Chapter Text

Babylonia, December 16, 2018

Whatever was rustling in the trees at the edge of the orchard was close. It hid well, but not well enough for its furtive movements to be hidden from Kaison as he patrolled. Anything that might threaten his Master had to be eradicated immediately. He clenched his fist around his great naginata and prepared to confront whatever lurked out of sight behind the next row of trees.

Always remember: long, bold strides. Move with certainty. Heft your naginata as if it weighed nothing - fortunately, an easy task for a Servant. And never, ever show fear. Whatever lurked there, whether it was one of Tiamat's demonic beasts or some other Babylonian threat, Benkei would overcome it!

He strode like a titan between the trees and, with a ferocious snarl, leveled his naginata at the source of the noise. At the sudden motion, a pair of larks burst out of the palm fronds near the tip of the weapon. In a few moments, they'd taken flight, their indignant twittering mixed with the beating of their wings.

Kaison's shoulders slumped, and he snorted a laugh at himself as he watched the birds fly off. Truly, Benkei's legacy lives on in you. No other man could panic a harmless songbird so well.

Turning back, Kaison made his way through the trees toward his Master. Palm branches slapped at his face, but he warded them away with the haft of his polearm. Between the shade of the overgrown orange trees and date palms and the nearby water from silty but still-usable irrigation ditches, the orchard had the feeling of an oasis. If Jing Ke's prowl through the eastern side of the orchard was as uneventful as his exploration of the west had been, then it was probably a safe place to stop in the heat of the day - safer than most of Babylonia, at that.

A break was badly needed. Master Fujimaru wasn't one to complain, but the road from Uruk to Mt. Ebih had been long and swelteringly hot, and they were only halfway there. He'd been draining canteens faster than was probably healthy, and trying not to show how punishing the pace was for him.

When Kaison arrived back at the orchard's center, Master was seated there under a tall date-palm, taking a well-earned rest. He'd stopped wearing his white uniform coat days ago, but the scarf-shaped Mystic Code that let him survive in this mana-oversaturated Age of Gods still wound around his neck. The look split the difference between dashing and ridiculous, which seemed appropriate to Kaison. The tan on Master's bare arms highlighted the scattering of pale scars he'd earned. His eyes were half-closed, and he was fanning himself with a palm frond in one hand. The other was fiddling with one of the rectangular devices modern folk favored.

Kaison would admit that, apocalypse notwithstanding, the modern world had a lot going for it. Flush toilets alone would have been a life-changing experience, if he'd still had to use them. Still, he couldn't see the appeal of poking at a tiny window instead of experiencing the world around him. Neither life nor enlightenment was found in little handheld boxes.

The Lancer found a clear space a little distance away where he could see Master but wouldn't disturb him, and began to carefully clean and sharpen each of the seven weapons he bore in Benkei's name. There was no real need for it, but he found it meditative to go through the motions. As he did he recounted to himself the tales he was here to embody: Benkei's duel with young Ushiwakamaru at Gojo Bridge, his theft and return of the Mii-dera temple bell, his feats in the Genpei war, bluffing Yoshitsune's way through the Ataka checkpoint, his standing death at Komorogowa…

Kaison knew those stories better than his own. For good reason, too - hadn't he spent more than one lifetime telling them, making sure they were remembered? He'd never known how he'd been granted extra centuries of life, but he'd always known that a coward like himself only had one use for them - to make sure the deeds of those more worthy than he were remembered. He'd made Benkei and Yoshitsune live on in the memories of Japan, while Kaison, Benkei's old comrade and rival, was all but forgotten.

Still, reminders of his role here were welcome. He slipped often enough as it was; alas, to tell a story of Benkei and to live it were two different things.

He'd finished cleaning his naginata and moved on to his maul when Lord Yoshitsune emerged from the trees, chatting amicably with Shielder Kyrielight as they brought water back from one of the clearer canals. Both of them slowed when they saw Master. The Shielder nudged Yoshitsune with her elbow, handed over a couple of still-dripping canteens, and said something. Yoshitsune nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't move; she just watched Fujimaru, unusually hesitant. Kyrielight nudged her again and made a 'go on' head-bob towards Master before turning away toward the road, where Tristan's idle harp-strumming could be heard.

