Beta Read by Shigiya and Darklord331
.
.
.
-Fuyuki-
A clutter of dishes fell to the ground, porcelain tea cups and bowls shattering into thousands of pieces. Their contents spilled all over the floor, the hot tea releasing vapor as it contrasted with the cold air. A low thud sounded as knees shook and slowly dropped to the floor, a shaky hand holding onto the table for support.
"O-Oh no, what have I done…" a haggard voice spoke, each breath taken deeply causing an extremely uncomfortable sensation in the very depth of her body. Sakura felt her eyesight deteriorate, seeing a blurry mess for a couple of seconds before closing them hoping to regain a moment of clarity, to focus and push the burning sensation away, if only for a moment. "I can do it… I can do it… se-senpai should be back at any moment. I have to clean up before he does," she muttered to herself.
Having gotten a message from him that he had to leave due to some emergency and was on his way back. That brought a sense of relief, the abrupt way he left made the girl worried that perhaps another Master appeared, and the only form of consolation she had was Rider's promise.
"Hn!" She suppressed a moan, her back pushing against the wall with beads of sweat streaming down her forehead. These relapses started to occur more often than previously, far too frequently for her liking. She knew it would happen eventually but had hoped to be able to endure them for perhaps a little longer. With her trembling hands, she grabbed a wet rag and cleaned the floor thoroughly, her body still shaking every so often.
It was both a lack of energy, feeling drained of her stamina that even the slightest breeze felt like it would be enough to push her down. This, combined with her body acting up more frequently lately, without Shinji to… calm her body's reactions, was another factor in these recurring episodes. The sensation of overwhelming desire and lust nearly made her crumble once when she visited Shirou in his room, a moment she didn't wish to occur again.
"Hah... Hah... Hah... Hah..." Her heavy breath echoed across the living room, the television running in the background with the news anchor reporting on the ongoing investigation of a faulty assembled crane crashing into the shipping containers at the port. Followed by another report about the police capturing a possible person suspected to be the killer of the museum guards.
Though she paid them no heed, unable to do so even in the first place. "He'll be back anytime soon. He'll be back. He'll be back." Sakura repeated those words like a mantra.
The worst part was, that even if Shirou didn't know what was going on with her, that could not be said the same with Rider. Even though the blindfolded woman never said anything about it or gave any indication to even be aware, she knew well that it was only a matter of time before the latter would notice something was wrong with her or reveal the sordid details to her Master.
The image of his possible reaction to such a discovery frightened her. The boy who was so ignorant of just what kind of vile woman he had invited into his home and even less of the type of thoughts that raged through her mind in those moments. The moment he would even get an inkling of the truth then everything was bound to fall apart.
"I need to take a breath of air."
[Break]
Even though it was quite late at night, she had no choice. Her feet walked towards the entrance, in her haste leaving the door open and grabbing nothing but shoes. The longer she stayed in that house with her body acting up, the harder it was to control, especially when his scent was present everywhere, driving her nuts.
Just a small slip-up—losing control for a single moment—was all that separated him from protecting her so much that he ended up despising her. She could not let that happen; she didn't want him to see her in such a light.
"It's cold," it was late in the night, the moonlight illuminating the surroundings with the street lamps lighting the streets with a yellow tint. With no soul present in this area, it was easier for her to wander without any fear of being found. She took a familiar path later on, which she remembered from a distant memory.
"Just a bit more," she thought, the heat in her womb barely subsiding, the worm within, squirming and drawing more of her Magical Energy. She didn't know if her grandfather was purposefully using his familiar to elicit such reactions so sporadically, just to make her squirm; honestly, she wouldn't put it past him to do so. Most likely, he was hoping Shirou would just walk back to her house on her own will, or planning to have him discover her secret and dispose of her back to that manor himself.
'I should just go back… I'll just end up being a nuisance to Senpai the longer I stay in his house.' A voice spoke within her mind, urging her like a silent whisper that she fought back against for so long. "No! Not yet, not yet..."
When would be the next time she would get such an opportunity? She doubted it would be anytime soon. These last few days were nothing short of a dream come true for the young girl, and she wished to live within this dream for just a while longer. To stay in what she considered to be her little paradise, for even if it were an illusion, at least they would stay forever in her memories.
"Ah!" Without realizing it, she accidentally walked into someone, a foreign little girl whose doll-like appearance momentarily stunned her. "S-Sorry, I didn't see you." She hastily apologized, walking away. Perhaps the parents were nearby, she didn't need to worry about him—
"Is Onii-chan's little stray pet running away? You look like a mess. Hmph, quite fitting."
