13. Chapter 13

At one point both Rider and Saber turned towards the same direction as they felt 2 presences suddenly appear in the home. Rider was a bit nervous because the wicked entity she felt earlier had come back, Saber in the meantime was happy and she had a smile on her face.

"Can you feel it Rider?" Saber asked. "Can you feel the vengeance served? The hero coming victorious? The executioner serving justice?" She asked with a proud tone as she felt the burning ember of shame and hatred in her fade.

"...Is everything over?" Rider asked and she caressed Sakura's head.

"Yes." Saber told her. "Sakura shall suffer no more." She continued as she looked down on the sleeping girl.

Shirou right now was tired, many things happened that day and he did not expect not even one of them. After Caster teleported him back home he thanked her and directly went into the bathroom. He took off his suit, which was now stained with blood and stink of old, and put it into the washing machine.

He didn't know if something would happen to the washing machine because he had put in it the magical suit that Caster had made, but if it broke he would just repair it in the morning after.

After he washed himself from the blood and sweat he went into the bathtub and started to relax, he now had to think...

He had just killed Shinji and Zouken, those who were responsible for all Sakura's suffering, Caster took control of Rider, and right now Sakura was in a safe place and in good condition since Caster had removed all the worms and had recreated what the worms had eaten... Everything had gone all according to their plans.

Shirou closed his eyes as he thinked, Sakura was safe and she has finally been avenged... a genuine smlie of sadisfaction appeared on his face, he had finally started to made up for his mistakes.

He didn't regret even a single action of what he had done thet night, but if he had to regret something it was that he should have taken care first of the woman that Shinji and Rider attacked, but he knew that Caster had taken care of her.

...Right, he had almost forgotten that now in his house there was that other Servant, and he had mixed feelings about her.

He still didn't know if he should let Saber kill her or not. Rider assaulted and almost killed many civilians under the orders of Shinji, not that it mattered for him, she could have killed Shinji or disobeyed him but she didn't and just followed his orders, for him this was a good reason to make her do the same end of her ex-master... But he had also to admit that if Rider really wanted to she could have killed all of her victims, and yet for some reason she did not.

The other reason he was conflicted about her was just because of Sakura. He knew how strong a bond Master/Servant was, and he could not even imagine what kind of pain he would suffer should Saber or Caster die. Even if he didn't have a real contract with Caster their bond was just as strong as his and Saber, even if his relationship with Caster was based more on mutual gratitude and respect... and he did start to see her as a family member.

Sakura right now was alone and without a family... well, even if that was not entirely true he did not yet want to think about it, that was something he could think tomorrow. Still, he didn't want to let Sakura alone, and if there was someone who could and would remain with her, no matter what, it would be Rider.

As her Servant, she was similar to her in nature, and she would be the only one to be able to fully understand Sakura and her feelings... she could make wonders with Sakura's mental recovery.

Shirou knew that all of Sakura's problems would not vanish with Zouken and Shinji death, those two parasite had left in her some very deep scars, and if he wanted Sakura to live a normal life he had to fix them. And one of the first steps was to have someone she could trust, someone who could understand her and she could rely on: Rider.

Another method would be to use magic on her, he was against a total brainwash since it would have made Sakura a completely different person, but he was not against the idea of using some magic to erase or change some parts of ceratin memories so that she could recover in a quicker way, and that was in fact what Caster did...

Shirou's thought immediately stopped. He opened his eyes as he just realized what he had done to Sakura for all this time... he had ignored her.

He had ignored the fact that she was tortured, he ignored the fact that she needed his help, he ignored the fact that she was in love with him, he had ignored how she felt about herself... and now he was ignoring what she wanted.

What if Sakura didn't want magic to be used on her? What if she wanted another method to help her? What if she hated him for what he had done...? Well, not that it mattered to him. If Sakura started to hate him it would be more than justified for all the wrongdoings that he did to her until now, he just wanted Sakura to be secure and happy, but he still had to do something about her memories.

Shirou got out of the bathtub and dried himself, he would have done it faster but right now he was tired, even if that day he did nothing too tiresome his movements were slow and his eyes were heavy.

He got put on his pajama and went on finding Caster.

(Caster where are you? There is something that I want to talk with you about.) Shirou said to Caster telepathically.

(I am now in your room Shirou, you had already told me that you wanted to talk with me, and since I saw that you were tired I have decided to wait for you in your room.) Caster responded.

Shirou then started to walk towards his room with haste, he had 2 reasons to speak with Caster now that she had reminded him...

