52

052 - Shower Clarity

Tohsaka Rin

I sigh in contentment as the warm water falls all over my body, allowing myself a moment to experience zen nothingness under the shower streams before raising my hands to my head to start washing my hair properly. I grimace when my fingers get caught in the tangled mess, this is going to take a while.

I should've been more careful last night, but my hair is a bit of a pain to take care of and back then I was feeling tired, dusty and miserable, wanting only to be done with it and collapse into a soft bed.

A quick shower worked well enough to clean up the dust and sweat from my body, but the hair was a whole different monster to slay. Oh, I did remove the worst of it, by sheer saturation if nothing else. But part of the dust remained.

And then it got wet.

And then it dried up.

So now I have to wash the mud out of my head.

It's not really that bad, now that I'm in the mood to actually take the time and effort. Just carefully running my fingers through my hair, making sure I miss nothing. I can even take the chance to massage my own scalp and enjoy the warm water at the same time.

Sure, it isn't what you would call quick, but after giving up on getting to school on time, there isn't really a hurry to go anywhere, so this is all fairly pleasant and relaxing. I'd go so far as to say it helps me think.

Lancer's Master forced him to commit suicide.

Not only that, between the way he teleported Lancer back to him during their first encounter and the usage of two Command Spells last night -one to silence him, another one to kill him- the mysterious Master has run out of Command Spells to entice another Servant to his service with.

He's basically not a Master anymore.

But something else isn't right with that picture. The almost neglectfully liberal usage of precious resources, the fact that a fucking Servant was deemed less important that preserving anonimyty. What are the plans of Lancer's Master? What is he protecting so fiercely?

Lancer and his Master clearly didn't get along. The way the Servant regularly decried him (and it's a 'him', they let that much slip) could've been suspicious by itself, a trap of some sort intended to mislead them, but taken with everything else?

The way his Noble Phantasm hadn't been restored before their second encounter spoke poorly of the Master's interest in optimizing Lancer's combat potential, as well as the very fact he was sent on a two versus one suicide mission with zero support in the first place. It's safe to assume the hidden Master didn't treasure his Servant.

He cannot be hiding another Servant, all of them are accounted for. Unless… but no. Illya mentioned how she summoned Berserker without the Grail assistance in covering the costs, but that still required her to work within the framework of the system. She couldn't have summoned an eight Servant even like that.

Not to mention, supporting two Servants when one of them didn't receive energy from the Grail was nothing short of unthinkable. And if she couldn't, I doubt anyone else could, that girl is a walking prana reactor.

Is the unknown master planning on stealing a Servant from us or Emiya-kun at a later date? Maybe he has spare Command Seals, somehow? Do his plans have nothing to do with the War at all, maybe, and he's just using the ritual as a smokescreen? Too many possibilities, too little to go on, I need more information.

If only they had another clue, something we've been missing so far…

Finally done getting the grime and dust out of my hair, I let out a sigh of frustration and sag against the wall of the shower stall, staring at the muddy water as it whirls around the drain and disappears into the sewers. There goes the last remnants of my home… Down the drain, like my plans for the future and life-long ambitions.

I cast my mind back to last night and the sorry state the Tohsaka estate ended up in after the fight. Heck, the only thing that survived the onslaught more or less intact was the coffee table in the living room!

It's amusing, in a soul-rending and depressing way, because that was a perfectly mundane piece of furniture that survived while all the warded and otherwise resilient tools and heirlooms got destroyed. Simply because, when Berserker released her Noble Phantasm and finally took down Lancer… the table was… right… behind… him.

"Shit!"

I cut off the water, slipping on the wet floor and almost cracking my skull in the rush to towel myself dry and get dressed. Messily throwing clothes on my barely dried body, I slam the bathroom dorm open, stomping my way down the stairs and towards the outside gate.

"Rin?"

As I walk past the kitchens, Illya walks out with a bagel basket in her hands and a worried expression in her face. I'm vaguely aware that I must be making a scary face right now, but I can't really bring myself to stop and greet her properly.

A curt nod and a bagel taken from the basket as I walk past is all the acknowledgement I can bring myself to spare, my mind still awhirl with suspicion and worry.

She follows me as I walk out of the mansion and across the forest, asking increasingly worried questions that I keep ignoring or answering with grunts as we make our way back to (the ruins of) my home. I can't say anything more, what if I'm wrong? What if I'm right?

Once there, I rush towards the bizarrely surviving table, falling on my knees to inspect it in search of something, anything that would explain– there!

"We didn't catch Lancer in our trap." I finally speak out in frustration, upturning the desk to show Illya a discreet runic array hidden on the underside. "He chose to stand there and protect this with his body."

"What's that?"

"Give me a moment to decipher it." I answer with a frown. "But if I had to guess? Whatever his Master was so intent on us not learning."