"—!?"
She turned around quickly as a dreadful sensation settled in her core, but ended up getting confused as there was no one behind her. Was she just imagining things now?
"Hn!" Unfortunately, she couldn't continue down such a train of thought as the side effects surged again and forced her to continue her path.
Without even realizing it, the girl ended up walking in the middle of an empty park. There was little to no sound around other than the noise of the wind howling, the leaves rustling, and the clinking of the rusted chains of the swing. Taking a seat on the bench, she took a deep breath of fresh air, the cold temperature serving as a balm to cool off her raging emotions, even if only slightly, allowing her to focus and gather her thoughts.
"It was this place, wasn't it," she spoke to no one in particular, for the next minute sitting in her place and looking around at the familiar area. It was a place where she got bullied by a group of kids. Around that time, she lost her uncle, the Fuyuki fire and the atrocities she had to endure in the pit of worms broke her.
Compared to that, the stones, hair pulling, scratches, and harsh insults were nothing in comparison. She just felt nothing.
Yet that very same little girl who then got saved by the little fiery redhead, their first meeting and one that she treasured with all her heart — for it was at that moment she felt a sensation she thought to have lost by seeing his smile.
"He has grown up a lot since back then, but he's still mostly the same," Sakura mused, the memories of the past and present serving well to calm her down. A young boy who desired to do nothing but help those in need, a goal that hadn't changed throughout these years as he kept doing so at every given opportunity. She admired him for that, once again solidifying her belief that being so close to someone like that for so long was truly a blessing.
But also a curse, for her very presence risked tainting that.
"Sakura?"
"—!?"
Her body froze, almost jumping in the air with fright at the sudden presence she couldn't sense and the familiar voice that brought a complicated expression on her face.
She slowly turned upwards to find a familiar twin-tailed girl standing near the pathway, holding an anime-themed umbrella with a confused expression, one that looked more worried than anything else.
Perhaps it was due to her unstable emotions, her tired mind, coupled with a lack of sleep for the last few days, but a part of her wanted to scoff at Rin's worried look. 'Why are you even showing such a face in the first place?' she wanted to ask mockingly but held back as soon as she realized that it would be rude to talk to her like that.
"Ah... Ne—... Tohsaka-san," old habits die hard, she had nearly called her something they hadn't been for many years. Thankfully able to regain control of herself in time and change it at the last second.
"What are you doing here in the cold? All by yourself!" the Tohsaka heiress exclaimed with a frown on her face, walking over with some hesitation and drawing closer to the uncomfortable violet-haired woman but stopping halfway. "Is everything alright with you?"
She asked again, but this time her voice faltered and an uncomfortable silence settled between them, causing hesitation and unease to grow with each passing moment.
"It's nothing," Sakura managed to answer with some clarity, seizing enough control of her emotions to not show anything out of the ordinary. "I was just coming out for a walk. I should be the one asking you that. Why are you here?"
She pointed towards Rin's clothes. As usual, the latter particularly liked those short skirts even in such a climate. Where it needed nothing but a short breeze to reveal what she wore beneath. She was sure that she was doing it on purpose to get a certain redhead's attention. This paired with a black long-sleeved sweater and a red scarf wrapped around her neck and mouth.
"Oh, it's not mine," Rin quickly said as soon as she realized Sakura looking at the umbrella she held, going slightly red and cursing a certain archery practitioner. "I was visiting a friend of mine to help her with her studies, it was raining when I was leaving so I borrowed hers… but it's clear she intentionally gave me this one for the hell of it."
She mumbled under her breath. Unfortunately, Sakura had no idea this individual could have been, though she was a bit surprised to learn that she was visiting a friend in the first place, given Shirou called Rin a loner of sorts the other day. Popular but with basically little to no one she hang out with during breaks or outside school hours.
Yet here she was happily coming back from a friend's house.
'How nice to live a normal life.' The same voice from before spoke once more, this time with some venom and envy laced within every syllable. And strangely, she couldn't bring herself to deny it, finding herself clenching her fists.
"—ve easily Projected myself an umbrella if I wanted to but she was so annoyingly adamant…" While still in her thoughts, Sakura heard the others speak those words quietly under her breath.
