View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNGf2bv3Imc
[Yes]
Thanks to @Armoury for the beta! And thank you all for reading, the fun begins now.
—
"I… uhm, yes?" you reply, almost instinctively. You were still partially trying to process the request. This had put you more than a little on the backfoot, you weren't aware that Ayako had a crush on you, or even any interest in you in general. She was a friend, a good one at that, but you had never given it much more thought than that despite knowing her for years now.
Ayako smirks, attempting to look at least in some way smug. It's slightly hampered by the heavy blush on her face, and the fact that she can't actually keep her eyes on you. Instead she is busy studying the wall, to be fair, you had been looking at it yourself for similar reasons. It was a truly fascinating wall that was far and removed from the awkwardness of the current situation.
"Good! That was… the correct thing to do, yes! I'll expect you to take me to dinner at some point!" Ayako says, pointing a finger at me. Her face is firm, smug, and proud. It lasts all of two seconds before her eyes dart to the wall again and she rather hurriedly steps back out of the archery range. Leaving you by your lonesome.
You let out a slow breath, misting in the cold winter air. Then you move your hand to your lips, trying to process what just occurred. You… aren't sure why she would like you, besides you just being a member of the archery club. You
were friends, but she had never shown any interest in you until now. Was it just because you saved her brother? You'd hate it if she was doing this just as a means of paying you back.
It wasn't something that needed to be paid back to begin with. It was just the right thing to do, it's something… you'll need to figure out how to ask later. Lowering your hand, you glance out towards the snow-filled archery range. Then make your way back outside and onto the school grounds. The large open field that separated the buildings were covered in a fine layer of snow as well, though that had been mostly pushed aside by students walking. Adjusting your bag upon your shoulder, you follow in the tracks others have left behind, making your way into the warmth of the school…
You had a meeting to get to.
—
"Issei, you there?" you call out, sliding the door to the student council room open.
"I am, you're late this morning Emiya." Issei replies.
Pulling the door fully open reveals a room made up of little more than pushed together tables, a whiteboard, and several storage lockers. Sitting in the middle of it, going over a small mountain of papers was Issei. A friend of yours, for a long while now at that. You enjoyed his more… serious personality, being raised in a temple tends to cause that.
He was, also you note. The only one present in the room. "Where are the others?"
Issei almost frowns,
almost, but keeps his lips taut. "They… have their own hours."
Your eyes flit over to the mountain of papers beside him. And you say nothing, but he catches your look regardless.
"It's fine, Emiya. This isn't a problem I can't handle."
Issei was a plain man, at least in personality. With his looks he was about as popular with the girls as another friend of yours was. Though, unlike Shinji, Issei never went out of his way to stand out either. It's part of the reason he was by far the most efficient member of the student council, he just quietly got things done. Perhaps it was part of his monk training, school was just a facet of his life to finish before he shaved his head and worked in the temple full time.
You had never asked, nor did you care to. "What am I doing today?" you ask instead.
Issei frowns. "Well, normally I'd invite you to sit and have tea with me, but you are late. So I'll just get right to business." Taking a sip of tea, the frown disappears from his face before he focuses on me once more. "The school's budget is… unbalanced."
"The athletic clubs getting all the funding again?" you ask, almost rhetorically.
Issei nods. "I've been trying to balance it, but there's nothing I can do for the shortage of heaters this winter."
You turn your head towards the broken pile of heaters sitting against the far wall. "I should be able to fix them, how many others are there?"
"Three here," Issei replies, then pulls out a paper from amidst the middle of the stack. How he knew it was precisely the one he needed you have no idea, perhaps he didn't, and was merely attempting to look organized.
"Two more in clubs upstairs, the petitions for new ones are multiplying."
You make your way over to one of the stoves, running your hand along the metal surface. "Well, they are old but easy to understand."
"You think they can be fixed?" Issei asks.
You stare at it, then look at Issei. "Mind giving me a moment to concentrate?"
Issei blinks, then nods, taking his tea and stepping out of the room. "Of course, just called me when you are finished."
You smile, he stopped asking when he realized you were always correct about these things, though it had taken some convincing the first couple of times. You didn't dare reveal your magecraft, it was one of the few things besides… what you were about to do, that your father beat into you.
You tilt one of them, your magic channeling through your hand and into the material. 'Tracing', the only thing your father really taught you. It had little flashy purpose, far from the fireballs and miracles that you had ready about. But it allowed you to understand what was wrong with things, and that was hardly something to scoff at. It allowed you to fix Taiga's… your Television yesterday, and today?
"I'm good," you call out a minute later.
Issei steps back inside, the look on his face wording his question.
"It's just a shorted connection, replacing that should make it last until next year at least." You reply, looking back at Issei with a smile.
