Pine Garden

[Aiden]

Vega

For a moment, his eyes widened. He looked incredulous, so much that he turned back to look at her with that wide-eyed expression. He said no time and time again, and yet she was still this stubborn? It was almost beautiful.

"You're quite the pushy woman you know that..." He shook his head and smiled. So be it then, he might as well honour a woman who had no future.

"Fine. I suppose you came all this way. This one time, I will humour you." He blew her a kiss with a candid smile. The gliter in his eyes was as glorious as it was charming, but there was something more to it. Something different. "Consider this a gift."

He turned around, and took the first few steps to his chambers. Suddenly, for a moment, he stopped. And his tone seemed different as well.

"Wait for me outside, by the forest. I won't be long."

Mira

Finally, as if Vega had given Mira her Christmas present early, she smiled and waved to him. Her whole body language shifted to express her excitement. "Great! Don't keep a girl waiting!"

Just like that she was moving out, grabbing her boots and jacket so she was ready to head out into the rain. So what if this weird champion didn't take her seriously? She'd show him. Well, no, she wouldn't take him lightly either. It was only fair.

It took her less than a minute to find and reach the spot Vega had mentioned. Mira didn't mind the rain too much even if it left her jacket stiff and heavy. She crossed her arms behind her head, leaned back against a tree, and waited.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

4:30

Step, step, step.

It had taken a while, if one thing was clear now is that this man was not one who rushed things. But now, he had fulfilled his promise. She could hear the sound of his heavy steps, walking wearily about these woods. Or was it the rain?

The downpour seemed to grow even stronger. This curtain was almost enough to hide his body, walking behind rows of trees with an intense glare. It was fine, let that rain wash it all away. Something about his eyes was different from before.

"This is a challenge. A challenge to overcome one's weaker self. Very well, I'll accept it." He gripped at the bottom of his frilly shirt with cold hands, and pulled it upwards. Rippled muscles and a gleaming, tanned skin showed itself more and more provocatively as he walked around her. But there was a glimpse of something else. A serpent on his chest, almost bloodcurdling in contrast to his appearance. His body moved behind yet another tree, not stopping for one second.

"In order to grow, one must entomb the frailty of your past, and crush it underfoot." Suddenly, as he emerged from the wooden pillar, a bolt of lightning cracked on the ground beneath the two. The flash was so bright, it hid the spectacular metamorphosis, if only a moment.

When it ceded, she could see him. His shirt was folded over his left arm neatly, and he stopped by right in front of her. His body now had nothing to hide, and while there was an eccentric glamour to his pose, it felt far more savage than the man who first opened his door. But most striking was the mask that now somehow adorned his face. Or had he removed his human mask instead, and now revealed his true face?

"Hrm? Isn't that right... you have done the same, have you not?" He asked her softly.

[SINIB]

Emiya

Damn it, the former Servant thought as she looked up at him with those teary, mismatched eyes.

His broad shoulders slumped as he sighed and shook his head.  "Yare yare, making a man bringing up some of his biggest mistakes," he said with a half-smile to take the edge off of his sardonic words.

"So, there was this idiot named Emiya Shirou, and he had the brilliant idea that he wanted to be a Hero of Justice . . ." he began as he told her all he remembered when he had been that teenage boy all of those years ago. 

He told her about Saber and the complicated feelings there, about how he failed her and how the vision of her was forever burned into his mind, even after he'd seen the depths of his own Special Hell.  About, "That asshole Lancer who stabbed me in the heart because he's a drunken, Irish asshole," Gilgamesh, Tohsaka Rin and more complicated feelings, the Tragedy of Ilya and how her death haunted him to even this day, and to Sakura, the girl who had been his dearest friend in the end, and how he failed even her.

Then he told her what happened after the War, his Faustian pact with Humanity to be it's literal bitch, and iterations of him being summoned to different places, and how, until Chaldea, Tohsaka Rin was the only person who gave him any respite from being a Counter Guardian.

His tone and description when he was telling her as his tenure as a Servant was different than him telling her about being a master.  It felt more academic as he was going from records he had access too and lacked emotion at points, as if he was an outsider reading someone's detailed diary.

He told her about all of his retroactive suicide plans.  How he had succeeded.  How most of the time he ended up dying to save Rin.  He even told her how he stood there like a goddamn potato every time he saw Saber for the "first" time again.

Tsumiko

4:45 pm

Tsumiko listened to Archer as he told his stories. As Archer told his stories, Tsumiko slowly began to feel woozy. She had to lean forward, holding onto the counter. She hunched over, feeling sick to her stomach as the tales progressed.

Memories began to flood into her, and the girl screamed suddenly.

[Elf]

Emiya

Emiya saw the violet haired girl lean forward, gripping the counter.  She looked paler than even before and her eyes were wide and dilated.

And then she screamed loudly, causing his ears to ring.

He stopped, grabbed a wash cloth, and headed over to the sink.  He put the water on it's coldest setting, let it run for a moment, and then got the cloth wet.  He walked over to the girl, gently pushed her hair from the back of her neck, and laid the cloth there.