"I see," she didn't say much, her expression turning blank once more as the pain started to subside, leaving her dealing with this situation she found just as uncomfortable. The silence and awkward atmosphere between them was thick enough to be cut with a knife. "You shouldn't stay outside for so long, Tohsaka-san. it's best you go back home,"
Her monotone voice made Rin flinch at first, the latter wanting to say something but unsure how to proceed. Opening and closing her mouth on several occasions, almost extending her hand before setting it back to her side. Despite what Sakura said, she remained rooted in her spot, not walking away as the violet-haired girl had hoped she would.
Instead of continuing to stay around, the heel of her shoe gently scraping the loose dirt ground
"A-Are your studies going well?" Rin asked, her stutter not going unnoticed by Sakura, who was also momentarily taken aback by the question. Raising her gaze, she looked at the twin-tailed mage wondering just what was going on here.
Rin, on the other hand, tried but failed to accomplish the same. Unable to meet her gaze, she looked away slightly, her face partially obscured by the scarf and the wind rustling her hair over. White fog appeared near her face every time she exhaled, and the dropping temperature made her shiver slightly.
"..."
"I…I'm just curious, you know since you'll soon be attending high school. It's best for you to be ahead and prepared. It's not an easy place to get used to after middle s-school."
There was so much she wanted to say, holding back another wave of dark emotions when hearing that 'worried' tone. 'Hypocrite.'
But that phrase did make Sakura realize that she would indeed be attending the same school as her senpai, a moment she had been dreaming about for a long time.
Though now that she basically lived in the same house as him, her excitement hadn't diminished in the slightest. In fact, it made her more eager to spend more moments together.
"I'm doing fine," was all she said, not having anything else to add to the conversation with Rin making a complicated expression at that short answer.
Her current state made thinking alone quite troublesome, most of her attention focused on maintaining a normal appearance and not accidentally revealing something she shouldn't. Without taking into account the emotions she felt towards this person in particular, unable to figure out how to describe them. It was not pure hatred, but an amalgamation of many repressed emotions.
"How about you?"
Why did she ask that? The girl couldn't tell honestly, at a loss at her own actions. She truly believed she had no desire to continue the conversation, yet here she was, asking a similar question. A wave of a multitude of complex thoughts swirled within her mind, trying to make sense of and understand what she wanted to do next.
Rin exhaled a hot breath into her gloved palms before rubbing them together, her scarf doing little to help with the cold — not that the skirt helped in the least as well.
Yet she did not hesitate to answer, starting with an audible scoff. "Terrible! I was supposed to come out first in the final exams, yet that didn't happen. I spent so many hours and sleepless nights learning everything in the curriculum and then some, before memorizing and understanding every subject in advance so that I wouldn't have any issues with my exams."
Sakura couldn't help but listen, this being the first time in a long while she'd seen the latter complain about something with so much frustration.
"And then a random idiot who I never saw once opening a book came ahead of me and stole the top spot."
Rin did not add that another reason she truly believed she had struggled was the recent cases of Chimera attacks, a literal Lord coming to Fuyuki, and worst of all, dealing with that blonde bitch! She wasn't certain, but something told her that the latter must have cast a curse upon her! She wouldn't put it past that blonde bimbo!
"Really? Who is it?" Sakura asked, curious to wonder just who might this person be to have managed to beat Rin of all people — even though she already had a suspicion on who it was. She, out of everyone, had an idea of just how competitive the girl could be even with the most mundane stuff, having heard and known about her persona as a sort of class idol and model student image she kept up.
"Pfft! Do I even need to spell it out for you?"
"That's why I asked."
Rin's face grew long, taking a deep sigh before silently whispering, "...iya."
"Could you repeat that? I wasn't able to hear you."
Even though she didn't hear the full name, Sakura managed to get a clear idea of who Rin was most likely referring to — further cementing the person she was thinking about and thus making her smirk mentally. But she kept acting ignorant just to extend and continue seeing Rin act so uncomfortable and moody.
In a way, it was quite fun to see.
"Mou! I'm talking about Emiya, of course! Who else do you think I would be describing to you!?"
"It could have also been Ryuudou-kun."
"You know of him? Wait, never mind, that's not important, that four-eyed scaredy cat can only dream of beating me in anything!" Rin exclaimed, with a huff of arrogance. "Hard as he tries, not even Buddah can help him in that regard, I can't lose to him of all people."
