ARC 1: Dagger (4)
JBukharin
Signer of the Totalist Charter
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Chapter 25: Dagger (4)
There was just so much that was happening all at once as lunch came to a chaotic end.
With his nerves already steeled after the encounter he had incurred with Kotomine, Shirou was legitimately attentive to anything that could easily turn out to be any sign of an eventual ambush or attack from the priest.
Despite the eerily calm perception of the situation with the priest, there was that itchy thought that made him consider the eventuality that the man might end up deciding without any notice.
It could happen, he had seen it in his eyes how desperate the creepy individual was starting to get just from a mere discussion. He didn't frighten him, the young Emiya was perfectly aware that it was the very nature of the dangerous man that got his own person scared of what was happening.
But fear was a powerful instrument when offered to some people, with the redhead being incredibly conscious of what fear tasted like and the kind of absurd deed that could be done with just a taste of it.
...Yet the issue he was facing as of now wasn't related to Kotomine, but rather it was connected to his adoptive guardian.
The Gamer had felt that something was off the moment he noticed how tense Kiritsugu was while sitting by the table, the man's posture just hinting that there was something off about the simple-looking lunch while he quietly took bites with his forks out of the cooked steak.
That very simple detail, coupled with the fact that both Waver and Gray hadn't been there in the household when the redhead had returned home with Illya and Caren, was more than enough to put the Gamer in a state of unprecedented unease.
Until it had been only himself to risk some pain or horrible fate, things had been somehow easy to face. He had the means to overcome many dreadful obstacles along his path, and the Game offered just plenty of opportunities to survive all of those without suffering too much from those.
But Gray didn't have that ability, and the same was for Waver.
The silver-haired girl was still training up to get better in using the weapon form allowed by Add, the strange box having offered plenty of advice with his annoying quips, but she was far from even getting close to achieve a sufficient state of fighting capability.
Speaking of the English-born visitor that had been taken in by Kiritsugu, Shirou couldn't help but see that there was just something off about this individual.
Not only the young man was incredibly reclusive when speaking with people, restraining himself from showing too much interest in discussions that weren't together with the older Emiya and…
That was incredibly odd.
Especially with how nervous Waver seemed to become once he was forced in a conversation by the former mercenary.
Their understanding was as mysterious as 'wrong', there was just so much strangeness in their relationship that Shirou couldn't help but just look cautiously at this new situation unfolding.
Observe had offered him just a little info that helped explaining the full extent of the correlation between the two, yet there was one thing that the Gamer had learned out of that predicament as he was aware of a very peculiar detail he had missed early on.
Waver was a Magus and… he had been there in Fuyuki Town for some time now.
While this detail shouldn't truly open up to much suspicion towards his person as there were plenty of foreign people coming to visit the city to have some nice holidays away from their homes, the issue was more connected to the reason behind his presence in town.
The Holy Grail War had been a competition that was meant to be partaken by Magi, and it wouldn't be completely far-fetched to see this being the prime reason for the young man having come here in this part of Japan.
Yet it didn't explain why Kiritsugu would have been so keen to keep the foreign Magus if they had been somehow competing one against the other.
Why?
The simple but repeating question that kept the boy on edge for the entire duration of the lunch, despite all the funny efforts created by many of the individuals living in the house.
Illya was adorable, especially with the playful bickering she seemed to be endeared by when talking with Caren.
With the Einzbern being the oldest, it was always comical to see both girls butt heads over a topic or another, especially with how mature the Italian girl was over some of the subjects brought up.
Some of the stern teaching from the catechism had stuck around in Caren's perspective of amusing things, urging her to sometime deflate the red-eyed child with dry retorts and from there the two would begin exchanging some interesting replies, never exceeding towards anything of a big insult to the other.
The little bickering was adorable, but there was a surprising lack of loud voices right now as… Taiga wasn't there.
The young woman had been forced to the event because her grandfather had required her presence back home, something about an important talk he wanted to have with the brunette. Which was as surprising as unexpected considering how much of a pushover Raiga was about his granddaughter.
But the madness was far from being over with just the two pale-haired girls, as there was quite the quarrel between the two 'twin' maids.
With Leysritt continuing to behave as lazily as usual, her flat comments about the food were quick to stir a fiery reaction from Sella about the matter, the serious woman pointing out how that should have been the result of their combined efforts and, just like usual, it was all only her labor.
As the reprimanding intensified, Liz decided to appear as much distracted as she could, with her eyes looking away from what was happening.
But as entertaining this all was proving to be and how unusually normal this was all starting to become in his life, Shirou's mind was still set on the troublesome thoughts over Gray's and Waver's well-being.
No matter the distractions, concern had now settled deeply in his mind and he couldn't just ignore it so easily
It would take about half an hour to finally see the two finally make a safe return home… with two more individuals on tow.