The Buddhist grins. "Fantastic, reliable as always, Emiya."
You grin back, then get to work. Well, at least as much work as you can do, before you have to head up for the morning classes.
There you lose the smile.
As you meet your…
other, friend.
—
"Oh? Look who
decided to show up for school. Couldn't think of any more excuses
Emiya?"
You glance over as you crest the top of the steps to reach your floor. There, just outside the classroom, stood Shinji Matou, Sakura's older brother and, to some extent, a friend of yours. He had a smirk on his face, his arms crossed over his chest. You had known him for a long while, and while he had certainly always been… abrasive, he had only become an out and out pain in the past year or so.
"I wasn't making any excuses, Shinji," you reply. Stepping to the side so other students can move past you towards the classroom.
"Of
course not," Shinji replies, raising his hands in a shrug as he shakes his head from side to side. "Regardless, don't start getting ideas like you are too good for school or something Emiya, just because my sister follows you around doesn't mean you are anywhere near popular."
You bristle. "Believe me Shinji, I know I'm far from being you."
Shinji's smile dips for a moment, before he decides to take the statement at face value. "Well, if you are behind on your homework I can help you of course."
You shift the bag on your shoulder. "Got it all done yesterday," you reply.
Shinji's face curls up into a frown, removing any ounce of the playboy look he so carefully cultivates. "Well, don't come crying to me later when the Tiger scratches all over it in red pen."
You roll your eyes, but say nothing further as Shinji dips into the classroom. You move to follow after, but pause as you spot someone staring at you from further down the hallway, and, involuntarily your heart starts to pound within your chest. Rin Tohsaka stood, standing in the middle of the intersection just by the next set of stares, staring at you. She seemingly didn't even notice the crowd around her. Her blue eyes were locked onto your own, and a small smile was present on her face.
You blink, then look behind to see if there was something that had caught her attention behind you. Nothing beyond students making their way into classrooms, you look back… only to see that she was walking off, her bag held behind her as she made her way to her own classroom.
… What was that about?
Shaking your head, you made your way into the classroom.
True to form, it was school. Which meant women fawning over Shinji, normal lessons for you. And Taiga being a general goofball. To your relief she didn't draw attention to the fact that you had returned, you don't think you would have been able to come up with a more in depth excuse than you had 'overslept', which. While true, it did not look particularly grand when it came to the long list of reasons students had hand crafted to avoid being taught by Taiga.
Instead, you were able to actually focus on your schoolwork. Enjoying… something resembling normalcy for the first time in a long while. Taiga droned on and on, slipping between personal stories and the actual lesson of the class, Shinji glared at you from time to time… and your lips still tingled.
—
The classes end like every other day. There are many kinds of students, ones that stick around for clubs. Ones that hurry home. And ones that just hang around because they have nowhere better to go. You suppose you weren't in any of those categories.
"Sorry, Emiya." Issei says apologetically. "We really don't have time to wait any longer, with the cold snap coming. Do you have time today?"
The boy had gone as far as bowing to you outside the classroom as you had started to leave. You…
did have plans, it had taken some work, but you had managed to make it so that you could do your work at the bar along with taking time with the archery club. But that meant you rarely if ever had time for distractions after school itself.
With Kiritsugu being dead for five years, you had to work to pay off the living expenses. Otoko was understanding at least, you showed up to Copenhagen as you could to help with the stock and clean the place. So you
could just not show up if something happened, but you rather needed the money.
But…
"Fine." You reply.
It was something you started, and it was something you should finish… and regardless, you had to clean the archery club as well. It was going to be a long night. With luck, at least, Caster wouldn't worry
too much. "Just tell me what needs to be done. I'll clean the archery club after."
Issei looked truly grateful.
—
It was seven at night when you finished putting away the mop. Issei had left a good hour prior, with the last of the heaters fixed… and a small amount of bandages on both of your hands,
that task was done. But part of your making things up to Ayako was cleaning the archery club, and if it wasn't before practice tomorrow evening there would be absolutely hell to pay.
Hence why you were walking, more than a little tired, out of the archery club at seven in the evening.
It bears repeating that it was seven in the evening and you were still on the school grounds. Just in case there was anyone listening, they could know how annoyed you were about it. You didn't mind being the schools 'repair wizard', but it ate up a lot of your time.
It's cold, damned cold. And it's only worse with the wind blowing as harshly as it is, your cheeks go numb upon contact with the air, and you let out an involuntary shiver. It was dark as well, the moon was hiding behind the clouds, at least it was peaceful… with it being past curfew all of the students had long since gone home. You were an hour past curfew yourself, and it would be another half hour at least until you walked through your front door to a heated table and a warm soup.
