brain thinking over what could possibly have gone wrong, her thoughts were disrupted by the sudden sound of an explosion from the living room.

"What's going on?!" She cried out in a panic as she ran to find the cause of the explosion.

After kicking in the broken living room door, she found a man in strange red garments sitting cockily amidst the rubble of the destroyed room. There was no doubt in Sakura's mind that this man was the Servant that she had attempted to summon while in the basement.

"But what went wrong with the summoning?" She silently asked herself.

She heard the cause before she saw it. In the corner of the living room an unbroken clock ticked away and reminded her that she had been early to school. She had summoned her Servant an hour earlier than she had wanted to and the ritual had suffered for it.

Looking to the Servant as he cockily sat before her, she called out in a weak and timid voice, "My Servant?"

The man in red smirked before replying, "How unfortunate that my Master is so unsure of their abilities that they would question my very nature as a Servant and a hero."

Sakura panicked and began to apologize.

"N-no, I didn't mean it like that. I was worried because I made a mistake in the summoning ceremony."

"So, instead of not being a servant at all, I'm actually a mistake of a Servant. I guess that is something of an improvement. How very unfortunate of me to be summoned by a magus so addled. Are you sure that you are my Master?" He replied.

Sakura fretted at the accusations put forward by the Servant in red, and with a shaky voiced replied, "Y-yes! I am you Master. N-now w-we need to go." Trying, and failing, to sound firm, hoping that he would stop insulting her and listen. Another Servant was feeding on unsuspecting civilians and Sakura needed to do something about it. She couldn't think of her own exhaustion, not when she knew that Kotomine would berate her for acting so selfishly as to sleep while someone risked involving outsiders in the Grail War.

The Servant raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"You're so unsure of your abilities that you would rush out into battle in such a weakened state. Truly, I am a most unfortunate soul to have such a Master."

"W-What?!"

Rising from his position and stepping forward, he lifted the girl up and began to carry her bridal style. Panicking, Sakura pounded against his chest with each step he took.

"Set…set me down! It's my responsibility to stop the Servant that's hurting all those people!" she cried out while squirming to get out of his arms.

"Quit acting like a petulant child, it's very unbecoming of one as strong as yourself." He said glancing down at her.

"B-b-but we need to find the Servant that is feeding upon the people in the city." She faintly replied.

"We'll go tomorrow. I have no desire to disappear only hours after being summoned. Rest and then we'll go."

Before Sakura could realize what was happening, the man in red set her down on her bed and began to place the sheets over her. She hadn't noticed that he had walked through the various halls and brought her to her room. A small part of her wondered how he knew what room belonged to her.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, meekly looking up at him.

"Because, I understand what kind of Master you are." He replied, looking down at her with an almost paternal expression.

After turning out the lights he began to fade into ethereal light as he became his spirit form.

"Thank you, Archer." Sakura called out to the darkness. She wasn't entirely sure why she had called him Archer; she just felt that that was right. He wasn't the Saber class that she had hoped for, but maybe he was exactly what she needed him to be.

...

Atop a skyscraper, a girl and her silver paladin gazed upon the city. The girl's nearly waist length violet hair gently waved in the wind along with the edges of her long black pencil skirt.

"Will you save me?" The question played over and over again in the silver knight's head. It had been one of the first things the girl had whispered to him after he had been summoned.

The hero didn't normally save the monster at the end of the story, he slayed it. Yet, he had been summoned to this time and place by two monsters and one had asked him to save her. It was his duty as a knight to follow his liege lady, but he had vowed long ago to be an ally of justice. If the elder monster that dwelt in that dark mansion wanted the Grail to unleash some great horror upon the land, did that trump his honor bound vow to serve the girl?

Was the girl truly even a monster? Yes, a she commanded a horde of nightmare beasts, but she had placed priority on hunting a Servant that was making a meal of innocent people. That had to mean something, but even if she wasn't a monster what of her grandfather? That thing was less a man than some of the fouler beasts he had seen in his day. What could it want with the Grail?

As if reading his mind his Master spoke.

"Don't worry about Grandfather. He only wants the Grail because he's afraid."

"What, my Master?"

"You're worried aren't you? You want to know what the monster in the shadows wants with the Grail." She said, pausing for a moment. "You don't have to fear that he'll stop the sun from rising so that he doesn't have to be cooped up all day or that he wants to rule the world. He wants the Grail because he's afraid. He's rotting away and there's nothing he can do to stop it. It doesn't matter that he can replace his body, not when his soul and his mind are decaying. All he wants is to be young and immortal."

"And what do you wish of the Grail, if I may ask?"

"I don't want anything from the Grail." She coolly replied.

"Then why are you competing?" He asked puzzled by his Master's answer.

"Because I want to be free." She quietly replied, turning to gaze out at the sprawling cityscape once again. Observing the girl, the silver knight wondered if all monsters so reviled their fate. Were they merely victim's that by happenstance had been chosen to play the villain?

It wasn't very long before the silence was broken once again, this time by the sound of cruel laughter that started as a snicker and grew steadily louder.

Turning towards him, a wide and off-putting smile worn across her face, his Master giddily called to him in a singsong voice, "Servant…Oh Servant! I think someone's watching." The silver knight was caught off guard for a moment. Both from his Master's radical shift in behavior and from having not sensed the presence of an observer. He quickly realized the insects that his Master commanded must have observed the would-be spy.

"Shall we put on a show, Servant?" She asked, twirling in the twilight as if enraptured by the very thought of him slaughtering the interloping observer. Gone was the sullen and self-hating girl and in her place stood a sadistic predator joyfully desiring to play with its prey. Was this what she meant when she said she entered the war to be free?

"If that is what you wish." He answered.

"Yes, I think it would be a fun way to end the evening." She responded, pointing her index finger towards the roof of a skyscraper diagonally behind him.

With superhuman speed, the silver knight cleared the distance from his position to the edge of the building and leapt. The distance between the two skyscrapers was far too great for any human to have cleared in a single bound, but the heroic spirit faced no such problem. As he descended upon his enemy, he gripped the hilt of his massive zweihander and pulling it over his shoulder prepared to bring it down like a hammer. In the moments before his attack was about to land, he saw his enemy and knew immediately that, despite the figures modern clothing, he was a Servant.

The Servant was clad in a black suit, white undershirt, and black tie, his blue hair held back in a ponytail, and a cigarette held not far from his mouth. Looking up, the Servant's red eyes widened as he saw the great silver knight closing in on him. If he were struck by the silver knight's giant blade he would be cleaved in two. Pushing off from the ground diagonally, he leapt with incredible speed, narrowly avoiding the killing blow.

The silver knight's blade slammed into the rooftop, burying itself nearly to the hilt. Quickly excising the blade from the roof, the silver knight turned to face his opponent. The cocky enemy Servant calmly took another drag off of his cigarette before tossing the burnt out stub to the ground.

"I take it from the great sword that you're Saber?" The blue haired Servant called out to him with a wolfish grin.

"Maybe in another war." The silver knight thought to himself. If the enemy wanted to think that he was the Saber class servant then so be it.

Taking a stance, the blue haired Servant called out, "You're fast. I'll give you that, Saber. But you're just a hair to slow."

A red spear began to materialize in the Servant's hands and his modern suit was replaced with a blue skin tight outfit that covered his body. With breathtaking speed, the spearman, who was without a doubt the Lancer class Servant, cleared the distance between the two of warriors and thrust his spear with such power that no mere man could hope to block it.