It had been the loud noises accompanying their footsteps. The familiar sound of the wheels of a wheelchair moving around the soft texture of the wood that ultimately gave away the fact that the two had brought two familiar faces out of their homes.
Kiritsugu had been fairly distant from where the red-haired child had been sitting by the table, thus rendered unable to prevent the boy from reaching out for the door of the living room that was connected to the entrance and from seeing that there was truly an odd scene unfolding on the other side of that barrier.
Gray almost jumped in sudden fright at the noise of the door opening right beside her, and her eyes went wide open in shock at the scare before those settled their sight onto Shirou's form and relax a little bit from her stance.
Waver merely tensed up at the sound, but the serious look still plastered on his face was still there as he did his best to keep up well enough with the current task, making sure that he didn't mess up with his current actions which was related to the wheelchair he was pushing around.
Aoi's sleeping face was the first thing that made the Gamer understand the kind of situation that was unfolding, his entire body tensing up in a mix of surprise and utter confusion at her current presence her and… he thought back about Kiritsugu's ominous words about the matter.
Before he could press for more information about this circumstance by asking Gray, his attention was fully captured when he felt a pair of small arms suddenly wrap around his neck and a weight pushed straight onto his chest.
Shirou tripped backward, surprise hinted by his panicky eyes as he finally landed on the ground and realized what caused this sudden development.
"Emiya-kun!"
Long, dark hair coming from one of Rin's twin-tailed comb momentarily covered his face, hindering his capacity to reply.
The girl was shivering, her face drown in his shoulder as she tried to make sense of what was going on considering that she had just woken up mere moments ago.
At the sight of the first familiar face, the terrified child did the best thing she could afford to do in that moment of uncertainty and confusion.
Shirou groaned a little, suffering some damage from tripping, but nothing even so remotely dangerous.
Yet it was just as he stood up slowly, trying to pull himself up with the girl still grasping at him so desperately, that the entire room behind him exploded in loud voices and noises.
"Rin-chan?" Illya was the first one to call out what was happening, with the Gamer falling back in the living room and revealing what was going on.
What followed could be described as something that Shirou had long started to grow accustomed to.
While it wasn't a full-fledged dogpile, the rest of the girls had rushed to see what was going and soon he was stormed with numerous worried questions about what was going on.
This kind of distraction was then increased with the young Tohsaka latching so stubbornly by his chest at the sudden increase of noises all around her.
The situation was indeed escalating beyond normal diplomacy, and soon the young Emiya was overwhelmed by the sheer noisiness of the people all around him, trying to either help him or get to talk with Rin.
And with the young Gamer distracted by the horde of worried individuals, Kiritsugu stood up from his seat and looked up at Waver. The two shared a serious look, then the Magus Killer settled his stare back at the sleeping Aoi as she was still resting on her chair.
His mind burned a little at the fact that he was lookijng at the wife of one of the former contenders of the Fourth Holy Grail War that he had to fought, remembering Tokiomi Tohsaka as the incompetent Master that let Gilgamesh easily manipulate Kotomine to betray his own teacher and father.
The fact that there were no signs of any major fighting on both the young Magus and the Saber-alike girl was also a reason to be incredibly concerned about how things had gone by.
The man had expected at least some cuts, perhaps some shredded bits of clothes considering whom they might have encountered in that visit. And yet there was nothing of that sort in display.
A deal of sort? Only a direct conversation, away from the ears of those that weren't ready for this kind of conflict, would solve most of his queries.
And that what he was going to get as quickly as possible.
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~Rin's POV~
If there was something that the young Tohsaka had long learned to despise the most, it was the incredible dread that followed awakening in a new place.
This kind of fear hadn't been there for too long as it was conceived when she ended up kidnapped by a very horrible person that was hurting children.
She could remember the horrible smell, the stained sheets and the tension that had riddled her determination as she took her friend out of that terrible room in the sewers.
It had been an experienced that had seen her open her eyes over the unfair developments of life, how it was easy for someone to be abducted without any major reason… other than being young.
It hadn't been an action motivated by some vengeful Magus, nor it had been some political-created situation like the stories her father had started to describe to her when she started to work on her magecraft.
Exceeding the known, the dark-haired girl was given glimpse of what Magi were supposed to work on a daily basis.
The unknown was scary, there was no way to soften up the traumatic predicament that saw her accept eagerly the need of staying close of her mother when the Holy Grail War came to an end.
Despite the troublesome disposition of her remaining parent, Rin had earnestly kept around the woman instead of offering any trust to the strange-looking Kirei Kotomine.
She remembered first seeing him, the lack of compassion appearing to be just some adult-based annoyance towards children…
How wrong she had been.
