Tomorrow turned into days. Days changed into weeks. Weeks flew by into months until they multiplied into years. Five to be exact. The passed time would technically make (y/n) five years and three months old by human standards, but he didn't feel that way. Afterall, he was already just over half Gilgamesh's height. He had often been mistaken for a middle schooler during some of his past missions, already appearing to be twelve.

        Currently though, he was waiting for his dispatch to yet another mission dealing with a group that he had been investing for quite some time now. A few years back, he had run into an individual named Celenike Icecolle in Sweden's capital. She had been working for a group called the Yggdmillennia Clan, a group of mages that he had never heard of up until that point. She had created a reality marble around the city of Stockholm using the power left behind in a fragment of the holy grail.

        There had been quite a few casualties, and the Mage's Association had to come up with a formal apology to the country's leaders to cover up the incident's involvement with the world of magecraft. Gilgamesh had insisted that they keep the grail fragment a secret from the staff at Tokugawa, so all they knew is that rogue mages we creating reality marbles using forbidden techniques. Since then, (y/n) had been tasked to stop the Yggdmillennia clan, or the Y.G. clan as he liked to call it. His goal was to figure out how the mages involved with them were able to create such powerful miniature realities. Since (y/n) was already aware, something that Tokugawa's director suspected, his only choice was to collect all the fragments and take down the organization entirely.

        "Oh...it's you," (y/n) spoke up. He had flinched when someone's hand suddenly rested on his head. His servants were the only ones capable of sneaking up on him without giving off any sort of indication of their presence.

        "You are always lost in thought before these ridiculous expeditions," Gilgamesh stated matter of factly. "I warned you about that."

        "Kings do no stress themselves over trivial matters. I know. You've told me," (y/n) mumbled. He resisted his urge to roll his eyes as he leaned away from his servant's hand. They were in a waiting room of sorts that (y/n) was required to go to before leaving for his missions.

        "We've already found twenty-seven fragments. Based on what I've pieced together out of what we have, there should be about ten left out there. Yet not once have I gotten any closer to catching the Y.G. Clan." (Y/n) communicated through his telepathic link to his servant. He gave a sigh of slight annoyance the more he thought about the situation. "It's starting to feel like they want us to find them. Back when we first started collecting them, Icecolle was surprised that we didn't know about it."

        "You shouldn't concern yourself with matters about that grail. Once it is whole again, it will serve a very important role in getting you out of this hell." Gilgamesh put his hand right back onto (y/n)'s head. "All you need to do is stand aside and witness my remarkable plan." Archer was practically laughing to himself.

        He was certainly correct about one thing though. Tokugawa was a hell. The director, a man that (y/n) knew as Shirou Tohsaka, hated his guts simply for existing. (Y/n) didn't know the details, but every time that man looked at him, the boy could almost feel the director's disdain being directed towards him.

        Gilgamesh had concluded that the hatred was rooted in more than just (y/n)'s nonhuman origins, though neither of them knew what that greater meaning was. What they did know was that the director was hiding something from both Tokugawa and the Mage's Association, and it had something to do with the necklace that Gilgamesh had stolen from him on the day that (y/n) had summoned Avenger.

        "Mission preparation completed. All personnel for the warping sequence, please enter the command room." The voice belonged to Owari, the artificial intelligence unit that ran nearly all of Tokugawa's technological functions, especially portal travel. Though she was practically a robot, she sounded like a normal high-school girl that would likely be a student council president. Or at least that's what it seemed like to (y/n) based on the shows he had watched within the safety of Gilgamesh's treasury.

        "Time to go," (y/n) noted as he grabbed his bag. They were going to London near the Clock Tower, the main base of the Mage's Association. There were rumors that someone with the Y.G. clan was attempting to infiltrate the headquarters.

        "Master of Tokugawa," Owari said as (y/n) approached the flowing orb of vast white that flickered into existence in the middle of the command room. Owari seemed to be nothing more than a large mass of magical energy in this state. "You are to find the individual indicated in your report and eliminate them once confirming their ties with the Yggdmillennia Clan. This mission is of top secrecy. Many mages of the Association do not have the clearance to know of Tokugawa's existence. Therefore, both mages and operatives from the Holy Church are your enemy. Proceed with caution and keep a low profile," Owari explained.

