Tohsaka Rin

"Old man, I'm heading out!"

"Un, have a safe trip!"

Emiya Shirou left his residence. While he had a destination set in place, he did not know whether his trip would prove successful.

The Tohsaka residence was in the southern end of Miyama town, where all the foreign styled houses were. Its size was no smaller than the Emiya residence.

However, most of the people living here were servants of the master of the house, Tohsaka Rin. As the young scion of the Tohsaka family, she had been chosen by Tokiomi over her little sister, Sakura, to be the inheritor of the Magic Crest.

It was after this decision that Tokiomi decided to hand Sakura over to Zouken. While Rin was technically the reason for Sakura's sufferings, she was not to blame. After all, only Zouken knew at that moment exactly what he was going to do with Sakura.

Swallowing some saliva, Shirou hardened his resolve and cleared all unnecessary thoughts from his mind.

Ringing the doorbell, Shirou did not even have to wait for a minute before a maid answered him.

"This is the Tohsaka residence. How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for Tohsaka Rin. May I speak to her?"

"Rin-ojousama? Ara, are you her friend? Please, come in."

"Thank you."

The maid seemed to have misunderstood something, but it worked out in Shirou's favour.

"Rin-ojousama doesn't really go out much, and she doesn't have very many friends. Especially after her father… passed away. I'm glad to know that she has you, at least."

Shirou answered with silence. After all, he didn't actually 'know' Rin in this life. However, hearing the relief and hope in the maid's tone, Shirou resolved to add another item on his to-do list, which was to become Rin's friend.

The inside of the Tohsaka mansion was extremely spacious, even more so than the Emiya residence. The western ambience of the room was contrasted by the occasional Japanese furnishing, and it provided a rather homely feeling.

However, there were many rooms left undecorated, presumably because of the high costs of Gem Magecraft.

---

Rin was currently in the study, researching and imbuing Prana into her gems. Her father had given her the task of winning the Fifth Holy Grail War after all. With 40 inborn Magic Circuits all capable of handling 10 units of Prana, Rin's maximum output right now was around 400 units of Prana.

Even with that much, by imbuing more and more gems in these years of peace would simply serve to increase her combat capability in the future.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of the study.

"Excuse me, Rin-ojousama. Your friend is here."

"Friend? I don't know any friends."

"Rin-ojousama, don't be so rude! Your friend came here to visit you, and you say you don't know him?"

"I really don't know him though…"

The last sentence was said in a whisper. It was clear that no matter how much explaining she attempted to do, there was no convincing her maid.

As such, she could only open the door and see just who this 'friend' was.

What appeared in her vision was a young boy the same age as him, with amber eyes and red hair. His eyes were determined and were staring straight at hers. It seemed like he was about to pierce through her soul with them.

Quickly averting her gaze and trying to supress the blush that creeped up onto her face, Rin shot a questioning glance at her maid.

"I've never seen this boy before."

"Ara, then why did you just blush, Rin-ojousama?"

"I-I didn't b-blush! T-The weather's just too hot!"

"Rin-ojousama, it's in the middle of spring right now…"

"F-Fine then! What do you want?"

[Choose!

A. Teach me Magecraft, plebeian.

B. Introduce yourself.

C. Introduce Tohsaka Rin.]

Putting aside the absurdity of the first option, the third option was also rather… sketchy. How creepy would it be if someone you've never met before tells you everything about your life, from when you were young to the future that hasn't even happened yet?

"Hello, Tohsaka-san. My name is Emiya Shirou. I have something I would like to discuss with you in private."

"In private, huh? And what's so secret that it can't be heard by my maid?"

Shirou leaned in close towards Rin's ear, fully utilizing his 15 points in both Communication and Charisma.

"The Fifth Holy Grail War."

The shock on her face was evident. After all, not just any old person would have knowledge of the Holy Grail Wars, let alone which iteration the upcoming one is.

"F-Follow me."

Shirou did as he was told. He was led into the study, which was were Tokiomi and Rin would practice their Magecraft.

Although their maids knew of such occurrences, it was still better to not use it blatantly in the open.

Rin sat down on the main chair, leaving the guest chairs for Shirou.

After both had made themselves relatively comfortable, they got down to business. Although the both of them were still 8 year olds, they were much more mature and knowledgeable than those of the same age.

Rin had been taught and tutored by her father, especially in Magecraft, while Shirou had merged with a grown man.

"How much do you know?"

"Everything."

Shirou had thought long and hard about how much he should say. As someone who still isn't officially part of the Magus scene in Fuyuki City, there was pretty much no way for him to know about the War.

However, he needed to gain Rin's trust and cooperation. If he could gain it by revealing a little information, then he would gladly do it.

After all, he was planning to work together with Rin in the Grail War like his original counterpart did.

To add to that, he had the excuse of his adoptive father being a participant in the Fourth Holy Grail War.

"H-How much is everything?"

"I know that your father, Tohsaka Tokiomi, participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War. I also know that your 'mentor', Kotomine Kirei, participated as well."

"T-That's… h-how did you know my father?"

"I didn't. I just know of him."

"O-Okay then… how do you know of him?"

"From my own father, Emiya Kiritsugu. I don't expect you to know of him though."

"Indeed, I've never heard of his name before. Why does he know my father?"

"Because he won the previous War."

Rin's mouth dropped wide open. The dream that all Magi wanted, had been achieved by the father of the boy in front of her. It was no wonder that she would be surprised.

"T-Then… did he… get his wish granted?"

"No, unfortunately not. The Holy Grail has been tainted far too much by the greed and wants of men for it to retain its original purpose."

"Wait, what? What happened to the Grail then?"

"He destroyed it."

"Then there are no more Holy Grail Wars?"

"That's incorrect. He only managed to destroy the physical version of it, but the Grail itself still exists. The Fifth War will occur 9 years from now. We should work together when the time comes."

"Work… together…? Well… I guess that's fine. It's not like I'm after the wish anyway."

"Then I'll be in your care from now on. First off, I need to learn Magecraft."