Shirou had been as honest as he could get once things had settled down and they all had moved to his room, with only her mother being left to the care of 'Waver' and the boy's father, and the tale he had given her leaving quite the bitterness over some of her past memories.
The realization had been chilling, her shivers had resumed despite the warmth coming from the blankets offered by the girls as the redhead had explained what he knew about the fake priest.
And how fake the priest was.
There was no niceness, there was no real regret in the loss of her father. Kirei Kotomine… was a monster, and the more she learned about the extent of his malicious intents the more her stomach churned in disgust.
How dreadful, how scandalous- HOW UNFAIR!
Anger had mixed well with her fear, a strange concoction of motivated fury with one conceived out of ignorance over the crescendo of revelations she was subjected with.
There was some mindfulness in giving out the details, yet the honesty rendered it all a sour bite to chew down.
She had for so long blamed some mysterious figure for killing her father, when the real responsible for her family's downfall had been so close to them for so long.
'Helping' them while sowing the seeds of brief trust and genuineness.
It was aggravating, it was something that got her anger to stir to an incensed level.
And Rin couldn't just lash out so suddenly and without a proper target.
Everyone here was nice, even that creepy father that Shirou had and… that was hurting her.
It was aching, it was a hollow pain that kept her from even crying at everything that was crumbling upon her previous understanding of things.
Anger turned into hurt, hurt turned into more anger.
It was an unpleasant cycle, yet it continued to linger about for the rest of the day even when she found solace in the company of so many nice people.
She was finally allowed to see her mother and the woman looked to be fine now that she was awake. There wasn't much of an improvement since the last few days, yet Shirou's presence and words seemed to further bring out some new vitality out of her previously-lethargic state.
A strange phenomenon, something that was as endearing as confusing, but it was still good progress that would hopefully see her mother revert back to her normal self.
And when that would end up happening, the first time Rin would ask from her will be a hug. A long one.
She needed it. They both needed it, especially since her father was no longer there to give her some guidance.
Now the dynamics of the world around the girl had changed, no longer she could trust adults like Kirei and… that meant relying much more on the very person that had been there to offer her someone to hug without whining too much about it.
Shirou was a boy, but not one of the ones she had met in the past.
Boys normally had cooties, Kotone had told her that, yet that notion seemed to not be connected with the redhead.
He was nice, he listened, and talked back to her. He wasn't overly attached to any boyish activities, and he did care for her issues.
Same for the other girls, especially Caren and Gray. Illya was a little bit difficult to understand with how eccentric the older child was, but compared to Fujimura-san, the German girl was at least bearable in every situation.
It was a fresher life, but one that hopefully lacked any of the gloom and unpleasantness that had been since the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
There was space to rest, time to think, and the means to achieve some peaceful quietness without having to imagine some sudden scare from the priest.
She was freer, but at what cost?
Kirei wouldn't just let go without biting back, like a dog that was deprived of his chewtoy.
A cruel man, a horrible individual that deserved the worst for his responsibility of killing her father, of having crippled her family's economy and… for having tried to hurt her mother.
To even consider that the priest had planned to do something to her mom, perhaps even to herself, for the reason of having some compliant hostages for an eventual clash between him and Shirou's father- her mind was bubbling in hatred.
The 'Magus Killer' title had been repeated on numerous occasion by her father in an unpleasant voice, disdain dripping from the words correlated with such an individual, but then again her dad had also trusted Kirei to be a good apprentice.
Perhaps there was some flaw in her father's understanding of the world.
It was still a theory she had made for herself only to know, but it would take time to either prove it or debunk it.
Still, the mysterious individual that was Kiritsugu Emiya proved to be much more than he appeared to be.
Shirou's words hadn't spared even him from being revealed as someone that was potentially dangerous to have around considering his proficiency with guns and his strange sense of justice.
It was odd, it felt childish, but Rin didn't feel prepared to quickly oppose this line of thought… as she could see some sense in it.
It was logical, a horrible deviation of it, but it wasn't anything as terribly insane as the plan of the priest.
Afternoon proceeded smoothly, and the young Tohsaka couldn't certainly complain despite the lack of servants flocking at her whims.
With the girl dividing her time by spending it with her mother and getting to know more about the girls while a new room was set for her and her only parent.
Things took a little strange turn when Fujimura-san ended up arriving at the house, learning pretty quickly what happened, and instantly rushing to the girl's side.
It was nice, but being hugged this closely and this intensively proved to be as much as lovely as irritating.
Rin didn't dislike the brunette, in fact she appreciated the genuine sense of sadness directed at her own situation, but her chirpy nature made it the most difficult to relate with.
It was also odd that a non-Magus was allowed to know about magecraft, especially with her father mentioning that the diffusion of the knowledge about the mystery of Magecraft was something the Association forbade in many occasions.
