Night Of Revelations...

Chapter 8 - Night Of Revelations...

'Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, bad idea. The mother of all bad ideas.'

That was the mantra Shirou kept chanting in his head as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, chasing after the car of the man from which he should keep as far away as possible.

But this wasn't about his well-being or his gain, and while he had no intention of getting put behind bars, he couldn't afford to be picky either.

Involving himself directly with the police was a risky move, but if he succeeded he would gain another useful tool for his mission. He didn't trust the law enforcement as a whole; he couldn't, since he knew just how easily a Magus could sway any investigation either through the pulls of the Organization or by direct application of Thaumaturgy.

Killing, brainwashing, bribing. Everything was fair game when it came to covering up a crime committed either through or in relation to magic. It was sick and twisted, but then again it was also the only feasible way. Common humans weren't trained to deal with the supernatural aspects of the world, and revealing the existence of magic would simply spur a quest for power that would only end in more elaborate wars with higher body counts.

What he didn't like was the abuse made of this principle. Magi often regarded other living beings as little more than insects and dealt with them accordingly. It wasn't unusual for a Magus to experiment his craft on living people and the Association wouldn't bother acting so long as the secrecy of magic wasn't jeopardized.

And now he, a magic user, was about to involve a police officer with his own crusade. Aside from the fact that he was risking being arrested, he was also bringing a theoretically honest man closer to the dangerous world of Magi. Even if he had no intention to reveal a single thing about it to the man, his mere presence acted as a distortion to his otherwise mundane life.

It was the reason why Magi were usually so reclusive from the rest of society. Their constant dealing with the World's inner working created ripples that would eventually affect those who were too close. It could be a small change in fortune or a major catastrophe, as the Holy Grail War proved all too much.

It was a very basic rule of the world. Power always influenced reality, and a secret power was all the more so.

It was the primary reason for him to wear a mask. If the Magic-User/Vigilante Archer and Emiya Shirou weren't considered the same person, the effect of that alteration would affect his surrounding a lot less. It was for the sake of protecting his friends, before himself, from the repercussion of his actions.

And now he was about to pull somebody in this twisted existence of his, even if only partially. Nezumi already risked his life because of it, but he had been given a choice: face the police for his small crimes or work for him. Perhaps Nezumi hadn't seen it as much of a choice, but he could have just walked away from his offer.

Dojima Ryutaro wasn't as lucky. He had something that Nezumi lacked: a sense of duty. He was a cop, and a driven one at that. His ideals didn't coincide with Shirou's, but he wasn't a bad man and he wasn't the kind of person that would simply ignore a crime because of danger either. Once he got involved, there wasn't a chance that he would turn back.

His choice of job proved that he was willing to take risks, but did that mean that Shirou had the right to take advantage of that?

He didn't think so, but then again, this wasn't about him.

Dojima parked in front of his house and stopped the engine. The road was empty at that hour and Nanako was certainly asleep by now. He pulled another all-nighter and the next morning he would leave before his daughter would even get up.

He loved his daughter very much, but he was a better cop than he was a father. He hated himself for that, but the truth was that he could hardly stand being in his daughter's presence. She reminded him too much of her mother and how he failed both of them by not being able to bring her murderer to justice.

It had been a typical hit-and-run, but he never managed to find the culprit. He spent days and nights searching for clues, trying to find the bastard who took his wife's life, but there were few witnesses and even less evidences.

He buried his grief and his shame in his work with the result of distancing himself from the last living relative he still had. Well, he had a sister and a nephew living abroad but hadn't heard from them in years so they didn't count.

He was lucky that Nanako was a responsible girl and more than capable of taking care of herself. Yet…sometimes the way she looked at him made him understand that she still needed her father, and he didn't know how to be one.

He honestly felt like a failure.

Sighing, he got out from his car, close the door… and promptly froze on the spot.

He wasn't alone. He definitely wasn't alone in the seemingly empty street. There was an unnatural stillness in the air that he couldn't miss, the sort of tense atmosphere that preceded a gunfight. He had sent a great deal of people in jail. He wouldn't put it past some of them to come looking for vengeance. Someone like that psychotic Matsuo from his old hometown, for instance. He should have finished his sentence a couple of weeks before with discount for good behavior. He had killed two people and kidnapped several others before Dojima and his team arrested him.

