When Akiko woke up the next morning, it was only a couple of moments before the man sleeping beside her awoke. Last night, Akiko got a hairtie for Lancer to use as a replacement in case he and the other two see and have to fight something outside of the school. Hopefully, not the Servant from her vision. But just in case the Servants have to fight, Lancer would have his hair out of his face.
Akiko's stomach growled as soon as she sat up in the futon. It growled rather loudly as well. Akiko blushed in embarrassment as Lancer chuckled at her.
"Hungry, huh?" he said. "You should get some food in ya."
[Tender Scenery]
They went into the kitchen. Everyone else was already at the table. They were served bowls of rice.
"So, Hashimoto, I take it you'll be going with Shirou and Tohsaka to school?" Taiga asked as she wolfed down her rice in order to get seconds before Saber finishes the rest off.
"Yeah."
"And Lancer will be staying here?"
"Until it's time for us to go to work after school. Is there something wrong with that?"
"No. I just wanted to know."
The rest of breakfast was uneventful. Sakura and Taiga left for school right after they were done eating. The others returned to their respective rooms to get themselves ready for school as well.
Akiko took out her brush and faced Lancer. "Here, I'll help you with your hair."
Lancer was able to brush and pull his hair into the hairtie, he didn't want to spoil Akiko's good mood. So he just turned around and sat down, exposing the back of his head to her. "Sure. Go right ahead."
She ran the teeth of the brush through the soft locks of hair. She only encountered a couple of tangles. Otherwise, the brush went through it smoothly. She got the hairtie and bundled a bunch of hair at the base of his skull together. As Akiko pulled the long blue strands into the hairtie, she took a moment to run the tail through her fingers, just to feel its softness again.
When she finished, Lancer looked over his shoulder at the mage. "Now I'll do you."
Akiko sighed as she handed the brush over to Lancer. She turned around, but didn't have to kneel. He was taller than her. The top of her head only went up to the middle of his chin. "Was that intentional?" she asked as he began to run the brush through her snow-colored strands.
"Was what intentional?"
"What you said. I know it means two things."
Lancer chuckled softly. "Oh yeah, it does. I didn't think of it when I said it."
"I thought you were expressing your desire for us to just have sex already."
"Wasn't my intention, but..." He bent his head down slightly and slowly licked a trail up the back of Akiko's neck. She shivered at the sensation. Then his tongue went all over the back of her left ear and he nibbled the edge of it. "Ya wanna do it now?"
Akiko blushed at how close the man was to her now. Part of her wanted nothing more than to agree enthusiastically to his request. But another part reminded her to control her urges.
"Not right now! I have to get ready for school!"
Lancer frowned briefly in disappointment. Then he inwardly smiled. She said no for right now. But she didn't say anything about later.
[End OST]
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[Gentle Everyday]
The three Masters went into the school building while their Servants hid in the trees near it, keeping a lookout. But Lancer was tasked with more. Akiko would update him at the end of every period, telling him how things in the building were looking. He wouldn't reply, as it could make the other two Servants suspicious that something is going on that they weren't made aware of. However, the Servant would keep an extra close eye on things and would alert Akiko if something dangerous was about to happen, regardless of whether or not the other two would hear him.
Just before Shirou branched off from the other two Masters to go into his classroom, Rin grabbed his wrist and yanked him back to the two girls.
"Hey, what's your problem, Tohsaka?!" he demanded, wincing slightly at the sharp pain her tug put into his arm.
"You, me, and Hashimoto will meet on the roof during lunch," she answered.
"Why?"
"We need to discuss if we try to track down Illya and Berserker, or if we find another Master first," Akiko said.
"Fine," Shirou replied. He tore his arm away from Rin. "Now I have to get to my class before I'm late."
As he walked to his class, 3-C, Akiko and Rin headed to their class, 3-A and sat down in their desks. Ayako walked over to Akiko.
"Yesterday sure was fun," she said.
"Especially with seeing Makidera's reaction to your story," Akiko snickered.
Ayako chuckled. "I'll let you in on a secret: I told that story just to get Makidera to react that way!"
