Beneath Cherry Blossoms

"What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms."
― Kobayashi Issa

"You owe me nothing for giving the love that I give
You owe me nothing for caring the way that I have
I give you thanks for receiving, it's my privilege
And you owe me nothing in return"

― Alanis Morissette

Chapter 1: The Gift of Fate

"A group of men harassing a girl? I've seen that before. But this time I'm free to oppose and I'm sure you won't like it."

Snip.

A strand of white hair fell on the table. The hand with the scissors stopped shaking. There was no reason to regret anything.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

One precise cut after another and soon it was done. Sakura methodically got rid of every single white strand that blemished her hair.

Why there were so many of them recently? She's never been excessively healthy, but for the last few weeks it felt too much for her. She suffered a constant headache and ate so much that everyone at school feared her stomach was going to explode. Yet, she lost weight, like if something was devouring her from the inside.

"Maybe it's just stress," she murmured to herself, then sighed painfully. Everyone would be nervous in her place, right?

The main reason for that appeared some time ago on her right temple, just beneath the line of hair. First it looked like a bruise, so she ignored the problem. But a bruise would disappear naturally, not become more visible. Now it was like a freshly made, crimson tattoo in shape of… an eye, probably?

Maybe it was a mark of demon possession? A visit in the local church wouldn't hurt, but Sakura winced at the thought. The priest, Kirei Kotomine, was the last person she could trust with such delicate matter.

Well, at least he had enough decency to pay for her room in Miyama. Traveling everyday to school from the other town, where Sakura's grandparents lived, would be too inconvenient, so she decided to move into this damp attic room. As the official guardian of Tokiomi's daughters, Kirei couldn't refuse to give her at least this much.

Still, Sakura felt that Kotomine should be the last person to know about the mark. She decided to hide it under the new hairstyle and makeup, but suspected it wasn't enough. Fortunately, Shirou came home late today, so Sakura left before he could notice anything. Miss Fujimura already gave her few meaningful looks in the morning. Even Mr. Kuzuki was staring at her at school for last few days, clearly suspecting something.

Frowning, Sakura furiously attacked the annoying mark with a brush, then rearranged her hair. It would be easier to just apply a patch, but she wasn't ready for the uncomfortable questions. Rin will surely notice that something is wrong, even if she won't tell a word. And Shirou…

No, she already caused him enough problems. He deserved much better than that.

Feeling powerless again, the girl stared blankly at her own face in the mirror. She had that characteristic black-brown hair and teal eyes of the Tohsaka family.

"I don't need your protection, Rin. Don't you understand that I do not belong to your world?"

But, despite all her resemblance to Rin, something in her face screamed of the blood of the Zenjous in her veins.

"You look just like your mother, my little Sakura."

Who is this person? - she wondered. A failure, answered her own voice inside her head. A nuisance. A disappointment.

She should ran away, or better disappear completely. But not yet. Not when Shirou promised to see cherry blossoms with her.

Am I just being selfish?

With so many bad thoughts and doubts, her head started to hurt again. Sakura mechanically swallowed a handful of painkillers. They were not of much help recently, even if she ate them like candies, but at least let her calm down a little.

She just needed to wait for spring.

There was one more important decision to make until then. Sakura looked at the package and flowers on the table. She could tell the name of the sender even without reading the note.

"You should really consider my offer, Sakura. Without the protection of a magi house… things may happen to you. Very, very bad things."

"Shinji, you just don't know when to quit, do you?" She sighed, weighting the mysterious box in her hand. I surely contained another courting gift from this annoying young man.

Was he really to blame, though? Zenjou blood was as almost precious as the blood of the great families. For the Matous, whose magic was at the verge of vanishing, increasing the potential of their future heirs was crucial. And a perfect candidate to achieve this goal – what a gift of fate, indeed! – just happened to be within their reach.

There were moments, those rare moments of fear and pain, when she was seriously considering Shinji's proposition. It was a good deal, after all, beneficial for everyone, maybe except Sakura herself. But Shinji seemed… slimy to her. Sakura doubted she could ever trust someone like him.

Nevertheless, she finally opened the package, out of sheer curiosity. Shinji did not accept returns, no matter how many times she sent his gifts back, so she could at least take a look.

