Fate/Generation - Chapter 2

Day 1

I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock going off loudly. I quickly stopped it and slipped out of bed. As if I was programmed to do so, I moved to the dresser on the other side of the room and sorted out my school uniform. I then walked into the hallway and down the hall to the bathroom. A nice warm shower if the perfect way to wake myself up. Once I dried myself off I wrapped my body in a towel and returned to my room. I spent a good ten minutes getting dressed, I never really understood how some of the other girls at school could get these blouses on so quickly.

Once dressed, I made my way downstairs. I saw my father in the kitchen preparing breakfast. It was his turn today, and I was excused from cooking duty tomorrow, for obvious reasons. I smiled as I walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning dad."

"Oh, good morning Haruki. I hope you slept well."

"Of course, what's for breakfast today? Oh, and where is mom?"

"Misou soup today, and your mother is still sleeping. You know she's still not exactly use to working."

I smiled a bit and walked over to the dining room table, waiting for dad to finish breakfast. I took this time to study the book my mother prepared for me a few years ago. Tomorrow, late at night when my Magic Circuits were at full count, I would use the blood that's been prepared for me for the summoning circle...

"Alright, I can do this. I've been training five years for this now."

As I spoke, my father came in with breakfast. I'd grown use to seeing him in a apron, and from what he tells me he use to wear it even before I was born. He use to always cook meals for mom. Its kind of embarrassing, really. Both of them are great Magi, but together you would have a hard time picking them apart from your usual set of lovebirds. I smile at my dad and we start eating.

After breakfast, I get my shoes on and hurry out the front door. After I lock it behind me, I notice a very familiar kid walking down the street. He stops for a moment and hesitates. I make sure to make complete eye contact with him. Mom told me that was very important when speaking with people.

"Hey there Tohsaka, heading to school?"

He finally called out to me and I smiled. Sam always was an interesting person. He transferred here as part of some foreign exchange program and only knew basic Japanese. Despite that, he was fairly popular. He's in the Third-year classes with my friend Tsubaki, and she and him seem to have really hit it off. I heard a rumor that they were dating. He's only been around here for about three months now and he can already speak Japanese fluently. If nothing else, he is very impressive with his ability to pick things up on the spot.

"Senpai, hey. You're here before I got a chance to leave, that's a first isn't it?"

I'm not lying, this is the first time in my memory that Sam's gone by my house on his way to school before I left. He must have woken up early or maybe he just had a good night's sleep. I'm sure he's probably got it easier than me what with him not worrying about the Holy Grail.

"I guess it is, odd. I was just thinking about how I don't see your house this quickly after leaving for school."

I laughed with him softly and we chatted for a bit. I really don;t have much of an opinion of Sam, but if I had to make a statement you could say he;s the kind of guy you enjoy being around even if you're not quite sure why. He's sort of interesting that way. We both walk to school together, talking here and there, and once we arrived at the gates he broke into a full sprint towards Tsubaki.

Once occurred next could only be described as one of the most amusing things I've seen this year. Sam ran as fast as he could toward Tsubaki to flick her forehead as he has been doing since they became friends, and Tsubaki simply took one step the the left and flicked his forehead as he ran past her. The two laughed loudly, and I did my best to stop from falling over as I ran over to them, laughing all the while.

"Sam-Senpai, Tsubaki-senpai, you two are going to hurt yourselves one day."

"I'm sure you're right, but its more fun knowing that."

We talked a bit before classes, but after the first bell rang I quickly trotted off to my classroom. Class 2-A. My homeroom is taught by Fujimura Sensei, from what Dad tells me she use to watch over him, and has been teaching here since he was in school. She's funny sometimes, but she gets way too excited.

After a long day of classes I began my way home. As I left the gate, I saw Sam and Daichi Matou talking about something. Of course, that has nothing to do with me, so I just went home. When I got there, mom greeted me with a smile, and after some tea we both went down to the basement to prepare for the summoning tomorrow night.

Several hours of practicing the ritual and memorizing all the details made me a bit annoyed, but I'm well aware why I have to do this. Mom and Dad won the last Holy Grail War together, and now they want me to destroy the grail like they did last time.

"Remember, Haruki. Your posture is very important to the summoning of your Servant. My posture was too tight when I did my summoning and I ended up sending my Archer crashing through the ceiling. That and I was an hour off on my Magic Circuit full count..."

