Chapter 56: Knightfall
Knightfall
"Shirou! Hey, Shirou!"
While on his way to the Tohno-manor to confront Akiha, Shirou suddenly heard someone call out to him, and he turned his head towards the voice, slowing his pace so they could catch up to him, which they did a few moments later.
"Lady Brunestud." He politely greeted the blonde woman in turn, trying to show the appropriate deference to the Ultimate One of the Earth, before he blinked in surprise when her face twisted in displeasure. Familiar displeasure, which he had seen before in a certain Vice-Director. "Uhm, I mean, good morning, Arcueid?"
"Hm." Her pout morphed into a satisfied smile, and she gave him an approving nod. "Good morning, Shirou. Have you found Roa yet?"
"Straight to business, I see." Shirou huffed, though without any bite, as he was yet again reminded of a certain English lady. "Unfortunately not. I found and killed many of his minions, and I fought Arkhangel, but Roa has proven elusive so far."
"You fought the Knight?!" Arcueid seemed surprised at the fact, blinking her large, red eyes in shock. "When? Where? I didn't sense anything like that!"
Her surprise was well warranted and was in fact shared by Shirou, who was also taken aback by the fact she had apparently not noticed his fight with Arkhangel at all.
As the Ultimate One of the Earth and the Archetype of Gaia, Arcueid had a very close connection to the World, one that allowed her to gather information about everything that took place in her general vicinity, as proven when she discovered the presence of the Spider Queen merely by focusing a bit.
In comparison to a Dead Apostle Ancestor in hiding, the battle between Shirou and Arkhangel had to have been like a shining beacon to her, especially since they hadn't even remotely tried to be stealthy or discreet about it.
In fact, the only reason their fight had remained somewhat contained was because of…
"My Bounded Fields." Shirou said out loud, remembering he had in fact tried to obfuscate his fight, placing various Magical Wards around the park to keep the noise in and bystanders out, before he shook his head, realising that couldn't be it. "No, they wouldn't have been able to hide anything from you. They were not strong enough."
"I have never had any trouble with piercing Bounded Fields." Arcueid agreed casually, as if it were no big deal, before she cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "But in the absence of any other plausible causes, could you perhaps show me those Bounded Fields anyway? Just to check?"
"Sure." Shirou agreed, before looking around, at the street they were walking on. It was filled with pedestrians, mostly salarymen and school children, who were not the sort who should have anything to do with Magecraft. "Though we should go somewhere private first."
"Easy peasy." Arcueid grinned, before she grabbed his wrist and pulled him along towards a nearby alley, showing off her frightening strength, which Shirou couldn't have resisted even if he'd wanted to.
Once they were in the alley, which was mostly abandoned at the moment, as pedestrians had no business here and Dead Apostles didn't operate during the day, Arcueid tapped her heel on the ground once, causing something in Reality to shift ever so slightly on its axis.
And Shirou realised with no small amount of awe that she had just exerted her Authority over the alley, claiming total dominion over the few dozen square metres, essentially separating it from the rest of the World.
No matter what they did here, no one from outside would be able to notice now or approach them, not unless they had some conceptual weight of their own.
Essentially, it was what Vlov Arkhangel had tried to do with the park during the last stage of the battle, after he'd unleashed the full potential of his Principle, but while it had taken the Ancestor many minutes just to get started, Arcueid had completed the process in an instant.
It was a feat that would have made the average Magus faint in shock, an achievement worthy of a god, and she'd done it with a mere tap of her shoe.
She wasn't even breathing hard, for crying out loud!
How on Earth had someone managed to slice her to pieces if this was the sort of power she possessed?! Had she been caught sleeping or something?!
Shirou was almost too baffled to speak, but when Arcueid gave him her full and undivided attention, his tongue loosened quickly.
"Well then, show me." She ordered him. "Create the same Bounded Fields as when you fought the Knight."
He obeyed, focusing for a moment, before he called the Bounded Fields and Runic Wards into existence.
He tried to mimic every part of the night before. His rush to create the defences, his desperation to prevent bystanders from getting caught up in the battle, his need to keep the battle contained, and even his distraction as he tried to keep Arkhangel from killing him.
As a result, he delivered fairly shoddy work, Bounded Fields that were nowhere near the best that he could do, but they were functional, and above all, nearly perfectly identical to the ones he'd created before.
A decent success, if he said so himself. Sufficiently so that Arcueid should be able to gain reliable and representative information from them.
So he turned towards the blonde princess, only to still for a moment when he saw her expression.
Surprised, that was the best way to describe her. Not totally shocked or befuddled, but her already large eyes were even wider now and her mouth was slightly open, signifying that she was taken aback at least.
It was surprisingly adorable, he had to say.
…Was it just him, or was he thinking of her as adorable quite often? Too often even, for someone of her standing.
Similarity number three with the certain lady in London then.
"Arcueid?" He gently tapped her shoulder to snap her out of it. "What do you think?"
"…You are not just a Magus, are you?" She asked, and the question would have startled Shirou if he hadn't already expected it. "You are something more."
"A Sorcerer." He nodded, giving up on one layer of secrecy, hoping that it would be enough for her not to dig any deeper, towards the more Divine layers. "I am an apprentice in the Heaven's Feel."
Just an apprentice. Not a master. Never a master.
"The Heaven's Feel…" She repeated slowly, ponderously. "I thought that Magic was lost centuries ago?"
"It's been found again." He lied, feeling rather depressed at how easy it was getting for him to be untruthful about the nature of his abilities.
"Well, that might explain what I am sensing." She allowed, though she still didn't look too certain.
"What are you sensing then? Maybe I can explain it better if you told me?"
"Well, your Bounded Fields aren't just keeping in noise and keeping out bystanders." Arcueid replied, gesturing at the small area that he had enclosed with his defences. "They are trying to overwrite my control over the area within."
"What?!" Now it was Shirou's turn to be startled, utterly shocked even.
He was overwriting the dominion of the Moon Princess herself?! With mere Bounded Fields?!
"You didn't know." Arcueid observed, pursing her lips slightly. "I was hoping you could explain what you were doing, but it seems we can only speculate."
No. No, that wasn't true. Shirou had a pretty good idea of why his spells might interfere slightly with Arcueid's abilities, and yet again, it was entirely because of Mjolnir.
Because the hammer had chosen him, he'd become the heir of Thor, and Thor had been a god of the Earth, the son of Gaia even, though by a different name. A deity that also held an Authority relating to the World itself.
Shirou had noticed that his Authority had been increasing over the past months, that his power as a god was growing quickly, so it wasn't out of the question that it was becoming noticeable to other Earthen deities, such as Arcueid. He was intruding upon their turf, so to speak.
That was a considerable shock, and a good reminder of the fact that being Thor's heir entailed more than just getting a bunch of superhero-like abilities.
This was really serious, and definitely not something he should just blurt out to anyone. Especially not to someone who might very well come to see him as a rival.
Hence, he kept his mouth shut, allowing Arcueid to speculate all she wanted.
"Perhaps the reason for this strange ability is indeed simply you being a Sorcerer, since your sort does tend to be unique, but I haven't known Sorcerers to be able to do something like this."
"You know other Sorcerers?"
"…I know one other Sorcerer." She admitted after a moment, looking a bit sheepish. "N-Not a big sample-pool, I know. S-So I suppose it could still be because you wield the Third rather than the Second."
"The Second?"
