Fool's World: Wheel of Fortune (ch. 9)

"If I'm your target, then why take a shot at Rin?" I questioned, considering my position. My forearm hurt like hell, and I really didn't like how there was a stake fed through the center of it. Worst of all, I couldn't make a fist. My middle fingers weren't responding, and my pinky and pointer finger were numb. So, not only was I facing down a Servant here to kill me, but I was doing it with one hand tied behind my back.

No matter how I looked at it, the odds weren't in my favor.

The Servant smiled, tugging on the chain that connected us. Rin scrambled to her feet, though not before sparing a glance at my punctured forearm. Blood streamed from between my fingers, my jacket offering no protection, and the sleeve was quickly soaking through. She leveled an arm at the Servant, who answered my question. "She's a witness."

"The Grail War hasn't started yet. You and your master are completely out of line!" Rin snapped at the woman. "If you don't let us go right now, the overseer will punish you," Rin said as she inched closer. Almost as soon as the words left her lips, she continued in a low whisper. "She won't back down. Can you run?" She asked, barely moving her lips as she took another step closer until we were standing side by side.

"Not with this in me," I answered lowly, my heart beating in a steady rhythm. After all the excitement I'd had today, an attack by an enemy Servant didn't seem all that terrifying. It's not like my life was any more at risk now than when the Yakuza were beating on me. "I don't suppose you have a Servant?"

Rin winced ever so slightly, telling me my answer. "No… I haven't managed to get the catalyst that my father left for me yet." she answered, and based on the lack of reaction from the woman, she was content to give us all the time we wanted to come up with a plan.

I really came into this Grail War with preconceived notions, and so far, none of them had worked out. "Right," I muttered. The woman used spikes on chains. So, odds were she wasn't Saber. Or Lancer. Berserkers were supposedly incapable of speech, so it was also unlikely. I'm not sure if throwing the spikes would count as projectiles, so she could be Archer. And just because I didn't see a vehicle of some kind didn't mean she didn't have one.

My bet was that she was either Assassin, Rider, or Archer.

Which was bad. The latter two meant running was pointless since she would either be much faster, or we couldn't escape her range fast enough. Assassin, on the other hand… they were the weakest Servant overall. That being said, the weakest Servant was still more than a match for the strongest human.

"Have you decided what you're going to do yet?" she asked, grabbing hold of the chain, picking up the slack and sending a wave of what felt like pure hellfire through my arm. I spared a glance at Rin, whose face didn't betray the uncertainty I was sure we both felt.

I took in a deep breath, letting the air fill my lungs. Possibly for the final time.

"Yeah," I said before I broke into a dead sprint directly at the Servant. I wrapped the slack chain around my forearm, because that was the only way I could think of to prevent her from using the weapon on me. The Servant tilted her head, watching me approach calmly. As if I wasn't a threat at all. And it was probably the truth.

"How courageous," she remarked, before she tossed the other spike at me, and this time, I was able to see it coming. It was barely bigger than an inch across, but for a split second, my vision was filled with the sight of its very deadly point. I leaned my head out of the way, and where it would have punched through my forehead, the chain rustled through my hair as I continued forward.

Then she yanked sharply on the spike that was already embedded in my arm, and in that moment, it couldn't have been more obvious the sheer gap in physical power between us. With the simple action, it felt like my entire arm was about to rip off, and the only reason the spike didn't rip straight out of me was the loops of chain I had wrapped around my forearm. I was lifted off my feet and sent flying through the air, almost like I was a fish that she had hooked. She looked up at me, her other spike returning to her waiting palm with a flick of her wrist.

She flung it up at me as I sailed through the air, flying right at her. It was more dumb luck than skill that saved me. I kicked out, trying to right my balance, and I smacked the spike away, throwing it off course. A second later, I hit the ground with a roll, coming to my feet so close to the woman that I could reach out and touch her.

So, I did.

