This is very much not an update. But I wrote it anyways!
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2016
Fuyuki City
They are sitting cross-legged on the tatami mats around the table, not moving a muscle. There is no sound but the silent hum of a ceiling fan, and the distant rustling of leaves from beyond the house. She hears all of this and more. Anything to get away from confronting the giant sitting right with her, in the same room.
Across from her, Rin Tohsaka looks upon her only daughter with concerned anger, her mouth a slanted line. The woman is still as stunning as she was in her younger days, the vain sorceress ensuring that her skin remains flawless and her hair lustrous through continued treatment and care. But the energy she had in her youth is lost, at least right now. Right now, she is simply tired, and worried, and angry, and upset, and all those things and more. She is a cocktail of emotions, still trying to settle on which to act on, this much is clear to her.
Or maybe she wants to let her stew in silence, unable to go anywhere as long as her mother is here. It is also entirely possible. At the young age of eight, she is still a child. Children need to move, and she is more active than most.
Some might say that is exactly the problem.
Finally, Rin sighs, and she brings her arms up to rest her elbows on the table, hands clasped. She speaks, not as a furious sorceress but as a concerned mother, talking to the girl with orange hair, tied into pigtails. "Kana, we received a letter from the school this morning. Is there anything you might want to tell us?"
Kana nods, looking down at the table. Her cheeks burn with embarrassment and fear. Covered in bruises beneath her clothes that ache even now, she knew it was going to happen but she didn't like it one bit. "...I got into a fight yesterday."
Rin nods patiently. Kana knows that she wants to scold her. She wants to get into a rant, yell at her for doing something silly, maybe even get the cane. But Rin reins herself in. "Why did you get into a fight?"
"He started it!" Kana insists, louder than she had intended. A sharp look from Rin makes her rethink her words and adjust her volume downwards. "...Toga was calling Himiko names and Himiko cried. So I told him to stop. Then he called me names a-and... and I punched him!" She is shaking now, hands clenched to try and make them stop. She can feel the tears coming and tries to stop them. "Toga tried to punch me, so I punched him again! A-And then Ashi hit me, and Hato hit me, and Eiji hit me, and Kojo, and..."
Kana starts blubbering now, the tears flowing freely. The feeling of betrayal, the flash of anger, burns hot again. Like she was there again, fighting a classroom of stupid boys. She can't see, her eyes clogged with hot tears. She can't breathe, her nose clogged by snot. She can't protect Himiko, her fists clogged by stupid idiots.
"Kana." Rin reaches out, and squeezes her daughter on the arm. It calms her down, just a bit. She wipes her tears away with her hand, and gives her a tissue. Kana blows her nose, and the tissue comes back just a bit red. Rin's eyes widen, but she says nothing. She balls the tissue up and tosses it away, trusting that her little girl is tougher than she looks.
She sniffs, wiping away her tears again. Dammit, they won't stop. Why does she have to cry like this? It's not good. People who protect shouldn't cry so much. "S-So I fought them! I be-beat them all! A-An-And then I kept beating them, b-because they were mean, a-and they hit me!" She sniffs wetly and rubs vigorously at her nose. Rin squeezes her arm tighter. "T-They were my friends, mommy! W-Why did they hit me?!"
Rin moves promptly. She goes over to her, Kana still babbling, and hugs her tightly. Kana cries for real now, the floodgates fully open. She lets it all out, the fear, the pain, the betrayal, the anger... Everything.
"It's alright," Rin coos in her ear, as a mother does. "It's alright, it's alright now... I'm here."
"B-But you hate me! You were gonna y-yell at me!"
She grabs her tighter, pulling Kana closer, hand around her daughter's head. "I could never hate you, Kana, mommies don't hate their babies."
"...B-But you were going to yell..."
"I yell because I'm angry, and I'm angry because I'm scared," she whispers, "And I'm scared because I don't want you to get hurt... But I don't hate you. I love you, Kana, mommy will always love you."
Kana sniffs, her chest heaving with sobs. "B...But you won't teach me..."
"I wish I could, Kana, I really do... But I can't."
"You teach Rits," Kana points out. She feels a hot flash of envy, and resentment at her twin. "Why not me?"
"I want to teach both of you," her mother insists. "But your element is..."
Kana sobs again. Her element again. Why was she born wrong? "T-Then change my element! Don't throw me away!"
She feels her mother tense when she says it, and the hug tightens further. "I won't throw you away, I promise. I can't teach you, but I'll always be here for you."
"...Promise?"
Her mother nods. She pulls away from her daughter, and looks down at her with a motherly smile. Rin kisses her on the forehead and looks Kana right in the eye, cupping her cheeks. "Mommy will always be here for you, come hell or high water. And so will Ritsuka, and daddy, and Auntie Saber. No one is going to throw you away. I promise."
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2026 (???)
Chaldea
She wakes up abruptly in a dark room, jolted by a dream. The girl rolls over until she is looking up at the ceiling. She holds up her left hand, looking at her command seals, and sighs.
"Always here for me, huh mom?" She mumbles to herself glumly. "If only."
She fucking hates demons.
Her phone goes off, and she sees several distressed messages from Roman and Ritsuka. Apparently, the Archers are getting a bit too excited about their current contest. Sighing, Kana hops out of bed, tosses on a t-shirt and pants, and heads out to the next crisis.
Old dreams can wait. She has a world to save.