"Are you sure about this?"
I couldn't blame Rin for her incredulity. Shirou Emiya was someone she saw nearly every single day. They went to the same school, where she was a year his senior, and as talented as she was, surely she should have noticed his predisposition to our craft.
The fact was that she didn't though.
"He's the seventh master."
I kept my voice steady, not turning to face the confused teenager by my side. We both watched an auburn-haired young man wiping the wooden floors of some kind of rustic pub bathed in somber, pale light. It looked like the kind of place where someone would sob out their worries with a bartender that pretended he gave a lick about a drunk. I definitely wasn't speaking from experience.
He didn't seem to notice us and remained focused on the dusty floor.
It was a bit surreal seeing the main character right after Rin. Shirou Emiya was even wearing that same pair of straight blue jeans and the long sleeved white-and-blue baseball tee. His expression betrayed nothing as he focused completely on his work.
"But he doesn't have command seals." Rin noted, crossing her arms. Her doubt was written all over her face. "And I don't sense any mana from him."
"I think he'd have to be actively using mana for that."
"But, the command seals should have manifested by now."
"Even if you can't tell-" I caught her clenching her fist, "-Caster will be able to. She's going to come after him."
After her recent encounter with, I believed Medea would be a lot more prepared when she inevitably sought him out. At the same time however, I doubted she'd expect two masters to join hands this early into the Grail War. As long as there was a chance at getting rid of her, I had to at least try.
"So we just lay in wait? What stops her from realising we're there?"
"My servant can bypass her detection." I offered, raising my hand halfway, "I'll have Shirou followed... and we can hide in a nearby house."
"I think a servant would at least be able to tell if there were other magi around. Who even is Caster anyway?"
I raised a brow.
Rin did not trust me. I could not possibly hold that against her. But, it was a bit unexpected that she'd begin talking this casually.
"What? We're helping each other out right now, aren't we? This much won't cost you."
"You like him?" I questioned, curious more than anything.
"W-Wha?"
"You're worried about him."
Shirou Emiya was, after all, a proper harem protagonist. One of the oldest and realest to do it in fact. I felt a bit sad for myself who couldn't draw any attention from the opposite gender so far in this new life. Well, there was Francesca, but... ehhhh.
"Nothing like that. We just go to the same school." She said hurriedly.
I felt a smirk tug at my lips. "Well, Caster is Medea. The Witch of Betrayal."
Rin immediately dropped her previous thoughts and bit her lower lip, "Then, she's one of the most famous mages in history."
The more well-known a servant was, the stronger they were.
Greek Mythology was possibly the most well-known and studied mythos in the present world. If PJO came out in late 2005 as before, that fame would be boosted even further. Thankfully, there was no need to deal with Greek heroes boosted by that just yet.
She held her chin, "The Princess of Colchis. Does she have the Golden Fleece?"
Instead of answering her, I found my gaze locked with Shirou. He'd noticed us while carrying out the trash bags. No, it was more likely that he ended up recognising Rin and became curious about what she was doing out here. She was one of the most popular girls in his school.
The sheer intensity of his gaze made me feel uncomfortable.
"I don't think so." I said slowly, indiscreetly nudging her with my elbow.
The wind rustled her hair as she turned to stare at Shirou.
"Oh. Emiya. What a coincidence."
"Tohsaka-san," Shirou spoke the words hesitantly, unsure of her sudden familiarity, "Coincidence?"
Rin looked at me, suddenly recalling that I'd never told her my name, or asked hers, "He's a relative of mine."
-What a generic excuse!
I stared at her in disbelief.
"I'm just showing him around the city."
"Re-lative?" He repeated.
"Mm."
Instead of gently nudging me, Rin straight jammed her elbow into my side. Wincing, I held a hand out to Shirou. "Enji Zen'in. Just Enji is fine."
Shirou nodded weirdly. Besides me, Rin stared at me with eyes wide open.
"So you're acquaintances?" My words were a bit awkward.
"Well, I wouldn't say that-"
Suddenly, Rin was grabbing my arm and pulling me away. She marched down the sidewalk, waving a hand at Shirou. "See you at school then, Emiya-kun."
"Huh..."
The pedestrians stared at us weirdly as we passed them by. It was a strange feeling, being led along by a girl this way. Strange because it was not as flattering as I had expected to be all my life. Hm, was she just too young? That was it. I imagined someone like Bazett doing the same and immediately felt like becoming smug.
"Damn."
Rin only spoke again once we had rounded several corners, at the edge of a small park fixed with a couple benches around a fountain.