I lashed out with a high kick that she effortlessly ducked underneath, moving so smoothly it was as if she had all the time in the world to dodge. Shifting my weight, I jumped up, following through the first high kick to transition into a roundhouse. The back of my foot slammed into the taut chain between her hands, a fraction of an inch from hitting her temple. It didn't so much as waver a centimeter in her grip. As soon as my other foot touched down on the ground, I threw myself forward.

Only to dodge back when the other spike appeared in her hand and she thrust up with it, nearly skewering me. I dodged out of the way, lashing out with the back of my fist as she missed her stab. I felt her hair brush against my skin as I narrowly missed her. She retreated back, moving back a dozen feet with a simple jump, heading deeper into the forest of dead trees.

Something wasn't right, I decided as I reached to the spike in my arm. She could have beaten me easily. She was playing with me. The small links of the chain were slick with my blood, but I wrapped them around my arm anyway, looping them into the palm of my busted hand, before wrapping the chain over my fingers and knuckles. If I couldn't make a fist normally, then I would use what I had.

I heard footsteps behind me, and a second later Rin had arrived. "You aren't going to beat her alone," she pointed out.

"I appreciate the help," I said. "I figured you would have run off." After all, if I died here, that was less competition for her if she did want to compete in the Grail War.

"I'm not saving you," Rin stubbornly pointed out, rejecting my gratitude. "It'll just look bad on me as the Second Owner if I let you get killed like this." That got a slight smile out of me. In that moment, I knew she and Nobara would get on like a house on fire.

"In that case, thanks for your dedication to your job," I amended.

Rin started to move to the side. "I can give you range support," she said, before light gathered at her fingertips as she began speaking in a weird made-up sounding language.

A jewel, a sapphire, I think, shot out at the Servant and the single jewel became a dozen strands of light that punched through the trees like wet tissue paper. By the time the arcs of light approached, the Servant was already moving. I darted forward, intent on cutting her off, narrowly avoiding a spike aimed for my stomach by blocking with my chain-covered arm.

The Servant darted behind a tree and didn't emerge on the other side, but when I rounded it, she wasn't hiding behind it either. Acting on instinct and the knowledge that Servants could become intangible, I threw myself back, narrowly avoiding an attack as she appeared behind me. The black spike slammed deep into the dead tree, and it reacted like it had been shot with a cannon ball, shattering into splinters. She lazily looked over her shoulder at me. "I'm in real danger of starting to like you," she informed me, her voice monotone, yanking her spike out of the tree as it began to fall. "Guys like you are just my type."

To my ears, it sounded like she meant that in the way one claimed something was their favorite food to eat, rather than as a person they would like to date.

"I'm a jealous guy. I'm afraid there can be nothing between us while you have another Master," I responded, striking out with a fist as Rin circled round to get an angle. The Servant chuckled at that, easily sidestepping my fist as she tossed the spike at Rin. Rin ducked under it and returned fire, a green blast of energy that she ducked under, and I nearly got a clean blow with my chain-covered fist, but she blocked it at the last second.

The Servant backed off, and that confirmed it for me. "After all, he can't be too good for you if this is all you can do," I voiced, and that wiped the slight smirk off of her face. This entire fight was off.

Even if she was Assassin, the weakest of the Servants, I shouldn't be able to fight her like this. I shouldn't be able to put her on the defensive, or even come close to landing a single blow. Under normal circumstances. This didn't seem to be normal circumstance. In fact, this seemed a lot like the problem Touko had warned me that I would have with my own Servant, hence the pressure to really hit it out of the park with my summoning.

Servants were dependent on their Masters for mana to sustain themselves. The more powerful the servant, the higher the demand for mana. But, if that demand wasn't met, then the Servant would have to function with decreased stats to manage the strain on the Master. They would become weaker.

Which is why Touko said that with my magic circuits, I could turn a great Servant into a mediocre one.

And the same thing was happening to her, whichever Servant she was.

"Your master is a trash tier magus with magic circuits that barely work, right?" I questioned, and now the previous friendliness was gone. That chink in her armor had been revealed. She had been nerfed. Hard, since I wasn't dead already. And the moment her smile slipped, the situation became a lot less dire.