He couldn't see anyone in the road well illuminated by artificial lights, but there were many dark spots were someone could hide. Yet, the feeling of being observed didn't come from the sides but rather… from above

Instinctively his right hand drifted under his coat and a fast movement he pulled it out, spun around and pointed it above the street lamp behind him.

No one.

Just a pole with a light attached.

What the hell did he expect? Archer? He definitely needed to get some sleep.

"You really have sharp instincts, detective Dojima-san."

To his credit, Dojima did not jump out of his skin, opting to point his gun in the voice's apparent direction. An empty spot again.

"Who are you? Show yourself," he commanded with firmness.

"Not while you're pointing that thing around," the disembodied voice said. It came again from behind him. "I mean no harm, I just want to talk with you."

"You could have done it at the police station," Dojima replied still holding his gun.

"I don't think I could have walked away from that," the voice said jokingly. "Seriously, Dojima-san. Either I talk with you and leave or I just leave."

"You're presuming I'll be interested in what you have to say."

"I certainly hope so," the voice chuckled without the malice expected from someone who lurked in the shadows. "Considering that you're the one who's been looking for me for the past few weeks."

"Archer," Dojima hissed. Why hadn't he thought of him? Well, perhaps because the culprit doesn't usually go looking for the cop who's trying to arrest him. "What do you want?"

"Just exchange a few words with you without being shot or arrested in the process."

"Tough luck, kiddo. Arresting you is my primary job right now."

"I know, but either I leave right now and you won't see nor hear from me again, or you give me your word that we can have this conversation peacefully and you might find out something about me you wouldn't have a chance to otherwise. What do you have to lose?"

'Nothing,' he thought to himself. "You obviously don't trust us cops or you wouldn't do the things you do. Why are you willing to trust my word?"

"If I was looking for a cop, I would have called the police," Archer said from yet another place. "I came here to talk with Dojima Ryutaro, not a cop."

Dojima sighed and holstered his gun. "You have my word." What else was he supposed to say to that?

"Thank you," Archer said walking out of a shadow not too far away from him.

The detective eyed the black clad vigilante from head to toe. His outfit prevented him from discerning anything beside his height and gender, and his voice had to be altered in some way. It was too deep to belong to a mere boy. His arms were at his sides, completely relaxed and non-threatening, but there was no mistaking the tension in the rest of his body. He was ready to jump away at a moment's notice.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked trying not to betray his already obvious curiosity. The situation was… interesting, to say the least.

"There was a disappearance a few days ago. A high school student vanished on her way home from an evening with friends."

"Kazama Yukiko," he quoted from memory.

"Do you know of her?"

"My partner Adachi is working on her case. A typical runaway from what I've heard. I suppose that your involvement means that there's a lot more behind it. Or is your interest in her something personal?"

"The first one," he answered without losing a beat. Too bad. Dojima hoped that he could connect the girl to him and work his way from there. "I've been looking into her disappearance, but came out with very little. One of my... informants, however, was almost killed because of it."

Dojima narrowed his eyes. He hadn't heard of any attempted murderer, but then he remembered hearing of a notorious assassin for hire being arrest.

"You're the one that got that Sakaki guy yesterday," he commented. "Tch. I should have known that my colleagues couldn't get to a guy like that on their own."

"Yes, that was my doing. I thought that you would know of it immediately."

"I should have," he growled, "but that doesn't matter right now. What have you got?"

Archer took an envelope from his jacket. "A list of names, mostly. Somebody in here must have a connection high enough hire a hitman of that caliber. I would question them myself, but between finding them and getting them to speak it would take me too much time. If Kazama has been really kidnapped by an organization and not by an single person, then she could be shipped anywhere at any given moment."

"If we are talking about human trafficking or prostitution, then it could already be too late," Dojima agreed. He was more than a little annoyed by the entire situation. He held out a hand. "I will pass that stuff to my colleagues."

"No," Archer refused. "If I wanted that I wouldn't have looked for you. Considering what you just said about the guy I delivered this morning, we both know that the majority of your colleagues are not to be trusted. They would either lose time trying to work out how to take credit for this without it backfiring on them, or they would make it disappear to hide their incompetence. The chances of this information getting into the hands of someone trustworthy are too slim. Kazama cannot afford us making such a bet."

