I'm back everyone, and I've been such a responsible person for the previous month. The delay to the chapter was most likely might fault, but at least it's out now. (I forgot what I was going to type in this paragraph xd)
Makoto woke up in a start. Freaking out the second he got up, he accidentally rolled off onto the ground, stomach first, with a thud. He groaned at the impact.
"Ow…" Slowly, he got up into a more comfortable sitting position. Rubbing his back, it took him a second to realize where he was. Or rather, where was he?
This wasn't his apartment. A hint of confusion fused with the lethargic feeling he had. As he looked around, he noticed a strange mark on his hand. It had a rather strange design to it, with a circle, a bottom half of a circle underneath it, and a line that connected the two.
What exactly was this thing?
He didn't remember having a mark like that on his hand before. Had it happened last night? Everything was still fuzzy from waking himself up, abruptly.
As Makoto slowly woke up from his stupor, he tried to remember when did this strange mark appear.
It slowly came back to him overtime. He remembered that he was in the hospital, and then took a train to Osaka. From there he went to a church and talked to the priest about a all of it came crashing down onto him.
He was going to participate into a war. All traces of thoughts about the mark quickly vanished in an instant.
War, he was going to participate in a war. He felt like repeating it two times before the panicking. How the hell was he going to win!? He didn't have any experience in combat since he never got into many fights prior to the war. The only fight he had was with Nana, and the cat usually won all of them.
That meant he'd be a sitting duck for the entirety of the war. Makoto crazily prayed, to a god somewhere out there, that his servant was going to single handedly win the war. The chances of that happening were lower than the chances of Nana's coming back to him. Knowing that, he despaired.
Why did misfortune follow him everywhere? Ever since he graduated from high school and went to university, all that he was met with was bad luck. But, even bad luck had its limits. There was no way that luck could influence the events such as a tornado, an earthquake, and a robbery could happening at the same time and place. It was like the world was trying to kill him, or something.
After a few more moments of sulking for his misfortune, Makoto decided it was time to meet with his servant. He knew that he practically ruined first impressions, but maybe he could smoothen things out in their next confrontation.
Makoto opened the door and peaked out of the room.
The furniture was placed back where it belonged, minus the vases since they were shattered, and the markings he had made on the floor were gone as well. Everything was just as it was, prior to the summoning of his servant.
Exiting out of his room, Makoto looked around his apartment in search of his servant. He didn't seemed to be in room, or rather anywhere.
"Where could of he gone?" Makoto asked himself. There was no sign of the servant anywhere. He checked the balcony, living room, restroom, kitchen, everywhere. He was nowhere to be seen-
"I'm right here, Master." Makoto jumped when he heard a voice from behind him. Standing behind him was his servant, who was seemingly glaring at him. A small bit of worry grew onto Makoto.
"When did you get there!" His servant gave him an irritated look similar to that of a grumpy cat. Makoto could feel the irritation emitting off of his servant. Did he already do something wrong?
"I've always been here." The man yelled back. Makoto flinched and jumped back at the servant's response. Always been here? What did he mean by that? He had searched every corner of this apartment. There was no way he was here.
No response could crawl out of Makoto's mouth. There was a moment silence between the two before Saber spoke up, "Do you know what a magus is?" What type of question was that? It didn't help that anger was written all over in the servant's tone.
"M-magus?" Makoto asked in fear. A deep groan, and smack was heard from the man. Instinctively backing up, Makoto nervously looked down to the ground before making eye contact with the man.
"So, you don't know what a magus means," There was a tense air in the room, and Makoto wanted out. "In that case…" Before Makoto could move, he was lifted up by his collar by his servant. He could only stare down to his servant's scowl.
"Do you know what you are getting into!" Even if the servant's voice was as loud as an earthquake, Makoto couldn't hear it. That was mainly because… He was being shaked ruthlessly by the infinitely stronger and faster servant. Everything was moving too quick for his senses to interpret.
"How in the world am I going to win this war, if you cannot-" The servant stopped, as Makoto threw up rainbows onto the unfortunate servants face, even though he didn't eat anything from the night prior to now. Makoto was now unconscious.
"Wimp…" The servant muttered as he picked up Makoto, and set him on top of the couch. Now he would have to wait even longer to talk.
