"This city... There are so many normal people here. No one knows what's going on in the shadows."
A normal city compared to the other cities in Japan. It's a fairly quiet city, but....
[Two bodies belonging to children between the ages of 7 and 8 were found this morning in a park near the police station south of downtown Fuyuki].
A woman's voice echoed from a radio on top of one of the shelves. Toru frowned as he heard this. She was coming out of the bakery.
He had stood watching the people walk by for a second, but that sudden news distracted him from his goal. He listened intently, silently, with a frown on his face. He listened with such concentration that people nearby were staring at this boy's extreme concentration.
[Authorities are mentioning a possible serial killer, as near that same area there have been reports of disappearances of children of a similar age. To all adults who have children, we ask you not to leave them alone. This is serious...]
'Haa...'
Toru sighed.
'That jerk... If he was already out of control, this is over the limit.'
The rules of war changed to kill Caster and his Master. If those two deranged people continued to act at their ease, the war would become complicated for everyone. Besides...
'If I kill Caster, will I be the one to receive the Command Seal? Of course not. It will be Kirei who gets that privilege. If he gains another Command Seal, that would be another chance for him to control me at his whim.''
[Assassin]
"Talking about the devil"
He said suddenly. Everyone around him watched as he started talking to himself.
"What's wrong, Kirei?"
Kirei spoke inside his mind.
[I need you to keep a close eye on Rider.]
"For your good fortune, that's something I'm already doing. I'll give you the details I discovered later. I'm doing reconnaissance of this whole place. I want to find everyone's weaknesses and exploit them at the right time."
[Okay. So I'll take you up on that then.]
"Yes. Don't worry."
After that quick exchange of words, Toru advanced through the streets of that place in silence while, in the shadows, clones of this same boy moved around analyzing everything with the Shigan.
'Caster and his Master, Ryūnosuke. They will die today...'
His eyes glowed brightly as he moved deeper into the depths of a dead end. He took a loaf of bread from the paper bag and quickly ate it in two bites. The rest he kept in the seal located in his right hand and then disappeared, entering his dematerialized form.
-A few months ago at the school Rin attends-
The noise of a couple of notebooks, followed by the crying of a girl, everyone heard them, but no one dared to do anything. Two boys were picking on a helpless little girl who, oddly enough, bore some resemblance to Sakura.
Rin didn't stand idly by and confronted the aggressors.
"You guys are losers, get it? How pathetic do you have to be to pick on between two people to pick on a girl who didn't do anything to them?"
With her somewhat smug tone of voice, she folded her arms and smiled, pretending to be a vigilante.
This was all happening a few months after Sakura became part of the Matō family. Rin was missing her sister and she... somehow saw Sakura reflected in Kotone, the girl she saved that time.
Rin protected her.
Rin let her know that she will be there for her.
Rin wanted her sister back.
Rin...
'I... What am I doing?'
She realized how hypocritical she was being. She's just a kid and that's what makes this situation sad and strange. A girl her age shouldn't worry about such things, but she still does.
Day after day, she continued to care for Kotone. And as time went by, her mask of a perfect girl slowly showed on her face. Everyone at school looked up to her. Everyone wanted to talk to her. She had become what she wanted and Kotone was falling behind. However, unlike her moments with Sakura, she didn't let go of Kotone.
But that question always came to her mind.
"Why am I doing this?"
She did know the answer, but that answer was more annoying than she could bear. So she continued to hide in her mask, protecting the weak, getting good grades, being a role model for everyone.
Day after day.
Week after week.
As the war approached. She trained, studied, and put aside the thoughts a girl her age should have.
And as the months ticked by, the war finally began. Toru was gone... Tokiomi was gone too. And she was forced to live with another family while the war raged.
She continued to be the perfect child. She continued to live with the mask that hid her true self.
Only a few days later, news began to reverberate in Fuyuki and the surrounding towns. Disappearances and murders of children. Most of them were the same age as Rin.
People started talking, whispering all over the place.
[The coffin is empty]
[They say the remains of that poor child were unrecognizable].
Different comments from different people tormenting Rin's mind. And then what she feared happened.
'Kotone didn't come today either...'
She too had disappeared.
'All of this... is garbage...'
Rin looked at the other children around her. She sighed wearily, everything had become so overwhelming.
'Toru... I'm sure you know about this.'
She knew it was selfish, but....
'Could you do something about it?'
She smiled wistfully.
'Obviously you can't. You're not here with me. Much less with Sakura...'
***
Later in the evening, worried about her friend's absence, Rin called Kotone's house, but no one answered. She was overcome with doubt and despair. So in a mere act of youthful impulse, she jumped on the first train to Fuyuki she could find and set out in search of her friend.
By this time, it had been a few days since the war began.
-South District of Fuyuki City. That same night-
"Nothing abnormal has happened..."