Dojima rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. He was rather new inside his department, and considering his recent discoveries he couldn't quite argue with the vigilante's words.

"All right," he finally said. "I will take care of this personally, but you will answer some question in exchange for this favor."

"I will answer a single question," Archer conceded. "And nothing that could reveal my identity, so choose carefully."

A single question? He had a hundred things he wanted to ask him. He was the pivotal point of his self-appointed mission to find out what happened in Fuyuki. … Well, then why not ask him exactly that?

"All right," he agreed. "Do you have any idea of what's going on in this town?"

"You'll have to be more specific than that."

"Don't feed me this bullshit," he snapped at him. "Strange disappearances, strange deaths, suicides that don't make any sense. A hotel was demolished by unnamed terrorists after they started a fire to evacuate the people inside, and shortly after there was that fire that killed five hundred people. I don't even want to mention the sighting of strange creatures, but I probably should. There's enough crazy stuff to run a season of that old American series and no one talks about it. What's. Going. On."

Dojima watched Archer's eyes widening as he ranted his suspicions, only to narrow them in what looked like an expression of serious concern. It was difficult to say with the mask hiding most of his face, but the evident reaction from the boy that didn't fear fighting criminals and facing a detective was proof enough that he knew something. He had to.

Shirou was shell-shocked. His heart hammered at an impressive rate while his mind explored the potential implication of what he just heard.

Why? Why did he know of such things? The organization and the Tohsaka family should have taken care of every piece of evidence and witness, but evidently a lot of stuff must have slipped them.

No, in the first place it was impossible to hide everything, especially in an era where cell phones had inbuilt cameras and Internet connections. As a matter of fact it was amazing that the Holy Grail War hadn't revealed the existence of magic to the rest of the world.

It was only thanks to the Clock Tower having control of the media and thorough, hefty bribes to politicians and law enforcers worldwide that things were kept under wraps. It was obvious that someone smart enough, driven enough, and with direct access to the police archives would realize that there was a bigger picture behind seemingly unrelated events.

It was all the more so in Fuyuki, where several different leylines crossed paths. The place was a natural magnet for spiritual creatures of all sorts and unscrupulous Magi that wanted to experiment their craft away from the eyes of the Association, but with an easily accessible source of energy. It was the reason why a trustworthy Magus was appointed as Second Owner to watch over the land.

This wasn't bad. This wasn't just a can of worms either. This was a full-fledged shit-storm that was threatening to spill over and swallow this man whole. It could very well be the start of a Purge from the Association the likes of which hadn't happened in centuries.

"Archer?"

Dojima's voice snapped him out of the imaginary scenario his mind was drawing.

"Dojima-san," he said with steel in his voice. "The entire night wouldn't be enough to tell you what happened in Fuyuki in a way that made sense to you. I can only give you a warning: forget about it."

"Not a chance, kid. I'm a cop. I can't condone this kind of things. I won't just turn my head the other way and pretend it didn't happen. Tell me who's behind this, and I'll have them arrested even if I have to spend my life searching for evidence."

"No. No, you don't understand. You will do no such thing. You will not spend your life. You will throw it away. These… people you want to know about… they aren't what you think. They aren't responsible for these events, they mostly try to keep them from the general public."

"To the point of killing? Did they kill to keep whatever this is that they want to keep secret from being revealed?"

"They did. And they will. If someone catches wind of you realizing even just this much you are dead."

"I can take care of myself," he protested.

"Not nearly enough," Archer shook his head. "Trust me. A badge and a gun won't even hold them back for a moment."

"Who are they?"

"The name they use for themselves wouldn't mean anything to you, nor to anyone else that wasn't part of their group. God, I can't believe we're having this conversation. Forget about this. Don't speak about it with anyone, not even with yourself."

"I can deal with…"

"No! And besides this isn't just about you anymore. You already know too much. If they came, they wouldn't just remove you. They would kill anyone you might have even barely hinted something about this: your family, your pets and even your partner. They would kill everyone and make it look like an accident. No one would even question it twice."

"Are they from the government? A secret service?"

