The moment Rin and Caren laid eyes on each other, I felt a sudden urge to grab some popcorn. If not that, then a bag of chips, at least. The friction was immediate, palpable, even if they were just staring at each other in silence with unreadable expressions, stood in the gateway, brisk wind ruffling through their hair.
Not one to ruin such an entertaining moment, I leaned against a wall and… simply watched the two girls measure each other up on this particularly cold morning.
Apparently, fate took insult to my approach.
Rin turned towards me instead, "What is a priestess, a member of the Holy Church, doing in your home?"
I opened my mouth but Caren answered for me.
"What makes you think he owes you an explanation?" She said plainly, arms hanging limp to either side. "Didn't your father teach you not to meddle?"
Rin clearly hadn't expected that response either, considering how she physically recoiled. Still, much like Luvia, she wore a mask of her own. I saw in real-time as all trace of emotion drained from her features, leaving only a polite poker face.
"I am the Second Owner of Fuyuki," She stated matter-of-factly, "Anyone operating within my territory must go through me, even members of the Holy Church. I don't think you want to be responsible for souring the long-standing relationship between your organization and the Tohsaka family."
A politically charged rebuke if ever I'd seen one. Suddenly, Caren wasn't just speaking as herself, but as the entire Church. I couldn't help but whistle in awe.
Unfortunately, Rin both underestimated and misunderstood Caren.
The priestess never even budged. "If a little rough talk is enough to 'sour' relationships, I have to question the upbringing of such a prestigious household despite myself. One would expect a family head to be more thick-skinned. I apologise. I gave your lineage more credit than was due."
Damn.
I covered my mouth with a hand.
This was a truly incredible exchange. I was learning much. If I wanted to stick around, I really needed to up my snark game.
Even Rin was too baffled to respond, she blinked several times. Then,
"So you're declaring your intent to ignore the law?"
"Oh wow." Caren turned to me, jabbing a finger through the air at Rin, "She's going to cry to mommy because her feelings are hurt."
I steepled my fingers and pursed my lips, awaiting Rin's response.
She… had none.
Though still plain-faced, I knew Rin was staring daggers into my side. Her poker face was an exact one-to-one copy of Luviagelita's. Ah, that made sense. They were relatives, even if only because one side was beaten into submission then forced into a marriage.
I decided to cut my losses before incurring her wrath. With a sad sigh, I wandered over to Rin, grabbed her by the shoulders, and dragged her off to the side.
"W-What are you-, wait, wait, Henry-"
She made sure to protest, but somehow that turned into intelligible murmurs halfway through. She even ducked her head.
I looked over my shoulder. Sure as hell, Caren was standing there with a smug smile on her little gremlin mug. Shaking my head, I spoke to Rin.
"So, Miss Tohsaka, how can I help you this fine-" I took a long look at the moody grey skies, dotted with puffy white clouds, "-not so fine, morning?"
"Right."
She took a deep breath, fiddling with one of the buttons on her red coat. "I took Emiya to Kirei yesterday. He doesn't know anything about the war, or even magecraft. I tried to tell him the basics but… well, that's not important. We came across Berserker again."
I raised a brow.
"But, some explosion drew him away before he attacked us. His master seemed rushed when she noticed."
Hm. There was a decent chance the commotion that drew them away was my own conflict with the now-dead Caster. Nobunaga had previously put a real damper on her confidence in arguably the greatest hero of Ancient Greece. Hopefully, she'd realized she needed to be a bit smarter with her approach to the war now.
"What's the deal with that Shirou kid anyway?" I tilted my head, smiling sheepishly. "You like him?"
"W-What? No." She hurriedly denied the notion, shaking her head from side to side.
"Then why panic?"
"He's my neighbor. And, besides…"
I hummed, "Besides~?"
"Sakura likes him. My sister." Her words were remorseful, not the attitude one took towards a sibling. "I couldn't let him die."
Knowing magi, there was probably some messed up story in there somewhere. No, if Rin was the heir and head now, then that meant her father chose her over her sister. Consequently, 'Sakura' growing up without any attention from the family was the best case scenario. Torture wasn't out of the question either. Kids other than the heir were disposable material, or backups. That was simply dogma for our society.
"Did he sell her?" I asked curiously.
Rin bit her lip, clenching her fists. Then, she shook her head. Just when I was about to sigh in relief, she said something even wilder.