I was fighting a Servant, but a weakened one. That was a lot more manageable.

My foot dug into the ground as I broke into a dead sprint right at her, closing the distance even as she yanked hard on the chain that connected us. I felt myself lift off of my feet, my shoulder screaming in agony as it was almost ripped out of its socket, but the second time around, I had much better control over my flailing body. Twisting in midair, I yanked my own arm back, throwing the Servant off balance even as she sent me on a collision course with a tree. I spun, landing feet first, and I felt the impact rattle up my bones, but I used the tree as a springboard.

Leaping forward and rolling to my feet, I took more of the slack chain as I closed the distance. The Servant’s lips thinned as I neared- I expected a thrust with her weapon, but instead, I nearly had my head taken off by a high kick. And wow, those were some long legs.

Dropping low, I tried to sweep her leg out from underneath her, only to have her leap up over my kick, spinning through the air, and in a moment perfect enough for a picture, I saw the final rays of dusk glitter off of her weapon as she readied to throw it down at me.

The spike was flung downward, only to be diverted by a black blast coated in red, sending it punching into the ground next to me. I reacted instantly afterward, twisting my body and pushing myself up with my hands to swing my legs up and deliver a powerful kick to the Servant's side. I heard a grunt from her, telling me that I landed a solid blow, but when I felt the chain wrap itself around my ankle, I knew I was about to pay for it.

Following the attack up, I kicked up with my other foot and felt the bottom of my foot make a solid blow directly to her face. Her head snapped back, letting me slip my leg out of the noose of chain. The Servant landed lightly on her feet, effortlessly dodging the black blasts that Rin sent at her. The Servant didn't look too injured, but she definitely didn't look too happy either as she was forced to back off and take a tree for cover.

With a flick of her wrist, she recalled the spike to her hand, but I was already on my feet and closing the distance between us. The chain didn't have much slack anymore. The Servant ducked under a shower of splinters as the tree began to give way under Rin's assault. I dove in, jabbing at her face with my chain-covered fist and when she dodged out of the way, I followed it up with a kick at her knee.

"So, why does your trash Master want me dead?" I asked her, nearly catching her with an uppercut to the chin before I narrowly avoided a spike to the neck. Then I ducked when she tossed the spike to the side, intent on making a noose out of the chain and stringing me up by the throat. "Did I do something to piss him off specifically?"

A real downside to the lack of memories was that I had absolutely no clue how many enemies I actually had. So, I had no way of knowing if this was payback for an old grudge, or a more recent one.

I didn't receive a response, but when I threw a high knee, instead of dodging the blow, she was forced to catch it. "Is a little something like this already draining your Master dry?" I asked, and as soon as the words left my mouth, I sensed something was wrong.

I backed off, looking at the Servant as every hair on my body stood on end. "My Master wants you dead so badly that he used a command seal," she informed, her voice sounding almost disappointed as the air began to stir around her. I retreated a half step, but the chain around my arm prevented me from fleeing. "Such a shame."

Ah.

I'm dead.

The Servant flung the spike in her hand, and unlike all the times before, I couldn't perceive it. It was too fast until the moment it struck.

Well, I gave it my best shot.

I had just enough time to think that thought before all I could see was the spike in front of one of my eyes. I couldn't move. There just wasn't enough time to react. But, at the same moment, I thought I was going to die, I heard a harsh clang of metal on metal and the spike that filled my vision suddenly raced by the side of my head, blasting through my hair.

A flash of movement drew my attention to the one who had saved me. A man around my height wearing a skin-tight blue bodysuit with oversized metal pauldrons. His dark blue hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, contrasting the red spear in his hand. Lancer.

He glanced over his shoulder at me before he swung down with his spear. At first, I thought he was swinging at me, but the blade of his spear severed the chain connecting me to the Servant. "Sorry for interfering in your fight, but I have orders to make sure you don't die. I think this might be the first order my Master gave that I actually want to follow," he remarked, his blood-red eyes sparing me a glance before they settled on the Servant across from him.

