Fate: Shifted Origins

[Barbarossa]

...

Index:
Prologue
1/31 Part 1
1/31 Part 2
1/31 Shinji
2/1 Part 1
2/1 Part 2
...
...
...


Prologue

"What is she to you, Emiya?" Issei asked as though he were a detective investigating a crime.

"She's a friend's sister, and a friend herself," Shirou responded before taking another bite of the leftovers he had packed for lunch.

"It doesn't make sense, Emiya. She's so different from you. She doesn't seem your type at all." Issei stated matter of factly.

"She isn't as bad or as frightening as everyone thinks that she is." Shirou retorted, though his tone signaled that he wasn't entirely sure he believed what he said.

"Everyone thinks of her that way because she is so cold and harsh to them. She's abrasive and abusive without fail and the fact that you can't seem to see that only proves that she has you in her thrall."

Shirou wasn't sure how to respond, because he did have feelings for the girl beyond those of friendship. He knew it was wrong to feel the way he felt about the girl that so mercilessly bullied one of his close friends and feuded with his other, but he couldn't help the way he felt. Before he could acknowledge his feelings Issei started his line of questioning again.

"So what do you see in her that others don't, Emiya? What makes you feel the way you do about her?"

"She's strong, stronger than most, b-but she's cute and she has a shy side that few see. She builds walls between herself and the outside world and pretends to be this frightening force, but she's still lonely and vulnerable. She is like a cat caught out in a storm, feigning independence but craving someone to take it in from the rain."

"So that's it."

"What's it?"

"You, Emiya. You and your attempt to help everyone is it. I've told you before that you need to be more selective in whom you try and help or you'll only end up getting taken advantage of. She's a dangerous woman, Emiya, and you're going to get hurt if you keep at this. Let her fix her own problems."

...

...

Darkness surrounded the girl, concealing the thousands of writhing things in the shadows. Silently, she lay there as the unseen horrors violated her body as they had done on many occasions prior. As was normally the case, she retreated deep into her mind rather than face the monsters in the dark, but this time she didn't go to a place where she was all powerful and where no one could hurt her anymore. No, instead she retreated to a memory from earlier in the day, a memory of when she felt more vulnerable than she ever had before.

Atop the roof of the school she sat eating her lunch quietly beside a boy who wouldn't stop inserting himself into her life. He was her pathetic worm of a step-brother's friend and for some reason he had felt the need to try and help her.

The boy was looking at her and smiling, a disarming smile that only fueled her annoyance with him even further. Her gaze sharpened and without raising her voice she asked, "Why do you care?"

"huh?"

"Why does the way I treat my brother matter to you? Why do you pester me about how I'm feeling? Why do you stand up for me when others talk ill of me? Why do you think there is more to me than what everyone believes?"

"Because I believe in you."

It was a quick retort that caught the girl off-guard. There was no reason for the boy to believe in her, she'd never consciously done anything to make him think anymore of her than anyone else did, but still he believed in her.

"Why?" she asked angrily, demanding an answer from the ridiculous boy.

There was a pause and for a moment the girl thought that he wouldn't answer. His face contorted slightly as through he was struggling to breath and a faint blush began to become evident around his cheeks until he finally spoke.

"I care about you"-the weight of the words felt as though they were going to crush the girl upon their impact-"and because I care, I want to believe in you."

It was the girl's turn to blush, but she wouldn't let the boy she her weakness, she wouldn't let anyone see her weakness.

Turned away from him she refused to look at his face while she spoke. "Idiot"-she angrily responded-"you shouldn't care about me. All I care about is hurting others"

"I-I don't understand?"

"Exactly. No one understands the suffering I have been through. No one knows what it's like to be as powerless as I have been. People make promises that they can't possibly keep, they betray the trust of people who believed in them and then leave them to be consumed by the shadows. If you're strong then you don't need the false promises of failing words, so I want to be strong. To be strong you need to be cruel, so I want to be cruel. I want to make sure that everyone feels as weak as I do, even if only for a moment. That's all I care about, Emiya. It's all I want; it's all I've ever wanted!"

Shirou was silent for a long while and in his silence the girl began to wonder whether or not he was disgusted by what she had said. It felt as though they sat there for hours in silence, even though it could only have been a few moments. Finally, Shirou broke the silence.

"My father was a hero, and not just because he saved me. He was a man dedicated to saving everyone, but in the end he was unable to achieve his goal. He told me that to be a hero you had to choose who to save and who to leave behind. I have an ideal, a dream I strive towards. That ideal is to succeed where my father failed. I want to be a hero, someone who saves everyone. Because of that, I couldn't possibly ignore what's going on right in front of me. Because of it, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to save you, Matou-san."

When she turned around a warm smile greeted her and even in the face of recalling her birth father's betrayal, Kariya's failure to save her, and her horrendous treatment at the hands of Zouken, she couldn't help but trust Shirou.

