Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 9

The school bell rang the start of lunch break, and causing students across the classroom to start packing their things before breaking out their lunches and congregating into their usual groups. Others left the room to meet up with friends from other classes, to buy food or to attend to other matters, and other things besides.

Shirou for his part stayed at his desk, finishing up on an essay the teacher from the previous class had set them to writing on. While it wasn't due until tomorrow and he could do it at home later, he preferred to finish it now, with the stream of thought for the essay's subject fresh and uninterrupted.

Focused as he was on his schoolwork, Shirou largely tuned out the chatter and noises of his surroundings, though it did not mean he was unaware of them. Largely indifferent maybe, but not unaware…which meant he sensed the approach of someone from behind, and pausing just short of his desk to one side.

Continuing to ignore them as finished up on a paragraph, he felt someone slowly lean down, closer to him, and then sighing, Shirou turned his head…and looked right into Sakura's face. "So," she asked with a smile. "What's the verdict?"

"Your face is too close." Shirou cheekily replied, and Sakura laughed.

"Oh you're mean, sempai." She said while straightening up. "Normally, I'd expect a boy of our ages to be happy for me being so close, probably thinking I'm interested in them or something like that."

"Are you?" Shirou asked curiously.

Sakura made a show of thinking the question through, before she shrugged and winked. "Maybe I am." She said. "What about you? Interested?"

Shirou snickered and looked around the classroom. "Not really something to talk about in the open…either way." He said, before putting away his near-finished essay and pen, and grabbing his lunchbox got to his feet. "So…want to talk someplace more private? And, don't you have any lunch of your own?"

"I have my ways." Sakura mysteriously replied with a matching smile, and causing Shirou to raise an eyebrow.

"Right…shall we go then?"

Sakura nodded, and led the way out of the classroom with Shirou following. It didn't go without being noticed, of course. "Way to go, Emiya!" Shinji shouted after them with a grin, and giving Shirou a pair of thumbs up when the redhead glanced his way. Shirou responded with a shushing gesture, but before he could say anything, Sakura grabbed him by an arm and pulled him out the door.

Once they were gone, the whispering began in earnest, on how the cheeky if high-performing daughter of the PTA President seemed to be hooking up with the student body's janitor. The reactions ranged from bemusement to disappointment or even outrage. Quite a few boys thought such a brilliant girl could have chosen better, though a number of girls suddenly found themselves realizing they had missed a chance to snag someone they hadn't noticed until now to have been perfect boyfriend material.

"You know they're going to be gossiping about us for quite a while, right?" Shirou asked as he followed Sakura onto the roof.

"I don't care about gossip." Sakura said with a roll of her eyes, and closing the door behind them. Moments later, and a bounded field fell into place around them. "And I'm surprised that you do."

"I don't." Shirou admitted. "Not really…but it is very inconvenient, and I don't want to cause trouble for you…"

Shirou trailed off as Sakura pulled out a gem, and then pulled out a hot lunch that she'd apparently stored inside said gem. "Okay, now that's just cheating." He protested.

"No." Sakura disagreed with a smirk. "It's called magic."

Shirou gave an exasperated sigh, though he did agree to sit down with Sakura on the same bench nearby. For the next ten or fifteen minutes, the two magi focused on their meals, though Shirou found himself thankful for Sakura's 'cheating' when she offered him a cold drink she'd stored inside another gem, having forgotten to buy one before heading up with her to the roof.

"So," Sakura asked after putting her lunch away, and stretching her limbs, walked over to lean on the roof's safety railing to look out over the surrounding suburbs, the breeze gently pulling and tugging at her hair. "Like I asked earlier, what's the verdict?"

"Sure, why not?" Shirou answered, joining Sakura at the railing. "Saber doesn't think it's a bad idea, and neither do I. Though I like I said, I don't want to cause you trouble, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm not really that much of a magus."

"Hmm…true…but as part of our alliance, I did say I'd help you with your magecraft."

"Yeah, you did." Shirou said with a nod, before glancing at Sakura who glanced back, and shared a smile between the two of them. "So…what's next?"

"…have you heard the news lately?" Sakura asked after a moment's thought, and her voice and expression turning serious.

"…I'm guessing you're talking about all those gas leaks, or the serial killings in the pleasure districts." Shirou grimly said. "Ever since I found out all about this war, I had my suspicions. But now…are you really telling me a Servant or two are behind them?"

