Chapter 03: Hidden

One blink.

Two blinks.

Shirou slowly opened his eyes, the strong daylight momentarily blinding him, a sense of peace and warmth had spread through his body.

Almost as if on reflex his hands went to the area of his body that had suffered the brutal impact of Berserker's attack.

It was completely covered in tightly tightened bandages, there was a stinging sensation and a slight pain.

He rubbed his eyes slowly as he stretched his body a little. He couldn't deny that a part of him wished that everything that happened yesterday was a crazy nightmare.

But no, it was reality, the command seals were there.

The symbol of his status as Master and his biggest trouble maker.

But in spite of everything, the smile on his face had never been brighter.

He had made the right decision.

Getting hurt had been a considerable price to pay, but considering the many other possible outcomes it was certainly worth it.

- Ugh -

...But he supposed it wouldn't hurt to be a little more careful about his physical well-being.

While he could start using his sorcery from now on he should do so carefully and at a slow pace unless the situation warranted it.

After all he couldn't just pull a Noble Phantasm out of thin air and say "Hey look, my craft is so unique and special that combined with my Reality Marble I can create near perfect copies of Noble Phantasm, and with enough prana I could even send out an army. Amazing isn't it?"

Doing such a thing would practically be a death sentence not unlike going and applying for a sealing designation himself.

He had to think of an explanation and a contingency plan in case it was necessary, as nice as Tohsaka was, she was still a Magus and he wasn't too keen on the idea of ending up on someone's operating table.

Of course, he still had a very good backup plan in case things escalated to a more serious situation, he could always blame Archer and a strange atavism.

...

Tohsaka sighed as she watched a newly awakened Shirou writhing a bit in pain.

She had already begun to doubt whether it had really been a good idea to stay close.

The boy frankly seemed to be way behind in terms of knowledge. He was too reckless... and extremely stupid if she were to take into account his actions the night before.

For crying out loud where's your damn sense of self-preservation!!!.

I could already feel what a headache it would have to be to work with Emiya Shirou.

Would these be some of the reasons Archer had insisted that an alliance with him would be a waste of time and effort.

At least it was not without its advantages, Emiya is the Master of Saber, the best Servant summonable for war.

So, he shouldn't be so bad, right?

Surely he wasn't a fool who had too much luck right?

...

Rin's doubts, far from disappearing, only accumulated after the arrival of Fujimura Taiga, Fuyuki's powerful tiger.

Perhaps Archer had been somewhat right in his words.

...

If Saber was asked to describe her current Master, she would definitely tell the person who asked her that she should not judge people after meeting them in an excessively short period of time such as a single day. Besides stressing as obvious that regardless of personality, she should serve her Master.

But in her honest opinion, Saber could only describe Emiya Shirou in two simple words.

Strange and kind.

He was aware that his own behavior might have become a bit more... brusque and rude since she learned that her current Master is the son of Kiritsugu Emiya, her Master in the previous war.

The boy's kindness was genuine, coming to the point of contrasting with the common Magus behavior of treating Servants as disposable type weapons or as mere glorified familiars, he could tell at a glance, in his eyes she was a person.

Certainly, despite being father and son, Emiya Kiritsugu and Emiya Shirou were completely different people.

For now she would put some trust in the boy, training him as he asked would certainly be beneficial in the long run in case she had to face another Master without his presence.

Other Masters...

Sometimes Shirou's kindness could also be a double-edged sword, being merciful was a sign of virtue in a warrior and even something respectable.

But not all people deserved it, and in a grail war, alliance or no alliance, it wasn't worth spending a command seal to keep him from attacking another Master-Servant pair.

His refusal to be absent from school or for her to accompany him had also been a cause of frustration for the Servant.

Without letting her annoyance show on her face Saber proceeded to walk away from where Shirou and Rin were.

In any case, the conversations they might have were none of her business.

...

The conversation had come in the blink of an eye.