"Idiot" she mumbled, trying to conceal her blushing face behind her long purple hair. Her comment half directed towards Shirou and half directed at herself for feeling so open and unprotected.

"Don't call me Matou-san." She said finally regaining her composure and looking at him.

"If I can't call you Matou-san, what am I supposed to call you?"

"Rin."

It was Shirou's turn to shy away again. He cared for this lonely and angry girl he's known since junior high, but he wasn't sure he was ready for that level of familiarity and he was caught off guard by the suddenness of the request.

"A-Are you sure, Matou-san."

"Yes, if you insist on sticking around, I insist that you use my name, Emiya-kun."

"Alright." he finally said while smiling back at her.

In the darkness, as unspeakable things writhed across her body, she quietly mumbled "Idiot" and smiled for a brief moment at the remembrance of Shirou's smile and the warmth it gave her.

--

Authors Note: I'm sure the concept of Matou Rin and Tohsaka Sakura has been done to death by people who have a great deal more experience with the Nasuverse than I, but I thought I'd try my hand at it. I used aspects of Mikiya and Shiki's early relationship as a starting ground for creating the relationship between Matou Rin and Emiya Shirou. Sorry if the prologue is a bit on the short side.

[Barbarossa]

Change your font and I can assure you that a lot more people will read this.

what font would you recommend? I happen to like Times New Roman, but if it detracts from the enjoyment, I'm more than willing to change it.

[Kirby]

Default. (Verdana)

[You]

Comic Sans screams fun.

[Barbarossa]

Like, the standard one. Check other fics with different fonts and you'll notice that they barely get commented.

Forum quirk, if you will.

Thank you for the advice, the font's been altered accordingly

[Kishou the Badger]

The only other fic I recall doing this is Schrödinger's Sisters, and it was more making Rin passive-aggressive angry. This too captures her anger of being forced as a Matou heir, but it's also a nice start where Rin and Shirou hit it off. It makes me wonder how different yet similar Sakura would be?

I'm looking forward to reading more. But you also might want to double check for lower case spelling and quotes without punctuation marks (periods, commas, ect.)

[ZidanReign]

ill be watching this from afar

[Renko]

Good job! I'll be watching this.

[Barbarossa]

A year and a half later

--

1/31

“Empty…what an idiot.” Rin mumbled out loud. After finding the kitchen quiet and unoccupied, she had looked in Shirou’s room for the boy and found nothing.

“Idiot,” she grumbled again as she slammed the door shut and began to make her way through the house to the backyard. Shirou would most certainly be in the shed, likely having exhausted himself training the evening before. Not that that was an excuse that she would accept. Breakfast was something that he should have had ready upon her arrival; he knew that as well as she.

The heavy metal door opened with a creaking sound and as she had expected, he lay sleeping on the cold floor of the shed. Her anger and annoyance with him over the lack of breakfast seemed to wash away in a moment as she looked from him to the metal rod not far from him. Seeing him and the proof of his unbending will drained her of her ability to deride him. She hated that about him, she hated that he made her feel open and vulnerable; she hated that the stupid boy with his stupid ideal of saving everyone had decided to try and save her. The life she had been forced into wasn’t fair, but she had become accustomed to the horrors and pain of it all. What was truly unfair was that after she had hardened herself to the world to prevent further damage and to prevent onlookers from seeing how fundamentally broken she was, the stupid boy had forced his way into her heart and had made her feel vulnerable.

“Emiya-kun,” she quietly called.

“Emiya-kun,” she said again, this time at a normal speaking volume, but still to no avail.

“EMIYA-KUN!” she yelled loudly, finally rousing him from his slumber.

Groggily, he looked around, his meeting eyes with her’s and smiling.

“I’m sorry, Rin, I guess I over slept. I’ll get right on making breakfast. Could you help me up?” He asked.

Taking his hand, Rin helped him to his feet, only to stumble on one of the machine parts scattered about. As she fell backwards, she felt Shirou grip her arm tightly and pull her back towards him. Her footing not yet secured, she found herself pressed against Shirou’s chest.

Feeling Shirou pressed against her body sent an electric shock of excitement through her. She wanted nothing more than to throw him to the ground and fulfill all of her carnal desires, to act out every lewd thought she had ever had, but with Fujimura-sensei likely on her way over she had to suppress her desires and push him away before she lost herself.

“Idiot, look at yourself. You’re dirty and unkempt, and breakfast isn’t even ready yet! What will Fujimura-sensei say when she gets here and sees you dressed like this in the kitchen?! You’re making me have to start on breakfast while you get ready for school. You realize that, right?”

Her forcefulness didn’t catch Shirou off-guard; nearly a year of dating Matou Rin had prepared him to deal with her mean spirited jabs and her teasing.

“Thank you, Rin. I promise that I’ll make it up to you.” He said with a smile, before dashing off to the house before she could react.