"Keep your head down and breathe.  In and out, slowly," Emiya said in a soft voice, "Hold the counter and keep your head down for a moment."

[SINIB]

Emiya

Emiya saw the violet haired girl lean forward, gripping the counter.  She looked paler than even before and her eyes were wide and dilated.

And then she screamed loudly, causing his ears to ring.

He stopped, grabbed a wash cloth, and headed over to the sink.  He put the water on it's coldest setting, let it run for a moment, and then got the cloth wet.  He walked over to the girl, gently pushed her hair from the back of her neck, and laid the cloth there.

"Keep your head down and breathe.  In and out, slowly," Emiya said in a soft voice, "Hold the counter and keep your head down for a moment."

Tsumiko

Tsumiko seemed a bit unresponsive to what he was doing, other than her breathing slowing down a bit. She clutched the counter tightly, but it didn't seem to be related to what he was saying.

It was fear. Her two eyes stared into space, fearfully. Afraid of something.

[Elf]

Emiya

Damn, I must have said something to trigger her like this, but how the hell do I fix it? he thought as he looked at Tsumiko as she clutched the counter.  She was being unresponsive right now and in the middle of what obviously was a panic attack.  Which was something he had no idea how to fix.

Emiya stood next to her and began to slowly rub her back in small circles. 

"Come on, let's get you sitting down," he said as he moved to position her up right and to one of the chairs in the kitchen.

[Aiden]

Vega

4:30

Step, step, step.

It had taken a while, if one thing was clear now is that this man was not one who rushed things. But now, he had fulfilled his promise. She could hear the sound of his heavy steps, walking wearily about these woods. Or was it the rain?

The downpour seemed to grow even stronger. This curtain was almost enough to hide his body, walking behind rows of trees with an intense glare. It was fine, let that rain wash it all away. Something about his eyes was different from before.

"This is a challenge. A challenge to overcome one's weaker self. Very well, I'll accept it." He gripped at the bottom of his frilly shirt with cold hands, and pulled it upwards. Rippled muscles and a gleaming, tanned skin showed itself more and more provocatively as he walked around her. But there was a glimpse of something else. A serpent on his chest, almost bloodcurdling in contrast to his appearance. His body moved behind yet another tree, not stopping for one second.

"In order to grow, one must entomb the frailty of your past, and crush it underfoot." Suddenly, as he emerged from the wooden pillar, a bolt of lightning cracked on the ground beneath the two. The flash was so bright, it hid the spectacular metamorphosis, if only a moment.

When it ceded, she could see him. His shirt was folded over his left arm neatly, and he stopped by right in front of her. His body now had nothing to hide, and while there was an eccentric glamour to his pose, it felt far more savage than the man who first opened his door. But most striking was the mask that now somehow adorned his face. Or had he removed his human mask instead, and now revealed his true face?

"Hrm? Isn't that right... you have done the same, have you not?" He asked her softly.

Mira

It was slight of hand, a motion that exploited the gaps in the human capacity for perception to create the illusion that one was vanishing and reappearing elsewhere. There were numerous such flaws in the human mind and how it processed information. The greatest masters of the martial arts knew how to exploit those flaws to create techniques such as this. Mira could not fault the precision or skill of this opponent, nor his sense of timing and style.

His body was practically an afterthought in the wake of that display. She clenched her fists in anticipation, a toothy grin on her face, as she stared down the lightning and the killer who emerged from it to face her.

"That's an interesting thought, ain't it?"

Mira's jacket came off, and she took a ready stance.

"Come find out."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega

4:31:00

The rain poured down their bodies. As she rose to this battle, he lowered his stance in kind.

The winds howled. As Vega's ominous silence persisted, another lightning bolt cracked behind her, and pierced right into a tree before splintering it in half. But it was the thunder that signalled his advance. Suddenly, before the trunk could even hit the ground, his foot cracked against the ground and immensely quick steps moved left and right, twisting his body like a snake. Despite being the one challenged, he was the one who chose to advance into her range.

The tree had barely moved by the time his left hand, formed into a washide, moved to hook in her neck while not even a hair's breath of a delay after, his other hand formed a nukite to pierce her stomach under her rib.

[SINIB]

Emiya

Damn, I must have said something to trigger her like this, but how the hell do I fix it? he thought as he looked at Tsumiko as she clutched the counter.  She was being unresponsive right now and in the middle of what obviously was a panic attack.  Which was something he had no idea how to fix.

Emiya stood next to her and began to slowly rub her back in small circles. 

"Come on, let's get you sitting down," he said as he moved to position her up right and to one of the chairs in the kitchen.

Tsumiko

Tsumiko's eyes glazed over, unresponsive. The girl didn't even seem to be hearing him anymore. Her eyes began rolling up into her head.

[Elf]

Emiya

Well shit, Emiya thought to himself as Tsumiko's eyes started to roll in the back of her head. 

He carefully grabbed her shoulders and led her away from the counter and to the middle of the kitchen.  Once she was in an open space, he let go of her but kept close.  If she fell he was close enough to catch her, and if she had some seizure then there wasn't anything she could hit to hurt herself.