It was Waver that ultimately admitted that the notion was shadier than it sounded like, the English-born young man explaining that there were a couple of occasions where Gaia would actually ignore the new generations of Magus that would learn about the mystery of the Root.
This was a theory that had received much acclaim by many students at Clocktower, but it was easily dismissed by the grand families ruling the politics in London. The reasoning was also quite… awkward.
'It lacked any major evidence to confirm it'… despite the numerous proof advanced by various students and professors backing this to be a possibility.
And it wasn't even a novelty, it was something that had existed for a century or two now.
It was surprising to learn something new about the Moonlit World from someone that was adept about it, yet Waver failed to stand up close to how well-versed her father had been.
It wasn't the best source, but it was good enough to satisfy her fascination over real magecraft.
But what truly made this discovery the best possible was the chance of having him mentor over her first years of training in simple spells. It was a sad development that he didn't have much knowledge in Jewelcraft, but it was still magecraft and… that was what truly mattered for now.
Cover the basis, then move up to her family's unique specialization.
Dinnertime proved to be fairly entertaining and… loud. Incredibly loud.
It was at that point that the reality that this was going to become a normal thing for her new life, that everything she had thought as granted was now changed into something that left her… incredibly happy.
Dinner turned out to be the complete opposite of the unnervingly silent ceremony that would see her eat just some food before being sent to sleep early.
The food prepared at the Emiya household tasted much better than anything she had ever had the chance of trying, her eyes glimmering eagerly as Rin carefully wolfed down the content of her plate.
Illya giggled at the scene, causing some blush to spread on her face, but it wasn't a sign of embarrassment. No, she was actually feeling happy that this was actually happening, that there was at least some interaction.
Caren was quick to jump in to chide the young Einzbern, a quarrel ensuing between the two much to the Tohsaka's surprise while Taiga started to tease Waver a little about some 'big guy' and some 'part-time job' he was aware about.
Gray was surprisingly keeping an eye to the dark-haired girl's mother, carefully offering some help with the food much to the green-haired lady's visible delight.
Kiritsugu was quietly sipping from his water while reading some book, completely detached from the instance, while his son was… looking around with a small smile on his face.
She blinked, her blue eyes fixing on Shirou's face for a couple of seconds, a renewed blush returning on her face.
"Em-" Rin stopped herself, the noise appearing more like a chewing one and avoiding being caught as the girl started to debate quietly over the little dilemma that had appeared on her mind.
The redhead had been calling her by her first name for sometime now, and she had been so invested in keeping some silly resemblance of formality between the two.
Until now, he had been a stranger to her. A friend, there was no reason to deny that, but still someone that wasn't as close to her to call out by his first name.
But now that things had changed? Now that she was going to live in this house for the time being?
There was a reason to uphold that degree of noble elegance that her father had always so keen to remind her about?
There were so many flaws with her father's idea of the world, some that were confirmed while others were just… unfairly strange.
Rin gulped down the last bite of food on her plate, her attention diverging away from the young Emiya and back to the table as she thought quietly about someone that was now lost because of the family's situation before the War.
Sakura, I wonder if she is alright.
But just as her mind tuned away from reality, a hand settled on her shoulder, bringing her back out to the real world.
"Is everything alright, Rin?" Shirou inquired quietly, his face displaying some concern directed at her.
The girl blinked at the sudden words, but didn't tense up at the touch.
She sighed and… she shook her head.
"Nothing," The young Tohsaka replied with a small smile. "But thank you for asking… Shirou."
The boy's eyes widened in surprise, lips parting in what became for Rin the most amusing sight she could get out of that silly friend of hers.
A giggle left her lips at the scene, causing the redhead to sport a blush as bright as his hair.
And while these two enjoyed some pleasant conversations, a certain green-haired woman continued to glance at the scene with a certain hint of fascination that was sadly restrained by her current conditions.
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AN
Man, I had planned to do stuff for April Fools but I got distracted in helping around home.
Mom has learned to make bread (Yes, it's edible and fuck yes, it's delicious~!) and stuff is fine here considering the mess the government is making about the Covid19 (I will not tell what exactly is being messed up as I don't want to make political crap today… or never in my stories).
P.S. The theory about the 'Preservation of the Mystery isn't completely necessary' is about this story. It's based on the fact that Waver supported the thesis that new Magi from first-generation families can actually be important to the Association.
Quick announcements:
1) I've published a TwoKinds story (it's not a SI). I'm particularly interested in developing quite the fun story and I hope people do give it a look if they like the genre.
2) Gacha Gods were merciful with Lostbelt 1, I got Anastasia, Atalanta Alter and… Wu Zetian?? (I'm hella confused how I got her and not Salieri. LeShrug!)