        "Understood." (Y/n) already knew the details of his mission, but Owari always went over them anyway.

        "If you cannot complete the task within seven days, it will be considered a failure," Owari reminded. It was always his usual time limit ever since the discovery that he was constantly destroying himself. Thanks to his mother, Sakura, he was able to remain unaffected by any side effects so long as he took a specialized injection daily.

        However, seven days was the longest he could go without receiving a full treatment with the director's method. Though the man practically wanted him dead, he could not directly kill him with Gilgamesh always present nor could he refuse treatment for much of the same reason.

        "Should an emergency arise, abort the mission and wait for the extraction date," Owari added. (Y/n) nodded in confirmation. "Now...starting dimensional travel. Please prepare to begin your mission." With those words, Owari vanished. Ahead of where (y/n) stood, a portal matching Owari's composition began to form. The staff were always anxiously watching their scenes to make sure nothing went wrong.

        "I expect you to find an answer to why these rogue mages are able to create those things by the time you return." (Y/n) didn't have to turn around to know it was the director that spoke.

        "I expect you to watch your tone when speaking to my friend, mongrel. Unless you desire a noble phantasm to be activated up your-"

        "That won't be necessary...Archer," (y/n) stopped Gilgamesh before he said anything more, mentally asking for the king to return to spirit form to avoid any conflict. Gilgamesh and the director had gotten into quite a few fights over the years, all of them resulting in costly damages to the facility. The director still hadn't won a single battle, but it was no exaggeration to say that his power was almost close to Gilgamesh's own ability.

        Much to (y/n)'s relief, Gilgamesh listened to him for once and the director kept quiet rather than dwelling on the matter. Once the portal was complete, (y/n) didn't hesitate to disappear. He was eager to see London since he hadn't been back since before summoning Avenger. The oversized wolf also remained in spirit form to avoid any unnecessary attention.

        As per usual, (y/n) was transported into a place empty of witnesses. It would get a little awkward to explain things if he were to suddenly appear in the middle of a crowd of people. Not to mention that he was already being dropped into enemy territory since his own organization was unaware of his existence. His uniform was already enough to make him stand out, but thanks to some spells that he had learned, that wasn't much of a problem.

        As he took in his surroundings, he thought of what would be appropriate for him to wear around London. From the darkness of the alley he stood in, he couldn't see anyone passing by, so he couldn't use anyone as a reference. He'd been to London before as well as places near it, but he thought it would be better to check if the people were acting or wearing anything out of the norm that might suggest a festival of some sort.

        "You're wasting time," Gilgamesh said from behind him. (Y/n) turned to shoot him a retort but refrained from doing so. His servant had already adjusted to the current mission by wearing a black suit, but it was near impossible for the man to go without some form of gold present in his attire. (Y/n) was just thankful that it was just the tie this time and not the whole suit.

        "I'm not wearing a suit around town. I'd rather keep this appearance than do that," (y/n) said, reffering to his Tokugawa uniform. The black combat material had white accents and was complete with a pair of gloves to keep (y/n)'s command seals hidden. The best feature about the suit was that he could customize it's appearance thanks to some modifications that Owari had made.

        "Must you take hours to try blending in to a crowd?" Gilgamesh complained.

        "If I don't do this right, our mission ends here and now. Our enemies will be able to pick us out without a problem," (y/n) said as he used his command seals to activate the spell that allowed him to change his uniforms appearance. "See, much better."

        "I wouldn't say that's the norm for children these days, but I guess you could get by like that." It wasn't Gilgamesh that had spoken. (Y/n) and his servant immediately prepared to silence this new individual who had somehow managed to sneak up on them. "Whoa, sorry. I had no intention to startle you. I was just a little surprised to see you here of all places." The figure hiding in the shadows behind them stepped forward and pulled back their red hood. "Long time no see."

        (Y/n) still recognized that familiar white hair. In fact, the boy looked no different than he did last time they'd met. "Shirou?"
____________________________________

This is what I'd like to call the Masuda Arc, and you'll see why in the next chapter. Anyways, this was going to occur after the Stockholm Arc, but for the sake of the story I changed things around and had it happen earlier. If there are any questions, I'm glad to clear anything up. Until next time you cool readers!