As Rider waited for Sakura's response, Shuya walked up to her and spoke.
"Just don't go and get yourself killed yet, you owe me a rematch", he said.
I don't owe you anything.
Rider had absolutely no desire to have a fight to the death against the guy solely for the sake of it, and she certainly didn't think that some statement he made several hours ago entitled him to it.
She prepared to reply but, before she could, Shuya turned to Rin and, in response to her somewhat bossy and authoritarian stance, he drew his sword and swung it in Rin's direction, stopping the blade mere inches from his face.
Rider immediately resummoned her weapons and battle outfit, preparing to protect her master's sister in whatever way was necessary. She understood his annoyance, Rin's attitude was utterly ludicrous given that she didn't even know most of these people. But, that did not in any way excuse drawing his sword and threatening her. Plus, she was family and he was a bloodthirsty dickhead, so Rider had no problem choosing whose side to take in this particular conflict.
Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was absolutely livid as he saw the sword fly towards his Aunt's face.
How dare he?
No-one attacked his family and got away with it. No-one. This Rin had accepted him and been kind to him, so as far as he was concerned she was family. Therefore, he had to protect her.
Quickly, Kiyoshi summoned his own weapons, ether copies of the dual swords used by the various incarnations of his father. Before he could act, though, the sword stopped inches from his Aunt's throat, and then Shuya spoke up. Kiyoshi held back, knowing that attacking now could result in his Aunt's death.
"You listen. I have no time to deal with your bullshit. I ain't your fuckin' dog and sure as hell ain't going to obey a little girl with a misguided superiority complex. Especially, when she behaves like a bitch first time we meet. Don't know you, so don't impose your crap on me. I'm doing this as a favor, I'm not, and don't plan to be, your buddy, alright? You either come and treat the others as equals or you sit your baby butt around playing with infirms and kids", he said, angrily
Then, after sheathing the Katana, he added a final comment, before walking away.
"And watch your tongue. Next threat, I cut it down."
Kiyoshi was absolutely outraged. He ran towards Shuya as he walked off, only barely noticing the twin swords of the darkened Archer flying in the man's direction.
"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY AUNT!" he shouted angrily, charging at Shuya with his swords drawn.
Rider sighed.
Not again....
Putting away her weapons, she ran towards Kiyoshi at high speed. Before he could even reach his opponent she caught up with him, grabbing hold of him and lifting him off the floor. He struggled angrily against her grip, but she was far too strong.
"Put me down!" he shouted. "He threatened to kill Aunty Rin, I have to protect her. She's family."
Rider sighed and then spoke.
"Yes, I know. But to do so he'll have to get past me, two versions of Archer, a powerful vampire and Rin herself. I don't think she is in any danger. And, even if she was, she can defend herself better than you can.
Kiyo, you have to calm down. You're only young, you can't fight every battle."
"But, I want to protect people. I couldn't even protect Taiga. She ran off without me and now she's lost and alone", Kiyoshi said, sadly.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Kiyo. And, that was her choice. You're not at fault for it", she said softly. "Now, are you going to leave that idiot alone?"
"Yeah, I guess...", Kiyoshi said, knowing there was no way he could escape his Aunt's grip. Rider put him down, and he walked back towards Rin.
"Are you OK, Aunty Rin?" he said.
Meanwhile, Rider turned to Shuya and spoke, cooly but with a hint of malice.
"I know that Rin's attitude can be grating sometimes. I've had to live with it for 30 years.
But, that does not give you the right to threaten her in that manner. If you don't want to take her orders, then just ignore her. It's not like she can enforce it. But, if you start making threats like that again, then I'll be joining a very long queue of people waiting to beat the shit out of you.
Understand?"
Then, the darkened Archer turned to her and spoke.
"Let's confirm if your Master's here before you start needlessly worrying about her being corrupted again or not", he said.
Rider sighed again. He really didn't seem to get the point.
"Archer, I know she is probably not here, but I can't take the risk. If she is here and gets corrupted again, I will never forgive myself. And, even if she isn't, what if he's got an alternate Sakura? Even if she's not my Sakura, she's still worthy of protecting.
Even if I lose, he won't kill me. Sakura said so. So, what do I have to lose? Any amount of pain and suffering is worth it to protect my master, and I don't think he intends to harm me in any case. I think he just wants to prove he can beat me.
And, honestly, I kind-of want to find out if he can. If my life is not at risk then I see no reason not to take...."
"...I've have been raped."
Rider had been watching Isa, Forest and Hakuno out of the corner of her eye, feeling somewhat sorry for the girl. But, she had mostly been zoning out their conversation. However, this was not something she could zone out. She knew what it was like to be raped, and she knew from her master what the after-effects of it were.
Quickly, she ran over to the girl, who was now vomiting. Forest was gently stroking her hair and reassuring her, whilst Hakuno held her hand.