There was just so much that was happening all at once as lunch came to a chaotic end.
With his nerves already steeled after the encounter he had incurred with Kotomine, Shirou was legitimately attentive to anything that could easily turn out to be any sign of an eventual ambush or attack from the priest.
Despite the eerily calm perception of the situation with the priest, there was that itchy thought that made him consider the eventuality that the man might end up deciding without any notice.
It could happen, he had seen it in his eyes how desperate the creepy individual was starting to get just from a mere discussion. He didn't frighten him, the young Emiya was perfectly aware that it was the very nature of the dangerous man that got his own person scared of what was happening.
But fear was a powerful instrument when offered to some people, with the redhead being incredibly conscious of what fear tasted like and the kind of absurd deed that could be done with just a taste of it.
...Yet the issue he was facing as of now wasn't related to Kotomine, but rather it was connected to his adoptive guardian.
The Gamer had felt that something was off the moment he noticed how tense Kiritsugu was while sitting by the table, the man's posture just hinting that there was something off about the simple-looking lunch while he quietly took bites with his forks out of the cooked steak.
That very simple detail, coupled with the fact that both Waver and Gray hadn't been there in the household when the redhead had returned home with Illya and Caren, was more than enough to put the Gamer in a state of unprecedented unease.
Until it had been only himself to risk some pain or horrible fate, things had been somehow easy to face. He had the means to overcome many dreadful obstacles along his path, and the Game offered just plenty of opportunities to survive all of those without suffering too much from those.
But Gray didn't have that ability, and the same was for Waver.
The silver-haired girl was still training up to get better in using the weapon form allowed by Add, the strange box having offered plenty of advice with his annoying quips, but she was far from even getting close to achieve a sufficient state of fighting capability.
Speaking of the English-born visitor that had been taken in by Kiritsugu, Shirou couldn't help but see that there was just something off about this individual.
Not only the young man was incredibly reclusive when speaking with people, restraining himself from showing too much interest in discussions that weren't together with the older Emiya and…
That was incredibly odd.
Especially with how nervous Waver seemed to become once he was forced in a conversation by the former mercenary.
Their understanding was as mysterious as 'wrong', there was just so much strangeness in their relationship that Shirou couldn't help but just look cautiously at this new situation unfolding.
Observe had offered him just a little info that helped explaining the full extent of the correlation between the two, yet there was one thing that the Gamer had learned out of that predicament as he was aware of a very peculiar detail he had missed early on.
Waver was a Magus and… he had been there in Fuyuki Town for some time now.
While this detail shouldn't truly open up to much suspicion towards his person as there were plenty of foreign people coming to visit the city to have some nice holidays away from their homes, the issue was more connected to the reason behind his presence in town.
The Holy Grail War had been a competition that was meant to be partaken by Magi, and it wouldn't be completely far-fetched to see this being the prime reason for the young man having come here in this part of Japan.
Yet it didn't explain why Kiritsugu would have been so keen to keep the foreign Magus if they had been somehow competing one against the other.
Why?
The simple but repeating question that kept the boy on edge for the entire duration of the lunch, despite all the funny efforts created by many of the individuals living in the house.
Illya was adorable, especially with the playful bickering she seemed to be endeared by when talking with Caren.
With the Einzbern being the oldest, it was always comical to see both girls butt heads over a topic or another, especially with how mature the Italian girl was over some of the subjects brought up.
Some of the stern teaching from the catechism had stuck around in Caren's perspective of amusing things, urging her to sometime deflate the red-eyed child with dry retorts and from there the two would begin exchanging some interesting replies, never exceeding towards anything of a big insult to the other.
The little bickering was adorable, but there was a surprising lack of loud voices right now as… Taiga wasn't there.
The young woman had been forced to the event because her grandfather had required her presence back home, something about an important talk he wanted to have with the brunette. Which was as surprising as unexpected considering how much of a pushover Raiga was about his granddaughter.
But the madness was far from being over with just the two pale-haired girls, as there was quite the quarrel between the two 'twin' maids.
With Leysritt continuing to behave as lazily as usual, her flat comments about the food were quick to stir a fiery reaction from Sella about the matter, the serious woman pointing out how that should have been the result of their combined efforts and, just like usual, it was all only her labor.
As the reprimanding intensified, Liz decided to appear as much distracted as she could, with her eyes looking away from what was happening.
But as entertaining this all was proving to be and how unusually normal this was all starting to become in his life, Shirou's mind was still set on the troublesome thoughts over Gray's and Waver's well-being.
No matter the distractions, concern had now settled deeply in his mind and he couldn't just ignore it so easily
It would take about half an hour to finally see the two finally make a safe return home… with two more individuals on tow.
