A/N: It has begun. The battle of the strongest.
-
At first I was afraid, I was petrified-
Well, not quite, pushing down the 'coffee' we got was a far more trifling ordeal when compared to facing the facts. It was taking all I had to not curse, toss the coffee across the quiet little cafe, and spit every bit of the heinous liquid desecrating my tongue all over Rin's face for making me partake in such a grave insult to my gentlemanly ways.
Truly, I was miffed.
Why did I have to be nice-
"Are you constipated?" Rin put down her cup, pulling her gaze away from the road outside. "What's with that face?"
I blankly pointed at the mostly untouched coffee lying on my end of the table. I understood her, I did. Rin didn't really have the money to put up with my tastes but still, I would've paid myself...
"Ah right, you really hate that..." She drawled, "I'm sorry, I forgot."
I sighed, "It's fine. We doing any better?"
At that, her gaze faltered for a moment, then a somber expression formed on her face. "I'll... I'll try to do better next time. Who knows? Maybe we'll meet him again."
I hid my smile behind my palm.
That was going to be a lot sooner than she thought. In fact, she'd possibly meet him again today. Whether she knew or not, that was something else.
I scratched the back of my head. "He meant well, just that the way he went about it wasn't really, uh, you know?"
"Mm. He deserves a good kick in the head for that." She took a gulp.
"Agreed. Several, even."
Offering a silent prayer for the level of sheer annoyance I was about to unleash on Shirou Emiya, I raised a hand to call for the waitress. The short woman noticed immediately, almost like there was no other customer in the cafe, and floated over with a polite smile, fixing her hair.
She mumbled out some words that I understood not one bit of. Still, I pointed at my cup.
"You can take this disgusting swill and throw it to the pigs, where it belongs."
"...I like it." Rin murmured.
"Wa-What?" The waitress sputtered out some broken English, "I don't-"
To save the poor woman from her plight, Rin spoke up in her native tongue. Of course, I did not understand that either.
Not even slightly understanding the language of a nation I'd come to was a fault of my own, but in my defense, the general consensus within the Clock Tower seemed to be that there was nothing worth the trouble in this backwater nation.
What was insane was, every Clock Tower magus that came here had already met an untimely end, with the sole exception of myself.
"You won't die if you're a bit politer, you know?" Rin spoke up once the lady left.
I shrugged, "I knew she wouldn't understand, Rin. Have some faith. I wouldn't be rude to someone just doing their job. If anything, you're a bum for ordering me coffee."
"Why is this such a big deal to you?" She groaned.
She was right. T'was just coffee, after all.
"Hmph." I huffed and turned away my head.
Rin groaned louder.
The moment I turned, I noticed that what few customers were actually there were all either discreetly, or openly watching us. A small group of teenagers in uniform in one corner, an elderly couple in another, and some lone woman sitting by the counter.
"Well, can't be helped, I'm just so handsome~" I ran a hand through my hair.
Rin made a strange face. "You're very humble, huh?"
"Just so, my dear Rin. A humbler man you will not find. The Church will probably saint me for it at some point."
"Right, is that going to be before or after they skin and burn you alive for being a heretic?"
I sighed, "How pessimistic. Where's your sense of fantasy?"
"Realistic," She corrected. "you should take note."
Woah.
Where'd that come from?
"You're planning on actually fighting the King of Heroes a few days from now."
I nodded. "Mhm, mhm."
"Henry, magecraft won't work on him because of how old he is. He has a near inexhaustible treasury of noble phantasms, and from what I saw, the kind of rotten personality that enjoys seeing people suffer."
"Three words. Nine Ropes. Polarized Light."
"That's four words." She said flatly.
"Crow and Declaration."
Suddenly, her breath hitched. The musty air inside the cafe stilled. Realisation flashed through her widening eyes. "You're chanting. Why are you chanting-"
"Between..."
At that point, I couldn't hold back and started laughing at her. I wasn't dumb enough to pop a Hollow Purple in broad daylight, in the middle of a densely populated city... maybe.
"You seriously fell for it."
"It's not my fault your spells don't give off any mana!"
That was... fair. Each and every magus was capable of 'sensing' the presence of magical energy. It was their bread and butter after all, and the craft they dedicated their entire lineages to. That was why I was uniquely suited to messing with them.
