Intersecting Roads...

Chapter 9 - Intersecting Roads...

The double doors to the church opened with the usual loud noise.

The place was devoid of people as usual, but Rin knew that the resident priest was already aware of her presence. Not waiting for the man to show himself at his convenience, she walked inside with the confidence of someone familiar with the place and its layout.

A small door to the left of the entrance opened to a corridor that led to the private part of the structure.

She didn't like being there. She detested the place as much as she loathed its inhabitant. Even if he was technically her guardian, Tohsaka Rin prided herself on being independent and self-reliant, both in life and in her studies.

She hated the idea of having to ask for help, especially because she knew he had been waiting for such a day for years.

Normally, she would just hit her head against the metaphorical wall until she either broke through or found a way around it, but this wasn't about herself and time was growing shorter by the day.

So, swallowing her pride, she grabbed Shirou's envelope and went to the church at the crack of dawn.

She didn't have nearly the same amount of connections Shirou possessed thanks to his familiarity with the local… organizations. However, her mentor was not just a common priest.

Very few knew that the Church actually had a group that wasn't unlike the secret services of other nations, with the exception that it didn't deal with the mundane aspects of the world, but rather with its supernatural side.

For a long time they had been at war with the Clock Tower, but in recent times they settled in an odd cooperative relationship. As proof of this, they sent one of their own men to supervise the land where a war between Magi took place for the possession of an all-powerful artifact.

Kotomine Kirei. Her father's apprentice, her mentor and the most insufferable man she had the displeasure of knowing…was the only person she could ask for help in that moment.

And she hated every minute of it.

In order to gather data and discern where and when to deploy its agents, the Church had one of the most impressive information networks know to mankind. … Well, actually unknown to most of mankind.

It was definitely what she needed to complete the puzzle and hopefully find her lost friend.

She reached the door to his study and lifted a hand.

"Come on in, Rin," the voice from the other side said before she had a chance to knock. Dressed in his usual priestly outfit, Kotomine was standing in front of a shelf, obviously putting some books back in their place. "I didn't expect you here today. Have you finally reached a wall in your studies and decided to seek my help?"

"As if," she scoffed with her arms crossed over her chest. "My Thaumaturgy is advancing quite well, thank you very much."

"I see. Then I believe some other reasons bring you to my abode. You were never one to enjoy my company more than necessary."

'You can say that again,' she thought. "As much as I dislike the idea of asking you for help, I have a… mundane problem I can't solve with my resources alone."

"Oh? This is unexpected. Although, I suppose that being your guardian, I should have known something like this would have happened one day."

"You're wrong," she corrected. "I'm not here to ask your assistance as my guardian, but as an agent of the Church."

Kirei's mildly amused expression became a frown of seriousness at her words. Rin could tell this wasn't something he expected her to say. For one thing, she had no reason to deal with the Church unless there was something she couldn't handle by herself in her capacity of Second Guardian, but she had made it already clear that her problem wasn't of the supernatural kind.

That pretty much meant her motives were personal, and as such, entirely not a concern of the Church.

"Rin, there should be no need for me to tell you this, but if you ask the Church for a favor you must be ready to pay the price for it one day. As the only heir of the Tohsaka family, are you willing to risk being indebted to us?"

"I wouldn't have come all this way if I didn't made up my mind already."

"Of course," he smiled. "You are not one to waste time pointlessly. Very well, since this is the first time you've actually asked me anything, I will try and give you whatever help you might need."

Nodding sharply, Rin pulled out the envelope and passed it to him.

"A friend of mine disappeared a few days ago. I've already excluded every other possibility and now I'm sure she has been kidnapped. Another friend procured a list of names that might be involved with this, but we both lack the resources to connect the dots."

Kirei sprawled the contents of the envelope on his desk, quickly moving from sheet to sheet.

"This friend who brought you all of this information must have some deep connection with the local underworld," he said pondering what he was reading. "I'm worried that you might be associating with the wrong people, Rin."

"I can take care of myself, so let's stick to the problem at hand. Can you do something with this data?"

"If the source is reliable, then there's a high chance that I might have a response by this evening. The question remains, can you trust this person to not have an ulterior in this?"

