Illusion Breaker

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"Hmph, please. Just Archer is fine. It isn't like it's my real name or anything, and the Mister part is a tad too formal, though I suppose I shouldn't speak since I feel more comfortable calling you Mr. Castle for now, Mr. Castle. Either way, I may be a Heroic Spirit in the same category of mythical and legendary heroes, but I wouldn't honestly compare myself to them," he said in response to the first statement, before listening to the rest of what Frank had to say. The white-haired man couldn't help but chuckle lightly at Frank's otherwise melancholy words, picking up some debris and fixating it back to where it should be with his magecraft.

"I never took you for the romantic type, Mr. Castle. And I'm sure anyone you might know wouldn't take you for that kind of person either. It isn't my place to respond to the notion of her happiness, whether through romance or anything like that, but then again, it's not any particular concern of mine, I suppose," he shrugged lightly, continuing to patch up the mess, peering around in the closet for a broom to clean up the place, speaking again without even looking at Frank, "However, for whatever it might mean to you, I'm sure young Rin isn't that kind of person to abandon anyone she cares for willingly. She may seem a bit idealistic for my taste, at least, from what my intuition says, but if she can follow her path without regrets, perhaps that's enough for her. But again, that is none of my concern... Anything else you'd like to share with me then? I'll at least continue to listen in any case."
 
"Do you remember your real name, Archer? I would rather call you that." Treating someone as beneath him wasn't something Frank intended to do. "As far as I'm concerned, you are equal to me, as a person, and probably my superior in combat."

"I'm usually not the romantic type, no. At least, I haven't been since Maria died. But... I haven't truly been happy in a long time. Rin is my best, my only shot. So I'll do everything I can for her. And, no, I'm quite done talking. I'd much rather listen, if you're feeling up to it." Maybe Archer wished to speak. "You aren't exactly the therapist I should probably be seeing according to the Avengers- don't worry, you wouldn't know them- and I won't trouble you with my burdens further."​
 
"If I did, I'd only let Rin know. It's disadvantageous for anyone to know my identity, as my enemies could look through my history to get a better idea of my skills and whatnot. Hmm, even telling the Master is a risk, because they're still susceptible to being captured and interrogated, but then again, either way, that'd be bad, eh?" He lightly chuckled, crossing his arms briefly after fixing the hole in the wall. Digging through what seemed to be a closet, Archer would then find a broom and begin sweeping the place up like an ordinary butler or housekeeper, "Anyway, to put it simply, no, I do not remember my identity. As Rin botched the summoning, seemingly because she intended to summon another Servant, my memories are fuzzy and jumbled up quite a bit, but fortunately, I'll remember more clearly in time."

As he would listen to the rest of what Frank had to say, Archer would nod, registering that he was listening. "Well, no, there's not much I have to say either. I'm the sort of person who prefers talking when questioned, because if I talk on my own accord, I might accidentally let something slip out that I might not intend to, all because naturally, I don't even remember what I don't remember."

With that being said, the night would peacefully transition into morning. Regardless of whether or not Frank had decided to sleep, Archer stayed up by himself, continuing to tweak on the things he had to fix, and on top of that, even brewing some tea in the wake of the morning. As sunrise would arrive, Rin would emerge from Frank's room, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she lumbered into the living room, spotting Archer with the tea.

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"Ah, good morning, Master."

"Oh, Archer. Looks like you really did fix the whole mess... Not bad for a Servant after all..." The girl commented sleepily, too tired to be genuinely impressed like she probably would be if she were fully awake, scratching her arm for a brief moment, "Where's Frank?"
 
Frank was training in the backyard... by literally hitting his head on a piece of wood. It was one of the ways he built up his massive pain tolerance. He had already done his katas and typical, extreme exercise regime. He was shirtless, as he typically was when training, but any attraction to his body was probably overshadowed by the sheer number of scars on his body. He had slept very little and was honestly just trying to occupy himself. This was something he usually did later in the day. The former vigilante had a lot on his mind after his and Archer's talk the previous night.​
 
After a few minutes of looking around, as Archer didn't know, Rin would arrive in the backyard, seeing Frank push his pain tolerance. Though she was all for exercise and training, given that she was well trained in the Bajiquan martial art, as taught by Kotomine, she didn't exactly see the practicalness of bashing one's head against a piece of wood, but then again, with the sort of life Frank had lived before the two of them had met, perhaps she didn't have much right to say anything about it. But of course, that didn't really stop her from talking anyway.