I wasn't dead. Huh. "I sure am a popular guy," I remarked, earning a chuckle from Lancer as he leveled his spear at the Servant across from us. "Rin! He's not going to kill us, but I think her Master is nearby. He heard me talking shit about him!" I informed, making the unknown servant go still. Rin's eyes flashed, eyeing Lancer warily, but I had already taken off running.

I heard Lancer chuckle as I raced by him and the unknown Servant, close enough that I could have reached out and touched her. But she didn't move, and instead simply spoke two words. "The alley."

Seems like she didn't care much for her Master. I took off in a sprint, heading right by her and towards the street. Rin was following, but she wasn't quite as fast. Climbing up a sloped hill towards the road, I saw a few people walking on the street. A car passed by just as my eyes landed on the alleyway.

My eyes met Shinji Matou's, and his face was filled with fear.

So, at least I was right about one of the Matou siblings having a Servant. Though, I had no clue why their Servant was so weak. A long-time magus family like them shouldn't have any problem providing for their Servant.

I ran at him, making him turn tail and run away, but I was faster. I heard a horn honking to my right, but I just skidded over the hood of the car as the driver slammed on the brakes to follow Shinji into the alley, only to find that he had managed to trap himself in a dead-end. The other side of the alley ended in a big fenced gate. He whipped around, torn between trying to run past me or whether he should start climbing up the fence. "Stay back!" he shouted at me, and I did no such thing.

I strode forward, my pace even.

"Rider-" he started to say, but I cut him off by diving forward to shut him up. I slammed my chain-covered fist into his jaw, feeling his skin tearing underneath as his head snapped to the side. I followed the blow up by kneeing him in the stomach, before finishing it up with a kick to the balls to ensure that he didn't have any air left to speak. An old favorite.

I heard heavy breathing and the sound of footsteps coming up behind me. "Your reinforcement… is insane," Rin remarked, entering the alley at about the same time I stepped on Shinji's throat. I spared a glance at her, to see her eyeing Shinji with a cool expression on her face. "So, Shinji is that Servant's Master? You exceeded my expectations, Shinji. I never thought you would have what it takes to summon a Servant… or be the kind of trash that would use them to commit murder because of your wounded pride."

"Bitch…!" Shinji growled out, his face covered in blood from the torn skin. "R-Rider-!" I ground my foot down to stop him from finishing his call. He gagged, beating his fist on my ankle, but I ignored the blows with ease. He didn't have anything on that asshole with the pipe from my brawl with the Yakuza. So, that had been Rider?

"Majima," Rin spoke up, giving me an even look. "What do you intend to do with him?"

"He tried to kill me. Seems fair that I return the favor," I said, my voice cold. Shinji gasped, sputtering out something I couldn't make out, blood flecking his lips, and my reaction seemed to surprise her. At least, until I winked at her. She seemed to get the hint.

I don't really care that Shinji tried to kill me. Nor did I really care if he died. The only thing saving him right now was that he was Shirou's friend and Sakura's brother. Killing him would make things awkward with them. Though…

"Shinji, how mad would your sister be if I stomped on your head until it cracked open like an egg?" I asked him, letting up on the pressure.

"Fuck you! Fuck you and that fucking whore! She might have summoned Rider, but she's not a Master! I am! Rid-” He screamed at the top of his lungs, only to be interrupted again, this time I kicked him in the temple before stepping down hard on his neck.

"Sakura was the one who summoned Rider? Then why are you her Master?" Rin questioned, anger coloring her tone as she approached, expecting an answer. She looked at me and gave a curt nod. I guess she was willing to take the risk of him summoning Rider with a Command Seal.

To that end, I took my foot off of his throat, making Shinji cough as he gulped down air while Rin towered over him. "Shinji!" Rin snapped, her own hands clenched into fists. Did she know Sakura? Friends, maybe? "Answer me, why are you a Master?"

"Because I deserve to be." Shinji snapped, rubbing his throat and curling up on himself like a cornered rat. "She summoned that traitorous bitch, but she gave her to me."