Sakura tilted her head, recalling some of Shirou's words explaining the weird dynamic between these two. How Rin found it amusing to see that boy be so wary of her from the beginning. He had seen through her persona and was so openly audible about it, so she did make it her job to poke his nerves every so often.
"So senpai came first, that's amazing."
"Amazing how?" Finally, the girl turned her head back and stared right at Sakura with a frustrated stare. "All day, every day, all he does is hang around in the student council room, either reading some magazines, using that foldable computer thing of his, or running around at every club fixing some low-quality equipment the school doesn't bother to replace even though they have the funds for it. How could such a person come first!?"
A small chuckle escaped the violet-haired girl's mouth, one that sounded genuine and even made the corners of Rin's lips twitch upwards. "Because he is amazing. He is very studious and does take his studies seriously. Also, most of his school books and assignments he does are on his laptop. That's why you don't see him reading the physical books since he does it on that 'foldable computer'."
"Huh, you can read a school book from that?" Rin asked with a confused face. "Isn't that thing used to send messages or something?"
"Yes, you can. Senpai told me that he scans and downloads his entire collection onto his hard drive and even made multiple copies. For some of the newer course books, he found them online and downloaded them. He only uses the books at school since students aren't allowed to use a laptop in class."
"Download? Hard… drive?" Rin looked even more confused, her face trying to make sense of whatever gibberish came out of Sakura's mouth but unable to do so. Her expression nearly made the other girl momentarily roll her eyes. "Well, whatever! He's using them to cheat, and that explains a lot!"
"That's not considered cheating…"
"Humph, that's what he wants you to think!" Another silence presided over them before Rin visibly took a deep breath and spoke with a more somber tone. "Speaking of Emiya, I heard you have been spending a lot of time with him… you know, with the whole living in his house."
'He's mine!' She nearly repeated those words out loud but held herself back, a sense of unease spreading all over her at Rin mentioning him. "..."
She only answered with a slight nod.
"Look, I can't say I know Emiya-kun that deeply nor the kind of guy he truly is. He's obviously much better than the likes of Shinji, no offense, and is very helpful to those around him. But you should still be wary of blindly trusting anyone in general and living with them to top it off. Again, he doesn't seem like the type to hurt a fly to be fair, but I still think it's better to be safe than sorry."
Sakura's hands clenched with more force, gritting her teeth at the way Rin kept talking about him in that way, thinking she was smart enough to make such comments when she knew absolutely nothing! "Don't. Don't talk about him like that. You don't know anything about him!"
"..."
Rin paused, her face showing slight regret at the understanding that she may have gone a bit too far.
"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to accuse Emiya-kun of anything and give the wrong impression. I just want you to be careful—"
"—Oh, so now you care?"
Sakura's cold words cut right through to what she was about to say, ending anything and everything that she wanted to speak about. Plummeting the already cold atmosphere to a new low, so much so that even Sakura believed that she didn't need to say that. Blaming her heightened emotions to let that slip by without realizing it.
But she also wasn't willing to take it back.
Instead, she waited for the other to leave, looking downwards at her feet and Rin's. Her hands clasped together as the seconds ticked by. Finally, she saw the other move, but instead of going away, she approached the bench. Had she gone too far? Was she making the other offended?
She didn't care honestly, so just waited for some kind of verbal or physical retaliation with her eyes closed.
"Eh?" But rather than any of that, the violet-haired girl felt a warm piece of fabric gently placed around her neck. The end of Rin's red scarf entered her vision as soon as she opened them followed by the distancing footsteps, the girl walking away with her now closed umbrella.
"It's quite cold tonight," was all Rin said, showing a small smile on her face at Sakura and walking away. "You should wear a sweater next time."
"... Thanks"
Once again, Sakura did not know what else to say to her. Watching Rin disappear at the gateway of the park's entrance after crossing the streets. She touched the warm fabric, soft to the touch, and still carried some remnants of Rin's perfume. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't muster the strength to take it off and throw it away, leaving it to rest around her and look at the clock.
Getting up from the bench, Sakura did feel much better than before. Having gotten enough time to recover and manage to get by the side effects, knowing full well that it was only bound to get worse every time. Funnily enough, she couldn't bring herself to worry about that for now, just content to be able to spend a while longer with Shirou.
Having never been under the illusion that she would be able to truly escape that place.
"How long were you here?" Her voice echoed in the empty park, walking towards the entrance where she found the breathtaking Servant casually standing near a pillar, her presence making Sakura sigh in relief as it meant that Shirou was safe after all. "She's not a Master is she?"
