Chapter 6 – Church
Three months had passed since Shirou and Saber met Ciel at the Church in Fuyuki.
At the time, the woman, although quite unnerving to them, had explained the nature of the work, more precisely, in hunting vampires and dead apostiles around the globe. They were introduced to this whole new world. Dead Apostiles, True Ancestor, vampires…The burial agency was responsible for hunting them down and kill them. Shirou had many doubts, mainly about the fact that the vampires and dead apostiles were once human beings who were turned by other vampires or dead apositles. He pondered about the possibility of 'saving' them from such a fate, which much to his chagrin, was met with Ciel's never-ending laughter. Saber had certainly expected that Shirou would ponder about the possibility, but she also knew that unfortunately there was no cure. Though Saber could not help but think fondly of him for wanting to save the undead.
The 'cure' as Ciel turned to explain would be for them to consume human blood to keep on living.
That alone had convinced Shirou since stopping them meant protecting the humans from being targeted.
In a sense, it was similar to how Caster in the last war took the population's mana to replenish her reserves.
Now, in regard to experience, Ciel believed it would be useless to give him a crash course or even bother with boring explanations. She was a firm believer that mere words would not expose the true nature of the work, hence why she much preferred to take them on a tour around the country of Japan. As such, the trio has crossed the nation doing their duties, hunting down vampires for a start. Dead Apostiles would come later on. Shirou and Arturia, meanwhile, had gotten to know more about the enigmatic female priest. When they first meet her, appearance wise, she was a tranquil looking woman.
When they started hunting, sort of speak, Shirou and Arturia got to see Ciel's true nature.
The more she 'took care of', the more twisted her facial expression became.
Shirou and Arturia then bore witness to a bloody massacre of the undead as Ciel butchered through them one by one, blood freely falling on the ground.
The king of knights was somewhat used to this level of carnage, but Shirou had to brace his stomach at the first time he saw the woman priest at work.
She would use what appeared to be three long and slender rapier-like swords with blades in the middle of her fingers in each hand. She would throw them with such pin-point accuracy and with enough force that the vampire's head would jerk backwards at the attack. The black key would then glow in a purple energy that would purify the vampires, reducing them to ash afterward. With his near perfect projection ability, Shirou was able to project the weapon. Even if he could not use it like Ciel, it would serve the purpose. He compensated by reinforcing it to the point that his black keys were harder than diamond. He even managed to somewhat mirror Ciel's method of throwing the black keys as he had adapted his archer like precision. This ability caused Ciel to look at him lecherously, earning a glare from Saber. The servant, for her part, used her sword to slash the vampires, but her weapon proved infective in outright killing them, needing Shirou and Ciel to use the Black keys to finish the job.
Aside from hunting vampires, Shirou and Arturia took the opportunity to know the more secluded areas of Shirou's home country.
Ciel was obviously more interested in hunting vampires, hence the woman would opt to stay inside her hotel room most of the time and wait for the sun to set. Shirou and Arturia would enjoy the country's cities: Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya and many others. Arturia had especially enjoyed their time in Osaka. Being a port city and filled with street food vendors, she turned to enjoy it greatly. She would bath in the sea breeze and bask in the city's local cuisine. Shirou was simply indulging Arturia in every place she ever wished to be. They went wherever her curiosity demanded. He was just thrilled to see that expression of elation on her face. And her stomach demanded enough food for her to experiment every food single vendor in the region.
She became hooked into Japanese cuisine.
Their routine had not changed that much, despite travelling together with Ciel throughout Japan, keeping up their usual training session. Shirou would project themselves a suitable practice sword and then find a more secluded place to spar. Usually, the cities around Japan had mountains nearby with tons of secluded places to practice. Still, Shirou would place some ruins around their chosen location for a bounded field so as not to be disturbed by anyone. Of course, any mages worth their pedigree would spot the bounded field, but a regular human being would not.
Aside from practice, Shirou and Arturia explored their feelings for each other.
In Fuyuki, each had their own room, but during their travels, they had shared a room and slept together. While nothing major happened aside from actually sharing a bed, they had enjoyed each other's presence immensely with Arturia even using Shirou's chest as a pillow on occasion. She would just use her hands and draw circles around his chest in a soothing manner, earning a chuckle from him. Arturia was never very forward with this sort of thing, preferring to ease into it slowly.
Shirou for his turn respected her too much to even think about taking things faster than necessary.
He was absolutely thrilled to have the woman next to him, not only for her love, but also for her companionship. They had all the time in the world to take the next step and certainly Arturia appreciated it. Being involved romantically with Shirou made her feel very self-conscious about her as a woman. Her constant talks with Rin about the subject had allowed her to understand more aspects of female sexuality a bit, but it all seemed alien to her at least in theory. It did not mean that she did not feel pleasure at the prospect of going all the way.
For now, though, she was quite comfortable in progressing slowly.
Arturia had even used her hands to massage him just as he did as well.
She basked in the feeling of his trained muscles and she was elated knowing that Shirou enjoyed what she was doing.
Shirou would do the same thing, but give her a more thorough message, from her smoothing blond hair to the soles of her feet. She enjoyed how tender his hands passed through her skin, permitting her to simply forgo any concern and simply get absorbed in the feeling of tranquility provided by her lover. All in all, they both simply enjoyed the subtle pleasures that one provided to the other and both knew that in due time, they would consume the love for each other. Right now, though, no one was in a rush to go places.
Both were comfortable being where they were.
===xxx===
Right now, they were in busy old Tokyo as Ciel told them that they would be accompanying her on a Dead Apostile hunt today.
Arturia and Shirou closed the door to their room and went towards Ciel's for a small briefing before their mission started. When they knocked on the door, they heard their contact usher them inside and Shirou opened the door. When they entered, though, Shirou was surprised and turned his eyes away when he saw the woman dressed in only a sleeveless shirt and underwear. It was not the first time Ciel did this, as it was clear that she was hoping to get a rise out of him. Arturia by now was sick and tired of this woman's insinuation.
"Could you stop doing this and get dressed?" Ciel snorted, earning a look on indignation from Arturia and a sigh in dismay from Shirou.