She was left standing in the doorway of the shed, her face flushed red with excitement and annoyance targeted at the ridiculous boy that she cared so deeply for. After regaining her composure, Rin returned to the house to work on breakfast.

“I’ll make a Western style breakfast....That’ll punish him.” She mumbled.

While pulling the various ingredients out of the fridge and the cupboards she thought about the metal rod that lay next to Shirou and remembered the first time she had stumbled upon him practicing his magic.

“You’ll kill yourself doing that if you’re not lucky.” She had called out to him, catching him off guard. The panicked look on his face was incredibly amusing, but it didn’t compare to his painfully contrived attempts to explain away what Rin had seen. The expression on his face upon finding out that she was a magus had been equally as entertaining. In revealing herself as a magus, Rin had participated in a minor act of rebellion against her grandfather’s orders of simply observing Shirou and instead became an active part of his life and his training. It wasn’t long after that that she had made her feelings for Shirou known by asking him out on a date. She counted it as a personal victory that her grandfather had accepted the relationship without protest, but remained wary of the fact that he had so easily accepted it.

Rin’s thoughts turned away from the early days of her relationship with Shirou towards the more pressing issue of the Grail War, temporarily banishing the happy memories from her mind. She would win the war; she knew that to be the truth. She wouldn’t win it for Zouken, or for herself, but for Shirou. The old worm would get what he wanted and she would move on with her life with Shirou. They would be happy, the ridiculous boy would never have to take upon himself the suffering she had endured, and he wouldn’t have to throw his life away trying to defeat Zouken.

She began to sort through the cupboard for dishes when a hand brushed past her own and grabbed a plate.

“Let me help you with that. It’s the least I can do since you’re making breakfast.”

“Idiot,” she muttered as she stepped aside to let him gather the dishes.

On his second trip back from the table he glanced to her hand and saw an odd red bruise or injury.

“You should have said something if you hurt yourself, Rin. Did you burn yourself cooking?”

“What?” She asked, puzzled by his concern.

“Your hand, it looks like you have a bruise. I can go grab medical wrap or bandages if you need anything.”

Rin was quick to cover up the unusual mark on her hand, dismissing it as nothing more than a sore left from falling asleep on it. It was enough to dissuade Shirou from inquiring about the mark any further, which she was thankful for.

The news played in the background, catching Shirou’s attention at the discussion of another dangerous gas leak leaving dozens hospitalized. Rin could tell by the expression on his face that he was worried about them; she was worried as well, albeit for an entirely different reason. She knew that there was more to the gas leaks than what was being reported. Another Master must have been using the unsuspecting citizens of the city as sources of prana for his servant. In a way it was reassuring as it meant that the Master was a weak magic user, someone she would stomp into the ground, but it put the lives of innocent people in danger. She couldn’t have cared less about the lives of strangers, but if Shirou found out he might do something characteristically stupid. She couldn’t afford to let him discover the cause of the “gas leaks” and by extension the Holy Grail War, not when she needed to be focused on winning the War. Whoever this Master was, she would need to deal with them quickly to keep Shirou safe and ignorant of the conflict that was about to consume the city.

“It’s getting dangerous with all these gas leaks. Maybe you should take the next couple weeks off of work and stay home, Emiya-kun.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“And why not?”

Before she could get an answer, the front door shot open, announcing the arrival of Fujimura-sensei.

It had taken time for the woman who had effectively raised Shirou since the passing of his father to accept Rin into their household. She knew of Rin’s troubled past and her aggressive and antagonistic behavior and was wary of letting her get close to Shirou. Rin was not one to care what other’s thought of her, but for Shirou she put an effort into attempting to reconcile her differences with Taiga. Things had been going smoothly until one evening four months prior when Taiga had unexpectedly returned after forgetting several papers behind and found the two half undressed and in a compromising situation. She screamed and raged for hours that evening, chiding Shirou for allowing himself to be taken advantage of and scolding Rin for seducing him. It had taken nearly two months to get back in Taiga’s good graces and even then, she was suspicious of Rin and prone to blaming any issue with Shirou on her.

“Good morning!” Taiga gleefully called out as she entered the room.

“Good morning, Fujimura-sensei.”

“Good morning, Fuji-nee.”

Taiga’s chipper attitude seemed to take a hit when she looked to the table and the kitchen and let out an audible sigh.

“What’s wrong, Fuji-nee?”

“Rin-chan made breakfast?” Taiga asked, her voice filled with disappointment.

“Yes, Emiya-kun woke up late, so I was forced to make breakfast.” Rin cut in.

Taiga looked frustrated as though she wanted to complain about something, but couldn’t find the words. In the end she grumbled, “I forgot to grade some tests, so I have to leave soon.” After that she began scarfing down her breakfast and she rushed out of the house, calling back to them, “Don’t be late for class you two!”

