Hi everyone, here is a new chapter for all of you. Sorry, if the chapter is a bit short like the previous one. All reviews, questions, and comments are welcome and all rights belong to Type Moon.

It was time for action. Shirou knew what he needed to do and by the time the sun peeked over the horizon, he was prepared to do what needed to be done. He decided to enact his plan after Miyu and Saber departed for school as he saw it unnecessary to involve the duo for the time being. However, when he farewelled the two, Saber looked at him with a suspicious glint in her eyes, but Shirou knew that she wouldn't act until it was absolutely necessary for her to do so. As soon as the door slid shut, the redhead walked over to the kitchen where he saw Sakura just preparing her bag for school.

"Thank you for coming over," Shirou greeted the purple-haired girl before sitting right next to her.

"No, the pleasure is all mine, senpai," Sakura responded with a bit of red on her cheeks. Shirou just glanced over the girl, who seemed to be avoid his eyes. He casually maneuvered himself to catch a glimpse of the girl's face, but every movement he made seemed to be mirrored, which just unnerved him.

"She must have noticed something was off with the way I was acting this morning. She has always been a smart girl," was Shirou's train of thought before his mind worked at high speeds to find the best course of action.

On the other hand, Sakura had a hand over her chest while taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. "Senpai is so close!" was the only thing racing through her mind as her heart and mind fought against each other. The two sat together in awkward silence for a while before Sakura decided to take the initiative.

"I believe it is time we should go off to school," Sakura spoke, breaking the silence.

"Yes, do you have everything you need?" Shirou agreed instantly before standing up. The purple-haired girl just nodded her head in response and the two of them made their way to the front entrance. The redhead just observed the junior in front of him closely and noticed that she seemed to have a skip in her step. Then, she stopped right in front of the front entrance before turning around. To his surprise, there was a bright smile on his junior's face.

"What's the happy occasion?" Shirou inquired as he slipped on his shoes.

"Oh nothing, I'm just so glad that I am able to spend time with senpai," Sakura just answered before placing her hand on the door. Those very words seemed to make something click in the redhead's mind as he stopped moving for a bit. Visions of the same girl haunted his mind, but he quickly blinked them away.

"Yeah, I feel the same," Shirou replied with a warm smile on his face.

"Senpai, where is your bag?" Sakura seemed to just realize as she opened the door. That was when Shirou just watched with a passive expression on his face as a man grabbed Sakura and placed a cloth over her mouth and nose before holding her in place as she struggled to free herself from the man's hold. Soon, her eyes started to close as her consciousness faded away, but the redhead long stopped watching his junior and was surveying the area while the man gently picked up Sakura's unconscious form. His ears felt a ripple in the air and with a reinforced hand, he grabbed a dagger before it pierced the man's head.

"Rider, stand down. This is for Sakura," Shirou called out while keeping a close eye on the man, who was carrying Sakura over to a car parked at the front gate of the compound.

"I find that hard to believe considering what just happened," he heard her voice a distance behind him. Despite his body slightly twitching, the redhead made no attempt to react to the situation at hand and just stood there with the dagger in his hand.

"I know about worms inside her body. If you truly care about her, you won't interfere in what is about to happen," Shirou spoke in a firm tone before taking a calm breath. "If you don't trust me, then you may kill me where I stand."

He waited for some form of reaction from the Servant while Sakura was gently being loaded into the car. His eyes darted from corner to corner while his breathing remained calm and steady to mask his emotions. Then, he felt the dagger in his hand lose its shape and mass before he felt nothing except the skin of his palm. With a smile on his face, he just looked forward to see an unarmed Rider with her head aimed straight at him and one hand on her blindfold. Despite the lack of words between them, the redhead fully understood the purple-haired woman and just nodded his head. With that, he made his way to the car where the man was standing with the door wide open.

"Get us to the church as fast possible without any delay. Once you do so, return here and contact the school to inform them that both Sakura Matou and I will be absent due to illness," Shirou ordered the older male, who just nodded his head in acknowledgement, before closing the door behind the redhead as soon as he entered the vehicle.