Hold on, was she saying that she knew…?
"Grandpa Kischur wields the Second True Magic." She replied, smiling as she spoke, simultaneously confirming Shirou's suspicions and massively exceeding them in any and every way.
"…Grandpa?"
"He sometimes shows me some cool tricks." Arcueid grinned like an excited teenager at the thought of her 'grandfather' putting on a show for her. "But I've never noticed anything that suggests he can overwrite my control, let alone mother's."
Mother…
That was probably Gaia then.
Gaia for a mother and Zelretch for a grandfather. What a family that had to be.
"Maybe I can visit him once I am done here, before I have to return to-" Arcueid suddenly interrupted herself, coughing gently into her hand. "Before I have to return. He might be able to provide some insight into your abilities."
"Please don't bother on my account!"
Shirou did not want the Kaleidoscope poking his nose into his business. Absolutely not! By all accounts, the man was frighteningly competent, and Shirou was not at all confident in his ability to keep things a secret from him.
"Oh, it's no trouble." She assured him kindly. "I'm curious too, and I'm sure that grandpa will be very interested once I tell him about you. Maybe he'll even teach you about being a proper Sorcerer. He said something about guiding the next generation the last time I saw him."
She wrapped up her assurance with a beaming smile, and she looked so well-willing and happy to be of use that Shirou couldn't even muster any frustration or apprehension.
He'd wondered before whether there was a correlation in the Moonlit World between a woman's power and her beauty, but now he almost felt like cuteness and adorableness might also play a significant role in that correlation.
Or was it just a coincidence that all the powerful women he knew could also be startingly cute whenever he least expected it?
In any case, he could hardly refuse her offer to ask her grandfather for help, not without looking suspicious and ungrateful, so he gritted his teeth and nodded, trying to look appreciative.
Arcueid fell for it hook, line, and sinker, visibly patting herself on the back for making him happy.
"But, in any case, you did fight the Knight?" She then brought their discussion back on track, dropping the matter of his strange abilities for now. "Did you win?"
"I did, but he fled before I could kill him." Shirou frowned, his mood fouling again at the reminder. "The Spider Queen suddenly sent her minions to help him."
"Did she? That's unexpected." Arcueid muttered with a small frown. "Ancestors usually stay out of each other's business, even when one is about to be killed. There are some famous exceptions of course, but they are famous precisely because they are rare. I haven't heard anything about the Knight and the little spider being friends or even just getting along."
"She still saved him though."
"I believe you." She assured him, before giving him a firm nod. "Then you'll just have to beat them both at the same time."
"Me?"
"Yes, I'll be too busy looking for Roa." Arcueid grinned playfully at him, linking her hands behind her back and leaning forward, thereby enhancing her cuteness by a factor of ten. "I'm counting on you, Shirou."
"…"
Truly, power and cuteness were closely intertwined. They had to be, or the world would stop making any sense at all.
"Oh, and by the way, did you perhaps, by any chance, meet a blue-haired, small, really grumpy Executor with a big butt today?" Apparently considering the matter of Arkhangel to be over, Arcueid changed the subject again.
"You mean Ciel? Yes, I met her, after defeating a group of Undead. I think we reached an understanding."
"Be careful about her. Now that she knows you are associated with me, she won't like you anymore."
"…Noted." Shirou was tempted to ask how exactly the Executor now knew that they were working together, as he certainly hadn't told her, but since he could pretty much guess the answer, he suppressed the temptation. "Was that all? Not to be rude, but I have more to do."
Such as following up on his lead on the Spider Queen.
"Could I ask you just one more question before you go?"
"If I can ask you one in turn." Shirou replied, remembering there was in fact something he wanted to know from her.
"Deal." She nodded immediately. "How did you heal me?"
"Hm?"
"I learned a bit more about how I was cut into pieces, what sort of power was used, and I now know that modern Healing Spells should never have been able to fix me." She explained, narrowing her eyes a bit to peer at him. "So how did you heal me?"
"I used the Heaven's Feel." Shirou didn't bother denying it and went straight to his go-to excuse. "I cannot Resurrect people yet, but I can heal pretty much any wound, no matter by what Magic or weapon they were inflicted."
That made sense, right? Everyone at the Clocktower had happily accepted that explanation. It wasn't even such a stretch. Anyone who could raise the dead should also be able to heal wounds. Those abilities went hand in hand.
Or at least, that was what he claimed, hoping it would prevent any more difficult questions from being asked.
Arcueid didn't look quite convinced though, likely because she knew more about Sorcerers than almost anyone else alive, but after a few tense moments, she let up on her inquisitive stare, deciding to believe him on his word.
"Alright then. Thanks again for that. I'm happy you were there."
"I'm happy about that too."
"Hehe." Her ensuing smile was positively radiant, gratitude and happiness shining through in equal measure, and Shirou felt like even more of a heel for lying to her so blatantly when she didn't deserve it in the slightest. "What did you want to ask me?"
So he gratefully accepted her question, allowing it to distract him from his own despicable actions.
"The one who cut you to pieces. Did you find them, and if so, what did you do with them?"
"That's two questions." She pointed out, playfully wagging her finger at him in reproach. "But that's alright. I did find him, quite easily, and like I said, I recruited him to help me hunt Roa. His talent is quite amazing, you see, and really, really useful."
"I see." Shirou nodded, relieved that the matter had ended peacefully. "Thank you for telling me."
He didn't have much else to say. Frankly, he wasn't sure how good an idea it was to work with someone who'd already sliced you to ribbons once, but since he didn't know the circumstances, he chose not to comment. Arcueid could look after herself, mostly.
Besides, he might have done something similar in her position. Recruit strong warriors to hunt down a false Dead Apostle Ancestor.
And if she did end up in pieces once more, he'd help her again. That went without saying.
"Oh, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate you too." Arcueid suddenly hastened to say, as if worried he might get jealous. "I'm really happy that you are helping me find Roa."
"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Shirou huffed, referring to the fact she held crucial information he was after, before softening his tone when Arcueid's expression fell, realising his words had been a bit harsh. "But I'm also happy to help you either way of course. Roa is a monster, and as a hero, I am dutybound to hunt him down. Working together makes sense in light of that, as four eyes see more than two."
"Six eyes." She reminded him, perking up again as the spark returned to her large, pretty eyes.
"Even better." Shirou smiled, which seemed to dissolve the last of her worries about his willingness to help her. "Though I must admit that I am hunting the Spider Queen rather than Roa at the moment."
"…That's fine." It certainly wasn't ideal, judging by her frown, but it seemed she was willing to overlook his side-quest for now. "All Dead Apostle Ancestors must die. Still, I would appreciate it if-"
"I will also keep an eye out for Roa." He promised, easily able to guess what she wanted to say. "And I will destroy his Undead when I see them."
"Good. It will drive him out of hiding." Arcueid nodded approvingly, giving him a happy grin. "Alrighty then, keep up the good work. Shiki and I will continue to look for the Serpent."
"Good luck- Wait! Shiki?" Shirou stilled at the name, suddenly getting an ominous feeling in his stomach. "Tohno Shiki?"
"Yup." Arcueid nodded, her lips shaping themselves into an even happier grin. "You know him?"
"I met him once." Shirou replied, having to suppress a wince.