His eyes lingered onto the command seals that stained on Makoto's hand before walking out. To think that his master was a magus, who was more useless then a broken sword. Though that was going to be the least of the concerns. He needed to get something for his master to eat. The only problem now was how.
Last thing he needed now was to get was being odd-eyed by individuals because of the armor. He couldn't steal, because of his chivalry, and he didn't want to wait for his master to wake up again. An idea popped up, but he didn't exactly like it.
Deciding it was practically the best option, the only option, the servant dematerialized in order to enact his plan.
"Goddammit!" The servant said as he threw another trash bag behind him. His pride was slowly going down the drain. It felt like it was taking hours, trying to find at least on shirt. He could practically hear the others from the throne, laughing at him behind his back.
Throwing away another shirt behind him, he continued to search for a shirt that would actually fit. Why were the people of Japan, so puny? He had found twenty shirts, and none of them had remotely fit him at all. Did they not drink their milk?
There had to be one that at least fit him. He wasn't going to leave until he found one shirt. Grabbing another bag out and unwarping it, the servant started looked inside of the contents. The smell was disgusting, but the servant didn't seem to mind. He had smelled things far worse than the contents of any trash bag.
It had reminded him the one time he was thrown into a jail cell. The place was absolutely disgusting. They had the audacity to throw a knight, of his caliber, down into such a dirty place such as that. There wasn't even a place to let him 'relax' without dirtying himself. It was a rather embarrassing time. The other wouldn't let him live it down, especially the Sun Gorilla. Though it wasn't exactly a good time, he missed it. If only destiny wasn't such a 'grouse' to please.
After throwing another bag away, he opened a trash bag and immediately recoiled. 'What the hell is that?!' The servant thought to himself. Peering through the opening he made, he looked into the contents. It was a bag full of excrement. There wasn't even diapers inside, just purely excrement. The servant immediately threw away. Who in the world would defecate in a trash bag?
After throwing another garbage bag behind him, he started to reach for another one. He heard footsteps coming towards his direction. Turning away from them, so they couldn't see his face. The last thing he needed now was to get reported to the police.
"Look guys, it's a bum," It was one male and he sounded to be around his teens. The caped man assumed that he was being followed by his peers, given the chorus of laughter and footsteps. Not turning around, the servant quietly listened.
He wasn't going to fight them. But, if push comes to shove, then they might be losing a few teeth or more.
"Hey! You're on the wrong side of town." They slowly surrounded him. Scratch that, they'll all receive a beating. It didn't matter to the servant if they had more numbers. Even with these odds stacked against him, he'll just come out unscathe.
"You'll have to pay the fee-" In the instant that the thug's hand reached over and touched his shoulder, he immediately acted. "I think you'll be one that'll be paying me a fee!" Grabbing the thug's wrist, he threw the man towards over his shoulder. Like bowling pins the thug's peers were knocked down.
One tried to step up and swing the pipe in his hand. The servant just caught it with one of his hands and punched the guy on the chin, effectively knocking him out. With pipe in hand, he looked around to any who dared to challenge him. There were a few left, who dared to challenge him, and others ran away with their tail behind their legs.
"Anyone else?" The servant in a mocking tone. He gestured him them to come at him, in which they did. Their faces were boiled with anger, either because of having their peers being hurt or they fell for the taunt, as they charged at him.
They didn't even last a second. One of them was immediately knocked out when the pipe connected to the temple. Another was fortunate enough to get punched in the chest. The next one wasn't that lucky, as he was headbutted by the servant. Seeing his friends being knocked out, the final one dropped to his knees.
"Please! Don't hurt me." He begged. Inside, the servant scoffed. How pathetic. All bark and no bite.
"Since I'm merciful, I suppose I can let you go." The servant said. The last thug's face lit up so fast, that it was almost putifully.
"R-really?"
"Yea, but on one condition," The thug didn't even get a chance to speak as he fell unconscious when the servant faked a swing of the pipe to the head. It was enough to make the thug faint, the last thug fell onto the floor. The servant sighed. "If only parents could discipline their kids more often."
He crouched down to one of the thugs. "To the victor go the spoils," The servant grinned as he began to take off the thug's clothes. This was definitely better than going through the trash and finding nothing but crap. It would also teach the thugs a lesson, which was an added bonus.