"Well, at least it worked. Oh, here comes Mr. Kuzuki."
Ayako went to her desk and sat down right as the teacher began to take attendance. Later, when the lunch period bell rang, everyone got up to eat lunch in their selected areas. Akiko was rushing to get her Trigonometry homework done. During it, she remembered to let Lancer know how she was doing.
'All clear in here right now, Cu Chulainn.'
Rin walked over to Akiko, holding her bagged lunch in her left hand.
"Getting homework done?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Are you going to be able to meet Emiya and I on the roof during lunch?"
"Don't worry. I only have four problems to go. I'll meet you two as soon as I'm done."
"Good. I'll see you then." She left the classroom.
Akiko finished her work in a hurry and ran out of the classroom with her bagged lunch. The period was half over. No one else was in the halls. Everyone had already gone to where they needed to go.
"Hey, Hashimoto!" Shinji called. Akiko inwardly groaned.
Akiko sighed and didn't even bother to acknowledge the blue-haired teen enough to look back at him. "What do you want this time, Shinji? I hope it's not to ask me to eat with you."
"I already know you're going to eat and discuss things with two other Masters, aren't you?"
[End OST]
She turned around. "What?! How did you -?!"
Then a figure, moving so fast it was a blur, jumped out from behind Shinji. Before Akiko could do anything, a chain lashed out and wrapped around her. Then everything went dark.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Lancer was in the trees next to Saber and Archer, watching the school. Suddenly, Archer spoke up, breaking the silence between the three. They were focused only on surveying the school, not even talking among one another. As soon as the man spoke, Saber and Lancer glanced at him.
"What is it?" But it was like he was asking someone who wasn't there. So he must be talking with his Master.
[Footsteps of Destruction]
"...No, we haven't seen anything strange. Why?...What do you mean she's not there?...You're sure you informed her, right?...Well, if she's not there, then where is she?...Okay, okay, sorry for asking! You don't need to yell!...Fine, I'll ask him." Archer glanced at Lancer. "Rin just contacted me. Lunch period is almost over. Akiko was to meet her and Shirou on the roof, but she hasn't shown up. Can you contact her to see what she's doing?"
Lancer sighed. "Fine." What could be wrong? She told him everything was fine like 15 minutes ago. 'Akiko. Where are ya right now?' No response. 'Akiko? Are ya there?' Again, nothing. Something must have happened. "She's not answerin' me."
Saber looked at him. "Could there be something wrong on her end?"
During that, Lancer focused on the condition of his Master, curious as to what could have happened to her to make her not respond. She wasn't even awake! In fact, upon harder concentration, he sensed that she was in danger! It was a connection loose enough to where he couldn't tell exactly what it was, so he would have to see for himself.
"Somethin's wrong with her right now," Lancer growled. "I'm gonna see what it is."
Saber and Archer followed Lancer as the man leapt from his perch in the tree. "She's in danger?! But we didn't see anything!" Saber exclaimed.
"We were observing only the front of the school," Archer pointed out. "The enemy could have snuck in through the back."
Saber, Archer, and Lancer jumped to the roof from the bottom branch of the tree they came out of. They soared over the fence of the 4th floor roof and landed in front of Shirou and Rin. Lancer was the first one to speak. "What's goin' on with my Master?!"
"That's what we're trying to find out," Rin replied.
"We'll need to find her," Shirou added.
"And we'll need Lancer for that," Rin said.
Shirou looked at her. "Why?"
Rin turned her head to look at him. "Masters and Servants are able to get a general sense of where the other is if their separated. Think of it as an internal radar."
"A radar? Then he's able to pinpoint exactly where she is?"
"Not exactly. It's hard to describe, but it's like a radar without the target dot. You know how the waves on the screen become more frequent the closer you are to your target? Well, the same goes for the tracking ability between Masters and their Servants. When tracking they feel something, a throbbing. Like a pulse. The farther away they are, the slower they'll feel the pulse. But the closer they are, the more rapid the pulse will be. Once they're pretty darn close, the pulsing will feel like the beating of a heart after a workout."
