Rider couldn't help but laugh as Rin's face turned bright red in response to her all-too-detailed statement of what she wanted them to do.
She's such fun to tease.Rin's face them turned even redder as Forest replied to Rider's comment about reading her mind.
"You broadcast. Like the Emergency Broadcast System. The more intense your thought, the louder it is. It's not like I like being privy to people's Bondage Fantasies or anything."
"Well, sorry, I'm not
trying to 'broadcast', I'm just
thinking", Rider replied, somewhat annoyed at the vampire's attempt to blame
her for the fact that she couldn't control her own psychic powers properly.
Then Forest continued.
"And Lord and Lady, are all of you into the kink or what? Rider has her dominatrix battle outfit and you're wearing . . .
that . . ."
Rider chuckled once more at Forest's complete lack of tactfullness and, also, at Archer's outfit. Meanwhile, Rin finally managed to get her composure together enough to at least make an
attempt at replying.
"I-I... I-I... L-l-look, e-even if future me is doing all...
that with you, do you think that's really appropriate to discuss in public?! A-and besides, that's future me, right? I-it hasn't happened yet, s-s-so-"
Rider laughed loudly. Rin was just so much fun to tease. Before she could reply, though, Archer spoke up.
"What I think she's trying to say is that she'd rather discuss the details elsewhere. What's all involved, who's willing to do what, etcetera", he said, his face also becoming somewhat flushed. "Probably not a bad idea really. Rin might pop a blood vessel at this rate."
Rider laughed again at that last comment. However, whilst what he was saying made sense, Rin's response to the teasing was just too good for her to stop there. She could, however, see that Archer was less-than-impressed with her "suggestions", probably because of her blatant come-ons to the girl who he was at very least extremely close to, and, judging by their reaction towards each other, already in a relationship with.
Well, hey, if he wants to join in too, I can live with that....After all, Archer was an alternative version of Shirou, and she knew that Rin was also attracted to him, as her jealous reaction to his closeness to Hakuno demonstrated. If sleeping with him was the price to pay for having sex with Hakuno and Rin as well, she'd gladly do so.
"You know, Archer, if you want to join in too, I'm sure the girls won't mind", she said, seductively.
However, her teasing of Rin and Archer was interrupted by Forest's next comment.
"But! We should leave the alley and get people settled. I'm sure that some of you were sucked here with no rhyme nor reason and little to your name but the clothing on your back. I have plenty of rooms and supplies at my stronghold. You can get something to eat - if Lancer remembered to go shopping . . ."
Rider considered the offer for a moment, waiting to see what everyone else would do. However, her inclination was to accept, particularly since Forest had offered her prana. The woman had, after all, proven herself to be trustworthy.
On the other side of the coin, though....
"Oy, it's not my fault that you're on a 'liquid and citrus' diet and the only thing I found in your gods damned fridge was oranges and orange juice."
Lancer....The voice confirmed that the Lancer Forest had mentioned before was indeed the one that had fought her in the Grail War and, worse, had attempted to murder Shirou. Her apprehension only increased as he continued speaking, particularly when he turned to her.
"Now I wish I would have been here sooner. I would happily donate all the prana the lass could want", he said.
Ugh, she thought as she looked at him with a scowl, clearly indicating her displeasure at the idea.
Sleeping with that smug idiot was
not what she had in mind. As far as she was concerned, Lancer was only a small step above the guy she had previously been fighting and, frankly, he was somewhat less attractive.
However, her thought processes were interrupted when Rin responded to her previous comment about her nephew, a comment which seemed to have surprised her somewhat, despite the fact that she surely must know that her sister would one-day marry and have children with Shirou as well.
"I'd be glad to. I'm going to get situated at the apartment first, but I'll meet him afterwards."
Apparently, Rin had decided to accept Forest's offer, to Rider's relief. Then, Rin turned to Hakuno and Archer, and, answering on behalf of them both, Hakuno agreed also.
Hearing that, her mind was made up. She knew that Rin could be trusted to help protect Kiyoshi, particularly since she had acknowledged their relationship, and she also suspected that Hakuno and Forest would do so. Whilst she felt a bit bad about not following through on her promise to protect the hotel she had been staying in, ultimately Kiyoshi's well-being was far more important, and it wasn't like she was leaving him in any worse a position than he had been in prior to their arrival. Forest's house had food for Kiyoshi and plentiful (and very sexy) sources of prana for her, as well as the extra protection for Kiyoshi. It was no contest really.
Before she could respond, though, Isa piped up, unfortunately refusing the offer.
Shame, she's a sweet girl.That thought was only enhanced when Rider suddenly felt the girl warmly embracing her. Rider was slightly shocked, but she had become accustomed to surprise hugs from years of babysitting Sakura's children, and responded by smiling and hugging the girl back.
"Take care of you and the little guy, okay?", Isa said, warmly. "I would like to meet your Master someday."
"Thank you for your help," Rider replied with equal warmth. "You might know my master, she's Rin's sister, Sakura. If not I'm sure she'd be more than happy to meet such a kind girl like you. She might be quite protective of you, though, she's like that with children."
After all, the girl had shown an awareness of Rin, so it was just
possible she would know Sakura too. If not, she was sure her master would be happy to meet the girl.
Rider watched as the girl went around saying goodbye to everyone with equal warmth and kindness. However, Rider paid little attention to it, instead thinking of her next move, and her own response. In particular, she recalled how Shirou had once again avoided answering her question, instead giving her only a brief glance. It was abundantly clear to her now that he was hiding something, and most likely it wasn't good news for the Sakura of his timeline, or for anyone else within a 10 mile radius of the guy. She
really hoped that he rejected Forest's offer.