Oho! This might be worth watching. Kaison narrowed his eyes and shifted a little to better see what followed.

Lord Yoshitsune perked up with a sudden grin, as if an idea had come to her. Before Master noticed her approach, she bounded up the tree he sat beneath and cut free one of the hanging clusters of dates. At the feel of the tree shaking, Master looked up to find her dropping lightly to the ground before him. She struck a triumphant stance, made some kind of dramatic proclamation, and knelt before him, holding up the dates by the bundle's stem like a warrior presenting a foe's head dangling from its hair.

Startled, Master blinked at her and began to laugh hard enough that he had to work to keep from falling over. She grinned, but held her pose, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

Master considered for a moment, then drew himself up like a clan lord holding court, his expression so serious and intent it verged on outright mockery, fanning himself in furious agitation.. He glared at the bunch of fruit as though it had slain his only child and nodded with grave satisfaction at its defeat. made a sweeping gesture with his palm frond. Kaison couldn't make out the words of whatever faux acclamation he gave her, but Yoshitsune burst into laughter halfway through and nearly dropped the dates.

Both of them relaxed, smiling at each other, and Lord Yoshitsune proffered the fruit more casually. Master scooted to the side, and sat down next to him and handed him a canteen watching in amusement as he drained the whole thing without taking a breath. Afterward, they joined forces in studying the dates, squeezing and prodding them with uncertain looks. Eventually, Master shrugged, pulled a date free seemingly at random, and bit down on it, then immediately made a face and spat it out. Yoshitsune took another, held it up to look at it, and tried it. She made a face too, but ate it anyway, puckering her lips at the taste.

Kaison chuckled to himself. He wouldn't have intruded even if he could help, but he didn't know what a ripe date looked like either.

After a few minutes of experimentation and a lot of mouth-puckering, the two worked out which dates were worth eating. Chewing contentedly, Master rummaged in his pack and brought out some kind of thin cord, which he attached to his little handheld window-box. He stuck the other end into…

Kaison squinted to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Into his ear? Why would anyone do that?

It looked like the cord forked to make one device end and two ear ends. Master held the other free end out to Lord Yoshitsune, who looked between it and the one in his ear with the same skepticism Kaison felt.

Master gestured at it as he spoke, explaining something, and Yoshitsune's expression turned to one of wary interest. Taking the offered cord, Yoshitsune mimicked their Master and awkwardly stuck it into her ear. Her hesitation at the necessity of putting her head a little closer to Master's than propriety indicated was barely noticeable, and she leaned back against the tree alongside him.

"You were always more intrepid than I, Lord Yoshitsune," Kaison muttered. No one would catch him putting what looked like tiny mushrooms on a string into his ears, even for a Master he admired.

Master fiddled with his device, and Lord Yoshitsune started as if she'd heard something. She turned toward him, then kept turning, as if looking for the source of another voice. One hand went to her ear, and her perplexity turned to surprised enjoyment, which made Master smile in turn.

They'd been mirroring each other's emotions lately, Kaison had noted. Seeing Master happy made Lord Yoshitsune happy, and vice versa. There was nothing mystical or even surprising about it, of course. He'd seen it before, on his lord's face, even, when she wooed the Lady Shizuka - or vice versa, it had been hard to tell.

For everyone's sakes, he hoped their burgeoning romance ended better than that one had.

The pair settled back against the tree. Their Master swayed slightly back and forth, mouth moving as if either singing or reciting. Lord Yoshitsune was bobbing her head in time with his swaying, as if they were listening to the same, unheard rhythm. Master twisted a date free of the bunch and tossed it to her without looking; she caught it and popped it into her mouth, still nodding to the rhythm. A moment later, she tossed one back to him the same way.

It was almost startling to see Lord Yoshitsune acting so carefree. The Minamoto general he was familiar with was ruthless and driven, with only fading echoes of happiness to guide her. Even during the few years she'd had with Shizuka, she'd been focused, holding off bitterness like an enemy army. It had been a long time since he'd seen her young enough to laugh and hope. Did that make her less the lord he'd sworn to follow, or more?