“I wonder what that was about?” Shirou asked.

As the two turned their attention to their own breakfast, Rin once again turned to trying to keep Shirou as far away from danger as possible.

“Why can’t you take time off from work?”

“How am I supposed to pay for food if I don’t work?”

“I already pay for half the cost of our food; I can pay for it all if need be.

“I couldn’t accept that. It wouldn’t feel right.”

Rin was growing irritated at Shirou’s defiance; she’d seen him fail enough times at high jumps and risk killing himself practicing magic enough times that she knew he wouldn’t back down. She feared that if she kept pressing the issue it would raise Shirou's suspicions. If that were the case he might try and get involved, and she couldn't allow that. She could knock Shirou out and lock him in the shed until the war was over, stopping by to give him food and water, but Taiga would get suspicious and it would probably take a considerable amount of time for Shirou to forgive her. With that in mind, she resigned herself to silently accepting Shirou’s decision, at least for now.

After breakfast the two silently made their way to school. Though they walked side by side, neither of them made an effort to speak to the other and neither reached out for the other in a display of affection. Their time together had not changed Rin’s view on the rest of the world, she wouldn’t let them see her vulnerability and so by extension they wouldn’t see her love. Still as they walked up the hill they would steal glances of each other. When at last the silent pair arrived at the school Shirou smiled at Rin and silently took his leave while she went to her morning archery practice.

…

As he made his way into the school building, Shirou turned and stole one last look at Rin before she disappeared from his sight. Instead of only catching a fleeting glance of her, he saw that Rin had barely moved and that she too was looking back over her shoulder at him. Silently the two stared at each other for a brief moment before Rin called out, “Goodbye, Emiya-kun.”

After her uncharacteristic send off, Rin turned her head and walked off to archery practice. They would see each other again when class arrived, but for now Shirou was off to the student council room to assist Issei. While making his way to the student council room he thought about the goodbye. It had been nearly a year and a half since Rin had told him to start calling her by her first name, and nearly a year of that time they had been together as a couple, but she still didn’t call him by his first name. When he tried to bring the topic up, Rin would dodge the question or find something to get angry at and so the matter never got fully discussed.

The walk through the hall was a brief one and before he knew it, Emiya stood in front of the door to the student council room.

“Issei, you there?” He called out, as he opened the door.

Rather than hearing Issei’s voice or silence he was greeted by the chipper voice of one of his juniors.

“Ryuudou-senpai is out at the moment, senpai, but he should be back soon. You were running late, so he went out for a moment to handle something for Kuzuki-sensei.”

It was the student council vice-president, Tohsaka Sakura. She was a very beautiful young woman that, despite her quiet and reserved nature, was fawned over by many. Shirou’s dealings with her had been fairly limited, but he had heard good things about her from Issei, which meant a lot considering Issei’s attitude towards women in general wasn’t particularly favorable.

“Good morning, Tohsaka. Will the other members of the student council be joining us this morning?”

“No, they don’t have the same dedication as Ryuudou-senpai.”

“Or you apparently,” Shirou said.

Tohsaka blushed a little at that comment.

“To be completely honest, senpai, the only reason I made it to the meeting this morning was because the clocks in my house were an hour early for some reason.”

“Really? All of them?” Shirou asked inquisitively, the unlikelihood of all the clocks in someone’s house failing at once having raised his interests.

“Yes, it was strange, but in the end it was probably a good thing.”

“If you want I could take a look at them to see if I can figure out what the problem might be.”

“Thank you, senpai. I don’t think it will be necessary, but it is nice to know that I have the option in the future.” She said with a smile.

In the silence that followed Shirou struggled to think of something to say while they waited for Issei to return. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep the conversation going. Rather it was because he felt awkward being alone in the room with Tohsaka and maintaining a conversation might relieve the room of the sense of awkwardness that filled it. While he wondered what to say, the girl broke the silence for him.

“What about your morning, senpai? Was there something that caused you to be late?”

Relieved by the break in the uncomfortable silence, Shirou responded, “I fell asleep in my workshop last night and didn’t get up in time. You and Issei can thank Rin for making breakfast while I cleaned up, otherwise I might not have made it until even later.”

“Matou-senpai was at your house?” Though Shirou was sure that it was a question he couldn’t help but feel that her tone reflected something other than that.

“Yes, she comes by in the mornings and evenings and I usually prepare us breakfast and dinner.” They did other activities, but the less said about those the better.

“Matou-senpai is very lucky to have someone like you to take care of her, senpai.” There was a tension in her voice that went largely unnoticed by Shirou because of the very genuine looking smile that she gave him afterwards.

Before he could say anything a voice from across the room replied, “Indeed, that woman was very lucky when she ensnared Emiya.”

It was Issei, finally having returned from the errand Kuzuki-sensei had sent him on.