"You know, I know that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but aren't you taking that a little far?" She asked with a hint of concern for the man, holding up a cup of tea that she had taken from Archer, "Here, have some of this. You at least had breakfast, right?"

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"It's never too far when you're getting shot at all the time." Frank looked at the food quietly. "No, thanks. I'm good. No, I didn't have breakfast." Something was bothering him. He set aside the piece of wood and started doing one of his more complicated katas. It was important to remember how to fight, as well as how to take a punch. "Sleep okay?"​
 
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Rin frowned a bit, sighing slightly. "If you don't eat, you'll collapse sooner or later. I wouldn't want that to happen to you. You really worry me sometimes, you know that?" She spoke, shrugging briefly as she would take a small sip from the tea, "Yeah, I slept alright. Well, at least I slept at all, unlike you, I imagine. In any case, you wouldn't happen to have plans today, would you? 'Cause I'd like for you to come along with me for what I'm gonna do today. It's nothing really big. At least, I don't intend it to be..."
 
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Frank scowled at her, but that was his usual expression. "Fine." The former vigilante took some of the food and reluctantly began to eat. At the mention of plans, he frowned thoughtfully. "Ah... No. I don't have anything planned today? What's up?" He asked, his mouth a bit full of food. Vigilantism hadn't exactly nurtured his etiquette. The idea of working today wasn't something he looked forward to, but maybe he could get his mind off of the previous night.​
 
"Well, it just occurred to me that while Archer may know the basic workings of the modern era, he doesn't actually know anything about this kind of place, so I figured it'd be good to show him around. Not only would it be a generous gesture, but I mean, it'd be a tactical advantage if he knew the layout of the battlefield, right?" She asked, sitting down at a nearby chair and watching Frank eat.

Over the time that Rin had spent preparing for the Fifth Holy Grail War, she had mentioned that upon being summoned, Servants were automatically educated on the basic workings of the time and place of which they are summoned, meaning that Archer can recognize and even use the technology and whatnot of this period, and what was more, Servants like him were able to enter a "spirit mode," which was essentially self-explanatory; they'd turn into invisible spirits. Not only did this save mana, but it was the best basic approach, as it rendered the Servant invisible, but still very present and able to protect from impending danger.

"You do have normal clothes, right? So why don't you get dressed? Think of it as a day out with me. It's not like he'll bother us anyway," she said with a smile.​
 
For once, he genuinely seemed interested in something other than protecting her and causing death and destruction. Going around town with Rin, even if it wasn't entirely for fun, certainly caught his attention. "Okay... I'm gonna take a shower and get dressed, then." Hurriedly, he went inside and cleaned himself before slipping into a plain T-shirt and blue jeans. He wore a jacket over the shirt, but mostly just to conceal the side-arm he refused to leave without. Upon, exiting, he looked at Rin suspiciously. "You didn't go through my stuff, did you?" He was a fairly private man, still.​
 
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"You're saying that like there's stuff to go through other than guns and grenades," Rin responded rather light-heartedly, her legs crossed. Before long, she'd stand up, dusting off her bottom, "Alright then. In any case, ready? We can make up where we wanna see as we go along," she spoke, looking up at the man and crossing her arms behind her back. The young mage wasn't usually this chipper in the morning, but maybe it was because for once, she had actually woken up without an alarm.

After all, today was a weekday, but she had no intention of going to class.​
 
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That got a satisfied grunt from him. Good. She hadn't. "I'm certainly ready. Don't you have school today, though?" It was true that, in a lot of ways, Frank thought of himself as her caretaker. So her education was important to him. Granted, it wasn't that she was in need of money, but if she ever found a career she enjoyed, she would need to go to school and perform well.

His jacket bulged a little at his side.​
 
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"Maybe. What of it? It wouldn't be the end of the world if I called in sick for just one day, right? Even a model student like me needs a break once in a while," she responded nonchalantly, as if playing hooky was no big deal for her. She didn't do this very often, but then again, she didn't participate in mage wars very often either.

With that being said, she'd make her way to the living area, where Archer would be sipping his tea. He'd catch sight of the two of them, acknowledging them with only one eye open.

"Ah, you two. Greetings. I suppose you were serious about taking me out to explore this so-called Fuyuki City then?" He said in a somewhat exasperated tone, as if the thought didn't seem all that pleasant to him for some reason, not that Rin seemed to care about what he thought about something like that.

"Yup. Don't worry. If you don't wanna be directly involved with what I'll do in the meantime, then just float beside me! You can be the bodyguard hidden from sight, analyzing the environment while Frank and I do our own stuff. Now, get up and transform into spirit form."

