Disclaimer: I own nothing. And I am also not liable to anything missed when reading my stories. So if you missed your lunch time, please do not use Lawyer Tom to sue me. I still don't know where I hid the bo- I mean – I still don't know where he is, and he might not appear in anymore disclaimers as he is currently MIA.
XxX
She sighed for what felt like the hundredth time, her thoughts so far away from the lesson that she may as well be somewhere else. Not that she could blame herself though, the past week had been hell for her… No, that was being selfish. It wasn't hell for her, if it was hell for her, then it would be something worse for Shirou, her sister, Cecilia, and Lingyin. But damn did it not feel like hell for her!
She stared out the window, one of the perks of having a window seat was having the vast open sky as scenery whenever you were bored or were just thinking too much. She then glanced back at the empty seat beside her. She bristled a little at seeing it, more out of annoyance than out of anger, but it still miffed her seeing it empty. She turned back to the window and continued her staring out into the open skies.
She shouldn't have been surprised really. Shirou had a habit of trying to help out while leaving others out of his plans. Still, it was annoying having to worry about him and her sister. What with one being in a coma, and the other being MIA. It was honestly stressful for her, and as selfish as it sounded, she felt extremely drained with all the things happening.
"Houki?" She snapped out of her thoughts someone called out her name. She turned towards the source, towards the empty desk, and saw that Cecilia was now sitting there with a look of worry on her face. "You've been sitting there for a while now."
She scowled a little. "Maybe it's because it's my seat." She snapped. She bit her lower lip as realization dawned on her at what she had done. "Sorry," She amended immediately. "I'm just…" Another sigh escaped her lips. She thought Cecilia would be angry with her, about snapping at her for no apparent reason. But when she looked back towards Cecilia, she saw the blonde giving her an understanding smile.
"It's okay." Cecilia told her. "You're stressed too. It's understandable, what with the recent happenings around you and your friends." A small giggle escaped Cecilia's lips. "And also, class was dismissed for lunch ten minutes ago."
She flushed a little. So that was why Cecilia pointed out the obvious. She was more stressed than she thought. She plopped down onto her desk and turned her head towards Cecilia, not caring at all at how childish her action was. "Am I that transparent?" She asked, honestly perturbed at being so nonplussed that people could see her turmoil. She didn't like being easily read.
Cecilia shook her head. "No you aren't." She raised her head at the surprising answer. Cecilia just smiled at her. "I just know you well enough to see when you're worried about something."
Despite her mood, she couldn't help but return Cecilia's smile. "We haven't been friends that long though." She joked, something that made Cecilia's smile widen a little.
"Exactly." Was Cecilia's answer. She rolled her eyes at that answer. An action that caught Cecilia's eye. "Feeling better?" She asked, her voice now more somber.
She breathed in deeply, before she breathed out through her mouth. "Much. Thanks." She spoke truthfully. She actually did feel better, much better. But she was still apprehensive about everything, about Shirou, about her sister, about everything.
"You're frowning again." Cecilia pointed out. She knew that, she could feel it. But she couldn't help it.
"Can you blame me?" Again she sighed. She wondered if this was maybe her tenth time sighing since the school day started, but that would be stupid… at least, that was what she thought.
Cecilia shook her head in response to her question. "Not really. Your sister is in a coma, and now Shirou's missing." She raised an eyebrow at the last part of that sentence.
"How did you know that?" She never told Cecilia about that. Heck, she didn't even know that Shirou was missing until after classes started.
Cecilia just gave her a blank look. "I figured it out the same way you probably did. When I didn't see Shirou this morning." Now she felt stupid. Of course Cecilia would figure it out like she did. Shirou did have a habit of just up and disappearing every once in awhile, and just coming back and then acting like nothing happened. He was beginning to get a reputation of cutting classes here, but it wasn't like most of the girls in the Academy would point it out to the teachers. While most of the women here took their studies seriously, they were still women after all.
Wow… she sounded like a man that was describing men just now.
Still… "You don't think-"
"He's going to help your sister." Cecilia answered, cutting her off from asking. She frowned, but before she could say anything, Cecilia continued. "If he's going by his modus operandi, then you can expect him to have some sort of help ready for your sister." Cecilia's lips contorted into a frown, as if she was remembering something unpleasant. "And if he goes by that, then you can expect he's going into harms way to help."
That didn't comfort her, at all. She grumbled as she faced down onto her desk and thought up curses. "Stupid. Everything is stupid."
"I know how you feel Houki-chan." She turned her head slightly to get a look of Cecilia. She saw the blonde shaking her head as she shrugged her shoulders. "He means well, but most of the time. He just shows how stupidly brave he is."
"More like stupid period." She grumbled, but couldn't help but agree with what Cecilia said. Shirou was stupidly brave, he didn't let anything faze him.
She raised her head from the desk, and turned towards Cecilia. "Still though," She paused as she swallowed a slight lump in her throat. "You… you really think he can help my sister?"
Cecilia just gave her a bright smile, before she nodded. "I've no doubt he can." She felt a weight liftoff her shoulder. Those confirming words really helped her deal with all the stress she was dealing with.
"You really love your sister don't you?" She turned back towards Cecilia, who was again giving her a smile. "I've never had a sibling, so I really don't know what a sibling bond feels like." Cecilia paused as she let out a sigh that bordered on dreaming. "It must be nice, having someone that cares about you without question."