That was something she had thought about already. As a Magus, the concept of Equivalent Exchange was paramount, and someone helping her without asking or even expecting something in return was unsettling to a certain degree. Not that she didn't understand selfless kindness; she just wasn't used to being on the receiving end of it. The point remained that Emiya had nothing to gain except perhaps the fulfillment of his wish of wanting to help out others, if he actually was who she thought he was.

"As far as I can tell, I have no reason to distrust him. That doesn't mean I'm not going to watch out for eventual danger from that direction."

"You have already considered every implication, as usual. I will make a few inquiries and I'll let you know something by this evening."

"Thank you," she said honestly, even though it was an effort on her part. "I appreciate it."

She didn't wait for an answer, knowing that there wouldn't be one. She left the building and headed for school. Thankfully she wasn't going to be late in spite of her detour.

Kirei silently watched the door close behind Rin.

The situation was interesting, to say the least. Rin had made it quite clear over the years that she hated the thought of asking for help, especially to him.

Of course, he knew that Rin's detached countenance wasn't entirely genuine. She was a person who cared for others like any human being; she simply preferred not to show it. He should have seen it coming that she would look for help not for herself but for somebody else, but regardless of that she had to have swallowed a good portion of her pride and explored every other avenue before actually seeking him out.

In spite of the entertainment he got from his ward's inner turmoil he decided to do his best to help her, for many different reasons.

For one thing, he took his duty to the church very seriously and he couldn't just ignore a Second Guardian request, especially if that meant putting her in the Church's (and his) debt.

Secondly, he wanted to follow the situation personally. He never once thought himself omniscient, but that his apprentice was involved with shady people, and he was unaware until she told him, didn't sit well with him.

Lastly… well, the plight of men never failed to amuse him, so he would take a first row seat and enjoy the situation unfold.

In any case, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose. Plus, having Rin owe him even the smallest of favors was something he could exploit in the months to come, especially with the War coming sooner than expected.

Yes, that was definitely something he could take advantage of, and all he had to do was make a few calls.

Sometimes it was just too easy…

The day passed without anything like previous day's shenanigans, which was something to be thankful of. Still, Shirou had the distinct impression that some of the other students were sending him contemplative looks. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but he decided that not being seen in public with Tohsaka was the best choice at the moment. He definitely didn't need people stalking him all the time, especially considering his… hobbies.

He didn't go looking for her and she didn't come looking for him. It meant that both of them had nothing new to discuss, and considering that they had schoolwork to catch up with, unnecessary chatting was not an option.

He'd have to focus on the strictest necessities and conserve his energies, both mental and physical, in hope that Dojima would find out something for him to work with.

That was another source of worry for him. He definitely hadn't expected the detective to stumble upon Fuyuki's secret nature. Of course, he had no idea of what exactly was going on in the city, but he was smart enough to figure that it was something foul.

That didn't bode well. He had used extra caution while addressing that subject with him. Unlike Kuzuki-sensei, who had no reason or credibility to shout about the existence of magic, Dojima was a respected detective. That wasn't nearly enough to make him a danger to the Association, but it was quite enough to make the Association a danger for him.

Not being good enough to remove the memories nor ruthless enough to dispose of him preemptively, his only option was to win his trust before revealing exactly how deep the events he uncovered went.

But that was an entirely different matter, and he really needed to focus on his top priorities.

This meant understanding the stream of babble his biology teacher was writing on the blackboard.

Sometimes keeping up his standards wasn't easy at all…

Later that evening – Tohsaka Mansion

If her deceased father saw her in that moment he would have been mildly disappointed.

Elegance and countenance was the trademark of the Tohsaka family. Controlling their own emotions and strolling through the battlefield, whatever it might be, was paramount to them.

Therefore, the sight of his daughter pacing restlessly through the halls would have annoyed him more than he would have been willing to admit. If he wasn't already dead, that is.

Still, Rin couldn't help herself. She had learned very well how to maintain control in difficult situations, but that implied that she actually had something to focus on, instead of just having nothing to do but wait…like she was doing in that moment.

RIIIIIING!