"It's… beautiful," she said, amazed by the effort put into preparing such amazing gift.

It was a small figurine – an elephant made of gold and decorated with jewels. She caressed gently its rough surface, surprised how ancient it seemed. The statuette smelled like something old enough to develop its own kind of exotic, weird magic.

A particularly big sapphire attached to the elephant's forehead made her think of Tohsaka's magic. Yes, her sister will certainly make good use of it.

Sakura hid the little treasure in the pocket of her coat. She will give it to Rin tomorrow at school.

Planning the next day's activities always had a calming effects on her shattered nerves. Tomorrow she had a training session at the archery dojo after the meal with Shirou…

"Oh, no! I knew I forgot something!"

She left the Emiya household in panic, to hide that awful mark as soon as possible, so shopping was out of the question. She completely forgot that they ran out of soy sauce.

Shirou liked his morning rice with soy sauce, so he will certainly buy it by himself and smile gently, saying that it's not a problem. But for Sakura it was very important. If Shirou couldn't rely on her even in such trivial matter, why would he keep her by his side ? No matter how hard she tried, she always was…

A failure. A nuisance. A disappointment.

Sakura hesitated only for a second, then put on her coat and ran into the evening darkness.

"Hey, missy, it's not safe to wander here at night, you know?"

Sakura shivered, cursing her bad luck. The convenience store was right behind the corner, not much than 200 meters from there, and yet she got into troubles.

She found herself surrounded by a group of strange men. They were fast like wild cats – Sakura had seen Rin moving like that, when she was practicing the strengthening spells.

"How did you cross our barrier, hmmm?" One of the guys, a weirdo with an eyepatch and a strange gun, approached her, smirking maliciously. "Are you a nasty little witch?"

"A barrier?" Sakura instinctively stepped back, but stopped halfway to not bump into a stranger behind her. So they indeed were a group of mages… and she accidentally broke through their defensive spell. How was that possible? She had no magic and couldn't feel anything suspicious, maybe except a heavy metallic smell in the air. "I don't know what you're talking about. Please, let me pass."

"Yeah, right." The one-eyed man threatened her with a weapon. "Every nasty witch says so." He glanced at one of his companions. "Check her."

"Isn't she that Zenjou girl our client wants to marry?" asked the mage who stood behind Sakura. Intimidated by his deep voice, the girl didn't have enough courage to turn around.

"Whatever… Let's take a closer look." The tallest stranger looked at Sakura through a strange piece of red glass. "Oh, shit! She's sealed. I've never seen something like this before!"

"Give me that!" Their leader snatched the glass from him. "Damn, her circuits! Something like this qualifies for a Sealing Designation. Take her!"

The circle around Sakura tightened. She stepped back, staring at their hands, shamelessly reached out to catch her, but bumped into the guy that guarded the back. Her heart was beating like crazy, and her head hurt so much it could explode.

"Please stop. I told you, I was just passing by, I won't tell anyone…" Sakura kept explaining, begging even, but no one listened. She needed to defend herself. She found the golden figurine of an elephant in her pocket – it should be enough to at least hit one of them in the head.

Someone touched her hair and that was too much for Sakura. The mark on her temple suddenly burst out with a blinding red light and something within the girl just… exploded, like a shattered glass.

"Don't touch me! Somebody help me!"

The entire space within the barrier went white. The mages scattered, taking positions or preparing their magic, and Sakura fell to her knees, suddenly too exhausted to stand.

The white radiance took shape of a person - a dark-skinned man in elegant white robes with blue details.

"Hmmm." His voice was calm, but full of not-hidden dislike. "A group of men harassing a girl? I've seen that before. But this time I'm free to oppose and I'm sure you won't like it."

The mages reacted to this threat with an instant attack. A team of trained Executors would be faster and less hesitant, probably would even use weapons able to hurt a spiritual being. But, fortunately for Sakura and her mysterious savior, those men were only a bunch of novice freelancers, scouting rather than hunting. None of them expected a serious resistance from a teenage girl.

Sakura's new companion knew that as well, and he did not waste time. His hand moved slightly while he whispered something. The girl couldn't catch the words through the noise, but she noticed a trace of strange magic in the air, like a purple mist around their heads.

