Capítulo 994: 8
007 - Dealing with Tigers and Cats
… After some deliberation with Medea, we conclude the Crest Worms won't be a risk until nightfall at the very earliest. Which means I have ways (to dump the problem on someone else) handle the situation before it becomes (my) a problem.
I leave her making sure Sakura is fine and probably starting her in-depth studies on the Heavens Feel system in general and Sakura's state as a pseudo-lesser grail in particular. She'll also be making sure nothing unexpected springs from our patient now that she's unconscious.
Like an anti-servant tide of liquid maliciousness. Or a pissed off Rider. Or a pissed off Maggot-based Dead Apostle. Since she knows specifically what to look out for, I'm feeling optimistic she won't be caught off-guard by any nasty surprise.
Unless Gilgamesh decides to sic a golden kool-aid man at our home or something equally random, of course. But you can't plan for every little crazy possibility, and trying to do so is a recipe for madness.
In the meanwhile, I reach for the phone to make a rather important call.
"Fuji-nee?" I don't wait for the sleep-addled answer before cutting straight to business. I need the tiger fully awake, and that won't happen without shock therapy. "Sakura fainted. She won't be going to school today."
"Mny-aaaAAAA!?" Her answer starts lackluster, but soon I have to pull the receiver away from my ear to avoid going deaf. I'd say the shock therapy worked. "What do you mean she fainted!? Did she hit her head? Has a fever? Is she bleeding from anywhere? Have you called a doctor? That could be very serious, you know?"
"No, I don't think there's anything wrong." I answer as calmly as possible once she gives me the room to actually pipe in. "She doesn't look sick or have a fever, I'm pretty sure she's just exhausted."
"Okay that's… good. Yeah, good. Sakura has always looked a bit anemic, maybe she's going through a rough month and it finally caught up to her." For the sake of my sanity, I'll pretend she didn't just blame this on Sakura's period. "Are you going to skip class today? You can't leave her alone like that."
"Shouldn't be a problem. We are hosting a distant relative of Kiritsugu at the moment, so she can look over her while we're at school." I continue. Since I don't want Medea to be publicly tied to me, Ecchan is a godsend in that respect. "We also have a doctor in speed dial in case she gets worse, and if she hasn't recovered by the time we're back we'll be taking her there anyway."
"I see… You sure have it all figured out, brat." There's a sudden tension in her voice after the 'relative of Kiritsugu' is mentioned, but she keeps her priorities straight. "You know I have to notify her family, right?"
"Yeah, I know that's standard procedure but maybe… You can wait a bit to contact them?" I speak haltingly, as if I'm having trouble putting into words what's going through my head. "Just in case. With her fainting from exhaustion right after spending the whole weekend with her family… You know what I mean."
"That's the thinnest excuse I've ever used to play hooky with my duties as a teacher." She drawls playfully, and I'm pretty sure she would be giving me a knowing look if I was in front of her. "But that grandpa of hers gives me the creeps, and we all know how Shinji is, so I'll be busy with something else and forget about it, just this time."
"You are a lifesaver, Fuji-nee."
"I still want to meet that 'relative of Kiritsugu', you brat!" She huffs. "And if I don't like her she's getting the kick. No matter how much leeway I give you two, I'm still your legal guardian!"
"Well, of course, what else could we expect for our lovely and hard-working responsible adult?" I answer easily, smiling smugly when Haku rolls her eyes at my blatant ass-kissing. "See you for dinner?"
That placates her well enough. She'll arrive barely on time, wolf down whatever is there for dinner, huff and puff like the big bad wolf for a while, make a big show if 'graciously' allowing Ecchan to stay and then leave, carrying with her enough leftovers to feed a small army for a week.
Endearing, in-character and perfectly serving my designs. Extraordinary or not, Fuji-nee is still a mundane human and I have an unfair advantage. After this long to work on her, I'd have to purposely mess things up for her to become a problem.
"Alright, that's a wrap." I announce to the room after hanging up. "We should get going or we'll be late."
"Master?" Ecchan calls from her seat, showing up the book she's currently reading as she stands from her seat. "Can I take this one with me for the road?"
"Actually Ecchan..."
Haku eyes me with a mix of surprise and hesitation. We didn't really expect Ecchan to move from her comfortable spot on her own initiative. We'd planned around this, in fact. But I can see how tempted Haku is to forget the plan and just take her Servant with her.
"The plan was to have you here holding the fort." In the end, sticking to the plan wins out. "In case someone attacks while we're away."
"That and the school is actually a hotspot for Servants at this time." I agree with a nod, though I can't help but think it wouldn't matter all that much. "I'd rather not have you around until we deal with Rider and whoever servant Rin summoned last night."
"Don't worry Ecchan, you're always a Command Seal away!"
