Back home, Illya was still engrossed in her anime, sufficiently so only to say a quick hello when they appeared in the living room again, without ever looking away from the tv.
Wondering what fascinated her so, Shirou took a look himself, and saw that a white-haired boy was being beaten up by a blonde girl. It didn't immediately seem all that interesting, but Illya clearly disagreed with that notion, as her gaze didn't waver for a second. In fact, she didn't even seem to blink.
Leysritt was sitting next to her in the same state, but Sella, reliable as she was, found the time to turn to Shirou and give an apologetic bow of her head, before wordlessly asking if they could leave.
Having no problem with that, Shirou took his girlfriends to the dojo of the estate, so they wouldn't disturb Illya and the maids. No one liked it when people talked over their favourite programmes after all.
"I think it's time you woke up again, Nee-san." Sakura said once they were in the dojo, addressing Rin, whom she held in a bridal carry. "You have slept for long enough now."
"I don't think that is going to work-"
"Uhm?" Exactly at that moment, as if to prove Ayako wrong, Rin began stirring slightly, and Sakura quickly placed her on the ground again, though once more with her head in her lap.
It wasn't a minute later that the black-haired girl fully woke up, regaining consciousness once more, for the third time that day. Unlike the two times before however, she didn't look very okay now. Her eyes were still slightly glazed, her movements were sluggish, and she didn't seem to be all there yet.
"Emiya-kun." She nevertheless wasted no time in addressing Shirou. "Was that a dream?"
"No." Shirou answered bluntly, before showing her the gem-chest, opening it to display its contents, feeling it was best to get that over with quickly. "The Vault was very much real. These gems are yours now by the way."
"…Thanks." Rin nodded after a few seconds, not reacting much in any way, before she slowly sat up again, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, my head."
"Are you alright, Nee-san?" Sakura asked worriedly, scooting closer to her sister.
"Not really." Rin admitted, rubbing her temples. "I suddenly have a killer-headache."
"Have some water then." Ayako said, handing her one of the water bottles that Shirou had standing around in the dojo. "I heard dehydration can cause headaches."
"Maybe." Rin sounded sceptical, but she did open the bottle and downed a little over half of it. "Or maybe it was the fact I fainted three times."
"That does sound more likely than dehydration right now." Ayako sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, before shrugging. "Even so, drinking water is always a good idea, at least according to my coach."
"My headache is still there though."
"Hold on." Shirou leaned down and pressed a golden-glowing finger to Rin's forehead, applying some healing power. "Is that better?"
"Oh yes, much better." Rin nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Emiya-kun."
"No problem, Rin." Shirou smiled, taking his finger off her forehead, before softly patting her head. "I suppose today was full of surprises. There's no need to feel ashamed of not feeling well."
"Don't patronise me." She told him sternly, looking up at him with flashing eyes. "I am not a child, Emiya-kun, who can be satisfied with head pats."
"Of course. I'm sorry." Shirou nodded, immediately retracting his hand. Or at least, he would have, had Rin not grabbed his wrist.
"I didn't say you could stop." Rin huffed, pouting at him. "In fact, you should continue until I feel better again."
Shirou didn't reply verbally this time, nor did he smile, knowing that would only set her off, so he put on his most dutiful expression and resumed patting her head, to her obvious satisfaction.
"Actually, there are some things I wanted to discuss with you." Rin spoke up after half-a-minute or so of patting, and when Shirou removed his hand from her head, she let him go this time. "Mostly business-related."
"Ayako and I will leave you two alone for a while then." Sakura offered, and Rin started slightly, apparently having forgotten the other two were there.
"Where will you go?" Shirou asked, looking back at the main building. "Watch anime with Illya?"
"Haha, no, Senpai, I don't think so." Sakura shook her head with a laugh, before she began to pull Ayako to the dojo's door. "We'll just go shopping now. We still need several things for tonight's dinner, and Illya would probably enjoy a few snacks with her anime."
"You don't have to leave." Rin protested. "It's not like I have any secrets."
"It's probably for the best if we don't hang around needlessly." Ayako agreed with Sakura. "I'm sure you'd like some privacy."
"…Thank you." Rin nodded gratefully at them.
"Good luck shopping." Shirou told them, smiling warmly at them.
"We'll manage, but thanks anyway, Shirou." Ayako grinned, and then Sakura pulled her through the door, before closing it behind her, leaving Rin and Shirou alone in the dojo.
"So, Rin, what did you want to discuss?" Shirou decided to get to business immediately, correctly sensing that Rin wasn't in the mood for small talk right now.
"Several things." Rin replied, seamlessly switching from her personal mode to her business mode. "First of all, are those gems really mine now?"
"They are." Shirou nodded. "You can do whatever you want with them."
"Even sell them?"
"Sell them, destroy them, give them away, use them for decorations, or for showing off, that's for you to decide." Shirou shrugged, giving her his best roguish grin. "They are yours now. I have no say anymore in what you do with them."
"I…" Rin began to say something, but she thought better of it. She remained silent for a moment, pondering her next words, and then she started again. "The gem-market of the Moonlit World has collapsed."
"I heard something about that." Shirou nodded, recalling a discussion between Lady Montmorency and Lady Barthomeloi about that topic. He hadn't really listened, but he'd picked up enough to know roughly what was going on.
"Some of the biggest gem-suppliers fell away when the Meluastea were purged, and demand has risen exponentially now that the richest Magi are trying hard to hoard and stock as many gems as they can." Rin continued, gritting her teeth in displeasure. "I already did some calculations, and I found I would not even be able to buy a single gem anymore with my currently available budget."
"Rin…" Shirou wasn't sure what to say. He was partially responsible for the current crisis, for the collapse of the gem-market, and even though he didn't care much for other Magi who might have to be stingier with their gems, he did hate the fact he'd made things more difficult for Rin.
"Don't look so down, Emiya-kun." Rin huffed, smiling playfully. "You already more than made up for ruining the market by giving me these."
'These' being the gems in the chest.
"They are very much welcome, and I'll make sure to repay you for them." Rin continued, bending down to take a handful of gems out of the chest, admiring them in the light that fell through the windows in the roof, before dropping them back with the rest again. "But I only need a few hundred for myself. The rest, well, I could sell them. With the current prices, that would bring in a lot of money, and… Well, I could really use that money right now."
"Like I said, you can do whatever you want with them." Shirou repeated, walking up to her to place a hand on her shoulder. "If you want to sell them for the highest price you can get, then by all means, do so."
"Thank you, Emiya-kun." Rin said warmly.
"And don't worry about running out of them. There were plenty more where those came from, so you can ask me for more gems at any time."
"Oi, stop it." Rin suddenly frowned, swatting his arm. "There is such a thing as being too generous, you know."
"Not when it comes to my beautiful girlfriends." Shirou grinned, and he was rewarded by the sight of Rin stiffening slightly, before she turned away with a huff. "But that's enough about that. You said you wanted to talk about multiple things? What's the second thing?"
"The Grail." Rin replied calmly, turning back to him with a serious and honest expression. "I have made my decision, Emiya-kun. It is clearly corrupted beyond saving, and I will help you destroy it."
"That's great!" Shirou grinned again, far wider than before, taking Rin by her shoulders. "Thank you, Rin. I know that decision can't have been easy."
"On the contrary." She scoffed, appearing rather pleased by his reaction, as she straightened up and lifted her chin to smile benignly at him. "Considering what the Einzbern did to my Grail, it will be my utmost pleasure to destroy it, and that dark god along with it. I want to hear Angra Mainyu scream, Emiya-kun, for everything he did to us."
"Ah." Shirou's grin became a bit pained at that point, his conscience playing up a bit. "Rin, have you ever looked into Angra Mainyu? Into his mythology and origin story, I mean?"