"I can't tell you anything more than this. Look, this is bigger than you and me both, Dojima-san. Maybe in the future I'll be able to give you a more detailed answer, but right now you wouldn't believe me. You have to be patient and trust me with this. Don't talk with anybody."

Dojima wasn't the kind of person that was easily scared, but Archer's words only rekindled the flames of his fears. Whoever was this group behind the massive hush-ups, it clearly had to have a strong hold over the police and the government.

His initial suspicions that Archer could be somewhat aware of these machinations were toppled by the vigilante's clear worries. To make matter worse, it didn't look like he was worried about himself at all.

It was like he was certain that this seemingly all-powerful group wasn't a threat to him. How could it be? Certainly, if they wanted to silence everyone who had even the slightest knowledge about them they would go after him too, right?

Unless….

"… You're one of these people. This group… you're one of them."

It made sense didn't it? It was the polar opposite of his initial estimation but it still fit the parameters.

"No," Archer promptly denied. "I'm not one of them, merely someone authorized to know due to particular circumstances. I'm opposed to what they do, even if I agree that certain things must be kept secret for the well being of everyone. The only thing I want is to keep people safe, and this knowledge can and will kill many. Please, Dojima-san. Trust my judgment for the time being," Shirou finished, bowing slightly at the waist.

He looked at the bowing vigilante with all the focus he could muster. In that very moment, he had to decide if he was an enemy or an ally. Could he do it? Could he trust a person hidden behind a mask? Someone who didn't answer to the very law he had sworn to uphold?

"All right," he conceded. "But you'd better not make me wait too long. In the meantime I'll try to find what I can about your missing girlfriend. How do I get in contact with you?"

"Thank you Dojima-san," he said relieved. "As for contacting me, I'll simply drop by your house every evening around this hour. Would that be fine?"

"Just don't ambush me anymore. Knock on the second window on the east side of my house. It's my study so my daughter shouldn't come there even if she was still awake."

"Got it. And thank you again for trusting me. I'll be going now."

"Hm. Careful out there, kiddo."

Shirou retreated into the shadows, well out of sight, before leaping for the roofs again.

In all honesty he considered himself lucky. Not only did he get the help he needed, but he also discovered a major leak in the Clock Tower's network of secrecy and had managed to contain it, at least for the time being.

It was both scary and reassuring. The fact that Dojima was capable of putting so many clues together and connect them to him was a testament to his skill. On the other hand, it was a potential time bomb.

Differently from what he did with the assassin of the previous night he couldn't just force him to forget. It worked only for recent memories since he could lock them up without compromising the rest of the mind.

If he did the same for other memories that were inevitably tied with others, then he would create holes that the mind's owner would naturally try to recover, stabling eventually in the very same evidences that originated the problem, with the aggravating knowledge that someone had purposely made him forget them.

If that happened, establishing a bond of trust with him would be nearly impossible. He would become naturally suspicious of everyone connected with the case because only someone involved with it would be interested in keeping things under wrap.

No, the best path was to win Dojima's trust, even if it meant revealing even more compromising things. He had to realize the level of danger the Association represented. He was all in favor of fighting the Clock Tower's policies, but even he wasn't enough of an idiot to think he could take them head on. That was a battle that had to be fought from the inside and with plenty of powerful allies to back you up.

However, it was frustrating how Dojima's moral strength turned out to be a pain in the ass. If he was anyone else he could have dealt with the situation in a number of ways, but Dojima could and would follow this case until it killed him and potentially half of Fuyuki with him.

There was of course also the option of silencing him permanently, but the possibility didn't even cross Shirou's mind, as it was in total contrast with his deep-rooted beliefs.

Still, that meant that he had yet another thing to worry about, far worse than the problem that brought up this confrontation. To make matters worse, he didn't have anyone who could help him make an appropriate choice in this matter.

And to be completely honest, this entire mess only reinforced his belief that working on his own was far less complicated.

It was going to be another sleepless night of worries for the hero wannabe. Sometimes, being the good guy sucked epically.

Somewhere else another Magus was spending her night going through similar problems.

True to her word, Tohsaka Rin slept a good portion of the afternoon only to spend the night again worrying about her friends.

