Fate/Clusterfuck (Fate/Stay Night)

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[A Familiar Face]

Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!

—

You knew this woman. This… girl, and the shocked look on her face matched your own. It was a face you had only seen once, but you would never forget it. Even if it had changed since you last saw it. Unlike when you had last seen her, now she was dressed in the academy uniform of your school, hiding all of her body except for her face and hands. But her face, while similar, had changed. Her skin was clammy and pale, scars littering it, some light, some deep and jagged and fresh. Deep purple bags sagged underneath her eyes, and her hair was… haphazard, unevenly cut and laying about all over the place.

Her eyes though, were the same gold as before, and they stared up at you. The woman was nearly your height, and her hand raised to touch your face.

You flinch back from the contact, more out of instinct than anything else. And like a retreating snake the girl yanks her own hand back, but she continues staring, her mouth opening, saying nothing for several moments before she finally speaks. "It's… you?"

Sakura looks remarkably confused as she looks back and forth between the two of you. "Shirou? Who's this?"

The girl reaches forward again, only to stop halfway as a hand wraps around her wrist, holding it in place like a steel bar. You jump, turning your head to the side to see Assassin in a teacher's uniform. You didn't even notice she was there a moment ago, but now she was close enough that her shoulder was brushing against your own. Assassin smiles down at the girl, though… there is very little mirth in it.

"Assassin?" you say, as quietly as you can manage. "What are you doing here?"

Assassin's eyes flick over to you, but she doesn't release her grip on the girls' wrist. "Taiga asked me to watch over you, and I've been looking for other masters as well. This accounts for both."

Assassin flips the girls wrist in her grip, revealing the back of it to you. It's scarred, just like her face is. But the complicated red seals on the back of her wrist show like a fresh tattoo.

Your eyes narrow, and you start to speak before Assassin cuts you off. "Why don't we all just have a nice talk for a moment." She's still smiling… only now there's actually some mirth to it.

The girl looks at Assassin, but before she can say anything Assassin is dragging the two of you towards an unused classroom, Sakura doing her best to keep up.

—

It was one of the second year classrooms, one of many in the school that actually went unused. It wasn't that the school was in a poor area for students, or that the building wasn't up to spec. Just… the school, like a lot of places within Fuyuki, found their 'business' far less after the fire, between youth dying so they were unable to attend, and plenty more just flatout leaving the city. It wasn't the only school in town that had unused space within it. It also didn't help that compared to a lot of places in Fuyuki, the academy was relatively out of the way. Surrounded by houses, but those were primarily made up of elderly residents that wanted to live outside of downtown. There, of course, the highschool and university were doing fine.

Sakura stood next to you near the entrance of the classroom, the privacy curtain pulled down over the door window to provide you some semblance of security against prying eyes. Assassin was sitting on the desk, one leg resting atop the other as she rested on her hands, staring at the girl from your dreams just a few feet away.

The girl in question was clutching her hand, hiding the seals from view.

"Do you know her Shirou?" Assassin asks, her eyes turning to you.

That's an interesting question. You knew of her, you had gotten yourself killed saving her. But you didn't know her name or even why she was here. You had thought it was a particularly odd dream at the time, but then, your dreams had been nothing but odd now for the past week. And some were more real than most. That dream, however, was a mystery amongst mysteries. Your dreams had been nothing but dreams of the past, or… not really dreams at all per what Circe stated. But the girl, it was less a dream than a premonition. You had thought it was the Fuyuki fire at first, but for the petrified students.

You knew them. You knew all of them, by face if not name. Which meant that the dream you had involving this girl was either a portent of the future, or something else entirely. But the point remained. You knew her, if only vaguely. "I don't, not really. But I saw her in a dream." You stare at the girl, and find your gaze matched. Her eyes flit over your face, studying you, like she was unsure if you were real. "What's your name?"

The girl moves her eyes away and draws in a breath. "Fujimaru Ritsuka."

… The name meant nothing to you, though Sakura was now staring at you rather hard you note.

"I'm not involved in this Grail War." Fujimaru continues.

"Isn't that convenient~" Assassin… says. You would consider it speech, but it held no emotion, none of the mirth from before. No anything truly. It had a lilt to it, nearly everything she said did. But it was just there. "You don't go to this school, and yet you just happen to be here to run into Shirou. You are a master, but you aren't in the Grail War."

Fujimaru looks back towards Assassin. "Mata Ha-" Then her jaw clamps shut, her eyes widening.

Assassin's smile, something that looked more painted on than something tangible drops. With a creak of wood she separates herself from the desk, moving to stand just a few inches away from Ritsuka. "Yes?"

Ritsuka clenches her eyes shut, then shakes her head from side to side, her unkempt hair waving with abandon. "The command seals are for my own protection, I'm searching for the grail."

"You're trying to get it without becoming involved in the war?" Sakura asks.

Ritsuka looks past your shoulder towards Sakura, and… she studies her for several seconds, her gaze squinting. Sakura shies back, taking more cover with your body.

"There's… something wrong with the grail that may be messing up things in Fuyuki." Fujimaru finally says.

"What's messed up?" you ask. "The monster running about? The random people getting killed?" Annoyance seeps into your tone, but at the moment you didn't much care for pleasantries either. You were growing rather tired of the 'mystery' of your life lately.

Fujimaru blinks. "I've… I'm still looking into it, I've only been here for a whielfl…" Her voice slurs, and her head sinks a bit.

Then it lifts, being pulled gently to look up at Assassin, the brunettes face just scant inches away from the redhead. Fujimaru's eyes cloud up, any light in them fading away as they haze over, and she stares dumbly up at Assassin, her mouth falling slack.

"You will answer my questions, alright?" Assassin asks, smiling once more as a sweet scent fills the room.

Fujimaru makes no sound beyond a faint gurgle.

"Good. Now, where's your servant?" Assassin asks.

"Dooooon't know…." Fujimaru responds. "Lost… her…." Her tone is slurred like a drunk, and her body is swaying to the point you are fairly certain it is Assassin's touch alone that is keeping her up.

"Why did you react to Shirou like that?" Assassin asks, leaning closer.

"Saw… him… die." Fujimaru slurs.

Sakura stirs beside you, and so do you, but for a different reason. You didn't know the girl, but you didn't agree with what Assassin was doing either. She hadn't actually done anything to you, and as much as you wanted answers. Was this right?

—

[] [Assassin, stop this]

[] [Wait for Assassin to finish]