Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night/

Chapter IV - A friend

Ayako was surprised when her arrow actually hit the target. Normally it wouldn't be that much of a shock, she was the captain of the archery club after all. However, right now she was too distracted to concentrate properly and the source of her distraction was a group of club members nearby, who were gossiping when they should be practising. Usually she'd be able to ignore their chattering but given what they were talking about, she was finding it difficult not to listen in. What made it worse was that they were third years; you'd think they would know better.

"Man, I can't believe Tohsaka was really that sort of girl," said a definitely male voice.

"The ones that think they're better than everyone else usually are," replied a girl, who was trying to sound like she had a lifetimes worth of experience.

"But still, Emiya of all people?" said another guy. "What the hell makes him so special?"

For one angry moment, Ayako wanted nothing more than to go over there and swat each of them on the back of the head. She'd been listening to this crap almost from the moment she had set foot in the dojo.

"Shouldn't you get back to practicing?" she asked instead, turning to face them and managing to keep her voice calm and level.

They looked at her for a split second in a way that was slightly disturbing, before one of the girls spoke:

"Come to think of it, you're friends with Tohsaka, aren't you, captain?"

Ayako hesitated, just where was she going with this?

"Seriously?" asked one of the guys.

"Yeah," the girl replied. "I've seen them hanging out during lunch sometimes."

"Y'know," said one of the guys. "I've seen her hanging out with Emiya too, sometimes."

"So that's the kind of company the captain keeps," said another girl, with ill-disguised disdain.

For a moment Ayako wanted to remind them that she was also the one who decided who got one the team as well. The club advisor had to approve and sign off on it, but it was her who actually picked the members. Fortunately, she managed to master herself, they were already questioning her integrity apparently and she didn't want to give them any extra ammo.

"Hmm?" another voice cut-in. "What's everyone standing around for?"

Ayako turned and found the woman she had just been thinking about walking towards them. She sighed discreetly; she'd never been relieved to see Fujimura-sensei before.

"Are we talking about something interesting?" she asked. Despite her words, there was an edge in her voice and a glint in her eye that suggested she already knew and that she was displeased.

"Ah, n-nothing much," one of the boys stuttered.

"Well then," Fujimura-sensei responded, the edge in her voice slightly more pronounced. "I think everyone should get back to practicing, don't you?"

Immediately there was a chorus of assent, before the group broke apart and assumed their positions on the range.

"Thanks, Fujimura-sensei," she said.

"Don't worry about it," the older woman waved it off.

After a second, Ayako decided to quickly check up on the other club members before going back to practicing. She felt like she needed to calm down a little before she picked up her bow again.

She spent a few minutes observing the other members of the club, paying particular attention to the first year members who had just joined. Just as she finished offering one of the new girls some advice on her stance, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Standing against the far wall, apparently enjoying a brief rest, was Sakura Matou. After a small moment of thought Ayako handed the rubber practice bow back to the first year and instructed her to keep practicing, then walked over towards the second year student.

Ayako thought that something had been off with her underclassman recently and she had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what it was. Sakura was usually quite good at hiding her emotions, but this was something that Ayako had been on the look out for ever since the rest of the student body had found out about Rin and Shirou.

"Hey, Sakura," she said, trying to sound cheerful. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mitsuzuri-sempai," she replied, smiling.

Ayako simply stood there for a moment, feeling awkward. She knew what she wanted to ask but was unsure of how to broach the subject; to be honest, it felt like she'd be prying. On the other hand it seemed like she was the only friend Emiya and Rin had right now, and given all the nonsense that had been flying around about them… Well, she thought it would be best to get a clear idea of where people stood.

Man, she hoped Emiya wasn't beginning to rub off on her.

After a few seconds of standing there in silence, she decided the best approach was the direct approach.

"So," she began. "I guess you heard about Tohsaka and Emiya?"

There was a definite stiffening of Sakura's shoulders, but to Ayako's relief, the girl relaxed fairly quickly. Her underclassman looked up at her with a gentle smile on her face, but Ayako thought it looked rather strained.

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"Seems kind of sudden, doesn't it?"

"Yes, especially with Tohsaka-sempai living in Emiya-kuns house."

Ayako nearly choked on air.

"W-wait," she spluttered, managing to keep her voice low. "Rin and Emiya are living together." Rin had not mentioned that part!

Sakura's face turned bright red.

"I-I went to Emiya-kuns house with Fujimura-sensei a few days ago," she explained. "Tohsaka-sempai was there … and that's how I found out."

Ayako had to suppress a groan; she could only imagine how awkward that gathering had been. It must have been really uncomfortable for Rin and Emiya, and she could only imagine how Sakura had felt. The younger girl's crush of Emiya had been kind of obvious, at least to her and she was pretty sure that Sakura knew that she knew.