“You were late, Emiya. How very uncharacteristic of you. I assume Matou is to blame.”

The antagonism between Issei and Rin went back several years and despite Shirou’s relationship with Rin, he had been unable to make the two see eye to eye on anything. All he could hope for was to minimize the conflict as much as possible.

“No, as I was telling Tohsaka, I was up to late in my workshop and overslept. It is because of Rin’s archery practice that I made it here before the start of school.”

Issei huffed a little, but he had been disarmed and would have to vent his vendetta another time.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, but unfortunately there is something else that requires my attention. Tohsaka-san could you please show Emiya to the problem heaters for me?”

“Of course, Ryuudou-senpai,” the girl energetically responded.

“Thank you, Tohsaka. I’ll see you in class, Emiya.” And with that he left as promptly as he had arrived.

In the empty classroom Tohsaka sat not far from Shirou as he worked on the opened heater. The silence was more palatable now that Shirou was working on something to distract himself, but it still felt strange to have the girl silently staring at him.

“What’s she like?” Tohsaka asked.

“What’s who like? And could you hand me the conductive tape?”

Tohsaka grabbed the tape and brought it over to Shirou and asked her question again.

“What’s Matou-senpai like?”

Despite it being fairly well known that the two had been dating for a year, few people ever approached him about his relationship with Rin. Most people were afraid of Rin and as a result were afraid of inquiring about her.

“She’s driven, and she’s very special. I don’t think it’s my place to go any further. If you want to know what she’s like, you should try and hang out with her.”

Aside from himself, Rin was friendless, her antagonistic, rude, and sadistic nature having long since driven off anyone that might attempt a friendship with her.The prospect of Rin finding a friend in Tohsaka appealed to him, as it might mean that Rin was getting better.

“Oh, I-I couldn’t do that. We’re very different; she and I, and I don’t think we would work well together.” Tohsaka responded, her head hanging down and her voice sounding far less energetic than was normal of her.

“I think you’re more similar than you may think and you’ll never know until you try.”

“W-what do you mean, senpai?” She said, her voice raised and sounding a little bit shocked.

“You’re both very strong and dedicated. I think you two have a similar sense of drive.”

“Oh.”

“I’m almost done, you can head on to class if you’d like.”

“I’m sorry if my question was to personal, senpai. If you want me to leave because I’ve offended you I’ll go immediately.” Sakura responded, her voice sounding both panicked and apologetic.

“Don’t be stupid, there was nothing wrong with your questions. I just prefer not to have any distractions during this last part, because it’s very delicate. You can wait out in the hall for me if you’d like, I’ll be done in just a moment.”

“Oh, okay.” She said, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing faintly.


“Tohsaka, the repairs are done.” Shirou called out as he stepped out of the classroom into the hall.

“Thank you, Ryuudou-senpai and I were supposed to help you, but you ended up doing everything yourself. I feel sort of useless.”

“Don’t feel bad, I was glad to help.”

“Will you be joining us for lunch in the student council room... I think a few of the other heaters will be brought over.” That last part sounding slightly like it was tacked on at the last minute, as if to try and create an excuse for Shirou to come by the student council room.

“I’m sorry, I have plans with Rin, but I can come by after school and work on them.”

“You could bring Matou-senpai along with you, if you’d like.”

There was a faint sound of desperation in Sakura’s voice that went unnoticed by Shirou who was laughing to himself at the thought of Rin and Issei in the student council room together. Putting the two in the relatively small confines of the student council room would be asking for disaster.

“Maybe another time.”

“A- alright. I should probably head to class. Have nice day, senpai.”

…

The winter breeze on the rooftop nipped at Shirou’s ears, but it didn’t seem to do anything to Rin. As was normally the case, she sat quietly beside Shirou eating her lunch. Despite the silence, it was nice to just be around Rin. As they ate, Shirou recalled Tohsaka’s interest in Rin and decided to bring it up.

“Do you know Tohsaka Sakura?”

“No.” The answer was cold and abrupt, and her tone made it clear that she didn’t want to discuss the girl any further. Perhaps Rin did know the girl and didn’t want to talk about it. There were many parts of her life that Rin kept secret, and while Shirou hoped that one day the secrets would be out in the open, he wasn’t going to pressure her about them. With that in mind he went back to eating in silence, expecting it to last until they finished eating.

“I’m spending the night tonight.” Rin calmly stated.

Shirou’s faced reddened with that statement and he almost choked on his food, as he knew exactly what she meant.

“Do you already have a change of clothes at my house or are going to stop by your house after archery practice?”

“I need to go to my house first, so you don’t have to wait around after school for me. I’ll be expecting dinner to be ready by the time I get there.”