Rider shook her head, "I don't think so, or at least not yet. And I didn't want to interrupt your talk."
"You wouldn't have been interrupting much in the first place," Sakura said, walking past the Servant and taking the route back to Shirou's house. The Heroic Spirit rather than return to her Master or turn back in her spiritual form instead walked beside her, an action that made her chuckle.
"You aren't going to ask who she was? Oh, you must have seen her already talking with senpai."
"Yes, they interact with each other from time to time. But I don't know her that well from just those interactions."
There it was once again, that spark of envy that made her desire to attend the same high school as Shirou that much more important.
"They must get along well."
"No, he and that girl tend to get dragged together by a mutual friend of theirs. Outside of that they barely interact other than simple greetings." Rider noted the scarf around Sakura's neck and how the latter kept touching it.
"You know, I'm not in any danger you know? I appreciate you accompanying me but you can return to senpai's, I must have made him needlessly worry about my wellbeing."
"That's an understatement," the dry response she got in return made Sakura quirk her eyebrow, wondering what the woman meant by that.
"Ah, he must have called me, I left my phone back in my room!"
Rider shook her head, "If only it were that then I wouldn't have called it an understatement. She can barely hold him back."
Now Sakura genuinely started to worry, in her haste she didn't even have the thought to leave behind anything to inform him of her absence. But the most worrying part was the second part of her statement, "Who is holding back who?"
"You'll see for yourself."
.
.
.
(A few minutes later)
"STOP RESISTING, SHEROU! YOU'RE ONLY MAKING THIS HARDER ON YOURSELF!"
Back at the house, Sakura and Rider stood right next to the doorway, overlooking a scene that would remain forever scarred in Sakura's mind.
"L-Let me g-go! Luvia! He's a monster!! I need to sav—argh! Save her!"
"I don't care if he is the literal devil, but you can't just storm the house of a centuries-old Magus with some guns and bombs! You're just asking to be killed, you idiot!"
"Y-Y-You'rgh choking mhrhhe! loshing… conscious…"
"That's what I'm hoping for!"
Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief as she took in the bizarre scene before her. A stunning woman, whom she had never seen before, was perched atop Shirou's back like a predator pouncing on its prey. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, a vice-like grip that held him firmly in place as he fought desperately to break free. Sakura could see the strain and determination in Shirou's face as he grappled with his captor, his body twisting and writhing beneath her iron grasp. It was a strange and unnerving sight, one that Sakura couldn't tear her eyes away from, even if she wanted to.
His body frantically tried to roll around and to attempt shaking off the blonde but with no excuse. Her previously elegant violet dress is now torn and covered in dust and tearing, looking no different from two wrestlers trying to dominate one another.
Or rather one doing so and the other trying to escape with all his might.
The ground around them was covered with dozens of handguns, rifles, automatics, shotguns, and more. This along with an alarming number of bladed weapons now sprawled all over the ground. Sakura's eyes widened as amongst the piles she noticed a few boxes filled with another kind of weapon, those that resembled grenades and other kinds of explosives that she was breaking a few laws of the Geneva Convention.
The shed's door was damaged, with an intimidating tall man who resembled a small mountain of muscles calmly standing next to it observing Shirou and Luvia struggle with a blank face.
"Gah! You were just barely able to move a couple of seconds ago, where are you getting this energy from!?" The blonde exclaimed with frustration, despite having a good hold of him the boy managed to slowly worm his way forward even managed to push slowly overpower her. "I'm seriously going to stop holding myself back if you don't cease your nonsense!"
The next moment, the boy stopped his struggle. Going perfectly still and making her believe that he had finally given up. "Hah, I'm glad you are finally able to think rationally. I have done my homework on this Zouken and despite the state of his family's decline you shouldn't underestimate—WAH!"
To her stupor, in a single burst of strength, Shirou used it to momentarily gain the ability to pry off her loosened hold and flip her on the ground instead. This time switching their position with him being on top and her pinned with his hands firmly grabbing her wrists.
Her eyes for a moment showed pride at the action the young boy was able to execute in such a disadvantageous position. Too bad it only lasted for a brief moment before her eyes dangerously narrowed, "One last chance, I know you're worried but going over there without a plan will force me to use a more drastic approach with you. Even with a Servant, you can't be this brazen."
Their faces were close, barely a few inches separating them with each one of them having flushed cheeks, as their lips were inches apart from connecting.