My mom never told me much about the 5th Holy Grail War. But from what I do know, Dad had a Saber-Class Servant and my Mom had the Archer-Class Servant. At some point Mom lost her Servant, and Dad somehow lost his without it dying. So my Mom got it back and made it her servant, then they destroyed the grail together.

"Don't forget you also need to control how much mana comes out at one time. If you overcharge the circle you could get an explosive summoning, like me."

"I know mom, I know."

A few more hours and was officially time for me to go to bed. Practicing magic is something you should never do if you're already tired, let alone do it for several hours. I sighed and crawled into bed, my thoughts wandering around what kind of Servant I'll get.

Day Two

I woke that morning with a slight headache, probably a result from all the training I did yesterday. Today was the day, Mom and Dad were going to watch over me as I summoned my Servant, and I was going to become a Master in the Holy Grail Wars, just like they were. I wonder if I'll get Saber or Archer like they did. I got out of bed, took my shower, dressed myself and made my way downstairs. I saw mom cooking breakfast in my place, she smiled at me as soon as I came into view.

"Good morning, Haruki. How are you feeling?"

"My head's a little sore after all that work we did yesterday, but I'm fine."

"Great, well go wait in the dining room and I'll be with you in a minute. Your father left for work early today so he could get out in time for the summoning."

How is my head being sore great? Oh well, I went to the dining room as she instructed and awaited until she arrived with breakfast. I wonder how far she got in the last Grail War before she lost her servant. If she tells me that than at least I can set a minimum goal for myself so I can beat my mother. No no, that's bad thinking. I need to win this war, no matter what.

"Hey mom."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"How far did you get in the last grail war before you lost your Archer?"

I asked her anyway, damn it this is a stupid idea. I need to wain so setting a minimum goal for myself is not going to help me accomplish anything if I just kee-

"Archer was the last Servant to die. Saved my life too."

"...huh?"

So, Archer was the sixth servant to die? That means in order to beat my mother I need to win this Grail war anyway. So, this whole conversation was completely pointless.

"Heh, right. Well, alright. I was just curious."

Me and mom ate our breakfast together. It was kind of lonely without Dad, but he'd be with me tonight. After breakfast, I got ready to head out the door. I have to get ready when I get home from school to summon my Servant and the sooner I can get the circle prepared the faster I can-

"Huh?"

I feel the phone in my pocket vibrating softly. I take it out and quickly check the caller, its Senpai. Without further hesitation, I open the phone.

"Sam-Senpai, morning. What's up?"

"Hey Tohsaka-san, getting ready for school?"

"Yep, just getting my shoes on now actually, why? You like walking to school with me so much that you want me to wait for you?"

"Haha, you may be right. But actually, I was calling to see if you were free tonight. Maybe we could go do something."

This is bad, I think he might be asking me out. I know a few of my friends are interested in him, but even besides that I can't accept. If I do then that might conflict with the summoning time and will ruin it. I have to think of a way out of this. Think...

"Oh... oh... well. Umm... it's not that I don't want to but... I'm really busy tonight!"

"Oh, that's okay. What are you busy with?"

"I have a lot of homework I need to do."

I think that should work. He does not know that much about me. Only what he's heard from Tsubaki-Senpai. So he should understand that I can't come, especially tonight. I hurriedly put my shoes on as I finish up the conversation.

"Right, right. Well, I just figured I would ask. See you at school then."

"Okay, bye Senpai."

I hang up and finally work my shoes on now that both my hands are free. I hurry out the door and walk to school. Once there, I didn't see Sam-Senpai at the gate. At first I thought he might be mad at me for turning him down, then I noticed Tsubaki-Senpai was not there either. Daichi, however, was standing there. I made my way over to him.

"Matou-kun, hey. Have you seen Sam-Senpai and Tsubaki-Senpai?"

"Oh, Tohsaka-Senpai. I just saw Sam-Senpai a little bit ago, he went to class. And Tsubaki-Senpai is sick today, she called me first thing in the morning."

"Oh, I see. Alright then, I need to get to class."

Daichi Matou. From what I understand, his father, Shinji Matou, and my mother have a bit of a conflicting history. Apparently they were rivals in the last Grail war and Shinji did some terrible things to my mom, but when his own Servant betrayed him, she saved his life. That's all I ever heard of it. The Tohsaka's and Matou's are on very good terms with each other now thanks to Sakura-Obasan. Hopefully he'll be staying out of this Grail War.

I hurried to my class and did my best not to get distracted by the thoughts of what I would be doing once home. However, it seems I may have started to daydream a bit as Fujimura-Sensei came over to my desk and patted my head to wake me up.