He opened the door to his room and saw a hoodless Caster sat on the floor near his futon, he saw that the room was now clean and everything was in order. That day he had left his room in a mess since he had other things to think about, but now he saw that Caster had cleaned it.

"Thanks for cleaning the room." Shirou said with a tired tone.

"You're welcome." Caster said with a smile as she tapped the futon, to indicate Shirou to lie down.

Shirou after a moment nodded and did as she indicated, he closed his eyes as he lied down, but as he put his head on the pillow he felt that it was softer than he remembered... he opened his eyes and saw Caster face looking down on him... oh, his head was now on Caster lap.

"Uhhhh... Caster?" Shirou asked strangely calm.

"What is it Shirou?" Caster asked as she started to pat his head.

"Why is my head on your lap?" He asked as he started to relax.

"Why it shouldn't? Does it bother you?" She then asked.

Shirou remained silent for a couple of seconds, the silence that they sat in was comfortable, the kind of comfort one could feel when he was with a family member... right now he should be embarrassed, his head was on the lap of a beautiful woman that he had met around a month ago, and yet he felt as if nothing was wrong with that, as if everything now was natural... at that moment Shirou was feeling something between melancholy and nostalgia.

"No, it doesn't." Shirou responded as he relaxed even more.

"So, what did you want to speak about?" Caster asked as she looked down on Shirou.

"Right, first, it's about Sakura..." Shirou started to say.

"You want to know what I did to her, right? Do not worry, I already anticipated what you desired. What I did to her is just a temporary change of memory that should last around 1-2 week, in the meantime I should understand all of her traumas and with a bit of magic I should be able to stabilize her mental health and remove all of her possible mental problems she could suffer, then with time she will return to the old Sakura that you knew." Caster said calmly.

"Oh..." Shirou sighed in relief and he smiled. "Thanks, Caster, thanks for having saved Sakura."

"Shirou, the one who saved her is you, not me, I just assisted you." Caster corrected Shirou.

"...Caster, this is the other thing I wanted to talk with you about... I do not think that I can be a hero..." Shirou then continued with a tired and sad tone.

Caster frowned and stopped patting him for a moment, then her face relaxed and asked: "Tell me Shirou, why you feel like this?" Then she started to pat him once again.

"You see, I still think that I should have helped Sakura sooner, I have been blind and stupid, but as you said before it is better late than never... but the bigger problem is that I didn't do the things that I did today with the thought of doing justice for her... I just wanted to see their blood flow, what I wanted was vengeance as I was guided by hatred... I wanted to crush them until there was nothing left of them... this is not what a real hero does..."

Caster watched him and sighed, she then asked in a gentle and low tone: "Shirou, what makes a Hero or a Villan it depends on who you ask. Now tell me, what is a hero, and what is a villain?"

"...A hero is a person that fights for justice and saves the innocents... a villain is someone who will do evil acts just to reach their objectives or for personal pleasure." He said after a moment.

"Good boy, now tell me, if you should consider yourself one of these two, who would you be?" Caster asked.

"I..." Shirou did not answer, he had followed Caster's logic.

"Shirou, a hero in the end is someone who fights for justice and saves the innocents, and that is the only thing that matters. Feeling emotions like those is totally normal and is more than justified in cases like this, specially when the victim has been a person very close to you... Now tell me, in your opinion, what do I consider you?" Caster asked as she looked down at him with a smile.

"You..." Once again Shirou did not respond, his mind was tired and he started to close his heavy eyes.

"You are a hero for me. At first you had no idea of who I was and what I did, and yet, you saved me... then you even accepted me for who I was and what I did, you even invited me into your home... and not even once you doubeted of me or my actions. I will always be grateful to you for that, no matter what you will do or become in the future, I will always see you as my little hero..." Caster said as he watched Shirou felling asleep.

She smiled at the sight, after a minute she let Shirou's head rest on the pillow, put on him his blanket, and then got out of the room.

'Oh dear, that was embarrassing.' She then thought as she recalled the words that she just said. 'Still, I did a fine job at calming him down.' Caster then complimented herself as she walked toward Sakura's room.

As she walked she also thought about the things that had just happened in Shirou's room, she had literally put him to sleep as if she was her mother or bigger sister... and at that point, she stopped walking.