She bit her lower lip at Cecilia's words. She did so to prevent herself from lashing out and saying 'what would she know?' After all, sometimes... sometimes having a sibling isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
Apparently sensing her apprehension about the subject, Cecilia turned a questioning eye to her before she tilted her head in question. "Houki-chan?" Cecilia asked, her question evident in her tone of calling her name.
"I'm fine." She said; a bit too hastily. "It's nothing." She shook her head to emphasize the point, but it came out more like she was trying to avoid the question.
"Just how many times do I have to pull you out of your melancholy?" The words sounded condescending, but the tone and the smile on Cecilia's face was playful.
"It's just… hard." She began, tentatively at first. She took a breath, before she continued, looking out the window as she did so. "I don't like my sister. How can I? She's always ahead of me everywhere, always so… sunny. But I know she isn't really like that. And people always crowd around her still, and hail her as a genius. Which she is," She added the last part hastily. "But I know what she's really like. She doesn't care about people other than herself and her immediate friends and family." She shook her head, she was getting off topic. "Anyway, I don't like her. I never liked her. But why am I so apprehensive about her being in a coma? I shouldn't care… at least. I thought I shouldn't."
She half-expected Cecilia to stand and berate her for being so selfish. She could be entirely empowered when her moral code was ringing after all. But surprisingly, Cecilia was subdued. She turned towards the blonde, and saw a contemplative look on her face.
"Maybe you don't like her." Cecilia began, her voice strangely empathetic. "But that doesn't mean you wouldn't worry about her. She is still your family. And from what Shirou told me, sometimes it doesn't matter if you hate a person or not in your family, because sometimes, that person will love you without question."
She looked up into Cecilia's eyes, and saw a forlorn look on her face. Before she could ask if she was alright, Cecilia continued. "Houki-chan, you may not like your sister. But she loves you. She saved you. You don't have to question that." Cecilia then smiled, her forlorn frown turning into a sad smile. "And you're worried because you may not be as spiteful to your sister as you think you are."
"…" She thought about Cecilia's words carefully. She didn't like her sister, not in the slightest. She was so… false, so fake. Her smile that charmed people, that smile was only for those people that interested her. If she didn't see you interesting, she'd clam up and look at you so hatefully that you might mistake her for someone you crossed once. "How do you know all this?"
Cecilia just gave her a resigned look. "Because I was just like you a few months ago." Was all Cecilia said.
She didn't like her sister; her sister was someone she could never look up to. Not because of her questionable ethics, but because of how utterly fake she was when dealing with people that she took an interest in. But at the same time, as spiteful as she was about her, and as much as she didn't like her sister, she was still worried, still perturbed with the thought of what would happen if she stayed in a coma.
Was it because it was her fault? No, that wasn't it. She took care of what she does, she always did. She'd know when to take responsibility, and while this was her fault, that wasn't the reason why she was so worried about Tabane in the first place.
No, the reason was… the reason was that… it's because she…
A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned towards the owner, towards her friend. "She's still your sister." Was all Cecilia said as she smiled at her.
Yes… She was. She was the sister that always shined, the sister that always did amazing things, the sister that left her behind. She was the sister that loved her even if she didn't like her at all; she was the sister that risked her life, just to help her from the predicament of being kidnapped.
She felt low. Her sister had risked her life to save hers, and now she was pondering on whether or not she should be worried about her. She sighed and shook her head, an action that caused the hand on her shoulder to tighten its grip.
"Don't worry about it Houki-chan." Cecilia told her. "Like I said. Shirou is going to help your sister, so don't worry about her too much." A slight frown appeared on Cecilia's face. "Though I would worry more about Shirou than anything else."
She knew that Cecilia was being serious, but she couldn't help but smile a little. "He does have a habit of jumping into things without thinking about consequences."
Cecilia however, shook her head at her as she let go of her shoulder. "Actually, I think it's the opposite." Cecilia began. She tilted her head in confusion, and Cecilia only sighed. "I think he knows what he's getting into. He just doesn't care how it'll affect him."
She thought for a second, and couldn't help but agree with Cecilia's assessment of Shirou. But before she could think any deeper into it, Cecilia grabbed her hand and pulled her off her seat. "Wha- hey!" She shouted indignantly at being manhandled.
Cecilia however, paid her no mind as she started pulling her out of the classroom. "Come on, if we don't go now, we'll miss lunch." Cecilia ushered as she pulled her into the hallway.
Despite her earlier mood and her general feelings of being pulled on her feet and towards somewhere she didn't know. She couldn't help but smile. "Thanks." She said under her breath, just loud enough for her to hear.
Cecilia slowed her pulling as she looked behind her with a questioning look. "What was that?" She asked her. Her response was to shake her head and walk a bit faster, managing to walk past Cecilia.
"It was nothing." She said as she passed the blonde. Their hands still linked together. Then, it was her turn to pull Cecilia.
Mechanized Magus
XxX
"Wait, so we just… walk in?" He heard Lingyin ask as they approached the entrance of the Clock Tower. "And I thought that we were going to the clock tower? Wouldn't it be on the opposite direction? You know, across the street?"
"A common misconception." Rin began to explain from her position in front of them. She didn't turn around, and only kept walking towards the main entrance. "Though some parts of the Clock Tower is directly under Big Ben, most of it is in the London underground… and I don't mean the train-ways." Rin explained.
He turned his head slightly towards Lingyin. "When we get inside, don't ask too many questions." He warned. Not out of annoyance to the constant questions, but more as a precaution. Tourist always stood out. And a newbie in the Clock Tower that came from Asia that kept asking questions would result in more problems then it was worth.