"Sorry to interrupt this conversation, but we need to look fer my Master!" Lancer put in with a growl of frustration.
"Fine!" Rin exclaimed.
[End OST]
They were about to start the search when something else happened. The ground and building shook violently. The five looked around wildly.
"What's happening?!" Rin exclaimed.
[Into the Night]
Waves of red energy suddenly appeared, streaming to a single point in the sky above the school. The energy that converged up above formed a giant blob of dark red energy that looked like blood. In the pool of energy, what looked like a single, large eye opened. A transparent dome with a tinge of red in it covered the entire school. The light within had a red glow to it. The five started to feel weak.
"This is a bounded field!" Saber said. "This one seems to drain power."
"It feels like a snake swallowed me alive!" Lancer snarled.
"Archer, use an arrow to see if this field is keeping us in," Rin ordered.
Archer materialized a black bow in his left hand. Then a sword materialized in his right. The man set the butt of the handle in the string, pulling it back until the weapon thinned, looking like an arrow. He let go of the pulled-back string and the arrow went flying, at the part of the dome blocking the trees. As soon as the arrow hit the dome, the projectile exploded. Archer sighed as he lowered his bow.
"We seem to be trapped in here. In order to get out, we must disable the source of the bounded field."
"Then let's find it!" Rin exclaimed. "It has to be the thing connecting those sigils!"
"But first, we need to find my Master!" Lancer insisted. "I need to make sure she's okay!"
"Wouldn't it be better for her if we disabled this bounded field first?!" Rin asked him. But Lancer had already broken into a run for the first floor stairs and thus didn't hear her.
Lancer was dashing through the school, tracking his Master. He got to the third floor and the pulsing was steadily growing more intense. She must be on this floor. Dust clouds formed on the ground and purple snakes rose up from them. They began slithering at Lancer, hissing the whole way.
Lancer materialized Gae Bolg in his left hand and easily put an end to the snakes. He slashed them open, lopped off their heads, impaled them on his spear, and other things. He didn't want to waste much more time. Because of this field, she was being drained too. And she was already low on mana. If this bounded field was left up for much longer, she would be in danger!
Lancer heard four sets of running footsteps going down the stairs behind him. He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing Saber, Archer, Rin, and Shirou. "Good, yer here. Akiko's on this floor, I'm sure of it." He cut down five more snakes. "But these bastards are gettin' in my way!"
"I'll take care of this," Saber said. She grasped her invisible sword with both hands. "Get back, Lancer." The man jumped back behind Saber with the others as the knight stabbed her blade forward. "Strike Air!" The vortex of wind shredded the snakes, opening a path forward.
"This way!" Lancer shouted as he ran down the hall. The others followed. The pulsing was getting stronger. Finally, it hit it's peak. Lancer stopped, seeing where Akiko should be. It was a classroom. The door was closed. "She's in here."
[End OST]
Rin yanked the door open. However, the scene they were met with was one that none of the five, especially Lancer, expected.
Shinji was in the center of the room, back to the group. On the spot to his right was a tall woman with long, light purple hair. She was wearing a short black dress, long black boots, and black gloves. Her back was also to the group.
But what really shocked them was what the woman was doing. Her face was buried in the nape of a girl's neck, clearly drinking her blood from the slurping sound the mystery woman was making. And the girl had silver hair.
[Into the Night]
"Akiko!" Lancer shouted. Shinji and the woman both turned their heads to look behind them. The woman had turned her head to the left slightly, taking Akiko's unconscious form. The five could see that the woman wore a magenta visor over her eyes and had a red symbol on her forehead that looked a bit like the number 2. Blood was trickling down Akiko's neck and shoulder from the corner of the other woman's mouth. "Hey! That's my Master!"
The woman detached her fangs that were buried in Akiko's neck and let the girl fall to the ground, her body ending up in a way that would normally be provocative if not for the blood and how pale she was now, paler than usual. The woman chuckled and wiped her mouth with the back of her left hand.
"I couldn't help myself. After all, she's a mage. And drinking her blood would provide me with much more mana than the students."
