As she took a seat at the back of the room, Gray looked around the classroom feeling slightly depressed at the age gap between herself and the rest of the students. As a novice class for beginners, the rest of the students were not even in their teens.
Officially, classes such as this were provided for the children of Magi who were too busy with research. It was not uncommon for a research experiment to require weeks if not months of nearly constant attention leaving a magus temporarily unable to fulfill other obligations. Obligations such as training their heirs. The class was purported to provide a dynamic learning system on the basic dos and don'ts of magecraft while allowing students to gain experience at mana manipulation. Unofficially, the class was an over glorified day care.
There was however one exception to the age gap in the students.
A red haired boy a couple of years older than even herself sat in the row right in front of her. With an intense focus he carefully tore a page from his textbook. Already half of the pages were missing from the hefty tome.
"…Um" She really wanted to ask why he felt the need to destroy his textbooks but thought better of it. She had learned to accept that magi were an odd bunch and that trying to understand them was an endeavor of futility at best. That and most magi didn't like to be asked about their magecraft.
Fortunately, someone else decided to ask in her place.
"What are you doing?" asked a young girl with pale blonde hair that that failed to reach her shoulder blades. Her teal-blue eyes crinkled in amusement as she stared at the expertly folded paper with a seemingly knowing smile.
"Oh, I'm just studying" the young man replied nonchalantly as he expertly folded the page into a sword using the ancient art of origami. Once completed the redhead merely gave the paper sword a single glance before he promptly tossed the folded paper over the smiling girls head into a trashcan. He then proceeded to tear out another page.
"Oh, and how does destroying books help you study?" asked the young girl charmingly as she stared at him with a strange potency. Gray found herself curious about the boys statement as well. Was his magecraft focused around Origami?
"My master said that Magi aren't supposed to talk about their magecraft" said Shirou with a small shiver "she was painfully insistent on that going so far as to threaten learning necromancy."
Gray nodded to herself at the boys statement as the little girl playfully pouted. Most magi tended to be very protective of their crafts. If the young man was an apprentice then sharing the secrets of his own magecraft would be no different from sharing his masters secrets.
"Oh, then do you mind if I sit by you? I'll be sure to not distract you" said the girl with a pleasant smile "my name is Manaka by the way."
"Sure, my name is Shirou, and I'll be happy to help you anytime you need it so don't be afraid to ask" replied the redhead with a small grin of his own before returning back to his work.
"…I'll be sure to hold you to that" said Manaka with a conspiratorial smile as she took a seat.
For a brief moment eye contact was established and Gray found herself staring into teal eyes that held for only the briefest of moments a cunning inhuman intelligence. So short was the moment that Gray almost thought that she had imagined it.
Throughout the eons of history it is said that there have been sudden moments of clarity were a person discovers a fundamental truth of the world. An absolute that is known to every fiber of their being as if it was engraved into their very souls.
In that moment a clarity overcame Grey were she knew with absolute certainty that Manaka was a being who existed for the sole purpose of relishing and ravishing Gray. Or perhaps not Gray herself specifically but rather an existence that Gray was somehow deeply connected to. It did not matter the time period or even what world Gray came from. It did not even matter what gender Gray was. Manaka's entire world was a very morally Gray place focused on a single person.
As eye contact was broken and reality reasserted itself Gray found herself almost gasping for breath in pure terror. The greatest of all her fears had finally come true…
She had finally found a second Svin!
It was almost five minuets after class was supposed to have started that their instructor entered the room followed by another male student who much to Gray's surprise appeared to be around the same age as the redhead in front of her.
If Gray was forced to describe them, she would say that the instructor was definitely on the portly side and carried an air of pride like a second coat. All things considered, this was far from uncommon among magi. The younger man who had moved to take a seat at the front of the class had wavy blue hair that made Gray think of a certain plant from the ocean.
"My name is Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia" the man said grandiosely as he demanded the attention of all the students "and I will be acting as your substitute teacher. The normal instructor had a… small accident yesterday and won't be available for a while. But do not worry, for I am more than qualified to teach this class. Now are there any questions?"