"Come on back to us, Tohsaka. What would your mother do if she caught you sleeping in class? I swear you have all your fathers bad habits..."

At mention of punishment from my mother, my body moved on its own to stand at attention. Sensei laughed a bit and skipped back to resume the lesson. I went to my normal table at the cafeteria after the bell rang, and saw that Sam-Senpai was not there. I asked a few of my friends and they told me he was excused from Afternoon classes today because his caretakers needed him urgently for something. That was the story going around at least, nobody wanted to think he would cut class.

I diligently attended my Afternoon classes, and after I was free to return home. I did so as quickly as I could, and once home I found Mom and Dad waiting for me. They took me down to the basement of the house and showed my the summoning circle they had prepared. Everything seemed perfect. Mom opened the small jewel box I was to be given and handed me two of the gems inside. I took them in my hand and we talked about everything I would need to know for the war.

I was reminded of the rules, that only the other Servants needed to die. I was reminded again and again by my father that there is no rule about killing the other Masters. Before I knew it several hours had passed, and my magic circuits were nearly at their full count. My mother made sure the clocks were right for some reason, she told me something about the clocks being off for her during the last Grail War.

Mom and Dad stood against the wall near the door, and I took my place in the center of the summoning circle. Focus... calm yourself... you need to control your mana...

"Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade."

"If thou submittest to the call of the Holy Grail and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond."

"Let the descending winds be as a wall."

"Let the gates in all directions be shut, rising above the crown, and let the three-forked roads to the Kingdom revolve."

"Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut."

"Five perfections for each repetition."

"And now, let the filled sigils be annihilated in my stead!"

"Set."

"I make my oath here."

"I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heavens."

"I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades."

"Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words,"

"Come past thy restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance,"

"Come forth to me!"

The room is shaking? Gyah! I wasn't told anything about something like this! I hear a strange noise, I have to open my eyes!

"Master."

"...Wa- huh?"

Before me, I see a tall man with short brown hair and a small beard was kneeling before me. He wore a green coat that went down to his knee's to cover a darker green and black shirt. He wore black pants and had a black cloak draped over one shoulder. I looked down at him, and noticed the book in his arms.

"I see... you're my Servant then."

I looked over his body, and from what I could see, he had no weapons except for that book he had with him. I smiled and bit and then looked to my parents, who were smiling at the Servant kneeling before me.

"So, you must be a Servant of the Caster class then."

"Thou art correct, Master."

"Very well, I'll be sure to put your powers to good use, I assure you. Now lets get a few things out of the way, shall we? What's your identity as a Heroic Spirit?"

"In my time I was known as William Shakespeare, playwright of England. I do hope that be enough to sate the curiosity of my Masters question."

His manner of speaking bothers me. He has a slight accent, but that's simple enough to deal with. My problem is these words, he seems to be deliberately picking the most complex words her can. I swear if he's doing that just to screw with me i'll use a Command Spell...

"So in history you were not an actual Caster then? Right, that may set us back just a li-"

"Hold, my Master. I sense something, me thinks another Servant may be residing in this dwelling."

My mother stepped forward, the smile starting to fade from her face.

"I assure you that's impossible, we have a barrier field set around this house."

"But, think this I ask of you. The Servant of the Assassin Class can sneak through any for of detection thou had set for him. The only manner in which thy could detect said intruder is with the powers of the Caster Class Servant, me."

My father then stepped forward to confirm what Caster had said. I wish I had been told this ahead of time, but it appears to be too late at this point.

"Caster, do you know where Assassin is right now?"

"His presence wanes with each moment passing, Master. I suspect by the time we take action the intruder of thy house with hath already escaped with the information he had sought."

"I see. Very well then, Caster, I want you to set up a more powerful boundary field around the perimeter of the house, and keep a look out for any enemy Servants while you do so."

Caster gave me a curt nod and dematerialized before me. I looked to my parents, who were frowning a bit. My mother looked to me.

"Well, you summoned your Servant, but I would be careful, dear. Somebody out there knows exactly what kind of card you're holding."

I nodded to my mother and made my way upstairs. Once in my room, I sat on my bed and let out a tired yawn. I must be more tired than I thought. I looked out the window to see what I could see from here. You can just see the light from Kotomine Church over in Shinto if you look hard enough, and I can see Tsubaki, Daichi, and Sam's houses from here. I turned the lights off and shut the curtains, then laid down in my bed to sleep.