"A bit." Rin replied, cocking her head to the side with a curious expression. "He was the Devil in the Zoroastrian religion, right? The source of evil?"
"That is mostly accurate, but he isn't like Satan or any other demon from Christianity." Shirou pondered for a bit on how to properly explain it, before he let out a sigh, deciding to just tell her what he knew. "Angra Mainyu is a scapegoat. He is a single person, a human, who was chosen to bear all the World's Evil. He was not evil to begin with, still isn't, but has been driven mad by all the sins that have been piled upon him, all the sins of humanity, which, over time, turned him into a god of evil."
"Forced to bear all the sins of humanity?" Now Rin looked outright worried, easily seeing what that meant. "But… But that is monstrous! That would be torture beyond belief! Especially now, with so many of us."
"Indeed." Shirou confirmed, his lips pursing at the thought of being subjected to all the evil of humanity for years and years, unable to ever escape. "It is that monstrous torture that has turned him into a monster himself, lashing out against everything around him."
"Then, he wasn't evil to begin with?" Rin flinched at the notion, before letting out a conflicted breath. "Then my remark just now was in very poor taste. I… There is no need to make him scream, Emiya-kun. I-I take that back."
"Indeed. Angra Mainyu is something to pity, not hate." Shirou nodded, rubbing the back of his head, before scowling in displeasure. "I will destroy him, Rin, I swear it, but it will be an act of mercy, not of hate. I just cannot bring myself to hate him, no matter what he has done."
"R-Right." Rin muttered, most of her anger having left her, before she clenched her fist. "Then, more so than ever, I promise to aid you. Whether it is out of hate or pity, the fact remains that he needs to be destroyed and the Grail dismantled, before something terrible happens."
Shirou didn't reply in words this time. He simply pressed his forehead against hers, trying to convey how much he appreciated her, and Rin pressed back, giving him a content look, one that made his heart beat faster.
"But there is someone I cannot forgive." Rin continued after a few moments, her eyes blazing again. "And this person does not have any excuses to escape from my wrath."
"Who?"
"The fake priest." Rin's voice became little more than a snarl at the mention of Kotomine, even more so than it had while they had been discussing Angra Mainyu. "It is high time I confronted him."
When Rin and Shirou had compared notes of the Fourth Holy Grail War, Rin had been unpleasantly surprised to find that her father's Servant, Archer, had not died with her father, but had switched allegiance to Kotomine. Apparently, the priest had kept that from her, which was suspicious, to say the least.
She had wanted to confront him right away about his lies, but Shirou had managed to convince her otherwise. He had still been in London at the time, and he was deeply worried about what Kotomine, and perhaps even Gilgamesh, would do to Rin once she began making accusations. Thus, he had convinced her to wait until he was back.
"You are back now." Rin said sternly, placing her hands on her hips. "Which means it is time I demanded the truth from that man. He has been lying to me for all of my life, and I want to know why. Most of all though, I want to know whathe has been hiding."
"Hm." Shirou didn't react much aside from nodding. "I agree."
"Preferably, I would do it with just the two of us." Rin continued, before smiling wryly. "But I don't think Sakura and Ayako will let us."
"Likely not, no." Shirou smiled back, though his smile was a great deal less wry. "They'll want to back us up."
"Are you going to be teaching them Magecraft? Because you should. They keep involving themselves in dangerous matters, and if they want to survive, they need to be able to fight back against Magi and other opponents."
"I am planning to start giving them lessons within the next few days, depending on when we have time." Shirou replied, before frowning. "I won't be able to teach them anything useful before we go to the church to confront Kotomine though."
"Then we'll just have to protect them ourselves from whatever tricks that man has up his sleeve." Rin sighed, before nodding at him. "That shouldn't be too difficult. The fake priest is strong, but he has never shown me anything that suggests he can fight you for longer than three seconds."
"Nevertheless, we must not underestimate him." Shirou said sharply. Kotomine had been his father's most fearsome opponent after all. "That man is dangerous, and taking him any less than completely seriously will give him the opportunity to slip away and strike when we least expect him."
"Yes." Rin suddenly gave him a smile, an extremely kind and approving smile, as if he'd just passed an important test. "I'm glad you don't let yourself be lulled into over-confidence by a compliment from a pretty girl, Emiya-kun."
"Hm? Well, of course." Shirou lifted an eyebrow at her. "Why? What else was I supposed to say?"
"Nothing." Rin beamed. "What you see is what you get with you, and I like that."
"…Okay?"
"I suggest we confront Kotomine tomorrow." Rin became serious again, as her smile disappeared and a warlike expression took its place. "I am long overdue for some answers."
"That is fine, but after the lunch. I already have something for tomorrow morning."
"I can accept that." Rin nodded. "I have waited for eight years already. I can wait a few hours more."
"Then that is settled." Shirou squeezed Rin's shoulder lightly. "We'll get the answers you want, Rin. I promise."
Rin breathed in deep, closing her eyes as she nodded in acceptance.
"Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" Shirou asked after a few moments, feeling that she wasn't done yet.
"Yes." Suddenly, Rin seemed to become embarrassed again, as her gaze flitted away from him, and she took a step back. "Our relationship."
"Oh?" Shirou lifted an eyebrow, unable to suppress a twinge of worry. "In what sense?"
"Emiya-kun, what am I to you?"
The sudden question, asked with complete sincerity, took Shirou by surprise, but even though he hadn't expected it, he could answer it easily enough.
"You are my girlfriend, Tohsaka Rin." He replied, before cocking his head to the side as she frowned. "Is that not so?"
"…Emiya-kun, this is a bit difficult to just ask out of the blue, but…" Rin hesitated, which was very uncommon for her. "I wanted to… That is, I must… What I mean is…"
"Take your time." Shirou said gently, closing his eyes so he wouldn't see her looking uncertain. She hated it when people saw her like that.
As such, he could only hear how she took a deep breath, how she gritted her jaw and gathered every last bit of willpower she possessed, before she just spoke what was on her mind, almost shouting as she made her request.
"Would you be willing to enter a formal marriage-agreement with me?!"
Shirou's mouth dropped open in shock, his eyes opening wide to stare at her in unhidden surprise and bafflement. Not in his wildest dreams had he imagined that Rin would be proposing to him, but apparently, she just had.
"I am not saying we should get married immediately." Rin was quick to explain further, not allowing an awkward silence to fall. "Nor am I saying that such an agreement is binding, but I would like us to have some sort of documentation of our relationship, i-in preparation for l-later."
"Later?" Shirou repeated, immediately realising what that meant. "You mean, you want to marry me?"
"I do." Rin admitted bluntly, which made his jaw drop once more. "W-When we are of age of course, in a f-few years, though for now, I would like us to be engaged."
"So essentially, you want me to be your fiancé?" Shirou asked, remembering Eduardo and Sophia and their arrangement.
"Exactly." Rin nodded quickly, before placing one hand on her hip and raising a finger with the other in a lecturing pose. "Boyfriend and girlfriend are terms that hold no value whatsoever in the Moonlit World. If we want to show to other Magi that we are in a relationship, we need to be engaged at the very least."
"And you want to be engaged with me?" Shirou still couldn't quite comprehend it, with how fast they were suddenly going. "A-Are you sure?"
"I have a list of characteristics I want my husband to conform to." She replied, once more very bluntly, with her eyes closed and her fists balled at her sides. "You meet every single one of them, easily. So yes, I want to be engaged with you, marry you, and bear your children!"
By now, Shirou was blushing furiously, and Rin's cheeks were also noticeably red.
"I-I realise that you also have Sakura and Ayako to think about." Rin quickly went on, rubbing the back of her head. "A-And I am willing to negotiate about the precise terms and conditions of our relationship, with each other and with them, but… At least consider my request?"