"I don't like your tone," I told Shinji, a note of warning in my voice. One that he chose not to heed.

"I don't care!" Shinji snapped at me. "It's Sakura, Sakura, Sakura with everyone! If they knew that she was a filthy whore, no one would want to touch her!" he screamed, and I think he might be delirious. With fear and pain. I can’t imagine this was how he imagined his night going -- pinned down in an alley, beaten black and blue, and he wasn’t even using a Command Seal to summon Rider back to his side.

My eyes narrowed and Shinji was all too eager to explain. "She comes crawling to my bed every night even after Grandfather's bugs are done with her. She's an insatiable whore-" he started, but I cut him off by kicking him in the mouth, busting in his front teeth. I buried the tip of my shoe in his mouth, making him scream bloody murder. It was two birds with one stone. Now he couldn’t summon Rider and I didn't have to listen to his bullshit.

"I really don't like your fucking tone," I growled while Rin looked pale. "Shinji. I'm going to give you one chance to leave this alley alive. Transfer Rider to me or you will die screaming." There was pure, venomous hate in Shinji's eyes as he looked up at me. But, more than that, there was terror.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Rin spoke up. “The only person you can voluntarily give Command Seals to is the Overseer. Shinji would either need to expend the Command Seals to end his contract so you can form a fresh contract with Rider, or… you take them by force.” she said, sounding like she wasn’t a fan of the idea. Shinji less so given his whimpering.

“You’re fine with Rider becoming my Servant?” I questioned, eyeing Rin with some suspicion. That was some opportunity to let slip between your fingers.

Rin shrugged, “I’m going to be summoning Saber. Then it won’t matter what Servant you have,” Rin pointed out with confidence. That was… well, alright. She really wasn't matching up with what I expected. Just like how Shirou hadn't been anything like I had expected.

I looked down at him with nothing resembling pity. I didn't like Shinji. I still didn't care that he had tried to kill me, but the fact that he was so upset about what I had said to him that he had tried at all told me all I needed to know about him. How he spoke about Sakura also rubbed me the wrong way. She seemed like a sweet girl.

I heard the sound of something buzzing, like the wings of an insect, and Shinji whimpered. The bugs condensed on the other side of the wire mesh fence, and in the swirling mass of insects, a figure took shape. An old man. Frail and sickly looking, his shoulders hunched, forcing him to lean on a cane to support himself. "I would appreciate it if you didn't kill my worthless grandson. He might still have some value to me," he requested, but how he spoke told me he didn't care either way.

"You're Zouken Matou," Rin said, giving the old man a name for me. "What did Shinji mean about bugs? What have you been doing to Sakura?" Rin questioned, tense, almost fearful of the answer.

"Oh? I would say it's several years too late to care about your sister, Miss Tohsaka," he spoke with a cruel chuckle. Rin hissed while I filed that away for later. Sister? The two looked nothing alike. "I also doubt you will like to hear the answer. The truth is, I've been using Sakura as a breeding ground for my insects for some time now. Ah, I believe this is the offspring of the bug that stole your sister's virginity a few hours after your father gave her to me." he continued before Rin could decide whether or not she wanted to hear the answer, a mockery of a smile on his face as he let a winged insect land on his outstretched finger.

It had a hard exoskeleton, and several wings on its back, but it didn't seem to have any eyes. Just a mouth as a head and a nasty-looking stinger.

Rin recoiled, taking a half step back.

Right. I heard all I needed to hear. "What are you going to do with Shinji?"

The old man chuckled, "He will need to be punished for his failure. You are free to leave." He almost sounded kind as he said the words, but there was a cruelty under the surface that made the words unnerving.

Hm. "I don’t like you at all,” I voiced my opinion. This guy… I hated him. Plain and simple. He was a twisted piece of shit that seemed to enjoy causing pain in others. “I think I’m going to kill you,” I told him bluntly.

The man let out a rattling laugh, "You would kill a defenseless old man? Have you fallen under the spell of my daughter's beauty so quickly?"