"Oh, come on Saber, don't be such a prude here…I may be from the church and all that, but I'm no nun. Besides, it's not like you need to be concerned about your boyfriend over there. If he really wanted it, he would have already showed it by now. It's certain that he has eyes only for you, so I can dress like I want to in my own room." Saber could see that Shirou was treating this like an annoyance rather than trying furtive glances at the almost naked lady in front of them.
"…Fine…but I'm keeping my eyes on you…he will not do anything, but that does not mean you won't try." Ciel showed a predatory smirk while adjusting her glasses.
"Possessive, huh…I don't blame you. Shirou here is quite the specimen."
Frankly, Ciel was just a more devious version of Rin in her teasing. Though, Rin had never openly looked at Shirou like he was a piece of meat like that.
The man in question now stopped looking away and faced the women present in the room, though Ciel frowned as his eyes were focused on her face and not in her body.
"Come on Saber, you know she is just riling you up."
Saber looked at her boyfriend for a while and collected herself with a nod. Hopefully after this mission, they would part ways for a time.
"True enough Shirou…she is just too easy to tease. Now, I guess I already explained to you about Dead Apostiles, correct?" To their nods, Ciel searched for a briefcase on the other side of the couch she was sitting and reached to grab a folder inside. However, she did so by bending on all fours on top of the couch showing a lot of her backside to Shirou and Arturia. Shirou could see that Arturia was already reaching for her sword at such a display of vulgarity and depravity and in front of Shirou no less. Certainly, the church lady did not stop her teasing material just because they asked her to. "Okay, well, the only means of killing them is through the black keys and as much as you two can win a fight against vampires, dead apostiles will simply heal. That being said, only a full-fledged member of the Burial Agency has the means to fully deal with them."
"Yes, you already explained that…"
"Okay, so you guys will be focusing on the horde of vampires and then meet me to deal with the apostile. This woman we are about to hunt is a particularly slippery one. Her name is Satsuki Yumizuka. She has already turned quite a few humans here in Tokyo to vampire and has some skills in magic as well. Whatever you two do, do not engage her unless I am around." Shirou and Arturia looked at a photo of this Satsuki and frowned. Twin-tailed brown hair and brown eyes, she looked like a teenager at school. "This actually is not the first time the church tried to hunt her. It is not even my first time either. Every time we fought, she would just send her vampires at me and escape, but this time I am hoping that you two will deal with the vampires long enough so that I can move in for the kill."
Shirou and Arturia nodded, now fully fixed in the mission ahead.
"She was last seen at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, a few miles from here." Ciel then shown a map of the region and instructed them on the possible entrances. "You two will enter the park from this entrance right here and I will take the other one. And don't worry about collateral damage…the area is closed to the local populace after the recent news of people disappearing once entering the park. The local police had sent some squads there, but bullets alone cannot kill a vampire. That being said, you two are free to run wild with the bastards…Shirou here can project as many black keys as possible, so he can rid the area of vampires. That will allow me to focus on Satsuki. Any questions?"
Shirou and Arturia looked at the map for a while, as they both remembered visiting this place when they first came here together with Rin.
"I guess not…we are going to wait for you downstairs then…" Ciel nodded as she got up and reached for her clothes as Shirou and Arturia left the room. Ciel turned to look at the peculiar duo leaving the room with a smile. Even though she constantly teased them about ogling Shirou lecherously, the truth was that she had indeed seen many positive aspects about him and yes one of them was sexual. The fact that he was so devoted to the blond girl made her opinion of him even more positive. Ciel has been in this world for quite a while now and men like Shirou were rare. It was a shame that he was already spoken for, though a woman could only hope, right. As she got dressed in her church attire, images of the shirtless red-haired magus kept picturing inside her head, earning a lecherous grin on her face.
===Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden===
When Shirou and Arturia first came here with Rin, Arturia had fallen in love with this park.
It was all so meticulously beautiful…the lakes, the small walking bridges…the well-conserved forest…everything. It certainly was a very beautiful and soothing place to have a picnic. Shirou's cooking brought even more joy to the ride. Tonight, however, as the two jumped through the closed gate, the feeling was completely different. The ominous feeling this place now exuded brought chills up their spine. Both now wore their battle suits and weapon of choice, with Shirou's looking like Archer without the red overcoat and Arturia had her top chest and arm armor up to her elbow, covering her entire hand. She also had legs armor up to her knee. Shirou's projected Caliburn strapped on her waist. They progressed through the now darkened park as they followed the heavy stench of blood and gore that permeated the air.
It didn't take ten minutes until they reached a bigger clearing and the sight before them was well…they were already used to it by now.
In the clearing, there were vampires roaming around and even zombies. They could see, though, that there were a couple of regular humans in the middle. Of course, they needed blood. Shirou and Arturia looked at each other and quickly devised a plan of action. Vampires would feel mana being used, but Shirou's projection took so little effort that neither felt until it was too late. Shirou had projected a rain of Black Keys, taking careful aim to take care of the majority of the vampires in the area, while Arturia would rush in to protect the humans from harm. When the vampires saw the rain, the majority screamed in pain as the black keys hummed inside of them, purifying their rotten spirit. In the midst of the confusion, Arturia had quickly slashed the ones who were circling the humans and took them away.
The attack, though, made the rest of the vampires angry and they turned to attack the duo who dared interrupt their dinner.
They were close to fifty vampires before Shirou's attack, now only fifteen remained. Though, each one of them were a force to be recognized with. Shirou unleashed his bow and summoned more black keys as he evaded the attacks to the best of his ability. His pin-point accuracy with the bow managed to reduce the count to ten, but a couple managed to slice open his arm, forcing him to retreat just as Arturia came barreling like a train and faced the rest with enough might that the rest was sliced into pieces. Shirou then delivered the final blow with more projected black keys, thus eliminating all of them. When Arturia reached Shirou's location, he was already running healing mage craft.
"Shirou, shall we search for Ciel now?" Shirou looked at the humans they rescued and searched the area for somewhere they could hide the victims, until he found what appeared to be an abandoned construction nearby.