Lingyin however, just gave him a blank stare. "Well excuse me for being interested." Lingyin spoke blandly. Now he was feeling guilty for… not satisfying her questions?
"You should have asked when we were in Luvia's house." He grumbled, not really out of annoyance, but more exasperation. "It's better if we know the plan and stick to it-"
"Yeah right. You hypocrite." He flushed as Rin interrupted him from his… he was about to say chastising, but then that would have made him a bigger hypocrite.
He caught sight of Lingyin giving him an amused look, before he looked away and crossed his arms over his chest… which basically confirmed his guilt about Rin's accusation.
"Speaking of Luvia." He heard Lingyin begin. He turned back towards her, and saw that she adopted a thoughtful look. "Why didn't she come again?"
"Aside from the fact that her classes don't start until noon." Rin began from the front. "I asked her to keep herself on the low for now. It wouldn't exactly help her standing if she came in here with us what with our plan."
He blinked at Rin's explanation. "Wow Rin." He smiled a little. Rin turned glanced towards him, not stopping her gait as she did so. "I didn't think you cared about Luvia's standing in the Clock Tower that much."
Rin's curious look disappeared and was replaced with a look that said 'Are you stupid?' "I could care less about her standing then you do yourself. If she's going to get a demerit, it's better if it's by her own hand. Getting someone caught up in our plan and getting dragged down with it does not make a good magus. A crafty one, yes. But I prefer to fight fairly." Rin explained with a huff.
He chuckled blithely. There it was.
Then he caught sight of the entrance, and gently nudged Lingyin with his shoulder. He pointed his chin towards the entrance as she looked at him. "There it is." He could make out some familiar faces in the crowd, but most of them probably didn't know who he was. He wasn't exactly the most well known person in the Tower, not as well known as Rin. All people really knew about him was the fact that he was Rin's apprentice, and that he did a couple of odd jobs here and there for various people that needed help. Nothing people would take notice.
"That's it?" Lingyin asked. He resisted the urge to shush her, as that would only gain attention-
"Of course." Rin said extravagantly, making a show of turning around. He saw that now a lot of people were staring at them. He gestured for Rin to stop, but she held strong. "What do you expect? Unicorns and leprechauns?"
"More like pointy hats and black cats." Lingyin said, he noticed the rather dead tone that she used.
Rin scoffed. "That went out of vogue a couple hundred years ago." Rin waved airily. "'Sides, if we wore that, we wouldn't exactly be inconspicuous would we?"
"Rin." He said with a hushed whisper. Rin just stared at him like he was mental.
"What?" Rin asked, seemingly confused at his sudden calling of her name.
"I thought you said we're going to remain under the radar?" He said hastily, trying to ignore the eyes that were- wait. No one was-
"Judging from your dawning look of realization, it seems you noticed too." Rin gave him a dismissive wave. "I'm surprised you're only noticing it now. I'd have thought you would be used to it anyway."
"Used to… what?" He didn't know what Rin was saying. All he knew was that even though he was being actively searched for by the vice-director, and now no one was paying them any mind at all. Some stole glances their way, but soon turned back to walking towards the open entrance of the Clock Tower.
"Are you seriously that dense?" Rin said, exasperated at him.
"I'm not dense." He defended himself, though his defense sounded weak now that he was met full force with Rin's stare.
"Yeah." Rin said. "You sort of are." Rin shook her head at him. "Anyway, the Clock Tower operates the same way as the Academy that you go to. People here are actually serious about their studies. Not like in Homurahara, or any other 'normal' school for that matter. People don't go here to interact, they go here to study. To further their knowledge. Sure some people would care about family name, student hierarchy, and whatnot. But mostly, people in schools like the Clock Tower or the IS Academy don't care about other people."
"Oh." He managed to say, albeit weakly. Huh. Maybe he was over thinking things. It's not like he wanted to be special or anything, it's just that… he was worried that someone would spot them and then report them to the Vice-director or something. Wait…
"There's still a risk though." He said. Making Rin look at him with a raised eyebrow. "About the vice-director knowing. You said yourself that some people care about hierarchy and such. They might see it as an opportunity to get into the Vice-director's good graces."
Rin's reply was to smile at him. "Don't worry, don't worry." The way she said that with a cheery smile and a dismissive tone told him he should definitely worry. "The vice-director isn't here at the moment. So we're safe for now. As long as you don't run into the blonde and her no-eyed wanderer and draw attention to one of your infamous 'awkward stand-offs', then we're fine." Rin smirked then. "Just don't look him in the eye."
He couldn't help it. He frowned, which probably looked like he was pouting. "Just don't try and gain attention yourself." Rin was right, on all accounts. It wasn't like he was nervous that he had pissed off the wrong people, but he wasn't alone here. He had two heads he had to watch over… but then again, it felt like those two heads were watching over his instead.
"That comes after." Rin threw her hair back, an action that he considered typical for her. Rin then gestured for Lingyin to step forward. To which the Chinese woman immediately followed.
"What is it?" Lingyin asked as Rin and she began walking. Rin leading the Chinese woman through the arched entrance that leads to the rest of the campus.
"You should know the way to get out of here, aside from the main arch-" He tuned out the conversation before he sighed. Rin had ignored him… again. Still, as he looked left and right, he could make out faces turning their way, before they looked back towards whatever they were doing, whether it was paperwork, walking, or even nothing at all. And though some held faces of disgust (as much as the Clock Tower was modernized now, some still viewed the Eastern races as lacking), most of the faces were apathetic. But those two faces weren't what bothered him the most.