Yet, in spite of Lancer's strength, the silver knight easily parried the attack and responded in kind, sending the attacker flying back several meters.

Swiftly, Lancer closed the gap again and struck out at the silver knight's unarmored chest, only to be blocked again. Recoiling from the power of the strike, Lancer was hard pressed to defend against the silver knight's next attack. The absurd length of the silver knight's great sword would have normally given him an advantage over an opponent, but the reach of Lancer's spear allowed him to keep himself from immediate danger and parry the powerful strike. Though the first few exchanges were visible to the naked eye, the pitched exchange of blows soon escalated to speeds almost beyond human perception.

Trading blows back and forth, the two warriors tried to find an opening in the others defense only to be rebuffed again and again; the silver knight maintaining a clear advantage in strength, but being out matched by Lancer's agility. The silver knight was growing wary of Lancer's prodding attacks. Lancer was no threat to him in face to face combat, but should the swift spearman manage to get behind him there was the possibility that he could uncover the silver knight's weakness. He needed end the fight before it could get to that and to do that he needed to take a risk that his master had advised against.

As Lancer's spear closed the gap between the two fearsome warriors, the silver knight made no move to stop it, instead allowing the blow to land directly in his chest. Pushing forward with his unparried blow, Lancer's expression turned to one of dread as he realized his spear tip was unable to pierce the chest of his opponent. Before Lancer could retract his weapon, the great silver knight gripped the spear and held it to his chest. The spear gripped firmly in his left hand, the silver knight brought down his great sword with his right.

Thinking quickly, Lancer pressed his spear forward with greater force and pushed the base of the spear upwards. Pushing off from the ground he used the silver knight's grip on the spear as leverage to vault over him, narrowly missing the blade as it struck his previous location.

Losing his grip on the spear as a result of Lancer's actions, the silver knight swiftly turned to face his opponent, the tip of his great sword dragging across the rooftop and then slashing diagonally upwards. Before Lancer could clear the silver knight's range entirely, the tip of the great sword grazed his trapezius muscle sending him tumbling forward.

After quickly gathering himself and leaping further out of range of the colossal blade, Lancer took a defensive position. The wounded spearman was trying to conceal the pain that erupted from his back.

Smiling, Lancer called out to the silver knight, "Still just a hair too slow, Saber."

The silver knight braced himself for another foolhardy rush from the cocky spearman, but instead was greeted with another taunt from Lancer.

"It was fun, Saber, but my Master won't have me risk parishing tonight. So I'll be taking my leave."

With great speed, Lancer leapt away from the battle. With Lancer's injury, the silver knight could probably catch him before he got too far, and he could certainly catch him with the aid of his stead.

Sheathing his great sword, he began to reach for his horn.

"Don't." His Master's voice echoed in his mind.

His Master stared at him intensely from the skyscraper where he had left her. In moments he had returned to the young girl.

"You already revealed one noble phantasm, if you use another there's no way they won't know who you are." She said, responding to his question before he could ask it.

"Chasing him down now…"

"Would only succeed in revealing your identity. We had control of the situation with the surprise attack; we no longer have control of the situation. Attacking now would be inviting disaster, and disaster is exactly what would happen if the enemy knew your name while we were in the dark about their identity." His Master said, cutting him off.

The quiet and cold girl from earlier had returned, leaving no trace of the smiling sadist that had danced at the thought of him killing his enemy.

"It's almost 2:30 in the morning, Servant. I think it's time we go home."

…


	4. 1-31 Part 3

**Author's note:** This is the Shinji POV that probably should have been in 1/31 part 2. It's short, but I didn't want to lump it in with the day 2 stuff I've got for the next update.

...

...

...

1/31

As Shinji took his seat, he glanced over to his sister and his friend. Not that Emiya had been a particularly close friend since his sister had attached herself to him. Emiya and Shinji had become fast friends in middle school, but that was before she had decided to take yet another thing from Shinji. He shouldn't have been surprised, given that she had taken everything else from the boy. Shinji doubted that his violet haired sister truly cared for Emiya, he was likely just another toy for the sadistic bitch and when he stopped being a fun plaything she would break him and then toss him aside, like everything else. That had been one of her favorite pastimes when the two were children. Whenever he'd dared to confront her about stealing his toys, she'd just stare and inform him that it was junk anyways and she'd simply thrown it out with the rest of the garbage. She never smiled when she delivered the news to Shinji, but the boy always imagined that as soon as he turned away from her a twisted grin would spread across her face, revealing rows of shark-like teeth. He wouldn't have put it past her given the time she'd giggled at their father's funeral.

His father had by no means been a perfect man, far from it, but that out of place quiet, little giggle had made Shinji absolutely livid. How could she mock him so openly, and at the poor man's funeral no less? He'd confronted her about it afterward. He couldn't contain his rage in the slightest, ripping into her over her behavior, her appearance, and her very existence within the Matou household. He'd demanded that she leave and never return because all she did was selfishly disrupt his life. When his tirade had ended she'd looked at him questioningly, as if she didn't understand a single word he had said to her. She'd elegantly approached him in her black funeral dress, almost looking as if she was gliding across the floor, and raised an open hand to the side of his face and caressed his cheek. He remembered exactly how soft her hand had been. It felt so tender and caring, as though she was trying to comfort him, making what came next all the more brutal.

Her fingers had run up his face and into his hair, dancing across his scalp and suddenly grabbed a large tuft of his hair in her fist. His pain was immediate; it felt as if his 'sister' was going to rip his hair right out from the roots. Instead she'd used it as leverage to drag him over to the wall and continually smash his face against it. His nose had broken on the first impact and blood erupted like a fountain, leaving a disgusting red smudge where it had slammed against the wall. She smashed his face against the wall three or four more times before letting go of his hair and allowing him to fall to the ground. Writhing in pain he'd tried to cradle his face with his hands, but found his sister firmly crushing his right hand underneath her heel. She then proceeded to stomp upon his forearm, fracturing his ulna and radius, causing him to howl even louder than before. He remembered feeling nothing but helplessness and self pity when she'd begun to kick him repeatedly. While she'd beaten him senseless and broken his bones, she'd never spoke a single word to him. She'd simply glared at him in silence, her blank gaze had felt as if it was boring holes into his very soul. By the time the beating had ended, his nose, arm, collarbone, and several ribs were broken. Afterwards she'd gripped him by his long hair once again and dragged him to the steps that led to the horrific dungeon that she and his grandfather spent much of their time in.

In his memory, she looked less like a young girl and more like a demon, her long violet hair dancing like serpents, a mouth full of dagger-like teeth, and soulless piercing eyes. He remembered her leaning down to him and whispering into his ear, "I could throw you away and not one person on this planet would care."

Shinji was already in tears from the death of his father and the excruciating pain he had been in, he'd broken down completely when faced with the prospect of not only being murdered by Rin, but also being forgotten entirely. He'd begged for what felt like hours, pleading for his life. She'd merely glared at him while he prostrated himself before her.

He remembered her cocking her head to the left and simply replying, "Disgusting."

It was more than just a word when she'd used it. The way she said it, from the tone of her voice to her body language, clearly broadcasted her sense of utter revulsion at Shinji's broken form. After hearing her say that, he went silent and resigned himself to his fate. He'd expected her to throw him down the stairs to the writhing things that dwelt in the shadows, but instead she had just turned and left. He'd ended up laying there for several hours before his grandfather had happened upon him. The old man didn't try and comfort Shinji, instead he'd simply laughed at the boy's broken and battered form.