Emiya Shirou mentally wiped the imaginary sweat on his head, barely resisting the urge to move his hand behind his head and scratch the back of his neck.

He was aware that he had never been a good liar, much less someone eloquent with words.

Worse yet considering some of the knowledge he had gained.... Ugh "People die when they get killed", some things were better off remaining in oblivion.

- Instead of revealing my real name, I think it would be wise to keep it to myself - Saber said seriously, she knew she was a person with a notorious legend so she had no problem with it.

She looked a bit puzzled when I nodded in her direction with little or no real importance for her name.

- It's okay, you don't have to divulge it if you don't want to -

Because we all have something to hide.

Tohsaka on the other hand seemed a bit annoyed at not being able to get Saber's name, but that was to be expected.

Since I'm not willing to tell mine, I won't force others to do otherwise.

Even if I was a hypocrite through and through, I still had to measure myself and acclimatize to the situation.

Fortunately for me, the ambiguous atmosphere disappeared immediately when I started a heated discussion with Saber about school.

Regardless, one thought came to my mind.

- I was never good at lying, acting or hiding information - is this a side effect?

For now it didn't matter much, but it was a worrying situation in the long run.

In any case, I could always curse Archer. Somehow it was incredibly relaxing.

...

Leaving the place, Rin couldn't help but frown.

The conversation had been, all in all, smooth and satisfying. Emiya was a good host in every sense of the word.

But a part of her couldn't help but make her feel that it was all too good to be true.

Call it paranoia or whatever you want, but now that she thought about it hadn't things turned out too much in Emiya's favor?

Considering that it had been stipulated in the negotiations that she would teach him a bit, so that he would improve his Magecraft.... Though it also had to do with the fact that her way of using it was incredibly crude.

And that damn foolishness he had committed! Who in their right mind could say that he had cannibalized his own nervous system to make artificial circuits!!!.

Even if it was just for Sakura, she should put Emiya in his place, and at least try to put some sense into his damn head.

She really seemed to be missing him badly.

For some reason she thought she heard Archer sneeze but quickly ignored it. He'd never heard anything about Servants getting sick.

There were more important things to deal with.

...

Wrong.

- No... -

Everything was absolutely wrong.

Sakura blinked in disbelief at the sight before her eyes.

Tohsaka Rin leaving the Emiya residence with hurried steps.

Such a sight had no other effect besides giving her a growing sense of danger.

Will you snatch my place?

It was difficult, no doubt about it, it was. But the girl kept a smiling and happy expression in spite of everything, just as she always did.

The only important thing was her Senpai.

With that thought in her head, Sakura Matou perfectly played her role as a cute and adorable Kohai.

Rin had stepped into her beautiful fake paradise, so it only remained for her to be more proactive, any threat would be pushed out of the way.

...

Zelretch smiled as he ate breakfast next to his counter part present in this world.

In the end getting their cooperation for his goal had not been difficult.

From his experiences, he was sure that the people in Chaldea, despite being civilized.

They would attack before they asked, so it was best to have insurance.

No matter how strong the boy was, they could overwhelm him in a matter of minutes with a large number of Servants, the fact that he couldn't activate his Reality Marble didn't help much either.

Reaching an agreement, and using the cooperation of another Zelretch, the old man with the jewels created a dome that would prevent Chaldea's entrance for a long time.

The boy was not ready, he had the power, but not the experience or skill to fully regulate it.

The conflicts would help him gain that experience he lacked, so they were extremely necessary.

Every time they had within their reach had to be taken advantage of, every second that passed the incongruities and divergences became more noticeable. And thus they were moving further away from what they should have been.

They were in a race against time. For now they had the advantage, but nothing assured that it would stay that way.

The most troubling was a certain doubt I had.

Who would be the first to act against them.

Chaldea or the Counter Force?

Whichever it was, it didn't look good.

He had countermeasures for Chaldea, but there was little room for maneuver in case the Counter Force showed up.

Dark times were coming, and with them great trouble.