Sneering faces were okay, they just didn't need to cross them. Apathetic faces were better, they just didn't care. No, what troubled him as the trio walked through the campus, through the bounded field that was the quadrangle (which was enchanted to make look sunny and full of trees and grass), was the interested faces.
Interested meant they were watching them, scrutinizing them. True, Eastern faces weren't a commodity here, and he had to admit, both Rin and Lingyin were both beautiful in their own ways, so that meant that if the people weren't looking at them as if they were a new student (Lingyin) being given a tour by an old one (Rin), they were just interested to see what Eastern students were doing walking around the campus.
And interested meant they were now on the radar. But… surprisingly, Rin was still right.
Sure the people around them were interested, but he had expected that since the start. Even now he had the images of Kanshou and Bakuya on standby in his mind. His Circuits ready to flare should he give the signal.
He had expected the looks, but then, he had also expected more than this. He shook his head; they were nearing the Department of Mineralogy. This was where he separated ways with them.
"…nd this is the Department of Mineralogy. This is where I usually take my research and studies to when I'm on campus. Since my magecraft focuses on precious gems and such for most of the time." He caught wind of Rin's explanation as they approached the rather old looking building.
"Sounds… pricey." He stifled a laugh at Lingyin's words. Pricey wasn't even the right word to use. More than once Rin had messed up with her gems, and acquiring new ones had put a dent in their hefty bank account… that was shared between five people.
He caught Rin looking at him, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she was doing so. "Something you want to say Emiya-kun?" She smiled at him. She smiled at him, but he still felt like running in the opposite direction.
"Uh-um, n-no!" He stuttered a little. He then shook his head and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, err, yes." He was about to say that he was going to leave for his part, but was cut-off by Rin.
"We'll be here for most of the day Shirou. If you've finished your business here, you know where you can find us." Rin said with a solemn nod towards him. He returned it with a solemn one of his own. Regardless of his and Rin's conflicting feelings. This was still dangerous. If not the possibility of getting caught, then for what he was about to do, to ask from a person that was at least craftier than Rin.
He nodded his head at Rin. "Don't take Lingyin out of-"
"Hang on a minute." Lingyin interrupted, surprising him at the energy in her voice.
"Err, yeah?" He asked the petite Chinese woman, who was now standing in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. He didn't know why, but even though Lingyin was significantly smaller and shorter than he was, he still felt like he was the one being looked down on.
"I'm still on the ropes about leaving you alone for an extended period of time." Lingyin spoke. He felt his eyebrow twitch.
"I'll only be gone for at least thirty minu-" He tried to explain, only to be cut-off by Lingyin again.
"And for you, that's an extended period of time. " He… That was… what was it with him and getting a woman exasperated at him for not doing anything... yet. Damn it, if he had been elected as the Class Rep., then he would have been lead around by the coattails by the women in his class. He could take charge, but when women looked at him funny like Lingyin was now, then he could expect any and all arguments he had would be thrown out the window.
It was easier if women just stayed at home damn it! Then he didn't have to worry about a woman beating on him if he did something that they didn't find good.
"Anyway, I'm still not comfortable with the fact that you're going alone towards a place that you had said that could cost you your life." Lingyin continued. "But I can admit that I'm like a baby when we're here. So I'll let you do what you're going to do. But I'm warning you." Lingyin glared at him. "Leave the comm. Between our IS open, if you get in trouble, you tell me immediately. I promised myself to get you back to the Academy alive and well. If not for yourself, then for Houki and Cecilia. They've been good friends to me, and I couldn't face them if I just let you die on my watch." Lingyin's eyes glinted as she stared at him. "So again. Leave the comm. Lines open."
It wasn't a request. It was an order. He could see now how she managed to get into the position of Class Rep so easily. With dangerous charisma like that, she was a natural.
He nodded his head dumbly. He couldn't really argue with her. Still though… "Why do you assume that I'll get killed?"
Lingyin just gave him a blank stare. "It doesn't matter if I think you'll get killed. In fact, it doesn't matter if you do either. The fact is that there is a chance you get killed. And I'm not taking chances. Leave the comm. Line open."
He couldn't really fault that, since it was true on all accounts. He sighed as he nodded his head again. "Got it." Still, as much as he thought about it, he only really did have himself to blame for his rather suicidal tendencies. Ever since the Grail War, where he was trained non-stop by his teacher to wield a blade just to survive, and it had amalgamated with his want to saving as many people as possible with no regards to his own life. It had turned into 'a complete mess.' To quote his teacher. And he couldn't agree more.
Self-preservation was thrown out the window when people close to him needed help, and that had resulted in one of the most painful wounds he had ever received.
"If there's nothing else." He nodded his head at both Rin and Lingyin; before he turned and started walking down the hallway that lead to the building he wasn't sure he would come out alive from.
XxX
He jostled a little as the elevator started descending down towards the level he needed to be in.
It wasn't exactly odd to have an elevator in a school, in fact, even the IS Academy had some in the administrator buildings. But it was definitely a surprise for him when he had first come to the Clock Tower and was subjected to seeing an elevator that only lead down.
Granted the elevator was old, probably early fifties or late forties old. But then that begged the question, just how long had the things under the Clock Tower been there?