"I'm sorry, Luvia. But I made a promise—"
"—What is going on here?"
Eyes twitching and a bad premonition falling upon Sakura's mind, she couldn't let this continue any longer. Her voice sounded colder than what she would have liked, but that was more aimed towards this unknown woman than Shirou.
Both froze in their spot and looked up at her, golden brown eyes widening with pure surprise and joy. His face made her struggle to keep her appearance, but that soon broke apart the moment he disappeared from his spot and she instantly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her.
"Sakura!"
"—!!!??"
Alarm bells rang within her mind, he hugged her so tightly that their bodies were basically glued to one another. Despite the multiple layers of clothes, it did little for her sensitive body to feel every inch of him, a secondary source of warmth that filled every fiber of her being and grew at an exponential rate. The same desire she tried to suppress previously came back with a vengeance, whether it was due to the worm's side effect or something else she couldn't tell.
A chill rushed down her spine at the sensation of his breath against her neck. "S-S-S-Senpai!?" Her eyes nearly rolled backward at the dangerous amount of unnatural pleasure she kept getting from this simple action alone, making her arms unconsciously hold his back wanting far more.
His scent of sweat filled her nose, making it clear he must have been in a difficult scenario previously. Her heart was racing, every single part of her begging to not stop, demanding more and more. These thoughts slowly made her hands want to rip away the clothes that got in the way—
"This isn't the ideal place for that." A soft alluring voice spoke right beside her ears, pulling the young girl out of her fund with a whiplash. Clarity returned as she realized that two strangers were still observing them from the sidelines!
"Ah, sorry about that!" Shirou said, quickly letting go of her and steeping away. Disappointment filled her heart. If these people weren't here, Sakura doubted she would have been able to stop herself from closing the distance again on her own. Her attention panned to Rider, who had an understanding smile, her words addressed towards her rather than her Master.
"Where were you, Sakura? I thought that you might have… that you might have…" though he didn't say it, she already knew what he wanted to say.
"Ah, I'm sorry senpai. I made you worry. But I was just taking a small walk around town for some fresh air." She quickly apologized, not willing to inform him about the reason for her actions and her meeting with Rin. "I thought Med-san would have mentioned that she found me and we were coming back."
This prompted him to now look at his Servant, "Wait, you were with her for this long and didn't say anything?"
"I forgot."
She clearly didn't, Sakura suspected the woman was just amused at the display and wanted to show it to her first… which she didn't know how to feel about.
"By the way, senpai… who is this person?" Finally, she asked the question that had been bugging her from the beginning. She believed Rin to have been holding some motives at first but after seeing these two so close physically now put this stranger far above in terms of a threat.
The blonde dusted away the dirt from her dress and openly used some kind of spell to clean her face.
"Greetings, my name is Luvia Edelfelt, I am this stubborn boy's mentor and friend."
'No, you aren't.'
The way she said it only brought more unease to the violet-haired girl than anything else, this coupled with her beauty and body that didn't lose out to hers in any way making it more suspicious.
'He's mine.'
"Nice to meet you, I am Matou Sakura."
To conflicting thoughts, that continued to keep on a polite face while another wanted to ask this girl to leave.
"Let's head inside first, I'll make something for all of us."
Unfortunately, Shirou had different plans and instead invited her to his house. Showing genuine joy on his face when Luvia walked inside rather than any other kind of emotion, Sakura knew that it was normal for him to be like that. But it didn't feel good when that same generosity and kindness was shared with someone else.
"I can help you." She was taken aback by Rider suddenly saying those words, looking at the Servant and trying to act ignorant and confused. "You like my Master don't you? A lot even."
She teased by putting more emphasis on that last sentence, making her blush more than usual without any attempts to deny it.
"Just so you know, Master is still very much a regular teenage boy in more ways than one."
"I-I can't, he definitely finds you more attractive than me… I… I can't do anything with him as it will only hurt him. Someone like me doesn't deserve that kind of joy. And… and he most likely doesn't even see me in such a way, I wouldn't be surprised if he saw me similar to a sister." Weirdly enough, now she no longer felt any discomfort with Rider's presence. She was one of the most beautiful women she'd seen yet she held no true envy for her closeness with Shirou. In fact, she wishes that she was more like her.
"—!" She jolted when Rider's hand gently touched her stomach, alarmed that the other possibly found out about the presence of the worm. "R-Rider?"