As I work on the meaning of the runes, the manic energy that brought me here starts winding down, the single-minded focus spreads and awareness of Illya's presence and emotional state slowly sinks in. She seems… relieved, I can only guess how much my little burst must've worried her.

I can't help a wince as I realize how poorly I've treated her. There she was, up and about while I slept in, waiting for me to finally get my lazy ass off the bed to greet me with breakfast and Akasha knows what else, and I step all over that with my panicked urgency. That was uncalled for, I'll need to do something really nice to apologize.

It wasn't even that urgent, actually. I just got all worked up over it like an idiot.

"The normal method of sharing senses between Master and Servant only connects the sense of sight." Illya considers out loud, approaching to try and read over my shoulder. "If Lancer did this without looking… that's kind of impressive of him."

Seems like the battle maniac had a functional brain hidden somewhere underneath all that muscle. I'm almost about to give some offhanded praise when the contents of the message start making sense and blood drains my face.

"Oh, hells…" I swear. "His master has… Kotomine Kirei."

"The Church representative?"

"And my legal guardian."

"Wow, that's low. And this is an Einzbern saying it."

"It gets worse."

"Of course it gets worse."

"He has another Servant, the Archer of the last War who survived until today. Somehow"

"That shouldn't even be allo–" Illya cuts herself off, realizing the utter hypocrisy of her words. "Right, Grail War. Rules are just polite suggestions. Any clues about his identity?"

"King Gilgamesh of Uruk. Apparently he doesn't even try to hide it." Every line I decipher from the message makes things get better and better, doesn't it? "Lancer believes it would take his teacher to fight off the man one-on-one."

"His tea– Does he mean Scathach?"

"I can only assume he does."

"The same Scathach that became immortal by killing her own death in single combat and is supposedly still alive somewhere out there?"

"I know of no other Scathach."

"… Fuck."

"… Fuck indeed."

"What now?"

That's the question, isn't it? If the fake priest has been colluding with a Servant from the past War, that means he's been scheming to shank me since that one ended, at the very least. Pretty much all my life. Every single one of our interactions and the actions he took through his position as my legal guardian are now suspect.

I mean… even more suspect.

But I don't have time to dwell on how that makes me feel right now.

"What now?" I let out a defeated chuckle. "Now I go to school."

"Aren't you running a bit late for your classes?"

"Yeah, but I'll arrive just in time for the school break."

"You…" Illya immediately catches my meaning, putting a strangely comforting hand on my shoulder. "I guess there's no point in being stubborn anymore, is it?"

I only answer with a tired smile. Looks like we'll be making Emiya-kun's day.

Illyasviel von Einzbern

In the end, I walked into the school with Rin. There really wasn't any point in turning back and leaving after accompanying her all the way here and this business kind of involves me too. We reach the top of the stairs just in time to see Onii-chan examining the door to the rooftop with a frown before shrugging, taking a deep breath and… kicking it open.

"Tohsaka-sensei!" He yells, blissfully unaware of Rin's form leaving my side to rush at him, the glow of reinforcement in her legs. "I come to barg— Ugh!"

Onii-chan's greeting gets interrupted when Rin plants her foot on his rear and kicks with all her might, sending him flying into the rooftop, where he lands face-first after an ungraceful flop.

"You are here too early." Rin scolds him, crossing her arms with a frown. "You idiot."

"Nah." He gets up with that cheerful smile of his, looking no worse for wear after his close encounter with the floor. He must've reacted to the surprise attack, somehow. "You're just late, sensei."

"Whatever." Tohsaka huffs, stepping onto the rooftop and signaling me to follow. "We need to talk about that offer of yours, Emiya-kun."

"Oh? Finally fallen for my charms, sensei?" He asks, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Or maybe… You're hoping for a repeat of last dinner?"

"No!"

"Yes!"

My slip of tongue causes silence to fall on the rooftop, the two of them stopping their bickering (read: flirting) to stare at me with incredulity. I feel my cheeks redden in embarrassment, but there's really no point in playing innocent now. I mean, there is a point. I could take it back and dance around the idea of sex like those spineless anime romcom characters, but screw that.

"What? It was hot." I defend myself weakly. "And Berserker liked the fatty tuna."

Knowing the tropes, I would end up relegated to the role of the token loli who sees even less action than the others.

Fortunately for my dignity, Rin is more than happy to forcefully move past the topic to tell Onii-chan about our recent discoveries. About Lancer's defeat, about the backstabbing priest being the hidden Master, about the Golden King of Heroes who might or might not be capable of handling a full roster of regular Servants by his lonesome.

… Heh, 'regular Servants' there's a concept I never thought I would use.

Onii-chan's reaction to the game-changing news is an arched eyebrow and a brief pause where I can only assume he's discussing something telepathically before he starts to… calmly elaborate into Gilgamesh weapons, armor and skills.