The mages froze for a moment, fighting the charm or whatever was thrown at them. And then something weird happened.

"They're killing each other," Sakura whispered in terror, staring at the hell that had unleashed before her eyes. They were mercilessly shooting, stabbing and burning their former companions. And they seemed terrified, as if they comrades just turned into an army of demons.

The stranger in white watched the slaughter for a moment, motionless like a bronze sculpture of an ancient warrior, then slowly turned to Sakura and helped her get up.

"Forgive me for acting on my own, Master." He bowed deeply before the startled girl, embarrassing her even more. "Servant Caster, came in response to your summons. My power is yours to command and your fate is also my fate. Our pact is now sealed."

Sakura didn't know how to react. She just stood there, watching her Servant. Thanks to Rin she heard enough about the Grail Wars to understand the basics. Deep inside Sakura knew from the very beginning what the mark on her skin really meant. And she hated it with all her might.

Magic killed her parents and raised an invisible wall between Sakura and her only sister. Magic made her feel like a miserable outcast. Magic was the main reason she considered marrying a man she actually despised.

And now magic did THIS to her, again and against her will.

All of this must have been painted on the girl's face, because Caster watched her carefully in silence with an extremely sad expression.

"The barrier vanished," he said eventually, when the commotion behind his back stopped. "We should leave before someone discovers the bodies, Master."

Sakura wanted to agree, but a sudden movement on the ground caught her attention. The guy with an eyepatch was still breathing. He must have shook off the charm somehow, because he prepared the last destructive spell…

"Behind you!"

It was everything the girl managed to say, before something red and sharp pierced the heart of the wounded magician, silencing him for good.

"Phew, that was close," said a man in a strange blue armor. He smiled to Sakura from one of the roofs, then jumped to the ground faster than any mortal. "And you, dandy, should better guard that cute Master of yours. I intended to stay silent and observe, but you made enough mess to wake up the entire town… at least on a spiritual level."

Caster slowly turned to the intruder, shielding Sakura with his own body from any possible attack. His voice was calm and polite, when he spoke again.

"Usually being saved by a potential opponent is a shame for a warrior. But pretending that nothing's happened would make me look like a despicable hypocrite, so… You have my thanks, Lancer."

"Oh? So you are a honorable dandy?" The spearman in blue tilted his head, scanning the other Servant from head to toe. "That bit of divine dignity and a smell of lightning… If you really are who I suspect you are, fighting you should be fun. Now prepare your bow, Archer, and let us finish before more Servants come."

Sakura frowned. Her Servant did not introduce himself properly, and she had no idea why the spearman assumed he should be using a bow.

"I'm more than eager to answer your challenge, but the decision is not mine to make." Caster glanced at the girl over his shoulder. "What should we do, Master?"

Sakura looked at him questioningly and hesitated. Dismissing her Servant or surrendering him to another Master seemed tempting for someone who wanted to stay away from all this mess. But there was something strange in Caster's eyes that made her change her mind.

Is he… apologizing? What for? For selflessly coming to her aid when she was about to die? Or maybe for dragging her into a war she hated from the bottom of her heart?

It was not his fault, yet he apologized. No one ever apologized to her, only that one precious person…

"We'll fight," she said, straightening up proudly. It was the least she could do to thank the hero who answered her desperate call for help.

"That's the spirit, Miss!" Lancer smiled widely, taking his battle stance. "See, you may prepare. Archer. Give me a good fight and I promise I won't hurt your cute Master. As long as it depends on me, she can leave freely, even if you fall here tonight."

"I appreciate the concern, but I'm not going to lose to you." Sakura's Servant stretched out his hand and materialized a tiny blue sphere on the top of his forefinger. It looked like a ball of condensed lightning.

Lancer raised an eyebrow at the view.

"That's all?"

"That's more than enough," Caster replied, finally letting himself smile a bit. "Father, give me your blessing. Here I come!"

So… to celebrate Sakura's birthday, I present to You another changed timeline. You may expect to see most of the original SN cast (plus one additional Servant in different class and one OC Servant).

The chapter may seem a bit rushed, but I really wanted to publish it today. Next ones will be slower and more polished, I hope.

I would really like to know what You think and will gladly answer Your questions.

And, of course, I own only my stupid ideas and bad writing.