When she left Emiya broken like one of his old toys, would she come to Shinji and casually inform him that she'd thrown Emiya out with the trash? Thinking about his friend's inevitable fate and everything else that she'd put him through, he wanted to walk up to her desk and violently bash her head against it until her face was nothing but a bloody pulp. He imagined then dragging her by her disgusting hair out into the hall, ripping her clothes off, brutally raping her, then returning to the room to tell Emiya that he'd saved him. While his delusions played out in his mind, he stared intently at his sister. His gaze did not go unnoticed by the girl.

"It's rude to stare, little brother."

Maybe others couldn't tell, but for Shinji the venom of her words was palpable. They were filled with disdain and hatred for him; they had to be. Nothing she ever did or said to him was motivated by anything less than pure sadism or revulsion. Then there was the addition of the title little brother. It was there to remind him that he was her inferior. It didn't matter that she was in fact a couple months his senior; he knew that there was something more nefarious behind the choice of words. It had to be that way. She was a manipulative monster and her every turn of phrase was chosen for the express purpose of inflicting the most mental trauma upon him, or anyone else she targeted to be her next victim.

Why couldn't Emiya see what he saw? Emiya had been his protector in middle school, offering him sanctuary from his sister, but now he was protecting her. By what cruel turn of fate had the hero saved the monster? How could he be in a relationship with a thing like her? He wanted to tell Emiya about the pit, about their grandfather, about Rin's tainted body, and so much more, but he was too much a coward to do so. She'd told him before that if he dared say anything about her to Emiya, she would flay him alive and then toss him into the pit. So he was forced to sit and watch as she toyed with his friend until she grew tired of him.

...


	5. 2-1 Part 1

2/1 Part 1

...

Looking to his left, Shirou saw that he was alone in bed which meant that he'd overslept for the second day in a row. Considering that Rin had spent the night he figured that he was probably in the clear this morning. Rising from his bed, Shirou noticed an odd red bruise on his hand. It didn't hurt and he didn't remember getting it, but he thought it would be better to bandage it up.

After getting dressed and bandaging his hand, Shirou entered the living room and greeted Rin.

"You didn't have to do this again, Rin. You could have woken me up to make breakfast."

"I felt like letting you sleep...However, I expect restitution." She said.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow." Shirou replied.

"Valentine's Day is two weeks from now, I want you to take me on a date." Rin flatly stated.

Shirou was taken aback. The two were an unorthodox couple; even though they had started dating over a year ago, they had only been on four public dates, and Shirou had instigated all but the first of them.

"Um...alright. Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"I don't know." She replied.

"Are you craving anything in particular?" He asked.

"Bacon and eggs, that's why I made them." She replied without a hint a sarcasm.

"No, I meant for dinner." Shirou responded in frustration.

"What I'm craving for dinner right now and what I'm craving in two weeks may be two entirely different things."

"You know, you're being very disagreeable right now." He said.

Before Rin could respond, the door shot open and Taiga charged into the house.

"Good morning, Shirou!" the hyperactive school teacher called out.

"Good morning, Fujinee!"

"Good morning, Fujimura-sensei."

"Oh, Rin-chan is here." Taiga said as she entered the living room. "And she made breakfast again?"

"Yes on both counts, Fujimura-sensei." Rin responded.

Taiga nudged Shirou in the side with her elbow and whispered, "Did you apologize?"

"Why what for?" Asked Shirou.

Taiga glared at Shirou, shaking her head.

The three were taking their seats to eat when Taiga pulled out a number of rolled up posters.

"I need to get rid of these, so I was planning on giving them to you."

"Why, I don't want them‒huh, my pepper is out." Shirou said as he tried to season his eggs.

"Here take mine." Taiga replied, barely containing a smile.

Shirou went to to put a little extra pepper on his eggs only for the top to fall off and smother his eggs in a mountain of pepper.

Taiga immediately burst into great guffaws of laughter. "I was prepared this time for a Western breakfast." she proudly proclaimed.

"Gah, Taiga! You crazy woman, you ruined my food." Shirou shot back.

"Serves you right for two days ago and for worrying poor Rin-chan and I last night."

"Had the events of the prior evening really brought Fujinee that much closer to Rin?" Shirou wondered. He was happy to see the two getting along better, but wasn't sure he liked the idea of them teaming up against him.

As Shirou cleared his eggs of the mountain of pepper and Taiga scarfed her food down at breakneck speed, Rin spoke.

"I won't be over for dinner for the next few night, Shirou."

"Huh? Is something going on?" Shirou asked.

"There's a family event that my grandfather wants me to take part in. As a result, my evenings will be full for at least the next week." She answered.

"Family," Shirou thought. The inner machinations of the Matou household were an enigma that refused to reveal their secrets. Shirou had asked Rin about her family before; he'd even talked to Shinji about it, but they were quick to direct the conversation away from their lives. He thought better of asking Rin what this family event of hers would entail. If Rin wanted him to know she'd tell him when the time came. Until then he would be silent on the matter, although that wouldn't stop him from pondering about it.

After that revelation, breakfast was fairly quiet and ordinary. Taiga left in a rush to grade yet more papers that she had forgotten and Shirou and Rin silently finished their breakfasts. As Shirou locked up the house he happened to notice that Rin's hand was bandaged in roughly the same place as his.

"How odd," Shirou silently noted as the pair left for school. He recalled asking her about the bruise on her hand the previous day. She had assured him that it had been the result of her sleeping on it. But shouldn't it have been better by now?

"Are you alright?" Shirou asked.

Rin looked to him questioningly, surprised by the fact that he had broken the silence that had been practically sacrosanct.

"Your hand, is it alright?" Shirou asked, elaborating on his first question.

"It's fine. I bruised it at my house yesterday." She replied.

"You weren't fighting with your brother again?" Shirou asked, recalling all the times that Shinji had come to school injured.

"It wasn't from fighting. I was moving something for my grandfather." She responded, glaring at him.

Despite their conversation not stemming Shirou's worries, the silence that normally characterized their journey to and from schools set back in.

...

Sakura drowsily yawned as she looked up from her bed to the clock hanging across the room from her: according to the old time piece, it was nearly one o'clock. She didn't forget that the clocks were an hour ahead, not this time anyways. Even if it was only noon, it was still far later in the day than she had hoped to awaken. She'd have to call her school and make up an excuse for her absence, and she'd need to call poor Ryuudou-senpai and apologize for not being able to help him out today. Now that she was thinking about Ryuudou-senpai and the student council, she realized that she'd need to tell him that they would need to allocate some of her responsibilities to other members for the next week or two.

While Sakura was stretching, she realized that she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday. A frown formed on her face as she remembered the events of the evening before and the embarrassment of having her Servant put her to bed. In the long history of the Holy Grail War, had there been another Master who could say that they'd been tucked in at night by their Servant? She doubted it.

She thought about calling Archer from his spirit form and facing him, but noted her appearance and thought better of it. She couldn't allow her Servant to think that he was in charge of the relationship, so she'd make him wait for her. Rising from her bed, she stumbled to the bathroom adjacent to her room where she disrobed.