Apparently he holds the prototype of every single weapon-type Noble Phantasm ever wielded by a hero of humanity. Plus an unbreakable chain that becomes even more unbreakable when used against divine creatures, somehow. And a sword that's not a sword and fires anti-world fuck-you beams.

And an anti-magic armor.

And anything that can be bought with money.

And clairvoyance.

And fuels his Noble Phantasms through a power battery in the Church's basement that works by turning the pain and misery of dozens of kidnapped orphans into pran– "What the hell?"

"Messed up, I know. I think that one was Kirei's idea." Onii-chan nods in agreement. "But the golden fart had zero qualms about using it, so…"

"To say it's messed up doesn't cut it, Emiya-kun. I always knew the Fake Priest was a sadistic shit, but this is beyond the pale." Rin frowns. "To think he's been sinking so low for years now, right in front of my eyes… Wait, how long have you known about this? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I know a great many things, both wonderful and terrible." He starts pretentiously, before slumping back with a shrug and a carefree smile. "Doesn't mean I can go around throwing accusations without proof and expect to be believed."

"He's got you there, Rin."

Rin is too busy swearing in various European languages to pay attention to Onii-chan, so I'm the only one who notices the way he frowns and hesitates for a fraction of a second before shaking his head and firmly retaking his carefree persona. He knows something else about either the Priest or the Servant, something damning that he's reluctant to pile on top of everything else Rin is going through.

I can't really bring myself to call him on it.

"Well, at least you know now?" I interject, feeling my body relax as I lean on Onii-chan's side. Huge mess or not, having him around is strangely comforting. "Really, Rin. We should be thankful that Onii-chan wants to help at all after the mess we made yesterday!"

"Oh, you're welcome! I'm always happy to help!" Onii-chan cheerfully waves the whole thing away, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and dragging me closer. "And Caster fixed everything up already, so don't worry about that either!"

Tohsaka huffs and makes a face, but she's not as inconspicuous as she believes she is and nobody has missed the way she's claimed Onii-chan's other side and is leaning on him as much as I am.

"You wouldn't be talking like that if you were more used to his particular brand of 'helping'." Even her thorny persona sounds off now that she's getting comfortable by Onii-chan's side.

"Oh, I wouldn't say I never helped." He answers with a mysterious smile. "She might've been far away, but I wouldn't just abandon my Little Big Sis."

"You never came." I protest his words without energy, this feels too nice to ruin by getting angry. "I was all alone."

"I'm sorry about that, it's not that I didn't want to pay you a visit from time to time, or steal you away to live with me. It's just that Old Fart Acht would've killed me the moment I started sniffing around his territory." The confirmation that Acht-jii was the one keeping my family away doesn't sting nearly as much as I thought it would. Maybe, deep down, I've always known. "But surely you know the plan was to summon Herakles as your Servant for this war?

That idle question has me jumping away from him, eyes wide in shock as I examine the smug smirk growing in his handsome face. The mistake, the failure, ending up with the Chaste Huntress when aiming for the Immortal Hero. It was intentional! No mistake at all!

"It was you!" I cry out in realization. "What did you do?"

"Oh, someone might've found a different temple somewhere else…" He trails off innocently, rubbing his nails on the front of his jacket. "And paid to have the two of them discreetly switched. Every single piece of them."

I think back to that winter night in the Einzbern forest, when I first summoned Berserker and the prana costs of her very existence meant even the slightest of her movements wracked my body in pain. Of the bond we shared as we learnt to live alongside each other, with nobody else to rely on. As we survived wolves, hunger and biting cold for three months, until the Grail finally awakened.

The relief of foreign prana soothing our overstrained bond, giving Berserker the freedom to stop measuring her every move to avoid killing me simply by existing too hard.

Our return to the mansion, our preparations for the War, our travel to Fuyuki, the time spent in this normal town, doing mundane and meaningless things, always with Berserker by my side. Our fights up to this point, with their victories and embarrassments.

I really can't picture sharing these past months with someone else at my side.

Focusing back on the present, I take another glance at Onii-chan. There's only one way I can react to this news, is there? Taking a deep breath, I stand on my tiptoes, holding his shoulder for balance as I lean forward to plant a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you!"

I snuggle back against his side so he cannot see me blushing.

"Wait, how much did that cost?" Rin cries out from the other side, making me choke on a chuckle. Of course she focuses on the money. "How rich are you really?"

"Oh, it took years of savings to sponsor that. But before you started bleeding me dry and kept me from reinvesting my hard-won money, I was fairly well-off."

The conversation slowly devolves from there, the looming threat of the Golden King of Heroes somehow losing significance as we relax together. I spend the rest of the time enjoying Onii-chan's body heat while the two of them talk. I even manage to wrap his arm around my waist, though he deftly avoids my attempts at slipping his hand inside my clothes.

Baby steps, Illya… Maybe next time!