"I-I will." Shirou mumbled, before shaking his head and gathering his own willpower, injecting more confidence into his voice. "I mean, yes, I will, Rin. If this is important to you, I will give it every bit of consideration it deserves."
"Thank you." Rin let out a sigh of relief, both because he had accepted her request and because the embarrassing part was now over with, before smirking slightly at him. "Oh, and before you get any delusions, those ideal-husband characteristics I mentioned? They are things like Magical power and wealth. Don't go thinking now you are attractive or sexy or anything like that, because you aren't."
"Harsh as ever, Rin." Shirou laughed, relieved the tension was gone again, before, in a sudden impulse to prove her wrong, he casually took off his shirt, leaving his upper body bare.
"Eh?!" The move took Rin by complete surprise, and it took her no less than four seconds to remember she wasn't supposed to be staring. "W-What are you doing?! Put your shirt back on!"
"It's too hot in here to wear a shirt." Shirou made a dismissive motion with his hand, before gesturing around the dojo, which was indeed quite hot. "That often happens in the summer. The windows in the roof increase the sun's strength too much. The only way to stay cool is by taking off my clothes."
"What about the air-conditioner?!" Rin spluttered, pointing at the machine in question, looking everywhere but at him.
"Turning it on while we're only here for a short while would be a waste of energy." Shirou easily deflected Rin's protest, before he walked up to her, coming close enough to hug her should he be so inclined. "But Rin, is there something wrong? You are suddenly not looking at me."
"There's nothing wrong." Rin hissed, immediately looking back at his face, doing her best to keep her expression neutral and uninterested, though her eyes twitched noticeably, as if they wanted nothing more than to look down again. "You are just so shameless I didn't know what to do for a moment. There's nothing about this that I-"
"Rin." Shirou placed a finger on her lips, and came even closer to her, leaning in until their faces were close enough to feel each other's breath, enjoying how Rin's cheeks slowly became red, before he brought his lips close to her ear. "You can look if you want."
For five more seconds, Rin resisted.
Then she suddenly launched herself at him, grabbing his sides as she looked straight at his abdomen, giving in to her baser desires.
The lecherous grin was a strong indication that she liked what she saw.
"Oh my, Rin." Shirou did his best to act the shocked maiden. "What are you doing? I thought you said you didn't consider me attractive?"
"Did I? I don't recall ever saying that." Rin huffed, before letting go of his sides to push against his chest. "Lie down on the ground."
Shirou obeyed, lying down on his back, after which Rin promptly perched herself on his hips, from where she had a first-rate view of his bare torso.
"Very nice, very nice." She mumbled, placing her hands flat on his abs, feeling the muscles twitch underneath the skin, before sliding them upwards. "And the pectorals? Oh yes, those are very nice too."
"You really know how to make a guy feel proud." Shirou smiled at her, watching as Rin licked her lips, wondering how much effort he should put into preventing an embarrassing reaction down below. Yes, Rin was sitting on his hips, meaning she'd immediately notice if he had a 'reaction', but Shirou honestly wouldn't mind it that much if she knew what effect she had on him.
Maybe it would even prompt an expression of adorable surprise.
"You are not quite muscled like the models you see on those bodybuilder-shows." Rin suddenly remarked, still letting her hands slide over his skin. "They have a lot more definition."
"Yes." Shirou nodded, knowing that he still fell quite short of those professional musclebound strongmen. "But then again, I'm fifteen, or maybe sixteen."
"Oh yes, I am not saying that it is bad." Rin said, removing her hands from his pectorals, only to start tracing small figures on his abdomen with the tips of her fingers, which was honestly much more stimulating. "Those ridiculously defined abs you see on bodybuilders are actually very unhealthy. They indicate a critical lack of fat and water that the body needs to keep functioning. Apparently, those bodybuilders starve themselves and deprive themselves of all fluids to get that look, after which they need immediate medical attention."
"Sounds like they don't have much endurance." Shirou replied shortly, being entirely occupied by the tender fingers stroking his skin, doing their best to find a ticklish spot.
"They don't. I imagine five minutes of fighting would have them down for the count." Rin nodded, before giving him a somewhat annoyed look. "Though that only goes for humans. I have no idea how aliens deal with a water- and fat shortage."
"Five minutes of fighting is very long though." Shirou mumbled, before smiling. "And I am still largely human, Rin."
"Then laugh already when I tickle you." Rin grumbled, increasing the viciousness of her attacks, outright pinching his sides, though Shirou still didn't feel tickled at all. "Is this even doing anything?"
"I am not ticklish, Rin." Shirou shrugged as well as he could. "I've never been, even before Mjolnir."
"Oof." Rin pouted, before she shrugged as well. "Ah, whatever. It is how it is."
"Quite." Shirou nodded, before looking down at his abs again. "As for my muscles-"
"Just make sure to stay as you are now." Rin interrupted him. "I'm not an expert, but I think you have the ideal balance between muscle and fat right now."
"I will continue eating and exercising the way I am now." Shirou promised her, before frowning when Rin pulled a face. "Rin?"
"Oh, sorry, nothing to do with you." Rin shook her head, taking her hands off his body to cross her arms. "You just reminded me that I haven't properly exercised in a while."
"Why not?" Shirou asked, as she didn't look like someone who would skip training merely because she wasn't in the mood or anything like that.
"Because the fake priest is usually the one who aids me with my physical training."
"Kotomine?" Shirou blinked in surprise.
"Yes, he is my teacher, in both Magecraft and physical exercise." Rin groused, clearly not happy with that. "In terms of Magecraft, he's an absolute failure of a teacher, but he's really good at the physical stuff, as much as it pains me to admit it. He's been teaching my karate and other martial arts."
"Oh, he is good at fighting alright." Shirou hissed, remembering how Kiritsugu had told him that Kotomine had easily crushed his heart in one blow.
"Too good!" Rin complained loudly, rubbing her arms. "My muscles hurt like mad every time I finish practising with him."
"Hurt like mad?" Shirou suddenly felt rather worried. Rin was not someone who lightly complained about pain, so the fact that she used that phrase, which she had undoubtedly taken over from Ayako, meant that her exercises really had to hurt fiercely. "What does Kotomine make you do?"
"Running, jumping, shadowboxing, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and more stuff like that." Rin summarised quickly. "Usually, it takes about four hours, or three when he doesn't have much time."
"What about warming up beforehand? Cooling down afterwards? Do you get any breaks in-between?" Shirou almost dreading asking it, and his dread was confirmed when Rin gave him a confused look.
"What are you talking about?" She asked with genuine curiosity, and Shirou made a decision on the spot.
"You will be training with us from now on." He dictated, raising his upper body slightly. "I was going to teach Sakura some self-defence anyway, and Ayako has her own training, so you can join us. It seems there is much you need to learn about proper exercising."
"So the fake priest has been teaching me the wrong things?" Rin pulled a face again, instantly accepting his words. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"From what I hear, he made you ruin your muscles." Shirou sat up even more, reaching out to grab Rin's arms, feeling her biceps. "Yes, there are a lot of knots and sprains here that I can sense. This really isn't good."
"O-Oh." Rin looked rather nervous now, paling slightly at his disapproving expression. "So if I had continued like this…?"
"You would have become strong." Shirou admitted, before he gave her a serious look. "But not nearly as strong as you could have been, and the process would have been utterly miserable too."
"Story of my life." Rin grumbled softly, before shaking her head. "Then I gladly accept your offer of help, Emiya-kun."
"Good." Shirou nodded sharply, before he also inspected the muscles in her lower arms, again not liking what he found. "I really need to do something about these knots though. Would you accept a massage from me?"
"…A massage?" Rin parroted, her eyebrows flying upwards. "You mean, a massage-massage?"