A second before the old fashioned telephone rang she was several meters away from it, but as soon as the communication device had ended its first ring the receiver was already in Rin's hand.

"Tohsaka speaking."

"Rin, It's Kirei. I found something that could interest you. Come over as soon as you can."

"I'm on my way," she announced and quickly ended the conversation. She grabbed her coat and rushed out of the door.

At the same time

Shirou opted to walk to his destination instead of taking the highway, seeing how it was still relatively early for his meeting with Dojima. A slow walk actually helped him gather his thoughts. His schedule was usually frenetic and he didn't have much time to spend idly, so the forced break was actually appreciated.

Taking longer than usual, he finally reached the big intersection that connected several parts of the city. If he crossed the road he would reach the residential area where Sakura and Tohsaka lived.

Speak of the devil, wasn't that Tohsaka coming down the road at breakneck pace? Even from afar, Shirou could tell that she was wearing a resolute expression that she usually didn't show. He was about to call out to her when she stopped a taxi and sped toward the town.

For a moment Shirou wondered if he should follow her, but he soon realized that by the time he found a place to change and got himself set properly, she would already be out of sight. Besides, he had another place to be and Tohsaka could definitely take care of herself.

Half an hour later he was back in his Archer outfit and moving stealthily from rooftop to rooftop. There were still plenty of people out and about but, not many looked up at the sky and he made sure to always be in the darkest spot available.

To the best of his knowledge, he wasn't spotted the entire time until he finally reached his destination. Kneeling on the roof he supported his weight on his hands and peeked upside down in the window indicated him the previous evening.

He didn't like being distrustful, but he had to make sure that there wasn't any ambush waiting for him. The man who lived in this house had every intention of arresting him after all.

"Trace on," he muttered and allowed the blueprint of the building to form in his mind. There were several rooms but only one person inside beside the detective himself. A girl around his age, most likely Dojima's daughter, was in a room on the same floor but far enough not to overhear anything they said.

Reassured by what he found out he knocked two times on the glass panel and waited.

Even though he knew the strangest guest was about to arrive, Dojima was not one to lose focus. Having returned home earlier than usual, he brought some documents with him, so that he could get some paperwork done while he waited for the vigilante.

He was focused enough not to notice the eyes peeking at him from the roof until he heard the sound of knuckles against glass.

TOK TOK!

He sharply turned his head to the side, his hand almost reaching for the gun he wasn't wearing at the moment, before his brain kicked into gear and realized that it wasn't a thief. Sighing, he rubbed his nose and stood to open the window.

Holding the edge of the roof, Archer threw himself inside the opening legs first, landing into a silent crouch.

Despite having to admire the boy's above average agility Dojima made a mental note to discover how he got up there. To the best of his knowledge there wasn't an easy way to climb all the way to the roof.

"Good evening, Dojima-san," Archer greeted.

"You're earlier than I expected," he commented off handedly.

"I prefer to have an early start on most things. It usually saves more time later on."

Dojima nodded. Ah, if only his colleagues had half of the boy's zeal toward work.

"That's a good work ethic," he said approvingly. "Though you aren't here to discuss that sort of stuff."

"Indeed. Did you find anything?"

"Maybe," he said returning to his desk. "To be completely honest, there wasn't much to work with. The people mentioned in your notes are not exactly law abiding, but besides that I didn't find anything in their illegal activities to link them together."

"So it's a dead end," Archer said groaning.

"Not at all. Like I said, there was no illegal activity connecting them, so I looked into the legal ones. Turns out that five of these guys work for an import-export company here in Fuyuki. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but most employers aren't too accepting of a person with records like they have, much less five of them."

"Unless they were looking specifically for someone who wouldn't have too much trouble crossing the line again," Shirou reasoned.

"Exactly," Dojima nodded. "Of course there's no proof that something illegal is going on at all. I checked its background, but Tokugawa Exports is clean as far as the law goes. However, that could also only mean that illicit activities have yet to be discovered."

"I see. Did you say that this company has an office here in Fuyuki?"

"A warehouse to be precise," he confirmed. "A great deal of their stuff gets here by train before being shipped to China, Taiwan and Roanapur."