Without further interesting developments between his lords at the moment, Kaison settled in to finish his maintenance on the other five of Benkei's tools, more slowly now, pondering that last thought. Identity itself was such a tangle these days. He was and was not the Heroic Spirit Hitachibou Kaison, And Kaison here both was and was not Musashibou Benkei. He wasn't even the only one laying claim to those names in this Singularity! It was a mercy that neither he nor Lord Yoshitsune had been subjected to dealing with some kind of tainted, hateful alternate version of themselves, as some unfortunate Servants seemed prone to in Chaldea. Amida Buddha grant it remains so, he thought.

By the time he'd finished his meditations, Yoshitsune and Master were both dozing in the midday heat, leaning against the tree. Their heads tilted towards each other, still linked by that ear-cord, shoulders only a hand's breadth apart. They looked very much at peace.

An idea came to him as he looked at them.

Benkei might have thought of it. Benkei might even have acted on it. If he had, he would have done so only out of truest devotion, misbehaving for his lord's benefit, and privately agonized about it. But Hitachibou Kaison would never have come down from his precarious place upon the Throne of Heroes if he was not, at heart, a meddler. After all, he reasoned, it was not just his Benkei persona who was sworn to their service. Sometimes people needed a little meddling for their own good, didn't they?

Besides, he thought impishly, it's going to be really funny.

Kaison was no Assassin, but his unspectacular Agility was enough to prevent him waking the pair as he approached. He spent a few moments judging angles, depth of sleep, and the likelihood of rousing them too soon. Drowsing or not, Lord Yoshitsune would notice if he disturbed her in the slightest. The consequences of that were likely to be… dire. Master, however, was a different story.

With a mischievous smile, Kaison reached out with one big finger and nudged his Master's shoulder until he was just the slightest bit off-balance. Then, holding his breath, he crept away, leaving Master tilting ever… so… slowly… towards Lord Yoshitsune.

Once Kaison was safely away, he turned to regard his handiwork. Master's tilt had continued until his shoulder had collided gently with Yoshitsune's, jostling then just enough that they both shifted in their sleep. Now they were propped up against each others' shoulders, heads touching. Even as he watched, Master gave a yawn and shifted to lean more against her, and Yoshitsune's face rolled another couple of degrees towards her lord's.

Perfection.

Kaison let out a satisfied breath, which he caught as he was interrupted by a sly voice. "Playing games with your lord and Master, Benkei?"

With an ironclad will, he suppressed his startle reflex before it did more than make his eyelid twitch. Benkei never startled, not even for Assassins and their thrice-cursed Presence Concealment. He turned to stare at Jing Ke, who was leaning against a tree behind him. Had she been watching the whole time?

"Merely trying to help," he replied, keeping his voice low. "It's my duty to… nudge both of them in useful directions." He let a gleam of amusement show on his face as he turned to the Assassin. "Any entertainment I might find in it is simply advance payment on my karma for a good deed."

Jing Ke chuckled. "If that works for you, it works for me." She turned to give her Master and her friend a fond look. "Look at them. They're adorable, it's like they're magnetized."

Kaison nodded his agreement. "If they stay asleep long enough, one of them is going to wake up with their head on the other's lap."

The Assassin cackled softly. "Now, that would be entertainment. We could bet on which was which. It's a shame we probably can't let them sleep all night."

It truly was a shame, in more ways than one. He'd rarely seen Lord Yoshitsune so relaxed around another person, in either life. The Master of Chaldea had a real talent for lowering people's guard. Yoshitsune clearly found him attractive, but more than that, she'd placed her trust in him.

There was little he could do about the bitterness that gnawed at Lord Yoshitsune's soul. His very presence was a reminder of its source; talking to her about it was like trying to put out a fire with tinder. It was much more likely that she'd simply kill him, as she idly threatened to do on a regular basis.

Not that he blamed her in the slightest. He'd abandoned her to save his own skin, after all. His death was warranted several times over. Perhaps it would help her if he returned to the Throne of his own accord instead?