From high above, feeling his clones mobilizing in the darkness, Toru let the glow of his eyes get caught pointing at the city streets. On the roof of a discreetly tall building, he scanned the entire countryside, but even his clones have found nothing.
"This is what I get for neglecting my vigilance."
Because he went to attack Kiritsugu, he couldn't continue watching Ryūnosuke and Ryūnosuke got lost. And even though that Master left traces, because he was constantly moving around the city, it was a bit complicated to find him, but that didn't make it impossible.
It was only a matter of time before one of the clones found him. That's why Toru said that this morning.
Both Caster and his Master would die tonight, but killing them would give Kirei another Command Seal, so he had a plan in mind.
"How hard is it to make Caster meet another Servant?"
The plan was to have another Servant kill Caster, while he takes care of, at the same time, killing Ryūnosuke. The plan was simple and effective, but it was not easy to effect.
"Anyway...we have to keep looking."
***
A few blocks away from the building where the original Toru was, one of the clones seemed to have made a find. He looked that between one of the alleys there were traces of mana in the air. He could see it in the lines of death appearing in the air.
'There's something wrong here...'
The clone, dematerialized so as not to be detected, slowly walked deeper and saw that there was no magical barrier of any kind. This made it clear to him that this place was related to Caster's Master, as both of them are very careless when it comes to not leaving evidence.
Thanks to the Shigan, Toru could see a thread of mana running through the entire alley. He narrowed his eyes and braced himself.
From one moment to the next, he was running at full speed as he followed the trail. He traversed a few blocks until he found himself in a large alley with stairs leading to a subway area. He noticed that the mana trail in this place was stronger, plus he could sense the mana of more than one person there.
'I'll have to report back to the original.'
He clasped his hands together, and after that, he disappeared like a puff of smoke.
***
Near that place, Rin had just gotten off the train. When she arrived at the station, she made sure that no adult could see her. It was already very late at night, if anyone saw her, they would force her to go back home. Rin didn't want that.
'Hopefully you're okay, Kotone...'
With the image of her friend in her mind, Rin held up a strange compass that Tokiomi had given her weeks before the war. She looked at the compass and trusted her father. He wasn't here, but that's why she wanted to be a strong girl who moves forward without being afraid of anything.
Although saying that is easier than doing it. Rin was a little afraid, as she had never seen the city of Fuyuki at night. It was very different from the lively and colorful city seen in the daytime. Everything was dark, with fluorescent lights in the nearby shops.
'I know I can. I just have to find Kotone'
She continued to move forward through the cold night streets of Fuyuki. In the process, her curious girlish eyes admired how terrifying the darkness of the night wanted to be.
'Come to think of it... Toru always stayed on the roof of the house all night. Aren't you afraid of what lurks in the dark?'
That was the common fear of children. They are not afraid of the darkness itself, but of what might be hiding in that darkness. Whether it be evil people or scary monsters. Most children Rin's age usually have that fear, but that didn't apply to Toru. At Rin's age, Toru wasn't afraid of anything. That was one of the things that worried Kyoko.
During Toru's childhood, Kyoko watched as her son seemed to lack what many people have. Being able to express emotions through the face. Rin also had that problem with Toru. She at first didn't know what Toru is thinking, as his expressionless face never gave her a hint of it.
Although...
'That stupid pained smile of his...'
She thought that, if something hurts Toru, he should say it, but then she realized how hypocritical that is. She also hides what she feels. So she had no right to complain.
'I'm already getting distracted thinking about so many things.'
She continued on her way without noticing that, on top of one of the locals, a clone of Toru had managed to see her.
'Rin-san... what is she doing here?'
The clone, dismayed, began to follow her, hidden in his dematerialized mode.
***
"Finally found it. Now we have to kill."
The original Toru's eyes glowed, taking it for granted that a dark determination had been born in his heart. With that, he jumped off the building, still dematerialized, and ran through the city to the place where his clone made the discovery.
'With Caster and his Master out of the war, I would have five more enemies left.'
Toru knew that in order to earn the right to the Holy Grail, he had to defeat all the Servants, among them was Archer himself, Gilgamesh. Even if Tokiomi doesn't get what he wants, Toru will, he wants to achieve it.
"Archer... you will be the last to die."
However...
[By the power vested in me by the Holy Grail, I command you, Assassin]
"What...?"
Kirei's voice suddenly echoed in Toru's mind.
[Assassinate Fuyuki's people and, taking the mana of your victims, become stronger]
Toru stopped dead in his tracks as the order began to be carried out. Unable to refuse, he materialized and the daggers in his hands suddenly appeared. His eyes flashed with murderous intent and a cold sigh escaped him.
"Kirei... What do you want to accomplish with this?"
[You'll find out shortly.]
The massacre had begun...
To be continue...