After taking all of their clothes, the servant went off to try them on. Some of the hugs seemed to be at least his height. Hopefully, at least one of these would fit him.
In the end, he ended up finding clothes that managed to fit him. He was now wearing a green parka, a standard gray shirt, and cargo pants. They were rather nice, much better than walking around in armor. He threw away the rest of the clothes into the trash, and left the thugs in the alleyway with nothing on.
"Let's see... " The servant muttered as he looked at the selection of various meats. All of them looked good to the servant, but he wanted one of the best ones. If only he was here to pick out one of them, he always somehow found out which one was the best after all.
"Beef, pork, lamb, salmon…" This was a rather hard selection to choose from. Going over the selection one last time, he finally spotted a meat for his liking.
"I'll have that one." The servant said as he pointed to the venison. As the man went head to package up the venison, the servant took out his master's wallet. Prior to going to the supermarket, he had went back into his master's apartment. He was still out, so the servant took the liberty of taking the his wallet to pay for the food.
After paying for the meat, he went off to find the other ingredients. All he needed now were the vegetables, oil, and other spices. His master could just drink tap water, it can't be that bad for him.
As he went off, someone stepped out of their hiding place. Taking a look from behind a fridge, she stared at the servant. "Why is a servant here…" The white pony tailed girl muttered to herself. She had detected an unusual presence and looked to her right. And there was a materialised enemy servant, right next to her. Why was he just walking around buying food, was the enemy master that paranoid?
Deciding it was best to follow after the servant, she went over to her cart and grabbed the handles. Unfortunately, that might be easier said than done. Her cart was stacked with many foods, drinks, and wine. Though she cannot necessarily complain about her servant, why did he have to be such a glutton.
After finally making her cart move, she started to chase after the servant. The girl mumbled under her breathe. One of the bracelets, on both of her wrists, started to morph. It started to cover the back of her hand, effectively covering the command seal.
The enemy servant was currently in the vegetable aisle. He was currently holding lettuce in his hands, and was observing it thoroughly. Going over towards the crates holding cherries, she also pretended to be interested them. Taking a few glances, she observed the servant.
He definitely wasn't a Caster, unless he was an unorthodox one. If he was an Assassin, then she'd of been dead by now. And he was definitely not Berserker. That left with Archer, Lancer, Rider, and Saber.
Before she could find out more, the servant started to move. Where was he going now? She started to chase after him, hands on handles.
Turning the corner, she looked over towards the next aisle.
-Snack Aisle-
Looking forward, she saw the enemy servant in front of her. Going over to attempt to pretend into looking at the snack, she glanced at the servant-
He was looking right at her
If it wasn't for her strict training from her parents, then she'd would of freaked out. Thankfully, she didn't, and she resumed to looking back at the packaged snack. Not even daring to look up again, she tried to think of a plan.
'I need to get out of her. Now! I can't allow that servant to see my command seals. Once, he finds out my identity, I'll be found out-' She thought to herself. Moving her cart hastily, she started to turn towards the corner-
CRASH
All of the stacked food, from the cart, fell out onto the floor. Thankfully, the wine bottles were okay, but that wasn't the problem right now. As she looked up who had bumped into her, she met a familiar pair of eyes that made her recoil inside. The eyes of the servant, who was now standing in front of her with his cart. His eyes wandered down to the ground.
"Here, let me help you." The servant said in an fake apologetic tone. He grabbed a packaged loaf of bed and handed it over. Grabbing it with her left hand, she tried to hide her command seals away from the servant. The bracelets might of provided cover, but it wouldn't prevent the servant from partially seeing the command seal.
Again, he picked up another bag, and again, she took it with her left hand. "Those are some odd bracelets you have there." The servant noted. "My grandfather gave them to me," The girl said shyly. It was a blessing in disguise to be shy in this situation, otherwise her fear would of been quite apparent.
"Can I see them?" The girl gritted her teeth in silent distress. While her face was composed, she was not. What could she do now? If she didn't give up her bracelets, then she'd just be confirming the servant's suspicion. Biting a small piece of lip, she went over to grab the-
Before she could remove the bracelet, her phone started to ring. "Sorry, give me a second." Perfect timing. Digging into her brown purse, she looked to who was calling her.