"Two different Servants, yes." Sakura said. "I'd like to take them down just as much as you do, though I think we're better off going about it one by one instead of trying to take on two enemies at the same time. Depending on which Servants we'll be facing, given your limitations not just as a magus but also as a Master, plus only having Saber to count on as our Servant…"

Sakura trailed off, but Shirou nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I get what you mean." He said. "But if that's the case, then who should we go after first?"

"Rider," Sakura said at once. "We go after Rider first, as she's the one behind all the killings. The Servant behind the gas leaks appears to be Caster based on what my familiars could find, but while they are attacking ordinary people, they haven't actually killed anyone. It doesn't make what they're doing – draining people of their life energy – right, but compared to Rider…"

Sakura trailed off again, and Shirou nodded in agreement again. "Makes sense…" he said. "What else do you know?"

Sakura smiled. "It looks we'll have to thank our stars," she said. "Because it looks like we got lucky that Rider is a fairly recognizable one. Her identity is Medb, Queen of Connacht. A particularly famous – or should I say infamous – figure from Irish myth, having been married to or the mistress of a number of kings and heroes of her time, using said connections to increase her power and influence."

"…the name rings a bell." Shirou said after a few moments' thought. "But I'm not exactly familiar with her legend."

"Then be thankful that I am." Sakura said.

"Really?"

"Yes…in fact I can say we should thank our stars twice, because I know who Lancer is as well, and we just might be able to point him at Rider too."

"What do you mean?"

Sakura smiled wider. "Lancer is the Hound of Ulster," she said. "Cu Chulainn. It explains why Saber's wound is taking quite a while to heal, as she's simultaneously trying to heal while fighting the effects of his cursed spear. If she were any less…well, legendary, she might not be healing at all."

"Cu Chulainn…" Shirou echoed thoughtfully. "I've heard of him, and I'm more familiar with him than with Rider. Yeah, that makes sense…about Saber's wound, that is. Why would we be able to point him at Rider, though?"

Sakura giggled. "Well," she said. "It's actually like something out a cheap TV drama."

"…what?"

Sakura giggled again. "You see," she began. "Medb was, to put it bluntly, a gold-digger. Like I said earlier, she married or simply became the mistress of kings, lords, knights, and heroes for her own benefit. She never really felt anything for them, and literally just used them to further her own interests."

"But…?" Shirou prompted, and Sakura giggled again.

"Eventually," she said. "She met Cu Chulainn, one of the greatest heroes of the age, if not the greatest Ireland has ever produced. Some people have described him as the Heracles of his people, and I have no reason to disagree. As you might expect, Medb was very attracted to him."

"…what you said about this being a cheap TV drama is suddenly making a lot of sense." Shirou said dryly, and Sakura laughed.

"I know, right?" she said with a grin. "Thing is, Cu Chulainn felt absolutely nothing for Medb. He didn't love or hate her, or even felt attracted to her. He was just…indifferent, to her. And that drove Medb mad. She could accept hate in place of love, but that she was nothing to him…? Ha…! She started war after war after war on Ulster to get her hands on him, to force him to feel something for her, even just the desire to kill her."

"Now that you mention it," Shirou mused. "I remember something about Cu Chulainn capturing an enemy queen, and releasing her out of a lack of any malice for her despite being an enemy. She then repaid his mercy by returning with an army, and starting a war that ended with Cu Chulainn dying in battle. Was that queen…?"

"Yup, that was Medb." Sakura said with a shrug. "And to top it all off, Cu Chulainn might have died because of her, but legend claims that even though she was the cause of his end, he never felt hate for at that end. Or even thought of her at all, with some versions of the legend even claiming that if there were any women in his thoughts at the end of his life, they would have been his master Scathach, or the goddess Morrigan."

"Yeah, I heard about that too." Shirou agreed. "A crow landed on Cu Chulainn's shoulder as he died, and that it was the Morrigan keeping him company so he would not die alone."

Sakura nodded, while Shirou narrowed his eyes. "That said," he began. "If the legends are true and Cu Chulainn is indifferent to Medb, would he even work with us against her?"

"…point," Sakura conceded after a moment. "But I do think it's worth a try, right?"

"Well, if you put it that way…" Shirou conceded before smiling at Sakura. "Looks like you and I might just be able to work together."

"Good to hear," Sakura said with a nod. "Anyway, the possibility of Lancer being turned against Rider aside, pass by my house after school. Let's see if we can start buffing up your magecraft."

"Sounds good…though…"

"Hmmm…?"

