TYPE-MOON Universe, Earth, Japan, Fuyuki City.
"Come on, Assassin~!" Elicia whined while shaking Tatsuo's arm at the dinner table. "I said I was sorry~!"
After Sakura managed to get her Servant, a Rider-Class Servant to stop attacking Tatsuo when he got back to the suite, Tatsuo made his way into the bedroom Sakura was using and met said Servant. During that meeting, he also mentioned that he would not be cooking for Elicia for the next week.
Naturally, this made Elicia throw a tantrum like a child. However, there was no sympathy in Tatsuo's gaze. Meanwhile, Sakura and her Servant, a tall woman, standing at about 5'7" tall, with long purple hair that reached the floor and wearing a strapless, black dress that only went down to her upper thighs, with dark purple accents, separate, armored black sleeves that covered her from her shoulder to the back of her hand, thigh-high black boots, also with purple accents, and a colorful mask that covered everything from her cheek bones to her hairline, just watched the interaction between the two after Tatsuo set the table for three.
Yet, Tatsuo did not respond to Elicia's whining. Instead, he only used his free hand to eat the food on his plate.
"I thought you were better than this, Assassin!" Elicia shouted, tears pooling in her eyes. "Do you want me to die of starvation? You're so heartless."
And for the next few minutes, Elicia continued to whine and cry about Tatsuo's cruelty. Yet, Tatsuo was completely unbothered. However, when he stopped eating to pick up his glass to take a drink, he finally looked at Elicia, a bit of compassion in his eyes.
"Of course I would never let you starve, Lici." Tatsuo said in a strangely affectionate tone.
Although Elicia found Tatsuo's tone off putting, the fact that he was giving into her made her smile. Tatsuo's next actions and words, however, made that smile fall apart almost immediately.
After speaking, Tatsuo put his glass down. At the same time, he took Elicia's hands off his arm. Then, he stood up from his seat and started walking into the suite's living room. And when he reached a certain end table, an end table with a leatherbound notebook and a phone on it, he smiled brightly.
"In fact, I'll even order room service for you." Tatsuo said as he picked up the leatherbound notebook. He then held it out towards Elicia, his smile getting even wider as he continued. "Just pick out what you want. I'll place the order for you. How does that sound?"
Elicia's expression at that point looked like she just met the most unholy of beings as she shifted her gaze between Tatsuo and the leatherbound notebook, or rather, the menu, repeatedly. Then, with a blank expression, she collapsed to her knees while staring off into space.
"Hmph!" Tatsuo snorted before placing the room service menu into Elicia's lap.
After that, Tatsuo returned to the dinner table and continued to eat as if nothing happened, while engaging Sakura and Rider in conversation.
After that little interlude, a few days passed quickly. During that time, Tatsuo did not cook for Elicia even once, just as he said. However, after three days, even he started to feel bad for her. Her taste buds had really been spoiled by cooks like Alfonzo and Grayfia in their world. So, she could not go long having to eat normal food.
So, on the fourth day, Tatsuo finally started cooking for Elicia again. And when she took the first bite of the meal, she actually started to cry, surprising the other three occupants in the room to no end.
Then, on the fifth day, Sakura finally decided that it was time for her to meet her sister. She also wanted to let Rin know how she planned to proceed during this Holy Grail War. And because she had every intention of helping Tatsuo and Elicia win so they could purify the Holy Grail, she was almost certain that her sister would be against it.
As for convincing her Servant, Rider, Sakura was surprised that she was quite easy to convince to go along with such a plan. In fact, her servant, after hearing that the Grail had been corrupted, would rather not even make a wish since it would be so twisted by all the world's evils that it would not even look like her wish bythe time it was granted.
"So, are you happy to be able to see your sister again?" Elicia, with her usual cheerful attitude, asked as she and Sakura walked through the streets of Miyama Town. "And be able to actually acknowledge her as your sister without someoen causing a fuss, I mean."
Sakura did not answer her immediately, however. Instead, she lowered her head, her expression quite apprehensive, as she walked in solemn silence.
"If you're not ready, we can go back." Elicia said, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder as she spoke in a gentle tone.
Contrary to what Elicia expected, however, Sakura only shook her head in response without slowing her pace.
"No, I will see her." Sakura said quietly. "I'm just afraid… Afraid she won't accept me after she finds out what has happened to me for all those years."
Elicia had no idea how to respond to that. So, she just rubbed Sakura's shoulder as they walked. Meanwhile, Tatsuo and Rider, who were in their astral forms, stayed silent as they kept vigilant as their Master's guards.
Eventually, the group of four reached the Tohsaka Residence, a two-story, western mansion with a well taken care of lawn and several large trees on the property. However, when they did, Sakura's legs seemed to turn to lead, as no matter how hard she tried, she could not bring herself to walk down the path leading to the mansion's front door.
"It's okay, Sakura." Elicia said, now rubbing Sakura's back instead of just her shoulder. "IF you're not ready, you don't have to force yourself."
"No." Sakura said while shaking her head. "I have to do this now. If I run away, I don't know if I'll ever be able to make myself do it in the future."
Hearing that, Elicia could not help but smile. And since Sakura had truly made up her mind, she decided she would give her some help.
"Then, I'll just do this." Elicia said as she tapped a finger on her free hand on one of the spools attached to her waist.
"Huh? Do what?" Sakura asked, not following Elicia's thought process at the moment.
Meanwhile, the thread wrapped around the spool Elicia touched began to move, making its way down the path leading to the mansion's front door.
Although Elicia intended to use the thread to ring the mansion's doorbell, that was not necessary. The reason being, as soon as the magically controlled thread crossed the property line, which was outfitted with a [Bounded Field], the mansion's occupant, Rin, was notified immediately.