"...Why didn't you tell me you were a Zen'in?"
"It's not that important."
I grew a tad confused.
From what Tsumiki had told me, the Zen'in were an unremarkable family just full of themselves who no longer had access to magecraft. If that were truly the case, the name should have meant nothing at all to anyone.
Rin sighed loudly, "No wonder then. What do you even mean it's not that important? Are you so far gone that you think being the Second Owner of most of Kyoto isn't a big deal at all? Is it just natural to you?"
Rin was the Second Owner of Fuyuki.
Wait... what?
Wait, wait, Naoya Zen'in spoke with a Kansai dialect too. If the clan was up and running, practising magecraft instead of jujutsu, then did that mean there was a chance I would run into some variation of him?
Nah, couldn't be.
"Are you from a branch family?"
If the clan was structured the same way as in Jujutsu Kaisen, then by rights, as the wielder of the Ten Shadows and the holder of the ancestral Crest, I was supposed to be their head.
"You have the family Crest, so that can't possibly be it."
"You can tell?"
"I saw. I'm not stupid like you think I am."
Shaking her head, Rin cleared her throat.
"Then, as the head of the Tohsaka, let me welcome you to Fuyuki."
She held out a hand.
I stared at it quietly, considering my options as a dump truck drove past us.
The Zen'in Clan of this world were unknown to me, though from all I knew, they seemed to be exactly like where I did know them from, misogyny and all that. Her words solidified that image further. If they controlled most of Kyoto, and were known to other practising families in the country as bigshots, then there was no real difference at all, in any capacity.
Rin grew nervous, squirming in place in a near-imperceptible fashion. There was even sweat on her brow, and she kept tucking stray bangs behind her ears. If the knowledge of my family was the cause for this, then verily, the Zen'in were powerful people, not at all like what my 'sister' had told me.
And, there was no way Tsumiki didn't know.
Pursing my lips, I took Rin's hand and gave it a firm shake.
She breathed out a sigh.
"What was that for?"
"I totally thought I'd have to punch you."
Now that she had confirmed my identity as a magus, Rin's facade crumbled away. She began treating me as an equal. Just what that entailed, I did not yet know. Still, I grew curious.
"Why?"
"I was expecting you to scoff at me, or call me an inferior creature." The teenager idly shrugged her hands. "I know you don't have the best opinion of women."
The words were like an arrow through my heart.
She thought I was like Ogi or Naoya Zen'in just because we shared the same name-... Nevermind, it made sense. But what about the legendary Uncle John?!
"And, even I can admit that Fuyuki alone is nothing compared to Kyoto. But don't let that get to your head, only one of our families studied under Zelretch."
"Isn't the Zen'in line from the Age of the Gods though?"
The Crest too was made by the Gods themselves for the sole purpose of using and supporting the Ten Shadows Technique.
Rin froze. Then, slowly, raised a shaking hand.
"He was a magician-"
Gah, how I wished I could ask her to shed some more light on my clan, but that would be counter-intuitive at the moment. No, wait-
"Mysoginists. Egotists. Powerful. I wonder what else they say."
Rin put a hand at her hips, tilting her head with a sneer. Her hair fell to the side. "Disrespectful apostates that take in anyone who's willing to join their bloodline because they already lost the work of their ancestors."
...That explained a lot too.
Then, my family had taken to adopting mages from other families to help win back, or otherwise make up for, the void left behind by the disappearance of the Ten Shadows and their Crest. The more I learnt, the more it felt like they were really just the same weird asshats as their namesake. Still, that would indeed make for an intriguing isekai adventure when the son of an exiled man returned as the wielder of what they'd lost centuries ago-... Was I really just Megumi?
"Can't even disagree." I shrugged right back.
She giggled, "At least you accept it."
More like I didn't give two shits about a family that cast out my father. I'd never even known them.
"Miss Rin, I think you've become too casual."
"...It's fine, isn't it?" She averted her gaze, "You clearly want to work together."
"Then we should probably get moving."
"Ah right," She hit her palm with her fist, "I don't think just hiding somewhere will do the trick."
I hummed.
"Well, I think I might have a way around that too."
Humans tended to not look up when they scanned their surroundings.
-
I had someone read this and they said Rin becomes too casual, but I distinctly recall that it takes Rin all of ten seconds to go from serious to casual with Shirou when you first encounter her. Actually, she becomes casual the second she realises Shirou's a master.
As usual, please do comment so I can get that dopamine hit that gets me raring to write. Of course, if there's any difference in quality, don't hesitate to point that out either.