"Arturia, help me take them there first. I will place some ruins around and erect a bounded field to protect them."
The king of knights nodded, and each carried one person towards the building.
Shirou then did his magic to create a bounded field around the abandoned building.
"Now, how are we going to find her…this park is quite large."
Shirou looked around as Arturia closed her eyes. Being a servant, she could feel if mana was being used nearby. When she opened her eyes, she saw smoke and tremors a great distance away, meaning that the fight was under way. Arturia went ahead with Shirou following. Their movements were precise through the trees until they saw a destroyed clearing with many holes on the ground. In the middle of the clearing, Ciel was seen facing against what appeared to be their target, Satsuki. Ciel had her black keys in hand and Satsuki was fighting with her bare fists. They could see that Satsuki's hands were loaded with mana and was thrashing against Ciel's black keys. They could see that the holes on the ground were Satsuki's doing as she slammed her punches on the ground as Ciel evaded it and threw a black key at her in retaliation, though Satsuki dodged and kept on the offensive.
"Shirou, cover me…I will help her." The magus nodded as he summoned his black longbow and readied a rain of arrows to keep Satsuki at bay.
He fired one at her the second an opening was seen, though being a dead apostile, Satsuki merely turned her head dodging the projectile. Arturia took the opening provided and shortened the distance with her mana burst, swinging her projected Caliburn. Ciel saw the attack coming and got out of the way. She could spot Shirou standing on top of the tree two hundred meters behind their position. She then looked at Saber and Satsuki battling out, though it looked like Saber was gaining momentum against the Dead Apostile. Ciel quickly formulated the plan, counting on her partners to keep her occupied. Ciel summoned six black keys, three in each hand and closed her eyes, whispering an incantation she learned from the Church.
When Saber carved a huge slash on Satsuki's chest and Shirou's arrow lodged in her head, Ciel moved in for the kill, throwing her black keys while announcing the prayer.
I kill. I let live.
I harm and I heal.
None shall escape my grasp…
None shall escape my sight…
Be crushed. Those defeated, those grown old, I welcome you.
Devote yourself to me, learn from me, obey me and rest.
I am light and shall relieve all your burdens.
Ask for forgiveness here…
I, the reincarnation, shall swear.
Kyrie eleison.
By the time the last black key reached Satsuki's, her body had now turned into black dust on the ground. One good aspect of dealing with the dead apostile was that after dealing with him, every vampire that she turned into would be dealt with as well, though as Shirou and Arturia approached Ciel's position, she looked around and frowned. Usually, there would be a vampire of two lurking in the shadows in case Satsuki needed assistance. Which meant that these two had dealt with all of them before coming here. Turning to inspect Shirou and Arturia more closely, she could smell the stench of the vampire's blood on their clothes. Ciel smirked knowing that the Church had unknowingly attracted a good help against the Dead Apostiles if what she witnessed the girl was to be believed.
And while Shirou had played a support role, she could feel how strong the redhead was. He may have a lower number of magic circuits, but those were of high quality.
"Well, having you two here sure paid out in the end. Satsuki tried calling her vampires, but none came…figured that you two would have something to do with that."
"We had encountered all of them about to attack two victims a couple miles from here. Guess that all of them were quite hungry."
Ciel went to the place where Satsuki's body was and picked up her Black Keys and stores inside her robes.
"With this mission, I can safely say that you two had passed the inauguration exam. Welcome to the Church." Shirou and Arturia smirked at the praise, straightening it up at it. "I will handle the report to the higher-ups, and they will communicate the local authorities here. You two are free to roam around…go home…travel…fornicate…whatever…our job is done for now." Arturia and Shirou both fought the heavy blush on their faces. Ciel would choose the weirdest times to tease them. "Now, Shirou, stay tuned for your cell phone…I will call you the next time I am in need of your services."
"Will do…" Shirou and Arturia both released their mystic codes as soon as Ciel walked away.
"So Arturia, we still have time to kill…what do you wish to do right now?" Shirou by this time already knew what she most craved for, though he never not asked.
"I guess we can grab something to eat…I remember that we went to a good place that serves Teriyaki." Shirou smiled at his glutton girlfriend for always thinking about food.
"A good idea, though first we have to take the bounded field away and then we can go."
Arturia nodded as Shirou offered her to place her arm around his as they calmly walked throughout the park at night as if nothing out of ordinary happened.
===Next day===
Once the couple checked out from the hotel, Shirou and Arturia went for some quick coffee on the hotel restaurant.
The train back to Fuyuki would leave in a couple of hours, so they had time to spare. The hotel lobby's big screen tv was showing a news coverage of what happened in the park yesterday. The news said that no one understood what was inside the park that killed everyone that got inside or at least stated that those who entered never came back. As such, the news listed the names of fifty people that went missing. Shirou could see their faces on the screens, but he could not associate either of them with what he saw. His squeezed hand showed to Arturia how troubled he was at the notion that he could not do anything to save them. She remained silent for a while, however, knowing that this was something that he needed to process.
Like she said in the past, there will be times when nothing can be done to prevent people from dying or suffering.
They just had to do it withing in their own capabilities and find peace with it.
"Shirou…are you ok?" She heard his sigh, before he turned to her with a thin smile.
"I will be Arturia, thanks. At least we were able to save those two." They turned to the tv as the news finished reporting that, out of a miracle, two of the missing people were found this morning with no recollection of what happened. Shirou, after removing the bounded field, worked on some hypnosis spell on both, erasing the last events from their minds. It was standard procedure given by their boss, one named Tohsaka Rin. Though neither remembered actually acknowledging the black-haired magus as their leader, Arturia found it amusing to watch Rin trying to boss Shirou around and Shirou protesting every time, which in turn would make Rin even more bossy. It was actually one of the quirks that Arturia found most endearing in watching her friend and lover's interaction.
Shirou then looked at his phone ringing and smiled seeing it was the very same girl calling them.
At least once a week, the three of them shared a phone call to talk about their day just like they used to do while living together.
He answered and placed the phone on speaker for Arturia to participate as well.