It had been the loud noises accompanying their footsteps. The familiar sound of the wheels of a wheelchair moving around the soft texture of the wood that ultimately gave away the fact that the two had brought two familiar faces out of their homes.
Kiritsugu had been fairly distant from where the red-haired child had been sitting by the table, thus rendered unable to prevent the boy from reaching out for the door of the living room that was connected to the entrance and from seeing that there was truly an odd scene unfolding on the other side of that barrier.
Gray almost jumped in sudden fright at the noise of the door opening right beside her, and her eyes went wide open in shock at the scare before those settled their sight onto Shirou's form and relax a little bit from her stance.
Waver merely tensed up at the sound, but the serious look still plastered on his face was still there as he did his best to keep up well enough with the current task, making sure that he didn't mess up with his current actions which was related to the wheelchair he was pushing around.
Aoi's sleeping face was the first thing that made the Gamer understand the kind of situation that was unfolding, his entire body tensing up in a mix of surprise and utter confusion at her current presence her and… he thought back about Kiritsugu's ominous words about the matter.
Before he could press for more information about this circumstance by asking Gray, his attention was fully captured when he felt a pair of small arms suddenly wrap around his neck and a weight pushed straight onto his chest.
Shirou tripped backward, surprise hinted by his panicky eyes as he finally landed on the ground and realized what caused this sudden development.
"Emiya-kun!"
Long, dark hair coming from one of Rin's twin-tailed comb momentarily covered his face, hindering his capacity to reply.
The girl was shivering, her face drown in his shoulder as she tried to make sense of what was going on considering that she had just woken up mere moments ago.
At the sight of the first familiar face, the terrified child did the best thing she could afford to do in that moment of uncertainty and confusion.
Shirou groaned a little, suffering some damage from tripping, but nothing even so remotely dangerous.
Yet it was just as he stood up slowly, trying to pull himself up with the girl still grasping at him so desperately, that the entire room behind him exploded in loud voices and noises.
"Rin-chan?" Illya was the first one to call out what was happening, with the Gamer falling back in the living room and revealing what was going on.
What followed could be described as something that Shirou had long started to grow accustomed to.
While it wasn't a full-fledged dogpile, the rest of the girls had rushed to see what was going and soon he was stormed with numerous worried questions about what was going on.
This kind of distraction was then increased with the young Tohsaka latching so stubbornly by his chest at the sudden increase of noises all around her.
The situation was indeed escalating beyond normal diplomacy, and soon the young Emiya was overwhelmed by the sheer noisiness of the people all around him, trying to either help him or get to talk with Rin.
And with the young Gamer distracted by the horde of worried individuals, Kiritsugu stood up from his seat and looked up at Waver. The two shared a serious look, then the Magus Killer settled his stare back at the sleeping Aoi as she was still resting on her chair.
His mind burned a little at the fact that he was lookijng at the wife of one of the former contenders of the Fourth Holy Grail War that he had to fought, remembering Tokiomi Tohsaka as the incompetent Master that let Gilgamesh easily manipulate Kotomine to betray his own teacher and father.
The fact that there were no signs of any major fighting on both the young Magus and the Saber-alike girl was also a reason to be incredibly concerned about how things had gone by.
The man had expected at least some cuts, perhaps some shredded bits of clothes considering whom they might have encountered in that visit. And yet there was nothing of that sort in display.
A deal of sort? Only a direct conversation, away from the ears of those that weren't ready for this kind of conflict, would solve most of his queries.
And that what he was going to get as quickly as possible.
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~Rin's POV~
If there was something that the young Tohsaka had long learned to despise the most, it was the incredible dread that followed awakening in a new place.
This kind of fear hadn't been there for too long as it was conceived when she ended up kidnapped by a very horrible person that was hurting children.
She could remember the horrible smell, the stained sheets and the tension that had riddled her determination as she took her friend out of that terrible room in the sewers.
It had been an experienced that had seen her open her eyes over the unfair developments of life, how it was easy for someone to be abducted without any major reason… other than being young.
It hadn't been an action motivated by some vengeful Magus, nor it had been some political-created situation like the stories her father had started to describe to her when she started to work on her magecraft.
Exceeding the known, the dark-haired girl was given glimpse of what Magi were supposed to work on a daily basis.
The unknown was scary, there was no way to soften up the traumatic predicament that saw her accept eagerly the need of staying close of her mother when the Holy Grail War came to an end.
Despite the troublesome disposition of her remaining parent, Rin had earnestly kept around the woman instead of offering any trust to the strange-looking Kirei Kotomine.
She remembered first seeing him, the lack of compassion appearing to be just some adult-based annoyance towards children…
How wrong she had been.