"Yes, a massage." Shirou nodded, giving her an odd look. "You know, when you lie on a flat surface, and I rub your muscles-"
"I know what a massage is." She interrupted him, before crossing her arms with a huff. "So you are offering to give one to me?"
"Yes."
It remained quiet for a very long moment, as Rin considered his offer, before she shrugged, the corners of her lips twitching upwards.
"I don't see why not." She accepted, before looking around the dojo. "Though I don't believe you have a massage table-"
"I do now."
"And so you do." Rin nodded, looking at the massage table that had appeared right next to them. "So, do I just lay down on that?"
"You'll have to strip as well." Shirou said, before holding up his hands when Rin turned to give him an accusing look. "You don't have to remove your panties."
"But I do have to remove the rest?" Rin asked, keeping up her accusing look for a few moments, before she smirked evilly. "Fine. Emiya-kun, you brute. If you insist, I'll take off my clothes for you."
With a sharp movement of her head, she flipped her hair, still done up in their usual twin tails, back behind her shoulders. Then she sat up straight, shifting slightly on his waist to ensure she wouldn't fall off.
Next, Rin grabbed the hem of her shirt, before, in a single movement, pulling it over her head.
She didn't give him a single second though to admire her flat stomach and well-shaped shoulders, as her next move was to reach behind her back, undo her bra-strap, and take off her bra, all within one second.
She casually tossed her bra aside, still smirking evilly, though Shirou didn't see any of this. He was fully occupied by her breasts, which were now visible in all their glory.
Round, perky, and about hand-sized, they looked absolutely wonderful. They were smaller than Sakura's, but just like Ayako, Rin proved that they didn't need size to be unreasonably attractive.
As Shirou stared, he noticed that her nipples were slowly becoming hard. Since it was quite hot in the dojo, that hardness could not be caused by any kind of cold, and the knowledge that it was him who was making her react like that inevitably made Shirou hard as well.
"Oh!" Rin's eyes flew open wide when she registered his reaction, her cheeks reddening, before she realised what was going on and smirked even more evilly than before.
She leaned forward, more and more, until she lifted herself up from his waist entirely and came to sit on her hands and knees, right above him, with her face now at about equal height with his.
This meant he could now look her straight in the eyes if he gazed directly upwards, but he did no such thing. His focus was on her hanging breasts, which were now so close he could easily reach out and touch them.
Rin wasn't finished though. One of her hands reached down to unzip her skirt, and she grabbed its hem to pull it off too, before seemingly thinking better of it.
"Emiya-kun, you take it off." She told him instead, and Shirou obeyed, grabbing the skirt and slowly pulling it down Rin's legs as best as he could from his position, his focus shifting from her breasts to the creamy-white thighs that now became fully visible.
Fortunately, Rin was cooperative, and she shifted and moved around in order to allow him to completely take off her skirt. She then also made him take off her stockings, during which Shirou made sure to slide his fingers all across the length of her luscious legs.
At this point, Rin was completely naked aside from her panties, yet there was not a trace of redness to be seen anywhere on her cheeks, nor was there a single sign of embarrassment in her expression. There was only smug enjoyment.
Shirou on the other hand was blushing furiously, and it became even worse when Rin sat up on her knees and placed her hands on her own breasts, gently kneading them and moving them around, giving him a salacious grin as she did so.
Not for long though, as she quickly rose and turned around to walk to the massage table, showing him her delectable bottom for several precious seconds.
When she had laid down on the cushioned table, her head angled to the side so she could look at him, her expression was a mixture of delight, smugness, sadistic enjoyment, and pleasure, an expression that would knock her fans flat on their backs should they ever see it on her face.
"What are you waiting for, Emiya-kun?" She asked him, thoroughly enjoying his flustered state. "Weren't you going to massage me?"
"R-Right." Shirou mumbled, trying to regain his bearings after the show she'd given him, before he too got up from the ground and walked over to the massage table.
Of course, the first thing he noticed was Rin's panty clad bottom, now completely bared to his eyes, but, knowing he'd have to concentrate from now on, Shirou quickly and discreetly slapped himself in the face once, before taking a deep breath to cool off.
It was difficult, more difficult than almost any other thing he'd ever done, but in the end, he managed to suppress his rampant desires and get his mind back into focus.
Rin's muscles really did need treatment after all.
"I-I will start now then." He announced, and after she'd nodded as well as she could with her head on the table, he retrieved a bottle of massage oil –part of an exercise-starting kit that Taiga had gifted him years ago– and carefully warmed both the bottle and his hands with a quick application of fire magic.
Once the oil was sufficiently hot, he slathered a generous amount on Rin's back, before starting the massage, carefully feeling around to get an idea of what state the muscles were in.
"Warm." Rin muttered with clear approval in her voice, making Shirou crack a smile.
As he rubbed his hands over her skin however, searching for knots, he suddenly noticed something odd. Instead of the pale, smooth, and unblemished skin that her many fans claimed her to have, there were numerous tiny scars spread out all across Rin's upper back and shoulders.
Scars that could only have been caused by a pox-like disease.
They were small enough not to be visible unless you were mere centimetres away, and they had faded with time, but now that Shirou was rubbing his hands over Rin's shoulders, he could feel and see them very clearly.
"I became very ill when I was young." Rin explained unprompted, having realised that he was looking at her scars. "I don't know what disease it was, whether it was magical or mundane, but it was what made my parents have Sakura, in case I died, which looked very likely then."
"Hm." Shirou made a non-committal noise, even as he had to pay careful attention not to squeeze Rin's shoulders too hard in his agitation.
"I recovered in the end, leaving my parents with two children, but I kept those scars." Rin continued her short story. "They faded over time, but they never disappeared completely."
"I see." Shirou muttered, temporarily halting the massage to trace the scars with his fingers instead, something that sent noticeable shivers through Rin's body.
"Do you find them displeasing?" She then asked clinically, as if she didn't care about his answer, but Shirou could easily detect the undertone of worry in her voice. "I know men prefer women with smooth skin-"
"Nonsense." Shirou dismissed her words, leaning in to press tender kisses all across her shoulders and upper back. "They are not displeasing at all."
"You don't -ah- have to spare -ughn- my feelings." Rin said, unable to suppress the small sounds of pleasure. "If you dislike them-"
"I don't." Shirou cut her off again. "They are nothing but a sign of strength, showing that you survived past the illness. They are a part of you and have been for almost all your life. That means I love them as much as I love every other part of your body."
It remained very quiet for a few seconds, and Shirou felt more than he saw how Rin tensed up, before she relaxed again, letting out a deep breath.
"That sounds very perverted." She snarked eventually, making Shirou burst out in laughter, before he left her back for what it was and instead kissed the back of her head.
"You truly are delightful, Rin." He whispered into her ear, and she stiffened again. "Never change, okay?"
"Y-You don't have to tell me that! A-As if I would c-change for you!" She spluttered, pressing her head into the massage table, making her next sentence come out muffled. "Why are you talking so much anyway? Just give me a massage in silence!"
"As you say, Rin." Shirou nodded, quickly smothering his laughter, before he resumed massaging her.
It seemed showing her half-naked body to him was no problem, but a genuine compliment got her up in arms immediately.
That was so much like her.
Still laughing quietly to himself, Shirou gently rubbed her shoulders, stroking the slightly marred skin, making sure to apply deep pressure only at the points where it was needed and would not discomfort her. Her muscles, previously so tense, eased up under his ministrations, allowing him to carefully rub out the knots, sliding his fingers up and down and from left to right as he carefully treated the deep tissue.
Judging by the soft groans Rin was making, she approved of what he was doing.
He then went lower, to her upper back, where he curled his fingers and began applying pressure with the tips, following her major nerve-bundles while his thumbs pressed gently into her spine.