"Roanapur? That's not the kind of place a law abiding business would be inclined to send its stuff."

"Yes, and while that alone is not incriminating, considering the situation at hand it only reinforces our suspicions. Still, it's not enough to warrant an investigation."

"Not an official investigation," the vigilante pointed out.

"Don't say something like that in front of me," Dojima grumbled. "Look kiddo, even helping you just this much is stretching my morals. To be honest, if it wasn't because I wanted your cooperation I would already have brought you in."

"I'm sorry for troubling you," Archer said apologetically. "But I'm not sorry for what I'm doing. There are times when the law isn't enough to protect the innocent."

"I know," Dojima admitted begrudgingly. "That's why I'm willing to overlook what you're doing for the time being. In the end you are the lesser of two evils and I'm a practical person. Go do what you have to do now, but don't ever give me a reason to regret my choice."

"I won't. Thank you, Dojima-san."

Shirou left the Dojima household immediately and slipped into the shadows, before making a beeline toward the address the detective had given him.

It was, as expected, in the industrial area of the city and close enough to the docks to be entirely deserted at night, yet still close enough to the zone where Yukiko had disappeared to think that she was taken there.

However, while there was nobody in the surrounding streets, the building itself wasn't empty at all. It was bustling with activity, and while that wasn't unusual at all, the two guys standing guard at the door weren't the most likable fellows.

Especially if he took into consideration the obvious bulges under their jackets, the telltale of a gun.

He studied the comings and goings for about half an hour, using his reinforced hearing to grasp tidbits of conversations. There wasn't much he could hear from outside the building and the people unloading trucks and loading containers looked and acted like normal workers. If something illegal was going on, either they didn't know it or they were smart enough not to speak of it where they could be overheard.

Well, standing there was of no use by that time. Taking extra care to not be seen, he avoided the illuminated areas and moved onto the roof of the warehouse.

Crouching, he placed a hand on the concrete surface and hit the figurative trigger in his head.

"Trace on."

Much like he did before with Dojima's house, he began tracing the structure of the building and its contents. It was much more difficult than before, due to the size and the number of people dwelling inside. There was too much information to take in all at once and so he skimmed the unimportant stuff.

The containers inside the structure were filled with different sorts of goods, none of them illegal from what he could tell. He was beginning to think it was just another dead end when the blueprint in his mind expanded beneath the first floor.

There was another floor below the street level, much bigger than the rest of the building in terms of total surface area. It was accessible only through a canal that opened on the sea or by a set of stairs hidden in a smaller storage room on the east side of the first floor.

Focusing even further on that part of the building he detected the presence of twenty-six people, ten of which were females chained to walls. They were apparently unhurt and in good health, but otherwise they were too far away to discern if they had been abused in some way.

Clenching his jaw at the possibility he prepared himself to sneak inside the building, when his attention was caught by a taxi parking not too far away from his location. He immediately recognized the passenger in the back seat and his eyes widened.

'Oh no. How the hell did she find about this place?'

The taxi reached a stop at the intended destination. The middle aged male driver turned to his passenger.

"Are you sure this is the place, miss?"

"Absolutely," Rin said confidently and handed over the money before leaving the car. The driver shot her one last worried glance before shrugging and driving away. He probably thought she was involved in something unsavory, and while he was close enough to be correct, he probably was far enough from what he imagined to be completely wrong.

She had asked him to leave her a few hundred meters from the place Kirei had told her about, so that she could survey the area before trying anything.

The major problem was figuring out if the place was in fact where Yukiko was kept or if it was just another hole in the water. She supposed that she couldn't find out without sneaking inside, but for that purpose she would have to know at least a few ways in and, more importantly, a few ways out. If push came to shove, she could hypnotize someone to let her in. Mind related Thaumaturgy wasn't exactly her field of expertise, but she knew enough to persuade Mundanes to do what she asked unless they found it repulsive or life threatening.

Silently she got closer to the building…

… only to be suddenly grabbed by the hand and pulled into the darkness of a small alley.

Honed instincts of a practiced martial artist kicked in and her own fist shot toward her aggressor. To her surprise, her blow was deflected easily, and she prepared herself to defend herself from an incoming attack.

