Unfortunately, Sakura seemed to take little notice of Rider's words, and instead continued trying to get through to the other Shirou. He began to explain why his skin was as it was, leading to an odd outburst from Sakura who had, apparently, suddenly come to the realisation that Archer had, in fact, been an alternate version of Shirou. Their discussion was interupted, however, by Sakura's Shirou reaching out for her and speaking up, telling her that he would always be there for her and protect her. Rider could see that Sakura was confused, unsure of which Shirou to listen to and pay attention to, until her lover approached her, leading her to begin making a response to him.
To Rider's horror, though, that Shirou collapsed to his knees, clearly in need of prana. Sakura ran towards him and grabbed him, mortified that her desire to find and protect additional Senpais had brought harm to the one who had devoted himself to her. Rider winced as Sakura pulled out a knife and cut her hand, but she made no effort to stop her. A cut to the hand could heal, whereas if Shirou were to die, Sakura would never forgive herself. She knew Sakura was in pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain she would feel if Shirou did not recover.
Fortunately, the prana in the blood was enough to bring Shirou back to his senses, and he called out to her. Rider smiled in relief as Sakura hugged him tightly, crying tears of joy. The two talked for a bit, each pinning the blame for what had happened firmly on theirself.
Typical. They're the only couple I've ever seen argue to try to blame theirselves for the problem....
Sakura held Shirou tight, begging Shirou not to disappear, self-flagellating about how this was all her fault. Still, though, she was not willing to let go of the other Shirou, still worrying that he might bring harm to himself through his actions, and begging him to be safe. Her Shirou tried to persuade her to allow his alternate self to follow the path he'd chosen, perhaps because he understood the allure behind that path far better than she did, but it had no effect.
Worse, the other Shirou then turned to leave, responding in a manner that made it clear he would not be prioritising his own safety. Not that Rider had expected anything different, of course, Shirou was mentally incapable of prioritising his own well-being.
“Nonono, you have to be safe! At least try! Please!” Sakura pleaded, but he took no notice, leading Sakura to shout about him being ignored.
"Senpai... You need to listen... You're in danger”, she continued.
Rider sighed. She knew Shirou was not interested in his own wellbeing. And, unfortunately, this Shirou seemed to be not overly-bothered about Sakura's, either. Which left Sakura with very little leeway to persuade him of anything.
Still, for him to just walk away like this was pretty grating. Did Sakura really mean so little to him? Rider was confused, the concept of a Shirou who didn't see Sakura as at very least like a surrogate family member was utterly uncomprehensible to her.
"Shirou, I understand if you have something to do, but can you not at least leave Sakura some contact details? She is like family to you, you shouldn't just walk away from her like this", she said.