She had started to recall all the times she had behaved that way and every time she did she felt Shirou relaxing, only at that moment she had realized why. For all this time Shirou never had a maternal figure he could rely on, nor under the aspect of a bigger sister or a mother. If she recalled correctly what Taiga told her since he was a child Shirou has always been independent, he even took care of his dying father and his bigger sister Taiga, who was more immature than him.

And then when his father passed away he had no one who he could look up for... what a poor boy.

And right now she was the only woman other than Saber who he saw as some kind of maternal figure, for this reason, he tended to relax around her, and for that same reason when they interacted a bit closer than usual he did not feel any kind of embarrassment like he did when they had first met each other around a month ago.

'A month has already passed, huh...' She thought, really, the time had flown away for her since she had met him.

Then her thought had been interrupted as she saw Saber approaching her.

"Saber? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you keep an eye on Rider?" Caster asked a bit surprised.

"Indeed, but you see, I've decided to let them a bit of privacy. I... I didn't want to disturb Rider as she continually told Sakura that she was now safe and asked her forgiveness for not being capable of helping her before." Saber said before she sighed.

"Hmmm, I can imagine why she is acting this way, in the end their stories are very similar..." Caster said as she started to remember Medusa's tragic legend.

"I'm happy for her, but I still want to cut her down..." Saber said as she scratched her head, confused by her own feeling.

"So, what do you want to tell me?" Caster asked.

"It's about Shirou." Saber said as she got a serious look and watched Caster in the eyes.

As she watched Saber Caster started to ask herself if she had done something wrong to her or to Shirou.

"No Caster, I am not angry to you because of some wrong act that you did to him or to me, on the contrary, I should thank you for taking care of him as you are doing now, you have taught him magic and you have helped him to mature... the problem it's about your influence on him." Saber said.

Caster froze, she already knew what Saber meant but she still asked: "...What do you mean?"

"After he had killed Shinji..." Saber walked past Caster "...he had your same smile." She then continued.

"What?!" Caster said shocked as she followed Saber.

"Calm down Caster, it was just a very small grin and I could not sense him feeling any kind of pleasure while killing Shinji or Zouken, but still, he was satisfied... for me it's clear who has influenced him like that." Saber said as she entered the living room.

"...Are you..." Caster did not know what to tell or ask. She didn't want to influence Shirou that much or even in that way. She shouldn't have used that bit of magic on him when they first met or even form a connection with him, now it was now doing more harm than good... in what was she turning him?

"Am I what? Angry? Disappointed? I'm none of them to tell you the truth..." Saber said as she opened the fridge and took a little cake she had kept aside. "You see, as his Servant I know what is best for him, and yet I do not know what to do about this situation." She continued as she sat at the table.

"What do you mean? It's clear that I am a bad influence for him!" Caster started to say.

"That is a matter of point of view. Tell me, Caster, do you think that Shirou around a month ago would have been able to kill Shinji, his 'best friend', without any problem?" Saber asked. "Yes, he would have killed him on the spot like he did this night, but how this event would have influenced him? Shirou is already broken, his discoveries about Sakura and this event in general would have only worsened his situation, and I don't want to think how..." Saber said as she started to eat.

Caster remained silent as she kept watching Saber.

"Even if you, as a person, are not the best one to be seen as some kind of mentor or example, you are very good for Shirou in the end. You did prepared him to a scenario like this, didn't you? You just wish him the best and you truly care for him, and this is the only thing that truly matters." Saber said as she kept eating.

"...So, you are saying that I should not cut my connection with him?" Caster asked, but she had already started to understand where Saber was going.

"Yes, first, as we have seen a connection with you it is really useful. Second, it's too late to do anything now. Third, correct me if I am wrong, you will not influence him much more than this."

"...You are telling me that since my connection with him is both different and smaller compared to yours there will be some kind of balance and Shirou will not be influenced by me too much... and in the end, he should have my same kind of ruthlessness but his sense of justice will not be distorted because of that, right?"

"Yes, something like that." Saber said before she ate an entire slice of the cake in one bite.

"...Huh, who would have thought that you of all people would have come up with something like that, I thought that you were the direct type Saber." Caster said a bit amused.

"I know, but as you have made me realize Shirou is in a delicate situation that cannot be underestimated. As his Servant I have to make sure that he will grow in the right way as a person... I don't think that without you I would have realized it." Saber then told her with a sad tone.

Then Saber did something that Caster did not expect, she offered her the last slice of the cake.

"Here, a gift for you, this is my way to thank you for having taken care of Shirou until now." Saber said with a serious tone even as her cheeks were a bit flushed.