Shirou had been as honest as he could get once things had settled down and they all had moved to his room, with only her mother being left to the care of 'Waver' and the boy's father, and the tale he had given her leaving quite the bitterness over some of her past memories.
The realization had been chilling, her shivers had resumed despite the warmth coming from the blankets offered by the girls as the redhead had explained what he knew about the fake priest.
And how fake the priest was.
There was no niceness, there was no real regret in the loss of her father. Kirei Kotomine… was a monster, and the more she learned about the extent of his malicious intents the more her stomach churned in disgust.
How dreadful, how scandalous- HOW UNFAIR!
Anger had mixed well with her fear, a strange concoction of motivated fury with one conceived out of ignorance over the crescendo of revelations she was subjected with.
There was some mindfulness in giving out the details, yet the honesty rendered it all a sour bite to chew down.
She had for so long blamed some mysterious figure for killing her father, when the real responsible for her family's downfall had been so close to them for so long.
'Helping' them while sowing the seeds of brief trust and genuineness.
It was aggravating, it was something that got her anger to stir to an incensed level.
And Rin couldn't just lash out so suddenly and without a proper target.
Everyone here was nice, even that creepy father that Shirou had and… that was hurting her.
It was aching, it was a hollow pain that kept her from even crying at everything that was crumbling upon her previous understanding of things.
Anger turned into hurt, hurt turned into more anger.
It was an unpleasant cycle, yet it continued to linger about for the rest of the day even when she found solace in the company of so many nice people.
She was finally allowed to see her mother and the woman looked to be fine now that she was awake. There wasn't much of an improvement since the last few days, yet Shirou's presence and words seemed to further bring out some new vitality out of her previously-lethargic state.
A strange phenomenon, something that was as endearing as confusing, but it was still good progress that would hopefully see her mother revert back to her normal self.
And when that would end up happening, the first time Rin would ask from her will be a hug. A long one.
She needed it. They both needed it, especially since her father was no longer there to give her some guidance.
Now the dynamics of the world around the girl had changed, no longer she could trust adults like Kirei and… that meant relying much more on the very person that had been there to offer her someone to hug without whining too much about it.
Shirou was a boy, but not one of the ones she had met in the past.
Boys normally had cooties, Kotone had told her that, yet that notion seemed to not be connected with the redhead.
He was nice, he listened, and talked back to her. He wasn't overly attached to any boyish activities, and he did care for her issues.
Same for the other girls, especially Caren and Gray. Illya was a little bit difficult to understand with how eccentric the older child was, but compared to Fujimura-san, the German girl was at least bearable in every situation.
It was a fresher life, but one that hopefully lacked any of the gloom and unpleasantness that had been since the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
There was space to rest, time to think, and the means to achieve some peaceful quietness without having to imagine some sudden scare from the priest.
She was freer, but at what cost?
Kirei wouldn't just let go without biting back, like a dog that was deprived of his chewtoy.
A cruel man, a horrible individual that deserved the worst for his responsibility of killing her father, of having crippled her family's economy and… for having tried to hurt her mother.
To even consider that the priest had planned to do something to her mom, perhaps even to herself, for the reason of having some compliant hostages for an eventual clash between him and Shirou's father- her mind was bubbling in hatred.
The 'Magus Killer' title had been repeated on numerous occasion by her father in an unpleasant voice, disdain dripping from the words correlated with such an individual, but then again her dad had also trusted Kirei to be a good apprentice.
Perhaps there was some flaw in her father's understanding of the world.
It was still a theory she had made for herself only to know, but it would take time to either prove it or debunk it.
Still, the mysterious individual that was Kiritsugu Emiya proved to be much more than he appeared to be.
Shirou's words hadn't spared even him from being revealed as someone that was potentially dangerous to have around considering his proficiency with guns and his strange sense of justice.
It was odd, it felt childish, but Rin didn't feel prepared to quickly oppose this line of thought… as she could see some sense in it.
It was logical, a horrible deviation of it, but it wasn't anything as terribly insane as the plan of the priest.
Afternoon proceeded smoothly, and the young Tohsaka couldn't certainly complain despite the lack of servants flocking at her whims.
With the girl dividing her time by spending it with her mother and getting to know more about the girls while a new room was set for her and her only parent.
Things took a little strange turn when Fujimura-san ended up arriving at the house, learning pretty quickly what happened, and instantly rushing to the girl's side.
It was nice, but being hugged this closely and this intensively proved to be as much as lovely as irritating.
Rin didn't dislike the brunette, in fact she appreciated the genuine sense of sadness directed at her own situation, but her chirpy nature made it the most difficult to relate with.
It was also odd that a non-Magus was allowed to know about magecraft, especially with her father mentioning that the diffusion of the knowledge about the mystery of Magecraft was something the Association forbade in many occasions.