Sex was something Rin treated very coldly, as though it were just another task, like breathing or eating. At the same time it was very special to her, as it was when she was her most vulnerable. Their first time had been strange, and unexpected; Rin had returned after having been walked home by Taiga and had practically forced herself on Shirou. Sometimes they made love, other times Rin was dominant and animalistic, it was without a pattern and without warning. It’s not that Shirou didn’t enjoy their extracurricular activity; he was a teenage boy so he enthusiastically took part, but he wished that he could make sense of it all.

As suddenly as their conversation had begun it ended and the two went back to eating in silence under the clear winter sky.

…

He was late; Shirou had stayed at the school working on the old heaters until dark, despite having promised to have arrived early enough to have dinner ready by the time Rin returned. Rin would be furious and Fuji-nee was likely already their making a pest of herself.

As he approached the house he saw the lights on, showing that his suspicions were confirmed. He couldn’t do anything about it now. He had to accept his punishment like a man and move on. With that he made his way into the house.

“I’m home!” he announced.

“Hello, Shirou!” Fuji-nee called out to him from her seat at the table, a plate of food sitting in front of her.

They must have already started eating, which meant Rin must have cooked again.

Unlike Fuji-nee, Rin didn’t make an effort to greet Shirou. Instead she sat at her seat eating in silence.

“Rin-chan, aren’t you going to greet Shirou?”

“No, I don’t think I will.” Rin responded in a cold and deadpan voice.

“Oooh, Shirou, what have you done?”

Shirou was taken aback by this. Normally, he could count on Fuji-nee being on his side.

“He inconsiderately promised to have dinner read for me when I got here.”

“I’m sorry, Rin. I wish I could have been home sooner.” Shirou said.

“The food’s in the kitchen if you want to make yourself a bowl.” She responded coldly

“O-okay.”

After washing up and getting his food he took his seat at the table. Rin was clearly more upset that he’d arrived late than he had expected her to be and he wasn’t sure how to relieve the tension.

“You know there was a murder not too long ago, and we talked about the gas leaks this morning.” Rin said.

“What? I don’t follow you?”

“Idiot…You said you’d be here with dinner ready and you weren’t here. I was worried.” She said, her voice not raising above a normal speaking level.

The realization that Rin’s anger wasn’t because he had failed to make her dinner, but instead because she was worried about his safety made Shirou feel even worse.

“I’m sorry, Rin. I didn’t mean to worry you. I didn’t realize that I would be kept so late working on the heaters.”

Rin huffed a little, but didn’t reply.

Even Fuji-nee was uncharacteristically silent in the face of the tension between Shirou and Rin.

“I don’t want you to go to work for the next couple weeks.” Rin said calmly after taking another sip of tea.

“What?” Shirou asked, surprised that she was bringing this up again.

“You heard me. It’s dangerous and I don’t want you walking around the city after dark. I think Fujimura-sensei would agree with me that it is safer if you stay in.”

“I told you this morning I can’t do that. I have responsibilities that I need to take care of.”

Rin’s hands balled up into fists upon hearing that. She looked at him with anger he hadn’t seen from her in a long time.

“And what about your responsibilities to me?! What do you think would happen to Fujimura-sensei and I if anything happened to you?! Why is it that your responsibilities to everyone else take precedence over your responsibility to me?! ” She yelled, standing now, her face flushed red, and deep purple eyes drilling holes into Shirou.

Shirou was too taken aback by Rin’s rage to answer her questions. Before he could formulate a rebuttal she had stormed off towards the door and put her shoes on.

“Rin, wait!” He called out.

“I’m leaving. I’ll see you in the morning.” She said as she walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Fuji-nee didn’t make any jokes or play any pranks, the atmosphere of the house was too somber for such things. Instead the two finished their meals in silence.

…

Alone in his shed Shirou tried to concentrate on practicing, but Rin’s words kept blasting in his head. He had his ideals and the path that he had chosen, but he also had to accept that he was more than just himself. He had to accept that there were others who relied upon him being there for them. Was it selfish to put his desire to fulfill his father’s dream above the needs of those closest to him? Or was it selfish to put the needs of a few above the many?

“Why do they have to conflict?” he asked himself silently. He wanted to help everyone, but it felt like he couldn’t even find a way to balance the responsibilities of having a girlfriend with working.

Sitting on the floor contemplating everything, he didn’t notice the arrival of a figure behind him.

“I shouldn’t have yelled.” A soft voice from the shadows called out.

“Rin?” Shirou said as he turned around to see her silhouetted against the moonlight.

“I’m not going to apologize for how I feel though.” She said, firmly.

“I-I didn’t think you would come back.”

“Idiot, I told you I was spending the night.” She said, stretching her hand out to Shirou and inviting him to take it.

…

Rin walked through the moonlit halls of the Emiya household; she was fully dressed again and preparing to leave. The night was still young and there was a servant to hunt, even if not all the servants had been called forth. Coming again to the front door she looked around to make sure that Emiya was nowhere to be seen and then quietly called out, “Rider.”