*CLANG*
You blink, looking up from where you had been trudging towards the exit of the school grounds. Something like crashing metal sounded out through the air, followed by another, then another. A… feeling filled you then, possibly fear. But you found yourself moving towards the sound regardless. You round the corner to the schoolyard, then pause.
Your mind stops completely.
View: https://youtu.be/66DW--mbGI8
Standing just a few dozen feet away from you is a woman, she's dressed in silver armor, placed over a dress of blue. In her hands she grasps a sword, or, at least what you momentarily thought was one. Her hands are in a grip like she was holding one, but where one would be is only air. Her hair is blond, done up in a bob, and she is staring across the school grounds towards-
You stumble back.
The monster from before.
It was drooling onto the ground, a thick, viscous fluid as stared at the woman in blue.
Crack
Your heart stills as you regain your footing, and you glance down to see a branch you had crushed underfoot. You look back up again, only to see the monster a foot away from you, a maniacal grin on its misshapen face.
The woman in blue lets out a noise of alarm, and you watch, mesmerized, unable to move as the monster's hand reaches out towards you.
Then another arm wraps around your waist and you find yourself flying up into the sky.
You flail almost on instinct, watching as the monster's hand grabs nothing but air. In the time you had to process that you were moving, you had already gone a good fifty feet in the air, and you jerked your head back to see Caster glaring down at the monster.
"Do not flail master, we must leave."
"What are you doing here!?"
Medea frowns towards you a moment, then jerks to the side as the beast leaps after you both. It narrowly misses you, but the sound as it flies by to crash on a nearby rooftop is like standing beside a train skipping the station at full speed.
"If you must know, I arrived thirty seconds ago, curious as to your delay. I see now my arrival was fortuitous." Caster explains. Then wraps her second arm around your chest.
Then. You both are gone in a moment, suffused by magic.
—
You blink, finding yourself suddenly standing in the midst of your courtyard. Roughly at the same spot you saw Caster waving her hands just yesterday. You stumble forward, falling out of Caster's grip and narrowly avoiding falling face first into the snow in the process. Then you feel Caster's hands shove against your back, and you really do fall face forward into the snow.
The sound of lightning fills the air, and you jerk yourself around to see your roof
exploding. Beams of purple light shoot out of the roof tiles into the air. And you find yourself staring up as the monster, having apparently cleared the two mile distance between the school and your house in the time it took you to process where you were. Falls through the air. The beams of magic slam into it, leaving smoking holes where they impact, but they do nothing to slow it, hell, they seemingly do nothing to
harm it, as the damage does nothing to hinder the thing.
Caster leaps back, grabbing you by the front of your shirt, and you let out a dignified yelp as the monster crashes down, sending a torrent of snow a dozen feet into the sky. The force of the impact is enough to send both you and Caster hurtling back, though with her grip you don't tumble, merely slide as the beast gets its bearing.
It was smoking, holes punched clear through it from Caster's magic, and that was far from the only wounds it had. Deep cuts and gashes ran across its body, a foul purple liquid oozing out to paint the snow the color of rotten meat. The beast
stank, overpowering even the scent of magic in the air. It smelled of carrion and sweat, and its heavy breaths turn to steam in the air as its eyes snap towards the two of you.
Then it leaps forward, spear outstretched.
Your own body was moving on instinct before the beast ever moved. Your weapon, a piece of discarded roof tile held in your hands, exploded as it blocked the thrust of the spear. Turning into fragments of ceramic that peppered your body. The reinforcement of the tile was all that kept you from taking that spear through the chest. And the beast lets out a howl of what was possibly delight.
You moved without thinking. Grabbing onto Caster's hand and yanking her back, running, somewhere,
anywhere. Plans? Where? Ice cold fear filled you as the beast howled an echoing, layered cry like a dozen screaming voices that bounced around the courtyard and caused your brain to
twinge.
You made it halfway across the courtyard towards the shed before you suddenly realized a slight flaw in your plan. You didn't even feel the pain, there was just a… twitch of agony that shot up your body as you suddenly lost the ability to walk forward. Distantly, you heard Caster let out a shriek… but you could hardly hear her. You glanced down, a spear was pierced through your chest, and you had but a moment to process that before you were flung forward. By Caster? By the monster? You didn't know. You tumbled through the snow, landing on your back in the shed, the taste of iron filling your mouth.
"Grk." You said, brilliantly, jerking your head up to see out the shed. Caster stood at the entrance, floating there, her hands raised as purple, beautiful butterfly wings erupted from her back.
Was she protecting you?
That… that wasn't right.
You were supposed to be… protecting… her?
Yes.
That's right.
You have to save her.
You can't die here.