Ecchan remains standing in place, seemingly pondering on our words at her leisure, before frowning slightly at whatever conclusion she's reached. "No."
"... No?"
"Not safe." She elaborates, astralizing as she moves closer to us as if it was a done deal. It might as well be. "I'm going too."
Haku turns to me for support again, and I can only shrug helplessly. I might be able to convince her otherwise, I'm good with words. But I have no reason to believe Ecchan is any less stubborn than the original Artoria and it's not a big deal in the first place, so that's the very definition of pointless effort.
"I was just thinking how Caster should be able to hold the fort, or at least retreat with Sakura, if push comes to shove." I say instead. "And Ecchan is right. Command Spells are useful, but not foolproof. It's best to have a Servant on hand, just in case."
The only hangup is that Medea was supposed to make the final arrangements to relocate to Ryuudou Temple this morning. She's been working on and off in preparing the ground for our takeover and this was the perfect chance to finally nail things down, but it can wait one more day without much trouble.
Matter settled, we finally leave for school.
Hm… Now that Sakura is indisposed, I might be able to cook my own food for once. I think I'll stop to buy groceries on the way back, it's been a while since I last made mexican.
My first surprise of the day is crossing paths with Rin. Wasn't she supposed to skip school today to patrol the city with her Servant? I mean, it's not a problem, in fact it saves me the effort of looking for her later, but I'd like to know what butterfly caused this change of plans.
Halfway through the morning, the worst upset has been watching Shinji in an oddly forgiving and cheerful mood that gives me the creeps. You know, that with knowing he regularly beats up and rapes both his adoptive sister and her Servant. Actually, why did I wait so long to stage an intervention? Sure, I was no match for Zouken back in the day, but I could've dealt with this as soon as I contracted Medea.
'And then you would've shown your hand before you were ready to deal with the consequences, Master.' Medea chides me patiently through our bond. 'The War would've been lost and the girl would've had her heart shattered right as she was finally allowing herself to feel hope again. Literally everyone who matters would lose in the end.'
'Oh, yeah, that.' I sigh internally. Why does it have to actually make sense? 'Doesn't make me feel like less of a jerk, though.'
'Just because we are correct, doesn't mean it has to feel right.' She retorts amusedly. 'We'll save her in the end, and make sure the happy ending sticks.'
'Thank you princess, you always know how to cheer me up.' Sending some grateful affection her way through the bond. 'How are things back home?'
'Dull. Nobody has tried anything.' It's her turn to sigh. 'I'd claim we're complete unknowns if not for your adoptive father's rather public involvement in the last war. In any case, Sakura's presence doesn't seem to have changed our situation in any way.'
'No news is good news, eh? Keep up the good work.'
By the time the bell chime announces lunch break, there's been no news of Medusa barging into the house a berserker rage to brutally murderize everyone in her path. I draw the tentative conclusion that she can't use her bond with Sakura throughout the Book of False Attendant. That or she's realized we're actually helping. Or she's biding her time to splatter our brains against a wall when we least expect it.
… It's a bit up in the air, actually, but I'm feeling hopeful.
Which is good, because I wasn't willing to leave Sakura under the maggot's thumb a second longer than necessary, but Medusa breaking ranks and leaving Shinji carries its own share of problems.
A certain order of events must be maintained, but I can't have the cake and eat it too. I needed to neutralize Zolgen before the war started in earnest, but I couldn't free Sakura before making sure I could take the fallout. Plus, Medusa abandoning Shinji to go back to her true Master too soon would mean I couldn't use his harebrained plan to tang the school in my favor.
There are three chances for me to try and recruit Rin for my side before things get completely out of whack. The first is the straight out invitation that I'm about to deliver at this very moment. If that fails, I can try and stage a re-enactment of the encounter between her and Illya at the start of the war and have Berserker wipe the floor with Rin's Servant. But if that fails too the next chance for joining forces is to counter Medusa's attempts at deploying [Bloodfort Andromeda] here in the school.
Since there's a serious chance of Rin's Servant being actually capable of fighting Atalanta back, and there's no guarantee I can truly engineer that encounter, option two is just too unreliable.
Which reminds me that Cu Chulain is actually a very competent Servant which Rin's own will have to fight off very soon if things play out like canon. Very soon as in tomorrow night. I might need to keep an eye on that too, just in case whoever was summoned isn't up to the challenge.
Oh, well, I'll just try them in order and follow along whichever works. It's not like I have just one plan in the ready. And with that I'm in front of the rooftop door. I guess it's showtime.
'Haku, you in place?'
'Ready when you are, Nii-san!'
Slapping my cheeks to psyche myself up, I plaster a smile in my face and slam the door open.
"Tohsaka-Sensei!" I cheerfully announce "I've come to bargain!"
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