"Ugh... as you wish, Master."

And with that, into a blue mist, he suddenly disappeared from human sight. Though familiars like Servants were classified as spirits, it was in this kind of form that he seemed to resemble what most common folk who knew nothing of magecraft referred to as "ghosts," it seemed, just to put it simply.​
 
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"Alright... if you say so."

Frank was fairly unfazed by the magic. There were things from his universe infinitely more strange than disappearing familiars. What bothered him was still the relationship between Servant and master. He didn't like the idea of an unwilling follower. It just felt wrong to the man that had crushed many a slavery ring. "So... you're the one actually from here. Where do you want to go?"​
 
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"Hmm... I suppose we could start with the shopping district at Miyama Town, and then we can make it up as we go along," Rin spoke, beginning to make her way out of the house with that, and into the town. Though it was still fairly early in the morning, all the students should be at school by now, meaning that hopefully, Rin wouldn't bump into anyone she'd recognize. It'd be pretty embarrassing if she'd be seen with some man that no one else knew about, not that Frank's presence really bothered her or anything. After all, she'd be seen with him either way, considering the other civilians around.

Eventually making her way to the destination, Rin would take a breath, putting her hands on her hips and examining the place. She didn't often go to this sort of place, as she didn't really need a lot of stuff, so it was almost as foreign to her as it was for Frank and the invisible, yet ever-observant Archer. Almost.

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Close by, there would be a flower shop, an antique shop, a restaurant, and a fairly-sized mall with more shops just a few meters up ahead.

"Hmm... is there any place you feel like stopping by? I mean, I dunno if you're the type that goes window shopping every now and then, but I can never tell," Rin said almost somewhat teasingly, putting a hand on her chin.​
 
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"I'm not," Came his blunt reply. It wasn't meant to be rude, it was simply how he talked. He scanned it all. She was out of her element? Frank had been a fugitive from the law for thirty years. He barely knew what the inside of a mall looked like. Sure, he'd been in them, but those trips usually ended in a man lying dead in a supply closet. His expression showed that he was happy to be with her, though. "I have no idea what any of those symbols mean." Frank frowned at the signs. He spoke some languages other than, but certainly didn't read Japanese. "Though I guess I'd be right at home with the antiques." Maybe he was trying to be funny.​
 
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"Don't worry, I'll read anything out if you wanna read something," Rin responded, before Frank would suggest going into the antique shop, raising an eyebrow in response, but didn't object or anything like that at all, "Well... alright. If you say so," she replied, not exactly sure if he was joking or not. Even after the time that they had been together, Frank was still capable of being something of a mystery to the young teenager.

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The antique shop was relatively normal. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a place like this. There were many expensive vases, statues, monuments, and even nice kitchen utensils. Behind Rin and Frank, the two of them would be able to hear the echo of Archer's voice, the Servant still being in spirit form, and thus, invisible to the other civilians inside.

"Get the tea set. And the utensils."

"What, why?" Rin whispered in response.

"For a place so fancy like yours, I expected you to have tools just as fancy. Besides, they look rather nice. You can afford it. Can't you?" He asked somewhat mischievously, "What do you think, Mr. Castle?"
 
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Frank frowned at the question. That wasn't an area he either cared or was knowledgeable about. "I don't know. Don't really care. Don't like tea." Besides, it seemed kind Archer might be up to something. "Not my money, anyways. You shouldn't worry about what I think about it, because I've never lived a lifestyle with such things." At that, he explored some more, looking for anything weird.​
 
"Hm... I may as well do it. Like a thank you for fixing up the place, Archer"Rin spoke after pondering it briefly, taking the set and some utensils as requested, "In any case, I guess this just means I still need you to get used to mansion life, huh, Frank? It may not be as glamorous as the billionaires you'd see in movies, but this sort of life is still of higher class than a normal person," she said, looking around the place and spotting some glasses. They seemed a bit out of place, but Rin didn't sweat it. In fact, her interest was piqued by it, and she began to go through some of them, all the while continuing to talk to Frank.

"So why'd you wanna come here, huh? What'd you mean when you said you feel kinda at home with antiques? If you don't mind me asking, that is?" She asked the man curiously, looking at him as she tried on a pair,"Oh, and how do I look?"

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"Give me a cot, food and water and I'm fine." Came his simple response. "I said that because I am one." Frank frowned at having to explain his joke. "And you look beautiful... as always." The response was truthful. To him, she was. As for buying stuff... "Not really anything in here for me. So just get what you want."​
 
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