While one would normally expect a person to avoid the spray of cold water that erupted from the shower head before the warm water poured forth, Sakura embraced the cold bite of that first spray. It roused her from her state of half-sleep and electrified her body. After the brief shock of the cold, the torrent of warm water began to coat her body. Where the cold had been rousing, the warmth was soothing and it almost felt as though she could wash away her innumerable problems. If she just stood there long enough, maybe the priest, the war, the paperwork that Issei had given her the day prior, and everything else that plagued Sakura's mind would just go away. It was too much to hope for, not to mention that is was selfish. Still, it felt nice just to imagine a simple life for a moment.

In this world she had a father, a mother, and a sister. Even in her dream life she still shouldered her responsibilities to her family, to the church, and to the student council and school, but at least she wasn't alone.

Opening her eyes, and allowing the imagined world to slip away, Sakura looked up at the shower head and let the water cascade down her face.

"Why'd you give her away?" she asked.

She'd asked the question on countless occasions, though the one man who could answer it had been dead for many years.

Closing her eyes again her mind drifted to a world where her father had decided to split the family crest between her and her older sister. It was a fanciful notion, but one that she entertained every once and a while. She imagined the two growing up together, playing, laughing smiling, and acting as romantic rivals. In her imagined world, her older sister always smiled and never once scowled and she would always protect Sakura from Kotomine and help her with her studies. They'd laugh at their own insecurities, strengthened by the presence of the other against the onslaught of the rest of the world.

In the world of her mind, the phantasmal hand of the smiling, older Tohsaka sister reached out for Sakura to take it and join her in the sun, but when Sakura stretched out to take her sister's hand she grabbed nothing. Her older sister had retracted her hand and her smile had vanished. The expression on the older girl's face became one of resounding hatred and revulsion, as though she was disgusted by Sakura's very presence. The older girl's inviting sapphire blue eyes were replaced with pale violet pools that looked to be overflowing with a rage that was beyond Sakura's understanding. Similarly, the blackness of her hair began to melt away, replaced with a dark shade of violet.

Sakura took a step forward towards the girl, but the girl took a step away from her.

"You stole everything from me." Her older sister said with a look of disdain.

Sakura wanted to say it wasn't her fault, but the apparition had vanished and her imaginary world fractured like a mirror, bringing the young girl back to her shower.

Even through the cascade of water, discernible tears flowed down the side of Sakura's cheeks.

"I'm sorry, neesan." She quietly said.

After finishing her shower, she went to her room and got dressed. Looking in the mirror, she wondered if she looked too casual for her upcoming confrontation with Archer. The girl in the mirror wore a sleeveless white blouse, a faded blue hoodie, shorts, leggings, and boots. She wouldn't second guess herself, not this time. She'd done enough of that the prior evening.

Readying herself, Sakura took a stance and called out, "Archer."

Nothing.

"Archer," she called again. Growing slightly aggravated.

"Yes?" Came a voice from directly behind her, causing her to jump forward.

"W-w-what did you do that for?" She stammered out, temporarily losing her composure.

"You've been up for nearly thirty minutes and have only just now called me. I wanted to see how you felt about being made to wait."

Sakura frowned at that.

"I'm the Master, I can decide to call or not call you as I see fit. You don't have that luxury." She responded.

"Funny, I wouldn't have known that last night. You seemed very helpless, trying to go off and track the whispers of a shadow to a predatory Servant."

"I-I was trying to do my duty as the protector of the city!"

"And had you not had a Servant as pragmatic as I, then the city might be looking for a new protector."

"Stop that, please." she said, raising her voice.

"Stop what?"

"Stop making fun of me. I'm tired of your paternalistic japes as my expense! I get enough of that from the stupid priest and other members of the student council!" She yelled.

Archer smirked, "Alright, alright, I'll try but I can't promise that I'll be quiet if we're walking into danger. Still you surprise me, I didn't know you could yell so loudly."

Sakura's eyes widened and she immediately felt like she should apologize, but she had to stay strong.

"You didn't tell me your name, Archer."

The Servant's smirk disappeared and he replied, "And I can't tell it to you."

"What? Why not? I'm your Master."

"It's not that I don't want to, rather I can't tell you because I don't know it myself."

"The botched summoning." Sakura mouthed without saying it out loud, as if it wouldn't be real if she didn't put her fears into words.

How could she have so royally screwed this up? Why was the entire world conspiring against her?

Letting out a sigh she looked up from the ground to Archer and said, "I need to eat."

Was it avoiding the issue? Yes, but for the moment she had decided that there was only so much a girl could go through on an empty stomach. Passing by the living room, Sakura saw that the mess that had been made the night before was gone.

"Did you?" She asked, pointing to the room.

"Yes. When you didn't wake up this morning, I decided to try and do something useful."

Sakura laughed a little.

"What's so funny?" Archer asked.

"Nothing, only it's something you'd expect more from a servant and not a Servant." Sakura answered.

Archer didn't look particularly amused.

"I can cook too. The ability to do menial tasks isn't lost when one becomes a Heroic Spirit." He responded.

"You can cook?" She asked.

"Yes, very well in fact." He pridefully responded.

"Good, I think I'll have curry then."

"Very funny."

"I was being entirely serious, Archer." Sakura said, smiling up at him.

While Archer prepared lunch, Sakura quizzed him on Medieval Europe, Greek mythology, China during the Warring States Period, and various other time periods to try and discern who he might be or at least pinpoint the general time that he lived in. Ultimately the task proved to be fruitless and by the time Archer had finished preparing Sakura's lunch she was no closer to discovering his identity than when she had started.

"This is really good. Were you a chef who got drafted to protect your nation?" Sakura asked, thinking that that might be a unique enough origin story to narrow down her search.

"I don't believe so."

Sakura pouted a little before taking another bite.

"You've asked me a great deal many questions, but have said little about who you are, Sakura."

"Alright, I'll tell you what you want to know, but first I have one other thing to say."

"And what is that?"

"I never told you my name."

…


	6. 2-1 Part 2

2/1 Part 2

…

Trying to make sure that he didn't drop the dishes he was carrying, Shirou pushed the door that led from the kitchen to the bar open with his leg. Normally he worked in the back and helped clean up after Copenhagen had closed for the night, but with only three of the bar's normal five staff members there that evening, Shirou had been forced to take on the additional responsibility of bussing tables. The atmosphere of the quaint little pub was warm and inviting which strongly contrasted the strange couple that Shirou was delivering the food to.

The couple had been sitting in the same place for several hours now; having arrived not long after Shirou had arrived for work. They'd ordered a drink every once and while, the man more often than the woman, and had only now ordered something to eat. Shirou couldn't exactly put his finger on what it was, but the couple felt very out of place in the bar. It wasn't their suits, as plenty of businessmen and women stopped by Copenhagen. Neither was it the fact that they were European, as Fuyuki was a large enough city to have tourists and western businessmen visit it in fairly large numbers. To add to their strangeness, was that Shirou couldn't help but feel as though they were watching him. Their gaze seemed turn to him whenever he came out from the back room to deliver food to another customer or return dishes to the back. With the bar largely cleared out and most of the other customers having left, their gaze seemed to become more apparent.

Setting the food at their table, Shirou smiled politely and in his best English, which wasn't particularly good, said, "Enjoy."

"Thank you," the magenta haired woman replied in Japanese. Her friend simply bared a toothy grin at Shirou. It was then that Shirou finally realized that the man's eye were red. He wondered if he had noticed it earlier without actually noticing it and subconsciously focused on it. Perhaps the stranger's odd eyes had unnerved him.