"Hi there Tohsaka…"
"Hello Rin…"
"Emiya…Saber, how are two doing…how is the work with the Church coming along?"
"We finished our missions yesterday, Ciel stated that we had passed, and she will call when she need our services."
"Good…good, so Saber, did she stop teasing you two?" Saber's answer was a simple and angry 'no', earning a giggle from the other side of the phone. "So, what did she do now that's gotten you so angry Saber?" Rin had known from Saber how their contact in the church would look at Shirou with great depravity in her eyes from time to time. Shirou had simply rolled his eyes at the phone conversation as Saber explained what exactly happened yesterday in Ciel's hotel room. Shirou could hear Rin laughing uncontrollably at the words used by Ciel to describe him, probably imagining the scene as it happened. Shirou could see Arturia getting red but this time was more out of anger for Ciel than being teased by Rin. Actually, Arturia much preferred Rin's…
"Oh my…Saber, you need to step up your game then. After all, Ciel certainly will not be the only woman who finds Emiya a fine specimen…"
Scratch that...now she did not know who was worse.
"Tohsaka, remember me to never introduce the two of you…I don't think that Saber here will hold her impulses otherwise."
The King of Knights was crossing her arms and imagining how good a little scratch from her Excalibur would be in each of them.
"Just kidding Saber…I miss the two of you, so cut me some slack…none of the people here has any sense of humor. But I guess that's London for you…pretty stiff people most of the time, no offense Saber."
"None taken…"
"Actually, the reason I'm calling is to tell you two that I had arranged a meeting with one of the Assocation's Enforcers. She had agreed to meet you two in a couple weeks, though the problem is that she is not inclined to meet you two anywhere else but here at the Association." Both Shirou and Arturia frowned at that. Getting inside the lion's den like that was a huge trap in their eyes. And Rin knew the silence meant that her friends were not too comfortable in walking amongst the Association's halls with a servant turned familiar. "I can tell what you too are thinking without even asking, jeez. Do not worry about anything…Saber looks very different from the war and people here will not do anything out in the open like this. If the Vice-Director gets wind of anyone here trying anything, she will take care of it. And Bartholomei Lorelei is not a person anyone here wishes to antagonize. The Enforcers are a branch that she pays special attention to."
"Okay if you say so Rin, I guess we can cancel our tickets back home and book a flight to London, right Shirou."
Shirou had enough interaction with Arturia to see past her collected expressions. He could hear the subtle word 'please' in her phrase quite clearly. But who was he to deny obliging such a request? Arturia deeply missed Fuyuki and miss Taiga, but the prospect of visiting her old country was simply too much to pass by. Also, both her friends Rin and Sakura were the and Arturia missed hanging out with them.
"I guess we can, Saber. Tohsaka, I have to hang up now, hopefully we can arrive in London in a couple of days. I will text you as soon as we arrive…"
"Oh perfect...you two can stay here with us. There is a room we are not using after all. Plus, we all miss your cooking. Sakura sure means well, but you are undefeated." Saber giggled at that, while Shirou released a sigh in dismay. She too missed Shirou's cooking. Ever since they started the missions for the Church, they stayed only in hotels. She now salivated at the thought of Shirou's culinary skills regarding european cuisine.
"And here I thought you missed my company rather than being the cooking staff, Tohsaka…"
"Don't be like that you dolt. You know we love you. I have to go now, anyway…Lord El-Melloi II is holding a conference tonight and I promised to go. Bye and see you in a couple of days."
Arturia had heard of Rin's teacher and was surprised to see Rider's master from the Forth Grail War becoming a teacher at the Magus Association. At the time, he looked scared of about anything, though having to put up with such an unstable servant, Waver's behavior was not without merit. She may have respected the man as king of conquerors, but a servant should not have placed the master in dangerous situations like that. Arturia calmly drank her tea as Shirou hang up and then focused almost exclusively on his phone for a while, cancelling the train tickets and then purchasing their flight to London.
Meanwhile, she was busy trying to remember the scenery of her own time with the pictures she saw of modern London.
Eventually, Shirou had booked their flight and they marched straight to the airport, heading towards the next adventure.
Chapter 7 – London Interlude
Blissfully unaware of what was going on right now, Sakura had just woken up inside her room as the sun illuminated her visage.
It has been a couple of months now that she had decided to accompany Rin to attend the Clock Tower and it has been a very good decision on her part. She was homesick sure, well, not from her dreadful house, but Fuyuki in general. She missed Fujimura-sensei, senpai and Saber. She missed going to their home and having breakfast with everyone. Aside from that, however, London was a nice change of pace. It even improved after Rin had confided in her how she would be able to help rid Sakura of her grandfather's influence. The process in the end was rather brutal, however compared to a lifetime of torture, it was walk in the park.
Simply put, Sakura was placed inside a very powerful bounded field that would suck every possible energy from her body, leaving her dry. Normally, such a thing would kill anyone, but the worms inside of her had sucked so much out of her, that they had become dependent on her mana to survive.
Without it, the worms were getting killed one by one, until only the one that had Zouken's soul remained.
That one took more effort to kill as it took a strong weapon and pinpoint-accurate precision to strike. Sakura had to appreciate the enforcer Bazett for her help in all of this. Her Fragarach was a noble phantasm and mystic code that stroke Sakura merely inches from her heart and killed the worm. Rin and Waver had overseen the entire procedure and healed her the second it happened. After that, it took an entire week for Sakura to get used to the feeling of no longer having those disgusting worms inside of her.
She was so used to them inside, that she felt like that was no escape for her grandfather's grasp and control.
When they accomplished it, Sakura felt something inside of her swell until it was no longer possible to hold it in.
She screamed…she cursed…she trembled in fury at the unfairness of her life. She had received the loving sisterly embrace and held on to it while trembling as tears fell freely from her eyes. It was inevitable…she had bottled up so much inside that she had to let it go. After that, she slept for two days straight. When she woke up afterwards, it was a new Sakura that emerged. She was still reserved in her actions, but no longer could be considered shy. She had nothing to hide anymore…she had nothing else to be ashamed of…and she had her sister back with her. As she crawled from under the bed, Sakura had taken a quick shower and then went to the kitchen to cook breakfast. Her sister would not be waking up any time soon, which was fine as she had time for herself.