Even if they had been together for just 2 weeks Caster knew how much Saber loved sweets, and she knew how much this little gesture meant, but still, she could not help but snort a little.

"Thank you, Saber, I shall accept your gift." Caster said as she took the slice of the cake and then went into the kitchen to take a fork.

"You're welcome." Saber said with a satisfied smile. "Anyway, what are your plans about Rider and the war?" She then asked.

"Well, we have saved Sakura in the end, and I am more than sure that it has already bought us Rider absolute loyalty. But we also should inform her even about that state of the Grail. For the war, oh well, just in our team there is a Reality Marble user that can copy noble phantasm and 2 Servants, 3 if we now add Rider and 4 if I summon my Servant..." Caster said as she raised her hand to let Saber see her command seals as she ate the cake.

"As you have said not too long ago: 'Overconfidence is the enemy', but in a situation like this the possibilities that we manage to lose are lower than 0. Just you and Shirou in a normal war would have destroyed the competition, with me as a supporter you would have nothing to fear since I can cover you from almost every front, now with Rider in our team, who is no other than Medusa, I cannot even imagine a way where we lose in any way possible. Just not let me tell you what happens if I should summon another Servant..." Caster said with a smile.

"...Yea." Saber said. As much she hated to be too much confident even she had to admit that this war was as much as over.

"Still, we can just hope that no Servant like the archer of your war will be summoned." Caster said. Saber had told her what kind of monster he was, and if even she was not able to kill him...

"About that, I am not sure that he would be much of a problem." Saber said. "I was not in my top form at the time and the most essential part of my equipment was missing... and my luck is now A+." She continued.

"An essential part of your equipment? You mean your Fae artifact?" Caster asked.

"Indeed." She answered. "Now with my newfound power and with my Sheath, I should be able to fight him in a fair match." Saber said in a serious tone.

"Huh, is your Sheat that powerful? I have noted that it had a high healing capability, and if I remember right it made you almost immortal, but how it would help you in a fight with him? Does it have a special ability?" Caster asked curiously.

"Let's just say that I would have no problem in defending myself no matter what he throws to me." Saber said vaguely.

"Oh, so it has a very high defensive ability." Caster concluded.

"...Anyway, it's time for me to return to watch Rider and Sakura. I presume that you will talk to Rider only in the morning when Shirou is awake too, right?" Saber then asked.

"You're right... see you tomorrow Saber." Caster said before she dematerialized and went to her workshop.

"See you tomorrow Caster." Saber said as she got out of the living room and returned to the room of Sakura and Rider.

*The morning after*

Finally, a little miracle had happened. In all of her life, she had been only struck by bad luck and miseries one after the other... but now the only person she truly cared of was alive and in a safe place, that was the only thing that mattered.

But still, there was a problem: she was being watched by an enemy Servants and she didn't know very well her intentions.

Once again Rider did not know what to do, she could not fight these 'enemies' and she could not escape from them... not that she had any reason for doing any of those actions, right now she could just wait and see what they had in store for her.

"He has woken up..." Saber suddenly said at one point after she sniffed the air and smelled the smell of breakfast being cooked. "It's time, follow me." Saber then said and then got out of the room.

Rider did as the other Servant asked and followed her, leaving Sakura alone in the room. As she walked she remembered the things that had been told to her: Saber Master was a friend of Sakura and he was the main and only reason why Sakura has been saved, and now Sakura was under their protection. They now wanted to speak with her about their new alliance with her and future plans about the war.

Rider was confused, right now she didn't know why they needed someone like her since all the people that resided in that home were all some kind of monsters.

First, there was Saber. Her strength alone could make shiver under every blow even the Berserker class. Her speed too was impressive, Saber may not be fast as her, but she could easily cut down someone like her if she made even a little mistake. The magical power and defenses that she has are also incredibly high to the point her petrifying eyes didn't work on her. The other thing that Rider noted was that Saber had a familiar scent that she had already once met in her time: Dragon. She did not know how, but in Saber flowed the blood of those ancient and powerful beasts.

Second, there was her new Master. Despite the fact they never communicated until now she had realized that the wicked entity present in the house was her new Master. She could also feel that its magical power was clearly of a powerful mage coming from the Age Of The Gods, after all, it had created this impressive bounded field she was now residing.

Third, there was Shirou, Saber's Master. She didn't know how to describe him, at first when she and Shinji got attacked she thought that there were 2 Servants in front of her, but after she saw him again after he had killed Shinji she could tell that he was a... human? She was not sure about that either, he was too powerful for a human being, and a normal human usually didn't smell of smoke and steel. She at first thought that he was some kind of magic construct like a homunculus, but she never had the time to study him better.