Not to say it was a bad thing mind you, since most of the things below the Clock Tower were better off not seeing the light of day…. ever. But it was still odd, seeing as Rin had given him a crash course when he first entered here with her about how they valued the old ways and were stuck in that mindset and that she was going to change it.
Not to mention the ease there was in taking the elevator towards the levels where people wouldn't ever go to. There were no guards, no checkpoints when you went here, and no bounded fields that told you that you were trespassing. Only a long dark hallway, one elevator, and one lift that brought you down to the level you wanted. He had brought up to Rin how unsafe it was, but then Rin had just stared at him and then had said 'You expect people with common sense to go down there?' He had to admit, he felt sheepish when she had said that to him with a blank face. Which was soon followed by her giggling and then saying 'Maybe you lack common sense, but not everyone else. Besides, nothing ever escapes there.' The last part was ominous, and judging from the look that Rin had when she finished that sentence, even if he did ask what she meant by that, she wouldn't likely know the answer.
He was snapped out of his thoughts as the elevator stopped. He looked up, at the old indicator that had a rusted steel arrow and roman numerals for indication of which floor you were on. It was good he was only down to the second below level, anything more than that and he would have needed some sort of posse just to be sure he wouldn't get jumped.
He reached out, towards the rusty divider, and pulled it to the side, allowing him access to the floor that he was supposed to be in. He stepped out, and noted that like the hallway he had taken when he had come here, it was dark with not a single soul save for him apparent… well, to him anyway.
He turned and closed the shutters to the elevator. He didn't need to worry about the elevator leaving him stranded on this floor. When the elevator was used, the only person that could take it up or down would be the same person that used it in the first place. A design flaw if it was in a regular office building, but here, it was an assurance of relative safety, that you wouldn't be stranded here.
He turned around and then took one step into the darkened hallway. It was eerie and it was quiet, but he wasn't at all perturbed by it. He wasn't afraid of ghosts (seeing as his teacher in the Grail War was technically one), and he wasn't afraid of the supernatural either.
The topic of his teacher was on the forefront of his mind again. He never liked his teacher much, but then again, it was because of his teacher that he had managed to survive the Grail War without any more tragedies happening like the one during the first night. The painful memory of a broken promise still haunted him sometimes, but he had healed, and he wouldn't ever forget his partner.
He was brought out of his thoughts by movement from above him. He chanced a look up, and caught the tail-end of something's foot disappearing over a ventilation shaft. It was weird that the shaft had no grate, but it was even weirder that something was crawling around inside it.
He didn't know whether he wanted it to be biological, or mechanical.
What's the wrought-iron magus doing in a place like this?
A disembodied voice made him turn into full alert mode. Kanshou and Bakuya were now Traced properly and in his hands. He could feel his IS reacting to something, but he couldn't exactly let it out in a tight place like this just to check what it was reacting to.
"…Business." After a few seconds, he answered the voice. He then heard a ghostly laugh echo around the enclosed darkened hallway. It was… weird and disconcerting, not to mention entirely creepy.
You realize that business with me isn't something easily said right?
Now the voice sounded easygoing, but he could tell that through the voice's amusement, it was also calculating and calm. He didn't need Rin here to know that the owner of the voice wasn't at all threatened by him.
"I suppose it's not, but it's not like I have a choice." Being partially truthful while also vague. Thank you Rin for your lessons in subtlety. It wouldn't do him any good if the owner of the voice recognized that his business meant 'asking a favor'.
You have a reputation with people Designated. Not a good one. Is this the 'business' you were talking about?
"Not really no." He said honestly. "And I'm not that dumb. Even if I was going to kill you, I wouldn't do it in here. I have no interest in losing my life that easily." He didn't even need to mention that even if he was somehow tasked with killing the owner of the voice, he probably wouldn't leave with his life even if they weren't down here. She was just… entirely too smart for him to fight.
You're smarter than I first thought.
Well, that comment annoyed him somewhat. "And what's that supposed to mean?" He asked, gruffly and with a slightly annoyed tone. Damn it he was smart! He could out think most Dead Apostles, and had even even lead Lancer to his workshop! Not that it mattered since he would have still killed him, but still!
The voice chuckled, and he had an idea it was more out of amusement then it was of condescension.
Nothing really, just that you going here and then asking for a favor first hand either says you're stupid, brave, or some odd mixture of the two.
The voice paused, before it spoke up again.
Come to think of it, you're not smart. You're brave. But if you think coming here without at least some sort of backup plan and a means to defend yourself other than your swords, then you'll die before you even reach that rusty elevator.
To illustrate their point, after the voice pointed out the inherent flaws in his plans. He heard the elevator just start. He looked behind him, and saw a humanoid figure inside it, just in time to see the divider close and the elevator start going up.
Well… crap. How did that get past him anyway?
Now that you're trapped here. What makes you think you can get out here alive? I heard from the grapevine that you have a special type of magecraft. Something about creating worlds.
He frowned. "That's a really long grapevine." He commented dryly as he readied himself. He could… feel something staring at him from down the hallway. Not to mention the ventilation shaft seemed even more dangerous now.
Doesn't matter how long it is. Give me one good reason not to take you now and lay you down on a table?
Okay… that… it… she realized how weird that sounded right? "I'm flattered, but no. Just… no." He shook his head, not the time to crack a joke, but damn it he still felt his ears burning. He was a guy, and the thoughts still entered his head. The dirty thoughts of him getting ben-
A comedian, ha. You know what I mean.
He opened his mouth to speak, but was cutoff as the voice continued.