"Uh hu" said a young girl with short orange hair pulled to the side in a ponytail as she raised her hand with a grin on her face "I'm bored. When do we get to start the cool stuff like blowing people up?"
"…There will be no explosions in this class" said Gordes as an expression of uneasiness crossed his face at the little girls question "I think I'm going to go ahead and skip the questions for now and go onto introductions. You at the front end of the room state your name and goals for the class to hear."
The student who had followed the instructor in rose from his seat and swept back his blue hair.
"My name is Shinji Matou" said the seaweed head with a sly smirk "and my goal for the future is to bring my bloodline back to its former greatness."
The redheaded who had previously been so engrossed in his work nearly banged his knee on the desk as he jumped up from his seat in surprise
"Shinji!?" asked the young man completely stunned "what are you doing here?"
"Oh? Well, if it isn't my good old pal Emiya" said Shinji while he brought a hand back up to sweep his hair again and let a large smirk cross his face "why are you so surprised? As a proper Magus isn't it only natural that I would be a student at the Clock Tower?"
"Ah" was the lackluster response of his good old pal "I had honestly forgotten about that."
"Oy, Emiya" said Shinji as a small frown crossed his face "you're starting to make me look bad here. The Matou line might have declined a bit over the past few centuries but we are hardly dead. If we were then the Yggdmillennia faction wouldn't be so interested in me. A crestless spell caster like you has no place criticizing me."
A strange look came over Gordes face after learning that tidbit. Gray imagined that the man wasn't all that pleased to learn that one of his students was not only uninterested in the advancement of magecraft, but he was also a first generation magus.
"If you say so Shinji" said Shirou as he stared at the blue haired boy skeptically "but since when do you have a crest?"
"I don't yet" admitted Shinji before he released a small snigger "but my grandfather said that he was so surprised that I had managed to survive the Grail War that he would go ahead and let me have part of the Matou crest… I just have to wait for him to finish his vacation in Vegas."
"As informative as this all is" said Gordes before shooting a small frown at both of them "we really need to move on. There are some people here who actually have aspirations for the advancement of their magecraft. Please continue with the next student."
The introductions continued for several minutes as one by one each student gave their name and goal to the class. Gray honestly didn't pay much attention to the procession. Before long it finally came to the pale blond haired girl that terrified Gray to the core.
"My name is Manaka Sajou, heiress to the Sajou magic crest. As for my goal? I'm afraid that is a secret~" teased the girl with small a curtsy.
"Very good Ms. Sajou, we are happy to have you here. Now may the next student stand up" said the instructor prompting the redhead of the class to rise from his seat and give a polite bow to the class.
"My name is Shirou Emiya and this might sound silly, but…" the redhead replied with a frown "…my boss said that he doesn't want me to embarrass him by telling other people my goals."
"Just go ahead and say it Emiya" said Shinji with an annoyed huff as he slumped in his seat and lifted a finger towards the redhead "people are going to figure it out sooner or later and I would prefer it if one of the people I consider to be my rival could at least say his goals with full confidence in himself."
"Ah, if that is the case then…" said Shirou before his face turned into smile of such innocent purity that for a moment the world itself seemed to be frozen in time "…I really, really, want to be a Hero of Justice."
For a moment Gray felt her breath get caught in her throat. She looked around the class and noticed that many of the other students also appeared to be affected by the strange phenomenon as they stared at Shirou with wide eyes.
The worst of them was poor Shinji who was left gaping in his seat with his finger still pointed in the redheaded boys direction. For a moment Gray wondered if he was broken. She couldn't be sure from back here but it almost sounded as if he was muttering something about Shirou and chicken magnets. Gray was becoming more and more certain that she would never understand city folk and their strange ways.
'Gihihihi! It would seem that the white knight skill set is super effective on children' came the amused observation of the mystic code hidden in her right sleeve 'that young man is truly with his intellectual peers among children.'
With a loud thump the young orang haired girl who was more than likely to be a psychotic monster disguised in human form jumped up from her seat. With her short orange hair, complexion, and amber eyes she looked suspiciously similar to Shirou. Perhaps they were related? Gray failed to recall the girls name from the earlier introductions.