In a short amount of time, the vehicle reached the front entrance of the church where Shirou could see Kirei standing outside garbed in usual outfit, but with an unrecognizable smile on his face that just sent shivers down the redhead's spine. He gently carried Sakura out of the car over to the front entrance where Kirei just had his arms held out. Without a single word, the redhead carefully maneuvered his friend's body into the available hands of the priest. The two entered the building where Shirou saw Rin waiting patiently in the front row. The redhead joined the twin-tailed before both watched the black-haired exit the room. They sat in silence for an undetermined amount of time with neither of them willing to break the established between them.

"So what is your plan after this?" Rin broke the silence much to Shirou's surprise.

"Now then, why would I tell you something like that?" Shirou masked his surprise in with a smug expression on his face. He knew a annoyance contorted itself on the twin-tailed's face, but her eyes were still serious.

"I ask because I am wondering what we are supposed to do with Sakura," Rin clarified herself, which just earned an eyebrow raise from Shirou.

"What else are we supposed to do? Once the surgery is finished, we take Zouken out of the equation. He will defenseless anyway, so everything should be fine afterwards," Shirou answered in a casual manner. However, he soon realized that his answer didn't seem to satisfy the girl.

"You're missing the point, Emiya. You know if a person uses up all of their prana in their body, they die," Rin replied in a tone that seemed to be brimming with irritation, but hiding an emotion underneath.

"Yes, I know," Shirou responded slowly as if his voice was walking inside a long, dark hallway expecting a monster to attack him from the shadows. His eyes registered that fact that the girl next to him wasn't looking directly at him, which just set off alarms in his mind.

"Well, if those worms eats Sakura's prana like you said so that it seems like she has the same amount as an average magus, can you imagine how much she would have once the worms are gone?" Rin stated.

"Are you calling Sakura a threat?" Shirou responded with a steel edge to his voice.

"Right now, she has the potential to be. We need to know what to do with her once all of this is over," Rin answered, which just made the redhead stand up on his feet.

"Sakura was dragged into this War against her will. Once we free her, she can finally lead the life she deserves without having to care about the Holy Grail War. She will be happy."

"Even if she could be threat to your sister?"

"Don't! Don't you dare bring Miyu into this. Sakura adores her."

"I'm certain she does, but I just want to know what your decision will be if Sakura turns out to be someone drastically different from who we know. I just want to know where you stand."

"Then, you know my answer. If I had to choose Sakura or Miyu, Miyu will always be my first choice," Shirou spoke while clenching his fists tightly. "However, it doesn't mean that I will sacrifice Sakura unless it was absolutely necessary."

"That's good to hear," Rin seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as Shirou sat back down. All of a sudden, the two felt a change in the wind, which just raised the hairs on the back of their necks, but their senses told them that there was nothing around them. Once they were sure their senses weren't fooled, they went back to their conversation.

"Were you testing me?" Shirou questioned.

"In a way it was, but not in the way you think," Rin answered truthfully, which earned a second eyebrow raise from the redhead. "I wanted to see if you were capable of making the hard decision if the time ever comes."

"That's awfully morbid of you," Shirou replied before smiling a bit. "But it shows you care. You're a good person, Tohsaka. I don't think enough people has told you that."

"Who do you think you are saying such things?" Rin turned red-faced while her voice jumped several tones higher before she started to frantically look anywhere except for where Shirou was. "Where is that damned priest? I think he should be done by now."

"Indeed, I am, Rin."

Both Rin and Shirou whipped their heads around to see Kirei smiling at them with both of his arms just resting simply at his sides. The smile instantly darkened the room to which both teenagers were ready for anything to happen at that moment, but their brain knew that nothing life-threatening will occur.

"Where is Sakura?" Shirou asked as he got up from his seat.

"The young Matou heir is fine if you are concerned, but I have no idea where the young girl at this current amount. I thought she would have shared her joy with the two of you after the surgery was finished," Kirei answered in a calm and almost pleased manner. However, his words signaled to the teens that they missed something, but they didn't need to think long as the answer hit them like a bus.