Tohno Akiha had been adamant that her brother not be involved with the Moonlit World, trying to protect him from its many horrors, but it seemed her efforts had been futile. The Moon Princess herself had torn his blissful ignorance to pieces, and Shirou couldn't suppress a tinge of pity, for both the brother and the sister.
"Shiki is quite interesting, isn't he?"
As she spoke, Arcueid's grin suddenly shifted. It was still bright and wide, and surprisingly adorable for an immortal creature, but now it held a darker edge, as if a tiny bit of shadow had wormed its way into the grin. A tiny false note in a beautiful composition, that promised nothing good for Tohno Shiki.
In fact, it was startlingly similar to how Sakura and Rin would smile whenever they were plotting something evil.
"Interesting?" Shirou asked, not really knowing what to do with that sudden shift in her demeanour.
"He is nothing like you." Arcueid declared with absolute certainty, suddenly stepping uncomfortably close to him, studying him thoroughly and even sniffing him once. "You are kind, and warm, and vast, like a mountain of treasure."
"Treasure?" Shirou blinked once. "You sound like a dragon."
"Heh." She seemed to consider that a compliment, giving him an appreciative look, before she turned marginally more serious again. "Shiki is not like that. He's nice and helpful, sometimes, but he's not really kind. When I asked him for help, I had to threaten him to get him to say yes."
"Threatening people usually does not endear them to you." Shirou felt obliged to point out.
"He wouldn't agree otherwise." Arcueid countered petulantly, pouting a bit. "And he did owe me for slicing me to pieces. If you hadn't been there, it would have taken me hours and most of my power to put myself back together. It is only logical that he helps me in return."
"And did you explain that to him properly?" Shirou didn't necessarily disagree with her reasoning, but he did suspect that she might have been overly short with words while recruiting Shiki. She did seem like the type who would do that.
"Yes." She nodded confidently, before that confidence slowly waned as Shirou kept holding her gaze without blinking. "…I mean, maybe?"
"…Just make sure to properly thank him when it's over." It took everything the redhead had not to palm his face, and he hoped that Tohno Shiki was the easy-going sort, lest Arcueid ended up with a knife in her back. "And be nice to him. Where is he anyway?"
"Shiki has to go to school during the day." Arcueid explained. "So I'm on my own for now. I'll pick him up when he's done."
She was going to pick him up directly from school? If Tohno's high school was anything like Shirou's own, that would surely set tongues wagging something fierce, and the redhead felt obliged to say something of it, to shield a fellow teenager's reputation.
"Maybe it would be better if you met up at a different location." He suggested, trying to sound casual. "We are trying to maintain secrecy, aren't we? That won't work if you show off your alliance so openly in front of so many people."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"I see." She gave him an awed look, as if he'd imparted some great wisdom onto her, and Shirou hoped she would indeed take his words to heart. "I'll catch him on his way home then."
"Good idea." Shirou nodded approvingly, once more relieved that she was so well willing. "Will you be fine on your own until then?"
"I've always been on my own." There was something sad about the way she said that, even though she continued smiling. "I'll just search the city, and maybe buy something to eat while I'm doing so."
"Do you have any money?" Shirou asked, his hand already moving towards his wallet to give her some.
"I do." She surprised him yet again however, proudly pulling a heap of crumpled Yen-notes out of her pocket. Altogether, it amounted to about a thousand Yen, which wasn't a lot, but it should be enough to get her a few snacks on the way.
"Where did you get that from?" Shirou asked, blinking at the crumpled heap. He didn't think she'd stolen it from anyone, but she didn't seem like the type to work day jobs either. Had she found it on the streets perhaps? He'd heard that it wasn't unusual for people to lose money, and that the total amount could add up to considerable sums, but he couldn't imagine Arcueid on her knees, collecting the coins and bills one by one.
"From my job." Arcueid defied his expectations however. "There's this building in the centre of town where people are taking pictures of each other while wearing pretty clothes. When I looked inside, they asked me if I wanted to join, offering to pay me for it too. I have been going there a few hours every day."
"Oh, you work for a modelling agency?"
Yeah, Shirou could actually see that happen. Arcueid had that sort of unnatural beauty he'd learned to associate with powerful women, so it wasn't a surprise that magazines and the like would want her on their covers.
Of course, he was a bit concerned that it might be a predatory sort of modelling agency, preying on naïve women to force them into prostitution, but even if that was the case, Arcueid could look after herself perfectly well. He didn't think there was anyone on Earth who could force her to do something she didn't want to, making it almost impossible to take advantage of her.
"Yes! And this is what they paid me for my work yesterday! Isn't it amazing?!"
But then she bragged about her income, proudly showing off the fistful of crumpled Yen-notes, and Shirou's expression flattened, as he realised she had in fact been taken advantage of after all.
Not sexually, as she wouldn't allow that without ripping the guilty party to literal shreds, but if she thought that mere pocket-money was a decent compensation for several hours of work, she had definitely been duped financially.
That was unacceptable.
"You should demand more." He told her in no uncertain terms.
"More?"
"More money." He clarified. "At least ten times what they're paying you now."
"Huh?" Arcueid blinked dumbly, clearly confused.
"This." Shirou said, tapping her hand and thus her salary. "Is not nearly enough for your work. Tell them to pay you more, and if they don't, go to a different agency. You are worth much more than this."
"R-Really?" Arcueid appeared a little off-balance, but not averse to what he said. "W-Well, it's true that it's not enough money to buy all the snacks I want…"
"Take this for now." Shirou took about a hundred thousand Yen from his wallet and handed it to her, causing her already large and pretty eyes to go huge. "But make sure you don't get any less than a thousand Yen for every single hour you work from now on, preferably two thousand."
"Ah." The prospect of earning so much money clearly appealed to her, and she eagerly stuffed the notes back to her pocket. "I will!"
"Good." Shirou nodded sharply, before he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he could get away with being a bit rude to her. "Now, if that is all? I am following a lead and I have no time to lose."
They really had been talking for long enough by now.
"Yes, right, a lead. I have one too." Far from being insulted, Arcueid happily accepted his attempt at wrapping up the conversation, already in the process of walking away, only turning around to wave him goodbye. "Good luck with yours."
"Ah, yes, the same to you."
And so, they separated again, off to hunt their respective vampires.
It was safe to say that the situation in Misaki Town was rapidly spinning out of control.
Between multiple Ancestors present on the scene, the Burial Agency being in fierce competition with the Moon Princess, a Demigod doing his best to salvage as much as he could, and the general populace being unaware of it all, the city had become total mess by any meaning of the word.
To the inhabitants of Misaki Town, it might have seemed as if the world was coming to end. Between the many deaths and the great number of disappearances, several were already wondering if the Apocalypse had begun.
But as disastrous as things might seem, it was not actually the end of the world.
In fact, in most of the world, even as the battles in Misaki Town raged on, absolutely nothing of interest was happening.
So too in Fuyuki.
There, far away from Dead Apostle Ancestors and other horrors, Illya and Sakura were walking home from school together, safe and sound, not at all afraid of anything hiding in the alleys or the shadows.
They were not in any danger, nor under threat. It was a perfectly ordinary day in the third largest city in the region.
In fact, the only unusual thing to be seen for miles around was that those two were walking together in the first place.
Despite them going to the same school, the number of times they'd gone home together so far could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Not because they didn't get along, but because they tended to have different priorities in life.
Now that she was away from the Einzbern, Illya had rapidly developed into a social creature. She would always hang out with her friends after school, going to their houses or into town, to have fun together and do whatever came to mind, all while giggling and laughing without end.