Instead, the hand holding her arm loosened its grip, allowing her to take a step back and drop into a defensive crouch. She squinted her eyes, trying to adapt to the sudden change in lighting.

The outline of a dark clad figure finally became visible not too far from her. The person's hands were both raised to show the lack of ill intent.

"Archer," she said recognizing the vigilante. She couldn't help the tone of surprise in her voice.

What were the odds that it was just a coincidence? How probable was it that he actually wasn't who she thought he was?

Both Emiya and she had the same information, and while she didn't know if her schoolmate had access to a network as efficient as the Church's, it was too much of a coincidence that he showed up there at the same time as her.

"You have a penchant for wandering in dangerous places, miss," he said ironically.

"What can I say? I love the thrill," she joked.

"You shouldn't be here," he replied. "This place isn't safe."

"No, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. You being here only reinforces my conviction that this is the right place."

The vigilante grumbled, obviously displeased by the sudden turn of events. She watched him as he pondered his next move, always careful not to show an opening for her to exploit.

She was mildly flattered that he considered her dangerous just by their short exchange of blows.

"You aren't just going to leave, are you?"

"Not at all," she declared firmly.

Another moment of silence passed between them before…

"… If she's still here, Kazama is probably held captive in an underground facility. We can get inside either by a channel on the sea or by a door inside this building. I would recommend going through the first one."

"Are you saying that you want me to come with you? Just like that?" Rin asked, sounding dubious.

"You are not going to leave no matter what I say, and I don't want to fight you either. We might as well coordinate our efforts at this point."

Well, that was unsettling in an oddly pleasurable manner. No matter how popular she was in school, no one actually considered her an equal. Her peers worshipped her, and the teachers, while well meaning in her regards, considered her just another child.

Then there was Kotomine, but… urgh! She didn't care what that insufferable man thought of her.

Yet this boy, be it Emiya or not, acknowledged her resolve and skills, promptly adapting the situation to integrate her into his plans.

"Count me in," she finally declared.

He sucked epically. Shirou had to admit that much.

Kiritsugu would chew his head off if he knew just how much his initial plans went FUBAR just in the beginning stage. He had been taught to plan every detail and every possible outcome of a situation so as not to be caught unprepared.

Yet every move he made led to him having to deal with an unexpected factor. He had no idea how Tohsaka had found her way there, but the fact remained that she was now present and had no intention to let him deal with the situation by himself.

That opened an entirely new can of worms. With her along he couldn't use his Thaumaturgy without giving away his identity as a Magus, and she too would have to refrain from using her spells too openly.

… Unless she was planning to hypnotize him afterward, which was even worse.

At that point, however, there wasn't much he could do. He'd have to wing it as he went.

They made their way around the building, Tohsaka a few steps behind him. She was extremely light-footed; no doubt an advantage of her proficiency with the martial arts, which was definitely above average.

Thankfully, that particular fact meant that if they played their cards right, they would have no need to resort to magic. He had plenty of arrows in his quiver and he wasn't too shabby at close range either. They had to remain unnoticed though, or they would have to face guns. He wasn't sure he could survive that situation without reinforcing his body.

With that in mind they reached a metal stair placed on the side of the docks and above the sea.

Rin followed the vigilante in silence, studying his movements as well as their surroundings. He was being careful, but his movements exuded extreme confidence, as expected from someone who spent his time like he did.

It was in stark contrast with Emiya's reserved behavior, but that didn't really mean anything. She knew a thing or two about having a secret personality, after all.

His identity aside, she was grateful for his presence. While she was forced to limit her use of Magecraft, it also meant that she could afford to limit her use of Magecraft, thus having to deal with less possible consequences from exposing the secret to the common people. Having the Clock Tower intervene in her personal matters would have a major negative impact on her chances to get a sponsorship.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Archer pulled an arrow out of his quiver and shot it in one fluid motion. The sound of a body slumping followed his attack, and she had to admire both his precision and eyesight. She'd had no idea someone was standing there in the darkness.

"A guard?"