Rin let out a sigh of content, relaxing even more, and Shirou took that opportunity to really rub the deeper muscles in her back, applying sufficient pressure to have an actual impact, though he made sure it wouldn't hurt her.
It seemed Rin really liked it, for her toes curled in pleasure, and Shirou too was having a very good time, sliding his hands over her back, feeling every inch of the soft skin.
He continued downwards, to her lower back, still following the nerve bundles. He carefully traced the muscles, locating knots and tense areas, before carefully rubbing them out, using the tips of his index fingers for the smallest ones and the palms of his hands for the larger knots.
Then, he moved sideways to her left arm. He started with the upper arm, gently squeezing and kneading it, trying to remove the strain on the biceps in particular, before moving on to her lower arm, giving it the same treatment, though a bit gentler.
Lastly, he carefully massaged her hand and fingers, gently squeezing them one by one, before rubbing over them with his thumbs, trying to get the digits to fully relax. He wasn't sure at first whether Rin would like that, but since she remained perfectly still, not moving a muscle, he would assume she didn't dislike it at least.
He then started all over again with her right-arm, going from the upper arm to the lower arm and then to her hand.
Once that was done, he started all the way at the bottom, with her feet. He dared to be a lot rougher with them than with her hands, really pressing his thumbs into her soles to work out the knots and sprains.
Her fine, fine ankles were in surprisingly good condition though, and Shirou only rubbed the tendons lightly.
Her calves on the other hand were a right mess.
"When you practise martial arts, do you mainly use your legs?" Shirou asked out loud.
"I do." Rin confirmed, a wry smile audible in her voice. "Is it that obvious?"
"It is. The muscles and tendons there are not in a good condition." Shirou said, before taking a strong hold of her left calf. "I'm sorry, Rin, but setting them right is not going to be fun."
"Oh dear." Rin muttered, before her hands grabbed the side of the massage table. "Whatever, I'm not afraid of a little pain."
"I'm sorry." Shirou repeated, before he began pressing into her calf with his thumbs, twisting and turning the digits viciously, trying to undo the damage. Rin took it very well, barely making a sound, aside from a hiss or two whenever he was particularly vicious in rubbing out a knot, but even so, she clearly did not like it at all.
Fortunately, it didn't take very long, and once the muscles were no longer knotted and sprained, a small dose of healing power took care of the rest.
He then repeated the process for the right calf, and then he was done.
"Alright, that is over with." He sighed in relief, quickly copied by Rin, who dared to relax again. "I hope your thighs are in better condition."
"So do I." Rin groused, looking back at him as he took hold of her thighs.
Shirou then began feeling around, squeezing and kneading her plump, meaty thighs, searching for knots. He didn't find any right away, nor could he determine the muscles' condition yet, but what he could say with full confidence was that Rin's thighs were amazing.
They felt simply wonderful, pliable yet firm, and spry enough to bounce a coin off, providing just the right amount of resistance against his squeezing fingers for the experience to be optimally satisfactory.
He kneaded and then kneaded them some more, sliding his hands all over their length, sinking his fingers into the soft flesh, admiring their form and suppleness, while he also-
"And?"
Rin's question broke him out of his trance, and once he realised he'd been a little too focused on her legs, he quickly coughed once while he tried to recollect himself.
"Your thighs seem to be in good condition." He replied seriously, putting on his most concentrated expression, trying to pretend he was still entirely professional and had not just been practically hypnotised by those wonderful, wonderful thighs. "If I had to guess, I'd say you put too much strain on your calves during your training by jumping around too much and by landing wrongly. Your thighs seem to have endured it pretty well though."
"Then why are you still massaging them?" Rin lifted a single eyebrow, the corners of her mouth pulling up slightly.
"…Because they feel amazing?" Shirou replied, continuing to massage her thighs, pretending not to see her smug smile.
"Oh, do they now?" Rin purred, but Shirou was still pretending not to see or hear her, acting completely innocent.
While he was acting innocent however, Shirou suddenly found himself looking at her pale, full bottom, which, if he continued, should be next body-part he would massage, as it was the only part he hadn't yet. The prospect made his fingers twitch in desire, though he wondered if Rin would be alright with it.
He looked at her and she looked right back, immediately realising what was on his mind. Her smile went from smug to almost challenging, as if daring him to do it, and Shirou had almost worked up the courage to reach out and touch her bottom when-
"Senpai, Nee-san, we're back!"
Sakura's voice sounded from outside.
Shirou had never seen someone rise as fast as Rin did at that moment, nor had he ever known it was possible to put one's clothes on that quickly, but before Sakura had even reached the door of the dojo, Rin was fully dressed again, her expression once more completely composed.
The massage table was promptly karate-chopped in two, which made it fall apart into motes of Magical Energy again.
And as Sakura and Ayako came into the dojo, happily striking up a conversation with Rin and him, Shirou let go of his disappointment.
He might not have been able to massage Rin's butt today, but judging from her reactions during the massage, he would very likely get another chance eventually.
The next day, the inhabitants of the Emiya-estate, Rin included, were standing outside of the house, just in front of the gate. It was morning, only three days before school would begin again, and Shirou thought it was high time to deal with a rather pressing issue.
At the moment, there were seven people living in his house, sometimes eight if Taiga was present, and that was a bit of a problem. Not because of money, or because some of them had clashing personalities. It was simply an issue of space.
The Emiya-estate had been built to house five people, six if they were a little creative about it, but seven was just too much, and eight even more so. They just didn't fit comfortably inside the house anymore.
There was a lack of space in the living room, the dining room, the dojo, the bathroom, and there were too few bedrooms as well.
For now, the issue with the bedrooms wasn't too dire, as Shirou, Sakura, Ayako, and Rin all slept in one room together, and Sella, Leysritt, and Illya shared a room as well, leaving two bedrooms empty, but the single bathroom was definitely a point of worry, as were the dining room and the living room, which were definitely felt cramped when they were all together.
Fortunately, Shirou had accounted for that when he brought Illya and her maids with him to Fuyuki. Granted, he hadn't counted on Rin becoming a de-facto housemate as well, but ultimately, it changed little.
He would just have to enlarge his house on the inside, like he did to his suitcases.
He would enlarge the living room and the dining room, add more bathrooms, more bedrooms, several storage rooms, and several other things that the girls had requested, such as a larger dojo, a large room styled like a fancy restaurant, a second Workshop for Rin in addition to the one she had at home, and a Workshop for Illya.
His plan was received positively by everyone, and no one doubted his ability to deliver. Even Sella and Rin had by now accepted the fact that he could do something like that, and the maid was standing back a little, looking on with a neutral face, while Rin had a notebook and a pen ready, to make copious notes for her research.
Just before Shirou had started though, he realised his plan had a weak spot, which was the reason he had taken everyone outside.
"If I just enlarge the house, we'll be left with an awful amount of empty space inside." He told them, putting his hands on his sides. "I simply don't have enough stuff in the estate."
"Can't you just buy or Project more furniture?" Rin huffed, lifting an eyebrow at him. "Either of those shouldn't be too difficult for you, mister Billionaire demigod."
"True." Shirou nodded self-confidently, making Rin deadpan at him. "But why would I go through all that effort when I can also just connect the living quarters of the Vault to the house and get instant furniture that way?"
Essentially, he'd be keeping the estate largely the same, though slightly bigger, but he would connect his pocket dimension to the hallways, so that his house and the Vault would essentially become one. This would give him more space inside his house while at the same time giving all inhabitants access to his possessions.
"You're going to connect dimensions together inside your own house?!" Rin looked at him as if he was crazy, which was perhaps fair enough.