In sharp contrast, Sakura always went either straight home to be a good housewife or to the Copenhagen café for her parttime job. She had no interest in her classmates, with the minor exception of Makise Kurisu, and could not be called social by any meaning of the word.
As such, Illya and Sakura didn't mesh well. They didn't dislike each other, certainly not, but neither did they really enjoy each other's company.
It was something that saddened Sakura, who would have liked to spend more time with Illya. The white-haired girl was her boyfriend's sister after all, and that meant she was quite eager to get along with her.
That wasn't the only reason of course, Sakura was also genuinely interested in Illya herself, but she would be lying if she said that Shirou wasn't a large part of her motivation.
And now, she finally had the chance she'd been waiting for.
So far, there had been a sort of barrier between them, but with Shirou in another town, fighting all kinds of abominations they could barely imagine, that barrier had been overcome by their shared concern for him.
Illya for one wasn't in the mood right now to hang out with children that were barely half her age, accurately recognising she'd just make things awkward by worrying and fretting all the time. Hence, she had made up an excuse of not feeling well today and went home with Sakura instead, where she was free to express her worries to her heart's content.
In turn, Sakura was more than happy to reassure the little sprite, both because it would help their bond to grow and because stepping up to be the big sister agreed with her, surprisingly.
She was more than happy to listen to Illya's worries, and once they'd created sufficient distance between themselves and other pedestrians not to be overheard, Illya finally dared to ask the question that had been nagging at her all day now.
"Hey, Sakura? Do you think Shirou is alright?"
"Yes, I'm sure he is fine." Sakura nodded immediately, doing her best to smile confidently despite her own worries. "He promised us he would come back, didn't he? So he has to be alright."
"Y-Yes, you're right." Illya nodded immediately, letting out a small breath of relief. "Shirou always keeps his promises."
"Yes, he does."
Of course, the white-haired girl knew things weren't that simple, that promises couldn't always be kept despite the best of intentions, but for now, she chose to have faith in her big brother. He'd never let her down before after all, and she didn't think he'd start now.
Sakura and Illya both knew there was no use in worrying and agonising if there was nothing you could do to change the situation anyway. They in particular knew that very well, better than anyone even.
But they were human, mostly, and that meant they were irrational sometimes. They did worry, no matter how much they tried not to, and the only thing that had worked so far to ease that worry was to focus on something else.
As luck would have it, there was in fact something Illya had been meaning to discuss with the plum-haired girl for a while now.
So she jumped on the opportunity.
"Say, Sakura, could we perhaps visit that costume shop soon?"
The costume shop that the little sprite was referring to was the one where Ayako and Sakura had bought their various high-quality dress-up costumes a few months ago, such as their maid outfits, their skin tight cat burglar suits, their European noble dresses, and their regal kimonos.
Ever since she'd heard about the place, which was now a few weeks ago, Illya had been chomping at the bit to visit it herself, and she had requested just about every member of the Emiya-household to bring her there, up to and including Rin and Fujimura-Sensei.
Of course, they were all more than willing to go with her, but unfortunately, their schedules never quite aligned well, which, by the way, was in large part caused by the former Homunculus herself.
"Sure." The plum-haired girl happily agreed with the request, before giving Illya a teasing smile. "Are you sure you can spare the time though?"
"Yes!" Illya professed, nodding rapidly. "Yes, this time for sure!"
"That's what you said last time, and then you stood me up." Sakura pouted slightly, making her lower lip wobble a bit. "You forgot all about me."
"Bwuh?! N-No, please don't cry! I'm sorry about that!" Illya apologised profusely, her eyes going wide in fear and guilt. "I-It was an accidental double-booking!"
The incident that they referred to was the time when Sakura had also agreed to take Illya to the costume shop, only for the little sprite to completely forget about her in favour of accompanying a few friends to the mall.
Poor Sakura had waited for an hour –at home, so it wasn't so bad– and although Illya had already sincerely apologised, multiple times, she wasn't going to let the white-haired girl forget about it any time soon.
"Sniff."
"I'm so sorry!"
But she shouldn't milk it too much, then it would lose its effectiveness.
"When do you want to go?" Sakura thus asked, schooling her expression again.
"T-Tomorrow?" Illya proposed, letting out a sigh of relief when Sakura stopped 'crying'.
"That's fine with me." The plum-haired girl grinned, immediately understanding why the girl wanted to go tomorrow specifically. "School will end early tomorrow, so you'll have plenty of time to shop as long as you want."
"Exactly!" Illya nodded rapidly, her eagerness to get her hands on a few costumes of her own clearly reflected in her eyes, though it was mixed with a sort of creative urge.
Perhaps it was because of the anime she watched or perhaps it had always been in her nature, but Illya had slowly started to get more and more fascinated by the concept of costumes and outfits. This went for normal clothes, mainly pretty dresses and stylish suits, as well as for dress-up costumes, such as knight-outfits, angel-costumes, and yes, Magical Girl-outfits.
So while she really wanted to buy a few costumes, she also wanted to browse the store, to get inspiration for a few creations of her own.
"I'm going to buy a Magical Girl-costume, and then I'm going to modify it to my wishes." Illya explained, breathing hard through her nose at the thrilling prospect. "I will become an actual Magical Girl! Like all those people at the Comicons!"
"Better even, I imagine." Sakura laughed, remembering how the little sprite had been glued to the television whenever a network decided to broadcast one such Comicon. "I mean, how many of those Magical Girls there can actually fly?"
"Hehe." Illya looked pleased as pie at the remark, her eyes glimmering in pride as Sakura reminded her that she already had an advantage over all the other cosplayers.
Because right at that moment, with Sakura walking next to her, Illya was hovering about a metre off the ground.
She was flying by her own power.
It turned out that being partially Asgardian had more advantages than just a longer lifespan.
"I'll be the best Magical Girl ever!" Illya cheered, adjusting her goal to better fit her high-level capabilities.
"Yay!" Sakura cheered along, trying to be a proper big sister.
"Once Shirou goes back to being Rakurai, I can fight with him!"
"Y-Yay…?"
Sakura consciously had to suppress the grimace that wanted to form on her face when Illya suddenly mentioned Shirou's alter ego, and not for the first time either.
For some reason, the white-haired girl had gotten it into her head that Shirou was inevitably going to take up the mantle of the dreaded vigilante again, and that she was going to be his Magical Girl-sidekick when he did. For weeks now, she had been training as hard as she could in order to be able to join him, and she was showing no signs of stopping any time soon.
"Are… Are you sure that is wise? You might be getting a little bit ahead of yourself there." Sakura tried to subtly warn her off.
"Yes, I know that I am not skilled enough yet." Misunderstanding what Sakura meant, Illya tried to defend herself, raising her hand and balling her fist with a look of determination in her eyes. "But I'm working on it! I'm training very hard with Leysritt every day! Even flying is going better now!"
"Yes, you have been practicing hard." Sakura had to admit that much. To do otherwise would be lying, not to mention rather mean towards the little sprite. "Your flying has improved a lot. Especially compared to the first time-"
"HABABABABABA! Don't mention that!" Illya interrupted her with a near-screech, waving her free hand up and down with clear desperation. "That never happened!"
At the moment, Illya was flying quite gracefully, with a steady pace and altitude, but that hadn't always been the case.
The first time she'd managed to fly on her own, she'd gotten too enthusiastic about her newfound power, shooting off into the sky without heeding Sella's warnings.
Only to be unable to get down again.
She'd gotten stuck in a tree, and in the end, Shirou had had to get her down.
It had been quite the embarrassing experience, and although Shirou had made sure not to laugh, Rin had no such compunctions. She'd been absolutely merciless in her expression of hilarity, to Illya's great shame.
It was not something that she wanted to repeat any time soon, which was why during the entire walk from school to the Emiya-estate, Illya had not let go of Sakura's hand even once, using her as an anchor.
Just in case.
"I just need a better costume!" Illya insisted, her teary eyes showing that she remembered her mishap perfectly well. "They say so in the anime! Costumes make everything better!"
"Well, it can't hurt to try, I suppose." Sakura allowed, wondering if she could perhaps channel that vigilante-energy into her newfound clothing hobby. It would save everyone a lot of headaches. "Outfits are important."
"Hm." Illya nodded strongly. "That's exactly what Magical Girls are! Awesome powers, a never-wavering sense of justice, and a cool costume!"
"If you say so. I must admit I don't know much about Magical Girls myself." Sakura admitted, giving Illya an apologetic smile. "The only time I ever really heard about them was when a man at the Copenhagen café asked me if I would be willing to re-enact a scene from a Magical Girls-manga for him."
"Huh? Really?" Illya blinked in confusion, a confusion that Sakura shared. It had been a man in his twenties, and in her experience, they didn't tend to like Magical Girls all that much. "Which manga?"
"Uhm, I believe it was called 'Gushing over Magical Girls', or something like that." Sakura could just about recall the title, but not much more. "I refused though. He looked a little creepy- E-Eh, I-Illya?!"
"…Gushing over Magical Girls?" From one second to the next, Illya's open, curious expression changed into a terrifying glower, her red eyes radiating bloodlust and fury. "Did you just say 'Gushing over Magical Girls'?!"
"Y-Yes." Sakura replied, actually startled by the white-haired girl's sudden intensity, before she gulped when Illya's right eye started twitching madly.
"…If that man ever comes by the café again, you must tell one of us immediately." Illya demanded after a moment. "He needs to die."
It was a clear death threat, one that left Sakura stumped.
Had Shirou made such a threat, Sakura was confident she could calm him down.
If Ayako said something like that, it would take a bit more effort, but Sakura could settle her as well.
Even Rin could be distracted or soothed when she was in such a bad mood, if with considerable effort.
None of them would be entirely serious about any uttered death threats either. Most of the time, such words were just an expression of anger and frustration on their part, and they weren't planning much more than beating the recipient up a bit, if that.
But not with Illya.
Illya was dead serious.
If Sakura ever pointed her at that man, the one who wanted to re-enact a scene from a Magical Girls-manga with her, the white-haired girl would kill him without mercy or remorse.
As sweet and social as she could be, and as much as she tried to leave her childhood behind, that part of her had not changed since she'd escaped the Einzbern. She still had a ruthless side to her.
Which was honestly one of the biggest reasons Shirou was extremely reluctant to take her along on any possible future vigilante outings. She might very well end up killing someone if she was angry enough.
"If I ever see him again, I'll let you know." Sakura lied, getting a nod from Illya in return. "But for now, let's just go home. I'm sure you have homework left to do, and you need to prepare for the trip tomorrow."
"Right." Illya mumbled, making a face at the mention of her homework, eliciting an amused smile from Sakura.
Doing homework was better than fretting over her big brother though, so Illya didn't protest, much. Only a tiny bit.
Again, there was nothing she could realistically do anyway to help Shirou, except wishing him all the luck in the world.
So that was what she did.
Tohno Akiha's first impression of Shirou the Magus had been a rather poor one. That of a grasping and manipulative man who saw no issue in taking advantage of loopholes in ancient laws when it was convenient to him.
The mere thought of his letter, the impertinence that had practically dripped off every written word, still soured her mood slightly even days after the fact. Not because it was the worst thing she'd ever seen, because it wasn't, not by a long shot, but because it had been the first time since becoming the head of the family that Akiha had been confronted by such blatant manipulation from a Magus from outside the family.
That made it rather memorable.
Surprisingly though, her second impression of him had been much better. In person, he was polite and unexpectedly kind, and generous too. He had apologised for the letter, sincerely even, and had tried to make amends. He'd even taken her scolding and insults without comment, which was a rare thing indeed for Magi.
That didn't mean she forgave him, certainly not, but she wasn't as angry anymore as before. She was even willing to accept his presence in her territory for a few days, as his purpose was obviously very important to him, and he had paid an exorbitant fee on top of that.
She hadn't expected there to be a third impression. Not after she'd shown him the door so decisively.
But then, a few minutes after she'd settled into her office to spend the afternoon working through the backlog of ancient documents her father had left her, Akiha looked up from her paperwork to find Shirou standing before her desk.
Looking very cross indeed.
Suppressing her first instinct to incinerate him and her second instinct to scream for help, Akiha calmly put down her pen, ordered the papers, and placed them aside on her desk, giving no outward indication of her racing heart.
The Tohno-manor was protected by potent Bounded Fields and many other defences. She wouldn't claim the place was impenetrable, because nothing was, but at the very least, she should have been warned well in advance if someone was trying to break in.
That the redheaded Magus was standing before her anyway, despite all the Bounded Fields in and around the property still being intact, meant nothing good, and Akiha knew, with her natural intelligence and the paranoia instilled in her over the course of her short life, that acting hasty now would be most unwise and dangerous.
For her.
So instead, she gestured at one of the chairs in the room, as if he were a welcome guest. She should probably hear him out before doing anything rash.
Her heartrate increased even more however when he ignored her gesture, remaining where he was.
Although, it might not be as much that he ignored her as that he simply didn't see the gesture. He was looking around her office, his eyes narrowed, sometimes taking a deep breath through his nose, as if trying to find a specific scent or something.
Judging by the setting of his jaw a moment later, he'd found it too.
"Lady Tohno." He then greeted her at last, though there was no bow accompanying it this time. "Why was there a Dead Apostle Ancestor in this house?"
A Dead Apostle Ancestor…?
It took a while for the question to sink in, the words bouncing around in Akiha's head without really registering, but when she realised what he was asking, her fear and nervousness evaporated to make room for unbridled fury, her hands gripping the edge of her desk so hard the wood cracked ominously.
A casual onlooker might have assumed that her fury was aimed at the redhead, who had dared to utter such a dire accusation.
But that was not the case.
Strangely enough, she actually believed him, taking him at his word that an Ancestor had been inside her home. She had no reason for her trust aside from a decent second impression, but trust him she did nonetheless.
Rather, she was furious with the only people who could have allowed an Ancestor entrance into the manor.
Her worthless relatives.
Her mind readily conjured up images and theories about them selling their pitiable souls to the Vampire Lords in an effort to gain more power and influence. A last-ditch attempt to wrestle the lordship of the family away from her.
She could easily see it happen.
It took a lot of self-control for her not to literally start breathing fire at the mere thought. She could live with some plotting and scheming, that was inherent to any Magus-family, but working together with one of mankind's greatest enemies was a crime that could see the whole family executed! To even contemplate it was an atrocity!
But they would do it anyway, consequences be damned.
Akiha wished she could have thrown her desk into the nearby wall to vent some of her anger, but she controlled herself, locking away the fury with iron self-discipline. She fully believed Shirou's claim, but that didn't mean she could admit as much to the redhead himself. As said before, this was a matter that could see her whole family summarily executed, by either the Magus Association or the Burial Agency. She needed to keep this within the family.
Hence, she forced herself to stay calm and meet the redhead's eyes again, preparing to lie like she'd never lied before.
"I know nothing about Dead Apostle Ancestors in this house." She stated clearly and decisively, using every bit of her talent for deceit, hoping it would be enough. "Nor have I ever met one."
"Your city is rife with them though." Shirou countered, crossing his arms. "The Burial Agency is here to hunt Roa, and I fought Vlov Arkhangel tonight myself, at least until the Spider Queen whisked him away. Are you sure that neither you nor your relatives ever even saw one of them?"
"I am sure." She nodded, crossing her arms too. "I am aware of the Ancestors in the city, but I planned to leave it to the Burial Agency to sort out. I do not have the necessary resources to fight even one Ancestor at the moment, let alone multiple ones. I can assure you though that I would never approach one for any sort of conversation or deal. Never."
"I see." The atmosphere in the office eased a little, as Shirou apparently decided to believe her. "I am glad to hear that, and I apologise for my accusation towards you. Nevertheless, there are still traces of the Spider Queen inside your manor."
"The Spider Queen?" Once again, that was wholly new information to Akiha, and this time, it didn't make much sense either. Of all the humanoid Ancestors, so discounting freaks like the Forest of Einnashe and Primate Murder, that one might be the least fit of all to approach for a possible deal. If her wretched relatives were going to consort with one of them, it would almost certainly be someone like Van-Fem, Blackmore, Calhin, or even Ortenrosse himself. Even Arkhangel would be a better option. "Certainly not!"
"Hm." Shirou seemed certain of his case however, very certain, and Akiha found herself believing him again. "Forgive my impertinence in saying this, but perhaps you did not notice?"
Impertinence indeed! To suggest that she had not only lost control over her territory, which she admittedly had with all the Ancestors running around, but also over the manor, her own house, was nothing short of a grievous insult!
Though it was, to Akiha's immense frustration, quite possible indeed. At the very least, she couldn't entirely dismiss the possibility, no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that even her dumbest relatives wouldn't be that stupid.
Because unfortunately, they very much were.
She really should have banished the lot of them to the city's outskirts and beyond when she took over as head of the family! It would have saved her a lot of trouble right now!
But she hadn't, for some reason she was hard-pressed to remember, and now she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
On one hand, she really couldn't admit to the Magus in front of her that it was entirely possible that one of her relatives had consorted with one or multiple Ancestors. That was just asking to be blackmailed or strong armed later down the line, if he didn't just report her incompetence to the Clocktower directly.
At the same time, his help would be invaluable in dealing with the problem as quickly as possible. He had noticed the issue where she had not after all, and by his own admission, he'd fought an Ancestor before. He could very well do it again.
She was weighing the risks against the benefits, at one point even leaning towards the latter, but it should come to no one's surprise that the risks won out in the end. In the Moonlit World, there was no such thing as trust, especially not after only one letter and two meetings.
Akiha was on her own for this one, with only Kohaku and Hisui to support her.
Nothing out of the ordinary, the same as it had always been, though the stakes were quite a bit higher than usual this time.
She would have to make deep inquiries as soon as possible, to find the fly in the ointment before the family was doomed, but first, she needed to dismiss Shirou as subtly as possible.
She didn't think he was going to accept a point blank dismissal, not if she didn't have a very good reason, so she would have to be clever about it.
Perhaps she could pretend to work together with him, while actually keeping him away from anything important-
"It won't work."
"Huh?" Akiha blinked at the Magus' sudden statement.
"Whatever you are planning, it won't work." He repeated, leaning forward and putting his hands on her desk. "I know you want to run damage control right now, to get me out of here so you can solve your problems on your own, but we don't have time for that. Please, trust me when I say that I only wish to help, not to blackmail or shame you. All I want is to know what an Ancestor might be doing here and to make sure they won't come here again."
"…"
Had she truly been that obvious in her planning of deception? Or was it a given that a Second Owner in her position would try to deceive him in order to save face? Akiha really hoped it was the latter.
In any case, she had been well and truly cornered now. The redheaded Magus was no fool, evidently, and while she could have struggled and protested for a while longer, it would be nothing but an inelegant waste of their time.
So she relented.
Hoping that things would be alright in the end.
"If the Spider Queen has indeed been here, she was probably allowed entrance by one of my relatives." She admitted, before narrowing her eyes and accentuating her voice. "But it wasn't my brother, nor my maids! Of that, I am completely certain."
"I will trust you on that." Shirou nodded, straightening up again. "I too am reasonably certain that your brother is not in league with anyone except Brunestud, and I cleared your maids myself-"
"Brunestud?!"
Akiha bluntly and loudly interrupted him, getting up from her chair so fast it toppled over behind her.
"What do you mean Brunestud?!"
What on Earth did the Crimson Moon have to do with anything?!
For a few moments, Shirou was silent, blinking owlishly at her in confusion, before his eyes widened ever so slightly in apparent realisation, and his expression became… embarrassed?
"He didn't tell you." The Magus concluded, looking away and rubbing the back of his head. "Guess I really dropped him in it now."
"What are you talking about?! Speak plainly!" Akiha demanded again, worry and concern eroding her patience and sharpening her tongue. "Is Shiki not with his friends from school?!"
"…To the best of my knowledge, he is searching the city for Roa, the unofficial twenty-eighth Dead Apostle Ancestor, alongside Arcueid Brunestud. That is what Arcueid told me anyway."
"…" Akiha's breath hitched, her throat constricting so much she had trouble breathing, and she had to steady herself on her desk not to fall over.
"Woah! Easy there." Shirou immediately stepped forward to help, but Akiha was a resilient woman, and by the time he was close enough to place a hand on her shoulder, she had recovered enough to push it away again.
The redheaded Magus then said something else, asking a question or two, but she wasn't listening anymore.
Instead, her mind was in turmoil, as she wondered just how things had gone so terribly wrong so incredibly quickly.
She'd wanted to protect Shiki, to give him a good home again with his real family, her. She'd wanted to keep him safe, away from threats on the outside. Away from assassins and beasts and what not, all of which could have easily gotten him in the unprotected home of the branch-family he'd been staying at.
Of course, she knew that bringing him to the home of the Tohno-family, a veritable lair of plotting and scheming, would result in a whole new array of threats, many of which Shiki was ill-equipped to deal with, but that was why she had banished her relatives to the outermost wings of the manor and even expelled the most troublesome ones.
If they hadn't disliked her before, then they certainly hated her now, but it was more than worth it. Shiki mattered more to her than all her relatives put together, only slightly rivalled by Kohaku and Hisui, and there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep him safe and in blissful ignorance for now.
It was impossible to keep him ignorant of the Moonlit World forever, she knew that perfectly well, but she had hoped to delay the painful reveal for as long as possible, and to ease him into it when the time had come.
The Tohno-family had enough skeletons in the closet to fill a medium-sized graveyard after all, and she didn't want to scare him away right after she'd just gotten him back.
But apparently, the Princess of the Moon had decided that Akiha's wishes were of no importance whatsoever.
How dare she…
How dare she!?