Then again, you do look… good.
He couldn't help it; he blushed, and then shivered. And that was a mistake.
Claws jumped out of the ventilation shaft and came soaring towards him at blinding speeds. But given the linear attack and linear battlefield, his instincts allowed him to move to the side just enough to dodge the blades to pass by him, before allowing him a good look at just what attacked him.
A puppet, it's mechanical and disjointed limbs telling him it was designed to bend and move in ways that probably shouldn't be possible. Its arms was outstretched, the arm where the claws were attached to was extended and looked entirely asymmetrical with the rest of the body. The head had a bit of hair, dark brown if he got it right, and the face had everything a human would have. Eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. The problem was the eyes looked like it was something straight out of a horror movie, pure white with not pupils and irises.
He raised Bakuya in his right hand and struck the arm, let it fly off the puppet, before he reversed his grip on Bakuya and swung down onto the puppet's head, piercing it from top to bottom. The puppet stayed in the air for a split second, before it suddenly loosened and fell down lifelessly on the ground.
A shame. That was one of my current projects.
"You done?" He asked as he glared down the hallway. He heard the voice chuckle, which in turn caused him to ready himself into a stance.
Not a chance.
He cursed as he ducked under another claw, this time, coming from behind him. He dove forward, before he landed on his chest on the floor. He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding getting impaled on the stone floor. He didn't waste time as he stood and ran forward down the hallway. It was a bad idea fighting in such a cramped place. His entire arms length reached both walls, and with Kanshou and Bakuya extending his range, it would be crippling if he fought there.
He needed an open space to fight, a room, crossroad, anything that had space where he could swing Kanshou and Bakuya without sacrificing his range and speed.
He felt something brush his side. He saw the hand claw that he had cutoff from the puppet he had destroyed fly past him and hit the wall to his right, impaling itself hilt deep into it. He then hissed as he registered pain. He glanced at the spot where he felt the claws brush him, and swore as he saw a gash appear just underneath his armpit. He then looked back, and saw three puppets, almost identical to the one he had destroyed, coming at him. Their limbs were just as disjointed, and the way they chased him made it really look like it came from a horror movie, what with the way they were crawling at him on the walls and the floor with disjointed arms and legs bending at ways that shouldn't even be possible for a human.
Scared?
The voice taunted him, but he didn't rise to the bait as he turned the corner. He cursed again as he saw nothing but more hallway. How long do these hallways go damn it!
Just give up, my puppets may look weird and creepy with the way they run at you, but they're faster than a cheetah. I'm not kidding.
Somehow he believed that. He pumped Prana into his legs and reinforced them, boosting his already frantic sprinting speed by a good amount. Still though, he wasn't anywhere near as fast as a cheetah, and with the gash on his side slowing him down, it was only a matter of time before the puppets caught up to him.
He turned a corner and saw a light at the end of it. Normally, that would be a good thing, but in here, it left him feeling weary. If there was light here, then most certainly there was something else there. But… beggars can't be choosers as they say.
Heh, you're stones are harder than I thought.
"Okay, now I know you're just doing that on purpose!" He shouted, half-annoyed and half-embarrassed at the casual way the voice was talking about stones and innuendo. He jumped through the doorway – which was open – and rolled forward, Kanshou and Bakuya ready at his side as he did so.
As he stopped his rolling and straightened himself, he did a thorough dissection of his current situation. First, he had puppets coming at him from the st- never mind, they just came through. Okay, now the room he was in… which had other puppets, most inactive as they were propped on the walls, hanging on hooks looking down at him, and some were even on operating tables. Some were even bleeding on those operating tables.
Books were all around as well, some on the tables, some on the bookshelves that covered the walls with their sheer number and mass, and some were even strewn about haphazardly around the room.
Okay, at first glance, everything was going okay with him. The three puppets were beginning to surround him, but he could deal with them. He just needed to anticipate movement and counter. Yeah, it would be easy to take down these puppets.
"Was wondering when you'd show up. It's pretty rude to just invite yourself in a person's home. Then again, this isn't really a home per se, and more like a prison, but yeah. Beggars can't be choosers."
Even as he stiffened at the voice, even as he realized he probably wasn't get out of this alive, even as he turned towards the voice and saw the red(he thought she had blue hair?)-haired owner. He couldn't help but think of something completely stupid.
So he wasn't wrong, beggars can't really be choosers.
XxX
She stared at the strange scene in front of her.
The blonde haired woman with red eyes was currently climbing a tree. Wearing nothing but a long skirt and a white-shirt. But never mind what she was wearing when climbing a tree that was two stories high. What was even stranger was the fact she was shouting at the top of her lungs and was ignoring the person shouting at her to get down. She didn't even know how the guy could even see her though; he had bandages on his eyes. Oh wait, she forgot the woman was screaming. Something about being bored and wanting to hunt or something.
"Ignore them." She turned her head towards Rin, who was currently seating on a desk and writing down notes on a notebook. Rin had probably figured out that she was confused as hell at what was happening outside the window, at the 'quadrangle'. "The woman is just really bored. She has a habit of just… letting loose when she gets like that." Something about the way Rin said those words told her she didn't want to know.
So instead, she turned her curiosity to something else. "What are you doing?" She asked as she approached Rin. Rin didn't look up from her writing and just continued.
"Writing an excuse letter." Rin answered her, confusing her even more.