"That strange feeling!" the both of them thought at the same time before rushing out of the church; they left behind a priest, who just smiled in glee.

"Grandfather!" Sakura cried out as soon as she barged into the basement of her household. She saw her grandfather just frown at her presence before slowly standing up. Her body froze at the sight of him slowly approaching due to childhood fears paralysing fears. His frown slowly converted to a cold sadistic smile as a wrinkled hand reached out towards his granddaughter. However, before his hand could touch the young teenager, a dagger sliced his hand right into the air, but the aged man didn't even register the blood loss as he just stared at Rider standing protectively in front of her Master.

"Rider, what are you doing?!" Sakura was broken out of her stupor.

"Sakura, although I can't condone his actions, Emiya took the effort to free you from the clutches of your grandfather. I refuse to let his actions go to waste," Rider explained her actions while pushing Sakura back.

"So, that is why I can no longer feel my worms inside of you. Heh, just what I would expect from the son of the Magus Killer, if only I had him as my heir instead of you or Shinji," Zouken just responded before the entire house shivered under a great pressure. "It seems that they are here to finish the job."

"Rider, stop them," Sakura ordered her Servant. The Servant stalled for a bit while Zouken's smirk stayed plastered on his face.

"Very well, my Master, but first," Rider conceded before picking up Sakura and dashing away. Zouken just slowly made his way up the stairs and out of the front entrance to see Shirou Emiya and the Tohsaka heir right in front of him. He had to admit that both teenagers possessed impressive reaction to be able to jump back as soon as he showed up.

"Where is Sakura?" Shirou demanded to know while materialising his twin blades.

"She is far away from you, boy. I am most impressed by your actions, but don't think you will go unpunished," Zouken responded.

"That means she's not here to save you," Shirou stated before lunging forward with his blades at the ready. However, he was pushed back by no one other than Rider. Shirou landed onto his feet while just observing the battle-ready Servant.

"Let me guess, Sakura told you to protect the old bastard," Shirou responded to the situation at hand before just grimacing at the sight of Rider nodding her head.

"Tohsaka, we need Rider to be distracted for the time being. Can you handle this?" Shirou called out before jumping back. Rider was poised to lunge after him, but stopped short when Archer materialised in front of her.

Zouken saw this and just silently walked back inside his mansion.

"Rin!" Shirou cried out before dashing inside the house with the twin-tailed following close behind while leaving behind the Servants.

"Aren't you going after them?" Archer asked Rider, who just kept a close eye on him, in an amused tone.

"As of you would let me," Rider responded before lunging. With that, the battle between two Servants commenced.

Shirou and Rin entered the household on high alert for any attempts of retaliation from the old man. The mansion was blatantly silent, but Shirou knew where Zouken would be and wasted no time. Barging the door open. They saw the old man just sitting on his chair with a great smile on his face just as the doors closed shut behind them.

"My god, what is this?" Rin stared in horror at the pit of worms in the middle of the room.

"Normally, I wouldn't allow someone of the Tohsaka family to see my secret, but it doesn't matter as you will be dead soon enough," Zouken stated. "Just like your father."

"Don't talk about my father," Rin responded in anger, which just seemed to please the elder even more.

"If your father was a smarter man, he would have been able to win the War easily with his Servant instead of dying like the way he did. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed to hear how he died the way he did," Zouken just continued on in a tone that just dripped heavily with great amusement at the rising anger on Rin's face.

"What did you do to my father?" Rin demanded to know as she marched towards the old man, but she stopped in her tracks by Shirou, who just stayed calm with his twin swords at the ready for anything to happen.

"Don't let him goad you, Tohsaka. Let's just end this before he can do anything else," Shirou calmed down the Tohsaka heir before lunging at Zouken with his blades at his chest. Out of nowhere, his senses shouted at him to move and metal could be heard being hit. He jumped away from Zouken and looked behind him to see Rin with her right hand shifted into a finger gun pose with a surprised expression on her face. He then noticed several knives on the floor.