Akiha clenched her hands so hard her nails broke the skin of her palms, and her teeth grinded together hard enough to produce unsettling sounds.
The Moon Princess was leading her brother astray, taking him away from her again!
Was that monster forcing him to help her?! Or was she actually a harlot, seducing him into serving her?!
Either way, it was unforgivable!
Akiha's Demon blood was awakening rapidly, to a point where every experienced Magus would instantly spot her inhumanity, but she didn't care. Even if Shirou was still in the room, looking on with a raised eyebrow, she didn't care.
She had to get her brother back-
"Enough."
But then a finger was placed on her forehead, and it pushed her so hard she was sent stumbling backwards.
And then her mind cleared.
From one second to the next, Akiha's anxiety and rage evaporated, leaving only slight concern.
Her hands unclenched, her jaws went a bit slack, and her knees gave out, making her fall backwards onto her chair, which was suddenly standing upright again.
She let out a massive sigh, both in relief and in surprise, before looking up, at her redheaded guest, who was looking at her with a probing gaze.
"What did you do?" She asked him, blinking a few times.
"It was a calming spell, of sorts." He explained, before making an apologetic gesture. "I am sorry for using Magecraft on you without permission, but it seemed necessary."
"You truly are a scoundrel." Using Magecraft on another Magus without permission was indeed the height of impertinence again, an insult worthy of a duel to the death, but after everything that had already happened, Akiha couldn't bring herself to be angry about it. Not truly. Not when there were far more important things to deal with. "I want the Moon Princess to stay away from my brother. She's not good for him."
"Ah." Shirou's expression became a bit complicated, probably because of the magnitude of her demand, but to her delight, he seemed understanding enough. "I agree that Tohno-san might be in over his head. I don't know him well, but if he was unaware of the Moonlit World-"
"He was." Akiha said immediately, pressingly. "He has no idea of what this family truly is, and frankly, I can't fathom why the Moon Princess would want him anywhere near her, let alone helping her hunt for Ancestors. I mean, he is kind and smart and understanding and polite, but he is not a great warrior by any means."
In fact, the Tohno Shiki she knew was a bit of a wet blanket, which, let there be no doubt, she infinitely preferred over someone who saw no issue with hurting others. He wasn't someone to take on a Dead Apostle hunt. He'd be dead weight at best.
"That is not what Brunestud experienced." Shirou shook his head however, giving her an odd look. "The whole reason she recruited him was because he attacked and wounded her."
"…Come again?"
Akiha blinked in confusion, reasoning she must have misheard something, somehow.
"Your brother, Tohno Shiki, attacked and wounded Arcueid Brunestud."
She hadn't misheard?
Akiha was flummoxed, slowly letting his words sink in, before she huffed incredulously.
Shiki attacking and wounding the Moon Princess?
"Nonsense."
"It is not. I had to heal her myself from the wounds he had dealt her."
"Impossible."
The very claim was so ridiculous that Akiha could only shake her head in denial. The Moon Princess was a creature of vast power and influence, a being created to hunt Dead Apostle Ancestors. The idea that her brother, her thin, fragile, and harmless brother, could ever put as much as a scratch on something as close to a god as the world had left in the Modern Age was laughable.
She didn't think that Shirou was lying to her, but he was definitely mistaken.
But she never had a chance to explain that to him.
"My lady!"
Hisui suddenly burst into Akiha's office, her face set in a fearful and worried expression, and Akiha rose from her chair, alarmed by the uncharacteristic behaviour from the stoic maid.
"There's an intruder in the gardens!"
Ah, that explained it.
Akiha didn't bother replying verbally. Instead, she focused deeply.
In her mind's eye, she visualised a man standing before her, and without further ado, her mental self tore out his throat.
With that, her Magic Circuits activated.
The mental ritual that Magi had to carry out in order to activate their Magic Circuits was often rather macabre. They had to envision hanging themselves for instance, or stabbing themselves in the heart, or imagine how they were dying of thirst, and Akiha, with her gruesome murder, was no exception.
The fact that the man she imagined always bore a close resemblance to her father was something she carefully ignored.
Unbeknownst to her, Shirou also activated his Magic Circuits at the same time, though far from having to imagine how he tortured or murdered himself or others, he merely cocked back the hammer of his mental gun and fired it at the threat.
"W-What are you doing here?!" Hisui gasped the next moment, finally realising her lady wasn't alone, but neither Shirou nor Akiha responded.
Instead, they rushed outside, both of them following the foreign smell they had now picked up on.
The intruder had successfully avoided the Bounded Fields on the manor's outer walls and fooled the other defences, but they couldn't fool their noses.
The hunt was on.
"Alright, thank you, people. That's all for today!"
With that shout from the production manager, the photographers and models of the Misaki Town studio all sagged in relief, easing their attractive poses and lowering their expensive cameras at long last.
The Misaki Town studio was a modelling agency of middling size and fame. It did photoshoots for clothing stores, make-up designers, and even several gyms in the city, and generally did well enough a job to keep their regular clients coming back.
The studio had a few dozen employees, mostly models, camera-men, and designers, and about a dozen more freelancers that worked there on a job-by-job basis.
These employees weren't treated in a particularly stellar fashion, nothing to really write home about, but at the same time, the studio wasn't one of those 'black companies' either. They maintained a healthy work day and discouraged reckless overtime.
And thus, since they'd all been working from five in the morning already, preparing everything for the photoshoot at dawn that had been ordered by one of their biggest clients, they could wrap up at one o'clock in the afternoon. Just in time for lunch.
"Finally! My back was killing me."
"If I have to snap one more photo today, I'll go mad."
"Yeah! People think we have such a great job, looking at beautiful women all day, but it's really challenging!"
"Being a model is not all glamour either, you know? Anyway, want to get some lunch together?"
"Always!"
The photographers and various other staff members rapidly packed away their equipment, storing it safely to use again the next time, while the models went straight to the changing rooms to get out of their work-clothes. The outfits they got from their clients might be elegant and refined, but they were often either too restrictive or niche for everyday use, or they were too scant to wear in public.
Of course, they were all chatting pleasantly as they wrapped up, reflecting on a successful and enjoyable day at work, but it was clear that they couldn't wait to get back home to the family or get into the nearest restaurant to have a good meal.
The modelling world was a demanding one, and you had to take your time off when you could.
There was, however, one exception.
Arcueid Brunestud, part-time model and full-time Moon Princess, went straight to the production manager to get her wages, not wasting a moment on chatting or lounging around, rejecting or outright ignoring every offer for lunch, as she had more to do that day.
In fact, it could be said that her main job was only just beginning.
"Ah, Arcueid." The production manager was used to her habits by now, and he didn't even blink when she popped up from behind him with an expecting gaze. No words were needed, and he pulled an envelope with cash out of his belt to place in her awaiting hand. "Your wages. As agreed, over ten times more than yesterday."
"Thank you, manager-san." Arcueid grinned happily, seeing that the envelope was indeed noticeably thicker than it was the day before. Sufficiently so that she could likely afford to buy every snack she wanted now.
"Please, Arcueid, call me Satoshi. Everyone else does." The manager laughed heartily, and Arcueid politely ignored the slightly forced nature of that laugh.
"Satoshi-san." She nodded, never one to stand on decorum, before she made to leave again without another word. Not out of rudeness of course, but because she really had more to do and nothing more to say to her temporary employer.