You
can't die here.
That just wouldn't be fair. Circe said you had to take care of her.
You just… had to get… up…
But why was that so hard?
Your hands pushed against the floor, but there wasn't strength there, only pain, pain rapidly filling your body and becoming all that you could think about. Your vision wavered, and you bit your tongue, forcing the world to stay in focus.
No, you couldn't die here.
You couldn't!
Then the beast roared, and the shed filled with a red light.
—
Hatred.
It was… a good emotion, it kept you driven. It was all you understood these days. Hatred led to bloodshed, bloodshed led to death. Death… death led to everything you ever wanted, it was your goal. Your sole, driving purpose. For there were no others. There was no greater meaning in this life or any others, no heroes, no kings, no family.
There was only death, betrayal, and madness.
If you weren't fighting, what else was there? A pointless, shunned existence? A shadow, meant to perform their duty and little else?
No.
No you wouldn't accept that.
You would kill.
You would maim.
You would
slaughter.
There is no meaning, not anymore. It is just mindless savagery, and they would all die. The innocent, the guilty, the loyal, the traitors, the strong, the weak. They would…
They would…
Die… by your hand.
Yes.
That's right.
Your hand…
But… who the fuck even were you, anyway?
—
The monster's spear was sailing towards Caster, the woman conjuring a shield that would have likely been unable to stop it, not fast enough, not strong enough. You watch as the world slows down, as your breath hangs in the air.
As a sword slams into the spear and sends it uselessly against the wall of the shed.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Od7R6eAtY
A screaming blur then slams into the creature, one moment standing in the middle of a circle of magic. The next shoving an armored elbow into the monster's stomach. The spearman bellows a warcry, skidding across the snowy ground of the courtyard. The new figure is a woman, blonde of hair, the same shade even as the last you saw. Wearing silver, bloodstained armor across her entire body sans her head, her eyes, green, are bloodshot and manic. She lets out a cry of her own, bestial and crazed, then leaps forward.
Her sword stabs out, one hand on the pommel the other on the grip. The monster's spear swings up, battering the blade aside, then reaches a gigantic hand out to grab at the woman. Only for your view of them to be blocked momentarily by Caster rushing into the shed.
"Shirou?!"
You try and speak, only for more blood to erupt from your mouth.
Caster moves immediately, getting down onto her knees at your side as her hands move to your chest, freeing you once again to look at the battle. They stand at opposite sides of the courtyard once again, your house… Medea's room in fact, caved in from where one of them had apparently
crushed it.
The newcomer, the woman, was laughing maniacally, and it was only then from this angle that you could see… she was bleeding, very heavily. A
gigantic hole was in her stomach, clear through, easily half a foot in each direction and pouring out blood. Surrounding the wound was a golden light that drifted off into little specks in the air, blocking any view of her innards, but she was bleeding from it regardless. It was clean through her armor and flesh, giving you a view straight through to the monster on the other side.
It charged again, towards you, and the shed for that matter. Its spear raised to swing like a club. The woman's blade meets it, then again, and again. Their weapons clashing against each other with a sound akin to an avalanche, their forms blurring as they move too fast to follow. Roars mingle with laughs, and they separate, both leaping back a half dozen feet before charging again.
*Crash*
Only for the monster to go tumbling face first into the snow, snarling. Heavy chains of metal were wrapped around its legs, and you jerked your head to find the source being a woman standing atop the manor wall. She was… otherworldly, just like everything else this evening. With long purple hair that shifted in the breeze and a blindfold over her eyes.
Your eyes snapped back to the fight as the swordswoman lets out a roar, and you look just in time to see her blade slamming down onto the creature, its head separated from its shoulders to roll off into the snow. The chains dissipate at nearly the same moment, and you look back to see the blindfolded woman gone, leaving nothing but… your halfway destroyed house, a giggling, blood covered woman slowly turning to look at you. And Caster, standing up now that the wound on your chest was closed.
Caster stands, facing the swordswoman, a perfectly flat expression on her face.
The swordswoman, for her part, walks with a slight limp, seemingly unbothered otherwise by the massive gaping wound in her sternum. Her armor was dented and battered, red blood mixing with red paint across it. And you realize she isn't helmetless… part of one is still there, sticking up in chunks around her neck from where it looks like it
exploded. Her sword, battered as well, is dragged along on the ground behind her as her giggles slowly quiet, then cease. Her smile doesn't disappear however, it's a crooked, almost manic thing, and she lifts the sword to rest it against her shoulder as she stops at the threshold of the shed.
She looks down at you, crumbled on the floor.
"You my master?"
View: https://i.imgur.com/P1Qn1Ah.jpg
—
[To be Continued]
I forgot to vote.