Heading back to the kitchen, he could feel their gaze following him. Shirou didn't believe that he knew the strange couple, but that didn't preclude them from knowing him. His father had a traveled quite a lot; perhaps the two strangers were old associates or friends of Kiritsugu. Maybe the strangers had come looking for his father and found him instead; though that didn't really make sense given that they'd have to know where and when he worked. Now that he thought of it though, that might have been a possibility if they stopped by his house while Taiga was there and he wasn't. Though he wasn't sure Taiga would give out that kind of information to total strangers. Shirou was unsure what to do, he couldn't very well go up and ask them if they were magi. What if it was just some strange custom from whatever European country they came from to stare down your server? It would be bad if he said something and ended up offending them. It was getting late; there was no need to make a fuss about the matter anyways. "The strangers will probably leave soon after they finished their plates anyways." He thought.

"Good night, Neko." Shirou called back to his boss as he exited Copenhagen's front door.

"Be safe, Shirou." She yelled back to him.

As he began his long trek home, Shirou noticed a man leaning against a building, smoking a cigarette. He was quick to realize that the man was half of the strange couple from earlier. Why was he still here? And where had his companion gone?

Deciding to try and ignore the oddness of the situation, Shirou began to walk past the strange man only to have an outstretched leg obstruct his path.

"Want a smoke?" The strange man asked.

"Um…No thanks. I'm a little young for that kind of thing and I don't really have any interest in smoking." Shirou replied, trying not to appear rude, but still on edge because of the abnormality of the situation.

"Good, I hear it's a terrible habit anyways. I only just started myself." The stranger replied before taking another drag off of his cigarette and exhaling the smoke through his nostrils.

"Um… Alright… have a nice evening?" Shirou said, trying to step past the man.

"Have you got someone you love, kid?" The strange man asked, positioning his leg to continue obstructing Shirou's path.

There really wasn't any reason for Shirou to answer that question, but there also wasn't much of a reason for not answering. Trying to avoid causing a hassle he replied earnestly.

"Ahhh...Yes."

The stranger smiled that odd wolfish grin from earlier again and then asked, "You know your responsibilities right?"

"Um… I'm not sure what you're getting at." Shirou replied with uncertainty.

"It's your duty to protect her, kid. No matter what happens, you put her safety and well-being above everything else. You make sure you save her." Afterwards, he took another long drag from his cigarette. It looked as though half of the cigarette turned to ash in that single heavy drag. It vaguely reminded Shirou of a western story his father had told about a wolf with such powerful breath that it was able to blow a house down.

Shirou didn't know how to reply. What was the man going on about? Why did he have some interest in Shirou's love life? Deciding to try and learn more about the stranger he asked, "Um… that woman you were with earlier, was she your-"

"Ojou-sama. I'm just her Servant."

Shirou found that very odd. Judging by the way the two had acted around each other he had thought that they had been a couple or at least partners rather than having a master-servant relationship. He also didn't think he'd seen many butlers with their hair held back in long ponytails like the man. There was also the fact that the woman didn't act of look like the typical high-class woman of wealth either. He wondered if the man had used the wrong word to describe the woman, but he had called himself her servant so maybe he was right. Before he could ask, the man smiled a bit and spoke again.

"My Master is calling, so I'll be taking my leave now. But remember what I said kid, keep her safe and try and keep her out of trouble."

Shirou watched the man walk off until he rounded the corner.

"That had certainly been one of the stranger occurrences of the day." Shirou thought out loud.

The rest of Shirou's journey back to his house was far more mundane than its start. By the time he was a couple of blocks from his house it was nearly 10. As he drew nearer to his home he could tell that the absence of lights must have meant that Taiga hadn't stuck around very long, likely having raided the fridge for whatever she could find and then leaving. It was strange to be coming home to an empty house, Shirou thought as he reached into his pocket for his house key. As Shirou's hand grabbed onto nothingness, his stomach dropped. Quickly checking his other pocket he pulled out a key to Copenhagen, but found his house key absent. He'd forgotten his house keys at Copenhagen. He normally checked for that kind of thing when he left Copenhagen, but the strange man had distracted him and he'd forgotten to do it. He needed to head back to the bar and hope that he would be able to find his keys there, otherwise he'd have to head over to Taiga's and ask her to let him in and she'd never let him live it down.

Letting out an audible sigh, Shirou set off back to Copenhagen. The late night stroll wasn't terrible, it certainly could have been worse he thought.

"It's dangerous to be out this late all on your own, Oniichan." echoed a soft and youthful sounding voice from behind Shirou.

Turning around, Shirou saw a small white haired girl only a few steps behind him. She couldn't have been much older than ten, what kind of person would allow such a young girl to be wandering the streets this late in the evening?

"Are you alright, little one?" Shirou asked, concerned about the girls safety.

The girl's face screwed up a little bit as though she was surprised that by Shirou's question. Though as Shirou thought about it, she was right to be surprised or at the very least suspicious given the hour.

"Of course I am." The little one replied, as though there was no possibility that she could be anything other than alright.

"Well you really shouldn't be out this late. It's dangerous to be out alone, as you pointed out." Pausing for a moment Shirou realized that the little girl must be a foreigner visiting the city; jet lag had probably left her operating on a different sleep schedule. "Are you and your parents staying at a hotel near here? I can escort you there if you'd like. I know I'd feel more comfortable if I saw you off safety."

The little girl's forehead scrunched up a bit, as though she were annoyed by Shirou's politeness.

"I…I'm not staying at a hotel." The girl finally answered after a prolonged period of contemplative silence.

"Oh, are you staying with relatives? I can walk you to them, if you'd like."

The girl glared at Shirou as though she were putting him under microscope and dissecting him. She seemed to be calculating some cold equation that's result would determine whether or not she would accept Shirou's aid. The boy couldn't blame her for being hesitant; after all he was a total stranger. He'd probably be more worried for her safety if she was trusting enough to accept his aid without a second thought.

Finally she replied, "I guess that would be alright, but they live outside of the city. It may be prudent to call them and have them pick me up."

"I forgot the keys to my house at my work, so if it isn't too much of a walk you can come with me and then we can head back to my house and you can call your family." Shirou felt so strange suggesting to this total stranger that she trust him enough to follow him home.

"Alright, Oniichan."

Rin would likely have hated what Shirou was doing, for all he knew this little girl could be bait used to lure in would-be do gooders into a trap, but Shirou couldn't stand idly by and let this little girl wonder the street alone at this time of night.

The little girl took a couple of steps forward until she was standing next to Shirou and then the two began to set off for Copenhagen. As they walked, Shirou realized he hadn't asked the little girl her name. Turning to face her, a reassuring smile on his face, Shirou said, "I'm sorry, but I never asked you name."

I girl gave him another one of her now signature examining looks, as though she were trying to see what kind of angle Shirou was playing at. Tentatively she replied, "Illyasviel…Illyasviel von Einzbern."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Illyasviel." Shirou replied, trying to bowing slightly and putting on airs for the sake of the girl who was clearly of a wealthy background.

"In polite society, it is customary to not make fun of one when they introduce themselves to you and it is also considered the norm to offer you own name as a reply." Illyasviel replied harshly.

Shirou was caught off guard by Illyasviel's statement.

"I'm sorry. My name is Shirou Emiya, and I really did mean no offense, ojousama."

"Shirouemiya is a very odd sounding name."