Her concern must have shown on her face, because Sakura almost immediately insisted:

"I-I'm fine Mitsuzuri-sempai, really." Once again, that gentle smile had returned. "It was a little shocking at first but I've already gotten used to it. And I'm happy for them."

"Really?" Ayako asked, and received a firm nod in return. "Ah, well then you're a stronger person than most give you credit for Sakura-chan. But if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here, okay?"

Sakura blushed again, Ayako smiled at her, and then rose to her feet.

Looked like she been wrong to worry, she thought as she strolled back over to the archery range. Sakura just wasn't the type of girl to stay angry or hold a grudge; she was far too nice for that. She'd meant what she said about Sakura being strong too, in the same situation, Ayako had no idea how she would react.

She lifted her bow, nocked an arrow and after a moment to get her breathing right, released it. She could feel a small grin come to her lips as it hit the target dead centre.

Heh, maybe she'd catch up to Emiya after all.

The next day was a Sunday, but although there was no school, Ayako was still up early. Her feet pounded pavement as she did her regular morning jog through town, her water bottle clasped in her right hand. Her breath came heavy and hard, and her muscles were just starting to burn, just like she liked it. Despite the energy she expended, exercising like this always made her feel invigorated. Not to mention, it helped her work out some of the frustration she still felt over the gossiping idiots from yesterday.

Eventually she came to a rest near the river, staring down at the water as she took a sip from her bottle. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with air and let it go slowly as she felt the warm, spring sun on her face. She absolutely refused to let jerks like that get under her skin, let them question her integrity all they wanted. It was funny in a sad way, Sakura was apparently fine with it but the ones who had nothing to do with the situation were getting worked up over it.

After five minutes she started moving again, going back the way she had come. As she was passing by the shopping district she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. There was a shop with a blue sign, a picture of a woman with a child in the window and a load of baby products on display. She paused and after a moments thought, walked towards the building. She had a bit of time before she had to do Rin's baby shower, but it never hurt to get an early start.

As she entered she was met with a blast of cool air from the air conditioner above the door. She stepped towards the aisle, with absolutely no idea where to start. Well, the baby would need somewhere to sleep, right? So with that in mind she sought out the cribs.

It took her about five minutes but she eventually found them. There was a sign nearby that said something about them coming in different types, but they all seemed pretty much the same to her. She walked over to one to take a look at the price and raised an eyebrow; it seemed a little … steep. She found the same thing as she wandered around the rest of the shop, that most of what was on offer was a little overpriced.

As she stepped back out on to the street her shoulders heaved in a sigh, Rin had definitely been thinking straight when she had named her forfeit. She had not been kidding when she'd said that baby stuff was expensive, whoever had come up with the concept of a "baby shower" had definitely been on to something.

It was then that she spotted a familiar red-headed boy on the other side of the street, and she jogged over to meet him.

"Hey, Emiya," she said, as she approached.

"Eh, Mitsuzuri?"

"Yep," she replied. "What are you doing out so early in the morning?"

"Ah, just a little early shopping," he answered, lifting one hand so she could the plastic bag he was carrying. "What about you?"

"Just getting a little exercise," she said, with a shrug. Then she grinned. "So, I hear Rin's staying at your place now," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

She was rewarded with the sight a red tint appearing on his cheeks.

"Ah, yeah," he said, scratching at the back of his head with his free hand. "She's been staying over recently."

"Is she there now?"

"Yeah," he responded. "But she's probably still in bed."

"Still in bed? Was last night that exhausting?" she asked, lacing some innuendo in to her voice.

The hint of red in Emiya's cheeks blossomed in to scarlet.

"What? No, it's nothing like that! It's just that Rin's not really a morning person," he exclaimed, scowling at her.

"Sorry, sorry," she responded, holding up her hands barely holding in her laugh. "So she has trouble getting up in the morning?"

Oh, this was too good.

"Yeah, she'd probably sleep in until noon if she could," he answered, then froze. "Don't tell her I said that."

Ayako gave an exaggerated sigh.

"I don't know Emiya, that's a pretty big secret. I might need something to make sure I remember to keep it."

He looked at her long and hard for a minute before responding.

"I'm not rejoining the archery club Mitsuzuri."

"Can't blame me for trying, right?" she replied. In truth she hadn't been all that serious about it this time anyway, he had bigger things to worry about right now.

"So, Rin's really staying at your place?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Would it be okay if I came over then?"

He blinked.

"Sure, just give us some time to have breakfast first," he answered.

"No problem," she replied. "I have to go home and change first anyway. See you later, Emiya," she added, waving at him as she began to jog back in the direction of her apartment.