Cuzmero
She lowered the volume down, and answered the call. "Girl, what's taking you so long?" A man's voice spoke in a rather jolly tone voice spoke, "The guests are waiting for the food." It took a few moments for the words to process into her. "Wait, you invited guests into my house!" The white pony tailed girl said in exasperation.
She could hear the servant chuckle, but she didn't necessarily care right now. What was more important was getting out of this situation. "Don't say it as if it was a bad thing." While it made her a little annoyed, this was the perfect time to escape.
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry. My friend told me, he invited guests." With that, she immediately left the area. The servant could only look at the dust cloud she left in her wake. Even with all of her efforts, he had already figured out who she was.
When she had reached down to her purse, he saw a red gleam from her right hand. A familiar shade of red that his master had, a command seal.
So, that was one of the masters in this Holy Grail War. Too bad, he couldn't use that information much to his advantage. He had chivalry to keep up, and he definitely wasn't Assassin. However, the next time they meet, he'll spare her no mercy.
A distant rumbling sound was heard within the room. A light started to filter throughout the darkness. Groaning, Makoto slowly opened his eye lids. The inconsistent light stinged his eyes as soon as they opened. Groggily, he started to get up from his bed and rubbed his eyes.
He felt like shit.
His head felt like mashed potatoes, his eyes felt like they were pepper sprayed, and his stomach felt like it was eating itself out. Makoto sat up on his bed. What had happened to cause this unneeded stress? He remembered he had woken up earlier this morning, and then went outside his room.
Started to talk to his servant and then…
His servant had shaken him violently, hard than a kid with their pet goldfish. It wasn't the most pleasant experience. Especially, since he shook him at an insane rate. What was that strength and speed?
Makoto's vision started to clear. Currently, he was sitting down on the couch with a blanket placed over him. There was some sort of rumbling sound coming from the kitchen. Getting up, Makoto walked over to the cause of the noise. Could it be that his servant was actually cooking?
Peering around the corner, Makoto turned to look on whoever was causing the rumbling noise. The answer should of came to him in a blink of an eye. Who else would be in this room aside from himself? The stove was turned on, and the servant seemed to be stirring something in the pot.
"Do you need something?" Makoto jumped up when he heard his servant speak to him. He didn't even turn as Makoto tried to draw out words from his mouth, "If you aren't going to say anything then sit down and wait, idiot." Makoto just did that as he went back over to his couch.
Placing his hands onto his face, Makoto, again, contemplated on his current situation. With the new addition of finding what his servant was like, Makoto felt like death was the best option at this point.
After a minute of sulking into despair, Makoto noticed the book that the priest had given him. It was on the table. Did his servant place it down on the table once he had dropped it? Going over to grab it off the table, he decided he might as well read the book again. Flipping a few of the pages he searched through the table of contents.
Skipping a good amount of the pages, Makoto flipped over the page he was looking for.
It had was detailed with information of the Holy Grail War. From what he read, there were seven classes. Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker. In order for him to win, he'd have to win was to defeat the enemy master's servants. Or, kill the enemy master but that was easier said than done.
Only then that the Holy Grail would manifest and grant his wish. Continuing to flip the pages, he spotted a note that was left by the Priest. As he began to read it, his hopes slowly increased… Until they plummeted back down into the abyss when he read the rest of it.
The class you have currently is Saber. Though, I cannot tell you what the servant's name is. This is just because I'm respecting the servant's privacy. While you do have the strongest class servant in your hands, I'd have to say that the competition is a little high.
Makoto slammed the book onto the table. Privacy, his ass. Just as soon as he felt some relief, the priest had to drop a Nagasaki into his hopes. Not only that he had to worry about getting assassinated, he now had to worry about his servant dying. Dropping his head into a pillow, Makoto screamed in despair. Though it was muffled, it still created noise.
The newly named servant just stared at Makoto. He frowned at whatever Makoto is doing, as he reached into the shopping bags for a bowl. The venison stew was about done, so all he needed to do was put it down onto the bowl.
Placing the bowl on the table, the servant glanced over to Makoto, who was still crying. Without warning, Saber punched Makoto on the back of the head 'lightly'. "Ouch! What was that for?" Makoto said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You weren't listening to what I said, so I had to get your attention." Saber said with a deadpan face.
"You could of tried another way!"
"I didn't feel like it."