"It's over now", Forest said, softly. "And Isa. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. I won't tell Vanessa what happened, but you need to. Bottling it up is just going to make it fester, I know."
Rider thought back to her own master's situation. How she had hidden her rape at Shinji's hands from Shirou and her sister, even after they had discovered the rest of her horrific past. How she had feared Shirou's rejection. And how, eventually, she had killed Shinji and turned Dark in order to prevent him discovering the truth.
Rider couldn't let something like that happen to Isa too. Putting on a gentle smile, despite the bad memories that were surfacing and her concern for the girl, she spoke softly.
"She's right, Isa. It's not your fault. I know what it's like, and hiding it will not help. It will just make you feel worse. Your sister won't judge or blame you, I promise."
Then, Forest took out a pendant. Rider could sense the magical energy in it, and Forest confirmed this, saying that it contained protective wards. She smiled.
Aww, that's sweet of her.
Forest clearly liked the girl, just as she did, and was determined to protect her. Rider felt the same way. Before she could promise the girl her protection, though, Sakura approached her, pressing a piece of paper into her hand.
Then, sighing, she said "Rider dial this number, do it privately, these people clearly can't be trusted to help the situation".
Then, she turned to Forest and spoke once more.
"I'll find my own base for the time being, the regulations stated in the book say I shouldn't interact with the Tohsaka family from other dimensions and the temperament of Rin and those two servants reinforce my desire to follow those rules", she stated, before beginning to walk away.
Rider sighed.
What is it with this family?
Sakura was being nice to her, at least, but her attitude to the rest of the people present was still somewhat irritating. She certainly had her mother's arrogance and self-assurance.
Still, Rider felt it was best to be polite, since the girl seemed to be fond of her at least.
"Thank you, Sakura", she said.
The darkened Archer spoke once more, clearly unhappy with his alternate-dimensional daughter's attitude.
"Well, nice to know in some dimension that Rin and I failed as parents and brought up some stuck up bitch", he said.
In response, Sakura turned around and launched into a tirade of abuse aimed at the alternate versions of her parents, as well as Forest.
What the hell is wrong with her?
Rider could understand her annoyance at Rin. After all, she had bad-mouthed her brother. Even if she was mostly right in her criticisms, as Sakura herself admitted, she could understand Sakura being somewhat unhappy about the tone she took. Not that she was surprised that the two were in profound disagreement, she had often suspected that Rin was the sort of person who would argue with alternate versions of herself, and this was the closest she'd ever got to testing that hypothesis.
However, Sakura's attitude to the two Archers was much more perplexing. With the darkened version she wasn't so bothered, but her attitude to the other Archer seemed quite frankly disgusting. As far as Rider was concerned, Shirou had deserved everything he got from Archer and more, and Satoshi's response was absolutely ludicrous. Yet, without even a shred of evidence or understanding of the situation that had arisen, she had automatically assumed that he was the one at fault for her brother's death threats. Because, apparently, Satoshi was incapable of being wrong, mistaken or unfair.
Worse, her defence seemed to be basically "servants aren't people" which, as a servant herself, she found downright offensive. Further, coming from two people who were theirselves the children of servants, it was downright hypocritical. She had a strong suspicion that they would not think or talk about their own parents' deaths in the same dismissive manner.
Then, after a moment of silence, she spoke once more.
"So yes Forest, you cannot be trusted with the lives of my brother and sister. You cannot be trusted to act like adults, so I'm leaving", she said.
Rider sighed again, but said nothing. There was no point in her getting involved in this argument, particularly since she would likely need Sakura's help in dealing with Satoshi.
Then, with that dealt with, she turned to Isa once more. The girl was talking to Forest.
"Thank you, Forest. You're right, I should tell the whole truth. Guess I'm just a bit scared what her reaction could be. As for being my fault, well, I'm partly responsible for being careless. Something that won't happen again."
No, it's not your fault, thought Rider, slightly angered by the girl's self-depreciation.
But, she made sure that her anger didn't show. After all, she didn't want to upset the girl. She had been raped, after all. Before Rider could speak, though, Hakuno shook her head and grabbed the girl into a hug, attempting to comfort her.
"Even then, it's not your fault. Forest is absolutely right. I'm sure your sister will say the same. You're a wonderful, kind person, and your sister must love you very much. I'm sure she'll understand. But if you need someone to be there with you when you tell Vanessa, you can count on me", Hakuno said.
After she had finished, Rider added her words of support.
"Hakuno is right, Isa, it's not your fault at all.
I don't have a pretty pendant like Forest, but I promise that I will also protect you. When you are in danger, I will do everything I can to help you."
Of course, Isa would never come above her master in Rider's priority, but for Rider to go out of her way to protect someone except in order to benefit her master was very unusual indeed. It showed how big an impression the girl's kindness and innocence had made on her. Plus, Rider had strong feelings about people she cared for being raped. She knew all-too-well the effect it had had on her master.