Shirou laughed a little at that, "No, Shirou is my first name while Emiya is my last name."

"Shirou," she said after mouthing the name slowly. "Yes, I think I like that name; it suits you Shirou. You may consider yourself forgiven for you earlier slight. But as recompense, I expect you to call me Illya."

"Alright Illya," Shirou replied, a bright smile on his face.

The two continued their journey to Copenhagen in relative silence until Shirou decided to make conversation with the girl.

"If I may ask, who are the relatives that you're visiting?"

It looked like the question caused the girl some distress as a very sullen expression took hold. "I'm visiting my father and his son."

The way the girl said "his son" told Shirou that the girl must not like the boy, perhaps he was her brother from a different marriage. Shirou realized that that must be hard on a girl of her age, knowing that her father had a new family.

"What are they like?"

The girl tilted her head and kind of glared at Shirou before her expression softened and she spoke.

"I don't really know I've only just met him."

Shirou was a bit perplexed by the girls shift towards talking about her relatives in the singular when she has stated that she was visiting at least two of them. Before he could ask, Illya asked him a question.

"What's your family like, Shirou?"

He didn't want to depress the girl, but she had been open to him about her family so it would only be right if he gave her the same honesty.

"I don't really have a family like most people. My father adopted me when I was very small so I don't really have any memories from before then. He was ill when he adopted me and passed away five years ago."

"Could you tell me more about him?" a strange sense of longing seemed to be apparent in the way Illya asked the question.

"Sure," Shirou said with a smile. "He was a very strong man; he never once let his illness let him define who he was. Even near the end, he sorted everything out so that I would be taken care of after he was gone. He was kind and warm and found the value in everyone; I think it pained him to know that he couldn't help everyone in the way that they needed. That was just the kind of person that he was…a hero."

Glancing over to Illya, Shirou could see sadness on the small girl's face. He felt bad for contributing to it so he continued to describe his 'family'.

"Even though Kiritsugu has passed away, I'm not alone. I've got Fujinee and Rin."

"Fujinee and Rin?"

"Fujinee is like my older sister. She came over a lot to play with me when I was young and her father is the landlord, so she continues to take care of me. Though at times it seems more like I'm taking care of her."

"And Rin?"

He wondered how he would describe his relationship with Rin to someone so young. She probably still thought that boys were gross.

"She's kind of like my childhood friend. It's kind of complicated to explain."

Illya furrowed her brow again, "It's also considered ill-mannered to talk down to someone, Shirou."

"She's the older sister of a friend of mine that never really got along with anyone. We started dating about a year ago."

"She's your girlfriend?" Illya asked, her head held slightly askew.

"Yah…yeah, she is."

"What kind of a girl captured Oniichan's heart? Is she a princess like me?"

Shirou smirked at that a bit. He cared for Rin very deeply, but princess wasn't the word that he would use to describe her. If Rin and his relationship were a fairy tale she was more likely to be the dragon rather than the damsel in distress.

"No, I don't think she is what you would call a princess. She's very complicated." –Illya started to glare at him again-"I mean that she doesn't really fit into one mold. She's a very loving person when you get to know her, but she doesn't let people in easily." In fact when he thought about it, she didn't let anyone in. "She can be very harsh and is quick to judge and slow to forgive, but it's all in done in the name of not getting hurt."

"Is she pretty?"

"Yes, she's very beautiful."

"Prettier than me?" Illya asked.

Shirou smiled a bit at that before replying, "She's a different kind of pretty."

Illya frowned at that.

The remainder of the walk to Copenhagen was characterized by conversations that weren't particularly about anything. They exchanged their favorite foods, colors, and other menial things like that. When they finally arrived at Copenhagen, Shirou unlocked the front door and let himself and Illya in. Quickly locating his keys, Shirou felt kind of bad for not wanting to call Illya's family from the bar. Though the more he thought about it, it would probably be strange for her father and brother to find Illya at a bar. After pocketing his key and locking the bar back up, Shirou and Illya set out once again.

It was nearly eleven now and the streets were almost entirely empty, Shirou guessed that the gas leaks and the murder a couple days earlier had frightened people off from the late night scene. As the odd couple made their way through the empty streets Illya looked to Shirou again and asked, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I like to help people, and there was no way that I could abandon a lonely little girl out this late at night."

Illya's response took Shirou off guard. She simply grabbed his hand and interlocked her fingers with his so that the two were holding hands as they walked side by side. It was strange, but not bad. Shirou pitied the poor girl, and if acting as a big brother figure to her, even for just a couple of hours, lifted her spirits he would do it.

As they walked down the street, a figure in one of the windows of a building across the street caught Shirou's eye. He couldn't really tell from the distance and the distortion, but it looked like a girl. He saw a strange burst of light and when it had cleared the girl was missing and the window was covered in spider web-like fractures. There was something wrong. Stepping forward to cross the street, he felt Illya's hand tightly grip his own.

"Don't go, Oniichan." The little girl said softly, it almost sounding like she was pleadingly with him. She must have seen the strange sight in the window as well.

"There should be security at the front desk; we need to at least inform them about what's happening. Then we can go."

Illya hesitantly followed Shirou as he crossed the street. The front door of the building wasn't locked and was easily pushed open, revealing a seemingly empty lobby. Approaching the front desk Shirou saw the security guard sprawled out on the floor. Not wanting Illya to see what could possibly be a dead body, Shirou pulled his hand free of Illya's almost vice-like grip.

"Illya, please stay right here, I need to check something behind the desk." He said, trying desperately to conceal the worry in his voice.

Once behind the desk, Shirou checked the man for a pulse. While faint, the man's heart was still beating.

"Is he dead?" Illya asked from behind Shirou.

"Illya, I told you to stay away from here!" Shirou barked at her.

The small girl looked faintly hurt by his yelling. Shirou didn't have time for that right now though, this could be one of those gas leaks from the news and there may have been a spark on the fourth floor that set of some of the gas. The fire department and the police should have been alerted by the building's alarm system, but for some reason it hadn't sounded. Everyone in the building was in danger.

Turning to Illya, Shirou knelt down and pulled the key to Copenhagen out of his pocket and placed it in Illya's hand.

"Listen, Illya, I need you to be a big girl and take this key and run back to Copenhagen. I want you to lock the door behind you and call the police and tell them about this building."

"Why…Why aren't you coming with me?"

"There might be a fire on the fourth floor, if the people up there are unconscious they won't last until the fire department gets here. I need to go up and get them to safety."

Shirou began to turn away to head towards the stairs when he felt Illya's small hands grip his arm tightly.

"You'll die if you go up there, Shirou." Illya said solemnly. There was no hesitance in her voice. She wasn't telling him that there was a chance of him not making it out alive. She said it as though she were stating a simple fact.

"I'll be fine, but if I don't go people could die. I can't allow that to happen for the same reason I couldn't leave you alone."

Illya hesitantly released Shirou's arm and allowed him to leave. He felt guilty about leaving the small girl, but he had to do whatever it took to save the people on the fourth floor and it was safer if she got out of the building. As Shirou ascended the staircase he began to hear muffled crashing noises. Hastening his speed, Shirou opened the door to the fourth floor just as the sound of a small series of explosions rang out. Shirou cautiously walked down the hallway looking for the girl he had seen earlier or any others that might be unconscious. Scanning the hallways he found the janitor passed out on the floor. Rushing to the man's side, Shirou was soon distracted by the sound of muffled voices followed by another series of explosions. If there was someone who was near the source of the explosions, or was the cause Shirou needed to do something about them first;they were either in the most danger or the cause of the danger. Grabbing the unconscious janitor's broom and twisting off the broom head, Shirou prepared for whatever might come next.