"Maybe, but maybe not," he replied pointing a still lit cigarette on the ground. "This guy was probably just having a smoke. This means we have around five minutes before they come looking for him. We have to hurry."

She nodded and chased after him as he set in a fast running pace. The canal was wide enough to allow a small boat to navigate through it and had a rather narrow sidewalk. The red lamps on the wall offered little illumination, but it was enough not to trip on something.

At the end of the tunnel they found an empty motorboat and a door leading to the floor Archer had told her about.

"This is it," he announced looking at her. "Last chance to turn back."

She just leveled him a glare in response.

"Right. I'll take out the captors; you free any prisoners you find. There should be around ten women kept in here. Gather them and take them out through this way. You can do that, right?"

"Sure," she confirmed. It was a sound plan, considering what little she knew of the place. She also didn't have a weapon like he did, so leaving the fighting to him was the obvious choice.

"Let's go them."

He pulled the door open and moved in, bow at the ready.

Before she had even a chance to examine her surroundings, two arrows went flying ahead, hitting an equal number of targets.

The vigilante didn't stop moving and kept running ahead until they turned sharply to the right down another corridor.

"Hey, who the hell ar..." WSSSHH-THUK!

"Four down," Rin observed quietly.

"There's bound to be more of them. Stay sharp," Shirou replied tersely.

They turned to the left, stumbling into another pair of men. Too close to use his bow, Archer opted to bury his foot in one of the men's face.

To his credit, the other man had sharp reflexes and immediately lunged toward the vigilante in an attempt to grab him. Too bad for him, he either didn't notice or didn't consider the young girl standing right behind his target to be a threat.

Rin buried her right elbow in the man's stomach with a strength that no one would guess she could muster with that slender frame of hers. Another fist connected with his chin when he doubled over in pain, robbing him of consciousness.

"Nice going," Archer observed, amused.

"Thanks. You're not half bad either."

They resumed their run and no long afterward they were standing in front of a sturdy looking metal door.

"They're in here," he announced confidently.

"How do you know?"

"I have my sources. Stand back, I'm going to break this down."

If he had been alone, he would have reinforced the lock to the point of breaking. It was an inconspicuous and nearly soundless method, but with Tohsaka present he had to resort to more violent ways.

As opposed to what's normally believed, trying to break a door open by slamming your shoulder against it…it's not a good idea.

Instead he opted for slamming his foot near the lock, sending the entirety of his strength toward the only part that he really needed to break. It wasn't soundless, but it was fairly more silent than the other options.

The third stomp was finally too much for the lock to withstand, as it tore open with a loud crack. The door swung open allowing light to invade the previously dark room.

As soon as the door was open Rin walked inside, careful to where she put her feet. She scanned the faces and her heart fell when she realized her friend wasn't there. Had they arrived too late? Had she been moved elsewhere? Had she even been there in the first place?

"W-who is it?" A voice asked.

Nine girls were chained against the walls, wearing nothing but underwear. They looked mostly fine besides a few bruises, but their eyes were cold and emotionless, almost uncaring of the situation at hand.

The girl who spoke, the oldest of the group by the look of it, was bruised more than the others and her eyes still held a look of angry defiance in spite of the fear behind it.

"We are friends," Archer answered.

"Friends? You… I know you…," she said squinting her eyes at him. "You are that superhero I've heard about. Archer. You came to save us?"

"I'm not a superhero yet," he chuckled as he approached, "but you got the last part right. We're getting you out of here."

"I don't think so," an unknown voice said from behind them.

Shirou heard the sound of a gun being cocked at him and reacted before the assailant had a chance voice the customary threats that accompanied such situations. He moved to the side and spun halfway to the left, while his fingers pulled an arrow out of his quiver and sent it flying without using his bow at all

If he had been farther away from his target, such a shot would have never hit, but due to the restricted space of the room his weapon still managed to hit the arm wielding the gun.

Rin didn't consider herself a fighter ,and she wasn't. Sure, she was above average when it came to hand-to-hand combat, but she just didn't have the mentality to react before thinking.

Regardless of that, the time she needed to recover from the shock of hearing someone behind her was the time it took for Archer to send an arrow at the newcomer.