Shinji smirked. "Yeah. Rider was only helping herself to a meal."
"Let her GO!" Lancer roared. How dare this woman touch his Master! He ran at the woman and swung Gae Bolg at her from the left.
Rider jumped straight up and landed on the crimson spear. She smirked at Lancer. "Do you hate me?"
He snarled at her, a fire blazing in his eyes. "What do you think?" Then he pulled the spear out from under the woman. Her feet landed on the ground gracefully, no tripping of stumbling. But she didn't anticipate Lancer's elbow going for her abdomen at the same time she landed. The attack sent her crashing into the wall behind her, a large cloud of dust obscuring her when she hit.
In his rage, Lancer looked back at Rin. He was still able to recognize her as an ally. "Heal her NOW!" he shouted. All he saw was red. And not just from the light from the bounded field. He was angry that the Servant who put this up dared to harm his Master!
Rin looked scared of him. "R-Right!" She ran over to Akiko and went down to her knees. And in that instant, Rider came out of the crater Lancer's kick sent her into and she went at the spearman.
Lancer guarded himself against her and pushed her off. "Take down this bounded field RIGHT NOW! If not..." He raised his spear up higher in front of his body. "I'll make you by force!"
He heard Rin stand up behind him. Good. She must have finished healing Akiko. Now to finish off the bitch who hurt her in the first place!
"You'll have to catch us first!" Shinji shouted. Rider grabbed the boy and dashed out the door with him before anyone else could react.
"Damn him!" Rin hissed. They ran out into the hallway. Rider had set Shinji down to create more snake familiars from her hair. Clumps of it fell to the ground. Then they quivered and took on the appearance of snakes. She was going to try to slow the pursuers down. But it didn't work on Lancer.
"Rider!" he roared, leaping over the snakes as they approached. Rider growled in frustration when he landed in front of her. She only had enough time to raise her arms up to block before Lancer's kick to the side of her head smacked her to the side. The woman crashed through a half of one of the classroom doors. Shinji took this chance to flee down the stairs. He looked at the others. "I'll take care of her! Meanwhile, get her Master to have this bounded field taken down!" Then he sprang into the classroom before the others could say anything.
[End OST]
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Interlude
It was lunch period. Rin and Shirou were already on the roof. But not Akiko. She was already supposed to have shown up and lunch was almost over. She decided to ask Archer about this.
[Footsteps of Destruction]
'Archer.'
'What is it?'
'Have you and the other two seen anything suspicious?'
'No, we haven't seen anything strange. Why?'
'Hashimoto's not here.'
'What do you mean she's not there?'
'She was to meet myself and Emiya here on the roof during lunch.'
'You're sure you informed her, right?'
'Of course I did! But lunch period is almost over and she still hasn't shown up.'
'Well, if she's not there, then where is she?'
'That's the whole reason I'm asking you!'
'Okay, okay, sorry for asking! You don't need to yell!'
'If you would stop asking stupid questions, I wouldn't need to yell, dumbass!' Can you just ask Lancer to find out what's taking her so long?'
'Fine, I'll ask him.'
A few moments later, the three Servants came onto the roof. Lancer spoke first. "What's goin' on with my Master?!"
So he's also clueless? Well, that proves it. Something must have happened to Akiko.
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Rin told him.
"We'll need to find her," Shirou added.
"And we'll need Lancer for that," Rin said.
Shirou looked at her. "Why?"
Rin turned her head to look at him. "Masters and Servants are able to get a general sense of where the other is if their separated. Think of it as an internal radar."
"A radar? Then he's able to pinpoint exactly where she is?"
"Not exactly. It's hard to describe, but it's like a radar without the target dot. You know how the waves on the screen become more frequent the closer you are to your target? Well, the same goes for the tracking ability between Masters and their Servants. When tracking they feel something, a throbbing. Like a pulse. The farther away they are, the slower they'll feel the pulse. But the closer they are, the more rapid the pulse will be. Once they're pretty darn close, the pulsing will feel like the beating of a heart after a workout."