"Shouldn't your parents be the one doing that? And shouldn't you have a doctor's note?" Normally, it was her father that wrote her excuses when it was something school related. Not that she couldn't do it herself, but most of the time she couldn't attend school because of her being a part-time worker in her family's restaurant… not that it mattered now since that was in China and now she was studying in Japan.
"My parents are dead." Rin stated blankly, looking up from her writing to stare at her. She winced a little, she hadn't meant to be that blunt.
"Err, sorr-" She tried to apologize, but was interrupted as Rin ripped the page she was using in her notebook and placed it to her side.
"Don't bother. I'm not. Sure I miss them, but why say sorry for something you had no control over?" Rin stated blandly. "Besides, you don't seem like the type that says sorry often."
She furrowed her eyebrows at Rin's words. "What do you mean by that?" She asked, more than a little confused at Rin's words.
Rin however, just shrugged her shoulders and closed the notebook she was writing on. "Nothing really." Rin then stood and grabbed the piece of paper before she began walking off. "Now come on, my professor is in the staff room. He'd probably throw a fit if he knew I had come back and didn't greet him."
She made her way over towards Rin's side, before she asked. "Shouldn't you have written that on something more official?" She said, gesturing towards the note that was still in Rin's hands.
"Oh this?" Rin raised the letter she had written so that it was face level with them. "Don't worry about it." She waved the letter in a sign to say exactly what she said. "My professor is a lot more lax in terms of schoolwork and punishment, that's the reason why I managed to get away with skipping school for so long."
"Exactly how long have you stopped going to school then?" She couldn't help but ask. Rin shrugged at her.
"Eh, probably a few months, give or take." Rin said without stuttering. "Thought it's not like that's too much. I can catch no problem."
"You'd… You'd stop your schooling for Shirou?" She asked, almost incredulously. She understood stopping for a few days to a week to help a friend along, but to stop for a few months? Did she… "Do you love him?"
Rin just smiled at her. "Without a doubt." Rin said with confidence brimming. She actually stopped walking just to stare at Rin, surprised she would say that without stuttering.
Rin turned back to give her a confused look. "What's the problem?"
"You'd… really do that?" She asked, but then shook her head. "I mean, sacrifice a future just for the now? With him? Even if you love him?" She rephrased. It was… incredulous, sacrificing your future just to help someone that you love. If it were her, she wouldn't do that, she would rather let go of the person she loved and live for the future.
At her question, Rin's face formed a bitter smile. "Why wouldn't I?" Rin then turned around and began walking away, but not before saying something else. "He did something worse for me."
She didn't have anything to say to that, so she just kept quiet. Walking right beside Rin as they headed for where her professor was.
She was about to ask where her professor was, but then her HUD opened, showing the frantic face of one Shirou Emiya. "Emiya?" She asked, confused and more than a little apprehensive. She had stopped walking, and had also garnered Rin's attention at her calling out Shirou's name.
"Err, change of plans." There was a certain uneasiness with Shirou's tone of voice. Not only that, but he was also sweating, profusely.
She tensed a little. "Are you in danger?" She noticed how Rin's eyes narrowed, but she had remained calm and collected, a contrast to her as her body had stiffened slightly.
"Uh… No. Not anymore." Anymore? Before she could question his wording however, he continued. "I need both of you down here. I'm sorry, but that's all I can say right now. Just get down here ASAP." And with that, Shirou's face disappeared, indicating that he had cut-off his comm. Line and possibly hidden his frequency.
She sighed as her HUD disappeared as well, before she turned to Rin. Who was sporting the same look of defeat and exasperation as herself. "Right," Rin began, turning around and walking down the hall opposite to where they were first going to. "Let's go."
She blinked at the swiftness of Rin's action, before she hurried to follow. "Wait, you don't even know what we're going to do." She explained, to which Rin huffed, unrefined and strangely not out of place for her.
"I don't need to." Rin said as they turned a corner to the stairs.
She raised an eyebrow in question, a futile act since Rin couldn't see her. "Because you know Shirou?" So instead, she spoke. Rin gave her an amused look, before the woman shook her head at her.
"I want to say yes." Rin began, a wry smile on her face. "But this time, it's not Shirou. It's the one he's talking to."
Something about the way Rin said that made her even more confused, and more than a little nervous.
XxX
She normally didn't like being ordered around by that woman, but for this one time, she couldn't help but approve of being ordered to do this.
"Halt!" A voice from behind her, the third one since she had come here. She was getting sloppy, but then again, her orders didn't say anything about getting caught and escaping.
She swung her arm behind her in a sweeping motion, and immediately, an arm part from her current IS materialized, already holding a sword, and already cutting through whoever was dumb enough to try and stop her.
The woman in the basic IS suit flopped down in a bloody heap, her torso split in half and her face still set into a stern frown. A pity, she didn't die in agony.
An alarm blaring cut her off from her musings. It seems they've already found the other two bodies. It was strange though, she had basically walked in through the front gate. Why were they now only noticing the two dead guards there?
"Focus." A voice from her earpiece told her. She jaw clenched as she heard the voice. The bitch was talking down to her again. "Don't stop moving, they've fixed the cameras and found the dead bodies. If you stop there now you'll get-"
"Shut up." She growled as she let her arm-piece disappear. "It's your fault. You made an AI that took Shinonono a good thirty or so minutes to hack, and you can't get the cameras to stop working altogether?"
"I didn't make the AI." The voice in her earpiece said. "It was our leader. I adjusted it so that it can properly function without a human." She smirked as the person on the other end of the line grit her teeth. She couldn't see it, but just imagining her basically fuming was cathartic.