"My father gave her to the Matou Family."
Huh.
Wasn't that the ominous and grim family-
"That isn't important right now." She shook her head again, slapping herself on the cheeks. "You need to be careful. If the encounter back then wasn't enough, Berserker is an incredibly dangerous servant. His stats are absurd."
"Rin, are you forgetting which servant I have?"
She groaned, "Right, right. Everyone other than me has exceptional servants. I know."
"Also, Caster is dead. We fought. But Assassin's the one that got her."
Bastard had stolen all my glory, and the would-be fruit of my decision to be merciful. If he wasn't entertaining, I'd make him pay back with exorbitant interest.
"And did you get a look?"
"No luck. The Assassin servant is an assassin. It's in the name." I deadpanned, "What kind of genius are you? You're making us all look bad."
She deadpanned harder. "You just called yourself a genius. Who even does that?"
"Me. I get to. You don't. I got myself a Sealing Designation already."
There was no rebuff to that fact. Rin realized that instantly. She opened her mouth to protest, but simmered down and kept walking with her shoulders slumped. For a moment, there was silence, and only the nasty gazes of elderly passers-by who weren't particularly enthused with the presence of a foreigner.
As we neared Rin's school, Homurahara Academy, those passers-by were quickly replaced by droves of curious students. They recognized Rin, but she didn't pay attention and kept walking crookedly. Knowing how teenagers were about gossip, that wasn't going to end well for her. I, of course, made sure not to point that out at all.
"Well, we're here." I stared up at the school building beyond, ignoring the curious gazes.
"I'll see you later."
I snorted, "If you wanted me to walk you over, all you had to do was ask. I wouldn't mind~"
She huffed, and tossed a lock of her hair over her shoulder. "I just wanted to discuss the war, alright? That's it!"
Instead of answering immediately, I raised a finger to point at a short-haired girl hanging out of the second-floor window. She was waving her hand enthusiastically, a bright smile on her face as another student tried to pull her back.
"I'm pretty sure your classmates agree."
It was only then that Rin was hit with the knowledge of where we were. Her ears twitched and grew red.
"Adieu, Miss Tohsaka. I hope you have an interesting day." I chuckled. "Make sure to eat properly."
Her face scrunched up, "What? Where did that come from?"
"Well, you need extra food for the thighs, no?"
"Y-You-"
Laughing harder, I ran off.
-
I honestly expected the rest of the day to be rather boring, since any and all conflicts were meant to occur in the dark of night. I was wrong. I ran into Kirei in the shopping district. The weird priest was carrying two plastic bags filled to the brim with store-bought tofu.
He ignored me entirely when I called him out.
Just when I thought that was it, I spotted a familiar mop of maroon hair inside a clothes store, all suited up. We noticed one another at the same time, and she gave me a conflicted look. A stark change from last time, when she'd looked at me like I was… nothing.
It was not every day that one ran into an Enforcer for the Policies Department on a random walk through town. Especially one that tried taking my head so indiscreetly. And, most definitely not one that got sent to die by my hands because of political friction.
Of course, I walked right into the store. When she noticed, she turned on her heel and tried to run. I was much faster.
"Hey Bazett! Fancy running into you here~" I put a hand on her shoulder, holding her in place.
First, she froze up. Then, she turned her head so slowly you'd think her neck was a particularly rusty swivel.
"H…Henry Smith. A strange coincidence."
"Why'd you try to run?"
"You're mistaken." She denied it entirely. "I just don't enjoy conversing with my targets. Not when I intend to negotiate with Kirei for an exception to the established rules of the Holy Grail War."
"So you're going to stubbornly fight me?" I sighed.
She nodded resolutely.
"You're just being used, you know?"
"I have my orders."
"Fine then, see if I care." I huffed. "I won't be so nice next time we fight."
"I expect you to."
Goddammit this woman was so incredibly stubborn about all the wrong things. Well, I'd extended an olive branch once, even spared her. If she came at me again despite it all, I would respond in kind. I could only deny the chance to fight a hero of legend so many times.
I licked my dry lips, feeling my heart thrum against my chest, "I'll wait for you on the bridge."
"I will come if Kirei agrees."
In the meantime, maybe I'd pay a visit to the Matou house. It wasn't like I had anything else to do till tonight.
-
Hope you enjoyed.
You can find 8 chonky chaps ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap