Once again, sorry for being a bit late. I was outside.
-
When Rin finally arrived late into the afternoon, I left the Emiya Residence feeling a lot better about myself than I'd have thought after nearly burying an adolescent in an early grave. His easy forgiveness shouldn't have meant much at all, yet it relieved me in a way I found hard to understand. I wasn't sure I'd be capable of doing the same given the circumstances he was in.
"I'd be happier if he didn't keep asking me to teach him magecraft."
He was relentless and forthright. I had to step all over his hopes all the same. My words to him were no lie. I could not, possibly, teach him, even if I wasn't already disinclined to take a student. Teaching was a pain. My Professor suffered greatly for having me as a disciple.
I shook my head, watching droplets of rain halt in the air a foot around me, then resume their fall once I stepped past.
Sure, taking the umbrella Shirou offered would be far more efficient compared to using my absolute defense to avoid my clothes getting wet, but I'd been waiting for a long while to be able to use it in such a way.
There was a certain feel-good charm to it.
Fighting Saber had felt a lot better though.
The walk back home was nice and quick, if not a bit lonely. Shirou Emiya and I lived in the same part of town, even with the clear-cut segregation between the abodes of foreigners like myself and natives like him. Before long, the manses to either side had gone from traditional Japanese architecture with the sloped roofs to more Western-style bungalows and tudor houses.
Humming to myself, I pushed open the tall gates and stepped past to close them behind me.
Caren sat on the porch stairs, arms wrapped around her knees, watching the rain with wistful golden eyes. She paid little attention to me, until I ruffled her hair. Her hair-do was ruined. I chuckled at my complete victory, and at her visible confusion.
"What are you up to, ya gremlin?"
"Thinking about my father."
Oh.
I halted my gait, tilting my head, "Should I feel bad about beating him?"
"Mm, I'm thankful to you." She shook her head from side to side. Then, she reached for her collar and tugged at it, giving me a peek of her-... I quickly averted my gaze. "I can show my gratitude in another way, if you want?"
I groaned. "Come on. Why does everything have to be like this?"
"Because I don't know what else I'm supposed to do." She answered with surprising sincerity, before ducking her head. "What do I have?"
"Like I said before, not everything needs to be transactional. I," I took a deep breath, "You make me look like an ass when you do this, because it means I don't help you just because I care but because I want-... Nevermind."
Her eyes widened. I patted her head again, and entered my home.
The sound of Nobunaga's consoles hit me immediately.
Shouting. Shooting. Explosions. The whole jazz.
There was no need for me to even see the screen to know she was playing Call of Duty... again. The first one, from long before it became an over-glorified joke. The release was only last year. I'd gone with my Professor and Ellie to buy it.
I stepped into the 'conquered' hall-sized room, taking no small care in avoiding all the wrappers, empty soda cans and comics strewn about the marble floor. In silence, I crept up to the couch she'd dragged to the centre of the room after emptying it out. She was, expectedly, too busy playing to even pay attention to me right up until the last second when I shot out and wrapped my arm around her neck in a perfect headlock.
The self-titled Demon King jerked and yelled out, "M-Master!"
"You shit, you abandoned me!"
"I was giving chase to your enemies! A-After Berserker!" She explained her innocence hurriedly, tapping my arm.
But! If she had committed no crime, what need was there to explain in the first place?
Dressed in her shorts and her over-sized t-shirt, with a half-eaten bag of chips and a bottle of coke, one would never assume she'd burnt down a forest, set the sky aflame, and fought the greatest hero of Greece, just last night. In fact, the progress of their clash made me do a double-take with how brutally one-sided it had been even thinking about it.
"I even cornered that child, almost! But, she slipped away."
"You let her go."
She trembled, "O-Only because I wanted to save Berserker for you! Trust!"
I eased my grip. She slipped out from under it and jumped across the room. Triumphantly, she stood next to the fireplace, a hand at her waist and the other pointed at my face.
"I let her go because Berserker managed to blindside me and escape! Haha!"
"Why are you proud of that?" I deadpanned, leaning on the head of the couch, "By the way, you realise you just left me alone with your game, right?"
She froze. Then,
"...You wouldn't dare."
I slowly brought my fingers together for a snap.
She held her hands up, like she was trying to placate a wild animal, "Wait, wait, let's talk about this."
Just then, my phone rang. Curiously, I fished it out of my pocket and glanced at the Caller ID. The Professor. That was a surprise to be sure, especially since he'd told me he would be too busy during the coming days. I stared at the running game, then at the cautious Nobunaga.
"You're lucky this time."
"I'm always lucky." She stuck out her tongue. "Bleh!"
I could only shake my head and turn away from glorious revenge as I hit 'Answer'.
"Henry."
The Lord El-Melloi II spoke dryly. His words made me picture him sitting in that dusty old office of his, clutching his stomach with his brows all furrowed and a lit cigar in his mouth.
"Professor." I smiled, stepping into the corridor. "Flat's been doing my part in making your life hell, I hope?"
He grumbled. "That... and then some. The Holy Grail War. Tell me about it."
"I managed to track down almost all of the servants." I withheld nothing for there was no one I trusted more. "Oh yeah, came across two of the three Founding Families too. The Tohsaka have Archer. Einzbern, Berserker. That leaves out the... uh, Matou! Yeah, that's the one. I think I might be able to-... wait a second, that was just a courtesy, wasn't it?"
My professor cleared his throat, "I admit I wasn't expecting you to actually share any details."
For once, I disliked being right.
"That's right. You only ever call me when you need something. And here I thought we were tight."
"I'm your teacher." He said.
"Boo~"
"I don't have the time to amuse you." He shut me down entirely, "I'm sure you've noted the lack of attention you're getting compared to the nature of your 'crime'."
I didn't need to answer that.
"I've found out that the Department of Policy is directly responsible. Whether it's to do with you, or that ritual you've forced yourself into, I've yet to figure out but..."
"They have interest here." I licked my dry lips.
"Yes, so be careful."
This simply made the Fuyuki war even better. The Department of Law answered directly to the Queen of the Clock Tower. If, somehow, the situation soured in a way that made her involve herself, I'd end up gaining even more than I had set out for.
"I've enlisted Gray to help me in my investigation. And Henry,"
"Hm?" I raised a brow.
I heard him take a deep breath, "I've confirmed that Doctor Heartless ensured previously that the Clock Tower would come to know of your ability so that they may react as they did."
"I had an inkling, but yeah, alright, thanks Professor."
"You can leave him to me... to us. I have a bigger bone to pick with him, and his servant too."
With that, he cut the call. I leaned back against the wall, balancing the phone atop a finger. The door beside me, and Nobunaga walked out, a bit of chip on her lip. Her crimson eyes bore into mine.
"Something exciting?" She tilted her head.
I let my head fall to the side the same way as her, "Not for us, for the Professor, yes. He gets into more trouble than I do."
The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven blew out a sigh, then, suddenly, her frown morphed into the barest of grins.
"I did manage to track Berserker and his little Master to their castle."
Tossing my phone in the air, I shook my head, "Let her recuperate and... consider her situation. I'm curious about how she'll take the absolute beatdown you doled out."
I imagined it wasn't quite expected when he got gunned down like a rabid dog. No one would expect Hercules himself to take that sort of beating from a random servant. Nobunaga had the homeland bonus to her stats, but even that should never have put her in his league. No, it was his own strength that worked against him.
"I did get to fight Saber though." I caught the phone and shoved it in my pocket.
"Whaa? Without me? No fair."
"Don't be greedy."
"More is always better, my master!" She threw her head back and laughed. "Surely, you don't expect a Demon King to be satisfied with only one victory. Why, even during my life, I wanted one after the other. I especially loved fighting against that... Uesugi. Uesugi Kenshin!"
I did not know that name.
She noticed, "The Dragon of Echigo? I did not get to settle our score, and I regret it even now. Kah! Such a decisive loss."
This was definitely what passed for 'why back in my day' when it came to servants.
"Anyway! What are we to do then? Will it be another boring day of rest? I admit it is useful but we have no need-"
I held up a hand.
"No. I noticed a new Bounded Field. We're investigating."
"Alright!"
"But, after the Sun sets."
-
Hope you enjoyed.
You can find 8 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap
A bit less rn, but I'm writing as I post this.