At the call of his master, Rider materialized before her.

“Yes, Master?” The silver knight replied.

“We’re going out.”

…
...

[Kishou the Badger]

Wow, changes. Changes everywhere. Where to start... well, kudos in keeping everyone in character for starters. I'm a bit upset to see Taiga go through a bit of bad blood with Rin but she was just acting like a comically responsible adult telling them to have no smex.

Rin's behavior is really funny. She flips more commonly between her tsundere modes, such as yelling Shirou to wake up and fighting the urge to have smex with him. It's actually surprising how more proactive she is having a relationship with Shirou. Sakura just kept things stagnant while constantly surpressing herself yet Rin, while a lot more hostile to nearly everyone around her, is more open and honest to our favorite red head.

The fact that they're dating is a huge difference, as it sort of gives Shirou the much needed direction in life as opposed to passive non-active support by Sakura. Their magecraft isn't a secret to one another (but as he's still green, she doesn't tell him about the Holy Grail War and is counting on keeping him in the dark). I also have a feeling that Rin would still fight even if Shirou would summon Saber (here's to hoping for the Shirou-Rin team-up to stay canon in this ficverse!)

The pacing is kind of like Heaven's Feel in that Shirou is conflicted with his dream and his Matou partner, but with Rin, she doesn't take his heroism lying down. She wants Shirou to save her deep down and is upset that he feels the "obligation" to help others without realizing he would be doing the same thing everyone else in Rin's life had done; died and left her alone. It's somewhat sadder to realize because Rin lets her displeasure, hatred and pain very obvious as a means to cope. It was sweet to see her come back though. Guess we know which route will happen here... ^^

I was kind of hoping Rin would get Archer again, but it looks like she got Rider instead. Just not Medusa. Perhaps another knight of King Arthur's court?

[Fan_Fic_Reader]

Wow, changes. Changes everywhere. Where to start... well, kudos in keeping everyone in character for starters. I'm a bit upset to see Taiga go through a bit of bad blood with Rin but she was just acting like a comically responsible adult telling them to have no smex.

Rin's behavior is really funny. She flips more commonly between her tsundere modes, such as yelling Shirou to wake up and fighting the urge to have smex with him. It's actually surprising how more proactive she is having a relationship with Shirou. Sakura just kept things stagnant while constantly surpressing herself yet Rin, while a lot more hostile to nearly everyone around her, is more open and honest to our favorite red head.

The fact that they're dating is a huge difference, as it sort of gives Shirou the much needed direction in life as opposed to passive non-active support by Sakura. Their magecraft isn't a secret to one another (but as he's still green, she doesn't tell him about the Holy Grail War and is counting on keeping him in the dark). I also have a feeling that Rin would still fight even if Shirou would summon Saber (here's to hoping for the Shirou-Rin team-up to stay canon in this ficverse!)

The pacing is kind of like Heaven's Feel in that Shirou is conflicted with his dream and his Matou partner, but with Rin, she doesn't take his heroism lying down. She wants Shirou to save her deep down and is upset that he feels the "obligation" to help others without realizing he would be doing the same thing everyone else in Rin's life had done; died and left her alone. It's somewhat sadder to realize because Rin lets her displeasure, hatred and pain very obvious as a means to cope. It was sweet to see her come back though. Guess we know which route will happen here... ^^

I was kind of hoping Rin would get Archer again, but it looks like she got Rider instead. Just not Medusa. Perhaps another knight of King Arthur's court?

Like Kishou the Badger said, it is interesting and refreshing to read this. The conflict about Shirou's borrowed ideals with his responsibilities to Matou Rin, not to mention that there is no nerve circuiting, so Shirou is off to a better start.

[Korburss]

At first I was apprehensive about this story but the last half of this chapter really drew me in and I am loving the relationship between Rin and Shirou. Well done.

[Magus]

I enjoyed the new chapter. It was certainly an interesting take on Matou Rin, delving deeper into her personality, and establishing the conflict that she causes with Shirou's ideals.

[Barbarossa]

Wow, changes. Changes everywhere. Where to start... well, kudos in keeping everyone in character for starters. I'm a bit upset to see Taiga go through a bit of bad blood with Rin but she was just acting like a comically responsible adult telling them to have no smex.

I definitely have to thank my two beta readers, Sakura Is Not Into Bondage and @Leo, for keeping me on point on characterization. There were a couple of times when I strayed a bit with Shirou, but they reeled me in.

---

Rin's behavior is really funny. She flips more commonly between her tsundere modes, such as yelling Shirou to wake up and fighting the urge to have smex with him. It's actually surprising how more proactive she is having a relationship with Shirou. Sakura just kept things stagnant while constantly surpressing herself yet Rin, while a lot more hostile to nearly everyone around her, is more open and honest to our favorite red head.