Even thought the notes Emiya gave her were interesting, there was no way that she could make heads or tails out of it. She just didn't have the basic knowledge to make use of such information and it drove her mad.

A small part of her wanted to be angry with Emiya. He had to know that she couldn't do anything useful with this stuff but gave it to her nonetheless.

Another part of her felt grateful. It was painfully obvious that he gave her something to occupy her brain more than asking questions around could do. In fact, despite the effort put into reading that stuff over and over again she was less tired than the previous evening.

It had only been a clever plot to make sure she took the time to rest properly and make her stop wasting time with a course of action that wouldn't obviously bare any fruit.

Yes, grateful was probably the best way she could feel in regard to Emiya. He had definitely gained her respect by helping her without asking for anything in return. He didn't even try to cash the obvious boost in reputation that the ongoing rumors about the two of them. Of course, he clearly wasn't the type to even think such a thing, but her point remained valid.

Emiya Shirou was a good guy through and through. She was glad that he was friends with Sakura. Someone like him would certainly not hurt her on purpose, which was more than could be said of most guys she knew.

She blinked, realizing that she had allowed her thought process to wander. Eh, Emiya really did a good job of taking her mind off her problem.

It looked like that every single thing he did was to help others. Every time he met him he was doing his best to help around. He went as far as dealing with dangerous people to give her useless information to save her from herself.

She leaned back against the chair she was currently sitting on. Using her feet against the old fashioned table's support she pushed back, making the chair undulate on its back legs. She lulled herself back and forth while she though a little more about her redheaded –should she dare call him– friend.

Everything he did was for the sake of others. No matter how tired he was he still pushed himself forward and gave a little more for other people's happiness, like he desperately wanted to save them from everything. Why would someone do something like that?

'Because I knew despair and hopelessness once, but I have been saved.

Now, all I want to do is save others from the same fate with my own hands.'

THUMP!

She fell back ungracefully along with her chair, but she paid no mind to the inelegance of the situation nor to the throbbing pain in the back of her head.

'No way. No way. No way. No way.'

She didn't have any proof. It was only a feeling in her gut, but it made sense to her. He was the captain of the Archery club, for Christ's sake; a guy that went out of his way to help everyone even if he was dead on his feet. He had plenty of connections with the less savory citizen of Fuyuki and, judging by the pictures of him that circulated around the school, physically fit enough to play the role of the hero.

Why didn't anyone else ever realize it before?

Because, altruistic as he was, no one would associate him with the imaginary badass figure of the black clad vigilante, that's why.

He appeared docile and defenseless enough that even that worm of Shinji could harass him without fearing consequences. But what if it was all just a ruse?

No, even if it weren't a ruse he would still fit the profile. She knew a thing or two about having a public persona and a private one. Neither was false, even if one was a little forced at times. After all, who didn't wear at least a small mask to interact with others without unneeded frictions?

She steadied herself on the table and took a deep breath. It was a major thing; that much was certain. It definitely meant that Emiya wasn't the clueless idiot she pegged him to be.

Oh, she had no absolute certainty of his secret identity but even the suspect made things different.

Or did it?

What did he mean to her if her schoolmates and temporary search partner spent his nights helping people in trouble? Even if his motives were deeper that she had initially thought would it actually make a difference for her? If anything it meant that he was more resourceful than he let on and definitely capable of keeping a secret, and an important one at that.

That also meant that she'd have to keep her guard up around him. Someone who lived a double life like she did had a major probability of spotting something odd about her. He definitely wasn't someone that would embrace an obvious lie to preserve his misconceived perception of reality. She couldn't play him around like she did with everyone else or she'd risk being played in return.

But at that point those were simple conjectures. She had no concrete proof, and it was not the source of her predicament or its solution. She still had a very serious problem to deal with that even her resourceful ally could not solve.

She took a deep breath and pushed unneeded variables aside. Gearing up her Magus mindset she weighed her options. Considering the newfound connection between Yukiko's disappearance and the crime world brought up by Emiya she had few options left.

Actually, it was only one option. As much as she was loathe to admit it she couldn't proceed further by herself. Despite her pride screaming the opposite she had, for the very first time in her life, to ask for help to her insufferable teacher of her.

She murmured his name through gritted teeth.

"Kotomine… Kirei."