Caren returned home without me. We parted ways at an intersection, and I managed to find a bus stop with a little bit of shade beside a couple of produce shops. Well, the shade was unnecessary, but it looked like it'd start raining at any second now so a bit of caution couldn't possibly hurt.
Crossing one leg over the other, I dialed up my Professor.
See, there was no need for me to run around, find discreet clues, and connect the dots after considerable mental strain when I had a literal detective on my phone. Lord El-Melloi II was a sham of a magus, entirely useless, incapable of even the most basic reinforcement without running himself ragged doing it.
But, none of the other Twelve Lords were able to look down on him for that. No one in the Clock Tower was. Of course, me showing up at the door of anyone who slandered him contributed to that notion somewhat, but even I knew said contribution was negligible at best.
After all, my professor was a man who could dismantle both magical and mundane over a cigar.
The phone rang a while longer than I expected, but he did pick up. The voice that came through was bland and serious, done with life as usual.
"What do you want?"
"How cold~" I chuckled, "Professor, you sound tired."
"I had to clean up the mess you left-"
I wondered why he NEEDED to do that. It was a mess I left of my own volition. Though, I knew his justification too. Probably something boring like his duty as my teacher.
"-and deal with Doctor Heartless as well. He attacked Slur." He went quiet abruptly, he definitely hadn't meant to share that. Quickly, he corrected his mistake, "But we're fine now. He was dealt with, as was the scrutiny of the other Lords. Your friends are fine too."
"I'll get embarrassed if you put it like that, Professor."
"Hm, very amusing. What do you need?"
I wanted to ask more about Heartless, but for now, I kept those questions to myself. The Holy Grail War was barreling towards the end at breakneck speeds. I'd ask those questions face to face.
"If you asked me, I'd drop this war and come back, you know?"
"That's exactly why I didn't. You need to commit-" I heard him sigh through the phone. "Henry, stop treating that war like a joke."
How'd he know?
"Knowing you, you've almost died at least once by now, and are still playing around."
Woah.
"I'm right," He groaned. "That conflict is a harrowing experience. I would have liked you to stay away entirely. You should know now, that it's deeply disgusting, not a simple fight between heroes. If that were the case my teacher should never have fallen."
Right. Potential Man. Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi, his predecessor. The youngest magus to reach the rank of Pride. He'd been folded in the last conflict, while Waver lived.
"If not that then Luviagelita should have told you. But, you don't care about this. What made you call me?"
Honestly, it was so like him to break off on a random tangent and forget what the conversation was about if he got even slightly relaxed. I chuckled at the thought.
"Was it just to bother me?"
"No. No. Come on. I'm not that mean."
I was met with silence.
Okay, I was that mean.
"Bazett Fraga McRemitz."
"One of the masters from the Mage's Association. What about her?"
"The overseer told me she's back in London. The first thing she'd do is return to the Clock Tower to report what happened."
The phone went silent again. Sighing, I put it on speaker and put it beside me, locking eyes with an old man that had been giving me a nasty look ever since I sat down. I was British. I knew about not liking foreigners, but damn. He even kept whispering random gibberish from time to time.
"At least be discreet about it, you shitty geezer." I was half a mind to toss something at him, but decided against it.
My mother had raised a better son.
"Henry, she never came to London."
I knew it.
Now what? Confront Kirei? No, he'd just deny it. Words alone were never proof enough. As a magus, I doubted she had actual papers recording her travels, what with the secrecy that came with the profession and all that.
Lancer was dead, so there was no forcing it out of him.
My lead had finally run cold.
If she'd gotten murked by Assassin, the same as Caster, then that was just distasteful. I wanted to kick her shit in myself. What a disappointment. What a disappointment, indeed.
"Alright, tell me if you notice her."
"Alright. Henry, again, be serious. If you want to be proactive, that's fine, but sitting around never works. At least, that was what my King insisted at the time."
"Gotcha, Professor. Be back soon."
"Hm, don't die."
Why did everyone keep saying that?