"Will you be here again tomorrow?" Satoshi stopped her however, his tone hopeful and almost pleading. "The editors are clamouring for more pictures of you, and several of our clients have started asking about you specifically. If you leave us in the lurch now, we'll be in trouble for sure."
It went without saying that Arcueid's beauty and grace were a cut above that of normal mortals, or rather five cuts above it. In looks, she had every other model beat by a veritable mile, and because of her boundless confidence and power, she made every outfit look good, no matter its design or colour. Her pictures didn't even need any digital touch-ups or alterations to shine. In fact, those only lessened her sheer magnificence.
She was unmatched, and people were quickly starting to take notice of her.
She'd only been working part-time as a model for a few days now, and already, the products she advertised for had seen a notable uptick in sales. The common people, of all ages and all walks of life, were simply unable to resist her inhuman charisma, and were driven to spend whatever spare money they had available on whatever she asked them to buy.
Such was the power of the White Princess.
Of course, there was no way that her current employers hadn't noticed the trend, hadn't spotted Arcueid's rising popularity, and they were desperate to keep hold of their newfound advantage. Their beautiful, graceful, cheery, and cheap advantage, who had unmatched popularity with the customers and clients alike.
Hence, Satoshi tried his hardest to make sure she kept coming back, going as far as to get down on his knees and beg.
"Please?" He repeated, his eyes misting over from sheer desperation.
It was a blatant guilt-trip on his part, so blatant that even Arcueid couldn't miss it, but since she wouldn't be leaving Misaki Town for a while at the rate her hunt was going and she would continue to need money for snacks, she went along with it, for now.
"Same time tomorrow." She grinned back at Satoshi, who sagged in relief.
"W-Would you be willing to sign a contract with us?" The man then asked, pulling said contract out of his belt and holding it out to her like a samurai would hold his sword out to the Shogun. With the utmost respect.
"A contract?" Arcueid cocked her head to the side, accepting the piece of paper and trying to read the words there, though she quickly had to give up, unable to get through the jargon.
"Just put your name there." Satoshi encouraged her, pointing at the bottom line with one hand while holding out a pencil with the other. "We'll double your pay if you do."
"!" That sounded like music in Arcueid's ears, and she was about to write down her name, before she hesitated, her Instincts suddenly warning her of a trap.
Perhaps…
Perhaps she should ask Shirou's opinion on it first.
"Maybe later." She ended up saying, taking the contract and putting it in the pocket of her jacket.
"I-I need an answer tomorrow." Satoshi pressed, and although he did an admirable job hiding his disappointment over her soft refusal, Arcueid spotted it nevertheless.
"Sure." She agreed, before turning around and leaving for real. "Bye now."
"Ah, yes, goodbye." He hastened to reply, but she had already left, as suddenly as she'd appeared in the morning, leaving him to wonder if he hadn't just made a massive mistake.
"Hehe." Exiting the agency, Arcueid laughed happily to herself as she clutched the envelope to her breast. "Let's get some snacks!"
Shirou's advice had paid off massively. She only had to hint ever so slightly at the fact she might go to another agency to get a better salary, and her production manager had rushed to increase her wages more than tenfold. Now, she could buy more snacks than ever.
It was an interesting concept to her, sheltered as she was in the ways of humankind, to work a job to get money, which you could then spend to get food. It seemed a bit… overcomplicated, to her, but then, she would be the first to admit she could be a tad slow sometimes. The humans probably had good reasons to do what they did, reasons she just didn't grasp yet.
They hadn't become the dominant species by being fools all the time after all.
Just most of the time.
In any case, although Arcueid was happy with the money, she'd spent more time at her part-time job than she'd planned, so she was too late now to pick Shiki up on his way back from school.
That was hardly an issue though. She had his scent, so she could track him down easily enough. She'd always managed before with little to no issue.
He had a curious smell, one that seemed entirely bland but hid something very spicy underneath, and she turned to the right to follow the scent, before-
"Arcueid!"
"Oh, Shiki!"
-By fortunate coincidence, he turned out to be much closer than expected, at the other side of the street even, and Arcueid smiled brightly at him, waving her hand in greeting.
"Arcueid!"
When he crossed the road to get to her however, her smile soon dropped, as she noticed that he seemed unusually agitated.
His face was splotched with red, his hands were balled, and he leaned forward as he walked, like a lion on the prowl. Even most passersby noticed his bad mood, making sure to stay out of his way and distance themselves from Arcueid, unwilling to be caught up in the inevitable clash.
Evidently, something had displeased him, but Arcueid couldn't for the life of her figure out what it could be.
"Shiki, what's wrong?" She asked once he stepped onto the sidewalk, only to frown in concern when he didn't reply. "Shiki? Are you… Are you alright?"
He still didn't reply, coming to a halt in front of her, and she reached out with an uncertain hand, probably to place it on his shoulder, like she'd seen humans do before.
She flinched however when he suddenly grabbed her wrist, tightly.
Since she was a True Ancestor, she barely felt his grip, but it was tight enough that it could very well have hurt a normal woman.
"Come with me!" He then barked, before pulling her along as he stormed off, still getting a wide berth from everyone around them.
"W-What? Why?" Arcueid floundered, letting herself be pulled along for now, too confused by his behaviour to protest or resist. "A-Are you mad?"
"You can't do that!" He yelled in response, hard enough that Arcueid flinched again.
He really was mad, and she just couldn't figure out why.
"D-Do what?" She asked, before pressing when he again failed to answer. "Do what, Shiki!?"
"Work for such agencies!" He exploded at her, the red in his face becoming even more intense.
"Huh?" Arcueid blinked in confusion at his puzzling answer, before she glanced back at the studio she worked at. "You mean the studio?"
"Yes! Stay away from there!"
"But I am working there. I'm earning money by-"
"You can't!" He interrupted her brusquely. "You can't!"
"Can't what?"
"You cannot work for such people." Shiki finally deigned to elaborate, though it still didn't explain anything. "It's not right!"
"Not right?" He wasn't making any sense, and Arcueid wondered if he wasn't perhaps completely misunderstanding the nature of her job. "They were just taking pictures of me in different outfits."
"It's not right!" He repeated, louder this time.
"But why not?" Arcueid's voice got louder too, as she was slowly starting to lose her patience with him.
"It just isn't! All men know that!"
"Shirou was fine with it though." She protested, having half a mind to wrench herself loose, as he was being rather annoying. "He said that it suits me. He even said that they should pay me more than they did before."
"Then Shirou was wrong!" Shiki roared, which annoyed Arcueid even more. "You cannot do such work!"
"You still haven't told me why, Shiki!"
"Because it's work for l-loose women!" He finally gave a reason, stumbling slightly over the words. "I don't want other men to be staring at you!"
"Oh?" Arcueid blinked again, though not in understanding. Yes, he'd finally given a reason, but it did not make things any clearer for her. Her confusion only increased, and so did her frustration with him. Him and his irritating behaviour. "But I don't mind it if men look at me-"
"I do mind!" Shiki said loudly, his anger as high as ever, and Arcueid now seriously considered getting angry in turn.
She might not get what he was talking about, why he was so angry about her chosen job, but she did understand that he was trying to control her.
What folly!
The Earth couldn't be controlled, and certainly not by a measly human.
"I just don't like it." Shiki repeated, at a softer tone this time, perhaps realising that shouting wasn't getting him anywhere. "Please don't do it again."