"Sorry to interrupt this conversation, but we need to look fer my Master!" Lancer put in with a growl of frustration that this conversation was taking up the time that could have been spent looking for Akiko!
"Fine!" Rin exclaimed.
[End OST]
They were about to start the search when something else happened. The ground and building shook violently. The five looked around wildly.
"What's happening?!" Rin exclaimed.
[Into the Night]
Waves of red energy suddenly appeared, streaming to a single point in the sky above the school. The energy that converged up above formed a giant blob of dark red energy that looked like blood. In the pool of energy, what looked like a single, large eye opened. A transparent dome with a tinge of red in it covered the entire school. The light within had a red glow to it. The five started to feel weak.
"This is a bounded field!" Saber said. "This one seems to drain power."
"It feels like a snake swallowed me alive!" Lancer snarled.
"Archer, use an arrow to see if this field is keeping us in," Rin ordered.
Archer materialized a black bow in his left hand. Then a sword materialized in his right. The man set the butt of the handle in the string, pulling it back until the weapon thinned, looking like an arrow. He let go of the pulled-back string and the arrow went flying, at the part of the dome blocking the trees. As soon as the arrow hit the dome, the projectile exploded. Archer sighed as he lowered his bow.
"We seem to be trapped in here. In order to get out, we must disable the source of the bounded field."
"Then let's find it!" Rin exclaimed. "It has to be the thing connecting those sigils!"
"But first, we need to find my Master!" Lancer insisted. "I need to make sure she's okay!"
"Wouldn't it be better for her if we disabled this bounded field first?!" Rin asked him. But Lancer had already broken into a run for the first floor stairs and thus didn't hear her.
Saber sighed. "We should follow him in case he runs into trouble."
Shirou gripped his chest in pain. "Ugh...You all look fine now! Am I the only one of us still in pain?!"
Rin glanced at him. "Just keep generating mana in your body."
"We need to stop wasting time and find Lancer!" Saber reminded them loudly. She and Archer broke into a run for the stairs to the fourth floor, followed closely by Shirou and Rin. It was all clear on the fourth floor, except for a red glow in the hall. They ran down the stairs to the third floor.
That's where they found Lancer, and something else. The man was using his spear to cut down purple snakes that came at him like ocean waves.
Lancer seemed to hear them. He glanced back over his shoulder. "Good, yer here. Akiko's on this floor, I'm sure of it." He cut down five more snakes. "But these bastards are gettin' in my way!"
"I'll take care of this," Saber said. She grasped her invisible sword with both hands. "Get back, Lancer." The man jumped back behind Saber with the others as the knight stabbed her blade forward. "Strike Air!" The vortex of wind shredded the snakes, opening a path forward.
"This way!" Lancer shouted as he ran down the hall. The others followed. He stopped at a closed door to a classroom. It was empty most of the time, and no one should be in it now. "She's in here."
[End OST]
Rin yanked the door open. However, the scene they were met with was one that none of the five, especially Lancer, expected.
Shinji was in the center of the room, back to the group. On the spot to his right was a tall woman with long, light purple hair. She was wearing a short black dress, long black boots, and black gloves. Her back was also to the group.
But what really shocked them was what the woman was doing. Her face was buried in the nape of a girl's neck, clearly drinking her blood from the slurping sound the mystery woman was making. And the girl had silver hair.
[Into the Night]
"Akiko!" Lancer shouted. Shinji and the woman both turned their heads to look behind them. The woman had turned her head to the left slightly, taking Akiko's unconscious form. The five could see that the woman wore a magenta visor over her eyes and had a red symbol on her forehead that looked a bit like the number 2. Blood was trickling down Akiko's neck and shoulder from the corner of the other woman's mouth. "Hey! That's my Master!"
The woman detached her fangs that were buried in Akiko's neck and let the girl fall to the ground, her body ending up in a way that would normally be provocative if not for the blood and how pale she was now, paler than usual. The woman chuckled and wiped her mouth with the back of her left hand.
"I couldn't help myself. After all, she's a mage. And drinking her blood would provide me with much more mana than the students."
