Fate/invented image

"Hai, hai." Kuroshiro stepped into the bathroom and washed up quickly, ignoring how dirty Mao was for the moment. Perhaps she could get Beryl to aid her in cleaning him...

She didn't particularly care for her looks, so she wore no makeup and changed her clothes fairly quickly. She stepped out, wearing her panda jacket and baggy pants. "Alright, ready to leave now. What do you suggest we do first?"

Tsumibara quickly prepared the breakfast all over again, making sure to include what her brother asked for. Stepping out the kitchen, the girl carefully set the plate in front of him before stepping back.

"I'll be going now Nii-san," She said quickly, "I have to buy the ingredients for supper tonight."

With that said, she quickly rushed out. Better to get out now before he has a chance to argue with her.

----

"Right, we should check the area for anything out of the ordinary," Raspberyl answered, "Come on Mao, let's get into spirit form."

Of course Mao instantly objected to this, "I can't get research subjects in spirit form!"

"And you think the humans won't notice the pointy ears and my horns and tail? Just get into spirit form Mao, or I'm going to invite you to my next volunteer job."

"I-" He paused, thinking it over, "Fine, I'll change into spirit form. Damn delinquent..."

Both him and the pink haired demon girl instantly vanished, yet their presence could still be felt by their Master.

Shinon nodded. "Alright then. To be clear, I don't care who the targets are but you'd best be quick. Tonight we'll search for people for you, meanwhile you'll also be checking for any sign of other servants," he didn't even bother responding to his sister, and immediately began eating.

-----

Archer nodded, "Well enough, but don't forget that my range of sense is low, so don't expect too much just walking around," she was being honest. She may know a few spells, but she was no Caster. As Archer she had higher seeing abilities, but her ability to sense other servants would only work in about fifty meters at best.

All of this having been explained before to Tohsaka.

That was the first good thing Assassin had heard from Shinon, that she would be able to choose her own targets. That meant that she could find the people who deserved it, and not be forced to kill the undeserving. She caught sight of Tsumibara leaving, and tried to call to her before she vanished from sight.

"Mother, goodbye!"

The moment Tsumibara was gone, Assassin's heart sunk. That eliminated any chance of her being able to spend time with her, without Shinon being present... she looked away, and then... her eyes caught the food Shinon was eating. When she was human, she'd rarely had a chance to eat, and even when she did it was usually nothing much more then a little bit of bread... so much food, so much good food, right in front of her... Maybe... maybe if she asked...? Maybe she'd be allowed to have some.

"... May I have some food?" she asked, her eyes not leaving Shinon's plate of food. It was a polite question, and even if Shinon had been awful(and this was basically the only time Assassin would ever be polite to Shinon), it was hard to refuse a polite request, wasn't it?

----

Momoko nodded.

"I know, but we don't really have much of a choice otherwise," she replied. "Scouting is the only thing we can do to find other servants, at the moment. We'll just have to be thorough."

Yosuke tied his shoes laces and made sure they were properly tied before standing up and taking his bag before walking out from the house. "Got to visit convention shop, i can't go on without eating...." He mumbled to himself before stepping out from the house and closed door behind him. Waiting Rider to follow in spirit form.

Shinon stopped eating for a moment. Then he burst out laughing.

"Bwahahahaha! Are you serious? Why the hell would I give food to you?! You don't need to eat! That's what the humans are gonna be for tonight, Baka!" He continued laughing, now in good spirits as he ate.

-------

Archer was satisfied with this plan for now. Her master was reliable enough.

Not even a polite request for food?

Assassin stood still for several moments. She stared at the ground. Mocked for wanting food? She was a servant, she didn't need to eat, but... she wanted to... she'd eaten so little when she was human... Assassin was somewhere close to tearing up... if not for the anger. This bastard had abused her 'Mother', refused to let her eat, and... and...

Assassin's right hand curled into a fist, and she lashed out. Her fist was heading straight for Shinon's groin. Maybe it would go against what Tsumibara had asked, but... it wasn't permenant, now was it?

----

Compliance. That was certainly good.

"Now, I'll need you to get into spirit form," Momoko continued, straightening after her shoes were on. "I mean, I obviously can't just have you walking around where anyone can see."

Archer nodded, disappearing from sight, though her master would still feel her presence and hear her.

