Emiya household.
"A mask?"
Shirou asked as he studied the gift brought by his newest guest.
It was expensive-looking. Very expensive-looking. Not just that, it seemed to be made of multiple intricate parts as it was collapsable enough to fit into a suitcase but could be pulled open to cover his whole face. At its full size, it even hid his hair when pulled over his head.
The aesthetic was just as peculiar. Overall shaped like a flower bud, the area slitted for vision resembled that of a knight's helm. But with how rounded and smooth it was, colored white, it could pass as the flared top of a chess piece. Was it a bishop, a knight, a rook? It could even be a pawn, yet he couldn't tell. He didn't play the board game often to recognize which.
Still, with how pristine and complex it was, he could only say it belonged to some gaudy rich person's art collection. White as porcelain decorated with golden filigree but light as a hat and not at all stuffy from the inside. He couldn't picture any other sort of person trying to use it unironically though. It drew too much attention for his tastes.
"Our master would appreciate it if you wore this while attending this evening." The masked guests in black bowed in perfect and polite seiza across from him. "Worry not. He is a fair and neutral arbiter. Not competition you need worry over. Guests are free to bring their Servants or other such escorts should they feel the need for protection."
"O-okay…" Shirou could only mutter as he picked up the other contents of the suitcase the guest slid over the table. The party invite was decorated as richly, as poshly as he'd ever seen even. It had his full name on it too, ringing alarms in his head that this stranger should be far more off-putting than all the Grail War shenanigans to plague him so far. And it had only been less than half a day.
"Is there a problem, Master Emiya?"
"N-no… Not at all."
He was unnerved by how casual the woman was being after turning up at this hour. Still, it was too early in the morning to pick a fight, and he didn't sense hostility from them either. That Saber herself wasn't barging in to stop this meant they weren't a threat she would raise her hand for… yet.
She was leaving him to play his part as her Master then. He decided on the spot.
"We'll be there, miss."
The masked guest gave a single nod, not once revealing a face or their name. "The arbiter appreciates your cooperation, Master Emiya Shirou. We will be waiting."
Rude as it was for them to not even introduce themselves, the masked lady and her partner quietly took their leave. Not once did they even touch the tea he laid out for them. For the first time in a while, Shirou was stumped as a host.
Taking a slow and deep breath, Shirou laid back and stared up at the dining room ceiling.
'Is this the right decision though…?'
A Servant with something of a vendetta against his father. Unknown strangers that want him dead and a friend who tried their best to keep him alive that they both sent Servants after him. Now there's a self-proclaimed 'arbiter' rolling up on his doorstep to offer an invitation.
Grabbing tea off the table, he gulped it down to stop his head from spinning. After sighing away the heat, he still thought distantly. That things were too nonsensical to be real.
Then again, he was the same when his dad first taught him magecraft, no?
'Get a grip, Shirou!' Slapping his face, the boy slowly got up and pumped himself up. "Doesn't matter if I can't tell left from right. I've got an opportunity to do good. So there's only one thing to do!"
His offer to Sakura had been the correct choice, of that he was sure.
The doorbell rang, followed by the swift opening of the sliding doors to the dining room as Saber made herself present.
"The imposter has returned with another Matou."
Shirou nodded at once before stepping out to greet them. This time however, Saber stopped him from opening the door himself and took it upon herself to do it for him.
"Good morning, grumpy face."
"There is nothing good with your presence, Assassin."
Again, another stare down between two lookalikes ensued as the two boys stood behind them had to walk around the tense showdown to meet each other a little way down the hallway.
"Yo," Shinji, unlike Sakura, was sporting a somewhat tired expression as their eyes met. "Guess you had your own fair share of secrets. And mine."
"I know better than to intrude by spilling the beans." Shirou took the lead, offering a hand. "Still best friends?"
The blue-haired boy took one look at the hand, slapped his palm against it and, matching Shirou, knocked their fists together before they locked wrists.
"Hmph. So long as you don't hurt my sister."
"I never intended to. Is Sakura…"
"She's fine." Shinji quickly relaxed and broke off their handshake before slipping into the dining room like he owned the place. Then again, it wasn't as if he would be unwelcome and never was. "She told me what you two agreed on last night and, as much as I'd agree with her idea, I've suggested another plan."
He held up an invite letter and a box he was carrying.
"You weren't the only one who got sent an invite, yeah? I'll be going in her place."
"Are you sure? This isn't gonna be any normal meeting, Shinji—"
"Better me than her, Shirou." His best buddy, longtime friend and trusted pal, made a face. It was that one he always made when it came to Sakura. Namely, if something was either gonna trouble her or when Shinji worried for trouble that would befall her. Caught brooding, Shinji shrugged. "You know me, man. As much as I'd like to joke around and just go back to our normal days, right now… I cannot take risks. Or rather, I won't. Risking Sakura… That's not on the table for me. Not when she's been working hard in her own way for this. For us… For our normal daily lives."