The broom handle in hand, Shirou took a seat. Concentrating on the object in hand, he muttered, "Trace on." Armed with the broom handle, Shirou set off.

Drawing closer to the source of the explosions, Shirou began to be able to make out the voice of a woman. Edging his way to the corner Shirou looked into the open office space with its dozens of cubicles, many of which were torn apart. In the midst of them stood a girl in a faded blue hoodie and a man in red surrounded by what looked like skeletons with swords and not far off stood a strangely robed woman. The skeleton's made their attack and the girl blew several away while the man in red easily dispatched them with his two blades. The sight of the battle was awe inspiring. Despite their apparent victory the robed woman was laughing at their effort before firing upon them with beams of light. With impossible speed the red man grabbed the girl and leapt out of the path of the destructive blasts.

Leaning forward to try and see where the red man and the girl had landed, Shirou stumbled into the water cooler, sending it crashing into the ground with a loud thud. The hooded woman turned to his direction and fired a blast that he only barely managed to dodge. The hardened aluminum broom handle wasn't a match for this woman; Shirou had to run if he had any hope of surviving. Retreating as fast as he could back down the hallway to the staircase, Shirou found his path obstructed by three of the monstrous skeletons he had seen earlier. Rushing the figures, Shirou readied his weapon. One of the skeletal figures swung it's blade at Shirou. Out of practice, Shirou only barely managed to parry the blow in time. The attacks came fast and furious and Shirou was in no position to go on the offensive, barely hanging on against the supernatural warriors.

Taking a chance Shirou dropped to the ground, slamming his shoulder against the hard floor. Despite the pain, he had no time to pause and swung the broom handle at the unguarded legs of the skeletal warriors, smashing through the bone and causing them to crumble. As the warriors reassembled, Shirou sped off towards the staircase. Rounding the corner as fast as he could, Shirou narrowly avoided crashing head first into one of the skeletal figures, barely missing a blow from the warrior. Swinging his improvised weapon, Shirou meant to try and delimb the attacker in the same way he had done to the previous three, only to have his strike parried by the skeleton. Recoiling from the failed attack, Shirou was hard pressed to block the next strike the swordsman threw his way. The close combat conditions of the hallway left little room for error as Shirou tried desperately to hold back the deadly onslaught. Repositioning his hands, Shirou turned towards using his weapon as a staff rather than as a bat or sword. When the skeleton warrior lunged, Shirou parried the blow and brought the other end of the staff crashing down on the warriors head.

Quickly bounding over the remains of the skeletal warrior and resuming his advance on the door to the stairwell, Shirou was within a few feet of the door when he felt something impact his lower back and send a sharp shooting pain through his body. Glancing down at his abdomen, he saw the tip of an arrow protruding several centimeters out of his body. "I've been shot!" he thought as he tried to ignore the immense amount of pain he was in and reach the stairwell. Shirou crashed into the door just as a second arrow slammed into the back of his lower left thigh. His momentum caused him to tumble down the stairs, rolling down a floor t and finally crashing into the concrete wall. Pain roared through Shirou's body as he struggled to regain his footing. In his fall, he'd been separated from his broom handle, his only line of defense against the skeleton soldiers. Powering through the pain, Shirou began to limp down the stairs at a speed far slower than he knew that he needed to be going. The four flights of stairs that Shirou had so quickly scaled felt as though they were an order of magnitude more numerous on his way down. At the base of the stairwell lay the broom handle. Grabbing it, Shirou began to use it as a walking stick as he hobbled into the lobby. Shirou began to head back towards Copenhagen only to stop dead in his tracks. If the witch and her skeletal minions kept following him, he would lead them directly to Illya. He immediately turned around and began limping in the opposite direction. Out in the open street he was a sitting duck should the witch spotted him and fired off more of those strange beams. With that in mind, Shirou dove into an alleyway and took cover behind a dumpster.

Trying to control his labored breathing and ignore the agonizing pain he was in, Shirou sat wondering whether he had lost the witch and her minions. Looking down at his leg and his abdomen he realized that the two arrows had broken during his freefall down the stairs. Grabbing the exposed head of the arrow lodged in his abdomen Shirou tried to pull the projectile out of himself, only to realize that at least three of his fingers were broken or dislocated. The adrenaline from his journey down the stairs must have deadened the pain, but as he tried to pull the arrow out of his belly it overwhelmed him. Letting out a fierce yelp, Shirou was quick to cover his mouth with his other hand upon realizing his mistake. Peering over the top of the dumpster, Shirou tried to see out into the street to make sure that he hadn't been heard. There was nothing out there. Had he lost them? Taking a sigh of relief, Shirou turned to make his way down the alley to continue his escape only to be met by the witch's grinning face and a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, Shirou saw a dagger embedded to the hilt. Shirou coughed a little with the impact of the blade. The distinct iron taste of blood filled his mouth as he tried to cough up the blood now pouring into his lung. The hooded witch pulled the jagged, almost lightning bolt shaped blade from his chest, slicing open the left ventricle of his heart on the way out and shredding his left lung even further. Shirou fell backwards against the dumpster and slid to the ground. The witch was already gone and he was fading quickly. Slumped over on his right side, the blood from his left lung began to pour into his right. If the wound to his heart didn't cause him to bleed out first, he would drown in his own blood. Fighting desperately to breathe, Shirou thought of Rin and Taiga and what they would do when the police came to the house in the morning and informed them that he had been found murdered. Rin would be upset with him, for leaving her, for abandoning her when he had promised to stay by her side and be her hero. He would never get the chance to apologize for not listening to her.

As the world around him faded, a silhouetted figure emerged before him. It was a girl, she sounded terribly pained, like she was crying.

The silhouette cried out to him, though it sounded muted and soft to Shirou as he fade from consciousness. The voice belonged to a girl, though who that girl was and what she was saying was beyond Shirou. As he passed out from blood loss, his last thoughts were feeling guilty for making the girl cry.

Roused from his state of unconsciousness by the sound of sirens, Shirou looked around the alleyway that he lay in and then looked to his chest. His blood stained and torn shirt showed the tell-tale signs of several different wounds, but the injuries themselves were gone, as was his savior. Scanning the area around him. It must have been left behind by the person that saved him. Shirou pulled himself up from the ground and broke into a sprint as he tried to rush home. Despite his wounds having healed, pain shot through Shirou's chest and as he ran.

By the time Shirou had made it back to his house, he was exhausted and every part of his body ached. Lying on the living room floor Shirou tried to catch his breath and recover from what had happened. What exactly had happened? Who was the witch? and what about the man in red and the girl he was with? There were so many unanswered questions raging through Shirou's mind that if felt almost incomprehensible to him when he realized he was dozing off to sleep. How could he be falling asleep after what he had witnessed? In spite of this he could feel his breathing labored and his eyelids growing heavy. He was moments away from drifting off to sleep when he heard the bell hung from the ceiling signal an intrusion. "It was the boundary field!" he thought as his almost shut eyes shot open. Something or someone that meant to do Shirou harm was in the house. Shuffling around in the dark, Shirou grabbed one of the rolled up posters that Fujinee had left behind.