She was now in the lion den and there was nothing she could, she could just hope for the best.

"She is here." Saber said as she entered the living room.

Rider entered the room after Saber, she took a look around... and then she saw her. Her Master was sitting at the head of the table and she was watching her with a little smile, Rider could feel what kind of person she was: a witch... and she could easily tell she was the worst and most wicked person she had ever seen, even someone like Zouken paled in confront to her. In the meantime, she also noted Saber master in the background as he was cooking, but right now he didn't have the same powerful aura he had the night before... strange.

"It's nice to meet you Rider, I am your new Master." Caster said with a soft tone and a sly smile.

"It's an honor to meet you, Master, I am Rider." Rider said as she bowed a bit. Now that it was in front of her Rider could easily tell that this was the Servant Caster.

"Trust me, it's a pleasure to meet you too Medusa." Caster said as she watched Rider. "Now, go there and sit at the table." Caster said as she pointed to the other head of the table.

Rider nodded and did what she had been ordered, after she sat down she saw Saber sitting at the side of Caster and started to look toward her.

"Now, do you know what has happened last night?" Caster asked as she put her elbows on the table, crossed her hand's fingers, and rested her chin on them.

"I have been informed that Saber's Master has decided to save Sakura's life and to put an end to the Matou line." Rider answered in her usual monotone tone.

"Correct! Oh, and now that we are talking about him, Rider, I order you to consider Shirou as your second Master." Caster said as she pointed at Shirou who was behind her "If for some reason I will not be able to communicate with you'll have to follow his orders just like mines, understood?" Caster said in a serious tone.

"Understood Master." Rider simply answered. She started to ask why her Master had given her that order, but she noted that Saber was not surprised by Caster's order.

"Good, he is the one who has saved your little master, so you better be grateful to him and treat him with respect." Caster informed her once again of Shirou's actions.

As Caster was speaking Shirou got out of the kitchen with a tray with 3 cups of tea, he then proceeded to give the cups to Saber, Caster, and then Rider.

While he was giving her a cup of tea Rider studied closely the boy, she noted that he was a human, he was in good health, and was in great physical conditions. She could tell that he was a very powerful magus and that other than his strange smell there was nothing wrong with him... still, why he smelled like a foundry? He didn't have the smell of someone who worked in one, his pores literally emanated the odor of steel and smoke, how? Was she wrong about him being a human? What was she really watching?

She then noted that in the meantime the boy too had studied her closely, but he had not tried to hide it, in fact, he was watching her intently.

"Thank you." Rider said after she received the cup.

Shirou did not respond but he simply nodded, he then turned around and got back in the kitchen.

"Have you seen how generous is he?" Caster asked with a smile before she sipped some tea. "Anyway, tell me, what is your desire Rider? What would you ask the Grail if you managed to put your hands on it?" Caster then asked.

"...I have no desire for myself, if I have to wish something I would ask the Grail to grant Sakura happiness." Rider answered before she too started to drink, she did not felt or smelled any kind of drug or magic content present in the cup.

At that moment Shirou, who had just returned to the kitchen, stopped and turned to look at her very intently once again, it started to make Rider feel uncomfortable. In the meantime Caster and Saber were not surprised by Rider's statement, probably they had already expected it.

"Oh well, just to tell you: Sakura will live a long and peaceful life and there will be no need for the Grail to fulfill this wish. Now, we have to tell you something about the Grail... it turn out that it has been corrupted and now more than a holy relic it's something demonic." Caster told her bluntly. "For this same reason spirits like the two of us can be summoned." She continued as she hinted about the fact that the 2 of them were anti-heroes.

"I see..." Rider initially said, she now understood why her summoning had been possible... but still... "Master, if this is true, may I ask you why are you fighting the war if your wish cannot be fulfilled?" She then asked.

"A fair observation." Caster said. "Oh well, my desire does not need the Grail to be fulfilled, and in the meantime Saber's wish is..." Caster said as she turned toward Saber and watched her, which Saber simply nodded. "...Is to destroy the corrupted Grail, pretty simple, isn't it? There is no reason for even one of us to betray the other since there would be nothing to gain from it... wonderful, isn't it?" Caster asked again, but with a big and wicked smile.