"One of those dimensions is just a pocket dimension I am going to partially manifest, Rin. A pocket dimension that's under my complete control." Shirou explained as best as he could. "It's not as difficult as actually connecting two dimensions together."
"Even so!" Rin spluttered, her voice shrill from shock. "That's still insane-!"
"Instead of complaining, shouldn't you be taking this as a learning opportunity, Tohsaka-san?" Illya interrupted her, giving the black-haired girl a kind smile. "I recall my grandfather telling me that your family has a special interest in the Second Magic."
"An interest…?" Rin fell silent, her eyes going wide in realisation, and then she brought her notebook up again, her expression turned deadly serious. "Emiya-kun, I'll be stalking you for the rest of today in order to improve the craft of the Tohsaka-family. Thank you for your understanding."
"That's fine, I guess?"
"We'll also accompany you, though I wouldn't call it stalking." Ayako huffed in amusement. "I'm rather interested in what will happen. If it's anything like when we travel to the Vault, it will be quite amazing to see."
"Will there be a lot of rainbows?" Leysritt asked hopefully.
Everyone weighed in on the matter, all of them expressing their intentions and hopes, and Shirou felt almost regretful he'd have to let them down.
No, scratch that, he actually felt regretful, period.
"I'm just about finished already, girls." He said apologetically, having just connected the Vault with his house with Mjolnir's help. "I have been doing the connecting over the past few minutes. That's why I wanted us all to go outside."
"Huh?!" Rin turned towards him with wide eyes, swiftly copied by the others. "You're already done?!"
"Well, yes, like I said, that's why I brought us all outside." Shirou rubbed the back of his head, giving them an unsure smile. "Did you think I brought you outside just to discuss my plans?"
"W-Warn a girl before you do something like that!" Rin cried, jumping at him to grab the front of his shirt, but only for a second, as she promptly let go and stormed into the house again, apparently having decided that seeing the results of his work was more important than scolding him.
"Rin, wait up!" Ayako swiftly followed the black-haired girl, in turn followed by Sakura, Illya, and the maids.
Shirou shook his head fondly at their enthusiasm, before he went inside at a more sedate pace, already knowing what he would find.
As planned, the hallway, the living room, and the dining room had not changed much, aside from becoming slightly bigger on the inside to easily and comfortably accommodate up to ten people instead of five. Additionally, the doorway to the garden had not changed, nor had the garden itself been altered much. It was after all the most visible part of his house to passers-by and should thus not be tampered with in any obvious way.
The shed and the dojo on the other hand should have undergone massive changes, which was what Shirou was going to check first.
When he stepped through the shed's door, he immediately saw that his attempt to enlarge it and connect it to the Vault had been successful. Instead of being met with the sight of his actual shed, which had been dark, slightly cramped, and stuffed to the point of bursting, he found himself in a massive hall easily as big as three football fields, filled with all kinds of equipment, well-lit by the lamps hanging from the ceiling.
Workbenches were standing along the entire length of every wall, whole cabinets full of various tools, Magical and mundane, were standing around at regular intervals, there were so many tables Shirou could walk over them from one side of the shed to the other without ever touching the ground, and the number of Mystic Codes and other special materials would have given the Magi of the Clocktower a collective heart-attack. His old stuff was there too, most notably his books and his motorcycle, standing in the corner.
This was no longer an improvised Workshop of a Third-Rate Magus hidden inside a dingy shed. This was a Sorcerer's Workshop, and Shirou couldn't quite suppress a flash of pride at the sight, indicating his time at the Clocktower might have corrupted him more than he had expected.
He found himself almost eager to try out all the new applications, just for fun, but he resisted the temptation. Thoroughly checking the new shed out could come later, as he had more to do today.
So it was with regret that he left the shed, closing the door behind him, before he headed to the dojo.
Once there, he found that the door was already slightly ajar, indicating someone had gone in before him. Upon stepping inside, he found that that someone was Ayako.
Her presence was hardly surprising. The brunette was the most ardent user of the dojo, even more so than him, so it wasn't strange she'd go to check up on her Sancta Sanctorum before anything else.
Shirou just hoped she liked the new design.
Just like the shed, the dojo had undergone a massive change. Instead of the small hall filled with tatami-mats that it had been before, it was now an enormous complex, far bigger than the new shed, with the ceiling being dozens of metres high, periodically supported by pillars carved into weapons, bats, tennis rackets, and other sports equipment.
The walls didn't have any windows, but the roof did, and the sunlight falling through those windows lit up the dojo so brightly that it seemed as if there was no roof at all.
It was the new contents of the dojo however that really drew his eye.
There was still an area with tatami-mats, for a variety of sports, but it was now at least three times bigger than before. There was an area filled with gym-equipment, as well as a racing track, an actual football field, an Olympic swimming pool, an athletics range, a tennis field, and numerous other areas that were fitted for sports Shirou didn't even know the name of. All of it spread around in such a way that they didn't interfere with each other.
Furthermore, there were fields of actual grass growing at several places, there were biking tracks with differences in altitude, mimicking small hills, and there were even training robots available that would act as either coaches or sparring partners, depending on what you wanted at a given time.
In short, it was a sportsman's paradise.
"Good gracious, Shirou." Ayako laughed once she spotted him, hopping over to him with a grin so bright Shirou was almost blinded. "You really do know how to spoil a girl."
"I'm glad you like it." Shirou smiled, putting his arm around her shoulder to pull her close and kiss the side of her head, relieved the changes had been approved. "Use it to your heart's content, and if there's anything wrong, let me know immediately so I can fix it."
"I'll be sure to." The brunette grinned, rubbing her head against his chest for a moment, before she dislodged herself from him and ran towards the fencing area. "I'll get started right away!"
"Be careful! Those swords are very much real!" Shirou called out.
"I know." She called back, giving him a quick thumbs-up in acknowledgement of his warning, before fearlessly drawing two swords at once out of the rack and turning towards a nearby sparring robot, which also pulled out a sword.
Shirou shook his head in fond consternation and amusement, before he decided to leave Ayako to her sparring.
It was time he went to check on the kitchen.
"Hello, Senpai." Inside the kitchen, Shirou found Sakura meticulously going through the drawers and cabinets, neatly cataloguing the effects of the recent changes. "I'll be with you in a minute."
The kitchen hadn't undergone as radical a change as the shed or the dojo, but it had still tripled in size and had at least ten stoves, five microwave-ovens, and an ungodly amount of equipment added to it. Naturally, it was all state of the art, sparkling, and ridiculously expensive.
In fact, considering the universe of Thor had been incredibly advanced in technology, far more so than Shirou's own world, he was willing to bet most of the new kitchen appliances didn't even exist in his world yet.
Large, hypermodern, and state of the art, this was no longer the kitchen of a Japanese estate, but the kitchen of a top-class restaurant, ready to serve the world's best food to at least fifty customers. The envy of every famous cook, without a doubt.
Unlike with the dojo however, Shirou wasn't sure whether that change was a good one.
"Do you think I went overboard with the changes, Sakura?" He decided to ask his fellow cook, who had at least as big a stake in the kitchen's design as he did. "I mean, bigger isn't always better, and we may have lost a lot of personality now that I have made it look so professional, if you know what I mean."
"I understand, Senpai." Sakura nodded, before giving him a reassuring smile. "But you don't have to worry. I like that it looks more professional now. I have no doubt we can cook far better meals in here than in our previous kitchen."
"And the personality that we lost?"
"We'll create more." Sakura flexed her arm, showing off a lovely bicep in a strongwoman-pose, giving him a wink. "We can do it, Senpai! We'll just have to work hard and cook for hours every day! For at least a month! Then we have made our mark on it."
"Nice try, but school begins again in three days, and we won't be playing hooky." Shirou scolded her lightly, gently flicking her forehead.