Rin pursed her lips, "Again, a spell can't beat Gilgamesh. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"
Faced with her earnest concern, I rested my chin atop my palm.
"It's touching that you're worried."
"W-Wha-"
"But, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try. Don't worry, I'm strong."
"Why can't you understand-"
I held up my hand, cutting her off again, "And, if the going gets too rough, I'll leg it. I won't throw away my life for the thrill."
Even though I wanted nothing more, I understood now that I could not.
"Promise?"
"Promise." I unceremoniously shot to my feet, "Now, let's go grocery shopping."
"What?"
"I wanna try Emiya's cooking. Smelled delicious last time."
-
King Arthur opened the gate to the Emiya Residence with her usual stink eye. Funnily enough, she greeted Rin politely, just not me. I really wondered what I'd even done to deserve a special expression reserved just for me.
"How cold, Saber. What'd I ever do to you?"
Her answer was immediate and without place for purchase, "Brutalized the one I call master over a misunderstanding."
"Oh," I halted a moment, then waved a hand in dismissal, "You're the King of the Britons, aren't you used to wars? That type of thing tends to happen, trust me~"
She considered my words, then her gaze passed over Rin, lingering over her missing command seals for a time before her eyes met mine once again. Saber crossed her arms.
"Archer is dead, at your hands, I assume."
"Could've been another servant." I whistled. When she said nothing, I folded, "Okay fine, everyone else is gone, except Rider and you."
At that, Saber faltered, "They are?"
Rin pursed her lips, "She didn't know, Henry. Why did you think she'd know?"
I shrugged my hands.
Knowing this grail war, she could have had a built-in sensor telling her when one of her fellow servants 'died'.
"Then, you've come for me?" Her words were unnecessarily sharp.
Instead of explaining, or taking offense, I shoved the grocery bags I was carrying into her hands and unceremoniously stepped past. I made sure to lean my head close when I passed her. Her being so short made it easier to look down on her.
"I enjoy bullying, but not when they're as weak as you~"
"You are of my people, are you not?" She remained ever serious, unperturbed by the insult.
I nodded, "My respect for your legend isn't going to stop me from running the fade."
"Hm. Fair."
"How is that fair?" Rin tilted her head, confused.
"True respect is earned through acts, not given by names. The audacity is refreshing."
I tuned them out and yawned as I pushed aside the shoji door. Shirou sat at the kotatsu table, a steaming tea cup in his hands. He acknowledged my entrance with a nod, and looked up blandly. Beside him, Sakura trembled, lowering her head.
For a beat, I listened to the howling wind outside, then waved a hand. "Yo, Shirou."
After seeing an older version of him call me a friend, and kill himself right after, seeing this Shirou brought up an indescribable feeling. I felt disgust and relief, mixed with a morbid curiosity.
The teen in front of me was nothing like his older counterpart.
"What do you want?" He asked bluntly.
I let my head fall towards the door just as Saber stepped inside, "Cook for me."
"Got it."
"What? That's it?"
"I don't mind helping with something like that."
"Well, let me help you out anyway-"
"Master, you have to be careful." Saber cut me off once she was done carefully setting down the food. "He could mean to win the war by attacking you here. I am the last servant."
I understood where she was coming from, but, dammit.
"Hey, lady, stop cutting me off. I only ignore it when it's a hot woman doing it. Haven't I already said I'm not killing you? At least, not before I drag you to Gray."
"Who is Gray?"
"The better you. She's nice and cute. You're just rude."
The King of Knights scoffed at my words, "And you are the very picture of grace."
Cackling at her words, I plopped down on the tatami mat under me. "So, right, Shirou, wanna go to the Clock Tower once the war is over?"
Suddenly, Sakura was looking up with such wide eyes that even I doubted myself for a second. I hadn't said anything alarming... had I?
In response to my confusion, Rin bopped me on the head from behind.
"What kind of place do you think the Clock Tower is, exactly?"
-
Hope you enjoyed.
You can find advanced chapters at patre0n.com/Bleap. They're not many, but they're long, because I'm going to make the fight a single chapter, instead of splitting it up. This is also the last week for this book so if you were thinking about showing some love, head on over.