'Right.' Rider thought. The only thing that could destroy this alliance was a betrayal. Even if the other Master discovered this alliance and tried to take them down she doubted that they would be able to do something, in that moment just those 3 people were too powerful on their own, and with her, as a new member of their team, it would make things even harder for the enemy... wait, the 3 of them? Where was Caster's Master? She did not felt any other presence in the home.

"Master there is something I have to ask about your orders..." Rider then said.

"Sure, tell me." Caster said in a relaxed manner.

"What should I do about your Master? Should I follow his orders too just like yours?" Rider then asked. Caster did tell her to follow Shirou's order as if they were hers, but she could tell that he was Saber's Master, not hers.

"...Right, I have to tell you that I do not have a Master anymore." She said as she put a finger on her chin. "Let's just said that he had the same fate as your ex-master." Caster said with a smile as she hinted at what had happened to him.

Rider simply nodded and turned her attention to Shirou, who was now cooking, could it be that he had killed Caster's master too?

"So, I guess you want to know what I did to Sakura, right?" Caster then asked.

"...Yes, I would be more than glad if you did." Rider said politely. She had been all night long near her, she could feel that magic had been used on Sakura.

"Huh, how sweet..." Caster said with a sad tone as she watched Rider. "Anyway, all the worms in her had been removed and I have healed all the damages they did to her, I have replaced all of her missing parts and I removed the Grail fragment and made sure that she will not become a corrupted Minor Grail anymore." Caster said.

Saber and Shirou both turned to her and at the same time screamed: "WHAAAAAAAT?!"

"...Oh..." Caster sad as she remembered she had forgotten to tell them yesterday what were Zouken's intentions with Sakura.

"No, now I don't want to know, you can tell me later." Shirou said as he returned to cook, he could already feel the headache that would come with Caster's future explanation.

Saber sighed and then said: "Caster, I know that you had other things to do but..." She stopped for a moment. "No, you know what? You made a good thing not to say it yesterday, if not it would have just worsened Shirou's worry towards Sakura and he would have just got angrier." Saber then admitted. She herself didn't know how she managed to remain that calm after she discovered what had happened to the sweet girl.

In the meantime, Rider had got up, walked to Caster, and kneeled in front of her.

"Thank you Master! I swear to you my undying loyalty for having saved Sakura from becoming a monster like me!" Rider said with a really grateful tone as she bowed her head even further. Right now she did not care what kind of terrible person Caster was, she had saved Sakura, that was the only thing that mattered to her the most.

"Oh, my poor Medusa," Caster said with a calm and sympathetic tone. "have you forgotten who you really have to thank for Sakura's safety? If it was not for him I would have done nothing." Caster then said.

"Stay still Rider, I don't want your thanks." Shirou said in a serious tone from the kitchen, which stopped Rider from doing anything. "If you want to thank me in some way take care of Sakura, that will be more than enough." He then continued.

Rider nodded from her kneeled position.

"...Master, another question, when will Sakura wake up?" Rider asked as she watched the ground.

"Oh, she should be already woken up." Caster said as she watched the living room door being open by Sakura who was on the verge of crying.

"*sniff* Ri-Rider y-y-you are safe. *sniff*" Sakura said as she watched Rider with watery eyes.

"Sakura..." Rider said. Rider then got up, walked up to Sakura, and hugged her.

"You are safe here Sakura... I swear that nothing bad will happen to you anymore..." Rider said with a gentle tone as she started to caress Sakura's head with one hand.

"I-I feared that you were dead... I am so happy to have you here N-Nee-san..." Sakura said as she hugged Rider even more.

Rider froze and after a moment she slowly turned around and watched Caster.

"Don't you remember Rider? Thanks to Shirou's help you and your sweet little sister managed to escape from the strange fire that burned down your house, and now you are his guests... maybe you are more shocked than we have first thought." Caster said with a smile before she drank from her cup of tea.

Right now Rider did not know what to do or say, but her attention was caught by Sakura once again as she started to cry in her arms.

"Oh Rider, don't you think that you should calm Sakura and help her change clothes in her room? You have around 5-10 minutes of time before Shirou finishes making breakfast, you better hurry up..." Caster said before she took a final sip from her cup.

Rider simply nodded and took Sakura with herself as she exited the room.

"So..." Shirou started to say from the kitchen. "May I know what kind of memory modifications you did to Sakura?" Shirou then asked as he walked into the living room to take the cups of tea.

