ACT XI – Kenichi
The school bell chimes, the sound rings through my ears and I feel the weight of the day lift off of my shoulders. I'm glad the day is over, now I have the rest of the day and tomorrow to focus on something a little bit more important. Playing the honor student was fun for awhile, but I don't really like all the attention that it brings with it, especially with two enemies in my own school. Well, I should say one and a half, Sakuraba Yayoi doesn't exactly count as an enemy, more like something that's just in my way.
"See you on Monday!" One of the girls calls to me and waves before going to join her friends. I can hear them giggling outside the door from here.
"Have you added her to the list yet?" One of the boys in my class grins at me as he leans against my desk. His name is Kamiyama and he's on the track team. If I have the best grades in my class, then Kamiyama has the second best. It really irks him too, but I mostly just ignore him. He's also quite popular. He's sort of a friend, but he's not a Magus so I can't exactly let him get too close, but I've always gotten the feeling he was still jealous.
"How can I turn her down if she hasn't confessed yet?" I answer back without looking up at him as I put my books in my bag.
Kamiyama scratches his chin. "Hm, good point." He shrugs.
"What does it matter to you anyway?" I stand up and sling my bag over my shoulder.
"Kazuko was getting too clingy so I had to dump her. The girls you turn down seem to come to me sometimes so I was waiting on a rebound." He admits casually.
"You realize how sad that is right?" I raise my eyebrow at him as I start to walk towards the door.
"Sad for who? The rebound guy, or the girls who date the second best guys to get you to notice them?" Kamiyama grins.
Even I had to chuckle at that. "Touché."
I walk with Kamiyama downstairs to the front door, down the main stairs by the lockers there's a girl there waiting nervously. She's pacing back and forth and fidgeting with her hands. It was the same girl from earlier.
As Kamiyama and I come down the stairs she looks up at me and freezes, her eyes wide with shock.
Next to me Kamiyama elbows me in the ribs and grins. "I'll just go on ahead then. Don't be too hard on her." He waves and makes his way down the stairs.
I sigh and go to my locker to put my shoes on. I glance up at the girl, who makes a squeaking noise when her eyes meet mine. "Can I help you?" I ask as I stand up, even though I know perfectly well what she wants.
"U-um, w-well." She stutters and twiddles her thumbs in front of her.
"Come on, spit it out." I put my hands on my hips and wait. This is the part I hate the most. The girls always take forever to say what they want. Why can't they just hurry up and talk? It's not like I'm some kind of god.
"Uh w-well I…" She stammers.
I heave a sigh and cross my arms. "Start with your name."
"M-Miyuki…"
I pick up my bag and start walking passed her. I have things to do, I can't stand around here waiting all day for her to remember how to talk. "I'll save you the trouble and answer you now." I say as I nonchalantly walked passed her.
Miyuki turns and looks at me expectantly.
I turn my head, with my back towards her. "No." I say flatly and continue walking. The room goes silent and my footsteps seem to echo through the whole school as I open the door and walk away from Miyuki.
"Wow, I'd say that was cold but I feel like I wouldn't be giving you enough credit. You're just an asshole." A voice from next to me says with a short laugh and I turn my head to find Kamiyama leaning against the school wall.
"You were listening?" I say with a frown. I really don't like being eavesdropped on.
Kamiyama shrugged. "Couldn't help it. I'm pretty sure that girl is going to feel that let down for years. You could've scarred her for life, how does that make you feel?" He says with a grin. He seems to grin a lot, I think he's a bit full of himself but I don't think he's that bad of a person.
Me on the other hand… "Indifferent really. It's likely that I won't be seeing much of her anymore, so why should I care?" I answer back honestly. Magic is the only thing I truly care about. Magic won't betray me, it's honest and straightforward, Magic has made my family strong. It has made me strong.
Ever since our Ancestor fought in the infamous 4th Heaven's Feel, the Tohsaka's have vowed to our magic and develop it even more. We've even thrown away Gandr, the magic that was once the staple of the Tohsaka arsenal. Since then we have focused our efforts on magic storage. However, it is now nearly impossible to obtain gems beyond what is manufactured artificially. Artificial gems do not work as well, that is except for crystals. Crystals, even manufactured ones seem to have excellent capabilities for storing magical energy.
Our ancestor Tohsaka Rin once harnessed the power to pull magical energy from other dimensions and unleash it as she wished. Unfortunately this was lost soon after her death, we've tried to recreate it but we've had very little success, the most that could be done was learn to create pocket dimensions that we now use for storage.
I was so surprised with the Seals showed up on my body. I think everyone was. There hasn't been a Heaven's Feel for nearly a thousand years. It was a chance to finally get the Grail for the family, the one would fight it seems would be me. My parents were proud of me, they said it was a great honor. I believe them. It IS an honor to fight alongside my Servant, with whom I've already scored a victory over another Servant. It was a hollow victory however, the Sakuraba girl wasn't much of an opponent, her eyes were clouded over as if she were blind, and she seemed to possess no offensive magic at all. It didn't take long for my Lancer to overcome her Saber. She did however, manage to hurt my eyes. I quickly healed them but I can still feel them getting stabbed. It was probably one of the worst pains I've ever felt.