Rin was trembling with rage as I spoke, "No. I just don't need a reason to kill trash like you." I told him, my hands in my pockets as I eyed the swarm of bugs. There were dozens of them. Maybe a hundred. I won against twenty men, but that was men. With those stingers and teeth, I’d be dead before I managed to kill a dozen of them. I imagine Rin would fare better, but I also didn’t expect her to stick around if it came to a fight.

"How noble of you," the old man remarked, sounding unconcerned by the threat. "So quick to act on perceived evil despite being at such an… overwhelming disadvantage," he said and I heard the sounds of more insects. In the corners of my eyes, I saw them seem to materialize from the shadows. However, I didn't look at anything but Zouken's glassy white eyes.

Slowly, the edges of his lips inched upward. "Interesting. Very interesting," he said, but I had no clue what prompted his apparent interest. "You desired Rider? Very well then," he said, and that was my only warning before the book that had Shinji had dropped suddenly morphed into a bug that darted towards. I lashed out with a fist, taking a swing with my chain coated forearm, but the head of the bug burrowed into the soft flesh between the gaps of the chain.

I stumbled back, clutching my arm as I felt the insect moving under my skin -- I squeezed down at the elbow, determined to not let it climb up my arm but it had no interest in climbing higher. Instead, the stake that was pinned in my arm suddenly split in half, the bottom part falling out while the top half was pushed back out of my skin. I could see the chitinous exoskeleton of the insect in the wound before I felt a flash of hellish agony in my forearm.

I only realized I had fallen to a knee when it hit the ground, my teeth clenched so tightly that they felt like they could shatter. The back of my palm felt like it was being branded with a red hot stake, and in a way, it wasn't far off. Four Command Seals materialized on the back of my hand -- an odd design. It was a maze comprised of three separate rings, yet each ring was its own maze, and with a precursory glance at it, I didn't see a way to get from the outer rim to the center. Around the maze was some kind of script of some kind, but I couldn’t read the flowing text.

Four Command Seals. How did that math add up? Shinji used a command seal, so I should only have two. Where were the other two coming from? It didn’t make any sense. But, I didn’t have time to dwell on it on account of Zouken.

"You are now the Master of the Servant Rider," Zouken said with a cruel smile. "I've even restored the use of your left hand. Am I not generous?" he said, laughing at a joke only he seemed to understand. I clenched my hand into a fist, the chain falling to the ground, and I found that he was right. I could move my hand again, but each movement was accompanied with a flash of pain. He hadn't healed me. The insect was pulling the tendons.

"You wouldn't give a gift like this without asking for something in return," Rin pointed out as I looked at the insect through the window the stake had made. It was resting under my skin, where my tendons would normally be, but there wasn't really any sign of it without the wound.

To that, Zouken simply chuckled. "Spoken like a true magus. I'm sure your dead father would be very proud of the girl you've become. To think, Sakura's fate could just as easily have been your own if she had been a little more special." Zouken said, rubbing salt into a wound that Rin carried.

"I-" Rin started to shout, only to be cut off by the sound of the insect in my arm screeching as I dug my fingers into the wound that Rider gave me to grab hold of it. "What are you doing?!" She screamed at me as I grit my teeth and pulled. Zouken made a sound of interest in the back of his throat before he chuckled as I pulled the insect up.

It was still holding onto my tendons with a death grip. The pain was indescribable. Even still, I pushed through it and pulled. With a ragged gasp for air, I ripped one half of the insect free before yanking the other half out. It squirmed in my hand before I threw it to the ground and stomped on it. My breathing was harsh, and I couldn't move my hand at all anymore.

"You can keep your insects out of me," I gasped out, the words far less threatening than I would have liked. Rin looked at me with wide eyes as I fully rose to my feet again, my hand drenched in blood.

"Even if it costs you your hand?" Zouken questioned, not sounding at all displeased with the turn of events. If anything, it was the exact opposite. I didn't trust the insect at all. Keeping it inside of me would have been a ticking time bomb that would have exploded at the worst time imaginable. It would have left me at his mercy.