She continued on her way deeper into the base. "Whatever. It's not like I get that shit anyway." She turned a corner, and spotted a group of armed women coming down her way. It took them two seconds to figure out it was her, but by then they were already in standard IS suits.
A confrontation was unavoidable now, and she grinned as she started to call for her-
A divider suddenly shut in between her and her prey. She basically snarled as she put her finger to her earpiece. "The fuck are you doing?!"
"Trying to avoid a fight." She was about to demand her to let the divider up, but the voice continued. "Fifty-four people are already inbound responding to the bases alert. If you stop and fight now, you'll get swarmed and we'll have no choice but to burn you."
Damn it, she hated it when she was in the right. "Fine." She ground out as she turned around and started running down the opposite corridor. "Where's the scenic route?" She asked as she passed another corridor with the divider down. She heard banging from behind it, and figured that it was the guards trying to get it open. Tough luck doing that, those things were made of titanium, and it'd take a specialized IS to pry those things open. Not some substandard model most of the army uses.
"Take a right down the next hallway. There are two guards behind the divider, take them out." She grinned predatorily as she turned and watched the divider rise.
And as the divider fully rose, she rushed forward with her arm-piece already out, fingers elongated to form a knive-hand. The one on her right suffered her ire as she plunged her arm deep into her chest, bypassing the weak shield easily and without problems. She heard her victim's partner scream in rage before charging at her. She ducked under the woman's hasty attack, before she used her other arm to summon the other arm-piece. With a quick flick of her hand, her enclosed left fist smashed against the shield of the guard before sending the woman flying against the wall behind her. She pulled her right arm out of the now dead woman's hastily and sent blood spurting everywhere. She then turned around and approached the woman that was now sprawled on the wall, shaking her head to clear away the daze that was no doubt hindering her ability to sense danger.
She was about to charge, but she something falling above her made her jump back in alarm. "God damn it! M!" It was the divider again, and this time, it separated her and her prey.
"Leave her and keep moving." M's voice sounded from the other end of the line. She clucked her tongue in frustration, before she turned around and started running.
"You owe me for this bitch." She ground out as she was directed down another corridor. From there on, she met minimal resistance, having only gutted her way through three women that were unfortunate enough to be in her way.
Finally, she was directed down one last corridor. "At the end of this corridor should be what we need." M spoke as if stating a fact. And one thing she knew about M was that if she took this tone, she was assured in her words. Which, like most things about M she knew about, she hated.
She got to the end of the corridor, and was met with a heavy duty vault door. She likened it to the ones you saw in high-end banks, but dismissed the notion since this was probably even more advanced than any of those vaults.
She was already in the process of materializing her IS' arm to cut the vault door in half, but was saved from that hassle by the vault door suddenly shifting. Its massive door turning as it rolled behind the steel wall next to it. She raised an eyebrow, and soon enough, M answered. "I've had it under my power for a few weeks. It was relatively easy by the way."
She didn't need to know that, and she didn't care to know. She just cared about what was inside it. She stepped through the now open vault, and whistled in amazement at what she saw inside.
"Won't lie. For once, you did something awesome." Although she admitted that, it was still strained. It was hard to praise someone she despised so much, but then again, she also respected her for what she could do.
Hey, if M could stall someone that managed to hack all the armies in the world into launching missiles from every base, submarine, ship, and aircraft all at the same time, ranging from nuclear and regular, then she deserved the respect since she created a computer based AI that made the mighty bunny scramble to hack.
"I don't care for your praise. Just take what you came there for. The response unit's ETA is in two minutes and fifteen seconds." And that also didn't mean M gave two shits about her respect in the first place. Another trait she hated about M. Just take the damn compliment and try and not sound bitchy about will ya?
"Yeah, yeah." She approached the item she had come to retrieve. She carefully traced her eyes over it, admiring it for what it was, and what it could be. And then an idea stuck into her, an idea that would be poorly received by both M, and their leader.
"You think I could-"
"No. Now grab it and run." She was cut-off before she could finish her sentence. She couldn't help but chuckle darkly. Hey, even though it was a passing though, she still wanted to take this out for a test run.
After all, the specks of this thing had said something about it being Anti-army or some shit. And what better way to test it besides the incoming mass of response units?
Still, she knew when her ideas weren't well received, and she also knew when to not go through with them.
So instead, she summoned her IS' arm-piece, and grabbed the long white shaft. She smiled as she felt electricity course through her IS' arm. That smile widened when she her HUD display opened, showing a text box that said it was storing it into her IS' internal drive. And that smile turned absolutely manic when it said it was successful.
XxX
Shorter chapter, but meh, couldn't add more without it being forced. And for me, this chapter is a little bit forced. It didn't flow as neatly as I kept writing, I had to go back and rewrite an entire scene just because it felt… off. It's supposed to be there, but the way Shirou reacted and the way he was thinking didn't feel like it was fluid enough.
Anyway, next on my chopping block of things to update should be AMT, and after (or concurrent to that), is a new story. Another Fate one, but this one is kinda… different then what I'm making right now. It'll still be mine, but well… yeah, something about games and such. Large very glaring hint. Manhwa crossover.
As fro those asking, I have four writing projects right now. Now with this chapter finished, only three remain. Don't worry, my update schedule is askew, but that doesn't mean I'm not updating anymore.
Anyway, I'm out. C.O.Y.L singing off. Peace! And no, that was not a typo. I'm singing off.