----*----

Shinon fell out of his chair, grabbing himself in pain. "Y- YOU BITCH!"

He tried to regain himself. He looked at Assassin, and forgot she was a servant, feeling only anger at the little girl...

He punched her right in the face, screaming "DO NOT EVER HARM ME YOU - eh?!" He fell to the table and his hand landed on his book. He looked at his book, it was glowing...

He had used a command spell. He then remembered this was a servant he had struck, not just some girl.

Incidentally, he's still holding himself and stumbling.

Even as a heroic spirit, Assassin was still lightweight and her strength was weak compared to the others. When Shinon punch her in the face, she toppled back and collided with the cupboards, stars going off in her vision. She let out a strangled cry of pain, which degenerated into a sob. It hurt... Shinon had hit pretty hard.

Assassin clenched her jaw, getting back to her feet. Her right hand flew to one of her knives, and-

The spell...

She sank back to her knees. She couldn't... she couldn't stop him now, if he tried to hurt 'Mother' again, or her. She slumped back against the cupboards. Her normal response to cruelty was cruelty in return, but she wasn't emotionally strong...

Assassin bowed her head and cried.

----

Satisfied with Archer's current state in spirit form, Momoko briefly paused to smooth out her shirt and skirt before heading out the door. She wasn't sure where to go as of yet, so she decided she'd take a route towards the shopping district. It made sense, and she guessed that other masters would probably have the same idea.

Shinon sat down, looked at his food, and picked up his plate, throwing the food left away. He'd lost his appetite, and Assassin's voice was annoying him. "Little bitch, crying just because she can't hit back. What a baby. How the hell is she going to win me the Grail? She'll never do..."

He made sure she heard all he said before dumping his plate in the sink for Tsumibara to clean later.

He then went out to the front yard. He didn't care that other masters might be watching. He just wanted away from that brat.

Rider followed him.

"Maybe you should stock the freezer for two this time?" he said.

Assassin wanted to hurt him, for saying that, for being horrible to 'Mother', for even existing at this point... but she couldn't. So she just remained there, crying into her hands. Her head hurt, now... the punch had struck her in the forehead. She tried to wipe the tears away and and get to her feet, which worked somewhat(though she was still crying, just not as much) and pulled herself into one of the seats.

She wanted 'Mother' to come back...

"Anyway, I think we should make our debut today," said Kaji. "Maybe I'll go outside and kill some bitches; and get the attention of the people I'm supposed to fight,"

Caster began preparations to leave. "If that's the case, you should leave the killing to me. Otherwise you'll have the law after you. Supernatural deaths, to attract the supernatural..." He grinned at the thought. Oh yes, killing humans would certainly be a good way to vent his frustrations.

----

Kuroshiro tied her sneakers, now fully ready to leave the apartment. "Let's see... I guess I ought to go to places where there are lots of people, right? Maybe the market... even mages need to eat..."

"Yeah, letting you do the killing would probably be best," said Kaji. "Though to be fair; couldn't you just kill any law enforcement that came here?"

Caster refrained from striking his Master. Patience was needed with idiots. "If the Law comes here, they will already be suspecting us. If the Law never comes back from here, they'll know it was us. It's easier to not be detected by the law in the first place."

"While that might be a good place to start, remember to avoid conflict in crowded areas especially with Mao as your servant," Raspberyl warned, ignoring Mao's indignant protest, "We can't let any normal humans see anything that goes on with the Holy Grail War."

"I don't have that kind of money to buy double the food amount each morning. otherwise if you want to eat your own share, make your own contributions toward food. Actually, i'm pretty sure you don't even need to eat!" Yosuke responded to Rider as went they foward.

The market district was rather crowded. That could make locating other masters, and servants, a bit difficult really. Momoko looked around, moving through the crowds as best she could. It was a bit frustrating, it would be hard to locate anyone who looked like they might be a master here. It was then that Momoko caught sight of a purple-haired head up ahead. That... that hair color...

She made her way towards them.

----

Jack buried her face in her arms, and sobbed. Her whole life had contained suffering, and the brief moments of happiness with 'mother' seemed to be completely gone. Shinon... she despised him, there was no other word for it.

"I'm actually not sure about that one," said Simon, thoughtfully.

--

"Uh...right," said Kaji. "Guess I'll have to save the mass murder for after I take over the world,"