"What do you mean you didn't feel like it!" Saber punched Makoto on the head again, a little rougher this time. "Just eat your food and shut up."
Makoto was actually half tempted to try to use this 'Command Seal' on his servant. Though, it was probably just a foolish act. While his servant was a bit harsh, he needed to conserve his command seals just in case for emergency. Plus, the last thing he needed was his servant to be more hostile towards him.
Reaching out and grabbing the bowl, he slowly took a spoonful of the stew and consumed it.
It was great. The flavor was a rather strange, if he had to be honest, but he couldn't judge since it was his first time consuming venison stew. "Wow, it's… Good." To be honest, he felt liek Saber poisoned the food. Saber looked irritated as he glanced to look at his master.
"Good? Don't you mean extraordinary?" Makoto shrank back like he a soaked up sponge. Was Saber going hit him again? He didn't want to get a concuncission. "Y-Yes! It was extraordinary!" Makoto said quickly, this only seemed to irritate his servant even further.
Saber didn't waste time, he took a seat nearby the couch where Makoto was sitting at. "So, what's your reason for participating in this war?" Saber asked.
He automatically knew that Makoto wasn't the type to be evil. Being a wimp and all, he probably lacked any drive to even commit any evil act. He seemed to be recently introduced to the concept of magic, so anything that revolved around magic wasn't included.
So, what was it that he wished for?
Makoto seemed to be taken off guard by this question, "W-Why do you want to know?" It was a little sudden to start off a conversation.
"Isn't it obvious? I need to know what I'm fighting for." Makoto continued to shrink into couch as Saber stared holes into him.
It was a reasonable question, so Makoto didn't mind to tell what his wish was. "Well... My wish is to get rid of my origin." Makoto said. Saber had raised an ear at the wish. He had heard of the word 'origin' before.
"So what is this origin?"
"Oh… I think, It was something that influences my life choices?" A loud smack was heard. Makoto had looked up to see Saber's palm over his face.
"So, basically what you are saying is that you want to erase who you are." Saber said with a touch of disbelief.
"N-no not that! It's just, I want to stop these events that have been happening around me.." Makoto said waving his hands around. "You see… Lately, I've been having these weird events. Whenever I wake up, something bad always happens to me."
"So, what you're saying is that you want to suppress these events that are potentially being caused by your origin. Correct?" Makoto nodded.
"It's a stupid wish, from what I understand, you want to rid yourself of thoughts and emotion, you're going to kill yourself if you do make that wish." Saber said flatly. "If anything, you should either quit this war, or try to wish for anything else."
Saber's words echoed throughout Makoto's head, bouncing off the walls of his skull. "I… I can't, I… I need this wish..." Makoto stuttered, his voice weakened by the disheartening words of his servant.
Saber didn't bother to speak anymore. It was clear his point was made through. Hopefully, his master wouldn't waste his life over some wish that he barely knows the details about. "Anyway, Master, I'll be going out now."
"W-where are you g-going?"
"There's no reason for me to stay here any longer, and I want to examine the surroundings. If you need anything just call me"
"What do you mean by-" Without letting Makoto finish his sentence, Saber disappeared. Makoto was now alone. His hunger had eroded away by Saber's words. Was it truly a lost cause to pursue his wish?
Makoto stared at down into the sink. Scrubbing the bowl down with a sponge, Makoto was deep in thought.
Was it true that coming here was a fruitless attempt? Had he risked his life to gain nothing? Makoto wallowed in despair, as he washed the dishes absentmindedly. Should he just leave Osaka and return back to study at the university?
Makoto slowly turned of the faucet, and walked back to the couch. Staring out of the window, he watched as a flock of birds flew by. While Makoto originally thought little of them, he envied them like a trapped bird in a cage. To be flying freely into the sky, while having friends to be with.
Although he doubted that birds knew that concept of friends, he still envied them. What would be meaning to a world with no one to talk to? Even people who prefer solitude would eventually need to talk to someone now and again.
Fated to a life full of disasters and loneliness, was it really meant to be?
No, Makoto could never accept that kind of life. Even if it would get him killed, he wanted the wish to live a normal life. Nothing will get in his way into striving for that wish. Though, that was easier said than done.
If he remembered correctly, the book the priest gave him, told him a bit of info about the enemy. Some of them were most likely stronger than Saber, so how in the world could Saber just win this all by himself?