"Oh well, she doesn't know that she is a mage, now she thinks that she has just been adopted by the Matou with Rider, who is her bigger sister, and other than that I have removed the worst memories and sensation that she could still recall from those kinds of torture session and abuses. Her memories about Zouken and Shinji, for now, are foggy. From the next week, she will start to remember what really happened to her, but she will not be able to directly remember those awful moments, she will just have a very vague idea. If after those weeks she will ask for a complete change of memories I would be more than happy to do it." Caster said after she gave her cup to Shirou.

"After that how do you intend to help Sakura?" Saber asked curiously as she too gave her cup to Shirou.

"Let's just say that love under all its forms can make miracles for people like Sakura..." Caster said as she guided Saber to glance toward Shirou with a little smile.

"I refuse." Shirou immediately said as he glared at them, surprising both Caster and Saber.

"..." Caster remained silent as she watched Shirou with a very confused look.

"..." Shirou was silent as he watched her, he had a serious and cold expression.

"...Shirou, Sakura loves you and she needs you." Caster said in a serious and confused tone as she looked at Shirou. "Take your responsibilities and be ready to comfort her when needed, no matter what she asks you." She continued incredibly confused. What the hell was Shirou saying?

"I will not! I do not deserve to be loved by her!" Shirou told Caster bluntly. "I have left her alone for all those years in that damn house! She never felt loved for all this time! She had been tortured for years! I have ignored her feelings for me and I never realized that she hated herself for feeling them!" Shirou said in one go as he clenched his fist and then started to catch his breath. "I... I... I do not deserve to be loved... Why should I be loved by her?" Shirou then trailed off as he looked down. Since last night he had tried to suppress it, but his guilt just kept coming back, stronger each time.

Caster looked at Shirou with a very sad expression... oh well, it seemed that she didn't take into consideration Shirou's feelings.

Her plan was to make Sakura the person that would keep on check Shirou and make sure that he would not kill himself by going around to be a hero. She first thought that his guilt would have made him unable to leave her side, but it seemed that she had underestimated how much Shirou would have blamed himself... and now Shirou could not bring himself to love Sakura, not because of the girl, but because now he felt responsible for the things that happened to her.

After Shirou calmed down a bit Caster got up, walked toward him, took his right hand with both of her hands, and said in a gentle tone: "Shirou, I'm not asking you to reciprocate her feelings, I am just asking you to take care of her as you always did... she needs you, you saved her, and you won't let her alone anymore, right?"

"I..." Shirou's expression immediately became sober and serious. "Yes, I will not leave her alone, I will take care of her... as always, thank you, Caster." He then said with a nod and a smile. Really, Caster's presence managed to calm him down no matter what he felt.

"You're welcome." Caster said with a predatory smile before she strongly pulled Shirou's right ear down enough so that their eyes would be on the same level. "And don't you ever dare to doubt and blame yourself like that ever again, understood?!" Caster then said with a serious and angry tone as she shot him a glare. She got incredibly angry when she saw Shirou acting that way, he had done nothing wrong, and yet he still blamed himself for what had happened... stupid boy.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Shirou said now scared. It was very rare to see Caster angry, and he surely did not want to be her victim.

"Good." Caster said as she freed Shirou's ear from her pinch. As Shirou lifted his bowed head Caster noted that he had gotten a bit taller than her... huh, it was probably thanks to the constant use of magic and the fact that he was still young and growing.

"SHIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!" They heard Tiga screaming outside of the house.

"I-I will go!" Shirou said, he now had to get away from Caster before she decided to do something else to him.

Shirou forgot to take off his apron and went running to the entrance, leaving Caster and Saber in the living room.

"So, since when have you become his mother?" Saber asked with a little smirk, she could not help but find funny the scene she had just witnessed.

"Shirou lacked a mother for all of his life, it should be normal that he see in at least one of the two us some kind of bigger sister or mother figure." Caster said in a completely serious tone ignoring Saber's joke.

"Ah..." Saber dropped her smile.

After a minute Shirou returned, but he now had a very serious expression.

"It was Taiga. She was desperate as she told me about the fire that had destroyed the Matou house." Shirou said with a serious tone. "I've told her that Sakura was with us and that she was not wounded to calm her down. Taiga was more than happy with the good news and decided to go to the Matou house and help the firefighters to search under the rubble for Shinji and his grandfather, or their corpses." He said as he looked at Caster.

"They will not find anything, the fire I used yesterday should have reduced to ashes every object, insect, or living creature in that home. It will be a bit suspect that they will not be able to find any human remains, but it's not unheard of fires so strong that left just ashes. There will be nothing that can be traced back to us." Caster said.