"Ouchie!" She complained, before pouting at him. "But Senpai!"
"No." He told her sternly. "Cooking is important, but school even more so."
"…Oof." Sakura, being a smart girl, of course knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it, and she petulantly crossed her arms to show her dismay.
It only made her look adorable though, and Shirou promptly took her in a tender hug.
"Senpai?"
"What? Do I need a reason to hug my cutest girlfriend?"
"Well, I suppose not." Sakura admitted, her frown disappearing, before she leaned into the hug a bit more, letting out a contented sigh.
"I better go and see what Illya and Rin are up to." Shirou said after a minute or so. "Will you be alright here?"
"Oh yes, I will." Sakura nodded, letting go of him again and twirling around, pointing at all the new applications. "I think getting properly acquainted with our new friends will take quite a while."
"I'll join you as soon as I can, so we can get started on making lunch." Shirou promised her. "I just have to check the house and find everyone first."
"Then hurry, Senpai." Sakura beamed at him. "I'll be waiting for you."
Before starting the 'renovation', Shirou had pondered for quite a while about what he should do with the bedrooms. Unlike with the dojo, the shed, and the kitchen, making the bedrooms bigger had little added value, considering they weren't meant to hold a lot of people or a lot of things, and frankly, they had been perfectly serviceable and cosy the way they were.
As such, in order to still create more room for possible future guests, Shirou had simply added more bedrooms, choosing quantity over quality.
Before the renovation, all of his four bedrooms had been located along a single hallway on the left side of his house. After the renovation, that design was still the same, but Shirou had increased the hallway's length, making it stretch on for at least a hundred metres, with the new bedrooms located on either side of it.
It was about fifty metres down this hallway that he found Rin, looking between four open doors and gaping in absolute astonishment at the casual violation of the rules of physics.
"Emiya-kun, these rooms, where are they even located?" She spluttered once she saw him. "This hallway is so long it should have gone into your neighbour's house already!"
"We are in the Vault now, Rin." Shirou explained, before gesturing towards the start of the corridor. "This hallway begins in my house, but as you continue walking through it, you step into my pocket dimension."
"Nonsense!" Rin reflexively denied his claim, looking a bit woozy again. "Y-You cannot build a hallway across two separate dimensions!"
"Allow me to prove it then." Shirou gently took her arm to pull her into one of the bedrooms. "I will show you that I am telling the truth. Don't be startled, I'm going to hit the wall now."
He did as he'd said, swinging his first into the back wall of the room, easily slamming a hole into it, before showing Rin what lay behind it.
If the bedroom had been a room in the real world, there should have been another room on the other side of the wall, or perhaps the outside world, but that was not what Rin saw.
"…There's nothing there." She muttered, gazing forward into the white expanse that was visible through the hole. "Nothing at all."
"Indeed." Shirou nodded, before repairing the hole with a quick wave of his hand. "This room exists in my pocket dimension, and there is nothing beyond it."
"…That's almost scary." Rin laughed with a rather empty voice. "What if this place collapses? Will we cease to exist?"
"The Vault cannot collapse, Rin. It is an actual place, just like our own world." Shirou tried to reassure her, though he wasn't sure where the existential dread was suddenly coming from. "The only thing that can collapse is the connection between them, and in that case, you'd end up on the side you are on at that moment. Sakura, who is in the kitchen right now, would end up in the real world, while we, being in the bedrooms of the Vault, will end up in the Vault."
"…If I get stuck in the Vault on my own, you'll rescue me, right?" Rin asked pleadingly, taking his hand.
"Of course. That goes without saying."
Rin let out a sigh of relief, letting go of his hand, before she slapped herself in the face once and put on a brave smile.
"In that case, I'm going to explore this place further. It isn't every day I see a connection between dimensions after all." She laughed. "Please leave for now, Emiya-kun. I'll need my utmost concentration for this."
"Good luck, Rin." Shirou nodded, before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Let me know when you have mastered the Second Magic."
"Clear off!" She spluttered, glaring at him as he walked away.
Before the 'renovation', Shirou's house had had two storage rooms and a shed, although the shed was used more as a Workshop than as a place of storage.
After the renovation, there were still two storage rooms and a shed, but one of the storage rooms was now directly connected with the main hall of the Vault, where all the treasures were stored. In other words, it had become a direct connection with Shirou's pocket dimension, eliminating the need for any other storage spaces.
It was there, in the main hall of the Vault, that he found Illya and Sella standing in front of one of the massive piles of treasure. Not Leysritt though. Despite his best efforts, Shirou was unable to locate her, indicating she was absent from her mistress' side.
"Haven't you seen enough of this place by now?" He asked curiously. "You have been staying here for three weeks already."
"Yes, we know." Illya nodded, though she didn't look away from the object she was holding, a small lantern that could reveal the presence of ghosts. "We are just checking whether we can actually move stuff from this place into the real world."
"You can." Shirou confirmed for them, gently prodding Sella in her side, as the maid appeared to have been stunned into silence again. "Now that I have made the connection, you can pick up something from here, take it through the door, and bring it into our world."
"Travelling through dimensions with the ease of stepping through an open door." Sella murmured, smiling emptily, much like Rin had. "This truly is the power of a god."
"I'm still mostly human." Shirou defended himself, as that remark actually stung for some reason. "And like I said to Rin, I'm only connecting our own dimension to one that I have absolute control over. It's not that impressive."
"Don't even reply to that, Sella." Illya said sternly, giving Shirou a look that was a strange mix between consternation, exhaustion, and pity. "This one's common sense is clearly long gone."
"Long gone?" Shirou blinked in surprise, before he frowned. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with my common sense!"
"Sure, sure." Illya smiled blithely, and even Sella managed to put on an indulging smile. "There's nothing wrong with your common sense at all."
"…Where's Leysritt anyway?" Shirou ultimately decided to ask, wise enough to know when he was fighting a losing battle. "It's rare for her to leave your side."
"I think she went to check on the bath." Sella replied, the expression on her face both fond and exasperated. "That girl does love her baths."
"Then she will love what I did with the bathroom." Shirou grinned.
Of all the places in the Emiya-estate, it was perhaps the bathroom that had undergone the biggest change of them all.
Before, it had been nothing but a standard bathroom, with a bathtub, a rack for towels, and a sink for rinsing oneself before one could soak in the hot bath.
Now, it was not so much a bathroom anymore as it was a bathhouse. It was, like most other places, a lot bigger now, and had been divided into one main hall and numerous smaller, separate rooms.
Inside those separate rooms, there were changing areas, either for individuals or for groups of varying sizes, but also towel-storages, cabinets full of shampoos and other such bathing products, shower-rooms for the actual cleaning, and even small baths, like the one Shirou had before, for people who wanted absolute privacy while bathing.
But all those rooms were nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to the main hall, which had become large enough to hold the entirety of Homurahara High.
Beautifully patterned tiles covered the floor, the ceiling, and the walls, periodically interrupted by a painting of a scene from fairy tales that Shirou vaguely recognised. The ceiling was held up by marvellous marble pillars carved into statues of boars, goats, and ravens. Several opaque windows in the roof and walls let sunlight through, brightly illuminating the hall.
Throughout the hall, there were multiple baths spread around, each of them large enough to resemble pools. They weren't as big as the swimming pool in the dojo –that would be ridiculous– but they were certainly big enough to comfortably swim in.
The baths weren't all the same though. There was one with cold water, for the health-fanatics, one with hot water, for the casual bather, and one with scalding hot water, for the fireproof people. There was also a bubble bath, a lazy river of all things, and a shallow lounging pool, filled with hot water and floating waterbeds on which people could, as the name of the pool suggested, lounge.