He needed to somehow find the solution on how to win. There was no way that a magus could reveal themselves for free, and Makoto didn't had the skill, nor the offense to take them on. Saber would be most likely be busy taking on the enemy servant as well.
Hiding with his servant would of been the ideal course of action. He could just wait until the majority of the servants were dead and Saber would come out and defeat the rest. Knowing Saber, he wouldn't agree to such a plan.
Making an alliance with another master was the other plan, Makoto had thought of. There were setbacks and drawbacks to the plan. The first setback would be Saber. To be frank, he was scared of Saber. Working up the courage to talk to his servant would be a difficult task. The next obstacle would be finding the enemy master. Easier said than done.
The icing on the cake would be the possible exposure of information. Sure, they can go ahead and find our Saber's identity that was fine. What was not fine is if they knew that Makoto doesn't have the capability to fight. It would be very easy for the enemy master to walk up and kill Makoto, while their servant distracted Saber.
That being said, making an alliance was not worth it.
Makoto immediately sagged into the couch and went into one of his depressed moods, again. This headache had started to dull as he relaxed onto the couch. A familiar darkness consumed his vision. Before he knew it, he fell asleep.
Makoto's eyes snapped open at the sounds of a spotlight. It took him only a few minutes for him to realize what was going on. An immediate frown formed on his face. Great, what was going to happen now. Another fire? Or a tsunami. Either way, Makoto always found it bothersome whenever he woke up in this place.
Taking a glance around his surroundings, he took note of a few things. There were couches, a kitchen, several doors that lead to other rooms, a blanket on the floor… It was an exact replica of his apartment. What did this have to involve to whatever tragedy would happen today?
Makoto's eyes trailed down to the floor. The book was on the ground, and not on the coffee table. Sighing, Makoto picked up the book. There was no doubt that the contents of the book would be changed. Even if this place was a replica, there was always something different about it.
Opening the book, Makoto found out something new. The book was a replica as well. Well, now he felt stupid. Putting down the book back onto the coffee table, Makoto glanced towards the other side of the room- He froze. Looking out of the window, he saw a figure floating above. When Makoto closer, he realized it wasn't floating but flying.
Before he could act or even breath, he was pushed back by an unseen force. Time slowed as he looked over to his left shoulder. Blood spurted out as the arrow embedded itself inside the flesh. There was no pain whatsoever. Was it because this was a dream, or was it because of the fear overflowing his system.
Makoto didn't have time to think of it as he looked back at the figure outside of the window. If only for a second, Makoto caught a glimpse of the figure. Makoto's face immediately filled with a blush, but he didn't know why. However, before he could do anything else he heard the firing of an arrow.
All he saw was red.
Saber trudged down the road of the empty streets of Osaka. He was still mad at the incompetence of his master. There was only one good, and a hundred bad about the young man. The only good thing about him was that he strangely had good mana reserves, the rest not so much.
He barely had any backbone, was weak as hell, sounded like he was afraid of his own shadow, and much more. If anything, it would be a miracle that they would somehow manage to get through all of this. Though, miracles do not exist. The only thing that existed was destiny, and Saber hoped destiny was on his side this time.
Looking up, he saw something materialize in front of him. A black haired ponytail man, with green armor had appeared before him. The golden outline of his armor gleamed with the contact of light along with his trident like lance. Saber would of considered him handsome until he realized that the servant had a closed third eye on his forehead.
Another being being appeared along with what he assumed to be Lancer. It was an armored black dog that started to barking at him. Lancer seemed to frown at the dogs actions, before looking back at Saber.
"I see… So you're no better then Rider," Lancer said with a hostile tone, "In that case, you will have no mercy from me." Lancer gestured Jiro to stay back before glaring at Saber.
A few thoughts ran through Saber's head. One was that Lancer had fought Rider. Whether Rider had died against Lancer didn't matter to him. Another was Lancer's dog, which he assumed to be a Noble Phantasm. Finally, his opinion on Lancer dipped as he blocked Lancer's spear from tearing off his stomach.
Given the majestic presence around the man, there was no way this guy had any type of evil in him. Rather he was a man, who aligns fully with good. That being said, Saber already felt sick fighting against this man.
Why did he have face against such a morally skewed opponent?