"Trace On," he said, bracing himself for another battle despite his entire body aching from the exertion.

"My my my, aren't you the funny little magus." A voice from the shadows called out.

Shirou braced himself for an attack by the witch's minions, but instead saw the night turn to day as a bizarre pattern of light took form and released a torrent of magical energy at him. Dodging the blast, Shirou felt his whole body scream with pain as he slammed into the wall. The blast had blown away one of the windows, but he'd survived.

Shirou couldn't stay in the house, despite the fact that he likely had the edge in close combat conditions; the walls were too thin to take a blast from the witch's magic. If he tried to do battle with her in the house she would shred it. Scrambling to figure out what to do, Shirou decided to try and make a break for the shed. The concrete walls were more likely to offer protection from the witch's blasts and his tools in the shed offered better weapons than the reinforced poster he now held. As soon as he got up to try and make it to out the shattered window, the witch would blast him and he would be done for. He either died hiding or he died trying to make a break for it.

"There never really was a choice now was there?" Shirou said, a labored smile appearing on his face. Quickly rising from his hiding place Shirou reached the shattered window, but not before the witch targeted him again. Quickly unrolling the poster, Shirou used the hardened paper as a shield. The blast destroyed the paper and propelled Shirou into the back yard, sending him crashing into the ground with a loud thud. Every inch of Shirou's body screamed in agony he laid on the ground. Part of him didn't want to get up, but he couldn't sit there and wait for death; he had to get up; he had to fight back; he had to make it to the shed.

Pulling himself up from the ground Shirou began the agonizing journey to the shed. What would normally take him a few moments felt like it was taking him hours, each labored step feeling like it was miles farther than the last. Pushing open the door Shirou barely made it into the shed before another blast of energy slammed into the side of the shed. Collapsing not far into the shed, Shirou turned and looked to the doorway to see the hooded witch's figure silhouetted against the moonlight.

"You're strong little magus, but this is where you die." She said, preparing to unleash one final attack.

No… He couldn't accept that. He didn't survive the stab to the chest to die here, he had to live. He had to live for his father's dream; he had to be there for Rin when she got to his house in the morning; he had to live!

The space between the witch and Shirou erupted in a brilliant light and the figure of a girl emerged before him, swatting away the witch's blasts.

The witch leapt back from the figure that had so easily deflected her attack. Seven skeletal minions rose out of the earth before the figure of the girl only to be dismissed with a few movements of her arms. Where Shirou has struggled to hold off just three of the warriors the girl defeated the seven figures in moments. It was like she was swinging a blade made of nothing but the wind. With the skeleton warriors destroyed the girl turned to face Shirou; she stood before him a silent, stoic, and beautiful figure.

"I ask you, are you my Master?" The otherworldly warrior asked of Shirou?

Stammering, Shirou was unsure how to reply.

She looked to be about to speak again when the figure of another skeleton soldier rose from the earth behind her.

"Behind you!" Shirou cried out.

With lightning speed the girl turned and swung her sword of wind with the strength of a typhoon. The strike was unblockable by the frail soldier of bone and like its other comrades was struck down by the girl. The air around the girl seemed to wave and ripple as she leapt through the doorway into the backyard to take on a dozen other skeletal minions. Her grace and skill was unparalleled by any swordsman Shirou had seen before, it was almost as if the she danced between the comparatively slow skeleton troops. With only an elegantly subtle flick of her wrist the girl's ethereal blade parried the incoming attacks and responded with speed and grace that left the skeletal troops in shambles.

Emerging from the confines of the shed Shirou watched as the girl pointed her invisible blade at the witch and called out to the witch who hovered in the like a great bat, "You are bested, Caster. You cannot hope to win this engagement."

The witch sneered at the girl's remark before responding, "You caught me by surprise Saber, had I –arragh!"

Caster groaned and stopped mid sentence, clutching her wrist. She muttered something that Shirou couldn't quite make out, but sounded faintly like "Assassin".

"We'll meet another time, Saber." Caster called to them before taking off like a bat out of hell.

The girl that the witch had called Saber approached Shirou

"Are you alright, my Master?" she said, stretching out a hand to help him to his feet.

"Ma-ster?" Shirou said, looking up at the girl helping him up.

"I, Servant Saber have come forth in response to your summons."

"I...I don't understand." Shirou stammered out.

"I act as your blade and your shield, from this point forward our fates are bound together as one. Now our contract is complete."

"Contract? I don't understand." Shirou's rudimentary knowledge of magecraft left him completely unaware of what was going on with this situation. Was this girl some kind of familiar? That didn't seem right though as familiars were little things like cats of birds, not superhuman warriors. And what was this "contract" she was referring to. Before he could question her, Saber turned her away from Shirou.

Suddenly Shirou felt a burning pain erupt from his hand. The skin underneath the bandages from earlier seemed to glow with a red light. Unbandaging his hand, Shirou found a strange red tattoo.

"Another Servant and their Master approaches, Master." She said calmly, before leaping into action.

"Wait, what are you going to do?!" Shirou yelled after Saber.

...

The sound of steel meeting steel echoed out from the steps of the temple as Assassin skillfully deflected and dodged the second barrage of bladed weapons launched at him by the blonde Servant. He had survived the first two volleys, but had been entirely on the defensive for the duration of the confrontation so far. If he had any pretensions of winning this engagement he had to close the gap between himself and his enemy.

"Faker," the word carried with it hate and revulsion at Assassin's very existence. As though he and everything about him was an affront to the blonde Servant, almost a personal insult even.

"Know your place and kindly die!" The Servant called out to Assassin, the air behind him rippling as new weapons replaced the ones he had already launched Caster's false Assassin.

Assassin's swordsmanship was pushed to it's uppermost limits as he struggled to parry the numerous blades fired at him. To an observer the first and second blades looked to be deflected almost effortlessly, but the third was a heavy Chinese pole-axe and as Assassin's blade met with the ancient Noble Phantasm, the Holy Sword Cortana, appearing as it had before it's shortening and reforging, slammed into his upper left thigh. Despite the pain that roared throughout Assassin's body upon the impact of the blade, he managed to deflect the heavy pole-axe.

Assassin knew that his battle was already lost, there would be no way to keep ahead of the blonde Servant's onslaught with the wound had had already been inflicted, but he would not simply give up.

Leaping to the left, Assassin dodged the impact of the blade the had severed Medusa's head from her body, Harpe. Slashing upwards, he deflected the ancient Babylonian self swinging sword, Asp The Serpent, only to be struck in the abdomen by the prototype to Gae Bulg, Gae Assail. Passing through the swordsman's body, the spear pinned him to the temple steps.

A twisted smile appeared on the blonde Servant's face, "Hardly even worth the effort."

Another blade came down, piercing Assassin's left shoulder, causing him to release his own blade from his grasp.

The taste of blood began to fill his mouth as Assassin fought to try and pull himself up. Seeing him struggle, the blonde Servant pinned his leg with another blade. The blonde Servant was growing annoyed with Assassin's refusal to submit and prepared to strike down the samurai before the intervention of a figure that Assassin could only assume with the Servant's Master.

Words were exchanged between the two and then the man began to speak to Assassin. His words were incomprehensible to the fading samurai, spoken in a language that he was unfamiliar with. Soon he felt pain, greater than any the blonde Servant had inflicted upon him, as an arm erupted out of his chest.

All the samurai could do was scream in agony as his body was used to call forth this war's true Assassin.

...


End file.