"You far overestimate just how innocent or pure that boy is in the first place. He is very much holding back in your presence, I have seen the kind of stare he gives you when you're not paying attention. It will only take a nice dream or two before he can't hold himself back anymore."
"N-No, you can't!"
Honestly, she was half the mind to go along with Rider's method, only through sheer willpower able to stop herself from doing so.
"Then why don't you take a bolder approach by yourself? I can show you how to do so, Master may be an odd one but his body doesn't lie. Why don't you pay him a visit in the morning when he's sleeping, like you did before?"
Blushing furiously at the image conjured by her past actions and the revelation that Rider was there to see that shameful side of hers, Sakura, unable to hold it in anymore, ran inside. Leaving Rider behind whose slightest smile returned back to its blank state.
"This is for the best." She whispered to herself. Her Master was truly an odd one, but it was a much better outcome for him to have his eyes on a girl like Sakura than for there to be even the slightest chance for him to pursue a monster.
One that brought nothing but misfortune.
In a way, she was doing this to protect him more than herself.
{Break}
-Mackenzie residence-
"Emiya Shirou?" Sitting on top of her bed, a certain white-haired girl mumbled that name once more as her mentor mentioned it just now, being a possible candidate for a Master according to him. She was munching on one of the cakes that were made by him, one that was shaped like a lion. "But he doesn't seem to be a Magus, he's not even registered in the Second Owner's record."
On the other side of the room, focusing on a paper with multiple names on it, Waver scratched his head with a frustrated stare.
"It's not uncommon for some Magi to live outside the radar under the guise of a regular citizen. I trust Tohsaka Rin to be a competent individual but even she is not omniscient and is very much occupied with other matters currently to pay much attention to such things."
Emiya… Emiya… that name just couldn't give him a good night's sleep. Even after meeting the young man and the latter showed himself to be your typical high school boy, his suspicion refused to die. What if it was all a ruse?
The last thing Waver wanted was to end up being targeted by the laser dot from a sniper and be taken out before the Holy Grail War even officially started.
He would even wake up at times having those very same dreams, covered in sweat and trepidation. The nightmares of the past war continue to gnaw at his sanity at times. Even Gray mentioned he started to smoke twice as much as he used to.
"So should we confront him early on?" Gray suggested, holding onto a stuffed animal gifted to her by Martha, a small lion. She wasn't much of a plush lover, having never possessed such things in the past. But since it was a gift from an old lady who, for some reason, kept dotting on her with enough snacks to make her feel bloated for the first time in a long while.
But she couldn't say that she didn't like it.
"Perhaps a visit to old acquaintances of his late father? it's the only way I can confirm whether he's truly a regular person or not. But then again, we can't just ring his doorbell and start asking questions, anyone would start to get suspicious."
Truthfully, she felt her mentor was truly overreacting to that boy's existence. She believed him to be a regular person who excelled at baking. Most magi she met so far weren't the type to waste their time participating in an animal-themed cafe and cooking.
"We can investigate again by going to the cafe." She suggested rather eagerly.
"Unfortunately that won't work, that place was only a single-day event and he doesn't work there anymore."
"Oh…" the disappointment was clearly audible to even Waver himself who threw her a weird stare.
"Other than that, everyone else is accounted for. The Edelfelt heir is a dangerous individual with or without a Servant. Worst case scenario she summons an Assassin or Saber. Tohsaka Rin definitely plans to summon Saber, that much is clear to me. This leaves Berserker, Lancer, Caster, and Archer unaccounted for. I'm honestly worried that whoever summons a Berserker might even lose control of their Servant without the proper means. There is a very large chance for the Einzbern to try and summon a Saber again, they have the resources to acquire dozens of catalysts. The Matou family will try another class most definitely after their previous failure, even in their state of decline I wouldn't be surprised for them to possess a catalyst or two."
There were just too many unknown factors to account for, but as long as they could summon Rider then he truly didn't care about the others that much. In fact, since many were hoping to get a Saber due to the Class's advantage and overall high stats, very few aimed for Rider which made it easy for him.
But then again, if he was unlucky then someone could summon the Rider class Servant first.
The chances of monsters like Gilgamesh being summoned twice in a row were so infinitely small that he was more likely to be hit by a random meteor in his sleep than anything else.
"I think it's high time we start to prepare for the summoning, this is a race we mustn't lose."
Gray nodded her head, wanting to win this war and have her wish granted or even find a possible cure more than anything else.
----------------
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Hound having 1 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.