He dismissed the idea. Certainly, Kaison had no honor of his own to preserve, but he'd die a thousand deaths before he showed Benkei to be faithless. Besides, he could imagine Lord Yoshitsune's response to breaking oath with Fujimaru. Master was possibly too understanding about his Servants' willfulness, but though Yoshitsune was possessed of many stellar qualities, a forgiving nature was not among them.

Jing Ke tilted her head thoughtfully. "You met her brother, right?"

Wondering where this was going, Kaison nodded. "To my regret."

"What was he like?"

He contemplated his response for a few seconds. "A dozen paranoid vipers in a court robe."

Jing Ke hunched over to keep her laughter quiet.

"I can trust you not to share what I just said where it might reach Lord Yoshitsune's ears?" Despite his attempt to be stern, his statement came out sounding like a question. Still chuckling, the Assassin gave him an amusedly scornful look. "Mm," he grunted, acknowledging her point. "Apologies. Forget that I asked."

She waved a hand casually as she straightened up, as if to say it was already forgotten. "Vipers, eh?" A finger tapped against the map case that held her Noble Phantasm. "Shame no one managed to put an end to him."

"Indeed it was." For a moment, Kaison allowed himself to think of what might have been. Surely, they could have found a way to bring Yoritomo down if Yoshitsune had allowed it, giving control of the Minamoto to her. With her brother ousted or slain, the Taira Clan obliterated, and the Emperor safely put away in his ornamental court at Heian-Kyo, Yoshitsune would have been the obvious candidate to claim the nation.

It would have been a disaster for everyone. Yoshitsune had too much drive, too little self-restraint, and no interest whatsoever in compromise. With no Emperor to answer to and no lord to serve, she'd have been a bored, malcontent despot. Within a couple of years she'd have sailed off to conquer Korea, interrupting the squabbling lords only with periodic demands for more troops.

He sighed internally and tried to banish the brief, shameful vision. Kaison never could help finding complications where there should be only devotion. Lord Yoshitsune's greatest strength was her capacity to see the world in personal terms, to find the same absolute purpose in her own choices that others found in the words of priests and philosophers. Kaison struggled to find certainty in anything, even the penitence to which he'd pledged his soul.

Forcing himself to stop mulling over decisions long since made, he glanced at his erstwhile companion and changed the subject. "Are you going to wake them up?"

"Nope, not unless we have to. I'm going to wait so I have a front-row seat when they do. And," Jing Ke said, raising the bundle of dates the sleeping pair had been sharing, "I brought snacks."


There was something tickling Ritsuka's nose, just often enough to slowly drag him up from a pleasant midday nap. It came with a scent, feathers and cedarwood and seaspray with a hint of something earthier underneath, the undertone of a person instead of a perfume. He almost recognized it, like a scent from a pleasant memory he couldn't quite place. The sun was bright and hot, but he only felt comfortably warm. A familiar, wistful song was playing in his ear.

Someone was very near, someone he wanted to stay close to. He knew he should get up, but all he wanted was to keep his eyes shut for another minute and enjoy it. There was a job to do, there was always a job to do, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this relaxed.

Barely aware, Ritsuka scrunched his nose a few times and cracked his eyes open. A few strands of fine hair drifted in front of them, brushing the tip of his nose, and fell back again.

Oh, those were Ushi's bangs tickling his nose.

"There's nothing I want to say," sang a familiar song in his ear. " I just want to see you again."

He blinked himself half-awake. Ushi's head was resting against his, or vice versa, their shoulders pressed together. She was close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Her eyes were closed, long lashes fluttering in his breath, and her face was half turned towards his, almost as if she was going to -

"I can't say what I want to say," the song went on. " Maybe I don't have the courage, but that's okay."

Ushi's eyes opened with none of the blinking and squinting he often went through, and met his eyes from inches away. Smiling at her felt as natural and involuntary as breathing. Her mouth curved up in the beginnings of an answering smile, as if she was happy to see him there, so close to her.

"If only one wish is granted," his earbud sang, "let me sleep by your side; anywhere will do."

The spell broke.