It was Waver that ultimately admitted that the notion was shadier than it sounded like, the English-born young man explaining that there were a couple of occasions where Gaia would actually ignore the new generations of Magus that would learn about the mystery of the Root.
This was a theory that had received much acclaim by many students at Clocktower, but it was easily dismissed by the grand families ruling the politics in London. The reasoning was also quite… awkward.
'It lacked any major evidence to confirm it'… despite the numerous proof advanced by various students and professors backing this to be a possibility.
And it wasn't even a novelty, it was something that had existed for a century or two now.
It was surprising to learn something new about the Moonlit World from someone that was adept about it, yet Waver failed to stand up close to how well-versed her father had been.
It wasn't the best source, but it was good enough to satisfy her fascination over real magecraft.
But what truly made this discovery the best possible was the chance of having him mentor over her first years of training in simple spells. It was a sad development that he didn't have much knowledge in Jewelcraft, but it was still magecraft and… that was what truly mattered for now.
Cover the basis, then move up to her family's unique specialization.
Dinnertime proved to be fairly entertaining and… loud. Incredibly loud.
It was at that point that the reality that this was going to become a normal thing for her new life, that everything she had thought as granted was now changed into something that left her… incredibly happy.
Dinner turned out to be the complete opposite of the unnervingly silent ceremony that would see her eat just some food before being sent to sleep early.
The food prepared at the Emiya household tasted much better than anything she had ever had the chance of trying, her eyes glimmering eagerly as Rin carefully wolfed down the content of her plate.
Illya giggled at the scene, causing some blush to spread on her face, but it wasn't a sign of embarrassment. No, she was actually feeling happy that this was actually happening, that there was at least some interaction.
Caren was quick to jump in to chide the young Einzbern, a quarrel ensuing between the two much to the Tohsaka's surprise while Taiga started to tease Waver a little about some 'big guy' and some 'part-time job' he was aware about.
Gray was surprisingly keeping an eye to the dark-haired girl's mother, carefully offering some help with the food much to the green-haired lady's visible delight.
Kiritsugu was quietly sipping from his water while reading some book, completely detached from the instance, while his son was… looking around with a small smile on his face.
She blinked, her blue eyes fixing on Shirou's face for a couple of seconds, a renewed blush returning on her face.
"Em-" Rin stopped herself, the noise appearing more like a chewing one and avoiding being caught as the girl started to debate quietly over the little dilemma that had appeared on her mind.
The redhead had been calling her by her first name for sometime now, and she had been so invested in keeping some silly resemblance of formality between the two.
Until now, he had been a stranger to her. A friend, there was no reason to deny that, but still someone that wasn't as close to her to call out by his first name.
But now that things had changed? Now that she was going to live in this house for the time being?
There was a reason to uphold that degree of noble elegance that her father had always so keen to remind her about?
There were so many flaws with her father's idea of the world, some that were confirmed while others were just… unfairly strange.
Rin gulped down the last bite of food on her plate, her attention diverging away from the young Emiya and back to the table as she thought quietly about someone that was now lost because of the family's situation before the War.
Sakura, I wonder if she is alright.
But just as her mind tuned away from reality, a hand settled on her shoulder, bringing her back out to the real world.
"Is everything alright, Rin?" Shirou inquired quietly, his face displaying some concern directed at her.
The girl blinked at the sudden words, but didn't tense up at the touch.
She sighed and… she shook her head.
"Nothing," The young Tohsaka replied with a small smile. "But thank you for asking… Shirou."
The boy's eyes widened in surprise, lips parting in what became for Rin the most amusing sight she could get out of that silly friend of hers.
A giggle left her lips at the scene, causing the redhead to sport a blush as bright as his hair.
And while these two enjoyed some pleasant conversations, a certain green-haired woman continued to glance at the scene with a certain hint of fascination that was sadly restrained by her current conditions.
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AN
Man, I had planned to do stuff for April Fools but I got distracted in helping around home.
Mom has learned to make bread (Yes, it's edible and fuck yes, it's delicious~!) and stuff is fine here considering the mess the government is making about the Covid19 (I will not tell what exactly is being messed up as I don't want to make political crap today… or never in my stories).
P.S. The theory about the 'Preservation of the Mystery isn't completely necessary' is about this story. It's based on the fact that Waver supported the thesis that new Magi from first-generation families can actually be important to the Association.
Quick announcements:
1) I've published a TwoKinds story (it's not a SI). I'm particularly interested in developing quite the fun story and I hope people do give it a look if they like the genre.
2) Gacha Gods were merciful with Lostbelt 1, I got Anastasia, Atalanta Alter and… Wu Zetian?? (I'm hella confused how I got her and not Salieri. LeShrug!)