So he watched her, waiting for her to act so he could proceed with an appropriate response. 

[Aiden]

Vega

4:31:00

The rain poured down their bodies. As she rose to this battle, he lowered his stance in kind.

The winds howled. As Vega's ominous silence persisted, another lightning bolt cracked behind her, and pierced right into a tree before splintering it in half. But it was the thunder that signalled his advance. Suddenly, before the trunk could even hit the ground, his foot cracked against the ground and immensely quick steps moved left and right, twisting his body like a snake. Despite being the one challenged, he was the one who chose to advance into her range.

The tree had barely moved by the time his left hand, formed into a washide, moved to hook in her neck while not even a hair's breath of a delay after, his other hand formed a nukite to pierce her stomach under her rib.

Mira

Focus.

The thunder could not shake her. A hand shot up to deflect with unexpected force the strike at her neck. Splinters of wood bounced off the muscles of her back as she slid her feet to the side, out of the path of the sharp spearhead of muscle that threatened to gut her like a fish. The tree had protected the ground from becoming mud, or else she would have been stuck in place to take the blow instead.

I can't hold back against him. His technique is sharper than mine.

The faintest hint of a glowing light whispered at the edges of Vega's vision as his opponent drew upon the life energy of the world around her. It threatened to distract him as her limbs seemed to blur, after-images following their motions as she followed up her slide with a sweep to his legs.

The trunk was halfway to the ground, now.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vega 

A wall of muscle deflected his blow, causing the sound of their clashing bodies struck harder than any wordly thunder. "How beautiful~!" Before he could register the strange colours surrounding the girl, a leg smacked against his, and the champion was swept from the ground. Were the eyes between the mask wide from shock? Or simply love struck...

Before one could answer, before one's back could touch the earth, Vega's body sprung against the ground. Left, right, up, his body moved on all fours like a panther and struck like an arrow, bouncing against the surrounding trees. Splinters of bark and wood snapped off the surfaces, the one sign of the blur's path, but it wasn't enough. He was hiding his trajectory behind the other trees, switching and dashing unpredictably, using every cover available-

A loud crack snapped behind Mira! Before a normal person could turn one's head to notice, the falling trunk behind her had shattered from Vega's step, its purpose as a platform complete along with its destruction, and he was leaping onto her with a hand ready to pierce her!

[SINIB]

Tsumiko?

Just as quickly, Tsumiko's eyes rolled back in, and her purple eye conspicuously turned blue.

Thw young woman glared at Archer as he held her. Even if feeling his hands felt really good for her.

God, she'd missed him. She had stuff to tell him too!

Still, parenting came first.

"What do you think you were doing, telling her all that at once! It was too much for her to take in! You idiot!"

[Elf]

Emiya

He frowned as he saw instead of a mismatched violet and aquamarine eye, two very familiar aquamarine eyes looking up at him.

His eyes widened and he almost let her fall to the ground, catching himself at the last moment.

"What do you think you were doing, telling her all that at once! It was too much for her to take in! You idiot!"

Emiya felt his normally fire-is-my-blood run cold.

The voice was wrong.  The face was wrong.  The hair was wrong.  The body was wrong.

The eyes, the words, and the body language were all too familiar.

Emiya the former Archer Class Servant found himself standing there like a goddamn potato staring at a girl from his past.  Or rather multiple girls from his past.  How . . . how is that even possible?

So, he stood there, a good couple of heart beats with his mouth set in a grim line and staring at . . . this amalgam young woman.  He shook his head and said in a slow voice, "Tohsaka?"

His cat chortled, walked over, and rubbed his cheek against Emiya's leg while purring in response.

[Aiden]

Vega 

A wall of muscle deflected his blow, causing the sound of their clashing bodies struck harder than any worldly thunder. "How beautiful~!" Before he could register the strange colours surrounding the girl, a leg smacked against his, and the champion was swept from the ground. Were the eyes between the mask wide from shock? Or simply love struck...

Before one could answer, before one's back could touch the earth, Vega's body sprung against the ground. Left, right, up, his body moved on all fours like a panther and struck like an arrow, bouncing against the surrounding trees. Splinters of bark and wood snapped off the surfaces, the one sign of the blur's path, but it wasn't enough. He was hiding his trajectory behind the other trees, switching and dashing unpredictably, using every cover available-

A loud crack snapped behind Mira! Before a normal person could turn one's head to notice, the falling trunk behind her had shattered from Vega's step, its purpose as a platform complete along with its destruction, and he was leaping onto her with a hand ready to pierce her!

Mira

Keeping up with his motions was difficult due to the terrain, but not impossible. Mira was swift enough that whatever attack he had in mind would be more than sluggish enough for her to counterattack again -

Oh, he planned that too.

- at just the last second, her body rising from the ground in a series of afterimages that tricked him due to the martial artist's sheer speed. His hand passed right by her ribs, only to realize they hadn't been there at that very moment! It was then that she closed the trap, her elbow and knee meeting with his muscular arm between them.

And she stabbed her fingers toward his side.