Trusting his ally's ability to hit a target in spite of his odd method of shooting, she turned around and delivered a series of blows to the man who dared to sneak behind her.

He fell backward but not without squeezing the trigger of his weapon a couple of times. The loud bangs echoed for several seconds through the nearly empty corridors.

"Shit," the vigilante said, encompassing with one word the gravity of the situation. There was no way that much noise would go unnoticed. "Tohsaka, I'll distract these guys while you take these girls out of here by the way we came in."

"Wait a second. Yukiko isn't here."

"Say what? Oh damn it. You're right."

"T-there was another girl here a while ago," the bruised woman said. "She had been taken away no longer that then minutes ago?"

"Taken where?" They asked at the same time.

"The guys here take one of us sometimes to have some fun. They… never took Yukiko before but…"

"Where?" They all but shouted.

"I don't know. I have no idea where the place is. They blindfold us every time they take us out of here."

"Damn it. I'm going to look for her," he said immediately.

"I'm coming with you," Rin offered immediately.

"Not this time. You have to take these girls out and call the police."

"Yukiko is my friend," Rin said heatedly.

"Look, I know this place's layout and you don't. Between you and me, I'm the one with the better chance, and someone needs to take these girls to safety. I'll bring your friend back, I promise you."

She bit her lower lip and despite the lack of time she stared into his eyes for a long moment. His stare didn't waver under her scrutiny.

"… You'd better keep your word or I'm going find you and make you regret it. "

"I got it," he nodded. "Can you spin a story to the police and keep yourself out of this mess?"

"I can handle it. Now stop wasting time and go find Yukiko."

"On it."

He stood in the corridor, focused on the sounds around him as a series of heavy footsteps was coming in his direction. Good. All he had to do was let himself be spotted and lure them in a different direction.

"There he is," a man shouted as soon as he saw him.

"Get him," the rest of the crows shouted.

He wasted no time and ran in the opposite direction. The men chased after him without checking their surroundings, passing in front of the barely accosted door of the makeshift cell. They didn't notice the eye peering from the inside.

He kept in sight of his pursuer long enough for them not to lose him in the maze of rooms and connected corridors, but not long enough to allow them to shoot him. He had to buy Tohsaka a little time.

Yet, his thoughts drifted for a second from his purpose to the faces of the girls trapped inside that room. Cold eyes, like broken dolls. They were the mark of one who had suffered too much abuse. He felt something black and thick fill is throat, almost making him choke.

In that moment of distraction he took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end corridor.

"End of the run, little shit," the fastest of his pursuers said as he caught up with him, a little short of breath. The others weren't too far behind, and began smirking as soon as they realized that they held the advantage of numbers in an enclosed space.

"Now you'll get what's coming to you," another said slamming his fist against his palm.

"No," Shirou replied with barely restrained rage. "You got it all wrong. Kidnapping and abusing innocent girls… You're the ones who are going to get what's coming to you. Trace… ON!"

Komuro Kato was a small time criminal like many others. Small thefts, a few cases of violence and sexual harassment were all that he had to his name. When one of his friends had pulled him inside the organization he worked for, he thought he had hit the jackpot. Nice money, fresh girls and very little work was the norm.

It couldn't get any better, in his opinion.

Too bad he never once considered it could get worse.

Much, much worse.

The person in front of him couldn't be human. Humans didn't move like that. Humans weren't that strong. Human weren't able take eight opponents armed with guns with his bare hands.

Aiming was impossible. He was just too fast, and the few who had tried only ended up shooting their comrades instead.

His friend Takeshi was the first one to end up flying over their heads with his nose shattered. Himuro, the oldest of the group, found his legs bent in the wrong direction, but had no time to scream in pain as he followed Takeshi in his airborne path, courtesy of a kick to the stomach.

The rest was just too much of a blur to describe. The only thing he remembered, when he woke up afterwards, were two gold orbs burning with rage gazing into his eyes before the world went black with pain.

Shirou took a deep breath and allowed his circuits to cool down. That wasn't good. He couldn't afford to let his rage, justified though it was, control him. Violence wasn't the answer, and fighting was necessary only because some people couldn't be stopped otherwise.