The fact that they're dating is a huge difference, as it sort of gives Shirou the much needed direction in life as opposed to passive non-active support by Sakura. Their magecraft isn't a secret to one another (but as he's still green, she doesn't tell him about the Holy Grail War and is counting on keeping him in the dark). I also have a feeling that Rin would still fight even if Shirou would summon Saber (here's to hoping for the Shirou-Rin team-up to stay canon in this ficverse!)

The pacing is kind of like Heaven's Feel in that Shirou is conflicted with his dream and his Matou partner, but with Rin, she doesn't take his heroism lying down. She wants Shirou to save her deep down and is upset that he feels the "obligation" to help others without realizing he would be doing the same thing everyone else in Rin's life had done; died and left her alone. It's somewhat sadder to realize because Rin lets her displeasure, hatred and pain very obvious as a means to cope. It was sweet to see her come back though. Guess we know which route will happen here... ^^

At first I was apprehensive about this story but the last half of this chapter really drew me in and I am loving the relationship between Rin and Shirou. Well done.

I enjoyed the new chapter. It was certainly an interesting take on Matou Rin, delving deeper into her personality, and establishing the conflict that she causes with Shirou's ideals.

Glad to see people are liking the characterization of Matou Rin and her relationship with Shirou. I was worried about the relationship, but I felt that based on Rin's character she would be a lot less passive than Sakura when trying to get Shirou's attention, while still not being particularly open about her feelings. In some respects it's hard for her because she's so used to seeing everyone let her down, but in another way it's easier because it's her trying to control the situation. By being the one to ask Shirou out she's trying to take command of the situation which is important to her as so much of her life has been outside of her control.

---

I was kind of hoping Rin would get Archer again, but it looks like she got Rider instead. Just not Medusa. Perhaps another knight of King Arthur's court?

I had a long personal debate over whether or not Archer should be Rin's servant, but in the end I felt that there was another girl that was holding out for a hero who needed Archer more.

[Kishou the Badger]

I definitely have to thank my two beta readers, Sakura Is Not Into Bondage and @Leo, for keeping me on point on characterization. There were a couple of times when I strayed a bit with Shirou, but they reeled me in.

Here that, Bdoom? Barba here is calling you by your new full name! ^_^ Not that I mean any mean jest about it, it's just I find this funny (especially when a few users stated specifically they wouldn't address that long name)

Glad to see people are liking the characterization of Matou Rin and her relationship with Shirou. I was worried about the relationship, but I felt that based on Rin's character she would be a lot less passive than Sakura when trying to get Shirou's attention, while still not being particularly open about her feelings. In some respects it's hard for her because she's so used to seeing everyone let her down, but in another way it's easier because it's her trying to control the situation. By being the one to ask Shirou out she's trying to take command of the situation which is important to her as so much of her life has been outside of her control.

Makes sense. Rin was always the headstrong sister, and held the magi virtue of pride. It's not that surprising when you think about it, but it makes a very endearing change because she goes out to try and earn her piece of happiness. It makes me feel like she won out a bit over Sakura in this regard because she got the boy.

I had a long personal debate over whether or not Archer should be Rin's servant, but in the end I felt that there was another girl that was holding out for a hero who needed Archer more.

I'm personally hoping it's Illya... but that's probably unlikely. I just don't see how Sakura needs him more than Rin or Illya when she wasn't molested by worms this time.

Then again, she lost her sister... then her father... then her mother... gah. She just seems so well adjusted this time. Even ISSEI likes her. ISSEI!

Which isn't Issie, by the way. You wrote that twice around the part of the chapter just before Sakura Tohsaka shows up.

[Barbarossa]

Fixed the Issei mistakes, @Leo pointed them out earlier and I thought I'd got them all.

---edited out and then edited back in--

As for Illya and Sakura, I can't say much without going into spoilers, but there is a snake in Sakura's garden whispering venomous words in her ear.

[fsnfan]

Fixed the Issei mistakes, @Leo pointed them out earlier and I thought I'd got them all.

---edited out and then edited back in--

As for Illya and Sakura, I can't say much without going into spoilers, but there is a snake in Sakura's garden whispering venomous words.

Which would be Kotomine, I presume?

[Barbarossa]

Which would be Kotomine, I presume?

the one and only

[fsnfan]

I'm starting to wonder how Sakura handles Kotomine. Rin always called him a fake priest but I can't imagine Sakura doing the same. I'm kinda worried about the sibling's relationship too.

[Ayr]

I like how the characterization fits how I imagined they might be with their roles reversed, and besides one or two minor typos I can't find anything else to disagree with.

Rin would be furious and Fuji-nee was likely already their making a pest of herself.

Should be "there".

“He inconsiderately promised to have dinner read for me when I got here.”

Missing a y. And a missing full stop here:

“The food’s in the kitchen if you want to make yourself a bowl.” She responded coldly

Looking forward to the next chapter, keep up the great work.