"Tohsaka, we need to get out of here," Shirou called out as he realized what just happened. However, his eyes widened in shock when he saw an arm, flooding with a demonic aura, wrap itself around the twin-tailed's neck. Both of them froze in place for the time being at the actions of this mysterious stranger.

"Assassin," Shirou spoke in a low tone that was almost close to growling before shifting his blades in his hands.

"I wouldn't do anything if I was you, Emiya. My Servant will kill the Tohsaka heir as soon as you move a single muscle and I know that you would never allow a comrade to be killed for such a petty reason, so how about you put those child toys away and let's talk about our deal," Zouken spoke directly to the Shirou, who just begrudgingly dematerialized his swords despite the intense stares from Rin. He stood right in front of the old man with great anger burning his eyes.

"Good. Now then, I knew that you would attempt to do something like this, so I prepared a countermeasure just in case. It was rather ingenious of you to recruit Sakura's older sister to help you, but it was predictable," Zouken sneered at the redhead.

"So, what is it you want?" Shirou responded as he tried his best not to murder the man sitting right in front of him.

"The same thing I wanted when I brought you here not so long ago. I want the Grail and you will get it for me," Zouken answered; his tone shifted from casual to stern to emphasise his point. "You may think that you have saved Sakura, but believe me when I say that you have done nothing, but doomed yourself. When the time comes, I will remember this betrayal, Emiya. Now then, go out there and get the Grail for me. If you don't, my Servant will kill your dear little sister, Sakura, or even the Tohsaka heir right now. It is all up to you."

Shirou just glanced behind him to see Rin mouthing to him to not concede and to continue on fighting before stilling herself when the fingers around her neck twitched. He glanced back at Zouken before clenching his fists, frustrated with the decision he had to make. Then, he nodded his head.

"Good. As a sign of a good faith, I will let the Tohsaka heir go free, but it will be wise to remember that I only let her go because it is only more entertaining for her to be alive than dead," Zouken responded before he then stood back up while Rin gasped for breath as soon as the arm let go to open up the door. Without saying a word, both teenagers left the basement and headed up the stairs. Their solemn faces spoke volumes about their internal turmoil about the events that just occured. Walking outside, they were greeted by a sight of Sakura standing in front of a bloody and fallen Rider while Archer had Kanshou, poised ready to strike down the purple-haired.

"No!" Shirou materialized a dagger and threw it at Archer. The tanned man just let the dagger hit the sword out of the air and just turned his head to see his Master staring at him with a dark expression on her face. Without any word, he was at her side.

"Take me home, Archer. We have work to do," Rin spoke in a small, but authoritarian tone that left little room for argument.

"Of course, Master," Archer replied before picking up the twin-tailed and jumping away, which just left Sakura, Shirou, and Rider. The two teenagers were staring at each other while Rider picked herself off the ground and was already healing her wounds with her Master's prana. The silence between them was so dense to the point that it could be considered an object instead of an abstract noun.

"Sakura," Shirou was the one the break the silence, but he was ignored as Sakura dashed towards the front entrance of the mansion. He watched her slam the door and just grimaced.

"Give her time and she will understand that you did what was best for her," he heard Rider speak to him.

"It wasn't supposed to end up like this."

"Most plans never do, but what happened has happened. All you can do is just deal with the consequences and adapt to the best of your ability."

"Yeah. Just protect her."

"Of course, she is my Master after all."

With that, Shirou knew that the Servant has dematerialized and was already at Sakura's side. He just stood there in front of the Matou mansion with a pensive expression on his face.

"Maybe, if she had something like you, she wouldn't have died for my sake," Shirou thought before he started to make his way home to think of a way to deal with the new cards life has just dealt him. He was making his way down the hill when he felt a strong, but distinct presence that made his blood boil.

"Gilgamesh," he spoke with venom in his voice and just turned around to see a golden-haired man in casual clothing on top of a lightpost staring at him with anger lighting up in his eyes.

"Who told you, you could speak my name," an arrogant and powerful voice escaped the man's lips," Mongrel."