"...Anyway, do you know how Taiga had discovered it before even today's news spoke about it? This morning a certain person has called her, and in a 'desperate' tone asked her if she knew if something had happened to Sakura... guess who?" Shirou said as he got back into the kitchen.

Both Caster and Saber sharpened their eyes, someone wanted to know what happened to the girl, and for now, they had no idea of who it could be.

"Thosaka Rin." Shirou said as he clenched his fist around his cooking knife and watched the blade.

"...So, first she has ignored her sister for all these years and now she is suddenly interested in her?" Saber asked a bit confused.

"Oh well, not that I can blame her," Caster said to Saber. "Sakura has told us how strict are modern mages about their stupid traditions and rules, but I guess that she still has some kind of interest about her sister." After Caster said that Saber nodded taking her words into consideration.

"Maybe she just wants to know if Sakura was still alive, after all, she may become her enemy if she gets chosen as a Master..." Shirou then said. Tohsaka in the end was still a Magus, and she too could become a Master later on.

"I do not think that she would do it, that young girl can't be that much merciless and ruthless..." Saber said hoping to be right.

"Yes, I agree with Saber. After all Sakura is her sister and they were separated at a very young age, maybe she even wants to reconcile with her." Caster said immediately after Saber.

"Have you two forgotten that she had been sold like an object? For modern mages blood bond is nothing!" Shirou then said as he frowned.

The air in the room started to get tense. Saber knew very well that in the so-called 'Holy Grail War' there was only pain, betrayal, dishonor, and death, something like a girl ready to kill her own sister would not surprise her. Meanwhile Caster was used to things like this, and she herself did much worse, so for her, there was nothing to be shocked about.

But the air was getting tense because at that moment they were about to decide Thosaka Rin's fate, if she was to live or to die. If the girl truly saw Sakura as an obstacle and a possible enemy Shirou was ready to butcher her that same morning as he did with Shinji the night before.

"Let's wait and see what the girl will do, this way we may be able to discover her true intentions without doing nothing." Saber proposed.

"Hmmm... Yes, we have been a bit too active lately, so let's keep ourselves low for now." Caster then said.

"Understood." Shirou said before relaxing and finishing to make breakfast.

After Shirou started to take the plates to the table Rider and Sakura entered the room, right now Sakura was calm even while she had a sad expression on her face.

Shirou stopped doing anything, he then went in front of Sakura and gently told her with a smile: "Good morning Sakura."

"Good morning... S-Senpai." Sakura said embarrassed as she blushed while looking down. She did not remember what had happened the night before, but knowing that her Senpai had saved her was making her very happy.

After Sakura greeted him Shirou noted Rider watching him a bit surprised, he simply ignored her.

"I'm happy to see that you are fine. I have made your favorite plate for breakfast, I hope that you will like it." He said with another smile as she watched Sakura blushing even more.

"Sure... thank you Senpai..." Sakura said as she looked at the ground.

"Come on, let's eat before it gets cold." Shirou said as he turned around and saw Caster and Saber smiling at Sakura.

They took their seat and started to eat, Rier included.

As they ate Shirou watched Rider, which still had her servant clothes on, and said telepathically to Caster: (She cannot remain clothed in that way, she should use some normal clothes from now on since she will stay at Sakura's side. Caster, could you lend her some of your clothes?)

(Sure, I could even give her half or three-quarters of my wardrobe, I still have too many clothes...) Caster said. She had already given many clothes to Saber, both to get rid of some of them and to see her in various cute dresses, but still, they were too many. She then started to remember the day in which Taiga had taken her to do shopping... a shiver went down to her spine, just how many clothes did they buy that day?

After breakfast Rider accompanied Sakura to her room so that she could rest, then she returned to the living room.

"May I know what will be my orders for now?" Rider asked.

Both Shirou and Saber turned around to watch Caster.

"For now you have just to assist Sakura, she still has to recover from the operation so she will need your help. If something should ever happen to Shirou and Saber and they will need your help I'll send you to assist them, understood?" Caster asked calmly.

"Understood Master."

"...Rider, if something should ever happen to our base your priority will be to take Sakura to a secure place and protect her even at the cost of your life." Shirou then said in a serious tone. "But if you fail to do it and something should happen to her I'll make personally sure that you will end up just like Shinji, understood?" He continued as he gazed at her.

"Understood." Rider said with now a serious tone, she did not care about the threat, she will just obey the order that has just been imparted.