"Why exactly is Rider killing people, though?" Shirou asked. "There's no question she has to be stopped, but…why?"

Sakura's face turned ugly. "It's not for prana, unlike Caster." She said darkly. "From what I can tell Rider uses her Noble Phantasm 'My Red Mead' to build an army of brainwashed slaves."

"What?"

Sakura nodded grimly. "She goes from bar to bar to café to café or whatnot in the pleasure districts at night," she said. "And offers her mead to any who accept. Even a single sip of that brew will destroy what free will you have, and turn you into a willing slave. Anything you think or do will be twisted as an act of devotion, 'love', and loyalty to Rider. And the first command to them, is to prove their devotion to her by killing everyone who refused her mead."

"That's monstrous!" Shirou exploded.

"I know." Sakura agreed. "But it gets worse."

"How can it get worse?"

Sakura knocked on wood. "Again," she said. "From what I can tell, Rider's Master is using magecraft to make her slaves stronger, turning them into an army to use against other Masters and Servants. It's just what you'd expect of Rider…but more to the point, this is where it gets worse. They're completely devoted to her, and we'll have to get past them to get to her and her Master."

"No…" Shirou breathed, his face twisted with horrified realization. "You don't mean…?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, kicking at the concrete floor in anger. "We might have to kill them to take Rider out."

"T-that's…"

"But it gets even worse."

"…what?"

Sakura looked down. "There's no guarantee that killing Rider will cancel out the effects of My Red Mead." She said. "If so…then we'll be left with a bunch of people who are fanatically devoted to her, who have been enhanced by means of magecraft or alchemy, and who at the very least, are likely to blame us for taking their queen away, and gods know what they might believe, think, or do beyond that."

"Then…"

Sakura's face hardened as though it was made from stone, though her eyes wavered as morality and rationality fought. "Death might be a mercy." She whispered.

"You don't believe that, do you?" Shirou asked, also in a whisper.

"…I don't want to believe it." Sakura said with a deep breath. "And I know that you don't either."

"…yeah, I don't." Shirou said with a sigh of his own.

They didn't speak much after that, the good mood having been ruined by the fearful thought of the extent of the damage Rider might inflict.

Sakura and Shirou arrived at the former's home in time to see Aoi Tohsaka stepping out of a car which then drove off to the back of the property, where the garage could be found. "Hi, mom." Sakura greeted her mother as they approached. "Back from a shareholders' meeting?"

"Yes…hello, Emiya-kun."

"Hello, Aunt Tohsaka."

Aoi smiled at Shirou before falling into step with him and her daughter as they walked towards the front of the Tohsaka mansion. "Are you tired, mom?" Sakura asked, and Aoi sighed.

"Yes, really tired." She said. "I know the meetings are important, but they can just get real tiresome. I delegate as much as I can, but there are just some things I have to oversee in person."

Sakura nodded sympathetically. "It can't be helped, right?" she said, and Aoi nodded.

"Quite," she said, before Shirou opened the door and let them both in, Aoi favoring the boy with a smile as she passed. "Well, enough about that. I'm sure you and Emiya-kun have a lot to do, so I'll just go and freshen up, while you do what you have to do."

"Alright, mom."

Aoi nodded, and then smiled at Shirou. "Enjoy your stay, Emiya-kun." She said, walking ahead of them through the foyer.

"Thanks, Aunt Tohsaka." Shirou said with a polite bow. "And sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all." Aoi said with a laugh.

"Your mom really does seem like a nice person." Shirou observed a few minutes later, once he and Sakura were in the Tohsaka library.

"She is." Sakura said with a small smile. "And I'm very thankful for that. She's…not really, the best role model for a magus who's growing up. But she was the one who taught me all about right and wrong, about using my powers responsibly, and how to see and cherish the really important things in life, instead of losing them and regretting never being able to do so until it's already too late."

"…I take it back." Shirou said after a moment. "She's a wonderful woman."

Sakura laughed. "She is." She agreed. "Though, mom disagrees."

"Why?"

Sakura shrugged. "She says dad would be disappointed in how she raised me." She said. "I disagree but…well, it's not like she gets hung-up over it so…"

Sakura shrugged again. "Anyway," she continued. "You just stay here while I go and get some things we need, as well as have some tea and snacks sent over here. Feel free to browse through the shelves, though please be sure to put everything back once you're done."

"Will do."

Sakura smiled and then walked off, leaving Shirou alone. For a while, Shirou just sat in his seat, taking in the sights around him. He'd already been in the Tohsaka mansion once before, so he already knew it was a western-style residence, and a richly-furnished one at that. While Sakura didn't have any of the…negative, traits one tended to attach to anyone labeled as a 'rich girl', she really was a rich girl, and it showed in the house she lived in.

Getting up, Shirou did as offered, browsing the shelves around him. Most of the books were in Japanese, but there were plenty in foreign languages as well, Shirou recognizing English, French, German, and even Russian or East European (based on the alphabet used) titles on the spines of some of the books on the shelves. The age of the books too was evident, with plenty of old-fashioned hardbound books or even hand-bound ones that probably went back to before the Second World War.

And the topics the books were about ranged just as wildly, not just solely on magecraft, but covering topics as varied as mathematics, geology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, biology, and many more, and there were even fiction books. That last was quite limited in selection though, focused on classics with few modern titles, and even those were of the older variety, lacking titles in certain genres like science fiction or cyberpunk.

Not that it was really surprising, of course. This was a magi household, though steampunk was surprisingly common among the fictional titles in the Tohsaka library.

The books aside though, something else that caught Shirou's attention were a number of pictures mounted on the walls or standing on shelves here and there. Some of them were – unsurprisingly – old, faded black and whites of people dressed in 19th or pre-WWI 20th Century fashion, and progressively getting younger from there. The first color photo was of a blonde woman dressed in a kimono, standing on a bridge in what was probably Kyoto or some other Japanese city with well-preserved wooden infrastructure dating back to before the Meiji Restoration.

Shirou blinked, as he noticed something peculiar about some of the newest photos. They were of two toddlers, both very similar in appearance, so much so as to be all but indistinguishable unless one had an eye for detail (which Shirou did). Only…they never appeared together, and only one ever seemed to appear to grow past a certain point, into who was clearly Sakura Tohsaka.

But…if so, then who was the other baby?

And what happened to them?

"Hey, I'm back." Sakura said, walking into the library carrying a tea set while a maid followed carrying a small wooden case of some sort. "What are you doing, sempai?"

"Huh? Oh, uh…just looking around." Shirou said, turning back to and approaching Sakura to politely relieve her of the tea set. "Anyway…what do we do now?"

Sakura replaced her teacup on its saucer, and with a gesture, had the maid put the tea set on a nearby table. Sakura then put the case from earlier on the table between herself and Shirou, and opening it, revealed a…jewelry, set of some kind.

"Anyway, let's see what you've got about the basics." Sakura said. "I'm sure you already know all about the basic theory, let's say…what is magecraft? How does it work? Who invented it? And so on and so forth."

"Yeah, dad taught me those well enough." Shirou said with a nod.

"Good…then let's see what you can do with the basics." Sakura said with a nod of her own. "Project something for me."

"What?"

"Project, or use gradation air anything you want." Sakura said. "As you know, projection or gradation air isn't a very useful mystery, being incredibly common and thus 'diluted' in terms of profoundness, plus any object it produces is, bluntly put, crap, because making something out of nothing is True Magic, and projection is not True Magic. You're still making nothing out of nothing, and all that."

"Uh…sure." Shirou said while scratching a cheek. "Anything, right?"

"…keep it appropriate."

"…I was." Shirou said dryly before taking a deep breath, and holding out his hands in front of him. "Trace, on."

The familiar feeling of burning pain filled Shirou's body, as though his nerves were being poked with a red-hot poker, but then…

"…what are you doing?" Sakura asked.

Shirou opened his eyes, the prana burning through his body fading away as he lost concentration. "Um…opening my magic circuits?" he asked, as though the answer was obvious.

"No, you're not." Sakura said. "You are trying to commit suicide. Seriously, who taught you that was how to open magic circuits? And you've been doing that all this time? I'm shocked…it's a miracle…True Magic even, that you haven't caused yourself to have a heart attack or a stroke if that's what you've been doing all this time."

"Look," Shirou said, looking and sounding a little offended. "I know I don't know much, but there's no reason to go that far. I did the best I can, and dad did the same when it came to teaching me. It's just that…dad wasn't doing very well at the time. He was…sick…and getting worse…"

"…sorry…" Sakura said after a moment. "I went too far."