Today was a special day for Sakura as Senpai and Saber were coming here to London.
She missed them greatly…well, to be fair, she missed him more, but Sakura had also taken a liking to the blond girl that made senpai happy.
Sakura turned on the coffee machine while she got everything ready for their breakfast. Rin usually enjoyed the continental breakfast composed of eggs, bread and butter, milk and a few other items. Opening their fridge, Sakura separated everything she needed, before placing the needed ingredients by the stove. She turned on the television to see the news. It was something she did every day. While the Tohsaka sisters lived in a different world, Sakura found it soothing to sometimes escape from it and see what the normal human world consisted of.
It was at this moment that Rin opened the door to her room and dragged her feet towards the kitchen.
Sakura by now knew she did not need to greet her as Rin would have a glass of milk first before clearly waking up.
After Rin drank her morning milk, straight from the bottle, mind you, Sakura giggled and greeted her sister.
"Morning Rin…had a good night sleep?"
"Ah Sakura, you know me, I always do…do you know what time Emiya's flight lands?"
By their estimate, since leaving from Tokyo yesterday, Shirou should have landed by now. The sisters then turned to the television as the BBC channel reported it.
'Coming to you live…we have received information that a terrorist organization has just closed Heathrow Airport's main landing strip. It appears that they had kidnapped a bus of passengers and placed a bomb below the bus…Heather is now on sight…Heather what can you tell us? The police have confirmed it is indeed a terrorist attack? Are any information about demands? Talk to us Heather…'
"Oh my, another one…this is the third time this happens since we arrived Sakura…" Breakfast was already on the table as they watched the news.
"Nee-san, isn't senpai's flight supposed to land this morning. Do you think something happened to him?" Rin had forgotten about that and now feared for her friends' safety.
"I hope that they had already landed Sakura..." Secretly, though, Rin hoped that the dolt would not try anything
'Chris, so far, the police confirmed that this is indeed a terrorist attack…I have confirmed that the bus is filled with passengers from a flight that came from Lebanon. So far, we do not know if there are any demands. Back to you Chris.'
'Alright thanks Heather, keep us posted…'
'Chris, it appears that we have image of the bus…the airport has provided us with a link to their security cameras.'
Sakura and Rin could see the bus stopped at the main air strip as the terrorists were outside the bus carrying machine guns. It looked like they were five or six in total as each of them would shoot bullets up in the air on occasion. The Police had already secured the airport, but this now became a hostage takeover situation. And not one of the terrorist believed that they would walk away alive from this. It was not their mission to do so. Inside the bus, the girls could see that the passengers were frightened.
'Heather, talk to us…'
'Chris, I had just talked to the chief of police who informed that the terrorists are demanding the immediate release of the known terrorist Abdul Mohamed…as you recall Chris…he was apprehended last year after a failed bombing at the British Museum. He is scheduled to go to trial next week'
'Thank you, Heather…ok folks, we will keep broadcasting the airport camera as the police finds a way to release the hostages.'
Rin and Sakura were just finishing their breakfast when the image from the television showed a sudden bombardment of arrows from practically nowhere, hitting the targets all at once. Pandemonium soon emerged as the police moved in, with all available crew and apprehended the terrorists. They all saw the rain of arrows bombarding the terrorists, but no one could see where it came from. Rin's eyes were glued to the television while Sakura was finishing her coffee.
'Chris, are you seeing this…it can only be a miracle…it appears that none of the terrorists were killed, but we saw the arrows hitting them dead on…how did this happen?'
Sakura could see the look of incredulity from Rin and only giggled. Shirou would not be Shirou if he did not do something about this. And also, no one would find out who did it. Only they knew who had that level of accuracy from a long distance, using a bow and arrow.
"Well, I guess we are now sure that senpai had already landed, huh."
Rin could only smack her forehead in exasperation as Sakura finished her breakfast without a care in the world.
Half an hour later, as the news covered the failed terrorist attack, Rin and Sakura were surprised to hear someone knocking at the door. Tohsaka Rin was one mad woman now as she stomped towards the door to their shared apartment in nothing but her yellow pajamas and unchecked hair. Quickly shoving the door open, she did not even wait for the idiot to greet her before she yanked him inside and pulled him towards the wall. Saber behind him just sighed in dismay as she already knew exactly how Rin would react upon seeing them. She just carried their bags inside as she watched her friends squander, while taking a seat next to Sakura who was also watching the scene in amusement.
"Tohsaka…that hurts you know…is this how you greet us?" Rin was comically slamming both fists on his chest.
"You imbecile…I know it was you…I just saw from the television…how could you be so stupid?" Shirou and Arturia turned to the television that was broadcasting the failed attack. "And you Saber…I thought I told you not to do something reckless like this…I counted on you to keep him from exposing himself needlessly like this." The King of Knights was finishing the leftovers from their breakfast, much to Sakura's humorous giggling. Airplane food was definitely not a favorite for the glutton King of Knights. Rin if possible was even more infuriating as she turned to Shirou and pointed her accusation finger straight at his nose.
"Explain now!" Shirou looked at the eyes of the devil and smiled awkwardly.
"Easy there Tohsaka…I just could not let them get away…they had hostages you know!"
"Idiot, I knew that…but that's not your problem to solve…everything was broadcasted live. What if a camera caught you?"
"Rin, there is no need to worry…" The irate brunette turned to Saber, who was being offered coffee by Sakura. "Like Shirou said, using hostages is quite disgraceful. You could not expect us of all people to turn a blind eye to this. We could not let them get away and Shirou would never kill someone if he can avoid it…though we took precautions, like you requested of me. We had climbed the roof of the farthest building of the airport and Shirou even used his runes to create a bounded field around us. No camera would be able to see us." Tohsaka Rin, though, was still not satisfied with the explanation. This was London for heaven's sake, the city where the Mage's Association was located.
There was magus all over this town.