However, her thoughts were somewhat interrupted by the sound of a hard slap. Looking in Shirou's direction, she could see that Isa had just hit him, a massive departure from the kindness she'd shown to everyone else.
"That's your punishment for your "mistake" earlier." She said calmly. "Did you feel my anger behind it? Are you getting angry yourself?" The girl took his hand in hers and smiled gently. "That's what humans feel, emotions aren't something thrown away so easily. You may have lost a lot to become like you are now. It may hurt a lot but you shouldn't throw away what makes you one of us." She raised his hand in order for him to touch her face. "See, that's what human warmth feels like. Do you remember? What you lost as a human being can be regained. You're not a machine. You may not redeem yourself but you can start by forgiving yourself. " She paused a second before surrounding him with her arms. "Each person is precious, there may have difficult choices to make but, you should think with your heart before logic." Isabella teared up for him. "The people you lost would want you to be happy as well, don't you think?"
Rider honestly felt sorry for the girl. She clearly wanted to help Shirou, but if she was right then he was simply too far gone to be saved, or to even
deserve saving. Indeed, if she was right then she suspected that bringing back his emotions and making him understand the full horror what he'd done would be outright
torture for him.
Still, she found herself agreeing whole-heartedly with the girl's words. And, ironically, she knew that the Shirou she knew would agree with her. This Shirou, however, was never going to accept her beliefs. The number of people he'd killed meant that he simply
couldn't. She knew Shirou well enough to know that he would simply never be able to forgive himself for the sort of cold-blooded murder he'd attempted on Hakuno, no matter what justifications he might find. He had found it difficult enough to forgive himself for deaths he could do nothing about, like those in the Grail War.
Shirou turned and replied to Isa.
"That naivety will put you in danger someday. But...when it does, I'll try to be there to help. People like you...are what I fight for."
Yeah, right. You'd have put a bullet in her head in a second
if she was in your way.Judging from the way that Hakuno had elbowed Archer in the ribs, he evidentially felt much the same way, and understandably so. If someone had tried to put a bullet in the head of
her master then even Sakura herself couldn't have stopped her giving him an excrutiatingly-painful death.
"But you're wrong on that last point. Someone like me, who survived where others had not, who had sacrificed the lives of innocents, doesn't deserve happiness."
As much as she was coming to detest the guy and his idiocy, she was in full agreement with him on that point. If he'd done what she suspected he'd done, even an eternity in Tartarus would not be a sufficient punishment. His statement also confirmed what she had suspected, that he was suppressing his own emotions to deal with all the horrible crimes he'd committed.
Still, she was somewhat shocked to see him actually take her advice and apologise to Hakuno, although the way he worded the apology made it pretty clear that the only thing he was sorry about was that he had attempted to kill her when doing so wouldn't actually have saved innocent lives, rather than the fact that he had attempted to kill her more generally.
Even so, the girl accepted his apology. Archer, however, clearly did not feel the same way.
Then, to Rider's delight, Shirou turned around and started to walk away. The last possible obstacle out of the way, Rider turned to Forest and gave her answer.
"Forest, your house sounds much nicer and
safer than the hotel I'm in, and we need to sort out the prana transfer
anyway. I'd be happy to stay at yours. Obviously we'll need to stop off at the hotel first, though, to collect Kiyoshi."
Then, she looked in Rin's direction.
"When we get there, though, I look forward to giving you some lessons in the sort of things your future self got up to.
Practical lessons", she said, smiling teasingly.
However, the happy mood was somewhat spoiled when Forest turned and addressed the departing Shirou once more.
"Okay, you made a rookie mistake. Life's rough, Lad, but going like you are, you're going to end up burnt out, alone, and then in an oblong box. Then who are you going to help dead? Come with us, rest your head. I have more than enough room."
Seriously?Whilst Forest was a very nice person, she was clearly hopelessly naive in some ways. What Shirou had done was not a "rookie mistake" but a calculated effort to murder an innocent girl in cold blood because it was the most "efficient" way of acting. She could tell that Archer was irritated by this development but, once again, his master stayed his hand.
Rider, however, had no such restrictions.
"Forest, I know you're trying to help the guy, but have you forgotten that he only five minutes ago was trying to put a
bullet in Hakuno's
head? And I'm pretty damn sure he'd do it again, too, the
instant he thought doing so
might save lives elsewhere. He simply cannot be trusted, he would sacrifice any one of us if he thought it would save a few people elsewhere. You might be OK with that, but what about the rest of us?"
Giving a quick glance in Shirou's direction, she continued.
"And, you know, he
still hasn't answered how he ended up this way, why he's so different from the Shirou I know. Probably because he knows the answer will condemn him...."
Then, she addressed Shirou directly, once again trying to get a straight answer to her question, her emotions rising once more.
"Tell me, Shirou, do you have any friends or family? Or did they all end up with a bullet in the head? What about Sakura and Rin? What happened to
them?"
Then, calming down somewhat, she addressed the rest of the group.
"Sorry, everyone, I really don't want a fight, I just think he has a few questions to answer before we can trust him to live with us. I know Archer feels the same, too."
Then, she turned to Satoshi, who she noticed had appeared to be leaving. His most recent statement had reassured her somewhat. Whilst his willingness to offer unconditional protection to Shirou was somewhat grating, it fitted somewhat with his apparent idealism.
"Satoshi, will you not join us too? I think you'd be welcome to stay.
And, sorry for my tone earlier, it seems like I was right the first time. You really are your father's son. Even if I would rather you not give unconditional protection to someone who might put a bullet in the head of any one of us at any time.
Also, I'm not sure what you mean about 'sea legs'. I know of parallel universes, of course, but I don't really think about it too much. Sakura is happy in our universe, I'd rather not think about all the ways that her life could have turned out much worse...", she said, her final comment accompanied with a meaningful glance in the direction of Shirou.