"What's going on?" Rin asked, raising her head from a magic tome as she did so. "Is that someone from the Mage's Association again? Don't tell me they want to ask me more questions. Seriously, can't they just ask them all at the same time?"
Despite her complaints, Rin, who was reading in her bedroom on the mansion's second floor, stood up from her desk and made her way towards the front door. However, before she could even reach the stairs...
*Ding!* *Dong!* *Dong!* *Ding!*
… the doorbell rang, echoing through the house.
"They seem to really be in a hurry." Rin grumbled in annoyance. "Even if they are the Mage's Association, they would have never acted this way when my father was alive. Hell, they wouldn't have even acted like this before Kirei was revealed to be the two-faced snake that I always knew he was. *Sigh* I guess this is just how things are gonna be until I make a name for myself by winning the Holy Grail War this year."
*Ding!* *Dong!* *Dong!* *Ding!*
*Ding!* *Dong!* *Dong!* *Ding!*
"Oh, my God!" Rin shouted in irritation. "I heard you the first damn time! Stop ringing the damn bell!"
With that outburst, Rin sped up her pace. Then, after running down the stairs, nearly tripping as she did so, and rushing to the front door, she unlocked it and gripped the doorknob tightly before...
*Bang!*
"This better be important!" Rin shouted with all of her might as she flung the door open. "Because even if my family is not as prestigious as it used to be, this is no way to treat a member of the Tohsaka Family! And if you think I'll just take this--- Huh?"
Seeing that there was no one standing in front of her door, Rin abruptly stopped her rant. Then, with her eyes opened wide, she looked down to see if there was a package of some sort on her door step. Yet, there was nothing to be seen.
A moment later, still confused by the lack of a presence, Rin looked to either side of the door, checking to see if someone was playing a prank on her. Still, there was no one to be seen.
"What in the..." Rin muttered, not understanding why both the doorbell rang and the [Bounded Field] alerted her to a magical signature stepping on to her property.
Though Rin noticed the two figures standing at the end of the path leading to her mansion, she was too wound up to consider that one of them were the culprit at the moment.
"Was I just hallucinating?" Rin asked herself as she reached up with both hands and started scratching her head. "No, that's not possible. But how else can I explain this? *Sigh* Maybe I've just been working too hard. I probably need some actual sleep. Two hour naps before going to school just isn't enough, apparently."
With that said, Rin shook her head as she started to slowly close the front door. However, just before the door closed completely, Rin noticed something floating near the doorbell.
"What is that?" Rin asked while squinting her eyes. She then leaned forward to get a better look. "Is that a... string? But what is it doing?"
As if it were waiting for Rin to ask that question, the string, or rather, thread surged forward.
*Ding!* *Dong!* *Dong!* *Ding!*
Yet, when Rin heard the doorbell ring for a fourth time, she did not start to rant once again. Instead, she opened her eyes to a comical degree. A moment later, she narrowed her eyes and [Reinforced] her eyes with her Od. And when she did, she could finally see the thread in greater detail. On top of that, she could see the mana that was being used to manipulate the thread.
Following the thread back to its source, Rin widened her eyes for a second time in less than as many minutes. Though, it was not because she saw the woman controlling the threads. Instead, it was because of the young woman who was standing next to her.
Long, lustrous violet hair, matching violet eyes, and the thing that made her feel nostalgic, a dark pink ribbon tied on the left side of her head. That ribbon was the first handmade gift she made for her sister, who she had been estranged from for more than ten years, ever since her father adopted her away to the Matou Family when they were children.
"Sakura…" Rin muttered as she felt tears forming in her eyes. "You're back…"
Frozen in place from both shock and relief, Rin did not even notice when the tears in her eyes started to fall. Yet, she managed to take one shaky step forward, her emotions driving her body forward while her mind was processing what she was seeing.
One step… Two steps… With every step, Rin's steps became steadier as her mind caught up with the situation. Then, before she knew it, she found herself running towards the street where Sakura stood next to Elicia.
Meanwhile, Sakura had her head lowered, still afraid of what her sister would think after she found out everything she had been through. Elicia, on the other hand, was smiling brightly.
"Go on, Sakura." Elicia said as she gently placed her hand on Sakura's back. "She's coming, you know. You should probably brace yourself. Because from the way things look, she might crush your ribs if you don't."
With that said, Elicia exerted a little force, forcing Sakura to take a step forward, startling her out of her negative thoughts. Then, just as Sakura turned back to look at Elicia, Rin slammed straight into her, her older sister's arms wrapping around her tightly.
"Sakura~~~~~!" Rin shouted, her voice shaking as she held Sakura tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay! When I saw what happened at the Matou Residence, I was so worried about you! I thought I had lost you forever!"
Not knowing how to react, as she had not felt such affection for so long, Sakura stiffened in her sister's arms. However, as time passed and she felt the dress Elicia made for her getting damp because of Rin's tears, tears started to form in her eyes, as well.
"Onee-Sama…" Sakura said quietly as she slowly returned Rin's hug. "I'm… home…"
With that, the dam blocking Sakura's tears burst completely, as she also cried into Rin's embrace. Meanwhile, Elicia watched with a smile. Though, she, too, found herself wiping away tears at such a heartfelt reunion.
As for Tatsuo and Rider, they remained in their astral forms. Though, they both felt happy for Sakura. Even so, Rider, remembering her own past, felt a bit of envy, as well. And for a moment, she considered going back on the agreement she and Sakura made with Tatsuo and Elicia. But when she remembered the taint that was affecting the Holy Grail, she squashed that feeling rather quickly.
Like that, the next few minutes passed with Sakura and Rin hugging each other, drawing strange gazes from anyone who passed by the Tohsaka residence. Yet, thanks to the rumors that suggested that the Tohsaka Residence was haunted, they avoided drawing any closer to see what was going on.