A Different Fate - [Rewrite]

Chapter 28:Epilogue 2 - Understanding

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When the two former Heroic Spirits returned to Japan, they went to the Emiya residence, to see their wards again. As they were talking with them, they addressed something they had already discussed among each other.

They – especially Arturia – didn't want to be too near Fuyuki, in Kumamoto's Prefecture, and wished to live elsewhere, at least for a while.

The girls loved Japan, but they agreed with their guardians – they desired to be away from that city as well. Too much from their past was connected to it to quit the place entirely; but some time away from it would only be beneficial.

Therefore, the four of them moved to Tokyo, where they intended to stay for about two years. Taiga, Shirou and Sakura remained in Fuyuki, because the brown-haired woman had her job as a teacher and a – well-defended – house there. Rin and Illya weren't too happy about living far from their respective siblings, even if only for a determined period of time, but they all needed a break from the lives they had led until that moment.

In the documents they had, Arturia was registered as twenty-one and Gilgamesh as twenty-four, but they cared little about it, if not for legal reasons. They bought a small but comfortable house in Japan's capital, while the King of Knights's apartment in Fuyuki was given away and the Tohsaka mansion closed – and remodelled, as the King of Heroes had demanded, because he did not like its gloomy appearance.

For the education of their wards, the former Servants looked for private schools in Tokyo, and the two girls found a good one that was near their new house. They began to attend, making new friends and cautiously opening up to other people.

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One day, Illya and Rin came home from school very quiet.

Rin seemed to try to cover it up smoothly, but both seemed shaken and out of spirits. Arturia observed them with worry and, when they remained mute during dinner and even ate very little, she addressed them, asking what had happened.

The two girls exchanged a glance and muttered something unintelligible, clearly trying to avoid the subject. The King of Knights's expression became the closest thing to stern she usually directed towards them, and they caved immediately, while Gilgamesh hid a smirk at the scene.

They explained that many boys and girls in school did not like the two of them, and that day they had cornered them and accused them of cheating because they always got the highest grades. They had also heavily insulted their appearance, as Illya added uncomfortably. Rin said that they both knew that such bullying events were childish and stupid, but they were hurtful… and it wasn't possible to defend themselves, because magic could not be used against normal humans.

Arturia stood up without a word and made tea for them, to help them feel better, at least minimally. Gilgamesh could see, however, from the tight hold the woman's hands had on the kettle, that she was quite angered. Then she sat down again and caressed the girls' cheeks, in a silent and soothing gesture, and the two promised that they would do their best to try to ignore those bullies.

The King of Heroes did not like to see Arturia frustrated about some mongrels. And he probably knew who those specific mongrels were. A few times, he had been with Arturia when she had gone to pick up the girls from school, and he had seen a group of six or seven individuals, both girls and boys, who, by modern standards, would have been considered dodgy.

He narrowed his eyes. If those rabid dogs were the ones who had dared make his Arturia so cross… then they would have to pay.

He glanced at the clock. It was a little after seven in the evening. Good.