In the end, she relented. By now, it was evident that Shirou's tendencies had rubbed off on Saber more than she even realized.
"Bloody hell…" Rin had heard her fellow British magus curse like this quite often and it now felt right to use it. "Anyway, at least the method you used to conceal yourselves is valid. Ah, not even a minute after you appeared Emiya and you already giving me a headache. I will take a shower, a very long one…Sakura, could you help them settle in." The trio looked at the sulking Rin dragging her feet towards her room suite as Sakura helped Saber and Shirou place their bags at the other room.
===Half an hour later===
After the heated discussion, well, more like tantrum from Rin, they were now seated at the table of the apartment.
Rin had all kinds of activities planned for them to do as she even communicated her teachers that she would take a leave of absence for two days. Shirou's meeting with the Enforcers was scheduled by the end of the week, so they had plenty of time to indulge in the city's activities. Saber was especially ecstatic about getting to know London and perhaps even other places that had significance in her time period. So, without further a due, the group of four left the apartment and began their sight-seeing. Saber, Rin and Sakura were walking together, chatting as Shirou was simply happy walking behind them, giving the girls space to be together, chatting amongst them without a care in the world.
He had Arturia all to himself for three whole months.
She deserved to spend some free time like this. He knew she enjoyed the rush of battle and the elation of saving people just like him, but she was also a woman aside from a servant. She needed this and he would give her everything if possible.
He could see the excited look on Arturia's eyes as they navigated throughout the busy streets of London.
They went to all possible sights. The Palace of Buckingham and many other royal palaces, including the Big Ben clock. The other tourists nearby being none the wiser that they had a former king in attendance. Arturia would see the inside decoration and be reminded of the insides of her own castle in Camelot. While not as fancy as this, the style was similar. They visited the churches and cathedrals as well, though she was never a religious person to be honest. Her notions of clurgy pretty much ended once she embarked on the Holy Grail Wars and became aware of who exactly was the members of the Church.
Last but not least, they went to the London Eye where Arturia could see all of London.
It was already nighttime when they finished the quick tour around the United Kindgom's capital.
In the King of Knight's mind, seeing all this made her heart at ease. Joining the Grail Wars as a servant was for the purpose of saving her country. It was her duty to make sure that the kingdom prospered, even if she was not there to see it. After seeing how the country turned out, she reasoned that in the end it all worked for the best and she had no regrets about accepting Rin's invitation to be their familiar. As they walked by the River Thames at night, Shirou was walking behind the girls and Arturia slowed down so she could walk by his side. It was in the middle of the day when she realized that she was hanging with Sakura and Rin the entire time and Shirou was behind them, giving them all the space they needed.
However, by the end of the night, she realized that standing by his side meant more sense to her, even if he was right there, just a couple steps behind.
He smiled at her as they held hands together. She was rather reserved at first, but then she stopped holding hands and decided to hold his arms with hers.
Rin and Sakura looked back and smiled at the scenery, before turning forward to give the couple some privacy.
"I missed you Shirou…" They were walking side by side with their shoulders touching. She was just relaxed at the closeness they shared. She could feel their shared energy even stronger like this, embracing her, protecting her.
"I'm sorry Arturia, just thought that you wanted to hang out with the girls a bit after spending three months hunting vampires."
"Yeah, I missed talking to them. Thank you." Shirou leaned in for a kiss on her forehead. Arturia may have grown, but her head at best reached Shirou's shoulder. "Thank you also for bringing me here, Shirou. Seeing how the kingdom now thrives, I can at least have closure in that aspect." Shirou nodded, happy that she had reached that conclusion. Every once in a while, they would conversate about Arturia's old life as King of Camelot and even if she had chosen to remain by their side, Shirou could tell that her mind drifted to that time on occasion. He felt elated at the peaceful look on her face. The couple walked in comfortable silence as no words needed to be expressed.
Sakura and Rin were a few steps in front of them, having their own conversation.
"It's nice to see senpai so happy…"
Rin looked at her sister and could see a happy expression on her face. Truth be told, Rin was worried after inviting Shirou and Saber to be with them.
Sakura had changed after removing Zouken's influence from her body. Though, looking at her right now, at least Rin was at ease knowing that Sakura would not try anything.
"And how are you feeling, Sakura? you know…about seeing them…" Sakura, though, did not change the smile on her lips.
"Just seeing him happy like this is enough, really. I…I cannot provide him what she does. He is travelling the world following in his ideals of being a hero of justice, hunting vampires and is now starting to help the association in hunting corrupted magis. Hell, he even stopped a terrorist attack that would have killed many innocent lives. And she is by his side, protecting him."
"Yeah, they form a nice partnership, though they are going to be the death of me." Sakura giggled as the couple approached the two.
"Emiya, how about we stop by the market and buy some groceries...it's time you compensate me for this morning by cooking us dinner." Saber nodded resolutely at that, missing Shirou's food dearly. The man in question sweat dropped at the guilt trip, but truly it was the least he could do, as they were saving on hotel bills. So, going to the market was actually a fun thing for them to do. Saber and Sakura would get lost somewhere, trying different free samples while Rin and Shirou went through the list for tonight's dinner. It also allowed them to chat about how Shirou's skills are coming along and for Rin to provide insight about the Association and what to expect from this Bazett person.
Also, Rin wanted to run something by Shirou for tomorrow. The man could see, though, that Rin was treating this manner seriously.
"Emiya, there is a place that I wish to take you two tomorrow. Sakura will be busy at the Clock Tower, so we can go there tomorrow."
"Okay…where is it?" Shirou had already grabbed a selection of steak and pasta for their dinner tonight and was now looking at other ingredients for salads and entries.
"It's a place close to here, called Glastonbury…though I don't know if taking her there is a good idea…" Shirou frowned at that…something to do with Arturia could only mean something about her past.
"I see…from your face, you're hesitant…what is there to see?"
"Presumably, it's her grave…" Shirou's throat closed in that instant as he looked at the hesitant Rin next to him.