I looked down at the blood-covered command seals. "My hand for a Servant. Seems like a fair trade to me. I'd say pleasure doing business with you, but that'd be a fuckin' lie." I said, clutching the wound that bled profusely. I still had that stab wound in the back to worry about too. I was losing a lot of blood and I was starting to feel lightheaded.

But I couldn't show that. Not now. Not in front of this psychopath.

"Hm. A fair trade indeed," Zouken agreed. "Our business has been concluded," he said. Rin stepped forward, either to demand answers or to help Shinji, because as vile as he was he didn't deserve whatever awaited him at his grandfather's hands, but I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. It brought her up short, making her gaze snap to me and I shook my head.

This wasn't a situation that we could win. I had no way of knowing if he could take back Rider just as easily as he gave her. I was down an arm, and seeing just how easily the insects burrowed through flesh, I knew that we didn't stand a chance right now.

I spared a glance at an unconscious Shinji, who had either fainted from the pain and fear or been sedated by Zouken, before I turned around, dragging Rin with me. I heard Zouken let out an ominous chuckle as we left the ally. Rin was trembling with emotion, her hands clenched into fists, and for a moment, I thought she was just going to throw back her head and scream at the top of her lungs. Instead, she took in a deep breath and let it out.

"Do you have a contract with Rider?" Rin asked while looking at me, any trace of the emotion she had been feeling moments prior gone.

I looked out at the park, and…

'I see I have a new Master,' I heard in my mind. 'I hope you fare better than the previous one.' Rider remarked, her tone eerily ominous, but she made no action to show herself.

"Yeah, he wasn't lying about that. I'm a Master in the Grail War now," I said, looking down at my bleeding hand that was dripping blood onto the sidewalk. It wasn't the start that I wanted, but I had a Servant. We were officially in the running now.

Rin nodded, "What will you do now?" she asked, her tone guarded, making me look at her. Her posture was tense. She was expecting betrayal.

"First, I'm going to take a nap. Then I'm going to come up with a plan to kill that old man," I decided. My answer caught Rin by surprise. I'm not sure why. She literally just heard me tell the guy I was going to kill him.

"You… what is your connection to Sakura? Why do you want to kill him?" Rin questioned, that guarded tone slipping.

"I already said why, and I barely know Sakura. We had one conversation and she seemed nice. I don't know what that sick fuck has been doing to her, but I do know that she doesn't deserve it. So, I'm going to do something about it," I said, not really sure how to put my motivations into words but…

It was simple. If you didn't like something that was happening, then make it stop happening. If you want something to change, then make it change. And if you fail, then you failed.

Rin blew out a sigh before she pinched the bridge of her nose, "That sounds so arbitrary when you say it like that, but…" she trailed off, looking at me for a moment before she shook her head. "I'll be participating in the Grail War soon enough as the Master of Saber," she informed, confident that would be the case. She searched my gaze and got a cocked eyebrow in response. "You saved my life tonight, and I hate being in people's debt. Until I pay back that debt… and so long as we have a mutual goal, I wouldn't be against having a nonaggression pact."

As she said that, her gaze dipped to the wound in my arm and her expression tightened. She seemed to know exactly how bad it was. I still couldn't move my hand at all. I did some serious damage yanking that bug out. I caught the expression and I had a choice before me.

So far, exactly zero times, I had been right with what I expected from others -- Shirou being the biggest case. And now Rin. I could either believe that she was trying to trick me, or decide that she was being genuine. Which went against the lesson that Touko hammered home that no magi could be trusted.

Rin stuck out a hand, expecting me to shake on it. I met her gaze, searching it for any sign of deceit, and I found none. If I had to pick between what I was taught and trusting my gut, then it was a pretty easy choice, wasn't it? After all, trusting my gut hadn't led me astray yet.

I shook Rin's hand, who didn't so much as flinch at the blood that now covered the inside of her palm.

"It's a deal."