Her Saber was a great warrior, even giving my Lancer a run for his money however he couldn't keep me from killing his Master for he was gravely wounded and was forced to retreat before the final blow.
"You seem detatched." Lancer says from next to me. He normally stays quiet and speaks only when he needs to. He's a very mysterious man, but also very wise.
"Something feels wrong, defeating Sakuraba and Saber didn't give me any pleasure." I admit flatly. Even if I didn't tell him, Lancer probably would have figured it out anyway.
Lancer strokes his beard. "When I fought Lu Bu at the great Battle of Xiapi, I had Cao Cao promise me Qin Yilu's wife if we achieved victory on that day. Lu Bu was eventually defeated, but unfortunately Cao Cao betrayed me. He saw Lady Du's beauty and took her for himself. He broke his promise to me. I suppose I should have seen it coming." He heaves a sigh of regret. "The point I am trying to make is a victory over your enemy is not always what it seems."
"Sakuraba can't be alive, I killed her myself. I made sure." I frown.
"Perhaps she was helped by another." Lancer suggests.
"Who could've…" I wrack my brain for the answers. The fight took place on the secluded rooftop where students rarely venture. If someone did help her it would have to be someone who either knew she was going to be up there or is very close to her. There was only one person I could think of that would fit that description.
"Your face tells me you have found the answer." Lancer says with a smile.
"Aoyagi…"
"The boy you encountered on the stairs this morning?"
I nod. "The Aoyagi family are rivals with the Tohsakas. They've been a thorn in our side for awhile."
"Why does this feud persist?" Lancer asks while stroking his beard.
"We do not consider them to be true Magi. They use technology more than they use magic, especially Jin." The Tohsakas have only dealt with technology when absolutely necessary, such a thing is unavoidable in this day and age. The Aoyagis however take this to the extreme, sometimes it's hard to tell when one of them is using magic at all. It goes against everything Magi stand for.
"Hmm." Lancer delved into his own thoughts for a moment before speaking again. "What shall we do about him?"
"He's probably at the hospital looking after Sakuraba. I think we should head there and deal with both of our problems at once." Clearly it seems like the best option. If we can defeat Aoyagi and his Servant, than Sakuraba and Saber will fall soon after. After all, neither one of them are in any condition to fight.
"I agree, a swift and decisive stroke is best." Lancer replies with a nod.
Lancer and I would have to take public transportation to the hospital. It's the quickest way from where we are since bus stops are positioned all around the city. I would rather face my parents with two victories under my belt than none. Their expectations of me are high to begin with, but now I'm expected to properly represent the Tohsaka family in this War.
I believe I can do it. Judging from Aoyagi's Servant at school, I can say that she more than likely won't be able to put up a good fight with Lancer. As for Aoyagi himself, he excels in close quarters combat and his magic reflects that. I'll have nothing to fear from him if I can keep him at a distance. The hallways at the hospital are certainly not ideal for this, but hospitals almost always have twists and turns in it's hallways that I can use to my advantage to stay away from Aoyagi and at the same time lead him right where I want him. Ideally, the roof would be the perfect location as it is large and flat, leaving Aoyagi little maneuvering room to dodge my attacks.
I have my plan worked out just as the bus pulls up to the hospital. Lancer and I get off of the bus with Lancer obviously in spirit form. I walk through the doors to the entrance room. It's a relatively large room with two couches on either side of the front door, and a desk with the receptionist between two hallways that go off in different directions on either side of the reception desk. On the wall to the right of me is a complete map of the entire hospital and the other buildings connected to it. There were three other buildings that connect to this main one via single long hallways. If need be I can use those as choke points. Good.
As I take my time to study the map the receptionist at the desk clears her throat. "Is there something I can help you with?" She asks politely.
I smile back at her. "Yes, I'm looking for Sakuraba Yayoi. She was brought in earlier today with severe burn wounds. I'm from her school and I want to visit her." It's not exactly a lie, I am going to pay her a visit after all, albeit one that isn't going to be pleasant for her.
"That's very sweet of you to visit, I'm sure she'll enjoy it." The woman at the desk asks while she pulls up the information on the computer in front of her. "Third floor, room 315." She points towards the elevator on the left side near the hallway.
"Thank you." I thank her and make my way towards the elevator and step inside the circular tube like structure that goes up the like blood through a vein. I push the button for the 3rd floor and simply wait. With a chime the door opens and I exit the elevator.
Walking towards me talking amongst themselves are Aoyagi and his Servant.
The two of them freeze when they see me and the enemy Servant reaches for something on her hips. I hadn't anticipated this, I figured I would run into him eventually but right off of the elevator? Shit. He must just be leaving after visiting with Sakuraba. Now I'm caught in this elevator with nowhere to go, I have to think this through carefully or I could just as easily be killed here.