"Tohsaka…"
"I know…it's why I don't know if this is such a good idea. She is my friend as well. I do not want to deliberately hurt her by doing this. When I found out about it, my first instinct was to take you guys there, but now I do not know. What do you think?" For Shirou to hear Rin questioning herself and turn to him for advice was something quite rare. Still, he was the one who best knew about the King of Knights. Still, Shirou also did not know if he had the answer to his friend's conundrum.
"When she heard we were coming here, she was ecstatic. She wanted to see the country that she helped create in a way. But also, she wanted to see something about her past."
He sighed, now understanding Rin's position.
"Do you think it's best to ask her first, then." Shirou nodded, thinking it to be the best choice here. This after all meant more to Arturia after all. If she did not want to go, then they would forget about it. Certainly, even Shirou was having doubts if he wished to see it. Just to imagine the possibility of his Arturia becoming no more than a distant memory made him dizzy. Their bond was so strong that Shirou could not imagine his life without her by his side anymore. And Rin certainly caught on to that as she approached him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"We could not bring it up if you prefer…" Shirou looked at his friend and negated.
"It would not be fair to her…she stood here with us…she chose to be with us, this is the least we could do." Rin nodded in sympathy at her friend's plight.
Saber soon approached the two, clearly with a smile on her face as she had probably experimented the local cuisine that this market offered. However, when she saw Shirou and Rin's downed expression, she asked what happened. Shirou had explained her about a possible location where the burial of King Arthur was located and that they could go tomorrow if Arturia wished. The woman in question stood there in the middle of the market, now understanding why her friend and her lover was looking down in sadness. Arturia Pendragon was the King Arthur in another life. No doubt there would be a memorial of sorts about her legend somewhere. And she wanted to see it, even if old wounds would resurface. Looking at Shirou and Rin, Arturia smiled contently at their attempt to coddle her, protect her from this.
Placing one hand on each's shoulder, she responded with a deep smile on her face.
"I wish to go there…but I wish us to go together, the three of us. Thank you for consulting with me before." Shirou and Rin looked up at Saber. Rin nodded with a smile, but Shirou still dreaded the visit. "Shirou, please don't be sad…I'm right here and I won't be going anywhere. But, if you do not want us to go, then…" She understood why he was sad about as she thought among the same lines of losing him.
"No…you came here wanting to see something from your past…I will accompany you for sure."
Shirou even grabbed her hands for good measure, earning a smile from Arturia.
"Okay, enough with the sad history, tonight we are going to have a nice dinner and we can chat all night long."
It was a nice sentiment as the three were together once more just like they were in Fuyuki, living together at his house.
===Rin's Apartment===
After finishing at the market, they all returned to Rin's apartment as Shirou began the preparations for their dinner, while the girls set the table.
Sakura had already made a simple salad for them, while Shirou prepared the main dish composed of filet mignon marinated in red wine and spaghetti alfredo. Shirou's expertise was more inclined to japanese cooking, but he was no stranger to western style cooking. The smell that came from the apartment's kitchen was enough to make the girls earnest for dinner as they conversed.
"Rin, tell me, what can we expect from the Enforcers at the Association?" Saber saw Rin releasing the cork from a wine bottle and pour the King of Knights a glass.
Rin had even laid a glass for Shirou in the kitchen as well.
In the past, Shirou was somewhat averse to alcohol. He often experimented at the place he worked part-time back in Fuyuki, but never much enjoyed it.
Wine, however, reached more his taste.
Also, the King of Knights did indulge in the sacred liquid in her feasts back in Camelot and even got into a drinking game at the Fourth War with Iskandar and Gilgamesh.
"From what I was told, Bazett will be your contact just like Ciel at the Church. She was the original master of Lancer from the grail war, Saber, but she was attacked by Kirei for her command seals. What I fail to understand is how that damn priest managed to win in a fight against her…she is quite the badass in a fight. I'm sure you will like her, Saber. She is all business. Quite different from Ciel, that I can tell you." Saber took a zip from her wine glass while pondering about the information.
"That's good Rin…at least I won't have to worry about keeping another one away from Shirou…to this day, I don't know if Ciel's advances on him were just to tease me…"
Sakura and Rin giggled at seeing the King's possessiveness.
"Is this about Shirou being a fine specimen, Saber…" A vein popped in her forehead and an eyebrow twitch made Rin laugh at her friend's expense. "Well, I don't know Ciel that much to know her type, but Shirou is a man that normally attracts women's attention, Saber. Surely, you are aware of that by now." The king of knights sighed at that but found that Rin was not wrong. Her lover was loyal to a fault, kind, attentive, strong and quite dependable. The only fault about him was that he rarely thought about his own well-being, which was even not considered a fault in character, but rather his own recklessness and stubbornness in a fight against someone stronger than him.
A more analytical part of her mind indicated that in this very table, there was one person who tried her best to appear neutral to the conversation but failed. Arturia knew that Sakura cared for Shirou as well. However, Arturia was not threatened by this, seeing as Sakura was also a dear friend of hers and was Shirou's friend as well.
"You don't have to worry about Bazett, Saber…" Sakura said shifting the conversation in good humor. "Though you might be on the lookout for Luvia Edelfelt…" Saber looked at Rin who had showed her distaste at the name.
"Who?"
"Sakura, why did you have to bring up that name…huh…Luviagelita Edelfelt is a member of the Association's elite families. Stuck up little princess that one…" Sakura giggled as she remembered the many stand-offs between her sister and Luvia. "She always gets into my nerves and if she sees Shirou with me, chances are that she will make a move on him just to spite me. She gets to participate in a mission or two with the Enforcers, but that because of her status inside the Association as the heir of the Clock Tower's most prominent families. At least with her, you will not have to worry about her being interested in Shirou to spite you…though I doubt that she would do something, considering Shirou's status as a freelancer."
"Not exactly a comfortable situation Rin…" Rin shrugged it off, knowing that the idiot would not reciprocate anything. His eyes were for Saber only.