Shinji smirked. "Yeah. Rider was only helping herself to a meal."
"Let her GO!" Lancer shouted. He ran at the woman and swung Gae Bolg at her from the left.
Rider jumped straight up and landed on the crimson spear. She smirked at Lancer and said something to him. Whatever it was, it didn't make him any less angry. He said something back and then he pulled the spear out from under the woman. Her feet landed on the ground gracefully, no tripping of stumbling. But she didn't anticipate Lancer's elbow going for her abdomen at the same time she landed. The attack sent her crashing into the wall behind her, a large cloud of dust obscuring her when she hit.
Lancer looked back at Rin. "Heal her NOW!" he shouted. He looked nothing like the cheerful, happy-go-lucky man the others knew. Now he looked ready to kill. His glare should be intense enough to do just that.
Rin felt genuinely scared of him. She was actually afraid he was going to attack her now. "R-Right!" She ran over to Akiko and went down to her knees. "You sure have one vicious-looking Servant..." She fished around in her pocket for a moment before pulling out something held in her fist. She uncurled her fingers, revealing a single emerald-green gem in her palm. She closed her hand again and a green light came from in between her fingers. "Verheilt. Ich bin verheilt."
As she was healing Akiko, she heard Lancer shout at someone, most likely Rider. "Take down this bounded field RIGHT NOW! If not...I'll make you by force!" Rin finished healing Akiko and stood up, turning to face the enemy Master and Servant. Even though Akiko was still unconscious, at least the color started to return to her face.
"You'll have to catch us first!" Shinji shouted. Rider grabbed the boy and dashed out the door with him before anyone else could react.
"Damn him!" Rin hissed. They ran out into the hallway. Rider had set Shinji down to create more snake familiars from her hair. Clumps of it fell to the ground. Then they quivered and took on the appearance of snakes. She was going to try to slow the pursuers down. But it didn't work on Lancer.
"Rider!" he roared, leaping over the snakes as they approached. Rider growled in frustration when he landed in front of her. She only had enough time to raise her arms up to block before Lancer's kick to the side of her head smacked her to the side. The woman crashed through a half of one of the classroom doors. Shinji took this chance to flee down the stairs. He looked at the others. "I'll take care of her! Meanwhile, get her Master to have this bounded field taken down!" Then he sprang into the classroom before the others could say anything.
"Archer!" Rin shouted as she shot a snake with a Gandr, a black ball of energy that she shot from her left set of fingertips. The hand itself was held in a chopping position. "Keep Hashimoto safe! Emiya, Saber, and I will chase down Shinji!"
Archer cut down three snakes as they lashed at him. "Got it."
"Okay!" Shirou and Saber shouted. Rin wanted at least one Servant with them when they find Shinji. Having someone threaten his life should make the coward more likely to agree to Rin's demand. Lancer was fighting Rider and Archer was left to guard Akiko. That left only Saber.
They chased Shinji to the second floor. There were no snakes to get in their way. So they must just be on the third floor. Then they chased Shinji down the flight of stairs to the first floor. The gnat ran into a classroom that was currently empty. They went into it, finding Shinji cowering behind a desk.
[End OST]
"Shinji! Make Rider take the field down right now!" Rin shouted at him as she and the other two entered the room.
"And why should I listen to you?!" Shinji demanded.
Rin crossed her arms. "Because of this. Saber!"
Saber instantly jumped at Shinji. She pointed her invisible sword at the boy's throat. The tip was probably pressing against it.
"Do what she says, or you'll lose your life," she growled.
Shinji growled, but complied so he wouldn't be stabbed by Saber. He held up the book he held. Command Seals were on the cover. "Rider, dispel the bounded field!"
One Seal on the book glowed and then the whole thing burst into flames. Shinji squealed and dropped it onto the floor.
"Your magic circuits aren't strong enough to control her current power?!" Rin exclaimed.
"This is not good," Saber said. "Even if he cannot provide her with enough power, being inside this bounded field will. After all, she's getting her power from those being drained. But now she is free of a Master's control. Our only choice now will be to kill her."
Interlude out