But he couldn't help feeling powerless. He had arrived too late for those girls. Even though they were now probably on their way to safety, the abuse they had been through couldn't be taken away.

He knew he wasn't at fault. He knew he had tried his very best. He also knew it wasn't enough.

He shook away the dark line of thought and focused on the present. He had a girl to rescue. Tracing the building once more he detected five more men coming in his direction while Tohsaka and the girls were not within the building anymore. They had probably had reached the outer tunnel already, and with the commotion he caused inside the structure their captors weren't about to look for them anytime soon.

Yukiko, however, was nowhere to be found on that floor. Expanding the area of his tracing he detected three men on the upper floor carrying an unconscious girl toward a garage. Were they planning to move her somewhere else?

He wouldn't allow it.

Pumping Prana in his legs he sped toward the stairwell that led to the upper floor, putting himself on a collision course with the other thugs who were looking for him, since the road they were coming from was the shortest to his target, and it was better not to have them coming from behind if he had to fight his way to free Yukiko.

Upstairs

"Boss? We lost contact with the men downstairs."

"Damn it," Hitomaro Ryuji, the man in charge of operation swore. "How did that guy find out about this place? What about the girls? Are they still in their room?"

"I can't say," the bald man with the radio said. "The guy I sent looking isn't answering either."

"Send more men after him. I want that hero wannabe's head on my desk."

"Do you think that's going to work?"

The question was asked by a tall man with long purple hair, seated on a sofa in the corner of the room. He was dressed in an expensive looking black suit, with a white shirt underneath, unbuttoned just enough to show a hint of his chest.

"Do you have another idea?"

"Let me take care of him," he proposed, "I've been itching for a fight for a while. In all honesty, I was hoping for something like this to happen."

"You bastard," the bald man growled. "Have you sold us out?"

"No way," the purple haired man dismissed the accusation in an almost causal manner, "I'd never betray my employers unless they betray me first. Professional reputation and all that rot."

"In any case I need you here," Ryuji said. "If the others are going to fail…"

"Then Archer will reach us shortly after. Either way I'm going to face him. We both know the rest of your men aren't good enough to take him down. I would rather take the fight to him than wait for him to ambush us."

"… Fine. Do as you want."

"Great," he exclaimed excitedly, "Just what I wanted to hear. In the meantime, I'd suggest you take the girl and leave this place."

"Are you saying that you're going to lose?"

"I'm not so arrogant as to believe I can defeat an opponent before actually facing him, but that's not the matter. For all we know he might have already called the police and not all the men in this building know what the real purpose for this place is. No matter what, this place is doomed. Take the girl and run."

"What about the other girls? They are worth millions and our clients…"

"Consider them lost. I don't think this guy would come after us without making sure the girls were freed. A word of warning, my friend: your greed brought this upon you. If you persist, you're going to lose everything."

Ryuji gritted his teeth. He didn't like the way things were going, but he couldn't deny his bodyguard's words either.

"Fine. I'll move to another location. That man will pay three times the agreed price for this one. Fuck it, I knew that this was going to be trouble."

"Yet you allowed your greed to break the rules you devised yourself, and abducted a girl from this town, when you avoided doing it before so as to avoid unwanted attention from the police. It was a most unwise choice."

"Don't patronize me. I was offered ten times the normal price for this specific girl. What was I supposed to say?"

"What about 'no'?" The purple haired man asked. "Frankly I thought you were smarter than this. You walked right into a trap."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. The one time you accept an odd request from a new customer, justice is immediately brought down upon you. If I were to make a bet, I'd be fairly sure that your client has put Archer after you."

It made all too much sense in Ryuji's mind, now that his bodyguard pointed it out. Could it really be that it was all a trap at his expenses? Perhaps it was another organization that wanted to get him out of the market without risking involving the police. It was all too possible.

"Damn it," he swore again. "I don't care right now why this is happening. Take that bastard out and we'll deal with the person behind him."

"Wonderful. I'll be on my way then."

He picked an extremely long katana from beside the sofa and strapped it to his back. He opened the door and slipped outside the office, closing it after heeding his employer's parting words.

"Don't let me down, Sasaki."