With a beep, the phone went quiet. The old man giving me the stink eye mumbled some incoherent words again, but louder. I didn't understand them, but they vaguely felt like some horrendous insults judging by how he spit at his feet at the end.
He spun around, his rough trench coat fluttering-… wait, trench coat?
By the time I turned my head to look at him again, he was gone as though the air itself had whisked him away.
-
The Emiya Residence was calm and quiet, not much to my liking. I entered without knocking, noting a distinct lack of cracked walls and craters in the yard. Huh. Those were some fast repair-men. Beyond the paper-thin shoji doors, I saw shadows flickering across the living room.
Two… three?
Four?
There should have been more though.
When I slid the doors aside, Rider sat by the kotatsu, locked in a staring match with Saber who sat across from her. Both women were dressed plainly now. Rider still wore her 'blindfold', but now combined it with a pair of blue jeans and a dark turtleneck that did absolutely NOTHING to hide her insane figure. No, they highlighted it, clinging to her curves like their lives depended on that act.
The blindfold was a bit jarring.
But, no Rin.
"Where's Rin?"
"Tohsaka? She was supposed to be here?"
Shirou stepped out of the kitchenette, wiping his hands on his apron. An odd sight to be sure, especially with how monotone his expression was. He really needed to be more expressive.
"Shirou, buddy, that whole kuudere thing only works when you're a cute girl-" I nodded over at the curious King Arthur peering up at me, "-like her, I guess."
"Is calling me cute supposed to be some sort of mental warfare?"
"What? No? Gray's adorable, and you look like her. So you're adorable by default."
She hummed faintly. "I see."
Weirdo.
"Okay. Tohsaka isn't here though."
The bland youth remained entirely unfazed by the fact that I'd come inside his home without knocking. He stared at me for a good second, and I thought he'd finally noticed… but no.
"Will you be staying for dinner?"
"No." I turned to Rider, "How's Sakura?"
The tall woman said nothing, she simply let her head fall to the side a bit, gesturing towards the kitchen. There, from behind the wall, a frail-featured purple-haired girl was sneaking glances at me with frightened eyes the same shade as her hair. She was the same girl I'd seen Shirou walking to school with. Also the girl Rin was supposed to be meeting with last night.
I'd thought she would want to stick around her sister… to reassure her or something.
"She left?" I mumbled.
Shirou shook his head. "She didn't come here."
Huh.
After a moment, I shrugged my shoulders, "Guess I'll go find her. But, Sakura's fine, right?"
"Yes, thank you." Rider nodded.
"No attacks? No sight of those worms?"
Tapping a finger against my aviators, I stepped closer to the girl. She backed away the moment she noticed, and Shirou stepped in between us. I couldn't help but sigh.
"I just need to check something."
After analysis, I knew full-well how the Matou magecraft functioned even if I loathed that understanding from the depths of my heart. Moulding bodies, using them as puppets, was one of the core tenets of that horrible research. That left a certain loophole. A loophole that only struck me once I laid eyes on his heir apparent.
Perhaps the reason he hadn't approached this seemingly harmless girl like I expected him to was because there was no reason to.
Surely, someone as utterly disgusting as him had implanted a method of control within her.
I had to know. I couldn't just let this be.
"A simple structural analysis is all I need-"
Shirou opened his mouth to protest, but I lightly pushed him aside. I'd explain later. For now, what had slipped my mind matter more.
Of course, that light shove made Saber whip out her invisible weapon like a youth from back home pulled out a knife. Before she could cover the distance between us however, Rider's hand was clamping down on her forearm, holding her in place.
The King of Knights indeed broke free from her grasp, but the time it took her was enough for me to take a hold of Sakura's wrists. She yelped, horror spilled into her gaze, and she tried to yank free… but again, that simple moment was all I needed to run Structural Analysis on her entire body.
"Goddammit."
Once again, I hated being right for some godforsaken reason.
"Please-" Her voice came out as a choked whisper, "-don't tell him."
-
Hope you enjoyed.
You can find 7 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap