[X] Plan: Do Not Wreck The Home (part 2)
"Um, Archer… Can I talk to you about something?"
There's four of you currently out on patrol right now; you and Rin, and Sakura and Rider. Honestly, if your idiot younger self showed up with Saber in tow, it'd be just like old times. Heck, even Illya and Berserker would be appreciated presences right now, just as long as they weren't trying to kill you.
Your team of four have passed the point where Homura's team had to stop last time, and boy, is it a mess. Unmelted ice fortifications litter the streets; at least, where there's still street to be littered, because there are large, smoke-stained chunks of street that just aren't there anymore. If they haven't all been scared off or hypnotised by now, you imagine that any construction crews still in the city have just given up by this point. You can't say you'd blame them.
Rin has just passed over you and Sakura, and is inspecting what you imagine is a previously-lain anchor for structural damage. When you see her wipe her brow exaggeratedly and proclaim "Whew, it's safe," you know that everything is well, and while she's out of earshot you say "Sure, Sakura, what did you need?"
"Well, it's about you." Ah. So you were right to be worried. "More accurately, it's about the you that sister is dating. I… I know I can't sway you away from your family, but sister is so busy all the time; she barely has any time for senpai. So… Rider and I were talking, and maybe… You'd be willing to help us get senpai to break up with sister so he and I could be together?"
At least it's not about you directly. Minako is more than enough for you; having anyone else try to proposition themselves to you is just too much.
"Listen, Sakura…" You don't want to have this conversation with Sakura. You really don't want to have this conversation with Sakura. Especially not when you can already see the defeat in her eyes from just those two words alone. "I understand how you're feeling right now; I really do. I know that if I had to sit on the sidelines while Minako was with a man who didn't appreciate her, I'd feel exactly the same way you do. But, I can't help you with this problem."
Sakura hangs her head. "I know," she says. "I knew from the start that asking you would be foolish, but I…" Sakura turns her head back in Rin's direction; Rin, who is completely oblivious to the conversation you and Sakura are having, ignores her, and Sakura returns her focus to you. "I just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask… But I guess I was wrong there, too…"
An internal debate rages inside you. On one hand, Sakura is your friend, and a very precious one at that; or at least she was, back when you were still Emiya Shirou and not Archer; and you don't see anything wrong with wanting to hug a friend in distress. On the other hand, you're already with an incredible woman whom you love, more than your mortal self ever loved Sakura, whom you know desires you about as much as any other Emiya Shirou in the world, and you don't want to give her what she might think is an invitation.
You decide not to hug her, not now, but you resolve to think it over and come to a decision on whether or not it's okay to hug Sakura, generally, once things have calmed down a little.
"I know it's rough, but this is something you and Rin have to figure out for yourselves. If you really, truly believe that she's not giving Shirou the time you think he deserves, than talk to her. Talk to him. Try to understand their relationship from their point of view before doing anything drastic." Like asking Rider to seduce you on her master's behalf, for example. "I believe in you. I know you're capable of so much. You just have to find the strength inside you to speak up when you want to be heard."
"It's so easy to do when it's just about trivial stuff," Sakura says. "Like keeping Shinji under my thumb; it barely requires any effort at all, so it's easy for me to speak up and make sure he knows how I feel. But… Why is it so hard when it's about something important?"
"It's hard because it's important," you say. Your thoughts flash to Homura. Your youngest daughter has been through so much in her life, much, much more than any girl her age should ever have to have gone through. But she did it. She succeeded, because the goal was worth it to her. "But when it's something you have to do for yourself, then it's worth doing, no matter how hard it is."
Sakura does her best to smile for you; it's hard, and you know it's hard, but you've seen this girl smile through worse. Now that she's the one who has control over her own life, you're sure she'll be able to smile for real no matter what obstacles are in her way. "That, and Minako would kill me if I ever became a homewrecker," you say, hoping to lighten the mood. "She's a real stickler for fidelity, that one. I know she'd be mad if I agreed to help you get your sister's boyfriend to break up with her."
Even if she's a ravenous horndog and an insatiable demon in bed, she still values fidelity; and not just in her own relationship, either. But you'll keep those thoughts to yourself.
"Hey you two, what's the holdup?" Finally, finally, Rin notices that you and Sakura aren't keeping up with her progress. "Sakura, stop trying to seduce my servant and come help me already!"
Sakura's face turns a brilliant scarlet, almost the same shade as Rin's jacket, and she turns away from you. "I'm doing no such thing!" she calls out to her sister. Beside Rin, you see Rider chuckling to herself, causing Sakura to moan "Mou~ Not you too, Rider!" only for Rider to laugh even more.
This is nice, you think as you watch on. In your time, Rin and Sakura weren't able to have this kind of life, where they're able to joke around and have fun, the way sisters should be able to. The way you're so glad that Homura and Kirika can. You already know that you're a far cry from the world's best dad, but you swear you'll be the best dad to your two daughters that you can be, that you'll give them the life and the happiness that Rin and Sakura never could have back then.
"I'm glad you two are able to be like this," you say, not realising that you've said those words out loud until Rin and Sakura are turned towards you. "Oh, crap, did I say that out loud?"
Your self-reflection only serves to turn the sisters' laughter from each other onto you. "Geez, Archer, way to show your age," Rin says. "But seriously, thanks for saying that."
Sakura nods her head, adding "It's been rough, but I'd like to believe that sister and I have a much better relationship now than we did when we were younger."
"Yeah, really," Rin adds. "But really, Archer, you saying that just makes you sound so… Old. Like, where's the sassy Archer I used to know?"
"I'm a father of two now, Rin." You feel you have to remind her of that fact; not that she could forget, but still. "I needed to start acting my age sometime."
"Yeah? Well…" Rin's voice trails off, and she's at a loss for words. "You couldn't have picked a better time to grow up, Shirou."
Sometimes, you wish that your mind were more like a phone and less like your ears; that when Homura would contact you, it would be as a gentle, but obvious sound, which you could then choose to pick up and be prepared for when you finally heard her voice. Instead, the "Archer, how are things going on your end?" comes just as suddenly and as unexpectedly as it always does, tearing you away from this moment with the Rin and Sakura you wish you could have seen years ago.
"We're going slow, but steady," you reply. "We're picking up from where your team left off yesterday, so part of our time out was just spent getting in place. Then Rin wanted to make sure that the anchors she'd set yesterday hadn't been damaged in the attack, and now we're only just starting to move on to setting new anchor points."
"All right. Don't feel like you need to rush through this," Homura says. "It's better to do a thorough job of this than a fast one. Have you checked in with mom at all yet?"
"I haven't," you reply. "Do you think she needs checking in with? Or do you think that Kirika would have gotten in touch with one of us if something had happened?"
"Probably the latter," Homura admits. "But, I'm still worried about her, that's all."
"I know, kid. I'm worried about your mom, too." You keep your sigh to yourself, and turn your head to where Rin and Sakura are working, setting another anchor point several meters down the block. "I'll contact her at some point soon, I promise."
"Hey, Archer, hurry up!" Rin calls out to you. "What's the holdup?"
"I'm talking to Homura!" you call back. "I'll just be a little while longer!"
"Well, don't take too long, you hear?"
You'll try not to take too long when you're talking to your daughter, Rin, thank you very much. You understand how important this is, but Homura doesn't call you up just to bother you. She's checking in, just like you should be doing for her. "How's everything coming on your end?"
"Kanna Niko is talking with Oriko, Lancer, and Assassin right now," Homura says. "I just got done having a practice match with Wakaba Mirai, so I haven't had the chance to check in with them yet, but I'll do that as soon as we're done talking." You're about to ask Homura how that went, but, as if she can read your mind, Homura continues, saying "Wakaba Mirai is… She's doing very well, actually. I was right to think that having Kazumi within range of her Mystic Code was the key. She's… She's actually got a lot of power under the hood, once she's able to draw it out without killing herself."
"Does she now?"
"She was able to keep up a pretty impressive assault with her teddy bear familiars, and she's got a much more powerful fire spell than just blasting things with an indiscriminate column of flames," Homura says. "We'll have to keep her close to Kazumi, but I think she's really got the potential to do some serious damage if we let her apply herself properly."
You want to agree with Homura, but there's just one thing stopping you. "That's assuming we can rein her in and keep her from exploding on anyone else like she and Sakura used to," you say. "I'm glad you're thinking of ways to make her useful to the team, but I think I'm going to reserve judgement for right now."
"Archer!" Rin calls out to you again. "Come on, we're finished setting anchors in this area! Get a move on or we'll leave you behind!"
You want to snap back at Rin, but you know she's right. You and Homura have checked in with each other, and you and she can let each other go if there's no more news. "I've got to get going now," you say to her. "Rin's getting on my ass and I don't want to be the one holding us up. Stay safe out there, and I'll talk to you later."
"Right. Talk to you later, dad."
[ ] Wat do?