"…Are you saying that magi can actually do something other than being a bunch of stuffy old bores?" asked the little girl from her new standing position as she pointed accusingly at Shirou with wide uncomprehending eyes.
"Though I wouldn't word it like that, I don't see why we can't" replied Shirou as he absently rubbed the back of his head "its not like the only thing that magecraft can be used for is to simply further the advancement of magecraft itself. In fact there are plenty of applications…"
"No you can't!" shouted a flustering Gordes as a trickle of sweat broke out above his brows "there are no jobs for magi other than being magi! Everything else is just a lie! Propaganda by the vile Church!"
Gray blinked in confusion at the antics of Gordes which seemed so at odds with his pompous attitude. He was acting as if his students suddenly deciding to not be magi would… Oh, never mind. Having the years of indoctrination that parents had put so much effort into making their children follow the 'proper' path broken down would no doubt reflect poorly on the instructor of the class. What would make it even worse was that it was still only the first day of classes.
It was more than evident that at least a few of the younger and more impressionable students had yet to be taught of the reviled concept of 'spell casters' who cared not for the advancement of magecraft.
"I don't get it" admitted Shirou as he raised a skeptical brow at Gordes "there are plenty of jobs that magecraft can be used for. I use to fix a lot of mechanical devices such as motorcycles with the help of magecraft."
The commotion in the class room came to an abrupt end as loud banging and crashing sounds came from the hallway just outside of the classroom. The sounds of an epic battle being waged just outside the door filled the room and captured the attention of the entire class as yells and screams were heard. Few could have correctly guessed at what horrors lay beyond that door.
"Oh no its gotten loose again!" came a distressingly familiar voice and it took every bit of will power Gray had to not hide her face in her hands "it will eat us all alive!"
"Somebody help" came another familiar voice "we need a hero of justice!"
The redheaded young man, Shirou Emiya, immediately leapt up and rushed to the door with a blazing determination in his eyes that somehow tugged at memories Gray knew she didn't have. Without a second thought the aspiring hero of justice immediately heaved the door open and prepared to wage battle on the unknown horrors that threatened the innocent.
And with a resounding clang a frying pan smashed into his head.
"…I can't believe that your plan actually worked Flat" said a voice that compelled Gray try to hide herself deeper inside her hood.
"Of course it worked Svin. Was there ever any doubt?" asked Flat as he cheerfully approached the fallen hero "but did you really have to hit him so hard? There are so many things I wanted to talk to him about…"
"I always doubt any plan made by you. The fact that they all somehow manage to work out in the end doesn't mean that I'm going to let my guard down for when reality starts to make sense again" replied Svin before peeking his curly blond haired head inside the door "sorry for the commotion but we… wha- Gray!"
"Sorry Svin but we still have an important mission!" said Flat with a casual smile as he forcefully dragged his partner in crime towards the comatose Shirou "you can go back to stalking Grey later once we have finished turning this guy into our friend."
For a moment the class could only stare in stunned silence as the pair of blondes abducted the redheaded young man. Even the perpetually cheerful Manaka seemed surprised by this turn of events. Nothing could prepare you for Flat Escardos. Nothing.
The silence that permeated through the room was shattered into a million shards.
"What!?" shouted Gordes with his body now trembling in emotions beyond mere rage and a holy fury shined in his eyes at the sight of the retreating duo "who is it that would dare to slight my name by stealing a student in broad daylight!? Even if that boy is no better than a back water savage… he is still my back water savage!"
With a speed that Gray did not think a man of such bulk could move with, Gordes charged out the door with a trail of blazing dust following him as he hunted down her rapidly retreating peers. Apparently this slight caused by Flat and Svin was the last straw that broke the camels back so to speak. To be honest, he was taking this far better than most of the professors do when this happens.
'I think that this is going to be the start of a wonderful year' came the voice from her sleeve.
The rest of the children having heard the abductors identify her as a possible accomplice all turned their heads simultaneously in her direction with a synchronicity that caused Gray to whimper as she tried to hide further in her hood. It didn't work.
And throughout all of this, Shinji remained catatonic with his mouth agape still staring as where Shirou had once sat.