Two pairs of eyes went wide, and suddenly, both of them were completely awake. Ritsuka reflexively hit the 'stop' button on his phone, feeling his cheeks burning, and sat bolt upright. Ushi recoiled away from him like one or both of them was on fire.

"Sorry!" he gasped. "Uh, I must have fallen over -"

"Please forgive my presumption! I didn't mean -"

Both of them fell silent, not looking at each other with great force. Ritsuka thought he heard chortling from somewhere, but a quick look around showed no one. He chalked it up to his embarrassed imagination.

After a moment, still looking anywhere except at him, Ushi held out the earpiece to his headphones with a quiet, "Thank you, my lord. I enjoyed the music."

Ritsuka took it without turning, trying not to be so aware of when his fingers touched her palm. "You're welcome," he said. At least they hadn't damaged the headphones with their flailing around. This was his last pair. Da Vinci could probably replace them, but he'd long ago decided he'd rather do without than stick anything da Vinci had made in his ear. It'd probably play music, but not even the gods knew what else it'd do.

He was very much aware that he was distracting himself.

"Well… Um. That was a nice nap." He couldn't look at her, but he also couldn't seem to stop smiling.

"Yes!" She took a deep breath. "Yes, it was." Well, she was sounding a lot less anxious than she'd been a few moments ago. Downright pleased, in fact.

If he were being honest, he was pretty happy too, in a stomach-butterflies sort of way. He was going to have to figure out what to do with these feelings, and soon, because they sure weren't going away. In fact, they were doing the opposite, and quickly. But for now…

"Ushi?"

"My lord?"

"Where'd the dates go?"


From behind a couple of rows of trees, Kaison watched Lord Yoshitsune pull Master to his feet with a grin. "That was worth the wait." Kaison discreetly spat out another date pit.

"Yeah. They're cute, aren't they?" Jing Ke asked, popping a date into her mouth. She bit down, made a face, and took it out again to eye it suspiciously. "Damn it. How do you keep finding the ripe ones?"

"There is a trick to it," he said, eating another.

The Assassin gave him a wry look out of the corner of her eye. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Kaison shook his head as he chewed, ignoring the astringent taste. This date was just as bitter and unripe as his last two, but he let no sign of the unpleasant flavor cross his face. "Keep at it. I'm sure you'll discover it yourself."

Jing Ke made a grumpy sound and tossed her date behind her. As if putting off picking another one, she watched Yoshitsune helping to dust off Master's back. "Glad she's finally getting somewhere. She seems happy."

"Yes," Kaison said. "I gave up hoping for her happiness long ago. It's strange to find myself doing so again.'

"Is that jealousy I detect in your tone?"

Kaison snorted a laugh. "No. Regret, perhaps. Not jealousy." Despite what some of the other Servants assumed, romance, one-sided or not, had never been part of his relationship with Yoshitsune. She was far too frightening.

The Assassin kept watching him out of the corner of her eye, waiting for an explanation.

He straightened up. "I've been many things - a monk, a warrior, a vagabond. But nearly all of my life I have also been a priest, and a priest's calling is to help others find a way to live well in this tragic world. No matter what we did, though, we who followed Lord Yoshitsune never managed to help her do that. Joy slipped farther and farther out of reach for her, and in the end, what small comfort I could have provided was a casualty of the failure of my courage."

Jing Ke turned back to Fujimaru and Yoshitsune. "Funny," she said without looking, "I hadn't heard of Musashibou Benkei's courage ever failing."

Kaison harrumphed. "Some stories are not fit to be told."


Author's Notes:

This chapter is a little experimental. Not sure if it works as well, but I wanted to give Kaison a bit of the spotlight and at least take a stab at what's really going on underneath his facade. Probably the last time he'll be a viewpoint character, though.

Ritsuka is the kind of person who has playlists full of anime themes.

The theme for the chapter is 'Beautiful World' by Utada Hikaru, from Rebuild of Evangelion.

Boku no sekai kieru made aenu nara
Kimi no soba de nemurasete donna basho demo kekkou

(If I can't meet you before my world fades away,
Let me sleep by your side; anywhere is fine)