Eventually, dinner was ready and Shirou placed the banquet on the table. Whatever tense subject literally died out as Arturia drooled at the nice aroma that invaded her nostrils. She was used to eating japanese food for quite a while, but Shirou had outdone himself yet again. The filet was so tender that it melted inside her mouth. And with the red wine complementing it, it soon became a feast of aromas and tastes. The spaghetti was also quite tasty. For sure, Arturia had seconds and Shirou had calculated enough to accommodate for her.
After dinner, they made small conversation until the Tohsaka sisters excused themselves for the night.
Before leaving, though, Rin winked suggestively to Saber as they would be alone for the night.
Shirou gathered the used plates and glasses and washed them. Arturia was content in simply drinking another glass of wine as she watched her lover work with the dishes. This was already her fourth glass and she was feeling a bit tipsy. The usual restraints she would have with him by this time no longer in her mind as she got up from the table and approached him. By this time, she realized that there was nothing stopping her from finally claiming him to herself.
"Shirou…" She rubbed his arms and shoulders and hugged him from behind, earning a chuckle from her man as he turned around and enveloped her in a hug as he leaned in for the kiss. Arturia had simply melt in his embrace.
"Shall we go to bed, Arturia?" She nodded as a red hue on her face was quite evident, despite her previous forwardness.
Kissing and hugging, they slowly but surely moved the act towards the bedroom, completely ignorant to Rin watching them from her door.
Closing the door to their room, Arturia landed on top of Shirou as the couple felt on top of the queen-sized bed while continuing the make-out session. When Shirou felt her hands reaching for his belt, he stopped and looked at her. She knew his unspoken question in those gorgeous eyes. Despite the wine exerting its influence, Arturia was by no means inebriated to the point that her actions were dictated by it. Plus, every time she passed her hands through his well-toned physique, she felt her restraints diminish and tonight Arturia decided that it was time.
"I…I want this, Shirou."
His answer was to deepen the kiss as the clothes were off.
What followed was the noise of the bed going up and down at night together with moans from both as they had consummated their relationship.
===Next day===
When Shirou opened his eyes the next day, he looked at the messy hair of his lover on his chest and blushed in elation as the images of last night bombarded his mind. Looking at the clock by his nightstand, Shirou was surprised to see it was already early morning. Adjusting to the time difference between Japan and England was not an easy task, but he did set the alarm clock to wake him up regardless. He did not have to worry about leaving his lover alone in bed as he felt her stirring on his chest. He smiled fondly as Arturia emitted cute waking up sounds, before turning to him with a deep and content smile on her face.
"Morning Arturia…had a good night sleep?" her only answer was a deep 'uhumm' with her eyes half closed. She was snuggling on his chest like she would with a pillow.
"Never better Shirou…" She even reached her head and kissed him on the lips, though it was more thorough than a simple good morning kiss and Shirou already felt something stir down there.
Arturia felt it grow on her thighs and blushed, remembering what happened yesterday.
Now that that specific door opened, there was no going back. Not that anyone wished to…
And seeing as they were inside a suite, the couple took the action to the shower as they killed two birds with one stone.
Half an hour later, the couple was dully dressed and in the kitchen as Shirou started breakfast for them. They saw a note from Sakura in the fridge saying that she left early for a group assignment meeting at the Clock Tower and would be there all day.
Shirou then grabbed some ingredients from the fridge and in no time made everything just as Zombie Rin emerged from her room in her pajamas.
Shirou and Arturia looked at each other and grinned in nostalgia, remembering about their days in Fuyuki. Drinking a full glass of milk, Tohsaka Rin was then fully awake as she saw her friends already fully dressed and ready for the day. And she was the one already used to the time zone. Still, the smell from Shirou's ham omelet made her smile as she took a seat next to Saber.
"Morning Rin…"
"Morning Saber, Shirou…" Putting more milk and adding coffee, she extended her plate for Shirou to serve her omelet, before he returned to the stove to make his. "I trust you had a lovely sleep, huh Saber…"
The king of Knights looked at the smirking brunette from the corner of her eyes and quickly fought the urge to throw her bagel at that coy smile of hers.
Though she was not surprised that somehow Rin knew what happened yesterday.
"Remember me to talk to Shirou about lifting a bounded field around ourselves to keep your from watching us…" Rin smirked at that.
"Oh, it would not work Saber…whatever Shirou makes, I can break it easily." Saber smiled at her, though Rin would need at least some time to do that.
Aside from the snide comments in all due fun and jest, Rin's eyes promised that they would discuss it later in length. After breakfast and waiting for Rin to get ready, the three hoped on the bus that would take them to Glastonbury. Along the way, Arturia observed a more familiar scenery from her time. Open land and hills with the occasional houses here and there. When they arrived at the place, Arturia's eyes slightly watered as she was transported back in time. The ruins of this place matched with the images in her mind. So much so that her legs moved on her own. Shirou and Rin looked at one another in solemn silence as they followed the king of knights. Shirou was worried about her as he could see her eyes lacking the usual focus. He understood that as he would often do it when he remembered the fire. They walked for some time until Arturia stopped before a plaque in front of a small garden.
Her throat closed instantly as she read the contents of the plaque.
Shirou and Rin was by her side instantly as Shirou briefly held her, awakening her from her hypnosis.
Arturia held his hand and rested her head on his shoulder as the three looked at the plaque.
Unbidden memories of her troubled past bombarded her as tears started to fall from her eyes and on Shirou's shoulders.
"Saber…" Rin also had tears in her eyes had offered her friend an embrace and she reciprocated it with a deep smile.
"It feels my heart with joy to be here with you two, Shirou, Rin. While I can't state that this is the location where Bedivere brought me to die after the Battle of Camlann, I can feel the spiritual energy of this place quite strongly."
The gentle winds and soothing smell of the greenery were quite familiar to Arturia as she remembered the scene of her most loyal knight speaking to a deeply hurt and on the verge of dying King Arthur about returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. It was the last scenery she remembered before accepting to be a part of the Grail Wars. The trio had stood there in front of King Arthur's presumed grave for quite a while as Arturia made her peace with what happened and finally moved on.
Regrets she had many, but they no longer weighed on her conscious.
And it was all thanks to Shirou and Rin in her life. Two people that would forever be in her heart together with her family.