The Slums

[SINIB]

Emiya

Emiya shook his head and said, "Nope, something's wrong and if I did something I'm sorry.  However, I can't help until you let me know what's wrong.  So I'm staying here."

He then folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door.

Tsumiko

"Girls don't like it when you're this pushy, Archer!" A distinctly Rinlike voice exclaimed from behind the door. "I'll be fine, really!" Tsumiko's voice followed up with. "I'll be out in like, um, five minutes!"

[Elf]

Emiya

"Well I'm being 'pushy' because I'm worried," Emiya called back when he heard the very Rin-like voice from the other side of the door.

Wait, if Rin or Sakura comes out, Tsumiko gets pushed back, he thought as he gritted his teeth. 

I need to find a goddamn Grail to get one of them out of her, he thought as he called out, "Well, I'll be waiting."

He didn't move.

[SINIB]

Emiya

"Well I'm being 'pushy' because I'm worried," Emiya called back when he heard the very Rin-like voice from the other side of the door.

Wait, if Rin or Sakura comes out, Tsumiko gets pushed back, he thought as he gritted his teeth. 

I need to find a goddamn Grail to get one of them out of her, he thought as he called out, "Well, I'll be waiting."

He didn't move.

Sakura

7:30 PM

Archer felt magical energy gathering behind him, and then, a tap on his shoulder. A shadowy girl stood behind him, a distinctive purple ribbon wrapped around her inky black hair. "Archer, just let her be. She'll be fine." He heard Sakura's soft voice. "She's just not used to this sort of thing."

[Elf]

Emiya

Emiya's steel gray eyes blinked as he felt a tap on his shoulder and he spun around to see a shadowy girl standing there.

He sighed and said, "That's part of the problem Sakura.  She's been alone for too long . . ."

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura smiled at him. Her expression was full of melancholy. "Well, I can't say I've been a particularly good parent, but it is what it is. She needs time to adjust, especially after-"

The young woman shook her head. "No, nevermind. I shouldn't talk about stuff like that."

[Elf]

Emiya

"Now you have my curious, Sakura," Emiya said with a sigh and shake of his head.  He eyed his friend and asked, "After what?  The more I know the less I bumble around like a lost idiot doing stupid stuff that makes her hide in the bathroom because feminine hygiene products are terrifying to men."

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not going to leak my daughter's secrets and issues. I invade her privacy enough, just by existing. I'm not going to violate the confidentiality of her mind."

She sounded a little offput by Archer's requst, but composed herself quickly. "That said, you're going to need to learn about that sort of stuff with her. She knows even less than you do about that sort of stuff."

[Elf]

Emiya

"Well, you really were a horrible parent then," Emiya grumbled before he realized the words were out of his mouth.

He felt his cheeks heat up and he sighed.  "I didn't mean it like that.  I just didn't expect I'd have to shelter a teenage girl.  Fuji-nee never talked about that stuff.  We just knew it was happening because she became even more of a monster.  You and Rin never talked about it either.  And Ilya . . . Ilya didn't have to worry about that."

Even though it bothered her.  Even though she wanted to feel what other girls felt, wanted to know what it was like to make love, have a boyfriend, that sort of thing, he thought, still haunted by his sister after all of these years.

She had wanted him, and all he saw was his little sister.

He shook his head to clear and added, "And Jack, Nursery, and Jeanne Alter Lily don't worry about it because they're Servants."

Oh god, I found three Surrogate Ilyas in Chaelda.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura, surprisingly, didn't really seem to react to what he'd said. "Yeah, I really messed up." She answered bluntly, glowing red eyes staring at Archer. "Of course we never talked about it. It's not a fun conversation to have, but you'll have to buck up and get your act together. She needs you. Just don't blow apart her mind by dumping too much information again. She's-fragile."

[Elf]

Emiya

"But withholding information is just going to upset her too," Emiya said with a shake of his head and a sigh.  "And I've seen what happens when very powerful girls don't have the proper information about something."

Then he said, "And she doesn't like it when she's thought of as fragile.  Treating her like porcelain is just going to upset her even more."

[SINIB]

Sakura

"I know that, all three of us do, Rin and I know it better than anybody! But it's the truth. She didn't-" Sakura seemed to bite her lip before turning her head away.

"Tsumiko may look mature and grown up, but she's really just a scared little girl. She can't handle the truth yet."

"Anyway, you have plenty of experience with powerful little girls from Chaldea, don't you?"

[Elf]

Emiya

"Then maybe I need to know the truth so I can better help her," Emiya said as he gestured at the bathroom door, his steel colored eyes narrowing.

"You and your sister, yes Tohsaka, I'm talking to you as well, want me to help her but you're sure as fuck not letting me know what's actually wrong.  A sniper needs to know what his target is.  I can't just go spray and pray and hope I hit the right target."

He straightened to his full height and said, "And Jack, Nursery, and little Jeanne Alter Lily would have been pissed if I coddled them like they were invalids."

[SINIB]

Emiya

"Then maybe I need to know the truth so I can better help her," Emiya said as he gestured at the bathroom door, his steel colored eyes narrowing.

"You and your sister, yes Tohsaka, I'm talking to you as well, want me to help her but you're sure as fuck not letting me know what's actually wrong.  A sniper needs to know what his target is.  I can't just go spray and pray and hope I hit the right target."

He straightened to his full height and said, "And Jack, Nursery, and little Jeanne Alter Lily would have been pissed if I coddled them like they were invalids."

Sakura

Sakura grew in conjunction with Emiya, staying at eye level with him. The girl refused to back down, to just let people walk over her. Not even him. Nevermore, never again.

"I can't just tell you everything, Senpai. Not even you. There are some things that I can't just blab about! Tsumiko wouldn't want that either!"

She stared down Archer, not giving an inch.

"I'll tell you what I can, later. Both of us will, after she goes to sleep for the night."

[Elf]

Emiya

Oh, so now she stands up for herself.  Well, she is a Tohsaka as well.

"Tch," he said, hissing slightly through his teeth as he moved away from the wall and closer to Sakura.  He stood inches from her, her eyes incredibly close to his.  A thousand thoughts ran through his head.

I'm not your Sempai.  Your Sempai has been dead for years, he thought, but kept the cruel words from coming off his tongue.  Instead his hands clenched and released as he looked at her.

He asked, "Will she still be able to rest if the both of you are riding her?"

[SINIB]

Emiya

Oh, so now she stands up for herself.  Well, she is a Tohsaka as well.

"Tch," he said, hissing slightly through his teeth as he moved away from the wall and closer to Sakura.  He stood inches from her, her eyes incredibly close to his.  A thousand thoughts ran through his head.

I'm not your Sempai.  Your Sempai has been dead for years, he thought, but kept the cruel words from coming off his tongue.  Instead his hands clenched and released as he looked at her.

He asked, "Will she still be able to rest if the both of you are riding her?"

Sakura

"She rests better. She doesn't dream about the horrors and wake herself up." Sakura leaned forward, her nose pressing against his own. It was cold and seemed to want to suck him in, making the servant feel all tingly. "Rin does it all the time, it's how she lives her own life. I take care of the house, and keeping her safe."

She stared right back into Archer's eyes, those crimson red orbs boring into him.

"She needs professional help, but she also needs a parent, a real one." She bit her lip and held back emotions. "Can you do that for her? Are you sure you want to?"