Shinji was serious. A rare exposure of that side of him, to Shirou at least, but he could sympathize. This wasn't school anymore.
"Alright. Then let's make sure we come back from this in one piece."
"Funny to hear that from you. Can't say I feel confident in trusting you with my back when I'm not even sure how capable of a magus you are."
Shirou couldn't meet his friend's gaze.
"Er… Spellcaster, actually."
"… Seriously?"
"Look, I'm not formally trained. It's not as if pops paid for a tuition and got me a tutor. The magecraft thing isn't new to me, but as far as lessons go, I've been practicing and I can handle myself…" He paused. "… I think."
"…" Shinji stared in disbelief.
"…" Shirou stared back, earnestly trying to be convincing.
"…" Shinji continued to stare, eyes looking more and more concerned.
Finally, Shirou broke first.
"… Look, man, there's only so much I can do while dad's out of town. And it's not like I could've tested what I could do on others…"
Shinji dropped the look with a deep exhale. Finally, a wry smile formed on his lips.
"At least you're aware of your inadequacies… Honestly, I'm quite surprised you managed to be able to keep all this quiet after all these years. An honest bonehead like you could hardly lie through his teeth."
"I didn't really mean to, you know… I just… Well…" His voice trailed off, unwilling to make up excuses.
"I mean, I knew you had a habit of hiding how you worked on repairing things at school, but damn did I not expect you were like that because you used magecraft for mundane fixes." Shinji chuckled to himself. "I thought you were just the shy type who didn't like being stared at while you worked."
While there was some truth to that, it was more for hiding what he was as much as he could. Kiritsugu was always one of extreme caution and that lesson was drilled into the redhead from the get-go
"Speaking of 'being shy'," Shinji nodded to the doorway where two Servants kept squaring up against each other. "What are the odds both our sides would be blessed with beauties? So this is a Servant of the Saber Class…"
"Is now really the time to—?" Shirou narrowed his gaze at the flirtatious quip but paused upon seeing a new look on Shinji's face. It was focused. Critical. "Shinji? Something wrong?"
"… No."
The blue-haired boy stared a little longer at the blondes glaring down each other.
"Just envying your odds a little, buddy." He shook his head and continued. "In any case, working together is in our best interests if we're to make it through this. Just to be clear. You don't suppose we could trade Servants' identities, can we? Just to be on the safe side?"
Shirou had already considered that thought when he asked for an alliance with Sakura. It wasn't a bad idea in his eyes. But in Saber's…. As Saber's Master, it was not negotiable.
"Say that again, Matou. This time, say it with your chest held high. So that I may run my blade through and cut down such foolishness." Though, Shirou couldn't get a word in edgewise before Saber snapped for him,
"The same instant you dare, you may as well forfeit your chances at victory, brutish knight." The blonde opposite Saber quipped back. "I will honor my Master's promise to keep them both safe," she nodded to Shirou. "But not once did I swore to avoid cutting your throat."
Neither backed down. Not Saber's furrowed brows nor Assassin's guarded smile.
The standoff was beginning to get to Shirou, and he knew very much this wasn't getting them anywhere.
"Saber, please. Let's not do this right now." He turned to his friend. "You heard her, Shinji. I'd rather not push our alliance any more than this. As much as I trust you—"
"Your Servant does not. I got it, Shirou. I too would prefer my organs where they are." Shinji backed down quickly. He too seemed to share Shirou's preference for peaceful cooperation. A certain knight notwithstanding. "Now, on to business…"
They seated themselves on the dining table. Saber and Assassin sat behind them, neither stopping to mirror the other in disdain, as Shirou sat across from Shinji. The latter laid down a letter as well as some notes he pulled out of his shirt pocket.
"You got the same invite, so we will be going to the party. Together, as you and Sakura have agreed. Only I will take her place." Shirou nodded along. "Now, before we go risking our necks out there, here."
He pushed forward the notes.
"What's this?"
"Something I dug up after getting the invites. Are you aware of who our host is?"
"Someone calling himself an Arbiter?" Shirou took the papers and found his eyes locking on to the address listed at the very top. It was the same address on his invite. Next to it was a local area map with the address of a familiar shrine centered on it. Marked in red ink in Shinji's handwriting was the name of the owner of Ryuudou Temple, a familiar corporation that had gotten famous recently. "… Sumeragi Industries?"
"Yeah… You know what this means, don't you." He didn't pause after the rhetorical question as Shinji leaned forward, face hidden behind his hands. "The freaking CEO of that multinational conglomerate has their hands in this."
"But… wait, isn't that CEO…?"
"Sumeragi Kaguya."