Shirou nodded, and then Sakura began rummaging through her jewelry kit, before pulling out a vial of some kind. "Well," she said. "You do seem to know the concept behind opening your circuits, just not the how. To use layman's terms…you seem to be making a switch to throw them open and close every time you use magecraft, when you only really need to make it once, and to remember what that switch looks like and how it works, and from there you can open and close your circuits normally."

Sakura then handed Shirou the vial with a small smile. "Drink it up." She said. "That should help you figure it out."

Shirou took the vial, and then shrugging, opened and drank the vial. His eyes bugged out and he gagged as he handed the vial back to Sakura. "That's terrible!" he gasped. "What did you make that from?"

"Eh…you don't want to know." Sakura replied evasively. "But it works! Sorry for the taste, though."

I'd have you swallow a gem, except my jewel magecraft is very specialized, so I have to make up alternatives for other mysteries that I can't use jewels for.

Imaginary Numbers might be incredibly rare, but it is very inconvenient at times not having a normal elemental affinity.

"Ugh…comes with being a magus, I guess…whoa…" Shirou said before blinking and beginning to wobble as the world began to spin around him.

"Sempai?" Sakura asked.

"I…I'm…I'm tired…I…" Shirou stammered out before toppling out of his chair. Sakura sprang forward and caught him before he fell, though her cheeks turned pink as Shirou ended up face-first in her chest. "…really soft…and warm…"

"That's not…" Sakura said while turning even redder.

"…smells nice…" Shirou murmured before his eyes closed and he fell unconscious.

"…it could be worse." The maid remarked after a moment, and Sakura sighed before picking Shirou up and putting him back into his chair.

"Really helpful, Kana." She remarked.

Steam hissed as fluid-filled cylinders began to vacate their contents, sticky, pale-green liquid spilling down onto the metal railing below, flowing through the slats into open pipes which fed them away for recycling. Then the cylinders opened, transparent aluminum falling open to allow bulked-up men to fall out onto all fours. They gasped and vomited out more of the pale-green liquid, and then shaking their heads to clear them, rose to their feet.

Orders were barked in German through loudspeakers, the men walking through an open door to where they would receive weapons and armor. "Very impressive," Rider remarked as she held her Master in her arms, the young man greedily groping her body while keeping his face buried in her chest. They were sitting in an observation room above what her Master called a 'production floor', and from there they saw their 'recruits' receive their 'improvements'. The better to serve her, of course. "We're going to need a lot more of them to fulfil our purposes, and of course, you'll need to live up to your promises. You will, won't you?"

"Yes, my queen!" The young magus eagerly said, pulling his head up to look at her in the eyes. Rider found the puppy-like devotion and eagerness of her Master quite endearing, especially as he was already enamored with her even before partaking of her mead. "Anything and everything for you!"

Rider smiled and pulled him even tighter against her. "Now then," she said, while stroking his head with a hand. "Tell me more about how you strengthened our troops."

"Of course, my queen!" the young magus said. "I won't bore you with the details, but by means of alchemy, I've made their bones and muscles stronger, and reduced the sensitivity of their nerves."

"And this helps us how?" Rider asked.

"They would now have the bodies of men who've spent decades honing themselves for the battlefield." her Master replied. "Whether it's in terms of strength, agility, or endurance, and I've also imprinted into their minds the knowledge of how to use various kinds of weapons."

"Hmm…that sounds useful." Rider remarked. "Will it be enough?"

"No…they need to practice a bit to be able to use the full extent of the imprints." Her Master answered. "But with the right support, they will serve you well when it comes to fighting the other Masters."

"I see." Rider said with a nod. "That still leaves the other Servants, of course. I would prefer not to dirty my hands…though I suppose if I can get them to drink my mead, there would be no need for blood to be spilled. And if not…well, if we can get their Masters on our side…again, blood need not be spilled."

"A truly ingenuous plan, my queen." Her Master praised, and Rider laughed.

"Aren't you cute?" she said with a smile, and running a hand through his hair. "Now then…you've been working hard for so many hours now. How about we find someplace else to relax, and I help you with it, hmm?

"Anything you desire, my queen!" her Master eagerly said, and Rider laughed again.

Yes, it truly was good to be queen.

A/N

In hindsight, the tale of Medb and Cu Chulainn is arguably a comedy. There's just something comically wrong about a gold-digger chasing after someone who has absolutely no interest in her, up to and including starting wars just to get his attention. And in the end, she never gets what she wants from him, as he dies content and in the company of a different woman (Morrigan), who while disliked (?) by him also has something of an obsession with him. Which is still more than what Cu ever felt about Medb.