In a corner of the room, there were several benches placed near showerheads, along with a table full of soaps, oils, sponges, and clothes, together forming an area that was rather obviously meant for people to wash each other.
The steam wafting up from the scalding hot bath warmed up the hall itself as well, and Shirou let out a soft sigh of enjoyment as that warmth seeped into his bones.
As he walked through the bathing hall, he also noticed that all the baths had a slanting bottom, at their left being shallow enough for even Illya to be able to stand with her head above the water, while at their right being so deep Shirou couldn't even see the bottom.
From about halfway to the right, the baths also had a protruding edge located around one metre below the water's surface, perfectly fit to sit on while still having everything but one's head under the water.
It was on that protruding edge in the scalding hot bath that Leysritt was currently seated, only her head coming up above the water, though the water's clarity still allowed Shirou to see that she was completely naked.
Her clothes were lying around the pool's edge, having been hastily discarded by the maid in her hurry to sample the bath, and a towel had been placed nearby, for when she was done bathing.
"Hey, Leysritt." He greeted her once he was standing at the bath's edge, only a single metre away from her. "Enjoying the bath?"
"Yes." She sighed, her voice so content that it was clear she wasn't going to come out any time soon, not making any sort of attempt to cover herself up. "Finally a bath that is not cold."
Shirou gave her a curious look, before looking at the steam that was rising from the water. He then checked the temperature for himself, and raised an eyebrow at the results.
"You must be fireproof." He huffed, looking Leysritt over, really surprised by the fact she wasn't as red as a lobster yet. "Are you really sure you're okay in there?"
"I am." Leysritt nodded, before finally opening her eyes to look at him. "Could you tell lady Illya and Sella that I'll stay in here for a while?"
"I will." Shirou promised, and Leysritt closed her eyes again in deep content.
The redhead then looked around the bathing hall one more time, before he decided that he could explore the place later, with his girlfriends. Undoubtedly, that would be a lot more fun than if he did so on his own.
"I can sense your perverted thoughts." Leysritt suddenly remarked, and Shirou, feeling rather exposed by her sudden insight, decided to retreat before she read any more of his thoughts.
He'd come back after she left.
In the end, the changes to the Emiya-estate were unanimously approved by the inhabitants.
Ayako was over the moon with her new dojo, Sakura had already claimed the kitchen, Rin had taken four of the bedrooms to convert into her second Workshop, Illya and Sella had filled the larger living room with beanbags and body pillows, and Leysritt had decided that the bathing hall was now her favourite place ever.
Taiga also gave it her sign of approval once she stopped by. To be frank, she'd fainted at first, but once she was back up, only a few seconds later, she'd been very enthusiastic about the new form of the Emiya-estate.
All's well that ends well.
But with that matter over with, there was something else to address that day, something much less fun.
"Fake priest!"
Rin pretty much rammed in the doors of the church, shouting loudly for Kotomine to show himself as she stormed inside, her face set in a thunderous expression.
"Fake priest! Show yourself!" She repeated, marching past the pews and towards the altar, glaring with unrestrained fury at the statue of the cross that hung from the back wall. "I know you're in here!"
She was followed closely behind by Shirou, Sakura, and Ayako, the first two because they had questions of their own for the priest, and the brunette because she didn't want to be left out of the action.
"Kotomine!" Shirou also called, though with a far calmer voice than Rin. "Please come out, we only want to talk!"
"We won't harm you!" Sakura added, hoping that such a promise might prompt the priest to emerge.
"I make no such promises!" Unfortunately, Rin immediately undercut it. "You have been lying to me! Depending on the truth, I will be very mad at you!"
"And the longer you're going to hide, the madder she'll get!" Ayako jeered, clearly enjoying the situation very much. "Come on, face the consequences of your own actions like a man!"
Their shouts echoed through the empty church, but there was no response. Nothing at all, not even the creak of a door opening or the footsteps of a man running away.
The church was silent as the grave.
"Do you think he left?" Sakura eventually wondered out loud, at a more normal volume than before.
"That can't be." Rin shook her head however. "He almost never leaves this church, and he always warns me in advance if he does leave."
"But you said you haven't spoken with him in quite a while." Ayako countered, crossing her arms with a thoughtful look. "Maybe he left without telling you?"
"At the very least, I cannot sense him anywhere." Shirou said, looking around in an attempt to find a trace of Kotomine. "This place is abandoned."
"But… Even if he would leave without telling me, then why? Why would he leave so suddenly?" Rin asked, more to herself than to the others. "Nothing special should be happening today, nothing of importance happened in the city, and I would know if he was replaced with another priest."
"Nevertheless, he did leave." Shirou stated again.
"I believe you." Rin assured him quickly, glancing at him for a moment, before she placed a hand on her chin. "But I don't know why he would have left."
"Because I told him to."
Shirou almost jumped in fright when an unknown voice suddenly sounded through the church, and when he turned around to face the owner, every hair on the back of his neck stood on end as the bottom of his stomach fell away.
Because there, on one of the church pews, sprawled out against the backrest, a figure was seated, a figure who had clearly been present from the moment their little group had entered the Church but had gone completely unnoticed by them all.
They had fully hidden themselves from his senses to a degree no one had ever been able to before. Until they had spoken up, Shirou hadn't had the faintest clue they were there, which had never happened to him before.
A thousand possibilities flashed through the redhead's mind, from another Wraith to a Demon, but when the figure rose from the pew and stepped into the light, revealing himself fully, Shirou realised the truth was worse than anything he could ever have come up with.
Golden hair that looked as if it had been spun from sunlight framed the figure's supernaturally handsome face, while deceptively ordinary clothes covered his perfectly sculpted body. Lips as red as blood were shaped into a smug grin, and hands looking worn but splendid held two cups of wine.
The figure exuded an aura of power and control, of might and magic, and the shining red eyes spoke of an immense Authority that was best likened to that of a god.
An Authority that had once ruled humanity's first city, and perhaps even the entirety of the ancient world, that had rejected the advances of the goddess of love and war, and that had spurned the Age of the Gods itself.
It was a vision of nigh-perfection, and even if Shirou didn't have his father's description, then Ayako's angry snarl, Sakura's huff, and Rin's pale face would still have revealed the figure's identity right away.
"Gilgamesh."
The golden demigod took in a deep breath after Shirou stated his name, and then the smile became much, much wider.
He took a step forward, and it took everything Shirou had not to take a step back in response. In fact, it was taking everything he had not to either grab Mjolnir and take a swing at the figure or grab the girls and run as fast as he could.
Because he could see, clear as day, that this was the worst possible version of Gilgamesh imaginable.
This was no longer a Servant, summoned by the Grail, but a Spirit Origin made manifest through forces that should never have tampered with it. A manifested Servant that had been changed into an absolute mockery of himself, like some kind of demented parody that Angra Mainyu might have come up with.
This was not Archer-Gilgamesh, or Caster-Gilgamesh, or even the actual Heroic Spirit-Gilgamesh. This was Gilgamesh at his very lowest, at his most cruel, his most sad and most desperate. At the darkest points in his life's journey.
The grief over the loss of his only friend at the hands of a being beyond his reach. The anger at both the world and the gods. The arrogance and entitlement of a young king. The deepest revulsion for humanity that Gilgamesh had ever felt in his darkest moments. The utter despair when even his mother had turned away from him.
The worst qualities of every stage of the king's life had been combined into one form, turning him into an evil caricature of himself that had never actually existed.
He hadn't been corrupted, not really, but he might as well have been.
Every muscle in Shirou's body tensed, Mjolnir only a single thought away from manifesting, and even the other Magical blades he'd seen in his life, Monohoshi Zao at the front, were clamouring to be called into existence.
For a moment, it remained quiet between them.
Then the golden figure opened his mouth.
"At last I have found you, godling."